generously made available by the internet archive/canadian libraries) * * * * * +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has been | | preserved. | | | | obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this | | text. for a complete list, please see the end of this | | document. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * general instructions for the guidance of post office inspectors in the dominion of canada. contents. page. . general instructions, . arrangement of papers, . books and records, . returns to the department at ottawa, . salaries and allowances, . new post offices, . mail arrangements, . mail service, . establishment of new routes or alteration in routes already in operation, . contracts for mail service, . bonds, . railway mail service, . circulation or distribution, . travelling, . cases of loss or abstraction, . arrears and outstanding accounts, . conclusion, i. general instructions. . you are required personally to superintend the performance of the routine work of your office and see that it is properly done. . this routine work should be suitably and fairly apportioned amongst your clerks--each clerk (under your superintendence) being responsible for the duty assigned to him. you will, after fair warning, report to the postmaster general any clerk who fails correctly and efficiently to perform this duty. . carefully superintend the working of the department in all its branches within the limits of your division. as however, it is important, that the operations of the department should be carried on under one uniform plan throughout the dominion, do not make any alterations in the system of doing the work without the permission first obtained of the postmaster general. . endeavor to instil into all persons connected with the department in your division the importance of a harmonious working together for the good of the service, and of each, in his own sphere, performing the duties assigned to him in an intelligent and thorough manner. . all letters received on official business should be carefully and promptly attended to. . all matters referred to you from the department at ottawa should be disposed of with the least possible delay. . provision should be made for the performance of the ordinary routine work of your office when you are absent, under the superintendence of your senior clerk. . no portion of your work should be allowed to fall into arrear; if it should do so, however, from circumstances beyond your control, you will at once report the fact to the postmaster general. . see that the time bills and mail transfer receipts are properly examined and fyled away every day. a separate pigeon hole should be provided for each set of time bills and transfer receipts, the pigeon holes being arranged and labelled in alphabetical order. . when fines should, in your opinion, be imposed upon railway mail clerks, clerks in city offices, and other officers in the employ of the department--full particulars of each case should be communicated to the postmaster general, and his authority for the imposition of the fine obtained. . make once in every three months a regular and thorough inspection of all the details of account and general business in each city post office in your division--without any pre-arranged date or notice of the time at which such inspection will be made. the inspection should, however, take place on the st of a month, so that the accountant may be able to verify from your report the entries in the accounts of the postmaster for the month preceding. in making these inspections you must verify the stamp account of the office--personally count the stock on hand, and see that it agrees with the amount stated in the postmasters' stamp account, made up to the last day of the month, to which account you should attach your signature. satisfy yourself that all other items of revenue, such as postage on unpaid matter, on insufficiently paid matter and on newspapers, also rent of boxes, and drawers, &c, are duly brought to account. certify to the numbers of both boxes and drawers rented at the time of your inspection. investigate the state of the money order and savings bank business, and see that the regulations and instructions are closely adhered to. enquire into the conduct and efficiency of each person employed. see that all the work of the letter carrier's branch is promptly and accurately performed. that all the carriers are supplied with and wear uniforms. that an account is kept by the postmaster of the cost thereof, and that the outlay incurred does not exceed the amount allowed by the postmaster general. forward to the postmaster general the result of your inspection as promptly as possible, giving clear and full information on the several points enquired into. . see that all errors and irregularities are reported to you by the postmaster or railway mail clerk by whom observed, and that prompt steps are taken for their correction. irregularities of whatever kind should be promptly enquired into and corrected; if overlooked they have always a tendency to increase. . investigate thoroughly all cases of complaint. obtain a clear statement of the charges made, and of the facts which can be proved in support of these charges, and from these facts draw your conclusions. in cases where the evidence is conflicting, the characters and antecedents of the parties concerned may probably be important elements for consideration. . in making investigations bear in mind that any person who haw been detected in one dishonest act may probably have been guilty of other dishonest acts, and that your enquiry should therefore cover, not only the particular case under investigation, but other irregular or fraudulent proceedings, which it is possible may have been committed by the party suspected. this point should be particularly remembered in regard to offices transacting money order and savings bank business. . you have authority, for the purpose of any official enquiry or investigation it may be your duty to make, to apply to any judge of the superior or exchequer court of canada, or of the superior court of the province of quebec, or of any one of the superior courts of either of the provinces, or to any judge or stipendiary magistrate in and for the territories, for an order that a subpoena be issued from the court or magistrate, commanding any person therein named to appear before you at the time and place mentioned in the subpoena, and then and there to testify to all matters within his knowledge, and (if so required) to produce any document or thing he may have in his possession relative to such enquiry or investigation. and any witness may be summoned from any part of canada, within or without the ordinary jurisdiction of the court. judge, or magistrate issuing the subpoena,--any reasonable travelling expenses being tendered to any witness so subpoened at the time of such service. and any person thus summoned who may neglect or refuse to appear, or refuse to give evidence or to produce the papers demanded of him, may, by order of the court, judge or magistrate who issued the subpoena, be taken into custody and imprisoned in the common gaol of the locality, as for contempt of court, for a period not exceeding fourteen ( ) days. . you have also authority to examine any person on oath or affirmation on any matter pertinent to any investigation you may make; and such oath or affirmation may be administered by you to any person you may so desire to examine. . you and any officer under you having the rank of assistant p.o. inspector, have authority to require any postmaster or assistant postmaster in any post offices, mail contractor or other person in the employment or service of, or undertaking to perform any duty or work for the post office department, to make and sign an oath or declaration in the following form, or to a like effect.-- i (_insert the name of the person and the capacity in which he is employed in or by the post office_) do solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, (or declare _if the person is one entitled to declare instead of_ taking an oath in civil cases), that i will faithfully perform all the duties required of me by my employment in the service of the post office, and will abstain from everything forbidden by the laws for the establishment and government of the post office department in canada, so help me god. _______________________________________________ signature of person taking oath or declaration. the oath (_or_ declaration) was ___________ (sworn _or_ made) and subscribed before me, the ____________ day of ____________ __. ______________________________________________________ signature of p.o. inspector, or asst. p.o. inspector, as the case may be. . when a formal investigation is necessary, always give due notice to the complainant or complainants, and the party or parties complained against, of the time and place at which the investigation will be held. . in your reports to the postmaster general of the result of an investigation, state whether the enquiry made was personal or _by_ correspondence. state also clearly in the proper order all the facts bearing on the case, and the conclusions which these facts appear to justify. . in reporting on cases of a confidential character, in which it is not desirable that the facts should be made public, mark the word "confidential" both on the report and on the cover in which it is transmitted. . in all reports in which a previous report is referred to, state in addition to the number and date of the report referred to, its general purport. . in all reports post offices should be called by their official names, and not by the name by which they may be known in the locality. this rule applies especially to the maritime provinces. . it is desirable that you should make yourself acquainted, as far as may be practicable, with the general character and financial standing of each postmaster in your division who has charge of money order or savings bank duties; and in any case where you have reason for suspecting the possibility of irregular practices, or a disposition to withhold--even for short periods--post office monies, a confidential report should be made to the postmaster general, in order that a close supervision may be kept by the superintendent on the returns and remittances received from such postmasters. . in cases of doubt always ask for instructions from the postmaster general--by letter, if time permits; if not, by telegraph. . when absolutely necessary, make use of the telegraph, compressing your message into as few words as are consistent with clearness of meaning. do not, however, use the telegraph in cases where a letter will answer all the purposes required. . observe in all matters connected with the department as strict an economy as is consistent with the efficient performance of the service. do not in any case recommend additional expenditure unless the circumstances appear fully to justify it. . no outlay, whether for alteration in a mail service, or for repairs, improvements or fittings, must be incurred without the specific authority first obtained of the postmaster general. in every case application for this authority must be accompanied by a full description of the work to be done, and an estimate of the probable expenditure involved. . no person must be employed, even in a temporary capacity, without the sanction of the postmaster general previously obtained. . furnish full particulars of any changes, especially of distribution, to the inspectors of other divisions which may be affected in any way by these changes, and cordially co-operate with them in the consideration and carrying out of any improvements which may generally benefit the service. . make yourself thoroughly conversant with all acts of the dominion parliament relating in any way to the post office service, and with all regulations relating to the post office department, as well as with all details connected with its operation. . you have authority when you find it necessary to suspend a postmaster, clerk, or any other employé in your division. all the circumstances, however, should be at once reported to the postmaster general. . when it is noticed that postage stamps attached to letters or other postal matter frequently fall off, or if it should be found that the stamps are insufficiently gummed or badly perforated, the fact should be reported to the postmaster general, the name of the office at which the posting took place being given. . in closing a post office, or in transferring a post office to a newly appointed postmaster, always see that the accounts are made up to the day of closing or transfer; and that the balance due thereon is paid and _deposited in the bank to the credit of the postmaster general_. the assumption by an incoming postmaster of a balance due by his predecessor is objectionable. the amount due from the out-going postmaster should, in all cases, be deposited as above, to the credit of the postmaster general. . except in very special cases, the opening and closing of offices should take effect on the first day of each month. . in the case of the transfer of a money order office, the transfer receipt should be sent to the superintendent of the money order branch, at ottawa, by the first mail after the transfer takes effect. . immoral publications and other articles, the transmission of which through the mail are prohibited--and which are sent to you by the railway mail clerks in your division--should be at once forwarded to the postmaster general. . all forms, books, stationery, &c., required for your office must be applied for by requisition to the postmaster general in accordance with the instructions contained in the catalogue of articles in stock in the printing and supply branch of the department, a copy of which has been furnished to you. . if any of the regulations laid down in these instructions cannot be carried out in your division, you will make a confidential report to the postmaster general, stating the reasons why this cannot be done. ii. arrangement of papers. . all papers and correspondence referring to the same case should be kept together. . no letters or papers should be put away until the matter to which they refer is finally disposed of. . separate pigeon-holes should be provided for all papers and letters according to their classification, so that when required they can be readily found. . the following classification is recommended: _for papers not finally disposed of._ . papers in reference to applications for new post offices. . do. postmasters' bonds for execution. . do. applications for alterations in mail routes. . do. railway mail service. . do. advertisement of mail contracts. . do. execution of mail contracts. . do. arrears due from postmasters and ex-postmasters. . do. cases of supposed loss of or abstractions from letters. . do. distribution. . do. matters requiring personal enquiry. . letters from secretary awaiting answers. . do. postmasters, contractors and the public awaiting answers. _for papers finally disposed of._ . mail contracts in force alphabetically arranged. . mails contracts terminated alphabetically arranged. . postmasters' bonds in force do. . do. terminated do. . letters from secretary arranged according to number. . letters from post office department not numbered. . do. post office inspectors. . do. postmasters, contractors and the public alphabetically arranged, there being a separate pigeon-hole for each letter of the alphabet. . papers in reference to cases of actual losses of or abstractions from letters. . do. cases of supposed losses of or abstractions, in which the enquiry instituted shows that no actual loss or abstraction occurred. . do. accounts included in monthly requisitions. . do. arrears due from postmasters. . do. railway mail service. . do. distribution. iii. books and records. . the books to be kept are as follows:-- . book for press copies of reports to the postmaster general. . book for press copies of such other letters, &c., as it may be necessary to copy. . record of letters and references from the secretary. . record of applications for lost letters, &c. . record of actual losses of letters and abstractions of articles of value from letters. . journal of travel and proceedings (forms bound up.) . conduct return book (press copies). . order book for instructions to railway mail clerks, in which should be entered the address of each clerk. . book for recording number of miles travelled by railway mail clerks. . record of errors made by railway mail clerks, as shown by labels on packages which they have made up, and which should be forwarded to you by the mail clerks or postmasters by whom opened, as also of other errors made by railway mail clerks reported to you. . record of mail contracts. . record of postmaster's bonds. . record of dates of expiration of contract. . variation of expenditure book. . record of transfer of offices. . salary pay list book. . contractors pay book. . book for the record of requisitions to the postmaster general for payment of travelling charges and all other official expenses, with the exception of salaries and mail services. . arrears book. . register of employés attached to your office, including railway mail clerks in your division, or under your superintendence. in the book a page should be devoted to each employé, in which should be recorded name, date, and place of birth, religion, class, salary, date of promotion, increase of salary, transfer, suspension, cases in which the employé has received special commendation or censure, date of resignation or removal, or any other particular of which it is desirable a memorandum should be kept. . cash book for entry of all monies received on p.o. account, with manner of disposal thereof. . money order cheque book. . pass book in which to record all registered letters despatched. . order book with margin to be used in all cases when an order is given for any article required for official use. . telegraph books with margin, on which should be recorded copies of all telegraphs sent on official business. . corresponding offices book shewing name of office with which each office in your division exchanges direct mails. . book for recording changes in distribution. . book for daily entry of time bills on ordinary mail routes. . record of new offices established, of old offices closed, and changes in names of offices. . book for requisitions for printing and stationery, (blank forms bound up.) . guard book for copies of notices inviting tenders for contracts. . guard book for department orders and circulars. . guard book for time bills of railways, &c. . it is very necessary that entries of all transactions should be promptly made in the books provided for their record. the keeping of memoranda on pieces of paper, or trusting to memory in such matters is very objectionable. . all printing and binding required both by your own office and city or other offices must be done on requisition to the department, at ottawa. . further, all stationery required, both by your own and city or other offices, must be obtained by requisition in the proper form to the postmaster general. the number of the articles, as shown by the official catalogue, being in all cases given. iv. returns to be made to the department at ottawa. . _the returns required_ by the department at ottawa should be rendered punctually, as follows: . _pay lists for salaries_ to be forwarded so as to reach ottawa not later than the rd of each month. should any fines be imposed or stoppage of pay take place after the list has been despatched, the fact should be communicated to the postmaster general by telegraph. in every case in which a new name appears on the pay list, or in which there has been any fine or alteration of salary, the number and date of the letter conveying the postmaster general's authority therefor must be written at the foot of the list. . _pay lists for mail services_, accompanied by the necessary receipts or vouchers, to be transmitted on the last day of each quarter, and to include all services performed during the quarter. if the exact amount due to a contractor cannot be ascertained, the service should be entered in the proper place, and the figures left blank. the voucher in such case should be transmitted to the accountant as soon afterwards as possible. the figure columns in the pay list should always be added up, and the total entered in ink. the distances entered in the vouchers or receipts for mail services should, agree with the distances entered in the variation returns. . _return of variations in the mail service expenditure_ to be transmitted on the last day of each month, and to include all new contracts and mail services, all renewals and transfers of existing contracts, and all variations in mail service taking effect during the month. as cheques are issued to the contractors on the entries in the pay lists and variation returns, it is necessary that they should be correct in every particular, and that both names and figures should be distinctly written. . _return of new post routes established and of post routes discontinued_ to be transmitted not later than the seventh day of each month, and to include all such changes in mail services taking effect during the previous month. . _return of new post offices established, post offices closed, and changes of names in post offices_, to be transmitted not later than the seventh day of each month, and to include all operations under this head up to the first day of the month on which the return is sent in, inclusive. . _weekly journals of railway mail clerks_ in your division to be transmitted every tuesday morning. . _return of losses of and abstractions of money and other articles from letters_ to be transmitted on the first day of each month. this return can be made out from the record of applications for missing letters, and should include all supposed cases of loss and abstraction entered in the record during the month which have not been erased, in accordance with the instructions under the head of "cases of loss and abstraction." those cases not erased should be consecutively numbered and the number entered[ ] in the return. in the event of a letter being reported as lost which is subsequently found, you should state in the next month's return "no. ----reported in the return for the month of ---- found;" and erase from your record of applications for lost letters. . _return of transfer of post offices_ to be transmitted by the tenth day of each month, and to include all transfers taking effect up to the first of the month (on which the return is sent in), inclusive. . _journal of travel and proceedings_ not later than six days after the expiration of each month. . _requisition for payment of miscellaneous expenses_ to include travelling allowances, telegraph bills, and all outlays, except salaries and contractors' pay, not later than six days after the expiration of each month. only one requisition should be sent in each month. each requisition should be numbered consecutively throughout each fiscal year. no. should be the first requisition made, for accounts the dates of which should embrace the month of july. on each voucher it must be stated clearly for what object the expense has been incurred. further, each account must bear a certificate as to its correctness in the hand-writing of the inspector, and must be accompanied by an official voucher on which must be written the number and date of the authority for the expense. trademen's accounts should be included in the requisition made for the last month in each quarter. all outstanding accounts should be included in the requisition for the last month in each quarter, as it is very objectionable that accounts for expenses incurred in one quarter should be included in the requisition made for any following quarter. the vouchers for travelling expenses claimed by officers not entitled to a per diem allowance, should bear your certificate that the amount claimed is the amount of the actual expenses incurred. the vouchers for telegraph accounts should bear your certificate that all the telegrams charged for have been sent and received on official business. all accounts for advertising must be accompanied by copies of the advertisement for which the accounts are rendered. in making out the requisition the accounts should be entered according to their amounts, the largest amount being entered first, and the smallest amount last. the accounts should be numbered consecutively in the above order on the back. the number on each account should correspond with the number of its entry in the requisition. the accounts and vouchers themselves should be placed and forwarded in the order in which entered. it is very important that the cheques received in payment of accounts should be promptly acknowledged by returning the form sent with them, and that when paid the vouchers should be always returned with the printed letter of advice, in the same order in which entered in the requisition, so that they can be readily checked. . _one copy of each time bill_ in use should be forwarded on the first day of each quarter. the bills sent to be classified according to frequency of service, and arranged alphabetically. accompanying these bills should be sent a memorandum of all changes made during the past month in the bills used. . _returns of railway and steam boat service_ to be sent in on the first of each month. these returns to be personally examined by the inspector before they are sent in. . _annual return of all cases of loss or abstraction_ to be transmitted on or before the st october in each year. this return should include all cases of loss or abstraction occurring within the year ended the th june last past, as well as all such cases occurring at the end of the preceding year as it may not have been possible to include that year's return. each case should be entered in order according to the date on which the letter was posted. the return should be divided into two parts. the first part should include only registered letters, the cases of entire loss of the letter being entered separately from cases of abstraction of the contents of the letter. the second part should include only unregistered letters, the cases of loss being also entered separately from the cases of abstraction. this return should be very carefully prepared. it constitutes the material from which the annual statement for parliament has to be compiled, and the explanations given under the head of "result of proceedings" should be such as fully to justify every step taken during and subsequent to the investigations instituted. . a return of the mail service in operation in your division on the st day of july, in each year, to be transmitted by the first of the following month. the services in this return to be entered alphabetically and to be classified according to frequency of service, the distances between the termini of the several routes also, to be accurately stated. suspended winter services to be given as a supplement. v. salaries and allowances. . with the exception of postmasters in the cities, postmasters' salaries are based on a commission on the amount of postage on matter prepaid by stamps and posted at their offices, viz.: per cent. on the first $ per annum or $ per quarter, and per cent. on the balance, with a minimum salary of $ per annum in cases where the postage on the matter pre-paid by stamps is less than $ . these salaries are to be revised every two years, but in very special cases where there has been an exceptional increase of revenue or work, the case may be reported on for the postmaster general's consideration. . in cases where the postmaster is required to perform duty between the hours of p.m. and a.m., per cent. instead of per cent. is allowed on the first $ per annum, or $ per quarter of prepaid postage revenue, provided always that the postmaster general considers that there are sufficient grounds for such increased allowance. . allowances for forward duty are made to postmasters who are required to re-mail letters and papers for and from other offices. the amount of remuneration should be regulated according to,-- . the number of offices for and from which the postmaster distributes mails. . the number of mails per week despatched to and received therefrom. . the average amount of matter _re-mailed_ each week, viz.:--number of ordinary letters, registered letters, postal cards, newspapers, books and parcels, &c. it must be clearly understood that in the above must not be included the matter posted, or delivered, at the office to which the allowance forward duty is proposed to be made. . the time occupied in the duty and the number of persons required to accomplish it. . the hours at which the duty is performed. in no case, however, should the allowance for forward duty excel per cent. of the revenue of the offices--the correspondence for and from which is distributed. . when, in consequence of any change in the mail arrangements the forward duty performed by a postmaster is either increased or diminished, you should at once report to the postmaster general what corresponding increase or diminution in the forward allowance should be made, so that the necessary adjustment may take effect from the date on which the change goes into operation. . all reports regarding forward allowance should be accompanied by a tracing from the postal map showing the distributing office, and the offices dependent thereon. . allowances for rent, fuel and light are regulated by the revenue collected at the office, as follows:-- annual revenue. annual allowance. over $ and up to $ , $ " , " , " , " , " , " , and so on, the allowance increasing $ per annum for every $ , or fraction of $ , of yearly revenue. no allowance for rent is made at offices where the revenue is loss than $ per annum. . the scale of salaries of railway mail clerks is as follows:-- -------+---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+ class. | on | after years | after years | after years| | appointment. | service in | service in | service in | | | any class. | any class. | any class. | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | day. | night.| day. | night.| day. | night.| day. | night.| -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | | | , | | , | | , | | | | | | | | | , | | | | | | | | | | -------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+ . in all cases where a railway mail clerk is entitled to an increase of salary, a special report should be made and the postmaster general's sanction obtained previous to the increased salary being entered on the monthly pay list. . railway mail clerks, in addition to their salaries, are entitled to half a cent for each mile travelled whilst on actual duty. until, however, a railway mail clerk is reported to the postmaster general as fully competent to take charge of the mails, he is to be paid only one quarter of a cent for each mile travelled. . the scale of salaries of clerks employed in city offices is as follows:-- st class from $ , to $ , nd " " , rd " " th " " in the nd, rd and th classes, the clerks receive the lower salary on appointment or promotion with an increase of $ each year, until the higher salary is attained. in the first class there is no annual increase, the salary which is fixed by the postmaster general in each case, having regard to the merits and services of the clerks and the relative importance of the duty entrusted to them. . letter carriers will receive such salaries and allowances for uniforms as may be from time to time fixed by the postmaster general. vi. new post offices. . in each report on an application for a new post office describe the locality in which it is proposed to establish the office, giving name of the township, number of lot and concession stating whether front or rear of the concession, and county in which situated. in places where land is not so divided give such particulars as may serve to indicate the exact position. state further the number of churches, schools, mills, stores, houses or other buildings in the immediate neighborhood; the character of the surrounding land, whether well settled, and the estimated number of families that the office applied for would accommodate; its distance from all neighboring offices; its estimated postal revenue; the mode and frequency of the service proposed; the estimated annual cost; whether any previous application for a post office in the same locality has already been reported on, and such other information as may bear on the matter. . with each report on an application for a new post office should be sent a sketch or tracing (from the map of your division) shewing as nearly as can be ascertained the position of the proposed office and mail route, and the offices and mail routes already in operation in its neighborhood. vii. mail arrangements. . the principal object of all mail arrangements is to ensure the transit of the letters and papers to destination with the utmost possible despatch. . the main routes throughout the provinces should connect with each other as closely as it is possible. . the branch routes should be so arranged as to form as close a connection as possible with the main lines. . through bags should be exchanged by all offices between which pass a large number of letters and papers, including travelling post offices on different routes. . when, as a general rule, an office has a large number of registered letters for another office with which it does not exchange a direct mail, the registered letters may be enclosed in a sealed registered packet, addressed to the office for which the letters are intended. the address of the packet, however, should, in all cases, be entered in the letter bill with which it is despatched. when a packet is sent as above, it should be accompanied by a letter bill containing at foot an acknowledgment for registered letters. this acknowledgment should be filled up by the receiving office and returned to the despatching office by the first post. . where large numbers of registered letters pass between two offices, it is desirable that bags secured with the lead seal should be used. . an inspector should always be on the watch to ascertain what improvements can be made in the postal arrangements in his division. it should be his aim to anticipate the wants of the general public, and to combine, as far as practicable, efficiency of service with economy of expenditure. viii. mail service. . it is very essential that a strict supervision should be maintained over the performance of the mail service; that all delays and irregularities should be promptly checked, and, when necessary, fines imposed and enforced. . on all the important routes there should be suitable time bills, in which should be entered the hours of arrival and departure at each office, the names of the couriers, and the no. of the mails received and delivered. . these time bills should be carefully checked and fyled away, the check clerk affixing his initials to each bill. . you should be ready at all times to receive suggestions for improvements in the mail service, and, if desirable, submit them for the consideration of the postmaster general. . leather bags should, as a general rule, be used on stage routes. on the outlying routes, where the mails are exposed to the weather, waterproof canvass bags should be used. ix. establishment of new routes or alterations in routes already in operation. . in making reports on proposed new mail routes, or alterations of existing routes--state clearly-- advantages to be obtained; additional cost per annum to be incurred; present revenue of the offices to be served; increased revenue which it is estimated would result from proposed additional mail facilities; give tables also of the present and proposed routes, showing offices served and intermediate distances. state, also, dates on which contracts which it is proposed to discontinue would terminate provided previous notice were not given by the postmaster general. . with each report send a sketch or tracing from the post office map of your division, showing all the offices affected by the proposed arrangements, denoting the lines of existing routes which it is recommended should be discontinued in blue, and the new routes which it is recommended should be established in red. . all changes in mail services should--except in very special cases--take effect on the first day of each mouth. x. contracts for mail services. . for every mail service there should be a written contract or memorandum of agreement, which should be made out and executed in triplicate, one copy being for the department at ottawa, one for the contractor, and one for yourself. . all contracts for mail services should be made so as to terminate at the end of a quarter, or if that is not possible, at the end of a month. . the contracts terminating at the end of each quarter should be entered in the record of expiration of contracts, a page or two pages in this book as may be required, being appropriated for each quarter. . _six months_ previous to the expiration of the contracts, the usual printed circular should be issued to the postmaster at each of the termini of the several routes, asking whether any improvements can be made in the service. . should any change be desirable a report should be made thereon to the postmaster general, at least one month previous to the preparation of the notices inviting tenders for a new contract. . four months before the expiration of each quarter separate reports should be made to the postmaster general. . of all contracts expiring at the end of the next ensuing quarter in which no change of mail service is proposed. . of all contracts expiring at the end of the next ensuing quarter in which an alteration is recommended. these reports should be accompanied by the usual notices of advertisement inviting tenders. . all advertisements for tenders and all contracts for mail services should be carefully prepared, it being borne in mind that nothing more than what is expressed therein can be legally enforced. the advertisements should be dated a fortnight later than the date of their transmission to the department. . there should be at least six weeks between the date of the advertisements and the date up to which tenders for the service are receivable, and at least eight weeks between the day fixed on for the reception of tenders and the date on which they are to take effect. . duplicates of the notices inviting tenders for mail services, should be fyled in the guard book provided for that purpose. . when the notices have received the approval of the postmaster general, one copy at least should be sent to each office on the route to be advertised, to be posted up in a conspicuous place in the office for the public information, and as many copies as may be considered necessary to the office at each terminus. . the usual forms of tender should also be supplied to postmasters at those places where these forms of tender will probably be enquired for by parties proposing for the service. . unless there is any good and sufficient objection, contracts for mail services must be made with parties whose tenders, being the lowest, have been accepted. . it should, however, be ascertained that the party proposing to undertake the service is able satisfactorily to perform it, and that the sureties he names are good and sufficient for the penalty of the required bond. . in the event of there being any serious objection to entering into a contract with the parties whose tenders have been accepted, full particulars of the objection should at once be reported to the postmaster general, and application made for the next lowest tender. . full particulars should also be promptly furnished to the postmaster general of the action taken on tenders forwarded to you for acceptance on certain conditions, or in cases where none of the tenders received have been accepted in consequence of the high prices demanded. . in dealing with accepted tenders for mail services, and in making out the contract therefor, the greatest possible promptness should be observed. . contracts for mail services should be very carefully prepared, and no contract should be forwarded for the signature of the postmaster general unless correct in all its terms and provisions. . the contract should specify all the offices served _en route_. . all contracts sent for the postmaster general's signature must be accompanied by the printed form or letter, in which should be entered separately and alphabetically:-- . contracts entered into without change of service; . contracts for new services. against each contract should be entered the number and date of the letter under authority of which the contract was made. against the entry of each new contract it should be clearly stated whether the service is entirely a new one. if not, the names of the contract or contracts which it supersedes should be given. . every contract made upon an accepted tender should (when sent to the department) be accompanied by the tender on which it is based. xi. bonds. . bonds must be taken from the following officers:-- postmasters. assistant postmasters in city offices. money order savings bank and registration clerks in city offices. railway mail clerks. letter carriers. . the amount of the penalty of the bond required from postmasters must be governed by the revenue collected, and the amount of business transacted. care must be taken to use the money order form of bond for all postmasters transacting money order and savings bank business. a postmaster's bond should in all cases be completed before he is placed in charge of the office. . the amount of the penalty of the bond required from assistant postmaster in city office, is from $ , to $ , from money order and registration clerks in city office, from " , according to amount of responsibility. from railway mail clerks " letter carriers . bonds can be accepted either from the canada guarantee company, or from two private parties whose sufficiency for the penalty must be certified by a magistrate. bonds from the guarantee company are preferred. . great care must be taken in the filling up and execution of the bonds. the names in the body of the bond must be spelt in the same way as they are in the signature. in the description of the residence of the parties, the name of the judicial, and not the name of the electoral, county must be inserted. . all erasures and corrections should be avoided, but, if made, should be initialed by the parties whose signatures as witnesses are attached to the bond. . the bond should be sealed. . the signature of the principal and the sureties should in every case be witnessed by two persons. the witnesses should always sign their names. marks as substitutes for signatures of witnesses cannot be accepted. . if, as sometimes, it happens through the removal of an office, the township mentioned in the new bond as the residence of the postmaster differs from the township in which the office is situated, as shown in the postal guide, a special report of the fact should be made to the postmaster general. xii. railway mail service. . this is a very important branch of the postal service, and will require your constant supervision. . a distribution book should be supplied the mail clerks on each road, which book should be corrected, at least, once in each month, or oftener, should circumstances render it necessary. . each mail clerk in your division should be examined frequently with the object of ascertaining if he has a proper knowledge of the distribution and of the changes which have taken place in the distribution on the railway on which he is employed. . on every railway route there should be a time bill which should pass from one end of the line to the other, and in which should be entered the particulars of all bags received and delivered by the mail clerks. . you are not authorized to issue passes for travelling in a postal car except to a railway mail clerk actually going on duty. . no person, excepting railway mail clerks on duty, the conductor of the train (in the ordinary course of his duty), and the post office inspectors should be allowed access to the postal cars whilst _en route_ with the mails. . you should make yourself acquainted with the conduct of the railway mail clerks, when off, as well as when on duty, and report to the postmaster general any railway mail clerk who, to your knowledge, is at any time under the influence of liquor or otherwise misconducting himself. . compensation is made to railway companies for mail service performed in a postal car, at the rate of cents per mile actually travelled by mixed trains and cents per mile for quick passenger trains. compensation is also made for the conveyance of bags in charge of the company's servants at the rate of from to cents per mile actually travelled by the trains performing such service. . when service by postal cars is necessary, the companies are bound to furnish travelling post offices suitably fitted up, and to see that they are properly heated, lighted and cleaned, and supplied with water. . all plans for the fitting up of these travelling post offices should, previous to being carried out, be submitted for the approval of the postmaster general. . no promise of remuneration for services performed in connection with the postal service should be made to any person in the employ of a railway company. for all such services, compensation is made to the company in the regular allowance paid to them. . canvas bags, as a general rule, should be used for the railway mail service. the necessary supplies will be furnished on application to the postmaster general. xiii. circulation or distribution. . on the correct distribution of mail matter greatly depends the efficiency of the postal service, and this is, therefore, a point which requires your constant and careful supervision. . as a general rule all officers between which pass large numbers of letters and papers should exchange direct mails, and the termini of routes should be constituted forward or distributing offices. . each distribution book or list should be prepared on a uniform plan. books and forms for manuscript distribution lists can be obtained on application to the secretary. . you should see that all the railway mail clerks and such postmasters as require them, are furnished with proper distribution books, and that these books are from time to time revised and corrected. . all changes in the distribution in your division should be recorded in a book kept for that purpose, and from this book the necessary corrections in the several distribution lists affected should be made. . changes in the distribution affecting offices in other divisions should be at once communicated to the inspectors for the divisions in which the offices are situated. . postmasters and railway mail clerks should be instructed at once to report to you any errors in the distributions which may come under their observation, and prompt steps should be taken for a prevention of their repetition. . when a mail clerk or postmaster has a large number of letters for any particular office with which he does not exchange direct mails, he should tie them all up in one package, either addressing the package or facing the top and bottom letters outwards. . provision should in all cases be made for the direct transmission of letters and papers between offices on the same route. xiv. travelling. . visit and inspect each money order and savings bank office in your division and make a report thereon to the postmaster general on the printed forms, as often as occasion serves, but at least once every year. . visit and inspect every other office in your division as often as circumstances permit. . do not, unless with good and sufficient reason, pass a post office without calling and inspecting it. . keep before you a memorandum of cases requiring personal investigation, so that in travelling you may be able to attend to as many of these cases as may be in the direction of your journey. . in travelling ascertain, as far as you are able, if the service on the several routes over which you pass is in every respect satisfactorily performed, and make memoranda in your pocket memorandum book of any irregularities which you may observe, or of any changes which you may think desirable. . note and take down particulars of any locality at which it is likely a post office may be required, so that when applied for, you may be able to report thereon. . in visiting a post office the following points should engage your attention: . is the office provided with-- a sign? a letter-box? pigeon-holes for letters and papers for delivery and despatch? other necessary fittings? forms and other necessary equipments? . is it conveniently situated and provided with proper accommodation for the public? . are the postmaster and his assistants duly sworn, and do they understand their duties? . has the postmaster proper stamps and material for post-marking letters, &c., and obliterating the stamps thereon? . are the letter bills properly post-marked and fyled? . are the registered letters and mail key kept in a safe place? . are the letters and papers for delivery properly post-marked? are they all intended for the delivery of the office? are they sorted into the proper boxes? are there any which should have been sent to the dead letter office? . are the newspapers for delivery all sorted in their proper pigeon-holes. . are all letters and papers posted for despatch as well as for delivery at the office properly pre-paid by stamp? . are the entries in the book of mails sent and received, and the registered letter books properly made? . are the instructions and circulars received from the department properly fyled? . are the notices sent for exhibition to the public properly posted? . is there a notice posted in the lobby indicating the office hours and the times at which mails are closed and received? . is the postmaster supplied with postage stamps sufficient to meet the requirements of the public? . are the mails regularly received and despatched, and the provisions of the contracts under which the office is supplied properly carried out? . in the event of the office being a money order office ascertain-- . if the entries in all the books are properly made. . whether the cash book at offices where a cash book is kept is made up to date, and whether the date of the deposit receipts agree with the date for which credit is taken therefor. . whether the postmaster has in hand the balance due on money order account. . whether all the numbers of the money orders taken from the order book are properly accounted for. . you should take every opportunity of ascertaining and noting down the character and standing of the several parties employed in the postal service. the information thus obtained may be of value. . you should also take every opportunity of collecting accurate information in regard to the settlement of the country, the position of post offices, roads and distances, and with this object you should carry a map of the section of country through which you pass, and mark thereon as much as you can of the above information. xv. cases of loss or abstraction. . all cases of alleged loss of mails or letters, or of abstraction of money or articles of value from letters should be promptly and thoroughly investigated. . the circumstances attending those cases are so various that it is difficult to lay down any specific rule as to the mode in which the investigation should be conducted. this must be left to the judgment of the inspector. the following course, however, may be taken in ordinary cases. . the printed form of questions should be filled up by the applicant in each case. if the applicant cannot supply all the particulars required, they should be obtained from such other parties as may be able to furnish them. . a "tracer" should be filled up, and sent to the office at which the letter was posted. . the particulars of the cases should be at once entered in the book for the record of applications for lost letters. . the papers connected with each case should be enclosed in a printed "missing letter envelope." this should be docketed, the date on which, and the name of the office to which the tracer was despatched entered thereon, and placed in a pigeon hole appropriated to missing letter cases "awaiting answers." . a prompt return of the tracer must in all cases be insisted on. on no account should its unnecessary detention at any office be permitted. . if on return of the tracer it is shown that no loss has occurred, the applicant should be so informed, a memorandum to that effect written on the envelope in which the papers are enclosed, the papers put away amongst cases of application for letters which have been found, and the entry of the case in the record of applications for lost letters scored out with a blue pencil. . if it is found that a loss has actually taken place, the names of all the offices through which the letter passed, or should have passed, should be carefully recorded in the book of record of applications for missing letters. these offices should then be carefully indexed and a minute examination made with the object of ascertaining whether any of the offices through which the letter passed, or should have passed, appears with unusual frequency in other cases of loss, and whether in such event there is any reason either from the resemblance in the character of the losses or the circumstances attending them to suspect that the losses may be attributable to the same office. . in the event of frequency of loss at a city post office, it should be ascertained through whose hands the missing letter would pass, and an endeavor should in this way be made to concentrate the several losses on the guilty party. . it is a well established fact that a person who has once committed theft will continue to steal, and a concentration of cases of loss, in the manner pointed out, will certainly afford a clue to his detection. . commencing each month, number each office consecutively, as it appears in the record of cases of loss or abstraction. this will show:-- st. the number of cases which have occurred at any particular office during the month; and nd. in each case the relative number of cases affecting each of the offices through which any lost letter, or letter from which an abstraction has been affected, has or should have passed. . it should be borne in mind that losses or abstractions may have occurred previous to the posting of the letters or after their delivery, and that the occurrence of two or more cases applicable to the same party posting or receiving letters is sufficient, at any rate, to awaken suspicion that the loss may not have taken place in the transit of the letters through the post office. . in cases of abstraction it is very important that both the cover and the letter from which the alleged abstraction has taken place should be obtained. a very careful and minute examination thereof will, in many cases, enable the inspector to determine whether any abstraction has really occurred, or, if it has occurred, to narrow the suspicion down to the office where it has actually been committed. . examine the flap of the letter, if necessary, by means of a magnifying glass, and ascertain if it shows the least sign of having been opened and re-fastened, either by slight tears in the paper, marks of dirt, or moisture, or the application of additional mucilage. . weigh the letter with its alleged contents and see if the weight corresponds with the amount of postage paid on the letter. . carefully examine the post-marks. if the impressions or indentations have penetrated from the cover to the letter inside, ascertain whether there has been any change in the position of the letter in the envelope between the time it received the post-mark of one office and the time it received the post-mark of another office. this will sometimes enable you to determine at which office the abstraction was affected. . ascertain if any of the post-marks have penetrated through the envelope from one side of the letter to the other. in such a case you may be able to determine whether, at the time the letter was stamped at any particular office, it actually contained an enclosure. . cases of alleged abstraction have been brought to light in which it has been proved that paper has been enclosed in letters by the senders instead of the money purported to have been remitted. the proof consisted of the impressions of the postmarks placed on the letter at the office at which posted having gone through the envelope on to the papers enclosed. it is, of course, important to ascertain whether the stamps were placed on the letter at the time it was posted. . cases of alleged theft have also been brought to light by the writing on the envelope being in a different hand to the writing in the letter enclosed, by the date of the letter not corresponding with the date of the post-mark of the office at which mailed, and by the dates of the post-marks on the letter showing that it has been subjected to some unusual delay. all these points should, therefore, be closely looked into. . in all cases it would be desirable to ascertain at what point the best opportunity for the alleged theft would have been afforded. . the evidence in each case of enquiry should be carefully taken down in writing, and every circumstance, however trifling, which may in the slightest degree bear on the case, noted. it is frequently by a collection of apparently unimportant facts that important results are arrived at. . care should be taken in every case to avoid the formation of any opinion until all the facts which it is possible to obtain in regard to it are collected together. it is only from these facts and from the character and antecedents of the parties who may have been concerned in the loss, and not from some suspicion unsupported by facts, that conclusions can with any safety be drawn. . all serious cases of loss or abstraction should be at once specially reported to the postmaster general, and the most prompt action taken thereon. . in cases of ascertained loss or abstraction, the inspector for each division through which the letter passed should be furnished with full particulars thereof. . when there is no moral doubt of guilt, it is desirable that the party suspected should be at once suspended from his duties. . it is not advisable however to take criminal proceedings in cases of theft, unless there is a probability of such evidence being obtained as will secure a conviction of the guilty party. xvi. arrears and outstanding accounts. . all outstanding accounts and arrears due from postmasters and ex-postmasters must be entered in the book provided for that purpose. . this book should be divided into three parts: . for entry of arrears due from postmasters in office. . for entry of arrears due from ex-postmasters. . for entry of names of offices which have failed to render their accounts. . prompt steps must be taken to obtain these outstanding accounts and arrears. application should first be made to the postmaster or ex-postmaster to send them in. if he fails to do this within a reasonable time--say two weeks--a letter should be addressed to each of his sureties. if this produces no good result, a second application should be made to the sureties informing them that if by a certain day--say in two weeks time--the accounts and arrears are not forwarded, the matter will be reported to the postmaster general, who will probably order legal proceedings to be taken against them. . if, after the expiration of the time given, the accounts and arrears are not paid, this result should be specially reported to the postmaster general. in such case it would be desirable to ascertain and report to the postmaster general whether the postmaster and his sureties are good and sufficient for the amount of the arrears due. . when the accounts and arrears are sent in, the entry in the arrears books should be erased in blue pencil. . on no account should outstanding accounts and arrears be overlooked and neglected. in some cases, when the amounts involved are large, a personal visit may be necessary. xvii. conclusion. it is very important that each inspector should make himself thoroughly conversant with the foregoing regulations, and it will be the duty of the chief inspector, when visiting the several divisions, to ascertain whether these regulations are properly observed and to report to the postmaster general such deviations as may come under his notice. alexander campbell, _postmaster general._ ottawa, st august, . * * * * * typographical errors corrected in text: [ ] on page , entry : "those cases not erased should be consecutively numbered and the number erased in the return." the word 'erased' is marked out and 'entered' is written in the margin. by the context, the word clearly should be 'entered', so corrected and noted here. * * * * * images of public domain material from the google print project.) a general plan for a mail communication by steam, between great britain and the eastern and western parts of the world; also, to canton and sydney, westward by the pacific; to which are added, geographical notices of the isthmus of panama, nicaragua, &c. with charts. by james m'queen, esq. london; b. fellowes, ludgate street. . startling as the subject of connecting china and new south wales (p. vi) with great britain, through the west indies, may at first sight appear, both as regards time and expense, still few things are more practicable. the labour and expense of crossing the isthmus of america, either by panama or by lake nicaragua, by a land conveyance, is trifling. with eight steam-boats, only four additional to the number already in the west indies, added to the present sailing-packet establishment, the whole plan for the western world, extending it westward to china and new south wales, can, in the mean time, as the following pages will show you, be put into execution to the fullest extent, with a very great saving in time, and with very great regularity. a water communication moreover will, i feel convinced, and at no distant day, be carried through the american isthmus--say by lake nicaragua--when the sailing packets for the pacific may run direct between jamaica and sydney, new south wales, and canton-china. in the estimate for the cost of steam-boats to be employed in the service proposed, i have been chiefly guided by, and adhere to, the statement made by that able and practical engineer mr. napier, of glasgow, in his evidence to the post-office commissioners in , that steam-boats of -horse power, and tons burthen, could be furnished at from , _l._ to , _l._ at this rate the total yearly cost of mail communications by the aid of steam, to every quarter which has been adverted to in the subsequent pages, will (p. vii) be as stated in the following brief summary. reference no. , shows the expenditure, keeping the red sea route confined to india only, and extending the communication to china and sydney by the pacific, from panama or rialejo. no. , the expense, confining the communication by the cape of good hope to india only, and extending the communication to canton, &c. across the pacific as before. no. , shows the expenditure for the western world, the work performed by steam in the west indies, and steam from falmouth to fayal, with sailing-packets for the remainder of the work; and the whole expense, by extending sailing-packets to china and sydney westward across the pacific, but limiting the communication by the red sea to india only. lastly, no. , shows the expenditure of the communications made in a way similar to no. , limiting the conveyance by the cape of good hope to india only: (see also appendix no. , p. .) no. . no. . no. . no. . western world £ , £ , £ , £ , east indies, &c. , , , , pacific , , , , -------- -------- -------- -------- £ , £ , £ , £ , -------- -------- -------- -------- it is, however, to that portion connected with the western world that the immediate and particular attention of yourself and the other members of her majesty's government is particularly requested. the other parts, above alluded to, may hereafter not be deemed (p. viii) unworthy of your consideration, and the consideration of the public. carried into effect in a decided manner, and as speedily as the nature and extent of the machinery required will admit, it would produce great and lasting advantages to the british empire, and confer great honour upon the british government and the splendid post-office establishment of this country. permit me to observe, that the speedy conveyance of mails outwards, to any place, is but a _minor_ point gained, unless the returns are made regular and equally rapid, and so combined, that while every place possible can be embraced in the line, no place shall obtain any undue advantage over another. these points can never be lost sight of in planning or arranging any mail communication, but more especially a communication like that at present proposed. no narrow or parsimonious views on the part of this great country ought to throw aside the plan particularly alluded to, or leave it to be taken up and split into divisions by parties, perhaps foreigners, who will then not only command the channels of british intelligence, but be enabled to demand what price they please for carrying a large and important portion of the commercial correspondence of this country. the public, moreover, can only repose implicit confidence in a mail conveyance under the direction and the responsibility of government. further, it is scarcely necessary to point out, or to (p. ix) advert to, the immense advantages which the government of great britain would possess, in the event of hostilities, by having the command and the direction of such a mighty and extensive steam power and communication, which would enable them to forward, to any point within its vast range, despatches, troops, and warlike stores. from falmouth, letters might be at sydney, new south wales, in seventy-five, and at canton-china in seventy-eight days, by employing sailing packets only, to cross the pacific from the isthmus of america. letters from falmouth, by way of barbadoes, jamaica, and chagre, could be at lima in thirty-five days. to give greater security to the mails, and comfort and accommodation to passengers, &c. a class of sailing-vessels rather larger than the generality of those at present employed in the west indies, ought to be engaged; and for this purpose, a larger sum annually must be allowed to defray the expense. some of those at present employed, such as the charib, may do, but sloops are too small for the service. it is only within these few months that a mail communication, and that very uncertain and irregular, has been commenced with the british empire in hindostan, containing , , of people. with the rapidly rising colonies in british america, containing , , enterprising inhabitants, there is still but one ill-regulated mail conveyance, by a sailing-packet, each month. such a state of things (p. x) is neither creditable nor safe to a country like great britain. the population of these colonies must be left far behind their neighbours in the united states in all commercial intelligence, and the interests of the former must consequently suffer greatly. the steam-boats to be employed in the service contemplated, although of the high power mentioned, need not be of the same tonnage as vessels of an equal power which are built for the sole purpose of carrying goods. consequently, a considerable expense in building the former will be saved. mails never can be carried either with regularity or certainty in vessels, the chief object and dependence of which is to carry merchandize. the time which such vessels would require to procure, take in, and discharge cargoes, would render punctuality and regularity, two things indispensably necessary in all mail communications, quite impracticable. any attempt to resort to such a system, more especially in a quarter where steamers would have so many places to call at as these will have in the west indies, would throw every thing into inextricable confusion. steam-boats carrying mails and passengers should be the mail-coaches of the ocean, limited as mail-coaches on land are to cargoes, and as near as possible to the tonnage pointed out in the following pages. the steamers to be employed in the service contemplated should also be built broad in the beam, of a light draught of water, and in speed, accommodation, and (p. xi) security, must be such that no others of equal powers can surpass them. the liberality of mr. john arrowsmith, so well known for his geographical knowledge and geographical accuracy, has enabled me, without the labour of constructing it, to present to you and to the public the chart of the world, between ° n. lat. and ° s. lat., on mercator's projection, which accompanies the present sheets. on it i have laid down all the routes of both steamers and sailing-packets, to every quarter of the world that has been adverted to; and further added a chart of the west indies, and of the isthmus of america, drawn by myself, and corrected by the latest authorities. the timid and the interested will throw every doubt upon the success of such an undertaking. what is going on in the world is the best answer to doubts and fears on this subject. what takes place in other quarters will take place in the quarters alluded to, namely, success where failure was anticipated. in a vast undertaking like the plan proposed, the interests of the government and the general interests of the public must be specially kept in view and particularly attended to. by attending closely to these interests, the government will find that it best and most effectually consults the interests of individuals, places and communities. no partial or local interest or opposition (such may (p. xii) in this, as in most other concerns, appear) ought to be listened to. any such opposition can only proceed from prejudice, or ignorance, or self-interest; and a little experience will satisfy the public, and convince even such opposition, that the fact is so; and, moreover, that in the arrangements proposed, no interest in any quarter has been neglected. i have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient humble servant, james m'queen. london, th feb. . a general plan for conveyance of mails by steam, &c. &c. (p.  ) introduction. the conveyance of mails and despatches from one place to another is of the utmost possible importance to individuals, and to a country. the rapidity and regularity with which such communications can be made, gives to every nation an influence, a command, and advantages such as scarcely any thing else can give, and frequently extends even beyond the sphere of that influence and that command which the direct application of mere physical power can obtain to any government or people. much as great britain has already done, in this respect, to connect and to communicate with her very extensive, valuable, and important foreign dependencies, still much more remains to be done, to give her those advantages, and that influence, and that command which she might have, which she ought to have, which all her great interests require she should have; and which the power of steam, together with the late great improvements in machinery, can and ought, in a special manner, to secure unto her, her commerce, her power, and her people. in no quarters of the world could the application of the power and the improvements alluded to prove so advantageous to the commercial (p.  ) and the political interests of great britain as in the east indies, in the west indies, and in those places connected with these quarters; and also in all those countries and places which afford the safest and the speediest means of connecting the chain closely which tends to enable her to communicate more frequently, more rapidly, and more regularly with these places; and, at the same time, all these quarters, and her own possessions, with the parent state. the object being a national one, it ought to be carried into effect by the nation, without reference to the mere question of pounds shillings and pence; that is, whether it is to become a directly remunerating concern or not. while the important subject ought to be taken up in this manner by the government of great britain, it may be observed that the plan requisite, carried into effect in the most extensive manner, will certainly remunerate fully the government or the individuals who may undertake the work, either on the general or on the more limited scale; but the higher, the more the scale is extended. in fact, unless the plan is carried into effect on an extensive scale, it will not prove a concern so remunerating as it would otherwise be, because it is only by connecting different places in the line, or within the sphere of communication, that a greater number, or rather a sufficient number, of letters and passengers can be obtained; and unless the communications are sufficiently frequent and regular, both letters and travellers will continue to find private traders and ships in general the quickest mode of proceeding on and getting to the end of their journey, or the place of their destination. the position of the united states, in the western world, and the very extensive trade which these states carry on with every part of that quarter of the world, and indeed with every quarter of the world, gives the merchants of these states, constituted as the packet arrangements and communications of great britain with foreign parts now are, an opportunity of receiving earlier intelligence regarding the state of many important foreign markets than british merchants in general enjoy, except such as are immediately connected with establishments in the united states, and by which means both obtain decided advantages over the rest of the commercial community. (p.  ) this ought not to be the case in a great commercial country like great britain. it is a fact quite notorious, that from almost every quarter of the western world the earliest intelligence is almost uniformly received through the united states. the whole correspondence of the important british provinces, the canadas, comes through these states. it is also notorious, that, by means of our own commercial marine, intelligence is generally received from many foreign countries earlier than by government packets. indeed, it is not uncommon among merchants to return, unopened, to the post-office many letters in originals, they having previously received the duplicates by private merchant ships. besides, it is well known that vast numbers of letters from great britain to foreign states are sent through the united states, because these go earlier to their place of destination. in these various ways a great post-office revenue is cut off, while the mercantile world are put to a great inconvenience and uncertainty. it is not befitting that the first commercial country in the world should remain dependent upon the private ships of another commercial and rival state for the transmission of commercial correspondence. if such a deficient system is persevered in, the result will most infallibly be, that that country which obtains, and which can obtain, the earliest commercial information, will, in time, become the greatest and most prosperous commercial country. it is, in fact, quite impossible that the commercial interests of any country can ever compete with the commercial interests of another country, unless the one have equally rapid, frequent, and regular opportunities and means of correspondence and conveyance with the other. if the merchants of other countries have quicker and more frequent communications with any particular quarter of the world, than the merchants of the united kingdom have, it is obvious that the former will obtain a decided advantage over the latter, in regulating and directing all commercial transactions. the foreign trade of great britain, besides forming an immense moving power for giving activity to every branch of internal industry, trade, and commerce, becomes also, from the correspondence to which it (p.  ) gives rise, and by which it can alone be carried on, an immense and direct source of post-office revenue: but the direct postage derived from the correspondence required in the foreign trade, great as it is, is small when compared to the addition which the correspondence in the foreign trade directly and immediately gives to the internal postages of the kingdom. if it is examined narrowly, it will, it is not doubted, be found that almost every letter of the moiety of those which come from the british transmarine possessions, and from other foreign parts, whether by packets or by merchant ships, (of the latter, it may be said, a number equal to the whole which pay postage do, because the very great number of letters directed to consignees come free,) produces, perhaps, _ten letters_, on which the largest single internal postages are charged and paid. this arises from orders sent to different places to tradesmen, mechanical and manufacturing establishments for goods; orders for insurance; invoices sent; payments, in consequence, by bills or orders, and in bills transmitted for acceptances, &c. &c. in all mail communications, such as those which are about to be considered, the point to be kept steadily in view, and one which is absolutely indispensable, is to connect and to bring the return mails and the outward together, in such a manner as that every intermediate place shall have the full benefit of both, without trenching upon the general interests, or occasioning any unnecessary detention or delay. this great and essential point is more particularly necessary to be attended to in the conveyance of mails by sea to distant parts, especially if conveyed by steam. in the quarters about to be noticed, the point alluded to will be shown to be more than in any other quarter necessary. without this is effected, nothing beneficial is, in fact, effected; and to secure the object, a commanding power is obviously and indispensably necessary. for various reasons, which it is considered unnecessary here to state, steamers of -horse power each, will be found to be the best and most economical class of vessels to employ in the service contemplated. the next and a still more important point to attend to, and to (p.  ) keep in mind, is to have always in readiness, and at well-selected stations, a sufficient quantity of coals to supply each boat: without such are at command, no movement can take place; and unless the supply is ample, and always at hand, no regular communication can ever be carried on. wood, indeed, may be procured in some stations in the west indies, but not in all; while even where it can be obtained, it will be found to be dearer than coal. the quantity also necessary for a vessel of large power, and for a voyage of any considerable length, would far exceed the room that could be afforded, in a vessel of properly regulated tonnage. a supply of coals, moreover, could be had at all the places to be brought into notice by care, and foresight, at moderate rates, and at the rates taken in the subsequent calculations. merchant vessels, bound to all quarters, so soon as they perceived that they were sure of a market, would take a proportion of coals as ballast; and others would be glad to take a portion even beyond that, to aid them in completing their cargoes, instead of remaining, as vessels both at liverpool, glasgow, &c. frequently do, some time, till they can obtain a sufficient quantity of goods to enable them to do so: while such vessels could at all times furnish in this way a sufficient supply of coals, at moderate rates, and still afford to them a fair profit; such assistance in loading, by enabling vessels to sail at short and regularly stated periods, would become of the most essential service to the commercial interests of this country. the time hitherto occupied by steamers in taking in coals, in almost every place, has constituted of itself a considerable drawback on steam navigation: it may, to a great extent, be avoided. let carriages, such as are used on the railroads for carrying coals at newcastle, &c. be constructed with iron handles. these may be made to hold one and a half, or two tons of coals (either of these weights, it is supposed, might be hoisted into a vessel without difficulty), and be all filled and placed on a raft or punt ready at each depôt, thirty to sixty in number, according to its importance, awaiting the arrival of the packet steamer. the moment she comes into port, the punt will be alongside, and the whole will be hoisted in in a few hours, the place for receiving them being always, and during the voyage, (p.  ) prepared for them. in this way tons of coals may be taken in within a very short space of time; the buckets first emptied, refilled, and emptied again, to a considerable extent, in a period of no great additional time. at smaller depôts and ports, the steamer might hoist in thirty or forty tons of coals during her shorter time of stoppage; and thus steamers, without any material delay, would always have a sufficient and certain supply of fuel. the coals at all the depôts should be well covered and protected from the sun. further, on this head, most of the small coal (the best) which goes to waste at the depôts, may be saved by the following simple process:--let it be mixed with a little clay, considerably diluted, then made into small balls, and afterwards dried in the sun (a rapid process within the tropics), and then taken on board with the others when wanted. it burns with great force. it is so used on estates in the west indies for stills. the saving is great, and the labour of making it up exceedingly light. a child may almost perform it. it is necessary to observe, that steam-boats for the torrid zone must be fitted up and out in a manner considerably different, more especially in their hatches, from the best and most splendid boats in this country. for the convenience and health of both the passengers and crews, those for the torrid zone must, in every part, be more roomy and airy, yet so constructed as to be closed in the speediest and securest manner in the event of a hurricane; consequently they will require less expense in building, and fitting up of cabins, &c. than the crack boats in this country, in order to make them so. in all the distances stated, there are, be it observed, included in the time allowed, three or four hours to land and take in mails and passengers at every place where the steamers may have to touch; and at the more important stations, at least six hours beyond the longer periods allowed for stoppages for coals and mails, &c. it will be necessary to give six or eight hours at barbadoes before the departure of the steamer, that government despatches may be forwarded. in fact, the steamer should always, and only leave that island at sun-rise on the day following that whereon the packet arrived from england, (p.  ) because by doing so, it would reach st. thomas at daybreak on the second morning (the navigation at that island is rather dangerous during the night), clear it, and reach st. john's, porto rico, with daylight, and in consequence cape nichola in daylight also, on the second day thereafter. the old _galatea_ frigate might be carried up from jamaica and moored at cape nichola mole, on board of which those mails and specie may be deposited, that require to be disembarked from such steamers, &c., as cannot be detained till the packet arrives to receive them. this, however, will seldom be the case, nor to any great extent; as the homeward-bound packet, whether steamer or sailing-vessel, will almost always be at cape nichola before the steamer gets up from the leeward. she may also be used to hold coals for a supply for the steamer to a certain extent. let the fact be urged in the strongest manner, that a communication once a month, to any given place, will never pay, nor answer any great or good purpose. mails, or rather letters and passengers, will not wait for such a length of time, especially when these could, as for example from the havannah, almost be in england, by way of new york, in the interval that would elapse between the departure of one packet and another, when there was only one packet in the month; but give two each month, and neither could ever be so. the arrangements, and the extent of the internal post-office establishments of great britain, are upon the most splendid and efficient footing. there is nothing of a similar kind in any other country, either in management, or combination, or regularity, that can equal or even be compared to them. it is, however, much otherwise with all her transmarine mail communications. they are all particularly deficient in combination, limited in their operations, and inefficient as regards the machinery employed to carry the mails. this, in a more particular manner, is the case with the west indies: the small sailing vessels there employed are generally very unfit for such a service, and the steamers sent out to work them, with the exception of the _flamer_, being only of -horse power, and besides badly constructed, are (p.  ) wholly unfit for the service in any way; and even the vessel named, which is -horse power, though much superior to any of the other three, the _carron_, the _echo_, and the _albyn_, is still too small to perform her work in proper and reasonable time, or to stem the currents and trade winds, to say nothing of tempests, which, as regards the two former, constantly prevail in the seas in that quarter of the world. it may also be remarked, that to extend or to add to the number of post communications, does not add proportionally to the machinery necessary for the conveyance of these: in other words, if the communications are doubled in number, the machinery used for conveyance is not necessarily doubled, nor the expense consequently doubled. take, for example, the station between barbadoes and jamaica: with two mails each month, this could not be effected with fewer than three steam-boats; but the same number of steamers will, without inconvenience, extend the communication to havannah, and take in, at the same time, several important places extra. a judicious and proper combination and regularity in all movements can, with the same machinery, and with but little additional expense, perform, in some instances double, and in many instances nearly double work. the objects for making fayal, in the western islands, a central point of communication, are as follow:--first, it is directly in the course for the west indies; so nearly so for rio de janeiro in the outward voyage (in the homeward it is the best course), that if not actually the best course, as it is believed it really is, the deviation, as will afterwards more clearly appear, is not worth taking into account. it is also the proper course for new york, and even not much out of the way from the direct line to halifax; while, considering the winds and currents, the gulf stream, for example, which prevail in the atlantic, steamers or sailing packets will make the voyage from falmouth to halifax by this route as speedily, on an average, as if they were to take the direct course. it is well known, that vessels bound to the northern ports of the united states, go much to the southward of the western islands. secondly, it will save two steam-boats on (p.  ) the north american line, and two more on the south american line, for that distance (not fewer than two would do for each line); which, with coals, yearly, would cost , _l._ this, alone, ought to determine the point. these steam-packets should be allowed to carry parcels, packages, and light and fine goods, which could afford to pay a considerable freight. this ought to be limited, however, not to exceed forty tons in each vessel on each of the great lines (except falmouth to fayal, which may be ); and the small sailing vessels in proportion. these things, without retarding the speed materially, would produce a considerable return, but from which must come port charges, &c. if the steamers are allowed to become mere vessels of freight, or for carriage of goods, no regularity in their voyages could be expected. to avoid delay, these articles could be landed and taken to the custom-house in every island and place, and delivered thence, under the revenue laws, to each owner. the greater extent to which combination can be carried on in the mail circle, and the wider that that circle can be extended, so much cheaper the labour of conveyance becomes, and the greater the returns therefrom. further, not merely the greatest possible speed, but the greatest possible regularity, is the desiderata in the conveyance of mails in any country: the latter, in particular, is more essentially necessary than the former, and is, in fact, the life-spring of all commercial communication. the work to be performed, in every quarter, must not only be well done, but done within a limited time, in order to render it beneficial and effective. powerful boats, that can overcome the distance and the natural obstacles that present themselves, can alone do this. small-power boats can never accomplish the work. numbers will not overcome the difficulties, nor come, as regards time, within the limits required. each packet steamer on each of the great lines, could and should return unto falmouth alternately, and the boats from falmouth be prepared to take the longer voyage in their stead. the time each will have to stop at falmouth will always allow of time for any material (p.  ) examination and the repairs that may be necessary. without actual experience it is impossible to place before the public, in a correct point of view, the whole appearance and state of steamers employed in the west indian mail service, as seen last year--when the whole extent of their voyages was travelled over in more than one of them:--imagine a small ill-contrived boat, an old -gun brig, as the _carron_ is, for example, of -horse power, and thirty to forty tons of coals on her deck; with a cabin about thirteen feet by ten, and an after-cabin still smaller, both without any means of ventilation, except what two ill-planned, narrow and miserable hatches, when open, afford. imagine a vessel like this starting from jamaica, with ten or fifteen passengers, and a crew of thirty-seven people, still more miserably provided with room and quarters, to stem the currents, the trade winds--(not to speak of storms,)--which blow, and the heavy seas which roll, between that island and st. thomas, especially in the channel between the former and st. domingo, and indeed in all the west indies: having the boiler immediately adjoining the cabin and sleeping berths, and without any place to stow the luggage belonging to the passengers,--and with the numerous mail bags crammed into the small sleeping berths, or under the table,--and the public will have a faint idea of a government steam-boat; wherein, under a tropical sun and a tropical rain, the passengers and crews are, with the hatches closed, reduced to the choice, while choked with coal-dust, of being broiled or suffocated. no human constitution can long stand this. without meaning any offence, truth must declare, that such a state of things is a disgrace to england. the most urgent haste and necessity can alone bring individuals to travel by such conveyances, and none will do so whose time will allow them to look for other modes of conveyance and transport. female passengers, in particular, without female attendants, or room for them, will never willingly undertake, certainly never repeat, a voyage under such circumstances. it would seem that, in this respect, the vessels belonging to the most powerful, enlightened, and civilized government in the world, are to be placed far below the level of (p.  ) vessels belonging to their own subjects, and those of other nations; although such vessels are expressly appointed to convey passengers. with these preliminary observations, it is proposed to consider the details of a plan for the more extended conveyance of mails by steam-boats, first to the western world, under the separate heads into which such a plan, necessarily and properly divides itself. in doing this, it will satisfactorily appear that the more the plan is extended, the less in proportion will the expenses attending the same be, and the greater the returns be therefrom. i. (p.  ) _falmouth and madeira, or one of the western islands, department._ either of the islands just named may be made central points of the greatest importance for connecting the mail communications between great britain and all the western world. the western islands, however, become a central point, more direct and convenient than madeira, for all the outward and homeward west indian packets, and still more so for all those which may be bound for new york and british north america. in short, the packets for neither of the latter places could go or come by madeira without great inconvenience and loss of time; whereas, neither would take place if fayal is made the point of arrival at and departure from. the latter island is directly in the course of both the west indian and homeward-bound south american packets; and it may be said with equal accuracy, in the outward direct course of these packets also. although a little further removed into the variable winds than madeira, still it is well known that fayal once made, the greatest difficulties in the voyages of the outward-bound packets are overcome. the distance, also, from falmouth to either of these islands is not materially different: from falmouth to madeira direct, is geographical miles; and from falmouth to fayal direct, miles. in the outward voyage fayal is miles nearer barbadoes than madeira; and in the homeward, from cape nichola mole, also. the distance between madeira and rio de janeiro, and between the latter and fayal, is not greatly different, being (taking in bahia and pernambuco) for the latter miles, and for the former ; but from the course which the homeward packet must take through the trades, the distance to madeira, as compared with the distance (p.  ) and course to fayal, would be increased by miles. on the whole, considering the advantages and disadvantages to arise from making either of these islands, viz., madeira and fayal, the central points, it would appear that the balance would considerably incline to be in favour of any one of the central azores, say falmouth and terceira or fayal. fayal being taken as the central point to which and from which the packets for the western world are to converge and to diverge, the arrangements will run as follow:-- the steam-boats from falmouth to fayal would carry out all the mails from great britain to the western world; viz.: for british north america, for new york, for the british west indies and all the gulf of mexico, and for the brazils and buenos ayres, as also for madeira and teneriffe. from falmouth to fayal is, course s. ° w. distance geographical miles. two steam-boats of -horse power each would perform this work out and home, giving two mails each month, each boat returning with the mails for great britain from all the places mentioned, to be brought to that island in a manner which will shortly and more particularly be pointed out. in fine weather each boat would make the voyage within six days, and in rough weather in seven days,--but say seven days at an average. each boat would be at sea days each voyage = days monthly = days yearly; tons of coal per day = tons yearly; which, at _s._ per ton, is _l._ annually. the yearly cost of the two boats for this station would therefore be: (prime cost of two, , _l._)-- two boats' wages and provisions, &c., at £ . , coals for do., yearly , ------- total £ , ------- the stoppage at fayal would depend upon the arrival of the packets with the mails from the brazils, the west indies, &c. &c., but the arrangements for all these will be such as will bring the stoppage not to exceed one or two days, and which will prove no more than sufficient to take in coals, water, &c. &c. despatched from london on the st and th day of each month, the steamers from falmouth, with all the (p.  ) mails, would reach fayal on the th and th of each month, from whence they would immediately be despatched to their ulterior destinations. by this arrangement government would save at least three west indian or barbadoes packets, one halifax and one rio de janeiro packet (exclusive of six mexican packets saved, but included in the west indian department), after giving to the two quarters of america last mentioned two mails instead of one each month, and which saving would, at least, be , _l._ yearly. the voyages also from england to every quarter connected with this arrangement would be greatly shortened, even were the communications by steam to be carried no farther; as every nautical man knows well that it is between the western islands and the english channel, whether outwards or inwards, that the greatest detention in every voyage, whether it regards packets or any other vessels, takes place. in a particular manner the arrival of the outward packets at barbadoes would be more regular, almost quite regular; and thus _extra_ steam-boats in that quarter, on account of the irregularities in the arrivals as under the present system, would be rendered unnecessary; and the same thing may be said of every other quarter to which the plan and the chain of communication is intended to extend. _fayal._[ ] [footnote : the island of fayal is chosen as the point of communication in preference to terceira, &c. because during the few months when one side is exposed to storms, the other side is well sheltered, and the distance is very short from the one side to the anchorage on the other. as each of the steamers from the westward and southward will proceed to falmouth in her turn, so if all the mails are up at fayal before the outward steamer arrives from falmouth, the steamer whose turn it is to proceed on to falmouth, will go forward with the mails without any delay, except to take in coals.] all the outward mails from great britain to the western world, having reached fayal, they would be despatched from thence and return back to it, under the following arrangements and regulations. take them in order as follow:-- ii. (p.  ) _fayal and north america._ the rising importance of british america renders it highly desirable, nay, absolutely necessary, that a more frequent and regular post communication should be established with it. this might be done so as to secure all the post-office revenue derivable from the letters to and from that quarter of the empire with great britain; and not only so, but to draw from the united states unto england some of that postage and some of those passengers which belong specifically to those states. to carry this into effect, it must be done by steam-boats, and fayal made the point of communication from which the mails are to diverge, and to which they are again to return. the point of communication with fayal should be either by halifax to new york, or to halifax alone; from which place the steamer to run to the west indies could carry the european mails to and from new york. in each way the details will be as follow:-- _fayal to new york, by halifax._ from fayal to new york direct is miles; and from fayal to new york, by halifax, is miles. if this course is adopted, there would be no need for any stoppages at halifax, except to land the outward mails, &c., and pick up the inward, or homeward-bound european mails, &c. the steamers, with the outward mails on board, would proceed from fayal on the th and th of each month, and reach new york, by halifax, on the th and d of each month, or in thirteen days. leaving new york on the evening of the th or th, and the th or th of the month, with the return mails from the states, and calling at halifax for all those from british america, the steamer would reach fayal in thirteen days, or on the th and d of each month, exactly in time, as will by-and-by be shown, for the homeward-bound west indian and brazil mails coming up to the same place; and two days previous to the arrival of the outward packet (p.  ) from falmouth, after allowing two days to stop at new york, and having one day to spare, in the event of severe weather on the voyage. the course and time will be:-- geo. miles. days. fayal to halifax halifax to new york stop at new york " new york to fayal, by halifax ---------- totals ---------- two steam-boats would perform this work, giving two mails each month, prime cost , _l._; wages, provisions, &c. &c. _l._ each, , _l._ each boat would be at sea and = days, monthly = yearly; tons of coals daily = , yearly, at _s._ per ton, , _l._ this would, however, be close work for two boats, in the event of accidents; and therefore a spare boat would be required, at an additional expense of , _l._ capital, and _l._ yearly charges. but two may be rendered quite sufficient by making halifax, instead of new york, the point of communication between fayal and british north america; the communication with new york to be taken up, and carried on, by the steamers proposed to run between north america and the west indies, as explained and stated under the next head. fixing the communications in this way, the details, or the course and time, would be:-- geo. miles. days. fayal to halifax rest there, say " halifax to fayal ----------- totals ----------- two boats would be quite sufficient to perform this service, and the advantage would be gained of having a british port as the port for trans-shipment. each boat would be at sea and = days each voyage = monthly = yearly; coals, tons daily = , (p.  ) tons yearly, at _s._ = , _l._ the periods for the arrivals and departures of these halifax and fayal steamers will be found to agree well with the arrivals and departures of the steamers to run between halifax and the west indies, by way of new york, as minutely particularized under the next head. halifax ought to be made the point from which, and to which, all the british north american, foreign, that is, transmarine correspondence, ought to converge and diverge. it can be made to do so readily, and with advantage, as the following distances will show:-- distance. geo. miles. new york to quebec n. ° east. new york to montreal n. ° e. halifax to st. john's, by annapolis n. ° w. st. john's to quebec n. ° w. quebec to montreal s. ° w. thus it is obvious that halifax is nearer england three and a half days each way than new york; that much time would, by the above course of post, between the mother country and all her north american possessions, be saved, while all the advantages of carrying these mails and passengers, &c. would be gained by british shipping and british subjects. the communications could be carried on between fayal and halifax, &c. by sailing packets instead of steam vessels; but then these sailing packets, on account of the number of passengers which it is almost certain would travel by them, would require to be packets of the largest size, or first class. their average voyages may be taken at sixteen days each, with six or eight to stop at halifax, which would bring the full voyage to forty days. this would throw the return letters always one mail, or fifteen days, later for europe, than if steamers were employed; but, at the same time, it would bring their arrival at fayal to be regular, and in sufficient time for the succeeding homeward packet from fayal; for, if they go beyond thirty days, their return within forty-five days, _in this or in any other station_, would meet the central point at fayal equally well, as to dates; but such a detention would not only occasion so much loss (p.  ) of time to the course of correspondence, but give letters a chance of reaching europe sooner from new york direct. two sailing packets would perform this work in the unavoidably extended time mentioned, giving two mails each month; first cost , _l._ = , _l._; yearly charges _l._ each = _l._ iii. _north america and west indies._ the intercourse between these quarters of the world, and also of each of these with the united states, is already of great importance, and will daily become more and more important, while there is, at present, no mail communication between them. a regular, and frequent mail communication in that quarter has become indispensably necessary. while this fact must be admitted, it is of great importance to have as many of the points of combination under the british flag as possible. keeping this desirable point in view, it is necessary to observe, that this must be done, taking havannah into the line; because, if it is not included in the british line, it will be forthwith occupied by parties from the united states, and letters, passengers, &c. both for all north america and for europe, from the west indies, will go by these states, new york for example. the arrivals and departures of the steam packets on this line must also be calculated, and fixed so as to agree with the arrivals and departures of the outward and homeward-bound mails by fayal, for north america, and also for all the west indies, southwards to havannah and mexico. the desirable object of bringing the most important central and trans-shipping points under the british flag, can only be gained by making in this case the run of the steamers to be from halifax, by new york, to the havannah; or from new york, by havannah, to jamaica. while the various ways by which this latter could be effected are (p.  ) here stated, still the former will be found to be the most economical, certainly not the most inconvenient, and, on many accounts, the preferable mode. at havannah the north american steamer would meet in the most regular manner, and to a day, the steamers from havannah to vera cruz; and from havannah to jamaica, barbadoes, &c. &c. the route and time of these boats would be as follows:-- geo. miles. days. halifax to new york - / new york to havannah - / stop at havannah, say havannah to halifax, by new york. ---- ------ totals two powerful boats would be perfectly sufficient to perform this work, giving two mails each month; first cost , _l._, yearly charges , _l._ each boat would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly; coals daily, tons = , tons yearly, at _s._ = , _l._ the outward european mails would arrive at halifax on the th and the th or th of every month, and at havannah on the st or st, and th or th of each month. leaving halifax on the days above mentioned, the steamers, by way of new york, would reach havannah on the th and th of each month, and, allowing two days at havannah, return to halifax by way of new york, on the th and th, eight days before the arrival there of the outward european packet, giving abundance of time to rest. this steamer will bring back from new york the answers to the letters received from europe for the return packet from halifax to fayal. these letters would reach new york on the d and th of each month. the stoppage at new york by this steamer returning northward could not be beyond one or two days. to meet the west indian and south american packets returning to the central point, fayal, the steamer, with all the north american correspondence, must leave halifax on the th or th, and the th or th of each month. considering attentively the calculations here made, it will be (p.  ) found that they correspond accurately, and that in practice these will work admirably, and without confusion or delay--points, in an affair of this kind, of the greatest importance. the other plan, by which the communication between north america and the west indies can be opened up and carried on, is between new york and jamaica, by the havannah. after considering it, in all its bearings and details, the former will appear to be the most economical and eligible. calculating the whole of the general plan to be carried into effect, and by steam, the outward mails from europe, _via_ fayal and halifax, would arrive at new york on the th or d, or the th and d, of each month; and those for the west indies, _via_ fayal and barbadoes, at cape nichola mole, hayti, on the th and th, or th and th, and at jamaica on the th and th of each month. the mails from the westward and southward of, and for jamaica, would consequently return to that island on the th and d of each month. the distances and time taken in three ways between jamaica and new york, by havannah, would be-- (no. .) geo. miles. days. new york to havannah - / havannah by matanzas, to st. jago de cuba st. jago de cuba to kingston, jamaica jamaica " jamaica to cape nichola mole, by st. jago cape nichola to havannah, by matanzas havannah, coals, &c. " havannah to new york - / ----- ------ totals (no. .) geo. miles. days. new york to havannah, by matanzas - / havannah, coals " havannah to jamaica, round cape antonio jamaica, coals, mails, &c. " jamaica to havannah, by cape antonio (p.  ) havannah, coals " havannah to new york, by matanzas - / ---- ------- totals ---- ------- (no. .) geo. miles. days. new york to havannah, by matanzas - / havannah, coals " havannah to jamaica, round cape antonio jamaica, coals, mails, &c. " jamaica to cape nichola mole, by st. jago cape nichola mole to havannah, by matanzas havannah, coals " havannah to new york - / ---- ------ totals ---- ------ the latter route (no. ,) will, for various reasons, be the preferable course. first, because while it embraces havannah in the line, it renders it unnecessary for the steamers to run twice over the same ground that others do. secondly, the steamer from jamaica for the eastward being able to leave that island, with all the return colonial mails from the westward and southward for north america, &c., at the times, or in the space of time, mentioned, would reach cape nichola mole just in time to meet the downward steamer from barbadoes, with all the colonial mails to the eastward of that place for north america; and, consequently, could take in and proceed with these mails without delay; and it might, at the same time, take in not only the eastern colonial mails for matanzas and havannah, but the outward european mails for these places also, by which means these towns would receive these two or three days earlier than they could by jamaica. the mexican mails might also be forwarded in the same way; but to do so would be of little use, inasmuch as the steamer for vera cruz could not leave havannah until the steamer from jamaica arrived. taking route no. as the lines of communication between jamaica (p.  ) and north america, then the arrivals at jamaica would be on the th and the th of each month; and, allowing two days to stop at havannah outwards instead of _one_ day, and _three_ days at jamaica instead of two, the return steamers would leave jamaica on the th and d of each month, and reach cape nichola mole on the th and th, which place the steamer from barbadoes reaches on the th and th, and the havannah and chagres steamers return to jamaica on the th and d of each month; thus combining every movement requisite in a very clear and satisfactory manner. the steamers on this route or station would be each and = days each month = days yearly at sea; coals, at tons daily = , tons, at _s._ per ton = , _l._; which is _l._ more than the other. moreover, the steamers (two) would be so closely pressed for time as not to have the necessary rest for examination and repairs, and consequently a third would be requisite, which would increase the capital , _l._, and yearly charges _l._ above the other plan. the mails on this station may, moreover, be carried by sailing packets. by this mode of conveyance, however, the mails would be longer on their voyages; those to and from halifax, &c., being always thrown behind one return mail for the steamer to and from fayal with the mail for great britain, and consequently be obliged to wait at halifax or new york for a succeeding one--but for which, however, they would always be in ample time. the course and time by sailing packets would be-- geo. miles. days. halifax to new york - / new york to havannah stop at havannah, say havannah to halifax, by new york - / ---- ------ totals ---- ------ which will allow abundance of time to stop at new york, going and returning, and for meeting every possible contingency which may occur in the voyage; as, if within forty-five days, it would be in time (p.  ) to meet the corresponding packets to and from europe. two sailing packets would be sufficient to perform this work, giving two mails each month; prime cost, _l._ each = , _l._ and yearly charges _l._ each, or _l._ it may here be observed, that if all the mails were carried by sailing packets on the four great lines, that the times of their arrivals and departures would still connect and combine properly, but, as has already been remarked, be always fifteen days later in the course of the mails between the places mentioned than if these were carried wholly and everywhere by steam. iv. _fayal and brazil department._ from fayal steamers would proceed direct to rio de janeiro, calling at pernambuco and bahia, and landing at the former place the mail for maranham, to be carried forward to that place, and brought back to pernambuco, to meet the steamer on her return to the northward, by a good sailing vessel. the distance is miles, which could be performed in four days and six days, backwards and forwards. at rio de janeiro the steamer will land the mails for buenos ayres and montevideo, which will be carried forward by sailing vessels to the former place (distance geographical miles), and return from buenos ayres, by montevideo, to rio de janeiro, the same distance, say in seventeen days, and in time to catch the following homeward-bound packet. one sailing vessel would be sufficient for the pernambuco and maranham station, and two of a superior class as at present for the rio de janeiro and buenos ayres department; for, at the outset, steam would be too expensive on the latter station, while it would take the homeward-bound packet too far out of her way to make her call at maranham. from rio de janeiro the steamer will proceed for fayal, calling at bahia and pernambuco (distant from rio miles), taking in the (p.  ) maranham mail at the latter place, stopping one day there for a supply of coals, and then proceeding, reach fayal in twenty days--including stoppages, forty-five days forwards and backwards--and which, accordingly, would bring the brazil mails to fayal to correspond with the arrival there of the steamers from both the west indies and halifax. the mails from the brazils would, in this way, reach fayal on the th and th of the month. the route and time of these steamers would be as follows:-- miles. days. fayal to rio janeiro rio de janeiro to fayal stop at rio " do. at pernambuco, &c., twice " ---- -- totals ---- -- three steamers would perform this work in the time specified, giving two mails each month. each boat would be actively employed, or at sea, days each voyage = monthly = yearly; coals, at tons daily = , tons yearly--which, at _ s_. per ton, will amount to , _l._ other charges, , _l._ the mails on this station might also be carried by sailing packets, and at much less expense, but the time occupied would be considerably lengthened. such sailing packets from fayal to rio de janeiro would, both in going and returning, pursue the same course that the present packets do. the distance each way would be the same, and not materially different from the course which the steamers would take. the time occupied would be, twenty-seven days out, twenty-nine days back, and four days to stop at rio, &c.; in all sixty days. four packets would perform this service, giving two mails each month. the cost of these packets would be , _l._, and their annual charges at _l._ each = , _l._ in the event of accidents, however, either on this or on the west indian station, one spare packet would be necessary, and require to be stationed at fayal: this would increase the capital laid out to , _l._, and the yearly charge to , _l._ four packets on this station would, in fact, under this (p.  ) arrangement, give two mails each month; whereas, under the existing arrangements, it requires five or six to give one mail each month. in a few days, after leaving fayal, it is well known that both the brazil and west indian packets would be into the trade winds when outward-bound; after which, the voyage is certain and secure. in like manner in returning, after getting clear of the trade winds, the brazil, in about long. °, and the west indian, from cape nichola mole, in about long. ° w., each could steer to the eastward for fayal, with almost certainly southerly winds, and at all seasons of the year, in weather comparatively mild to that which is met with in more northern parallels. by steam-boats the course of communication between great britain and rio de janeiro would be reduced to sixty days, and by sailing vessels, from fayal to that place, to seventy-five days, making fifteen days more by the latter than by the former; but it may, however, here be observed, that arriving so much later at fayal, would still equally correspond with the arrival of the west indian and north american sailing packets at that place. v. _fayal and madeira, &c. station._ under the proposed general arrangement, the mails for madeira and teneriffe could be sent twice each month from fayal. madeira and teneriffe, but more especially the former, have a good deal of correspondence with the west indies; all of which would be thrown into a more tedious and circuitous route if the communications with madeira did not go and come by the azores. the distance from fayal to madeira is miles, and from madeira to teneriffe miles. one superior sailing vessel would be sufficient to perform this work, giving two mails each month. it is well known that from the winds which generally prevail in those parts of the atlantic, that a swift (p.  ) sailing vessel would almost always make quick and certain passages. the cost of such might be _l._, and the yearly expense, say _l._ the expense for sailing vessels on this and the south american station may be taken as follows:-- capital. yearly charge. fayal and madeira, one £ £ pernambuco and maranham, one rio de janeiro and buenos ayres, two ----- ----- totals £ £ ----- ----- from fayal to teneriffe, by madeira, and back, a sailing vessel could complete the passage in fourteen days, and thus be always in time for the next return steamer from fayal to falmouth. vi. _fayal and barbadoes station._ on the arrival of the steamer from falmouth at fayal, another steamer would start for barbadoes, carrying with it all the mails for every place in the western tropical world, from demerara to vera cruz inclusive, and also for panama, and other places on the coasts of the pacific ocean. the route from fayal to barbadoes is, course s. - / ° w.; distance, geographical miles. a steam-boat would perform this, going chiefly through the trade winds, in twelve days. the period of her return to fayal must be regulated by the time which she has to stop in the west indies, and which will be more specifically shown when that department is taken into consideration; but it cannot be less, from fayal to fayal again, than forty-five days, of which this boat will be at sea each voyage thirty-seven days. four steamers would do this work, having one, in fact, to spare, in the event of accidents, either on this or on the brazil station, and to relieve alternately the steamers on either station; and this spare boat (p.  ) would probably be best stationed at fayal, or perhaps barbadoes. three boats would, therefore, be actively engaged in performing the work alluded to on this station; each would be at sea days each voyage-- monthly, yearly, which, at tons of coals daily, will require , tons annually--at _s._ per ton, will amount to , _l._ the time and course of these boats will be more specifically stated under the west indian head. the cost would be thus:-- capital. yearly charge. four steamers £ , £ , coals , ------- yearly charges £ , ------- the mails, also, on this station, might be carried by sailing packets, and which would require to be of the very first class. their time from fayal to fayal again, would be, say nineteen days to barbadoes; seventeen days to stop in the colonies; and twenty-four days from cape nichola mole to fayal ( miles), together sixty days; and which brings the return of this sailing vessel to fayal to correspond with the arrival of the packets from falmouth, and of the mails from south america, and from north america, at that place. four packets would be sufficient for this station, giving two mails each month. their cost would be , _l._, and their yearly expenses at , _l._ each, , _l._--considerably cheaper than steam, but lengthening, as has been seen, the communication between great britain and that quarter of the world, _fifteen_ days. a spare packet might be necessary, but the cost of that has been included, and stated under the south american head. vii. (p.  ) _the west indian station._ this station is one of the most important, and extensive, and complicated of the whole, and one where steam-vessels can be employed with the most beneficial effects. the prevailing winds and currents, however, render it necessary that the vessels employed should be of high power, in order to enable them to stem those winds and currents. into the gulf of mexico, through the windward islands, sets; first, the equatorial current; secondly, the prodigious current occasioned by the influx of the waters of the great river maranon, and of the several rivers which flow through british, dutch, and french guiana; thirdly, the current occasioned by the influx of the waters of the great river oronoque, through the gulf of paria, between the island of trinidad and the mainland of south america. these united waters, directed by the trade winds, blowing always from the eastward, occasion a current of such force, running westward from the windward islands to the shores of mexico, that it is frequently impossible for the best sailing vessels to make their way through it. steam-boats, therefore, of at least -horse power, are indispensably necessary, in order that they may not only be able to stem these winds and currents, and carry a sufficient quantity of coals, but also to afford spacious and well-ventilated accommodation, both for the crews attached to them, and also the passengers which may travel by them. without such, neither the one nor the other could ever enjoy health, nor could the despatches of government, and the correspondence of individuals, be conveyed with that celerity and regularity which these could otherwise be, and which it is necessary that they should be. in carrying a more general plan into effect, no reasonable or necessary expense ought to be spared by the country. in such a general plan it will be seen by the subsequent details, that the (p.  ) steam-boats of the power mentioned, assisted by nine sailing schooners (at present ten, are employed in less than half the work,) would be sufficient to convey the mails from barbadoes to every place of importance in the western tropical archipelago, or connected with it. this force would give two mails each month to every island and colony from demerara to vera cruz; taking in laguayra, carthagena, chagres, honduras, the principal parts of cuba and porto rico. from demerara to havannah and chagres, &c. inclusive, every colony and place would be able to reply to the letters received from europe, or the colonies, by the same packet which brought them; and still that packet remain in the west indies a shorter period than the packets now do. in this department there are two stations, however, of such vital importance, that the considerable additional expense which will be required to place steam-boats on them from the outset, ought not to be taken into consideration. these are, first, the station between jamaica and chagres; and, secondly, the station between jamaica, cuba, and vera cruz. the first goes to connect the great pacific ocean, and the coasts thereof, with europe and the eastern coasts of america, and on which former coasts a steam mail communication has been already concerted. through the channel from panama to chagres will be concentrated, as it were, into a funnel the whole movements, travelling and mail communications and money transactions of the western coasts of america, from california on the north, to valparaiso on the south, the whole of which again must converge to and diverge from jamaica.[ ] the second station, or that from cuba to vera (p.  ) cruz, is little inferior in importance to the other, that town and tampico being the great outlets of the trade and the commerce, but more especially the outlets of specie from the kingdom or empire of mexico. a steamer on this station becomes indispensable, in order to secure the safe conveyance of specie, because small sailing vessels would be liable to be attacked and plundered by pirates. with steamers all would be safe. [footnote : should the colombian government obstinately and ignorantly oppose the transmission of mails across the isthmus from chagres to panama, or propose to shackle this point of communication with unreasonable and inadmissible restrictions, then in that case there remains a point, it is believed, more practicable, safer, and more eligible, where the communication could be effected, namely, in the state of guatemala, or central america, by the river st. juan's and lake nicaragua, both of which are navigable for vessels of any size. the south-west shores of the lake in question approach to within fourteen or fifteen miles of the pacific, and this distance, in one place, through a valley nearly level throughout, and at but little elevation above the level of the sea. from lake managua, or leon, the distance to the sea is still shorter, being, in one place, according to good maps, not more than eight to ten miles. from this lake also, and the capital, leon, the distance north-west to rialejo, a fine port on the pacific, is twenty-three miles, and through an accessible, if not very easy country. the government of the republic of guatemala, or central america, would doubtless be ready to afford every facility to open such a communication, which would prove the greatest and most certain means of improving their country. moreover, if a ready communication is once afforded, from any point on the east coast of america, in the places alluded to, it would speedily become the object and the interest of the chilian, the peruvian, and the mexican governments to watch and to see that the communication with the world to the eastward should not only be rendered secure, but be maintained. also, with a communication opened in this quarter, such as it is believed can be opened, the commerce and communications between north america and europe, and new south wales, china, and all eastern asia, would most certainly, as it could most advantageously and expeditiously, be carried on by it.] two powerful steamers would be sufficient for both stations, in order to carry two mails each month. that steamer to run between cuba and vera cruz, would always be in time with the return mails for the following packet from europe; while that boat which runs between jamaica and chagres would, by returning immediately by the route afterwards pointed out, always be in time for the same packet at jamaica. to stop at chagres for the mails from the pacific would not be advisable or proper, because the arrival of these mails at chagres could not be calculated upon with any certainty. if at chagres when the outward mail arrives, good and well, they would be immediately taken up and carried forward; but if not, then they would be brought forward by it on the next voyage, and in time for the following european packet. the mails for honduras will be most conveniently forwarded from montego bay, jamaica. with the mails for the western parts of that island they could be landed at savannah la mar, and thence carried by land with the others, about twenty-five miles, to montego bay. from thence a good schooner would proceed with those for honduras and (p.  ) trinidad de cuba; and having readied honduras, return to montego bay by trinidad de cuba. by this arrangement, honduras rather gains more than by the plan first proposed, to go from batavano; and the letters from thence will still and always be in excellent time for the following packet, making every allowance for casualties during the voyage. the steamer could then proceed direct from jamaica to havannah, which would save one day each voyage, besides avoiding the difficult navigation about batavano. the coals saved yearly would be tons, _l._, which would do more than pay the expenses for an additional schooner for the honduras communication; for, by this arrangement, two schooners, instead of one, will be necessary. their route and time would be--montego bay to trinidad de cuba, miles, - / day; trinidad de cuba to honduras, miles, - / days; back to montego bay by trinidad de cuba, miles, days; stop at honduras days; in all days. bermuda being a great naval depôt, a ready communication between it and every part of the west indies becomes an object of the greatest importance. under the general arrangement proposed, this communication can be best effected from and with cape nichola mole, hayti; because the downward steamer from barbadoes, with the european and other mails, will have passed st. thomas before the steamer returning from jamaica, &c., comes up; by which means all the letters from jamaica, and every other place to the westward, would, were st. thomas made the starting point, be obliged to remain at that island till the arrival of a following packet; whereas, starting from cape nichola mole, the mails, both from the eastward and the westward, and also those brought from europe, would go forward to a day. moreover, owing to the winds which prevail in those seas, vessels running between cape nichola mole and bermuda would make passages equally quick, if not quicker, than vessels running between st. thomas and bermuda could generally do. the courses and distances stand thus:-- (p.  ) geo. miles. days. st. thomas to bermuda. nearly due n. cape nichola mole to do. n. ° e. nassau to bermuda n. ° e. crooked island to bermuda ditto to cape nichola mole s. ° w. ditto to nassau - / cape nichola mole to do. n. ° w. - / the communication might still, however, be from st. thomas, the boat destined for bermuda stopping at that island, when this was necessary, one day, until the boat from jamaica came up; taking particular care always to be back at st. thomas, from bermuda, before the steamers with the outward mails from europe came down from barbadoes, in order that the letters from bermuda for jamaica, and all places to the westward of st. thomas, may go forward by the steamer in question. this department, however, for bermuda may, it is conceived, be best amalgamated and interwoven with the cape nichola mole, nassau, and crooked island (_the bermuda mail vessels going and returning by crooked island_) department; as the practical working of the whole scheme may point out to be most advisable. in the event of packets arriving from england at barbadoes within a day or two of each other, as is sometimes the case under the existing arrangements, then on the barbadoes and demerara stations, let a good sailing vessel, on the arrival of such packet, take the place of the steamer for the voyage. unless, in case of calm weather, this sailing vessel could do the work thus:--barbadoes to demerara, four days; stop there two days, forwarding the mails for berbice by land; thence with the return mails proceed on by tobago and st. vincents in five days, to the packet at grenada, found, in such a case, either waiting one day longer at grenada, or else beating up to st. vincents, there to meet the guiana and the tobago mails, and which the packet has time to do. this would occasion little irregularity or delay, because the cause of the detention, should detention occur, would always be known. moreover, the season of the year when the outward packets arrive at barbadoes the most irregularly, is during the winter months, from (p.  ) november to march, and in which period the calms--the greatest obstructions, in many cases, to sailing vessels amongst the windward islands--are almost unknown. the same temporary substitute could be applied, under similar circumstances, on the stations between jamaica and chagres, and between cuba and vera cruz. even if these places were once or twice in the year to miss a return mail to europe, it would not be of such great importance, because each place having then two mails every month, the detained mail would go forward by the next opportunity, while it would save to government, or to a contracting company, a very serious expense, which would otherwise be incurred if they were obliged to have additional steamers for this _probable_ part of the service. further, in the event of any accident happening to any steam-boat on the great line from barbadoes to jamaica, &c., a sailing vessel could always carry the outward mails westward, when breezes hold, with almost the same rapidity as steamers; and in her course westward, such a sailing vessel could scarcely fail to meet a return or a spare steamer at some of the stations, to relieve it from proceeding further. moreover, it may be observed here, once for all, that by the conveyance of the mails from falmouth to barbadoes by steam, or even only so far as from falmouth to fayal by this power, the irregularity of the arrival of the mails at barbadoes, which at present takes place, would be nearly done away, and consequently no such assistance as that alluded to would be necessary. hence, the advantages either way over the present system are clear and obvious. before entering upon the particular details of the west indian department, it is proper to observe here, that the point of communication for the return mails from the west indies for europe, so long as sailing packets are employed to the west indies, cannot be altered or removed from cape nichola mole, because, by the general plan, the outward mails from great britain, by steamers, would reach fayal on the th and th of each month, and the return mails to that place would reach, from rio de janeiro, on the th and th; from new york and halifax on the th or th, or d or d; and from barbadoes, &c., allowing only sixteen days in the colonies, on the th and (p.  ) th (app. no. .); if brought by sailing packets on dates to correspond; so that there is not time to spare, the west indian mail being the last to reach the central point, and it would be very detrimental to have any detention of the general mails at this point. to make jamaica the central point for the european mails, would require several days additional; for once at jamaica the packet would take eight or ten days to get up and through the windward passage, which to a sailing packet, notwithstanding this difficulty, is still the best. in fact, if the mails from havannah to demerara are detained in the west indies more than sixteen, or at most seventeen days, beyond the time that these could, by care and exertion, be easily despatched from thence, the transmission of letters by private ships to every quarter will most unquestionably be resorted to; and thus the post-office revenue suffer severely. the capital and expenditure in the west indian department under the combination and regulations just mentioned will be:-- capital. yearly charges. six steamers, at , _l._ £ , £ , nine sailing schooners, at _l._ , , coals for steamers, , tons, at _s._ , ------- ------ £ , , ------- ------ it is necessary here to observe, that the calculation taken for the consumption of coals is founded upon the basis that the coals are of the very best quality, and also that the machinery is of the best and most economical description and construction, and for a vessel of -horse power. the time that the steamers are considered to be engaged in actual work is calculated to include the time passed in getting up the steam in each voyage, and also to cover all temporary stoppages. the time allowed on every route and station is, on the average, more than will be required. steamers of the force mentioned will, in good weather and light breezes and seas, even when contrary, run ten geographical miles per hour; and, within the tropics, with trade-winds and currents in their favour, at a still greater speed: but the average performance may be fairly taken at (p.  ) geographical miles each twenty-four hours, although in all the climates within the variable winds, and in the tropics when going against the winds and currents, the speed made good will be, and is taken at, much less. moreover it is proper to observe, on the point of outlay for coals, that the work is everywhere, as regards the quantity to be used, calculated as if wholly done by steam, while it is obvious that the assistance of sails may be had recourse to with advantage. for this purpose, those steamers which have to go into the torrid zone ought to be provided with large square fore-sails. the assistance to be obtained by the use of sails would save a considerable quantity of coals; or what is the same thing, using them would expedite the steamer proportionally more on her voyage, and bring it so much sooner to a close. sails may fairly be calculated to impel a vessel at the rate of - / miles per hour on a voyage, and which will save either directly _one-fourth_ the quantity of coals, or impel the steamer so much sooner to the end of her journey than the time calculated, where time is taken as if it were impelled by steam alone, and thereby a proportional saving of fuel will be effected. the saving effected on this ratio will, on the general plan, be , tons, , _l._; on the west indian portion thereof tons, _l._; and on the west indian and the falmouth and fayal department, tons, , _l._; subject to per cent. deduction, being allowance for wastage. as regards the calculations made concerning the progress of steamers in the voyages to be made, it is satisfactory to find, from intelligence lately received, that the _berenice_ steamer, of -horse power, made the passage from falmouth, by the cape verdes, fernando po, the cape of good hope, and the mauritius, to bombay, in eighty-eight days; _sixty-three at sea_. the course taken, and distance run, is about , geographical miles, or at the average rate of geographical miles per day. her average consumption of coals was fifteen tons per day. the _atalanta_ of -horse power, ran the same distance in days; sixty-eight of which at sea, under steam. consumption of coals, seventeen tons per day. the _flamer_ steamer, of -horse power, now in the west indies, two voyages (p.  ) in succession, last autumn, made the voyage from barbadoes to jamaica, by jacmel, hayti, in five days; which is fully nine geographical miles per hour; and in returning she ran in one voyage from st. lucia to barbadoes in twelve hours, distance geographical miles, with winds and current unfavourable. adverting to these facts, it is obvious that sufficient time is allowed for the progress of the steam-boats, in every station, under the general plan now recommended to be adopted, in order to communicate with the different places in the western world. the _berenice's_ greatest run was miles in twenty-four hours.[ ] [footnote : see also appendix, no. .] _west indian station._--_details._ this is a complicated and important department, and the working details thereof must be planned as follows:-- .--_first packet for the month_. immediately on the arrival of this packet at barbadoes, a steamer of -horse power should start for st. thomas direct ( miles), with the mails from england, &c. for that island, santa cruz and tortola, and for porto rico, st. domingo, the bahamas, all cuba, jamaica, carthagena, chagres, panama, honduras, vera cruz, and tampico. this boat could reach and clear st. thomas in two days. the steamer alluded to having landed the mails for st. thomas, st. cruz, and tortola, should then proceed to st. john's, porto rico, and there land the british and colonial mails; to cape nichola mole (hayti), and there land the british, the colonial, and the bahama mails; to st. jago de cuba, and there land the british and colonial mails; to kingston, jamaica, and there land the british, the colonial, the chagres and carthagena mails; to savannah la mar, jamaica, and there land the british and colonial mails for all the western parts of jamaica,[ ] for trinidad de cuba and honduras; and thence to (p.  ) havannah, with the mails for that place, and vera cruz, &c. [footnote : to touch at savannah la mar would scarcely take up one hour, while doing so would be a very great accommodation to the western part of jamaica.] at the end of the second day this steamer may start on her return, with the return mails from the havannah, and the return mails from the preceding packet from vera cruz and tampico, forwarded and brought up as after mentioned, and, proceeding, call at savannah la mar for the same, from the western parts of jamaica, trinidad de cuba, and honduras; at kingston for the general jamaica mails, and those from santa martha, carthagena, and chagres from the same packet, and from panama, &c. from the preceding packet; at st. jago de cuba for the return mails, and thence to cape nichola mole, where it will deliver the whole european mails to the packet arrived there, as will presently be pointed out; from cape nichola mole the steamer will proceed to st. thomas, calling at st. john's, porto rico, with and for colonial mails, and thence to barbadoes (calling at all the islands going up, and carrying up the british mail for tortola from st. thomas, left by the downward steamer) to wait to receive a following mail from great britain. on the arrival of the downward steamer at cape nichola mole, from st. thomas, a fast-sailing schooner to be despatched to nassau with the bahama mails, calling, in going and returning, at crooked island. this schooner, it is calculated, could be back at cape nichola mole in time to meet the packet at her departure for england with the return mails; if it could not, then the packet could take crooked island in her way, and there pick up the bahama return mails for great britain. two schooners would be sufficient for this station for the bahama service, should it be desirable that these islands should have mails twice each month. on the arrival of the steamer at kingston, jamaica, with the outward mails, another steamer to be despatched with the mails for santa martha, carthagena, chagres, and panama, calling at chagres first, (p.  ) and with the return mails from panama, the south sea, and chagres, return to kingston by carthagena and santa martha. one powerful steam-boat would be in time for the same packet; thus:--to chagres, miles, two and a half days; to carthagena, miles, one and a half day; stop there one day; to santa martha, ninety miles, one day; to jamaica, miles, three days; in all, nine days. the mails for honduras and trinidad de cuba by the outward packet having been brought up to montego bay, jamaica, as has been already stated, a good schooner should proceed thence to trinidad de cuba, miles, one and a half days; thence to honduras, miles, three and a half days; stop three or more days; back to montego bay, by trinidad de cuba, miles, ten days; in all, eighteen days. two schooners will perform this work, giving two mails each month. on the arrival of the steamer at havannah another steamer should be despatched with the outward mails for tampico and vera cruz, and from thence return to havannah with the return british and colonial mails. the course of this boat would be,--to vera cruz, miles, three and a half days; to tampico and back, miles, stopping two days, four days; vera cruz, back to havannah, five and a half days; in all, thirteen days. the route of the mail conveyance from barbadoes to jamaica, &c., by steamers, would therefore be:-- geo. miles. days. barbadoes to st. thomas st. thomas to jamaica, by porto rico, cape nichola, and st. jago de cuba - / jamaica to havannah, by cape antonio stop at havannah havannah to jamaica, by cape antonio jamaica, coals kingston to cape nichola mole, by st. jago cape nichola mole to st. thomas, by p. rico st. thomas, coals st. thomas to barbadoes, calling at all islands ---- ------ totals - / ---- ------ each steam-boat being thus twenty-two days, each trip, at sea. (p.  ) two powerful boats ( or -horse power each), actively employed, carrying passengers, parcels, and packages, would do this work twice each month, with the addition of one spare one stationed at barbadoes, or jamaica; perhaps the former. .--_windward station._ one powerful steam-boat ( -horse power) to leave barbadoes immediately on the arrival of the outward british packet, for demerara and berbice, with the british and colonial mails, and from the latter return to barbadoes, having first carried the return mails to the packet at grenada; thus:--barbadoes to berbice, miles, landing mail at demerara, three days; (the mail for berbice might be forwarded from george town, demerara, by land;) stop at berbice two days; to grenada, calling at demerara, tobago, and st. vincent's, for return mail, miles, four days; back to barbadoes, miles, two days; in all, eleven days: taking with her the return mails from the colonies at which she had called for barbadoes, and having delivered the return european mails, and others, to the packet at grenada. on the arrival of the british packet at barbadoes, a fast-sailing schooner to be despatched with the outward mails for laguayra (dropping at st. vincent's and grenada the outward mails for these islands, which would be little trouble to it), and from laguayra to proceed to st. thomas, with the return mails for the packet, as at present, and thence return to barbadoes direct. the route of this boat would be,--barbadoes to laguayra, calling first at st. vincent's and grenada, miles, four days; stop there three days; and to st. thomas, miles, six days; to barbadoes, eight days; in all, twenty-one days. two schooners would do this work, giving two mails each month. on the arrival of the british packet at barbadoes, a fast-sailing schooner should be despatched, as at present, with the outward (p.  ) mails from great britain for st. lucia, martinique, dominica, guadaloupe, antigua, montserrat, nevis, and st. kitts. the boat need proceed no further westward than st. kitts, because the steamer from barbadoes had carried forward the tortola mails. from st. kitts it will return to barbadoes, calling at all the islands just enumerated, for the return colonial mails. the route of this boat would be,--barbadoes to st. kitts, calling at the places mentioned, miles, four days; and back to barbadoes, six days; together, ten days. on the eighth day after the arrival of the packet at barbadoes (the despatch of this boat must always be so as to secure its arrival at st. kitts _before_ the packet), a schooner to be despatched with the return mails and passengers from that island, to pick up for the homeward-bound packet mails and passengers at st. lucia, martinique, dominica, guadaloupe, antigua, montserrat, and nevis, and give to or leave these for the packet at st. kitts. from st. kitts this boat returns to barbadoes, calling at all the islands enumerated for the return colonial mails. this boat will be the same time out as the one which carried the outward mails, namely, ten days.[ ] [footnote : if the packet is a steamer, these boats will be saved, because the steamer would save so much time as to enable it to call at all the islands northwards, to pick up the return mails.] two schooners will do the work on both the courses here pointed out as necessary, with two spare ones at barbadoes, in case of the arrival of sailing packets on the heels of each other from britain, to forward the mails for all the places mentioned, and for laguayra, making in all eight schooners for this station. there are at present ten, or more. instead of remaining at barbadoes nine days, as at present, doing nothing, the packet herself (whether steamer or sailing vessel) should, on the day after her arrival at that island, proceed with the outward mails to tobago and trinidad, delivering those for the former island, and proceeding thence direct to trinidad, in two days, miles. at trinidad remain six days, thence with the return mails from it proceed to grenada, where she will meet the return mails for europe, brought there by the steamer from british guiana, tobago, and st vincent's. with these collected, proceed on the tenth day from (p.  ) grenada to st. kitts, miles, two and a half days. at that island pick up the european mails from the islands formerly enumerated, and thence with the whole proceed to st. thomas, by tortola, miles, one and a half day more; in all, fourteen days from her arrival at barbadoes to st. thomas. at st. thomas, having all the mails from the windward and leeward islands on board, and having there got the european mail from laguayra, &c., the packet will proceed, on the fourteenth day, to the westward, calling at st john's, porto rico, for the return mail, and thence go on to cape nichola mole, hayti, miles, three days. at this latter place receive all the european mails from the bahamas, from jamaica, cuba, &c. &c., and thence, with the whole, on the seventeenth day, proceed direct, according as may be determined, to fayal or to falmouth, calling at crooked island to pick up the return mails from the bahamas, if it shall be found that those cannot be got up in time by the sailing schooners to cape nichola mole.[ ] [footnote : whenever steamers are appointed to carry the mails from falmouth to barbadoes, the arrival of the packet at that island will be so regular, that jamaica _might_ be made (should this be considered advantageous) the headquarters, as it were, for the steamers in that quarter of the world. four would then be sufficient for the work between barbadoes and vera cruz; two to run between jamaica and vera cruz, by the havannah, and two between jamaica and barbadoes, by st. thomas. the latter two would be each fifteen days at sea monthly, and the former two seventeen days, exclusive of partial stoppages; so that there would be abundance of time for rest and repairs. further, under such circumstances, the packet with the european return mails would have time to run through the islands and pick up all the mails; meeting, on the second day after her departure from trinidad, and on the ninth after reaching barbadoes, at st. lucia, the steamer from guiana, with the guiana, tobago, and barbadoes return mails; and proceeding onward through all the islands, to the northward and westward, st. thomas and porto rico included, pass from that island through the mona passage, and call at jacmel for a mail, reaching jamaica in fourteen days. from thence starting without delay, and going by st. jago de cuba and cape nichola, leave the latter place on the seventeenth day for fayal, exactly in the same time that it is calculated it could do under the other arrangement. but such an arrangement would render it difficult, perhaps impracticable, to get up the laguayra mail to st. thomas in time, it having only ten days for that purpose; and at the same time an additional expense for coals, at least for three days each packet or voyage ( tons, _l._ yearly) would be required, being the time taken between jamaica and cape nichola mole.] the second packet of the month, and all the steamers and schooners, to proceed exactly in a similar manner. according to the proposed arrangement, these steam-boats would be actively employed thus:-- days, yearly--jamaica station " " demerara ditto. ---- in all days, yearly. coals, , tons. _advantages._ (p.  ) i. there would, by these arrangements, be two mails each month to great britain from all places in the western tropical archipelago, or connected with it, which at present there are not. ii. jamaica, with the requisite alterations in her internal mail communications, would have in all her western division seven and eight days, and in all her eastern division eight and nine days, to return answers by the packet with which she receives her european, &c. correspondence, of which she at present is deprived; kingston and spanish town alone being able, under the present regulations, to do so. iii. porto rico, all cuba, the more important parts of hayti, and all the western coasts of south america, would, by these arrangements, be brought immediately and completely within the range of the british post-office, most of which places at present are not. iv. by this arrangement all british guiana would be enabled to reply to all its european and colonial correspondence by the same packet, but which at present they have it not in their power to do. v. the inhabitants of trinidad would get sufficient time to receive and to reply to their letters by the same packet. from the naparima and other distant quarters they cannot at present do so. vi. the whole of the british windward and leeward island colonies (p.  ) would have regularly, and nearly every week, post communications with each other and with barbadoes, instead of being, as at present, weeks together without such communications. vii. this arrangement would be more agreeable, convenient, and advantageous to passengers from demerara, &c. for the packet for england, and also amongst the colonies, and consequently more advantageous to all interested in the packets. viii. the same may be said with regard to passengers in every part of the western archipelago. the frequency and regularity of the conveyances would greatly add to the number of travellers, and also greatly increase the number of letters sent and received, and consequently augment the post-office revenue to an amount greatly beyond what it now is. ix. by this arrangement the packet itself would always be out of any danger, which, it is well known, she incurs by laying at barbadoes, an unsheltered place at all times, but peculiarly dangerous in the hurricane months. in the route pointed out she would be nearly free from the sphere of all such dangers and tempests. x. by this arrangement the communications, both to the government and to individuals, would be more safe, and regular, and frequent than they now are with every quarter of the western world; an object of great importance to all, but more especially to the british government. xi. by this arrangement six mexican packets, which cost government, say _l._ each ( , _l._ per annum), would be wholly saved. xii. departing from cape nichola mole, instead of st. thomas, for falmouth, does not increase the distance in the voyage to england above miles,--about two days' sail; moreover, it may be remarked, the packet at present scarcely ever leaves st. thomas for england earlier than on the nineteenth day, and sometimes even longer. thus,--steam-boat to jamaica, eight days, four days there, and seven to st. thomas even in favourable voyages. xiii. great britain, by thus possessing all the channels of communication in the western archipelago, would thereby secure the principal political influence therein; but which will otherwise, and in a very short period hence, go into the hands of the united states, now earnestly looking about and proceeding to acquire and to (p.  ) extend the same in that quarter of the world. xiv. the expenses as regards this plan, would, for the west indies, not be greater than for the present establishment in that quarter, the mexican packets included; while the communications with several places would be doubled. xv. the whole correspondence of the united states, with every quarter of america, to the south of these states, would be brought by the general plan within the range of the post office of great britain. there would, moreover, be two mails each month between great britain and the eastern coast of south america. xvi. a great and useful commercial correspondence, between the united states, british north america, and all the west indies, would be opened up, but which at present does not exist. recapitulation. in order to obtain a view of the plan, brought into the narrowest possible compass, without wading through the minute and multifarious details, it is necessary to particularize the different stations and departments, to which the numbers affixed immediately and only relate, thus:-- no. . falmouth to terceira or fayal. . fayal to halifax. . halifax by new york to havannah. . fayal to rio de janeiro by pernambuco, &c. . fayal to madeira and teneriffe. . fayal to barbadoes. . west india department, from demerara to vera cruz, including chagres, &c. . expenses, depôts for coals, and repair boats. _cost of plan by steam._ (p.  ) --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- | |provi- | | | | | |number number | fixed | sions |tons of|price of|cost of| total |number| of of |capital|wages, | coals | coals | coals |expendi-| of |sailing station.| re- | &c. |yearly.|per ton.|yearly.| ture |steam-| ves- |quired.|yearly.| | | | yearly.| ers. | sels. --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- | £ | £ | | _s._ | £ | £ | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | , | , | , | " | , | , | | | " | " | " | " | " | , | " | " |-------+-------+-------| |-------+--------+------+------- [ ] | , | , | , | | , | , | | sub. | , | , | , | | , | , | | |-------+-------+-------| |-------+--------+------+------- diff. | , | , | , | | , | , | | --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- n.b.--the latter sum shows the difference of capital and expenditure betwixt the work done by steam, and partly by steam and partly by sailing packets. the reduction in coals by the preceding estimate will be , _l._; and, allowing per cent. wastage on the _whole quantity_, the real reduction in the expenditure will be , _l._ [footnote : the cost of these steamers will, to a considerable degree, depend on the tonnage which it is considered most proper to adopt. the utmost quantity of coals which any of them will require to carry, will be (fayal to barbadoes, and fayal to pernambuco) tons. airy accommodation for from fifty to sixty cabin passengers, and twenty-five to thirty steerage ditto, with the crew, will be all that is requisite, leaving a room for specie and the mails, and space for from forty to one hundred tons of goods. since the present calculation was made, the price of machinery has risen considerably. boats of the size necessary may now, perhaps, cost , _l._ to , _l._ in the latter case, _l._ per annum (five per cent. insurance, five per cent. interest, and five per cent. ordinary tear and wear) must be added to the yearly outlay, as here stated. the wages and provisions will remain the same. iron boats can be had _one-fourth_ cheaper than those built of wood; moreover, engines now made on the expansive system, require fully one-third fewer coals, by which so much expense will be saved.] _cost, partly by steamers and partly by sailing packets_. (p.  ) --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- | |provi- | | | | | |number number | fixed | sions |tons of|price of|cost of| total |number| of of |capital|wages, | coals | coals | coals |expendi-| of |sailing station.| re- | &c. |yearly.|per ton.|yearly.| ture |steam-| pack- |quired.|yearly.| | | | yearly.| ers. | ets. --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- | £ | £ | | _s._ | £ | £ | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | , | | , | , | | | " | " | " | " | " | , | " | " |-------+-------+-------| |-------+--------+------+------- | , | , | , | | , | , | | --------+-------+-------+-------+--------+-------+--------+------+------- subject on the total expenditure to reduction in coals to the amount of , _l._; less, however, percent, or , _l._ for wastage; giving the real reduction to be , _l._ general remarks. the mails conveyed from great britain by steam to the quarters mentioned would in their courses be due:-- london to halifax, quebec, and new york, forty-six days; from halifax to west indies, according to the distance of the island or place; havannah, twenty-two days; jamaica, thirty-one days; barbadoes, fifty days, &c., &c. london to rio de janeiro, sixty-five days, and buenos ayres, fifteen days more; london to madeira and teneriffe, thirty-four days; london to barbadoes, and all the west indies, from demerara to havannah, and chagres inclusive, sixty-five days, and to honduras, vera cruz, and tampico, fifteen days more. if the mails are conveyed by sailing packets on the four great lines from fayal, then the time for all would be fifteen days additional. large as the above-mentioned sums are, still the revenues of great britain and ireland, and their colonial dependencies in the western world (p.  ) (say , , _l._ yearly), ought to defray the cost without feeling any embarrassment. the cost, however, is nothing, when compared to the benefits and the advantages which the nation and individuals would derive from it. time saved and actively employed is every thing. it is capital, which, if not employed at the moment, can never be again employed--a capital which, if suffered or forced to remain unemployed, or to escape unemployed, can never again be found or replaced. the exports of great britain amount at the declared value, and including freights and charges, to , , _l._ per annum. by employing steam-packets on even a portion of the present work, instead of sailing-packets, _fifteen_ days would be gained in every line of communication. remittances arriving fifteen days earlier would be a profit to the commercial interests of the country of , _l._, independent of the additional advantages which every merchant would gain when, instead of his funds wandering on the atlantic, or lying idle and unproductive on the other side of it, he had these in hand, to lay out to good account as opportunity might offer. even government itself, from the want of regularity and frequency of transmission, lose, in their money transactions in the west indies, above _l._ yearly, and much more in not being able to learn quickly and regularly the state of the exchanges in the great money marts in the western world. moreover, the plan above recommended, conducted judiciously, and carried into effect to the extent pointed out, would amply repay either the government or the individuals who may undertake it. travelling would be prodigiously increased. some of the wealth of foreign countries would be drawn by it to this country and her dependencies. everywhere activity and industry would be encouraged and increased. the post-office revenue would be greatly augmented,--perhaps doubled. the expenditure also would all be on british materials and labour. _cost of the new system and the present system._ in order to understand the subject fairly, it becomes necessary to contrast the capital and the expenditure required under the (p.  ) new plan with the capital and the expenditure required for the _present system_; and also, from data, which, though these in some points may not be perfectly accurate, are at any rate sufficiently so, to show the income which may reasonably be expected under the working of the plan recommended. every one practically acquainted with the subject, with the countries and combinations, with the objects alluded to and brought forward, will acknowledge the general accuracy of the data, and the great superiority and advantages in every way, and in every thing, of the new plan over the present system. i. the portion relating to the west indian department, shall separately and first be taken as a comparison. yearly cost by the proposed plan £ , yearly cost by present system:-- six mexican packets at £ , [ ] £ , four steamers and coals, say , hire ten mail-boats, west indies , ditto mail-vessels, nassau, chagres, &c., say , assistance navy,[ ] equal to, say , ------- , ------ apparent increase £ , but against this there is to be placed, the proportion of saving in coals , ------- difference _gained_ £ ------- [footnote : see appendix no. ., calculation of expenses of steamers and sailing packets.] [footnote : men-of-war frequently carry the mails from barbadoes to jamaica; also in other places.] _capital._ (p.  ) capital required by new plan £ , by present system:-- six mexican packets, at £ £ , four steamers, _above_ £ , , say , ten mail-vessels, windward islands, £ , mail-vessels, nassau, st. martha, &c. , aid men-of-war,[ ] equal to , ------- , ------- difference: decrease £ , ------- [footnote : this assistance is worth more in capital than this sum.] under the present system, all demerara, jamaica (kingston and spanish town excepted), and a large portion of trinidad, cannot reply to their letters by the same packet by which they receive them. also nassau, havannah, tampico, vera cruz, honduras, chagres, carthagena, santa martha, and laguayra, have only one mail each month; while all porto rico, all the north side (the most important part) of hayti, and all the south side of cuba, are wholly left out; while in all parts the system is imperfect, irregular, and uncertain. by the new plan, nassau, havannah, tampico, vera cruz, honduras, chagres, santa martha, and laguayra, would have two mails each month; all porto rico, the north side of hayti, and the south side of cuba, would be included, and have two mails each month also; and all jamaica, trinidad, and demerara, would have time to reply to their letters by the same packet which brought them. time would everywhere be saved, and the whole system would be regular and certain, and properly combined. ii. (p.  ) the general plan for the western world:-- capital required by new plan £ , by present system:-- sailing-packets,[ ] at £ £ , do. vessels, s. america, £ , , steamers, _above_ £ , , mail-vessels, barbadoes, £ , mail vessels, other stations, at least , aid navy, as already stated , -------- , -------- difference: increase £ , -------- cost yearly by new plan £ , by present system:-- sailing-packets, at £ £ , steamers, and coals , vessels, rio de janeiro, &c. , mail vessels, barbadoes station , bermuda, halifax, nassau, &c. &c. say , aid navy, equal to , -------- , -------- apparent increase £ , but against this is to be placed, first, the coals saved by the use of sails, , _l._; secondly, the sum of , _l._ allowed in new plan (not taken into account in the present) for the expense of coal depôts, and places for repairs; together , -------- real increase £ , -------- [footnote : according to parl. pap. no. , of , the following are the names and the number of the packets:-- eclipse lyra tyrian stanmer plover renard seagull nautilus swallow brisei cockatrice scorpion goldfinch reindeer hornet espoir mutine nightingale camden pike lapwing skylark duke of york sheldrake pigeon spey lady mary pelham opossum pandora lord melville astrea, stationary ship at falmouth, tons. the express, the star, the alert, new, have since replaced some of the above.] _remarks._ (p.  ) by the present system, there is no direct mail communication with new york; no communication between north america and the west indies, no mail communication with the north side of hayti, the south side of cuba, nor with porto rico; havannah, vera cruz, tampico, honduras, nassau, bermuda, chagres, carthagena, santa martha, laguayra, rio de janeiro, buenos ayres, &c. &c. have only _one_ mail in each month; while all demerara, most part of trinidad, and all jamaica (kingston and spanish town excepted), cannot reply to their letters by the same packet by which they received them. further, every thing is imperfect, irregular, and uncertain; and, moreover, the four steamers in the west indies last spring are so utterly inefficient and worthless, that they must forthwith be replaced by at least _three_ good new ones, to do the same limited work. by the new plan there will be _two mail_ communications with new york and halifax monthly; two ditto between all the west indies and all north america; there will be a mail communication twice each month with porto rico, with the north side of hayti, and the south side of cuba. there will be mail communications twice each month with bermuda, nassau, havannah, tampico, vera cruz, honduras, chagres, panama, carthagena, santa martha, laguayra, rio de janeiro, buenos ayres, madeira, and teneriffe; and all demerara, jamaica, and trinidad will be able to reply to their letters by the same packet by which they receive them. the work everywhere will be well done, and every thing will be regular and certain. iii. (p.  ) if steam is employed between falmouth and fayal, and in all the west indian department, and supposing that all the remainder of the general plan for the western world is performed by sailing packets, then the results will be:-- capital required by new plan this way £ , ditto employed under the present system , -------- difference less £ , -------- yearly cost by present system £ , ditto by new plan , -------- difference less £ , but to this difference ought to be added the sum of _l._ saved in coals by using sails, and the sum of _l._ allowed in new plan but not taken into account in the present, for the expense of coal depôts, and places for repairs, _l._ together , -------- true difference less £ , iv.--_income._ profit on passengers in all quarters (see appendix, no. .) £ , freights, parcels, packages, fine goods (see do.) , ditto specie, , , dollars, at per cent. dollar _s._ _d._ , [ ]transport troops, stores, &c. for government, say , saving coals, as before, by use of sails , -------- total £ , yearly charges of whole done by steam £ , (p.  ) [ ] per cent. yearly to replace capital, or , port charges, say foreign ports, &c. , sundry small charges for steamers, at _l._ yearly , -------- , -------- gain besides clear post-office revenue £ , -------- [footnote : cost transport troops to government yearly-- jamaica command £ , windward and leeward islands , bermuda command , british north america , army vessels west indies , -------------- , _parliamentary papers_, no. of .] [footnote : in order to replace the original capital, per cent. or , _l._ yearly laid aside as a sinking fund, is quite sufficient, thus:-- principal. interest. st year £ , d do. , £ , d do. , , th do. , , th do. , , th do. , , th do. , , th do. , , th do. , , th do. , , --------------- -------------- capital , , interest , ---------------- total £ , ---------------- a similar sum (see appendix, no. .) of at least _l._ per annum, each, ought to be charged as the capital necessary to replace the sailing-packets.] as regards the post-office revenue, it is impossible, in the absence of full official returns, to state its present exact amount, and, consequently, the probable future increase. the revenue from the outward postages to the british west indian colonies, honduras excepted, is inserted in the appendix from official authority. judging from it, and other data, also adduced from official authority, the present amount there stated cannot be far wrong; and the calculated increase under the arrangements proposed, every circumstance considered, is fair and reasonable. besides the certain great increase in all the external postages in these countries and colonies and places, the internal and coasting postages in these places will be augmented to a very great extent. taking the outward postages at present to be, to all the places mentioned, , _l._--inwards as much, , _l._--there may be added, additions , _l._; (p.  ) increase , _l._; total , _l._; viz., outwards , _l._, and inwards as much; giving at the average postage of _s._ _d._ the number of letters each way to be , , . as regards the harbour-charges, in the british colonies, these may be given up, or reduced to a small sum for the trouble which the custom houses may be put to; and in foreign ports it should be arranged by compacts with the respective governments, that the port dues should be reduced to a small sum, for two reasons,--because the vessels carry the mails, and because they are on that account restricted to a small portion of the whole cargo, which they could otherwise take. the charges might be made proportionate: there could not be much difficulty in arranging these points. in some of the minor ports (foreign), the steamers would not even come to anchor. west indies.--internal post offices. the internal communications in the west indies by post are very inefficient, even where they exist, but in most colonies these are altogether wanting. communication in the west indies on business, and in the affairs of public and private life, is principally carried on by correspondence; and from the particular circumstances of these colonies, more so in proportion than in other countries. the way in which this extensive and general communication is carried on is by letter sent by servants or hired messengers. these servants or messengers take days in a particular service, according to the distance. the latter mode is particularly expensive. the other, the most general, is scarcely less so, except that from the construction of west indian society, there was beforetime felt no immediate outlay for the service required. important supplies are required upon an estate for various purposes. this is of very frequent occurrence. a special messenger from that estate must be despatched with a letter ordering the same, to a (p.  ) distance of twenty or thirty miles, or more. two or three days' labour are lost, an expense of _s._ or _s._ incurred, while _s._ for letters by post, if there was a post, would accomplish the object. this is merely one point brought forward in proof of the necessity of internal post conveyances in the british west indian colonies, as in this country, out of the multitudes that could be adduced for a similar purpose. the state of society in the west indies is now on the eve of being completely changed, and assimilated to the society in this country; and consequently the duty of the government of this country ought to bestow on the population of the colonies the same facilities of communication which the population of the mother country enjoy. when the negro apprenticeship comes to an end, either partially or totally, the expense to estates and individuals for servants or messengers to carry the correspondence absolutely necessary, will be exceedingly great, and a most serious burden; and yet it must be borne,--or otherwise, without internal post communications, neither cultivation nor commerce can be carried on. it is absolutely necessary for the future well-being of these colonies, that internal post communications should be extended to, and established in each of them. jamaica (and perhaps it stands single in this respect) has an internal post communication once a week, to and from kingston, and other quarters of the island (daily only with spanish town, the capital); still this weekly post is greatly inadequate to its present wants, and will be much more so after august , and august . in consequence of this restricted communication, no other part of the island, spanish town excepted, knows of a packet's arrival until it is gone, or till it is too late to write by it. this important colony ought not only to have mails from kingston at least three times a week, but the various post-offices throughout the island should have auxiliary post-offices, after the manner of penny or twopenny post-offices in this country. every one will be glad to pay a regular and reasonable postage, rather than be at the very heavy expense, after , of taking a labourer to convey the communications. knowing the stated day for receiving and transmitting letters, no one in (p.  ) the most distant parts could ever be at a loss; and every one, more especially on estates, would benefit and save exceedingly thereby. in like manner, the smaller colonies ought to have posts twice or thrice a week from the capital; the country offices placed at the most important villages, and the auxiliary ones at hamlets the best situated for the purpose. smaller merchants and shopkeepers in these places would be glad to do the duty at a moderate rate, because it would otherwise serve them, by drawing customers and correspondents to their places of business. even in the smallest colonies such internal establishments would pay, and, in most of them, more than pay, the expenses they occasion; while it is clear that such internal facilities would most materially add to the external or packet postage. where the roads are good, the mails, travelling at the rate of five or six miles per hour, may be carried in gigs, as in this country, drawn by horses or mules; and where rugged or hilly, on the backs of mules, in proper portmanteaus. it is worthy the attention, and is in fact the duty, of her majesty's general post-office, to direct some person locally acquainted to proceed through the colonies, to examine into situations, and to establish such internal post conveyances. in the smaller islands, as has been stated, they would defray, and more than defray, the expenses incurred; while in the larger and more opulent colonies, they would yield a fair revenue; while the good they would do to every community will be incalculably great. the west indies everywhere want a little european energy and regularity infused into them,--and this is one efficient, perhaps the simplest and most efficient way to do it. pacific department. (p.  ) it has been already stated that a steam communication for the west coasts of america, on the pacific, has already been arranged, and is about to be set on foot. this important object has been concerted and arranged by that enterprising gentleman, william wheelwright, esq., of valparaiso, after almost incredible perseverance and labour, and great expense; and has obtained the official sanction and support of both the chilian and peruvian governments. it will extend from panama to valparaiso on the south, and to acapulco on the north; and will, as a matter of course, for the interest of those concerned in carrying the plan into execution, be so timed and arranged in the working machinery thereof, as to correspond with the arrivals at, and departures from, chagres on the north, or the atlantic side of the isthmus.[ ] a road is about to be commenced between panama and the chagres, which (p.  ) when completed, the communication from sea to sea may be made in half a day. this point, as regards the western coasts of america, being thus arranged, it becomes of vast importance to the whole plan proposed, to extend from great britain to the eastern coasts of the western world; and it now becomes of great consequence to show how readily and advantageously the west indian department can be made to connect itself outwards and inwards across the isthmus alluded to, with sydney, new south wales; canton, china, &c. [footnote : the following are the distances from panama to the different places alluded to:-- south. panama to guayaquil s. °. ' w. dist. geo. miles. guayaquil to lima s. °. e. " lima to arica s. °. e. " arica to coquimbo s. °. w. " coquimbo to valparaiso s. °. w. " valparaiso to fort carlos, chiloe s. °. w. " from panama to valparaiso and back could be thirty days, including three days for stoppages. north. panama to point mala s. °. w. dist. geo. miles. point mala to port damas, quibo s. °. w. " port damas to rialejo n. °. w. " rialejo to acapulco n. - / °. w. " acapulco to st. blas n. °. w. " st blas to cape lucas, california n. °. w. " from panama to st. blas and back could be twenty-seven days, including four days for stoppages.] this connexion may be made either by chagres and panama, or by the river st. juan's, through the lake nicaragua, to rialejo, on the pacific. the distances and courses by either are not materially different: but there is the best reason to believe that the communication by the route last mentioned is the best; and that, in fact, it may, without a very great expense, be effected by water. to carry on the communication across the pacific, from and to the places mentioned, by steam, would be unprofitable, unadvisable, and unnecessary. to give two mails each month to the places specifically mentioned, would require, even fixing a central point in the pacific as in the atlantic, thirteen steamers, at a cost of , _l._; while no more than fifteen days could be gained, compared to the time that the work could be performed by sailing packets. these results have been obtained after calculations carefully made upon the same principles as the calculations for a similar purpose have been made in the preceding pages. the whole can be proved by considering the winds which prevail in the quarters of the pacific alluded to (elsewhere particularly noticed), and by examining the bearings and distances inserted in appendix no. iii. these matters being considered, it follows, that not only no additional expense will be required on account of the mails which are to cross the isthmus to the pacific, until their arrival at panama or rialejo; but that resources from (p.  ) the latter, such as parcels, packages, and passengers, will be drawn from the pacific department, to increase the returns in the atlantic department. with these observations, it is now proper to advert to the courses and distances which must be taken, and the expenses which will be required in this, which shall be denominated the pacific department; the work to be performed by first-class sailing packets. owing to the winds which prevail in the pacific, the passage outwards to both sydney and canton would be easy and rapid; but in order to make the return mails from these places meet at a central point--thereby, as in the plan for crossing the atlantic, to save packets--which point should be so placed, as that taking it in would not retard the progress of the mails, or that only in the slightest degree possible--is now the point to consider. beyond the parallel where the variable winds commence, there is no island of importance in any position that would be an eligible and safe point for the return mails from sydney and canton to meet in their way to rialejo or panama. to carry the outward mails from either of the latter places by otaheite, the canton packet branching off there would be to bring it, upon its return, a vast distance out of its way (to otaheite it must return in order to get the next outward mail for canton); especially when the return mail from sydney must stand north through the trades to get into the northern variables. it would be desirable that a good point should be found, as much to the westward as possible, and convenient to proceed to canton; at the same time, sufficiently to the eastward, or, as it may be called, to the windward, of new south wales. owhyhee may be considered as taking the sydney outward mails considerably out of their course, although by making that the point, the time in both lines westward from it would be pretty equally divided. the difference, however, and the delay it would occasion, would not be so much as at first sight may be imagined; while the short distance that this island is within the northern trade winds, would render it neither difficult nor tedious for the return packet from canton to run down upon it, and there meet the return packet from sydney. christmas isle, a little to the north of the equator, (p.  ) might be made the central point at which the packets would separate, and to which they would return; the canton packets dropping at owhyhee the return mails, to be picked up by the packet returning from sydney to rialejo. this would bring the canton packet miles into the trade winds to christmas isle. from thence, with the outward mails, it could run rapidly westward to canton, calling at manilla in the voyage. there are no other places in the north pacific where packets could touch, unite, and command, with the least inconvenience to the service, the navigation to and from both places. separate establishments for each line from the west coast of america may be considered too expensive, if, by concentration and combination, the same work could be performed at less expense; and then, by that combination, whatever letters, passengers, &c. there might be from sydney to canton, or from canton to sydney, would meet at either of the places mentioned, and be forwarded in the quickest manner to their respective destinations. the question is, which of the places and plans mentioned is the best fitted for the objects had in view? to determine this, it will be best to consider the communication, each of the three ways in which it may be taken, thus:-- making owhyhee the central point of communication, the routes, distances, and periods, and expenses, would be-- geo. miles. days rialejo to owhyhee , owhyhee to canton , stop at canton " canton to owhyhee (circuitous) , owhyhee to rialejo do. , ------ --- totals , ------ --- eight boats would perform this work, giving two mails each month: cost, , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._ _owhyhee to sydney._ (p.  ) geo. miles. days. owhyhee to sydney, n. s. wales , stop at sydney " sydney to otaheite, say , otaheite to owhyhee , ------ -- totals , ------ -- six packets (one to spare) would perform this work between owhyhee and sydney, giving two mails each month: cost, , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._ admitting that the packets on the owhyhee and sydney line take longer time than is here stated, they would still be in time to reach owhyhee by the time that the canton mail came up; which in its course with owhyhee is calculated to be days. in fact, there is thus time sufficient to allow the owhyhee and sydney packet time to communicate with hobart town, and to call at otaheite in her outward voyage; as she will do, and, in fact, from the course which she must take, she may and can do, in her return voyage, without any inconvenience or delay whatever. the next plan is, to consider the communications alluded to as to be carried on by making christmas island the central point of arrangement; thus:-- _rialejo to christmas isle._ geo. miles. days. rialejo to christmas isle christmas isle to sydney, n. s. wales stop at sydney " sydney to christmas isle, by otaheite christmas isle to rialejo, by owhyhee ------ --- totals , ------ --- eight packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month: cost, , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._ _christmas isle to canton._ (p.  ) geo. miles. days. christmas isle to canton stop at canton " canton to christmas isle, by owhyhee route ------ -- totals , eight packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month: cost , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._; which shows that it takes one packet more by this arrangement than would be required by the other. keeping the stations altogether separate, the following would be the periods and number of packets required, premising that the packets would return to the point of departure on the west coast of america, nearly in the dotted lines which are laid down on the accompanying chart:-- _rialejo to canton._ geo. miles. days. rialejo to owhyhee owhyhee to canton stop at canton " canton to rialejo (circuitous) , ------ --- totals , eight packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month; first cost, , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._ _rialejo to sydney, new south wales._ geo. miles. days. rialejo to otaheite otaheite to sydney stop at sydney " sydney to rialejo, by n. point, new zealand ------ -- totals , examining attentively the three preceding routes of communication, (p.  ) it is plain that, in point of expense, the last, namely, that which gives two establishments, is not more than the most eligible of the other two, while in point of time it is considerably the quickest. the packets going out and returning twice each month, or every _fifteen_ days, it follows that, on every route, their voyages divide into periods of that duration. in the more distant, such as the routes at present under consideration, their voyages, in order to coincide and to meet with the return mails at any given point, will run, say, days, days, days, &c.; and within the latter-mentioned number the mail from canton must return to jamaica, to secure, without extra loss of time, a packet bound to england. seven packets would perform this work, giving two mails each month; first cost, , _l._; yearly charges, , _l._; which is one packet more than the owhyhee plan requires; but that station would require one spare packet, making _fifteen_ for the whole, which thus makes both stations equal, but without the combination which the owhyhee station gives. this arrangement for the pacific would, in whichever way it may be taken, save the whole proposed steam communication from ceylon eastward to canton and new south wales; which saving, either on the mediterranean or cape of good hope lines, would be, eight steamers and one sailing vessel--capital, , _l._, and yearly charges about , _l._; thus reducing very greatly indeed the cost of the subsequent plan projected for the eastern world. even at the outset, the mails, parcels, and passengers on the pacific station, would, it is believed, pay the expenses as here stated:-- fixed capital. yearly charges. pacific departments £ , £ , the mediterranean, east indies, &c. &c. (p.  ) i. _falmouth and the mediterranean._ to extend the mail communications between great britain and all places in the mediterranean, and more especially with the more distant parts of that sea, which will go to connect more closely british communications with the east indies and countries situated still more to the eastward, is now, more than ever, become a national object, and, it may be added, a national duty. france seems to be actively extending mail communications, in that sea, to all places, as well to those under her immediate sway as to others; and if allowed to do so without any rival, it becomes obvious that, with the command of all the channels of communication, she will obtain such a monopoly of political influence as will give her the monopoly of political power also in that quarter of the world. such a result cannot fail to prove highly injurious to all the great commercial and political interests of great britain; and this result ought to be guarded against and prevented even at a considerable sacrifice, if a sacrifice were necessary, but which it is not. two mails each month between great britain and the mediterranean are indispensably necessary, otherwise the conveyance of both letters and despatches, and passengers, will generally be quicker by private ships and other similar conveyances which may offer. the route can be from falmouth to alexandria direct, by lisbon, cadiz, gibraltar, palermo, and malta; at the latter place dropping the outward mails for the ionian islands, athens, and constantinople; to be forwarded immediately by a branch steam-boat, which will return to malta from (p.  ) constantinople, &c. with the return mails for england, &c. &c. to be forwarded by the alexandria and falmouth steamers, returning by way of malta, palermo, gibraltar, cadiz, and lisbon; a good sailing vessel being employed to convey the outward and the inward mails to and from zante to the other ionian islands. it would take the constantinople steamer from malta too much out of her way to call at any other of these islands but the one mentioned. as the falmouth and mediterranean department is in every point of view a most important station, so it may be rendered a profitable one; because it will connect itself with the east indian communication, and consequently a very great additional number of passengers, letters, parcels, &c. will be obtained. calling at lisbon, cadiz, gibraltar, palermo, and malta in the way out to, and in the way home from alexandria, steam-boats sufficiently powerful ( -horse power) would complete the voyage in days from london to london, including all necessary stoppages. three powerful steamers would do this work, giving two mails each month. the capital necessary to purchase these would be , _l._ the annual expenditure for these three boats, on this station, would be--wages, provisions, tear and wear, &c. , _l._ each, or , _l._; and for coals, , tons, , _l._; together, , _l._ thus each boat on this station would be actively employed days each voyage = monthly, yearly: coals, tons daily = , tons at _s._, , _l._ the route, course, and time, from alexandria, would be thus:-- geo. miles. days. falmouth to alexandria, by lisbon, &c. &c. alexandria to falmouth, by malta, &c. &c. stop at alexandria london and falmouth, including day of departure ---- -- ---- -- n.b. seventeen days, at geographical miles per day, gives miles--the real distance is . . _malta and constantinople._ (p.  ) from malta a branch steam-boat may proceed with the mails for the ionian islands, and touching at zante to land these, proceed thence to athens, and thence to constantinople with the outward mails. from constantinople this boat will return, by athens and zante, to malta, with the return mails for the alexandria and falmouth packets. the distance from malta to alexandria and back is miles, and by the course already pointed out, the distance from malta to constantinople and back is not materially different. consequently, one good steamer would perform the work in the same time as is requisite to go to alexandria and return. this boat would be, each voyage, ten days at sea; stopping two days at constantinople: which is days monthly; days yearly; requiring tons of coals, _l._, and _l._ more for wages, provisions, insurance, tear and wear; together , _l._ per annum. east-indian department. . _alexandria and suez._ the distance from the former to the latter place is geographical miles. this might, under prompt and proper regulations, be performed in two days. the first portion of the distance is from alexandria to cairo, about miles by water, and the second is from cairo to suez across the desert, about miles. what the expense of transporting mails, passengers, &c. over this distance would be, it is difficult to state, but let it be taken as an approximation at _l._ per annum. . _suez to bombay._ (p.  ) the mail communications by steam might readily and with great advantage be extended to this quarter of the world, and to this important portion of the british empire. nor need the channel of communication stop at the east indies, but proceed on until it includes within its range batavia, china, and new south wales. the further the line is extended, and the more its ramifications are combined and connected, the greater will the advantages, and the more ample the remuneration, be to whoever undertakes the work. the commercial and political concerns and interests connected with these vast portions of the globe, are well known to be immense, and of the first-rate importance, while no european power is so much interested in these as great britain. with these remarks the manner in which the communications alluded to can be effected and carried on remains to be pointed out. the route, periods, and distances from alexandria, would be as follows, premising that the price of coals in all these eastern stations will be considerably higher than in the stations in the western world, as these coals may have to be carried to the different places by the circuitous navigation of the cape of good hope. still, calculating the whole to be brought from europe, these may be obtained at the average price of _s._ per ton; while per cent. additional, for all supplies and wages, may be added to the sum taken for expenditure in the stations in the western hemisphere, as required in every place to the eastward of the cape of good hope. and at these rates all the subsequent estimates are formed. geo. miles. days. alexandria to suez, by cairo suez to babelmandel, by mocha stop at mocha, coals babelmandel to bombay, by aden or socotora stop at bombay bombay to alexandria, same route ---- -- totals ---- -- three powerful steamers would perform this work, giving two mails (p.  ) each month--at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly; coals at tons daily, , tons, at _s._ , _l._ . _aden or socotora to mauritius._ the steamer for bombay could, without material difficulty, drop mails for the mauritius at socotora. to do so at aden, on the arabian coast, would add to the distance miles, which is a material objection. from socotora to the mauritius is geographical miles. two good sailing vessels (brigantine class) would be sufficient for the work of carrying the mauritius mails between socotora and that island. the time each way may be fairly taken at days, and two days to stop at port louis, gives days for the voyage. the cost of these vessels should be about _l._ each, and their expenditure, say, _l._ each, or _l._ per annum. the time from london to the mauritius by this route would be days, and the same time to return, making the mail communication between the two places days. . _bombay to calcutta, by ceylon._ one steam-boat would carry all the mails for the east indies, &c. from suez to bombay; and from thence another steam-boat would proceed to calcutta by trincomalee, calling at mangalore, and other places in the west coast of hindostan, and dropping at trincomalee the mails for all places more to the eastward. going by bombay, instead of going direct from babelmandel to ceylon, only increases the distance about miles, while the vast expense of having additional and separate boats is saved. from trincomalee, the steamer, both in going to and returning from calcutta, could, without inconvenience or delay, call at pondicherry and madras. should the time occupied by the steamers from bombay to calcutta by this route exceed the time occupied by the post to travel from the former to the latter by land, then in that case the european mails from calcutta could be forwarded by land, (p.  ) while the passengers, parcels, &c. could go round by the steamer, the difference, in point of time, being not above a day or two at most. the route, time, and distance from bombay to calcutta, would be thus:-- geo. miles. days. bombay to trincomalee stop at trincomalee trincomalee to calcutta, by madras, &c. stop at calcutta calcutta to bombay, same route ---- -- totals ---- -- two powerful boats would perform this work, giving two mails each month. each would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly: tons coals daily = , tons yearly, , _l._ cost of boats, , _l._; yearly expenses, _l._ each, , _l._; together with coals, , _l._ & . _trincomalee to canton, by batavia_. at trincomalee, a steamer would take up the mails for the remainder of the eastern world, both from europe and from india, and proceed by batavia to canton. at batavia, this boat would deposit the mails for new south wales and singapore; the former to be forwarded by other steamers, and the latter by a good sailing schooner, which could always accomplish her work so as to be in time for the return steamer, and for the next outward mails; the distance from batavia to singapore being miles, thus: three, or even four days, out; three to stop, and four back; together days. the nearest way to canton from trincomalee is by nicobar and singapore, distance, miles; whereas the distance by batavia is miles; but then it must be remembered, that batavia is the most important station, and miles nearer new south wales than singapore. hence batavia appears to be the most eligible point of (p.  ) communication for the steamers. from trincomalee to canton, the route and time will be thus:-- geo. miles. days. trincomalee to batavia, by straits of sunda stop at batavia, coals, &c. batavia to canton stop at canton , batavia canton to trincomalee, by batavia ---- -- totals ---- -- three boats would perform this work, giving two mails each month. each boat would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly: tons coals daily, , tons yearly-- , _l._ at trincomalee, a spare boat would require to be stationed, in case of accidents, which would make four for the station; prime cost, , _l._, and one sailing-vessel, , _l._ the yearly charges for provisions, wages, &c. &c. will be _l._ each, and _l._ for the sailing-vessel is , _l._, which, together with the expense of coals, amount to , _l._ . _batavia to sydney, new south wales, by swan river._ at batavia, steamers could take up the european, the indian, and the chinese mails, and proceed on to sydney, new south wales, by swan river and hobart town, &c. thus: geo. miles. days. batavia to swan river stop at ditto, coals swan river to hobart town stop at ditto hobart town to sydney stop at sydney, coals, &c. ditto at hobart town and swan river, returning sydney, by hobart town, &c. to batavia ---- -- totals ---- -- three boats would perform this work, giving two mails each month; (p.  ) but in case of accidents, there would require to be one spare boat on the station, to be stationed either at batavia or sydney. the cost of the four would be , _l._ each boat actively employed would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly: tons coals daily is , tons yearly, at _s._, , _l._ the yearly expenditure of each boat besides would be _l._; for four, , _l._, together with coals, , _l._ it is unnecessary to dwell on the immense advantages which such a plan of mail communications as this would give to the commercial world in general, and to the commercial interests of the united kingdom in particular. these would be incalculably great, both to the governments and to the people. to complete the scheme, it would be requisite to have more than one station at which boats and machinery could be repaired. these would require to be malta, in the mediterranean, bombay, trincomalee, batavia, and sydney, in all five places; the salaries, &c. for superintendents, rents, and rent coal depôts, could not be less than _l._ per annum at each, or , _l._ the expense for workmen and materials are included in the per cent. allowed for tear and wear in the annual expenditure for each boat. the yearly expenditure for the whole plan, in all its parts, would consequently be as follows, and under the respective heads as here enumerated. _abstract._ no. . falmouth to alexandria, by lisbon, &c. . malta to constantinople, by zante, &c. . alexandria to suez, by cairo. . suez to bombay, by mocha. . socotora to mauritius. . bombay to calcutta, by ceylon. & . trincomalee to canton, by batavia, &c. . batavia to sydney, new south wales, by swan river, &c. . coal depôts, and stations for repairs. _expenditure by steam power, &c._ (p.  ) --------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------+------- | |provi- | | | | | |number number | fixed | sions |tons of| price |cost of| total |number| of of |capital|wages, | coals | coals | coals |expendi-| of |sailing station.| re- | &c. |yearly.| per |yearly.| ture |steam-| ves- |quired.|yearly.| | ton. | | yearly.| ers. | sels. --------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------+------- | £ | £ | | s. | £ | £ | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | " | , | " | " | " | , | " | " | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | , | , | " | " | " | , | " | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " & | , | , | , | " | , | , | | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | " | , | | " | " | , | " | " |-------+-------+-------| |-------+--------+------+------- | , | , | , | | , | , | | | | | | | , | , | | |-------+-------+-------| |-------+--------+------+------- | , | , | , | | , | , | | --------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+--------+------+------- the return boat from alexandria ought not to leave that place until the eastern mails come up from suez. the course of post under this arrangement between london and alexandria, would be days; between london and constantinople, the same; between london and bombay, days; london and calcutta, days; london and canton, days; london and batavia, days; london and swan river, days; london and sydney, new south wales, days, &c. &c. ii. another plan, by way of the cape of good hope. the above plan is attended with considerable risk, inasmuch as convulsions in egypt, and on the shores of the red sea about suez and mocha, and war in the mediterranean, might cut off altogether (p.  ) the communications with the whole eastern world, according to the route which has been laid down. to prevent such a result is an object of great importance, providing it can be effected without a serious sacrifice as to time, or expenditure of money. to have such vitally important communications as free from being disturbed by the march of war as possible, is not only desirable, but indispensable, on the part of great britain. this may be effected by going out by the cape of good hope. adopting this route would connect all the eastern transmarine possessions of great britain in one chain, with scarcely a link in the line of communication being dependent upon foreigners, except one or two, which the naval power of great britain could always command and control in case of emergency. the course here alluded to would lengthen the course of post to bombay and calcutta, &c. to a considerable extent; but in every part of the proposed new line, coals could always be procured more cheap and readily than in any quarter near the red sea. the following details, however, will place the time and expense in a clear point of view, and enable any one to contrast at a glance the two routes, and the difference which in time and expenditure will exist and remain between them. . _falmouth to cape verde._ the steam-boat with all the indian mails would go from falmouth by madeira to cape verde, thus:-- geo. miles. days. falmouth to madeira stop at madeira, coals madeira to cape verde stop at cape verde, coals cape verde to falmouth stop at madeira, returning, coals ---- -- totals ---- -- two steam-boats, actively employed, would perform this work, (p.  ) giving two mails each month. each boat would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly:--coals, at tons daily = , tons yearly, at _s._ , _l._ . _cape verde to the cape of good hope._ the route and time from cape verde to the cape of good hope will be-- geo. miles. days. cape verde to ascension ascension to st. helena st. helena to cape of good hope stop at ascension and st. helena twice cape of good hope to cape verde ---- -- ---- -- three boats, actively employed, would perform this work, giving two mails each month; but in case of accidents, it would be advisable to have one spare boat at st. helena, or cape verde, making four at this station, or six in all between falmouth and the cape of good hope. the three boats actively employed would be at sea days each voyage = monthly = yearly. coals at tons daily = , tons yearly, at _s._, , _l._ . _cape of good hope to the mauritius._ from the cape, the steamers will proceed with all the mails to the eastward, calling at algoa bay and bourbon, and next to the mauritius. from the mauritius it will proceed to point de galle, where it will deposit the mails for bombay, and afterwards proceed to trincomalee, from whence it will return by way of point de galle to the mauritius, with the return mails for europe. it would take the bombay mails unreasonably out of the way to proceed from the mauritius direct (p.  ) to trincomalee. the route, time, and distance for this boat, would be as under:-- geo. miles. days. cape of good hope to mauritius stop at mauritius mauritius to cape of good hope ---- -- totals ---- -- two boats would perform this service, giving two mails each month; each days at sea each voyage = monthly = yearly. coals, tons daily, , tons yearly, at _s._ , _l._; other charges, , _l._ yearly; cost boats, , _l._ . _mauritius, to point de galle and trincomalee, ceylon._ geo. miles. days. mauritius to point de galle point de galle to trincomalee - / trincomalee to mauritius, same route - / ---- ------ totals ---- ------ two steam-boats, actively employed, would perform this work, giving two mails each month; but in the event of accidents, there would require to be a spare boat on this station, either at trincomalee or point de galle, as may seem advisable, and as assistance may be required for the mauritius, bombay, &c. line. the two boats actively engaged would be at sea each on each voyage, days = monthly = yearly. coals daily, tons = , tons yearly, at _s._, , _l._ three boats yearly, other expenses, , _l._ this station will require three boats; and one for the calcutta station--together four.[ ] [footnote : by making the four steamers on the route between the cape of good hope and ceylon, run--two from the cape to mauritius, and two from mauritius to point de galle, the boats on the eastern side of the mauritius would regularly have eight days, and those on the western side six days each month to rest; and furthermore, be always prepared to start whenever a steamer from either quarter with mails came up. in a similar manner, the boats which are to run between falmouth and the cape of good hope could be divided; by which means, besides being always ready when wanted, they also would have more time to rest. two may run from falmouth to cape verde, miles; three from cape verde to the cape of good hope, miles; with one, the fourth, to take by turns a voyage from cape verde to the cape of good hope, and a voyage from cape verde to falmouth, in order to relieve the others. sufficient time for rest would thus be obtained. moreover, by combining the east indian department with the plan for the western world by fayal to pernambuco, three steamers would be saved. the indian steamers to branch off at the latter place for the cape. the distance would, in this way, be increased about miles; but considering the winds and currents in the course which these steamers would take, it would not make three days more, if so much, in the outward voyage, and in the homeward voyage probably not so much; while the advantages would be considerable, and the saving great.] . _point de galle to bombay._ (p.  ) a steamer would proceed from point de galle to bombay, calling at mangalore, &c. and returning to point de galle by the same route with all the return mails. the route and time would be-- geo. miles. days. point de galle to bombay, by mangalore - / stop at bombay, &c. bombay to point de galle - / ----- ----- totals ----- ---- one boat would do all this work, giving two mails each month. at sea each voyage days = monthly = yearly. coals tons daily = , tons yearly, at _s._, , _l._ other charges, , _l._--together , _l._ . _trincomalee to calcutta._ a steamer would proceed from trincomalee to calcutta and back, calling in going and returning at pondicherry and madras. the route and time would be thus:-- geo. miles. days. trincomalee to madras - / madras to calcutta - / stop at calcutta, coals, &c. calcutta to trincomalee, same route ---- -- totals one steam-boat would perform this work, giving two mails each (p.  ) month; at sea each voyage days[ ] = monthly = yearly. coals, tons daily = tons yearly, at _s._, , _l._ other charges, _l._--together , _l._ per annum. [footnote : the time here is only ten days; but the calculation was made for a different division of the mails, and it has not been thought necessary to alter it. the time in which the different distances may be run has been here stated, but the necessary arrangements for the arrivals and departures of the mails will, in some instances, extend that time. these arrangements resolve the periods into--say , , , , , , &c. &c. days. thus, if the mails between alexandria and bombay cannot be back at alexandria, as they really cannot be, within days, the object to come up with the regular return mediterranean mail for england is equally attained if it is back at alexandria within days; and the same principle applies equally to every other station.] from trincomalee eastward to batavia, canton, and new south wales, the routes, periods, distances, and expenses, would be exactly the same as those which have already been pointed out in the plan of having the communications by the red sea, under heads nos. , , , and . bringing the whole into one table, the total amount is ascertained, and the difference of expenditure in the one route over the other becomes distinctly known. in order, however, to bring the whole into a tabular form, it is necessary to recapitulate and particularize the different heads, thus:-- . falmouth to cape verde. . cape verde (mayo) to cape of good hope. . cape of good hope to mauritius. . mauritius to ceylon, point de galle. . ceylon, point de galle, to bombay. . ceylon to calcutta, by madras. . trincomalee to canton, by batavia. . batavia to singapore. . batavia to sydney, new south wales, by swan river. . coal depôts, and places to repair boats. _expenditure by the cape of good hope._ (p.  ) |------|--------|-------|--------|------|-------|--------|------|-------| | | | | | | | | | | |number|fixed |provi- |tons of |price |cost of| total |number|number | |of |capital | sions,|coals |of |coals |expendi-| of | of | |sta- |required|wages |yearly. |coals |yearly.| ture |stea- |sailing| |tions.| | &c. | |per | |yearly. | mers |ves- | | | |yearly.| |ton | | | |sels. | |------|--------|-------|--------|------|-------|--------|------|-------| | | £ | £ | | _s._ | £ | £ | | | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | | | , | , | , | | , | , | | " | | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | | | , | , | , | " | , | , | | " | | -- | , | , | , | " | , | , | | | | |--------|-------|--------| |-------|--------|------|-------| | [ ]| , | , | , | | , | , | | | | | | | | | , | , | | | | |--------|-------|--------| |-------|--------|------|-------| | | , | , | , | | , | , | | | | sub.| , | , | , | | , | , | | | | |--------|-------|--------| |-------|--------|------|-------| | diff.| , | , | , | | , | , | | | |------|--------|-------|--------|------|-------|--------|------|-------| [footnote : the same remark regarding the cost of steamers, will apply here, that has been made in the plan proposed for the western world.] the first deduction is the sum for the saving in quantity and price of coals, as aftermentioned; the last sum shows the difference of cost and expenditure of the route by the red sea, as compared with the route by the cape of good hope; bearing in mind, however, that the expense of the establishment from falmouth to alexandria would still remain, admitting that the route by the cape of good hope was adopted. in the preceding calculation of expenses, the amount is taken calculating that the work is to be done wholly by steam, and at the average rate of geographical miles per day. the use of sails, however, will propel a vessel at the average rate of - / miles per hour throughout a general voyage; consequently, _one-fourth_ should be deducted from the quantity of coals used. this will amount to (p.  ) , tons, value , _l._, less per cent. allowed for wastage on the whole, is , tons, , _l._, which leaves the net saving of , _l._ next, the value of coals supplied to the eastward of the cape of good hope is calculated at _s._ per ton, as received from europe. but coals may be supplied in all places to the eastward of the cape of good hope at _s._ per ton, thus:--they can be purchased excellent, and in abundance, at _s._ per ton at sydney, new south wales. ships coming from that place to ports in the east indies, and the mauritius, for freight, would carry these coals, and be glad to convey and to sell them at _s._ per ton, a profit of _s._, instead of making nothing, as at present. a further deduction, therefore, of _s._ per ton, or one-fourth in value, on the quantity used to the eastward of the cape, is to be made, which will amount to , _l._, and which, together with the above balance of , _l._, makes the sum of , _l._ to be deducted from the total amount of expenditure. next, as to the rate of speed--it is calculated throughout the voyage, at the rate of geographical miles per day. in running before the wind, and with the monsoons, the vessels would make more, and in working against them, less; still, on the whole voyage, or from the cape, for example, to calcutta, and from calcutta to the cape again, the time specified would be sufficient for the work and the distance; while in taking a circuitous course to avoid the force of the monsoons, the steamers would make up by increased speed for the increased distance. the n. e. monsoon may, at anytime, be stemmed by a steamer of large power, and such as is now recommended. the s. w., which is the most formidable, may be overcome by the boats on their return,--if by the red sea, by making first a course to the southward, and then standing n. w. with the monsoon on their beam. by the cape of good hope, the difficulty would be decreased in this respect, as the boats running southward to gain the mauritius from ceylon, would, by keeping to the southward, soon get out of their vortex; while the steamers between bombay and ceylon have only to keep in shore to avoid the greatest force of the monsoon either way, and from either quarter. in crossing from the red sea to bombay, the strength of the n. e. (p.  ) monsoon would be avoided by keeping in with the arabian, and afterwards with the eastern asiatic coast. taking the line of communication, therefore, between great britain and the eastern world, by the cape of good hope, the expense beyond that which the line of communication by the mediterranean and the red sea would occasion, would be, in capital, , _l._, and in yearly expenditure, , _l._ the point to consider is, will the advantages, and the security to be obtained by taking the former in preference to the latter route, prove a sufficient compensation for, and a warrant to go to the additional and increased expense? the answer, minutely considering every circumstance, will be, that they are. the obstruction which the land barrier between alexandria and suez offers, and must always offer, even when unobstructed by hostile force, to the conveyance of parcels, packages, and goods, is a great drawback indeed. the competition, also, by steamers belonging to other parties and states, would, as regards all these, be a great drawback on this line; and to which must be added, the increased difficulties and drawbacks which would arise in the event of hostilities taking place between any of the great powers connected with the affairs of the mediterranean. on the other hand, the free communication which would be had,--free also as it would be, or nearly so, from any serious competition by the cape of good hope, the carriage of every thing being in almost every point and place under the british flag and revenue laws--would render this line much more profitable than the line by egypt and the red sea could ever be. the coal depôts for the lines by the first plan would be--gibraltar, malta, constantinople, alexandria, mocha or socotora, bombay, trincomalee, calcutta, batavia, canton, swan river, hobart town, and sydney: and for the lines by the second plan, madeira, cape verde, ascension, st. helena, cape of good hope, mauritius, bombay, point de galle or trincomalee, calcutta, batavia, canton, swan river, hobart town, and sydney. the course of post between london and the different places here stated, taking the route by the cape of good hope, would be--london and sydney, new south wales, days; london and swan river, (p.  ) days; london and canton, days; london and batavia, days; london and calcutta, days; london and bombay, days; london and the mauritius, days; and london and the cape of good hope, days, &c. &c., but in working the scheme some stoppages may perhaps be cut off. _income by the mediterranean._ passengers:--falmouth to alexandria, voyages, at each, _l._ £ , malta to constantinople, ditto, at each, _l._ , suez to bombay, ditto, at each, _l._ , ditto to calcutta and madras, &c. do. at each, _l._ , ditto to mauritius, ditto, at each, _l._ , -------- total £ , deduct finding ditto, one-third , -------- remain clear £ , freights--parcels, packages, and goods, say , freight--specie, suppose , government troops, stores, &c. , ditto, carrying all mails and despatches , -------- £ , deduct expenditure £ , sinking fund. per cent. , -------- , -------- balance gain £ , -------- _income by cape of good hope._ (p.  ) passengers:--falmouth to bombay, voyages, at each = , at _l._ £ , ditto to calcutta and madras, &c. ditto, at each = , at _l._ , mauritius to calcutta & madras, &c. ditto, at each = , at _l._ , east indies to batavia, china, &c. voyages, at each = , at _l._ , new south wales and falmouth, voyages, at each = , at . , madeira, st. helena, cape of good hope, and coasting voyages, india, voyages, and ceylon and calcutta, together, say yearly , new south wales coastways, voyages, at each, average _l._ , -------- total £ , deduct for finding _one-third_ , -------- balance gain £ , freights--parcels, packages, fine goods, voyages, tons each, average at _l._ per ton of tonnage £ , freight--specie, say , government troops, stores, &c. , ditto mails, despatches , ------- , ------- total , deduct expenditure £ , sinking fund, to replace capital, per cent , sundries, port charges, &c. , ------- , -------- balance gain £ , -------- geographical observations on the isthmus of america, (p.  ) and the practicability of a communication with china and new south wales westward through it. a ready and safe communication with these important places, and at the same time with all the most eastern parts of asia, with all the islands in the pacific ocean, and with all the western coasts of the great continent of america, it will be readily allowed, is of the utmost importance to great britain and to the whole civilized world. through the isthmus of central america only, a short, safe, and easy passage from europe to the eastern parts of asia and the pacific ocean, can be effected. that a passage over the pole exists, is extremely probable, nay, it may be said, is certain. this passage, when found, will be obtained by standing north between nova zembla and spitzbergen, and thence over the pole, inclining first eastward above europe, and thence westward for some distance, to behring's straits. but admitting that there is a passage open by this route, it can only be so from the end of may to the middle of september, and during this period only comparatively safe; a period much too short to accomplish a voyage out and back from china, and scarcely sufficient to perform the voyage out and back between great britain and her territories on the west coast of america situated to the north of columbia river. moreover, even if a passage this way was open for a period sufficient to enable the navigator to accomplish the voyage to either of the quarters alluded to, still it will appear, when the distances come (p.  ) to be noticed and contrasted, that, considering the winds and the weather which ships would encounter in passing over the north pole into the pacific, as contrasted with those which they would most certainly meet with in sailing westward through tropical seas, by the isthmus of america; that the latter route would, upon the whole, be the best, and in all respects preferable and most expeditious. a communication by the latter quarter may be advantageously and speedily opened up, both for steamers and for sailing vessels; and in the conveyance of mails, both or either may be employed, as shall appear to be most eligible and most advisable. to lay open such a communication as this would prove, is an object of the first importance, worthy of the attention of any body of men, and of any nation, but more especially of a nation like great britain, to support and to patronize in every way. by this route, all vessels, mails, and merchandise could reach the more distant and wealthy parts of asia and australasia, sooner and safer, and through seas comparatively always tranquil, borne by winds scarcely ever varying, and always favourable, than these can do by any other course that is known, or that remains to be discovered. in an especial manner, this would be the case as regards all the western coasts of america, north and south, the islands in the pacific, new south wales and van dieman's land, japan, china, eastern siberia, &c. the perpetual trade-winds would bear vessels before them from madeira to canton, and almost to sydney, while in returning they would merely have to run through these trade-winds, with a steady breeze on the beam, until they reached the latitude of ° to ° north, when the steady and certain, and strong westerly and south-west winds, would bear them in these parallels first, to the west coast of america; from which point winds off the land, and north-easterly trade-winds, would carry them, in the second place, to the point of communication with the atlantic, through the isthmus of central america; from which they, in the third place, would run to the north, carried by the trade-winds and the gulf stream, into and through the gulf of florida, into the variable winds, which would quickly bear them to all the eastern ports of north america, and (p.  ) to all the ports in europe, or along the coasts of the mediterranean. by this channel, namely, through the isthmus of central america, the valuable, but almost unknown, british territory on the west coast of north america, would be brought near, and cleared, and cultivated. so also would the whole remaining western coast of america, from nootka sound to the southern extremity of chili, be brought near to the civilized world, and become, in consequence, also peopled, cleared, and cultivated. without such a communication is opened up, these coasts, and states upon them, can scarcely ever be brought to this state, but to which it is most desirable for the general interests of the world, and of the human race in it, that they should be brought. situated as they are, there is no produce of their soil which their inhabitants can raise that can bear the expense of carriage to enable it to come into competition in the general markets of the world, with similar articles raised in other countries, which are all more accessible and placed nearer markets; and unless the soil of the western coasts of america and the islands in the pacific are brought into cultivation, and peopled by people more civilized and industrious, it is obvious that these countries and the states and population at present in them, must remain in the poor, ignorant, miserable, and uncultivated state and condition in which they are, of little service to themselves or to the remainder of the world. the points where the communication between the atlantic and the pacific are most feasible and practicable, is at one point on the southern boundaries of the republic of mexico, and the others within the territories of the republics of guatemala and venezuela. the neck of land, or isthmus, which connects north and south america together, may be taken to extend from ° n. lat., in the meridian of ° w. long., to the parallel of ° or ° n. lat. in the meridian of ° w. long. narrow as the continent of america is in all this space, but more especially in the southern portion of this space, recent surveys have reduced it still more; and it is not improbable that, when the late surveys of the west coasts within the tropics are published, that it will be found to be still narrower, and more contracted than is (p.  ) supposed, or than the late accurate surveys by captain owen, under the orders also of the british government, of the shores of the gulf of mexico, have shown it to be; and consequently the communication between the atlantic and the pacific will be found to be still shorter and more easy than it has been, or is even now considered to be. the first two points within the limits above mentioned, where communications are most practicable, are the following:--_first_, in the territory of mexico, from the mouth of the river guazacoalcos, on the gulf of mexico, to the mouth of the chimalapa, in the gulf of tehuantepec, on the pacific, between the parallels of - / ° to - / ° n. lat. the distance from sea to sea at this part is geographical miles, in a south-west direction. the sources of the streams which flow, the one eastward into the gulf of mexico, and the other westward, into the pacific, come within the short distance of miles of each other. _secondly_, the channel from the gulf of dolce, which communicates with the gulf of mexico, to the southward of honduras or the balize, to trinidad, situate on a bay in the pacific, to the north of point remedios. the distance of the gulf of dolce to the pacific, at the point just mentioned, is geographical miles, with the advantages of the courses of rivers which bend their courses to the opposite oceans. but if it is correct that the river balize is, as it has been stated to be, navigable upwards in its course to a distance of miles, then it must penetrate so deeply into the continent, that its sources must approach to points still nearer to the pacific than the gulf of dolce, or its tributary streams. it is doubtful, however, if any canals could be cut in either of the lines mentioned, because the land rises very considerably, forming in the central parts what is denominated table land, and is in general studded with ridges and high volcanic mountains, while the ports on either shore are neither very commodious nor of safe approach. there has been of late years also a tolerable good road constructed in the first-mentioned line, which will tend greatly to facilitate the communication from sea to sea, so far as the interests of mexico are immediately concerned. these points adverted to are the only probable channels of (p.  ) communication to the northward of the river st. juan and lake nicaragua, which, like the last-noticed line, are situated in the territory of the republic of central america, the capital of which is san salvador. for reasons which will subsequently be adduced, the consideration of this important position is left until those points in the isthmus of panama and darien have been particularly noticed and examined. the first points to examine are those which are situated to the southward and eastward of panama, and which are immediately connected with, and contiguous to, the gulf of darien. these are as follow:--in the province of choco, famous for its gold mines, there is a ravine called rapsadura, extending between a head branch of the river st. juan, which, after a course from n. e. by n. to s. w. by s., falls into the pacific in lat. ° ' n.; and the river of quito, one of the head branches of the river atrato, which flows in nearly a due north course into the gulf of darien. through the ravine just mentioned, the parish priest of novita dug a small canal in , which was navigable during the rainy season, and by which canoes, laden with coffee and other produce, passed from one sea to another, a distance of miles; as they found it requisite and convenient. the next point, and more to the north beyond cape st. francisco de solano, in about ° ' n. lat. is, from the mouth of the cupica, or tupica, as it is denominated in some maps, along that stream, which descends from the eastward into the pacific, through a break in the mountains to the head of the river naipi, a distance of from to miles only. the latter river is deep and navigable, and flows through a lake of considerable magnitude, nearly due east, into the river atrato, a little below the village of zitara, about miles from the mouth of the latter stream, in the gulf of darien. the distance from the pacific to the atrato, through the channels mentioned, is only geographical miles. the atrato springs (its farthest branch the rio chame) in the rising ground, in ° ' n. lat. and ° ' w. long., and runs almost due north, a distance of miles, into the gulf of darien. at this point, the western and secondary chain of the (p.  ) andes is broken and interrupted, and there is good reason to believe that they continue to be so in several places more to the northward: in fact, that they cease, and are succeeded through all the isthmus of darien and panama, by a low range, broken into fragments in different places. at the point under consideration, namely, by the cupica and the naipi, the spanish government had it in contemplation, about forty years ago, to open a communication from sea to sea, by means of a canal; but the events in europe, and the decay of their power, prevented the important enterprise from being undertaken. the gulf of darien, and the course of the atrato, were rigidly guarded and concealed by the spanish government, so much so, that by special decrees the punishment of death was denounced against every one who should either permit or attempt the exploration of the country in these parts. this showed clearly that their practical knowledge gave them to know, that a communication between the atlantic and the pacific was easy and practicable in more places than one in this quarter of their dominions. the next point where the communication is practicable, either by water or a short distance by land, where a canal could be cut, or a road made, is between the gulf of st. miguel on the pacific, to the bottom of the gulf of darien, due east, and also to the port de escoces, or _new edinburgh_, more to the n. (n. e. by e. from st. miguel) in the upper part of the gulf of darien, on the atlantic. the distance from the head of the gulf of st. miguel to the latter point is miles, and to the former to miles, but with river communications to within miles of the latter, and miles of the former. the gulf of st. miguel opens to the pacific from ° ' to ° ' n. lat., and runs e. n. e. and n. e. by e., fully miles into the country, its centre crossing the meridian of ° w. long. as has been shortly adverted to, the rivers which seem to form the gulf of st. miguel run deeply into the country, both to the s. e. and to the n. e., one particularly, the chuqunaque, with an extremely zigzag course between ridges of mountains, is laid down to within miles of new edinburgh; which, by the last admiralty charts, drawn from the best spanish authorities, is (p.  ) placed in ° ' n. lat. and ° ' w. long. to the s. e. the source of streams which run into the gulf of san miguel spring within miles of the mouth of the atrato, while branches of each approach within half that distance of each other. the land in this quarter is clearly low, because, for a considerable distance from its mouth, the atrato runs through a very marshy and flooded country. new edinburgh, or port de escoces, is an excellent port, commodious, and well sheltered, and is the celebrated spot where, in (one hundred and thirty-eight years ago), the scotch colony, under the direction of a scotch clergyman, named paterson, a most intelligent and enterprising man, was established, in order to open up a communication between both seas, and which was afterwards so shamefully, disgracefully, stupidly, and unguardedly abandoned by the then government of great britain, spurred on to the act by the miserable and contracted commercial rivalry of england and holland; and afterwards by the jealousies, the fears, and the representations of the government of spain, which at that time had really no right to the country, the natives thereof being independent of, and at war with, spain. the gulf of darien is of easy entrance, and penetrates southward to a little beyond the ° of n. lat., and to the southward of the principal mouth of the atrato; the centre of the bottom of the gulf being in the meridian of ° ' w. longitude. the next and last point to the southward and the eastward of chagre is by the river of chopo, about miles to the eastward of panama. narrow as the land in this quarter has been held to be, still the charts and maps lately published by individuals, and by the authority of the admiralty, show that it is much narrower than what has hitherto been calculated upon; and in the particular point under consideration, very narrow indeed. from the mouth of the river chopo, opposite the little island chepillo in the pacific, to the bottom of the gulf of st. blas or mandinga on the atlantic, is only about miles (some maps make it still less). in this space, the mountains to the eastward of the high chain s. of point manzanillo and porto bello, which give rise to the chagres, and its tributary streams, running first (p.  ) westward and then north-west into the atlantic, are again, according to captain lloyd, interrupted and broken, affording thereby a readier communication between the two great oceans, the atlantic, and the pacific. in an apparently good spanish map of the isthmus, upon a large scale, the river chopo or bayano is represented as being formed by two branches, one under the name of the rio canizas, springing to the southward of the pico de carti, a hill only four miles from the atlantic, in the bay of mandinga; the whole course of the river to the pacific on a general south bearing, being only miles. the source of the chagres comes within miles of the lower course of the chopo; and some good maps lay down a river which joins the chopo, near its mouth, as coming from the n. e., its sources likewise being within a very few miles of the atlantic. here, certainly, is a point from which, and on which a communication could be opened up at any rate by a good road, so as to afford a speedy conveyance for passengers, mails, and goods, between the two seas; while it is also exceedingly probable that, even in this short space, great facilities and assistance could be obtained by canal navigation, and by the rivers just mentioned. the points, however, where a canal could be cut of sufficient depth to admit the passage of large ships, and thus save the delay and the expense which loading and unloading cargoes would occasion, where roads of any description remain the only means of communication, and where the approach on either coast is safe, and interior water communication most abundant, are, certainly, the points which should be fixed upon and selected, in order to effect the object so important to the whole world. the two points hitherto the best known, and considered to be the best adapted for the purpose, are, first, the line from chagre on the atlantic, to panama on the pacific; and secondly, the line, perhaps the best of the whole, from the mouth of the river st. juan on the atlantic, by that river and lake nicaragua, to rialejo, or gulf papagayo, on the pacific. the panama line comes most properly the first point for consideration. here the survey, by lieutenant lloyd, in , gives some certain data, and some curious and important information. he tells us (p.  ) pointedly, from actual observation, that which good spanish maps indicated, and what was more vaguely told by others. according to him, on the eastern side of the province of veragua, the cordillera breaks into detached mountains, their sides exhibiting only bare rock, almost perpendicular. to these, as approaching nearer panama, succeed numerous conical mountains, arising out of savannahs and plains, and seldom exceeding from to feet. "finally," says he, "between chagre on the atlantic side, and chorera on the pacific, these conical mountains are not so numerous, having plains of great extent, interspersed with occasional ranges of hills of inconsiderable height." such is the isthmus of panama, where the distance from sea to sea is, even according to the present charts, only geographical miles, and from the mouth of the chagre to panama, miles.[ ] of this distance the chagre, which has a circuitous course, is navigable for miles to cruces--distant from the sea in a direct line miles, and from panama miles. at its mouth the chagre is one-fourth of a mile broad, and at cruces about feet: in its middle course the depth is feet. the current runs at the rate of from three to four miles per hour. it is full of numerous, constantly shifting sand banks, and sunken trees, which, with the current, render the navigation (p.  ) tedious, difficult, and even dangerous. at its mouth the coast is very sickly, as indeed the country through its course also is; but when the land is cleared, it will doubtless become more healthy. when the current is very rapid, it requires four or five days to reach cruces. the height of the land which intervenes between cruces and panama, has been accurately ascertained by mr. lloyd; and that portion of the country which he passed over in his survey along the old road to panama, is certainly the most elevated of the whole, as is shown in the following summary of his survey. [footnote : from the mouth of the chorera to the bay lemon, the distance is - / geographical miles. there is, however, reason to believe, that the distance from sea to sea is still less. ulloa, who was an accurate and scientific observer, places, and from actual observation, chagres in ° ' " n. lat., and panama in ° ' " n. lat. not being able to observe an eclipse of jupiter's satellites, owing to the obscuration of the atmosphere, he was obliged to calculate the longitude from bearings and distances. in these, however, he could not be far wrong; and by these he places cruces ' east of chagre, and panama ' " east of chagre, which, if he is correct, brings the breadth of the land from the castle of chagre to panama, to be only geographical miles!! since the preceding pages were written, captain washington, secretary to the royal geographical society, has favoured me with the longitudes of the places adverted to, as ascertained by captain forster, and in february by captain belcher, r.n. porto bello is in ° ' west long.; chagre, ° '; and panama in ° ' ". this gives the distance from chagre to panama geographical miles. porto bello is in lat. ° ' north. from thence to the pacific, a little to the east of panama, is miles. from chagre to the mouth of the caymito will be miles. ulloa's calculations of longitudes would thus appear to be wrong.] this survey commenced from the eastern suburb of panama, at high-water mark, and ran along the old road to porto bello, unto the point where it crossed the rio chagre,--a distance of chains, - / miles. the highest land passed over was the ridge maria henrique, - / miles from panama, and from the chagre. its height is . feet. the point where the road approaches the river, is . feet above the level of high-water mark at panama; and the bed of the river from whence the survey commenced downwards, is . feet. descending the river chains, - / miles, mr. lloyd came to the village of cruces, after a descent of . feet; thus making cruces to be . feet above high-water mark at panama. from cruces to gorgona chains, - / miles, the fall is . feet; and thence to a small gravel bank, named "_playa los ingenieros_" distant from cruces chains, - / miles, the fall is . feet, precisely level with the high-water mark at panama. at chains, - / miles below cruces, mr. lloyd first observed the effects of the tide from the atlantic, the level of the river at this point being . feet below the level of high-water mark on the pacific. at chains, miles, further down, reached la bruja, where the water became brackish; the level of the surface of the river being . feet below the high-water mark at panama. from la bruja there was no perceptible descent to the atlantic. the whole distance gone over in levelling from sea to sea, was miles. the tide at the mouth of the chagre rises only one foot, or . feet; but at panama the spring-tide in the pacific rises in a mean level (p.  ) to the height of . feet, though high winds and currents occasionally raise them to the height of . feet. at low water the sea sinks proportionally at panama below the level of the atlantic: the reason for this difference is obvious. the current towards the gulf of mexico, and which afterwards forms the famous gulf stream, carries off rapidly the waters in the atlantic; while, on the contrary, the current which flows northward along the western coast of south america, and the tide which flows into the bay of panama, from the south-west from the pacific, heaps, as it were for a moment, the waters into the bay and on the shores of panama, and occasions the tides alluded to, and differing so greatly from those which are seen in the atlantic at the short distance on the opposite coast. from maria henrique to cruces is only about nine miles. in the intermediate spaces are several savannahs, and, according to the spanish maps, a very considerable river, called rio de los laxas, which enters the chagre a little above cruces. this river flows westward from mount maria henrique; while the principal branches of the rio grande, which flows south into the pacific immediately to the westward of panama, spring from the south-west side of the mountain already mentioned. the branches of this river and of the chagre approach very near each other; while savannahs, according to lloyd's map, fill up, as between the rio grande and the obispo, the most of the intervening space. in this short distance, and with the aid of these rivers, a water communication, were the country properly examined, it is conjectured, might be found. from cruces the road, for a short distance, ascends considerably; after which it runs along a ridge, with a valley on each side; that on the south the deepest, being about feet, and descends until it comes to a plain, through which it stretches and runs to the city of panama. it is by quitting the old spanish track or road, and continuing along the savannahs and levels, that it is believed the water communication adverted to could be effected; and where the distance, taking into account the short bends which may be necessary, is so short, probably not twenty miles! these observations naturally call the attention to the consideration of a line of communication which may be had from the river (p.  ) trinidad to the pacific, either at panama or a little to the westward of that town, in the bay of chorera, at the mouth of the rio caymito. the condition of the country in that portion of the isthmus has already been generally described, on the authority of mr. lloyd; and from what he has stated, and which is in unison with other information, not a doubt can remain that a water communication can be opened up in this quarter from sea to sea. lines for railroads have already been chalked out in both places alluded to; and considered so easy that the sum of , dollars is estimated as the whole expense necessary to complete either. it is scarcely necessary to observe, that wherever a rail-road can be constructed, a canal may be made. the river trinidad is a branch of the chagre, which comes from the westward and from the south-westward, and joins the latter at about eight miles due s. w. from its mouth. the trinidad is navigable to embracadero, and for some distance, from its mouth, is both broad and deep. its branches penetrate a considerable way into the country, and approach closely to the branches of the caymito, a considerable stream, which flows through a country, in its lower course, comparatively level; while between its upper course and the trinidad the distance is covered with savannahs and small conical hills, and in some places marshy plains--a complete proof of the level nature of the country. the streams which rise to the westward of the line alluded to, namely, in the hills stretching to the province of veragua, mostly flow into the chagre, another proof of the direction in which the mountains in this quarter lay; and that there is no continued chain, as has been stated, extending in the centre of the isthmus throughout, and joining together the andes of north and south america. from the junction of the trinidad with the chagre to panama is only - / miles, and to the mouth of the chorera miles! short, however, as the distances just mentioned are, they are considerably reduced, when the navigation of the trinidad on the one side, and of the caymito on the other, are taken into account. these reduce the greater distance at least one-half; and in it, as well as the lesser distance, the nature of the country, for a considerable (p.  ) portion of the distance, if not throughout the whole distance, overcomes almost every obstacle, or rather renders every obstacle that may offer, possible to be overcome. from that portion of the river chagre, which is level with high-water mark at panama, south-westward to that city, the country is interspersed with savannahs, and consequently level. indeed, for "a few miles" inwards from panama, the _plains_ are below the level of the sea, thus rendering the formation of a canal easy; while, on the north side of the most elevated spot, the numerous streams which spring and flow to the chagre would afford an abundant supply of water for any canal that may be constructed, however large that may be. the distance, therefore, where any serious difficulty could occur, must be reduced to a mile or two; and in that distance, should any of those conical mountains, from to feet high, or insulated ridges of inconsiderable height, which mr. lloyd tells us are here and there to be found in these places--should any such intervene, they may be cut through without any great difficulty. the excess in the rise of the tide in the pacific, nearly feet above its rise in the atlantic, would tend greatly to accelerate the construction, in this part of america, of a water communication; which water communication, however, be it observed, must be sufficient to admit the passage through it of ships of the very highest tonnage, and at all seasons; otherwise it will not answer the general purpose, nor interests of the world. less might indeed suit for the conveyance of mails; but any thing less would occasion such an additional expense in unloading, transporting, and again loading goods, as would render the tedious navigation of cape horn preferable. _lake nicaragua, &c._ the next to be considered, and perhaps the last and the best channel by which a communication between the atlantic and the pacific could be opened up, and safely carried on, is through central america, or the republic of guatemala, by means of the river st. juan and the lakes nicaragua and managua, or, as the latter is more generally called, (p.  ) leon. these lakes are connected with each other by a river, and are navigable for ships; nicaragua for ships of the line. the river st. juan forms the outlet of both into the atlantic ocean, and is, according to estella, navigable throughout its course for ships of large burden. the mouth of the st. juan, according to the late survey by capt. owen, lays in ° ' n. lat. and in ° ' w. long. leon, the capital of the province in which lake managua is situated, and from which the name of leon is generally given to the latter, stands, according to the best spanish authorities, in ° ' n. lat. and ° ' w. long.; and its port, rialejo, on the pacific, in ° ' " n. lat., and ° ' w. long. from the mouth of the river st. juan to rialejo, in a bearing of n. ° w. the distance is miles; and this bearing runs nearly through the centre of the lakes and the course of the river st. juan. from the point where the river st. juan issues from the lake nicaragua to the point where the river lapita, which issues from lake managua, falls into the former, the distance, taken on the best maps, is about miles. rialejo is situated on a river of the same name, which is deep, and capable of holding in the harbour sail of the largest ships. the harbour is well protected from the force of the pacific, and from storms, by an island stretching out before it, with two channels between it and the main land; the one opening to the south-east, and the other to the north-west. the adjacent country is very fertile, but the place itself is reckoned unhealthy, owing to some swamps in the vicinity and to the southward; but which, it is believed, might be drained and cleared, which would render the climate salubrious, or, at least, as much so as any tropical climate can be to europeans. lake nicaragua, in its broadest part, is about miles: it has several considerable islands, some of them active volcanoes, and all of them fertile. the country around its shores is stated to be very healthy and very fertile, and studded with high peaks, mostly volcanic, and many of them, on both sides, volcanoes in activity. at the point on its north-east corner, where the river st. juan issues from it, there is (according to some of our best maps) erected the castle of st. carlos; and lower down, about miles on the banks (p.  ) of the river, is placed the castle of st. juan, which castle was taken by the english in . alcedo says that this river is navigable for ships of large size; but others add, that during the dry season, when the river is low, in one or two places the navigation is obstructed by sand banks, which, however, could easily be removed by a deepening machine, such as that used for a similar purpose on the clyde. lake managua in its western shore approaches in its southern portion to within to miles of the pacific; and here the conical peak range appears to be discontinued and broken. so also it is in the route from leon to rialejo, a distance of miles. the next nearest point of communication is to the southward of the town of grenada, situate on the upper part of lake nicaragua, westward to the port of st. juan, which runs considerably into the country from the pacific. here the distance from the lake to the sea is miles. the next point of communication is from the neighbourhood of the town of nicaragua to the bottom of the gulf of papagayo, the distance being about miles. the river partido flows from the s. e. through a course of fully miles, and enters the pacific at the bottom of the gulf of papagayo. at this point, also, the volcanic peaks and the ridge appear to be interrupted, and very low, thereby rendering a passage more probable and easy. on the neck of land, also, between the upper part of lake nicaragua and the pacific, there are situated in three different places between the pacific and the interior part, three lakes, which, while it shows the low nature of the coast, tends also to shorten very considerably in this otherwise very narrow neck ( miles), the space that intervenes between the lake and the ocean. the american coast of the pacific is, in fact, bordered with an alluvial plain, varying in breadth, which tends still more to lessen the breadth of the high lands in every quarter. between the bottom of the gulf of papagayo to lake nicaragua, the distance, the alluvial strip included, is, (see journal r. g. s. vol. vi.), only , english yards, nearly geographical miles. the highest point of land that intervenes, is only - / spanish feet (the spanish foot is . english) above the level of the sea, and only feet above (p.  ) the level of the lake. the lake is very deep, and at this point is said to be fathoms. the surface of the lake is thus - / spanish feet above the level of both oceans. the tide in the pacific in the gulf of papagayo rises about feet, decreasing in its rise towards the north, and increasing its rise towards the south. when mr. canning proclaimed that he had "_called a new world into existence_," he ought, as he then might, to have kept these places, the key to both worlds, in his power, and in the power of his country. some spanish authorities state, that lake nicaragua has a communication with the pacific, but at what point does not appear, nor is it probable. others state that it has a tide in it like the ocean; and if so, this certainly indicates a communication with it by some low and level channel, where the tide from the sea drives back the flow of waters from the lake. to ascertain these points are objects of great importance, and well worthy the attention of the civilized world; and the wonder is, that it has not before this time been attempted. all the old and best spanish writers, who wrote either from access to the best materials, or from practical information regarding the spanish territories in south america, but more especially estalla and alcedo, mention, in the most pointed manner, that, by the places which have just been considered, the nearest and the safest channel would be found, nay actually existed, whereby a communication could be opened up between the atlantic and the pacific; and farther, that the possession and the command of fort st. juan and the river st. juan on the one hand, and of the port of rialejo on the other, gave the holder and possessor of them the key to and the command of both oceans. like the gulf of darien, all entrance into or examination of this quarter of america by foreigners, or travellers in general, was prohibited by the spanish government, under the punishment of death for a violation of the law. the spaniards were particularly averse to and jealous of england, or englishmen, becoming acquainted with this portion of america. in some one of the points mentioned, and most probably from lake managua to rialejo, or from lake nicaragua to the gulf of papagayo, the best line for a communication between the atlantic and the (p.  ) pacific will be found. the shores of lake nicaragua are tolerably well cultivated, and it has several harbours. numerous streams flow into it from all sides, but particularly from the north. the river st. juan is a considerable stream--as large, say the spanish writers, as the guadalquiver in its lower course. in a distance so short, a canal, fit to bear ships of the very largest tonnage, could be cut, at certainly no very heavy expense; say, at the rate of , _l._ for miles. even if the river st. juan should not be found to be navigable, and that it might be most advisable to cut a canal along its banks, from the atlantic to the lake, the distance is not very great ( or miles), and the country presents no insuperable obstacles to it; on the contrary, it is believed to be easy of access. this distance might be cut for , _l._--a small sum even joined to the other, when the immense object to be attained is considered. the choice of position, after considering attentively every point, will remain between chagre to panama, and between st. juan and nicaragua to rialejo, as to which is the best line for a water communication; for it is pretty clear that the lines to the eastward and to the southward of panama, narrow although the neck of land certainly is in these parts, can only be looked to as points for a speedy road communication in some, and for small craft in the others. the jealousy of the government of spain formerly sealed up every possible line of communication between the atlantic and the pacific, in all the places mentioned, from the rest of the world; and it is probable that the jealousy, and also the poverty and inability of the new governments lately started up in these parts may continue to do so, if they are allowed to do so, or if they remain unaided in the enterprise by foreign capital, and not be impelled thereto by foreign, but particularly european influence. a glance at the map of these parts of america, and at a map of the world, and a moment's reflection and consideration bestowed on the great interests that depend upon it, that would be laid open and connected by such a communication, is sufficient to show the prodigious benefits which would therefrom flow to the human race, and especially to the governments and the (p.  ) people of north and south america, and those fine but comparatively poor and miserable portions of this globe. the treasures and the labours of nations would be well bestowed in completing such an undertaking. laying open such a communication would do more to people, to cultivate, and to civilize the world, than any other effort--than all other efforts made by the world at large, when combined and brought together. no nation in the world is so deeply interested in seeing a proper communication through the best of the channels pointed out laid open, as great britain; and no other nation could so well undertake it as she can. the immense empire which is rising under her flag in new holland; the large territory which she would thereby bring within the sphere of cultivation and civilization on the west coast of north america, to the north of colombia river, where both the climate and the soil are good; the vast and important trade which she has with china, and may yet have with all the beautiful islands in the pacific, with japan, and with all eastern siberia; and the very great trade which she has, and would have with all the shores of america on the pacific,--all render the attainment of the object contemplated peculiarly her interest, and peculiarly her province to undertake, support, complete, and protect, in a way and on a scale worthy of the intelligence, the enterprize, the strength, and the resources of her government and her people. the number of people, and the traffic which it would in time add to the present trade and population of the world, exceed the powers of calculation. taking lake nicaragua as the point for the communication between the two seas, the calculations which have been made as to periods and distances connected with the conveyance of mails from europe, in order to cross the pacific, will not be materially different from those which would arise were panama to be chosen as the point of communication. confining every thing to this route, it is necessary to consider and to show what advantage trade and commerce would derive from it; what extent of commerce would pass through this line of communication;, and what revenue could reasonably, and with propriety, be raised therefrom, in order to prove a remuneration for the (p.  ) expense of the undertaking. the official records of british trade and commerce, and also the official records of the trade and commerce of the united states, will enable us to estimate these points just alluded to, for the present period, with considerable accuracy. from both records, the following extent and amount of imports and exports, and tonnage, engaged in transporting these, are selected; premising that, as regards both countries, the value of each is, without either freight or charges: and as regards the former, viz. great britain, the value taken is what is denominated, in the customs return, "_the declared value_," and which, exclusive of freight and charges, is considerably below the real amount. the commerce of both states mentioned, with all the countries about to be enumerated, would most certainly pass through the channel already alluded to, besides a considerable portion more from other countries, but which is uncertain. _great britain with_ exports. imports. tonnage tonnage inwards. outwards. china , , , , , new south wales , } , , java , } , , philippine islands , } , , , siam , } " e. indies & ceylon, / , , } , , new zealand } , chili , } , , peru , } , , , , mexico, / , } , , whale fisheries, / , , , guatemala, / , , ---------- --------- -------- -------- £ , , , , , , -------- freight & charges, &c. , , foreign & colonial / , , ------- ---------- , , total tonnage , ----------- ------- total british trade £ , , ----------- exclusive of specie--the amount of which, from the western coasts (p.  ) of america, cannot be less than , , dollars yearly to great britain, and perhaps half as much to the united states. the value of british imports from western america is not given in the official tables in any tangible shape, and therefore the imports are taken to be the same as the exports. the amount of imports from china is taken correctly from the tables; and the value of all the rest, as near as possible, from the same tables, in proportion; the whole being entered to all countries east of the cape, china excepted; but in this amount also the amount for freight and charges should, it is thought, be added. the proportion of foreign and colonial produce, &c. to british manufactures exported, is, according to the official tables, as near as may be, the proportion taken. the value of the whole british trade to the places specified, may therefore be fairly taken at , , _l._ exports and imports, and exclusive of the profits thereon. next comes the trade which the united states have with all these places. in this there are more precise data, as the value both of exports and imports is given in their tables; but it may be observed, that the amount, both as regards imports and exports, is given exclusive of freights and charges, which in almost all the articles carried is greater in proportion, as regards the american trade, than in british produce and manufactures. it may also be observed, that the whole trade which the united states have with all countries to the eastward of the mauritius, would pass through, and return through, the communication made in central america, as the nearest and the best route for them. the following was the trade and tonnage of the united states with the places specified in :-- _united states with_ (p.  ) imports. exports. tonnage tonnage inwards. outwards. british east indies, dolls. , , , , , dutch ditto , , , , spanish ditto , , , asia generally , , , china , , , , , , mexico, / , , , , , , chili , , , , , peru , , south seas , , , n. w. coast america " , , ---------- ---------- -------- ------- , , , , , , / freights, &c. &c. , , , , , ------- ---------- ---------- -------- , , , , , , , ---------- -------- ---------- total united states , , ditto specie , , ----------- grand total, dollars , , --sterling, £ , , at _s._ _d._ ----------- _general trade and tonnage._ value trade. extent tonnage. british £ , , , united states , , , ----------- ------- total £ , , , tons. ----------- ------- to the above should be added all the specie sent both by great britain and the united states to the eastern world, particularly to china, to purchase cargoes, from the states alone about , , dolls.; also all the tonnage which goes, or would go, from one coast to another in the three republics of venezuela, guatemala, and mexico. to these states, such a communication would prove of inestimable value, and tend very greatly to add to the revenue to be obtained from the (p.  ) traffic by it. there are other nations, also, besides great britain and the united states, which traffic with the quarters of the world already specifically alluded to, particularly france, spain, and holland; but no accurate account of such trade has hitherto come in the writer's way; though, taken collectively, it must be to a considerable amount. moreover, the whole trade between holland and java, and between spain and the philippine islands, would pass by the channel under consideration, and the trade which both nations has with these places is well known to be very considerable. such as it has been described is the trade at this moment; a sure foundation upon which the magnificent undertaking under consideration would, at the outset, have to build. the increased and increasing communications through the grand thoroughfare goes beyond calculation, and would most certainly exceed every thing that ever has been seen, or that ever can be witnessed, in any other portion of this globe. the trade of mighty empires would sink into insignificance, when compared, in all their present magnitude, with what it would become one hundred years hence. admitting that it cost , , _l._ to complete the navigable communication, (and there are good grounds to believe that it could be done for one-half of the sum,) the question or point next to be considered is, what would the revenue be, which could be derived from it? to exact a per centage on the value of the commerce which passes through it would be uncertain, and liable to evasion, and consequently give much trouble, and occasion much vexation; and therefore it would be best to exact so much per ton, the exact extent of which the register of each ship or vessel so passing through the canal would at once and readily determine. the question is, what should the sum so levied, or the toll, actually come to be? ten shillings per ton would certainly be a moderate sum; and taking it so it will be shown how it will pay at the outset. _cost and revenue._ (p.  ) revenue , tons yearly, at _s._ £ , -------- capital , , _l._ interest per cent £ , dividend in stock per cent , expenses, management, and repairs , surplus fund , ------- £ , -------- thus affording from the outset a fair and profitable return, and which may reasonably be expected to be doubled in a very few years afterwards. _conveyance mails and passengers._ hitherto the matter has been considered entirely as relates to the practicability and probable expenditure to be incurred in carrying the plan into effect, and the remuneration to be obtained from the plan when completed. it yet remains to show the advantages which will be obtained in the courses and distances by this route, as compared with other routes, and also with the route by the north pole--even were this latter practicable throughout the year, but which it almost certainly is not. it has elsewhere been shown how a communication across any part of this isthmus, even by an ordinary road, can be made to extend, and to accelerate the mail communications between great britain and all the western coasts of america, and more especially with the most eastern parts of the eastern world, and her own rising empire in new holland. nothing calls forth the enterprize and the energies of mankind, equal to the rapidity and regularity of correspondence: and without this, no country can either improve or advance in cultivation or civilization. the comparative distances by the several lines of communication will stand as follow:-- geo. miles. falmouth, direct to rialejo rialejo to colombia river ---- ---- london to icy cape, over the north pole (p.  ) icy cape to colombia river, by oonoolashka ---- ---- london to icy cape, over the pole icy cape to canton ---- ---- falmouth direct to gulf papagayo papagayo to canton, by owhyhee ---- , ------ london to icy cape, over the pole icy cape to sydney, new south wales ---- , ------ falmouth to rialejo, by jamaica rialejo direct to sydney, new south wales ---- , ------ falmouth to colombia river, by l. nicaragua ditto ditto cape horn , ------ diff. ------ falmouth to sydney direct, westward , ditto to ditto, by cape of good hope , cape to sydney direct , ----- , ------ falmouth to cape good hope cape good hope to trincomalee trincomalee to batavia batavia to sydney, by hobart town ---- , ------ falmouth to rialejo, by fayal, &c. rialejo to canton, by owhyhee ---- , ------ rialejo to sydney, new south wales, by otaheite panama to sydney ---- , ------ falmouth to cape of good hope (p.  ) cape of good hope to trincomalee trincomalee to canton, by batavia ---- , ------ falmouth to rialejo rialejo to pekin ---- , ------ falmouth to cape of good hope cape of good hope to pekin, by canton, &c. ---- , ------ falmouth to port culebra, by barbadoes, &c. port culebra to jeddo, japan ---- , ------ falmouth to cape of good hope, by madeira cape of good hope by batavia, &c. to jeddo ---- , ------ falmouth to rialejo by barbadoes, &c. rialejo to manilla ---- , ------ falmouth to cape of good hope, by madeira cape of good hope to manilla, by batavia ---- , ------ falmouth to rialejo, by barbadoes, &c. rialejo to kamschatka ---- , ------ falmouth to cape of good hope, by madeira cape of good hope to batavia batavia to kamschatka by canton ---- , ------ london to icy cape, over the pole icy cape to kamschatka ---- , ------ thus it is evident, that were the passage over the north pole open (p.  ) and practicable at all seasons, but which it is not, the route by it would be so much shorter for every part from europe to the ports in asia and in america, situated on the northern pacific, as to be vastly preferable; but when it is recollected that this passage can only be open for a very few months in the course of the year--and also considering the winds and the weather which, during that brief space of time, would certainly be met with in the northern route, and the utter impossibility that there would be of procuring any assistance in that route, should accidents occur,--it is clear, that vessels would almost as speedily, and certainly much more safely, run over the distances by the western route, even to the places more near; while, as regards those which are more distant, there can and need be no comparison drawn. it will also from these references be observed, that the distances to all the eastern parts of asia, and the north-west coast of america, are, with a very few exceptions (in these, too, the distances are nearly equal), nearer than the distances would be, either taken by the cape of good hope or cape horn, the only routes always open; while, considering the winds and the seas which are met with in either of these routes, it is plain that ships would run over the distance by the western route through central america, even to the most distant parts in eastern asia that have been adverted to, sooner and much easier than they could do by either of the former. the saving of insurance alone in the route by the mild tropical climates, and also of wear and tear in ships by the same channel, compared to what all these would amount to in the navigation by the other routes, to say nothing of the saving of time in voyages, would be objects of great importance to commercial and nautical men. appendix--no i (p.  ) places lat. long. falmouth ° ' n. ° ' w. terceira, azores ° ' " -- ° ' " -- halifax, nova scotia ° ' -- ° ' -- new york ° ' -- ° ' -- bermuda, town ° ' -- ° ' -- madeira, funchall ° ' " -- ° ' " -- teneriffe, st cruz ° ' " -- ° ' -- lisbon ° ' -- ° ' -- cadiz ° ' -- ° ' -- gibraltar ° ' ' -- ° ' " -- nassau, new providence ° ' -- ° ' -- turk's islands ° ' ° ' ° ' ° ' crooked island ° ' -- ° ' -- havannah ° ' " -- ° ' -- st. jago, cuba ° ' " -- ° ' " -- cape nichola mole ° ' " -- ° ' " -- st. john's, porto rico ° ' " -- ° ' -- st. thomas ° ' " -- ° ' " -- kingston, jamaica ° ' " -- ° ' " -- vera cruz ° ' " -- ° ' " -- tampico ° ' " -- ° ' -- honduras, belize ° ' " -- ° ' " -- chagre ° ' " -- ° ' -- panama ° ' " -- ° ' " -- carthagena ° ' -- ° ' " -- laguayra ° ' -- ° ' " -- demerara, george town ° ' -- ° ' -- barbadoes, bridgetown ° ' " -- ° ' " -- antigua, e. h. ° ' -- ° ' -- trinidad, port of spain ° ' " -- ° ' " -- cape st roque ° ' s. ° ' -- maranham ° ' -- ° ' -- pernambuco ° ' -- ° ' -- bahia ° ' -- ° ' -- (p.  ) rio de janeiro ° ' " -- ° ' " -- monte video ° ' " -- ° ' -- buenos ayres ° ' -- ° ' -- salt key, middle, turk's island ° ' -- ° ' -- crooked island, castle island ° ' " -- ° ' " -- trinidad de cuba ° ' -- ° -- cape antonio ° ' -- ° ' -- montego bay, jamaica ° ' -- ° ' -- st. john's, newfoundland ° ' -- ° ' -- st. john's, new brunswick ° ' -- ° ' " -- quebec ° ' " -- ° ' -- montreal ° ' -- ° ' -- _distances and bearings of places_. places geo. miles. falmouth to lisbon s. ° w. ditto gibraltar s. ° w. ditto teneriffe s. ° w. ditto madeira s. ° w. ditto terceira s. ° w. ditto new york s. - / ° w. madeira to barbadoes s. ° w. terceira to barbadoes s. ° w. ditto antigua s. ° w. ditto st. thomas s. ° w. madeira to st. thomas s. ° w. ditto cape nichola mole s. ° w. terceira to cape nichola mole s. ° w. falmouth to barbadoes s. ° w. ditto st. thomas s. ° w. ditto cape nichola mole s. ° w. ditto fayal s. ° w. fayal to barbadoes s. - / ° w. ditto cape nichola mole s. - / ° w. ditto st. john's, newfoundland n. ° w. ditto port praya, cape verde s. ° e. cape verde to pernambuco s. ° w. ditto rio de janeiro s. ° w. fayal to new york n. - / ° w. (p.  ) terceira to rio de janeiro, by bahia, &c. s. ° w. ditto halifax n. ° w. halifax to new york s. ° w. new york to nassau, n. p. s. ° w. nassau to cape nichola mole s. ° e. havannah to vera cruz s. ° w. new york to havannah s. ° w. jamaica to chagre, direct s. ° w. chagre to panama s. ° e. kingston to river st. juan s. ° w. river st. juan to rialejo n. ° w. leon to rialejo n. ° w. madeira to rio de janeiro s. ° w. rio de janeiro to buenos ayres s. ° w. st. thomas, to cape nichola mole n. ° w. ditto to crooked island castle n. ° w. ditto turk's island n. ° w. turk's island to jamaica, direct s. ° w. ditto havannah n. ° w. ditto jamaica, by st. jago de cuba crooked island to cape nichola s. ° w. ditto jamaica s. ° w. ditto havannah n. ° w. barbadoes to miles e. of alto vela n. ° w. forty miles e. of alto vela to jamaica, direct n. ° w. add by calling at jacmel jamaica to santa martha s. ° e. santa martha to carthagena carthagena to chagre montego bay, jamaica, to trinidad de cuba n. - / ° w. trinidad de cuba to honduras s. ° w. kingston, jamaica, to cape antonio n. ° w. cape antonio to havannah n. ° e. falmouth to st. john's, newfoundland s. - / ° w. st john's, newfoundland, to halifax s. ° w. falmouth to halifax s. - / ° w. fayal to halifax n. ° w. halifax to st. john's, new brunswick n. ° w. st. john's, new brunswick, to quebec n. ° w. quebec to montreal s. ° w. new york to quebec, direct n. ° e. ditto montreal, direct n. ° e. _comparative distances of places._ (p.  ) geo. miles. falmouth to terceira terceira to barbadoes ---- falmouth to madeira madeira to barbadoes ---- falmouth to teneriffe, by madeira teneriffe to barbadoes ---- falmouth to madeira, by lisbon madeira to barbadoes ---- falmouth to fayal fayal to barbadoes ---- falmouth to fayal fayal to cape nichola mole ---- falmouth to terceira terceira to st. thomas ---- falmouth to terceira terceira to cape nichola mole ---- falmouth to madeira madeira to st. thomas ---- falmouth to madeira madeira to cape nichola mole ---- madeira to rio de janeiro ditto, by pernambuco and bahia ---- terceira to rio de janeiro, by pernambuco and bahia falmouth to gibraltar, by lisbon, &c. gibraltar to alexandria, by palermo and malta ---- falmouth to gibraltar, by lisbon and cadiz gibraltar to madeira madeira to barbadoes ---- calculation of yearly cost of sailing packets and steam boats. (p.  ) i.--_sailing packets._ first cost, _l._--interest, per cent. £ repairs, ordinary tear and wear, at - / per cent. wages, say , provisions, say insurance, per cent. ------ total £ , exclusive of yearly depreciation of capital--say, last seventeen years, is _l._ _s._ yearly. the per centage here taken for yearly supplies, is below the true outlay. the following sums, in full details, have been received from a very accurate and competent hand, of the outfits of a _new_ vessel of tons, cost _l._, for six successive voyages in the west indian trade, during a period of months. it is considered unnecessary to insert the details at length. the amount is given for each voyage:-- st voyage £ th voyage £ d ditto th ditto d ditto th ditto _________ __________ £ £ _________ __________ together £ average £ nearly eight per cent, for each voyage, or _twenty-four_ per cent. per annum. the amount would also increase yearly with the age of the ship. ii.--_steam boats._ (p.  ) value , _l._, interest at per cent £ , tear and wear, do. do. , insurance, do. do. , ______ £ , crews, in all . captain per annum £ st mate d do. master st engineer d do. d do. engineer extra engineer boys, average apprentices, at s. per month stewards and boys, aver. s. do. seamen, &c. &c. at s. per do. provisions, at s. each, per do. ____ , _____ total £ , by an admiralty order, dated august , it is directed that the pay of the following persons in steamers shall be as under, but increased one-half of the sum when on service in the west indies:-- st engineer, per month £ d do. do. d do. do. engineer boys: st class, per do. " d do. do. " d do. do. " th do. do. and according to the report of the post-office commissioners, the pay of the following officers on some of the home steam-boat stations, is:-- st mate, per annum £ d do. " master " captains " from _l._ to _l._ iii.--_small sailing vessels._ (p.  ) cost, say averages , _l._--interest at per cent. £ insurance, per cent. tear and wear, at per cent. crews, . captain, per annum £ mate men and boys, average s. per month provisions, at s. per do. ____ ____ total £ postages, probable amount, increase, &c. in the general post-office accounts for (see finance accounts, , p. ), there is charged the sum of , _l._ _s._ - / _d._, as the sum paid for ship letters. for each letter received by a ship not a regular packet, d. is paid by the post office at landing, and which gives the number of such letters to be , , yearly. suppose , of these went by packets under the new arrangements, the additional post-office revenue therefrom would be , _l._ the sum just mentioned as paid for ship letters may be stated as principally attached to ship letters brought from all places in the western world. according to a return to the house of commons (see east india steam communication report, ), the number of ship letters from india for , was , . the new york packet ships alone carry from to letters each. twice each month the proposed packets to and from england would bear an equal, perhaps even a greater, number, under the proposed regular and prompt arrangement: certainly all the canadian correspondence will be very greatly increased. this number, however, in four voyages each month, backwards and forwards, gives at the rate, in round numbers, of , each year. at _d._ each letter, the additional packet postage beyond the ship-letter rate, would be , _l._ gained to the british post office. in the accounts above referred to, p. , there is entered , _l._ _s._ - / _d._, charged on the postmasters in the british west indies, and in british america. this sum is doubtless for the (p.  ) unpaid letters outwards, and perhaps some internal postage. the return postage from these quarters will exceed this sum, because more double and treble letters come inwards than are sent outwards. there is also a considerable sum paid in this country for letters sent by post to the british colonies. in the same accounts there is entered, p. , , _l._ _s._ _d._ received by the window men, &c. at the foreign post office. a portion of this must be for the letters outwards to the brazils, to st. thomas, to the french islands, to honduras, to mexico, to havannah, and all places in central south america, for all of which places the postage must be paid before the letter can be forwarded. how much of the above sum is for the purpose alluded to, is not stated, but let it be taken at , _l._ yearly outwards, and an equal sum from the same places inwards; together, , _l._ next, there would be the gain on the new line between halifax, new york, and the west indies; or, more correctly speaking, between _all_ north america and _all_ the west indies, from demerara to mexico inclusive, and including also the shores of south america on the east, and all its western coasts, from valparaiso on the south, to nootka sound on the north. the exports and imports to and from these quarters, with all quarters of the world, amount, in goods, produce, specie and bills, and freights, &c. to upwards of , , _l._ a year. the letters to which this vast trade, especially as the whole of it is carried on by means of correspondence, must give rise, will be immense: and yet, with the exception of the scanty mail communication afforded by britain to a few places, there is none to be found. the amount of the trade here stated, includes of course the trade with all places in europe. the portion which is exclusively colonial and american, and which would of course be attached to the new line alluded to, cannot be less in exports and imports than , , _l._ yearly. the proportionate postage from this commerce, even at the ratio of the present west indian postage, to and from great britain and her west indian colonies, would be , _l._ yearly; but admitting that a sum equal to _one-half_ only of _this sum_ came from the letters sent through the british post office, the sum gained on this station yearly would be , _l._ to all these sums must be added a considerable sum in postages, which would be annually drawn from the correspondence between all parts (p.  ) of the united states, and maranham, pernambuco, bahia, rio de janeiro, montevideo, buenos ayres, &c. which would go by the british packets from all these places to fayal, and thence on, without any delay, to new york. what this will be, it is impossible to estimate; but taking the trade of the united states with these places as a basis, it can hardly be less than , _l._, or more probably , _l._ per annum. the postages derived at present from the packet intercourse with the whole western world is taken at , _l._ outwards and inwards. it is not too much to estimate, that under the new and extended communications and arrangements, more regular and frequent, this sum would be increased _one-third_, or , _l._; together, , _l._ yearly. to this there is to be added the additions, as are previously noted; together , _l._; making the sum total at least , _l._ per annum. the estimated expenditure for conveying the whole of the mails by steam, which are calculated to produce this yearly revenue, is , _l._, or a gain of , _l._ the present revenue barely pays the expenditure, if so much, of the establishment, consisting of thirty sailing packets; four steamers in the west indies; ten mail boats ( _l._ yearly) there; some sailing vessels at halifax, and very frequently, a considerable assistance from ships of war besides! _postages and salaries in west indies, &c.-- - ._ postages received. salaries and allowances. jamaica £ , £ bahama [ ] barbadoes berbice and demerara bermuda dominica grenada st. vincents tobago [ ] trinidad st. lucia antigua montserrat [ ] [footnote : and per cent. on neat proceeds.] postages received. salaries and allowances. (p.  ) st. christophers £ £ nevis tortola british north america , _parl. pap. of , and th report of post-office commissioners_, , p. , &c. it has been stated (see p. ) that many letters by packets from foreign parts are returned unopened to the post-office, in order to save the postages, because the originals or duplicates had previously been received through private channels. it would be useful and important to ascertain the number of these. in the finance accounts for , p. , there is entered in the post-office deductions on account of "returned, refused, mis-sent, and redirected letters, over-charges, and returns," the following sums:-- england £ , scotland , west indies and british n. america , window men, foreign office - / ------------------- £ , - / ------------------- _postages.--mediterranean, &c._ letters for india, year ending october £ ditto alexandria, ditto, ditto ------------ £ , ------------ postages of letters passing through falmouth by the mediterranean packet, years ending october[ ]-- . . . to cadiz £ £ - / £ gibraltar , , , - / malta - / - / corfu ------------ ---------------- ---------------- £ , £ , £ , ------------ ---------------- ---------------- [footnote : appendix, , report steam communication with india.] arrivals and departures of packets calculated. (p.  ) the arrivals at, departures from, and the returns to fayal, of the packets for all quarters, will correspond so well with the arrival outwards of the steamers from falmouth, that no material delay on the part of the steamers bearing all the return mails to falmouth will be occasioned or required. but because february has only twenty-eight days, the mails, to make all coincide more nearly, should be made up in london, instead of the st and th of february, on the th of january, and th of the former month. the following, however, taking the despatch of the mails from london according to the days in each month, will show the periods of the whole:-- .--_west indies._ mail of arrival at fayal. return to do. january january february march february february april march march may april april june may may july june june august july july september august august october september september november october october december november november january december december february thus showing that, by the time the steamer was ready to return to (p.  ) falmouth, the west indian mails would be up at fayal; and, as regards the other quarters, the mails from thence would have some time to spare for the voyages in case of accidents, and still be in time at fayal, thus:-- .--_brazils._ mail of arrival at fayal. return to do. march march april may april april june may may july june june august july july september august august october september september november october october december november november january decembe december february january january march february february april .--_fayal and halifax department._ mail of arrival at fayal. return to do. march march april april april may may may june june june july july july august (p.  ) august august september september september october october october november november november december december december january january january february february february march .--_north american and west indian department_. mail of at barbadoes at cape nichola return to do. march march march april april april may april may may june may june june july june july july august july august august september august september september october september october october november october november november december november december december january december january january february january february february march february march march april the following will be the periods of the steamers between halifax (p.  ) and havannah, from which it will appear how well the whole will work as regards all north america and all the west indies; and also how regularly and pointedly the return steamer from the havannah (bringing the havannah and tampico mails, should any accident have happened to the jamaica steamer), will call at new york for the replies to the letters by the packet from europe, arrived at that city two days before her; and carry these forward to halifax (giving two days to stop at new york) in time to get the steamer with the homeward british mails from that place to fayal. _arrivals and departures of the london mails of the following dates_. mail of arrive at leave arrive at return to havannah halifax havannah halifax -----------\-------------\------------\-------------\-------------\ january january january january february february february february february march march march march april march april april april april may may may may may june june june june june july july july july july august august august august august september september september september september october october october october october november november november november november december december december december december january january january january sailing packets in these stations would depart and arrive at corresponding periods, being able to be, if any thing, earlier forward to fayal; but always days more on their respective voyages than the steam-boats. the steamer outwards from barbadoes could land, and the homeward (p.  ) bound packet take up the haytian mails at cape henry, when the return packet goes by the north side; and the _return_ haytian mails could be picked up at jacmel, if the packet, _when a steamer_, calls, as she may do, at that place on her voyage to jamaica, preparatory to her return by way of st. jago and cape nichola to fayal or falmouth. the distance and time of communicating between barbadoes and halifax with steamers, by jamaica and havannah, would be,-- geo. miles. days. halifax to havannah - / havannah to barbadoes by jamaica, &c. stoppages barbadoes to halifax by jamaica, &c. - / stoppages, suppose . . . ____ __ total ____ __ _speed, &c. of steam boats_. in the sixth report of the post-office commissioners, p. , it is stated that the malta steamers average - / miles per hour, and have done so for a period of two years. the dublin and liverpool steam post-office packets average also - / miles per hour, or miles daily. in the same report, p. , mr. napier states, that he built the steamers which run between dundee and london; and that during a period of eighteen months they have averaged - / miles per hour. this, it is believed, means british miles, or geographical miles. at the latter rate they run miles per day. during the period above mentioned, these boats have not cost their owners _l._ for repairs to the machinery. a steam-boat of -horse power would at that time ( ) cost , _l._ to , _l._, burden tons. a contractor, to keep them in repair, would require , _l._ per annum. according to accounts lately received from the east, the _berenice_, with only one engine, the other having been broken, ran from socotora to suez, a distance of miles, in - / days. the leith and london steamers, such as the _monarch_, of -horse power, run the distance, geographical miles, in hours,--the average of voyages during the year; and frequently the distance is run in hours, and even less. _estimates for passengers on each station._ (p.  ) demerara steamers, voyages, each, per annum, at dollars , st leeward station--barbadoes to havannah, through all the islands, voyages monthly, each, is , at dollars average , d leeward station--havannah to vera cruz, and jamaica to chagre, panama, &c. &c., voyages, at each, is yearly, at dollars , packets and sailing-vessels in all the points, voyages, average each, is , at dollars , _______ total dollars , _______ at _s._ _d._ per dollar, is sterling £ , falmouth to barbadoes, voyages, each, at _l._ £ , falmouth to rio de janeiro, voyages, each, at _l._ , falmouth to halifax, voyages, each, yearly, average _l._ , halifax to west indies, by new york, voyages, each, is , at _l._ , falmouth to madeira and teneriffe, yearly, at _l._ , rio do janeiro to buenos ayres, yearly, at _l._ , pernambuco to maranham, yearly, at _l._ , west india islands to bermuda, nassau, &c. &c. yearly, at _l._ , _______ , _______ total £ , deduct expense, finding one-third , _______ amount gained £ , the cost of finding passengers is here estimated at dollars per day. in the house of commons report about steam communications with india, the cost of finding passengers to that quarter of the world is estimated by experienced captains of ships at _s._ sterling per day. the charge made in steamers in the west indies for cabin passage money, by orders of the admiralty, is _l._ sterling, barbadoes to jamaica; _l._ sterling, jamaica to st. thomas; and _l._ sterling, st. thomas to barbadoes. _income:--parcels, packages, and fine goods. steamers to be (p.  ) restricted to tons weight in all._ voyages on the four great lines yearly, tons each, at the rate of _l._ per ton over all £ , second class lines, barbadoes to havannah, havannah to vera cruz; jamaica to chagre, &c; barbadoes to demerara, voyages yearly, tons each, average _l._ , suppose third class lines by sailing-vessels everywhere-- voyages, average tons , _______ total £ , -------- but port dues remain to be deducted--uncertain, say, , _l._ appendix, no. ii.--eastern world. places. latitudes. longitudes. falmouth ° ' n. ° ' w. lisbon ° ' -- ° ' -- cadiz ° ' -- ° ' -- gibraltar ° ' " -- ° ' " -- malta ° ' -- ° ' e. zante ° ' -- ° ' -- athens ° ' -- ° ' -- smyrna ° ' -- ° ' " -- constantinople ° ' -- ° ' -- alexandria (light) egypt ° ' -- ° ' -- cairo ° ' -- ° ' -- suez ° ' -- ° ' -- mocha ° ' -- ° ' -- babelmandel, isle ° ' -- ° ' -- cape guardafui ° ' " -- ° ' " -- socotora, galanscea road ° ' -- ° ' -- cape aden ° ' -- ° ' " -- bombay ° ' -- ° ' -- colombo, ceylon ° ' -- ° ' -- point de galle, ceylon ° ' -- ° ' -- (p.  ) trincomalee, ditto ° ' " -- ° ' " -- madras ° ' " -- ° ' -- calcutta ° ' -- ° ' -- cape comorin ° ' -- ° ' " -- mauritius, port louis ° ' s. ° ' -- bourbon, st. dennis ° ' -- ° ' -- madagascar, cape st. mary ° ' " -- ° ' " -- ditto tamatave, e. c. ° ' " -- ° ' " -- amsterdam isle ° ' " -- ° ' -- st. paul's, ditto ° ' -- ° ' -- great nicobar isle ° ' -- ° ' -- singapore ° ' n. ° ' -- batavia ° ' s. ° ' " -- canton ° ' " n. ° ' -- swan river ° ' " s. ° ' " -- hobart town ° ' " -- ° ' -- sydney ° ' " -- ° ' -- madeira, funchall ° ' " n. ° ' " w. cape de verde, port praya ° ' " -- ° ' -- ascension isle ° ' " s. ° ' " -- st. helena isle ° ' " -- ° ' " -- cape of good hope ° ' -- ° ' " e. rio de janeiro ° ' " -- ° ' " w. pernambuco ° ' -- ° ' -- _distances and bearings of places._ geo. miles. falmouth to gibraltar s. ° w. ditto to madeira s. ° w. madeira to cape verde s. ° w. gibraltar to malta, direct s. ° e. malta to zante n. ° e. zante to athens, round cape athens to constantinople n. ° e. malta to alexandria s. ° e. suez to babelmandel babelmandel to bombay cape verde to ascension s. ° w. ascension to st. helena s. ° e. st. helena to cape of good hope s. ° e. rio de janeiro to ditto ditto s. ° e. cape of good hope to mauritius n. ° e. mauritius to swan river s. ° e. mauritius to colombo, ceylon n. ° e. (p.  ) ditto to point de galle n. ° e. point de galle to bombay n. ° w. madras to calcutta n. ° e. trincomalee to car nicobar s. ° e. nicobar to singapore s. ° e. singapore to batavia s. ° e. singapore to canton n. ° e. batavia to canton n. ° e. trincomalee to batavia s. ° e. batavia to swan river s. ° e. / swan river to hobart town s. - / ° e. / hobart town to sydney n. ° e. cape of good hope to hobart town s. ° e. pernambuco to cape of good hope s. ° e. fayal to pernambuco s. ° w. sydney to canton n. ° w. canton to swan river, by e. coast borneo fayal to cape verde, port praya s. ° e. there never having been heretofore any regular packet conveyance to and from india, there are consequently no accurate returns of the postage received, or letters that are conveyed backwards and forwards between england and the vast countries to the eastward of the cape of good hope. the number, however, from the extent of the trade, must be very great; and not a doubt can remain, that if regular and speedy conveyances were established, the numbers would be very much increased. in a communication from col. maberly, secretary to the general post office, printed by order of the house of commons last year, along with the evidence taken before the committee appointed to consider the propriety of establishing a steam communication with india, that gentleman gives the whole amount of postage outwards for to cadiz, gibraltar, malta, and corfu, at _l._, and reckons the amount inwards at the same sum. he estimates the whole postage outwards and inwards, including sea postage between england, ceylon, india, and the mediterranean, at , _l._ even this sum, which certainly by no means includes every letter to and from the places mentioned, would, under the arrangements proposed, be doubled, independently of all the postages which would be obtained from the new south wales, china, and batavia, &c. &c. trade. the coasting or internal postages of hindostan would certainly be greatly increased. in the finance accounts of , p. , there is charged the sum (p.  ) of , _l._ _s._ _d._ for transit postage through foreign countries. much of this is doubtless from letters which come through france, &c. from the mediterranean, and countries near that sea. under the proposed regular and frequent packet arrangement, the letters from which much of this sum is obtained would come directly through the british post office. the amount of postage to be obtained through the vast range of countries which the new plan proposes to embrace, can only be conjectured by considering the immense trade which is carried on with them and by them. as it is very great, so must the correspondence to which it gives rise be. _mauritius and socotora._ an error has been committed in stating the expense on this station (see page .) three sailing-vessels, instead of two, will be required; thus adding _l._ to the capital, and _l._ to the yearly expenditure. * * * * * including the mediterranean, the yearly cost of the present foreign packet conveyances, limited, uncertain, and irregular as the whole is, cannot be less than , _l._, exclusive of any sum set apart to replace the capital engaged in it. if the east indian communication is amalgamated with the plan for the western world to pernambuco by fayal, as it may readily be, then a considerable further reduction of expenditure in the former can be made (including the sailing-vessels between rio de janeiro and buenos ayres) in capital , _l._ and in direct yearly charges , _l._; and nevertheless extend the steam conveyance to buenos ayres by rio de janeiro from pernambuco. this desirable object could be effected with the saving mentioned, and without creating any additional delay in the communication; because, if the communication by this route between falmouth and the cape of good hope can be effected, as it may be, within days, then no delay in the course of the mails takes place, while a considerable expense is saved, and important additional accommodation is afforded to the public, and to the commercial world. the distance from falmouth to the cape of good hope by fayal and pernambuco, is geographical miles. this could be run in (p.  ) days: thus-- days outwards, and days inwards: geographical miles per day in the latter, and geographical miles in the former. appendix, no. iii.--pacific ocean. _longitudes and latitudes, places, &c._ places. lat. long. river st. juan, mouth of ° ' n. ° ' w. kingston, jamaica ° ' " -- ° ' " -- port culebra ° ' -- ° ' -- leon ° ' -- ° ' -- rialejo ° ' " -- ° ' -- colombia river ° ' -- ° ' -- port illuluk oonoolashka ° ' -- ° ' -- nootka sound ° ' -- ° ' " -- icy cape ° ' -- ° ' -- christmas isle, pacific ° ' -- ° ' -- owhyhee ° ' " -- ° ' " -- otaheite ° ' " s. ° ' " -- melville island, port dundas ° ' -- ° ' e. sydney, new south wales ° ' " -- ° ' " -- canton, china ° ' " n. ° ' -- pekin ° ' -- ° ' -- jeddo, japan ° ' -- ° ' -- kamschatka ° ' -- ° -- manilla ° ' -- ° ' -- chagre ° ' -- ° ' " -- panama ° ' " -- ° ' " -- point mala ° ' -- ° ' -- port damas, quibo ° ' -- ° ' -- acapulco ° ' " -- ° ' " -- st. blas ° ' " -- ° ' " -- cape st. lucas, california ° ' " -- ° ' " -- guayaquil ° ' " s. ° ' " -- lima ° ' " -- ° ' " -- callao ° ' " -- ° ' " -- arica ° ' " -- ° ' -- coquimbo ° ' " -- ° ' " -- valparaiso ° ' " -- ° ' " -- fort st. carlos, chiloe ° ' " -- ° ' " -- _bearings and distances of places._ (p.  ) places. miles falmouth to sydney, direct westward s. ° w. , london to icy cape , , add circle n. & s. , icy cape to canton s. ° w. , ditto to sydney, new south wales s. ° w. , ditto to port illuluk, oonoolashka s. ° w. port illuluk to colombia river s. ° e. , christmas isle to sydney, new south wales s. ° w. , ditto to canton n. ° w. , owhyhee to otaheite s. - / ° e. , falmouth to panama direct s. ° w. , ditto ditto by barbadoes and jamaica , port culebra to manilla n. - / ° w. , cape of good hope to batavia n. ° e. , batavia to canton n. ° e. , canton to pekin , batavia to manilla n. ° e. , canton to kamschatka n. ° e. , ditto to jeddo n. ° e. , kingston, jamaica, to port culebra s. ° w. ditto to river st. juan s. ° w. river st. juan to rialejo n. ° w. falmouth to port culebra, direct s. ° w. , ditto to ditto by barbadoes, jamaica, &c. , jamaica to chagre s. ° w. chagre to panama s. ° e. panama to point mala s. ° w. point mala to port damas, quibo s. ° w. port damas to rialejo n. ° w. rialejo to acapulco n. ° w. , acapulco to st. blas n. ° w. st. blas to cape st. lucas n. ° w. panama to guayaquil s. ° w. guayaquil to lima s. ° e. lima to arica s. ° e. arica to coquimbo s. ° w. coquimbo to valparaiso s. ° w. valparaiso to fort carlos, chiloe s. ° w. rialejo, direct, to sydney, new south wales s. ° w. , panama to sydney s. ° w. , ditto to canton n. ° w. , ditto to owhyhee n. ° w. , ditto to otaheite s. ° w. , rialejo to canton n. ° w. , (p.  ) ditto to owhyhee n. ° w. , ditto to otaheite s. - / ° w. , ditto to christmas isle s. ° w. , christmas isle to otaheite s. ° e. , owhyhee to canton n. ° w. , ditto to sydney s. ° w. , otaheite to sydney s. ° w. , rialejo to manilla n. ° w. , ditto to st. peter and st. paul, kamschatka n. ° w. , ditto to pekin n. ° w. , ditto to jeddo, japan n. ° w. , colombia river to canton s. ° w. , icy cape to kamschatka s. ° w. , rialejo to port illuluk, oonoolashka s. ° w. , rialejo to colombia river s. ° w. , jeddo to canton s. ° w. , manilla to canton n. ° w. batavia to jeddo n. ° e. , cape of good hope to hobart town s. ° e. , the course of mails from falmouth to canton, by isthmus of america, by rialejo, will be days; and to sydney, by the same route, days. _isthmus of america._ the appearance of the isthmus of america, from darien to the borders of mexico, indicates, in a very forcible manner, that this portion of the earth is a fragment of a larger portion, which had, at some important epoch, been to a great extent submerged around it, and that the present isthmus is the remains of a wider continental tract. in several places within the limits mentioned, the ridges are broken, and the country abounds--in fact, is studded--with high peaks, isolated, yet greatly elevated. to the southward of lake nicaragua, between ° and ° north latitude, about cortago or carthage, the land, or rather ridge, is so elevated, that although within thirty miles of the pacific on the one hand, and forty miles of the atlantic on the other hand, yet during the winter months, from november to march, frost and ice abound. the climate everywhere, in the interior parts, is represented as being very healthy, and the country fruitful and pleasant. _chagre and panama._ (p.  ) long. chagre, according to capt. forster, from greenwich, in time, h ' . " observatory of panama, east of fort lorenzo, chagre, according to capt. belcher, in time ' . " gorgona, east of chagre ' . " panama, east of gorgona . " porto bello, according to capt. forster, from greenwich, west, in time h ' the end. transcribed by david price, email ccx @pglaf.org railways. report of the railway department of the board of trade on the _london_, _worcester_, and _wolverhampton_, and on the _birmingham_ and _shrewsbury districts_. (_presented to parliament by her majesty's command_.) _ordered_, _by_ the house of commons, _to be printed_, _february_ . -- . _under oz._ railway department, board of trade, whitehall, february . the board constituted by minute of the lords of the committee of privy council for trade, for the transaction of railway business, having had under consideration the different schemes deposited with the railway department for extending railway communication between london, worcester, and wolverhampton, and in the district intermediate between the london and birmingham and great western railways, and also, in connexion with the above, the schemes for extending railway communication between birmingham and shrewsbury, have determined on submitting the following report thereon for the consideration of parliament. the object of the first class of schemes in question is to supply railway communication to the great mining district of staffordshire, lying south of wolverhampton, to the towns of kidderminster, stourbridge, stourport, worcester, &c., and to the district north of oxford, intermediate between the great western and london and birmingham railways. for this purpose two competing schemes are proposed; one, which is promoted by the london and birmingham company, comprises a line from rugby to oxford, and another from wolverhampton, through worcester and banbury, to join the london and birmingham line at tring; the other scheme consists of a line from oxford to rugby, which is proposed to be made by the great western company; and of another line from oxford to worcester and wolverhampton, which is undertaken by an independent company, but in connexion with the great western company, and which must be considered as forming, with the oxford and rugby line, one scheme, competing with the former. for the sake of brevity we shall distinguish these as the "london and birmingham or tring scheme," and the "great western or oxford scheme." their general direction will be easily understood by reference to the accompanying map. in their general features and objects the two schemes are so nearly identical that the two manifestly cannot stand together. a further scheme for the accommodation of the country between worcester and wolverhampton, was proposed by the birmingham and gloucester company, but it is understood that arrangements have been made by which this scheme is withdrawn in favour of the london and birmingham scheme, to which it was moreover inferior in several important respects, so that we may consider the question as reduced to one of competition between the schemes of the two great companies. the first point is, whether a sufficient public case can be established to justify the construction of any railway at all throughout the districts in question. as regards the south staffordshire district, this point has been disputed by various canal interests, who urge that the district is already sufficiently well supplied by water communication, and that the introduction of railways, by destroying the resources and crippling the efficiency of such water communications, will be productive of injury rather than of benefit to the public. various special reasons have been urged in support of this view, more especially with reference to the mineral district of which dudley may be considered as the centre. it is said that the birmingham canal company have, at a great expense, created a very complete and efficient system of water communication throughout this district; that a right is reserved of making branch canals to all mines and works within certain limits, which right would be to a certain extent defeated by running a railway parallel to the existing canal, to the injury both of the canal company, and of the owners of the mines and works so cut off; that the management and charges of the canal company have always been of the most liberal description; and finally, that owing to the peculiar nature of the district, in which great excavations have been made for mining purposes, railways cannot be carried through it without danger. it will be readily conceded that the importance of the district in question is such as to entitle it to require the best means of communication, whether by canal or railway. between wolverhampton and stourbridge there are at present about blast furnaces in work, producing about , tons of pig iron annually. in order to produce this quantity, nearly , , tons of coals, lime, ironstone, and other raw materials are consumed, which are raised from the mines of the district, and transported to the various furnaces, forges and founderies. the export of iron from the district is about , tons annually, in addition to large quantities of heavy hardwares, tin plates, glass, and other goods. the export of coal is also very large, and might be greatly augmented by increased facilities of communication. the population, depending for support on the iron-works, mines, and manufactories of the district, is estimated at not less than , ; and the total population of the respective towns and places between wolverhampton and worcester, which would be benefited by the proposed railway communication, is believed to exceed , . among these towns may be mentioned kidderminster, a place of considerable manufacturing importance, and great intercourse with different parts of the kingdom; droitwich, with its extensive salt works; stourbridge, stourport and worcester. the construction of a railway in this direction will also lead, in all probability, to extensions into the fertile agricultural district on the west of the severn, towards leominster and ludlow. the claim of the district, therefore, to the most improved mode of communication can hardly be disputed; and whatever claims canal companies may have from benefits previously conferred, or from past liberality of management, such claims cannot be considered by us in any other light than those of other private interests, unless in so far as they may be based upon public considerations. our report will not, in any way, prejudice or affect the right of those canal companies to have their vested interests, if any, carefully considered by the legislature. upon public grounds, therefore, we have merely had to consider the allegation that the interests of the district will not be promoted by the introduction of railways, and that railways cannot be constructed through it without danger. upon the first point it seems sufficient to refer to the unanimous opinion of the parties principally interested, and who have the best opportunities of judging of the effects likely to follow from the introduction of railways. the only difference of opinion has arisen from the anxiety of the parties to obtain a railway of some description or other, which has led them to support different competing schemes; but all parties have united in the strongest representations of the vital importance to the district of obtaining a good railway communication, in addition to those afforded by the canals. a memorial signed by the representatives of iron-works, furnaces, and collieries, in the staffordshire mineral district, including the trustees of lord ward, from whose estate alone upwards of , , tons of coal and iron are raised annually, in favour of the london and birmingham scheme; and another memorial, representing iron-works, and collieries, in favour of the great western scheme, were presented to us; the memorialists in each case urging in the strongest manner the advantages of railway communication to the district. it is stated, that without such communication, they have to compete at a great disadvantage with the iron districts of south wales and scotland, which, from their readier access to the sea, can convey their products to market at a cheaper rate. the canals are stated to be not only more tedious and expensive, but subject to serious interruptions, often for weeks together, from frost in winter and drought in summer. in short, it is urged that the apprehensions of the canal companies are the best test of the further advantage of a railway; since unless the latter obtained a large proportion of the heavy traffic, which it could only do by affording the public a better and cheaper means of transport, the interests of the canals could not be prejudiced. with so strongly expressed a wish on the part of such an important district for railway communication, and with two great companies competing with one another to afford it, we do not think that, upon public grounds, we should be justified in reporting that it ought to be withheld on account of any apprehended interference with existing water communications. in the case of one canal company, special reasons existed which might have weighed more strongly than those derived solely from private considerations; viz. that a guarantee had been given to assist the severn navigation commissioners to raise money for the purpose of carrying out a great public improvement authorized by parliament. from this difficulty, however, as well as from the apprehension of that great improvement being impeded by the introduction of railways into the district, we are relieved by the offer made by the railway company to whose scheme we recommend that a preference should be given, to take upon themselves the burden of the guarantee to the extent of any loss sustained in consequence of the construction of the railway, subject to any reasonable conditions and arrangements. with regard to the remaining point, that of safety, it is admitted that portions of the soil being undermined, subsidences occasionally take place; but there appears no reason to apprehend any peculiar degree of danger to a railway from this source, beyond what equally affects the canals, roads, tramroads, founderies, mills, and other buildings of the district, and which has never been considered an impediment to the introduction of railways in other mining districts. some of the most eminent engineers of the day, among whom may be mentioned sir j. rennie, mr. brunel, and mr. r. stephenson, have proposed the lines which pass through the district in question, and are clearly of opinion that they may be worked without any unusual degree of danger. we are of opinion, therefore, that some one line of railway is required, and may be properly sanctioned, for the accommodation of the district in question, between wolverhampton and worcester. this being conceded, the sanction of a line in connexion with it, to connect worcester more directly with london, and to give communication to the large intermediate district, appears to follow almost as a matter of course. the supply of coals to this district, where a great reduction of price will be effected, is alone an important object; and, on the other hand, an outlet will be afforded for agricultural produce. a population of about , between worcester and tring would be accommodated by the line in that direction; and on the whole, taken in connexion with the worcester and wolverhampton junction, the traffic seems sufficient to justify a fair expectation of return on the capital to be invested, as also on the rugby and oxford portion of the line, which will complete a chain of direct railway communication from the northern and midland to the southern and south western counties, and will afford to those counties a valuable supply of coal from the derbyshire collieries. we proceed, therefore, to investigate the subject, on the assumption that one or other of the competing schemes promoted by the london and birmingham, and great western companies, will be sanctioned, and that the question is reduced to one of preference between them. in regard to distance, the two schemes are as nearly as possible equal, the distance from worcester to london being miles by the tring line, and by the oxford line; the former, however, terminating at the euston square station, and the latter at paddington. the number of miles of new railway to be constructed in either case is also nearly the same; nor does there appear to be anything in respect of gradients or engineering character calculated to give one scheme a decided preference over the other. the course of the tring line accommodates a larger population between worcester and london than the oxford line; but the importance of the districts traversed by either line, and left out by its competitor, is hardly sufficient to give a decided superiority on a question of such magnitude. a far more important feature of comparison is derived from a consideration of the question of gauge. the great western scheme is proposed to be constructed on the wide gauge of seven feet, used upon the different railways of the great western system; while the scheme of the london and birmingham company is proposed to be constructed on the narrow gauge of feet . inches, common to all the other railways of the kingdom. in order to estimate fully the importance of this question, it must be borne in mind that the bristol and gloucester railway is on the wide, while the birmingham and gloucester is on the narrow gauge, and that the inconvenience resulting from the break of the two gauges at gloucester has been so great as to lead to an amalgamation of the two companies, with a view to obviate it, by introducing uniformity of gauge throughout between bristol and birmingham. from the arrangements which have been made with this view, it is perfectly evident that upon the question of the worcester lines depends whether this uniformity will be proposed to be attained, by the birmingham and gloucester railway adopting the wide gauge, or the bristol and gloucester adopting the narrow. the question, therefore, upon which we have had to form an opinion is, whether it is better for public interests that the wide gauge should come up to birmingham and rugby, or that the narrow gauge should go down to bristol and oxford? it would be difficult to overrate the importance of this question in a national and commercial point of view. if there is one point more fully established than another in the practice of railways, it is that the inconvenience occasioned by a break upon a line of through-traffic, occasioned by want of uniformity of gauge, is of such a serious description as to detract most materially from the advantages of railway communication. the following description of what has actually occurred at gloucester during the last few months, furnished to us by a gentleman who has been practically engaged in the management of the traffic, will give some idea of the working of the system:-- "we experience the greatest possible inconvenience from the change, both as regards passengers and goods; coals we have not attempted to tranship. "in the first place as regards passengers and passenger trains: "the passengers and their luggage have to be hurried across from one train to the other, when there is a chance of the luggage being misplaced. gentlemen's carriages and horses have to be changed, a process uniting time and risk. valuable parcels have to be handed out in the confusion, and handed in. "the result is a delay, with the mail-trains, for instance, of half an hour sometimes, just sufficient if the coming-in train is after time, to miss the manchester or other train from birmingham, or the exeter or bath train from bristol; annoyance to the passengers, who are anxious about their parcels and luggage; risk, and expense, as a large body of porters have to be maintained, who are not fully employed, in order that no more time than is necessary should be lost in the change of trains. "with regard to goods, the inconvenience attending the change is far more serious. "up to this day a great number of waggons laden with goods of all descriptions have been lying at gloucester, which we have been unable to remove in spite of every exertion. we keep an establishment of clerks and porters to superintend and effect the transhipment, but, in the hurry of business, mistakes occur; goods destined for hull are perhaps put into the manchester truck; boxes are bruised, packing torn, furniture and brittle articles damaged. there is the chance of mistake in the re-invoicing of goods; the other day, for instance, a bale for bristol was laid hold of by a carrier at gloucester and taken to brecon, a claim for some _l._ being instantly made upon us. "in short, all the inconvenience, delay, and expense attending an unloading and reloading of goods have to be encountered, and there is nothing the senders of goods so much dread as this. the expense involved is very considerable: there is the expense of porterage, which varies from _d._ to _d._ per ton: the expense of clerks employed in inspecting and invoicing the goods, the expense of shunting the waggons, the waste of premises, the additional carrying stock it obliges the companies on each gauge to maintain, and, above all, the loss of trade which is sure to result from the delay and risk attending the change, and the advantage which uninterrupted communications, whether by water or railway, are sure to have over you in competition. "much of this expense and delay, it may be said, can be obviated by better arrangements and more care; by ample station accommodation, by abundant carrying stock. no doubt some of it may be prevented, but this is only another name for expense. the care, too, which is required must not be confined to the railways immediately affected, but must commence on a railway a long way off. the goods from leeds for bristol, for instance, must be duly placed together at leeds, packed in such a manner as will enable you at gloucester to get at them in the best manner. they must be forwarded from leeds, and again from birmingham, in such quantities as will be convenient at gloucester. the arrangements, in short, by which our interests at gloucester will be best consulted, will have to be made by another company, often not interested in the matter, and whose convenience may suggest another course. you cannot, therefore, look forward to remedying many of the difficulties attending on change of gauge, which are of this nature." to the above summary of the practical inconveniences mentioned, we have only to add, that the numerous representations addressed to us by the principal carrying and commercial interests which have been concerned in the traffic affected by the change of gauge at gloucester, have fully borne out the statement of the evils experienced, more especially with reference to the loss, delay, and misdirection of goods. the principal railway companies north of birmingham have also made strong representations as to the obstacle thrown in the way of a proper development of the traffic by the break of gauge; an obstacle which, as regards coal, iron, salt, corn, and every description of heavy goods, they consider as amounting to a virtual prohibition. the question may be raised how far it is possible to obviate the inconvenience of two different gauges by mechanical arrangements? these arrangements may consist either-- . of contrivances for transferring the bodies of waggons from the wheels and axles adapted for one gauge to those adapted for the other; or-- . the laying down of additional rails, so as to permit trains of either gauge to run on without interruption. with regard to the first, it is stated that the experiment has been repeatedly tried on the liverpool and manchester, the newcastle and darlington, the leicester and swannington, and other railways, where crossed by local coal railways of a narrower gauge, and has never succeeded. the practical difficulties also are obvious, of securing with waggons constructed with moveable bodies, the rigidity and solidity requisite for safety, and to prevent excessive wear and tear, and damage to the articles conveyed. even if we were to suppose, however, all mechanical difficulties overcome, the serious objection would still remain, that in addition to the expense of transfer, a large additional stock would require to be kept by all railway companies, owners of mines, and other parties who had occasion to send traffic sometimes in the direction where the gauge was uninterrupted, and sometimes in the direction where waggons of a special construction were required. this consideration is the more important as, under the system of the clearing- house, the whole stock of the narrow-gauge railways of the country may be considered as becoming more and more common property, available wherever there may be a press of business, and for as great distances as may be required, in order to avoid the inconvenience of unloading. the second arrangement, of laying down additional rails, may be practicable under peculiar circumstances, and to a limited extent, but it is open to great objections. it is very doubtful how far the addition of a single rail only would be consistent with safety, as in this case the centre of gravity of the carriages of different gauge in the same train would not be in the same straight line. if a complete double set of rails were laid down the expense would be very considerable. the complication of switches and crossings that would be necessary would involve considerable additional risk and great expense. the difficulty and expense of maintaining the permanent way, and of keeping the double set of rails in proper adjustment, would be greatly increased; and on the whole, the expense, inconvenience, and risk, would probably be so great as to prevent the experiment from being tried to any extent. we cannot therefore consider the plan of laying down additional rails as applicable, unless perhaps to a limited extent and under special circumstances, such as enabling, for instance, mineral waggons constructed for the narrow gauge to pass for a short distance and at a slow speed over a wide-gauge railway; with which view alone it is proposed to lay down extra rails upon the oxford, worcester, and wolverhampton line, for a few miles south of wolverhampton. on the whole, therefore, we cannot consider any of the mechanical arrangements which have been proposed for obviating the inconvenience of a meeting of different gauges (even if we could assume their practicability, which in the present state of experience we should not be warranted in doing,) as anything better than partial and imperfect palliatives of a great evil. assuming this to be the case, and assuming also, as we are compelled to do, that an interruption of gauge must exist somewhere, the question is reduced to this: to ascertain at what points such interruption should be fixed in order to occasion the least inconvenience to the traffic and commerce of the country. from the fact that nearly , miles of railway are already made or sanctioned on the narrow gauge, while not more than are sanctioned on the wide gauge, a disproportion which will be still more largely increased by the new railways now in contemplation, an inference might be drawn in favour of confining the gauge which is in such a decided minority within the narrowest possible limits; and this inference might be strengthened by referring to the obvious fact that the wide gauge has not realized those decided advantages over the narrow gauge which were at one time anticipated. the actual speed of trains upon the great western railway, as shown by the published time-tables, and by official returns, is not so high as upon some narrow-gauge railways, and notwithstanding the excellence of its gradients, very slightly higher than the average speed of other great railways on the narrow gauge. in respect of safety, it is manifest that both gauges are alike unobjectionable, with due precaution and proper management; and in respect of convenience and of economy, including the cost both of construction and working, the opinion of a great majority of the most eminent authorities is unfavourable to the wide gauge. without wishing to express any positive opinion ourselves upon the point, it is enough for us to say that we think there is nothing in the relative merits of the two gauges in themselves materially to affect the question between them, which turns upon commercial considerations. in this point of view the question is, as we have already observed, whether the points of junction between the wide and narrow gauge should be at rugby, birmingham and wolverhampton, or at oxford and bristol. in support of the first view, it is contended that the principle which should regulate the choice of the points of junction ought to be to fix them at great _foci_ of traffic, and centres of converging railways, where delay must take place and large establishments be maintained at any rate; while on the other hand it is contended that such points are the worst possible to select, and that the opposite principle should be adopted, of confining an inevitable inconvenience within the narrowest possible limits, by fixing the points of junction where there is least through-traffic. the correctness of the latter proposition seems perfectly obvious upon general considerations; but the question is one of such great commercial importance, that we have thought it right to inquire fully and in detail into the practical effects that would result to the principal interests concerned from an interruption of the gauge, on the one hand, at birmingham and rugby, and on the other at bristol and oxford. by either combination the traffic of places intermediate between birmingham and bristol with each other, and with london, would not be affected; uniformity of gauge being secured equally in the one case by the wide, in the other by the narrow gauge. by either combination the traffic between places north and east of the line of the london and birmingham railway and places south of the line of the great western railway would not be affected, interruption of gauge having equally to be encountered in the one case at bristol and oxford, in the other at birmingham and rugby. by the former or wide-gauge combination, the traffic between devonshire, cornwall and all places south of the line of the great western railway, and birmingham, and all places between birmingham and bristol, would gain, _i.e._ would escape an interruption of gauge; also such of the traffic of south wales, to birmingham, and places short of birmingham, as in the event of the south wales railway being sanctioned, would take the circuitous route by that railway to the north of gloucester. on the other hand by the narrow-gauge combination, a break is avoided in the whole of the traffic between manchester, liverpool, hull, and the northern, eastern, and midland portions of the kingdom, and bristol, gloucester, worcester, and the whole district intermediate between the london and birmingham and great western railways. the paramount importance of this consideration has been strongly urged upon us by parties practically acquainted with the traffic, and by the principal interests affected by the question. in the memorial already referred to, signed by the representatives of iron-works, furnaces, and collieries, in the staffordshire mineral district, in favour of the london and birmingham line, and narrow-gauge system, it is stated that, of the total export of the district, only eight per cent. is sent in the direction of bristol, of which by far the greater quantity is shipped from that port, and would therefore be unaffected by a break of gauge there; while per cent. is sent to liverpool and the north and north-west of the kingdom, and per cent. to hull and the east, all of which would consequently suffer by a break at birmingham. the wool trade between bristol, where wool fairs are held annually, and leicester and the west riding of yorkshire, is very considerable, all of which would escape a break of gauge by the narrow-gauge combination. the export of salt from droitwich, both to gloucester and bristol, and to hull and other parts of the kingdom, is already large, and likely to receive very great increase, if an unbroken railway communication is afforded, which can only be done by the narrow-gauge combination. the same combination affords the important advantage of an unbroken communication to the traffic of manchester and liverpool with bristol, and indeed with the whole of the west of england, as a very inconsiderable proportion of the goods actually dispatched require to be carried in transit through bristol. the same remark applies to the trade of the potteries with the west of england; of bristol and gloucester with the midland counties, where the imports of these ports now meet those of hull and liverpool; of worcester, kidderminster, &c. with liverpool, lancashire, and yorkshire, and of various other branches of traffic that might be specified. as a proof of the importance of some of the branches of traffic that would be thus inconvenienced by a change of gauge at birmingham, it may be mentioned that single carriers already send as much as , tons a year in transit through birmingham, by the birmingham and gloucester railway, and that the total quantity thus sent is estimated at from , to , tons per annum, and is considered to be capable of great increase, the line of communication having been only very recently completed by the opening of the bristol and gloucester railway, and the development of the traffic having since been greatly impeded by the interruption of the gauge at gloucester, and other circumstances. with the low rates which it is now proposed to establish on coals, salt, agricultural produce, and other heavy goods, the amount of traffic that may be expected to pass from the west in transit through birmingham, and _vice versa_, if the advantage of an unbroken communication can be secured, will be exceedingly great. it has been represented to us that droitwich alone would send upwards of , tons of salt annually. the same observation applies as to the coal traffic from the midland counties through rugby to oxford. the whole of the extensive district between rugby and oxford, where coal is now usually at a very high price, may be cheaply supplied by railway; an object of great importance, which could be only partially attained if the impediment of an interruption of gauge were allowed to exist at rugby. another important consideration which seems to point to bristol rather than birmingham, as a proper point for the interruption of the gauge, and which has been strongly urged upon us by carriers, merchants, and practical men acquainted with the course of traffic, is, that bristol, like london, is a great emporium and shipping port, through which a comparatively small portion of the goods which enter by railway require to be forwarded in transit without repacking and assortment. the facilities for water communication with bristol also give the public a better alternative than they would enjoy elsewhere of avoiding the inconvenience of the change of gauge, and thus afford the best possible security, that if the interruption be fixed there, the railway companies interested will use every possible effort to reduce the inconvenience to a _minimum_. for all these considerations, we can have no hesitation in expressing our preference, on public grounds, to the alternative that proposes to fix the break of gauges at bristol and oxford, rather than at birmingham and rugby. another important advantage offered by the london and birmingham scheme, and intimately connected with the question of the gauge, is the arrangement by which it is proposed to lay down an additional double line of rails throughout the mineral district, to be devoted entirely to the accommodation of the mineral traffic. we have already seen that the production of iron of the district requires a continued interchange of coals, lime, ironstone, and other raw materials among the different mines and works, to the extent of about , , tons annually. it is only by obtaining ready access to the railway by means of short branches or tramroads from those mines and works, that the benefits contemplated from the introduction of railway communication can be fully realized. but if this is to be the case, and if any considerable portion of this immense local traffic is to pass by railway, it is manifest that the rails so used could not be rendered available without extreme danger and inconvenience for the general traffic. even the export trade alone in coals and iron could not be conducted with convenience upon the same line of rails as the passenger traffic, and would require a separate line of rails in order to allow the waggons passing and repassing from the different works within the district to reach without interruption some principal station at its extremity, where trains of the proper size could be formed and dispatched to distant points. this object would be very imperfectly fulfilled by the plan proposed by the wide-gauge railway, of laying down an extra rail, or pair of rails, on the narrow gauge, inside the principal rails, which would, in fact, obviate none of the objections to the accumulation of slow mineral trains upon the main passenger line, and would allow of no access by lateral tramroads, without cutting up the main line by crossings. it is represented also that the waggons of the wide gauge are, from their greater weight and size, ill adapted for the purposes of the mineral traffic. the arrangement in question, of an additional double line of rails, is equally proposed by the line from birmingham to shrewsbury, _via_ dudley and wolverhampton, which traverses the same mineral district, and must be considered as, to a great extent, identified with the tring or london and birmingham scheme. the case of the shrewsbury line, as compared with the competing scheme of the grand junction company, which stops at wolverhampton, depends very much on the same arguments, of the importance of opening up the staffordshire mineral field by railway communication, which have been already adduced in favour of the tring line; and the objections to it on the part of the canal and other interests are of the same description. the arrangements proposed for supplying the local wants of the district are also of the same nature, and the plans and sections of the two lines correspond, so that the portion between dudley and wolverhampton is common to the two; the understanding being that, if both are sanctioned by parliament, this portion is to be made by the shrewsbury company, and used on equitable conditions by the other company. the great western scheme, on the other hand, introduces a different gauge and different arrangements, and adopts a different line between dudley and wolverhampton, so that its existence is hardly compatible with that of the shrewsbury scheme. for the reasons stated we are therefore of opinion that, for the purpose of accommodating the great mineral district of staffordshire, the combined scheme of the tring and shrewsbury lines is preferable to any other that has been proposed. the tring scheme is equally superior for the local accommodation of kidderminster, stourbridge, and stourport, to which it gives better stations, by pursuing a lower level along the bottom of the valleys, and it admits of more easy extension towards leominster, ludlow, and the west. between worcester and london it accommodates, as we have already seen, a larger population; and therefore, on the whole, both in these respects and in the important particular of the gauge, it seems to us to be in itself decidedly preferable to the competing great western scheme. it remains to be seen whether there are any other considerations which might modify this conclusion. it is urged, that the concession of this line to a company promoted by the london and birmingham company, will constitute a great monopoly, extending over a vast extent of country, while, by giving it to the great western company, a competition would be introduced, from which the public might derive benefit. on the other hand, it may be said that, to allow the great western company to embrace, by their influence, not only the whole western communications of the island, but also the whole of south wales, and the whole district up to worcester and birmingham, would be to establish a monopoly much more gigantic than that of the london and birmingham. this latter monopoly would also be more obviously objectionable, inasmuch as an interest adverse to the public would at once be established if the line from london to worcester and wolverhampton, and that from bristol to birmingham, were to be in the same hands, and upon the same wide gauge, as the line now proposed through south wales. the accommodation of herefordshire, worcestershire, south wales, and the important districts lying to the west of the present lines of railway, will evidently, at no distant period, require not only a wide-gauge railway along the southern coast, to place them in communication with london, but also a narrow-gauge railway to place them in direct and unbroken communication, through birmingham, with the manufacturing districts and the great railway system of the rest of the kingdom. the extension of such a railway would be greatly facilitated by the establishment of the narrow gauge, and of an interest independent of the great western, in the worcester district, and, on the other hand, would be greatly impeded if that district were assigned to the great western interest and to the wide gauge. in respect therefore of the general question of monopoly, it appears to us that nothing would be gained by substituting that of the great western for that of the london and birmingham, which is the only alternative; at the same time, if the latter company had shown no disposition to meet the fair demands of the public by a reduction of rates, and to obviate the objections of monopoly by the offer of reasonable guarantees, it might perhaps have become necessary, notwithstanding the disadvantages of the great western scheme, in respect of the gauge and other points, to adopt this alternative. this is, however, by no means the case; but, on the contrary, the london and birmingham company have come forward voluntarily to offer guarantees and conditions of a very advantageous character. they offer, on condition of their worcester scheme being sanctioned, at once to meet the objections of monopoly, by inserting in their act the following provisions: . the whole of the railways under their control, including the existing london and birmingham railway, to become subject to the options of revision and purchase contained in the act of last year: the option of revision, however, at per cent. to accrue at an earlier period than that of years, specified in the act. . a revised tariff to be framed for the whole of the said railways, including the london and birmingham railway, upon the principle of fixing _maximum_ rates for passengers and goods lower than those at present charged, and at as low a level as those charged upon any of the principal northern railways. . one article of such tariff to be, that coals and iron are to be carried at rates not exceeding _d._ per ton per mile, including toll and locomotive power. . all differences with other railway companies, by which the public safety or convenience are affected, to be referred to the board of trade, or other competent authority for that purpose established by parliament. . the london and birmingham company to pledge the whole revenue of their existing line for the completion of the proposed undertaking within a reasonable time. it appears to us that these guarantees hold out for the public a prospect of permanent and certain advantage greatly beyond anything that could be expected from the competition of two great companies, who would be urged by every motive of interest to combine. we attach the greatest importance to the security obtained for the cheap transit of coals and minerals. not only will a great benefit be thereby, as we believe, secured for the important mineral districts of staffordshire and the midland counties, but also a still more important benefit for the poorer and industrious classes, and for the consumers of coals generally throughout the southern and western counties, and in the metropolis. the charge of conveyance of coals by railway from south staffordshire or derbyshire to london will not exceed _s._ or _s._ per ton, and it has been stated to us, that, after payment of all charges, good house coals could be sold here, with a profit, at prices not exceeding _s._ per ton. during the recent frost and easterly winds the price of coals in london has been as high as _s._ per ton; and during the winter the price frequently exceeds _s._ for coals of ordinary quality. when we consider how materially the comfort of all classes, more especially of those in humble circumstances, depends on a regular supply of cheap coal, and also how much the employment of industry is affected by the same circumstances, and when we bear in mind that a saving of every shilling per ton on the average consumption of the metropolis is equivalent to an annual saving to its inhabitants of , _l._, it is impossible not to appreciate the importance of insuring low rates of charge upon the principal railways which are in connexion with the great inland coal fields. in other respects also we think that the introduction of a system of moderate charges upon the london and birmingham and its tributary railways, will be calculated to afford great advantage to important commercial interests, and to the community at large, while we see every reason to hope that it will not be unproductive of benefit to the company itself. we must remember, however, that this latter point is, to a certain extent, experimental, and that it is highly important to obtain voluntarily from the company guarantees of a permanent character. it must not be forgotten that, without some arrangement of this sort, the company, if so disposed, has a perfect legal right to resort to charges so high as greatly to inconvenience the public, and that, under an altered state of things, with a depressed money-market, and all fear of immediate competition removed, it is by no means certain that it might not find it for its interest to do so. we have also the authority of the select committee of last session for attaching great importance to the prospective guarantee, for the future, in the shape of options of revision or purchase, which are now voluntarily offered by one of the first railway companies in the kingdom, whose line could not be, otherwise than by their own consent, subjected to the operation of any conditions not contained in their original act. on the whole, therefore, when we consider on the one hand the superior advantages afforded by the london and birmingham scheme in itself, and by the adoption of the narrow gauge, and on the other the great advantages offered by the london and birmingham company, in connexion with it, over their whole system, and the ample guarantees given against any possible abuses of monopoly, we can arrive at no other conclusion than that the scheme promoted by that company is preferable on public grounds to the competing scheme, which is inferior in itself, and which holds out no such collateral advantages. having already referred to the shrewsbury, wolverhampton, dudley, and birmingham scheme, as connected, in a great measure, with those between worcester and wolverhampton, it will be convenient to include this scheme in the present report. we have stated that the general question involved in the comparison of this scheme with the competing line proposed by the grand junction company is, that the latter joins the grand junction line at wolverhampton, and thus affords no accommodation to the mineral district between wolverhampton and birmingham. if the views which we have stated in regard to the importance of opening up this district by railway communication are correct, this consideration alone is sufficient to give a decided preference to the more extended scheme. it also appears to us, that to entrust the branch to shrewsbury to the grand junction company would be open to the objection which we have stated in our previous report upon the south eastern schemes, when discussing the general policy of giving a preference to lines proposed by existing companies for the accommodation of adjoining districts, viz. that there may be danger in giving such preference where the scheme proposed by the existing company, although insufficient for the complete accommodation of the district to be provided for, may yet be sufficient to throw impediments in the way of other parties coming forward with more extensive schemes. a line to shrewsbury, in the hands of the grand junction company, would manifestly be not unlikely to be used for the purposes of protection against competition, rather than of encouragement to extensions beyond shrewsbury, and to the legitimate development of the traffic. it appears to us, therefore, that, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the fact of the shrewsbury and birmingham line being promoted by a substantial and independent local party, is a legitimate ground of preference, in addition to that already pointed out, of the superior advantages afforded by the independent line to the populous mining district between wolverhampton and birmingham. as regards the line between shrewsbury and stafford, of which plans and sections have likewise been deposited by the grand junction company, it appears sufficient to say, that although as a mere line for the town of shrewsbury, it might afford considerable advantages, it accomplishes none of the more important advantages for the district at large which are held out by the line to birmingham. we are of opinion, therefore, that the latter line is preferable to all the competing schemes proposed, upon general grounds of public policy; and we are aware of no public reasons why it should not receive the sanction of parliament. at the same time, there are points of detail connected with it, more especially as regards the mode of passing through the town of birmingham, and of effecting a junction with the london and birmingham railway, to which we think that the attention of parliament should be especially directed. with regard to the first point, it depends to a great extent upon considerations of private property, which we are precluded from entertaining; but with regard to the second point, it appears to us of the greatest importance that provision should be made for an uninterrupted and convenient junction in birmingham between the projected line and that of the london and birmingham railway. * * * * * in conclusion, we beg to draw attention to the passage of the fifth report of the select committee of last year, in which it is stated, in recommending that reports should be made to parliament by this department upon railway schemes, "that no such report should be held to prejudice the claims of private persons, the examination of which should be altogether reserved to the houses of the legislature." in submitting to parliament, in conformity with the recommendations of that committee, the results at which we have arrived, with a view to the information and assistance of parliament in forming a judgment upon the schemes in question, in so far as our report may be available for that purpose, we are anxious that it should be distinctly understood that we have arrived at these results solely upon public grounds, and to the exclusion of all considerations how far such results might require to be modified by a due regard for private rights and interests. dalhousie. c. w. pasley. g. r. porter. d. o'brien. s. laing. * * * * * railways. map of the several projected railways, in the worcester, wolverhampton, &c, division. (broad and narrow gauges.) referred to in the report of the railway department of the board of trade on the london, worcester, and wolverhampton, and on the birmingham and shrewsbury districts. _ordered_, _by_ the house of commons, _to be printed_, _february_ . transcribed from the woodall, minshall, thomas & co. ltd. edition by david price, email ccx @coventry.ac.uk the story of the cambrian a biography of a railway by c. p. gasquoine (editor of the "border counties advertizer.") [picture: cambrian railways company stamp] : printed and published by woodall, minshall, thomas & co. ltd. (incorporating hughes & son). principality press, wrexham, and caxton press, oswestry. preface. credit for the inspiration of this book belongs to my friend, mr. w. r. hall, of aberystwyth, who, in one of his interesting series of "reminiscences" of half a century of welsh journalism, contributed to the "cambrian news," recently expressed his surprise that no one had hitherto attempted to write the history of the cambrian railways. with the termination of that company's separate existence, on its amalgamation with the great western railway under the government's grouping scheme, "the hour" for such an effort seems to have struck; and mr. hall's pointed indication of oswestry as the most appropriate place where the work could be undertaken, not only by reason of its close connection with the official headquarters of the cambrian, but because, in a certain newspaper office there lay the files containing so many old records of the railway's birth and early struggles for existence, even the selection of "the man" appeared so severely circumscribed that to the present writer it virtually amounted to what, in certain ecclesiastical circles, is termed "a call." responsibility for its acceptance, however, and for the execution of the task, with its manifold imperfections and shortcomings, rests entirely with the author, whose only qualification for assuming the role of biographer of the cambrian is the deep interest he has always taken in a subject worthy of a far abler pen. not even the attempt would have been possible had it not been for the valuable assistance readily given by many kind friends directly or indirectly associated with the cambrian railways. special thanks are due, and hereby gratefully acknowledged, to mr. samuel williamson general manager, not for only much personal trouble taken in supplying information and looking through proof-sheets, but for placing no small portion of the time of some members of his clerical staff at the disposal of the author, who has troubled them on many occasions, but never without receiving prompt and patient response; to other officials and employees, past and present, of the company for information regarding their several departments, and their personal recollections, including mr. t. s. goldsworthy, the senior officer and sole surviving member of the "old guard," who played their part in the battles of the parliamentary committee-rooms of long ago, whose reminiscences of the days of old have proved particularly useful; to the earl of powis for permission to inspect the voluminous papers of the late earl, whose name was so intimately associated with the early development of railway schemes in montgomeryshire; to the family of the late mr. david howell for similar facilities in regard to his papers; and, for the loan of photographs or assistance of varied sort to colonel apperley, mr. e. d. nicholson, park issa, oswestry, mr. w. p. rowlands and mr. edmund gillart, machynlleth, mr. robert owen, broad street, welshpool, mr. j. harold thomas, garth derwen, buttington, the misses ward, whittington, miss mickleburgh, oswestry, mr. e. shone, oswestry, the editor of the "peterborough advertiser," the publishers of the "great western magazine," and others. the indexing has been compiled by mr. kay, public librarian, oswestry, to whom thanks are due for the efficient discharge of a rather irksome duty. as to the arrangement of the book itself: in tracing the various stages of construction, often simultaneous or overlapping in point of time, of the several separate and formerly independent undertakings into which the cambrian system was subsequently consolidated, and still further augmented by later local amalgamations, it has been found well-nigh impossible, chronologically, to maintain at once a clear and consecutive story. recourse has, therefore, been had to the method of dealing with each section of the line in separate chapters, and the same plan applies to some departments of development in later years. but an endeavour has been made to follow, as comprehensively as such circumstances permit, the general course of the railway's growth; and it is in the hope that, however imperfectly, it may serve to recal seventy years of struggle, triumph and romance in welsh railway annals that to lt.-col. david davies, m.p., its last chairman, and mr. samuel williamson, its last general manager, and his numerous other friends among the officers and staff of all ranks, the writer begs to dedicate this little story of the cambrian, in memory of many happy days spent in travelling, as a privileged passenger, along its far-reaching lines. c. p. g. "_border counties advertizer" office, oswestry_, . [picture: directors & offices on a farewell visit to aberystwyth, may . reading from left to right:--mr. w. k. minshall (solicitor); sir joseph davies, m.p.; mr. alfred herbert; lord kenyon; lt.-col. apperley; mr. g. c. mcdonald (engineer and loco. supt.); mr. s. g. vowles (assistant-sec.); mr. c. b. o. clarke; mr. h. warwick (supt. of line); mr. t. craven (deputy chairman); lt.-col. david davies, m. p. (chairman); mr. t. c. sellars (general manager's assistant); mr. s. williamson (general manager and secretary). photo by h. h. davies & son, aberystwyth] chapter i. birth and parentage. "_no engineer could succeed without having men about him as highly gifted as himself_."--robert stephenson. i. when what eventually became the cambrian railways was born it was a very tiny baby. compared with its ultimate frame, it possessed neither arms nor legs, nor even head, and consisted merely of heart and a small part of its trunk. it began "in the air" at newtown and ended, if possible, in still more ethereal poise, at llanidloes. physical junction with existing lines there was none, and the engines--four in number--which drew the coaches that composed those early trains had to be brought by road, from oswestry, in specially constructed wagons, not without difficulties and adventures, and placed on the metals at the railhead, to live their life and perform their duty in "splendid isolation." it was only gradually that limb after limb was added, and subsequently constructed railways were incorporated or absorbed, until the consolidated system obtained the rather attenuated proportions with which we are familiar to-day, stretching from whitchurch, on the cheshire border, to aberystwyth, on the shores of cardigan bay, with its two chief subsidiary "sections," one (including some half dozen miles of the original track) from moat lane junction to brecon, and another from dovey junction to pwllheli; shorter branches or connecting lines from ellesmere to wrexham, oswestry to llangynog, llanymynech to llanfyllin, abermule to kerry, cemmes road to dinas mawddwy, barmouth junction to dolgelley, and two lengths of narrow gauge line, from welshpool to llanfair caereinion and aberystwyth to devil's bridge, altogether exactly miles. such, in briefest outline, denotes how "the cambrian" began and what it has grown to be; but there is little virtue in a mere recital of statistics, and the writing of "history," of the kind once defined by the late lord halsbury as "only a string of names and dates" would be no congenial task to the present author. nor, happily, is it necessary to confine oneself to such barren and unemotional limits. it is not in the record of train miles run, of the number of passengers and the weight of the merchandise carried, or even in the dividends earned, or not earned (though these factors are not without their value to the proprietors) that the chief interest in the story of a railway lies. { } very often it is the tale of unending trial and difficulty and even apparent failure which holds for the spectator the largest measure of romance, and such is certainly the case of what, at one time, was, with quite as much sympathetic affection as contempt, popularly called "the poor old cambrian." there were times when the difficulties which faced its constructors appeared to be absolutely insuperable. what with the enormous weight of its cradle, measured in gold, and the continual quarrels of its nurses, the undertaking was well nigh strangled at birth. even when the line was actually opened for traffic a burden of financial difficulty rested upon directors and managers that might have crushed the spirit out of many a stout heart. judged by the maturer experience of long years, it is wonderful to think that, even under the most careful management, the company should have been able to survive its constant buffetings at the hand of fate, but survive it has, and by eternal patience and unfailing perseverance these many troubles were at length overcome, and if to-day the railway offers facilities and comforts to the travelling public that stand the test of comparison with such as are provided by the great trunk lines of england and scotland, it is no small tribute to those who have worked long and labouring to bring its services to their present high standard of efficiency. but of the cambrian as we know it to-day there will be something more to be said presently. biography, by time-honoured custom, if not necessity, begins with birth and parentage; and, though corporate bodies may often experience some difficulty about laying claim to a "lang pedigree," even a railway company cannot come into existence without considerable pre-natal labour. among its parents the cambrian possessed some men of rare grit and determination. prominent among them was one who ranks high among the makers of modern wales, whose name has become a household word not only in his native land, but wherever welshmen congregate throughout the world, and is still, by happy coincidence, intimately associated, in the third generation, with the cambrian to-day. the story of david davies of llandinam has been fully told in other pages, { } but it is so closely woven around the romance of the railway which he did so much to bring into being that no record of that undertaking would be complete without some reference to it, however brief. born at a small holding called draintewion, perched on the hillside overlooking the severn vale near llandinam, the eldest of a family of nine children, on december , ,--"three eighteens," as he used in later life jocularly to remark--his boyhood was spent on the little plot of land tilling its rich soil, or helping his father, in the work of sawing timber into planks, a commodity for which public demand was then rapidly increasing. his only schooling was received in a little seminary carried on in the village church, and that wonderful educational institution of rural wales, the sunday school. but at the age of eleven the desk was deserted for the saw bench, and the rest of his instruction was derived at "the university of observation, in which he took not a mere 'pass' but very high 'honours'." a keen observation of human nature, a shrewd judgment of men and beast, and a ready aptitude for application of native wit to the problems of life developed david davies into the man of wealth and power he ultimately became. even in his school days, however, these latent traits were not unobservable. it is recorded that "he was the winner of every game." he may have had a generous portion of what men call "luck," but to it was added the still more valuable element of industry and perseverance and healthy ambition. he knew how to take the chances which came his way, which is probably the secret of success with many who "get on." when opportunity offered to enter a new path he readily seized it, and from the hewer of wood he became the modest contractor, and ultimately the greater builder of bridges, docks and railways. [picture: some parents of the cambrian: reading top left to bottom right: the later mr. david davies, m.p., one of the first contractors; the late mr. thomas savin, mr. davies's first partner and a contractor of other parts of the line; the late mr. benjamin piercy, engineer of many of the early lines; the late mr. abraham howell, solicitor of the oswestry and newtown, and a promoter of montgomeryshire rys] passengers travelling along the cambrian line from moat lane junction to llanidloes, may notice, at llandinam, the roadway which runs below the church, and crosses the river on an embankment to the station. the construction of that highway was the first contract which david davies held, and it stands to-day, hard by the statue of him which has since been erected, as a monument of his self-reliant zeal and sound workmanship. other contracts followed, including that for the construction of oswestry smithfield, and it was during one of his visits to that town that mr. davies formed a friendship which led to a partnership that, in its turn, played a potent part in the making of the cambrian. for in oswestry there lived mr. thomas savin, who had been born, in , at llwynymaen, and was a partner in a mercer's business with mr. edward morris (who afterwards purchased and sold the van mine near caersws), under the style of messrs. morris and savin. mr. savin's mind, however, was not entirely concentrated on measuring cloth and calico. he took a keen interest in the life of the town, and was an energetic supporter of local institutions. elected to the town council in , he was mayor in , and appointed alderman in , an office he retained to the end of his varied life. but these honours had yet to come. already, at the time of which we are now writing, mr. savin had visions of a larger enterprise beyond the boundaries of his native borough. like many large and generous-hearted men, mr. savin was very impetuous and impatient of delays. on one occasion, it is related, when still a mercer at oswestry, he drove over to a welsh border market town to sell his wares. it was the custom there for farmers to decline to look at any other business till the sale of the live stock was disposed of, and the market being loth to start and mr. savin eager to be home again, he rushed into the arena and startled the company present by buying a thousand sheep. this was before he became associated with railway pioneering, but it is a characteristic example of that dramatic impulsiveness which led to his subsequent success--and failure. caught by the spirit of venture and enthusiasm, which had swept over the country after the successful opening of the manchester and liverpool railway in , his thoughts had begun to turn to railway production, and the meeting with the young montgomeryshire road and bridge builder opened the looked for door. in a room over the tobacconist shop now occupied by mr. richards, opposite the post office, in church street, oswestry, and close to the premises in which, some fifteen or sixteen years earlier another notable man, shirley brooks, afterwards editor of "punch," had toiled as a lawyer's article pupil to his uncle, mr. charles sabine, mr. davies and mr. savin were brought together by mr. george owen, himself destined to play no small part in the planning of the cambrian. a man of kent, native of tunbridge wells, mr. owen had begun his business career in the office of mr. charles mickleburgh, land surveyor, agent and enclosure commissioner, of montgomery, one of whose daughters he subsequently married. he worked side by side with another young engineer, of whom we shall hear more presently,--mr. benjamin piercy, under whose initial leadership, mr. owen, as resident engineer, was to serve the local railway for many a long year. nor was that the only capacity in which his gifts were displayed. making oswestry his home, he became a member of the town council in , mayor in and , and alderman in . for twenty years he was a member of the general purposes committee, served as borough and county magistrate, and was a member of the school board from its inception, and chairman from till his death in . indeed, there was no interest in the town,--administrative, commercial and recreative,--in which he did not fill a conspicuous role. but, perhaps, of all his services to the community, none was more opportune or more prolific of far-reaching results than that happy inspiration of introducing messrs. davies and savin. ii. still, it takes more than a couple of contractors, however enthusiastic, to construct a railway. though the more visible, the organiser of the labour is not the only parent. not less essential, in his creative function, is the capitalist; and even the powerful combination of capitalist and contractor is insufficient to carry matters to a practical conclusion without the expert guidance of the engineer. nevertheless, messrs. davies and savin, as the new partnership was termed, had not long to wait before their opportunity arrived. the great "railway mania" which reached its climax on that notable sunday, november th, , to be followed by the catastrophic bursting of the bubble, had left men rather sobered in their outlook upon the future possibilities of speculation in this alluring direction. it had witnessed the formulation of no fewer than , separate railway schemes, involving an (hypothetical) expenditure of millions sterling, of which got no further than the issue of a prospectus, while over went through all the necessary stages of being brought before parliament and actually became acts--"to the ruin of thousands who had afterwards to find the money to fulfil the engagements into which they had so rashly entered." amongst these was a bill for converting the montgomeryshire canal into a railway line, for which an act was passed in , but it was a hare-brained scheme and soon came to nought. other proposals, however, developed into what promised, and have since proved, to be highly profitable enterprises. the western midlands and north wales had been linked by the line from shrewsbury to chester, which mr. henry robertson, m.p., for the former town and afterwards for the county of merioneth, in which his residence, pale, near corwen, was situate, had carried over the great viaducts of chirk and cefn. from chester, mr. robert stephenson, even more daring, had flung his extension of the north western system, by way of "the magic bridge of bangor hung awful in the sky." { } across the menai straits into anglesey and so to holyhead. the air was again thick, and to become thicker, with new adventures. hardly a valley in north or central wales but had its ardent advocates of connecting lines. within a short time newspaper columns were to be flooded with prospectuses of all sorts of schemes. parliamentary committee rooms buzzed with forensic eloquence about the advantages and disadvantages of this or that route. expert witnesses swore this, that, or anything else, as expert witnesses generally will, provided, that like the gentlemen who question and cross-question them, they are sufficiently briefed. in vain did the secluded lake poet protest: "is there no nook of english ground secure from rash assault?" the iron road was to come, and come it did, all conquering and, not so unbeneficial, after all, in its rule. amidst this welter of proposals and counter-proposals there emerged, sometime during a scheme, propounded by mr. bethell, of westminster for constructing a railway connecting the existing line at shrewsbury with aberystwyth. it was to run by way of the rea valley, through minsterley, and to strike the severn valley again in the neighbourhood of montgomery, whence it was to continue through newtown and llanidloes. this was quickly followed by another for a line from oswestry to newtown, which was projected under shrewsbury and chester railway auspices. to the latter mr. bethell replied by transferring his scheme to the north western company, whose engineers remodelled it. with a view to driving any rival montgomeryshire scheme out of the field, the proposed new line was diverted from the rea valley to pass by way of criggion and welshpool to newtown, with a branch from criggion to oswestry, and between newtown and aberystwyth it was altered to go by machynlleth, instead of llanidloes. this sort of strategy, however, only seemed to stimulate the men of montgomeryshire to fresh determination to show their independence, and in this they had the adventitious aid of a very influential neighbour, mr. george hammond whalley. [picture: the late mr. g. h. whalley, m.p., from a portrait presented by the citizens of peterborough, and now hanging in peterborough museum] mr. whalley was a very remarkable man. a native of gloucester, according to "debrett," he was a lineal descendant of edward whalley (first cousin to oliver cromwell and john hampden), who signed the warrant for the execution of charles i. at the university college, london, he carried off first prize in rhetoric and logic, afterwards was called to the bar, for some years went the oxford circuit and acted as assistant tithe commissioner, and examiner of private bills for parliament. he lived at plas madoc, ruabon, was a deputy lieutenant for denbighshire and a magistrate for that county, montgomeryshire and merionethshire. in he acted as high sheriff of carnarvonshire, and at the time of the crimean war he volunteered the services of the troop of denbighshire yeomanry cavalry of which he was captain and received the thanks of the war office. some years earlier, during the irish famine, he established fisheries on the west coast of ireland, and, in his own yacht, explored and ascertained the position of the fishing banks. the electors of leominster declined to return him to parliament in , as did also the montgomery boroughs in ; but later that year he was elected for peterborough, unseated on petition, re-elected the next year and again unseated. he unsuccessfully contested the same constituency in , but was elected in may and sat till his death in , during his parliamentary career devoting a good deal of attention to the reform of private bill procedure on which he carried a not unimportant measure. but he was no mere meticulous lawyer. his frantic espousal of the protestant cause, supposed by the timid in the middle of last century to be in some danger in england, earned him a good deal of notoriety and a popular name. hardly more eccentric was the warm support he gave to the cause of arthur orton in his claim to the title and estate of sir roger tichborne. on one of the last visits he paid to oswestry he called to see a friend. as he was leaving his friend's office he suddenly turned round and asked "do you believe in the claimant?" the reply was an emphatic negative. "ah," exclaimed the departing visitor, "you will come to!" but if mr. whalley was a bad prophet in this respect, his instinct did not always mislead him. he believed in himself, which was not only a more substantial faith, but more to the point in this narrative, for it enabled him, by dint of self-assurance, largely to dominate, and occasionally to domineer, the railway world of montgomeryshire and the adjacent counties and to contribute in no small measure to the successful accomplishment of several local schemes. conspicuous among them was the llanidloes and newtown. though an isolated link in itself, it was intended to form part of a chain that was to stretch from manchester and the industrial north to milford haven, a famous welsh seaport, and this dream was constantly in the mind of local promoters whenever and wherever such sectional schemes were discussed. on october th, , a meeting was held at llanidloes, with mr. whalley in the chair, at which the project was cordially adopted, a committee formed to further its achievement by raising the necessary subscriptions, and arrangements made for carrying the fiery cross of propaganda to newtown and rhayader, and as far afield as aberystwyth. on this effective errand mr. whalley and his coadjutors stumped the countryside, and "inn bills" began to form no inconsiderable item in the promoters' balance sheets. but nothing can be accomplished in this world without effort and expenditure; and to the missionaries' warning words against "the evil of conceding to an overbearing leviathan neighbour any privileges calculated to endanger the independence of their little company," we are informed by a chronicler of the day, "the county nobly responded, and petitions were sent from every district, praying for the recognition by parliament of the principles so ably enunciated by mr. whalley." the "little company" had, indeed, good reason to be apprehensive; but fortune favoured its course. before this onslaught, even the "overbearing leviathan" quailed. after long and costly struggle in the parliamentary committee rooms, accommodation was reached, and in the house of commons the montgomeryshire promoters' scheme passed with flying colours; but an unfortunate error, by which the levels were proved to be some feet below the severn water, wrecked it in the lords. in august, , however, the scheme received parliamentary sanction, and out of the long list of "provisional directors" appointed the previous year, the first board was formed. they were:--mr. whalley, chairman; mr. w. lefeaux, vice-chairman; alderman e. cleaton, llanidloes; alderman richard holmes, llanidloes; mr. wm. lloyd, newtown; mr. edward morris, oxon, shrewsbury; mr. t. e. marsh, llanidloes, and mr. t. prickard, dderw, radnorshire. mr. rice hopkins was the engineer, mr. t. p. prichard, general manager, and mr. john jenkins, secretary. mr. jenkins, however, soon transferred his services to the office of auditor, and was succeeded by mr. thomas hayward. iii. and so, with eager hearts, directors looked forward to a rosy future. it is interesting to recall what, in their opinion, the financial prospects of the line were. larger schemes loomed in ambitious minds, but, even confined to the local line along the severn valley, the estimated revenue was as follows:-- passengers , pounds coal pounds lead, copper, and barytes ore , pounds timber (chiefly used in working the mines) pounds iron, powder, and other articles used by miners pounds lime for agricultural and other purposes pounds corn, flour, and other agricultural produce pounds cattle, sheep, and other animals pounds wool and woollen manufactures pounds general merchandise and shop goods pounds building stone, tiles, bricks, etc. pounds total , pounds estimating working expenses at per cent., that left a surplus of , pounds, being nearly per cent. per annum on , pounds, the required capital. with such a scheme the majority of the local owners readily expressed their agreement, and arrangements were made for cutting of the first sod, in a field which was to form the site of the llanidloes station, on october rd, . mrs. owen, of glansevern, was invited to perform the ceremony, but, owing to what she regarded as a premature announcement of the fact in the "shrewsbury chronicle," that lady sent an advertisement to the journal announcing the postponement of the function. pages of the company's minute book were devoted to expressions of the board's "utmost astonishment" and demands for explanations. mrs. owen was at no loss for material to furnish equally voluminous reply, the pith of which was that she was simply inspired by a desire to obtain time, both to secure the attendance of her influential friends and to inform herself of the financial position of the undertaking. it was all a storm in a tea-cup, but it was a very severe storm while it lasted; and mr. whalley had to cut the sod himself, in a deluge of rain, taking occasion, however, in doing so, to express, in graceful terms, the disappointment felt at the absence of one "who had done so much to introduce improved means of communication through the county," a reference equally gracefully acknowledged by letter from glansevern a few days later. "up to the present period," wrote mrs. owen, "we have been strangers in this part of the county to the preparations necessary for inaugurating a railway, and it should not, therefore, be wondered at if our first attempt should not have been attended with _perfect success_; misapprehension, excess of zeal and inexperience might all lead to mistakes and errors, and it is not, perhaps, possible for us all to escape censure." perhaps not. at any rate, it was a philosophic conclusion, and it enabled the board, with unruffled feathers, to proceed to the business of receiving tenders for the construction of the line. out of seven, the lowest was that of mr. david davies, who was, moreover, prepared to accept part payment in shares, an arrangement which, later, paved the way to the process of leasing these local railways to the contractors, that became almost a custom. hardly, however, had these preliminaries been successfully negotiated, when mr. rice hopkins died, and after a temporary agreement with one of his relatives to carry on in an advisory capacity, the board proceeded to select a successor out of four "persons who presented themselves as eligible for this purpose." their choice was easily made. the line was being built by a local contractor. fate was now to throw up a new engineer, whose claims were not less obvious on similar grounds. a native of trefeglwys, mr. benjamin piercy had, from an early age, taken great interest in railway planning, and, though this branch of the profession did not directly touch his daily routine, he devoted many leisure hours to its study. in his journeys through wales he was impressed with the necessity of opening out its valleys to the great railway world that was developing beyond the english border, and when mr. henry robertson began to make his surveys of the shrewsbury and chester line, mr. piercy became one of his assistants. so diligently did the young man discharge his duties here that, it is recorded, he was the means of preventing the loss of a year in obtaining the act for the making of this line. it was natural, therefore, that, when the rea valley line was being mooted, he should be engaged to prepare the parliamentary plans. it was in this connection that an untoward incident occurred, which throws some light on the tremendous rivalry that existed among the promoters of various railway schemes and the means that were sometimes adopted to thwart the progress of antagonistic proposals. mr. piercy had, with great energy, got his plans ready and taken them to london, but they were surreptitiously removed from his room at the hotel, and the matter was hung up for a year. in the meantime, as we have already noted, the line of route was changed. in the following year, however, he duly deposited the plans for the railway from shrewsbury to welshpool, with a branch to minsterley, already mentioned. although strongly opposed, at every stage, including standing orders, mr. piercy succeeded in carrying the bill through both houses, and it received the royal assent. it was in the select committees on this bill that he first made his reputation as a witness in parliamentary committees. after this he was engaged upon nearly all the projects for introducing independent railways into wales, all of them meeting with fierce opposition. for several days consecutively he was as a witness under cross-examination by the genial mr. serjeant merewether, and other eminent counsel, but so little headway were they able to make against mr. piercy that, upon one occasion, when a committee passed a bill of his, mr. merewether held up his brief-bag and asked the committee whether they would not give that too to mr. piercy. { } [picture: the late mr. george owen, engineer of the cambrian railways for many years] in mr. piercy was formally appointed engineer to the company. with the assistance of mr. george owen, the cordial co-operation of messrs. davies and savin, and under the enthusiastic leadership of mr. whalley, he was destined to carry these undertakings into being, and to nurture them in their infancy, and thus to join the little group of pioneer workers who, in their several capacities, may, in special degree, be termed the parents of the cambrian. chapter ii. a birthday party. "_a birthday_:--_and now a day that rose_ _with much of hope, with meaning rife_-- _a thoughtful day from dawn to close_." --jean ingleow. with the advent of the young montgomeryshire engineer, and his cordial co-operation with the montgomeryshire contractor, the public began eagerly to count the days, or at any rate, the months, before the due arrival of the first montgomeryshire railway. the prospects of a punctual delivery were eminently propitious. in his first report, mr. piercy was able to announce substantial progress with the work, which was being carried out by messrs. davies and savin, "at a cost below that of any railway yet brought into operation." true, there were one or two inevitable set-backs. one of the engines which had arrived by road, and been set on the rails at newtown, refused properly to perform its duty; but, fortunately, a mr. howell, of hawarden, who knew all about the intricate interior of these new-fangled monsters, happened to be staying at llanidloes, and he was called in to diagnose and advise, with effective result. a more serious problem was the revision of the terms of the lease of the line to messrs. davies and savin, which a committee of shareholders were busily engaged in attempting to carry forward. complications of another sort led mr. piercy to tender his resignation, which, being somewhat peremptorily refused, he withdrew. still further anxiety and considerable expense was involved in the prosecution of parliamentary application for power to extend the line from the originally designed terminus at newtown to the shropshire union canal; for, though it was only a matter of some quarter of a mile, it was strenuously opposed in both houses. such were the distractions which beset railway building in those days; but enthusiasm and determination still triumphed, and the work proceeded along the line with sufficient rapidity to admit its being opened for mineral traffic on april th, . at the very last moment trouble was experienced in obtaining the necessary certificate of the board of trade for passenger traffic, but that precious document came to hand on august th, and, with more fortunate outcome than on a previous occasion, mrs. owen, of glansevern, was invited to perform the pleasing duty of declaring the line open. the day fixed was wednesday, august st, and a local newspaper gives us some account of the proceedings:--"preparations were made on an extensive scale, and the day was ushered in by cannon firing, bell-ringing, and the hearty congratulations of the people of the town, with their country friends, who flocked in to take part in the proceedings. the houses were elegantly decorated with flags and banners, flowers and evergreens, and a variety of mottoes, more or less appropriate. amongst others we noticed, on the old market hall (which, by the way, it was a charity to hide from the gaze of strangers), a profusion of flags, with a large banner in the centre, 'hail, star of brunswick.' the red lion exhibited a local tribute to its friend, by placing on the door 'welcome, whalley, champion of our rights.' the railway station was profusely decorated, and the queen's head displayed an elegant archway of leaves and flowers. the trewythen arms was also gaily covered with flags, and numbers of private houses displayed a variety of gay decorations. the cold and wet state of the weather in no way damped the ardour of the men of montgomeryshire, and they were rewarded by a speedy dispersion of clouds, and the grateful warmth of the noonday sun. llanidloes was all alive; business was entirely suspended and soon after o'clock a large crowd collected near the public rooms, where a procession was formed, headed by the plasmadoc brass band, and accompanied in the following order by:-- the mayor (w. swancott, esq.), and the corporation consisting of messrs. r. homes, e. clayton, t. davies, t. f. roberts, d. snead; l. minshall, pugh, j. jarman, hamer, j. mendus jones, flag. banner,--'whither bound?' 'to milford.' streamer. banner. streamer. (with the inscription): 'g. h. whalley, whose unceasing exertions are now crowned with success.' mr. g. h. whalley, chairman. deputy chairman and secretary, directors. banner,--'the spirited contractors, messrs. davies & savin.' streamer. streamer. banner,--'our esteemed patroness, mrs. a. w. owen.' mrs. owen followed in a carriage. guests and shareholders. ladies (two and two). gentlemen (two and two). streamer. streamer. banner,--'prosperity to the towns of llanidloes and newtown.' excavators (with bannerets). flag,--'live and let live.' the public. "the procession was marshalled by mr. marpole lewis, and after parading the streets, was met by mrs. owen, of glansevern, who was accompanied by some lady friends and mr. brace, and at another point by mr. whalley, the chairman of the company. these arrivals were acknowledged with vociferous cheering. the procession, like a rolling snowball, gained bulk as it proceeded, and before it reached the station, comprehended a very large proportion of the inhabitants,--ladies and gentlemen,--with a good sprinkling of their neighbours. at the station there was a considerable delay, awaiting the arrival of the train from newtown. at last it made its appearance, and the band struck up 'see the conquering hero comes,'--an air far more appropriate when applied to the 'locomotive' than to one-half of the heroes to whom it has hitherto done honour. the mayor of llanidloes, with the corporation, mrs. owen and party, and mr. whalley, accompanied by a very large number of the inhabitants, then took their seats, and amidst the cheers of those left behind, and counter cheers of the passengers, the train moved off and proceeded slowly towards newtown. { } "the train arrived shortly after o'clock, when the procession re-formed and escorted the mayor and corporation of llanidloes, mrs. owen, of glansevern, mr. whalley, and other visitors, to newtown hall, where an elegant _dejeuner_ had been provided by dr. slyman. the decorations at newtown hall were chaste and beautiful. the verandah at the front, was tastefully ornamented with flowers and evergreens, surmounted by a number of elegant fuschias, in the centre of which stood out a prettily worked 'prince of wales' feathers.' a variety of flags were placed around the pleasure ground, which gave a very striking effect to the scene." after the party had partaken of refreshments, there were toasts and mutual congratulations, and the procession tramped back to the station. "again there was a little delay, awaiting the train from llanidloes (says our chronicler), and it was half-past three o'clock before _the train_ of the day fairly started. filling the carriages and trucks was no joke. admirable arrangements had been made, and the ladies were first accommodated with seats. one or two gentlemen did attempt to take their place before this arrangement was fully carried out, but they were very unceremoniously brought out again, amidst the ironical cheers of the outsiders. at last the forty-eight trucks and carriages were loaded, and, at a moderate estimate, we should say, , people were in the train. the two new engines, the llewelyn and the milford, were attached to the carriages, and were driven by mr. t. d. roberts and mr. t. e. minshall. although the train was so heavily laden with passengers, there was a large crowd of people left to cheer as it slowly passed out of the station. the appearance of this monster train was magnificent. more than , of the passengers were in open trucks, and at certain points, where there was a curve in the line, and a good sight could be obtained, the train, as it wound its way through the valley, presented a scene not easily to be erased from the memory. "soon after four o'clock llanidloes station was reached, and the passengers alighted amidst the shouts of the inhabitants, who had come to welcome them. a large circle was formed in the field adjoining the station, and mr. whalley introduced to those assembled mrs. owen, of glansevern, who declared the line to be opened." it hardly required her stirring words to enlist the enthusiasm of the company concerning the economic change which the railways were to bring to wales. derelict acres were to be brought into cultivation; "the very central town of the ancient principality," in which that ceremony was taking place, was to become the capital of a new prosperity, and as for mr. whalley, were not that day's proceedings "a chapter more honourable than any wreath of laurel that could be won on the battle field by success in war?" the plaudits of the assembled confirmed the sentiment, and "a rush was then made for the tent where the luncheon was provided. here again the ladies had the same proper attention paid to them; the sterner sex was kept out until they could be accommodated with seats. after a short delay the tent was well filled with visitors, and upwards of sat down to lunch. grace was said by the rector of llanidloes, and for a season the clatter of knives and forks was the only sound to be heard." small wonder! for the afternoon was well advanced, and the time-table had gone rather awry. but that did not in the least damp the ardour of the company. refreshed by their belated meal, more toasts were honoured, more speeches made, and the future continued to assume the most roseate hue. the district, declared one orator, was destined to become "the abode of smiling happiness," and newtown and llanidloes "the haunts and hives of social industry." it was, said another, the first link in a chain "which must, ere long, form one of the greatest and most important trunk lines in the kingdom." "people," exclaimed a third, "laughed at it because it had no head or tail"; but let the scoffers wait and see! with all these glowing anticipations, proceedings became so protracted that the ladies had to withdraw, but the gentlemen went on drinking toasts with undiminished energy. they drank to the chairman; they drank to the secretary; they drank to the engineer, and the contractors, and the bankers who had lent them the money, and to the success of the other railways springing up around them, including the mid-wales, the first sod of which was to be cut in a few days' time, with what strange accompaniment will be noted in a subsequent chapter. not until the health of the press,--"may its perfect independence ever expose abuses and advocate what is just, through evil and through good report,"--had been duly honoured did the company disperse. the workmen, too, were entertained, with good fare and more speeches. salvers and cake baskets were presented to messrs. davies and savin. master edward davies, aged , and master tom savin, aged , were held up aloft, and presented with watches, and the cheering, which had gone on almost continuously for hours, broke forth afresh. one of the workmen, who was also, at any rate, in the opinion of his colleagues, something of a poet, stepped forward, and, "amidst roars of laughter and tremendous cheering," sang his thanks as follows:-- well now we've got a railway, the truth to you i'll tell, to be opened in august, the people like it well; we've heard a deal of rumour o'er all the country wide, we'll never get a railway, the people can't provide. well now we have the carriages, for pleasure trips to ride; the milford it shall run us, and henry lad shall drive; there's also jack the stoker, so handy and so free, he lives now at llandiman, a buxom lad is he. we have a first rate gentleman who does very nigh us dwell, and he has got a partner, the people like him well; look at the trucks my boys, their names you'll plainly see; they've took another railway, there's plenty of work for we. well now our gen'rous masters do handsomely provide a store of meat and drink my boys, come out and take a ride; for we are in our ribbons, and dress'd so neat and trim; drink up my charming sally, we'll fill it to the brim. when these few days are over, the navvies they will part, and go back to their gangers with blithe and cheerful heart; and jack he will be hooting, and getting drunk full soon; i wish there was a railway to be opened every moon. and now i have to finish, and shall conclude my song; i hope and trust my good friends, i've stated nothing wrong; all you young men and maidens, that are so full of play, i hope you'll all take tickets on that most glorious day. "when the song was concluded, colonel wynn purchased the first copy, for which the fortunate bard received a shilling. several other gentlemen followed this example, and the poet must have regretted that his stock in trade was so limited. "during the latter part of the proceedings, several had left the enclosure to join the merry dance, to the strains of the welshpool band, in the adjoining field. we cannot use the usual stock phrase of the penny-a-liner and say to 'trip it on the light fantastic toe,' for in several instances a pair of stalwart navvies might be seen in anything but dancing pumps kicking out most gloriously. in another part of the field, a party were deeply engaged in an exciting game of football. all was mirth and jollity. from the oldest to the youngest, the richest to the poorest, every one seemed to try to get as much enjoyment out of the evening as possible, and if there were any grumblers to be found at messrs. davies and savin's monster picnic, the fault must have been with themselves. "the same evening rejoicings were being kept up at llanidloes. all the school children of the place were feasted in the tent. mr. whalley (the 'champion of the people's rights,' as the flag had it) was chaired through the town, and the evening was finished by a ball. and on the following day, several loaves of bread and gallons of porter were sent by messrs. davies and savin to the poor people of llandinam." finally, a medal was struck in commemoration of the event, and presented to the workmen. thus, sixty-three years ago, did the community, already conscious of the momentous influence the steam engine was exerting upon the social and economic condition of the countryside, but yet to discover the not less remarkable potentialities of the electric or the petrol spark applied to the problems of transport, herald the birth of the infant cambrian. chapter iii. early developments and difficulties. "_we may perceive plenty of wrong turns taken at cross roads, time misused or wasted, gold taken for dross and dross for gold, manful effort mis-directed, facts misread, men misjudged_. _and yet those who have felt life no stage play, but a hard campaign with some lost battles, may still resist all spirit of general insurgence in the evening of their day_."--viscount morley of blackburn. though one or two earlier bubbles, blown by eager railway promoters, had burst almost as they left the bowl of the pipe, the issue of the prospectus of the montgomeryshire railways company, in , not unnaturally inspired new hope in the border counties of some extension of already projected lines in the locality. at oswestry, in particular, there was a rapidly growing feeling that such a development was overdue, and they looked with eager eyes towards the possibility of forging a connecting link with the system growing up in the heart of powysland. the shrewsbury and chester railway, soon to become part of the great western, had opened its branch to the busy shropshire market centre under the hills at the beginning of ,--the year which saw the birth of the oswestry market and of the "oswestry advertizer," which, in its earlier years, was to devote so many pages to the record of the making of the cambrian. but beyond oswestry travellers had to proceed by coach. the "royal oak," leaving the town daily at one o'clock, arrived at newtown about five. goods were carried by more ponderous road transport, and it is rather astonishing to recal that as late as dogs were employed as draught animals, and local records include the circumstance of the death of a "respected tradesman" by a fall from his horse, caused by the animal's "fright at one of the carts drawn by the dogs, which are much too often seen on the roads in this neighbourhood." legislation was soon to prohibit this custom, and railways to make it unnecessary. [picture: some early chairmen: reading from top left to bottom, the late earl vane (afterwards marquis of londonderry). chairman of the newtown and machynlleth railway co. and first chairman of the consolidated cambrian rys. co., - ; the late mr. w. ormsby-gore, first chairman of the oswestry and newtown railway co.; the late sir w. w. wynn, bart., second chairman of the oswestry and newtown railway co.] it was, then, in an oswestry of very different social habits to those of to-day that, on june rd, , the townspeople assembled at the call of the mayor, mr. william hodges, to consider the question of a possible extension of the "montgomeryshire railway," in their direction, which was declared by resolution to be the "only scheme before parliament capable of effecting this most desirable object." but railways are not built by resolution alone, or the whole countryside would soon have become heavy with steam. as a matter of fact, it soon was, but not the sort of steam which drives locomotives or urges on the progress of practical railway construction. ever since , reliance had been placed in the possibility of assistance from one or both of the great lines which already had access to the welsh border. hope was first centred in the north western, which had designs on a line from shrewsbury into montgomeryshire, but, in the oswestry area, wistful eyes turned towards paddington, and in propitiation of expected favours to come, four men with great western interests,--mr. w. ormsby-gore, who became its first chairman; sir watkin, who later succeeded him in the chair; col. wynn, m.p., and mr. rowland james venables,--were placed on the oswestry and newtown board. the earl of powis, though a "north westerner," was found to be not without ready desire to look at things all round. he was for a line to shrewsbury, and also a line to oswestry, but not to oswestry alone. even the line to oswestry, according to north western notions, was to be a branch either from garthmyl or criggion, according to whether the shrewsbury and montgomeryshire line went by the rea valley or by alberbury, and that was not at all to oswestrian taste. in the end, however, his lordship agreed to support the oswestry project, and to take the value of his land,--some , pounds,--in shares, provided the possessor of powis castle was allowed to nominate a director, as the owner of wynnstay was on the great western board. the condition was readily granted, and the oswestry and newtown bill, freed from north western opposition, was allowed to pass. it obtained royal assent on june th, , and the first general meeting was held at welshpool on july st of that year. local rivalries, however, were not so easily dispelled. welshpool's impartiality as between the shrewsbury and the oswestry lines was anathema at the latter town, where mr. whalley, speaking for nearly an hour and a half, readily persuaded a great meeting to register its insistence on the oswestry scheme as an extension of the llanidloes and newtown, and so form another link in the chain that was to bind manchester and milford. anyhow, oswestry must be made "the initial town and not newtown." in support of this the local promoters looked for substantial aid from the great western. but that company proved singularly unready to render any assistance. "not only," said mr. abraham howell, in giving evidence before lord stanley's committee some years later, "did the great western not aid in the capital for the oswestry, but they did not support the shrewsbury. on the contrary they opposed it with all their efforts at every step. they also, by a manoeuvre which their position of power over the oswestry company and their railway experience enabled them to carry out, succeeded in separating the shrewsbury from the main line, and causing it to drift into the hands of the north western. they, on the day of, or immediately before the wharncliffe meeting of the oswestry company, got their friends to pay into the bankers in respect of their shares, and give their proxies to the extent of the . th in money, against the clauses in the shrewsbury bill, by which it was intended to connect it with the oswestry. by this means they cut off from the welsh line their head and outlet at shrewsbury, leaving them with the oswestry head only, to which place they, the great western, alone had access, and therefore, under their exclusive power; a result which proved highly detrimental to the oswestry and the welshpool lines. during the five years from to the advantage given to the great western interest placed our company practically under their control." small wonder that public impatience began to show signs of strain. cynical allusions appeared in the press. "the only danger in making oneself liable for new schemes," wrote one captious critic, "arises from the possibility of their being proceeded with." not even the "glorious news" of the fall of sebastopol sufficed to deflect the local mind from the irritating habits of a dilatory directorate. after all, the crimea was a long way off,--much further than chirk,--to which place, the great western company, on taking over the shrewsbury and chester line, had, under the profession of "revising" the fares, substantially raised them. this habit is one to which the community has become more accustomed in recent years, but that was a first experience of the ways of powerful monopolists, and it effectively emphasised the contention that it was high time "an independent" railway company, more directly under local control, should materialise. addresses were exchanged between oswestry and welshpool, much after the manner of diplomatic "notes," some of them phrased in the spirited language which diplomats know so well how to cloak in conventional formulas. occasionally even the conventional formulas were dispensed with. questions concerning the legality of certain assemblies were pugnaciously raised and as pugnaciously answered. four hours' somewhat heated discussion at an extraordinary meeting of shareholders at welshpool carried matters no further than the decision that the first sod, when it was cut, should be of montgomeryshire soil, "but whether," adds a critical commentator, "at llanymynech, welshpool or newtown, no one knows." fresh controversy arose concerning the secretaryship, to which office mr. princep had been appointed by mr. ormsby-gore, after a very fleeting appearance on the kaleidoscopic scene of a mr. farmer, and the old rivalry of great western and north western "interests" re-appeared in fresh form. the "oswestry advertizer," pointing the warning finger at the fate of another welsh railway which, after , pounds out of a total capital of , pounds had been raised, found everything "swallowed up in the gulph of chancery" under the winding-up acts, proclaimed,--"we are almost afraid the oswestry and newtown is doomed to the same end." it certainly looked as if a true prophet was writing that dirge! "it is hardly possible," says mr. howell, "to conceive a more deplorable state than that to which the company was reduced during this period of five years of great-western _regime_. every shilling that could be realized of the proceeds of a very superior share list was expended, debt was accumulated, every resource was exhausted; but comparatively little was done in the execution of the works; the company was involved in four chancery suits, of large proportions, and a law suit, and with other suits in prospect. it was necessary to provide , pounds in cash, towards relieving the chairman from a personal liability of , pounds, and to let free the action of the company from the chancery suits; also further sums to discharge the claims of the contractors and carry on the works." so moribund, indeed, did the whole affair seem, that the north western, treating it as practically extinct, began to consider a scheme for converting the shropshire union canal, already in their hands, as a railway to newtown! and here were the promoters of this ill-starred project fighting amongst themselves. one party was for keeping back the line from oswestry till, as a newspaper writer put it, "a rival to shrewsbury is brought into condition to do it damage." another was for complicating it with other new schemes. one of the sternest of all controversies still raged round the moot point whether the line was to run from oswestry to newtown or from newtown to oswestry, and even private friends fell out as to the exact spot on the proposed route at which the actual work should begin! "discord triumphs--local prejudice is rampart--personal ill-will abounds--as a necessary consequence no one will apply for the unappropriated shares. dissolution alone is imminent," cries the distracted editor. it was certainly becoming apparent that this was no time for further dallying. the shrewsbury and welshpool undertaking, it was reported, was enlisting "an amount of public interest and support seldom equalled in the history of railways," and early in the directors of the oswestry and newtown line found it expedient to assure the community that "preparations for letting the contract were in active progress" and the first sod was to be cut on april th. alas for the optimism of eager pioneers and the credulity of an impatient public! april th came and proved nothing else than a slightly belated "all fools day"! no sod was cut. not a spade or a barrow was visible, and the operation might, by all appearances be postponed till the greek kalends. patience, already sorely tried, became utterly exhausted. in june the shrewsbury and welshpool railway bill was read a third time in the house of commons, and thus the rival scheme loomed still larger upon the horizon. men had yet to learn that railways could be co-operative as well as competitive. but so fully, indeed, was the popular mind at that time obsessed with the rivalry of routes that a rumour was started imputing to the directors of the oswestry and newtown company the intention of "disuniting the line between oswestry and welshpool." as if there were not disunion enough already! more genial humorists launched the story that the prince of wales was coming down expressly to cut the first sod and had ordered a new pair of "navvys" for the occasion to be made by a welshpool bootmaker. feeling, however, was rising again, which was not moderated by the apologia of the directorate suggestive that it was all due to differences between them and the engineers. the engineers themselves were more or less at variance, and, in april , mr. barlow, the chief, finding it impossible to agree with his assistant, mr. piercy, resigned. matters had come to so critical a juncture that eventually, by some happy inspiration, a "committee of investigation" was appointed to examine "the affairs, position and financial state of the company." the rev. c. t. c. luxmoore was elected to preside at this inquiry with mr. peploe cartwright of oswestry as his deputy, and they issued a voluminous report containing a series of recommendations, of which one of the most interesting is that, to reduce expenditure, the earthworks should be limited to a single line, "in all other respects making preparations for a double line." that, as travellers over the cambrian to-day are aware, save for the length between oswestry and llanymynech, and between buttington and welshpool on the oswestry and newtown section, was eventually the course adopted. bridges, including those over the vyrnwy at llanymynech, and the severn at pool quay, were built with an extra span for a second pair of rails, but the girders still remain without further completion. the directors did not escape pointed reference to their "heavy responsibilities," but there was at least the "consolitary fact" that, despite enormous expenditure already incurred, "provided the arrears of deposit, calls and interest are paid up, a sum of , pounds over and above the parliamentary deposit of , pounds invested in the hands of the accountant-general, will be at once available for the works, an amount little short of sufficient to form half the line," and the shareholders are urged, "manfully confronting the difficulties that present themselves" to "merge all local jealousies and differences of opinion, in a hearty and unanimous effort to carry out the works." it is a long and tortuous story and well may a journalist of those days, bemoan the perplexity of the local historian "when he turns over the files of the various newspapers, to see in one number the praises of certain gentlemen sung by admiring editors and enthusiastic correspondents, and in the next frantic outbursts from distracted shareholders against the devoted heads of the same gentlemen, who, but one short week before were the admired of all the shareholding admirers. one week he would find a noble lord wafted to the skies on the breath of a public meeting, but in the next 'the breath thus vainly spent' would blow his lordship up in a very different fashion, and those whose cheers had wafted my lord to that elevated position, would fain keep him there, so that sublunary affairs as far as regarded railways, would be out of his reach. then he would find another gentleman on the directory, one day the idol and leading speaker of every meeting, called on the next a 'strife-engendering-judge,' and his place filled by another on the board. presto! and this same gentleman, again turns up trumps! a professional gentleman is the pet of the whole company, but speedily a woe is pronounced upon lawyers. again the wheel turns round, and the solicitor's great exertions and painstaking attention to the interests of the line are acknowledged." { } "our historian would next discover 'much talkee' (as john chinaman would say) anent a certain, or rather uncertain, 'blighting influence' which arrested the progress of some of the works, and to get to the bottom of which a 'committee of investigation' was appointed. he would open his eyes when he saw the revelations made by that committee, and would wonder how in the name of fortune--or misfortune--the shareholders could be such 'geese' (to apply a term used by one of the best directors the line ever had) as to allow affairs to go on as they had done. he would find that committee triumphant in the praises of the people, but snubbed by another committee who conducted the ceremony of cutting a first sod that would not have been cut this century but for them. when the investigation committee's work was ended (but not finished!) he would find rival claimants for honour:--mr. soandso here, mr. whatshisname there, and other gentlemen elsewhere discovering that they were the 'saviours of the line'--'unravellers of the mystery' while the line was yet in jeopardy, and the mystery as dark as erebus. he would then go on to disputes with contractors and engineers, a law suit commenced here, and threatened there,--directors retiring, and shareholders well-nigh at their wits end. lawyers are again at a 'premium' and three are appointed to lay their heads together in order to make heads of agreement, for the guidance of new contractors, while the old ones, who the shareholders were afraid would sack the company, were themselves sacked!" that, indeed, is the usual fate of those who attempt to follow dead controversies through their never-ending labyrinths. a sentimental historian has said that "the world is full of the odour of faded violets"; but, in looking back over these yellow pages of the past, the scent which greets us is sometimes hardly as fragrant; and were it not for purposes of comprehensive record, many of these acrid, but not unamusing, incidents might be decently left buried in oblivion. happily, however, even the battle of the oswestry and newtown railway was not eternal. the day dawned on which it was gleefully acclaimed that the directors had at length "caught the spirit of promptitude from the committee" and before long "it might be expected to see hundreds of navvies engaged in cutting up the earth." storm clouds might re-gather later, as we shall see, but for the time being peace was restored. differences as to policy and even as to the site of the sod cutting were sufficiently composed by the summer of to admit of a start being made with the work of construction, and on tuesday, august th, the initial ceremony, performed by lady williams wynn, took place, in a field on the east side and adjoining the bowling green at welshpool. the spot bears no mark to-day, as it might well do, but it may be mentioned that it is between the rails on the down line, as you enter welshpool station from buttington, just opposite the signal box. there were, needless to say, great public rejoicings. the long delay in getting to the actual stage of operations gave additional zest to the popular acclaim when that point had, at last, been really reached, and the proceedings were of the most effective and striking character. crowds flocked in from all sides. montgomery shared fully in the popular acclamation, and only oswestry, among the interested towns, stood somewhat aloof. the question of "priority," apparently, still rankled, and "some misunderstanding" spoilt the effect of what was intended to be a general business holiday. "only two or three shops were closed, while the others remained open as usual," and some of the more prominent oswestry shareholders were conspicuous by their absence at the ceremony, at which no reference was made to the expediting influence of the "committee of investigation." [picture: sod cutting ceremony of the oswestry and newtown railway, at welshpool, on august th, ] but in welshpool the streets were bright with bunting. at noon shops were closed in order that everyone might participate in the ceremonial. bells pealed from the church tower; cannon, "captured at seringapatam by the great lord clive" were fired from powys castle, and a committee, headed by the mayor (mr. owen, grandfather of mr. robert owen of broad street), who had taken an active interest in the promotion of both the oswestry and shrewsbury lines, assisted by the town clerk, carried the day's programme through in triumph, which included the inevitable "procession." a contemporary record may here supply us with the necessary details:--"the procession began to form in the powis castle park. after some little delay it proceeded towards the bowling green, in the following order:-- two marshals, on horseback. a body of the montgomeryshire yeomanry cavalry dismounted. the band. the mayor and high sheriff. aldermen and town councillors of the borough of welshpool. the wheel-barrow to be used by lady williams wynn, in performing the ceremony. the directors of the company. the officials. shareholders and well-wishers. band of the royal montgomeryshire rifles. school children,--including the national school, infant girl and boys' school and others. flags. the first friendly society. flags and banners. the second friendly society. flags and banners. third friendly society. flags and banners. cambrian friendly society. flags and banners. a small body of the royal montgomeryshire rifles. "this possession extended to a very considerable length, and was followed by an immense concourse of pleasure-seekers and others who had come to the town for the purpose of witnessing the ceremony. "the body of yeomanry cavalry were selected by sergeant-major turner, as a body-guard for lady wynn during the ceremony, and being in full dress presented a very creditable appearance. the ceremony. "at about one o'clock the procession arrived at the spot where the ceremony was to be performed. this, we have stated before, was on the east side of the bowling green, on the part of the mound on that side of the green facing the spot, seats were placed which were occupied by anxious and eager spectators. "after the procession had been properly arranged around the spot, the ceremony was at once proceeded with," not the least impressive item in it being the solemn invocation by archdeacon clive that "god would bless the undertaking in the name of his son jesus christ." the mayor then presented lady wynn with a copy of the programme of the day's proceedings printed in gold letters on blue silk; mrs. owen of glansevern read a learned address dipping deep in the classical history of transport, "the first sod was then cut by lady wynn, with the silver spade placed in the wheelbarrow provided by the contractor, and wheeled by her along the planks laid on the ground, in a very graceful manner. her ladyship performed the ceremony amidst the deafening applause of the assembled multitude. afterwards other ladies and gentlemen, including the directors, contractors, engineers, etc., went through the same ceremony, using a common wheelbarrow. "the wheelbarrow, made of mahogany, was emblazoned with the seal of the company, while on the silver spade was engraved the following:-- "presented to lady watkin williams wynn, by the contractor of the oswestry and newtown railway, on the occasion of turning the first sod, at welchpool, on tuesday, the th of august, ." "under the inscription was a copy of the seal of the company." subsequently a "cold collation" was provided in a tent on the bowling green; there was a prolific toasting of everybody, or nearly everybody concerned, and what was felt to be one of the most auspicious days in the annals of powysland closed with rural sports and dancing. that night the shareholders dreamt of prodigious dividends. chapter iv. oswestry to newtown. "_but a child_, _yet in a go-cart. patience; give it time_ _there is a hand that guides_. --bennett coll. it is easy to-day to smile at the optimism of our grand-fathers. we know now that railway dividends are not as readily earned in real life as they sometimes are in dreams which follow gorgeous banquets; but, in one respect, at any rate, the future of the oswestry and newtown undertaking appeared to justify jubilation. axes had been, at any rate, temporarily buried; the advocates of rival routes had composed their differences and everything pointed to a rapid consummation of the scheme. as a matter of fact, little delay was experienced in getting to work with the actual construction. before october opened gangs of labourers were busy on the track between pant and llandysilio. the original idea of a broad gauge line, similar to that adopted by brunel on the great western's southern arm, had been abandoned in favour of what has since become the standard one for this country of ft. . ins. { } nevertheless, it was no small undertaking. the vyrnwy had to be crossed at llanymynech and the severn at pool quay and again near buttington. the rest of the line was comparatively free from serious engineering problems, but fresh parliamentary powers had to be obtained to construct a branch from llynclys to the porthywaen lime quarries, and even a little addition of this sort involved endless correspondence over details and other wearing worries. difficulties of another sort, more formidable, began to appear. the earl of powis, whose influence counted for so much, expressing regret for certain differences which had arisen in relation to the policy of the board, wrote to sir watkin resigning his seat, adding the warning note, "i think you should for your own sake watch somewhat jealously the proceedings with regard to the contract." sir watkin hastened to assure his lordship of the "grief and astonishment" which his withdrawal had occasioned his colleagues and to deprecate divisions at critical hours. and it certainly was a critical hour. money was urgently wanted, borrowing was barred until provisions of the act were complied with, and though an attempt by mr. barlow to seek an injunction in chancery failed after a hard struggle, the contract had to be dissolved in order to substitute an arrangement by which payment could be made by shares and debentures in lieu of cash. it was on this account that messrs. davidson and oughterson, who had earlier succeeded messrs. thornton and mccormick, in turn gave place to the men who had already come to the rescue of the newtown and llanidloes undertaking. the arrangements by which these early undertakings were "leased" to the contractors has been the subject of controversy among railway financial experts, but they were stoutly defended in a letter to the "times" shortly after the completion of most of them by mr. david davies himself, who claimed that by this means "wales had the benefit of something like miles of railway which would not have been made for at least another century if we had waited for the localities to subscribe the necessary funds." in the present case, at any rate, mr. savin's efforts at financial re-establishment were the outcome of the suggestion of the north western, warmly supported by the great western party, including the chairman himself, who had become practically liable for , pounds, if the railway was not made and the company set upon a sound footing. to set free the powers of the company no less than , pounds had to be paid down, no small task with subscriptions to the share list not easy to obtain. yet, that mr. savin accomplished--and more. he bought up the existing contract, compromised and settled all existing claims and got rid of all liabilities. the rearrangement, however, took a great deal of time, and was later complicated by the dissolution of partnership between him and mr. davies, while the works were proceeding between welshpool and newtown. not until july th, , was it finally arranged that mr. savin should relinquish the lease, and work the line on an amended basis, under which he was to take the earnings, pay . per cent. to the company, supplementing the earnings of the line by a draft upon the north western, who granted rebates. { } [picture: from left to right: the late mr. john ward, mr. t. savin's partner in the construction of several of the cambrian railways; the late mr. john savin, who assisted his brother in the construction of the welsh coast and other railways] still, it considerably expedited construction. the works came into the new hands in october , and so far as the chief portions of the undertaking went, progress became quite satisfactory. as is so often the case, in these affairs, it was an unexpected development over a detail that caused the greatest perturbation. another difference arising on the board, this time regarding certain engagements entered into about the site of the station at oswestry, sir watkin, who appears to have had certain misgivings as to the conduct of the business, being out-voted at a meeting of the directors, just before mr. savin came into possession of the works, in his turn left the room and a few days later sent in his resignation. he was replaced in the chair by mr. david pugh, m.p., of llanerchyddol hall, welshpool, who continued to act in that capacity till, on his death in , he was succeeded by mr. whalley. on the line, however, the navvies went doggedly digging on, despite atrocious weather. by may st, , the track was sufficiently complete from oswestry to pool quay to be opened for traffic to that point, and advertisements began to appear announcing "cheap trains" for excursionists to the "far-famed and commanding heights of llanymynech hills." in the middle of the month a more venturesome journey was attempted and, by the grace of god, safely accomplished. the last link in the iron road had just been laid, a mile or two from welshpool, and one fine evening, "shortly after six o'clock" (as a local journalist records) "the 'montgomery' was attached to a number of trucks, with rough seats placed on them for the occasion. every available space was filled by a number of poolonians who were in waiting. the train then slowly proceeded along the beautiful valley of the severn to the cefn junction { } (that is to be) with the shrewsbury and welshpool line, where more trucks were attached, and a considerable addition to the passengers made. soon welshpool was reached, and the shrill whistle of the engine--for the first time heard in that beautiful locality--was all but overpowered by the cheers of the assembled people. the train was brought to a standstill on the very spot where, some years ago (we are afraid to say how many) the first sod was cut. congratulations were passed, and crowds of the very old, and the very young, to whom an engine heretofore had been a figment of imagination, gazed with wonder at 'the montgomery' while their more travelled neighbours adjourned to the bowling green, where mr. r. owen made a short pithy speech. he very properly acknowledged the business-like activity of messrs. davies and savin, to whom the public were so largely indebted for the arrival of a locomotive at welshpool. mr. webb, on behalf of the contractors, suitably responded; and the proceedings were cut short by a warning whistle from the engine, on which sat campbell, the locomotive superintendent, who very prudently wished to get back over the rough road before the shades of evening overtook them. the train then went off for pool quay at a smart pace, considering that the rails were unballasted, and with the trucks loaded with juveniles, many of whom perhaps had this day their first trip by railway. in welshpool the bells rang out merry peals, and cannons were fired, and everything betokened the hilarity of the inhabitants." what the board of trade would say nowadays to a heavily-ladened train of passengers being run at a "smart pace," or any other, over an "unballasted" road, can be left to the reader's imagination! anyhow, the line being finally finished off to the last nut and bolt, was soon approved of by the government inspector, colonel yolland; and everything was ready for the formal opening on tuesday, august th. "the day (says a contemporary account) proved most auspicious. early in the morning the weather was very dull, but before the middle of the day it cleared up, and turned out most bright and cheerful. at about a quarter to eleven o'clock the mayor and corporation of welshpool met at the town hall, and from thence proceeded (headed by the montgomeryshire yeomanry band) to the railway station by eleven, in time for the train that was to convey them, together with the directors, shareholders, and general public to oswestry. "as may be readily supposed, a monster train was required for this purpose, and an immense number of carriages were in readiness. after some delay, the passengers took their seats, and the train started for oswestry. the corporation were followed by the montgomeryshire militia band, and the nd montgomeryshire rifle volunteers, who proceeded to oswestry by the same train. "as the train proceeded on its course, and arrived at the various stations, it was hailed with the most enthusiastic greetings from those who assembled along the line as spectators on this occasion. "the arrival of the train at oswestry was made the signal for a general discharge of artillery, such as is customarily used on these occasions, and added to this was the discharge of a great number of fog-signals. the bells of the old church, too, rang out their merriest peals. at the station an immense concourse of people had assembled, and the welshpool corporation was received by the mayor and corporation of oswestry, who had been escorted to the station by the rifle corps, headed by their band. the pool corporation received a hearty greeting from their civic brethren in oswestry, and the montgomeryshire rifles formed in column opposite the oswestry corps, and each presented arms, when the oswestry band struck up "god save the queen." they all then proceeded, in the following order, to the powis hall:-- banner. banner. band and members of the oswestry rifle corps. band and members of the nd montgomeryshire rifle corps. band of the montgomeryshire yeomanry. the mayor and corporation of welshpool. the mayor and corporation of oswestry. tradesmen, shareholders, etc. drum and fife band. navvies, etc. "at the town hall the corporation had most hospitably provided for their refreshment. punch and wine of the choicest and best descriptions were abundantly supplied, under the management of mr. atkins, and mrs. edwards, of the queen's head hotel, oswestry. the company present included the oswestry corporation, the welshpool corporation, the directors of the railway, the second montgomeryshire volunteers, and the oswestry volunteers." the special train then returned to welshpool, where mrs. owen of glansevern declared the line opened. then the inevitable procession, and the not less inevitable "cold collation" and speech making, and dancing. only one untoward incident marked the day. owing to the crush to board the returning train from oswestry, the montgomeryshire yeomanry and montgomeryshire militia bands got left behind, and the oswestry rifle corps musicians, who had been more successful in the scramble, had to do all the blowing for their stranded comrades. but, it is recorded, they blew with triple vigour, as well they might! oswestry was now, at long last, connected with montgomeryshire, but there were those who felt in no mood for rejoicing in that event. among the residents of the severn valley were those who, like the redoubtable mr. weller "considered that the rail is unconstitootional and an inwader o' privileges." they solemnly shook their heads and deplored the doom of the mail-coach. what, they asked, was to become of tustin? tustin had driven the mail coach from shrewsbury every morning, summer and winter, starting from the post office at a.m., and covering the score of miles to welshpool in about two hours. to see him and his fine horses arrive at the royal oak was a source of daily pride to welshpolonians. "in the summer mornings," says a writer in the "licensing victualler's gazette" in , looking back upon those days, "there was always a number of people up to see the mail arrive, and the cordial and cheery welcome given to those passengers who alighted to partake of breakfast at the hotel, by the buxom and genial landlady, mrs. whitehall, was a thing to be remembered and talked about. she was the pink of what such a woman should be, and the fame of her cuisine reached very far beyond the county in which she lived." later in the morning, the thirteen miles between welshpool and newtown were done in little more than an hour. but "the days of coaching were drawing to a close even in wales; the iron horse was slowly to elbow one coach and then another off the road, putting them back as it were, nearer and nearer to the coast; until even tustin and his famous aberystwyth mail had to succumb. but they made a gallant fight of it, and died what we may call gamely." in recent years the coach, or its modern counterpart, the charabanc and motor bus, have come into something of their own again, and are providing, in turn, a new form of competition with the railways. in , long distance highway traffic did seem doomed, for the "iron horse" could cover the ground in what then appeared a prodigious pace. six trains ran each way between oswestry and welshpool on week-days and two each way on sundays, while excursion fares advertised in connection with a sunday school trip from oswestry to welshpool held out the alluring advantage of "covered carriages, s.; first-class, s." for the double journey--a figure to make the mouth of the present day passenger water! it was hardly so necessary then, as it has proved to be on recent occasions, to the writer's personal knowledge, for groups of mourners travelling to a funeral to contrive to save a few pence by taking "pleasure party" tickets! but, as yet, no "pleasure" or any other party could proceed by rail beyond welshpool. work on the remaining link, had begun; but at the newtown end, where arrangements had been entered into for a working alliance with the newtown and llanidloes railway. at the welshpool end circumstances were not so propitious. the original surveys had been made by way of berriew, but this necessitated carrying the line through part of the glansevern domain, and, as the late earl of powis had jocularly remarked, in connection with the planning of a neighbouring line, the _beau ideal_ of a railway is one that comes about a mile from one's own house and passes through a neighbour's land. [picture: kilkewydd bridge, near welshpool, as recently re-built. reproduced from the "great western magazine."] so it was to the other side of the valley that mr. piercy had, at length, to carry his measuring instruments, and, crossing the severn at kilkewydd, climb the long incline to forden. before this was finally accomplished the dissolution of partnership between the contractors had taken place, and while mr. davies transferred his attention to some adjacent railway schemes, mr. savin took into partnership mr. ward of the donnett, whittington, near oswestry, and the name of "savin and ward" was, for some years, to become as familiar in the railway world as had previously been that of "davies and savin." the four mile stretch between newtown and abermule was in working order and trains were running over this isolated section of the oswestry and newtown system, but the remaining gap between abermule and welshpool had still to receive its finishing touches, when the term set in the agreement for completion expired. mr. savin was able to cite not only the "worst weather that anyone can remember," but the procrastination over the arrangement and transfer of the lease as ample justification for the delay in fulfilling the engagement. moreover, other matters were arising which tended to distract the attention of the directors from any passing squabble as to dates. the "overbearing leviathians" might have been quelled some years earlier, but they had not been killed, and at the beginning of , movements were again afoot in north-western circles to secure an extension of the minsterley branch to montgomery, while under the bishop's castle railway bill, which was going through the committee of the house of lords, the london and north western railway, apparently trading on the payment made to the oswestry and newtown company for access to welshpool by way of buttington, sought a further reciprocal arrangement by which, if the oswestry and newtown availed themselves of the powers to subscribe to, lease, or work the bishop's castle line, the north western was to obtain the right to run over the oswestry and newtown metals into newtown, the latter company being given a _quid pro quo_ in the shape of similar advantage over the shrewsbury and welshpool line. it seemed an innocent enough proposal on the surface, but it did not blind the astute mr. whalley to the danger of certain developments favourable to north western interests. the clause, as it happened, had been inserted in the absence of any representatives of the oswestry and newtown company, and this objection was carried into the committee room. for hours the arguments swayed to and fro. numbers of witnesses, including officials of the oswestry and newtown, gave evidence; and, in the end, the anticipated compromise was affected, by withdrawals all round. the bishop's castle railway lost the support of the oswestry and newtown, but the sinister designs of the north western upon newtown were finally scotched, and the local company, of which mr. robert b. elwin was now general manager, and mr. b. tanner, who had not long succeeded mr. hayward, on his resignation, in that capacity on the llanidloes and newtown, secretary, could go forward with greater confidence. on monday, may th, the first train, drawn by the engine "leighton," and conveying a party of invited guests and the engineers, passed safely over kilkewydd bridge, amidst a fusillade of fog signals, and thus the last and most formidable of the engineering exploits on the new length of line was accomplished. the bridge had been constructed in remarkably short time, and a contemporary record of this auspicious incident duly mentions that "the speedy completion of so complicated and troublesome a task is mainly due to the indefatigable exertions of mr. john ward, one of the contractors, and mr. james marshall, the resident superintendent." early the next month colonel yolland inspected the whole length from welshpool to newtown, pausing to express his special approbation of the kilkewydd bridge { } as "the best constructed on the line," and it was now open to the company publicly to announce that from june th a through service of trains would run from oswestry to newtown and on to llanidloes. no further formal opening seems to have been arranged, but, though the day was, like so many that had so proceeded it, very wet, rapidly organised celebrations took place at some spots. montgomery had already taken its share in the opening to welshpool, but it was now to have a festival of its own, as was only fitting, since that ancient borough may, in no small sense, be regarded as one of the ancestral homes of the "cambrian." it was here, as we have seen, that mr. piercy had largely acquired his interest and skill in railway engineering, while at the office of mr. charles mickleburgh. a committee, with mr. w. mickleburgh as hon. secretary, and treasurer, had little difficulty in getting together some pounds as a celebration fund. a programme was as quickly organised, including, of course, a procession and a dinner, but to this was added another little ceremony,--the presentation by mrs. owen of glansevern, now a familiar central figure on these occasions, of a silver bugle to captain johns and his gallant men of the railway volunteers. the instrument bore the inscription,--"presented by anne warburton owen, of glansevern, to the third montgomeryshire (railway) rifles, ." above was an appropriate design, on the dexter side a representation of the locomotive engine "glansevern," and on the sinister a railway viaduct with a train passing over. the occasion was singularly appropriate, for no small part in the initiation and maintenance of the corps belongs to the little group of railway men who were associated with montgomery, the mickleburghs, mr. george owen, mr. piercy and others. in after years it was the habit of their children to ask these gallant men whether they had "ever really killed anyone" with their formidable swords, and some of them were wont to answer that, perhaps not, but they had taken their part in the "battle of aberystwyth," a somewhat mysterious affair among the plum stalls in the market-place, possibly still remembered by men well advanced in years. in any case, we may be quite sure they would have acquitted themselves worthily if called upon, and they did indeed provide an inspiring note to all such ceremonial festivities. on this auspicious day of the opening of the line, to mr. ashford, the trumpeter of the corps, fell the honour of sounding the first blast, and amidst the cheers of the countryside, some ladies and gentlemen fell to dancing "to the music of the montgomeryshire yeomanry and militia bands, and the capital band of the welshpool cadet corps, composed of the young gentlemen of mr. browne's academy." and so, at long last, trains were to run through from oswestry to llanidloes. six left oswestry every weekday, the first timed to depart at a.m., passing all the intermediate stations (including arddleen, now added to the original five) to welshpool without a stop, though this "express" was taken off the daily list some months later, and only ran on fair days. four trains made the reverse journey from llanidloes to oswestry; while two trains ran each way on sundays--a more generous service even than that afforded to-day! the cambrian, as someone said, might still be a child, but it was a rapidly growing child. the guiding hand was at work, and additional limbs were shaping themselves, both at the newtown and oswestry end of the system, with such rapidity that we can best deal with them one by one. [picture: the late mr. william mickleburgh, in the uniform of the montgomeryshire railway volunteers; the late capt. r. g. jebb, of ellesmere, a prominent promoter of the oswestry and whitchurch railway and one of the first passengers to travel on the line] chapter v. from the severn to the sea. "_wales is a land of mountains. its mountains explain its isolation and its love of independence; they explain its internal divisions; they have determined, throughout its history, what the direction and method of its progress were to be_."--the late sir o. m. edwards. i. so far the lines already opened or under construction only traversed the valley of the severn. it was now proposed to penetrate the uplands which lie between the banks of sabrina and the shores of cardigan bay. it was a somewhat formidable undertaking. "the mountains of carno," wrote the philosophic pennant, "like the mountains of gilboa, were celebrated for the fall of the mighty." on their steep slopes, in gruffydd ab cynan and trahaiarn ab caradoc had wrestled for the sovereignty of north wales. across their shoulders, some four centuries later, had marched the english troops of henry iv. to their camp near machynlleth, in a vain effort to subjugate the redoubtable welsh chieftain, owain glyndwr. now the mighty heads of the mountains were, at last, to shake and submit to the incursion of another invader, more insistent and more powerful than any that had gone before, and a montgomeryshire engineer and contractor were to conquer where an english king had failed. in one respect only was their experience akin. henry's army had become dissolved by the continuance of bad weather which gave them all cold feet. the rain, that falls alike upon the just and unjust, was to hamper mr. david davies's army of navvies, but never to deter them from reaching and abiding at machynlleth. in the initial stages of the new invasion all went well. so rapidly were the parliamentary preliminaries negotiated that, on july th, , while the promoters of the neighbouring oswestry and newtown railway were still wrangling over their internecine rivalries, royal assent was given to the newtown and machynlleth railway bill, authorising the company to raise a capital of , pounds in pound shares and loans to the extent of , pounds. the total length of the proposed line was . miles and the works were to be completed within five years. a month later the first ordinary meeting of the company was held at machynlleth. sir watkin presided over a most harmonious gathering, in striking contrast to some of the meetings which had assembled further east, and the directors in their report, read by mr. d. howell, who was to act as secretary until the amalgamation of the company in the cambrian railways in , had little to say beyond offering congratulations to the shareholders on the speedy passing of their measure through parliament. the report seems to have been adopted without comment, and the only other business was to appoint the board,--earl vane, sir watkin williams wynn, mr. r. d. jones, mr. c. t. thurston, mr. j. foulkes, aberdovey, and mr. l. ruck. { } in a little over twelve months from that date the company were in a position to begin operations. the contract had been let to messrs. davies and savin (mr. benjamin piercy again acting as engineer), and at the end of november, , the first sod of the new link in the extended chain was turned amidst great popular rejoicings. so speedy had been the preparations that no time availed to procure a more ornamental implement, and the countess vane had to use an ordinary iron shovel for the purpose! a contemporary record gives the following account:-- "the cutting of the first sod was very properly fixed to take place at machynlleth, not only out of compliment to the noble earl and countess vane, but also to increase the interest of the inhabitants of this locality in the undertaking. the morning was ushered in by the bells of the parish church ringing out most musically, the firing of cannon, and similar demonstrations of good-will; and although in the early part of the morning the rain fell heavily, yet towards the time fixed for the proceedings to commence, bright sol shone cheerfully over the beautiful hills and valleys of montgomeryshire, and made everything look cheerful, as befitted the occasion. two o'clock was the time fixed for cutting the first sod, but previously to this time a large procession was formed at the town hall, and proceeded to the ground in the following order:-- band. the directors. flags and banners. the demonstration committee. flags and banners. the shareholders, visitors, and well-wishers of the company. contractors and persons bearing the barrow and spade. flags and banners. the children of the national and vane infant schools. flags and banners. band. miners and quarrymen, headed by their captains, all wearing sashes. band. first friendly society. flags and banners. second friendly society. flags and banners. "on their arrival at the schools the procession passed under a well-formed archway of evergreens and flowers, very massive in structure, over which were the mottoes,--'success to the newtown and machynlleth railway,' and 'commercial and agricultural prosperity.' at the entrance to the ground was another archway erected, over which was the motto--'peace and prosperity.' on reaching the spot where the ceremony was appointed to take place a large enclosure was railed out, at one end of which was a pavilion for the accommodation of the ladies, which was well filled. the parties had not long taken their allotted places before lady vane came upon the ground, and was welcomed in a way that must have been very gratifying to her, indeed it could not have been otherwise, for it is generally admitted that a kinder-hearted lady does not exist in the principality, and she is most highly and deservedly popular, and well may earl vane be proud of possessing such a wife. she was accompanied by lord vane, and the young family, who appeared all thoroughly to enjoy the occasion." [picture: the late earl of powis, a prominent supporter of some of the earlier montgomeryshire railway schemes; the late mr. david howell, secretary to the newtown and machynlleth railway co. from its inauguration till its amalgamation in the consolidated cambrian railways co. in ] after speeches by lord and lady vane, her ladyship "having put on a pair of gauntlets, which were presented by the committee of management, proceeded to cut the first sod, which, having been deposited in the barrow presented by messrs. davies and savin, the contractors, was wheeled to the end of the plank, after which mrs. e. d. jones, of trafeign, performed the same ceremony, and was followed by lord seaham, and the other junior olive branches of the family. the bands played in their best style, and the cheering was most deafening, and thus ended this portion of the day's proceedings." the subsequent proceedings were of a highly convivial nature, as befitted so auspicious an occasion. there was a generous imbibing of "a bountiful supply of mr. lloyd's prime port, sherry, etc.," and "a procession of miners and quarrymen, more than of whom dined at the house of mrs. margaret owen, the white lion inn, perhaps the most noted house in the county for the excellence of its ale." the work on this line was of a rather different nature to that on which the contractors had been engaged on the newtown and llanidloes, and in bringing the oswestry and newtown line to completion. instead of meandering, more or less, along river-side lowlands, the track had to be carried uphill and down-dale over the shoulder of the montgomeryshire highlands, ascending to an altitude of feet above sea level at talerddig top by a climb of feet from caersws, and running down again by a feet drop to the dovey valley at machynlleth. this involved a gradient, at one point, of as much as in , and, just after leaving the summit the line had to pierce through the hillside. a tunnel was originally thought of, but abandoned in favour of a cutting through solid rock to a depth of feet. it was while excavations between the summit and the cutting were being made that the engineers discovered a strange geological formation, which, still observable from the train on the left-hand side immediately after leaving talerddig station for llanbrynmair, has come to be popularly known as "the natural arch." the work of excavating the cutting was no child's play. but it proved a profitable part of the contract, and it seems to have furnished not only enough stone for many of the adjacent railway works, but, according to popular rumour, the foundation of mr. david davies's vast fortune. seeking an investment for the money he made out of it, it is said, mr. davies turned his thoughts to coal and in the rich mineral district of the rhondda valley it was sunk, rapidly to fructify, and to form the basis of that great industrial organisation the ocean collieries, famed throughout this country and wherever coal is used for navigation. [picture: talerddig cutting. reproduced from the "great western magazine."] for mr. davies was now left to finish the newtown and machynlleth line alone. while he was obtaining stone--and gold--out of talerddig, his former partner, mr. savin, had turned his attention to another link in the chain between the severn and the sea. in the end this arrangement, although it seems to have led to some little feeling between the former partners, which mr. whalley and others did their best to dispel, probably expedited the completion of the through connection. at any rate, it did not hinder progress among the hills. in this, the "long looked-for arrival of the world-wide famed iron-horse," as an expansive journalistic scribe put it, at carno, was celebrated by rejoicings, and a dinner given by mr. david davies to his foremen and a presentation by him of a purse of pounds to the "meritorious engine-driver, mr. richard metcalfe." toasts were honoured, and mr. davies giving that of the evening, expatiated at length on the virtues of the redoubtable "richard." the whole secret of the speed with which the railways he had constructed had been accomplished rested in "richard's" zeal and prowess. though the sea had covered their handiwork on the vale of clwyd railway half a dozen times, "richard" had stuck to his post, by day and night--"from two o'clock on monday morning till twelve o'clock on saturday night, without once going to bed." if they had made nineteen miles of the oswestry and newtown track in thirteen months it was "in no small degree owing to 'richard's' never-failing energy. he never grumbled, but always met me with a pleasant smile." no wonder that carno shouted its three times three in "richard's" honour and hardly less amazing that the good fellow, on rising to reply, utterly broke down and could not complete a sentence of his carefully prepared oration. "never mind, 'richard,'" exclaimed mr. david howell, "that is more eloquent than a speech." from carno, metcalfe and his engine were soon to proceed to make the acquaintance of other friends and admirers further along the line. llanbrynmair was soon to be reached, and another writer in the local press is moved to compare its former remoteness, "verging close upon the classic 'ultima thule' of the first roman," with the new conditions. "the railway," he says, "with its snorting, puffing and vesuvian volumes of clouds, now to a certain extent breaks upon the whilom monotony of this valley among mountains; its aptly termed iron-horse (mars-like, but still in a placable mood) rolls majestically along, conveying the very backbone of creation from the granite rock, ready trimmed, and requiring but the cunning hand of the workman to fix the stones in their appropriate place to span the meandering jaen and twymyn streams." one of the bridges across the twymyn, indeed, skilfully designed by mr. piercy, with whom was associated mr. george owen, was a notable structure. it consisted of three arches, its extreme height, feet above the rushing waters of this mountain torrent, the abutments being large blocks of talerddig stone and the arches turned in best ruabon brick. for, continues our chronicler, it was a highly satisfactory fact for welsh patriots to contemplate that mr. davies was "working his line by means of welsh materials, drawn from inexhaustible welsh mountains, his workmen are natives, the planning and workmanship is also native, and he himself a thorough and spirited welshman." less placable were some of the influences which began to exert themselves further afield. the board having set their hand to a proposed agreement by which the great western company undertook to work the line for per cent. of the gross earnings and an exchange of traffic arrangement, it became the signal for raising again the old bogey of rival "interests." an anonymous writer in the "open column" of the "oswestry advertizer," describing the newtown and machynlleth as "the worst managed railway in the course of formation," warned machynlleth against its impending doom. it would mean a break of journey at newtown, and, to avert this, the north western, once the personification of all unrighteousness, was now transformed into the fairy godmother, who, by pressing forward its co-operation with the bishop's castle, mid-wales and manchester and milford undertakings, was urged to carry forward connecting links from llanidloes over the shoulder of plynlimmon, as a competitive route to the sea. the article attracted some attention at the next meeting of the newtown and machynlleth shareholders, where the bargain with the great western was warmly defended, both by capt. r. d. pryce, who presided, and by mr. david davies, as the largest shareholder as well as contractor. but the oswestrian alarm was groundless. what looked a rosy prospect from the newtown and machynlleth company's point of view, had another aspect, when it came to be more fully considered at paddington, and, in spite of repeated reminders, that company failed to take the necessary steps to secure its ratification by its shareholders, and the working agreement for the new line was transferred to the oswestry and newtown, who were already working the newtown and llanidloes railway. the incipient cambrian, in fact, willy nilly, was now beginning to experience the sensation which comes, sooner or later, to healthily expanding youth, when it has to stand alone. tumbles there might be ahead, but the day of leading strings was finally left behind. two engines "of a powerful class" with ft. in. wheels, capable of hauling ton loads up / gradients at miles an hour, accelerated to miles on the easier levels had been quoted for by messrs. sharp, stewart and co., of the atlas works, manchester, in , at the cost of , pounds each, and by the end of the company were fully equipped to cope with the traffic of the district. at the end of the first week of the new year ( ) the opening ceremony took place. the engines, "countess vane" and "talerddig," drew a train of , passengers, who had marched in procession to the machynlleth station, up the long incline, over the talerddig summit and down to newtown and back. at the intermediate stations, cemmes road, llanbrynmair, carno, pontdolgoch and caersws, it was hailed with vociferous applause as it sped on its way, and as newtown was approached the travellers found themselves passing under triumphal arches, to the clang of church bells and the blare of bands. on the leading engine rode the young marquis of blandford playing "see the conquering here comes" on the cornet-a-piston, mr. george owen, mr. davies and mr. webb. earl vane was in the train and received a public welcome at the station. then the inevitable speeches. the return train was still longer and took two hours to reach machynlleth, where the jubilations were renewed, and countess vane, to whom mr. davies presented a silver spade in honour of the previous ceremony of sod cutting, declared the line open. more speeches, luncheon, toasts and processioning _ab lib_ and "so home." the time, however, had come for a memorable parting. from the consummation of this project mr. david davies's connection with the cambrian, as one of its contractors, was to cease. he had saved it from early death, and guided the infant through its difficult teething time, while at the same time he was employed in building other railways, which, later, were to become closely linked with its fuller life. among these was the mid-wales, to become amalgamated with the cambrian in , the brecon and merthyr, over four miles of whose metals, from talyllyn junction to brecon, cambrian trains were from that date to run, and the manchester and milford, which formed a junction with the cambrian at aberystwyth. but so far as the cambrian itself is concerned mr. davies's future association was to be that of a director, an office, in its turn, dramatically terminated amidst fresh thunder clouds which had not yet appeared above the horizon. ii. mr. savin, as we have seen, had, during these later stages of progress with the making of the line from newtown, been busily engaged still nearer the coast. a company with an ambitious name and a not less ambitious aim had been formed to build a railway from aberystwyth to machynlleth and along the shores of merionethshire to portmadoc, the port of shipment of the festiniog slate traffic, and eventually to continue, through pwllheli to that wonderful prospective harbour, upon which the eyes of railway promoters had already been turned without avail, porthdynlleyn, near nevin. { } its close connection with the other local undertakings is shown by the agreement under which the oswestry and newtown was to subscribe , pounds, and the newtown and llanidloes , pounds by the creation of per cent. preference stock, a sum ultimately increased in the case of the former company by another , pounds. borne on the wings of mr. whalley's eloquence, aberystwyth, assembled in public meeting, led by the mayor, mr. robert edwards, gave its enthusiastic support to the scheme. this was followed by another meeting, at which mr. piercy, as engineer, outlined the plan and bade the inhabitants look forward to the day when the railway was to enable them to compete with successful rivals on the north wales coast, and once more justify for them the proud name of "the brighton of wales." other railway companies were inclined to be obstructive, but their opposition was not altogether formidable, and when mr. abraham howell appeared in the role of mediator between conflicting interests, the way was soon prepared for proceeding apace with the scheme. so harmonious, indeed, had the atmosphere become that within less than two months of this meeting the company's bill had received royal assent, almost a record, surely, in those days of interminable controversy! mr. savin's project was to begin by carrying the line, whence it linked up with the newtown and machynlleth at the latter place, as far as ynyslas. here, at the nearest point on the seaboard, the mists which hang over the great bogs that stretch from the sand-dunes up to the foothills of plynlimmon, took fantastic shape in the eye of the ambitious contractor. he may, perchance, have heard the story told of a man who owned a barren piece of land bordering the seashore. a friend advised him to convert it to some use. the owner replied that it would not grow grass, or produce corn, was unfit for fruit trees, and could not even be converted into an ornamental lake as the soil was too sandy to retain the water. "then," said the friend, "why not make it a first-class watering place?" this, at any rate, was the project on which mr. savin set his heart. but not even first-class watering places can be built in a day, and the contractor made a modest beginning with a row of lodging houses. alas! not for the last time, the parable of the man who built upon the sands was to have its application to these welsh coast undertakings. the houses were no sooner finished than they began to sink, and some time later they were pulled down and the material put to more hopeful and profitable use. [picture: latest cambrian passenger express engine] ynyslas remains to-day a lonely swamp, but somewhat better luck attended the effort to carry the excursionist on to borth. the line was pushed on there, and an old farm house, on the outskirts of what was then nothing but a tiny fishing village, was converted into a station. the following july the line was open for traffic. curiously enough, little public interest seems to have been aroused in borth itself by the event. the inhabitants of the village were mainly engaged in seafaring, and the arrival of the steam engine, in the opinion of some, boded no good. as for english visitors--what use were they? the story, indeed, is told that some four enterprising tourists, who had arrived ahead of the railway, sought accommodation in vain in the village, and had perforce to make the best of it in a contractor's railway wagon that stood on a siding of the unfinished line. they cuddled up under a tarpaulin sheet and settled down for the night, when someone gave the wagon a shove and starting down an incline on the unballasted track it proceeded merrily on its way to ynyslas. not so merry the affrighted and unwilling passengers, who, when day broke, discovered themselves marooned in a remote spot miles from anywhere productive of breakfast bacon and eggs! but, if borth itself looked on askance, aberystwyth was ready enough to acclaim the approach of the railway. the resort on the rheidol had already begun to attract visitors who completed the journey from llanidloes or machynlleth by coach, and now there was the prospect, in the early future, of the railway running into the town itself. so, very early on the day when the first train was to steam into and out of borth, vehicles of all sorts crowded the road from aberystwyth, the narrow street of borth was rapidly thronged with an excited multitude who flowed over on the sands. at - a.m. the train left, with excursionists. it was followed by another at p.m., for which took tickets. there was a great scramble for seats, and every one of the thirty coaches of which the train was composed, was packed to the doors. those who failed to obtain a footing formed an avenue a mile long through which the train moved out amidst tumultuous applause. in the carriages the passengers shouted, talked, ate, drank and--sang hymns! the twelve miles to machynlleth took about twenty-five minutes to accomplish, and, arrived there, the excursionists enjoyed themselves immensely, "as," says a contemporary recorder, "aberystwyth people generally manage to do when from home at any rate." nor were the good folks of aberystwyth peculiar in their joy. a shropshire newspaper published a leading article of a column and a half descriptive of "six hours by the seaside for half-a-crown,"--the return excursion fare from shrewsbury and oswestry, while poolonians could travel for a florin. the result was a mighty rush of trippers, not the less attracted, possibly, by the additional announcement that the railway company had thoughtfully opened a refreshment room at borth station! so great, indeed, was the press of traffic, that the company's servants sometimes had considerable difficulty in coping with it. one day all the tickets were exhausted, but the stationmaster at carno, one burke, an irishman, not to be beaten, booked some thirty or forty farm labourers with "cattle tickets." the manager passed next day and remonstrated. "why, burke," said he, "the men won't like your making beasts of them!" "och, yure honour," returned the stationmaster, "many of them made bastes of themselves before they returned." indeed, the scenes at borth on the arrival of these excursions were occasionally almost indescribable. one scribe invokes the loan of the pencil of hogarth adequately to portray it. "from a cover of stones close by springs an urchin lithe and swift; another and another, ten, twelve or more, 'naked as unto earth they came,' and away in single file across the beach into the sea. the vans move ponderously on, pushed by mermen and mermaids, and out spring any quantity of live hercules. very curious must be the sight, if one might judge by the crowds of ladies--well women at any rate--and gentlemen around every group of bathers. boats are in great request and the ladies cling very lovingly to the boatmen who, in return, hug them tightly as they embark or disembark their fair freight. the very porpoises, gambling out there, seem to enjoy the whole thing heartily and shake their fat sides at the fun. our friend with the hammer discourses learnedly about those long ridges of hard rock which stand out over the dovey plain when, gracious me! we look round and, will you believe it? there was a bevy of females in a state of--shall i go on? no; but i will just say we saw them waddling like ducks into the water. the porpoises were alarmed and betook themselves off. and so did we. had the bathers been black instead of white we should have thought ourselves on the coast of africa. such an adam and eve-ish state of things we never saw before. well, _honi soit qui mal y pense_." anyhow, thus did the six hours swiftly pass in those unregenerate days. for mr. savin had yet to build his borth hotel and lodging houses, which to-day give welcome shelter to a very different throng of visitors, summer after summer, attracted by the placid beauties and the invigorating air of cardigan bay. it was, at worst, but a temporary orgy, marking, as it were, a new epoch in the life of the cambrian; whose lengthening limbs now stretched from the severn to the sea. chapter vi. the battle of ellesmere. "_the question of a railway is now or never_."--the late mr. r. g. jebb, of ellesmere. no period, since the wild days of the "railway mania," was more pregnant of schemes than the later months of . they sprang up like mushrooms all along the shropshire border, and some of them, like mushrooms, as suddenly suffered decay. a facetious salopian prophet ventured publicly to predict that "we shall hear next of a railway to llansilin (a remote village among the border hills) or the moon." his ratiocination was hardly exaggerated. a "preliminary prospectus" was actually published for carrying a railway, at a cost of under , pounds per mile, from shrewsbury, through kinnerley and porthywaen, thence "near llanfyllin and llanrhaiadr," to llangynog, "through the berwyn hills" to llandrillo, and so to dolgelley and portmadoc. it was to be worked and maintained by the west midland, shrewsbury and coast of wales railway co.; the prospects of mineral and passenger traffic were "most promising," and throughout its entire length of miles, the promoters pointed out with all the emphasis which italics can afford, "it has _only one tunnel_, and that slightly exceeding a mile and half in length." eventually, a line, partly following this route, under the less comprehensive title of the west shropshire mineral railway, and later known as "the potteries," constructed from a station in abbey forgate, shrewsbury, to llanymynech, and on to nantmawr, with a branch from kinnerley to criggion, ran for a time, then fell into abeyance and disrepair, and was in recent years re-opened under the light railways act as the shropshire and montgomeryshire railway, an independent company. but, in its original form, the undertaking was apparently to be no friendly competitor with the existing oswestry and newtown and associated lines, whose ambition it had, for some time, been to extend its northern terminus, resting on the great western branch at oswestry, through ellesmere to whitchurch, there to form a more serviceable junction with the london and north western from shrewsbury to crewe, and the busy hives of lancashire. but more formidable opposition was already afoot elsewhere. the great western, none too eager, as we have seen, to assist independent undertakings in montgomeryshire, were ready enough to capture traffic in other quarters, and their answer to the oswestry and whitchurch project was to formulate a scheme for a branch from rednal to ellesmere, with incidental hints about constructing a loop to place oswestry on their main line. draughtsmen were busy everywhere with pens and plans. public halls echoed to the optimistic eloquence of promoters and counter promoters, and powder and shot was being hurriedly got together for the tremendous fusilade in the parliamentary committee rooms, where, for many a long day, there was to rage and sway the battle for the rights and privileges of bringing the steam engine into the little town of ellesmere. for, though wider schemes were involved in the struggle, ellesmere was the pivot on which arguments and contentions centred. in such a conflict, needless to say, all the old rivalries of "leviathan" interests, of which we have already heard so much, re-emerged. what was still called the "montgomeryshire party"--the men who had brought the other local railways into existence in spite of well-nigh overwhelming difficulties--continued to look for association with the north western for greater salvation. others favoured the chance of obtaining increased facilities for through traffic from the great western. between the two warring elements, ellesmere itself, as one of its most estimable and influential citizens had put it, believed it was "now or never" for them. in the parliamentary committee rooms, where the evidence occupied thirteen days, and counsels' speeches several more, the two projects were stubbornly fought out. great western witnesses came forward to aver that, owing to the haste with which the shrewsbury and chester railway had been projected, oswestry had been left too much in the lurch, and the time was now come for reconsideration of its claims to be brought on to the main line. mr. sergeant wheeler, with all the command of forensic eloquence, drew visions of the shropshire market town as "a great central place of meeting for the people all round." all that was necessary was to build a line from oswestry to rednal, and then the projected branch from rednal to ellesmere, and rednal itself might become a second rugby or crewe; who could tell? as to the continuation of such a line from ellesmere to whitchurch, true, paddington was not enthusiastic, but when they found that that was the price demanded for any measure of local support, they were ready to pay it. in oswestry there was, naturally enough, a general approval of any step which would place the town on the great western main line, and no small point was made of the fact that it would be better to have one station than two. moreover, mr. r. j. croxon. whose words were weighted with the influence of a family solicitor, private banker and town clerk, was of opinion that, apart from anything else, to carry a line, as mr. whalley proposed, for two miles by the side of the turnpike to whittington would be "very dangerous to people driving along," and the attention of the trustees ought to be called to it. but, unfortunately for mr. croxon and those who shared his fears in this regard, it was the business of the local surveyor to examine the plans, and he was "engaged on the other side." thus even among oswestrians was opinion divided between the rival routes, and men like alderman thomas minshall and alderman peploe cartwright, who had stood shoulder to shoulder in the fight for independent interests in the making of the oswestry and newtown railway, were now inclined to regard each others' sympathies with some suspicion. further down the proposed line the weight was thrown rather more decisively in favour of the whalley scheme. whitchurch had petitioned against the great western proposals, though captain cust, who gave evidence for the larger company, was moved to dismiss this effort as the work of "captain clement hill and lot of ragamuffins." attempts were even made to disparage the local undertaking by reference to mr. savin, who had agreed to carry out the line on similar terms of lease already adopted elsewhere, as a "haberdasher, not in a position to subscribe millions towards railway projects." in ellesmere the argument that the great western scheme would bring the agricultural area into close touch with the north wales coalfields was quickly answered by the counter-plea that the independent company could also build a branch from that spot to ruabon or wrexham, and powers to that effect "would be applied for as soon as what may be called the main line from oswestry to whitchurch was carried." even the larger landowners through whose estates the rival engineers had marched with their instruments differed in their point of approach. sir john kynaston, bart., of hardwicke, near ellesmere, who, as someone said, "if he had been left alone, was willing, like marcus curtius, to sacrifice himself for the public good, was brought and instructed to give evidence about embankments," one of which, on mr. whalley's line, by the way, it was supposed (though in error) would shut out his view of the vale of llangollen, and "destroy the happiness of his existence for the remainder of his days." sir john hanmer, bart., m.p., on the other hand, was inclined to become rhapsodic. he looked upon a railway "as a fine work of art," which any painter might be glad to include in his landscape--only, of course, it must not cut off a landed proprietor from his woods and his other wild grounds, as the great western scheme proposed to do, and against this he not only objected but petitioned. [picture: the late capt. r. d. pryce, chairman of the cambrian railways co., - ; the late hon. george t. kenyon, m.p., first chairman of the wrexham and ellesmere railway co.] in the end the committee declared the preamble of the montgomeryshire party, for their oswestry, ellesmere, and whitchurch railway to be proved, and that of the great western not proved, though the chairman regretted to add that the finding was not unanimous. in the lobbies rumour had it that it was, in fact, only arrived at by the casting vote of that gentleman himself. be that as it may, it sufficed. once again "independent" effort, astutely engineered, had triumphed over the all-powerful interests of a great and wealthy company, and amongst those who had hoped and feared and hoped again for the success of the oswestry ellesmere and whitchurch scheme enthusiasm knew no bounds. in ellesmere a great and excited crowd awaited news from london at the bridgewater hotel. they watched for the omnibus from gobowen, which it was expected might bear the fateful tidings. but either the omnibus failed to arrive, or, if it did, it had no intelligence to impart. shortly afterwards, however, a special messenger came post haste along the road from oswestry, and in a moment the news flashed through the little town. "victory"! an attempt was made to ring the bells, but the churchwarden could not be found, and no one else had authority to pull the ropes. so that the concourse fell back on the time-honoured procession, and led by a drum and fife band, and headed by the bailiffs, the cheering throng paraded the streets while cannon booming from the market place startled the countryside for a mile or more around. oswestry, assembled in public meeting, put to flight its town clerk's gloomy prognostications with hilarious speeches, and outside the more dignified civic circles popular demonstration took still more picturesque form. the return of a number of witnesses who had gone up to london to give evidence against the local scheme and in support of the great western was awaited at the oswestry station by a hostile crowd. some delay in their arrival home was occasioned by an untoward incident even before they finally left london. seating themselves in a first-class compartment in the rear of the train at paddington, they waited at first patiently and then impatiently for it to start. at last, unable to understand the delay, one of them put out his head and asked a passing official when the train was going. "it _has_ gone" was the laconic reply. the coach which they had chosen was not attached to the rest of the train, and they were not so meticulously careful about examining tickets on the great western system as they are to-day. when the belated passengers did eventually reach oswestry, the crowd was still there. what was more, they had had time to organise what was deemed a suitable reception. among the witnesses was a gentleman who, it appeared, had at one time been very short of pence, and, it was alleged, had left his abode without paying the rent. somehow or another this little fact had been raked up and a number of wags had cut the shape of a latch-key out of a sheet of tin. as he alighted from the train this was dangled before him at the end of a long pole, with a pendant inscription, "who left the key under the door?" the promoters of the new undertaking, of which mr. george lewis became first secretary, with offices in oswald chambers, oswestry, had every reason for satisfaction. royal assent was given to their bill in august, , authorising a capital of , pounds in pound shares, with , pounds on loan, the work to be completed within five years. there were, however, still tough battles to be waged over subsequent efforts to obtain sanction for certain deviations and extensions, against which the great western continued to fight tooth and nail with a counter-offensive of their own. no fewer than three distinct schemes were now before the public, with all sorts of loops and junctions at rednal or mile end, near whittington, and branches from bettisfield to wem, or to yorton, and from ellesmere to ruabon. but it is an easier task to draw plans on a map than to carry them out. the wem branch never matured, the link with denbighshire only after many years, and then to wrexham and not ruabon. so far as the main issue was concerned, however, the great western again failed to prove their preamble, and another signal was given for local rejoicings over the result. not only at oswestry and ellesmere and other places along the route of the new line, but as far afield as montgomery and llanfyllin, where a branch line of their own was being promoted to llanymynech, hats were thrown into the air and healths were drunk to the victory for local enterprise. oswestry parish church bells rang for two days, and the rifle corps band blew itself dry outside the houses of mr. savin, mr. george owen and others. mr. savin himself, returning from london, during these proceedings, met "with a reception at oswestry such as no man ever received before." carried shoulder high through the streets of the town, accompanied by a surging throng of cheering admirers, armed with torches, to the tune of "see the conquering hero comes," he was addressed in congratulatory vein by several of his fellow-citizens, and it was only when a first and second attempt to fly from the embarrassment of so tumultuous a welcome had failed, that he succeeded, on a third, in making his escape. the "small haberdasher," who had been deemed incapable of organising railway schemes, had indeed become something very like a railway king! but we are anticipating events. at the end of august, , the first sod had been cut at ellesmere, where it was proposed to begin the construction, proceeding first in the direction of whitchurch. the ceremony was performed by sir john hanmer and mr. john stanton, in a field belonging to mr. w. a. provis, "not far from the workhouse," and a spade and barrow, suitably inscribed, was presented to sir john by messrs. savin and ward, the contractors. there was the usual ceremonial, inclusive of banqueting and speech-making, and banners, emblazoned with such appropriate mottoes as "whalley for ever," "hurrah for sir john hanmer and john stanton, esquire," floated in the breeze. one ingenious gentleman, elaborating the topical theme, had erected a flag which, we are told, "attracted special attention from its significance and quaintness," representing a donkey cart with two passengers on one side and a steam engine and carriages on the other, to personify "ellesmere of yesterday," and "ellesmere of to-day," with the philosophic addendum, "evil communications corrupt good manners," "aye, says the preacher, every valley shall be raised and every hill shall be brought low." "aye, says the teacher, let us bless the bridge that carries us safely over," "aye, aye, quoth honest nature." the application to evil communications might, in such a connection, be a little ambiguous, but presumably nobody imagined it to refer to the oswestry, ellesmere and whitchurch railway! the allusion to bridges was rather more germane; for, in building the line towards whitchurch, which was the first section taken in hand, the engineers were faced with a bridging problem of a peculiar nature, and only less in magnitude than that which had confronted the constructors of the famous liverpool and manchester railway thirty years earlier. partly in order to avoid interfering with sir john hanmer's property, and partly because they deemed it the better way, the engineers decided to carry the line over whixall moss, a wide area of bog land lying between bettisfield and fenns bank. this, it was supposed, might even be drained by making the railway across its quivering surface, but hopes of this sort were not to be realised, for it remains to-day a wild, but picturesque stretch of heather and silver birches, where the peat-digger plies his trade with, perhaps, as much profit as the farmer would in tilling it. but as to its power to bear the weight of passing trains the engineers had little doubt. the canal already crossed it, and though in making soundings the surveyors once lost their foot rod in the morass, this, was near the canal bank, and it did not deter them in their efforts to discover a means of securing the railway from similar disaster. the average depth of the moss was found to be twelve feet, but there were areas where it was only nine feet deep, and at most feet, and when the bottom was reached it was discovered to be sand. so, proceeding merrily, mr. george owen first drained the site of the line by means of deep side and lateral drains filled with brushwood and grig. he then laid strong faggots three feet thick and from eight to twelve feet long, and over these placed a framework of larch poles extending the entire width of the rails. the poles were then interlaced with branches of hazel and brushwood and upon this the sleepers and rails were laid, the whole being ballasted with sand and other light material. and, in the end it proved a triumph for courage and ingenuity. though there might be some slight oscillation, heavy trains have been running over this interesting two or three mile stretch for many a long year without the slightest mishap. not to be outdone by little ellesmere, another "first sod" was turned at oswestry on september th, , by miss kinchant of park hall, and miss lloyd, daughter of the mayor of the borough, on the shelf bank field, hard by the existing terminus of the oswestry and newtown railway, with which the new line was to be connected. the streets were in gala dress, and while the leading citizens fared sumptuously on the wynnstay arms bowling green, and disported themselves at a "rural fete," tea was served to "the poorer women of the town and neighbourhood." in addition to the residents many came from ellesmere in wagons drawn by a decorated traction engine,--significant emblem of the new power which was shortly to bring the two neighbouring and ever friendly places within a quarter of an hour's distance of each other. work now went ahead on both sections of the line, under the personal supervision of messrs. thomas and john savin and mr. john ward, and by the spring of the railway was ready for traffic over the eleven miles between ellesmere and whitchurch. the honour of being the first passengers to make the journey belongs, appropriately enough, to the late capt. jebb and his company of rifles, who, by courtesy of the contractors, were driven to whitchurch on april th, a few other friends accompanying them. the official trial trip was made shortly after, in a train drawn by "two heavy engines," the "montgomery" and the "hero," and in crossing whixall moss, we are told, "the deflection was almost inappreciable." captain tyler was now able to pass the line as entirely satisfactory, and, early in the morning on the first monday in may, a little group of ellesmerians assembled at their new station to witness the first regular train leave for whitchurch. no doubt their hearts swelled with pride, but beyond the usual exhibition of such emotion as so notable an event inspired, there was no public acclaim. another twelve months were to elapse before the remaining section, from ellesmere to oswestry, was ready for traffic. in july , however, this link was forged, and the event synchronizing with the completion of the work at the other end of the chain, from borth to aberystwyth, it threw open the whole length of what was about to become, under the consolidation act, the main line of the cambrian railways. [picture: advertisement for the ceremony of cutting the first sod] chapter vii. the coast section. "_when they saw the crimean campaign they seemed about to be engaged in against the sea, he thought it had been very much to the advantage of the welsh coast line, if, on the formation of the board the directors had been put through a series of questions in early english history, and if their engineer had been directed to report to them on the maritime events of the reign of canute_."--edward, third earl of powis. no chapter in the story of the cambrian is more intimately touched with the spirit of romance, none more prolific of pathetic humour, than that which concerns what is to-day termed the coast section. for the moment, however, all was sunshine and success. the continuation of the line from borth to aberystwyth was completed for traffic, as we have just seen, in the summer of , and on that auspicious day when trains began to run through from whitchurch to the new terminus on the banks of the rheidol the rejoicings in aberystwyth were such as to eclipse even those who had marked earlier stages of the construction of the various railways now linked in one long chain. indeed, the triumphal procession which made its way to the coast was bent on more than one celebration. the day was also to mark the opening of the hotel which mr. savin had built at borth, and when the train finally arrived at aberystwyth at a quarter past three it was accorded a civic welcome; the mayor, mr. morgan, and corporation tendering to messrs. thomas and john savin an address, in which thanks were poured out upon these "benefactors" to the locality. a move was then made to the promenade, where mrs. edwards drove the first pile in the new pier, and, after much processioning, the great assembly sat down at the belle vue hotel for a banquet of which, surely, the like has never been seen in the town since! here his worship, supported by earl vane, capt. e. l. pryse, m.p., mr. thomas barnes, m.p., capt. r. d. pryce, the contractors, engineers, and many other ardent workers for or well-wishers of the undertaking, presided over a flow of oratory, the report of which occupied over five columns of the newspapers, and visions of a new aberystwyth swam before the eyes of the guests, wonderful and beatific! such, indeed, was the sumptuousness of the repast, and the wealth of oratory, that it was eleven at night before the company could be persuaded to take their places in the return train, and at three o'clock the next morning a jovial party arrived home at oswestry, tired and sleepy, though happy and glorious. but the "crimean campaign" of girdling the coast of merionethshire and penetrating onward to the distant peninsula of lleyn, which was part of the aberystwyth and welsh coast scheme, was yet only in its earlier stages, and already the difficulties of the undertaking had had their sobering effects. the original idea of mr. piercy was to build a huge bridge from ynyslas across the estuary of the dovey to aberdovey, whence it was proposed to run a service of steam boats to ireland. work was begun with seeking a foundation in the shifting sands. men were engaged with the boring rods, but they could only labour at low tide, and in the long intervals when the water was high, adjacent hostelries afforded a too attractive method of spending enforced leisure, so that often, it is said, when the waters had receded enough to renew operations, some of the borers were too bemused to know whether they were on the solid earth or not. at any rate, no sure foundation could be found, either by philip drunk or by philip sober, and it was reluctantly concluded that another means of bridging the gulf must be sought. adopting the wise tennysonian counsel, the promoters eventually decided to "take the bend," and parliamentary power was sought for this deviation of the original scheme. it was opposed by the great western railway as inimical to their project of carrying a line from bala to barmouth and so forming a connection with the welsh coast, and their antagonism was only disposed of after a compromise had been made in the parliamentary committee room, by which the great company obtained power to build the bridge themselves, if they wished, within ten years, and the tolls on the deviation were to be charged only for the same distance as if the traffic had been carried by the bridge. so the line was carried round to cross the dovey at a narrow point near glandyfi and connect the coast line with the other railway there. hence the existence of, perhaps, the most beautifully situated of all railway stations, formerly called glandovey junction, but changed in recent years to dovey junction to avoid confusion with the adjacent glandovey station, at the same time transformed into glandyfi. being only intended for changing trains the station is peculiar in having no exit, and the very few passengers who ever alight here for other purposes than entering another train have, presumably to make their way as best they can along the line. another feature of this station is that its buildings and adjuncts lie in three counties. the station itself is in montgomeryshire. the stationmaster's house, just over the river bridge is in merioneth, and from the signalbox the signalman works an up distant signal which is planted in the soil of cardiganshire! but this connection only came later, in august , when the six miles of line from aberdovey to the junction was carried along the estuary shore and through the four tunnels which, until the mid-wales railway was absorbed in , remained the only ones on the whole system. for a considerable time after the coast line was opened passengers were carried from aberdovey by ferry to ynyslas. at high tide the boat could make for the station, but when the water was low it berthed on the cardiganshire side, at a lower landing place, whence travellers and baggage proceeded by a little branch into ynyslas station. the first sod on the merionethshire side had been cut, in april , by mrs. foulkes of aberdovey, on the green near the corbett arms hotel at towyn, without formal ceremony, but in the presence of mr. piercy and mr. savin, and "a few scores of persons who cheered lustily." we may hope that even this mild demonstration did something to hearten the promoters in their herculean task. for several miles along the shore the line had to be protected against the assault of the high tides that periodically sweep cardigan bay, and it was soon only too evident that ordinary ramparts were no sure buttress against atlantic rollers. more than once the permanent way was washed by the waves and engineer and contractor, viewing the dismal wreckage, must have felt that noble references to the moral of canute, however pungent, were not altogether inapropos. there were toilers at this work, however, who had never heard of the danish king and bode not of what the maritime history of england might teach. to them the arrival of the first trial train on the banks of the dysynni was more pertinently an occasion for "celebration," and sixty pounds being quickly collected for the purpose, and as quickly spent, rumour has it that, alas! the festivities ended for some in a few reflective hours, we may hope profitably, if not too comfortably, spent in the local lock-up. but even when the dysynni had been safely bridged,--not without anxious days when piles refused to become embedded in the shingly bed of the river--the troubles of the constructors were far from concluded. beyond llwyngwril, to which the line was opened for traffic in november, ,--the engines and coaches had been brought by barge across the dovey from ynyslas--there lay a still more formidable barrier to rapid progress. for the cliffs hereabouts, which, with their steep declivity down to the rock-strewn shore, left scarcely a foothold for the wandering mountain sheep, were enough to daunt the heart of any but the most courageous and determined engineer. here, again, the problem rose as to whether they should be tunnelled or the line carried along their sloping edge, supported by sea-walls, as was the high road above. but the high road itself shaved the edge of the precipice so closely that, it is related, in the old coaching days, many people preferred leaving the vehicle at the top of the hill to swinging down such a slope. eventually choice fell on the latter alternative, sailors being employed to assist in the work by reason of their greater experience on such seagirt ledges! it was, indeed, a hazardous venture; for the extreme narrowness of the ground to work upon, sometimes tapering away to practically no ground at all, hampered the task at every step, and the difficulty of building a track along which heavy trains could run at high speed was never quite surmounted. even to-day trains descending the in decline are carefully regulated in speed, no bad arrangement, after all, since this stretch of line commands, on a clear day, one of the finest peeps of the whole charming panorama of scenery along the coast of north wales. but engineer and contractor had something better to do than admire the view. below them and beyond, even when barmouth junction was reached in july, , there lay another obstacle which could not be avoided by any but the widest detour. trains could, and were eventually carried around the narrow neck of the dovey; they must cross the estuary of the mawddach almost at its widest point in order to gain the barmouth shore. meanwhile, the line was carried along the southern bank of the river, by what is now the dolgelley branch, to penmaenpool, and the public had to remain content with such facilities as this localised service could provide. and a wonderful service it appears to have been! old inhabitants still tell tales of how goods trains would pull up at remote wayside spots while driver and guard went trapping hares that made good prices in the neighbouring markets, where no inconvenient questions were asked concerning their capture. or it might be that, now and again, a waggon load of beer barrels was consigned to some village inn. it was then the business of those in charge so to marshal the train that the "stuff" was placed in convenient proximity to the engine, and, in the seclusion of some cutting, a halt would be made for some mysterious reason. to clamber over the tender into the adjacent waggon was a simple matter. still simpler, in expert hands, was the process of forcing up the hoop of one of the barrels, tapping it and drawing it till the engine bucket foamed alluringly, then plugging it up again, and drawing back the hoop into its original position. on delivery the consignee might complain of short weight, but that it was a question for the brewer and the company to settle as best they could. none of the running staff knew anything about it; and, as for the lateness of the train, well, was any train ever punctual in those days, and who bothered about half an hour's delay? besides, there was something more important to bother about. actions in chancery had begun to distract the attention of worried directors, and these retarded progress with the construction of the line. so it was not until june that the cambrian continued beyond penmaenpool, and, even when dolgelley was eventually approached, passengers had to alight at a platform some little distance from the town. only when the great western railway from ruabon was completed did the trains from barmouth junction run into dolgelley station proper. many and difficult as were the engineering problems involved in the construction of the coast line none aroused greater interest or put scientific skill and courage to a severer test than that, to which we have already briefly alluded, of carrying the railway over the sand and river current into barmouth. to the lay mind it appeared an almost insuperable task, and there were those who did not hesitate to whisper their doubts as to its practicability, one well-known local gentleman being reported to have gone as far as publicly to undertake to eat the first engine which ever crossed that formidable gulf. but engineers and craftsmen set to work with a will, and before long what had appeared an impossibility was rapidly taking shape as an actuality. eight hundred yards in length, the greater portion was constructed on timber piles, over in number, in spans, driven into the sand. the navigable channel, at the barmouth end, was crossed by an iron-work construction, of seven fixed and one opening span. the latter was of the drawbridge type, and when lifted at one end by means of large screws was carried on wheels and could be drawn back over the adjoining span. it was a lengthy as well as a cumbersome operation, and when, in , the ironwork portion of the viaduct had become too weak for the constantly increasing loads of developing traffic, it was completely renewed with a modern steel structure of four spans, one of which was a spring span, revolving on the centre pier and giving two clear openings. the piers carrying the girders are formed of columns ft. in diameter sunk through the sand down to solid rock, which was reached at a depth of about feet below high water mark. the columns are steel cylinders filled with concrete, and were sunk into position by means of compressed air on the diving bell principle, and owing to the depth below water at high tide, the men excavating inside were finally working under a pressure of three atmospheres, or lbs. to the square inch. the contractors were the cleveland bridge and engineering co. ltd., of darlington. in , and the following two or three years, the timber portion of the viaduct was also completely renewed in the same material, the contractor in this case being mr. abraham williams of aberdovey, who had built, or helped to build, many of the old wooden bridges on the coast line. the total cost of the renewals was approximately , pounds, and it is no small achievement that they were carried out without a moment's stoppage in the traffic. [picture: barmouth bridge. reproduced from the "great western magazine."] but even the original viaduct, old-fashioned as it may seem now, was a wonder in those days, and the fact that it carried (and still carries) a footpath as well as the railway, provides barmouth with a promenade unrivalled in character and in range of panorama of river and mountains and sea anywhere in this country. for a time before it was completely finished a carriage was drawn over the bridge by horses, but in it was opened for regular traffic, and in the first train which crossed it into barmouth rode the gentleman, who was under contract to make a meal of the locomotive. if he had forgotten his rash undertaking, he was very soon to receive a startling reminder. on safe arrival on the northern shore, the story goes, he was politely escorted by an official to a table laid for one, and was courteously requested to elect whether he would have the engine roast or boiled. alas! for the frailty of human nature, more especially where a sense of humour might stand us in good stead. the sceptic, disillusioned, is stated to have failed to appreciate the joke! once the estuary was bridged, north of barmouth, the constructional problems were simpler of solution, and when the contractors reached minffordd, they were able to take advantage of an earlier engineering enterprise, no less remarkable than any railway building. in former days the sea had covered what is now called the traeth, the broad valley of the glaslyn, stretching from the hillocks of penrhyndeudraeth to moel-y-gest, overlooking portmadoc. the tides then surged several miles up this vale, and washed the walls of llanfrothen churchyard, while vessels bore their freights almost up to pont aberglaslyn. in mr. madocks, following the example of earlier builders of sea walls in the district, purchased the tan-yr-allt estate, and soon set to work to make dry land of a large part of the ocean bed. he erected what, in the locality, is commonly called a "cob," the great embankment which runs across the mouth of the former estuary, shut out the sea and recaptured , acres from its rapacious maw. behind the shelter of this embankment (along the top of which the festiniog railway runs), the new line was comparatively easily carried over the marshy ground, and no greater gulf had to be bridged than the narrow channel in which the river, flowing down from the bosom of snowdon, some eight or nine miles away, is now confined. but there were other difficulties to be faced--difficulties not so easily overcome as even mountain torrents and sandy estuaries. the hand of the law was heavy upon the constructors, and even when the line was practically ready for opening, so long a delay took place in settling outstanding claims that the track became almost derelict. for these were anxious days for railway promoters. the rosy promise of rich revenues from remote welsh lines failed to mature, and mr. savin, heavily weighted with the immensity of his undertakings, and crushed by the costly construction of his great hotels, sank under the burden. he faced his financial embarrassments with characteristic pluck, but it was a dark hour in the annals of british finance far beyond the boundaries of the principality, amidst which came the sensational failure of the overend and gurney bank, and, so far as the welsh coast railway in particular was concerned, the interminable legal wrangles not only cost money, but postponed the hour at which the line could earn its keep. even under these adverse circumstances trains did occasionally run, carrying pigs from pwllheli, or a small load of coal or timber for some outlying farmer or builder, or a passenger or two willing to take the risk of an adventurous journey liable at any moment to be brought to a sudden termination by the barriers of the bailiffs. but even bailiffs are human; and at night, when they slept, or were turned away by subtle hospitality at some neighbouring hostelry, journeys could be made, dashing down from portmadoc to barmouth and back with all the exhilaration of a secret expedition. eventually assistance came to the hard-pressed promoters, and the line was officially opened for traffic from barmouth to pwllheli on october th, . but the number of trains often depended on the state of the exchequer, and sometimes quaint incidents would occur to break the monotony of events. one driver arriving from pwllheli at portmadoc, in the early days, discovering that there was no "staff" available to enable him to proceed to penrhyndeudraeth according to regulations, was in considerable perplexity as to what to do, when an ingenious sub-official bethought him of a scheme, and fetching an old carpenter's auger, wrapped it round with paper, and thus armed by what perpetrated to be the badge of authority to go forward, the driver blew his whistle and off the train went on its hazardous way. on another occasion an official of the line visiting one station master on this section was startled, in reply to his cheery inquiry as to whether all was well with him, to learn that "the only drawback was that he had the devil in his parlour." on his exclamation of incredulous alarm, the stationmaster said that he would show the official, if he would come and see. entering the station house with some trepidation, he beheld in the middle of the parlour one of the iron fire-brackets, used to prevent water troughs from freezing in cold weather, popularly known among railway men as "devils." it seems that the builders had neglected to put in a grate, and the poor man had had to fall back on this diabolical method of keeping himself warm! the matter, no doubt, was quickly righted, for stationmasters, even then, were important functionaries, often wearing tall silk hats, though some of them were regarded as passing rich on /- or /- a week. it was something, however, that, in the face of all these difficulties, financial and constructive, a line should be completed along this wandering coast at all. only in one respect, indeed, did the original project fall short of attainment. the great objective of which the shareholders heard so much in earlier days--porth dinlleyn--was never reached. the line still terminates at pwllheli, where, up to , the station lay at arm's length from the town close to the harbour, which, in hot weather, used sometimes to alarm arriving visitors by its fishy odours. in power was obtained to carry the line into the centre of the town, where a new and commodious station now serves this popular health resort, the gateway to the mysterious fastnesses of lleyn. chapter viii. some earlier branches. "y ddel gerbydres welir--yn rhedeg ar hyd ein dyffryn-dir, ac yn gynt ar ei hynt hir y fellten ni theithia filltir. o ganol tre llangynog--am naw cychwyn wneir yn dalog, fe'n ceir cyn tri'n fwy gwisgi na'r gog, a hoenus yn llundain enwog." { } --a welsh bard. the traveller along the main artery of the cambrian, from whitchurch to aberystwyth, will note that, as he proceeds on his way, past the welsh border foothills, and on by the waters of the severn to the highlands of central montgomeryshire, a series of more or less attractive lateral valleys branch off to the left, and still more definitely, to the right. up some of these the eyes of ambitious engineers and railway promoters had often been cast as the main line was being constructed. no less eagerly did the residents at the remoter ends of these sequestered hollows among the hills look forward to the day when they might be linked up with the central system, and so brought into direct touch with the great world beyond. there had, as we have seen, already been plans for carrying a line right up the vyrnwy or the tanat valley, through the berwyns to the vale of the dee--the wonderful west midland line which was to run from shrewsbury to the shores of cardigan bay, over hill and down dale with "only one tunnel." but the route left llanfyllin eight miles to the south, and llanfyllin, as the largest town among these upland valleys, was not disposed to take that lying down. the oswestry and newtown line crossed the end of the vale, at llanymynech, only nine miles away, and that was clearly the route by which the engineers could most easily construct a connective link. in the autumn of , one of llanfyllin's most prominent citizens, mr. j. pugh, had posted over to oswestry, where he had an interview with mr. whalley. "can you help us to get a railway?" yes, anything in his power, the hon. member for peterboro' would do, and he was as good as his word. within a month a crowded audience pressed into the llanfyllin town hall to listen to the scheme which mr. whalley and his colleagues had to lay before them. the chair was taken by mr. r. m. bonner maurice, of bodynfoel, who had, it was happily recalled, presided at one of the meetings eight years earlier at newtown out of which the germ of the montgomeryshire railways sprang. this was, indeed, good augury, and when, not only mr. whalley and mr. johns, with their enthusiasm, but mr. george owen, with his plans in his pocket, came before them to show how the thing could be done, at a cost of some , pounds, enthusiasm rose high. the meeting, however, was not "like bridgnorth election, all on one side." mr. a. c. sheriff, of worcester, manager of the west midland railway, existent, so far, merely on paper, was there too, only he had no plans in his pocket, and little more than vague notions in his head. "if" they did make a second tunnel, out of the tanat valley, then llanfyllin should certainly be brought on to their main line, which would carry the farmers straight into shrewsbury market. the farmers, however, did not want to go to shrewsbury market. they wanted to go to oswestry and welshpool, and it was by llanymynech that their way lay. so it scarcely needed mr. abraham howell's warning to avoid the "shoals and pitfalls" which threatened any deviation from the branch line scheme. "great companies," cried the redoubtable lawyer, "have been the bane of montgomeryshire," and llanfyllin shouted back that they would have none of them, whether they found they could tunnel out of the tanat valley or not. besides, "if" the west midland could not put llanfyllin on the main line--and a very big "if" it seemed--then, mr. sheriff admitted, it would not touch the town at all. so, sweeping aside all "ifs" and "buts," llanfyllin voted for the llanymynech branch. whether it might be worked as an independent undertaking or as part of the oswestry and newtown company's concern, mattered comparatively little. in either case, mr. savin was ready to guarantee a dividend of . per cent., and mr. whalley had so much confidence in the firm of contractors that he would back the guarantee with his own name. big companies should have no blighting and delaying influence on their little valley. like the other local companies to which mr. howell alluded as examples of self-reliance, they would "trust to their own exertions," and since, as somebody said, the oswestry and newtown railway was already a concrete fact, and no mere hypothetical proposition, it was agreed to "join heart and hand" with the company. a resolution to that effect was proposed by mr. c. r. jones, seconded by mr. john jones--two names long intimately associated in close comradeship with the public life of llanfyllin--and carried unanimously; a similar conclusion being arrived at at a meeting of "a few of the most influential inhabitants of llanymynech," with the rev. j. luxmoore, rector, in the chair, later in the day. [picture: latest cambrian composite bogey coach, built for through traffic between aberystwyth and manchester] as to the rival west midland scheme, like the ogre in the fairy tale which ends happily ever afterwards, "little more was heard of it," at any rate as a great through route from shrewsbury to the sea. the project was revived in the parliamentary session of , and a crowded meeting at llanrhaiadr gave it tumultuous blessing in speech and bardic effusion. { } but, though ultimately a line was constructed from shrewsbury (as we have shown in a previous chapter) it got no further than the nantmawr quarries, a few miles north-west of llanymynech, and after running some years, became derelict, until revived under the light railways act as the shropshire and montgomeryshire railway. not until did the tanat valley itself echo to the sound of any sort of railway coach, "lightning" or otherwise. here again it was the light railways act which made construction possible. the tanat valley light railway company was formed, the directors being gentlemen interested in the locality, with alderman charles e. williams, of oswestry, as chairman. after some controversy as to whether the line should be narrow guage, starting from oswestry and running along the morda valley through llansilin, or an ordinary guage extension of the mineral branch from llynclys to porthywaen, via llanyblodwel, the latter plan was adopted, and, under pressure from the earl of bradford, a large local landowner, a connection was also formed over the old nantmawr mineral line to llanymynech. the railway which had its terminus at llangynog has well served an important quarrying and agricultural district, but it has never flourished financially. for many years, indeed, the company existed only in name, and in it was formally absorbed in the cambrian, which had worked it, under agreement, from the outset. but let us go back to the more successful enterprise in the neighbouring valley. the middle of july saw the llanfyllin branch ready for traffic and on the seventeenth the opening ceremony took place. it included an excursion to borth in twenty-three carriages packed with people, many of whom had never seen the sea. the train, we are told by a contemporary chronicler, failed to keep time, but who cared? there were some piquant scenes on the beach when the ladies, essaying to bathe, found themselves closely surrounded by "gentlemen" in anchored boats, but that, again, was a short-coming in the ordered programme which was readily overlooked! anyhow, it seems, a good many people managed to miss the return train which "started punctually" at - , arriving at llanfyllin at half-past five, and so they also missed the dinner, presided over by the high sheriff of montgomeryshire, mr. j. dugdale, and the speeches, with which the official proceedings closed. the next day, following the precedent set at the opening of the llanidloes and newtown railway, messrs. savin and ward entertained the navvies to a "good substantial dinner" of their own, after which they, too, were entertained to a flow of oratory from the "big wigs" of the railway company and the locality, and another series of toasts were honoured with "three times three." the promoters had cautiously qualified their promises as to the length of the branch by proposing to have its terminus at llanfyllin for "the present." some years later, when the liverpool city council, seeking fresh water supplies for their growing community, found a rich source in the valley of the vyrnwy at llanwddyn and constructed their giant works at what is now lake vyrnwy, thoughts began to turn to the prospect of a continuation of the railway in that direction, but it was not a practicable proposition. up the llanfyllin branch, however, there came the bulk of the stores, including the huge pipes, and the portland cement for the bed of the lake. the cement was landed in bags at aberdovey and from llanfyllin a team of ninety-five horses was employed to draw it by road to the site of the works. half were stabled at llanfyllin and half at the lake, and those in charge noted a curious fact. the horses living at the lake went down empty in the morning and came back loaded in the afternoon, and in a few years were all out of condition, whereas those who started in the morning with their heavy load from llanfyllin and returned empty later in the day were always in excellent fettle. to-day the development of the motor has solved many a transport problem where heavy loads are concerned, but llanfyllin remains, perhaps, the most convenient approach to lake vyrnwy for the increasing number of visitors who go year by year to enjoy its scenic beauties and its piscatorial delights. less rapid success attended a similar enterprise a dozen miles away. while the good folks of llanfyllin were pushing on with their branch, the residents of llanfair caereinion were asking themselves why they, too, should not have their railway. here, also, the initial problem was one of route; but, instead of a somewhat easily disposed-of rivalry on the part of a competitive company, the crux here was the measure of support which could be won from the owner of the powis estate, through which it would almost inevitably, in some form or another, have to pass. in july mr. r. d. pryce of cyfronaith, who was much interested in the development of the llanfair district, asked the earl of powis to receive a deputation, but to a proposal that the line should go by the black pool dingle his lordship found himself unable to agree. the promoters were disappointed, for it seemed at the time, that no other way was feasible. but a month later another route was discovered, by way of newton lane, berriew and castle caereinion and so by melinyrhyd gate to llanfair; or, as an alternative suggestion, from forden or montgomery by the "luggy brook." a meeting was held at llanfair at which mr. edwin hilton explained a scheme which was estimated to cost , pounds, of which , pounds should first be raised in ordinary shares, the rest to be made up afterwards of preference shares and debentures. but nothing directly came of it, and it was not until october, , that another proposal was formulated, this time of more ambitious character. this was a variation of the original shrewsbury and west midland route, which llanfyllin had already laughed out of countenance, starting from welshpool and making its way through llanfair over (or rather under) the berwyns to the great western system by the dee. mr. david davies, on being consulted, favoured a ft. in. guage, though he advised that enough land should be taken and bridges built to accommodate an ordinary guage later if found necessary. the minimum speed on the narrow guage was to be fifteen miles an hour, and it was estimated that the average receipts would work out at pounds per mile. amongst the leading advocates of this scheme was mr. russel aitken, a well-known civil engineer of westminster, the home of many welsh railway projects in those days. he got into correspondence with lord powis about it, pointing out that, as a beginning, the line might be made as far as llanfair, and then the promoters might "wait and see." but powis castle was not so easily to be persuaded. the earl considered a railway from welshpool below llanfair road to sylvaen hall "very objectionable" and much preferred the alternative route of branching off the llanfyllin line at llansantffaid, via pont robert. this mr. aitken "could not successfully try to contest" and therefore "gave up the idea of trying for powers to construct the proposed railway," but he still thought a line "from bala to welshpool would pay and that it would be a great benefit to the country through which it passes." how far these prognostications may have been justified experience has never given us opportunity to ascertain. a railway through the mighty ramparts of the berwyns is as remote an accomplishment to-day as it ever was; though, after many years, llanfair itself was to obtain its narrow guage line, an inch less than mr. davies's original design, which, under the name of the welshpool and llanfair light railway, with the earl's successor as its most enthusiastic promoter and chairman, was opened for traffic on april th, , to be worked by the cambrian as an important feeder to its main system. [picture: two famous figures. the late chief inspector george thomas, of oswestry, popularly known in his day as one of "the three georges," the other two, of course, being mr. george lewis, general manager, and mr. george owen, engineer. the late guard cudworth, of oswestry, for many a long year the highly esteemed custodian of the principal passenger trains on the cambrian, beloved of all the travelling public] a shorter branch, some five miles in length, from abermule winding up the course of the mule to the village of kerry, was in course of construction while these other schemes were maturing or languishing. on monday, march nd, , the first engine puffed its way up the long incline (some of it as steep as in ) to kerry, drawing one carriage, and on its arrival, after several stoppages on the way to "make steam," was met by a company of local ladies and gentlemen. it had been intended to indulge in some speechmaking, as befitted so auspicious an occasion, but the assembled guests were so absorbed in shaking hands with one another and looking at the engine, panting after its exertions, that the oratory was forgotten, and folks were content to offer their personal congratulations to mr. poundley, through whose enthusiasm and activities the branch was mainly built. it had also been arranged to attach to the train a truck of coal from abermule to distribute amongst the poor, but this was more than the locomotive could accomplish. it went up the next day, and, no doubt, contributed to a wide endorsement of the views of the newspaper scribe, detailed to record these stirring events, that the branch was "everything kerry can want." anyhow, with its still rare trains, it is all that kerry has ever had, and possibly kerry is still content. the kerry branch is also noteworthy for another thing, that it is the first arm of the system which diverges to the east of the main line. so does what was originally the first portion of the trunk, the line from moat lane to llanidloes, later extended by the amalgamation with the mid-wales railway, to brecon, and so also does another diminutive line, another mile further, which, though not part of the cambrian proper, deserves notice in these pages, if only for the personality of its former manager. this is the van line, which ran from caersws (whose station is built on the site of an old roman settlement) up to the van mines, once productive enough of valuable lead ore, but now derelict. constructed under the railways construction facilities act, , the line was opened for mineral traffic on august th, and for passenger traffic on december st, . it was leased to the cambrian, but got into chancery and was closed a few years later. while it ran many made pilgrimage along its short length, less for the purpose of traversing its rather uninteresting course than for a chance of conversing with one of the most notable characters, under whose charge the trains ran. to many welshmen, indeed, who never travelled on or even heard, except perhaps quite incidentally, of the van railway, the name of john ceiriog hughes is a household word. born at llanarmon-dyffryn-ceiriog, in denbighshire, on september th, , he passed his early years in the romantic vale of the ceiriog, amidst the glowing memories of huw morris of pont-y-meibion. beginning his business career in manchester, he soon returned to his native land, and, after occupying a position as stationmaster at llanidloes, was appointed to the management of this little line. the duties were not particularly arduous, and, in any case, "ceiriog" was apt to take life with a light heart. whether he sat in his office or in the cosy corner of some favourite rural inn the muse burned brightly within him, and, from his remote retreat among the hills which look down on the infant severn, he poured out his soul in poetry, which ranks high in celtic literature. welsh verse always suffers in translation into the more cumbrous english, but there are many who have known the charm even of an anglicised version of "myvanwy vychan," and when he died, in , he was acclaimed by such an authority as the rev. h. elvet lewis, to be "one of the best lyrical poets of wales," who had "rendered excellent service to the national melodies of 'cymru fu' by writing words congenial to their spirit,--a work which robert burns did for scottish melodies." he was buried in llanwnog churchyard, where a simple plate marks his resting place, and friends and neighbours who attended the funeral service on the following sunday did not feel that it was out of place that it should have been based on the text "know ye not that there is . . . a great man fallen this day." they did know it, humble as his station might be; and more than one of his admirers has since visited the little deserted office where he worked on the van line and ransacked its drawers and cupboards for hidden gems of poesy he might have left behind him. alas! nothing more inspiring was ever found there than faded way-bills and torn invoices! but who shall say that there is no romance clinging close around even the humblest, and now the most woe-begone, of all the little offshoots of the cambrian? chapter ix. consolidation. "_facility of communication begets_ '_community of interests_,' _which is the only treaty that is not a_ '_scrap of paper_.'"-- the late lord fisher. lord john russell, it is said, used, in conversation with queen victoria, to date all political development from the revolution of . if those mystic figures signalize the birthday of whiggery, in the political world, in much the same way we may date the constitution of the cambrian, as we know it to-day, from the year . in more than one way it was a notable period in welsh railway annals. the various independent links in the chain were either completed and wholly or partially in working order, or in course of construction. thanks to the influential efforts of the earl of powis, arrangements had been made with the post office and the london and north western railway company, through sir richard moon, for the conveyance of mails from shrewsbury to borth, the then terminus. through working arrangements were also in force among the various local companies, and it was obvious that the time had come to face the problems of future policy. these were not altogether of simple solution. [picture: a group of old officials. standing--from left to right--the first figure is unidentified; mr. geo. owen, engineer; mr. henry cattle, traffic manager. seated--mr. a. walker, locomotive supt.; mr. george lewis, secretary and general manager; mr. h. c. corfield, solicitor] very early in the year mr. abraham howell was moved, in one of his frequent letters to the earl of powis, to warn his lordship that he scented "another crisis coming on in the affairs of the welsh railways." once more there was division of opinion and "parties" were forming. mr. piercy and the majority of the directors were for extending "the welsh system so as to make it independent of the great companies and set aside existing agreements and obligations." mr. howell himself, with mr. savin and a minority on the board, inclined rather to the course of accommodation with circumstances, making the best of the lines and properties of the companies as they stood, avoiding extensions and increasing capital, while cultivating friendly arrangements with neighbouring companies and so avoiding as much as possible parliamentary and legal conflicts. after all the tribulations through which these undertakings had passed the more politic and pacific course certainly had its advantages, but one parliamentary adventure could not easily be avoided. whether the policy was to be one of splendid isolation or of neighbourly friendship, the moment was obviously ripe for some measure of internal consolidation, and powers were sought for this purpose. the bill had to pass through the now familiar ordeal of battle, both in the committee of the house of commons and in the house of lords, when many of the old arguments and some new ones were skilfully marshalled on behalf of the great western railway company and rolled on the tongue of eminent and eloquent counsel. even the little bishop's castle undertaking threw in its lot with the opposition, finding a powerful protagonist in mr. whalley. but the cambrian had stout friends to put in the witness-box. earl vane proved a tough nut to crack in cross-examination. so did the earl of powis, still apparently tinged with a north western bias. with the result that after much forensic oratory, closing appropriately on a reminder of "the troubles and difficulties the companies had gone through," and a well deserved "tribute to the energy and talent of their solicitor, mr. abraham howell," the amalgamation bill, excluding for the time being the welsh coast line, was passed into law in july, . it set up a joint board, limited to a minimum of six and a maximum of twelve, the first directors chosen being those who had similarly served the several independent companies, some of whom, of course, had acted on more than one of these concerns. the following year, some previous difficulties being removed, the welsh coast railway was brought into the combine, and the cambrian then assumed the organic shape in which it remained until the further amalgamation with the mid-wales railway in . financially, however, the directors still swam in troubled waters. creditors became impatient and began to press their claims. more than one suit was brought against the company involving long and expensive proceedings in the court of chancery, and very early in it was found necessary to convene, at oswestry, a meeting of the "mortgagees, holders of certificates of indebtedness and other creditors, and of the preference and ordinary proprietors for the consideration of the best means of dealing with the conflicting and other claims and interests of the company's creditors and proprietors and of passing such resolutions in regard thereto, or any of them, as might at such meeting be deemed expedient." to obtain some means of getting out of the financial morass in which the undertaking was floundering was "expedient" indeed, and it is hardly surprising to find that, in view of the many conflicts of interest, the assembly is recorded to have been both "large and influential." mr. bancroft presided in the absence of earl vane, chairman of the company, and he was supported by the directors and officials who had done much to bring the cambrian into existence and were now struggling to put it on its feet. the scheme which was laid before the meeting was long and complicated. more than one meeting was required to thrash matters out, but in the end a readjustment was arrived at, and a new scheme was adopted for constituting the board. from july st, , until december st, , it consisted of ten directors, four of whom were elected by the coast section and four by the inland section, the other two seats being in the nomination of earl vane and the earl of powis. the revenue from the whole undertakings went into a common fund, and, after deducting working expenses, the surplus was divided between the coast and inland sections in certain proportions, to be determined by arbitrators and an umpire. admirable as this arrangement might be in theory, in practice we know what generally happens when "united, yet divided, twain at once sit two kings of brentford on one throne," and it is hardly astonishing that this form of dual authority should have led to a good deal of squabbling between the rival "monarchs." it proved, indeed, a cumbrous contrivance, and, when the period for its operation terminated, with the close of , the constitution of the board was allowed to revert to the limits laid down under the act of , without any provision for sectional directors at all. during these intervening years, indeed, questions of finance and of the upkeep of the lines were still for ever cropping up, and not always as readily disposed of. it is a long and dreary story of the inevitable struggles with ways and means which so often marks the life of pioneer undertakings. for years these chancery suits hung like chains about the company's neck, and even into the eighties the directors were never free from sudden embarrassments and never knew from what quarter they might proceed. one such difficulty, indeed, ultimately proved a blessing in disguise. in , at the instance of the company's bankers, the line was placed in the hands of a receiver, mr. john conacher, fortunately, being chosen for this office. the line was ripe for a great and final effort to place the undertaking on a firmer footing, and, together with the late mr. a. c. humphreys-owen, mr. conacher drew up a scheme of arrangement between the company and its creditors under which about seventy different stocks were consolidated into ten; and it was their patient and skilful work in thus formulating what became known as the scheme of , that laid the foundation of the company's improved financial position of which the proprietors and the public have reaped the benefit in subsequent years. meantime, however, other matters not directly bearing on finance, engaged the attention of the directors. amongst these was the question of the works, which it was found necessary to erect, since the company was working its own line. in july , the inhabitants of welshpool, conscious of the prominent part which the town had played in the inauguration of the oswestry and newtown railway, presented a memorial to the board in which they urged its central position on the system and the recent completion of the waterworks as strong arguments for favourable consideration of the borough's claims to such an advantage. nor was it without an eye to future development that welshpool station was built in a manner capable of allowing its upper stories to be used as the company's offices. here, for the brief space, the offices were, but in both these cases ambitious poolonians were doomed to disappointment. [picture: the late mr. a. c. humphreys-owen, m.p. chairman, - ] the official headquarters of the newtown and machynlleth railway company were destined for some time to remain at machynlleth, where mr. david howell, its secretary, practised as a solicitor; but in january the staff of the oswestry and newtown had removed from welshpool, and, together with those of the llanidloes and newtown, the oswestry, ellesmere and whitchurch, the buckley and the wrexham mold and connah's quay, jointly occupied two rooms on the second floor of no. a, cannon row, westminster, mr. george lewis being secretary of all five companies. on the floor below the aberystwyth and welsh coast company cohabited with some dozen slate and stone companies, while mr. benjamin piercy sat in state hard by in great george street, and mr. thomas savin weaved his ambitious schemes around the corner, at no. , delahay street, with mr. james fraser (father of the auditor of the cambrian in recent years) acting, under power of attorney, as his manager. this proved quite a convenient arrangement so long as parliamentary committee work absorbed much of the time of these officials, and here all the companies held their board meetings, generally on the same day. there were stirring times without, and it is scarcely strange if cannon row did not live up to the reputation of its suggestive name. rows, indeed, were frequent and occasionally threatened to reverberate beyond the walls of the official sanctum. there is an old and honoured cambrian official, then a young clerk sitting at his desk in the office above the board room, who remembers the occasion when an extraordinary scene was enacted on that dusty little stage. from a scuffle of some sort in the board room mr. gartside, a director of the oswestry and newtown railway company, beat a hasty retreat up the stairs to the clerk's room, closely pursued by mr. whalley. mr. gartside being rather portly, was much out of breath, and suddenly pausing and turning round to recover himself on gaining the hearthrug he received mr. whalley's fist full in the stomach, which completed his exhaustion. recovering his breath and as much of his dignity as the circumstances would permit, the disabled director appealing dramatically to the astonished clerks, exclaimed "gentlemen, i call on you to witness that the hon. member for peterboro' has struck me." but the clerks unable to grapple with so unaccustomed a situation, beat a hasty retreat, and nothing more was heard of what was presumably a more or less accidental "assault." from great george street, the offices were subsequently moved to no. , westminster chambers, and soon after mr. savin's failure, in , when the directors took over the working of the line from the unfortunate lessee, after a short trial of another london office, the secretary and his staff, in august of that year, packed up pens, ink, paper and documents and settled themselves in oswestry, where they have since remained. in oswestry, too, on a site under the shelf bank, close to where the first sod on the ellesmere and oswestry line was cut, the works were erected and have continued to be maintained. [picture: oswestry station and company's head offices. reproduced from the "great western magazine."] on a subsequent occasion, however, they were the ostensible cause of one of those sudden storms which, as we have said, from time to time assailed the board-room or even periodical assemblies of the proprietors. on this occasion it was, indeed, a bolt from the blue. a few days before the date fixed for the half yearly meeting, at crewe, in february , there had been placed in the hands of the shareholders a pamphlet bearing the innocent title "cambrian railways workshops." but, when they read it, the recipients discovered that, whatever the reason for the choice of such a heading, the sermon was founded on a much wider text. it traversed the whole policy of the board, the constitution of the company and the management of its property, and it was written in highly censorious terms. that, in itself, might have been of comparatively little moment, for the directors were not without their critics--no directors of public companies ever are. but the author, who did not withhold his name, was mr. david davies, constructor of much of the line and now one of the most influential directors. here, apparently, was a matter for serious concern, and the seriousness was not diminished when to the pamphlet itself was added a speech, at the shareholders' meeting, in which mr. davies did not scruple to suggest that the line was being expensively worked, that the rolling stock had not been adequately maintained, that the road was defective and that, some of the stock being worthless, the whole undertaking was in a false position. it was what earl vane (now become marquess of londonderry), who presided, called "a stab in the dark." the stab in the open with which mr. davies followed it up was certainly not less sensational. he declared that "the line at the moment was not safe, and he should not be at all surprised to see the rails sprinkled with human blood before they were very much older." he alleged that a fellow director (mr. s. h. hadley) had expressed a wish to see the oswestry shops burnt down and new shops erected at aberystwyth instead. the balance-sheet was "an insult." he washed his hands of the whole affair and demanded a committee of inquiry. a hub-bub ensued, amidst which it was not impertinently pointed out that mr. davies had himself laid much of the road which he now condemned, and, backed by a letter from mr. george owen, the engineer, it was shown that his strictures on its existing condition were unsubstantiated by facts. but mr. davies stuck to his guns, and before what was well described in the local press as "a stormy meeting" terminated, he had left the room and his seat on the board. it was a matter of doubt, for some moments, whether the noble chairman would not go too, but, happily, he discovered enough signs of confidence among the proprietors present to encourage him to continue his thankless task. it was a tremendous tempest while it lasted, but it was soon over. at the next half-yearly meeting, in the following august, the directors were able to report that, instead of spilt blood, the summer had brought a considerably increased weight of tourist traffic, hearty congratulations were showered on mr. george lewis, the secretary, on his efficient administration of the line, and capt. r. d. pryce, presiding, in the absence of the marquess, concluded the proceedings on a happy note of assurance that directors and shareholders were "of one mind," and full of sanguine expectations as to the future of their undertaking. the throes of consolidation are sometimes not less severe than those of birth itself, but they can be as successfully survived. chapter x. incidents and accidents. "_railway travelling is safer than walking, riding, driving, than going up and down stairs . . . and even safer than eating_, _because it is a fact that more people choke themselves in england than are killed on all the railways of the united kingdom_."--the late sir edward watkin. looking back on considerably more than half a century of history it is no small tribute to human care and human ingenuity that serious accidents on the cambrian railways have been relatively rare. this is all the more remarkable because all but some twelve miles of its total length, and up to a few years ago, not even as much as that, has had to be worked on a single line, and with the rapidly increasing tourist traffic of recent times, this has placed a strain on both the human and the metallic machine which may easily try the strongest nerves and the most powerful appliances. obviously it is due to the special care taken in management, and observed, with few if tragic exceptions, by those directly responsible for the working of the trains. early in their inception, elaborate regulations were drawn up by the organisers of the original local undertakings, of which a copy, issued by the oswestry and newtown company, as adopted "at a meeting of the board of directors, held on saturday, the th february, ," and preserved among the papers of the late mr. david howell of machynlleth, gives some interesting indication. it is bound in vellum, fitted with a clasp, and adorned within with a series of woodcuts, descriptive of the old-day signalman, clad in tall hat, tail coat and white trousers, explanatory of the hand signal code, with flags, which preceded the more general use of the modern signals, controlled from a signal box. following the precept, made familiar by the nursery rhymes of our childhood, it informs us that "red is a signal of danger, and to stop. green is a signal of caution, and to go slowly. white is a signal of all right, and to go on. as an additional precaution, should no flag be handy, it warns drivers that "anything moved violently up and down or a man holding both hands up is a sign of danger." some of these early regulations were extremely primitive. for instance, long before the scientific system of the block telegraph and the tablet were thought out, it was deemed sufficient to ordain that "on a train or engine stopping at or passing an intermediate station or junction, a stop signal must be exhibited for five minutes, after which a caution signal must be exhibited for five minutes more." after that, apparently, any train might proceed--and take its risk of the one in front having reached the next signalling point! at level crossings at any distance from the signalman, the gate-keeper was advised to "ring a small hand-bell, or use a whistle to call the attention of the signalman, who must then put up his 'danger' signals." [picture: an early cambrian passenger engine. original form (top), as re-built (bottom)] the guard of the first passenger train from oswestry was instructed to "set his timepiece by the platform clock, and give the clerk at every station the time, so that he may regulate the clock at his station by it," and similar arrangements operated up the branch lines. porters were told that on the arrival of a train they were to "walk the length of the platform and call out, in a clear and audible voice, the name of the station opposite the window of each carriage; and at junctions the doors of every carriage must be opened, and the various changes announced to all passengers"--a regulation which, if still on the rule-book, is, like that against receiving tips, nowadays more often honoured in the breach than in the observance. it was even felt obligatory to include a regulation as to what should be done if a train should arrive before its advertised time, though it must appear a little superfluous to those who remember the ways of the cambrian in those happy days, when a captious correspondent could write to the local press to aver that, after seeing his father off at welshpool station, he was able to ride on horseback to oswestry and meet him on his arrival there! it was certainly a remarkable feat--though, perhaps, not so remarkable either--for, as "an official" of the company was moved to explain in a subsequent issue, the old gentleman must have travelled by a goods train, to which passenger coaches were attached "for the convenience of the public," and it "often did not leave welshpool until an hour after the advertised time." those "mixed trains" survived until some thirty years ago, when an unregenerate board of trade regulation prohibited them, and the wonderful jolts and jars which the public experienced for their "convenience" and the benefit of their liver, if not their nerves, became a thing of the past. but, as an old driver remarked to the writer not long ago,--"it was very comfortable working in those days," and no doubt, for the traffic staff, it was. we may smile to-day at some of these old ordinances and habits, but traffic then was not as congested as it is on an august day now, when thousands of tourists are being carried in heavily ladened trains to the coast of cardigan bay. the rolling stock at that time was as light as the signals were haphazard. we have read of references, in these early days, to "powerful" engines; but they were mere pigmies to the modern locomotive, and some of those pioneer machines which were the pride of the dale sixty years ago have been relegated long since to the humble duty of the shunting yard, or rebuilt altogether. [picture: an early cambrian tank engine. original form (top), as re-built (bottom)] an old engineman, writing some little time since in the "cambrian news," gives an interesting retrospect of the "comforts" of railway travel on the cambrian in those early days. "the original passenger rolling stock on service on the line when opened," he says, "was of a small four-wheeled type, similar in construction to the coaches on other company's lines; about feet long over all, feet wheel base, or half the length and a third the weight of the bogie stock of the present day. the coaches were built by contract, the work being divided between two well-known firms of builders,--the ashbury co., manchester, and the metropolitan railway carriage and wagon company, birmingham. the ashbury stock was slightly larger with more head room than the metropolitan. the coaches were built of the very best material, the lower part of body being painted a dark brown, the upper part, from the door handles to roof, a cream colour. { } each coach weighed about tons. the 'third class' coaches were made up of five compartments or semi-compartments. cross seats, back to back sittings for five aside--accommodation for fifty passengers--bare boards for the seats, straight up backs, open from end to end. our forefathers evidently believed, when constructing rolling stock, in fresh air in abundance instead of the closed up compartment of late years. the thirds were lighted at dusk with two glass globe oil lamps fixed in the roof, one at each end of the coach. firsts and seconds were provided with a lamp for each compartment. the only other difference between the seconds and thirds was that the seats of the seconds were partly covered with black oilcloth. the latter carriage proved unremunerative, the public hardly ever patronising seconds. therefore they were abolished. in addition to the ordinary screw coupling, coaches in those days were provided with side chains as security in case of breaking loose on the journey. side chains, however, were abolished on the advent of the continuous brake. the buffers were provided with wooden block facings with a view of silencing and to prevent friction when travelling round curves--not at all a bad idea either. wheels in those days were constructed entirely of iron with straight axles and spokes, not wooden blocked as at present to deaden noise. owing to the lightness of the stock, when travelling at a fair rate of speed, oscillation occurred and passengers had to sit firm and fast, which everyone in those days seemed to enjoy." anyhow, there was plenty of fun to be got out of the experience. "the doors of the old coaches were narrow, and many a tussle to get inside occurred. one lady in particular who was very stout and a regular passenger on a certain train, always had to be assisted both in and out--the stationmaster pulling and the guard pushing, while the fireman was enjoying the joke. one morning, when the train was a few minutes late, the guard came running up to the front with his 'hurry up, missis,' when the old dame, with her two baskets, an umbrella, similar in size to a modern camping tent, and a crinoline fashionable in mid-victorian days, got firmly wedged in the door way, whereupon some wag suggested that, to expedite departure, a break-down gang and crane should be sent for and the lady hoisted into an open cattle waggon." ii. but even with all the care which the management enjoined from the first, accidents were, perhaps, not altogether unavoidable. sometimes the errant "human factor" showed itself in tragic fashion even in those distant days. by a melancholy coincidence, the first serious mishap occurred close to abermule, a name since associated in the public memory with the last and the worst catastrophe in cambrian annals. it was on a november morning in that a goods train leaving newtown for welshpool, called at abermule, where they picked up three wagons and some water. but, unfortunately, there was time--or they thought there was time--for the driver, fireman, and guard to adjourn to the adjacent inn, where they took up something rather stronger than the engine's refreshment. time fled, as it is apt to do in such circumstances, and when the staff rejoined the train, an effort appears to have been made to gain lost minutes, with the result that the train ran off the line, and driver, known to his comrades as "hell-fire jack," and fireman were killed. an inquest was held before dr. slyman, coroner, one of the most enthusiastic promoters of the montgomeryshire lines, and the jury solemnly found that "the accident was the result of furious driving," but they exonerated from blame everyone but "the unfortunate driver." [picture: an early cambrian coach with its makers. in coach: edward morgan ( rd from right), job thomas, e. shone. back row (left to right): , (unidentified); , john thomas; , e. windsor; , r. williams: , w. parry; , j. richards (foreman); , s. holland; , rd. davies; , edward lewis (living); , j. powell; , lazarus jones; , e. price. front row (left to right): (unidentified); , j. astley; and , boys; , joe ward; , wm. jones; , t. morgan; , "fat charlie"; , r. morgan; , john sanger (brother-in-law of mr. george lewis, general manager); , david davies, aberystwyth (living)] but the "human factor" is not the only element of nature with which railway management has to contend. another, not less serious in its potential consequences, was brought to mind in sinister fashion a few years later, when, during the winter storms of , the severn and its tributaries rose in flood with such alarming rapidity that the driver of an early morning goods train from machynlleth to newtown found, as he ran down the long decline from talerddig past carno, that the water was washing over the footplate of the engine, and nearly put out the fire. he naturally bethought him of the wooden bridge over the severn at caersws, but, after, careful examination, it was safely crossed. on the return journey, however, the bridge was being carefully approached once more, when, in the dim dawn of a february morning, the engine suddenly toppled-over the embankment abutting on the structure. the floods had washed away the earthworks, though the beams of the bridge itself held fast, and driver and fireman were killed. word was sent to oswestry and aberystwyth, and in the first passenger train from the latter place capt. pryce, one of the directors, and mr. elias, the traffic manager, were travelling to the scene of the disaster, when it was discovered that another bridge, near pontdolgoch, was giving way under pressure of the torrent, and the train, crowded with passengers, was only held up just in time to avert what could not have failed to prove a catastrophe far more tragic in extent. wild rumours quickly spread concerning the cause and nature of the actual mishap, it being freely stated by sensation-mongers that the severn bridge had collapsed; but mr. david davies, who had been its builder and was now a director of the company, was able to show that, despite the exceptional strain on the construction, the bridge had resisted the force of the flood and was as firm as ever. wooden bridges, however, have now had their day, and in recent years have, in all important cases, under the enterprising supervision of mr. g. c. mcdonald, the company's engineer and locomotive superintendent, been replaced with iron girders, to the undisguised regret of some old-fashioned believers in the efficacy of british oak! this section of the line, indeed, flanked not only by the rivers liable to flood, but curving its way up steep gradients, over high embankments and through deep cuttings, is necessarily more subject to mishaps than a level road, and it is hardly astonishing that it has been the scene of more than one awkward circumstance. among them is the story, still told more or less _sotto voce_, of how, close to this spot, the driver of an express goods train, long ago, might have killed the then chairman of the company! the night was wet, and the driver, accustomed to a straight run down the bank to moat lane, was astonished to find the signals against him at carno. he applied the brakes, but it was no easy matter suddenly to curb the speed of a heavy train, and he floundered on, right into a "special" toiling up the hill bearing earl vane home to machynlleth. { } happily for everyone concerned, no great damage was done; board of trade officials were less inquisitive in those days, and it seems to have been easier then than it is now to "keep things out of the newspapers"! less easy to hide was the huge landslide, many years later, of a portion of talerddig cutting, though on this occasion no accident resulted to any train, and the worst fate that befel the passengers was that, during the considerable time occupied in clearing the line--it was at the height of the tourist season, too--they and their baggage had to be conveyed by road for a mile or two, an arduous task accomplished by the company's officials without a single mishap. such happenings in such a character of country are practically inevitable, but it was not until the cambrian had been in existence, as a combined organisation, for nearly twenty years, that its story was interrupted, through such a cause, by what was truly described as "the most alarming accident which had ever occurred on the system." in point of death-roll it was not more melancholy than that at caersws, but its scene and its dramatic nature provided a new feature which intimately touched the public imagination. for it was the first serious disaster in the annals of these undertakings to a passenger train, and, though not one of them was even injured, the hair-breadth escape of several was thrilling enough. on new year's day, , the evening train from machynlleth for the coast line, drawn by the "pegasus," driven by william davies, whose fireman bore a similar name, on reaching the barmouth end of the friog decline, built on the shelf of the rock overlooking the sea, struck a mass of several tons of soil, which had suddenly fallen from the steep embankment, together with a portion of retaining wall. the engine and tender appear to have passed the obstruction and then were hurled to the rocks below. most fortunately the couplings between the tender and the coaches broke, and though the first carriage overturned, and lay perilously poised over the ledge, it did not fall. the next coach also overturned, but in safer position, and probably held up the first. the remaining coach, which contained most of the passengers, and the van remained on the rails. amongst those in the train was captain pryce, once more fortunate in his deliverance from death, and he and others immediately did what was possible to release the rest from danger. in the overhanging carriage was one old lady, mrs. lloyd, of welshpool, a well-known character at towyn, where she carried on a successful business in merchandise, and, save for severe and very natural fright, she was got out without sustaining further harm. the news of the accident soon spread abroad, and reached dolgelley, where a great eisteddfod was being held. from this assembly dr. hugh jones and dr. edward jones, well-known medical men over the countryside, with others, hurried to the scene. but the driver and fireman were beyond the range of their skill. with bashed heads they lay, the former in the tender and latter beside the "pegasus," on the huge rocks that flank the shore. searching inquiry was made into the cause of the accident, and though evidence was forthcoming that the utmost care was taken to watch that section of the line, and mr. george owen, the engineer, and mr. liller, the traffic manager, were able to show that all the recommendations and regulations of the board of trade officials had been complied with in protecting this awkward cutting, the jury considered the place unsafe and hoped the railway company would "do something to prevent occurrence of a similar accident." such occurrences, alas! are not entirely within the compass of human power to control, but, as a matter of fact, no such "similar accident" has during its history ever happened at friog or anywhere else on the cambrian system. it was, indeed, not for more than fourteen years that serious catastrophe attended the working of the railway, and then the cause seems to have been as uncontrollable as ever. late one friday evening in june, , a sunday school excursion train from royton in lancashire, drawn by two engines, was returning from barmouth, and, close to welshampton station, only a few miles short of quitting the cambrian at whitchurch, left the rails, overturning several coaches and telescoping others. the circumstances were the more pathetic by reason of the fact that most of the passengers were children, homeward bound, after a joyous day by the sea. nine were killed outright, two died later in hospital, and many others were more or less seriously injured. dr. r. de la poer beresford of oswestry, medical officer to the cambrian railway co., and many other professional and lay helpers, rendered gallant service, and the railway ambulance corps were a valuable adjunct in the arduous task of dealing with the great work of tending the wounded. there was some little difficulty in ascertaining the exact cause of the accident, but the coroner's jury were satisfied that there was "no negligence on the part of any of the officials," and were of opinion that the disaster would not have happened but for a lancashire and yorkshire four-wheeled brake van in the front of the train, which, it was stated, had been "running rough." searchers after portents were quick to recal that in his famous "almanack," exactly opposite the actual date of the disaster, "old moore" had stated that he was "afraid he must foretell a terrible railway collision in the middle of june." it was not a collision, but the gift of prophecy received sufficient endorsement to create no small sensation amongst country folk. nor is this part of our story, unfortunately, complete without reference to an actual head-on collision,--an occurrence extremely rare in british railway annals--of even more appalling result in loss of life, than welshampton. of that day, early in when, through a most extraordinary and tragic series of misunderstandings amongst the staff at abermule station the slow down train was allowed to proceed towards newtown to meet the up express from aberystwyth, on the curve a mile away, such vivid memories still linger that little need be recounted here of its harrowing details. the total death-roll, the largest in cambrian records, was , and the victims included one of the most esteemed of the directorate, lord herbert vane-tempest. here, at any rate, it was again that mysterious element, "the human factor," rather than any condition of the works or of the rolling stock used which played its melancholy part, and of that it is sufficient to say that the most interesting feature of the protracted official inquiry into the circumstances was the fact that the men concerned were represented at the inquest by the rt. hon. j. h. thomas, m.p., as general secretary of the national union of railwaymen, and his skilful conduct of the case was, apparently, a notable and important influence in determining the final--and reconsidered--verdict of the coroners jury. [picture: the late lord herbert vane-tempest, a director of the company (who was fatally injured in the abermule accident, )] iii. but these are sorrowful records from which we gladly turn to the lighter side of railway annals. as a link between them we may mention one "accident" which happily unattended with very serious results in itself, was the direct cause of a famous, and at the time, a sensational "incident." in the down morning mail train ran off the line at ellesmere and it was held that this was due to delay on the part of the porter in not being at the points in time to work them properly. for at this time the interlocking system, made compulsory under the act of , had not been installed, and the safety of trains depended on due attention to the pointsman's functions. when, in , a committee of the house of commons, of which sir michael hicks-beach was chairman, sat to inquire into the length of railway hours, the ellesmere mishap was brought up as an example of what occurred when railway servants were expected to work for long stretches, though mr. john conacher (who had joined the company's staff in , become secretary on the retirement of mr. george lewis in , and later had succeeded to the managership) was able to produce evidence that it was not so much weariness of the flesh as the fact that the porter was playing cards with a postman waiting with the mails and a stranded passenger waiting for the train which led to his late arrival at the points. the porter was consequently dismissed, whereupon a memorial praying for his re-instatement was signed, amongst others, by the then ellesmere stationmaster, the late mr. john hood. this appeared to the management so undesirable an attitude for a stationmaster to take in the matter of service discipline that he was temporarily suspended and removed from ellesmere,--a step which, it was publicly explained, had been contemplated some years before the accident, but not carried out,--to montgomery. mr. hood himself gave evidence before the parliamentary committee, alleging that the mishap was due to the rotten condition of the permanent way, and though this created a good deal of sensation and alarm, public assurance was promptly restored when it was pointed out that such a conclusion was entirely rebutted by the report issued by the board of trade inspector as a result of his personal examination of the line immediately after the accident. probably little, if anything, more might have been heard of the affair, for the select committee had risen for the parliamentary recess, were it not that the directors, carrying out a detailed examination of their own into the circumstances brought to light again by the inquiry, had laid before them a recommendation by their chief officials on which, rightly or wrongly, wisely or unwisely, they decided to dispense with mr. hood's services altogether. mr. hood was summoned to crewe, where he had an interview with the chairman of the company, mr. j. f. buckley, who was accompanied by two of his colleagues on the board,--mr. bailey-hawkins and mr. j. w. maclure, m.p., and mr. conacher, the manager, but to a memorial in favour of the stationmaster's reinstatement, they declined to accede. the fat was now in the fire, and a very fierce blaze ensued. it lit up the industrial world, then struggling into organic solidarity, with lurid flames, and there were those who had some trading or personal grievance against the company, who not less eagerly threw on fresh fuel of their own. protest meetings were held at wrexham and newtown, at which resolutions were carried condemnatory of "excessive hours," and the late mr. a. c. humphreys-owen, of glansevern, though he had not been present at the crewe conclave, was, as a director of the company and a prospective parliamentary candidate for the denbigh boroughs, singled out for special attack, and as warmly defended by some of his friends. mr. harford, general secretary of the amalgamated society of railway servants of the united kingdom, with what was, perhaps, an unconscious gift of prophecy, declared that "little railways were a gigantic mistake, and the sooner the better they are taken over by some larger concern, for the workmen and the shareholders." the labour press echoed with resounding phrases about "cambrian tyranny," and "victimisation," and mr. hood was acclaimed a martyr of overbearing officialism. more serious was the attitude and the action of parliament. the house of commons, ever quick to resent any appearance of tampering with its "privileges," were sensitive to the suggestion of what seemed to them some interference with a witness before their select committee, and not long after the new session opened, in , mr. conacher, who had, meanwhile, left the cambrian, to the regret of the board and many others, to assume the larger responsibility of management of the north british railway co., was summoned from edinburgh to appear, with mr. buckley and mr. bailey-hawkins, at the bar of the house to receive the admonition of mr. speaker peel. mr. (afterwards sir john) maclure, being a member of the house, was at the same time required to stand in his place, where, with bowed head, that burly and genial gentleman, looked very like a schoolboy listening to the stern rebuke of a formidable headmaster! "toby m.p.," glancing down from his seat in the press gallery on this rare and impressive scene, has described it in the pages of "punch" in characteristic fashion:-- "thursday, _april_ _th_. "the chairman of cambrian railways held a special meeting at bar. it was attended by mr. bailey-hawkins, and mr. john conacher, manager of the company . . . the latter, resolved to sell his life dearly, brought in his umbrella, which gave him a quite casual hope-i-don't-intrude appearance as he stood at the bar. members, at first disposed to regard the whole matter as a joke, cheered maclure when he came in at a half-trot; laughed when the bar pulled out, difficulty arose about making both ends meet . . . bursts of laughter and buzz of conversation in all parts of the house; general aspect more like appearance at theatre on boxing night, when audience waits for curtain to rise on new pantomime. only the speaker grave, even solemn; his voice occasionally rising above the merry din with stern cry of 'order! order!' "hicks-beach's speech gave new and more serious turn to affairs. concluded with motion declaring directors guilty of breach of privilege and sentencing them to admonition. but speech itself clearly made out that directors were blameless; all the bother lying at door of railway servant who had been dismissed. speech, in short, turned its back on resolution. this riled the radicals; not to be soothed even by mr. g. interposing in favourite character as grand old pacificator. storm raged all night; division after division taken; finally, long past midnight, directors again brought up to the bar, the worn, almost shrivelled, appearance of conacher's umbrella testifying to the mental suffering undergone during the seven hours that had passed since last they stood there. "speaker, with awful mien and in terrible tones, 'admonished' them; and so to bed." the chief actors in this arresting and peculiar drama have now all past from the stage, almost the last survivor, mr. hood himself, dying in , after a long career of public service in the local administration of civic affairs at ellesmere, and not before, through the gracious good offices of the last general manager, mr. samuel williamson, full and formal reconciliation had taken place between him and the company. [picture: four general managers. the late mr. george lewis, general manager and secretary, - . the late mr. john conacher, general manager, - , secretary, - . mr. alfred aslett, general manager and secretary, - . the late mr. c. s. denniss, general manager, - , secretary, - ] rare, indeed, is such an "incident" in the annals of any british railway. much rarer, at any rate, than another cause for special managerial anxiety, though not untinged with pride,--the conveyance of a royal passenger. in this respect the company, particularly in more recent years, has borne its full share of responsibility and sustained it with adequate cause for self satisfaction. queen victoria, though she visited north wales in the eighties, travelled by another route, and the first royal train to pass over any part of the cambrian system was that which bore king edward vii. and queen alexandra, when prince and princess of wales, on their visit to machynlleth and aberystwyth, for the former's installation as chancellor of the university of wales in the middle of june, , and on the same occasion another distinguished traveller along the line from wrexham to aberystwyth was mr. gladstone. eight years later, in july , the late king and his consort journeyed over the mid-wales section to rhayader, to participate in the opening of the birmingham water works, and thence to welshpool on their way to london. on march th, , king george, as prince of wales, passed over the cambrian on his way to four crosses, to perform a similar ceremony in connection with the extension of the liverpool waterworks at lake vyrnwy, and the longest of all monarchical tours over the system was when, in the middle of july, , king george, queen mary, and other members of the royal family proceeded from carnarvon via afonwen and the coast section to machynlleth as guests at plas machynlleth, the following day to aberystwyth for the foundation stone-laying of the welsh national library, and two days later, from machynlleth to whitchurch on their way to scotland. the last royal journey was a short one, again over the mid-wales section, in july , to enable the king to inaugurate the welsh national memorial institution at talgarth, on which occasion his majesty was graciously pleased to express high appreciation of the facilities ever afforded by the board and management whenever he travelled over their system. and on this gratifying note we may appropriately bring our record of cambrian "incidents" to a close. chapter xi. the cambrian of to-day. "_to stretch the octave 'twixt the dream and deed_, _ah! that's the thrill_."--richard le gallienne. i. and so, by devious routes and with many a halt by the way, we come to the cambrian of to-day. in such a chronicle as this demarcations of time must necessarily appear more or less arbitrary, and if we include under this heading a period which goes back to , it is merely because it is from that year the system has, with only some subsequent minor extensions in mileage, assumed the organic form familiar to us at the present time. for it was then that the policy of amalgamation, entered upon forty years earlier with the consolidation of the various independent companies, was carried forward another important stage, and it is since that date the most significant developments, both in road and rolling stock, made necessary by the ever-increasing demands of modern traffic conditions, have mainly been accomplished. [picture: officers of the cambrian railways at the date of amalgamation, march th, . left to right: seated--w. finchett (goods manager), r. williamson (accountant), g. c. mcdonald (engineer and locomotive superintendent), s. williamson (secretary and general manager), w. k. minshall (solicitor), t. s. goldsworthy (storekeeper), h. warwick (superintendent of the line). standing--e. colclough (works manager), j. williamson (assistant engineer), s. g. vowles (assistant secretary), j. burgess and t. c. sellars (assistants to the general manager)] as far back as february , the question of merging the mid-wales railway came before the cambrian directors, under the earnest pressure of mr. benjamin piercy. it was not long before even wider schemes of mutual co-operation among the railways of the principality were being publicly discussed, under the aegis of what was termed the welsh railway union, for which facilities were sought, by means of a private bill. a deputation, introduced by sir george osborne morgan (as he afterwards became) and headed by mr. (later sir john) maclure and sir theodore martin, waited on sir michael-hicks beach, at the board of trade. under this scheme all the lesser welsh railways were to form a link for through traffic, by way of the projected dee bridge and wrexham to south wales; but, though nothing materialised at the time, there was something of intelligent anticipation about the appointment, in , of mr. conacher, as manager of the neath and brecon railway, one of the parties to the proposal, in addition to his management of the cambrian. very soon afterwards, however, mr. conacher left for the north british and the joint office was terminated. but another significant new link in the "welsh union" chain was forged in , with the construction of the wrexham and ellesmere railway, which, though an independent company, with the hon. george t. kenyon, m.p., as its first chairman and mr. o. s. holt as secretary, was from the outset worked by the cambrian, and thus formed a new direct connection from that company's system, into the denbighshire coal-field, and hence, by the wrexham, mold and connah's quay, later absorbed by the great central, into chester and the merseyside. it was, therefore, no startling departure, when in , the cambrian sought parliamentary powers, for which royal assent was granted on june th, to carry out its previous proposal to amalgamate with the mid-wales railway. this line, some miles in length, which had been constructed about the same time as the newtown and llanidloes railway, and formed a junction with that undertaking at the latter town, had all along been in friendly co-operation with the cambrian, but the change of company also involved a change of carriages at llanidloes with consequent delay. from july st in that year cambrian trains began to run through, down the beautiful valley of the upper wye, connecting with the midland system at three cocks junction and then from talyllyn junction, over the brecon and merthyr company's metals into brecon, while on the financial side, stocks and shares of the mid-wales were converted into stocks and shares of the cambrian, and the arrears of interest on the mid-wales "b" debenture stock were capitalised into cambrian "b" debenture stock. the mid-wales like the cambrian, had had a chequered early career. indeed, it might be said that its embarrassments began at the cutting of the first sod, when mr. whalley, who was as ubiquitous as ever where welsh railways were concerned, permitted himself to make some remarks, in his speech, disparaging messrs. david davies and savin because he disapproved their method of financing the line. never before or since has such a scene been witnessed on such an occasion! in vain did some of the influential company present attempt to smooth things over. mr. whalley was not to be easily downed, and amidst a chorus of "hisses, whistles and pipes" he was heard declaring that he was a gentleman, a member of parliament and a magistrate, and "it was not his place to argue with men like the contractors." [picture: lieut.-col. david davies, m.p. chairman - ] but that was long ago, and by had been almost forgotten. what was more present in the public mind was the advantage to owners and traders and travellers alike of the formation of the through route (passing near to the gigantic birmingham waterworks at rhayader, and attaining the highest point on the cambrian system, at pantydwr, feet above sea-level), along which, every year, in growing numbers, the cambrian trains have carried hosts of excursionists from the teeming valleys of south wales to refresh themselves--and spend money--in the health resorts of cardigan bay. in the same year, too, the tanat valley railway, from oswestry to llangynog, to which reference has already been made in a previous chapter, { } the first sod having been cut at porthywaen by the countess of powis on september th, , was opened for traffic. six years later, in , the mawddwy railway, running from cemmes road to dinas mawddwy, which had formerly belonged to an independent company and later closed, was re-opened under the light railways act, and worked by the cambrian, while in , power was obtained to carry out yet another amalgamation, which, small in itself, considerably adds to the amenities of tourist traffic in the neighbourhood of aberystwyth. this was the absorption of the little vale of rheidol light railway, which, authorised by act of august th, , had been constructed on a two feet gauge, with power to enlarge up to ft. . inches, from that resort up the valley for just over a dozen miles to the beauteous gorge spanned by the far-famed devil's bridge. though an independent company, its directors were later entirely drawn from the cambrian board, with mr. alfred herbert, of burway, south croydon, as chairman. the line was opened for goods traffic in august and for passengers the following december, and since then many thousands of visitors to aberystwyth have made the delightful journey which its winding course along the hillside affords to lovers of charming scenery. by a subsequent order, in , an extension of the line was authorised from aberystwyth to aberayron, as a separate undertaking with a separate share capital, but this was never attempted, and the order subsequently expired, in . under the amalgamation scheme the stocks of the vale of rheidol company were converted into cambrian stock, and the line worked as part of that company's system. together with the welshpool and llanfair line (already described) { } which had been opened in , it gave the cambrian a narrow guage mileage of twenty-one miles, and a total mileage in operation (including the final extension into the commodious new station at pwllheli in july ), of exactly miles, of which twelve only are double line. ii. but it is not only in length that the cambrian has developed in recent years. the advance in constructional details and rolling stock is by no means less marked. following the abolition of second class compartments, in , has come a steady advance in the comfort and convenience of the passenger coaching stock, until to-day, when the latest composite corridor coaches feet long are accepted by other companies for through running. some of them are regularly worked on through trains, to manchester, liverpool, birmingham and london, and, in the tourist season, to other places in the north of england and south wales. recently a dining and luncheon car service has been inaugurated in the summer between paddington and aberystwyth, and buffet cars are attached to some of the principal trains between pwllheli and aberystwyth and shrewsbury and whitchurch all the year round. during the time when mr. herbert jones, who succeeded the late mr. wm. aston, was locomotive superintendent, { } a large stride forward was taken in this department. the engines now employed in hauling these long and heavily-ladened tourist trains are mighty monsters compared with what appeared "powerful" enough to travellers in the fifties and sixties. readers turning to the illustrations on another page may see at a glance the difference between "then" and "now" both in the coaching and the locomotive departments. even the contrast between the engines as originally constructed and as rebuilt is sufficient to impress the interested traveller, but to these, in late years, have been added a powerful class of passenger and goods engines, weighing, with the tender, tons, the passenger class being bogie engines, with four coupled wheels ft. diameter, and the goods being the ordinary six wheel coupled type. only one change from the old to the new is, perhaps, regretted by some. one of the qualifications of what is popularly termed the "railwayac,"--the man who, though not in the railway service, is keenly interested in the running and working of trains,--is that he should be able to recite, on demand, an accurate catalogue of engine names. in former days, on the cambrian, as on some other lines, every engine had its name, and there are still middle-aged men in this locality who carry from boyhood affectionate memory of many of these labels,--the "albion," the "milford," the "mountaineer," the "plasffynnon," the "maglona" and "gladys," the "glansevern," the "tubal cain," the "prince of wales" and the like, and, later the "beaconsfield" and the "hartington." to some of the directors, however, the habit of christening engines, especially after distinguished persons or the seats of the local gentry, seemed to savour of flunkeyism and the custom was abandoned. only on the london and north western and the great western, and the london brighton and south coast, the writer believes, does it still generally obtain, and even there it is limited to the larger passenger locomotives. gone, too, is the old decoration of the tenders with the prince of wales's plumes, and the only ornamentation of engines and coaches finally left being the company's crest, the english rose entwined with the red dragon of wales, the original design for which was made and presented to the directors many years ago by the late mr. w. w. e. wynne, of peniarth, towyn, a noted antiquarian of his day. [picture: mr. samuel williamson, general manager, - , and secretary, - ] with the increased weight of engines and coaches necessarily came a strengthening of the road. the rebuilding of the old wooden bridges has already been noted, but some of the girder bridges have been rebuilt also, the last of these, over the severn at kilkewydd, near welshpool, having only been completed last year. this is now a fine structure of four clear spans of more than feet, supported by concrete piers and abutments. then, too, for the light iron rails laid on a sandy ballast of the old days there have been substituted lb. steel rails laid on broken granite ballast, with a corresponding strengthening of the fastenings, sleepers, etc., and to expedite the running of non-stop trains, mainly during the pressure of the tourist season, special appliances have been erected at wayside stations for the exchange of the "tablet," by means of which the working of a single-line railway is controlled, additional passing places have been constructed, station platforms in several cases considerably lengthened, and one or two new stations opened, bringing the total on the system up to . during the war when park hall, oswestry, was converted first into a vast training camp and later, in part, into a german prisoners of war camp, a large amount of military transport work fell to the cambrian, a network of sidings being constructed through the area occupied, and about a quarter of a million of troops were carried over the system to and fro, an additional strain on the human and mechanical resources of the company which, however, was most efficiently sustained. nor does this entirely exhaust the efforts of the company to serve the district through which its railways pass, to increase the comfort and convenience of the travelling public and to augment and proclaim the amenities of the resorts to which it carries us. to this end, two enterprises, though not directly under the control of the cambrian, but with which they are linked by close co-operative ties, have materially contributed in recent years. though mr. savin's ambitious schemes for erecting hotels to house the tourists whom the trains might bring ended in financial disaster, the idea was an excellent one; and, when revived, some years ago on a more limited scale and under more propitious conditions, it successfully matured in the formation of the aberystwyth queen's hotel company, of which a prominent cambrian director, mr. alfred herbert, is chairman, and some other members of the board, as well as the general manager, mr. s. williamson, are directors, with the assistant secretary of the cambrian, mr. s. g. vowles, serving as secretary. not the least advantage of this sort of quasi-partnership is the facility which it has enabled the cambrian to offer to the public in the shape of combined rail and hotel tickets from the principal inland stations on the system, entitling the visitor to travel to and fro and enjoy the excellent week-end hospitality of the queen's for an inclusive moderate charge. it may be truly said, however, that no such allurement is required by those who are already familiar with the charms of cambria as they unfold themselves in almost illimitable variety all along this western seaboard, stretching from the mouth of the rheidol right up to the lonely fastnesses of lleyn. it is, therefore, more particularly to the enlightenment of the uninitiated that the cardigan bay resorts association, of which the rev. gwynoro davies, barmouth, is chairman and mr. h. warwick, superintendent of the cambrian line (and now its divisional traffic superintendent under the great western control), secretary, working in close and sympathetic co-operation, not only with the cambrian company, but with several of the local authorities, has done much, year after year, to make known to the potential english tourist the delights which await him on his arrival in these coastal towns. at any rate the glorious hills and valleys bordering the bay, which have inspired more than one welsh literary itinerant to rhapsody, and furnished mr. lloyd george with many a homely and figurative peroration, have proved no mean asset to the proprietors of a railway, whose traffic consists so largely of tourists. to the shareholders of the cambrian has come the satisfaction of knowing that a concern, which was born under, and for many years continued to struggle for its very existence with, the most embarrassing financial conditions, has gradually acquired a more robust economic constitution. but it has only been accomplished by long and patient conservation of its slender reserves. mr. conacher, it used to be said, during his arduous and energetic management, was "improving the cambrian in the dark." to his successors has been bequeathed the advantage of bringing that quiet sowing to a fruitful and more apparent harvest. mr. conacher was succeeded in the secretariat by another wise and diligent officer, the late mr. richard brayne, whose subsequent retirement to a quiet life in the seclusion of the shropshire village of kinnerley, was a matter of regret to all who knew and realised his sterling service to the company. on the managerial side of the joint-office which mr. conacher vacated, following the comparatively short but bustling reign of mr. alfred aslett (during which much was done to redeem the line from an unlucky reputation for unpunctuality that had become locally proverbial), and that of the late mr. c. s. denniss, the company were fortunate in securing for this responsible office, mr. samuel williamson, trained under mr. conacher's tutelage, and thus specially fitted to continue that wise and far-seeing policy which had marked his instructor's methods. under mr. williamson's guiding hand, still further assisted in very valuable fashion by mr. conacher, when, for a few years before his death, in , he was called to the chair of the board, and since then by a board of which major david davies, m.p., the grandson of one of the foremost of the cambrian's pioneers is chairman, the financial position of the company has very materially improved. this is reflected in the terms of amalgamation with the great western company. in the stockholders of the company received the sum of , pounds, but such was the rapid improvement in the company's position that in they received , pounds, that is to say, in the space of five years the amount increased by . per cent., and it was on this basis that the negotiations with the great western company were carried through in , because for the period from th august, , to th august, , under the arrangement with the government, the profits of the company were fixed on the basis. commencing as from st january, , the terms of amalgamation give to the proprietors of the cambrian company an immediate annual income of , pounds, and this will be increased as from st january, , by a further annual sum of , pounds, assuming the dividend on the ordinary stock of the great western company remains as at present, viz:-- . % per annum, thus making a total of , pounds. in addition to this improvement, the company, on the one hand, during the period from to , cleared off a heavy debt, and, on the other hand, built up very substantial reserves and, in fact, at the end of , the financial position of the company was stronger than it had ever been. [picture: two faithful servants. the late mr. richard brayne, secretary - . mr. t. s. goldsworthy, store-keeper, and senior officer at the time of its amalgamation with the great western] it has, however, been an agency beyond the control of directorate or internal management which has shaped the final destiny of the company. from time to time during the years up to rumours have circulated concerning the prospective purchase of the cambrian by one of its great neighbours, either the great western, or, more often, the london and north western, with which it had long maintained a close working alliance. but nothing ever matured in this direction. cynics were apt to suggest that the explanation might be sought in the parable of the two dogs and the bone, neither of them really wanting it, but each anxious that the other should not get it. anyhow, it seemed as if the cambrian would become permanently established as the largest of the independent welsh railways, when the great war plunged, not only this country, but more than half the civilized world into economic chaos. emerging from its war-time experience of state-control, the cambrian, like other railways, found itself faced with a hugely-augmented labour bill, to meet which out of potential future revenue, appeared practically impossible. it was under these embarrassing circumstances that sir eric geddes, as minister of transport, devised his grouping scheme, by which all english, welsh and scottish railways are amalgamated in groups as a means to more economical working. together with all the other independent welsh companies, the cambrian was placed in the western group, with the great western as absorber, and, the proposal meeting with the approval of the proprietors, to whom the transfer offered, on the whole, a decided financial advantage, while the directors were consoled for loss of office with a grant of , pounds, it was merely left for the amalgamation tribunal to give its final assent. this was done early in march and on lady day, , almost exactly seventy years after its original inception, the company, as a separate and independent organisation, officially ceased to be. iii. such is the story of the cambrian. if the reasonable limitations imposed on the prolixity of authorship compel its reduction, in these pages, into more or less broad outline, it is not for lack of plentiful material available to the more meticulous student of its details, out of which, it would be easy to weave a hundred volumes. lying in the lumber cupboards of solicitors' offices up and down montgomeryshire, in the strong rooms of welsh border banks, or amongst the family archives of some of the great country seats of powysland, there are to be discovered by the diligent searcher masses of old papers, the very existence of which may, perhaps, have been half-forgotten by their present owners, but which waft us back more than half-a-century, and shed varied light on some of the obscurer passages in welsh railway annals. early prospectuses, full of glowing promises of rich dividends the hopes of which have long since become as faded as the now yellow leaves on which they were inscribed. great tomes of carefully-written-out verbatim notes of parliamentary committee evidence. equally voluminous records of judgments delivered in chancery by illustrious law-givers long since dead. "minutes of orders on petition," declaring this, that and the other about the safeguarding of certain interests, and the payment of certain dividends--if any funds could be found for the purpose!--and enquiring all sorts of things about "gross receipts" and "monies actually paid into court, or which shall hereafter be paid into court." oh, eternal optimism of those early pioneers! letters from engineers and contractors. minutes of board meetings. books of accounts of "preliminary expenses," in which "visits to london" seem to bulk so largely and to exhaust so considerable a proportion of the capital subscribed by eager shareholders who believed that some fine day they were to wake to find themselves part owners of a wonderful trunk route yielding illimitable toll upon the wealth of lancashire and mercantile fleets of the far-reaching seas. they are all there in quaint and often incongruous companionship, and as one turns over their dusty pages and reverently replaces them in their grave of tattered brown paper, one is prompted to reflect, not without a wistful sigh, upon the vanity of human hopes and expectations. and yet, if the cambrian never became the great and glorious institution which those pioneers and projectors of its initial component parts intended, and sincerely believed it would, can it be either truly or generously said that their labours were in vain? by their courage and determination and resolute struggle against enormous adversity, they did, at least, bring into being a public service which has opened up remote valleys, formed a link between the great centres of england and of south wales, and the coast of cardigan bay, and kindled a new life for and offered the opportunity of increased prosperity to many a small country town in shropshire, montgomeryshire, and merioneth. they have created means of employment for thousands of workers, and afforded facilities for recreation for millions more who have thus been enabled and encouraged to spend their holidays amidst the health-giving breezes of the mountains and the sea. and above all they, and their successors in the conduct of the undertaking, with its developing lines, have shown us how, despite the early apathy and even jealousy of neighbouring "giant leviathans," a small independent railway company can faithfully serve its day and generation, until, by one of those unforeseen strokes of irony to which corporate as well as individual life is ever subject, it is thrown by eccentric fate into the arms of the very company, under whose protective aegis the originators of the oswestry and newtown and the newtown and machynlleth railways so ardently, but vainly, desired to place themselves more than half a century ago. what may be the outcome of this great change it is yet too early to predict; but, whatever it be, for weal or woe, it is a sad thought to many that what they have so long known, and smiled at, and cursed, and loved as "the poor old cambrian," officially is no more, and "the debt that cancels all others" is finally discharged. appendix. list of chairmen of the cambrian railways since the consolidation of the various independent undertakings in . the right honourable the earl vane. (afterwards the most hon. the marquess of londonderry) ( - ) captain r. d. pryce ( - ) mr. james frederic buckley ( - ) mr. arthur charles humphreys-owen, m.p. ( - ) mr. william bailey hawkins ( - ) mr. john conacher ( - ) lt.-col. david davies, m.p. ( - ) list of general managers since the date of consolidation. mr. george lewis ( - ) mr. john conacher ( - ) mr. alfred aslett ( - ) mr. c. s. denniss ( - ) mr. s. williamson ( - ) (between and and again in - there was no general manager, the office being designated traffic manager). list of secretaries since the date of consolidation. mr. george lewis ( - ) mr. john conacher ( - ) mr. alfred aslett ( - ) mr. r. brayne (l - ) mr. c. s. denniss ( - ) mr. s. williamson ( - ) list of directors and officials at the date of amalgamation, th march, . _directors_-- chairman: lt.-col. david davies, m.p., broneirion, llandinam, mont. deputy chairman: thomas craven, esq., d.l., j.p., a, kensington palace gardens, london, w., . lt.-col. n. w. apperley, m.v.o., southend, durham. charles bridger orme clarke, esq., , st. dunstan's alley, e.c., . sir joseph davies, k.b.e., m.p., dinas powis, glam. alfred herbert, esq., burway, harewood road, south croydon. colonel rt. hon. lord kenyon, k.c.v.o., gredington, whitchurch, salop. the rt. hon. the earl of powis, powis castle, welshpool. _officers_-- secretary and general manager: mr. s. williamson. assistant secretary: mr. s. g. vowles. accountant: mr. r. williamson. engineer and loco superintendent: mr. g. c. mcdonald. assistant engineer: mr. j. williamson. works manager: mr. e. colclough. superintendent of the line: mr. h. warwick. goods manager: mr. w. finchett. store keeper: mr. t. goldsworthy. auditors: messrs. james fraser, , copthall avenue, e.c.; and charles fox, , old jewry chambers, e.c. solicitor: mr. w. kenrick minshall, oswestry. bankers: lloyd's bank ltd., oswestry. some old time tables. . oswestry and newtown railway: up , , , , , , , , , , , , welshpool : : : : : : pool quay : : : : : : four crosses : : : : : : llanymynech : : : : : : llynclys : : : : . . : oswestry : : : : : : down , , , , , , , , , , , , oswestry : : : : : : llynclys : : : . . : : llanymynech : : : : : : four crosses : : : : : : pool quay : : : : : : welshpool : : : : : : sunday trains--trains leave oswestry (calling at the intermediate stations) for welshpool at a.m., and p.m. also from welshpool for oswestry at a.m., and p.m. omnibuses await the arrival of the trains at oswestry and welshpool. an omnibus will work daily (sundays excepted) from llanfyllin, through llanfechain and llansaintffraid to llanymynech, in connection with the a.m. up train, and the - p.m., down train: also between montgomery and welshpool in connection with the a.m. up train, and the p.m. down train. . llanidloes and newtown railway. from , , , , p , , , , p.m. llanidloes a.m. a.m. p.m. stations llanidloes : : : : dolwen : : : : llandinam : : : : moat lane : : : : newtown : : : : from , , p , , , , , , p.m. newtown a.m. p.m. p.m. stations newtown : : : : moat lane : : : : llandinam : : : : dolwen : : : : llanidloes : : : : . after the line was opened to aberystwyth. (down trains). down sundays whitchurch d. : : : : : : fenn's bank : : : bettisfield : : : : welshampton : : : : ellesmere : : : : : : whittington : : : : oswestry a. : : : : : : . . . d. : : : : : : : : llynclys : : : : : : : : pant mon. w&s w&s : llanymynech : : : : : : : four crosses : : : : : : : arddleen { a} mon. w&s w&s pool quay : : : : : : buttington : : : : : : : : welshpool a. : : : : : : : : . . . d. : : : : : : : forden : : : : : montgomery : : : : : : : abermule : : : : : newtown : : : : : : : : scafell : : : moat lane : : : : : : : junct. a. . . . d. : : : : : : . . . moat : : : : : : : lane junct. . . . : : : : : : llandinam . . . dolwen : : : : : : . . . : : : : : : llanidloes caersws : : { b} : : pontdolgoch : { b} : carno : : : : llanbrynmair : : : : : cemmes road : : : : : machynlleth : : : : : glan-dovey : : : : ynys las : : : : . . . : : : ynys-las (by ferry) . . . : : : : aberdovey . . . towyn : : : : . . . a. : : : llwyngwril borth arr. : : : : : llanfihangel : : : : bow street : : : : : aberystwyth : : : : : . after the line was opened to aberystwyth. (up trains). up a. m. a.m. a.m. a.m. p.m. p.m. p.m. sundays a.m. p.m. aberystwyth : : : : bow street : : : : llanfihangel : : : borth : : : : . . . : : : llwyngwril . . . towyn : : : : . . . : : : : aberdovey . . . ynys-las : : : : (by ferry) _a._ ynys-las : : : : glan-dovey : : : machynlleth : : : : cemmes road : : : : llanbrynmair : : : : carno : : : : pontdolgoch : : caersws : : : . . . : : : : : : : : llanidloes . . . dolwen : : : : : : . . . : : : : : : : llandinam . . . moat : : : : : : : lane junc. moat lane : : : : junc. _a._ . . . _d._ : : : : : scafell : : newtown : : : : : : : abermule : : : : : : montgomery : : : : : : : forden : { a} : : welshpool _a._ : : : : : : : . . . _d._ : : : : : : : : buttington : : : : : : : : pool quay : : : : : : : : arddleen w&s : w&s mon. four crosses : : : : : : : : llanymynech : : : : : : : : pant w&s : w&s mon. llynclys : : : & : : : : : oswestry _a._ : : : p.m. : { b} : : : : . . . _d._ : : : : : : whittington : : : : : ellesmere : : : : : : welshampton : : : : : bettisfield : : : : : fenn's bank : : : : : whitchurch : : : : : : [picture: map of the cambrian railways] index. aberayron: extension . aberdovey , , . abermule , , , . abermule accidents , . aberystwyth , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . aberystwyth: excursion fares to . aberystwyth: first train to , . aberystwyth: royal train to . aberystwyth and welsh coast railway , . aberystwyth and welsh coast railway bill . aberystwyth queen's hotel co. . afonwen . aitken: mr. russel . "albion," the . arddleen . ashford: mr. . aslett: mr. alfred . aston: mr. william . bailey-hawkins: mr. , . bala , . bancroft: mr. . barlow: mr. , . barmouth , , , , , , . barmouth and pwllheli line opened . barmouth bridge , . barmouth junction , , . barnes, mr. thomas, m.p. . "beaconsfield," the . beresford: dr. r. de la poer . berriew , . bethell: mr. . bettisfield , . bishop's castle railway , , . bishop's castle railway bill . black pool dingle . blandford: marquis of . borth , , , , . borth: excursion to . borth: first train from , . borth to ynyslas: tourists' trip from . borth: unconventional bathing at . brace: mr. . bradford: earl of . branch lines . brayne: mr. richard . brecon , , . brecon and merthyr railway , . bridges , , , , , . buckley: mr. j. f. , . burke: stationmaster, and his "cattle tickets" . buttington , , , . caersws , , , . caersws: mishap at . cambrian r'way: absorption of vale of rheidol light railway , . ,, ,, ,, amalgamation with g. w. railway , , . ,, ,, ,, amalgamation with mid-wales railway , , . ,, ,, ,, bankruptcy . ,, ,, ,, board of directors, etc. , . ,, ,, ,, comforts of travel on the , , . ,, ,, ,, committee of inquiry demanded . ,, ,, ,, consolidation bill , . ,, ,, ,, crest . ,, ,, ,, dining car service , . ,, ,, ,, directors admonished , . ,, ,, ,, engines , , , , , , , , . ,, ,, ,, engine names abandoned . ,, ,, ,, first royal train . ,, ,, ,, hotel tickets . ,, ,, ,, improved financial position . ,, ,, ,, locomotive improvements . ,, ,, ,, mileage . ,, ,, ,, military transport . ,, ,, ,, mixed trains . ,, ,, ,, rolling-stock improvements . ,, ,, ,, royal appreciation . ,, ,, ,, "tablet" system . ,, ,, ,, "tyranny" . ,, ,, ,, workshops: pamphlet on the , . campbell: superintendent . carnarvon: royal train to . carno , , , , . carno, celebrations at . cartwright: alderman peploe , . castle caereinion . cefn junction . cemmes road , . cleaton: alderman e., of llanidloes . clive: archdeacon . conacher: mr. john , , , , , . "countess vane," the . criggion , , . croxon: mr. r. j. . davidson: mr. . davies: mr. david, of llandinam , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . davies: mr. david, letter to the "times" . davies: lieut.-col. david, m.p. . davies: mr. edward . davies: rev. gwynoro, of barmouth . davies: mr. william . dee bridge . denniss: mr. c. s. . devil's bridge , . dinas mawddwy . dolgelly , , , , . dovey junction , . dovey valley . dugdale: mr. j. . dysynni bridge . edwards: mrs . edwards: mr. robert . elias: mr. . ellesmere , , , , , , , , , . ellesmere, accident at , . ellesmere to oswestry line . ellesmere to whitchurch extension . ellesmere to whitchurch: first train from . elwin: mr. r. b. . farmer: mr. . fenn's bank . festiniog . festiniog railway . forden , . foulkes: mr. j., of aberdovey . foulkes: mrs., of aberdovey . four crosses: royal train to . fraser: mr. james . friog: accident at , . garthmyl . gartside: mr., assault on , . "gladys": the . glandovey junction . . . see dovey junction. glandovey junction station: peculiarities of , . glandyfi . glansevern . "glansevern": the , . glaslyn: vale of . great western railway: loop line at oswestry proposed . ,, ,, ,, loop-line scheme failure , . ,, ,, ,, oppose the coast scheme . ,, ,, ,, proposal to work the newtown & machynlleth line . hadley: mr. s. h. . hanmer: sir john, bart., m.p. , , . "hartington": the . hayward: mr. thomas , . "hell-fire jack" . herbert; mr. alfred , . "hero": the . hill: capt. clement . hilton: mr. edwin . hodges: william, of oswestry . holmes: alderman richard, of llanidloes . holt: mr. o. s. . hood: mr. john , , . hopkins: mr. rice , . howell: mr. abraham , , , , , , . howell: mr. david, of machynlleth , , , . howell: mr., of hawarden . hughes: john ceiriog . humphreys owen: mr. a. c., of glansevern , . jebb, captain, r. g., of ellesmere . jenkins: mr. john . johns: mr. . jones: mr. c. r., of llanfyllin . jones: dr. edward . jones: mr. herbert . jones: dr. hugh . jones: mr. john, of llanfyllin . jones: mr. r. d., of trafeign . jones: mrs. r. d., of trafeign . kenyon: the hon. g. t., m.p. . kerry , . kerry: first train to . kilkewydd . kilkewydd bridge . kilkewydd bridge: first train over . kilkewydd bridge: government approbation of . kinchant: miss, of park hall . kinnerley , , . kynaston: sir john, bart . lefeaux: mr. w. . "leighton": the . lewis: mr. george , , , . liller: mr. . llanbrynmair , , . llandinam , . llandrillo . llandysilio . llanfair . llanfair caereinion . llanfair caereinion: meeting at . llanfair road . llanfair scheme . llanfyllin , , , , , , , , . llanfyllin: public meeting at . llanfyllin branch line: opening of the . llangollen: vale of . llangynog , , , . llanidloes , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . llanidloes: opening ceremony at . llanidloes and newtown railway , , . llanrhaiadr . llanrhaiadr: public meeting at . llansantffraid . llansilin , . llanwddyn . llanyblodwel . llanymynech , , , , , , , , . llanymynech hills: cheap excursions to . "llewelyn" the . lloyd: miss, of oswestry . lloyd: mrs., of welshpool . lloyd: mr. william, of newtown . llwyngwril . llynclys , . londonderry: marquis . . . of see vane: earl luxmoore: rev. c. t. c. . luxmoore: rev. j., of llanymynech . machynlleth , , , , , , , , , , , . machynlleth: festivities at , . machynlleth: operations commenced . machynlleth: royal train to . maclure: sir j. w., m.p. , , . madocks: mr. . "maglona," the . manchester and milford railway , . marsh: mr. t. e., of llanidloes . marshall: james . martin: sir theodore . maurice: mr. r. m. b., of bodynfoel . mawddwy railway: opened by the cambrian railway company . mccormick: mr. . mcdonald: mr. g. c. . melinyrhyd gate . metcalfe: mr. richard . mickleburgh: mr. c. , , . mickleburgh: mr. w. , . mid-wales railway , , , , . mid-wales railway: amalgamation with the cambrian , , . mid-wales railway: royal train on the . mile end . milford haven . "milford": the , . minffordd . minshall: alderman thomas . minshall: mr. t. e. . minsterley , , . moat lane junction , , , . moel-y-gest . montgomery , , , , , . montgomery: celebrations at , . "montgomery" the , , . montgomeryshire and shrewsbury line . montgomeryshire canal bill . montgomeryshire railways company . montgomeryshire scheme , . morda valley . morgan, mr., of aberystwyth . morgan: sir george osborne . morris: mr. edward, of oxon, salop . "mountaineer"; the . nantmawr , . nantmawr mineral line . narrow gauge lines . neath and brecon railway . nevin . newton lane . newtown. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . newtown: protest meeting at . newtown and llanidloes railway , , , , , . newtown and machynlleth railway , , , , . newtown and machynlleth railway: anon. letter on the . newtown and machynlleth railway bill . newtown and machynlleth railway: board of directors . newtown and machynlleth railway company: first meeting . newtown and machynlleth railway: opening ceremony . newtown and machynlleth railway: shareholders' meeting , . newtown and oswestry railway , . newtown and oswestry railway bill . ormsby-gore: mr. w. , . oswestry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . oswestry: approval of being on great western railway main line . oswestry: celebrations at . oswestry: excursion fares from . oswestry: festivities at . oswestry: first train to . oswestry: hostile reception of great western railway witnesses . oswestry: line projected to rednal . oswestry: meeting of creditors . oswestry: offices removed to . oswestry: park hall camp . oswestry: works erected at . oswestry "advertizer's" commentary . oswestry & newtown railway , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . oswestry and newtown railway bill . oswestry and newtown railway: commencement of line . oswestry and newtown railway: extension to whitchurch . oswestry and newtown railway: financial state, etc. . oswestry and newtown railway: financial re-establishment . oswestry and newtown railway: formal opening . oswestry and newtown: regulations , , . oswestry and welshpool railway , . oswestry, ellesmere and whitchurch line , , , . oswestry, ellesmere and whitchurch line: approved by parliamentary committee . oswestry, ellesmere and whitchurch railway bill . oughterson: mr. . ousting the mail coach . owen: mr. george , , , , , , , , , , . owen: mr. (mayor of welshpool) . owen: mr. robert , . owen: mrs., of glansevern , , , , , , , . pant . "pegasus": the . penmaenpool , . penrhyndeudraeth . piercy: mr. benjamin , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . "plasffynnon": the . plas machynlleth . plynlimmon , . pont aberglaslyn . pontdolgoch . pontdolgoch: accident averted at . pont robert . pool quay , , . porthdynlleyn , . porthywaen , , , . portmadoc , , , . poundley: mr. . powis: countess of . powis: late earl of , , , , , , . powis: late earl of, resigns chairmanship . pritchard: mr. t. p. . prickard: mr. t., of dderw, radnorshire . "prince of wales": the . princep: mr. . provis: mr. w. a. . pryce: capt. r. d., of cyfronaith , , , , . pryse: capt. e. l. . pugh: mr. david, m.p., of welshpool . pugh: mr. j., of llanfyllin . pwllheli , , , , , . pwllheli: line extension . railway volunteers: presentation to the . rea valley railway , , . rednal , . rednal: line projected to ellesmere . rhayader , . rhayader: royal train to . roberts: mr. t. d. . royal trains . ruabon , , . ruck: mr. l. . savin, mr. john , . savin: mr. thomas, of oswestry , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . seaham: lord . severn valley local line (estimated revenue) . sheriff: mr. a. c. . shrewsbury , , , , , , , , . shrewsbury railway bill . shrewsbury and montgomeryshire line . shrewsbury and welshpool railway , , . shrewsbury and welshpool railway bill . shropshire and montgomeryshire railway , . shropshire union canal . shropshire union canal railway scheme . slyman: dr., of newtown hall , . "song of the railway" , . stanton: mr. john . sylfaen hall . talerddig , , , . talerddig: landslide at . "talerddig": the . talgarth: royal train to . talyllyn junction , . tanat valley light railway , . tanat valley light railway absorbed by the cambrian . tanner: mr. b. . tan-yr-allt . thornton: mr. . three cocks junction . thurston: mr. c. t. . towyn , . "tubal cain": the . twymyn bridge . vale of clwyd railway . vale of glaslyn . vale of rheidol light railway: amalgamates with cambrian , . van mineral line . van mineral line: opening of . vane: countess , , . vane: countess, presentation to . vane: earl , , , , , , , , , , . vane: earl, special train in collision . vane-tempest: lord herbert . venables: rowland james . vowles: mr. s. g. . vyrnwy: lake . vyrnwy: lake, royal train to . ward: mr., of donnett, whittington , , , , . warwick: mr. h. . webb: mr. , . welshampton: accident at . welshpool , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . welshpool: claim for railway works . welshpool: festivities at , , , . welshpool: first train to . welshpool: royal train to . welshpool: shareholders' meeting at . welshpool and llanfair light railway . welshpool and llanfair light railway: opening of the . welshpool and newtown line inspected . welshpool and oswestry line , . welshpool and shrewsbury railway . welshpool and shrewsbury railway bill . welsh railway union bill . wem . west midland, shrewsbury and welsh coast railway , , , . west midland, shrewsbury and welsh coast railway: preliminary prospectus . west shropshire mineral railway . whalley: mr. george hammond , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . whalley: mr. george hammond, assaults mr. gartside , . whitchurch , , , , , , , , , . whitchurch: appeal against g. w. railway proposals . whitchurch: royal train to . whittington , . whixall moss , , . williams: mr. abraham, of aberdovey . williams: alderman c. e., of oswestry . williamson: mr. samuel , , . wrexham , , , , . wrexham: protest meeting at . wrexham and ellesmere railway . wrexham, mold and connah's quay railway , . wynn: colonel, m.p. , . wynn: lady watkin williams , . wynn: lady watkin williams, presentation to . wynn: sir watkin williams , , , . wynne: mr. w. w. e., of peniarth, towyn . ynyslas , , , , . ynyslas: bridge attempted , . ynyslas: failure as a seaside resort , . footnotes: { } the reader sufficiently interested in statistical details and comparative tables will find further particulars concerning some of these points in an appendix at the end of the book. { } an admirable sketch of the late mr. davies's career appeared from the pen of an old friend in the "barry dock news" at the time of the opening of the barry docks in july and was reprinted in summarised form in his obituary notice in "bye gones," july . besides his connection with the cambrian, it gives details of his many other activities, including his representation of cardigan boroughs in the house of commons from to , and on the merging of the boroughs into the county, at that date, for cardiganshire till , when he was defeated on becoming an opponent of mr. gladstone's irish policy; his services on the montgomery county council, and his magnificent generosity to the calvinistic methodist churches and in aid of the cause of welsh higher education, a liberality which has since been continued in fullest measure by his family. { } this phrase of shirley brooks's was probably applied rather to the suspension bridge, which telford planned to carry the london and holyhead road over the straits, and which was opened on january th, , but it not less accurately describes stephenson's famous railway tubular bridge, begun in and completed in , at a cost of about , pounds. { } see "minutes of the proceedings of the institute of civil engineers," published june, . he died on march th, , having been engaged on nearly all the railways started in north and central wales, and later on the sardinian railways, where he formed a close intimacy with garibaldi. he returned to marchwiel hall, near wrexham, where he laid out one of the finest cricket grounds in the kingdom. he was a j. p. for denbighshire and declined many invitations to enter parliament. { } the original station at newtown was a wooden shed still in the station yard, but now used as a coal merchant's office. { } mr. howell's yeoman services in promoting these local lines was appropriately recognized by his fellow-citizens in tangible fashion. the howell family have in their possession a silver inkstand, bearing the following inscription:--"presented by the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of welshpool to abraham howell, esq., in grateful acknowledgement of his exertions in obtaining a railway through the county of montgomery, july, ." { } a mysterious measurement arrived at, according to mr. f. s. williams, an authority on the history of railway construction, on no scientific data, but due to the fact that the old "way leaves," or wooden rails, put down to economise the wear and tear of colliery trains, were so adapted to admit of the wagons passing through five feet gateways. { } mr. abraham howell's evidence before lord stanley's committee, . { } afterwards called buttington. { } the rebuilding of this bridge, only completed last year, was the last large engineering work accomplished on the cambrian system prior to its amalgamation with the great western. { } the board given in "bradshaw's shareholders' guide" for is earl vane (chairman); sir w. w. wynn (vice-chairman); mr. robert davies pryce, cyfronydd, montgomeryshire, and mr. john foulkes, aberdovey, with mr. david howell, secretary, messrs r. and b. piercy, engineers, and messrs. howell and morgan, machynlleth, solicitors. { } the aberystwyth and welsh coast railway company, of which the original directors were messrs. david williams, deudreath castle, (chairman); jasper wilson johns, , cumberland street, hyde park, london, and rhiwport, welshpool, (vice chairman); william lawrence banks, walton house, brecon; wm. gray, the grove, lee, kent; and henry gartside, wharmton towers, greenfield, saddleworth; and the secretary, mr. w. roberts, a, bridge street, westminster. { } the little train so smoothly glides along our lovely valley, and faster than the lightning flash it travels on its journey. we leave llangynog town at nine without a darkening frown, and fleeter than the cuckoo's flight at three reach london town. { } see head of this chapter. { } later the colours were changed to cream and green, with yellow and red lines, until january, , when, for economical reasons, following the examples of some other railways, the cambrian repainted all their coaches entirely in dark green, with yellow lines. { } for some years earl vane had a private saloon on the railway, painted in the family colours, yellow and lilac, with his coat of arms on every door, and fitted with a water tank on the roof, but it was found too cumbrous for continued use on the main line, and was afterwards converted into an ordinary carriage, and still runs, in this more mundane form, on the tanat valley branch. { } see "some earlier branches." { } see "some earlier branches." { } on mr. herbert jones's retirement at the end of , the offices of locomotive superintendent and engineer were combined, and have since been jointly occupied by mr. g. c. mcdonald. from scanned images of public domain material from the google print project.) history of steam on the erie canal. appeal for the extension of the act of april, , "to foster and develop the inland commerce of the state," for the benefit of the canals and the commercial community. _new york, january, ._ new york: evening post steam presses, nassau street, cor. liberty. . with respects of the author, broadway, n. y. history of steam on the erie canal. screw propellers from to . during the maple sugar season of the spring of , a well-to-do farmer, of western new york, whittled out a spiral or augur-like screw-propeller, in miniature, which he thought admirably adapted to the canal. he soon after went to buffalo, and contracted for a boat to be built, with two of his archimedean screws for propulsion by steam. although advised by his builders to substitute the common four-bladed propellers, he adhered to his original design, and with one propeller at either side of the rudder--called "twin-propellers"--she was soon ready for duty. she is the vessel known to history as the _charles wack_. she carried three-fourths cargo and towed another boat with full cargo, and made the trip from buffalo to west troy in seven days, total time, averaging two miles per hour. but she returned from troy to buffalo, with half freight, in four days and sixteen hours, net time; averaging three and one-twelfth miles per hour, without tow. this initiated the series of steamers from to , and, with others that soon followed, created a general enthusiasm in behalf of steam transportation, which led to a trip through the canal that fall, on a chartered steam-tug, by the governor of the state, the canal board, and other notables, and with public receptions, speeches, &c., at different cities along the route. that boat was soon followed by the _s. b. ruggles_, a first-class steam canal-boat, built by the hon. e. s. prosser, of buffalo, with a first-class modern propeller, and with double the engine capacity of the former. the _p. l. sternburg_ soon followed, and was a first-class boat, with modern twin-propellers, but with less engine capacity than the _wack_. the same season there were some local steamers built to run regularly between different cities on the line of the canal. the following season of was the most active year the erie canal has ever known in regard to steam. the _c. wack_ was sold to mr. prosser, who took out her archimedean propellers, and substituted a modern propeller, and doubled her engine capacity, and reproduced her as the _city of buffalo_. the _gold hunter_ was produced by the western transportation company, of buffalo. she was a short, oblong tub, with a square, box-like bow, and rounded stern, designed only to carry machinery and coal, and was to be recessed into the stern of ordinary horse-boats by cutting away an equivalent space therefrom. she was designed to make a trip on the canal, and be immediately transferred to another boat for return trip, thus to avoid the usual loss of time at the termini of the canal. she was abandoned after a brief trial. the canal-boat _niagara_ had the cathcart propeller supplied, which consisted of a union of the propeller and rudder by a universal joint in the shaft, and so adjusted as to unite them for steerage purposes. this design was tried on the steamer _cathcart_, upon the chesapeake and ohio canal, in , and with considerable newspaper _eclat_. the _rotary_, of new york, was a new steamer for freighting purposes, with a rotary engine and common propeller. this occupied but little space, and worked prettily on exhibition. the _eclipse_, of new york, was new, and had oscillating propeller engines. screw-tugs. the _gov. king_ was a medium-sized new york harbor propeller, and made repeated trips with three boats in tow, and one trip with five boats. she was so slow as to be unremunerative, as compared with horses. the western transportation co., after the failure of the _gold hunter_, built two powerful tugs, the _washington_ and _lafayette_. they were soon withdrawn. mr. prosser built the first-class tug, _stimers_, but she had a short canal history. the tugs, _bemis_ and _dan brown_, made good runs each, with three boats in tow, but were short-lived canallers. paddle-wheels and other devices. during these years the paddle-wheel system was thoroughly tried, and under varied circumstances. as the locks prevented the use of side-wheels for full freights, an adjustable stern-wheel was tried. this could be raised or lowered in adaptation to the light or full cargo. the _h. k. viele_ was a first-class canal steamer, with stern-wheel and vertical, or excentric, acting paddles. these were considered by some as peculiarly well adapted to canal purposes, yet in practice proved otherwise. the _fall brook_ was built by mr. john mcgee, of seneca lake renown, for towing purposes, intending to establish a line between seneca lake and new york city; but her canal abilities were so poor as to cause her withdrawal to lake duty. she had powerful engines, with vertical acting paddle-wheel, set amidships between twin-hulls, with a full flow of water from bow to stern, and was decked across forward and aft of her wheel. the _lady jane_, of utica, was a bow paddle-wheel boat with small engines. she accomplished but little. as paddle-wheel canallers have proven less efficient than screw propellers they are more limited in numbers. other contemporary devices were tried. the canal-boat, _oswego_, had her stern recessed to receive a submerged horizontal, centrifugal-acting water-wheel, which received water at a central and ejected it at a periphery opening for propulsion. this opening could be turned for steerage or backing purposes. she was altered at green point and received good machinery at brooklyn, but was soon restored to horses. duck's-feet paddles were experimented with at buffalo. a scull propulsion was tried upon the hudson. also hinge-bladed propellers, to open and close with a fore-and-aft movement at the stern. this last device was tried by a doctor hunter, who has more recently tried a "fish-tail propeller," the blades being made of rubber, to imitate the form and elasticity of the tail, with mechanical imitations of movement. it is hardly necessary to add that these devices were all worthless, and others of miscellaneous character may have been tried, yet without merit. remarks. wealth, experience and skill have marked this first era of steam, and though combined, they utterly failed. both mr. prosser and the western transportation co. were owners of fleets of splendid lake propellers, and were wealthy, with interests intimately identified with canals. it is evident there was no want, either of money, mechanical resources, or knowledge of canal business as basis of their failures with steam. capital flowed into the steam enterprise from various resources, and ambition multiplied experiments, but with no appreciable success. the difficulties lay beyond the reach of capital and beyond the reach of known resources, and no adequate knowledge had been developed to solve the problem. therefore, after suffering failures for several years, the state wisely volunteered to add extraordinary inducements by a large appropriation to encourage success. it could not have been to encourage the reproduction of former failures by the repetition of former trials. the inquiry is therefore proper, as a lesson from the history of the early era of steam, what are the difficulties? why has steam failed so absolutely and so universally? why did the state subsequently offer a large bounty to foster and develop steam. obviously there is some hidden difficulty, some unknown inability, because steam is the arbiter of the age, it is the great supreme motor of man's agencies throughout the world, hence we come from the sublime to the ridiculous when we use it to load boats at buffalo, to be towed miles by horses. the lessons of the early era are worthless for repetition. there is no better screw-propelling machinery known than was then tried and abandoned; but the lessons are of value to discover the difficulties which must be remedied; to teach that the success of steam lies beyond the reach of publicly known mechanical resources. the trials establish plainly and incontrovertibly that the failures were owing to the want of _mechanical adaptation_ to required duty; to a _mechanical inability_ to utilize the power of the steam; to a _mechanical waste_ of power beyond their ability to control or remedy; and that the wasted power was extravagantly large and the utilized insignificantly small. a very intelligent captain of one of the best and most powerful steamers known to the erie canal, who had a full and carefully-kept log, stated that when his engine _exceeded_ a hundred horse-power of steam, he could only equal twelve horses on the tow-path. thus over seven-eighths of his power was wastefully developed in order to render one-eighth useful. but this occurred when he was moving only two loaded boats--the steamer and one in tow--but when moving four boats--three in tow--the _percentage of utility_ was lessened, and he could not exceed eight to ten per cent. of his steam, as shown in slower movement, when fewer horses on the tow-path could equal him. the steamer is a reservoir, and its rotatory power is free to be developed "_inversely as its resistances_." hence, when fastened to a pier, it is all developed in its receding currents, and _per contra_ when moving; if its machinery had a perfect fulcrum, it would all be developed in the run of the boat; consequently, on rivers and lakes, with fine-lined steamers, that cut the water like a knife, it is like standing in a small boat and pushing from a large one, but on canals, with their full bows, it is like standing in a large boat and pushing from a small one; the little one runs away with the power. the more than square feet area of immersed section of the full bow represents the large boat, and the dozen square feet effective area of propeller blades, set at an easy angle for spiral motion and recession velocity, is the little one that squanders the power so extravagantly. increase in number of boats increases this contrast. the propeller blades of a good canaller will move twelve to fifteen miles, in their line of spiral movement, to get two to three miles headway for the boat. _a correct scientific analysis_ can trace the developments of the eighty-five to ninety per cent. of the inherent power of the steam that is wasted on the common canal-boat, and that has no resultant effect whatever in the motion of the boat, just as positively as it can trace the co-developments of fifteen to ten per cent. that is utilized and that moves the boat. the practical man sees the truths of these statements. he sees steam used with small, medium and large engines for canal purposes, and sees them all fail to meet the economy of transportation established by horses; but he would just as soon put men on the tow-path to compete with horses as to put horses into his elevators to compete with steam; and that, because in the elevators the power of the steam is chiefly utilized, whilst on the canal it is chiefly wasted. it is therefore conclusive that there is an absolute necessity for a new mechanical system, for a radically different system of transmissive mechanism, for a system that can develop a considerable portion of the power of the steam in the movement of boats. the variations of the old systems of propulsion that are being continuously tried are worthless, in the very nature of the case, because they are in no sense a remedy for existing inabilities, and because they do not, in any sense whatever, meet the difficulties. steam in and . screw propellers. soon after the act of april, , to foster and develop the inland commerce of the state, the steam canal-boat _cathcart_ was tried. she is like the _niagara_ of , and has not been continued in the trade. the canal-boat _george barnard_, afterward called the _andrew h. dawson_, was tried, and has run through the season of . she has a common propeller in her bow, with a recess from the water-line inclined to twenty feet aft to the bottom. her propeller, therefore, forces the current against this incline and along the bottom in retardation of its progress. hence, she cannot be expected to excel former trials. the _eureka_ is an iron boat, built at buffalo, with twin-propellers at her bow, set in recesses, at a diverging angle, to throw the water from the bow along the sides of the boat. she is built, by men of canal experience, with compound engines, and was designed to be a superior boat for canal purposes. but her _mechanical currents_ at and against the bow must have a retarding tendency, not compensated by any other considerations. the _george a. feeter_ is also a twin-propeller, with diagonal, channel waterways on each side for about twenty-five feet, when they merge into a larger channel about five feet forward of the rudder. her propellers are set in these channels, about ten feet aft of their side openings. with her propellers thus housed, the mechanical currents against the aft-sides of her channels are very damaging to her efficiency. the _wm. baxter_ is also a twin-propeller, like the _p. l. sternburg_, of , and with compound engines, like the _eureka_ and the _dawson_. she is built of yellow pine, with easy lines, and so low as to be unable to carry five-sixths of a horse-cargo of wheat or corn below deck, so that her lightness gives help to cargo, and her sharp bow and stern to speed. but her construction and model were long since abandoned by canal-boat builders. the _wm. newman_ is a common propeller and double-deck boat, and carries two hundred and ten tons. she is much like the _ruggles_ of , but has less steam capabilities. the _charles hemjee_ was built upon the western division, with a tunnel-shaped encasement to her propeller. of course she is reported as "very slow." the _john durston_ had a propeller built in with her rudder, and driven with a vertical shaft, extending down through a cylindrical rudder-post, but was unfit for service. paddle wheels. the _port byron_ is a stern, paddle-wheel boat, with vertical or eccentric acting paddles, and is like the _viele_ of . she has a recess the entire length of her bottom of several square feet area, intended to facilitate a flow of water from the bow, but the flow does not occur; the mechanical currents of the wheel will be from the nearest water, and not from ninety feet forward. the _montana_ is a similar stern-wheeler, without the recess. the _success_ consists of two sections, to be disconnected for passing the locks, with paddle-wheel machinery at the bow. her wheel, inside of the paddles, is a drum or cylinder, filled with cork, to be buoyant, and the hull has an easy, scow bow, for the water to pass under the boat. practically, the large drum makes her a horizontal, cylindrical-bowed boat, and she mechanically throws the water therefrom against the scow-shaped bow, and so that the cylinder displacement with the mechanical currents, and the scow-bow displacement, combine to make her _very slow_. with her two sections she brought one and a half cargoes of corn. the _excelsior_ has a horizontal, eccentric-acting paddle wheel, and was built of light iron at green point. she had a recess at the bow for her submerged wheel, and, when thus tried, found the retarding effects of the mechanical currents at and against the bow so great, as to cause her original bow-propulsion to be made stern-propulsion, when she was much improved. she was tried with cargo for a short distance on the canal, and withdrawn. the _fountain city_ is a common boat, with machinery at her stern. she has two submerged horizontal, excentric-acting paddle-wheels, each of small diameter. these are placed under her quarters, in the rudder cross-section, and she is steered by her machinery. the characteristics of these wheels are like the _excelsior's_, and the eccentric variations of both--together with the _byron's_, _montana's_ and _viele's_--are known as old devices of secondary merit on river, lake and ocean steamers. the _santiago_ is a scow-boat, with a recess, or flume, the whole length of her bottom, to a stern propeller. her steam was soon abandoned. an endless-chain propulsion was tried upon the western division, without success. a common canal-boat has been experimented with at brooklyn to propel her by the reaction of a powerful blower or fan. this was driven first by a ten-horse, and next by a forty-horse stationary engine, and afterwards by a forty-horse oscillator. each failed to move her from her slip, and the conception proved an absurdity. in addition to these, local steamers have been run between different cities for local purposes, more or less, since , and steam-tugs have been brought into requisition occasionally. observe: this review presents the important fact, that no new mechanical system has been introduced. the screw-propellers and paddle-wheels are multiplications from the former era. the variations from the common propeller and paddle-wheel, in the miscellaneous devices, are all under _reductions of merit_. all the bow-propulsions, and all the variations from the _viele_, _sternburg_ and _ruggles_ of the former, and the _byron_, _baxter_ and _newman_ of the present era, are inferior, whether viewed practically or scientifically. hence, steam has received no mechanical advancements since ; and the efforts of are as positive and determinate failures as those of . the trials of steam in less economical than in to . it should be observed that the first trials of steam in were made during a season of low water, and when the canal board had limited the loading of boats to four and three-fourths feet draught of water, which, later in the season, was increased to five feet, and in subsequent years to six feet, as continued to the present time. among the most successful trials of the first era of steam on the canals, may be mentioned the _h. k. viele_, _p. l. sternburg_, and _s. b. ruggles_. each could carry three-fourths cargo and tow a full cargo, and each exceed the speed of horse-boats. among the most successful trials of the present era may be mentioned the _port byron_, _baxter_, and _newman_. each can carry five-sixths of a common cargo, and exceed the speed of horses. in the early era of steam, _the prominent policy_ was to combine towage with carrying capacity by the steamer, for economical expedition. in the present era, it has been to make the carrying capacity of the steamer, in itself, economical and expeditious. this latter policy has arisen under the appropriation act of april, , which limits the minimum cargo to two hundred tons, and the minimum average speed of three miles per hour. but these limitations must cover a superior economy of freight transportation to that by the former trials with steam. else, they are worthless; else, they are failures, as in , and their general introduction impracticable. as in the steamers _byron_, _baxter_ and _newman_, _there is nothing mechanically new_, in variation from the _viele_, _sternburg_ and _ruggles_--these trios being _respectively mechanical counterparts of each other_; the paddle-wheels of the _byron_ and _viele_, the twin-propellers of the _baxter_ and _sternburg_, and the common propellers of the _newman_ and _ruggles_, being respectively identical--the economical features are easily considered. the first trio can carry tons at good speed; the second can carry tons, and tow tons; total, tons, at good speed. to the first trio, two boats of each class must be altered; two sets of machinery must be furnished; two corps of engineers maintained, and coal for two round trips must be supplied, with incidental expenses to two steamers, to move tons of freight. to the second trio, only one boat of each class is to be altered; one set of machinery furnished; one corps of engineers maintained, and coal for one round trip supplied, with the incidental expenses, to move tons of freight. the costs of alterations and adaptations of the first trio are two-fold those of the second; the cost of machinery greater to the first trio than to the second; the costs of engineers two-fold to the first trio; the costs of coal about the same to each, with greater incidental expenses to the first than to the second _per tons of freight moved_. the differences in the two trios are in their _steam capabilities and in their times_; the second requires about one day extra on the canal, as possibly due to the locking of the tow, though no extra time is required where both locks of the pair are ready. but the extra twenty tons of freight more than pays the extra time. the times of transit or rates of speed to the two eras are very nearly alike, the steamers of the first having _greater steam capabilities_, as due to their boat in tow, whilst those of the present era have reduced their steam capabilities to increase their cargoes from the tons to tons. the times of transit, or rates of speed, are given in the following miscellaneous record, and as published, from time to time, from to : the _wack_ was days, total time, with boat in tow, from buffalo to troy. the _wack_ was days hours, net time, with half freight, from troy to buffalo. the _sternburg_ was hours, total time, with boat in tow, from buffalo to rochester, miles, averaging - / miles per hour. the _ruggles_ was - / days, net time, with boat in tow, from buffalo to troy, and days hours, net time, from buffalo to new york. the _eclipse_ was - / days, total time, without tow, from buffalo to troy, and - / days, total time, without tow, from troy to buffalo. the _gold hunter_ was days hours, total time, without tow, from buffalo to troy. the _rotary_ was days hours, total time, with half freight, from troy to buffalo, and days hours, net time. the _bemis_, a screw-tug, with three boats, was days and hours, net time, from buffalo to schenectady, miles, average - / miles per hour. the _washington_, do., with boats, was days hours, net time, from buffalo to cohoes, miles, average - / miles per hour. the _dan brown_, do., with three boats, was days, net time, from buffalo to albany, miles, average nearly - / miles per hour; and was hours from buffalo to lockport, miles, averaging - / miles per hour. years and , as published. the _dawson_ and the _cathcart_ have both made and repeated through trips from buffalo to troy, with / of horse cargoes, in about days, total time. the _port byron_ was days - / hours, total time, and days hours, net time, with tons of freight, from troy to buffalo, from oct. th to nov. th. _the more important down time_ was not published. the _baxter_ was days hours, total time, and days hours, net time, with half freight, from troy to buffalo, from oct. th, in the morning, to nov. d; from sept. th to oct. th she was days on her up trip, and early in september was days, also, from troy to buffalo. on her first trip down she left buffalo sept. th, and arrived at west troy, the th, in days hours, total time, and reached new york the st, in days hours, total time, with tons of freight. in some way she reduces her days hours to days hours, net time, to troy; and her days hours, to new york, to days hours. second trip down was from buffalo to waterford, when she was longer upon the canal than on her first trip of over days. third trip down, left buffalo nov. th, and arrived at troy th, and new york th, or over days to troy, and - / to new york, with / horse cargo. this canal trip was during the horse epidemic, and the large number of boats laid up made it very favorable for steam. but the _baxter's times_ have been developed by a model which would require _one-third of a common boat to be rebuilt_--one-sixth at the bow and one-sixth at the stern--it is, therefore, proper to state, that if we put her machinery and steam capabilities into a common boat--and the seven thousand such boats cannot be dispensed with--it would be _very slow_, as her speed would be reduced by three causes: st. because of an increased velocity of bow displacement at a reduced speed of boat. d. because of an increased velocity of stern replacement, at a reduced speed of boat, against the mechanical or counteracting propelling currents. d. because the percentage of wasted power is increased, and of utilized is diminished, by greater resistance to motion. the _wm. newman_ left new york oct. th, and arrived at buffalo nov. , in days, with tons of freight. relations of time--twelve years ago and now. the _wack's_ through time from buffalo to west troy, with boat in tow, is the same as the _baxter's_ average without tow. the _ruggles'_ net time, from buffalo to new york, with boat in tow, is only hours in excess of the _baxter's_ shortest net time without tow. the through times of the _eclipse_ and _gold hunter_, from buffalo to west troy, without tow, are just equal to the _baxter's_ first and second trips. the _rotary's_ through time up, with half freight, is nearly one day less than the _byron's_, _baxter's_ or _newman's_ shortest through time. her net time is hours less than the _baxter's_ shortest net time. the net time of the tugs, each with three boats in tow, is nearly equal to the _baxter's_ without tow, from buffalo to west troy. therefore, by this comparison of times, the one day extra allowed for the greater steam resources of the former era with a boat in tow, is ample; and the policy of that era is plainly more economical for freight than that of the past two years. * * * * * we therefore observe: that the policy of introducing steam canal-boats as carriers of freight, is illustrated in the _niagara_, _eclipse_, _gold hunter_ and _rotary_. the policy of carrying and towing one boat, in the _wack_, _sternburg_, _ruggles_, _city of buffalo_ and _viele_. the policy of screw-tugs in the _gov. king_, _bemis_, _washington_, _lafayette_, _stimers_, _dan brown_ and the paddle-wheel tug _fall brook_. under each policy steam was a failure on the canals under the agencies tried. the single carriers died first; the tugs second; the carriers and one boat third; and last, the carriers with three-boat tows. in and , the policy of using the powerful canal steamers, _ruggles_ and _city of buffalo_, to carry freight and tow three boats each, was introduced to supersede the former policies. during these years the privilege of priority at locks, by paying double toll on the boats, was suspended, and soon thereafter steam was totally abandoned. it is noticeable that the steamers for carrying, only, had less vitality, and were less economical, than those for carrying and towing, and those for carrying and towing but one boat had less than those for carrying and also towing three boats. hence, the carrying steamers, or the automaton policy of and , can only compare with the automaton policy of the former era, and they must have less vitality, and be less economical, than those other for carrying and towing one boat, and still less than those for carrying and towing three boats. steam in less economical than horses. it has been clearly shown that steam in is less economical than in to , and still less so than in and . but steam, in its former history, failed to compete with horses; and as, in its recent history, it has failed to be as economical as in its former, because of less economical policies of introduction (machinery being substantially the same), it follows that its failure to compete with horses must be still more marked, still more disappointing to the hopes entertained by the legislative department of the state, that independent financial encouragement could possibly foster and develop steam successfully, than it was in its former most significant failures. but steam in --independent of its failure as compared to itself in --is shown to be less economical than horses by _direct comparison of steamers and horse-boats_. as steamers have run under a prospective bounty of one hundred thousand dollars for a success, _they have been first-class in all their appointments_, and have been, as in the language of one of their engineers, "rushed through," it is strictly proper to compare them with a well-known duty of _first-class horse-boats_, under the ordinary business enterprise of their captains. thus, the first-class modern horse-boat can carry a cargo of , bushels, or tons of corn, and make seven round trips between new york and buffalo per season, averaging a round trip per month for the season of navigation. the most systematic and business-like trials _that have made speed an element of competitive economy_, are the _port byron_, _baxter_ and _newman_. the short lives of the _viele_ and the _fall brook_ in canal service, render it unnecessary to give details of the _byron_. the _baxter_ left new york late in august or early in september, in new and perfect equipment, in a supposed race for a hundred thousand dollars, and through september, october and to the th of november was in the trade, and was in a contest for superiority or supremacy. during this time she delivered at new york two freights, and at waterford one freight, being the _equivalent_ of three freights of , bushels each, or a total of , bushels of corn; with runs _equivalent_ to two and two-thirds round trips. but she had priority at locks and right of way at all times, so that the horse-boat, at the sound of her steam whistle, when fifty feet behind, must stop and lay over to the tow-path and let her pass. under these privileges and benefits she was enabled to make her first time between buffalo and west troy, as advertised, in a few hours over ( ) seven days; her second, required still longer time; her third, being when the horse-disease had nearly "tied up" all other boats, so that she had a river-like freedom, she required about ( ) six days, thus _averaging about_ ( ) seven days from the lakes to the hudson. _give any first-class horse-boat captain_ a supposed or possible bounty of a hundred thousand dollars, with priority at locks and right of way, and he would in the same time have delivered three times , , or a total of , bushels of corn from the lakes to the _baxter's_ destinations; or , bushels of corn in excess of the _baxter's_ capabilities; and have delivered at buffalo the same up-freights, with ease. but the profits of this excess pays a profit over the entire cost of horse-movement, leaving the _baxter_ in debt for her entire cost of movement, for her entire time, and an excess in addition. again, suppose _baxter's_ were multiplied and _reduced to horse-boat regulations_, then she would have to make eleven trips to deliver at tidewater the freight of nine horse-trips--as Ã� , = Ã� , . this she cannot do in the _same time_, nor can she do it at the _same expense_. her necessity for the two extra trips would destroy her economy and practicability, or her competitive abilities as against horses. hence she is obviously and largely deficient in economy as compared to first-class horse-boat. the _wm. newman_ run , miles from may th to november th, carrying in the aggregate , tons of freight. her time is - / months; her mileage is five round trips from buffalo to and from new york, by the canal , miles round, each; her freightage is ( Ã� or) , tons down and ( Ã� or) about tons up, total , tons this amount carried indicates a towage of two boats down with full freight, and up, through the canal, with half freight; all of which make her aggregate tonnage. if we allow one and two-thirds months for her towing trip, and leave four months for her four round trips, or a run of , miles, delivering in new york ( Ã� or) tons, and in buffalo ( Ã� or) tons, total , tons, it may be supposed nearly correct in the absence of details. a horse-boat, in same time and circumstances, would have made the , miles and have delivered in new york ( Ã� or) tons, and at buffalo ( Ã� or) tons, total , tons. excess of down freight tons, equivalent to , bushels of corn. to make this wantage of freight good, requires nearly two-thirds of a full cargo, or of a full round trip. hence, she is obviously and largely deficient in economy, as compared to a first-class horse-boat. _therefore steam in is less economical than horses_. horse-boat times. under another view of the case we have the following relations of horses and steam to show that steam in is less economical than horses. the captain of the _vosburg_ states that he left west troy in oct., carrying over tons of freight, after the _baxter_ had left there for buffalo, _and with two mule teams_, alternating one with the other every six hours, he arrived at buffalo in advance of the _baxter_; _through time less than the baxter's shortest time_. "net time" not stated. publishing _net time_ of steamers instead of total or through time, is deceptive, and creates a false impression with the community. had not the through time of steamers this season been suppressed, the governor of the state would not have imagined five-day trips from buffalo to new york, as per his message, and our city editors would not have ventilated such visionary pretensions. there are a multitude of horse-boat captains that can reduce their _net canal time of movement_ below the _baxter's_, which has been so extensively commented upon; but their so doing would not expedite the transfer of grain from the lakes to tide-water. a certain horse-boat, in a former season, made two round trips from buffalo to and from new york in twenty days each, and on each trip lay three days in new york. this made her through time _average_ between the cities - / days each way. her captain once towed in the "line" and was only nine days twenty hours from buffalo to new york. this season a horse-boat made the round trip from new york to and from buffalo in twenty-one days. these _round trips_ have probably never been exceeded by steam. in the former era the prism of the canal seemed imbedded with innumerable old and broken tow-lines, which the propeller, by its high velocity, sucked up, and was thereby "fouled;" and now the sea-grass is a hidden enemy that entwines itself around the propeller to foul it. when the waters are low, forcing the engines of screw propellers lets the stern of the boat "squat" or hug the bottom, and although these are minor features of want of mechanical adaptation to canal duty, they illustrate petty detentions serving to lengthen the through times of steam. hence, if we intermix the slow steamers with the fast ones, as we do the slow with the fast horse-boats, for a _general average_, it is quite probable that horse-times are fully equal to those of steam, and that the excess of horse-cargoes makes a large and handsome advantage in their favor. _therefore, under this general average, steam in is less economical than horses._ conditional explanations. because steam has been encouraged by the legislature, heralded by the press, and favorably reported by the executive officers of the state as a standard of advancement most desirable to attain, _a supposition very generally prevails outside of canal men that it will succeed_. as early as , before the enlargements, three steamers were built and tried, and one, the _pioneer_, ran from new york to oswego in five days, total time, miles; and _then "supposition very generally prevailed that steam would succeed_." but light freights would not pay then as against full horse-freights; neither would they pay from to ; neither have they paid in , as against horses. a large part of the boats own and carry their horses, two teams (four horses), alternating the teams from boat to tow-path every six hours. many desire to see the hardships, cruelties and dangers to horses obviated. it is said that one company during the war, when most of the best drivers turned soldiers, lost as many horses during the season as they put on for all their boats in the spring; that is, they had to purchase a complete equipment to make good their losses. some humane captains tow by the "lines" to avoid suffering and dangers to horses, many of which are drowned, and many left by the wayside. when changed from tow-path to stable, a stout man must hold the horse by the tail as he descends the steps into the stable, to prevent his pitching against the opposite side; and he holds with greater difficulty as he descends the bridge from the high, light boat to the tow-path, which is often more dangerous than the stable descent. others tow by the "lines"--take turns for teams, often with tedious delays--and they are, to a great extent, _subservient to the drivers_, else they suffer by their indifference, laziness or caprices, and many are sure to do their "poorest," unless they are feed extra. all would be charmed with towage by steam, if done with economy, dispatch, regularity and safety; but quite another feeling prevails under the suggestions of changing drivers for engineers, stables for engine-rooms, horses for machinery, and light cargos for full ones, as in case of converting the horse-boat to a steamer. steam, as used for towing purposes, would be acceptable and subservient to the several thousand boatmen constantly in service. if we give to the automaton system of steam _any privileges_ over horse-boats--excepting for incidental initiatory encouragement to steam--we have a war of the many against the few. in the former era the double toll system was obliged to be suspended, and the no-toll system of this era is only a temporary sufferance. therefore, steam must stand or fall by its own merits, and should be fostered and developed until horses possess no competitive ability. canal necessities. the history of the experiments for means of propulsion on our canals shows that no system has been developed by means of which the carrying power of these great channels of communication can be made available by steam. if this deplorable fact is to be overcome, it must be through the aid of the inventor; we must have some instruments of propulsion not hitherto in use, and some other means of application of the propelling power than those now in practice, or steam can never be sufficiently utilized to supersede horses on canals. we see the new york and albany tow-boats, with from twenty to forty loaded canal boats, running at four miles per hour, and they have taken over sixty boats in a single tow from new york to albany. but an engine, with a respectable part of their steam, can take but a _small fraction_ of their boats, and at a largely reduced speed on the canal. the doom of , of to ' , and of to ' , hangs over steam like a shroud; it is a mechanical doom. steam should be mechanically elevated so that it can utilize from a third to half of its power, and so that an engine can develop an equivalent of thirty to fifty horses on the tow-path to a train of boats, and so that it can take trains of ten to fifteen boats on the two sixty-miles levels--where large hulls can be built and used without necessity of passing locks--and somewhat smaller trains on the other parts of the canal, averaging eight to ten boats per tug, or moving from , to , bushels of corn, all as fast as they can be safely handled, and then the day of horses is limited, and canals will need new arrangements, new regulations and new customs. tugs on the canal have never exceeded a utility of eight to fifteen per cent. of the inherent power of their steam. hence, they have never had towing power to develop the movement of trains of boats; but when they can be made mechanically to utilize from thirty to fifty per cent., the train movement becomes initiated with boats just as absolutely as with cars, and the tow-boat system will be just as prominently and universally established between buffalo and albany as it is between new york and albany. it is perfectly practical for steam, when it shall possess a respectable mechanical adaptation to canal duty; that is, when it shall not be so shamefully profligate in expenditures of power--_to double the average speed of horses, or lessen the general average of ten days on the canal to five days_, of which the down trips may overrun and the up trips fall short, as with horse average. when a single tug shall equal to horses on the tow-path, it equals to of supply, as all require the alternate team. the automaton system of steam is a hinderance to horse-boat navigation, besides increasing the risks and dangers, whilst the towing system, in substitution for horses, greatly improves the navigation and lessens the risks and dangers. averaging the total mileage of a season with horse-boat times of transit, and boats meet each other every twenty minutes, night and day including sundays, for seven months. to carry this tonnage, there must be eleven meetings of steamers to nine by horses, which increases the risks and dangers twenty-two per cent.; on the other hand, tows to the same tonnage would only meet each other about every three hours, hence for long distances they have an unobstructed water way. mechanical invention, to adapt steam to the heavy resistances of canal boats, is therefore the first and greatest necessity of canals. a second necessity will be auxiliary and co-operative power at the locks and short levels. these must be local, and may be by stationary steam-power, by water-power from the upper levels, or by horses. thus, there would be only one detention of a tug through all the sixteen locks from west troy to cohoes--only one wherever there are two or more locks near each other, and at all locks there must be an independent local power to handle all boats. in this way tugs will lose less time between buffalo and albany than horse-boats do in changing teams from boat to tow-path every six hours. following these necessities, new rules, regulations and customs will be established, protecting the rights and equities of all. * * * * * a third necessity will be a centralized management, or control of all tugs, train-movements, and local powers at short levels and locks. this is essential to a harmony of movements, to a proper distribution of motors, and to a proper adaptation to all the ebbs and flows of trade. this is just as essential for the tugs of a canal as for the locomotives of a railway. provided the control of steam shall be held, _upon the merits of some invention_, protected by letters patent from the general government; then the owners thereof might establish a centralized management to meet the merits, demands and exigencies of the case. they could enforce a harmony of interests between all trains and a harmony of police regulations, and they could enforce a consolidation of effort and co-operation to meet any exigency, just as a railway company can consolidate and develop its efforts upon any necessitous occasion. * * * * * in the nature of the case, these three necessities, when accomplished, will give to steam _the universal movement of boats_. first.--because it becomes a cheap motor in regard to which horses can hold no competitive claim. this is seen from the fact that when steam can only utilize from eight to twelve per cent. of its power, as under the two eras of steam, the two best steamers--the _s. b. ruggles_ and _city of buffalo_--lived five years in competition with horses, nothing since has exceeded their economies or capabilities; but give the steam they used a utility of thirty to fifty per cent., or over three times its present capabilities, and no team can be supported in competition. * * * * * second.--because it possesses the economies of concentrated power. horse-power must be diffused into small and limited qualities to be economical. the cost of double, treble, or quadruple teams, to increase speed or reduce time, swells the cost of transportation almost in like ratio, and would eat largely into the value of cargoes. with the _present enormous waste of steam-power, trains with over three boats_ begin to increase the cost of freight per ton. the _governor king_ was less economical with five boats than with three. on a part of the eastern division, two powerful tugs, lashed side by side on the levels, have taken a train of ( ) seventeen boats successfully. give to half their combined steam fifty per cent. addition to their combined power, and train movement receives an important inauguration. economy, dispatch, regularity and a universal harmony of interests prevail. summary. the considerations of facts and suggestions herewith presented, embody important reasons for the legislature to continue in force the act of april, , "to foster and develop the inland commerce of the state." it seems well adapted to influence, encourage and facilitate the development of mechanical, inventive talent; and to this end, all interests pertaining to the immediate elevation of canals, to the benefits of steam, should co-operate. to encourage invention to utilize the steam is of paramount importance, because the other "_necessities_" will then be met, and they need no legislation, for common business talent will supply their demands. the mechanical necessities of our canals are greater than pertain to any possibilities by the old systems of propulsion. _it is not sufficient for steam to barely or doubtfully compete with horses, it should supersede them with the same superiorities and same universality_ that it has on railways. where steam is mechanically adapted to its uses, horses bear no comparison to its economies; hence, give steam its required mechanical adaptation to canals, and horses must be abandoned. the enthusiasm of , in regard to steam, is less than in , but there is a deep feeling of necessity for steam permeating the community, and it should be encouraged and directed in the proper channel, for the anxieties of _foundered on incompetent mechanism_, and the anxieties of _are in the same impassable channel_. * * * * * the governor's message of renews the scheme which was prominently before the legislature a few years since, which was to lengthen one tier of locks by gates of different construction, and so as to receive longer boats of present width; yet a single thought will show that _this will not help steam_; for the insatiable desire for maximum cargo will put the _bull head_ boat into the long locks, just as it has into the present locks, and sharp steamers cannot compete with it. it is proper to observe that such lengthening of _one tier_ will first: coerce present boatman to sacrifice their property, which with boats and equipments, exceeds a valuation of twenty million dollars, or else cut the boats into two parts, and lengthen them (and strengthen their sides and "back-bones") to the full capabilities of the lengthened locks; for the short boats cannot compete with the long ones. then, when the mass are altered, they will coerce the state to alter the second tier, because it becomes worthless and inoperative, and because the one tier becomes incapable of passing so great a multitude of boats, and it would otherwise greatly reduce the carrying capacity of the canals. the state is sure to complete the removal of the "benches" on the remaining part of the "eastern division" as they are already removed from a part, and from the middle and western division; and then we can find no fault with the canal. _but this will not help steam_ vs. _horses_. all improvements help horses equally with steam, and there is the ever-pending difference of cargo. the same authority discusses the advantages to follow, "if the time can be shortened from buffalo to new york from ( ) fourteen to ( ) five days," &c. if a hundred thousand dollars reward _for expedition_, pending during two seasons of navigation, has proved insufficient to reduce the _average_ of the three shortest trips, with tons cargo, below seven days total or actual time from buffalo to west troy, the five days to new york, with the present knowledge of steam machinery, becomes an impossibility. but newspapers have preceded the message with the false supposition and the same error. the extraordinary measures initiated by the n. y. central r. r., by their forty million dollars issue of bonds for the construction of _a double track exclusively for freight_, shows the growing importance of this already immense business, and whilst automaton steamers, _under the known mechanism of the age_, will inevitably lessen the carrying capacity of the canal, by filling its locks--which alone control the maximum carrying capacity--eleven times with light cargoes in place of nine times with full freights; _the mechanical elevation_ and substitution of steam, as shown by the canal necessities herein set forth, possesses still more extraordinary importance. every consideration enforces the necessities, set forth in this appeal, of mechanical improvement, local auxiliary power, and concentrated management. transcriber's notes p. --typo fixed, changed 'enfore' to 'enforce' p. --typo fixed, changed 'superiorites' to 'superiorities' p. --typo fixed, changed 'adandoned' to 'abandoned' p. --typo fixed, moved a comma after 'with' to after 'trips' [transcriber's note: one obvious typographical error ("poulation" for "population") was corrected, but the remainder of the text was left as originally printed.] bulletin no. may, the rural motor express to conserve foodstuffs and labor and to supply rural transportation highways transport committee council of national defense washington, d. c. [illustration] resolution passed by the council of national defense. "_the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state councils of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use._" washington government printing office * * * * * council of national defense. highways transport committee. washington, d. c. the rural motor express. the transportation burden on the railroads and highways of the country has been tremendously increased by the war. there is a larger load to be carried, of manufactured goods, raw materials, and foodstuffs. not only has production of manufactures, raw materials, and farm products increased, but it is now necessary to transport a much larger proportion of these goods over long distances. the burden is further increased by the fact that we have removed across the sea, , miles away, a considerable part of our population, which must be provisioned and maintained. these men were in our army camps last winter. this year there are other men in these camps, and we must handle goods and foodstuffs not only to these new cities but to a great population , miles away. it is absolutely necessary to utilize our facilities to the maximum and to extend the use of the highways by the more efficient use of motor vehicles which can operate independent of fixed lines or terminals where congestion of traffic is likely to occur. the motor truck can help the railroad by reducing the short-haul load, and also act as a feeder line in sections far removed from market. added to the increased loads of goods to be transported is the fact that man power must be conserved. heretofore the farmer has done his own hauling to market, but adoption of the rural motor express will enable him to delegate his hauling and to devote his own time to farm operations. an enormous waste of time and labor of both men and teams can be prevented by consolidating the small loads from a number of farms into a single load to be carried by a motor truck. in many localities local food supplies are in need of development. a better use must be made of agricultural lands in the immediate vicinity of population centers. it improves the business of the local community and adds to the total food supply of the country. the improvement of marketing facilities through the opening of regular daily traffic to market centers and shipping points is a most effective agency in encouraging food production. we have, therefore, three outstanding facts that demand especial attention be given to the increased use of the highways for rural transportation: . the increased volume of foodstuffs to be hauled. . the need for more labor on farms. . the need to encourage local food production. =the purpose of rural motor express.= the motor truck has demonstrated its adaptability to the hauling of farm products. it is dependable wherever the roads are capable of carrying its load. the use of the motor truck for farm transport is growing rapidly and in the vicinity of many cities regular routes are now maintained. the purpose of the organization of rural express on a national scale is to bring to agricultural communities throughout the country an understanding of the greater benefits to be derived from regular daily service over the main highways from farm to city and from city to farm. by "rural motor express" is meant the use of the motor truck in regular daily service, over a fixed route, with a definite schedule of stops and charges, gathering farm produce, milk, live stock, eggs, etc., and delivering them to the city dealer and on the return trip carrying merchandise, machinery, supplies, etc., for farmers and others along the route. this service amounts to a collection and delivery that comes to the farmer's door with the same regularity that the trolley car passes over its tracks. =the plan of organization.= the council of national defense adopted the following resolution on march , : the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state council of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use. the highways transport committee of the council of national defense is charged to carry out the purpose of this resolution. the several state councils of defense have been asked to appoint highways transport committees, or to delegate the organization of rural express to some committee which will have charge of the development of the work within the state. these state committees will in turn further the work through local organizations. =indorsements of rural express.= the council of national defense approved the widest possible use of the motor truck in its resolution of march , . the post office department has demonstrated the value of motor-truck transportation through experimental lines of parcel-post trucks now in operation in several of the eastern states. =the need.= the united states food administration has approved the plan in the following statement by the food administrator: the development of the rural motor express idea, in my opinion, is in the line of progress and should redound to the benefit of the producer, the consumer, and the railroads. this means of transportation should facilitate delivery, conserve labor, conserve foodstuffs, and should effect delivery of food in better condition. the united states department of agriculture through its bureau of markets has inaugurated an investigation of the efficiency of motor-truck transportation in the marketing of farm produce. the united states department of labor through its employment service urges the adoption of motor-truck transportation facilities in order to conserve the time of men in farming neighborhoods during the period of planting, cultivation, and harvest, so as to relieve the farm labor shortage. the preliminary surveys by the highways transport committee in sections of maryland and virginia have shown that farmers and merchants enthusiastically indorse the plan and wherever rural motor express lines have been properly developed they have received the support of the communities which they serve. =present development of rural express.= the rural express is in successful operation in the vicinity of many of the larger cities. the development of this system of transportation has been particularly rapid in maryland and a survey of existing routes in this state has been made by the highways transport committee and shows the general possibilities of the idea. a detailed survey was made of routes, leading from agricultural sections into baltimore, md., and washington, d. c. on these routes trucks were found in operation; the total capacity of these trucks was tons; the mileage traversed daily was , miles; the average length of the routes was about miles for the round trip. most of these routes are operated by truck owners living at the outer terminal, making daily round trips into the marketing center. many of these routes are operated by farmers who first learned the advantages of motor-truck transportation by using trucks for their individual needs. these lines have been developed on a sane, practical basis without any special promotion or encouragement from any state or national organization. the trucks start at a small town, gather the produce of farmers and merchants along the road to the city, deliver it at the market, secure a return load from city merchants, including orders by farmers, and return to the country terminal, delivering the orders along the route. these lines have developed chiefly on the roads of the state road system where the condition of the roads facilitate the use of trucks. many farmers living short distances away from the rural express route bring their milk and produce to a point on this route with horse-drawn buggies and wagons and these constitute feeders to the lines. a preliminary survey for the state of california has been made, showing an extensive use of motor trucks for passenger, freight, and express hauling throughout that state. over separate lines were found; some traversing routes as long as miles on daily trips. large quantities of farm produce are handled, and charges are made according to published rates. the excellent highways of california made it possible for these lines to develop rapidly. the detailed survey among patrons of a number of these routes discovers the fact that there are three great economic advantages in this method of transportation: . food production is stimulated since the regular outlet to market encourages many farmers to expand production which they would not be justified in doing if they were obliged to transport their own produce to market. . shortage of labor is greatly offset from the fact that the system leaves the farmer on the farm and his time is not consumed in trips to market. . there is immediate improvement in the efficiency of the farm since supplies, machinery, and repairs can be secured promptly from city distributers of fertilizers and farm machinery. from the national standpoint these routes aid in several ways: . they relieve the railroads of local freight which permits car-load lot of materials and foodstuffs from distant points to enter the terminals. . they help to avoid the necessity for local freight embargoes. the need for the system of carrying goods to market without requiring men and teams is generally recognized by farmers and where production of the individual farmer has justified the purchase of a motor truck, the adoption has been very rapid during the past few years. on many farms, however, the quantity of production is not sufficient to justify the investment in a truck by the individual farmer if he must maintain his teams for farm power. the use of the rural express with its greater speed enables the farmer to operate the same or an increased acreage with fewer horses, making more land available for food production which was previously needed to grow grain and hay for teams. in many instances, the introduction of rural express has enabled farmers to engage in the production of milk which requires daily marketing. the rural express greatly aids the country merchants in carrying more complete stocks of goods; in filling special orders promptly, and in avoiding temporary shortage of staples due to delayed shipments or embargoes on the railroad. in many instances the country merchants have reported that their business has been greatly improved because of the daily delivery service from wholesale centers. =expansion to a national system.= the success of existing lines of rural express is convincing evidence that the expansion of the system is an immediate necessity, both for its value in meeting the present emergency and as a means of permanently improving rural transportation. what has already developed becomes an integral part of our national transportation system. the present strain on our transportation facilities has emphasized our need for improved means of internal communication not only between cities, but also reaching out into every agricultural community. the rural motor express is not, however, a development to meet an emergency only, but rather an expansion of transportation facilities to meet the growing demands, to bring the consumer in closer touch with the producer; to relieve the producer of the burden of marketing his produce and permit him to remain on the land where his labor is of highest value to the community. =the organization of new routes.= the state highways transport committees are organizing local committees in all communities where there appears to be the need for improved rural transportation. the local committee first secures co-operation of the local press and leading organizations interested in transportation and food supplies. among the various groups who might be interested are the following: chambers of commerce, boards of trade, merchants' associations, local food administrators, farmers' clubs, county agricultural agents, dealers in farm implements, feed, fertilizers, grain, and other farm produce. meetings of the representatives of these organizations are held to explain the plan of rural express and to make general survey of local needs. among the facts that are brought out at such meetings are the following: . experience of existing motor-truck lines in the locality. . instances of localities now lacking such facilities. . conditions of highways in such localities. . labor shortage among farmers. . transportation facilities of country merchants from wholesale centers. after a general survey of the country or district has been made the local committee conducts an intensive survey by means of mailed questionnaires or personal visits among farms and merchants along route of prospective lines. lists of names of farmers and merchants are secured through county agricultural agents or their local organizations. when the desirability of establishing a new route for a certain section has been determined the committee proceeds to consult owners of trucks, farmers, and other private owners to locate a man to establish the route. questions of scale of charges, the schedule of the trips, character of produce to be carried, etc., are worked out by the committee on the basis of experience of existing lines in the same community, or other lines which have been surveyed by the state committee. detailed suggestions on conducting these local surveys, methods of making surveys through questionnaires, questions concerning roads, charges, etc., will be furnished by the highways transport committee of the council of national defense through the state committees. the plan of organization is to adapt the service as perfectly as possible to local requirements, utilizing at the same time the experience of communities throughout the country as gathered by state and national committees. bulletin no. address by honorable franklin k. lane secretary of the interior at conference of regional chairmen of the highways transport committee council of national defense washington, d.c. september , [illustration] resolution passed by the council of national defense "_the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state councils of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use._" washington government printing office [illustration: map showing regional areas highways transport committee council of national defense] _recognizing the national value of our highways in relation to, and properly coordinated with, other existing transportation mediums, and more particularly the necessity for their immediate development that they might carry their share of the war burden, the highways transport committee was appointed by, and forms a part of, the council of national defense._ _the object of the committee is to increase and render more effective all transportation over the highways as one of the means of strengthening the nation's transportation system and relieving the railroads of part of the heavy short-haul freight traffic burden._ _national policies are directed from the headquarters of the national committee in washington to the highways transport committees of the several state councils of defense. these state organizations, which by proper subdivisions reach down through the counties to the communities, are grouped together into regional areas, as shown by the map used above. the state committees of the different areas are assisted by and are under the direct supervision of the regional chairmen of the highways transport committee, council of national defense._ council of national defense. highways transport committee. washington, d.c. address by hon. franklin k. lane, secretary of the interior, before the conference of regional chairmen of the highways transport committee, september , . i did not come to-day with the idea of bringing you anything new. on the contrary, i have come here to get the inspiration which association with those from the outside gives. there is no hope for this place unless we can keep in contact with the remainder of the united states. in isolation we think in a vacuum, and it is only when we know what you are thinking of on the outside that we get the impulse which leads to construction. i think i can say out of my knowledge of years of administrative work in this city, that we have to look abroad, go up on the tops of the hills and see the great valleys of our country, before we know really what our policies should be. when we live alone or live in isolation and try to deal with things abstractly or theoretically we make mistakes. the problem that you deal with is one that i have never had any contact with, but i know this from my knowledge of history; that you can judge the civilization of a nation, of a people, of a continent, or of any part of a nation, by the character of its highways. if you will think over that proposition you will realize that what i have said is true, that those parts of this nation are most backward, where people live most alone, where they develop those diseases of the mind which come from living alone, where they develop supreme discontent with what is done at washington or what is done in their own state legislatures, where they are unhappy and discontented, and movements that make against the welfare of our country arise, are those parts where there are poor highways and consequently a lack of communication between the people. our eyes are all turned at this time to the other side of the water. i suppose that there has never been a month in the history of the united states when so many people were so anxious to see the morning paper or the evening paper as during the past month. there never has been a time when we have been so thrilled to the very core of our beings. achievements that those boys over there have made are things that will live in our memories. and why has it been possible for france to carry on for four years a successful war against the greatest military power that the world has ever seen? because france had the benefit of the engineering skill and of the foresight of two men who are , years apart--napoleon and caesar. those men built the roads of france. without those roads, conceived and built originally by caesar for the conquest of the gauls and for the conquest of the teutons, without the roads built by napoleon to stand off the enemies of france and to make aggressions to the eastward, paris would have fallen at least two years ago. so that you gentlemen who are engaged in the business of developing the highways of the country and putting them to greater use may properly conceive of yourselves as engaged in a very farsighted, important bit of statemanship, work that does not have its only concern as to the farmer of this country or the helping of freight movement during this winter alone, but may have consequences that will extend throughout the centuries. take the instance of verdun. verdun would have fallen unquestionably if it had not been for the roads that napoleon constructed and that france has maintained; for all the credit is not to go to the man who conceived and the man who constructed. this is one thing where we have been short always. one thing that the people of the united states do not realize. it is not sufficient to pay $ , a mile for a concrete foundation, but you must put aside cents out of every dollar for the maintenance of these roads or your money has gone to waste and your conception is idle. and you gentlemen know, if you continue, as i hope you will, after the war, you will have not merely a function in the securing of the building of good roads, but will have a very great function in the maintaining of these roads as actual arteries in the system of transportation of the country. you remember that at verdun the railroad was cut off, and verdun was supported by the fact that she had trucks which could go feet apart all night long over the great highway that had been built from paris to the east. now i saw my first national service in connection with the interstate commerce commission and i was much impressed by the theory that the railroad men had, which was a very natural theory, arising out of their own experience and out of the fact that there was a new force in the world with which they were playing. their conception was that the highway was a mere means of getting from the farm to the railroad; that the waterway was a mere means of carrying off the surplus waters from the hills to the oceans. the statement has often been made to me that there would never be an occasion when it would be necessary or possible to put into competition with the railroads the waterways of this country; that it would cost more to use those waterways or to use highways than it would to do the same transportation work by railroad. and they had obtained figures to show that under conditions of unlimited competition the illinois central, for instance, paralleling the mississippi river, could do business at a cheaper rate than it could be transported by water, considering the cost of bringing it to the water station and unloading it at the other end. now, as mr. chapin has said, a larger conception has come into the american mind--the conception of the utilization of all our resources. while the railroad has a great burden cast upon it; while it is the strong right arm in this work, still we must remember that the strong right arm must have fingers, and that there should be in a complete physical system a good left arm. the highways that you are interested in are more than interesting to me for another reason. i have thought of the men who will come back after the war. every nation has had a problem to deal with the returning soldier. if you read ferraro's history of rome, you will find that one of the chief reasons why the republic of rome went out of existence and the empire of rome came into existence was because of the returned soldiers. they looked to their general to take care of them on their return, and their general found that the way to take care of them was to give them, as they said in those days, "bread and circuses," and so they reached over into egypt, got the great wheat supply of that country, and provided the great circuses that are historical for the amusement of those people. the emperor of germany years ago was asked why he was unwilling to agree to a demobilization of his forces or to a reduction of his army and he said because it would demoralize the industries of germany. they could not reabsorb so many men without reducing wages and throwing upon the country so many unemployed that it would make against the welfare of the land. we will have that problem to deal with. the firm, strong position taken by the president in his note published yesterday indicates that he is ready to fight this thing out to a finish and that he will show to those on the other side that america has a determination to win, and that it is not a determination that fades quickly. if the emperor of germany has ever had a good look at a photograph of woodrow wilson, he has seen a prolongation of a chin that must have confirmed him in the belief that america does not take up a fight unless it puts it through; and we are to reach a military determination by whipping them until they say they have had enough. now, when this thing is over, our men will begin to come back into the united states. but not all at once. we won't have three or four million men to deal with in a single month. we will have them slowly returning to us through a year or a year and a half. as those men come filtering in through our ports we ought to be able to meet every man at every port with the statement that he does not have to lie idle one single day. we ought to be able to say to the man, "here is something that you can do at once. if your old position is not vacant, if you can not go home to the old place and take up the work that you were in, then the government of the united states, in its wisdom, has provided something which you can do at wages upon which you can live well." and what should that be? the greatest problem that any country has, to my mind, is its own self-support. we have come to be independent in our resources, to be strong, and be respected. so long as we are industrially dependent, agriculturally dependent, somebody has a lever that he can use in a time of crisis, as against this nation. long years ago we were the greatest of all agricultural people, and thomas jefferson wanted us to remain in that position. he thought that the safety and security of the united states lay in the fact that we would live on farms. when de toquevile came over here in he said the reason democracy was a success in this country was because we were all practically living on farms, living on what we raised ourselves, and standing equally. to-day the tendency is away from the farm toward the city, toward industrial life, toward aggregations of people, away from the small town to the larger town, and from the larger town to the metropolis. people are being drawn from the farms, so that one-half of the arable land this side of the mississippi is unused to-day; so that between here and new orleans there are , , acres of land privately owned and unused; so that in the great northwest, minnesota, oregon, washington, etc., there are , , acres of cut-over lands that are practically unused; and we have a new nation practically in the undrained lands of our rivers and our bays and inlets, lands that are as rich as any that lie out of doors, as rich as the valley of the nile or of the euphrates. in the far western country, there are at least , , acres of land that we can put under water. under water, that land produces more than one crop a year, and that an exceptionally rich crop. we have been extending ourselves because of war in a great many different directions. the government has taken to itself unprecedented and unthought-of powers because of the necessities of our condition. i say that to meet the problem of the returned soldier we ought to take advantage of this opportunity to do the work now that must eventually be done and reclaim these arid lands of the west. turn the waters of the colorado over the desert of arizona, store those waters in the grand river and in the green river, and let them flow down at the right times on that desert so as to raise cotton and cantaloupes and alfalfa. then come east and take the stumps from these cut-over lands. do it not as a private enterprise, because that is a slow, slow process. men are discouraged and disheartened when they look at the problem of pulling an oregon fir stump out of the ground. it really requires large capital. then come farther east and take these lands that are swamp, that need draining, and build ditches and dikes and put these lands into the service of america. this is what i call the making of the nation. that land should tie up with all other land. means of communication should be a part of that general scheme. we should have as good roads between the little farms in mississippi or in south carolina or in northern minnesota as we have in maryland or in california. there is a work--the work that i have in mind, and for which congress has made a small and tentative appropriation--the work of surveying this country and seeing how many of this nation's land resources have not been mobilized and how best they can be used for providing homes for these men who come back, as well as adding to the wealth of the world. there is a work that ties up directly with your work, because i want to have small communities in which men have small acreages of land, not to speculate with but to cultivate; and these acreages are to center in small communities where men can talk together and profit by their own mistakes and their own successes and where those small communities will be tied up with all neighboring communities, so that there will be easy access between all parts of the country. good roads and a rural express must be had. if you can help the government in building good roads for little money or show how a rural express can be most profitably developed, you will be helping in the making of a new america. and i can conceive of a united states that will be as rich per acre as france; in which the people will be divided into small communities, industrial communities as well as agricultural; for every one of these little places ought to have its own creamery, its own cannery. the farmer is the poorest man in the world to develop any kind of cooperative scheme. he needs assistance and is always hampered by the lack of capital. but now is our chance to see what can be done; to show it in the building of ideal communities, communities that have good houses, that have good sanitation, that are on good land where there is somebody who can direct them as to what should be planted and what should be avoided, communities which may be connected up with the world by highways, by developing rivers, and by railroads. now, i think if there is one great fault that industrially we have been guilty of in the united states, it has been the effort to develop quantity at the expense of quality. we have been a wholesale nation. we have had a continent that was rich beyond any precedent. we did not know what any acre of our land might produce. a man might go on it out in oregon and think it was a fir land, think it was good for nothing but timber, and find first that it was the richest kind of dairying land, and find next that it contained a gold mine or a chrome mine. we have never known, and we do not know yet, what the riches of the united states are, and we won't know until we have put study and thought and money into the problem of making this country what it can be by the application of thought, energy and investment. the united states is not going to be after the war as it has been. that is a thing that you sober men of business are already thinking about. we are never going to return to the idea that was. the man that comes back from this war will be treated by us with distinguished consideration, because he has taken a risk that we have not taken; that we have not had the opportunity to take, i am sorry to say. but that man is going to insist upon larger opportunity for himself, and the largest opportunity that he wants is an opportunity to make himself independent, and he is going to have a conception of a social america that we have not had. this war is a leveling force. when we adopted the draft, under the leadership of that man over there (senator chamberlain), we did a thing that was of the deepest and most far-reaching consequence. we did a thing that put the millionaire's boy and the lawyer's boy and the cabinet official's boy alongside of the bootblack and the farmer and the street-car driver. it was the most essentially democratic thing that this country has ever done, and the spirit of the draft is going to continue after this war. those boys are always going to look upon each other as brothers in arms, sympathetic toward each other. yesterday mrs. lane established a little hospital for convalescent soldiers, and as she was gathering up the men she was taking into the hospital, one of the men from out west said: "won't you take my chum? we left colorado and went out to california together and took up a piece of land. when the war came on we went into the war together, and we fought together in france, and when we were making the charge together i saw him fall, struck by a bullet. i ran to pick him up and i got mine." now, those two fellows are going to be tied together for life, and that is the relationship that will exist between all those men. we men who are in politics to-day have seen our day. they are going to take charge of the politics of the united states. they are going to take charge of the social problems. they are going to insist upon industrial as well as social equality. we know that this does not necessarily mean that the nation must be run by them because they were soldiers, not unless they have the quality that gives them foresight and good sense. but now we should prepare for them. we must realize that these men are all comrades, that they are going to work together, and we ought to spread this feeling throughout the entire country. the fighting men themselves ought to get the feeling that we who have been left behind are also in the service of the country, trying to do something large for the making of this nation along real lines. you know that there is a big man and a little man in each one of us; and the little man had his day. he was the selfish, egotistic, narrow, money-making fellow. just as soon as this country went into the war the big man came out. the big man inside of us was challenged and he arose at once and responded. and so we found railroad presidents, and bankers, the automobile men, and the business men of the country coming down to washington and saying we want our opportunity to help. it was not selfish; it was noble. and that spirit if carried out will make this country a new land in which these boys who come back will find they have been cared for; that helpfulness has come to take the place of indifference and cooperation to supplement individual initiative. * * * * * +--------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | typographical error corrected in text: | | page : solider replaced with soldier | | | +--------------------------------------------------------+ * * * * * * * * * * october , bulletin no. address by honorable william c. redfield secretary of commerce at conference of regional chairmen of the highways transport committee council of national defense washington, d.c. september , [illustration] resolution passed by the council of national defense "_the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state councils of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use._" washington government printing office [illustration: map showing regional areas highways transport committee council of national defense] _recognizing the national value of our highways in relation to, and properly coordinated with, other existing transportation mediums, and more particularly the necessity for their immediate development that they might carry their share of the war burden, the highways transport committee was appointed by, and forms a part of, the council of national defense._ _the object of the committee is to increase and render more effective all transportation over the highways as one of the means of strengthening the nation's transportation system and relieving the railroads of part of the heavy short-haul freight traffic burden._ _national policies are directed from the headquarters of the national committee in washington to the highways transport committees of the several state councils of defense. these state organizations, which by proper subdivisions reach down through the counties to the communities, are grouped together into regional areas, as shown by the map used above. the state committees of the different areas are assisted by and are under the direct supervision of the regional chairmen of the highways transport committee, council of national defense._ council of national defense. highways transport committee. washington, d.c. address by hon. william c. redfield, secretary of commerce, before the regional chairmen of the highways transport committee, thursday, september , . mr. chapin and gentlemen: it would be a truism to say that i have always been interested in transportation. it has always been a subject of keen interest to me, i presume, because i was born with it. by the fortune of birth i came to live in a region where transportation has been through every one of its stages in this country. if you go back into the history of the colonies, you will find the two first lines of through transportation in america were east and west--the st. lawrence river and the lakes--while for over a century the one great central north and south line was the hudson river, lake george, and lake champlain. in that entire length from the st. lawrence to new york harbor there was but about miles that could not be traveled by water with such boats as they used. you will recall that great historic events of our early history centered about this transportation line. burgoyne's surrender, arnold's treason, the great contests of the french wars, macdonough's victory on lake champlain were all associated with this water route. such names as montcalm, schuyler, and champlain are linked to it. historically, it is true both for war and peace that transportation has been formative and controlling in our national life. one of the early evidences of the growth of transportation in this country, and therefore of our national progress, was the act of connecting the great lakes by the erie canal with the hudson river. the largest number of railroad tracks paralleling any navigable stream follows to-day the line of the hudson. there are six much of the way--four tracks on one side and two on the other. i am going to make that historical line of water and rail transportation the basis for a little study with you, to see what the normal development of transportation is, and whether, as i believe, the particular form that concerns you is a natural outgrowth of all that has gone before. if it is so it is here to stay. if in the process of transportation evolution we have reached the normal use of the highway, together with the waterway and the railway, then you are doing a constructive work for your country. but if that work is not normal, if you are trying to impose upon the body politic something strange and artificial, then your work will, and ought to, fail. the transportation system of the united states is not a unity. it can not be run on what we may call unitarian lines. it is a trinity, and has to be run on trinitarian lines. you must link up railways and waterways and highways to get a perfect transportation system for this country. if there were no railroads we would have little transportation. if there were no waterways there would be insufficient transportation. if we had an abundance of railways and waterways and lacked the use of highways, we should have imperfect transportation. we should fail to bring it to every man's door, and it must be brought to every man's door to be perfect. the early transportation in the hudson river valley was by sloop. the history of the river is full of the traditions from the old sloop days, when it was sometimes five and sometimes nine days from new york to albany by water. the river was just as navigable then as it is now; the difference lies in the tool that was used. now in that use of the fit tool for the route lies the whole truth in transportation, and yet so far as i know the full bearing of the application of the tool to the job is almost new to our discussions of the several phases of transportation. in due time comes robert fulton and the _clermont_ begins to flap flap her weary hours from new york to albany. a new tool but the same route. in time she passed into a more modern type. the steamboat developed, and came the canal with its mule power. how strange it seems in these days to think of mule power ever having been considered. yet i have in my possession a letter to the constructing engineer of the erie railroad urging that it should be operated by horses between new york and buffalo and giving very excellent reasons why horses were far better than steam locomotives could be. it took a lot of argument to keep the horses off the erie railroad. came the steam locomotive. now the rail was not new any more than the river was new. the railroad or tramway in england is far back, earlier than the railroad in america. there were tracks laid many years before anybody thought of a locomotive engine. the invention lies not in the railway but in the tool put upon it. again the principle of the tool to the job. also a new principle that the way, whether it was waterway or railway or highway must adapt itself also to the most effective kind of tool that could be put upon it. you could apply it but partially to the river. when canals came along later, it became apparent that you must not only have the best tool for your waterway, but must suit the latter also to the tool. we understand this about railways; we have not been so clear about it as to waterways and highways. it is within two years that the governor of a great state has suggested to me that the use of large motor trucks be forbidden because they destroyed highways. i ask you if you will warrant the removal of locomotive engines because they are made tons heavier and would break the light rail made years ago? the problem is a duplex one. the best tool must be had for the job and the opportunity must be provided for the tool to do its work. so the railway came along and since the mechanical engine fitted so perfectly into the american temperament and the national needs, the railway and the tool for the railway developed together side by side. still with the coming of the railroad we thought of transportation as a unity. highways did not amount to very much. men went by horseback often, because they had to, not always because they wanted to. and after the railroad came, the waterway was all but destroyed, because we thought of transportation as a unity of railroads. up to a very few years ago all of us who are not far-seeing would have thought of public transportation as meaning essentially the railroads. yet so rapidly in the last five years has the law of transportation been developed that it is a little bit difficult for us to keep up with the rush of this movement. there came into the world a new tool--the internal-combustion engine--destined to work almost as great a change in the human life as the steam engine in its time, making possible a tool for the waterway that the waterway had never had before, making it possible to use for the highway what the highway had never had before, making necessary the alteration of the highway to suit the new tool built for it. it has never been true until now; it has just now become true that the waterway and highway have been, as regards the tools for their use, on a technical and scientific level with the railway. the government is just putting in operation this month the first great barges for the mississippi river intended to carry ore south and coal north, made possible because of the internal-combustion engine. the tool has come, the internal-combustion engine is altering the face of the marine world. so that we do not really need but over feet of water in the northern mississippi to carry , tons of ore in one boat. we look upon the development of the new york state barge canal with a certainty of its profitable use for the nation, for with a -foot draft we know we can carry , tons in any vessel constructed for the purpose, driven by internal-combustion engines. the tool for the job and the way made ready for the tool. i go into my shop to put up a hammer. what is the essential feature of my hammer's operation? the foundation. it may be the most powerful hammer made, but unless given a sufficient sub-structure it can only be destructive. so for the waterway, so for the highway. you may have the most perfect equipment for their use but the instrument must work in a proper environment. so the waterway, then, the last few years--in fact, very recently--has come rapidly into its own. it is within months, gentlemen, that i stood upon the first load of ore going south on the mississippi river and saw it enter the port of st. louis. it was only yesterday that i sent to the senate my formal report urging government ownership and operation of all the northern coastal canals from north carolina to new england, with the certainty that adequate and efficient vessels could be provided for their use. now, these three ways of transporting developed to their full are not hostile to each other. in the days of our ignorance we thought they were. in other times the railroad bought canals to suppress them. but we have learned a larger outlook now and the congestion so recently as a year ago taught us that there are certain kinds of goods, certain types of transportation, that the railways of this country can not afford to do. certain great items of bulk freight they must always carry. we should starve for steel if we had to depend upon our railroads to bring the ores from minnesota to pittsburgh, and the northwest would be in a hard case if we had always to send coal to them by rail from the region of the east. we are learning that there is a differentiation in transportation. so these two enemies of the past are likely to operate as friends to-day. it is not a strange thing that the internal waterways of the country are at this time being operated by the railroad administration. it means an advance in thought. i told the director general of railways that two-thirds of the job was fairly well in hand, but that he had left out one-third, and that i thought he would not get his unity complete until he made it a trinity by taking in the highways. i told him that the highways as a transportation system and their development both as to roads and as to means of using the roads were quite as essential to the country as the other two. in reply he suggested that it was a larger job than he himself could undertake, with the railroads and the waterways on his hands, and asked me if i would not do it. to my regret i was obliged to refuse. the law does not give me authority. i should have been glad if i could have had more of a part in it, because, given your perfected railroad--and i speak as a friend of the railroad and a friend of the waterway, which i think is also coming into its own--i am convinced that neither will reach its normal place as a servant of the people unless linked up with motor-truck routes. there is a steamboat line running from new haven to new york. at new haven lines of motor trucks radiate out in several directions. from this radius around new haven for many miles in three directions the motor trucks come down in the evening to the boat. the boat leaves a little before midnight and arrives in new york in the morning, when the freight is transferred and goes out on the early trains for the west. it is a good system of interlocking service such as we have got to have. my conception of the future of the new york barge canal and the canal across new jersey and the chesapeake and ohio and all the waterways is that the companies operating on them shall pick up and deliver at every important terminal point by lines which shall radiate out by motor trucks from to miles, and they shall take from these places goods thus brought to their station. so that if when, for example, they were delivering goods from kentucky to illinois, it might start from a farm or from an inland village by motor truck and go to the nearest waterway station, there to be picked up by a vessel and to be carried down the kentucky and ohio to a point sufficiently near in illinois to where it was to go, there to be picked up by motor trucks which would carry it to its destination, and it should be billed through by one bill of lading. that would definitely establish that the vehicles and highways are not accidental or incidental but an essential factor. that, it seems to me, is what we are coming to before very long. i imagine we will come to it almost before we think of it. from that are a number of inferences. the public authorities have got to be sufficiently educated to make a good thing possible. they have got to learn, as many a farmer has to learn, that the most costly thing in the world is a bad road; that as compared with seal-skin furs and platinum mud is far more costly an item; and that there is no such evidence of a muddy state of mind in a community as a muddy state of highways in the community. they go together--mental and physical mud. now, let us see whether our idea is false or true in its application. the hudson river has by it six tracks of railroad. the fleet of vessels upon the hudson river was never as great, never so new or well equipped as to-day. the vessel with the largest passenger capacity, or at least second largest ( , persons), is in operation on that river. the freight carried on the river amounts to over , , tons a year by water. i put a factory at troy because i could get by water express service at freight rates, loading machines on the boat in the evening and have them delivered in new york the next morning, while to ship the same material by railroad to new york would require three to five days by freight. directly back from the river bank on either side are two of our fine highways. neither the railroad nor the river meet all the needs of the men living on those roads. you might build the railroads up until they are tracks wide, but you do not fully help the farmer miles away to get his produce to market. and you might fill the river with steamers, and he may be still isolated. there must come something to his farm which transports his produce easily and systematically and in harmony with other methods in duplex action going and coming. so our friend the farmer must have the rural express or its equivalent, which comes to his door, which in the morning connects him up with all the round earth and brings him what he wants of the earth's products back to his door that night. i can not think of that except as a matter of common sense. it is a thing which has got to be, and in a very few years, at least, will be as accepted as such things as the rising of the sun and the setting of the sun. it will be considered normal. you will even find, if you have not already found, farms offered for sale on the basis of having a rural express coming and going on one side of it--perhaps on two sides of it as we get into it more thoroughly. the whole rural postal-delivery system was the promise and pledge of the rural express. what we do when we send the motor truck through the rural centers is to push the rural free-delivery and the parcel-post service just one step forward. i have had motor trucks put on the pribilof islands, in the behring sea. they are building the roads to run on before they can run on them. and there, miles north of the aleutian islands, we can make motor trucks pay for themselves in a single year by the force they add in effective transportation. we have a seal rookery or miles from the village of st. paul island. we have not been able to kill seals there, because we could not get skins down to the village. now a couple of motor trucks bring them down without the least difficulty, and in order to get the road there they carried down materials to build the road. so in the same way we have a great many fishery stations isolated. you can not put fish hatcheries in towns. we get them as far off as practicable. the problem is to get sufficient water and isolation, and so those stations are rather difficult to reach. in those places to-day we have put motor trucks. here with these important stations , , , and miles and sometimes more away, it was perfectly obvious that the best, simplest, and quickest means of access was necessary and for several years now we have been putting little ford trucks in there, if you can call them trucks, and i presume some of you anyway still do. they have changed the effectiveness of the whole thing. that is all very simple. i imagine that one great difficulty in this world is that the simple things are sometimes very hard to bring about. it is true in a certain sense that if we bring to a man something that is difficult and complex it catches the mind by its very complexity and strangeness. but if we come to him and say that mud is one of his worst enemies it seems hard to him that it could be as bad as it really is, as he is sort of friendly toward the mud. so many are familiar with the automobile--not as familiar, i believe, as they are going to be--that it seems hard to think it can work as revolutionary a change in their life as it is going to do. but i am perfectly certain that there abide these three elements of transportation--railway, water way, and highway--that they are one, and that none of them will reach its full value to the community without the other, and that each is the friend of the other. * * * * * * * * * * august , bulletin no. (for shippers) "return loads" to increase transport resources by avoiding waste of empty vehicle running highways transport committee council of national defense washington, d.c. [illustration] resolution passed by the council of national defense. "_the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state councils of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use._" washington government printing office council of national defense. highways transport committee. washington, d.c. highways transportation as a war-time measure one of the solutions of the shipper's "short-haul" problem. to increase the highways transport resources as one of the means of strengthening the entire transportation system of the country, and for the purpose of avoiding the waste incurred by running transport vehicles empty, return-load bureaus are established. these bureaus are a means of bringing together the shipper having goods to move and the operator of an empty vehicle which is possibly running to the point for which the goods to be shipped are destined. with the cooperation of state councils of defense, chambers of commerce, local war boards, and other organizations the council of national defense, through its highways transport committee and its state councils section, is building up a system for the efficient utilization of the highways of the country as a means of strengthening the nation's transportation resources and affording merchants and manufacturers relief from necessary railroad embargoes and delays due to freight congestion. state highways transport committees are being organized in all states of the union. the primary functions of the state highways transport bodies are the development of the five outstanding activities to which instant attention is being given by the highways transport committee of the national council of defense, as follows: return load bureaus, rural express, cooperation with federal railroad administration, educational, transport operating efficiency. these activities encompass, briefly, and in the order named, the following: elimination of empty running of trucks by bringing together shipper and truck owner in such way as to provide full loads wherever possible. rapid development, over fixed routes, of daily power-vehicle service, with definite schedules of stops and charges and provision made for gathering shipments both on outgoing and incoming trips. substitution of adequate truck service that the intracity and short-haul service of rail carriers may be relieved and partially supplanted; the relief of congested terminals, and an effective store-door delivery plan. organization of a campaign to place highways transport work throughout the states in its proper light before the public, that the support of the people in favor of national policies may be made certain. to this end an outstanding feature of the work will be enlistment of the support of all users of highways transport. making transportation more efficient through encouragement of such use of highways transport as will eliminate making trips with part loads, the loss of time in loading and unloading, and unnecessary delays in the handling of receipts. by taking part of the burden of the "short haul" off the railroads and placing it on motor trucks operating over the highways, millions of tons of merchandise and materials are transported satisfactorily and the railroads are given much needed relief. the motive power and cars thus freed from short-haul work can be employed in very important long-distance service. the railroad administration has indorsed motor transportation for this work and reported that this form of relief will make it possible for the railroads to operate more effectively under the present traffic congestion; hence shippers using the highways are assisting in the solution of transportation problems and rendering a patriotic service. it is also to be noted that if shippers use the highways for short hauls and thus relieve the railroads of a burden, they assist in improving general conditions so that they will indirectly benefit by having more prompt service on long-distance shipments. dependability of highways transportation proven. the practicability and dependability of highway haulage between neighboring cities has been demonstrated fully. hundreds of local and intercity motor express lines are in successful operation in widely scattered sections of the country. the return-load bureau system has been installed in england, where it is now considered unpatriotic to run a truck without a load. manchester, england, for example, and all the surrounding cities were among the first to start return-load bureaus and have reciprocal arrangements whereby they exchange information regarding available trucks and loads. much of the short-haul freight is carried on the highways by motor trucks. it is picked up at the door of the shipper and delivered at the door of the consignee, entailing only two handlings. it is delivered the same day it is shipped, which for certain commodities is the rapidity of transport desired. frequently after motor trucks deliver a load, they return empty, whereas there are shippers who would avail themselves of the opportunity to send a load on such a truck to its home town. on the other hand, the truck owner would like to obtain a return load because the charge for it would reduce his own haulage cost. to bring the shipper and truck owner together serves the interests of both, hence the return-load bureaus are of mutual benefit. these bureaus are nonmoney-making patriotic organizations deserving of the support of shippers whom they serve unselfishly. return-load bureaus listed in telephone directories. in many cities the telephone companies have listed the return-load bureaus under the title "return loads" in the local directories. by calling "return loads" or the telephone number of the bureau, shippers can learn where trucks may be obtained to carry loads to points which the shipper wishes to reach quickly. in many cities there are motor express lines operating on daily schedule over regular routes, but there are also many companies, firms, and individuals that own trucks which stand idle part of the time. the return-load bureaus list these trucks and can place them at the service of the shippers on short notice. there may be many transportation problems confronting shippers, especially during the winter period, when it is difficult for the railroads to operate at maximum efficiency due to weather conditions. there is, however, no period in the year when the judicious use of the highways can not be of service both to the country and its shippers. it is suggested that a contact be made with the traffic manager of the local return-load bureau and the possibilities of this type of transportation studied. preparedness is proportionately of as much benefit to the individual as to the nation, and if consideration is now given by the shippers to the few problems that may be confronting them in connection with highway transportation, they will be in a position to profit by this form of transportation when the needs arise. it is the purpose of the highways transport committee to bring about as quickly as possible an organization of return-load bureaus in all states where it will be beneficial to establish reciprocal relations. in the meantime shipments can be made over those routes which have been designated for highway transportation. motor trucks are a part of the transportation equipment of every community, and to increase their transport capacity they should operate continuously under full loads as far as possible. this is also in the interests of conservation, in that they do not "wear the road without the load," and effect a saving of the equipment and incidental supplies. shippers can be of considerable assistance in making efficient this war-time measure by cooperating with the return-load bureaus. shippers are urged to give as much advance notice as possible, so that the bureaus may notify those in other cities in time to arrange for loads for motor trucks on return trips. since transportation problems have greatly multiplied, due to the demands made upon the railways, waterways, etc., the one source left open for quick expansion is the highway. manufacturers, merchants, and others interested in the shipment of materials and supplies of all kinds should give this form of transportation careful consideration and encourage the work of return-load bureaus. shippers should realize the vital importance of patronizing these bureaus, which are so unselfishly rendering a great service, as the expenses of each bureau are cared for by the local community or organization where the bureau is located. in many cases highway transportation costs less than rail express rates, while in some cases it is slightly in excess, but, regardless of rates, highway transportation is a war-time measure. shippers derive great benefits from the quick movement of merchandise by rail over long distances, due to the relief the railroads receive as the result of short hauls being taken care of by motor trucks. shippers thus directly assist in the solution of their own transportation problems by using the highways. * * * * * we are always interested in receiving suggestions regarding the operation of return-load bureaus, or suggested need for such a bureau where one is not already to be found. these communications should properly be directed to the highways transport committee of the state council of defense, or to the highways transport committee, council of national defense, munsey building, washington, d.c. * * * * * free ships. the restoration of the american carrying trade by john codman. new york g. p. putnam's sons fifth avenue free ships. the restoration of the american carrying trade. it may seem surprising that an american house of representatives should have been so ignorant of the meaning of a common word as to apply the term "commerce" to the carrying trade, when in the session of it commissioned hon. john lynch, of maine, and his associated committee "to investigate the cause of the decadence of american commerce," and to suggest a remedy by which it might be restored. but, it was not more strange than that this committee really appointed to look into the carrying trade to which the misnomer commerce was so inadvertently applied, should have entirely ignored its duty by constituting itself into an eleemosynary body for the bestowal of national charity upon shipbuilders. its report fell dead upon the floor of the house, and was so ridiculed in the senate that when a motion was made to lay the bill for printing it upon the table, mr. davis, of kentucky, suggested, as an amendment, that it be kicked under it. nevertheless, the huge volume of irrelevant testimony was published for the benefit of two great home industries--paper making and printing. the theory of this committee was that the rebellion had destroyed another industry nearly as remote from the proper subject of inquiry as either of these. these gentlemen concluded that shipbuilding was becoming extinct, because the confederate cruisers had destroyed many of our ships--a reason ridiculously absurd, in view of the corollary that the very destruction of those vessels should have stimulated reproduction. since that abortive attempt to steal bounties from the treasury for the benefit of a favored class of mechanics, government, occupied with matters deemed of greater importance, has totally neglected our constantly diminishing mercantile marine. by refusing to repeal the law that represses it, it may truly be said that had every ingenuity been devised to accomplish its destruction, its tendency to utter annihilation could not have been more certainly assured than it has been by this obstinate neglect. in the session of , senator boutwell of massachusetts renewed the proposition of mr. lynch, but his bill was not called up in the senate. in the course of intervening years a little more light may be presumed to have dawned upon congress, and, therefore, it is to be regretted that the senator did not obtain a hearing, in order that the fallacy of his argument might have been exposed. if any one cares to study the origin of our restrictive navigation laws, he can consult a concise account of it given by mr. david a. wells, in the _north american review_, of december, . it came out of a compromise with slavery. the northern states agreed that slavery should be "fostered"--that is a favorite word with protectionists--provided that shipbuilding should also be fostered, and that new england ships--for nearly all vessels were built in that district--should have the sole privilege of supplying the southern market with negroes! that sort of slavery being now happily at an end, shipbuilders still inherit the spirit of their guild, merely transferring the wrong they perpetrated on black men by binding all their white fellow citizens with the bonds of their odious monopoly. moreover, although the arbitrary law of the mother country forcing the colonists to conduct their commerce in british built ships was one exciting cause of the revolutionary rebellion, americans had no sooner obtained their independence than they created a monopoly quite as tyrannical among themselves. and yet, they were not then without excuse. at the time when the convention for forming the federal constitution convened in , every civilized nation was exercising a similar restrictive policy. but while all of them have either totally abolished or materially modified their stringent laws touching their shipping interests--america, "the land of the free," the boasting leader of the world's progress and enlightenment, stands alone sustaining this effete idea. she persists in maintaining an ordinance devised originally for the protection of the home industry of her shipbuilders, which has now become a most stalwart protection for the industry of every foreign shipowner whom we encourage in the transportation of our persons and property over the ocean--an industry in which this law forbids a similar class of her own citizens to participate! whatever may be the arguments in favor of, or opposed to, the protection of industries under the control of our own government, none of them can apply to those pursued upon an area which is the common property of the world. it is a proposition so evident that no words need be wasted in its demonstration, that, other things being equal, the cheapest and best ships, most adapted for the purpose, by whomsoever owned, will have preference in the carrying trade over the ocean. you may pile the duty, for instance, on iron, and grant bounties on the production of the american article if you please, to any extent; you may, if you choose, prohibit the importation of ploughs, and then assess farmers ten times the cost of their ploughs for the benefit of the home manufacturer. you would undoubtedly succeed in compelling them to purchase american ploughs. they must have them or starve, and we should all starve likewise if they did not use those protected ploughs to cultivate the soil. indeed, in a less exaggerated way we are doing something very like this continually under the guise of "protecting home industry." it is a legitimate business for the advocates of that doctrine. if they believe in it they are quite right in "trying it on," and in making the people at large pay as much as can possibly be got out of them for the benefit of a few. but fortunately they cannot build a chinese wall around the country. we are necessitated to have intercourse with other nations. we have a surplus of agricultural products to dispose of to them which they cannot pay for unless to a certain extent we take the merchandise they offer in exchange. this exchange, with all due respect to mr. lynch, his committee and the house of representatives appointing those astute investigators, is commerce. the carrying trade is the means whereby commerce is conducted, and this carrying trade, an industry once of vastly greater importance to our people than all shipbuilding has been, is now, or ever can be, is a business that congress by its supine neglect has deliberately thrown into the hands of europeans, and sacrificed american shipowners at the instigation of american shipbuilders. in face of the prosperity achieved in consequences of the abandonment of a ruinous system by other nations, in face of the lamentable decadence its maintenance has brought upon ourselves, we still persist in packing this sindbad of prohibition, the worst offspring of protection, upon our back, and then we wonder that we alone make no progress! certain political economists are in the habit of raking up records of the past wherewith to justify their theories for the present age. they tell us of england's protective laws in cromwell's time, and say that as by them she then established her mercantile marine, we should endeavor to regain what we have lost, by a return to the policy of that period, from which by the by, we have varied only in a small degree. upon the same principle we should abandon steam, which, like the progress made by our competitors, in free trade, is merely another improvement in the train of advancing civilization. when such men talk of the steamship enterprises which have triumphed in spite of their antediluvian ideas, they tell us that england supported the cunard line by subsidies, and thus put her shipbuilding on a firm basis. the inference is that we should go back to , build some ton wooden paddle steamers and subsidize them. that this is no idle supposition is shown by the fact that long after england had abandoned that class of vessels in favor of iron screw steamships, we did build and subsidize the unwieldly tubs, some of which are still in the employment of the pacific mail steamship company. we became the laughing stock of the rest of the world who classed us with the chinese, and our steamships with chinese junks. the japanese just emerged from barbarism exceeded us in enterprise. they now own one line of fifty-seven steamships, more of them engaged in foreign trade than all the steamships we thus employ upon the ocean! at a late day we did commence the use of iron screw steamships of such description and at such cost as one or two domestic ship-yards chose to supply, and thus we were as far from resisting competition as ever. now, if there was no ocean traffic of which we should be deprived, the hardship to our shipowners would be comparitively trifling, although the tax upon ships of inferior workmanship and higher cost would, like all the operations of the tariff, be felt by the community at large. this is evident enough. the pacific mail steamship company, for example, in order to pay expenses, to say nothing of profits, are obliged to charge a higher fare to passengers, to exact higher rates of freight from shippers and to demand a larger postal contract from government than they could afford to take, if by being allowed to supply themselves with ships in the cheapest markets of the world and of the best quality that competing shipyards could turn out, they might save one-third of their cost and have better steamers. if, therefore, we had only the coasting trade to consider, we might say that the prohibitory statute would not pinch the shipowner particularly, but its evil would be generally distributed. we are actually carrying on the coasting trade in this way, and as it is all that shipowners have left, of necessity they oblige the community to pay them the excess of cost in order that protection may inure to the benefit of the few monopolists who build iron steamships and are able to force the quality and price upon their unwilling purchasers. we can, and do without considering the pockets of the majority, make whatever laws we please for our own coasting trade. but now let us look at the ocean rolling from continent to continent, unfettered by the chains with which "protection" can bind the lands and coasts upon its borders appropriated by nations to themselves. it is independent of an american tariff and of them all, as it was in the days when-- "it rolled not back when canute gave command." it welcomes the people of all nations on equal terms to its bosom, and commerce is the swift-winged messenger ever travelling from shore to shore. look at it, and if our eyes could scan it all at once, we should see the smoke darkening the air as it rises from hundreds of chimneys, telling of fires that make the steam for propelling the mighty engines that bring the great leviathans of commerce almost daily into our ports and into those whom we supply and by whom we are supplied with the products of mutual labor. the flags of all nations are at their peaks--the british, german, dutch, danish, belgian, french--but among the three hundred and more there are only four that carry the stars and stripes, and these were put afloat mainly at the cost of the pennsylvania railroad company. three hundred steamships, employing fifty thousand men earning a million and a half of dollars monthly; these men supporting and educating families, and themselves becoming reserves for their respective countries to call upon for naval service in time of war! look at the ports from which these vessels wherever built, now hail, and which they enrich by the capital they distribute. behold the warehouses, repairing shops, foundries, and other various industries connected with these enterprises, and the shipowners engaged in promoting them pursuing a legitimate business. then look at home. first calculate the sum of one hundred and thirty millions of dollars that has been annually paid by us to those foreigners for transporting ourselves and our merchandise. then go back in memory to the time when in the days of sailing ships, our packets almost monopolized the ocean on account of the skill of our officers and seamen. reflect that if a policy of ordinary foresight had prevailed in our national councils when these sailing ships were killed off by the competition of the newly-invented iron screw, their old commanders and their noble crews would have kept their employment, and as they died would have been succeeded by men as worthy as themselves, adding to our revenue in time of peace, and, when needed, supplying a navy now maintained at an immense expense--god save the mark!--for the protection of an extinct merchant service! see how few american steamship offices, how few repairing shops we have need of for these foreigners, who employ their own agents instead of our merchants, and naturally endeavor to do all the work required upon their vessels at home. then search for the american shipowners engaged in trade beyond the seas. look for them in their deserted counting-rooms of south street, in new york. as their old captains have retired in poverty and are begging for such offices as that of inspector or port warden, or for same subordinate place in the custom-house, while the seamen are mostly dead with none to come after them, so south street is abandoned by its honorable merchants, who have, in too many cases, moved up to wall street, and become gamblers by being deprived of their original business. when you have done all this, finish up your investigation by estimating how much sooner the rebellion might have been overcome, if in years past we had owned our share of the world's shipping, and multiply the $ , , of freight money we annually pay to foreigners by the number of years we have been engaged in this suicidal policy of protecting them in earning money that of right belonged to our own people! having sketched this result of american legislation, let us glance at that of other nations in late years for it is as useless to dwell upon what it was a century or two centuries ago as it would be to study the navigation laws of the phoenicians, or to inquire if solomon exacted that the ships bringing his spices from india and his gold from ophir should be of jewish construction. old things did not pass away and all things did not fairly become new until the discovery of gold in california and australia revolutionized values, created universal national intercourse, and by thus giving a sudden impetus to commerce, made the carrying trade an industry of far greater importance than it had ever been before. at that epoch, our restrictive laws were productive of no harm to us, because it so happened that most of the business of the seas was done in wooden sailing ships, and it also happened, fortunately for us, that we had the faculty and the means of constructing them better and cheaper than they could be produced elsewhere. accordingly our shipyards became wonderfully active in supplying the demands of our shipowners, and the _personnel_ as well as the material of our merchant fleet being of the highest character, it was consequently in active employment. in the ratio of the increasing value of our carrying trade there was a corresponding decrease in that of great britain, simply because her restrictive laws, which were the same then as ours are now, prevented her people from owning such magnificent clippers as we were able to build, on equal terms with us. but british statesmen were not inattentive to the situation. they wasted no time in appointing committees to investigate the cause of the difficulty, for it was as clear to them as the noonday sun, as clear as the occasion of our "decadence" should have been to the house of representatives that appointed mr. lynch--as clear as it should be to the congress now assembled. parliament deputed no half dozen of its members to spend six months in running around among shipbuilders, asking them what bounty they required to build clippers like the americans, and how long it would take them to equal american shipbuilders in skill, material and cost. but, realizing that the interests of commerce and ship owning were of infinitely greater value than that of mere shipbuilding, they did not propose to lose them, while the latter industry should endeavor to gain a new life. regardless of any such consideration as that which solely actuated our investigators, parliament at once abolished the prohibition to purchase foreign built ships. the greatest good of the greatest number was the motive of this wise decision. as soon as they were thus allowed to do so, english shipowners ordered clippers from our shipyards, and putting them into profitable employment under their own flag, kept on with their business, sharing with us the supremacy of the seas, which but for the timely action of their government they would inevitably have lost. in this way they maintained it until there came a new era in shipbuilding, when circumstances becoming reversed, their mechanics were enabled to accomplish what ours could not, in the construction of iron screw steamships. had congress then been as wise as parliament was in , our shipowners would, in their turn, have maintained their prestige by supplying themselves from abroad with the new vehicles of commerce they could not procure at home, and we should never have heard of "decadence." instead of such obviously judicious action, it has done nothing but condemn us year after year to enforced idleness in the name of "protection." so we have endeavored to compete with these new motors on the sea by means of wooden sailing ships and paddle steamers, until they are of service only in our coastwise monopoly or rotting at the docks, if not broken up. we have gone on steadily protecting ourselves to death, and protecting england and germany, the chief of our rivals, to life at our own expense of vitality. england's justice to her shipowners, which at first seemed harshness to her shipbuilders, was eventually the means of their prosperity. it set them to "finding out knowledge of witty inventions," and now they have one hundredfold the capital invested and labor employed in iron steamship building, more than ever found occupation in their old shipyards. in a recent address before the new york free trade club, mr. frothingham humorously described a visit made by him a few years ago to the studio of an artist. he found him seated in despair, amidst a gallery of his unfinished pictures, his pallet, brushes and colors scattered about upon the floor, complaining bitterly of his lack of business. "this importation of french pictures," he said, "is ruin to american artists. something must be done for our protection; we intend to get congress to raise the tariff on those productions so that we shall not have to contend with the cheap labor that takes the bread out of our mouths." it may be noticed that this common phrase is very generally employed by those who are too lazy to supply their own mouths with bread. "something," added the desponding artist, "must positively be done, and that very soon, or our occupation will be gone!" "i thought," said mr. frothingham, "that i could more easily convince him of his mistake by entering for the time into his humor, and so with apparently deep sympathy, i condoled with him and promised to exert my influence in behalf of his profession. he thanked me heartily for my good will. but then i continued, "i want you to do something for me and for my profession in return." "how can i!" exclaimed my friend with some amazement. "why," i replied, "we must get up what they call an omnibus bill, including relief for painters and preachers. don't you know that one of the presbyterian churches in new york, has imported, duty free, the rev. dr. taylor from england, another, the rev. dr. hall, from ireland, and the princeton theological seminary has brought over, without custom house charges, the rev. dr. mccosh from scotland? now that is "taking the bread out of our mouths." there are plenty of american clergymen who would be glad to obtain these positions, and what right, therefore, have those congregations and that institution to supply themselves from abroad? the wants of the people ought not to be considered, but an art monopoly, a pulpit monopoly, a monopoly of any kind should be protected." in a style of satirical reasoning, of which the foregoing is an abstract, conviction was brought to the mind of the painter. changing his tone to one of serious advice, the clergyman counselled him to go to work, to let competition become an incentive to action, instead of paralysing his energy. he then told him how the advent of these foreign divines had been a stimulus to him and to his brethren in the ministry. the result was that to-day there is a higher standard of pulpit eloquence in new york than in any other city of the union. the lecture of the preacher was serviceable to the artist who is now at the head of his profession, caring no more for french rivalry than for that of a tavern sign painter. the appositeness of this illustration will be evident when it is applied to the subject under consideration. almost immediately after the repeal of the british navigation laws the revolution in shipbuilding to which i have referred had its commencement, and we have seen how british shipowners availed themselves of it. nor were they alone in adopting the change from sail to steam and from wood to iron. we can remember what a large trade we had with germany twenty-five years ago, although it was small compared with that of the present. at that time it was chiefly conducted in american vessels. but when iron steamships came into vogue, wooden vessels, both american and german, were abandoned. if we had been permitted to do so, we should have still kept the greater part of that important carrying trade in our hands. but we were shackled by our navigation laws, while the germans were unconstrained by any such impediment. the _personnel_ of our mercantile marine was, in every respect, superior to theirs, but it was consigned to annihilation by our protective government; while hamburg and bremen took their old galliot skippers in hand and educated them to the responsible places they now fill in command of the splendid lines of iron steamships, making their semi-weekly trips across the atlantic, having absolutely monopolized the whole american trade! thus our government protected the germans as well as the english. by citing other examples, we might show how the "fostering" hand of protection has been extended by our government to every nation choosing to trade upon the necessities of prohibited americans. now, if the united states persist in maintaining a policy long since abandoned by europeans, south american and asiatic nations, even by japan, leaving us only china as a companion, there must surely be some arguments to support it, and to account in some other way than has been pointed out for the decadence of our carrying trade. it was the theory of mr. lynch's committee that we were going on very successfully until the civil war supervened, and then the confederate cruisers destroyed our "commerce," as they termed the industry we have lost. if this is not disposed of by what i have already said, permit me to quote from my scrap-book an extract from a letter addressed by me to the new york _journal of commerce_, in the spring of , _nearly four years previous to the commencement of the rebellion_: "in an article, written some months since, it was assumed that steam was destined to be the great moving power for emigration, and that it would supplant, almost entirely, the use of sails. experience is every day justifying this view, and still more, it is becoming evident that in proportion as steam can be economized, it will serve for the transportation of very much of the merchandise now carried by sailing vessels. in fact, the time is not far distant when the latter class of ships will be required only for articles of great bulk and comparatively little value. "the only question now is, who are to be the gainers by this revolution in navigation? figures are very convincing arguments to american minds. let us use them: in january last it was stated that less than eighteen years have elapsed since the first steamship propelled wholly by steam crossed the atlantic; and now there are fourteen lines of steamers, comprising forty-eight vessels, plying between europe and america."[a] upon looking into this with a view to test its correctness, it was found to be within the truth; for, including transient steamers, the number was greater than stated. and it incidentally appeared that of them all, there were but seven under the american flag--all seven, side wheel ships--and, on the average, unprofitable, even with the support of government, upon which they leaned." [footnote a: in twenty-one years the number of our transatlantic steamships has decreased from seven to four, while those under foreign flags have increased two hundred and fifty.] maintaining then, as now, that the screw must supersede the side-wheel for all purposes, excepting perhaps those of mail carriage, and that iron screw steamers are, in all commercial respects, preferable to wood steamers, the argument was adduced that england, being able to construct this class of vessels more economically than we can, must of necessity have the monopoly of building them. her monopoly, in this respect, we cannot prevent; but it depends upon ourselves and our government whether she shall share with us the monopoly of owning and sailing them. i have taken a bold, and it may be, _apparently_, an unpatriotic stand, in assuming that the only way in which we can participate in ocean steam navigation is by adopting a system of reciprocity with england in so changing our laws that we may buy her steamers as she now buys our sailing ships, because she finds it for her interest to do so." these views, _entertained twenty-one years ago_, were applicable then. they have been applicable ever since--they are applicable now. they have been the staple of all that i have ever written on the subject before the war, during the war, and since its termination. iron steamship building was in its infancy in . its great development was merely coincident with our civil war. that war was a horrid nightmare. we found that our navigation interests, with many other things we could ill afford to lose, the lives of hundreds of thousands of our young men, vast sums of our money, and not a little of our morality, were gone. those lives can never be restored, while our money may be regained, and it is to be hoped our morality may be improved, but as to our ships, we simply refuse to replace them with those that are better. one argument in opposition to free ships is founded upon the injustice that would be done to our shipbuilders. were this true, it might be said that ship-owners and the general public have some rights that shipbuilders are bound to respect. the interests of our whole people are paramount to theirs as were those of the english people in , when the proportion of their shipbuilders was greatly beyond that of ours at this day. in point of fact, however, the suffering of our shipbuilders by the repeal of the navigation laws, would, from the first, be scarcely appreciable, and, in the end, would be more than compensated by increased business. it would matter very little either to the builders of wooden vessels or to the public if that provision of the statute which touches that department, and which really was intended for that alone, should be repealed or not. our mechanics build mainly for the coasting trade, and they build wooden vessels so good, and at such low prices, on account of the material at their hands, that there is little danger of any competition with them on the part of foreigners. we never had any reason, and probably never shall have, to fear the rivalry of other nations in this particular line of business. so long as it constituted the only method of construction, as we have seen, england found her advantage in coming to our market for her ships. therefore, what congress does, or neglects to do, regarding this branch of shipbuilding, is of very small moment. our wants do not lie in that direction. the iron screw steamship is now the great and profitable carrier upon the ocean, and all we care to ask is the privilege to avail ourselves of this "survival of the fittest." whence then comes the opposition to what should be the inalienable right of an american citizen to own the best ship that he can buy with his own money? naturally, from the few iron shipbuilders in this country, the chief of whom happens to be an irishman. i would not be understood as speaking disrespectfully of his nationality, for i am aware that our political machinery depends very much upon the votes of his countrymen for its running order. nevertheless we do object to this perpetual cry of the "protection of home industry" which simply means the protection of mr. john roach at the cost of the forty million citizens whom he has adopted. this personal allusion is unavoidable. mr. roach is omnipresent in the lobbies of congress, and by his persuasive blarney exerts an undue influence there. withal he is my personal friend, and i have often had occasion to compliment him upon the ingenuity of his appeals. when we approach congress with the modest request to be allowed to buy ships where we can do so upon the most satisfactory terms, mr. roach is always on hand to give assurance that it is needless for us to go abroad, for by his skill and his labor-saving processes he is able to supply us with all the ships we require cheaper than they can be bought upon the clyde. again when there is a subsidy bill before the senate or house, our versatile friend is equally ready to go down upon his knees as a beggar, telling congress that the only way to regain our ocean prestige is to subsidize the companies from whom he expects to get orders, as otherwise they cannot compete with the "pauper labor" of the country he has abandoned. in either case, as will be readily seen, the object is to have us contribute to the prosperity of mr. roach. with pride the iron shipbuilders of the delaware point to the increase of their business, infinitesimal as it is, compared to the ever multiplying production of british shipyards. but whence does this increase arise? from the demand of our people for carrying grain, cotton and other products to europe, and bringing back merchandise therefrom in competition with the great fleet of foreign steamers to whom we have given the monopoly of that business? by no means. it will be found upon critical enquiry that every one of our home-built iron steamers, excepting two or three in the w. india business, is built for our coastwise trade or for some line that had been subsidized. even the three or four ships belonging to what is called the "american line," running between philadelphia and liverpool, may be said to be subsidized, as without an entire remission of taxes from the state and the aid of the pennsylvania railroad, they could not have been put afloat. now, why cannot american shipbuilders compete on equal terms with those of great britain? that they cannot is evident from the fact that they do not; for it would be unreasonable to suppose that the ability to sail ships, on the part of our seamen, vanished with the departure of wooden vessels. it is true that we need a revision of other maritime laws besides those under discussion, but it is sufficient now to say that we cannot prove our ability to sail ships unless we are permitted to own the ships we desire to sail. ships are but the tools of commerce, and if we have not the tools we cannot do the work. foreign mechanics cannot sell us these tools; our own mechanics cannot provide them; therefore the workmen of the sea are idle. if one of mr. roach's theories is correct, if he can build steamships cheaper and better than those we desire to buy, why does he object to the introduction of an article that can do him no harm? if the other is true, and undoubtedly it is, that he cannot build the ships that are needed without the aid of a bounty or a subsidy, what then? manifestly, unless the prohibition to purchase such ships is removed, it being the duty of congress to protect the individual interests of mr. roach and his confreres by subsidies, equal justice demands that every person as well as every company who is forced to come to them for ships, should be subsidized to the extent of the difference of the cost of a ship in the united states, and that in the country where they are most advantageously built, and this difference is at least twenty-five per cent. call it rather more or rather less as we please, but a vast difference is on all hands acknowledged, and the fact of our non-production proves it. the shipbuilders have already had exceptional legislation by a considerable remission of duties in their favor. but it is not enough. in order to compete successfully with foreigners, they should obtain the repeal of all duties which make their daily life so much more expensive to them than it is to their fellow craftsmen in scotland. but having already more protection than any other class of mechanics, they have scarcely the presumption to demand any partiality to that extent. another, and a more forcible reason for their lack of success is that there has been no competition in the importation of ships to stir them to exertion. had there been, the first difficulty might more readily be overcome. the illustration used by mr. frothingham already given, applies with greater force to ship building than to any other industry. the importation of ships is absolutely prohibited, whereas that of all other articles is either free or accompanied by a duty. and it is worthy of notice that the smaller the duty on whatever is introduced, the greater is the constantly improving skill of our domestic manufacturers in its production. as an argument against free ships, opponents of the measure a few years since circulated and placed on the desks of members of congress, a lithographed drawing. it represented among other things the destruction of our vessels by the _alabama_, and a personal caricature, the compliment of which it does not become me to more than acknowledge. its chief ground was occupied by starving mechanics, standing listlessly around deserted ship-yards and machine-shops. there was some truth in this part of the picture. there was no reason why mechanics should starve at that time when a common laborer obtained from two to three dollars per day for his work, but there was a reason for the abandonment of wooden ship-yards and old-fashioned machine-shops. wooden ships were no longer in demand at home or abroad, and the world had discovered better machinery to propel better ships. as an offset to this pictorial argument, another might have been introduced, exhibiting in the background the mere blacksmiths' shops of the free cities of hamburg and bremen, as they existed before the era of iron steamship building, and in the front the subsequent appearance of great workshops and foundries, first built for the purpose of keeping in repair the fleet of steamships bought by unhampered germans to do our american carrying trade, and afterwards kept in more active employment, by the ability their workmen have since acquired to supply their home market with steamers of their own construction. the advocates of subsidies have committed a grievous error in arguing that postal contracts, given to one or more steamship companies, will tend to a revival of shipbuilding for public benefit. it is evident, on the contrary, that those ships, a part of whose cost is defrayed by national bounty, would be run as monopolies against individuals who have no such charitable aid. a subsidy given for the protection or the assistance of shipbuilders is a downright robbery of the people's purse. there can be no question about the propriety of giving a proper compensation to steamship companies who carry the mails. they ought to be paid as liberally as railroad or stage-coach companies, according to the miles they traverse and the difficulties they surmount. their true policy is first to advocate a measure whereby they can be supplied with the best ships for their purposes in the cheapest markets of the world, not only because in ordinary traffic they can thus better compete with rivals under foreign flags, but because they can better afford to accept a moderate compensation from our government for carrying its mails. mr. charles s. hill of new york, has recently published a pamphlet of elaborate statistics, his object being to prove that great britain has protected not only her commerce, but her shipbuilding, by subsidies. in one respect he is right. by liberal payment for the carriage of her mails she has indirectly fostered commerce in maintaining regular postal intercourse. but there is not the slightest evidence to show that she paid out her public money to encourage either private shipbuilding or ship owning. in england each of these industries stands by itself, and is able to maintain itself. all that either of them asks, and all that they both receive, is liberty. it is this, and this alone, that has given them their overshadowing success. _it is the want of it, and only the want of this great element of prosperity, that has brought upon them in the united states the oft-lamented "decadence."_ in this one sentence the whole story may be read. in giving her postal contracts, england never enquires where the ships that carry the mails are built. it is sufficient that under her flag they perform their work. it was only the other day that a british subsidized line on the coast of south america, bought the steamers of a bankrupt french line, put them under the british flag, and went on with their accustomed regularity in carrying the mails--all that was required at their hands. now, if any of the companies who are seeking for postal contracts from our government are to have their proposals acceded to, it should be with the express proviso that they and all of us may be provided with the best and cheapest ships wherever they can be obtained, as in this way the public and individuals can be most profitably and advantageously served. i have observed in the preceding pages, that the reason why our american shipbuilders are unable to compete with those upon the clyde is, in a great measure, owing to the fact that a high tariff, making it more costly for mechanics to live, necessitates the demand, on their part, for higher wages. in the construction of an iron steamship, as will be seen in reading a communication herewith presented, the labor may be estimated at - / per cent. of the total cost. the writer, of course, means to be understood as speaking of the labor in putting the ship together, having the material in shape of angle iron, plates, &c., &c., already prepared. if the labor from the time of extracting the iron from the mines, reducing it to ore, and working it up from thence to the shape required by the shipbuilder, had been included, nearly the whole cost of the ship would be comprehended under that term. indeed, in working out this problem, we ought actually so to consider it. it will be seen that the difference in the cost of labor, even in its depressed condition in this country, without taking the higher cost of materials into account, is so great as to absolutely preclude any attempt at equality upon our part, notwithstanding what may be said to the contrary by mr. roach, when it suits his convenience to boast of his ability to compete with foreign shipbuilders. at dumbarton, i once carefully went over the books of messrs. wm. denny & brothers, a member of whose firm, mr. james denny, now furnishes me with some statistics. it was found that to build the _parthia_, a cunard steamship of , tons, , days' labor was required; i mean with the materials already prepared. now, although the figures given in the tables below ought to be convincing at a glance, it is easy for any one with an ordinary knowledge of arithmetic, to make a close calculation of the labor difference in cost of british and american steamships _of the same quality_. i do not deny that a teakettle may be cheaply rivetted together anywhere. naturally, in this line of argument, i shall be met by the oft-repeated question: "do you then advocate the reduction of the wages of our mechanics to the level of 'pauper labor' in scotland?" by no means but while explicitly in favor of such free trade in general as will make a dollar go as far in the united states as four shillings now go in great britain, i maintain that in the particular industry of ship owning, so long as the necessity for higher wages is imposed upon us, we ought to avail ourselves of any labor, "pauper" or otherwise, by which steamships are built, because other nations are so doing and are prosecuting for their manifest advantage this vastly more important business upon the ocean, which we are forbidden to engage in, because we cannot build ships. the homely illustration at the close of the parable on the concluding page, is certainly applicable. we are not allowed to whittle, because we cannot make jack-knives. on the other hand, my friend mr. roach will, if he is not engaged for the moment in asking for subsidies for the very reasons i have just adduced, most confidently assert that, on account of the superiority of his machinery, and the energy of his workmen, attained by "breathing the pure air of liberty," he can overcome all the difference in wages, that he has already done so, and that he "can now build steamships cheaper and better than they can be built upon the clyde." mr. denny sends the following memorandum under date of february th, : "_prices of steamers of various sizes similar to those at present employed in the atlantic passenger trade._ st, , gross tons, speed on trial, knots, cost £ , d, , " " - / " " , d, , " " - / " " , th, , " " " " , the whole of these prices include the builders' profit, which has been put down at the usual one we expect for our work. i enclose rates of payment our men get while employed on time, but our boiler-platers work almost wholly by the piece. also rates paid to men in the ship-yard while on time, but this system of payment has been almost entirely abandoned there in favor of piece work, which you may safely say reduces the cost of labor from ten to twenty per cent., as compared with time work. however, for such of them as are employed on time, the rates i give you are correct. in the foregoing prices of ships i have given you, you may say that - / per cent. of the total cost at present price of materials may be put down against labor, but of course this will vary as the prices of materials vary. _rates of wages paid on clyde to men employed in the manufacture of iron ships--apprentices excluded_: d. carpenters joiners - / blacksmiths - / platers - / rivetters - / laborers - / angle iron-smiths - / riggers - / hammer-men - / holders up - / _rates of wages paid on clyde to men employed in the manufacture of marine engines and boilers--apprentices excluded_: d. smiters . strikers or hammer-men . angle iron-smiths . boiler platers . rivetters and caulkers . holders up . iron turners . iron finishers . engine fitters and erectors . planing machinists . shaping . slotting . drilling . pattern-makers . carpenters joiners . engine-drivers . ordinary laborers _n. b._--the above are the average rates of each class of men as detailed, and the rates given are the amount paid in pence and in fractions or decimals of pence per hour. fifty-one hours constitute a working week. boiler-platers work mostly by the piece, but the rates given are those paid when they are on time. january, ." i have endeavored in vain to procure from mr. roach his corresponding prices of steamships and labor rates. the nearest approach to the latter has been obtained from the secretary of the new york free trade club, who has handed me a note under date of february th, from a well known iron ship and engine building firm of new york. they enclose their tariff of wages with those remarks: "in regard to shipyards, you know there is no such thing around new york any more, but i give you such rates as we are now paying. we are building three small iron steamers at present. "in regard to rates of wages, compared with wilmington and chester, they are about to per cent. under us." rates of wages in shipyard. carpenters $ @ $ joiners @ blacksmiths @ platers @ rivetters @ angle iron-smiths @ hammer-men @ holders up @ riggers @ laborers @ engine and boiler works. carpenters $ @ $ joiners hammer men @ smiters angle iron smiths @ boiler platers @ rivetters and caulkers @ holders up @ iron turners @ iron finishers @ engine fitters and erectors @ planing machinists @ shaping " @ slotting " @ pattern makers @ engine drivers @ laborers @ having quoted both these lists, their data will now be arranged in a tabular form, so that the difference in the cost of labor employed on the clyde and on the delaware will be at once apparent. for this purpose, the scotch prices are reduced to american money, one pound sterling being represented by five dollars currency, and the hourly pay multiplied by ten, to make a day's work. an average is made of the wages paid in new york, and per cent., the largest allowance mentioned by the new york firm, is deducted from the average prices paid by them, resulting in the rates upon the delaware. comparative table. _shipyards._ labor on the clyde. labor on the delaware. carpenters, per day, hours, $ $ joiners, " " blacksmiths, " " platers, " " rivetters, " " laborers, " " angle iron-smiths, " " riggers, " " hammer-men " " holders up " " _engine and boiler works._ smiters, per day, hours, $ $ hammer-men, " " angle iron-smiths, " " boiler-platers, " " riveters and caulkers, " " holders up, " " iron turners, " " iron finishers, " " engine fitters and erectors, " " planing machinists " " shaping " " " slotting " " " pattern makers, " " carpenters, " " joiners, " " engine drivers, " " laborers, " " there are two horns to the dilemma, either of which mr. roach may lay hold of, but he cannot swing on a pivot between them. if he accepts these figures, or anything approaching them,--and the fact that the ocean is covered by foreign built ships to the exclusion of his own is proof of their correctness,--he may go on asking for a bounty on every ton he builds equivalent to the difference in cost. will he get it? no! if, on the contrary, he chooses to repeat his assertion that his ships cost less than those built in scotland, what inference is naturally drawn? simply, that his ships are too cheap to be good. whatever position he may take, section st of the new tariff bill meets every just demand of the ship owner whose rights have never been considered at all, and of the ship builder who has always been a mendicant in the lobby at washington. "all materials for the construction, equipment or repair of vessels of the united states may be imported in bond, and withdrawn therefrom under such regulations as may be prescribed by the secretary of the treasury; and upon proof that such materials have been used for such purpose no duties shall be paid thereon. and all vessels owned wholly by citizens of the united states shall be entitled to registry, enrollment and license, or license, and to all the benefits and privileges of vessels of the united states; and all laws, or parts of laws, conflicting with the provisions of this section shall be, and the same are hereby, repealed." this is all the privilege that ship owners demand, and with the favoritism over all other mechanics shown to shipbuilders, how can they complain? even now, mr. roach says that he "can build steamships cheaper and better than they can be built on the clyde." what will he not be able to accomplish with the provisions of this bill! his angle iron and his plates, his rivets and his brass work, his copper, his wire rigging, his sails, his paints, his cabin upholstery, mirrors, and everything appertaining to the completeness of his equipment--a great part of which would cost him vastly more at home--anything and all that he requires may be imported, duty free! happy mr. roach! why need he fear the effect of the clause in favor of ship owners? who will avail themselves of it? but alas for the ship-builders upon the clyde, in newcastle and belfast! their occupation will be gone. already building ships at a lesser cost than theirs, this remission of duties will enable mr. roach to build them from ten to twenty per cent. cheaper still. what will england then do? will she grant bounties to her ship-builders, to meet the emergency? she did not do it in , to sustain her wooden ship-builders; she will not do it now in order to "protect" an industry infinitely greater than ours, but infinitely less in importance than that of her ship owning. she will protect that, by leaving it _free_, and every englishman who desires to buy a ship will come for that purpose to the delaware. mr. roach objects to our buying british ships now; will he decline to sell american ships then? in view of this glorious future, how can you, mr. roach, oppose the st section of this bill? * * * * * i have thus adduced some of the principal arguments in favor of the free importation of ships, the only method by which the lost prestige of our commercial marine can be restored. i have given a very close attention to the subject for many years, having in the outset come to the conclusion which subsequent time and events have abundantly confirmed. if this essay should prove too long to be carefully read by our law-makers, for whose perusal it is mainly intended, i still trust that they may turn over the leaves sufficiently to recognize the condition of our carrying trade compared with that of england and germany, as i shall endeavor to portray it in the shorter form of a parable, of which i earnestly hope they will make the application. the three ferries. there are two large towns on the opposite banks of a wide river. there is a constantly increasing passenger and business employment, supporting several ferries, between them. in former days the principal ferry masters were an american, an englishman, and a german. they all employed boats propelled by sails, and especially the first did a very profitable business. indeed, the american was the most successful, as he and his boys had a way of handling their craft much superior to either of the others. each had a large family of relatives, and, naturally, as these relatives of theirs were willing to work for the same wages as other people, they built new boats for their kindred whenever they were required. it so happened, however, that the american's family built much better than the englishman's. when the latter noticed that the superior craft of the former were better patronized by the public than his own, he asked the yankee boys if they wouldn't build some boats in their style for him? "sartain," they said, "if you'll pay us what uncle sammy pays for his'n?" "aye, of course i wull," said mr. bull, "for boats like yon i mast have, or sam will run away with all my business, and my family will starve." so uncle sam's boys built the boats for mr. bull, and the two old gentlemen got on amicably, for there was business enough for them both, and the dutchman did not interfere with them a great deal. the few carpenters among mr. bull's relations did not like this very well, but the old man said to them squarely, "look you here, now, d'ye think i'm going to let fifty of my relatives stand still because two or three of you, who can't build boats as well as sam's people, are growling about it? that's not my way; i work for the good of my family at large. go to work, now, and see if you can invent a better boat than they build; if you can, i will employ you, and so will sam." they took the old man's advice, for they saw the sense of it, and in a short time they studied out a craft superior in every respect to anything they had before, or that sam had now. "that's right, boys," exclaimed old bull, rubbing his hands with glee, "now build some of them, and i'll buy them of you, and so will sam if he isn't a fool." they did build some excellent boats, to which the public took at once; and everybody who wanted to cross the river, or to send any goods over immediately, gave mr. bull their custom. he grew rich suddenly, not so much from _building_ boats as from _using_ them. nobody patronized sam's now old-fashioned craft. uncle sam, generally supposed to be a "smart old cuss," couldn't understand it at all. "it's one of those things that no fellow can find out," he said, "but next time we have a family meeting we'll appoint a committee to get at what this here 'decadence' comes from." so he appointed a committee, and they ran around six months among the carpenters of the family, and came back with a report that "whereas, a few years ago, during a family row, a lot of old ferry boats had been stolen by or sold to mr. bull, this had killed boat building ever since and it always would be dead until every one of the family put their hands in their pockets and supported the carpenters till they had learned to build just such boats as bull was using." in the meantime it may be remarked that the dutchman had got bull's boys to build some new boats for him, and he was now doing a better business than he had ever done before. uncle sam looked on and observed, "by jingo, this here's a fix; i've asked my family to hand over the cash to support these carpenters of mine, and they say they'll see me----; well, never mind what, and now that whole raft of boys, who were earning money for me on the ferry, are digging clams or gone to farming, and when i want to go across the river i have to go with bull or the dutchman, and pay them for it, instead of getting money for doing what they do, myself." his boys, who were thrown out of employment on the ferry, thereupon approached the old gentleman and said, "uncle samuel, don't you remember how, a while ago, when those carpenters of ours built better boats than mr. bull's could build, the old fellow came to you, and asked you to let them build some for him? if he hadn't got them from us his fellows would shortly have been high and dry, as we are now; but we sold them to him, and so he kept up his business on the ferry. now, why don't you do what he did, and give us something to do, instead of spending your money going across in his boats and the dutchman's?" uncle sam reared right up at this mild remonstrance. "git out," he exclaimed, "you ain't no account, the ferry's no account, there ain't nothing of no account in this here family but just a half a dozen boat builders. say, jonathan, what are you doin' with that ar jack-knife? did you make it?" "no, sir i bought it of one of bull's boys." "well, then, lay it right down; _i ain't a goin' to have you whittle till you can make one for yourself._" and then the old man went off--mad! and in another sense of the word, he is still mad. transcriber's note variant and inconsistent spellings in the original text have been retained in this ebook. variable usage of quotation marks has also been retained. the following typographical corrections have been made: page : changed , to . (exclaimed my friend with some amazement.) page : changed . to ? (buy with his own money?) page : changed britian to britain page : changed searcely to scarcely [illustration: [_frontispiece._ the right hon. lord stanley, k.c.v.o., c.b., m.p. _(postmaster-general.)_] the king's post being a volume of historical facts relating to the posts, mail coaches, coach roads, and railway mail services of and connected with the ancient city of bristol from to the present time. by r.c. tombs, i.s.o. _ex-controller of the london postal service, and late surveyor-postmaster of bristol_; author of "the london postal service of to-day" "visitors' handbook to general post office, london" "the bristol royal mail." bristol w.c. hemmons, publisher, st. stephen street. nd edit., . entered stationers' hall. to the right hon. lord stanley, k.c.v.o., c.b., m.p., his majesty's postmaster-general, this volume is dedicated as a testimony of high appreciation of his devotion to the public service at home and abroad, by his faithful servant, the author. preface. when in i published the "bristol royal mail," i scarcely supposed that it would be practicable to gather further historical facts of local interest sufficient to admit of the compilation of a companion book to that work. such, however, has been the case, and much additional information has been procured as regards the mail services of the district. perhaps, after all, that is not surprising as bristol is a very ancient city, and was once the second place of importance in the kingdom, with necessary constant mail communication with london, the seat of government. i am, therefore, enabled to introduce to notice "the king's post," with the hope that it will prove interesting and find public support equal to that generously afforded to its forerunner, which treated of mail and post office topics from earliest times. i have been rendered very material assistance in my researches by mr. j.a. housden, late of the savings bank department, g.p.o., london; also by mr. l.c. kerans, ex-postmaster of bath, and messrs. s.i. toleman and g.e. chambers, ex-assistant superintendents of the bristol post office. i have gathered many interesting facts from "stage coach and mail," by mr. c.g. harper, to whom i express hearty indebtedness; and i am also under deep obligation to mr. edward bennett, editor of the "st. martin's-le-grand magazine," and the assistant editor, mr. hatswell, for much valuable assistance. r.c.t. bristol, _september, _. contents. chapter i. the earliest bristol posts, .--foot and running posts.--the first bristol postmasters: allen and teague, - .--the post house.--earliest letters, . _page_ chapter ii. the post house at the dolphin inn, in dolphin street, bristol, .--exchange avenue and small street post offices, bristol. _page_ chapter iii. elizabethan post to bristol.--the queen's progress, . _page_ chapter iv. the roads.--the coach.--mr. john palmer's mail coach innovations, - . _page_ chapter v. appreciations of ralph allen, john palmer, and sir francis freeling, mail and coach administrators. _page_ chapter vi. bristol mail coach announcements, , .--the new general post office, london. _page_ chapter vii. the bristol and portsmouth mail from onwards.--projected south coast railway from bristol, .--the bristol to salisbury postboy held up.--mail coach accidents.--luke kent and richard griffiths, the mail guards. _page_ chapter viii. the bush tavern, bristol's famous coaching inn, and john weeks, its worthy boniface, - .--the white lion coaching house, bristol, isaac niblett.--the white hart, bath. _page_ chapter ix. toll gates and gate keepers. _page_ chapter x. daring robberies of the bristol mail by highwaymen, - .--bill nash, mail coach robber, convict, and rich colonist, .--burglaries at post offices in london and bristol, - . _page_ chapter xi. manchester and liverpool mails.--from coach to rail.--the western railroad.--post office arbitration case. _page_ chapter xii. primitive post office.--fifth clause posts.--mail cart in a rhine.--effect of gales on post and telegraph service. _page_ chapter xiii. bristol rejuvenated.--visit of prince of wales in connection with the new bristol dock.--bristol-jamaican mail service.--american mails.--bristol ship letter mails.--the redland post office.--the medical officer.--bristol telegraphists in the south african war.--lord stanley, k.c.v.o., c.b., m.p.--mr. j. paul bush, c.m.g. _page_ chapter xiv. small (the post office) street, bristol: its ancient history, influential residents, historic houses; the canns; the early home of the elton family. _page_ chapter xv. the post office trunk telephone system at bristol. _page_ chapter xvi. the post office benevolent society: its annual meeting at bristol.--post office sports: terrible motor cycle accident.--bristol post office in darkness. _page_ chapter xvii. quaint addresses.--the dean's peculiar signature.--amusing incidents and the postman's knock.--humorous applications. _page_ chapter xviii. postmasters-general (rt. hon. a. morley and the marquis of londonderry) visit bristol.--the postmaster of the house of commons.--the king's new postage stamps.--coronation of king edward vii.--loyalty of post office staff.--mrs. varnam-coggan's coronation poem. _page_ illustrations. to face page . the rt. hon. lord stanley, k.c.v.o., c.b., m.p. _frontispiece._ . the old post house in dolphin street, bristol . the bristol post office, - . the bristol post office as enlarged in . a state coach of the period of king charles i. . the bath and bristol waggon . john palmer at the age of . the old letter woman . the old general post office in lombard street, london . anthony todd . john palmer at the age of . medal struck in honour of ralph allen . mail coach tokens . birthplace of sir francis freeling . the old bristol post office in exchange avenue . how the mails were conveyed to bristol in the days of king george iv. . the bristol and london coach taking up mails without halting . the general post office, london, in . mail coach guard's post horn . avon trimobile motor van . mural tablet to john weeks . the old white lion coaching inn, broad street, bristol . mr. stanley white's coach . mr. stanley white's motor car . bagstone turnpike house . charfield turnpike house . wickwar road turnpike house . wotton-under-edge turnpike house . st. michael's hill turnpike house . stanton drew turnpike house . the white hart coaching inn, bath . old post office, westbury-on-trym . primitive great western railway train . bristol and exeter train, . great western railway engine: "la france" . horton thatched post office . early bristol post marks . sir alfred jones, k.c.m.g. . the "port kingston" . the "port royal" . mr. f.p. lansdown . mr. j. paul bush, c.m.g. . elton mansion . sir abraham elton . lady elton . gargoyle in elton mansion . ancient chimney-piece . edward colston . charles ii. . king charles, flight of . columbia stamping machine . postmaster of bristol _(the author)_ . quaintly addressed envelopes . prudent man's fund receipt note . address to the king chapter i. the earliest bristol posts, .--foot and running posts.--the first bristol postmasters: allen and teague, - .--the post house.--earliest letters, . the difficulty in queen elizabeth's time of communicating with persons at a distance from bristol before the establishment of a post office is illustrated by the following item from the city chamberlain's accounts:-- " , august. paid to savage, the foot post, to go to wellington with a letter to the recorder touching the holding of the sessions, and if not there to go to wimborne minster, where he has a house, where he found him, and returned with a letter; which post was six days upon that journey in very foul weather, and i paid him for his pains s. d." the next record of a person performing postman's work in bristol is that of , when the city chamberlain paid a tradesman s. "for cloth to make packer, the foot post, a coat." in , packer was sent by the same official to brewham to collect rents, and was paid s. d. for a journey, out and home, of miles. this system of a foot post to collect money in king james the first's reign appears to be an early application of the somewhat analogous plan, which of recent years has been under departmental consideration as "c.o.d.," or collection of business and trade charges by the postman on delivery of parcels--an exemplification of there being nothing new under the sun! that travelling and the conveyance of letters was difficult in is evident from the fact that nearly £ was spent in setting up wooden posts along the highway and causeway at kingswood, for the guidance of travellers, the tracks being then unenclosed, so that the "foot post" must have had no enviable task on his journeys. in october, , john freeman was appointed "thorough post" at bristol, and ordered to provide horses for all men riding post on the king's affairs of king charles i: letters were not to be detained more than half a quarter of an hour, and the carriers were to run seven miles an hour in summer, and five in winter. a government "running post" from london to bristol and other towns was ordered on july st, . no messengers were thenceforth to run to and from bristol except those appointed by thomas withering, but letters were allowed to be sent by common carriers, or by private messengers passing between friends. the postage was fixed at twopence for under miles, and at fourpence for under miles. in lord hopton "commanded" the grant of the freedom of bristol to one richard allen, "postmaster-general." in august, , lord hopton was appointed lieutenant-governor of bristol, and held that appointment until , when fairfax took the city. probably allen was postmaster-general of bristol, and his authority may have extended to other parts of the country that were held by the king's forces. prideaux was appointed master of the posts by parliament, and his jurisdiction extended as far as the country was under the control of parliament, as distinguished from such parts of england as adhered to the king. in , however, very few places--bristol was one of them--still adhered to charles. at an earlier stage of the civil war special posts had been arranged for the king's service, and it is thought bristol was one of the places to which these special posts were arranged. in the calendar of state papers, under the year , there is a complaint against one "teig," an anabaptist postmaster of bristol, who broke open letters directed to the king's friends. the complaint against him appears to have been very seriously considered by the authorities, and it induced his friends to take up the cudgels in his behalf as indicated by the following memorials:-- "to the hon. john weaver, esq.: of the council of state: honoured sir--having so fit a messenger i would not omit to acquaint you what a sad state and condition we are fallen into: how the good old cause is now sunke and a horrid spirit of prophaneous malignity and revenge is risen up trampling on all those who have the face of godlinesse and have been of ye parliamt party insoemuch that if the lord doe not interpose i doubt a mascare will follow." "sir--i have a request to make in the behalfe of this bearer mr teage who is an honest faithfull sober man that you would stead him what you can about his continuance in the post office for this citty. i beleive it will be but for a short continuance for i beleive that few honnest men in england shall have any place of trust or profit. the cavilears threaten a rooting out all suddamly thus with the tender of my old love and reall respects to you i take leave and rest your most humble and obliged servant, ja powell bristoll this th april ." "to the right honble the comittee appointed by the councill of state for the management of the poste affaire whereas john teage who hath formerly beene actually in armes for ye parliamt and since that being an inhabitant of this citty hath beene postmaster here for many years last past he being a person well qualified and capable for such an imploiment we doe therefore humbly recomend him to your honors to be continued in his said place and we doubt not of his faithfull management thereof "given under our hands at bristoll this th "day of aprill . edwd. tyson (?) _mayr._ "henry gibbes _aldm_ robert yates _aldm_ "james parsons ch (?) dooney george lane, junior, j. holwey nehe cotting "andrew hooke james powell richd baugh tho. deane robert hann "james phelps (?) abell kelly." (two other names undecipherable.) having regard to the looseness of the spelling at that period, it is he, no doubt, who is mentioned later on as the "mr. teague" at the dolphin, to whose care a mr. browne's letter was addressed in . if teig or teague did continue at his post until he must have renounced his anabaptist opinions and conformed, for no postmaster was to remain in the service unless he was conformable to the discipline of the church of england. evans mentions in his chronological history, under , a letter addressed: "to mr. john hellier, at his house in corn street, in bristol citty," from which it may be inferred that a postman was then employed for deliveries in the principal streets. [illustration: the old post-house in dolphin street, bristol.] in the broadmead chapel records ( - ), published in , and now in the baptist college, there is mention, at page , of a letter of mr. robert browne, "to my much revered brother, mr. terrill, at his house in bristol. to be left with mr. mitchell, near the post office." the letter was dated worcester, d. m. - , and signed robert browne, with this foot-note, "i am forced to send now by way of london." a second letter of mr. browne, sent in april, , is mentioned likewise. it is addressed "to my respected friend mr. terrill, at his house in bristol. to be left with mr. teague at the dolphin, in bristol," and begins "my dear brother, i hope you have receeived both mine, that one sent by the way of london, the other by the trow from worcester." chapter ii. the post house at the dolphin inn, in dolphin street, bristol, .--exchange avenue and small street post offices, bristol. that a bristol post-house existed early in the reign of king charles ii. is indicated by a letter preserved at the bristol museum library, which was sent in august of from oxford, and is addressed: "this to be left at the post-house in bristol for my honoured landlord, thomas gore, esquire, living at barrow in somerset. post paid to london." the dolphin inn was for several years--even down to --the bristol post-house, and it was there that the postboys stabled their horses. the inn long afterwards gave its name to dolphin street, which the street still retains. it is believed the inn stood near the low buildings with large gateway, in dolphin street, shown in the illustration. these premises at the time the picture was drawn, in about , had become the stables of the bush inn in corn street, long celebrated as bristol's most famous coaching inn. the site has, until quite recently, been used in connection with the carrying business. [illustration: the bristol post office, - .] in the first actual post office was built. it was erected in all saints' lane, and was held by one henry pine, as postmaster. this post office served the city's purpose until , when the site was required in connection with the building of the exchange, and the post office was transferred to small street. in september of that year ( ), an advertisement describes the best boarding school for boys in bristol as being kept in small street by mr. john jones, in rooms "over the post-house." what kind of building this was is uncertain, as there is no picture of it obtainable. indeed, the first traceable illustration of a bristol post office is the engraving, a copy of which is here reproduced, depicting the building erected in , at the corner of the exchange avenue as it appeared in , when it was described as "a handsome freestone building, situated on the west side of the exchange, to which it forms a side wing, projecting some feet forward in the street; on the east side being another building answerable thereto." these premises served as the post office for the long period of years. the first half of the present bristol post office premises in small street was occupied by messrs. freeman and brass and copper company. as a matter of history, a copy of the abstract of conveyance may, perhaps, be fittingly introduced. it sets forth the particulars of the uses to which the site was originally put before taken by the post office. " st december, .--by indenture between the bristol city chambers company, limited, (thereinafter called the company) of the one part, and the right honourable edward john lord stanley of alderley, her majesty's postmaster general for the time being, of the other part "it is witnessed that in consideration of £ , paid by the said postmaster general to the said company the said company did thereby grant and convey unto her majesty's postmaster general his successors and assigns-- "firstly all that plot piece or parcel of ground situate in the parish of st.-werburgh in the city of bristol on the south west side of and fronting to small street aforesaid specified in the plan drawn in the margin of the first skin of abstracting indenture said piece of land being therein distinguished by an edging of red color which said plot of ground formed the site of a certain messuage warehouses and buildings recently pulled down which said premises were in certain deeds dated th february, , described as 'all that messuage or warehouse situate on the south west side of and fronting to small street in the city of bristol then lately in the occupation of messrs. turpin & langdon book binders but then void and also all those warehouses counting-house rooms yard and buildings situate lying and being behind and adjoining to the said last named messuage or warehouse and then and for some time past in the occupation of messrs. john freeman and copper company and used by them for the purposes of their co-partnership trade and business.' secondly, all that plot piece or parcel of ground adjoining the heredits firstly thereinbefore described on the north west side thereof and also fronting to small street aforesaid and specified on the said plan and therein distinguished by an edging of blue color which said plot of ground formed the site of certain premises also then recently pulled down which said premises were in certain deeds dated th february described as "all that messuage or dwelling-house formerly in the holding of thomas edwards linen draper since that of william lewis tailor afterwards and for many years of john powell rich then of george smith as tenants to messrs. bright & daniel afterwards of daniel george but then unoccupied situate and being no. in small street in the parish of st.-werburgh in the city of bristol between a messuage or tenement formerly in the possession of messrs. harford & coy. iron merchants but then of the bristol water works company on or towards the north part and a coach-house yard and premises then formerly in the occupation of richard bright and thomas daniel and then co-partners trading under the firm of the bristol copper company but then the property of the said james ford on the south part and extending from said street called small street on the east part backward to the west unto part of the ground built on by the said copper company the wall between the warehouse and said messuage." when, in the year , the plan for this new post office building in small street had been prepared and treasury authority obtained for the expenditure of a sum of £ , in the erection of the building, the inland revenue department asked for accommodation in the structure, and it was arranged that its staff should be lodged on the first floor of the new building. the building itself had, therefore, to be carried to a greater height than had originally been contemplated. this alteration cost £ , . there is still evidence in the building of the occupation of the inland revenue staff, iron gates and spiked barriers in the first floor passage to cut off their rooms from the post office section still remaining. the authorities of the post office accepted tenders in september, , for the demolition of certain premises known as "new buildings" and for the erection thereon of additional premises for the accommodation of the growing postal staff. the work began on the th september. the cost of the new wing was estimated at £ , . beneath the superstructure there were two tiers of ancient cellars, one below the other, forming part of the original mediæval mansion once owned by the creswick family; and the removal of these was attended with much difficulty. the new building was opened for business on the th november, . in parliament. session . post office (acquisition of sites) power to the postmaster-general to acquire lands, houses, and buildings in bristol for the service of the post office. notice is hereby given that application is intended to be made to parliament in the next session for an act for the following purposes or some of them (that is to say):--to empower his majesty's postmaster-general (hereinafter called 'the postmaster-general') to acquire for the service of the post office, by compulsory purchase or otherwise, the lands, houses, and buildings hereinafter described, that is to say:-- "bristol: (extension of head post office). certain lands, houses, offices, buildings and premises situate in the parish of st. werburgh, in the city and county of bristol, in the county of gloucester, and lying on the south-west side of small street, and the east side of st. leonards lane." [illustration: [_by permission of "the bristol observer."_ the bristol post office as enlarged in .] thus commenced a portentous notice which appeared in a bristol newspaper, and had reference to the bristol water works premises being acquired for the further enlargement of the post office buildings. the superficial area of the ground on which the bristol post office stands is a little over , square feet. the new site joins the present post office structure, and has a frontage of feet to small street. its area is , superficial feet, so that the enlargement will be considerable but by no means excessive, having regard to the extremely rapid development of the bristol post office business. chapter iii. elizabethan post to bristol.--the queen's progress, . particulars are on record respecting a very early post from the court of queen elizabeth to bristol. at that period it occupied more days for the monarch to travel in sovereign state to bristol than it does hours in these days of great western "fliers." it seems that queen elizabeth made a progress to bristol in . she travelled from london by way of woodstock and berkeley. she arrived at bristol, august , , and had a splendid and elaborate reception:-- "before the queen left bristol she knighted her host, john young, who, in return for the honour done him, gave her a jewel containing rubies and diamonds, and ornamented with a phoenix and salamander. she did not get quit of the city until after she had listened to many weary verses describing the tears and sorrows of the citizens at her departure, and their earnest prayer for her prosperity. from bristol she travelled to sir t. thynne's, at longleat, and from longleat across salisbury plain to the earl of pembroke's, at wilton, where she arrived september rd." the british museum records show that in ireland was in rebellion. a spanish-italian force of eight hundred men had been sent, with at least the connivance of philip ii. of spain, to assist the rebels, and the english government was compelled to hurry reinforcements and supplies to ireland. these reinforcements and supplies went by way of bristol, and it was at that juncture of affairs that a post was established between london, or richmond, where the court was, and bristol. this post, if not actually the first, was certainly one of the earliest posts to bristol. at a meeting of the privy council held september , , a warrant was issued "to robert gascoigne for laying of post horses between london and bristol, requiring her majesty's officers to be assisting unto him in this service." a warrant was also issued "to sir thomas heneage, knight, treasurer of her majesty's chamber, to pay unto robert gascoigne the sum of ten pounds to be employed about the service of laying post horses between london and bristol." the duty of laying this post was not entrusted to the master of the posts, thomas randolph, but to gascoigne, the postmaster of the court, who usually arranged the posts rendered necessary by queen elizabeth's progresses through her dominions. gascoigne afterwards furnished an account of what he had done to carry out the order of the privy council, and from this document, which is preserved at the record office in london, it seems that the post travelled from richmond, or london, to hounslow, and thence to maidenhead ( miles), newbury ( miles), marlborough ( miles), chippenham ( miles), and thence to bristol ( miles). the cost of the post for a month of days is stated to have been £ s.; but it does not appear if this amount is in addition to the £ ordered to be paid to gascoigne for laying the post; nor is there anything to show how often the post travelled, or for how long it was maintained; gascoigne describes it as an "extraordinary" post. at that time the only ordinary posts were from london to berwick, holyhead, and dover respectively. it is, perhaps, as well to add that these posts were the queen's posts, and were only intended for the conveyance of persons travelling on her service or of packets sent on her business, though other persons used the posts for travelling and for sending letters. several complaints were made by leonard dutton and another against robert gascoigne, postmaster of the court, in respect of abuses connected with the posts thus laid down for queen elizabeth's use while on a "progress." the complainants charged gascoigne with neglect of duty, laying posts to suit his own convenience, delaying letters, making improper charges, and stopping something for himself out of money he should have paid in wages, etc. among the papers relating to this affair is a copy of part of gascoigne's account, of which the following is a transcript:-- the office of the poste. in the office of william dodington, esquire, auditor of her matie. impreste, in the bill of accompt for her matie poste among other things is contained the following: "robert gascoigne's bill for the laying of the extraordinary post on her majesty's progress. "bristoll.--thomas hoskins and a constable entered post at bristol for serving x. days begun xiij. of august until the xxij. of the same month, half days included, at ij.s. per diem. "xx.s. "mangotsfield.--philip alsop and john alsop, post at mangotsfield for serving v. days begun the xviij. of august and ended the xxij. of the same month, half days included, at ij.s. per diem. "x.s. "chippenham.--john barnby and leonard woodland entered post at chippenham for serving x. days begun the xviij. august and ended the xxvij. of the same month, half days included at ij.s. per diem. "xx.s. "marlborough.--thomas pike and anthony ditton entered post at marlborough for serving xvij. days begun the xviij. august and ended the third day of september, half days included at ij.s. per diem. "xxxiv.s. "exd. per me barth. dodington." as to the marlborough post, anthony ditton was mayor of the town, as appears from a certificate by him (which is with the papers) that he only received from gascoigne s. for the posts. gascoigne claimed to have paid at marlborough s. (see the transcript of his account), and if ditton was entitled to half that sum gascoigne pocketed s. (£ s. d.). this is the sort of thing ditton charged him with doing. to these charges gascoigne gave a denial, separately explaining each charge. his explanation was accepted, inasmuch as he was continued in office. chapter iv. the roads.--the coach.--mr. john palmer's mail coach innovations, - . in - , james hicks, clerk to "the roads" in the letter office, petitions the king to be continued in office. he says he sent the first letter from nantwich to london in , and was sent for in to be clerk for that road (chester road). had settled in "postages between bristol and york for your late father's service." in , henry bisshopp, farmer of the post office, furnished to the secretary of state "a perfect list" of all officers in the post office. according to this list there were eight clerks of the roads, viz.:--two of the northern road, two of the chester road, two of the eastern road, and two of the western road. in , there were, in addition to these roads, the bristol road and the kent road. as there was a post-house at bristol in , no doubt the city was attached to the western road. [illustration: [_from an old print._ a state coach of the period ( th century) when king charles i. sojourned at small street, bristol, on the site of the present post office.] there were only six stage-coaches known in . a journey that could not be performed on horseback was rarely undertaken then by those who could not afford their own steeds. amongst the state papers in may, , is an account of the time spent in carrying the mails on the chief routes throughout the country. although the speed fixed by the government for the postboys was seven miles an hour in the summer months, the actual rate attained on the bristol, chester, and york roads was only four miles, and was half-a-mile less on the gloucester and plymouth routes. an appended note stated that a man spent seventeen or eighteen hours in riding from winchester to southampton. in december, lord arlington complained to the postal authorities that the king's letters from bristol and other towns were delayed from ten to fourteen hours beyond the proper time, and ordered that the postmasters should be threatened with dismissal unless they reformed. in a london and oxford coach was performing the miles between the two cities in two days, halting for the intervening night at beaconsfield: and in the same year the original bath coach was the subject of this proclamation: "flying machine."--"all those desirous of passing from london to bath, or any other place on their road, let them repair to the 'belle sauvage' on ludgate hill, in london, and the 'white lion' at bath, at both which places they may be received in a stage coach, every monday, wednesday, and friday, which performs the whole journey in three days (if god permit) and sets forth at o'clock in the morning. "passengers to pay one pound five shillings each, who are allowed to carry fourteen pounds weight--for all above to pay three-halfpence per pound." it was only after repeated appeals to the government that a "cross post" was established between bristol and exeter for inland letters in , thus substituting a journey of under miles for one of nearly , when the letters were carried through london. in this case, however, bristol letters to and from ireland were excluded from the scheme, and they still had to pass through the metropolis. [illustration: i've nothing to brag on but driving my waggon. _temp: georgius iii._] even at a later date, when strong representations were made to the post office, ralph allen, of bath, who had the control of the western mails, refused to allow a direct communication between bristol and ireland, but offered if the postage from dublin to london were paid, to convey the letters to bristol gratis. at this period there were quaint public waggons on the bristol road, as depicted in the illustration. the "pack horse" at chippenham, and the "old pack horse," and the "pack horse and talbot," at turnham green, were, in , halting places of the numerous packmen who travelled on the bristol and western road. by a stage-coach left london at seven every morning, stayed for dinner at noon in uxbridge, arrived at high wycombe by four in the afternoon, and rested there all night, proceeding to oxford the next day. men were content to get to york in six days, and to exeter in a fortnight. in , in consequence of frequent complaints as to the dilatoriness of the postal service, the authorities in london announced that letters or packets would thenceforth be dispatched from the capital to the chief provincial towns "at any hour without loss of time," at certain specified rates. an express to bristol was to cost £ s. d.; to plymouth, £ s. d. leeds, manchester, birmingham, liverpool, were not even mentioned. the mail-coach system had its origin in the west of england, and bristol and bath in particular are associated with all the traditions of the initiatory stages, so that the details on record in ancient newspapers of those cities are copious. mr. john weeks, who entered upon "the bush," bristol, in , after ineffectually urging the proprietors to quicken their speed, started a one-day coach to birmingham himself, and carried it on against a bitter opposition, charging the passengers only s. d. and s. d. for inside and outside seats respectively, and giving each one of them a dinner and a pint of wine at gloucester into the bargain. after two years' struggle, his opponents gave in, and one-day journeys to birmingham became the established rule. [illustration: [_from "stage coach and mail," by permission of mr. c.g. harper._ john palmer at the age of .] soon after this period, john palmer, of bath, came on the scene. he had learnt from the merchants of bristol what a boon it would be if they could get their letters conveyed to london in fourteen or fifteen hours, instead of three days. john palmer was lessee and manager of the bath and bristol theatres, and went about beating up actors, actresses, and companies in postchaises, and he thought letters should be carried at the same pace at which it was possible to travel in a chaise. he devised a scheme, and pitt, the prime minister of the day, who warmly approved the idea, decided that the plan should have a trial, and that the first mail-coach should run between london and bristol. on saturday, july , , an agreement was signed in connection with palmer's scheme under which, in consideration of payment of d. a mile, five inn-holders--one belonging to london, one to thatcham, one to marlborough, and two to bath--undertook to provide the horses, and on monday, august , , the first "mail-coach" started. the following was the post office announcement respecting the service:--"general post office, july , . his majesty's postmaster-general being inclined to make an experiment for the more expeditious conveyance of the mails of letters by stage-coaches, machines, etc., have (_sic_) been pleased to order that a trial shall be made upon the road between london and bristol, to commence at each place on monday, august next, and that the mails should be made up at this office every evening (sundays excepted) at o'clock, and at bristol, in return, at in the afternoon (saturdays excepted), to contain the bags for the following post towns and their districts--viz.: hounslow--between and at night from london; between and in the morning from bristol. maidenhead--between and at night from london; between and in the morning from bristol. reading--about in the morning from london; between and in the morning from bristol. newbury--about in the morning from london; between and at night from bristol. hungerford--between and in the morning from london; about at night from bristol. marlborough--about in the morning from london; between and at night from bristol. chippenham--between and in the morning from london; about in the evening from bristol. bath--between and in the morning from london; between and in the afternoon from bristol. bristol--about at noon from london. [illustration: the letter woman. _(from an old print.)_ this simple boy has lost his penny, and she without it won't take any; what can he do in such a plight? this letter cannot go to-night. _printed by carrington bowles, , st. paul's churchyard, london._] "all persons are therefore to take notice that the letters put into any receiving house in london before in the evening, or before at this office, will be forwarded by this new conveyance; all others for the said post-towns and their districts put in afterwards, or given to the bell-men, must remain until the following post, at the same hour of o'clock. [at this period there were post office bell-women as well as bell-men. see illustration.] "letters also for colnbrooke, windsor, calne, and ramsbury will be forwarded by this conveyance every day; and for devizes, melksham, trowbridge, and bradford on mondays, tuesdays, wednesdays, thursdays, and saturdays; and for henley, nettlebed, wallingford, wells, bridgwater, taunton, wellington, tiverton, frome, and warminster, on mondays, wednesdays, and fridays. "letters from all the before-mentioned post-towns and their districts will be sorted and delivered as soon as possible after their arrival in london, and are not to wait for the general delivery. "all carriers, coachmen, higglers, news carriers, and all other persons are liable to a penalty of £ for every letter which they shall receive, take up, order, dispatch, carry, or deliver illegally; and to £ for every week that any offender shall continue the practice--one-half to the informer. and that this revenue may not be injured by unlawful collections and conveyances, all persons acting contrary to the law therein will be proceeded against, and punished with the utmost severity. "by command of the postmaster-general, "anthony todd, sec." the _bath chronicle_ versions were as follows, viz.:--"july , . on monday next the experiment for the more expeditious conveyance of the mails will be made on the road from london to bath and bristol. letters are to be put in the london office every evening before o'clock, and to arrive next morning in bath before o'clock, and in bristol by o'clock. the letters for london, or for any place between or beyond, to be put into the bath post office every evening before o'clock, and into the bristol office before o'clock in the afternoon, and they will be delivered in london the next day." [illustration: [_by permission of kelly's directories, lim._ the old general post office in lombard street, london.] the public were also informed that the mail diligence would commence to run on monday, august , --and that the proprietors had engaged to carry the mail to and from london to bristol in sixteen hours, starting from the swan with two necks, in lad lane, london, at o'clock each night, and arriving at the three tuns, bath, before o'clock the next morning, and at the rummer tavern, bristol, by o'clock. "the mail is to leave bristol from the swan tavern for london every afternoon at o'clock, and to arrive in london before o'clock the next morning." on august , we are told, "the new mail diligence set off for the first time from bristol on monday last, at o'clock, and from bath at . p.m. from london it set out at o'clock in the evening, and was in bath by o'clock the next morning. "the excellent steps taken to carry out this undertaking leave no doubt of its succeeding, to the great advantage and pleasure to the publick. the mail from this city is made up at o'clock." this grand achievement of palmer's was signalised by the following lines:-- "a safe and quick method is found to convey our bills of exchange, and i promise to pay. political news from all parts of the town, the senate, the play, and each place of renown. new pamphlets and schemes, or the prices of stocks, that trafficks in ports, and escaped from the rocks. at bristol hotwells or the new rooms at bath arrived mr. fancy and lady hogarth, who looked so enchanting last week at the races, and _nemine contra_ pronounced by the graces. effusions of friendship or letters of love-- all beautiful, candid, as true as a dove. _j'espere, ma chere ami, qui ce bien avec vous,_ and friendly whip syllabub chat _entre nous_. the merchant, the lover, the friend, and the sage will daily applaud mr. palmer's new stage." no sooner was success apparent than troubles commenced, as may be gathered from the following paragraph, dated september , :--"bath. we hear that the contractors for carrying the mail to and from this city and london have received the most positive orders to direct their coachmen: on no account whatever to try their speed against other carriages that may be set up in opposition to them, nor to suffer them to discharge firearms in passing through any towns, or on the road, except they are attacked." "they have generally performed their duty with great care and punctuality, within an hour of the contracted time and perfectly to the satisfaction of the government and the publick, and this before any opposition was commenced against them, and when it was thought impossible to effect it in sixteen hours instead of fifteen hours. their steady line of conduct will be their best recommendation to this city, which, much to its honour, has supported them with great spirit. attempts by other drivers of other coaches, or any other persons whatsoever, to impede the mail diligence on its journey will be certainly attended with the most serious prosecutions to the parties so offending. "we are desired by the old proprietors of the bath coaches to insert the following:-- "'last sunday evening, as the coachman of the mail diligence was driving furiously down kennet hill, between calne and marlborough, in order to overtake the two guard coaches, the coach was suddenly thrown against the bank, by which means a lady was much hurt, as was also the driver. the lady was taken out and safely conveyed in one of the guard coaches to marlborough.' "we are informed:--the proprietors of the two coaches, with a guard to each, which travel from bristol to london in fifteen hours have instructed their servants not to fire their arms wantonly, but to be particularly vigilant in case of attack. the proprietors of these coaches are determined to have the passengers and property protected and for the safety of both have ordered their coachmen to keep together to make assurance doubly sure." [illustration: [_by permission of s.w. partridge & co., paternoster row, london._ anthony todd.] september , :--"our mail diligence still continues its course with the same steadiness and punctuality. yesterday its coachman and guard made their first appearance in royal livery, and cut a most superior figure. it is certainly very proper that the government carriages should be thus distinguished; such a mark of his majesty's approbation does the contractors great honour, and it is with much pleasure we see so great a change in the conveyance of our mail--not only in its speed and safety, but in its present respectable appearance, from an old cart and a ragged boy." december , :--"a writer, under the signature of 'an enemy to schemers,' having published in the _gazette_ several letters against the new mode of conveying the mail, another writer, under the signature of 'lash,' has in a masterly manner replied to all his arguments in that paper of monday, and has severely censured the conduct of mr. todd of the post office." december , :--"dear sir,--i have just received some newspapers from a friend in bath containing an abusive letter against my post plan, and two answers to it under the signature of 'lash.' i rather think that the latter may be yours, and think myself much obliged to you for the warmth with which you have taken the matter up, but could wish you would take no further notice of it. the letter, if i recollect right, merely contains the refuse of the observations, sent from the post office to the treasury, which have been fully refuted to the board. it might appear these are like doubting the justice of that court were i to suffer myself to be decoyed or provoked into another. two years have already been wasted in wrangling, and i am heartily weary of it. since my return i have the satisfaction to find the public, if possible, still more pleased from the experience they have had of the punctuality as well as the expedition of the post in all possible cases, in every variety of weather our climate gives. and those who express their surprise that the plan is not extended yet to other parts of the kingdom i have taken care to tell the plain truth--that it is entirely mr. todd's fault. i could not express my sense of his exceeding ill conduct at the commencement of the trial (so very different from his profession) in a stronger manner than in my memorial to the treasury; nor could they do me ampler justice than in the resolutions they passed on the occasion and sent to the post office. it should not therefore be stated to the public his stopping the norfolk and suffolk service by his assertion of the enormous expenses of the new beyond the old system, and his strange declaration that the number of letters sent by the bath and bristol post had decreased and in consequence of its improvement are so ill-supported by the statements sent to the treasury, and the reverse of these charges so fully established in my answers that i believe there is an end of the controversy, and have very little doubt but that i shall shortly receive the ministers' commands to carry the plan into execution to the other parts of the kingdom. to do this (and i have not the least fear of accomplishing it) will be the most decisive answer to abuse, and more satisfactory to the publick. i rather think, too, from the number of memorials sent in favour of my plan, and the general indignation expressed at the mismanagement of the old post, mr. todd will find it prudent to desist from further opposition. nothing possible can be in better train than the plan is or in the hands of persons more anxious for its success. it would be very imprudent, therefore, to run the least hazard of disturbing it. i beg you'll not imagine i am the least displeased at what you have done. on the contrary, i am really much obliged to you; and be assured i shall never forget the zeal and attention i have experienced from you in the course of this business, and that you will always find me your sincere friend.--john palmer, arno's vale, bristol, december , ." december , :--"our mail carriage has, if possible, added to its reputation from its extraordinary and ready exertions on the bad weather setting in. it arrived here on saturday an hour only after its time, and this morning was within the limited time. the salisbury mail, which should have come in on saturday by eight in the morning did not arrive till sunday morning." january , :--"the new regulation of our post turns out a peculiar advantage to this city, in that letters can be sent from here in the evening and answered in london next morning's mails, which enables business people to stay here longer." on february , , the town council minutes contain the following:--"mr. may acquainted the members present that the inhabitants of this city, as well as those of other places, having derived great benefit from mr. palmer's plan lately adopted for the improvement of the post, was the occasion of his calling them together to consider such measures as might be thought proper for continuance and extension of the said plan.... it was resolved that a memorial be sent to the right hon. wm. pitt, representing the great benefits received from the plan, and requesting a continuance of the same, together with the extension of the same plan to other parts of the kingdom." february , :--"at a meeting of the bristol merchants' society on saturday last, a vote of thanks was passed to mr. john palmer for the advantages received from his postal plan." february , :--"memorials appear to the right hon. wm. pitt for the continuance and extension of palmer's plan from the merchants, tradesmen, shopkeepers in the city of bristol, common council of the city of bristol, mayor, burgesses and commonality of the city of bristol, mayor, aldermen and common councilmen of the city of bristol." on march , , appeared the following letter:--"london, february , . sir,--having both of us been engaged upon committees of the house of commons, we have been unable to present the paper you transmitted to us respecting mr. palmer's plan to mr. pitt till within these few days. mr. pitt has desired us to acquaint mr. mayor and the corporation that he feels himself very happy to have assisted in giving such an accommodation to the city of bath as he always hoped that plan would afford, and in which he is confirmed by the manner in which the corporation have expressed themselves concerning it. measures are being taken to carry it into execution through other parts of the kingdom, and the plan will be adopted in a few days upon the norfolk and suffolk roads. "a. moysey and j.j. pratt. "to philip georges, esq., deputy town clerk." may , :--"bath post office. a further extension of mr. palmer's plan for the more safe and expeditious conveyance of the mails took place on monday, the th inst., when the letters on the cross posts from frome, warminster, haytesbury, salisbury, romsey, southampton, portsmouth, gosport, chichester, and their delivery, together with the isle of wight, jersey and guernsey, all parts of hampshire and dorsetshire, will be forwarded from this office at five o'clock p.m., and every day except sundays. letters from the above places will arrive here every morning, mondays excepted: "n.b.--all letters must be put in the office before five o'clock p.m." may , :--"we hear that mr. palmer's plan for conveying the mails will be adopted from london to manchester through leicester and derby, and to leeds through nottingham, at midsummer." june , :--"mr. williams, the public-spirited master of the three tuns inn, and the chief contractor for conveying the mails, had in the morning of this day placed in the front of his house his majesty's arms, neatly carved in gilt. in the evening his house was illuminated in a very elegant manner with variegated lamps, the principal figure in which was the letters 'g.r.' immediately over the coat-of-arms. a band of music with horns played several tunes adapted to the day, and a recruiting party drawn up before the doors with drums and fifes playing at intervals had a very pleasing effect." on june , , appeared the following paragraph, which shows how complete was the success of john palmer's post plan, in spite of all the obstacles placed in his way to obstruct his scheme. we are now informed that the "mail-coaches and diligences have been found to answer so well that they will be generally adopted throughout the kingdom, and conveying of them in carts will be discontinued." on june appeared a long letter showing how the g.p.o. tried to overthrow mr. palmer's scheme. this is signed thomas symons, bristol, and describes the scheme as the most beneficial plan that ever was thought of for a commercial country. he also complains of the misconduct of the post office, as letters had been miscarried to dublin, which caused the merchants of bristol considerable annoyance, and this mismanagement without hesitation he declares was by design, in order to try and overthrow this most excellent system of john palmer's post. early in , palmer had to represent to the contractors that the mails must be carried by more reliable coaches. "the comptroller-general," he wrote to one contractor, "has to complain not only of the horses employed on the bristol mail, but as well of their harness and the accoutrements in use, whose defects have several times delayed the bath and bristol letters, and have even led to the conveyance being overset, to the imminent peril of the passengers. "instructions have been issued by the comptroller for new sets of harness to be supplied to the several coaches in use on this road, for which accounts will be sent you by the harness-makers. mr. palmer stated also that he had under consideration, for the contractor's use, a new-invented coach." soon after this, palmer's active connection with the post office ceased. he died at brighton in . what he looked like at the age of and respectively, is shewn in the illustrations, the former taken from a picture attributed to gainsborough. [illustration: [_by permission of "bath chronicle."_ john palmer at the age of .] chapter v. appreciations of ralph allen, john palmer, and sir francis freeling, mail and coach administrators. on the th april, , the day after a visit to bristol to celebrate the establishment of the new steamship line to jamaica, the marquess of londonderry, then postmaster-general, visited bath to take part in a ceremony in honour of ralph allen and john palmer. these two great postal reformers were both citizens of bath, and are greatly honoured in that city for their work in the post office, with the famous men of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. by a happy thought there has lately been started a movement to keep alive associations with the past by placing tablets on the houses in which famous men lived. one of the tablets unveiled by lord londonderry was placed on the house in which ralph allen first conducted the business of the bath post office, and of his cross post contracts, and the other on the house in which john palmer was born. soon after noon on the eventful day, the bath postmen's band, mr. kerans, the postmaster, and his lieutenants, the staff of postmen and messengers, marched on to the space between the abbey and the guildhall for inspection by the head of the post office department. after the inspection, a procession was formed, in which the postmaster-general was accompanied by the mayor, and followed by the town councillors, two by two. before them went the city swordbearer, clad in striking robes, and the party proceeded to the north parade, from which allen's house is now reached by a passage way. the house is built of stone, and has a very handsome front in the style of the classical renaissance. in drawing aside the curtain, which veiled the tablet, on which was inscribed "here lived ralph allen, - ," lord londonderry said that there was probably not one of the great men who had been associated with bath who was more of a benefactor to his town, as well as to the public service of his country, than ralph allen. the procession then moved on to palmer's house, only a few yards away, where a similar ceremony took place. after another short speech by the postmaster-general, in which he explained the share palmer had borne in developing the modern post office system, the second tablet was unveiled. it bore the inscription, "here lived john palmer, born , died ." afterwards at the guildhall, where a bust of allen in the council chamber looked down upon a large party assembled for luncheon, the postmaster-general, in response to the toast of his health, discoursed more at large upon the topic of the day. he congratulated bath upon having among its citizens two out of the four great men of post office history. it was allen's task to provide a general postal system by opening up new lines of posts between the main roads, and through new lines of country. between , when he began his first contract, and when he died, he covered the country with a network of posts, giving easy communication between all important towns, and he also increased the number and speed of the mails on the post roads. while doing this he raised himself from being a humble clerk, and later, postmaster of bath, to a position of great affluence, and of friendship with many of the great men of his time. among those friends was lord chatham. it was twenty years after allen's death that palmer's mail coach system was started. its advantage soon made itself apparent, and the improvement of roads at the end of the th century enabled the mail coach service to be brought to great perfection. it lasted less than years, but in those years correspondence and the revenue of the post office multiplied many times, and when rowland hill turned his attention to postal questions he found a rapid and efficient service, which was at the same time so cheap that the cost of conveyance was only a small item in the expenses of the post office. the mayor of bath proposed the toast of "the visitors," and said that they had amongst them two representatives of the great men they were honouring. ralph allen was represented by colonel allen, a direct descendant, and the owner of bathampton manor, a part of ralph allen's estate. colonel allen had lately returned from south africa. john palmer was represented by his grandson, colonel palmer, r.e. [illustration: [_from a block kindly lent by the proprietors of the "bath chronicle."_] medal struck in honour of ralph allen.] colonel allen thanked the company for their kind reception, and colonel palmer said that it had given him the greatest pleasure to witness the testimonial to his grandfather's services, and this pleasure would be shared by the members of his family, including his sister, who had given the cup on the table to the corporation. it had been a present from the citizens of glasgow to john palmer. full accounts of the post office services of allen and palmer are written in "the bristol royal mail." the photograph of a curious memorial of ralph allen's work in the post office here reproduced is that of a medal bearing the royal arms, and the inscriptions "to the famous mr. allen, th december, ," and "the gift of his royal highness, w.d. of cumberland." the reverse of the medal is engraved with some masonic emblems, and with the words, "amor honor justitia," ino campbell, armagh. no. . the history of this relic is rather obscure. it was purchased in a curiosity shop in belfast some fifteen years ago by mr. d. buick, ll.d., of sandy bay, larne. in the year , the princess amelia visited bath, and was entertained by ralph allen at prior park. during her stay at bath, the duke of cumberland also visited the town, and is known to have contributed £ to the bath hospital, of which allen was one of the most active supporters. it has been surmised that the medal was intended as an acknowledgment of the courtesy and attention received by the duke and the princess on this occasion. whether the medal was ever presented is not known, or how it came to be converted into a masonic jewel. perhaps it may have been given away by allen, or it may have gone astray, or been stolen. the masonic lodge, no. , is said to have been founded by a mr. john campbell in , shortly before the date of allen's death: allen may have been a freemason. [illustration: [_by permission of mr. sydenham, of bath._ tokens commemorative of palmer's mail coach system.] it is to mr. sydenham, of bath, that indebtedness is due for the interesting impressions of tokens struck in commemoration of palmer's mail coach system here depicted. an interesting tribute was the painting by george robertson, engraved by james fittler, and inscribed to him as comptroller-general in , eleven years after he had ceased to hold that position. a copy of this engraving appears in "the bristol royal mail." palmer also received the freedom of eighteen towns and cities in recognition of his public services, was mayor of bath in and , and represented that city in the four parliaments of , , , and . francis freeling, who succeeded john palmer in the secretaryship and general managership of post office affairs, was as a youth a disciple of his predecessor, and assisted him in the development of the mail coach system. he was apprenticed to the post office in bristol, where his talents, rectitude of conduct, and assiduity in the duties assigned him gained for him the esteem and respect of all those connected with the establishment; and, on the introduction by mr. palmer of the new system of mail coaches, mr. freeling was appointed in his assistant to carry the improvements into effect. he was introduced into the general post office in , and successively filled the office of surveyor, principal surveyor, joint secretary with the late anthony todd, esq., and sole secretary for nearly half a century. in mr. dix's "life of chatterton," it is stated, on the authority of a friend of the chatterton family, that on chatterton leaving for london, "he took leave of several friends on the steps of redcliff church very cheerfully. that at parting from them he went over the way to mr. freeling's house." it is further stated that mr. freeling was father to the late sir f. freeling. as regards freeling's birthplace, information is forthcoming which seems conclusive. in a collection of old bristol sketches purchased for the museum and library, there is a beautiful drawing of redcliffe hill, executed about eighty years ago; and the artist, doubtless acting on the evidence of old inhabitants--contemporaries of freeling--has distinctly marked the house where that gentleman was born, and noted the fact in his own handwriting. [illustration: + birthplace of sir francis freeling, bart., _secretary to the general post office_.] permission has been obtained from the council of the bristol museum and reference library for the picture to be photographed. the following is the superscription on the back of the original pencil drawing:--"redcliffe pit, bristol. the house with this mark + at the door is the house in which sir francis freeling, bart., was born. the high building, george's patent shot tower, g. delamotte, del. jan. , ." a copy of the sketch is here reproduced. the house as "set back" or re-erected is now known as , redcliffe hill. sir francis freeling first carried on his secretarial duties at the old post office in lombard street, once a citizen's mansion. there he was located for years. on september th, , the lombard street office was abandoned as headquarters, and freeling moved, with the secretarial staff under his chieftainship, to st. martin's-le-grand. in the question arose whether the mail coaches should be obtained by public competition, or by private agreement, but sir francis freeling's idea was to get the public service done well, irrespective of the means. on this point mr. joyce, c.b., in his history of the post office, wrote that in the contract for the supply of mail coaches was in the hands of mr. vidler, of millbank, who had held it for more than years, and little had been done during this period to improve the construction of the vehicles he supplied. designed after the pattern in vogue at the end of the last century, they were, as compared with the stage coaches, not only heavy and unsightly, but inferior both in point of speed and accommodation. commissioners appointed to inquire into the system, altogether dissatisfied with the manner in which the contract had been performed, arranged with the government not only that the service should be put up to public tender, but that vidler should be excluded from the competition. this decision was arrived at in july, , and the contract expired on the th of january following. to invite tenders would occupy time, and after that mail coaches would have to be built sufficient in number to supply the whole of england and scotland. a period of five or six months was obviously not enough for the purpose, and overtures were made to vidler to continue his contract for half a year longer. vidler, incensed at the treatment he had received, flatly refused. not a day, not an hour, beyond the stipulated time would he extend his contract, and on the th of january, , all the mail coaches in great britain would be withdrawn from the roads. freeling, now an old man, with this difficulty to overcome, had his old energy revived, and when the th of january arrived there was not a road in the kingdom, from wick to penzance, on which a new coach was not running. it was then that the mail coaches reached their prime. amongst the deaths announced in the _felix farley's journal_ under date of january th, , is that of "the lady of francis freeling, esq., of the general post office," and another part of the paper contains the following paragraph:-- "the untimely death of mrs. freeling is lamented far beyond the circle of her own family, extensive as it is. the amiableness of her manner and the rational accomplishments of her mind had conciliated a general esteem for such worth, through numerous classes of respectable friends, who naturally participate in its loss." freeling's obituary notice, which appeared in the same _journal_ on july , , ran as follows: "saturday last, died at his residence in bryanston square, london, in the rd year of his age, sir francis freeling, bart., upwards of years secretary to the general post office. sir francis was a native of bristol--he was born in redcliffe parish--and first became initiated in the laborious and multifarious duties attendant upon the important branch of the public service in which he was engaged in the post office of this city of bristol, from whence he was removed to the metropolitan office in lombard street, on the recommendation of mr. palmer, the former m.p. and father of george palmer, the present member for bath, who had observed during the period he was employed in first establishing the mail-coach department the quickness of apprehension, the aptitude for business, and the steadiness of conduct of his youthful protégé. sir francis rapidly rose to notice and preferment in his new situation; and after his succession to the office of chief secretary, it is proverbial that no public servant ever gave more general satisfaction by his indefatigable attention to the interests of the community, or than he invariably shewed to those of the meanest individual who addressed him; whether from a peer or peasant, a letter of complaint always received a prompt reply. the present admirable arrangements and conveniences of that noble national establishment, the newly-erected post office, were formed upon the experience and the suggestions of sir francis and his eldest son. a more faithful and zealous servant the public never possessed. the title he enjoyed was the unsolicited reward for his services, bestowed upon him by his royal master george the th, from whom he frequently received other flattering testimonials of regard and friendship. in sir francis freeling was to be found one of those instances which so frequently occur in this country of the sure reward to industry and talent when brought into public notice. in speaking of his private character, those only can appreciate his worth who saw him in the bosom of his family--to his fond and affectionate children his loss will be irreparable. to possess his friendship was to have gained his heart, for it may be truly said he never forgot the friend who had won his confidence; particularly if the individual was one who, like himself, had wanted the fostering hand of a superior. sir francis was always found to be the ready and liberal patron of talent in every department of literature, science, and the fine arts. considering the importance and multiplicity of his public avocations, it was surprising to all his friends how he could have found leisure to store his mind with the knowledge he had attained of the works and beauties of all our most esteemed writers; his library contains one of the rarest and most curious collections of our early authors, more particularly our poets and dramatists; in the acquirement of these works he was engaged long before it became the fashion to purchase a black letter poem, or romance, merely because it was old or unique. but his highest excellencies were the virtuous and religious principles which governed his whole life; his purse was ever open to relieve the distress of an unfortunate friend, or the wants of the deserving poor. many were the alms which he bestowed in secret; which can be testified by the writer of this paragraph, who knew him well, and enjoyed his friendship." miss edith freeling, now resident in clifton, grand-daughter of sir francis freeling, and daughter of sir henry freeling, and who was actually born in the general post office, st. martin's-le-grand, london, where her father had a residence as assistant secretary, has in her possession several "antiques" belonging to her ancestors. a worn-out despatch box used by sir francis in sending his papers to the postmaster-general is one of the prized articles. a very handsome gold seal cut with the royal arms, and bearing the legend--general post office secretary--is another of the relics. likewise a smaller gold seal with a crown, and "god save the king," as its legend. at the time of his death, sir francis freeling's snuff boxes numbered , the majority of which had been presented to him. apparently "appreciations" took a tangible form in those days! his son, sir henry, likewise had snuff boxes presented to him. a handsome specimen snuff box is now in miss freeling's hands. it is made of tortoise-shell, it has the portrait of king george the ivth as a gold medallion on the top, and was known as a regency box. the inscription inside is, "this box was presented to g.h. freeling by his majesty george ivth on board the lightning steam packet on his birthday twelfth august as a remembrance that we had been carried to ireland in a steam boat." as sir francis freeling migrated from the bristol service to bath in , it must have been at the old bristol post office, near the exchange, indicated by the illustration, that he commenced that public career which was destined to be one of brilliant achievements for the department during the many years he presided over it as permanent chief, and of great good to his country in the way of providing means for people to communicate with each other more readily than was the case before his day. [illustration: the old bristol post office in exchange avenue.] chapter vi. bristol mail coach announcements, - .--the new general post office, london. how our forefathers got about the country, and how the mails were carried as time went on after allen and palmer had disappeared from mail scenes, and freeling had taken up the reins, the following announcements, taken from _bonner and middleton's bristol journal_, and from the _bristol mirror_ respecting mail stage coaches will aptly indicate. they are quoted just as they appeared, so that editing may not spoil their originality or interest:-- "a letter from exeter, dated may , , said:--'last thursday the london mail, horsed by mr. j. land, of the new london inn, exeter, with four beautiful grey horses, and driven by mr. cave-browne, of the inniskilling dragoons, started (at the sound of the bugle) from st. sydwells, for a bet of guineas, against the plymouth mail, horsed by mr. phillips, of the hotel, with four capital blacks, and driven by mr. chichester, of arlington house, which got the mail first to the post office in honiton. the bet was won easily by mr. browne, who drove the sixteen miles in one hour and fourteen minutes.--bets at starting, to on mr. browne. a very great concourse of people were assembled on this occasion.'" on saturday, october , , it was announced that "the union post coach ran from bristol every sunday, wednesday and friday morning over the old passage, through chepstow and monmouth to hereford, where it met other coaches, and returned the following days. coaches left the white hart inn and the bush tavern for exeter and plymouth every morning, by the nearest road by ten miles. fares: to exeter, inside, £ s.; outside, s.; to plymouth, £ s. d. and £ s. reduced fares are offered by the london, bath, and bristol mail coaches--to and from london to bristol, inside, £ s.; from london to bath, £ . parcels under lb. in weight taken at d. each, with an engagement to be responsible for the safe delivery of such as are under £ in value." in august, , passenger traffic to birmingham caused rivalry among the coach proprietors. a new coach having started on this route, three coaching advertisements were issued:-- under the heading "cheap travelling to birmingham," the "jupiter" coach was announced to run from the white lion, broad street, every monday and friday afternoon, at two o'clock; through newport, gloucester, tewkesbury, and worcester to birmingham; the "nelson" coach from the bush tavern and white hart every morning at three; and the mail every evening at seven. "performed by weeks, williams, poston, coupland and co." the "union" coach altered its times of leaving the boar's head, college place--"in order to render the conveyance as commodious and expeditious as possible"--to sunday, tuesday and thursday mornings at seven o'clock, over the old passage, through chepstow, monmouth, abergavenny, and hereford, where it met the ludlow, shrewsbury, chester, and holyhead coaches, and returned the following days, and met the bath, warminster, salisbury, and southampton coaches every saturday, tuesday, and thursday mornings at seven o'clock. "performed by w. williams, bennett, whitney, broome, young and co." "a new and elegant coach, called the 'cornwallis,'" left the lamb inn, broadmead, every monday, wednesday, and friday afternoon, at two o'clock, through newport, gloucester, tewkesbury and worcester, to the george and rose inn, birmingham, where it arrived early the next morning, whence coaches set off for the midlands, north wales, and the north of england. the proprietors pledged themselves that no pains should be spared to make this a favourite coach with the public; and as one of the proprietors would drive it a great part of the way, every attention would be paid to the comfort of passengers. the fares of this coach would at all times be as cheap as any other coach on the road, and the proprietors expected a preference no longer than whilst endeavouring by attention to merit it. "performed by thomas brooks and co., bristol." march , :--"the 'cornwallis' coach to birmingham is to set out from the swan inn, maryport street, at three every morning, sundays excepted, through newport, gloucester and worcester, and arrive at the rose inn, birmingham, early the same evening. the fares of this coach and the carriage of goods will be found at all times as cheap as any other coach on the road." at this period admiral cornwallis, whose name this coach bore, was fighting the french with his fleet off brest. on august , in that year ( ), the public were respectfully informed, that "a light four-inside coach leaves the original southampton and general coach offices, bush inn and tavern, bristol, every morning (sundays excepted), at seven o'clock precisely, and arrives at the coach and horses inn, southampton, at five in the afternoon. the gosport coach, through warminster, salisbury, romsey and southampton, tuesday, thursday and saturday mornings at five o'clock. to brighton, a four-inside coach in two days, through warminster, salisbury, romsey, southampton, chichester, arundel, worthing and shoreham, on monday, wednesday and friday mornings at seven, sleeps at southampton, and arrives early the following afternoon. portsmouth royal mail, through warminster, sarum, romsey, and southampton every afternoon at three o'clock. also the oxford royal mail, every morning at seven o'clock." on august , , the state of the roads comes under review:--"mail men, who have to drive rapidly over long distances, must ever be on the look-out for the state in which the roads are kept. "in december, , mr. johnson, superintendent of mail coaches, had to report to the house of commons on the 'petition of mr. mcadam,' who was engaged in constructing and repairing of the public roads. "previous to this the roads were very bad in most country places, except the mail coach roads, built at the time the romans came to england. "mcadam's expenses up to amounted to £ , s., actually expended by him up to august, , and he had travelled , miles in , days. "he held the position of general surveyor of the bristol turnpike roads, at a salary, first year £ , and each subsequent year of £ , but, taking into account that the annual salary was £ for expenses 'incident' to the office, the remaining £ was not more than adequate payment for the constant and laborious duties attached to the situation." under date of november , , there is a list of royal mails and post-coaches despatched from and arriving at the bush tavern, corn street, bristol:--"london, daily, . p.m.; and at reduced fares by the 'regent' at . p.m.; milford and waterford, via cardiff and swansea, . a.m. daily; birmingham, manchester and liverpool, every evening at . ; oxford, daily, at . a.m.; portsmouth and southampton, every afternoon, at . ; plymouth and exeter, every morning, at ; birmingham, manchester and liverpool, daily, at . a.m.; portsmouth and southampton, by the 'rocket,' at . a.m.; gloster, birmingham, liverpool, manchester, and holyhead leaves bristol each day at . a.m." on july , , the "hero" coach is quoted as performing the journey from bristol to birmingham in twelve hours. [illustration: [_from "stage coach and mail." by permission of mr. c.g. harper._ how the mails were conveyed to bristol in the days of king george the fourth.] on january , :--"from wood's office, bell yard, thomas street, bristol. coaches. the 'london shamrock,' light post-coach, five o'clock every evening; arrives in london at half-past seven next morning. runs to the spread eagle inn, gracechurch street, and bull inn, aldgate. "'london chronometer.' cheap coach. tuesday, thursday and saturday, twelve o'clock. fare: inside, s.; outside, s. d. runs to gerrard's hall, basing lane, cheapside. "exeter, plymouth, devonport, totnes, newton-bushel, ashburton, tiverton, wellington, taunton, and bridgwater. 'royal devon' coach, every afternoon at four o'clock. "bath. every morning, at eight, ten, and twelve o'clock, and at five in the evening." january , :--"plume of feathers, general coach office, wine street, bristol. w. clift takes the present opportunity to return his sincere thanks to the public for the preference they have given to his coaches; and begs to inform them that the 'traveller' coach, to exeter, is this day removed from congdon's hotel to the old london inn, and leaves there for bristol every evening, at half-past five, and arrives at bristol at half-past five in the morning, in time for the coaches to gloucester, cheltenham, worcester, birmingham, liverpool, manchester, holyhead, and all parts of the north; leaves bristol at seven every morning, proceeds through bridgwater, taunton and tiverton, and arrives at exeter at six the same evening. "the proprietors, for the better accommodation of their friends, have declined the conveyance of fish by this coach, and pledge themselves that no pains shall be wanting to render it the most comfortable as well as the most expeditious coach on the road. "four-inside coaches to all parts of england daily. performed by clift, pratt and co." saturday, december , :--"we are informed that memorials to the lords of the treasury and to the general post office, to establish a mail-coach from cheltenham, through tewkesbury, over the tewkesbury severn bridge to ledbury, and from thence to hereford, are now in course of signature through the neighbourhood connected with that line of road. the advantages of such an arrangement will be most important, as it will give to the inhabitants of that city two hours to answer, on the same day, letters received in the morning from london, bristol, birmingham, and all parts of the north and west, and also from scotland and from all parts of the north of ireland. should this object be attained, the intended new mail will bring the london letters for hereford from cheltenham on the arrival there of the gloucester mail; and the present bristol and birmingham mails will leave the ledbury and hereford letters at tewkesbury, instead of at worcester, as now done." october , :--"royal mail and general coach office, bush tavern, corn street, bristol. new mails to exeter, plymouth and barnstaple. the public are respectfully informed that the royal mail will in future leave the bush coach office daily, nine a.m., via bridgwater, taunton, wellington, collumpton, and arrive in exeter six p.m., leaving for plymouth six-thirty p.m. and arriving there eleven p.m. 'same night,' making the journey, bristol to plymouth, in 'only fourteen hours.' "also royal mail to barnstaple, daily, nine-thirty a.m., via taunton, wiveliscombe, bampton and south molton. "each mail will arrive at bristol at five p.m., in time for the london mail at five-twenty p.m., and of the 'sovereign' four-inside coach to london six p.m." april , :--"from the bush coach office, the day coach, the 'regulator,' daily (except sundays) at six-thirty p.m., and arrives at the white horse cellars, piccadilly, and the bull and mouth, st. martin's-le-grand, precisely at eight o'clock." "the weston-super-mare coach, the 'magnet,' left weston nine a.m., and on return left the bush three-forty-five p.m., through congresbury, cleeve, and backwell. "the 'hope' left weston-super-mare on tuesday, thursday and saturday at eight-thirty a.m., and returned from the plume of feathers at four-thirty p.m. same day." [illustration: [_by permission of mr. f.e. baines, c.b. from "on the track of the mail coach."_ the bristol, bath and london coach taking up mails without halting.] "royal mail to portsmouth, daily, five-fifteen p.m., return journey, portsmouth seven p.m., arrive white lion eight-thirty next day." in , the "bull and mouth" in st. martin's-le-grand was a great coach rendezvous. a strong and penetrating aroma of horses and straw pervaded its neighbourhood, in bull-and-mouth street. the gloucester and aberystwith mail-coach continued to run until the year , and it is believed that was the last regular main road mail-coach which was kept on the road. its guard from to its abolition in was moses james nobbs. the london mail coaches of the period loaded up at about half-past seven at their respective inns, and then assembled at the post office yard in st. martin's-le-grand to receive the bags. all, that is to say, except seven coaches carrying west of england mails--the bath, bristol, devonport, exeter, gloucester, southampton, and stroud--which started from piccadilly. a contemporary writer said:--"wonderful building, the new general post office, opened in , nearly opposite. they say the government has got something very like a white elephant in that vast pile. a great deal too big for present needs, or, indeed, for any possible extension of post office business." and yet, in the years which have elapsed two other post offices of equal size have been built near it, and acres of ground at mount pleasant--a mile off--have been covered with buildings for post office purposes! [illustration: the general post office, st. martin's-le-grand, london, in .] chapter vii. the bristol and portsmouth mail from onwards.--projected south coast railway from bristol, .--the bristol to salisbury post boy held up.--mail coach accidents.--luke kent and richard griffiths, the mail guards. in , in connection with a projected new railway from bristol to basingstoke the promoters made a strong point of the fact that the letters for the first delivery in the important south coast towns, such as portsmouth and southampton, could not be posted quite so late in bristol then as could those which were carried in the olden days by the mail coaches throughout. a deputation, consisting of mr. john mardon, mr. sidney humphries, mr. bolt, and mr. h.j. spear (secretary), representing the chamber of commerce and shipping, waited on the postmaster-general, at the house of commons, london, respecting the imperfect service, and they did not fail to point out to him (mr. austen chamberlain) the time-table of the old mail coach by way of contrast with the present service by railway. mr. austen chamberlain, replying to the deputation, said that, as regarded the mail arrangements, he thought he had no need to show them that he recognised the importance of bristol as a great commercial centre, or how largely recent developments had increased that importance. he was also alive to the necessity of prompt means of communication, but he was not wholly his own master. they had complained that the train service to the south and south-eastern counties was very inconvenient. that, unfortunately, was the only means of communication upon which he had to rely. if they had been able to put before him trains which he did not use for the transmission of mails, he might have been able to provide facilities. with the existing train facilities the post office business was conducted as well as it could be conducted. that being so, there was no way by which he could improve that service, except by requiring of the companies concerned that they should provide a special train for post office purposes. he was afraid that trains run at the hours which would be necessary to meet their wishes would not secure much passenger traffic, and the whole cost of the running would fall upon the postmaster-general. he would closely watch the matter, and if he could see his way he would not be reluctant to provide them with what they desired. at present the service was the best in his power to afford. they were probably aware that the post office was experimenting in certain places with motor-cars, and if they were found to be reliable, that might be a way out of the difficulty. he should keep that before him as a possibility, if further railway facilities were not forthcoming. he regretted that he could not make a more hopeful statement. all he could say was that he did not think the service was satisfactory for a great commercial centre like bristol, and if he saw his way to provide them with something better he would certainly not neglect to do so. it may be opportune here to recall the mail services of the past. from an "account of the days and hours of the post coming in and going out at salisbury," the following has been gleaned. the "account" is a broad sheet, and was printed in salisbury in by sully and alexander. the name of daniel p. safe, postmaster, is inscribed at the foot of the "account":-- comes in from bristol through bath, bradford, trowbridge, devizes, westbury, warminster, heytesbury, wells, shepton mallet, frome, etc., etc., monday about seven at night; and wednesday and friday, about three in the afternoon. goes out to heytesbury, westbury, devizes, trowbridge, bradford, bath, bristol, warminster, frome, shepton mallet, wells, etc., etc., sunday at ten at night; and wednesday and friday at six in the evening. comes in from portsmouth, gosport, isle of wight, guernsey, jersey, southampton, new forest, winton, romsey, on sunday, wednesday and friday, at six in the evening. goes out to romsey, winton, new forest, southampton, guernsey, jersey, isle of wight, gosport, portsmouth, on sunday, tuesday, and thursday at eleven in the morning. the official bag seal of the period was inscribed thus:-- [illustration] the bristol and portsmouth mail coach was established under the immediate superintendence of francis freeling, secretary to the general post office, who travelled on the coach on its first journey about the year . in the year the salisbury, portsmouth, and chichester mails went out from bristol every morning at seven, and arrived in bristol every evening between nine and eleven. at that period the coaches from bristol for the southern counties started thus:--bush tavern, corn street, john weeks; for weymouth a post coach every monday, wednesday, and friday morning at ; for portsmouth a post coach every tuesday, thursday, and saturday morning at four, so that probably the mail which left at a.m. daily was carried by mail cart and postboy. in about the year a "long" coach set out from mr. crosse's, the crown inn, portsmouth, to southampton, salisbury, bath, and bristol, every monday, wednesday, and friday afternoon; and from gosport every tuesday, thursday, and saturday, to the white hart inn, bristol. the methods of service in and the perils of the road are indicated by the following public notice, viz.:-- "general post office, "october th, . "the postboy carrying the mail from bristol to salisbury on the th instant was stopped between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock at night by two men on foot within six miles of salisbury, who robbed him of seven shillings in money, but did not offer to take the mail. whoever shall apprehend the culprit, or cause to be apprehended and convicted both or either of the persons who committed this robbery, will be entitled to a reward of fifty pounds over and above the reward given by act of parliament for apprehending highwaymen. if either party will surrender himself and discover his accomplice he will be admitted as evidence for the crown, receive his majesty's most gracious pardon, and be entitled to the said reward. "by command of the postmaster-general. "francis freeling, secretary." there is no record that anyone claimed the reward. in the mail went out from bristol at twenty minutes past five o'clock for salisbury, southampton, portsmouth, and chichester, and arrived every day previously to the london mail--thus chichester, in sussex, was linked up with the wiltshire, dorsetshire, and hampshire mails at that early period. the charge for the postage of a letter from bristol to portsmouth was at that time ninepence. luke kent was the first individual who filled the place of guard of the chichester mail coaches. at his death he left a sum of money, on the condition of the mail guard always blowing the horn when he passed the place of his interment, farlington church, near havant. prior to becoming a mail guard, luke kent kept the turnpike gate at post bridge, and afterwards became landlord of the goat public house, where he amassed a good fortune. he then opened the sadler's wells and was assisted by james perry, the most celebrated mimic of his time, who assumed the name of rossignal. he was accustomed to procure a variety of birds, and, having first given his excellent imitation of the songs of each, to let them loose amongst the audience, to their no small gratification. the scheme failed. in june, , one of the portsmouth night coaches, having six inside and fifteen outside passengers, besides a surplus of luggage, was overturned near godalming, surrey. twelve of the passengers sustained considerable hurt, and nine were obliged to be left behind; the lives of two children were said to be despaired of. "we are astonished at the temerity of the public in trusting themselves to such vehicles." a time bill of , which gives details of a coach service at that period, appears on page . general post-office. the earl of chichester and the marquess of salisbury, his majesty's postmasters-general. portsmouth and bristol: contractors'| number of | | time |dispatched from the post office, portsmouth, names. |passengers.|miles.|allowed| , at . , nd march. |in. out.| |h. m.| | | | | | | | | by clock. | | | | {with a time-piece safe. {| | | |coach no. sent out {no. to devonshire. rogers {| | | | |arrived at fareham, at . . {| | | - / | |arrived at southampton, at . . {| | | | | ten minutes allowed for office duty. rogers | | | | |arrived at rumsey, at . . weeks | | | | |arrived at salisbury, at . . | | | | | ten minutes allowed for office duty. hilliar | | | | |arrived at warminster, at . . {| | | | |arrived at beckington, at . . pickwick {| | | | |arrived at bath, at . . {| | | | | ten minutes allowed for office duty. {| | | - / | |arrived at the post-office, bristol, the of | | +------+-------+march, , at . by time-piece | | | | | at . by clock. | | +------+-------+ devonshire. | | | | | {delivered the time-piece | | | | | safe. | | | | |coach no. arrived {no. to office. | | | | | thomas cole. the time of working each stage is to be reckoned from the coach's arrival, and as any time lost, is to be recovered in the course of the stage, it is the coachman's duty to be as expeditious as possible, and to report the horse-keepers if they are not always ready when the coach arrives, and active in getting it off. the guard is to give his best assistance in changing, whenever his official duties do not prevent it. november, .---- . by command of the postmasters-general, charles johnson, surveyor and superintendent. in , a coachman on this road was accused of imperilling his passengers through having imbibed too freely, and the mail guard was called on in the following letter to report on the matter:-- "general post office, th july, . sir,--the passengers who travelled with the portsmouth and bristol mail on the th instant, having complained that the coachman who drove on that day from bristol to warminster was drunk and unfit to drive i have to desire you will explain the reason why you neglected to report to me so great and so disgraceful an irregularity, and also how it happened that you did not know the coachman's name when the passengers asked you for it. i am, sir, yours, etc., c. johnson.--mr. folwell, mail guard, bristol." the explanation is not forthcoming. in , many of the public coaches started from portsmouth and passed through portsea and landport, but-- "in olden time two days were spent 'twixt portsmouth and the monument; when flying diligences plied, when men in roundabouts would ride and, at the surly driver's will, get out and climb each tedious hill. but since the rapid freeling's age, how much improved the english stage, now in eight hours with ease, the post reaches from newgate street our coast." in the years and the portsmouth mail coach was despatched at . p.m., from bristol post office--then located at the corner of exchange avenue. the posting of letters without fee was allowed up to . p.m., and, with fee, paid and unpaid letters alike up to . p.m. the coach started from the white lion coach office, broad street, at . p.m., so as to be in readiness at the post office to take up the mails at the appointed time. the arrival of the mail at portsmouth from bristol was at . a.m. these times are an improvement upon the service in operation in . at that time the coach left bristol at . p.m., with a posting up to . p.m. without fee, and with fees paid, up to . p.m. on the inward journey the coach did not arrive until . a.m. it will be appropriate here to enumerate certain interesting incidents connected with the carrying on of the mail coach system. on saturday, jan. , , the london mail of friday se'nnight, had not arrived at swansea where it was due early in the morning, till eleven o'clock that night, having been detained seventeen hours at the new passage, in consequence of such large shoals of ice floating down the severn as to render it unsafe for the mail boat to cross until friday morning. thursday se'nnight, an inquest was held at swansea on the body of john paul, driver of the mail coach between that place and caermarthen which on sunday was overturned about two miles from swansea, while proceeding with great rapidity down a hill, it being supposed the coachman's hands were so benumbed with cold that he could not restrain the horses' speed, the consequence of which was that he was so much bruised as to occasion his death on wednesday night. the guard was slightly hurt, but the passengers escaped uninjured. verdict, accidental death. very few details exist of that exceptional season, in , when nevill, a guard on the bristol mail, was frozen to death; but the records of the great snowstorm that began on the christmas night of are more copious. a valuable reminiscence of that night--dec. , --is pollard's graphic picture of the devonport mail snowed up at amesbury. six horses could not move it, and guard f. feecham was in parlous plight. pollard's companion picture of the liverpool mail in the snow near st. alban's on the same night is equally interesting. guard james burdett fared little better than his comrade on the devonport mail: "an accident occurred to the worcester mail coach on friday evening, march , , opposite the bull and mouth office, in piccadilly, which, we are sorry to say, has proved fatal to turner, the coachman. just as turner had taken hold of the reins, and while he was wrapping a large coat over his knees, the leaders started, and, turning sharply to the right, dashed one of the fore-wheels against a post. the shock was so violent that the coachman was flung from his seat. he fell on his back, and his neck came violently against the curb-stone. not a moment was lost in securing the assistance of a surgeon, by whom he was bled. the poor man was shortly removed to st. george's hospital, where he died at about eight o'clock on saturday evening. he left a wife and three infant children in a state of destitution, without even the means of buying a coffin." as a "caution to mail coachmen," the following notice was issued on june , :--"on friday, thomas moor, the driver of the london mail from bristol to calne and back, appeared before the magistrates at brislington to answer an information laid against him by mr. bull, the inspector of mail coaches, by order of the g.p.o. for giving up the reins to an outside passenger, and permitting him to drive the mail, on may last, from keynsham to bath, against the remonstrances of the guard. the magistrates convicted moor in the mitigated penalty of £ and s. costs. mr. bull presented the bath hospital with the amount of the fine." on september th, , a coachman named burnett was killed at speenhamland, on the bath road. he was driving one of the new company's london and bristol stages, and alighted at the "hare and hounds," very foolishly leaving the horses unattended, with reins on their backs. he had been a coachman for years, but experience had not been sufficient to prevent him thus breaking one of the first rules of the profession. he had no sooner entered the inn than the rival old company's coach came down the road. whether the other coachman gave the horses a touch with his whip as he passed, or if they started of their own accord, is not known, but they did start, and burnett, rushing out to stop them, was thrown down and trampled on, so that he died. there departed this life at bristol, in november, , a somewhat notable individual in the person of richard griffiths, who was born at westminster, in the year , and entered the service of the post office as a mail guard on the th november, . at the commencement of his service he was employed as guard to the london and norwich, _via_ newmarket mail coach, upon which duty he remained until the coach ceased running on the th january, , when he was transferred to the london and dover railway, and acted as mail train guard thereon. when a travelling post office was established in on the dover line of railway, and the necessity for a guard to the mail bags thus removed, griffiths was ordered to the south wales railway, where he remained as mail train guard until superannuated on the th august, . he lived at eastville, in bristol, under the care at last of mrs. barrett, a kind old dame, who made him very comfortable, and on his demise, after being on pension for years, he bequeathed his old battered mail coach horn to her (_see illustration_). it is probable that the horn was used on the last norwich coach out of london. the maker's name on it is "j.a. turner, poultry." on november , , attention was drawn to the "musical coachman" thus:--"the blowing of the horn by the coachman and guards of our mail-coaches has usually been considered a sort of nuisance: now, by the persevering labours of these ingenious gentlemen, converted into an instrument of public gratification. most of the guards of the stage-coaches now make their entrance and exit to the tune of some old national ballad, which, though it may not, perhaps, be played at present in such exact time and tune as would satisfy the leader of the opera band, is yet pleasant in comparison to the unmeaning and discordant strains which formerly issued from the same quarter." [illustration: an old mail coach guard's post horn.] april, :--"the tipsy member" finds mention thus: "an m.p. applied to the post office to know why some of his franks had been charged; the answer was, 'we supposed, sir, they were not your writing; the 'hand' is not 'the same.' 'why, not precisely; but the truth is i happened to be a _little tipsy_ when i wrote them.' 'then, sir, you will be so good in future as to write 'drunk' when you make 'free.'" in this book are depicted an old state coach, the mail coach, the primitive railway train, and a railway engine of the latest pattern, all indicative of progress in locomotion. to complete the series, and for the purpose of historical record, subjoined is a picture of the first motor vehicle used ( - ) in bristol for the rapid transport of his majesty's mails by road. no doubt, in process of time, this handy little -horse power car, built to a bristol post office design, to carry loads of - / cwt., and constructed by the avon motor company, keynsham, near bristol, will have numerous fellow cars darting about in the roads and crowded thoroughfares of bristol for the collection of letters and parcels in conjunction with larger cars of higher horse power to do the heavy station traffic and country road work. still, little "mercury" will have the credit of being the pioneer car in the bristol post office service. during its trials the car did really useful service, and did not once break down. [illustration: the "avon" trimobile, used by the bristol post office.] chapter viii. the bush tavern, bristol's famous coaching inn, and john weeks, its worthy boniface, - .--the white lion coaching house, bristol. isaac niblett.--the white hart, bath. it appears that john weeks was landlord of the bush tavern, bristol, from to , and continued to be a coach proprietor until . in the eastern cloister of bristol cathedral there is a mural tablet erected to his memory, with a well-executed medallion portrait of him in profile, with inscription as shown in the illustration. verger sproule, of old time, who was born in the first year of the nineteenth century, once told mr. morgan, present senior lay clerk, that he well remembered john weeks, and that the portrait on the tablet was an excellent likeness of him. in "mornings at matlock," by robey skelton mackenzie, d.c.l., author of "titian: an art novel" (london, henry colburn, publisher, ), a book which contains a collection of twenty-six short stories supposed to have been told by people stopping at matlock, there is an interesting story relating to what was known as the bush guinea. briefly told, dr. mackenzie's bush guinea story runs thus:--"it was the delight of this boniface (john weeks) on every christmas day, to cover the great table with a glorious load of roast beef and plum pudding, flanked most plenteously with double home-brewed of such mighty strength and glorious flavour that we might well have called it malt wine rather than malt liquor. at this table on that day every one who pleased was welcome to sit down and feast. many to whom a good dinner was an object did so; and no nobler sight was there in bristol, amidst all its wealth and hospitality, than that of honest john weeks at the head of his table, lustily carving and pressing his guests to 'eat, drink, and be merry.' nor did his generosity content itself with this. [illustration: mural tablet in bristol cathedral.] "it was the custom of the house and of the day, when the repast was ended, that each person should go to honest john weeks in the bar and there receive his cordial wishes for many happy returns of the genial season. they received something more, for according to their several necessities a small gift of money was pressed upon each. to one man a crown; to another, half-a-guinea; to a third, as more needing it a guinea. on the whole some twenty or thirty guineas were thus disbursed. "on one particular year it had been noticed during the months of november and december, that a middle-aged man, whom no frequenter of the bush inn appeared to know, and who appeared to know no one, used to visit about noon every day, and calling for a sixpenny glass of brandy and water, sit over it until he had carefully gone through the perusal of the london paper of the previous evening. on christmas eve, honest john weeks, anxious that the decayed gentleman should have one meal at least in the 'bush,' delicately hinted that on the following day he kept open table. punctually at one o'clock, being the appointed hour, he appeared at the bush in his usual seedy attire. john weeks called his head waiter, a sagacious, well-powdered, steady man, to whom he confidently entrusted the donation which he had set aside for the decayed gentleman. the decayed gentleman quietly put it in his pocket, from which he drew a card. the inscription on the card was simply 'thomas coutts, , strand.' amongst the heirlooms which she most particularly prized, the late duchess of st. albans, widow of thomas coutts, used to show a coin richly mounted in a gorgeous bracelet, which coin bore the name of 'the bush guinea.'" numerous as the passengers were by the many coaches starting from the bush inn, yet evidently john weeks was in the habit of finding enough food for them to eat, and the wherewithal to fortify themselves with, ere they set out on their long coach journeys. the bill of fare for the guests at that hostelry during the festive season of shows that our ancestors had an excellent conception of christmas cheer. for variety and quantity it could not easily be surpassed, and in these "degenerate" days could not even be equalled. but let it speak for itself. christmas, . one turtle, weight lb.; pots turtle; british turtle giblet soup; gravy soup; pea soup; soup and bouille; mutton broth; barley broth; turbots; cod; brills; pipers; dories; haddocks; rock fish; carp; perch; salmon; plaice; herrings; sprats; soles; eels; salt fish. doe venison: haunches, necks, breasts, shoulders; hares; pheasants; grouse; partridges; wild ducks; wild geese; teal; wigeon; bald cootes; sea pheasant; mews; moor hens; water dabs; curlews; bittern; wood cocks; snipes; wild turkies; golden plovers; quist; land rails; galenas; pea hens; pigeons; larks; stares; small birds; turkies; capons; ducks; geese; chicken; ducklings; rabbits; pork griskins; veal burrs; roasting pig; oysters, stewed and scolloped; eggs; hogs puddings; ragood feet and ears; scotch collops; veal cutlets; harricoad mutton; maintenon chops; pork chops; mutton chops; rump steaks; joint steaks; sausages; hambro' sausages; tripe; cow heel; notlings; house lambs. veal: legs, loins, breast, calves' heads. beef: rumps, sirloin, ribs, pinbone, duch beef, hambro' beef. mutton: haunches, necks, legs, loins, saddles, chines, shoulders. pork: loins, legs, chines, spare-ribs, porker. cold: boar's-head; baron beef, c. qr.; hams; tongues; chicken; hogs feet and ears; collars brawn; rounds beef; collard veal and mutton; collard eels and pig's head; rein deers' tongues; dutch tongues; harts tongues; bologna tongues; parague pie; french pies; pigeon pies; venison pasty; sulks; minced pies; tarts; jellies; craw fish; pickled salmon; sturgeon; pickled oysters; potted partridges; crabs; lobsters; barrels pyfleet and colchester oysters; milford and tenby oysters; pines. so far as can be ascertained, matthew stretch kept the tavern from to , and james anderson in and . mr. john townsend was "mine host" from until . unfortunately, none of his descendants possess a portrait of him. mr. charles townsend, of st. mary's, stoke bishop, bristol, has in his possession the original lease, in which the bush tavern in corn street was transferred, on the th december, , from mr. john weeks, wine merchant, on the one part, to mr. john townsend on the other part, at a yearly rental of £ of lawful money of the united kingdom--the term to be for fourteen years. the stables and coach houses "of him, the said john weeks," situated in wine street, were included in the transfer. out of the rental the yearly sum of £ had to be paid by the owner, john weeks, to the parish of st. ewen, for that part of the coffee house which stood in the said parish. as showing how john weeks safeguarded his monopoly of coach-running to and from the bush tavern, there was this stipulation in the lease:--"the said john townsend shall and will from time to time and at all times during the continuance of this demise take in and receive at the said tavern, hereby demised, all and every stage coach or public carriage which shall belong to the said john weeks at any time during this term, under the penalty of two thousand pounds, and that he, the said john townsend, shall not nor will at any time during the said term, if the said john weeks shall so long run carriages of the aforesaid description, take in at the said tavern or coffee room any public stage coach or by way of evasion any public carriage whatsoever used as a public stage belonging to any person or persons whomsoever without the consent and approbation of the said john weeks &c. in writing for that purpose first had and obtained under the penalty of two thousand pounds to be paid for any default in the observance and performance of the covenants herein before contained in that behalf." according to paterson's "roads," john weeks in occupied a homestead called "the rodney," at filton hay, miles from bristol on the bristol to tewkesbury road. the following advertisement from a very old newspaper will be interesting as indicative that in addition to the john weeks, of bush inn fame, bristol, there was at the portsmouth end of the mail coach route another worthy of the same name, likewise engaged in the carrying trade, but by sea instead of land:--"john weeks, master of the duke of gloster sloop, takes this method to thank his friends and the public for their past favours in the southampton and portsmouth passage trade, and hopes for a continuance of the same, as they may depend on his care, and the time of sailing more regular than for many years past. he sails from southampton every monday, wednesday, and friday, and returns every tuesday, thursday, and saturday, wind and weather permitting." in the _bristol journal_ of saturday, july , , "james anderson (who kept the lamb inn, broadmead, eleven years), begged to inform his old friends and the public in general that he has taken the bush inn, tavern, and coffee-house, facing the exchange, bristol," where he hoped, by constant attention, reasonable charges, &c., to render everything agreeable and convenient to those who might kindly give a preference to his house. there had evidently been some friction at the bush under the late management, for mr. anderson also intimated that "those gentlemen who withdrew from the bush coffee-room (upon huntley's leaving it) are solicited to use it, gratis, until christmas next." in an advertisement following the above, john weeks solicited support to his new tenant at the bush, and added--"in the case of large dinners, or other public occasions, john weeks will assist mr. anderson to give satisfaction." on the site of the 'bush,' the head offices of the late west of england and south wales district bank were erected. the directors of the bristol and west of england bank purchased the premises on december st, . lloyd's bank now stands on the site. the white lion, bristol, was one of the most famous coaching houses in england, east, west, north, or south. it stood in broad street, a thoroughfare which belied its name as regards breadth, and could only be considered broad by comparison with the even narrower small street, which ran parallel with it. yet at one time there were as many coaches passing in and out of broad street as any street in bristol, or even in london! that the white lion had attained a venerable age may be judged from the fact that it is mentioned in a list of old bristol inns and taverns, published in . on may , , the duke of brunswick visited bristol, and took up his quarters at this house. in the earl of essex, and in more modern times, the grand duke constantine of russia, lodged there. the father of sir thomas lawrence was host of the white lion before he removed to the bear inn, devizes. in , it appears to have been the occasional hostelry of a duke of beaufort, for in that year, during monmouth's rebellion, his grace of badminton was in bristol, where he commanded several regiments of militia against the insurgents; and on that occasion "the backward stables of the white lion, in brode street, were set on fire, and therein were burnt to death two of the duke of beaufort's best saddle horses. it was supposed to have been done by the malice and envy of the fanaticks, of whom a great many were sent prisoners from bristol to gloucester, and there secured till the rebellion was over." in matthew's "new history or complete guide to bristol" for the year , there are the following entries respecting this erstwhile great coaching establishment:-- white lion, broad street.--thomas luce proprietor. to london: a coach in two days sets out on tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays at seven o'clock in the morning. white hart inn, broad street.--(the white hart adjoined the white lion, and was a distinct hostelry so far back as .) george poston. to london: a coach in one day every morning at four o'clock. to birmingham: a coach every morning (sundays excepted) at four o'clock, also a mail coach every evening at seven o'clock. to gloucester: a coach every morning at eight o'clock. to exeter: a coach every monday, wednesday, and friday morning at six. to bath: a coach every morning at nine o'clock and four in the afternoon. the _bristol mirror_ made announcements touching the white lion thus:--"march , . wonderful cheap travelling. fare inside s. d., outside s. the public are respectfully informed that coaches set out every tuesday and thursday and saturday morning from the white lion and white hart, john turner, landlord, and arrive at birmingham the same evening. performed by weeks, poston & co. "november , . j. niblett, white lion, broad street, announces change of royal mail coach route to london and back. the emerald post coach would run _via_ bath, devizes, marlborough, and maidenhead. £ s. inside, s. outside. "april , : new royal mail coach to bath daily at a.m. leaves york house, bath, on return at p.m. arrives at white lion, bristol, at . p.m. "april , . royal mail to liverpool every day at p.m. from white lion, broad street; arrive twelve noon the following day by way of chepstow, monmouth, hereford, shrewsbury, and gloucester. return journey liverpool p.m. arrive white lion noon next day. mr. isaac niblett, who became proprietor of the white lion inn in , in which year thomas luce gave up the place, was a well-known individual in the coaching world when the mail coach system was at its zenith. he worked coach and post horses--a number only exceeded by the great london coach proprietor chaplin, with his , , and horne and sherman with their . of the twenty-two daily coaches between bristol and london the greater proportion made the white lion their headquarters. amongst other coaches with which isaac niblett was especially associated were the "red rover" and the "exquisite." the "red rover" ran from bristol to brighton through bath, over salisbury plain, on to southampton and chichester, and covered the distance of miles in fourteen hours. the "exquisite" used to run from birmingham to cheltenham, thence on through bristol to exeter. in the _bristol directory and gazette_ of , mr. niblett's innkeepership is alluded to thus:--"isaac niblett, white lion and british coffee house, family commercial and posting house; hearse and mourning coach proprietor." the white hart, family and commercial hotel, broad street, was at that time kept by one charles smith. mr. isaac niblett, like john weeks, of bush inn fame, had a country place near bristol. he owned, and stayed from time to time at the conigre house, fylton. mr. niblett was for some time the owner of the old bush inn stables in dolphin street, according to evidence given in a recent trial before the judge of assize at bristol. that site, as well as the conigre farm, fylton, is, it is believed, still in the possession of his lineal descendants. the grand hotel, one of the largest in the west of england, and most central in the city of bristol, now stands on the sites of both the white lion and the white hart hotels. erected in , it was known as the new white lion until , when its name was changed to that of the grand hotel. the accompanying illustration of the white lion and the white hart inns, taken from a lithograph engraving of about by the well-known bristol firm of lithographers, messrs. lavars, must have been copied from a picture produced subsequent to the old coaching days, and, judging from the costumes of the pedestrians depicted, the period was probably about , or a few years before the demolition of the old inns. the figure of a white hart appears in the picture over the entrance door of that hostelry but the statue of a white lion, which for very many years stood over the entrance gateway to the inn of that name, and which is recollected by many persons still living, was for some reason or other omitted from the engraving. [illustration: the old white lion coaching inn, broad street, bristol.] the white lion appears to have been the leading inn in the town in , for on may in that year the mayor, corporation, and leading citizens dined there on the occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the bristol council house. samuel taylor coleridge delivered lectures in the large room of the inn in . it was the "blue" house, and in later times the coach which most frequently entered its narrow archway was driven by his grace the sixth duke of beaufort, who put up at the inn on his visits to bristol, as he had, it is said, a great respect for isaac niblett's sterling qualities and fine sporting instincts. what an evolution in pleasure and commercial traffic has come about in the last three-quarters of a century! when the white lion in broad street and the bush tavern in corn street were in their prime as coaching inns, a four-in-hand coach in bristol's narrow streets and on the neighbouring country roads was so often in evidence as scarcely to induce the pedestrian even to turn his head round to look at one in passing. now such a patrician vehicle in bristol's midst is brought down to an unit, and it is left to mr. stanley white, son of sir george white, bart., with his well-appointed coach and his team of bright chestnuts, to link old bristol with the traditions of past coaching days. strange that mr. stanley white should have blended in his one person the love of a coachman for a team with the will and nerve to render him one of bristol's boldest and most expert drivers of the road machine of the latest kind, to wit: the motor car. [illustration: mr. stanley white's coach.] [illustration: mr. stanley white's motor car.] at a function in bath in , described in these pages, colonel palmer, a descendant of john palmer, presented a small curiosity to the corporation. readers of pickwick will remember that, when mr. pickwick was proceeding to bath, sam weller discovered inside the coach the name of "moses pickwick," and wanted to fight the guard for what he considered an outrage on his master. among john palmer's papers was an old contract for the bristol and bath mail service, and one of the parties bore the name of pickwick, and was the landlord of the white hart hotel at bath. it was that contract which colonel palmer presented to the corporation, as a memorial both of his grandfather and of dickens. chapter ix. toll gates and gate-keepers. as this book is devoted in great measure to the mail services of old time--which had to be carried on entirely by horse and rider or driver--allusion may fittingly be made to the toll gate system, which played its part in connection with mail vehicular transport. toll bars originated, it seems, so far back as the year . they were at first placed on the outskirts of cities and market towns, and afterwards extended to the country generally. the tolls for coaches and postchaises on a long journey were rather heavy, as the toll bars were put up at no great distances from each other. in the year , turnpike trusts, taking advantage of sabbatarian feeling, charged double rates on sundays, but experienced travellers sometimes journeyed on that day, and submitted to the double impost, to gain the advantage of avoiding highwaymen, who did not carry on their avocation on sunday, but gave themselves up to riot, conviviality, or repose. [illustration: bagstone turnpike gate house. gate abolished about .] coaches which carried h. majesty's mails were exempted by act of parliament from paying tolls. the exemption of mail coaches from paying tolls, a relief provided by the act of th george iii., was really a continuation of the old policy, by which the postboys of an earlier age, riding on horseback, and carrying the mails on the pommel of the saddle, had always been exempt from toll, and the light mail carts of a later age were always exempted. it was no great matter, one way or the other, with the turnpike trusts, mr. c.g. harper tells us in "the mail and stage coach," for the posts were then few and far between, and the revenue almost nil; but the advent of numerous mail coaches, running constantly and carrying passengers, and yet contributing nothing to the maintenance of the roads, soon became a very real grievance to those trusts situated on the route of the mails. in the various turnpike trusts approached parliament for a redress of these disabilities. mail coaches continued, however, to go free until the end of the system, although from they had to pay toll in ireland. in scotland in an act was passed repealing the exemption in that part of the kingdom. pack horses were superseded by huge wagons on the busiest roads early in the eighteenth century. over , turnpike acts for the improvement of local roads were passed during the years and . at the latter part of this period, narrow wheels were penalised more heavily than broad wheels. lewis levy was a prominent man in the days of turnpike trusts, as he was a farmer of metropolitan turnpike tolls to the tune of half a million pounds a year! the history of toll bars is not wanting in romance: "blow up for the gate," would say the coachman to the guard, when drawing near to a "pike" in the darkness of night. lustily might guard blow, but it did not always have the desired effect. "gate, gate!" would shout coachman and guard. down would get guard and tootle-tootle impatiently. and out would shuffle in his loose slippers the "pike" keeper in a dazed condition from fatigue produced by frequent disturbances. as he opens the gate he is soundly rated by coachman and guard, and enjoined to leave the gate open for the next mail down, or he would have to pay a fine of s. to the postmaster general, that being the penalty for not preserving an unobstructed way for h. majesty's mails. [illustration: turnpike gate house on charfield and wotton-under-edge road. gate abolished .] in the bristol district toll bars were plentiful, and attempts were made to erect ornate little houses which should be pleasing to the eyes of travellers. that such attempts were not always unsuccessful, the picturesque toll-gate houses depicted in these pages will demonstrate. in , sarah rennison, widow of thomas rennison, advertised that she lately had the ladies' and gentlemen's cold baths, near stokes croft turnpike, effectually cleaned. "these baths are supplied with water from a clear and ever-flowing spring, uncontaminated by anything whatever, as it flows from a clear and limpid stream from its source to the pipes in the baths." this turnpike, named the stokes croft gate, stood on the turnpike way designated horfield road. the gate was erected across the lane leading from the said road to rennison's baths. very soon after "sarah's" announcement, this landmark of the old city was doomed to disappear, and the gate was removed from the top of the croft to a site some four or five hundred yards further up the road, near to the present railway arch. an advertisement from the _bristol journal_, saturday, july th, , ran as follows:--"to be sold, the materials of the old turnpike house at the top of stoke's croft. the purchaser to be at the expense of pulling down and carrying the same away. also of pitching the site of the house by the th of august next. for further particulars apply to messrs. john and jere osborne." [illustration: old turnpike house on the wickwar road.] the tolls for the year ended the th september, , realised the sum of £ , . the notice respecting the letting of the tolls for the succeeding year, based on such takings, was signed by osborne and ward on the th of october, : the following is a toll gate announcement, issued on july , :-- "notice is hereby given that the tolls arising at the toll gates hereinafter particularly mentioned will be severally let by auction, to the best bidders at the white hart inn, brislington, on wednesday, the th day of august next, between the hours of eleven o'clock in the forenoon and one o'clock in the afternoon, in the manner directed by the acts passed in the third and fourth years of the reign of his majesty king george the fourth, 'for regulating turnpike roads'; which tolls produced last year the several sums, and will be let in the several parcels or lots following--viz.:-- "lot i.--the tolls arising from the arno's vale gate, on the brislington road. £ , . "lot ii.--the tolls arising at the knowle gate, on the whitchurch road. £ . "lot iii.--the tolls arising at the saltford gate, on the brislington road. £ , . "lot iv.--the tolls arising at the whitchurch gate, on the whitchurch road. £ . "and will be put up at those sums respectively. "whoever happens to be the best bidder must, at the same time, pay one month in advance (if required) of the rent at which such tolls may be respectively let, and give security, with sufficient sureties to the satisfaction of the trustees of the said turnpike roads, for payment of the rest of the money monthly. "osborne and ward, "clerks to the trustees of the said turnpike roads. "bristol, th july, ." a turnpike ticket of was worded thus:-- bristol roads. lawford's gate. july , s. d. waggon | | cart | | coach, chaise, &c. | | gig | | horses | | cattle | | sheep, pigs | | asses | | clears gates on the other side [illustration: old toll-bar house, near the ridge, wotton-under-edge.] [illustration: [_from an old talbot-type photograph in the possession of miss p.a. fry, of tower house, cotham._ st. michael's hill turnpike, bristol.] the other bristol "gates" were known as clifton, redland, white ladies, horfield, st. michael's hill, cutler's mills, gallows acre, barrow's lane, stapleton bridge, pack horse lane, fire-engine lane, george's lane, west street, cherry garden, fire-engine, blackbirds, one full toll in each case. thomas brooks was the last toll-keeper at st. michael's hill, bristol. he held the office until it was abolished in . in the following year he was appointed sub-postmaster of cotham, and removed from the old toll house to a house nearer the city. the toll house stood at the corner of hampton road and cotham hill, where the fountain is now. benjamin gray, the last keeper of the "stop gate" which stood near the royal oak inn at horfield, held the office for years. the gate was to stop travellers entering the city by way of ashley down road, and thus escape paying the tolls at the zetland road end of gloucester road. there is a family connection between the gray and the brooks families, and the daughter of benjamin now resides with samuel brooks, the old sexton of horfield church. a model of the horfield stop gate may be seen at robin hood's retreat near berkeley road, bristol. the last barrier on the great london to bristol road was removed when the bridge crossing the thames at maidenhead was freed from toll at midnight, on november th, . there was a remarkable demonstration on the occasion. five hundred people waded through the flooded streets to see the toll-gate removed from the bridge which was erected so far back as in . precisely at twelve by the toll-house clock corporation employés proceeded to remove the gate, amid loud cheering. many of the crowd closed in, and finally seizing the huge gate, carried it to the top of maidenhead bridge and threw it into the river. [illustration: stanton drew turnpike gate house.] chapter x. daring robberies of the bristol mail by highwaymen, - .--bill nash, mail coach robber, convict and rich colonist, .--burglaries at post offices in london and bristol, - . the mail services between bristol and the southern counties came into great prominence in . the postmaster-general was appealed to on the subject, and the phantom of the old bristol and portsmouth mail coach was conjured up to form a comparison detrimental to present-day arrangements. the discussion recalls somewhat vividly the mail coach traditions of the pre-railway period, and certainly the community of to-day has, at all events, fallen on better times as regards security of the mails, if not better night mail services. in the general post office letter in lombard street, th april, , this note appears:--"the bristol mail was again robbed yesterday, in the same place as on friday, by one highwayman." _mist's journal_ of apl. , , states:--"last week the oxford stage coach was robbed between uxbridge and london, by the same highwaymen as is supposed who robbed the bristol mail, one of them having a scar on his forehead." "a man lately taken up near maidenhead thicket, and charged with robbing the cirencester stage coach, has been examined by a justice of the peace, who has committed him to reading gaol. he is said to be a butcher's son of thame, in oxfordshire." the following particulars relate to a bristol mail coach robbery in . they were taken from a pamphlet written by wilson, who was one of the highwaymen therein alluded to, and saved his neck by informing. wilson was a person of education, but some of his statements were questionable. the pamphlet was full of moral reflections upon the evils of bad company, gambling, &c.; it ran through several editions, so it was no doubt popular. it will be interesting as indicating the difficulties attending the bristol mail services of the period, and that death was the penalty for robbing his majesty's mails. it runs thus in the heading:-- "a full and impartial account of all the robberies committed by john hawkins, george sympson (lately executed for robbing the bristol mails), and their companions. written by ralph wilson, late one of their confederates. london: printed for j. poole at the lockes head in paternoster row. price d." the following is an abbreviation of the contents so far as they relate to the bristol mails:-- john hawkins was the son of poor but honest parents. his father was a farmer, and lived at staines, middlesex. had a slender education. at he waited on a gentleman, then was a tapster's boy at the red lion, at brentford; got into service again, was butler to sir dennis daltry; took to gambling; was suspected of being a confederate in robbing his master's house of plate; was dismissed. at the age of took to highway robbery; stopped a coach on hounslow heath, and eased the passengers of about £ ; with others committed several robberies on bagshot and hounslow heaths; was arrested for attempting to rescue captain lennard, one of his accomplices, but was discharged. wilson, the writer of the pamphlet, was a yorkshireman; became clerk to a chancery barrister; met hawkins at a gambling-house; they became "great cronies." wilson joins hawkins's gang; they commit several highway robberies. feb. , , wilson goes to yorkshire; hawkins impeached several of his companions, and one of them (wright) was hanged. hawkins, wilson, and others robbed one morning the cirencester, the worcester, the gloster, the oxford, and the bristol stage coaches; the next morning the ipswich and colchester coaches; a third morning, perhaps the portsmouth. the bury coach was "our constant customer." sympson, who was born at putney, and had no education, had by this time joined the gang. the robberies were continued. in april ( ) they went back to their old design of robbing the mail coaches. they first proposed to rob the harwich mail, but gave up that design because that mail was "as uncertain as the wind." they then decided to rob the bristol mail. wilson said he objected to this plan, but he joined in it. they set out sunday, april th. "the next morning being monday, we took the mail, and again on wednesday morning. the meaning of taking it twice was to get the halves of some bank bills, the first halves whereof we took out of the mail on monday morning." on monday, april rd, wilson learnt at the moorgate coffee house that there was a great request for the robbers of the bristol mail. he therefore contemplated taking a passage to newcastle, but before he could do so he was arrested, and carried to the general post office, where he was examined by the postmaster-general. he was again examined by the postmaster-general (carteret) the next morning, but he denied all knowledge of the robbery. while under examination, a messenger came from hawkins, who was in prison at the gate house, "to let the post-house know that he had impeached me." one of the officers of the post office then showed wilson an unsigned letter, which he recognised as being in sympson's handwriting, confessing his share in the robbery, and offering to secure his two companions. wilson then decided to confess. hawkins and sympson were tried, found guilty, and executed st may, . in connection with this bristol mail robbery, the following are interesting particulars from the calendar of treasury papers:--"memorial of william saunderson, clerk, to sir robert walpole. says he was author of an expedient to prevent the bristol and other mails from being robbed. the scheme seems to have been to write with red ink on the foreside of all bank notes the name of the post town where they were posted, the day of the month, and also the addition of these words, viz.:--'from bristol to london,' &c. these services (presumably saunderson's) have been attended with great expense and loss of time, and no mail robberies have since been committed. asks for compensation. referred th april, , to postmasters to report. may , .--affidavit of w. saunderson, receiver, of holford, west somerset (probably the same person), that he sent a letter subscribed a.z. to the postmaster-general offering an expedient to prevent the robbing of the bristol and other mails, and of the subsequent negotiations with the post office; has never received any reward. mr. carteret claimed the contrivance of the scheme wholly to himself. may th.--postmaster-general's report of th april read: 'my lords satisfied with the report.' saunderson had no pretence to any reward. scheme entirely formed at post office without assistance of saunderson or anybody else. saunderson called in, informed that my lords adhere to postmaster-general's report, and nothing more will be ordered therein." stealing a letter or robbing the mail was a capital offence long after hawkins and sympson expiated their offences on the scaffold. thus a notice from the general post office on the th july, , issued in the _london evening post_, dated "from tuesday, july th, to thursday, july th, ," recited that--"notice is hereby given that by an act passed the last session of parliament, 'for amending certain laws relating to the revenue of the post office, and for granting rates of postage for the conveyance of letters and packets between great britain and the isle of man, and within that island,' it is enacted--that from and after the first day of november, , if any person employed or afterwards to be employed in the post office shall 'secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letters, &c.,' 'every such offender, being thereof convicted, shall be deemed guilty of felony and shall suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy.' also if any person or persons whatsoever shall rob any mail or mails, in which letters are sent or conveyed by post, although it shall not prove to be highway robbery or robbery committed in a dwelling-house, yet such offender or offenders shall be 'deemed guilty of felony, and shall suffer death as a felon, without benefit of clergy.'" in there was another robbery of the bristol mail. the occurrence was set forth in detail in the following notice, which was issued on january th in that year:-- "general post office, jan. , . "the postboy bringing the bristol mail this morning from maidenhead was stop't between two and three o'clock by a single highwayman with a crape over his face, between the th and th milestones, near the cranford bridge, who presented a pistol to him, and after making him alight, drove away the horse and cart, which were found about o'clock this morning in a meadow field near farmer lott's at twyford, when it appears that the greatest part of the letters were taken out of the bath and bristol bags, and that the following bags were entirely taken away:--pewsey, ramsbury, bradford, henley, cirencester, gloucester, ross, presteign, fairford, aberystwith, carmarthen, pembroke, calne, trowbridge, wallingford, reading, stroud, ledbury, hereford, northleach, lechlade, lampeter, tenby, abergavenny, newbury, melksham, maidenhead, wantage, wotton-under-edge, tewkesbury, leominster, cheltenham, hay, cardigan, haverfordwest. "the person who committed this robbery is supposed to have had an accomplice, as two persons passed the postboy on cranford bridge on horseback, prior to the robbery, one of whom he thinks was the robber; but it being so extremely dark, he is not able to give any description of their persons. "whoever shall apprehend and convict, or cause to be apprehended and convicted, the person who committed this robbery, will be entitled to a reward of two hundred pounds, over and above the reward given by act of parliament for apprehending highwaymen; or if any person, whether an accomplice in the robbery or knoweth thereof, shall make discovery whereby the person who committed the same may be apprehended and brought to justice, such discoverer will upon conviction of the party be entitled to the same reward of two hundred pounds, and will also receive his majesty's most gracious pardon. "by command of the postmaster-general, "anth. todd, sec." the robbery, which was graphically described by mr. g. hendy, of st. martin's-le-grand, in the christmas number of "the road," does not appear to have been a very daring one as regards the act itself, but it was so as to its consequences. there was no mail coach--no driver in scarlet--no mail guard--no passengers, but only a ramshackle iron mail cart--a "postboy" as driver and carrying no arms. what a contrast is this old mail cart with a single horse, carrying the mails for all the places enumerated in the notice, to the splendidly appointed four-horse mail coaches of a period thirty years later on, or to the present time, when on the great western railway one whole train is used to carry only a moiety of the king's mail to bristol and the west! no wonder that the postboy fell an easy victim to the highwaymen, who bound him and threw him into an out-of-the-way field. the desperadoes proved to be two brothers, young men of the name of weston. the westons, after the robbery, went up and down the country on the north road very rapidly, in order to get rid of the £ , to £ , worth of bank notes and bills which they plundered from the mails. the bow street runners were on their track from the first, and the chase continued from london to carlisle and back. the vagabonds were not, however, captured, and the notice was exhibited all over the country, with the addition of the description of the men wanted by the thief-catchers. in , the brothers were tried for another offence and acquitted, but they were arrested at once for the robbery of the bristol mail and committed to newgate. on trial they were found guilty, and paid the penalty of death by hanging at tyburn, on the rd september, . in later years the death penalty for robbing mails was abolished, and at least one old sinner who robbed the bristol mail eventually did remarkably well through having committed that dire offence against the laws, and by having been transported to the antipodes at his country's expense. particulars of his career have been furnished by mr. r.c. newick, of cloudshill, st. george, bristol, by means of the following extract from a work published in , "adventures in australia, ' -' ," by the rev. berkeley jones, m.a., late curate of belgrave chapel (bentley, london, ):--"if you turn into any of the auction rooms in sydney the day after the gold escort comes in you may see and, if you can, buy, pretty yellow-looking lumps from about the size of a pin's head to a horse bean, or, if you prefer it, a flat piece about the size of a small dessert plate. one of the greatest buyers is an old pardoned convict of the name of 'william,' or, as he is there more commonly called, 'bill' nash, who robbed the bristol mail, of which he was the guard. his wife followed him--as some say, with the booty--and set up a fine shop in pitt street in the haberdashery line. under the old system he was assigned to her as a servant. her own husband her domestic! what a burlesque on transportation as a punishment! he is very unpopular with the old hands, as he returned to england and offered an intentional affront to queen victoria when driving in the park, by drawing his horses across the road as her equipage was driving by. he cut a great dash in the regent's park, and was known as the 'flash returned convict.' we stood by him at messrs. cohen's auction room when the gold fraud (planting on the gold buyers nuggets made in birmingham) was discussed. he addressed us, and we cannot add that he prepossessed us much in his favour. he looks what he is and has been. in a little cupboard-looking shop in king street he may be seen in shirt sleeves spreading a tray full of sovereigns in the shop front and heaping up bank-notes as a border to them, inviting anyone to sell their gold to him. we believe he is now among the wealthiest men of new south wales." by the year the terror inspired by highwaymen had no doubt diminished, but the coach proprietors thought it prudent to guard themselves against loss, and so they put increased charges on the articles of value they had to carry. on the st september, , a coaching notice of about , words, based on an act of parliament, was put forth by moses pickwick and company from the white hart, bath. a copy of this notice on a large screen was exhibited recently at the dickens celebration at bath. the notice, in legal or other jargon, announced the increased rate of charge for commission by mail or stage coach of articles of value. put into plain form, the increased rates of charge were as follows, _viz._:--additional charge for parcel or package over £ in value.--for every pound, or for the value of every pound, contained in such parcel or package over and above the ordinary rate of carriage, not exceeding miles, d.; to miles, - / d.; to miles, d.; to miles, - / d.; exceeding miles, d. [illustration: [_by permission of "bath chronicle."_ the white hart coaching inn, bath.] few people now bear in mind the great robbery of registered letters from the hatton garden branch post office, london, in november, , which was effected with skill and daring, and yet with simplicity as to method. at . p.m. on the eventful day the members of the staff were busily engaged, when, lo! the gas suddenly went out, and the office, which was full of people at the time, was left in darkness. the lady supervisor obtained matches, went to the basement and there found that the gas had been turned off at the meter. when the gas had been turned on again and lighted, it was discovered that the registered letter bag, which had already been made up and was awaiting the call of the collecting postman, was missing. the bag contained registered letters, and their value was estimated at from £ , to £ , . in the many years which have elapsed since the great robbery no clue to the perpetrators of the daring deed has been discovered. no further attempts at such robberies took place for some time, but in the year several daring burglaries took place at post offices in london. the smithfield branch post office was the first broken into, the thieves staying in the office from saturday night to sunday night. during that interval they removed the safe from under the counter, placed it in the chief officer's enclosure, broke it open and rifled the contents. cash and stamps to the value of about £ were stolen. in the autumn of the same year the aldgate b.o. was burgled--a saturday night being chosen for the exploit. the manner in which the burglary was effected leaves little doubt that the depredation was committed by the same gang of thieves. the safe was broken open, but in this case it was left under the counter, where it stood, and was there rifled of its contents. the interior of the office, including a part of the counter under which the safe stood, was fully visible from the outside, the woodwork in front of the office having been kept low for the purpose, and it was marvellous that the thieves were not detected, as a poor woman had just been murdered by "jack the ripper" within yards, and the road in front of the post office was thronged with excited people. the thieves in this case got off with cash and stamps to the value of £ . later in the same year, the south kensington branch post office was entered by burglars under precisely similar circumstances. the thieves only obtained the small sum of £ , as, being disturbed, they decamped in haste, leaving behind them their tools and certain articles of clothing. they had removed the safe, weighing - / cwt., from the public office without being observed, although it was taken from a spot immediately in front of a large window, through which police and passers-by could command full view of the office. the westbourne grove and peckham branch post offices were also burglariously entered in the same year. although the burglars were not discovered in connection with these post office robberies, and none more daring of their kind have occurred since, they probably were imprisoned for some other misdemeanour. was it--it may well be asked--this same gang of burglars released from durance vile who committed the post office robbery which in took place at westbury-on-trym, a suburb of bristol, three miles distant from the city? for daring it might well have been they, as the following account will demonstrate. the post office, be it said, was in the middle of the village and within yards of the gloucestershire constabulary depôt, and actually within sight of it. it was during the early hours of the morning of the th october that the burglary took place. not far from the post office building operations were being carried on, and from the houses in course of erection the thieves obtained a ladder and a wheelbarrow. making their way to the side of the premises, one member of the gang, by means of the borrowed ladder effected an entrance through the fanlight over the postmen's room door, and marks of damp stockinged feet revealed the fact that they crept through a sliding window into the post office counter room, where the safe was located. the street door was then opened to their confederates, and the safe, weighing nearly cwt., was carried to the barrow outside. the thieves retired to a partially completed dwelling for the purpose of examining the contents of the safe. they broke open the carpenter's locker, and many tools were subsequently found on the floor. these evidently had not assisted the gang to any great extent, as they found it necessary to use a heavy pickaxe. the noise they made seems to have aroused the inmates of the neighbouring houses, and it is said that one resident struck a light and actually saw them at work, but he concluded that they were merely doing something in connection with the extensive drainage alterations which had been in progress for many months. this light apparently disturbed the thieves, for they departed with their burden and the pickaxe and retraced their steps. close to the parish institute they managed, in spite of the darkness, to discover a gap in the hedge, and having forced the wheelbarrow through this, they left unmistakable traces of the route taken across the adjoining field. [illustration: the old post office, westbury-on-trym.] having wheeled the safe some or yards, and some yards beyond the cottages in canford lane, they again brought the pickaxe into requisition, and some hours later a workman discovered the safe, with one end broken into dozens of pieces, lying near the hedge. he at once gave information to the police. it was afterwards found that, although the thieves had removed the paper money from the safe, they had thrown the postal orders, money order forms, stamps, licenses, etc., into a neighbouring field, where they were found strewn about in great disorder. the safe contained postal orders stamps, postcards, and cash of the total value of £ . cash to the value of £ was the extent of the thieves' booty, and they left behind them three £ notes, half a sovereign, and two sixpences, which were found on the grass. as all the articles were dry, it was apparent that the robbery took place after a.m., up to which time there had been rain. the officials at the office had begun their morning's work quite unconscious of what had happened, when police sergeant greenslade appeared with the handle of the safe. the fact of the officials not having been disturbed may be accounted for by the circumstance that blasting operations had been carried on at night in the immediate neighbourhood for some twelve months before. the sub-postmistress and her family, it appeared, did not retire to rest until very near midnight, and it is supposed that they were in their first heavy sleep, but it is a mystery why the dog, a sharp fox terrier, remained quiet. the safe was kept in a prominent position in the shop--two people slept just over it--and the exterior of the shop was well lighted at night by a large public lamp. sleeping in the house were several females and males, one of the latter being an ex-sergeant-major of dragoons, feet inches in height and of great bodily strength. next door lived a baker whose workman is about early in the morning, so it may be inferred that the burglars had no small amount of nerve. within a week another robbery took place at a mansion within a mile of the post office. this occurred in the evening. whether or not this second burglary was the work of the same gang which carried off the post office safe, there is similar evidence of most carefully laid plans and of intimate acquaintance with the house and the habits of its occupants. ere the excitement of these two burglaries had passed off as a nine days' wonder, another robbery equally bold in character took place, and this time in the very centre of the city of bristol, and in its most frequented thoroughfare. a jeweller's shop window was rifled at . a.m., at a time when the police were being relieved. the thieves got off with about £ , worth of rings, etc. these three burglaries in conjunction seem to indicate the work of one gang of professional burglars hailing probably from the metropolis. a little time later, a post office safe in the west end of london was rifled, the burglars discarding old methods of violence in breaking it open, and using a jet of oxyhydrogen flame to burn away a portion of the safe door! chapter xi. manchester and liverpool mails.--from coach to rail--the western railroad.--post office arbitration case. when the construction of the great western railway was in contemplation, the prospect of the londoner being able to pay a morning visit to bristol, in even four or five hours, was hailed with satisfaction, as will be gathered from the following article from _the sun_ newspaper of march th, :-- "railway from london to bristol.--we understand that two civil engineers of eminence, henry h. price and wm. brunton, esqrs., are busily occupied (under the auspices of some leading interests) in making the necessary surveys for the above important work. we hail with satisfaction the prospect of seeing the metropolis, ere long, thus closely approximated to the bristol channel and western seas, when four or five hours will enable us to pay a morning visit to bristol. nothing can tend more to increase and consolidate the power of the empire than to give the greatest possible facility of intercourse between its distant points. when the london and bristol railway shall be completed, it will be very possible, in connexion with the irish steam-boats from the latter port, for cattle and other irish produce to be conveyed to the london market within hours from the time of shipment at cork, waterford, &c., and thus, at a cheap rate, will the london market be thrown immediately open to the irish agriculturist; at the same time the london consumers will be benefited in proportion to the greater extent of country thrown open whence they may derive their supplies. liverpool, we understand, imports above , head of live stock per week; much of which is conveyed to manchester by the railway, and we may surely hope for a similar result to the metropolis, when the direct communication is opened with ireland by similar means. in a political point of view, the importance of the great work in question is too obvious to require a moment's comment. we need only state, that in case of emergency, four to five hours will be sufficient to convey any quantity of men or stores from our depôts or arsenals near london to bristol, whence they will be ready to embark for any point where they may be required, and we at once prove that railways, judiciously constructed across the country, may be made, not only the means of economy to the government (smaller establishments being necessary), but that they tend more than anything else to concentrate and consolidate the strength of an empire, and are an additional guarantee against war and foreign aggression." [illustration: primitive great western railway train between bristol and bath, passing kelston] in these days of special trains, composed exclusively of post office carriages, such for instance as the night mail on the great western railway, leaving paddington at . p.m., consisting of eight coaches with engine (usually the "alexandra" or "duke of york"), and measuring feet in length, which runs the whole journey from london to penzance in the space of hours minutes, stopping at bristol and a few other first-class stations _en route_, it may be interesting to recall the earliest period of the conveyance of mails by railway. light is thrown thereon in the following correspondence relating to the then conveyance of the mails to manchester and liverpool, partly by the recently-constructed railway, and partly by road:--"liverpool, th july, . dear sir, we reached this place precisely at half-past twelve--exactly an hour behind our time--the loss arose out of various little _contretemps_, which a little practice will set right. this is the first time in europe so long a journey was performed in so short a time, and if, some very few years ago, it had been said a letter could be answered by return of post from london, the idea would have been treated as chimerical, and yet at eight last evening was i in london, and this letter will reach there to-morrow morning, the proceeding of these operations occupying a period of - / hours only, out of which a rest of three hours is to be taken, thus performing a distance of miles in - / hours. "our mail coach was before its time full minutes, notwithstanding at one place we could not find horses, except posters; and at another when posters were found there was no coachman; luckily there was one on the mail, looking out for a place, with which we suited him. to-night, doubtless, all will go right (some dispute among the amiable contractors, i believe to be the cause). i need hardly observe that i have adopted proper measures. i have the honour to be, dear sir, yours very faithfully, (signed) geo. louis. to lt.-col. maberley, &c., &c., &c." [illustration: bristol and exeter railway train bringing mails to bristol on the decline of the mail coach system about . (clifton bridge anticipated by the artist.)] "manchester, th july, . sir, i have much pleasure in stating that the london bag arrived here this day by railway at half-past twelve p.m. the bag to london was despatched as usual this morning by the mail coach, but concluding that a _return by the railway_ is intended both this day and to-morrow (although the arrangements generally do not commence until the th) i make a despatch with such letters as are in the office at half-past two p.m., and propose doing the same to-morrow. i am, sir, your most obedient, humble servant, (sig.) g.f. karstadt. to lt.-col. maberley." " th july, . manchester. g. karstadt, esq. for the postmaster-general. i enclose a letter from mr. louis with this report from mr. karstadt as to the first working of the railroad. i am sorry to say that it appears from the time bills an hour was lost upon the railroad coming up. (signed) j.v.l.m. (lt.-col. maberly). th july, . read, lichfield (lord lichfield)." the coaches running all the way through at this period were timed to leave london at p.m., and arrive at liverpool and manchester at . p.m. on the up journey the coaches left manchester and liverpool at . a.m., and reached london at . a.m. the conveyance of the mail partly by road and partly by rail came into operation on the western road from to as section by section of the great western railway became completed. thus, in , mails which had come by road between maidenhead and bath were brought into bristol by trains composed of very primitive engines, tenders and coaches, as depicted in the illustrations taken from engravings of the period. mr. j.w. arrowsmith, the world-wide known bristol publisher, recently reprinted arrowsmith's railway guide of , the year of its first issue. it is interesting to note from the re-publication that the shortest time in which mails and passengers were conveyed between london and plymouth was hours, minutes, and between plymouth and london hours, minutes. what a change a half-century has brought about! the pace of the trains has been vastly increased, and even goods trains accomplish the journey from london to bristol in three hours. there is no such thing as finality in speed, as the great western railway company has been trying a french engine, with a view to beat all previous records. one of these engines was tried in france with the equivalent of fifteen loaded coaches behind it. it was brought to a dead stop on a steep incline, and when started again it gathered speed, so that before the summit was reached it was travelling at its normal speed-- . miles an hour. this new engine, "la france," recently accomplished a brilliant feat. she was started from exeter with a load of twelve of the largest corridor-bogies, one being a "diner," the whole weight behind her tender, including passengers, staff, luggage, and stores, being nearly tons. "la france" ran the - / miles to temple meads station, bristol, in - / minutes, start to stop, thus averaging . miles an hour, although she had to face a -mile climb at the start, the last miles of this stretch being at in . she went on from bristol to london, - / miles, with the same heavy load, in exactly minutes. her time from bath to paddington, miles, was minutes; from swindon, - / miles, minutes; from reading, miles, minutes. a good performance in long distance railway running was established by the great western railway company in connection with the visit in of the prince and princess of wales to cornwall. their royal highnesses left paddington in a special division of the cornishman at . a.m., the train being timed to do the non-stop run to north road, plymouth, a distance of miles, in four hours and a half. this time was, however, reduced to the extent of - / min., the train steaming into north road at - / minutes past o'clock. the train covered during the first hour's run - / miles, the average speed for the whole journey to plymouth being . miles per minute. the journey was performed in about half the time occupied in . [illustration: [_by permission of "great western railway magazine."_ "la france"--powerful new great western railway engine.] the up train, which runs from bristol to london in exactly two hours, via badminton, is matched by a down train in the same time by the easier but slightly longer main line (_via_ bath), giving a start-to-stop speed of - / miles an hour, with a dead slow through bath station. but to bath, where a coach is slipped, the inclusive speed is miles an hour, as the distance is miles (all but chains), and the time from paddington, hr. min. this is by the . a.m. "cornishman," and is said to be the first great western train ever booked at a mile a minute, and the first train on any london railway even "scheduled" at that speed. in connection with the mail services between the metropolis and bristol, the "gate of the west," it may be appropriate here to mention the recent arbitration case between the great western railway company and h.m. postmaster-general in regard to remuneration for conveyance of mails. the company, dissatisfied with the payment of £ , a year under their contract of , subsequently raised by small additions, from time to time, to £ , a year, brought their case before the railway commissioners, who awarded £ , a year from the st july, . this amount covered the provision of a new postal train in each direction between london and penzance. it was sir frederick peel who delivered the judgment of the court. chapter xii. primitive post office.--fifth clause posts.--mail cart in a rhine.--effect of gales on post and telegraph service. the bristol postal district, stretching from the severn banks beyond oldbury-on-severn to a point near bath, and thence straight across to the bristol channel again, consists of ground within the city and county of bristol, and the counties of gloucestershire and somersetshire. the border of wiltshire is touched near dyrham and badminton, and the district is separated from monmouthshire by the estuary of the river severn. [illustration: horton thatched post office at the foot of cotswald hills.] post offices showing signs of great antiquity are scarcely in existence now, for at the present day the wide district thus described in the preceding paragraph contains within its boundaries only one post office established under the primitive but comfortable and picturesque thatched roof. this is the horton post office. the picture of this post office is from an excellent photograph taken by miss begbie, a daughter of the rector of horton. the village lies at the foot of the cotswolds, and near this spot, in quiet retreat, william tyndale translated the new testament. the duke of beaufort's hounds meet from time to time in the horton post office yard. this rustic place was originally the village ale house, yclept "the horse shoe." it is now devoted to the more useful purpose of the sale of stamps and the posting and distribution of letters, under the able and energetic superintendence of mrs. slade. such postal sub-districts as horton, far remote from their principal centre, were classified under parliamentary legislation. thus the fifth clause posts of early in the th century took their name from the act , geo. , ch. , clause , under which they were established. special post marks were in use for such posts. in the case of the bristol district there was only one th clause post, namely, at thornbury, which was established in , and under its regulations one penny was charged for the delivery of each letter at thornbury. the post was a horse post from and to bristol, and the contractor delivered and collected bags at almondsbury and fylton, which were both "penny posts." the main object of the fifth clause post was to join up small towns with the larger post towns and so it was that thornbury became thus linked on to bristol. on the other hand, bristol had penny posts, including almondsbury and fylton, which were denoted by numbers to , clifton being no. . of the "fifth clause posts" existing in bristol had only the one which joined bristol and thornbury. owing to there being no settled port of departure or arrival for vessels employed for conveyance of foreign mails, the letters were frequently despatched by privately-owned ships. they were then impressed with a post-mark "ship letter," with the name of the town included. the penny post letters were such as had been posted in any one of the bristol penny post sub-district offices for delivery in the district of posting, or in any of the other offices. thus a letter posted in fylton for delivery in fylton would be charged one penny upon being handed in at that post office, and another penny would be obtained on delivery to the addressee. a letter posted at the penny post office of almondsbury for delivery in the penny post district of fylton would be charged a penny upon being handed in at the almondsbury office and another penny would be charged to the addressee on delivery. thornbury being a th clause post would have letters posted in its special "open" box, delivered in the thornbury postal area for the one penny, that charged on delivery. a letter posted in the "open" box at thornbury ( th clause post) for bristol would likewise travel from poster to addressee for the d. delivery charge in bristol, as bags would be exchanged between the two places. a single letter, _i.e._, a letter without an enclosure, coming from reading for thornbury, would be charged a general post rate of d. to bristol, plus d. for delivery, which would be the same in the cases of letters from reading for fylton or almondsbury; but if a letter were posted at thornbury for reading, there would be no charge from thornbury to bristol, so that the addressee would only be called upon to pay the general post rate of d., whereas, the postage on a letter from fylton or almondsbury would be d., plus a penny charged for collection. [illustration: early bristol post marks.] the mail services in the rural districts are not free from danger. the pitcher may have been carried to the fountain year after year without mishap, but it not infrequently becomes broken at last. in like manner the contractor for the portishead, clevedon, and yatton mail cart service, after having driven over this route with immunity from accident for forty years, yet came to grief in the last week of his connection with his majesty's mails, january, . the contractor's time table was arranged thus:--portishead, leave . p.m.; clevedon, arrive . p.m., leave . p.m.; yatton, arrive . p.m.; attend to apparatus and up mail . a.m., down mail . a.m.; yatton, leave . a.m.; clevedon, arrive . a.m., depart . a.m.; portishead, arrive . a.m. the contractor, mr. dawes, now in the th year of his age, having performed a part of his outward journey on the th september, , left clevedon for yatton quite sober as ever, and in his usual health. then comes the mystery. he did not reach yatton in due course, and the railway signalman intimated the failure to bristol, from which office the postmaster of clevedon was advised, who at early dawn started out a scout on a bicycle to search for the missing mailman and mail bags. the scout discovered no signs of man or mails between clevedon and the yatton apparatus station, and going back over the same ground, he eventually met an individual who had seen an aged man with a whip in his hand wandering on the road. this he knew to be his man, and he discovered dawes walking aimlessly along the road at about a.m. his explanations were not coherent. the horse had ran away with him, and flung him off the cart into a ditch; he had tumbled off the cart, and walked into a ditch; he had tried to knock people up to assist him in trying to find what had become of the missing mails! in the meantime, a farm labourer going out on to the kingston seymour moors to milk the cows discovered the mail cart turned over on to its side, and thus embedded in a rhine on the roadside. the horse also was in the rhine, up to his back, partly in mud and partly in water. the milkman immediately started off to clevedon to give the alarm, and his employer, who was accompanying him on his journey to the milking ground, took prompt steps, in conjunction with moor men, to drag horse and vehicle out of the mud and mire. fortunately, the mailbags were uninjured, and the postmaster of clevedon, who had set out on a search, had them conveyed back to his office. dazed contractor dawes, the muddy mail cart, and horse coated with mud from head to hoofs, were got back into the town at about a.m. it would seem that the contractor fell asleep and tumbled from his box into the road, and that his horse wandered on, grazing from side to side of the road, till eventually in the dark of night horse and cart fell into the rhine. on coming to himself, the contractor, after trying in vain to arouse the inhabitants of roadside houses, wandered about all night, or it may be laid down somewhere to await morning light. the animal was injured to such an extent that it had to be destroyed. during the fierce gale which, with unparalleled severity, raged in the bristol channel on the night of thursday, the th september, , a vessel was driven ashore on the gore sands. soon after daybreak a call was made for the burnham lifeboat, but, in consequence of the heavy seas, the crew was unable to launch her. the coxswain, therefore, telegraphed for the watchet lifeboat to proceed to the rescue. every endeavour was made by the postal telegraph authorities to expeditiously transmit the message, but the elements which had operated against the vessel, had likewise played havoc with the telegraph wires, with the result that the telegram sustained such delay in transmission as to retard the launching of the lifeboat. fortunately, no serious consequences followed. as regards mail communication, the night journey by road from bristol to bath and chippenham could not be made, owing to the roads being blocked by fallen trees. the gale was far reaching in its effects, and carried away parts of weston-super-mare pier, landed boats on promenade, blew down walls, chimneys, and laid low hundreds of trees, was especially "a howler," and disastrous as regards interference with telegraphic communication. wires were blown down in all directions, and bristol suffered greatly. on the th, at . a.m., there was no wire whatever available to south wales, and telegrams had to be sent by train. there was no wire available to scotland or to the north beyond birmingham, or to cork and jersey. several local lines were down, such as wedmore, hambrook, yatton, portishead, wickwar, etc. delay of minutes occurred to birmingham, which office transmitted all work for the north. the delay to london was minutes. trunk telephone communication was impossible. every wire was interrupted, and remained so all day. in the evening there was still no wire which could be used to scotland, cork, or channel islands. cardiff was reached at . p.m., on one wire. chapter xiii. bristol rejuvenated.--visit of prince of wales in connection with the new bristol dock.--bristol and jamaican mail service.--american mails.--bristol ship letter mails.--the redland post office.--the medical officer.--bristol telegraphists in the south african war.--lord stanley.--mr. j. paul bush. bristol "lethargic" was for years the general idea of the place. bristol "awakening" followed, and it is now realised that bristol has fully awakened to her vast potentialities. the eyes of the populace of great britain, and, it may be, of many of the dwellers in the king's dominions beyond the seas, were in march, , cast in the direction of the ancient city of bristol, erstwhile the second port in importance in the british isles. this national looking to what bristolians proudly call the "metropolis of western england" was occasioned by the visit of the prince of wales, with h.r.h. the princess, to turn the first sod in connection with the great works then about to be undertaken for the extension of the docks at avonmouth, so as to render them capable of accommodating and berthing steamers of a magnitude greater than any yet built--a work then expected to be completed in four or five years. the function was a notable one, and the occasion may be briefly summed up as "a grand day for bristol." two millions are being spent on the dock, which will have a water space of thirty acres, with room for further extension. the lock will be feet long and feet wide. there will be , feet of quay space, with abundant railway sidings and other appointments of a first-class port. [illustration: (signed) yours faithfully alfred jones] [illustration: r.m.s. "port kingston" ( , tons), _of the imperial direct west indian mail fleet_.] in feb., , sir alfred jones, k.c.m.g., the chief of the elder dempster steamship line, set out from avonmouth in the "port antonio" for jamaica, with the object of promoting further developments between bristol and the west indies by means of the imperial direct west india mail service. the occasion of his departure was unusually interesting, as it took place on the first anniversary of the sailing of the first boat of the direct service carrying h. majesty's mails to the island of jamaica from avonmouth. the picture portrays the mails being embarked on the "antonio's" sister ship, the "port royal," which arrived at avonmouth on the day before the royal visit, and was inspected by their royal highnesses, who were much interested in her banana cargo. the "port kingston," a steamer of larger size and splendid construction, has now been added to the jamaican fleet, and she makes the passage from kingston to bristol in ten-and-a-half days. by a coincidence, when bristol was "feasting" on the th march, --the red letter day--and its senior burgess, the chancellor of the exchequer, and the other members of parliament for the city were felicitating with a goodly array of bristol fathers over the great event likely to be fraught with untold benefit to the historic port from which sebastian cabot set forth years and years ago to seek and find the continent of america, the feast of "st. martin's" was being held at the criterion, in london, and the post office k.c.b.'s, sir george murray, sir spencer walpole, and sir william preece, under the courtly presidency of sir robert hunter, were eloquently descanting to a large assemblage of post office _literati_ on the usefulness of the post office service magazine--st. martin's le grand. [illustration: embarking mails at avonmouth on the jamaican steamer, "port royal."] the chamber of commerce at this time urged on the canadian government the desirability of making bristol the terminal port for the new canadian fast mail service, on the grounds that mails and passengers from canada can be carried into london and the midlands in the shortest period of time _via_ the old port of bristol. from the holms, miles below bristol, a straight line in deep water, without any intervening land, may be drawn to halifax. bristol can be reached from london in hours. the time which could be saved in the passage from queenstown to london _via_ bristol is - / hours as compared with the route _via_ liverpool, and hours as compared with the route _via_ southampton. by the severn tunnel line there is also direct communication with the lancashire and yorkshire manufacturing districts, as well as the midland and northern parts of the united kingdom generally. thus in the two important elements of speed and safety bristol has paramount advantages as a terminal port for the transatlantic mail service. there is evidence generally that bristol trade and commerce have revived, and are now indicating a vigorous growth. the bristol post office statistics show a phenomenal progress during the last decade. in the year , before the introduction of the penny postage system, and when people had to pay for their missives on delivery, bristol could only boast of , , letters delivered in a year; in , the year after the uniform penny postage was introduced, the number rose to , , . in another ten years, , , , was reached; in , , , was the number; , , , ; in , , , ; , , , ; and in , , , , or an increase approaching that of the preceding forty years. the numbers stand in at , , . on sunday, the th january, , the liner "philadelphia" (which, by-the-bye, as the "city of paris" went ashore on the manacles and was salved and re-named) was the first of the fleet of the american line to call at plymouth and land the american mails there, instead of at southampton, as formerly. in connection with the inauguration of this service to the western port of plymouth, bristol--undoubtedly a natural geographical centre for the distribution of mails from the united states and canada--played an important part in distributing and thus greatly accelerating the delivery of the american correspondence generally. bristol itself distinctly benefits by the american mail steamers calling at plymouth, for it enables her traders to get their business correspondence many hours earlier than by any other route. owing to a severe storm encountered off sandy hook, the "philadelphia," on the occasion alluded to, due on saturday, did not arrive in plymouth sound until early on sunday morning. the mails were quickly placed aboard the tender, which returned to millbay docks at . a.m., and an hour later the special g.w.r. train moved out, carrying over tons of mails. eight tons were at a.m. put out at the temple meads railway station to be dealt with at the bristol post office, and the remainder taken on to paddington. the mails dealt with at bristol included not only those for delivery in bristol city and district, but also those for the provinces. they were speedily sorted and dispersed by the comprehensive through train services to the west, south wales, midlands, and north of england. the second american mail was brought over by the "st. louis," which arrived off plymouth at one o'clock on saturday morning, the th january, . the g.w. train reached temple meads at . , and bags which had to be dealt with at bristol were dropped. the premises recently acquired from the water works company by the post office were utilized for the first time, there not being sufficient room in the existing post office buildings to cope with such a heavy consignment. the letters were sent out with the first morning delivery in bristol. the birmingham letters were despatched at . a.m., and those for manchester and liverpool were also sent off in time for delivery in the afternoon. the third mail arrived per "new york," at . p.m. on saturday, the rd january, . one hundred and fifty bags were deposited at bristol. the new york direct mails for the north went on by the . p.m. (g.w.) and . p.m. (mid.) trains ex bristol station. the direct plymouth and bristol service is still being continued. in an instruction book relating to "ship letter" duty which was in use in the bristol post office so far back as , there are many interesting documents. the following is a list:--( ) ship letters, notice, g.p.o., july, . ( ) notice to all masters and commanders of ships arriving from abroad; signed, francis freeling, secretary g.p.o., june, . ( ) letter from francis freeling to g. huddlestone, th october, , _re_ letters forwarded by the ship "paragon" from the port of bristol. ( ) letter from ship letter office, london, to postmaster of bristol _re_ inland prepaid rate and captain's gratuity ( th sept., ). ( ) correspondence from g. huddlestone ( th july, ) _re_ process of receipt of ship letters, and making up of the mails; also process of receipt and distribution of ship letters inward. ( ) notice to the public and instructions to all postmasters; signed w.l. maberly, secretary g.p.o., nd september, . ( ) receipt from postmaster of bristol for packet directed "o.h.m.s. ship mail; per 'victory'" from bristol to cork (sept. th, ). ( ) letter containing solicitor's opinion that master of steam vessel cannot be compelled to sign receipt ship letter; signed jas. campbell ( th october, ). ( ) notice to postmasters; signed w.l. maberly, secretary g.p.o., june, . ( ) circular of instructions; signed rowland hill, g.p.o., th october, . ( ) notice to the commanders of ships arriving from foreign ports; signed w.l. maberly, secretary g.p.o., june, . ( ) circular of instructions; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., july, . ( ) circular of instructions to postmasters at the outports; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., th august, . ( ) circular of instructions; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., th january, . ( ) reduction of the ship letter rate of postage; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., th december, . ( ) circular of instructions; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., january th, . ( ) instructions; signed rowland hill, secretary g.p.o., th march, . ( ) _re_ letters to portugal; signed geo. dumeldenger, for sub. con., th march, . ( ) note _re_ loose letters, rd march, . bristol, th december, . this old book relating to the ship letter duty at bristol was considered suitable for the muniment room at st. martin's-le-grand, as an historical record, and is retained there for preservation. it is considered fortunate that it has survived so long. as the public eye was for a long time directed towards the redland post office, bristol, which to meet the wants of the community has been located by the department at no. , white ladies road, black boy hill, and is carried on apart altogether from any trade or business, it may be well, in view of connecting links with the past being rapidly effaced in the march of modern progress, to take an historical retrospect of this local post office so far as evidence is forthcoming, and thus endeavour to put on record the traditions of the past. it would appear, then, according to the earliest evidence obtainable, that mr. w. newman had the appointment of postman and town letter receiver conferred upon him in , offices which he held until . the post office was carried on by him in a small house approached by garden and steps immediately adjoining the old king's arms inn, which stood on the site of the present inn of that name. it was newman's mission in those pre-penny stamp days to serve the wide and then open district bordered by pembroke road, white ladies gate, cold harbour farm, redland green, red house farm, stoke bishop, cote house, and sea mills. he delivered about letters daily. the area owing to the growth of population and the spread of education, with the consequent development of letter writing, has now seven post offices; is served by no fewer than postmen, and has a delivery of , letters. in mr. newman's early post office days mail coaches ran up and down black boy hill on their way to and from the new passage, and called at the redland post office. newman is said to have had a jackdaw. the bird, as the mail coach ran down the narrow road on black boy hill, called "mail, mail, quick, quick!" to attract his master's attention, and, waggish bird as he was, he not infrequently gave a false alarm, and called his master at the wrong time. after some years mr. newman moved with the post office to the east side of black boy hill, to a house near the present porter stores. he was succeeded by mr. enoch park. the next sub-postmaster was the late mr. buswell, who for some years occupied premises on mid-hill, before moving the post office to a site lower down the hill. [illustration: mr. f.p. lansdown.] mr. f.p. lansdown retired from the post of medical officer to the bristol post office at the end of the year . he had occupied the position for the period of years, and it was felt that such long service could not be allowed to terminate without due recognition at the hands of the officers of the postal and telegraph services, to whom he had rendered professional aid from time to time. he was, therefore, given a solid silver table lamp, subscribed for by over members of the staff. the presentation took place on post office premises, and was very largely attended. twenty-seven of the bristol telegraph staff served in the campaign in south africa. in times of peace many royal engineers are employed in the instrument room of the bristol post office, and the duties of linesmen are mainly undertaken by men from that corps. on the outbreak of hostilities, these were at once withdrawn for active service, and then came the call for volunteers for the telegraph battalion, when seven civilians attached to the local staff volunteered, and were selected. great interest was taken by their confreres in the progress of the war, especially during the siege and the relief of ladysmith, where two of the bristol r.e.'s were among the besieged. one of the staff went through the siege of kimberley, and another for his pluck was awarded the d.s. medal. a hearty welcome awaited their return, and this was manifested by means of a supper and musical evening at st. stephen's restaurant, dec. , . not all of them came back--two had fallen and helped to swell the large number who had sacrificed their lives for their king and country. whilst civilian telegraphists and officers of the sorting department thus volunteered for military service in south africa, the present postmaster-general himself, lord stanley, to whom this book is dedicated, also was not slow in placing himself at the disposal of his country, and he went through two years of the campaign, acting first as press censor and afterwards as private secretary to the commander-in-chief lord roberts. he was twice mentioned in despatches and was awarded the companionship of the bath. bristolians generally, with great enthusiasm, rallied to the cry for volunteers, and special mention may here be made of mr. j. paul bush, who ungrudgingly gave up his large and fashionable practice as a surgeon in clifton, and, at very brief notice, hurried off to south africa to occupy the position of senior surgeon to the princess christian hospital. he was mentioned by lord roberts in despatches, and the companionship of the order of st. michael and st. george was conferred on him. small wonder then, that on mr. lansdown's retirement from the bristol medical officership at the end of , lord stanley should have selected mr. paul bush to fill the appointment. mr. bush had the further claim to the appointment as being a medical man born in the city of bristol, and having for an ancestor paul bush, the first bishop of bristol, who was born in . he is the son of the late major robert bush, th regiment, who was particularly patriotic in having largely assisted in the formation of the st bristol rifle volunteer corps, of which he became colonel in command. in addition to certain honorary medical and surgical appointments in the city, mr. bush holds the position of chief surgeon to the bristol constabulary. [illustration: mr. j. paul bush, c.m.g.] chapter xiv. small (the post office) street, bristol. its ancient history, influential residents, historic houses; the canns; the early home of the elton family. from time immemorial small street, in the city and county of bristol, two-thirds of the west side of which the post office occupies, has been an important street. one of the nine old town gates was at the bottom of it, and was known as st. giles's gate, having obtained this name from a church dedicated to st. giles, the patron saint of cripples and beggars, which in the fifteenth century stood at the end of "seynt-lauren's-laane." here, history says, was the "hygest walle of bristow," which has "grete vowtes under it, and the old chyrch of seynt gylys was byldyd ovyr the vowtes." the cutting of the trench, from the old stone bridge to near prince street bridge, for the new channel of the froom, was completed in . before this date ships could only lie in the avon, where the bottom was "very stony and rough"; but the bed of the new course of the froom having turned out to be soft and muddy, it became the harbour for the great ships, and small street from this time became a principal thoroughfare. then to this quarter of the town came bristol's greatest merchants. from the centre of the town to the old custom house, at the lower end of pylle street (now st. stephen street) there was no nearer way than down small street and through st. giles's gate. the existence of gardens in the th and th centuries at the backs of the houses in small street is evidenced by the wills of old bristolians. in that of william hoton, merchant, of st. werburgh's parish, who died in , is mentioned "the garden of sir henry hungerford, knight," near the cemetery of st. leonard's church, and john easterfield, merchant, of st. werburgh's parish, who died in , bequeathed to his wife his dwelling-house in small-strete, and also "the garden in st. leonard's lane, as long as she dwelleth in the said house." [illustration: elton mansion, small street, bristol.] in this historic small street, and just within the old city walls, have for two or three hundred years stood certain premises, in olden times divided into three separate holdings, the freehold of which was purchased in from the bristol water works company by the post office, for much-needed extensions to its already large building. the facts respecting these three edifices have been culled from ancient parchments which would fill a large wheelbarrow. the premises are not of very ornate exterior now. they are interesting, however, as denoting an old style of architecture; but the exteriors have, no doubt, been so altered and pulled about to meet the requirements of successive occupiers as to be not quite like what they were originally. the structures appear to have been erected in the middle of the th century, probably at the end of the reign of king charles i. ( ). the plan of brightstowe, published in by hofnagle, shows that the church of st. werburgh and its churchyard occupied one-third of the frontage of the street, on the west, or post office, side, and that there were only five other separate buildings, which were each detached, and covered the remainder of the length of the street. millerd's "exact delineations of the famous cittie of bristoll," published in , does not so clearly illustrate the houses standing in small street on its west or post office side as could be desired. the deeds hereafter alluded to indicate, however, that of the three premises under consideration, the elton mansion, at least, was standing before , as richard streamer, who died in that year, is named as having formerly dwelt therein. there is no earlier record, and as streamer only came to fame as councillor in , it may, perhaps, be assumed that the mansion was erected about the year ; and as a member of the cann family is the first known owner of the property, no doubt the house was erected for him. the style of architecture appears to bear out that assumption as to date, and the frontages indicate that the three houses under special review were erected about the same time. while there may be a little regret when these mediæval buildings disappear, there will be the advantage of the street being considerably widened by their removal. it is now only feet wide from house to house, and gives a very good idea of its appropriate appellation--small street. taking first the property which formed the middle holding, now ( ) known as , small street, and which was not, therefore, actually contiguous to the existing post office, the earliest date alluded to in the parchments is the year . in a deed of the th august, , it is stated that sir abraham elton, merchant, under indenture of lease dated th february, , had bought from sir thomas cann, of stoke bishopp, in the county of gloucester, esq., "all that great messuage or dwelling-house situate standing and being in small street within the parishes of st. walburgh (_sic_) and st. leonard." the indenture was between sir abraham elton, bart., on the one part, and christopher shuter, of the same city, on the other part, and was worded thus: "now this indenture witnesseth that for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings of lawful money of great britain to the said sir abraham elton in hand paid by the said christopher shuter the receipt whereof the said sir abraham elton doth hereby confess and acknowledge and for divers good causes and considerations him the said sir abraham elton hereunto moving hath granted bargained sold assigned and set over ... unto the said christopher shuter all the said messuage and tenements to have and to hold unto the said christopher shuter his executors administrators and assigns from henceforth for and during all the rest and residue of the above recited terms of years which is yet to run and unexpired in trust for said sir abraham elton." the next record is that bearing date of the next day, thus:--"mr. cann's lease for a year of a messuage in small street to sir abraham elton. date th august, ." robert cann "doth demise grant bargain and sell unto the said sir abraham elton all that great messuage or dwelling house situate standing and being in small street within the parishes of st. walburgh and st. leonards or one of them within the said city of bristol wherein richard streamer esq. (who died in ) formerly dwelt and wherein sir william poole, knt. (no trace of him can be found in local records) afterwards dwelt and now ( ) the dwelling of and in the possession of the said sir abraham elton (first baronet) (where also sir abraham elton, the grandson, successively dwelt, and, after that, william thornhill, surgeon) and fronting forwards to the street called small street and extending backwards to a lane called st. leonard's lane and bounded on the outside thereof with a messuage in the holding of william donne, ironmonger, and afterwards ( ) john perks, tobacconist (now , known as no. in small street and actually adjoining the post office) and on the other side thereof with a messuage in the tenure of william knight, cooper (and afterwards of richard lucas, cooper) (now , known as no. small street and last occupied by messrs. bartlett and hobbs, wine merchants), together with all and singular cellars, sellars vaults, rooms, halls, parlors, chambers, kitchens, lofts, lights, basements, backsides, pavements, court yards and appurtenances whatsoever"--for one whole year, yielding and paying therefor the rent of a peppercorn on the feast of st. michael the archangel (if the same shall be demanded). signed and sealed, robert cann. in the abstract of title it is noted that william knight, who occupied the house on the "other side," was succeeded in the tenure by richard lucas, cooper. on the th august, , sir abraham elton ( rd bart.) and assignees leased the premises as before described to dr. logan, of the city of bristol, doctor in physick, for s., as in the case of christopher shuter. the house of william donne, ironmonger, adjoining, was in this deed mentioned as occupied by john perks, tobacconist. the property appears to have been sold by william logan, of pennsylvania, esq., and nephew and heir of the above-mentioned dr. logan, doctor of physick, of the city of bristol, to the "small street company (richard reynolds, edward garlick, richard summers, james harford, william cowles, james getly)" on the th may, . in the year the property was leased to the bristol water works company, and purchased by the company in . the several owners and occupiers of this "great house" were persons of no mean degree, as the following statement of their local positions indicates. according to playfair's "british family antiquity," vol. vii., mr. robert cann was the eldest son of sir thomas cann, who was the eldest son of sir robert cann, the first baronet. sir robert cann was the eldest son of william cann, esqr., alderman of bristol. he married the sister of sir robert yeomans, who was beheaded at bristol for supporting the cause of charles i. sir robert was councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; treasurer, merchant venturers, - ; master, merchant venturers, - ; mayor, - ; knighted, ; created baronet, ; alderman - ; mayor, - . under the south window of st. werburgh's church was a handsome monument, with a half-arch, for the family of sir robert cann, of compton-greenfield, bart. richard streamer was councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; alderman, - ; mayor - ; master, merchant venturers, - ; died . sir william pool cannot be traced in the local histories which have been consulted. sir abraham elton (first baronet), baptized july, , at st. philip and st. jacob church, was the son of isaac and elizabeth elton, of that parish. from entries in the registers, it may be seen that the family was settled there as early as , about which time the members of it migrated from near ledbury to the neighbourhood, attracted doubtless by the splendid field for enterprise offered by the second city of the kingdom, as bristol undoubtedly was at that period, and for some time afterwards. they were puritans, and held some land in barton regis on the gloucestershire side of the city. richard elton, bap. at st. philip and st. jacob, april, , was a colonel in fairfax's army, and he published one of the earliest text books in the english language on military tactics; hence the family motto, "artibus et armis." a copy of this book is now in clevedon court library, with its quaint frontispiece, portrait and inscription: "richard elton, of bristol, , aetas suae ." sir abraham was apprenticed in to his eldest brother, jacob elton, but in went to sea. he married in mary, daughter of robert jefferies, a member of a well-known mercantile family of that day. he served in many public offices, thus:--president, gloucestershire society, ; councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; master, merchant venturers, - ; mayor, - ; alderman, - ; governor, incorporation of poor, - ; high sheriff of gloucestershire, ; created baronet, ; mayor, september, ; m.p., - . [illustration: [_from an original painting at clevedon court._ a.e. the first sir abraham elton, bart.] [illustration: [_from an original painting at clevedon court._ m.e. mary, wife of the first abraham elton, bart.] the portraits of abraham and mary elton which are here given, are reproduced, with sir edmund elton's kind consent, from photographs by mr. edwin hazell, of linden road studio, clevedon. the original oil paintings hang in the picture gallery at clevedon court. according to barrett, in the st. werburgh's vestry room, over the door on the inside, as part of a long latin inscription, was the name of "abrahamo eltono, guardianis, ." the baronetcy was conferred on him in recognition of his staunch support of the hanoverian succession during the jacobite riots of - , to the great disgust of stewart, the local jacobite chronicler. in the board room, at st. peter's hospital, under the date , abraham elton's name appears as a benefactor for £ . in , sir abraham elton, bart., gave £ s. per annum to five poor housekeepers in st. werburgh's parish not receiving alms, paid september , £ . he died at his house in small street in the same year-- . having bequeathed considerable sums in local charities, he settled his estates in somerset, gloucestershire, and wilts, on various members of his family. he was for many years head of the commerce of bristol, a pioneer of its brass and iron foundries, owner of its principal weaving industry, and of some of its glass and pottery works, besides largely controlling the shipping of the port. his wife survived him by only two months. they are both buried in the family vault in ss. philip and jacob parish church, within the altar rails near sir abraham's parents. the house in small street was their town house from about down to the date of their deaths. sir abraham elton (second baronet), baptized june, , at st. john the baptist, broad street, was councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; mayor, - ; master, merchant venturers, - ; alderman, - ; baronet, ; m.p., - ; died october th, . he married on the th of may, , abigail, daughter of zachary bayly, of charlcot house, wilts, and of northwood park, somerset. sir abraham elton (third baronet), born , was councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; baronet, ; mayor, - ; died november th, . he died unwed. christopher shuter was councillor, - ; sheriff, - ; mayor, - ; alderman, - ; governor, incorporation of poor, - ; warden, merchant venturers, - ; died . william thornhill was surgeon to the infirmary, - . william logan was physician to the infirmary, - ; died december, , aged . the neighbours on the right and left of the elton mansion, mentioned hereafter, were not of great social consequence. there is, however, mention of one of them, a john knight, having been warden of the merchant venturers' society in - . the other premises ( and -- ) stand on the upper and lower sides respectively of the old elton mansion. they belonged in to eleanor seager, who mortgaged them to edward cook for £ . the property was described in the mortgage deed thus:-- "all those two messuages or tenements situate and being in small street in the parish of st. walburg (_sic_) in the city of bristol in one (no. -- ) of which said messuages john knight gent now liveth and in the other of them (no. -- ) one m.e. balley now doth or lastly did inhabit and dwell, in the said city of bristol and all houses, outhouses, edifices, buildings, courtyards, and backsides to the said messuage or tenement." [illustration: gargoyle in elton mansion wall.] the two messuages were leased to mary knight by eleanor seager for s. in money by indenture of june, , thus:--"between john saunders of hazell in the parish of olveston in the county of gloucester, esq., and eleanora his wife the only daughter and heirs of william seager late of hazell aforesaid on the one part and mary knight of the city of bristol widow, on the other part. "hath granted bargained sold all these two several messuages or tenements situate being in small street in one of which said messuages or tenements john knight, deceased, formerly dwelt and wherein the said mary knight his widow doth now dwell and in the other of them thomas balley painter and glazier doth also dwell (afterwards in tenure or occupation of john mason broker and thomas taman gunsmith) and all the outhouses," &c, &c, &c. (as in mortgage deed). in ( june) there was a conveyance of the two messuages from miss knight to mr. samuel page (one of the partners with edward garlick, richard reynolds, &c.) for £ . it was this same firm which purchased the elton "great house" in . the firm was known as messrs. reynolds, getley and company, by virtue of an indenture of co-partnership, dated st june, . the document was signed and sealed by richard reynolds, edward garlick, richard summers, james harford, william cowles, james getley, samuel page, william weaver, john partridge, and john partridge, jun. the firm was engaged in the iron and tin-plate trades, and, according to the _london gazette_ of saturday, march th, , it was being carried on under the style of harfords, crocker, and co. the partnership dissolved on the th day of june, , by alicia calder, elizabeth weaver, and sarah davies retiring from the firm, and by reason of the death of the philip crocker. the business was continued by richard summers harford, samuel harford, john harford, william green, and william weaver davies, under the firm of harford brothers and co., under the date of th day of february, . these two tenements became the property of the bristol water works company at the same time as the great house, in , and a portion of ground at the back, facing st. leonard's lane, belonging to the st. werburgh's charities, in . [illustration: chimney-piece in elton mansion, small street, bristol.] the old chimney-piece--a fine specimen of mediæval stone carving--which stood in the principal upstairs room of no. , used as a boardroom by the water works company, the richly decorated ceiling, and the panelled walls, marked the period at which the eltons occupied the house; and the initials a. and m.e., representing abraham and mary elton (mary, daughter of robert jefferies, whom he married in ), and the date, , quaintly cut, are on the chimney-piece. the chimney-piece has been removed, and re-erected in the new water works building in telephone avenue. the inquirer of the far-distant future may be misled when he finds it in this spot, unless, indeed, there be some tablet provided to indicate and perpetuate the history of this antique stone carving. the ceiling and panelling have been purchased by sir edmund elton, and taken to clevedon court. in letters to the _bristol times and mirror_ newspaper, certain writers have, in treating of the water works premises, sought to establish that the great philanthropist, edward colston, possessed a mansion on the east side of small street, and lived therein. no tangible facts have, however, been adduced to substantiate the statements. on the other hand, there is very conclusive evidence to the contrary contained in the notes on "colston's house," read at the annual meeting of this society, in , by the late historian of bristol, john latimer. mr. latimer demonstrated, beyond doubt, that thomas colston purchased the mansion of the creswicks, on the west side of small street, upon the site of which the present post office stands. it was in that house that edward colston resided, if, indeed, at any time he ever did live for more than a short period at one time in small street. when king charles ii, as prince of wales accompanied his father to bristol, and the court was located in small street on that very site, probably he rode into, and about, the city in a coach such as is given in the illustration at page , but there is no doubt, that in later days, after the battle of worcester, he rode in on horseback as a fugitive on his way to abbotsleigh. his start on the long journey from boscobel mounted on the miller's pony, sans wig and sans royal garb, was not altogether dignified, although the incident here depicted is not wanting in pathetic interest, as indicating the attachment to his majesty of the five faithful penderel brothers. [illustration: [_from a painting in the merchant venturers' hall, bristol._ edward colston, - . _(copyright.)_] [illustration: [_by permission of mr. john lane, the bodley head, vigo st., london._ charles ii. _(from "after worcester fight," by allen fea.)_] in a report to the general board of health on a preliminary enquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary conditions of the inhabitants of the city and county of bristol in , it was stated in a petition from messrs. h.j.j. hinton & son, small street, "there is a filthy lane, called leonard's lane, near the bottom of small street, and which leads round into corn street. the state of it, in a general way, is so bad as to be quite sufficient to produce pestilence." according to the report the parish of st. werburgh contained houses. its population in was , and its area was square yards. it had one burial ground, and the average number of interments was per annum. leaden coffins were always required. the "inspector of lamps, etc.", reported that there were houses in small street. [illustration: [_by permission of mr. john lane, the bodley head, vigo street, london._ charles ii. after battle of worcester on road to bristol. _(from "after worcester fight," by allen fea.)_] chapter xv. the post office trunk telephone system at bristol.--the columbia stamping machine. the post office in bristol commenced to undertake telephone business in . it began with trunk telephone lines working to bath, birmingham, cardiff, exeter, london, taunton, and weston-super-mare. at the outset the conversations averaged about daily. in that same year the department took over from the national telephone co., cardiff, gloucester, newport and sharpness lines, and the conversations soon increased to nearly per day. at the present time the department has from to (according to size of town) trunk lines to bath, bradford-on-avon, birmingham, cardiff, exeter, gloucester, london, lydney, plymouth, newport, sharpness, southampton, swansea, taunton, tiverton, and weston-super-mare. an increased number of wires has had marked effect in diminishing the delays which at first occurred through paucity of trunk lines, but as the business is constantly increasing, the department is still looked to for additional lines. that the better accommodation is appreciated, however, is indicated by the fact that now the bristol conversations average nearly , a day, or considerably over a quarter of a million a year. on sundays the trunk telephones are available, but use is made of them only to a small extent, there being only about conversations per sunday. the total number of trunk wire transactions throughout the kingdom during the last year, according to the postmaster general's annual report, was , , , or, reckoning each transaction as involving at least two spoken messages, a total number of , , (an increase of . per cent. over that of the preceding year). the revenue was £ , (an increase of . per cent.), and the average value of each transaction was s. d. there is a silence box in the public hall of the bristol post office, from which conversations can be held with all parts of the kingdom, with belgium and france. of course, the greater number of trunk line telephone conversations are held through the medium of the national telephone company's local exchange, but many important bristol firms have contracted with the post office for private telephone wires in actual connection with the trunk line system, independent altogether of the national co.'s exchange. the intermingling of the national telephone business with that of the post office telegraphs has had a further development in a system under which subscribers to the national company telephone communications to the post office to be sent on thence as telegrams over post office telegraph wires. this privilege is taken advantage of at bristol to the extent of seven or eight hundred messages weekly. the accession of the trunk telephone business to the already over-crowded office has had the effect of necessitating the detachment of some part of the staff from the post office headquarter premises in small street, and the friendly relations between the telephone company and the post office have been further strengthened by the bristol post office having taken certain rooms in the headquarters of the national telephone co., and located its returned letter office therein. another new feature in post office development is the use of stamping machines for the rapid obliteration of the postage stamps and for the impression of the day's date on letters. quite recently a machine of the kind has been introduced into the bristol post office. the machine, which is of modern invention, goes by the name of the "columbia" cancelling machine, and is manufactured by the columbia postal supply company, of silver creek, new york, u.s.a. it is said to be in use in many post offices in the large towns of america and other countries. the public will no doubt have noticed the new cancelling marks on the postage stamps, as the die and long horizontal lines are very striking. the cancelling and date marking operation is performed at the rate of or letters per minute. the motor power of the machine is electricity. [illustration: columbia stamping machine.] chapter xvi. the post office benevolent society: its annual meeting at bristol.--post office sports: terrible motor cycle accident.--bristol post office in darkness. the united kingdom postal and telegraph service benevolent society held its biennial meeting at bristol, in june, , and a banquet was given by the bristol branch to the members of the conference. such a visit to bristol occurs only once in about years, so it was regarded as an event of no small importance in the local post office community; and it is, perhaps, worthy on that account of record in this publication, which aims to be somewhat historical in character. in the following account of the banquet there has been withdrawn the seasoning of the "hear, hear," "laughter," "applause," "loud cheers," etc. the reader can add it to his or her liking. the attendance at the banquet was large, and the guests closely filled the large central hall of the royal hotel, college green. the high sheriff, mr. weston stevens, presided, and amongst those present were the lord bishop of bristol, colonel c.e.h. hobhouse, m.p., rev. a.n. blatchford, messrs. j. mcmurtrie, s. humphries, r.c. tombs, i.s.o. (postmaster and surveyor of bristol), e. bennett, j.t. francombe, j. asher, j.c. gilmore, l.j. botting (the bristol central secretary), e.c. taylor (the chairman of conference), and many others. the speeches were interesting as throwing a light on the post office working, and on post office benevolence. when he received the invitation to attend that dinner, mr. francombe said, he was at a loss to know why he should be so honoured. he thought that possibly some gentleman engaged in the dead-letter office knew he was a member of the education committee of bristol, and that he might give a hint to the rising generation to write better, and so save him a great deal of trouble. if that was the reason, he certainly would attend to it. afterwards he said he knew why it was; it was because sir francis freeling was born in redcliff, where he (mr. francombe) happened to be schoolmaster of the parish. sir francis worked his way up to high rank in the postal service, which was something to be proud of. he hoped members of the conference would not go away from bristol without visiting redcliff church and seeing the slab to his memory. but his duty was to propose the toast of the bishop and ministers of religion of that ancient city. they did not know as much about the bishop as he should like them to know. they in bristol believed him to be physically, mentally, and spiritually fit to be a leader in the great city. he believed the work of a bishop was something like that of a policeman--not altogether a happy one. his lordship attended many functions, gave a fillip to every one of them, and all he said was reported and saved up ready to be cast in his teeth sometimes. if he were of a tender disposition he would say, "i could weep my spirit from mine eyes." but he was not one of that sort. his toast was "ministers of religion." he thought it would have been "ministers of all denominations." there was one denomination in bristol that had no ministers, and it went on wonderfully well. he referred to the society of friends. he was sure his lordship would agree. they only spoke when _the_ spirit moved them, but a good many spoke when _a_ spirit moved them. some denominations were better without a minister, and some ministers would be better without denominations. in the city of bristol there was room enough for all, and they need not spend time in attacking each other, but might do the work god sent them to do. they had one present that night--a broad-minded gentleman who did his work like the bishop, and minded his business, and did not interfere with other people--mr. blatchford. they always listened in bristol with special pleasure to a speech from their friend mr. francombe, the lord bishop said. he desired to thank mr. francombe for the pleasant manner in which he had spoken of him. the clergy and ministers had looked about in the world for the faces that were on the side of right, besides the purely spiritual faces and spiritual work, and he was always thankful to think a great deal of good was done in the country by that great service represented that evening. their army of postmen and employés of the post office were a very great factor indeed in keeping steady a state like their own. he always said the same of certain other bodies, but of the postmen it seemed to him they were so particularly careful about their business, they learned of necessity to be so sober and so well conducted, or they would lose their place, that he looked upon them and the railway men as two of the greatest civilising influences they had among them, apart from such work as mr. blatchford and he were called upon officially to do. he desired to express, on his own part, his extreme gratitude to those gentlemen for another reason--the wonderful accuracy with which they delivered the letters. that gentleman who laughed might once in his life have missed a letter addressed to him, but it did not happen to the bishop. in the five and a half years he had been in bristol, with a large correspondence, he was not conscious of having lost one single letter. he should have been exceedingly glad if a good many had been lost. it so happened he gave the post office a good deal of trouble. he lived at a place called the palace. now henry viii. created a bishop's residence in bristol, a palace, and it was supposed that a palace must mean something royal. the real fact was, the name was derived not from a king's palace but from that of a shepherd--a most suitable thing for a bishop. henry viii., besides creating his residence a palace, created bristol a city in the same document. the name palace gave a certain amount of trouble, because there were palaces in some cities where other things than bishops were sold. there was a palace where a certain innocuous drink was sold, and letters sometimes went there. there was also a most delightful place of entertainment called the people's palace in bristol, and letters sometimes went there. when grave clergymen from a distance came to stay at his house they were occasionally driven up to the doors of the people's palace, and the cabmen expected that they were going to purchase tickets for the entertainment. a letter came to bristol addressed "march th, bristol." the postmaster was puzzled at first. then it occurred to him that the assizes were on, and justice day was the judge, and that his wife was lady day. he should like to tell them one thing more from history. admirable as the post office was now, a little more than , years ago, a letter was sent to his predecessor, st. aldhelm, from ireland. the only address given was from an anonymous scot. the letter said, "you have a book which it is only the business of a fortnight to read; i beg you to send it to me." that was all. he did not name the book. the post office in those days was so marvellous a thing that, as far as they knew, aldhelm just took the book, put it in the post, addressed to an anonymous scot, and he supposed it found its way to him in ireland. he did not think they could beat that to-day. few people knew how much the country was saved in taxation by people who had a large correspondence. their letters were the most agreeable and easy way of paying their taxes. when they came to see the budget analysed it was surprising what a large amount of taxation was paid in this innocent way. he could not see how it was done. it seemed that the work for which a penny was charged must cost at least a penny. he could only understand it on the principle of the old irish lady who lost on every single apple she sold, but, by the blessing of god, sold so many that she got a good living out of it. he was not surprised, the rev. a.n. blatchford said, that the toast should be so heartily received in a city known as the city of churches. the church had thrown herself from ancient time into the cause of the people; progress and religion had been indissolubly linked together. in proposing the toast "the postal and telegraph service," mr. sidney humphries, j.p., present president of the chamber of commerce, said that when he was asked to propose the next toast on the list, his thoughts naturally turned to the reason for his being put forward to do this duty, and the only explanation that had occurred to him was that having had the hardihood to be one of a deputation to the postmaster-general quite recently, on the question of their local postal service, those who had had the arrangement of this function, mikado like, had lured him to his punishment; but still, being in for it, many interesting thoughts had arisen. the first, as to the foresight of that worcestershire schoolmaster, rowland hill, who, feeling the pinch of expense, made an agreement with his sweetheart to only write once a fortnight, the rates of postage in his early days varying from d. to s. in accordance with the distance at which they were separated. fortunately, his thoughts were directed to the penny postage for all distances within the united kingdom, and although many spoke of him as an over-sanguine dreamer, still events had proved his wisdom, and to-day they had a postal service that dealt with over , million letters, postcards, and papers per annum, giving per head of the population, as against millions years ago, with the comparatively small number of per head then. whilst speaking of the enormous growth of the postal business, they must not lose sight of the wonderful growth of both the telegraph and savings bank business. the former, since it was taken over by government in , had more than justified that step, for in the following year-- --the number of telegrams sent was millions, whilst last year the number was well over million messages. then as regards the savings bank, they could flatter themselves as to the proof it furnished of the increased wealth of the country, for whilst the total savings bank capital in was - / millions, in it stood at over millions. but whilst all this progress had been made, many helpful suggestions had been made by men of moderate position. take, for instance, a time so long ago as : the credit of first suggesting the mail coach was made by a mr. palmer, who was then the manager of the theatre in their neighbouring city of bath. this was a great improvement as to speed and safety of delivery when compared with the old postboy; but think of the mail coach when compared with the mail trains that covered now over three millions of miles per annum. but with all this progress there had been many other changes. think of the notice that was issued to all postal employés in , that none were to vote or advise electors how to vote. this was very different to running a candidate on postal lines, as was to take place at the next election at york. and in considering what for a better term he might call the commercial side of the question, there were instances that ought not to be overlooked in great numbers of devotion to duty--for example, take that of the scotch mail carrier, who, feeling himself overcome by the gale and snow, hung his mail-bag on a tree so that the letters should not be lost, even if his life were sacrificed. then this postal system seemed to develop a special shrewdness. one local case had been mentioned by the bishop as having recently occurred, and there was another in which a pictorial address of daniel in the lion's den found its rightful owner, who had become talked about by his visit to a menagerie just before. but in case they should all think that at last perfection had been reached, there was another circumstance that he could relate from his own personal experience. wanting to send a parcel to sir michael hicks-beach, he foolishly sent it to his private address, at , portman square, instead of his official residence, he being chancellor of exchequer at the time, and judge of his own astonishment when he received an official announcement, "cannot be delivered owing to address being unknown." but this did not tell against their bristol friends, a body of men, he ventured to say, who for smartness and anxiety at all times to meet the various calls made upon them could not be surpassed, and therefore he called upon them all to drink heartily the toast of the postal and telegraph service, coupling with it the name of their local postmaster and surveyor, who was always to the fore in anything that would help forward bristol or bristol interests. [illustration: postmaster of bristol. _(the author.)_] in replying, the postmaster thanked them all for the cordial reception of the toast of the postal and telegraph services, and especially mr. humphries, the proposer, for the kind and considerate and genial way in which he had alluded to his department. in the first place, he wished to extend to the delegates assembled there--and they came from all parts of the united kingdom, north, south, east, and west--the right hand of good comradeship. welcome, delegates to bristol, thrice welcome, he said. he supposed, in response to this important toast, they would expect that he should say something of the postal system. the lord bishop had taken them back some hundreds of years-- years back, when bishop aldhelm wrote a letter. he must go a little further back than that. his friend, mr. humphries, found a parallel in holy scripture--daniel in the lion's den. he found in holy writ, the only book of ancient date he had to refer to, that posts and letters were of respectable antiquity. they would find recorded in kings ii. this passage in connection with the account of that pathetic incident of the little israelitish maiden suggesting the means whereby naaman might be cured--"go to," said the king of syria, "i will send a letter to the king of israel." in the wisdom of solomon were the words, "my days are like a shadow that passeth away, and like the post that hasteth by." so they saw in those ancient days it was all hurry for the postman. he would skip a few thousand years and come to . it was recorded that the means of communication in this country were almost non-existent, and news was carried to and fro by means of travelling merchants, pedlars, and pilgrims. in letter posts were established by charles i. king charles stopped in the building that stood on the site of their local st. martin's-le-grand, but little could he have thought that the day would come when it would be possible for a man to stand on that spot and speak to a friend and recognise his voice, as far away as wexford. sir francis freeling had been named. he became secretary to the post office. he served in the bristol office two or three years before being translated to london to become the associate of palmer, of mail-coach renown. the old city of bristol had been under a cloud. in the year they had only one postman, and two or three years later two. now they had . in the last years the letters posted and delivered in bristol increased from millions to millions in the year. this was an enormous increase, and showed that bristol was going to forge ahead again. it made them glad that the old city had once again aroused herself. the post office had become a giant in the kingdom, but it exercised its power as a kindly giant. they heard the demand for all sorts of reforms, but they felt that mr. austen chamberlain was equal to the occasion. "the postal and telegraph benevolent society" was submitted by lieut.-colonel hobhouse, m.p., who said he was not sure that before long they would not have to add to their service, and include the telephonic operators as well. he noticed they depended in their work, and for the relief which they gave to their members, entirely upon the donations of their own members. that was satisfactory, not only to them, but to him as a member of parliament, because members of parliament seldom came to gatherings of that sort without being requested to make some contribution, direct or indirect, to the funds of the society, so good as to give them a dinner. he understood the provision of the society was in addition to the official pension of the post office. in reply, mr. botting said they must all feel very much flattered by the terms in which colonel hobhouse had referred to their society. he felt that they might almost suggest to the government that the questions of old age pensions and the financial position of friendly societies might be handed over to them to deal with. he might remind them of a remark made at the meeting, although having an m.p. present, perhaps he should not refer to it, that their society got through more work in a day than the house of commons did in a month. he considered they had at their conference got through a good day's work. he would not give a long string of statistics, but he must mention that the society had a membership of , , had been in existence nearly years, and during that time had paid to the nominees of deceased members just upon £ , , made up chiefly of penny contributions. such payments had been in many cases all that had stood between the widows and orphans and absolute destitution. in considering this, they must not forget his friend beside him, whose fertile brain had created the society. they must all regret to learn of mr. asher's retirement from the service through ill-health, and they would all hope that the release from official work would prove beneficial to him. he (mr. botting) hoped that so long as the society existed the name of mr. asher would never be forgotten. mr. asher was received very heartily. he said the proposal that such a society should be formed was regarded as the day dream of a sanguine mind, but it was something to reflect upon, the immense amount of good that had been done in the course of years. more practical help he could not imagine rendering to the fellows in the service. he trusted that the work of that day's conference might re-echo and redound to the credit of the bristol meeting, and he desired, in thanking their bristol friends, to couple with them the names of mr. e.c. taylor and the reception committee. in proposing "the city and county of bristol," mr. edward bennett said that he had attended a great number of these banquets, and had had on several occasions to propose the toast of the particular town which was for the moment entertaining the society. for this reason he was, perhaps, looked upon as a special pleader, and when he was praising a provincial city his tongue was thought to be in his cheek, and london was written on his heart. when stella was told that dean swift had composed a poem, not in honour of her, but of vanessa, she replied, with exquisite feminine amenity, that it was well known that the dean could be eloquent over a broomstick. if he that night extolled bristol above her other rivals, it would be said of him that he was a verbose individual, who had called in past years leeds a beautiful and inspiring city, liverpool a rising seaport, and glasgow a town where urbanity and sweet reasonableness prevailed. it might be remembered of him that he had praised the birmingham man for his childlike humility, and the edinburgh man for his excessive modesty. it was his first visit to bristol, and it was presumption on his part to speak on the subject at all. silence was the better part when a man was situated as he was. there were some exquisite lines he learnt as a child which conveyed a deep moral lesson to all day trippers:-- there was a young lady of sweden she went by the slow train to weedon, when she arrived at weedon station she made no observation, but returned by the slow train to sweden. that was what he ought to have done. his heart went out to that young lady, and he often had pondered whether it was disgust, astonishment, or admiration which had inspired her silence. there was a special reason why civil servants should be drawn to bristol. doubtless even the bristol chamber of commerce was acquainted with the process known as "passing over"--many persons in that room had perhaps undergone the operation--and those who read the history of bristol felt a pull at their heart strings when they realised the fact that she also had been "passed over" by younger and more pushful rivals. but the capable civil servant never admitted the justice of being passed over. in many instances he established his case, and he did not rest satisfied until he had retrieved his position, and in time caught up his quondam rivals. that, he took it, was the position of bristol at the present time. she had relied too much on her ancient name, and had allowed mushroom places like liverpool and manchester to steal a march on her. she was coming to the front again; she had a glorious past, but she was going to have a brilliant future. he coupled with the toast the name of the high sheriff. if he knew any evil of the high sheriff he would not mention it that evening. he had still hours to spend in bristol, and a man could do a lot of evil as well as good in that time. the high sheriff made a short speech in reply to the toast. other good speeches followed. the post office cycling and athletic clubs have for some years past been in the habit of holding sports at the county ground in bristol. these annual sports, having been held on saturday afternoons, have usually been successful, and have attracted large crowds. in , the sports, held on the rd may, attracted no fewer than nine thousand persons, owing to the unusual feature of motor cycle races having been arranged as a novelty--motor cycle racing not having been carried on in bristol before. there were several competitors, and london as well as local men, took part in the motor cycle races. unfortunately, the track, which had been made some sixteen years previously for ordinary cycle competitions, was not suitable for motor racing at great speed. in one of the heats bailey, of bristol, was leading barnes, of london, a noted motor cyclist, and through some mishap at or soon after the moment of barnes getting past bailey, his machine having run rather wide on the track, got out of his command, and dashed into the fringe of sightseers who were lying on the bank to get the best point of view. the result was a fearful carnage, and ten or eleven people were carried away insensible and much injured. in the end, three poor boys died in the hospital, and fortunately the seven or eight other people who were injured, slowly recovered from their concussions and contusions. at the inquest, the verdict was "accidental death." on the rd december, , shortly after five o'clock p.m., the civic supply of electricity in bristol failed, and shops, business premises, and houses depending upon it for light, were plunged into darkness in all parts of the city. this was soon known to be due to a fire having broken out at temple back generating station, and the glare in the sky suggested that the outbreak had reached serious proportions. the bristol post office has a full installation of electric light; and the failure could not have occurred at a more inconvenient time, as the pressure incidental to christmas was being experienced. fortunately, not only for the post office, but also for the general public, the large staff engaged in the interior of the building was able to cope with the extensive work before them practically without interruption, as throughout the whole of the department, gas is still laid on, and, beyond the shifting of one or two desks to within reasonable distance of gas jets, no inconvenience was caused after the burners and fittings--somewhat out of order through non-usage--were put to rights. the public hall, however, suffered most, as, when thus robbed of the electric light at one of the busiest periods of the evening, only scattered gas jets were available, and they had to be supplemented by lighted candles set at intervals around the semi-circular counter. some of the candles were in primitive holders, stuck in blocks of wood, and plugged firmly with nails; others were even without these supports. the counter officers had, therefore, to work under difficulties; but they got through their manifold duties expeditiously. the greatest inconvenience was occasioned at st. james's parish hall, which was being temporarily used as a post office. here, there was no gas service available, and when the electric lights "gave out," the staff had to scurry hither and thither to get illuminants, which took the form of postmen's lamps, table lamps, candles in improvised holders, and such few hurricane lamps as were procurable at the shops, in the general run on them. the electric light was fully restored in the evening of the next day. this fire recalls an occasion when at st. martin's-le-grand, the gas supply failed, and the largest post office business of the world was placed at a standstill. the officials, however, were equal to the emergency, and cartloads of candles were quickly obtained. the staff of carpenters employed on the building improvised receptacles, and the postal work was proceeded with, candles as they burnt out being replaced by men told off for the purpose. some time afterwards, it was suggested that the stock of candles left over should be disposed of, but it was then found that these had been devoured by the innumerable rats which infest the old building. chapter xvii. quaint addresses and the dean's peculiar signature.--amusing incidents and the postman's knock.--humorous applications. the members of the bristol post office staff have to display no little perspicacity in elucidating quaint addresses on letters going through the post. to postman wade must go the credit of having correctly surmised that the letter addressed simply " th march, clifton," to which allusion has already been made, was intended for lady day, the wife of the judge of assize, mr. justice day, then staying in clifton. a letter addressed to "w.d. & h.o.", without street or town being named, came from a distant county, and was delivered to the firm of messrs. w.d. & h.o. wills & co., in bristol, for whom it was found to be intended. the pictorial illustrations herewith demonstrate two instances of letters correctly delivered by the post office officials after the address had been deciphered by their _sherlock holmes_. in the _bristol royal mail_ particulars were given of the peculiar way in which correspondents addressed their envelopes to the post office, bristol. since that publication was issued, other peculiar instances have occurred. the following are cases of the kind, viz.:--the head postmaster (master's parlour). the honourable the postmaster. postmaster number (in answer to query on form "postmasters no. "). master, general post office, bristol. the dean of bristol in the preface of his very interesting book "odds and ends," writes of the many liberties people take with his surname in their communications, and says that none of their imaginary names are so pleasing to him as his own proper name of pigou. that his correspondents are not altogether to be blamed may be gathered from the fact that the dean, in an official letter to the bristol post office, signed his name thus: [illustration: signature] the signature was submitted to officers who decipher the badly addressed letters at the "blind" division, at "head quarters," in the general post office, london, and their interpretations were as follows, viz.:--j. rogers, j. egan, ryan, j. lyon, roper, j. or t. rogers, j. rogers, j. logan, j. lyon, j. logan, j. pogon, t. lyon, j. rogers, j. goson, j. rogers, j. eason, t. egan, j. goyfer, j.g. offin, j. lyons, j. pyon, j. pijou. [illustration: letter correctly delivered to dr. w.g. grace, at bristol.] [illustration: quaint address.] it is only fair to the "blind writers" to say, that the address heading of the dean's letter was withdrawn before the signature was submitted to them. with that clue they would readily have been able to find out the writer's correct name from their books of reference, so that the dean is not likely to suffer delay of his letters in the returned letter office through peculiarity of signature. during a recent christmas season a parcel, containing a lb. roll of butter was received, without address, in the returned letter office, bristol, from a devonshire town. as the parcel could not be returned to the sender within such a time as the contents remained good, the butter was sold for cooking purposes. when placed upon the kitchen table, the edge of a yellow coin was observed to be slightly protruding from the roll. the coin turned out to be a sovereign, and search was made to ascertain whether any more money had been so strangely hidden, but only the £ was found. the money was at once forwarded to the proper post office authorities, and subsequently returned to the sender, but would-be imitators are warned that such practices are strongly deprecated by the post office department as tending to lead to dishonesty. the corporation of bristol erected electric light ventilators in different parts of the city. at a distance, possibly, these ventilators appear, to the short-sighted, to be post office pillar boxes, as they are iron boxes placed on the pavement near the kerbstones. they differ in many respects from the familiar post office boxes, for, instead of being round, they are square; they are painted of a different colour, and are only about two feet high. they are without indicators, notice plates, and doors. there is a slightly raised top for the passage of air. through this opening of one of the boxes letters have been recently posted by three separate persons. such carelessness is astonishing. the electric lighting authorities, to prevent further mishaps of the kind, arranged to have the apertures closed by means of perforated zinc. even in these days of primary and secondary education, people have still a very elementary knowledge of matters relating to the postal and telegraph services, in which everyone is vitally concerned. recently, an intelligent servant who had received a board school education was sent with a telegram to a telegraph office, and told to pay for a reply. having paid for the reply, she expected to get one there and then, and it was only with very great reluctance that she was induced to leave the telegraph office without a reply to convey back to the person who entrusted her with the commission. a complainant to the post office expressed himself thus:--"jan. st, . dear sir,--your postman on th by the first post in the morning, with a newspaper,) my sister was at the back at the time getting sum cole in. he could not stop a few minets; but nock so hard that he brock a new nocker on the door and then run off, we not seen him since,) i. think he ought to bye nother nocker. ther to much that boy game with sum them the paper after came with nother postman, he was on a bike wot broke the nocker and off at once and left the peces on the door step, the postman got a cast in his eye.) i. should not think he wood want us to pay for a nother why dont him coum as a man and pay for one sir. i. must conclued with best regurds to you, yours truley, f.h.g." travellers from north and east to the west of england and _vice versa_ are aware that the bristol joint great western and midland station is a busy railway centre. at a recent christmas season, there was much remark on the part of the railway passengers with respect to the platforms being blocked up with barrows containing mails and the large stack of parcel baskets to be met with at every point. said one traveller, "it's all blooming post office on the platform and no room for travellers to get about." said another, "the late arrival of the train was all due to that 'parcel post.'" a sub-postmaster in the bristol district was called to account for employing on the delivery of letters a boy of fourteen years of age, instead of a person of sixteen years of age or upwards. he nominated another person, who, he stated, was of proper age, being over years old. a year or two afterwards a question of discipline arose about this individual, and it then transpired that he was years of age--rather too old to commence life in his majesty's service! the phrase "guileless ministers" in the speech of a former prime minister on the fiscal question ( ) became in course of telegraphing "guileless monsters," and so reached the bristol press. fortunately, the newspaper proof readers were wide awake, and the error was corrected in time. correspondents have a peculiar idea of the functions devolving on a postmaster, as the following letters will indicate, viz.:-- "brighton, march th, . to the postmaster; sir,--would you have pleased to try and get me a small tin of very light coloured dry snuff (i think it is called lundifoot) from one of the leading tobacconists in bristol. if you will let me know the amount thereof i will send you the money for the same before you send it. i am, yours, etc., j.s.a. "scarborough, th august, ; sir,--would you please be good enough to let me know by return, whether the nightingale is in song in clifton woods at the present time. thanking you in anticipation, and apologising for troubling you. believe me, yours truly, (sd.) (mrs.) f.f." "cardiff, april th, . sir,--may i ask you the favour to hand over the enclosed bristol blister to the chemist who sells it in your town, when some person of your office passes the shop. i received considerable benefit from the blister. i shall be very much obliged to you and the chemist if he will be so good to let me know how he sells them. i am, yours truly, (sd.) t.b." [illustration: facsimile of a receipt for £ given by the trustees of the bristol prudent man's fund submitted for payment years after issue.] not only are the articles themselves of a diversified character that pass through the parcel post, but the mode of packing often produces a certain amount of dubiousness in the minds of the parcel department officials as to which is really the "right side up," and how to handle the packages. the sender of a rabbit, however; left no doubt on the matter, as he had arranged poor defunct "bunny" in such a way that its head was securely tied between its hind legs, and the latter formed a convenient handle, the front legs being tucked under the neck, and the rabbit presenting the appearance of a ball. another incident was of rather an amusing character. the "tie-on" labels had become detached from two packages which reached bristol. a label which properly belonged to a bottle of cough medicine was attached in the returned letter office to an old slipper, and the label proper to the medicine was delivered without packet or other attachment to the shoemaker for whom the slipper was intended. fortunately, upon inquiry being made by the interested parties, the medicine and slipper were delivered to the rightful addressees. the facsimile herewith of a receipt for £ given by the trustees of the bristol prudent man's fund of savings recently submitted for payment, years after issue, will be interesting to post office savings bank investors of the present day. chapter xviii. postmasters-general. (rt. hon. a. morley and the marquis of londonderry) visit bristol.--the postmaster of the house of commons.--the king's new postage stamps.--coronation of king edward vii.--loyalty of post office staff.--mrs. varnam-coggan's coronation poem. mr. arnold morley, during his term of office as postmaster-general, visited bristol, and was presented by the chamber of commerce with an address, worded thus:--"the bristol incorporated chamber of commerce and shipping. to the right honorable arnold morley, m.p., her majesty's postmaster general. sir,--the council of the bristol incorporated chamber of commerce and shipping are glad to embrace the opportunity afforded by your visit to this city of expressing their high appreciation of the services rendered to the state in general and to the commercial community in particular by the energy and enterprise displayed in your administration of the postal and telegraphic departments of the public service. we recognise that in matters such as are ranged under your control there can be no finality, and that however excellent our present postal and telegraphic arrangements may appear, your departments must be quick to discern the arrival of fresh needs such as our rapidly developing civilization must constantly bring. we rejoice in the abundant evidence that you have thoroughly appreciated the absolute necessity for continual advance and adaptation, and that you are labouring with such zeal to keep the complicated machinery of the general post office up to date and equal to the immense and ever increasing strain it has to bear, whilst the council think it only right to acknowledge the marked and unvarying urbanity with which, at all times, you and your officials receive and discuss any suggestions for the improvement of the services, emanating from chambers of commerce and other sources. in conclusion, the council recognise in your person the son of a late highly-esteemed parliamentary representative of the city of bristol, mr. samuel morley, who for many years took an active interest in the proceedings of this chamber and of the association of chambers of commerce of the united kingdom; and the council take this occasion to tender you their sincere congratulations on the high position you have attained in the councils and government of this great empire. we remain, sir, your obedient servants, (sd.) george h. perrin, president; e. burrow hill, mark whitwill, vice-presidents; h.j. spear, secretary. bristol, st nov., ." the marquis of londonderry, when postmaster-general, was the chief guest at the annual banquet of the bristol chamber of commerce, held at the royal hotel, bristol, under the presidency of mr. t.t. lindrea, on the th april, . among those present were earl waldegrave, sir herbert ashman, j.p., sir frederick wills, m.p., judge austin, j.p., mr. c.e. hobhouse, m.p., mr. lewis fry, the lord mayor (mr. colthurst godwin), the high sheriff (mr. e.b. james), etc. in responding to the toast of "his majesty's ministers," lord londonderry alluded to the great growth that had taken place in the population, trade, and prosperity of bristol during the late queen's reign. last february, he said, in eighteen days, the amount paid on goods taken out of bond reached £ , . of this sum, no less than £ , was paid in the last eight days, and of this £ , came from a single firm for withdrawals of tobacco from bond. this included the enormous single cheque paid by that firm one day for a quarter of a million--the largest single cheque ever known at his majesty's customs at bristol. he also congratulated bristol on the great development to her trade that must come through the inauguration in february last of the new service to the west indies. this, he was sure, would do much not only to strengthen the ties that bound this country to the west indian colonies, but also to restore to bristol some measure of that position she had once enjoyed in the trade of the united kingdom. he was rather glad his good friend the chancellor of the exchequer was not there that night, for if he heard how much was spent in benefiting those who relied on the post office, and how little they handed over to the national exchequer, he would not be inclined to meet him when he suggested certain postal reforms, as he intended to do next year. he hoped they would invite him to meet sir michael in bristol, for he might then be inclined to grant him (the speaker) any request he might make. he wanted them to recognise that the postmaster-general's good intentions, and they were many, were controlled by parliamentary and statutory exigencies. he had also been asked to improve their rates on foreign letters and parcels, as well as to cheapen the delivery of letters and parcels from abroad; but it was entirely forgotten that he had to reckon with foreign powers. a postal reformer had declared, in a letter, that it was possible to create an ideal post office. he wished he could accede to every one of his requests, but he had to consider parliament; he was not master himself. he thought that if they were to meet the requirements of the public as they were anxious to do, they must proceed in the course in which they were moving at present--with steadiness and sureness, and not promise things which it was impossible to fulfil. the ex-postmaster of the house of commons, mr. e.w. pike, is a somersetshire man; he was born at ilchester, and his grandfather was the last governor of the gaol of that town. when mr. pike was ten years of age, his father received an appointment under the act constituting the new county court system, and removed to temple cloud in the bristol district. the family afterwards moved to the adjacent village of clutton, and mr. pike went there with the other members. mr. pike remembers that the post office at temple cloud was held by mrs. carter, and after her death john spear had the office. mr. pike's active service in the post office terminated on wednesday, the th september, . his experience in the post office was unique, and no wonder that he felt proud on retiring, that during a service of nearly years he had given full satisfaction to his superiors in the post office, and to have had the approbation of the members of the house of commons specially expressed to him by the prime minister, mr. a.j. balfour. there was no small stir at the public counter of the bristol post office on the first day of january, , the day of issue of the new / d., d., - / d., and d. postage stamps, bearing the medallion portrait of king edward the viith. people were very anxious to become possessed of specimens, and many of the stamps sold were evidently intended to adorn collector's books. the sales on the st january, , were:-- / d., £ ; d., £ ; - / d., £ s.; d., £ s., and were slightly in excess of the average. the general public demanded the new kind almost without exception, but firms took old stamps to the extent of per cent. of the whole lot supplied. the staff of the bristol post office sent an illuminated address to the king for his majesty's coronation day. mrs. pattie e. varnam-coggan, a lady who at the time was postmistress of chipping sodbury composed the following hymn in connection with the event. god save our king! up to the sky let loyal voices ring, joy to the land this festal day shall bring. roar guns! and peal o bells! as loud the anthem swells-- god save our king! god save our queen! a nobler consort ne'er hath england seen! bless her pure life with love and peace serene. crown her with heavenly grace. strength for her royal place-- god save our queen! god save our land! as suppliants now before thy throne we stand, craving for gifts from thine all-powerful hand. let none make us afraid, foes find us undismayed-- god save our land! great king of kings! ruler supreme o'er men and earthly things, eternal source from which all goodness springs! bless thou the royal pair, grant them thy joy to share, great king of kings! god! thanks for peace! praised be thou who makest war to cease, o'er all our empire wide thy reign increase! let all men seek for good, in one blest brotherhood-- god! thanks for peace! the staff also made elaborate arrangements to take an active part in the grand procession which had been organized at bristol to celebrate the coronation, but, alas, the procession had to be postponed in consequence of the king's sudden illness on the th june, and finally was abandoned altogether. the post office section, which was to have been honoured with first place in the procession, was designed to give the bristol public some idea of the working of this most useful branch of the public service. the section was to have been arranged as follows:--telegraph messengers' drum and fife band. company of telegraph messengers, with carbines. telegraph messengers' cycle corps. company of postmen. mail carrier tricycle. country mail cart--present day. town mail van--present day. london to bristol royal mail coach of years since, with coachman and guard in royal livery of the period. guard carrying an ancient mail guard's blunderbuss, borrowed from the armoury of mr. rawlins, of syston court. post office tableau, illustrative of the collecting, stamping, and sorting of letters, and the despatch of mail bags; also the sending of telegrams. [illustration: address to the king.] the following acknowledgment of the address was received on the king's recovery:-- "home office, whitehall, sept., . sir,--i am commanded by the king to convey to you hereby his majesty's thanks for the loyal and dutiful address of the staff of the postal and telegraph services at bristol. i am, sir, your obedient servant, a. akers douglas. the surveyor postmaster, post office, bristol." the address to his majesty is here reproduced, and as the sentiments contained in it represent the writer's wishes for king and queen, it may, perhaps, fittingly close the chapters of "the king's post." index. page aberystwith, mail coach, addresses, quaint, , african war, p.o. volunteers, aldhelm, bishop, allen, col., , allen, ralph, cross posts, " " honoured, , " " medal, , allen, richard, p.m.g., almondsbury, penny post, american mails _via_ plymouth, - anabaptist opinions, anderson, james, bush inn, " " lamb inn, arlington, lord, letters delayed, arno's vale turnpike, arrowsmith, mr. j.w., publisher, asher, mr., speech, avon motor co., avonmouth dock, new, baptist college, bear inn, devizes, beaufort, dukes of, , benevolent society, p.o., banquet at bristol, bennett, mr. e., speech, , birmingham, coach, , , " george and rose inn, " rose inn, bishop of bristol, speech, , bisshopp, henry, farmer of posts, blatchford, rev. a.n., speech, boar's head inn, botting, mr., speech, brewham, foot post to, brightstowe, plan of, brighton coach, brill, mail coach inspector, bristol cathedral, " copper co., " mail coach robberies, - , , , " rejuvenated, " turnpike gates, " water works co., , broadmead chapel records, broad street, brooks, thos., & co., browne, letter of year , - brunswick, duke of, at white lion, bull and mouth inn, london, , , burglaries, post office, - burnett, mail coachman, killed, , bush, mr. j. paul, c.m.g., in africa, " " " p.o. medical officer, bush inn, bristol, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , canadian mail service, cann family, - , carriers warned, cathedral, bristol, "cavilears" threatening postmaster teig, chamber of commerce, chamberlain, mr. austen, , chaplin, coach proprietor, charles i., charles ii., , , , chatham, lord, friend of allen, cheltenham coach, chichester mail coach, , , chimney-piece, old elton, chronometer, london coach, city chamberlain's account, , city chambers co., clevedon mail cart accident, , , clift, pratt & co., coach accident, kennet hill, coaches, better equipment wanted, coach and horses inn, southampton, coach, long, portsmouth, coachman fined for giving up reins, " musical, " warminster, drunk, coach service to bristol, , , coggan, mrs. varnam, coin secreted in parcel, coleridge, samuel taylor, colston, edward, columbia stamping machine, commons, p.m. of house of, constantine, duke, of russia, visits the white lion, copper co., bristol, cornishman, g.w.r. train, , corn street, coronation poem, mrs. varnam-coggan, " procession projected, cornwallis coach, , " admiral, coutts, thos., cranford bridge, postboy robbed, creswick family, mansion of, cross posts, , crown inn, portsmouth, cumberland, duke of, curious incidents, , , , , dean of bristol's signature, , devizes, bear inn, devon coach, devonport mail snowed up, diligence mail, , disastrous gale and the telegraphs, , ditton, antony, marlboro' mayor, doddington, barth., dolphin inn, - " street, bristol, duchess of st. albans, duke of beaufort, horses burnt, " brunswick visits white lion, " gloster sloop, electric light fails, - elizabeth, queen, - " her progress, , elton family, , , , , , " mansion, , - , , , emerald post coach, exchange avenue, , express posts, exquisite coach, extension of post office, fairfax, lord, feecham, mail guard, fifth clause post, fish, conveyance declined, fittler, james, engraver, flying machine, bath, folwell, mail guard, foot post, the, , francombe, mr., speech, , freeling, miss edith, , " sir francis, birthplace, " " in london, " " on his mettle, " " death of his wife, " " his death, " " obituary notice, " " relics, - , - " sir g.h., freeman and brass co., , " thorough post, fylton hay, the rodney, " niblett's farm, " open post, gascoigne, lays a post, " court postmaster, " extraordinary post, , george iv., king, george, philip, dep. town clerk, bath, gloucester mail coach, gore, thomas, of barrow, gosport mail, , grand hotel, bristol, griffiths, richard, mail guard, " " his post horn, g.w.r. and p.o. arbitration, " in construction, " in contemplation, " night mail train, " service, hare and hounds, harford & co., iron merchants, harper, mr. c.g., hatton garden robbery, hellier, mr., receives letter in , henty, g., "the road", hereford coach, hero, birmingham coach, hicks, james, roads clerk, hill, rowland, hobhouse, lt.-col., speech, , holyhead coach, hope, weston coach, hopton, lord, horne & sherman, coach proprietors, horton post office, huton, william, , humphries, mr. sidney, speech, - hungerford, sir hy., inland revenue dept., jamaica, bristol mail service to, , james i., king, johnston, c., supt. of mail coaches, , joyce, herbert, c.b., karstadt, g.f., kennet hill, coach accident, kent, luke, mail guard, kerans, mr., p.m., bath, king, address to the, king of syria's letter, knowle turnpike, "la france" engine, lansdown, mr. f.p., lavars, messrs., lithographers, lawrence, sir thos., lawford's gate turnpike, letter woman, lewis levy, turnpike contractor, lifeboats and telegraph, lloyd's bank, london and plymouth, mail coach race, londonderry, marquis of, , , , , longleat, queen elizabeth at, louis, mr., luce, thomas, innkeeper, , maberley, lt.-col., "magnet," weston coach, maidenhead turnpike abolished, mail coaches, mail coaches exempt from toll, mail coach, first, mail coach robbers hanged, mail coach system, manchester and liverpool railway, , marlborough post, may, mr., mcadam, mr., roads, , mercury, light motor van, morley, arnold, address to, , motor cars, motor cycle accident, motor van, avon, mount pleasant p.o., london, moysey, a., muniment room, p.o., musical coachman, nash, bill, mail robber, nevill, mail guard, frozen to death, new buildings, newick, r.c., new london inn, exeter, new passage, ice shoals, new royal mail coach, niblett, isaac, niblett, isaac, innkeeper, coach proprietor, , nobbs, m.j., mail guard, norwich--london coach, old passage, , osborne, john, and jere, messrs., oxford mail, packer, the foot post, pack horse, packmen, palace, bishop's, palmer, col., palmer, death of, palmer, john, coach system, palmer, john, honoured, , palmer's mail coach system:-- attacked, , enlarged, extended, pitt's approbation, success, thanks--memorials, troubles, vindicated, , passengers coach, protection of, paul, j., mail coachman, killed, penny posts, pickwick, moses, coaching notice, pike, e.w., mr., , "pike" keepers, pine, henry, postmaster, pitt, rt. hon. w., , "plume of feathers," wine street, plymouth coach, , "port antonio," r.m.s., porter, george, innkeeper, "port kingston," r.m.s., "port royal," r.m.s., portsmouth coach overturned, portsmouth coaches, , portsmouth, crown inn, portsmouth mail, , , portsmouth railway, projected, , postages, postage stamps, king edward issue, post boys, postboy robbed, post bridge turnpike, posts, cross, post, express, post, extraordinary, , post house, post house, the bristol, , post, king's special, postman's knock, postmaster-general, deputation to, , postmaster-general, lord stanley of alderley, postmaster henry pine, " of bristol, speech, - post office buildings, , " all saints' lane, , " bristol, , post, queen elizabeth's, " running, " the foot, - " thorough, pratt, j.j., prideaux, master of posts, primitive post office, prince and princess of wales, , prudent man's fund receipt note, quaint addresses, , randolph, master of posts, ralph allen, cross posts, redland post office, red rover coach, regent coach, registered letters stolen, rennison, sarah, stokes croft baths, roads, , robertson, george, painter, rocket, holyhead coach, romans, the, rose inn, birmingham, royal livery, coachman and guard wear, rummer tavern, bristol, running post, salisbury mail, late, " postboy robbed, saltford turnpike, savage, the foot post, severn, ice shoals, shamrock, london coach, "ship letters", , , shuter, chris., councillor, small street, bristol, , , , , , , , , , , , southampton coach, , " coach and horses inn, sovereign coach, sports, p.o., sproule, verger, st. albans, duchess of, st. giles' gate, st. leonard's lane, , st. martin's-le-grand, st. michael's hill turnpike, st. werburgh, parish of, , , stage coaches, , , stanley, lord, _frontispiece_ " in africa, " of alderley, statistics--bristol p.o., stealing letters, capital offence, stokes croft turnpike, stop gate, horfield, streamer, richard, , stretch, matthew, bush inn, swan inn, , swan with two necks inn, london, symons, thomas, teig or teague, anabaptist postmaster, in peril, , , , telegraphs, lifeboats, and gales, telephones, trunk p.o., , , thatched post office, thornbury, fifth clause post, thorough post, three tuns, bath, , terrill, mr., letter of, , tewkesbury, time bill, old portsmouth, tipsy m.p., todd, anthony, , , , , tokens, mail coach, toll gates, , , , , , , townsend, john--charles, bush inn, tracks unenclosed, traveller, exeter coach, turner, mail coachman, killed, turnpike trusts, , , turpin and langdon, book binders, tyndale, william, tyson, mayor, , uniform, royal, introduced, union post coach, , value of tolls, vidler, mr., mail contractor, , waggons, quaint, water works company, bristol, water works premises, , weaver, hon. john, weeks, john, , , " boniface, " coach monopoly, " mural tablet, " sloop master, weeks, poston & co., wellington, som., werburgh, st., parish, , westbury-on-trym p.o. burgled, , , , , westons, mail robbers, , whitchurch turnpike, white hart inn, bristol, , , , , , white horse cellars, london, white lion, bristol, , , , , , , white's, mr. stanley, coach, " motor car, wimborne minster, wilton, queen elizabeth at, , withering, thomas, wood's office, bristol, young, john, knighted, w.c. hemmons, st. stephen street, bristol. government ownership of railroads, and war taxation otto h. kahn an address before the national industrial conference board new york, october , i _government ownership of railroads_ paternalistic control, even when entirely benevolent in intent, is generally harmful in effect. it is apt to be doubly so when, as sometimes occurs, it is punitive in intent. the history of our railroads in the last ten years is a case in point. in their early youth our railroads were allowed to grow up like spoiled, wilful, untamed children. they were given pretty nearly everything they asked for, and what they were not given freely they were apt to get somehow, anyhow. they fought amongst themselves and in doing so were liable to do harm to persons and objects in the neighborhood. they were overbearing and inconsiderate and did not show proper respect to their parent, i. e., the people. but the fond parent, seeing how strong and sturdy they were and on the whole, how hustling and effective in their work, and how, with all their faults of temper and demeanor, they made themselves so useful around the house that he could not really get along without them, only smiled complacently at their occasional mischief or looked the other way. moreover, he was really too busy with other matters to give proper attention to their education and upbringing. as the railroads grew towards man's estate and married and begot other railroads, they gradually sloughed off the roughness and objectionable ways of their early youth, and though they did not sprout wings, and though once in a while they still did shock the community, they were amazingly capable at their work and really rendered service of inestimable value. but meanwhile, for various reasons and owing to sundry influences, the father had grown testy and rather sour on them. he cut their allowance, he restrained them in various ways, some wise, some less so, he changed his will in their disfavor, he showed marked preference to other children of his. and one fine day, partly because he was annoyed at the discovery of some wrongdoing in which, despite his repeated warnings, a few of the railroads had indulged (though the overwhelming majority were blameless) and partly at the prompting of plausible self-seekers or well-meaning specialists in the improvement of everybody and everything--one fine day he lost his temper and with it his sense of proportion. he struck blindly at the railroads, he appointed guardians (called commissions) to whom they would have to report daily, who would prescribe certain rigid rules of conduct for them, who would henceforth determine their allowance and supervise their method of spending it, etc. and these commissions, naturally wishing to act in the spirit of the parent who had designated them, but actually being, as guardians are liable to be, more harsh and severe and unrelenting than he would have been or really meant to be, put the railroads on a starvation diet and otherwise so exercised their functions, with good intent, doubtless, in most cases, that after a while those railroads, formerly so vigorous and capable, became quite emaciated and several of them succumbed under the strain of the regime imposed upon them. and then, seeing their condition and having need, owing to special emergencies, of railroad services which required great physical strength and endurance, one fine morning the parent determined upon the drastic step of taking things into his own hands. and so forth.... ii to drop the style of story-telling: individual enterprise has given us what is admittedly the most efficient railroad system in the world. it has done so whilst making our average capitalization per mile of road less, the scale of wages higher, the average rates lower, the service and conveniences offered to the shipper and the traveler greater than in any other of the principal countries. it must be admitted that in the pioneer period of railroad development, and for some years thereafter, numerous things were done, and although generally known to be done, were tolerated by the government and the public, which should never have been permitted. but during the second administration and upon the courageous initiative of president roosevelt these evils and abuses were resolutely tackled and a definite and effective stop put to most of them. means were provided by salutary legislation, fortified by decisions of the supreme court, for adequate supervision and regulation of railroads. the railroads promptly fell in line with the countrywide summons for a more exacting standard of business ethics. the spirit and practices of railroad administration became standardized, so to speak, at a moral level certainly not inferior to that of any other calling. it is true, certain regrettable abuses and incidents of misconduct still came to light in subsequent years, but these were sporadic instances, by no means characteristic of railroading methods and practices in general, condemned by the great body of those responsible for the conduct of our railroads, no less than by the public at large, and entirely capable of being dealt with by the existing law, possibly amended in nonessential features, and by the force of public opinion. unfortunately, the law enacted under president roosevelt's administration was not allowed to stand for a sufficient length of time to test its effects. the enactment of new railroad legislation in , largely shaped by congressmen and senators of very radical tendencies and hostile to the railroads, and acquiesced in by president taft with ill-advised and opportunist complacency, established, for the first time in america, paternalistic control over the railroads. it was an unscientific and ill-devised statute, gravely defective in important respects and bearing evidence of having been shaped in heat, hurry and anger. mr. taft himself, it seems, has since recognized its faultiness, for he has repeatedly and publicly protested against the over-regulation, the starvation and the oppression of the railroad which were the inevitable and easy-to-be-foreseen consequences of its enactment. the states, to extent that they had not already anticipated it, were not slow to follow the precedent set by the federal government. the resulting structure of federal and state laws under which the railroads were compelled to carry on their business, was little short of a legislative monstrosity. iii you all know the result. the spirit of enterprise in railroading was killed. subjected to an obsolete and incongruous national policy, hampered, confined, harassed by multifarious, minute, narrow, and sometimes flatly contradictory regulations and restrictions, state and federal, starved as to rates in the face of steadily mounting costs of labor and materials--that great industry began to fall away. initiative on the part of those in charge became chilled, the free flow of investment capital was halted, creative ability was stopped, growth was stifled, credit was crippled. the theory of governmental regulation and supervision was entirely right. no fair-minded man would quarrel with that. the railroads had exercised great, and in certain respects undoubtedly excessive power for a long time, and all power tends to breed abuses and requires limitations and restraints. but the practical application of that theory was wholly at fault and in defiance of both economic law and common sense. it was bound to lead to a crisis. it is not the railroads that have broken down, it is our railroad legislation and commissions which have broken down. and now the government, in the emergency of war, probably wisely and, in view of the prevailing circumstances, necessarily, has assumed the operation of the railroads. the director general of railroads, rightly and courageously, proceeded to do immediately that which the railroads for years had again and again asked in vain to be permitted to do--only more so. freight rates were raised twenty-five per cent., passenger rates in varying degrees up to fifty per cent. many wasteful and needless practices heretofore compulsorily imposed were done away with. passenger train service, for the abolition of some of which the railroads had petitioned unsuccessfully for years, was cut to the extent of an aggregate train mileage of over , , . the system of pooling for which since years many of the railroads had in vain endeavored to obtain legal sanction was promptly adopted with the natural result of greater simplicity and directness of service and of considerable savings. the whole theory under which intelligent, effective and systematic co-operation between the different railways had been made impossible formerly, was thrown into the scrap heap. incidentally, certain services and conveniences were abolished, of which the railroad managements would never have sought to deprive the public, and the very suggestion of the abrogation of which would have led to indignant and quickly effective protest had it been attempted in the days of private control. lest this remark might be misunderstood, let me say that i have no word of criticism against mr. mcadoo's administration of the railroads, as far as i have been able to observe it. i think, on the contrary, that he is entitled to great praise and that he has handled the formidable and complex task confided to him with a high degree of ability, fine courage, indefatigable energy, and with the evident determination to keep the running of the railroads clear of politics and to make them above all things effective instruments in our war effort. iv for a concise statement of the results accomplished elsewhere under government ownership i would recommend you to obtain from the public printer, and to read, a short pamphlet entitled "historical sketch of government ownership of railroads in foreign countries," presented to the joint committee of congress on interstate commerce by the great english authority, mr. w. m. acworth. it will well repay you the half hour spent in its perusal. you will learn from it that, prior to the war, about fifty per cent. of the railways in europe were state railways; that in practically every case of the substitution of government for private operation (with the exception, subject to certain reservations, of germany) the service deteriorated, the discipline and consequently the punctuality and safety of train service diminished, politics came to be a factor in the administration and the cost of operations increased vastly. (the net revenue, for example, of the western railway of france in the worst year of private ownership was $ , , , in the fourth year of government operation it fell to $ , , .) he quotes the eminent french economist, leroy-beaulieu, as follows: "one may readily see how dangerous to the liberty of citizens the extension of the industrial regime of the state would be, where the number of functionaries would be indefinitely multiplied.... from all points of view the experience of state railways in france is unfavorable as was foreseen by all those who had reflected upon the bad results given by the other industrial undertakings of the state.... the state, above all, under an elective government, cannot be a good commercial manager.... the experience which we have recently gained has provoked a very lively movement, not only against acquisition of the railways by the state, but against all extension of state industry. i hope ... that not only we, but our neighbors also may profit by the lesson of these facts." mr. acworth mentions as a characteristic indication that after years of sad experience with governmentally owned and operated railways, the italian government, just before the war, started on the new departure (or rather returned to the old system) of granting a concession to a private enterprise which was to take over a portion of the existing state railway, build an extension with the aid of state subsidies, _and then work on its own account both sections as one undertaking under private management_. i may add, as a fact within my own knowledge, that shortly before the outbreak of the war the belgian government was studying the question of returning its state railways to private enterprise and management. mr. acworth relates a resolution _unanimously_ passed by the french senate a few years after the state had taken over certain lines, beginning: "the deplorable situation of the state system, the insecurity and irregularity of its workings." he gives figures demonstrating the invariably greater efficiency, economy and superiority of service of private management as compared to state management in countries where these two systems are in operation side by side. he treats of the effect of the conflicting interests, sectional and otherwise, which necessarily come into play under government control when the question arises where new lines are to be built and what extensions to be made of existing lines. he asks: "can it be expected that they (these questions) will be decided rightly by a minister responsible to a democratic legislature, each member of which, naturally and rightly, makes the best case he can for his own constituents, while he is quite ignorant, even if not careless, of the interests, not only of his neighbor's constituency, but of the public at large?" and he replied: "the answer is written large in railway history.... the facts show that parliamentary interference has meant running the railways, not for the benefit of the people at large, but to satisfy local and sectional or even personal interests." he maintains that in a country governed on the prussian principles railroad operation and planning may be conducted by the government with a fair degree of success, as an executive function, but in democratic countries, he points out that in normal times "it is the legislative branch of the government which not only decides policy but dictates always in main outline, often down to the detail of a particular appointment or a special rate, how the policy shall be carried out." for corroboration of this latter statement we need only turn to the array of statutes in our own states, which not only fix certain railroad rates by legislative enactment, but deal with such details as the repair of equipment, the minimum movement of freight cars, the kind of headlights to be used on locomotives, the safety appliances to be installed, etc.--and all this in the face of the fact that these states have public service commissions whose function it is to supervise and regulate the railroads. the reason why the system of state railways in germany was largely free from most, though by no means all, of the unfavorable features and results produced by government ownership and operation elsewhere, is inherent in the habits and conditions created in that country by generations of autocratic and bureaucratic government. but mr. acworth points out very acutely that while german manufacturers, merchants, financiers, physicians, scientists, etc., "have taught the world a good deal in the twenty years preceding the war, german railway men have taught the world nothing." and he asks: "why is this?" his answer is: "because they were state officials, and, as such, bureaucrats and routiniers, and without incentive to invent and progress themselves or to encourage or welcome or even accept inventions and progress. it is the private railways of england and france, and particularly of america, which have led the world in improvements and new ideas, whilst it would be difficult to mention a single reform or invention for which the world is indebted to the state railways of germany." the question of the disposition to be made of the railroads after the war is one of the most important and far-reaching of the post-bellum questions which will confront us. it will be one of the great test questions, the answer to which will determine whither we are bound. v and, it seems to me, one of the duties of business men is to inform themselves accurately and carefully on this subject, so as to be ready to take their due and legitimate part in shaping public opinion, and indeed to start on that task now, before public opinion, one-sidedly informed and fed of set purpose with adroitly colored statements of half truths, crystallizes into definite judgment. my concern is not for the stock and bond holders. they will, i have no doubt, be properly and fairly taken care of in case the government were definitely to acquire the railroads. indeed, it may well be, that from the standpoint of their selfish interests, a reasonable guarantee or other fixed compensation by the government would be preferable to the financial risks and uncertainties under private railroad operation in the new and untried era which we shall enter after the war. i know, indeed, that not a few large holders of railroad securities take this view and therefore have this preference. nor do i speak as one who believes that the railroad situation can be restored just as it was before the war. the function, responsibility and obligation of the railroads as a whole are primarily to serve the interests and economic requirements of the nation. the disjointed operation of the railroads, each one considering merely its own system (and being under the law practically prevented from doing otherwise) will, i am sure, not be permitted again. the relinquishment of certain features of our existing legislation, the addition of others, a more clearly defined and purposeful relationship of the nation to the railroads, involving amongst other things possibly some financial interest of the government in the results of railroad operations, are certain to come from our experiences under government operation and from a fresh study of the subject, in case the railroads, as i hope, are returned to private management. personally i believe that in its underlying principle, the system gradually evolved in america but never as yet given a fair chance for adequate translation into practical execution, is an almost ideal one. if preserves for the country, in the conduct of its railroads, the inestimable advantage of private initiative, efficiency, resourcefulness and financial responsibility, while at the same time through governmental regulation and supervision it emphasizes the semi-public character and duties of railroads, protects the community's rights and just claims and guards against those evils and excesses of unrestrained individualism which experience has indicated. it is, i am profoundly convinced, a far better system than government ownership of railroads, which, wherever tested, has proved its inferiority except, to an extent, in the germany on which the prussian junker planted his heel and of which he made a scourge and a horrible example to the world; and the very reasons which have made state railways measurably successful in _that_ germany are the reasons which would make government ownership and operation in america a menace to our free institutions, a detriment to our racial characteristics and a grave economic disservice. i _punitive paternalism in taxation_ i have spoken of the treatment of our railroads in the past ten years as "punitive paternalism." in some respects this same term may be applied to our existing and proposed war taxation. of course, the burden of meeting the cost of the war must be laid according to capacity to bear it. it would be crass selfishness to wish it laid otherwise and fatuous folly to endeavor to have it laid otherwise. we all agree that the principal single sources of war revenue must necessarily be business and accumulated capital, but these sources should not be used excessively and to the exclusion of others. the structure of taxation should be harmonious and symmetrical. no part of it should be so planned as to produce an unscientific and dangerous strain. the science of taxation consists in raising the largest obtainable amount of needed revenue in the most equitable manner, with the least economic disturbance and, as far as possible, with the effect of promoting thrift. the house bill proposes to raise from income, excess or war profit and inheritance taxes $ , , , out of an estimated total of $ , , , . in other words, almost seventy per cent. of our stupendous total taxation is to come from these few sources. it seems to me that the effect and meaning of this is to penalize capital, to fine business success, as well as thrift and self-denial practised in the past, thereby tending to discourage saving. the house bill fails, on the other hand, to impose certain taxes the effect of which is to promote saving. intentionally or not, yet effectively, it penalizes certain callings and sections of the country and favors others. let me say at the outset that my criticism does not refer to the principle of an eighty per cent. war profits tax. indeed, i have from the very beginning advocated a high tax on war profits. to permit individuals and corporations to enrich themselves out of the dreadful calamity of war is repugnant to one's sense of justice and gravely detrimental to the war morale of the people. strictly from the economic point of view, the eighty per cent. war profits tax is not entirely free from objection. whether england did wisely on the whole in fixing the tax at quite so high a rate is a debatable point, and is being questioned by some economists of high standing in that country, not from the point of view of tenderness for the beneficiaries from war profits, but from that of national advantage. moreover, conditions in america and england are not quite identical and i believe it to be a justifiable statement that british industry is better able to stand so high a tax than american industry, for reasons inherent in the respective business situations and methods. however, everything considered, circumstances being what they are, i believe the enactment of the proposed eighty per cent. war profits tax to be expedient, provided that, like in england, the standard of comparison with pre-war profits is fairly fixed and due and fair allowance made, in determining taxable profits, for such bona fide items of depreciation and other write-offs as a reasonably conservative business man would ordinarily take into account before arriving at net profits. amongst the principles of correct and effective taxation, which are axiomatic, are these: . no tax should be so burdensome as to extinguish or seriously jeopardize the source from which it derives its productivity. in other words, do not be so eager to secure every possible golden egg, that you kill the goose which lays them. . in war time, when the practice of thrift is of more vital importance than ever to the nation, one of the most valuable by-products which taxation should aim to secure is to compel reduction in individual expenditures. . taxation should be as widely diffused as possible, at however small a rate the minimum contribution may be fixed, if only to give the greatest possible number of citizens an interest to watch governmental expenditure, and an incentive to curb governmental extravagance. it may safely be asserted that our war taxation runs counter to every one of these tested principles. ii the characteristic difference between the house bill and the revenue measures of great britain (i am not referring to those of france and germany, because they are incomparably less drastic than ours or great britain's) is, first, that we do not resort to consumption taxes and only to a limited degree to general stamp taxes, and, secondly, that our income tax on small and moderate incomes is far smaller, on large incomes somewhat smaller and on the largest incomes a great deal heavier. the house rate of taxation on incomes up to, say, $ , , averages only one-fifth of what it is in england; the house rate of taxation on maximum incomes is approximately fifty per cent. higher than it is in england. moreover, married men with incomes of less than $ , are entirely exempted from taxation in this country. in england all incomes from $ on are subject to taxation. i believe, on the whole, our system of gradation is juster than the english system, but i think we are going to an extreme at both ends. and it must be borne in mind that our actual taxation of high incomes is not even measured by the rates fixed in the house bill, because to them must be added state and municipal taxes. there must further be added what to all intents and purposes is, though a voluntary act, yet in effect for all right-minded citizens tantamount to taxation, namely, a man's habitual expenditures for charity and his contributions to the red cross and other war relief works. the sentimental and thereby the actual effect of extreme income taxation is not confined to the relatively small number of people in possession of very large incomes directly affected by it. the apprehension caused by the contemplation of an excessively high ratio of taxation is contagious and apt to react unfavorably on constructive activity. it is highly important that taxation should not reach a point at which business would be crippled, cash resources unduly curtailed and the incentive to maximum effort and enterprise destroyed. and it should not be forgotten that both theoretically and actually the spending of money by the government cannot and does not have the same effect on the prosperity of the country as productive use of his funds by the individual. if all the european nations have stopped during the war at a certain maximum limit of individual income and inheritance taxation, even after four years of war, the reason is surely not that they love rich men more than we do or that they are all less democratic than we are. the reason is that these nations, including the financially wisest and most experienced, recognize the unwisdom and economic ill effect under existing conditions of going beyond that limit. iii the same observations hold good in the case of our proposed inheritance taxation (maximum proposed here forty per cent., as against twenty per cent. maximum in england and much less in all other countries). and again there are to be added to federal taxation the rates of state legacy and inheritance taxation. inheritance taxation, moreover, has that inevitable element of unfairness that it leaves entirely untouched the wastrel who never laid by a cent in his life, and penalizes him who practiced industry, self-denial and thrift. and it cannot be too often said that the encouragement of thrift and enterprise is of the utmost desirability under the circumstances in which the world finds itself, because it is only by the intensified creation of wealth through savings and production that the world can be re-established on an even keel after the ravages and the waste of the war. furthermore, business men, of necessity, have only a limited amount of their capital in liquid or quickly realizable form, and through the absorption by the inheritance tax of a large proportion of such assets, many a business may find itself with insufficient current capital to continue operations after the death of a partner. this effect is not only unfair in itself, but is made doubly so, as being a discrimination in favor of corporations as against private business men and business houses, inasmuch as corporations are, of course, not amenable to inheritance taxation. whilst in the case of the rich we discourage saving by the very hugeness of our taxation, or make it impossible, we fail to use the instrument of taxation to promote saving in the case of those with moderate incomes. and the enormous preponderance of saving which could and should be effected does not lie within the possibilities of the relatively small number of people with large means, but of the huge number of people with moderate incomes. moreover, while the rich, in consequence of taxation, limitation of profits, etc., have become less able to spend freely since our entrance into the war, workingmen and farmers, through increased wages, steadier employment and higher prices of crops, respectively, have become able to spend more freely. workingmen are in receipt of wages never approached in pre-war times, many of them making incomes a good deal higher than the average professional man, while the profits of business, generally speaking, are rather on a declining scale and certain branches of business have been brought virtually or even completely to a standstill. of our total national income, conservatively estimated at, say, $ , , , for the last year before our entrance into the war, i. e., the year , it is safe to say that not more than $ , , , went to those with incomes of, say, $ , and above, whilst $ , , , went to those with lower incomes. a carefully compiled statement issued by the bankers trust company of new york estimates the total individual incomes of the nation for the fiscal year ending june , , at about $ , , , , and calculates that families with incomes of $ , or less receive $ , , of that total; or, applying the calculation to families with incomes of $ , or less, it is found that they receive $ , , , of that total. iv whilst the house bill imposes luxury and semi-luxury taxes, it fails--as i have mentioned before--to resort to consumption taxes of a general kind--a deliberate but, in my opinion, unwarrantable omission. my advocacy of consumption and similar taxes, such as stamp taxes of many kinds, is not actuated by any desire to relieve those with large incomes from the maximum of contribution which may wisely and fairly be imposed on them. i advocate consumption and general stamp taxes--such as every other belligerent country without exception has found it well to impose--because of the well attested fact that while productive of very large revenues in the aggregate, they are easily borne, causing no strain or dislocation, and automatically collected; and because of the further fact that they tend to induce economy than which nothing is more important at this time and which, as far as i can observe, is not being practised by the rank and file of our people to a degree comparable to what it is in england and france. the tendency of the house bill is to rely mostly on heavy taxation--in some respects unprecedentedly heavy--of a relatively limited selection of items. i am--as i have already said--in favor of the highest possible war profits tax and of at least as high a rate of income and inheritance taxation during the war as exist in any other country. but apart from these and a few other items which can naturally support very heavy taxation, such, for instance, as cigars and tobacco, i believe that the maximum of revenue and the minimum of economic disadvantage and dislocation can be secured not by the very heavy taxation of a relatively limited selection, but by comparatively light taxation distributed over a vast number of items. i believe such taxes would be productive enough to make good the impending revenue losses from prohibition. i think, for instance, the imposition of a tax of one per cent. on every single purchase exceeding, say, two dollars (the tax to be borne by the purchaser, not by the seller) would be productive of a large amount of revenue and be harmful to none. a similar tax was imposed in the course of the civil war and appears to have functioned so well and met with such ready acceptance that it was not repealed until several years after the close of that war. there is apparently small limit to the zeal of many politicians and others when it is a question of taxing business and business men, especially those guilty of success. we are, i believe, justified in inquiring to what extent there is a relation between this tendency and political considerations which ought to be remote from the treatment of economic subjects such as taxation. let us take, as an instance, the case of the farmer. i do not pretend to judge whether in these war times the farmers of the country are bearing an equitable share of taxation in proportion to other callings or not. i certainly recognize that they are entitled to be dealt with liberally, even generously, for i know the rigors of the farmers' life, the ups and downs of their industry's productivity, and fully appreciate that their work lies at the very basis of national existence. everything that can fairly make for the contentment, well being and prosperity of the farmer is to be wholeheartedly welcomed and promoted. yet, we cannot avoid noticing that the average value of farm lands in this country is estimated to have increased between and more than per cent., that the value of farm products has been vastly enhanced, but that according to the latest published details of income tax returns, the farmer contributes but a very small percentage to the total income tax collected. of twenty-two selected occupations the farmers' class contributes the least in the aggregate, although it is numerically the largest class in the country. let it be clearly understood that i have not the remotest thought of suggesting "tax dodging" on the part of the farmers. i know well how fully they are doing their part towards winning the war, and am entirely certain that they are just as ready to carry patriotically their due share of the financial cost of achieving victory as the splendid young fellows taken from the farms, many of whom i met in europe, have been ready to bear their full share of the cost in life and limb of achieving victory. the point of my question is not the action and attitude of the farmer. but here is a great industry exempt from the excess profit and war profit tax and apparently not effectively reached by the income tax, which is entirely natural, because in this case the income tax can neither be retained at the source nor are the large body of the farmers, many of whom do not keep and cannot be expected to keep books, in a position to determine their taxable income. is it conceivable that the politicians who are so rigorous in their watchfulness that no business profit shall escape the tax-gatherer, would not devise means to lay an effective tax if the same situation existed in a business industry? the point of my question is, taking the case of the farmers as an instance, whether in framing our system and method of taxation, the steady aim has been to ascertain impartially what is equitable and wisely productive of revenue and to act accordingly, or whether considerations of the anticipated effect of taxation measures upon the fortunes of individual legislators or of their party, have been permitted unduly to sway their deliberations and conclusions. v turning aside from this interrogation mark, i will only add, in returning to our general scheme of taxation, that there are numerous taxes of a tried and tested and socially just kind--some of them applied in this country during the civil war and the spanish war--which would raise a very large amount of revenue and yet would be little felt by the individual. some of them have been suggested to our legislators, but have not found favor in their eyes. their non-imposition, taken together with the entire character of our taxation program, the burden of which falls to an enormously preponderant extent upon the mainly industrial states and the business classes, not only proportionately, which, of course, is just, but discriminatingly, which is not just, seems hardly explainable except on the theory that the intention of those who were primarily in charge of framing that program was punitive and corrective and that they were influenced--though i am willing to believe unconsciously--by sectional and vocational partiality. the fact that the revenue bill was passed in the house by a unanimous vote does not mean, of course, that it met with unanimous approval on the part of congressmen. the debate shows this. the bill, as reported after months of labor, either had to be approved practically as it stood or rejected and returned to the committee. it is not possible for a body of men to deal in a detailed manner with a subject so complex as a taxation measure of the magnitude of the present one. the bill could not be made over or materially amended in the house. in view of the urgency of the emergency and the vital need to raise the sum asked for by the treasury, no patriotic course was open to the house but to accept the bill and pass it up to the senate. i know it is not popular to say things in criticism of war burdens of a financial nature. one's motives are liable to be misunderstood or misinterpreted and he is very apt to have it scornfully pointed out to him how small relatively is the sacrifice asked of him, compared with the sacrifice of position, prospects, and life itself, so willingly and proudly offered by the young manhood of the land. it is a natural and effective rejoinder, but it is not a sound or logical one. heaven knows, my heart goes out to our splendid boys, and my admiration for their conduct and achievements and my reverence for the spirit which animates them knows no bounds. but i am acquainted with hundreds of business men who bemoan their gray hair and their responsibilities, which prevent them from having the privilege of fighting our foe arms in hand. and i know no american business man worthy of the name, who would not willingly give his life and all his possessions if the country's safety and honor required that sacrifice. transcriber's notes: passages in italics indicated by underscore _italics_. additional spacing after the block quotes is intentional to indicate both the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph as presented in the original text. fifty years of railway life in england, scotland and ireland by joseph tatlow director midland great western railway or ireland and dublin and kingstown railway; a member of dominions royal commission, - ; late manager midland great western railway, etc. published in by the railway gazette, queens anne's chambers, westminster, london, s.w. . [the author: tatlow.jpg] contents. i. introductory ii. boyhood iii. the midland railway and "king hudson" iv. fashions and manners, victorian days v. early office life vi. friendship vii. railway progress viii. scotland, glasgow life, and the caledonian line ix. general railway acts of parliament x. a general manager and his office xi. the railway jubilee, and glasgow and south-western officers and clerks xii. tom xiii. men i met and friends i made xiv. terminals, rates and fares, and other matters xv. further railway legislation xvi. belfast and the county down railway xvii. belfast and the county down (continued) xviii. railway rates and charges, the block, the brake, and light railways xix. golf, the diamond king, and a steam-boat service xx. the midland great western railway of ireland xxi. ballinasloe fair, galway, and sir george findlay xxii. a railway contest, the parcel post, and the board of trade xxiii. "the railway news," the international railway congress, and a trip to spain and portugal xxiv. tom robertson, more about light railways, and the inland transit of cattle xxv. railway amalgamation and constantinople xxvi. a congress at paris, the progress of irish lines, egypt and the nile xxvii. king edward, a change of chairmen, and more railway legislation xxviii. vice-regal commission on irish railways, - , and the future of railways xxix. the general managers' conference, gooday's dinner, and divers matters xxx. from manager to director xxxi. the dominions' royal commission, the railways of the dominions, and empire development xxxii. conclusion list of illustrations. the author george hudson, the "railway king" sir james allport w. j. wainwright edward john cotton walter bailey sir ralph cusack, d. l. william dargan the dargan saloon sir george findlay sir theodore martin the gresham salver chapter i. introductory north-west donegal. a fine afternoon in september. the mountain ranges were bathed in sunshine and the scarred and seamy face of stern old errigal seemed almost to smile. a gentle breeze stirred the air and the surface of the lakes lay shimmering in the soft autumnal light. the blue sky, flecked with white cloudlets, the purple of the heather, the dark hues of the bogs, the varied greens of bracken, ferns and grass, the gold of ripening grain, and the grey of the mountain boulders, together formed a harmony of colour which charmed the eye and soothed the mind. i had been travelling most of the day by railway through this delightful country, not by an express that rushed you through the scenery with breathless haste, but by an easy-going mixed train which called at every station. sometimes its speed reached twenty-five miles an hour, but never more, and because of numerous curves and gradients--for it was a narrow gauge and more or less a surface line--the rate of progress was much less during the greater part of the journey. the work of the day was over. my companion and i had dined at the gweedore hotel, where we were staying for the night. with the setting sun the breeze had died away. perfect stillness and a silence deep, profound and all-pervading reigned. i had been talking, as an old pensioner will talk, of byegone times, of my experiences in a long railway career, and my companion, himself a rising railway man, seemed greatly interested. as we sauntered along, the conversation now and again lapsing into a companionable silence, he suddenly said: "why don't you write your reminiscences? they would be very interesting, not only to us younger railway men, but to men of your own time too." until that moment i had never seriously thought of putting my reminiscences on record, but my friend's words fell on favourable ground, and now, less than a month since that night in donegal, i am sitting at my desk penning these opening lines. that my undertaking will not be an easy one i know. my memory is well stored, but unfortunately i have never kept a diary or commonplace book of any kind. on the contrary a love of order and neatness, carried to absurd excess, has always led me to destroy accumulated letters or documents, and much that would be useful now has in the past, from time to time, been destroyed and "cast as rubbish to the void." most autobiographies, i suppose, are undertaken to please the writers. that this is the case with me i frankly confess; but i hope that what i find much pleasure in writing my readers may, at least, find some satisfaction in reading. vanity, perhaps, plays some part in this hope, for, "he that is pleased with himself easily imagines that he shall please others." carlyle says, "a true delineation of the smallest man, and his scene of pilgrimage through life, is capable of interesting the greatest man; that all men are to an unspeakable degree brothers, each man's life a strange emblem of every man's; and that human portraits, faithfully drawn, are of all pictures the welcomest on human walls." i am not sure that portraits of the artist by himself, though there are notable and noble instances to the contrary, are often successful. we rarely "see oursels as ithers see us," and are inclined to regard our virtues and our vices with equal equanimity, and to paint ourselves in too alluring colours; but i will do my best to tell my tale with strict veracity, and with all the modesty i can muster. an autobiographer, too, exposes himself to the charge of egotism, but i must run the risk of that, endeavouring to avoid the scathing criticism of him who wrote:-- "the egotist . . . . . . . whose i's and me's are scattered in his talk, thick as the pebbles on a gravel walk." fifty years of railway life, passed in the service of various companies, large and small, in england, scotland and ireland, in divers' capacities, from junior clerk to general manager, and ultimately to the ease and dignity of director, if faithfully presented, may perhaps, in spite of all drawbacks, be not entirely devoid of interest. chapter ii. boyhood i was born at sheffield, on good friday, in the year , and my only sister was born on a christmas day. my father was in the service of the midland railway, as also were two of his brothers, one of whom was the father of the present general manager of the midland. when i was but ten months old my father was promoted to the position of accountants' inspector at headquarters and removed from sheffield to derby. afterwards, whilst i was still very young, he became goods agent at birmingham, and lived there for a few years. he then returned to derby, where he became head of the mineral office. he remained with the midland until , when he retired on superannuation at the age of seventy-six. except, therefore, for an interval of about three years my childhood and youth were spent at derby. my earliest recollection in connection with railways is my first railway journey, which took place when i was four years of age. i recollect it well. it was from derby to birmingham. how the wonder of it all impressed me! the huge engine, the wonderful carriages, the imposing guard, the busy porters and the bustling station. the engine, no doubt, was a pigmy, compared with the giants of to-day; the carriages were small, modest four-wheelers, with low roofs, and diminutive windows after the manner of old stage coaches, but to me they were palatial. i travelled first-class on a pass with my father, and great was my juvenile pride. our luggage, i remember, was carried on the roof of the carriage in the good old-fashioned coaching style. four-wheeled railway carriages are, i was going to say, a thing of the past; but that is not so. though gradually disappearing, many are running still, mainly on branch lines--in england nearly five thousand; in scotland over four hundred; and in poor backward ireland (where, by the way, railways are undeservedly abused) how many? will it be believed--practically none, not more than twenty in the whole island! all but those twenty have been scrapped long ago. well done ireland! from the earliest time i can remember, and until well-advanced in manhood, i was delicate in health, troubled with a constant cough, thin and pale. in consequence i was often absent from school; and prevented also from sharing, as i should, and as every child should, in out-door games and exercises, to my great disadvantage then and since, for proficiency is only gained by early training, and unfortunate is he whose circumstances have deprived him of that advantage. how often, since those early days, have i looked with envious eyes on pastimes in which i could not engage, or only engage with the consciousness of inferiority. i have known men who, handicapped in this way, have in after life, by strong will and great application, overcome their disabilities and become good cricketers, great at tennis, proficient at golf, strong swimmers, skilful shots; but they have been exceptional men with a strong natural inclination to athletics. the only active physical recreations in which i have engaged with any degree of pleasure are walking, riding, bicycling and skating. riding i took to readily enough as soon as i was able to afford it; and, if my means had ever allowed indulgence in the splendid pastime of hunting, i would have followed the hounds, not, i believe, without some spirit and boldness. my natural disposition i know inclined me to sedentary pursuits: reading, writing, drawing, painting, though, happily, the tendency was corrected to some extent by a healthy love of nature's fair features, and a great liking for country walks. in drawing and painting, though i had a certain natural aptitude for both, i never attained much proficiency in either, partly for lack of instruction, partly from want of application, but more especially, i believe, because another, more alluring, more mentally exciting occupation beguiled me. it was not music, though to music close allied. this new-found joy i long pursued in secret, afraid lest it should be discovered and despised as a folly. it was not until i lived in scotland, where poetical taste and business talent thrive side by side, and where, as mr. spurgeon said, "no country in the world produced so many poets," that i became courageous, and ventured to avow my dear delight. it was there that i sought, with some success, publication in various papers and magazines of my attempts at versification, for versification it was that so possessed my fancy. of the spacious times of great elizabeth it has been written, "the power of action and the gift of song did not exclude each other," but in england, in mid-victorian days, it was looked upon differently, or so at least i believed. after a time i had the distinction of being included in a new edition of _recent and living scottish poets_, by alexander murdoch, published in . my inclusion was explained on the ground that, "his muse first awoke to conscious effort on scottish soil," which, though not quite in accordance with fact, was not so wide of the mark that i felt in the least concerned to criticise the statement. i was too much enamoured of the honour to question the foundation on which it rested. perhaps it was as well deserved as are some others of this world's distinctions! at any rate it was neither begged nor bought, but came "like dian's kiss, unasked, unsought." in the same year ( ) i also appeared in _edwards_' sixth series of _modern scottish poets_; and in , more legitimately, in william andrews' book on _modern yorkshire poets_. my claim for this latter distinction was not, however, any greater, if as great, as my right to inclusion in the collection of _scottish poets_. if i "lisped in numbers," it was not in yorkshire, for yorkshire i left for ever before even the first babblings of babyhood began. however, "kissing goes by favour," and i was happy in the favour i enjoyed. i may as well say it here: with my poetical productions i was never satisfied any more than with my attempts at drawing. my verses seemed mere farthing dips compared with the resplendent poetry of our country which i read and loved, but my efforts employed and brightened many an hour in my youth that otherwise would have been tedious and dreary. ours was a large family, nine children in all; nothing unusual in those days. "a quiver full" was then a matter of parental pride. woman was more satisfied with home life then than now. the pursuit of pleasure was not so keen. our parents and our grandparents were simpler in their tastes, more easily amused, more readily impressed with the wonderful and the strange. things that would leave us unmoved were to them matters of moment. railways were new and railway travelling was, to most people, an event. our fathers talked of their last journey to london, their visit to the tower, to westminster abbey, the monument, madame tussauds; how they mistook the waxwork policeman for a real member of the force; how they shuddered in the _chamber of horrors_; how they travelled on the new underground railway; and saw the wonders of the crystal palace, especially on fireworks night. they told us of their visit to the _great eastern_, what a gigantic ship it was, what a marvel, and described its every feature. they talked of general tom thumb, of blondin, of pepper's ghost, of the christy minstrels. nowadays, a father will return from london and not even mention the tubes to his children. why should he? they know all about them and are surprised at nothing. the picture books and the cinemas have familiarised them with every aspect of modern life. in those days our pleasures and our amusements were fewer, but impressed us more. i remember how eagerly the coloured pictures of the christmas numbers of the pictorial papers were looked forward to, talked of, criticised, admired, framed and hung up. i remember too, the excitements of saint valentine's day, shrove tuesday, april fool's day, may day and the morris (molly) dancers; and the fifth of november, guy fawkes day. i remember also the peripatetic knife grinder and his trundling machine, the muffin man, the pedlar and his wares, the furmity wheat vendor, who trudged along with his welcome cry of "frummitty!" from door to door. those were pleasant and innocent excitements. we have other things to engage us now, but i sometimes think all is not _gain_ that the march of progress brings. young people then had fewer books to read, but read them thoroughly. what excitement and discussion attended the monthly instalments of dickens' novels in _all the year round_; how eagerly they were looked for. lucky he or she who had heard the great _master_ read himself in public. his books were read in our homes, often aloud to the family circle by paterfamilias, and moved us to laughter or tears. i never now see our young people, or their elders either, affected by an author as we were then by the power of dickens. he was a new force and his pages kindled in our hearts a vivid feeling for the poor and their wrongs. scott's _waverley novels_, too, aroused our enthusiasm. in the early sixties a cheap edition appeared, and cheap editions were rare things then. it was published, if i remember aright, at two shillings per volume; an event that stirred the country. my father brought each volume home as it came out. i remember it well; a pale, creamy-coloured paper cover, good type, good paper. what treasures they were, and only two shillings! i was a little child when an important movement for the cheapening of books began. in charles dickens presided at a meeting of authors and others against the coercive regulations of the booksellers' association which maintained their excessive profits. herbert spencer and miss evans (george eliot) took a prominent part in this meeting and drafted the resolutions which were passed. the ultimate effect of this meeting was that the question between the authors and the booksellers was referred to lord campbell as arbitrator. he gave a decision against the booksellers; and there were consequently abolished such of the trade regulations as had interdicted the sale of books at lower rates of profit than those authorised by the booksellers' association. practically all my school days were spent at derby. as i have said, ours was a large family. i have referred to an only sister, but i had step- sisters and step-brothers too. my father married twice and the second family was numerous. his salary was never more than pounds a year, and though a prudent enough man, he was not of the frugal economical sort who makes the most of every shilling. it may be imagined, then, that all the income was needed for a family that, parents included, but excluding the one servant, numbered eleven. the consequence was that the education i received could not be described as liberal. i attended a day school at derby, connected with the wesleyans; why i do not know, as we belonged to the anglican church; but i believe it was because the school, while cheap as to fees, had the reputation of giving a good, plain education suitable for boys destined for railway work. it was a good sized school of about a hundred boys. not long ago i met one day in london a business man who, it turned out, was at this school with me. we had not met for fifty years. "well," said he, "i think old jessie, if he did not teach us a great variety of things, what he did he taught well." my new-found old schoolmate had become the financial manager of a great business house having ramifications throughout the world. he had attained to position and wealth and, which successful men sometimes are not, was quite unspoiled. we revived our schooldays with mutual pleasure, and lunched together as befitted the occasion. "jessie" was the name by which our old schoolmaster was endeared to his boys; a kindly, simple-minded, worthy man, teaching, as well as scholastic subjects, behaviour, morals, truth, loyalty; and these as much by example as by precept, impressing ever upon us the virtue of thoroughness in all we did and of truth in all we said. since those days i have seen many youths, educated at much finer and more pretentious schools, who have benefited by modern educational methods, and on whose education much money has been expended, and who, when candidates for clerkships, have, in the simple matters of reading, writing, arithmetic, composition and spelling, shown up very poorly compared to what almost any boy from "old jessie's" unambitious establishment would have done. but, plain and substantial as my schooling was, i have ever felt that i was defrauded of the better part of education--the classics, languages, literature and modern science, which furnish the mind and extend the boundaries of thought. "jessie" continued his interest in his boys long after they left school. he was proud of those who made their way. i remember well the warmth of his greeting and the kind look of his mild blue eyes when, after i had gone out into the world, i sometimes revisited him. but my school life was not all happiness. in the school there was an almost brutal element of roughness, and fights were frequent; not only in our own, but between ours and neighbouring schools. regular pitched battles were fought with sticks and staves and stones. i shrunk from fighting but could not escape it. twice in our own playground i was forced to fight. every new boy had to do it, sooner or later. fortunately on the second occasion i came off victor, much to my surprise. how i managed to beat my opponent i never could understand. anyhow the victory gave me a better standing in the school, though it did not lessen in the least my hatred of the battles that raged periodically with other schools. i never had to fight again except as an unwilling participant in our foreign warfare. chapter iii. the midland railway and "king hudson" in the year the midland railway was miles long; it is now , . then its capital was , , , against , , pounds to-day. then the gross revenue was , , and now it has reached , , pounds. when i say _now_, i refer to , the year prior to the war, as since then, owing to government control, non-division of through traffic and curtailment of accounts, the actual receipts earned by individual companies are not published, and, indeed, are not known. eighteen hundred and fifty-one was a period of anxiety to the midland and to railway companies generally. financial depression had succeeded a time of wild excitement, and the midland dividend had fallen from seven to two per cent.! it was the year of the great exhibition, which lord cholmondeley considered _the_ event of modern times and many over-sanguine people expected it to inaugurate a universal peace. on the other hand carlyle uttered fierce denunciations against it. it certainly excited far more interest than has any exhibition since. then, nothing of the kind had ever before been seen. railway expectations ran high; immense traffic receipts, sorely needed, ought to have swelled the coffers of the companies. but no! vast numbers of people certainly travelled to london, but a mad competition, as foolish almost as the preceding _mania_, set in, and passenger fares were again and again reduced, till expected profits disappeared and loss and disappointment were the only result. the policy of parliament in encouraging the construction of rival railway routes and in fostering competition in the supposed interest of the public was, even in those early days, bearing fruit--dead sea fruit, as many a luckless holder of railway stock learned to his cost. railway shareholders throughout the kingdom were growing angry. in the case of the midland--they appointed a committee of inquiry, and the directors assented to the appointment. this committee was to examine and report upon the general and financial conditions of the company, and was invested with large powers. about the same time also interviews took place between the midland and the london and north-western, with the object of arranging an amalgamation of the two systems. some progress was made, but no formal _engagement_ resulted, and so a very desirable union, between an aristocratic bridegroom and a democratic bride, remained unaccomplished. mr. ellis was chairman of the midland at this time and mr. george carr glyn, afterwards the first lord wolverton, occupied a similar position on the board of the london and north-western. mr. ellis had succeeded mr. hudson--the "_railway king_," so christened by sydney smith. mr. hudson in was chairman of the first shareholders' meeting of the midland railway. prior to that date the midland consisted of three separate railways. in mr. hudson presided for the last time at a midland meeting, and in the following year resigned his office of chairman of the company. the story of the meteoric reign of the "_railway king_" excited much interest when i was young, and it may not be out of place to touch upon some of the incidents of his career. george hudson was born in , served his apprenticeship in the cathedral city of york and subsequently became a linendraper there and a man of property. many years afterwards he is reported to have said that the happiest days of his life passed while he stood behind his counter using the yardstick, a statement which should perhaps only be accepted under reservation. he was undoubtedly a man of a bold and adventurous spirit, possessed of an ambition which soared far above the measuring of calicoes or the retailing of ribbons; but perhaps the observation was tinged by the environment of later and less happy days when his star had set, his kingly reign come to an end, and when possibly vain regrets had embittered his existence. it was, i should imagine, midst the fierceness of the strife and fury of the _mania_ times, when his powerful personality counted for so much, that he reached the zenith of his happiness. [george hudson: hudson.jpg] whilst conducting in york his linendraper business, a relation died and left him money. the railway boom had then begun. he flung his yardstick behind him and entered the railway fray. the liverpool and manchester line and its wonderful success--it paid ten per cent.--greatly impressed the public mind, and the good people of york determined they would have a railway to london. a committee was appointed to carry out the project. on this committee mr. hudson was placed, and it was mainly owing to his energy and skill that the scheme came to a successful issue. he was rewarded by being made chairman of the company. this was his entrance into the railway world where, for a time, he was monarch. he must have been a man of shrewdness and capacity. it is recorded that he acquired the land for the york to london railway at an average cost of , pounds per mile whilst that of the north midland cost over , pounds. on the st july, , this linendraper of york had the proud pleasure of seeing the first train from york to london start on its journey. from this achievement he advanced to others. he and his friends obtained the lease, for thirty-one years, of a rival line, which turned out a great financial success. his enterprise and energy were boundless. it is said that his bold spirit, his capacity for work and his great influence daunted his most determined opponents. for instance, the north midland railway, part predecessor of _the_ midland, was involved in difficulty. he appeared before the shareholders, offered, if his advice and methods were adopted, to guarantee double the then dividend. his offer was accepted and he was made chairman, and from that position became chairman, and for a time dictator, of the amalgamated midland system. clearly his business abilities were great; his reforms were bold and drastic, and success attended his efforts. he soon became the greatest railway authority in england. for a time the entire railway system in the north was under his control, and the confidence reposed in him was unbounded. he was the lion of the day: princes, peers and prelates, capitalists and fine ladies sought his society, paid homage to his power, besought his advice and lavished upon him unstinted adulation. in the railway mania was at its height. it is said that during two or three months of that year as much as , pounds per week were expended in advertisements in connection with railway promotions, railway meetings and railway matters generally. scarcely credible this, but so it is seriously stated. huge sums were wasted in the promotion and construction of british railways in early days, from which, in their excessive capital cost, they suffer now. in the _mania_ period railways sprang into existence so quickly that, to use the words of robert stephenson, they "appeared like the realisation of fabled powers or the magician's wand." the _illustrated london news_ of the day said: "railway speculation has become the sole object of the world--cupidity is aroused and roguery shields itself under its name, as a more safe and rapid way of gaining its ends. abroad, as well as at home, has it proved the rallying point of all rascality--the honest man is carried away by the current and becomes absorbed in the vortex; the timid, the quiet, the moral are, after some hesitation, caught in the whirlpool and follow those whom they have watched with pity and derision." powers were granted by parliament in the year to construct no less than , miles of new railway at an expenditure of about , , pounds; and in the next year ( ) applications were made to parliament for authority to raise , , pounds for the construction of further lines. these powers were granted to the extent of , miles at a cost of about , , pounds. soon there came a change; disaster followed success; securities fell; dividends diminished or disappeared altogether or, as was in some cases discovered, were paid out of capital, and disappointment and ruin followed. king hudson's methods came under a fierce fire of criticism; adulation was succeeded by abuse and he was disgraced and dethroned. a writer of the day said, "mr. hudson is neither better nor worse than the morality of his time." from affluence he came to want, and in his old age a fund was raised sufficient to purchase him an annuity of pounds a year. about this time, that most useful institution the railway clearing house received parliamentary sanction. the _railway clearing system act_ gave it statutory recognition. its functions have been defined thus: "to settle and adjust the receipts arising from railway traffic within, or partly within, the united kingdom, and passing over more than one railway within the united kingdom, booked or invoiced at throughout rates of fares." the system had then been in existence, in a more or less informal way, for about eight years. mr. allport, on one occasion, said that whilst he was with the birmingham and derby railway (before he became general manager of the midland) the process of settlement of receipts for through traffic was tedious and difficult, and it occurred to him that a system should be adopted similar to that which existed in london and was known as the bankers' clearing house. it was also said that mr. kenneth morrison, auditor of the london and birmingham line, was the first to see and proclaim the necessity for a clearing house. be that as it may, the railway clearing house, as a practical entity, came into being in . in the beginning it only embraced nine companies, and six people were enough to do its work. the companies were:-- london and birmingham, midland counties, birmingham and derby, north midland, leeds and selby, york and north midland, hull and selby, great north of england, manchester and leeds. not one of these has preserved its original name. all have been merged in either the london and north-western, the north-eastern, the midland or the lancashire and yorkshire. at the present day the clearing house consists of practically the whole of the railway companies in the united kingdom, though some of the small and unimportant lines are outside its sphere. ireland has a railway clearing house of its own--established in the year --to which practically all irish railway companies, and they are numerous, belong; and the six principal irish railways are members of the london clearing house. the english house, situated in seymour street, euston square, is an extensive establishment, and accommodates , clerks. as i write, the number under its roof is, by war conditions, reduced to about . serving with his majesty's forces are nearly , , and about have been temporarily transferred to the railway companies, to the government service and to munition factories. in , when the clearing house first began, the staff, as i have said, numbered six, and the companies nine. fifty-eight railway companies now belong to the house, and the amount of money dealt with by way of division and apportionment in the year before the war was , , pounds. in it was , pounds. chapter iv. fashions and manners, victorian days the boy who is strong and healthy, overflowing with animal spirits, enjoys life in a way that is denied to his slighter-framed, more delicate brother. exercise imparts to him a physical exuberance to which the other is a stranger. but nature is kind. if she withholds her gifts in one direction she bestows them in another. she grants the enjoyment of sedentary pursuits to those to whom she has denied hardier pleasures. during my schooldays i spent many happy hours alone with book or pen or pencil. my father was fond of reading, and for a man of his limited means, possessed a good collection of books; a considerable number of the volumes of _bohn's standard library_ as well as _boswell's life of johnson, burton's anatomy of melancholy, butler's hudibras, bailey's festus, gil blas, don quixote, pilgrim's progress, the arabian nights, shakespeare_, most of the poets from _chaucer_ down; and of novels, _bulwer lytton's, scott's, dickens_' and _thackeray's_. these are the books i best remember, but there were others of classic fame, and i read them all; but not, i fear to much advantage, for though i have read many books it has been without much method, just as fancy led, and study, memory and judgment have been little considered. still, unsystematic reading is better than no reading, and, as someone has said, "a phrase may fructify if it falls on receptive soil." i never in my boyhood or youth, except on short visits to relatives, enjoyed the advantage, by living in the country, of becoming intimate with rural life. we resided at derby in a terrace on the outskirt of the town, much to my dislike, for monotonous rows of houses i have ever hated. one's home should be one's friend and possess some special feature of its own, even in its outward aspect, to love and remember. as george eliot says: "we get the fonder of our houses if they have a physiognomy of their own, as our friends have." in my schooldays, country walks, pursued as far as health and strength allowed, were my greatest pleasure, sometimes taken alone, sometimes with a companion. the quiet valley of the trent at repton, anchor church, knoll hills, the long bridge at swarkestone, the charming little country town of melbourne, the wooded beauties of duffield and belper, the ozier beds of spondon; how often have i trod their fields, their woods, their lanes, their paths; and how pleasantly the memory of it all comes back to me now! in those days fashions and manners differed greatly from those of to-day. ladies wore the crinoline (successor to the hoop of earlier times), chignons and other absurdities, but had not ventured upon short skirts or cigarettes. they were much given to blushing, now a lost art; and to swooning, a thing of the past; the "vapours" of the eighteenth century had, happily, vanished for ever; but athletic exercises, such as girls enjoy to-day, were then undreamed of. why has the pretty art of blushing gone? one now never sees a blush to mantle on the cheek of beauty. does the blood of feminine youth flow steadier than it did, or has the more unrestrained intercourse of the sexes banished the sweet consciousness that so often brought the crimson to a maiden's face? the manners of maidens had more of reserve and formality then. the off-hand style, the nod of the head, the casual "how d'ye do," were unknown. woman has not now the same desire to appear always graceful; she adopts a manly gait, talks louder, plays hockey, rides horseback astride, and boldly enters hotel smoking rooms and railway smoking compartments without apology. when walking with a lady, old or young, in those days, the gentleman would offer his arm and she would take it. the curtsey was still observed but gradually disappearing. when about nineteen years of age, i remember being introduced to one of the young beauties of the town, who i had long secretly admired. she made me a profound and graceful curtsey--feminine homage to my budding manhood. the first curtsey i remember receiving, except of course in the stately ceremonies of the dance. for many a day afterwards my cheek glowed with pleasure at the recollection of that sweet obeisance. she became my sweetheart, temporarily; but a born butterfly, she soon fluttered away, leaving me disconsolate--_for a time_! women then wrote a sloping hand, delicate penmanship, to distinguish them from men; crossed and re-crossed their letters, and were greatly addicted to postscripts. the men? well, they wore mutton chop whiskers, or, if nature was bountiful, affected the dundreary style, which gave a man great distinction, and, if allied to good looks, made him perfectly irresistible. they wore "champagne charley" coats, fancy waistcoats, frilled-fronted shirts, relic of the lace and ruffles of elizabeth's days; velvet smoking caps, embroidered slippers, elastic-side boots and chimney pot hats. at eighteen years of age i had my first frock coat and tall hat. some of my companions, happy youths! enjoyed this distinction at sixteen or seventeen. these adornments were of course for sunday wear; no weekday clothes were worn on sundays then. my frock coat was of west of england broadcloth, shiny and smooth. sunday attire was incomplete without light kid gloves, lavender or lemon being the favourite shade for a young man with any pretension to style. next in importance to my first frock coat ranked my first portmanteau; it was a present, and supplanted the carpet bag which, up to then, to my profound disgust, i had to use on visits to my relatives. the portmanteau was the sign of youth and progress; old-fashioned people stuck to the carpet bag. man's attire has changed for the better; and woman's, with all its abbreviations and shortcomings, is, on the whole, more rational; though in the domain of fashion her _vagaries_ will last no doubt as long as--woman is woman; and if ever that shall cease to be, the charm of life will be over. with man the jacket suit, the soft hat, the soft shirt, the turn-down collar, mark the transition from starch and stiffness to ease and comfort; and time in his course has brought no greater boon than this; except, perhaps, the change that marks our funeral customs. in those days, hatbands, gloves and scarves were provided by the bereaved family to the relatives and friends who attended the obsequies; and all of kinship close or remote, were invited from far and near. hearse and coaches and nodding plumes and mutes added to the expense, and many a family of moderate means suffered terrible privation from the costliness of these burial customs, which, happily, now are fast disappearing. beds, in those days, were warmed with copper warming pans, and nightcaps adorned the slumbering heads of both sexes. spittoons were part of ordinary household furniture. to colour a meerschaum was the ambition of smokers, swearing was considered neither low nor vulgar, and snuffing was fashionable. many most respectable men chewed tobacco, and to carry one's liquor well was a gentlemanly accomplishment. garrotters pursued their calling, deterred only by the cat-o'-nine tails, pickpockets abounded and burglaries were common. the antimacassar and the family album; in what veneration they were held! the antimacassar, as its name implies, was designed to protect chairs and couches from the disfiguring stains of macassar oil, then liberally used in the adornment of the hair which received much attention. a parting, of geometrical precision, at the back of the head was often affected by men of dressy habits, who sometimes also wore a carefully arranged curl at the front; and manly locks, if luxuriant enough, were not infrequently permitted to fall in careless profusion over the collar of the coat. of the family album i would rather not speak. it is scarcely yet extinct. a respectable silence shall accompany its departing days. perhaps these things may to some appear mere trivialities; but to recall them awakens many memories, brings back thoughts of bygone days--days illumined with the sunshine of youth and hope on which it is pleasant to linger. as someone has finely said: "we lose a proper sense of the richness of life if we do not look back on the scenes of our youth with imagination and warmth." chapter v. early office life in the year , at the age of sixteen, i became a junior clerk in the midland railway at derby, at a salary of pounds a year. from pre-natal days i was destined for the railway service, as an oyster to its shell. the possibility of any other vocation for his sons never entered the mind of my father, nor the mind of many another father in the town of derby. my railway life began on a drizzling dismal day in the early autumn. my father took me to the office in which i was to make a start and presented me to the chief clerk. i was a tall, thin, delicate, shy, sensitive youth, with curly hair, worn rather long, and i am sure i did not look at all a promising specimen for encountering the rough and tumble of railway work. the chief clerk handed me over to one of his assistants, who without ceremony seated me on a tall stool at a high desk, and put before me, to my great dismay, a huge pile of formidable documents which he called _way bills_. he gave me some instructions, but i was too confused to understand them, and too shy to ask questions. i only know that i felt very miserable and hopelessly at sea. visions of being dismissed as an incompetent rose before me; but soon, to my great relief, it was discovered that the way bills were too much for me and that i must begin at more elementary duties. a few weeks afterwards, when i had found my feet a little, i was promoted from the simple tasks assigned to me in consequence of my first failure and attached to the goods-train-delays clerk, a long-bearded elderly man with a very kind face. he was quite fatherly to me and took a great deal of trouble in teaching me my work. with him i soon felt at ease, and was happy in gaining his approbation. one thing found favour in his eyes; i wrote a good clear hand and at fair speed. in those days penmanship was a fine art. no cramped or sprawling writing passed muster. typewriting was not dreamed of, and, at derby, shorthand had not appeared on the scene. one or two other juniors and myself sedulously practised imitating the penmanship of those senior clerks who wrote fine or singular hands. at this i was particularly successful and proud of my skill, until one day the chief clerk detained me after closing time, gave me a good rating, and warned me to stop such a dangerous habit which might lead, he said, to the disgrace of forgery. he spoke so seriously and shook his head so wisely that (to use theodore hook's old joke) "i thought there must be something in it," and so, for a long while, i gave up the practice. office hours in those days were nominally from nine till six, but for the juniors especially often much longer. in or , do not remember which, a welcome change took place; the hours were reduced to from nine till five, and arrangements made for avoiding late hours for the juniors. this early closing was the result of an "appeal unto caesar." the clerical staff in all the offices had combined and presented a petition in the highest quarter. the boon was granted, and i remember the wave of delight that swept over us, and how we enjoyed the long summer evenings. it was in the summer time the change took place. combined action amongst railway employees was not common then, not even in the wage-earning class, but trade unionism, scarcely yet legalised, was clamouring for recognition. strikes sometimes occurred but were not frequent. in mr. james allport was general manager of the midland railway, mr. thomas walklate the goods manager and mr. william parker head of the department in which i began my railway life. ned farmer was a notable midland man at that time; notable for his bucolic appearance, his genial personality, and, most of all, for the well-known songs he wrote. he was in charge of the company's horses, bought them, fed them, cared for them. he was a big-bodied, big-hearted, ruddy-faced, farmerlike man of fifty or so; and the service was proud of him. he had a great sense of humour and used to tell many an amusing story. one morning, he told us, he had been greatly tickled by a letter which he had received from one of his inspectors whose habit it was to conclude every letter and report with the words "to oblige." the letter ran: "dear sir, i beg to inform you that horse no. died last night to oblige yours truly, john smith." he wrote the fine poem of "_little jim_," which everyone knew, and which almost every boy and girl could recite. his then well-known song, "_my old wife's a good old cratur_," was very popular and was sung throughout the midlands. the publication of his poems and songs was attended with great success. his muse was simple, homely, humorous, pathetic and patriotic, and made a strong appeal to the natural feelings of ordinary folk. often it was inspired by incidents and experiences in his daily life. his desk was in the same office as that in which i worked, and i was very proud of the notice he took of me, and grateful for many kindnesses he showed to me. after spending twelve months or so in mr. parker's office, i was removed to another department. the office to which i was assigned had about thirty clerks, all of whom, except the chief clerk, occupied tall stools at high desks. i was one of two assistants to a senior clerk. this senior was middle- aged, and passing rich on eighty pounds a year. a quiet, steady, respectable married man, well dressed, cheerful, contented, he had by care and economy, out of his modest salary, built for himself a snug little double-breasted villa, in a pleasant outskirt of the town, where he spent his spare hours in his garden and enjoyed a comfortable and happy life. except the chief clerk, whose salary was about pounds, i do not believe there was another whose pay exceeded pounds a year. the real head of the office, or _department_ it was called, was not the chief clerk but one who ranked higher still and was styled _head of department_, and he received a salary of about pounds. moderate salaries prevailed, but the sovereign was worth much more then than now, while wants were fewer. beer was threepence the pint and tobacco threepence the ounce, and beer we drank but never whiskey or wine; and pipes we smoked but not cigars. this chief clerk was an amiable rather ladylike person, with small hands and feet and well-arranged curly hair. he was quick and clever and work sat lightly upon him. quiet and good natured, when necessity arose he never failed to assert his authority. we all respected him. his young wife was pretty and pleasant, which was in his favour too. the office was by no means altogether composed of steady specimens of clerkdom, but had a large admixture of lively sparks who, though they would never set the thames on fire, brightened and enlivened our surroundings. there was one, a literary genius, who had entered the service, i believe by influence, for influence and patronage were in those days not unknown. he wrote in his spare time the pantomime for a birmingham theatre; and there constantly fluttered from his desk and circulated through the office, little scraps of paper containing quips and puns and jokes in prose or verse, or acrostics from his prolific pen. one clever acrostic upon the office boy, which has always remained in my memory, i should like for its delicate irony (worthy of swift himself) to reproduce; but as that promising youth may still be in the service i feel i had better not, as irony sometimes wounds. for some time we had in the office an apollo--a very belvidere. he was a glory introduced into railway life by i know not what influence and disappeared after a time i know not where or why. a marvel of manly strength and grace and beauty, thirty years of age or so, and faultlessly dressed. said to be aristocratically connected, he was the admiration of all and the darling of the young ladies of derby. he lodged in fashionable apartments, smoked expensive cigars, attended all public amusements, was affable and charming, but reticent about himself. why he ever came amongst us none ever knew; it was a mystery we never fathomed. he left as he came, a mystery still. there was an oldish clerk whom we nicknamed _gumpots_. this bore some resemblance to his surname, but there were other reasons which led to the playful designation and which i think justified it. there was another scribe of quite an elegant sort: a perambulating tailor's dummy; a young man, well under thirty. he was good-looking, as far as regularity of features and a well-formed figure went, but mentally not much to boast of. he lounged about the station platform and the town displaying his faultlessly fitting fashionable clothes. they always looked new, and as his salary was not more than pounds a year, and his parents, with whom he lived, were poor, the story that he was provided gratis by an enterprising tailor in town with these suits, on condition that he exhibited himself constantly in public, and told whenever he could who was his outfitter, received general credence, and i believe was true. he was never known to hurry, mingled little with men and less with women, but moved along in a stiff tailor-dummy fashion with a sort of self-conscious air which seemed to say, "look at my figure and my clothes, how stylish they are!" i remember a senior clerk in the office where i first worked to whom there was a general aversion. he was the only clerk who was really disliked, for all the others, old or young, serious or gay, steady or rackety, had each some pleasant quality. this unfortunate fellow had none. he was small, mean, cunning, a sneak and a mischief maker. he carried tales, told lies, and tried to make trouble, for no reason but to gratify his inclinations. he was a dark impish looking fellow, as lean as cassius and as crafty and envious as iago. the chief clerk, to his credit be it said, gave a deaf ear to his tales, and his craft and cunning obtained him little beyond our detestation. in our own office about half our number were youths and single men and about half were married. our youngest benedict was not more than eighteen years of age, and his salary only pounds a year. on this modest income for a time the young couple lived. it was a runaway match; on the girl's part an elopement from school. they lived in apartments, kept by an old lady, a widow who, being a woman, loved a bit of romance, and was very kind to them. he was a manly young fellow, a sportsman and renowned at cricket, and she was amiable and pretty, a little blonde beauty. the parents were well to do, and in due time forgave the imprudent match. at this we all rejoiced for he was a general favourite. looking back now it seems to me the office staff was in some ways a curious collection and very different to the clerks of to-day. many of them had not entered railway life until nearly middle-age and they had not assimilated as an office staff does now, when all join as youths and are brought up together. they were original, individual, not to say eccentric. whilst our office included certain steady married clerks, who worked hard and lived ordinary middle-class respectable lives, and some few bachelors of quiet habit, the rest were a lively set indeed, by no means free from inclinations to coarse conviviality and many of them spendthrift, reckless and devil-may-care. at pay-day, which occurred monthly, most of these merry wights, after receiving their pay, betook themselves to the _midland tap_ or other licensed house and there indulged, for the remainder of the afternoon, in abundant beer, pouring down glass after glass; in charles lamb's inimitable words: "the second to see where the first has gone, the third to see no harm happens to the second, a fourth to say there is another coming, and a fifth to say he is not sure he is the last." some of the merriest of them would not return to the office that day but extend their carouse far into the night; to sadly realise next day that it was "the morning after the night before." i do not think our ladylike chief clerk ever indulged in these orgies, but i never knew more than the mildest remonstrance being made by him or by anyone in authority. pay-day was also the time for squaring accounts. "the human species," charles lamb says, "is composed of two distinct races, the men who borrow and the men who lend." this was true of our office, but no equal division prevailed as the borrowers predominated and the lenders, the prudent, were a small minority. a general settlement took place monthly, after which a new period began--by the borrowers with joyous unconcern. "take no thought for the morrow" was a maxim dear to the heart of these knights of the pen. swearing, as i have said, was not considered low or vulgar or unbecoming a gentleman. there was a senior clerk of some standing and position, a married man of thirty-five or forty years of age, who gloried in it. his expletives were varied, vivid and inexhaustible, and the turbid stream was easily set flowing. had he lived a century earlier he might have been put in the stocks for his profanity, a punishment which magistrates were then, by act of parliament, empowered to inflict. he was a strange individual. _long jack_ he was called. he is not in this world now so i may write of him with freedom. no one's enemy but his own, he was kindly, good-natured, generous to a fault, but devil-may-care and reckless; and, at any one's expense, or at any cost to himself, would have his fling and his joke. it was from his lankiness and length of limb that he was called "_long jack_." he stood about six feet six in his boots. he must have had means of his own, as he lived in a way far beyond the reach of even a senior clerk of the first degree. how he came to be in a railway office, or, being in, retained his place, was a matter of wonder. sad to tell, he had a little daughter, five or six years of age; his only child, a sweet, blue-eyed golden-haired little fairy, who, never corrected, imitated her father's profanity, and apparently to his great delight. he treated it as a joke, as he treated everything. _long jack_ loved to scandalise the town by his eccentricities. he would compound with the butcher, to drive his fast trotting horse and trap and deliver their joints, their steaks and kidneys to astonished customers, or arrange with the milkman to dispense the early morning milk, donning a milkman's smock, and carrying two milk-pails on foot. i remember one _good friday_ morning when he perambulated the town with a donkey cart and sold, at an early hour, hot cross buns at the houses of his friends, afterwards gleefully boasting of having made a good profit on the morning's business. in the sixties and early seventies throughout the clerical staff of the midland railway were many who had not been brought up as clerks, who, somehow or other had drifted into the service, whose early avocations had been of various kinds, and whose appearance, habits and manners imparted a picturesqueness to office life which does not exist to- day, and among these. _long jack_ was a prominent, but despite his joviality, it seems to me a pathetic figure. chapter vi. friendship delicate health, as i have said, was my lot from childhood. after about eighteen months of office work i had a long and serious illness and was away from duty for nearly half a year. the latter part of the time i spent in the erewash valley, at the house of an uncle who lived near pye bridge. i was then under eighteen, growing fast, and when convalescing the country life and country air did me lasting good. though a colliery district the valley is not devoid of rural beauty; to me it was pleasant and attractive and i wandered about at will. one day i had a curious experience. in my walk i came across the cromford canal where it enters a tunnel that burrows beneath coal mines. at the entrance to the tunnel a canal barge lay. the bargees asked would i like to go through with them? "how long is it?" said i, and "how long will it take?" "not long," said bargee, "come on!" "right!" said i. the tunnel just fitted the barge, scarcely an inch to spare; the roof was so low that a man lying on his back on a plank placed athwart the vessel, with his feet against the roof, propelled the boat along. this was the only means of transit and our progress was slow and dreary. it was a journey of cimmerian darkness; along a stream fit for charon's boat. about halfway a halt was made for dinner, but i had none. although i was cold and hungry the bargees' hospitality did not include a share of their bread and cheese but they gave me a drink of their beer. the tunnel is two miles long, and was drippingly wet. several hours passed before we emerged, not into sunshine but into the open, under a clouded sky and heavy rain which had succeeded a bright forenoon. i was nearly five miles from my uncle's house, lightly clad, hungry and tired. to my friends ever since i have not failed to recommend the passage of the butterley tunnel as a desirable pleasure excursion. when i returned to work my health was greatly improved and a small advancement in my position in the office made the rest of my time at derby more agreeable, though, to tell the truth, i often jibbed at the drudgery of the desk and the monotony of writing pencilled-out letters which was now my daily task. set tasks, dull routine, monotonous duty i ever hated. about this time shorthand was introduced into the railway. a public teacher of pitman's phonography had established himself in derby, and the midland engaged him to conduct classes for the junior clerks. it was not compulsory to attend the classes, but inducements to do so were held out. a special increase of salary was promised to those who attained a certain proficiency, and a further reward was offered; the two clerks who earned most marks and, in the teacher's opinion, reached the highest proficiency, were to be appointed assistants to the teacher and paid eight shillings weekly during future shorthand sessions, in addition to the special increase of salary. it was a great prize and keen was the contest. i had the good fortune to be one of the two; and the praise i got, and the benefit of the money made me contented for a time. my companion in this success, i am glad to know, is to-day alive and well, and like myself, a superannuated member of society. in his day he was a notable athlete, at one time bicycling champion of the midland counties; and his prowess was won on the obsolete velocipede, with its one great wheel in front and a very small wheel behind. a shorthand writer, my work was now to take down letters from dictation, a remove only for the better from the old way of writing from pencilled drafts. now it was that i made my first sincere and lasting friendship, a friendship true and deep, but which was destined to last for only ten short years. tom was never robust and death's cold hand closed all too soon a loveable and useful life. our friendship was close and intimate, such as is formed in the warmth of youth and which the grave alone dissolves. to me, during those short years, it lent brightness and gaiety to existence; and, in the days that have followed, its memory has been, and is now, a rich possession. with both tom and me it was friendship at first sight, and nothing until the final severance came ever disturbed its course. he came from lincoln and joined the office i was in. he was two years my senior and had the advantage of several years' experience in station work which i had not. we were much alike in our tastes and habits, yet there was enough of difference between us to impart a relish to our friendship. indifferent health, for he was delicate too, was one of the bonds between us. we were both fond of reading, of quiet walks and talks, and we hated crowds. he was a good musician, played the piano; but the guitar was the favourite accompaniment to his voice, a clear sweet tenor, and he sang well. i was not so susceptible to the "concord of sweet sounds" as he was, but could draw a little, paint a little, string rhymes together; and so we never failed to amuse and interest each other. he was impulsive, clever, quick of temper, ingenuous, and indignant at any want of truth or candour in others; generous to a fault and tender hearted as a woman. i was more patient than he, slower in wrath, yet we sometimes quarrelled over trifles but, like lovers, were quickly reconciled; and after these little explosions always better friends than ever. at derby, for three years or so, we were inseparable. what walks we had, what talks, "what larks, pip!" dickens we adored. how we talked of him and his books! how we longed to hear him read, but his public readings had ended, his voice for ever become mute and a nation mourned the loss of one who had moved it to laughter and to tears. tom had a wonderful memory. he would recite page after page from _pickwick, david copperfield, barnaby rudge_ or _great expectations_, as well as from _shakespeare_ and our favourite poets. he was fond of the pathetic, but the humorous moved him most, and his lively gifts were welcome wherever we went. our favourite walk on saturday afternoons was to the pleasant village of kedleston, some five miles from derby, and to its fine old inn, which to us was not simply the _kedleston inn_ and nothing more but dickens' _maypole_ and nothing less. we revelled in its resemblance, or its fancied resemblance to the famous old hostelry kept by old john willet. something in the building itself, though i cannot say that, like the _maypole_, it had "more gable ends than a lazy man would like to count on a sunny day," and something in its situation, and something in the cronies who gathered in its comfortable bar, and something in the bar itself combined to form the pleasant illusion in which we indulged. the bar, like the _maypole_ bar, was snug and cosy and complete. its rustic visitors were not so solemn and slow of speech as old john willet and mr. cobb and long phil parkes and solomon daisy, "who would pass two mortal hours and a half without any of them speaking a single word, and who were firmly convinced that they were very jovial companions;" but they were as reticent and stolid and good natured as such simple country gaffers are wont to be. i remember in particular one saturday afternoon in late october. it was almost the last walk i had with tom in derby. the day was perfect; as clear and bright, as mellow and crisp, as rich in colour, as only an october day in england can be. we reached the _maypole_ between five and six o'clock. no young joe willet or gipsy hugh was there to welcome us, but we were soon by our two selves in a homely little room, beside a cheerful fire, at a table spread with tea and ham and eggs and buttered toast and cakes--our weekly treat. when this delightful meal was over, a stroll as far as the church and the stately hall of the curzons, back to the inn, an hour or so in the snug bar with the village worthies, who welcomed our almost weekly visits and the yarns we brought from derby town; then back home by the broad highway, under the star-lit sky--an afternoon and an evening to be ever remembered. the _kedleston inn_, i am told, no longer exists; no longer greets the eye of the wayfarer, no longer welcomes him to its pleasant bar. now it is a farmhouse. no youthful enthusiast can now be beguiled into calling it _the maypole_; and, indeed, in these unromantic days, though it had remained unchanged, there would be little danger of this i think. soon after this memorable day tom left the service of the midland for a more lucrative situation with a mercantile firm in glasgow, and i was left widowed and alone. for six months or more we had been living together in the country, some four miles from derby, in the house of the village blacksmith. it was a pretty house, stood a little apart from the forge, and was called rock villa. i wonder if the present engineer-in- chief of the midland railway recollects a little incident connected with it. he (now chief engineer then a well grown youth of eighteen or nineteen) was younger than i, and was preparing for the engineering profession in which he has succeeded so well. he lived with his parents very near to rock villa, and one day, for some reason or other, we said we would each of us make a sketch of rock villa, afterwards compare them, and let his sister decide which was the better, so we set to work and did our best. in the matter of correct drawing his, i am sure, far surpassed mine, but the young lady decided in my favour, perhaps because my production looked more picturesque and romantic than his! when tom had gone i became dissatisfied with my work, and a disappointment which i suffered at being passed over in some office promotions increased that dissatisfaction. i was an expert shorthand writer and this seemed to be the only reason for keeping me back from better work, so at least i thought, and i think so still. my sense of injustice was touched; and i determined i would, like tom, if the opportunity served, seek my fortune elsewhere. the chance i longed for came. i paid a short visit to tom, and whilst in glasgow, obtained the post of private clerk to the stores superintendent of the caledonian railway, and on the last day of the year , i left the midland railway, to the service of which i had been as it were born, in which my father and uncles and cousins served, against the wish of my father, and to the surprise of my relatives. but i had reached man's estate, and felt a pride in going my own way, and in seeking, unassisted, my fortune, whatever it might be. what had i learned in my first five years of railway work? not very much; the next few years were to be far more fruitful; but i had acquired some business habits; a practical acquaintance with shorthand, which was yet to stand me in good stead; some knowledge of rates and fares, their nature and composition, which was also to be useful to me in after life; some familiarity with the compilation of time-tables and the working of trains; but of practical knowledge of work at stations i was quite ignorant. thus equipped, without the parental blessing, with little money in my purse, with health somewhat improved but still delicate, i bade good-bye to derby, light-hearted enough, and hopeful enough, and journeyed north to join my friend tom, and to make my way as best i could in the commercial capital of "bonnie scotland." chapter vii. railway progress before entering upon any description of the new life that awaited me in glasgow, i will briefly allude to the principal events connected with the midland and with railways generally which took place during the first five years of my railway career. closely associated with many of these events was mr. james allport, the midland general manager, one of the foremost and ablest of the early railway pioneers, regarding whom it is fit and proper a few words should be said. strangely enough i never saw him until nearly two years after i entered the midland service, and this was on the occasion of a visit of the prince and princess of wales to derby. we clerks were allowed good positions on the station platform to witness the arrival of their royal highnesses by their special train from london. mr. allport accompanied them along the platform to the carriages outside the station. probably the chairman and directors of the company were also present, but our eyes were not for them. directors were to us junior clerks, remote personalities, mythical beings dwelling on olympian heights. [sir james allport: allport.jpg] it was a great thing to see the future king and queen of england, and our loyalty and enthusiasm knew no bounds. they were young and charming, and beloved by the people; but, hero worshipper as i was, our great general manager was to me even more than royalty. i little thought, as i looked on mr. allport then, that, twenty years later, i should appear before him to give evidence concerning irish railways, when he was chairman of an important royal commission. the great abilities which enable a man to win and hold such a position as his fired my fancy. i look at men and men's affairs with different eyes now; but mr. allport was a great personality, and youthful enthusiasm might well be excused for placing him on a high pedestal. he was tall and handsome, with well-shaped head, broad brow, large clear keen eyes, firm well-formed mouth, strong nose and chin, possessed of an abundant head of hair, not close cropped in the style of to-day, but full and wavy, and what one never sees now, a handsome natural curl along the centre of the head with a parting on each side. this suited him well, and added to his distinctive individuality. when i entered the midland service he was fifty-six years of age and in the plenitude of his power, for those were days when the company was forcing its way north and south and widely extending its territory. he was the animating spirit of all the company's enterprises. no opposition, no difficulties ever daunted him. his nature was bold and fitted to command, and to him is due, in a large degree, the proud position the midland holds to-day. it was not until late in life, i think, when he had reached the age of seventy- two, that his great qualities were accorded public recognition. he then received the honour of knighthood but had retired from active service and become a director of his company. there was another personality that loomed large, in those years, on the midland--samuel swarbrick, the accountant. his world was finance, and in it he was a master. so great was his skill that the great eastern railway company, which, financially, was in a parlous condition and their dividend _nil_, in took him from the midland and made him their general manager, at, in those days, a princely salary. their confidence was fully justified; his skill brought the company, if not to absolute prosperity, at least to a dividend-paying condition, and laid the foundation of the position that company now occupies. his reputation as a man of figures stood as i have just said very high, but, whilst i was at derby, and before he moved to the great eastern, he was prominent also as the happy possessor of the best coloured meerschaum pipes in the county, and this, in those days, was no small distinction. but a man does not achieve greatness by his own unaided efforts. others, his subordinates, help him to climb the ladder. it was so with mr. swarbrick. there was a tall policeman in the service of the company, the possessor of a fine figure, and a splendid long sandy-coloured beard. his primary duty was to air himself at the front entrance of the station arrayed in a fine uniform and tall silk hat, and this duty he conscientiously performed. secondarily, his occupation was to start the colouring of new meerschaums for mr. swarbrick. non-meerschaum smokers may not know what a delicate task this is, but once well begun the rest is comparatively easy. the tall policeman was an artist at the work; but it nearly brought him to a tragic end, as i will relate. outside derby station was a ticket platform at which all incoming trains stopped for the collection of tickets. this platform was on a bridge that crossed the river. one saturday night our fine policeman was airing himself on this platform, colouring a handsome new meerschaum for mr. swarbrick. it was a windy night and a sudden gust blew his tall hat into the river, and after it unfortunately dropped the meerschaum. hat and pipe both! without a moment's hesitation in plunged the policeman to the rescue; but the river was deep and he an indifferent swimmer. the night was dark and he was not brought to land till life had nearly left him. he recovered, but lost his sight and became blind for the rest of his life. mr. swarbrick provided for him, i believe, by setting him up in a small public house, where, i am told, despite his loss of sight, he ended his days not unhappily. in , compared with , the midland had made giant strides. it worked a thousand miles of railway against five hundred; its capital had doubled and reached thirty-two millions, about one-fourth of what it is to-day; its revenue had risen from about a million to over a million and a half; and the dividend was five and a half compared with two and five- eighths per cent. the opening of the midland route to saint pancras; the projection of the settle and carlisle line; the introduction of pullman cars, parlour saloons, sleeping and dining cars; the adoption of gas and electricity for the lighting of carriages; the running of third-class carriages by all trains; the abolition of second-class and reduction of first-class fares; and the establishment of superannuation funds were amongst the most striking events in the railway world during this period. on the first day of october, , the first passenger train ran into saint pancras station, and the midland competition for london traffic now began in earnest, and from that time onward helped to develop those magnificent rival passenger train services between the metropolis and england's busy centres and between england and scotland and ireland, which, for luxury, speed and comfort, stand pre-eminent. prior to this, the midland access to london had been by the exercise of running powers over the great northern railway from hitchin to king's cross. the great northern, reluctant to lose the midland, and fearing their rivalry, had, a few years previously, offered them running powers in perpetuity. "no," said mr. allport, "it is impossible that you can reconcile the interests of these two great companies on the same railway; we are always only _second-best_." second-best certainly never suited the ambitious policy of the midland, and so the offer was rejected, and their line to london made. it was at that time thought that the midland headquarters would be removed from derby to london, and i remember how excited the clerical staff and their wives and sweethearts were at the prospect. the idea was seriously considered but, for various reasons, abandoned. the settle and carlisle line, perhaps the greatest achievement of the midland, was not completed until sometime after i left their service. it was opened in the year . in they obtained the act for its construction. for some years their eyes had been as eagerly turned towards scotland as the eyes of scotchmen had ever been towards england, and for the same reason--the hope of gain. the midland had hitherto been excluded from any proper share of the scotch traffic, but now having secured the right to extend their system to carlisle, they hoped to join forces with their allies, the glasgow and south-western, and secure a fair share of it. but "there's many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip," and in in a fit of timidity--a weakness most unusual with them--they nearly lost this valuable right. the year was a time of great financial anxiety; the midland was weighted with heavy expenditure on their london extension, the necessity for further capital became clamant, the shareholders were seized with alarm, and a shareholders' consultative committee was appointed, with the result that, in , the company, badgered and worried beyond endurance, actually applied to parliament for power to abandon the settle and carlisle line, and for authority to enter into an agreement with the london and north-western for access over that company's railway to carlisle. that power and authority, however, parliament, _in its wisdom_, refused to give. the financial clouds, as all clouds do, after a time dispersed; the outlook grew brighter, the midland made the line, and it was opened, as i have said, throughout to carlisle in . in the autumn of mr. allport visited the united states and was greatly impressed with the pullman cars. on his return he introduced them on the midland, both the parlour car and the sleeper. about the same time the london and north-western also commenced the running of sleeping cars to scotland and to holyhead. to which company belongs the credit of being first in the field with this most desirable additional accommodation for the comfort of passengers i am not prepared to say; perhaps honors were easy. but the greatest innovation of the time were the running by the midland of third-class carriages by all trains; and the abolition of second-class carriages and fares, accompanied by a reduction of the first-class fares. the first event took place in , but the latter not till . the first was a democratic step indeed, and aroused great excitement. williams, in his book _the midland railway_, wrote, "on the last day of march, , we remarked to a friend: 'to-morrow morning the midland will be the most popular railway in england.' nor did we incur much risk by our prediction. for on that day the board had decided that on and after the first of april, they would run third-class carriages by all trains; the wires had flashed the tidings to the newspapers, the bills were in the hands of the printers, and on the following morning the directors woke to find themselves famous." at a later period, mr. allport said, if there was one part of his public life on which he looked back with more satisfaction than another it was the time when this boon was conferred on third-class passengers. when we contemplate present conditions of third-class travel it is hard to realise what they were before this change took place; slow speed, delays and discomfort; bare boards; hard seats; shunting of third-class trains into sidings and waiting there for other trains, sometimes even goods trains, to pass. mr. allport might well be proud of the part he played. another matter which concerned, not so much the public as the welfare of the clerical staff of the railways, was the establishment of superannuation funds; yet the public was interested too, for the interests of the railway service and the general community are closely interwoven. up till now station masters and clerks had struggled on without prospect of any provision for their old age. their pay was barely sufficient to enable them to maintain a respectable position in life and afforded no margin for providing for the future. at last, the principal railway companies, with the consent of their shareholders, and with parliamentary sanction, established superannuation funds, which ever since have brought comfort and security to their officers and clerical staff, and have proved of benefit to the companies themselves. a pension encourages earlier retirement from work, quickens promotion, and vitalises the whole service. on nearly all railways retirement is optional at sixty and compulsory at sixty-five. the london and north-western was the first company to adopt the system of superannuation, the london and south-western second, the great western came third, the midland fourth, and other companies followed in their wake. in the railway clearing house obtained parliamentary power to form a fund for its staff, with permission to railway companies not large enough to successfully run funds of their own, and also to the irish railway clearing house, to become partners in this fund. the irish clearing house took advantage of this, as also have many railway companies, and practically the whole of the clerical service throughout the united kingdom can to-day look forward to the benefits of superannuation. chapter viii. scotland, glasgow life, and the caledonian line. on the last day of december, in the year , between seven and eight o'clock in the evening, i arrived at glasgow by the caledonian train from carlisle, and was met at buchanan street station by my good friend tom. after supper we repaired to the streets to see the crowds that congregate on _hogmanhay_, to make acquaintance with the mysteries of "first-footin'," and to join in ushering in the "guid new year." it was a stirring time, for scotchmen encounter their _hogmanhay_ with ardent _spirits_. they are as keen in their pleasures as in their work. compare for instance their country dances with ours. as keats, in his letters from scotland says, "it is about the same as leisurely stirring a cup o' tea and beating up a batter pudding." the public houses and bars were driving a lively trade, but "forbes mackenzie" was in force, and come eleven o'clock, though it were a hundred _hogmanhays_, they all had to close. we met some new-made friends of tom's and joined in their conviviality. i was the dark complexioned man of the party, and as a "first-footer" in great request. we did not go home till morning, and reached there a little hilarious ourselves, but it was our first _hogmanhay_ and may be forgiven. dear reader, did you ever lie in a _concealed bed_? it is a scottish device cunningly contrived to murder sleep. at least so tom and i found it. it was my fate to sleep, to lie i should say, in one for several weeks. its purpose is to economise space, and like goldsmith's chest of drawers, it is "contrived a double debt to pay," a sleeping room by night, a sitting room by day. whilst glasgow is a city of _flats_ its people are resourceful and energetic. keen and canny, they drive a close bargain but, scrupulous and conscientious, fulfil it faithfully. proud of their city and its progress, its industries and manufactures, its civic importance, they are a little disdainful perhaps, perhaps a little jealous, of their beautiful elder sister, edinburgh. glasgow is the belfast of scotland! self-contained houses are the exception and are limited to the well-to- do. the flat, in most cases, means a restricted number of apartments, insufficient bedroom accommodation, and the _concealed bed_ is glasgow's way of solving the difficulty. tom and i did not take kindly to our hole in the wall, and soon found other lodgings where space was not so circumscribed, and where we could sleep in an open bed in an open room. our new quarters were a great success; a ground-floor flat with a fine front door; a large well-furnished sitting room with two windows looking out on to the street, and an equally large double-bedded room at the back of the sitting room. our landlady, a kind, motherly, canny scotchwoman, looked after us well and favoured us with many a bit of good advice: "you must be guid laddies, and tak care o' the bawbees; you maun na eat butchers' meat twice the week; tak plenty o' parritch and dinna be extravagant." economy with the good old soul was a cardinal virtue, waste a deadly sin. i fear she was often shocked at our easy saxon ways, though tom and i thought ourselves models of thrift. once, it was on a sunday, tom and i, with a party of friends, had had a very long walk, a regular pedestrian excursion, thirty miles, there or thereabouts, to use a scotticism, and poor tom was quite knocked up and confined to bed for several days. our good old landlady was greatly shocked; a strict sabbatarian, she knew it was a punishment for "breakin' the sabbath; why had na ye gane to the kirk like guid laddies?" we modestly reminded her that we always did go, excepting of course on this particular sunday. "then whit business had ye to stay awa on ony sabbath?" we had nothing to say in answer to this. the dear old creature was really shocked at our backsliding; but she nursed tom very tenderly all the same. when the sultry heat of summer came we found glasgow very trying, and though sorry to leave our good landlady, moved into the country, to cambuslang, a village some four miles from the city, which was then becoming a favourite residential resort. at cambuslang i made the acquaintance and became the friend of _cynicus_, the humorous artist whose satirical sketches have, for many years, been well-known and well sold in england, in scotland and in ireland too. he was then a youth of about twenty. longing to see the world and without the necessary means, he emulated goldsmith, made a prolonged tour in france and italy supporting himself not by his flute nor by disputations, but by his brush and palette. for a few weeks at a time he worked in towns or cities, sold what he painted, and then, with purse replenished, wandered on. he and i were living "doon the watter," at dunoon, on the clyde, one summer month. a fancy dress bazaar was on at the time. the first evening we went to it, and he, unobserved, made furtive sketches of the most prominent people and the prettiest girls. we both sat up all that night, he working at and finishing the sketches. next morning by the first boat and first train, we took them to glasgow, had six hundred lithographic copies struck off; back post-haste to dunoon; in the evening to the bazaar, and sold the copies at threepence each. it was an immense success; we could have disposed of twice the number; every pretty girl's admirer wanted a copy of her picture, and the portraits of the presiding "meenister" and of the good-looking unmarried curate were eagerly purchased by fond mammas and adoring daughters. we had our fun, and cleared besides a profit of nearly four pounds sterling. this financial _coup_ would not have come off so well but for the warm-hearted co-operation of our railway printers, mccorquodale and coy. they, good people, entered into our exploit with a will, did their part well, and made little if any profit, generously leaving that to _cynicus_ and myself. to his mother, like many another clever son, _cynicus_ owed his talent. she was a woman of great intellectual endowment, with highly cultivated literary tastes. her memory was remarkable and her conversational powers very great. she read much and thought deeply. in a modest way her parlour, which attracted many young people of literary and artistic leanings, recalled the _salons_ of france of a century ago. she entertained charmingly with tea and cakes and delightful talk. of strong, firm, decided character, she might, perhaps, have been thought a little deficient in womanly gentleness had not genuine kindness of heart, motherly feeling, and a happy humour lent a softness to her features and imparted to them a particular charm. she exercised an authority over her household which inspired respect and contrasted strikingly with the easy- going parental ways of to-day. there were other sons and there were daughters also, all more or less gifted, but _cynicus_ was the genius of the family--its bright particular star. the various lodgings of my bachelor days was never quite of the conventional sort. the cambuslang quarters certainly were not. the house was large and old-fashioned. originally it had been two smallish houses: the two front doors still remained side by side, but only one was used. the rooms on the ground floor were small, the original building composed of one storey only, but another had been added of quite spacious dimensions. we had two excellent, large well-furnished rooms upstairs. the landlady was an interesting character and so was her husband. she was irish, he scotch; she about seventy years of age, he under fifty; she ruddy, healthy, hearty, good-looking; he, pale, nervous, shy, retiring. but on the last thursday of each month he was quite another man. on that day he went to glasgow to collect the rents of some small houses he owned; and generally came home rather "fou" and hilarious, when the old lady would take him in hand, and put him to bed. they had an only child, a son, a grown up man, an uncouth ill-looking ungainly fellow, who did no work, smoked and loafed about, but was the idol of his mother. he resembled neither parent in the least, and, except that such vagaries of nature are not unknown, it might have been supposed that some cuckoo had visited the parental nest. a gaunt, hard-featured domestic completed this interesting family, and she was uncommon too. by no means young, what balzac calls "a woman of canonical age," she resembled pere grandet's tall nanon. like nanon, she had been the devoted servant of the family for nearly a quarter of a century, and like her, had no interest outside that of her master and mistress. she was always working, rarely went out, spoke little, but ministered to the wants of tom and myself, and waited on us with unremitting attention. despite all drawbacks, however, they were fine lodgings. the old lady was a wonderful cook and had all the liberality of her race. new year's day, the great scotch holiday, tom and i spent in edinburgh, and returned much impressed with its stately beauty. the next morning i entered upon my work at st. rollox, where the stores department of the caledonian railway is situated. the head of the department was styled stores superintendent. i thought him the most impressive looking man i had ever seen. he overpowered me; in his presence i never felt at ease. he was a big man, and looked bigger than he was; good-looking too; ruddy, portly, well-dressed and formal. an embodiment of commercial energy and dignity. in his face gravity, keenness, and good health were blended. soon after i joined his staff he left the caledonian to become general manager of young's paraffin oil company, and subsequently its managing director. success, i believe, always attended him. no position could lose any of its importance in his hands. when he left st. rollox a great blank was felt; he filled so large a space. he has lately gone to his rest full of years and honors. i fear he never liked me, nor had any great opinion of my abilities. this was not to be wondered at, for i am sure i did not display any excessive zeal for the work on which i was then employed, and which i found monotonous and uninteresting. he confided to his chief clerk, who was my friend, that one day he had seen me, in business hours, in the city, smoking a cigarette and looking at the girls, and was sure i would never do much good. he had very strict business notions. i confessed to the cigarette, but not to the graver charge. it was a wholesome tonic, however, and pulled me up. i wanted to get on in life; ambition was stirring within me; and i formed some good resolutions which, as time went on, i kept more or less faithfully. at st. rollox one's daily lunch was a matter of some difficulty. it was a district of factories, and the only restaurants were the great western cooking depots, where one could get a steak and bread and cheese for fivepence, but the rooms and tables and accessories were, to say the least, unappetising. hunger had to be satisfied, however, and i had to swallow my pride and my five-pennyworth. i varied this occasionally by bringing with me my own sandwiches and eating them seated on a tombstone in sighthill cemetery, which was less than a quarter of a mile distant from the stores department. my work, as i have said, was monotonous enough: writing letters from dictation, an occupation which gave but little exercise to one's faculties. i obtained some variation by occasionally taking a turn through the various stores and getting into touch with the practical men in charge. they were always very civil and ready to talk of their business, and so i learned something of the nature, quality, uses and cost of many things necessary to the working of a railway, which i afterwards found very useful. occasionally also i visited the laboratory, in which an analytical chemist was regularly engaged. the event which, in my short service of two years with the caledonian, seemed to me of the greatest moment, was that, after six months or so, i became a taxpayer! this was an event indeed. in the offices at derby it was only, as a rule, middle-aged or old men who attained this proud distinction; and here was i, not yet twenty-two, with my salary raised to pounds a year, paying income tax at the rate of _threepence_ in the pound on forty pounds, for an abatement of sixty pounds was allowed. until i got used to the novelty i was as proud as lucifer. the office in which i now worked had no apollos, no literary geniuses, no long jacks, no boy benedicts, such as adorned our desks at derby, but it rejoiced in one _rara avis_, who came a few months after and left a few months before me. he was a middle-aged, aristocratic, kind, good-hearted, unbusinesslike man, and was brother to a baronet. he professed a knowledge of medicine and brought a bottle, a bolus or a plaster, whichever he deemed best, whenever any of us complained of cold or cough, of headache or backache or any ailment whatever. when he left we all received from him a parting gift. mine was a handsome, expensive, red-felt chest protector. i wore it constantly for a year or two and, for aught i know, it may be that by its protecting influence against the rigour of glasgow winters, the bituminous atmosphere of st. rollox and the smoke-charged fogs of the city, i am alive and well to-day. who can tell? it is certain that i then had a bad cough nearly always; and this i am sure was what decided the form of his parting gift to me. it was about this time that i attended my first public dinner and made my first speech in public. several days before the event i was told that, being in the volunteer force, i had been placed on the toast list to reply for the army, navy and volunteers. it was a railway dinner, for the purpose of celebrating the departure to england, on promotion, of the chief clerk in the midland railway company's scottish agency office. the dinner was largely attended. the idea of having to speak filled me with trepidation. but to my great surprise i acquitted myself with credit. once on my legs i found that nervousness left me, words came freely and i even enjoyed the novel experience. to suddenly discover oneself proficient where failure had been feared increases self esteem and adds to the sum of happiness. at this dinner i also made my first acquaintance with that "great chieftain o' the puddin' race," the _haggis_, which deserves the pre-eminence it enjoys. one night, towards the end of december, in , when skating by moonlight, not far from cambuslang, i chanced to meet a young friend, a clerk in the glasgow and south-western railway, who, like myself, was enjoying the pleasures of the ice. tom was not with me, for he, poor fellow! was not well enough to be out o' nights in winter. my young friend gave me, with great eagerness, a rare piece of news. mr. johnstone, the glasgow and south-western general manager, was retiring and mr. wainwright was to succeed him! well, that did not excite me, and i wondered at his earnestness; but more was to follow. mr. wainwright, as general manager, required a principal clerk and there was, it seemed, no one in the place quite suitable. he must be good at correspondence, and expert at shorthand. i was, my young friend said, the very man; i must apply. mr. wainwright was english, so was i; i came from the midland, and the midland and the glasgow and south-western were hand and glove. how lucky we had met; he had not thought of me till this very moment. it was fate. would i write tonight? by this time i was as eager as himself. no more skating for me that night. i hurried home, tom and i composed a careful and judicious letter. i posted it in her majesty's pillar box hard by; went to bed, but was too excited to sleep. an answer soon came, and an interview with mr. wainwright followed. i received the appointment, at a salary of pounds a year to begin with; and in the early days of the new year, two years after my first appearance in scotland, entered upon my duties, not at saint enoch station, where the headquarters of the glasgow and south-western now are, but at bridge street station on the south side of the river, where the office staff of the company was then accommodated. chapter ix. general railway acts of parliament such unromantic literature as acts of parliament had not, it may be supposed, up to this, formed part of my mental pabulum. i knew that an act was a necessary preliminary to the construction of a railway, and this was all i knew concerning the relations between the railways and the state. whilst a little learning may be a dangerous thing, in my new situation, i soon discovered that a general manager's clerk would be the better of possessing some knowledge of the numerous acts of parliament that affected railway companies. almost daily questions arose in which such knowledge was useful; so i determined to become acquainted with them, and in my leisure hours made as profound a study as i could of that compilation which, in railway offices was then in general use--_bigg's general railway acts_. i found the formidable looking volume more readable than i had imagined and less difficult to understand than i had expected. governments have ever kept a watchful eye on railway companies. up to , the year at which we have now arrived, no less than general acts of parliament affecting railways had been placed on the statute book of the realm. they were applicable to all railways alike, and in addition to and independent of the special acts which each company must obtain for itself, first for its incorporation and construction, and afterwards for extensions of its system, for the raising of capital, and for various other purposes. many of the general acts have been framed upon the recommendations of various select committees and royal and vice-regal commissions, which have been appointed from time to time since railways began. from down to the present year of some score or more of these committees and commissions have gravely sat and issued their more or less wise and weighty reports. what are these numerous acts of parliament and what are their objects, scope, and intentions? whilst neither time nor space admit of detailed exposition, not to speak of the patience of my readers, a few observations upon some of the principal enactments may not be inapposite or uninteresting. pride of place belongs to the _carriers' act_ of , passed in the reign of william iv., five years after the first public railway (the stockton and darlington) was opened. this act, although in it the word _railway_ does not appear, is an important act to railway companies, and possesses the singular and uncommon merit of having been framed for the _protection_ of common carriers. it is intituled "_an act for the more effectual protection of mail contractors, stage coach proprietors, and other common carriers for hire, against the loss or injury to parcels or packages delivered to them for conveyance or custody, the value and contents of which shall not be declared to them by the owners thereof_." the draughtsman of this dignified little act it is clear was greatly addicted to _capitals_. probably he thought they heightened effect, much as charles lamb spelt plum pudding with a _b_--"plumb pudding," because, he said, "it reads fatter and more suetty." at the time this act came into being, railways in the eye of parliament were public highways, upon which you or i, if we paid the prescribed tolls, could convey our traffic, our vehicles, or ourselves. in the years - many of the companies obtained powers enabling them to act as public carriers; and in questions having arisen in parliament as to the rights of the public in this respect the subject was referred to a select committee of the house of commons. the committee's report disposed of the view which, until then, parliament had held, and expressed the opinion that the right of persons to run their own engines and carriages was a dead letter for the good reason, amongst others, that it was necessary for railway trains to be run and controlled by and under one complete undivided authority. after the _carriers' act_, which applied to all carriers as well as to railways, the first general railway act of importance was the _railways (conveyance of mails) act_ of . this act enabled the postmaster-general to require railway companies to convey mails by all trains and to provide sorting carriages when necessary, the royal arms to be painted on such carriages, and in , under the _railway regulation act_, it was further enacted that the postmaster-general could require, for the conveyance of mails, that trains should be run at any rate of speed, _certified to be safe_, but not to exceed miles an hour! as i have said, the select committee of reported against the right of the public to run their own engines and carriages on railways. they made recommendations which led to the passing of the _railway regulation act_ of that year, and in that act powers were, for the first time, conferred upon the board of trade in connection with railways. it was the beginning of that authority, which since has greatly grown, but which the board of trade have in the main exercised with an impartiality, which public authorities do not always display. the act empowered the board, before any new railway was opened, to require notice from the railway company. this power was repealed by an act of , and larger powers granted in its place, including the right to compel the inspection of such railways before being opened for traffic. the act of also required the companies, under penalty, to furnish to the board of trade returns of traffic, as well as of all accidents attended with personal injury; and to submit their bye-laws for certification. of the _railway mania_ period i have spoken in a previous chapter. for a time enormous success attended some of the lines. amongst others the liverpool and manchester and the stockton and darlington enjoyed mouth watering dividends; the former ten, the latter fifteen per cent.! said the government to themselves, "'tis time we saw to this," and accordingly they passed the _railway regulation act_ of . this act provided that if at any time, after twenty-one years, the dividend of any railway should exceed ten per cent., the treasury might revise the rates and fares so as to reduce the profits to not more than ten per cent. this expectation of high dividends, i need hardly say, has not been realised, and the act in this respect has been a dead letter. the act also conferred an option on the treasury to acquire future railways at twenty- five years purchase of the annual profits; or, if such profits were less than ten per cent., the price was to be left to arbitration. it is interesting now, when, owing to the war, the railways of the land are under temporary government control, and their future all uncertain, to remember that, on the statute book to-day, there is an act which provides for state purchase of the railways of the country. whether a solution of the difficulty will be found in state purchase or in state control it is hard to say, but it is clear that some solution of the problem will become imperative when the war is ended and normal conditions return. justice and reason demand it. in the year three long acts of parliament came into force; the _companies clauses_, the _lands clauses_ and the _railway clauses acts_. between them they contained no less than sections. each act was a consolidating measure. the first contained provisions usually inserted in acts for the constitution of public companies, the second the same in regard to the taking of land compulsorily, and the third consolidated in one general statute provisions usually introduced into acts of parliament authorising the construction of railways. the _railway clauses act_ authorised railway companies to use locomotive engines, carriages and wagons; to carry passengers and goods, and to make reasonable charges not exceeding the tolls authorised by their special acts. since then the whole of the trade of transit by rail has been conducted by the companies owning the lines. the gauge of railways in great britain was not fixed upon any scientific principle. at first it followed the width of the coal tram-roads in the north of england, which was adopted simply on account of its practical convenience (five feet being the usual width of the gates through which the "way-leaves" led) and so four feet eight and a-half inches became the ordinary gauge, but in the early days it was by no means the universal gauge. five feet was chosen for the eastern counties railway; seven feet for the great western and five feet six was used in scotland. the ulster company in ireland made twenty-five miles of the line from belfast to dublin on a gauge of six feet two, while the drogheda company, which set out from dublin to meet the ulster line, adopted five feet two. when the ulster company complained of this, the irish board of works, it is said, admitted that it was a little awkward, but added that, as it was not likely the intervening part would ever be made, it did not much matter. the subject was, i believe, in ireland referred to a general pasley, who consulted the authorities (who were many) throughout the kingdom. he ultimately solved the question by adding up the various gauges the authorities favoured, and recommended the mean, which was five feet three inches; and so, for ireland, five feet three became the standard gauge. "the battle of the gauges," as it was styled at the time, was lively and spirited. eventually it was decided by parliament, which in the year passed the _railway regulation (gauge) act_. this act ordained that in great britain all future railways were to be constructed on a gauge of four feet eight and a-half inches, and in ireland of five feet three inches, excepting only certain extensions of the broad gauge great western railway. up to this time no action at common law was maintainable against a person who by his wrongful act, neglect or default caused the immediate death of another person, and an act (known as _lord campbell's act_), "for compensating the families of persons killed by accidents," became law. this enactment was due principally to the railway accidents that occurred. they were relatively more numerous than they are now, for the many modern appliances for ensuring safety had not then been introduced. the act provided that compensation would be for the benefit of wife, husband, parent and child of the person whose death shall have been caused. the act did not apply to scotland. perhaps it was because the laws of the two countries differed more then than now, and the life of the railways in scotland was young, england being well ahead. probably england thought she was doing enough when she legislated for herself by passing this act. it must be observed, however, that the act applies to ireland as well as england. in the year parliament considered that _regulations_ were necessary to further control the companies and passed an important statute, the _railway and canal traffic act_. known, for short, in railway parlance, as "the act of ' ," its main provisions dealt with:-- reasonable facilities for receiving and forwarding traffic the subject of undue preference, which was forbidden railways forming part of continuous lines to receive and forward through traffic without obstruction the liability of railway companies for loss of, or damage to, goods or animals and it preserved to railway companies the _protection_ of the _carriers' act_, to which i have referred. the select committees of and sat on the subject of the great length of time and the immense cost which railway promotion in those days entailed, when bills were fiercely contested, and protracted struggles before parliamentary committees took place. two acts resulted from their deliberations: the _railway companies' powers act_, , and the _railway construction facilities act_ of the same year. these acts empowered railway companies to enter into agreements with each other in regard to maintenance, management, running over or use of each others lines or property and for joint ownership of stations. they also enabled powers to be obtained from the board of trade to construct a railway without a special act of parliament, subject to the conditions that all the landowners concerned agreed to part with the requisite land, and that no objection was raised by any other railway or canal company. little use has ever been made of this well-intentioned enactment. landowners have rarely been disposed to accept terms which the companies thought fair; and rival railways, in the days gone by, dearly loved a fight. by the _companies clauses consolidation act_ of railway companies were required to keep full and true accounts of receipts and expenditure, but it was not until the year that parliament placed upon the companies an obligation to keep their accounts in a prescribed form. this form was scheduled to the _regulation of railways act_, . it provides for half-yearly accounts, and is the form which has been familiar to shareholders for many years. this act ( ) also ordained that smoking compartments be provided on all trains, for all classes, on all railways, except on the railway of the metropolitan company. up to then the railway smoker had to obtain the consent of his fellow passengers in the same compartment before he could light up, or brave their displeasure; and many were the altercations that ensued. the act also imposed penalties on railways who provided trains for attending prize fights, which was hard on companies of sporting instincts. a clause provided for means of communication between passengers and the servants of the company in charge of trains running twenty miles without stopping; and another clause gave the companies power to cut down trees adjoining their line which might be dangerous. prior to , although railways had then existed for three and forty years, the accounts of one company could not usefully be compared with those of another, for scarcely any two companies made up their accounts in the same way. variety may be charming, but uniformity has its advantages. the board of trade, in , was endowed with further powers. by the _regulation of railways act_ of that year, they were given additional rights of inspection; authority to enquire into accidents, and further powers in regard to the opening of additional lines of railway, stations or junctions. and by this statute the companies were required to furnish the board of trade with elaborate statistical documents, annually, in a form prescribed in a schedule to the act. the only other important act down to the year is the _regulation of railways act_ of . this act was passed for the purpose of making "better provision for carrying into effect the _railway and canal traffic act_ of , and for other purposes connected therewith." in a joint committee of both houses sat and, following upon their report, this act was passed. it established a new tribunal, to be called the _railway and canal commission_, to consist of three commissioners, of whom--one was to be experienced in the law, one in railway business, and it also authorised the appointment of not more than two _assistant_ commissioners. as to the _third commissioner_, no mention was made of qualifications. this tribunal, though styled a _commission_, conducted its work as if it were a court; and a regularly constituted court in time it became. by the _railway and canal traffic act_, , the section in the act of appointing the commission was repealed and a new commission established consisting of two appointed and three _ex officio_ commissioners, such commission to be "a court of record, and have an official seal, which shall be judicially noticed." one of the commissioners must be experienced in railway business; and of the three _ex officio_ commissioners, one was to be nominated for england, one for scotland and one for ireland, and in each case such commissioner was to be a judge of the high court of the land. under the act of , the chief functions of the commissioners were: to hear and decide upon complaints from the public in regard to undue preference, or to refusal of facilities; to hear and determine questions of through rates; and to settle differences between two railway companies or between a railway company and a canal company, upon the application of either party to the difference. the act of continued these and included some further powers. in my humble opinion the railway commissioners have done much useful work and done it well. for more than forty years i have read most if not all the cases they have dealt with. on several occasions i have been engaged in proceedings before them, and not always on the winning side. chapter x. a general manager and his office january, , was a momentous time for me. in the second week of that month i commenced my new duties at glasgow and bade farewell for ever to the tall stool and "the dry drudgery of the desk's dead wood." before me opened a pleasing prospect of attractive and interesting work, brightened by the beams of youthful hope and awakened ambition. i was now chief clerk to a general manager. was it to be wondered at that i felt proud and elated if also a little scared as to how i should get on. mr. wainwright assumed the office of general manager on the first day of the year. i say _office_, but in fact a general manager's office scarcely existed. his predecessor, mr. johnstone, a capable but in some respects a singular man, performed his managerial duties without an office staff, wrote all his own letters, and not only wrote them but first carefully drafted them out in a hand minute almost as jonathan swift's. a strenuous worker, mr. johnstone, like most men who have no hobby, did not long survive his retirement from active business life. mr. wainwright, who, like myself, was born in sheffield, was twenty-three years my senior. his early railway life was passed in the manchester, sheffield and lincolnshire railway (now the great central), of which the redoubtable mr. (afterwards sir) edward watkin was then the lively general manager. a different man to his predecessor was mr. wainwright. unlike mr. johnstone he was modern and progressive. _he_ never scorned delights or loved, for their own sake, laborious days; pleasure to him was as welcome as sunshine; and work he made a pleasure. as i have said, no general manager's _office_ existed. of systematic managerial supervision there was none. what was to be done? something certainly, and soon. mr. wainwright concurred in a suggestion i made that i should visit derby, see the general manager's office of the midland there, and learn how it was conducted. this i did. e. w. wells, a principal clerk in that office, who was married to my cousin, showed and told me everything. i returned laden with knowledge which i embodied in a report and my recommendations were adopted. several clerks were appointed and the general manager's office, of which i was chief clerk, soon became efficient. wells afterwards became assistant general manager of the midland, and frank tatlow, my cousin and brother of wells' wife, is now its general manager, in succession to sir guy granet. i am not a little proud that the attainments of one who bears the name of tatlow, and is so nearly related to myself, have enabled him to reach the topmost post on a railway such as the midland railway of england. he commenced as a junior clerk in the general manager's office and worked his way step by step to that eminent position. no adventitious circumstances helped him on. i became fond of railway work, which it seems to me for interest and variety holds a high place among all the occupations by which man, who was born to labour, may earn his daily bread. my duties were certainly arduous but intensely interesting. the correspondence with other railway companies regarding agreements, joint line working, parliamentary matters, and many other important subjects, conducted as it required to be, with skill, care and precision, was for me a liberal education. the fierce rivalry which, in those days, raged in scotland for competitive traffic culminated often in disputes which could only be settled by the intervention of the general managers, and these brought much exciting work into the office. again, the close and intimate relations between the midland and the glasgow and south-western involved interesting communications, meetings and discussions, and the keeping of certain special accounts which it fell to me to supervise. the midland and the glasgow and south-western alliance was regarded by the west coast companies (the london and north-western and the caledonian) with much disfavour. in their eyes it was an attack upon their hen roost, and it certainly resulted in the loss to them of a large share of through traffic between england and scotland which the west coast route had previously had all to itself. to carry on the competition successfully necessitated a large expenditure of capital by the glasgow and south-western, and the midland, of course, had to help in this. the original cost of saint enoch station for instance was nearly one and three-quarter millions sterling, and a considerable outlay was also necessary for goods stations and other accommodation. there was in those days much doing between the general managers' offices of the midland and glasgow and south-western companies, and it was all delightfully new and novel to me. a committee of directors of the two companies, called the _midland and glasgow and south-western joint committee_, was established. this committee, with the two general managers, met periodically either at derby, london, carlisle or glasgow. mr. wainwright acted as secretary and i kept the minute book and papers relating to the business of the committee. pullman cars had been introduced on the midland and were run on the through trains between saint pancras and saint enoch. the cars were the property of mr. pullman, but the midland kept them in repair, the glasgow and south-western relieving them of a proportion of the cost corresponding to the mileage run over their line. mr. pullman received as his remuneration the extra fare paid by the passengers--three shillings each for drawing-room cars and five shillings each for sleeping cars. other through carriages on these trains were jointly owned by the two companies. the interesting accounts connected with these arrangements were supervised by me. i commenced work with mr. wainwright on a monday. the following saturday afternoon, before leaving the office, to my great surprise and delight, he presented me with a first- class station to station pass over the railway. with what pride i showed it to tom that evening! six months later my salary was increased, and the pleasant fact was announced to me by my kindly chief, coupled with the expression of a wish that he and i might long work together. on the scottish railways the financial half-years ended, not in june and december, as in other parts of the united kingdom, but at the end of july and january. this was for the better equalisation of receipts, taking a month from the fat half-year to the lean, and giving, in exchange, a month from the lean to the fat. soon after the first-half-year was concluded and the accounts published, which was in the month of september (my first september with the glasgow and south-western), mr. wainwright handed to me a large sheet of closely printed figures, giving a detailed analysis and comparison of the accounts of five of the principal english and the three principal scottish railways in columnar form, with a request that i should take out the figures and compile for printing a similar statement for the past half-year, from the accounts of the eight companies. i trembled inwardly for i had never yet looked at a railway account, but i took them home, and, as in the case of the acts of parliament, found them simpler than i thought; and, with less trouble than i expected, succeeded in accomplishing the task. mr. wainwright was himself a skilful statistician and tested everything he could by the cold logic of figures. i was soon surprised to find that i too had a taste for statistics and acquired some skill in their compilation. up to this i had always imagined that i disliked everything in the shape of arithmetic. at school i was certainly never fond of it, and since school my acquaintance with figures had been little more than the adding up of long columns in huge books at the half-yearly stocktaking in the stores department at st. rollox, a thing i detested, and which invariably gave me a headache. well pleased was mr. wainwright to see that statistics took my fancy. as general manager he had not much time himself to devote to them, but the office was now well manned and we were able to establish, and keep up, tables, statistics and returns concerning matters of railway working in a way which i have not seen surpassed. these statistics were of much practical use when considering questions of economy and other matters from day to day. my first year as general manager's clerk was, i have always thought, the most important in my railway life. certainly in that year i learned much and acquired from my chief business habits which have stood me in good stead since. mr. wainwright was a man of no ordinary nature, as all who knew him will admit. he was a pattern of punctuality and promptitude, never spared himself in doing a thing well and expected the same thoroughness in others, though he would make allowance for want of capacity, but not for indolence or carelessness. straightforwardness, honesty and rectitude marked all he did. his word was his bond. his disposition was to trust those around him, and his generous confidence was usually justified. high-minded and possessing a keen sense of honor himself, he had an instinctive aversion to anything mean or low in others. a man of great liberality and generous to a fault he often found it hard to say no, but when obliged to adopt that attitude it was done with a tact and courtesy which left no sting. in all business matters he required a rigid economy though never at the expense of efficiency. intellectually he stood high, as i had ample opportunity of judging, but if asked what were his most striking qualities i should say _goodness_ and a charm of manner which eludes description, but irresistibly attracted all who met him. in appearance he was tall and portly, and his bearing, carriage and presence were gentlemanly and refined. he was of fair complexion, was possessed of a delightful smile, and had side whiskers (turning white) continued in the old-fashioned way under the chin, and yet he was so bright and debonair that he never looked old-fashioned. like myself he was a great lover of dickens, and i think his most prized possession was a small bookcase which had belonged to dickens' study and which he purchased at the sale at _gad's hill_. his directors esteemed him highly, and the officers of the company were all sincerely attached to him. in his room he held almost daily conferences. correspondence formed but a small part in his method of dealing with departments. he believed in the value of _viva voce_ discussion, and discouraged all unnecessary inter-departmental correspondence. in this he was right i am sure. the daily conferences were cheerful and pleasant, for he had the delightful faculty of "mixing business with pleasure and wisdom with mirth." i consider that i was singularly fortunate at this period of my life in finding myself placed in close and intimate association with such a man as mr. wainwright, in enjoying his confidence as i did, and in being afforded the opportunity of benefiting by his kind precepts and fine example. [w. j. wainwright: wainwright.jpg] in glasgow there was a weekly paper of much humour and spirit called _the bailie_. with each issue it published an article on some prominent man of the day under the title of _men you know_, accompanied by a portrait of the person selected. it is the glasgow _punch_. it was established in ,and "_ma conscience_!" is its motto. it still, i am glad to hear, runs an honorable and profitable course, which its merits well deserve. in its issue of september th, , mr. wainwright was _the man you know_, and, at the request of the editor, i wrote the article upon him. in it are some words which, penned when i was with him daily, and his influence was strong upon me, are, perhaps, more true and faithful than any i could at this distance of time write, and so i will quote them here, and with them conclude this chapter. "he (_the man you know_) is one upon whom responsibility rests gracefully and lightly, who accomplishes great things without apparent effort, and whose personal influence smoothes the daily friction of official life. he rules with a gentler sway than many who are accustomed to other methods of command would believe possible. he believes in emerson's maxim that if you deal nobly with men they will act nobly, and his habit towards everyone around him, and its success, lends force to the genial truth of the american philosopher." chapter xi. the railway jubilee, and glasgow and south-western officers and clerks the th day of september, , was the jubilee of the british railway system. it was celebrated by a banquet given by the north-eastern railway company at darlington, for the stockton and darlington section of the north-eastern was, as i have mentioned before, the first public railway. a thousand guests were invited. no building in darlington could accommodate such a number, and a great marquee, large enough to dine a thousand people, was obtained from london. my chief attended the banquet and i remained at home to hear the news when he returned. dan godfrey's band was there, and dan godfrey himself composed some music for the occasion. the _menu_ was long, elaborate and imposing; equalled only by the _toast list_, which contained no less than sixteen separate toasts. it was a gargantuan feast befitting a great occasion. could we men of to-day have done it justice and sat it and the toast list out, i wonder. it took place over forty years ago, when the endurance of the race was, perhaps, greater than now; or why do we now shorten our banquets and shirk the bottle? the stockton and darlington railway is miles long, and its authorised capital was , pounds--a modest sum indeed, under , pounds per mile, less than half the outlay for land alone of the north midland line and not one twenty-fifth of the average cost of british railways as they stand to-day, which is some , pounds per mile. the railway owed its origin to george stephenson and to edward pease, the wealthy quaker and manufacturer of darlington, both burly men, strong in mind as body. the first rail was laid, with much ceremony, near the town of stockton, on the rd of may, , amid great opposition culminating in acts of personal violence, for the early railways, from interests that feared their rivalry, and often from sheer blind ignorance itself, had bitter antagonism to contend with. the day brought an immense concourse of people to darlington, all bent on seeing the novel spectacle of a train of carriages and wagons filled with passengers and goods, drawn along a _railway_ by a _steam_ engine. at eight o'clock in the morning the train started with its load-- vehicles--hauled by stephenson's "locomotion," driven by stephenson himself. "such was its velocity that in some parts of the journey the speed was frequently miles an hour." the number of passengers reached , and the goods and merchandise amounted to tons--a great accomplishment, and george stephenson and edward pease were proud men that day. seven years from this present time will witness the _centenary_ of the railway system. how shall we celebrate _it_? will railway proprietor, railway director and railway manager on that occasion be animated with the gladness, the pride and the hope that brightened the jubilee banquet? who can tell? the future of railways is all uncertain. a word or two regarding the railway system of scotland may not be inappropriate. scotland has eight _working_ railway companies, england and wales , and ireland . these include light railways, but are exclusive of all railways, light or ordinary, that are worked not by themselves but by other companies. scotland has exhibited her usual good sense, her canny, thrifty way, by keeping the number of _operating_ railway companies within such moderate bounds. ireland does not show so well, and england relatively is almost as bad as ireland, yet england might well have shown the path of prudence to her poorer sister by greater adventure herself in the sensible domain of railway amalgamation. much undeserved censure has been heaped upon the irish lines; sins have been assumed from which they are free, and their virtues have ever been ignored. john bright once said that "railways have rendered more service and received less gratitude than any institution in the land." this is certainly true of ireland, for nothing has ever conferred such benefit upon that country as its railways, and nothing, except perhaps the government, has received so much abuse. on this i shall have more to say when i reach the period of the vice-regal commission on irish railways, appointed in . the average number of miles _operated_ per working railway company in scotland compared with england and wales and ireland, are:-- scotland england and wales ireland and the mileage, capital, revenue, expenditure, interest and dividends for , the latest year of which the figures, owing to the war, are published by the board of trade, are as follows:-- average rate of interest and dividend. per cent. miles. capital. revenue. expenditure. pounds pounds pounds england and wales , , , , , , , , - scotland , , , , , , , - ireland , , , , , , , - the general manager of the glasgow and south-western railway and his office i have described, but i have not spoken, except in a general way, of the other principal officers, with whom, as mr. wainwright's assistant, i came into close and intimate relationship. they, alas! are no more. i have outlived them all. each has played his part, and made, as we all must do, his exit from the stage of life. prominent amongst these officers was john mathieson, superintendent of the line, who was only twenty-nine when appointed to that responsible post. we became good friends. he began work at the early age of thirteen, had grown up on the railway and at nineteen was a station master. he was skilful in out-door railway work, and an adept in managing trains and traffic. ambitious and a bit touchy regarding his office, all was not always peace between his and other departments, particularly the goods manager's. the goods manager was not aggressive, and it was sometimes thought that mathieson inclined to encroach upon his territory. often angry correspondence and sometimes angry discussion ensued. yet, take him for all in all, john mathieson was a fine man with nothing small in his composition. soon his ambition was gratified. in he was appointed chief commissioner of the railways of queensland; and after a few years occupation of that post was invited by the victorian government to the same position in connection with the railways of that important state. in he left australia and became general manager of the midland railway; but his health unfortunately soon failed, and at the comparatively early age of sixty he died at derby in the year . in his early days, on the glasgow and south-western, mathieson was a hard fighter. those were the days when between the scottish railway companies the keenest rivalry and the bitterest competition existed. the clearing house in london, where the railway representatives met periodically to discuss and arrange rates and fares and matters relating to traffic generally, was the scene of many a battle. men like james maclaren of the north british, tom robertson of the highland, irvine kempt of the caledonian, and a. g. reid of the great north of scotland were worthy of mathieson's steel. usually mathieson held his own. irvine kempt i cannot imagine was as keen a fighter as the rest, for he was rather a dignified gentleman with fine manners. to gain a few tons of fish from a rival route, by superior service, keen canvassing, or by other less legitimate means, was a source of fierce joy to these ardent spirits. the disputes were sometimes concerned with through traffic between england and scotland, and then the english railway representatives took part, but not with the keenness and intensity of their northern brethren, for the saxon blood has not the fiery quality of the crimson stream that courses through the veins of the celt. now all is changed. combination has succeeded to competition, alliances and agreements are the tranquil order of the day, and the clearing house has become a temple of peace. between david dickie, goods manager, and john mathieson, passenger superintendent, as i have said, many differences arose. i sometimes thought that mathieson might well have shown more consideration to one so much his senior in years as dickie was. poor dickie! before i left scotland he met a tragic death. he was a kind-hearted man, a canny scot, and died rich. james stirling was the locomotive superintendent. he and mathieson did not always agree, and the clash of arms frequently raged between them. mr. wainwright's suavity often, and not infrequently his authority, were required to adjust these domestic broils, but as all deferred to him willingly, the storms that arose were usually short lived. in mathieson and i took a short holiday together and crossed to ireland. it was our first visit to that unquiet but delightful country, in which, little as i thought then, i was destined a few years later to make my home. it was in january, , that the headquarters of the company were removed from the old and narrow bridge street station to the new palatial st. enoch, and there a splendid set of offices was provided. this was another advantage much to my taste. st. enoch was and is certainly a most handsome and commodious terminus. originally it had one great roof of a single span, second only to that of st. pancras station. other spans, not so great, have since been added, for the business of st. enoch rapidly grew, and enlarged accommodation soon became necessary. in it had six long and spacious platforms, now it has twelve; then the number of trains in and out was daily, now it has reached ; then the mileage of the railway was , now it is ; then the employees of the company numbered , and now they are over , . these figures exemplify the material growth of industrial scotland in the forty years that have passed. st. enoch station was not disfigured by trade advertisements, and it is with great satisfaction i learn that the same good taste has prevailed to this day. not long after it was opened a great grocery and provision firm, the knightly head of which is still a well-known name, offered to the company a large annual sum for the use of the space under the platform clock, which could be seen from all parts of the station, which the directors, on the representation of their general manager, declined; and i am proud to remember that my own views on the subject, pretty forcibly expressed, when my chief discussed the subject with me, strengthened his convictions and helped to carry the day in the board room. the indiscriminate and inartistic way in which throughout the land advertisements of all sorts crowd our station walls and platforms is an outrage on good taste. if advertisements must appear there, some hand and eye endowed with the rudiments of art ought to control them. in no country in the world does the same ugly display mar the appearance of railway stations; and considering what myriad eyes daily rest on station premises it is well worth while on aesthetic grounds to make their appearance as pleasant and as little vulgar as possible. the question of revenue to the companies need not be ignored for proper and efficient control would produce order, moderation, neatness, artistic effect--and profit. with the principal clerks of the office staff my relations were very pleasant. the consideration with which i was treated by my chief, and the footing upon which i stood with him, gave me a certain influence which otherwise i should not have possessed. till then there had been absent from the company's staff any gathering together for purposes of common interest or mutual enjoyment. the _railway benevolent institution_ provided a rallying point. i had been appointed its representative on the glasgow and south-western railway and we held meetings and arranged concerts in its aid. then, after a time, we established for the principal clerks and goods agents and certain grades of station masters, an annual day excursion into the country, with a dinner and songs and speeches. "tatlow is good at the speak," said publicly one of my colleagues, in his broad scotch way, and so far as it was true this i daresay helped me. i was made permanent president of these excursions and feasts, and often had to "hold forth," which i must confess i rather enjoyed. we christened ourselves _the railway ramblers_. the fact that i became the scotch correspondent of the _railway official gazette_, a regular contributor to the _railway news_, and had access to the columns of several newspapers, enabled reports of our doings to appear in print, and diffused some pleasure and pride throughout the service. also i became a weekly contributor of _scotch notes_ to the _montreal herald_. in the _railway official gazette_ was a column devoted to short reviews of new books which were sent to the editor. for a time, from some reason or other, i undertook this reviewing. possession of the books was the only recompense, though for all other work payment in money was made. it was a daring thing on my part and i am sure many a reader of the paper must have smiled at my criticisms. i forget why i soon gave up the duty; probably from incompetence, for i am sure i was not at all qualified for such a task; but what will the audacity of youth not attempt? this journalistic work occupied much of my spare time, but it supplemented my income, a consideration of no little importance, for in october, , i had entered the married state. my wife came from the midlands of england. my friends became her friends, and other friends we made. children soon appeared on the scene; my bachelor days were over. societies amongst the staff of a railway company, whether for the purpose of physical recreation, for mutual improvement or for social enjoyment are to be much commended. the assembling together of employees of various ages, filling various positions, from the several departments, from different districts, freed from business, and mixing on equal terms for common objects, promotes good feeling and good fellowship, provides pleasant memories for after life, gives a zest to work, and adds to the efficiency of the service. amongst all my fellow clerks i remember one only who resembled as a borrower some of my quondam associates at derby. but this was in scotland where more provident ways prevailed. he was a married man, about years of age, with a salary of pounds a year. by no means what one would call a nice fellow, he had nothing of the _bonhomie_ or light-hearted good nature that distinguished my derby friends. he possessed a good figure, wore fierce moustaches, and affected a military air. one suit of well-made, well-cut clothes by some means or other he managed to keep in a state of freshness and smoothness nothing short of marvellous. borrowing was his besetting sin, and he was always head over ears in debt. duns pursued him to the office and he sometimes hid from them in a huge safe which the office contained. it was a wretched life, but he brazened it out with wonderful effrontery, and, outwardly, seemed happy enough. from all who would lend he borrowed, and rarely i believe repaid. once i was his victim, but only once. i lent him pounds, and, strange to say, he returned it. of course he approached me again, but i had read and digested the _master's_ wisdom and determined to "neither a borrower nor a lender be." prominent amongst the principal clerks was david cooper. when i left glasgow he succeeded me as assistant to the general manager. now he is general manager of the company himself. recently he celebrated his th year of railway service. like me, he entered railway life in ; but, unlike me, has not been a rolling stone. one company only he has served and served it well, and for nearly a quarter of a century has filled the highest office it has to bestow. he and i have been more fortunate than many of our old-time colleagues. in the list of officers of the glasgow and south-western to-day i see the names of two only, besides david cooper, who were principal clerks in those days--f. h. gillies, now secretary of the company, and george russell, telegraph superintendent. in railways, as in other departments of life, ability and industry usually have their reward; but alone they do not always command success. other factors there are in the equation of life and not least luck and opportunity. in those distant days, in the pride of youth, i was too apt to think that they who succeeded owed their success to themselves alone; but the years have taught me that this is not always so, and i have learned to sympathise more and more with those to whom opportunity has never held out her hand and upon whom good luck has never smiled. chapter xii. tom in the last few chapters i have made but little mention of tom. the time was drawing nearer when i was to lose him for ever. until early in we lived together in the closest intimacy. we pooled our resources, and when either ran short of money, which often happened, the common purse, if it were not empty, was always available. similar in height and in figure, our clothes, except our hats, boots and gloves, in each of which i took a larger size than he, were, when occasion required, interchangeable. we standardised our wardrobe as far as we could. we rose together, ate together, retired together, and, except during business hours, were rarely apart. i being, he considered, the more prudent in money matters, kept our lodging accounts and paid the bills. he being more musical, and a greater lover of the drama than i, arranged our visits to the theatres and concert halls. i was the practical, he the aesthetical controller of our joint menage. once i remember--this occurred before we left derby--we both fancied ourselves in love with the same dear enchantress, a certain dark-eyed brunette. each punctually paid his court, as opportunity offered, and each, when he could, most obligingly furthered the suit of the other; and this went on till the time arrived for tom's departure to glasgow, when i was left in possession of the field. then i discovered, to my surprise, that i was not so deeply enamoured as i had imagined; and, curiously enough, tom on his part had no sooner settled in scotland than he made a similar discovery. the climate of glasgow never suited tom's health and in , on the advice of his doctors, he decided to return to england. for a time he seemed to regain his health, but only for a time. soon he relapsed, and before another year dawned it became evident, if not to himself, to his friends, that his years on earth were numbered. with what grief i heard the news, which came to me from his parents, i need not say. bravely for a while he struggled with work, but all in vain; he had to give in, and return to his parents' home in lincolnshire. that home he never again left, except once, in the summer of , to visit my wife and me, when he stayed with us for several weeks. though greatly reduced and very thin, and capable only of short walks he was otherwise unchanged; the lively fancy, the bright humor and the sparkling wit, which made him so delightful a companion, were scarcely diminished. he himself was hopeful; talked of recovery, planned excursions which he and i should take together when his health returned; but his greatest pleasure was in recalling our derby days, our _maypole_ visits, our country rambles, our occasional dances and flirtations, and our auld acquaintances generally. tom was remarkable for the quickness of his observation, for keen penetration of character, and for happy humorous description of particular traits in those he met. he possessed, too, a wonderfully retentive memory. it is largely due to his lively descriptions of our interesting fellow clerks at derby that i have been able, after the lapse of half a century, to sketch them with the fidelity i have. his humorous accounts of their peculiarities often enlivened the hours we spent together, and impressed their personalities more forcibly on my mind than they otherwise would have been. when his visit came to an end, and he returned to his home, i too indulged in the hope that he might regain some measure of health, for he seemed much improved. but it was a temporary improvement only, due in part, perhaps, to change in environment, and in part to the exhilaration arising from our reunion, heart and mind for a time dominating the body and stimulating it to an activity which produced this fair but deceptive semblance of health. his letters to me breathed the spirit of hope till almost the last. we never met again. the intention i had cherished of going to see him was never fulfilled. the illness of my wife and the death of one of our children, and other unfortunate causes, prevented it; and in little more than a year and a half from our farewell grasp of the hand at the railway station in glasgow my dear and beloved friend breathed his last. often and often since i have heard again the music of his voice, have seen his face smiling upon me, and have felt "_his being working in mine own_, _the footsteps of his life in mine_." chapter xiii. men i met and friends i made ten years i served the glasgow and south-western railway company as chief clerk, or as mr. wainwright euphemistically called it, _assistant_ to the general manager. in that position i met from time to time, not only many prominent railway men, but also other men of mark. amongst these, two stand out with great distinction because of the effect they had upon me at a memorable interview i had with each. i never forgot those interviews, and nothing that ever occurred in my life tended to strengthen in me the quality of self-reliance so much as they did. their effect was sudden, inspiring and lasting. these well-remembered men were mr. john burns (afterwards the first lord inverclyde), head of the shipping firm of g. and j. burns, and chairman of the cunard line, and mr. john walker, general manager of the north british railway. the interviews occurred, as nearly as i recollect, during the second or third year of my glasgow and south-western life, and took place within a few weeks of each other. john burns was one of the largest shareholders in the glasgow and south- western railway, his steamers plied between greenock and belfast, and his relations with the company were intimate and friendly. at the time i speak of some important negotiations were proceeding between him and mr. wainwright concerning the company and his firm, and whilst they were at their height mr. wainwright was unexpectedly summoned to london and detained there. now mr. burns was a man who greatly disliked delay, and i was told to see him and, if he wished, discuss the business with him, and, if possible, further its progress. it was the way in which mr. burns received me, young and inexperienced as i was, the manner in which he discussed the subject and encouraged me, and the respect with which he listened to my arguments, that surprised and delighted me. i left him, feeling an elation of spirit, a glow of pride, a confidence in myself, as new as it was unexpected. it is a fine trait in scotchmen that, deeply respecting themselves, they respect others. difference of class or position does not count much with them in comparison with merit or sterling worth-- "_the rank is but the guinea's stamp_, _the man's the gowd for a' that_." mr. burns was a striking personality; strong and vigorous, mentally and physically. he had a good voice, and was clear, decided and emphatic in speech. he was a doughty champion of the glasgow and south-western company, with which at this time, affairs, like the course of true love, did not run smooth. the dividend was down and discontented shareholders were up in arms. bitter attacks were made on the directors and the management. not that anything was really wrong, for the business of the line was skilfully and honestly conducted, but the times were bad, and "empty stalls make biting steeds." the very same shareholders who, when returns are satisfactory, are as gentle as cooing doves, should revenue and expenditure alter their relations to the detriment of dividend, become critical, carping and impossible to please, though the directors and management may be as innocent as themselves, and as powerless to stem the tide of adversity. at shareholders' meetings mr. burns was splendid. he rose after the critics had expended their force, or if the storm grew too violent, intervened at its height, and with facts and figures and sound argument always succeeded in restoring order and serenity. an excellent story of him appeared about this time in _good words_. he, anthony trollope and norman macleod were once at a little inn in the highlands. after supper, stories were told and the laughter, which was loud and long, lasted far into the night. in the morning an old gentleman, who slept in a room above them, complained to the landlord of the uproar which had broken his night's rest, and expressed his astonishment that such men should have taken more than was good for them. "well," replied the landlord, "i am bound to confess there was much loud talk and laughter, but they had nothing stronger than tea and fresh herrings." "bless me," rejoined the old gentleman, "if that is so, what would they be after dinner!" in the entrance hall of the north british railway company's waverley station at edinburgh stands the statue, in bronze, of mr. john walker. as far as i know this is, the whole world over, the only instance in which the memory of a railway general manager has been so honoured. it is of heroic size and eloquently attests his worth. he was born in fifeshire in , and died with startling suddenness from an apoplectic seizure, at the age of fifty-nine, at waterloo station in london. when he left school he was apprenticed to the law, but at the age of nineteen entered the service of the edinburgh, perth and dundee railway. this railway was in amalgamated with the original north british, which was first authorised in , and extended from edinburgh to berwick. his exceptional ability was soon recognised and his promotion was rapid. he became treasurer of the amalgamated company, and in was appointed its secretary. in this office he rendered great service at a trying time in the company's affairs, and in was rewarded with the position of general manager. the north british railway has had a chequered career, has suffered great changes of fortune, and to mr. walker, more than to any other, is due the stability it now enjoys. on the occasion of his death, the directors officially recorded that, "he served the company with such ability and unselfish devotion as is rarely witnessed; became first secretary and subsequently general manager, and it was during the tenure of these offices that the remarkable development of the company's system was mainly effected." his capacity for work was astounding. he never seemed to tire or to know what fatigue meant. ordinary men are disposed to pleasure as well as to work, to recreation and social intercourse as well as to business, but this was not the case with mr. walker. it must be confessed that he was somewhat exacting with his staff, but his own example was a stimulus to exertion in others and he was well served. one who knew him well, and for many years was closely associated with him in railway work, tells me that his most striking characteristics were reticence, combativeness, concentration and tenacity of purpose, and that his memory and mastery of detail were remarkable. deficient perhaps in sentiment, though in such silent men deep wells of feeling often unsuspectedly exist, he was, by those who served under him, always recognised as fair and just, and no one had ever to complain of the slightest discourtesy at his hands. like lord byron, he was lame from birth, and while this may have affected his character and pursuits, it never, i am told, in business, which indeed was practically his sole occupation, impeded his activity. on the failure of the city of glasgow bank, in , which involved in ruin numbers of people, he lost a considerable fortune. he was a large shareholder of the bank, and the liability of the shareholders was unlimited. he faced his loss with stoical fortitude, as i believe he would have confronted any disaster that life could bring. on a certain day mr. walker came to glasgow by appointment to discuss with mr. wainwright some outstanding matters which they had failed to settle by correspondence. in the afternoon mr. wainwright had an important meeting of his directors to attend. the business with mr. walker was concluded in time, all but one subject, and mr. wainwright asked mr. walker if he would let me go into this with him. without the least hesitation he consented; and he treated me as mr. john burns had done, and discussed the matter with me as if i were on an equal footing. this was the interview that strengthened and confirmed that self-reliance which mr. burns had awakened, and which never afterwards forsook me. great is my debt to scotland and to scotchmen. amongst the most prominent railway men i have met were sir edward watkin, chairman of the south-eastern railway, and the following general managers:--mr. allport, midland, the exalted railway monarch of my early railway days; mr. (afterwards sir) henry oakley, great northern; mr. grierson, great western; mr. underdown, manchester, sheffield and lincolnshire; and mr. (afterwards sir myles) fenton, south eastern. of sir edward watkin a good story was told. when he was general manager of the manchester, sheffield and lincolnshire railway (he was mr. watkin then) many complaints had arisen from coal merchants on the line that coal was being stolen from wagons in transit by engine drivers. nothing so disgraceful could possibly occur, always answered mr. watkin. down the line one day, with his officers at a country station, a driver was seen in the very act of transferring from a coal wagon standing on an outlying siding some good big lumps to his tender. this was pointed out to mr. watkin, who only said--"the d---d fool, _in broad daylight_!" when mr. allport learned that i came from derby, and was the son of an old midland official, he treated me with marked kindness. mr. oakley came in the year to glasgow, where he sat for several days as arbitrator between the glasgow and south-western and caledonian railway companies, on a matter concerning the management, working, and maintenance of kilmarnock station, of which the companies were joint owners, and i learned for the first time how an arbitration case should be conducted, for mr. oakley was an expert at such work. this experience stood me in good stead, when, not many years later, i was appointed arbitrator in a railway dispute in the north of ireland. in the front rank of the railway service i do not remember many beaux. general managers were men too busy to spend much time upon the study of dress. but there were exceptions, as there are to every rule, and sir james thompson, general manager, and afterwards chairman of the caledonian railway, was a notable exception. often, after attending clearing house meetings or parliamentary committees, have i met him in piccadilly, bond street, or the burlington arcade, faultlessly and fashionably attired in the best taste, airing himself, admiring and admired. we always stopped and talked; of the topics of the day, the weather, what a pleasant place london was, how handsome the women, how well dressed the men. at the clearing house we usually sat next each other. i liked him and i think he liked me. do not think he was a beau and nothing more. no, he was a hard-headed scotchman, full of ability and work, and as a railway manager stood at the top of the ladder. next to him sir frederick harrison, general manager of the london and north- western railway, was, i think, the best dressed railway man. both he and sir james were tall, handsome fellows, and i confess to having admired them, perhaps as much for their good looks and their taste and style, as for their intellectual qualities; and i have often thought that men in high positions would not do amiss to pay some attention to old polonius' admonition to his son that, "the apparel oft proclaims the man." in the friends i made i was fortunate too. they included two or three budding lawyers, a young engineer, a banker, a doctor, two embryo hotel managers, an auctioneer, and one or two journalists; and, as i have mentioned before, my artist friend _cynicus_. we were, most of us, friends of each other, met often, and the variety of our pursuits gave zest and interest to our intercourse. first amongst these friends ranked g. g., one of the young lawyers, or _writers_, as they are called in scotland. he was my closest friend. we have not met for many years, but the friendship remains unweakened; for there are things that time the destroyer is powerless to injure. like myself, g. g. comes of the middle class. his parents, like mine, were by no means affluent, but they were scotch and held education in veneration, and were ambitious, as scottish parents are, for their sons. they gave him a university education, and afterwards apprenticed him to the law. he became, and is still, a prosperous lawyer in glasgow. then came j. b., a young lawyer too, who blossomed into the pleasant and important position of senior deputy town clerk of the city of glasgow. he, too, had sprung from the great middle class. well versed in classical lore he was a delightful companion. he had travelled much and benefited by his travels; was a sociable being, exceedingly good-natured, and peered through spectacles as thick as pebbles, being very short-sighted, and without his glasses would scarcely recognise you a yard off. yet he could see into the heart of things as well as most men, for he was a shrewd scotchman, and had a pawky humour. if he possessed a fault it was a love for a game of cards. we played _nap_ in those days, and when a game was on it was hard to get him to bed. he has gone over to the majority now. his sudden death a year ago came as a great blow to his family and a large circle of friends. next to g. g., as intimate friends, came h. h. and f. k. they were in the company's service though not in the railway proper, but connected with the management of the hotel department. of foreign birth, sons of a nation with whom we are now, alas! at war, they were youths of fine education, disposition and refinement, and i became greatly attached to each. h. h. preceded and f. k. followed me to ireland, where he (f. k.) still resides, honoured and respected, as he deserves to be. he and i, throughout the years, have been and are the closest of friends. once, not very long ago, in a grave crisis of my life, when death seemed near, he stood by me with the devotion of a brother. my auctioneer friend (g. f.) was, perhaps, the most interesting man of our circle; certainly he possessed more humour than the rest of us put together. fond of literature, with a talent for writing, he was a regular contributor to the glasgow punch, _the bailie_. but his greatest charms were, his dear innocence, his freshness of mind, his simple inexpensive tastes, his enjoyment of life, and his infectious laugh. in years he was our senior, but in worldly knowledge junior to us all. he lives still and is, i believe, as jocund as ever. another of these glasgow friends i must mention--a poet, and like burns, a son of the soil. his name was alexander anderson. when first i met him he was in the railway service, a labourer on the permanent way, what is called a surfaceman in scotland, a platelayer in england and a milesman in ireland. self taught, he became proficient in french, german and italian, and was able to enjoy in their own language the literature of those countries. a scottish nobleman, impressed by his wonderful poetical talent, defrayed the expenses of a tour which he made in italy and an extended stay in rome, to the enrichment of his mind and to his great enjoyment. on his return to scotland he published a book of poems. in an introduction to this book the revd. george gilfillan wrote, "the volume he now presents to the world is distinguished by great variety of subject and modes of treatment. it has a number of sweet scottish verses, plaintive or pawky. it has some strains of a higher mood, reminding us of keats in their imagination. but the highest effort, if not also the most decided success, is his series of sonnets, entitled, 'in rome.' and certainly this is a remarkable series." a remarkable man he was indeed; simple and earnest in manner, with a fine eye, a full dark beard and sunburnt face. tiring, however, of a labourer's life and of the pick and shovel, he left the railway and became assistant librarian of edinburgh university, and three years afterwards secretary to the philosophical institution of edinburgh. he afterwards became chief librarian to the edinburgh university. he died in the summer of . he stayed with me in glasgow once for a week-end, and on the sunday afternoon we together visited a friend of his who lived near, a literary man, who then was engaged in writing a series of lives of the poets for some publishing house. an interesting part of our conversation was about carlyle with whom this friend was intimate, had in fact just returned from visiting him at chelsea. he told us many interesting stories of the sage. i remember one. he was staying with the carlyles, when mrs. carlyle was alive. one evening at tea, a copper kettle, with hot water, stood on the hob. mrs. carlyle made a movement as if to rise, with her eye directed to the kettle; the friend, divining her wish, rose and handed her the kettle. she thanked him, and, with a pathetic and wistful gaze at carlyle, added, "ay, tam, ye never did the like o' that!" my first trip abroad was in , and my companion, g. g. we went to paris via newhaven, dieppe and rouen, and at rouen stayed a day and a night, and spent about a fortnight in paris. we were accompanied from london by a friend i have not yet named, one who was well known in the railway world, tony visinet, the british engineering and commercial agent of the western railway of france; a delightful companion always, full of the charm and vivacity that belong to his country. he took us to see his mother at rouen, who lived in an old-fashioned house retired from the road, in a pleasant court-yard; a charming old lady, with whom g. g. was able to converse, but i was not. tony visinet's life was full of movement and variety. he had lodgings in london, and a flat in paris, traversed the channel continually, and i remember his proudly celebrating his fifteen hundredth crossing. from childhood i had longed to see something of the world, and this excursion to paris was the first gratification of that wish. paris now is as familiar to me almost as london, but then was strange and new. rouen and its cathedral we first saw by moonlight, a beautiful and impressive sight, idealised to me by the thought that we were in sunny france. little i imagined then how much of the world in later years i should see; but strong desires often accomplish their own fulfilment, and so it came to pass. chapter xiv. terminals, rates and fares, and other matters of course it was right that parliament, when conferring upon the railway companies certain privileges, such as the compulsory acquisition of land and property, should, in the public interest, impose restrictions on their charging powers. no one could reasonably complain of this, and had it been done from the beginning in a clear, logical way, and in language free from doubt, all might have been well and much subsequent trouble avoided. but this was not the case. each company's charging powers were contained in its own private acts (which were usually very numerous) and differed for different sections of the railway. it was often impossible for the public to ascertain the rights of the companies, and well nigh impossible for the companies themselves to know what they were. these powers were in the form of tolls for the use of the railway; charges for the use of carriages, wagons, and locomotive power, and total maximum charges which were less than the sum of the several charges. in the acts no mention was made of terminals, though in some of them power to make a charge for _services incidental to conveyance_ was authorised, and what these words really meant was the subject of much legal argument and great forensic expenditure. in addition to the tolls and charges, the acts usually contained a rough classification of goods to which they applied. these were divided into from three to five classes, and comprised some to articles. the railway companies, however, had in existence, for practical everyday use, a general classification called the railway clearing house classification, and this contained over , articles divided into seven classes. the tolls and charges in the companies' acts were fixed originally in the old belief (to which i have before alluded) that railway companies, like canal companies, would be mere owners of the route; and when they became carriers and provided stations, sidings, warehouses, cranes, and all the paraphernalia appertaining to the business of a carrier, the old form was not altered, the charging powers remained as originally expressed in subsequent acts, and the same old model was followed. for several years prior to complaints by merchants, traders and public bodies against railway rates and fares had become very common. the cry was taken up by the public generally, and railway companies had a decidedly unpleasant time of it, which they bore with that good temper and equanimity which i (perhaps not altogether an unprejudiced witness) venture to affirm generally characterised them. the complaints increased in number and intensity and members of parliament and newspaper writers joined in the jeremiad. parliament, as parliaments do, yielded to clamour, and in a select committee was appointed by the house of commons to inquire into railway charges, into the laws and conditions affecting such charges, and specially into passenger fares. it was a big committee, consisted of members, took pages of evidence, and examined witnesses. at the end of the session they reported that, although they had sat continuously, time had failed for consideration of the evidence, and recommended that the committee be re-appointed in the next session. this was done, and the committee, enlarged to members, took further evidence, and submitted a report to parliament. the gravest issue was the right of the companies to charge terminals, and the committee found that the railways had made out their case, and recommended that the right of the companies to station terminals should be recognised by parliament. further, the committee, on the whole of the evidence, acquitted the railway companies of any grave dereliction of their duty to the public, and added: "it is remarkable that no witnesses have appeared to complain of 'preferences' given to individuals by railway companies as acts of private favour or partiality." as to passenger fares, the committee reported that the complaints submitted to them were rather local than general, and not of an important character, but thought that it might be well for the railway commissioners to have the same jurisdiction in respect to passengers as to goods traffic. the railway companies thus emerged from this searching inquiry with credit, as they have done in the many investigations to which they have been subjected, and no high-minded and aspiring young railway novice need ever blush for the traditions of the service. before the committee mr. james grierson, general manager of the great western, was the principal witness for the railway companies, and yeoman service he rendered. he presented the railway case with great ability, and his views were accepted on the important terminal question. in he published a book on _railway rates_, which was warmly welcomed by the press and, in the words of _herepath's journal_, was "an exhaustive, able, and dispassionate _resume_ of all the conflicting statements, claims, and interests verging round the much vexed question of railway rates." certainly he did much towards the ultimate settlement of the matter. mr. grierson was, perhaps, the ablest witness before parliamentary committees the railway service ever had, which is saying much. a leading counsel, during the luncheon interval, once said to him, "we feel small when we are cross-examining you. you know all about the business, and we can only touch the fringe of it." the great secret of mr. grierson's success was his mastery of, and scrupulous regard for, facts and his straightforwardness. of his book he himself said, "my conclusions may be disputed, but no one shall dispute the facts on which they are based." the committee recommended that parliament, when authorising new lines, or extending the powers of existing companies, should have its attention drawn by some public authority to the proposed, and in the case of existing companies, to the existing rates and fares. they also recommended that one uniform classification of merchandise be established by law; that the court of railway commissioners be made permanent; and that the amalgamation of irish railways be promoted and facilitated. thus the great inquiry ended; but public agitation did not cease. one or two attempts at legislation followed, but from one cause or another, fell through; and it was not until that the subject was seriously tackled by parliament. in that year the _railway and canal traffic act_, of which i shall later on have something to say, was passed. on the appearance of the report in , it was recognised in railway circles that something _must_ happen regarding the eternal rates question, and the companies began to prepare themselves as best they could. it fell upon me to examine the many acts of parliament of the glasgow and south-western railway, to collate the provisions relating to tolls, charges and maximum powers, to compare those powers with actual rates, to work out cost of terminal service, and to draw up a revised proposed scale of maximum conveyance rates and terminal charges. deeply interesting work it was, and led, not very many years afterwards, to unexpected promotion, which i valued much, and about which i shall have more to say. in the year a scotch branch of the railway benevolent institution was established. mr. wainwright was made its chairman, and i was appointed secretary. he and i had for some time urged upon the board in london the desirability of a local committee of management in scotland. the institution had a great membership in england, and was generously helped there in the matter of funds by the public. the subscription payable by members was small, and the benefits it bestowed were substantial; but railway men in scotland looked at it askance: "the board in london kenned little aboot scotland and scotch claims wouldna get vera much conseederation." well, all this was changed by what we did. soon a numerous membership succeeded to the few who on scottish railways had previously joined the institution, and we had much satisfaction in finding that we were able to dispense substantial aid to many old and needy railwaymen and to their widows and orphans. mr. wainwright remained chairman of the branch till his death, and i continued secretary until i left scotland. in , after my return from paris, i grew restless again, with a longing for more responsibility and a larger and freer life; with, perhaps, an admixture of something not so ennobling--the desire for a bigger income. never was i indifferent to the comforts that money can bring, though never, i must confess, was i gifted with the capacity for money making or money saving. the pleasures of life (the rational pleasures i hope) had always an attraction for me. i could never forego them, or forego the expense they involved, for the sake of future distant advantages. what weighed with me, too, was the fact that i was undoubtedly overworked and my health was suffering. it was not that my railway duties proper were oppressive, but the duties as secretary of the railway benevolent institution in scotland added considerably to my office hours, and at home i often worked far into the night writing for the several papers to which i contributed. too much work and too little play was making jack a very dull boy. i envied those officers, such as john mathieson, whose duties took them often out of doors, and gave them the control and management of men. my chief was as kind and considerate as ever, and i confided to him the thoughts that disturbed me. warm-heartedly he sympathised with my feelings. he himself had gone, he said, through the same experience some twenty years before. the prospect of promotion at st. enoch, he agreed, seemed remote; the principal officers, except the engineer, were young or middle-aged; and he himself was in the prime of life. he did not want to lose me, but i must look out, and he would look out too. at last the opportunity came, and it came from ireland. the belfast and county down railway chairman, mr. r. w. kelly, and a director, lord (then mr.) pirrie, were deputed to see half a dozen or so likely young applicants in england and scotland. i was interviewed by these gentlemen in glasgow, was selected for the vacant post of general manager, and in may, , removed with my family to belfast, and entered upon my duties there. lord pirrie is a great shipbuilder of world-wide fame. i was not long at the county down before i discovered his wonderful energy, his marvellous capacity for work, his thoroughness, and keen business ability. i always thought that at our interview at saint enoch he was as much impressed with the order and method which appeared in the office of which i had charge as by anything else. i showed him everything very freely, and remember his appreciation and also his criticism, of which latter, as i afterwards found, he was at times by no means sparing, but if sometimes severe, it was always just and salutary. how little one foresees events. not long had i left glasgow before unexpected changes occurred. in , mr. wainwright took ill and died; soon after mathieson went to queensland; and in less than eight short years three general managers had succeeded mr. wainwright. they were good to me when i left glasgow. i was presented with a valuable testimonial at a banquet at which mr. wainwright presided and at which my good friend, g. g., made a fine speech. it would be idle for me to say that the warm congratulations of my friends, the prospects of change, and the sense of new responsibilities, did not delight and excite me. but a strong measure of regret was mixed with the pleasurable draught. i was greatly attached to my chief, and keenly felt the parting from him. he felt it too. when it came to the last handshake words failed us both. the nestor of the glasgow and south-western railway was andrew galloway, the chief engineer. a nestor he looked with his fine, strong, grave features, abundant hair, and flowing beard. he was a very able engineer, but had many old-fashioned ways, one of which was an objection to anyone but himself opening his letters, and when absent from his office they would at times lie for several days untouched. if remonstrated with he was quite unmoved. he had a theory that most letters, if left long enough unanswered, answered themselves. in me he always showed a fatherly interest, and sometimes chided me for talking too freely and writing too much. his last words when he bade me farewell, and gave me his blessing were, to remember always to think twice before i spoke once. on the very day i was assured of my appointment as general manager for the county down railway i discarded the tall silk hat and the black morning coat, which for some time had been my usual business garb, as it was of many serious-minded aspiring young business men in glasgow. mr. galloway asked me the reason of the change, which he was quick to observe. "well," said i, "i have secured my position, so it's all right now." never since, except in london, have i renounced the liberty i then assumed; the bowler and the jacket suit became my regular business wear, and the other habiliments of severe respectability were relegated to churchgoing, weddings, christenings, and funerals and other formal occasions. chapter xv. further railway legislation in chapter ix., at the outset of my glasgow and south-western service, i reviewed the public acts of parliament passed since the beginning of railways down to the year , and it may not be amiss to notice now the further railway legislation enacted up to . the first measure of importance was the _railway returns (continuous brakes) act_, . the travelling public had for some years been sensitive regarding railway accidents which, though infrequent, nevertheless occurred much oftener then than now, and were more serious in their results. the matter of their reduction began to receive the serious attention of railway engineers and inventors, and among many appliances suggested was the system of continuous brakes. in june, , a great contest of brakes, extending over three days, in which trains of the principal companies engaged, took place on the midland railway between newark and bleasby. a large number of brakes competed--the westinghouse, the vacuum, clarke's hydraulic, webb's chain, and several others. it is recorded that at the conclusion of the trial, each patentee left the _refreshment tent_ satisfied that his own brake was the best; but time is the great arbiter, and _his_ decision has been in favour of two--the automatic vacuum and the westinghouse, and these are the brakes the companies have adopted. the act required all railway companies to submit to the board of trade, twice in every year, returns showing the amount of rolling stock fitted with continuous brakes, the description of brake and whether self-acting and instantaneous in action. so far there was no compulsion upon the railways to use continuous brakes, though most of the companies were earnestly studying the subject, but the rival claims of inventors and the uncertainty as to which invention would best stand the test of time tended to retard their adoption. meanwhile, the publicity afforded by the board of trade returns, and public discussion, helped to hasten events and the climax was reached in , when a terrible accident, due primarily to inefficient brake power, occurred in ireland, and was attended with great loss of life. the board of trade was in that year invested with statutory power to _compel_ railway companies, within a given time, to provide all passenger trains with automatic continuous brakes. in there was also passed the _contagious diseases (animals) act_. foot and mouth disease had for some time been rife in great britain and ireland, and legislation became necessary. the act applied not only to railways but was also directed to the general control and supervision of flocks and herds. it contained a number of clauses concerning transit by rail, and invested the privy council with authority to make regulations, the carrying out of which, as affecting the glasgow and south-western railway, devolved upon me, and for a year or two occupied much of my time. an act to extend and regulate the liability of employers, and to provide for compensation for personal injuries suffered by workmen in their service, came into force in . it was called the _employers' liability act_, and was the first step in that class of legislation, which has since been greatly extended, and with which both employer and employed, are now familiar. that great convenience the _parcel post_, which for the first time secured to the public the advantage of having parcels sent to any part of the united kingdom at a fixed charge, and which seems now as necessary to modern life as the telephone or the telegraph, and as, perhaps, a few years hence, the airship will be, was brought into existence by the _post office (parcels) act_, . under that act it was ordained that the railways of the united kingdom should carry by all trains whatever parcels should be handed to them for transit by the post office, the railway remuneration to be fifty-five per cent. of the money paid by the public. the scheme was a great success. during the first year of its operation the parcels carried numbered over millions, and in the year - (the last published figures) reached millions. the _cheap trains act_, , was passed to amend and consolidate the law relating to (_a_) railway passenger duty, and (_b_) the conveyance of the queen's forces by railway. it did not apply to ireland. passenger duty was never exacted in that happy land. in great britain the act relieved the railway companies from payment of the duty on all fares not exceeding one penny per mile; provided for the running of workmen's trains; and prescribed a scale of reduced fares for the conveyance of her majesty's soldiers and sailors. after this act, and until the year , no further general railway legislation of importance took place. chapter xvi. belfast and the county down railway after eighteen years of railway life, at the age of , i had attained the coveted position of a general manager. of a small railway it is true, but the belfast and county down railway, though unimposing as to mileage, was a busy and by no means an uninteresting line. a railway general manager in ireland was in those days, strange to say, something of a _rara avis_. there were then in the green isle no less than eighteen separate and distinct working railways, varying from four to nearly miles in length, and amongst them all only four had a _general manager_. the system that prevailed was curious. with the exception of these four general managers (who were not on the larger lines) the principal officer of an irish railway was styled _manager_ or _traffic manager_. he was regarded as the senior official, but over the traffic department only had he _absolute_ control, though other important duties which affected more than his own department often devolved upon him. he was, in a sense, maid of all work, and if a man of ability and character managed, in spite of his somewhat anomalous position, to acquire many of the attributes and much of the influence of a real general manager. but the system was unsatisfactory, led to jealousies, weakened discipline, and was not conducive to efficient working. happily it no longer exists, and for some years past each irish railway has had its responsible _general manager_. something that happened, in the year , gave the old system the first blow. in that year a terrible accident to a sunday school excursion of children occurred on the great northern railway near armagh, and was attended with great loss of life. this led the company to appoint a general manager, which they did in june, , thomas robertson, of the highland railway of scotland, of whom i spoke earlier in these pages, being the capable man they selected. curious certainly was the method which up to then prevailed on the great northern system. three different _managers_ exercised jurisdiction over separate sections of the line, and the _secretary_ of the company, an able man, stationed in dublin, performed much more than secretarial duties, and encroached, so i often heard the managers complain, upon their functions. this divided authority was a survival of the time before , when the great northern system belonged to several independent companies; and, in the words of the allport commission of , "its continued existence after ten years could hardly be defended." very pleasant and very interesting i found my new avocation on the county down, which for short the belfast and county down railway was usually called. my salary certainly was not magnificent, pounds a year, but it was about pounds more than the whole of the income i earned in scotland, and now for the pounds i had only my railway work to perform. now i could give up those newspaper lucubrations, which had become almost a burden and daily enjoy some hours of leisure. the change soon benefited my health. instead of close confinement to the office during the day, and drudgery indoors with pen and ink at night, my days were varied with out-door as well as in-door work, and i had time for reading, recreation and social enjoyment. my lean and lanky form filled out, and i became familiar with the greeting of my friends: "why, how well you look!" the county down railway was miles long. situated entirely in county down, it occupied a snug little corner to itself, bounded on the north by belfast lough, on the south by the mourne mountains, and on the east by strangford lough and the irish sea. to the west ran the great northern railway but some distance away. the county down line enjoyed three fine sources of seaside traffic, bangor, donaghadee and newcastle, and was rich in pleasure resorts and in residential districts. it even possessed the attractions of a golf course, the first in ireland, the _kinnegar at holywood_, but more of that anon. as i have said, it was a busy line, and it was not unprosperous. the dividend in reached five and a- half per cent., and in spite of considerable expenditure necessary for bringing the line up to first-class condition, it never went back, but steadily improved, and for many years has been a comfortable six and a- half per cent. in the condition of the permanent way, the rolling stock, and the stations was anything but good, and as the traffic showed capacity for development, to stint expenditure would have been but folly. i do not think, however, the outlay would have been so liberal as it was but for lord (then mr.) pirrie, who was an active and influential director, though there were also on the board several other business men of energy and position. indeed, it was a good board, but the chairman, though a shrewd far-seeing man, had, like john gilpin's spouse, "a frugal mind," and lord pirrie's bold commercial spirit quite eclipsed his cautious ways. one instance will suffice to exemplify this, and also to illustrate the novelty of my new duties, which were delightful in their diversity and activity to one whose life hitherto had been confined to sedentary work. it was the rolling stock that demanded the most urgent attention--engines, carriages and wagons and especially carriages. of carriages there were not enough for the traffic of the line, and many were in a very sorry condition, particularly those which had been taken over with the holywood and bangor railway, acquired by the company the previous year. one weekend, soon after i joined the service, i had all passenger carriages brought into belfast, except those employed in running sunday trains, and early on the sunday morning (it was in the summer) with the company's locomotive and mechanical engineer i examined each carriage thoroughly from top to bottom, inside and out, above and below, and with his practical help and expert knowledge, noted carefully down the defects of each. he worked with a will, delighted that someone as enthusiastic and even younger than himself was now in charge. he little suspected, i am sure, how ignorant i was of practical matters, as i kept my own counsel which was my habit when prudence so dictated. i knew the names of things and was well versed in the theory and statistics of repairs and renewals, but that was all. a fine worker was and is r. g. miller. well over now, healthy and energetic still, he occupies the position he did then. age has not withered nor custom staled his juvenility. i met him on kingstown promenade the other day walking with an elastic step and with the brightness of youth in his eye. the ordinary age-retirement limit, though a good rule generally, was not for him. daylight failed and night came on before our task was finished, several carriages remaining unexamined. these and the sunday running vehicles we subjected to scrutiny during the following week. at the next meeting of the board i presented a report of what i had done, and urged that a number of new carriages should be contracted for without delay, enlarging upon the return we might confidently expect from a responsive traffic. the chairman and most of the board were a little aghast at what appeared, to a small company that had only recently emerged from straitened circumstances, a very large order. but lord pirrie came to the rescue, strongly supported my proposal and commended the thoroughness with which i had tackled the subject. the day was won, the carriages secure, and the order for their construction was placed with a firm in birmingham. this expenditure was the precursor of further large outlays, for it was soon seen that the prospects of the company warranted a bold course. i may, i am sure, be pardoned if i quote here some words from the report of sir james allport's commission on irish public works. it is dated th january, . i had then been less than three years with the county down, and so could claim but a modicum of the praise it contains, and my modesty, therefore, need not be alarmed. the words are: "_the history of the belfast and county down company is sufficient to show how greatly both shareholders and the public may benefit from the infusion into the management of business qualities. in that case a board of business men have in ten years raised the dividend on the ordinary stock from nil to . per cent., while giving the public an improved service and reduced rates_." my satisfaction was the greater as i had given evidence before the commission, and helped to tell them the cheerful story of the progress and development of the county down company. it was my first appearance as a railway witness and before sir james allport, who had commanded my unbounded admiration from my first entrance at derby into railway life. need i say that to me it was an event of importance. in the year the board of the county down, after an investigation of its affairs by a committee of shareholders, was reorganised, and it was then that mr. richard woods kelly became chairman, and lord (then mr.) pirrie a director. the latter has more than once since told me that the county down shares were one of his best investments. mr. kelly merits more than a passing word. before i joined the county down i was told he was a "terror," and that i ran foolish risk in leaving a service like the glasgow and south-western for a position in which i might find it impossible to please. but fears like that never disturbed me. to wrongdoers mr. kelly could certainly be "a terror," and wrongdoers there were, i believe, in the service in the early days of his chairmanship. he was a mild-mannered man, tall, rather pale, with refined features and a low-toned pleasant voice. but beneath this smooth and gentle exterior resided great firmness. he would smile and smile with wonderful imperturbability and, in the quietest tones and the blandest way, say severe and cutting things. economy was his strong point and he observed it in his public and private life with meritorious consistency. impervious to cold, as to most other human weaknesses, in winter or summer he never wore an overcoat. his smooth face and tall slight figure seemed as indifferent to the angry elements as bronze or stone. by man or nature i never saw him ruffled or in the least degree disturbed. but he had his human side, as all men have, and in time i discovered it and grew to like him. he was not at heart so cold as he seemed. though he could not write a page without mis-spelling some of the words, his letters were always concise and very much to the point. but it was only in spelling he was deficient. he spoke well, was a shrewd judge of men, had a keen sense of humour, a clear perception of facts, and was quick to detect and discard everything irrelevant. lord pirrie and mr. kelly, in connection with the county down, were hand and glove, and it was no small part they played in its transformation from dark and dismal poverty to smiling prosperity. my assistant was james pinion, afterwards my successor, and later on manager of the cheshire lines committee at liverpool. being a capable fellow and a hard worker, it was only natural that he felt disappointed at not being made general manager of the county down instead of imported me; but any sign of soreness soon disappeared. the kindness, the consideration and the confidence i had received at mr. wainwright's hands, as his assistant, were not forgotten and i felt pleasure in endeavouring to treat my assistant in the same way. it was not long before its effect appeared. he told me one day that it was a new experience for him to be so frankly trusted and so freely consulted, but it made him happier and imparted a greater zest to his work. certainly he served me with enthusiastic zeal and fine loyalty. throughout a long period of railway management i have been most fortunate in securing the goodwill and ready help of the staff, and in many instances their strong personal attachment. there are men no doubt whose natures are proof against kindness and consideration, but my experience is that they are few and far between. i have found also that if one refrains from fault- finding, gives praise where praise is due, and overlooks small or venial faults, when reproof becomes necessary, if it be temperately administered, it is always effective and productive of good. but even such reproof may be carried too far as on one occasion i found to my dismay. pinion, one forenoon, came into my room to tell me he had discovered that the man in charge of the cloak room was guilty of peculation; had been tampering with the tickets, and appropriating small sums. i sent for him, talked to him very severely, sent him home, and told him he should hear what would be done. an hour later, i heard he was _dead_: that on his way to his home he had purchased a bottle of laudanum and swallowed the contents! in scotland a railway manager was rarely worried by outside interference in the management of his men. well intentioned people either credited him with the possession of good sense and decent feeling, or, themselves resentful of any inter-meddling in their own affairs, refrained from meddling in his. but it was different i found in ireland, even in belfast where scottish traditions and scottish ways were not unknown. exceeding good nature, i suppose, is largely accountable for the readiness with which people in the sister isle espouse, often with little consideration, the cause of any railway employee who has or fancies he has a grievance. a rather ridiculous instance of this occurred soon after my installation at the county down. one of my first duties was to examine the line and the employees at each station. at one small station i found in charge a station master in poor health and well advanced in years--in fact quite beyond his work. i learned that he possessed a small property in land and was quite willing to retire if given a few weeks in which to make his arrangements. this, of course, i gladly granted as well as a little parting gratuity. he was well pleased, and wrote me to that effect. but, to my astonishment, not many days passed before a long and numerously signed memorial to the board arrived beseeching the directors to stay the hand of their general manager in his harsh and unfeeling treatment of a faithful old servant. he was indeed a faithful old servant; but he was quite ignorant of any memorial on his behalf having been sent to the directors. apparently the memorialists did not consider it necessary to consult him. to be now my own master, subject only to the control of a reasonable and businesslike board of directors, a chairman who resided in dublin, visiting belfast once a fortnight only, to have the command of men and the working of a railway, and to be free to move about the line as i thought fit, was a pleasure indeed and made ireland a pleasant place. i lived near the city, but on its outskirts, with open country and sea views around me, occupied a neat little detached house, with a bit of garden wherein i could dig and cultivate a few roses, where the air was pure and clear--a refreshing change from the confinement of a flat, four stairs up, in the crowded environs of smoky glasgow. chapter xvii. belfast and the county down--(continued) during the first few years of my service on the county down little occurred to disturb the even tenor of my way. in a sense the duties of my new position were simple. there were no such things as joint lines, joint station working, running powers or joint committees, as in england and scotland, to distract attention or consume time which could more usefully be devoted to the affairs of one's own railway. gradually i grew familiar with out-door matters, and duties that seemed strange at first grew as easy as second nature. i learned a good deal about signalling, became an adept in single line working, an expert in engine running economies, and attained some success in the management of men. one thing especially gave me pleasure--my monthly visit to the managers' conference at the irish railway clearing house in dublin. there i met my brother managers in the irish railway world, and learned something of the other lines. the leading men at the conference were ilbery, great southern and western; cotton, belfast and northern counties; plews and shaw, great northern; ward, midland great western; and skipworth, manager in ireland of the london and north-western. of all the managers who assembled there i was the youngest, and the greatest personality was edward john cotton. by common consent, he had acted as chairman of the conference from the year . no one had ever dreamed of assuming the position when he was present. this continued till , when tom robertson came on the scene. _he_ was all for change and innovation, and managed to get the principle of formal election to the chairmanship established. many of us thought it was a pity to make the change in cotton's time, but edward john seemed the least concerned of us all, for nothing ever disturbed his good humour. robertson was a veritable hotspur and upset for a time the serenity of our meetings. he was overcharged with energy, and a bachelor. it is my belief that had our genial cotton chosen the stage for a profession he would have found a place among the distinguished actors of his time, if not in tragedy, certainly in comedy. his face, voice, manner and style all proclaimed it. you had only to hear him read in public, which he loved to do, see how natural his dramatic action was, and feel the effect of a mere wave of his hand through his abundant hair, to be convinced of this. in railway circles throughout england, scotland and ireland he was widely known. he attended all railway conferences for he loved movement and travel. shrewd and well-informed, his knowledge was acquired not from books or study but from close observation of passing events and free and friendly intercourse with all whom he met. his railway was very popular and he and it were held in high esteem. easily accessible to all, courteous and reasonable ever, he was in many respects a model railway manager. his success lay not so much in the work he performed himself as in obtaining the best results from those around him, and the capacity to accomplish this is certainly one of the most useful qualities a railway manager, or any man in a position of authority, can possess. it is not too much to say that his staff loved him; certainly they all admired him. he was the readiest man i ever met to generously acknowledge the worth of those who served him, and whenever possible he took occasion to do so in public. [edward john cotton: cotton.jpg] i have spoken previously of the _beaux_ i knew in the higher ranks of the railway service but, strange to say, omitted to mention edward john who, in some respects outshone all others. his coat may not have been cut by a west-end tailor, his hat may not have been a lincoln bennett, or his necktie the latest production of burlington arcade, but who could wear a tall white hat with a black band, with the least little rakish tilt, and a light grey frock coat with a rose in the buttonhole, with such an air and grace as he? he appreciated keenly all the good things that life can give and loved his fellow men. _pax vobiscum_, kind, warm-hearted edward john! you were an ornament to the railway world and always my friend. it was cotton and his chairman, the right hon. john young, who put in my way my first arbitration case, to which i have in a previous chapter alluded. this, as far as i remember, occurred in . a dispute had arisen between the northern counties company and a small railway company whose line they worked, concerning, i think, the payment for and use of some sidings. i conducted the proceedings of course with the greatest of care, attended, perhaps, with a little trepidation, summoned every possible witness to appear before me, and visited in state the _locus_. edward john was, i think, a little amused. much older than i he had long since passed through these youthful phases. i issued my award, with the usual result that while each party was fairly well pleased neither was altogether satisfied. i was proud of my _debut_ as an arbitrator, especially as it was rewarded by, what seemed to me then, a very handsome fee. in january, , an incident that is worth narrating occurred. in my office a new junior clerk was required. an advertisement in the newspapers produced a large number of applications, and about a dozen of the applicants were selected to be seen, one after the other, by pinion and myself. before lunch one day we interviewed half a dozen or so. returning together from lunching in the city, as we neared the station, pinion drew my attention to a youth who was evidently making for the railway premises. said i to pinion: "if that youth is one of the candidates, i'll be surprised if he's not the boy for us." it was only a back view we had of him, but he held himself so well, walked so briskly, looked so neat, smart, and businesslike that he arrested attention. that boy, charles a. moore, then fresh from school and just fifteen, is now general manager of the railway! it was in , too, that i first met walter bailey, between whom and myself a friendship sprung up which grew in depth and sincerity as time went on, lasted for thirty years, and was only terminated by his lamented death in january, . the friendship thus formed yielded much pleasure and happiness to me and, i think i may safely say, also to my departed friend. bailey, who was about my own age, came to ireland from the south- eastern railway, soon after my settlement in belfast, to fill the position of accountant to the belfast and northern counties railway. two young englishmen, landed in ireland, engaged in the same sort of business, in the same city, would naturally gravitate towards each other but, more than this, what made us such intimate friends were, tastes in common, similarity of views, especially concerning railway affairs, a mutual liking for literary matters, and--well, other less definable things that form the foundation of all true friendships. throughout our long intimacy we often took counsel together on subjects of mutual interest, but it was i who sought his advice and help much oftener than he sought mine, for he was cleverer than i. indeed in the whole railway world i never met an intellect so quick, or so clear and luminous as his. bailey was the most unselfish man i ever knew; the readiest to help others. his pen, his remarkable stores of knowledge, and his spare time too, were always at the service, not only of his friends, but often of those who were scarcely more than mere acquaintances. the amount of work which he cheerfully imposed upon himself in this way was astounding and never was it done grudgingly or half-heartedly, but always promptly and generously. it afforded him a pleasure that only one endowed as he could feel. this part of him was often the subject of talk with those of us who knew him well. but what charmed _me_ most, more even than his brilliant mental gifts, were the sweetness of his disposition and his quaintly quizzical and happy humour. ambition was not strong in him, was in fact all but absent, and he often rallied me on mine. he never in all his life asked for any improvement in salary or position; but, in spite of his inveterate modesty, rose high, became chief accountant of the midland railway of england and, i should say, the leading railway accountant in the united kingdom. on railway matters he was a writer of great skill, and all he wrote was enlivened with the happiest humour. to the _railway news_ he was a valued contributor, and in railway polemics a master. [walter bailey: bailey.jpg] the director on the county down with whom i became most intimate was the right honourable (then mr.) thomas andrews. he was brother to judge andrews; brother-in-law of lord pirrie; became chairman of the company; was made a privy councillor; a deputy lieutenant of down; high sheriff of that county and president of this and that, for he was a man of ability and character, but simple in mind and manners as the best men mostly are. eloquent in speech, warm-hearted and impulsive, he found it difficult to resist a joke, even at the expense of his friend. in april, , he wrote me: "i hope you were not at all annoyed at my pleasantries to mr. pinion. i am not exactly one of those men who would rather lose a friend than a joke, but i find it hard to resist a joke when a good opportunity presents itself. i am bound to say that i would be sorry to annoy you, by a jest or in any other way." his temper was lively but though quickly roused soon subsided, and he never harboured resentment. at the conclusion of the very first board meeting i attended as general manager at the county down, he followed me into my room, complimented me on the way i had discussed the business of the day, and added: "i'm sure you'll be successful in ireland for you have the _suaviter in modo_ combined with the _fortiter in re_." it was a pretty compliment, and sincere i knew, for no one could meet him without recognising his frank outspoken nature. on the threshold of my new work such encouragement greatly cheered me and increased my determination to do my best. until his death, not long ago, we often corresponded on railway and other matters, and he was always my staunch friend. he had a taste, too, for poetry which we sometimes discussed. the _thomas andrews_, who went down with the _titanic_ in the north atlantic, on the th april, , was his son, the story of whose short but strenuous life, and its tragic end, is told in a little book written by shan f. bullock. sir horace plunkett wrote an introduction to it, in which he says: "he was one of the noblest irishmen ulster has produced in modern times, to whom came the supreme test in circumstances demanding almost superhuman fortitude and self-control. there was not the wild excitement of battle to sustain him; death had to be faced calmly in order that others--to whom he must not even bid farewell--might live." a few minutes before the end, so it is recorded, on the boat deck of the _titanic_, the grandest sight of him was seen, as he stood with wonderful calm, throwing overboard deck chairs to those who were struggling in the water below. he had no thought of himself, but only of duty and of others. then came the end: the _titanic_, with a low long slanting dive went down and with her thomas andrews. he was only , but had attained the high position of a managing director of the great firm of harland and wolff. i knew him as a boy, manly, handsome, high-spirited, clever--"the father of the man." that this terrible tragedy shortened the life of _his_ father is certain. in , and again in , bailey and i took our holidays together, visiting normandy, paris, belgium, holland and the rhine, doing a great deal of walking, which he liked as much as i. he was the prince of travelling companions, always gay and sprightly, and spoke french with great fluency. his happy disposition, unfailing good humour, and keen enjoyment of everything, even of the occasional discomforts that arose, as in travelling discomforts will arise, especially when funds are not too plentiful, made every hour of our holiday enjoyable. he had the happy gift of seeing always the humorous and the best side of things. he acted as paymaster on our tours and presented with great regularity records of our joint expenditure with the neatness and accuracy of the perfect accountant. never a pipe smoker, he had no special interest in pipes, but to me the happiness of our first holiday was increased by the colouring of a new meerschaum. in this delightful art i was a disciple of samuel swarbrick, though i needed not, as he did, the services of another in the early stages of the colouring process. whoever has been the votary of a meerschaum will understand the pride with which i frequently displayed my pipe and its deepening colour to bailey, often to his great amusement i must admit. in a hotel in the city of antwerp, where we stayed for several days, we occupied adjoining bedrooms having a communicating door. one night, towards early morn, but before daylight had dawned, i was suddenly awakened out of a sound sleep, and to my astonishment saw bailey with lighted candle standing by my bedside, with a serious look on his face. "great scott! what's the matter?" i exclaimed. "_my dear boy, i can't sleep; do let me see your pipe_," he answered. with such like pleasantries he beguiled the happy times we spent together. in these years i had another pleasure: i learned to ride, taking lessons in horsemanship at a riding school in belfast. i soon acquired a firm seat, and my good friend h. h. (who was a practised horseman, and then lived in belfast too) and i had many delightful rides in the beautiful country around the city. for many years, so far as opportunity and means allowed, i indulged myself in this best of all exercises. chapter xviii. railway rates and charges, the block, the brake, and light railways until the autumn of nothing occurred to disturb the even tenor of my way, and i pursued in peace my daily work at the county down. it was interesting work and pleasant to become personally acquainted with the customers of the company, many of whom lived in towns and villages some distance from the railway, and to gain their good will. it was interesting and also satisfactory to gradually establish an improved and efficient train service and to watch the traffic expand. it was exhilarating to engage in lively competition with carriers by road who, for short distance traffic, keenly competed with the railway. it was good to introduce economies and improvements in working, and gratifying to do what one could to help and satisfy the staff--a thing, i need scarcely say, much easier to accomplish then than now. and so the time passed until august, , when the railway world was deeply moved by the introduction of the _railway and canal traffic act_. this act was the outcome of the report of the select committee of , before which mr. james grierson gave such weighty evidence. one of the most important measures parliament ever passed, it imposed on railway companies an amount of labour and anxiety, prolonged and severe, such as i hope they may not have to face again. the act, as i have stated before, altered the constitution of the railway commission, and also effected minor alterations in the law relating to railways and canals, but its main purpose was the revision of maximum rates and charges. it ordered each company to prepare a revised classification of goods and a revised schedule of maximum rates, and submit them to the board of trade, who, after considering objections lodged against them, were to agree (if they could) with the companies upon a classification and schedule for adoption; and if they failed, to determine a classification and schedule themselves. public sittings at westminster, edinburgh and dublin, occupying days, took place, but no agreement was reached; and in their report to parliament the board of trade embodied a revised classification and a standard schedule of maximum rates for general adoption. the schedule included terminals. in accordance with the act, it then became necessary for this revised classification and schedule to be confirmed by parliament. against them petitions were lodged by both railways and traders, and the whole matter was referred to a joint committee of both houses. this committee sat in from april till july; but it was not until january, , that all was completed and the revised classification and the new rates brought into force. little time was afforded to the companies for their part of the work. the whole system of rates was changed. new rates had to be calculated on the new scale; thousands of rate books had to be compiled, and millions of rates altered and revised. it was a colossal task; impossible of fulfilment in the time allowed. the application of the new schedule forcibly reduced many rates, inflicting much loss upon the companies, and because the companies advanced other rates (within the limits of the new maximum powers of course) to meet this loss, or to meet it to some extent, a storm of abuse arose and swept across the land. a trader from berwick-on-tweed, more frank than most, wrote the following "characteristic" letter as it was called at the time:-- "what we want is to have our fish carried at _half_ present rates. we don't care a --- whether it pays the railways or not. railways ought to be made to carry for the good of the country, or they should be taken over by the government. that is what all traders want and mean to try to get." perhaps they would not be happy if they got it! in his clear, and most interesting book _railways and their rates_, my friend edwin a. pratt says this letter was quoted in the report which the board of trade made to parliament after their days' inquiry. the railway companies announced that the new rates were in no sense final, that the time allowed them was insufficient for proper revision, that they would give an assurance that no increase would be made that would interfere with trade or agriculture or diminish traffic and that, unless under exceptional circumstances, no increase would in any case exceed per cent. but all was in vain, and parliament passed an act which provided that any increase whatever (though within the limits of the new statutory maximum) if complained of, should be heard and decided upon by the railway commissioners, and that the onus of proving the reasonableness of the increase should rest on the railway company. sir alexander (then mr.) butterworth, in his book on _the law relating to maximum rates and charges on railways_, published in , says this remarkable result is presented: that parliament, "after probably the most protracted inquiry ever held in connection with proposed legislation, decided that certain amounts were to be the charges which railway companies should for the future be entitled to make, and in apparently accepted the suggestion that many of the charges, sanctioned after so much deliberation, were unreasonable, and enacted that to entitle a company to demand them, it should not be sufficient that the charge was within any limit fixed by an act of parliament." thus parliament, yielding to popular clamour, stultified itself, and in feverish haste to placate an angry and noisy public tied the hands of the railway companies, doing, i believe, more harm than good. this legislation naturally made the companies very cautious in reducing a rate because of the difficulties to be encountered should circumstances require them to raise it again, and railway rates thus lost that element of elasticity and adaptability so essential to the development of trade. many a keen and enterprising business man have i heard lament the restrictions that parliament imposed and declare that such interference with the freedom of trade was short- sighted in the extreme and bad for the country. immediately after the passing of the act of the railway companies vigorously attacked the work imposed upon them. a special meeting on the subject was held at the irish railway clearing house in dublin for the purpose of preparing a revised classification and schedule of rates. this was a rare opportunity for me and i eagerly availed myself of it. before i left glasgow it will be remembered i had been entrusted with an examination of the statutory charging powers of the glasgow and south- western company, and with the drawing up of a suggested scale of maximum rates. no similar work had yet been done in ireland, and it was altogether new to the irish companies. i produced copies of the statements which i had prepared in glasgow, and they served as a basis for what had to be done, saved much time and trouble and gained for me no little _kudos_. but more than this resulted. as i have hinted before, and as will hereafter appear, this bit of glasgow work led to my promotion to a greater charge than the busy little county down, which though i loved it well, i had begun to feel i was now outgrowing. many other meetings at the clearing house followed in which i took part with increasing confidence, and in which walter bailey also prominently figured. he and i were hand and glove. cotton, who soon discovered that bailey was an authority on the subject, as indeed he was on most railway matters, was not slow to profit by his knowledge and ability. he brought him to all our meetings, and valuable was the help that bailey gave. in there came into operation the _regulation of railways act_. it invested the board of trade with power to order any company to adopt block working, to interlock all points and signals, and to use on all trains carrying passengers automatic continuous brakes. before issuing the order the board consented to hear any representations which the railways desired to make. the smaller companies, upon which the expenditure involved would press very hardly, and the circumstances of whose traffic seemed scarcely to require the same elaborate precautions for safety in working as the bigger and more crowded systems, banded together and waited on the board of trade. upon me devolved the duty of presenting the case for the smaller irish companies, and upon conacher, of the cambrian, for the smaller english lines. how finely conacher spoke i well remember. he had an excellent voice, possessed in a high degree the gift of concise and forcible expression, and his every word told. but our eloquence accomplished little--some small modification regarding mixed trains, and that was all. many of the lines in ireland serving districts where population is scanty, traffic meagre, and trains consequently infrequent, could well have been spared the costly outlay which the act involved. three or four trains each way per day represent the train service on many of these small railways, and some of the sections of the larger lines warrant little more. take, for instance, the case of the midland great-western. on out of its miles not more than six trains each way in the hours are required, and they could probably be reduced without hurting anyone. these figures relate not to the exceptional war time in which i pen these lines, when stern necessity has sweepingly reduced the train service, but to pre-war days when normal conditions prevailed. half a dozen trains each way per day! in england there are as many, or more, in the hour! the act of also dealt with the working hours of railway men whose duty involved the safety of trains or passengers, and required each company to make periodical returns of those employed for longer hours than were to be named from time to time by the board of trade; and it contained further a useful clause to the effect that the fares were in future to be printed on passenger tickets. i should not be surprised if this simple little clause has not brought more real satisfaction to the minds and hearts of the people of the british isles than all the laboured legislation on railway rates and charges. in the year a great fillip was given to the extension of railways in ireland by the passing of the _light railways (ireland) act_. it was familiarly known as "balfour's act." mr. balfour was then chief secretary of ireland, and it was due to him that it was passed. the act was designed "to facilitate the construction of light railways in ireland," and embodied various recommendations of the allport commission. it was the first introduction of the principle of state aid by free money grants. such aid was conditional upon the light railway being constructed or worked by an existing railway company, except in cases where the baronies guaranteed dividends upon a portion of the capital. the amount which the treasury was authorised to grant was , pounds. in this was increased by a further sum of , pounds, and both were, in addition to a capital sum, represented by , pounds per annum which had been granted under previous legislation. under this act and acts of and , over miles, comprising separate lines, were constructed at a total cost, exclusive of what the railway companies contributed, of , , pounds, of which the government contribution was , , pounds. although the lines were promoted under light railway acts, and the government grants were based upon light railway estimates, parliamentary power was obtained to construct, maintain, and work them as other than light railways. this was taken advantage of by some of the working companies who, in eight instances contributed themselves a considerable amount of capital, in order that the lines should be made sound and substantial, of the usual gauge, and such as could be worked by the ordinary rolling stock of the company. the midland great-western, for instance, so expended no less than , pounds of their capital on "balfour lines" in the west. it was a spirited thing to do. of the miles of "light" railways, made under the and subsequent acts, were constructed on the ordinary gauge of the country, feet inches, and the remainder on a -foot gauge. several light railway or tramway acts were passed in ireland between and , under which miles of light railways at a cost of , , pounds were constructed. with the exception of the small sum of , pounds, the interest on the whole of this capital was guaranteed by the baronies, the treasury repaying the baronies one-half but not to exceed two per cent. the lines constructed under "balfour's act" are situated mostly in connemara, kerry, mayo and donegal, serving districts remote and thinly populated, where as commercial ventures they could not have been projected. that they have proved to be of great benefit to the country is beyond question. they have developed fishing and agriculture, and have brought the tourist into districts little visited before. live stock and farm produce are able to reach their market, and places before isolated are in touch with the outer world. one of the first of the railways made under the act was a short line of miles from the county down line at downpatrick to the little fishing village of ardglass. it stood first on the list of lines recommended for construction in the report of the allport commission. primarily it was intended for the development of the herring traffic which for years had abounded on the coast, but no sooner was the line opened, than that perverse migratory fish sought other seas, and did not return to ardglass for i don't know how long. the promotion of the ardglass railway, and the steps necessary for obtaining an order in council for its construction and working, familiarised me with the light railway legislation of ireland, with which in subsequent years i was often concerned. in the autumn of , in company with mr. jackson (afterwards lord allerton), then secretary of the treasury, mr. andrews and other directors of the county down, i visited ardglass. under the new act the treasury, in connection with the projected railway construction, held the purse strings, and the treasury, so far as we were concerned, was mr. jackson. we of the county down were keen on getting the line sanctioned, and were very anxious concerning mr. jackson's visit. he was a man who drove a hard bargain, so it was said. certainly he was an able man, and i greatly admired him that day. later in life, when he was lord allerton, and chairman of the great northern railway of england, i met him again and liked him well. in there were no _light railways_ in great britain, or practically none. except in ireland they are of modern growth. what really constitutes a light railway it is not easy to say. commonly it is thought to be a matter of gauge, but that is not so. mr. acworth says: "such a definition is in the nature of things impossible," but that, "a light railway must be something simpler and cheaper than an ordinary railway." mr. cole says that "the natural demand for a definition must he frankly met with the disappointing reply that a hard and fast definition, at once concise, exact, and comprehensive is not forthcoming, and that a partial definition would be completely misleading." as such authorities are unable to furnish a definition i shall not attempt it, and will content myself with suggesting that the most recognisable feature of a _light_ railway is its _light_ traffic. chapter xix. golf, the diamond king, and a steam-boat service thought not a golfer myself, never having taken to the game in earnest, or played on more than, perhaps, twenty occasions in my life, i may yet, i think, in a humble way, venture to claim inclusion amongst the pioneers of golf in ireland, where until the year it was unknown. in the autumn of that year the right honourable thomas sinclair, dr. collier, of "british history" fame, and mr. g. l. baillie, a born golfer from scotland, all three keen on the game, set themselves in belfast to the task of establishing a golf club there. they succeeded well, and soon the belfast golf club, to which is now added the prefix _royal_, was opened. the ground selected for the links was the _kinnegar_ at holywood, and on it the first match was played on st. stephen's day in . that was the beginning of golf in ireland. mr. baillie was the secretary of the club till the end of , when a strong desire to extend the boundaries of the royal game in the land of his adoption led him to resign the position and cast around for pastures new. portrush attracted him, engaged his energies, and on the th may, , a course, which has since grown famous, was opened there. about this time i made his acquaintance and suggested newcastle, the beautiful terminus of the county down railway, as another likely place. on a well remembered day in december, , he accompanied me there, and together we explored the ground, and finished up with one of those excellent dinners for which the lessee of our refreshment rooms and his capable wife (mr. and mrs. lawrence) were famous, as many a golfer i am sure, recollects. mr. baillie's practised eye saw at once the splendid possibilities of newcastle. like myself, he was of an enthusiastic temperament, and we both rejoiced. i remembered the shekels that flowed to the coffers of the glasgow and south-western from the prestwick and troon golf courses on their line, and visions of enrichment for my little railway rose before me. very soon i induced my directors to adopt the view that the railway company must encourage and help the project. this done the course was clear. they were not so sanguine as i, but they had not lived in scotland nor seen how the royal game flourished there and how it had brought prosperity to many a backward place. mr. baillie's energy, with the company's co-operation to back it, were bound to succeed, and on the rd march, , with all the pomp and ceremony suitable to the occasion (including special trains, and a fine luncheon given by the directors of the company) the golf links at newcastle, co. down, were formally opened by the late lord annesley. from that time onward golf in ireland advanced by leaps and bounds. including newcastle, there were then in the whole country, only six clubs and now they number one hundred and sixty-eight! the county down railway company's splendid hotel on the links at newcastle, with its rooms, and built at a cost of , pounds, i look upon as the crowning glory of our golfing exploration on that winter day in . to construct such a hotel, at such a cost, was a plucky venture for a railway possessing only miles of line, but the county down was always a plucky company, and the right honourable thomas andrews, its chairman, to whom its inception and completion is chiefly due, was a bold, adventurous and successful man. another experience somewhat removed from ordinary railway affairs that helped to enliven the latter part of my time on the county down, and added variety to the work imposed by the railway and canal traffic act and the revision of rates and charges, was a project in which i became engaged connected with the isle of man. joseph mylchreest was a manxman, a rough diamond but a man of sterling worth. he left home when young and worked first as a ship's carpenter. an adventurous spirit led him to seek his fortune in various parts of the world--in the goldfields of california and australia and in the silver mines of peru and chili. later on he went to south africa, where in the diamond mines he met with great success and made a large fortune. his property there he disposed of to cecil rhodes, and it now, i am told, forms part of the de beers consolidated company's assets. in the late eighties he returned to his native island, settled at peel, and became a magnate there. one afternoon early in the year two gentlemen from the isle of man called upon me at my office. they were mr. mylchreest (the "_diamond king_") and a lawyer friend whose name i forget, but i remember they informed me they were both members of the house of keys. mr. mylchreest was anxious to do something to develop the little port of peel, his native town, and a steamboat service between peel and belfast, bangor or donaghadee, seemed to him and his friends a promising project. what did the county down think? would either bangor or donaghadee be better than belfast? if so, would my company join in and to what extent? we had no power to expend money in steamboat enterprise, but i assured them we would do all we could to help in other ways, and that bangor was the port to select. my directors heartily approved and other interviews followed. once, i had hurriedly to go over to peel to meet mr. mylchreest and his lawyer, on a certain day, as some hitch had arisen, and by this time i was desperately keen on getting the steamboat service started. the only way of reaching peel in time was by a collier steamer, belonging to the east downshire coal co., which plied between dundrum on the co. down coast, and whitehaven; the manager of the company was my friend, and would allow the steamer to drop me at peel. it was a memorable crossing, the weather was _bad_ and so was i. but my journey was successful, and soon the peel and north of ireland steamship company, limited, in which the "_diamond king_" was much the largest shareholder, was established, and on the th june, , the first voyage was made from peel to bangor. it was a great event for the quiet little town of peel. mr. mylchreest had invited all his friends to the inaugural service, in addition a good number of the public travelled, and the steamer arrived at bangor with nearly passengers on board. on the return voyage from bangor to peel the same evening the "_diamond king_" gave a great dinner, champagne and speeches freely flowed, and music and dancing enlivened the proceedings. the service prospered for a time, but the traffic did not reach expectations. ultimately it was taken over by the isle of man steampacket coy., and after a few years discontinued. little more remains to be told of my five and a-half years' sojourn in the north of ireland. they were pleasant and profitable years for mind and body. with health improved, experience gained in _practical_ railway work, knowledge acquired by personal contact with men of all sorts and conditions, i felt strong and confident, ready for anything, and, like micawber, longed for something to turn up. early in october, , walter bailey and i took our second continental holiday together. we re-visited paris, but spent most of our three weeks in a tour through belgium, finishing up at brussels. when we reached london i received a letter from my friend, w. r. gill, secretary of bailey's railway, the belfast and northern counties. it was to tell me that the position of manager of the midland great western railway of ireland had become vacant, and suggested that i should return home by way of dublin and call upon the chairman of the company, sir ralph cusack, in regard to the succession. now something _had_ turned up, and bailey declared i was as good as appointed. at dinner that night we indulged in a bottle of sparkling wine--in nothing meaner would my warm-hearted friend drink success to the prospect that had so unexpectedly opened before me. the midland great western was the third largest railway in ireland, nor, in the matter of length of line, was there very much between the three. the great southern and western consisted of miles, the great northern , and the midland great western , nearly seven times as long as the county down. no wonder i felt elated. how it all came about was in this way. skipworth, the london and north- western manager in ireland, was on very friendly terms with sir ralph cusack, and sir ralph had a high opinion of his judgment. he consulted skipworth about a manager and asked if he knew any railway man in ireland, not too old, who would do. said skipworth, "tatlow of the county down. he has shown up remarkably well at the clearing house over this terrible railway and canal traffic act, and seems to know all about it." and so i was appointed, and thus it was that the bit of work in glasgow, of which i have spoken more than once, brought me this substantial promotion. my friend gill not long before had left the service of the midland great western, where he was assistant secretary, to become secretary of the belfast and northern counties railway, and when sir ralph wrote to him about me he valiantly backed up skipworth's fine recommendation. skipworth was himself for several years manager of the midland great western. he gave up the post when he joined the london and north-western as their irish manager. it is good for a man to have friends, and i have been fortunate throughout my life in possessing many. in december, , i left the county down to enter upon my duties as manager of the midland great western. the county down directors, at their board meeting on the th of that month, passed a minute recording their "high appreciation of the ability with which he" (my humble self) "has discharged his duties as general manager," adding that "his uniform courtesy, tact and judgment, added to his strict sense of honour, secured him the confidence of the board." need i say that i was proud of this testimonial, and as pleased as proud, because it went on to wish me success in my new duties, where i would "have a wider field for the exercise of my talents," and begged my "acceptance of a cheque as a mark of regard." this was better than the _walking stick_ with which a certain railway officer, who was not too popular with his staff, was, it is said, presented by them, when he left for a bigger post on another line. chapter xx. the midland great western railway of ireland i had now completed one half of my active railway life; reached the age of ; and, no longer a rolling stone, was settled in the service of a company with which i was destined to remain for the rest of my railway career. that my aspirations were satisfied i do not pretend, for ambition forbade any settled feeling of rest or content. happily, my nature inclined to the sunny side and disappointments never spoiled my enjoyment of life or marred the pleasure i found in my daily work. my friend, edward john cotton, who, like myself, was an imported englishman, had, like me, indulged in dreams of going back to england to fill some great railway post, but he had reached his sixties and his dreams were over. often, when we talked familiarly together, he would say: "joseph, if you aspire to be a general manager in england you ought never to have come to ireland. they don't think much on the other side of irish railways or irish railway men." this, i daresay, was true, though he, well known, liked and admired as he was, ought to have been considered an exception, and why no british railway company, when posts were going, ever snapped him up is hard to say. later on, even i, once or twice narrowly escaped obtaining a good thing on the english side of the channel, but it never _quite_ came off, and so i was left to make myself as happy as i could in ireland. perhaps it was as well. railway life in ireland, though not highly remunerated, had its compensations as most situations in life have. there the pressure of work was less constant and severe than in england. a railway manager was not confined to crowded cities, and enjoyed more breathing space. when he travelled on his line he came in contact with bucolic interests instead of the whirring wheels of trade. time moved more slowly, greater leisure prevailed, the climate was softer, the country greener, manners easier, and more wit and humour abounded. yes, on the whole, i was more fortunate than had my ambitious hopes been realised to the full. at least i think so now; and, as hamlet says, "there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." one immediate advantage i gained by entering the midland great western service. until then i had no chance of joining a superannuation fund. the glasgow and south-western had none, neither had the county down; but the midland great western was a party to the clearing house superannuation corporation, and of it i became a member. the midland great western, as i have said, is the third largest railway in ireland. it stretches from the liffey to the atlantic, serves the plains of meath, the wilds of connaught, and traverses large expanses of bog. galway, sligo, westport, athlone and mullingar are the principal towns on its system. when i became its manager, sir ralph cusack had been chairman of the railway for nearly a quarter of a century and was in his sixty-ninth year. he attended daily in his office, devoting much time to the company's affairs. although my position was not all i could have wished in the matter of that wide authority i coveted, and which, in my humble opinion, every railway manager should possess, it was in many respects very satisfactory, and every lot in life has its crumpled rose leaf. sir ralph regarded me as an _expert_, which, notwithstanding all his long experience as chairman, he did not himself pretend to be, and _railway experts_ he held in high esteem. he supported me consistently, permitting no one but himself to interfere with anything i thought it right to do. i did not, to be sure, always get my own way, but i accomplished much, and, what i cared for most, was able to do good work for the company. enthusiasm for one's work is a splendid thing, and so is loyalty to one's employers. i make no boast of possessing these, for they were common property; they permeated the railway service and inspired the youngest clerk as well as his chief. sometimes in these latter days i imagine such things are changed, though i would like to think it is only an old man's fancy, as it was in the case of the dear old dubliner, who in his time had been a beaux and had reached his eightieth year. one sunny forenoon when airing himself in a fashionable street of the city, he was met by another old crony, who accosted him with:-- "well, old friend, how are you this morning?" "oh, very well, thanks, quite well, only--" he responded. "only what?" asked his friend. "only the pavements are harder and the girls are not so pretty as they used to be," he replied with a whimsical look of regret in his face and a twinkle in his still bright eye. sir ralph was a man of striking appearance, tall and imposing in figure. his head was massive and fine. his full beard was snowy white, as white as his abundant hair which was of a beautifully soft silky texture, with a sheen like satin. his voice was low and at times not very distinct. this was disappointing as his conversation was always interesting, not only for its intrinsic value, but also by reason of his charmingly varied and copious vocabulary, and his perfectly balanced phrases. naturally and without the least effort the aptest words sprang to his lips in perfect order and sequence. his letters, too, were always exceedingly well expressed. he wrote a neat, sloping, rather flowing and somewhat old-fashioned hand, which greatly resembled the writing of beau brummell, and, like the illustrious beau's, his numerals, which is rare nowadays, were very clearly and very beautifully formed. the prince of beaux was fastidious in his penmanship as in everything else. sir ralph's half- yearly speeches to the shareholders, though delivered extempore, were models of perspicuity. he used the scantiest notes, mere headings of subjects, and a few scraps of paper containing figures which he usually remembered without their aid. of his memory he was proud. one day, at a meeting of the board, after recalling particulars of some old transaction which no one else could in the least recollect, he turned to me and said: "well, tatlow, you see i sometimes remember something." i rejoined: "well, sir ralph, my only complaint is that you never forget anything." the little compliment pleased him. never in his whole life, he said, had he written out a speech, and hoped he never would, but he lived to do so once. as he advanced in years his voice grew weaker, and on the last occasion on which he presided at a meeting of shareholders, he wrote his speech, or partly wrote it and, at his request, i read it to the meeting. reported verbatim his addresses read as though they had been composed and written with the utmost care, so precise and correct was the language and so consecutive the matter. though few could hope to do so well as he, i have always thought that in addressing shareholders, railway chairmen might trust less to formally prepared speeches and more to their powers of extemporaneous exposition. some chairmen do this i know, but others still read from manuscript. however able the matter, the reading, in my judgment, is much less effective than the spontaneous expression of the speaker. the atmosphere created by the meeting, often a valuable adjunct, cannot be taken advantage of when the speech is read, nor can the chance of improvising a telling point, of enforcing an argument, or of seizing a passing mood of the audience or some fleeting incident of the moment. sir ralph was made a director of the midland great western company in , and a year later was elected chairman, a position he occupied for the long period of years. in the railway was in a very bad condition, wretchedly run down, and woefully mismanaged. indeed, according to an official report at the time, worse than mismanagement existed. it was stated: "there were grave charges of official corruption which necessitated the retirement of one of the leading officers from the company's service." this was very exceptional in railway history, for british and irish railways possess a record that has rarely been sullied. in my long career i only remember two other instances--one, the famous _redpath_ fraud (a name not inappropriate for one whose destiny it was to tread a road that led to his ruin) on the great northern in , which sir henry (then mr.) oakley greatly assisted in discovering, and which, i believe, led to his first substantial advancement; the other on the belfast and northern counties in . this was in edward john cotton's time, but it would be superfluous to say that _he_ was clear of blame for he was integrity itself. that the occurrence could have happened during his management distressed him greatly i know. [sir ralph cusack: cusack.jpg] when he was elected to the office of chairman, sir ralph, it is said, accepted the position on the understanding that he should have autocratic power. in the task he undertook this was very likely desirable, and once acquired he was not the man to let such power slip from his grasp. his strong hands would firmly retain whatever they wished to hold. in no less than directors _adorned_ the midland great western board, twice too many no doubt the chairman thought for a railway of miles. in they were reduced to ; in to ; since when they have never numbered more. during the long period of sir ralph's occupancy of the chair no deputy chairman existed. the chairman reigned alone. that he was an _autocratic_ chairman, his brother directors, were they now living, would i am sure attest. but though a strong, it was a beneficent sway that he exercised. he could be hard at times, but his nature was essentially kind and generous and his friendships numerous and lasting. he prided himself on his knowledge of the railway staff, down to the humblest member. he had strong likes and dislikes, and those who came under his displeasure had sometimes cause to fear him; but they were amongst the few, and the many remember him with nothing but the kindest feelings. to me he was always a warm and sincere friend, and between us existed, without interruption, the greatest frankness and confidence. how wonderfully adaptable a creature is man. i had not been a fortnight in my new position when i felt myself quite at home, as though dublin and the west of ireland had been my natural habitat. belfast and the county down receded into the past; and shall i confess it? much as i had liked the north, much as i admired the industry, manliness and energy of its people, much as i had enjoyed my life there, and highly as i esteemed the friends i had made, something i found in my new surroundings--easier manners, more of gaiety, and an admixture of pleasure with work--that added to life a charm i had hitherto missed, not only in the north of ireland but in glasgow and derby as well. the secretary of the midland great western railway, george william greene, and martin atock, the locomotive engineer, were good fellows, and warm friends of each other. i became and remained the sincere friend of both until death took them hence. my principal assistant, called _assistant manager_, was john p. hornsby, now in his th year and living in new zealand. robert morrison, whom i stole for his good sense, manly worth, and excellent railway ability, from the belfast and northern counties in october, , succeeded hornsby as my assistant. afterwards he became goods manager at the time thomas elliot was appointed superintendent of the line, two appointments which relieved me of much detailed work. "the battle of newcomen junction" was raging at the time i joined the "midland," as for shortness we dubbed the midland great western and which, for the same reason, i shall continue to dub it, as convenience may require, during the continuance of my story. if i have occasion to again speak of my _alma mater_, the midland of england, it shall, for the sake of clearness, be so designated. "the battle of newcomen junction." what of it? in railway circles, not only in ireland but in england and scotland too, it caused some talk at the time and no little amusement. like many another conflict, 'twere better it had never been fought, for it left for long afterwards angry feelings where peace and amity should have existed, and it gained nothing that discussion and compromise could not have effected. the city of dublin junction railway, a small line, a little over a mile in length (worked by the dublin and south-eastern company) was formed to link up the dublin railways and to provide through routes in connection with the holyhead and kingstown royal mail steamers and the steamers of the london and north-western company. a junction was authorised to be made at newcomen with the midland great western system. parliament had sanctioned a junction, but not such a junction, the midland said, as it was proposed to make. it would be unsafe and unworkable they contended, and they refused to allow it. the promoters insisted, the midland were obdurate; the promoters invaded the midland premises, knocked down a wall and entered on midland land; the midland gathered their forces, drove back the attacking party, and restored the wall; again the attack was made and repulsed and again the wall was demolished and re-built, and so the warfare continued, until at length an armistice was declared and the _casus belli_ referred for settlement to the railway commissioners. soon i had to prepare the midland case for the commissioners' court and give evidence before them. they decided against us and i am sure they were right, though of course i swore, as i was bound to do, that our opposition to the junction was natural and proper and our opponents were an unreasonable set of people. the railway commissioners sat in dublin to hear the case; it was my first appearance before them, and i was sorry that appearance was not in a better cause. my first few years in dublin were as busy as could be. much was astir in the irish railway world and particularly on the midland, which had their share (a larger share than the other companies) of the "balfour" extension lines in hand. the proceedings under the _railway and canal traffic act_ were also in full swing, involving frequent meetings at the irish clearing house, and many journeys to london. hard upon all this came the work of preparing for a parliamentary fight. this i thought a joyful thing, and i was eager for the fray. i had helped to prepare my old chief, mr. wainwright, for such contests but had never been in one myself, had never even been inside a committee room. in the midland gave public notice of their intention to acquire by act of parliament the athenry and ennis railway, and lodged a bill for the purpose, which was vigorously opposed. it was with great zest that i made my preparations, arranged for witnesses, drafted briefs, consulted with lawyers and counsel, and compiled my evidence, not neglecting the important matter of visiting the district served by the railway we sought to acquire, making friends and working up local feeling in our favour. how the bill proceeded, and what was its fate, will be set forth in another chapter. very soon after i settled in dublin i was able to carry out a long cherished wish. ever since i first arrived in ireland i had hoped to be able to establish an irish branch of the railway benevolent institution, such as mr. wainwright and i had succeeded in forming in scotland in the year , but whilst i remained in belfast my efforts were of no avail. when, however, i moved to dublin and became manager of one of the principal railways, the difficulties disappeared, and _the history of the railway benevolent institution, its rise and progress from to _, by _mr. w. f. mills_, its late secretary, contains the following:-- "in february, , mr. joseph tatlow proposed to establish a committee in ireland, where supporters were few and far between, and in the report presented at the annual meeting in june, it was stated that 'the board have great pleasure in announcing the appointment of a committee in dublin, presided over by mr. tatlow, the manager of the midland great-western, and the founder of the successful branch in scotland.'" edward john cotton warmly seconded my efforts, for his heart was in the work, and he was proud of telling us that he was one of the few surviving members of the first board of management of the parent institution, which had its first meeting in london in may, . he was then the newly-appointed manager of the belfast and northern counties railway, and was only twenty-eight years of age. the irish branch, like the scotch, has been a great success. its committee of management consists of the principal officers of the irish railways, and they have brought home to the rank and file of the railway service a knowledge of the society and the solid benefits that membership confers. year by year the membership has increased, and year by year the number of old and needy railway servants, and their widows, who have been pensioned from the funds, and the orphans who have been clothed, educated and maintained, have grown greater and greater. the irish railway companies, the directors, the officers, and the public in ireland, generously contribute to the funds of the institution. i filled the office of chairman of the irish branch for years, until in fact i retired from active railway work, since when the chairmanship has been an annual honour conferred upon the chairman for the year of the irish railway managers' conference. to quote again from mr. mills' book on the institution:-- "mr. joseph tatlow, at the dinner in aid of the institution held in dublin on october rd, , said: 'it is now years since i first became a collector for this institution, and when i look back on the past, if there is one matter in my life which contains no grain of regret, it is my connection with the institution, as in regard to it i can feel nothing but honest pride and gratification.'" i am still a member of the irish committee, as well as of the london board of management, and those words, spoken sixteen years ago, express my feelings to-day. whilst writing the final words of this chapter the news reaches me of the death of mr. mills, at the fine old age of eighty-seven. he had a long and useful life, and the railway service owes him much. he it was whose zeal and enthusiasm firmly established the railway benevolent as a great institution. when, in , he became its secretary, the income was only , pounds, and on his retirement in , at the age of sixty-five, it had grown to , pounds. his mantle fell upon his son, mr. a. e. mills, who inherits his father's enthusiasm and carries on the good work with great success, as attested by the fact that for the year the income reached , pounds. the invested funds of the society to-day amount to upwards of a million, and in they were , pounds. mr. mills senior i knew for forty years; and i often thought that, search the world over, it would be hard to find his equal for the work to which his life was devoted, and for which his talents were so specially adapted. chapter xxi. ballinasloe fair, galway, and sir george findlay a few days before the battle of waterloo, during the journey to brussels, partly by canal and partly by road, of amelia and her party, mrs. major o'dowd said to jos sedley: "talk about kenal boats, my dear! ye should see the kenal boats between dublin and ballinasloe. it's there the rapid travelling is; and the beautiful cattle." "the rapid travelling" was by what was called the _fly boat_, which was towed by three horses at a jog trot, and as to cattle, the good-humoured eccentric lady, who thackeray tells us came from county kildare, was thinking perhaps of the great ballinasloe fair where cattle and sheep assemble in greater numbers, i believe, than at any other live stock fair in the united kingdom. on the first monday in october, , to a special train of empty carriages run by the midland from dublin for the purposes of this fair, a vehicle, called the directors' saloon was attached, and in it the chairman of the company, most of the directors and the principal officers travelled to ballinasloe, there to remain until the conclusion of the fair at the end of the week. it was my first introduction to ballinasloe. [william dargan: dargan.jpg] this saloon merits a word or two. it was built in the year , was originally the property of william dargan, the well-known contractor and the promoter of the dublin exhibition of , whose statue adorns the grounds that front the irish national gallery. dargan made the midland railway from athlone to galway, completed the work before the specified contract time (in itself a matter worthy of note), and on its completion in , presented this saloon carriage to the company, which also, i think, deserves to be recorded. thus, in , it was nearly years' old and was handsome still. the panels were modelled on the old stage coach design, and a great bow window adorned each end. in the seventies and eighties it enjoyed the distinction of being the favourite carriage, on the midland, of the empress of austria in her hunting days in meath. this fine old carriage, now in its th year, does good work still. it has had a new under frame, its roof has been raised, and it looks good for another quarter of a century. perhaps, granting an originally sound constitution, its longevity is largely due to the regular life it has led, never having been overworked, and having enjoyed many periods of rest. ballinasloe fair has two specially big days--tuesday and friday--the former devoted to the sale of sheep and the latter to cattle, though in fact its commerce in cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, calves, rams and goats, not to mention donkeys and mules, goes on more or less briskly throughout the whole week, saturday being remnant day when jobbers pick up bargains. in the fair was not, and is not now, what it once was, which recalls the answer a witty editor of _punch_ once made to a friend. said the said friend: "my dear fellow, _punch_ is not so good as it used to be." "no, it never was," came the quick rejoinder. but of ballinasloe fair i cannot say it never was, for a hundred years ago, in peggy o'dowd's time, in the west of ireland it was the great event of the year, not only for the sale of flocks and herds, but also for social gatherings, fun and frolic, so at least i am told by the oldest inhabitant. an older account still, says these fairs were a time for games and races, pleasure and amusement, and eating and feasting, whilst another record describes them as places "where there were food and precious raiment, downs and quilts, ale and flesh meat, chessmen and chess boards, horses and chariots, greyhounds, and playthings besides." it is curious that dancing is not mentioned, but dancing in the olden days in ireland was not, i believe, much indulged in. eighty years ago over , sheep entered the fair, and , cattle. arrived at ballinasloe we established ourselves in quarters that were part of the original station premises. these consisted of a good sized dining-room, six bedrooms, and an office for the manager and his clerk. the walls and ceilings of the rooms were sheeted with pitch pine and varnished. they were very plainly furnished, the only thing in the way of decoration being a production in watercolour representing a fair green crowded with herds of cattle and flocks of sheep, and adorned with sundry pastoral and agricultural emblems, from the brush of my friend _cynicus_. this i framed and hung in the dining-room. as it had columns for recording statistics of the fair for a period of years, it was instructive as well as ornamental. three of the bedrooms were on the ground floor and were small apartments. the upstair rooms were much larger, were situated in the roof, and were lit by skylight windows which commanded a limited view of the firmament above but none whatever of the green earth below. these upper rooms were reached by an almost perpendicular staircase surmounted by a trap door, a mode of access convenient enough for the young and active, but not suitable for those of us who had passed their meridian. two of these rooms were double-bedded and all three led into each other. in the innermost, atock, our locomotive engineer, and i chummed together. he had slept there for many years, with two previous managers, and, in robinson crusoe fashion, had recorded the years by notches in a beam of the ceiling. the notches for him then counted twenty-three years, and number one he notched for me. every morning an old jackdaw perched on a chimney outside our skylight, and entertained us with his chatter. atock said the old bird had perched there during all his time; and as long as i visited ballinasloe--a period of nearly twenty years, he regularly reappeared. to be able once a year to entertain friends and customers of the company was one of the reasons, probably the main reason, why the directors passed the fair week at ballinasloe. their hospitality was not limited to invitations to dinner, for guests were welcomed, without special invitation, to breakfast and lunch and light refreshments during the day. it was an arrangement which gave pleasure to both hosts and guests, and was not without advantage to the company. a good dinner solves many a difficulty, whilst the post-prandial cigar and a glass of grog, like faith, removes mountains. one who, in the last century, became a great english statesman (lord john russell) when twenty years of age was in spain. the duc d'infantado was president of the spanish ministry at the time. the duke of wellington was there too, and great banquets were being given. the _duc_ had more than once visited lord john's home and enjoyed its hospitality, but he neglected to invite lord john to any of his banquets; and this is the cutting comment which the youthful future statesman recorded in his diary: "the infantado, notwithstanding the champagne and burgundy he got at woburn, has not asked me. shabby fellow! it is clear he is unfit for the government of a great kingdom." [the dargan saloon: saloon.jpg] in the creature comforts provided at ballinasloe the working staff was not forgotten. adjacent to the station was a large room in which meals were provided for the men, and another large room was furnished as a dormitory. two long sleeping carriages had also been built for the accommodation of drivers, guards and firemen, which were used also for other fairs as well as that of ballinasloe. ballinasloe was new to me, and i felt not a little anxious concerning the working of the fair traffic, which i knew was no child's play, and which i was told was often attended with serious delays. early on tuesday morning i was awakened, long before daylight, by the whistling of engines, the shunting of wagons and the shouting of men. my friend atock and i rose early, went along to the loading banks where we found the work in full swing and one special train loaded with sheep ready to start. the entraining of sheep, not so difficult or so noisy a business as the loading of cattle, is attended with much less beating of the animals and with fewer curses; but there was noise enough, and i can, in fancy, hear it ringing in my ears now. throughout the day i was besieged by grumbling and discontented customers: want of wagons, unfair distribution, favouritism, delays, were the burden of their complaints, and i had to admit that in the working of the ballinasloe fair traffic all was not perfect. the rolling stock was insufficient; trains after a journey to meath or dublin with stock had to return to ballinasloe to be loaded again, which was productive of much delay; and what added to the trouble was that everyone seemed to have a hand in the management of the business. it gave me much to think about. before the next year's fair i had the whole arrangements well thrashed out, and when the eventful week arrived, placed the working of the traffic under the sole control of my principal outside men, with excellent results. in the course of a year or two the directors opened the purse strings and considerably increased the engine and wagon stock of the company which helped further, and by that time i had in charge an official, of whose energy and ability it is impossible to speak too highly, thomas elliott, then a promising young assistant, now the competent traffic manager of the railway. under his management the work at ballinasloe has for many years been conducted with clock-work regularity. in there were , sheep at the fair, , cattle and , horses, and the company ran special trains loaded with stock. the sheep fair is held in garbally park, on the estate of lord clancarty, and the counting of the sheep through a certain narrow _gap_, and the rapidity and accuracy with which it is done, is a sight to witness. the hospitality part of the business was attended with the success it deserved, and helped to smooth the difficulties of the situation. i remember well our dinner on the tuesday night. on the monday we dined alone, directors and officers only, but on tuesday the week's hospitality began. that night our table was graced with five or six guests, one being robert martin, of ross, a famous wit and _raconteur_, and the author of _killaloe_. it was a delightful party, for your galway gentleman is a genial fellow, who likes a good dinner, and a good story which he tells to perfection. sir ralph never took the head of the table, liking best a less prominent seat; but his seat, wherever he chose to sit, always seemed to be to the central place. never lacking natural dignity, he was not punctilious in mere matters of form. secure in his authority, to its outward semblance he was rather indifferent. another delightful guest was sir george (then mr.) morris, brother of the late lord morris, the distinguished judge. until a few months previously, mr. morris had been a director of the company, but had resigned upon his appointment to the position of vice-president of the irish local government board. he, too, was a galway man, big, handsome, with a fine flowing beard, a fund of humour, and the most genial disposition imaginable. his anecdotes were ever welcome, and the smallest incident, embellished by his wit and fancy, and told in his rich brogue, which he loved, were always sufficient to adorn a tale. he was rare company, and though, perhaps, he could not, like swift, have written eloquently on a broomstick, he could always talk delightfully on any subject he chose. whilst sir ralph remained chairman of the company, which he did until the year , the directors annual stay at ballinasloe and its attendant hospitality continued. he was not likely to give up a good old custom. but time inevitably brings changes; for some years now the old hospitality has ceased, the rooms at ballinasloe are turned into house accommodation for one or two of the staff, and the great fair is worked with no more ado than a hundred other fairs on the line. not many complaints are made now, for delays and disappointments are things of the past. yet, i dare say there are some who, still attending the fair, look back with regret on the disappearance of the good old days. ballinasloe station is on the main line to galway, miles distant from the "city of the tribes." galway is the principal western terminus of the midland railway. it was once a famous city, but its glory has gone. in its population was , ; to-day it is , ! then, measured by inhabitants, it was the fifth town in ireland; now it is the eighth. then it had a large trade with spain and france, and was a place of note for general trade and commerce; now its harbour is almost idle, and its warehouses and stores nearly empty. many of its stately old houses have disappeared, and those that remain are mostly now tenements of the poor. not so very long ago galway had a trans-atlantic steamship service, and when the railway was opened in , there was opened also a fine hotel adjoining the station, which the company had built, chiefly for trans- atlantic business, at a cost of , pounds. it may be that better times are in store. some day great harbour works will adorn the bay of galway, from which fine steamers, forming part of an imperial route to our dominions and beyond, shall sail, and shorten the atlantic voyage. a tunnel too, _uniting_ great britain and ireland, may be made, which all will agree, is "a consummation devoutly to be wished." galway is the gateway to connemara, and connemara is one of the best places under the sun for a healthy and enjoyable holiday. to be sure the sun does not always shine when expected, but he is seen much oftener than is generally believed. of course, it sometimes rains, but the rain never lasts long, for no place has such quick and surprising climatic changes as the west of ireland or such enchanting atmospheric effects. i soon became enamoured of connemara, and for several years, in whatever time i could call my own, explored its mountain roads and valleys, sometimes on horseback, sometimes afoot, and sometimes on bicycle or outside car. the construction of our "balfour" extension line from galway to clifden, begun in and finished in , often called me on business to the wilds it penetrated, and gladly i always answered the call. sometimes on these excursions one had to rough it a little, for hotel accommodation was scarce and scanty in some of the districts, but in one's early forties such trifles scarcely count. as soon as i took up office at broadstone, sir ralph informed me i was to be chairman of the midland great western benefit society, which was partly a sick fund, partly a pension fund and applied to all the wages staff. it was managed by a committee of twelve, half of whom were appointed by the directors and half by the employees. gladly i undertook a post which would bring me into close touch with the men. i made a point of never, if i could help it, being absent from a committee meeting; nor, more particularly, from the annual general meeting of the society when i had to give an address. it was always to me a pleasure to meet the men, to learn their views, and to help them as far as i could. this they soon discovered, and i had the satisfaction of knowing that i was liked and trusted. early in life i had learned to sympathise with the wants and wishes of others, and sympathy i found increased one's power of usefulness. by sympathy i do not mean agreeing always with the men and their views, and i never hesitated to strongly express to them my own convictions, and rarely it was that they ever in the least resented the plainest speaking. i believe if the responsible leaders of labour would follow a similar course, it would be better for themselves, for the men they lead, and for the world at large. the deputy-chairman of the society was michael o'neill, the audit accountant of the company, and if ever a plain-spoken man, blunt and direct of speech existed, it was he. every word he spoke had the ring of honest sincerity. to the men he spoke more plainly even than i, and him they never resented. i think their trust in him exceeded their trust in me. true he was irish and i was not, and then they had known him much longer than me; and so, small blame to them, said i. one good thing for the society i managed to do. i induced the directors to treble the company's annual contribution to its funds, a substantial benefit, of course, to the men. i remained chairman of the society, and michael o'neill its deputy chairman till , when the national insurance act came into operation. then, by a resolution of a majority of its members, it was wound up, to the regret, however, of many of them, who preferred their own old institution which they knew so well, and in the management of which they had a voice, to what some of them styled "a new-fangled thing." the occasions on which i have met, for the first time, men eminent in the railway world, and for whom i have had great admiration, have always left upon me very clear impressions, and this was particularly so in the case of sir george findlay, the general manager of the london and north-western railway. he was not, however, sir george when i met him first, but plain mr. findlay. it was in the year , the occasion being one of the periodical visits to ireland of the london and north- western chairman, directors, and principal officers. they gave a dinner at their hotel in dublin to which, with other irish railway representatives, i was invited. my seat at dinner was next to mr. findlay, and i had much conversation with him. then in his sixty-third year, he was, perhaps, interested in a young englishman, years his junior, who had not long begun his career as a railway manager, and who showed some eagerness in, and, perhaps, a little knowledge of, railway affairs. i remember well the impression he made upon me. i felt i was in the presence of a strong, natural man, gifted with great discernment and ability but full also of human kindness. his face was one which expressed that goodness which the consciousness of power imparts to strong natures. he was a notable as well as what is called "a self-made" man, a fact of which he never boasted but i think was a little proud. he commenced work at the early age of fourteen as a mason--a boy help he could only have been--and continued a mason for several years. he was employed in the building of the new houses of parliament and much of the stone work and delicate tracery of the great window at the east end of westminster hall is the work of his hands. in his twenty-third year he became manager of the shrewsbury and ludlow railway--probably the youngest railway manager recorded. ten years later the shrewsbury railway was acquired by the london and north-western company, and findlay, to use his own words, "was taken over with the rest of the rolling stock." this was how his london and north-western railway career began. he was a tall, portly man of fine presence, distinguished by a large measure of strong, plain, homely commonsense, an absence of prejudice, a great calmness of judgment, and a fearless frankness of speech. his sense of honour was very high, and he impressed upon the service of which he was the executive head that the word of the london and north-western railway must always be its bond. "be slow to promise and quick to perform," was his guiding precept. a born organiser and administrator, he knew how to select his men. before parliamentary committees he was the best of witnesses, always cool and resourceful, with great command of temper, full of knowledge, and blest with a ready wit. his services as witness and expert adviser were in great request by railway companies. at the long board of trade inquiry in connection with the _railway and canal traffic act_ and railway rates and charges, in , he was the principal railway witness and was under examination and cross-examination for eight consecutive days. he had a real love for ireland, was partly irish himself, his father being scotch and his mother irish--a fine blend. fishing was his chief recreation and this often brought him to the lakes and rivers of ireland. he asked, was i the son of william tatlow of the midland railway, whom he had met a good many years before on some coal rates question? on my saying, yes, he was pleased to know that i belonged to a railway family; and said what a fine service the great railway service was, how absorbing the work and what scope it afforded for ambition and ability. he asked about my railway experience, was amused at my reason for leaving derby and the midland, and interested at hearing of my work with mr. wainwright, whom he had known and esteemed. he was sure i had learned nothing but good from him. i was able, and very glad, of course, to tell mr. findlay with what interest bailey and i had listened for several days to his evidence at westminster hall at the railway rates inquiry, and how much we had profited by it. this led to some talk on the great rates question, of which he was a master. i felt he was just a bit surprised to find that i was rather well informed upon it, which made me not a little proud. altogether it was a memorable night, and left me with a feeling of elation such as i had experienced in the meetings i had in glasgow some years before with mr. john burns and mr. john walker. how little i thought then, that in less than two years i should follow mr. findlay's remains to the grave. [sir george findlay: findlay.jpg] between the london and north-western and the midland great-western much good feeling existed. they were natural allies, both greatly interested in the trade and prosperity of ireland, and of the port of dublin in particular. as time went on many matters of mutual interest brought me into close relation with the north-western general manager and other prominent officers of the company. chapter xxii. a railway contest, the parcel post, and the board of trade the long-looked for fight in the committee rooms at westminster came at last, as most things that are eagerly looked and longed for do. in may, , a bill, promoted jointly by the midland great-western and athenry and ennis railway companies, was considered by a select committee of the house of lords. it was a bill for the acquisition by the midland of the ennis railway (a line from athenry to ennis, miles long), worked but not owned by the waterford and limerick railway company. the midland were anxious to buy and the ennis were willing to sell, but parliament alone could legalise the bargain. to the waterford and limerick, the bare idea of giving up possession of the fair ennis to their rival the midland was gall and wormwood; and so they opposed the project with might and main, and they were assisted in their opposition by certain public bodies, some thought as much for the excitement of a skirmish in the committee rooms as anything else. the working agreement between the waterford and limerick and the ennis companies, which had lasted for ten years or so, was expiring; the ennis company had grown tired of the union; the midland had held out to her certain glowing prospects, which had captivated her maiden fancy, and so she was a consenting party to the midland scheme. the ennis line, in the midland eyes, was a prize worth fighting for, forming, as it did, part of a route from dublin to limerick in competition with the great southern and western, a company between which and the midland, at that time, little love was lost. those were the days when competitive traffic, gained almost at any cost, was sweet as stolen kisses are said to be. the proceedings opened on monday, th may. _ennis_ was as familiar to the committee rooms as the suit of _jarndyce and jarndyce_ was to the court of chancery. in the midland had also sought by bill to obtain the fair ennis (with her consent) but had failed; in the waterford and limerick (against her wishes) had essayed to do the same and failed also, and in years long prior to these, other attempts had been made with the like result. but to proceed: our leading counsel were sir ralph (then mr.) littler; mr. pember, mr. pope and other leaders, and a host of juniors being arrayed against us. the straitened circumstances of the waterford and limerick; its dearth of rolling stock; its inefficient ways; its failure to satisfy the public; the admitted superiority of the midland and all its works; the splendid results which would "follow as the night the day," if only parliament would be wise enough to sanction a union which the public interest demanded and commonsense approved--these were the points on which our counsel exercised their forensic skill, expended their eloquence, and to which they directed the evidence. amongst our supporters we had some excellent witnesses, one, a well-known cattle dealer, named martin ryan. the question of _running powers_ was prominent throughout the case and had been much debated and discussed. ryan's evidence was not, however, concerned with this, but in his cross- examination, relative to something he had stated in his evidence-in-chief, he was asked this question: "if a beast got on to the line as a train came along, what would happen to the beast?" "it would exercise its running powers," answered mr. ryan, amidst great laughter. as good as stephenson's answer about the "coo," said mr. pope. on the fourth day of the proceedings i made my _debut_ as a parliamentary witness. in the preparation of my evidence i had expended much time and trouble, keeping well in mind the way in which mr. wainwright used to prepare his. before my examination-in-chief concluded, a short adjournment for lunch took place--a scramble at the refreshment bars in the lobbies, where wig and gown elbowed with all and sundry; where cold beef, cold tongue, cold pie, and, coldest of all cold comestibles, cold custard, were swallowed in hot haste, washed down with milk and soda, or perhaps with something stronger. "quick lunches" they were with a vengeance. time was money, and in the brief interval allowed, more than lunch had to be discussed. sir ralph, mr. findlay (who was helping us) and i, had our hasty lunch together. when it was over we discussed the morning's proceedings, and mr. findlay, to my great satisfaction, said i was doing well--very well indeed, for a first appearance. then, in a kind and fatherly way, he gave me some good advice: don't show too much eagerness, he said: don't go quite so much into detail; keep on broader lines; speak deliberately and very distinctly; make your points as plain as a pikestaff; rub them well in; don't try to make too many points, but stick fast to the important ones. you've a good manner in the box, he said; remember these things and you'll make an excellent witness. then he added: above all, whilst giving your leading evidence never forget the _cross_ that has to follow. be always as frank as you can, and never lose command of your temper. these were not his very words. i do not pretend that he expressed himself with such sententious brevity, though he never wasted speech, but they are the pith and marrow of his admonitions. for twenty years or so from then nearly every session saw me in the committee rooms, not always on the business of my own company, as other irish railway companies on several occasions sought my help in their parliamentary projects. mr. findlay's advice i never forgot. in the afternoon my cross-examination began. the final question put to me by our counsel was: "lastly, if this amalgamation is carried out, do you think the public would be served by it, and if so, how?" this appeared to me a great chance for a little speech, so i summed up as forcibly and graphically as i could all the advantages that would follow if the bill were passed. then my cross-examination commenced, and the first words addressed to me, by mr. pembroke stephens, were: "i do not think that one could have made a better speech oneself, if one had been on your side." "not half so good," said mr. littler in a stage whisper. i thought mr. stephens spoke satirically, but remembered mr. findlay's advice, and if i flushed inwardly, as i believe i did, no outward sign escaped me. after mr. stephens, three other opposing counsel fired their guns, but i withstood their shot and shell, and when i came out of the box mr. findlay said i had done well. this was praise enough for me. then he gave his evidence in his usual masterly convincing way and i listened in admiration. we made a good fight i know, the odds were in our favour and success seemed assured. our opponents then presented their case, and still we felt no doubt; but fortune is a fickle jade and at the last she left us in the lurch. on the eighth day of the proceedings the chairman announced: "the committee are of opinion that it is not expedient to proceed with the bill." this was the _coup de grace_. no reasons are ever given by a committee for their decision and the contending parties are left to imagine them. the losing side sometimes has the hardihood to think a decision is wrong. i believe we thought so; and i know that _ennis_, who was thus doomed to a further period of single blessedness, thought the same. in a previous chapter i have spoken of the _parcel post act_ of , and mentioned the share of the receipts apportioned to the railway companies of the united kingdom. the act also prescribed the manner in which this share was to be divided amongst the respective railways. when it was devised the method seemed fair to all, and had the consent of all. but the best of theories do not always stand the test of practice and so it was found in this case. it did not suit ireland. we discovered that the irish railways were, in equity, entitled to more than the scheme awarded them, and mr. alcorn, the accountant of the great southern and western railway, discovered the way to set the matter right; but it could not be righted without the consent of the parcel post conference, a body which sat at the railway clearing house in london, and was composed of the managers of all the railways parties to the parcel post scheme, some eighty or so in number. on the th november, , we brought our case before that body, and colhoun, robertson and i were the spokesmen for the irish railways. on the previous day we had met sir george findlay (he had been knighted this year) and had satisfied him of the justice of our claim. he promised to support us. the meeting commenced at o'clock. we made our speeches, which were not long, for our printed statement had been in each member's hands for some time. clear as our case was to us the conference seemed unconvinced, and we began to fear an adverse vote. sir george was not present, something had happened, for he was not the man to disappoint his friends without grave cause. voting seemed imminent. robertson whispered to me, "for heaven's sake, tatlow, get on your legs again and keep the thing going; findlay may be here any moment." i was supposed to be the glibbest of speech of our party, and up i got. but mr. thompson (afterwards sir james), the _beau_, was in the chair, and thought there had been talking enough. however, like the irishman i was not, i went on, and--at that moment entered sir george! the scene was changed; the day was won! a sub-committee of seven, three of whom were colhoun, robertson and myself, was appointed to follow up the matter, and ultimately the irish proposal was adopted. it was a very busy period, this year of , and as interesting as busy. on the th june the _railway rates and charges (athenry and ennis junction railways) order confirmation act_, , received the royal assent. it applied to all the railways in ireland and contained the revised classification and maximum rates and charges settled after long inquiries under the _railway and canal traffic act_, , and which were to control the future rates to be charged by the companies. only six months were allowed in which to revise all rates and bring them into conformity with the new classification and the new conditions--an absurdly short time, for the work involved was colossal. but it had to be done. robert morrison, michael o'neill and i, took off our coats and worked night and day. we had the satisfaction of accomplishing the task in the allotted time, which not every company was able to do. generous, as always, sir ralph in his speech to the shareholders in february, , said: "i wish to express that we are greatly indebted to mr. tatlow for the care and anxiety with which he has endeavoured to arrange this important rates matter. he has worked most energetically; has attended the committees of the board of trade, and the parliamentary committee, and he is now seeing traders constantly. i may tell you that i and my brother directors place the most implicit reliance on our manager, and i am satisfied that anything he has done has been reasonable to the traders and for the benefit of the shareholders." this was warm praise, and the more welcome, being, as it was, the spontaneous expression of what i knew he felt. my meetings with the traders usually, but not invariably, resulted in friendly settlements. the great firm of guinness and company were not so easily satisfied, and offered a _stout_ resistance which correspondence and conference failed to overcome. under the railway and canal traffic act a mode of dealing with the _impasse_ was provided by conciliation proceedings presided over by the board of trade. this we took advantage of, and after several meetings in london a compromise was effected. it was then that i met for the first time mr. francis hopwood, who had just been appointed secretary to the railway department of the board of trade. i liked his way and thought that conciliation could not be in better hands than his. the board of trade is more or less a mythical body, but very practical i found it on these and all other occasions. its proper designation is, i believe, "committee of privy council for trade." this committee was first appointed in cromwell's time, and was revised under charles ii., as "committee of privy council for trade and foreign plantations," under which title it administered the colonies. when the united states became independent, burke in a scathing speech, moved and carried the abolition of this paid committee, which included gibbon as its secretary. however, the board of trade could not be spared, and so it was restored by order in council in . under that order the principal officers of state, and certain members of the privy council, including the archbishop of canterbury, have, _ex officio_, seats on the committee, although no record exists of his grace having ever left his arduous duties at lambeth to attend the committee. its jurisdiction extended as trade and commerce developed and railways appeared on the scene, and gradually it was divided into departments, and so the _board of trade_ came into being. like topsy it "grow'd." the board of trade is, in fact, a mere name, the president being practically the secretary for trade, the vice-president having, for years past, been a parliamentary secretary with duties similar to those of an under-secretary of state. at present, besides the president (who has usually a seat in the cabinet), the parliamentary secretary and a permanent secretary, there are six assistant secretaries (in late war time many more), each in charge of a department. in charge of the railway department in was, as i have said, mr. francis hopwood. he became sir francis in , and from then onwards advanced from office to office and from honour to honour, until, during his secretaryship of the irish convention in , his public services were rewarded with a peerage. as railway secretary of the board of trade he was particularly distinguished for tact, strength and moderation. singularly courteous and obliging on all occasions, i, personally, have been much indebted to him for help and advice. but all was not sunshine and happiness in this busy year of . a dark cloud of sorrow overshadowed it. on a fateful day in january i lost, with tragic suddenness, the younger of my two sons, a bright amiable boy, of a sunny nature and gentle disposition. he was accidentally killed on the railway. chapter xxiii. the "railway news," the international railway congress, and a trip to spain and portugal in chapter xx i recorded the death of my old friend w. f. mills, which took place whilst i was writing that chapter. now, as i pen these lines, i hear of the loss of another old familiar railway friend; not indeed a sentient being like you, dear reader, or him or me, yet a friend that lacked neither perception nor feeling. the _railway news_ on saturday, the th day of november, , issued its last number, and, as a separate entity, ceased to be, its existence then merging into that of the _railway gazette_. i am sad and sorry for i knew it well. for forty years it was my week-end companion; for ten years or more, in the april of life, i contributed regularly to its pages; and never, during all the years, have its columns been closed to my pen. one of its editors, f. mcdermott, has long been my friend, and its first editor, edward mcdermott, his father, a grand old man, was kind to me in my salad days and encouraged my budding scribbling proclivities. he and samuel smiles, the author of _self help_ (then secretary of the south eastern railway), were, in , its joint founders. "death," the psalmist saith, "is certain to all." in , the railway world lost one whom it could ill spare. in the month of march, after a short illness, sir george findlay died at the early age of . gifted of the gods, in the midst of his work, young in mind and spirit, his faculties in full vigour, he was suddenly called away. his funeral, i need not say, was attended by railway men from all parts of the kingdom. i was one of those who travelled to london to follow his remains to their resting place. further public railway legislation was enacted in and , and four important acts were passed. the first was the _railway regulation act_, . it dealt with the hours of labour of railway servants, a subject which for some time previously had been enjoying the attention of the press. it culminated in the appointment of a parliamentary committee. in february, , a select committee, consisting of members, with sir michael hicks beach as chairman, was formed, "to inquire whether, and if so, in what way, the hours of railway servants should be restricted by legislation." the committee examined numerous railway servants and officials, and reported to parliament, in june, . i was summoned by the committee to give evidence and appeared before them in london on th march of that year. my business was to furnish facts concerning the hours of duty of the employees on my own railway and the conditions of their work. this i did pretty fully and embraced the opportunity of showing how different were the circumstances of irish railways compared with english, and how legislation suitable to one country might be very unsuitable to the other. it scarcely needed saying that england was an industrial country whilst ireland was agricultural; that england, with people to the square mile, was thickly populated and ireland with sparsely; that population meant trains and traffic; that in england railway traffic amounted to about , pounds per mile per annum and in ireland a little over , pounds; that in ireland on many lines not more than five or six trains ran each way daily, and on others only three or four, whilst in england, on most lines, the _hourly_ number exceeded these. when the committee rose sir michael engaged me, informally, in conversation for a little while. he was curious concerning some of the facts i had adduced, particularly as to the midland line and the country it served. in their report the committee stated they had confined their inquiry to the hours of duty of those classes of railway servants that were engaged in working traffic, viz., drivers, firemen, guards, signalmen, shunters, platelayers and porters, and had not dealt with other classes; a wise distinction i thought. it was much easier, they said, to regulate the hours of persons occupying fixed posts of duty within reasonable limits, than those of the running staff on railways, on account of the variety in the nature of the work. they reported also that they were unable to recommend a "legal day," as they considered it would be found impracticable owing to the number of cases which must necessarily be admitted as exceptions to any fixed limit of hours, adding that the hours of railway servants engaged in working traffic cannot be regulated like those in a factory, which, i may add, experience has abundantly shown. i believe, and have always believed, in reasonable working hours, and have often worked unreasonably long hours myself in endeavouring to arrange them for others; and more than once when i have re-arranged a rota for drivers, firemen and guards, to my own satisfaction, i have been begged by the men concerned not to make any change and to let well alone; not, of course, because the new rota gave shorter hours, but because it prevented the men from getting to their homes or interfered with something else that suited them. sometimes i gave way to the men and sometimes i stuck to my revised rota. every case varied and required special consideration. the committee also said: "it is universally admitted that the railway service is very popular under existing conditions; and several railway servants who appeared as witnesses protested vigorously against any interference by government or the legislature." state interference, i know, is the fashion now; but the blind worship of _any fashion_ is but weakness and folly. the act of was the outcome of the report. it provided that on representation being made to the board of trade that the hours of any railway servants were excessive, the board might inquire into the complaint, and order the company concerned to submit an amended schedule of time and duty for such servants, and if the railway company failed to comply with the order the matter might then be referred to the railway commisioners whose order the company must obey under a penalty of pounds a day. i do not think any company was ever fined; nor do i, indeed, remember the commissioners services being required. if they were, the occasions were few and far between, as the companies generally loyally carried out the provisions of the act. in was passed the _notice of accidents act_. where any person employed in the construction, use, working or repair of any railway, tramroad, tramway, gas works, canal bridge, tunnel, harbour, dock or other work authorised by parliament, suffered (it said) an accident causing loss of life or bodily injury, the employer must notify the board of trade, and if the board of trade considered the case of sufficient importance, they may (it provided) direct the holding of a formal inquiry; a report of such inquiry to be presented to the board of trade, which may (it stated) be made public in such manner as they think fit. as far as accidents to railway servants were concerned, i can vouch that these inquiries were pretty often held, and the companies, concerned always for the safety of their employees, never did other than welcome them. the _railway and canal traffic act_, , was an act to _amend_ (save the mark!) _the railway and canal traffic act_, . its effect, in fact, was to embitter instead of amend. it was, as i have previously indicated, panic legislation yielded in haste to unreasonable clamour, unfair to the railways, and of doubtful advantage to traders. i will say no more lest i say too much. the fourth of these enactments was the _diseases of animals act_, . it invested the board of agriculture with further powers to make orders and regulations respecting animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia or foot- and-mouth disease, particularly with regard to markets, fairs, transit and slaughter houses; for securing the providing of water and food; and for cleansing and disinfecting vessels, vehicles and pens. as regards ireland the powers were vested in the lord lieutenant and privy council, and on the establishment of the department of agriculture for ireland, in the year , were transferred to that body. the international railway congress association is an interesting if not an ancient body. it dates back to the year . gallant little belgium was its parent. in , the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the first public railway on the continent of europe (the line between brussels and malines) was celebrated at brussels by a congress convened on the invitation of the belgian government, and this meeting was the beginning of the now worldwide association. at the first assembly at brussels "the study of technical and administrative questions for railways" was the avowed object in view; and it has been the serious purpose of every congress since. but gradually pleasant relaxations, such as lunches, dinners, dances and excursions, for wives and daughters accompanying husbands and fathers graced these gatherings of railway wisdom. during the first ten years the sessions were bi-annual, but since have been held every five years. brussels, milan, paris, st. petersburg, london, washington and berne have each been the scene of their celebration, and paris has been favoured twice. for berlin was the capital selected, but the war decided against that; and when berlin shall see the world's railway representatives assembled within her gates only a very bold man will venture to prophesy. the congress is composed of some railway systems represented by nearly , delegates; and any railway company, the wide world over, that possesses a mileage of miles or more is competent for membership. in addition to holding sessions the congress publishes a monthly bulletin (or did prior to the war), containing, besides original articles on all questions relating to the construction, operation, and organisation of railways, reproductions of interesting articles published in the railway and engineering papers of any nation, as well as notices of books and pamphlets on railway questions. the bulletin contains also all reports prepared for the various sessions of the congress and minutes of the discussions. it was a great gathering that the late king edward (then prince of wales) opened on june the th, , when the congress was in london. the scene was the imperial institute, and the meetings lasted till july the th. from all parts of the globe delegates came. all was not dull routine for british hospitality abounded and the companies vied with each other in worthy entertainments, and her majesty the queen saw fit to signalise the occasion by giving a garden party in its honour. mr. w. m. acworth, the well-known writer on railway economics, and a keen but friendly critic of railway affairs, was appointed secretary to the english section of the congress, and to him fell the principal work connected with the session. his scholarly and linguistic attainments and his varied travels, fitted him well for the task. my eldest son, then a youth of , just entered the railway service, had the good fortune to be selected as one of mr. acworth's assistants. he had not long finished his education in france, and spoke the language fluently, which, of course, was a recommendation. it was valuable experience to him as well as delightful work. he conducted several parties of delegates through various parts of england and ireland in connection with the many excursions that were arranged for their pleasure and profit. the weather was very hot, and railway travelling at times oppressive, even to delegates from the sunny land of france, and _shandy-gaff_, a beverage new to most of the visitors, was in great request. said a french delegate one day to my son, as the train was approaching rugby: "oh! m'sieu tatlow, the weather it is so hot; will you not at rugby give us some of your beautiful _char-a-banc_?" on another occasion he was asked if he would "be so kind as to give the _recipe_ for making that beautiful toast." at the close of the session in london, a number of the foreign delegates, at the invitation of the irish railway companies, visited ireland, and were shown its railways, and its beauty spots from east to west, from north to south. it is not too much to say they were greatly impressed. the splendid scenery that surrounds the island like a beautiful frame, delighted them, and the excellence of the irish railways was no little surprise. they did not expect to see such fine carriages, such handsome dining saloons, nor such permanent way and stations. of course we showed them our best and the best was very good. ireland is often accused of neglecting her opportunities, but never her hospitality. on this occasion, personified by her railway companies, she neglected neither, and in the latter surpassed herself. in the autumn of this year i was able to gratify my taste for travel by a longer excursion than usual. hitherto my furthest flights had been to paris, belgium, and holland, but now i went as far as spain and portugal. f. k. was my pleasant companion and we travelled, _via_ paris, straight through to madrid, where we stayed for a week at the hotel de la paix, in the bright and busy and sunny puerto del sol. in madrid we visited the royal palace (or so much of it as was shown to the public--principally the royal stables); the escurial; the art galleries and museums; drove in the buen retiro; witnessed a bull fight, which rather sickened us when the horses, which never stood a chance in the contest, were ripped up by the bull; admired dark-eyed senoritas, their mantillas and coquettish fans, enjoyed the southern sunshine and the spanish wines; and then left for lisbon by an _express_ train that stopped at nearly every station. at lisbon three or four days were pleasantly passed, though we were annoyed sometimes by the crowd of persistent beggars that thronged the streets, and who, we were told, pursued their calling by license from the authorities. this was a small matter, however. he who travels should be proof against such minor annoyances. then oporto was visited, and the douro valley, the very centre of the port wine industry. a young englishman, a wine merchant, accompanied us in our journey through this sultry valley and was our cicerone. under his guidance we visited many famous "wine lodges," sampled wonderful vintages in most generous glasses, drank old port, green port, tawny port, and i am sure too much port, and when, at last, we reached the port of biarritz, where we stayed for several days, we blessed its lighter wines and refreshing breezes. after biarritz bordeaux detained us for a day or two, and so did paris, which we found very attractive and refreshing in early november. this year also had for me a delightful week's interlude, in the month of june, in the committee rooms at westminster. a certain bill was promoted by an irish railway company, which we considered an aggressive attempt to invade our territory, and, of course, we vigorously opposed it. again i had the pleasure of giving evidence and of being crossed-examined by mr. pembroke stephens; but the bill was passed and became an act. further sign of vitality it never showed as the line was never made. it is one thing, by the grace of parliament to obtain an act, but quite another by the favour of the public to obtain capital. parliament is often more easily persuaded than the shrewd investor, as many a too sanguine promoter knows. chapter xxiv. tom robertson, more about light railways, and the inland transit of cattle by his friends and intimates he was called _tom_, and mere acquaintances even usually spoke of him as _tom robertson_. rarely was he designated _thomas_. a man who is known so familiarly is generally a good fellow, and tom robertson was no exception, though he possessed some pretty strong qualities, and was particularly fond of getting his own way. in his early days at the great northern, sundry skirmishes at the clearing house had taken place between him and me, which for a time produced a certain amount of estrangement, but we afterwards became excellent friends and saw a good deal of each other. he was no longer a _general manager_, having given up that post for another which was pressed upon him--the post of chairman of the irish board of works. it was certainly unusual, unheard of one might say, in those days, for an important government office to be conferred upon a railway official, though now it would excite but little surprise. the government it was thought contemplated something in the shape of a railway policy in ireland, and had spotted robertson as the man for the job; it was certainly said that someone in high authority, taken greatly by his sturdy independence, his unconventional ways, and his enormous energy, had determined to try the novel experiment which such an appointment meant. i do not think that robertson himself ever really enjoyed the change. he liked variety it is true, but governmental ways were not, he often said, his ways, and he seemed to lack the capacity to easily adapt himself to new grooves. unconventional he certainly was, and never in london even would he wear a tall hat or a tail coat; nor could he ever be persuaded to attend a levee or any state function whatever. he usually dressed in roughish tweeds, with trousers unfashionably wide, and a flaming necktie competing with his bright red cheeks, which contrasted strongly with his dark hair and beard. he was, however, a strong manly fellow, with a great deal of determination mingled with good humour. usually in high spirits, he often displayed a boyish playfulness that resembled the gambols of a big good-natured dog. he was musical too, and would sing _annie laurie_ for you at any time, accompanying himself on the piano. to practical joking he was rather addicted, and once i was his reluctant accomplice, but am glad to say it was the last time i ever engaged in such rude pleasantry. i can write of him now the more freely that he is no longer of this world. excessive energy hastened his death. in he went to india to investigate for the government the railways there, and to report upon them. it was a big task, occupied him a long time, and i am told he worked and lived there as though he were in his native temperate zone. his restless energy was due i should say to superabundant vitality. once, when he and i were in london together, on some railway business, we took a stroll after dinner (it was summertime) and during a pause in our conversation he surprised me by exclaiming: "tatlow, i'm a restless beggar. i'd like to have a jolly good row with somebody." "get married," said i. this tickled him greatly and restored his good humour. he lived and died a bachelor nevertheless. in the _railways (ireland) act_ was passed, and with it robertson had much to do. its purpose ran: "to facilitate the construction of railways and the establishment of other means of communication in ireland, and for other purposes incidental thereto." it provided for further advances by the treasury, under prescribed conditions, for constructing railways and for establishing lines of steamers, coaches, etc., which were shown to be necessary for the development of the resources of any district, where owing to the circumstances of such district, they could not be made without government assistance. it also authorised the construction and maintenance, as part of such railways, of any pier, quay or jetty. this little act, which consisted of thirteen sections (i wonder he did not think the number unlucky), was robertson's particular pet. concerning its clauses, from the time they were first drafted, many a talk we had together over a cup of tea with, to use his own expression, "a wee drappie in't." i may have hinted as much, but do not think i have mentioned before that he was a scotchman and a highlander. in the same year was passed the _light railways act_, an act which applied to great britain only. ireland had already had her share (some thought more than her share) of light railway legislation, with its accompanying doles in the shape of easy loans and free gifts, whilst england and scotland had been left in the cold. it was their turn now; but as this act, and the subject of light railways generally, formed the substance of a paper which i prepared and read in before the international railway congress at paris, and of which i shall speak later on, i will pass it now without more comment. at robertson's request i appeared as a witness this year for the great northern railway, before committees of both houses of parliament, in connection with a bill which sought powers to construct an extension of the donegal railway from strabane to londonderry. robertson himself did not give evidence in the case. before the committees sat he had left the great northern for the board of works, and henry plews, his successor, represented the great northern railway. the proposed line was in direct competition with the great northern, and they sought my aid in opposing it. certainly there was no need for two railways, but parliament thought otherwise and passed the bill. indeed parliament is not free from blame for many unnecessary duplicated lines throughout the kingdom. _competition_ was for long its fetish; now it is _unification_, and (blessed word!) _co-ordination_. strange how men are taken with fine words and phrases, and what slaves they are to shibboleths! before the house of commons committee which sat on this bill i had the pleasure, for the first time, of being examined by balfour browne. he was leader in the case for the great northern, and i met him also in consultations which took place. since then i have crossed swords with him too, and always i must confess with keen enjoyment. his knowledge of railway matters was so remarkable, his mind so practiced, alert, and luminous, that it was rare excitement to undergo cross-examination at his hands. in his book, _forty years at the bar_, he himself says: "i have not had many opportunities of giving evidence, but i confess that when i have been called as a witness i have enjoyed myself." well, i can say that i have had many such opportunities, and can truthfully declare that i have enjoyed them all. a few weeks holiday in holland, cologne, the rhine and frankfort, with some days on the homeward journey in brussels, all in company of my dear delightful friend, walter bailey, complete the annals of this year, except that i recall a little arbitration case in which i was engaged. it was during the summer, in july i think. the grand canal (not the canal which belongs to the midland and is called the royal) is a waterway which traverses miles of country. not that it is all canal proper, some of it being canalised river and loughs; but miles are canal pure and simple, the undisputed property of the grand canal company. on a part of the river barrow which is canalised, an accident happened, and a trader's barge was sunk and goods seriously damaged. dispute arose as to liability, and i was called on to arbitrate. to view the scene of the disaster was a pleasant necessity, and the then manager of the company (mr. kirkland) suggested making a sort of picnic of the occasion; so one morning we left the train at carlow, from whence a good stout horse towed, at a steady trot, a comfortable boat for twenty miles or so to the _locus_ of the accident. we were a party of four, not to mention the hamper. it was delightfully wooded scenery through which we passed, and a snug little spot where we lunched. after lunch and the arbitration proceedings had been despatched, our pegasus towed us back. i must return again to robertson, the board of works, and light railways. preliminary to the authorisation of light railways in ireland, the legislation which had been passed concerning them required that the board of works should appoint fit and proper persons to make public inquiry regarding the merits of proposed lines, as to engineering, finance, construction, the favour or objection with which they were regarded by landowners and others, the amount of capital required, the assistance that would be given by landowners, local authorities and others towards their construction, and their merit generally from all points of view; such fit persons after they had done all this, to report to the board of works. in robertson thought that "joseph tatlow of dublin, and william roberts of inverness, were fit and proper persons" for conducting the necessary inquiry concerning a proposed light railway in north-west donegal, from letterkenny to burtonport, a distance of miles. william roberts was the engineer of the highland railway of scotland, a capable, energetic, practical man, and a canny scot. this line was promoted by the londonderry and lough swilly railway company. roberts and i gladly undertook the work. we held public meetings, which were largely attended (for it was an event in donegal) in letterkenny, falcarragh and burtonport, examined nearly fifty witnesses, and heard a great variety of evidence. but the hearing of evidence was by no means all we did. it was our duty to examine the route, and determine if it were the best practicable route (keeping steadily in view that the available funds were limited in amount), scrutinise and criticise the estimates, consider the stations to be provided, inquire as to the probable traffic and working expenses, and inform ourselves thoroughly on all the aspects and merits of the case. we drove some miles, not of course by motor car (motors were not common then) but with stout irish horses, and inspected the country well. after we presented our report, certain procedure followed; the baronies guaranteed interest on , pounds of the capital; the government gave the rest (some , pounds) as a free grant; an order in council was passed, and the line was made and opened for traffic in . it has more than verified all predictions as to its usefulness, and has proved a blessing to north-west donegal. my relations with the line by no means ended with the inquiry, and more about it will later on appear in this authentic history. in the same year, , with g. p. culverwell, the engineer of my old railway, the belfast and county down, as co-adjutor, i was entrusted by robertson with a similar inquiry concerning the buncrana to carndonagh line ( miles in length) also in donegal, and also promoted by the londonderry and lough swilly company. it was a smaller affair than the burtonport line, but involved similar pleasant and interesting work. this line was also constructed and was opened in . pleasant times, joseph tatlow, you seem to have had, and much variety and diversion; but what of your own railway and your duties to it? well, these parliamentary proceedings, arbitration cases, and light railway adventures were, after all, only interludes, and i can conscientiously say that the midland line and its needs and interests were never neglected. i am one of those who always believed that everything which served to enlarge experience and mature judgment made a man more competent for his daily work. in july a departmental committee was appointed by the board of agriculture "to inquire into and report upon the inland transit of cattle." the committee numbered ten, sir wm. hart dyke, m.p., being chairman. three other m.p.s were members of the committee, one being that redoubtable champion of the cattle trade and chairman of the irish cattle trades association, mr. william field. two railway representatives were amongst the ten, one of them, sir william birt, general manager of the great eastern railway; the other the honourable richard nugent, a director of the midland great western railway, the latter having considerable experience of the cattle trade and of cattle transit in ireland. he was no bad judge himself of a beast. he farmed in county galway, and farming in the west of ireland meant the raising of cattle, though nowadays some tillage is also done. he loved attending cattle fairs, and more than once turned me out of bed before the break of day to accompany him to a fair green, much to my discomfiture; but so great was _his_ enjoyment, and so pleasant and lively his company that i believe i thanked him on each occasion for bringing me out. sir william hart dyke did not act as chairman of the committee; in fact he was prevented by illness from attending any meeting after the first, and in his absence the chair was taken by mr. parker smith, m.p. the scope of the inquiry included great britain and ireland; but, as the committee stated in their report, "in ireland the proportional importance of the cattle trade is much the greater," and that no doubt was why they examined in dublin witnesses against about half that number in england. plews, colhoun and i gave evidence for the irish railways, supplemented with testimony on matters of detail by some of our subordinates. my railway (the midland) being, relatively at any rate, the principal cattle- carrying line in ireland, it was agreed that i should give the greater part of the evidence and appear first. the railway companies, of course, came on after the public witnesses had had their say. the committee in their report made some useful recommendations both for great britain and ireland, not only in regard to the transit of cattle by railway, but also in reference to public supervision at fairs; accommodation and inspection at ports; the licensing of drovers; dishorning of young cattle, etc. with respect to railway transit the recommendations were directed principally to control and accommodation at stations; pens and loading banks; improvement in cattle trucks; and rest, food and water. it is but fair to the railway companies to say that for some years previous to the inquiry they had been making constant and steady improvements in these matters, and i believe the irish department of agriculture, which was established by act of parliament in , and in which are vested the powers and functions of the privy council in regard to live stock, with some added powers as well, would, were they appealed to now, bear testimony to the good work of the irish railways in regard to the "inland transit of cattle." chapter xxv. railway amalgamation and constantinople it would be tedious as well as tiresome to describe the many railway contests in the committee rooms at westminster in which, during the remainder of my managerial career, it was my lot to be engaged; but one great case there was, in and , which, by its importance to my company, and i may say, to the south and west of ireland generally, should not pass unnoticed, and of it i propose to give a short account. it was from the grasp of the waterford and limerick, as i have mentioned before, that in we (the midland) sought, though unsuccessfully, to snatch possession of the ennis line. now the waterford and limerick were to lose, not only the ennis line, but all their lines and their own identity as well. a great struggle ensued which, from the length of time it lasted, and the number of combatants engaged, was one of the biggest railway fights the committee rooms had for many a long year witnessed. for days, from first to last, the battle raged. in it thirty-one companies and public bodies participated, most of them being represented by counsel. there was a famous bar, including all the big-wigs of course, and some lesser wigs, and numbering more than twenty in all. the promoters were very strongly represented, but we had littler for our leader, who, indeed, was our standing senior counsel. their team consisted of pope, pember, balfour browne, seymour bushe, mcinerny and two juniors; our, much smaller but well selected, of littler, blennerhassett and vesy knox; the last-named then a rising junior, but long since a senior, and for some time past a leader, is still to the front in the bustling, reckless, impatient world of to-day. most of the others, alas, are no longer with us. littler later on was knighted, but is beyond all earthly honours now, and so are pope, pember and blennerhassett. as i have said, the proceedings occupied two sessions. in the first, , two bills came before a select committee of the house of commons, one promoted jointly by the great southern and western and the waterford and limerick companies, the other by the great southern and the waterford and central ireland. but the great southern were the real promoters of both; they paid the piper and, therefore, called the tune. the great southern being the largest railway company in ireland aspired to be greater still, nor need this be considered in the least surprising, for who in this world, great or small, is ever satisfied? the waterford and limerick, a line of miles, then ranked fourth amongst the railways of ireland, and its proposed absorption by the great southern and western company aroused no little interest. the central ireland, a small concern of miles, running from maryborough to waterford, was a secondary affair altogether and i shall say little more about it. the waterford and limerick had its headquarters at limerick, its southern terminus at waterford, its northern at sligo--a direct run from south to north of miles, certain branch lines making up the rest of its mileage. its access to sligo was by means of the athenry to tuam, the tuam to claremorris and the claremorris to collooney lines, all of which it worked. the last-mentioned was one of the "balfour" light railways (constructed on the ordinary irish gauge of feet inches) and should have been given to the midland company, but by some unfortunate _contretemps_, when constructed, it passed into the hands of the waterford and limerick. from collooney to sligo (six miles) running powers were exercised by that company over the midland line into sligo. this claremorris-collooney line intersected the midland system and in the hands of the waterford and limerick company introduced a competition in connaught which that poor district could ill afford to bear--a district in which one railway system alone, though it enjoyed the whole of the traffic, would scarcely earn a living. the waterford and limerick was not what would be called a prosperous line, nor was its physical condition anything to boast of, but it had latent possibilities, and was in active competition with the great southern. such railway competition as existed in ireland was dear to traders and the general public. in country towns in the sister isle there is not (more the pity!) much afoot in the way of diversion, and to set the companies by the ears or get the better of either one or the other was looked upon as healthy and innocent amusement. on the th of june the contest began, and this, the first engagement, lasted for days, when the chairman of the committee announced that the bills would not be passed. great was our delight and that of our allies, though the cup of joy was a little dashed on learning that the great southern had determined to renew the struggle in the following year. my company was the principal opponent, and bore the brunt of the fight, though the dublin, wicklow and wexford railway (now the dublin and south- eastern) were vigorous opponents too. a. g. reid (from scotland, who i have mentioned before) was general manager of the dublin and wicklow railway. like myself he is a pensioner now enjoying the evening of life. living near each other in the pleasant kingstown-dalkey district, we meet not infrequently, and when we do our talk, as is natural, often glides into railway reminiscence. we fight our battles over again. we had many allies, prominent amongst them being the city and harbour authorities of limerick. they were represented by good men who were hand and glove with us. sir (then mr.) alexander shaw, john f. power and william holliday were particularly conspicuous for their valuable assistance. power (well named) was a host in himself. strong, keen, clever, energetic, enthusiastic, yet cautious and wary, he was a splendid witness. i sometimes said he would have made a fine railway manager, had he been trained to the business. could i give him higher praise? mr. littler was in great feather at our success. he entertained us (_i.e_., his midland clients) to lunch. over coffee and cigars we learned that he had not been in ireland for over years; so to equip him the better for next year's fight we invited him over, promising that i would be his faithful cicerone on a tour through the country. as soon as parliament rose he came, and he and i spent a fortnight together, visiting limerick, waterford, cork, galway, sligo and other places. it was a sort of triumphal march, for our friends, and they were many, warmly welcomed on irish soil the great english q.c. who had routed the enemy. littler enjoyed it immensely, and was charmed with irish warmth and irish ways. full of good humour and good nature himself, with a lively wit, and an easy unaffected manner, he gained new friends to our cause, and increased the zeal of old ones. he was a charming companion, a keen observer and interested in everything he saw and everybody he met. before the next session arrived my company determined upon a bold course, and decided to themselves lodge a bill to acquire the waterford and limerick line. there was much to be said for this. with the waterford and limerick in our hands the competition, which the public loved, would continue, whilst in the hands of the great southern monopoly would prevail. that we would command much public support seemed certain. so in the following year three bills were presented to parliament, viz.:-- midland great western great southern and western and waterford and limerick great southern and western and waterford and central ireland that parliament regarded these proposals as being of more than ordinary importance is clear from the fact that it referred the three bills to a joint select committee of both houses--lords and commons--describing them as "the railways (ireland) amalgamation bills." an experienced and able chairman was appointed in the person of lord spencer. on the th of may the proceedings opened. day by day every inch of ground was stubbornly fought, and on the th of july the decision of the committee was announced. after the presentation of the great southern case our bill was heard and all the opposition. one of the most effective witnesses for the great southern was sir george (then mr.) gibb, general manager of the north-eastern, the only big railway in the country that enjoyed a district to itself. his _role_ was to persuade the committee that railway monopoly, contrary to accepted belief, was a boon and a blessing, and well he fulfilled his part. my examination did not take place until july th, after nearly all other witnesses had been heard. mr. littler intentionally kept me back, which was a great advantage to me, as when placed in the box i had practically heard what everybody else had said, and the last word, as every woman knows, is not to be despised. littler took me through my "proof." i had spent the whole of the previous sunday with him at his house at palmer's green and we had gone through it together most carefully. he attached great importance to my direct evidence, and we underlined the parts i was to be particularly strong upon. that i had taken great pains to prepare complete and accurate evidence i need scarcely say, for, as i have stated before, if there is any kind of work i have liked more than another, and into which i have always put my heart and soul, it is this kind. after we had got through i was cross-examined by eight opposing counsel, including pope, pember, balfour browne and seymour bushe. one of the very few things connected with my appearance in the case i have preserved (and this i have kept from vanity, i suppose) is a newspaper cutting which says, "in cross-examination mr. pope could not get a single point out of mr. tatlow. on the contrary it actually made his case stronger. his evidence from beginning to end was most masterly. it was the evidence of a man who knew what he was talking about and who told the truth. mr. pope, in the end, agreed with mr. tatlow's statement on running powers." mr. pope was a big, generous-minded man. in the course of his great speech on the case he paid me the very nice compliment of saying that, "mr. tatlow went into the box and with a candour that did him great credit at once admitted that they (the clauses) were the most stringent that he knew of." this from opposing counsel was a compliment indeed, and i was much complimented upon it. mr. pope greatly admired candour, and indeed i found myself that candour always told with the committees. littler loved pope, and so did all the parliamentary bar, of which he was the acknowledged leader and the respected father. littler said to me, "he is a wonderfully and variously gifted man, and had he chosen the stage as a profession would have been a david garrick." i said, "what about his very substantial person?" for he was colossal in figure. "i had forgotten that," said littler. littler told me a good story of him which pope, he said, was also fond of telling himself. it was in the great man's biggest and busiest days. influenza was rife. mr. pope was a bachelor, and his valet inconsiderately took the "flu." mr. pope's nephew said the valet must go away till he fully recovered, or mr. pope would be sure to take it. "what shall i do?" said mr. pope, in dismay. "oh, i'll get you a good man for the time," said the nephew; and so he did; a skilful, quiet, efficient, attentive man, whose usual duty it was to attend on a rich old gentleman, who resided, on account of a little mental derangement, in a certain pleasant private establishment. mr. pope had not been told, nor had he inquired, where the excellent valet, with whom he was well pleased, hailed from, nor had the valet asked any questions concerning mr. pope. both seemed to have jumped to certain conclusions. after the valet had been there a week or more, one day, when _downstairs_, he said to the servants: "tell me, what is it that is wrong with the master? he seems to me to be as sane as any of us!" balfour browne, in his book _forty years at the bar_, says, "he" (mr. pope) "had a broad equitable common sense, and never did anything mean or little." he was certainly an orator, and displayed in his speeches much dramatic power. his voice was fine, flexible and sonorous. in his later years he must often have wished his "too too solid flesh would melt," for it had become a heavy burden. he had to be wheeled from committee room to committee room in a perambulating chair, and was allowed to remain seated when addressing committees. on the th of july lord spencer announced that "the great southern amalgamation bill may proceed subject to clauses as to running powers, etc." this meant that _our_ bill was gone, and that the great southern had gained possession of the waterford and limerick, ennis, the line to collooney and running powers to sligo. thus they had secured a monopoly in munster and an effective competition with us in poor connaught. it was hard lines for the midland, but all was not yet lost. if only we could obtain running powers to limerick and carry them back to ireland, we should have secured some of the spoil. another week was spent fighting over running powers, facilities, etc., and i was in the witness box again. balfour browne and littler now conducted the warfare on either side, and keenly they fought. the committee at one time seemed disposed to put us off with little or nothing. in the box i know i waxed warm--"the great southern to get all and we nothing--iniquitous," and then, "the public interest to count for nought--oh, monstrous!" well, in the end, on the th of july, we were awarded full running powers to limerick, and--the curtain fell! the act came into operation on the nd of january, , the st being a sunday. on the th we ran our first running power train, and the joy bells rang in limerick. the great southern threatened us with an injunction because we began to exercise our powers before the terms of payment, etc., were fixed between us; but we laughed at threats and went gaily on our way. limerick rewarded us by giving us their traffic. in this last amalgamation year ( ) we were in the committee rooms also in connection with another case--the kingscourt, keady and armagh railway bill; but, i will say no more about it than that we opposed the bill for the purpose of obtaining proper protection of midland interests. the year brought a general act of some importance called the _railway employment (prevention of accidents) act_. it empowered the board of trade to make rules with the object of reducing or removing the dangers and risks incidental to certain operations connected with railway working, such as braking of wagons, propping and tow roping, lighting of stations, protection of point rods and signal wires, protection to permanent way men, and other similar matters. it also empowered the board to employ persons for carrying the act into effect. nineteen hundred, take it all in all, was a busy, interesting and delightful year. though we did not succeed in acquiring the waterford and limerick railway, which i may now say we scarcely expected, for _compulsory_ railway amalgamation was then unheard of, yet our _bold course_ was regarded with considerable success (as boldness often is) and the running powers we had won were pecuniarily valuable as well as strategically important. sir theodore martin, our parliamentary agent, and who had taken the keenest interest in the contest, wrote me: "after all i do not much regret the issue of the fight the midland have had. to have got running powers to limerick, and to have to give nothing for them is a substantial triumph." so also thought my chairman and directors, for on the th of july they passed the following board minute:-- "resolved unanimously, that having regard to the great exertions of mr. tatlow in connection with the several bills before parliament, and the directors being of opinion that the favourable terms obtained by this company were due to the great care and attention given by him, they have unanimously decided to raise mr. tatlow's salary pounds a year on and from the st inst." not a very great amount in these extravagant days, perhaps, but in ireland, nineteen years ago, it was thought quite a big thing; and it had the additional charm of being altogether unexpected by its grateful recipient. sir theodore martin, though years of age, was full of intellectual and physical vigour. he was a sound adviser, and enthusiastic in the amalgamation business. poet, biographer and translator, he kept up his intellectuality till the last, and the end of his interesting life did not come until he reached his th year. in he published a translation of leopardi's poems. between us arose a much greater intimacy than the ordinary intimacy of business, and his friendship, through a long series of years, i enjoyed and highly valued. [sir theodore martin: martin.jpg] between the two periods of the amalgamation control i sandwiched a delightful holiday, and in the autumn of , after the conclusion of the great ballinasloe fair, travelled east as far as constantinople. were this a book of travel (which it is not) a chapter might be devoted to that trip. but the cobbler must stick to his last, though a word or two may, perhaps, be allowed on the subject, if only by way of variety. my companions on this interesting tour were my good friends f. k. and h. h. we went by sea from southampton to genoa, where we stayed two days to enjoy the sunshine and colour; its steep, picturesque and narrow streets, and its beautiful old palaces. then we visited milan and venice. at venice we spent several days, charmed with its beauty. from trieste we took an austrian lloyd steamer, the _espero_, to constantinople. at patras we left the steamer to rejoin it at piraeus, wending our way by rail along the gulf of corinth to athens, in which classical city we stayed the night. messrs. gaze and sons had ordered their guide (or dragoman as he was called) to meet us and devote himself to our service. the next morning at o'clock, he called for us at our hotel, and from that hour till noon, under his guidance, we visited the temples and monuments of ancient athens, and inspected the modern city also. in the afternoon we drove or rather ploughed our way from athens to piraeus (five miles) along the worst road i ever traversed, not excepting the streets of constantinople. we found the harbour gay with music, flags and bunting, in honour of a great russian admiral who was leaving his ship to journey by ours to constantinople. his officers bade him respectful farewells on the deck of our steamer, and he ceremoniously kissed them each and all. on the twenty-second day after leaving home, at six o'clock in the morning, we were aroused in our berths and informed that we had arrived at constantinople. the morning, unfortunately, was dull, and our first view of the ottoman city, therefore, a little obscured. all the same, it was a great sight, with its minarets and towers, its golden horn and crowded quays. our dragoman kept at bay all the clamouring crowd of porters, guides and nondescripts of all colours and races that besieged us. it was . a.m. when we landed, but . p.m. by turkish time. the moslem day is from sunset to sunset, and sunset is always reckoned o'clock; an awkward arrangement which the reforming "young turk" perhaps has since altered. the week we spent in constantinople was all too short. we stayed at the pera palace hotel, and the first night after dinner, in our innocence, strolled out. all was dark and dismal; no one in the streets. we went as far as the quays, strolled back and on the way called at a small cafe, the only inmate of which was a dwarf, as remarkable looking as velasquez's _sebastian de morra_. the hall porter at our hotel was waiting our return with anxiety. "it was not safe to be out at night," he said; "we had gold watches on us and money in our purses, and knives were sharp." murray's guide book, we afterwards found, gave similar warning, without mentioning knives. sir nicholas o'connor was our ambassador in constantinople. he was an irishman from county mayo, and i had a letter of introduction to him from my friend sir george morris. sir nicholas invited me to lunch at therapia, where the embassy was in residence in its summer quarters. he was exceedingly kind and facilitated our sightseeing in the great city during our stay. we witnessed the selamlik ceremony of the sultan's weekly visit for prayers to the mosque hamedieh jami, which stands adjacent to the grounds of yildiz kiosk. it was worth seeing. there was a great gathering of military in splendid uniforms and glittering decorations. seven handsome carriages contained his principal wives, or ladies of the harem (wives we were told), and several of the sultan's sons (mere youths) were there, beautifully apparelled. we caught glimpses of the ladies through their carriage windows, and being women (though veiled) i should be surprised if they, on their part, did not get glimpses of us. there were eunuchs too, black frock-coated--and the chief eunuch, an important personage who ranks very high. then came the sultan (abdul hamid) himself in an open carriage, closely surrounded and guarded by officers. he was an elderly, careworn, bearded, sallow, melancholy looking man, whose features seemed incapable of a smile. he entered the mosque alone; his wives remaining seated in their carriages outside. in the room in which we sat at an open window to view the ceremony we were regaled with the sultan's coffee and cigarettes. the streets and bazaars of constantinople were absorbingly interesting. the various nationalities that everywhere met the eye; the flowing eastern costumes, the picturesque water carriers, the public letter writers patiently seated at street corners and occupied with their clients, the babel of voices, and yet an oriental indolence pervading all, crowds but no hurry; the sonorous and musical sound of the muezzin call to prayers from the minarets--all was new and strange; delightful too, if you except the dogs that beset the streets and over which, as they lay about, we stumbled at every step. they are now a thing of the past. poor brutes, they deserved a better fate than the cruel method of extinction which turkish rule administered. of course we visited stamboul's greatest mosque, s. sophia. many other mosques we saw, but none that approached the majesty of this. one, the church of the monastery of the chora, famous for its beautiful mosaics, we did not see, although the german emperor had driven specially to it on his visit in to the sultan. the only good road constantinople seemed to possess was this road to the church, which lies outside the city, and this road, we were told, was constructed for the convenience of his imperial majesty. one day, on the bridge that spans the golden horn, we passed the grand vizier in his carriage. it was the day on which we crossed the bosphorus by steamer to visit scutari on the asiatic shore. scutari commands a splendid view of the city, the golden horn, and the bosphorus in its winding beauty, right away to the black sea. what a city some day will constantinople be! the grandest perhaps on earth. in scutari we heard the howling dervishes at their devotions, and the following day, in constantinople, witnessed a _performance_ shall i call it? of the dancing dervishes in their whirling, circling, toe-revolving exercise. the object of both is said to be to produce the ecstatic state in which the soul enters the world of dreams and becomes one with god. there is no question as to the ecstatic, nay frenzied state many of them attained. our last day was the eve of the ramadan fast. at eight o'clock that night we left by train to journey homeward overland, for time demanded that we should go back much quicker than we came. we broke our journey for two days at buda-pesth, and looked on the danube; at vienna we stayed a little longer, and found that gay city hard to leave. we drove and rode in the prater, and horseback exercise in such a place was, i need not say, delightful. we stopped at frankfort, enjoyed its opera and other things, then, _via_ ostend, wended our way to london. chapter xxvi. a congress at paris, the progress of irish lines, egypt and the nile "will you undertake to report on the subject of light railways for the international railway congress at paris?" this question was put to me in the year , and although i was busy enough, without shouldering additional work, i at once said "yes," and this was how i came to spend part of my annual holiday in the beautiful but crowded capital of france. crowded it was almost to suffocation, for was the great exhibition year, and all the world and his wife were there. the railway congress took place in september. the business part of the proceedings came first, and i did not stay for the festivities. when my report was made and discussed (a reporter was not allowed to read his paper, but was required to speak from notes), i made, with three railway friends from dublin, tracks for switzerland. it had been a strenuous year and mountain air and exercise were needed to restore one's physical strength and jaded faculties. "_means of developing light railways. what are the best means of encouraging the building of light railways_?" this was the text for my paper, as sent to me by the congress, and my report, i was told, should be confined to the united kingdom, mr. w. m. acworth having undertaken a report on the subject for other countries. in my report i first disposed of ireland, concerning which and its light railways i have already written with some fullness in these pages; and my readers, i am sure, will not be surprised to hear that, as regards that country i answered the question remitted to me by saying that the only practical means i could see of further encouraging the construction of light railways in ireland was by the wise expenditure of additional government grants, while as regards england, i pointed out that she had for long preferred to dispense with light railways, that, as forcibly expressed in _the times_, she alone of civilised countries had but one standard for her railways, that is "the best that money could buy"; that times had changed, and in and much discussion and investigation on the subject had taken place, brought about chiefly, i thought, by depression in agriculture; that the energy which france, germany, sweden, belgium and italy had expended on their light railway systems, especially in agricultural and rural districts, had helped to further concentrate public opinion on the question; that a conference had been held at the board of trade and a committee appointed to investigate the subject; that this committee, after various sittings, had reported in favour of legislation, and that the result had been that the _light railway act_ of had come into being. my paper also dealt with this act, explaining its scope, its limitations and what its effect had been during the comparatively short time (only four years) it had been in force; and my conclusion was that in great britain no further facilities were at that time required for encouraging the building of light railways, the best policy in my judgment being, to give the act a fair trial, as time only could show to what extent the railways to be made in virtue of its provisions would fulfil the objects for which it had been passed. mr. acworth did not tackle the question as affecting other countries. he reported that he had no special knowledge which would entitle him to say how light railway enterprise could best be developed in countries other than his own, and that as my report "sufficiently set out the present position of affairs in reference to light railways in the united kingdom," he thought the most useful contribution he could offer to the discussion of the question would be "a short criticism of the working, both from a legal or administrative and also from a practical point of view, of our english act of ." the act of was one of considerable importance to british railways and, therefore, merits a few words. it established three commissioners who were empowered to make orders authorising the construction of light railways, including powers for the compulsory acquisition of land; authorised the granting of government loans and, under special circumstances, free grants of money. the board of trade might require any project brought forward under the act to be submitted to parliament, if they considered its magnitude, or the effect it might have on any existing railway, demanded such a course. the act simplified and cheapened the process for the acquisition of land, and ordained that in fixing the price the consequent betterment of other lands held by the same owner should be taken into account. it imparted considerable power to dispense with certain expensive conditions and regulations in working railways constructed under its authority. though it was intended primarily to benefit agriculture, it was capable of an interpretation wide enough to include all kinds of tramways, and it has been extensively used for that purpose, sometimes, i fear, to the detriment of existing railways. according to an article in the jubilee ( ) number of the _railway news_, by mr. welby everard, up to the end of the year (since the outbreak of the war figures are not obtainable) a total of applications (including applications for amending orders) were made to the commissioners, the total mileage represented being , miles. of these applications were passed, comprising , miles, of which, , miles were in class a, _i.e_. light railways to be constructed on land acquired or "cross-country" lines, that is to say, lines which legitimately fulfilled the purposes of the act. but, up to october, , only of these lines, with a total length of miles, had been constructed and opened for traffic. the number of applications to the commissioners seemed to show a considerable demand for greater facilities for transit in rural districts, but capital apparently was slow to respond to that demand. perhaps it will be different now, in these days of change and reconstruction. the government is pledged to tackle the whole question of transport, and light railways will, of course, not be overlooked, though motor traction will run them a close race. for ten years i had now been manager of the midland great western railway, and busy and interesting years they were. in that period irish railways, considering that the population of the country was diminishing, had made remarkable progress, and effected astonishing improvements. whilst the population of england during the decade had _increased_ by . per cent., and scotland by . , that of ireland had _decreased_ by . per cent! yet, notwithstanding this, the railway traffic in ireland, measured by receipts, had increased by per cent., against england and scotland . in the number of passengers carried the increase in ireland was per cent. in the same period the increase in the number of engines and vehicles in ireland was , in england , and scotland per cent., whilst the number of train miles run (which is the real measure of the usefulness of railways to the public) had advanced per cent. in ireland, compared with in england, and in scotland. these figures indicate what irish railways had accomplished in the decade ending with december, , and betoken, i venture to affirm, a keen spirit of enterprise. these ten years had witnessed the introduction of breakfast and dining cars on the trains, of parlour cars, long bogie corridor carriages, the lighting of carriages by electricity, the building of railway hotels in tourist districts, the establishment of numerous coach and steamboat tours, the quickening of tourist traffic generally, the adoption of larger locomotives of greatly increased power, the acceleration of the train service, the laying of heavier and smoother permanent way, and a widespread extension of cheap fares--tourist, excursion, week-end, etc. it was a period of great activity and progress in the irish railway world, with which i was proud and happy to be intimately connected. but what a return for all this effort and enterprise the irish railway companies received-- pounds s. d. per cent. on the whole capital expended, plus a liberal amount of abuse from the press and politicians, neither of whom ever paused to consider what ireland owed to her railways, which, perhaps, all things considered, was the best conducted business in the country. it, however, became the vogue to decry irish lines as inefficient and extortionate, and a fashion once started, however ridiculous, never lacks supporters. the public, like sheep, are easily led. in england the average return on capital expended was pounds s. d., and in scotland pounds s. d. in the spring of , mr. w. h. mills, the engineer of the great northern railway of ireland, and i were entrusted by the board of works with an investigation into the circumstances of the cork, blackrock and passage railway in regard to a proposed government loan to enable the company to discharge its liabilities and complete an extension of its railway to crosshaven. it was an interesting inquiry, comprising a broken contract, the cost of completing unfinished works, the financial prospects of the line when such works were completed, and other cognate matters. a bill in parliament promoted by the railway company in the following year became necessary in connection with the loan, which after our report the government granted, and i had to give evidence in regard to it. in the same session i appeared also before two other parliamentary committees, so again i had a busy time outside the ordinary domestic duties pertaining to railway management. on the first day of november, , my good friend walter bailey and i started on a visit to egypt. it, like constantinople and spain and portugal, occupied more than the usual month's vacation, but as these extra long excursions were taken only every two or three years, and as it was never my habit to nibble at holidays by indulging in odd days or week- ends, my conscience was clear, especially as my chairman and directors cordially approved of my seeing a bit of the world, and readily granted the necessary leave of absence. as for bailey, he always declared this egyptian tour was the holiday of his life. to continue, we arrived in cairo, _via_ trieste and alexandria, on the th. there we were met by mr. harrison, the general manager of messrs. thomas cook and son, and their principal dragoman, _selim_, whom he placed during our stay in cairo at our disposal. _selim_ was a syrian and the prince of dragomans; a handsome man, of oriental dignity and gravity, arrayed in wonderful robes, which by contrast with our occidental attire made bailey and me feel drab and commonplace. at cairo we stayed for eight days at shepheard's hotel, and under _selim's_ guidance made good use of our time. on the ninth day we began a delightful journey up the nile. mr. frank cook had insisted upon our being the guests of his firm on their tourist steamer _amasis_. my relations with messrs. thomas cook and son go back for many years, and with the midland of england, my _alma mater_, the firm is, perhaps, more closely associated than with any other railway. it was on the midland system that, in , its business began. in that year the founder of the firm, mr. thomas cook, arranged with the midland the first public excursion train on record. it ran from leicester to loughborough and back at a fare of one shilling, and carried passengers. this was the first small beginning of that great tourist business which now encircles the habitable globe. mr. thomas cook was a derbyshire man and was born in . my father knew him well, often talked to me about him, and told me stories of the excursion and tourist trade in its early days. but i am digressing, and must return to old father nile, who was in great flood. we saw him at his best. his banks were teeming with happy dusky figures and the smiling irrigated land was bright with fertility. our journey to assouan occupied eleven days, a leisurely progress averaging about two and a-half miles an hour. during the night we never steamed, the _amasis_ lying up while we enjoyed quiet rest in the quietest of lands. of course we visited all the famous temples and tombs, ruins and monuments, of ancient egypt; and had many camel and donkey rides on the desert sands before reaching the first cataract. at luxor, where we stayed for five days, we were pleasantly surprised at seeing mr. harrison and mr. warren gillman come on board. the latter was secretary of messrs. cook and son's egyptian business, and has, i believe, since risen higher in the service of the firm. the great dam at assouan was just completed and we traversed its entire length on a trolley propelled by natives. assouan detained us for four days; then, time being important, we travelled back to cairo by railway. three more interesting days were passed in the babylonian city, then homewards we went by the quickest route attainable. whilst in cairo and on our journey up the nile, bailey and i wrote, jointly, a series of seven articles on "egypt and its railways." these appeared in the _railway news_ in seven successive weeks during december and january. our last hours in the land of the pharaohs were filled with regret at having to leave it so soon. said bailey: "cannot you, before we go, write a verse of farewell?" so i composed the following:-- egypt, farewell, and farewell father nile, impenetrable sphinx, eternal pile of broad-based pyramid, and spacious hypostyle! farewell osiris, anubis and set, horus and ra, and gentle meskenhet, ye sacred gods of old, o must we leave you yet? the mighty works of ramesis the great, memphis, karnak and thebes asseverate the pomp and glory, egypt, of your ancient state. bright cloudless land! your skies of heavenly blue bend o'er your fellaheen the whole day through; night scarce diminishes their sweet celestial hue. realm of enchantment, break your mystic spell, land of the lotus, smiling land farewell! for ever it may be, what oracle can tell? chapter xxvii. king edward, a change of chairmen, and more railway legislation the memorable visit to ireland of his majesty king edward, in the summer of , which embraced all parts of the country, furnished i think no incident so unique as his reception in connemara. on the morning of the th july the royal yacht anchored off leenane, in killery bay, and his majesty landed in connaught. he was accompanied by queen alexandra and princess victoria. this was the first time, i believe, that the people west of the shannon had seen their king, and whatever their politics, or aspirations were, he was certainly received with every manifestation of sincere good will. his genial personality and ingratiating _bonhomie_, his humanity, and his sportsmanlike characteristics, appealed at once to irish instincts, and connaught was as enthusiastic in its welcome as the rest of ireland. the royal party motored from leenane to recess, where they lunched at the company's hotel, and where, of course, the chairman, directors and chief officers of the railway, as well as local magnates, were assembled to assist in the welcome. on nearing recess a surprise awaited the king. he was met by the "connemara cavalry," which escorted the royal party to the hotel and acted as bodyguard. mr. john o'loughlin, of cashel, had organised this new and unexpected addition to his majesty's forces. it consisted of about farmers, farmer's sons and labourers, of all ages from to , mounted (mostly bareback) on hardy connemara ponies. "buffalo bill" hats, decorated with the royal colours or with green ribbon streamers, distinguished them from others. it was a striking scene, unexpected, novel, unique; but quite in harmony with the surroundings and the wild and romantic scenery of connemara and the killeries. the king plainly showed his hearty appreciation. after lunch their majesties visited the marble quarries, situated some three miles distant, and reached by a rough and rocky precipitous mountain road, for which motor cars were entirely unsuited. for this journey the marble quarry people had ordered a carriage and horses from dublin, but which, by some unfortunate occurrence, had not turned up. though the only carriage available in the neighbourhood was ill-suited for royalty, the king and queen, good naturedly, made little of that. they were too delighted with the unmistakable warmth of their welcome to mind such a trifle. again the "cavalry" were in attendance and escorted the party to the quarries and back. the royal visit to ireland, on the whole, was an unqualified success, and there were many who hoped and believed that the king's good will towards the country and its people, and his remarkable gifts as a peacemaker, would in some way help to a solution of the irish question; but, alas! that question is with us still, and when and how it will be solved no man can tell. for myself, i am one of those who indulge in _hope_, remembering that time, in his healing course, has a way of adjusting human misunderstandings and of bringing about the seemingly impossible. it was in this year ( ) that i first met charles dent, the present general manager of the great northern railway of england. he had been appointed general manager of the great southern and western railway in succession to r. g. colhoun. dent and i often met. we found we could do good work for our respective companies by reducing wasteful competition and adopting methods of friendly working. in this we were very successful. a man of few words, disdaining all unnecessary formalities, but getting quickly at the heart and essence of things, it was always a pleasure to do business with him. in this year also i enjoyed some variety by way of an inquiry which i made for the board of works, concerning certain proposed light railway extensions, called the ulster and connaught, and which involved the ticklish task of estimating probable traffic receipts and working expenses--a task for which the gift of prophecy almost is needed. to determine, in this uncertain world, the future of a railway in embryo might puzzle the wisest; but, with the confidence of the expert, i faced the problem and, i hope, arrived at conclusions which were at least within a mile of the mark. in that fine old railway veteran, sir ralph cusack, resigned his position of chairman of the midland and was succeeded by the honourable richard nugent, youngest son of the ninth earl of westmeath; major h. c. cusack, sir ralph's nephew and son-in-law, becoming deputy chairman--the first (excepting for a few brief months in when mr. nugent occupied the position) the midland ever had. with sir ralph's vacation of the chair, autocratic rule on the midland, which year by year, had steadily been growing less, disappeared entirely and for ever. well, sir ralph in his long period of office had served the midland faithfully, with a single eye to its interests, and good wishes followed him in his retirement. mr. nugent was a small man, that is physically, but intellectually was well endowed. he had scholarly tastes and business ability in pretty equal parts. movement and activity he loved, and, as he often told me, preferred a holiday in manchester or birmingham to the riviera or italian lakes. he liked to be occupied, was fond of details, and possessed a lively curiosity. sometimes he was thought, as a chairman, to err in the direction of too rigid economy, but on a railway such as the midland, and in a country such as ireland, economy was and is an excellent thing, and if he erred, it was on the right side. truth, candour, courage and enthusiasm marked his character in a high degree. fearless in speech, the art of dissimulation he never learned. i shall not readily forget a speech he once made at the railway companies' association in london. it was on an occasion of great importance, when all the principal companies of the united kingdom were present. it was altogether unpremeditated, provoked by other speeches with which he disagreed, and its directness and courage--for it was a bold and frank expression of honest conviction, such as tells in any assembly--created some stir and considerable comment. of plain homely mother-wit he had an uncommon share, and his mind was stored with quotations which came out in his talk with wonderful ease and aptness. a shrewd observer, his comments (always good-natured if critical) on his fellow men were worth listening to. our almost daily intercourse was intimate and frank. sometimes we wandered into the pleasant fields of poetry and literature, but never to the neglect of business. he had an advantage that i greatly envied; a splendid memory; could repeat verse after verse, stanza upon stanza, whole cantos almost, from his favourite poet, byron. it was at the half- yearly meetings of shareholders (they were held half-yearly in his day) that he specially shone, not in his address to them (for that he _would_ persist in reading) but in the after proceedings when the heckling began. this, during his chairmanship, was often severe enough, for owing to unavoidably increased expenditure, dividends were diminishing and shareholders, in consequence, were in anything but complacent mood. question time always put him on his mettle. then his mother-wit came out, his lively humour and practical common sense--all unstudied and natural. the effect was striking. rarely did he fail in disarming criticism, producing harmony, and sending away dissentients in good temper, though some of them, i know, sometimes afterwards wondered how it came about that they had been so easily placated. from to several acts of parliament affecting railways generally came into force, four of which were of sufficient importance to merit attention. the first, the _railways (electric power) act_, , was a measure to facilitate the introduction and use of electrical power on railways, and invested the board of trade with authority to make orders for that purpose, which were to have the same effect as if enacted by parliament. the second, the _railway fires act_, , was an act to give compensation for damage by fires caused by sparks or cinders from railway engines, and increased the liability of railway companies. it _inter alia_, enacted that the fact that the offending engine was used under statutory powers should not affect liability in any action for damage. next came the _trades disputes act_, , a short measure of five clauses, but none the less of great importance; a democratic law with a vengeance! it is one of the four acts which a. a. baumann, in his recent book, describes as being "in themselves a revolution," and of this particular act he says it "placed the trade unions beyond the reach of the laws of contract and of tort." it also legalised peaceful picketing, that particular form of persuasion with which a democratic age has become only too familiar. lastly, the _workmen's compensation act_, of , an act to consolidate and amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment, is on the whole a beneficial and useful measure, to which we have grown accustomed. in these years i had other holiday trips abroad; some with my family to france and switzerland, and two with my friend, john kilkelly. one of these two was to denmark and germany; the other to monte carlo and the riviera. in germany, at altona, we saw the kaiser "in shining armour," fresh from the autumnal review of his troops, though indeed i should scarcely say _fresh_, for he looked tired and pale, altogether different to the stern bronzed warrior depicted in his authorised photographic presentments which confronted us at every turn. kilkelly was a busy, but never seemed an overworked man, due i suppose to some constitutional quality he enjoyed. added to a good professional business of his own, he was solicitor to the midland, crown solicitor for county armagh, solicitor to the galway county council, and, in _his leisure hours_, farmed successfully some seven or eight hundred acres. he had a fine portly presence, and though modesty itself, could not help looking as if he were _somebody_, like the stranger in london, accosted by theodore hook in the strand, who was of such imposing appearance that the wit stopped him and said: "i beg your pardon, sir, but, may i ask, are you anybody in particular?" at monte carlo we both lost money but revelled in abundant sunshine, and contemplated phases of humanity that to us were new and strange. soon we grew tired of the gaming table and its glittering surroundings, bade it adieu, and explored other parts of the riviera, moving at our ease from scene to scene and from place to place. kilkelly was an excellent travelling companion, readily pleased, and taking things as they came with easy philosophy. but never more shall we travel together, at home or abroad. a year ago, at the age of , he passed from among us on the last long journey which we all must take. _requiescat in pace_! chapter xxviii. vice-regal commission on irish railways, - , and the future of railways in previous pages i have spoken of the manner in which the railways of ireland had long been abused. this abuse, as the years went on, instead of diminishing grew in strength if not in grace. the companies were strangling the country, stifling industry, thwarting enterprise; were extortionate, grasping, greedy, inefficient. these were the things that were said of them, and this in face of what the railways were accomplishing, of which i have previously spoken. politics were largely at the bottom of it all, i am sure, and certain newspapers joined in the noisy chorus. at length the house of commons, during the session of , rewarded the agitators by adopting the following resolution:-- "_that in the opinion of this house, excessive railway rates and defective transit facilities, generally, constitute a serious bar to the advancement of ireland and should receive immediate attention from the government with a view to providing a remedy therefor_." this resolution bore fruit, for in the ensuing year ( ), in the month of july, a vice-regal commission was appointed to inquire into the subject, and the terms of reference to the commission included these words:-- "_what causes have retarded the expansion of traffic upon the irish lines and their full utilization for the development of the agricultural and industrial resources of the country; and, generally, by what methods the economical, efficient, and harmonious working of the irish railways can best be secured_." as the newspapers said, the irish railway companies were put upon their trial. as soon as the commission was appointed the companies ( in number) assembled at the railway clearing house in dublin to discuss the situation, and decide upon a course of action. unanimously it was resolved to act together and to make a common defence. a committee, consisting of the chairman and general managers of the seven principal companies, was appointed and invested with full power to act in the interest of all, as they should find desirable. the right honourable sir william (then sir william) goulding, baronet, chairman of the great southern and western railway, was appointed chairman of the committee. i was appointed its secretary, and mr. croker barrington its solicitor. it was further decided that one general case for the associated railways should be prepared and presented to the commission by one person, who should also (under the direction of the committee) have charge of all proceedings connected with the inquiry. i, to my delight, was unanimously selected as that person, and to enable me to do the work properly, i was allowed to select three assistants. my choice fell upon g. e. smyth, john quirey, and joseph ingram, and i could not have chosen better. we were allotted an office in the railway clearing house; my assistants gave their whole time to the work, and i gravitated between broadstone and kildare street, for of course i had to look after the midland great western as well as the commission business. that i could not, like sir boyle roche's bird, be in two places at once, was my greatest disappointment. i may record here that each of my assistants has since, to borrow an americanism, "made good." smyth is now traffic manager of the great southern and western railway; quirey is chief accountant of the midland railway of england, and ingram became secretary of the irish clearing house, from which be has been recently promoted to an important position under the ministry of transport (ireland). the way in which the seven companies worked together, and the success they attained was, i think, something to be proud of. sir william goulding was an excellent chairman. there was just one little rift in the lute. one of the seven companies showed a disposition, at times, to play off its own bat, but this was, after all, only a small matter, and the general harmony, cohesion and unanimity that prevailed were admirable, and unquestionably productive of good. we had as counsel, to guide and assist the committee, and to represent the companies before the tribunal, mr. balfour browne, k.c.; mr. jas. campbell, k.c. (now the rt. hon. sir james campbell, baronet, lord chancellor of ireland); mr. t. m. healy, k.c.; mr. vesey knox, k.c.; and mr. g. fitzgibbon. they served us well, and were all required. during the proceedings, prolonged as they were, each could not of course always appear, and it was important to have counsel invariably at hand. sir charles scotter was appointed chairman of the commission. he was chairman of the london and south western railway; had risen from the ranks in the railway service; had been a general manager, and was unquestionably a man of great ability; but he was handicapped by his age, which even then exceeded the psalmist's allotted span. his health moreover was not good, and in less than six months after the completion of the work of the commission, he departed this life at the age of . mr. george shanahan, assistant secretary of the board of works, was the capable secretary of the commission. he had the advantage of being a railwayman. from the service of the great northern railway, robertson took him with him to the board of works in the year . before the commission began its public sittings it issued and freely circulated a printed paper entitled "_draft heads of evidence for traders, industrial associations, commercial and public bodies, etc_." this paper invited complaints under various set headings and concluded with these words:-- "whether there is any other question that might be usefully considered in determining the _causes that have retarded the expansion of traffic upon the irish lines_, and their full utilization for the development of the agricultural and industrial resources of the country." the italics are mine. we, rightly or wrongly, looked upon this paragraph as _assuming_ the case against the companies to have some foundation in fact and likely to bias neutral opinion against us, and when (after the hearing was concluded) three of the seven commissioners reported that the evidence "led them to doubt whether expansion of traffic had been retarded," we felt that our view was not without justification. but i am anticipating the findings of the commission, and perhaps, after all, the peculiar terms of the reference largely dictated the course of procedure which the commission adopted. the first public sitting was held in dublin on the th of october, , and the last in the same city on the th of january, . there were public sittings in all; and witnesses were examined, of whom appeared on behalf of the railway companies. the reports of the commissioners (for there were two--a majority and a minority report) did not appear till the th of july, , so from the time of its appointment until the conclusion of its work the commission covered a period of four years, all but fourteen days. during the course of this inquiry i passed through a crisis in my life. from more than a year before the commission was appointed i had been in most indifferent health, the cause of which doctors both in dublin and in london were unable to discover. as time went on i became worse. recurring attacks of intense internal pain and constant loss of sleep worked havoc with my strength; but i held on grimly to my work, and few there were who knew how i suffered. one day, indeed, at the close of a sitting of the commission, sir john (then mr.) aspinall came over to where i sat, and said: "how ill you have looked all day, tatlow; what is wrong?" by the time march, came round, finding i could go on no longer, i went to london and saw three medical men, one of whom was the eminent surgeon, sir mayo (then mr.) robson. he, happily, discovered the cause of my trouble, and forthwith operated upon me. it was a severe and prolonged operation, but saved my life and re-established my health. not until late in july was i able to resume work--an enforced absence from duty of four long months. in this absence my three assistants carried on the commission work with great efficiency. it was a trying experience that i passed through, but from it i gathered some knowledge of what a man can endure and still perform his daily task, and what the value of true and sympathetic friendship means to one in a time of suffering. it was during this illness that my friend, f. k. shewed what a true friend he was. he, and my dear kinsman harry, devoted themselves to me, especially during my convalescence, giving up their time ungrudgingly and accompanying me to the mediterranean and elsewhere. the presentation of the railway case and the rebutting evidence did not begin till all the public witnesses had been heard. my evidence, on behalf of the associated companies, occupied five days. other railway managers followed with evidence specially affecting their own railways, and one chairman (mr. f. w. pim, dublin and south-eastern railway) also appeared in the witness box. we had also as a witness mr. e. a. pratt, the well-known journalist and author of works on railways and commercial subjects, who gave evidence for us regarding continental railway rates and conditions of transit abroad, in answer to evidence which had been given on the subject by an official of the department of agriculture. an extraordinary amount of importance had been attached to continental railway rates as compared with rates in ireland, and the department had sent their representative abroad to gather all the information he could. he returned, armed with figures, and submitted lengthy evidence and numerous tables. a great outcry had been made for years in the press and on the platform that rates in ireland were exorbitant compared with continental rates; and now, it was thought, this will be brought home to the irish companies. mr. pratt was well informed, having investigated the subject thoroughly in various countries, and written and published books and articles thereon. between us we were able to show the unfairness of the comparisons, the dissimilarity of the circumstances of each country, and the varied conditions and nature of the services rendered in each, and the commissioners in the majority report confessed that after a full consideration of the evidence, they did not think any useful purpose would be served by attempting to make particular and detailed comparisons between continental and irish rates. i could write much that would be interesting about the proceedings and the evidence given against and for the companies; how reckless were many of the charges brought against them, how easily they were disproved; how subtle and disingenuous other charges were and what skill was required to refute them; how some of the witnesses were up in the clouds and had to be brought down to common earth; how conclusively the companies proved that the railways had done their best to encourage and help every industry and that their efforts had not been unsuccessful; but i will resist the temptation, and proceed to the reports which the commissioners presented to his excellency the lord lieutenant. as i have said, there were two reports, one signed by four, the other by three commissioners. the majority report bore the signatures of the chairman, the rt. hon. lord pirrie, colonel (now sir) hutcheson poe, and mr. thomas sexton, while the minority report was signed by sir herbert jekyll, mr. w. m. acworth, and mr. (now sir) john aspinall. the first-mentioned report was not so favourable to the railways as the other, yet the worst thing it said of the companies was that they were commercial bodies conducted on commercial principles and ran the railways for profit, and it admitted that irish railway managers neglected few opportunities for developing traffic. in a sort of way it apologised for the evidence-seeking printed papers to which i have already referred, and admitted that had the commissioners been in possession of the statistics of trade and industry published in by the department of agriculture (which seemed to have surprised them by the facts and figures they contained of ireland's progress) these circulars might have been framed differently. the report also said that the complaints the commissioners received would have been fewer in number if some of the public witnesses had been better informed and had taken pains to verify their statements. the commissioners further reported that they were satisfied that it was impracticable for the railway companies, as commercial undertakings, to make such reduction in rates as was desired, and, "as the economic condition of the country required," but it was not mentioned that no inquiry had been made as to the economic condition alluded to. in regard to this question of economic condition the minority report took a more modest view. it expressed the opinion that regarding the causes which had retarded the expansion of traffic upon the irish lines, "a complete answer would involve an inquiry ranging over the whole field of agriculture and industry in all its aspects," and that this the commissioners had not made. it also added that the statistics of irish trade which had been published by the department of agriculture and technical instruction since the commencement of the inquiry led them (the minority commissioners) to doubt whether the expansion of traffic _had_ been retarded. to return to the majority report. the commissioners who signed it were of opinion that ireland needed special treatment in regard to her railways and that public acquisition (not state acquisition) and public control of a unified railway system was the consummation to be desired. in their view, if only this were accomplished blessings innumerable would ensue and all complaints would for ever cease. as to the way in which this unification and public control were to be carried out, they recommended that an irish authority should be instituted to acquire the irish railways and work them as a single system, that this authority should be a railway board of twenty directors, four nominated and sixteen elected; that the general terms of purchase be those prescribed by the regulation of railways act of ; that the financial medium be a railway stock; and that such stock be charged upon ( ) the consolidated fund; ( ) the net revenues of the unified railway system; ( ) an annual grant from the imperial exchequer; and ( ) a general rate to be struck by the irish railway authority if and when required. the commissioners who signed the minority report said the evidence, as a whole, had not produced the same general effect upon their minds as upon the minds of their colleagues, and they were inclined to attach less importance than their colleagues did to the evidence given against the irish railway companies, and more importance to the evidence given in their favour. in their opinion the result of the evidence was, that if the companies were to be considered as having been on their trial, _they were entitled_ _to a verdict of acquittal_, and that no case had been made out for the reversal of railway policy which their colleagues advocated. they added that it would hardly be disputed that the railways had on the whole conferred great benefits upon ireland. on the question of reductions in rates (reductions which the majority report strongly urged as necessary), they did not think that reductions were more likely to occur under public than under private ownership. they suggested, further, that the official statistics of various countries showed that the fall in the average rate had been much greater on the privately owned railways of france and the united states than on the state-owned railways of prussia, which were universally accepted as the most favourable example of state managed railways in the world. they came to the conclusion, after hearing all the evidence, that the management of the principal irish companies was not inferior to that of similar companies in england and scotland. they narrated the many improvements (with which they seemed much impressed) that irish companies had in recent years effected for the benefit of the public and the good of the country, and said "they had spent money, and not always profitably, in endeavouring to promote the development of new industries." they considered the principle of private ownership should be maintained, believing that railways are better and more economically managed by directors responsible to their own shareholders than they would be under any form of state or popular control, and that administration on commercial principles was the best in the public interest. in their opinion, however, the irish railway system was faulty by reason of its sub-division into so many independent companies, and they recommended a policy of amalgamation, with the ultimate object of including the principal railways in one single system, and also, that certain lines classed as railways, but which were really tramways serving purely local interests, need not be incorporated with the general railway system. such amalgamation, they considered, need not be effected at one time, but should be accomplished gradually. failing amalgamation by voluntary effort within three years, compulsion should be resorted to. on the whole the reports were highly satisfactory to the irish railways. they showed that the companies had done their duty to the country honestly and well, and that they had been unjustifiably attacked. the good character of the irish railways was thus re-established, and they again held their rightful place in public esteem. of the two i much preferred the minority report. the working of the irish railways (in accordance with its recommendations) as business concerns on commercial principles, seemed to me both sound and sensible and the policy best calculated to serve the interests of the country. i cannot, however, say that i concurred in that part of the minority report which proposed the welding of all the railways of ireland into one great system. in my humble opinion, the formation of three large systems--a northern, a midland and a southern--was the desirable course to adopt. this course would, at any rate, keep alive the spirit of emulation which, in itself, is a wholesome stimulant to enterprise and endeavour, as well as to economy. the majority report, which amongst other things said, "we consider it obvious that irish development will not be fully served by the railways until they cease to be commercial undertakings," found favour mostly, i think, with those who looked upon ireland as an exceptional country requiring eleemosynary treatment, and whose railways ought, in their view, to be placed beyond the ordinary healthy necessity of paying their way. our chairman, the honourable richard nugent, addressing his shareholders at the time, put the matter rather neatly. he said: "the case, as recommended by the majority report, stands thus--the government to find the money for purchasing the railways; the government to guarantee the interest on the capital cost; the county councils to work the railways on uncommercial lines; the government to pay to the extent of , pounds a year any deficiency incurred by uncommercial management; and any further annual losses to be paid by the county councils striking a general rate, which you and i and all of us would be required to pay." he added, "does this seem a businesslike proposal?" the government took no steps towards carrying out the recommendations of either report. perhaps they thought them so nearly divided, and so almost evenly balanced, that the one neutralised the other. they may also have thought that each report made it clear that the irish railways were well managed, not lacking in enterprise or energy, were doing well for the country; and that, therefore, the wisest course was to "let well alone." were we living in ordinary times, had there been no world-wide war, with its vast upheavals and colossal changes, it would be both interesting and profitable to further discuss the reports, their conclusions and recommendations; but the war has altered the whole railway situation, and it would be idle to do so now. victor hugo says: "great events have incalculable consequences," which is unquestionably true in respect of the railways and the war. the vital question now in regard, not only to the railways of ireland, but to the railways of the whole united kingdom, is as to their future. it is, however, with the irish railways i am specially concerned, and of them i may pretend to have a little knowledge, which must be my excuse for saying a few words more on the subject. the irish railways, like those of great britain, are at present controlled by the government, under the _regulation of the forces act_, --a war arrangement which is to be continued, under the powers of the _ministry of transport act_, for a further period of two years, "with a view to affording time for the consideration and formulation of the policy to be pursued as to the future position" of the railways. this arrangement, temporary in its nature, provides, as is pretty generally known, that during its continuance, the railway companies shall be guaranteed the same net income as they earned in the year preceding the war, viz., . so far so good. but two years will quickly pass; and what then? it is also generally known that the government control of the railways, during the war and since, has resulted in enormous additions to the working expenses. perhaps these additions were inevitable. the cost of coal, and of all materials used in the working of railways, advanced by leaps and bounds; but the biggest increase has been in the wages bill. the government granted these increases of wages, and also conceded shorter hours of labour, involving an immensity of expense, on their own responsibility, without consultation with the irish railway companies. upon the irish railway companies, for the present position of affairs no responsibility, therefore, rests. again i say, the course which the government adopted was, perhaps, inevitable. they had to win the war. labour was clamorous and insistent, and serious trouble threatened. high reasons of state may be presumed to have dictated the government policy. anyhow the thing is done, and the hard fact remains that the irish railways have been brought to such a financial condition that, if they were handed back to the companies, many of them not only could not pay any dividends but would be unable to meet their fixed charges whilst some would not be able to even pay their working expenses. in england the opinion is held that a proper balance between receipts and expenditure can be restored by increased charges and reduced expenditure. this may be so in england, with its teeming population and its almost illimitable industrial resources. as to that i venture no opinion, but ireland is very differently situated. it is mainly an agricultural country, and for most of its railways no such promising prospect can, it seems to me, be discerned. to _unduly_ increase rates would diminish traffic and induce competition by road and sea. past experience teaches this. it used to be said that railway companies asserted, in justification of their rates, that they were fixed on the principle of "what the traffic could bear," and the companies were reproached on the ground that the principle involved an injustice, but a principle which involved the imposition of rates beyond what the traffic _could bear_, could hardly be said to be either sound or just. however that may be, the government have imposed upon the irish railways a burden of working expenses which they cannot bear. what is the remedy? whatever course is adopted, it is devoutly to be hoped that it will be fair and just to the proprietors of a railway system, which has done so much for ireland, and in respect of which the proprietors have received on their capital an annual return averaging less than per cent.! no bloated capitalists these. irish railway shareholders largely consist of people of moderate means, and their individual holdings, on the midland great-western, for example, average only pounds per shareholder. whilst i am by nature optimistic, i must confess that in these latter days my optimism occasionally receives a shock. nevertheless, i believe that the spirit of justice still animates the british people and parliament; that fair treatment will be accorded to the owners of irish railways, and that they shall not suffer by the policy which the government, under the stress of war, have pursued. railway directors are alive to the seriousness of the position, and may i think be trusted to see that no precaution will be neglected to secure for their companies fair terms from the government. shareholders also i am glad to observe are banding themselves together for the protection of their interests. chapter xxix. the general managers' conference, gooday's dinner, and divers matters soon after the vice-regal commission had concluded its public sittings, and long before its reports were issued, i had the pleasure of receiving from the associated companies a cordial minute of appreciation of the work i had done, accompanied by a handsome cheque. nor was this mark of appreciation confined to me. my friend, croker barrington, solicitor to the committee, who had given yeoman service, and my capable assistants, were not overlooked. sir william goulding was proud of his chairmanship, and well he might be, for during the long and trying period of the inquiry he kept his team well together and (no easy task) discharged the duties of chairman with admirable tact and ability. he was well entitled to the resolution of cordial thanks which the associated companies accorded to him. i should, i feel, be lacking in gratitude if i failed to acknowledge also the invaluable help afforded me by my brother managers, help ungrudgingly and unstintingly given. the irish railways did not stand still. their march along the path of progress and improvement continued _sans_ interruption. from to (the commission period) railway business, measured by receipts, advanced in ireland by seven per cent., compared with six per cent. in england and three per cent. in scotland! in november, , as was my habit unless prevented by other important duties, i attended the general managers' conference at the railway clearing house in london, and to my surprise and delight was unanimously elected chairman of the conference for the ensuing year, the first and only occasion on which the manager of an irish railway has been selected to fill that office. the conference consists of the general managers of all railways who are parties to the london clearing house, which means all the principal railways of the united kingdom. other conferences there were such as the goods managers', the superintendents', the claims conference, etc., but it was the general managers' conference that dealt with the most important matters. i remember that, in returning thanks for my election, i ventured on a few remarks which i thought appropriate to the occasion. amongst other things i said it was breaking new ground for the conference to look to ireland for a pope, but that in doing so they exhibited a catholicity of outlook which did them honor; and i added that, in filling the high office to which they had elected me, though i should certainly never pretend to the infallibility of his holiness, i should no doubt find it necessary at times to exercise his authority. at ten o'clock in the morning this little attempt at pleasantry seemed to be rather unexpected, but it raised a laugh, which, of course, was something to the good. the conference was a businesslike assembly that prided itself on getting through much work with little talk--an accomplishment uncommon at any time, and particularly uncommon in these latter days. in these restless days when-- "_what this troubled old world needs_, _is fewer words and better deeds_." my year of office quickly passed and i got through it without discredit, indeed my successor to the chair, sir (then mr.) sam fay, writing me just after his election, said that i "had won golden opinions," and expressed the hope that he would do as well. of course he did better, for he was far more experienced than i in british railway affairs, and this was only his modesty. my friend sir william (then mr.) forbes was my immediate predecessor as chairman, and to him i was indebted for the suggestion to the conference that i should succeed him in the occupancy of the chair. early in the year a delightful duty devolved upon me, the duty of presiding at a farewell dinner to j. f. s. gooday, general manager of the great eastern railway, to celebrate his retirement from that position, and his accession to the board of directors. for some years it had been the custom, when a general manager retired, for his colleagues to entertain him to dinner, and for the chairman of the conference to officiate as chairman at the dinner. gooday's brother managers flocked to london from all parts of the kingdom to do him honor, for whilst he was esteemed for his ability as a manager, he was loved for his qualities as a man. of refined tastes, including a _penchant_ for blue china, being a thriving bachelor, he was able to gratify them. we were so fond of him that the best of dinners was not enough, in our estimation, to worthily mark the occasion and to give him the pleasure he wished, and we presented to him some rare blue vases which _cousin pons_ himself would have been proud to possess. by virtue of my office of chairman of the conference, i also, during , sat as a member of the council of the _railway companies' association_. this association, of which i have not yet spoken, merits a word or two. as described by its present secretary, mr. arthur b. cane, it is "a voluntary association of railway companies, established for the purpose of mutual consultation upon matters affecting their common interests, and is the result of a gradual development." it dates back as far as the year , when a meeting of railway directors was held in london to consider certain legislative proposals which resulted in the railway and canal traffic act of that year. in its present form it consists of all the principal railway companies of the united kingdom, each company being represented by its chairman, deputy chairman, general manager and solicitor. a director of any so associated company, who is a member of parliament, is also _ex officio_ a member of the association. as its membership increased it was found that the association was inconveniently large for executive purposes, and some twenty years or so ago a _council_ was formed with power to represent the association on all questions affecting general railway interests. at this moment this council is engaged in looking after the interests of the railway companies in the matter of the great _ways and communications bill_. by the suffrages and goodwill of my colleagues in ireland, who had the election of one member, i remained on the council till the end of the year . mr. cane states that "the association has always preserved its original character of a purely voluntary association, and has been most careful to safeguard the independence of its individual members." also, that it has "been expressly provided by its constitution that no action shall be taken by the council unless the members are unanimous." for many years sir henry oakley was its honorary secretary, performing _con amore_ the duties which were by no means light, but in it was resolved to appoint a paid secretary and to establish permanent offices, which now are located in parliament street, westminster. mr. (now sir guy) granet was the first paid secretary, mr. temple franks succeeded him, and mr. cane, as i have already mentioned, is the present occupant of the office. in the autumn of i visited the english lakes and spent a fortnight in that beautiful district, in the company, for the first few days, of walter bailey; and during the latter part of the fortnight, with e. a. pratt as a companion. it was the last holiday bailey and i spent together, though happily at various intervals we afterwards met and dined together in london, and our letters to each other only ended with his lamented death. in the year a new form of railway accounts came into operation. this new form became compulsory for all railways by the passing, in , of the _railway companies (accounts and returns) act_. this act is the last general railway enactment that i shall have to mention, for no legislation of importance affecting railways was passed between and ; and since the war began no such legislation has even been attempted, excepting always the _ways and communications bill_ which, as i write, is pursuing its course through the house of commons. the form of half-yearly accounts prescribed by the _regulation of railways act_, , admirable as they were, in course of time were found to be insufficient and unsatisfactory. they failed to secure, in practice, such uniformity as was necessary to enable comparisons to be made between the various companies, and in a committee of railway accountants was appointed by the railway companies' association to study the subject, with the view of securing uniformity of practice amongst british railways in preparing and publishing their accounts. this committee, after an expenditure of much time and trouble, prepared a revised form, but the companies failed to agree to their general adoption, and without legislation, compulsion could not of course be applied. this led to the board of trade, who were keen on uniformity, appointing, in , a departmental committee on the subject. on this committee sat my friend walter bailey. the committee heard much evidence, considered the subject very thoroughly, and recommended new forms of accounts and statistical returns, which were (practically as drawn up) embodied in the act of , and are now the law of the land. from the shareholders' point of view the most important changes are the substitution of annual accounts for half-yearly ones, and the adoption of a uniform date for the close of the financial year. in addition to the many improvements in the direction of clearness and simplicity which the new form of accounts effected, the following two important changes were made:-- ( ) _all information relating to the subsidiary enterprises of a company to be shown separately to that relating to the railway itself_ ( ) _a strict separation to be made of the financial statements from those which were of a purely statistical character_ the first of these alterations had become desirable from the fact that practically all the larger railway companies had, in the course of years, added to their railway business proper such outside enterprises as steamships, docks, wharves, harbours, hotels, etc. one bright morning, in the autumn of , i was summoned to the telephone by my friend the right honorable laurence a. waldron, then a director of the dublin and kingstown railway, and now its chairman. he said there was a vacancy on the kingstown board; and, supposing the seat was offered to me, would i be free to accept it? as everybody knows, it is not usual for a railway manager, so long as he remains a manager, to be a director of his own or of any other company; so, "i must consult my chairman," said i. the dublin and kingstown being a worked, not a working line, the duties of its directors, though important are not onerous, and my chairman and board readily accorded their consent. such was my first happy start as a railway director. [the gresham salver: salver.jpg] the dublin and kingstown has the distinction of being the first railway to be constructed in ireland. indeed, for five years it was the only railway in that country. opened as far back as , it was amongst the earliest of the railway lines of the whole united kingdom. the stockton and darlington ( ), the manchester and liverpool ( ), and the dundee and newtyle ( ), were its only predecessors. soon after its construction it was extended from kingstown to dalkey, a distance of . miles. this extension was constructed and worked on the _atmospheric system_, a method of working railways which failed to fulfil expectations, with the result that the dalkey branch was, in , changed to an ordinary locomotive line. the atmospheric system of working railways found favour for a time, and was tried on the west london railway, on the south devon system, and in other parts of great britain, also in france, but nowhere was it permanently successful. the reason of the failure of the system on the dalkey extension, mr. waldron tells me (and he knows all about his railway, as a chairman should) was due to the impossibility of keeping the metal disc airtight. the disc, shaped like a griddle, was edged with leather which had to be heavily greased to enable it to be drawn through the pipe from which the air was pumped out, in order to create a vacuum, and the rats, like nature, abhorring a vacuum, gnawed the greasy leather, letting in the air, and bringing the train to a standstill! the kingstown railway was also interesting in another respect, as illustrating the opposition which confronted railways in those early days. there was a mr. thomas michael gresham, who was the owner of the well-known gresham hotel in dublin, and largely interested in house property in kingstown--gresham terrace there is called after him. he organised a successful opposition to the dublin and kingstown railway being allowed--though authorised by parliament--to go into kingstown, and its terminus was for some years salthill station (monkstown) a mile away. mr. gresham's action was so highly appreciated--incredible as it now appears--that he was presented with a testimonial and a piece of plate for his "_spirited and patriotic action_." i have adorned this book with a photograph of the salver which, with the inscription it bears, will i think, in these days, be not uninteresting. the year was darkened for me by the shadow of death. during its course i lost my wife, who succumbed to an illness which had lasted for several years, an illness accompanied with much pain and suffering borne with great courage and endurance. chapter xxx. from manager to director i had long cherished the hope that when, in the course of time, i sought to retire from the active duties of railway management, i might, perhaps, be promoted to a seat on the board of the company. presumptuous though the thought may have been, i had the justification that it was not discouraged by some of my directors, to whom, in the intimacy of after dinner talk, i sometimes broached the subject. but i little imagined the change would come as soon as it did. i had fancied that my managerial activities would continue until i attained the usual age for retirement--three score years and five. on this i had more or less reckoned, but "_there's a divinity that shapes our ends_ _rough hew them how we will_," and it came to pass that at sixty-one i exchanged my busy life for a life of comparative ease. and this is how it came about. a vacancy on the board of directors unexpectedly occurred in october, , while i was in paris on my way home from a holiday in switzerland and italy. i there received a letter informing me that the board would offer me the vacant seat if it really was my wish to retire so soon. not a moment did i hesitate. such an opportunity might never come again; so like a prudent man, i "grasped the skirts of happy chance," and the th day of november, , saw me duly installed as a director of the company which i had served as manager for close upon twenty-two years. it was an early age, perhaps, to retire from that active life to which i had been accustomed, but as doctor johnson says, "no man is obliged to do as much as he can do. a man is to have a part of his life to himself." i made the plunge and have never since regretted it. it has given me more leisure for pursuits i love, and time has never hung heavy on my hands. on the contrary, i have found the days and hours all too short. coincident with this change came a piece of good fortune of which i could not have availed myself had not this alteration in my circumstances taken place. whilst in paris i heard that mr. lewis harcourt (now viscount harcourt), then colonial secretary, had expressed a wish to see me as i passed through london, and on the th of october, i had an interview with him at his office in the house of commons. there was a vacancy, he informed me, on the recently appointed dominions' royal commission, occasioned by the resignation of sir charles owens, late general manager of the london and south-western railway, and a railway man was wanted to fill his place. i had been mentioned to him; would i accept the position? it involved, he said, a good deal of work and much travelling--voyages to australia, new zealand, south africa, canada and newfoundland. two years, he expected, would enable the whole of the work to be done, and about twelve months' absence from england, perhaps rather more, but not in continuous months, would be necessary. it was a great honor to be asked, and i had no hesitation in telling him that as i was on the eve of being freed from regular active work, i would be more than happy to undertake the duty, but--"but what?" he inquired. i was but very recently married, i said, and how could i leave my wife to go to the other side of the globe alone? no need to do that, said he; your wife can accompany you; other ladies are going too. then i gratefully accepted the offer, and with high delight, for would i not see more of the great world, and accomplish useful public work at the same time. duty and pleasure would go hand in hand. i need not hide the fact that it was one of my then directors, now my colleague, and always my friend, sir walter nugent, baronet (then a member of parliament), who, having been spoken to on the subject, was the first to mention my name to mr. harcourt. soon after my retirement from the position of manager of the midland, my colleagues of the irish railway service, joined by the managers of certain steamship companies that were closely associated with the railways of ireland, entertained me to a farewell dinner. mr. james cowie, secretary and manager of the belfast and northern counties section of the midland railway of england (edward john cotton's old line), presided at the banquet, which took place in dublin on the th of january, . it was a large gathering, a happy occasion, though tinged inevitably with regrets. warm-hearted friends surrounded me, glad that one of their number, having elected to retire, should be able to do so in health and strength, and with such a smiling prospect before him. when i became a midland director, mr. nugent was no longer chairman of the board. he had been called hence, after only a few days' illness at the company's hotel at mallaranny, near achill island, where, in january, , he had gone for a change. in him the company lost a faithful guardian and i a valued friend. he was succeeded by major h. c. cusack (the deputy chairman), who is still the chairman of the company. a country gentleman of simple tastes and studious habits, major cusack, though fond of country life, devotes the greater part of his time to business, especially to the affairs of the midland and of an important bank of which he is the deputy-chairman. the happy possessor of an equable temperament and great assiduity he accomplishes a considerable amount of work with remarkable ease. for his many estimable qualities he is greatly liked. on the th of november i made my _debut_ as a dominions' royal commissioner, at the then headquarters of the commission, scotland house, westminster. soon the commissioners were to start on their travels, and were at that time holding public sittings and taking evidence. this is a narrative of railway life at home, not of imperial matters abroad, and it is therefore clearly my duty not to wander too far from my theme; nevertheless my readers will perhaps forgive me if in my next chapter i give some account of the commission and its doings. the fact that i was placed on the commission chiefly because i was a railway man is, after all, some excuse for my doing so. chapter xxxi. the dominions' royal commission, the railways of the dominions and empire development for the first time in the history of the british empire a royal commission was appointed on which sat representatives of the united kingdom side by side with representatives of the self-governing dominions. this commission consisted of eleven members--six representing great britain and ireland and five (one each) the dominions of canada, australia, new zealand, the union of south africa, and newfoundland. the commission came into being in april, . it was the outcome of a resolution of the imperial conference of . the members of that conference and of others which preceded it had warmly expressed the opinion that the time had arrived for drawing closer the bonds of empire; that with the increase in facilities for communication and intercourse there had developed a deepened sense of common aims and ideals and a recognition of common interests and purposes; and that questions were arising affecting not only imperial trade and commerce but also the many other inter-relations of the dominions and the mother country which clamantly called for closer attention and consideration. the time at the command of the conference was found to be too short for such a purpose, and it was to study problems thus arising, and to make practical recommendations that our commission was appointed. the individuals forming the commission were, first and foremost, lord d'abernon (then sir edgar vincent). he was our chairman, the biggest man of us all; ex-banker, financial expert, accomplished linguist; a sportsman whose horse last year won the irish st. leger; an admirable crichton; an excellent chairman. then came sir alfred bateman, retired high official of the board of trade, a master of statistics and unequalled in experience of commissions and conferences. he was our chairman in canada and newfoundland and a most capable chairman he made. sir rider haggard, novelist, ranked third; a master of fact as well as of fiction; a high imperialist, and versed both theoretically and practically in agriculture and forestry. next came sir william (then mr.) lorimer of glasgow, a man of great business experience, an expert authority in all matters appertaining to iron and steel and in fact all metals and minerals. he was chairman of the north british locomotive company and of the steel company of scotland, also a director of my old company, the glasgow and south-western railway. then mr. tom garnett (christened tom), an expert in the textile trade of lancashire, owning and operating a spinning mill in clitheroe; a good business man as well as a student of "high politics," a scholar and a gentleman. of the last and least, my humble self, i need not speak, as with him the reader is well acquainted. canada's representative was the right honorable sir george foster, minister of trade and commerce, steeped in matters of state, experienced in affairs, a keen politician and a gifted orator. australia selected as her representative mr. donald campbell, a clever man, well read and of varied attainments, sometime journalist, editor, lawyer, member of parliament, and i don't know what else. the honorable sir (then mr.) j. r. sinclair was new zealand's excellent choice. a barrister and solicitor of the supreme court of his country, he had retired from practice but was actively engaged in various commercial and educational concerns and was a member of the legislative council of new zealand. south africa's member was, first, sir richard solomon, high commissioner for the union of south africa in london. he died in november, , when sir jan langerman took his place. sir jan was an expert in mining, ex- president of the rand chamber of mines, and ex-managing director of the robinson group, also a member of the legislative assembly of south africa. keen and clever in business and a polished man of the world, he was a valuable addition to the commission. lastly, newfoundland was represented by the honorable edgar (now sir edgar) bowring, president and managing director of a large firm of steamship owners. he was experienced in the north atlantic trade, in seal, whale and cod fishing and other newfoundland industries. he was also a member of the newfoundland legislative council. such were the members of the commission. all endowed with sound common sense and some gifted with imagination. shortly stated the main business of the commission was to inquire into and report upon:-- (a) the natural resources of the five self-governing dominions and the best means of developing these resources (b) the trade of these parts of the empire with the united kingdom, each other, and the rest of the world (c) their requirements, and those of the united kingdom, in the matter of food and raw materials, together with the available sources of supply the commission was also empowered to make recommendations and suggest methods, consistent with then existing fiscal policy, by which the trade of each of the self-governing dominions with the others, and with the united kingdom, could be improved and extended. mr. e. j. harding, c.m.g., was our secretary. an oxford man of distinction, a member of the permanent staff of the colonial office, studious, enthusiastic, energetic, of rare temper, tact and patience, he was all such a commission could desire. he and three or four assistants, with local officers selected by the governments in each of the dominions, one and all most capable men, formed a secretariat that served us well. the commission started operations by taking evidence in london in the autumn of , but its main work lay in the dominions, and on the th of january, , we sailed for australia and new zealand, touching at fremantle (western australia), adelaide (south australia), melbourne (victoria), and hobart (tasmania) on our way. in new zealand we travelled through the island from south to north, staying in that beautiful country for nearly a month, and holding sittings in the principal cities. one sitting we held in the train--a record surely for a royal commission. easter intervening, we indulged in a few days' holiday in the wonderful rotorua district, where we enjoyed its hot springs, its geysers, its rivers, its lakes and its maori villages. returning to sydney, we travelled northwards to queensland and there entered seriously upon our australian duties, holding sittings at brisbane, sydney, melbourne, adelaide, hobart and perth. in queensland we penetrated north as far as bundaberg, gladstone, rockhampton and mount morgan. in the other states tours were made through the irrigation areas of new south wales and victoria, and visits paid to the mines at broken hill (new south wales), the zeehan district and mount lyall (tasmania); iron knob (south australia), and kalgoorlie (western australia). some of our party penetrated to remoter parts of australia such as cairns (northern queensland), condobolin (west of new south wales), and oodnadatta (central australia), still the furthest point of railway extension toward the great northern territory. to tasmania we were able to devote a few days, taking evidence and enjoying its wonderful beauty. finally, we left australia on the th of june, four months after our first landing on its sunny shores. on arriving home it was determined that for the remainder of the year we should remain in england and take further evidence in london. we resumed our travels in january, , when we left for south africa. there we held a number of sittings, taking evidence at capetown, oudtshoorn, port elizabeth, east london, kimberley, bloemfontein, durban, pietermaritzburg, pretoria and johannesburg. our journeys to these various places were so planned as to involve our travelling over most of the principal railway lines of the union, so that we were able to see a considerable portion of its beautiful scenery as well as its great mining and pastoral industries. our work finished, most of us returned direct to england, but some were able to penetrate northwards into rhodesia, and return by way of the east coast of africa. it was our intention, after taking further evidence in london, to proceed to canada and newfoundland, and to return home before the winter began, when we looked forward to making our final report. this intention we partially fulfilled, as in july, , we sailed from liverpool, and after exchanging steamers at rimouski, landed at st. john's, newfoundland. there we stayed for a few days whilst the crisis in europe deepened. we then travelled through the island by railway and crossed to the maritime provinces of canada. on that fatal day in august on which war broke out we were in nova scotia. a few days after, the british government, considering that under such conditions we could not finish our work in canada, called us home. in common with many of our countrymen we indulged in the hope that the duration of the war would be a matter of months and not of years, and that we should be able to resume our work in canada in the autumn of . but this was not to be. however, in , the governments represented on the commission came to the conclusion that the completion of our work ought not to be longer delayed, and accordingly, in august, , we sailed again to canada. in the maritime provinces of canada, in , we visited sydney, cape breton, halifax, the annapolis valley and digby in nova scotia; st. john, fredericton and moncton in new brunswick, and charlottetown in prince edward island. in the resumption of our canadian work began at montreal. thereafter, the great mining districts of northern ontario engaged our attention, where, amongst other valuable products of the earth, nickel, silver and gold abound. from ontario we travelled westward to prince rupert on the british columbian coast, holding sittings at saskatoon, edmonton and prince rupert. we then proceeded by steamer, through glorious scenery, southward to victoria, vancouver island. at victoria and also at vancouver we took evidence. from vancouver we journeyed eastwards by the canadian pacific railway over the rockies, breaking our journey and holding sittings at vernon, in the okanagan valley, at calgary, regina, winnipeg, toronto, ottawa, montreal and quebec, devoting several days each to many of these places. whilst in british columbia we also visited the lower part of the okanagan valley, and whilst in the prairie provinces stopped at medicine hat (where the gas lamps burn day and night because it would cost more in wages than the cost of the gas to employ a man to turn them out). in ontario we visited north bay, fort william, port arthur, guelph and niagara falls. in addition some of us travelled through the mining districts of british columbia, and also inspected the asbestos mines at thetford, in the province of quebec. this is the bald outline of our long and interesting journeys, which by land and sea comprehended some , miles. how bald it is i keenly feel, and it would afford me more pleasure than i can tell to give some account of our wonderful experiences--of the delight of sailing in southern seas; of the vast regions of the mainland of australia; of the marvels of its tropical parts; of the entrancing beauty of new zealand and tasmania; of the wonders of canada, the variety of its natural productions, its magnificent wheat-growing areas; of the charm of south africa with its glorious climate and its beautiful rolling veldt. what a memory it all is! tranquil seas, starlit nights, the southern cross, noble forests, glorious mountains, mighty rivers, boundless plains; young vigorous communities under sunny skies, with limitless space in which to expand. i should love to enlarge on these things, but a sense of proportion and propriety restrains my pen. in all the dominions we were received with the warmest of welcomes and most generous hospitality--governments, municipalities and corporations vieing with each other in doing us honor, whilst private individuals loaded us with kindness. it was clear that our mission was popular, and clear too that affection for the old country was warm and lively. i cannot attempt to narrate all that was done for us--banquets, receptions, excursions, garden parties, concerts--time and space will not allow. but i cannot be altogether silent about the splendid special train which the south african government placed at our disposal from the time we left capetown until we reached johannesburg, which (taking evidence at the various places on the way) occupied several weeks. this sumptuous train consisted of dining car, sleeping cars and parlour car, was liberally staffed and provisioned; with a skilful _chef_, polite and attentive waiters and attendants. it was practically our hotel during those forty days or more. in australia and new zealand, more than once, the various governments provided us with special cars or special trains to visit their remoter districts with the greatest possible comfort. the same was the case in newfoundland, whilst the canadian government lent to us a steamer--the _earl grey_--for our journey from rimouski to newfoundland, which since has done good service for the allied cause in the war. in canada we travelled from montreal to prince rupert, some , miles, in a handsome and most commodious car kindly lent to us by sir daniel mann, one of the founders of the canadian northern railway. it, too, was our home and hotel during the ten days which that journey occupied. the longest passenger vehicle i had ever seen, it had ample kitchen, dining room, sitting room, sleeping and "observation" accommodation for us all, with an excellent bathroom and the luxury of a shower bath. on all our journeys to and from the dominions, and in all our expeditions by sea or by land, my wife accompanied me. she was an excellent traveller. there is considerable difference in our years; but, as dickens has said: "there can be no disparity in marriage save unsuitability of mind and purpose." the only lady who accompanied the commission everywhere, she was sometimes called "the lady commissioner." one must not praise one's own, but this much i may say: her irish wit and bright unselfish ways made her, everywhere and always, a welcome addition to the commission party. after november, , we held no more public sittings, took no further evidence, but sat down at spencer house (one of the many stately london residences lent by their owners to the government during the war) and there, in its ballroom, industriously worked out our final report. this, of course, reviewed the whole subject of our inquiry and embodied our final conclusions and recommendations. to the credit of the commission be it said, these conclusions and recommendations were entirely unanimous, as also were those in each of our interim reports, published in connection with the dominions separately. in this final report the subject of railways was not included. railways of course formed part of our inquiry, but they were dealt with in our interim reports. to a large extent railways were more a matter of domestic than of imperial concern, but as the development of the resources of the dominions depended greatly upon the adequacy of railway transit, the subject came within the province of our inquiry. i will not trouble the reader with statistics (which can be readily obtained elsewhere) beyond the following statement which represented, at the time we made our investigations, the railway mileage and the population in each dominion compared with the united kingdom:-- miles of population. number of railway. inhabitants per mile of railway. canada , , , australia , , , south africa , , , { a} { b} new zealand , , , { a} newfoundland , united kingdom , , , , it is clear that railway construction has not been neglected in the dominions, and that, measured by population, the mileage is considerable. speaking generally, the dominion railways are highly efficient and serve their purpose well. extensions were being projected and many were in course of construction for the further development of natural resources and of trade and commerce. in australia the railways, with the exception of certain lines belonging to the commonwealth, are owned and worked by the several states. we found them paying full interest on the cost of construction, and sound assets of the country. the cost of working was, however, greatly increasing, due mainly to increase of salaries and wages. how this stands since the war i do not know; but that expenses have further advanced goes without saying. an important railway witness whom we examined expressed the opinion that increased expenditure could be recouped by increased rates. perhaps that is still true. if it is, the railways of australia are happier than most of the railways in ireland. the railways of new zealand belong to and are worked by the government. for many years the government, looking upon the railways as an adjunct to the settlement and development of the country, only expected them to return per cent. interest on the capital expended. in this policy, however, was modified, . to per cent. being then regarded as a proper result, and this result was accomplished. water power in new zealand is so abundant that the adoption of electricity for railway working has been engaging the attention of the government. many, well qualified to judge, were satisfied that it would prove more economical than steam locomotion. in both australia and new zealand, borrowing for railway construction had been by means of general loans raised for all kinds of government expenditure. we came to the conclusion that if loans for reproductive works, such as railways, had been segregated from others, it would have helped the raising of capital, and probably secured easier terms. the construction of railways in canada has, in recent years, proceeded at a rapid pace. we found that the mileage had doubled since the beginning of the present century, due, to a large extent, to the construction of two new trans-continental lines. the grain-growing districts of the prairie provinces, south of latitude degrees, are now covered with a network of railways, and british columbia has three through routes to eastern canada. the enterprise of the principal canadian railway companies is remarkable. they own and operate not only railways, but also hotels, ferry services, grain elevators, lake and coast steamers, as well as trans-atlantic and trans-pacific steamers. one company also has irrigation works, and ready- made farms for settlers in the prairie provinces. but canada lies so near to us, and in the british press its railways receive such constant attention, that i need not descant further upon them. in south africa, with the exception of about miles mainly in the cape province, the railways are all government owned, and are worked as one unified system. the act of union ( ) prescribed that the railways and the harbours (which are also government owned and worked) were to be administered on business principles, and that the total earnings should not exceed the necessary expenditure for working and for interest on capital. whenever they did, reductions in the rates, or the provision of greater facilities, were to restore the balance. this provision also had the effect of preventing the imposition of taxation upon the community by means of railway rates. the act contained another practical clause, designed to block the construction of lines from political considerations. any line constructed contrary to the advice of the railway board, if it resulted in loss, the loss was to be a charge, not upon the general railway revenue, but upon the consolidated fund--a useful "brake," which i have no doubt has often pulled up hasty and impetuous politicians. south african railways enjoy one great advantage--cheap coal for their engines. in the average cost at the pit's mouth was s. . d. per ton. the railways of newfoundland have had a chequered history. now they are government property, worked by a private company under a years' lease, which dates from , and under that lease no rent is paid. as the capital expenditure (about , , pounds) averages less than , pounds per mile, it may be conceived that the railway system of newfoundland is not of an extravagant character, and in my humble opinion, the country deserves something much better. in our fourth report (on newfoundland) we stated: "it must also be said that the state of the permanent way does not conduce to speedy or comfortable travelling." the gauges of the dominions' railways are very varied. in australia there are three-- ft. in., ft. . in. and ft. in., with some miles or so of less than ft. in. the commonwealth has for some time been considering the conversion of the lines into one standard gauge, the british gauge of ft. . in. being favoured. the cost of this conversion naturally increases the longer action is deferred, and in any case would be very great. it was officially estimated at the time of our visit at , , pounds. new zealand, canada, south africa and newfoundland are each the happy possessor of one gauge only. in canada it is the british gauge of ft. . in., and in new zealand, south africa and newfoundland, ft. in. our final report was signed on the st of february, , and published as a blue book in the usual way, but, what is rarely done with any blue book, it was also published in handy book-form, bound in cloth, at the popular price of s. d. blue books do sometimes contain matter of general interest, are sometimes well written and readable, and would be more read if presented to the public in a handy form such as we succeeded in publishing. the main purposes of the commission i have already briefly stated. they embraced many subjects for inquiry and study, of which the following are the most important, and regarding each of which it may be appropriate to say a word or two:-- external trade of the self-governing dominions we ascertained and compiled in detail, tables of the imports and exports, distinguishing trade with (_a_) the united kingdom, (_b_) the other parts of the empire, and (_c_) with foreign countries. the figures showed the need there was for an imperial trade policy, which should lead to british manufacturers and merchants cultivating more the dominion markets, and utilising more the vast resources of raw materials which the dominions possess. we found that a detailed examination of existing conditions, and practical and definite proposals for the removal of difficulties, were required. natural resources of the dominions in regard to agricultural matters we gathered and published much information, finding that in one part or other of the dominions all animals and almost every crop flourished that are needed by man, that if the products of the more tropical parts of the empire were taken into account, the empire could meet more than its own needs; and that if men existed in sufficient numbers in our dominions, there was scarcely any limit to the external trade they could do. in this part of our inquiry we found to what a considerable extent people concentrated in large cities to the detriment of the country districts. "back to the land" is a question there of as much if not greater moment than in the mother country. the mineral resources of the dominions, like the agricultural, provided us with a big subject. in every province or state, by oral evidence, by official statistics, by discussion with government geologists, officials of the mines departments and others, we gathered a large amount of valuable information. the volumes of printed evidence give full particulars of this and other subjects. the mineral deposits of canada especially are varied in character and large in respect both of quantity and value--gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, nickel, coal, iron, asbestos, natural gas, petroleum, peat, gypsum--all are found in unstinted quantity. nor are the other dominions deficient. the goldfields of australia are historic, and the silver, lead and zinc mines of broken hill deserve particular mention. in south africa gold and diamonds are plentiful; and newfoundland has wonderful deposits of iron ore. in forests and fish the dominions abound, and possess enormous possibilities of extended trade. conservation and development of natural resources in the future this subject received our earnest attention. we considered that the various governments of the empire should take steps to secure the development and utilisation of their natural wealth on a well considered scheme, and that to do this, a preliminary survey was needed of the relation between empire production and empire requirements. no such survey, as far as we knew, had yet been undertaken, but in the _memorandum and tables relating to the food and raw material requirements of the united kingdom_, which we submitted to his majesty in , the commission had made an effort, not without some measure of success, in this direction. we regarded it as vital that the empire's supplies of raw material and commodities essential to its safety should be, as far as possible, independent of outside control, and made suggestions which aimed at effecting this object. we recommended that the survey mentioned above should be made by an imperial development board, which should be entrusted with the whole subject. scientific research in relation to the development of natural resources we dwelt on the importance of securing to all parts of the empire adequate facilities for scientific research in connection with the development of their natural resources; and, in connection with this, made certain recommendations as regards the imperial institute, for the purpose of increasing its efficiency and usefulness. migration to this important matter we devoted much time and thought, not only in london, but in each of the dominions as well, obtaining much valuable evidence and personally examining the circumstances and conditions that prevailed. no imperial question, we considered, could be of greater importance than this. we made many recommendations, some of which have already been adopted, whilst the remainder are coming into great prominence now that the war is over. in the past we found no effort had been made to regulate emigration from the united kingdom, and we proposed the establishment of a central emigration authority. the surplus of females in the united kingdom, increased unfortunately by the war, will probably result in many young women seeking their fortune overseas, and we urged increased facilities and better regulations for their migration, showing how best we considered they could be given. oversea communications to this subject, which embraced sea transport, harbours, waterways, mail communications, postal rates, freight rates, etc., we devoted considerable time, calling attention in particular to an aspect of the question never, so far as i know, investigated before, viz., the urgency of constructing deep harbours suited for the deep draught vessels which alone can carry on cheap and rapid transport. we made recommendations as to the improvements immediately necessary on the great trade routes, and urged that future schemes should be submitted to an imperial development board. telegraphic communications in the far distant dominions, cable communication is a matter of great importance to the community; and increased facilities and cheaper rates are much desired. some of the recommendations we made to this end have since been adopted. improvement in commercial practice this presented a large field for inquiry; and, after much investigation, we made recommendations on trade intelligence; trade commissioners and correspondents; consular service; improvements in statistics; conference of united kingdom and dominion statisticians; and other matters, all of which we considered were of practical necessity. lastly, the need of creating an _imperial development board_ engaged our serious attention. early in our inquiry we had been impressed with the necessity for the appointment of some board or body whose constant duty it should be to consider questions affecting imperial trade and development, from the point of view of the interests of the whole empire. we took some evidence on the subject, discussed it with leading men in the dominions, gave the question much thought, and finally recommended the establishment of a new imperial development board, which should include not only representatives of the united kingdom and all the dominions, but also of india, the crown colonies and the protectorates. in the course of our work we had been much impressed with the inadequacy of existing organisations to deal promptly and efficiently with such matters as the following:-- telegraphic, cable and shipping communications between the various portions of the empire inter-imperial mail services and postal rates the development of harbours and waterways on the great routes of commerce to meet imperial requirements migration as a factor in empire development and trade legislation affecting the mechanism of trade, such as that on patents, companies, copyright, weights and measures, etc. the application and better utilisation of capital raised in the united kingdom and other parts of the empire, towards promoting the development of the empire's resources the systematic dissemination throughout the empire of news bearing upon imperial questions and interests the preparation and publication of imperial statistics better organisation for handling and for disposal of the produce of various parts of the empire these, and subjects of a similar nature, we considered should be assigned to the proposed board as its ordinary work; and to the duty of advising the governments on these matters would be added that of collecting the necessary particulars bearing upon them, involving research not only into the conditions prevailing in the empire, but into the methods of rival trading countries. to a large board we were opposed. we suggested that members should be required to give their whole time to the work, and that representation of the various parts of the empire might be as follows:-- united kingdom, india, crown colonies and protectorates canada australia new zealand south africa newfoundland ___ ___ such is a brief summary of our mission, our report, and our recommendations. whilst we were impressed by the vast extent and infinite variety of the empire domain we were also touched by the sentiment which held together its widely scattered parts. without this sentiment, and without loyalty to the crown and mother country, what, we often thought, would happen? the war has taught us much as to the unity of the empire. peace, we may be sure, will bring its own lessons, perhaps its own dangers, in its train. to strengthen the bonds so loosely yet so finely drawn must henceforth be the constant duty of the statesmen of the empire. the governing machinery requires overhauling, demands adjustment to the needs of the various sections of the empire, and to the throbbing anxiety of each to share in the duties and responsibilities of empire government and development. chapter xxxii. conclusion the year terminated our dominions' commission work and brought to a close the fiftieth year of my railway life. as if to mark the occasion, dame fortune gave me a pleasant surprise, and what it was i will now relate. in an earlier chapter i have spoken of the letterkenny to burtonport railway (in north-west donegal), with the early stages of which, in , i had something to do. now, in , twenty years later, i was to become still more intimately acquainted with it, and, in an unexpected but practical way, concerned in its domestic affairs. though the londonderry and lough swilly railway company, which worked the burtonport line, was a railway of only . miles in extent, it was entrusted with the working of no less than other miles, of which consisted of the burtonport railway--a condition of things quite unique: the tail wagging the dog! the total capital expenditure on the whole of the miles of line worked by the lough swilly company amounted to , pounds. of this sum about , pounds, or per cent., was money provided out of government funds. the ordinary stock of the lough swilly company was the exceedingly small sum of , pounds, upon which for twenty years a dividend of per cent. had been regularly paid. the burtonport line was opened for traffic in . from the first, its management, to say the least, was faulty and illiberal. so early in its history as an inquiry into its working was found to be necessary, and i was asked by the board of works to undertake the inquiry. i did so, and i had to report unfavourably, for "facts are chiels that winna ding." for some time after my report things went on fairly well, but only for a time. the board of works were, by act of parliament, custodians of the public interest in the matter of this and other similar railways, and a long-suffering and patient body they were. from time to time they complained, protested, adjured, threatened; sometimes with effect, sometimes without. years rolled on and matters grew worse. loud public complaints arose; the patience of the board of works exhausted itself, and a climax was reached. _the railways ireland act_, , provides that where any railway, constructed under that act, or under other irish light railway act, had been aided out of moneys provided by parliament, the board of works might, at any time, appoint "a fit person to inspect and report upon the condition of the undertaking and the working, maintenance and development of the same," and if such "fit person" reported that the undertaking was "not efficiently worked, maintained and developed" the privy council might then make an order appointing a manager or receiver of the undertaking, with such powers as should be specified in the order. the powers thus given are, it will be observed, certainly drastic. in april, , sir george stevenson, k.c.b., the chairman of the board of works, asked me would i make such an inquiry for them into the burtonport line, and, considering myself a "fit person," i gladly answered _yes_. sir george stevenson was tom robertson's successor, though not his immediate successor, as another george (sir george holmes) came between. he (the reigning chairman) was, in , appointed a commissioner of the board of works; and in he attained the position of chairman; and the chair it is generally conceded has never been better filled. he has the advantage of continuous experience of treasury business since , and possesses an exceptional knowledge of all matters, local and otherwise, affecting the development of state railways in ireland. my inquiry i may, i am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and complete. on the th of may i presented my report. the facts which i found were such that only one conclusion was possible--the line was not in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked, maintained or developed. i will not harrow my readers with a description of its condition. one little quotation from the summing up in my report will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative mind, present a picture of the whole. "everything has for years past been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been going on for years. the state of the permanent way shows a want of proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of the carriages speaks of neglect." in fairness, i ought to say that the direction and management responsible for these things are not the direction and management that exist to-day. mr. henry hunt, the present general manager of the londonderry and lough swilly company, was appointed to that position in september, . he came from the great central railway. this is what i said about him in my report: "he is a good railway man, capable and experienced. he has assumed and exercises an authority which none of his predecessors possessed, and is keen to do all he can to improve matters and develop the railway." further acquaintance with mr. hunt has more than confirmed my high opinion of him. in due time my report was submitted to the privy council, which august body, after hearing all that was to be said on the subject by the lough swilly railway company and others, made an order which is the first of its kind--an order which, for a period of two years, took out of the hands of the lough swilly railway directors the management of the burtonport railway, and placed it in the hands of mr. hunt, subject to my supervision. the order said: "henry hunt, at present the general manager of the londonderry and lough swilly railway company, is hereby appointed manager of the said undertaking of the said railway under and subject to the supervision of mr. joseph tatlow, director of the midland great western railway company of ireland." then followed various clauses defining the duties and authority with which mr. hunt, as manager, was invested. this appointment, to supervise, under the privy council, the management of the burtonport line, was the pleasant surprise which dame fortune brought me in my fiftieth year of railway work. the duties of the office began on the st of july, , and the two years prescribed have expired; but mr. hunt's management and my supervision have, by privy council order, been extended for a further period. my story may not go beyond fifty years, but this i may say, that what hunt and i were able to accomplish in the first six months of our novel _regime_ was an augury of what we have accomplished since, and that a grateful public throughout the district of north-west donegal, which the burtonport railway serves, does not stint its praise. trains are punctual now, engines do not break down, carriages are comfortable, goods traffic is well worked, and delays are exceptional. much has been done, more would have been done but for difficulties due to the war, and a good deal still remains to be done. in north-west donegal, some two years ago, the idea of writing this book was conceived, and with north-west donegal its pages close. as i lay down my pen, some words which i used in my opening chapter recur to my mind. i then expressed the hope that, in spite of all its drawbacks, my story, if faithfully told, might not be entirely devoid of interest, and now that i have finished my task, i humbly trust that the hope then expressed has been attended with some measure of success, and that my purpose has not altogether failed. index. accidents compensation act, accounts, form of railway , acts of parliament, general railway acworth, w m , , advertisements on railway stations alcorn, j., great southern & western railway allerton, lord allport commission, , , , allport, sir james , , , , , analysis of railway accounts anderson, alexander, surfaceman poet andrews, thomas, and the _titanic_ andrews, thomas, right honorable , , apollo belvidera "appeal unto caesar" arbitration, my first case ardglass light railway aspinall, sir john , athenry and ennis junction, railway rates and charges, order confirmation act, athenry and ennis railway , , atmospheric railways atock, martin , , austria, empress of bailey, walter , , , bailie, the, glasgow , baillie, g l "balfours act"--light railways, ireland ballinasloe fair barrington, croker , bateman, sir alfred, k.c.m.g. "battle of the gauges" beach, sir michael hicks beaux , belfast and county down railway , belgium, a tour in benedict, a youthful benefit society, midland great western railway "bigg's general railway acts" birt, sir william block working board of trade inquiry as to railway rates board of trade, the bowring, the hon sir edgar boyhood, pleasures and amusements boyhood, schoolmaster "jessie" bridge street station, glasgow , brother to a baronet browne, balfour, k.c , , , , buchanan street station, glasgow buncrana to carndonagh railway burns, mr. john (lord inverclyde) , burtonport railway , bushe, seymour , butterley tunnel, the butterworth, sir alexander caledonian railway stores superintendent , cambuslang, our lodgings at , campbell, donald campbell, the right hon. sir james, baronet, lord chancellor of ireland cane, arthur b carlyle, thomas carriages, four-wheeled carriages, second-class, abolition of carriers' act, the "champagne charley" coats charles lamb, "plumb pudding" cheap trains act, city of dublin junction railway city of glasgow bank, failure of clerks in office, derby colhoun, r g , collier, dr. committee rooms, westminster , committee, select, companies clauses act, competitive traffic concealed bed, a connemara , constantinople contagious diseases (animals) act, continuous brakes, a trial of, at newark continuous brakes act, , conveyance of mails, railways, act, cook, thomas, & son cooper, david cork, blackrock & passage railway cotton, edward john , , , country walks , cowie, james cromford canal and butterley tunnel culverwell, g p curtsey, the cusack, major h c , cusack, sir ralph , , , , , , , , cynicus , , , d'abernon, lord dan godfrey's band dargan, william delicate health , , , , dent, charles derby, general manager's office dickens, charles , , dickie, david directors, railway directorship, my first diseases of animals act, drudgery of the desk dublin & kingstown railway, opposition to dublin & south eastern railway dundreary whiskers dunoon, bazaar at edinburgh , egypt and the nile elliott, thomas employers' liability act, engineer, midland railway family album fares, first-class, reduction of farmer, ned fashions, victorian days father, my fay, sir sam fenton, sir myles findlay, sir george , , "first-footin'" first public speech fitzgibbon, g forbes, sir william foster, the right hon. sir george franks, temple friends in glasgow funeral customs galloway, andrew galway, "city of the tribes" galway, trans-atlantic steamship service garnett, tom garrotters gauge of railways general managers' conference general managers in ireland general manager's office, derby general railway acts of parliament gibb, sir george gill, w r , gillies, f h glasgow & south-western railway glasgow & south-western railway, my removal to the , glasgow bailie, the , glasgow, bridge street station , glasgow, buchanan street station glasgow flats glasgow landlady, our glasgow, s. enoch station , golf, its introduction in ireland gooday, j f s goods-train-delays clerk goulding, right hon. sir william , , grand canal, arbitration granet, sir guy , great eastern railway , great eastern steamer great northern railway to king's cross great southern & western railway , great western cooking depots greene, george william gresham, thomas michael grierson, james , , guinness & co., a _stout_ resistance "gumpots" gweedore hotel haggard, sir rider harcourt, viscount harding, e j, c.m.g harrison, sir frederick health, delicate , , , , , healy, t m, k.c. hogmanhay holland, cologne and the rhine holliday, william hopwood, sir francis (lord southborough) hornsby, john p horsemanship , hospitality, ballinasloe hours of work of railway men , , hudson, george, the "railway king" hunt, henry imperial development board income tax, d in the pound ingram, joseph interference of outsiders interlocking points and signals international railway congress , , inverclyde, lord (mr john burns) , ireland, general managers in ireland, holiday irish board of works , , , irish department of agriculture irish railway clearing house , , irish railways abused irish railways, progress of , isle of man, a steamboat service jekyll, sir herbert, k.c.m.g. johnstone, mr. glasgow & south-western railway jubilee, the railway junior clerk, salary kaiser, the kedleston inn kelly, r w , kempt, irvine kilkelly, john king edward, visit to ireland kinnegar, the first golf links in ireland knox, vesey, k.c. , ladies' manners, victorian days lands clauses act, langerman, sir jan letterkenny to burtonport railway , light railway acts, ireland, - light railway, definition of light railways act, light railways in connemara, kerry, mayo and donegal light railways in great britain , light railways (ireland) act, limerick, the joybells "little jim" littler, sir ralph , , , , liverpool and manchester railway, the , , londonderry and lough swilly railway company , long jack lorimer, sir william mccorquodale & co mcdermott, edward mcdermott, f maclaren, james mann, sir daniel martin, robert, of ross martin, sir theodore , mathieson, john maximum rates and charges , maypole, the meerschaum pipe, colouring of , , midland and glasgow and south-western alliance midland great western railway and "balfour lines" midland great western railway benefit society midland great western railway, extent of, &c. , midland railway, comparison with year midland railway, present general manager , midland railway, progress of midland railway, proposed amalgamation with l & nw miller, r g mills, a e mills, w f , mills, w h ministry of transport , money grants for light railways, ireland monte carlo _montreal herald_, the moore, charles a morris, sir george , morrison, robert "my old wife's a good old cratur" mylchreest, joseph, the "diamond king" national insurance act new year's day newcastle golf links, county down newcomen junction battle north british railway north west donegal , notice of accidents act, nugent, the hon richard , , , nugent, sir walter, bart oakley, sir henry , , o'connor, sir nicholas office hours, office life, beginning of o'neill, michael owens, sir charles parcel post receipts, irish railways paris , , parker, william , parliament yields to popular clamour parliamentary committee, evidence before , pay-day in office pease, edward peel, isle of man pember, mr. k.c. , , penmanship, imitation of pim, f w pinion, james , pirrie, lord , , pitman's shorthand , plews, henry , , poe, colonel sir hutcheson poetical productions pope, mr samuel, k.c. , , , portrush golf links post office (parcels) act, power, john f practical railway work , pratt, edwin a , , prince and princess of wales , privy council order, burtonport railway prize fights, trains for pullman cars , , quirey, john railway accounts, analysis of railway accounts, form of , railway and canal commission , railway and canal traffic act, railway and canal traffic act, , , , railway and canal traffic act, railway benevolent institution , , railway clauses act, railway clearing house railway companies (accounts and returns) act, , railway companies' association railway companies' powers act, railway construction facilities act, railway employment (prevention of accidents) act, _railway gazette_, the railway life in ireland railway mania, , _railway news_, the , , railway ramblers railway regulation act, railway regulation act, railway regulation act, railway regulation (gauge) act, railway societies railway statistics railway system of scotland railways (electric power) act, railways fires act, railways, inspection of railways ireland act, railways of the dominions railways, scotland, england and ireland compared, , , railways, state purchase of railways, the future of rates and fares , regulation of railways act, regulation of railways act, regulation of railways act, regulation of railways act, reid, a g , revision of railway rates , roberts, william robertson, tom , , , , , , robson, sir mayo rock villa rolling stock, county down railway running powers , , , russell, george russell, lord john ryan, martin, cattle dealer sabbath, breaking the st. enoch station, glasgow , st. pancras station, opening of st. rollox, glasgow, lunch saloon, the dargan schooldays, country walks schooldays, reading and drawing scotter, sir charles , scottish railways second-class carriages, abolition of select committee, select committee on railway charges, select committees, and settle and carlisle line , , sexton, thomas shanahan, george shaw, sir alexander shorthand, pitman's , sighthill cemetery, lunch on a tombstone sinclair, the hon sir john sinclair, right hon thomas skipworth, w g , sleeping cars smiles, samuel smoking compartments smyth, g e southborough, lord (sir francis hopwood) spain and portugal, visit to speech, first in public spencer, lord state purchase of railways stephens, mr pembroke k.c. , stephenson, george stevenson, sir george, k.c.b stirling, james stockton & darlington railway , , superannuation funds , swarbrick, samuel swearing, an accomplishment , tailor's dummy, a perambulating tatlow, frank tatlow, william terminals theodore hook's old joke third-class carriages by all trains , thompson, sir james , time-tables and train working tom , trade unionism trades disputes act, trans-atlantic steamship service, galway ulster & connaught railway visinet, tony wainwright, mr w j , , , , , , , waldron, the right hon laurence a. wales, prince and princess of walker, john , walklate, thomas walks, favourite , warming pans waterford & limerick railway , , , watkin, sir edward , , way bills wells, e w workmen's compensation act, young, right hon john youthful benedict, a footnotes. { a} white population. { b} if native population taken into account the approximate figure is inhabitants. the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks. stamp collecting as a pastime by edward j. nankivell member of the institute of journalists member of the philatelic society of london london stanley gibbons, ltd., , strand, w.c. new york , broadway preface many people are at a loss to understand the fascination that surrounds the pursuit of stamp collecting. they are surprised at the clannishness of stamp collectors, and their lifelong devotion to their hobby. they are thunderstruck at the enormous prices paid for rare stamps, and at the fortunes that are spent and made in stamp collecting. the following pages will afford a peep behind the scenes, and explain how it is that, after nearly half a century of existence, stamp collecting has never been more popular than it is to-day. and perchance many a tired worker in search of a hobby may be persuaded that of all the relaxations that are open to him none is more attractive or more satisfying than stamp collecting. its literature is more abundant than that devoted to any other hobby. its votaries are to be found in every city and town of the civilised world. governments and statesmen recognise, unsolicited, the claims of stamp collecting--the power, the influence, and the wealth that it commands. from a mere schoolboy pastime it has steadily developed into an engrossing hobby for the leisured and the busy of all classes and all ranks of life, from the monarch on his throne to the errand boy in the merchant's office. in the competition of modern life it is recognised that those who must work must also play. the physician assures us that the man who allows himself no relaxation, no recreation, loses his energy, and ages earlier than the man who judiciously alternates work and play. as stamp collecting may be indulged in by all ages, and at all seasons, it is becoming more and more the favourite indoor relaxation with brain-workers. it may be taken up or laid down at any time, and at any stage. its cost may be limited to shillings or pounds, and it may be made a pleasant pursuit or an engrossing study, or it may even be diverted into money-making purposes. so absorbing is the hobby that in stamp circles there is a saying, "once a stamp collector, always a stamp collector." contents i. stamp collecting as a pastime ii. the charm of stamp collecting iii. its permanence iv. its internationality v. its geographical interest vi. its historical finger posts vii. stamps with a history viii. great rarities ix. the romance of stamp collecting x. philatelic societies and their work xi. the literature of stamps xii. stamps as works of art xiii. stamp collecting as an investment xiv. what to collect and how to collect xv. great collections [illustration:] i. as a pastime. according to the authorities, the central idea of a pastime is "that it is so positively agreeable that it lets time slip by unnoticed; as, to turn work into pastime." and recreation is described as "that sort of play or agreeable occupation which refreshes the tired person, making him as good as new." stamp collectors may fairly claim that their hobby serves the double purpose of a pastime and a recreation. as a pastime, it certainly makes time pass most agreeably; for the true student of the postal issues of the world, it turns work into a pastime. as a recreation, it is of such an engrossing character that it may be relied upon to afford the pleasant diversion from business worries that so many tired mental workers need nowadays. for nearly half a century it has maintained unbroken its hold as one of the most popular of all forms of relaxation, and its popularity extends to all classes and to all countries. but this very devotion of stamp collectors to their hobby has puzzled and excited the uninitiated. the ordinary individual, especially the man who has no soul for a hobby of any kind, regards it as a passing fancy, a harmless craze, a fashion that must have its day and disappear, sooner or later. but the passing fancy has endured for nearly half a century, the harmless craze still serves its useful purpose, and the fashion has acquired such a permanence as to convince most people that it has come to stay. of all pastimes, and of all the forms of recreation, not one can claim more lifelong devotees than this same stamp collecting. and where is another pastime with such international ramifications? in every civilised country, in every city, and in every town of any importance, the wide world over, thoughtful men and women are to be found formed into sociable groups, or societies, quietly and pleasantly enjoying themselves in the harmless and enduring pursuit of stamp collecting. there must be some reason for this popularity, this devotion of all classes to a pursuit, this unbroken record of progress. it cannot be satisfactorily accounted for as a passing fancy or fashion. it has too long stood the test of years to be so easily explained away. fancies and fashions come and go, but stamp collecting flourishes from decade to decade. princes and peers, merchants and members of parliament, solicitors and barristers, schoolboys and octogenarians, all follow this postal pied piper of hamelin, "grave old plodders, gay young friskers, fathers, mothers, uncles, cousins," all bent upon the pursuit of this pleasure-yielding hobby. why is it? whence comes the fascination? to the unprejudiced inquirer the reply is simple. to the leisured man it affords a stimulating occupation, with a spice of competition; to the busy professional man it yields the delight of a recreative change; to the studious, an inexhaustible scope for profitable research; to the old, the sociability of a pursuit popular with old and young alike; to the young, a hobby prolific of novelty, and one, moreover, that harmonises with school studies in historical and geographical directions; to the money maker, an opening for occasional speculation; and to all, a satisfying combination of a safe investment and a pleasure-yielding study. old postage stamps--bits of paper, as they are contemptuously called by some people--may have no intrinsic value, but they are, nevertheless, rich in memories of history and of art; they link the past with the present; they mark the march of empires and the federation of states, the rise and fall of dynasties, and the peaceful extension of postal communication between the peoples of the world; and, some day in the distant future, they may celebrate even yet more important victories of peace. [illustration:] [illustration:] ii. the charm of stamp collecting. his royal highness the prince of wales, in a letter to a correspondent, referring to stamp collecting, wrote: "it is one of the greatest pleasures of my life"; and the testimony of the prince of wales is the testimony of thousands who have taken up this engrossing hobby. the pursuit of a hobby is very often a question of expense. many interesting lines of collecting are practically closed to all but the wealthy. but stamp collecting is open to all, for the expenditure may in its case be limited at the will of the collector to shillings or pounds. indeed, the adaptability of this hobby is one of its chiefest charms. the rich collector may make his choice amongst the most expensive countries, whilst the man of moderate means will wisely confine himself to equally interesting countries whose stamps have not gone beyond the reach of the man who does not wish to make his hobby an expensive one. the schoolboy may get together a very respectable little collection by the judicious expenditure of small savings from his pocket money, and the millionaire will find ample scope for his surplus wealth in the fine range of varieties that gem the issues of many of the oldest stamp-issuing countries, and which only the fortunate few can hope to possess. in all there are over three hundred countries from which to make a selection. in the early days collectors took all countries, but as country after country followed the lead of england in issuing adhesive stamps for the prepayment of postage, and as series followed series of new designs in each country, the task of covering the whole ground became more and more hopeless, and collector after collector began first to restrict his lines to continents, and then to groups or countries, till now only the wealthy and leisured few attempt to make a collection of the world's postal issues. this necessary restriction of collecting to groups and individual countries has led to specialism. the specialist concentrates his attention upon the issues of a group or country, and he prosecutes the study of the stamps of his chosen country with all the thoroughness of the modern specialist. he unearths from forgotten state documents and dusty files of official gazettes the official announcements authorising each issue. he inquires into questions surrounding the choice of designs, the why and wherefore of the chosen design, the name of the engraver, the materials and processes used in the production of the plates, the size of the plates, and the varying qualities of the paper and ink used for printing the stamps--in fact, nothing that can complete the history of an issue, from its inception to its use by the public, escapes his attention. he constitutes himself, in truth, the historian of postal issues. the scope for interesting study thus opened up is almost boundless. it includes inquiries into questions of heraldry in designs, of currency in the denominations used, of methods of engraving dies, of the transference of the die to plates, of printing from steel plates and from lithographic stones, of the progress of those arts in various countries, of the manufacture, the variety, and the quality of the paper used--from the excellent hand-made papers of early days to the commonest printing papers of the present day--of postal revenues and postal developments, of the crude postal issues of earliest times, and the exquisite machine engraving of many current issues. he who fails to see any justification for money spent and time given up to the collecting of postage stamps will scarcely deny that these lines of study, which by no means exhaust the list, can scarcely fail to be both fascinating and profitable, even when regarded from a purely educational standpoint. it is true it may be contended that all collectors do not go thus deeply into stamp collecting as a study; nevertheless the tendency sets so strongly in the direction of combining study with the pleasure of collecting, that the man who nowadays neglects to study his stamps is apt to fall markedly behind in the competition that is ever stimulating the stamp collector in his pleasant and friendly rivalry with his fellows. then, again, an ever-increasing supply of new issues from one or other of the many groups of stamp-issuing countries periodically revives the interest of the flagging collector, and binds him afresh to the hobby of his choice. old, seasoned collectors, whose interest once set never flags from youth to age, relegate new issues to a back seat. they find more than enough to engage their lifelong devotion in the grand old issues of the early settlements. but the collector of modern issues who cannot afford to indulge in the great rarities, finds new issues a source of perpetual enjoyment. they follow one another month after month, and infuse into the collector's life the irresistible charm of novelty, and every now and again an emergency issue comes as a surprise. there is a scramble for possession, and a spice of speculation in the possibility, never absent from a makeshift and emergency issue, that the copies may be scarce, and may some day ripen into rarity. [illustration:] [illustration:] iii. its permanence. ever since the collection of postage stamps was first started it has been sneered at as a passing craze, and it has been going to die a natural death for the past forty years. but it is not dead yet. indeed, it is very much more alive than it has ever been. still the sneerers sneer on, and the false prophets continue to prophesy its certain end. to the unsympathetic, the ignoramus, the lethargic, the brainless, everything that savours of enthusiasm is a craze. the politician who throws himself heart and soul into a political contest is "off his head," is seized with a craze. the philanthropist who builds and endows hospitals and churches is "a crank," following a mere craze. the earnest student of social problems is "off the track," on a craze. the man who seeks relaxation by any change of employment is certain to be classed by some idiot as one who goes off on a craze. you cannot, in fact, step off the beaten track tramped by the common herd without exciting some remark, some sneer, perchance, at your singularity. the most ignorant are the most positive that stamp collecting is only a passing fancy of which its votaries will tire, sooner or later; and yet for the last forty years, with a brief exception, due to an abnormal depression in trade, it has always been on the increase. indeed, it has never in all those years been more popular with the cultured classes than it is to-day. the philatelic society of london has an unbroken record of regular meetings of its members extending over a quarter of a century. the literature devoted to stamp collecting is more abundant than that of any other hobby. its votaries are to be found in every city and town of the habitable globe. "all very fine," say our bogey men, our prophets of impending evil; "but blue china has gone to the wall, autographs are losing caste, old books and first editions are on the downgrade, pipes are relegated to the lumber-room, metallurgical cabinets are coated with dust, and even walking-sticks survive only at sandringham!" just so. we are all--governments, people, and weather--going to the bad as fast as we can go, according to the croakers, the wiseacres, and the self-appointed prophets. nevertheless, stamp collecting has survived the sneers and the evil prophecies of forty years, and so far as human foresight can penetrate the future, it seems likely to survive for many a generation yet. and why not? in the busy, contentious bustle of the competition of the day, the brain, strained too often to its utmost tension, demands the relaxation of some absorbing, pleasure-yielding hobby. those who have tried it attest the fact that few things more completely wean the attention, for the time being, from the vexations and worries of the day than the collection and arrangement of postage stamps. in fact, stamp collecting has an ever-recurring freshness all its own, a scope for research that is never likely to be exhausted, a literature varied and abundant, and a close and interesting relation to the history and progress of nations and peoples that insensibly widens the trend of human sympathies and human knowledge. what more do we want of a hobby? we cannot ensure, even for the british empire, an eternity of durability: nations decay and fashions change. some day even stamp collecting may be superseded by a more engrossing hobby. the indications, however, are all in favour of its growing hold upon its universal public. the wealth invested in it is immense, its trading interests are prosperous and international, and no fear of changing fashion disturbs either dealer or collector. [illustration:] [illustration:] iv. its internationality. wherever you go you find the stamp collector in evidence. the hobby has its devotees in every civilised country. its hold is, in fact, international. in dresden there is a society with over two thousand members upon its books; in out-of-the-way countries like finland there are ardent collectors and flourishing philatelic societies. the prince of siam has been an enthusiastic collector for many years, and even in korea there are followers of the hobby. australia numbers its collectors by the thousand, and many of its cities have their philatelic societies, all keen searchers for the much-prized rarities of the various states of the commonwealth. in india, despite the difficulty of preserving stamps from injury by moisture, there are numbers of collectors; one of the best-known rajahs is collecting stamps for a museum, recently founded in his state, and the parsees are keen dealers. there are collectors throughout south africa, in rhodesia, and even in uganda. wherever a postage stamp is issued there may be found a collector waiting for a copy for his album. in no part of the world can an issue of stamps be made that is not at once partially bought up for collectors. if any one of the antarctic expeditions were to reach the goal of its ambition, and were to celebrate the event there and then by an issue of postage stamps, a collector would be certain to be in attendance, and would probably endeavour to buy up the whole issue on the spot. the united states teems with collectors, and they have their philatelic societies in the principal cities and their annual congress. from texas to niagara, and from new york to san francisco, the millionaire and the more humble citizen vie with each other in friendly rivalry as stamp collectors. many countries are now making an official collection, and there is every probability that some day in the near future most governments will keep a stamp collection of some sort for reference and exhibition. under the rules of the postal union, every state that enters the union is entitled to receive, for reference purposes, a copy of every stamp issued by each country in the postal union. hence every government receives valuable contributions, which should be utilised in the formation of a national or official collection. and some day stamp collectors will be numerous and influential enough to demand that such contributions shall not be buried in useless and forgotten heaps in official drawers, but shall be systematically arranged for public reference and general study. not a few countries are every year rescued from absolute bankruptcy by the generosity with which collectors buy up their postal issues; and many other countries would have to levy a very much heavier burden of taxation from their peoples if stamp collecting were to go out of fashion. so widespread indeed is our hobby that a well-known collector might travel round the world and rely upon a cordial welcome at the hands of fellow-collectors at every stopping-place en route. international jealousies are forgotten, and even the barriers of race, and creed, and politics, in the pleasant freemasonry of philatelic friendships. [illustration:] [illustration:] v. its geographical interest. a few years ago many heads of colleges prohibited stamp collecting amongst their boys. they found they were carrying it too far, and were being made the easy prey of a certain class of rapacious dealers. now the pendulum is swinging in a more rational direction, and many masters themselves having become enthusiastic collectors, judiciously encourage the boys under their care to collect and study stamps as interesting aids to their general studies. they watch over their collecting, and protect them from wasteful buying. in some schools the masters have given or arranged lectures on stamps and stamp collecting, and the boys have voted such entertainments as ranking next to a jolly holiday. the up-to-date master, who can associate work and play, study and entertainment, is much more likely to register successes than the frigid dominie who will hear of nothing but a rigid attention to the tasks of the day. in the one case the lessons are presented in their most repellent form, in the other they are made part and parcel of each day's pleasant round of interesting study. the genuine success of the kindergarten system in captivating the little ones lies in its association of play with work. the same principle holds good even to a much later age. the more pleasant the task can be made, the more ready will be the obedience with which the task will be performed. the openings for the judicious and helpful admixture of study and entertainment are so few, that one wonders that such a helpful form of play as stamp collecting has not become more popular than it has in our colleges. take, for example, the study of geography, so important to the boys of a great commercial nation. the boy who collects stamps will readily separate the great colonising powers, and group and locate their separate colonies. how many other boys, even after they have passed through the last stage of their school life, could do this? little-known countries and states are too often a puzzle to the ordinary schoolboy, which are familiar places to the stamp collecting youth. ask the ordinary schoolboy in which continents are such places as angola, annam, curaçao, funchal, holkar, ivory coast, liberia, nepaul, reunion, st. lucia, san marino, sarawak, seychelles, sirmoor, somali coast, surinam, tahiti, tobago, or tonga, and how many of all these places, so familiar to the young stamp collector, will he properly place? not many; and the same question might probably be asked of many an adult with even less satisfaction. the average series of used stamps are now so cheap that a lad may get together a fairly representative collection for what he ordinarily spends at the tuck shop. some educationists have advocated the making and exhibiting of school collections of stamps as aids to study. such collections would certainly be much more profitably studied than most of the maps and diagrams that nowadays cover the walls. with few exceptions, every stamp has the name of the country, or colony, of its issue on its face; and most colonial stamps bear some family likeness to the stamps of the mother country. our british colonial stamps are distinguished by their queen's heads; the stamps of portugal and its colonies by the portraits of the rulers of portugal; those of germany by the german currency; those of france mostly by french heraldic designs; those of spain by the portraits of the kings and queens of spain. so that the postage stamp is a key to much definite, valuable, and practical information. [illustration:] [illustration:] vi. its historical finger posts. when considered from the historical point of view, postage stamps attain their highest level of educational value. they are finger posts to most of the great events that have made the history of nations during the last fifty years. here are a few out of many examples which might be quoted. the introduction of adhesive stamps for the prepayment of postage found france a republic. a provisional government had just been established on the ruins of the monarchy which had been swept out of existence in the revolution of . as a consequence, the first postage stamp issued by france, on new year's day of , bore the head of ceres, emblematic of liberty. three years later louis napoleon seized the post of power, and, as president of the republic, his head figures on a stamp issued in , under the inscription "repub. franc." two years later the empire was re-established, and the words "repub. franc." were changed to "empire franc." over the same head. in the customary laurel wreath, to indicate the first victories of the reign, won in the war with austria, was added to the emperor's head. in the franco-german war resulted in the downfall of the monarchy, and the head of liberty reappears on a series of postage stamps issued in paris during its investment by the german army. the issue of the stamps of alsace and lorraine in marks the annexation of the conquered territory. italy in was a land of many petty states, each more or less a law unto itself, and each, in the fifties, issuing its own separate series of postage stamps. the stamps of the pontifical states are made familiar by their typical design of a tiara and keys, and pompous king bomba ordered the best engraver to be found to immortalise him in a portrait for a series of stamps. the other states had each its own heraldic design till the foundations of the kingdom of italy were laid, in - , by the union of the lombardo-venetian states, the kingdom of the two sicilies, the grand duchy of tuscany, the duchies of parma and modena, the romagna and the roman (or pontifical) states with piedmont. the first issue of stamps of the newly formed kingdom bore a portrait of king victor emmanuel ii. with profile turned to the right. in , after the kingdom of sardinia had been merged in the kingdom of italy, a new series was issued for united italy. the same king's portrait appears, but turned to the left. in king humbert succeeded victor emmanuel, and his portrait appeared on an issue in the year of his accession. the assassination of king humbert and the accession of his son as victor emmanuel iii. are followed by the new portrait of the new king on the current series of the stamps of italy. the stamps of germany tell a somewhat similar story. they mark the stages of gradual absorption into a confederation of states, and the ultimate creation of a german empire. the postal issues of baden ceased in , when the grand duchy was incorporated in the empire. bavaria, though also incorporated, holds out in postal matters, and still issues its separate series. bergedorf was in placed under the control of the free city of hamburg, and thereupon ceased issuing stamps. bremen, brunswick, hamburg, lubeck, mecklenburg-strelitz, oldenburg, prussia, saxony, and schleswig-holstein formed the north german confederation, and closed their postal accounts with collectors in . hanover became a province of prussia after the war of , and thereupon ceased its separate issue of postage stamps; and thurn and taxis followed suit in . in the north german confederation was merged in the german empire, which issued its first postage stamp with the imperial eagle in . but the empire is not yet sufficiently united to place a portrait of the emperor upon its imperial postal series. indian postage stamps, overprinted with the initials "c.e.f.", for the china expeditionary force, _i.e._ the indian troops sent to china in to relieve the besieged embassies, mark an historical event of no small import. the early provisional issues of crete of indicate the joint interference of the great powers in its affairs, and the later issues, in , bear the portrait of prince george of greece as high commissioner of crete. the confederate locals of america, issued, in - , by the postmasters of the southern states when they were cut off by the war from the capital and its supplies of postage stamps, and each town was thrown upon its own resources, proclaim the period of the great american civil war. collectors are all familiar with the long series of portraits of past presidents of the united states, from washington to garfield. the stamps of don carlos mark the carlist rising in spain in . but amongst the most interesting of all stamps that may be classed as historical finger posts, none equal in present-day interest the stamps of the transvaal, for they tell of the struggle for supremacy in south africa. in the boers issued their first postage stamp, and a crude piece of workmanship it was, designed and engraved in germany. till they printed their supplies of postage stamps in their own crude way from the same crude plates. then came the first british occupation, when the remainders of the stamps of the first south african republic were overprinted "v.r. transvaal," to indicate british government. then, in , the stamps of the republic were replaced by our queen's head. in the country was given back to the boers, when they in turn overprinted our queen's head series in boer currency, to indicate the restoration of boer domination. and now, finally, in we have the second british occupation, and a second overprinting of south african republic stamps "v.r.i.", to signalise once more, and finally, the supremacy of british rule in south africa. the mafeking stamps are also interesting souvenirs of a gallant stand in the same historical struggle. the war which chili some years ago carried into bolivia and peru has been marked in a special manner upon the postage stamps of chili. as in the case of our own troops in south africa, so the chilian troops in bolivia and peru were allowed to frank their letters home with the stamps of their own country. so also the chilians further overprinted the stamps of peru with the chilian arms during their occupation of the conquered country in the years - . chilian stamps used along the route of the conquering army, and postmarked with the names of the towns occupied, are much sought after by specialists. these postmarks include arica, callao, iquique, lima, paita, pisagua, pisco, tacna, yca, etc. and so the stamp collector may turn over the pages of his stamp album, and point to stamp after stamp that marks, for him, some development of art, some crisis in a country's progress, some struggle to be free, or some great upheaval amongst rival powers. in fact, every stamp issued by a country is, more or less, a page of its history. [illustration:] [illustration:] vii. stamps with a history. there are numbers of stamps that have an interesting history of their own. they mark some official experiment, some curious blunder or accident, some little conceit, some historical event, or some crude and early efforts at stamp production. what is known as the v.r. penny black, english stamp, is said to have been designed as an experiment in providing a special stamp for official use, its official character being denoted by the initials v.r. in the upper corners; but the proposal was dropped, and the v.r. penny black was never issued. for a long time it was treasured up as a rarity by collectors, but now that its real claims to be regarded as an issued stamp have been finally settled, it is no longer included in our stamp catalogues. in the days of its popularity it fetched as much as £ at auction. it is now relegated to the rank of an interesting souvenir of the experimental stage in the introduction of penny postage. of curious blunders, the cape of good hope errors of colours are amongst the most notable. in the d. and d. triangular stamps, then current, were suddenly exhausted, and before a stock could be obtained from the printers in england, a temporary supply had to be provided locally. this was done by engraving imitations of the originals. stereos were then taken, and made up into plates for printing. by an oversight a stereo of the penny value was dropped into the fourpenny plate and a fourpenny into the penny plate. consequently, each sheet printed in the required red ink from the penny plate yielded a fourpenny wrongly printed in red instead of blue, its proper colour; and every sheet of the fourpenny likewise yielded a penny stamp printed in blue instead of red. these errors are highly prized by collectors, and are now extremely scarce, even poor specimens fetching from £ to £ . at the time, copies were sold by dealers for a few shillings each. similar errors are known in the stamps of other countries. now and again the sheets of a particular value have, by some extraordinary oversight, been printed and issued in the wrong colour. in copies of the s. of western australia were printed in bistre instead of in green, and a few years later the twopence was discovered in lilac instead of yellow. in a supply of shilling stamps was sent out to barbados printed in blue instead of black; but this latter error was, according to messrs. hardy and bacon, so promptly discovered, that it is doubtful if any of the wrong colour were issued for postal use. in the fastidiously careful firm of de la rue and co. printed off and despatched to tobago a supply of , one shilling stamps in the colour of the sixpenny, _i.e._ in orange-brown instead of olive-yellow. several are said to have been issued to the public before the error had been noticed. indeed, the firm at home is credited with having first discovered the mistake, and is said to have telegraphed to the colony in time to prevent their issue in any quantity. another and much more common error in the early days of stamp production was the careless placing of one stamp on a plate upside down. stamps so placed are termed _tête-bêche_. they have to be collected in pairs to show the error. the early stamps of france furnish many examples of this class of error. they are also to be found on the d. and s. values of the first design of the stamps of the transvaal, on the early issues of roumania, on some of the stamps of the colombian republic, and other countries. stamps requiring two separate printings--_i.e._ stamps printed in two colours--have given rise to many curious errors in printing. a sheet passed through the press upside down after one colour has been printed results in one portion of the design being inverted. in the issue of the stamps of the united states no less than three of the values had the central portions of their designs printed upside down. the d., blue, of the first issue of western australia is known with the swan on its head. even the recently issued pan-american stamps, printed in the most watchful manner by the united states official bureau of engraving and printing, are known with the central portions of the design inverted, and these errors, despite the most searching examination to which each sheet is several times subjected, escaped detection, and were sold to the public. when, however, it is remembered that stamps are now printed by the million, it will be wondered that so few mistakes escape into the hands of collectors. as a bit of conceit, the issue of what is known as the connell stamp is probably unequalled. in loyal canada, in , mr. charles connell was postmaster-general of the little colony of new brunswick, which in those days had its own government and its own separate issue of stamps. a change of currency from "pence" to "cents" necessitated new postage stamps. it was decided to give the new issue as much variety as possible by having a separate design for each stamp. two of the series presented the crowned portrait of the queen, and one that of the prince of wales as a lad in scotch dress. connell, apparently ambitious to figure in the royal gallery, gave instructions to the engravers to place his own portrait upon the cents stamp. his instructions were carried out, and in due time a supply of the cents bearing his portrait was delivered. but before many were issued the news spread like wildfire that connell had outraged the issue by placing his own portrait upon one of the stamps. political opponents are said to have taken up the hue and cry. the matter was immediately brought before the higher authorities, and the unfortunate stamp was promptly suppressed. half a million had been printed off and delivered for sale, but very few seem to have escaped the outcry that was raised against them, and to-day copies are extremely scarce. poor connell took the matter very much to heart, threw up his appointment, and forthwith retired into private life. but the portrait of the bluff mechanic type of countenance will be handed down from generation to generation in stamp catalogues and costly stamp collections long after the authorities that suppressed him are forgotten. some folks question the appearance of the baden-powell portrait upon the mafeking stamps as a similar bit of conceit; but whatever may be said in criticism of baden-powell's stamp, most people will be inclined to accept it as a pleasant souvenir of an historic siege and a determined and gallant stand against great odds. but of all the portraits that have appeared upon postal issues, none probably occasioned so much trouble and fuss as that of the notorious king bomba of sicily. the most eminent engraver of his day--aloisio--was commissioned to prepare an exact likeness of his sacred majesty. after much ministerial tribulation the portrait was approved and engraved, and to this day it is regarded as a superb piece of work. a special cancelling stamp had to be designed and put into use which defaced only the border of the stamp and left the sacred portrait untouched. during the preliminaries necessary to the production of the sacred effigy the fate of ministers and officials hung in the balance. one official was actually marked for degradation for having submitted a disfigurement which turned out to be a carelessly printed, or rough, proof impression. numerous stamps have been designed, especially of late years, to represent some historical event in connection with the country of issue. the united states, in , in the confined space of an unusually small stamp, endeavoured to represent the landing of columbus, and in another stamp the declaration of independence. in a much more recent series, stamps of an exceptionally large size were adopted to give scope for a columbus celebration set of historical paintings, including columbus soliciting aid of isabella, columbus welcomed at barcelona, columbus restored to favour, columbus presenting natives, columbus announcing his discovery, the recall of columbus, isabella pledging her jewels, columbus in chains, and columbus describing his third voyage. greece has given us a set of stamps illustrating the olympian games. but collectors look with considerable suspicion upon stamps of this showy class, for too many of them have been produced with the sole object of making a profit out of their sale to collectors, and not to meet any postal requirement. crude productions of peculiar interest belong more to the earlier stages of the introduction of postage stamps. local attempts at engraving in some of our own early colonial settlements were of the crudest possible description, and yet they are, because of their very crudeness, far more interesting than the finished product supplied by firms at home, for the local effort truly represented the country of its issue in the art of stamp production. the amusingly crude attempts which the engravers of victoria have made from time to time, during the last fifty years, to give us a passable portrait of her late majesty queen victoria, have no equal for variety. the stamps of the first south african republic, made in germany, are very appropriate in their roughness of design and execution. for oddity of appearance the palm must be awarded to those of asiatic origin, such, for instance, as the stamps of afghanistan, of kashmir, and most of the local productions of the native states of india, marking as they do their own independent attempts to work up to european methods of intercommunication. [illustration:] [illustration:] viii. great rarities. of the many stamps that are set apart, for one cause or another, from the ordinary run, as having a history of their own, those that by the common consent of collector and dealer are ranked as great rarities are the most fruitful source of astonishment to the non-collector. they are the gems of the most costly collections, the possession of the few, and the envy of the multitude. in a round dozen that will fetch over £ apiece there are not more than one or two that can lay any claim to be considered works of art; indeed, they are mostly distinguished by their surpassing ugliness. nevertheless, they are the gems that give tone and rank to the finest collections. some of them are even priceless. to the average man it is astonishing that anyone in his senses can be so foolish as to give £ , for an ugly little picture that has merely done duty as a postage stamp. he contends there can be no intrinsic value in such scraps of paper, and that settles the matter, in his opinion. but is it not so with precious stones and pearls? they are of value merely because they are the fashion. there is no intrinsic value in them. if they were not fashionable they would be of little or no value. long-standing fashion, and fashion alone, has given them their value. so it is with stamps; fashion has given them their value, and every decade of continued popularity adds to that value as it has added to the value of precious stones and pearls. there is no sign that precious stones are likely to become worthless by the withdrawal of popular favour. fashion changes from one stone to another without affecting the popularity of precious stones in general. so it is with stamps. fashions change from one line of collecting to another without in the slightest degree affecting the stability or popularity of collecting as a whole. precious stones and pearls minister to the pride of the individual, and stamps to his pleasure; and each has its own strong and unshakable hold upon the devotees of fashion and pleasure. there is a fluctuating market in the case of each of these favourites, but i venture to think that there is, and has been for the past forty years, a steadier rise in the value of stamps than in the value of precious stones. [illustration:] british guiana, , c.--in this colony was awaiting a supply of stamps from england, and pending its arrival two provisional stamps were issued, a c. and a c. these were set up from type in the office of the _official gazette_. a small illustration of a ship, used for heading the shipping advertisements in the daily papers, was utilised for the central portion of the design. of the c. value only one specimen is known to-day, and that is in the collection of m. philipp la renotiérè (herr von ferrary). doubts have been expressed as to the genuineness of the copy, but mr. bacon, who has had an opportunity of inspecting it, says: "after a most careful inspection i have no hesitation whatever in pronouncing it a thoroughly genuine one cent specimen. the copy is a poor one, dark magenta in colour, and somewhat rubbed. it is initialled 'e. d. w.', and dated april st, the year not being distinct enough to be read." this stamp may safely be placed at the head of great rarities. of its value it is impossible to form any opinion. if a dealer had the disposal of the copy in question, he would probably want between £ , and £ , for it, with a decided preference for the larger sum. [illustration:] mauritius, "post office," d. and d.--the best known, the most quoted, and probably the most popular of all the great rarities is the "post office" mauritius, so called because the words "post office" were inscribed on one side of the stamp instead of the words "post paid." there were two values, d. and d. they were designed and engraved by a local watchmaker, and were printed from single dies, and issued in . the tedious process of printing numbers of stamps from single dies was soon abandoned, and only copies of each value were struck. of those , stamps only twenty-two copies are known to exist to-day. there are in the hands of leading collectors two copies of the d. unused, and three copies of the d. unused, twelve copies of the d. used, and five copies of the d. used. these rarities were only in use for a few days, and were mostly used in sending out invitations to a ball at government house. the value, according to condition, is from £ upwards for each value, but unused they are of course worth a great deal more. [illustration:] hawaii, , cents, blue.--like so many rare stamps, this first issue of hawaii was designed and set up from type in a printer's office. about twelve copies are known to exist. the stamp was in use but a very short time, as the post office of honolulu was burnt down, and the stock of stamps of this first issue was completely destroyed. this cents stamp is worth about £ . [illustration:] british guiana, , cents.--this is popularly known as the cents circular guiana, because of its shape. a notice in the local official gazette, dated february, , announced that "by order of his excellency the governor, and upon the request of several of the merchants of georgetown, it is proposed to establish a delivery of letters twice each day through the principal streets of this city." certain gentlemen were named as having consented to receive letters for delivery at their respective stores, and it was further announced that "each letter must bear a stamp, for which c. will be charged, or it will not be delivered, and when called for will be subject to the usual postage of c." a supply of the required c. stamps was provided by a locally type-set design enclosed in a ring. it is said that this delivery of letters was discontinued soon after it was started, hence rarity of the stamp. only eleven copies of this quaint postage stamp are known, and its market value is probably somewhere about £ . [illustration:] moldavia, , paras.--this rare stamp formed one of a set of four of the first postage stamps issued in roumania. the values were paras for single letters travelling, and not carried more than about seventy miles, paras for double that distance, paras for heavier letters, and paras for registered letters, all within the limits of moldavia. the paras is the rarest of the series, as will be seen from the following inventory taken in february, , of the then unsold stock:-- paras, printed , , sold , . " " , " , . " " , " . " " , " , . all these stamps were printed by hand on coloured paper in sheets of thirty-two impressions in four rows of eight stamps. an unused copy of the paras has fetched as much as £ . [illustration:] united states, millbury, , c.--in the united states the general adoption of postage stamps was preceded by what may be termed preliminary issues, of a more or less local character, and known as "postmaster stamps." these "postmaster stamps" were issued by various country postmasters by way of experiment. the providence stamp is the commonest example. one of the rarest is the c. stamp, with a portrait of washington, issued by the postmaster of millbury, in massachusetts, in . this stamp is said to be worth about £ . there are others reputed to be equally rare. among the local stamps issued by various unofficial carriers and express agencies, there are many of which very few copies are known, and as they are practically all held by enthusiastic collectors, and never come into the market, there are no data as to their current value. [illustration:] cape of good hope, . _errors of colour_.--in making up the plate of a provisional issue of triangular stamps, pending the arrival of supplies from england, a stereo of the d. got inserted by mistake in the d. plate, and a d. in the d. plate. consequently each sheet of the d. contained a d. printed in red, the colour of the d., instead of blue. and the sheets of the d., in like manner, each contained a d, which, when the d. was printed in its proper colour of blue, was also printed in blue instead of red, the proper colour. these errors are very scarce, especially in an unused condition. the d., blue, is the rarer of the two, and is worth about £ used; it is not known unused. [illustration:] tuscany, , lire.--in the early days of stamp production high values, such as we are now accustomed to get from most countries, were very rarely issued. for nearly thirty years great britain was content with a shilling stamp as its highest value. in the provisional government of tuscany issued a stamp of lire, for which there seems to have been very little use. it represented but two shillings and sixpence of english money, but it is nevertheless one of the great rarities to-day, especially in an unused condition. used copies are worth about £ , and unused about £ . [illustration:] transvaal, . _error_ "transvral."--this error occurred once in each sheet of eighty of the d., red on blue, of the first british occupation. it was evidently discovered before a second lot was required, as it does not recur in the next printing of d., red on orange. it is a very rare stamp. used it is worth about £ , but unused it is one of the great rarities, and has changed hands at about £ . [illustration:] ceylon, , d. and d., imperforate.--several of the first issues of this colony, designed and engraved by messrs. perkins bacon and co., and issued in - , are esteemed as great rarities in an imperforate and unused condition. the d., d., d., s., and s. are the rarest. the d., so long ago as , fetched £ at auction. these stamps are amongst the few great rarities that may be entitled to rank as works of art, and every year they are more sought after and more difficult to get in fine condition. [illustration:] [illustration:] ix. the romance of stamp collecting. the story of the development of stamp collecting, and of the trade that has sprung up with it, is full of romance. our publishers' business, with its world-wide ramifications, was begun by young gibbons putting a few sheets of stamps in his father's shop window. the father was a chemist, and it was intended that the lad should follow in his father's footsteps; but the stamps elbowed the drugs aside, and eventually yielded a fortune which enabled this pioneer of the stamp trade to retire and indulge his globe-trotting propensities to the full. he sold his business for £ , , and, still in the prime of life, retired to a snug little villa on the banks of the thames. the business was converted into a limited liability company, and the managing director may be said to be a product of the original business, for it was a present of a guinea packet of stanley gibbons's stamps that first whetted his appetite for stamp collecting, and eventually for stamp dealing. mr. gibbons had for a great many years conducted his business from his private house. the new broom changed all that, and opened out in fine premises in the strand, w.c., where the company now occupy the whole of one house and the greater part of the adjoining premises. in every room busy hands are at work all the day long endeavouring to keep pace with a world-wide business which began with a few sheets in the corner of a chemist's shop window in the town of plymouth. and now, looking back on the humdrum days of the beginnings of the stamp trade, what opportunities do they not seem to have missed! could they but have foreseen the present-day developments, a few unconsidered trifles, valued at a few pence in those days, put away in a bottom drawer, would to-day net a fortune. young gibbons, amongst his early purchases, bought from a couple of sailors at plymouth for £ a sackful of triangular cape of good hope stamps, a large proportion being the rare so-called woodblocks, with many of the errors described in the list of great rarities in another chapter. those errors he disposed of at s. d. each. they are now worth from £ to £ each. and the ordinary woodblocks, which were so plentifully represented in that sackful, are now catalogued at from s. to £ apiece. strange as it may seem, those were the common stamps of those days, and they are the rarities of to-day. a well-known collection, full of rare stamps of the value of from £ to £ , has been largely formed by the fortunate possessor out of stamps for which he paid s. per dozen just a little over twenty years ago. a leading collector once conceived the idea of scouring the little-visited country towns of spain for rare old spanish stamps, and a most successful hunt he made of it. he secured most valuable and unsuspected hauls of unused and used blocks and pairs of rare portuguese; but before returning home he decided to treat himself to a trip to morocco, and during that ill-fated extension of his tour he lost nearly the whole of his patient garnerings of rare spanish stamps, for during an inland trip some very unphilatelic bedouins swooped down on his escort in the desert and carried off the whole of his baggage. he, being some distance ahead of his escort, escaped, and brought home only a few samples of the grand things he had found and lost. in all forms of collecting the hunt for bargains adds zest to the game, and probably more so in stamps than in any other hobby, not even excepting old china; and, as in other lines of collecting, the bargain hunter must be equipped with the expert knowledge of the specialist if he would sweep into his net at bargain prices the unsuspected gems to be found now and again in the philatelic mart. many a keen stamp collector turns his years of wide experience to good account as a bargain hunter, and at least one innocent amateur is credited with netting a revenue which would make many a flourishing merchant green with envy. many a match has probably been due to stamp collecting. not long ago we were told of a young lady who wrote to an official in a distant colony for a few of the current stamps issued from his office. the stamps were forwarded and a correspondence ensued. there was eventually an exchange of photographs, and finally the official applied for leave, returned home, and married his stamp collecting correspondent. truly the scope of the stamp collector for pleasure, for profit, and for romance is as wide as the most imaginative could desire. [illustration:] x. philatelic societies and their work. most of the great cities of europe, the british colonies, and the united states have their philatelic societies. they are associations of stamp collectors for the study of postage stamps, their history, engraving, and printing; the detection and prevention of forgeries and frauds; the preparation and publication of papers and works bearing upon postal issues; the display and exhibition of stamps, and the exchange of duplicates. the premier society is the philatelic society of london, which was founded so long ago as , and has as its acting president h.r.h. the prince of wales. for over thirty years, without a break, this society has held regular meetings during the winter months. its membership comprises most of the leading collectors in great britain and her colonies and many of the best-known foreign collectors. on the membership roll are three princes, several earls, baronets, judges, barristers, medical men, officers in the army and navy, and many well-known merchants. this society has published costly works on the stamps of great britain, of the australian colonies, of the british colonies of north america, of the west indies, of india and ceylon, and of africa. it publishes an excellently-got-up monthly journal of its own, which now claims shelf-room in the philatelic library for ten stately annual volumes. it has held two very successful international philatelic exhibitions, one opened by the late duke of edinburgh and the other by the prince of wales, then duke of york. at its fortnightly meetings, papers are read and discussed on various matters relating to the hobby. other meetings are held for the friendly exchange of duplicates. in the provinces, the principal societies are those of manchester and birmingham. the birmingham society possesses a collection of its own, which it keeps up to date, as a work of reference for its members. several of the societies hold periodical exhibitions, in which members compete for medals, and in many other ways they lay themselves out to encourage and promote the collection of postage stamps as a popular pastime. the names of the various societies and the addresses of the secretaries are published at the commencement of each winter season in stanley gibbons' _monthly journal_. apart from their pleasant sociability, these societies are of immense help to the collector, especially to the beginner. at each meeting papers are read and discussed, in which the most experienced collectors retail, for the benefit of the less experienced, the result of their latest researches, and eminent specialists display their splendid and carefully-arranged collections for the inspection, edification, and enjoyment of their fellow-members. this continual meeting and comparing of notes, this concentration of study upon the issues of a particular country, gradually ripens even the veriest tyro into an advanced and experienced collector. under such conditions difficulties are cleared up, and the way made plain for wise and safe collecting. in too many lines of collecting the specialist carefully guards his knowledge for his own ultimate personal profit. the philatelist, on the other hand, is more frequently than not generously and candidly helpful to his less advanced fellow-collector, especially if he happens to be a fellow-member of the same philatelic society. [illustration:] [illustration:] xi. the literature of stamps. few hobbies, if any, can boast of such a varied and extensive literature as stamp collecting. expensive works have been published on the postal issues of most countries. they have been published in english, french, german, italian, spanish, dutch, danish, and swedish. those published in english alone would make a library of some hundreds of volumes. from its foundation, in , the philatelic society of london has set itself the task of studying and writing up the postal history of great britain and her colonies. towards the accomplishment of this great task, it has already presented its members with splendid monographs on the australian colonies, the colonies of north america, of the west indies, of india and ceylon, two volumes on the british colonies of africa, a separate monograph on tasmania, and last, and most ambitious of all, a massive and comprehensive history of the postal issues of great britain. all these works are expensively illustrated with a profusion of full-page plates and other illustrations, and they represent years of patient toil, far-reaching investigation, and untiring research. the _history of the adhesive postage stamps of europe_ has been written in two volumes by mr. w. a. s. westoby, and the same author, in collaboration with judge philbrick, some twenty years ago published a work on _the postal and telegraph stamps of great britain_. messrs. w. j. hardy and e. d. bacon, in a work entitled _the stamp collector_, have sketched the general history of postage stamps. other works too numerous to mention here have been written from time to time for the edification of the stamp collector, and the list is continually being increased by the addition of even more important works. one of the most interesting and comprehensive series of philatelic works, still in course of publication, was commenced by messrs. stanley gibbons, ltd., in , in the form of philatelic handbooks. these handbooks are written by leading philatelic authorities. each important country, _i.e._ important from the stamp collector's point of view, has a separate volume devoted to it, and into each handy volume is condensed as much as may be necessary to guide the advanced collector in specialising the postal issues of the country which he favours. there have already been published:--_portuguese india_, by mr. gilbert harrison and lieut. f. h. napier, r.n.; _south australia_, by lieut. f. h. napier and mr. gordon smith; _st. vincent_, by lieut. f. h. napier and mr. e. d. bacon; _shanghai_, by mr. w. b. thornhill; _barbados_, by mr. e. d. bacon and lieut. f. h. napier; _reprints and their characteristics_, by mr. e.d. bacon; and _grenada_, by mr. e. d. bacon and lieut. f. h. napier. for the instruction of the beginner, major evans, r.a., has compiled an excellent glossary of philatelic terms, under the title of _stamps and stamp collecting_; and there is, further, _a colour dictionary_, by mr. b. w. warhurst, designed to simplify the recognition and determination of the colours and shades of stamps--a by no means unimportant matter when the value of a stamp depends upon its shade. but the most popular of all the philatelic publications are, of course, the monthly periodicals. the first stamp journal is said to have been _the monthly intelligence_, published at manchester in . it had but a short life of ten numbers out of the twelve required to complete vol. i. but other journals followed in rapid succession, with more or less success, from year to year, till in a list of the various ventures in this line totalled up to nearly a couple of hundred. _the stamp collectors' magazine_, started in , may be said to survive in alfred smith and son's _monthly circular; the philatelic record_, established in , is now in its twenty-fourth yearly volume; gibbons' _monthly journal_ is in its twelfth yearly volume; and _the london philatelist_ is in its eleventh yearly volume; and all may be said to be going strong. how many ordinary periodicals can boast of equally robust lives? and yet some people are still to be found who speak in all seriousness of stamp collecting as only a passing craze. properly speaking, tradesmen's catalogues can scarcely be regarded as literature, and yet it would be very remiss on my part to close this chapter without a reference to the excellent catalogues with which stamp collectors are provided. what other hobby can boast of such comprehensive and detailed catalogues, giving the actual selling price of almost every item, and regularly revised and brought up to date from year to year? messrs. stanley gibbons' priced catalogue is comprised in four volumes:--part i., the british empire, pages; part ii., foreign countries, pages; part iii., local postage stamps, pages; part iv., envelopes, post cards, and wrappers, pages; in all, , closely printed double-column pages of small type, with thousands of illustrations. this excellent catalogue is at once guide, philosopher, and friend to the stamp collector. some people irreverently style it "the philatelist's bible." it does not profess to be anything more or less than a mere catalogue of goods for sale, but it is an open secret that it represents the combined work and the combined knowledge of the best philatelists of the day, and that neither trouble nor expense is spared to include within its pages everything that a collector needs to know to enable him to gather his treasures together, and to arrange them in the best possible and most authoritative order. much the same story might be told of the literature of stamp collecting in other countries. in the united states, in france, and in germany there are numbers of robust periodicals, some stretching back into the early days, and there are scores of volumes of philatelic lore, many of which find a well-deserved place on the shelves of english collectors. as an indication of the value attached to philatelic literature, i may mention the fact that an english collector recently paid over £ , for a by no means complete collection of works relating to stamp collecting. [illustration:] xii. stamps as works of art. some artists scout the idea of attempting anything that may be considered a work of art in the ridiculously limited space of a postage stamp. the restriction of a postage stamp when viewed alongside a canvas measuring several yards in length and height is probably hopeless enough. nevertheless, many a stamp collector who is not devoid of art can find stamps which seem to him to be entitled to rank high even in the art world. in beauty of design, in the exquisite workmanship of the best modern steel engraving, aided by the most delicate machinery, and in unequalled printing, there are many gems within the very limited space of a postage stamp that excite and deserve, and not unfrequently win, the admiration of the most exacting critics. there are scores of little medallions, mostly on the postage stamps of foreign states, that surely would pass muster with an impartial judge of art. they are not the rarities of the stamp album. some are even regarded as weeds in the philatelic garden. they are too often made to serve the revenue-producing necessities of the issuing state, and for that reason probably, more than for any other, they are made as attractive as modern art applied to stamp production can make them. great commercial countries, producing their postage stamps by hundreds of millions, are as contemptuous in their consideration of the art possibilities of a postage stamp as the cynical artist whose days and years are devoted to the disfigurement of wall space. this country has no cause to be proud of the designs or the printing of its postage stamps. the chief consideration seems to be a low contract price for the production of recognisable labels for the indication of the prepayment of postage. that is the commercial view. and yet there are some foolish people who believe that an artist who could design an effective and acceptable postage stamp for the british empire would add materially to his own fame and to the art standard of the empire itself. brother jonathan across the sea is not unmindful of art in the production of his postage stamps, despite his commercial inclinations and training. from the first he has put his patriotism into his postage stamps. the portraits of the presidents, from george washington to lincoln, and from lincoln to mckinley, who have ruled, wisely and well, the destinies of the great republic, jonathan engraves in his best style, in his own official engraving establishment, and proudly places upon his postage stamps for the admiration of all good citizens and the edification and envy of the effete old countries beyond the seas. we, with our richer memories and our stately galleries of great men who have ruled or governed or fought through the centuries, must be content with an empire postage stamp that is little better, from an art point of view, than an ordinary beer label, and we must be content to be told that it is the penalty of success, of the dire necessity of long numbers, and of a needy treasury that sorely hungers for still greater profits from the post office. meanwhile, small struggling states revel in beautiful stamps. the latest trend is in the direction of miniature portraiture. the argentine republic and bolivia have in recent years issued some very fine examples in this direction. a very useful innovation is the addition of the name under the portrait. in this way thousands have been familiarised with the names and faces of men who before were almost unknown beyond their own country. historic features, such as those of columbus and pizarro, have occasionally been added to the growingly interesting gallery of stamp portraits. the recently issued new zealand picture series, illustrating most effectively some of the choicest bits of colonial scenery, and some of the rarest birds of the colony, engraved by messrs. waterlow and sons, afforded an interesting and successful experiment in an art direction. as a result it is said that a strong demand has been generated in other colonies for similarly beautiful and localised designs in preference to the stereotyped mediocrity supplied by the ordinary label process. [illustration] xiii. stamp collecting as an investment. when a stamp collector is charged with being extravagant, with spending money lavishly and foolishly on a mere hobby, he may very justifiably reply that even his most extravagant spendings may be regarded as an investment. the ordinary investor in, say, industrial securities is fairly content if he can, with a little risk, secure a steady six or seven per cent. if he launches out into more speculative shares, yielding higher rates of interest, he must be content to face a much greater risk of the capital invested. now, the severest test of an investment is the yield of interest over a series of years covering periods of depression as well as periods of prosperity. the stamp collector who has used ordinary discretion in his purchases may confidently submit his investment to this test. some years ago, when i was writing in defence of stamp collecting as an investment, i received a very indignant letter from a collector who had made a large collection, complaining that he had then recently endeavoured to sell, but could get only a very small percentage of his outlay back, and that the very firms from whom he had bought most of his stamps scouted the idea of paying him anything like what they had cost him. he therefore ridiculed the idea that stamp collecting could be regarded as a safe investment, as in his case it had been a delusion and a snare. he was quite right, and it is still possible to make big collections--of, say, five thousand, ten thousand, and even larger--of stamps that are never likely to appreciate, and it is possible to buy those stamps at such a price that any attempt to realise even a small percentage of the original outlay must result in a woeful eye-opener. let me explain. in the stamp business, as in all other branches of commerce, there are wholesale and retail dealers. the wholesaler buys by the thousand stamps that are printed by the million. i refer, of course, to used stamps. in some cases the price paid per thousand is only a few pence for large quantities that run into millions. the wholesaler sells to the retail dealer at a small advance per thousand. those stamps the ordinary dealer makes up into packets at a further profit, but still at a comparatively low price. good copies he picks out for sale in sets and separately. those have to be catalogued. therefore, the catalogue price of common stamps bought and sold by the million eventually comes before the general collector at "one penny each," and the man who makes a collection of common stamps of the "one penny each" class can scarcely be expected to realise a fortune out of his stamp collecting. when he offers his gatherings of years to the self-same dealer, and asks, say, only the half of what he paid, he is astounded when the dealer has the audacity to tell him frankly, "i can buy most of those stamps at a few shillings per thousand, and you want an average of a halfpenny each for them!" "but," retorts the collector, "i paid you one penny each for them years ago, and now you won't give me half that amount. a pretty thing investing money in stamps!" the reply of the dealer will be, "my dear fellow, you have put your money into the wrong stamps. i bought, and can still buy, those stamps wholesale at a few shillings per thousand, some of them at a few pence per thousand; but i have to pay clerks for handling them and sorting them out, other assistants for cataloguing them, and the printers for printing the catalogue, so that in the end i cannot afford to sell them _separately_ for less than about one penny each, but if you want a few thousand of any value i can sell them to you at a price enormously below what you ask for your collection." the collector's eyes are opened. it is impossible to get away from the necessity of regarding stamps as an investment. even the schoolboy cannot afford to put his shilling into stamps unless he can be fairly assured that he may get his money back at critical periods, which will crop up even in school life. indeed, it may be said that there are few, if any, stamp collectors nowadays who do not put more money into stamps than they could afford to do if there were not some element of investment in view. in some instances large fortunes are actually invested in stamps, and i was only recently told of a collector who had taken his money out of a very profitable business and put it into stamps, and had netted very much larger profits than he ever realised in his regular business. but to do that sort of thing requires a profound knowledge of stamps and a ready command of a very large banking account. generally speaking, the best countries from an investment point of view are british colonials, especially those of the small colonies that have small populations, and therefore very small printings of stamps. obviously, countries that put stamps into circulation by the million can never be a very good investment, so far as their common values are concerned. those who buy with a keen eye on the investment purpose, always buy unused copies of uncommon values. unused are not likely to depreciate, and they may appreciate. in fact, it may be safely said that, all round, the thing to do in stamps is to buy _unused_ for investment. when stamps are printed by the million, _used_ supplies will be available for no one knows how long; but in the case of unused, when a new issue is made, the obsolete stamp is on the road to an advance in value. it is true dealers stock large quantities of all stamps, but there are so many countries to be stocked now that no dealer can afford to hoard unused to any great extent, and even if he did, the dead capital would be an item which would compel him to advance the price of unused to protect himself from loss. let us say a stamp becomes obsolete this year, and a dealer buys £ worth. it would be a moderate estimate to place the earning power of stamps at per cent. in seven years that £ hoard would, reckoning compound interest, represent £ , or double face. of course, no dealer would hoard up £ worth of a common stamp, but from the day that it becomes obsolete it must be hoarded up by someone, and interest must be accruing on the investment which will have to be added to the value of the stamp, unless someone is to stand the loss. it will, therefore, be obvious that unused stamps must appreciate while used may remain stationary, for the simple reason that the limit of supply has been reached in one case but not in the other. taking almost haphazard a few stamps, most of which have been within the reach of all collectors during the last fifteen years, the following table will give some idea of the appreciation in prices which has been steadily going on in good stamps:-- | | | | | | | | |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. |s. d. | bremen, , sgr., green, | | | | | | | | _unused_ | | | | | | | | bechuanaland, , s., | | | | | | | | _used_. |-- |-- |-- | | | | | " - , d., | | | | | | | | _unused_ |-- |-- |-- | | | | | british guiana, , c, | | | | | | | | brown. perf., _used_ | | | | | | | | cape of good hope, d., | | | | | | | | [triangle]_unused_ | | | | | | | | cape of good hope, d., | | | | | | | | [triangle] woodblock, | | | | | | | | _used_ | | | | | | | | cyprus, , d., _unused_ |-- |-- | | | | | | " " s., _unused_ |-- |-- | | | | | | danish west indies, , | | | | | | | | c., blue, _unused_. | | | | | | | | danish west indies, , | | | | | | | | c., _unused_ | | | | | | | | egypt, , piastres, | | | | | | | | _unused_ | | | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | | | gambia, d., imperf., | | | | | | | | _unused_ | | | | | | | | gibraltar, , s. |-- |-- | | | | | | hayti, , c., _unused_ |-- |-- | | | | | | hungary, , k., litho., | | | | | | | | _used_ | | | | | | | | newfoundland, , c., | | | | | | | | brown, _used_. | | | | | | | | new south wales, d., sydney | | | | | | | | views, _used_. | | | | | | | | orange river colony, , | | | | | | | | on d., _unused_ |-- | | | | | | | tonga, , d. |-- |-- |-- |-- | | | | " " s. |-- |-- |-- |-- | | | | transvaal, - , d., | | | | | | | | _unused_ |-- | | | | | | | " " s. " |-- | | | | | | | trinidad, , s. |-- |-- |-- |-- |-- | | | turks islands, , s., | | | | | | | | blue, _unused_ |-- | | | | | | | zululand, , d. |-- |-- |-- | | | | | of foolish investors there will always be a generous supply, who will ever be ready to offer themselves as evidence of the worthlessness of any and every form of investment, forgetful of the fact that the shoe is more often on the other foot. in stamps, as in every other class of investment, the foolish may buy what is worthless instead of what is valuable. there are stamps specially manufactured and issued to catch such flats, and they are easily hooked by the thousand every year, despite the continual warnings of experienced collectors. but if we turn to the result of experienced collecting we find abundant evidence of the fact that the stamp collector may enjoy his stamps and, when the force of circumstances compels him to abandon them, he may retire without regret for having put so much money into a mere hobby. mr. w. hughes hughes, b.l., started his collection in , and kept a strict account of all his expenditure on his hobby, and in he sold to our publishers for close on £ , what had cost him only £ . in a stamp dealer in london, as a novelty and an advertisement, papered his shop windows, walls, and ceiling with unused ionian islands stamps, which were then a drug in the market. the same stamps would now readily sell at s. per set of three; in other words, the materials of that wall-paper would now be worth at least £ , . the late mr. pauwels, of torquay, made a collection which cost him £ up to , when it was put on one side and left untouched until . it was then purchased by our publishers for the sum of £ , , and yielded them a very fair return on their investment. in the international philatelic exhibition, held in the galleries of the royal institute of painters in water colours in piccadilly, london, in , one collector marked over each stamp of his exhibit the price which he had paid for it, and the market price of the day. the collection had been got together during the previous fifteen years, and had cost its owner £ s., while by the then latest catalogue value it totalled up to £ s. d. shrewd business men are those who frequently invest large sums in stamps. the amounts spent annually by some wealthy collectors range from £ , to £ , . one well-known parisian collector, whose life has been largely devoted to his philatelic treasures, and who employs two secretaries to look after his collection, has, it is estimated, spent at least £ , on his stamps since . if investment were the alpha and omega of stamp collecting, every collector of standing would bemoan lost opportunities. many a great rarity of to-day could have been had for a few shillings a few years ago. the cape errors were sold by stanley gibbons at s. d. each. the "transvral" error was sold by the same generous firm at s., and others in similar proportion in the day of opportunity. to-day it is the fashion to look back with regret on those lost opportunities, and to nurse the belief that such opportunities are never likely to return. but experience shows that in every decade of stamp collecting the common stamp of to-day may be the rarity of to-morrow. in many a series of stamps some one of the lot from some cause or another gets scarce, and the price appreciates from year to year till the original price paid for the stamp in pence is represented by pounds. [illustration] xiv. what to collect and how to collect. the questions, "what to collect?" and "how to collect?" are much more easily asked than answered. each individual will differ in taste, in inclination, in method, in time at his disposal, and last, but not least, in the depth of his pocket. the most that can be done is to outline a general plan, founded upon general experience. collectors are divided into two classes--the general collector and the specialist. the general collector takes everything that comes in his way, and knows no limitations, no exclusions of this country or that. the specialist, on the other hand, confines his attention to the stamps of one or more particular groups or divisions, or even to one particular country. the most experienced collectors, whether general or specialist, almost invariably advise the beginner to start as a general collector. as a beginner he will have no experience to guide him in the choice of a particular group or division; and until he has travelled over the ground as a general collector it will be difficult for him to make a choice which he may not have cause to regret. as a general collector he will gather together a general knowledge of stamps in all their peculiar varieties, which can scarcely fail to be immensely useful to him even should he subsequently drift into specialism. indeed, it is an accepted truism that the man who starts as a general collector invariably makes the best specialist in the end. starting, then, as a general collector, the beginner purchases an album--for choice say the "imperial," published by stanley gibbons, ltd., which on one page has a printed and illustrated list of the stamps of a country, and on the opposite page ruled and numbered spaces for every stamp mentioned in the printed list. a catalogue, setting forth the prices at which stamps may be purchased, should also be obtained. one of the very first questions to be settled at the start will be the choice that must be made between the collection of used and of unused. the general collector who wishes to collect economically should certainly start with what is cheapest; and as the common stamps are cheapest in the used condition, used should be selected. when a collector can afford to spend his money liberally, the best and safest, and cheapest in the long run, will be stamps unused and in the pink of condition. such stamps generally turn out to be a safe and not unfrequently a splendid investment. the beginner will find that he can fill up a large proportion of the spaces in his album with comparatively common stamps, and these are much more economically purchased in the form of cheap packets. the blanks that remain will then represent stamps worth searching for separately, and buying singly as good opportunities occur. many may be obtained in exchanging duplicates with other collectors. after some experience as a general collector, preferences will gradually materialise, and the utter hopelessness of making a thorough collection of the postal issues of the world will be apparent. at this stage the collector generally sells the bulk of his collection, reserving only a few countries to be followed up in future on specialist lines. the remedy and the change are drastic, and, like most drastic remedies, are much too sweeping. wiser and keener philatelists nowadays retain their general collections, so far as they have gone with them, and upon their basis give play to their specialist inclinations. that is to say, they single out a country, and work at that exclusively on specialist lines; and when they tire of that country, or exhaust it so far as their means allow, they have in their general collection the nucleus of another country with which to build up another specialist collection. on this plan a collector can always be working in sympathy and on the lines of the fashionable country of the day. he can take up and open out whatever country happens to be the vogue. in this way a neglected country every now and again comes to the front, and the nucleus of that country which may be found in the general collection may suddenly acquire an interest and a value never dreamt of. a recent case in point is that of the orange free state. its stamps went a-begging for purchasers. then trouble, and unrest, and war brought them into notice, and now the almost worthless have become valuable, and the pence have run into shillings, and the shillings into pounds. for many persons, however, limitations and exclusions are necessary from the start. in their case a choice must be made, and the safest choice will be that of the british colonies, or, if a still more restricted line must be drawn, one of the continental groups of colonies. a glance at a priced catalogue will be the best guide for selection. if it must be an economical selection, the catalogue will speak for itself. there is abundant choice in every direction. there are colonies with few and simple and inexpensive issues, and there are others that require ample means and patient research. but the cheapest countries, from an expenditure point of view, are foreign countries--such as sweden, norway, denmark, german empire, italy, chili, china, and so on. [illustration] [illustration] xv. great collections. great collections of postage stamps, like great collections of pictures, in these days acquire an international rank and reputation. the great stamp collections of to-day are in a few hands, and have been built up by lavish wealth and lavish industry. wealth alone will not suffice to gather together a really great philatelic collection. there must be patient research, and there can be no research apart from that full knowledge which comes only to the industrious and painstaking philatelist. the gem that is wanted to complete the finest page in the rich man's collection has not unfrequently to be personally sought for in the byways, the alleys, and lanes of stamp collecting; and despite the keenest search of the wealthy, it sometimes, after all, falls by grim mischance into the laboriously gathered collection of the man of very limited means. the prince of wales is known to be an enthusiastic and keen stamp collector. he is the acting president of the philatelic society of london. during his recent tour round the world he displayed his great interest in the postal issues of the colonies which he visited, and brought home much valuable philatelic information and a number of proofs of sheets of old colonial stamps which will help to clear up many doubtful points. h.r.h. collects only the stamps of great britain and her colonies, and he possesses many specimens that are absolutely unique. the collection which was made by the late mr. t. k. tapling, m.p., is now in the keeping of the british museum, having been bequeathed to the nation by its possessor, who was one of the most cultured and shrewdest collectors of his day. his collection was his life-work--from boyhood till his early death in . it was largely made up of the amalgamation of great collections. in his day tapling had the first pick in every direction, and, as a result, his collection is to-day one of the grandest and richest and most scientific general collections extant. great rarities may be said to be conspicuous by their prominence and by their matchless condition. but the greatest collection of all is that of m. philipp la renotiérè, of paris, known to most collectors as herr von ferrary. in the course of the last thirty years he has purchased many well-known old collections, amongst which may be mentioned that of judge philbrick for £ , , sir daniel cooper's for £ , , w. b. thornhill's australians, etc. m. la renotiérè has been a large buyer in the leading capitals of europe for a great many years. his expenditure with our own publishers is said to average from £ , to £ , a year. he employs two secretaries who are paid large salaries, one to look after the postage stamps and the other the post cards, envelopes, and wrappers. mr. f. breitfuss, of st. petersburg, who has been collecting since , is credited with the third finest collection in the world. he is an omnivorous, but scientific general collector. mr. h. j. duveen, the well-known art connoisseur of london and new york, although he did not take to stamp collecting till , has already got together the finest collection, outside the british museum, in this country. it is celebrated not only for the beauty of its specimens, but also for its completeness, neatness, and scientific arrangement. the value of the collection is probably close on £ , . it is enclosed in seventy handsome oriel albums. mr. w. b. avery, head of the well-known firm of scale-makers of birmingham, has one of the finest general collections. it is justly celebrated for the large number of great rarities that it contains, amongst which are the two rare "post office" mauritius in superb unused condition. the collection cannot be worth at present far short of £ , . mr. m. p. castle, the vice-president of the philatelic society of london, who succeeded the late mr. tapling in office, is one of the keenest of keen collectors. his general collection became so large that he parted with it in , and then specialised in australians. this latter collection he sold, in , to our publishers for £ , , at that time the largest sum ever paid for a single collection. he subsequently made a grand specialised collection of europeans. this, arranged in sixty-seven volumes, he sold, in , for nearly £ , , and he has now returned to his love for australians. the earl of crawford and balcarres is a collector of only recent date, but he has already formed a really magnificent collection based on broad historical lines. he confines himself mostly to the stamps of the british empire, the united states, and the italian states. his lordship is a member of the council of the philatelic society of london, and, when in england, a regular attendant at its meetings. the earl of kintore is also the possessor of a very fine collection of english colonials, etc.; among his greater rarities being the "post office" mauritius, the complete set of hawaiian islands (first issue), the cents, rose, british guiana, and many other gems. he also is a member of the london philatelic society. in france the place of honour, after m. la renotiérè, is deservedly taken by m. paul mirabaud, the well-known banker of paris, whose magnificent collection of switzerland was shown in the last paris exhibition. it forms, however, only a small portion of his fine collection. in italy probably the most famous collection is that of prince doria pamphilj, which is exceptionally rich in the interesting issues of the italian states. in the united states of america there are many notable collections, several of them being worth from £ , to £ , , amongst which may be mentioned the crockers', of san francisco, mr. f. w. ayer's, of bangor, maine, and mr. paul's, of philadelphia. in germany the greatest collection is doubtless that of mr. martin schroeder, the well known merchant of leipzig. [illustration:] stanley gibbons, ltd. _capital, £ , . established ._ highest possible awards. _gold medal, paris, ._ _gold medal, chicago, ._ five medals (_highest in each class_), geneva, . four medals (_highest in each class_), london, . the above-mentioned high rewards gained by the firm have been awarded for the perfect condition and completeness of stamp collections, and for general excellence in stamp albums, catalogues, and handbooks. * * * * * rare stamps bought, sold, or exchanged. * * * * * _large new prospectus_ (_seventy-six pages_), with full details of all stamp albums, catalogues, handbooks, and list of nearly , sets and packets at bargain prices, _sent post-free on application_. * * * * * stanley gibbons, limited, new announcements. _annual sale over thirty thousand packets._ now ready, the following popular series of packets of foreign postage stamps _all the stamps contained in the following packets are warranted absolutely genuine, free from reprints. they are also in good condition and perfect._ these packets cannot be sent by book post to postal union countries. the cost by letter rate is - / d. for every stamps. the amount required for postage can therefore be reckoned, and should be added when remitting. * * * * * _new and improved packets of used and unused stamps._ no. .--the sixpenny packet of mixed continental stamps contains , including many obsolete and rare. (this packet contains duplicates.) post-free, d. no. .--the sixpenny packet of used foreign stamps contains varieties, all different, including egypt, spain, chili, new south wales, transvaal, roumania, porto rico, argentine, sweden, brazil, turkey, &c. post-free, d. no. .--the sixpenny packet of used colonial stamps contains varieties, including natal, ceylon, india h.m.s., cape of good hope, british guiana, mauritius, tasmania, new south wales service, victoria, jamaica, south australia o.s., &c. all different. post-free, d. no. .--the shilling packet of used and unused foreign stamps contains varieties, including french soudan, spain, bulgaria, portugal, sandwich isles (head of king), italy, turkey, finland, brazil, roumania, portugal, argentine republic, ecuador, salvador, greece, mexico, shanghai, philippine isles, japan, and others rare. all different and warranted genuine. post-free, / . no. .--the shilling packet of colonial stamps contains varieties, including cyprus, natal, jamaica, provisional south australia, victoria / d. rose, surcharged ceylon, straits settlements, india service, queensland, hong kong, barbados, swan river, south australia, centennial new south wales, mauritius, malta, and others rare. all different and warranted genuine. post-free, / . no. .--the eighteenpenny packet of used foreign stamps contains varieties, including mauritius, hong kong, finland, japan and sen, barbados, chili, brazil, greece, russia, porto rico, india envelope, jamaica, belgium, spain, canada, &c. all different and warranted genuine. post-free, / . no. .--the two shilling packet of rare used and unused foreign stamps contains varieties, including porto rico, colombia, new zealand, registered canada, rare turkish, dutch indies, ceylon, mozambique, mauritius, portugal, french colonies, o. f. state, cyprus, norway, sardinia, belgium, west australia, chili, egypt, bavaria, and others rare. all different and warranted genuine. post-free, / . approval sheets and collections of stamps. new sheets of stamps for beginners and medium collectors. we have just been arranging our approval sheets of stamps on an entirely new and much simpler plan than formerly. the stamps are mounted on sheets, containing an average of stamps per sheet. they are all arranged in the order of our new catalogue. first, great britain and the colonies, then all foreign countries. these sheets contain about , different stamps, and a sheet of any particular country will be sent on demand. the sheets arranged to date are over forty in number, and contain all great britain and the colonies, and all foreign countries. to advanced collectors.--for collectors more advanced we have an assortment of many hundreds of small books of choice picked stamps of every country or district in the world. most of these special books contain twenty pages ( Ã� - / inches), and can be sent by post in an ordinary registered envelope to all parts of the world. these books, as a rule, include used and unused stamps, but special approval books will be made up to suit individual requirements. collectors writing for such should state if they wish for used or unused stamps; if singles, pairs, or blocks of are required; also, in used stamps, if special postmarks are sought for. in all cases, in these books, we shall lay ourselves out to meet the special requirements of each individual client, whether the amount required be large or small. great rarities are our speciality. we have a large number of stamps on hand from £ to £ each, and shall be pleased to give prices and particulars to advanced philatelists. we purchase really rare stamps at a much higher cash price than that paid by any other stamp merchant. grand collection packets. new and greatly reduced prices for . no. contains varieties, including used and unused. price d.; post-free, d. no. contains different varieties, both used and unused stamps, envelopes [box] and post cards [box] and is well recommended as a capital start for a collector. price /-; post-free, / . no. , varieties, and is strongly recommended as the cheapest collection of different stamps ever offered--the stamps could not be bought separately for three times the marvellously low price at which it is now offered. the stamps, &c., are clean, picked specimens fit for any collection. the best varieties in the trade. price /-; post-free, / . no. , , varieties. this packet contains , different stamps (and no envelopes, bands, and cards), and is the cheapest packet ever offered by s. g., ltd., satisfaction being absolutely guaranteed. the price it is offered at is the lowest ever quoted for such a collection, embracing as it does scores of scarce varieties, provisionals, new issues, and many very fine and obsolete varieties. price £ , post-free and registered. no. , , varieties. each specimen is in perfect condition, and the , different stamps form a noble start for anyone. a large number of really rare and valuable stamps are contained in this collection; but it is impossible to enumerate them, as we are constantly adding new issues and older stamps when we purchase such. satisfaction is guaranteed. price £ s., post-free and registered. no. , , varieties. a grand packet for a dealer or collector, every stamp being different and genuine, and thus forming a choice collection in itself or a stock to make up sheets or for exchange purposes. price £ s., post-free and registered. no. a, , varieties. a very fine packet, containing many rare stamps, all arranged in order, and mounted ready to price or remove to a collection. price £ s., post-free and registered. no. b, , varieties. a valuable collection, all mounted on sheets in order. really good value; being sold by us to collectors at less than the price usually charged in the trade. price £ , post-free and registered. grand new variety packets. in order to meet the wishes of a great number of our customers, we have prepared a series of packets, as under, entirely different from one another, no stamp in any one packet being in any of the rest of the series; and the purchaser of the series of eight packets will have , extra good varieties, and no duplicates. these packets do not contain any post cards, cut envelopes, fiscals, or reprints, and are well recommended as good value, and are only a small proportion of the catalogue value of the single stamps contained in them. no. contains stamps of europe, all different. price / ; post-free, / . " " stamps of asia " / " / . " " stamps of africa " / " / . " " stamps of australia " / " / . " " stamps of west indies " / " / . " " stamps of south america, all different. / " / . " " stamps of north america " / " / . " " stamps of central america " / " / . the set of eight packets, containing , varieties, if all bought at one time, will be supplied at the special reduced price of /-. postage abroad - / d. extra for each stamps. * * * * * _the jubilee exhibition packets._ no. .--the "queen's portrait" packet. stamps. price s. the ten shilling packet contains unused postage stamps, each one bearing a likeness of her majesty queen victoria. this packet contains perfect specimens only, nearly all with original gum. this is a real bargain, but as an extra inducement to purchasers we present a specimen of a diamond jubilee stamp with each packet; thus each buyer becomes a subscriber to h.r.h. the prince of wales' hospital fund. no. .--the "queen's portrait" packet. rare colonials. price £ s. the thirty shilling packet contains rare unused postage stamps, each one bearing a likeness of her majesty queen victoria. the stamps in this packet are entirely different from those in no. , and purchasers of both will thus possess two hundred distinct varieties. most of the english colonies are represented by carefully-selected specimens of the higher value stamps. with this packet we present the half-crown diamond jubilee stamp; thus each purchaser subscribes that sum to h.r.h. the prince of wales' hospital fund. no. .--the "picturesque" packet. pictures. price s. d. contains unused stamps in perfect condition, each one being especially selected for beauty, quaintness, or originality of design. among others, we mention: natives paddling on the congo river. native village and scenery in the congo district. a native village in djibouti. the bridge of sighs in kewkiang. zoology is represented by--the elephant, the hippopotamus, the bird of paradise, the stag, the codfish. three of the exquisite portraits of her majesty, as depicted on the canadian jubilee stamps, showing the vignettes of the queen in and , form an appropriate addition to this choice and remarkable packet. greater britain packets of _british colonial stamps_. no duplicates. every packet of this series contains different varieties, no stamp being included in two packets, and purchasers will by this novel method be saved the inconvenience of acquiring duplicates, which is as a rule the bane of most packet buying. |price. |post-free. | |s. _d._ |s. _d_. | no. | contains | varieties of stamps of asia| | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " africa| | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " west indies| | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " australasia| | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | | | | | | | " | " " " | | | foreign countries packets of _european stamps_. every packet in this series contains different varieties, no particular stamp being included in two packets, and purchasers will by this method be saved the inconvenience of acquiring duplicates. |price. |post-free.| |s. _d._ |s. _d_. | no. contains| varieties of stamps of europe| | | " | " " " " " | | | | | | | " | " " " " " | | | | | | | " | " " " " " | | | | | | | " | " " " " " | | | | | | | " | " " " " " | | | the th century packets of envelopes, registered envelopes, wrappers, and letter sheets, all unused, entire, and guaranteed genuine originals. no duplicates. every packet of this series contains different envelopes, etc., no piece being included in two packets, and purchasers will by this novel method be saved the inconvenience of acquiring duplicates, which is as a rule the bane of most packet buying. the prices of these new packets are wonderfully cheap, as we are clearing off our stock of entires. _these packets cannot be sent by book post abroad. the average rate abroad by letter post or parcel post varies so much that sufficient should be remitted, and balance, if any, will be credited or returned. the prices quoted "post-free" are for great britain only._ * * * * * envelope packets. _section i.--great britain & colonies._ no. .--contains common varieties, including bechuanaland, chamba, cochin, leeward isles, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including great britain compound, bahamas, barbados, canada, cape, ceylon, gibraltar, grenada, heligoland, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including newfoundland, new south wales, st. vincent, south australia, trinidad, and a really grand lot of victorian. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of great britain only, including a superb lot of the rarer compound envelopes, old dates and high values; also scarce registered envelopes, wrappers, etc. a very fine packet and good value. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains _rare_ varieties of bahamas, barbados, british bechuanaland, british central and east and south africa, british guiana, canada, cape, and ceylon. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains _rare_ varieties, including some very scarce ceylon registered, cyprus, gibraltar, gold coast, grenada, heligoland, and india. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of the indian states, including chamba, gwalior, jhind, nabha, puttialla, bamra, charkhari, cochin, duttia, holkar, hyderabad, and travancore. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of leeward isles, malta, mauritius, newfoundland, new south wales, new zealand, and niger coast. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of queensland, st. lucia, st. vincent, sierra leone, south australia, straits settlements, tasmania, tobago, trinidad, and victoria. price / ; post-free, / . special offer. packets to inclusive, containing different varieties of envelopes, wrappers, etc., of great britain and her colonies. price £ s. postage extra. envelopes. _section ii.--foreign countries._ no. .--contains common varieties. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarcer varieties. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties, including argentine, brazil, ecuador, guatemala, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties, including persia, russia, shanghai, uruguay, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of argentine, austria, austrian italy, hungary, belgium, bolivia, brazil, chili, and costa rica. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of danish west indies, ecuador, egypt, france, and envelopes of _twenty_ different french colonies. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains _rare_ varieties of the german states, including very scarce lubeck, mecklenburg-schwerin, mecklenburg-strelitz, prussian, saxony, thurn and taxis, wurtemberg, etc. a really good packet and exceptional value. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of guatemala, hawaiian isles, holland, dutch indies, and honduras. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of japan, including rare plate numbers, liberia, mexico, monaco, and montenegro. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of nicaragua, especially strong in the older issues. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of paraguay, persia, peru, portugal, roumania, russia, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of finland, russian local envelopes, shanghai, transvaal, norway, sweden, switzerland, turkey, and uruguay. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties of salvador, including many really rare and provisional issues. a very fine and interesting set. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains old varieties of the united states of america, including scarce dies and papers of the reay and plimpton issues, and the old cent letter sheet on blue paper. price /-; post-free, / . special offer. packets to inclusive, containing varieties of envelopes, wrappers, etc., of foreign countries. price £ s. postage extra. the th century packets of post cards and letter cards. _all unused, entire, and guaranteed genuine originals._ no duplicates. post card packets. _section i.--great britain & colonies._ no. .--contains common varieties. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains common varieties, different from the last. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains common varieties, all different from those in the other packets. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties of cards, including bangkok, barbados, british central africa, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including falkland, gibraltar, heligoland, hong kong, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including nevis, newfoundland, north borneo, st. lucia, st. vincent, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including tasmania, tobago, trinidad, turks islands, virgin isles, zululand, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties, including scarce cards from great britain, antigua, bahamas, barbados, bermuda, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from british central, east, and south africa, canada, ceylon, cape of good hope, cyprus, gambia, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from gibraltar, gold coast, grenada, heligoland, hong kong, india, chamba, gwalior, puttialla, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from sirmoor, cashmere, jamaica, labuan, montserrat, natal, nevis, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties, including new south wales, new zealand, niger coast, north borneo, queensland, st. lucia, seychelles, sierra leone, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from south australia, straits, tasmania, tobago, trinidad, turks islands, victoria, western australia, etc. price /-; post-free, / . special offer. packets to inclusive, containing a really grand collection of varieties of post cards of great britain and colonies. price £ . postage extra. section ii.--foreign countries. no. .--contains common varieties. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains other common varieties. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties, including some scarce. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains varieties, including some scarce ones. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarcer varieties, including austrian italy, hungary, belgium, congo, and brazil. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including bulgaria, chili, colombia, costa rica, ecuador, morocco, tunis, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including german east africa, greece, guatemala, hawaiian islands, holland, curaçao, dutch indies, surinam, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including italy, eritrea, san marino, japan, luxemburg, mexico, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties, including monaco, montenegro, nicaragua, orange free state, paraguay, persia, peru, azores, madeira, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties from roumania, russia, finland, servia, shanghai, siam, south african republic, spain, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains scarce varieties from cuba, norway, sweden, switzerland, turkey, uruguay, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from argentine, austrian italy, hungary, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from belgium, congo, bolivia, brazil, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from bulgaria, chili, colombia, costa rica, denmark, iceland, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from ecuador, egypt, france, tunis, baden, bavaria, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from wurtemberg, greece, guatemala, hawaiian islands, hayti, holland and colonies. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from italy, japan, luxemburg, mexico, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from monaco, montenegro, nicaragua, paraguay, persia, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from peru, portugal and colonies, roumania, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from russia, finland, salvador, etc. price /-; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from shanghai, siam, spain and colonies, sweden, etc. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--contains rare varieties from switzerland, turkey, united states, uruguay, venezuela, etc. price / ; post-free, / . special offer. packets to inclusive, containing a superb collection of , varieties of _post cards_ of foreign countries; a bargain. price £ s. postage extra. sixtieth thousand. _ /- each_. the seventh edition of the improved postage stamp album, no. . the best and largest shilling album ever published. large pages. spaces for , stamps. extra pages added in this edition without extra charge. _this album is now selling at the rate of over , copies a month_. the demand for this album has simply been phenomenal, and it gives universal satisfaction--not a single complaint has been received. the last edition had nearly extra pages added, and now another pages have been added, and all the geographical and historical notes brought up fully to date. all the newest stamp-issuing countries, such as ichang, las bela, tientsin, bundi, dhar, etc. etc., have been added. at the top of each page there is the name of the country, and a mass of valuable information, including date when stamps were issued, population, area, reigning sovereign, capital, etc. spaces of proper sizes are provided for all stamps, and the book is bound in a superior manner in gilt cloth. the album contains a pocket to hold duplicate stamps, and fifty stamps will be presented _gratis_ with each album. there is also an illustrated frontispiece of the rarest stamps, with prices attached that we pay for each. price, bound in handsome gilt cloth, /-, or post-free / . e. s. says: "i asked a friend where the best place was to buy a stamp album cheap. he referred me to you, saying that he had bought one and sold it next day for / , after keeping the stamps." a. a. writes: "i received your stamp album on thursday, and i wonder how you can sell it so cheap; for as soon as a friend saw it he offered me /- for it. please send me another." c. a. w. writes: "please send me one of your marvellous /- albums, with packet of stamps, in order that i may convince my incredulous friends that such a thing is possible." miss m. r. writes from piccadilly: "i was greatly pleased with the album i received this morning, which all my friends admired, and thought it very cheap." the improved postage stamp album. _fourteenth edition_. greatly enlarged and re-written. size of page, by - / ins. _one hundred stamps, all different, are presented with each album sold_. [illustration: cover of no. .] this new edition is printed on a _superior_ quality paper, especially made for it. the shape is oblong, and spaces are provided according to the different requirements of the various countries. a large number of guards have been provided so that the album shall not bulge when full. the album is divided into continents, and the name of the country only is given at the head of each page. fifty-seven different watermarks are illustrated in actual size, and lists are given of the various watermarks of the different countries. two pages of illustrations of _rare stamps_ are given, with the price under each stamp that we will pay for it. special attention has been paid to the binding, which is exceptionally strong, and the covers are artistically designed. * * * * * _prices (all well packed)._ no. .--strongly and neatly bound in plain cloth, gilt lettered back and sides, pages. price / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / . no. .--well bound in art vellum, as illustration, blocked in gold and colours, pages. price /-; post-free, / ; abroad, / . no. .--handsomely half-bound, art vellum sides, gold lines and gilt letters on back, gilt edges, with extra leaves after each continent for new issues, making in, all pages. price / ; post-free, /-; abroad, / . * * * * * extra leaves _can be supplied to this and the older small sizes, as under._ th (new) edition. plain edges, for nos. or ... d. per doz.; /- per . gilt " " no. ... / " / " th or th edition (smaller size)-- plain edges, for nos. or ... d. " / " gilt " " no. ... /- " /- " new edition. _ postage stamps, all genuine and different, and of a catalogue value of over /-, are presented with each strand album_. the strand postage stamp album. well arranged, reliable, and thoroughly correct. * * * * * the book, which is printed on an unusually good quality paper, is bound in a new and specially designed cover. the shape is as illustrated, and the size a new and convenient one, viz. - / in. by - / inches. sufficient guards have been inserted so that when the album is full the covers shall be level with each other, and not bulged, as is often the case in imperfectly constructed books. nos. and include a series of six maps, specially engraved for this publication, and beautifully printed in colours. no. . pages. spaces for , stamps. nos. and . pages. spaces for , stamps. concise geographical and other particulars with illustrations are given at the head of each country, the pages being divided into rectangles, as is usual, with this most important innovation, that they vary in size so as to conveniently accommodate the stamps desired to be placed in position. this is an advantageous improvement that will commend itself to every collector. post cards are not provided for, as all philatelists of experience know it is best to collect them separately. a new and very important departure has been made in nos. and , in including for the first time in any philatelic album a series of six specially drawn maps, printed in colours, and giving the names of all stamp-issuing countries. they are of course fully brought up to date, and are not needlessly encumbered with unnecessary names, so as to increase their usefulness for easy and instant reference. each album now has four full-page illustrations of the watermarks found on all stamps. * * * * * prices. no. .--strongly and neatly bound in plain cloth, gilt lettered, pages, / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / . no. .--strongly and handsomely bound in plain cloth, with gilt edges and lettering, and maps, and extra leaves, /-; post-free, / ; abroad, /-. no. .--handsomely bound in half morocco, lettered on back, plain cloth sides, with maps, gilt edges, pages, / ; post-free, /-; abroad, / . blank leaves. for no. .-- d. per dozen; /- per , post-free. for no. or , gilt edges.-- / per dozen; /- per , post-free. the century album. [illustration: all the world in one volume.] _now ready. in one volume, pages. size of each page by inches._ the century album of the postage stamps of the world. _including a full descriptive catalogue, and illustrated with several thousand full-sized reproductions of the stamps_. * * * * * this album is produced in a very large edition at a cost of between £ , and £ , , and will be found to fulfil a long-felt want for an album in one volume, of high-class style, and on thoroughly good and highly surfaced paper, well and strongly bound. the century album is printed on one side of the paper only, catalogue and illustrations on the left, and numbered spaces to correspond on the right-hand pages. all minor varieties of perforation, watermark, and type are omitted, and only such varieties are included as can be distinguished by the young philatelist. space has been provided for some , stamps, and provision made for new issues by the insertion of numerous blank pages. in two qualities. no. .--on extra stout highly glazed paper, strongly bound in cloth, gilt lettered and artistically designed cover, coloured edges. price / ; post-free in great britain, / . no. .--as last, but half bound in morocco, plain sides, raised bands, and gilt lettering on back, gilt edges; supplied in strong box. price /-; post-free in great britain, /-. extra blank leaves for this album, d. per dozen, plain; or /- per dozen with gilt edges. the imperial album (open), showing general arrangements. [illustration:] the sale of these albums averages over , per annum. imperial album. _now ready. ninth edition_, . great britain and colonies. pages. size of pages, - / by - / inches. about , illustrations. since the publication of the previous edition of this album, we have published the "century" album, designed for those who desire to collect in the simplest form, without regard to perforations or watermarks, and who desire a complete album in one volume. in order, however, to further the wishes of those who collect on more elaborate methods, the present edition has been prepared and very considerably enlarged, and for all practical purposes runs parallel with our current postage stamp catalogue. the close of the century marks an epoch in the history of postage stamps, and the present edition may be considered as a permanent album _of the postage stamps issued during_ the nineteenth century. new issues appearing after the date of this edition are best collated and arranged in blank albums, preferably with movable leaves, such as our oriel or philatelic albums. * * * * * _this album is issued in four qualities only (no. has been discontinued) of paper, binding, &c._ no. .--on extra stout paper, bound in embossed cloth, gilt lettering, sprinkled edges. _marone-colour covers_. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on extra stout paper, handsomely bound, extra gilt, bevelled boards, gilt edges, and patent expanding clasp. _dark green covers_. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on highly rolled plate paper, extra strongly bound in half green morocco, lettered on back, cloth sides, gilt edges, no locks or clasps. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on highly rolled plate paper, magnificently bound in finest green levant morocco, rounded corners, with gold line round the bevelled edges, lettered on back, gilt edges, patent expanding lock. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. * * * * * imperial album. _now ready. ninth edition, ._. foreign countries. pages, measuring - / x - / inches. about , illustrations. * * * * * _this album is issued in four qualities only of paper, binding, &c. (no. has been discontinued.)_ no. .--on extra stout paper, bound in embossed cloth, gilt lettering, sprinkled edges. _marone-colour covers_. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on extra stout paper, handsomely bound, extra gilt, bevelled boards, gilt edges, and patent expanding clasp. _dark green covers_. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on highly rolled plate paper, extra strongly bound in half green morocco, lettered on back, cloth sides, gilt edges, no locks or clasps. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. no. .--on highly rolled plate paper, magnificently bound in finest green levant morocco, rounded corners, with gold line round the bevelled edges, lettered on back, gilt edges, patent expanding lock. price without postage, /-; post-free in great britain, /-. * * * * * these albums are too heavy for book post abroad, but can be sent by parcel post where same is in operation; the weight is about to lbs., and cost can be calculated for each country. the philatelic albums a to e. _as described on page_ . [illustration] the "oriel" albums are of a similar style, but more portable and in a superior binding. _see page_ . the leaves in this album are retained in their places by an original and newly patented plan, entirely doing away with the unsightly screws hitherto necessary on the outside of books of this class. pronounced by all who have seen it an ingenious and admirable arrangement, pre-eminently adapted for the purpose, and completely solving a difficulty experienced by collectors in general. * * * * * the fifth edition of the philatelic album. the most suitable album published for advanced collectors. * * * * * several important improvements have been introduced into this new edition, suggested by increased experience, and greatly enhancing the use of this work. especially produced in answer to numerous inquiries for a really permanent blank album. it will be found suitable for the reception of the most extensive and complete collection possible. it is also adaptable for post cards, revenue stamps, or entire envelopes. collectors using albums of this class frequently resort to books not specially manufactured for the purpose, and hence unsuitable, or the more expensive and very often unsatisfactory mode of having them expressly made; it is to meet this want that this album is published, and all that experience can suggest has been carried out to make it worthy the use of even the most advanced collectors, and adaptable to any arrangement that may be desirable. it is likewise especially applicable for the use of those philatelists who arrange their collections by the catalogue published by ourselves or any other standard list. this album is also peculiarly suitable for those who collect special countries only, taking as their guide the various lists published by the london philatelic society, etc. each leaf has a double linen joint on an entirely new plan, allowing the leaves to set properly when the book is opened, and giving strength at the same time. a narrow marginal border embellishes each page, with a semi-visible network of quadrillé dotted lines, designed to assist the correct insertion of the specimens to be mounted. the leaves are in number, and printed on one side only, on a very fine quality white card paper. they are movable, allowing rearrangement or extension into two or more volumes, as may be desired at any future time. it is hardly necessary to point out the advantage of this; moreover, if a page becomes spoilt, it can be at once replaced. a handsomely arranged title is included. an inspection is desired where possible. prices. a.--strongly bound in half morocco, gilt ornaments and lettering; packed in a box, /-; carriage extra. under lbs., can be sent by parcel post for /-. b.--handsomely bound in full persian morocco, bevelled boards, gilt edges, double-action expanding lock and key; packed in a box, /-; carriage paid, /-. spare blank linen-jointed leaves can be had, / per dozen, or / per dozen if with gilt edges, post-free; abroad extra. a sample leaf sent for - / d., post-free. * * * * * at the request of several london collectors we have prepared an album of portable size, and convenient for taking to meetings of the philatelic society, etc. our large blank albums, as described above, are found to be too heavy and cumbersome for such purposes, and our new book will be found a very suitable one. the size of the pages in e is x - / . weight, lbs. leaves. e.--strongly bound in half morocco, gilt ornaments and lettering; packed in a box, /-, or / by parcel post. the oriel postage stamp album. this new album has been based on a special order from mr. m. p. castle, vice-president of the philatelic society of london, to whom we have supplied of these books, and to whom reference is kindly permitted. it has met with such an unusually favourable reception from those collectors who have already used it that, on account of its general adaptability, it must undoubtedly quickly take a front rank in this class of publication. amongst its numerous advantages, one especially may be named, and that is, its convenient size, rendering it extremely portable, and suitable for attending philatelic meetings, etc. to those philatelists who are unable to personally inspect same at our establishment, a brief description will be acceptable:-- each album contains leaves of the best hand-made paper, faced with japanese tissue paper, so as to prevent all friction, and is bound in half red morocco, with cloth sides finished in gold. a space on the back of the cover is left plain, so that a collector can have his books lettered or numbered to show the contents. each album is contained in a cloth drop-in case lined with lamb's wool. the leaves, unless specially ordered, are supplied perfectly blank, without any lined border or background, but if desired special leaves can be supplied with a fine quadrillé background, as supplied to the other philatelic albums of this form. exact size of leaves from the outside edges, inches by - / ; available for mounting stamps, - / inches by - / . the price of the album is /-; post-free, / (too heavy for post abroad, so will be sent carriage forward). the leaves, either plain or with quadrillé background, can be supplied at the price of / per dozen, or / per . the philatelist's collecting book. for the coat pocket. with patent fastening to flap. _size, - / by - / inches. handsomely bound in art cloth._ each book contains pages, having four strips of linen, / -inch wide, arranged horizontally, glued at the bottom edge and with the upper one open, for the safe retention and preservation of recent purchases or duplicates. a large pocket is also provided at the back for envelopes or stamps in bulk. in daily use by leading london collectors. no. .--as illustrated. price / ; post-free, / . no. .--oblong, twenty-four pages, six strips on each page, interleaved with strong glazed paper to prevent rubbing. price /-; post-free, / . * * * * * the monthly journal. _edited by major e. b. evans._ published on the st of each month, and chiefly noted for:-- st.--verbatim reports of all law cases of interest to philatelists. nd.--earliest information on new issues. rd.--largest stamp journal published: recent numbers containing from to pages. th.--quality of its articles; with major evans as editor this can be taken for granted. th.--entirely original articles by the leading philatelic writers of the day. subscription-- /- per annum, or /- for three years. _sample copy sent gratis and post-free on application._ all subscriptions must be prepaid, and commence with the july number. the prices for back numbers will be found in the current number of the _journal_. there is no discount to the trade. _the monthly journal_ now includes the addenda to our current priced catalogue. the old method of publishing addenda quarterly has been discontinued; and in the months of march, june, september, and december a special number of the journal is sent to all subscribers, containing lists of all stamps, etc., that have appeared since the publication of the catalogue. in the other months there will be quoted special bargains, rarities, and prominent alterations in prices. _we therefore_ strongly recommend _all purchasers of the catalogue to_ subscribe to "the monthly journal"--_forming, as it does, a complete continuation of the catalogue up to date._ the stamp king. a philatelic novel. by messrs. beauregard and gorsse. _translated from the french by_ edith c. phillips. * * * * * _the story commences at the new york philatelic club, and traces out in a most amusing manner the struggles of the two leading members to secure the rarest stamp in the world. the chase leads these collectors to london, paris, and naples, and ends, after many curious adventures, in new york._ * * * * * extracts from reviews. the daily news says: "a delightful addition to modern books of adventure.... incidentally, there is a marvellous revelation of the inner affairs and methods of the stamp-collecting world; but the main interest of the book, to our mind, is its remarkable story, and it can and will be read with pleasure by many who care nothing whatever about the philatelic mania.... it would be spoiling a very good thing to tell the rest of the story of the adventures of these two, ... and we shall be much mistaken if this book, in popular form, does not meet with phenomenal favour." the spectator says: "a most diverting extravaganza, rather in the style of jules verne.... the apology of the translator for the lack of verisimilitude in the last scene is entirely unnecessary; otherwise she has done her work with credit, while m. veilliemin's spirited illustrations heighten the attractions of a most entertaining and ingenious story." the people: "a novel that will certainly interest the ordinary reader and doubly interest the philatelist. it is profusely illustrated, and with a class of illustration that puts to shame much of the rubbish that we find in english novels." the london philatelist says: "it may at once be said that it is amusing in the extreme, and cannot fail to entertain all its readers. we have to heartily congratulate the translator upon the accuracy and excellence of her handiwork. _the stamp king_, we should add, is both superbly illustrated and beautifully printed, and will assuredly command a wide circle of readers." vanity fair: "this very sprightly novel on the stamp-collecting mania is most amusing, and might be just the thing for a present to young folks who are ardent collectors and readers of cheery, harmless fiction. it is excellently 'got up,' the illustrations are very good, and the story itself is quite exciting. all people who love (or loathe) stamp collecting are honestly advised to read the racy story of miss betty scott." the liverpool mercury: "the enthusiasm of philatelists in their favourite pursuit is well illustrated in this capital story. it possesses many merits, the interest being sustained throughout. the translation is admirable, scarcely a trace is to be seen of french idiom, while the rendering into american vernacular is particularly clever and satisfactory." the court circular: "a very great amount of interest is taken in stamp collecting, and a book pleasantly dealing with the stamp hobby, such as the one before us, will be sure to find a wide circle of readers." the lady's pictorial: "this curious story is unique, for never before or since its publication has the stamp-collecting hobby been turned to account as the central idea of a really interesting romance and love story." gentlewoman: "the story is full of exciting incidents." _half bound in art buckram, cloth sides, gilt lettering, plain edges, pages, fine illustrations. price /-; post-free, / ; abroad, / ._ the stamp collector. by hardy and bacon. this well-known and most interesting handbook was published in by mr. george redway in his _collector series_. on the failure of this publisher lately, we purchased the balance of the edition--about , copies--and are now able to offer the work at a great reduction on its original price. _the chief contents are as follows:_ the issue of postage stamps. collecting--its origin and development. stamps made for collectors. art in postage stamps. stamps with stories. history in postage stamps. local stamps. the stamp market. post cards. famous collections. list of philatelic societies. * * * * * well bound in art cloth, gilt lettered, illustrations, pages. price / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / . * * * * * the mulready envelope and its caricatures. this work is a reprint in book-form, with a few alterations and additions, of a series of papers that have appeared in "the monthly journal." the book consists of pages and some full-page illustrations of the most curious varieties of these interesting caricatures. this new work will be of interest, not only to stamp collectors, but also to those interested in engravings--especially in the works of leech, mulready, cruikshank, doyle, phiz (h. k. browne), theo. hook, etc. etc. the work has been produced in a very superior manner, and is printed on special paper with extra large margins; and by the kind permission of the board of inland revenue an illustration of the original mulready is also included. * * * * * no. .--strongly bound in extra cloth, gilt lettering, marbled burnished edges, &c., /-; post-free, / ; abroad, / . no. .--_edition de luxe_, handsomely bound, extra gilt, hand-made paper, with uncut edges, /-; post-free, / ; abroad, / . * * * * * [illustration] the "philatelists' vade mecum." _(secured by letters patent.)_ is an entirely new and original invention for enabling collectors to mount stamps without handling them, and is a _multum in parvo_ of philatelic requisites. it consists of a pair of broad-headed flat metal tongs, one of which is fitted with a solid wedge. the object of this is to permit the free end of a mount held by the tong to be bent over, moistened, applied to the back of the stamp, and pressed down, and the mount can then be released, the stamp lifted, the other end of the mount moistened, and the stamp fastened thereby on the page. in the handle is inserted a glass of high magnifying power. on one side of the middle part is a millimètre scale (divided to half millimètres), and on the other a two-inch scale (divided to sixteenths), both accurately marked off. the stamp can be firmly held along either scale by the tongs. the tongs are made of solid nickel, polished, and fit into a handsome velvet-lined case, the size of which, when closed, is slightly less than inches long, - / inches wide, and only / inch thick. _price, with case complete, / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / ._ second edition. revised to date. a glossary for philatelists, entitled stamps and stamp collecting. by major e. b. evans. this work is intended to fill a void which has hitherto existed in the philatelist's library. it will be found invaluable as a most useful and indeed a standard book to refer to in all cases of doubt or obscurity appertaining to postage stamps and their surroundings. the collector is not infrequently perplexed by the various terms employed, and the fullest explanations are here given of such. much interesting information is also included as to the various classes of and the manufacture of the paper employed, the typography, the embossing, the perforating or rouletting, together with many instructive and interesting details connected with the fascinating science of stamp collecting. _price /- in strong paper cover, /- in gilt cloth; post-free, d. extra._ * * * * * a colour dictionary, giving over _two hundred names of colours used in printing, &c._ specially prepared for stamp collectors by b. w. warhurst. useful for many businesses in which coloured articles are bought and sold, and to give a more definite idea of the colours represented by certain names in common use, which are very frequently misunderstood. suitable for use in schools. printed in ten differently coloured inks on as many different papers, and further explained by diagram and illustrated in fifty-eight colours. _price / in strong paper cover, / in gilt cloth; postage d. extra._ * * * * * pocket magnifying glasses. after examining some scores of different sorts, we have been able to get one combining the greatest power with the largest field obtainable for pocket use. these glasses are mounted in handsome vulcanite frames, and are very compact. there are two lenses in each, which may be used singly, or if a very strong power is desired, may be combined. _price / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / ._ * * * * * surcharge measurer. [illustration:] the accompanying illustration will give the best idea of what this is. it consists of a pair of needle-pointed spring compasses, capable, by means of an adjusting screw, of measuring with the greatest accuracy all surcharges up to millimètres in length. in addition to the measure a millimètre gauge is obtained by running the head of the screw along a piece of paper, a series of lines exactly a millimètre apart being thus indented in the paper. for measuring surcharges on such stamps as natal, straits settlements, &c., this will be found invaluable, and also in the detection of forgeries--a forgery or forged surcharge very seldom being _exactly_ the same size as the original. _price / ; post-free, / ; abroad, / ._ * * * * * prepared stamp mounts. actual size and shape. [illustration: no. . no. . no. .] for affixing stamps in collections neatly and expeditiously. far superior to the old plan of gumming the stamps, and inserting them so that it is only with great difficulty they can be withdrawn. these mounts are made of a thin strong white paper, and are ready gummed. by their use, stamps can be removed at any time without injuring them, or in any way disfiguring the collection. they are invaluable to those who collect watermarks. they should be used on the hinge system; thus, moisten the stamp, attaching the back of it to one half of the mount, the other half being fastened to the album. the stamp will then be facing the page; but do not turn it over until perfectly dry. a collection with the stamps mounted in this manner is far more valuable, if at any time a sale is desired. three sizes are kept in stock: no. , medium size, suitable for ordinary-sized adhesives; no. , smaller size; no. , large size--for such stamps as old portuguese, or for cut envelopes. this size may also be used for cards by using two mounts for each card. prices: _no. , , or size, d. per ; / per , , post-free; , , / ; , , /-._ _the prepared paper can be supplied in large sheets, ready gummed, at d. per sheet, post-free_. * * * * * [illustration: no. . no. . no. .] new cheap mounts. at the request of many clients we have prepared a new cheap mount, made from a thicker paper; a gum is employed that permits the mount to be removed from a book or sheet without damage to the paper, or tearing the mount, which can thus be used several times over, such mounts being particularly serviceable for exchange clubs, or for use in dealers' stock books, &c. the mounts are put up in neat glazed card boxes, , of a size in a box, and are sold in sets of three sizes, viz., three boxes and , mounts for / ; , , price / ; or _separately, any size_, at /- per , post-free. * * * * * new speciality. for stamp collectors. _special pocket books, purses,_ and card cases. each of the following new and useful specialities has separate compartments provided for postage stamps, consisting of strips of thin celluloid protecting the stamps, and enabling them to be seen at once, and arranged so that the stamps can be put in or withdrawn in an instant without damage. .--tuck case for the waistcoat. pocket size. _s. d._ - / x - / . very thin, made in morocco leather, lined leather of a neutral colour, with transparent pockets through which stamps can be seen. price / ; post-free, .--best morocco gentleman's card case, with usual pockets for visiting cards, and special compartments for stamps secured by a tuck flap fastening. (highly recommended.) price / ; post-free, .--best morocco wallet. - / x - / inches. lined leather throughout, flap and nickel lock fastening, gusset and tight pockets for letters; special provision for stamps under transparent pockets secured by an inner flap, and tuck fastening; leather covered notebook. (highly recommended.) price /-; post-free, .--limp morocco letter case. size, - / x inches. with gusset pocket for private letters, tight pocket for foreign post cards, and an array of transparent pockets for stamps. price / ; post-free, .--ditto, ditto, with a gilt-edged ruled book under an elastic. price /-; post-free, .--best morocco letter case, lined leather throughout, with gusset pocket for private letters, and special pocket containing an ingenious receptacle to hold a large assortment of stamps. being detachable, it can be used either with or without the outer case. price / ; post-free, .--best morocco purse. x - / inches. flap and nickel lock fastening, stitched expanding pockets. the front to open out, displaying transparent pocket for stamps, with a separate flap to fasten. the purse can be used independently of the stamp compartment. price / ; post-free, stanley gibbons' new stamp catalogue. _ , new and enlarged illustrations._ pocket size, in two volumes. vol. i. contains all adhesive stamps of great britain and the british colonies. new and enlarged edition. price /-; post-free, / . * * * * * vol. ii. contains the postage stamps of the rest of the world. price /-; post-free, / . * * * * * orange river colony, transvaal, and mafeking siege stamps are transferred to part i., being now english colonies. particular attention has--in both volumes--been given to the production of enlarged illustrations of many minor varieties, which can easily be distinguished from a large print, but which are difficult to describe. many important countries have been thoroughly revised and re-written. _one hundred extra pages_ have been added to the two volumes without any extra charge. * * * * * real market prices. it is, above all things, highly important that collectors and dealers should know the exact and real market values of all stamps. this firm has taken the greatest pains to arrive at these prices, and the prices quoted in these catalogues are those at which stanley gibbons will supply the stamps if unsold at the time of the order. to facilitate business in all parts of the world, an introduction, details as to approval selections, glossaries of philatelic terms, etc., are given in english, french, german, spanish, and portuguese. * * * * * stanley gibbons, ltd., , strand, london, w.c. april , bulletin no. return-loads bureaus to save waste in transportation highways transport committee council of national defense washington, d. c. resolution passed by the council of national defense. _"the council of national defense approves the widest possible use of the motor truck as a transportation agency, and requests the state councils of defense and other state authorities to take all necessary steps to facilitate such means of transportation, removing any regulations that tend to restrict and discourage such use."_ washington government printing office council of national defense. highways transport committee. washington, d. c. return-load bureaus to save waste in transportation. relief from railroad delays and embargoes. through the cooperation of state councils of defense, chambers of commerce, local war boards, and motor clubs, the council of national defense, through its highways transport committee and its state councils section is building up a system for more efficient utilization of the highways of the country as a means of affording merchants and manufacturers relief from railroad embargoes and delays due to freight congestion. this system already is in successful operation in connecticut and is being extended throughout the country. the purpose is to take some of the burden of the short haul off the railroads and put it on motor trucks operating over the highways. very considerable quantities of merchandise and materials of all kinds are now being carried by trucks operated by private concerns in their own businesses and by motor express and haulage companies. in a majority of cases, however, these trucks, after delivering a load, return empty, whereas there are shippers who would be glad to avail themselves of the opportunity to send a load back on such a truck to its home town if they knew it was going back empty. on the other hand, the truck owner would be equally glad to secure a return load because the charge made for hauling it would reduce his own haulage cost. to bring the shipper and truck owner together serves the interests of both. it doubles the efficiency of the motor truck, enables business men to make prompt shipments or secure deliveries in a day instead of several, relieves the railroads of much short-haul freight, and thereby releases cars for necessary long-distance haulage of munitions, equipment, and other supplies for our army in france, and for foodstuffs, fuel, etc., for the civilian population at home. chambers of commerce bring shipper and truck owner together. the logical agency for bringing the two interests together is the local business men's organization in each locality--the chamber of commerce, board of trade, or by whatever name it is known. they are in direct touch with the manufacturers and merchants in their respective communities, they know the present difficulties of shipping and they have the facilities for most quickly and systematically putting the shipper in touch with the man who has the facility for haulage. the method of doing this is by the establishment of a return-loads bureau--an information department that acts as a clearing house for this particular purpose. once initiated, the work of such a bureau can, in most cities, be carried on by a single employee of the chamber, probably in addition to his other duties. if necessary or desirable, a small charge can be made to the truck owner or the shipper for the service to cover whatever expense may be involved in starting and maintaining the bureau. but the plan affords an opportunity to be of such additional service to members of the organization and to business interests of the city generally that the increased support which may be gained through it should offset the cost incurred. apart from this is the opportunity it presents to be of patriotic service to our country by increasing its transportation facilities at a time when the safety of the nation depends absolutely upon transportation. shortage of railroad cars and locomotives created a shortage of coal during the winter. lack of coal slowed down production of steel, which in turn delayed ship construction. insufficient coal for bunkering ships created a critical congestion of freight in atlantic port terminals and in railroad yards hundreds of miles inland. a certain part of this congestion was due to short-haul shipments of freight within cities and originating in near-by points, , , or miles from the cities. much of this short-haul freight can be carried on the highways by motor trucks. it can be picked up at the door of the shipper and delivered at the door of the consignee, entailing only two handlings. it can be delivered the same day it is shipped, whereas the same shipment by rail would require several days if not a week or more. and the shipment can go forward by motor when a rail freight and express embargo precludes shipment by rail at all. dependability of motor-truck haulage proven. the practicability and dependability of motor-truck haulage not only within cities but between neighboring cities have been demonstrated fully. hundreds of local and intercity motor express lines are in successful operation in widely scattered sections of the country. the return-load bureau system has been installed in england, where it is now considered unpatriotic to run a truck without a load. manchester, england, for example, and all the surrounding cities have their return-load bureaus and have reciprocal arrangements whereby they exchange information regarding available trucks and loads. consequently, any chamber of commerce in a city whose merchants are adversely affected by rail embargoes and delays, freight congestion, or lack of sufficient and direct rail transportation, and where there is any considerable number of motor trucks, will not be embarking upon a doubtful experiment in establishing such a bureau. no responsibility assumed. a return-loads bureau can be established by a chamber of commerce without creating any legal liability to the shipper or assuming any other responsibility. the function pure and simple is to advise the shipper where and when a truck can be obtained to haul his goods and to advise the truck owner where a load can be obtained. it has been found in england that very often, when such a relationship has been established between the shipper and the truck owner, an arrangement is made between them for regular service, and they do not need to call on the bureau for further assistance, thus lightening the work to be performed by the chamber. it is left entirely to the shipper and the truck operator to make their own agreement as to the rate to be paid for haulage, liability of the truck owner or driver for safety of the goods in transit, and so forth. it is expected, however, that the chamber of commerce will exercise reasonable judgment and precaution, inquiring into the reliability of truck drivers and endeavoring to correct any abuses that may arise. how to start a return-loads bureau. no difficulty and no great amount of work are involved in establishing a return-loads bureau. all that is necessary is to follow the example of connecticut where through the initiative of the state council of defense, return-loads bureaus have been established in cities. the council addressed letters to the chambers of commerce, inviting their cooperation in the movement. return post cards were printed and mailed to motor-truck owners in the different cities. on the reverse side of the cards was a brief questionnaire to be filled out by the truck owner stating whether or not he would carry "back loads" for reasonable compensation, whether he would rent his truck at full capacity or partial capacity, number of trucks owned, number of hours a day or days a week the truck would be available under the return-loads plan, its capacity in tons, etc. as these reply cards came back, they were filed in a by card index drawer, arranged by cities and by routes out of the respective cities. it developed from this canvass that there were in the cities more than trucks of -ton capacity or more available for such service and that they operated over main routes. names and addresses of truck owners may be obtained from the automobile registration bureau in the office of the secretary of state or the commissioner of motor vehicles, as the case may be. duplicate records in neighboring cities. duplicates of this master file were furnished by the state council of defense in connecticut to the chamber of commerce in each of the cities, together with a map showing the location of each return-loads bureau and all of the truck routes, numbered serially. thus, the head of the bureau in each city knows just what trucks are available in the other cities and the routes over which they operate. it is desirable that the state council of defense, where one exists, should indorse this movement, but it is not necessary that the chamber of commerce in any city should wait for it to do so. it is perfectly feasible for the chamber to initiate the work itself in its own community and then propose to similar chambers in neighboring cities to do likewise and establish an exchange of information. having ascertained what trucks are available for hauling, the next move is for the return-loads bureau to circularize the merchants, manufacturers, and other business enterprises in the community, advising them of the establishment of the bureau and asking them to report to it whenever they have any goods or materials which they wish to have hauled, either within the city or to near-by cities or villages. these reports may be made by telephone or on postal cards. blank cards of a size (as by inches) suitable for filing may be supplied to shippers in quantity by the bureau for the purpose. list return-loads bureau in telephone directory. the telephone company should be asked to list the return-loads bureau under the title "return loads" in the local directory and truck owners and shippers be notified that by calling "return loads" or the telephone number of the bureau they can learn where a load may be obtained to carry back to the city from which the truck brought a load or where a truck can be obtained to carry the goods the shipper desires delivered. publicity should be given in all the local newspapers and in those of neighboring cities of the establishment of the bureau, so that all interests may immediately begin making use of the facilities afforded. it will be found that there are two classes of business to be handled by the bureau--regular and irregular. in many cities there are motor express lines operating on daily schedule over regular routes and there are shippers who have regular shipments to make. having brought these together once, further service of the bureau will be unnecessary so far as these particular parties are concerned. then there are many companies, firms or individuals that own trucks which they use only in their own business but which stand idle part of the time or which from time to time deliver a load in a neighboring city and return home empty. there are also shippers who have depended on the railroad but in emergency wish to make a quick shipment. it will be necessary to keep a daily record of these and cross off the truck or the shipment as soon as it is learned that the truck has gone back to its home city and is no longer available or the shipment has been completed. interchange information on irregular work. a system of daily interchange of information regarding this irregular service should be arranged with bureaus in other cities, so that a truck operator in hartford, for example, who has a load to haul to new haven can learn from the bureau in hartford before starting where and on what day or at what time he can secure a load in new haven to take back to hartford. he may find that by delaying his own shipment a day or by making it a day earlier he can get a return load, whereas otherwise he might have to return light. shippers, therefore, should be urged to give as much advance notice as possible of shipments they wish to make. within a short time this system will extend to long distances. recently a company in new york called up the chamber of commerce (before any return-loads bureau was established there) and stated it intended to send a motor truck to vermont to bring back some machinery and wanted to know where a load could be secured to take to vermont or at least a considerable part of the way. another company called up and said it had a truck coming from philadelphia with a load and wanted to get a load going back. motor express lines are already operating on daily schedule between new york and philadelphia, between hartford and new york, and between boston and hartford. it is the purpose of the highways transport committee to bring about, just as quickly as possible, the organization of return-loads bureaus in all the cities where it will be beneficial and to establish reciprocal relations among them on the plan of the connecticut system. secure cooperation of motor-truck dealers. motor-truck dealers can be of great assistance to the chambers of commerce in promoting this movement and in helping to get the bureaus started. they are in direct touch with truck owners, know the routes over which trucks are operated, condition of the roads, railroad shipping difficulties, etc. it is recommended that the chambers of commerce call on them to appoint a representative committee from among them to cooperate with it. they can furnish a great deal of useful information and will be a valuable factor in disseminating information regarding the work of the bureau and making it per cent useful. (copy of a bulletin is reprinted below, which was issued to its members by the chamber of commerce of the united states, riggs building, washington, d. c.) motor-truck transportation. return-load bureau. the motor truck is a part of the transportation equipment in every community. its use more nearly to capacity will help solve local problems. more complete use means loads both ways. a motor truck usually carries a good load to its destination, whether the destination is in the same community or in another city. too often, however, the truck makes the return trip with no load. every time this occurs there is waste of at least half the capacity of a truck to do work in transportation. owners of trucks do not wish half the earning power of their vehicles to be lost. manufacturers and merchants with goods piled up and awaiting shipment do not like to see empty trucks pass their doors. both need a local clearing house for information about the trucks that are available and the shipments that are ready--i. e., to bring together loads and empty trucks. such a clearing house the local commercial organization can easily provide. it will not ordinarily entail any special expense. it will promote cooperation in the community. it will render a very real service for which business men will be thoroughly grateful. return-load bureau is a convenient name for a clearing house. the bureau should ascertain the established lines of trucks that run regularly on fixed routes and the part of their capacity that is not being utilized. it should then obtain information from all owners of trucks used for private hauling, getting statements about the capacity of each truck, how far its capacity is used, between what points the capacity is unused, if the unused capacity can be made available for other persons at a reasonable price, etc. besides gathering this information the bureau can make known to everyone that whenever a truck is to make a trip without a load the bureau will respond to a telephone inquiry by endeavoring to give the name of a person who wants to send a load over the route in question. efforts can be made also to have drivers who bring loads by truck from other points telephone to the bureau in order to get return loads. at the same time the bureau can enlist the cooperation of business men who may have shipments to make. in order that any driver or other person from out of town may quickly ascertain if there is a return load for him, each bureau should be specially listed in the telephone directory. with incidental questions the bureau will not usually need to deal. for example, it can leave the compensation that is to be paid to negotiation between the parties. in england return-load bureaus have proved of great assistance. they have been most developed in the united states by commercial organizations in connecticut. experience has demonstrated that the assistance they can render is very real and important, and that they can be organized advantageously in many communities where they have not as yet been tried. the railroad question. the railroad question a historical and practical treatise on railroads, and remedies for their abuses by william larrabee, late governor of iowa. _salus populi suprema lex._ ninth edition. chicago: the schulte publishing company. . copyright, , by william larrabee. preface. the people of the united states are engaged in the solution of the railroad problem. the main question to be determined is: shall the railroads be owned and operated as public or as private property? shall these great arteries of commerce be owned and controlled by a few persons for their own private use and gain, or shall they be made highways to be kept under strict government control and to be open for the use of all for a fixed, equal and reasonable compensation? in a new and sparsely settled country which is rich in natural resources there may be no great danger in pursuing a _laissez-faire_ policy in governmental affairs, but as the population of a commonwealth becomes denser, the quickened strife for property and the growing complexity of social and industrial interests make an extension of the functions of the state absolutely necessary to secure protection to property and freedom to the individual. the american people have shown themselves capable of solving any political question yet presented to them, and the author has no doubt that with full information upon the subject they will find the proper solution of the railroad problem. the masses have an honest purpose and a keen sense of right and wrong. with them a question is not settled until it is settled right. it must be conceded that of all the great inventions of modern times none has contributed as much to the prosperity and happiness of mankind as the railroad. our age is under lasting obligations to watt and stephenson and many other heroes of industry who have aided in bringing the railroad to its present state of perfection. their genius is the product of our civilization, and their legacies should be shared by all the people to the greatest extent possible. an earnest desire to aid in attaining this end has prompted this contribution to the literature on the subject. the author is not an entire novice in railroad affairs. he has had experience as a shipper and as a railroad promoter, owner and stockholder, and has even had thrust upon him for a short time the responsibility of a director, president and manager of a railroad company. he has, moreover, had every opportunity to familiarize himself with the various phases of the subject during his more than twenty years' connection with active legislation. he came to the young state of iowa before any railroad had reached the mississippi. engaging early in manufacturing, he suffered all the inconveniences of pioneer transportation, and his experience instilled into him liberal opinions concerning railroads and their promoters. he extended to them from the beginning all the assistance in his power, making not only private donations to new roads, but advocating also public aid upon the ground that railroads are public roads. as a member of the iowa senate he introduced and fathered the bill for the act enabling townships, incorporated towns and cities to vote a five per cent. tax in aid of railroad construction. he favored always such legislation as would most encourage the building of railroads, believing that with an increase of competitive lines the common law and competition could be relied upon to correct abuses and solve the rate problem. he has since become convinced of the falsity of this doctrine, and now realizes the truth of stephenson's saying that where combination is possible competition is impossible. it is the object of this work to show that as long as the railroads are permitted to be managed as private property and are used by their managers for speculative purposes or other personal gain, or as long even as they are used with regard only for the interest of stockholders, they are not performing their proper functions; and that they will not serve their real purpose until they become in fact what they are in theory, highways to be controlled by the government as thoroughly and effectually as the common road, the turnpike and the ferry, or the post-office and the custom-house. this book has been written at such odd hours as the author could snatch from his time, which is largely occupied with other business. he is under obligations to many of our ministers and consuls abroad for statistics and other valuable information concerning foreign railroads, as well as to a number of personal friends for other assistance, consisting chiefly in rendering the railroad literature of europe accessible to him. william larrabee. _clermont, iowa, may, ._ contents. i. history of transportation ii. the history of railroads iii. history of railroads in the united states iv. monopoly in transportation v. railroad abuses vi. stock and bond inflation vii. combinations viii. railroads in politics ix. railroad literature x. railroad literature--_continued_ xi. railroads and railroad legislation in iowa xii. the interstate commerce act xiii. the rate question xiv. remedies appendix--tables and statistics list of authors and works consulted and quoted acworth, w. m. the railways of england adams, c. f., jr. railroads, their origin and problems adams, h. c. public debts adams, henry history of the united states atkinson, edward the distribution of products bagehot, walter the english constitution baker, c. w. monopolies and the people beach, charles f., jr. on private corporations blackstone, w. commentaries on laws of england boisted, c. a. the interference theory of government bolles, albert s. bankers' magazine bonham, john m. railway secrecy and trusts bryce, james the american commonwealth buckle, h. t. history of civilization of england carey, h. c. principles of social science " " unity of law cary, m. view of system of pennsylvania internal improvements. cloud, d. c. monopolies and the people clews, henry twenty-eight years in wall street cooley, thomas m. constitutional limitations congressional record. compilation of english laws upon railways. dabney w. d. the public regulation of railways dillon, sidney north american review dorn, alexander aufgaben der eisenbahnpolitik draper, j. w. intellectual development of europe encyclopedia, american. encyclopedia britannica. encyclopÄdie (rÖll's) des eisenbahnwesens, . findlay, george working and management of english railways. fink, albert cost of railroad transportation, etc. fisher, g. p. outlines of universal history fisk, john american political ideas " " critical period of american history foreign commerce of american republics and colonies. graham, wm. socialism old and new gibbon, edward decline and fall of the roman empire green, john k. history of english people gilpin, wm. the cosmopolitan railway grinnell, j. b. men and events of forty years gunton, george wealth and progress guizot, m. history of civilization habour, theodor geschichte des eisenbahnwesens hadley, a. t. railway transportation hall's life of prince bismarck. hudson, j. t. the railways and the republic jeans, j. s. railway problems jervis, john b. railway property jevons, w. s. methods of social reform kent, james commentaries on american law kirkman, m. m. railway rates and government control and other works. leckey, w. e. h. england in eighteenth century lieber, francis political ethics " " civil liberty and self-government " " miscellaneous essays lodge, h. c. life of general washington martineau, harriet history of england mcmaster, j. b. history of people of united states macaulay, t. b. history of england motley, j. l. the dutch republic " " the united netherlands paine, charles the elements of railroading patten, j. h. natural resources of the united states peffer, w. a. the farmer's side poor's railway manual. porter, horace north american review rawlinson, george seven great monarchies redfield on law of railways records of central iowa traffic association, - . records of association of general freight agents of the west. records of joint western classification committees. reports of state boards of commissioners. report of hepburn committee. reports of united states census. report of windom committee. report of bankers' association, . report of cullom committee. roemer, jean origin of english people, etc. reubeaux, f. der weltverkehr und seine mittel richardson, d. n. a girdle round the earth rogers, james e. thorold economic interpretation of history. roscher, wm. political economy schreiber die preussischen eisenbahnen schurz, carl life of henry clay smith, adam wealth of nations spelling, t. carl on private corporations spencer, herbert synthetic philosophy stern, simon. constitutional history and political development of the united states. stickney, a. b. the railroad problem statistiques des chemins de fer de l'europe, . taylor, hannis origin and growth of the english constitution. the american railway. published by charles scribner's sons. verschoyle, rev. j. history of ancient civilization von weber, m. m. privat-, staats- und reichs-bahnen " " " " nationalität und eisenbahn politik von der legen, alfred die nordamerikanischen eisenbahnen. walker, aldace f. the forum weeden, w. b. economic and social history of new england. the railroad question. chapter i. history of transportation. while the prosperity of a country depends largely upon its productiveness, the importance of proper facilities for the expeditious transportation and ready exchange of its various products can scarcely be overrated. the free circulation of commercial commodities is as essential to the welfare of a people as is the unimpaired circulation of the blood to the human organism. the interest taken by man in the improvement of the roads over which he must travel is one of the chief indications of civilization, and it might even be said that the condition of the roads of a country shows the degree of enlightenment which its people have reached. the trackless though very fertile regions of central africa have for thousands of years remained the seat of savages; but no nation that established a system of public thoroughfares through its dominion ever failed to make a distinguished figure in the theater of the world. there are some authors who go even so far as to call the high roads of commerce the pioneers of enlightenment and political eminence. it is true that as roads and canals developed the commerce of eastern asia and europe, the attention of their people was turned to those objects which distinguish cultured nations and lead to political consequence among the powers of the world. the systems of roads and canals which we find among those ancients who achieved an advanced state of civilization might well put to shame the roads which disgraced not a few of the european states as late as the eighteenth century. among the early nations of asia of whose internal affairs we have any historic knowledge are the hindoos, the assyrians and babylonians, the phoenicians, the persians and the chinese. the wealth of india was proverbial long before the christian era. she supplied nineveh and babylon, and later greece and rome, with steel, zinc, pearls, precious stones, cotton, silk, sugar-cane, ivory, indigo, pepper, cinnamon, incense and other commodities. if we accept the testimony of the vedas, the religious books of the ancient hindoos, a high degree of culture must have prevailed on the shores of the ganges more than three thousand years ago. highways were constructed by the state and connected the interior of the realm with the sea and the countries to the northeast and northwest. for this purpose forests were cleared, hills leveled, bridges built and tunnels dug. but the broad statesmanship of the hindoo did not pause here. to administer to the convenience and comfort of the wayfaring public, and thus still more encourage travel and the exchange of commodities, the state proceeded to line these public roads with shade trees, to set out mile-stones, and to establish stations provided with shady seats of repose, and wells at which humane priests watered the thirsty beasts. at intervals along these routes were also found commodious and cleanly-kept inns to give shelter to the traveler at night. buddha, the great religious reformer of the hindoos, commended the roads and mountain passes of the country to the care of the pious, and the greek geographers speak with high praise of the excellence of the public highways of hindostan. among the babylonians and assyrians agriculture, trade and commerce flourished at an almost equally remote period. the ancient inhabitants of mesopotamia cultivated the soil with the aid of dikes and canals, and were experts in the manufacture of delicate fabrics, as linen, muslin and silk. to them is attributed the invention, or at least the perfection, of the cart, and the first use of domestic animals as beasts of burden. their cities had well-built and commodious streets, and the roads which connected them with their dependencies aided to make them the busy marts of southeastern asia. during the later babylonian empire immense lakes were dug for retaining the water of the euphrates, whence a net-work of canals distributed it over the plains to irrigate the land; and quays and breakwaters were constructed along the persian gulf for the encouragement of commerce. while highways among the babylonians served the development of agriculture and the exchange of industrial commodities, they were constructed chiefly for strategic purposes by the more warlike assyrians, whose many wars made a system of good roads a necessity. the greek geographer pausanias was shown a well-kept military road upon which memnon was said to have marched with an assyrian army from susa to troy to rescue king priam. traces of this road, called by the natives "itaki atabeck," may be seen to this day. the phoenicians, who were the first of the great historic maritime nations of antiquity, occupied the narrow strip of territory between the mountains of northern palestine and the mediterranean sea. from their situation they learned to rely upon the sea as their principal highway. they transported to the islands of the mediterranean as well as the coast of northern africa and southern europe heavy cargoes consisting of the product of their own skill and industry as well as of the manifold exports of the east. they sailed even beyond the "pillars of hercules" into the atlantic ocean and the north sea. through their hands "passed the gold and pearls of the east and the purple of tyre, slaves, ivory, lion and panther skins from the interior of africa, frankincense from arabia, the linen of egypt, the pottery and fine wares of greece, the copper of cyprus, the silver of spain, tin from england, and iron from elba." but while the phoenicians for their commercial intercourse with other nations relied chiefly upon the sea, the great highway of nature, they neglected by no means road-building at home. they connected their great cities, sidon and tyre, by a coast road, which they extended in time as far as the isthmus of suez. they also established great commercial routes by which their merchants penetrated the interior of europe and asia. caravan roads extended south to arabia and east to mesopotamia and armenia, penetrating the whole orient as far as india, and even the frontiers of china. the phoenicians thus became the traders of antiquity, tyre being the link between the east and the west. the persian empire, which under darius stretched from east to west for a distance of , miles and comprised no less than two million square miles, with a population of seventy or eighty millions, had, with the exception of the romans, perhaps the best system of roads known to ancient history. indeed, it is doubtful whether without it such a vast empire, more than half as large as modern europe, could have been held together. each satrap, or prefect of a province, was obliged to make regular reports to the king, who was also kept informed by spies of what was taking place in every part of the empire. to aid the administration of the government, postal communication for the exclusive use of the king and his trusted servants connected the capital with the distant provinces. this postal service was, four or five centuries later, patterned after by the romans. from susa to sardes led a royal road along which were erected caravansaries at certain intervals. over this road, , miles long, the couriers of the king rode in six or seven days. under darius the roads of the empire were surveyed and distances marked by means of mile-stones, many of which are still found on the road which led from ecbatana to babylon. these roads crossed the wildest regions of that great monarchy. they connected the cities of ionia with sardes in lydia, with babylon and with the royal city of susa; they led from syria into mesopotamia, from ecbatana to persepolis, from armenia into southern persia, and thence to bactria and india. the chinese commenced road-building long before the christian era. they graded the roadway and then covered the whole with hewn blocks of stone, carefully jointed and cemented together so that the entire surface presented a perfectly smooth plane. such roads, although very costly to build, are almost indestructible by time. in china, as well as in several other countries of asia, the executive power has always charged itself with both the construction and maintenance of roads and navigable canals. in the instructions which are given to the governors of the various provinces these objects, it is said, are constantly commanded to them, and the judgment which the court forms of the conduct of each is very much regulated by the attention which he appears to have paid to this part of his instructions. this solicitude of the sovereign for the internal thoroughfares is easily accounted for when it is considered that his revenue arises almost entirely from a land-tax, or rent, which rises and falls with the increase and decrease of the annual produce of the land. the greatest interest of the sovereign, his revenue, is therefore directly connected with the cultivation of the land, with the extent of its produce and its value. but in order to render that produce as great and as valuable as possible, it is necessary to procure for it as extensive a market as possible, and, consequently, to establish the freest, the easiest and the least expensive communication between all the different parts of the country, which can be done only by means of the best roads and the best navigable canals. in africa the egyptians and carthaginians are the only nations of antiquity of which we have much historic knowledge. the former kept up a very active commerce not only with the south, but also with the tribes of lydia on the west and with palestine and the adjoining countries on the east. to facilitate commerce, they constructed and maintained a number of excellent highways leading in all directions. one of the most important among these was the old royal road on the coast of the mediterranean sea, or the "road of the philistines" of the scriptures. this road crossed the isthmus of suez and led through the land of the philistines and samaria to tyre and sidon. another road led, in a northwesterly direction, from rameses to pelusium. this, however, crossed marshes, lagoons and a whole system of canals, and was used only by travelers without baggage, while the pharaohs, accompanied by their horses, chariots and troops, preferred the former road. a third road led from coptos, on the nile, to berenice, on the red sea. there were between these two cities ten stations, about twenty-five miles apart from each other, where travelers might rest with their camels each day, after traveling all night, to avoid the heat. still another road led from the town of babylon, opposite memphis, along the east bank of the nile, into nubia. much of the commerce of egypt in ancient times, as in our day, was conducted on the nile and its canals. the boatman and the husbandman were, in fact, the founders of the gentle manners of the people who flourished four thousand years ago in the blessed valley of the nile. there is one canal among the many which deserves special mention. it flowed from the bitter lakes into the red sea near the city of arsinoe. it was first cut by sesostris before the trojan times, or, according to other writers, by the son of psammitichus, who only began the work and then died. darius i. set about to complete it, but gave up the undertaking when it was nearly finished, influenced by the erroneous opinion that the level of the red sea was higher than egypt, and that if the whole of the intervening isthmus were cut through, the country would be overflowed by the sea. the ptolemaic kings, however, did cut it through and placed locks upon the canal. carthage was a phoenician colony. the city was remarkable for its situation. it was surrounded by a very fertile territory and had a harbor deep enough for the anchorage of the largest vessels. two long piers reached out into the sea, forming a double harbor, the outer for merchant ships and the inner for the navy. this city early became the head of a north african empire, and her fleets plied in all navigable waters known to antiquity. her navy was the largest in the world, and in the sea-fight with regulus comprised three hundred and fifty vessels, carrying one hundred and fifty thousand men. though we have but meager accounts of the internal affairs of carthage, there can be no doubt that much attention was given, both at home and in the colonies, to the construction of highways, which were distinguished for their solidity. it is said that the romans learned from the carthaginians the art of paving roads. european history began in greece, the civilization of whose people passed to the romans and from them to the other aryan nations which have played an important role in the great historical drama of modern times. the physical features of the balkan peninsula were an important factor in the formation of the character of its inhabitants. the coast has a large number of well-protected bays, most of which form good harbors. navigation and commerce were greatly stimulated in a country thus favored by nature. nearly all the principal cities of hellas could be reached by ships, and the need of internal thoroughfares was but little felt. nevertheless, public highways connected all of the larger towns with the national sanctuaries and oracles, as olympia, the isthmus, delphi and dodona. athens, after the persian wars the metropolis of greece, was by the so-called long walls connected with the piræus, its harbor. this highway, protected by high walls built two hundred yards apart, was over four miles long, and enabled the athenians, as long as they held the command of the sea, to bring supplies to their city, even when it was surrounded by an enemy on the land. rome is the connecting link between antiquity and mediævalism. the great empire sprang from a single city, whose power and dominion grew until it comprised every civilized nation living upon the three continents then known. under the emperors, the roman empire extended from the atlantic to the euphrates, a distance of more than three thousand miles, and from the danube and the english channel to the cataracts of the nile and the desert of sahara. its population was from eighty to one hundred and twenty millions. the empire was covered with a net-work of excellent roads, which stimulated, together with the safety and peace which followed the civil wars, traffic and intercourse between the different regions united under the imperial government. more than , miles of solidly constructed highways connected the various provinces of this vast realm. there was one great chain of communication of , roman miles in length from the wall of antoninus in the northwest to rome, and thence to jerusalem, a southeastern point of the empire. there were several thousand miles of road in italy alone. rome's highways were constructed for the purpose of facilitating military movements, but the benefits which commerce derived from them cannot easily be overestimated. these military roads were usually laid out in straight lines from one station to another. natural obstacles were frequently passed by means of very extensive works, as excavations, bridges, and, in some instances, long tunnels. the resources of the roman empire were almost inexhaustible, and no public expenditures were larger than those made on account of the construction of new roads. the fact that many of these roads have borne the traffic of almost two thousand years without material injury is abundant proof of the unsurpassed solidity of their construction. the roman engineers always secured a firm bottom, which was done, when necessary, by ramming the ground with small stones, or fragments of brick. upon this foundation was placed a pavement of large stones, which were firmly set in cement. these stones were sometimes square, but more frequently irregular. they were, however, always accurately fitted to each other. many varieties of stone were used, but the preference was given to basalt. where large blocks could not be conveniently obtained, small stones of hard quality were sometimes cemented together with lime, forming a kind of concrete, of which masses extending to a depth of several feet are still in existence. the strength of the pavements is illustrated by the fact that the substrata of some have been so completely washed away by water, without disturbing the surface, that a man may creep under the road from side to side while carriages pass over the pavement as over a bridge. the roads were generally raised above the ordinary surface of the ground. they frequently had two wagon-tracks, which were separated by a raised foot-path in the center, and blocks of stone at intervals, to enable travelers to mount on horseback. furthermore, each mile was marked by a numbered post, the distance being counted from the gate of the wall of servius. the mile-post was at first a roughly hewn stone, which in time was exchanged for a monument, especially in the vicinity of rome and other large cities. the most celebrated road of italy, which has always excited the admiration of the student of antiquity, was the via appia, the remains of which are still an object of wonder. it was first built from rome to capua by appius claudius cæcus in the fourth century before christ, and was afterwards continued as far as brundisium. it was broad enough for two carriages to pass each other, and was built of solid stone. the stones were hewn sharp and smooth, and their corners fitted into one another without the aid of any connecting material, so that, according to procopius, the whole appeared to be one natural stone. each side of the street had a high border for foot-passengers, on which were also placed alternately seats and mile-stones. in spite of its age and heavy traffic parts of this road are still in a good state of preservation. after the completion of the via appia similar roads were constructed, so that under the emperors seven great highways started from rome, viz.: the via appia and latina to the south; two, valeria and salaria, to the adriatic; two, cassia and aurelia, to the northwest; and the via Æmilia, serving for both banks of the po. nor were the provinces by any means neglected. during the last punic war a paved road was constructed from spain through gaul to the alps, and similar roads were afterwards built in every part of spain and gaul, through illyricum, macedonia and thrace, to constantinople, and along the danube to its mouths on the black sea. so, likewise, were the islands of sardinia, corsica, sicily and great britain crossed by them. it has justly been said that the roads of the roman empire, whose strong net-work enlaced the known world, were the architectural glory of its people. these military roads caused in the various parts of the empire a wonderful social and commercial revolution. they made it possible for civilization to penetrate into the most remote retreats and to conquer their inhabitants more completely than could cæsar at the head of his legions. the romans also had an efficient postal service, which was first instituted by augustus and greatly improved by hadrian. the former, as gibbon states in his "decline and fall of the roman empire," placed upon all roads leading away from the golden milestone of the forum, at short distances, relays of young men to serve as couriers, and later provided vehicles to hurry information from the provinces. these posts facilitated communication through all parts of the empire, and while they were originally established in the interest of the government, they proved serviceable to individuals as well, for there is no doubt, that, together with the official dispatches, every courier carried private letters also. the expenses of the post were largely defrayed by the cities through which it passed, these cities being obliged to provide the stations established within their territories with the necessary stores. at the principal stations were found inns, where the proprietors were held responsible for injuries suffered by travelers while in their houses. the communication of the roman empire was scarcely less free and open by sea than it was by land. italy has by nature few safe harbors, but the energy and industry of the romans corrected the deficiencies of nature by the construction of several artificial ports. after the downfall of the roman empire its roads were either destroyed by the people through whose territories they led or by the conquerors, to render more difficult the approach of an enemy. civilization and commerce greatly suffered through the downfall of rome, and did not again revive until after the struggles of the northern christian races with the southern and eastern nations, which had become mohammedan. the sixth and seventh centuries were the darkest in the history of europe. charlemagne, toward the close of the eighth century, caused many of the old roman roads to be repaired and new ones to be constructed. he, as well as several of his immediate successors, made use of mounted messengers to send imperial mandates from one part of the realm to the other. the rulers of the succeeding centuries did not profit, however, by this example, and the roads of the empire again fell into decay. moreover, the public safety was greatly impaired by robbers and feudal knights, whose depredations were so heavy a tax upon commerce as to greatly discourage it. trade under these circumstances would have been entirely destroyed, had it not been for the merchants' unions which were formed by the larger cities for the protection of their interests. these organizations maintained the most important thoroughfares, and even furnished armed escorts to wayfaring merchants. commerce thus flourished in, and commercial relations were kept up among, the cities immediate between venice and genoa, as well as the cities on the rhine and danube. florence, verona, milan, strasbourg, mayence, augsburg, ulm, ratisbon, vienna and nuremberg were flourishing marts, and through them flowed the currents of trade between the north and the south. out of these commercial unions grew in time the hanseatic league, which from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century controlled the commerce of the northern part of europe on both the water and the land. the object of this league, which at the height of its power included eighty-five cities, was to protect its members against the feudal lords on the land and against pirates on the sea. its power extended from norway to belgium and from england to russia. in all the principal towns on the highways of commerce the flag of the hansa floated over its counting houses. wherever its influence reached, its members controlled roads, mines, agriculture and manufactures. it often dictated terms to kings, and almost succeeded in monopolizing the trade of europe north of italy. it is characteristic of the social and political condition of this time that the postal service was not carried on by the state, but was in the hands of the various municipalities, convents and universities. during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries national power and national life made themselves felt, and with a change in the political system the system of communication and transportation changed also. louis xi. of france took the first step toward making a nation of the french when he transferred the postal service from the cities and other feudal authorities to the state. two or three centuries later, france obtained a national system of roads and canals. the idea was largely due to colbert, the minister of louis xiv. it was, however, not executed in detail until the middle of the last century. many abuses grew up in connection with it, but on the whole it was probably the soundest and most efficient part of the french administration. a system of lines of communication, radiating from paris, was constructed by skilled engineers, and placed under the supervision of men of talent, especially trained for the purpose at the ecôle des fonts et chaussées. the whole system was further improved by napoleon, and has served as a basis for the present system of railroad supervision. the first artificial waterway constructed in france was the languedoc canal, connecting the bay of biscay with the mediterranean. this gigantic work, designed by riquet, was commenced in , and completed in . the canal is miles long and its summit level is feet above the sea, the works along its line embracing over one hundred locks and fifty aqueducts. a large number of canals have since been constructed, and france has at present over , miles of artificial waterways, or more than any other country of europe. nowhere else was the same completeness of organization possible. the regular mail service of germany dates back to the year of , when emperor maximilian established a postal route between brussels and vienna and made francis count of taxis imperial postmaster-general. the postal service of the empire greatly improved up to the time of the thirty years' war, which completely demoralized it. after the war the individual states and free cities, usurping imperial prerogatives, established postal routes of their own and thereby crippled the national service. the same war also did great damage to the public thoroughfares, and the commercial and manufacturing interests of the german empire were until the end of the eighteenth century in a deplorable condition. frederick the great, recognizing the fact that the industrial paralysis of germany was owing chiefly to its defective means of communication, commenced to construct turnpikes and canals in prussia, and the minor german princes one by one imitated his example, until the napoleonic wars again put an end to internal improvements. the good work was resumed, however, after the downfall of napoleon, and in germany was intercrossed by from three to four thousand miles of turnpike. in the netherlands canals were constructed as early as the twelfth century. being particularly well adapted to the flat country of holland, they were rapidly extended until they connected all the cities, towns and villages of the country, and to a large extent took the place of roads. the largest canal of holland is the one which connects the city of amsterdam with the north sea. it was constructed between the years of and at an expense of more than four million dollars. the city of amsterdam owes to this canal its present commercial prosperity. public roads and the state postal service are of comparatively recent origin in great britain. the first public postal route was established in , during the reign of charles i. in a public stage-coach route was established between edinburgh and glasgow. the distance is only forty-four miles, but the roads were so bad that, though the coach was drawn by six able horses, the journey took three days. it was considered a great improvement when in it could be completed in half the time originally required. in a mail-coach made only monthly trips between london and edinburgh, eight long days being required for the journey, which to-day is made in less than twelve hours. the number of stage passengers between these two capitals averaged about twenty-five a month, and rose to fifty on extraordinary occasions. in those days coaches were very heavy and without springs, and travelers not unfrequently cut short their journeys for want of conveniences. turnpikes in great britain do not even date as far back as stage-coaches. it is true the first turnpike act was passed as early as , but the system was not extensively adopted until a century later. previous to that time the roads of england, such as they were, were maintained by parish and statute labor. in the latter half of the last century, under improved methods of construction, turnpike roads multiplied rapidly. both roads and vehicles attained, previous to the advent of the railroads, such a degree of perfection that the stage-coach made the journey between london and manchester, miles, in hours; between london and liverpool, miles, in less than hours; and between london and holyhead, miles, in less than hours. in spite of these improved facilities, the transportation of merchandise continued to be very expensive. goods had to be conveyed from town to town by heavy wagons, and the cost of land-carriage between manchester and liverpool, a distance of thirty miles, was at times as high as forty shillings per ton. the various disadvantages of land transportation directed, toward the middle of the last century, the attention of the british people to the importance of a system of canals. they realized that these water highways would open an easier and cheaper communication between distant parts of the country, thus enabling manufacturers to collect their materials and fuel from remote districts with less labor and expense, and to convey their goods to a more distant and more profitable market. it would also facilitate the conveyance of farm produce to a greater distance and would thereby benefit both the producer and consumer. the canal era was formally inaugurated in , when the duke of bridgewater presented to parliament a petition for a bill to construct the canal which has since borne his name. the canal was commenced in and was completed in . the next forty years were a period of great activity in canal building, but it was left to private enterprise, with very little aid from the government. over a hundred canal acts were passed by parliament before the year . the largest canal of the british isles is the caledonian, extending from inverness to fort william, a distance of sixty-three miles. it was commenced in and completed in , and cost £ , , . other canals of importance are the great canal, which connects the north sea with the atlantic ocean, and the grand function canal, which is over one hundred miles long and connects most of the water-ways of central england with the thames river. it is estimated that there were over , miles of navigable canals in great britain before the introduction of railroads. canal-building in spain dates back to the beginning of the sixteenth century, when charles v. built the imperial canal of aragon, which is over sixty miles long. the political and commercial decline of the country during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, however, brought the development of her highways to a standstill, and, with the exception of turkey, probably no european country has at the present time more deficient transportation facilities than spain. the comparatively high state of civilization which existed in the italian cities during the middle ages, their commercial and industrial thrift and the importance of rome as the metropolis of the catholic church combined to maintain many of the excellent ancient highways of italy. a number of canals were built in northern italy as early as the fifteenth century, and it is claimed by some writers that locks were first used on the milanese canals in . but while public thoroughfares have always been well maintained in northern italy and even as far south as naples, they were during the past two or three centuries permitted to greatly deteriorate in the southern part of the peninsula, to the great detriment of both agriculture and commerce. the condition of the large italian islands is still more lamentable, sicily and sardinia being almost entirely devoid of roads. she that was the granary of ancient rome to-day scarcely produces enough grain to supply her own people. denmark and the scandinavian peninsula had a good system of highways long before the railroad era. among the many excellent canals of sweden may be mentioned the göta canal, which was commenced by charles xii. in the early part of the last century, but was not entirely completed until . it is, inclusive of the lakes, miles long, and its construction cost $ , , , three-fifths of which was contributed by the state. this canal connects the baltic sea with lake wener, as well as, through the göta-elf, with the north sea. next to turkey and spain, no country of europe has been as slow to appreciate the advantages of a system of highways as russia. at the beginning of the nineteenth century the vast empire of the czar had but a few roads connecting its principal cities, and these were almost impassable in the spring and fall. much progress has, however, been made since then, and at present russia has over , miles of wagon-road and artificial waterway, and , miles of railroad. a road has been built through siberia, extending from the ural mountains to the city of jakutsk on the lena and sending out many branch roads north and south. the development of russia's resources has kept pace with that of her system of highways, and the agricultural and mineral products of that country are in the markets of the world constantly gaining ground in their competition with the products of western europe and america. passing now to the western hemisphere, we find that in ancient peru the incas built great roads, the remains of which still attest their magnificence. probably the most remarkable were the two which extended from quito to cuzco, and thence on toward chile, one passing over the great plateau, the other following the coast, humboldt, in his "aspects of nature," says of this mountain road: "but what above all things relieves the severe aspect of the deserts of the cordilleras are the remains, as marvelous as unexpected, of a gigantic road, the work of the incas. in the pass of the andes between mausi and loja we found on the plain of puttal much difficulty in making a way for the mules over a marshy piece of ground, while for more than a german mile our sight continually rested on the superb remains of a paved road of the incas, twenty feet wide, which we marked resting on its deep foundations, and paved with well-cut, dark porphyritic stone. this road was wonderful and does not fall behind the most imposing roman ways which i have seen in france, spain and italy. by barometrical observation i found that this colossal work was at an elevation of , feet." the length of this road, of which only parts remain, is variously estimated at from , to , miles. it was built of stone and was, in some parts at least, covered with a bituminous cement, which time had made harder than the stone itself. all the difficulties which a mountainous country presents to the construction of roads were here overcome. suspension bridges led over mountain torrents, stairways cut in the rock made possible the climbing of steep precipices, and mounds of solid masonry facilitated the crossing of ravines. under the rule of the spaniards the roads of the incas went to ruin. in fact, throughout south america but little, if anything, was done by the mother country to aid transportation. north america, or at least that part of it which was settled by the anglo-saxon race, fared much better in this respect. the great utility of good roads was universally recognized even in the colonial times, but the scarcity of capital, the great extent of territory as compared with the population, and the want of harmonious action among the various colonies, delayed extensive road and canal building until after the establishment of the union. mistaken local interests but too often wrecked well-advanced plans, and what road-building was done during the colonial times was almost entirely left to individual exertion, without any direct aid from the government. the first american turnpike was built in pennsylvania in . from there the system extended into new york and southern new england. up to more than six million dollars had been expended in pennsylvania for turnpikes, one-third of which sum, or over $ , a mile, had been contributed by the commonwealth. in three wagon-roads connected the atlantic coast with the country west of the alleghanies, one leading from philadelphia to pittsburgh, one from the potomac to the monongahela, and a third passed through virginia to knoxville, in tennessee. much as was done during this period for the improvement of the roads, stage-coach travel remained for years comparatively slow. in mr. jefferson, then secretary of state, wrote to the postmaster-general to know if the post, which was then carried at the rate of fifty miles a day, could not be expedited to one hundred. even this latter rate was considered slow on the great post-roads forty years later. in the year one general mail-route was extended from maine to georgia, the trip being made in twenty days. from philadelphia a line went to lexington in sixteen and to nashville in twenty-two days. the government of the united states, appreciating the importance, for military purposes, of good roads leading to the frontiers, commenced the construction of national, or military, roads. a road was thus built from baltimore through cincinnati to st. louis, and another from bangor to houlton, in maine. in albert gallatin, secretary of the treasury, advocated the extensive construction of public roads and canals by the general government. mr. gallatin took the ground that the inconveniences, complaints, and perhaps dangers, resulting from a vast extent of territory cannot otherwise be radically removed than by opening speedy and easy communications through all its parts; that good roads and canals would shorten distances, facilitate commercial and personal intercourse, and unite by a still more intimate community of interests the most remote quarters of the united states, and that no other single operation within the power of the government could more effectually tend to strengthen and perpetuate that union which secured external independence, domestic peace and internal liberty. the principal improvements recommended by mr. gallatin were the following: . canals opening an inland navigation from massachusetts to north carolina. . improvement of the navigation of the four great atlantic rivers, including canals parallel to them. . great inland navigation by canals from the north river to lake ontario. . inland navigation from the north river to lake champlain. . canal around the falls and rapids of niagara. . a great turnpike road from maine to georgia, along the whole extent of the atlantic sea-coast. . four turnpike roads from the four great atlantic rivers across the mountains to the four corresponding western rivers. . improvement of the roads to detroit, st. louis and new orleans. mr. gallatin also recommended that a sufficient number of local improvements, consisting either of roads or canals, be undertaken so as to do substantial justice to all parts of the country. the expenditure necessary for these improvements was estimated at twenty million dollars. local jealousy and state rights prejudice practically defeated this movement, the cumberland road, or national pike, being the only result of any importance. the failure of the government to provide the country with adequate roads left the construction of turnpike roads to private enterprise, and these roads, before the general introduction of railroads, often yielded much profit to capitalists. great as were the conveniences afforded by the turnpike, they were entirely inadequate for the development of the resources of the interior of the country. the products of a forest or a mine could not be transported upon them to any great extent. the crossing of a single water-shed, owing to the necessity for largely increased motive power, would often materially decrease the value of the goods to be transported. these drawbacks of land transportation directed, toward the close of the last century, the attention of the people of the united states to the necessity of providing for a system of canals that should bind together the various parts of their extended country in the interest of commerce. general washington was among the first to urge upon his countrymen the introduction of this great highway of interstate traffic, although but little was done in this direction until after the war of . the people of new york had from an early period of the settlement of their state been impressed with the importance of connecting the hudson with the western lakes. in the provincial legislature discussed this subject, but the political agitations of the times and the following revolutionary struggle arrested further proceedings. after the war the project was frequently brought before the legislature, but nothing was done until , when the assembly appointed a committee to investigate the subject and to solicit the coöperation of the general government, if the project should be found practicable. the report of the committee concerning the practicability of the undertaking was in every respect favorable, and in the legislature provided for a survey of the entire route from the hudson river to lake erie. the survey was made, but, the expected aid from the national government not being forthcoming, the matter rested until after the war with england. in a new board of commissioners was appointed, and the following year an act was passed providing for a system of internal improvements in the state. on the th day of july next the excavation of the erie canal was commenced, and on the th of october, , the first boat passed from lake erie to the hudson. the canal was miles long and four feet deep. it had a width of feet at the surface and feet on the bottom, and carried boats of tons burden. owing to the rapid increase of trade, the capacity of the canal was found inadequate within ten years after its opening, and in measures were taken to enlarge it to a width of and feet by a depth of seven feet, thus allowing the passage of boats of tons. the total length of the canal was, however, subsequently shortened - / miles, making its present length - / miles. this enlargement was completed in , and cost the state over $ , , , making the total cost of the canal about $ , , . new york has, inclusive of branches, some ten other canals in operation, among them the champlain canal, extending from the head of lake champlain to its junction with the erie canal at waterford; the oswego canal, from lake ontario at the city of oswego to the erie canal at syracuse; the black river canal, from rome to lyon falls; the cayuga and seneca canals, extending from the erie canal to the seneca and cayuga lakes. the state has expended for the construction of canals not less than $ , , . canal-building in the state of pennsylvania commenced about the time that the original erie canal was completed in new york. in the legislature authorized the appointment of commissioners to explore canal routes from philadelphia to pittsburgh and the west. a year later surveys were authorized to be made from philadelphia to pittsburgh, from allegheny to erie, from philadelphia to the northern boundary of the state, and also south to the potomac river. the construction of the main lines of communication between the east and the west and the coal fields in the north was soon commenced. large loans were repeatedly made, and the work was vigorously prosecuted. in pennsylvania had miles of state canals, among them the central division canal, miles long, and the western division canal, miles long. public opinion strongly favored an extended system of internal improvements, and it was believed that these water-ways would soon become a source of revenue to the state. these expectations might have been realized had the state carried on enterprises on a less extensive and more economical basis. in the financial condition of the state had become such that canal-building had to be abandoned. the amount expended by the state of pennsylvania for canals, including the columbia railroad, was about $ , , , while the difference between net earnings and interest paid by the state up to that time is estimated at $ , , . in and these works were sold to the pennsylvania railroad company and the sunbury and erie railway company for $ , , , or about one-sixth of their cost to the state. in ohio the legislature authorized the survey of a canal from lake erie to the ohio river. in an act was passed providing for the construction of the ohio canal and a number of feeders. in the canal was in operation from cleveland to newark, a distance of miles, and the whole system was finished in . the state of illinois completed in the illinois and michigan canal, connecting chicago with la salle on the illinois river. this canal is miles long, feet wide and six feet deep. the construction by the general government of the hennepin ship canal, connecting the mississippi with lake michigan, has long been agitated in the northwest. such a canal would be one of the most important channels of commerce in the country, and it is to be hoped that this great project will be completed at no distant day. we have besides in the united states a large number of canals that were constructed, and are still operated, by private companies, as the delaware and hudson in new york and pennsylvania, the schuylkill, lehigh and union canals in pennsylvania, the morris canal in new jersey, the chesapeake and ohio and maryland, etc. a large number of canals, some public and others private property, have since the construction of railroads been abandoned. thus in new york miles of canals, costing $ , , ; in pennsylvania miles, costing $ , , ; in ohio miles, costing $ , , ; in indiana miles, costing $ , , , are no longer in use. all the canals that were ever built in new england have likewise been abandoned for commercial purposes. nor was canada slow in realizing the advantages which a system of canals connecting the great lakes with the atlantic ocean promised to give her. the construction of the welland and st. lawrence canals made it possible for vessels to clear from chicago direct for liverpool, and this has to a considerable extent diverted grain shipments to montreal, giving the canadian dealers a decided advantage in this traffic. it is a strange fact that, at least in this country, the zenith of the canal-building era is found in the decade following the invention of the steam railroad. for many years it was not believed that under ordinary circumstances the iron horse could ever compete with the canal boat in rates. the most sagacious business men had unlimited faith in the destiny of the canal as a prime commercial factor and invested largely in canal stocks. to many these investments proved a disappointment. the marvelous improvements in locomotives and other rolling stock, the unprecedented reductions in the prices of iron and steel, and above all the fact that in our climate canal carriage is unavailable during five months of the year, gave the railroads a decided advantage in their competition with canal transportation. there can be no doubt, however, that the presence of this competition was one of the chief causes of the great reduction of railroad rates on through routes. in this respect alone the canals have accomplished a very important mission. in the transportation of many of the raw products of the soil and the mine canals still compete successfully with the railroads, and it is still an open question whether future inventions may not enable them to regain lost ground in the carriage of other goods. it would certainly be a short-sighted policy for our people to discourage the construction of new canals. for the improvement of navigable rivers, appropriations have been made by congress ever since the establishment of our national government, and these appropriations now amount to millions of dollars annually. since the introduction of railroads the usefulness of these national highways of commerce has ceased to depend upon the tonnage carried upon them, but the influence which they exert upon the cost of transportation is so great that it is not likely that the policy of making annual appropriations for the improvement of these water ways will be abandoned by the american people for many years to come. there has recently been a strong agitation in some portions of the united states in favor of extending government aid to the nicaragua ship canal, and there seem to be indeed many arguments in favor of such a policy. president harrison said in his annual message to congress in december, : "the annual report of the maritime canal company of nicaragua shows that much costly and necessary preparatory work has been done during the past year in the construction of shops, railroad tracks and harbor piers and breakwaters, and that the work of canal construction has made some progress. i deem it to be a matter of the highest concern to the united states that this canal, connecting the waters of the atlantic and pacific oceans, and giving to us a short water communication between our ports upon those two great seas, should be speedily constructed, and at the smallest practical limit of cost. the gain in freights to the people and the direct saving to the government of the united states in the use of its naval vessels would pay the entire cost of the work within a short series of years. the report of the secretary of the navy shows the saving in our naval expenditures which would result. the senator from alabama, mr. morgan, in his argument upon this subject before the senate of the last session, did not overestimate the importance of the work when he said that 'the canal is the most important subject now connected with the commercial growth and progress of the united states.'" and in his message of that: "it is impossible to overestimate the value from every standpoint of this great enterprise, and i hope that there will be time, even in this congress, to give it an impetus that will insure the early completion of the canal and secure to the united states its proper relation to it when completed." it is sincerely to be hoped that the people of the united states can be convinced of the advisability of extending government aid to this enterprise. it must be admitted that the experience of our government with the pacific railroads has created a strong prejudice among the masses against such subsidies as were granted to those corporations, but it is probable, with the people on the alert, that congress would not again permit great impositions to be practiced against the government. when the great advantages to be derived by the people of the united states from the use of this canal and the small outlay required are considered, it would seem to be a wise policy for our government at once to take such steps as are necessary to secure the early completion and the future control of this great international highway. chapter ii. the history of railroads. in making inquiry into those inventions and improvements which were the precursors of the modern railroad, we meet early the desire to render the movement of wagons easier by a smooth roadway. traces of this may be found even in ancient times. the romans constructed tracks consisting of two lines of cut stones, and in the older italian cities stone tracks may still be seen in the streets, corresponding to wagon tracks, and evidently designed for the purpose of rendering the movement of the wheels easier. the first rail tracks of which we have any knowledge were constructed at the end of the sixteenth century. these rails, which were made of wood, appear to have been an invention of miners in the hartz mountains. they were the result of pressing necessity, for, as mines were usually so situated that roads could only with great difficulty and expense have been built to them, some cheaper sort of communication with the high road had to be contrived. after various experiments the wooden railway was adopted, and the product of the mine was carried upon them to the place of shipment by means of small cars. queen elizabeth had miners brought into england, to develop the english mines, and through them the rail track was introduced into great britain. later the wooden rail was covered with an iron strap to prevent the rapid wear of the wood, and about the year cast-iron rails commenced to be used. at the end of the last century wheels were constructed with flanges, to prevent derailing. more attention was also paid to the substructure, wood, iron and stone being used for this purpose. wrought-iron rails were patented in . the first authentic account of heat or steam engines is found in the "pneumatica" of hero of alexandria, who lived in the second century before christ. hero describes a number of contrivances by which steam was utilized as a source of power. although these contrivances were at the time of very little practical value, they are interesting as the prototypes of the modern steam engine. the attempts to move wheels by steam date back to the seventeenth century, when a number of experiments were made, but their exact nature is not known, because they were all soon abandoned, either on account of unsuccessful results or lack of means. at the beginning of the eighteenth century denis papin constructed a small steamboat, upon which he sailed in on the fulda river from cassel to munden, a distance of about fifteen miles. the construction of locomotives engaged the attention of ingenious minds a century and a half ago. it is claimed that newton experimented with a steam motor in . dr. robinson described in , in his "mechanical philosophy," a steam vehicle. the glasgow engineer james watt devoted himself from to , with great energy, to the development of the steam engine, and succeeded in inventing the system which became the parent of the modern engine. an american, oliver evans, constructed at the beginning of the present century a carriage propelled by steam, and exhibited it, in , in the streets of philadelphia, before twenty thousand spectators. while evans' invention was never put to any practical use, he prophesied that the time would come when steam cars would be considered the most perfect means of transportation. on christmas eve, , richard trevithick exhibited at camborne, england, a steam coach, and soon afterwards he and his cousin, a. vivian, obtained an english patent on a "steam engine for propelling carriages." seven years later a mr. blinkensop, of middleton colliery, near leeds, constructed another locomotive engine, upon which he obtained a patent in . these and a number of other inventors of steam engines vainly expended great ingenuity in attempting to overcome a purely imaginary difficulty. they believed that the adhesion between the face of the wheel and the surface of the road was so slight that a considerable portion of the propelling power would be lost by the slipping of the wheels. it was not until about the year that the important fact was ascertained that the friction of the wheels with the rails was sufficient to propel the locomotive and even drag after it a load of considerable weight. on the other hand these inventors failed to provide in their engines adequate heating-power for the production of steam. in george stephenson commenced to apply himself to the construction of an improved locomotive. when, owing to his invention of the tubular boiler, he saw, after fifteen years of arduous toil, his labors crowned with success, the civilized world entered upon a new era of social, industrial and commercial life. the first line upon which stephenson's invention was used was the liverpool and manchester railway. in the year , a number of liverpool merchants formulated a plan for the construction of a tramway between their city and manchester. the question of motive power was left open as between horses and the steam engine, with which mr. stephenson was then experimenting. after much opposition on the part of parliament and the public a charter was obtained in . when the construction of the road was nearly completed, the directors of the company, after having determined upon the use of steam engines, offered a prize of £ for the best locomotive engine to run at a public trial on the liverpool and manchester railway. this proposal was announced in the spring of , and the trial took place at rainhill on the th of october of that year. the competing engines were the rocket, constructed by mr. stephenson; the sanspareil, by hackworth; the perseverance, by burstall, and the novelty, by messrs. braithwaite and ericsson. both braithwaite and ericsson became subsequently residents of the united states, and the latter achieved immortal fame as the inventor of the screw propeller and the builder of the monitor. the rocket was the only engine that performed the complete journey proposed, and obtained the prize. it is claimed by the biographers of john ericsson that he had really built a much faster locomotive than stephenson, and that, although it had to be constructed very hastily and therefore broke down during the trial, the superiority of the principle involved in it was universally recognized by the engineers of that time. the stephenson engines became the motive power of the liverpool and manchester road, which was opened for public traffic on the th of september, . this line was, however, neither the first public railway nor even the first steam railway. the first railway or tramway act was passed in england in , and in no less than thirty-three private railway or tramway companies had been chartered. in a charter was granted by parliament authorizing the construction of the darlington and stockton railway, to be worked with "men and horses, or otherwise." by a subsequent act the company was empowered to work its railway with locomotive engines. the road was opened in september, , and was practically the first public carrier of goods and passengers. the monklands railway in scotland, opened in , and several other small lines soon followed the example of the darlington and stockton line and adopted steam traction, but the liverpool and manchester railway was the first to convince the world that a revolution in traveling had taken place. the road was from the very first successful, its traffic and income greatly exceeding the expectations of its managers. it should also be noted here that the cost of construction fell largely below the elaborate estimates made by several distinguished engineers. the company had expected to earn about £ , a year from passenger traffic, and the very first year the receipts from that source were £ , . the gross annual receipts from freight had been estimated at £ , , but were £ , in . from the first the stockholders obtained a dividend of eight per cent., which soon rose to nine and to ten per cent. it has since been demonstrated that the revenues of new roads almost always exceed expectations. the success of this railway stimulated railway enterprise throughout europe and america. but while railroad projects created much enthusiasm on one side, they also met with bitter opposition on the other. the prejudice of the short-sighted and the avarice of those whose interests were threatened by a change in the mode of transportation used every weapon in their power against the proposed innovation. the arguments used were often most absurd. it was said that the smoke of the engine was injurious to both man and beast, and that the sparks escaping from it would set fire to the buildings along the line of road, the cows would be scared and would cease to give their milk, that horses would depreciate in value, and that their race would finally become extinct. nor did many of the european governments favor the new system of transportation. some openly opposed it as revolutionary and productive of infinitely more evil than good. the austrian court and statesmen especially looked upon the new contrivance with undisguised distrust; and from their point of view this distrust was perhaps well founded. the rapid movement of the iron horse seemed to savor of dangerous radicalism, not to say revolution. when the emperor finally, in , concluded to sign a railroad charter, he based his action upon the dubious ground that "the thing cannot maintain itself, anyhow." it may be said that the history of the railroad is a conspicuous illustration of human short-sightedness. the prussian postmaster-general von nagler opposed the construction of a railroad between berlin and potsdam upon the ground that the passenger business between those two cities was not sufficient to keep even the stage-coach always full. it never occurred to the postmaster-general, as it does not occur to many railroad men of to-day, that new and cheaper means of transportation increase the traffic. even so wise a statesman as thiers said when railroad construction was first agitated in france: "i do not see how railroads can compete with our stage-coaches." m. thiers also opposed for years the building of a railroad between paris and versailles, declaring that on account of a railroad not one passenger more would make the journey between these two places. but railroads came whether monarchical governments liked them or not. the success of the liverpool and manchester railroad stimulated railroad building in england to a marvelous extent. between and no less than seventy-one different companies were organized, representing about , miles. during the next four years more roads, with an authorized length of , miles, were chartered. the construction of each new road required a special act of parliament. these early roads averaged only fifteen to thirty miles in length. the competition which ensued soon led to the consolidation of roads, which continued until now the , miles of railway in england and wales are practically owned by only a dozen companies. the total number of miles of railroad in great britain and ireland is at present over , . the news of the opening of the first steam railway in england spread through europe comparatively slowly. there were in those days but few newspapers printed on the continent, and these were read very sparingly. railroad discussions were confined to merchants and manufacturers. even after the success of the railroad was assured in england, a large number of people would not believe that, except between the largest cities, railroads on the continent could ever be profitable. but few railroads have ever been built which with honest, efficient and economical management would not pay a fair rate of interest on actual cost of construction. but in spite of this we have to this day a large number of otherwise well-informed people who question the financial success of every new railroad that is proposed. in those days it occurred only to the most sagacious minds that with increased facilities commerce would expand. the missionaries of railroad enterprise found it therefore a difficult matter to interest capital in their projects. railroad committees were in time formed in all cities of any importance, but, with capital cowardly, as usual, and governments distrustful, their task was often a thankless one. railroad projects matured very slowly, and, when matured, were often wrecked by jealous and short-sighted governments. after the formation of a company five and even ten years would often pass away before a charter could be secured and the work of construction commenced. it is true, there were some laudable exceptions to this rule. thus the governments of france and belgium led the people in railroad construction; but upon the whole it can be said that the railroad forced itself by its intrinsic merit upon monarchical governments. it soon became evident even to the most stupid of autocratic ministries that it was a choice between the new mode of transportation and national atrophy. the first german line was built between the cities of nuremberg and furth in . it was only about four miles long, but the success of the experiment gave an impetus to railroad building in other parts of germany. the leipzig and dresden line followed in , and the berlin-potsdam and brunswick-wolfenbuttel lines in . at the end of germany had miles of railroad. in that year frederick william iv. succeeded to the throne of prussia and inaugurated a new and exceedingly liberal railroad policy in his realm. in the prussian government concluded to guarantee certain railroad companies a dividend of - / per cent. on the capital actually invested. the state also secured considerable influence in the administration of the roads as well as in the right to assume the management of the various lines under certain conditions. the governments of the states of southern germany now commenced to build state roads, and their example was, chiefly for strategic reasons, soon imitated by prussia. the system has since grown to over , miles, and no less than eighty-seven per cent. of the mileage is under state control. in all the states and provinces of the empire, except bavaria, the rates for transportation of passengers and freight on all lines are controlled absolutely by the government. in austria, as has already been indicated, the building of railways was greatly discouraged by the government until . in that year the emperor rather reluctantly granted baron rothschild a charter for a railway from vienna into the province of galicia. another charter was granted to a baron sina for a line from vienna to raab and gloggnitz. the policy then adopted in austria guaranteed to each railroad company a monopoly in its own district during the period for which the charter was granted. soon after the state also commenced building lines, but the growth of the austrian system was slow until after the war of . an era of railroad speculation was then inaugurated, which ended with the crisis of . the total length of the railroads of austria-hungary was , miles in . at present that monarchy has nearly , miles of railway, , of which are owned by private companies. it has been the policy of austria to reduce rates, and several roads, especially those built in mountainous districts, have a certain revenue guaranteed to them by the government. the zone system recently adopted in hungary reduced both the passenger and freight rates of the government roads at least one-third, and this reduction has, contrary to expectation, greatly increased their net revenues. in france railroad agitation commenced in . a few short lines were opened, as those from paris to st. germain and to versailles; but, owing to the conservatism of french capitalists, but little more was done until the state took the matter in hand. thiers proposed a scheme by which the state was to furnish about half the cost while private companies were to build the lines and operate them. the western railroad, the first line of any great extent, was opened in between paris and rouen, and the eastern railroad was opened two years later. there were in six large companies operating their lines with profit, but, to induce them to build additional lines that were needed, the state guaranteed the interest on the capital required to make their improvements. in there were about , miles of railroad in operation. to bring about the construction of another , miles of road, and to thus complete the railroad system of the country, the government now guaranteed each company a dividend equal to the average of recent years, but not to exceed seven per cent. it is doubtful whether this system of monopoly has in all respects been favorable to the encouragement of enterprise in the railroad circles of france. in granting charters the state has, however, reserved valuable rights which at a future period it will have an opportunity to assert for the public benefit. the railroad companies have generally a lease for ninety-nine years, and their lines become the property of the state after the expiration of that period. to extinguish the bonded debt and stock, a sinking fund has been created, from which a certain portion of the shares and outstanding bonds is annually paid off and canceled. the government requires of the companies the free carriage of the mails and the transportation of military and other employes at very low rates. besides this the state levies upon the traffic of the railroads a duty of ten per cent. of their gross earnings from passengers and from all goods carried by fast trains. these facts are usually overlooked by our railroad men when they indulge in making comparisons between the railroad rates of this country and those of france. the french republic had , miles of road in , and , in . when all of the proposed lines are completed, the total mileage of that country will be over , . belgium has the best-developed track system on the continent. the state commenced the construction of railroads as early as , and the first line (brussels malines) was opened may th, . four great state lines were constructed in different directions, and between these lines private roads were permitted to be built. between and the private lines increased from to , miles, and competition between them and the state lines became so active as to reduce rates to the lowest possible point. in the government decided to buy a large number of competing lines. in it had acquired more than half, and at present, with a few exceptions, they are all owned and controlled by the state. the exceptions to this are a few short lines that were built in the early days of railroad construction. the total mileage is now , . rates have, however, not been increased since this consolidation, and they are still lower than any other country in europe. the transportation of mails is free, and troops, military materials and prison vans are carried at reduced rates. railroads were originally built in switzerland merely for the accommodation of tourists and the local traffic. the first line, between zurich and aarau, was completed in , but general railroad enterprise did not develop until after . the st. gothard route was then projected, which opened a direct through line between italy and germany. the roads are all owned by private companies, but are under strict government control. great publicity of their affairs is required. the total mileage of switzerland was , in . in italy railroad enterprises have received attention since . the first roads were those of lombardy, being commenced while that province was still under austrian rule. the treaties of zurich in and of vienna in delivered these roads and the venetian lines to the kingdom of italy. between and the systematic construction of a railroad net was commenced which connected the various lines with each other and with rome. nearly all the railroads of italy fell into the hands of the government, but in they were leased for a term of sixty years to three companies, terminable at the end of twenty or forty years by either party upon two years' notice. under the lease the state received two per cent. of the gross receipts. the tariffs are fixed by the state, are uniform and can be reduced by the state. a council of tariffs, composed of delegates for the government, for agriculture, commerce and industry, and for the railroad companies, all elected by their own boards, has been instituted to study the wants and best interests of the country. the total number of miles of railroad in italy was , in . the first road in spain was opened in between barcelona and mataro. the government greatly encouraged railroad construction by subsidies, and during the decade following the development of the railway system of the country was rapid. more than thirty companies have been formed, which have built about twenty main lines, aggregating , miles. in portugal very little railroad building was done previous to , when a little over three hundred miles of road was constructed. the government owns nearly half of the roads of the country, the remaining lines being the property of private companies. the total number of miles operated in the kingdom in was , . the service and the financial condition of the roads of portugal are far from being satisfactory. in denmark the first railroad was built on the island of seeland in . previous to the larger part of the roads of the kingdom was owned by private companies. since then several of the most important private roads have been purchased by the state, which in owned miles, while only miles remained in private control. only about thirty miles more have since been constructed. the roads are well managed, but their net earnings are less than two per cent. of the capital invested. on the scandinavian peninsula the railroad system has developed rather slowly. norway built the first line from christiana to eidsvold in , and sweden commenced railroad building two years later. the narrow-gauge system is fully developed here. while in norway the greater part of the lines is owned by the state, the roads of sweden are chiefly in the hands of private companies which on an average control but little more than twenty-five miles each. the total mileage of sweden is , , and that of norway . the first line of railroad in the russian empire was constructed from st. petersburg, sixteen miles, to tsarskoji-sielo, in . the st. petersburg and moscow line was opened in . railroad building then stagnated until after the crimean war, when a large number of lines were constructed at once. the roads were surveyed by the government, but constructed and operated by private companies. state aid was, however, freely given. during the past ten years the russian government has directed its attention to the development of the railroad system in its asiatic possessions. a railway between the black and caspian seas was completed in , and the siberian railroad is extended as fast as the financial condition of the empire permits. there are now about , miles of road in the russian empire operated by private companies. the construction of a large number of the russian railways was dictated by military rather than commercial considerations. maximum rates are specified in charter, and every change of rates must be approved by the minister of finance. in the balkan peninsula railroad facilities are still ill provided for. a few lines have been built, but these are, as a rule, badly managed. trains are slow, and rates often so high as to be prohibitory. roumania has undoubtedly the best railroad system of any of the balkan states, the government controlling , miles of road. greece is also making some progress and has at the present time miles of railway. there is reason to believe that through communication will soon be established in these countries on a larger scale. the introduction of the railway into asia has been, except in the russian and english possessions, a very difficult task. the conservatism or ignorance of the governments and the superstition of the people combined to throw numberless obstacles before those who proposed to pave the way for the iron horse. british india opened her first railway for public traffic between bombay and tannah on november , . in she had miles of road, which increased to , miles in and to , miles in , of which , miles were owned and operated by the state. the total cost of these roads was $ , , . in asiatic turkey the first line was opened between smyrna and trianda on the th day of december, . this line was in extended to aiden, and in to sarakio. there are at present five lines with a total extent of miles, all owned by english companies. new lines, covering in all , miles, have recently been projected. the first line in persia, only seven miles long, and extending from teheran to schah-abdal-azzim, was opened on the th day of june, . another line, from the caspian sea to amol, is now in process of construction. a line was opened last september between joppa and jerusalem. it is miles in length. japan may be said to be already thoroughly familiar with the european system. the first and principal line was opened on the island of napon, between tokio and yokohama, on the th of october, . two other short lines followed in and , when the total extent of the japanese roads was about miles. in the construction of the grand trunk railroad, from tokio to kioto, was commenced, which line has been in operation for the past five years. other lines, aggregating over miles, will soon be opened for traffic. the total extent of road in operation in was miles, of which were controlled by the state, and the remainder by private companies. in the total number of miles exceeded . the total average cost per mile was $ , . no nation has probably opposed the introduction of the railway as stubbornly as the chinese. the first railroad, scarcely seven miles long, was built by an english company near kaiping to facilitate the transportation of coal from the mines in that vicinity. in a chinese company purchased this line and has since extended it to tientsin, making its present length about eighty-four miles. the chinese government has recently authorized the further extension of this line to yangchou, a place but a few miles distant from pekin. of the asiatic islands java has the largest and oldest railroad system. on the th of august, , the first line was opened between samarang and tangveng. other coast lines have since been constructed, but communication is still sadly neglected in the interior. in there were operated on the island nearly miles of road, the greater part being the property of private companies. a road was opened upon the island of ceylon between colombo and kandy in , to which several branch lines and extensions have since been added. the total system comprises at present about miles. short lines have also been built in burmah ( ); in the malay peninsula ( ), in sumatra ( ), and in cochin china ( ). a line from bangkok to bianghsen, in siam, is being projected at the present time. in africa, if we except its northern coast, the construction of railroads has only kept pace with the slow development of the resources of that continent. its european colonies are still but thinly inhabited, and their industrial and commercial life still resembles much that of the american colonies of the seventeenth century. there can be little doubt, however, that with the increasing immigration the growing demand for better transportation facilities will speedily be met by european capital. the first railroad upon african soil was built by the egyptian government from alexandria to cairo, and from there through the desert to suez. a part of this line, miles long, was opened to traffic in , and the remaining ninety miles the year following. nothing further was done until after ismail pasha ascended the throne, in . the railroad system of lower egypt, between alexandria in the west, cairo in the south, and ismaila in the east, was then greatly extended and the service materially improved. after the opening of the suez canal the line through the desert to suez was abandoned. the railroad system of egypt comprises at present about , miles, all of which belongs to the government except two short lines which are private property. the beginning of the railroad system of algiers dates back to , when the french government gave a charter to the companie des chemins de fer algérians, authorizing it to build a number of lines connecting the principal cities of the province with the mediterranean. the line from algiers to blidah, thirty-two miles long, was opened on september , . further construction was then delayed until , when the charter of the original company was transferred to the paris, lyons and mediterranean railroad company. the original plans were then in the main carried out, until the disturbances caused by the franco-prussian war again put an end to railroad enterprises. in three new companies were chartered and railroad building was resumed. in the algerian railroad system comprised , miles. the first road in tunis was built in from the city of tunis to bardo and gouletta by english capitalists. it was, in , sold to an italian company to which the italian government for political reasons had seen fit to guarantee certain dividends. other small lines have since been constructed, and more important ones have been prospected. the number of miles at present in operation is . the french colony on the senegal river has a number of short lines, of which the first was opened in july, . these lines aggregate at present about miles. it is now contemplated to extend this system to the upper niger. this would necessitate the construction of additional miles of road. the cape colony has the largest mileage of any of the european colonies in africa, the absence of navigable rivers rendering railroads here more necessary than elsewhere. the first line was opened on the th of february, . it then extended from cape town to earste river, but was extended to wellington the following year. the number of miles of road in operation in was , and in it had increased to , . all the roads of the colony, excepting a line of miles belonging to the cape copper mining company, are operated by the colonial government. their net revenue in was . per cent. of the capital actually invested. port natal built her first railroad in . it was only two miles long and extended from the city of durban to its harbor. since then several inland lines, aggregating over four hundred miles, have been constructed at a cost of twenty-two million dollars. the roads are operated by the colonial government and yielded in a net revenue of . per cent. on the capital expended. short lines have also been built on mauritius and reunion, and there is now every indication that portuguese africa and the congo state will be provided with railroad facilities in the near future. the introduction of railroads into australia dates back to the sixth decade of the present century. the total number of miles of road reported in by the several colonies was , . if we estimate the population of the continent at , , for that year it will be seen that australia has more miles of road per capita than any other grand division of the globe, save north america. new south wales, the mother colony of the australian continent, opened its first road on september , , between sydney and paramalta. this road was built by a private company, but was soon after its completion purchased by the colonial government, and was in extended to goulbourn. in the colony had only miles of road in operation. the mountains, however, which separated the wide plains of the interior from the coast had been surmounted, and the government commenced to push the construction of new roads with great vigor. at the end of the year new south wales had no less than , miles of road in operation, for which the colony had expended $ , , . the net revenue during that year was . per cent. on the capital invested. the total number of miles of railroad in this colony was , in . victoria, the smallest of the colonies, has made by far the greatest progress in railroad building. the first road in the colony, and, in fact, the first road upon the australian continent, was built in between the city of melbourne and its port, a distance of two and one-half miles. within the next five years four other lines were constructed, connecting melbourne with williamstown, st. kilda, brighton and echuca, respectively. in there were in the colony miles of railroad, which had increased to , miles in , and to , miles in . several of the roads were originally owned by private companies, but all of them were in time acquired by the colonial government, the last one in . the total capital invested in was $ , , , which yielded a net revenue of $ , , . all lines are under the control of a board so constituted as to be entirely removed from political influence. in south australia a short line was built in from the city of adelaide to port adelaide. another line was constructed in from adelaide to salisbury, which three years later was extended to kapunda. the colony had then forty miles of road. the increase during the next decade was only ninety-three miles. since then the development has been much more rapid, the whole system of railroads comprising , miles in . all the roads save a few suburban lines are owned and operated by the colony. their total cost is not far from $ , , , and their net annual revenue is about two and one-half per cent. of the capital invested. the colony of queensland has only a system of narrow-gauge roads, with the construction of which it commenced in . up to september, , the colonial government had constructed , miles of road at a total cost of $ , , . the total number of miles has since been increased to , . the net revenue of the roads was a little over one million dollars in . the transportation facilities of west australia are still far behind those of her sister colonies. the first line was opened in , and the total number of miles of road operated in the colony in was only . the government controls nearly all the railroads of the colony. of the islands of australasia, tasmania and new zealand are as yet the only ones that have railroad communication. the former built its first road in and had at the end of the year about , miles in operation. new zealand opened its first railroad between christchurch and lyttleton on december , . the development of the system was slow at first, there being but miles of road in operation in . in the number of miles of road had increased to , , all but miles being operated by the colonial government. the total amount expended by the government for railroads is $ , , . the net revenue in was about - / per cent of the amount invested. in south america railroad building is of comparatively recent date. the first road was built in , but the line was short and remained the only one for several years. with thirty million people the south american states have at present but little more than , miles of railroad, a condition which must at least in part be ascribed to the peculiar conservatism of the latin race. the united states of colombia possesses less than miles of road. its first line was the panama railroad, from colon to aspinwall. it connects the pacific with the atlantic ocean, is miles long and was constructed in . this, as well as the several other roads of colombia, is the property of private companies. a number of new roads have recently been surveyed. venezuela opened in a road, miles long, from puerto caballo to palito, which in was extended to aroa. a number of other short roads, aggregating about miles, have since been constructed. the total extent of railroad in venezuela was miles in , of which the greater part was operated by private companies. several important lines are in the process of construction, and will connect caracas with carabobo, san carlos and the port of la guayra. the republic of ecuador constructed in a road from jaguachi to puente de chimbo, a distance of miles. this line was recently extended to siambe, and has now a total length of miles. in a charter was granted to a north american company, authorizing the construction of a road from san lorenzo to esmeraldas and guaranteeing certain dividends on the investment. at the close of the year ecuador had miles of road. the first railroad in peru was built in , connecting the seaport callao with the capital, lima. after this but little was done for more than twenty years. at the beginning of the seventies an extensive railroad system was projected at the instigation of president don manuel pardo, and the construction of the principal road of the system from mollendo on the pacific ocean to santa rosa was at once entered upon. this road ascends the western cordillera, crosses a number of prodigious mountain passes, reaches lake titicaca, and then proceeds in a northwesterly direction to santa rosa. it is over miles long, and reaches near puna an altitude of , feet. an extension of this line from santa rosa to the old inca city cuzco was opened in , but was subsequently destroyed in the war with chile, and has not been reopened. another road, extending from callao to san mateo, was opened in . it is eighty-seven miles long, and reaches with its enormous grades a height of over , feet. it belongs, with the santa rosa road, to the boldest creations of railroad engineering. since the war with chile railroad enterprise has been checked. the number of miles of road in operation rose from in to , in , but was, owing to the abandonment of certain lines, diminished to in . since that time about miles of new road have been opened. in the republic of bolivia the first railroad was built about twenty years ago from antofogasta to solar. after the cession of the province of antofogasta to chile there remained but thirty-five miles of road in bolivia. more than miles have since been added by the construction of several short roads, chiefly the property of mining companies. the republic of chile was the first of the south american states to initiate the construction of railways. the building of a line from the seaport caldera to copiapo was commenced in may, , and was completed on january , . this line was constructed and operated by a private company. the first state road, extending from valparaiso to santiago, was opened on the th of september, . to this road has since been added an extension to talcahuana, as well as several branch lines. the total amount that has been expended by the chilean government for the construction of railroads is $ , , . the total number of miles of road operated in chile in was , , of which were the property of private companies and miles were owned by the state. two hundred and fifty miles of road have since been constructed, and the construction of additional miles of railroad has been authorized by the government. the argentine republic opened its first road, extending from buenos ayres to belgrano, in december, . several other lines soon followed, and in over miles of road had been constructed. this number had increased to , in and to , in . since then several new lines have been completed, aggregating over miles. among the principal lines of the argentine republic is the transcontinental road which connects the atlantic with the pacific ocean. the whole line is miles long, of which miles are in the argentine republic and the remaining miles in chile. of the , miles of road which were in operation at the beginning of the year the republic owned , , the province of buenos ayres , the province of santa fe , and private companies , miles. the total amount invested in railroads was $ , , in , which yielded an average dividend of . per cent. the oldest railroad in brazil is the petropolis road. it was built by a private company and opened on december , . in the total number of miles in operation was , , and in it had increased to , . furthermore charters had been granted for the additional construction of , miles of road. of the lines in operation about , miles are the property of the state, yielding a revenue of nearly per cent. on the capital invested. the state gives aid, besides, to several private roads. the most important road of brazil is the state road dom pedro i., which connects the three richest provinces of the country, rio de janeiro, minas gerals and sao paolo, with the national capital. it was opened in , and has a total extent of miles. the principal roads of uruguay were built between and . in the latter year the total number of miles in operation in uruguay was , which in had increased to , and in to miles. in the remaining political divisions of south america the railroad extended its dominion still more slowly. paraguay opened as early as a line miles long from asuncion to itangua, and in her railroad system had increased to miles in extent. british guiana completed in a line from georgetown to new amsterdam, but not one mile of railroad has been built in that colony since. of the islands of south america trinidad is the only one into which the railroad has been introduced. the island has at present miles of road, to in . central america has less than miles of railway. the causes which have retarded the development of the railroad system in south america are also operative here. of the five republics of central america costa rica has the largest number of miles of railroad, viz.: . it has three different lines, of which the limon and carillo line, seventy miles long, is the most important. this road, which connects with a new york line of steamers at limon, has greatly furthered the cultivation of bananas in the santa clara valley. nicaragua completed its first road in between corinto and chinandega, and has at present about miles of railway in operation. the nicaragua canal company is constructing a road from juan del norte to ochoa, a distance of thirty-two miles, to be used in the construction of the canal. honduras opened in its only line, thirty-seven miles long, between puerto caballo and san jago. in recent years an extension of nine miles has been added to it. san salvador has, besides a street-car line between the cities of san salvador and santa tecla, only one line of railroad between acajutla and armea, which was constructed with public funds and opened for traffic on july , . guatemala was the last of the central american states to introduce the railroad. its first road, seventy-four miles long, and extending from san jose on the pacific ocean to the capital, guatemala, was built by a san francisco company and opened on august , . the state has at the present time about miles of road, with several short but quite important lines under construction. the west indies have between , and , miles of railway, of which more than , are in cuba. the first road upon this island, miles long and extending from habana to guanajay, was opened as early as . the next ten years developed almost the whole of the railroad system of the western half of cuba. a number of important roads have since been opened in the central and eastern portions of the island, whose railroad mileage is at present larger per capita than that of any other political division of the western hemisphere save that of canada and the united states. the second of the west india islands to construct a railroad was jamaica. a line connecting kingston and spanishtown was opened on the st of november, . two branch lines have since been added, making the total number of miles of road on this island seventy-six at the present time. about twenty-five miles more are now in the process of construction. san domingo and hayti have also recently commenced to build railroads. in the former republic a line from sanchez to lavega, sixty-two and one-half miles long, is now open to traffic, and hayti is constructing a line from gonaives, on the western coast, to porte de paix, on the eastern coast of the island. the spanish government in also granted a charter for the construction of a railroad on the island of porto rica. of our neighbors on the north american continent, mexico and canada, the former has been by far the slower to avail herself of the advantages of railroad communication. the slow growth of the railroad system of mexico must be ascribed chiefly to the frequent political disturbances of the country as well as to the many topographical obstacles which presented themselves to the railroad engineer. the first mexican railway, excepting tramways, was the one which connects the capital with the city of vera cruz. it was constructed by an english company and was opened on the first day of january, . in the total number of miles of road in mexico was , and five years later somewhat less than . since then the development of the system has been much more rapid. in several companies were formed for the purpose of building a system of roads which would connect the mexican capital with the united states as well as with the most important harbors of the gulfs of mexico and california. the projectors of these lines, who were citizens of the united states, received the hearty coöperation of the mexican government, and the work was at once pushed very vigorously. at the end of the year more than , miles of new road were open for traffic, and a thousand miles more at the end of the following year. in mexico had , miles of road. the principal one of the newly constructed roads is the mexican central, which connects paso del norte with the city of mexico. this line will also, when its branches are completed, form a through route between the gulf of mexico and the pacific ocean. another scarcely less important through line north and south is the national mexican railway, which is miles long and connects laredo, on the rio grande, with the capital and the southern states. another line has recently been opened from torreon to durango. the number of miles of road at present in operation in the republic of mexico is about , , with a number of new lines rapidly nearing completion. the development of mexico's resources has, during the past decade, kept pace with the rapid expansion of its railroad system. in the dominion of canada about fifteen miles of railroad line were built as early as , but only forty-three miles was added during the next ten years. in there was still only miles of railroad in all of the british possessions in north america. at that time the construction of the grand trunk system was commenced, the first section of the system, portland-montreal, being opened in . after this railroads increased very rapidly in canada, reaching an extent of , miles in , , miles in , , miles in , and , miles in . the majority of canadian railroads are in the hands of private companies, some of which have been very materially aided by the government. one of the conditions upon which the union of the several british provinces, except newfoundland and prince edward island, was effected in , was the construction of a railroad by the dominion government connecting the provinces of ontario, quebec, nova scotia and new brunswick. this road, the main line of which extends from point levis, opposite quebec, to halifax, was accordingly built, and is still operated by the canadian government. its cost was about , , . but the most important enterprise in which the government is interested is the canadian pacific railway. like the intercolonial railway, this line was a result of the political union of the colonies. its construction was commenced by the government, but was subsequently assigned to a private corporation, the canadian pacific railway company, all that had been done by the government being turned over to the company as a gift. it is estimated that the direct gifts of money, the land grant and other privileges conferred by the dominion government upon the pacific railway company exceed $ , , in value, and that, with the amount of bonds and stock guaranteed by the government, the par value of its various aids amounts to $ , , , or $ , , more than the cost of the road, as will be shown by the following table, taken from the report of the interstate commerce committee of the senate of the fifty-first congress: subsidy granted by the act of parliament of february , $ , , seven hundred and fourteen miles of railroad constructed by the dominion government, original cost and interest , , capital stock guaranteed , , loan to the company authorized by parliament of , in part , , balance of above loan , bonds, interest guaranteed by the dominion for years at - / per cent , , land grant bonds , , subsidy of $ , a year, for years , , ------------ total $ , , total cost of road, according to the company's balance sheet of december, $ , , the dominion government owns and operates four railways, the cost of which up to june , , was $ , , . it has also granted to railroad companies cash subsidies which to june , , amounted to over $ , , . the total number of miles of railroad in canada was , in . the people of canada have, since the political union of the colonies, pursued an exceedingly liberal policy toward their railroads, but it appears that the great indulgence of the government only bred license in railroad circles. the evil increased from year to year, until the many complaints on the part of the public against railroad management caused parliament in to appoint a commission to examine into the alleged abuses and to report as to the advisability of the adoption of a general railroad law, and the appointment of a board of railroad commissioners. the committee reported to the governor-general of canada on the th of january, , and, acting upon its recommendation, parliament passed the railway act of may , . this act, containing paragraphs, provides for the complete regulation of railroad affairs, and for this purpose creates a board of railroad commissioners, consisting of the minister for railroads and canals, the minister of justice and two or more members of the privy council. the act also repeals all former railroad laws. though it has been in force less than five years, its beneficial effects are already extensively felt by the canadian public. chapter iii. history of railroads in the united states. in no country in the world has the growth of railroads been so rapid as in the united states. with a population less than one-fifth as large as that of europe this country has a larger number of miles of railroad than that continent. while european countries generally opposed the introduction of the new system of transportation, our people extended to it a hearty welcome. this difference of sentiment can easily be accounted for. at the time of the invention of railroads europe had a system of turnpikes and canals which, at least for the time being, answered every purpose. it became necessary for the railroads to enter into competition with these well-established agencies of transportation, which had the test of time, popular prejudice and governmental sanction in their favor. moreover, the railroad as a new and unknown quantity caused a feeling of uneasiness in all conservative circles. it seemed to make war against time-honored principles of statecraft and society, and threatened to bring about a revolution the outcome of which no one could foresee. the condition of things was entirely different in the united states. there were but few good roads and still fewer turnpikes and canals. a vast territory in the interior awaited cultivation. excepting the coast and a few cities situated on the large navigable rivers, the east and the west and the north and the south were practically without commercial relations, and were only held together by a community of political traditions and the artificial cement of a common constitution. even had the country had a system of turnpikes and canals, the mississippi river would still have been a forty days', and the extreme northwest a three months' journey distant from new york. it seems extremely doubtful whether the different sections of so large a realm, having so little community of commercial interests, could long be kept together under a republican system of government. the settlement of the central portion of the country and the development of its resources seemed to be the task of future centuries. the railroad under these circumstances made its appearance at a most opportune time for america, and the american people were not slow to make the best of the opportunities presented to them. in the united states, as in england, the railroad was preceded by the tram-road. the first tram-road in this country was opened in . it connected the granite quarries of quincy with the neponset river, and was operated by horsepower. the second road of this kind was the mauch chunk tramway, in pennsylvania, opened in , for the transportation of coal. the trains were drawn up an inclined plane by stationary engines and were moved down by their own weight. during the same year the delaware and hudson canal company opened the carbondale and homesdale tramway, connecting their mines with the delaware and hudson canal. it appears that an english locomotive was imported for use on this line in , but that it did not answer its purpose. during the same year was commenced the construction of the first line of importance in this country, the baltimore and ohio. the line was opened for traffic in , having then an extent of fourteen miles. in it was extended sixty-one miles, and the year following sixty-seven miles. for a year the road was operated by horsepower, but in the company purchased for its road an american locomotive. the first road upon which a locomotive engine of american manufacture was used was the south carolina railroad, which was commenced in . the engine was manufactured at west point and was placed upon the road in december of the same year. the line had then an extent of ten miles. in it had increased to sixty-two miles, and in to miles. the construction of the mohawk and hudson was commenced in august, , and the road was opened in september of the following year. its first locomotive engine was also imported from england, but, being found too heavy, was soon replaced by an american engine of half its weight. in two other new york roads were commenced, the saratoga and the new york and harlem. a small portion of the latter was opened during the same year, and the former in july, . the camden and amboy railroad in new jersey was likewise commenced in , but its completion was not reached till . the new castle and frenchtown railroad was completed in , the philadelphia and trenton in , and the new jersey in . in the washington branch of the baltimore and ohio was opened, and the entire line had at the end of that year attained an extent of miles. during the same year three massachusetts roads, connecting boston with providence, worcester and lowell respectively, were opened. in the new york central route was opened to utica. in the richmond, fredericksburg and potomac railroad was completed from richmond to fredericksburg. in the richmond and petersburg and the philadelphia, wilmington and baltimore railroads were opened. the wilmington and weldon railroad was completed in , and the petersburg and roanoke three years later. there was now a continuous line of railway from the potomac to wilmington, north carolina. in the whole line of the boston and albany road was completed, which thus became the first important through route in america. the construction of railroads in the united states was from the first carried on without a system. railroads in an early day were purely local affairs. each locality operated its own road in its own interest and without any supervision from the state which had granted its charter. acts of incorporation or charters were granted as a matter of course. railroads were looked upon as the natural feeders of canals, and their future importance was foreseen by very few men. the early roads were a heavy burden on the capital of the country. a number of small roads were built that proved unprofitable and had to be abandoned. after the financial panic of there was, except in new england, a very perceptible stagnation in railroad enterprise, which lasted until the discovery of gold in california, in . the average number of miles of road constructed per annum during the ten years preceding was , while it was nearly , per annum during the seven years following. it may be said that with the discovery of gold in the west ends the first or formative period of railroad construction. from the first opening of the baltimore and ohio to the beginning of the year , a period of eighteen years, there were constructed in the united states , miles of railroad, or an average of miles per annum. the discovery of gold on the pacific gave a new impetus to railroad construction throughout the country. railroads now ceased to be local works and became interstate or national thoroughfares. extensive new lines were built and through routes were formed by the coalition of local roads. it was during this period that railroad companies first became conscious of the importance of their mission and that they commenced to compete with river and canal carriers. in a through route was completed between cincinnati and lake erie. a more direct line, the cleveland, columbus and cincinnati road, was opened in . during the same year the erie railroad reached lake erie and connected the lake with the hudson, and a year later chicago received railroad connection with the east by the completion of the michigan central and michigan southern. in the chicago and rock island reached the mississippi river, and in the chicago and galena was opened. one year later the illinois central reached the mississippi at cairo, and the chicago, burlington and quincy railroad was opened to quincy. the ohio and mississippi, between cincinnati and st. louis, was completed at about the same time. the pittsburgh, fort wayne and chicago, an extension of the pennsylvania road, was completed to chicago in . at the beginning of the hannibal and st. joseph railroad reached the missouri river, and eight years later the cedar rapids and missouri was completed to the missouri at council bluffs. to encourage the extension of railroads into new and thinly settled territories, and to thus hasten their settlement and the development of their resources, the people of the united states began at the commencement of this period to favor the policy of land grants. such grants had repeatedly been made to roads and canals prior to the crisis of . the first railroad that received a land grant was the illinois central. the scheme was proposed as early as , but the act making the grant was not passed until september , . other grants followed in in missouri, in in arkansas, in in michigan, wisconsin, iowa, florida and louisiana. as a rule these lands were granted by the national government to the states, and by them to the railroads. the land grants made during president fillmore's administration amounted to eight million, and those made during pierce's administration to nineteen million acres. the financial crisis of and the war of the rebellion again checked railroad building, but this period developed a new phase of railroad enterprise as well as of the land grant policy. in those times of national trial a railroad to the pacific coast seemed a political necessity. the project of connecting the atlantic and pacific oceans by a line of railroads was first brought prominently before the american people by asa whitney of new york. at a meeting held under his auspices in philadelphia on the d day of december, , a movement was inaugurated for the purpose of interesting the people in this enterprise and securing the aid of the government for its accomplishment. various plans were urged, and earnest discussions followed, in which the ablest minds of the nation participated. the continual agitation of the subject finally led, on the st of july, , to the passage by congress of an act incorporating the union pacific railway company and the adoption of the central route. the union and the central pacific companies received a virtual money subsidy of $ , , and a land grant aggregating nearly twenty-three million acres, a domain almost equal to the state of indiana. other direct grants of territorial lands soon followed. the northern pacific received, just before the close of the war, a grant of forty-seven million acres of land. in the southwest public lands were also freely given to new pacific lines. the various grants made to railroads comprise no less than , square miles, equal to four and a half times the area of new england, or six times that of the state of new york, or equal to the total area of iowa, wisconsin, illinois, indiana, michigan and ohio. where these grants were not deemed sufficient inducement for the construction of roads, counties, cities and towns freely voted subsidies, while private citizens made donations to or subscribed for the securities of the new railroads. as has already been stated, the consolidation of connecting lines and their transformation into a few large through routes was one of the characteristic features of this period. as through traffic, and particularly through freight, grew in importance, it became more and more apparent that frequent transhipment was an expense to the railroads as well as a burden to the public. the system of railroad ownership and management soon adapted itself to the necessities of business. the change seems to have been inevitable, for it occurred in all parts of the world at about the same time. sagacious men early recognized the importance of railroads as national lines of communication. this idea no doubt controlled the projectors of the baltimore and ohio, of the erie, and of the boston and albany roads. the first consolidation of any importance took place in , when eleven different roads between albany and buffalo were united to form the new york central. five branch roads were added to the system between and . in cornelius vanderbilt secured control of the hudson river road, and in of the new york central, which lines he consolidated in . by gaining soon afterward control of the lake shore and michigan central and southern canadian roads, he united under one management over , miles of railroad between new york and chicago, and thus created the first through line between the east and the west. as has already been stated, the pennsylvania road gained control of the pittsburgh, fort wayne and chicago in and thus extended its system as far as chicago. through the absorption of other lines it reached an extent of over , miles. the creation of this through route was chiefly the work of thomas a. scott, at that time vice-president, and later president, of the pennsylvania railroad. in the baltimore and ohio, under the management of john w. garrett, extended its system to chicago, and became a competitor of the two older lines in the transportation of through freight. at about the same time two other parallel trunk lines were developed, the grand trunk on the north, and the erie, between the lake shore and pennsylvania lines. there were, therefore, in five rival trunk lines competing for the business between the west and the seaboard. during the same period large rival lines developed west of chicago and st. louis. from the former city radiate the st. paul and northwestern systems, each with from , to , miles; the atchison, topeka and santa fe with over , miles; then the rock island, the chicago, burlington and quincy, the illinois central, the chicago great-western, and the chicago and alton, their systems ranging from , to , miles in extent. from st. louis radiate the various branches of the missouri pacific and the closely allied wabash system, controlling together some , miles of road. this process of consolidation also went on in the southern states, though to a less extent. their systems do not run parallel, like the trunk lines, nor do they radiate from a common center, like the roads of the northwest, but they radiate from the principal ports of the atlantic and the gulf of mexico toward the interior. we now enter upon the third period of the history of american railroads, the period of combinations. during the time of great activity in railroad construction following the war of the rebellion many abuses in railroad management had been developed, which caused general complaint and led to what is known as the granger movement. laws were demanded, especially in the agricultural states of the west, which should regulate the rates, methods of operation, and the political relations of the railroads. the friends of this movement were successful in the political contests that followed, and granger legislatures were elected in the states of illinois, wisconsin, iowa and minnesota. laws were passed fixing the rates on different classes of roads and providing penalties for their violation. the companies contested these acts in the courts, but were defeated at every step, until in the supreme court of the united states sustained the constitutionality of the granger laws. in the meantime railroad managers tried their utmost to render, by shrewd manipulation, these laws obnoxious, and they finally succeeded in having them repealed or so amended as to render them largely ineffectual. it was the principal object of the granger movement to do away with the many discriminating tariffs which so injuriously affected local points. it is true, discriminations between individuals were practiced at business centers, but rates upon the whole were low at such points as compared with those which obtained at local stations. while the granger contest was still going on in the west, a new evil developed in the east, which became characteristic of the period and finally grew into one of the most intolerable abuses of railroad management. railroad men had gradually learned that it was in their power to maintain high rates at competitive as well as at non-competitive points, provided all the roads centering at such points could be induced to coöperate, or rather to conspire for that purpose. the final solution of the problem was, after some experimentation, found in the device to control the prices of transportation generally known as the pool. it is doubtful whether any contrivance connected with railroad management ever threatened to subvert long-established principles of the common law more completely than this. within a few years it extended its dominion over the whole country, exacting a heavy tribute from its commerce, until the people's patience finally became exhausted and their determined demand for railroad reform led to the enactment of the interstate commerce act in . when this act passed, dire results were predicted by nearly every railroad man in the country. prophecies were freely made that it would ruin half of the roads and seriously cripple and sadly interfere with the usefulness of the other half, that it would derange the business of the country, greatly depreciate all railroad securities and put an end to railroad construction. nearly seven years have passed since the adoption of the law, but not one of these prophecies has come to pass. there are at present probably less bankrupt roads in the united states than there have been at any time for twenty years, our business interests have been improved, the securities of honestly managed roads are in better repute than they were previous to the passage of the law, and the railroad mileage of the country is increasing at the rate of about , miles a year. if any branch of business has suffered in consequence of the enactment of the law, it is the branch monopolized by wall street. since , the time when the interstate commerce bill was first seriously agitated, the aggregate of railroad securities has increased nearly $ , , , , or about one-third. this certainly does not look as if capital had been seriously frightened by the interstate commerce act. there are other proofs of railroad prosperity. in the gross earnings of the railroads of the united states were $ , , , or . per cent. on their reported capital. in their gross earnings were $ , , , or . per cent. on the reported railroad capital. in the gross earnings had increased to $ , , , , and equaled . per cent. on the reported capital. this includes even the capitalization of new lines and others not reporting operations. mr. poor gives the reported cost of the lines actually operated as $ , , , , against $ , , , reported cost of all the railroads built. omitting from the computation the lines not reporting operations, the gross earnings of the roads actually operated equaled . per cent. and their net earnings per cent. on the actual cost of the lines which reported. the gross earnings for were $ , , , , and for the year ending june , , $ , , , . the gross earnings per mile have increased from $ , in , and $ , in , to $ , in , and $ , in . in the capitalization per mile of road was $ , and the net earnings per mile were $ , . in the capitalization per mile had decreased to $ , , while the net earnings per mile increased to $ , . the railroad mileage of the country has grown from , in to , in , to , in , and to , in . the railroad system of the united states has had a phenomenal growth, especially since , since which time nearly , miles of road, or more than two-thirds of the total mileage, have been constructed. the table below shows the number of miles of railroad constructed and in operation, by quinquennial periods from to the close of , inclusive: year. miles in operation. increase. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , it will be noticed that in the sixty years covered by the above table there are but two quinquennial periods which show a falling-off in the rate of growth, viz.: - and - . during the former period railroad construction was partially checked by the war of the rebellion, during the latter by the general financial depression following the panic of . the length of railroads in the world has grown from miles in to about , miles in . the following table shows the growth of railroad mileage by quinquennial periods: year. miles. , , , , , , , , , , , , from this table it is seen that the railroad mileage of the world has doubled during the past fifteen years, and that its average annual increase is at present not far from , miles. there is no doubt that the extent of railroad construction has everywhere exceeded all anticipations. so fast has the railroad system expanded in the most highly civilized countries that it soon outgrew in nearly all of them the laws originally adopted for railroad control. in time an almost universal demand arose for reform, and the most progressive governments were not slow in heeding it. for the past fifteen years there has been a decided drift on the european continent toward state ownership of railroads, or to such strict control of the transportation business as virtually deprives the operating companies of the power to do injustice to the public. the railroad is assuming more and more the character of an international highway. a movement is on foot to connect the railroad systems of the united states with those of south america by an intercontinental or "pan-american" railroad. appropriations have been made by the united states and several of the south american republics for a preliminary survey of the proposed line. three different surveying parties are in the field, one in central america and the other two in the united states of colombia and ecuador. the progress so far reported by them is encouraging, and there is now some hope that before the close of the nineteenth century one may be able to travel by railroad from new york to valparaiso without even a change of cars. it has also been proposed to span behring strait and connect north america with asia and europe by an international railway. this line, if constructed, would be simply an extension of the proposed pan-american railroad and would follow the western coast of the united states as far as behring strait, then cross over into asia, traverse siberia and finally reach london via st. petersburg, berlin and paris. it is very questionable whether such a line is at present feasible either from a technical or financial point of view, but the time will probably come when the railroad track will connect new york and london. chapter iv. monopoly in transportation. from time immemorial efforts have been made by designing men to control either commerce or its avenues, the highways on the land and on the sea, by a power which law, custom, ingenuity, artifice or some other agency had placed into their hands. the ancient phoenicians early aimed at and finally obtained the empire of the sea by making themselves masters of the most commodious harbors of the mediterranean sea and the arabian gulf. they established a regular intercourse with the countries bordering on the mediterranean as well as with india and the eastern coast of africa. from these latter countries they imported many valuable commodities which were not known to the people of other parts of the world, and during a long period they held this lucrative branch of commerce without a rival. the character and the situation of the phoenicians aided them greatly in acquiring this mastery of commerce. neither their manners and customs nor their institutions showed any marked national peculiarity; they had no unsocial prejudices and they mingled with the people of other countries without the least scruple or repugnance. as their native country was small and quite barren, they early learned to rely upon commerce as the best source of riches and power. like the other semitic tribes, the phoenicians were noted for their energy and acumen, and while they were not a literary people in the strict sense of the word, ancient civilization received probably a more powerful impetus through their commercial supremacy than through any other agency. during the reign of king solomon the jews made an attempt to wrest from the phoenicians at least a part of the world's trade. solomon built ships and imported phoenician sailors for his fleet. for a time it seemed as if the israelites might become the rivals of their teachers in the art of navigation and in the mysteries of trade; but their peculiar religious customs in that early day proved a serious impediment to commercial ascendancy, as it rendered them incapable of that unreserved intercourse with strangers so essential in commerce. the monopoly of the sea, at least of the mediterranean, passed to the carthaginians, their descendants. the latter extended their navigation toward the west and north. they planted colonies and opened new harbors, and up to the time of the punic wars kept almost the entire trade of the countries bordering on the mediterranean in their hands. after the downfall of carthage the control of the commerce of southern europe and northern africa descended to the romans. when rome became the capital of the world, it gathered the wealth and valuable productions of all its provinces. under the consuls and the earlier emperors the vigilance of the roman magistrates and the spirit of the roman government gave every possible security to commerce and prevented for a time the rise of monopoly. nowhere was national union so complete or commercial intercourse so perfect as in the roman empire. the intelligence and the power of rome stimulated and regulated the industry of her people and permitted them to enjoy the fruits of their efforts without public or private restrictions. we have seen that the intercourse of rome and her provinces was facilitated by the construction of roads and the establishment of imperial posts. during the decline of the empire the maintenance of these posts led, however, to a grave abuse. we are informed by gibbon in his "decline and fall of the roman empire": "but these beneficial establishments were accidentally connected with a pernicious and intolerable abuse. two or three hundred agents or messengers were employed, under the jurisdiction of the master of the offices, to announce the names of the annual consuls and the edicts or victories of the emperors. they insensibly assumed the license of reporting whatever they could observe of the conduct either of the magistrates or private citizens, and were soon considered as the eyes of the monarch and the scourge of the people. under the warm influence of a feeble reign they multiplied to the incredible number of ten thousand, disdained the mild though frequent admonitions of the laws, and exercised in the profitable management of the posts a rapacious and insolent oppression. these official spies, who regularly corresponded with the palace, were encouraged by favor and reward anxiously to watch the progress of every treasonable design, from the faint and latent symptoms of disaffection to the actual preparation of an open revolt. their careless or criminal violation of truth was covered by the consecrated mask of zeal; and they might securely aim their poisoned arrows at the breast either of the guilty or the innocent, who had provoked their resentment." after the downfall of the romans, commerce remained paralyzed during the period of gothic ignorance and barbarism. the crusades for the recovery of the holy land from the saracens, in the eleventh and following centuries, opened again communication between the east and the west by leading multitudes from every european country into asia; and though the object of these expeditions was conquest, and not commerce, their commercial effects were both beneficial and permanent. the crusades were especially favorable to the commercial pursuits of the italian states. the vast armies which marched from all parts of europe toward asia gave encouragement to the shipping of venice, genoa, and pisa, which sometimes transported them, and always supplied them with provisions and military stores. besides the immense sums which these states received on this account, they obtained commercial privileges of great consequence in the settlements which the crusaders made in the east. all the commodities which they imported or exported were exempted from every imposition, the property of entire suburbs in some of the maritime towns, and of large streets in others, was vested in them, and all questions arising among persons residing within their precincts, or who traded under their protection, were decided by their own laws and by judges of their own appointment. when the crusaders took constantinople, the venetians did not neglect to secure to themselves many advantages from that event. nearly all the branches of commerce were in time transferred from constantinople to their city. at the end of the crusade period venice had monopolized nearly all the foreign trade of europe. she supplied the people of italy, france and germany with those commodities with which the crusaders by their intercourse with more refined nations had become acquainted. the possession of many eastern ports and the maintenance of a powerful navy made it possible for the venetians to retain their monopoly for several centuries. the growth of commerce in central europe was but slow, owing to the dangers to which it was exposed in those days of feudalism. the mountain fastnesses of robber knights, which controlled every road and navigable river, were so many toll-gates at which the wayfaring merchant was stopped to pay tribute. in time this system of plunder grew to such an extent that hundreds of feudal lords relied upon it for their support. such a tax upon commerce greatly enhanced the value of all commodities, and this deplorable state of things lasted until the cities made their power felt by forming alliances for mutual protection. one of these alliances, the rhenish league, comprised in time seventy towns, and the ruins of the strong castles destroyed by its forces still exist along the rhine, picturesque memorials of these lawless times. perhaps the most powerful commercial union of the middle ages was the hanseatic league. to protect their commerce, the cities of hamburg and lubeck formed about the middle of the thirteenth century an alliance for mutual defense. the advantages derived from this union attracted other towns to the confederacy. in a short time about eighty of the largest cities lying between the baltic and the rhine joined this famous league, which in time became so formidable that its alliance was courted and its enmity was dreaded by the greatest monarchs. the league divided its territory into several districts. its members, like railway associations of the present day, made their own laws, and met for this purpose at regular intervals in the city of lubeck. the original object of the league, mutual assistance against outside attacks, was soon lost sight of, and its constantly growing power was used to obtain still greater commercial privileges in the adjoining countries, and even to force their rulers to concede to its members a commercial monopoly. in a controversy arose between the league and the king of denmark, which led to a long and bitter war between them. this war was participated in by no less than seventy-seven cities on the part of the league. it terminated in , leaving the hansa master of the situation. for many years after this the league exerted its power in denmark, sweden and norway, and the rulers of these countries were compelled to respect the wishes and even submit to the orders of these proud merchants. the countries bordering on the baltic sea remained the domain of the league for several centuries. they gathered there immense quantities of raw material, which they sold in the various ports of europe. the influence of the league even reached as far as novgorod in the east and london in the west. in both cities the league had its quarters, and within them it virtually exercised the right of sovereignty. its main market was at bruges in flanders, which was then a bee-hive of industry and thrift. there the italian traders came with the products of the east, such as spices, perfumes, oil, sugar, cotton and silk, to exchange them for the raw materials of the north. while taxes and imposts everywhere else harassed merchants, commerce was free in the cities of flanders, owing to the liberality, or rather shrewdness, of her rulers. in bruges the members of the hansa met the merchants of venice on equal terms, and the exchange of the products of the north for those of the east and south could be effected there to the greatest advantage of both. while it must be admitted that the hanseatic league developed the resources of northern europe, and that, even at the time of its greatest power, there was always competition among its own members, the fact remains that it abused its power by the suppression of all outside competition, and that it usurped rights which belong only to the state, thus often producing abuses as great as those which it was organized to remedy. its final downfall was caused by the development of national power in the northern kingdoms and the growth of commerce and navigation in great britain. a stubborn assertion of antiquated privileges on the part of the hansa involved it in a feud with the illustrious and lion-hearted queen elizabeth of england. in the queen caused sixty of their vessels to be captured on the tagus, and later even took possession of their hall and wharves in london. after this the league's decline was very rapid, though its organization was kept up till , when its delegates held their last session. contemporary with the decline of the hanseatic commerce in the north was that of the italian cities, especially venice, in the south. they had prospered by their commerce with the levant until vasco de gama discovered the sea route to east india in . his countrymen, the portuguese, soon utilized this discovery. they took possession of the coast of india and of the islands to the south of it. they also succeeded in excluding the arabs from the commerce with that country, of which up to that time they had had exclusive control. for this purpose they built fortresses and factories on the west coast of hindostan, took possession of the island of socotra in the arabian, and of ormus in the persian gulf, and forced the indian princes to grant them the exclusive privilege of trading with their subjects. they also captured the city of malacca, where the trade between china, japan, the philippine islands, the moluccas and india had concentrated itself. in this way they got in a comparatively short time control of the commerce of india, arabia, and even egypt. by forcing the venetians and their commercial allies out of those markets, they secured for themselves a monopoly of the commerce between europe and the east. the political ascendancy of the turks in the islands situated in, and in the countries bordering on, the eastern mediterranean, caused the loss of cyprus, crete (candia) and morea to the venetians and greatly aided the portuguese in establishing their commercial supremacy. less profitable for the latter was the possession of their american colonies. they, as well as the spaniards, adopted here a policy which ultimately brought commercial and industrial ruin upon both. entirely neglecting agriculture and relying on the mineral resources of their transatlantic colonies, which were believed to be inexhaustible, they strove to amass riches by reserving for themselves the exclusive privilege of supplying them with the manufactures of europe in exchange for american gold. neglecting home industries, they bought their supplies as well as those of their colonies in france, holland and england. a spirit of speculation and adventure enervated their people, and led in time to commercial bankruptcy and political disaster. spain also drained her treasury by her wars with her dutch dependencies, and the loss of her northern provinces was a serious blow to her commerce. antwerp, which had become the successor of bruges as the commercial emporium of the north, began to decline, and amsterdam, the metropolis of the new dutch republic, became heir to its glory and its riches. the young republic at once commenced to compete in the carrying trade with spain and portugal, and to make inroads into the eastern commerce of the latter. the dutch east india company, which was organized in , sent a fleet of fourteen vessels into the indian archipelago to found colonies in java, sumatra and the moluccas. in a short time they had monopolized the entire spice trade, which immediately became a source of great wealth. a cargo of five vessels, which returned to amsterdam in , consisted of over two million pounds of spices. this cargo was purchased for , florins and was sold for , , florins. it is under these circumstances not surprising that the dividends of the company's stockholders often amounted to per cent., and never went below - / per cent. previous to . holland's colonial trade made amsterdam the commercial metropolis of europe. it became the grain market from which spain, italy and other countries drew their supplies. all the products of the world found purchasers here, and a well-developed banking system greatly facilitated the exchange. the rapid accumulation of fortunes by the dutch merchants and bankers was without precedent in europe. besides this, the progress which holland made in ship-building and navigation and the advantages which she derived from her colonial trade placed her in a position to outstrip all other nations in the carrying trade of europe. during the first half of the seventeenth century the dutch were justly called the freighters of europe. but the injury which their policy did to the commercial and manufacturing interests of other european nations led both england and france to adopt measures well calculated to accomplish, in a short time, their commercial emancipation. louis xiv., in order to build up french shipping, collected a tonnage from every foreign ship which entered a french harbor. england went still further. in oliver cromwell promulgated the navigation act, by which foreign ships were prohibited from importing into england any goods except such as were produced or manufactured in their own countries. this was a heavy blow at the dutch, who were thus deprived of the privilege of effecting the exchange of commercial commodities between england and her colonies as well as the continent. the war which the dutch republic waged against england, to force her to revoke this act, resulted in favor of the latter and ended the commercial supremacy of the dutch in europe. england, which before this time had played but a secondary role as a commercial power, rose fast to prominence after her successful struggle with the dutch. she commenced to strengthen her industries by the adoption of a high tariff policy, and her merchants were encouraged to enter into commercial relations with colonists and foreigners. the privileges which had been given to foreign tradesmen were revoked, while ship-building and navigation were greatly favored by the government. as england gained greater strength as a naval power, her foreign policy became more aggressive. in the "company of merchants of london trading to the east indies" obtained a charter, and, in spite of dutch and portuguese opposition, soon gained a foothold on the moluccas and the coast of malabar, whence it extended in time its dominion to surat, bombay, madras and calcutta. here they built forts and established their commerce. from these places the company pushed into the interior, until finally, after repeated struggles with the natives and european rivals, the whole of hindostan came under english dominion. as its power increased, the company commenced to abuse shamefully the monopoly which it had been granted, by inaugurating a system of plunder and oppression which is perhaps without its equal in the annals of history. these growing abuses led to frequent revolts and seriously imperiled england's dominion in these territories. to remedy these evils, parliament at the close of the seventeenth century annulled the charter of the company and declared the commerce with the east indies open to all of the king's subjects. a number of small companies were formed, but in they all combined and organized the east india company. monopoly was again established, but the patience of the natives was exhausted, and england's interests in hindostan were in a critical condition. at this juncture the east india company adopted a policy of moderation, and this, together with the aid which the government gave to the company, enabled it to strengthen again its weakened commercial relations and to further enlarge its territory. but the temptation to abuse its power was too great for this strong corporation to be long resisted. abuses again crept into its management and continued to grow until its charter was finally repealed. the policy adopted by great britain for the government of her american colonies during the eighteenth century was less rapacious, but scarcely more just than that pursued in her eastern possessions. to retain those colonies as commercial no less than as political dependencies, parliament enacted laws compelling their people to trade with the mother country exclusively and laying restraint on their manufactures. but the american pioneers felt that they had brought with them across the ocean the rights of englishmen; they objected to taxation without representation, and the men who for opinion's sake had left comfortable homes to brave upon a distant shore the dangers of frontier life were prepared, if necessary, to emphasize their objection by armed resistance. england, intent upon maintaining her barbaric system of discriminative duties and commercial monopolies, blindly attempted coercion, but the war which resulted wrested from the english crown its brightest jewel, and the war of established upon american soil the principle of industrial and commercial liberty. it must not be supposed, however, that america and the united states in particular have been free from monopolies growing out of the transportation business. nothing would be farther from the truth. there is no law so stringent but that it will be violated; there is no government so vigilant but that it will at times be imposed upon. it is true, our government sanctions no monopoly, but the very liberty of action which exists here among corporations as well as individuals offers to organized wealth and power a wide field for abuses. we have seen in the foregoing that almost from time immemorial efforts have been made to monopolize transportation and trade, and that these efforts were successful whenever either from ignorance or weakness the masses fell into political apathy. there is a natural tendency among men to utilize commercial advantages to the detriment of others. in modern times the opportunities for building up large monopolies have greatly increased and have been turned to the most profitable account by designing men. great and even unbearable abuses have always followed where the greed and ambition of such men have not been checked by governmental agencies. in this respect the people of the united states have had about the same experience as the rest of mankind. ever since the introduction of railroads into this country there has been a well-marked drift toward monopolizing the transportation business. as long as the dangers of monopoly remained unknown to the american people, legislation for the control of railroads and other public carriers was both scarce and crude, and shrewd railroad men were not slow in taking advantage of the situation. it is foreign to the design of this treatise to give a complete history of railroad monopoly in the united states. the author will therefore confine himself to showing that transportation companies will, like the great commercial organizations of the past, when left to follow their instincts, invariably use their power to oppress the public by exacting excessive charges for their services, or to discriminate against the many by extending special privileges to the few. hundreds of cases might be given to illustrate the above rule, but a history of two of these corporations will suffice to show to what extent corporate abuses can be carried, and to serve as a warning against the adoption of any "_laissez faire_" policy in the railroad legislation of the future. the corporations selected for this purpose are the camden and amboy railroad and the standard oil companies, both typical representatives of the rob roy policy which organized wealth has pursued since the dawn of civilization, when not prevented by the wisdom and strength of a good government. the camden and amboy railroad company. for almost forty years the camden and amboy railroad was the only direct route between the cities of new york and philadelphia. it is doubtful whether previous to the war a more important or a more remunerative road existed in the united states, for, besides connecting the two largest cities in the union, it formed part of the direct land route from the east to the south. the efforts to open a direct through route between new york and philadelphia date back to the year , when the construction of a canal between the hudson and the delaware was proposed, but an ill-advised jealousy of the state of pennsylvania delayed for many years the realization of the project. when this obstacle was finally overcome, a change of sentiment had taken place in new jersey. railroads had just made their appearance in the united states, and a large number of the people of new jersey preferred a railroad to a canal. the matter was finally compromised in the legislature of new jersey, which on the th of february, , simultaneously granted charters to the delaware and raritan canal company and the camden and amboy transportation company, fixing the capital stock of each company at $ , , , with the right to increase it to $ , , . the charter further stipulated what taxes should be paid to the state, and also contained the provision that within five miles of the starting-point and within three miles of the terminus of each line no other railroad or canal should be built. it was believed the existence of both a water and a land route would be sufficient to maintain competition on this important thoroughfare of interstate traffic. the construction of the railroad, which had been surveyed in almost a straight line between its termini, was at once commenced. a number of well-to-do and practical men took hold of the enterprise, among them one john stevens, who together with his three sons took one-half of the capital stock. the canal project did not do so well at first. at the middle of the year only about one-twelfth of its capital stock had been sold, and there was great danger that the company might forfeit its charter, as the time allowed for the subscription of its stock was nearing its end. at this juncture robert field stockton, a young man of ability, enthusiasm and wealth, came to the rescue of the canal company. he not only bought for himself a goodly share of the canal stock, but also prevailed on his rich father-in-law, mr. john porter, to invest $ , in the enterprise. the financial difficulties of the company were thus removed. at the next session of the legislature mr. stockton secured an amendment to their charter which apparently only authorized the enlargement of the canal, but in reality empowered the canal company to construct a second railway. it was from the beginning mr. stockton's object to share with the railroad company the advantages which their line promised to give them. the enlargement of his company's franchise placed him in a position to dictate terms to the camden and amboy transportation company. the latter was given the choice, to prepare for competition with a rival railroad line, or to consolidate with the delaware and raritan canal company. it chose the latter alternative, and on the th day of february, , the two companies became one. the consolidation still required the sanction of the legislature. this was obtained in consideration of the transfer of , shares of the capital stock of the company to the state. it was further stipulated that the new company should pay to the state a tax of cents for each passenger and of cents for each ton of freight carried over its line through the state, as well as an annual tax of $ , , and that the state in return should protect the company against any and all competition in the direct passenger and freight traffic between the cities of new york and philadelphia. serious doubts were at the time entertained by many, whether the state of new jersey under the federal constitution possessed the right to thus create a monopoly in transportation facilities, and to regulate arbitrarily the commerce between sister states. five days after it had granted this charter to the camden and amboy company, the legislature granted another charter authorizing the construction of a railroad from jersey city to new brunswick on the raritan river. on the d of february of the same year a charter had been granted by the legislature of the state of pennsylvania to a company which had been formed for the purpose of constructing a railroad from philadelphia to trenton. this company had likewise been authorized by its charter to buy the right of way for a railroad from trenton to new york, which it proceeded at once to do. it was evident that as soon as the two new roads would meet at new brunswick, an understanding would be reached between them, by which another through line would be created between new york and philadelphia, which would have the advantage over the camden and amboy road that it touched the capital of new jersey and could thus make itself serviceable to members of the legislature, officers of state and influential politicians. the camden and amboy freight company soon arrived at the conclusion that it could not permit such rivalry. it appealed to the legislature for protection. resolutions were passed in its favor, but the philadelphia and trenton railroad company paid no attention to those resolutions, but quietly continued to lay its track. mr. stockton and his friends did not dare to invoke the aid of the courts, because a judicial investigation might have resulted in the destruction of their own charter. the situation was critical, but mr. stockton was equal to the occasion. he bought quietly a sufficient number of shares to control the management of the philadelphia and trenton road, and, in april, , secured the consolidation of the philadelphia and trenton and the camden and amboy railroad companies. the canal of the company was not completed until . it had consumed a sum of money largely in excess of the original estimate. to connect the two lines of the consolidated company, a branch road was constructed from trenton to bordentown. later the road from trenton to brunswick was completed and an agreement entered into with the jersey city company for a division of the traffic of the two roads. the large cost of these improvements suggested to the company the advisability of increasing its revenues and of decreasing its expenditures. its charter provided for a payment to the state of cents for each through passenger. by an artifice the company avoided the payment of this tax. it compelled its through passengers to walk over the bridge at trenton and then continue their journey by rail via bordentown to jersey city. the company's charter also stipulated, that the fare between new york and philadelphia should not exceed $ per passenger. its officers interpreted this stipulation to apply only to the intermediate traffic and proceeded to collect $ . for the trip from new york to trenton, and $ . from there to philadelphia, thus increasing the fare for the entire journey to $ . , one dollar above the maximum allowed by law. one jacob ridgway, who was the owner of a ferry-boat at camden, saw here an opportunity for starting a lucrative business. he bought a steamer and carried passengers from philadelphia to trenton for one-third of the fare demanded by the railroad. after the camden and amboy company had made several unsuccessful attempts to intimidate mr. ridgway and his force, one of which even brought mr. stockton in contact with the criminal courts, it purchased the boat with all terminal facilities at philadelphia and trenton. the attention of the legislature of new jersey was repeatedly called to the company's failure to comply with the provisions of its charter, but these appeals were on the whole of no avail. in , after a long discussion, a resolution was carried declaring the charge of $ for the through journey illegal, but the company entirely ignored this legislative reminder and continued its old tariff. the company's charter also reserved for the state the right to acquire the camden and amboy road under certain conditions upon the payment of a reasonable compensation. in , through mr. stockton's engineering, the constitution of new jersey was so amended as to practically deprive the state of the power to acquire the company's property. during the first few years of the existence of the camden and amboy transportation company its business was managed in the interest of its owners, but soon a few of its leading stockholders managed to turn its enormous profits into their own pockets. the stevens and stockton families, together with two other directors of the camden and amboy company, had come into possession of a line of steamers that plied on the raritan, between new brunswick and new york. the enterprise, in spite of its largely watered capital, had been made to pay dividends ranging from to per cent. its owners saw an opportunity for a larger field of usefulness and larger dividends. in a majority of the board of directors of the camden and amboy company proposed that the company rid itself of the responsibility connected with the transportation business and lease its railroad and canal. mr. stevens, as representative of the camden and amboy company, then negotiated with mr. stevens, the representative of the napoleon steamer company, and the negotiations soon resulted in an agreement between the two companies by which the latter leased the railroad and canal lines of the former and agreed to pay it a fixed toll of $ . per ton upon all freights carried by rail, and one-quarter of all its revenues derived from the canal. soon afterward the napoleon company entered into a similar contract with the camden ferry company and now had a complete monopoly of the transportation business between new york and philadelphia. it at once commenced to develop a system of organized plunder. instead of the maximum charter tariff of cents per ton per mile, it charged , , and even cents. the through rates charged were several times as high as those fixed by the charter. canal rates were raised to such an extent as to make them prohibitory and to compel the public to ship by rail. it is difficult even to estimate the total annual profits of the directorial syndicate. their accounts, if any were kept, were not accessible, and surmises can only be based upon such data as occasionally found their way to the public. in the share of the canal tolls paid to the company's stockholders was $ , . the directors' share under the terms of their lease is thus found not to have been less than $ , , . another item of $ , , tolls collected for the transportation of , tons of freight, was so divided that the camden ferry company, or its other self, the directorial syndicate, received $ , for one mile, while the camden and amboy railroad company received $ , , or less than twice as much, for ninety-two miles. the directors under their lease were entitled to the remaining $ , . the service of the company was as bad as it was expensive; its trains were slow and irregular, and its employes arrogant. the syndicate which controlled the company defied its stockholders, the public and the courts alike. when one of the stockholders, a trenton merchant by the name of hagar, applied to the courts for an order to compel the directors to produce their books and render an account, the syndicate bought mr. hagar's shares, for which he had paid $ a share, at the price of $ , a share. the suit was then withdrawn and the matter hushed up. in a number of articles appeared in a paper published at burlington, pa., which were signed by "a citizen of burlington" and contained much surprising information concerning the camden and amboy transportation company. it was charged that the directors had defrauded both the state and the company's stockholders of large sums of money, that they had grossly violated their charter by charging illegal and extortionate rates, oppressive to both commerce and travel. it was shown that while the average rate per ton per mile of thirty-five neighboring roads was . cents, that of the camden and amboy company was . cents. it was also shown that neither the stockholders nor the state had received the share of the company's revenues to which they were entitled. these articles were extensively reprinted and caused a great commotion wherever they appeared. after the first storm had subsided the directors issued an address to the people of new jersey, in which they bitterly complained of the people's loss of confidence in their integrity, and declared that the charges preferred against them were founded on falsehoods. the "citizen of burlington" replied by accusing the directors of defalcation and falsifying their books. he charged that from to no account had been rendered of the receipt of no less than $ , , , on which $ , was due to the state. as soon as the legislature convened, a resolution was introduced that a commission be appointed to investigate the charges preferred against the camden and amboy transportation company. the resolution was adopted, but it was virtually left to the accused to select the members of the commission. that the directors had a guilty conscience appeared from the fact that the last annual report of the company, which had just been printed, was withdrawn and destroyed. to silence their unknown accuser, they threatened him with criminal prosecution. he now gave his name. it was henry c. carey, the noted writer and authority on political economy. mr. carey did not give up the contest. he proceeded to show how the policy of the managers of the camden and amboy transportation company depressed commerce, manufactures and agriculture alike. he showed how the company as a public carrier discriminated in favor of industries which they carried on as private individuals. he claimed that the company had forfeited its charter, and that it was the duty of the state to authorize the construction of another road. in the meantime, early in , the legislative investigation committee submitted its report. it was perhaps as shameless a document as was ever placed before a legislative assembly. it lauded the directors, to whose influence the members of the commission owed their selection, and whitewashed their past management of the company's affairs. but the people of new jersey were far from being satisfied with this report and demanded the appointment of another committee. another investigation was ordered, and this time the company, or rather its directors, found it impossible to control the selection of its members. soon after their appointment the committee asked mr. carey to lend them his assistance in their labors, and he readily consented. during the summer of the members of the committee had occasion to go to bordentown, to inspect the company's books. from that time on a wonderful change seemed to have come over the committee. they found they could dispense with mr. carey's further services. what had previously appeared to them a ring of rapacious monopolists seemed now an association of worthy philanthropical gentlemen. in their report to the legislature they completely exonerated the company's managers. they admitted that the state had not been paid all that was due to it, but they asserted that this difference in the company's accounts was due solely to clerical errors, for which the management were in no wise responsible. the report was accepted, although not even the annexed testimony supported it, and thus the matter was dropped. this was a great victory for mr. stockton and his friends. it demonstrated the success of their methods of dealing with public servants. mr. carey repeated his charges, but the directors failed to prosecute him for libel as they had threatened. he asked that he be permitted to inspect the company's books, but was met with a peremptory refusal. public opinion was defied, and the old methods were continued. the extortionate and discriminating tariff of the only through route of new jersey affected seriously the agricultural as well as the commercial interests of that state. the camden and amboy monopoly kept the state of new jersey for many years far behind the new england states in railroad facilities. in new jersey had only one mile of railroad for every . square miles of territory, while the proportion of miles of railroad to square miles of territory for the same year was to . in connecticut, to . in rhode island, and to in massachusetts. at present new jersey has one mile of railroad to every . square miles, and therefore leads all the states in the union in density of railroad track. the question may be asked how the camden and amboy transportation company, or rather the syndicate which controlled it, contrived to maintain its power for so many years, to the great detriment of industry and commerce. the only answer that can be given is that the men for whom the maintenance of the monopoly was a source of great wealth were constantly using a part of this wealth for the corruption of those who were in a position to influence public opinion or to direct the policy of the state. prominent politicians were favored with passes, attorneys were retained by the company as local solicitors, corrupt and servile legislators were bribed by money or the promise of lucrative positions, and newspapers were given large subsidies. in addition to this public men were constantly made to realize the political power of the company, whose many employes had always been trained to do the bidding of their masters. if the opposition, in spite of this, was ever successful at legislative elections, the company's managers found it less expensive to gain the good will of a few members of the legislature after election than it would have been to gain the good will of their constituents before election. dissatisfied stockholders who threatened with judicial investigation were quietly bought out or impressed with the danger of inviting public discussion in regard to the validity of the company's charter, as it might lead to its annihilation. the good people of new jersey made several attempts to rid the state of the despotism of the company by making the question a political issue, but they were each time defeated through the lavish and scandalous expenditure of the company's money. the original charter of the camden and amboy railroad company was granted for a period of twenty years, and should have expired in , but its managers succeeded in having it extended to january , . in another extension was asked for, and after a long and bitter debate the company was again triumphant. an act was passed on the th of march, , making it illegal to build previous to the first day of january, , without the consent of the camden and amboy transportation company, a railroad in the state of new jersey for the transportation of passengers and freight between new york and philadelphia. at the end of this period even a third extension was granted, and the company, though after january , , under a new name, maintained its monopoly until it consolidated, in , with the pennsylvania railroad company. that the spirit of the past is still at work was shown by the recent act of the legislature of new jersey legalizing the consolidation of the coal roads. the coal barons found the legislature as servile as the managers of the camden and amboy railroad company had found them of yore, and their well-planned scheme would probably have been successful had it not been for governor abbot's courageous veto of the disgraceful act, and it is more than probable that they will yet succeed. they have, in fact, during the last year advanced the price of coal about one dollar per ton. the standard oil monopoly. the standard oil monopoly may be said to be the crowning monument of corporation conspiracy. it is, indeed, doubtful whether the combined brotherhoods of mediæval knights ever were guilty of such acts of plunder and oppression as the standard oil company and its railroad allies stand convicted of before the american people. the facts that have been unearthed by official investigations show a frightful prevalence of corporate lawlessness and official corruption, and there can be no doubt that, could certain high railroad dignitaries have been compelled to testify, and could the truth have been fathomed, it would have been found that not only the public, but railroad stockholders as well, were victimized by those transactions. the founder of the standard oil monopoly was some twenty years ago part owner of a petroleum refinery at cleveland, ohio. his fertile brain conceived the thought that with the coöperation of the railroad companies a few men of means could control the petroleum business of the united states. with this end in view he approached the managers of the new york central, the erie and the pennsylvania central railroad companies, and on january , , entered with them into a secret compact by which they agreed to coöperate with the south improvement company (an organization formed by that gentleman to aid in the accomplishment of his designs) to grant to said companies certain rebates and to secure it against loss or injury by competition. the south improvement company, in consideration of these favors, guaranteed to the railroad companies a fair division of its freights. the existence of this contract soon became known and caused a violent protest among the oil-producers. an indignation meeting was held and a committee was appointed to wait on the railroad managers and demand fair treatment for all. the railroad companies yielded and promised to give equal rates to all shippers and to grant to no person either rebates or any other advantage whatever. new rates were fixed for the transportation of both crude and refined oil, and it was agreed on the part of the railroad companies that at least ninety days' notice should be given of any change that might be made in the rates. steps were also taken to have the charter of the south improvement company canceled because it had been found that it was neither the owner of a refinery nor of an oil well, and could therefore not comply with the legal requirements concerning the organization of stock companies. while the south improvement company thus came to a sudden and rather inglorious end, its founders soon contrived other means to carry out their ingenious plans. they bought a refinery, reorganized by taking the prepossessing title of standard oil company, and were now prepared to resume their operations under the guise of legal authority. the railroad companies seemed to have relished their novel business connections, for, without paying the least attention to the agreement into which they had entered with the other producers and refiners of oil, they extended the privileges of the defunct south improvement company to its successors. the new company received secret rebates ranging from cents to $ . per barrel. the agreement also contained the stipulation that if lower rates should ever be granted to their competitors, an additional rebate should be given to the standard oil company. endowed with these privileges, the favored company proceeded to unite under its banner, by consolidation, purchase or lease, the leading refineries of cleveland. the effect of the discriminations practiced against independent refineries soon became apparent. in less than two years there were closed in pittsburgh twenty-one refineries, that represented an aggregate capital of $ , , and had given employment to over , people. a large number of the remaining refineries were forced to consolidate with the standard oil company. the next step toward the entire suppression of competition was an attack planned against the independent pipe lines. the standard had early secured control of the united pipe line. to exterminate competing lines, they again appealed to the railroad companies, and on the th day of september, , j. h. rutter, general freight agent of the new york central, issued a new oil tariff which discriminated greatly in favor of the oil brought by the united pipe line to the refineries. up to that time this company had done from to per cent. of the total business of the various pipe lines. within one year after the adoption of the new tariff it did fully per cent. of the entire business. this forced the independent lines either to sell out to the standard or to suspend business, for the latter's rebate was larger than their toll. the oil tariff of the pennsylvania central compelled the independent pittsburgh refiners to ship their refined oil over that company's line, if they would avail themselves of the rebate which it granted on the rates for the transportation of crude oil to pittsburgh. the evident purpose and the effect of such a tariff was to prohibit oil shipments over the baltimore and ohio. had this road made ever so reasonable a tariff, the combined charges for the transportation of the crude petroleum from the oil regions to pittsburgh by the pennsylvania central, and for that of the refined oil to the sea coast by the baltimore and ohio, would still have been prohibitive in competition with the special transit rates granted to the standard oil company. as a remedy it was proposed to organize a new pipe line, it being believed that the crude oil could be brought to pittsburgh by that line, refined there, shipped to the seaboard by the baltimore and ohio, and sold there at as good or even a better profit than the product of the standard, notwithstanding the favors received by the latter from the allied trunk lines. this movement resulted in the creation of the columbia conduit company, which at once proceeded to lay its pipes from the oil wells to pittsburgh. under the laws of the state of pennsylvania it became necessary for this company to obtain the permission of property-holders to lay the pipes through their lands. consent was everywhere readily given, and the pipes were laid without hindrance until the track of the pennsylvania railroad was reached, within a few miles of the pittsburgh refineries. this company peremptorily refused to let the pipes be laid under its track. the pipe line company after some delay contrived a way to obviate the difficulty. it laid its pipes on each side of the road as close to the track as it could without trespassing against the legal rights of the pennsylvania central, and then conveyed the oil from one side of the track to the other by means of large oil tanks on wheels, which could not be prevented from passing over the railroad track at the public crossing. after several months the railroad company allowed the pipes to be laid under its track, but it soon appeared that another combination had been effected to destroy the value of this concession. a railroad war had given the three trunk lines an opportunity to force the baltimore and ohio into the pool. a uniform rate of $ . was established for shipments of refined petroleum from any point to the seaboard. while this was in itself an unjust discrimination against pittsburgh, which is miles nearer tidewater than cleveland, the railroads in addition granted the standard secret rebates which enabled it to sell its oil on the coast for less than the sum of its first cost at the refineries and the open rate of transportation to the points of export. the independent refiners of pittsburgh found themselves again cut off from the market, but necessity soon made them discover another outlet. shipping their oil down the ohio river to huntington, w. va., they had it taken by the chesapeake and ohio railroad to richmond. in spite of the fact that this route was more than twice as long as the direct line from pittsburgh to the seaboard, and in spite of the further fact that it necessitated an expensive transfer, a rate equal to about two-thirds of the trunk line rate for the direct shipment proved remunerative to the chesapeake and ohio. the independent refiners kept up their competition for some time, but the great disadvantage of river travel and the insufficient export facilities of richmond finally forced them to give up the contest. until the year the standard oil company had worked hand in hand with the railroads. it had obtained all its privileges by asking for them and by holding out inducements to railroad managers to grant them. it now commenced to dictate terms to refractory railroad companies. the pennsylvania road ventured to carry oil not the property of the standard on terms which that company did not approve. the latter ordered the road to refuse to carry the product of their competitors. this the railroad company declined to do, and the standard at once withdrew its custom. the pennsylvania retaliated by carrying the oil of the independent refineries at merely nominal rates and even went so far as to make its rates dependent upon the profits realized by the shippers. a fierce freight war was thus precipitated, in which the erie and new york central supported the standard company. the pennsylvania road was soon forced to surrender and sign an ignominious treaty. the baltimore and ohio, which had again commenced to carry the product of those pittsburgh refineries which received their crude oil through the columbia conduit company, was in a similar manner forced to reject their freights. the pipe line, whose value was thus almost entirely destroyed, was soon after sold to the standard oil company. this company had now an almost complete monopoly of the oil business of the united states, and still it was not satisfied. it appears that some of the producers of crude oil had been in the habit of shipping a part of their product in spite of the advantages which the standard had through its rebates. to prevent even these shipments, or rather to exact another tribute from railroad stockholders, the american transfer company, one of the auxiliaries of the standard oil trust, in , demanded and received from the pennsylvania road a "commission" of cents a barrel on all shipments of petroleum _made by any_ shipper. it had been shown to the satisfaction of the pennsylvania railroad company that similar commissions, ranging from to cents a barrel, were being paid by the new york central and erie roads. when, in , an effort was made to establish a pipe line from the oil regions to the seaboard, nothing was left undone by the trunk lines to thwart the enterprise. the new company finally succeeded in making connection with a railway which had no part in the pool, and there was some hope that under this arrangement competition might at least be maintained at some points. the standard company again appealed to the trunk lines to protect it against injury by competition and obtained from them a special rate of cents per barrel, which rate was even reduced to cents per barrel two months later. against such a rate it was impossible to compete, and after a short struggle the new line found itself compelled to sell its works to the standard. to crown its monopoly, the standard oil company finally bought of the new york central and erie roads their terminal facilities for the transportation of oil, and thereby made it virtually impossible for them to transport oil for any of its few remaining competitors. mr. josiah lombard, part owner of the new york refinery, stated in before the investigating committee of the legislature of new york that in he had requested the erie company to transport for him cars of crude oil from carrollton to new york; that he had called upon mr. vilas, the general freight agent of the company, in person, but had never been able to obtain the cars, though the oil had been held in carrollton three or four months ready to be loaded. this gentleman also testified that he had found it impossible to obtain cars from the new york central, and that the company's general freight agent had informed him that the road did not own and could not furnish any oil cars. after the standard oil company had secured control of the various pipe lines of the oil regions, it frequently lowered the price of crude oil to such an extent as to make its production unprofitable. it even refused to buy oil, basing its refusal upon the ground that the railroad companies failed to furnish cars for its transportation. when the well-owners had their tanks filled, they had the choice to let the oil run away or to be at the expense of closing up their wells. in one instance, however, when their ruse threatened to cause a riot, several hundred cars were brought to the wells within a few hours. the standard oil trust, not satisfied with the monopoly of the wholesale trade, even tried in places to control the retail trade by peddling oil at private houses. this method of destroying competition was chiefly resorted to where independent dealers obtained their supply by a water route. that many of the deeds of the standard are dark is evident from the fact that its members, when summoned by the hepburn committee, declined to testify, lest their testimony be used to convict them of crime. officials of the trust have bribed or attempted to bribe employes of rival firms, for the purpose of ruining their business. by its peculiar methods the company has been successful in courts of justice and legislative halls, and has enjoyed an impunity for its conspiracy against the public that is without precedent in america. it has accumulated a capital of more than $ , , , and it is even claimed that for years its annual dividends have exceeded in amount the capital actually invested. this is not at all strange when it is considered that they have levied upon the producers, consumers and transporters alike. mr. cassat testified before the new york investigating committee that in eighteen months the railroads had paid the standard in rebates no less than $ , , . and the very payment of these enormous rebates enabled the standard to decrease the price of oil to the producer and to increase it to the consumer. it is claimed by the defenders of the standard monopoly that under the trust the price of petroleum has been constantly decreased to the consumer. that the price of kerosene is lower now than it was fifteen years ago is undoubtedly true, but the reductions were brought about not by the trust, but in spite of the trust. the price now maintained is an unnatural one. the standard oil company never lowered the price of its oil except when compelled to do so by competition. the largely increased output of crude oil, the improved methods of refining, the greatly lowered cost of transportation would have lowered the price of coal oil without the philanthropy of the standard oil company. iron, steel, calico, woolen goods and a thousand other commodities have within almost the same period suffered much larger reductions than coal oil. but even if the standard monopoly had voluntarily lowered the price of its products, the american people could never approve of its methods. they can never be made to believe that the end sanctifies the means, especially when those means are railroad favors, secret combinations, bribery, intimidation and lawless arrogance. many other interesting cases might be given. the southern pacific railway company, for instance, owns nearly all of the railways of california, and enjoys at the present time almost a complete monopoly of the transportation business of that state and much more of the pacific coast. perhaps no set of managers would be more considerate of the people's rights in the absence of legal restraint than those in charge of this company, yet there is not a business man on the pacific coast who comes in contact with this company who does not realize and feel the power of its iron hand, unless it be those who for various reasons are recipients of its special favors. it has become notorious that the legislature, board of railroad commissioners and some of the judges of the courts of that state are as servile to the demands of this railway company as are its own employes. the railway company is a closely organized body of shrewd, active men, while those who furnish business for it are not organized, and they will never be able to properly protect their own interests until they control the machinery of their state government. chapter v. railroad abuses. as has already been shown, railroad enterprise met with comparatively little opposition in the united states, for, as compared with the interests certain to be benefited by the introduction of the new mode of transportation, those likely to be injured by it were insignificant. it is true, the innate conservatism of man even here recorded its objections to the innovation. it viewed with distrust the new power which threatened to revolutionize well-established systems of transportation and time-honored customs and to force upon the people economic factors the exact nature and value of which could only be ascertained by practical tests. but the progressive portion of the community was so decidedly predominant that these protests were soon drowned in the general demand for improved facilities of transportation. the farmer who had to haul his produce a great distance to reach a market appreciated the advantages to be derived from the location of a railroad station nearer home. the manufacturer who heretofore had, had a very limited territory for the sale of his products well realized that he could with the aid of a railroad enlarge his territory and increase his output, and with it his profits. the pioneer merchant found that he could no longer compete with former rivals in adjoining towns, since the iron horse had reached them and lowered their freights, and he also became a convert to the new order of things and clamored loud for railroad facilities. railroads seemed the panacea for industrial and commercial ills, and every inducement was held out and every sacrifice made by communities to become participants of their blessings. so great was the estimate of the conveniences afforded by them and so strongly was public opinion prejudiced in their favor that it is no exaggeration to say that railroad companies as a rule were permitted to prepare their own charters, and that these charters almost invariably received legislative sanction. to such an extent was the public mind prepossessed in favor of railroads that any legislator who would have been instrumental in delaying the granting of a railroad charter for the purpose of perfecting it, to protect the people against possible abuses, would have been denounced as a short-sighted stickler and obstructor of public improvements. anxious for railroad facilities, the people were deaf to the warnings of history. their liberality knew no bounds. national, state and county aid was freely extended to new railroad enterprises. communities taxed themselves heavily for their benefit, and municipalities and individuals vied with each other in donating money, rights of way and station buildings. this was especially true of the west, whose undeveloped resources had most to gain by railroad extension. so large were the public and private donations in several of the western states that their value was equal to one-fifth of the total cost of all the roads constructed. to still more encourage promoters of railroad enterprises, general incorporation laws were passed which permitted companies to be formed and roads to be built practically without state supervision. in their admiration for the bright side of the picture, the people entirely overlooked the shady side. besides this, there was virtually an absence of all law regulating the operation of railroads. it was, under these circumstances, not strange that abuses early crept into railroad management which, long tolerated by the people and unchecked and even encouraged by public officers, finally assumed such proportions as to threaten the very foundation of free government. great discoveries that add rapidly to the wealth of a country tend to overthrow a settled condition of things, and organized capital and power, if not restrained by wholesome laws and public watchfulness, will ever take advantage of the unorganized masses. the people of those regions which the railroad stimulus had caused to be settled thrived for years so well upon a virgin soil that they gladly divided their surplus with the railroad companies. they looked upon the railroads as the source of their prosperity and upon railroad managers as high-minded philanthropists and public benefactors, with whom to quarrel would be an act of sordid ingratitude, and they paid but little attention to the means employed by them to exact an undue share of their earnings. railroad men did whatever they could to foster through their emissaries this misplaced adoration. they posed before the public as the rightful heirs of the laurels of watt and stephenson, insisting that their genius, capital and enterprise had built up vast cities and opened for settlement and civilization the boundless prairies of the west. these claims have been persistently repeated by railroad men, though they are so preposterous that they scarcely deserve refutation. the railroad, gradually developed by active minds of the past, and greatly improved by the inventions of hundreds of men in the humbler walks of life, is the common inheritance of all mankind, though no class of people have derived greater benefits from it than railroad constructors, managers and manipulators. railroad managers are no more entitled to the special gratitude of the public for dispensing railroad transportation at much more than remunerative rates than is the western union monopoly for maintaining among us an expensive and inefficient telegraph service. no one believes that the disbanding of the western union would leave us long without telegraphic communication. in like manner railroads will be built whenever and wherever they promise to be profitable. if one company does not take advantage of the opportunities offered, another will. that large cities have been built up by the railroads is true, but it is equally true that these cities by their commerce and manufactures administer to the prosperity of the railroads as much as the railroads administer to theirs. commercial centers in days gone by existed without railroads, but railroads could not long exist without the stimulating influence of these busy marts of trade. the same argument applies with still greater force to the agricultural sections of our country, especially the great northwest. the dry-goods merchant might as well boast of having clad the public as the railroad manager of having built up farming communities by selling to them transportation. and yet the american people have never ceased to be mindful of the conveniences afforded to them by this modern mode of transportation. on the contrary, they have been but too prone to credit railroad men with being benefactors, when they were but beneficiaries, and this liberality of spirit made them overlook, or at least tolerate, the abuses which grew proportionately with the wealth and power of the companies. the first railroad acts of england had contemplated to make the roads highways, like turnpikes and canals. these roads were established by the power of eminent domain. companies were empowered to build and maintain them and to reimburse themselves by the collection of fixed tolls. had the owners of the roads from the beginning been deprived of the privilege of becoming carriers over their own lines, the system might have so adjusted itself as to become entirely practicable; but as they were allowed to compete with other carriers in the transportation of passengers and merchandise, they were soon able to demonstrate, at least to the satisfaction of parliament, that the use of the track by different carriers was impracticable and unsafe. a number of circumstances combined to aid the railroad companies in their efforts to monopolize the trade on their lines. in the first place, when the early railroad charters were granted, but few persons had any conception of the enormous growth of commerce which was destined to follow everywhere the introduction of railways. the tolls as fixed in the charters soon yielded an income out of proportion to the cost of the construction and maintenance of the roads. their large margins of profit enabled the owners of the roads to transport goods at lower rates than other carriers and to thus compel the latter to abandon their business. another defect of the original charters worked greatly to the disadvantage of independent carriers. they contained no provision as to the use of terminal facilities. the railroad companies claimed that these facilities were not affected by the public franchise and were therefore their personal property. this placed independent carriers at a great disadvantage and made in itself competition on a large scale impossible. these carriers were thus at the mercy of the railroad companies for the transportation of their cars, and the companies never permitted their business to become lucrative enough to induce many to engage in it. it soon became apparent that under the charters granted to the railroad companies such competition as existed on turnpikes and canals was out of the question on their roads. in england the great abundance of water-ways exercised for many years a wholesome control over the rates of railway companies, until these companies, greatly annoyed by such restraint, absorbed many of the larger canals by purchase and made them tributary to their systems. these companies have also acquired complete control over many important harbors. in the united states the people depended from the beginning of the railroad era on free competition for the regulation of railroad charges. this desire to maintain free competition led to the adoption of general incorporation acts, it being quite generally believed that such competition as obtains between merchants, manufacturers and mechanics was possible among railroads and would, when allowed to be operative, regulate prices and prevent abuses. the remedy was applied freely throughout the country, but for once it did not prove successful. stephenson's saying, that where combination was possible competition was impossible, was here fully verified. the great ingenuity of the class of men usually engaged in railroad enterprises succeeded in thwarting this policy of commercial freedom. the opportunities for those in control of railroads to operate them in their own interest, regardless of the interests of their patrons or stockholders, were so great that men of a speculative turn of mind were attracted to this business, which indeed soon proved a most productive field for them. one road after another fell into the control of men who had learned rapidly the methods employed to make large fortunes in a short time. as the roads multiplied, transportation abuses increased. a considerable number of people early favored state control of railroads as the best means of regulating transportation, but a majority looked upon the existing abuses as being merely incidental to the formative period, and hoped that with a greater expansion of the railroad system they would correct themselves. and this doctrine was industriously disseminated by railroad managers and their allies. they lost no opportunity to impress upon the people that state regulation was an undue interference with private business and that such a policy would soon react against those who hoped to profit by it, inasmuch as it would prevent the building of new roads and would thus hinder, rather than aid, in bringing about the right solution of the railway question, viz., regulation by competition. they contended, in short, that state regulation would be destructive to railroads as well as to every other class of property. railroad sophistry for many years succeeded in preventing the masses from realizing that an increased supply of transportation does not necessarily lower its price, or, in other words, that railroad abuses do not necessarily correct themselves through the influence of competition. a large capital is required to build and maintain a railroad, which must necessarily be managed by a few persons. besides this, the construction of a railroad practically banishes at once from its field all other means of land transportation. the railroad has thus a practical monopoly within its territory, and its managers, if left to follow their instinct, will despotically control all the business tributary to it, with unlimited power to build up and tear down, to punish its enemies and to reward its friends. it is not true that state control checks railroad building. while it may prevent the construction of useless lines and discourage speculation, it will encourage the building of roads for which there is a legitimate demand. stockholders as a whole do not participate in the management of the roads and do not profit by railroad abuses, the origin of which may almost invariably be traced to selfish designs on the part of a few entrusted with the management of the property. where through wise legislation these abuses are prevented, the roads are managed in the interest of all the stockholders, develop business and enjoy lasting prosperity. it may be laid down as a general rule that the policy which best subserves the interests of the patrons of a road is always the best policy for its owners. injustice to a railroad will interfere with its usefulness; injustice to shippers depresses production and consumption; and in either case both the road and its patrons will suffer. state control is therefore as much needed in the interest of the owners of railroads as in the interest of their patrons. what should be the nature of such control will be discussed hereafter. a full understanding of the question at issue, however, makes necessary an inquiry into the various abuses which unrestrained railroad management of the past has developed. perhaps no better presentation of the evils and abuses of railroads and their consequences can be found than that contained in the report of the senate committee on interstate commerce, submitted by senator cullom, in . this report charges: . that local rates are unreasonably high, as compared with through rates. . that local and through rates are unreasonably high at non-competing points, either from the absence of competition or in consequence of pooling agreements that restrict its operation. . that rates are established without apparent regard to the actual cost of the service performed, and are based largely on "what the traffic will bear." . that unjustifiable discriminations are constantly made between individuals in the rates charged for like service under similar circumstances. . that improper discriminations are constantly made between articles of freight and branches of business of a like character, and between different quantities of the same class of freight. . that unreasonable discriminations are made between localities similarly situated. . that the effect of the prevailing policy of railroad management is, by an elaborate system of secret special rates, rebates, drawbacks and concessions, to foster monopoly, to enrich favored shippers, and to prevent free competition in many lines of trade in which the item of transportation is an important factor. . that such favoritism and secrecy introduce an element of uncertainty into legitimate business that greatly retards the development of our industries and commerce. . that the secret cutting of rates and the sudden fluctuations that constantly take place are demoralizing to all business except that of a purely speculative character, and frequently occasion great injustice and heavy losses. . that, in the absence of national and uniform legislation, the railroads are able by various devices to avoid their responsibility as carriers, especially on shipments over more than one road, or from one state to another, and that shippers find great difficulty in recovering damages for the loss of property or for injury therefor. . that railroads refuse to be bound by their own contracts, and arbitrarily collect large sums in the shape of overcharges in addition to the rates agreed upon at the time of shipment. . that railroads often refuse to recognize or to be responsible for the acts of dishonest agents acting under their authority. . that the common law fails to afford a remedy for such grievances, and that in cases of dispute the shipper is compelled to submit to the decision of the railroad manager or pool commissioner, or run the risk of incurring further losses by greater discriminations. . that the differences, in the classifications in use in various parts of the country, and sometimes for shipments over the same roads in different directions, are a fruitful source of misunderstandings, and are often made a means of extortion. . that a privileged class is created by the granting of passes, and that the cost of the passenger service is largely increased by the extent of this abuse. . that the capitalization and bonded indebtedness of the roads largely exceed the actual cost of their construction or their present value, and that unreasonable rates are charged in the effort to pay dividends on watered stock and interest on bonds improperly issued. . that railroad corporations have improperly engaged in lines of business entirely distinct from that of transportation, and that undue advantages have been afforded to business enterprises where railroad officials were interested. . that the management of the railroad business is extravagant and wasteful, and that a needless tax is imposed upon the shipping and traveling public by the necessary expenditure of large sums in the maintenance of a costly force of agents engaged in a reckless strife for competitive business. under the operation of the interstate commerce law some of these evils have, so far at least as interstate commerce is concerned, disappeared, and others have been considerably mitigated. it cannot be expected, however, that a bad system of railroad management, to the development of which the ingenuity of railroad managers has contributed for two generations, could be entirely reformed in a few years. it is a comparatively easy task for shrewd and unscrupulous men, assisted by able counsel and unlimited wealth, to evade the spirit of the law and to obey its letter, or to violate even both its letter and spirit, and escape punishment by making it impossible for the state to obtain proof of their guilt. it is a humiliating spectacle to see the self-debased railroad officials confessing their own guilt by refusing to testify before the interstate commerce commission on the ground that they would thereby criminate themselves. congress should have sufficient respect for this commission and for itself to provide a way to punish such recusant witnesses who are willing to degrade themselves in so base a manner. whether the law will eventually be respected by all depends upon the vigilance and courage of the people. that our railroad legislation is not yet perfect even its friends will admit; and as under a free government the demand of an enlightened public opinion is the first step toward the enactment of a law, it behooves the intelligent citizen to study the various railroad problems and to then exert his influence toward bringing about such a solution of them as justice and wisdom demand. in discussing the various evils of railroad management, the author will commence with and dwell more particularly upon those abuses which maybe said to be the cardinal ones, viz., discrimination, extortion, combinations and stock and bond inflation. when these are once effectually eradicated, other abuses of railroad management which have been the subject of public complaint will not long survive them. one of the strongest arguments that could be adduced by the founders of the american constitution in favor of the establishment of a more perfect union was that the inequality of taxes placed upon commerce by the various states was a serious obstacle to its free development. much as the individual states dislike to give up a part of their sovereignty to a central or national power, the demand for a common and uniform system of commercial taxation was so great that they were forced to yield and ratify the new constitution. our forefathers thus considered it a dangerous policy to permit a single state to lay any imposts upon the commercial commodities which passed over its borders. they were rightly of the opinion that industrial and commercial liberty was as essential to the welfare of the nation as political freedom and that therefore interstate commerce should not be hemmed in or controlled within state lines, but that the power to regulate it should be lodged in the supreme legislative authority of the nation, the congress of the united states. for over half a century congress alone exercised the power thus conferred upon it by the people. after the introduction of railroads, however, their managers gradually assumed the right to regulate the commerce of the country in their own interest through the adoption of arbitrary freight tariffs. freight charges are practically a tax which follows the commodity from the producer to the consumer. an arbitrary and unjust charge is therefore an arbitrary and unjust tax imposed upon the public without its consent. it is a well-established rule of society that laws should be equitable and just to all citizens. congress never assumed the role of providence by attempting to equalize those differences among individuals which superior intellect, greater industry and a thousand other uncontrollable forces have ever created and will ever create. it has been reserved to railroad managers to demonstrate to the public that a power has been allowed to grow up which has assumed the right to counteract the dispensations of providence, to enrich the slothful, to impoverish the industrious, to curtail the profits of remunerative industries and revive by bounties those languishing for want of vitality, to humble proud and self-reliant marts of trade and to build up cities in the desert. it will scarcely be claimed even by railroad managers that their policy of thus arbitrarily regulating commerce originated in philanthropic motives. they are forced to admit that it grew out of an attempt to increase the income of railroads by the extension of favors to naturally weak enterprises and to recoup by overtaxing stronger ones. the practical operation of this system soon showed to railroad managers their power and to the patrons of railroads their dependence upon those who dispensed railroad favors. the former soon discovered that their power might be used to further their private interests as well as those of the roads, and unscrupulous patrons were not slow to offer considerations for favors which they coveted. when such favors were once granted by the officials of one road, rival roads would grant similar ones in self-protection. thus this vicious system grew until the payment of a regular tariff rate was rather the exception than the rule, and special rates became an indispensable condition of success in business. we may distinguish three classes of railroad discriminations, viz.: . those which affect certain individuals. . those which affect certain localities. . those which affect certain branches of business. discrimination between individuals is the most objectionable, because it is the most demoralizing of all. where such discrimination obtains, every shipper is in the power of the railroad corporation. it makes of independent citizens of a free country fawning parasites and obsequious sycophants who accept favors from railroad managers and in return do their bidding, however humiliating this may be. the shipper, realizing that the manager's displeasure or good will toward him finds practical expression in his daily freight bills, finally loses, like the serf, all self-esteem in his efforts to propitiate an overbearing master. he is intimidated to such an extent that he never speaks openly of existing abuses, lest he lose the special rates which have been given him, or, if he is not a participant of such privileges, lest additional favors be given to his rivals and they be thus enabled to crush him. intimidation of shippers prevailed to such an extent previous to the enactment of the interstate commerce law that when, in , the special committee on railroads appointed by the legislature of new york invited all persons having grievances against railroads to come before them to testify, not one shipper testified voluntarily. on the contrary, they all insisted upon being subpoenaed, hoping that the railroad managers would not hold them responsible for any statement which they might be compelled to make under such circumstances. the report of that committee stated that the number of special contracts in force within the period of one year on the new york central and hudson river railroad alone was estimated by the railroad people at , . mr. depew, when he made the statement: "in territories comparatively new, and with little responsibility on the part of the managers to distant owners, they became in many cases very arbitrary and exercised favoritism and discriminations, which led to popular indignation and legislation," had probably not heard of this. the committee's report further stated that these special rates conformed to no system and varied without rule, that every application for a special rate was judged by itself and with reference to its own peculiar circumstances, and that it depended upon the judgment, or rather caprice, of the officer to whom the application was made, whether and to what extent a special rate should be granted. the reductions made to privileged merchants often amounted to more than what would be a fair profit to the dealer on the commodities shipped. the privileged dealer was thus enabled to undersell his rivals and eventually force them out of business or into bankruptcy. it was not at all uncommon for railroad companies to allow discounts amounting to , , and even per cent. of the regular rates. the new york central gave a utica dry-goods merchant a special rate of cents while the regular rate was cents on first-class freights. the lowest special rate granted at syracuse was as low as per cent. of the regular tariff rate on first-class goods. david dows & company and jesse hoyt & company, by means of a grain rate from - / to cents lower than those given to other firms, were enabled to control in the winter of the grain trade of new york. the railroad even extended its fostering aid to a. t. stewart & co., giving them a special rate "to build up and develop their business." the testimony given by mr. goodman, assistant general freight agent of the new york central, in reference to the principle by which he was guided in granting special rates, is of sufficient interest to be given a place here: question. you made the rate for a. t. stewart & company? answer. yes, sir. q. was that to build up and develop their business? a. yes, sir. q. that was the object? a. that was one of the objects. q. january th, ? a. yes, sir. q. you thought that business was not yet sufficiently built up and developed? a. no, sir; not the manufacturing part of it. q. how long had the factories of a. t. stewart & company been in existence? a. the one at duchess junction about three years, i think; it isn't completed yet. q. and they were languishing and suffering? a. to a great extent; yes, sir. q. and you acted as a fostering mother to a. t. stewart & company to build it up? a. yes, sir; i added my mite to develop their traffic; we wanted to carry the freight; boats might have carried it in the summer. q. do you know anything of g. c. buell & company? a. yes, sir. q. you wanted to develop their business? a. yes, sir; they are at rochester--wholesale dealers. q. do you know h. s. ballou, of rochester? a. i do not. q. he seems to be a grocer there? a. a small concern, perhaps. q. small concerns are not worth developing, according to your opinion? a. our tariff rates are low enough for them at rochester. q. that is to say, a small concern ought to pay , , and , as against a large concern, ; that is your rule? a. well, if he is a grocer, most of his business is fourth-class freight. q. and he ought to pay , as against ? a. yes, sir. q. that small man has no right to develop? a. he has the same chance that the other man has. q. at against ? a. oh, yes. q. do you call that the same chance? a. about the same chance, yes, sir. q. you consider it the same chance? a. yes, sir. many reasons were assigned by railroad men in justification of their practices. it was claimed that special rates were given to regular shippers, but it has been proved that not all regular shippers had special rates, and that persons who made only single shipments were often fortunate enough to obtain special favors. it was further claimed that special rates were given to those who, starting out new in business or developing new enterprises, needed aid and encouragement. but it was shown on the other hand that the aid and encouragement thus given to some bankrupted others, and in the end deprived the companies of more business than their policy of discrimination brought them. railroad managers also argued that they could afford to make lower rates on large shipments than on small ones for the same reasons that the wholesale merchant can sell his goods for less than the retailer. but while this may be a good reason why rates on car-load shipments should be lower than rates on shipments in less than car-load lots, it is certainly no good reason why five car-loads belonging to one shipper should be transported the same distance for less than five carloads belonging to five shippers. in the case of local shipments the car is scarcely ever loaded to its full capacity; one shipment after another is taken from it as the train moves along, and the car perhaps reaches its final destination nearly, if not entirely, empty. the terminal charges are here also largely increased, and it is but just that the shipper should pay the additional cost of carrying and handling the goods. the case is entirely different when the railroad company carries five full carloads from one station of its line to another. whether they have been loaded by one or five persons, whether they are consigned to one or five persons, matters little to the railroad company. it merely transports the cars, and in either case its responsibility and its services are the same. the car-load must therefore be accepted and is now generally accepted by the best railroad men as the unit of wholesale shipments, and any discrimination made in favor of large wholesale shippers is arbitrary and unjust. in the shipment of some commodities, such as wheat, flour and coal, a small advantage in rates is sufficient to enable the favored shipper to "freeze out" all competitors. it is certainly not to the interest of any railroad company to pursue such a policy; for by driving small establishments out of the business it encourages monopoly, which almost invariably enhances prices and decreases consumption. the railroad thus suffers in common with the public the consequences of its short-sighted policy. that even railroad managers realize that these practices cannot be defended upon any principle of justice or equity is apparent from the fact that one of the never-varying conditions of special rates is that they be kept secret. a specimen of a special rate agreement which was placed before the new york investigating committee is here presented to the reader: "this agreement, made and entered into this eighteenth day of march, , by and between the new york central and hudson river railroad company, party of the first part, and schoellkopf & mathews, of the city of buffalo, n.y., party of the second part: "witnesseth, that said party of the first part hath promised and agreed, and by these presents does promise and agree to transport wheat from the elevator in buffalo, reached directly by said first party's tracks, except at such mills as time said tracks may be obstructed by snow or ice, to the which said second party may erect or operate at niagara falls, n. y., at and for the rate of one and a quarter cents per bushel. "and further, that said first party shall and will at all times give, grant and allow to said second parties as low rate of transportation on all property shipped by them from their said mills at niagara falls, and as favorable facilities and accommodation in all respects as are afforded by the party of the first part to the millers of buffalo and black rock. and also that the said party of the first part will transport for said second party all of their east-bound new york freight at and for the price or rate of forty-seven per cent. of the current all-rail through rates, via the route of party of the first part, from chicago to new york, at the times of shipment, adding thereto three cents per barrel for flour and one and one-half cents per hundred pounds for mill feed or grain, as a terminal charge, to provide for the incidental expenses attending local transportation. "and will transport their freight to boston and all points in new england, taking boston rates at the same rate as to new york, with ten cents per barrel added for flour and five cents per hundred pounds added for mill feed or grain. "provided, however, and this agreement is made upon the express understanding and consideration, that said second party shall regard and treat this agreement as confidential, and will use all reasonable precaution to keep the same secret. "and upon condition also that said second party shall ship by the first party's road all the product from their mill at niagara falls destined to all points in new york, pennsylvania and new england, reached by said first party, directly or by connections with other routes. "and this agreement shall be and remain in force for the term of five years from and following the first day of september, , after which period it may be terminated by sixty days' written notice from either party. "in witness whereof, the parties hereto have signed these presents the day and year first above written. "n. y. c. & h. r. r. r. co., by j. h. rutler, general traffic manager. schoellkopf & mathews." it will be noticed that this agreement was based upon the expressed condition that schoellkopf & mathews treat it as "confidential," and use all reasonable precaution to keep it secret. it is difficult to account for this strong injunction of secrecy except upon the assumption that the managers of the road, conscious of the great wrong which they inflicted upon the body of the people by their discriminations, hoped to escape public criticism by adopting a policy of secret dealing. much as special rates were sought after, but few shippers to whom they had been granted were contented with their lot, for none was confident that his rivals did not have better rates than himself. discriminations between localities had their origin in the natural desire of competing roads to increase their business at the expense of their rivals. when two or more railroads touched the same point each would attempt to secure the largest possible share of the through business by holding out every possible inducement in rates to the shippers of that place. indeed, the freight rates at competitive points were often so low that railroad managers found themselves placed in a rather unpleasant dilemma. they either had to admit that the rates charged by them at non-competitive places were exorbitant or that they were carrying the freights of competitive points at a loss and were thus squandering the money of their stockholders. they preferred as a rule to admit that they were doing competitive business at a loss, but asserted that, inasmuch as they were compelled to run their trains, they could better afford to do competitive business temporarily at a loss than not to do it at all. the same logic might with equal propriety be employed by the grocer. to draw to him distant customers, he might offer to sell to them at cost or even at a loss; and then, to recuperate, he might advance the prices of his goods for his regular customers. if there is any difference between the grocer and the railroad company, it lies in the fact that the former's old customers would soon find relief at a rival store, while the patrons of the railroad at non-competitive points are like the traveler in the hands of a highwayman, without immediate redress. the railway company which discriminates between competitive and non-competitive points forgets that its line is a common highway for all points tributary to it; that all have equal rights, and that the only differences in tariff which the principles of the common law permit are those which arise from a difference of service and cost. all other differences that railroad companies may make are unjust discriminations in violation of their charter and expose them to a forfeiture of the franchises conferred upon them. the nature and extent of the discrimination practiced between different places are often such that no interest of the company can possibly be subserved by them, and the conclusion is forced upon us that the advantages granted by railroad managers to certain places are designed to serve chiefly personal and selfish interests. the great fortunes amassed in a brief period of time by railroad managers can in almost every case be traced to stock, real estate, commercial and other speculations directly or indirectly connected with railroad construction or management. and where other than personal interest cannot be shown, this is the only basis upon which the many apparent absurdities of railroad discrimination can be harmonized. it is claimed by railroad men that transportation by water is a regulator of railway rates which they must respect. it is contended, for instance, that, although the cities situated on our large lakes enjoy superior commercial advantages which are mainly due to their having at their disposal water communication with the atlantic ocean, inland towns have no cause to complain against the railroads for not equalizing those differences which nature has largely created. it might be more difficult to meet this argument if, owing to peculiar combinations, these water rates were not made to extend their influence to almost every inland city north, east and south in the union, and if those cities were not given much lower rates than hundreds of places much nearer the lakes. the teamster who, half a century ago, found it impossible to compete with the canal, river or lake boats, simply surrendered the field to them and confined his operations to such a territory as could give him assurance of a profitable business. let the railroads do likewise. no company has a right to destroy a rival route, water or rail, by adopting special tariffs for competing points. there are at points accessible to water transportation certain freights requiring speedy carriage which will go to the railroads at profitable rates, but the heavier freights, as coal, lumber and even certain kinds of grain, should go to the carrier by water if he can afford to transport them at lower cost. there have been but few legislative investigations of railroad abuses in this country, but the disclosures which they have made to the public are astounding. the most noteworthy of these were made by the hepburn committee, of new york, to which reference has already been made. it is difficult to understand how a free and enlightened community could so long and so patiently bear railroad despotism. individual discrimination might, under the veil of secrecy, long escape notice, but that a system of open and widespread discrimination affecting every non-competitive and even many a competitive point in the state, doing visible and irreparable injury to thousands of shippers, and infringing upon the rights of millions, should long be borne by a free and enlightened people, is a strange phenomenon of democratic endurance. it would lead us too far from our subject to review in detail the many and glaring instances of local discrimination which the report enumerates. a few will suffice to show their scope and nature. william w. mack, of rochester, a manufacturer of edged tools, testified that, in order to save fourteen cents per hundredweight on his freights to cincinnati, he shipped his goods to new york and had them shipped from there to their destination, via rochester; and that he availed himself of the same roundabout route for his st. louis shipments, and saved thereby eighteen cents per hundredweight. in both of these cases the railroad company carried the goods miles farther than the direct distance for a less charge. port jervis millers had their grain shipped from the west to newburgh, a point fifty miles to the east of them, and then had it returned to port jervis on the same line, at a less rate than that charged for a direct shipment. the grain rates from chicago to pittsburgh were cents per hundred in march, , and only cents from chicago to new york. flour was carried from milwaukee to new york for cents, while the rate from rochester to new york was cents at the same time. it was also carried from east st. louis to troy at the same rate as from rochester to troy. the rate on butter from st. lawrence county, n.y., to boston, over the ogdensburg and lake champlain and vermont central, was cents per hundred; from the nearer county of franklin, cents; it then continued to increase as the distance decreased, until it reached cents at st. albans, vermont. soap shipped by babbit & co., of new york, to crouse & co., of syracuse, paid cents per box when the freight was paid in syracuse, but cents per box when paid by the shipper in new york. it cannot even be said that new york fared worse than any of her sister states. there is hardly a business man in any community in the united states who cannot cite many cases of similar discrimination. hundreds of well authenticated cases have been reported from every part of the country. a few striking ones may be given space here: the illinois central company hauled cotton from memphis to new orleans, a distance of miles, at $ . a bale, while the rate from winona, miss., to new orleans, about two-thirds of the distance, was $ . a bale. the same company charged for fourth-class freight from chicago to kankakee, a distance of miles, cents per hundred, and only cents to mattoon, miles farther. the rate from new york to ogden was $ . per hundred, and only $ . per hundred from new york to san francisco. the car-load rate on the northern pacific was $ from new york to portland and just twice as much to a number of points from to miles east of portland. the chicago, burlington and quincy hauled stock from points beyond the missouri river to chicago for $ per car-load, while it exacted $ per car in southwestern iowa for a much shorter haul. to what extent local discrimination has been carried by railroad companies is well illustrated by the following incident: a nurseryman residing at atlantic, iowa, a station on the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad, miles east of council bluffs, bought a car-load of grapevines at fredonia, new york. finding that the through rate from fredonia to council bluffs, plus the local rate from the latter place to atlantic, was less than the rate for the direct shipment from fredonia to atlantic, he caused the car to be consigned to council bluffs, intending to have it thence hauled back to atlantic. being short of stock at the time the train containing his car passed through his town on its way to council bluffs, the consignee prevailed upon the station agent to set out his car. in due time he received a request from the general office of the railroad to pay an amount equal to the rate per car-load from council bluffs to atlantic. the request was promptly complied with by the appreciative nurseryman, who after all had been saved an annoying delay by the courtesy of the company's agent. an infinite number of similar discriminations might be cited. they all show the same violation of the fundamental principles of justice and equity, the same despotical assertion of the power of the railroads to regulate the commerce of the country as the caprice or selfish interests of their managers might direct. discriminations between commodities, or, as they might also be called, discriminations in classification, are probably the most common of unjust railroad practices. for the purpose of establishing as near as may be uniform rules in all matters pertaining to rates, the various roads operating in a certain territory usually form traffic associations. the general freight agents of the roads that are members of the association in turn form a select body known as the rate committee. these committees of freight agents have for more than twenty years constituted the supreme authority in all matters pertaining to freight classification. the trunk line classification recognizes six regular and two special classes, and every article known to commerce is placed in one of these classes. one whom providence has not favored with the mysterious wisdom of a general freight agent might suppose that considerations of bulk, weight, insurance and similar factors formed a basis of railroad classification. nothing, however, is farther from the truth. freight charges, when permitted to be fixed by railroad companies, are invariably such as the traffic will bear, and freight classifications are arranged on this principle, provided competition by water, rail or other land transportation does not demand a modification. it is, as a rule, not to the advantage of a railroad to entirely starve out any commercial or industrial concern along its line. hence tariffs are scarcely ever made entirely prohibitory. railroads proceed here upon the principle of the robber knight of mediæval times, who simply plundered the wayfaring trader to such an extent as to reduce his profits to a minimum. he never stripped him, for by doing so he would have prevented his return and would have destroyed his own source of revenue. in like manner a railroad will never annihilate any weak branch of business along its line, nor will it, if it is in its power, permit any business to prosper without paying to it heavy tributes out of its profits. every commodity is therefore made to pay a transportation tax based chiefly on its value and the profit which it yields, and all classifications are prepared with this object in view. the protection which, through exceptionally low rates, is extended by the railroad companies to certain industries, may not be objectionable _per se_, but the question arises whether the railroad companies or the people should exercise the right to determine when and where such protection is necessary. moreover, to tax one branch of commerce for the benefits bestowed upon another is a practice of extremely doubtful propriety, and the power to do so should certainly never be conferred upon a private corporation. when customs laws are proposed in congress ample opportunity is given to the representatives of the various industries of the country to be heard upon the subject. no hasty step is taken. members of congress have every opportunity to ascertain the sentiment of their constituents, through the public press, petitions and private correspondence. the subject is discussed in all its phases, both in the committee-rooms and upon the floors of both houses of congress. every detail is fully considered, and many compromises are often necessary to secure for a bill the support of the majority. when it finally passes it represents the will of the people, or at least the will of their legal representatives, who may be expected to know their wants and are accountable to them for their acts. freight classifications, however, while they are fully as far-reaching as customs laws, are made by a few freight agents meeting in secret session, listening to no advice and acknowledging no higher authority. it is claimed by the railroad men that it is to the interest of railroad companies to do justice to all, and that the best classification for the largest number of people is also the best for the roads. if this be true, it is difficult to see why railroads should fail to consult their patrons in the arrangement of their freight classifications. intelligent shippers may certainly be supposed to know as well as the railroad companies what classification is to their common interest. railroad managers are naturally despotical. they do not wish and do not tolerate any outside interference with what they obstinately term their private business. even if the general policy of the companies designed the greatest good to the greatest number, the opportunities and temptations of their agents to pursue selfish ends or take advantage of individuals in the preparation or application of their tariffs are such that in the practical execution the evil will always outweigh the good. it is not within the scope of the present inquiry to review in detail the various classifications in force, or to point out the unjust features. the author will confine himself to showing by a few characteristic examples that the power now in the hands of the railroad companies to classify the various commodities of commerce for the purpose of rating is greatly abused and is a potent means of railroad extortion. and that it may not be charged that abuses have been cited which are a thing of the past, the examples will chiefly be taken from cases which have come before the interstate commission for adjudication. a complaint was filed with the commission in by t. j. reynolds against the western new york and pennsylvania railroad company, from which it appeared that that company charged a greater price for the transportation of railroad ties from points in the state of pennsylvania to points in the state of new york than was charged at the same time for the transportation of lumber between the same points. the commission held that this was a case of unjustifiable discrimination and ordered the company to place railroad ties in the same class with other rough lumber. many western roads for years have been guilty of the same discrimination. the reasons for such a policy are obvious. a high tariff on railroad ties prevents their being shipped, depreciates their market price at home, to the sole benefit of the discriminating company, which is thus enabled to buy ties at a low price. prohibitory rates on ties and rails are also often maintained by railroad companies to either delay or render more costly the construction of new lines which threaten to become their competitors. the union pacific railroad company several years ago even went so far as to make prohibitory rates on steel rails intended for the construction of a road which promised to become a competitor of one of its connecting lines. from another case decided by the interstate commerce commission it appeared that the lake shore and michigan southern railway company charged for blocks intended for wagon-hubs, and upon which only so much labor had been expended as was necessary to put them in condition, a higher rate than for lumber, claiming that such blocks were unfinished wagon material and were therefore, as articles of manufacture, subject to higher charges than raw material. the commission justly held that these blocks were as much to be regarded as raw material as the boards from which wagon-boxes are made. in the classification of the southern railway and steamship association pearline was placed in the fourth class, with a rate of cents per hundred pounds, and common soap in the sixth class, with a rate of cents per hundred pounds. this latter article, when shipped by large manufacturers, enjoyed besides a special rate of cents per hundredweight. pearline and soap are competitive; there is no appreciable difference between them as regards the cost of transportation; but one commands a higher price in the market than the other, and upon this fact solely did the railroad company base its alleged right to levy upon pearline a transportation tax per cent. in excess of that levied upon soap, though the service rendered by the company was the same in either case. the commission held that the discrimination made by the "special rate" of the southern railway and steamship association between pearline and common soap was unjust, and ordered that it be discontinued and that, with common soap in the sixth class, pearline be placed in the fifth. for years the rate from indianapolis to new york was the same for corn as for its direct products, such as ground corn, cracked corn, corn meal, hominy and corn feed. such a tariff made it possible for western mills to compete with similar mills that had been established in the east, since a discrimination of per cent. was sufficient to absorb three or four times the profits of any western mill. it was shown by the evidence produced that the actual cost of transportation was substantially the same for direct corn products as for the raw corn. the only defense which the railroad company could make for this discrimination was that in the carriage of raw corn they had to meet lake competition. the weakness of this argument will be perceived when it is remembered that indianapolis is miles from the nearest lake-shipping point. there is but little doubt that this discrimination was made by the railroad company because it was to its interest to haul the raw corn from the west to the east and to return it in altered form. railroads care, as a rule, little for a waste of force, if such waste is to their own advantage. in another case brought before the commission in it was shown that the "official classification" placed common soap in carload lots in class v, while such articles as coffee, pickles, salted and smoked fish in boxes or packages, rice, starch in barrels or boxes, sugar, cereal line and cracked wheat are placed in class vi. the chief reply of the railroad companies to this complaint was that soap was justly placed in class v because the components from which it is in part made stood in class v. in another case it was shown that one kind of soap was burdened with a higher transportation tax than another, irrespective even of cost, because one had been advertised as toilet and the other as laundry soap. the principle of charging what the traffic will bear is well illustrated by the relative rates on patent medicines and ale and beer, as maintained by the official classification. in a complaint made by a prominent manufacturer of proprietary medicines against the new york central and other roads, it was shown that the complainant's products were shipped at owner's risk, and that they were in bulk and intrinsic value similar to ale and beer, but that in spite of these analogies the former were rated as first-class and the latter as third-class goods, simply because they retailed at a higher price. another unwarrantable discrimination is that in favor of live stock and against dressed beef. while mr. fink, the commissioner of the trunk line pool, himself admitted that the cost of carrying dressed beef from chicago to new york was only - / cents per pounds in excess of the cost of hauling live stock, the trunk lines maintained on dressed beef a rate per cent. higher than that on live cattle. the railroad companies asserted that this was due to those people in the east whose living depended on the live-stock interest. the railroads have in this assumed a paternalism which would not be tolerated even in the government. to protect the east, railroads will not permit the west to engage in new industries. the position which the interstate commerce commission has assumed in interpreting the rights of shippers under the law which railroad companies are bound to respect in the preparation of their tariff sheets and classifications cannot but be most gratifying to the people. in a decision relating to the classification and rates for car-loads and less than car-loads, filed march , , the commission laid down the following rules for the guidance of railroad companies: " . classification of freight for transportation purposes is in terms recognized by the act to regulate commerce, and is therefore lawful. it is also a valuable convenience both to shippers and carriers. " . a classification of freight designating different classes for car-load quantities and for less than car-load quantities for transportation at a lower rate in car-loads than in less than car-loads is not in contravention of the act to regulate commerce. the circumstances and conditions of the transportation in respect to the work done by the carrier and the revenue earned are dissimilar, and may justify a reasonable difference in rate. the public interests are subserved by car-load classification of property that, on account of the volume transported to reach markets or supply the demands of trade throughout the country, legitimately or usually moves in such quantities. " . carriers are not at liberty to classify property as a basis of transportation rates and impose charges for its carriage with exclusive regard to their own interests, but they must respect the interests of those who may have occasion to employ their services, and conform their charges to the rules of relative equality and justice which the act prescribes. " . cost of service is an important element in fixing transportation charges and entitled to fair consideration, but is not alone controlling nor so applied in practice by carriers, and the value of the service to the property carried is an essential factor to be recognized in connection with other considerations. the public interests are not to be subordinated to those of carriers, and require proper regard for the value of the service in the apportionment of all charges upon traffic. " . a difference in rates upon car-loads and less than car-loads of the same merchandise, between the same points of carriage, so wide as to be destructive to competition between large and small dealers, especially upon articles of general and necessary use, and which, under existing conditions of trade furnish a large volume of business to carriers, is unjust and violates the provisions and principles of the act. " . a difference in rate for a solid car-load of one kind of freight from one consignor to one consignee, and a carload quantity from the same point of shipment to the same destination, consisting of like freight or freight of like character, from more than one consignor to one consignee or from one consignor to more than one consignee, is not justified by the difference in cost of handling. " . under the official classification the articles known in trade as grocery articles are so classified as to discriminate unjustly in rates between car-loads and less than car-loads upon many articles, and a revision of the classification and rates to correct unjust differences and give these respective modes of shipment more relatively reasonable rates is necessary and is so ordered." the efforts which the commission has made to bring about a uniform classification throughout the country are in the right direction, while the results of its labor are not yet satisfactory. in their fifth annual report, the commissioners, after giving an account of their efforts and the shuffling and double-dealing of the railroad companies with them upon this matter of uniform classification, said: "its conviction remains unchanged that the necessities of commerce require that the existing classifications be consolidated, and that this result should be accomplished as speedily as may be found practicable; and it does not feel justified in asking for the further efforts of the carriers the same measure of indulgence which from time to time it has heretofore suggested should be extended to them, and which was thought to be required in the public interest. "the commission can not but think that if legislation to that end be enacted by congress the carriers will speedily consummate the reform already begun in this direction. it is therefore recommended that an act be passed requiring the adoption within one year from the date of its passage of a uniform classification of freight by all the carriers, subject to the act to regulate commerce, and providing that if the same be not adopted within the time limited, either this commission or some other public authority be required to adopt and enforce a uniform classification." the present confusion which exists in the classification and rates of the seventeen hundred railroad organizations of the country makes it difficult for the commission to do justice to all interests and localities. with the adoption of a uniform classification it is to be hoped that in time many of the present inequalities will be adjusted, especially if an intelligent public sentiment upon the subject of railroad regulation is maintained. a prominent railroad manager in the east, whose devotion to corporate interest is only equaled by his political ambition, has recently made repeated efforts to convince the people that railroad abuses are things of the past and that, if any such abuses still linger in isolated districts, they are simply unavoidable exceptions to the rule which will soon have to yield to the general spirit of fairness and amity for which, in his opinion, the railroads have of late been distinguished. he reasons that the law has fulfilled its mission, that the railroads have reformed, and that it now behooves the people to relent and to extend to the much persecuted corporations the hand of friendship and good will. the postprandial eloquence of this gentleman has often suavely intimated that the repeal of the interstate commerce act would be the most opportune recognition of restored confidence. still bolder champions of the railroad cause do not hesitate to demand the repeal of the law. it is not likely that the sophistry of railroad hirelings will triumph over the practical logic of an intelligent public. no law, be it ever so wise, can in the space of a few years correct all the abuses which half a century of unbridled railroad domination has developed. yet, since both the friends and the enemies of the law agree that it has been partially successful in its operation, it should be continued and improved to keep it in harmony with new conditions and a progressive public sentiment. it is claimed by railroad managers that the adoption of a uniform classification will remove the only vestige of discrimination still left. this is not true, for by far the largest number of complaints that have recently been brought before the interstate commerce commission charged personal and local discrimination independent of any question of classification. it is shown by the reports of the commission that discriminations are still practiced by various companies, that annual passes are still illegally issued to bribe or appease men of influence, that discounts are still given to favor shippers under various pretexts, that some large railroad centers still enjoy more favorable rates than smaller towns, and that the long and short haul clause of the interstate commerce act is still violated by railroad companies. there are besides these scores of other devices in vogue among railroad managers to subvert the principles of the common law. no doubt discriminations are now much less frequent, and are possibly the exception where but a few years ago they were the rule, but the fact that such abuses still exist is a strong argument for the retention of the law as well as for the necessity of continued vigilance on the part of the people and those especially charged with the execution of the laws. the railroad acts of congress and the various states ask nothing of common carriers but just and equitable treatment for all their patrons. if this is freely accorded, these laws are no burden to the railroads. if, on the other hand, there is a tendency on the part of the railroads to resort to subterfuges and evasions, the wholesome restraint of the statute is absolutely necessary for the protection of the shipper. the repeal of the interstate commerce law, or the adoption of such amendments as are demanded by railroad men, would be interpreted by them as an abandonment of all its principles and would inaugurate an era of unprecedented railroad oppression. history ever repeats itself. unchecked license will always lead to arrogance and despotism, and any power which is long permitted to defy the state will in time control it. it is not likely that the people of the united states can be induced to demonstrate to the world that democratic government is incapable of profiting in the dear school of experience. our railroad legislation contains no principle that is not found in the common law. its maxims are our birthright and will be the birthright of our children and children's children, and while railroad companies may be able in the future, as they have been in the past, to violate the law temporarily with impunity, they will never be able to prevail upon the american people to abandon the policy of railroad reform which the passage of the interstate commerce law inaugurated. the interstate commerce commissioners say in their sixth annual report: "whoever will read the report of the special committee of the united states senate, commonly called the 'cullom committee,' will be astounded at the magnitude and extent of railroad abuses brought to light by their investigation. those unfamiliar with the facts made public at that time can hardly believe the outrages which were proven to exist and the manifold devices by which the most flagrant injustice was perpetrated. a single illustration will furnish a better reminder than extended comment. "it appears from that report that the standard oil company, in one instance at least, boldly demanded from a certain railroad that its shipments should be carried for cents a barrel; that all other shippers should be charged cents a barrel on the same article, and that cents of the paid by such other shippers should be handed over by the railroad to the standard oil company, and the penalty threatened for non-compliance with this impudent extortion was a withdrawal of its entire business. "the foregoing statements but imperfectly describe the situation which existed when the interstate commerce law was enacted. in any reasonable view of the case it was too much to expect that the common and long continued abuses of railroad management could be corrected in less than half a dozen years, or that the first scheme of legislative regulation would prove adequate to that end. it would be contrary to all experience if so great and radical a reform could be thus speedily accomplished, or if the initial statute should be found sufficient to bring it about. the law was the outgrowth of an aroused and determined public sentiment, which, while united in demanding government interference, was divided and uncertain as to the best methods of affording relief. like all attempts in a new field of legislation, the statute was a compromise between divergent theories and conflicting interests. it was scarcely possible that it should be so complete and comprehensive at the outset as to require no alteration or amendment. those who are familiar with the practices which obtained prior to the passage of this law and contrast them with the methods and conditions now existing will accord to the present statute great influence in the direction of necessary reforms and a high degree of usefulness in promoting the public interest. "whoever will candidly examine the reports of the commission from year to year, and thus become acquainted with the work which has been done and is now going on, will have no doubt of the potential value of this enactment in correcting public sentiment, restraining injustice and enforcing the principle of reasonable charges and equal treatment. imperfections and weaknesses which could not be anticipated at the time of its passage have since been disclosed by the effort to give it effective administration. the test of experience, so far from condemning the policy of public regulation, has established its importance and intensified its necessity. the very respects in which the existing law has failed to meet public expectation point out the advantages and demonstrate the utility of government supervision. "moreover, it may be fairly claimed that much greater benefits would have been realized had the statute as enacted expressed the evident purpose of those who framed it, and received a construction according to its apparent import. it is not too much to say that judicial interpretation has limited its scope and ascribed to it an intent not contemplated when it was passed. if its supposed meaning, as understood at the time of its passage, had been upheld by the courts, it is believed that its operation would have been much more effective and its usefulness greatly increased. so far as failure has attended the efforts to give it proper administration, that failure can be mainly attributed to differences between its apparent meaning and the judicial interpretation which some of its provisions have received; and the commission is of the opinion that if the present law could be so altered as to express clearly and beyond doubt what it was evidently intended to express at the time of its enactment, it would prove, even without other amendment, an instrumentality of the highest value in removing the evils against which it is aimed. "the specific instances in which the statute has received judicial construction, and the limitations upon its scope and meaning which the courts have imposed, will be alluded to at greater length in another part of this report. "it seems proper, however, to observe in this connection that the effect of these decisions in weakening the law and preventing its enforcement has been greatly exaggerated. the impression has been created in many directions that judicial construction has invalidated the essential feature of the statute and condemned the general principle which lies at its foundation. that impression cannot be too speedily corrected, for nothing has been decided which permits such an inference. on the contrary, neither the power of the national legislature to regulate the transportation of interstate commerce nor the general policy of the existing law has been questioned by any tribunal." probably no law in the united states has ever before been so fiercely attacked at all of its vital points as has this law. it is not strange that among the great number of national and state courts the railroad companies have found occasionally a judge ready and willing to assist them in breaking it down, but upon the whole the judiciary has been disposed to co-operate with other departments of the government in their efforts to secure effective regulation of the transportation business. chapter vi. stock and bond inflation. the complaint is frequently heard from railroad men that our freight rates are too low, and in support of it the statement is usually made that the greater part of the railroad stocks of the united states pays dividends considerably smaller than the average interest realized by capitalists on money loaned or invested in other enterprises. this statement may be true, and yet it is valueless as an argument for higher rates. it may be admitted that the dividends declared upon the face values of railroad stocks are quite moderate, but it is a fact too well authenticated to be contradicted that railroad securities represent to a considerable extent only fictitious capital. the public concedes that liberal returns should be allowed to railroad companies on money actually invested, but it naturally objects to being taxed for the purpose of making dividends on watered stock. the evil referred to is a serious one, and has contributed much to the general demand for railroad reform. most of the early roads of this country were built for the accommodation of local traffic. they were constructed and managed by business men upon business principles. the stock issued by the companies was in most cases paid for in full and was not unfrequently sufficient for the completion of the entire road, and no incumbrance was permitted by the owners to be placed upon the property. these enterprises as a rule proved very profitable. one of the first roads running west of chicago will serve as an illustration. the galena and chicago union railroad company paid a per cent. dividend within a year after being opened to traffic, and gradually increased its dividends to , and per cent. during the first two years of the road's operation its expenses were only - / per cent. of its earnings. during the second year the company, after paying a per cent. dividend, diminished its debt nearly $ , and increased its surplus $ , . in the road had a length of miles, on which the gross earnings amounted to $ , , . this revenue exceeded the estimate made by the company's officers the year previous by $ , . in his annual report for the president of the company said: "this result shows an _increased surplus_ of $ , , after paying per cent. in dividends and all expenses and interests chargeable to income account." the report also shows that expensive improvements, such as large permanent bridges and stone culverts, displacing as a rule wooden ones, were charged to current expenses. the financial success of railroads soon attracted the cupidity of financial adventurers--men of great energy, but small means--whose aim was to secure the greatest possible returns with the least possible outlay of money. with the introduction of these elements into railroad circles the era of speculation commenced. take the line just referred to. in the average number of miles operated was , and the year following, . but while the number of miles operated increased less than per cent., the capital stock of the company grew from $ , to $ , , , and its debt from $ , to $ , . the capitalization of the road was thereby increased from $ , to $ , per mile, and this was done for the purpose of making the capital appear adequate to its earnings. nearly all railroads became in time the foot-balls of shrewd manipulators. they were bonded before they were constructed, and often for more than the value of the completed road. stocks at the best only represented nominal values and were given as premiums to the bondholders or promoters of the road. but the science of stock-watering did not reach its fullest development until during the period of railroad consolidation. fictitious values were now created as often as a new consolidation took place. watered stocks and bonds were watered again and again, until they represented little more than a purely imaginary capital upon the basis of which dividends might be declared. take the case of the new york central and hudson river railroad companies, which consolidated in with a capital of $ , , . . the former of these roads was organized in by the consolidation of ten smaller roads connecting the cities of albany and buffalo. the capital stock of these companies amounted to $ , , , of which $ , , was claimed to have been paid in. their funded debt was $ , , . it is impossible at this day to ascertain the original cost of all these roads, but it is certain that the above sums represent about three times the amount actually expended for their construction. one of the roads entering into the consolidation was the utica and schenectady. it was miles long and formed about one-fourth of the consolidated line. it had the heaviest grading and rock-cutting, was the best-equipped and undoubtedly the most expensive, in proportion to its extent, of the ten roads out of which the new york central was created. the original cost of this line was $ , , . bonds were never issued by the company. the line was profitable from the very beginning, paid regularly ten per cent. dividends,--the limit to which railroad companies were then restricted,--and had a large surplus, which it expended mainly for improvements. no assessment was ever made on the stock beyond the $ , , which was originally paid in by the shareholders and upon which they had drawn regular and liberal dividends. taking the original cost of this line as a basis, it is but fair to presume that the entire line from albany to buffalo, covering a distance of miles, did not cost to exceed $ , , . these roads, however, entered into the consolidation with a capital stock of $ , , and a bonded indebtedness of $ , , . estimating the cost of the branches upon the same basis upon which we have estimated that of the main line, we shall find that the total original cost of the consolidated lines cannot have exceeded $ , , . the mohawk valley road was put in at $ , , and the syracuse and utica direct at $ , , though the roads only existed on paper and did not represent any value whatever. the schenectady and troy road, which went into the consolidation with $ , stock and $ , bonds, had been bought for less than $ , two months previous to the consolidation. it will thus be seen that already nearly one-third of the stocks and bonds of the consolidated companies was water. the consolidation agreement fixed the capital stock of the new york central at $ , , and its funded debt at $ , , . , increasing the stock over $ , , , and the bonded debt over $ , , . the latter was more than quadrupled, and $ , , worth of bonds were, under the name of consolidation certificates, given as a present to the stockholders of the new road. the capital stock of the new york central grew steadily up to the time of its consolidation with the hudson river road, when it was $ , , . all improvements made during this time were paid for out of its surplus earnings, with the single exception of the athens branch, for which the company issued $ , , of its stock. the gross earnings of the new york central in were $ , , , and its net earnings $ , , . in its gross earnings were in round numbers $ , , , and in they reached $ , , . the dividends paid during that year amounted to $ , , , and the interest to $ , . in view of the fact that the bonded indebtedness of the road was from two to three million dollars more than the original cost, this dividend of per cent. upon a wholly fictitious capital must be regarded as an unwarranted tribute levied upon the commerce of the country. but we shall soon see that in railroad hydraulics, as well as in other branches of human industry, success stimulates to still greater energy. the hudson river railroad company was organized in . it extended from new york city to east albany and was miles long. there are no data extant upon which could be based a reliable estimate of its original cost. estimating it upon the basis of that of the utica and schenectady, we should have to place it somewhat below $ , , . while such an estimate may be too low, the amount of its funded indebtedness in , which was $ , , , probably more than covers the amount actually expended in the construction of the road. in the capital stock of the hudson river road was $ , , . in the funded debt had increased to $ , , , and in to $ , , . in the bonded indebtedness had decreased to $ , , , but the capital stock had grown to over $ , , . between and the company increased its stock and bonded indebtedness nearly $ , , , while the assessments paid by its stock and bondholders during this time did not exceed $ , , . improvements were made, but these were chiefly paid for out of the surplus earnings of the road. it has been shown by experts that $ , , is a high estimate of the actual original cost of the hudson river road to its stock-and bondholders, and that securities to the amount of more than $ , , represented surplus earnings and water. at the time of the consolidation of the hudson river and new york central railroads the capital stock of the two roads had grown to $ , , . under the consolidation agreement the stock was fixed at $ , , . the new company also assumed all the bonded and other indebtedness of both roads. if the consolidation manipulators had paused here, the capital of the new company would have been somewhat less than $ , , , or more than three times the cost of the property. but the road was, under existing rates, capable of earning dividends on a much larger capital, and this emergency was met by the issuance of consolidation certificates to the amount of $ , , . the total capital of the road was thus increased to and made to pay dividends on over $ , , , while the total cost of the road and its equipment, as claimed by the company in , was less than $ , , , their estimate being based upon assumed consolidation values and the expenditures made from surplus earnings. during the same year the gross earnings of the company were $ , , , and their net earnings $ , , . in the gross earnings had increased to $ , , , and the net earnings to $ , , . the company was able to declare in that year . per cent. dividend on its $ , , of fictitious stock. in its gross earnings were $ , , , or $ , per mile, while its total net earnings were $ , , . the gross earnings have largely increased during the years and . it is safe to say that $ , , per annum would pay very liberal interest and dividends on the amount of money expended upon the construction of the new york central and hudson river railroad from the proceeds of its bonds and stocks. by the creation of fictitious values the managers of the company have attempted to impose an exorbitant tax upon the commerce and travel of the country for all time to come. the government guarantees an inventor a monopoly only for a limited space of time, upon the expiration of which his invention becomes the common property of the people; but railroad managers endeavor to collect, under the protection of our laws, an exorbitant royalty from our people forever. the case of the new york central and hudson river railroad company is only one of the innumerable instances of stock watering in the history of american railroads. indeed, it can be shown that stock-watering reached a still higher degree of development in the case of the erie road. it has been demonstrated that the actual original cost to the stock-and bondholders of the new york central railroad company, which was, with its branch lines, miles long, did not, including the athens branch, exceed $ , , . its cost to its owners, in , including the bonuses, premiums, commissions and fictitious equalization values of several transfers, was reported by them to be only $ , , , or about $ , per mile. at about the same time the main stem of the erie railway, extending from new york to dunkirk, a distance of miles, was represented by a capital of $ , , , or $ , per mile. considering the inferiority of this road to the new york central, we are forced to the conclusion that nearly per cent. of the capital of the road represented water, or, in other words, that the commerce of the united states was taxed to pay dividends on about $ , , of watered securities. in the erie railroad had outstanding $ , , of common stock. in this had been increased to $ , , , in to $ , , , and in to $ , , . not one-tenth of this enormous increase of capital was ever expended on the property of the road. the stock was sold at from to cents on the dollar, and the proceeds disappeared in the hands of its managers. to what extent this freebootery was carried will probably never be known. an idea of the rottenness of the erie management may be had from the fact that the courts at one time ordered its president to restore to the company $ , , of diverted securities, which order was complied with. vast private fortunes were amassed by nearly all the men who directed the affairs of the road, and the mismanagement became in time so notorious that the legislature of the state of new york was appealed to, to remove the directors of the road for the protection of its stockholders, and to reduce the capital stock of the company to the amount actually paid for it. this movement failed, however, because it was opposed by the very stockholders whose interests were supposed to have suffered by directorial mismanagement. they preferred to continue to draw dividends on the face value of stocks which they had purchased at cents on the dollar. the capitalization of the company has since been increased to $ , , , and it is by no means a secret among those familiar with railroad values that the bonded indebtedness of the erie road represents alone many millions more than the total amount that was ever invested in the property. the principal competitor for through traffic of the two companies whose financial operations we have just reviewed is the pennsylvania central company. it has often been asserted by the managers and friends of this company that its capital is free from water; but this is not true. in a dividend of $ , , was made out of the surplus earnings of the road. this dividend was payable in capital stock and was equal to per cent. of the then outstanding capital. similar surplus dividends, each equal to per cent. of the company's outstanding stock, were declared in and . the people were thus taxed to pay dividends on a capitalized surplus which had been derived from excessive charges previously imposed on them. i shall not attempt here to determine whether the capital represented by the pennsylvania railroad company has been honestly invested. a committee of congress has expressed the opinion that the capitalization of its main line exceeds the amount of the actual cost of the property by more than eleven million dollars. there is, however, a system of inflation practiced by the pennsylvania railroad company which is simply a new form of bond and stock watering. more than one-half of the capital of this company has been invested in the stocks and bonds of other corporations. in the amount so invested was $ , , , and the income derived from it $ , , . this does not only cause the stocks and bonds of certain companies to be counted twice, but exacts a double tax from the commerce of the country, interests and dividends upon the same capital being paid both to the bond- and stockholders of the pennsylvania central and to the bond-and stockholders of the roads in whose securities it has made investments. the income of the company is thus swelled far beyond the amount which the traffic reports indicate. it will be seen that, to perpetuate extortionate rates, this process of manifolding securities might be continued indefinitely. the cost to its stock-and bondholders of the baltimore and chicago line of the baltimore and ohio railroad, which has a length of miles, was estimated by the company's officers at about $ , , . the actual cost of this road, owing to its expensive mountain grades, was probably greater than that of any of the other through lines between the sea-coast and chicago, but there can be no doubt that the capitalization of this road represents from one-half to one-third pure water. at the time of the completion of this road to chicago the surplus earnings of the company, after the payment of interest and dividends, amounted to over $ , , . this had been charged to "profit and loss" and used in the construction of branch lines. thus an amount equal to more than half of the reported cost of this line had at the time of its completion been returned to its owners in other railroad values. the select senate committee on transportation routes to the seaboard in estimated the excess of the capital over actual cost of the erie road, from new york to dunkirk, at $ , , ; that of the new york, lake shore and michigan southern line to chicago at $ , , , and that of the pennsylvania and fort wayne line to chicago at $ , , . if this estimate was correct the entire over-capitalization of these lines, on which the commerce between the west and the east was forced to pay a dividend of and per cent. per annum, was no less than $ , , . the committee assumed the actual cost of these roads to be $ , , , or about $ , per mile. they based their estimate upon the cost of the main branch of the baltimore and ohio, as reported by their officers, supposing it to represent the actual outlay made by its stock-and bondholders. various revelations which have since been made to the public, as to the real cost of railway construction, justify the belief that the estimated cost of $ , per mile for those roads is far too high. mr. henry poor, several years ago, estimated the average cost of the roads of the united states at $ , a mile. making allowance on one hand for mr. poor's tendency to favor the railroad side of the question, and on the other hand for the more expensive grades, double tracks and better terminal facilities of these trunk lines, $ , per mile may be considered a fair estimate of their average cost. upon this basis the total cost of the three lines in question would amount to $ , , , and the excess of their capital over actual cost would be the enormous sum of $ , , , or per cent. of their actual cost, and probably not less than per cent. of the original cost to their stock-and bondholders. the capital of these companies has since been considerably increased, to enable their managers to increase their dividends, and with it the tax levied upon the commerce of the country. these are only a few of the many instances of stock watering that might be mentioned. in fact, there are to-day very few railroads in the united states that are entirely free from it. it is a notorious fact that the stock of a large number of railroad companies represents little or no value, having either been sold at a mere nominal price or been donated as a premium or bonus to those who purchased a large amount of the company's bonds. in recommending, in his december, , annual message, government aid for the nicaragua canal, president harrison said: "but if its bonds are to be marketed at heavy discounts and every bond sold is to be accompanied by a gift of stock, as has come to be expected by investors in such enterprises, the traffic will be seriously burdened to pay interest and dividends." it is not difficult to surmise to what enterprises the president referred. it has for many years been a well-settled principle among railroad incorporators that no larger assessments should be made upon the stockholders than is necessary to float the company's bonds. a company, for instance, is organized with a capital stock of, say, $ , , . five per cent. of this sum, or $ , , is paid into defray preliminary expenses. the road is then bonded for perhaps $ , , , but as the bonds are sold for only per cent. of their face value and as the incorporators allow themselves per cent. for the negotiation of the bonds, only $ , , is realized for the construction of the road. the incorporators now vote to themselves a contract to construct the road for $ , , and at once sublet it to a contractor who is ready and anxious to build the road for $ , , . the incorporators thus realize $ , , worth of stock, a portion of which is unloaded upon unsophisticated investors, and $ , in cash, at an outlay of $ , ; and the road, which cost $ , , , is made to pay interest and dividends on a total capital of $ , , , and this is subsequently watered indefinitely if the road proves profitable or a consolidation with some other road justifies the belief that its earning capacity might be increased. nor is this an overdrawn picture. on the contrary, instances might be cited where only one-half of one per cent. of the company's stock was paid in by the shareholders. in the days of inflation such transactions did not seem to seriously affect railroad securities. even when they were no longer a secret to the public, stocks and bonds sold readily, because, owing to the large earnings of the roads, this class of investments was unusually productive. in the earnings of the railroads of massachusetts averaged $ , a mile, and were equal to per cent. of the total reported cost of all the lines of the state. the chicago, burlington and quincy earned $ , per mile in , and paid a per cent. dividend. its stocks were quoted per cent. above par. in the lake shore railroad earned more than per cent., and the terre haute and indianapolis even as much as . per cent. of the amount of its cost. previous to the war the inflation of railroad securities was, as a rule, confined to the stock. where roads were bonded for more than the cost of construction it was, with but very few exceptions, done to make their capital to correspond with their earning capacity, or rather to divert public attention from the fact that the rates in force had outlived their reasonableness. it was reserved to the union pacific and the central pacific companies to bond their roads from the beginning to an amount equal to twice their actual cost, or, in other words, to virtually receive them as a present from the federal government, bond them for all they were worth, and, in addition, issue stock to an amount largely in excess of the cost of construction, and then try to earn interest and dividends on the whole amount of securities issued. the history of these companies forms so interesting and instructive a chapter in the railroad annals of america that a short synopsis of it may not seem out of place here. the charter of the union pacific railroad company was granted by congress on the first day of july, . shortly after the beginning of the war of the rebellion it was made to appear to the country that a transcontinental road was a national necessity; that without it we could not hope to retain long the pacific coast. it was also very plausibly argued that the political benefits to be derived by the country from the construction of such a road, as well as its great length and extraordinary cost, made it the duty of the nation to aid liberally its enterprising and patriotic promoters in the prosecution of their gigantic task. in those stirring times few people were inclined to question the motives of those who advocated what appeared to be patriotic measures, or to be penurious in the expenditure of public funds when the public weal seemed to demand such expenditure. the union pacific railroad charter, which in substance was passed by congress as it had been drafted by the promoters of the enterprise, gave to the new company the right of way through the public lands, and authorized it to take, from the lands adjacent to the line of its road, earth, stone, timber and other materials for its construction. it further granted to the company every alternate section of land to the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side of its line, excepting only those lands to which preëmption or homestead claims attached at the time when the line of the road should be definitely fixed. in addition to these donations the united states issued to the company subsidy bonds in an amount equal to $ , per mile for the distance from the missouri river to the eastern line of the rocky mountains, $ , per mile for a distance of miles through the rocky mountains, and $ , per mile from the western base of the rocky mountains to the terminus of the road. similar franchises were at the same time given to the central pacific railroad company, a corporation which had previously been chartered by the state of california. besides its grant of right of way, land, timber, etc., this company received subsidy bonds at the rate of $ , a mile for a distance of . miles east of sacramento, of $ , a mile for miles through the sierra nevada, and of $ , a mile for the distance from the eastern base of that mountain range to its junction with the union pacific. the charters of the two companies provided that, to secure the repayment to the united states of the amount of those bonds, they should _ipso facto_ constitute a first mortgage on the entire lines of the road, together with their rolling stock, fixtures and other property. the franchises and donations thus granted by congress were most valuable; in fact, the latter were alone sufficient to build and equip the roads. in spite, however, of the liberal grants and in spite of the urgent necessity of the roads in those years of national trial, both of these enterprises made very slow progress. their promoters were men of small means, and the capitalists to whom they appealed for help failed to realize the value of the franchises. no doubt when these men first engaged in their cause they expected to encounter serious obstacles in congress, supposing that that august body would consider the proposed measure with much deliberation and to act upon it with still more circumspection. their success greatly surprised them. they made the discovery that members of congress could be imposed upon as easily as private citizens, and when they fully realized how readily their demands had been granted, they were greatly provoked at themselves because they had not asked for more. according to a story told by my old friend mr. j. o. crosby, an experienced member of the brotherhood of tramps late one afternoon chanced to stroll into the city of alton. having no visible means of support, he was picked up by the police and brought before the mayor to give an account of himself and to be dealt with as that dignitary might see fit. the tramp, a printer by profession, and by no means a tyro in meeting such emergencies, so managed to impress the mayor with his superior accomplishments that the latter concluded it would be a good investment, both for himself and the city over which he presided, to offer the genial stranger a contribution to his traveling fund, upon the condition that he would no longer than absolutely necessary molest the city with his presence. he accordingly told the intercepted tourist that while it had been for years the policy of the city and its officials to entertain all tramps found within the limits of alton for thirty days at the city jail in exchange for a fair amount of labor, he would, in consideration of the apparent fact that he was of better metal than the average tramp, make an exception in his case, and would, even at the risk of being censured for it by his constituents, hand over to him five dollars from the municipal funds if he would agree to leave the city early next morning. the tramp gladly accepted the proposition, replenished his empty purse with the proffered bounty and withdrew from the city hall, to take a stroll through main street. the city seemed to him as prosperous as the mayor had shown himself liberal. it occurred to the itinerant typographer that its treasury would not have been the worse off for a ten-dollar levy, and he hastily returned to the mayor's office to plead for a larger donation. the mayor, not disposed to argue the question, handed him another five-dollar bill and improved the opportunity to remind him of his previous promise and to give expression to the hope that as a gentleman of honor he would now discharge his obligation. the tramp fairly overwhelmed his honor with assurances of good faith and bade him an affectionate good-by. the next rising sun found him on his onward journey. his route led through alton on the hill, a portion of the city which he had not seen before. he viewed with surprise the many fine residences and other evidences of opulence which this part of the city contained. he passed on in a pensive mood until he reached the summit of the hill, which commanded a fine view of the entire city. here he turned to cast a farewell glance over the town ruled over by the most generous mayor that it had ever been his privilege to meet. as he beheld before him the fine homes and beautiful yards, and below in the valley the lofty church-steeples, the many school-houses, the massive business blocks, the long and well-paved streets and the spacious and shady parks, an expression of mingled surprise and disappointment stole over his face. he thrice slapped his wrinkled brow and then hurriedly retraced his steps down the hill. when the chief magistrate of alton came to his office that morning, he met the irrepressible tramp anxiously waiting for him at the door. "mr. mayor," said the wily extortioner, "i acted very hastily yesterday when i accepted your second proposition. you have here a much larger town than i ever supposed. i have been constrained to take our last agreement into reconsideration, and i shall not leave this point until you add another five dollars to your consideration. you can certainly better afford to do that than to throw away thirty days' board and the ten dollars which you have already paid me besides." the diplomacy of the union pacific and central pacific railway companies was the same as that of the alton tramp. they had found congress as generous as the tramp had found the mayor of alton, and now reproached themselves for their modesty and resolved to bring the pliability of congress to a severer test. they again appeared before that body in and asked that their charter be so amended as to grant to them ten alternate sections instead of five on each side of the road, and also all the iron and coal found within ten miles of their track, which had previously been reserved by congress. and in addition to this they asked that they be authorized to issue their own mortgage bonds on their respective roads to an amount equal to the bonds of the united states, and that the lien of the united states bonds be made subordinate to the lien created by the companies' bonds. by the act of congress, july , , all these demands were granted, and the two companies were thus virtually presented with their roads and were at the same time given permission to mortgage this gift of the people and divide the proceeds among their shareholders, many of whom had received their stock chiefly in consideration of their influence in and out of congress. the contribution of the united states to these companies on account of their main lines has not been far from $ , , , of which over $ , , was paid in bonds, and the remainder in lands, which aggregated about , , acres. the whole line from council bluffs to sacramento is , miles long. it will thus be seen that the national contribution was about $ , per mile, besides the right of way and all timber, iron and coal found within ten miles of the road. there is no doubt that this contribution was equal to, if it did not exceed, the actual cost of the road. there has been an erroneous impression abroad which has likened the pacific road to those wonderful and very expensive lines which cross the andes and the alps. those who have not crossed the continent can hardly believe that the construction of this line was neither more difficult nor more expensive than that of any of the numerous railroads crossing the mountain ranges of the east, but such is the fact. starting from omaha, the union pacific follows for nearly miles, or almost half of its entire length, the valley of the platte river. a better route for a railroad cannot be found upon the western continent. there are between omaha and cheyenne but three bridges worthy of the name. the platte valley is almost straight, rising toward the west at a nearly uniform rate of about feet to the mile. grading was practically unnecessary, and the work of construction consisted of little more than the laying of the ties and track. from the base of the mountains at cheyenne to their summit is a distance of about thirty-two miles, the difference in altitude between the two points being less than , feet. the average grade is therefore about feet to the mile, and nowhere are the grades heavier than feet to the mile. there are heavier grades than these in the prairie state of iowa, and the mountain grades of a number of eastern roads exceed those of the union pacific by from to feet to the mile. the rise is, if not uniform, at least gradual, and the construction of even this portion of the road required, therefore, neither great engineering skill nor any unusual expenditure of money. the road now crosses a plateau which extends almost to the terminus of the union pacific at ogden, and a very large portion of this is as favorable for a roadbed as the average railroad territory of the country. the route of the central pacific presented to the engineer no great obstacles between ogden and the state line of california, the only elevation of any note to be surmounted being the humboldt mountains in nevada. their highest point, humboldt wells, is miles west of ogden, and has an elevation of , feet above the level of the sea, while that of ogden is , feet. upon an average the grades of this portion of the road do not differ from those found in the mississippi valley. the portion of the central pacific railroad which traverses the sierra nevada is the most expensive of the whole line, but the cost of construction did not, even on this division, exceed the amount contributed for it by the federal government; for the statement is made upon good authority that a few of the leading promoters of the road built the first western section of twenty miles with their own capital, of less than $ , , and a loan from the city of sacramento and placer county, amounting to $ , , and then drew $ , government subsidy, or more than enough to build the second section and draw another installment of the subsidy; and that they repeated the operation until the whole line was completed. these men were in such haste to realize the profits which their undertaking promised them that they did not even take sufficient time to make a proper survey of their line. had they done so, a great saving, both in the construction and in the subsequent operation of the road, might have been effected. it is now well known that a route could have been found through the sierra nevada mountains, not far distant from the route chosen, which would have saved feet in elevation and at least per cent. in the expense of grading. it is certainly safe to say that if less than forty thousand dollars a mile was sufficient to construct the road through the sierra nevadas the federal contribution of $ , , for the entire line, from omaha to san francisco, left, after the completion, a respectable surplus, either to the companies or those of their members who had the construction contract, and that the $ , , of capital stock and the $ , , of first mortgage bonds which the two companies issued were a gigantic dividend to the stockholders, for which, practically, no consideration was given. the companies might well have been satisfied with the government's generosity, but their success in imposing upon congress stimulated their greed. the act of provided that the charge for government transportation over these roads should be applied to the liquidation of its bonds, and that after the completion of the lines five per cent. of their net earnings should likewise be so applied. when the secretary of the treasury, under the law, refused to pay them the amount earned by government transportation, and in addition to this demanded the five per cent. of their net earnings in liquidation of their debt, the companies applied to congress to again amend their charters so as to relieve them for the time being from any direct payment of either principal or interest of the government bonds, and to make it the duty of the secretary of the treasury to pay to the companies in money one-half of the compensation allowed to them by law for services performed for the government. and again congress responded to their demands, granting them, by a rider to the army appropriation bill, passed march , , all the relief asked for. owing to the policy of the managers of the pacific line to pay as little of the interest on the government subsidy debt as is absolutely necessary to prevent foreclosure proceedings, the unpaid interest has accumulated until it now almost equals the amount of the original indebtedness. the last report of the commissioner of railroads shows that the total indebtedness, principal and interest, to the united states of the pacific railroad companies, was $ , , on july , . the commissioner seems to be of the opinion that the union pacific company will not be able to pay the subsidy bonds at maturity, and he urges that some step be taken in the matter by congress, whether it be to extend the loan, which will mature within the next six years, or to sell the road. the managers of the pacific roads and their friends ask an extension of the government subsidy bonds for fifty years, and a reduction of interest from to per cent. if congress continues to be servile to these interests, the pacific railroad lobby will secure just such legislation as they demand. at the time the pacific roads were built the people of the united states had no adequate knowledge of the topography of the territories, and the promoters of the road for a while found it a difficult task to convince capitalists that the investment would be a safe one. that they knew the value of the projected road was shown by the contest between the central pacific and the union pacific for mileage. for a distance of over miles the two companies graded roads side by side in contest for the government subsidy. the promoters were even disappointed in the cost of the roads, as mr. sidney dillon states in an article published in the august number of _scribner's magazine_, , in which he says: "at the end of the road was completed to the top of the mountains and nearly half way to salt lake city. the cost of building over the mountains was so much less than we had expected that the construction company found itself with a surplus from the proceeds of the subsidy bonds. this was imprudently distributed in dividends." the united states government could parallel to-day the line of either road for less than the amount of its first mortgage bonds, and its subsidy bonds are therefore nearly worthless. mr. clews, in his "twenty-eight years in wall street," says: "after the thurman bill had been sustained by the supreme court mr. gould had a plan to build a road from omaha to ogden, just outside the right of way of the union pacific, and give that road back to the government. it would give others 'a chance to walk.' the government tried to squeeze more out of the turnip than was in it. for $ , , a road could be built where it had cost the union pacific $ , , ." it may be admitted that the pacific roads, even at an extravagant cost, have proved a good investment for the country, yet their history reflects severely on the statesmanship of those members of congress whose duty it was to properly protect the interests of the nation at that time. they were unequal to their task. the great northern railway company has just completed its road to the pacific coast. its line is very direct, and it has unusually light curvature and low grades, which will enable it to be operated more cheaply than any pacific line yet constructed. much of its route is through a rich and productive country, insuring to it a heavy local business. the following statistics concerning it are given in the _railway age_: total mileage, december , , average bonded debt per mile $ , average stock per mile , total , interest charges per mile , dividend charges per mile a comparison of these figures with those corresponding of other transcontinental lines is instructive, and is commended to congressmen who have to deal with the union pacific and central pacific questions. stock and bond inflation, it may confidently be asserted, has created from five to six thousand millions of dollars of fictitious railroad capital. in the average liabilities of the railroads in the united states, including the capital stock and the funded and unfunded debt, were $ , per mile. according to mr. poor's estimate of the average cost of american railroads per mile, more than per cent. of this vast sum is pure water. but, as has been stated before, mr. poor is partial to the railroad interest, and his estimate of $ , a mile is too high for the time at which it was made. furthermore, railroad building has since then been materially cheapened. tens of thousands of miles of road have been built in recent years that did not cost to exceed $ , a mile. very recently the union pacific railroad company proved, before the board of equalization at salt lake city, by the testimony of engineers, that the average cost per mile of the utah central line was only $ , . , itemized as follows: engineering $ grading -ft. fill, , yds. , ties, , , at cts. rails, tons , splices bolts spikes track-laying bridges station-building fences right of way --------- $ , in a recent article mr. c. wood davis states that "many auxiliary lines have been built at costs ranging from $ , to $ , per mile, and capitalized at two, three, four, and even five times their cost, as in the case of the miles of the kansas midland, costing, including a small equipment, but $ , per mile, of which per cent. was furnished by the municipalities along its line. yet, with construction profits and other devices, this road shows a capitalization of $ , per mile." and that "the missouri pacific line from eldora to mcpherson, kansas, a comparatively expensive prairie road, being located across the line of drainage, cost much less than $ , per mile, as have thousands of miles of other prairie roads." it is safe to say that $ , is a liberal estimate of the average cost per mile of american roads to the stock-and bondholders, and that their capitalization represents $ , of water per mile. the total net earnings of the railroads of the country were $ , , in , and $ , , in , upon an actual investment of only about $ , , , . this is a return of about - / per cent. and shows the force of mr. poor's statement that, if the water were squeezed out of railroad securities, no better-paying investment could be found in the country. we often see references to the fact that no dividends are paid upon a large portion of railroad stocks, but there is no reason why dividends should be paid upon many of them, as they represent no capital whatever that has gone into the road. it is probable that not to exceed ten cents on the dollar upon an average was originally paid for these stocks, and the $ , , distributed annually as dividends upon them does not vary much from fifteen to twenty-five per cent. upon the amount actually invested in them. chapter vii. combinations. it is the favorite argument of railroad men, and the writer must confess that he himself formerly believed, that if all legal restraints were removed from railroad business, the laws of trade would regulate it more successfully and more satisfactorily, both to the railroad companies and their patrons, than the wisest statutes could ever regulate it. to give force to their argument, they cite the old democratic maxim that that state is governed best which is ruled the least. they also assert that it is the province of the state to guarantee to each of its citizens industrial freedom; to permit him to transact any legitimate business according to his best judgment; to buy and to sell where and at what price he pleases; in short, to earn without restriction the reward of his intelligence and his industry. they further contend that under a free government the law of supply and demand should be allowed free sway, and that he who buys or sells transportation should not be hampered in his transactions any more than the grocer and his customer. the reply to this is that, while the grocer is a natural person, the railroad company is an artificial person, and that, while the business of the former is purely private, that of the latter is quasi-public. the grocer must rely solely upon his personal rights and private resources, but the railroad company accepts from the state the franchises which enable it to do business. and yet, if the public had any assurance that the laws of trade would regulate both kinds of business alike, it is not likely that the state would distinguish between the two. they claim that their business is like other private business, and therefore they should be let alone; that competition can be relied upon to correct abuses; and where competition does actually exist they forget, and then claim that their business is not like other private business, and they should be allowed to make pools and combinations, because in their business competition is ruinous. experience has certainly demonstrated that competition is only possible where combination is impossible. where the same commodity is supplied by a large number of individuals, there is but little danger for the public from those who supply it, for an agreement among many cannot easily be effected; and even if an understanding could be reached, it would not long be satisfactory to all parties. disagreements would arise which would end in the dissolution of the combination. where, however, the number of competitors is small, agreements can be easily effected and successfully maintained. it is doubtful whether there is at present any interest in the commercial world which has a greater tendency to monopoly and combination than the railroad interest. there are in the united states some , railroad stations. not more than , of these are junctions of two or more roads. at per cent. of these stations shippers are therefore confined to one line of railroad, and are, in absence of state regulation, compelled to pay for transportation whatever price the companies may be disposed to charge, subject only to such restrictions as the proximity of competing points may impose. if competition obtained at all points where two or more roads meet, many railroad companies could not afford to charge excessive rates at non-competitive points along their lines of road, for such a policy would slowly but surely drive a large volume of their legitimate business to rival roads, to whose interest it would be to encourage by every means in their power such diversion of traffic. railroads early recognized this fact and took steps to enable each line to control its local business. the first combinations among railroad companies to control prices at competitive points were rather crude; in fact, much cruder than the first granger legislation. they were simple agreements among the various roads touching a common point to maintain certain fixed rates. but while each road was anxious to have the rates agreed upon maintained by all of its rivals, it cared but little about maintaining its own good faith, and it improved every opportunity to get business at reduced rates so long as it could reasonably hope to escape detection. as soon as any of the competing roads, through the falling-off of its business, became convinced that it was the victim of overreaching rivals, it retaliated by offering still lower rates to close-tongued shippers. this tricky rivalry would be continued until the animosity engendered by it would lead to an open rupture, and what railroad men are pleased to term a rate war would follow. as the schedule rates had before been unreasonably high, so they became now unreasonably low. hostilities would be continued until all belligerents became exhausted and manifested a disposition to negotiate a treaty of peace. the former high rates would then be restored; the compact was carried out for a short time, to be again violated and finally annulled. these rate agreements were in vogue in new england before the war of the rebellion and gradually found their way to the middle states and the west. wherever they were tried they were violated, until even among the most unsophisticated of freight agents a rate agreement was looked upon as a farce. the statement is often made by railroad managers that excesses in railroad competition are the result of the peculiar conditions of their business, which has heavy fixed charges on one hand and a fickle patronage on the other; that the uncertainty of through business compels them to rely upon the local business for such revenue as is necessary to meet these fixed charges; and that, inasmuch as their trains _must_ run, and any through freight hauled by them is so much business taken from the enemy, they can better afford to take it at any price than to have one of their competitors take it. it is difficult to see why this reasoning should not be applied to other branches of business; for instance, to milling. the mill-owner, like the railroad company, has heavy fixed charges. he has to earn the interest on his capital, he has to keep his mill in repair, he now and then has to meet the demands of the times and purchase improved appliances, and he has to keep a certain number of employes, whether business is brisk or slack. he might, therefore, if he saw fit to employ the logic of railroad managers, earn revenue enough to meet his fixed charges from the business which his regular customers give him, and then do any business coming from beyond this circle at any price rather than surrender it to a rival. it will readily be conceded that any enterprise conducted on such principles could, at the best, flourish only temporarily, for it would soon encounter difficulties from two sources. its local customers, thus discriminated against, would withdraw their patronage, while its competitors, finding their territory encroached upon, would, in self-defense, offer still better terms to the public to regain their lost customers. such ruinous competition, if long persisted in, must necessarily cripple, if it does not bankrupt, a majority of those who engage in it. it is fortunately as rare in industrial and commercial circles as it is common among public carriers. this difference can easily be accounted for. where there are a large number of competitors the prices of the commodities supplied by them are leveled down until they reach a point where they will afford only a reasonable margin of profit, and beyond which they will cease to be profitable, and will therefore cease to be supplied until the equilibrium is again established. where, however, the number of competitors is small, the price of the commodities supplied by them will, by agreement, for a time at least, be maintained at a point where it affords considerable more than a reasonable profit. here the large gain presents to the various competitors such a temptation to outstrip their rivals and increase their business at the expense of good faith, that but few, if any, of them will, in the long run, resist it. the tendency to underbid rivals will always be strong where profits are large, and it may safely be asserted that efforts to maintain, through combinations, excessive rates are the most fruitful source of ruinous competition. in time railroad managers became convinced that, unless it was possible to radically reform railroad ethics, rate agreements could never be relied upon for the maintenance of excessive rates at competing points. the combined roads found it an easy matter to agree upon excessive rates, but were powerless to enforce them. experience convinced their managers that to make their tariffs effective it was necessary to deprive individual roads of the power or the inducement to cut below the agreed rates. their ingenuity in time developed a system which promised to remove from individual roads every temptation to take business at less than schedule prices. this device consists in a division of railroad business and is commonly called a pool. there are various ways in which such a division is made. either the traffic is divided among the various companies meeting at a common point, or each road is allowed to carry all freights that it may receive, and then the earnings of the different roads are divided, each road being paid the actual cost of such service as it has performed. there is still a third pooling arrangement, consisting in a division of territory, but this has been found less satisfactory and is now but rarely resorted to. it is said that the first regular pool organized in the united states was the chicago-omaha pool, formed in by the chicago, burlington and quincy, the chicago, rock island and pacific, and the chicago and northwestern railroad companies, then the only three lines connecting the cities of chicago and omaha. this pool, which was subsequently joined by other lines, made an equal division of the traffic, and was so well organized that it lasted fourteen years "without a break." the abuses practiced by the companies belonging to this pool were one of the chief causes of the granger movement in iowa. it is indeed doubtful whether any other railroad combination ever maintained itself longer or pursued its ends with greater pertinacity than this pool. another pool of national notoriety was the southern railway and steamship association, which was organized, though at first under a different name, in the state of georgia, in . it was probably the first money pool formed in the united states. each member was awarded a certain percentage of the total business between the various competitive points along its line. if a company carried more than its share, it was compelled to turn over the receipts from such additional traffic to its rivals, which paid it a nominal price for carriage. this allowance was always made so low that there was no inducement for any company to seek to carry more than its allotment. the pool had its own executive, legislative and judicial departments, and it enforced its decrees with an iron hand. it maintained a strong centralized government, and rebellious members had but little mercy to expect from it. it provided that if any officer or representative of any company should authorize or promise, directly or indirectly, any variation from established tariffs, he should be discharged from the service, with the reason stated. the strong sentiment which we to-day find in the south in favor of state control of railways is the direct result of the many evils which this powerful pool introduced into the railway business of that section of the country. other pools followed, as the southwestern association, organized in , to control the traffic between chicago and st. louis, and the minnesota and the colorado pools. within a few years railroad pools covered the whole country. all pursued the same object, viz., the control of rates at competitive points, which enabled the companies to maintain excessive schedule rates at local points. between and the pooling system rapidly spread all over the union. wherever competition promised to regulate rates by the application of the law of supply and demand, the pool was resorted to as the never-failing remedy to preserve dividends on watered stock. as long as lake and canal navigation controlled the carriage of heavy freights between chicago and new york by means of rates so low that railroads found it, or at least thought it, impossible to compete with them in the transportation of agricultural products during the greater part of the year, railroad pools between chicago and new york could not be successfully maintained. in the railroads transported only about per cent. of this kind of freight from the west to eastern ports. owing, however, to the rapid decrease of the cost of transportation, railroad companies from this time on were enabled to encroach rapidly upon the business of water routes, so that in they carried over per cent. of the entire volume of agricultural products that were moved from the west to the east. as long as these products were carried almost entirely by water from lake ports to the east, new york, as the terminus of this route, enjoyed decided advantages over the other atlantic ports. when, however, the railroads commenced to successfully compete with the water routes in the transportation of these commodities, a considerable share of this business was diverted to boston, philadelphia and baltimore, and it soon became apparent that these ports, in some respects, enjoyed advantages for the export trade not possessed by new york. it was, therefore, not surprising that the business men of these cities, together with the railroads terminating in them, made every effort to come in for their share of the traffic which was drifting away from new york. competition between the new york central and the pennsylvania railroad for the western through traffic dated back as far as , the year in which both systems secured, through consolidation with connecting roads, through lines to chicago. rates fell in one year from $ . to cents per hundred pounds. after a time the managers of the two companies met, and schedule rates were restored. rates were, at least outwardly, maintained until the baltimore and ohio and the erie system entered chicago, and the grand trunk made connections with milwaukee and other lake points, and thus disturbed through rates. all efforts to maintain the level of the old tariffs, through agreements, proved now fruitless, for both the baltimore and ohio and the grand trunk found it to their interest to pursue independent policies, and refused to have their hands tied by an agreement with roads that were interested in continuing, if possible, the commercial supremacy of new york. rate skirmishing finally developed into open war in , when fourth-class rates between chicago and the atlantic fell as low as cents per hundred. this rate, however, was eclipsed in july, , when wheat was carried from chicago to new york for cents per hundred. the existing conditions left no doubt in the minds of those familiar with railroad tactics that this war was simply the precursor of a gigantic combination between the trunk lines. an unsuccessful attempt to effect such a combination had been made before. in the managers of the erie, pennsylvania and new york central met at saratoga for the purpose of devising means for the suppression of competition in the trunk line traffic. this meeting, however, known in railroad history as the saratoga conference, was the first step toward the organization of a trunk line pool, although the conference did not lead to any immediate results, the grand trunk and the baltimore and ohio refusing to be bound by its decision. it was certainly no easy task to devise means to bring about an effective and permanent combination among five large through lines with greatly conflicting interests. so far pools had never failed to suppress competition wherever they were organized. but in the past pools had, almost without exception, only attempted to control rates between common points. they accomplished their object by a division of the entire traffic or earnings from the traffic between common points. the schedule rates remained the same for all. but the traffic of the trunk lines brought a new factor into the problem. here the rival routes did not terminate at the same points. it was contended by the baltimore and ohio that, whatever might be the facilities of baltimore for exporting agricultural products, that port was at a disadvantage as compared with the more northern ports on account of the longer voyage and higher ocean rates to liverpool, and that it could therefore not enter into a combination with the roads leading directly to new york and philadelphia upon equal terms, since this would divert its legitimate share of the through business to those ports. the grand trunk, on the other hand, refused to enter the combination because, not having any direct chicago connection, it feared that the enforcement of pool rates would materially diminish the volume of its business. as yet the railroad wiseacres did not seem to be equal to the emergency, and matters drifted along in the old channel. the rate war of gradually brought about an understanding among the belligerents. the competing roads accepted the terms offered, and with this a new principle entered into the science of pooling. rates between chicago and baltimore were fixed somewhat lower than those between chicago and philadelphia, and in turn philadelphia was allowed a small advantage over new york. this concession was made to equalize the difference in the ocean rates of the competing ports. these equalizing or--to use railroad nomenclature--differential rates were subsequently granted by pools to such roads as, on account of some disadvantage, could not compete with other members of the pool on equal terms. thus the longest route was usually permitted to charge the lowest, and the shortest route the highest rate. this practice is in conformity with the principle of charging whatever the traffic will bear, but it is certainly devoid of every consideration of justice and equity. if the longer line can afford to carry freight at rates lower than schedule prices, no further proof is needed under ordinary circumstances that the regular schedule rates of the shorter line are exorbitant. the concession of differential rates settled, at least temporarily, the difficulties that had arisen out of the east-bound traffic of the trunk lines. this arrangement did not, however, in any way affect the traffic moving in the opposite direction. the volume of west-bound freight is very much larger at new york than at any other of the atlantic ports. in order to get its share of the business, each trunk line maintained an office in new york. these offices eagerly solicited business for their respective roads, and the freights which they received for transportation to the west would be forwarded either directly or by a circuitous route; but, the longer the route, the lower as a rule was the compensation asked for the service. under these circumstances competition was brisk, and the profits realized were far from satisfying the cupidity of the competing lines. it was apparent to their managers that the competition in the west-bound traffic was similar to that formerly existing between chicago and mississippi and missouri river points, which had promptly yielded to pools. the temporary adjustment of the more perplexing questions which had arisen out of the east-bound traffic now paved the way for a pooling arrangement for the west-bound freight. the southern pool, under the management of albert fink, had long attracted the attention of the trunk line managers. its system of dividing the traffic, of reporting to a central office and of hearing and deciding complaints had enabled it to exert an almost absolute control over its members, to compel them to make honest returns and to prevent rupture and rebellion. it was believed that a pool of the trunk lines could not be effective or permanent unless organized upon the southern basis and presided over by a trunk expert. accordingly, when in an agreement for the pooling of the west-bound traffic was reached by the trunk lines, mr. fink was tendered the position of pool commissioner. under the agreement reached the total tonnage of the west-bound business was divided in such a way that the erie and new york central roads each received per cent., the pennsylvania per cent., and the baltimore and ohio per cent. of it. if any road received more freight than was allotted to it by the pool, it delivered such surplus to the pool, or rather to such a road as the pool commissioner designated as not having received its allotment. the success of this pool from a railroad point of view made the trunk lines anxious to organize a similar pool for the whole east-bound traffic. it was proposed to control by such a combination the rates on all the east-bound traffic of the northwest, by making chicago the pooling center, fixing for it a schedule of rates and making the rates of all the railroad centers in the west and northwest dependent upon it. the combination was to comprise more than forty companies, controlling over , miles of road. the scheme was tried for three months in , but proved a failure, owing to the fact that nearly all of the many diverging interests sought their own advantage. the eastern and western trunk line pools were, through the efforts of their commissioner, successfully maintained, though even their harmony was occasionally marred by a short war precipitated by such members as would think themselves entitled to larger shares of the spoils. but a readjustment would invariably follow, and the expenditures of the war would be taxed up to the public. after the failure of the gigantic western pool which had been organized under the protectorate of the trunk lines, the companies which had composed it formed such local combinations as their individual interests dictated. it is doubtful whether during the five years immediately preceding the passage of the interstate commerce law there was any junction of two or more roads in the united states which, except during the period of an occasional railroad war, had any competition in the transportation business. as has been shown before, discriminations without number were practiced between places and persons; goods were not unfrequently carried at a loss; but the general public was, as a rule, compelled to pay what the traffic would bear, or rather what the pooling roads thought it could bear. it is claimed by railroad managers that pools are the only effective contrivances for checking ruinous competition among railroad carriers, and that they are therefore justifiable as a means of self-protection. this might perhaps be a valid argument if any attack were made upon the railroads which encroached upon their rights or endangered their existence, but if railroad companies are disposed to cut each other's throats, the public should not be made to pay the penalty of their depravity. as long as schedule rates are unreasonably high, railroads will be tempted to offer to certain shippers low secret rates; but as soon as all rates have been leveled down to a point where they will yield only a fair profit with good management, the inducement to cut below them is largely taken away. pools, far from being a remedy for the evils of excessive competition, will in the end only aggravate the disease which they attempt to cure. the high rates which they maintain attract the attention of speculative men and lead to the construction of rival roads. while the traffic remains the same, the proceeds must then be divided among a larger number of carriers. thus the construction of unnecessary roads, which has often been the subject of bitter complaint on the part of the older roads, is chargeable directly to their wrong policies. one of the principal objections to industrial and commercial combinations is that they paralyze trade. competition stimulates every competitor to offer the best at the lowest possible price. this increases the demand for the commodity, and both the producer and the consumer are in the end benefited by the operation of this law. on the other hand, combinations, or, what is the same, monopolies, increase the price, remove the stimulus to excellence, and reduce the demand, and thereby affect injuriously the producer and consumer alike. competition in the railway service would mean an improved service and lower rates and would speedily be followed by a large increase of business. another serious objection to pooling is that it invariably leads to periodic wars, which unsettle all business, and but too often introduce into legitimate trade the element of chance. these wars give, moreover, to designing railroad managers an opportunity to enrich themselves by stock speculations at the expense of the stockholders, whose interests they use as a football for the accomplishment of their selfish ends. when rates are reduced to a right level, and are properly adjusted, and are equal to all, even railroad men will find no necessity for pools. the desire for such a combination is a desire to impose upon somebody, or some locality, or the public at large. the proposition to give legal sanction to pools, made by railroad managers, is preposterous; and even a pool to be approved by the interstate commerce commission is out of the question, as it would cause the railroads to increase their efforts to control the appointment of the commission. however honest it may look on its face, however plausible may be the arguments produced in its favor, it should not be permitted. there is no doubt but under the proposed pooling arrangement railroad interests, watered stocks and all, would be cared for, but there is every reason to believe that public interests would not be properly protected. so long as servility by a member of the interstate commerce commission to railroad influences serves as a stepping-stone to a high position in the employ of railroad combinations, with a salary of three or four times that of an interstate commerce commissioner, so long will it be unsafe to permit such powers to be vested in that commission. pooling by railroads should not be permitted, if permitted at all, so long as representatives of speculative interests have a voice in their management, and not until all fictitious valuations are altogether banished from the equation, and until the roads are brought under complete government control. there is no more necessity for pools among railroads than there is among merchants and manufacturers. the capital actually invested in railroads is now receiving larger returns than investments in other lines of business, and their incomes are increasing from year to year. every pooling combination of railroad companies for the maintenance of rates is a violation of common law. from time immemorial the law has stamped as a conspiracy any agreement between individuals to support each other in an undertaking to injure public trade. the interstate commerce act reasserts this principle, and provides penalties for the maintenance of such combinations among railroad companies. if, in spite of this act, the evil still exists, it is no argument against the merits of the law, but it does prove that the machinery provided for its enforcement is insufficient. that railroad companies can be made to respect the law there can be no doubt; but much cannot be accomplished unless the people fully realize the magnitude of the undertaking and vest the government with sufficient power to cope with an organized force whose total annual revenue is nearly three times as large as that of the united states. the discussion of the question how this may be done will be reserved for a subsequent chapter. chapter viii. railroads in politics. the question might be asked how the railroad companies for many years in succession have been able to prevent state control and pursue a policy so detrimental to the best interests of the public. one might think that in a republic where the people are the source of all power, and where all officers are directly or indirectly selected by the people to carry out their wishes and to administer the government in their interest, a coterie of men bent on pecuniary gain would not be permitted to subvert those principles of the common law and public economy which from time immemorial have been the recognized anchors of the liberty of the anglo-saxon race. the statement that under a free government it is possible for a few to suppress the many might almost sound absurd to a monarchist, and yet is it true that for the past twenty-five years the public affairs of this country have been unduly controlled by a few hundred railroad managers. to perpetuate without molestation their unjust practices and prevent any approach to an assertion of the principle of state control of railroad transportation, railroad managers have secured, wherever possible, the co-operation of public officials, and, in fact, of every semi-public and private agency capable of affecting public opinion. their great wealth and power has made it possible for them to influence to a greater or less extent every department of the national and state governments. their influence extends from the township assessor's office to the national capital, from the publisher of the small cross-roads paper to the editorial staff of the metropolitan daily. it is felt in every caucus, in every nominating convention and at every election. typical railroad men draw no party lines, advocate no principles, and take little interest in any but their own cause; they are, as mr. gould expressed it, democrats in democratic and republicans in republican districts. the large means at the command of railroad companies, their favors, their vast armies of employes and attorneys and their almost equally large force of special retainers are freely employed to carry into execution their political designs, and the standard of ethics recognized by railroad managers in these exploits is an exceedingly low one. it is a settled principle of these men that, if they can prevent it, no person not known to be friendly to their cause must be placed into any public office where he might have an opportunity to aid or injure their interests. the records of the various candidates of the principal parties for city, county, state and national offices are therefore carefully canvassed previous to the primaries, the most acceptable among the candidates of each party are selected as the railroad candidates, and the local representatives of the railroad interest in each party are instructed to use all means in their power to secure their nomination. if none but candidates who are servile to the railroad interest are nominated by the principal parties, the election is permitted to take its own course, for, whichever side is successful, the railroad interest is safe. if, however, there is reason to believe that a nominee is not as devoted to their interests as the nominee of an opposing party, the latter is sure to receive at the polls whatever support railroad influence can give him. that a public official elected by the grace of a railroad manager is but too apt to become a tool in his hands needs no proof. both gratitude and fear tie the average politician to the powerful forces which can control his political destiny. the railroad manager, on the other hand, always kindly remembers his officeholding friends as long as they are loyal and in a position to serve him. before the enactment of the interstate commerce act there was every year a wholesale distribution of railroad passes among public officeholders and other prominent politicians. the pass was the token of the continued good will of the railroad dignitaries as the withholding of the "courtesy" was a certain indication of their displeasure. if the officeholder had personal or political friends whom he desired to have recognized, an intimation of this desire was generally sufficient to have the pass privilege even extended to them. and yet these favors were not bestowed indiscriminately. thus the pass credit of a county official was more limited than that of an officer of the state, and the latter class were again rated according to their influence and rank. furthermore, while annual passes were thus freely distributed among one class of officials, others could obtain them only by making special application for them. members of the legislature would not unfrequently receive their supply of railroad passes before their certificates of election were issued, but legislative committee clerks and employes in the various departments of the state government were required to satisfy the railroad authorities that they were in a position to aid or to injure the railroad cause before their names were placed on the list of persons "entitled to the courtesy". of course the judiciary, as a coördinate branch of the government, could not well be slighted. indeed, previous to the enactment of the interstate commerce law, a judge would have regarded it an affront if he had not been furnished with passes by the various companies operating railroads in his district. it appears that the law has not entirely corrected this abuse, for only about two years ago the chicago _news_ made the discovery that nearly every judge in the city of chicago traveled on passes. it is strange to what extent the pass often debased the judiciary. it was not unfrequent for judges to solicit passes for family and friends, and instances might be named where they demanded them in a wholesale way. the impudent demands were usually honored by the railroad authorities, who reasoned that they could better afford to bear the shameless effrontery of the ermined extortioner than the damage which might result to them from adverse decisions. a railroad pass, when presented by a public official or even by any public man, is now, in nine cases out of ten, a certificate of dishonor and a token of servility, and is so recognized by railroad officials. what equivalent railroad companies expect for the pass "courtesy" is well illustrated by the experience of an iowa judge. this gentleman, who had been on the bench for years and always had been favored with passes by the various companies operating lines in his district, at the beginning of a new year failed to receive the customary pass from a leading road. meeting its chief attorney, he took occasion to call his attention to what he supposed to have been an oversight on the part of the officer charged with the distribution of the passes. the attorney seemed to take in the situation at once. "judge," said he, "did you not recently decide an important case against our company?" "and was my decision," replied the judge, "not in accordance with law as well as with justice?" the attorney did not answer this question, but in the course of a few days the judge received the desired pass. a few months later it again became the judge's unpleasant duty to render a decision adverse to the same company. this second act of judicial independence was not forgiven, and the next time he presented his pass it was unceremoniously taken up by the conductor in the presence of a large number of passengers, and he was required to pay his fare. employes, while engaged in the legitimate business of their companies, should, of course, be transported free, but a great many persons receive passes and are classed as employes who never render any legitimate service for the company giving the pass, and by far the greater portion of passes are not granted from pure motives, but are given for the purpose of corrupting their holders. it arouses antagonism, because as a rule passes are given to people who are fully able to pay their fare and are denied to those who are least able to pay it. the passenger who pays his fare and then finds that a large number of his fellow-passengers travel on passes realizes that he is compelled to pay a higher fare that others may be carried free. he feels that he is unjustly discriminated against, and wonders why such discrimination is tolerated in a country whose institutions are founded upon the very principle of equal rights to all. a good anecdote is related which well illustrates this feeling. a farmer and a lawyer occupied the same seat in a railroad car. when the conductor came the farmer presented his ticket, and the lawyer a pass. the farmer's features did not conceal his disgust when he discovered that his seat-mate was a deadhead. the lawyer, trying to assuage the indignation of the observing granger, said to him: "my friend, you travel very cheaply on this road." "i think so myself," replied the farmer, "considering the fact that i have to pay fare for both of us." but what must be a passenger's surprise when he finds that the judge who to-morrow is to preside at the trial of a case in which the railroad company is a party to-day accepts free transportation at its hands. a judge may scorn the charge that he is influenced by a railroad pass, but his fellow-passenger who has paid his fare cannot understand why the railroad company should give passes to one class of people and refuse them to others, if it does not consider one more than others to be in a position to reciprocate its favors. in their endeavor to win over the courts, however, the railroads do by no means confine their attention to the judges. they are well aware that a biased jury is often more useful to them than a biased judge, and efforts are made by them to contaminate juries, or at least prejudice them in their favor. a prominent iowa attorney, the legal and political factotum of a large railroad corporation, for years made it a practice to supply jurors with passes. in one instance, when it was shown in court by the opposing counsel that all jurors in the case on trial had accepted passes from the railroad company which was the defendant in the case, the judge found himself compelled to discharge the whole jury. the argument made by this counsel, in support of his motion that the jury be discharged, was certainly to the point. he showed that in order to have an equal chance for justice it would be necessary for his client to give each juror at least fifty dollars to offset the bribes given to them by the railroad company. that it has always been the policy of railroad managers to propitiate the judiciary is a fact too generally known among public men to admit of contradiction. if a judge owes his nomination or election to railroad influences, railroad managers feel that they have in this a guarantee of loyalty. if, however, he acquires the ermine in spite of railroad opposition, every effort is made to conciliate the new dispenser of the laws. the bestowal of unusual favors, flattery, simulated friendship and a thousand other strategies are brought into requisition to capture the wayward jurist. if he proves docile, if his decisions improve with time and show a gradual appreciation of the particular sacredness of corporate rights, the railroad manager will even forgive him his former heresy and rally to his support in the future. but if he asserts his convictions, if he attempts to discharge the duties of his responsible office without fear or favor, if he can neither be corrupted nor intimidated, all available railroad forces will be marshaled against him in the future. it cannot be surprising that, under such circumstances, there always has been a tendency among judges to be conservative and to give the railroads the benefit of the doubt in their decisions. judges well know that railroad companies appeal almost invariably when the decision of a lower court is adverse to them, but private citizens only in exceptional cases. they also know that railroads never forgive adverse decisions, whether right or wrong, while private citizens, as a rule, accept the decision of the court as justice, and do not hold the judge responsible for its being adverse to them. our judiciary is, and probably always has been, as incorruptible as the judiciary of any country in the world; but our judges are made of no better material than our legislative or executive officers. weak men, in all stations, are influenced by wealth and power, and weak judges can always be found who will be led or forced from the path of duty so long as corrupt men are permitted to manage railroads and to remain in possession of a power only inferior to that of an autocratic ruler. the influence which railroads exert extends from the lowest to the highest court of the land. federal courts have more than once been successfully appealed to to give legal sanction to the perpetuation of gigantic frauds, or to frustrate attempts made by the individual states to place restrictions upon roads operated within their respective borders. twenty years ago a federal judge aided mr. gould in his notorious erie transactions, and in more recent years a federal circuit judge in the west threw the property of the wabash railroad company, upon the application of its own directors, into the hands of receivers selected by its former managers without the knowledge or notice of its creditors, and issued orders for the management of the property which greatly discriminated in favor of certain bondholders and were so manifestly unjust that judge gresham, before whom the case was subsequently brought, did not hesitate to say to them that "the boldness of this scheme to aid the purchasing committee, by denying equal right to all bondholders secured by the same mortgages, is equaled only by its injustice." at the same time one of the counsel for the dissenting bondholders characterized these strange orders as "the highwayman's clutch on our throat, the robber's demand, 'your money or your life.'" the decision which the supreme court of the united states rendered in the granger cases in , affirming the right of a state to control railroad charges for the transportation of passengers and freight wholly within the state, was a serious disappointment to railroad men, for it was the first step toward wresting from them the power to arbitrarily control the commerce of the country. ever since that time it has been their determined purpose to bring about, if possible, a reconstruction of the federal supreme court, in order to secure a reversal or modification of the granger decision. in the case of peik vs. chicago, th u. s., , the supreme court laid down the following broad principle of law: "where property has been clothed with the public interest, the legislature may fix a limit to that which shall in law be reasonable for its use. this limit binds the courts as well as the people. if it has been improperly fixed, the legislature, not the courts, must be appealed to for a change." in one of the granger cases the same court used the following language: "we know that this is a power which may be abused, but that is no argument against its existence. for protection against abuses by legislatures, the people must resort to the polls." fourteen years later, in the case of c. m. & st. p. r. co. vs. minn., decided in october, , the same court rendered a decision so indefinite that the lawyers differed much in their opinions as to its meaning, and it appears that the members of the court who made the decision also differed in their opinions as to the meaning of the decision; for justice bradley said in his dissenting opinion, in which justice gray and justice lamar concurred, that the decision practically overruled munn vs. illinois; but the same court, in a case entitled budd vs. new york, submitted in october, , and decision rendered february , , and opinion delivered by justice blatchford, in referring to the minnesota case, after quoting the above statement from justice bradley, said: "but the opinion of the court did not say so, nor did it refer to munn vs. illinois, and we are of opinion that the decision in that case is, as will be hereafter shown, quite distinguishable from the present case." it is thus apparent that this court has adhered to the decision in munn vs. illinois, and to the doctrines announced in the opinion of the court in that case, and those doctrines have since been repeatedly enforced in the decisions of the courts of the states. judge brewer, whose zeal for the defense of corporate interests seems to amount almost to a craze, dissented. he said: "i dissent from the opinion and judgment in these cases. the main proposition upon which they rest is, in my judgment, radically unsound. it is the doctrine of munn vs. illinois reaffirmed. the paternal theory of government is to me odious. justice field and justice brown concur with me in this dissent." it should be remembered that justices brewer and brown were both appointed to the supreme bench by president harrison. we have every reason to believe that, unless the people of the united states are on the alert, as railroad managers always are, there is, with further changes in the personnel of the court, danger of its deviating from the sound principles of law laid down in its decision in the granger cases. railroad attorneys have repeatedly been raised to seats in the highest tribunal in the land. so great is the power of the railroad interests, and so persistent are they in their demands, that, unless a strong public sentiment records its protest, their candidates for appointive offices are but too apt to be successful. representatives of the railroads sit in the congress of the united states, others are members of the national campaign committees of both of the great political parties, others control the politics of the states, and their influence reaches to the white house, whether its occupant is aware of it or not. other interests in the past have succeeded in securing the appointment of biased men as judges of the supreme court who afterwards could always be relied upon to render decisions in their favor. will the people profit by their experience, or will they be indifferent to the danger which surrounds them, until nothing short of a political upheaval can restore to them these rights of sovereignty, of which they have so insidiously been deprived? human gratitude is such that even high-minded men who, through the influence of the railroad interest, have been placed upon the federal bench, find it impossible to divest themselves of all bias when called upon to decide a case in which their benefactors are interested. such is the human mind that, when clouded by prejudice, it will forever be blind to its own fault. even the members of so high a tribunal as the electoral commission which decided the presidential contest between hayes and tilden could not divest themselves of their prejudices; each one, republican or democrat, voted for the candidate of the party with which he had cast his political fortune. last january, in an address delivered before the new york state bar association at albany, mr. justice brewer reminded his hearers that the rights of the railroads "stand as secure in the eye and in the custody of the law as the purposes of justice in the thought of god." and further on they were told that "there are to-day $ , , , invested in railroad property, whose owners in this country number less than two million persons. can it be that whether that immense sum shall earn a dollar or bring the slightest recompense to those who have invested perhaps their all in that business, and are thus aiding in the development of the country, depends wholly upon the whim and greed of that great majority of sixty millions who do not own a dollar? it may be said that that majority will not be so foolish, selfish and cruel as to strip that property of its earning capacity. i say that so long as constitutional guarantees lift on american soil their buttresses and bulwarks against wrong, and so long as the american judiciary breathes the free air of courage, it cannot." unfortunately judicial buttresses and bulwarks have not always been lifted against wrong. judge taney, like brewer, supposed that it was left at his time for his court to preserve the peace and provide for the safety of the nation; but history has shown that we cannot depend upon that high tribunal for safety when it is controlled by weak or inefficient men. when we consider what "that great majority" has done for this country in the past, and is doing for it at the present time, and especially when we contrast its sense of justice and right with the weakness and inability of some of its public servants, does it not seem to be a little presumptuous for them to assume that "the danger is from the multitudes--the majority, with whom is the power," and that, were it not for their superior wisdom and patriotic action, this great government of the people, by the people and for the people would be a failure? mr. lincoln never feared "the whim and greed" of "that great majority," but he had at all times implicit confidence in the great mass of the people, and they in return had full confidence that no temptation of wealth or power was sufficient to seduce his integrity. we cannot dismiss this subject without referring to a stratagem which railroads have in the past repeatedly resorted to for the purpose of removing from the bench judges of independent minds whom they found it impossible to control. this stratagem consists of a well-disguised bribe, by which a federal judge is changed into a railroad attorney with a princely salary. the railroad thus gets rid of an undesirable judge and gains a desirable solicitor at a price at which they could well have afforded to pension the judge. the following is a copy of a broker's circular letter sent to prominent bankers of iowa, and shows that even the clerk of the united states court is not overlooked: "----, june th, . "mr. ----, "we offer, subject to sale at par and interest, note $ , . date, july th, . time, six months; rate, per cent. payable where desired. maker, ---- endorser, judge ---- mr. ----, the maker, is clerk of the united states circuit court at ---- judge ---- the well known attorney of the ---- and ---- railway co., of ----, stated to us to be worth $ , to $ , . can you use it?" while railroad managers rely upon servile courts as a last resort to defeat the will of the sovereign people, they are far from losing sight of the importance of controlling the legislative branch of the government. by preventing what they are pleased to call unfriendly legislation they are more likely to prevent friction with public opinion, and they avoid at the same time the risk of permanently prejudicing their cause by an adverse opinion upon a constitutional question which they may find it necessary to raise in order to nullify a legislative act. there are three distinct means employed by them to control legislative action. first, the election to legislative offices of men who are, for some personal reason, adherents to the railroad cause. second, the delusion, or even corruption, of weak or unscrupulous members of legislative bodies. third, the employment of professional and incidental lobbyists and the subsidizing of newspapers, or their representatives, for the purpose of influencing members of legislative bodies and their constituencies. there are probably in every legislative body a number of members who are in some way or other connected with railroad corporations. no doubt, a majority of these are personally irreproachable and even so high-minded as to always postpone private for public interest; yet there are also those whose political advancement was brought about by railroad managers for the very purpose of having in the legislative body servile members who could always be relied upon to serve their corporate masters. nevertheless, were railroad interests restricted to the votes of these men for their support, the public would probably have no cause for alarm on account of the presence of railroad representatives in legislative bodies, but, as many other interests seek favorable legislation, railroad men are often enabled to gain support for their cause by a corrupt bargain for votes, and it is thus possible for them to double, triple, and even quadruple, their original strength, by a policy of reciprocity. as in congress and state legislatures, so these representatives of the railroads may be found in our city councils. the leaders of the railroads in congress and in the legislatures of the various states usually rely upon discretion for obtaining their end, but railroad aldermen with but few exceptions seek to demonstrate their loyalty to the cause to which they are committed by a zealous advocacy of extreme measures, and will not unfrequently even gain their end through the most unscrupulous combinations. if their votes, together with such support as they obtain by making trades, are not sufficient to carry out or defeat a measure which the railroad interests may favor or oppose, even more questionable means are employed to gain a sufficient number of votes to command a majority. outright bribery is probably the means least often employed by corporations to carry their measures. while it may be true that the vote of every weak and unscrupulous legislator is a subject of barter, money is not often the compensation for which it is obtained. it is the policy of the political corruption committees of corporations to ascertain the weakness and wants of every man whose services they are likely to need, and to attack him, if his surrender should be essential to their victory, at his weakest point. men with political ambition are encouraged to aspire to preferment and are assured of corporate support to bring it about. briefless lawyers are promised corporate business or salaried attorneyships. those in financial straits are accommodated with loans. vain men are flattered and given newspaper notoriety. others are given passes for their families and their friends. shippers are given advantages in rates over their competitors; in fact, every legislator disposed to barter his vote away receives for it compensation which combines the maximum of desirability with the minimum of violence to his self-respect. those who attempt to influence or control legislative bodies in behalf of interested parties are collectively called the lobby. as a rule, the lobby consists of prominent politicians likely to have influence with members of their own party; of men of good address and easy conscience, familiar alike with the subject under consideration and legislative procedure, and last, but not least, of confidential agents authorized and prepared to enter into secret negotiations with venal members. the lobby which represents the railroad companies at legislative sessions is usually the largest, the most sagacious and the most unscrupulous of all. its work is systematic and thorough, its methods are unscrupulous and its resources great. yet all the members of a legislative body cannot be bribed, either by money, or position, or favors. some of them will not vote for any proposed measure unless they can be convinced that it is for the public welfare. these legislators, if their votes are needed, are turned over to the persuasive eloquence of those members of the lobby who, apparently, have come to the capital moved by a patriotic impulse to set erring legislators right on public questions. their familiarity with public matters, their success in public life, their high standing in political circles, their apparent disinterestedness and their plausible arguments all combine to give them great influence over new and inexperienced members. in extreme cases influential constituents of doubtful members are sent for at the last moment to labor with their representatives, and to assure them that the sentiment of their districts is in favor of the measure advocated by the railroads. telegrams pour in upon the unsuspecting members. petitions in favor of the proposed measure are also hastily circulated among the more unsophisticated constituents of members sensitive to public opinion, and are then presented to them as an unmistakable indication of the popular will, although the total number of signers forms a very small percentage of the total number of voters of the districts in which these petitions were circulated. a common method employed by the railroad lobby in iowa has been to arouse, by ingenious arguments, the prejudices of the people of one part of the state against those of another, or of one class against those of another class; for instance, the east against the west, or that portion of the state the least supplied with railroad facilities against that which is best supplied; or the river cities against the interior cities; or the country people against the city people; or the farmer against the merchant, and always artfully keeping in view the opportunity to utilize one side or the other in their own interest. another powerful reinforcement of the railroad lobby is not unfrequently a subsidized press and its correspondents. the party organs at the capital are especially selected to defend as sound measures, either from a partisan or non-partisan standpoint, legislation of questionable propriety desired by the railroads. when such measures are advocated by party organs, partisan members, either from fear or prejudice, are apt to "fall into line," and then to rely upon these organs to defend their action. editors, reporters and correspondents are even retained as active lobbyists and give the railroad managers' cause the benefit of their prestige. to such an extent has the abuse of the press been carried that a considerable number of its unworthy representatives look upon railroad subsidies as legitimate perquisites which they will exact through blackmailing and other means of compulsion if they are not offered. a case may be cited here to illustrate their mode of operation, as well as the ethics of railroad lobbies. during one of the sessions of the iowa legislature a newspaper correspondent came in possession of some information which reflected severely on the railroad lobby. he made his information the subject of a spicy article and showed it to a friend who stood close to the gentleman chiefly implicated, with the remark that nothing but a hundred dollar bill would prevent the transmission of the article by the evening mail to the paper which he represented. before sundown the stipulated price for the correspondent's silence was paid, and an enemy was turned into a friend. professor bryce says of the american lobby system: "all legislative bodies which control important pecuniary interests are as sure to have a lobby as an army to have its camp followers. where the body is, there will the vultures be gathered together." to such an extent is the lobby abuse carried that some large corporations select their regular solicitors more for their qualifications as lobbyists than for their legal lore. it is a common remark among lawyers that a great company in chicago pays a third-class lawyer, who has the reputation of being a first-class lobbyist, an extravagant salary and calls him general solicitor, while it relies upon other lawyers to attend to its important legal business. the readiness of members of the bar to serve wealthy corporations is fast bringing the legal profession of america into disrepute abroad. the author just quoted, in speaking of its moral standard, says: "but i am bound to add that some judicious american observers hold that the last thirty years have witnessed a certain decadence in the bar of the great cities. they say that the growth of enormously rich and powerful corporations, willing to pay vast sums for questionable services, has seduced the virtue of some counsel whose eminence makes their example important, and that in a few states the degradation of the bench has led to secret understandings between judges and counsel for the perversion of justice." there are, of course, able and honorable attorneys employed by railroad companies, but often railroad lawyers are selected more for their political influence, tact and ingenuity than for legal ability, and, as a rule, the political lawyer receives much better compensation for his services than does the lawyer who attends strictly to legitimate legal work. the danger from railroad corporations lies in their great wealth, controlled by so few persons, and the want of publicity in their business. were they required to render accounts of their expenditures to the public, legislative corruption funds would soon be numbered with the defunct abuses of railroad corporations, and, with bribes wanting in the balance of legislative equivalents, the representatives of the people could be trusted to enact laws just alike to the corporations and the public, while asserting the right of the people to control the public highway and to make it subservient to the welfare of the many instead of the enrichment of the few. a wise law regulating lobbies exists in massachusetts. every lobbyist is required to register, as soon as he appears at the capitol, to state in whose interest and in what capacity he attends the legislative session, to keep a faithful account of his expenses and to file a copy of the same with the secretary of state. were a similar law enacted and enforced by every state legislature, as well as by congress, the power of railroad lobbies would be curtailed. railroad managers never do things by halves. well realizing that it is in the power of a fearless executive, by his veto, to render futile the achievements of a costly lobby and to injure or benefit their interests by pursuing an aggressive or conservative policy in the enforcement of the laws, they never fail to make their influence felt in the selection of a chief magistrate, either of the nation or of an individual state. no delegate, with their permission, ever attends a national convention, republican or democratic, if he is not known to favor the selection of a man as the presidential candidate of his party whose conservatism in all matters pertaining to railroad interests is well established. at these conventions the railroad companies are always represented, and their representatives do not hesitate to inform the delegates that this or that candidate is not acceptable to their corporations and cannot receive their support at the polls. during the chicago convention of the statement was openly made that two of the western candidates lost eastern support because they were not acceptable to a prominent new york delegate who had come to chicago in a threefold capacity--that of a delegate, a presidential possibility, and special representative of one of the most powerful railroad interests in the country. this same man appeared again last year at the minneapolis convention as chief organizer of the forces of a leading candidate. his counterpart was in attendance at the chicago convention looking after the same interests there. it is the boast of prominent railroad men that their influence elected president garfield, and the statement has been made upon good authority that "not until a few days before the election did the garfield managers feel secure," and that "when the secret history of that campaign comes to be written it will be seen that jay gould had more influence upon the election than grant and conkling." it cannot be said that railroad managers, as a class, have often openly supported a presidential candidate. this may be due to the fact that with the uncertainty which has for years attended national politics they deem it the part of discretion to pretend friendship for either party and then shout with the victor. in conformity with this policy, a well-known new york railroad millionaire has for years made large and secret contributions to the campaign funds of both political parties. he thereby places both parties under political obligations, and believes his interests safe, whichever turn the political wheel may take. after the contest he is usually the first to congratulate the successful candidate. in the national campaign of this railroad king completely outwitted a prominent western politician and member of the republican national campaign committee who has always prided himself on his political sagacity. this gentleman had taken it upon himself to enlist the rich and powerful new yorker in the republican cause, and to obtain from him, as a token of his sincerity, a large contribution to the blaine campaign fund. he succeeded, at least so far as the contribution was concerned; but when the struggle was over and the opposition, in the exuberance of joy over their victory, told tales out of school, he was not a little chagrined to find that the managers of the cleveland campaign had received from the astute railroad millionaire a campaign contribution twice as large as that which he had obtained from him. the diatribes which for weeks after the election filled the columns of his paper reflected in every line the injured pride of the outwitted general. judging from the laxity with which the railroad laws have been enforced in a considerable number of states, their executive departments are as much under the influence of railroad managers as are the legislative departments of others. this cannot be surprising to those who know how often governors of states are nominated and elected through railroad influences, and what efforts are made by corporations to humor servile and to propitiate independent executives. the time is not far remote when nearly every delegate to a state convention had free transportation for the round trip. this transportation was furnished to delegates by railroad managers through their local attorneys, or through favored candidates and their confidants. it was only offered to those who were supposed to be friendly to candidates approved by the railroad managers; and as free passage was looked upon as the legitimate perquisite of a delegate, but few persons could be induced to attend a state convention and pay their fare. as a consequence, the railroad managers found it too often an easy matter to dictate the nomination of candidates. since the adoption of the interstate commerce law convention passes, as such, have largely disappeared; but many a prominent politician in going to and returning from political conventions travels as a railroad employe, though the only service which he renders to the railroad companies consists in manipulating conventions in their favor. if all the railroad candidates--and the companies usually take the precaution to support more than one candidate--are defeated in the convention of one party, and a railroad candidate is nominated by the other party, the latter is certain to receive at the polls every vote which railroad and allied corporate influence can command. one might suppose that an attempt would at least be made to hide from the general public the interference of such a power with the politics of a state; but railroad managers seem to rely for success as much upon intimidating political parties as upon gaining the good will of individual citizens. to influence party action, the boast has in recent years repeatedly and boldly been made in iowa that , railroad employes would vote as a unit against any party or individual daring to legislate or otherwise take official action against their demands, and forgetting that, with the same means used in opposition to them, a few hundred thousand farmers and business men could be easily organized to oppose them. unscrupulous employers often endeavor to control the votes of their employes. this is particularly true of railroad companies, and they use many ingenious plans to accomplish it. in the northwest, and especially in iowa, they have for several years organized their employes as a political force for the purpose of defeating such candidates for state offices as were known to favor state control of the transportation business. they have even paid the expenses of the organization, although they have made every effort to make it appear as if the movement was a voluntary one on the part of their employes. they are employing this method in texas and other states at the present time, in opposition to the effort that is being made by the people to secure just and reasonable treatment from the railroads. that the chief executive of a state should be influenced in the discharge of his official duties by such favors as passes, the freedom of the dining- and sleeping-car, by the free use of a special car, or even a special train, one is loath to believe; yet it is a fact, and especially during political campaigns, that such favors are frequently offered to, and accepted by, the highest executive officers, and it is equally true that many of these officers often connive at the continued and defiant violations of law by railroad officials. while the men who manage large railroad interests do not always possess that wisdom which popular reverence attributes to them, they certainly possess great cunning, and expend much of their artfulness in efforts to win over scrupulous, and to render still more servile unscrupulous executives. the general railroad diplomate never omits to pay homage to the man in power, to flatter him, to impress him with the political influence of his company, to intimate plainly that, as it has been in the past, so it will be in the future its determined policy to reward its friends and to punish its enemies. if the executive proves intractable, if he can neither be flattered, nor coaxed, nor bribed into submission, he does not hesitate to resort to intimidation to accomplish his purpose. this is by no means a rare occurrence. there are few public men who, if determined to do their duty, have not been subjected to railroad insult and intimidation. the author may be permitted to give an instance from his personal experience. soon after his inauguration as governor of iowa a general officer of one of the oldest and strongest western railroads called at his office and importuned him with unreasonable requests. when he found that he had utterly failed to impress the author with his arguments, he left abruptly, with the curt remark that these matters could be settled on election day, and he emphasized his statement by slamming the door behind him. a servile railroad press has always been ready to misrepresent and malign executive officers who have refused to acknowledge any higher authority than the law, the expressed public will and their own conception of duty. this abuse has even been carried so far that the editorial columns of leading dailies have been prostituted by the insertion of malicious tirades written by railroad managers and railroad attorneys; and the fact that public opinion has not been more seriously influenced by these venal sheets must be solely attributed to the good judgment and safe instinct of the masses of the people. however persistently railway organs deny it, it is a matter of general notoriety that railway officials take an active part in political campaigns. hundreds of communications might be produced to show their work in iowa, but the following two letters, written by a prominent railroad manager to an associate, will suffice for the purpose. it will be noticed that one was written before and the other after election. comments upon their contents are unnecessary: "----, iowa, nov. nd, . "dear sir: i have just discovered this p. m. that the central committee have sent electrotypes to all the printing offices in the state of the state ticket, with the names of the railway commissioners and supreme judge in so small a space as to make it very difficult, if not impossible, to write in the names. i am having slips made with commissioners' names and judge written on them, and they will be sent to all agents, not later than to-morrow, to paste over the printed names on the ticket, and thus beat this scheme. have you seen any tickets yet? and what do you think of this plan? "yours truly, "----" "----, iowa, nov. , . "dear sir: repeating the old and time-honored saying: 'we have met the enemy and we are theirs.' the democratic granger and the largely increased republican vote was too much for us. many friends voted with the railway men, but to no purpose. the comparison between granger and smyth will tell more than anything else the strength of the railway vote. but we are badly used up, and may as well take our dose. "yours truly, "----" while the result of this election was indeed a bad dose for speculating railway managers, it is the opinion of the masses and of railway stockholders, who are more interested in the general welfare of the roads than in speculation in their stocks, that the dose was well administered, and should be repeated whenever the necessity for it may again arise. it is probably true that railroad managers have lost much of their former influence in politics. as their means of corruption have become generally known they have become less effective. the public is more on the alert, and corrupt politicians often find themselves unable to carry out their discreditable compacts. but it is unreasonable to expect the evil to cease until the cause is removed. the trouble is inherent in the system, and the fault is there more than in the men who manage the business, and not till the great power exercised by them is restrained within proper limits will the evil disappear. all this can be accomplished when there shall be established a most thorough and efficient system of state and national control over the railroad business of the whole country. chapter x. railroad literature. the cause of the railroad manager has never been without time-servers. not to speak of those newspaper editors who, for some consideration or another, defend every policy and every practice inaugurated or approved by railroad authorities, there has always been a school of literati who felt it their duty to enlighten, from a railroad standpoint, their fellow-men by book or pamphlet upon the transportation question, to correct what they supposed to be false impressions, and to round up with an apology or defense for the railroad manager, who is invariably represented by them as the most abused and at the same time most patriotic and most progressive man of the age. the benefits derived from the railroad are great. it has been an important factor in the development of our country's resources and the advancement of our civilization. its value is fully appreciated, but there is no reason why the men who have utilized the inventions of stephenson and others, and have grown rich by doing so, should be eulogized any more than those who are ministering to the wants of the public by the use of the hoe printing press, mccormick's reaper, whitney's cotton gin, or any of the thousands of other modern inventions. these authors doubtless are prompted by various motives. some have been educated in the railroad school and are therefore blind to railroad evils. others naturally worship plutocrats, because they hold the opinion that capital is entitled to a larger reward than brains and muscle, for the reason that the latter is more plentiful than the former. but there is a third class of railroad authors, who, there is reason to believe, enter the literary arena in defense of railroad evils not solely for the love they bear the cause, but as the paid advocates of a class of men who feel that their cause is in need of a strong defense at the bar of public sentiment. it would be difficult to account in any other way for the extravagant statements and one-sided arguments made by this class of writers. yet railroad literature has not confined itself to the retrospective field. its scope has grown with the significance of its contributors. in more than one instance have men at the head of large railroad corporations, influenced by temporary interest, become the authors of documents containing assertions and prophecies highly pathetic at the time, but subsequently shown to be so replete with falsehoods and absurdities that few railroad managers would to-day be willing to father them. thus alexander mitchell, the late president of the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railroad company, addressed on the th of april, , shortly after the passage of the wisconsin granger law, a letter to governor taylor, containing the following passages: "that it [the wisconsin law] has effectually destroyed all future railroad enterprises, no one who is acquainted with its effect in money centers will for a moment doubt.... the whole amount received on the investment [chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railroad] for interest and cash and stock dividends, amounts to only six per cent. per annum of the actual cost of the property. i submit to your excellency, and through you to the people of the state, whether this is more than a fair and reasonable return for the capital invested in these improvements. is it not far below such reasonable amount? the best and most careful economists admit that no less than ten per cent. per annum should be allowed on such investments.... the directors of this company have at all times had a due regard to the interests of the public, and a desire to furnish transportation at the lowest possible figures, and, although not receiving a fair and reasonable return on their investments, they have for the last four years prior to steadily reduced their rates of freight and passengers from year to year, as will be seen from the following tables, showing the charge for freight per mile, and the average per mile for passengers for each year, from to inclusive: charges per ton average passenger rate per mile--cents. per mile--cents. . . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - . - "the law in question proposes to reduce our passenger rates twenty-five per cent. and our freight rates about the same, thus deducting from our present tariff about twenty-five per cent. of our gross earnings.... this act, as we have seen, proposes to take from us twenty-five per cent. of our passenger and freight earnings, and the additional tax of one per cent. of our gross earnings, all of which is equivalent to taking from us twenty-six per cent. of our gross earnings. therefore, deducting this amount, equal to twenty-six per cent. of our entire gross earnings, from thirty-three per cent., our average net earnings on business, would leave us only seven per cent. of our gross earnings as the entire net earnings of the road, out of which must be paid the interest on the bonds and the dividends to our stockholders. it is therefore manifest that this law will take from us over three-fourths of the net income received under our present tariff.... the board of directors have caused this act to be carefully examined and considered by their own counsel, and by some of the most eminent jurists in the land, and after such examination they are unanimous in their opinion that it is unconstitutional and void.... the board of directors are trustees of this property, and are bound faithfully to discharge their trust, and to the best of their ability to protect it from spoliation and ruin. they have sought the advice of able counsel, and, after mature consideration, believe it their duty to disregard so much of said law as attempts arbitrarily to fix rates of compensation for freight and passengers.... being fully conscious that the enforcement of this law will ruin the property of the company, and feeling assured of the correctness of the opinions of the eminent counsel who have examined the question, the directors feel compelled to disregard the provisions of the law so far as it fixes a tariff of rates for the company, until the courts have finally passed upon the question of its validity." the letter was at the time regarded by railroad men as a very strong document, and the railroad journals were filled with lengthy editorials in praise of the soundness of the doctrines and arguments which it contained. the disinterested of the enlightened portion of the community even then realized that the "eminent jurists" whom the company had consulted were hired attorneys and greatly biased in their views as to the constitutional rights of corporations, and that president mitchell on his part had painted by far too dark a picture of the situation. it is now quite generally admitted that many of mr. mitchell's statements were as false as his counsel's interpretation of the constitution and the law was erroneous. from the assertions made in this letter one is led to infer that the then stock-and bondholders of the milwaukee road had paid in full every dollar of the capitalized value of the road, and that they derived from their investment an income of only about six per cent. on the money actually invested by them. the cost of the entire chicago and milwaukee system in wisconsin was stated in the letter as being $ , per mile. it is not likely that this line of road ever cost to exceed $ , a mile, or that those who then owned the road paid much more than two-thirds of its actual cost for it. the road, as the letter itself admits, was bought at sheriff's sale, and no mercy whatever was shown to the farmers who had mortgaged their farms to aid the railroad company in raising funds for the construction of its line. the letter contains other misstatements equally grave. mr. a. b. stickney, the president of the chicago, st. paul and kansas city railroad, in his recent excellent work, "the railway problem," reviews mr. mitchell's letter as follows: "mr. mitchell states the average rate per mile in for passengers at . cents. it was well understood that this was an average rate received from those passengers who paid anything, and that, had the average rate been obtained by using as a divisor the total number of paying passengers plus the number of those who rode free the average would have been much below three cents, the price fixed by the law, and consequently, if the company would collect the legal rate from all alike and abolish the free list, its revenues from the passenger business would be increased rather than decreased. if the same test is applied to the freight rates it becomes equally evident that this statute did not reduce the rates in wisconsin below the average rate of . cents per ton per mile, which, according to mr. mitchell's statement, was the average for the year . for proof, it may be stated that the law classified freight into four general classes, to be designated as first, second, third and fourth classes, and into seven special classes, to be designated as d, e, f, g, h, i and j. the rates on the four general classes were made the same as were 'charged for carrying freights in said four general classes on said railroads on the first day of june, ,' and the rate per ton per mile was fixed at certain rates for the first twenty-five miles, a less for the second twenty-five miles, and a fixed rate per mile after, as follows: st miles nd miles. all over miles. d - / cents - / cents / cents. e same as class above. f cents cents cent. g - / cents cents cent. h cents - / cents - / cents. i - / cents - / cents - / cents. j - / cents - / cents cent. "when it is considered, in connection with these figures, that the four general classes were left by the legislature under the same tariffs as had been enforced by the companies, and, as a rule, first class is three times the rate of class d, and third and fourth class materially higher, the evidence seems conclusive that the rates fixed by law would produce an average materially higher than the average of the whole year, stated by mr. mitchell at - / cents. it seems also probable that, had the rates fixed by this law been applied to the whole business of the line, the interstate as well as the state traffic, it would still have produced a larger average. the latter of course is the proper test. there are little inaccuracies in the material facts as stated by mr. mitchell which were pointed out at once. for example: in his tabulated statement of passenger earnings per mile, averaging the gross earnings from transportation of passengers who paid any fare, and omitting the large number who went free, the rate is stated at - cents per mile; then he says: 'the law in question proposes to reduce our passenger rate twenty-five per cent.,' which would have reduced the rate to . cents per mile, while, the rate fixed by the law complained of was three cents per mile. then mr. mitchell proceeds: 'and our freight rates about the same; thus deducting from our present tariff about twenty-five per cent. of our gross earnings.' it was immediately pointed out that the law only applied to strictly state business; that is, to traffic that originated and ended in the state of wisconsin. all other traffic was interstate commerce, and could not be controlled by state legislation. the volume of business which would be affected by the law would therefore be comparatively small--estimated at not over ten per cent., of the total traffic of the line. hence, if the rates fixed by the law were twenty-five per cent. less than the rates the company had been in the habit of collecting (which was denied), it could not possibly have 'deducted from its present tariff' more than two and one-half per cent., instead of twenty-five per cent. as stated by mr. mitchell. "it was claimed that the facts were, that the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul company, in its efforts to bankrupt the lake superior and mississippi company, had many of its interstate rates so low that it had resulted in loss, and that its other rates had been made unreasonably high in order to recoup this loss, and that the state of wisconsin was compelled to pay a part of the expense of the transportation of favored sections of the state of minnesota." all through the granger contests the railways have weakened the force of their arguments by their misrepresentation of facts and by their extravagant predictions of ruin. the companies were continually proclaiming: 'if this or that is done, it will ruin us; it will ruin the state,' when, in fact, a road cannot be mentioned that has suffered from state legislation. nineteen years ago no railroad manager could have written what mr. stickney writes to-day, and few railroad managers would write to-day what mr. mitchell wrote then. and yet, such is the change which public sentiment is undergoing upon these questions, that the utterances of many of our present railroad authors will appear as absurd a few years hence as mr. mitchell's letter of nineteen years ago appears to us now. many railroad attorneys have since been guilty of resorting to the sophistry employed by president mitchell in that strange letter which he addressed to the governor of wisconsin. even so distinguished a gentleman as hon. james w. mcdill, now a member of the interstate commerce commission, made in , as a member of a railroad lobby, the following remarkable statements before the railroad committee of the general assembly of iowa, in a speech opposing a proposed reduction of the passenger rate of first-class roads from three to two cents per mile: "the proposition, if confined to the first-class roads of iowa, proposes a one-third reduction of their revenues from passenger business.... we have earned in iowa by first-class roads annually about $ , , , and a reduction of one cent, or from a rate of three cents to two, will reduce their revenues about $ , , a year.... thus it is seen that it is proposed to take from the revenues of a part of the railroads of iowa, annually, almost as much as all the railroads of iowa have paid for taxes in nine years ($ , , . )." mr. mcdill was a member of the iowa railroad commission for several years. he may, therefore, be presumed to have known that the state of iowa could not, and did not propose to, regulate interstate traffic, and that the thirteen million dollars railroad revenue to which he referred was derived both from interstate and state traffic; that the latter was only about one-fourth of the former, and that therefore the proposed reduction on the basis of schedule rates would have cut down the net revenue of the roads only about one million instead of five million dollars. but mr. mcdill himself states that the average rate earned by all the railroads of the united states was, for the year , only . cents per passenger per mile. it certainly was not over - / cents per mile for the first-class roads of iowa. thus the proposed reduction, instead of being one cent per mile, as stated by mr. mcdill, was only one-half cent per mile; and it only applied to the local business of the first-class roads. in other words, the bill under consideration, had it been enacted into law, would have caused a reduction of per cent. on about per cent. of the total revenue from passenger business of the first-class roads, or of five per cent. on their total income from passenger traffic in the state of iowa. it will be noticed that mr. mcdill in his calculation made no allowance whatever for the increase of business which would have followed such a reduction. the gain from this source would probably have greatly exceeded the loss due to this small reduction in the fare. in the same address mr. mcdill made many other equally fallacious statements. one of the most devoted advocates of the interests of railroad managers is marshall m. kirkman. he is the author of a number of books and pamphlets upon railway subjects, among them a pamphlet entitled "the relation of the railroads of the united states to the people and the commercial and financial interests of the country." mr. kirkman introduces his subject with the following rather remarkable statement: "i shall show that while the railways of the united states are designated as monopolies, they are not so in fact. accused of disregarding the interests of the community, i will show that they are abnormally sensitive to their obligations in this direction. while legislatures claim the right to fix rates, i shall show that the abnormal conditions under which the railway system has grown up and its chaotic nature render the exercise of such a privilege impossible. i will show that while it is assumed that rates may be fixed arbitrarily, they must, on the contrary, be based on natural causes, the competition of carriers, their necessities and the rivalries of conflicting markets and trade centers; conditions manifestly impossible to determine or regulate in advance, and therefore beyond the control of legislation.... while a division of business (by pooling) is thought to be contrary to the interests of the people, i shall show that it is the legitimate fruit of indiscriminate railway building and offers the only escape from the conditions such practice engenders. i shall show that, while it is assumed that rates may be based progressively or otherwise on distance, the enforcement of such a principle would restrict the source of supply, and, in so far as this was the case, render great markets or centers of industry impossible." speaking of the importance of the railroad, mr. kirkman says: "superseding every other form of inland conveyance, it determines the location of business centers, and vitalizes by its presence, or blasts by its absence." he contends that rigid and scrutinizing supervision should be exercised by the government over the location of railroads, and that only such lines should be permitted to be built as afford reasonable grounds for profitable enterprise. "it should be," he says, "an axiom in our day that a government that permits or encourages the construction of two railways where one would suffice is, to the extent that it does this, a public nuisance." mr. kirkman here makes it the duty of the government to arbitrarily meddle with railroad affairs. he would give the government the power to determine when and where an additional railroad is needed, and to prohibit the construction of any new road that has not the government sanction. the interests of a thousand towns might suffer for want of adequate transportation facilities, individuals and communities might be anxious to build their own lines for the development of local resources, but all railroad enterprise is doomed to a standstill until a conservative governmental commission has been entirely satisfied that a prospected road will pay and not deprive existing roads of any part of their revenue. there can be no doubt that if such a policy were ever adopted in america, few roads would be built without having first passed the ordeal of a legal injunction, and many a prospected road, though greatly needed, would remain unbuilt because its promoters would be discouraged by the delay and cost of litigation. but while this author is perfectly willing to trust the government with the great responsibility of prohibiting the construction of proposed roads, he is not willing to have it exercise the power to determine what are reasonable rates. he tries to sustain his objection by the following argument: "the fixing of rates upon a railroad is as delicate a process as that of determining the pulse of a sick man. they cannot be determined abstractly, or in advance of the wants of business, but must be adjusted from hour to hour to conform to its fluctuations. five thousand men find active employment in the united states in connection with the important duty of making rates. each case requires particular investigation and involves, in many instances, prolonged study and research. the duty requires men of marked experience and capacity. they and men like them are the silent, unseen power that moves great enterprises of every nation. in the case of railroads we may enumerate those having official positions, but the experts from whom the official heads derive information and assistance cannot be classified. they comprise a vast army of experienced and able men familiar with railway traffic and quick to respond to its requirements. such a body of men could not be organized by a government, or, if organized, would rapidly deteriorate under conditions so unfavorable for their support and development. whatever authority exercises the duty of fixing rates must take up the subject in the same methodical way and, acting through skilled agents, pursue its inquiries and determine its results with the same experience, minute care and _conscientious regard_ for the technical requirements of business that the railway companies observe. no government can possess the facilities for perfecting so vast and intricate an organization and at the same time render it responsive to the public good. the labor is too great and the responsibility too remote. it could not move with sufficient quickness to respond to the actual requirements of trade, and too many restrictions would necessarily govern its actions. for these and other equally important reasons governments must always be satisfied to restrict their offices in this direction." speaking of the men who are commonly termed railroad magnates, mr. kirkman says: "they alone possess the needed administrative ability that the situation demands. they not only provide largely the capital, but they discover the fields wherein it may be used most advantageously. they are the advance guard of all great enterprises, the natural leaders of men. they are an integral part of the country, a necessary and valuable element, without which its natural resources would avail little." this is a very strong statement in the face of the fact that but very few of the class of men to whom mr. kirkman refers ever built a line of road. they have usually found it more profitable to "gobble" roads already built than to construct new lines. according to this author the public have no reason to complain of railroads; on the contrary, the latter have always been the victims of public persecution, and "every species of folly, every conceivable device of malice, the impossible requirements of ignorance, the selfish cunning of personal interests, the ravings of demagogues, the disappointments, envies, prejudices and jealousies of mankind have each in turn and in unison sought to injure the railway interest." but probably the most extravagant passage in the whole treatise is the one referring to special rates, which he calls "the foundation and buttress of business," without which it could not be carried on. he expresses the opinion that without the continued and intelligent use of such rates "our cities would soon be as destitute of manufactories as one of the bridle paths of afghanistan," and then continues: "the special rate of carriers is like the delicate fluid that anoints and lubricates the joints of the human body. it is an essential oil. without it the wheels of commerce would cease and we should quickly revert to the period when the stage-coach and the overland teamster fixed the limits of commerce and the stature of cities." the most recent and probably the most radical of mr. kirkman's books is "railway rates and government control." it would lead us too far from our subject to enter into a discussion of mr. kirkman's errors; in fact, it might prove an endless task. suffice it to say that in discussing his subject he revels in such phrases as: "subject too vast to be comprehended." "acts of agrarian legislation and foolish manifestations of disappointment and hate." "the rabble will avail itself of every excuse to pass laws that would, under other circumstances, be called robberies." "ignorance and demagogism." "government interference, the panacea of cranks and schemers." "only understood by the few." "these people are as sincere as they are ignorant." "governments have no commercial sense." "those who condemn them are not so dishonest as ignorant, and not so malicious as foolish." "silly people." "justice and common honesty are systematically denied [the railroads]." "legal means of plundering them." "the intelligence and facilities of government are but one step above the barbarian." "those who use railroads should pay for them," etc., etc. mr. kirkman's argument is in substance: rate-making is a difficult subject. the people are too ignorant to understand it. those who carry on the government are for the most part fools and demagogues, and are utterly unfit to do justice to such a task. railroad men are wise and just, and neither the people nor the government should meddle with the railroad business. in order to place a true estimate upon mr. kirkman's utterances, one should remember that he is a railroad employe as well as the patentee and vendor of a number of railroad account forms which are extensively used by railroad companies. the chicago _tribune_, in reviewing this last literary production of mr. kirkman, says: "the great fault of mr. kirkman's statements is that they are often so general in character as to be both true and false at the same time.... he does not seem to comprehend the nature of the railroad, or to perceive the danger of allowing a railroad to exercise its powers uncontrolled. he denies the state's right to interfere with any discriminations which a railway corporation chooses to adopt. he would allow railways to fix whatever charges they please for long hauls and short hauls.... mr. kirkman does not adduce a single fact in support of these remarkable views. he simply says: 'railroads cannot, if they would, maintain any inequitable local tariff.' this is not argument, it is simply assertion. every one who has learned the alphabet of this question knows that railways have been exceedingly unjust wherever competition or the law did not restrict their powers. if this were the proper place for it we would give the author instances of this injustice by the hundred, and almost any book on the subject refers to such cases by the thousand.... when confronted with the facts substantiating such charges the author answers the argument by exclaiming: 'but how absurd! but how untrue! our commercial morals are equal to the highest in the world....' scarcely an assertion can be taken without qualification. the author fairly revels in half-truths.... the book may have its merits, but they are too modest to reveal themselves." it is a failing of mankind to take for truth without further investigation any assertion that has often been reiterated. most people are prone to believe that an assertion made by a thousand hearsay witnesses is true, overlooking the possibility of their drawing from a common false source. but it is surprising that an author like prof. arthur t. hadley should fall into such an error. in his otherwise excellent work, "railroad transportation, its history and its laws," mr. hadley bases a number of his deductions upon false premises advanced by railroad managers, and arrives at conclusions which appear strange when their source is considered. in the chapter on railroad legislation professor hadley says: "but a more powerful force than the authority of the courts was working against the granger system of regulation. the laws of trade could not be violated with impunity. the effects were most sharply felt in wisconsin. the law reducing railroad rates to the basis which competitive points enjoyed left nothing to pay fixed charges. in the second year of its operation, no wisconsin road paid a dividend; only four paid interest on their bonds. railroad construction had come to a standstill. even the facilities of existing roads could not be kept up. foreign capital refused to invest in wisconsin; the development of the state was sharply checked; the very men who had most favored the law found themselves heavy losers.... by the time the supreme court published the granger decisions, the fight had been settled, not by constitutional limitations, but by industrial ones." these statements are either utterly untrue or greatly misleading. mr. hadley ought to know that the railroad companies in the granger states never complied with the letter, much less with the spirit of the law. whenever they made an apparent effort to live up to it they only did so to make it odious. rates were never reduced by the legislature to the basis previously enjoyed by competitive points, but merely to the average charge which had obtained before the passage of the law. as a rule the railroad revenues increased. if any companies failed to earn enough to pay fixed charges it was simply because they were determined not to do so. a non-payment of dividends did not injure the managers, but simply other stockholders of the road. a permanent establishment of the principle of non-discrimination, on the other hand, would have benefited stockholders, while prejudicing the speculative interest which managers had in the roads. railroad construction came, after the financial panic of , to a practical standstill throughout the united states; and if the granger states did not get their share of the very small total increase during the five years following the panic, it was due solely to a conspiracy on the part of the railroad managers to misrepresent and pervert the legislation of these states. the laws, as has already been stated, were finally repealed, not because the people had tired of them or regarded them unwise or unjust, but because it was hoped that the commissioner system would prove more efficient. it was offered as a compromise measure and was accepted as such by the railroad managers, who, in their eagerness to rid themselves of the restrictions imposed by the granger laws, gave every assurance of complete submission to the requirements of the proposed legislation. mr. hadley even goes so far as to defend railroad pools. "unluckily," he says, "we place these combinations outside of the protection of the law, and by giving them this precarious and almost illegal character we tempt them to seek present gain, even at the sacrifice of their own future interests. we regard them, and we let them regard themselves, as a means of momentary profit and speculation, instead of recognizing them as responsible public agencies of lasting influence and importance." we can partially account for this author's defense of pooling when we are informed that he accepts it as an axiom that "combination does not produce arbitrary results any more than competition produces beneficent ones." referring to railroad profits, mr. hadley says: "the statement that corporations make too much money is scarcely borne out by the facts. the average return of the railroads of this country is only four per cent., the bondholders receiving an average of four and a half per cent., the stockholders of two and a half per cent. true, much of the stock is water, not representing any capital actually expended; but, even making allowance for this, it is hardly probable that the roads are earning more than five per cent. on the total investment. this assumes an average cost of $ , per mile, implying that about half of the stock and one-sixth of the bonds are water." mr. hadley would probably have come much nearer the truth if he had assumed three-fourths of the stock and one-fourth of the bonds to be water. even mr. poor, who certainly cannot be accused by railroad men of being inimical to their interests, places the average cost of the railroads of this country no higher than at $ , per mile; and this estimate, it should be remembered, includes the value of the large donations made to railroad companies by the public. with a full understanding of all the circumstances, mr. poor said of railroad investments several years ago that if the water were taken out of them no class of investments in this country would pay as well. in the face of this statement mr. hadley would do well to revise his figures. we find, however, in prof. hadley's book also eminently sound views, like the following: "if the object of a railroad manager is simply to pay as large a dividend as possible for the current year, he can best do it by squeezing his local tariff, of which he is sure, and securing through traffic at the expense of other roads by specially low rates; that is, by a policy of heavy discrimination. but the permanent effect of such a policy is to destroy the local trade, which gives a road its best and surest custom, and to build up a trade which can go by another route whenever it pleases. the permanent effect of such a policy is ruinous to the railroad as well as the local shipper." and he continues: "by securing publicity of management you do much to prevent the permanent interests of the railroads from being sacrificed to temporary ones. by protecting the permanent interests of the public you enlist the stockholders and the best class of railroad managers on the side of sound policy." edward atkinson, in an essay entitled "the railway, the farmer and the public," endeavors to prove that the farmers have no cause for complaining against the railroad, because rates of transportation have been greatly reduced during the past twenty years. speaking of the reductions made in freight rates in the state of new york, he says: "had the rate of been charged on the tariff of the sum would have been at . cents on , , , tons, carried one mile, $ , , ; the actual charge was $ , , , making a difference of $ , , saved on one year's traffic on the lines reported in new york." it either did not occur to mr. atkinson, or, if it did occur to him, he failed to mention it, that these freight reductions were forced upon the railroads chiefly by water competition, and that if the railroad companies had not saved these seventy-four million dollars for the people, the canal lines, always subject to competition, would have saved a large part of it. with equal propriety might it be said that the railroads, by meeting canal competition, saved for themselves in the year mentioned a goodly share of their gross earnings. such reasoning is absurd, and it is high time that the bubble of an argument so often used by railroad advocates be pricked. as mr. atkinson has introduced the farmer, let us apply his rule to him. there was a time when the farmer sold his corn for a dollar a bushel. to-day he sells it for thirty cents. he therefore saves to the people of this country, on , , , bushels, the enormous sum of $ , , , . there is scarcely an industry in existence to which this argument does not apply with equal force. mr. atkinson virtually admits that railroads charge all the traffic will bear when he says: "the charge which can be put upon the wheat of dakota or iowa for moving it to market is fixed by the price at which east indian wheat can be sold in market lane." he is opposed to the interstate commerce law, which he regards as "obnoxious measures of national interference and futile attempts to control this great work." he would rely chiefly upon the publicity of accounts made by railway officers, as secured by the private publication of poor's railway manual, for all needed regulation, but concedes the establishment of a figurehead commission, concluding his remarks upon the subject as follows: "a commission which may bring public opinion to bear upon railway corporations may well be established, and there the work of the legislator may well cease." when we consider the powerful agencies employed by railroads to create public sentiment in their favor we can well understand the inefficiency of such a milk-and-water method of control. one of the most radical books ever published at the instigation of railroad managers appeared in , under the title "the people and the railways." its author is appleton morgan, who attempts to "allay the animosity towards the railway interests" as shown in mr. james f. hudson's book, "the railways and the republic." the means which mr. morgan chooses are not well calculated to accomplish his purpose, for the masses of the people prefer in such a controversy arguments to ridicule and sarcasm, weapons of literary warfare to which this author resorts altogether too freely. mr. morgan's opinion as to the benefits of centralized wealth and trade combinations differs greatly from that held by the great majority of the american people. he says: "the fact, the truth is, that (however it may be in other countries) the accumulation of wealth and centralization of commerce in great combinations has never, in the united states, been a source of oppression or of poverty to the non-capitalist or wage-worker." there is scarcely an evil in railroad management which mr. morgan does not defend. pools, construction companies, rebates, discriminations and over-capitalization all find favor in mr. morgan's eye. "rebates and discriminations," he says, "are neither peculiar to railways nor dangerous to the 'republic.' they are as necessary and as harmless to the farmer as is the chromo which the seamstress or the shop girl gets with her quarter-pound of tea from the small tea merchant, and no more dangerous to the latter than are the aforesaid chromos to the small recipients." pools and combinations receive an unusually large share of mr. morgan's attention. a few selections from his effusions in their favor may be given here, viz.: "these pools are the legitimate and necessary results of the rechartering over and over again of railway companies to transact business between the same points by paralleling each other. so long as the people in their legislatures will thus charter parallel lines serving identical points--thus dividing territory they once granted entire--it is not exactly clear how they can complain if the lines built (by money invested, if not on the good faith of the people, at least in reliance upon an undivided business) combine to save themselves from bankruptcy." and again: "against the inequality of their own rates and the hardship of the long and short haul (in other words, against the discrimination of nature and of physical laws) no less than against the peril of bankruptcy and the consequent speculative tendency of their stocks (after which may come the wrecking, the watering, and the vast individual fortunes), the railways of this republic have endeavored, by establishment of pool commissions, to defend both the public and themselves.... the honest administration of railways for all interests, the payment of their fixed charges, the solvency of their securities, the faithful and valuable performance of their duties as carriers, can be conserved in but one way--by living tariffs, such as the pools once guaranteed." in the following passage this author denies to the state the right to regulate rates: "granting that they [the railroads] must carry freights for the public in such a way as not to injure either the public or the freight in the carrying, most emphatically (it seems to me) it does not follow that they must add to the value of the freights they carry by charging only such rates as the public or the owners of the freight insist on." but mr. morgan's indignation rises to the highest pitch in his discussion of the interstate commerce act. he fears that it will cause the downfall of our liberties and sees in the background the venetian bridge of sighs and the french bastille. he asks: "why should for any public reasons--for any reason of public safety--the interstate commerce law have come to stay?" he then berates the act as follows: "to begin with, the present act abounds in punishments for and prohibitions against an industry chartered by the people, but nowhere extends to that industry a morsel of approval or protection. it bristles with penalties, legal, equitable, penal, and as for contempt, against railway companies, but nowhere alludes to any possible case in which a railway company might, by accident, be in the right, and the patron, customer, passenger or shipper in the wrong.... the constitutions of civilized nations, for the last few centuries at least, have provided that not even guilt should be punished except by due process of law, and have uniformly refused to set even that due process in motion except upon a complaint of grievance. but the interstate commerce law denies the one and does away with the necessity for the other. that statute provides that the commission it creates shall proceed 'in such manner and by such means as it shall deem proper,' or 'on its own motion,' and that 'no complaint shall at any time be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.' even the venetian council often provided for a certain and described hole in the wall through which the anonymous bringers of charges should thrust their accusations. even the court of star chamber was known to dismiss inquisitions when it found that no wrong had been done. but the statute of interstate commerce appears to issue _lettres de cachet_ against anything in the shape of a railway company--to scatter them broadcast, and to invite any one who happens to have leisure to fill them out, by inserting the name of a railway company. it says to the bystander: 'drop us a postal card, or mention to any of our commissioners, or to a mutual friend, the name of any railway company of which you may have heard, and so give us jurisdiction to inquire if that company may have by chance omitted to dot an i or cross a t in its ledgers, or whether any one of its hundreds of thousands of agents--in the rush of a day's business, or in a shipper's hurry to catch a train--may have named a rate not on the schedule then being prepared at headquarters, or charged a sixpence less than some other agent miles down the line may have accepted a week ago for what might turn out to be a fraction more mileage service in the same general direction. no particular form is necessary. drop in to luncheon with our commission any day between twelve and one, and mention the name of a railway company. the railway company may have done you no damage, nor grieved you in any way; just mention the railroad, and we will take jurisdiction of its private (or quasi-public) affairs. or, if you don't happen to have time to mention it, we will take jurisdiction anyhow, 'of our own motion,' of any railway company whose name we find in the official gazette. it really does not matter which; any one will do." this is a fair example of the literature on the interstate commerce law paid for by railroad men. mr. stickney, although a railroad president, takes an entirely different view of the situation. he considers the law inadequate to bring about the reforms needed. he says: "this enormous business is now in the control of several hundred petty chieftains, who are practically independent sovereigns, exercising functions and prerogatives in defiance of the laws, and practically denying their amenability to the laws of the country. if the government would seek to bring them to terms and compel them to recognize and obey the laws, it must use the means necessary to accomplish the end. it must have executive officers sufficient in number as well as armed with an adequate power and dignity to command their respect.... the power conferred upon them [the interstate commerce commission] to enforce their judicial orders is the power 'to scold.' the penalties of the law which the courts are in power to impose are certainly severe, but the law has been operated for about four years without any convictions, and yet no well-informed person is ignorant of the fact that the law has not been obeyed. the president of a large system is said to have remarked that 'if all who had offended against the law were convicted there would not be jails enough in the united states to hold them.' it is evident that the government has not provided adequate machinery for enforcing the law." mr. stickney is correct in his statement that adequate machinery for enforcement of the law has not been provided, but he does not give sufficient credit to the law or the commission. while much work remains to be done, much progress has been made. he is of the opinion that the public welfare would be furthered if the national government assumed the sole control of railroads. he gives his reasons for the change which he proposes, as follows: "there are many reasons besides these in the interest of uniformity which make it desirable to transfer the entire control of this important matter to the regulation of the nation. first, because of its constitution and more extended sessions, congress is able to consider the subject with greater deliberation, and therefore with more intelligence, than can a legislature composed of members who, as a rule, hold their office for but one short session of about sixty days' duration. there would also be removed from local legislation a fruitful source of corruption, which is gradually sapping the foundations of public morality.... in the second place, the problem of regulating railway tolls and managing railways is essentially and practically indivisible, by state lines or otherwise, and therefore it is not clear but that whenever the question may come before the courts it may be held that the authority of congress to deal with interstate traffic carries with it, as a necessary and inseparable part of the subject, to regulate the traffic which is now assumed to be controlled by the several states. the courts have held that the states have authority to regulate strictly state traffic in the absence of congressional action, but their decisions do not preclude the doctrine that congress may have exclusive jurisdiction whenever it may choose to exercise the authority. there is a line of reasoning which would lead to that conclusion. it may be that many will not care to follow the lead of the writer as to the measure of aggregate net revenue which railway companies are entitled to collect in tolls, but it is evident that before the tolls can be intelligently determined some measure of such aggregate revenue must be ascertained. the question would then arise, what proportion must be levied upon state and interstate traffic respectively? if the state should refuse to levy its share (and how could such share be ascertained?), then more than its share would have to be levied on interstate traffic, and thus the state by indirection would be able to do what the constitution prohibits. of course, when the constitution was adopted railways and railway traffic were unknown. but it was a similar question which brought the thirteen original states together into one nation, under the present constitution. at least the first movement toward amending the original articles of confederation was to give congress enlarged power over the subject of commerce." in reply to this it may be said that it will be an unfortunate day for the states when they surrender the power to control their home affairs. differences between state and interstate rates could easily be adjusted by the national and state commissions and by the courts. it certainly ought not to be difficult for such tribunals to see that a rate which is made higher or lower, as it may be for state or interstate traffic, is wrong. mr. stickney has fallen into the error common to railroad men in believing that lower rates of transportation will not prevail in the future. there are many reasons why it is probable that they will be lower. present rates are highly profitable on well located lines. labor-saving inventions will increase, and roads will be built and operated more cheaply. lines will be located with lower grades, lighter curvature and more directness. business will increase largely, and the ratio of expenses will decrease. steel will be improved in quality and will be substituted for iron. a heavier rail and more permanent roadway will be used. rates of interest will rule lower, and there will be much more economy in superintending. extravagant salaries to favorites will be reduced, and sinecures and parasites will be cut off from the payrolls. lower wages are inevitable as our population becomes more dense. a very interesting and instructive author upon railroad subjects is charles francis adams, jr., ex-president of the union pacific railroad and formerly a member of the board of railroad commissioners of the state of massachusetts. after twenty years' constant association with railroad men, mr. adams should certainly know the character of his quondam colleagues. in his book, "railroads, their origin and problems," he says of them: "lawlessness and violence among themselves [_i. e._, the various railroad systems], the continual effort of each member to protect itself and to secure the advantage over others, have, as they usually do, bred a general spirit of distrust, bad faith and cunning, until railroad officials have become hardly better than a race of horse-jockeys on a large scale. there are notable exceptions to this statement, but, taken as a whole, the tone among them is indisputably low. there is none of that steady confidence in each other, that easy good faith, that _esprit du corps_, upon which alone system and order can rest. on the contrary, the leading idea in the mind of the active railroad agent is that some one is always cheating him, or that he is never getting his share in something. if he enters into an agreement, his life is passed in watching the other parties to it, lest by some cunning device they keep it in form and break it in spirit. peace is with him always a condition of semi-warfare, while honor for its own sake and good faith apart from self-interest are, in a business point of view, symptoms of youth and a defective education." and again, in an address delivered before the commercial club of boston in december, , mr. adams expressed his opinion concerning the average railroad manager of to-day as follows: "that the general railroad situation of the country is at present unsatisfactory is apparent. stockholders are complaining; directors are bewildered; bankers are frightened. yet that the interstate commerce act is in the main responsible for all these results, remains to be proved. in my opinion, the difficulty is far more deep-seated and radical. in plain words, it does not lie in any act of legislation, state or national; and it does lie in the covetousness, want of good faith and low moral tone of those in whose hands the management of the railroad system now is; in a word, in the absence among men of any high standard of commercial honor. these are strong words, and yet, as the result of a personal experience stretching over nearly twenty years, i make bold to say they are not so strong as the occasion would justify. the railroad system of this country, especially of the regions west of chicago, is to-day managed on principles which--unless a change of heart occurs, and that soon--must inevitably lead to financial disaster of the most serious kind. there is among the lines composing that system an utter disregard of those fundamental ideas of truth, fair play and fair dealing which lies at the foundation, not only of the christian faith, but of civilization itself. with them there is but one rule--that, many years ago, put by wordsworth into the mouth of rob roy: "'the simple rule, the good old plan, that he shall take who has the power, and he shall keep who can.'" as regards the causes of the granger movement, mr. adams says, in the work above mentioned: "that it [the granger episode] did not originate without cause has already been pointed out. it is quite safe to go further, and to say that the movement was a necessary one, and through its results has made a solution of the railroad problem possible in this country. at the time that movement took shape the railroad corporations were in fact rapidly assuming a position which could not be tolerated. corporations, owning and operating the highways of commerce, claimed for themselves a species of immunity from the control of the law-making power. when laws were passed with a view to their regulation they received them in a way which was at once arrogant and singularly injudicious. the officers entrusted with the execution of those laws they contemptuously ignored. sheltering themselves behind the dartmouth college decision, they practically undertook to set even public opinion at defiance. indeed, there can be no doubt that those representing these corporations had at this juncture not only become fully educated up to the idea that the gross inequalities and ruinous discriminations to which in their business they were accustomed were necessary incidents to it which afforded no just ground of complaint to any one, but they also thought that any attempt to rectify them was a gross outrage on the elementary principles both of common sense and of constitutional law. in other words, they had thoroughly got it into their heads that they, as common carriers, were in no way bound to afford equal facilities to all, and, indeed, that it was in the last degree absurd and unreasonable to expect them to do so. the granger method was probably as good a method of approaching men in this frame of mind as could have been devised." speaking of the educational value of railroad competition, mr. adams says: "undoubtedly the fierce struggles between rival corporations which marked the history of railroad development, both here and in england, were very prominent factors in the work of forcing the systems of the two countries up to their present degree of efficiency. railroad competition has been a great educator for railroad men. it has not only taught them how much they could do, but also how very cheaply they could do it. under the strong stimulus of rivalry they have done not only what they declared were impossibilities, but what they really believed to be such." mr. adams has, from his long association with railroad managers, imbibed one heresy which is in strange discord with the general soundness of his opinions. he holds that the railroad system was left to develop upon a false basis, inasmuch as the american people relied for protecting the community from abuses upon general laws authorizing the freest possible railroad construction everywhere and by any one. it can therefore not be surprising that mr. adams is an advocate of the legalized pool. he is of the opinion that secret combinations among railroads, inasmuch as they always have existed, always will exist as long as the railroad system continues as it now is. hence he proposes to legalize a practice which the law cannot prevent, and by so doing to enable the railroads to confederate themselves in a manner which shall be at once both public and responsible. the reply might be made that there are many other conspiracies which the law cannot always prevent, but that this is no reason why conspiracies should be legalized. if pools and other railroad abuses had, since the beginning of the railroad era, been treated as crimes and misdemeanors, and punished as such by the imposition of heavy fines, few people would to-day be ready to offer apologies for them. if the time shall ever come when pools must be legalized it will be time for railroad control equivalent to government ownership. among the more recent writers upon railroad subjects is w. d. dabney, late chairman of the committee on railways and internal navigation in the legislature of virginia. mr. dabney favors state control, and is, on the whole, friendly to the interstate commerce act. he sees danger in the pool, but inclines to the belief that the public benefit derived from the pooling system outweighs the danger of public detriment from its existence. the following is his chief argument for a legalized pool: "perhaps, so long as railroad companies continue to enjoy an absolute monopoly of transportation over their own lines, so that free competition is restricted in its operation to a comparatively few favored points, it may be worthy of serious consideration whether it would not be better to legalize than to prohibit pooling, taking care to put the whole matter under strict public supervision and control. the companies would then be left comparatively free to bring their local rates into something like harmony with the long-distance rates, and should they fail to do so where the needs of the local community and their revenues make it proper to be done, then it is the function of public regulation to compel it to be done." of the interstate commerce act mr. dabney says: "the legislation recently enacted by congress for the regulation of commerce by railway is the result of more careful and intelligent deliberation perhaps than any other measure of similar character, and it is not unlikely that the legislation of many of the states will sooner or later be conformed to it." he speaks at some length of the drift toward railroad centralization. a few extracts from this passage may be here given: "that the tendency towards the unification and consolidation of different and competitive lines has been decidedly increased by the anti-pooling and the long and short haul sections of the interstate commerce law can hardly be doubted.... the modern device of the 'trust' as a means of unifying industrial interests and eliminating competition had not yet been applied in the field of railroad transportation.... the scheme of trust here briefly outlined would probably require for its successful operation the concurrence of the entire stockholding interest of each company embraced in it; and herein, it seems likely, will be found the chief difficulty in perfecting such a scheme. should it ever be perfected, a far more stringent public supervision and control of the railroad transportation of the country will be demanded." another author, charles whitney baker, associate editor of the _engineering news_, suggests in his book, "monopolies and the people," a plan for the reorganization of our railroad system, to remedy the evils of monopoly which are at present connected with railroad management. the following quotation from his work outlines the system proposed: "let the government acquire the title of the franchise, permanent way and real estate of all the railway lines in the country. let a few corporations be organized under government auspices, and let each, by the terms of its charter, receive a perpetual lease of all the railway lines built, or to be built, within a given territory. let the territory of each of these corporations be so large, and so planned with regard to its neighbors, that there shall be, so far as possible, no competition between them. for instance, one corporation would operate all the lines south of the ohio and east of the mississippi river; another all lines east of the hudson and of lake champlain, etc. let the terms of rental of these lines be about - / per cent. on the road's actual 'present cost' (the sum of money it would cost to rebuild it entirely at present prices of material and labor), less a due allowance for depreciation. the corporations would be obliged to keep the property in as good condition as when received, and would own absolutely all their rolling-stock, machinery, etc." the proposed reform measures, it must be admitted, are very good in theory, but their practical application is unfortunately entirely out of the question under our system of government. mr. john m. bonham is the author of a recent work entitled "railway secrecy and trusts." this writer, upon the whole, takes advanced ground in dealing with the question of railroad reform. he deems the present interstate legislation inadequate to correct all the graver railroad evils, expressing his views upon this subject as follows: "railway construction continues to increase in the united states with immense rapidity. concurrent with this increase, and notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made at restraint, the aggressions upon political and industrial rights increase also. nor is it likely that without more rigorous control than is now exercised these aggressions will be any less active than they are to-day. it is coming to be pretty generally realized that the interstate commerce legislation has not fulfilled the expectation of its friends. but this is a frequent trait of tentative legislation. it is not reasonable to expect that the first efforts to solve a problem the factors of which are so hidden and complex will be followed by complete success." concerning the changes needed to make government regulation in the united states more effective, he says: "a reform which would deal with an elaborate system of evil cannot, therefore, be confined to treating consequences, the separate instances of the system. there must be a power which can go behind these and grapple with causes. there must, therefore, be something more than a court. there must be a commission, a department of government which will provide organized supervision and inspection against which the quasi-public corporation can claim no privacy as inviolable. such a department must be clothed with the power to ascertain precisely where and how the evils of the present methods originate, and when these are ascertained it must be able to apply the remedy at the source of evil. the remedial force must be of a preventive kind." a few grave misstatements of historical facts greatly mar mr. bonham's book. he makes, for instance, the following statement: "following this came restrictive legislation, which, in some instances, was so unreasonable as to make any railway management impossible. some of the granger legislation, and especially that of iowa, was of this character, as were also some of the earlier efforts to secure congressional legislation." it was left to mr. bonham to discover that legislation ever made railroad management impossible in iowa. the general assembly of iowa passed at two different times railroad laws that were greatly obnoxious to railroad managers. in it passed a maximum tariff act which, at the urgent solicitation of the railroad forces, was repealed four years later; and in it passed an act containing the principles of the interstate commerce act and in addition authorizing the board of railroad commissioners to fix _prima facie_ rates. strange as it may seem to mr. bonham and other people inclined to believe without investigation the statements of railroad men, the earnings of the iowa roads greatly increased immediately after the enactment of the so-called granger laws in , as the following table will show: year. miles of railroad. gross receipts. , $ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , when the granger law was repealed in , the railroads were earning $ , per mile more than they were earning when the law was enacted. the present railroad law, which was passed in , and has also been the subject of extreme criticism on the part of railroad organs, has had the same beneficial effect. the law, owing to the obstacles thrown in its way by the railroad managers, did not become operative until . from july st, , to june th, , the gross railroad earnings of the iowa roads, which for three years had been at a standstill, increased and were over $ , , more in than they had been any year previous to , as will be seen from the table below: gross railroad earnings in iowa. - $ , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , the net earnings per mile of the iowa roads were $ , . in the year - , and $ , . the year following. the total net earnings of all iowa roads during the year ending june th, , were $ , , , against $ , , during the year ending june th, , and were still greater for the year ending june , . no further vindication of the iowa law is necessary. these figures show plainly that the lowering and equalizing of the rates not only increased the roads' business and income, but also their net earnings. and it must be remembered that the reports showing these facts were made by the railroad companies and were certainly not made with any intention of prejudicing the cause of the railroad manager. james f. hudson, the author of "the railways and the republic," is a very exhaustive and instructive writer upon the subject of railroad abuses. his material is well selected, and the subject ably presented. to the assertion of railroad managers, that railroad regulation injuriously affects the value of railroad property, he makes the following reply: "suppose that it were true, as these jurists and writers claim, that by the assertion of the public right to regulate the railways the value of their property is decreased, are there no other property rights involved? do railway investments form the only property in the land which requires the protection of the law? are we to understand these judgments and their indorsers to mean that because railroad property will depreciate if certain principles of justice prevail, therefore justice is to be set aside for the benefit of railway property? if the magnitude of interests involved is to be of weight in deciding such questions, let us put against 'the hundreds of millions' of railway property on the one side the thousands of millions of private property on the other. railway regulation, according to a writer in the _princeton review_, is 'confiscation of railroad property;' but this puts wholly out of the question the idea of private property which is rendered possible by leaving unchecked the power of the railways over commerce and manufactures through the manipulation of freight rates. of the two parties in interest the shippers represent far greater property interests than the carriers, although the latter, by their organization, are more powerful. i have yet to hear of a single case where restrictive railway legislation has seriously damaged the honest valuation of any railway. i have yet to learn of any seriously proposed scheme of regulation that has proposed to cut down railway profits below a fair dividend on capital actually invested. but the entire nation knows of one notorious case in which the discriminating policy of the leading railways of the country has resulted in the wholesale confiscation of private property for the benefit of a favored corporation." concerning the inconsistency presented by the plea of railroad managers for a legalized pool, mr. hudson says: "it has been argued for years that the subject is so delicate and vast that it must not be touched by legislation in the public interest. to protect the rights of the ordinary shipper against the favorite of the railway would so hamper the operations of trade, it has been repeated times without number, as to take away the independence of the railways and destroy the freedom of competition. yet, after years of argument that government has no constitutional power to interfere with the railways, and of demonstration that all such interference must be ill-advised and injurious, the railway logic comes to the surprising climax of appealing to legislation for the aid of the law in upholding their efforts to prevent competition." mr. hudson maintains that if the pool were legalized it would only be a means of swelling railroad earnings. he says: "if the pool would maintain equitable rates its success might be desired, but what guarantee is there that the complete establishment of its power would make such rates? its very character, the functions of the men who control its policy, and its avowed object of swelling the earnings of railways by artificial methods, forbid such an expectation. make the success of the pool absolute, so that it can work without fear of competition, and its rates will be uniform, but of such a character that their uniformity will be a public grievance and burden.... a grave effect of this policy, though not easily calculable, is the ability it gives to railway officials to control the prices of stocks, and the temptation to enhance their fortunes by so doing.... it is a heavy indictment against the pooling system that it gives power to avaricious and unscrupulous men in railway management to enrich themselves at the cost of shareholders and investors, both by forming combinations and by exciting disputes or ruptures in them." the question whether the common law does not protect the public sufficiently is well answered by mr. hudson as follows: "the common law is sufficient in theory, but it has failed in practice.... in practice, legal remedies against railway injustice can be applied to the courts only by fighting the railways at such disadvantages that the ordinary business man will never undertake it except in desperate cases. every advantage of strength and position is with the railways.... this [the railroad] power has kept courts in its pay; it defies the principles of common law and nullifies the constitutional provisions of a dozen states; it has many representatives in congress and unnumbered seats in the state legislatures. no ordinary body of men can permanently resist it." but the remedy which mr. hudson proposes for the correction of railroad evils is one of doubtful efficacy. it is this: "legislation should restore the character of public highways to the railways by securing to all persons the right to run trains over their track under proper regulations, and by defining the distinction between the proprietorship and maintenance of the railway and the business of common carriers." while it is admitted that the opening of the railroads to the free use of competing carriers is not necessarily impractical from a technical point of view, it cannot be admitted that the proposed remedy would cure the evil. there would certainly be nothing to hinder carrying companies forming a trust which might prove more dangerous to the interests of shippers than are to-day the combinations of the railroad companies. mr. hudson devotes a chapter to the railroad power in politics, and shows how corporations, through their wealth, have secured the greatest and most responsible offices in the executive, legislative and judiciary departments of the government. speaking of their influence in the supreme court of the united states, he says: "the assertion that jay gould paid $ , to the republican campaign fund in , in return for which judge stanley mathews was nominated to the supreme bench, is denied as a political slander; but the fact remains that this brilliant advocate of the railway theories of law has been placed in the high tribunal, and that his presence there together with justice field, long a judicial advocate of the corporations, is expected to protect the railways in future against such constructions of law as the granger decisions." an english writer, mr. j.s. jeans, presents, in his "railway problems," a great deal that is of interest to american readers. the statistical data of his work are especially interesting. we learn that the united kingdom has nearly twenty railroad employes per mile of road operated, to less than five in the united states, and that the average number of employes per £ , ($ , ) of gross earnings is on the railroads of the united kingdom . to only about half as many in the united states. we further learn that the average earnings per train mile in america are over per cent. higher than they are in the united kingdom, and exceed those of most european countries. of the remarkable increase in number and the profitableness of the third-class passenger traffic in england mr. jeans says: "there has hitherto been a great lack of knowledge in this country as to the extent to which the different classes of passenger traffic yield adequate profit to the railroad companies. english passenger traffic differs from that of most other countries in this respect, that the chief companies attach third-class carriages to almost every train. the accommodation provided for third-class passengers in england is also much superior to what is found in other countries where there is the same distinction of classes. the effect of those two distinguishing features of the english railway system is that third-class carriages are much more and first-class carriages much less utilized than in other countries. the tendency appears to be towards an increasing use of third-class, and a decreasing use of first-class vehicles. but, all the same, the leading english lines continue to provide a large proportion of first-class accommodation in every train, and it is no unusual thing to find the third-class carriages of express trains absolutely full, while first-class carriages are almost empty. the natural result is that third-class travel is a source of profit, while first-class travel is not.... so far as passenger traffic is a source of net profit, that profit is contributed by the third-class. the total receipts from passenger traffic in england and wales amounted in to £ , , . but if the average receipts per carriage over the whole had been the same as in the case of the midland first-class vehicles, namely, £ , the total receipts from passenger traffic would only have been about nine millions. it is not necessary to be an expert in order to see that traffic so conducted must be attended with a very serious loss." of the stock-watering of american railroad companies mr. jeans says: "it seldom happens that in the united states the cost of a railway and its equivalent corresponds, as it ought to, to the total capital expenditure. there is no country in the world where the business of watering stocks is better understood or carried out more systematically and on so large a scale. for this reason there is liable to be a great deal of error entertained in reference to the natural cost of american lines." there are many financial journals that are so closely identified with the speculative interests of the country, and many railway papers that depend so largely upon railway men for support, that railway managers are never without a medium through which they can present their views to the public. a systematic and concerted effort is also constantly made by the railroads to pervert the press of the country at large. the great city papers generally yield to their influences and enlist in their service, and yet there are notable exceptions to this. in speaking of the extravagant sums which the railroads paid to the great dailies, ostensibly for advertising, but in fact for their good will and other services, a railroad superintendent recently said that it was an infamous outrage, and yet it was the best investment of money that his company could make. the country papers have shown more integrity in maintaining their independence, but the railroads are not without their organs among them. it is not unfrequent to find some of them defending railroad abuses with all the apparent zeal of a wall street organ, and a glance at their columns often reminds one of mr. lincoln's story of the irishman and the pig. mr. lincoln defended an irishman against the charge of stealing a pig. after the testimony was taken in court, mr. lincoln called his client aside and told him that the testimony was so strong against him, and that the case was so clear, that it was impossible for him to escape conviction, and he advised him to plead guilty and throw himself on the mercy of the court. "no, mr. lincoln," said patrick, "you go back and make one of your great speeches and swing your long arms and talk loud to the jury, and you will win the case." mr. lincoln, in accordance with that disposition to accommodate so strongly characteristic of him, did as he was directed by his client, and to his great surprise the jury promptly brought in a verdict of not guilty. after it was all over, mr. lincoln said: "now, patrick, tell me why that jury acquitted you. i know that you stole the pig, and my speech had nothing to do in securing your acquittal." patrick replied: "and sure, mr. lincoln, every one of those jurymen ate a piece of the pig." chapter x. railroad literature--continued. railroad questions have become of such general interest that their discussion has become a prominent factor of magazine literature. it is a significant fact that these contributors are usually railroad men, and under these circumstances an unbiased discussion of the questions at issue is indeed a rare occurrence. it is but too frequently the sole object of the contributor, and not unfrequently even of the publisher, to create a public sentiment in favor of the unjust demands of railroad managers. during the last few years systematic efforts have been made by the railroad interests to influence public opinion against the interstate commerce law and restrictive state legislation through the leading magazines of the country. mr. sidney dillon, president of the union pacific railroad, in an article which appeared in the april ( ) number of the _north american review_, under the title "the west and the railroads," endeavors to show that the west is indebted to the railroad managers for nearly all of the blessings which its people enjoy, and that therefore railroad legislation in the west is a symptom of rank ingratitude. he prefaces his argument with the remark that the elder portions of our commonwealth have already forgotten, and the younger portions do not comprehend or appreciate, that but for the railroads what we now style the great west would be, except in the valley of the mississippi, an unknown and unproductive wilderness. he then argues that, inasmuch as the railroads carry the wheat of dakota and minnesota to the sea-coast, and bring those sections of our community into direct relation with hungry and opulent liverpool, the world should "thank the railway for the opportunity to buy wheat, but none the less should the west thank the railway for the opportunity to sell wheat." it does not seem to occur to mr. dillon that the railway might, with equal propriety, thank the world in general, and the great west in particular, for its opportunity to carry wheat. we are also told that the railway has reclaimed from nature immense tracts of land that were worthless except as to their possibilities, which once seemed too vague and remote to be considered and are to-day valuable; that it has changed the character of the soil as well as the climate of the west, and we are almost given to understand that in many respects it has assumed the functions of providence. mr. dillon generously admits, however, that railways have not been built from philanthropic motives and that we find among railroad promoters and contractors men of large fortunes. he then proceeds to reprimand the states west of the mississippi for their "ungrateful" legislation, which, he says, interferes with the business of the railway, even to the minutest detail, and always to its detriment. such legislation exasperates mr. dillon the more because it originated in states "which happened to be the communities that owe their birth, existence and prosperity to these very railways." mr. dillon then gives vent to his wrath by the use of such terms as impertinence, ignorance and demagogism. he holds that legislative enactments as to the rights and liabilities of railway corporations are useless, "because the common law has long since established these as pertaining to common carriers, and the courts are open to redress all real grievances of the citizen." upon this theory we might as well dispense with the legislative department of the government, for there is no relation in the community to which the principles of the common law can not be applied. besides this, mr. dillon entirely ignores the fact that the railway company is not only a common carrier, but the keeper of the highway, and as such is subject to government control as much as the turnpike tollgate keeper or the collector of customs. "then as to prices." mr. dillon continues: "these will always be taken care of by the great law of competition, which obtains wherever any human service is to be performed for a pecuniary consideration. that any railway, anywhere in a republic, should be a monopoly, is not a supposable case." like the rest of railway men, mr. dillon excels in painting dark pictures of railroad catastrophes. a sample production of his art is here presented: "one of the greatest dangers to the community in a republic is this: that it is in the power of reckless, misguided or designing men to procure the passage of statutes that are ostensibly for the public interest and that may lead to enormous injuries. let us imagine for a moment that all railways in the united states were at once annihilated. such a catastrophe is not, in itself, inconceivable; the imagination can grasp it, but no imagination can picture the infinite sufferings that would at once result to every man, woman and child in the entire country. now, every step taken to impede or cripple the business and progress of our railways is a step towards just such a catastrophe, and therefore a destructive tendency." mr. dillon, losing sight of all other interests, did not think that his nonsensical mode of reasoning would apply equally well to them. let us, for instance, imagine for a moment that all of the farms of the united states were at once annihilated. can the imagination picture the infinite sufferings that would at once result to every man, woman and child in the whole country? now, is not any step taken to impede or cripple the business of farming a step towards just such a catastrophe, and therefore of a destructive tendency? mr. dillon then avails himself of an opportunity to give the people of the united states some gratuitous advice when he says: "we do not arrogate superior wisdom or intelligence to ourselves when we suggest to the people of the united states, and especially that portion of the country where railroads have been the subject of what we consider to be excessive legislation, that the rational mode of treating any form of human industry that has for its object the performance of desired and lawful service is to let it alone, and that the railway is no exception to this principle." this is the very plea that jefferson davis made when he kindled the flame of treason. * * * * * in the march, , number of the _forum_, mr. w. m. acworth discusses, under the title "railways under government control," the working of the railway systems of the different nations. he holds that the management of railroads which are the property of the state is, as a rule, greatly inferior to the management of those roads which are the property of private trading corporations; he assigns to the railway experts of england and america the first places among the railway experts of the world, and appears to attribute all the good in the railroad management of these countries to the absence of state interference, and all the evil in the management of the railroads of other countries to the fact that such interference exists. he says of the railroads of england and the united states: "in speed and accommodation, in the energy which pushes railways into remote districts, and in the skill which creates a traffic where no traffic existed before, they stand to-day in the front rank, as they have stood for the last half century. to say that they are very far from perfect is nothing; it is only to say that they are worked by human agency. their worst enemies will scarcely deny that they are at least alive; so long as there is life there may be growth, and we may hope to see them outgrow the faults of their youth. the charge made against state railway systems is that they are incapable of vigorous life. the old adage which proclaimed that 'necessity is the mother of invention' has been re-stated of late years as the law of the survival of the fittest in the struggle for existence. if the doctrine is true, the state railway system, relieved from the necessity of struggle, must cease to be fit and will fail to survive." while it is not intended to enter here into a defense of a state railway system, it may justly be questioned whether "the state railway system, relieved from the necessity of struggle, must cease to be fit and will fail to survive." the growth of the state system in europe is in itself a sufficient refutation of mr. acworth's theory. the mail service has for several hundred years been a monopoly of the government; but, while it is far from being perfect, it remains to be demonstrated that private enterprise could give to the public a better service in the long run. mr. acworth is an englishman who in former years wrote many bitter things concerning the abuses which he then thought he saw in the management of the railroads of his native country, which, according to his own statement, are, besides those of the united states, the only roads in the world for whose regulation competition has been relied upon in the past. mr. acworth has become a convert to the _laissez faire_ theory of dealing with railroads and now evinces an unusual, but perhaps pardonable, zeal in the defense of his new position. in the preface to his book, "the railways of england," he says upon the subject: "i have published before now not a few criticisms (which were meant to be scathing) on english railways anonymously. i find myself using, under my own name, the language of almost unvarying panegyric. this is partly to be explained by the plan of the book, which professes to set before the reader those points on each line which best merit description--its excellencies, therefore, rather than its defects. much more, however, is it due to a change of opinion in the writer.... i have found in so many cases that a satisfactory reply existed to my former criticisms, that i have perhaps assumed that such an answer would be forthcoming in all; and if i have taken up too much the position of an apologist, where i should have been content to be merely an observer, let me plead as my excuse that i am only displaying the traditional zeal of the new-made convert." prof. hadley, of whose work, "railroad transportation, its history and its law," mention has been made above, contributed an article to the april, , number of the _forum_, under the title "railway passenger rates." he endeavors to show that the high passenger rates of american railroads are due solely to superior service. he says: "continental europe pays two-thirds as much as america or england and gets an inferior article. india pays still less and gets still less. the difference is seen both in quality and quantity of service. in india express trains rarely run at a greater speed than miles an hour. in germany and france their speed ranges from to miles an hour, and only in exceptional instances is more than miles an hour. in the united states and in england the maximum speed rises as high as , or, in exceptional instances, miles an hour. with regard to the comfort of the cars in different countries, there is more room for difference of opinion; but there can be no doubt that the average traveler in the united states, or even in the english third-class car, fares better than he would in the corresponding class on continental railroads, and infinitely better than the bulk of travelers in british india." it may be admitted that upon the whole the speed of american and english railroads is greater than that of continental roads, yet the difference is much less than mr. hadley would make us believe. the fast trains of the berlin and hamburg railroad, according to röll's "railroad encyclopedia," make the distance of miles in three hours and forty-four minutes. the average speed is therefore miles an hour. there are but few lines in the united states whose regular express trains run at a greater speed. the express trains of the berlin and brunswick line make - / miles an hour. trains are run on the vienna and buda-pesth railway at the rate of miles an hour and on the paris and calais railway at a rate of over miles an hour. official reports give the average speed of express trains in northern germany as . miles per hour, which is considerably more than the average speed of our western trains, upon which the rates charged are twice as high as those charged by german roads. the average speed of the express trains in england was . miles per hour in , in the netherlands . miles, in france miles, in denmark and southern germany . miles and in austria . miles per hour. accurate statistics showing the average speed in america are not in existence, but it may well be questioned whether the difference between the speed of american and european trains is sufficient to justify upon that score any essential difference in the rates. mr. hadley's statement that the average traveler in the united states, or even in the english third class, fares better than he would in the corresponding class on continental railroads, is far too sweeping to be true. it is certain that the belgian, german, austrian or french second-class coupes are much to be preferred to the smoking and emigrant cars which in america are made to take their places. to prove that much more work is demanded of american railroads than of european railroads, mr. hadley presents the following table: annual train miles run service per by trains head of countries. population. annually. population. united states ( ) , , , . great britain ( ) , , , , germany ( ) , , , , - / france ( ) , , , , - / austria-hungary ( ) , , , , - / india ( ) , , , , - / and he adds: "these figures are for passenger trains and freight trains together, as some countries do not give statistics of the two separately; but the general results would be nearly the same if passenger trains alone could be considered. the figures show that, for every man, woman and child, a train is run twelve miles annually in the united states, in great britain eight miles, in germany or france a little less than four miles, in austria not much more than a mile and a half, and in british india less than a quarter of a mile." this statement, even if correct, is certainly misleading. no allowance is made for the greater distances and the greater average haul in america, and none for our bulky raw products, which require more car room than the manufactured goods predominating as freight in europe. if mr. hadley's statement of miles run by trains annually is used in connection with mr. poor's statement showing the length, for , of the railroads of the countries given in the above table, it can be shown that the average number of trains run annually per mile is considerably less here than in europe: length of average number railroad miles run of trains in miles by trains per mile per countries. ( ). annually. annum. united states , , , , great britain , , , , germany , , , , france , , , , austria-hungary , , , , it is seen that while the average number of trains run per mile per annum is only , in the united states, it is , in france, , in germany, and , in great britain. in austria-hungary it is somewhat less than here. it is not claimed that this is in every respect a fair argument; but it is at least as fair as mr. hadley's. as has been stated before, the average earnings per train mile are larger in the united states than in most nations, and, excepting sweden, railway capital has the highest gross earnings of any nation in the world; and when mr. hadley bases his argument in favor of higher rates for american railroads than for those of europe upon the claim that the latter secure larger train loads, he simply reasons from false premises. mr. hadley then continues: "but why cannot our railroad men, with our present train service, secure larger loads by making lower rates, and give us cheap service as well as plenty of it? why cannot we secure two good things instead of one? for two reasons: first, because it is not certain that low rates will be followed by greatly increased travel; second, because such increased travel would not be so economical to handle in america as it is in europe. it is wrong to assume that, because reductions of charges in europe have increased travel enormously, they would have a proportionate effect in america and a corresponding advantage in american railroad economy. it is a somewhat significant fact that second-class trains at reduced rates have been extremely successful in europe and not at all so in america. other things being equal, the american public would be glad to have its travel at lower fares; but it cares more for comfort and speed, and for being able to travel at its own times, than for a slight difference in charge. the assumption so frequently made, that a reduction in fares would cause an enormous increase in travel in this country, is for the most part a pure assumption, not borne out by the facts." the great increase in business which has everywhere followed reductions in postage rates, telegraph rates and street-car fares, as well as railroad rates, sufficiently refutes the assertion that it is not certain that low rates would be followed by greatly increased travel. if the second class has not been as successful here as in europe this is solely due to the fact that the american railroad companies have systematically discouraged second-class travel by forcing passengers into filthy and over-crowded cars. the statement that increased travel would not be so economical to handle in america as in europe scarcely needs a reply. if, as prof. hadley says, the american public demand more frequent trains than the people of europe, and if these frequent trains are not at present profitable to our railroad companies, it would seem to be plainly to their interest to hold out every inducement to the public to increase travel and thus fill their trains. mr. hadley does not aid his argument when, referring to the hungarian zone system, he says: "the importance of the zone system in austria and in hungary lies in the fact that its adoption was accompanied by a great reduction in rates. the unit rate for slow, third-class trains, which had previously been nearly a cent and a half a mile, was reduced to less than one cent.... the use of railroads under the new system, though vastly greater than it was before, is vastly less than that of a well-managed american road at american rates." mr. hadley inadvertently presents here one of the very best reasons why our passenger rates should be reduced. the fact is, railroad men are opposed, and always have been opposed, to reduction of rates, and to all progressive movements that require increased expenditures or threaten to temporarily reduce their revenues. when the introduction of the zone system was first advocated in hungary it was opposed by just such men and just such arguments. no one can contradict the following facts, viz.: that the average cost of european roads is much greater than that of american roads; that the number of railroad employes per mile is much greater there than here; that much larger sums are expended for repairing and improving the roads, and that therefore the lives of passengers are much safer in europe than in america; and that the average speed and corresponding accommodations of european trains, and especially those of england, germany, france and austria-hungary, compare quite favorably with the average speed and corresponding accommodations of our roads. it is, under these circumstances, absurd to claim that the higher prices charged by american roads are due to the greater cost of service. mr. hadley's labors as a railroad author have, it seems, greatly increased his corporation bias. in an address which he delivered before the american bankers' association at new orleans in november, , upon the subject of "recent railroad legislation and its effects upon the finances of the country," he made a number of assertions which ill comport with the fairness of a public statistician or the wisdom of a yale professor. after a few introductory remarks, prof. hadley made the following statement: "every one knows that railroad property has fallen in value since the passage of the interstate commerce act four years and a half ago; few have made any accurate estimate of the amount of that fall. let us take the stock of the leading railroad systems centering in chicago as a type. here we find an aggregate shrinkage of over $ , , , or more than one-quarter of the par value of the stocks. par value. price. shrinkage. apr. , nov. , . . c., m. & st. p. $ , , $ , , " " preferred , , , c. & n. w. , , , , " " preferred , , , , c., r. i. & p. , , , , c., b. & q. , , , , ----------- ---------- total. $ , , $ , , " the table shows that fifty-one million of these sixty million dollars are the shrinkage of the chicago, rock island and pacific and the chicago, burlington and quincy stocks. it is surprising that prof. hadley should be ignorant of the real causes of this depreciation, which are known to nearly every granger in the west. in the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad company owned , miles of road, only of which were outside of the states of illinois and iowa. in the same company owned , miles of road, with , miles outside of illinois and iowa and scattered through missouri, kansas, nebraska, colorado, indian territory and oklahoma. in kansas alone the rock island system grew from two miles in to , miles in . in other words, to a little over a thousand miles of _good_ road the company's managers added nearly , miles of poor road and a proportionate amount of new stock, and the depreciation in the company's stock which followed was no greater than one should have expected under such circumstances. the managers of the rock island and the promoters of these new lines found the transactions to their advantage, while the original stockholders of the company had to bear the imposition, as hundreds of thousands of railroad stockholders had done before them. but neither the law of congress nor that of any state was to blame for this depreciation of the rock island stock. since , railroad stocks have advanced on an average at least twenty per cent., and during the last sixty days have declined about twenty-five per cent., although there has been no essential change in interstate or state legislation. it is certainly as fair to call the advance the ultimate result of restrictive railroad legislation as to attribute to that legislation the shrinkage above referred to. extensive speculations similar to those just mentioned were, during the same period, indulged in by the managers of the c., b. & q. railroad company and its protegé, the c., b. & n., who, in addition to this, greatly injured their road in by the unjust provocation of the engineers' strike. so destructive were this strike and its consequences to the company's business that it is difficult to account for the motives of those who provoked and stubbornly prolonged it except upon the theory that it played an important role in their stock manipulations. but the recent legislation of a considerable number of states has, in prof. hadley's opinion, been still more detrimental to railroad interests than that of congress. he says; "in the second place, the legislatures of several states, stimulated by the example of congress, hastened to pass in imitation, of the interstate commerce act, laws which, in many instances, went far beyond their model in point of stringency. examples are furnished by the statutes of iowa, maryland, minnesota and south carolina in - ; of florida in - , and of no less than thirteen states in - , viz.: georgia, iowa, kentucky, massachusetts, mississippi, new hampshire, new jersey, north dakota, ohio, rhode island, south dakota, virginia, wyoming; as well as by the recently adopted constitution of kentucky. the legislation of - shows a slight reaction against the movement of the three years previous. "in two respects the state legislatures went quite beyond the scope of the interstate commerce act. they tried to prescribe safety appliances to the operating department, and rates to the traffic department. of the first of these groups little need be said, except that as a rule they have failed to accomplish any great progress toward the result in view, and have in some instances actually hindered such progress. the attempt at prescribing rates was more serious. it involved a return to the methods of the granger legislation, fifteen years earlier, which had operated so disastrously upon the railroads and the public alike. the system of commissioners with powers to make schedules which should be at least _prima facie_ evidence of reasonable rates had, during the intervening period, never been wholly abandoned; but the powers thus conferred had been sparingly exercised. it was either left unused, as was generally the case in the north from to , or the schedule rates were put so high as not to interfere with good railroad economy, of which examples are seen in georgia and other parts of the south. but from the year onward there was a pressure upon the commissioners to make schedules, and to make them low; and lest these boards should not be able to reflect the popular feeling directly enough, they were, in some instances, no longer to be appointed by the governor, but elected by popular vote. the law which was most severely applied and attracted most public attention was that of iowa.... the agitation against the railroads has many points in common with the land agitation in ireland. absentee ownership is at the bottom of the trouble in either case. property is owned in one place and used in another, and the users, not satisfied with the conditions of use, insist on taking the business direction into their own hands. they claim the right to fix rates in iowa for the same general reasons by which they claim the right to fix rents in ireland." it must be presumed that mr. hadley is ignorant of the fact that under the iowa commissioners' tariff the gross earnings of the iowa railroads increased $ , , , or more than per cent., in about three years, and their net revenue increased in proportion. never have the railroads or the people of iowa enjoyed a healthier prosperity than they do at present. it is true that the state of iowa denies to the railroad companies the right to charge what they please; but this claim does not prevent them from doing justice to the absentee owner of railroad property. that absentee owners of property are disposed to take undue advantage of those who use it is illustrated in the very case which mr. hadley cites. so flagrant was the injustice done by the english landlord to the irish tenant that the english parliament was constrained to interfere and correct it. mr. hadley says further: "it is seen in iowa to-day, where, as a result of radical legislation with regard to rates, railroad construction has almost entirely ceased, the average for the years - being less than fifty miles." now professor hadley hails from the state of connecticut, where railroads are permitted to make their own tariffs and where legislators are supposed not to be hostile to them. according to poor's manual, that state had , . miles of railroad in , and just . miles more in , while iowa had , miles in , , in , and , miles on january , . will mr. hadley please explain why railroad construction has ceased in connecticut? iowa has one mile of railroad for every inhabitants, and connecticut has one for every inhabitants, although the per capita valuation is $ in the latter, and only $ in the former state. nor have other eastern states done much better than connecticut. during the three years - there were built miles of railroad in new hampshire, in vermont, in massachusetts and in rhode island. iowa has an area of , square miles and a population of , , , an assessed valuation of $ , , ; new england has an area of , square miles, a population of , , , and an assessed valuation of $ , , , . yet iowa has , miles of railroad more than all the new england states together. she has a railroad net as close as that of the empire state, having one mile of road to about - / miles of territory, although the population of that state is three times as dense as hers. nevertheless, railroad construction is at present active in iowa, several lines of road are in the process of construction at the present writing, and there is every indication of still greater activity in the near future. the _railway age_ of march , , in a detailed list of new lines projected or under construction in the united states, gives for connecticut only miles, while it gives for iowa miles. mr. hadley continues: "it is seen to some extent in the northwest as a whole. at the close of the year the states included by henry v. poor in the central, northern and northwestern groups had , miles of road, while those of the south atlantic, gulf and mississippi valley had but , . to-day this relation is reversed: the northwest has but , miles, while the south has , ." had mr. hadley taken the pains to look up the population of these groups he would have found that the "south" is fully three times as populous as the "northwest," and that therefore his figures prove nothing beyond the fact that at the present rate of gain the railroad facilities of the south will in a quarter of a century be equal to those of the northwest to-day. but the argument is weak in another respect. the state in the southern group that made by far the greatest gain in railroad mileage during the period mentioned by mr. hadley is georgia, which gained about , miles in three years, yet that state prescribed rates for railroad companies six years before iowa did, and has for many years exerted a more thorough control over her railroads than perhaps any other state in the union. the smallest increase is in west virginia, which during the period given gained an average of only miles per annum; and yet in west virginia railroads charge their own rates and usually have their own way. finally prof. hadley says: "where are we to find the limit to such unwise action? the united states supreme court can do something and has shown a disposition to do something. in the minnesota cases it repudiated the doctrine of uncontrolled rights on the part of the legislature to make rates, as emphatically as it repudiated the doctrine of uncontrolled rights on the part of agents of the corporation in the granger cases, twelve years before." it is evident that mr. hadley is as much mistaken in his interpretation of the decision of the court as he has been in his other assertions, as will be seen from the following extract from judge blatchford's opinion in budd vs. new york, in which he says, "the main question involved is whether this court will adhere to its decision in munn vs. illinois." the court first quoted from the opinion of judge andrew of the court of appeals of new york, as follows: "the opinion further said that the criticism to which the case of munn vs. illinois had been subjected proceeded mainly upon a limited and strict construction and definition of the police power; that there was little reason, under our system of government, for placing a close and narrow interpretation on the police power, or restricting its scope so as to hamper the legislative power in dealing with the varying necessities of society and the new circumstances as they arise calling for legislative intervention in the public interest; and that no serious invasion of constitutional guarantees by the legislature could withstand for a long time the searching influence of public opinion, which was sure to come sooner or later to the side of law, order and justice, however it might have been swayed for a time by passion or prejudice or whatever aberrations might have marked its course." judge blatchford then said: "we regard these views, which we have referred to as announced by the court of appeals of new york, so far as they support the validity of the statute in question, as sound and just.... we must regard the principle maintained in munn vs. illinois as firmly established." general horace porter has made a contribution to the railway rate literature by an article which appeared in the december, , number of the _north american review_. unfortunately many of the general's statements are either false or misleading. thus, in a table which he presents for the purpose of comparing the passenger rates of europe with those of the united states, he gives the regular first-class schedule rates for the united kingdom, france and germany and the average earnings per passenger per mile for this country. that this is an unfair comparison needs no further argument, especially when it is remembered that in europe from to per cent, of all passengers are carried in the third class at a regular rate averaging about - / cents per mile, and that considerable reductions are made for excursion, commutation and return tickets. but general porter says concerning american rates: "when we take into consideration the excursion and the commutation rates, we find first-class passengers carried as low as half a cent a mile." now the question arises whether american railway companies carry passengers at such rates with or without loss to themselves. if they are carried at a loss, an injustice is done to the regular passengers, whose fare must not only make up the loss, but yield a larger profit than would otherwise be necessary. if, on the other hand, a rate of half a cent a mile can be made remunerative, there is certainly no justice in maintaining rates five and six times as large on well-patronized lines. general porter places stress upon our superior accommodations in the way of lighting, ventilation, ice-water, lavatories, and free carriage of baggage, etc., and then adds: "in this connection we must also recollect that the cost of fuel, wages and all construction materials is considerably higher here than in europe, while the population from which the railways derive their support is much more sparse; the united states having , miles of railway with a population of , , , while europe has only , miles with a population of , , ." we grant the point which the general makes on ventilation, ice-water, etc.; but, to make the comparison a fair one, he should also have referred to the much greater cost of european roads, to their much greater number of employes per mile, to the much shorter haul, to the higher price of their fuel, to the superiority of their roadbed and the greater security of their passengers. moreover, whether the railroads of a country are profitable or not cannot be ascertained by merely comparing miles of road with square miles of territory and number of inhabitants. british india has a population of , , and only about , miles of railroad, and yet her roads are scarcely as profitable as our own. china has , , and asia has about , , people to every mile of railroad, but so far their railroads have proved no bonanza. the question is not how many people there are to each mile of railroad, but rather to what extent the railroad is used by the people. the amount of freight carried annually by the railways of the united states is about , , tons, or , , , ton miles, and the number of passengers carried is about , , , representing an aggregate of travel of nearly , , , miles. this shows an average of , tons of freight carried one mile, and miles traveled annually for each inhabitant of the nation, and a greater use of railway facilities than that of any other country in the world. the income of the railroads per capita is $ in the united states, $ in the united kingdom, $ in germany, $ in france, and still less in italy, austria and russia. the average freight haul is miles in europe and miles in the united states; the average passenger haul miles in europe and miles in the united states. it has already been shown that the average earnings per train mile are also larger here than there. röll's encyclopedia of railroads for shows that in france the average rate for all traffic for the year was for passengers . cents per mile, and for freight . cents per ton per kilometer, and that the nation had also received by way of free or reduced rates on government business during that year benefits to the amount of $ , , . large reductions have been made during the past year in passenger rates. the general indulges in making the stereotyped railroad charge that "the legislatures of several of the states have enacted laws to effect a reduction of rates, the literal obedience to some of which would amount to the practical confiscation of railway property." the general or any of his friends cannot name a road that was ever confiscated by legislation, or even seriously injured. it is a fact that the very legislation of which railroad managers so bitterly complain has had a beneficial influence on railroad earnings. thus, in iowa, where, according to the testimony of railroad men, grangerism has reigned supreme during the past few years, railroad earnings increased between and from $ , , to $ , , , or more than per cent. still better results could have been secured if the railroad managers had been in sympathy with the law. there is no doubt that they would gladly suffer, or rather have their companies suffer, a loss of revenue, if this would lead to a repeal of the laws and restore to them the power to manipulate rates for their own purposes. but the general comes to the main point of his article when he complains against "the unreasonable requirements and restrictions of the interstate commerce law." he says: "principal among these are what is known as the 'long and short haul clause,' which prohibits railway companies from receiving any greater compensation in the aggregate for a shorter than for a longer haul over the same line in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance; and the anti-pooling clause, which prevents railway companies from entering into any agreement with each other for an apportionment of joint earnings." if we carefully examine the railroad literature of the last four years, we find that it has concentrated its efforts toward the creation of public sentiment in favor of the repeal of these two clauses of the interstate commerce law. railroad men are well aware of the fact that, with these two clauses stricken out, the interstate commerce law would be practically valueless, and in clamoring for their repeal they evince a persistency worthy of a better cause. the practices which these clauses aim to prohibit cannot be defended upon any consideration of justice and equity, and it is folly to expect the american people to sacrifice their convictions of right to the selfish interest of a comparatively small number of persons interested in the manipulation of railroad stocks. the july, , number of the _forum_ contains an article on the operation of the interstate commerce law from the pen of aldace f. walker, formerly a member of the interstate commerce commission, and now commissioner of the western traffic association. mr. walker evidently belongs to the old school of railroad men, who have not yet accepted the granger decision. referring to it, he says: "this decision was not unanimous, and the reasoning presented was not so convincing as to command universal acceptance. it was at once challenged by the corporations, and has been from time to time attacked in the same tribunal; it has not yet been withdrawn, but it has been materially modified, notably in a case from minnesota, decided in , when it was established that there is a limit beyond which the state cannot go in reducing railway rates, which limit would be passed in case a state should attempt to deprive a corporation of its property, without due process of law, by fixing rates too low to permit of a fair remuneration for its use. a large debatable ground yet remains open, with a possibility that the position of the railway in federal jurisprudence may eventually be radically modified." the passage quoted clearly indicates that railroad men expect better things of the court in the future, but mr. walker is much mistaken in supposing the court materially modified the granger decision, as will be seen by referring to the case of budd vs. the state of new york, decided in february, , by the same court. mr. walker, unlike mr. depew, candidly admits the former universality of the evil of discrimination. he says: "in order to secure traffic, a railway official felt called upon to underbid his rival. he gave the shipper a private rate, a rebate, a free pass--anything in the shape of a concession or a favor. the land was honeycombed with special arrangements of innumerable forms, all secret, because otherwise they would have been useless, and all forced upon the carriers by the exigencies of unbridled competition. many shippers became wealthy from such gains. others were envious of like success. at last the public sense of justice demanded a reform." and mr. walker's candor rises to a still higher pitch when he admits that the ingenuity of railroad managers has found ways to evade the interstate commerce law. the following passage from the commissioner's article will, no doubt, be a great surprise to such law-abiding and confiding managers as mr. depew: "there was nothing in the law specifically forbidding the payment of 'commissions,' and it was found that the routing of business might be secured by a slight expenditure of that nature to a shipper's friend. other kindred devices were suggested, some new, some old; the payment of rent, clerk hire, dock charges, elevator fees, drayage, the allowance of exaggerated claims, free transportation within some single state--a hundred ingenious forms of evading the plain requirements of the law were said to be in use. the demoralization was not by any means confined to the minor roads. shippers were ready to give information to other lines concerning concessions which were offered them, and to state the sum required to control their patronage. a freight agent, thus appealed to, at first perhaps might let the business go, but when the matter became more serious and he saw one large shipper after another seeking a less desirable route, he was very apt to throw up his hands and fall in with the procession." mr. walker is very severe on the interstate commerce act, which, he says, might in its present form "well be entitled, 'an act to promote railway bankruptcies and consolidations by driving weak roads out of competitive business.'" to remedy the evil which, in his opinion, the act causes, he favors the granting of differentials by the stronger to the weaker roads. such a device is simply a species of pool under a less offensive name. its manifest object is to maintain rates through a conspiracy of rival railroads. mr. walker admits this when he says: "it operates in practice to affect a distribution of the traffic somewhat roughly, giving rise to frequent dissensions and bickerings over the 'differentials' which are allowed; but after all it has enabled the trunk lines usually to secure a better maintenance of tariff rates and a better observance of the provisions of the law against private rebates and discriminations than has been attainable in other sections of the country where different conditions make such an arrangement impracticable. it vividly illustrates, however, the necessity of some plan by which common business may be divided." this problem, which apparently causes so much perplexity to railroad managers, would soon be solved if railroad abuses were done away with. so long as these abuses exist and rates are maintained by artificial means there will be bickering and strife for business which legitimately belongs to others. mr. walker then bewails the proscription of the pool, saying: "it may be stated without fear of contradiction that if the carriers had been left free to make arrangements among themselves upon which each line might rely for eventually receiving in some form a fair share of competitive traffic, the temptation for secret rate-cutting would have been in great measure removed and the country would have been spared most of the traffic disturbances and illegitimate contrivances for buying business which have since been periodically rife." this argument amounts to this, that, rather than place a law upon our statute books which reckless railroad managers might be strongly tempted to violate, they should be permitted to combine and control the highways and levy _ad libitum_ upon the commerce of the country. it is a most preposterous proposition. the article especially condemns the long and short haul clause of the law. that this clause is injurious to the commerce of the country is, however, not obvious from his reasoning. mr. walker makes the statement that this clause of the law "has removed from many jobbing centers important advantages which they previously had, and has enabled interior communities, formerly of little apparent consequence, to deal directly with distant markets." if he means by this that this feature of the law has equalized shipping throughout the country, he is doubtless right. if he wishes us to infer, however, that it prevents the railroad companies from doing substantial justice to all, he presumes altogether too much upon the credulity of his readers. another article from the same author appeared under the title "unregulated competition self-destructive," in the december, , number of the same periodical. he commences his article with an inquiry into the pedigree and merit of the time-honored proverb, "competition is the life of trade," and arrives at the conclusion that the phrase is fatherless and insignificant. he says: "'competition is the life of trade;' 'competition is the death of trade;' one phrase is as true as the other. for all that appears, it was a toss-up which of the two should become current as the expression of the general thought." it is its general recognition that gives a truth a proverb's currency. mr. walker sneers at a disagreeable proverb because, like the majority of his colleagues, he holds the masses in contempt. he gives his estimate of popular intelligence in the following words: "unfortunately most men do not think worthily, or do not think at all; they are ruled by phrases, and they catch the crude ideas of others as they fly." mr. walker's whole argument is one in favor of the legalization of the pool, though he carefully avoids the word which grates so harshly on the american ear. he makes the broad statement, without offering the least proof in support of it, that measures have been everywhere adopted "to subdue and ameliorate the evil results of inordinate and excessive competitive strife," and then he asks: "has not the time come for a reversal of the legislative attitude? would it not be well for congress, state legislatures and the judiciary to cease their futile attempts to maintain unqualified freedom of competition, and substitute therefore a recognition of the right of every industry to combine under proper supervision, and to make agreements for the maintenance of just and reasonable prices, the prevention of the enormous wastage consequent upon warlike conditions, and the preservation of existing institutions through the years to come?" mr. walker then proceeds to make the bold prediction that revolution and anarchy will follow if the demands of the railroad corporations are not complied with, saying: "unless this course is adopted a social convulsion may fairly be apprehended, forced by the universal and necessary repudiation of existing laws and rules of decision, and by the general formation of combinations without their pale." this is a strange threat indeed, and unworthy of a man who has held as great a public trust as mr. walker has. the article also contains the statement that combinations do not extinguish competition. "they regulate it," says mr. walker, "with more or less efficiency, and they often go so far as to suspend its operation in respect to one or more important features of the strife; for example, the price paid or the time consumed. but as long as the employer or the purchaser has a choice, so long there is competition." here is a sample of mr. walker's irony, for the choice which the shipper has under the pool is simply hobson's choice. mr. walker has also an article in the august, , number of the _forum_, the substance of which is to show that organizations among railroad companies, like the western traffic association, are necessary for the purpose of restraining competition among them. he holds that such competition as exists in almost all other lines of business "is radically vicious to all interests, however pleasant and desirable it may seem to self-styled anti-monopolists," and that "it is a calamity not only to the owners of the roads, but to the public also." according to his statement, the traffic association is simply a little innocent and inoffensive organization whose duty it is only to maintain rates, and he sees nothing wrong in allowing a few representatives of corporations to meet in secret and discuss, scheme and levy such a tax upon the commerce of this country as may suit their convenience; and he regrets that their attempts are "hampered by legislation which forbids the formation of pools." in other words, he proposes to have the case in court decided by a jury made up entirely of the parties at interest in the case. this piece of effrontery is about on a par with the average argument of this class of pleaders. suppose we apply the same rule to other classes. take the farmers, for instance. let them have an organization for the purpose of maintaining rates, with their representatives meeting in secret and fixing the price of their produce and asking the government to enforce their orders, pools and edicts, so as to afford them relief from selling corn at ten cents per bushel, beef and pork at a dollar and a half per hundred, and hay at two dollars per ton, and their other produce at proportionate rates. who would condemn such an organization more severely than the advocates of the traffic association? they never find terms sufficiently expressive with which to condemn the farmers' alliance and other kindred associations, which are organized solely for the purpose of lawfully correcting existing abuses and of forming a wholesome public sentiment. it is evident that some progress is being made upon this question, as mr. walker admits that "the fortunes which have been made are seen to have been the result of dealings in stocks and in titles, the consequences of which, if involving wrong, are rightly charged against the lax legislation which has made such operations possible." "every person seeking for the services of a common carrier is entitled to know that he is charged no more than his neighbor who obtains the same service under the same conditions." "the theory that any unjust discrimination or unjust preference or advantage in respect to individuals, communities or descriptions of traffic must be suppressed by the state, has become firmly lodged in legislation." this improvement in the sentiment of railroad men is gratifying. this gentleman, as has already been stated, was for several years a member of the interstate commerce commission, a board created by congress for the special purpose of enforcing the law which he so unreservedly condemns. no doubt mr. walker performed the duties of his office as he understood them; but if he held then the views which he holds now, his work must have been a hindrance rather than a help to the commission. among financial journals, so many of which are devoted to the support of vicious and demoralizing methods, and are ever ready to defend whatever is bad in corporation management, it is refreshing to find occasionally one that exposes abuses and favors the earning of legitimate dividends, and it is a pleasure to quote the following from the june number, , of the _banker's magazine_: "there are two widely differing theories concerning the management of railroads in this country; one theory is that profits should be acquired from fluctuations in the stock, and the other is that the profits should be acquired in the old-fashioned way, by performing a useful service and receiving a reward therefor, to be divided among the stockholders in the way of a dividend. these two theories are so different in their practical operation that they give rise to the most diverse consequences. of course, many railroads are not dividend-earning, and with these the profits to the managers and those who are allied with them must come from stock fluctuations and from whatever sucking arrangements can be devised whereby their vitality or sustenance can be acquired by the favored few who are in control. unfortunately, there are many railroads in this condition, the history of which is too well known to require description. once in control, the way is easy to retain it and to make money by a thousand devices which ingenious and unscrupulous managers are constantly planning and putting into operation. "the consequences of the other theory are as different, both to the corporate property and to the public, as can be imagined. when a railroad is properly managed and earning dividends, a policy of development is adopted, having for its end the natural expansion of the property in harmony with the growth of the country, the needs of business and the desires of the people. the fruits of such a policy may not be apparent at once, but they inevitably come, and, when they are reaped, are enjoyed and appreciated by all. only by such a policy can our roads ever become great, commanding the confidence of the people, and fulfilling their highest uses; in short, only by such a policy can a railroad be brought to a high degree of perfection. "the difference is clearly seen by contrasting a road of this character with one that is run by the wall street method for stock-jobbing purposes. by this method dividends are not regarded as of so much consequence to investors as an instrument or argument for affecting the value of the stock. in other words, if a dividend is earned and paid at all, it is chiefly as an instrument or agency for stock-jobbing purposes, and not because the road is managed primarily for this purpose. furthermore, dividends, too often, are disregarded altogether, as well as any policy of permanent improvement or of general development. the cardinal idea always is, how can the road be maintained and manipulated so as to cause the largest variations in the stock and the most money for the managers? "too many managers, as is well known, have made great sums for themselves and built additions long in advance of their means, and have seriously crippled their corporations by so doing. but they have made fortunes for themselves. what the great majority of mankind consider is the immediate present, and not the future. "it is undoubtedly a hard thing for those who are conducting their corporations in an honest and able manner, for the benefit of their owners, to keep still while their enemies are pounding them and glorifying those who are managing their corporations for personal and corrupt ends; but all cheap and false practices must finally lead to disaster. we hear a great deal of this kind of thing nowadays. one of the evil effects of speculation and newspaper reading is, that people have got in the way of not thinking much for themselves; of regarding as truth whatever is printed, and of not opening their eyes wide enough to discover the shallowness of the reasonings and falsehoods that are put forth at the behests of speculators, or of those who are managing corporations for speculative purposes. the american people have had an amazing experience in losses from following advice thus plentifully and freely given; nevertheless, there seem to be persons left who are willing to listen and fall into the old ways and be trapped, as so many others have been in the past. there is a considerable class, having means and nothing to do, who perhaps might just as well lose their money in poker, railroad or grain speculation as in any other way, for this furnishes about the only source of amusement to them; but, after all, there is no reason why railroads should be managed so exclusively for the amusement of this class. the time is coming, and probably is not far off, when they will get enough of it; and railroad investors will conclude that dividends for themselves are better than profits for speculators; and when they do, all stock-jobbing managers will be consigned to the limbo which is their proper destination." this magazine is edited by mr. albert s. bolles, author of several excellent financial works. we are much indebted to him for the sound banking system which we now have, and which has contributed so largely to the unexampled prosperity which this country has enjoyed for the last thirty years. our national banking system illustrates well how service able the corporation may be to a people when its use is restricted by wholesome laws to the performance of its proper functions. the old united states bank was organized for practically the same purposes as our present national banks, but for lack of proper restrictions its use was soon perverted to ignoble purposes. the bank managers showed so much partiality in the distribution of their favors and accommodations, and meddled in politics to such an extent, that the people became disgusted with it, and a renewal of its charter was refused. mr. clay clearly saw how dangerous a great money power might become to our country, and, in opposing the extension of the bank's charter, said: "the power to charter companies is one of the most exalted attributes of sovereignty. in the exercise of this gigantic power we have seen an east india company created, which is in itself a sovereignty, which has subverted empires and set up new dynasties, and has not only made war, but war against its legitimate sovereign! under the influence of this power we have seen rise a south sea company, and a mississippi company, that distracted and convulsed all europe, and menaced a total overthrow of all credit and confidence, and universal bankruptcy." can we afford to ignore the lessons of history? mr. henry clews makes some spicy and pertinent observations on railroad men's methods in an article which recently appeared in the _railway age_. mr. clews seems to have but little confidence in the average railroad director. he advises stockholders to exercise constant vigilance and defensive conservatism, "lest they become the instruments by which unscrupulous and crafty directors work out schemes that are in reality nothing but frauds or robbery." and then he adds: "in estimating corporate acts we must never forget that, while the best of men will bear watching as to their individual dealings with others, they need to be doubly watched when they sit around a corporation board and vote as to transactions in respect of which none of them can be called to personal account. temptations attack with enormous force when the gains are prospectively great and the risk of penalty inappreciable or non-existent." mr. clews also tells us how roads are wrecked by their boards of directors. "in one case," he says, "the stock of a leading railway, which in sold at , in sold at - / , and in at . this vast shrinkage of value was not owing to panic or to stringency of money, nor did it arise from a diminution of traffic on the original line; but it was because consolidation had been pushed to an extreme by the directors of the corporation, so much so that the entire system yielded no dividends; a fleet and useful animal had been loaded down with dead wood and rubbish till he could scarcely crawl; barren acres had been added to an originally fruitful farm until the whole estate could hardly pay taxes; a mass of rotten apples had been thrown into the measure with sound fruit, and buyers refused the whole as a mere heap of corruption. and it was generally believed that the men who perpetrated this mischief under the names of 'construction,' 'requisite consolidation,' 'absorption of necessary branches,' etc., had made a great deal of money by it and had not made it honestly. but it was all done pursuant to legal forms and by boards of directors, so that the defrauded stockholders were without remedy." mr. clews then gives us a more detailed account of the way in which branch roads are built and absorbed, viz.: "given a useful, well constructed, dividend-paying road, a body of people with some capital and political influence, aided by some of the directors of this prosperous line; construct a branch road to some outside point; the more important such point the better, but that is of small consequence. the road gets itself built; it is bonded for more than it cost, and it cost twice as much as it ought, since the constructors were all together in the ring and have favored each other. then the capital stock is fixed at so much, and this is mostly distributed among the constructors. the road then, swelled to a fictitious price of three or four to one, and not worth anything to start with, is ripe for absorption and consolidation. its directors and those of the main line meet, confer and vote the measure through. they all profit by it, more or less, but their profits are enormously in excess of the trifling losses due to the shrinkage of values of the shares of the main line. a director of the main line may perhaps lose $ , on a thousand shares, but what is this when compared to a gain of hundreds of thousands in his holdings of the branch road, whose liabilities are assumed by his victimized corporation? and such a director would not be equal to the demands of his covetousness if he had not sold thousands of shares short, in anticipation of the fall which the transactions of himself and his associates were inevitably bound to produce." mr. clews concludes his article with the following passage: "the profits realized on the speculative constructions are enormous and have constituted the chief source of the phenomenal fortunes piled up by our railroad millionaires within the last twenty years. it is no exaggeration to characterize these transactions as direct frauds upon the public. they may not be such in a sense recognized by the law, for legislation has strangely neglected to provide against their perpetration; but morally they are nothing less, for they are essentially deceptive and unjust, and involve an oppressive taxation of the public at large for the benefit of a few individuals who have given no equivalent for what they get. the result of this system is that, on the average, the railroads of the country are capitalized at probably fully per cent. in excess of their actual cost. the managers of the roads claim the right to earn dividends upon this fictitious capital, and it is their constant effort to accomplish that object. so far as they succeed they exercise an utterly unjust taxation upon the public by exacting a compensation in excess of a fair return upon the capital actually invested. this unjust exaction amounts to a direct charge and burden on the trade of the country which limits the ability of the american producer and merchant to compete with those of foreign nations and checks the development of our vast natural resources. in a country of 'magnificent distances' like ours the cost of transportation is one of the foremost factors affecting the capacity for progress; and the artificial enhancement of freight and passenger rates due to this false capitalization has been a far more serious bar to our material development than public opinion has yet realized. the hundreds of millions of wealth so suddenly accumulated by our railroad monarchs is the measure of this iniquitous taxation, this perverted distribution of wealth. this creation of a powerful aristocracy of wealth, which originated in a diseased system of finance, must ultimately become a source of very serious social and political disorder. the descendants of the mushroom millionaires of the present generation will consolidate into a broad and almost omnipotent money power, whose sympathies and influence will conflict with our political institutions at every point of contact. they will exercise a vast control over the larger organizations and movements of capital; monopolies will seek protection under their wing, and by the ascendancy which wealth always confers they will steadily broaden their grasp upon the legislation, the banking and commerce of the nation." these are strong words, but they come from a man whose thirty years' experience in wall street enables him to speak intelligently upon this subject and who certainly cannot be accused of being prejudiced against railroad men or corporate investments. in a recent number of his _weekly financial review_ mr. clews said of the railroad stock market: "judgment passes for little in estimating the future of many securities, for the market is almost wholly under the control of comparatively few persons, whose operations must inevitably influence the value of thousands of millions of stocks and bonds. never in the history of wall street was the value of such an enormous aggregation of securities so absolutely under the control of so small a circle as at this time. such a state of affairs cannot be considered satisfactory; hence not only is speculation likely to be unhealthily stimulated, but the future of these combinations gives birth to a variety of uncertainties which, while they may elevate prices, will certainly not add to their stability." if the silly claim of railroad men, that western people do not invest in railroad securities on account of their unprofitableness, needed any answer, the above words would furnish it. the may, , number of the _north american review_ contains an article entitled "a railway party in politics," by mr. h. p. robinson, editor of the _railway age_. mr. robinson belongs to that class of reformers who can see but one side of a question, and only a short-sighted view of that. he is as zealous as a new convert, and is expert, in the ward politician's way, in defense of the worst abuses practiced by railway men. he says: "that the right to 'regulate' the railways, which is vested in the state, has now been carried in the west to a point not only beyond the bounds of justice, but beyond its constitutional limits, and that it would soon be impossible for any railway company in the west to keep out of bankruptcy unless some vigorous and concerted action were taken to arouse public opinion, and to compel a modification of the present policy. "it is easy to see how much strength such a party, if formed, would possess. according to the reports of the interstate commerce commission there were in the immediate employ of the railways of the united states a year and a half ago , men, all or nearly all voters, which number has now, it may be assumed, been increased to about , . there are, in addition, about one million and a quarter shareholders in the railway properties of the country; and in other trades and industries immediately dependent upon the railways for their support there are estimated to be engaged, as principals or employes, over one million voters more. these three classes united would give at once a massed voting strength of some three millions of voters. there are also, in the smaller towns especially, and at points where railway shops are located, all over the country, a number of persons, small tradesmen, boarding-house keepers, etc., who are dependent for their livelihood on the patronage of railway employes, and whose vote could unquestionably be cast in harmony with any concerted employes' movement. moreover, unlike most new parties, this party would be at no loss for the sinews of war or for the means of organization. the men whom it would include form even now almost a disciplined army. with them co-operation is already a habit. while the financial backing and the commercial and physical strength of which the party would find itself possessed from its birth would be practically unlimited.... "for the present it seems to them better to believe that the people--those people who are not railway men--are acting now only in ignorance, and that as soon as they see the truth they will, by their own instinctive sense of justice, re-mould their opinions and their policy without political coercion. "at the same time there has already come into existence in some of the western states a movement which has its significance and its practical influence. this is what is called the railway employes' club movement. it started in minnesota, at a small meeting of railway employes held in minneapolis in . from that meeting the movement grew, and made a certain feeble effort, not entirely unsuccessful, to influence the state election in the fall of that year. by the state election of the movement had grown and was better organized, and the employes' club did exercise considerable influence in the election of certain of the state officers and certain members of the state legislature in that year. "from minnesota the movement spread to iowa, and there is no contradiction of the fact that the railway employes' vote was one of the strongest forces in the state election of the fall of . it also overflowed into kansas, nebraska, missouri and texas. had the election of last november been normal it is probable that the effect of the railway employes' club vote would have been as visible in two or three of those states then as it had been in iowa in the preceding year. but in the deluge which occurred all trace of the smaller streams and currents was obliterated. had the members of the clubs not taken the precaution to do considerable work in the local nominating conventions of both parties they would be compelled to confess that their campaign of was a failure.... "so far the clubs have admitted and will admit of no negotiations with the state committees of other parties. they hold their own meetings and decide for themselves that such and such a candidate is inimical to their interests as railway employes, and such and such a man is their friend. then they go to the polls and vote--voting in the main their normal party ticket, scratching only a man here and a man there, their attention being chiefly centered upon members of the boards of railroad commissioners and of the state legislatures. "in minnesota in their weight was thrown chiefly in favor of republicans. in iowa in it was given to democrats. in all states the men whom they oppose are those who have made themselves conspicuous as 'granger' and anti-railway politicians. the keynote of the movement and the one plank in the platform of the clubs is that the extreme anti-railroad legislation of late years has reduced the earnings of the companies to a point at which they are unable any longer to keep full forces on their payrolls or to pay such wages as they should, and that by this legislation the railway employes are necessarily the immediate sufferers.... "a railway party is therefore already in existence.... and moreover, though accidentally only, it is working forcibly in behalf of railway interests as a whole.... "meanwhile mr. a. f. walker, the chairman of the joint committee of the trunk line and central traffic associations, prophesies that if things go on as they are going now, before long 'the managers of the railways will be chiefly receivers.' in the year receivers were appointed for twenty-six companies in the united states, representing $ , , of capital, and twenty-one companies, with , miles of road, with a capitalization of $ , , , were sold under foreclosure. "it is doubtful whether the result which mr. walker foretells would be regarded as a calamity by the 'uninformed public opinion of the west.' that minnesota railroad commissioner was quite sure of the public applause before he made his classic declaration that he proposed to 'shake the railroads over hell' before he had done with them, and the governor of iowa, who announced that he did not care if 'every d--d railroad in the state went into bankruptcy' before the expiration of his term of office, knew that the sentiment would have the sympathies of his constituents. this attitude of the western mind is, of course, largely explained by the fact that the people of the west do not as a rule own railway securities. in two states (the only two in the west in which, so far as i am aware, the figures have been compiled) out of , stockholders in the lines within the state borders only are residents of the states. if the other , were also residents of these states (that is to say, if , of the present residents were also stockholders in the railways), it is probable that the ferocity of the public opinion in these states against railways would be materially modified." it is evident that mr. robinson has not been as successful in organizing small tradesmen, boarding-house keepers, employes and shareholders into a new party as he contemplated, notwithstanding "it was at no loss for the sinews of war." he attempts to show that this movement originated with the employes, but it is too well known that the employes who organized the movement were under pay of the railroad companies and received their instructions from the railroad managers. the statement which mr. robinson attributes to the governor of iowa undoubtedly originated in the mind of one who is laboring to modify the ferocity of "the uninformed public opinion of the west." no governor of iowa ever made any such statement, nor ever entertained any such sentiment. it is a sheer fabrication. there are a number of standard text-books of law which are indispensable to the student of railroad questions desiring to go back to first principles. only a few of them can be mentioned here. i. f. redfield, in his "law of railways," says concerning the necessity for railroad supervision: "railways being a species of highway, and in practice monopolizing the entire traffic, both of travel and transportation, in the country, it is just and necessary and indispensable to the public security that a strict legislative control over the subject should be constantly exercised." regarding the original character of the railway as a common highway, redfield says: "the railways clauses consolidation act provides, in detail, for the use of railways by all persons who may choose to put carriages thereon, upon the payment of the tolls demandable, subject to the provisions of the statute and the regulations of the company. the view originally taken of railways in england evidently was to treat them as a common highway, open to all who might choose to put carriages thereon. but in practice it is found necessary for the safety of the traffic that it should be exclusively under the control of the company, and hence no use is, in fact, made of the railway by others." as to the questionable financial expedients so frequently resorted to in building american railways, this author says: "this is not the place, nor are we disposed, to read a homily upon the wisdom of legislative grants, or the moralities of moneyed speculations in stocks on the exchange or elsewhere. but it would seem that legislation upon this subject should be conducted with sufficient deliberation and firmness so as not to invest such incorporations with such unlimited powers as to operate as a net to catch the unwary, or as a gulf in which to bury out of sight the most disastrous results to private fortunes, which has justly rendered american investments, taken as a whole, a reproach wherever the name has traveled." the opinion is expressed in this work that under certain circumstances railroad securities should be aided by state credit, and is supported by the following argument: "here we have no national funded stock in convenient sums for small investment, and which, being sure, is really a great blessing to the mass of those who wish to invest moderate sums as a protection against age or calamity. in those countries where such opportunities exist, it removes all temptation to invest small sums in these enterprises, which, however necessary for the public, such small owners can but poorly afford to aid in carrying forward, and which consequently should in justice either be guaranteed or owned by the state, or at all events aided by state credit, when they become indispensable for the public convenience." upon the subject of eminent domain redfield says: "that railways are but improved highways, and are of such public use as to justify the exercise of the right of eminent domain, by the sovereign, in their construction, is now almost universally conceded." kent says in his "commentaries on american law": "the right of eminent domain, or inherent sovereign power, gives to the legislature the control of private property for public uses, _and for public uses only_.... so, lands adjoining new york canals were made liable to be assumed for the public use, so far as was necessary for the great object of the canals.... in these and other instances which might be enumerated, the interest of the public is deemed paramount to that of any private individual; and yet, even here, the constitutions of the united states and of most of the states of the union have imposed a great and valuable check upon the exercise of legislative power, by declaring that private property should not be taken for public use without just compensation.... it undoubtedly must rest, as a general rule, in the wisdom of the legislature to determine when public uses require the assumption of private property; but if they should take it for a purpose not of a public nature, as if the legislature should take the property of a and give it to b, or if they should vacate a grant of property, or of a franchise, under the pretext of some public use or service, such cases would be gross abuses of their discretion, and fraudulent attacks on private right, and the law would clearly be unconstitutional and void." concerning the construction of corporate powers kent lays down the following rule: "the modern doctrine is to consider corporations as having such powers as are specifically granted by the act of incorporation, or as are necessary for the purpose of carrying into effect the powers expressly granted, and as having no other. the supreme court of the united states declared this obvious doctrine, and it has been repeated in the decisions of the state courts. no rule of law comes with a more reasonable application, considering how lavishly charter privileges have been granted. as corporations are the mere creatures of law, established for special purposes, and derive all their powers from the acts creating them, it is perfectly just and proper that they should be obliged strictly to show their authority for the business they assume, and be confined in their operations to the mode and manner and subject matter prescribed." as to the duties of common carriers he says: "as they hold themselves to the world as common carriers for a reasonable compensation, they assume to do and are bound to do what is required of them in the course of their employment, if they have the requisite convenience to carry and are offered a reasonable and customary price; and if they refuse without just ground, they are liable to an action." judge cooley, in his very able work, "constitutional limitations," refers to the so-called vested rights of corporations and the abuse growing out of them as follows: "it is under the protection of the decision in the dartmouth college case that the most enormous and threatening powers in our country have been created, some of the great and wealthy corporations actually having greater influence in the country at large, and upon the legislation of the country, than the states to which they owe their corporate existence. every privilege granted or right conferred--no matter by what means or on what pretense--being made inviolable by the constitution, the government is frequently found stripped of its authority in very important particulars, by unwise, careless or corrupt legislation; and a clause of the federal constitution whose purpose was to preclude the repudiation of debts and just contracts protects and perpetuates the evil." the late president garfield, in one of his legislative speeches, called attention to the fact that chief justice marshall pronounced the decision in the dartmouth college case ten years before the steam railway was born, and then said: "i have ventured to criticise the judicial application of the dartmouth college case, and i venture the further opinion that some features of that decision, as applied to the railway and similar corporations, must give way under the new elements which time has added to the problem." charles fisk beach, jr., in his recent work entitled "commentaries on the law of private corporations," well defines what constitutes dedication to a public use. he says: "whenever any person pursues a public calling and sustains such relations to the public that the people must of necessity deal with him, and are under a moral duress to submit to his terms if he is unrestrained by law, then, in order to prevent extortion and an abuse of his position, the price he may charge for his services may be regulated by law. when private property is affected with a public interest it ceases to be _juris privati_ only. this was said by lord chief justice hale more than three hundred years ago in his treatise _de portibus maris_, and has been accepted without objection as an essential element in the law of property ever since." treating of the fiduciary position of directors and officers of corporations, the same author says: "the directors, officers and agents of a corporation are held to the general rule of law resting 'upon our great moral obligation to refrain from placing ourselves in relations which ordinarily excite a conflict between self-interest and integrity.' the directors and officers are the agents of the company, and while acting in that capacity for it cannot deal with themselves to the detriment of the corporation. all contracts of that character are voidable at the option of the corporation." and further he says: "a director whose personal interests are adverse to those of the corporation has no right to act as a director. as soon as he finds he has personal interests which are in conflict with those of the company he ought to resign." t. carl spelling, in his treatise on "the law of private corporations," says of pooling arrangements: "courts long ago exercised jurisdiction to regulate rates of _quasi_ public corporations, and on the same principle will refuse to enforce pooling contracts between railroad and gas companies. such contracts are void as against public policy.... there is substantial harmony between the english and american definitions of monopoly, the two countries agreeing that contracts entered into by and between two or more corporations, the necessary result of whose performance will crush and destroy competition, are illegal." upon the subject of eminent domain mr. spelling remarks: "that the legislature may thus select any agency it sees fit for the exercise of eminent domain, and also that it may determine what purposes shall be deemed public, are propositions too deeply rooted in the jurisprudence of this country to admit now of doubt or discussion. making an application of this doctrine to railway operations, conceding it to be settled that these facilities for travel and commerce are a public necessity, if the legislature, reflecting the public sentiment, decide that the general benefit is better promoted by their construction through individuals or corporations than by the state itself, it would clearly be pressing a constitutional maxim to an absurd extreme if it were to be held that the public necessity should be only provided for in the way which is least consistent with the public interest.... the power of eminent domain being an inherent element of sovereignty, it cannot be divested out of the state or abridged by contract or treaty so as to bind future legislatures. nor can the right be divested by private contract." concerning state control of corporations the same author says: "the subordination of all private interests to the purposes of government, subject only to the condition that the object to be accomplished shall be one in which the public has an interest, is no longer an open question. in its general bearing this principle is too well settled and uniformly recognized--underlying the adjudications by courts of all cases involving constitutional provisions--to require more than a mere statement." and again he says: "nor is it longer necessary to seek a justification of the common practice of regulating the rates of charges and general management of railroads on the ground that they have received valuable franchises of a public nature and had important powers of sovereign character conferred upon them. that may be an important political consideration, and as such may strengthen the argument in favor of the right; but the right itself rests upon firmer ground, and upon other considerations than that of pecuniary consideration derived from the state. the state may regulate their business, not because they are corporations, nor yet because they are corporations of a particular kind, but because they, like the individuals of which they are composed, are subject to the laws which say that when one devotes his property to a use in which the public has an interest, he in effect grants to the public an interest in that use, and must submit to be controlled by the public for the common good to the extent of the interest he has thus created." chapter xi. railroads and railroad legislation in iowa. the first survey for a railroad in the state of iowa was made in the fall of . the proposed road had its initial point at davenport and followed a westerly course. it was practically an extension of the chicago and rock island railroad, which was then being built between chicago and the mississippi river. on the d day of december, , the mississippi and missouri railroad company was formed, its object being to build, maintain and operate a railroad from davenport to council bluffs. the articles of association were acknowledged before john f. dillon, notary public, and filed for record in the office of the recorder of scott county, on the th of january, , and in the office of the secretary of state on the first day of february following. in the mississippi and missouri railroad company entered into an agreement with the railroad bridge company of illinois for the construction and maintenance of a bridge over the mississippi at rock island. the work was commenced in the fall of that year, and the bridge was completed on april , , it being then the only bridge spanning the mississippi river. the first division of the mississippi and missouri railroad, extending from davenport to iowa city, was completed on the first of january, , and was formally opened two days later. a branch line to muscatine was completed shortly thereafter. on the first day of july the state of iowa had in all sixty-seven miles of railroad, bonded at $ , a mile, which at that time probably represented the total cost of construction. the earnings of these sixty-seven miles of road during the six months following july , , amounted to $ , , or $ , per mile, which was equal to an annual income of about $ , per mile. on the th of may, , congress granted to the state of iowa certain lands for the purpose of "aiding in the construction of railroads from burlington, on the mississippi river, to a point on the missouri river near the mouth of the platte river; from the city of davenport, iowa, by way of iowa city and fort des moines, to council bluffs; from lyons city northwesterly to a point of intersection with the main line of the iowa central air line railroad near maquoketa, thence on said line running as near as practical to the forty-second parallel across the state; and from the city of dubuque to the missouri river near sioux city." the grant comprised the alternate sections designated by odd numbers and lying within six miles from each of the proposed roads. provision was also made for indemnity for all lands covered by the grant which were already sold or otherwise disposed of. the wisdom of the land-grant policy has been questioned. when these grants were made it was believed by many that railroads would not and could not be built in the west without such aid. while others did not share this opinion, they at least supposed that land grants would greatly stimulate railroad enterprise and lead to the early construction of the lines thus favored. the land grant of the mississippi and missouri railroad was a mere donation for that part of the line which was already completed at the time the grant was made; and the extension of this line, as well as the construction of the other lines to which the grant applied, was not made as fast as had been anticipated. the price of all government lands lying outside of the land-grant belts was $ . per acre. to reimburse the public treasury for the loss resulting from these grants, the price of lands situated within the land-grant belts was advanced to $ . per acre, practically compelling the purchasers of the even-numbered sections of land, instead of the government, to make the donation to the railroads, it being supposed that the benefits resulting to those regions from the immediate construction of railroads would correspondingly enhance the value of the alternate sections of land reserved by the government. designing men soon saw the advantages which the situation offered. they combined with their friends to organize companies for the construction of the land-grant roads, built a small portion of the proposed line, to hold the grant, and then awaited further developments, or rather the settlement of the country beyond. there are those who believe that the doubling of the price of government land within the belt of the proposed land-grant roads greatly retarded immigration and with it the construction of roads. they hold that, had no grant whatever been made to any railroad company and had equal competition in railroad construction been permitted, the iowa through lines, instead of following, would have led, the tide of immigration. it has been seen that in the mississippi and missouri railroad was completed as far as iowa city. on the second day of june of that year its board of directors asked the governor of the state to convene the general assembly in extra session, to consider the disposition which should be made of the recent congressional grant. this urgency might lead one to suppose that the company was anxious to extend its line at the earliest opportunity. the general assembly was convened, and the land given to the state by congress for the purpose of aiding in the construction of a railroad from davenport to council bluffs was given to the mississippi and missouri railroad company. the act was approved by the governor on july , , and three days later the company "assented to and accepted the grant." it then executed mortgage after mortgage, and built a branch line through quite a populous territory, from muscatine to washington, but the main line made very slow progress. in the bonded debt of the company amounted to $ , , , although the line was completed only to kellogg, in jasper county, about forty miles east of des moines. in spite of the fact that the cost of operating the road had from the beginning varied but little from per cent. of its gross receipts, its president, in a circular letter to the stock-and bondholders, dated october th, , made the statement that the company was "driven to the necessity of selling the road or reorganizing." in suit was brought in the circuit court of the united states for the district of iowa for the foreclosure of the company's mortgages, and a decree of foreclosure was entered on the th day of may of that year. the property was sold on the th day of july following at davenport, and was purchased by the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad company, which was incorporated in this state a few weeks previous to the sale, for the purpose of acquiring the railroads built by the mississippi and missouri railroad company with all its appurtenant property, "and all the rights, privileges and franchises granted by the act of congress of may th, , to the state of iowa, and by the state of iowa granted to the said mississippi and missouri railroad company, and when so acquired to maintain and operate the said railroad." it is a significant fact that all the corporators of the new company, except one, were directors of the bankrupt company. on the th of august, , the chicago, rock island and pacific company of the state of iowa consolidated with the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad company of illinois, and conveyed all its property, powers and franchises to the consolidated company. the validity of the consolidation was questioned by a large number of stock-and bondholders, and the courts were appealed to to issue injunctions restraining the consolidated company from extending its line or expending any money obtained through the sale of its securities. in this predicament the company turned to the iowa legislature for protection. anxious to secure the early completion of the road, the twelfth general assembly, by an act approved february th, , recognized the consolidated company, and resumed and granted to it "all right or interest" which the state had in the lands previously granted to the mississippi and missouri railroad company. the act expressly provided, however, that the chicago, rock island and pacific railway company should "at all times be subject to such rules, regulations and rates of tariff for transportation of freight and passengers as may from time to time be enacted and provided for by the general assembly of the state of iowa," and that if the company should neglect to comply with any of the requirements of the act, it should forfeit to the state all its franchises and corporate rights acquired by or under the laws of the state, and all lands granted to aid in the construction of its road. the line was completed to council bluffs in june, . the lands in aid of the construction of a railroad running across the state, as nearly as practicable along the forty-second parallel, were granted by the general assembly to the iowa central air line on the th of july, , but as this company failed to fulfill the conditions of its grant, it was, on the th of march, , transferred to the cedar rapids and missouri river railroad company. this company completed the road to marshalltown in , to nevada in , to boone in , and to council bluffs in the fall of . the burlington and missouri river road reached the missouri river but a few months later. ten years after this company had received its grant, its line had only been completed as far as albia, in monroe county. in the road was built little more than half across the state. but it managed not to be far behind its two rivals on the north in reaching the missouri river. at first sight it might seem as if these companies had all at once become awake to their obligations. when it is remembered, however, that in the junction of the union pacific and central pacific railroads was effected, and thus a continuous line across the continent formed, the conclusion lies near that the haste with which the three iowa land-grant roads were completed was simply the result of a strife for the large amount of through business which the completion of the pacific route promised to bring to them. no such inducement existed for the dubuque and sioux city company, and twelve years after receiving its grant it had not yet built half of its line. in his message to the twelfth general assembly, delivered january , , governor stone said: "under the provisions of the act adopted by the general assembly, at its extra session (in july, ), this (the dubuque and sioux city) company became the beneficiary of the grant designed to secure the construction of a railroad leading from dubuque to sioux city, and this valuable donation was accepted from the state, with all the terms and conditions imposed. a large portion of this grant has already been absorbed by the company, in various ways, by pretended sales and incumbrances. this road has been constructed to iowa falls, a distance of miles from dubuque, but i am unable to discover any reliable evidence of earnest intention on the part of this company to construct the line to its terminal point on the missouri river." the governor further recommended that the general assembly pass an act resuming the control over these lands. at about the same time an agreement was effected between the iowa falls and sioux city railroad company (which was organized in the fall of ) and the dubuque and sioux city railroad company, by which the latter transferred to the former its land grant for the unfinished portion of the dubuque and sioux city road. this agreement was confirmed by the general assembly, through an act approved april , . the road was completed to fort dodge in august, , and to sioux city a year or two later. the entire line was then leased to the illinois central. the land grant to this line of road embraced over , , acres of the finest lands of the state. we can appreciate the magnitude of this donation when we consider that, had these lands been sold at only $ per acre, the proceeds would have paid the whole expense of building and equipping the road from dubuque to sioux city. the lands granted to the c., r. i. & p. r. r. were sold at an average price of over $ per acre, and those of the b. & m. at over $ per acre. among the other important land grants is that made to the mcgregor western railroad company. this company was the successor of the mcgregor, st. peters and missouri river railroad company, which was organized in for the purpose of constructing a railroad from mcgregor to the missouri river. the construction of the road was commenced in at mcgregor. large local subscriptions were taken along the proposed line, the writer being one of the subscribers. work was continued the next year until much of the heavy grading had been done, when the road was allowed to go through the process of foreclosure, like many other roads built in the west at that time. the old stock was completely wiped out, and new owners came into possession of the property, reorganizing under the name of the mcgregor western railway company. nearly all the early investments of iowa people were thus confiscated by the same class of men who now cry out loudly against confiscatory measures. by an act of congress approved may , , the state of iowa was granted, for the use and benefit of the mcgregor western railroad company, every alternate section of land designated by odd numbers for ten sections in width on each side of the proposed road. the act contained the condition that in the event of the failure of said mcgregor western railroad company to build twenty miles of said road during each and every year from the date of its acceptance of the grant the state might resume the grant and so dispose of it as to secure the completion of the road in question. the mcgregor western railroad company failing to comply with the conditions of the grant, the general assembly on the th day of february, , resumed the lands and on the st day of march of the same year regranted them to the mcgregor and sioux city railway company. the act specially provided that the company accepting the grant "shall at all times be subject to such rules, regulations and rates of tariff for the transportation of freight and passengers as may from time to time be enacted and provided for by the general assembly of the state of iowa, and further subject to the conditions, limitations, restrictions and provisions contained in this act and in the acts of congress granting said lands to the state of iowa." it also contained the condition that at least twenty miles of road should be built by the company every year and that the whole road should be completed to the intersection of the then proposed railway from sioux city to the minnesota state line by the first day of december, . the mcgregor and sioux city railway company also failing to comply with the terms of the grant, the lands were again resumed by the general assembly on march th, , and regranted to the mcgregor and missouri river railroad company upon the condition that it complete the road to the intersection of the sioux city and st. paul railroad on or before the first day of december, . but the state found itself again disappointed, and two years later the general assembly for the third and last time resumed its grant and then conferred it upon the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railway company upon the express conditions that it complete the road to spencer on or before the first day of january, , and to sheldon within a year thereafter, and that the road should at all times be subject to state control. the road was completed to sheldon without delay, and on the th of november, , the governor of the state certified to the secretary of the interior that the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railway company had completed its road from algona to sheldon in compliance with the conditions of the original grant and the laws of the state. it thus took over twenty years to complete this road. ten years after its construction had commenced it had only reached calmar in winneshiek county. in the road was completed to clear lake and in to algona. this point remained its terminus until it passed into the hands of the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railway company. the state of iowa has not derived that benefit from the large land grants made to its railroads which her people had a right to expect. in spite of these grants roads were built only when there was reason to believe that they would be immediately profitable to their owners. the land grants enriched the promoters of these enterprises much more than they did the state in whose interest the grants were presumed to be made. as a rule they enabled scheming men to hold the selected territory until a railroad through it promised to be a safe and profitable investment, and to avoid the payment of taxes on their millions of acres of land, which in the meantime became very valuable. other roads were built at an early day without government aid. they were pushed forward by the current of immigration until the threatened competition of roads favored by these grants checked their progress. the chicago, iowa and nebraska road may be cited as a fair illustration. it was projected on the th of january, , in the town of clinton, to be built from clinton to the missouri river via cedar rapids. it was opened to de witt in and completed to cedar rapids the following year. the road was - / miles long and was built entirely with private means, receiving neither legislative aid nor local subsidy. it is more than probable that this road would at an early day have been completed to the missouri river, had it not feared the rivalry of the subsidized cedar rapids and missouri road. the total number of acres of land granted by congress to aid the construction of iowa roads is , , . a fair idea of the value of these lands may be obtained from the fact that the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad company sold over half a million acres of its lands at an average of $ . per acre, and the chicago burlington and quincy sold nearly , acres at an average of $ . per acre. but land grants form only a small part of the public and private donations which have been made to iowa roads. including the railroad taxes voted by counties, townships and municipalities, the grants of rights of way and depot sites and public and private gifts in money, these roads have received subsidies amounting to more than $ , , , or enough to build per cent. of all the roads of the state. there is no doubt that the contributions of the public toward the construction of the railroads of iowa is several times as large as the actual contributions of their stockholders for that purpose. the people of iowa were from the first very favorably disposed towards railroads. every inducement was held out to railroad builders to come here and help to multiply the tracks for the iron horse. they came and brought with them many abuses which since the first introduction of railroads had gradually been developed in other states. the contrast between the old and the new mode of transportation was so great, and the public appreciated so highly the superior conveniences afforded by the latter, that for years the abuses practiced by the early railroads were scarcely noticed, or, if they did attract the attention of the public, they appeared more like necessary features of the new system of transportation than like abuses. the evil gradually increased, but for years no attempt was made to check its growth. the railroad managers construed this failure of the people to interfere with, or even protest against, their unjust practices as a quasi-sanction of their course, and soon claimed to do by right what they had formerly done by sufferance. the evils increased until the patience of the people finally became exhausted. while the state thus for years dealt very leniently with the railroad companies, the laws of iowa had from the beginning of railroad building emphasized the principle of state control. this principle was asserted in the very first railroad act ever passed in the state. section of chapter i. of the acts of the extra session of the fifth general assembly, regranting to the various railroad companies the lands granted to the state by congress for railroad purposes, provides that "railroad companies accepting the provisions of this act shall at all times be subject to such rules and regulations as may from time to time be enacted and provided for by the general assembly of iowa...." in an attempt was made in the general assembly to regulate rates, but the attorney-general, to whom the question of constitutionality was submitted, held in his opinion that it was not in the power of the legislature to prescribe rates for railroad companies. this opinion provoked much indignation among the people of the state, and led to the expression of a sound public opinion by legislative acts which could not be misunderstood. when the twelfth general assembly (in ) regranted to the chicago, rock island and pacific railroad company the lands originally granted to the mississippi and missouri company, it only did so upon the condition that "said railroad company, accepting the provisions of this act, shall at all times be subject to such rules, regulations and rates of tariff for transportation of freight and passengers as may from time to time be enacted and provided for by the general assembly of the state of iowa...." the same restricting clause, known as the doud amendment, was added to all other land grant acts passed by the twelfth and subsequent general assemblies, and the various companies willingly and gladly accepted it. the abuses of which the people of iowa complained were far from being confined to their state. they were practiced throughout the northwest, and the demand for reform was as loud in minnesota, wisconsin and illinois as it was in iowa. in laws were passed in illinois and minnesota fixing maximum charges for the transportation of freight and passengers and prohibiting discriminations. the railroads claimed that a state did not have the right to prescribe rates and refused to be bound by these laws. instead of modifying their policy, they became daily more arrogant. discriminations which had before been practiced under the veil of secrecy, or which had been defended by railroad managers as exceptions to the general rule made necessary by a peculiar combination of circumstances wholly beyond their control, were now openly and defiantly practiced by several of the larger roads. the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railroad company, in its effort to annihilate a rival, went so far as to openly announce to the public its intention to entirely disregard distance as a factor in rate-making. it gradually became the general rule to wage war against rivals at competitive points and to "recoup" by charging excessive rates at non-competitive points. every encouragement was thus given by the railroads to the granger movement, which spread in less than two years over the whole northwest. in the fall of iowa elected a granger legislature, like minnesota, wisconsin and illinois. the wildest predictions were made by railroad men as to the extremes to which the granger legislature would go, but it confined itself to enacting a law establishing an official classification and fixing maximum rates for all railroad companies. the law was approved march , , and went into effect on the th of july following. this law in no case compelled companies to carry freight at a lower rate than they had voluntarily carried it in the past. many of the rates in force at the time of the passage of the act were considerably lower than the corresponding maximum rates fixed by the legislature. the average rates fixed by the law were higher than the rates at which the railroads had previously carried a large portion of corresponding freight. the revenues of the road were not even curtailed by this law; on the contrary, by equalizing rates, _i. e._, by leveling up the rates given to favored places and favored individuals and leveling down the exorbitant rates exacted from the public at non-competitive points, the railroad companies were enabled to effect an increase in their total revenue. the granger law remained in force until . its constitutionality was tested by the railroad companies in the supreme court of the united states, but this high tribunal held that rate-making was a legislative and not a judicial function, that it was within the province of the state legislature to prescribe rates for the transportation of passengers and freight wholly within the state, and that for protection against abuses by legislatures the people must resort to the polls, and not to the courts. the granger laws have been and are still severely criticised by those opposed to the principle of state control and by the ignorant. it is nevertheless true that those laws were moderate, just and reasonably well adapted to remedy the evils of which the public complained. it has been the policy of most railroad men to attack them as crude, intensely radical and socialistic. the obloquy heaped upon them was the work of designing men who desired to continue their impositions upon the people. mr. charles francis adams, however, admits that the granger method was probably as good a method as could have been devised of approaching men who had thoroughly got it into their heads that they, as common carriers, were in no way bound to afford equal facilities to all, and, indeed, that it was in the last degree absurd and unreasonable to expect them to do so. the iowa law was imperfect in detail, and yet its enactment proved one of the greatest legislative achievements in the history of the state. it demonstrated to the people their ability to correct by earnestness and perseverance the most far-reaching public abuses and led to an emphatic judicial declaration of the common-law principle that railroads are highways and as such are subject to any legislative control which may be deemed necessary for the public welfare. defeated in the courts, the railroad managers now endeavored to make odious the new law which deprived them of the power to manipulate railroad interests to their personal advantage. by complying with only part of its letter and none of its spirit, they contrived to create hardships for certain interests and localities. instead of charging in all cases reasonable rates, as the spirit of the law demanded, they would frequently charge the maximum rates permitted under the law, and when they by this practice succeeded in damaging certain interests, they would point to the granger law as the source of all existing railroad evils. so, likewise, when they were asked by their patrons to reduce a high rate, they would plead the legislative schedule in excuse of their failure to comply with the request. when the legislature of convened, the railroad managers appeared before it and pleaded submissively for a repeal of the granger law and the establishment of a commissioner system. they claimed that they were ready and willing to submit to all reasonable regulation, but that a maximum tariff law was prejudicial both to the best interests of the roads and those of the public. they further asserted that the people had grown tired of this manner of regulating railroad charges and earnestly desired a change of policy; that the interference of the state with the railroad business had injuriously affected certain industrial interests and had greatly retarded railroad construction by driving capital and promoters of railroad enterprises from the state. these statements would indeed have argued strongly in favor of a repeal of the law if they had been based on facts. there had been, however, no expression of public dissatisfaction during the campaign preceding the session of the general assembly. there were doubtless individuals and even communities to whom the law had been made so odious that they felt they had but little to lose by a change, but the masses of the people believed that the law was based upon just principles and desired its perfection rather than its repeal. as to the claim that railroad construction had been checked by hostile legislation, statistics prove that during the five years following the great panic of iowa fared no worse in this respect than her sister states east, west or south. the arguments produced by the railroad managers no doubt influenced some members of the general assembly; by far the greater number of them, however, realised that the failure of the law to bring the expected relief was not due so much to its own imperfections as to the absence of a power to enforce it. the writer, with others, was convinced that a strong and conscientious commission would be a much more potent agency to secure reasonable rates for the shipper than a maximum tariff law without proper provisions for its efficient enforcement; they, in short, preferred a commission without a tariff law to a tariff law without a commission. the question became the subject of many animated debates in both houses of the general assembly, but the commissioner system at last prevailed. the act establishing a board of railroad commissioners, and defining their duties, was approved on the rd of march, , and went into force a few days later. the act empowered the commission to exercise a general supervision over all railroads operated in the state, to inquire into any neglect or violation of the laws of the state by any railroad corporation or its officers or employes, to examine the books and documents of any corporation, to investigate complaints of shippers that unreasonable charges had been made by railroad companies, and to modify any charge which they might deem unreasonable. it was also made the commissioners' duty to make an annual report to the governor disclosing the working of the railroad system in the state, the officers of each company being required to make annual returns to the board for this purpose. though the enactment of this law was a surprise to the people, they accepted it in good cheer, and determined to give it an honest trial. the law was extensive in its scope and stringent for that time, and, if strictly enforced in letter and in spirit, promised to be, and would have been, entirely sufficient for the thorough control of railroad corporations. nevertheless, in the course of time it became apparent that either the law had not lodged sufficient authority in the commission or the commission did not make use of the authority which the law had given them. in spite of the commission, the railroad companies maintained pools and charged extortionate and discriminating rates, in direct violation of the law. it is true the commissioners righted many a wrong. in investigating the complaints of shippers against railroad companies they often rendered valuable services to those who had neither the means nor the inclination to prosecute their rights in the courts of law; but as they held that they could only pass upon individual charges, and did not have the power to revise the companies' tariffs, the companies were virtually in a position to become guilty of more extortions in one day than the commission could investigate in a year. moreover, the railroad company might be ordered by the commission to return an overcharge to a certain shipper, but this did not prevent it from continuing the excessive charge. if the overcharged shipper again wanted relief it was his privilege to again apply to the commission, and to continue this tedious process until either his or the commissioners' patience became exhausted. the people soon found that the new system of control was almost as inadequate as that which it had displaced. some attributed the weakness of the commission to its personnel, others to the law. there is no doubt that the commission might have accomplished more than it did. it was hoped by some that as the commission gained in experience it would gain in influence, and that railroad evils would gradually diminish. but they were disappointed in their expectations. every year seemed to add to the grievances of the public. success greatly emboldened the railway companies. discriminations seemed to increase in number and gravity. at many points in the western part of the state freight rates to chicago were from to per cent. higher than from points in kansas and nebraska. a car of wheat hauled only across the state paid twice as much freight as another hauled twice the distance from its point of origin to chicago. minnesota flour was hauled a distance of miles for a less rate than iowa flour was carried miles. certain merchants received from the railroad companies a discount of per cent. on all their freights and were thus enabled to undersell all their competitors. the rate on coal in carload lots from cleveland, lucas county, to glenwood was $ . per ton, and from the same point to council bluffs only $ . , although the latter was about thirty miles longer haul. innumerable cases of this kind could be cited. there was not a town or interest in the state that did not feel the influence of these unjust practices. many of the rates complained against, it is true, were beyond the direct control of the state commission, but there was an impression among well-informed shippers that if the commission had the power to fix local rates and exercised it judiciously, the railroad companies would soon find it to their interest to be as reasonable in making through rates for iowans as they expected the commission, to be in prescribing local tariffs. the demand of the people for more equitable rates and a more thorough control of the railroad business increased from year to year. repeated attempts were made in the general assembly to secure the passage of an act looking to that end, but, owing to shrewd manipulations on the part of the railroad lobby, every attempt was defeated. there always was, of course, a large number of members who represented districts not well supplied with railroad facilities. these, as a rule, honestly opposed restrictive legislation, believing that such legislation would check building, and that, on the other hand, competition could be relied upon to correct abuses. of those members who had less positive convictions many were retained as railroad attorneys and were thus made serviceable to the companies. other members with political ambition were nattered or intimidated into subjection, and bribes in disguise, such as passes and special rates, were not unfrequently resorted to to strengthen the railroad following in both houses of the general assembly. railroad corruption did not pause here. it is a notorious fact that large sums of money were paid to venal papers of both parties in consideration of an agreement on their part to defend transportation abuses and exert their influence against progressive railroad legislation. the vilest means were often resorted to by these sheets to obtain their end. public men who had the courage to avow their opposition to existing railroad abuses or to favor a more perfect system of state control of railways were misrepresented, ridiculed, traduced and denounced as demagogues and socialists by hypocritical editors, who prostituted their political influence as long as they enjoyed railroad stipends, and who at intervals became converts to the cause of the people for the purpose of extorting from the railroad companies a new and increased subsidy. but truth can not long be suppressed. the masses of the people may be imposed upon for a time, but even the shrewdest rogue will eventually be compelled to surrender. in time even rather unsophisticated voters learned to place a true estimate upon the motives of the editors, whose policy, as one of them expressed it in the author's presence, was "controlled by the counting-room." railroad politicians gradually lost their influence, and the symptoms of public discontent greatly increased. in the political campaign of state control of railroads became one of the main issues. both of the great political parties in their platforms had declared themselves very emphatically in favor of such legislation as would bring railroad corporations under complete state control, and with very few exceptions the various legislative districts had nominated only such men as candidates for legislative offices as were known to be in thorough accord with the masses of the people upon the railroad question. the election resulted in an even more complete defeat of the railroad forces than had been generally anticipated. yet no hasty step was taken when the general assembly convened. a large number of bills contemplating railroad reforms in various ways were introduced, but the material presented was carefully sifted by the railroad committees and a committee bill was framed which incorporated the best features of them all. the committees listened patiently for weeks to the arguments of the representatives of both the railroads and the shippers. never before had so formidable a railroad lobby assembled at the state capitol. the danger signal had been raised, and not only were the great political manipulators of the state called into requisition, but experts from adjoining states joined them in besieging the legislature. the dogs of war were let loose from all quarters. a legion of hirelings were zealous to show their servility and loyalty to their lords. the daily and weekly papers of the state in the service of railroad companies teemed with arguments from the pens of railroad attorneys, and their columns were profusely supplemented with editorials copied from prominent corporation papers like the new york _tribune_, new york _times_, new york _world_, albany _evening argus_, boston _advertiser_, and others from various parts of the country. these papers, attempting to disguise the motives that prompted them to come to the defense of the wall street interest, affected the position of disinterested and impartial observers. they condemned the proposed measures as wild and socialistic, and they painted in dark colors the disasters to railroad property, the injustice to its owners, and misfortunes to the people of iowa, that would follow their adoption. especially did they bewail the losses that would fall upon the widows and orphans who had confidingly invested all of their hard earnings in this property. they never uttered a word of condemnation, but entirely ignored or defended the abuses by which the stockholders were robbed at one end of the line and the patrons were imposed on at the other. many of these papers were notified that their statements were altogether erroneous, but they would not admit a line to their columns in relation to the matter that indicated any other disposition than complete subserviency to the interests of wall street. there were, however, an unusual number of strong men in this general assembly, and this extraordinary display of railroad forces only tended to impress more strongly upon them the necessity of curbing the railroad power, and their best energies were concentrated upon the subject, with a firm determination to deal with it in a manner dictated by reason and experience. so well did the bill which was finally adopted by the committee reflect the general sentiment of the members of the general assembly that not a single vote was cast against it in either house upon its final passage. since the adjustment of business under this law, there has been less friction between the people and the railroads than before for thirty years, and so satisfactory has it proved to all that no one, not even a railroad man, has to this day asked the legislature to repeal the law or any part of it. the act contains no new principle of railroad control. by far the greater part of its provisions were taken from the old law. nearly every one of its features may be found either in the interstate commerce act or upon the statute books of other states. it provides that charges must be reasonable and just, that no undue preference or advantage shall be given to any railroad patron, and that equal facilities for interchange of traffic shall be given to all roads; it prohibits pooling, a greater charge for a shorter than longer haul, the shorter or any portion of it being included in the longer, and discrimination against any shipping point. it requires that schedules of rates and fares shall be printed and kept for public inspection, and that no advance shall be made in rates or fares once established except after ten days' public notice; and it empowers the board of railroad commissioners to make and revise schedules for railroads, the rates contained in such schedules to be received and held in all suits as _prima facie_ reasonable maximum rates. the act further provides penalties and means of enforcement. it must not be supposed that by the passage of this act the legislature disclaimed the right to fix absolute rates; it simply chose this expedient because in the present tentative stage of rate regulation it seemed most efficient. there has been much misunderstanding concerning the iowa law. many suppose that the iowa commissioners have power to make confiscatory rates for the railroads, while in fact they can only name maximum rates which shall be deemed and taken in all courts of the state as _prima facie_ evidence that they are reasonable and just maximum rates until the railroads show that they are not. they are at liberty to go into court any day and show this, if they are able. they are, however, careful not to undertake it, for no one knows better than they do that the rates fixed by the commissioners are liberal for the railroads. there are nine states, besides iowa, in which the power to fix rates has been conferred upon railroad commissioners. this feature of the law was therefore far from being a novel one, yet no provision of the act was, previous to its passage, so furiously opposed, or subsequent to it so stubbornly resisted as this. railroad managers realized that a surrender of the right to make their own rates was virtually a surrender of the power to practice abuses. soon after the passage of the law the commissioners commenced the work of preparing schedules of the rates for the roads. they endeavored to do justice to both the railroad companies and their patrons by affording a fair compensation to the former and at the same time giving relief to the depressed interests represented by the latter. their rates were not as low as the special rates that had at various times been granted to favorite shippers, but were a fair average of the various rates in vogue at the time. while the schedule was under consideration, the railroad managers were given frequent hearings, in which they endeavored to impress their views upon the commissioners and to obtain many important concessions, which they urged as essential to the welfare of the railroad interests. their views guided the commission to such an extent that it was generally supposed that the schedule as finally adopted would be accepted by the railroad companies without protest. the schedule of the iowa commission has been sharply criticised by mr. stickney in his "railway problem." he finds in it inconsistencies and confusion, due, as he charges, to faulty mathematics. but it is claimed by the commission, and mr. stickney should know, that whenever mathematics were ignored in the construction of the schedule it was done at the earnest and persistent solicitation of the railroad managers, who, it seems, were more interested in maintaining their interstate rates than in the consistency of the iowa schedule. the rates were published, as required by law, and june , , was fixed as the day on which they were to take effect. a few days previous to this date the companies asked that the taking effect of the new tariff be postponed a week. when this request was granted by the chairman of the commission, the railroad managers took advantage of the courtesy by enjoining the commissioners in the federal court from enforcing it. several months later the commissioners modified their schedule by the adoption of the western classification. again the railroad managers asked the court for an injunction, but this time met with a refusal. after many suits for penalties had been instituted against them, and many more threatened, they adopted the new schedule, but endeavored to inaugurate a policy of retaliation by reducing their train service and discharging a large number of employes, and in many ingenious ways continued their seditious course with a determination characteristic of a band of insurrectionists. but the impetus which railroad traffic received under the operation of the commissioners' schedule was such that they soon found it necessary to restore to the service its former efficiency. the railroad commissioners' report shows that while the number of employes was , , and their yearly compensation was $ , , in , in there were , employes, and their yearly compensation $ , , . the increase in both the gross and net earnings of iowa lines has been remarkable, as shown in the following table gathered from the commissioners' reports: gross earnings, net earnings, year. total. total. per mile. - $ , , $ , , $ , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , it was claimed by railroad men that the effect of iowa legislation would be particularly disastrous to her local roads, which had no opportunity to make up on through business the losses incurred in the local traffic. the burlington, cedar rapids and northern was particularly cited as a line which would have to go into bankruptcy under the new law. its earnings commenced to increase, however, immediately after the adoption of the commissioners' schedule, and at the end of the first year they were large enough to change this line from a class "c" to a class "b" road. they continued to increase, and in its gross earnings on substantially the same mileage were per cent, and its net earnings per cent. larger than they had been in . the increase continued and enabled the company to make a dividend to its stockholders february , , it being the first dividend ever made by the company. it is a good illustration of what the iowa law has done for weak railroads. it has again changed class and is now a class "a" road. it is seen that the fears, or rather the pretended fears of the railroad managers, that the legislature of iowa would bankrupt her railroads, were entirely groundless. as a result of the law railroads have been able to increase their gross earnings as well as their profits. they have been enabled to give employment to a larger number of men, and there has been no occasion for them to carry out the dishonest threat to decrease the wages of their employes. had it not been for their increased earnings in iowa, the losses recently sustained in other states by several of the through lines would have made it impossible for them to declare the dividends which they did. under her beneficial railroad policy iowa has prospered wonderfully, and her railroads have been more prosperous than when they were allowed to have their own way. the commissioners' tariff has made jobbing and manufacturing profitable where it was unprofitable before. it has added to our industries and our commerce, and has made new business for the people as well as the railroads. it has contributed to the increase in the value of our farms and factories and their products, and the time will come when wise railroad managers, like the majority of former slaveholders of the south, would not resurrect the past if they could. in fact, honorable managers now acknowledge that they would not if they could. the railroad companies are at present making a systematic effort to weaken the iowa commission, but if they should succeed in doing so, the people, under our system of electing the commissioners, can readily correct the evil. other states have much experience similar to that of iowa. nebraska has just adopted a maximum tariff law for the control of her roads. it will, of course, be resisted by the railroad managers of that state. the state of texas is not so productive in proportion, but is much greater in extent than iowa, and upon the whole resembles it much in its prominent characteristics. both are thrifty, progressive states, with no large commercial or manufacturing centers where their people can easily organize to protect their financial interests. the people of texas endured patiently the abuses so prevalent in railroad management until a few years since they enacted a railroad law similar to that of iowa. the wall street managers of the texas railroads are at the present time using all of their familiar methods to influence the people of that state to repeal their law. the following letter serves to show the spirit with which they are approached: " broad street, new york, november , . james b. simpson, esq., dallas, tex. "dear sir: yours of the th is received and contents carefully noted. very likely you have valuable franchises, or what would be valuable in almost any other state than texas; but while there are many places in texas where we would like to build some railroads--mostly short ones--we cannot do anything so long as the disposition exists that now seems to in texas; that is, to do all the harm they can do this kind of property, and i think my views are shared by all people who have money to invest. no one is disposed to create property which, after being created, is not to be controlled by its ownership. of course, we all expect to be subject to the police regulations and to pay the taxes of any state even as other property, but whenever anything is done beyond that it checks this kind of improvement, and where it approaches so near confiscation as the sentiment of texas tends it entirely prevents capital from being invested. "i think there is no road in texas that is to-day earning its operating and fixed charges. every road, i think, has been or is in the hands of a receiver, excepting our great east and west line, which is supported by business going entirely through the state, which business could also be sent another way, and would be so sent, excepting that we believe the people of texas will some time take a sober second thought and treat the railroads as they do other kinds of property. when that time comes i shall be ready to talk to you about your franchises, if it comes in my day, and i believe it will, as i think no other people are suffering from an unwise policy persistently pursued as are the people of your state. "yours truly, c. p. huntington." "now, in the name of all the gods at once, upon what meat doth this our cæsar feed, that he hath grown so great?" it was but a few years ago when this mr. huntington was keeping a small retail store in the city of sacramento, and he exhibited then no greater ability, except perhaps that he was a little more venturesome, than thousands of others engaged in the same occupation; subsequently he engaged, with several others, in the central pacific railroad scheme, and received from the bounties of our generous government as his share of the profits in that enterprise several million dollars, which sum has ever since been continually swelled by the exercise of a power scarcely inferior to the power of taxing the property of the pacific coast. he has been so successful for years in manipulating congressmen and state legislatures and shaping the policies of states that he now considers it impertinent and short-sighted for a people to take steps to limit his levies upon them. it is to be hoped that the boycotting and intimidating methods resorted to will have no more effect upon the people of that state than they had on the people of iowa. iowa is the queen among the states of the union. no other state has so little waste land or is so productive. her annual output of staple products amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars in value. her people are intelligent, progressive and just. none are governed more by the precepts of the golden rule, or are more disposed to render unto cæsar the things that are cæsar's. she can well be proud of the progress she has made in state control of railroads. let no backward step be taken. chapter xii. the interstate commerce act. the constitution of the united states was adopted nearly fifty years before the locomotive made its appearance. had the steam railroad been in existence in and been as important an agency of commerce as it is to-day, there is every reason to believe that the railroad question would have received the special attention of the framers of that instrument. it is a well-known fact that the "new and more perfect government" had its origin in the necessities of commerce, and while the future exigencies of trade were beyond the reach of the most speculative mind, the provisions of the constitution relating to the subject of interstate commerce were made broad and far-reaching. section of article i. of the constitution provides that "the congress shall have power ... to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states, and with the indian tribes ... and to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers and all other powers vested by this constitution in the government of the united states, or in any department or officer thereof." if any doubt ever existed as to the import of the phrase "to regulate commerce," it has been entirely removed by the decisions of the supreme court. in the passenger cases, howard, , the court said: "commerce consists in selling the superfluity; in purchasing articles of necessity, as well productions as manufactures; in buying from one nation and selling to another, or _in transporting the merchandise_ from the seller to the buyer to gain the freight." and again, in the philadelphia and reading railroad vs. pennsylvania, the supreme court said: "beyond all question the transportation of freights or of the subjects of commerce for the purpose of exchange or sale is a constituent of commerce itself. this has never been doubted, and probably the transportation of articles of trade from one state to another was the prominent idea in the minds of the framers of the constitution when to congress was committed the power to regulate commerce among the several states.... it would be absurd to suppose that the transmission of the subjects of trade from the seller to the buyer, or from the place of production to market, was not contemplated, for without that there could be no consummated trade with foreign nations or among the states." chief justice marshall, in gibbons vs. ogden, wheaten, , construed the words "power to regulate" as follows: "this power, like all others vested in congress, is complete in itself, may be exercised to its utmost extent, and acknowledges no limitations other than are prescribed in the constitution." it is a strange fact that during the first eighty years of the government's existence congress did not exert its power to regulate the conduct of common carriers engaged in interstate transportation. the first act regulating such carriers was passed in july, . it authorized railroad companies chartered by the states to carry passengers, freights, etc., "on their way from any state to another state, and to receive compensation therefor, and to connect with roads of other states so as to form continuous lines for transportation of the same to the place of destination." the passage of this act, it should be remembered, was urged by the railroad companies themselves. seven years later an act was passed providing that "no railway within the united states, whose road forms any part of a line or road over which cattle, sheep, swine or other animals shall be conveyed from one state to another, or the owners or masters of steam, sailing or other vessels carrying or transporting cattle, sheep or swine or other animals from one state to another, shall confine the same in cars, boats or vessels of any description for a longer period than twenty-eight consecutive hours, without unloading the same for water, rest and feeding, for a period of at least five consecutive hours, unless prevented from so unloading by storm or accidental causes." every violation of this act was made punishable by a penalty of from $ to $ . though congress had asserted the right to regulate commerce among the states, it had made previous to very limited use of that power. in the midst of the granger movement the senate of the united states passed on the th day of march, , the following resolution: "_resolved_, that the select committee on transportation routes to the seaboard be authorized to sit at such places as they may designate during the recess, and to investigate and report upon the subject of transportation between the interior and the seaboard; that they have power to employ a clerk and stenographer, and to send for persons and papers...." the committee, under the chairmanship of mr. windom, discharged their duty with great fidelity, and submitted their report to the senate during its next regular session. they declared that the defects and abuses of the then existing systems of transportation were insufficient facilities, unfair discrimination and extortionate charges. as the principal causes of such excessive rates they assigned stock watering, capitalization of surplus earnings, construction rings, general extravagance and corruption in railway management, and combinations and consolidations of railway companies. the committee were of the opinion that the promotion of competition would not permanently remedy the existing evils, and laid it down as a general rule that competition among railways ends in combination and in enhanced rates. as expedient and practical remedies for the existing evils they recommended the following measures: . direct congressional regulation of railway transportation, under the power to regulate commerce among the several states. . indirect regulation and promotion of competition, through the agency of one or more lines of railway, to be owned and controlled by the government. . the improvement of natural water-ways and the construction of artificial channels of water communication. the report was accepted and considered, but there the matter rested, so far as the practical results were concerned. in mr. john h. reagan, of texas, introduced in the house of representatives a bill for an act to regulate railroad companies engaged in interstate commerce. this may be said to have been the first real interstate commerce bill before congress. it was a progressive, thorough and well-planned measure, but failed to receive the approval of congress because a majority of its members considered it too radical a measure. the bill contained many of the provisions of the present interstate commerce act, including the anti-pooling and the long and short haul clauses; but instead of creating a commission it lodged in the courts, both state and federal, the power to enforce the law. other bills were introduced from year to year, but during a period of nine years none of them drew sufficient votes to make it a law. congress may be said to have been divided into three camps upon the railroad question, viz.: those who favored the system of regulation proposed by mr. reagan, those who favored the commissioner system and those who were opposed to every mode of federal regulation of interstate commerce. in the meantime, the inactivity of congress caused considerable restlessness among the people, and the demand for action became louder every year. the issue entered into politics, and a number of western congressmen owed their failure to be re-elected to their indifference or enmity to federal railroad legislation. on march st, , under authority of a resolution adopted by the senate of the united states, the president of the senate appointed a select committee to investigate and report upon the subject of the regulation of the transportation of freight and passengers between the several states by railroad and water routes. senator cullom, of illinois, became its chairman. the committee examined a large number of witnesses, including railroad managers and shippers, addressed letters to the railroad commissioners of the several states, to boards of trade, chambers of commerce, state boards of agriculture, patrons of husbandry, farmers' alliances, etc., and made every effort to obtain the opinions of those who had given special attention to the transportation problem. the report of the committee was submitted to the senate on january , . concerning the abuses of railroad transportation it differed but little from that of the windom committee. the report declared publicity to be the best remedy for unjust discrimination and recommended that the posting of rates and public notice of all changes in tariffs be required. it also recommended that a greater charge for a shorter than a longer haul be made presumptive evidence of an unjust discrimination, and that a national commission be established for the enforcement of any laws that might be passed for the regulation of interstate commerce. upon the question of pooling the report stated: "the committee does not deem it prudent to recommend the prohibition of pooling, which has been urged by many shippers, or the legalization of pooling compacts, as has been suggested by many railroad officials and by others who have studied the question.... the majority of the committee are not disposed to endanger the success of the methods of regulation proposed for the prevention of unjust discrimination by recommending the prohibition of pooling, but prefer to leave that subject for investigation by a commission when the effects of the legislation herein suggested shall have been developed and made apparent." the report was accompanied by a bill representing "the substantially unanimous judgment of the committee as to the regulations which are believed to be expedient and necessary for the government and control of the carriers engaged in interstate traffic." the bill was before congress for more than a year, receiving several important amendments before its final passage in both houses. it was approved by the president on the th day of february, , and took effect sixty days after its passage, except as to the provisions relating to the appointment and organization of an interstate commerce commission, which took effect at once. the act contains twenty-four sections, but is by no means cumbersome. it is, in many respects, the most important piece of legislation that has been had in congress for the past twenty years. it applies to common carriers engaged in the transportation of passengers or property wholly by railroad, or partly by railroad and partly by water, when both are used, under a common control, management or arrangement, for a continuous carriage or shipment from one state or territory of the united states, or the district of columbia, to any other state or territory in the united states or the district of columbia, or from any place in the united states to an adjacent foreign country, or from any place in the united states through a foreign country to any other place in the united states. it prohibits unjust and unreasonable charges, special rates, rebates, drawbacks, undue or unreasonable preferences, advantages, prejudices and disadvantages, as well as all discriminations between connecting lines. it makes unlawful a less charge for a longer than for a shorter haul over the same line, in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance, except when specially authorized by the interstate commerce commission. it prohibits pools, requires schedules of freight rates and passenger fares to be kept in all depots and stations, permits no advance in the rates, fares and charges once established, except after ten days' public notice, and makes it unlawful for common carriers to charge either more or less than schedule rates. it also requires them to file copies of all schedules, traffic contracts and joint schedules with the interstate commerce commission, as well as to make them public when directed by the commission, and prohibits combinations to prevent the carriage of freight from being continuous from the place of shipment to the place of destination. it makes common carriers liable for all damages to persons injured by violations of the act, and specially provides that any court before which such a damage suit may be pending may compel any director, officer, receiver, trustee or agent of the defendant company to appear and testify in the case, and that the claim that any such testimony or evidence may tend to criminate the person giving such evidence shall not excuse such witness from testifying, but that such evidence or testimony shall not be used against such person on the trial of any criminal proceeding. it likewise subjects such officers and employes of a railroad company as may be guilty of aiding or abetting in violations of the act to fines not exceeding $ , for each offense. these provisions are covered by the first ten sections of the act. section establishes the interstate commerce commission, to be composed of five commissioners appointed by the president by and with the advice and consent of the senate. it provides that the commissioners first appointed shall continue in office for the term of two, three, four, five and six years, respectively, from the first of january, , the term of each to be designated by the president, and that their successors shall be appointed for terms of six years, except that any person chosen to fill a vacancy shall be appointed only for the unexpired term of the commissioner whom he shall succeed. no more than three commissioners may be appointed from the same political party, and the president has the power to remove any commissioner for inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office. authority is given to the commission to inquire into the management of the business of all common carriers subject to the provisions of the act and to require the attendance of witnesses and to invoke the aid of any court of the united states for that purpose. section authorizes any person, firm, corporation or association, any mercantile, agricultural or manufacturing society, any body politic or municipal organization to file complaints against any common carrier subject to the provisions of the act, with the commission, whose duty it is made to forward a statement of the charges to such common carrier and call upon him to satisfy the complaint or answer the same in writing, and to investigate the matters complained of, if the complaint is not satisfied. the commission is also charged with the duty of making such investigations at the request of state or territorial railroad commissions and may even institute them at its own motion. section requires the commission to make a report in writing of any investigation it may make and to enter it of record and furnish copies of it to the complainant and the common carrier complained of. section makes it the commissioners' duty, when it is found that any law cognizable by it has been violated by a common carrier, to serve notice on such carrier to desist from such violation and to make reparation for an injury found to have been done. if any lawful order or requirement of the commission is disobeyed by a common carrier, it becomes their duty and is lawful for any company or person interested in such order to apply by petition to the circuit court of the united states sitting in equity in the judicial district in which the common carrier complained of has its principal office, and the court has power to hear and determine the matter speedily and without the formal pleadings and proceedings applicable to ordinary suits, and to restrain the common carrier from continuing such violation or disobedience. it is further provided by this section that on such hearings the report of the commission shall be accepted as _prima facie_ evidence. section regulates the proceedings of the commission. a majority constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. the commission may from time to time make or amend rules for the regulation of proceedings before it. any party may appear before it and be heard in person or by attorney, and every vote or official act of the commission must be entered of record and its proceedings made public upon the request of either party interested. section provides that the principal office of the commission shall be in washington, but that for the convenience of the public it may hold special sessions in any part of the united states. section authorizes the commission to require annual reports from all common carriers subject to the provisions of the act, to fix the time and prescribe the manner in which such reports shall be made, and to require from such carriers specific answers to all questions upon which the commission may need information. section excepts from the operation of the act the carriage of property for the united states, state or municipal governments, or for charitable purposes, or for fairs and expositions; also the issuance of mileage, excursion and commutation tickets, the giving of reduced rates to ministers of religion, the free carriage by a railroad company of its own officers and employes, and the exchanging of passes or tickets among the principal officers of railroad companies. the sections not noticed are of minor importance, relating to annual reports, salaries, appropriations of funds, etc. the act was amended on march , , but the amendments made did not materially affect its principal provisions. when the law was passed its friends well realized that its success would greatly depend on the character of the commissioners whom it was incumbent upon the president to appoint. it was feared that if the railroad influence should control these appointments, the power to suspend the long and short haul clause would be the chief and perhaps the only power exercised by the commission. there was great danger that the office of interstate commerce commissioner might become a sinecure for servile railroad lawyers, as similar state officers had been before, and that a public trust might be turned into an additional corporation agency for evil. the selection of the commissioners, and especially that of judge t. m. cooley, of michigan, was greatly to the credit of president cleveland. a man of unquestionable integrity, an eminent jurist and close student of railroad affairs, judge cooley was particularly well qualified for the office of chairman of the interstate commerce commission, which he occupied for nearly five years with signal fitness, and from which he only retired to the sincere regret of the american people. under judge cooley's leadership the commission has been more than a purely executive board. it was under the constitution not in the power of congress to clothe the interstate commerce commission with full judicial authority without giving its members, like other federal judges, tenure for life, instead of a term of years. the inherent force of the commission's decisions in its interpretation of the law made them in many cases virtually the equivalent of judicial rulings. a few of the most important decisions of the commission may be mentioned here. construing the long and short haul clause, they held that, in case of complaint for violating this section of the act, "the burden of proof is on the carrier to justify any departure from the general rule described by the statute, by showing that the circumstances and conditions are substantially dissimilar." they also decided that "when a greater charge in the aggregate is made for the transportation of passengers or the like kind of property for a shorter than a longer distance over the same line in the same direction, the shorter being included in the longer distance, it is not sufficient justification therefor that the traffic which is subjected to such greater charge is way or local traffic and that which is given the more favorable rates is not; and that it is not "sufficient justification for such greater charge that the short-haul traffic is more expensive to the carrier, unless when the circumstances are such as to make it exceptionally excessive, or the long-haul traffic exceptionally inexpensive, the difference being extraordinary and susceptible of definite proof; nor that the lesser charge on the longer haul has for its motive the encouragement of manufactures or some other branch of industry, nor that it is designed to build up business or trade centers." upon the question of publicity of the railroad business the commission held that, as the books of the defendant carriers, as to rates charged, facilities furnished and general movements of freight, are in the nature of semi-public records, the officers and agents of defendant carriers ought to give promptly to a complainant any statement of facts called for, if such statement may probably have importance on the hearing. judge brewer's opinion as to what constitutes a reasonable rate was evidently not shared by judge cooley and his colleagues, for in the case of the new orleans cotton exchange vs. the cincinnati, new orleans and pacific railway company the commission decided that the fact that a road earns but little more than operating expenses cannot be made to justify grossly excessive rates, and that "wherever there are more roads than the business at fair rates will remunerate, they must rely upon future earnings for the return of investments and profits." in another case the commission hold that "in fixing reasonable rates the requirements of operating expenses, bonded debt, fixed charges and dividend on capital stock from the total traffic are all to be considered, but the claim that any particular rate is to be measured by these as a fixed standard, below which the rate may not lawfully be reduced, is one rightly subject to some qualifications, one of which is that the obligations must be actual and in good faith." the rules governing the proper construction of classification sheets which the commission has laid down are founded upon common sense and justice. they say: "a classification sheet is put before the public for general information; it is supposed to be expressed in plain terms so that the ordinary business man can understand it and, in connection with the rate sheets, determine for himself what he can be lawfully charged for transportation. the persons who prepare the classification have no more authority to construe it than anybody else, and they must leave it to speak for itself." in defining what is legitimate traffic the commission made the following decision: "the transportation of traffic under circumstances and conditions that force a low rate for its carriage or an abandonment of the business, but which affords some revenue above the cost of its movement, and works no material injustice to other patrons of a carrier, is to be deemed legitimate competition. when, however, its carriage is at a loss and imposes a burden on like traffic at other points and on other traffic, it is to be deemed destructive and illegitimate competition." it has been shown in a former chapter that the weaker oil refiners have been discriminated against by the railroads, which permitted the standard oil company to use their own tank cars in the shipment of oil and charge its competitors excessive rates for like shipments in barrels. complaint being made of this discrimination, the commission held that it is properly the business of a carrier by railroad to supply rolling stock for the freight he offers or proposes to carry, and that "if the diversities and peculiarities of traffic are such that this is not always practical, and the consignor is allowed to supply it for himself, the carrier must not allow its own deficiencies in this particular to be made the means of putting at unreasonable disadvantage those who may use in the same traffic all the facilities which it supplies." a most important ruling of the commission is that relating to the pass abuse. complaint was made that the boston and maine railroad company issued in the states of maine, new hampshire, vermont and massachusetts free passes to certain classes of persons, among them "gentlemen long eminent in the public service, higher officials of the states, prominent officials of the united states, members of the legislative railroad committees of the above named states, and persons whose good will was claimed to be important to the defendant." the commission decided that such a discrimination is unwarranted, that a carrier is bound to charge equally to all persons, regardless of their relative individual standing in the community, and that the words "under substantially similar circumstances and conditions" relate to the nature and character of the service rendered by the carrier, and not to the official, social or business position of the passenger. it is a notorious fact that the practice of issuing free passes to public officials and other influential persons has been more or less indulged in by nearly every railroad in the country up to the present time. it is to be hoped that this ruling of the commission will be enforced in such a manner as to put an end to this intolerable abuse. the interstate commerce commission has been equally efficient in its administrative capacity. from the very first it called attention to the great advantage of having one classification of freight throughout the country, and it has since labored diligently to unify the various classifications in use. as the commission in this undertaking is only armed with the armor of moral suasion, it is a difficult task; but there is little doubt that the accomplishment of this great reform is only a question of a few years. iniquities in classifications and rates are constantly pointed out by the commission and corrected by the companies. moreover, the annual reports of the commission, not to mention its very excellent statistical data, diffuse much useful information and dispel many delusions. thus the fourth annual report of the commission says: "a stranger to the law might infer, from some public addresses and pamphlets which have assumed to discuss this subject, that the railroad companies were prohibited from carrying the necessities of life over long distances at very low rates, unless their rates on other subjects of transportation for shorter distances were made to correspond. indeed, instances have been pointed out in which it was said that certain articles of commerce could not now be transported for long distances, because, by reason of this provision, they would not bear the charges that must under compulsion of law be imposed upon them. among such instances has been mentioned the granite industry of new england, as to which it has been said that valuable manufactories have ceased to be profitable because it has now become impossible for the proprietors to obtain from the railroad companies the nominal rates for the transportation of their products which they formerly enjoyed, since it is now, by the long and short haul clause, made criminal for the companies to give such rates. "a complaint of this nature is not to be met by argument, because it is baseless in point of fact. the instance mentioned may safely be assumed to be chosen rather from regard to the need of an attack upon the law than from any belief in the justice of its application. the prohibition of the fourth section, so far as concerns this article of commerce, or any other that can be named, will have no application whatever until it is made to appear that elsewhere upon the lines of the road conveying it there is property of the same kind, for transportation by the same carriers in the same direction, upon which the carriers are disposed to making greater charges in the aggregate for the shorter hauls. "the wheat of the extreme west, it is also said, can no longer have the nominal rates which were formerly made for transportation to the seaboard, but this assertion is also without point or applicability, unless it is shown that the carriers are not only disposed to give such rates, but propose to make up for the consequent losses to themselves by the imposition of greater charges in the aggregate for the carriage of the like grain when offered for carriage by growers in the states nearer the seaboard. nominal rates impartially made as between shippers of like articles in the same direction and under like circumstances and conditions are as admissible now as they ever were." the same report contains a rather pointed reply to judge brewer's ruling in the iowa rate cases, viz., that, "where the rates prescribed will not pay some compensation to the owners, then it is the duty of the courts to interfere and protect the companies from such rates," and that compensation implies three things: "payment of cost of service, interest on bonds and then some dividends." the commission reviews this stupid rule as follows: "the effort has sometimes been made to indicate a rule which must constitute the minimum of reduction in all cases, and it has been said that rates must not be made so low that the carriers would be left unable to pay interest on their obligations and something by way of dividend to stockholders, after maintaining the road in proper condition and paying all running expenses. this comes nearer to a suggestion of a rule of law for these cases than any other that has come to the knowledge of the commission. but it is so far from being a rule of law, that it is not even a rule of policy, or a practical rule to which any name can be given, and to which the carriers themselves or the public authorities can conform their action. in the first place, when we take into consideration the question of the condition of roads and of equipment, the proper improvements to be made, the new conveniences and appliances to be considered and made use of, if deemed desirable, and the innumerable questions that are involved in the matter of running expenses, it is very obvious that there can be no standard of expenses which the court can act upon and apply, but that the whole field is one of judgment in the exercise of a reasonable discretion by the managing powers or by the public authorities in reviewing their action. it is to be borne in mind that there are many roads in the country that never have been and in all probability never will be able to pay their obligations and to pay dividends, even the slightest, to their stockholders.... if the rule suggested is a correct one, and must be adhered to by the public authorities, then it is entirely impossible that those who operate these roads can prescribe excessive charges, since it is impossible to fix any rates that would bring their revenues up to the point of enabling them to pay any dividends.... but the rule suggested would also be one under which those roads would be entitled to charge the most which, instead of being built with the money of the stockholders themselves, had been constructed with money borrowed; the larger the debt the higher being the rates that would be legal. if a road were out of debt so that it had no bonds to provide for, it must content itself with such rates as would pay some dividend to its stockholders. if the road were in debt, though it perhaps served the same communities, it might be entitled to charge rates , or possibly per cent higher.... but over and beyond all this the attempt to apply the rule suggested would be absolutely futile for the reason that the rates prescribed for one road would necessarily affect all others that either directly or indirectly came in competition with it." it is no exaggeration to say that the annual reports of the commission stand unexcelled as dauntless, clear, concise and instructive public documents. it may also be asserted that whatever success has so far attended the interstate commerce law, that success is in a great measure due to the tact, courage and ability of the men who, in the past, have been the guiding spirits of the commission. efforts will be made by railroad managers in the future, as they have been made in the past, to weaken the commission by securing the appointment of men servile to the railroad interest as members of that body. mr. depew says that "all railroad men are politicians, and active ones." this is true as to manipulating managers and will continue to be so just as long as we allow such extraordinary powers to be exercised by them. the saloon men are politicians, and active ones. there is not a city or town in this broad land that is not in danger of falling under their sway unless their offensive efforts are resisted. the old united states bank managers were politicians, and active ones. they perverted the trust reposed in their hands to such an extent that the indignation of the people was aroused, and under the lead of a stern old patriot the bank was swept out of existence. shall we restrain corporation management within proper limits and make corporations serve the public welfare, or shall we let the abuses go on until the people, under the lead of another jackson, demand emphatically the application of some remedy, for better or for worse? perhaps government ownership, perhaps something else. nations, like individuals, should profit by the experience of the past. the interstate commerce commission, in their sixth annual report, say, concerning the interstate commerce law: "it was scarcely possible that it should be so complete and comprehensive at the outset as to require no alteration or amendment. those who are familiar with the practices which obtained prior to the passage of this law, and contrast them with the methods and conditions now existing, will accord to the present statute great influence in the direction of necessary reforms and a high degree of usefulness in promoting the public interest. "whoever will candidly examine the reports of the commission from year to year, and thus become acquainted with the work which has been done and is now going on, will have no doubt of the potential value of this enactment in correcting public sentiment, restraining public injustice and enforcing the principle of reasonable charges and equal treatment. imperfections and weaknesses which could not be anticipated at the time of its passage have since been disclosed by the effort to give it effective administration. the test of experience, so far from condemning the policy of public regulation, has established, its importance and intensified its necessity. the very respects in which the existing law has failed to meet public expectation point out the advantages and demonstrate the utility of government supervision.... "of this much we are convinced: the public demand for government regulation and the necessity for legal protection against the encroachments of railroad corporations have not been diminished by the experience of the last six years. the act to regulate commerce was not framed to meet a temporary emergency, nor in obedience to a transient and spasmodic sentiment. the people will not tolerate a return to the injustice and wrong-doing which inevitably occurs when no correction is undertaken and no regulation attempted. the evils of unrestricted management will not be permanently endured, and legal remedies will continue to be sought until they are amply provided. the present statute, however crude and inadequate in many respects, was the constitutional exercise of most important powers and the legislative expression of a great and wholesome principle. its fundamental and pervading purpose is to secure equality of treatment. it assumes that the railroads are engaged in a public service, and requires that service to be impartially performed. it asserts the right of every citizen to use the agencies which the carrier provides on equal terms with all his fellows, and finds an invasion of that right in every unauthorized exemption from charges commonly imposed. "the railroad is justly regarded as a public facility which every person may enjoy at pleasure, a common right to which all are admitted and from which none are excluded. the essence of this right is equality, and its enjoyment can be complete only when it is secured on like conditions by all who desire its benefits. the railroad exists by virtue of authority proceeding from the state, and thus differs in its essential nature from every form of private enterprise. the carrier is invested with extraordinary powers, which are delegated by the sovereign, and thereby performs a governmental function. the favoritism, partiality and exactions which the law was designed to prevent resulted, in large measure, from a general misapprehension of the nature of transportation and its vital relation to commercial and industrial progress. so far from being a private possession, it differs from every species of property, and is in no sense a commodity. its office is peculiar, for it is essentially public. the railroad, therefore, can rightfully do nothing which the state itself might not do if it performed this public service through its own agents instead of delegating it to corporations which it has created. the large shipper is entitled to no advantage over his smaller rival in respect of rates or accommodations, for the compensation exacted in every case should be measured by the same standard. to allow any exceptions to this fundamental rule is to subvert the principle upon which free institutions depend and substitute arbitrary caprice for equality of right. "the spirit of the law is opposed to usages so long continued and so familiar that their unjust and demoralizing character has not been clearly perceived, but it is a long step towards such regulation of the agencies of transportation as will make them equally available to all without discrimination between individuals or communities. it can hardly be the fault of those who are charged with its administration if the beneficial aims of this statute have not been fully attained and compliance with its provisions not completely secured. a better understanding of its purpose and an educated public sentiment, aided by the needful amendments which experience suggests, will fully vindicate the policy of congress in undertaking to bring the great transportation interests of the country into general harmony with its requirements. "it affords us gratification to add that many railroad managers of the highest standing now concede the necessity for government regulation, and avow themselves in favor of such further enactments as will make that regulation effective." chapter xiii. the rate question. railroad managers frequently make the assertion that the average freight rates charged in the united states are lower than those usually charged in european countries and that this fact is in itself sufficient proof that they are too low. a comparison of the transportation problem of europe with our own will show this argument to be fallacious. while from $ , to $ , a mile is a very liberal estimate of the average cost of american roads, the average cost of european railroads, owing to their expensive rights of way, substantial road-beds and heavy grades, is probably not less than $ , per mile. british railway companies have laid out for the purchase of land, for right of way and depot accommodations an amount about equal to the entire average cost of american roads for the same number of miles. for instance, the southeastern company paid $ , ; the manchester and leeds company, $ , , and the london, birmingham and great western, $ , per mile. the first eastern counties line paid even $ , per mile for land through an agricultural district. as nearly as can be ascertained, the average cost of the right of way of railroads was over $ , for the united kingdom. in belgium the average cost of the right of way was $ , . it was lower, however, in the other countries of the european continent. the topography of the country through which the english railways are built is such as necessitated enormous expenses for heavy embankments, cuttings, viaducts, tunnels and bridges, and in some cases increased the cost of the roads to fabulous sums. the lancashire and yorkshire railway actually cost $ , per mile for the whole of its miles. european roads have been built in a much more permanent manner and have terminal facilities whose cost is far beyond any sum paid for such purposes in this country. in great britain, moreover, the expenses of contests and of procuring charters have been very great and have probably averaged $ , per mile. english railway men charge americans with having indulged in stock-watering to a greater extent than any other people in the world. this is probably true, yet the english have not been dull students of this art, and they are far from free of having indulged in this luxury. much of their railroad stock was issued in a wasteful manner and represents no actual investment, and it is safe to say that from to per cent. of their present railroad capitalization is water. if upon the above basis both european and american railroads are to yield an interest of - / per cent. on the actual investment, the former will have to earn at least $ , per mile more than the latter, and this difference equals about per cent. of the average operating expenses of american roads per mile. labor is cheaper across the atlantic, but this difference is more than equalized by the employment of a much larger number of men per mile, as the following table will show: countries. no. of men employed average wages wages paid per mile. per annum. per mile. united kingdom $ $ , belgium , russia , germany , france , united states , the london and northwestern railway is , miles long and has over , employes, or over per mile. the lancashire and yorkshire company employs over per mile. the train men of europe work less hours and earn less per capita for their employers than do the train men of this country. the average annual gross earnings per employe on sixteen of the leading lines of great britain, as shown by mr. jeans, appear to be $ against $ , on fifteen leading lines of the united states, while the average net earnings per employe are $ on the british lines against $ on the american lines; making a difference in favor of this country of per cent. in gross earnings and per cent. in net earnings. if american labor is more expensive, it is also more efficient than labor is elsewhere. it must also be considered that the average haul in europe is much less than the average haul in the united states. it has always been maintained by the railroad companies, and very justly, too, that the terminal charges are as important a factor of freight rates as is the cost of carriage. the terminal charges are the same for a twenty-five-mile haul as for a thousand-mile haul; they form a comparatively large part of the total charges for the former and a very small part of the total charges for the latter. it is therefore manifestly unjust to compare the rates per ton per mile of europe with those of the united states without making due allowance for the difference in the length of their average hauls. all other things being equal, a fair comparison between the freight rates of different countries should be based upon hauls of equal length. there is another consideration which should not be lost sight of. the commodities in the united states which contribute principally to the long haul are raw products. the universally low rates of these commodities greatly lower the general average. in europe, on the other hand, manufactured goods predominate as long-haul freight, and based upon increased risk and increased cost of carriage, considerably swell the general average of freight charges. the railroads of the united states also do more business per train mile than those of any other country excepting perhaps austria, russia and india. this should certainly enable them to do business for less than it is done by transatlantic lines. in addition to all this, a number of european countries, particularly france, require their railroads to perform large services, such as the carrying of the mails and the transportation of the officers and employes of the government, gratuitously, and to carry soldiers at reduced rates. another factor in the equation should be considered. european roads are built, equipped and all permanent improvements wholly made at the expense of the stock- and bondholders, while in this country they are partially constructed at the expense of the patrons of the road. in the former case the capitalization of the road represents what has been paid by the stock- and bondholders, and in the latter, not only what they have paid, but large contributions paid from the income of the road and from public and private donations. it will thus be seen that railroad rates ought to be lower, and even much lower, here than in europe. if it _is_ true that the average rate per ton per mile is lower in america than across the atlantic, this is chiefly due to the fact that water transportation has forced down through (or long-haul) rates and has thus lowered the general average. this reduction was by no means made voluntarily by the railway companies, but was forced upon them. where in the united states water does not exist, as in local traffic, rates are usually much higher than in europe. the reduction in freight rates was brought about by a number of inventions which greatly lowered the cost of both the construction and the operation of railways. through the introduction of the steam shovel, of the wheel-scraper, of improved rock-drills, and of other labor-saving machines, as well as by a general improvement in the methods of grading, the cost of grading has been reduced from to per cent., and railroad bridges are now built at one-third of their former cost. owing to bessemer's great invention, steel rails can at the present time be bought for one-half of what iron rails cost ten or fifteen years ago, and about one-third of the cost twenty years ago. according to david a. wells, the author of "recent economic changes," the annual producing capacity of a bessemer converter was increased fourfold between and , and four men can now make a given product of steel in the same time and with less cost of material than it took ten men ten years ago to accomplish. a ton of steel can now be made with , pounds of coal, while it required twice that quantity in . when it is considered that rails and tires made of steel last three times as long as those made of iron, permit greater speed, carry a much larger weight, and require less repairs, the importance to the railroad interests of the improvements made in the manufacture of steel can hardly be overestimated. similar reductions have been made in the car and machine shops. an average train to-day probably costs no more than one-half as much as it did twenty years ago. mr. wells, in the work just mentioned, says: "in -' one of the leading railroads of the northwestern united states built miles, which, with some tunneling, was bonded for about $ , per mile. the same road could now ( ) be constructed, with the payment of higher wages to laborers of all classes, for about $ , per mile." a great saving has also been made in the consumption of coal. under favorable circumstances a loaded freight car can now be propelled a mile with one pound of coal. a similar economy of fuel has, through the improvement of their engines, been effected in ocean steamers. the invention of the compound engine has reduced the expense of running about one-half, while it has doubled the room left for the cargo. the statement has recently been made that a piece of coal half as large as a walnut, when burned in the compound engine of a modern steamboat, drives a ton of food and its proportion of the ship one mile on its way to a foreign port. furthermore, the invention of the air-brake has materially reduced the number of train men formerly necessary to safely manage a train, just as the introduction of steam-hoisting and other machines, both upon docks and vessels, has greatly decreased the number of men employed upon the mercantile marine. there is certainly much similarity between the railroad and the steamboat as agencies of transportation. whatever fuel and labor-saving causes operate on one must necessarily operate upon the other. when we, therefore, find that the ocean rates are only from one-third to one-fourth of what they were thirty years ago, we are justly surprised to see railroad rates maintained as high as they are. operating expenses have been greatly reduced and passenger travel has largely increased during the past twenty years, but reductions corresponding in the passenger rates of the united states have not been made. it is, nevertheless, no easy matter always to determine what are reasonable rates. it is easier to tell what rates are unreasonable. rates are unreasonable that bring an income in excess of sufficient to keep the road in proper condition, to pay operating expenses, including taxes and a fair rate of interest on the amount, not including donations, actually invested in the road. the patrons of a road should not be taxed to pay interest on their own donations, or on public donations, to the road, as the donations were made for the benefit of the public, and not for the benefit of private individuals. a rate which may appear reasonable to the carrier is apt to be regarded as too high by the shipper; and, again, one that seems reasonable to the shipper is denounced as too low by the railroad man. each is tempted to consult only his own interests and to disregard the just claims of the other side. thus, while the shipper will claim that his rates ought to be low enough to enable him to compete with other shippers more advantageously located than he is, the railroad manager will demand a rate which would enable him to declare high dividends on largely fictitious values. the owners of roads which were built merely for purposes of speculation or blackmailing insist on being permitted to charge exorbitant rates to bring up their earnings to the level of those roads for whose construction there was a legitimate demand. it is a settled principle of common law that all rates must be reasonable, but no uniform rule has as yet been adopted by which the question of reasonableness is to be determined. the doctrine laid down by judge brewer, that "where the rates prescribed will not pay some compensation to the owners, then it is the duty of the courts to interfere and protect the companies from such rates," and that "compensation implies three things: cost of service, interest on bonds, and then some dividends," is absurd. a question is never settled until it is settled right, and this rule is certainly open to very serious objections. a road may be bonded for several times its cost or its real value, it may be managed with such recklessness or extravagance that its operating expenses may be twice what they would be under a careful and economical management, yet under this rule the shipper must pay the premium which bond-watering and bad management command. the general enforcement of such a rule would place the public at the mercy of scheming railroad manipulators. no matter to what extent the business of a road may increase, a reduction of rates can always be prevented by the issue of new bonds and the doubling of the already lordly salaries of its managers. again, under the operation of this rule a road which entirely suffices to do the business between two points may be paralleled by another and the public be compelled to pay excessive rates to maintain both. it might be said that the public cannot be forced to patronize any road, that if it would not withdraw its patronage from the old line, the new line would soon become bankrupt, and that in such an event its owners, and not the public, would be the sufferers. this argument may be met by the statement that, aside from the fact that concerted action among a large number of people can never be secured, few roads rely for their support solely upon local business, and that any loss which the older road sustains from encroachments by its rival upon its through traffic it is compelled to make up by raising its rates upon its local business. it is the almost inevitable consequence when one road is paralleled by another that the business which was previously done by one road will be nearly equally divided between the two, and under the rule laid down by judge brewer the public will be called upon to pay the operating expenses and the interest on the bonds of both, together with such dividends on the stock as the financiering ability of their managers may secure. the better judgment seems to be that to determine what are reasonable rates is not a question for judicial adjudication. the interstate commerce commission, in their fourth annual report, assert that "there can be no standard of expense which the courts can act upon and apply, but that the whole field is one of judgment in the exercise of a reasonable discretion by the managing powers, or by the public authorities in reviewing their action." their views upon this subject are still more definitely stated in the following words contained in the same report: "an attempt is made to give authority to the courts to interfere by the suggestion that property or charter contract rights, or both, are involved in the matter of fixing rates, and therefore that it is not possible the conclusions of administrative boards should be final. this is an endeavor, by the mere use of words, to confer jurisdiction upon the courts where the substance is altogether wanting. property or contract rights are involved in these cases precisely as they are in numerous other cases of the exercise of power under the police authority of the state, either by the state itself or by its municipalities." these views cannot fail to commend themselves to any unprejudiced mind. it is a well-established fact that all officials will, if permitted, extend their jurisdiction, and judges are no exception to the rule. it was therefore but natural that the courts should attempt to solve the problem of railroad rates. the attempt so far has been fruitless, nor will it be otherwise as long as the courts persist in approaching with abstract legal maxims a question which, above all things, requires the light of experience and the exercise of sound discretion. the question of railroad rates will never be satisfactorily settled until it is definitely referred to expert administrative state and national boards empowered and prepared to meet the many contingencies that will always arise in the transportation business. it is not difficult to account for the inability of the courts to properly adjudicate the question of reasonable rates. the legislature, or a board to which it has delegated its power, prescribes for a railroad company a classification and tariff. the company claims that the rates so fixed are unreasonably low and applies to the courts for redress. now, if the rates were based upon the cost of service only, it might, perhaps, be possible for a court to determine whether the prescribed rates are adequate or not. but even in such a case the question would arise whether the capitalization and the operating expenses of the road are not excessive, and its determination would require expert knowledge and sound discretion rather than legal lore. however, since the cost of service is not the only, and with railroad men not even an essential, factor in rate-making, it is evident that the rates upon single commodities can not be reviewed upon their individual merits, but the tariff must, in the judicial determination of the question whether it is reasonable or not, be viewed as a whole. but as it is impossible to foretell what effect a readjusted tariff would have on the revenues of a road, even courts are forced to admit that an actual trial of the tariff is necessary to establish its merits or demerits. if the complaining company were as anxious to give the new tariff a fair trial as it usually is to demonstrate to the satisfaction of the court that it is devoid of every principle of justice, such a test might be accepted by the public as a reliable basis of judicial procedure. but railroad managers are not only striving to perpetuate their own high rates, but to show to the public that freight tariffs not emanating from a railroad company's office are of necessity crude and unjust to the carrier. they know that if they should succeed in convincing the public that administrative boards are incapable of dealing with that question, they might for years to come be left in undisputed possession of the power to make their own rates. this is certainly for the railroad manager a prize worth contending for, and no sacrifice is too great for him to make when there is any hope of ultimate victory. being absolutely uncontrolled in his action, he finds it an easy matter, by temporarily diverting business from his line, by the increase of operating expenses and by repressing growing industries, and in many other ways, to curtail the business of his road and diminish its revenues. he can court losses in a thousand different ways discernible neither to the courts nor the general public. in short, it is in the power of any railroad manager to manipulate such a trial in his own interest, and, if determined, to obtain a verdict against any tariff not of his own making. this policy was pursued by several iowa roads subsequent to judge brewer's decision that the alleged unreasonableness of the iowa commissioners' tariff must be established by an actual trial, and was persevered in until the suit was withdrawn. but even if the competency of the courts to properly determine such questions were admitted, there would still exist one serious objection to their jurisdiction. courts necessarily move slowly, while all differences arising between the public and the railways, and especially those concerning rates of transportation, require prompt and decisive action. there are no fixed conditions in commerce. it is a kaleidoscope constantly presenting new phases. competition at home and abroad, tariff duties, the condition of the crops and a thousand other influences affect it and may require a prompt readjustment of the tariff. so long as railroad companies are permitted to resort to injunctions and effect other delays rendered possible through the machinery of the courts, to prevent for years the enforcement of tariffs prescribed by administrative authorities, so long will the public be at their mercy. so long as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by a judicial contest, it will be their policy to delay through the courts the enforcement of any tariff, whether prescribed by legislature or by an authorized commission, that falls below their standard. it is not to be understood that the acts of railroad commissioners should never be subject to a judicial view. if such boards clearly exceed their authority or are otherwise guilty of maladministration, if they violate constitutional rights, then railroad companies, if injured by their acts, should be permitted to seek redress in the courts; but they should not be permitted to nullify an official tariff by legal maneuvers. it is clearly not within the province of the courts to make rates or to lay down rules to be followed by those to whom the law has delegated the power to make them, nor should the courts aid the railroads in any attempt to nullify an official tariff that has been legally promulgated. a tariff prepared by sworn and disinterested officials is more likely to be just than one prepared by interested railroad men, and railroad companies should be compelled to adopt it and continue it in use until it is amended or revoked by legal authority. individual shippers are powerless as against strong corporations. railroads apply to the courts for what they are pleased to term redress, and in the meantime refuse with impunity to accept an official tariff; but the shipper has no protection: he must pay their rates or go out of business. what reason can be assigned why the weaker should thus be discriminated against? a promulgation of a tariff prepared by a commission is equivalent to a declaration on the part of these officials that the rates or some of the rates charged by the railroads are unreasonably high. the railroad, in applying to the courts for protection, claims that the tariff prescribed by the commission is unreasonably low. both tariffs are therefore impeached, one being that of an interested private company, the other that of a disinterested public board. it is evident that, even if the people should see fit to give the courts jurisdiction in such controversies, one of these tariffs must temporarily prevail pending the decision of the court, and sound public policy and justice to the patrons of the road certainly require that the official tariff be recognized by the courts and made to be respected by the railroad company until it is proved to be unreasonable and is set aside by lawful authority. it is claimed by railroad men that they should be allowed to make their own tariffs because rate-making is so intricate a subject that none but railroad experts can do it justice. if this were so the courts would be even less competent to review a schedule of rates than a state or national commission would be to make one. courts cannot be expected to have expert knowledge in all matters that are likely to be brought before them. they must rely upon the testimony of expert witnesses whenever technical questions are involved in the determination of cases. the identical sources of information from which courts draw are accessible, or may be made accessible, to a commission, which has the additional advantage that its members may be selected with special reference to their fitness for the duties which they will be called upon to perform and are expected to devote their whole time to the settlement of questions arising in the transportation business. such a commission can practically be made a court with jurisdiction over all matters connected with railroad business. the railroad manager, no doubt, is thoroughly familiar with the wants and desires of his company; but it may fairly be presumed that he is less familiar with the needs of the public than a railroad commission whose members are in constant communication with the people, patiently listen to the complaints of shippers, court and receive suggestions as to needed changes in classification and rates, and study the relative advantages of the different sections and different interests of the state or the country as regards transportation. a railroad freight agent, on the contrary, is disposed to think that shippers ought to be satisfied with any rate lower than those charged fifty years ago for carting or other crude methods of transportation. he regards their views and suggestions as chimerical and not worthy of any notice, and does not even hesitate to inform them that rate-making is a branch of the railroad business wholly beyond their comprehension, and ought not to be meddled with or even inquired into by the public. the general freight agent is the employe of a company which rates his usefulness solely by his ability to constantly increase its revenues, and he invariably proceeds upon the theory that the best tariff is that which comes nearest imposing upon each commodity offered for carriage the maximum transportation tax that it will bear. a man who entertains such opinions cannot be supposed to be able to do justice to the shipper, and should not be permitted to act as arbitrator in rate controversies between the public and the company whose employe and advocate he is. nor have we any reason to hope for a change in the present tariff policy of railroads. history has sufficiently demonstrated the fact that reforms must come from without. as long as human nature remains as it is, railroad officials will, if permitted, arrange tariffs in the interest of the men who give them employment, for if they did otherwise their services would soon be dispensed with. a freight tariff should be in the nature of a contract between the carrier and the shipper, and the assent of both parties ought to be essential to its validity. but as it is impracticable for all the parties interested to meet for the purpose of effecting an agreement, the power to make rates has in several states wisely been conferred upon railroad commissioners, and there is a strong tendency in others to adopt the same policy. such boards have every opportunity to obtain any information needed for the efficient and faithful discharge of their duties. they can hear the representatives of the railroads as well as those of the shippers, investigate carefully disputed points, summon experts and witnesses, and obtain official information relating to classifications and rates from every state in the union, and, if necessary, from every quarter of the civilized world. the assertion may safely be made that, with experience, a commission acquires more expert knowledge relating to the business of rate-making than a railroad manager. if there is any mystery connected with the business of rate-making which has so far been in the sole possession of railroad men, it is to their interest to initiate the commissioners into their profound secrets. it will be their privilege to enlighten the commissioners as to the actual cost of their respective lines, the cost of every branch of the railway service, and as to a thousand other matters which the public has both a desire and a right to know. if, after a schedule of rates has been prepared, and before it is promulgated, railroad men can suggest any improvement in it, they should have the privilege to do so; or if, after giving it a fair trial, they should be prepared to show that any rate is unreasonably low and injurious to them, their complaint should be carefully investigated, and, if found well grounded, the wrong should at once be righted. but the same privileges should be extended to shippers. their rights and their welfare should be guarded as sacredly as those of the railroad companies. they should have the same opportunity to examine a proposed schedule before its promulgation and protest against any feature of it which they may regard prejudicial to their interests, and their statements should receive the same consideration as is accorded to those of representatives of the railroad companies. so, likewise, when shippers prove to the satisfaction of the commission that a rate has outlived its reasonableness, their complaints should at once be investigated, and if their cause is found to be a just one, the tariff should be so amended as to give them relief. the labors of a board of railroad commissioners are onerous, and their responsibility is great. no uniform rule can be laid down for their guidance in the fixing of rates, yet there are a few fundamental principles which should always be adhered to. the cost of service should invariably be an important factor of a rate. railroads should not be compelled to carry any commodity for less than the actual cost of moving it, nor should rates be fixed greatly in excess of such cost of service. the carload should be the unit of wholesale shipments. since it costs the railroad company as much to move ten carloads of freight which belong to one shipper as it costs to move ten carloads belonging to ten shippers, no advantage beyond the general carload rate should be given to the large shipper. the difference in the rates between shipments in less than carload lots ought to be determined solely by the difference in the cost of carriage and handling. where shipments are made in carload lots, the loading and unloading is usually done by the shipper and consignee, cars are loaded to their full capacity, and no loading or unloading of shipments at intermediate points is necessary. it is therefore but just that the consignor and consignee should have the benefit of the reduced cost of such shipments. raw materials, and especially coal and lumber and kindred articles, the transportation of which requires neither an expensive rolling stock nor warehouse accommodations nor speedy movement, and in which the risk of loss or damage is insignificant, should be carried at the lowest rate possible. such a policy will tend to foster other interests, which will develop business for the road and will build up remote sections of the country, and will often enable railroads to carry large quantities of these commodities at times when they would otherwise be nearly idle. there should be a uniform classification throughout the country, based upon considerations of justice and equity instead of railroad tradition. such articles should be classed together as resemble each other as concerns bulk, weight and risk, or what is virtually the same, cost of carrying and handling. it may be safely assumed that a rate which has been made and used by railroad companies is remunerative. if it is claimed by railroad men that it is not, the burden of proof should rest upon them. a rate may also be considered remunerative to a road if other lines similarly situated have voluntarily adopted it. a schedule finally must be considered reasonable if it enables the company for which it is prescribed to earn under efficient and economical management sufficient to maintain its road in proper condition and a fair rate of interest upon a fair valuation of its road. property is never worth more than what it can be duplicated for, and railroad property is no exception to the rule. if there has been a depreciation in the property of a company, it should not demand dividends upon values which no longer exist. nor can the same returns be conceded to railroad property as to private capital. its investment is permanent and well secured, if it is honestly and intelligently made; and its dividends are net returns after the payment of all expenses, including taxes, cost of management and maintenance. the three per cent. bonds of the united states government find a ready sale at prices above par. were there less speculation and more honesty and stability in railroad management, railroad securities yielding a revenue of from - / to per cent. on the actual investment would be eagerly sought after by conservative capitalists. rate-making requires honesty of purpose, intelligence and discretion, qualities as likely to be found among the servants of the people as among those of corporations. a commission may err, but its errors are not likely to prove as detrimental to the railroad companies as the extortionate and discriminating rates imposed by railroad managers have proved to the interests of the public. railroad managers acknowledge no obligation except that of earning dividends for their companies, while the members of a railroad commission, on the contrary, are responsible for their acts to the people, with us the source of all government and all power. to question the justice and sincerity of the people, or to deny the efficacy of such a control, is to deny the wisdom of popular government. railroads might be permitted to reduce their rates below the official tariff, but they should be required to give at least thirty days' notice of such a change, to enable shippers to prepare for it. the companies should not be permitted, however, to raise rates again without obtaining the commissioners' consent and giving at least two months' notice of the proposed advance. sudden fluctuations in rates are a fruitful source of disaster in those branches of business in which the cost of transportation forms an important factor in the price of commodities, and are as unjust and unwarrantable as would be fluctuations in import duties. as long as they are tolerated there can be no reliable basis for business calculations or contracts. there is little doubt that, were such regulations enforced, railroad wars, so demoralizing to the business of the country, would soon belong to the things of the past, and a far-reaching assurance of future welfare would be given to the commercial, manufacturing and all other legitimate interests of the country. it should always be kept in view by the rate-making power that the railroad company, like the gas company, the water company and the street car company, is acting in the capacity of a public agent, and the rate of compensation should be fixed by public authority. chapter xiv. remedies. the railroad in america is still in its infancy, both as regards extent of mileage and methods of operation. in the united states had in round numbers , miles of road; in this number had increased to , ; in to , , and in to , . it will thus be seen that the average increase during each of those three decades was nearly per cent. should this rate of increase continue during the next three decades there would be in the present territory of the united states a little over three hundred thousand miles in , , miles in and close to one million miles in , or about one mile of road for every three miles of territory. it is not likely that the rate of increase of the past will continue in the future; but even if this should be reduced from to per cent. it would be less than fifty-five years when the railroad mileage of the united states would reach the million point. even this might seem an extravagant estimate, but it must be remembered that there are already a number of states in the union with a railroad mileage closely approaching this proportion. the district of columbia has one mile of road for every . square miles of territory, new jersey for every . , massachusetts for every . , and connecticut for every . square miles. ohio, pennsylvania, rhode island and illinois follow with one mile of railroad for every . , . , . and . square miles of territory, respectively, and indiana, new york, delaware and iowa are not far behind them. it should also be borne in mind that many of the through lines have double, some triple, and some even quadruple tracks, which, if taken into the account, would increase the mileage much more; and still railroad construction in most of these states is far from being at a standstill. the united states will eventually be able to sustain a closer net of railways than any country in europe, and we may rest assured that the time will come when the fertile prairie states of the northwest will have a mile of railroad for every square mile of territory. in view of the future magnitude of the transportation interest the importance of placing its control and management early upon sound principles should not be under-estimated. abuses crept into railroad management in the past, not because the men who controlled it were necessarily worse than men engaged in other pursuits, but because the states failed to provide adequate legislation for the control of this new social and commercial force, and the license enjoyed by railroad men gradually turned into serious evils what seemed at first only harmless practices. it cannot be denied, however, that the absence of restraint in time attracted to the business unscrupulous men whose sharp practices frequently forced their colleagues of better conscience to do what their sense of honor and justice condemned. these evils and abuses have increased with the growth of the railroad system, and nothing short of the sovereign power can now correct them. it is incumbent upon the state not only to correct the evils of the past, but to base legislative control of railroads upon principles so wise and so broad as to endure for ages, permitting the unlimited growth of the system and at the same time insuring commercial liberty and prosperity to the generations to come. as it is always easier to tear down than to build up, so it is likewise easier to point out evils than it is to provide proper remedies for their cure. almost any one can criticise existing conditions, but it requires wise and constructive statesmanship to propose practical measures which will bring about desired improvement. the apparent magnitude of the work of correcting the evils and abuses connected with the transportation business, many of which have been in vogue for more than a generation, has discouraged many from seriously undertaking it. and yet we shall find the problem by no means a difficult one, if we properly analyze it and go to the root of the evil. prof. bryce, in his work "the american commonwealth," refers to the fact that the people of this country have been equal to the task of solving the gravest problems which have been presented to them, and we need have no doubt of their ability to solve the railroad problem. railroad regulation does not require the adoption of any new principle of law. if the common law is rightly applied and provision is made for its strict and systematic enforcement, it will meet every condition that is likely to arise in the transportation business. it should always be remembered that the railroad is an improved highway, and the principal reason for which it is built is to accommodate the people and promote their welfare, and not to serve the selfish ends of a few individuals, and that private companies were permitted to build and operate it only because the state believed that the public interests could best be served in this way. it is one of the duties of the state to facilitate transportation by establishing highways. these highways may be built by the state directly or through municipalities or even private corporations. thus, under authority derived from the state, cities lay out, construct and maintain streets within their limits. but these streets become public and are always subject to state control. the same rule applies to turnpikes and ferries. although the state transfers to an individual or a company its right to maintain a ferry or to build and maintain a turnpike, and to compensate itself for its outlay by the collection of tolls, the ferry and turnpike nevertheless remain highways, subject to the control of the state. the railroad partakes of two natures, that of a highway and that of a common carrier. railroad companies therefore enjoy the privileges and assume the duties of both. the state justly exercises in behalf of such companies the right of eminent domain, _i. e._, the right of the sovereign to apply private property to public use; but it cannot rightfully appropriate private property for private use, even if legal compensation were to be made for it. it is only upon the theory that railroads are highways, constructed for the public good and subject to public control, that the state has authorized railroad companies to take private property for their own use by paying for it a reasonable compensation. a railroad may even take possession of and intersect a public road for the purpose of carrying on its functions. but while the sovereign may exercise the right of eminent domain, it cannot delegate it to any individual or number of individuals, except to its agents, performing its functions and being bound to comply with any rule which may be prescribed for the public good. under the common law the individual is entitled to as full use of the railroad as he is of the common highway. if he is not allowed to put on his own vehicle, this restriction is simply due to the fact that the people believe that the business can be done most safely, most economically and most efficiently by one company or a limited number of companies operating the road for a reasonable compensation. nor does this restriction differ materially from that which the law has placed upon the use of the common road. without legislative sanction no one has a right to put upon it a team of elephants or a locomotive and train of cars, or other strange motors, and thereby obstruct the public travel. these restrictions might be removed by the legislative power, and there is also no doubt that under the common law the state has the right to permit the independent use of the railroad track by any person having motive power and cars adapted to it. the persons and freight transported on the railroad are taxed to maintain it, while in the case of the common road this tax is placed upon the people and the adjoining property. how to collect the tax necessary to sustain the road is simply a question of public policy, and it cannot be collected in any case except with the expressed permission of the state. if a company is permitted by the state to operate a railroad it should only be permitted to collect such tolls as are just and reasonable, and what is just and reasonable should be determined by the sovereign state, and not by the operating company. the railroads of the united states collect from our people in round numbers a transportation tax of eleven hundred million dollars annually. this tax is equal to a levy of $ per head, or $ per family; it is about as large as all our other taxes combined. in the state of iowa it amounts to about $ per head, or $ per family, and is two and one-half times as large as all the state, county, school and municipal taxes collected within her borders. when we consider how thoroughly other public charges are hedged about, by careful restrictions and limitations, and with what caution the amount to be collected is fixed after thorough public discussion, by agents of the people selected by them to serve only for short periods, and that those who collect and disburse the funds are under oath and bonds for a faithful performance of their duty, is it not preposterous to permit agents appointed by a few interested persons, and often serving for a long term of years, without any responsibility to the public, to fix the rate of this tax, and to collect and disburse the immense sums levied for the support of these highways without any supervision or restraint? the government might as well lease the post-office, waterways and the collection of import duties to the highest bidder and permit the lessees to reimburse themselves by the collection of such tolls as they might see fit, without any governmental restraint whatever, their franchises enabling the operating companies to tax each individual, each locality and each letter, parcel or article as they saw fit. how long would the people of this country endure such a condition of things? the collection of taxes has been farmed out, but not by any civilized nation in modern times. history shows that this system of taxation has always been productive of the gravest abuses, and prejudicial to the public welfare. as has already been shown, the railroad is an improved highway, and the railroad company in operating it is doing a public business and not a private business, and therefore it should be governed by rules applicable to public business, and not such as are applicable to private business. it is admitted by all that for the services which it performs the operating company should receive a reasonable compensation; but to say what a reasonable compensation is, how it shall be collected, and to prescribe rules regulating the business of the public carrier, is solely the right and the duty of the state. the people have never permitted the rate of any other public charge to be fixed by the beneficiary. why, then, should privileges be conceded to one beneficiary which are denied to all others? the assertion is often made by railroad managers that railroad transportation is a private business as much as any other branch of commerce. it is not likely that these same managers would wish to have their argument carried to its logical conclusion, for, should the courts at any time take their view, they would be under the necessity of declaring null and void all their charters, which were granted to them upon the assumption that the railroad was a highway operated under the authority and control of the state by private companies for the public good. if, on the other hand, railroad managers are, for their own protection, forced to recognize the public character of railroads, they can no longer question the right of the state to so control their business as the public good may demand. and this shows the absurdity of the claim often made by railroad managers, that, as long as the rates charged by them are reasonable, the state has no right to interfere with their business, or, in other words, that they may discriminate between individuals and localities, and that they may legally practice a thousand other abuses as long as individual shippers find it beyond their power to prove that they have been charged exorbitant rates. charles fisk beach, jr., in his "commentaries on the law of private corporations," lays it down as a general principle of law that "whenever any person pursues a public calling and sustains such relations to the public that the people must of necessity deal with him, and are under a moral duress to submit to his terms if he is unrestrained by law, then, in order to prevent extortion and an abuse of his position, the price he may charge for his services may be regulated by law." and applying this principle to common carriers, and especially railroads, this author says: "the sovereign has always assumed peculiar control over common carriers as conducting a business in which the public has an interest, and in the case of railway carriers an additional basis of governmental control is grounded in the extraordinary franchise of eminent domain conferred upon these companies. for corporations engaged in carrying goods for hire as common carriers have no right to discriminate in freight rates in favor of one shipper, even when necessary to secure his custom, if the discriminating rate will tend to create a monopoly by excluding from their proper markets the products of the competitors of the favored shipper." if railroads had no obligations or advantages beyond those of other common carriers, such as stage lines and steamship companies, their discriminations might be less objectionable, but, as keepers of the toll-gates of the public highways, they are no more at liberty to regulate their own business regardless of the public welfare than were their predecessors, the toll-collectors stationed along the public turnpikes and canals. as such public tax-collectors they are bound to give equal treatment to all persons and places. although the business of constructing and keeping in repair the turnpike roads was, as a rule, left to private persons, and the promoters of such enterprises were permitted to reimburse themselves for their outlay by the collection of tolls, their schedules of tolls were prescribed by the state and their business was placed under the supervision of public officers, whose duty it was to see that neither extortion nor discrimination was practiced in the collection of these tolls, and that the private management of a public business did not become the source of abuse. the state thus insisted upon exercising a restraining influence over the business of turnpike companies because it realized the danger of entrusting the management of a semi-public business to companies organized solely for private gain, with officers responsible only to their stockholders, who, under ordinary circumstances, could be relied upon to measure the usefulness of an employe by his ability to contribute to the increase of the annual dividends. it will scarcely be claimed, even by railroad men, that since the days of turnpikes and stage-coaches corporations have become more unselfish and their officers less servile. the temptations have increased, while human frailty remains the same. of course, if we consult the railroad managers as to the best policy to be adopted for the future control of railroad companies, we shall be informed that we have already gone too far in railroad legislation, that nearly all the present evils of transportation of which the public and the railroad companies complain may be traced to legislative restrictions, and especially to certain features of the interstate commerce act. they reluctantly admit that this act has been instrumental for good inasmuch as it has corrected some of the abuses that formerly existed, but they insist that several of its provisions are too radical and do infinitely more harm than good, both to the railroad companies and the people; that these obnoxious provisions ought to be repealed, and that under such restrictions as would still remain railroad companies ought to be permitted to manage their own business. if we inquire what modification of the interstate commerce act the railroads desire, we find that if the act were amended in conformity with their wishes there would be little of it left that is of value. but the features which are specially obnoxious to them are the long and short haul and the anti-pooling clauses. they even go so far as to demand that the government should not only permit pooling, but should use its strong arm to enforce all pooling contracts which railroad companies might see fit to enter into. this means, in other words, that the government should enforce an agreement to restrict competition, which is made in direct violation of the common law, and aid the companies in maintaining such rates as they see fit to establish. if the railroad manager is cross-examined and forced to confess the truth, he will have to admit that what he really desires is freedom from all restraint, or, if public opinion will not tolerate this, then only law enough in letter to satisfy a public clamor and permit him to violate its spirit, and to then trust to him and the future to bring it into disrepute and cause its repeal. some shrewd managers have recently expressed a willingness to submit their pooling arrangements to a public commission for approval, before they should go into effect. this is objectionable on the ground that they would then, more even than before, endeavor to control the making of the commission. it is far safer to absolutely prohibit pooling and all devices used as a substitute for it. no necessity for pooling exists, and no good reason can be given why it should be permitted unless complete government control is established. state control of railroad transportation is as essential to the welfare of the companies as it is to that of the public. the history of the past twenty years has shown that railroad companies are utterly unable to regulate their relations with each other. they either cannot arrive at an understanding, and then the stronger companies resort to hostilities to bring the weaker ones to their terms; or, when an agreement has been reached among them, they find themselves unable to enforce it. anarchy then reigns supreme, until finally a truce is patched up, to be again followed by evasions, defiance and "war." the nature of the railroad business is in fact such that, in the absence of strict state control, it is impossible for a conscientious manager to retain the business to which his road is naturally entitled, and do full justice to both the patrons and the stockholders of his road. efforts have been made again and again by railroad companies to regulate their affairs and adjust their difficulties by resorting to pools, agreements, associations and combinations, formed with all the ingenuity of which men are capable, and supported by penalties and fines; but the unscrupulous railroad manager has always found a way to violate or subvert the agreement. there is a disposition among railroad companies to arrogate all the powers of sovereignty. they want to make their own laws, impose fines and declare war, and often go even so far as to openly defy the power of the state that has given them their existence. when railroad managers are shorn of the power to practice abuses, they are at the same time deprived of the many advantages they now have to speculate in railroad securities and enrich themselves at the expense of the public and of other railroad stockholders. the great fortunes of this country have been amassed within a few years, and chiefly from manipulations of railroad property. if the people permit these practices to go on without restraint but a few years more, the property of the nation will be largely under the control of a few bold adventurers. the great fortunes of europe which it has required centuries to accumulate are already outstripped by the "self-made" millionaires of this country. however persistently railroad managers may assure the people that abuses in the transportation business have been reduced to a minimum and that more stringent legislation will be an evil, it is a fact that many of the graver railroad abuses are still practiced and that much more reformation is needed in railroad management, or in railroad supervision, or in both, to make the railroad what it was designed to be, a highway operated for the public and open to all upon equal and equitable terms. the virtual ruler of the united states is public opinion. it is the power that controls the legislative as well as the executive and judicial departments of the government. enactments of legislatures and of congress and decisions of the courts, even of the supreme court of the united states, not in harmony with an intelligent and determined public opinion, cannot endure, and executives not in accord with the masses of the people cannot long retain public confidence or official authority. under these circumstances no reform movement has any prospect of success unless it is supported by public opinion. it should therefore be the principal endeavor of all advocates of railroad reform to create public opinion in favor of the measures proposed by them. with an intelligent public on the alert, the government may be relied upon to pursue a healthy and progressive railroad policy. unfortunately, there are times when public opinion upon great questions is dormant, while pecuniary interests, like the force of gravity, never suspend their action. to arouse the masses at such times, we must rely largely upon an honest, independent and courageous press, not influenced by gift or patronage. many plans have been proposed for a better control of railroads. some of these are merely theoretical; others have been tried in part, and a few have been tried in their entirety, but under circumstances radically different from those surrounding us. a system which may be well adapted to a monarchy with a centralization of governmental powers would probably prove a failure here, when brought in contact with the principles of dual sovereignty and local rule. unless a revolution should change our system of government, a dual system of railroad control will always be necessary in the united states; for it is not at all likely that the individual states will ever voluntarily give up their right to regulate commerce carried on within their respective borders. on the other hand, the common welfare requires that the commerce which is carried on between the states should not be hampered by local interference, but should be regulated only by congress. our experience as a nation has shown that such a quality of sovereignty is not inconsistent with strength or efficiency, nor need it be productive of rivalry or friction. the fact that a certain mode of railroad management has been successful elsewhere is not sufficient proof that it would be successful here, nor is the fact that it has not been successful elsewhere sufficient proof that it would not be successful here. the more the conditions which exist here resemble those under which it was tested, the greater is the probability that it can be adapted to our circumstances. independent thought and action is an essential element of progress, yet it is the part of wisdom to profit by the speculation and experience of others. the following are the principal methods that have been tried or proposed for the control and management of railroads: _ . publicity of the railroad business._ it is held by some that the secrecy with which railroad business is at present transacted is the source of all evils. it is contended that if railroads were required to report to the public every item of income and expenditure, discrimination and extortion, as well as bribery and corrupt subsidizing, would soon cease. if the companies were compelled to render an account of all receipts, special rates and drawbacks could not safely be granted by railroad managers, or, if granted, would soon lose their charm for recipients, for it would be but a short time until others would demand and even exact the same privileges. an attorney would, as a member of the legislature, be slow to accept a retaining fee if the amount of such fee were made known to his constituents. publishers would hesitate to apply for railroad subsidies if the companies were compelled to render periodically an itemized account of such expenditures, and railroad companies would, under similar circumstances, hesitate to pay subsidies, for the subsidized journal would soon be without patrons. if the items annually expended upon railroad lobbies were reported, these lobbies would soon be frowned, or even hissed, out of legislative halls. there can be no doubt that full and complete publicity in railroad business would correct a large number of existing abuses, and it should therefore be insisted upon as one of the first and essential features of railroad reform. it is questionable, however, whether railroad managers are so sensitive to public opinion that publicity could be relied upon as a cure for all railroad evils. to what extent it is desirable to supplement publicity by other measures of state control will be considered hereafter. it will, of course, be urged by railroad managers that the state has no right to pry into the privacy of their business and that they should be guaranteed the same protection against intrusion that is enjoyed by other branches of business. to this we must reply that not even banks or insurance companies are permitted to conduct their business as private, and that controlling the highway and levying a transportation tax upon every article of commerce passing over it is essentially public business and unquestionably subject to public control. every citizen is as much interested in it as he is in the transactions of the custom-house, or of the public treasury, and any transaction of a railroad manager that shuns public inspection can be set down as a public evil and should be suppressed. it may safely be laid down as a general rule that the refusal of a railroad company to give publicity to its transactions is presumptive evidence of wrong. the people are not alone interested in such publicity. stockholders have likewise a right to be protected against the sinister manipulations of dishonest managers, and publicity furnishes them the best guarantee of honest management. stockholders should attend the meetings of their companies and should obtain full knowledge of the management of their affairs. if they will make thorough examination and get at bottom facts the chances are that contracts will be found with owners of patents, white lines, blue lines, refrigerator car lines, coal companies, ferry companies, manufacturing companies, packing companies and other kindred organizations, by which hundreds of millions of dollars are diverted from the treasuries of the railroad companies to the pockets of influential persons connected with the management of the roads. it has recently come to light that the officers of a pennsylvania railroad company, during fifteen years, by some means of secret rebates and other allowances, have taken about $ , , out of the treasury of the company and distributed it as largesses to about half a dozen iron and steel establishments. this is a method of getting wealthy at the expense of others not unknown to many another great fortune accumulated in the last twenty years. railroad discriminations have been a fruitful source of those gross inequalities in wealth distribution which now agitate society and call people's parties and the like into existence. the modern millionaire appears to be an entirely natural creation. perhaps this money taken in special rates from the pennsylvania railroad's treasury, or, rather, from the pockets of the road's other patrons, and of the men who may have sought, without special rates, to compete with the favored ones in their business, only to be crushed in financial ruin, will be spent in a praiseworthy way, in accord with the principles of "the gospel of wealth." what we need now is the gospel of distribution of facilities for the accumulation of wealth, as well as the gospel of distribution of great fortunes. whether inspired by a bull or a bear interest or neither, all will concede the ability of mr. henry clews to picture the evils of railroad management; and his lack of generosity in accrediting ability or honesty to legislators who are called upon to provide remedies for the wrongs that he so well depicts will not deter me from indorsing the following statement made by him in a magazine article which is pertinent to this discussion: "one great difficulty that present railroad legislators have to contend with is the evil methods of railroad building and extension. a great deal of the mileage of the last two years has been premature, and doubtless for speculative purposes. most of it has been constructed, however, by old companies who had good credit to float bonds and could raise all the money required. hence there has been but little financial embarrassment arising from the too rapid construction. but people are beginning to find out that a great deal of this building has been in the interest of speculative directors and their friends, who, for a mere song, had bought up barren lands considered worthless because there was no means of transportation. but these lands soon become immensely valuable for sites of villages, towns and cities. the construction companies, by which these roads were generally built, raised the cost to the highest possible figures, in order, i fear, to make dividends for the construction stockholders. it is noteworthy that the directors connected with these construction schemes have been exceedingly prosperous, while the stockholders of the roads have grown poor in an inverse ratio. the dividends of the latter have disappeared. the new mileage, much of which, i apprehend, has been made on this principle, was about twenty-one thousand miles, which is greater than the entire mileage of great britain. there should be additions to the interstate law, or a special law regulating the methods of construction companies, which are probably doing more to demoralize the railroad system--and doing it very insidiously, too--than any other factor connected with these great arteries of the country's prosperity. "legislative reform is greatly needed in the matter of railroad reports, especially for the safety of investors, and to prevent speculative abuses among railroad officials and their friends and favorites. there should be statements issued annually, or perhaps more frequently, upon the truth of which everybody might rely. these should be sworn statements, and should bear the signatures of at least three of the directors. these directors should be required to call to their aid expert accountants, and should have placed at their disposal all the books of the company or corporation and all the other papers necessary to verify the accuracy of their report. the correctness of the statement, when issued, would then be a foregone conclusion, and an investor in london, paris or berlin could buy or sell on his own judgment, an experiment which, under existing arrangements, might prove very costly. it is proverbial that a railroad statement now is defective in the most essential particulars, and, to put it mildly, usually covers a multitude of sins. according to one plan approved by railroad companies, the statement published to-day, for instance, is made to show a surplus of many millions, but there is nothing said about an open construction account to which the surplus is debtor. on this favorable showing (with this _suppressio veri_) the stock goes up and the insiders quickly unload upon the investment public. the following statement, which comes out six months later, shows that the surplus has been used to settle the construction indebtedness. the surplus has disappeared; consequently the stock suffers a serious decline. those who bought on the strength of the large surplus sell out, on being informed of its distribution. then the inside sharks come forward again and purchase at reduced prices, probably at a depreciation of from ten to fifteen points or more, and keep their stock until the next periodical appearance of the bogus surplus. thus the insiders grow rich, while the outsiders become poor. the only remedy for this abuse is a sworn statement at regular intervals, and if the directors should commit perjury they would render themselves liable to state prison. if a few of them should be tempted to fall into the trap, and be made examples of in this way, nothing would do more to work a speedy reform in this contemptible method of book-keeping. "i would also suggest a change in the character of the directors. those usually chosen for this office now are men who have vast interests of their own, more than sufficient to absorb their entire time and thoughts. they are selected mainly on account of their high-sounding names, to give tone to the corporation and solidify its credit, in order that the lambs of speculation may have proper objects in whom confidence can be reposed and no questions asked. the management of the affairs of the corporation is frequently intrusted to one man, who runs the business to suit his own individual interests." we can appreciate the force of the above remarks when we consider that last year seventy-five companies realized a gross income of $ , , , which is equal to about per cent. of the total income received by all of the railroads of the united states. _ . free competition upon all railroads._ mr. hudson, in his excellent work, "the railways and the republic," recommends the following remedy: "legislation should restore the character of public highways to the railways, by securing to all persons the right to run trains over their tracks upon proper regulations, and by defining the distinction between the proprietorship and maintenance of the railway and the business of common carriers." mr. hudson proposes to leave the track in the possession of its present owners, but to permit any individual or company to run, upon the payment of a fixed toll, trains and cars over it, under the control of a train-dispatcher stationed at a central point. this train-dispatcher is to be notified by telegraph of the movement of each train, and is to give his orders to the officers in charge of each train, as to what points they are to go, where to pass one train and where to wait for another. each transportation company is to own, load and forward its own trains; it is to be required to run its regular train on schedule time or to have it follow another train as an extra. they are to be liable to their shippers as well as to the railway company for all damages caused by their neglect, while the railroad company is to be held responsible for the condition of its track. it will not be necessary to go into the details of mr. hudson's plan. suffice it to say that he proposes to establish free competition in the railway business by making the use of the railway track as free as that of the turnpike or canal, subject only to such control on the part of the public train-dispatcher as the paramount considerations of speed and safety may require. the adoption of mr. hudson's plan would simply be a return to the first principle of railroad transportation. it has already been shown that the first english charters permitted the public to use their own vehicles and motive power upon the railroad track, but that shippers and independent carriers could not avail themselves of these provisions of the early charters because it was in the power of the railroad companies to make their tolls prohibitory. there is but little question as to the practicability of mr. hudson's plan from a purely technical standpoint, and its adoption might be advisable if it should be demonstrated that a monopoly of the track is inconsistent with the operation of the railways for the public good. it is seriously doubted, however, whether such ideal competition as mr. hudson desires to bring about could be secured except at the expense of true economy. concentration, or, rather, consolidation in the railroad business has, under proper legal restriction, always resulted in a saving of operating expenses, and usually in a reduction of rates. any step in the opposite direction, whatever other merits it may possess, is in the end not likely to give lower rates. if it is a settled principle that railroads are only entitled to a fair compensation for their services, it must be evident that what would be a fair compensation for the same or similar services to a large, well-organized, well-regulated and well-managed company cannot be sufficient compensation to an individual carrier or a small company, whose expenses will always be comparatively larger than those of its better-equipped rival. monopoly and extortion need not necessarily be synonymous. in fact, states and municipalities in their public works often prefer monopoly to competition as the cheaper of the two. nevertheless, should it ever be found that monopolies cannot be reconciled with justice and economy, a return to the first principles of railroading may become advisable. _ . state ownership and management._ a number of european states, notably prussia, france and belgium, as well as australia, british india and the british colonies in southern africa, have adopted government ownership of railroads. the motives which led to this step in the various countries differ greatly. while in europe military and political considerations predominated, in africa and australia it was more the want of private capital and energy which led the government to engage in railroad enterprises. there has in most of these states been a desire to avoid the evils usually connected with private management. the experiment of state ownership and management of railroads has been longest tried in belgium, and with the best results. with an excellent service the rates of the belgian state roads are the lowest in europe. their first-class passenger tariffs are, next to the zone tariff recently adopted on the state roads of hungary, the lowest in the world, and are, for the same distance, lower than those of american roads. in prussia the state service, upon the whole, is also superior to that of private companies, and is probably equal to the public demand. in france the government only owns and operates less important lines, but furnishes upon these a more efficient and cheaper service than private companies would either be able or disposed to furnish. the oft-repeated statement of those opposed to government regulation to the contrary notwithstanding, government ownership and management of railroads is a decided success in europe, mr. jeans says of state railroads: "notwithstanding the superior financial result, the lines worked by the state are those kept in the best order, and the working of which gives the greatest satisfaction to the commercial world and the public in general as regards regularity of conveyance, cheapness of transit and the comfort of travelers." it is difficult to see how any unbiased person can travel on any of the state roads of europe without coming to the same conclusion. state management offers certainly some decided advantages to the public. above all, the business of the roads is not conducted for the pecuniary advantage of a few, but for the common good. commerce is not arbitrarily disturbed to aid unscrupulous managers in their stock speculations. new lines are not built for speculative purposes, but for the development of the country. rates are based more upon the cost of service than upon what the traffic will bear, and the ultimate object of the state's policy is not high profits, but a healthy growth of the country's commerce, while the sole aim of a private company is to get the largest revenue possible. the permanent way of the state road is kept in better condition, the public safety and convenience being paramount considerations. rates are stable and uniform, instead of being changeable and discriminating, and all persons and places are as equal before the railroad tax collector as before the law. it may be laid down as a general rule that under private management of railroads efforts will be made to secure the highest rates possible, while it is the aim of the government to grant the lowest rates possible. mr. jeans proves by statistics that the cost of maintenance of way is generally higher on the state lines, and that traffic expenses are higher on the lines of private companies. in commenting upon this difference he says: "it might easily be contended, and even proved beyond all doubt, that the first characteristic is a result of the better condition in which the state keeps the permanent way; and, so far as this is the case, the public convenience, safety and general advantage are promoted. "the highest range of traffic expenses on companies' lines undoubtedly argues greater laxity of management, since, as we have already shown, this is one of the most elastic of items, and may be either very high or very low, according as economy or extravagance is the prevailing system.... the experience of continental europe points unmistakably to the exercise of greater economy in state management." judge dillon, of the united states court, in his order appointing hon. j. b. grinnell receiver for the central railroad of iowa, in , said: "the railroads in the hands of the court--and in the circuit there are eight or ten--have all been run with less expense, and have made more money, than when they were operated by the companies; and we hope and believe under your supervision that this road will prove no exception, and that the property will be worth more at the end of the litigation." upon mr. grinnell's resignation, after nearly three years of service, judge grant said, in asking for the discharge of his bondsmen: "i concur entirely in the opinion of the state commissioners that he has very much improved the condition of the road, and he left it in far superior condition to that in which he received it." yet government ownership and management of railroads also has its drawbacks. it is claimed by some that such management is more expensive than that of lines owned by private companies. it has already been shown that the permanent way is kept in better condition by the state than by private corporations. in russia, germany, austria-hungary, france and italy the state expends from to per cent. more for the maintenance of the permanent way than the private companies. it is perhaps also true that the rank and file of railroad employes fare, on an average, better under government than they do under private management; but, as an offset to this, it should be remembered that quite a saving is effected by the state in the salary account of general officers. the people will not consent to pay the manager of a railroad line a salary six times as large as that of a cabinet officer, and provide at the same time sinecures for his sons, brothers, nephews and cousins. it is furthermore claimed that, as government is organized, it cannot, all other things being equal, respond to the demands of commerce as promptly as private companies. this feature, however, may be an advantage to the country at large rather than a detriment. but the strongest argument that can be produced against state ownership of railroads is that under a democratic form of government it might exert a demoralizing influence in politics. the , railroad companies of the united states have at present an army of about , employes. this number is constantly increasing, and it is more than probable that before the end of the present century it will have reached a million. when it is considered what importance is at present attached to the political influence of a hundred thousand federal officers, it is not surprising that conservative citizens should hesitate to add to the ranks of these officeholders a six or seven times larger force. dangerous as the railroad influence now is in politics, it would be ten times more dangerous if under a system of government management considerations of self-interest should induce a million railroad employes to act as a political unit and political parties should vie with each other in bidding for the railroad vote. could our civil service ever be so organized as to divest it entirely of political power, state management of railroads might still offer the best solution of the railroad problem. mr. t. b. blackstone, president of the chicago and alton railroad company, has recently created somewhat of a surprise by declaring in favor of government ownership of railroads. that mr. blackstone's programme will eventually receive the approval of a large number of his colleagues there can be but little doubt. with the people wide-awake upon this subject, the opportunities for railroad speculation are lessening, and the scheme to early unload the railroads of the country on the government at a highly inflated value speaks well for the financial farsightedness of its author. mr. blackstone proposes to have railroad stockholders do here what the former owners of the telegraph did in great britain, _i. e._, dispose of their property to the government, at a price representing several times its original cost or even several times the cost of duplication. mr. c. wood davis, formerly general freight and passenger agent of one of the leading roads east from chicago, is one of the best informed and clearest-headed writers upon the railroad question. he has, after much experience and long study, been converted to the advocacy of national ownership as a solution of the railroad problem. in a recent article published by the arena publishing company, entitled "should the nation own the railways?" he presents the objections and advantages of national ownership. he says: "the objections to national ownership are many, that most frequently advanced, and having the most force, being the possibility that, by reason of its control of a vastly increased number of civil servants, the party in possession of the federal administration at the time such ownership was assumed would be able to perpetuate its power indefinitely.... this objection would seem to be well taken, and indicates serious and far-reaching results unless some way can be devised to neutralize the political power of such a vast addition to the official army.... in the military service we have a body of men that exerts little or no political power, as the moment a citizen enters the army he divests himself of political functions; and it is not hazardous to say that , capable and efficient men can be found who, for the sake of employment, to be continued so long as they are capable and well behaved, will forego the right to take part in political affairs. if a sufficient number of such men can be found, this objection would, by proper legislation, be divested of all its force.... " . that there would be constant political pressure to make places for the strikers of the party in power, thus adding a vast number of useless men to the force, and rendering it progressively more difficult to effect a change in the political complexion of the administration. "that this objection has much less force than is claimed is clear from the conduct of the postal department, which is unquestionably a political adjunct of the administration; yet but few useless men are employed, while its conduct of the mail service is a model of efficiency after which the corporate-managed railways might well pattern. moreover, if the railways are put under non-partisan control, this objection will lose nearly, if not quite, all its force. " . that the service would be less efficient and cost more than with continued corporate ownership. this appears to be bare assertion, as from the very nature of the case there can be no data outside those furnished by the government-owned railways of the british colonies, and such data negative these assertions; and the advocates of national ownership are justified in asserting that such ownership would materially lessen the cost, as any expert can readily point out many ways in which the enormous costs of corporate management would be lessened. with those familiar with present methods, and not interested in their perpetuation, this objection has no force whatever. " . that with constant political pressure unnecessary lines would be built for political ends. this is also bare assertion, although it is not impossible that such results would follow; yet such has not been the case in the british colonies where the governments have had control of construction.... " . that, with the amount of red tape that will be in use, it will be impossible to secure the building of needed lines. while such objection is inconsistent with the fourth, it may have some force, but as the greater part of the country is already provided with all the railways that will be needed for a generation, it is not a very serious objection even if it is as difficult as asserted to procure the building of the new lines. it is not probable, however, that the government would refuse to build any line that would clearly subserve public, convenience, the conduct of the postal service negativing such a supposition.... " . that lines built by the government would cost much more than if built by corporations. possibly this would be true, but they would be much better built and cost far less for maintenance and betterments, and would represent no more than actual cost; and such lines as the kansas midland, costing but $ , per mile, would not, as now, be capitalized at $ , per mile, nor would the president of the union pacific (as does sidney dillon, in the _north american review_ for april) say that "a citizen, simply as a citizen, commits an impertinence when he questions the right of a corporation to capitalize its properties at any sum whatever," as then there would be no sidney dillons who would be presidents of corporations, pretending to own railways built wholly from government moneys and lands, and who have never invested a dollar in the construction of a property which they have now capitalized at the modest sum of $ , per mile.... " . that they are incapable of as progressive improvement as are corporate-owned ones, and will not keep pace with the progress of the nation in other respects; and in his _forum_ article mr. acworth lays great stress upon this phase of the question and argues that as a result the service would be far less satisfactory. "there may be force in this objection, but the evidence points to an opposite conclusion. when the nation owns the railways trains will run into union depots, the equipment will become uniform and of the best character, and so sufficient that the traffic in no part of the country would have to wait while the worthless locomotives of some bankrupt corporation were being patched up, nor would there be the present difficulties in obtaining freight cars growing out of the poverty of corporations which have been plundered by the manipulators, and improvements would not be hindered by the diverse ideas of the managers of various lines in relation to the adoption of devices intended to render life more secure or to add to the public convenience.... existing evidence all negatives mr. acworth's postulate that "state railway systems are incapable of vigorous life." " . an objection to national ownership which the writer has not seen advanced is that states, counties, cities, townships and school districts would lose some $ , , of revenue derived from taxes upon railways. while this would be a serious loss to some communities, there would be compensating advantages for the public, as the cost of transportation could be lessened in like measure. "many believe stringent laws, enforced by commissions having judicial power, will serve the desired end, and the writer was long hopeful of the efficacy of regulation by state and national commissions; but close observation of their endeavors and of the constant efforts--too often successful--of the corporations to place their tools on such commissions, and to evade all laws and regulations, have convinced him that such control is and must continue to be ineffective and that the only hope of just and impartial treatment for railway users is to exercise the 'right of eminent domain,' condemn the railways, and pay their owners what it would cost to duplicate them; and in this connection it may be well to state what valuations some of the corporations place upon their properties. "some years since the santa fe filed in the counties on its line a statement showing that at the then price of labor and materials--rails were double the present price--their road could be duplicated for $ , per mile, and, the materials being much worn, the actual cash value of the road did not exceed $ , per mile. "in the superintendent of the st. louis and iron mountain railway, before the arkansas state board of assessors, swore that he could duplicate such a railway for $ , per mile, and yet mr. gould has managed to float its securities, notwithstanding a capitalization of five times that amount." among the advantages to be derived from government ownership he names the following: "first would be the stability and practical uniformity of rates, now impossible, as they are subject to change by hundreds of officials, and are often made for the purpose of enriching such officials.... "it would place the rate-making power in one body, with no inducement to act otherwise than fairly and impartially, and this would simplify the whole business and relegate an army of traffic managers, general freight agents, soliciting agents, brokers, scalpers and hordes of traffic association officials to more useful callings, while relieving the honest user of the railway of intolerable burdens. "under corporate control, railways and their officials have taken possession of the majority of mines which furnish the fuel so necessary to domestic and industrial life, and there are few coal fields where they do not fix the price at which so essential an article shall be sold, and the whole nation is thus forced to pay undue tribute. "controlling rates and the distribution of cars, railway officials have driven nearly all the mine owners, who have not railways or railway officials for partners, to the wall. "with the government operating the railways, discriminations would cease, as would individual and local oppression; and we may be sure that an instant and absolute divorce would be decreed between railways and their officials on one side, and commercial enterprises of every name and kind on the other. "the failure to furnish equipment to do the business of the tributary country promptly is one of the greater evils of corporate administration, enabling officials to practice most injurious and oppressive forms of discrimination, and is one that neither federal nor state commission pays much attention to. with national ownership a sufficiency of cars would be provided. on many roads the funds that should have been devoted to furnishing the needed equipment, and which the corporations contracted to provide when they accepted their charters, have been divided as construction profits, or, as in the case of the santa fe, union pacific, and many others, diverted to the payment of unearned dividends, while the public suffers from this failure to comply with charter obligations. "there would be such an adjustment of rates that traffic would take the natural short route, and not, as under corporate management, be sent around by the way of robin hood's barn, when it might reach its destination by a route but two-thirds as long, and thus save the unnecessary tax to which the industries of the country are subjected. that traffic can be sent by these roundabout routes at the same or less rates than is charged by the shorter ones is _prima facie_ evidence that rates are too high. "there would be a great reduction in the number of men employed in towns entered by more than one line. for instance, take a town where there are three or more railways, and we find three or more full-fledged staffs, three or more expensive up-town freight and ticket offices, three or more separate sets of all kinds of officials and employes, and three or more separate depots and yards to be maintained. under government control these staffs--except in very large cities--would be reduced to one, and all trains would run into one centrally located depot; freight and passengers be transferred without present cost, annoyance and friction, and public convenience and comfort subserved, and added to in manner and degree almost inconceivable. "the great number of expensive attorneys now employed, with all the attendant corruption with the fountains of justice, could be dispensed with, and there would be no corporations to take from the bench the best legal minds, by offering three or four times the federal salary.... "every citizen riding would pay fare, adding immensely to the revenues. few have any conception of the proportion who travel free, and half a century's experience renders it doubtful if the evil--so much greater than ever was the franking privilege--can be eliminated otherwise than by national ownership. from the experience of the writer, as an auditor of railway accounts, and as an executive officer issuing passes, he is able to say that fully ten per cent. travel free, the result being that the great mass of railway users are yearly mulcted some thirty millions of dollars for the benefit of the favored minority; hence it is evident that if all were required to pay for railway services as they are for mail services, the rates might be reduced ten per cent, or more, and the corporate revenues be no less, and the operating expenses no more. in no other country--unless it be under the same system in canada--are nine-tenths of the people taxed to pay the traveling expenses of the other tenth. by what right do the corporations tax the public that members of congress, legislators, judges and other court officials and their families may ride free? why is it that when a legislature is in session passes are as plentiful as leaves in the forest in autumn?... "the corporations have ineffectually wrestled with the commission evil, and any number of agreements have been entered into to do away with it; but it is so thoroughly entrenched, and so many officials have an interest in its perpetuation, that they are utterly powerless in the presence of a system which imposes great and needless burdens upon their patrons, but which will die the day the government takes possession of the railways, as then there will be no corporations ready to pay for the diversion of traffic. "as a rule, american railways pay the highest salaries in the world for those engaged in directing business operations, but such salaries are not paid because transcendent talents are necessary to conduct the ordinary operations of railway administration, but for the purpose of checkmating the chicanery of corporate competitors. in other words, these exceptionally high salaries are paid for the purpose, and because their recipients are believed to have the ability to hold up their end in unscrupulous corporate warfare where, as one railway president expressed it, 'the greatest liar comes out ahead....' "government control will enable railway users to dispense with the services of such high-priced umpires as mr. aldace f. walker, as well as of all the other officials of sixty-eight traffic associations, fruitlessly laboring to prevent each of five hundred corporations from getting the start of its fellows, and trying to prevent each of the five hundred from absorbing an undue share of the traffic. it appears that each of these costly peace-making attachments has an average of seven corporations to watch.... "with national ownership the expenditures involved in the maintenance of traffic associations would be saved and railway users relieved of a tax that, judging from the reports of a limited number of corporations of their contribution towards the support of such organizations, must annually amount to between $ , , and $ , , . "of the six hundred corporations operating railways, probably five hundred maintain costly general offices, where president, secretary and treasurer pass the time surrounded by an expensive staff. the majority of such offices are off the lines of the respective corporations, in the larger cities, where high rents are paid and great expenses entailed, that proper attention may be given to bolstering or depressing the price of the corporation's shares, as the management may be long or short of the market. so far as the utility of the railways is concerned, as instruments of anything but speculation such offices and officers might as well be located in the moon, and their cost saved to the public.... "railways spend enormous sums in advertising, the most of which national ownership would save, as it would be no more necessary to advertise the advantages of any particular line than it is to advertise the advantages of any given mail route.... a still greater expense is involved in the maintenance of freight and passenger offices off the respective lines, for the purpose of securing a portion of competitive traffic. in this way vast sums are expended in the payment of rents and the salaries of hordes of agents, solicitors, clerks, etc., etc.... "under government control discriminations against localities would cease, whereas now localities are discriminated against because managers are interested in real estate elsewhere, or are interested in diverting traffic in certain directions.... "another, and an incalculable benefit, which would result from national ownership, would be the relief of state and national legislation from the pressure and corrupting practices of railway corporations, which constitute one of the greatest dangers to which republican institutions can be subjected. this alone renders the nationalization of the railways most desirable, and at the same time would have the effect of emancipating a large part of the press from a galling thraldom to the corporations.... "estimated net annual saving to the public which would result from government control: from consolidation of depots and staffs $ , , from exclusive use of shortest routes , , in attorneys' fees and legal expenses , , from the abrogation of the pass evil , , from the abrogation of the commission evil , , by dispensing with high-priced managers and staffs , , by disbanding traffic associations , , by dispensing with presidents, etc , , by abolishing all but local offices, solicitors, etc. , , of five-sevenths of the advertising account , , ----------- total savings by reason of better administration $ , , "it would appear that, after yearly setting aside $ , , as a sinking fund, there are the best reasons for believing that the cost of the railway service would be some $ , , less than under corporate management. "that $ , , , is much more than it would cost to duplicate existing railways will not be questioned by the disinterested familiar with late reductions in the cost of construction, and that such a valuation is excessive is manifest from the fact that it is much more than the market value of all the railway bonds and shares in existence." the above quotations from mr. davis' article hardly do it justice, and it should be read in full to appreciate its full force. many of the predictions and estimates are undoubtedly in the main correct, yet upon the whole it must be admitted that it is a rather rosy and too hopeful view to take of government ownership of our railroads. _ . state ownership with private management._ this is a compromise between a public and a private system of railway ownership and management. it is claimed by the advocates of this system that if the government would acquire by purchase or through condemnation proceedings all of the railroads of the country, pay for them by issuing its bonds, and then lease the various lines to the highest responsible bidders, prescribing a schedule and rules of management, most of the benefits resulting from state ownership of railroads could be secured while nearly all its disadvantages would be avoided. it is proposed to purchase railroads at their actual value and to issue in payment bonds bearing the same rate of interest as other government securities. this would deprive managers of every opportunity to manipulate the railroad business for purposes of stock speculation. it would also reduce the fixed charges of our railroads at least per cent., the benefits of which reduction the public would chiefly share. the acquisition of the railroads by the government would, moreover, afford the conservative capitalist a safe and permanent investment, which, with the gradual disappearance of our war debt, might become a national desideratum. it is proposed by the advocates of this system that the government fix rates of transportation for a certain period, to be reviewed at the end of that period upon an agreed basis. the operating companies would be required to keep their roads in repair and give sufficient bonds for the faithful performance of their contracts. if found guilty of persistent violations of the terms of their leases or of such laws as congress might enact for their control, their bonds and leases might be declared forfeited. a new government department or bureau would have to be established and charged with the duty of exercising the same control over railroads which the government now exercises over national banks, and in addition to this complete publicity of the service would have to be relied upon to prevent the introduction of abuses. there are at least two valid objections that can be urged against the adoption of such a system. responsible companies could not be induced to lease a line for a valid consideration unless their rates were definitely fixed for a series of years. such a course might, however, in time result in great hardship to the commerce of the country, as the great and unavoidable difference in the rates of the various railroad lines of the country would give to the commercial interests of some sections decided advantages over those of others. besides this it would be very difficult to compel the different companies to keep the lines leased by them in repair. controversies would constantly arise between the officers charged with the supervision of the roads and the operating companies, which could be ultimately determined only by the courts, causing to the government loss, or at least delay in the adjustments. _ . national control._ mr. a. b. stickney, in his work, "the railway problem," holds that in the interest of uniformity it is desirable to transfer the entire control of railroads to the national government. he assigns two reasons for the proposed change; one being that congress would consider the subject of railroad control with more intelligence and greater deliberation; the other, that "the problem of regulating railway tolls and of managing railways is essentially and practically indivisible by the state lines or otherwise," and that the authority of congress to deal with interstate traffic carries with it the right to regulate the traffic which is now assumed to be controlled by the several states. it must be admitted that it is a difficult matter to draw the line of demarcation between national and state control, and that congressional regulation of railways would remedy many evils which now affect our transportation system; yet there is reason to believe that the proposed change would in the end be productive of more evil than good. it is an essentially american maxim that the home government only should be trusted with the administration of home affairs. the people of each state know best their local needs, and it is safe to say that for a generation or two no serious effort will be made to amend the federal constitution in this respect or to secure from the courts an interpretation of the interstate commerce clause greatly differing from that which now obtains. it is thus seen that nearly all the methods of railroad management which we have discussed are, at the present time at least, more or less impracticable on account of the radical changes which they would necessitate. it is not likely that for many years to come the american people could be induced to try any extensive experiments in state ownership of railroads; nor is it any more likely that the present generation will undertake the difficult task of separating the ownership of railroads from their operation. a nation is, like the individual, inclined to follow beaten tracks. it finds it, as a rule, easier to improve these tracks than to abandon them and mark out a new course. any proposition made for the improvement of our system of railroad transportation is in the same proportion likely to receive the approval of the masses in which it makes use of existing conditions. it will, therefore, be my aim, in making suggestions as to a more efficient control of this modern highway, to retain whatever good features the present system possesses, and to only propose such changes as may seem essential to restore to the railroad the character of a highway. as has been indicated above, any system of railway regulation, to be applicable to our circumstances, must recognize the dual sovereignty of nation and state. the great majority of our railroad corporations were originally created by the state, and are only responsible to the state as long as they do not engage in interstate commerce. even foreign corporations must submit to all police regulations of the state in which they may do business, and as long as the american constitution remains intact the individual states will, and should, assert their right to regulate local traffic and to exercise police supervision over all railroads crossing their boundaries. all power should be kept as closely to the people as is consistent with efficiency in the public service. it may even be questioned whether entire transfer to the federal government of the supervisory powers now exercised by the states in railroad affairs would tend to correct existing railroad evils more speedily or more effectually than they can be corrected through the agency of local rule. the conditions, and therefore the wants, of the different states differ so greatly that general legislation must always fail when it attempts to regulate matters of merely local concern. the means employed by the state for the regulation of the roads under its jurisdiction should be such as are least likely to lead to a conflict with federal authority, and experience has shown that the authority of the general government and that of an individual state over a railroad company, which is incorporated under the laws of the latter, but is engaged in interstate commerce, may be so harmonized as to avoid conflicts between the two sovereignties without any great sacrifice of power on the part of either. judge cooley said recently in reference to regulation by national and state commissions: "there is no good reason in the nature of things why the conformity should not be complete and perfect. it is remarkable that up to this time there has been so little--i will not say of conflict, but even of diversity of action between the national and state commissions. indeed, i recall no instance at this time when anything done by the one has seemed to me to afford just ground for complaint by the other. this may justly be attributed to the fact that there has been no purpose on the part of either to do any act that could afford ground for just complaint on the part of managers of the business regulated and no desire to do anything else than to apply rules of right and equality for the protection of the general public. the aim of all regulation ought to be justice, and when it is apparent that this is the purpose of the several commissions, the railroad managers of the country may more reasonably be expected to coöperate with them much more generally than they do now. if these managers were to come generally and heartily into more full and complete recognition of the rules of right and justice that the law undertakes to lay down for the performance of their duties in their management of the great interests they represent, there cannot be the least doubt that the general result would be, not only that their service to the public would be more useful than it is now, but that the revenues derived from their business would be materially increased through the cutting off of many of the drains upon them, which now, while affecting injuriously the returns they can make to their stockholders, at the same time have the effect of prejudicing the mind of the general public against railroad management to an extent quite beyond what is generally understood by those who suffer from it. the prejudice is inevitable, and not at all unreasonable when it is seen, as it very often is, that these drains result from an unjust discrimination against the public or some portion thereof, that they are of a character that ought to need no law and no criminal or other penalties to put them under the ban of condemnation in every office of railroad management. "i take the liberty of adding one more thought: that the more perfect is railroad legislation, the less we shall hear of transportation by rail being made a government function, the general government making purchase of all the roads and entering upon a course which will lead we know not where or into what disasters." there has been during the past twenty years a tendency in a majority of the states to place the local control of railroads in the hands of executive boards, usually styled "railroad commissioners." previous to this period the various states relied solely upon legislation for the regulation of the transportation business, but in time they became convinced that such laws were inoperative for the want of an enforcing power. it was found that the individual shipper was unable to cope with a powerful company and usually would rather suffer wrong than to enter into a contest which nearly always resulted in great pecuniary loss to him. on the other hand, it was apparent that if the claim of the individual were pressed by a railroad commission, even though such a body had but limited powers, it would, under ordinary circumstances, be honored, provided it was meritorious; and if the commission was compelled to enforce a demand through the courts, it would have the support of the state to poise the wealth and power of the corporation. the term "railroad commissioner" in the united states is nearly as old as the railroad itself; but the first officials bearing that title were merely successors to the turnpike commissioners of yore; their duties consisted chiefly in supervising, passing or reporting upon the construction and condition of the highway. the first railroad commission, in the present acceptation of the term, was created in the state of massachusetts, in . the commission consisted of three persons, whose principal duty was to "make an annual report to the general court, including such statements, facts and explanations as will disclose the actual working of the system of railroad transportation in its bearing upon the business and prosperity of the commonwealth, and such suggestions as to its general railroad policy, or any part thereof, or the condition, affairs or conduct of any railroad corporation, as may seem to it appropriate." this board also had the general supervision of all railroads and power to examine the same. it was required to give notice in writing to any railroad corporation which, in its judgment, was guilty of any violation of the railroad laws of the state; and if such company continued the violation, after such notice, it became the duty of the commission to present the facts to the attorney-general. it was further made the duty of the board to examine, from time to time, the books and accounts of all railroads, to see that they were kept in a uniform manner, and upon the system prescribed by the board. it was also required to investigate the cause of any accident on a railroad resulting in loss of life. these being the principal duties of the board, its powers were very limited; but its personnel supplied the power which the law had withheld. the success of this commission exceeded even the expectations of the advocates of the system, who, in view of the limited powers of the commission, had anticipated but meager results. to quiet the granger movement the railroads favored and finally secured the adoption of the commissioner system in the west, and south, in which sections it attained its highest development. it was soon found that a commission after the massachusetts model, when composed of men less competent or less disposed to do their duty, was liable to dwindle into a statistical board or even become a pliant tool in the hands of the railroads. furthermore, the conditions in massachusetts, where railroad owners and railroad patrons lived side by side and were in many instances even identical, differed materially from those found in the west and south, where railroad patrons were made to pay excessive rates, to produce liberal dividends on fictitious stocks for non-resident stockholders. here a conflict between the railroads and such commissions as were determined to do their duty became often unavoidable. railroad companies were as a rule disposed to disregard the recommendation of a commission to reduce exorbitant rates. this led in those states which suffered most from unjust tariffs to a popular demand to endow the commission with the power to fix _prima facie_ rates. while the number of states which have taken this step is at present still limited, public opinion in its favor is growing throughout the nation, and a general adoption of this policy is probably only a question of time. there is every reason for believing that a commission vested with the right to fix local rates, to require full and complete reports from railroad companies, and to make proper regulations for their control, aided by penal legislation to compel compliance with their orders, will be a sufficient aid to the state in exercising such control over the companies operating lines within its borders as its dignity and the welfare of its people demand. viewing the question from a national point of view, we find that, owing to the great and constantly increasing importance of interstate traffic, improved federal agencies for railroad control are a pressing need. while much has been accomplished by the interstate commerce act, much yet remains to be done. violations of the act are still far too frequent, and they have been encouraged by unfriendly decisions by some of the inferior federal courts. it must be admitted that nearly all the evils connected with interstate transportation could soon be remedied were it not for the difficulties which the interstate commerce commission encounters in the enforcement of the law. on the one hand it is not possible with the machinery at present provided to detect and prove a considerable part of the violations of which railroad managers are daily guilty; and on the other hand, if these violations are brought to light, there would not, according to the testimony of a prominent railroad man, be courts enough in the country to try the violators. besides this, such is the artfulness of railroad managers that in a majority of cases it would be impossible to reach the guilty party, and subordinates would have to answer for the transgressions of their superiors. to provide adequate machinery for the supervision of the transportation business, a national bureau of commerce and transportation should be established. as its chief a director-general of railroads should be appointed by the president, on the recommendation of the secretary of the interior, by and with the advice and consent of the senate. this officer should hold his office for a term of at least six years, unless sooner removed by the president, upon reasons to be communicated by him to the senate. he should not be interested either directly or indirectly in railroad securities. the interstate commerce commission should be continued as an advisory board. it should upon the whole retain its present functions and should be consulted by the director-general in all matters requiring expert investigation. a number of divisions or sub-bureaus should be established, and each should be entrusted, under the supervision of the director-general, with such duties as may be deemed necessary to secure the greatest efficiency. there should be a division charged with the duty of carefully examining and compiling the detailed reports which the various companies should by law be required to make to the bureau. an inspection service should also be established, similar to that now maintained by the treasury and post-office departments. its officers should be empowered to enter all railroad offices and examine the companies' books, board trains and employ other legal means to detect violations of the railroad law and report them to the chief of the bureau. railroad companies might be permitted to make interstate rates, but all schedules should be submitted to the bureau for approval or revision. legal provision should be made against every sort of speculation in railroad stocks on the part of railroad officers, who should, in addition, be prohibited from sharing in the profits of favorite rates, as at present. all executive officers and directors of railroad companies should, like officers of national banks, be required to qualify by taking an oath of office, and should be held to strict accountability for their official acts. officers of railroad companies should not be allowed to receive and use proxies at stockholders' meetings. the director-general should have the power, when he has proof that a railroad manager is persistently violating the law, to remove him and to appoint a receiver to take charge of the road until its owners can make provision and furnish sufficient guarantee for a more responsible management. such a procedure would not be without analogy in the sphere of federal authority. the comptroller of the currency is authorized by law to remove the derelict officials of a national bank and place its business in charge of a receiver. the beneficial effect of this provision is evinced in the extreme rareness of such a step. when railroad managers are held responsible for their own official acts, as well as for those of their subordinates, and when all railroad transgressions are visited upon their source in such a manner as to be remembered by the stings of disgrace and of a blighted career, unfaithful railroad managers will be extremely rare. the plan here outlined is of course capable of being greatly improved. experience only is a reliable guide as to the merits of the various details of such a system of control. what is needed above all things is a beginning, the establishment of the principle of complete control of railroad transportation by the state and the nation. when this step is once taken, the friends of railroad reform may safely trust to time for the solution of the subordinate questions of this important problem. by thorough state and federal supervision of the railroad business many of the present abuses can be prevented. but the temptations of railroad managers to violate the law will continue to exist as long as the speculative element is permitted to remain in railroad securities. to remove the fountain-head of the evil eventually, the way should gradually be paved for a change in railroad organization and ownership which would also greatly increase the responsibility and efficiency of railroad management. in the beginning of the railroad era, nearly all, and not unfrequently all the capital needed for the construction of a new line was supposed to be furnished by the company's stockholders. but as it often happened that the cost of construction considerably exceeded the original estimate, the state authorized railroad companies to mortgage their property for the purpose of raising the money necessary to complete the road. in time this provision of the law was taken advantage of by speculative stockholders to such an extent that roads were often bonded for the full amount necessary to construct them, and even for more, while the stock was issued simply as a bonus to the promoters and the bondholders of the road. but as the bonds and shares scarcely ever remain in the same hands, such a condition was eventually brought about that roads were controlled by those who had little or nothing invested in the enterprise, and their real owners were deprived of all influence in their management, retaining only the right to foreclose their mortgages when things came to the worst. it is evident that men who have only a speculative interest in property cannot have the same concern for its permanent value and prosperity as those who hold it as a permanent investment. many of the railroad abuses of the past had their origin in the law permitting the bonding of railroad property. were it desirable to make a property for the sole use and convenience of speculators and gamblers, a better scheme could hardly be devised than the present system of our railroad organizations. were railroad companies organized like national banks, were each shareholder required to pay the full amount of the face value of his shares, and were mortgaging railroad property entirely prohibited, it is not likely that the proportion of bankrupted railroads would be any larger than that of bankrupted banks. few, if any, railroads would be built for purely speculative or blackmailing purposes. capital is naturally conservative, and speculation is only invited where the chances of gain are greatly out of proportion to the capital invested. were the principle of ownership which applies to national banks and other well regulated corporations also applied to the railroads, and were bonds entirely abolished, only such persons would by the shareholders be placed in charge of their property as could give to them the best assurance of honest and conservative management. such a change would greatly increase public confidence in, and the value of, railroad securities, and would eventually place them above bank stock as desirable investments. with the great fluctuations which under present circumstances obtain in railroad stocks, these securities are regarded as unsafe and unsatisfactory investments by conservative people. during a period of less than twelve months in and the stock of the atchison, topeka and santa fe fluctuated from - / to - / , or per cent.; that of the chesapeake and ohio from - / to - / , or per cent.; of the chicago and northwestern from to , or per cent.; of the chicago, saint paul, minneapolis and omaha from - / to - / , or per cent.; of the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul from - / to - / , or per cent.; of the iowa central from - / to , or per cent. if we look over the stock quotations of the past ten or twelve years we find still greater fluctuations. the following table, taken from the _united states investor_, shows the range of prices of a few of the principal stocks during this period: name. lowest. highest. central pacific - / ( ) - / ( ) chesapeake and ohio ( ) - / ( ) erie - / ( ) - / ( ) illinois central - / ( ) - / ( ) lake erie and western - / ( ) - / ( ) michigan central - / ( ) - / ( ) new jersey central ( ) ( ) new york central - / ( ) - / ( ) northern pacific ( ) - / ( ) rock island - / ( ) ( ) c., m. & st. p. - / ( ) - / ( ) texas and pacific - / ( ) - / ( ) wabash ( ) ( ) atchison and topeka - / ( ) - / ( ) chicago, burlington and quincy - / ( ) - / ( ) n. y. & n. e. ( ) ( ) wisconsin central ( ) ( ) union pacific ( ) ( ) and such fluctuations have always been rather the rule than the exception. it is a gross outrage upon the investing public to let this state of affairs continue. it should be corrected without delay. how many high officials in charge of railroad property will under these circumstances resist the temptation to speculate in the stock of their companies, and, so long as it is permitted, how many will resist the temptation to adopt such policies in the government of their roads as will cause such fluctuations? it is a common report that it is not an unfrequent occurrence for senators and members of congress to receive information from railway officials that enables them to raise their campaign funds by speculation in wall street. mr. henry c. adams, statistician of the interstate commerce commission, says in his third annual report: "it certainly appears ... that the motive for ownership in railroad stock is quite different from the ordinary motives which lead men to invest in corporate enterprises, thus presenting an additional proof that railways are a business not subject to ordinary business rules." there is no safer business in the world than railroad transportation; there is none that has less elements of uncertainty; none whose returns in the aggregate are less varying. every other business in the country, whether prospering or struggling, pays tribute to it. it rests on a cash basis, and suffers probably less from hard times than any business of its magnitude. both the merchant and the manufacturer run large risks in doing business largely on a credit basis. the farmer sows in the spring, harvests in the fall, and often cannot realize on his products until winter; but the railroad company always receives its pay as soon as its work is done, and not unfrequently even before it is done. statistics show that railroad revenues are, in the aggregate, remarkably uniform, and there is no reason why railroad securities should be less stable than bank or insurance stocks. mr. jeans says: "it is observable, in respect to the net profits from railway working, that they have not fluctuated from year to year in the same way as nearly all other profits have done.... it comes, then, to this, that, next after land and house property, the railway interest is the largest and most important in the country. but it is superior to both of these rival interests in its profit-earning capabilities, yielding, as it does, more than per cent. on the capital expended, against a possible average of - / to per cent. in respect to the others." there may be some arguments in favor of bonding railroads, but this practice is, upon the whole, productive of infinitely more evil than good. the state should, therefore, compel railroad companies to liquidate all of their bonded indebtedness without unnecessary delay. in the proportion in which this is accomplished railroad shares will gain in stability and value. railroad men complain that the small savings of the poor invested in railroad securities do not yield adequate returns and are often lost in consequence of the foreclosing of the roads in which these investments have been made. others complain that railroads are bankrupted in the interest of designing bondholders. still others charge that rich and powerful roads contrive to obtain a controlling interest in the depreciated stock of weaker roads and then manage these roads in their own interest and greatly to the detriment of other stockholders. all these evils would disappear if the law required the identity of actual and virtual ownership. "freezing-out" processes could no longer be resorted to by expert directors to obtain without compensation the property of their less sophisticated fellow stockholders. one railroad could no longer obtain control of another by acquiring an insignificant part of the sum total of its securities. there would be no longer any clashing between the interests of bondholders and stockholders, and railroads would no longer be managed in the interest of a small minority of their owners. in addition to the cancellation of all railroad mortgages the state should require that all railroad stocks should, in the future, be paid in full. furthermore, roads should be built only from the proceeds of the capital stock, and the expense of repairs should be defrayed from the revenues of the road. dividends should only be paid from surplus earnings and should in no case exceed a fair rate of interest on the actual present value of the road. the statistician to the interstate commerce commission suggests the creation of a special commission charged with the duty of converting the actual capitalization of railroad lines into a just value of their property. to do justice to both the railroads and their patrons in the fixing of rates, it is important that the just value of railroad property be ascertained, but the work could probably be done with less friction by a coöperation of national and state commissions. a number of reforms are needed within the province of railroad management. passenger rates are, as a rule, too high, and out of all proportion to freight rates. many passenger tariffs still recognize the old stage-coach principle of fixing the fare in an exact proportion to the distance traveled. thus a passenger who takes the train for a five-mile trip pays only fifteen cents for his own transportation and that of one hundred pounds of baggage, while the passenger who buys a ticket for a journey of one hundred miles pays, on most american lines, exactly twenty times the amount paid by the five-mile passenger. here the principle of collecting terminal charges is entirely ignored. sufficient inducements are not held out to the passenger to prolong his journey, and as a consequence of this short-sighted policy of the railroad companies the average distance traveled in the united states by each passenger, instead of having gradually increased, has gradually decreased of late years until it is now only . miles. the average freight haul in the united states is miles, or about five times as long as the average journey per passenger. how can such a difference be accounted for except by the dissimilarity in the principles which govern the computation of passenger and freight charges? the same rule should be adopted in fixing passenger rates that is recognized by railroad men in fixing freight rates: the rate per mile should decrease with the increase of the number of miles traveled. the principle of arranging passenger tariffs on a sliding scale has found recognition in europe. in denmark first-class passenger fare is . cents for each of the first miles, . cents for each of the next miles, and only . cents for every additional mile. the practical application of this principle is, in fact, only limited by the extent of the kingdom. in nearly all european countries a uniform reduction, ranging from to per cent., is made from regular rates for return trip tickets, and coupon tickets are issued to tourists almost everywhere at largely reduced rates. hungary recently adopted a new method of making passenger and freight tariffs for its state lines. this is now generally called the zone system. there are two classes of tickets sold, one for short trips on suburban or branch lines, the other for longer journeys on the main lines. the distances that can be traveled on short or suburban lines are divided into two zones of stations, and those on main lines into fourteen zones. the division of the kingdom into zones is made with buda-pesth as the center. a ticket purchased for a particular zone carries the passenger to the end of that zone or any nearer station. the following table will show the extent of each zone and the fares paid: --------------+---------------+--------------------+-------------------- | | local trains. | fast trains. zone | distance |------+------+------+------+------+------ | |first |second|third |first |second|third | |class.|class.|class.|class.|class.|class. --------------+---------------+------+------+------+------+------+------ short lines.| | fl. | fl. | fl. | fl. | fl. | fl. |first station. | . | . | . | - | - | - |second station.| . | . | . | - | - | - main lines. | | | | | | | | - km. | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | - " | . | . | . | . | . | . | km. | | | | | | | and over | . | . | . | . | . | . (the florin is a little more than one-third of a dollar.) a ride from a city to the first suburban station costs from to cents, according to class of car, and to the second station to . cents. on through trains a person may travel miles at a cost of from - / to cents, according to kind of train and class of car, a hundred miles for from cents to $ . ; miles for from $ . to $ . and any distance above miles for from $ . to $ . . a person may thus travel from buda-pesth to predeal, a distance of miles, with a third-class ticket for zone , purchased at a cost of $ . , or - of a cent per mile. our railroad men with much complacency point to the fact that these rates do not cover the forwarding of passengers' baggage and that this service must be paid for separately. these charges, however, are very moderate, being on pounds of baggage - / cents a distance of miles or less, about cents for a distance of more than and less than miles, and about cents for any distance over miles. the additional charge for carrying pounds of baggage from buda-pesth to predeal is therefore about one-fourteenth of one cent per mile. it must be admitted that this system of charging separately for passenger and baggage is eminently just, for there is no good reason why the passenger without baggage should be taxed to pay for the carriage of that of his fellow-traveler. the zone tariff was introduced on the state railways of hungary by m. barosz, the hungarian minister of commerce, on the st of august, . the adoption of the new tariff was ridiculed and condemned as visionary by road experts, who even went so far as to prove to the satisfaction of practical railroad men that the innovation was destined to be a failure. for a month or two it almost seemed as if their prediction might be fulfilled, the number of passengers carried remaining behind the number carried during the corresponding period of previous years. but soon the reaction set in. the month of november, , already witnessed an increase in the number of passengers as well as in receipts over the same month of the year previous. the result of the first year's trial demonstrated the wisdom of the "innovation." the number of passengers carried, which had been only , , in - , rose to , , in - , and the total receipts for passengers and baggage rose from , , florins to , , florins, a gain of , , florins, or per cent., during the first year. there is a continued increase both in the number of passengers and in receipts, and the success of the system must be pronounced phenomenal. the railroad experts of europe, who had predicted the signal failure of the zone system, now that the unexpected has happened, are trying to discover the particular favorable conditions which made the success of the system possible in hungary. it will probably be a decade, or even two, before the railroad experts of both hemispheres will be entirely reconciled to this new application of the old principle that a reduction in the price of a commodity increases the demand for it. it is strange, indeed, that intelligent men should be so slow in recognizing an economic principle for which both history and daily experience furnish an unlimited number of illustrations. the post-office receipts everywhere have increased with a reduction in postage. the government telegraph in england did not become self-supporting until parliament made a sweeping reduction in its rates. the revenue from the brooklyn bridge never paid a fair interest on the capital expended in its construction until its tolls were cut down. were it necessary, hundreds of other examples could be added to these. hungary has also applied the zone system to its freight traffic. three zones are fixed for the carrying of goods, viz.: zone i, for distances less than kilometers ( miles); zone ii, for distances over and less than kilometers, and zone iii, for distances over kilometers. a uniform tariff is established for each zone, which is one-third less than the average freight rates for equal distances formerly in force. american railroads should profit by the wisdom and experience of the hungarian government, and adopt at an early day such features of its system as upon our soil and under our institutions may be made practicable. the hungarian system, with some modifications, is now being tried by austria and a few of the german states, and is increasing railroad revenues wherever adopted. there is a growing demand for lower fares. this demand increases in the same proportion in which the desire and the necessity for travel increase. european states have not been slow to meet it. reductions are made everywhere, and chiefly favor the lower classes. thus, when france, within the last year, changed her passenger tariff, she reduced first-class fare per cent., second-class fare per cent., and third-class per cent. the european passenger reports show the numbers of first and second-class passengers are continually falling off, while those of the third-class passengers are fast increasing. in england and wales the number of first-class passengers fell between and from , , to , , while the number of third-class passengers increased during that same period from , , to , , , and this increase still continues. in the united kingdom the number of third-class passengers for was over , , . furthermore, passenger revenue comes chiefly from the third class. in the united kingdom the receipts from first-class passengers were in £ , , ; from second-class passengers, £ , , ; and from third-class passengers, £ , , . it is thus seen that receipts from third-class passengers are nearly - / times as large as those from the first and second-class passengers combined. a similar proportion is found in nearly every country on the continent. european roads discovered some years ago that first and second-class passengers were carried at a loss, and all the passenger earnings were derived from third-class passengers. the profits from this source show a considerable increase every year. the average fare per mile is . cents in the united states, and only . cents in germany, . cents in austria, . cents in belgium, . cents in denmark, . cents in france, . cents in italy, and . cents in russia. it is often claimed by railroad men that we travel more luxuriously than the people of any other country in the world, but it should not be forgotten that traveling in the united states is also more expensive than anywhere else. it is contended that class distinctions are odious in america, and that second and third-class cars would not be patronized. the same argument might be applied to theaters, hotels, clothiers, grocers, etc. it is difficult to see why distinction here should be less odious than on the railroad train. the truth is, americans are just like other people and will avail themselves of accommodations in keeping with their means if they have the opportunity. many passengers who will not travel in an uncouth smoking-car would, if clean second-class cars were provided, gladly dispense with the luxury of an upholstered seat if by doing so they could save from $ to $ a day. a common laborer in this country earns from a dollar to a dollar and a half a day, and in the performance of his labor as a rule suffers greater inconvenience than does the traveler who travels the country in a second-class car. is it under these circumstances at all likely that the american would hesitate to travel for a day in a plain but clean car, if by doing so he could save a week's earnings? we may even go further and say that it is a very reasonable assumption that the man who earns his bread by the sweat of his brow would choose the cheaper car if the difference in one day's fare were equal to one day's wages. it is a common saying in europe that the first-class passengers consist of lords and fools, and few of the hundreds of thousands of american tourists traveling abroad give the natives occasion to class them with either. the first-class car has almost fallen into disuse in europe, and even the patronage of the second-class is less than ten per cent, of that of the third. reduced rates for return tickets should be provided under rules and regulations of commissioners. the massachusetts legislature recently passed a law requiring the railways of that state to sell interchangeable thousand-mile tickets for $ . the state commission is given power to except any company from its requirements if the public welfare or the financial condition require or demand it. this is a step in the right direction and should be followed by other states. michigan also requires certain roads to carry first-class passengers at two cents per mile. railroad companies should be compelled to discard the pass as a courtesy as well as a consideration. the giving of passes under the guise of mileage books, or tickets for pretended or unnecessary services, is very pernicious and should be prohibited. such a reform would soon enable them to offer low fares to all. an employe may be furnished free transportation while actually engaged in the business of his company, and it should be made the duty of the state and national commissions to make proper regulations governing such free transportation of employes. half-fare tickets for adults should also be abolished. the pauper ticket is given to the minister of the gospel to secure for the railroads the influence of the pulpit, though offered under the pretense of charity or support of the church. the state should not permit the railroad companies to practice this or any other kind of charity at the expense of the general public. the railroad is a highway, and the company operating it is entitled to rates sufficient to pay operating expenses and a fair interest on the value of the property. it can therefore easily be seen that the so-called gifts show no liberality on the part of the railroad company, but are made at the expense of other people. donations made by railroad companies should be made from the pockets of their stockholders and not from the pockets of their patrons. all perquisites of railroad officers should be abolished. when a railway official has become so pompous and consequential that he requires a special car, it is about time to look about for his successor. if we are to have a special-car aristocracy in this country let it be supported at the expense of some other interest. another railroad reform is needed on this side of the atlantic. while the great majority of railroad officials are courteous and considerate, and perform their duties in the most agreeable and acceptable manner, there are a few who do not properly appreciate the relation which they sustain to the patrons of their companies. they are inclined to forget that they are quasi-public servants, and that the public has a right to demand courteous treatment at their hands. all railroad employes should realize that their first duty is to administer to the welfare and the convenience of the public, and each one should have the full protection of the law in his efforts to do so. the american public objects much less to an inferior car than to rude treatment by the companies' agents. railroad superintendents may justly be blamed for the incivilities of their subordinates. it is their duty to know the character of those whom they employ, and not to retain in their employ those who are derelict in their duty to the public. nothing offends the feelings of a true american more than the display of a bureaucratic spirit on the part of public servants. nothing more commends a line of railroad to the public than uniform painstaking kindness and courteous treatment on the part of its employes. it is made the duty of railroad employes of france "to so treat the public as if they were eager to oblige it," and the very first paragraph of the official instructions to the railroad employes of germany enjoins them "to assume a modest and polite demeanor in their intercourse with the public." in this connection it might be stated that the second paragraph of those instructions positively forbids the acceptance of any gratuity by a railroad employe. if our american sleeping and dining-car companies would give their employes adequate compensation and then adopt and enforce the german rule concerning "tipping," their service would gain popularity and their employes self-respect. entrance into the railway service should be by agreement for a definite time, and dismissals and resignations should be governed by rules agreed upon by boards of commissioners and the companies. the use of the corporation has done so much to secure for capital so large a share of the profits of industrial enterprises, and large salaries also for the officers who manage them, that laborers have been led to organize themselves into associations for like purposes, and ambitious men have not been slow in availing themselves of the advantages afforded them in this new field. it is right and proper for laborers to organize such associations when they can do so under wise and economical management, for the purpose of securing greater intelligence, better education, higher culture, higher wages, a shorter work-day, and a general ameliorating of their condition, all of which will tend to make them more efficient workmen and also better enable them to resist the aggression of centralized wealth; for, in the absence of organization, the single-handed employe of the great modern employer is comparatively helpless. but if these organizations are allowed to be controlled by ignorant, unreasonable or designing men, who will, at trifling provocations, resort to violent and unlawful measures, they are sure to prove harmful, and a great detriment, instead of a help, to their members, and the sooner they are abandoned the better for all. great conflicts are sure to arise between organized capital and organized labor, and they must be settled in a reasonable way, or anarchy will prevail. they cannot be left for headstrong or inconsiderate men representing either side to determine, but the line must be drawn by the public authorities. each year affords accumulated evidence of the necessity of extending legal restrictions over the management of the railway business, and the law, as laid down by judge ricks to the ann arbor strikers last march, in the united states circuit court, at toledo, is undoubtedly correct and will meet with general approval from the public. he says: "you are engaged in a service of a public character, and the public are interested not only in the way in which you perform your duties while you continue in that service, but are quite as much interested in the time and circumstances under which you quit that employment. you cannot always choose your own time and place for terminating these relations. if you are permitted to do so you might quit your work at a time and place and under circumstances which would involve irreparable damage to your employers and jeopardize the lives of the traveling public." mr. powderly, in commenting upon the above decision, does not complain of it, but says: "the decision shows, as i have said before, that the principle of government ownership of the railroads is being recognized by the courts. while the decision is apparently against the men, it emphasizes our position that the government has the right to supervise the railroads. now it is a poor rule that won't work both ways. "the interstate commerce law was passed for the purpose of controlling the railroads, but up to date no railroad has paid any attention to the law. anarchy of the worst kind has prevailed. by that i mean a total disregard of the law, and that is what the corporations charge against the anarchists. the courts hold themselves in readiness to obey the will of the corporations when a charge is made against the workmen, but no effort is made to carry out the mandates of the law when the provokers of strikes, the corporations, violate the law." there is but little doubt, if the judges of the federal courts would show the same zeal in holding railroad managers amenable to the law as judge ricks has displayed in this case with the employes, they would secure increased confidence from the people in the tribunals over which they preside. all fair-minded persons will agree that labor as well as capital must be subjected to proper restraints, and that the public will demand nothing unreasonable from either. accidents are too frequent upon american railroads. the reports of the interstate commerce commission give the following as the numbers killed and injured during the years named: ---------+---------------+---------------+---------------+--------------- | | | | |killed. injured|killed. injured|killed. injured|killed. injured ---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- employees| , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , passeng's| | , | | , | | , | | , others | , | , | , | , | , | , | .... | .... ---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- total | , | , | , | , | , | , | .... | .... ---------+---------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------- for the year ending june , , the total number of employes was , . there was, therefore, one death for every men employed and one injury for every men employed. for the previous year one was killed for every men employed, and one was injured for every men employed. while trainmen represent but per cent, of the total number of employes, the casualties among them represent per cent. of the total number of casualties. for the year , one passenger was killed in every , , passengers carried, and one injured in every , carried. the corresponding rate in england for the year is one passenger killed for every , , carried, and one injured for every , carried. railroads doing a large business should be compelled to adopt the most improved appliances for avoidance of accidents. the occupation of trainmen is especially hazardous, and too long continued service should not be required, but proper intervals of rest should be allowed. it is to the want of this, undoubtedly, that a great many of the serious accidents are owing. no more sunday trains should be run than are absolutely necessary. provision should be made by law to enable trainmen to procure insurance at the lowest rate possible, for indemnity against loss of health, life or limb. it was only a few days before the great disaster occurred on the hudson river railroad at hastings, over a year ago, that an announcement had been made to the public of the extreme prosperity of the road during the year. the great slaughter that occurred there is another illustration of the disregard of public duty, and another instance of the sacrifice of life and limbs of passengers and employes by a railway corporation in order to secure large dividends on watered stock. it is not only gross, but criminal neglect for a company with such an immense income not to provide greater safety appliances, and the coroner's jury in this case was too modest when it decided that the management of the road was morally responsible for the disaster. parliament has compelled the british railways to adopt, in the interest of the public safety, the block system and continuous brake, and great lines like the new york central and hudson river companies should be compelled to adopt such improvements. the traveling public has another grievous cause for complaint. there are but few companies that make any efforts to have their trains connect with those of rival roads. on the contrary, a good deal of scheming is often done by railroad companies to so arrange their time-tables with reference to those of their rivals as to inconvenience passengers as much as possible by delays at competing points. to remedy this evil the state should require that every time-table should have the approval of proper authorities, and no change should be permitted without their approval. railroad companies are chartered for the purpose of promoting the public welfare, and every violation of their charter should be punished. it should be the main object of railroad legislation to compel companies to fulfill their public obligations without depriving them of their efficiency. above all things these companies should be stripped of the power to use their great wealth for the purposes of corruption or the attainment of political influence. our railroads to-day probably represent no less than one-fourth of the personal property of the country, and this vast wealth is controlled by a comparatively small number of men, many of whom have in the course of time become so arrogant and despotic that they have little regard for popular rights or the expressed will of a free people. it is reported that when, a few years ago, a representative of the press directed mr. vanderbilt's attention to the fact that the public disapproved of his railroad policy, the latter gave vent to his contempt for public opinion by the no less profane than laconic reply: "the public be damned." ex-railroad commissioner coffin called on one of the goulds to urge the adoption of the automatic car-coupler and other safety appliances for the roads controlled by them. he was very curtly told that not a cent would be expended by the gould roads for such a purpose until the west had repealed its obnoxious railroad laws. the gould dynasty thus intends to accomplish the repeal of these laws by coercion. railroad magnates and their lieutenants often show still greater arrogance in dealing directly with their employes. it may be difficult for railroad managers of the present school to adapt themselves to new conditions; it may be impossible for them to understand how any other practices than those which have long been established can succeed; yet in spite of them both the law and public sentiment have already undergone great changes, and still greater changes will follow. it may take years to accomplish this work; to bring about any great reform requires time and a deter, mined purpose on the part of its advocates. yet i believe the era is not far off when railroads will be limited to their legitimate sphere as common carriers, when they will treat all persons and all places as impartially as does the government in the mail service, when their chief factor in rate-making will be the cost of service, when they will respect the rights of the public and those of their stockholders, insuring perfect service to the former and fair profits upon the actual value of the lines operated to the latter. the fact should, finally, not be overlooked that it is in the power of the general government to prevent many railroad abuses, and especially excessive freight charges, by the improvement of our rivers and harbors. that our water-courses act as levelers of interstate rates is apparent from the fact that railroad rates invariably rise with the freezing of the water-ways and fall with the opening of river and lake navigation. by connecting, wherever feasible, our large western rivers with the great lakes, the government could greatly extend the reign of competition in transportation, and thereby keep freight rates within reasonable bounds. lake transportation even now plays an important role. in it was not less than , , , ton miles during the season of eight months' duration, and it is almost equal to one-fourth of the total ton mileage of all the railroads in the country for the entire year. the average rate of lake transportation has been reduced to . mills per ton per mile, which is only about one-seventh of the average railroad freight rate in the united states. where the masses hold the sovereign power, there, if anywhere, the welfare of the people should be the supreme law. violent political commotions never disturb the government whose policy is to secure the greatest good to the greatest number. thorold rogers justly remarks that the strength of communism lies in the misconduct of administrations, the sustentation of odious and unjust privileges and the support of what are called vested interests. lord coleridge, in a remarkable article published not long ago, recommended a revision of the laws relating to property and contract, in order to facilitate the inevitable transition from feudalism to democracy, and laid down the rule that the laws of property should be made for the benefit of all, and not for the benefit of a class. during the middle ages, and even up to the beginning of the present century, nearly all the laws on the statute books looked towards the protection of the rights of the feudal lord. provision was made for the expeditious collection of his dues and a severe punishment of his delinquent debtor. the peasant was forced to labor fifteen hours per day and three hundred and sixty-five days in the year to pay the baron's rentals and sustain life. the law permitted him to be flogged for failing to courtesy the feudal lord, and to be executed for injury to the lord's person, while to kill a peasant was no worse a misdemeanor than to kill his lordship's favorite dog or falcon. in short, all laws were made to protect and perpetuate the wealth and power of the few by impoverishing, humbling and enslaving the masses. the age of feudalism has given way to an age of democratic liberty, but there is many a feudal feature left in our statutes and many a feudal doctrine is enunciated by our judges and learned expounders of modern jurisprudence. in his decision in the iowa tariff case judge brewer said: "i read also in the first section of the bill of rights of this state [iowa] that 'all men are by nature free and equal and have certain inalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property and pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness,' and i know that while that remains as the supreme law of the state, no legislature can, directly or indirectly, lay its withering or destroying hand on a single dollar invested in the legitimate business of transportation." had judge brewer taken the pains to read on, he would have found in section of the bill of rights the following: "all political power is inherent in the people; government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people." it is strange that the learned judge failed to see the difference between "men," the creatures of god, "by nature free and equal," and "possessing certain inalienable rights," and corporations, the creatures of man, having no rights except those which the state sees fit to give them. had the learned judge perused the whole of the document to which he refers, he would have found in article viii, section , the following provision: "the general assembly shall have power to amend or repeal all laws for the organization or creation of corporations, or granting of special or exclusive privileges or immunities, by a vote of two-thirds of each branch of the general assembly." it should thus have been plain to the learned judge that in iowa corporations have not human or inalienable rights, and government was not instituted for their special protection, but for the protection, security and benefit of her people. nor should it be otherwise. the corporation for pecuniary gain has neither body nor soul. its corporeal existence is mythical and ethereal. it suffers neither from cold nor from hunger, has neither fear of future punishment nor hope of future reward. it takes no interest in schools or in churches. it knows neither charity nor love, neither pity nor sympathy, neither justice nor patriotism. it is deaf and blind to human woe and human happiness. its only aim is pecuniary gain, to which it subordinates all else. should the state sacrifice the welfare of all her people rather than lay its "withering or destroying" hand on a single dollar of corporate wealth? are there no human rights, for the protection of which government was established, more sacred than the rights of a wealthy corporation's dollar? have the people made the judiciary a coördinate branch of the government in order that it may protect the vested or rather usurped rights of corporations against legislative attempts to curtail them? if the courts so interpret the power which has been delegated to them, they will awake one day to the painful reality that popular convictions of right are more potent than judicial decrees. it is the duty of the state not so much to defend the so-called vested rights of corporations as to make such just and beneficial laws as will temper inequality, mitigate poverty, protect the weak against the strong, preserve life and health, and, in short, promote the welfare and the happiness of the masses. constitutions have been made to accomplish these ends, to protect the lives, the liberty and the conscience of human beings, while laws have been sufficient to protect the dollars of corporations. it is a short-sighted policy on the part of the latter to take unfair advantage of their wealth and influence, for "as ye sow, so shall ye reap," is the inexorable law of providence. there is no dynasty so mighty, no class so privileged, no interest so influential or wealthy as to obtain immunity from its operation. appendix. table no. . compiled from the sixth annual report of the interstate commerce commission. mileage in the united states june , , . number of men employed , number of employes per miles number of locomotives per miles number of passenger cars per miles number of cars per miles capital $ , , , capital per mile , gross earnings , , , gross earnings per mile , operating expenses , , operating expenses per mile , net income from operation , , net income per mile , of gross income . per cent. was earned on freight. of gross income . per cent. was earned on passengers. received for carrying mails $ , , received rentals from express companies , , received from investments , , no. of passengers carried , , no. of tons freight carried , , average journey per passenger . miles average haul per ton of freight miles average number passengers per train average number tons freight per train . average revenue per passenger per mile . cents average revenue per ton per mile of freight . cents average revenue per train mile, passenger $ . average revenue per train mile, freight . table no. . statistics of the railways of the united kingdom for the year ending dec. , . from the english reform almanac for and from the report of commissioners r. giffen and courtenay boyle to the board of trade. mileage , miles double, triple or quadruple , miles capital per mile £ , gross income per mile , net income per mile , income from passenger traffic , , income from goods traffic , , income from miscellaneous , , ------------ income, total £ , , operating expenses, per cent £ , , rates and taxes , , government duty , paid for persons injured , paid for damage and loss of goods , number of first-class passengers , , number of second-class passengers , , number of third-class passengers , , number of third-class passengers over per cent. of all. number of employes , number of employes per miles , number of locomotives per miles number of passenger cars per miles number of freight and other cars , revenue per train mile . d expense per train mile . d per cent. of earnings on capital . table no. . showing salaries and wages paid to officials and employes of state railways in europe. compiled from röll's encyclopädie des eisenbahnwesens. ======================================================================= position. | austria. | hungary. | prussia. | belgium. -----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+----------- | fl., equal | fl., equal | mark, equal | fr., equal | to about | to about | to about | to about | - / cents.| - / cents.| cents. | cents. | | | | president | , | --- | , | , directors and | | | | superintendents | , - , | , - , | , - , | , - , chief engineer | , - , | , - , | , - , | , - , clerks | - , | - , | , - , | - , station agents in| | | | cities, division| | | | superintendents | , - , | , - , | --- | --- station agents | | | | in towns | - | - | , - , | , - , locomotive | | | | engineers | - | - | , - , | --- firemen | - | - | , - , | --- conductors | - | - | , - , | , - , brakemen | - | - | - , | , - , section men | - | - | - | --- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ table no. . compiled from röll's encyclopädie des eisenbahnwesens. _freight tariffs._--belgium. all freight is divided into three general classes: . _express freight_, which is delivered by special messengers. parcels weighing kg. ( lbs.) and less, if prepaid, are carried for . fr. ( c.) for all distances. parcels not prepaid and such as weigh from to kg. pay . fr. for a distance of from to km.; fr. for to km.; . fr. for greater distances. . _fast freight_, which may be made use of for consignments weighing up to kg. ( lbs.) parcels weighing up to kg. pay . fr. for all distances. parcels not prepaid and such as weigh from to kg. pay . fr. for from to km.;. fr. for distances ranging from to km., and . fr. over km. . _common freight_, which is again sub-divided into four classes: in class i kg., in classes ii and iii , kg., and in class iv , kg. is recognized as the minimum weight. * * * * * tariff for the four different classes of common freight. _terminal charges--franc . ._ i class--for , kg. ( , lbs.) from to km fr. . from to km, per km . from to km . (per km. above ) from to km . (per km. above ) above km . (per km. above ) ii class--for , kg. from to km. fr. . from to km., per km. . from to km. . (per km. above ) above km. . (per km. above ) iii class--for , kg. from to km. fr. . from to km., per km. . from to km. . from to km. . above km. . iv class--for , kg. from to km., per km. fr. . from to km., per km. . from to km. . from to km. . above km. . for distances from to km. the terminal charges are only . fr. for class iv. table no. . germany. the tariff recognizes the following distinctions: . fast parcel freight. . fast carload freight. . parcel freight. . general carload class a , for shipments of at least , kg. . general carload class b, for shipments of at least , kg. . special tariffs. _distance charges per ton per kilometer: (pfennig, / c.)_ . for parcel . pfennige . for carload class a . " . for carload class b . " . for special tariff a . " . for special tariff i . " . for special tariff ii . " . for special tariff iii: for distances up to km . " for distances above km . " . for fast parcel freight . " . for fast carload freight, twice the rate of classes a and b. _terminal changes._ . for parcels and carload class a : up to km pfennige from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " above km " . for carload class b: up to km pfennige from to km " from to km " from to km " above km " . for special tariffs a , i, ii and iii: up to km pfennige from to km " above km " _charges for live stock._ (a) horses. terminal charge per head, m. ( c.) distance charge per kl. for one head . mark charge per kl. for head . " charge for each additional head . " (b) cattle. terminal charge, per head . mark distance charge per kl., for one head . " distance charge for each additional head . " (c) sheep, hogs, calves, etc.: terminal charge, per head . mark distance charge, per kl., for each of the first heads . " distance charge, per kl., for each additional head . " if shipped in carloads the charges for live stock are . m. per square meter per kilometer. table no. . france. the french railroads divide all freight into six different classes. the following is the tariff adopted by a majority of the principal roads: _common freight._ ================================================== | centimes per ton--kilometer. --------------------+----+----+----+----+----+---- classes | | | | | | --------------------+----+----+----+----+----+---- up to km | | | | | | from to km | | | | | | from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | from to km | | | | | | from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | . from to km | | | | | | above , km | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------- the rates for fast parcel freight are, on all roads, for less than kg., per ton, km.: up to km centimes from to km " from to km " from to km " from to , km " above , km " for more than kg.: up to km centimes from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to km " from to , km " above , km " express parcels weighing up to kg. ( - / lbs.), pay fr. for all distances, and parcels weighing from to kg. pay fr. . . delivery to the house, centimes ( c.) additional. live stock, per piece, per km.: horses and cattle centimes calves and hogs " sheep, etc. " table no. . italy.--_freight tariff._ ======================================================================== | general classes. rates. |------+------+-----+------+-------+------+-----+------ | | | | | | | | -----------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----+------ for the ton--km | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . terminal charges,| | | | | | | | per ton. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ the rate on merchandise sent as fast freight is . lire ( c.) per ton kilometer. _live stock--( classes.)_ ======================================================================= | | cattle, | | | cattle, first-class. |horses. |swine and| second-class. |horses. |swine and | | sheep. | | | sheep. ----------------+--------+---------+----------------+--------+--------- head, per km | . | . | head, per km | . | . heads, per km | . | . | heads, per km | . | . heads, per km | . | . | heads, per km | . | . heads, per km | . | . | heads, per km | . | . heads, per km | . | . | heads, per km | . | . heads or more,| | | heads or more,| per km | . | . | per km | . | . | | |iii class | | . | | |iv class | | . | | |v class | | . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ table no. . _austrian tariff (in kreutzers).--july , ._ ============================================================================= | | parcel | | special | | fast freight. | rate. | carload rate.| tariff rate. | |--------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----| | | | | | | | | | | |excep- |ordinary|reduced| | | | | | | | |tional | rate | rate | i | ii | a | b | c | | | |rate -------------+--------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------ to km | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . to km | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . to km| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . for every | | | | | | | | | | | addit'n'l km| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | _terminal charges._ to km | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . to km | | | | | | | | | | | above km | | | | | | | | | | | -------------+--------+-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+------ _horses_ and _mules_ are placed in class ii, with a minimum weight of , kg. for one head and kg. for every additional head. _cattle_ are placed in class ii, and are billed at actual weight. _potatoes_, hay, straw, wood, coal and coke enjoy the "exceptional rate" when shipped in carload lots. table no. . _hungarian tariff (in kreutzers).--january , ._ ============================================================= | | parcel | | | fast freight. | rate. | | |--------+-------+----+----| | | | | | | | |ordinary|reduced| i | ii | | | rate | rate | | |"sperrgüter."| -------------------+--------+-------+----+----+-------------+ from to km. | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | from to km.| . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | above km. | . | . | . | . | . | | | _terminal charges for kg._ | . | . | . | . | . | -------------------+--------+-------+----+----+-------------+ =============================================================== | | special |exceptional | carload rate. | tariff. | tariff. |----+----+------+----+----+----|-----+----- | | | | | | | | | a | b | c | i | ii | iii| i | ii | | |lumber| | | | | -------------------+----+----+------+----+----+----+-----+----- from to km. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | from to km.| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | above km. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . -------------------+----+----+------+----+----+----+-----+------ exceptional tariff i comprises coal, wood, potatoes, stone, hay and straw. exceptional tariff ii comprises manure, earth and hungarian ores. table no. . state of iowa. schedule of reasonable maximum rates of charges in effect march , , for the transportation of _freight and cars on each of the railroads in the state of iowa, together with a classification of freights, prepared by the railroad commissioners, in accordance with the laws of the state of iowa._ * * * * * superseding all former schedules on the said railroads, including all bridges and ferries used or operated in connection with any railroad; and, also, all the roads in use by any corporation, receiver, trustee or other person operating a railroad, whether owned or operated under contract, agreement, lease or otherwise, or which may hereafter be purchased, leased, acquired or operated within the state of iowa. the classification of freights applies to all the lines, regardless of class. the schedule of maximum rates applies to all class "a" roads. the rates on class "b" roads will be fifteen per cent. higher, and the rates on class "c" roads thirty per cent. higher than the rates named for class "a" roads. the respective roads have been classified by the executive council of the state as follows, which classification is adopted by the railroad commissioners, and made part of this schedule: classification of roads. class "a." where gross annual earnings, per mile, shall be $ , or more.--burlington, cedar rapids and northern railway; chicago and northwestern railway; chicago, burlington and quincy railroad; chicago, milwaukee and st. paul railway; chicago, rock island and pacific railway; chicago and great western railway (operating the chicago, st. paul and kansas city railway); dubuque and sioux city railroad; chicago, st. paul, minneapolis and omaha railway; sioux city and northern railway; chicago, santa fe and california railway; sioux city and pacific railroad; toledo, peoria and western railway; union pacific railway. class "b." where gross earnings are $ , or over and less than $ , per mile.--iowa central railway; kansas city, st. joseph and council bluffs railroad; omaha and st. louis railway. class "c." where annual earnings are less than $ , per mile.--chicago, burlington and kansas city railway; chicago, ft. madison and des moines railway; chicago, iowa and dakota railway; crooked creek railroad and coal company; des moines and kansas city railway; des moines, northern and western railway; humeston and shenandoah railroad; iowa northern railway; mason city and fort dodge railroad; minneapolis and st. louis railway; st. louis, keokuk and northwestern railroad; tabor and northern railway; wabash railroad; winona and southwestern railway; keokuk and western railway. burlington and western; burlington and northwestern; ames and college; albia and centerville. ====================================================================== | merchandise in cents | special carload classes in | per lbs. | cents per lbs. miles|---------------------------------------------------------------- | first|second|third |fourth|fifth |class|class|class|class|class |class.|class.|class.|class.|class.| a. | b. | c. | d. | e. -----+------+------+------+------+------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | | . | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | | | . | | . | . | | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | .. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | . | | . | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- note.--when rates are not shown in this table for the exact distance, the rates given for the next greater distance will prevail. when these rates and the classification conflict, these rates will govern. a = wheat, flour, millet, flaxseed. b = corn, oats, barley, other grain and mill stuffs. c = hard and soft lumber, lath, shingles, sash, doors and blinds. d = salt, lime, cement, plaster, stucco. e = horses and mules in carloads--minimum weight , lbs., -foot cars, inside measurement. f = fat cattle in carloads--minimum weight , lbs., -foot cars, inside measurement g = hogs (single deck) in carloads--minimum weight , lbs., -foot cars, inside measurement. h = sheep (single deck) in carloads--minimum weight , lbs., -foot cars, inside measurement. i = hard coal. j = soft coal, lump and nut. k = soft coal, pea and slack. ======================================================================= | carload classes in | live stock in cents |coal in cents per | cents per lbs. | per lbs. |ton of , lbs. -----+-----------------------+-----------------------+----------------- miles| a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i | j | k -----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+---- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ....| .... | .... | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ....| .... | .... | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ....| .... | .... | | | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ....| .... | .... | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ....| .... | .... | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * stock cattle or feeders and calves take per cent. of fat cattle rate; -foot car (internal measurement) is adopted as the standard for minimum weight, as per heading in table; -foot cars, per cent. of above; -foot -inch cars, per cent. of above; other lengths of cars to take same proportion as above. index. abbett, gov., absentee ownership, abuses, cardinal, for protection against, must resort to polls and not to courts, increased, of railroads, origin of, still practiced, accidents, acworth, mr. w. m., adams, c. f., jr., heresy, difficulty not in legislation, favors pooling, on character of railroad men, on iowa law, h. c., motive for ownership, africa, roads constructed, agriculture among babylonians and assyrians, albany _evening argus_, albia, algiers, algona, american colonies, experience, investments a reproach, americans would avail themselves of low rates, american transfer company, amsterdam, owes to canal, ann arbor strikers, area of land grants, argentine republic, arrogance, asia, early nations of, athens connected with piræns, protected road, atkinson, edward, fallacious argument of, relies upon a figurehead commission, atlantic nurseryman, attorney-general held that legislature had not the power to prescribe rates, attorney, slow to accept fee, augustus instituted postal service, australia, austria, average fares per mile, b. & m. co., baker, c. w., balkan peninsula, physical features, important factor, ballou, h. s., baltimore and ohio, watered stock, _bankers' magazine_, banks and insurance, not private, barosz, m., b., c. r. & n. railroad co., increased prosperity of, beach, c. f., jr., law of private corporations, bering strait, belgium, , cost of right of way, bessemer's invention, blackstone, t. b., blatchford, justice, , blinkensop, board of railroad commissioners, bolles, a. s., bonded debt of m. & m. r. r., bonham, john m., boone, boston _advertiser_, bradley, justice, braithwaite, branch roads, brazil, brewer, justice, , , doctrine, opinion of reasonable rates, reply to ruling of, bridge across the mississippi, british railways, cost of right of way, brown, justice, bryce, prof., on decadence of bar, on lobby, budd vs. n. y., , , buddha, commended roads to care of pious, burmah, burstall, california railways, calmar, camden and amboy charter, camden and amboy railroad company, canada, canals, canadian pacific, canal, erie, from bitter lake to red sea, nicaragua, , canals, canadian, in great britain, italian, private companies, spanish, candidates, railroad, servile to railroads, cape colony, capitalization of railroads, capital of standard oil company, carey, h. c., carload lots, rates, carthage, harbor, fleets, roads, carthaginians, commerce of, constructed roads, cars refused, cassat, mr., testimony of, c., b. & q. r. r. strike, cedar rapids and missouri river r. r. co., central america, central pacific, scheme, ceylon, charlemagne repaired and built roads, chicago and milwaukee system, cost of, and omaha pool, convention, iowa and nebraska railroad, third-rate lawyer, chile, chinese built roads before the christian era, classification, rule, unjust features, clay, mr., clews, henry, pictures evils, "twenty-eight years in wall street," clear lake, clerk of u. s. court, cleveland, president, clinton, club address of c. f. adams, jr., c., m. & st. p. r. r. co. vs. minn., coal and kindred articles, coffin, mr. l. s., colbert, idea of postal service, coleridge, lord, combinations, regulate, commission evil, commission received, commissioner system, commission, interstate, reviews judge brewer's rule, commissions acquire expert knowledge, commission's decisions, acts subject to judicial review, become a pliant tool, character of, commission system adopted in iowa, committee bill passed, commodities, character of, common law, sufficient in theory but fails in practice, competition, , a great educator, and enhanced rates, in united states depended upon, the death of trade, vicious, communism, strength of, conduit company, confiscation of railroads, conflicts between labor and capital, congress, appropriations for improving rivers, in three camps, responds to demand of pacific road, to cease futile attempts congressmen imposed upon, connecticut railroad construction, conscientious managers cannot retain business, consolidation of c., r. i. & p. r. r. co., tendency to, conspiracies should not be legalized, conspiracy, constitutions made for, contests, expense of in great britain, contributions to pacific roads, control, suggestions for, cooley, judge, , in reference to state and national commissions, corporations, danger from, willing to pay for questionable services, corrupt practice act in mass., cost of american roads, of building roads at present, of existing railway system, of operating m. & m. r. r., of railroads, , , council bluffs, line completed to, courteous employes, courts ordered restoration of erie securities, should not aid, c., r. i. & p. railroad, crosby, j. o., story of tramp, crusaders, cuba, cullom committee report, senator, customs laws, dabney, w. d., drift toward railroad centralization, favors pooling, favors state control, darius i., work on canal, dartmouth college case, decision, davis, c. wood, on cost of roads, dows, david, & co., davis, jefferson, plea, delegates to conventions, demand in other states for reform, denmark, , first-class passenger rates, depew, mr., depew says all railroad men are politicians, devices, various, differentials, discriminations, , , , , , damaging, in classifications, in iowa, practiced openly, dillon, judge, sidney, on cost of pacific roads, directors and officials of corporations, character of, with personal interests director-general, should have power to remove managers, distance disregarded, dividends, , by fluctuations, standard oil company, donations, for benefit of public, made by railroad companies, to pacific roads, to railroads, donation to road completed, doud amendment, dual government, dual sovereignty must be recognized, dubuque & s. c. co., dutch east india company, duties of common carriers, duty of state, earnings diverted, of first iowa railroad, gross, larger in united states, of c., b. & q., of iowa roads increased, of massachusetts railroads, of lake shore, earnings of liverpool and manchester, of terre haute, of railroads, per employe, per train mile in the united states and united kingdom, per train mile larger in united states, east india company, , economy of fuel, editors, , controlled by counting-room, egyptians, commerce of, constructed roads, electoral commission, eminent domain, spelling on, employes fare better under government management, in iowa, compensation, in iowa, number, number of, in various countries, number of, per mile of road, number of, as related to gross earnings, organized for political work, quasi-public officers, should have passes, england, roads maintained by statute and parish labor, english landlords, entrance into railway service regulated, ericsson, erie canal, railroad, european and american investments compared, european history began in greece, evans, oliver, executive charged with construction and maintenance of roads and canals, executives influenced, experiments with wooden rail, extortion, effects of, farmers' alliance, farmers' pool, federal agencies, need of improved, federal courts, influence of, ferocity of public opinion in the west, feudal features, field, justice, , fink, albert, first rail tracks, first railroad survey in iowa, fort dodge, fortunes, great, made, france, duty of employes, first system of roads, first artificial waterways, large number of canals, rates on freight and passengers, frederick the great built turnpikes and canals, frederick william iv., free competition, freight agents, freight carried by railroads in the united states, friction under iowa law, galena and chicago union, gallatin advocated roads and canals, garfield, president, on dartmouth college case, garrett, j. w., germany, first mail service, first railroad, german instructions to employes, georgia prescribed rates, glenwood, gibbon, gibbon concerning postal service, goodman, mr., testimony of, gospel of wealth, göta canal, gould's bulldozing, gould, jay, , , on cost of pacific roads, governor called extra session of general assembly, importuned, of iowa, influenced, government ownership drawbacks, granger cases, granger, judge, granger law did not retard construction, of iowa, granger laws, moderate, repealed, granger movement, a necessary one, spread, granger system in wisconsin, grant and conkling, grant, judge, great britain, canals, crossed by roman roads, recent origin of public roads and postal service, great northern railroad co., grecian civilization passed to romans and then to other nations, greek geographers, praise of highways of hindostan, gresham, judge, grinnell, hon. j. b., gross and net earnings in iowa, earnings, increase in iowa, , earnings of iowa roads, hadley, prof. a. t., on passenger rates, on state legislation, hadley's address before bankers' association, ignorance, mistake, hadrian improved postal service, hagar, mr., hackworth, hale, lord chief justice, harrison, president, on watered stocks, on nicaragua canal, hanseatic league, object, extent, power, haul, length of, compared, hayes-tilden contest, hayti, hepburn committee, , hindoo culture and broad statesmanship, hoe printing-press, holland, largest canal of, hoyt, j., & co., hudson, j. f., , , hudson river railroad accident, co., stock watering, humboldt said of roads of incas, hungary, hungarian zone system, , huntington, c. p., letter of, illinois canals, granger laws, importance of transportation facilities, improved appliances should be used, income of railroads, per capita, increase of traffic under zone system, india supplied nineveh and babylon, greece and rome, individual entitled to full use, inflation, influences at work to create public sentiment, iniquitous taxation, injunction asked for, inspection service should be established, insurance provided for, interchangeable , -mile tickets, interstate commerce act, , amended, approved, interstate commerce commission, sixth annual report, interstate commerce law attacked, intimidation of railroad employes, inventors, investments, none pay so well, iowa attorney, bill of rights, central air line, city, road built to, commissioners enjoined, commissioners' valuable service, falls & s. c. co., general assembly passed maximum tariff act, general assembly passed act authorizing commissioners to make _prima facie_ rates, law, features of, misunderstanding of, vindicated, legislation, politics, prosperity accelerated, railroad construction, the queen, irish tenants, iron strap rail, itaki atabeck, road seen to this day, italy, canals, jackson, president, japan, java, jeans, mr. j. s., on railroad revenues, on state railroad, jefferson's inquiries, judges, servile, use passes, jurists, eminent, kansas midland, kent, kirkman, m. m., labor organizations, labor-saving causes, lake transportation, land grant policy, wisdom of, to dubuque & s. c. r. r., land grants to iowa railroads, value of, languedoc canal, lawyer and farmer, lawyers, briefless, political, third-rate, legislation, of california, legislative campaign of , reform needed, reports, lincoln, president, story of the irishman, and the pig, lines projected, lobbies frowned out of legislative halls, lobby, formidable, locomotive, early inventors, reward for, long and short haul clause, of iowa law, louis xiv., louis xi. transferred postal service to state, lowest rates in europe, mails carried free in france, managers arrogant, concede necessity of regulation, have lost influence, make law odious, naturally despotical, of great parties, m. & m. r. r. co., marshall, chief justice, marshalltown, massachusetts commission, mathews, judge stanley, maximilian established postal route, maximum charges, mcdill, hon. j. w., as a lobbyist, mcgregor grant resumed, , mcgregor western r. r. co., means employed to control legislation, mesopotamia, inhabitants perfect cart, methods for control, impracticable, mexico, mileage of the future, to area, , to population, minneapolis and chicago conventions, minnesota case, granger laws, politics, missouri pacific, mitchell, alexander, modern doctrine, kent's rule, monopoly, in transportation, morgan, appleton, mortgaging prohibited, munn vs. illinois, , muscatine, branch line to, mushroom millionaires, national banking system, national bureau should be established, national control, nation inclined to follow beaten tracks, nations should profit by experience, napoleon company, navigation act, nebraska maximum tariff, net earnings increased in iowa, in and , netherlands, canals, net profit of passenger traffic in united kingdom, nevada, new england railroad construction, new orleans cotton exchange case, newton, new york canals, new york central, gross earnings, stock watering, new york delegation, nicaragua, canal, , nile, canals, roads, people, notice given when rates are changed, number of employes per mile, of hours' work of employes, office of railroad public, officers of railroads should not be allowed to use proxies, should take oath, officials not likely to resist temptation, ohio canals, oliver cromwell, operating expenses reduced, pacific railroad, diplomacy, prejudice, pacific roads before boards of equalization, comparative cost, cost to duplicate, easy grade, indebtedness to government, papin, constructed steamboat, parliament compelled british railways, party organs, pass abuse, ruling of commission, pass, purposes for which given, should be discarded, passenger rate-making principle wrong, passenger rates not reduced, passenger rates too high, passengers carried by railroads in the united states, passengers, english third-class, killed and injured, third-class, passes, , plentiful, to delegates, pauper tickets for the clergy should be abolished, pausanias shown well-kept road, pedigree of a proverb, peik vs. chicago, pennsylvania canals, pennsylvania central r. r. co., people prone to believe, people's parties called into existence, people will not tolerate, perquisites abolished, persian empire, magnitude, peru, roads, phoenicians, built great roads, traders of antiquity, first great maritime nation, pipe line, , plan capable of being improved, policy of delay, political campaigns in iowa, politicians as railroad employes, pooling, , committee does not recommend prohibition, contracts void, grave effects of, means of swelling railroad earnings, should be prohibited, pools, , , , , defended by mr. hadley, defended by mr. morgan, maintained in iowa, suppress competition, poor's, h., opinion, estimate of cost, , , poor's estimate of watered stock, porter, horace, _north american review_ article, porter, john, portugal, portuguese, postal communication, royal road from susa to sardes, postal service not carried on by state, potential value of interstate law, powderly, t. v., prediction of mr. walker, predictions of railroad men, press abuse, press, efforts of railroads to control, servile to railroads, _prima facie_ rates, prize worth contending for, procopius, statement of, concerning via appia, problem would be solved if abuses, providence, psammitichus cuts canal, ptolemaic kings built canals, public at mercy of managers, not unreasonable, public opinion dormant, efforts to influence, rules, publicity advantageous, purchasers of land made the donation, question not settled until settled right, railroad attorneys, railroad-building after , railroad business not private, safe, changes in iowa, company public agent, competition, , consolidation, construction, diplomate, first line, first steam engine, improved highway, like common road, literature, magazine literature, managers do not do things by halves, managers' opportunities to speculate, men always oppose reductions of rates, officials, papers, precursor of, president's letters, railroads, abandoned, bonded for more than cost, capitalization of, but few that do not pay, cost to build, earnings of, in asia, in austria, in belgium, in denmark, in france, in germany, in granger states did not comply with law, in hungary, in italy, in politics, in portugal, in russia, in switzerland, in spain, in the balkan peninsula, in the scandinavian peninsula, in the united states, in turkey, land grants to, partake of two natures, propitiate judiciary, public tax collectors, rebelled against iowa law, railroad stations, number of, railroad tax, amount of, railway acts, first in england, _railway age_, railway benefits, employes in politics, first act, organs, pan-american, railways, highways, weakened their arguments, railway system, growth of, length of in the world, rate-making a legislative and not a judicial function, rate-making difficult, not a judicial question, rate of , , per ton per mile on camden and amboy railroad, question, rates, fixing of by commission demanded, fundamental principles in making, in france, lower will prevail, lower, reason for, might be reduced, on milwaukee road, reduced by zone tariff in austria-hungary, should be lower here than in europe, should be referred to national and state boards, under granger laws, under wisconsin granger laws, what are reasonable, reagan, john h., bill of, reform demanded, reasonable rates, , fixing of, rebates standard oil company, redfield, j. f., reduced rates on government business in france, increased business, refineries closed, reforms needed, remedies, proposed by committee, remedy proposed by mr. hudson of doubtful efficiency, reorganization of the m. &. m. r. r., report of cullom committee, reports of interstate commission, revenues increased by granger law, , uniform, revolution and anarchy, rhenish league, ricks, judge, ridgeway, jacob, right of control rests upon firmer ground, right of way, cost of, river and harbor improvements, rivers, improvement of, robber knights, , robbers and feudal knights, depredations being tax, rob roy, policy, robinson, h. p., railway in politics, rocket, the, rogers, thorold, roman empire, after downfall roads destroyed, roman postal service, romans learned art of paving roads from carthaginians, rome, connecting link between antiquity and mediævalism, extent, population, roads, etc., roads built from proceeds of stocks and bonds, roads built only when immediately profitable, early, pioneers of enlightenment and political eminence, subject to legislative control, utility of good, recognized in colonial times, russia, roads, rutter, j. h., agent of new york central, salaries, american railways pay the highest, saloon men politicians, san domingo, san salvador, sanspareil, the, savings under government management, scandinavian peninsula, scandinavian roads and canals, schedule rates made by iowa commission, schedules should be submitted to bureau, scriptures, roads of the, second-class passenger rates, why not successful, secrecy a source of evils, select committee, select committee on transportation, senate committee, senators and congressmen raise campaign funds, servility of interstate commerce commission, sesostris cut canal, shippers given favors, , powerless, sioux city, smyth judge, south america, southern pacific railroad company, southern pool, southern railway and steamship association, south sea company, spain, canals, spain and gaul, roads of, special arrangements, special-car aristocracy, special contracts, rate agreement, rates, , speed of railroads, spelling, t. carl, speculative element should be removed, speculators and gamblers, spirit of interstate law, standard oil monopoly, discrimination, , state control encourages building, in iowa asserted early, spelling on, state, duty of, management, advantages of, ownership and regulation, with private management, railway system, states to cease futile attempts, steam engine, first account, stephenson, stevens, mr., stewart, a. t., & co., stickney, a. b., criticises president mitchell's letter, his criticism of iowa rates, his error, favors entire control by nation, on interstate law, on national control, stock a bonus, stock and bond inflation, stockholders, dissatisfied, interested in publicity, stock market controlled by few, stocks, fluctuations of, should be paid in full, shrinkage of value, stockton, r. f., stock watered per cent., stock-watering, , in america, english, stock wiped out, stone, governor, subordinates have to suffer for superiors, subsidies, to press, sunday trains restricted, superintendents responsible for uncivil subordinates, supreme court, , switzerland, taney, justice, tariff, a tax, prepared by sworn officials, tariffs impeachable, official, should stand until proved unreasonable, texas legislation, text books, thiers, m., third-class passengers in europe, _times_, new york, tipping, traffic associations, , trainmen should be allowed rest, train mile earnings, trains, number of, per mile, per annum, should connect, transportation not a commodity, trevithick, richard, _tribune_, chicago, new york, turkey, turnpike, first american, turnpikes in great britain, turnpike tolls, twelfth general assembly, , umpires, high-priced, unanimous vote on iowa law, union pacific, united states bank, , unscrupulous men attracted, value of land grants, vanderbilt, , vedas, testimony of, venetian council, venezuela, venice, via appia and other roads, violations of law encouraged by courts, wabash railroad, walker, a. f., , , wall street, defense of, managers, method, war, war rule, washington among the first to advocate internal improvements, water courses as levelers, watering stock, mr. jeans on, methods of, water transportation, watered stocks, hadley on, watt and stephenson's inventions, watt, james, weak roads helped, western candidates, water classification, west indies, western politician outwitted, pool, failure of, traffic association, union telegraph company, white house, the, whitney, asa, whitney's cotton gin, why western people do not invest in railroad stocks, wells, david a., windom committee, wisconsin granger laws, witnesses recusant, wrecking roads, wrought-iron rails patented, _world_, new york, zone tariff, ridiculed, a standard book on an important subject. the railroad question. a historical and practical treatise on railroads, and remedies for their abuses. by =_william larrabee_=, late governor of iowa. mo, cloth extra, gilt top ( pages), $ . . i.--history of transportation. ii.--the history of railroads. iii.--history of railroads in the united states. iv.--monopoly in transportation. v.--railroad abuses. vi.--stock and bond inflation. vii.--combinations. viii.--railroads in politics. ix., x.--railroad literature. xi.--railroads and railroad legislation in iowa. xii.--the inter-state commerce act. xiii.--the rate question. xiv.--remedies. appendix:--tables and statistics. there is also a bibliography on the subject of railroads, embracing ninety-eight titles, and a carefully prepared alphabetical index. opinions of the press. "no work has ever before told so completely and clearly what the public want to know, and ought to know, about the secret management and true legal status of railroads. what journalists and magazine writers have studiously left unsaid, whether from lack of knowledge or from motives of 'revenue only,' governor larrabee has said, and said it well."--_western rural._ "this book is evidently the result of long study and experience and much thinking. while it is radical in its treatment of the question, no side of it has been overlooked. it deserves careful reading by every person who is interested in this great question. no subject is more worthy the profound study of the statesman, the man of affairs, the scholar and the citizen. surely all who are trying to understand the good and evil of railroads can turn to the pages of this book with the certain expectation of learning much both in the way of fact and suggestion."--_bankers' magazine._ "perhaps the most interesting chapters are the two in which the author reviews and criticises former publications on railway questions, and the one in which he reviews the various remedies which have been from time to time advanced for railway abuses. the book is concisely and clearly written."--_engineering news._ "ex.-gov. larrabee of iowa has written a highly meaty book on the railroad question. it is a topic he is well qualified to handle, viewing that he was no small part of the movement in former days to repress railroad abuses in the west, and particularly in his own state."--_chicago tribune._ "a careful study of an important question, fortified by facts and figures which are both interesting and valuable."--_new york recorder._ hon. thomas m. cooley says: "i have read the book with interest, especially that part which discusses state ownership and management. i have not before seen the side you advocate so clearly and so ably presented." "the book is the most valuable work yet issued on its subject."--_des moines news._ "mr. larrabee is eminently fitted for the task to which he has set himself. he is not a mere theorizer. he brings to the discussion the ripe knowledge that comes from long experience in dealing with the railroad question, not only as a state senator and governor, but also 'as a shipper and as a railroad promoter, owner and stockholder,' and likewise as 'a director, president and manager of a railroad company.' in his treatment of the railroad problem, moreover, mr. larrabee displays a breadth of view and an earnestness of purpose that must command respect even where they fail to carry conviction."--_public opinion._ "it is devoid of the animus which usually enters into the works of the reformers, but on the contrary is written in admirable style, enhanced by happy anecdotes, and altogether is a much more readable book than one is accustomed to find upon so practical a question."--_kansas city journal._ "it justifies a claim to a place among the standard books upon the railroad problem. it is particularly in those portions of the work which deal with the relations of the government to the railroads and the solution of the difficulties that have arisen between the railways and the people that the experience of the author both in guiding and executing the railway legislation of iowa comes into prominent play."--_omaha bee._ "we commend the book to the careful reading of the railroad stockholder."--_railroad record and investor's guide._ "a thoughtful volume, showing careful research and reflection."--_chicago inter-ocean._ "a most interesting, valuable and timely book. every student of the subject will need to read it, and the popular vein of narrative makes it very interesting and instructive to the general reader."--_new england home._ "this work will present governor larrabee in a new and novel light before the public. heretofore he has been known as the successful man of affairs and business; as the earnest and zealous legislator; as the persistent and vigorous executive; and now he comes as the laborious student upon a great economic and practical question who has aptly and clearly put his views into a book."--_dubuque herald._ "a thorough treatise by an able mind. the authorities quoted are the best in print."--_coming nation._ "by far the best work on the popular side of the railroad question."--_gen. m. m. trumbull in the open court._ "gov. larrabee's book will rank among the greatest productions of the day on that question."--_cedar rapids gazette._ "the book is the result of extraordinary observation, great reading and careful study. * * * this element of completeness, of massing so much information between the covers of a book of ordinary size, makes it invaluable for reference. of all the many books called out by the agitation of the railroad question, this one will be oftenest referred to, not so much for its opinions as for its stores of facts."-- _davenport democrat._ "governor larrabee has always been a careful and conscientious student of the railroad question, and in exposing the abuses to which the railroad system has committed itself he renders a service from which the public may derive great benefit."--_good roads._ "the high character and well known reputation of the author will create a demand for this book, aside from the fact that it contains a vast amount of information as well as sound reasoning on the railroad question."--_american journal of politics._ "the author's attitude, while firm, is by no means a sinister or fantastic one. he writes obviously from honest conviction, and he writes with skill and force."--_philadelphia press._ "a temperate and instructive contribution to railroad literature."--_chicago times._ "a mine of facts gathered by a man who has made a specialty of his subject and who is evidently in earnest in his desire to lessen the burdens of the american people."--_san francisco chronicle._ "in point of authenticity the book is absolutely to be relied upon."--_st. louis post-dispatch._ "governor larrabee came to iowa before any railroad had reached the mississippi. engaging in manufacturing, the inconveniences which he suffered from want of transportation facilities instilled liberal opinions concerning railroads. he made private donations to new roads and he advocated public aid to them. as a legislator he introduced a bill authorizing a per cent. tax in aid of railroad construction. he believed that the common law and competition could be relied upon to correct abuses and to solve the rate problem. it has not been until since these efforts were made that he has become convinced, as he says in his preface, that 'where combination is possible competition is impossible.' the object of this work is explained to be to set forth the objections which lie against the management of railroads as private property. they are used by their managers for speculative purposes. they cannot perform their proper functions so long as they are used only for the interests of their stockholders. in order to serve their real purpose, 'they must become in fact what they are in theory, highways to be controlled by the government as thoroughly and effectively as the common road, the turnpike and the ferry, the post-office and the custom-house.'"--_council bluffs nonpareil._ ="the railroad question"= may be ordered through any bookseller, or will be sent by mail to any address, on receipt of price, by the publishers. the schulte publishing company, dearborn street, chicago. +-----------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | roman numeral page numbers in the appendix | | have been changed to arabic numerals. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page ackworth changed to acworth | | page jerusalen changed to jerusalem | | page brundusium changed to brundisium | | page af changed to of | | page if changed to of | | page strasburg changed to strasbourg | | page pittsburg changed to pittsburgh | | page subsides changed to subsidies | | page williamston changed to williamstown | | page cabello changed to caballo | | page resolulution changed to resolution | | page prejudiee changed to prejudice | | page aquainted changed to acquainted | | page omiting changed to omitting | | page bastile changed to bastille | | page possiple changed to possible | | page is changed to it | | page their changed to there | | page cammerce changed to commerce | | page upan changed to upon | | page iujustice changed to injustice | | page eurpean changed to european | | page despatcher changed to dispatcher | | page despatcher changed to dispatcher | | page sante changed to santa | | page aquire changed to acquire | | page reasonaable changed to reasonable | | page addres changed to address | | page potuguese changed to portuguese | +-----------------------------------------------+ gambia by fred j. melville, president of the junior philatelic society. mdccccix--published--by--the melville--stamp--books, ,--strand,--london,--w.c. * * * * * [page ] introductory note. in collecting the stamps of gambia one cannot too strongly emphasise the necessity for guarding the stamps of the "cameo" series against deterioration by the pressure of the leaves in an ordinary unprotected album. in their pristine state with clear and bold embossing these stamps are of exceptional grace and beauty. sunk mounts or other similar contrivances, and a liberal use of tissue paper, should be utilised by the collector who desires to retain his specimens in their original state. a neat strip of card affixed to each side of the page in an ordinary album will have the effect of keeping the pages above from flattening out the embossing, but tissue paper should be used as an additional safeguard. we have to express thanks to mr. douglas ellis, vice-president of the junior philatelic society, for his notes on the postmarks--of which he has made a special study--and also for the loan of his entire collection of the stamps of gambia for reference and illustration; to mr. h. h. harland for a similar courtesy in the loan of his collection; to mr. w. h. peckitt for the loan of stamps for illustration; to mr. d. b. armstrong for interesting notes on the postal affairs of the colony; and to mr. s. r. turner for his diagrams. to the first two gentlemen we are also indebted for their kindness in undertaking the revision of the proofs of this handbook. [page ] table of contents. introductory note, chapter i. the colony and its posts, chapter ii. cameo issue of , chapter iii. issue of , chapter iv. issue of , chapter v. issue of - , chapter vi. queen's head series, , chapter vii. king's head series, - , chapter viii. provisional issue, , chapter ix. bibliography, chapter x. check list, appendix. notes on the postmarks, by douglas ellis, [page ] gambia. chapter i. the colony and its posts. the british west african possession known as the colony and protectorate of the gambia occupies a narrow strip of territory (averaging miles in width) on both sides of the gambia river. the territory comprises the settlement of st. mary, where the capital--bathurst--is situated, british cambo, albreda, m'carthy's island and the ceded mile, a protectorate over a narrow band of land extending from cape st. mary for over miles along both banks of the river. the gambia river was discovered by a portuguese navigator in ; under a charter of queen elizabeth a company was formed to trade with the gambia in . in the reign of james ii. a fort was erected by british traders at the mouth of the river ( ), and for many years their only traffic was in slaves. the territory became recognised as a british possession under the treaty of versailles, and on the enforced liquidation of the chartered company it [page ] was incorporated with the crown as one of the west african settlements. until , when it was granted separate government, it was administered by the governor of sierra leone. in it was again annexed to sierra leone, and not until twenty years later was it created a separate crown colony with a governor and responsible government of its own. at present the staple trade of the colony is ground nuts, but efforts are being made to induce the natives to take up other products. postally there is little to record prior to , which is the date ascribed by mr. f. bisset archer, treasurer and postmaster-general, to an alteration in the scale of postage, the half ounce weight for letters being introduced. the rate to great britain was, we believe, from that date d. per half ounce. mr. archer also gives this year ( ) as the date when the first postage stamps of the colony were issued. this date was for a time accepted in the stamp catalogues, but it is now generally believed to be an error, the earliest records in the stamp journals of the period shewing the date to be . the postal notices we have been able to trace are of but little interest, the following being all that bear on matters of interest to collectors:-- post office notice. _reduction of postage, &c._ on and from the st april, , the postage to all parts of the world on letters, newspapers, books, etc., will be as follows:-- for letters, ½d. per ½ oz. for postcards, d. each. for reply postcards, d. each. [page ] for newspapers, books, printed papers, commercial papers, patterns and samples, ½d. per oz., with the postal union proviso of a minimum payment of ½d. for a packet of commercial papers, and of d. for a packet of patterns or samples. fee for registration of any of the above named articles, d. fee for the acknowledgment of the delivery of a registered article, ½d. by his excellency's command, (signed) j. h. finden, _postmaster._ post office, bathurst, gambia, _ rd march, ._ post office. ordinance no. of . _march th, ._ . this ordinance may be cited as the post office ordinance, , inland postal regulations. . from and after the commencement of this ordinance, postal packets may be sent by post between such places in the colony of the gambia and the protected territories adjacent thereto as may be from time to time notified by the administrator. . the administrator-in-council may from time to time make in relation to the inland post hereby established such regulations as he may think fit-- for prescribing and regulating the places, times, and modes of posting and delivery. for fixing the rates of postage to be payable on inland letters and postal packets. for prescribing payment of postage and regulating the mode thereof. for regulating the affixing of postage stamps. for prescribing and regulating the payment again of postage in case of redirection. for regulating the dimensions and maximum weight of packet. [page ] for prohibiting or restricting the printing or writing of marks or communications or words. for prohibiting enclosures. for restricting the sending or conveyance of inland letters. and such other regulations as the administrator shall from time to time consider desirable for the more efficient working of such inland post. and may affix a penalty not exceeding ten pounds, to be recovered summarily before the chief magistrate, or two justices of the peace, or, in default of payment, imprisonment not exceeding two weeks for a contravention of any such regulation. . any revenue derived from the inland post herein established shall be paid into the colonial treasury at such times and in such a manner as the administrator shall direct, and shall be applied to the general purposes of the colony. insurance of and compensation for loss and damage to parcels. . subject to the provisions of this ordinance, if any article of pecuniary value enclosed in, or forming part of, a parcel be lost or damaged whilst in the course of transmission through the post, it shall be lawful for the administrator to cause to be paid out of the public revenues of the colony to any person or persons who may, in the opinion of the postmaster, establish a reasonable claim to compensation (having regard to the nature of the article, the care with which it was packed, and other circumstances), the following rates of compensation-- (a) in respect of an uninsured parcel, such sum, not exceeding twenty shillings, as he may think just. (b) in respect of an insured parcel the following scale shall apply-- to secure compensation up to £ there shall be payable a fee of d " " " £ " " " ½d " " " £ " " " d " " " £ " " " / ½d " " " £ " " " / we gather from the official handbook edited by mr. archer that a government steamer maintains weekly [page ] communication between the capital, bathurst, and m'carthy's island both for passengers and mails. there is no house-to-house delivery of mails at either place. gambia joined the universal postal union on january st, ; the imperial penny postage rate was adopted from december th, ; and the unit of weight for colonial and foreign letter postage was raised from half an ounce to one ounce on october st, . the cash on delivery system was introduced on october th, . the following table gives an outline of the postal business, the large fluctuations in the revenue being chiefly due to the fluctuations in the demand for postage stamps from dealers and collectors:-- year revenue expenditure letters parcels ----------------------------------------------------------------- £ , , , , , , , , , , £ , , , [page ] chapter ii. "cameo" issue of . [illustration] the _philatelist_ for march , , contained the first intimation of the preparation of stamps for the colony of "gambia. "we are proud to announce the preparation of stamps for this african settlement. in a central circle is queen victoria's coroneted head in white relief; in straight bands above is gambia; below, the value, which, as well as the spandril ornamentation, is embossed in white. the stamp is nearly square, and the specimens possessed by our correspondent are imperforate. values: pence, deep brown. " " blue." [page ] the stamps were manufactured by messrs. de la rue & co. by a double process of flat printing and of relief embossing, the flat printing being doubtless effected first and the embossing afterwards. this combination was unusually effective, and the finished stamps rank among the handsomest adhesive postage stamps known to collectors. as embossing evenly over a large area presented considerable difficulties, the plates were made up of fifteen stamps only, in three horizontal rows of five stamps. the plates for both processes evidently fitted each other with precision, though in the printing occasionally the embossing is slightly out of register. the paper is white wove and has no watermark, and the stamps were not perforated. there are two colours of the gum, one being the usual clear white: the other is a pale yellow colour, which may, however, be due to climatic influence, particularly as it is a noticeable feature of a number of the later issues. the colour of the d. value varies in shade from a deep chocolate brown to brown and pale brown. the d. is pale to deep blue. there is a quite pale shade which is very rarely met with, most of the so-called "pale blue" specimens being an intermediate shade better described as "blue." the sheets of both values shew one printer's guide dot in each side margin, opposite stamps no. and respectively (plate i). both values are known with the embossing shewing a distinct double impression. there are some peculiarities in these stamps which, although their significance is uncertain, it may not be well to overlook. [page ] firstly, there frequently occurs throughout the embossed stamps of gambia a small spot of colour on the back hair, which in later embossed stamps becomes a large spot, and even develops into a coloured indentation from the coloured circular ground. in this issue the spot, when it occurs, is usually quite small, two copies of the d. examined shewing it somewhat enlarged. secondly, there are noticeable varieties of the pendant curl at the back. the normal design shews a fairly thick wavy curl with a hair branching out from it into the space between the curl and the neck. this sub-curl, as we may call it, is occasionally missing, broken, or as in no. on the imperforate d. sheet (plate i), the curl and sub-curl have joined together, giving a very different appearance to the back hair. there are also varying lengths of the main curl. in the sheet of the d. value the plates seem to have been slightly defective, and there is a gentle slope down from the centre to the outside stamp on each side (nos. and ), the slope being more pronounced on no. , where the upper label containing the word gambia is recognised as the variety with slanting label. the left side of stamp is ½mm. high, and the right side mm. that the peculiarity occurs reversed on stamp no. , though it is less pronounced, there can be no doubt. in later issues both stamps and shew the defect more prominently, as will be readily seen from an examination of plates i., x., and xi. curiously enough, the fault is not confined to the two outside stamps, as is generally supposed. the trouble is in the entire top row being ½mm. taller than the normal stamps of rows and , except the left and right sides [page ] respectively of the end stamps (nos. and ). the middle stamp of the top row shews a further peculiarity in the shape of the base of the neck. (compare plates i., x., xi., with xiv.) copies of both values exist overprinted specimen, and we have seen similar copies of all the regular issues of this colony. [illustration] [page ] chapter iii. issue of . the introduction of watermarked paper for these stamps occurred in , the paper being that familiar to collectors of british colonial stamps as watermarked "crown c.c." the paper was not readily adaptable for the small sheets of the gambia stamps, and the method of cutting it to suitable sizes for these sheets has produced some varieties for the specialist. major evans, writing in the _philatelic record_ for january, , says:-- "most collectors are probably aware that the stamps of the british colonies printed in england are, as a rule, in sheets of , divided into four panes of , each pane consisting of ten horizontal rows of six stamps. the crown and c.c. watermarks are arranged in the same manner upon the sheet of paper; each pane is enclosed in a single-lined frame. down the centre of the sheet is a blank space of about half an inch wide; across the centre is a wider space, watermarked with the words crown colonies, which are also repeated twice along each side of the sheet. "some of my readers may have noticed that the watermark is not always very clearly shown in the gambia stamps. this is due partly to the fact of their being embossed, and partly to [page ] their being arranged in small blocks of fifteen--three horizontal rows of five--so that a row of five stamps is printed on a row of six watermarks, and in most cases a complete watermark is not found on any one of the stamps in a block. very frequently the upper and lower blocks on a sheet encroach on the margins, and consequently some of the stamps show portions of the words crown colonies in watermark; and i have seen a block which had been printed in the centre of one side of a sheet, and the middle row of which was watermarked colonies, while the upper and lower rows bore the crown and c.c. recent printings of some of the values of gambia show the blocks printed sideways on the sheet, in which case each stamp will not show a complete watermark; and of these again i have seen a block with the vertical division of the sheet running across the central row." in addition the stamps have been found with the watermark reversed, indicating that occasionally a sheet has been fed into the press the wrong side up. inverted watermarks of this crown and c.c. type are also to be found. of this issue, which comprises the same two values-- d. brown and d. blue, imperforate--we get the following variations in the watermark-- crown c.c. upright (fig. a). " inverted (fig. c). " reversed (fig. b). portions of the words crown colonies. bars (i.e., division lines of the panes). the gum shews the same variation--white and yellow--as in the original issue. the d. stamp varies in colour from deep brown to pale brown; the d. deep blue to blue, the solid colour in this case presenting a very mottled appearance. again, both values are known with the embossing doubly impressed. [page ] very few copies of the d. of this issue examined shew the spot on the hair, but in the sheet of the d. (plate i.) there are faint spots on stamps nos. , , , , and . no. on the same sheet shews the curl and sub-curl joined. the date of issue of these watermarked stamps is uncertain, but the d. was chronicled in _le timbre poste_ for december, . the d. was not recorded in any of the contemporary magazines, and was probably not issued until some time after the higher denomination. [illustration: fig. a.] [illustration: fig. b.] [illustration: fig. c.] [page ] chapter iv. issue of . together with a number of other colonial possessions, gambia was admitted to the universal postal union on january st, , and in june of the following year ( ) a more comprehensive series of postage stamps was issued, all modelled after the same fashion as the two denominations which had done service in the colony for the previous twelve years. the convenience of perforation was adopted at the same time. the new series comprised the following values, the shades being given in the approximate order of printings-- ½d. golden yellow, deep golden yellow, pale orange, vermilion, deep orange vermilion, citron,[ ] pale ochre.[ ] d. lake, deep lake. d. pale rose, rose, deep rose. d. pale ultramarine, deep ultramarine, deep blue. d. sepia brown, deep sepia brown. d. pale blue, blue, deep blue. s. bright green, deep green. [footnote : the ½d. citron and ½d. pale ochre are generally believed to be changelings, due to atmospheric or other influences after the stamps were printed.] [page ] [illustration: fig. d.] [illustration: fig. e.] the watermark on this issue appears variously upright or sideways, varieties of each being inverted. the normal "sideways" may be taken as from left to right. portions of the marginal lettering and the vertical division lines of the panes are also to be found. the following is a synopsis of these varieties-- crown c.c. vertical (fig. a). " " inverted (fig. c). " sideways (fig. d). " " inverted (fig. e). portions of words "crown colonies." division lines of the panes. the subject of perforations is of peculiar interest in this and the next issue of the stamps of gambia, as while to a certain extent the printings are to be differentiated by shade the chief distinctions may be made in the case of blocks and sheets by the perforations. at first the stamps were perforated by a single line machine gauging . a single line machine, as its name implies, simply makes a single long row of holes in one direction-- ................................................................. in the present case, where the sheets were so small, the row is much longer than necessary, so in the sheets it extends through the margins on all sides, as in plate ii. [page ] the horizontal rows may be perforated first (one row at a time), and then the sheet is turned sideways and the vertical divisions are similarly perforated. a peculiarity of this style of perforating machine is that the points where the vertical lines cross the horizontal lines rarely fail to fall foul of each other, and an effect is produced like this-- [illustration: single line perforation. note the crossing of perforated lines.] in this manner it is possible to tell blocks and pairs of this perforation without any side margins. single copies perforated in this manner can occasionally be detected by the distance between the vertical perforations. in the later perforation of this issue the distance is fixed (as will be shewn), and the distance is ½mm., [page ] measuring from perf. point to perf. point across the stamp. any stamp differing in width to any extent more than ½mm. from ½mm. may therefore be set down as perforated by the single line machine. we have seen all the values except the d. rose and /- green perforated by the single line machine, in practically every case the c.c. watermark being upright, the exception being a strip of three d. with the sideways watermark. all the sheets with this perforation appear to have one printer's guide dot in the centre of each side margin. the next form of perforating machine introduced in later printings of the crown and c.c. issue is known as a comb machine. the comb machine perforates three sides of a stamp at once, and the form of the first comb machine was arranged thus-- ............................................................... : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : the arrangement of the teeth of the comb fitted the arrangement of the panes of the regular colonial postage stamps printed by messrs. de la rue & co., the narrow spaced teeth in the centre marking the dividing space between two horizontal panes. in perforating the stamps of gambia in the small sheets of fifteen in three horizontal rows of five, both sides of the machine appear to have been used, the extreme end portion of the comb at either end running off the side margin of the small sheet. when the left portion of the machine was being used the sheet was [page ] inserted upright and the top row of stamps perforated first, the effect being that the top margin is not cut through by vertical perforations, and the bottom row is (see plate iii.). when the right-hand portion was in use the sheets appear to have been systematically inverted when placed in the machine. this left the bottom margin blank and the top margin cut through. had the sheet been simply inverted and perforated by the same portion of the machine, as already described, the narrow spaced teeth would have been produced on the left hand margin instead of the right. a comparison of plates iii. and vi. will shew that the narrow spacing is on the right in both cases, but in iii. the perforating has been started at the top on the left side of the machine, and in vi. from the bottom on the right side of the machine. it is possible that sheets exist with the narrow spaced lines of perforation on the left side. we have searched in vain for such varieties, but they may exist. a sheet inverted when placed on the left side of the machine would shew the top margin perforated through, and narrow spaced perforation to left; while a sheet inserted top first on the right hand side would leave the top margin blank and the bottom one perforated through, and the narrow spaced perforation to left. this comb generally perforates so evenly that there is no clashing of the perforations where the lines meet. occasionally, however, a sheet may get off the straight and an irregular perforation occurs. the sheets perforated in this machine generally have one guide dot in the left margin, and three at the right (see sheets iii.-vii., ix.-xi., xiv., xv.). [page ] [illustration: comb perforation. compare crossing of perforated lines with illustration on page .] the ½d. pale orange vermilion exists doubly perforated at the top and sides. a minor variety of the d. rose shews a small white spot ½mm. from the nose. the stamp is no. on the sheet. the variety has been noted on several (not all) the sheets of this value, and in various blocks, pairs and singles. the left and right hand top stamps ( and ) of the d. value shew the sloping label, which is now very prominent (see plate x.). all the values shew variations in the marks on the back hair and in the curls. [page ] chapter v. issue of - . in a number of the stamps began to appear on the paper watermarked crown c.a., the initials of "crown agents." the colours were changed, and a new value inscribed " ½ penny" on the value tablet was added. the values and colours are-- ½d. grey-green, myrtle-green (shades). d. carmine, rose-carmine, crimson. d. orange-yellow, orange, deep orange. ½d. pale ultramarine, deep ultramarine. d. grey, slate-grey, pearl-grey. d. brown, deep brown. d. olive-green, bronze-green, grey-green. s. violet, deep violet. all values exist with the embossing double; several with the embossing double, one of the impressions being inverted; part double and treble perforations; and the white and the yellow gum. the watermark crown c.a. is uniformly sideways in this issue, the normal position being from right to left (fig. f.), but it may be found inverted (fig. g.). [page ] [illustration: fig. f.] [illustration: fig. g.] the method of cutting up the sheets of crown c.a. paper was to guillotine the half sheets horizontally in half and then twice vertically, dividing each horizontal half into three small sheets, the half c.a. sheet of paper yielding six small gambia sheets (plates xii. and xiii.). the operators both at the guillotine and at the press seem to have taken the utmost care to arrange all the small sheets uniformly for passing through the press, as the varieties shewing the watermark from left to right are rare. the diagrams on plates xii. and xiii. will illustrate more clearly than a verbal explanation the precise method of dividing up the crown c.a. paper. the early printings of the crown c.a. issue were perforated with the comb machine described in the previous chapter, but in the later printings a new comb machine was introduced, which has not the narrow spaced teeth in the margin, and, consequently, has not the double row of perforation on the right hand margins of the sheets. the perforations produced by the two machines gauge the same, and are not distinguishable in single specimens or blocks, but only in sheets or specimens with pieces of margins. the effect of the two different combs on the sheet may be compared on the two sheets of the d. value illustrated on plates x. and xi. we may note (plate viii.) the second comb with the teeth extending [page ] through the top margin, leaving the bottom margin blank, shewing that some of the sheets were perforated from the bottom, which would produce this effect. unused imperforate copies exist of all values in the following shades-- imperforate ½d. grey-green. " d. pale crimson. " d. orange-yellow. " ½d. pale ultramarine. " d. pearl-grey. " d. brown. " d. slate-green. " s. deep violet. copies in trial colours, perforated instead of , exist as follows-- ½d. rose. ½d. violet. ½d. dull green. ½d. pale dull orange. d. olive-green. on some of the sheets of the ½d. value stamp shews a slightly elongated left stroke of the letter m in gambia; no. on the same sheet shews a similar defect in the right stroke of the letter. (see plate iii., which reproduction, however, only shews the variety on stamp .) stamps nos. , , on the same sheet illustrated shew a peculiarity in the form of a broken nose. we have not been able to trace other copies shewing a similar defect, so possibly it is simply due to over-inking or faulty inking of the colour plate. the plate of the d. was altered in the final printing, two additional printers' guide dots being added in the [page ] left margin, and the top and bottom dot on the right being removed (plate viii.). this was printed in pearl-grey only. the early printings of the d. value shew the sloping labels; they also shew the slight enlargement of the stamps in the top row. these varieties occur in the olive-green, bronze-green, and grey-green shades. later a new plate was made without the defect in the top row, and this was printed in grey-green only. (cp. plates xi. and xiv.) it may be noted that there are two varieties of the overprint on the specimen stamps of this series, one having the letters sloping upwards from left to right, the other being horizontal. [illustration] [page ] chapter vi. queen's head series, . [illustration] on the st january, , the following notice was issued in reference to the postage stamps of the colony:-- "withdrawal of present issue of gambia postage stamps. "on the st may, , the present issue, if not previously exhausted, of all denominations of postage stamps in the gambia that are then in the hands of the government will be destroyed, and a complete new set of stamps will then be put in circulation. "administrator's office, bathurst, gambia, _ st january, _." [page ] after being faithful for nearly thirty years to the graceful design of the "cameo" stamps the colony adopted the regular de la rue type printed from a general key plate which did duty for a number of colonial issues. essays were prepared by making impressions from this key plate, shewing the profile of the queen to left in a circle, and the words postage--postage at the sides, the top tablet being left blank for the name of the colony, and a space for the sexagonal tablet of value at bottom also being left blank. the essays consist of such impressions with the name gambia and the proposed values painted in by hand, to shew the approximate effect of the stamps which would be produced from this key plate. only a very few such essays are known. the values which were actually produced in the new series were-- ½d. dull green and green (plates and ). d. carmine and carmine (plate ). d. deep carmine and deep carmine (plate ). d. orange and mauve (plate ). ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine (plate ). d. mauve and pale ultramarine (plate ). d. deep mauve and deep ultramarine (plate ). d. brown and ultramarine (plate ). d. olive-green and carmine (plate ). s. violet and green (plate ). all the stamps were printed at two impressions, the general design being printed from the key plate, and the name gambia and the value tablet by a "duty" plate printed separately. in the ½d., d. and ½d. values, however, both key and duty plates were impressed in the same colour. the plates are constructed [page ] to print sheets of stamps, divided in two panes of stamps each. the plate number appears in the margin above and below each pane (plate xvi.). it consists of an uncoloured figure on a circular ground of colour, and is printed by the key plate. the plate numbered " " was used for all the values in the set, but later printings of the ½d., d. and d. were printed from plate iii. in the case of the ½d. and d. the printings from plate iii. do not shew any marked variation in shade; but in the case of the d. both the mauve and the ultramarine colours are distinctively deeper. the perforation throughout gauges ; the watermark is crown c.a. as in the last issue, but upright instead of sideways, as these postage--postage plates were constructed to fit the watermarked paper. [page ] chapter vii. king's head series, - . [illustration] the change from the queen's head type to the king's head type of design came in , the new general colonial key plate being used. it is numbered in a similar manner to the numbering on the queen's head plates. all the denominations in the previous set were repeated, and a s. value was added; later (may, ) three new stamps appeared of the face values s. d., s. d. and s. respectively. of these three denominations it is stated that only [ ] copies of each were printed. the stamps, which were perforated and were [page ] printed on the same paper (crown and c.a.) as the last issue, comprised the following values-- watermarked crown c.a. [illustration] ½d. green and green. d. carmine and carmine. d. orange and mauve. ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine. d. magenta and ultramarine. d. brown and ultramarine. d. sage-green and carmine. s. violet and green. s. d. green and carmine on yellow paper. s. deep slate and orange. s. d. purple and brown on yellow paper. s. carmine and green on yellow paper. [footnote : compare numbers overprinted in (chapter viii.).] [illustration] in may, , appeared also three new values printed on multiple crown c.a. paper, each stamp shewing portions of two or more watermark designs instead of one more or less complete design as heretofore. the new values were the d., ½d. and d. these being rather unusual denominations, their appearance caused considerable ferment among collectors, who ascribed their issue to motives not strictly associated with legitimate postal business. reference to the post office ordinance no. of (quoted in chapter i.) will shew that the fees for insured parcels in force in the gambia were d. for compensation up to £ , ½d. up to £ , and d. up to £ ; so it is not unreasonable if, as one may assume, the colonists availed themselves of these rates of insurance, that there was a use for such denominations. [page ] the new multiple watermarked paper had been adopted for the d. value in , and was during - introduced for all the regular denominations except the s. d., s. d. and s. on this paper, therefore, we get the following-- multiple crown c.a. ½d. green and green. d. carmine and carmine. d. orange and mauve. ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine. d. magenta and ultramarine. d. brown and ultramarine. d. grey and black. d. sage-green and carmine. ½d. green and carmine. d. olive-brown and carmine. s. violet and green. s. deep slate and orange. [illustration] [page ] chapter viii. provisional issue . [illustration] the next and only remaining issue we have to describe are in the nature of provisionals issued during a temporary shortage of halfpenny and penny stamps. the bathurst correspondent of _ewen's weekly stamp news_, writing april , , communicated the following information, which is published in the issue of that journal for may , :-- "the surcharged penny and halfpenny postage stamps on the /- and / denominations respectively were issued on the [page ] th instant, and withdrawn on the rd april. the issue was necessary owing to a delay in receipt of a requisition for stamps sent to england on the th february, and by the abnormal sales, from some unknown reason, of the usual penny and halfpenny stamps during february and march. "a very small issue was made pending the arrival of the mail on the th, by which the indent above mentioned was received. the total issue was penny and halfpenny." the stamps overprinted to provide these emergency supplies were the s. d. purple and brown on yellow paper, which was overprinted for the halfpenny, and the s. carmine and green on yellow paper for the penny overprint. the surcharging was effected in the colony. in the case of the ½d. the overprint consists of the word half penny in two lines of block capitals, and below this are two bars formed by ordinary printers' rules about ½mm. long cancelling the figures denoting the original value of the stamp. the type and rules were set up to overprint the stamps thirty at a time ( horizontal rows of stamps); thus the complete sheet of stamps had to pass four times through the press. there is a slight variation in the distance between the bottom of the letters comprising the word penny and the uppermost bar, in the third and fourth rows of the setting. in rows , and the bar is mm. away from the bottom of the type; in rows and it is only mm. distant. the first stamp in the second row of the setting is a variety in which the e of penny is broken and the word reads pfnny. the only other variety occurring in the setting is a slightly depressed y of penny. this occurs in the first stamp in the th row. [page ] the s. stamp was overprinted with the words "one penny" in one line of small capitals. the overprint was applied to a complete pane of stamps at a time, so that the entire sheet of was surcharged at two impressions instead of four, as in the ½d. on s. d. stamp. the only varieties which have been recorded of this one penny overprint are of slight defects, possibly occurring only in particular impressions. it, however, exists with the overprint double. the issue of these two provisional overprints, following upon the appearance in of the d., ½d. and d. stamps, brought a good deal of censure from philatelists, who considered that the colony was descending to undignified means of increasing the revenue by the sale of stamps to collectors. at the instance of lord crewe an inquiry has lately been held into the reasons for the emission of various colonial postage stamps, and the report of the governor of the gambia is quoted in the printed report of the commission:-- "the governor of the colony states that as the supply of the ½d. and d. stamps had been exhausted before the arrival of a new supply which had been ordered, no [regular] stamps of these denominations were available from the nd to the th april, letters requiring such postage being stamped 'postage paid.' the surcharged stamps were on sale from the th to the th of april, the date on which the new supply became available. a surplus was left over, which was destroyed with proper precautions." the unsold balance of the provisional ½d. stamps on hand was destroyed "under direction from the secretary of state and by a special board appointed by his excellency the acting governor" on october , . how small the "unsold balance" was is not stated. [page ] chapter ix. bibliography. index to the chief printed articles and papers in philatelic periodicals. abbreviations. a.j.p.--american journal of philately, nd series. e.w.s.n.--ewen's weekly stamp news. g.s.w.--gibbons stamp weekly. m.w.s.n.--mekeel's weekly stamp news. p.j.g.b.--philatelic journal of great britain. p.r.--philatelic record. p.s.--the postage stamp. s.--stamps. s.c.f.--stamp collectors' fortnightly. s.c.m.--stamp collectors' magazine. s.g.m.j.--stanley gibbons monthly journal. note.--roman figures thus--v.--denote the volume, and arabic figures-- --indicate the page. in a few cases the date takes the place of the volume number. in e.w.s.n. the number of the issue alone is given. colonial post offices commission [ward], g.s.w., ix., . contains the report of the governor of the gambia on the provisional stamps of . corrected plate, d., s.c.f., iii., . forgeries, d. [hilckes], s.c.f., ii., . [page ] general. the postage stamps, etc. ... of the british colonies, possessions and protectorates in africa. part ii., london, . the philatelic society's work on africa, pp. - , covers the issues of gambia adhesives from - ; also the postcards and reply paid cards. ---- s.g.m.j., vi., , ; [pemberton], p.j.g.b., xvii., ; [barnsdall], g.s.w., viii., , ; [nankivell], p.s., ii., ; a.j.p., iv., ; [lehner], s., i., ; [clark], s., i., , reprinted in m.w.s.n., x., . issue of , s.c.m., vii., . ---- date of [lehner], s., i., ; [nankivell], s., i., . minor varieties. sloping label. [hilckes], s.c.f., ii., . perforations [bacon], p.r., xxv., . *** plates. [napier & bacon], s.g.m.j., xiv., . *** plates. provisionals, e.w.s.n., , , , , , , . sheets [thiele], _the adhesive_, july, . speculation, s.c.f., vi., . values, s.c.f., vi., , . watermarks [evans], p.r., iv., . [page ] chapter x. check list. .--no watermark. imperforate. white gum. d. deep chocolate-brown. d. brown. d. pale brown. yellow gum. double embossing. d. deep blue. d. blue. yellow gum. label sloping to right. " " left. double embossing. .--watermarked vertically crown c.c. imperforate. white gum. d. deep brown. d. brown. d. pale brown. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " reversed. " inverted and reversed. " bars (division lines of the panes). " portions of words crown colonies. [page ] d. deep blue. d. blue. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " reversed. " inverted and reversed. " bars. " portions of words crown colonies. .--watermarked crown c.c. vertical. perf. . white gum. ½d. golden-yellow. ½d. deep golden-yellow, ½d. pale orange-vermilion. ½d. deep orange-vermilion. ½d. citron. ½d. pale ochre. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. single line perf. st comb perf. double perf. top and sides (pale orange-vermilion). d. lake. d. deep lake. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. single line perf. st comb perf. [page ] d. pale rose. d. rose. d. deep rose. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. ? single line perf. st comb perf. dot variety. d. pale ultramarine. d. deep ultramarine. d. deep blue. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. single line perf. st comb perf. d. sepia-brown. d. deep sepia-brown. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. single line perf. st comb perf. d. pale blue. d. blue. [page ] d. deep blue. slanting label to right. " " left. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. single line perf. (vertical watermark). " " (sideways watermark). st comb perf. s. bright green. s. deep green. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " sideways. " " inverted. " portions of words crown colonies. " division lines of the panes. ? single line perf. st comb perf. - .--watermarked crown c.a. sideways. comb perf. . ½d. grey-green. ½d. myrtle-green. double embossing. " " one inverted. yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (grey-green). treble perf. at bottom. left stroke of m long. right " " sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. [page ] d. carmine. d. rose-carmine. d. crimson. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (pale crimson). sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. d. orange-yellow. d. orange. d. deep orange. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (orange-yellow). sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. ½d. pale ultramarine. ½d. deep ultramarine. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (pale ultramarine). sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. d. grey. d. slate-grey. d. pearl-grey. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (pearl-grey). sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. final printing, guide dots in left margin (pearl-grey only). [page ] d. brown. d. deep brown. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark inverted. " portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (brown). sheets-- st comb perforation. d. olive-green. d. bronze-green. d. grey-green. label slanting to right. " " left. double embossing. yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (slate-green). sheets-- st and nd comb perforations. new plate without defective top row. s. violet (shades). s. deep violet. double embossing. " " one inverted (violet). yellow gum. watermark portions of words crown agents. " division lines of the panes. imperforate (deep violet). sheets-- st comb perforation. [page ] .--watermarked crown c.a. (upright). perf. . [note.--unless otherwise stated, the plate number is .] ½d. dull green and green (plates and ). d. carmine and carmine. d. deep carmine and deep carmine (plate ). d. orange and mauve. ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine. d. mauve and pale ultramarine. imperforate. d. deep purple and deep ultramarine (plate ). d. brown and ultramarine. d. olive-green and carmine. s. violet and green. - .--watermarked crown c.a. perf. . [printed from plate in each case.] ½d. green and green. d. carmine and carmine. d. orange and mauve. ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine. d. magenta and ultramarine. d. brown and ultramarine. d. sage-green and carmine. s. violet and green. s. d. green and carmine on yellow paper. s. deep slate and orange. s. d. purple and brown on yellow paper. s. carmine and green on yellow paper. [page ] - .--watermarked multiple crown c.a. perf. . ½d. green and green. d. carmine and carmine. d. orange and mauve. ½d. ultramarine and ultramarine. d. magenta and ultramarine. d. brown and ultramarine. d. grey and black. d. sage-green and carmine. ½d. green and carmine. d. olive-brown and carmine. s. violet and green. s. deep slate and orange. (april ).--provisional issue. overprinted in black. half penny on s. d. purple and brown on yellow paper. mm. between letters and bars. mm. " " depressed y in penny. one penny on s. carmine and green on yellow paper. double overprint. depressed y in penny. " e " [page ] appendix. notes on the postmarks. by douglas ellis. the first gambia stamps appeared early in , and postmarks of that year are usually composed of a circle with "gambia" across the centre in a straight line, and the date in two lines below and a control letter above. this postmark is usually in red, but is also found in black. it was apparently only in use for a short time, being superseded by a circular postmark of the same size, but with "gambia" at top and "paid" at bottom, both following the line of the circle. the day and month are in a straight line across the centre of the circle, with the year (last two figures only) below and a control letter above. this, in the early dated specimens, is a, followed by b and then c. the postmark is always in red down to the early part of . on the early imperforate stamps we find a similar postmark in black, but lettered "gambia" above and "unpaid" below. this was probably intended for use on letters posted without a stamp. the control letter is a. [page ] from to the gambia-paid postmark appears in black. the control letters are b or c. in this was superseded by a fresh cancellation with "bathurst" above and "gambia" below, both following the line of the circle, the date across the centre as before, and the control letter being c. the lettering may be found in two sizes; on one the distance between the b of bathurst and the g of gambia is mm. and on the other mm. in the control letter c was replaced by a six-pointed *, and this cancellation is still in use. about a special postmark for registered letters was brought into use, consisting of a large ellipse with "registered" above and "gambia" below, both following the line of curve, and with date in centre and control letter above, either b or c, the latter often being found reversed or upside down. this is still in use. from onwards stamps may be found cancelled with a circular postmark with "received" above and "gambia" below, and either a control letter c or a six-pointed *. possibly this was a fiscal cancellation wrongly used on postage stamps. most gambia stamps, from the c.c. perforated issue onwards, may be found with a cancellation consisting of seven parallel bars forming a circle of mm. diameter, the two outside bars being rounded off to form part of the circle. though this can be found on the last issue of queen's head stamps, it does not appear to be now used. on the and later issues we find a cancellation composed of four concentric circles, the diameter of the largest being mm. [page ] many letters appear to have been posted on board the mail steamer, or sent from the post office without the stamp being cancelled, as gambia stamps are found with the mail steamer postmark, which consists of two circles with "paquebot" above, and either "plymouth" or, "liverpool" below, both being between the two circles. the date, comprising not only the year and month but day and hour, is in three lines in the centre. many gambia stamps can also be found postmarked "freetown, sierra leone," or "registered, sierra leone," but as we have no record of gambia stamps being used to defray postage from sierra leone, we must conclude that they were sent on by a steamer which did not possess a post office, and cancelled at sierra leone before being shipped on the mail steamer. stamps of gambia can also occasionally be found with the postmark of the french colony of senegambia. * * * * * [illustration: plate i.-- d. imperforate.] [illustration: plate ii.--½d. single line perforation.] [illustration: plate iii.--½d. first comb perforation (points down).] [illustration: plate iv.-- d. first comb perforation.] [illustration: plate v.-- d. first comb perforation.] [illustration: plate vi.-- ½d. first comb perforation (points up).] [illustration: plate vii.-- d. first comb perforation. three guide dots to right.] [illustration: plate viii.-- d. second comb perforation. three guide dots to left.] [illustration: plate ix.-- d. first comb perforation.] [illustration: plate x.-- d. first comb perforation (sloping label stamps, and ).] [illustration: plate xi.-- d. second comb perforation (sloping label stamps, and ).] [illustration: plate xii.--diagram of an uncut sheet of "crown c.a." paper.] [illustration: plate xiii.--diagram showing method of cutting the "crown c.a." paper for the "cameo" stamps.] [illustration: plate xiv.-- d. new plate. without defective top row.] [illustration: plate xv.-- s. first comb perforation.] [illustration: plate xvi.-- ½d. complete sheet, shewing arrangement of panes, fitting half sheet of watermarked paper, which shews through the page from the back.] [illustration: n.b.--to be examined through the stamps on the other side of the plate.] produced from images generously made available by the kentuckiana digital library) a pioneer railway of the west by maude ward lafferty [illustration] this restoration of a portion of the original track of the lexington and ohio (now louisville and nashville) railroad laid at lexington in , is dedicated to those men of forethought and courage who were pioneers in railroad development in america. erected anno domini mcmxvi. dedication exercises a. m. may , college of mechanical and electrical engineering university of kentucky during the month of july, , there appeared in a local newspaper an account of the finding of "old rail stones" and "old strap iron rails" which had been used in the construction of the railroad generally known as "the old lexington and frankfort road," though it was incorporated under the name of the "lexington and ohio rail road." it is believed by many to have been the first railroad west of the alleghany mountains. be that as it may, the quaint and interesting relics had just been dug up that week by the workmen who were reconstructing the freight yards of the louisville and nashville railroad. the workmen were moving more recently laid tracks back to _the old original road bed of the pioneer railroad_, and in doing so they unearthed those curious relics of . although just starting that very day for a summer vacation, i hurried down town a little before train time, and went to the main street offices of the louisville and nashville railroad where the interesting relics were on display. as i stood gazing at that worn and rusty bar of iron with its single bent and rusty spike, i was whisked back across the years by some strange trick of memory and i saw, instead, a dimly lighted sick room, on a hot summer night--myself a little sufferer, and sitting beside me, fanning my fevered brow, my beloved father, who, notwithstanding the fatigue of a heavy and exacting practice sat thus night after night, soothing me to sleep by telling me entertaining stories of his youth, and as he was born one hundred and one years ago, the strange experiences of his boyhood were thrilling indeed to his youthful adorer. and so, i saw in my mind's eye that familiar room of my childhood--the open window, the breezes blowing the curtains to and fro, the moonlight casting strange shadows on the terrace outside, and i heard again that voice which has meant so much to me telling how "when the first railroad started" and all the people had gathered from far and near "to witness its departure," he and a group of fellow students from transylvania university, mounted on fast horses, galloped ahead "to see if the wonderful thing could round the curve without running off the track"; and how "it came in sight, thundering along, puffing out clouds of black smoke, the engineer adding to the confusion by incessantly blowing his shrill whistle," all of which so terrified his horse, he had great difficulty in keeping his seat, but yet, how tremendously impressed he was by the "gallant way in which the gentlemen seated in the coach raised their stovepipe hats in greeting as they passed by like a streak of lightning." he said the locomotive had been invented by his old friend tom barlow, in whose honor he had named our tom barlow, his favorite race horse. he also said the old locomotive looked like a "thresher engine mounted on a flat car," and that the coach was for all the world like an "omnibus with seats on top as well as inside," and furthermore, he added, when it had been proved safe he rode upon it himself, and then "rode home on horseback" (a distance of thirty miles) to tell his mother all about it. and this was all that was left of that wonderful thing, this bit of scrap iron and a few stone sills! finding myself gazing vacantly at that relic of the past, and that people were noting my abstraction, i hastily gathered myself together and crossing the street to our beautiful union station, i started on my journey. in a magnificent chair car, luxuriously furnished and upholstered, a liveried porter raised the windows and adjusted screens, turned on an electric fan, offered me the latest magazines and papers fresh from the press, placed a footstool at my feet and a cushion at my back. my safety was provided for by double tracking and unseen but perfectly trained employees, but neither the reading matter in my lap, the comfort of my surroundings, nor the always charming scenery from the car window, could drive from my thoughts the quaint old railroad; and when i came back to lexington in the fall, in my eager desire to know more about it, i immediately began my research which has grown into this history of "a pioneer railway of the west." maude ward lafferty. the first locomotive engine in the world was built just one hundred years ago by george stephenson and used at newcastle, england, at the killingworth colliery. according to the encyclopedia britannica _railways_ had their origin in _tramways_ which were used more than two hundred years ago in the mining districts of england to carry their output of coal to the sea. the stockton and darlington railway, about thirty-eight miles in length, was operating a locomotive driven by stephenson, with a signalman on horseback, in advance, in . the passenger coach in this instance was named the "experiment," and carried six persons inside and from fifteen to twenty persons outside. but it was the year , which became famous in the annals of railways, not only for the opening of the liverpool and manchester line, but for the invention and construction of the first high speed locomotive of the standard modern type. robert stephenson's engine, "the rocket," was made under competition for the liverpool and manchester railway and it gained the prize of five hundred pounds for lightness, power and speed, awarded by the directors. first railroads and locomotives in the united states. the newspapers of that period were filled with the wonderful "performance" of the liverpool and manchester railway and the people of the united states, as well as those of great britain, became interested in the question of railroad transportation. as early as charters were obtained in several eastern states and railroad companies organized. the first locomotive engine used in this country was operated on the delaware and hudson canal company's railroad between the mines at carbondale and the town of honesdale, pennsylvania. this locomotive was built at stourbridge, england, and made its trial trip in august, . kentucky's first railroad. kentucky, which was one of the leading states in the union in those days in all progressive movements, was wide awake to the great advantages to be gained by railroad transportation. and lexington, which seems to have been the "self-starter" of kentucky, was aroused to the highest pitch of excitement. the various "performances" of the english railroads were published at length in the kentucky gazette, and the observer and reporter. lexington was the very heart of the great blue grass region of kentucky. the amazing richness of the soil had lured the first settlers from the safety of their transmontane homes to the hardships of indian fighting and primitive living. here they had built an ideal city adorned with beautiful colonial homes; established the first great seat of learning west of the alleghanies; built the first insane asylum; started the first newspaper; established the first public library, and surrounded by culture, wealth and refinement, with every want seemingly supplied and every wish apparently gratified, their business men declared there was yet one thing lacking--they needed an outlet to some great water course. the town branch was beautiful to look upon and a never-failing delight to those first inhabitants but useless for navigation. their bountiful crops demanded transportation to the markets of the world. and now, like a miracle to solve their difficulties came this railroad proposition. they read the local papers with interest, discussed the question at public meetings, sent a man to england to obtain all available information concerning it, and with a push and energy which would startle the town today, they set to work to obtain a charter from the kentucky legislature, then in its session of - , asking for a railroad from lexington, kentucky, _to some point_ on the ohio river. * * * * * the reporter for february rd, , _just one week_ after the charter was obtained, had the following article: "as considerable interest has been excited in this community on the subject of railroads by the act of the legislature authorizing the formation of a company to make one from this town to the ohio river, we have copied into this paper several articles going to show their immense utility and importance. however great the advantages of railroads may be to any country we are convinced that there is none where this beneficial influence could be more intensely experienced than in this section of kentucky." * * * * * then follows a notice calling attention to section i of the charter and asking that subscription books be opened. on monday, february th, , _just eleven days_ after the charter was obtained, the books were opened at brennan's tavern from ten a.m. until two p.m. on five successive days. and in this incredibly short space of time the money was raised by those public spirited, enterprising men. what a magnificent achievement! digressing a moment here, it must be remembered that brennan's tavern, which plays so conspicuous a part in this history of the railroad, was none other than the famous old postlethwaite's tavern, known to us as the phoenix hotel, which has been making history for lexington since . at this particular time it was leased and conducted by mr. brennan, and so took his name for the time being. * * * * * in the next issue of the reporter, february th, , we find: "agreeable to the notice published in our last, the subscription books for stock in this company were opened on monday last, and before two o'clock p.m., the amount of stock subscribed was for $ , . we have procured the following list of the names of the subscribers with the sums subscribed by each respectively, which we publish by way of showing to those who are yet in doubt as to the practicability and policy of this work, how the subject is viewed by men of practical experience." then follows a list of twenty-two subscribers. "these liberal subscriptions by persons who have carefully investigated the subject afford conclusive proof that they consider the project not only a feasible one but one that offers to the capitalist an opportunity for a profitable investment of funds. they have doubtless taken into consideration the peculiar advantages of the country in which the road will be located. * * * it is impossible to imagine the full extent of the varied mutual influences which the prosperity of this section of the country and the rail road will exert, all tending to the convenience, wealth and happiness of the community. * * * p. s.--at the closing of the books at two p.m. on tuesday, the following additional subscriptions had been taken." (follows a list of forty-two subscribers.) "which makes a total amount of $ , ; $ , being all that is necessary to vest corporate rights. "at a meeting assembled for the purpose, mr. elisha i. winter was elected president and john brand, benjamin gratz, george boswell, walter dunn, richard higgins, henry clay, joseph bruen, henry c. payne, elisha warfield, benjamin dudley and charlton hunt, directors of the lexington and ohio rail road co." construction. the succeeding newspapers published a great deal on construction, and when it is remembered that all of it was experimental at that time, it will be interesting to note that the lexington and ohio railroad company, patterned most closely after the english models, undertaking, however, to improve upon them by the use of our native limestone sills which they believed to be indestructible and found, to their sorrow, to be most perishable. the reporter of november th, , says: "a great deal of information on the subject of rail roads has been disseminated by public spirited individuals in the course of the past two or three years. a number of such works have been projected in the united states and some of them completed within that period. the baltimore and ohio is first and most important in every point of view. to the efforts of the enterprising directors and stockholders of that company, we shall be indebted for the creation in a short period of time of a greater extent of railway communication between the several parts of the union than centuries have produced of artificial or canal navigation. we firmly believe that the digging of canals in all parts of the country will cease and that many now in use will be abandoned and railroads substituted in place of them. * * * * * as to the mode of construction--the route is selected upon a minute survey, with as little elevation as possible, with a view to economy--the line is then graded by excavating the earth to near a level, say feet slope to the mile. the excavation for a single line of rails need not be more than one-third the width of a turnpike and, of course, this part of the work is proportionately cheaper than grading for a turnpike. large pieces of limestone, two feet or more in length and from to inches thick, made straight on the upper edge, are then firmly imbedded along the graduated road in two lines, feet inches apart. on these lines of stone sills are laid iron bars or rails, inches wide, - / inches thick, fastened with iron bolts. bridges to pass water courses and drains to carry off the water are to be made in the common way. * * * the work is now done. as to its cost--unless the route be through hills and vallies and, of course, a very unfavorable one, the necessary grading of a narrow line for a railway will not cost more than the like work for a wide turnpike. * * * the next item of expense is stone work. the stone sills will cost cents per foot, or $ , per mile for two rows. the iron rails and bolts will cost $ per ton, or $ per mile, allowing tons which will do, fastening the same from to $ a mile. * * * no greater difficulty exists in fixing the precise cost of a railway than of a house of given dimensions or of a brick wall. in reference to the lexington and ohio railroad the requisite data to form true estimates of the cost of each separate mile will soon be in possession of the company. the engineers are of the opinion that it is throughout an eligible cheap line. the whole cost then is less than $ , a mile." * * * * * the reporter of december st, , makes an interesting correction: "in speaking in our last of the iron rails, we should have described them as _half an inch_ thick instead of an inch and a half. the engineers have run the experimental line on a grade thirty feet to the mile instead of fifty feet as we supposed. a locomotive engine will act advantageously upon a grade of forty feet or more, but the country between lexington and louisville will admit of as low a grade as thirty feet without expensive excavations or embankments, there being no natural obstacle on the whole line except at frankfort where an inclined plane and stationary power will be required to reach the kentucky river." * * * * * in the issue of march th, , the reporter makes an interesting calculation, proving in dollars and cents the value of the prospective railroad. it says: "it appears by a statement of the performance on the liverpool and manchester railway that an engine has transported tons of freight miles in one day, making six trips between the two towns, and that on the next day, the steam engine travelled miles with similar loads. the transportation of tons in miles is equivalent to the conveyance of one ton miles. now, if as it is stated, the cost of fuel, oil, attendance and all other charges requisite to the operations of a locomotive engine be only $ a day, it follows that when once a rail road is completed and all its machinery prepared for operations tons may be transported one mile for $ . , or tons one mile for - / cents. when these results are applied to our own road it will be seen that estimating ten barrels of flour for a ton, the transportation of barrels miles would cost - / cents. it is true that no one can suppose that this full result can ever be reduced to continued practice but the simple fact of its having once been accomplished will be sufficient to place rail roads far above all other artificial means of transportation. at the same time it should not be forgotten that the wagons on the liverpool and manchester rail road are of the old construction and are known to require double the power to draw them that the wagons do on our rail road." * * * * * "our stockholders" pushed the work on "our rail road" with all speed; the engineer submitted his report, and from the kentucky reporter, september st, , we find: "the examinations of the route for the rail road from lexington to the ohio river has been made as far as frankfort which exhibit the following results: . there will be one inclined plane at frankfort about feet long, descending one foot in fourteen. all the residue of the road can be graded to feet or less in a mile which is a fraction over one-fifteenth of an inch rise in a foot. . on that grade there will be no "cut" deeper than feet at the apex and but one of that depth. . there will be no embankment over feet high, no bridge over feet high. . the distance to frankfort will not be increased two miles in length over the present travelled road. . there will not be as much rock excavation in the grading as will be required to construct the road. . on the thirty feet grade which has been tentatively adopted, a single horse is capable of travelling with seven tons weight with as much ease as five horses can draw two tons on our present roads in their best condition. hence it follows that one man and two horses can transport on the railway as much weight in the same time as horses and seven men on our present roads." * * * * * that part of the road from lexington to villa grove, six miles west of lex. was known as the "first division"; from villa grove to frankfort was designated "second division." * * * * * mr. kneass, the chief engineer, submitted "a grade table and a table exhibiting the length of straight line, length of curve and radius of curvature" to the directors on october th, . * * * * * john holburn and company were employed to furnish stone rail sills at - / cents per perch. * * * * * on april th, , the reporter, which by the way, was known as "mr. clay's organ," gives a most entertaining description of a directors meeting. it says: "the stockholders of the lexington and ohio rail road company met at the court house in lexington on saturday last. h. clay was called to the chair and h. i. bodley acted as secretary. the meeting was large, most of the stockholders, representing upwards of six hundred thousand dollars, were present. the stockholders at louisville were represented by messrs. j. s. snead, b. lawrence, s. s. nicholas, j. i. jacob and george keats. mr. e. i. winter (president of the company) addressed the meeting an hour and a half. he described the route as surveyed by mr. kneass, the engineer, entered into explanations respecting the estimates and made various calculations as to the probable cost of the work. he presented a very satisfactory and clear view of the means of the company--its flattering prospects--the great resources of this section of the country &c. after much discussion it was _resolved_--that the directors of the lexington and ohio rail road company be requested to take measures to put a proportion of the road under contract, not exceeding eight miles at louisville and seven at lexington, provided the same can be done at a cost not exceeding by per cent the estimate made by mr. kneass, engineer. _resolved_--that the directors be authorized to call from the stockholders a sum not exceeding $ , pro rata. for the completion of the miles of road named in the foregoing resolution, in such proportion and at such times as the exigencies of the company may require, and that they are not authorized to extend their expenditures beyond the said $ , until after the stockholders shall have been legally convened and a report laid before them of the progress made in the work." "the meeting then adjourned, but before the company dispersed a number of persons came forward and entered their names for stock. the stockholders dined together with the louisville delegation at postlethwaite's inn. we congratulate the friends of this noble enterprise on the results of the meeting. we especially congratulate the citizens of lexington on the bright prospects ahead--the '_winter_ of their discontent being made glorious summer'--by the proceedings of this glorious day." the trustees of the town of lexington later took $ , worth of stock. * * * * * at last the great day arrived for the laying of the first rail stone, and the lexington observer of october th, , gives a brilliant description of this most momentous occurrence. gives it with a vividness which brings the picture so clearly before the reader that in spite of himself he joins the merry throng and takes his place in the spectacular parade which marks a new epoch in the history of lexington. the observer says: laying first rail stone. "agreeable to the arrangements published in our last paper the ceremony of laying the first rail stone of the lexington and ohio rail road, was performed in the presence of a large concourse of citizens and strangers on saturday last. at o'clock the three military companies which formed the escort marched from their place of rendezvous to the college lawn, where they were met by the various societies and individuals named in the order of the marshal. the procession was then formed in the following order-- col. leslie combs, marshall, with j. b. coleman, esq., (his aid) on horseback. maj. gen. pendleton and staff, on horseback. field officers and staff, on horseback. officers of the line--on foot. capt. hunt's artillery, in platoons. gov. metcalfe, supported by prof. caldwell, orator of the day, and rev. n. h. hall--officiating clergyman. judges underwood and buckner--court of appeals. judge hickey, fayette circuit court. hon. r. m. johnson, r. p. letcher, t. a. marshall, members of congress. several members of the kentucky legislature. capt. t. a. russell--ass't. marshal. president and directors lexington and ohio r. r. co. samuel h. kneass, chief engineer--his assistants and treasurer of the co. contractors and pioneers with their implements of labor. state board of internal improvement. president, engineers and directors of lexington and maysville turnpike road. mayor and aldermen of louisville (who did not come). capt. neet's rifle guards--in platoons. military band of music. trustees of the town of lexington and clerk. justices of fayette county court and clerk. trustees and professors of transylvania university. reverend clergy. surgeons and physicians. members of the bar and officers of fayette county court. union philosophical society of transylvania university. medical and law students. tutors and students of transylvania university. principal of preparatory department and pupils. principal and pupils of wentworth seminary. principal and tutors of shelby female academy and pupils. principal and professors of eclectic institute and pupils. strangers. stockholders of lexington and ohio r. r. co. capt. postlethwaite's light infantry company--in platoons. lieut.-col. a. stevens--ass't. marshal. citizens on foot. * * * * * "for many years we have not witnessed so imposing a pageant and never one more interesting. a federal salute was fired by capt. hunt's artillery at sunrise and seven guns when the first stone sill was laid, indicating the seven sections of the road under contract. the procession first moved in a circle around the lawn where it was formed at which time the bells in the various churches in town commenced a merry peal which continued until the procession reached the place where the ceremony was performed. the military escort then formed a hollow square within which the whole civic procession was enclosed. thousands of delighted and anxious spectators were on the outside, among whom we were gratified to see a large concourse of ladies for whose accommodation the marshal had directed the adjacent market house to be appropriated. a blessing on the stupendous undertaking was then invoked by the officiating clergyman, after which e. i. winter, esq., president of the company, handed a hammer to the governor of the state, who drove the nail attaching the first iron rail to the beginning stone sill. the music struck up "hail columbia" and afterwards "yankee doodle," which was played until the artillery ceased firing. prof. caldwell then delivered a highly interesting and appropriate address. the procession then returned to the university lawn after which the military marched to the arsenal and were dismissed, having received the thanks of the directors and president of the rail road and the compliments of the marshal for their excellent marching and exemplary good order on the occasion. the arrangements for this interesting ceremony were hurried perhaps by the zeal of those immediately concerned and a desire to proceed without further delay with the work. a little more time and a little more preparation would have been better but the whole proceeding was conducted very handsomely. the procession was very numerous. the streets through which the long line marched were crowded with spectators and every window and every balcony were filled with ladies. the military looked uncommonly well. the pupils of the various institutions wore appropriate badges. the ceremonies at the place of laying the corner stone were not tedious. the omission to prepare a rostrum for the orator was a grievous oversight--thousands were unable to hear the speech, but those who were more fortunate pronounced it appropriate and eloquent and considering the very short notice upon which it was prepared, the effort was worthy of the distinguished orator, which alone, is saying enough in praise. the prayer of the rev. mr. hall, by which the occasion was preceded, awakened the best feelings of the human heart. the governor and the president of the company quickly dispatched the duty assigned them and the procession moved from the ground in good order, nothing having occurred in the slightest degree unpleasant. all were happy that the good work was now in progress and delighted at the bright prospects now dawning upon the towns and country through which the road is to pass. owing to the short notice the expected guests from maysville and louisville did not attend but the company was honored with the presence of the governor and several distinguished members of congress and two of the judges of the court of appeals. these with other notable guests dined with the president, directors and stockholders at postlewaite's inn and during the even the governor visited the theater where he was received with many rounds of applause." * * * * * down in our hearts we are truly thankful for the present century and all its benefits and we would rather be plain kentucky people living today than any royalty in history. and yet when we read a great thrilling tale like this we cannot overcome a strange sense of loss, a feeling of regret that we too, could not have been there to see that wonderful pageant pass by. the military with its pomp and music; the professors and their students; the officials and the rank and file; the lawyers, and the doctors and the ministers; the contractors and "pioneers and their implements of labor"; the old, the young, the great, the small--all banded together in one great masterly pull for lexington! what a picture! what a privilege! what an inspiration! what would we not give to have seen it with our own eyes, to have applauded it with our own hands. and yet, perhaps that is what we are doing now, applauding and giving praise and credit to those splendid citizens whose generosity, foresight, energy and progressive public spirit made lexington a leading city of its day! but to return to our subject, the newspapers kept the people advised as to the progress of the work and the observer of february rd, , says: "those who feel an interest in this great work will be pleased to learn that the grading of the first six miles put under contract last fall is already in a state of much forwardness. the stones for the rail sills are excavated from a quarry a short distance below the city. the ease with which they are split out and fashioned into sills is truly surprising. they are about twelve inches wide and many of them are twenty or twenty-five feet in length." * * * * * and again on may th, -- "the grading of the first division of six miles is nearly completed. part of the iron rails for the first division have arrived at louisville from liverpool by way of new orleans, and the laying of the stone sills will be forthwith commenced." * * * * * the work progressed steadily in spite of many obstacles--chief of which seems to have been the indifference of louisville and lack of ready money, and so in the observer for march th, , there is an interesting and eloquent appeal: "to the citizens of lexington and fayette county-- "now is the time for every man, who is a man and will act like one, to come forward and put his shoulder to the wheel. the lexington and ohio rail road can be finished to frankfort before the st of november, , if those who are able will do their duty and take stock, or increase their present subscriptions. not one should hang back and let his neighbors do for him what he ought to do for himself. if he loves money, this is the way to improve his fortune; if he loves his country, this is the sure way to advance her power and glory. the work can be done and will be done in the time i have named if you are true to your best interests and will act promptly on this occasion. no time is to be lost--come all--come quickly. let us have no more theorizing but in its stead, efficient action." * * * * * and again in the same month the directors authorized the president, mr. elisha i. winter, to let the grading of the twenty-three sections of the "second division." the observer and reporter, june th, , says: "laying the stone sills is rather a tedious operation. messrs. holburn and benson, who are the contractors for this branch of the work deserve great praise for executing their contract not only faithfully but in a style of beauty and elegance of workmanship which has excited the admiration of all who have examined it. they are now putting in the iron rails and we hope it will not be long before the directors will have it in their power to gratify the universal anxiety which daily increases in intensity to behold the novel spectacle of a rail road carriage in rapid motion." this desire was soon gratified according to an article in the lexington observer dated august th, , and entitled "our rail road." it says: "a splendid car (the lexington and ohio) was placed on the rail road on thursday last. it made two trips, the distance the road is finished, having inside and outside about sixty passengers each trip. the crowd to witness the experiment was very great and we never saw spectators more delighted. the opening of the rail road from lexington to the ohio river will be the commencement of a new era in the history of kentucky. let unbelievers in the utility of rail roads witness but one experiment and their scepticism will soon vanish. "on tuesday the th the road we understand will be formally opened and the car afterwards kept constantly running for the accommodation of passengers. the governor of the state and the mayor and council of the city of louisville have been invited to be present on this occasion." * * * * * the observer and reporter of august th, , tells how "the lexington and ohio rail road was formally opened on yesterday. among the persons present was gov. metcalf. at twelve o'clock precisely the car left its moorings at the upper end of the lower market in fine style, having on board about passengers. the road is completed entirely only about one mile and a half from its termination in this city. other portions are in a state of great forwardness and will be ready for the car in a few days which will make the whole distance completed about miles. the car travels at the rate of about miles an hour." * * * * * how eagerly they longed for its completion, using it for pleasure trips when only a mile and a half was finished! and how quaintly they spoke of it leaving "its moorings" as though they were still thinking in terms of rivers and flat boats and steam boats, and could only describe it in river terms! and how they dignified it with capitals, it was always the rail road and the car--as if the very immensity of the undertaking demanded capital letters. to them the "rail road started" or "returned," or was "kept running," as in the article in the observer of august th, , which says: "two miles of the lexington and ohio rail road are now completed, and the splendid car, "lexington and ohio," is kept constantly running this distance to gratify those who feel an interest in rail roads, and are desirous of testing their utility. the car is sufficiently large to accommodate passengers and this number is drawn by one horse, with apparently as much ease and rapidity as the same animal would draw a light gig. the delight experienced at the sight of a car loaded by sixty passengers and drawn by one horse at the rate of ten miles an hour through a country where heretofore five miles per hour with one passenger to a horse has been thought good speed, is sufficient of itself to repay the beholder for the trouble of a journey of fifty miles. we understand a locomotive steam engine is now being constructed to be placed upon the road as soon as the distance is opened on the whole of the first division." * * * * * having always heard the old lexington and ohio road referred to as "the first rail road built west of the alleghany mountains," i was greatly surprised at this juncture to see how close the question of priority between it and the old pontchartrain railway really was and being unable to decide the question myself, i beg leave to lay the evidence before my readers and let them decide the matter according to their own judgment. mr. j. h. ellis, secretary of the louisville and nashville railroad, at a banquet in louisville in , when speaking of the oldest railroads built west of the alleghanies and south of the ohio river, said: "it is commonly believed that the oldest road is the lexington and ohio, so it may surprise you to know that in point of antiquity it is beaten by that little old pontchartrain railroad, charles marshall's darling, but by a remarkable coincidence, by only a week. for while the pontchartrain railroad company received its charter on january th, , that of the lexington and ohio railroad company is dated january th, . and in point of construction the latter likewise followed the pontchartrain." an article published in the lexington observer of october th, , taken from the new orleans emporium of september th, , says: "the beautiful locomotive pontchartrain recently received from england came up to the city this morning from the lake in a manner highly gratifying to the directors of the company, who were present and a large concourse of our citizens. it commences running monday next at o'clock. the mayor and city council are to be present and no doubt hundreds of our citizens will fill the train which will accommodate between three and four hundred people. this locomotive is said to be the most perfect and elegant in the union and that there are only two in england equal to it. the display will be at once beautiful and imposing and will no doubt attract thousands." at this time _our_ first locomotive was "in course of construction," as the observer and reporter of december th, , says in an editorial: "we yesterday had the pleasure of examining--at the machine shop of mr. bruen--a new locomotive engine constructed for the lexington and ohio rail road company. we understand the engine will be in readiness for an experiment on the rail road sometime next week." * * * * * it is evident therefore that the charter for the pontchartrain railroad was one week older than the charter of the lexington and ohio railroad. it is also evident that the lexington and ohio railroad was "formally opened august th, ," while the formal opening of the pontchartrain road did not occur until september th, , one month later than ours. it is true the pontchartrain opened with a real locomotive while the lexington and ohio road first used horse power. but it must also be remembered that the locomotive of the pontchartrain railroad was built in stourbridge, england, while the first locomotive for the lexington and ohio road was invented and built in lexington by two lexington men, thomas barlow and joseph bruen; that it was in course of construction at the time of the opening, and that it made its trial run march nd, , "from lexington towards frankfort."-- so far as i have been able to learn our locomotive was the first one built in the united states unless we except that of peter cooper, which is said never to have given satisfaction. * * * * * by the first of january, , the first railroad advertisement appeared headed: "traveling" on the lexington and ohio rail road the first six miles of the road being completed a passenger car will daily leave the lower market house for the end of the first division at - / o'clock a. m. and - / o'clock p.m. returning will leave the end of the division for lexington at o'clock a. m. and - / o'clock p.m. companies of or more can be accommodated with a private car by giving one hour's notice. office l. & o. rail road company january st, and so the rail road became a popular diversion, and the work was rapidly progressing all along the road toward frankfort. judging from an advertisement in the observer and reporter of february st, , some change in construction must have been contemplated for it states "sealed proposals will be received at the company's office until the th of april next for laying miles of the second division of the lexington and ohio rail road with stone sills, and miles with sleepers and strong-pieces of wood. (signed by) h. j. ranney, chief engineer." * * * * * professor muncey says: "in the 'second division' of the road wood sills--red cedar in most cases--were used in some places." it is interesting to note here that the baltimore and ohio railroad advised our promoters in the first place to use the wooden sills. quoting from the observer and reporter of march nd, , "the first six miles of the rail road is now in successful operation. the car for some time past has run regularly three times a day and is usually filled with passengers. it expedites the progress of mail about one hour each trip." time was become a matter to be reckoned with you see. * * * * * and in the same paper appeared the following modest announcement for which i had searched for days: "we are happy to learn that the steam locomotive constructed by our ingenious townsmen, mr. bruen, is hereafter to make regular trips on this road." the car driver was allowed a salary of $ . a month. he and his assistant were to handle the car and the horses, take up fares, handle baggage and carry the united states mail. * * * * * there is a quaint epitaph in an old scotch graveyard which says "good times and bad times and all times, get over"; and so it was with our great little railroad. its charter had boldly set the ohio river as its destination. on october st, , it timidly started "towards frankfort," and on january st, , it reached that fair city with a sigh of relief after many hardships had been endured and many obstacles overcome. the cholera scourge of had halted its progress, difficulties had arisen through bad calculations of its engineers, and money was often sorely needed. louisville seemed indifferent to its construction, being comfortably "seated" on the much coveted "water course." so the railroad stopped to rest at frankfort and stopped so long it became known as the "lexington and frankfort rail road." its arrival in frankfort was celebrated by a grand ball at brennan's (or postlethwaite's) which is glitteringly described in the gazette on january st, , as follows: "the fete given last night at brennan's hotel to the members of the legislature and to celebrate the opening of the rail road from here to frankfort was truly a most brilliant affair. the company bestowed just praises on the taste and munificence of mr. brennan, for the splendor and profusion of the supper and refreshments, which appeared as if "earth and sky and sea" had been plundered of their sweets. the company must have numbered from four to five hundred persons who were distributed in the various rooms of the basement story where dancing parties were kept up till two o'clock. like the brussells ball, we too had gathered from the capital-- 'her beauty and her chivalry, and bright the lamps shone over fair women and brave men, a thousand hearts beat happily; and when music arose with its voluptuous swell soft eyes looked love to eyes which spake again and all went merry as a marriage bell.' a majority of the members of both branches of the legislature were present on the occasion it is said, together with the mayor and council of lexington. for ourselves we did not play a part in the mazy dance but was content to look on others-- 'steer with care through all that glittering sea of gems and plumes and pearls and silks to where he deems it is his proper place to be dissolving in the waltz to some soft air or proudlier prancing with mercurial skill where science marshalls forth her own quadrille.'" the same paper contains an account of an "elegant new locomotive," which says: rail road. "an elegant new locomotive of improved model has been running on the lexington and ohio rail road for several days to frankfort. the success which has attended the experiment thus far equals the most sanguine hopes of the projectors. since the application of steam all doubts have been vanished, and we confess a very great change has been wrought in our own minds as to the utility and value of the undertaking. its advantages to the town are manifest now and if it should be completed to louisville it will be an immense advantage to the whole commonwealth and reflect the highest credit on those who have planned and executed it. its superiority over every other kind of locomotion will carry conviction to the minds of any who may doubt and convince the country of the absolute necessity of completing it, to which purpose the legislature will no doubt contribute largely. the trip from here to frankfort will occupy about two hours when the arrangements are complete." * * * * * this "new locomotive" may have been the "nottaway" or "the logan" or the "daniel boone." the latter, which was inclined to run behind time, was the butt of many jokes. one traveller is said to have asked "what is the matter, will we never arrive?" and another replied "let us ask the engineer to feed 'boone' another stick of cord wood, or we will never get there." capt. alfred pirtle, secretary of the filson club, says "the baldwin locomotive works have a record that they built an engine named 'daniel boone' for the lexington and ohio rail road in ." * * * * * the observer and reporter january th, , says: "several hundred of our citizens had the pleasure yesterday of witnessing a successful experiment on the rail road with the new locomotive. its performance justifies all our hopes. two burthen cars and the large passenger car filled with passengers were attached to the engine. it moved off with great ease clearly indicating its ability to perform all its requirements. every one who witnessed the experiment seemed to feel a high degree of patriotic enthusiasm that he lived in a city which had originated and thus far successfully prosecuted this magnificent and invaluable scheme. "we learn that the locomotive made the trip to the villa, a distance of six miles, in a little over minutes although badly provided with fuel." * * * * * the "success of the experiment" had an unfortunate set back, however, for in the observer and reporter, january , , is an account of the _accident_ which caused profound distress. "we have carefully prepared from authentic information the following account of the melancholy occurrences of yesterday. to allay public excitement and prevent misrepresentation or misapprehension of facts we consider it our duty to give as brief and accurate account as possible of those unfortunate accidents today which caused the death of two individuals and severe injuries to four others. "the splendid locomotive engine recently imported was placed on the road two or three days since and has made one or more pleasure trips each day to the villa ( miles) and back with perfect safety and entire success. this morning it performed the trip with one large passenger coach containing some fifty or sixty passengers, and one burden car also loaded, attached to it, in minutes going and about minutes returning without accident. this afternoon, as the engineer was proceeding from the car house a quarter of a mile below the depot in the city a number of boys were continually trying to jump upon the tender although repeatedly forbidden to do so, till finally while the locomotive was going at the rate of only about five or six miles per hour, a negro boy, or years of age, the property of mrs. ross, on attempting to jump on the fore part of the tender fell under it and was crushed to death. no possible blame can attach to the engineer as he stopped the moment he saw the boy fall, but was too late. he then came up slowly to the depot, both sides of the road being lined by hundreds of anxious spectators, and attached the locomotive to two burden cars and the large passenger coach, before mentioned, altogether containing, we suppose, over persons, in the following order: st--the engine and tender. nd--a common burden car with temporary benches to sit on but no side on front or rear railing to protect the passengers from falling or being pushed off; fastened with common trace chains by means of the centre beams to which the shafts are used fixed to the locomotive. rd--another common burthen car attached to the second as it was to the first giving to inches loose play forward and back but with only a single bench running through the centre from front to rear. no railing or other protection to the passengers, who were obliged to stand up, except a few standards along the sides for the purpose of hauling wood. th--the large passenger coach attached to the third as it was to the second. before starting, more than one gentleman who noticed the manner of attaching the cars, and the consequent jars which they would inevitably receive, made remarks as to the dangerous situation of the individuals crowded on the burden cars, but we made the trip down safely in minutes. after remaining to wood and water we started back with position reversed, the large passenger coach in front, then the two burthen cars following each other, and lastly the locomotive, each pushing forward the one in front of it, by pressing the end of the centre beams, some six inches square against each other, loosely attached as before described, by common trace chains. we had proceeded in this manner about a mile at a moderate pace when in passing a curve, the beam of the front burthen car was seen to pass to the right of the rear beam of the passenger car, which jerked the wheels off the track and caused a considerable shock and great alarm. some of the passengers on the two burthen cars attempted to jump off, the ground being nearly on a level with the road at that place; others, especially those standing in the forward burthen car were thrown backwards and knocked off, those near the edge of it under the wheels of the other; some attempted to leap on the bank, fell and rolled down, and thus all the mischief was done. lewis lankard and leonard taylor, of lexington, ky.; william a. cocke and joseph holt, of louisville; f. w. trapnall, of springfield, and daniel green, of fayette county, were in this way thrown off the forward burthen car and under the wheels of the other. lankard was instantly killed; taylor and green had each a leg broken; messrs. trapnall and holt had severe bruises and were probably saved by lankard's falling before them and in some measure stopping the car. mr. cocke had his right foot firmly fastened in the forward wheel of the hindmost car and was much injured and but for the presence of mind and promptness of the engineer in stopping at the moment must have lost his leg and most probably his life; another quarter turn of the wheel would have been fatal. he could only be released by taking that part of the car to pieces. several other gentlemen were bruised and slightly injured. none of the cars turned over and if the burthen cars had been substantially railed round or if only passenger cars had been used or all had been drawn and not pushed, nothing serious would have been the consequence. too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the engineer. although under considerable headway he stopped almost instantly and much sooner than a stage with horses could have been halted. may we now be permitted to make a single suggestion or two to the manager of the rail road? st--the number of passengers to go in each car should be limited. huddling numbers on the top is extremely hazardous. nd--unless a wire sieve is fastened over the top of the chimney of the engine we shall soon have some dwelling house, barn or other building near the road burnt down or the cars themselves set on fire. in conclusion we hope that the feeling of our citizens will not be again excited by the occurrence of such a painful and heart-rending accident as the one over which a number have been called to mourn, as we are confident that by proper management and strict attention it may be easily avoided." * * * * * now let us consider this first locomotive engine ever used on the lexington and ohio railroad. this locomotive was invented by thomas harris barlow (who afterward became world-famous as the inventor of the planetarium) and was constructed by joseph bruen at his machine shops which stood near the corner of water and spring streets. that wonderful little locomotive is described by one who saw it with his own eyes, who rode behind it often, and who knew the men who invented and constructed it quite intimately. the old gentleman i refer to was samuel d. mccullough, who was born in and who wrote his diary, which is now in the lexington public library, in . "mr. thomas harris barlow was born in nicholas county, kentucky, (says his son, milton, in a letter to me) august th, , and resided in the state of his birth till the last year or two of his life and died in cincinnati june, ." i shall condense mr. milton barlow's short biography of his father, which states that he had but a common school education. he was an industrious and even a hard working student of mechanism for which he had a wonderful natural gift, and which induced col. r. m. johnson to appoint him principal military artificer in his regiment. he was under fire in the battle of the thames ( ) where he distinguished himself for coolness and bravery. after his intermarriage with miss lizzie west he turned his attention to erecting flour, saw and other mills and building and overseeing their steam motive power. in he removed to lexington and opened a machine shop. "i remember myself all which followed and give my own recollections. believing that locomotives could be propelled at a greater velocity mr. barlow and mr. joseph bruen, another mechanical genius, built an engine to run on the new rail road, just started from this place towards frankfort, the finished portion of the road extending then but five miles from this city, and on which sunday pleasure cars were running drawn by two horses. the steam engine was an odd concern; not more than three or four feet high wheels, boiler and all; the pistons working perpendicularly; two cylinders _and a tongue in front to guide the steam wagon with the necessary pilot wheel with its tiller ropes_. i never knew what became of the engine but i have placed all that is left of the model in the museum of the eastern kentucky lunatic asylum along with the remnant of edward west's model steam engine for boats. mr. barlow and mr. bruen also built another small steam engine which ran on a miniature oval rail road, in the large room, third story of the factory, corner of water and rose streets, drawing after it a miniature car large enough to hold one grown person or two children. i paid my cents for a ride on it. the novelty of the occasion brought multitudes of citizens, male and female, to see it and as mr. barlow quaintly and truthfully observes, 'each of the visitors had to pay a small sum for the pleasure of riding on land by steam.' i give the following remark of mr. barlow, jr., just as he used it without stopping to inquire whether it be genuine or apocryphal. he says, 'this was the first steam locomotive engine ever made in america.' mr. barlow sold the miniature engine, car and wooden rails to mr. samuel robb, of this county, who exhibited the workings of them in in the cities of louisville, nashville, memphis, vicksburg, new orleans, in which city it was consumed by fire during the year . mr. barlow built another miniature engine for mr. rockhill who used it for exhibition. i wish it distinctly remembered so as not to confuse dates, that the first mattock struck and the first stone laid on the lexington and louisville rail road were done in lexington june rd, , the citizens, the free masons and the military assisting in the ceremonies which took place at the corner of water and upper streets, not ten feet from the present storage house of hayman and wooley. prof. charles caldwell, of transylvania medical school, made the address on the occasion. i remember again, that the model engine of mr. barlow and mr. bruen was run on the miniature rail road _three or four years before_ the first rail was laid on the track which was a flat iron rail on a stone sill. the great danger occurring continually from the ends of the flat rails turning upwards causing what was then called 'snake heads,' and the disintegration of the stone sills induced the directors to change both sills and rails to their present form. i recollect the old horse car running from here to frankfort and back to lexington. it was in , in company with my deceased friend, john j. crittenden, who with myself was watching a splendid comet in the north west during our ride, the horse cars were four hours in running the distance of twenty-four miles, or six miles an hour. upon arriving upon the hill near frankfort the passenger trains were sent down an inclined plane drawn by horses. several accidents occurred which afterwards induced the directors to change the route to a more circuitous and safer place, the road now in constant use. at frankfort the passengers for louisville took seats in five and six four-horse coaches, eighteen to twenty-four passengers each. the necessities of travel and commerce finally culminated in finishing the rail road to louisville. lexington and frankfort with the counties of fayette, woodford and franklin did their parts nobly, and louisville with that symptom of haggling so usual with her, finally was induced to help finish the road to that city. whilst upon the subject of inventors, inventions and rail roads, i may tell you that the two-horse-car ran from this city to frankfort over the 'flat iron' rail until -- when a little steam locomotive called the nottaway made one trip to frankfort and back the same day. it drew one passenger coach built by mr. ashton, the venerable coach builder of this city. the inside would accommodate about as many as a modern omnibus and seats on the top with an iron railing all around would seat as many more. i have an indistinct recollection where the baggage and mail matter were stored but i think they were given in charge of the engineer, who also in that capacity was baggage master and mail agent. i recollect distinctly the little locomotives, nottaway and logan. more than two-score times have i and other able bodied men gotten out of the passenger car when the locomotive was not able to pull the load over some slight elevation in the road and pushed passenger car and engine up the inclined plane of less than one degree inclination. when we arrived at the summit of the inclination, which was about nine miles from lexington in what was called the 'deep cut,' the engineer in the meantime having raised steam enough to carry passengers to the next slight ascension in the road, cried 'all aboard' and away we went. 'all out' was the engineer's next cry when he came to some slight ascension in the road. out we came and our shoulders were again applied to help the little locomotive out of its terrible difficulty. arriving at the top of the hill at frankfort from a four to six hours ride of twenty-four miles we met with two serious questions either to go down the inclined plane at nearly degrees inclination free of charge or take the hacks and carriages in waiting by paying cents extra. my old friend, rev. dr. r. j. breckinridge and myself not wishing to risk our lives on the incline plane took seats in a hack. i recollect dr. breckinridge's remark, when he paid his extra quarter for hack hire: 'i agree to pay $ . to be carried safely to frankfort. i pay this additional cents under protest as a swindle.' the driver 'took our monies and went his ways' and proceeded to collect cents from each passenger going into frankfort until some 'change' was made by the directors of the rail road." * * * * * mr. andy shepherd in an interview said he remembered the old locomotives daniel boone, logan and joe davis. he said the passenger coach was painted yellow. he described the first locomotive as having a tall smoke stack, a single wheel, and a crank axle, with no cab, the engineer standing unprotected through wind and weather. he said it required a cord of two-foot wood to make the trip from lexington to frankfort and return, that the engineer stopped at villa grove and at duckers "to wood and water." he said at first there was one passenger and one freight train a day, that freight came from cincinnati to frankfort by river, and from frankfort to lexington by rail. when asked where the headlight for the locomotive was, he replied: "they did not need a headlight because they only travelled by daylight." (and yet one of the english commentaries which had made deepest impression on the railroad promoters was that "locomotives can travel safely in the dark.") mr. shepherd said the old engines were finally sold for scrap iron, loaded on a flat car, and taken away. but the logan was sold to a coal mine. * * * * * the gazette, november th, , says: "there seems to be a perfect mania pervading the country on the subject of railroads. hardly a paper comes to hand but contains accounts of meetings held for the purpose of projecting one through some part or another." * * * * * and on january th, : "the mayor has called a meeting of the citizens of lex. and fayette co. on monday next at o'clock to take into consideration measures relative to the contemplated railroad from charleston, s. c., to the ohio river. the meeting will take place in a court house." * * * * * on january rd, : we learn that "the directors of the r. r. co. have declined bringing more fire wood to this city but have offered to the agents for procuring fuel the use of their road and wood cars free of expense for the transport of that article. the great quantity of freight at the depots rendering this course necessary on the part of the company." * * * * * on december th, , was an interesting article headed: rail road stock. "four shares of lex. and ohio r. r. stock were sold at public auction on monday last at $ . per share, next dividend off being one per cent advance. this is some evidence of the estimation in which this stock is held. the next dividend to be struck st january and to which the purchaser will not be entitled would probably have added about $ . per share. we repeat that the citizens of louisville do not duly appreciate the importance to their city of the completion of the road from thence to frankfort with as little delay as possible." * * * * * and in the same paper is an account of the sad fate of the attractive little villa: fire. "the neat little 'villa,' so tastefully erected by smith and rainey and kept for some time past by mr. clatterbuck, on the r. r., six miles from lex., was destroyed by fire on the night of monday last together with most of the furniture, liquors and a considerable sum of money. this misfortune will be seriously felt not only by mr. c----, but by the travellers on the r. r., who were always sure of a kind reception and the solace of a cup of hot sparkling coffee at daylight after making the first stop from lex. the benevolent we are sure will not be appealed to in vain to contribute something towards enabling mr. clatterbuck again to commence business. his loss in cash was about $ ." * * * * * and now i have told you all that i have been able to find concerning this old lexington and ohio railroad. i have traced its conception and birth, its construction and success. i have not the heart to tell you of its slow and lingering death, how it became antiquated, ridiculed, supplanted and re-constructed, how it was mortgaged and sold, and finally became merged into the great louisville and nashville system and how its very history became clouded in tradition. a hundred years by post a jubilee retrospect by j. wilson hyde author of 'the royal mail: its curiosities and romance' [illustration] london sampson low, marston and co., lim. st. dunstan's house fetter lane, fleet street, e.c. [_all rights reserved_] printed by t. and a. constable, printers to her majesty, at the edinburgh university press. to the right honourable henry cecil raikes, m.p. her majesty's postmaster-general, the following pages are, by permission, respectfully dedicated. preface. the following pages give some particulars of the changes that have taken place in the post office service during the past hundred years; and the matter may prove interesting, not only on account of the changes themselves, but in respect of the influence which the growing usefulness of the postal service must necessarily have upon almost every relation of political, educational, social, and commercial life. more especially may the subject be found attractive at the close of the present year, when the country has been celebrating the jubilee of the penny post. edinburgh, _december ._ contents. page _frontispiece_--mail-coach in thunderstorm. past and present contrasted, liberty of subject and public opinion, abuses of power, slow diffusion of news, _illustration_--analysis of london to edinburgh mail of d march , _facing_ state of roads and insecurity of travelling, foot and horse posts, _illustration_--the mail, , _facing_ the mail-coach era, _illustration_--the mail, , _facing_ _illustration_--modern mail "apparatus" for exchange of mails, _facing_ _illustration_--the mail-coach guard, _facing_ dear postage, _diagrams_--roundabout communications, , streets first numbered, postmasters as news collectors, _illustration_--the bellman, _facing_ mail-packet service, _illustration_--holyhead and kingstown packet "prince arthur," _facing_ penny postage, _illustration_--handbill used in penny postage agitation, _facing_ various business of the post office, staff of the post office, _illustration_--tontine reading-rooms glasgow, _facing_ value of early news by post, diffusion of parliamentary news by the telegraph and press, results of rapid communications, [illustration: _frontispiece._ mail-coach in thunderstorm. (_from a print, ._)] a hundred years by post. were a former inhabitant of this country who had quitted the stage of life towards the close of last century to reappear in our midst, he could not fail to be struck with the wonderful changes which have taken place in the aspect of things; in the methods of performing the tasks of daily life; and in the character of our social system generally. nor is it too much to say that he would see himself surrounded by a world full of enchantment, and that his senses of wonder and admiration would rival the feelings excited in youthful minds under the spell of books like jules verne's _journey to the moon_, or the ever-entertaining stories of the _arabian nights_. it is true that he would find the operations of nature going on as before. the dewdrop and the blade of grass, sunshine and shower, the movements of the tides, and the revolutions of the heavenly bodies; these would still appear to be the same. but almost everything to which man had been wont to put his hand would appear to bear the impress of some other hand; and a hundred avenues of thought opening to his bewildered sense would consign his inward man to the education of a second childhood. so fruitful has been the nineteenth century in discovery and invention, and so astounding the advancement made, that it is only by stopping in our madding haste and looking back that we can realise how different the present is from the past. yet to our imaginary friend's astonished perception, nothing, we venture to think, would come with greater force than the contrast between the means available for keeping up communications in his day and in our own. we are used to see trains coursing on the iron way at a speed of fifty or sixty miles an hour; steamships moving on every sea, defiant of tide and wind, at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour; and the electric telegraph outstripping all else, and practically annihilating time and space. but how different was the state of things at the close of the eighteenth century! the only means then available for home communications--that is for letters, etc.--were the foot messenger, the horse express, and the mail coach; and for communication with places beyond the sea, sailing-ships. the condition of things as then existing, and as reflected upon society, is thus summed up by mackenzie in his _history of the nineteenth century_: "men had scarcely the means to go from home beyond such trivial distance as they were able to accomplish on foot. human society was composed of a multitude of little communities, dwelling apart, mutually ignorant, and therefore cherishing mutual antipathies." and when persons did venture away from home, in the capacity of travellers, the entertainment they received in the hostelries, even in some of the larger towns, seems now rather remarkable. if anything surprises the traveller of these latter days, in regard to hotel accommodation, when business or pleasure takes him from the bosom of his family, it is the sumptuous character of the palaces in all the principal towns of all civilised countries wherein he may be received, and where he may make his temporary abode. to persons used to such comforts, the accommodation of the last century would excite surprise in quite another direction. here is a description of the inn accommodation of edinburgh, furnished by captain topham, who visited edinburgh in : "on my first arrival, my companion and self, after the fatigue of a long day's journey, were landed at one of these stable-keepers (for they have modesty enough to give themselves no higher denomination) in a part of the town called the pleasance; and, on entering the house, we were conducted by a poor devil of a girl, without shoes or stockings, and with only a single linsey-woolsey petticoat which just reached half-way to her ankles, into a room where about twenty scotch drovers had been regaling themselves with whisky and potatoes. you may guess our amazement when we were informed that this was the best inn in the metropolis--that we could have no beds unless we had an inclination to sleep together, and in the same room with the company which a stage-coach had that moment discharged." before proceeding further, let us look at some of the circumstances which were characteristic of the period with which we are dealing. liberty of the subject and public opinion are inseparably wedded together, and this seems inevitable in every country whose government partakes largely of the representative system. for in such states, unlike the conditions which obtain under despotic governments, the laws are formulated and amended in accordance with the views held for the time being by _the people_, the government merely acting as the agency through which the people's will is declared. and this being so, what is called the liberty of the subject must be that limited and circumscribed freedom allowed by the people collectively, as expressed in the term "public opinion," to the individual man. in despotic states the circumstances are necessarily different, and such states may be excluded from the present consideration. wherever there is wanting a quick and universal exchange of thought there can be no sound public opinion. where hindrances are placed upon the free exchange of views, either by heavy duties on newspapers, by dear postage, or by slow communications, public opinion must be a plant of low vitality and slow growth. consequently, in the age preceding that of steam, so far as applied to locomotion, and to the telegraph, which age extended well into the present century, there was no rapid exchange of thought; new ideas were of slow propagation; there was little of that intellectual friction so productive of intellectual light among the masses. in these circumstances it is not surprising to read of things existing within the last hundred years which to-day could have no place in our national existence. lord cockburn, in the _memorials of his time_, gives the following instance. "i knew a case, several years after ," says he, "where the seat-holders of a town church applied to government, which was the patron, for the promotion of the second clergyman, who had been giving great satisfaction for many years, and now, on the death of the first minister, it was wished that he should get the vacant place. the answer, written by a member of the cabinet, was that the single fact of the people having interfered so far as to express a wish was conclusive against what they desired; and another appointment was instantly made." going back a little more than a hundred years, the following are specimens of the abuses then in full vigour. they are referred to in trevelyan's _early history of charles james fox_, the period in question being about - : "one nobleman had eight thousand a year in sinecures, and the colonelcies of three regiments. another, an auditor of the exchequer, inside which he never looked, had £ in years of peace, and £ , in years of war. a third, with nothing to recommend him except his outward graces, bowed and whispered himself into four great employments, from which thirteen to fourteen hundred british guineas flowed month by month into the lap of his parisian mistress."... "george selwyn, who returned two members, and had something to say in the election of a third, was at one and the same time surveyor-general of crown lands, which he never surveyed, registrar in chancery at barbadoes, which he never visited, and surveyor of the meltings and clerk of the irons in the mint, where he showed himself once a week in order to eat a dinner which he ordered, but for which the nation paid." the shameful waste of the public money in the shape of hereditary pensions was still in vigour within the period we are dealing with; one small party in the state "calling the tune," and the great mass of the people, practically unrepresented, being left "to pay the piper." during the reign of george iii., who occupied the throne from to , the following hereditary pensions were granted:--to trustees for the use of william penn, and his heirs and descendants for ever, in consideration of his meritorious services and family losses from the american war £ . to lord rodney, and every the heirs-male to whom the title of lord rodney shall descend, £ . to earl morley and john campbell, esq., and their heirs and assignees for ever, upon trust for the representatives of jeffrey earl amherst, £ . to viscount exmouth and the heirs-male to whom the title shall descend £ . to earl nelson and the heirs-male to whom the title of earl nelson shall descend, with power of settling jointures out of the annuity, at no time exceeding £ a year, £ . in addition to this pension of £ , parliament also granted to trustees on behalf of earl nelson a sum of £ , for the purchase of an estate and mansion-house to be settled and entailed to the same persons as the annuity of £ . within the post office too very strange things happened in connection with money paid to certain persons supposed to be in its service. here is a case, in the form of a remonstrance, referring to the period close upon the end of last century, which explains itself. "mr. bushe observes that the government wished to reward his father, gervas parker bushe (who was one of the commissioners), for his services, and particularly for having increased the revenue £ , per annum; but that he preferred a place for his son to any emolument for himself, in consequence of which he was appointed resident surveyor. he expressed his astonishment to find in the patent (which he never looked into before) that it is there mentioned 'during good behaviour,' and not for life, upon which condition alone his father would have accepted it. he adds that it was given to him as totally and absolutely a sinecure, and that his appointment took place at so early a period of life that it would be impossible for him to do any duty." again, the following evidence was given before a commission on oath in , by mr. johnson, a letter-carrier in london: "he receives at present a salary as a letter-carrier of s. per week, making £ , s. per annum; he likewise receives certain perquisites, arising from such pence as are collected in the evening by letters delivered to him after the receiving houses are shut, amounting in to £ , s., also from acknowledgments from the public for sending letters by another letter-carrier not immediately within his walk, amounting in the same year to £ . he likewise receives in christmas boxes £ ,--the above sums, making together £ , was the whole of his receipts of every kind whatever by virtue of his office in ( candles and a limited allowance of stationery excepted), out of which he pays a person for executing his duty as a letter-carrier, at the rate of s. a week, being £ , s. per annum, and retains the remainder for his own use entirely." in a report made by a commission which inquired into the state of the post office in , the following statement appears respecting abuses existing in the department; and in reflecting upon that period the post office servants of to-day might almost entertain feelings of regret that they did not live in the happy days of feasts, coals, and candles. here is the statement of the commissioners: "the custom of giving certain annual feasts to the officers and clerks of this office (london) at the public expense ought to be abolished; as also what is called the feast and drink money; and, as the inland office now shuts at an early hour, the allowances of lodging money to some of the officers, and of apartments to others, ought to be discontinued." but of all allowances, those of coals and candles are the most enormous; for, besides those consumed in the official apartments, there are allowed to sundry officers for their private use in town or country above three hundred chaldrons of coals, and twenty thousand pounds of candles, which several of them commute with the tradesmen for money or other articles; the amount of the sums paid for these two articles in the year was £ , s. d. in the year a payment was being made of £ a year to a mrs. collier, who was servant to the bye and cross road office in the london post office; but she did not do the work herself. she employed a servant to whom she paid £ , putting £ into her own pocket. what a splendid field this would have been for the comptroller and auditor general, and for questioners in the houses of parliament! an abuse that had its origin no doubt in the fact that the nation was not represented at large,[ ] but by members of parliament who were returned by a very limited class, and who could not understand or reflect the views of the masses, was that of the franking privilege. the privilege of franking letters enjoyed by members of parliament was a sad burden upon the revenue of the post office, and it continued in vigour down to the establishment of the penny post. some idea of the magnitude of this arrangement, which would now be called a gross abuse, will be gathered from the state of things existing in the first quarter of the present century. looking at the regulations of , we find that each member of parliament was permitted to receive as many as fifteen and to send as many as ten letters in each day, such letters not exceeding one ounce in weight. at the then rates of postage this was a most handsome privilege. in the year the peers enjoying this extent of free postage numbered over four hundred, and the commons over six hundred and fifty. in addition to these, certain members of the government and other high officials had the privilege of sending free any number of letters without restriction as to weight. these persons were, in , nearly a hundred in number. how the privilege was turned to commercial account is explained in mackenzie's, _reminiscences of glasgow_. referring to the ship bank of that city, which had its existence in the first quarter of our century, and to one of the partners, mr. john buchanan of ardoch, who was also member of parliament for dumbartonshire, the author makes the following statement: "from his position as member of parliament, he enjoyed the privilege of franking the letters of the bank to the extent of fourteen per diem. this was a great boon; it saved the bank some hundreds of pounds per annum for postages. it was, moreover, regarded as a mighty honour." great abuses were perpetrated even upon the abuse itself. franks were given away freely to other persons for their use, they were even sold, and, moreover, they were forged. senex, in his notes on _glasgow past and present_, describes how this was managed in ireland. "i remember," says he, "about sixty years ago, an old irish lady told me that she seldom paid any postage for letters, and that her correspondence never cost her friends anything. i inquired how she managed that. 'oh,' said she, 'i just wrote "free, j. suttie," in the corner of the cover of the letter, and then, sure, nothing more was charged for it.' i said, 'were you not afraid of being hanged for forgery?' 'oh, dear me, no,' she replied; 'nobody ever heard of a lady being hanged in ireland, and troth, i just did what everybody else did.'" but the spirit of inquiry was beginning to assert itself in the first half of the century, and the franking privilege disappeared with the dawn of cheap postage. public opinion had as yet no active existence throughout our commonwealth, nor had the light spread so as to show up all the abuses. and how true is buckle's observation in his _history of civilisation_ that all recent legislation is the undoing of bad laws made in the interest of certain classes. how could there be an active public opinion in the conditions of the times? everybody was shut off from everybody else. hear further what mackenzie says in his _history of the nineteenth century_, referring to the end of last century: "the seclusion resulting from the absence of roads rendered it necessary that every little community, in some measure every family, should produce all that it required to consume. the peasant raised his own food; he grew his own flax or wool; his wife or daughter spun it; and a neighbour wove it into cloth. he learned to extract dyes from plants which grew near his cottage. he required to be independent of the external world from which he was effectively shut out. commerce was impossible until men could find the means of transferring commodities from the place where they were produced to the place where there were people willing to make use of them." so much for the difficulty of exchanging ordinary produce. the exchange of thought suffered in a like fashion. in the first half of the present century severe restrictions were placed upon the spread of news, not only by the heavy postage for letter correspondence, but by the equally heavy newspaper tax. referring to this latter hindrance to the spread of light mackenzie says: "the newspaper is the natural enemy of despotic government, and was treated as such in england. down to the duty imposed was only one penny, but as newspapers grew in influence the restraining tax was increased from time to time, until in it reached the maximum of fourpence." at this figure the tax seems to have continued many years, for under the year mackenzie refers to it as such, and remarks, "that this rendered the newspaper a very occasional luxury to the working man; that the annual circulation of newspapers in the united kingdom was no more than thirty-six million copies, and that these had only three hundred thousand readers." at the present time the combined annual circulation of a couple of the leading newspapers in scotland would equal the entire newspaper circulation of the kingdom little more than fifty years ago. in the year , which is less than a hundred years ago, the _edinburgh evening courant_ and the _glasgow courier_, two very small newspapers, were sold at sixpence a copy, each bearing a government stamp of the value of threehalf-pence. is it surprising, under these conditions, that few newspapers should circulate, and that news should travel slowly throughout the country? but the growth of newspapers to their present magnificent proportions is a thing of quite recent times, for even so lately as the _scotsman_, then sold unstamped for a penny, weighed only about three-quarters of an ounce, while to-day the same paper, which continues to be sold for a penny, weighs fully four and a half ounces. and other newspapers throughout the country have no doubt swelled their columns to a somewhat similar degree. a very good instance of the small amount of personal travelling indulged in by the people a century ago is given by cleland in his _annals of glasgow_. writing in the year , he says: "it has been calculated that, previous to the erection of steamboats, not more than fifty persons passed and repassed from glasgow to greenock in one day, whereas it is now supposed that there are from four to five hundred passes and repasses in the same period." in the present day a single steamboat sailing from the broomielaw, glasgow, will often carry far more passengers to greenock, or beyond greenock, than the whole passengers travelling between the towns named in one day in . for example, the tourist steamer _columba_ is certificated to carry some passengers. in the principal mails to and from london were carried by mail-coaches, which were then running between the metropolis and some score of the chief towns in the country at the speed of seven or eight miles an hour; and so far as direct mails were concerned the towns in question kept up relations with london under the conditions of speed just described. but the cross post service--that is, the service between places not lying in the main routes out of london--was not yet developed, and these cross post towns were beyond the reach of anything like early information of what was going on, not, let us say, in the world at large, but in their own country. the people in these towns had to patiently await the laggard arrival of news from the greater centres of activity; and when it did arrive it probably came to hand in a very imperfect form, or so late as to be useless for any purpose of combined action or criticism. dr. james russell, in his _reminiscences of yarrow_, describes how tardy and uncertain the mail service by post was in the early years of the present century; and what he says is a severe contrast to the service of the present time, which provides for the delivery of letters, generally daily, in every hamlet in the country. dr. russell writes:-- "since i remember (unless there was a chance hand on a wednesday) our letters reached us only once a week, along with our bread and butcher meat, by the weekly carrier, robbie hogg. his arrival used to be a great event, the letter-bag being turned out, and a rummage made for our own. afterwards the moffat carriers gave more frequent opportunities of getting letters; but they were apt to carry them on to moffat and bring them back the following week." another instance of the slow communications is given in a letter written from brodick castle, arran, by lord archibald campbell, on the th september . the letter was addressed to a correspondent in glasgow, and proceeds thus: "your letter of the th did not reach me till this morning, as, in consequence of the rough state of the weather, there has been no postal communication with this island for several days." the time consumed in getting this letter forward from glasgow to brodick was exactly a week, and when so much time was required in the case of an island lying in the firth of clyde, what time would be necessary to make communication with the outer hebrides? even between considerable towns, as representing important centres in the country, the amount of correspondence by letter was small. thus the mail from inverness to edinburgh of the th october contained no more than letters. the total postage on these was £ , s. d., the charges ranging from d. to s. d. per letter. at the present time the letters from inverness to edinburgh are probably nearly a thousand a day; but this is no fair comparison, because many letters that would formerly pass through edinburgh now reach their destinations in direct bags--london itself being an instance. [illustration: analysis of the london to edinburgh mail of the d march . (_after a print lent by lady cole from the collection of the late sir henry cole, k.c.b._)] but coming down to a much later date, and looking at what was going on between london and edinburgh, the capital towns of great britain, what do we find? an analysis of the london to edinburgh mail of the d march gives the following figures; and let it not be forgotten that in these days the edinburgh mail contained the correspondence for a large part of scotland:-- newspapers, weighing lbs., and going free. franked letters, weighing lbs., and going free. parcels of stamps going free. letters, weighing lbs., and bearing postage to the value of £ . these figures represent the exchange of thought between the two capitals fifty years ago. these were truly the days of darkness, when abuses were kept out of sight and were rampant. down to much later times the bonds of privilege remained untied. in the civil service itself what changes have taken place! the doors have been thrown open to competition and to capacity and worth, and probably they will never be closed again. the author of these lines had an experience in --not very long ago--which may be worthy of note. he had been then several years in the post office service, and desired to obtain a nomination to compete for a higher position--a clerkship in the secretary's office. he took the usual step through the good offices of a member of parliament, and the following rebuff emanated from headquarters. it shall be its own monument, and may form a shot in the historical web of our time:-- "i wrote to ---- (the postmaster-general) about the mr. j. w. hyde, who desires to be permitted to compete for a clerkship in the london post office, described as a cousin of ----. "(the postmaster-general) has to-day replied that nominations to the secretary's office are not now given except to candidates who are actually gentlemen, that is, sons of officers, clergymen, or the like. if i cannot satisfy (the postmaster-general) on this point, i fear mr. hyde's candidature will go to the wall."[ ] now one of the chief obstacles in the way of rapid communication in our own country was the very unsatisfactory state of the roads. down to the time of the introduction of mail-coaches, just about a hundred years ago, the roads were in a deplorable state, and travellers have left upon record some rather strong language on the subject. it was only about that time that road-making came to be understood; but the obvious need for smooth roads to increase the speed of the mail gave an impetus to the subject, and by degrees matters were greatly improved. it is not our purpose to pursue the inquiry as to roads, though the subject might be attractive, and we must be content with the general assertion as to their condition. but not only were the roads bad, but they were unsafe. travellers could hardly trust themselves to go about unarmed, and even the mail-coaches, in which (besides the driver and guard) some passengers generally journeyed, had to carry weapons of defence placed in the hands of the guard. many instances of highway robbery by highwaymen who made a profession of robbery might be given; but one or two cases may repay their perusal. on the th march the under-sheriff of northampton was robbed at eight o'clock in the evening near holloway turnpike by two highwaymen, who carried off a trunk containing the sheriff's commission for opening the assizes at northampton. in the autobiography of mary hewitt the following encounter is recorded, referring to the period between - : "catherine (martin), wife of a purser in the navy, and conspicuous for her beauty and impulsive, violent temper, having quarrelled with her excellent sister, dorothea fryer, at whose house in staffordshire she was staying, suddenly set off to london on a visit to her great-uncle, the rev. john plymley, prebend of the collegiate church at wolverhampton, and chaplain of morden college, blackheath. she journeyed by the ordinary conveyance, the gee-ho, a large stage-waggon drawn by a team of six horses, and which, driven merely by day, took a week from wolverhampton to the cock and bell, smithfield. "arrived in london, catherine proceeded on foot to blackheath. there, night having come on, and losing her way, she was suddenly accosted by a horseman with, 'now, my pretty girl, where are you going?' pleased by his gallant address, she begged him to direct her to morden college. he assured her that she was fortunate in having met with him instead of one of his company, and inducing her to mount before him, rode across the heath to the pile of buildings which had been erected by sir christopher wren for decayed merchants, the recipients of sir john morden's bounty. assisting her to alight, he rang the bell, then remounted his steed and galloped away, but not before the alarmed official, who had answered the summons, had exclaimed, 'heavens! dick turpin on black bess!' my mother always said 'dick turpin.' another version in the family runs 'captain smith.'" the _annual register_ of the d october records the following case of highway robbery:-- "the daily messenger, despatched from the secretary of state's office with letters to his majesty at windsor, was stopped near langley broom by three footpads, who took from him the box containing the despatches, and his money, etc. the same men afterwards robbed a gentleman in a postchaise of a hundred guineas, a gold watch, etc. some light dragoons, who received information of the robberies, went in pursuit of the thieves, but were not successful. they found, however, a quantity of the papers scattered about the heath." we will quote one more instance, as showing the frequency of these robberies on the road. it is mentioned in the _annual register_ of the th march . "martin (the mail robber), condemned at exeter assizes, was executed on haldown, near the spot where the robbery was committed. he had been well educated, and had visited most european countries. at the end of the year he was at paris, and continued there till the end of august . he said he was very active in the bloody affair of the th august, at the palace of the tuilleries, when the swiss guards were slaughtered, and louis xvi. and his family fled to the national assembly for shelter. he said he did not enter with this bloody contest as a volunteer, but, happening to be in that part of the city of paris, he was hurried on by the mob to take part in that sanguinary business. not speaking good french, he said he was suspected to be a swiss, and on that account, finding his life often in danger, he left paris, and, embarking for england at havre de grace, arrived at weymouth in september last, and then came to exeter. he said that being in great distress in october he committed the mail robbery." a rather good anecdote is told of an encounter between a poor tailor and one of these knights of the road. the tailor, on being overtaken by the highwayman, was at once called upon to stand and deliver, the salutation being accompanied by the presentation of two pistols at the pedestrian's head. "i'll do that with pleasure," was the meek reply; and forthwith the poor victim transferred to the outstretched hands of the robber all the money he possessed. this done, the tailor proceeded to ask a favour. "my friends would laugh at me," said he, "were i to go home and tell them i was robbed with as much patience as a lamb. suppose you fire your two bull-dogs right through the crown of my hat; it will look something like a show of resistance." taken with the fancy, the robber good-naturedly complied with the request; but hardly had the smoke from the weapons cleared away, when the tailor pulled out a rusty old horse pistol, and in turn politely requested the highwayman to shell out everything of value about him--his pistols not excepted. so the highwayman had the worst of the meeting on that occasion. the incident will perhaps help to dispel the sad reproach of the craft, that a tailor is but the ninth part of a man. it should not be forgotten that these perils of the road had their effect in preventing intercourse between different parts of the country. in such outlying districts as were blessed with postal communication a hundred years ago, the service was kept up by foot messengers, who often travelled long distances in the performance of their duty. thus in a post-runner travelled from inverness to loch carron--a distance across country, as the crow flies, of about fifty miles--making the journey once a week, for which he was paid s. another messenger at the same period made the journey from inverness to dunvegan in skye--a much greater distance--also once a week, and for this service he received s. d. the rate at which the messengers travelled seems not to have been very great, if we may judge from the performances of the post from dumbarton to inveraray. in the year the surveyor of the district thus describes it: "i have sometimes observed these mails at leaving dumbarton about three stones or lbs. weight, and they are generally above two stones. during the course of last winter horses were obliged to be occasionally employed; and it is often the case that a strong highlander, with so great a weight upon him, cannot travel more than two miles an hour, which greatly retards the general correspondence of this extensive district of country." these humble servants of the post office, travelling over considerable tracts of country, would naturally become the means of conveying local gossip from stage to stage, and of spreading hearsay news as they went along. in this way, and as being the bearers of welcome letters, they were no doubt as gladly received at the doors of our forefathers as are the postmen at our own doors to-day. indeed, complaint was made of the delays that took place on the route, probably from this very cause. here is an instance referring to the year . "i found," wrote the surveyor, "that it had been the general practice for the post from bonaw to appin to lodge regularly all night at or near the house of ardchattan, and did not cross shien till the following morning, losing twelve hours to the appin, strontian, and fort-william districts of country; and i consider it an improvement of itself to remove such private lodgings or accommodations out of the way of posts, which, as i have been informed, is sometimes done for the sake of perusing newspapers as well as answering or writing letters." exposed to the buffetings of the tempest, to the rigours of wintry weather, and considering the rough unkept roads of the time, it is easy to imagine how seductive would be the fireside of the country house; and bearing in mind the desire on the part of the inmates to learn the latest news, it is not surprising that the poor post-runner occasionally departed from the strict line of duty. but immediately prior to the introduction of mail-coaches, and for a long time before that, the mails over the longer distances were conveyed on horseback, the riders being known as "post-boys." these were sometimes boys of fourteen or sixteen years of age, and sometimes old men. mr. palmer, at whose instance mail-coaches were first put upon the road, writing in , thus describes the post-boy service. the picture is not a very creditable one to the post office. "the post at present," says he, "instead of being the swiftest, is almost the slowest conveyance in the country; and though, from the great improvement in our roads, other carriers have proportionably mended their speed, the post is as slow as ever. it is likewise very unsafe. the mails are generally intrusted to some idle boy without character, and mounted on a worn-out hack, and who, so far from being able to defend himself or escape from a robber, is much more likely to be in league with him." there is perhaps room for suspicion that mr. palmer was painting the post-boy service as black as possible, for he was then advocating another method of conveying the mails; but he was not alone in his adverse criticism. an official in scotland thus described the service in : "it is impossible to obtain any other contractors to ride the mails at d. out, or ½d. per mile each way. on this account we are so much distressed with mail riders that we have often to submit to the mails being conveyed by mules and such species of horses as are a disgrace to any service." this is evidence from within the post office itself. while young boys were suited for the work in some respects, they were thoughtless and unpunctual; yet when older men were employed they frequently got into liquor, and thus endangered the mails. the records of the service are full of the troubles arising from the conduct of these servants. the public were doubtless much to blame for this. for the post-boys were, as we may suppose, ever welcome at the house and ball, where refreshment, in the shape of strong drink, would be offered to them, and they thus fell into trouble through a too common instance of mistaken kindness. in the year the mail leaving london on tuesday night (in the winter season) was not in the hands of the people of edinburgh until the afternoon of sunday. this does not betoken a very rapid rate of progression; but it appears that in many cases the post-boy's speed did not rise above three or four miles an hour. the post office took severe measures with these messengers, through parliamentary powers granted; and even the public were called upon to keep an eye upon their behaviour, and to report any misconduct to the authorities. mention has already been made of the unsafety of the roads for ordinary travellers; but the roads were in no way safer for the post-boys. in a post-boy carrying certain selby mails was robbed near that place, being threatened with his life, and the mail-pouch which he then carried was recovered under very strange circumstances in . but to come nearer home. on the early morning of the st of august the mail from glasgow for edinburgh was robbed by two men at a place near linlithgow, when a sum of £ or £ was stolen. the robbers had previously been soldiers. they hurried into edinburgh with their booty, got drunk, were discovered, and, when subsequently tried, were sentenced to be executed. the law was severe in those days; and the post office has the distinction of having obtained judgment against a robber who was the last criminal hung in chains in scotland. according to rogers, in his _social life of scotland_, this was one leal, who, in , was found guilty of robbing the mail near elgin. a curious fact came out in connection with the trial of this man leal, showing what may be termed the momentum of evil. it happened that some time previously leal and a companion had been to see the execution of a man for robbing the mail, and, on returning, they had to pass through a dark and narrow part of the road. at this point leal observed to his companion that the situation was one well suited for a robbery. and it was here that he afterwards carried the suggestion then made into effect. when such robberies took place the post-boys sometimes came off without serious mishap, but at other times they were badly injured. on wednesday the d october , a post-boy near exeter was assaulted (as the report says) in "a most desperate and inhuman manner," when his skull was fractured, and he shortly afterwards died. the post-boys were exposed to all the inclemency of the weather both by day and night. sometimes they were overtaken by snow-storms, when they would have to struggle on for their lives. sometimes, after riding a stage in severe frost, they would have to be lifted from their saddles benumbed with cold and unable to dismount. at other times accidents of a different kind happened to them, and, as has been shown, they sometimes lost their lives. mail-coaches were first put upon the road on the th of august . the term of about sixty years, during which they were the means of conveying the principal mails throughout the country, must ever seem to us a period of romantic interest. there is something stirring even in the picture of a mail-coach bounding along at the heels of four well-bred horses; and we know by experience how exhilarating it is to be carried along the highway at a rapid rate in a well-appointed coach. [illustration: the mail, . (_from a contemporary print._)] we cannot well separate the service given to the post office by mail-coaches from the passengers who made use of that means of conveyance, and we may linger a little to endeavour to realise what a journey was like from accounts left us by travellers. the charm of day travelling could no doubt be conjured up even now by any one who would take time to reflect upon the subject. but other phases of the matter could hardly be so dealt with. de quincey, in his _confessions of an english opium eater_, gives a pleasing description of the easy motion and soothing influence of a well-equipped mail-coach running upon an even and kindly road. the period he refers to was about , and the coach was that carrying the bristol mail--which enjoyed unusual advantages owing to the superior character of the road, and an extra allowance for expenses subscribed by the bristol merchants. he thus describes his feelings: "it was past eight o'clock when i reached the gloucester coffee-house, and, the bristol mail being on the point of going off, i mounted on the outside. the fine fluent motion of the mail soon laid me asleep. it is somewhat remarkable that the first easy or refreshing sleep which i had enjoyed for some months was on the outside of a mail-coach.... "for the first four or five miles from london i annoyed my fellow-passenger on the roof by occasionally falling against him when the coach gave a lurch to his side; and, indeed, if the road had been less smooth and level than it is i should have fallen off from weakness. of this annoyance he complained heavily, as, perhaps, in the same circumstances, most people would.... when i next woke for a minute from the noise and lights of hounslow (for in spite of my wishes and efforts i had fallen asleep again within two minutes from the time i had spoken to him), i found that he had put his arm round me to protect me from falling off; and for the rest of my journey he behaved to me with the gentleness of a woman, so that, at length, i almost lay in his arms.... so genial and refreshing was my sleep that the next time, after leaving hounslow, that i fully awoke was upon the pulling up of the mail (possibly at a post-office), and, on inquiry, i found that we had reached maidenhead--six or seven miles, i think, ahead of salthill. here i alighted, and for the half-minute that the mail stopped i was entreated by my friendly companion (who, from the transient glimpse i had had of him in piccadilly, seemed to me to be a gentleman's butler, or person of that rank) to go to bed without delay." night journeys might be very well, in a way, during the balmy days of summer, when light airs and sweet exhalations from flower and leaf gave pleasing features to the scenes, but in the cold nights of winter, in lashing rain, in storms of wind and snow, the unfortunate passengers and the guard and coachman must have had terrible times of it. it is said of the guards and coachmen that they had sometimes, when passing over the fells, to be strapped to their seats, in order to keep their places against the fierce assaults of the mountain blast. the winter experience of travelling by mail-coach in one of its phases is thus described by a writer in connection with a severe snow-storm which occurred in march : "the night mail from edinburgh to glasgow left edinburgh in the afternoon, but was stopped before reaching kirkliston. the guard with the mail-bags set forward on horseback, and the driver rode back to edinburgh with a view, it was understood, to get fresh horses. the passengers, four in number, entreated him to use all diligence, and meanwhile were compelled to wait in the coach, which had stuck at a very solitary part of the road. there they remained through a dark and stormy night, with a broken pane of glass, through which the wind blew bitterly cold. it was nine o'clock next morning when the driver came, bringing with him another man and a pair of horses. having taken away some articles, he jestingly asked the passengers what they meant to do, and was leaving them to shift for themselves, but was persuaded at length to aid one who was faint, and unable to struggle through the snow. he was allowed to mount behind one of the riders; the other passengers were left to extricate themselves as best they could." [illustration: the mail, . (_from a contemporary print._)] many instances might be given of the stoppage of the coaches on account of snow, and of the efforts made by the guards to push on the mails. in a memorable snow-storm took place which disorganised the service, and the occasion is one on which the guards and coachmen distinguished themselves. the strain thrown upon the horses in a like situation is well described by cowper, if we change one word in his lines, which are as follows:-- "the _coach_ goes heavily, impeded sore by congregated loads adhering close to the clogg'd wheels; and in its sluggish pace noiseless appears a moving hill of snow. the toiling steeds expand the nostril wide, while every breath, by respiration strong forced downward, is consolidated soon upon their jutting chests." a melancholy result followed upon a worthy endeavour to carry the mails through the snow on the st february . the dumfries coach had reached moffat, where it became snowed up. the driver and guard procured saddle-horses, and proceeded; but they had not gone far when they found the roads impracticable for horses, and these were sent back to moffat. the two men then continued on foot; but they did not get beyond a few miles on the road when they succumbed, and some days afterwards their dead bodies were found on the high ground near the "deil's beef-tub," the bags being found attached to a post at the roadside, and not far from where the men fell. they perished in a noble attempt to perform their humble duties. the incident recalls the lines of thomson:-- "and down he sinks beneath the shelter of the shapeless drift, thinking o'er all the bitterness of death, mix'd with the tender anguish nature shoots through the wrung bosom of the dying man. his wife, his children, and his friends unseen. on every nerve the deadly winter seizes; shuts up sense; and o'er his inmost vitals creeping cold lays him along the snows, a stiffened corse, stretched out, and bleaching in the northern blast." we have little conception of the labour that had to be expended, during periods of snow, in the endeavour to keep the roads open. in places the snow would be found lying thirty or forty feet deep, and the road trustees were obliged to spend large sums of money in clearing it away. hundreds of the military were called out in certain places to assist, and snow-ploughs were set to work in order to force a passage. the inconvenience to the country caused by such interruptions is well described in the _annual register_ of the th february : "my letter of two days ago is still here; for, though i have made an effort twice, i have been obliged to return, not having reached half the first stage. two mails are due from london, three from glasgow, and four from edinburgh. neither the last guard that went hence for glasgow on thursday, nor he that went on wednesday, have since been heard of; this country was never so completely blocked up in the memory of the oldest person, or that they ever heard of. i understand the road is ten feet deep with snow from this to hamilton. i have had it cut through once, but this third fall makes an attempt impossible. heaven only knows when the road will be open, nothing but a thaw can do it--it is now an intense frost." but the guards and coachmen were put upon their mettle on other occasions than when snow made further progress impossible. the following incident, showing the courage and devotion to duty of a mail guard and coachman, is related by sir thomas dick lauder, bart., in his account of the floods which devastated the province of moray in august . referring to the state of things in the town of banff, sir thomas proceeds: "the mail-coach had found it impracticable to proceed south in the morning by its usual route, and had gone round by the bridge of alva. it was therefore supposed that the mail for inverness, which reaches banff in the afternoon, would take the same road. but what was the astonishment of the assembled population when the coach appeared, within a few minutes of the usual time, at the further end of the bridge of banff. the people who were standing there urged both the guard and coachman not to attempt to pass where their danger was so certain. on hearing this the passengers left the coach; but the guard and coachman, scouting the idea of danger in the very streets of banff, disregarded the advice they received, and drove straight along the bridge. as they turned the corner of the butcher-market, signals were made, and loud cries were uttered from the nearest houses to warn them of the danger of advancing; yet still they kept urging the horses onwards. but no sooner had they reached the place where the wall had burst, than coach and horses were at once borne away together by the raging current, and the vehicle was dashed violently against the corner of gillan's inn. the whole four horses immediately disappeared, but rose and plunged again, and dashed and struggled hard for their lives. loud were the shrieks of those who witnessed this spectacle. a boat came almost instantaneously to the spot, but as the rowers pushed up to try to disengage the horses, the poor animals, as they alternately reached the surface, made desperate exertions to get into the boat, so that extreme caution was necessary in approaching them. they did succeed in liberating one of them, which immediately swam along the streets, amidst the cheering of the population; but the other three sank to rise no more. by this time the coach, with the coachman and guard, had been thrown on the pavement, where the depth of water was less; and there the guard was seen clinging to the top, and the coachman hanging by his hands to a lamp-post, with his toes occasionally touching the box. in this perilous state they remained till another boat came and relieved them, when the guard and the mails were landed in safety. great indignation was displayed against the obstinacy which had produced this accident. but much is to be said in defence of the servants of the royal mail, who are expected to persevere in their endeavours to forward the public post in defiance of risk, though in this case their zeal was unfortunately proved to have been mistaken."[ ] although, as already stated, robberies were frequent from the mail-coaches, and the guard carried formidable weapons of defence, it does not appear that the coaches were often openly attacked. at any rate there do not seem to be many records of such incidents referring to the later days of the mail-coach service. an old guard, now retired, but still or quite recently living in carlisle, relates that only on one occasion did he require to draw his arms for actual defence. this happened at a hamlet called chance inn, in the county of forfar, where the coach had stopped as usual. both the inside and outside places were occupied by passengers, and no additional travellers could be taken. a number of sailors, however, who were proceeding to join their ship at a seaport, wished to get upon the coach; and though they were told that they could not travel by this means, they plainly showed by their looks and demeanour that they were determined to do so. one of them was overheard to say that, when the proper moment arrived, they would make short work of the guard, who, as it happened, was a youngish man. the passengers too were alarmed at the appearances, and appealed to the guard to keep a sharp eye upon the sailors. under these conditions the guard directed the coachman, the moment the word was given, to put the horses to a gallop, so as to leave the seamen behind and avoid attack. the start was signalled as arranged, the guard sprang into his place and faced round to the sailors, one of whom was now in the act of preparing to throw a huge stone at his head with both hands. instantly the guard drew one of his pistols and covered the ringleader, who thereupon dropped on his knees imploring pardon, while his companions, previously so aggressive, scampered off in all directions like a set of scared rabbits. the apparatus by which in the present day bags of letters are dropped from and taken up by the travelling post-office while the trains are running at high speed had its prototype in the days of the mail-coaches. in the one case as in the other the object was to get rid of stoppages, and so to save time. in the coaching days the apparatus was of a most primitive kind, consisting of a pointed stick rather less than four feet long, whose sharpened end was put in behind the string around the neck of the mail-bag, and on the end of the stick the bag was held up to be clutched by the mail guard as the coach went hurriedly by. we are indebted to the sub-postmaster of liberton, a village a few miles out of edinburgh, for a description of the arrangement. he describes how the guards, some fifty years ago, would playfully deal with the youngsters who worked the "apparatus," by not only seizing the bag but also the stick, and causing the young people to run long distances after the coach in order to recover it. the fun was all very well, says the sub-postmaster, in the genial nights of summer; "but when the cold nights of winter came round, it was our turn to play a trick upon the guard, when both he and the driver were numbed with cold and fast asleep, and the four horses going at full speed. it was not easy to arouse the guard to take the bag; and just fancy the rare gift of christian charity that caused us youngsters to run and roar after the fast-running mail-coach to get quit of the bag. it used to be a weary business waiting the mail-coach coming along from the south when the roads were stormed up with snow or otherwise delayed. it required some tact to hold up the bag, as the glare of the lamps prevented us from seeing the guard as he came up with his red coat and blowing a long tin horn." some curious notions were prevalent of the effect of travelling by mail-coach--the rate being about eight or ten miles an hour. lord campbell was frequently warned against the danger of journeying this way, and instances were cited to him of passengers dying of apoplexy induced by the rapidity with which the vehicles travelled. in the postmaster-general gave directions that the public should be warned against sending any cash by post, partly, as he stated, "from the prejudice it does to the coin by the friction it occasions from the great expedition with which it is conveyed." after all, speed is merely a relative thing. [illustration: modern mail "apparatus" for exchange of mail-bags: setting the pouch--early morning.] although, as previously stated, open attacks were not often made upon the coaches, robberies of the bags conveyed by them were quite common--chiefly at night--and we may assume that they were made possible through the carelessness of the guards. it would be a long story to go fully into this matter. let a couple of instances suffice. on the last day of february , in the evening, a mail-coach at barnet was robbed of sixteen bags for provincial towns by the wrenching off the lock while the horses were changing. and on the th november of the same year seven bags for london were stolen from the coach at bedford about nine o'clock in the evening. the authorities had a good deal of trouble with the mail guards and coachmen, and the records of the period are full of warnings against their irregularities. now they are admonished for stopping at ale-houses to drink; now the guards are threatened for sleeping upon duty. then they are cautioned against conveying fish, poultry, etc., on their own account. a guard is fined £ for suffering a man to ride on the roof of the coach; a driver is fined £ for losing time; another driver, for intoxication and impertinence to passengers, is fined £ and costs. the guards are entreated to be attentive to their arms, to see that they are clean, well loaded, and hung handy; they are forbidden to blow their horns when passing through the streets during the hours of divine service on sundays; they are enjoined to keep a watch upon french prisoners of war attempting to break their parole; and to sum up, an inspector despairingly writes that "half his time is employed in receiving and answering letters of complaint from passengers respecting the improper conduct and impertinent language of guards." a story is told of a passenger who, being drenched inside a coach by water coming through an opening in the roof, complained of the fact to the guard, but the only answer he got was, "ay, mony a ane has complained o' that hole," and the guard quietly passed on to other duties. railway travellers are familiar with an official at the principal through stations whose duty it seems to be to ring a bell and loudly call out "take your seats!" the moment hungry passengers enter the refreshment-rooms. how far his zeal engenders dyspepsia and heart disease it is impossible to say. in the mail-coach days similar pressure was put upon passengers; for every effort was made to hurry forward the mails. in a family letter written by mendelssohn in , he describes a mail-coach journey from glasgow to liverpool. among other things he mentions that the changing of horses was done in about forty seconds. this was not the language of mere hyperbole, for where the stoppage was one for the purpose of changing horses only the official time allowed was one minute. it is perhaps a pity that we have not fuller records of the scenes enacted at the stopping-places; they would doubtless afford us some amusement. there is the old story of the knowing passenger who, unobserved, placed all the silver spoons in the coffee-pot in order to cool the coffee and delay the coach, while the other passengers, already in their places, were being searched. there is another story which may be worth repeating. a hungry passenger had just commenced to taste the quality of a stewed fowl when he was peremptorily ordered by the guard to take his place. unwilling to lose either his meal or his passage, he hastily rolled the fowl in his handkerchief, and mounted the coach. but the landlord, unused to such liberties, was soon after him with the ravished dish. the coach was already on the move, and the only revenge left to the landlord was to call out jeeringly to the passenger, "won't you have the gravy, sir?" the other passengers had a laugh at the expense of their companion; but we know that a hungry man is a tenacious man, and a man with a full stomach can afford to laugh. at any rate the proverb says, "who laughs last laughs best." the differences arising between passengers and the landlords at the stopping-places were sometimes, however, of a much more prosaic and solemn character. charles lamb has given us such a scene. "i was travelling," he says, "in a stage-coach with three male quakers, buttoned up in the straitest nonconformity of their sect. we stopped to bait at andover, where a meal, partly tea apparatus, partly supper, was set before us. my friends confined themselves to the tea-table. i in my way took supper. when the landlady brought in the bill, the eldest of my companions discovered that she had charged for both meals. this was resisted. mine hostess was very clamorous and positive. some mild arguments were used on the part of the quakers, for which the heated mind of the good lady seemed by no means a fit recipient. the guard came in with his usual peremptory notice. the quakers pulled out their money and formally tendered it--so much for tea--i, in humble situation, tendering mine, for the supper which i had taken. she would not relax in her demand. so they all three quietly put up their silver, as did myself, and marched out of the room, the eldest and gravest going first, with myself closing up the rear, who thought i could not do better than follow the example of such grave and warrantable personages. we got in. the steps went up. the coach drove off. the murmurs of mine hostess, not very indistinctly or ambiguously pronounced, became after a time inaudible, and now my conscience, which the whimsical scene had for a while suspended, beginning to give some twitches, i waited, in the hope that some justification would be offered by these serious persons for the seeming injustice of their conduct. to my surprise, not a syllable was dropped on the subject. they sat as mute as at a meeting. at length the eldest of them broke silence by inquiring of his next neighbour, 'hast thee heard how indigos go at the india house?' and the question operated as a soporific on my moral feelings as far as exeter." a frenchman was once a traveller by mail-coach, who, although he knew the english language fairly well, was not familiar with the finer shades of meaning attached to set expressions when applied in particular situations. an englishman, who was his companion inside the coach, had occasion to direct his attention to some object in the passing landscape, and requested him to "look out." this the frenchman promptly did, putting his head and shoulders out of the window, and the view obtained proved highly pleasing to the stranger. a stage further on in the journey, when the coach was approaching a narrow part of the road bordered and overhung by dense foliage, the driver, as was his custom, called out to the company, "look out!" to which the frenchman again quickly responded by thrusting head and shoulders out of the window; but this time with the result that his hat was brushed off, and his face badly scratched from contact with the neighbouring branches. this curious contradiction in the use of the very same words enraged the frenchman, who said hard things of our language; for he had discovered that when told to "look out" he was to look out, and that again when told to "look out" he was to be careful not to look out. mackenzie graphically describes the part mail-coaches took in the distribution of news over the country in the early years of the century. referring to the news of the battle of waterloo, he says: "by day and night these coaches rolled along at their pace of seven or eight miles an hour. at all cross roads messengers were waiting to get a newspaper or a word of tidings from the guard. in every little town, as the hour approached for the arrival of the mail, the citizens hovered about their streets waiting restlessly for the expected news. in due time the coach rattled into the market-place, hung with branches, the now familiar token that a great battle had been fought and a victory won. eager groups gathered. the guard, as he handed out his mail-bags, told of the decisive victory which had crowned and completed our efforts. and then the coachman cracked his whip, the guard's horn gave forth once more its notes of triumph, and the coach rolled away, bearing the thrilling news into other districts." the writer of the interesting work called _glasgow, past and present_, gives the following realistic account of the arrival of the london mail in glasgow in war-time:-- "during the time of the french war it was quite exhilarating to observe the arrival of the london mail-coach in glasgow, when carrying the first intelligence of a great victory, like the battle of the nile, or the battle of waterloo. the mail-coach horses were then decorated with laurels, and a red flag floated on the roof of the coach. the guard, dressed in his best scarlet coat and gold ornamented hat, came galloping at a thundering pace along the stones of the gallowgate, sounding his bugle amidst the echoings of the streets; and when he arrived at the foot of nelson street he discharged his blunderbuss in the air. on these occasions a general run was made to the tontine coffee-room to hear the great news, and long before the newspapers were delivered the public were advertised by the guard of the particulars of the great victory, which fled from mouth to mouth like wildfire." the mail-guards, and also the coachmen, were a race of men by themselves, modelled and fashioned by the circumstances of their employment--in fact, receiving character, like all other sets of people, from their peculiar environment. there are now very few of them remaining, and these very old men. these officers of the post office mixed with all sorts of people, learned a great deal from the passengers, and were full of romance and anecdote. we remember one guard whose conversation and accounts of funny things were so continuous that his hearers were kept in a constant state of ecstasy whenever he was set agoing. his fund of story seemed inexhaustible, and we can imagine how hilariously would pass away the hours on the outside of a mail-coach with such a companion. the guard of whom we are speaking was a north countryman, possessed of a stalwart frame and iron constitution, a man with whom a highwayman would rather avoid getting into grips. he used to tell of an occasion on which the driver, being drunk, fell from his box, and the horses bolted. he himself was seated in his place at the rear of the coach. the state of things was serious. he however scrambled over the top of the coach, let himself down between the wheelers, stole along the pole of the coach, recovered the reins, and saved the mail from wreck and the passengers from impending death. for this he received a special letter of thanks from the postmaster-general. it was the custom of this guard, as no doubt of others of his class, to take charge of parcels of value for conveyance between places on his road. on one occasion he had charge of a parcel of £ in bank notes, which was in course of transmission to a bank at headquarters. it happened that the driver had been indulging rather freely, and at one of the stopping-places the coachman started off with the coach leaving the guard behind. the latter did not discover this till the coach was out of sight, and realising the responsibility he was under in respect of the money, which for safety he had placed in a holster below one of his pistols, he was in a great fright. there was nothing for it but to start on foot and endeavour to overtake the coach; but this he did not succeed in doing till he had run a whole stage, at the end of which the perspiration was oozing through his scarlet coat. at the completion of the journey he sponged himself all over with whisky, and did not then feel any ill effects from the great strain he had placed himself under, though later in life he believed his heart had suffered damage from the exertions of that memorable day. before leaving this branch of our subject it may be well to note that while the mail guards received but nominal pay--ten and sixpence a week--they earned considerable sums in gratuities from passengers, and for executing small commissions for the public. in certain cases as much as £ a year was thus received; and the heavy fines that were inflicted upon them were therefore not so severe as might at first sight seem. unhappily these men were given to take drink, if not wisely, at any rate too often. the weaknesses of the mail guard are very cleverly portrayed in some verses on the _mail-coach guard_, quoted in larwood and hotten's work on the _history of signboards_; and while these frailties are the burden of the song, it will be observed how cleverly the names of inns or alehouses are introduced into the song:-- "at each inn on the road i a welcome could find; at the fleece i'd my skin full of ale; the two jolly brewers were just to my mind; at the dolphin i drank like a whale. tom tun at the hogshead sold pretty good stuff; they'd capital flip at the boar; and when at the angel i'd tippled enough, i went to the devil for more. then i'd always a sweetheart so snug at the car; at the rose i'd a lily so white; few planets could equal sweet nan at the star; no eyes ever twinkled so bright. i've had many a hug at the sign of the bear; in the sun courted morning and noon; and when night put an end to my happiness there, i'd a sweet little girl in the moon. to sweethearts and ale i at length bid adieu, of wedlock to set up the sign; hand-in-hand the good-woman i look for in you, and the horns i hope ne'er will be mine. once guard to the mail, i'm now guard to the fair, but though my commission's laid down, yet while the king's arms i'm permitted to bear, like a lion i'll fight for the crown." a good loyal subject to the last. one of the changes that time and circumstances have brought into the postal service is this, that the country post-offices have passed out of the hands of innkeepers, and into those of more desirable persons. in former times, and down to the period of the mail-coaches, the post-offices in many of the provincial towns were established at the inn of the place. in those days the conveyance of the mails being to a large extent by horse, it was convenient to have the office established where the relays of horses were maintained; and the term "postmaster" then applied in a double sense--to the person intrusted with the receipt and despatch of letters, and with the providing of horses to convey the mails. the two duties are now no longer combined, and the word "postmaster" has consequently become applicable to two totally different classes of persons. the innkeepers were not very assiduous in matters pertaining to the post, and the duty of receiving and despatching letters, being frequently left to waiters and chambermaids, was very badly done. often there was no separate room provided for the transaction of post-office business, and visitors at the inn and others had opportunities for scrutinising the correspondence that ought not to have existed. the postmaster was assisted by his ostler, as chief adviser in the postal work, which, however, was neglected; the worst horses, instead of the best, were hired out for the mails; and for riders the service was graced with the dregs of the stable-yard. at the same time the innkeepers were alive to their own interests, for they sometimes attracted travellers to their houses by granting them franks for the free transmission of their letters. the salaries of the postmasters were not cast in a liberal mould, and what they did receive was subject to the charge of providing candles, wax, string, etc., necessary for making up the mails. [illustration: the mail-coach guard.] the following are examples of the salaries of postmasters about a hundred years ago:-- paisley, to , £ dundee, , arbroath, to , aberdeen, to , about glasgow, and clerk constant appeals reached headquarters for "an augmentation," which was the term then applied to an increase of salary, and in the circumstances it is not surprising that the post-office work was indifferently done. attendance had to be given to the public during the day, and when the mail passed through a town in the dead hours of night some one had to be up to despatch or receive the mail. sometimes the postmaster, when awoke by the post-boy's horn, would get up and drop the mail-bag by a hook and line from his bedroom window. an instance of such a proceeding is given by williams in his history of watford, where the destinies of the post were at the time presided over by a postmistress. "in response," says he, "to the thundering knock of the conductor, the old lady left her couch, and thrusting her head, covered with a wide-bordered night-cap, out of the bedroom window, let down the mail-bag by a string, and quickly returned to her bed again." coming thus nightly to the open window must have been a risky duty as regards health for a postmistress. a hundred years ago the chief post-office in london was situated in lombard street. the scene, if we may judge by a print of the period, would appear to have been one of quietude and waiting for something to turn up. in the general post office was transferred to st. martin's le grand, and the departure of the evening mails (when mail-coaches were in full swing) became one of the sights of london. living in an age of cheap postage as we do, we look back upon the rates charged a century ago with something akin to amazement. in the following table will be seen some of the inland and foreign postage charges which were current in the period from to :-- -------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | | single| double | treble | oz. | | england, . | letter| letter | letter | | | | | | | | |distance not exceeding in +-------+--------+--------+-------+ |miles-- | s. d.| s. d. | s. d. | s. d. | | | | | | | | , | | | | | | to , | | | | | | " , | | | | | | " , | | | | | | " , | | | | | | and upwards, | | | | | | | | | | | |for scotland these rates | | | | | |were increased by | | | | | | | | | | | | foreign. | | | | | | | | | | | |from any part in great | | | | | |britain to any part in-- | | | | | | | | | | | |portugal, | | | | | |british dominions in } | | | | | |america, } | | | | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | | | |from any part in great | | | | | |britain to-- | | | | | | | | | | | |gibraltar, | | | | | |malta, | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | | | . |single |double |treble | oz. | | |letter.|letter.|letter.| | |from any part in great | | | | | | britain to-- +-------+-------+-------+-------+ | | s. d.| s. d.| s. d.| s. d.| | madeira, | | | | | | south america, } | | | | | | portuguese } | | | | | | possessions, } | | | | | | | | | | | | . | | | | | | | | | | | |from any part in great | | | | | | britain to-- | | | | | | | | | | | | cape of good hope,}| | | | | | mauritius, }| | | | | | east indies, }| | | | | | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------- over and above these foreign rates, the full inland postage in england and scotland, according to the distance the letters had to be conveyed to the port of despatch, was levied. many persons remember how old-fashioned letters were made up--a single sheet of paper folded first at the top and bottom, then one side slipped inside the folds of the other, then a wafer or seal applied, and the address written on the back. that was a _single_ letter. if a cheque, bank-bill, or other document were enclosed, the letter became a double letter. two enclosures made the letter a treble letter. the officers of the post office examined the letters in the interest of the revenue, the letters being submitted to the test of a strong light, and the officers, peeping in at the end, used the feather end of a quill to separate the folds of the letter for better inspection. envelopes were not then used. these high rates of postage gave rise to frequent attempts to defraud the revenue, and many plans were adopted to circumvent the post office in this matter. sometimes a series of words in the print of a newspaper were pricked with a pin, and thus conveyed a message to the person for whom the newspaper was intended. sometimes milk was used as an invisible ink upon a newspaper, the receiver reading the message sent by holding the paper to the fire. at other times soldiers took the letters of their friends, and sent them under franks written by their officers. letters were conveyed by public carriers, against the statute, sometimes tied up in brown paper, to disguise them as parcels. the carriers seem to have been conspicuous offenders, for one of them was convicted at warwick in , when penalties amounting to £ were incurred, though only £ and costs were actually exacted. the post office maintained a staff of men called "apprehenders of letter carriers," whose business it was to hunt down persons illegally carrying letters. nor must we omit to mention how far short of perfection were the means afforded for cross-post communication between one town and another. while along the main lines of road radiating from london there might be a fairly good service according to the ideas of the times, the cross-country connections were bad and inadequate. here are one or two instances:-- in there was no direct post between thrapstone and wellingborough, though they lay only nine miles apart. letters could circulate between these towns by way of stilton, newark, nottingham, and northampton, performing a circuit of miles, or they could be sent by way of london, up and ½ down,--in which latter case they reached their destination one day sooner than by the northern route. [illustrations: diagrams--roundabout communications] again, from ipswich to bury st. edmunds, two important towns of about , and inhabitants respectively, and distant from each other only twenty-two miles, there was no direct post. letters had to be forwarded either through norwich and newmarket, or by way of london, the distance to be covered in the one case being miles, and in the other ½ miles. according to a time-table of the period, a letter posted at ipswich for bury st. edmunds on monday would be despatched to norwich at . a.m. on tuesday. reaching this place six hours thereafter, it would be forwarded thence at p.m. to newmarket, where it was due at p.m. at newmarket it would lie all night and the greater part of next day, and would only arrive at bury at . p.m. on wednesday. thus three days were consumed in the journey of a letter from ipswich to bury by the nearest postal route, and nothing was to be gained by adopting the alternative route _viâ_ london. in the postal staff in edinburgh was composed of twenty-three persons, of whom six were letter-carriers. the indoor staff of the glasgow post office in consisted of the postmaster and one clerk, and as ten years later there were only four postmen employed, the outdoor force in was probably only four men. liverpool, in the year , when its population stood at something like , , had only three postmen, whose wages were s. a week each. one of the men, however, was assisted by his wife, and for this service the post office allowed her from £ to £ a year. their duties seem to have been carried out in an easy-going, deliberate fashion. the men arranged the letters for distribution in the early morning, then they partook of breakfast, and started on their rounds about a.m., completing their delivery about the middle of the afternoon. it would thus seem that a hundred years ago there was but one delivery daily in liverpool. during the same period there were only three letter-carriers employed at manchester, four at bristol, and three or four at birmingham. in our own times the number of postmen serving these large towns may be counted by the hundreds, or, i might almost say, thousands. the delivery of letters in former times was necessarily a slow affair, for two reasons, namely:--that prepayment was not compulsory, and the senders of letters thoughtfully left the receivers to pay for them, when the postmen would often be kept waiting for the money. and secondly, streets were not named and numbered systematically as they now are, and concise addresses were impossible. it is no doubt the case that order and method in laying out the streets and in regulating generally the buildings of towns are things of quite modern growth. in old-fashioned towns we find the streets running at all angles to one another, and describing all sorts of curves, without any regard whatever to general harmony. and will it be believed that the numbering of the houses in streets is comparatively a modern arrangement! walter thornbury tells us in his _haunted london_ that "names were first put on doors in (some years before the street signs were removed). in houses were first numbered, the numbering commencing in new burleigh street, and lincoln's-inn-fields being the second place numbered." while in our own time the addresses of letters are generally brief and direct, it is not to be wondered at that, under the conditions above stated, the superscriptions were often such as now seem to us curious. here is one given in a printed notice issued at edinburgh in :-- "the stamp office at edinburgh in mr. william law, jeweller, his hands, off the parliament close, down the market stairs, opposite to the excise office." here is another old-fashioned address, in which one must admit the spirit of filial regard with which it is inspired:-- "these for his honoured mother, mrs. hester stryp, widow, dwelling in petticoat lane, over against the five inkhorns, without bishopgate, in london." yet one more specimen, referring to the year :-- "for mr. archibald dunbarr of thunderstoune, to be left at capt. dunbar's writing chamber at the iron revell, third storie below the cross, north end of the close at edinburgh." under the circumstances of the time it was necessary thus to define at length where letters should be delivered; and the same circumstances were no doubt the _raison-d'être_ of the corps of caddies in edinburgh, whose business it was to execute commissions of all sorts, and in whom the paramount qualification was to know everybody in the town, and where everybody lived. all this is changed in our degenerate days, and it is now possible for any one to find any other person with the simple key of street and number. the irregular way in which towns grew up in former times is brought out in an anecdote about kilmarnock. early in the present century the streets of that town were narrow, winding, and intricate. an english commercial traveller, having completed some business there, mounted his horse, and set out for another town. he was making for the outskirts of kilmarnock, and reflecting upon its apparent size and importance, when he suddenly found himself back at the cross. in the surprise of the moment he was heard to exclaim that surely his "sable eminence" must have had a hand in the building of it, for it was a town very easily got into, but there was no getting out of it. a duty that the changed circumstances of the times now renders unnecessary was formerly imposed upon postmasters, of which there is hardly a recollection remaining among the officials carrying on the work of the post to-day. the duty is mentioned in an order of may , to the following effect: "an old instruction was renewed in , that all postmasters should transmit to me (the secretary), for the information of his majesty's postmaster-general, an immediate account of all remarkable occurrences within their districts, that the same may be communicated, if necessary, to his majesty's principal secretaries of state. this has not been invariably attended to, and i am commanded by his lordship to say, that henceforward it will be expected of every deputy." this gathering of news from all quarters is now adequately provided for by the _daily press_, and no incident of any importance occurs which is not immediately distributed through that channel, or flashed by the telegraph, to every corner of the kingdom. a custom, which would now be looked upon as a curiosity, and the origin of which would have to be sought for in the remote past, was in operation in the larger towns of the kingdom until about the year . the custom was that of ringing the town for letters to be despatched; certain of the postmen being authorised to go over apportioned districts, after the ordinary collections of letters from the receiving offices had been made, to gather in late letters for the mail. until the year above mentioned the arrangement was thus carried out in dublin. the letter-box at the chief office, and those at the receiving offices, closed two hours before the despatch of the night mail. half an hour after this closing eleven postmen started to scour the town, collecting on their way letters and newspapers. each man carried a locked leather wallet, into which, through an opening, letters and other articles were placed, the postmen receiving a fee of a penny on every letter, and a halfpenny on every newspaper. this was a personal fee to the men over and above the ordinary postage. to warn the public of the postman's approach each man carried a large bell, which he rang vigorously as he went his rounds. these men, besides taking up letters for the public, called also at the receiving offices for any letters left for them upon which the special fee had been paid, and the "ringers" had to reach the chief office one hour before the despatch of the night mail. this custom seems to have yielded considerable emolument to the men concerned, for when it was abolished compensation was given for the loss of fees, the annual payments ranging from £ s., to £ s. increased posting facilities, and the infusion of greater activity into the performance of post-office work, were no doubt the things which "rang the parting knell" of these useful servants of the period. [illustration: the bellman collecting letters for despatch.] the slow and infrequent conveyance of mails by the ordinary post in former times gave rise to the necessity for "expresses." by this term is meant the despatch of a single letter by man and horse, to be passed on from stage to stage without delay to its destination. in an official instruction of the speed to be observed was thus described: "it is expected that all expresses shall be conveyed at the rate of seven miles, at least, within the hour." the charge made was d. per mile, arising as follows, viz.:-- ½d. per mile for the horse, d. per mile for the rider, and ½d. per mile for the post-horse duty. the postmaster who despatched the express, and the postmaster who received it for delivery, were each entitled to s. d. for their trouble. it will perhaps be convenient to look at the packet service apart from the land service, though progress is as remarkable in the one as in the other. during the wars of the latter half of the last century, the packets, small as they were, were armed packets. but we almost smile in recording the armaments carried. here is an account of the arms of the _roebuck_ packet as inventoried in :-- carriage guns. muskets and bayonets. brass blunderbusses. cutlasses. pair of pistols. old cartouch-boxes. in our own estuaries and seas the packets were not free from molestation, and were in danger of being taken. in the carron company were running vessels from the forth to london, and the following notice was issued by them as an inducement to persons travelling between these places:-- "the carron vessels are fitted out in the most complete manner for defence, at a very considerable expense, and are well provided with small arms. all mariners, recruiting parties, soldiers upon furlow, and all other steerage passengers who have been accustomed to the use of firearms, and who will engage to assist in defending themselves, will be accommodated with their passage to and from london upon satisfying the masters for their provisions, which in no instance shall exceed s. d. sterling." this was the year in which paul jones visited the firth of forth, and was spreading terror all round the coasts. the following was the service of the packets in the year . five packets were employed between dover and ostend and calais, the despatches being made on wednesdays and saturdays. between harwich and holland three were employed, the sailings in this case also taking place on wednesdays and saturdays. for new york and the west india service twelve packets were engaged, sailing from falmouth on the first wednesday of every month. four packets performed the duty between falmouth and lisbon, sailing every saturday; and five packets kept up the irish communication, sailing daily between holyhead and dublin. in the year , a mail service seems to have been kept up by packets sailing from yarmouth to cuxhaven, at the mouth of the elbe, respecting which the following particulars may be interesting. they are taken from an old letter-book. "the passage-money to the office is s. d. for whole passengers, and s. d. for half passengers, either to or from england; d. of which is to be paid to the captain for small beer, which both the whole and half passengers are to be informed of their being entitled to when they embark. " s. d. is allowed as a perquisite on each whole passenger, s. of which to the agent at cuxhaven for every whole passenger embarking for england, and the other d. to the agent at yarmouth; and in like manner s. to the agent at yarmouth on every whole passenger embarking for the continent, and d. to the agent at cuxhaven; but no fee whatever is to be taken on half passengers, so that s. d. must be accounted for to the revenue on each whole passenger, and s. on each half passenger." half passengers were servants, young children, or persons in low circumstances. while touching upon passage-money, it may be noted that in the fare from weymouth to jersey or guernsey, for cabin passengers, was, to the captain, s. d. and to the office s. d.--or £ , s. in all. the mail packets performing the service between england and ireland in the first quarter of the present century were not much to boast of. according to a survey taken at holyhead in july , the vessels employed to carry the mails between that port and dublin were of very small tonnage, as will be seen by the following table:-- uxbridge, tons. pelham, " duke of montrose, " chichester, " union, " countess of liverpool, " the valuation of these crafts, including rigging, furniture, and fitting, ranged from £ to £ . the failures or delays in making the passage across the channel are thus described by cleland in his _annals of glasgow_: "it frequently happens," says he, "that the mail packet is windbound at the mouth of the liffey for several days together"; and we have seen it stated in a newspaper article that the packets crossing to ireland by the portpatrick route were sometimes delayed a couple of weeks by contrary winds. a few years previously an attempt had been made to introduce steam-packets for the holyhead and dublin service; but this improved service was not at that time adopted. referring to the year , cleland writes: "the success of steamboats on the clyde induced some gentlemen in dublin to order two vessels to be made to ply as packets in the channel between dublin and holyhead, with a view of ultimately carrying the mail. the dimensions are as follows:--viz., keel feet, beam feet, with feet draught of water--have engines of horse-power, and are named the 'britannia' and 'hibernia.'" these were the modest ideas then held as to the power of steam to develop and expedite the packet service. in the period from - , when steam had been adopted upon the holyhead and dublin route, one of the first contract vessels was the _prince arthur_, having a gross tonnage of , and whose speed was thirteen or fourteen knots an hour. the latest addition to this line of packets is the _ireland_ a magnificent ship of tons gross, and of horse-power. its rate of speed is twenty-two knots an hour. as regards the american packet service perhaps greater strides than these even have been achieved. prior to the vessels carrying the mails across the atlantic were derisively called "coffin brigs," whose tonnage was probably about . at any rate, as will be seen later on, a packet in which harriet martineau crossed the atlantic in was one of only tons. on the th july , a company, which is now the cunard company, started a contract service for the mails to america, the steamers employed having a tonnage burden of and indicated horse-power of . their average speed was ½ knots. in the packets had attained to greater proportions and higher speed, the average length of passage from liverpool to new york being twelve days one hour fourteen minutes. as years rolled on competition and the exigencies of the times called for still more rapid transit, and at the present day the several companies performing the american mail service have afloat palatial ships of to , tons, bringing america within a week's touch of great britain. [illustration: holyhead and kingstown mail packet "prince arthur"-- tons--period - . (_from a painting, the property of the city of dublin steam packet company._)] going back a little more than a hundred years, it is of interest to see how irregular were the communications to and from foreign ports by mail packet. benjamin franklin, writing of the period , mentions the following circumstances connected with a voyage he made from new york to europe in that year. the packets were at the disposition of general lord loudon, then in charge of the army in america; and franklin had to travel from philadelphia to new york to join the packet, lord loudon having preceded him to the port of despatch. the general told franklin confidentially, that though it had been given out that the packet would sail on saturday next, still it would not sail till monday. he was, however, advised not to delay longer. "by some accidental hindrance at a ferry," writes franklin, "it was monday noon before i arrived, and i was much afraid she might have sailed, as the wind was fair; but i was soon made easy by the information that she was still in the harbour, and would not leave till the next day. one would imagine that i was now on the very point of departing for europe. i thought so; but i was not then so well acquainted with his lordship's character, of which indecision was one of the strongest features. it was about the beginning of april that i came to new york, and it was near the end of june before we sailed. there were then two of the packet-boats which had long been in port, but were detained for the general's letters, which were always to be ready _to-morrow_. another packet arrived; she, too, was detained; and, before we sailed, a fourth was expected. ours was the first to be despatched, as having been there longest. passengers were engaged in all, and some extremely impatient to be gone, and the merchants uneasy about their letters, and the orders they had given for insurance (it being war-time) for fall goods; but their anxiety availed nothing; his lordship's letters were not ready; and yet, whoever waited on him found him always at his desk, pen in hand, and concluded he must needs write abundantly." apart from the manifest inconvenience of postal service conducted in the way described, one cannot wonder that the affairs of the american colonies should get into a bad way when conducted under a policy of so manifest vacillation and indecision. but the irregular transmission of mails between america and europe was not a thing referring merely to the year , for franklin, writing from passy, near paris, in the year , again dwells upon the uncertainty of the communication. "we are far from the sea-ports," he says, "and not well informed, and often misinformed, about the sailing of the vessels. frequently we are told they are to sail in a week or two, and often they lie in the ports for months after with our letters on board, either waiting for convoy or for other reasons. the post-office here is an unsafe conveyance; many of the letters we receive by it have evidently been opened, and doubtless the same happens to those we send; and, at this time particularly, there is so violent a curiosity in all kinds of people to know something relating to the negotiations, and whether peace may be expected, or a continuance of the war, that there are few private hands or travellers that we can trust with carrying our despatches to the sea-coast; and i imagine that they may sometimes be opened and destroyed, because they cannot be well sealed." harriet martineau gives an insight into the way in which mails were treated on board american packets in the year , which may be held to be almost in recent times; yet the treatment is such that a postmaster-general of to-day would be roused to indignation at the outrage perpetrated upon them. she thus writes: "i could not leave such a sight, even for the amusement of hauling over the letter-bags. mr. ely put on his spectacles; mrs. ely drew a chair; others lay along on deck to examine the superscriptions of the letters from irish emigrants to their friends. it is wonderful how some of these epistles reach their destinations; the following, for instance, begun at the top left-hand corner, and elaborately prolonged to the bottom right one:--mrs. a. b. ile of man douglas wits sped england. the letter-bags are opened for the purpose of sorting out those which are for delivery in port from the rest. a fine day is always chosen, generally towards the end of the voyage, when amusements become scarce and the passengers are growing weary. it is pleasant to sit on the rail and see the passengers gather round the heap of letters, and to hear the shouts of merriment when any exceedingly original superscription comes under notice." such liberties with the mails in the present day would excite consternation in the headquarters of the post office department. nor is this all. miss martineau makes the further remark--"the two miss o'briens appeared to-day on deck, speaking to nobody, sitting on the same seats, with their feet _on the same letter-bag_, reading two volumes of the same book, and dressed alike," etc. the mail-bags turned into footstools, forsooth! it is interesting to note the size of the packet in which this lady crossed the atlantic. it was the _orpheus_, captain bursley, a vessel of tons. in looking back on these times, and knowing what dreadful storms our huge steamers encounter between europe and america, we cannot but admire the courage which must have inspired men and women to embark for distant ports in crafts so frail.[ ] it is well also to note that the transit from new york occupied the period from the st to the th august, the better part of four weeks. reference has been made to the fact that a century ago the little packets, to which the mails and passengers were consigned, were built for fighting purposes. it was no uncommon thing for them to fall into the hands of an enemy; but they did not always succumb without doing battle, and sometimes they had the honours of the day. in the _antelope_ packet fought a privateer off the coast of cuba and captured it, after of the men the privateer carried had been killed or disabled. the _antelope_ had only two killed and three wounded--one mortally. in the _lady hobart_, a vessel of tons, sailing from nova scotia for england, fell in with and captured a french schooner; but the _lady hobart_ a few days later ran into an iceberg, receiving such damage that she shortly thereafter foundered. the mails were loaded with iron and thrown overboard, and the crew and passengers, taking to the boats, made for newfoundland, which they reached after enduring great hardships. the introduction of the uniform penny postage, under the scheme with which sir rowland hill's name is so intimately associated, and the jubilee of which occurs in the present year, marks an important epoch in the review which is now under consideration. to enter into a history of the penny postage agitation would be beyond the scope of these pages. like all great schemes, the idea propounded was fought against inch by inch, and the battle, so far as the objectors are concerned, remains a memorial of the incapacity of a great portion of mankind to think out any scheme on its merits. whatever is new is sure to be opposed, apparently on no other ground than that of novelty, and in this bearing men are often not unlike some of the lower creatures in the scale of animated nature, that start and fly from things which they have not seen before, though they may have no more substance than that of a shadow. however this may be, the penny postage measure has produced stupendous results. in , the year before the reduction of postage, the letters passing through the post in the united kingdom were , , . in , under the penny postage scheme, the number immediately rose to nearly , , . that is to say, the letters were doubled in number. ten years later the number rose to , , , and in last year ( ) the total number of letters passing through the post office in this country was , , , . in addition to the letters, however, the following articles passed through the post last year--book packets and circulars, , , ; newspapers , , ; post cards , , . * * * * * _form of petition used in agitation for the uniform penny postage._ uniform penny postage. (form of a petition.) to the honourable the lords spiritual and temporal [_or_, the commons, _as the case may be_] in parliament assembled:-- the humble petition of the undersigned [_to be filled up with the name of place, corporation, &c._] sheweth, that your petitioners earnestly desire an uniform penny post, payable in advance, as proposed by rowland hill, and recommended by the report of the select committee of the house of commons. that your petitioners intreat your honourable house to give speedy effect to this report. and your petitioners will ever pray. * * * mothers and fathers that wish to hear from their absent children! friends who are parted, that wish to write to each other! emigrants that do not forget their native homes! farmers that wish to know the best markets! merchants and tradesmen that wish to receive orders and money quickly and cheaply! mechanics and labourers that wish to learn where good work and high wages are to be had! _support_ the report of the house of commons with your petitions for an uniform penny post. let every city and town and village, every corporation, every religious society and congregation, petition, and let every one in the kingdom sign a petition with his name or his mark. this is no question of party politics. lord ashburton, a conservative, and one of the richest noblemen in the country, spoke these impressive words before the house of commons committee--"postage is one of the worst of our taxes; it is, in fact, taxing the conversation of people who live at a distance from each other. the communication of letters by persons living at a distance is the same as a communication by word of mouth between persons living in the same town." "sixpence," says mr. brewin, "is the third of a poor man's income; if a gentleman, who had , _l._ a year, or _l._ a day, had to pay one-third of his daily income, a sovereign, for a letter, how often would he write letters of friendship! let a gentleman put that to himself, and then he will be able to see how the poor man cannot be able to pay sixpence for his letter." * * * reader! if you can get any signatures to a petition, make two copies of the above on two half sheets of paper; get them signed as numerously as possible; fold each up separately; put a slip of paper around, leaving the ends open; direct one to a member of the house of lords, the other to a member of the house of commons, london, and put them into the post office. * * * _reproduced from a handbill in the collection of the late sir henry cole, k.c.b. by permission of lady cole._ * * * * * should any reader desire to inform himself with some degree of fulness of the stages through which the penny postage agitation passed, he cannot do better than peruse sir henry cole's _fifty years of public work_. the postmaster-general, speaking at the jubilee meeting at the london guildhall, on the th may last, thus contrasted the work of with that of : "although i would not to-night weary an assemblage like this with tedious and tiresome figures, it may be at least permitted to me to remind you that, whereas in the year immediately preceding the establishment of the penny postage the number of letters delivered in the united kingdom amounted to[ ] , , , the number of letters delivered in this country last year was nearly , , , --twenty times the number of letters which passed through the post fifty years ago. to these letters must be added the , , of post-cards and other communications by the halfpenny post, and the enormous number of newspapers, which bring the total number of communications passing through the post to considerably above two billions. i venture to say that this is the most stupendous result of any administrative change which the world has witnessed. if you estimate the effect of that upon our daily life; if you pause for a moment to consider how trade and business have been facilitated and developed; how family relations have been maintained and kept together; if you for a moment allow your mind to dwell upon the change which is implied in that great fact to which i have called attention, i think you will see that the establishment of the penny post has done more to change--and change for the better--the face of old england than almost any other political or social project which has received the sanction of legislature within our history." among the penny postage literature issued in the year there are several songs. one of these was published at leith, and is given below. it is entitled "hurrah for the postman, the great roland hill." the leaflet is remarkable for this, that it is headed by a picture of postmen rushing through the streets delivering letters on roller skates. it is generally believed that roller skates are quite a modern invention, and in the absence of proof to the contrary it may be fair to assume that the author of the song anticipated the inventor in this mode of progression. so there really seems to be nothing new under the sun! hurrah for the postman, the great roland hill.[ ] "come, send round the liquor, and fill to the brim a bumper to railroads, the press, gas, and steam; to rags, bags, and nutgalls, ink, paper, and quill, the post, and the postman, the gude roland hill! by steam we noo travel mair quick than the eagle, a sixty mile trip for the price o' a sang! a prin it has powntit--th' atlantic surmountit, we'll compass the globe in a fortnight or lang. the gas bleezes brightly, you witness it nightly, our ancestors lived unca lang in the dark; their wisdom was folly, their sense melancholy when compared wi' sic wonderfu' modern wark. neist o' rags, bags, and size then, let no one despise them, without them whar wad a' our paper come frae? the dark flood o' ink too, i'm given to think too, could as ill be wanted at this time o' day. the quill is a queer thing, a cheap and a dear thing, a weak-lookin' object, but gude kens how strang, sometimes it is ceevil, sometimes it's the deevil. tak tent when you touch it, you haudna it wrang. the press i'll next mention, a noble invention, the great mental cook with resources so vast; it spreads on bright pages the knowledge o' ages, and tells to the future the things of the past. hech, sirs! but its awfu' (but ne'er mind it's lawfu') to saddle the postman wi' sic meikle bags; wi' epistles and sonnets, love billets and groan-ets, ye'll tear the poor postie to shivers and rags. noo jock sends to jenny, it costs but ae penny, a screed that has near broke the dictionar's back, fu' o' dove-in and dear-in, and _thoughts_ on the shearin'!! nae need noo o' whisp'rin' ayont a wheat stack. auld drivers were lazy, their mail-coaches crazy, at ilk public-house they stopt for a gill; but noo at the gallop, cheap mail-bags maun wallop. hurrah for our postman, the great roland hill. "then send round the liquor," etc. the advantages resulting from a rapid and cheap carriage of letters must readily occur to any ordinary mind; but perhaps the following would hardly suggest itself as one of those advantages. dean alford thus wrote about the usefulness of post-cards, introduced on the st october : "you will also find a new era in postage begun. the halfpenny cards have become a great institution. some of us make large use of them to write short latin epistles on, and are brushing up our cicero and pliny for that purpose." unlike some of the branches of post-office work, other than the distribution of news, either by letter or newspaper, the money order system dates from long before the introduction of penny postage--namely from the year . it was set on foot by some of the post-office clerks on their own account; but it was not till that it became a recognised business of the department. owing to high rates of commission, and to high postage, little business was done in the earlier years. in less than , orders were issued of the value of £ , , while last year the total number of transactions within the united kingdom was , , , representing a sum of nearly £ , , sterling. in the year the post office entered upon the business of banking by the establishment of the post office savings banks. at the present time there are upwards of offices within the kingdom at which post office savings bank business is transacted. the number of persons having accounts with these banks is now , , , and the annual deposits represent a gross sum of over £ , , . in order of time the next additional business taken up by the department was that of the telegraphs. before the telegraph work for the public was carried on by several commercial companies and by the railway companies; but in that year this business became a monopoly, like the transmission of letters, in the hands of the post office. the work of taking over these various telegraphs, and, consolidating them into a harmonious whole, was one of gigantic proportions, requiring indomitable courage and unwearying energy, as well as consummate ability; and when the history of this enterprise comes to be written, it will perhaps be found that the undertaking, in magnitude and importance, comes in no measure short of the penny postage scheme of sir rowland hill. in the first year of the control of the telegraphs by the post office the number of messages sent was nearly , , , excluding , press messages. at that time the minimum charge was s. per message. in the minimum was reduced to d., and under this rate the number of messages rose last year to , , . the most recent addition of importance to the varied work of the post office is that of the parcel post. this business was started in . in the first year of its operation the number of inland parcels transmitted was upwards of , , . last year the number, including a proportion of foreign and colonial parcels, rose to , , , earning a gross postage of over £ , . the uniform rates in respect of distance, the vast number of offices where parcels are received and delivered, and the extensive machinery at the command of the post office for the work, render this business one of extreme accommodation to the public. not only is the parcel post taken advantage of for the transmission of ordinary business or domestic parcels, but it is made the channel for the exchange of all manner of out-of-the-way articles. the following are some instances of the latter class observed at edinburgh: scotch oatmeal going to paris, naples, and berlin; bagpipes for the lower congo, and for native regiments in the punjaub; scotch haggis for ontario, canada, and for caebar, india; smoked haddocks for rome; the great puzzle "pigs in clover" for bavaria, and for wellington, new zealand, and so on. at home, too, curious arrangements come under notice. a family, for example, in london find it to their advantage to have a roast of beef sent to them by parcel post twice a week from a town in fife. and a gentleman of property, having his permanent residence in devonshire, finds it convenient, when enjoying the shooting season in the far north-west of scotland, to have his vegetables forwarded by parcel post from his home garden in devonshire to his shooting lodge in scotland. the postage on these latter consignments sometimes amounts to about fifteen shillings a day, a couple of post-office parcel hampers being required for their conveyance. and we should not omit to mention here the number of persons employed in the post by whom this vast amount of most diverse business is carried on for the nation. of head and sub-postmasters and letter receivers, each of whom has a post-office under his care, there are , . the other established offices of the post office number over , , and there are, besides, persons employed in unestablished positions to the number of over , . thus there is a great army of no less than , persons serving the public in the various domains of the postal service. a century ago, and indeed down to a period only fifty years ago, the world, looked at from the present vantage-ground, must appear to have been in a dull, lethargic state, with hardly any pulse and a low circulation. as for nerve system it had none. the changes which the post office has wrought in the world, but more particularly in our own country, are only to be fully perceived and appreciated by the thoughtful. now the heart of the nation throbs strongly at the centre, while the current of activity flows quickly and freely to the remotest corners of the state. the telegraph provides a nervous system unknown before. by its means every portion of the country is placed in immediate contact with every other part; the thrill of joy and the moan of desolation are no longer things of locality; they are shared fully and immediately by the whole; and the interest of brotherhood, extending to parts of the country which, under other conditions, must have remained unknown and uncared for, makes us realise that all men are but members of one and the same family. the freedom and independence now enjoyed by the individual, as a result of the vast influence exercised by society through the rapid exchange of thought, is certainly a thing of which the people of our own country may well be proud. right can now assert itself in a way which was entirely beyond the reach of our predecessors of a hundred years ago; and wrong receives summary judgment at the hands of a whole people. yet there is a growing danger that this great liberty of the individual may become, in one direction, a spurious liberty, and that the elements of physical force, exerting themselves under the ægis of uncurbed freedom, may enter into conspiracy against intellect, individual effort, and thrift in such a way as to produce a tyranny worse than that existing in the most despotic states. the introduction of the telegraph, and the greater facilities afforded by the press for the general distribution of news, have greatly changed the nature of commercial speculation. formerly, when news came from abroad at wide intervals, it was of the utmost consequence to obtain early command of prices and information as to movements in the markets, and whoever gained the news first had the first place in the race. nowadays the telegraph, and the newspapers by the help of the telegraph, give all an equal start, and the whole world knows at once what is going on in every capital of the globe. the thirst for the first possession of news in commercial life is happily described in _glasgow past and present_, wherein the author gives an account of a practice prevailing in the tontine reading rooms at the end of last century. "immediately on receiving the bag of papers from the post-office," says the writer, "the waiter locked himself up in the bar, and after he had sorted the different papers and had made them up in a heap, he unlocked the door of the bar, and making a sudden rush into the middle of the room, he then tossed up the whole lot of newspapers as high as the ceiling of the room. now came the grand rush and scramble of the subscribers, every one darting forward to lay hold of a falling newspaper. sometimes a lucky fellow got hold of five or six newspapers and ran off with them to a corner, in order to select his favourite paper; but he was always hotly pursued by some half-dozen of the disappointed scramblers, who, without ceremony, pulled from his hands the first paper they could lay hold of, regardless of its being torn in the contest. on these occasions i have often seen a heap of gentlemen sprawling on the floor of the room and riding upon one another's backs like a parcel of boys. it happened, however, unfortunately, that a gentleman in one of these scrambles got two of his teeth knocked out of his head, and this ultimately brought about a change in the manner of delivering the newspapers." [illustration: the tontine reading-rooms, glasgow--arrival of the mail--period: end of last century. (_after an old print._)] another instance of the anxiety for early news is exhibited in a practice which prevailed in glasgow about fifty years ago. the glasgow merchants were deeply interested in shipping and other news coming from liverpool. the mail at that period arrived in glasgow some time in the afternoon during business hours. a letter containing quotations from liverpool for the royal exchange was due in the mail daily. this letter was enclosed in a conspicuously bright red cover, and it was the business of the post-office clerk, immediately he opened the liverpool bag, to seize this letter and hand it to a messenger from the royal exchange who was in attendance at the post office to receive it. this messenger hastened to the exchange, rang a bell to announce the arrival of the news, and forthwith the contents of the letter were posted up in the exchange. the merchants who had offices within sound of the bell were then seen hurrying to the exchange buildings, to be cheered or depressed as the case might be by the information which the mail had brought them. a clever instance of how the possession of early news could be turned to profitable account in the younger days of the century is recorded of mr. john rennie, a nephew of his namesake the great engineer, and an extensive dealer in corn and cattle. his headquarters at the time were at east linton, near dunbar. "at one period of his career mr. rennie habitually visited london either for business or pleasure, or both combined. one day, when present at the grain market, in mark lane, sudden war news arrived, in consequence of which the price of wheat immediately bounded up s., s., and even s. per quarter. at once he saw his opportunity and left for scotland by the next mail. he knew, of course, that the mail carried the startling war news to edinburgh, but he trusted to his wit to outdo it by reaching the northern capital first. as the coach passed the farm of skateraw, some distance east of dunbar, it was met by the farmer, old harry lee, on horseback. rennie, who was an outside passenger, no sooner recognised lee than he sprang from his seat on the coach to the ground. coming up to lee, rennie hurriedly whispered something to him, and induced him to lend his horse to carry rennie on to east linton. rennie, who was an astonishingly active man, vaulted into the saddle, and immediately rode off at full gallop westwards. the day was a wednesday, and, as it was already o'clock forenoon, he knew that he had no time to lose; but he was not the stamp of man to allow the grass to grow under his feet on such an important occasion. ere he reached dunbar the mail was many hundred yards behind. at his own place at east linton he drew up, mounted his favourite horse "silvertail," which for speed and endurance had no rival in the county, and again proceeded at the gallop. when he reached the grassmarket, edinburgh--a full hour before the mail,--the grain-selling was just starting, and before the alarming war news had got time to spread rennie had every peck of wheat in the market bought up. he must have coined an enormous profit by this smart transaction; but to him it seemed to matter nothing at all. he was one of the most careless of the harum-scarum sons of adam, and if he made money easily, so in a like manner did he let it slip his grip." the two following instances of the expedients to which merchants resorted, before the introduction of the telegraph, in cases of urgency, and when the letter post would not serve them, are given by the author of _glasgow past and present_, to whose work reference has already been made:-- "during the french war the premiums of insurance upon running ships (ships sailing without convoy) were very high, in consequence of which several of our glasgow ship-owners who possessed quick-sailing vessels were in the practice of allowing the expected time of arrival of their ships closely to approach before they effected insurance upon them, thus taking the chance of a quick passage being made, and if the ships arrived safe the insurance was saved. "mr. archibald campbell, about this time an extensive glasgow merchant, had allowed one of his ships to remain uninsured till within a short period of her expected arrival; at last, getting alarmed, he attempted to effect insurance in glasgow, but found the premium demanded so high that he resolved to get his ship and cargo insured in london. accordingly, he wrote a letter to his broker in london, instructing him to get the requisite insurance made on the best terms possible, but, at all events, to get the said insurance effected. this letter was despatched through the post-office in the ordinary manner, the mail at that time leaving glasgow at two o'clock p.m. at seven o'clock the same night mr. campbell received an express from greenock announcing the safe arrival of his ship. mr. campbell, on receiving this intelligence, instantly despatched his head clerk in pursuit of the mail, directing him to proceed by postchaises-and-four with the utmost speed until he overtook it, and then to get into it; or, if he could not overtake it, he was directed to proceed to london, and to deliver a letter to the broker countermanding the instructions about insurance. the clerk, notwithstanding of extra payment to the postilions, and every exertion to accelerate his journey, was unable to overtake the mail; but he arrived in london on the third morning shortly after the mail, and immediately proceeded to the residence of the broker, whom he found preparing to take his breakfast, and before delivery of the london letters. the order for insurance written for was then countermanded, and the clerk had the pleasure of taking a comfortable breakfast with the broker. the expenses of this express amounted to £ ; but it was said that the premium of insurance, if it had been effected, would have amounted to £ , so that mr. campbell was reported to have saved £ by his promptitude." "at the period in question a rise had taken place in the cotton-market, and there was a general expectancy among the cotton-dealers that there would be a continued and steady advance of prices in every description of cotton. acting upon this belief messrs. james finlay & co. had sent out orders by post to their agent in india to make extensive purchases of cotton on their account, to be shipped by the first vessels for england. it so happened, however, shortly after these orders had been despatched, that cotton fell in price, and a still greater fall was expected to take place. under these circumstances messrs. finlay & co. despatched an overland express to india countermanding their orders to purchase cotton. this was the first, and, i believe, the only overland express despatched from glasgow to india by a private party on commercial purposes." one of the greatest achievements of our own time, yet too often overlooked, is the marvellously rapid diffusion of parliamentary news throughout the country. important debates are frequently protracted in the house of commons into the early hours of the morning. the speeches are instantly reported by the shorthand writers in the gallery, who dog the lips of the speakers and commit their every word to paper. thus seized in the fleet lines of stenography, the words and phrases are then transcribed into long-hand. relays of messengers carry the copy to the telegraph office, where the words are punched in the form of a mysterious language on slips of paper like tape, which are run through the wheatstone telegraph transmitter, the electric current carrying the news to distant stations at the rate of several hundred words a minute. at these stations the receiving-machine pours out at an equal rate, another tape, bearing a record in a different character, from which relays of clerks, attending the oracle, convert the weighty sayings again into ordinary language. the news thus received is carried forthwith by a succession of messengers to the newspaper office; the compositors set the matter up in type; it is reviewed and edited by the men appointed to the duty; the columns are stereotyped, and in that form are placed in the printing-machines. the machines are set in motion at astonishing speed, turning out the newspapers cut and folded and ready for the reader. a staff is in attendance to place under cover the copies of subscribers for despatch by the early mails. these are carried to the post-office, and so transmitted to their destinations. taking edinburgh as a point for special consideration, all that has been stated applies to this city. for the first despatches to the north, the _scotsman_ and _leader_ newspapers are conveyed to certain trains as early as a.m.; and by the breakfast-hour, or early in the forenoon, the parliamentary debates of the previous night are being discussed over the greater part of scotland. and all this hurry and intellectual activity is going on while the nation at large is wrapped in sleep, and probably not one person in a hundred ever thinks or concerns himself to know how it is done. the frequency and rapidity of communication between different parts of the world seems to have brought the whole globe into a very small focus, for obscure places, which would be unknown, one would think, beyond their own immediate neighbourhoods, are frequently well within the cognisance of persons living in far-distant quarters. an instance of this is given by the postmaster of epworth, a village near to doncaster. "we have," says the postmaster, "an odd place in this parish known as nineveh farm. some years ago a letter was received here which had been posted somewhere in the united states of america, and was addressed merely mr. ---- nineveh. i have always regarded its delivery to the proper person as little less than a miracle, but it happened." it is impossible to say how far the influence of this great revolution in the mail service on land and sea may extend. that the change has been, on the whole, to the advantage of mankind goes without saying. one contrast is here given, and the reader can draw his own conclusions in other directions. the peace of , which followed the american war of independence, was only arrived at after negotiations extending over more than two years. prussia and austria were at war in . the campaign occupied seven days; and from the declaration of war to the formal conclusion of peace only seven weeks elapsed. is it to be doubted that the difference in the two cases was, in large measure, due to the fact that news travelled slowly in the one case and fast in the other? we may look back on the past with very mixed feelings,--dreaming of the easy-going methods of our forefathers, which gave them leisure for study and reflection, or esteeming their age as an age of lethargy, of lumbering and slumbering. we are proud of our own era, as one full of life and activity, full of hurry and bustle, and as existing under the spell of high electrical tension. but too many of us know to our cost that this present whirl of daily life has one most serious drawback, summed up in the commonplace, but not the less true, saying,-- "it's the pace that kills." yet one more thought remains. will the pace be kept up in the next hundred years? there is no reason to suppose it will not, and the world is hardly likely to go to sleep. our successors who live a hundred years hence will doubtless learn much that man has not yet dreamt of. time will produce many changes and reveal deep secrets; but as to what these shall be, let him prophesy who knows. footnotes: [ ] see note a in appendix. [ ] see note d in appendix. [ ] see note b in appendix. [ ] see note c in appendix. [ ] exclusive of franked letters. [ ] from the collection of the late sir henry cole in the edinburgh international exhibition, . appendix. a. as to the representation in parliament, the freeholders in the whole of the counties of scotland, who had the power of returning the county members, were, in , for example, just under three thousand in number. these were mostly gentlemen of position living on their estates, with a sprinkling of professional men; the former being, from their want of business training, ill suited, one would suppose, for conducting the business of a nation. the town councils were self-elective--hotbeds of corruption; and the members of these town councils were intrusted with the power of returning the members for the boroughs. the people at large were not directly represented, if in strictness represented at all. b. francis, afterwards lord jeffrey, in a letter of the th september , describes the discomfort of a journey by mail from perth to edinburgh, when the coach had broken down, and he was carried forward by the guard by special conveyance. his graphic description is as follows:--"i was roused carefully half an hour before four yesterday morning, and passed two delightful hours in the kitchen waiting for the mail. there was an enormous fire, and a whole household of smoke. the waiter was snoring with great vehemency upon one of the dressers, and the deep regular intonation had a very solemn effect, i can assure you, in the obscurity of that tartarean region, and the melancholy silence of the morning. an innumerable number of rats were trottin and gibberin in one end of the place, and the rain clattered freshly on the windows. the dawn heavily in clouds brought on the day, but not, alas! the mail; and it was long past five when the guard came galloping into the yard, upon a smoking horse, with all the wet bags lumbering beside him (like scylla's water-dogs), roaring out that the coach was broken down somewhere near dundee, and commanding another steed to be got ready for his transportation. the noise he made brought out the other two sleepy wretches that had been waiting like myself for places, and we at length persuaded the heroic champion to order a postchaise instead of a horse, into which we crammed ourselves all four, with a whole mountain of leather bags that clung about our legs like the entrails of a fat cow all the rest of the journey. at kinross, as the morning was very fine, we prevailed with the guard to go on the outside to dry himself, and got on to the ferry about eleven, after encountering various perils and vexations, in the loss of horse-shoes and wheel-pins, and in a great gap in the road, over which we had to lead the horses, and haul the carriage separately. at this place we supplicated our agitator for leave to eat a little breakfast; but he would not stop an instant, and we were obliged to snatch up a roll or two apiece and gnaw the dry crusts during our passage to keep soul and body together. we got in soon after one, and i have spent my time in eating, drinking, sleeping, and other recreations, down to the present hour." on going north from edinburgh, on the same tour apparently, jeffrey had previous experience of the difficulties of travel, as described in a letter from montrose, date th august . "we stopped," says he, "for two days at perth, hoping for places in the mail, and then set forward on foot in despair. we have trudged it now for fifty miles, and came here this morning very weary, sweaty, and filthy. our baggage, which was to have left perth the same day that we did, has not yet made its appearance, and we have received the comfortable information that it is often a week before there is room in the mail to bring such a parcel forward." writing from kendal, in , jeffrey refers to a journey he made fifty years before--that is, about --when he slept a night in the town. his description of the circumstances is as follows:-- "and an admirable dinner we have had in the ancient king's arms, with great oaken staircases, uneven floors, and very thin oak panels, plaster-filled outer walls, but capital new furniture, and the brightest glass, linen, spoons, and china you ever saw. it is the same house in which i once slept about fifty years ago, with the whole company of an ancient stage-coach, which bedded its passengers on the way from edinburgh to london, and called them up by the waiter at six o'clock in the morning to go five slow stages, and then have an hour to breakfast and wash. it is the only vestige i remember of those old ways, and i have not slept in the house since." c. the discomfort of a long voyage in a vessel of this class is well set forth in the correspondence of jeffrey. in he crossed to new york in search of a wife; and in describing the miseries of the situation on board, he gives a long list of his woes, the last being followed by this declaration: "i think i shall make a covenant with myself, that if i get back safe to my own place from this expedition, i shall never willingly go out of sight of land again in my life." d. a notable instance of an attempt to shut the door in the face of an able man is recorded in the life of sir james simpson, who has made all the world his debtors through the discovery and application of chloroform for surgical operations. plain dr. simpson was a candidate for a professorship in the university of edinburgh, and had his supporters for the honour; but there was among the men with whom rested the selection a considerable party opposed to him, whose ground of opposition was that, on account of his parents being merely tradespeople, dr. simpson would be unable to maintain the dignity of the chair. to their eternal discredit, the persons referred to did not look to the quality and ring of the "gowd," but were guided by the superficial "guinea stamp." the spread of public opinion is gradually putting such distinctions, which have their root and being in privilege and selfishness, out of court. * * * * * printed by t. and a. constable, printers to her majesty, at the edinburgh university press. [transcriber's note: this book has varying page headers. those headers have been collected at the start of each chapter as an introductory paragraph.] [frontispiece: 'the surveyor, often an explorer as well, striking out into the wilderness in search of mountain pass or lower grade.' from a colour drawing by c. w. jefferys] the railway builders a chronicle of overland highways by oscar d. skelton toronto glasgow, brook & company _copyright in all countries subscribing to the berne convention_ {v} contents page i. the coming of the railway . . . . . . . . . . . ii. early travel in canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii. the call for the railway . . . . . . . . . . . . iv. the canadian beginnings . . . . . . . . . . . . v. the grand trunk era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi. the intercolonial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii. the canadian pacific--beginnings . . . . . . . . viii. building the canadian pacific . . . . . . . . . ix. the era of amalgamation . . . . . . . . . . . . x. the canadian northern . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi. the expansion of the grand trunk . . . . . . . . xii. sundry developments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii. some general questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . bibliographical note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . {vii} illustrations 'the surveyor, often an explorer as well, striking out into the wilderness in search of mountain pass or lower grade' . . . . . . . . _frontispiece_ from a colour drawing by c. w. jefferys. the first railway engine in canada, champlain and st lawrence railroad, . . . . . . _facing page_ from a print in the château de ramezay. railroads and lotteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " an early canadian prospectus. sir francis hincks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a portrait in the dominion archives. railways of british north america, (map) . . . " sir george simpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a print in the john ross robertson collection, toronto public library. sir sandford fleming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a photograph by topley. fleming route and the trans-continentals (map) . . . " {viii} railways of canada, (map) . . . . . . . . . . . " lord strathcona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a photograph by lafayette, london. lord mount stephen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a photograph by wood and henry, dufftown. by courtesy of sir william van horne. sir william cornelius van horne . . . . . . . . . . " from a photograph by notman. railways of canada, (map) . . . . . . . . . . . " canadian northern railway, (map) . . . . . . . " charles melville hays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . " from a photograph by notman. grand trunk system, (map) . . . . . . . . . . . " canadian pacific railway, (map) . . . . . . . . " great northern railway, (map) . . . . . . . . . " railways of canada, (map) . . . . . . . . . . . " { } chapter i the coming of the railway the coming of the railway--the iron road--the new power--engine and rail--the work of the railway on the morning of october , , there began at rainhill, in england, a contest without parallel in either sport or industry. there were four entries: braithwaite and ericsson's _novelty_. timothy hackworth's _sans-pareil_. stephenson and booth's _rocket_. burstall's _perseverance_. these were neither race-horses nor stagecoaches, but rival types of the newly invented steam locomotive. to win the £ prize offered, the successful engine, if weighing six tons, must be able to draw a load of twenty tons at ten miles an hour, and to cover at least seventy miles a day. little wonder that an eminent liverpool merchant declared that only a parcel of charlatans could have devised such a test, and wagered that if a locomotive ever went ten miles an hour, he { } would eat a stewed engine-wheel for breakfast! the contest had come about as the only solution of a deadlock between the stubborn directors of the liverpool and manchester railway, or tramway, then under construction, and their still more stubborn engineer, one george stephenson. the railway was nearly completed, and the essential question of the motive power to be used had not yet been decided. the most conservative authorities thought it best to stick to the horse; others favoured the use of stationary steam-engines, placed every mile or two along the route, and hauling the cars from one station to the next by long ropes; stephenson, with a few backers, urged a trial of the locomotive. true, on the stockton and darlington railway, the first successful public line ever built, opened four years before, a travelling engine, built by the same dogged engineer, had hauled a train of some forty light carriages nearly nine miles in sixty-five minutes, and had even beaten a stage-coach, running on the highway alongside, by a hundred yards in the twelve miles from darlington to stockton. but even here the locomotive was only used to haul freight; passengers were still carried in old { } stage-coaches, which were mounted on special wheels to fit the rails, and were drawn by horses. the best practical engineers in england, when called into consultation, inspected the stockton road, and then advised the perplexed directors to instal twenty-one stationary engines along the thirty-one miles of track, rather than to experiment with the new travelling engine. 'what can be more palpably absurd and ridiculous,' the _quarterly review_ had declared in , 'than the prospect held out of locomotives travelling twice as fast as stage-coaches! we should as soon expect the people of woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of congreve's ricochet rockets as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine, going at such a rate.' and the _quarterly_ was not alone in its scepticism. the directors of the new railway had found great difficulty in obtaining a charter from parliament--a difficulty registered in a bill for parliamentary costs reaching £ , , or over $ a mile. canal proprietors and toll-road companies had declaimed against the attack on vested rights. country squires had spluttered over the damage to fox covers. horses could not plough in neighbouring fields. { } widows' strawberry-beds would be ruined. what would become of coachmen and coach-builders and horse-dealers? 'or suppose a cow were to stray upon the line; would not that be a very awkward circumstance?' queried a committee member, only to give stephenson an opening for the classic reply in his slow northumbrian speech: 'ay, verra awkward for the coo.' and not only would the locomotive as it shot along do such varied damage; in truth, it would not go at all; the wheels, declared eminent experts, would not grip on the smooth rails, or else the engines would prove top-heavy. to decide the matter, the directors had offered the prize which brought together the _novelty_, the _sans-pareil_, the _rocket_, and the _perseverance_, engines which would look almost as strange to a modern crowd as they did to the thousands of spectators drawn up along the track on that momentous morning. the contest was soon decided. the _novelty_, an ingenious engine but not substantially built, broke down twice. the _sans-pareil_ proved wasteful of coal and also met with an accident. the _perseverance_, for all its efforts, could do no better than five or six miles an hour. the _rocket_ alone met all requirements. in a { } seventy-mile run it averaged fifteen miles an hour and reached a maximum of twenty-nine. years afterwards, when scrapped to a colliery, the veteran engine was still able, in an emergency, to make four miles in four and a half minutes. 'truly,' declared cropper, one of the directors who had stood out for the stationary engine and the miles of rope, 'now has george stephenson at last delivered himself.' stephenson had the good fortune, he had earned it indeed, to put the top brick on the wall, and he alone lives in popular memory. but the railway, like most other great inventions, came about by the toil of hundreds of known and unknown workers, each adding his little or great advance, until at last some genius or some plodder, standing on their failures, could reach success. both the characteristic features of the modern railway, the iron road and the steam motive power, developed gradually as necessity urged and groping experiment permitted. the iron road came first. when men began to mine coal in the north of england, the need grew clear of better highways to bear the heavy cart-loads to market or riverside. about one master beaumont laid down broad { } wooden rails near newcastle, on which a single horse could haul fifty or sixty bushels of coal. the new device spread rapidly through the whole tyneside coal-field. a century later it became the custom to nail thin strips of wrought iron to the wooden rails, and about cast-iron rails were first used. carr, a sheffield colliery manager, invented a flanged rail, while jessop, another colliery engineer, took the other line by using flat rails but flanged cart-wheels. the outburst of canal building in the last quarter of the eighteenth century overshadowed for a time the growth of the iron road, but it soon became clear that the 'tramway' was necessary to supplement, if not to complete, the canal. in the first public line, the surrey iron railway, was chartered, but it was not until that the success of the stockton and darlington railway proved that the iron way could be made as useful to the general shipping public as to the colliery owner. at the outset this road was regarded as only a special sort of toll-road upon which any carrier might transport goods or passengers in his own vehicles, but experience speedily made it necessary for the company to undertake the complete service. it took longer to find the new motive power, { } but this, too, first came into practical use in the land where peace and liberty gave industry the fostering care which the war-rent continent could never guarantee. nowadays it seems a simple thing to turn heat energy into mechanical energy, to utilize the familiar expansive power of water heated to vapour. yet centuries of experiment, slowly acquired mechanical dexterity, and an industrial atmosphere were needed for the development of the steam-engine, and later of the locomotive. inventiveness was not lacking in the earlier days. in the second century before christ, hero of alexandria had devised steam fountains and steam turbines, but they remained scientific toys, unless for the miracle-working purposes to which legend says that eastern priests adapted them. so in the seventeenth century, when the norman, solomon de caus, claimed that with the vapour of boiling water he could move carriages and navigate ships, cardinal richelieu had him put in prison as a madman. about an italian, giovanni branca, invented an engine which had the essential features of the modern turbine, but his crude apparatus lacked efficiency. once more the coal-mines of england set invention working on a definite, continuous { } object. as the shafts were sunk to lower and lower levels, it became impossible to pump the water out of the mines by horse power, and the aid of steam was sought. just at the close of the seventeenth century savery devised the first commercial steam-engine, or rather steam fountain, which applied cold water to the outside of the cylinder to condense the steam inside and produce a vacuum; while papin, one of the huguenot refugees to whom industrial england owed so much, planned the first cylinder and piston engine. then in newcomen and cawley, working with savery, took up papin's idea, separated boiler from cylinder, and thus produced a vacuum into which atmospheric pressure forced the piston and worked the pump. next humphrey potter, a youngster hired to open and shut the valves of a newcomen engine, made it self-acting by tying cords to the engine-beam, had his hour for play or idling, and proved that if necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is sometimes its father. half a century passed without material advance; even as perfected in detail by smeaton, the newcomen engine required thirty-five pounds of coal to produce one horse-power per hour, as against one pound { } to-day. then james watt, instrument-maker in glasgow, seeing that much of the waste of steam was due to the alternate chilling and heating of the cylinder, added a separate condenser in which to do the chilling, and kept the temperature of the cylinder uniform by applying a steam-jacket. later, by applying steam and a vacuum to each side of the piston alternately, and by other improvements, watt, with his partner boulton, brought the reciprocating steam-engine to a high stage of efficiency. it took fifty years longer to combine the steam-engine and the rail. french and american inventors devised steam carriages, which came to nothing. england again led the way. at redruth in cornwall boulton and watt had a branch for the erection of stationary engines in cornish tin-mines, in charge of william murdock, later known as inventor of the system of lighting by gas. murdock devised a steam carriage to run upon the ordinary highway, but was discouraged by his employers from perfecting the machine. another mechanic at redruth, richard trevithick, captain in a tin-mine, took up the torch, built a 'dragon' for use on the common highway, but was baffled by the { } hopeless badness of the roads, and turned to making a locomotive for use on the iron ways of the welsh collieries. two years later, in , he had constructed an ingenious engine, which could haul a ten-ton load five miles an hour, but the engine jolted the road to pieces, and the versatile inventor was diverted to other schemes. blenkinsop of leeds in had an engine built with a toothed wheel working in a racked rail, which did years of good service; and next year at wylam on the tyne a colliery owner, blackett, had the _puffing billy_ built, and proved that smooth wheels would grip smooth rails. still another year, and an engine-wright in a tyneside colliery, george stephenson, himself born at wylam, devised the _blücher_, doubling effectiveness by turning the exhaust steam into the chimney to create a strong draught. using this steam blast, and adopting the multitubular boiler from a french inventor, seguin, stephenson finally scored a triumph, due not so much to unparalleled genius as to dogged perseverance in working out his own ideas and in adapting the ideas of other men. thus by slow steps the steam railway had come. it was a necessity of the age. crude means of transport might serve the need of { } earlier days when each district was self-contained and self-sufficing. but now the small workshop and the craftsman's tool were giving way to the huge factory and the power-driven machine. the division of labour was growing more complex. each district was becoming more dependent on others for markets in which to buy and to sell. traffic was multiplying. the industrial revolution brought the railway, and the railway quickened the pace of the industrial revolution. to some critics, as to ruskin, railways have appeared 'the loathesomest form of deviltry now extant, animated and deliberate earthquakes, destructive of all nice social habits or possible natural beauty.' animated and deliberate earthquakes they were indeed to prove, transforming social and industrial and political structures the world over. with the telegraph and the telephone, they greatly widened the scope and quickened the pace of business operations, making it possible, and therefore necessary, for the captain of industry or finance of the twentieth century to have under control ten times the press of affairs which occupied his eighteenth-century forerunner. the railway levelled prices and levelled manners. it enabled floods of settlers { } to sweep into all the waste places of the earth, clamped far-flung nations into unity, and bound country to country. nowhere was the part played so momentous as in the vast spaces of the north american continent, and not least in the northern half. the railway found canada scarcely a geographical expression, and made it a nation. { } chapter ii early travel in canada water transport--land trails--westward in --progress -- : the day of the steamboat british north america before the railway came was a string of scattered provinces. lake huron was the western boundary of effective settlement: beyond lay the fur trader's preserve. between upper and lower canada and the provinces by the atlantic a wilderness intervened. with the peninsula of ontario jutting southwest between michigan and new york, and the northeastern states of the union thrusting their borders nearly to the st lawrence, the inland and the maritime provinces knew less of each other than of the neighbouring states. settlement clung close to river, lake, and sea. till the eastern townships were settled, lower canada had been one long-drawn-out village with houses close set on each side of the river streets. deep forest covered all the land save where the lumberman or settler had cut a narrow clearing or fire had left a { } blackened waste. to cut roads through swamp and forest and over river and ravine demanded capital, surplus time, and strong and efficient governments, all beyond the possibilities of early days. on the other hand, the waterways offered easy paths. the st lawrence and the st john and all their tributaries and lesser rivals provided inevitably the points of settlement and the lines of travel. the development of water transport in canada furnishes a record of the interaction of route and cargo, of need and invention, of enterprise and capital. first came the bark canoe, quick to build, light to carry round the frequent gaps in navigation, and large enough to hold the few voyageurs or the rich-in-little peltry that were chief cargo in early days. it was the bark canoe that carried explorer, trader, soldier, missionary, and settler to the uttermost north and south and west. for the far journeys it long held its place. well on into the nineteenth century fur traders were still sending in supplies from montreal and bringing back peltry from fort william in flotillas of great bark canoes. for shorter voyages the canoe gave place to the larger and clumsier bateau, the characteristic eighteenth-century conveyance. after the war of { } the increasingly heavy downward freight of grain and potash led to the introduction from the united states of the still larger durham boats. along the coast and on the great lakes the sailing schooner long filled a notable place. finally the steamboat came. in , only one year after the _clermont_ had begun its regular trips on the hudson, and before any steamboat plied in british home waters, john molson of montreal with john bruce and john jackson--luckily for canada not all three baptized 'algernon'--built at montreal the -ton steamer _accommodation_. seven years later upper canada's first steamboat was launched, the -ton _frontenac_, built at the then thriving village of ernestown. the fleet of river and lake steamers multiplied rapidly. the speed and certainty and comfort--relative, at least--of the steamboat at once gave a forceful impetus to settlement and to travel, and for some sections ended the pioneer period. meanwhile, the waterways were being improved. little was needed or done in the great network of new brunswick's rivers or in nova scotia's shorter streams, but on the st lawrence system, with a fall of nearly six hundred feet from lake erie to tide-water at { } three rivers, canal construction was imperative. as early as canals were built round the rapids between lake st louis and lake st francis, on the st lawrence, with a depth of only a foot and a half of water on the sills. far westward, at sault ste marie, the energetic north-west company built, about , a canal half a mile long. in the early twenties, after the failure of a private company, the province of lower canada constructed a boat canal between montreal and lachine, and a less successful beginning was made on a canal round the chambly rapids on the richelieu. in upper canada the british government built the rideau canal, chiefly for military purposes. the welland canal was begun by a private company in , opened for small boats five years later, and taken over by the province in , after a record notable alike for energy and perseverance and for jobbery and inefficiency. after the union of , when population, revenue, and credit were all growing, energetic digging was begun on the st lawrence system of canals, and by vessels of twenty-six foot beam and drawing nine feet of water could sail from the ocean to chicago. land transport came later than water { } transport, and developed by slower stages. road-making was an art which the settler learned slowly. the blazed trail through the woods sufficed for the visit to the neighbour or the church, or for the tramp to the nearest grist-mill with a sack of wheat on one's back. 'he who has been once to church and twice to mill is a traveller,' the common saying ran. the trail broadened to a bridle-road for pack-horse or saddle-horse. the winter, that maligned stepmother of canada, gave the settler an excellent though fleeting road on the surface of the frozen river or across the hard-packed snow. through the endless swamps jolting 'corduroy' roads were built of logs laid crosswise on little or no foundation. with more hands and more money there came the graded road, fenced and bridged, but more rarely gravelled. finally, little earlier than the railway, came the macadamized road, and that peculiar invention of upper canada, the plank road, built of planks laid crosswise on a level way, and covered with earth to lessen the wear and noise. upon these roads carriole or calèche, 'cutter' or 'lumber-wagon,' carried the settler or his goods to meeting-place and market. by a stage route was established from montreal to kingston, a year later { } from kingston to york (toronto), and in from toronto to niagara and from ancaster to detroit. road-making policy fluctuated between the scylla of local neglect and the charybdis of centralized jobbery. at first the settler was burdened with the task of clearing roughly the road in front of his own land, but the existence of vast tracts of clergy reserves, or other grants exempt from clearing duties, made this an ineffective system. labour on roads required by statute, whether shared equally by all settlers or allotted according to assessed property, proved little more successful. on the other hand, the system of provincial grants for road-building too often meant log-rolling and corruption, and in the canadas it was discontinued after the establishment of municipal institutions in . the reaction to local control was perhaps too extreme, and we are to-day recognizing the need of more aid and control by the central provincial authorities. in the maritime provinces the system worked better, and when the railway came these provinces possessed a good network of great roads and by-roads, without a single toll-gate. with the passing of the joint stock act by the canadian { } legislature in , toll-road companies were freely organized, and many of the leading roads were sold by the government to these private corporations, and without question their operations brought marked improvement for a time. to realize more concretely the mode of travelling before the railway came, let us make the journey, say, from quebec to toronto, at three different periods, in , in , and in . 'in no part of north america,' wrote an experienced traveller just at the close of the eighteenth century, 'can a traveller proceed so commodiously as along the road from quebec to montreal.'[ ] a posting service had been established which could fairly be compared with european standards. at regular intervals along the road the traveller found post-houses, where the post-master kept four vehicles in readiness: in summer the calèche, a one-horse chaise built for two passengers, with a footboard seat for the driver and with the body hung by broad leather straps or thongs of bull's hide; in winter the carriole, or sledge, with or without { } covered top, also holding two passengers and a driver. the drivers were bound to make two leagues an hour over the indifferent roads, and in midwinter and midsummer the dexterous, talkative, good-humoured driver, or _marche-donc_, usually exceeded this rate for most of the journey of three days. from montreal onward no one travelled in winter except an occasional indian messenger. even in summer few thought of going by land, though some half-broken trails stretched westward. the river was the king's highway. the summer traveller at once purchased the equipment needed for a week's river journey--tent, buffalo-skins, cooking utensils, meat and drink--and secured passage on board one of the bateaux which went up the river at irregular intervals in brigades of half a dozen. the bateau was a large flat-bottomed boat, built sharp both at bow and stern, with movable mast, square sail, and cross benches for the crew of five or six. sometimes an awning or small cabin provided shelter. in still water or light current the french-canadian crew--always merry, sometimes sober, singing their voyageur songs, halting regularly for the inevitable 'pipe'--rowed or sailed; where the current was strong they { } kept inshore and pushed slowly along by 'setting' poles, eight or ten feet long and iron shod; and where the rapids grew too swift for poling, the crews joined forces on the shore to haul each bateau in turn by long ropes, while the passengers lent a hand or shot wild pigeons in the neighbouring woods. at night the whole party encamped on shore, erecting tents or hanging skins and boughs from branches of friendly trees. with average weather kingston could be reached in seven or eight days; the return journey down-stream was made in two or three. from kingston westward the journey was continued in a sailing schooner, either one of the government gunboats or a private venture, as far as york, or even to the greater western metropolis, queenston on the niagara river. in good weather thirty or forty hours sufficed for the lake voyage, but with adverse winds from four to six days were frequently required. thirty years later those to whom time or comfort meant more than money could make the through journey in one-third the time, though for the leaner-pursed the more primitive facilities still lingered. for the summer trip from quebec to montreal the steamer had outstripped the stage-coach. even with { } frequent stops to load the fifty or sixty cords of pine burned on each trip--how many canadian business men secured their start in prosperity by supplying wood to steamers on lake or river!--the steamer commonly made the hundred and eighty miles in twenty-eight hours. the fares were usually twenty shillings cabin and five shillings steerage, though the intense rivalry of opposing companies sometimes brought reckless rate-cutting. in , for instance, each of the two companies had one boat which carried and boarded cabin passengers for seven and six-pence, while deck passengers who found themselves in food were crowded in for a shilling. from montreal to lachine the well-to-do traveller took a stage-coach, drawn by four spanking greys, leaving montreal at five in the morning, for stage-coach hours were early and long. at lachine he left the stage for the steamer, at the cascades he took a stage again, and at côteau transferred once more to a steamer for the run to cornwall. shortly after steamers were put on the river powerful enough to breast the current as far as dickenson's landing, leaving only a twelve-mile gap to be filled by stage, but in it { } was still necessary, if one scorned the bateau, to make the whole journey from cornwall to prescott by land, over one of the worst through roads in the province. the canadian stage of the day was a wonderful contrivance, a heavy lumbering box, slung on leather straps instead of springs, and often made without doors in order that, when fording bridgeless streams, the water might not flow in. with the window as the only means of exit, heavy-built passengers found it somewhat awkward when called upon, as they often were, to clamber out in order to ease the load uphill, or to wait while oxen from a neighbouring farm dragged the stage out of a mud-hole. the traveller who 'knew the ropes' provided himself with buffalo-skins or cushions; others went without. arrived at prescott, the passengers shifted to a river steamer, fitted more commodiously than the little boats used in the lower stretches, but still providing no sleeping quarters except in open bunks circling round the dining-saloon. for thousands of the immigrants who were pouring into upper canada the fares of the river steamer were still prohibitive. many came on bateaux, sometimes poled along as { } of yore, sometimes taken in tow by a steamer. often more than a hundred immigrants, men, women, and children, would be crowded into a single thirty-foot bateau, 'huddled together,' a traveller notes, 'as close as captives in a slave trader, exposed to the sun's rays by day, and the river damp by night, without protection.'[ ] still more used the durham boat for the river journey. this famous craft was a large, flat-bottomed barge, with round bow and square stern. with centre-board down and mainsail and topsail set on its fixed mast, it made fair progress in the wider stretches. but on the up trip it was for the most part poled or 'set' along. each of the crew took his stand at the bow end of one of the narrow gangways which ran along both sides of the boat, set firmly in the river bottom his long, heavy, iron-shod pole, put his shoulder to it, and, bending almost double, walked along the gangway to the stern and inch by inch forced the boat up-stream. 'the noise made by the clanking of the iron against the stones, as the poles were drawn up again toward the bow, could be heard for a long distance on a calm summer's day.' finally, at prescott or kingston the durham boat was exchanged for { } the lower decks of the steamer, and the rest of the journey made with somewhat greater speed, if not much greater comfort. the twenty years which followed saw the steamboat in its prime. the traveller going westward from quebec in had a simple task before him: a change at montreal was the only necessary break in a relatively comfortable and speedy journey. two days now sufficed for the trip from montreal to toronto. in the united states, river boats had been evolved which far surpassed anything europe had to offer in luxury and speed. canadian business men were not far behind, and the st lawrence lake and river route was well supplied with crack steamers, of the royal mail and rival lines, or with independent boats. the competition was at times intense, both in fares and in speed. many canadians of the day, absorbed in the local or personal rivalries of these boats, and impressed by their magnificence and reliability, were convinced that the last word in transportation had been said. yet, on the lake and river, winter barred all through traffic. the main turnpike roads of the interior were greatly improved, but even on these long-distance traffic was expensive, and the { } by-roads, especially in the spring and autumn, were impassable except at a snail's pace. for traffic of town with town and province with province some means of transport less dependent on time and tide was urgently needed. [ ] isaac weld, _travels through the states of north america and the provinces of upper and lower canada_ (fourth edition), p. . [ ] shirreff, _a tour through north america_, p. . { } chapter iii the call for the railway national unity--the fight for western trade we have seen how in england a succession of workers almost apostolic in continuity had brought the steam railway to practical success, and how in canada, before the railway came, men were making shift with bateau and steamer, with stage-coach and cart and calèche, to carry themselves and their wares to meeting-place and market. now we may glance for a moment at the chief hope and motive of those who brought the locomotive across the seas. in all but the very earliest years of railway planning and building in canada, two aims have been dominant. one has been political, the desire to clamp together the settlements scattered across the continent, to fill the waste spaces and thus secure the physical basis for national unity and strength. the other has been commercial, the desire to capture the trade and traffic of an ever-expanding and { } ever-receding west. local convenience and local interests have played their part, but in the larger strategy of railway building the dominant motives have been political and commercial. they have been blended in varying proportions; each has acted against the other as well as with it, but at all times they give the key to facts which otherwise remain a meaningless jumble of dates and figures. the political motive is familiar and needs only brief reference. that the present canada is not a natural geographical unit is an undeniable fact. each of the principal sections has more natural connection with the corresponding section of the united states than with the other parts of canada. and sixty years ago it was doubtful whether any common sentiment could take the place of the physical unity which was lacking. there was, of course, no national consciousness, based on common history and common aspirations. at best the link of the scattered colonies was that of common loyalty to the british crown, and at worst a common inherited antagonism to the great republic to the south. yet far-seeing and courageous men were not content to accept the decrees of geography or of the { } diplomats who had been over-generous in conceding territory to american claims. they sought unity and understanding, out of fear of aggression from their overshadowing neighbours and out of faintly shaping hope of what the northern half-continent might become. for unity, knowledge and daily intercourse were needed; for knowledge and intercourse, speedy and cheap transportation was essential. within each province and between the two canadas much had been done, but neither river, canal, nor turnpike could serve to annihilate the vast distances that separated east from west and west from farthest west. only the railway could achieve such a task. but more was needed than patriotic sentiment. all-red speeches might adorn a banquet or win an election, but facts--or fictions--as to freight and dividends were needed to beguile the capital from investors' pockets. the hope of securing for the canadian provinces the trade and traffic of the golden west was, in early years as in late, much the strongest factor in railway policy. when the white man came to north america, he found himself hemmed in to the atlantic coast by the long range of the appalachians. these mountains, though not { } lofty, were rugged and covered with dense forests and tangled undergrowth. there were few doorways to the great open spaces beyond. on the far north the southward intrusion of the ocean, known as hudson bay, opened a precarious way, important in the early days of the white man's period, possibly to become important again in our own, but negligible during the intervening years. from the south, entrance could be had by the mississippi and its tributaries, offering for most of the year ten thousand miles of navigable waters. in the east the st lawrence system, stretching three thousand miles westward from the sea, and the hudson and mohawk rivers, passing through a gap in the alleghanies, offered still more convenient access. early and late in the history of the white man's america the land and the trade of the interior have been the prize sought by rival nations and rival cities, and the possession of a speedy and convenient route has been the means of securing the prize. the later warfare was less spectacular than the old, but no less keen. the navvy took the place of the indian, pick and shovel and theodolite the place of bow and musket, and a lower freight { } by a cent on a bushel of wheat became the ammunition in place of the former glass beads or fire-water. but seventeenth- or eighteenth-century englishmen and frenchmen on hudson bay, spaniards and frenchmen on the mississippi, frenchmen and englishmen on the st lawrence, dutchmen and englishmen on the hudson, did not strive more eagerly for control than the montreal and halifax, portland and boston and new york, philadelphia and baltimore and new orleans of the nineteenth century. the struggle became especially intense when the advancing flood of settlers cut their way through the appalachian woods and burst into the prairies of the mississippi valley. there was no longer a ten-year struggle to clear a space of forty or fifty acres; at once the soil was ready for the plough. for a few years the grain of the valley states was needed for their own inrushing settlers, but a surplus grew rapidly and had to find an outlet in the east or in europe. the miraculous speed of western settlement and the magnitude of the prize at stake soon centred public interest on the question of the route which was to provide this outlet. the mississippi route was the first to be { } developed. in canoe and pirogue, bateau, flatboat, and ark, settlers went up and produce came down. but the winding stream, the shifting channel, the swift current, the frequent snag and sand-bar made navigation down-stream dangerous and navigation upstream incredibly slow: the heavier vessels took three months for the trip from new orleans to louisville. with the coming of the steamboat a strong impetus was given alike to settlement and to export trade. by the forties new orleans ranked the fourth port in the world and the mississippi valley exceeded the british isles in the ownership of ships' tonnage. in the mississippi still carried to the sea cargoes twice the value of those that sought the lakes and the erie canal, though in the import trade these proportions were reversed. at this time a line drawn east and west through the centre of ohio marked the commercial watershed. not until after the civil war did the glories of the mississippi pass away. next, new york devised its master-stroke, the erie canal. gouverneur morris and de witt clinton saw the opportunity which the mohawk-hudson cleft in the appalachian barrier offered, and the state rose to it. { } digging was begun in , and in the first barge passed from lake erie to the hudson. at first the canal was only a four-foot ditch, but it proved the greatest single factor in the development of the region south of the lakes. prosperous cities--buffalo, lockport, rochester, syracuse, utica, schenectady--sprang up all along the route. cost of transport from buffalo to new york was cut in four. the success of new york led pennsylvania to build canals through the state to pittsburg, with a portage railroad over the alleghanies, while in the west canals were dug to connect lake erie with the ohio, and lake michigan with the illinois and the mississippi. to the canadian of that day the west meant upper canada or canada west, and 'the far west' meant illinois and indiana. the saskatchewan was to him little more than the yang-tse-kiang. but although the far west was not under his own flag, it dominated his thoughts as greatly as the north-west has dominated our thoughts half a century later. canada sought its share of the western trade. the canadian provinces were thinly peopled, their revenues were scanty and their credit low, but the example of new york stirred them to the effort to remove the barriers to { } navigation in the st lawrence, and to offer their magnificent lake and river ship-route against the petty barge canal which was capturing the western trade. the welland canal was built to carry east-bound traffic beyond the point where buffalo tapped it, and by , as we have seen, canals were completed on the st lawrence, providing a nine-foot waterway from chicago to montreal. it was a magnificent effort for a struggling colony. but it was scarcely finished--the paeans of self-congratulation on the unexpected discovery of an enterprise quite yankee in its daring were still echoing--when it was found to have been made largely in vain. so far from monopolizing the trade of the western states, the st lawrence route was not even keeping the east-bound traffic of upper canada itself. the reasons were soon plain. the repeal in of the corn laws and in of the differential duties in favour of the st lawrence route were temporary blows. the granting of bonding privileges by the united states in drew traffic from canada to southern routes. ocean rates were cheaper from new york than from montreal; in , for example, the freight on a barrel of flour from new york to { } liverpool was s. / d., while from montreal it was s. / d. this was because the majority of the vessels arriving at montreal came in ballast, and also because on the outward voyage the offerings of timber made rates high. timber enjoyed a preference in the british market, and, as has happened since, this preference was simply absorbed by the vessel owner. but most important of all, in the united states the railway, with its speedy, all-year service, had already taken the place of the canal. the canadian ports were fighting with weapons obsolete before completed. { } chapter iv the canadian beginnings portage roads--projects of the forties--the st lawrence and atlantic--the great western--the state and the railway from the beginning in canada, to a much greater degree than in great britain or in the united states, the railway was designed to serve through traffic. but it was regarded at first as only a very minor link in the chain. river and canal were still considered the great highways of through traffic. only where there were gaps to be bridged between the more important waterways was the railway at first thought profitable. in the phrase of one of the most distinguished of canadian engineers, thomas c. keefer, the early roads were portage roads. in , two years after the completion of the liverpool and manchester railway, a charter was granted by the legislature of lower canada to the company of the proprietors of the champlain and st lawrence railroad, for a line from laprairie on the st lawrence to st johns, sixteen miles distant { } on the richelieu river, just above the rapids. from st johns transportation to new york was easily effected, through the richelieu to lake champlain and thence to the hudson. this portage road promised to shorten materially the journey from montreal to new york. construction was begun in , and the road opened for traffic in july . the rails were of wood, with thin flat bars of iron spiked on. these were apt to curl up on the least provocation, whence came their popular name of 'snake-rails.' at first horse power was used, but in the proprietors imported an engine and an engineer from england. some premonition of trouble made the management decide to make the trial run by moonlight. in spite of all the efforts of engineer and officials, the _kitten_ would not budge an inch. finally an engineer, borrowed from the baltimore and ohio railroad, reported that all that was needed was 'more wood and water,' and given these the _kitten_ gambolled along at twenty miles an hour. the champlain and st lawrence was at first operated only in the summer, when its services as a portage route were most needed. after a decade of moderately successful working, it was decided, significantly, to lengthen { } the rail and shorten the water section of the route. by the rails had been extended northward to st lambert, opposite montreal, and southward to rouse's point, on lake champlain. twenty years later this pioneer road, after a period of leasing, was completely absorbed by the grand trunk railway. [illustration: the first railway engine in canada. champlain and st lawrence railroad, . from a print in the château de ramezay.] for ten years the sixteen-mile champlain and st lawrence was the sole steam railway in british north america, while by the united kingdom had built over twenty-eight hundred miles, and the united states nearly five thousand. political unrest, commercial depression, absorption of public funds in canals, hindered development in canada. many projects were formed and charters secured--for roads in the western peninsula of upper canada, between cobourg and rice lake, on the upper ottawa, in the eastern townships, and elsewhere--but they all came to nothing. it was not until the railway mania broke out in england in the middle forties--when 'king' hudson, first of the great promoters and speculators, turned all to gold; when ninety schemes were floated in a single week, calling for eighty million pounds; when companies capitalized at over seven hundred millions scrambled for charters { } and all england fought for their shares--that canadian promoters found interest awakened and capitalists keen to listen. at the same time, the active competition of united states roads for the western traffic and the approaching completion of the st lawrence canal system prompted further steps. a second stage in canadian railway building had begun. first may be noted three small lines, which were in their beginnings chiefly portage roads of the most limited type. the montreal and lachine, begun in and completed in , was the second complete road built. its track of eight miles took the place of the earlier stage route round the lachine rapids. five years later an extension, the lake st louis and province line, was built from caughnawaga, on the opposite shore of the st lawrence, to the boundary and beyond to mooer's junction, where it made connection with american roads, and thus offered a route from montreal to new york rivalling the older champlain and st lawrence route. a steam ferry, which could carry a locomotive and three loaded cars, was used for crossing from lachine to caughnawaga. the enlarged line, known as the montreal and new york railroad, did not prosper, and was { } eventually absorbed by its rival, the champlain and st lawrence. the third completed road, the st lawrence and industry village, was also built in lower canada, running from lanoraie on the north bank of the st lawrence twelve miles to the village of industry, later joliette. it was opened for traffic in , and was a road for use in summer only. meanwhile, the desirability of building a road to circumvent niagara had not escaped attention. in the erie and ontario railroad was chartered, and in the line was opened from queenston to chippawa. the grades near queenston were too steep for the locomotives of the day, and the road was operated by horses; even so, it halted a hundred feet above the level of the river, and failed to make good its promise as an effective portage route. in the charter was amended, and two years later the road was rebuilt from chippawa to niagara-on-the-lake, and operated by steam. it was later extended to fort erie and absorbed by the canada southern. more ambitious schemes were under way--the planning of the st lawrence and atlantic in canada east, and of the great western and later the northern in canada { } west. these roads were all designed to secure for canadian routes and canadian ports a share of the through traffic of the west. they were all links in longer chains; the time of independent through roads had not yet come. the st lawrence and atlantic was built to secure the supremacy of the upper st lawrence route by giving montreal a winter outlet at portland. the northern, running from lake ontario at toronto to georgian bay at collingwood, was a magnified portage road, shortening by hundreds of miles the distance from chicago and the upper lakes to the st lawrence ports. the great western, connecting buffalo and detroit, was the central link in the shortest route between new york and chicago. not only were these roads important in themselves, but the experience acquired in the endeavour to finance and construct them largely determined the policy of the great era of railway construction which began with the chartering of the grand trunk. the st lawrence and atlantic was the canadian half of the first international railway ever built. at the outset much more than half of the enterprise and activity was centred in the united states, for the canadas { } were still apprentices in railway promotion and construction. the ambition of an american seaport prompted the planning of the line, the untiring energy of an american promoter made it possible, and american contractors built the greater part. the little city of portland possessed the most northerly harbour on the atlantic coast of the united states. mr john a. poor, whose lifetime was devoted to the extension of railways in northern new england, dreamed of making it, by a road to montreal, the outlet of the trade of the west, at least so far as freight traffic went. passengers and mails, he conceived, could best be carried to europe from halifax, nearly six hundred miles nearer than new york to liverpool, but the railway connecting halifax with the large american cities should pass through portland, and thus make it an important divisional point, if not a terminus. his enthusiasm fired his fellow-citizens: the city subscribed for stock in the proposed road to montreal, and guaranteed bonds, while private subscriptions mounted still higher, at least on paper. more difficulty was experienced in inducing allies in montreal to undertake the canadian half of the road. before , however, montreal { } business men were convinced that a railway to portland or boston offered them the best means of recovering from the blow inflicted by the repeal of the british preference on canadian wheat and flour. if montreal could not be the new york of canada, it might at least occupy the position which buffalo was now achieving, gathering all the trade of the interior to forward it in summer and especially in winter over the new road. the advantage of such a line in the development of the eastern townships was also evident. the only question in dispute in canada was as to the relative merits of the boston and the portland route. the superior energy of the portland promoters weighed down the scale in favour of their city. in february poor struggled five days through a north-east blizzard, and reached montreal just in time to turn the vote of the board of trade against boston. he organized a spectacular race of express sleighs to disprove the claim that, though the british packet called at portland before going on to boston, the route by boston would prove speedier. relays of teams were provided all along the rival roads from boston and from portland, five to fifteen miles apart; evergreen bushes { } were set up in the snow to mark the road; part of the montreal mail was taken off at portland, and part at boston, and dispatched by the rival couriers. the portland relay covered the distance, nearly three hundred miles, in twenty hours, and dashed into montreal, with all colours flying, twelve hours ahead of the boston contingent. the cheers that greeted the victors marked the definite turn of popular favour toward the portland route. two allied companies were incorporated--the atlantic and st lawrence to build the united states section of the railway, and the st lawrence and atlantic to build from montreal to the border. the st lawrence and atlantic was a valuable medium of experience, if not of traffic. in its management were found the leading business men of montreal, such as moffat, m'gill, molson, stayner, and torrance. at first all was fair. subscriptions came in freely from montreal and the eastern townships. one of the youngest of the directors, alexander t. galt, then commissioner of the british-american land company, succeeded in floating a large quantity of stock in england--the first of countless railway appeals to the london market--only to have the subscriptions { } withdrawn in when the hudson bubble burst. the canadian stockholders put up what money they could. the city of montreal took £ , stock. the british-american land company and the montreal seminary each lent £ , . country subscribers were permitted to make payments in pork or eggs for the use of the construction gang, though one director resigned because not allowed to turn in his farm. the contractors, black, wood and company, as was customary in the united states at the time, took a large portion of their payment in stock. still, funds were lacking. internal difficulties developed; directors did not direct; and in the finances were found to be in a hopelessly tangled state. galt then took charge as president, with john young--forwarder and born promoter, active in all transportation schemes, whether for canal, railway, or bridge--as vice-president. under their skilful financing the work went on, but scarcely forty miles could be opened in . to complete the road to the border, in the depression which prevailed, seemed utterly beyond the unaided resources of private capitalists, and the directors turned to the government for aid. meanwhile, upper canada lagged in action, { } although schemes were many. omitting merely local projects, the roads most in the public eye were those leading west and north from lake ontario. the great western project had been longest under way, and showed a significant evolution. in the legislature of upper canada had granted a charter to the london and gore railroad company. this road was designed to carry the products of the rich western peninsula to the bordering lakes, and chiefly to lake ontario. the main line was to run in the direction of governor simcoe's great highway, dundas street, from burlington bay to london, while power was taken to extend the road to lake huron and the navigable waters of the thames. nothing was done under this charter. when it was renewed by an act of , the name was changed to the great western, and, more important, the route was altered to extend from the niagara river via hamilton to windsor and sarnia. for meanwhile the new york central had reached buffalo, and the michigan central was being pushed westward from detroit toward chicago. a road through canada would provide a shorter link than one south of lake erie, and the great western was designed to fill this gap. { } with all the possibilities of through and local traffic, and of comparatively good grades and few curves, the road was long in starting. an eminent american engineer, charles b. stuart, reported glowingly on the prospects. two citizens of hamilton, allan macnab, fiery politician and calculating lobbyist, and isaac buchanan, untiring advocate of railways, protection, and paper money, threw themselves into the campaign. samuel zimmermann, the best known contractor of the period, a pennsylvanian who had come to canada to take a welland canal contract, and stayed to be the power behind the scenes in the provincial legislature, was prepared to build the road. hudson gave the scheme his approval. all to no immediate purpose. the contracts were let, ground was broken at london in , but the money to build was not forthcoming. in consequence the great western also turned to parliament for aid. the toronto, simcoe and huron union railroad company--later known as the northern--the first road in upper canada on which steam locomotives were used, was still slower in emerging from the promotion stage. the idea of building a great portage road between lake huron and lake ontario was an obvious { } one, and proposals for its construction were frequent. it was not until the scheme was taken up by frederick chase capreol, a sanguine and ingenious englishman many years resident in toronto, that any real progress was made. capreol conceived the brilliant idea of combining the lure of a lottery and the increment of land values to finance a road from toronto to georgian bay. his proposal was to raise funds by a lottery for the purchase of , acres of land along the route of the railroad, and to pay for the road out of the increase in the value of the land. objections moral and financial were urged, and capreol modified his scheme. in an act was passed granting a charter and permitting the raising of money either by subscription or by lottery, but it was reserved by the governor-general for royal assent, on account of the lottery clause. capreol, nothing daunted, sailed for england, and in seven weeks was back with royal assent assured. the lottery, for all its alluring promises, fell flat. then the northern, too, clamoured for public aid. [illustration: railroads and lotteries. an early canadian prospectus] with these local roads under way or actively promoted, still larger projects loomed up. a line from montreal to toronto, paralleling the st lawrence, and thus for the first { } time competing with water transport instead of merely supplementing it, began to be talked of as possible. the need of bringing the maritime provinces into closer touch with the canadas lent support to plans of a road from halifax to quebec. but for these extensive schemes public aid was even more indispensable. hitherto the government of british north america had framed no definite or continuous railway policy. there had been general agreement that railway building should be left to private enterprise. in , when the charter of the champlain and st lawrence was under discussion in the legislature of lower canada, some members advocated government ownership, but papineau, the french-canadian leader, protested against the jobbery that would follow. in the forties the government of canada was selling its highways to toll-companies, and was not likely to embark on railway construction. in several later charters provision was made for state purchase, after a term of years, at cost plus twenty or twenty-five per cent. control of private companies in the interest of the shipper was sometimes sought. in the charter of the champlain and st lawrence a maximum rate was prescribed { } at d. a mile for passengers and / d. a mile per ton of freight, subject to reduction when profits exceeded twelve per cent. in upper canada the earlier charters set no maximum, though the governor in council was given power to approve rates. it appeared to be held that different forwarding companies would make use of the iron way, and afford sufficient competition to protect shippers and passengers against extortion. new brunswick in revealed the not modest expectations of profit which prevailed. it provided, in the st andrews and quebec charter, that after ten years tolls, if excessive, might be reduced to yield only twenty-five per cent profit. the same sanguine expectations were reflected in the provision made in eight charters issued by lower canada between and , that half the profits over a minimum varying from ten to twenty-four per cent were to go to the state. the prevalent belief in the great profits to be obtained influenced public opinion against any grant of government aid, except during a brief period before the rebellion of , when the lavish policy of state construction and state bonuses adopted by the neighbouring republic proved contagious in upper canada. { } under the influence of that example the cobourg railroad was to be granted a loan of £ , as soon as an equal sum was privately subscribed and one-third was paid up. the toronto and lake huron was promised £ for every £ of private capital expended, up to £ , , while the london and gore was offered a loan of twice that sum; in both these cases the loan was to be secured not only by a lien on the road, but by the liability of the communities benefited to a special tax. none of these generous offers was taken up, and they were not renewed. but a growing realization of the importance of railways and of the evident difficulty of building them in canada solely by private funds compelled the formation of a new policy of state assistance. this new policy ushered in the first great period of railway construction. { } chapter v the grand trunk era the new state policy--the canadas: first phase--the maritime provinces--halifax to quebec--european and north american--howe's negotiations--hincks to the rescue--the maritime provinces--the canadas: second phase--struggle for the contract--floating the grand trunk--construction under way--the grand trunk in straits--causes of failure--speculation and jobbery--great western and northern--the canadas: third phase--municipal enterprise it has been seen that by the close of the forties british north america was realizing both the need of railway expansion and the difficulty of financing it. other factors combined to bring about the intervention of the state on a large scale. both in the canadas and in the maritime provinces political disputes were giving place to economic activities. the battle of responsible government had been fought and won. men's energies were no longer absorbed by constitutional strife. baldwin and lafontaine were making way for hincks and morin; howe had turned to constructive tasks. responsibility was bringing new confidence and new initiative, though colonial dependence still continued to hamper enterprise. british and american contractors discovered the virgin field awaiting them, and local politicians discovered the cash value of votes and influence. the example set in the united states was powerful. massachusetts { } had guaranteed bonds of local roads to the extent of eight millions, without ever having to pay a cent of the interest; and though new york's experience had been more chequered, the successes were stressed and the failures were plausibly explained away. the eight or ten years which followed are notable not only for a sudden outburst of railway construction and speculative activity throughout the provinces, but for the beginning of that close connection between politics and railways which is distinctively canadian. in this era parliament became the field of railway debate. political motives came to the front: 'statesmen' began to talk of links of empire and 'politicians' began to press the claims of their constituencies for needed railway communications. cabinets realized the value of the charters they could grant or the country's credit they could pledge, and contractors swarmed to the feast. 'railways are my politics,' was the frank avowal of the conservative leader, sir allan macnab. three names are closely linked with this new policy--those of howe in nova scotia, chandler in new brunswick, and hincks in canada. francis hincks, merchant, journalist, and { } politician, moderate reformer, and canada's first notable finance minister, took the initiative. as inspector-general in the second baldwin-lafontaine cabinet, he brought down the first instalment of his railway policy in . in the previous session a committee of the house had considered the demand of the great western and of the st lawrence and atlantic for assistance, and had discussed the less advanced proposals for railways from montreal to toronto and from quebec to halifax. allan macnab, as chairman of the committee, had listened sympathetically to the plea of allan macnab, president of the great western, and the committee had reported in favour of guaranteeing the stock of the two companies to the extent of a million sterling. no action was taken at this session. meanwhile hincks, by instruction of his colleagues, had drawn up two memoranda--one suggesting that the crown lands in the province might be offered as security for the capital necessary to build the road within the province, and the other urging the imperial government to undertake the road from halifax to quebec. capitalists gave no encouragement to the first suggestion, and the british government had not replied to the { } second by the end of the session of - . accordingly, in april hincks brought down a new policy, based upon a suggestion of the directors of the st lawrence and atlantic. the proposal was, to guarantee the interest, not exceeding six per cent, on half the bonds of any railway over seventy-five miles long, whenever half the road had been constructed, the province to be protected by a first charge after the bondholders' lien. macnab seconded the resolution; voices from bytown and the saguenay mildly questioned the policy, but the resolution passed unanimously. even with this aid construction did not proceed apace. it was still necessary for the companies to complete half the road before qualifying for government assistance. this the st lawrence road effected slowly, in face of quarrels with contractors, repudiation of calls by shareholders, and hesitancy of banks to make advances. the great western did not get under way until , when american capitalists, connected with the new york central, took shares and a place on the directorate. in the same year the toronto, simcoe and huron, later known as the northern, began construction. meanwhile suggestions from the maritime { } provinces had brought still more ambitious schemes within practical range, and these led hincks to take the second step in his policy of aid to railways. in the maritime provinces, from to , many railways had been projected, but, with the exception of a small coal tramway in nova scotia, built in from the albion coal-mines to tide-water, not a mile was built before . there, as elsewhere, the pamphleteer and the promoter acted as pioneers, and the capitalist and the politician took up their projects later. the plans which chiefly appealed to public attention looked to the linking up of st andrews, st john, and halifax with quebec and montreal and with the railways of maine. from the outset the projects in these provinces were much more ambitious than the local beginnings in the canadas. they were more markedly political and military in aim, and in consequence depended in greater measure upon the aid of the british government. when at last construction was begun, the policy of provincial ownership was more widely adopted. when in sandford fleming drew up a record of the great work just completed under his direction, the intercolonial railway, he { } called attention to the first proposal for such a road, found in an article contributed to the _united service journal_ in by henry fairbairn.[ ] the author proposed the two chief projects which for half a century were to engross the attention of the maritime provinces: a road from st andrews to quebec, which should 'convey the whole trade of the st lawrence, in a single day, to atlantic waters,' and another line from halifax through st john to the border of maine, which should command for halifax 'the whole stream of passengers, mails, and light articles of commerce passing into the british possessions and to the united states and every part of the continent of america.' st andrews was the winter port in british territory nearest to the upper provinces. if the territory in dispute on the maine boundary fell to new brunswick and quebec, a road not more than or miles long could be built from this port to the city of quebec. in a railway association was formed in st andrews, an exploratory survey was made, and the interest of lower canada was enlisted. { } in the following year new brunswick gave a charter to the st andrews and quebec railroad, and the imperial government agreed to bear the cost of a survey. but the survey was speedily halted because of protests from maine; in the ashburton treaty assigned to the united states a great part of the territory through which the line was projected, and the promoters gave up. then in the railway mania in england brought a revival of all colonial schemes. sir richard broun took up the plan for a line from halifax to quebec, along with other grandiose projects connected with his endeavour to revive the lost glories of the baronetage of nova scotia, but did not get past the stage of forming a provisional committee. this discussion revived the flagging hopes of st andrews, and, as will be seen in detail later, a beginning was made by a railway from st andrews to woodstock, the new brunswick and canada, for which ground was broken in november . the provincial legislature early concluded that it would be impossible to induce private capitalists to build an intercolonial road unaided. they were unanimous also, not yet having emerged from the stage of colonial dependence, in desiring to throw the burden { } of such aid as far as possible on the british government. in the absence of a colonial federation the united kingdom was the main connecting-link between the colonies in british north america, and was presumably most interested in matters affecting more than a single colony. the british government, however, had by this time about decided that the old policy of treating the colonies as an estate or plantation of the mother country, protecting or developing them in return for the monopoly of their trade, did not pay. it had reluctantly conceded them political home rule; it was soon to thrust upon them freedom of trade; and it was not inclined to retain burdens when it had given up privileges. mr gladstone, secretary for the colonies, agreed, however, in , to have a survey made at the expense of the three colonies concerned. this survey, the starting-point for the controversies and the proposals of a generation, was completed in , under major robinson and lieutenant henderson of the royal engineers. 'major robinson's line,' as it came to be known, ran roughly in the direction eventually followed by the intercolonial--from halifax to truro, and thence north to miramichi and the chaleur bay, and up the { } metapedia valley to the st lawrence. the distance from halifax to quebec was computed at miles, and the cost at £ sterling a mile or about £ , , . acting on the assurance of engineers that the route was feasible, each of the three colonial governments offered in to set aside for the work a belt of crown lands ten miles wide on each side of the railway, and to pledge £ , a year to meet interest or expenses, if the british government would undertake the project. downing street, however, replied politely but emphatically that no aid could be given. after the plan of a northern route to quebec was thus apparently given its quietus, interest shifted to the portland connections. the building of the road from montreal to portland added further strength to the claims of this route. on paper, at least, it seemed possible to make the connection between montreal and halifax by following either the northern or the southern sides of the great square. one of the southern sides was now under way, and by building the other, from portland to st john and halifax, connection with the canadas would be completed. under the leadership once more of john a. poor, portland took up the latter project. the name of { } the proposed road, the european and north american, showed the influence of the same hope which fairbairn had expressed--that the road from portland to halifax would become the channel of communication between the united states and europe, at least for passengers, mails, and express traffic. with a line of steamers from halifax to galway in ireland, it was held that the journey from new york to london could be cut to six or seven days. in july a great convention assembled in portland, attended by delegates from new brunswick and nova scotia as well as from maine and other new england states. intertwined flags and fraternal unity, local development and highways to europe, prospective profits and ways and means of construction, were the themes of the fervent orators and promoters. the convention was enthusiastically in favour of the project. the miles from portland to halifax-- in maine, in new brunswick, and in nova scotia--would cost, it was estimated, $ , , , half of which might be raised by private subscription and the rest by state and provincial guarantee. the delegates from the maritime provinces { } returned home full of enthusiasm, but increasingly uncertain about the securing of the necessary capital. at this stage joseph howe came to the front. he had much earlier, in , before entering parliament, taken the lead in advocating a local railway from halifax to windsor, but had not been prominent in recent discussions. he now urged strongly that the province of nova scotia should itself construct the section of the european and north american which lay within its borders. he proposed further to seek from the imperial government a guarantee of the necessary loan, in order that the province might borrow on lower terms. the colonial office, while expressing its approval of the portland scheme, declined to give a guarantee any more than a cash contribution. nothing daunted, howe sailed for england in november , and by persistent interviews, eloquent public addresses and exhaustive pamphlets, caught public favour, and in spite of cabinet changes in london secured the pledge he desired. in the official reply of the colonial office howe was informed that aid would not be given except for an object of importance to the empire as a whole, and that accordingly { } aid was contingent upon securing help from new brunswick and canada to build the whole road from halifax to quebec. major robinson's line need not be followed if a shorter and better could be secured; any change, however, should be subject to the approval of the british government. 'the british government would by no means object to its forming part of the plan that it should include provision for establishing a communication between the projected railway and the railways of the united states.' the colonies were to bear the whole cost of the loan, and were to impose taxes sufficient to provide interest and sinking fund, and thus ensure against any risk of loss to the united kingdom. howe returned triumphant. the british government would guarantee a loan of £ , , , which would build the roads to portland and to quebec and perhaps still farther west. he hastened to new brunswick, and won the consent of its government to the larger plan, went on to portland and allayed its murmurs, and with e. b. chandler of new brunswick reached toronto, then the seat of government of the province of canada, in june . his eloquence and the dazzling { } offer of cheap and seemingly unlimited capital soon won consent. the representatives of the three provinces agreed to construct the road from halifax to quebec on joint account, while canada would build the extension from quebec to montreal, and new brunswick the extension to the maine border, each at its own risk, but in all cases out of the £ , , guaranteed loan. then suddenly the bubble burst. the colonial office, late in , declared that howe had been mistaken in declaring that the guarantee was to extend to the european and north american project. the british government had no objection to this road being built, but would not aid it. the officials of the colonial office declared that they never meant to promise anything else. it is difficult to assign with certainty responsibility for this serious misunderstanding. possibly howe's optimism and oratorical vagueness led him to misinterpret the promises made, but his reports immediately after the interviews were explicit, and in dispatches and speeches sent to the colonial office and acknowledged with high compliments, his version of the agreement had been set forth clearly and for months had gone { } unchallenged. he cannot be freed from a share of the blame, but the negligence of downing street was at least equally the source of the misunderstanding. the whole plan thus fell to the ground. the consent of the three provinces was essential, and new brunswick would not support the halifax and quebec project if the portland road, running through the most populous and influential sections of the province, was to be postponed indefinitely. hincks determined to endeavour to save the situation. accompanied by john young and e. p. taché, he visited fredericton and halifax early in , and hammered out a compromise. new brunswick agreed to join in the halifax to quebec project on condition that the road should run from halifax to st john and thence up the valley of the st john river; nova scotia agreed to this change, which made st john rather than halifax the main ocean terminus, on condition that new brunswick should bear five-twelfths as against its own three-twelfths of the cost. it remained to secure the consent of the imperial government to this change in route, and accordingly hincks, chandler, and howe arranged to sail for england early in march. hincks sailed { } on the day agreed; chandler followed a fortnight later; howe, repenting of his bargain, postponed sailing a fortnight, a month, six weeks, and then announced that because of election pressure he could not go at all. hincks and chandler found in office in london a new government which appeared biased against the valley route. upon a peremptory request from hincks for a definite answer within a fortnight, the british cabinet, in spite of the previous promise to consider the route an open question, declined to aid any but a road following major robinson's line. the negotiations broke off, joint action between the provinces failed, and each province switched to its own separate track. [illustration: sir francis hincks. from a portrait in the dominion archives] howe steadily maintained the policy of state ownership, but had unusual difficulty in carrying nova scotia with him. the great english contracting firm of peto, brassey, betts and jackson, whose operations in the other provinces will be discussed at greater length, offered to find the necessary capital if given the contracts on their own terms. many nova scotians were dazzled by the promises of the agents of this firm, and howe in was forced to agree to their proposals. the contractors found themselves unable to make { } good their promises, in face of panics on the stock market in england, and in the following year howe's original policy was sanctioned. he himself retired from political life for a time in order to carry through, as one of the railway commissioners, the policy he had steadfastly urged. it was on june , , that the first sod was turned for the construction of the nova scotia railway, and a beginning made at last. the road was to run from halifax to truro, with a branch to windsor. progress was slow, but by the ninety-three miles planned had been completed. then came a halt, when reality succeeded the glowing visions of the prospectus, the service proved poor, and the returns low. nine years later an extension from truro to pictou was constructed. this gave nova scotia at confederation in miles of railroad in all, built at a cost of $ , a mile, and connecting halifax with the bay of fundy and the gulf of st lawrence. the gauge adopted was five feet six, and the nova scotia road led the way in canada in using coal for fuel. new brunswick had a more chequered experience. after the collapse of the halifax and quebec project, her efforts were confined { } to the road running north from st andrews and to the european and north american. the possibilities of st andrews as an ocean terminus had been severely hampered by the thrusting in of the maine-wedge between new brunswick and quebec, but still the town struggled on. in shares in the railway had been placed both in england and in the province, and the legislature guaranteed the interest on debentures and also granted a land subsidy. still, the money came in slowly. operations were time and again suspended, contract after contract was made, and reorganizations were effected. in the road had reached canterbury, and four years later its temporary terminus at richmond; in a branch to st stephen was opened, and in an extension to woodstock, making miles all told, costing about $ , a mile. at confederation only a third of the distance between st andrews and rivière du loup on the st lawrence had been completed, and the road was in a receiver's hands. the european and north american also had its troubles. maine proved unable to build its section. in the new brunswick government made a contract with the english { } firm already referred to, under the style of peto, betts, jackson and brassey, for the construction of a line from maine to nova scotia, at $ , a mile. the province agreed to subscribe $ stock and lend $ in bonds per mile; the contractors were to find the rest of the money in england. this they failed to do. the firm was dissolved in , and the government took over the road, completing it from st john to shediac, miles, in . the western half was not begun until august . to return to the upper provinces. by the st lawrence, the great western, and the northern were under way, and more ambitious schemes proposed. the guarantee act of , which was the first phase of hincks's policy, assuring public aid for the second half of any road at least seventy-five miles in length, was proving inadequate, and the government was considering an extension of its policy. at this juncture the golden news arrived of howe's success in securing the £ , , loan at bargain rates. all hesitation was removed. no doubt was felt that the roads would pay, once they were built; the only difficulty had been to find the money to build them. and now £ , , was { } available--£ , , of it for canada, at probably / per cent. paper computations soon proved that £ , , would suffice not only to build canada's third of the quebec-halifax route, but to build a trunk line from quebec or montreal through to hamilton, whence the great western ran to windsor on the frontier opposite detroit. at once a struggle began for the control of this fund. the montreal merchants who had bought experience in building the st lawrence and atlantic, john young, luther holton, and d. l. macpherson, with a. t. galt of sherbrooke, were first in the field, and pressed for a charter to build from montreal to kingston, intending later to extend this road to toronto. then the most noted firm of contractors in railway history, peto, brassey, betts and jackson (the forms of the firm name varied), who had built one-third of the railways of britain, and also roads in france and spain and italy and prussia and india, were attracted to this fresh field by howe's campaign in england. they sent an agent to toronto in to offer to construct all the roads needed, and to find all the capital required, with partial government guarantees. hincks, with whom the decision lay, was { } eminently an opportunist. in he had argued against government ownership; now he argued for it. yet he did not close the door against retreat. the new act, passed in april , marked the second or grand trunk phase of his gradually shaping policy. besides providing for the canadian share of the halifax to quebec road, the act contemplated three alternative methods of continuing this trunk line westward. the province was to build it if the guaranteed loan could be stretched far enough; failing this, the province, together with such municipalities as wished, could undertake the extension; should both modes fail, private companies might be given the privilege, with a provincial guarantee of half the cost, covering both principal and interest. no roads except those forming part of the trunk line and the three already under way were to be aided. the montreal and kingston railway, in which holton, galt, and macpherson were prime movers, was chartered, and also the kingston and toronto, but in both charters a suspending clause was included preventing the charters from taking effect until special proclamation was made--after the other plans had failed. the next move was to arrange terms with { } the other provinces and secure the promised imperial guarantee. how hincks and chandler's mission failed has already been told. hincks then made another sharp curve and decided for company control. before leaving canada he had made up his mind that the construction should be entrusted to british contractors, and was authorized to negotiate with the brassey firm. now that the imperial guarantee had faded away, capital was needed more than contractors. the brasseys promised both, offering, if given the contract, to organize a company in england which would provide all the capital not guaranteed by the province. this seductive offer was to prove the main cause of the financial embarrassment of the grand trunk. it involved at the outset a dubious connection between company and contractor, and also for two generations an attempt to manage a great railway at a range of three thousand miles. so fatal did it prove that in later years each party to it endeavoured to throw the responsibility for the initiative on the other, and enemies of hincks declared that he, as well as lord elgin, the governor-general, had been bribed to wreck the negotiations with the british government { } in order to take up with brassey. whether or not hincks was first to resume negotiations in london, it was the contractors who had already taken the initiative in america, sending a representative to toronto, and taking part in the elections of in nova scotia against howe. it is clear also that the british government was unwilling to consider anything but the unacceptable major robinson line. hincks was justified in looking elsewhere for capital, but he was not justified in binding himself to one firm of contractors, however eminent. hincks returned to canada with a tentative contract in his pocket. to canada, too, came henry jackson, a partner in the brassey firm for this enterprise, and one of the most skilful and domineering of the railway lobbyists in canada's annals, rich in such methods. at once a battle royal began in parliament. on august , , the montreal and kingston and the kingston and toronto charters were proclaimed in force; apparently the supposition of the government was that the english contractors would simply subscribe for the bulk of the stock in these companies. but the canadian promoters were not willing to give up their rights so easily; a week after the { } books were opened, galt, holton, and macpherson subscribed between them £ , and seven of their associates took up the nominal balance of the capital of £ , which was authorized. hincks met this move by bringing down a bill to incorporate a new company, the grand trunk railway company of canada, and the rights of the rival claimants came before parliament for decision. on behalf of the english promoters it was urged that the canadian promoters could not raise the necessary capital, that the galt-holton-macpherson subscription was a fake, that the english contractors could induce capitalists to invest freely at low rates, and that their superior methods would result in a road of more solid construction and lower working expenses than the ordinary american railway. holton and galt, on the other hand, contended that their subscription was in good faith, that tenders were in, and that with provincial guarantee and municipal aid, and by paying the contractors partly in stock, they could finance the road. it would be better, they urged, to have the control in the hands of men who knew the province rather than in the hands of outsiders. the grand trunk company, seeking incorporation, was only a { } sham company, under the thumb of the contractors, formed to ratify a foregone contract with them. if the montreal and kingston company was given control, it would invite the brassey firm to tender on the same basis as other contractors: no more could honestly be asked. galt and holton had the best of the argument, but hincks had the votes, and rumours which jackson spread of the brassey millions and the firm's open door to all the money markets of europe brought conviction or afforded excuse. the railway committee reported in favour of the english promoters, though the competition had compelled them to reduce their price by a thousand pounds a mile, and to accept a guarantee of £ per mile instead of half the cost. at the same time the brassey firm secured a charter for the grand trunk of canada east, to run from quebec to trois pistoles--canada's first section of the halifax to quebec route. the same aggressive firm had already secured a contract for the quebec and richmond, which was to join the st lawrence and atlantic at richmond, and, as has been seen, for new brunswick and nova scotia roads. with these contracts seemingly secure, jackson sailed for { } home. but canadian promoters were quick to learn. galt had another card to play. as president of the st lawrence and atlantic he proposed to amalgamate this road with the montreal and kingston, and to build a bridge at montreal, thus securing an essential part of the trunk line. hincks became alarmed at the montreal interests thus arrayed against him, and proposed as a compromise that the grand trunk should absorb the st lawrence road and build the bridge at montreal on the condition that the opposition to its westward plans should be abandoned. upon this all parties agreed, and the english and canadian promoters joined forces. negotiations were completed in england early in . as yet the grand trunk company was but a name. the real parties to the bargain were many. first came john ross, a member of the canadian cabinet, but representing the future grand trunk, of which he was elected president. the barings and glyns, eminent banking houses, had a twofold part to play, as they were closely connected with the contractors and were also the london agents of the canadian government. the contractors themselves, peto, brassey, betts and jackson, of whom jackson, accompanied { } by the company's engineer, a. m. ross, had spent a year studying the canadian situation, put in anxious weeks hammering out the details of the agreement and the prospectus to follow it. galt represented the st lawrence and atlantic and the atlantic and st lawrence, while rhodes and forsythe of quebec had charge of the interests of the quebec and richmond. an agreement was reached to amalgamate all the canadian roads and to lease the maine road for years. this left toronto the western terminus. an attempt to absorb the great western and thus secure an extension to windsor came to nothing. this failure gave galt an opening for another brilliant stroke of railway strategy. a company had recently been chartered to build a road from toronto to guelph and sarnia, and the firm of gzowski and co., of which galt was a member, had secured the contract. galt, acting with alexander gillespie, a prominent london financier who was the agent of the toronto, guelph and sarnia railway, now proposed to substitute this line as the westward extension. everybody was in an amalgamating mood, and the bargain went through. all contracts previously made were taken over by the amalgamated company, and the { } investing public was told that all uncertainty as to the total amount was thus removed--as it emphatically was, for the time. a glowing prospectus was drawn up. the amalgamated road would be the most comprehensive railway system in the world, comprising miles, stretching from portland and eventually from halifax (by both the northern and the southern route) to lake huron. the whole future traffic between west and east must therefore pass over the grand trunk, as both geographical conditions and legislative enactment prevented it from injurious competition. 'commencing at the debouchere [_sic_] of the three longest lakes in the world,' the prospectus continued, 'it pours the accumulating traffic in one unbroken line throughout the entire length of canada into the st lawrence at montreal and quebec, on which it rests on the north, while on the south it reaches the magnificent harbours of portland and st john on the ocean.' it was backed by government guarantee and canadian investment, and its execution was in the hands of the most eminent contractors. the total capital was fixed at £ , , sterling. the revenue was estimated at nearly £ , , a year, which, with working expenses at forty { } per cent of revenue, and debenture interest and £ , for lease of the atlantic and st lawrence railway deducted, would leave £ , or / per cent on the share capital. on the advice of baring and glyn only half the capital was issued at first. this decision proved a serious mistake. in , when the company was floated, money was abundant and cheap; the shares and bonds issued were over-subscribed twenty times, and were quoted at a premium before allotment. scarcely was the issue made when war with russia loomed up, and money rose from three to seven or eight per cent. never again was it possible for the grand trunk to secure capital in such abundance. but this was for the future to disclose. at once construction began in canada. a. m. ross was appointed chief engineer, and s. p. bidder general manager, both on the nomination of the english bankers and contractors. plant was assembled in canada, orders for rails and equipment were placed in england, and navvies came out by the thousand. at one time , men were directly employed upon the railways in upper canada alone. in july the last gaps in the st lawrence and atlantic had been filled up, though not { } in permanent fashion. in the quebec and richmond section was opened; in , the road from montreal to brockville and from lévis to st thomas, quebec; in , the brockville to toronto and toronto to stratford sections. not until was the western road completed as far as london. the year saw the completion of the victoria bridge, the extension from st mary's to sarnia, and a new road in michigan, running from port huron to detroit. by the eastern section extended to rivière du loup, where a halt was made. from the outset difficulties undreamed of had developed. money was hard to get and early traffic returns were disappointing, so that the company found it almost impossible to secure the balance of the capital required. the road from montreal to portland was found to require heavy expenditure to bring it up to the standard. the contractors, for their part, were embarrassed by the company's shortage of funds and by the great rise in the prices of land, materials, and labour. their own activities, the reciprocity treaty of with the united states, the crimean war, had combined to bring on a period of inflated prices such as canada was not to experience { } again for half a century. with wheat at two dollars a bushel, and 'land selling by the inch,' even liberal margins of profit on contracts vanished.[ ] in these straits the company turned to the government for aid. it had many supporters in the house. no one could deny the benefits which its operations had conferred upon the province. the government guarantee of interest and the government nomination of a part of the board of directors were plausibly held to involve responsibility for the solvency of the company. it was not surprising, therefore, that for a decade after scarcely a year passed without a bill to amend the terms { } of the grand trunk agreement. one year it was an additional guarantee, another a temporary loan, again a postponement, and again a still further postponement of the government's lien. it soon came to be recognized that the money which had been advanced under the guarantee provisions must be considered a gift, not a loan, though to this day the amount nominally due still figures as an asset on the dominion government's books. incidentally, the embarrassing government directors were dispensed with in . the grand trunk was complete from lake huron to the atlantic in . in the ten years that followed, working expenses varied from fifty-eight to eighty-five per cent of the gross receipts, instead of the forty per cent which the prospectus had foreshadowed; not a cent of dividend was paid on ordinary shares--nor has been to this day. what were the reasons for this disappointing result? the root of the trouble was that the road was not built solely or even mainly with a view to operating efficiency and earning power. it was the politicians' road, the promoters' road, the contractors' road, at least as much as the shareholders' road. the government had encouraged the building of { } unprofitable sections, such as that east of quebec, for local or patriotic reasons. promoters had unloaded the portland road and later the detroit and port huron road at excessive prices. the contractors, east of toronto, had had an eye mainly to construction profits in planning the route, and heavy grades, bad rails, and poor ballast increased maintenance charges beyond all expectations. the prophecy that operating expenses would not exceed forty per cent of earnings, based on english experience, failed partly because earnings were lower, but more because operating expenses were higher, than anticipated. the company had more than its share of hard luck from commercial depression, and from loss on american paper money in the civil war. water competition proved serious in the east, while other railways waged traffic wars in upper canada. the trade of the far west, which had been the most attractive lure, did not come in any great amount for the first twenty years. differences of gauge, lack of permanent connections at chicago, lack of return freight, rate wars with the american roads which had been built west at the same time or later, the inferiority of montreal to new york as of old in harbour facilities and { } ocean service, the failure of portland to become a great commercial centre--all meant hope and dividends deferred. finally, the management was working at long range: the road did not enjoy the vigilant inspection or the public support that would have attended control by canadian interests. the grand trunk did canada good service, well worth all the public aid that was given. it would probably have given better service, and its shareholders could not have fared worse, had the plans of galt and his associates not been interfered with, and the line been built gradually under local control. while the building of the grand trunk was the main achievement of the period, it was by no means the only one. the fifties were the busiest years in the railway annals of older canada. in there were only miles of road in all the provinces. in there were , of which over had been added in the canadas alone. the great western and the northern were pushed forward under the provisions of the earlier guarantee act; roads of more local interest were fostered by municipal rivalry. their building brought unwonted activity in every { } branch of commerce. a speculative fever ran through the whole community; fortunes were made and lost in the provision trade, and land prices soared to heights undreamed of. this mood was the promoter's happy chance, and still more charters were sought. the pace quickened till exhaustion, contagious american panics, poor harvests, and the crimean war--which first raised the price of the wheat canada had to sell, but later raised the price of the money she had to borrow--brought collapse in . in this boom period jobbery and lobbying reigned to an extent which we rarely realize in our memory of the good old times. railway contractors were all-powerful in the legislature, and levied toll at will. the most notable 'contractor-boss' of the day was able, dealing with the great western, to hold up a bill for double-tracking until assured of the contract himself; dealing with the grand trunk, to force from the english contractors a share in the enterprise before consenting to help their schemes through; with the northern, to collect $ , as a condition of securing from the government the guarantee bonds before they had been rightly earned. municipal officials were bribed to help bonuses { } through. existing roads were blackmailed by pedlars of rival charters. glaringly fraudulent prospectuses were issued. on a smaller scale, the excitement and the rascality which had marked the beginning of the great railway eras in the united kingdom and the united states were reproduced in canada. of the other roads completed in this period, the two which had been aided by hincks's first guarantee act were most important. the great western had a promising outlook. it ran through a rich country and had assured prospects of through western traffic. the road was completed from suspension bridge to windsor in january . an extension from hamilton to toronto was built in , and a semi-independent line from galt to guelph absorbed in . the great western came nearest of any early road to being a financial success; alone of the guaranteed roads it repaid the government loan, nearly in full. but after a brief burst of prosperity, from to , it, too, was continually in difficulties. in it paid a dividend of / per cent, but three years later it paid nothing, and in the next decade averaged less than three per cent. the troubles of the great western came { } chiefly from competition, actual and threatened, and uncertain traffic connections. to the north, the chartering of the toronto, guelph and sarnia, amalgamated later with the grand trunk, cut into its best territory. an endeavour was made in to divide the remaining area, but two years later the battle was renewed, the great western building to sarnia and the grand trunk tapping london and detroit. between the great western and lake erie a rival road direct from buffalo to detroit was threatened time and again, but was not built until after confederation. south of lake erie the lake shore and michigan southern was built shortly afterwards by interests connected with the new york central, thus threatening the traffic connections of the great western both east and west. to avert loss of its western trade, the great western sunk large sums in aiding the construction of a road from detroit to grand haven, with ferry connections to milwaukee; but this experiment did not prove a success and caused serious embarrassment. the northern railway, whose promoters, as we have seen, naïvely recognized that railways and lotteries were close akin, was opened as far as allandale in , and to collingwood { } in . it was scamped by the contractors, poorly built, and overloaded with debt. the sanguine policy of building up a through traffic from the american west, by water to collingwood and rail to toronto, proved a will-o'-the-wisp. in turn the company relied on independent steamers, and set up a fleet of its own, but equally in vain so far as profit went. by the road was bankrupt. a new general manager, frederick cumberland, brought in a change of policy. local traffic was sedulously cultivated, and a fair degree of prosperity followed. most of the lesser roads constructed looked to the municipalities rather than to the provinces for aid. the municipal loan fund of was the third and last phase of hincks's railway policy. this was an ingenious attempt to give the municipalities the prestige of provincial connection without accepting any legal responsibility. municipalities had previously been permitted to bonus or take stock in railways and toll-roads, but their securities were unknown in the world's markets. hincks now provided that municipalities which wished money to aid railways or other local improvements might practically pool their credit and share in the credit of the province. provincial { } debentures were issued against the municipal obligations pooled in the fund, and the proceeds of their sale given to the municipalities. a sinking fund was to be maintained, and, if need be, the province could levy through the sheriff on any defaulting town. the municipalities made full use of their privileges. it was believed that railway investments would yield high dividends, and the more optimistic expected to see all taxes made unnecessary by the profits earned. town vied with town in extravagant enterprises.[ ] not a cent brought a dividend; instead, the municipalities found themselves saddled with heavy interest payments. one after another declined to pay; port hope was $ , in arrears by and cobourg $ , . the provincial government had { } not the political courage to send in the sheriff, and accordingly it was forced at last to assume the whole burden. prudent municipalities which had declined to borrow at eight per cent found themselves compelled to share the burdens of their reckless neighbours. demoralization was widespread. the railways constructed by such aid may be briefly noted. the buffalo and lake huron, extending from fort erie to goderich, was completed in . it had its origin in the ambition of buffalo to have more immediate connection with the rich western peninsula of upper canada and the lake trade beyond than was afforded by the great western. the london and port stanley, built in - , mainly by the city of london, with smaller contributions from middlesex and elgin counties and the city of st thomas, failed to realize the expectations that it would become the main artery of trade between canada and the states across the lake, but it developed a fair excursion trade and coal traffic, and indirectly justified its construction. the erie and ontario portage road, rebuilt in , has already been noted. another portage road round niagara falls was the welland railway, planned by w. hamilton merritt, { } the projector of the welland canal. it ran from port colborne on lake erie to port dalhousie on lake ontario, twenty-five miles, and was completed in , only to add one more to the list of unprofitable roads, and eventually to be absorbed by the great western. farther east the rivalry of port hope and cobourg led to the construction of two roads, the cobourg and peterborough and the port hope, lindsay and beaverton. both relied chiefly on timber traffic and aimed to develop the farming country in the rear. the cobourg line, begun in , suffered disaster from the start: the contractor's extras absorbed all the cash available; the three-mile bridge built on piles across rice lake gave way, and after $ , , had been expended the road was sold for $ , . the port hope line, which absorbed a branch from millbrook to peterborough in , fared somewhat better. the brockville and ottawa was a lumber road, carrying supplies up and timber down. it was chartered to run from brockville to pembroke, with a branch from smith's falls on the rideau canal to perth. by it had reached almonte, and six years later struggled as far as sand point on the ottawa, when it { } halted, till the canadian pacific project gave it new life. after failing to make ends meet for some years the company went through repeated reorganizations in the early sixties. the bytown and prescott, later the st lawrence and ottawa, built in , was also a lumber road, promoted by interests connected with the ogdensburg railway, whose terminus was opposite prescott. it suffered the same financial fate, and was sold to the english company which had supplied the rails, at a total sacrifice of municipal and other creditors' interests. around the long sault rapids in the ottawa there was built in the thirteen-mile carillon and grenville, a summer portage road, an early enterprise which retained its independence and its old five-foot-six-inch gauge until , when it was absorbed by the canadian northern. in lower canada the only minor road built which has not been referred to was the stanstead, shefford and chambly, opened in from st johns to granby, and forming practically an extension of the champlain and st lawrence from the former point. [ ] as a matter of fact, discussion of this scheme began in st andrews in , and in john wilson convened a meeting of the citizens to further it. [ ] the brassey firm were paid about £ sterling a mile for the line from toronto to montreal, £ for the section from quebec to rivière du loup, £ for the quebec and richmond road, and £ , , for the victoria bridge. gzowski and co., consisting of messrs gzowski, holton, macpherson, and galt, secured the toronto to sarnia contract at £ a mile. in both cases these prices included equipment. the english contractors were required to take a large portion of their pay in depreciated bonds and stock, whereas the canadian contractors were given cash; on the other hand, brassey had a higher price and less difficult country to work in. the english firm, with all their experience, were not familiar with building roads in countries where labour was dear, and the plant they sent out was antiquated compared with the labour-saving equipment familiar to american and canadian contractors. they claimed to have lost a million pounds on their enterprise, while galt, holton, macpherson, and gzowski all made fortunes. [ ] port hope borrowed for railway investment $ , , cobourg and brantford $ , each, and brockville $ , --all towns of less than people. the counties of lanark and renfrew borrowed $ , , and villages borrowed in proportion. in all some $ , , was borrowed through the loan fund for railway purposes alone, the bulk of it in upper canada, while another three million was invested by towns that borrowed on their own responsibility. to aid the brockville and ottawa railway, for example, lanark and renfrew advanced $ , , brockville $ , , and the township of elizabethtown $ , , or over half the cost of the road. huron and bruce invested $ , in the buffalo and lake huron, and other municipalities $ , , and so on throughout the province. [illustration: railways of british north america, ] { } chapter vi the intercolonial the battle of the gauges--expansion and competition--local bonusing--the intercolonial the first 'age of iron--and of brass' came to an end before . between and , it has been seen, the mileage of all the provinces grew from to . by it had increased only miles. in two of the intervening years not a mile was built. a halt had come, for stock-taking and heart-searching. this first era of activity had given as its most obvious result over two thousand miles of railway. in nova scotia, halifax was linked with the bay of fundy and the gulf of st lawrence; in new brunswick, st john was connected with the gulf, and a road was struggling canadaward from st andrews. in the canadas a 'grant trunk,' so nicknamed, ran from rivière du loup the whole length of the province to sarnia, while lesser roads opened up new districts to the north or gave connection with the grain-fields and the ocean { } ports of the united states. the western province, at all events, was well served for a pioneer country, and the shipper and consumer had no great cause for complaint. to the taxpayer it seemed otherwise. he had been induced to embark on a lavish policy of financial aid on the assurance that the roads would at worst be no burden, and at best might yield large profits to the state. as a matter of fact, nine out of every ten dollars advanced might be written off as lost. the grand trunk, great western, and northern roads were indebted to the old province of canada on july , , in over twenty million dollars for principal advanced and in over thirteen millions for interest. other roads were indebted to canadian municipalities in nearly ten millions for principal alone. yet the taxpayer was not wholly justified in his grumbling. there had been waste and mismanagement, it is true, but the railways had brought indirect gain that more than offset the direct loss. farming districts were opened up rapidly, freights were reduced in many sections, intercourse was facilitated, and land values were raised. the contribution to the railways was bread well cast upon the waters. it would have been better, if foresight had { } equalled hindsight, to have given the money out and out. for the shareholder, english or canadian, there was little but disappointment. grand trunk ordinary stock in was selling at , and even great western at . the securities of several of the minor roads had been almost entirely wiped out by reorganizations. in some $ , , was paid in dividends and leases, representing only . per cent on the $ , , which the roads had cost or were alleged to have cost. premature extension into unremunerative territory, for political or contracting reasons, excessive competition in the fertile areas, heavy fixed charges on inflated capital or leased roads, water competition, absentee proprietorship, all played their part. whatever the causes, the results were clear, and capitalists long fought shy of canadian railway projects. in the first thirty years of canadian railway development no question aroused more interest than that of the gauge to be adopted. the cows of the good dutch burghers of new amsterdam fixed the windings of broadway as they remain to this day. the width of the carts used in english coal-mines centuries ago { } still determines the gauge of railway track and railway cars over nearly all the world. 'before every engine,' declares mr h. g. wells, 'trots the ghost of a superseded horse.' when the steam locomotive was invented, and used upon the coal-mine tramways, it was made of the same four-foot-eight-and-a-half-inch gauge. in england, in spite of the preferences of brunel, stephenson's great rival, for a seven-foot gauge, the narrower width soon triumphed, though the great western did not entirely abandon its wider track until . in canada the struggle was longer and more complicated. it was a question on which engineers differed. speed, steadiness, cost of track construction, and cost of maintenance were all to be considered, and were all diversely estimated. in early years, before the need of standardizing equipment was felt, many experiments were made, especially in the united states. in the southern states five feet was the usual width, and the erie was built on a gauge of six feet, to fit an engine bought at a bargain. but in the united states, as in england, the four-foot-eight-and-a-half-inch width was dominant, and would have been adopted in canada without question, had not local { } interests, appealing, as often, to patriotic prejudice, succeeded in clouding the issue. when the road from portland to montreal was being planned, the astute portland promoters insisted upon a gauge of five feet six inches, to prevent the switching of traffic to boston. montreal, in its turn, insisted on the same gauge for the grand trunk line, to ensure that all east-bound traffic should be brought through canada to montreal. it carried its point, and the wider or 'provincial' gauge became the standard in the canadas, and later in the maritime provinces. experience proved that it was impossible to maintain different gauges in countries so closely connected as canada and the united states. as roads became consolidated into larger systems, the inconvenience of transhipping at break of gauge became more intolerable. the expedients of lifting cars bodily to other trucks, of making axles adjustable, and even of laying a third rail, proved unsatisfactory. late in the sixties and early in the seventies the great western and the grand trunk had to adopt the four-foot-eight-and-a-half-inch gauge solely, and other lines gradually followed. meanwhile, the cry was going up for a still { } narrower gauge. in pioneer districts, at least, it was contended, a road three feet six inches wide, such as had recently been adopted in norway, would suffice, and would be much cheaper both to build and to operate. between and two experimental narrow-gauge lines were built running north from toronto--the toronto and nipissing, and the toronto, grey and bruce. this proved only a temporary diversion, however, and the decision of the dominion government in to change the gauge of the intercolonial to four feet eight and a half inches, and the adoption of the same standard by the ontario government, ended the controversy. memory is short and hope eternal. soon after confederation another burst of activity began in all the provinces of the new dominion. it was distinctly the period of local development. in ontario the opportunity which the fertile western peninsula, jutting down between new york and michigan, offered for both local and through traffic, led to many projects, much parliamentary jockeying, and at last construction. the canada southern was built in , running between fort erie, opposite { } buffalo, and amherstburg on the detroit river. it was controlled by the vanderbilt interests and operated in close co-operation with their other roads, the michigan southern, michigan central, and new york central. the great western met this attack upon its preserves by building in the same year the canada air line, from glencoe near st thomas, to fort erie, giving more direct connection with buffalo. both roads made use of the magnificent international bridge, built across the niagara in , under grand trunk control. the marked feature of this period, so far as ontario was concerned, was the rivalry of the cities along the lake and river front in building new roads to tap the north country. from london there was built in the london, huron and bruce, halting at wingham. from hamilton, or rather from guelph, with connections to hamilton, the wellington, grey and bruce reached southampton on lake huron in and kincardine in . both roads were virtually branches of the great western, and were expected to bring to london and to hamilton respectively the trade of the rich northwestern counties. the ambitious city, as hamilton came to be { } called at this period, a few years later invaded the northern railway's territory by a line from hamilton to collingwood, also extended southerly to port dover, but control of this road was immediately acquired by the northern interests. from still more ambitious toronto two narrow-gauge routes were built between and --the toronto, grey and bruce running northwest to owen sound and teeswater, and the toronto and nipissing northeast to coboconk and sutton. whitby also had its visions of terminal greatness, when the whitby and port perry was built in the later seventies. the port hope, beaverton and lindsay, renamed the midland, was pushed northeast to orillia in and to midland in . cobourg's unfortunate northern line was continued to the iron mines of marmora. belleville was linked with peterborough in - by the grand junction. kingston, with the co-operation of interests in new york state, planned the kingston and pembroke, which reached mississippi in , and five years later compromised on renfrew as a terminus. the bankruptcy of the brockville and ottawa did not prevent its extension through an allied company, the canada central, to pembroke in and to { } ottawa, by a branch from carleton place, in . in quebec the chief developments were the building of a line connecting quebec, montreal, and ottawa along the north shore of the st lawrence, and of further connections between montreal and quebec and united states roads. the north shore route had been projected early in the fifties, but, in spite of lavish cash and land bonuses, it was not until the quebec government took it up as a provincial road, in the seventies, that it was pushed to completion. on the south shore the eastern townships triangle was interlaced by a series of smaller roads. from lévis, opposite quebec, the lévis and kennebec ran south to the maine border, and the quebec central to sherbrooke. from sherbrooke and lennoxville the massawappi valley gave connection with the connecticut and passumpsic, to which it was leased for years, while branches of the central vermont and minor roads opened up new sections and gave further connection with montreal. an interesting experiment, motived by the same desire for cheap pioneer construction which in ontario brought in the narrow gauge, was the wooden railway built in from { } quebec to gosford. the rails were simply strips of seasoned maple, 'x "x ", notched into the sleepers and wedged in without the use of a single iron spike. the engine and car wheels were made wide to fit the rail. in spite of its cheap construction the road did not pay, and the hope of extending it as far as lake st john was deferred for a generation. a similar wooden railway was built from drummondville to l'avenir. in nova scotia the chief local development was the opening in of a road through the annapolis valley, the windsor and annapolis. this formed an extension of the government road from halifax to windsor, but the province preferred to entrust it to a private company, giving a liberal bonus. in new brunswick there was much activity, all by private companies. the western section of the european and north american, from st john to the maine boundary, was completed in , though it was not until that the road was opened through to portland--by a more circuitous route than poor had originally planned. from fredericton a branch was built to meet this road, and a line to woodstock, which in turn was connected with the old new brunswick and canada, still { } pushing slowly north. in the meantime prince edward island was building a narrow-gauge railway nearly two hundred miles long; in she was forced into confederation to find aid in paying for it. all this varied activity was made possible by a revival of the policy of provincial and municipal assistance. whether from reasoned conviction as to the indirect benefits of more roads, or because of the log-rolling activities of rival towns and wily promoters, a systematic and generous policy of aid was adopted. this aid came chiefly from the provinces and municipalities, the dominion as yet confining itself to works of inter-provincial concern. outright gifts for the most part took the place of loans, since experience had proved that direct returns upon the money invested were not to be looked for. curiously meandering were the routes which promoters mapped out in the endeavour to follow the shortest line between two bonuses.[ ] { } governments could help to build roads, but could not ensure for them traffic. it took very few years to show that the interests of the public were not best served by scores of petty isolated roads, and that the interests of shareholders were not secured by the cut-throat competition which prevailed in certain areas. this competition was keenest between the roads which were intimately connected with the lines in the united states and dependent upon through traffic. the grand trunk had cut into the territory of the great western by acquiring the buffalo and lake huron line, and the canada southern and the great western were disputing for every ton of freight between the niagara and the detroit. all were involved in the rate wars which marked this period in { } the united states. in the grand trunk and the great western agreed to maintain rates, pool certain traffic receipts, refrain from competitive building, and co-operate in service. the agreement broke down; another was made in , only to fail in turn. more effective measures had to be adopted. the outstanding achievement of the period, however, was the building of the intercolonial. it had been projected largely in order to make closer union between the provinces possible, but, as it turned out, it was confederation that brought the intercolonial, not the intercolonial that brought confederation. after the breakdown of the negotiations in london in , each province had turned to its own tasks. but each in building its own roads had provided possible links in the future intercolonial chain. in canada the grand trunk ran to a point miles east of quebec; in new brunswick, st john was connected with both the east and west boundaries of the province; in nova scotia, a road ran north from halifax as far as truro. a gap of nearly five hundred miles between rivière du loup and truro remained. to bridge this wilderness seemed beyond the { } private or public resources of the divided provinces. unanimous on one point only, they once more turned to the british government. in and dispatches and deputations sought aid, but sought it in vain. when the civil war broke out in the united states, official british sympathy was given to the south, and the _trent_ affair showed how near britain and the north were to war, a war which would at once have exposed the isolated colonies to american attack. the military argument for closer connection then took on new weight with the british government, and it proposed, to a joint delegation in , to revert to its offer of ten years earlier--to guarantee a colonial loan for a railway by an approved route. the colonies opposed the demand for a sinking fund, and again agreement was postponed. in canada suggested that, as the british government had made an approved route an essential condition, a definite survey and selection should be undertaken forthwith. it was agreed that a commission of three engineers should be selected, one nominated by canada, one by new brunswick and nova scotia, and one by great britain. canada nominated sandford fleming, a distinguished scottish-canadian { } engineer, who had been connected with the northern and other upper canada enterprises. the other authorities paid him the compliment of naming him as their representative also, to facilitate the work. during the progress of the survey negotiations for the union of the provinces had begun, and when confederation came about in , the building of the intercolonial at the common expense of the dominion, with an imperial guarantee to the extent of £ , , , was one of the conditions of union. the old difficulty as to the route through new brunswick was still to be settled. again western and southern new brunswick struggled against the north and against far east quebec; again halifax and st john found plausible arguments to uphold their respective interests. finally, the views of sir george cartier and peter mitchell triumphed in the cabinet councils, and in march the engineer-in-chief advised the selection of the roundabout bay of chaleurs route--roughly 'major robinson's line'--ostensibly because safer from american attack, nearer possible steamship connection with europe, and no worse, if no better, than the other routes in potentialities of local traffic. the construction was entrusted in december { } to a commission of four; six years later the minister of public works took over direct control. sandford fleming remained engineer-in-chief for the building as well as for the survey. tenders were submitted for the construction of the whole road, but the government decided to award the contract in small sections. the road was not completed as speedily as had been expected. difficulties arose, expected and unexpected--cuttings in heavy rock, sliding clay banks, extensive swamps, lack of rock bottom for heavy bridges. contractor after contractor found that he had underestimated the task, and went bankrupt or threw up the contract. sometimes the contract was relet, sometimes the government completed it by day work. at last, on july , , nine years after confederation, the five hundred miles between truro and rivière du loup were opened for traffic throughout. in the meantime the dominion had taken over the nova scotia, new brunswick, and prince edward island government roads. in there were in all miles of railway under the control of the dominion government, as against miles of private lines. [ ] ontario in offered subsidies ranging from two to four thousand dollars a mile for colonization roads to the north; quebec in offered money and later land; new brunswick in gave $ , a mile to various roads, besides taking $ , in stock in the european; while nova scotia aided the annapolis extension. municipal aid was even more lavish in proportion: toronto gave $ , to the toronto, grey and bruce, $ , to the nipissing road, $ , to the northern, and $ , to the credit valley. hamilton backed the hamilton and north-western by $ , , london gave the london, huron and bruce $ , , and generous kingston gave to the kingston and pembroke over $ , . counties like elgin and simcoe, grey, and frontenac offered from $ , to $ , , while from townships alone the wellington, grey and bruce received $ , . montreal and quebec each helped the north shore by a gift of a million dollars; ottawa county's $ , and the parish of canrobert's $ were equally sought; while to a lesser degree the maritime provinces showed the same tendency. { } chapter vii the canadian pacific--beginnings across continent in --early stages--the survey--the allan project--mackenzie's policy--macdonald's policy on march , , sir george simpson, governor-in-chief of the hudson's bay company's domains, left london on a journey round the world. all the resources of a powerful and well-organized corporation were at his disposal, and his own reputation for rapid travelling gave assurance that on the actual journey not an hour would be lost. a fortnight's sail brought him from liverpool to halifax, and thence he journeyed by steamer to boston, by rail to nashua, by coach to concord, and by sleigh to montreal. the portage railway from st john to laprairie was on his route, but it was not open in winter. from montreal sir george and his party set out on may in two light thirty-foot canoes, each carrying a crew of twelve or fourteen men. at top speed they worked their way up the ottawa and the mattawa out to lake nipissing, { } and down the french river into georgian bay. they camped every night at sunset, and rose each morning at one. their tireless canadian and iroquois voyageurs worked eighteen hours a day, paddling swiftly through smooth water, wading through shallows, or towing the canoes through the lesser rapids, or portaging once to a dozen times a day round the more difficult ones. each voyageur was ready to shoulder his pounds, strapped to his forehead, or to ferry passengers ashore on his back. they reached sault ste marie on may , only to find lake superior still frozen. they picked their way very slowly through the opening rifts along the shore, made the company's post at fort william in eleven days, exchanged their large canoes for smaller craft, and paddled and portaged through the endless network of river and lake to fort garry, which they reached on june , thirty-eight days out from montreal. [illustration: sir george simpson. from a print in the john ross robertson collection, toronto public library] from fort garry a fresh start was made on july , on horseback, with baggage sent ahead in lumbering red river carts. past fort ellice and fort carlton, they pushed on with fresh supplies of horses at the topmost speed that the limitations of their convoy of carts would permit. band after band of plains { } indians, adorned with war-paint and scalp-locks, crossed their trail, but mosquito and sand-fly proved more troublesome. the travellers passed a band of emigrants making slowly for the columbia, and everywhere found countless herds of buffalo. in three weeks from fort garry they reached fort edmonton. here forty-five fresh horses were in readiness for riding, pack-horses took the place of carts, and the journey was continued to the south-west. the rockies were crossed through kootenay pass, and at last--after many a halt to find straying horses, and after continuous annoyance from mosquitoes and venomous insects 'which in size and appearance might have been mistaken for a cross between the bulldog and the house-fly'--fort colville on the columbia was reached on august . their long horseback ride was over. favoured by wonderfully fine weather, in the saddle eleven to twelve hours a day, they had made their way through open prairie and rolling plain, tangled thicket and burning forest and rushing river, and had covered the two thousand miles from fort garry in six weeks and five days. from fort colville they reached the waters of the pacific at fort vancouver (washington) in another six days. the { } continent had been crossed in twelve weeks of actual travelling. sir george simpson's journey stood as the record for many a year. for a generation after his day the scattered travellers from red river westward were compelled to rely on saddle-horse and plains cart and canoe. from montreal and toronto the railway could be utilized as far as collingwood, and thence the steamer to port arthur. then for a time the government opened up a summer route to the red river, beginning it in and maintaining it until . the dawson route, as it was called, included forty-five miles of wagon-road from port arthur to lake shebandowan, then over three hundred miles of water travel, with a dozen portages, and again ninety-five miles of wagon-road from the lake of the woods to fort garry.[ ] in it took ninety-five days to transport troops from toronto to fort garry over this route. such makeshifts could not serve for long. south of the { } border the railway was rapidly pushing westward, and in the new nation of the north, as well, its time had come. ever after the coming of the locomotive, it needed only imagination and a map to see all british north america clamped by an iron band. engineers like bonnycastle and synge and carmichael-smyth wrote of the possibility in the forties. politicians found in the theme matter for admirable after-dinner perorations--colonial governors like harvey in , colonial secretaries like lytton and carnarvon in the fifties, and colonial premiers like joseph howe, who declared in halifax in : 'i believe that many in this room will live to hear the whistle of the steam-engine in the passes of the rocky mountains, and to make the journey from halifax to the pacific in five or six days.' promoters were not lacking. in allan macdonnell of toronto sought a charter and a subsidy for a road to the pacific, and the canadian authorities, in { } declining, expressed their opinion that the scheme was not visionary and their hope that some day great britain and the united states might undertake it jointly. seven years later the same promoter secured a charter for the northwest transportation, navigation, and railway company, to operate between lake superior and the fraser river, but could get no backing; four years previously john young, a. n. morin, a. t. galt, and john a. poor had petitioned in vain for a similar charter. then in , on behalf of the red river settlement, sandford fleming prepared an elaborate memorial on the subject. edwin watkin, of the grand trunk, negotiated with the hudson's bay company for right of way and other facilities, but the project proved too vast for his resources. [illustration: sir sandford fleming. from a photograph by topley] two things were needed before dreams on paper could become facts in steel--national unity and international rivalry. years before confederation, such far-seeing canadians as william m'dougall and george brown had pressed for the annexation of the british territories beyond the lakes. after confederation, all speed was made to buy out the sovereign rights of the hudson's bay company. then came the first riel rebellion, to { } bring home the need of a western road, as the _trent_ affair had brought home the need of the intercolonial. the decisive political factor came into play in , when british columbia entered the federation. its less than ten thousand white inhabitants--deeming themselves citizens of no mean country, and kept to their demands by the urging of an indefatigable englishman, alfred waddington--made the construction of an overland railway an indispensable condition of union, and sir john macdonald courageously accepted their terms. the other factor, international rivalry, exercised its influence about the same time. in the united states the railway had rapidly pushed westward, but had halted before the deserts and the mountains lying between the mississippi and the pacific. the rivalry of pro-slavery and anti-slavery parties in congress long brought to deadlock all plans of public aid to either southern or northern route. then the civil war broke the deadlock: the need of binding the west to the side of the north created a strong public demand for a pacific road, and congress, so stimulated, and further lubricated by the payment, as is proven, of at least $ , in bribes, gave lavish loans { } and grants of land. the central pacific, working from sacramento, and the union pacific, starting from omaha, met near ogden in utah in --or rather here the rails met, for the rival companies, eager to earn the high subsidy given for mountain construction, had actually graded two hundred superfluous miles in parallel lines. in the southern pacific and the texas pacific were fighting for subsidies, and jay cooke was promoting the northern pacific. the young dominion was stirred by ambition to emulate its powerful neighbour. these factors, then, brought the question of a railway to the pacific on canadian soil within the range of practical politics. important questions remained to be settled. during the parliamentary session of the government of sir john macdonald decided that the road should be built by a company, not by the state, that it should be aided by liberal subsidies in cash and in land, and, to meet british columbia's insistent terms, that it should be begun within two, and completed within ten, years. the opposition protested that this latter provision was uncalled for and would bankrupt the dominion, but the government carried its point, though it was forced to hedge { } later by a stipulation--not included in the formal resolutions--that the annual expenditure should be such as not to press unduly upon the dominion's resources. the first task was to survey the vast wilderness between the ottawa valley and the pacific, and to find, if possible, a feasible route. so able an explorer and engineer as captain palliser, appointed by the british government to report upon the country west of the lakes, had declared in , after four years of careful labour in the field, that, thanks to the choice of the th parallel as canada's boundary, there was no possibility of ever building a transcontinental railway exclusively through british territory. the man chosen for the task of achieving this impossibility was sandford fleming. appointed engineer-in-chief in , he was for nine years in charge of the surveys, though for half that time his duties on the intercolonial absorbed much of his energy. mr fleming possessed an unusual gift of literary style, and his reports upon the work of his staff gave the people of canada a very clear idea of the difficulties to be encountered. his friend, the rev. george m. grant, who accompanied him in a rapid reconnaissance in , gave, in his book { } _ocean to ocean_, a vivid and heartening record of the realities and the promise that he saw. it had been decided, in order to hold the balance even between montreal and toronto, to make the proposed pacific road begin at some angle of lake nipissing. from that point nearly to the red river there stretched a thousand miles of woodland, rugged and rock-strewn, covered by a network of countless lakes and rivers, interspersed with seemingly bottomless swamps or muskegs--a wilderness which no white man had ever passed through from end to end. then came the level prairie and a great rolling plain rising to the south-west in three successive steppes, and cut by deep watercourses. but it was the third or mountain section which presented the most serious engineering difficulties. four hundred miles from the pacific coast, and roughly parallel, ran the towering rocky mountains, some of whose peaks rose fifteen thousand feet. beyond stretched a vast plateau, three or four thousand feet above sea-level, intersected by rivers which had cut deep chasms or, to the northward, wide sheltered valleys. between this plateau and the coast the cascades interposed, rivalling the rockies in height and { } rising sheer from the ocean, which thrust in deep fiord channels. at the head of some one of these fiords must be found the western terminus. [illustration: fleming route and the transcontinentals] early in the survey a practicable route was found throughout. striking across the wilderness from lake nipissing to lake superior at the river pic, the line might skirt the shore of the lake to fort william, or it might run northerly through what is now known as the clay belt, with fort william and the lake made accessible by a branch. continuing westward to the red river at selkirk, with winnipeg on a branch line to the south, the projected line crossed lake manitoba at the narrows, and then struck out northwesterly, through what was then termed the 'fertile belt,' till the yellowhead pass was reached. here the rockies could be easily pierced; but once through the engineer was faced by the huge flanking range of the cariboo mountains, in which repeated explorations failed to find a gap. but at the foot of the towering barrier lay a remarkable deep-set valley four hundred miles in length, in which northwestward ran the fraser and southeastward the canoe and the columbia. by following the fraser to its great southward bend, and then striking { } west, a terminus on bute or dean inlet might be reached, while the valley of the canoe and the albreda would give access to the north thompson as far as kamloops, whence the road might run down the thompson and the lower fraser to burrard inlet. the latter route, on the whole, was preferred. while this route was feasible, the mountain portion promised to be extremely expensive. this factor, together with the uncertainty of government policy and the desire of victoria to have the road built to bute inlet and thence, by a bridge across valdes strait, carried down to esquimalt, made it necessary to seek untiringly, year after year, for alternative routes. the only important change made, however, until after , was the deflection of the line south of lake manitoba to serve existing settlements. who was to build the road? it would be a tremendous task for either the government or the private capitalists of a nation of four million people. the united states had not begun its pacific roads till it had over thirty millions of people, and wealth and experience to correspond. it was estimated that the canadian road would cost $ , , , and it was certain that the engineering difficulties { } would be staggering. in canada few roads had paid the shareholders, and though some had profited the contractors, the new enterprise meant such a plunge in the dark that contractors and promoters alike hesitated. in the united states, however, the pacific roads had proved gold-mines for their promoters. the land-grants were valuable, and the privilege of granting contracts to dummy construction companies controlled by themselves and thus reaping larger profits was still greater. it was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the first offer came from american capitalists. alfred waddington, enthusiast rather than practical promoter, sought at ottawa a charter for the road he had done so much to secure, but his bill went no further than a first reading. at ottawa he was met by g. w. m'mullen, a canadian residing in chicago, who was visiting the dominion on a canal deputation. m'mullen became interested, and with his chicago partners endeavoured to enlist the aid of the men behind the northern pacific--jay cooke, general cass, w. b. ogden, t. a. scott, and others.[ ] { } m'mullen soon found that waddington had exaggerated his influence, and that the government was not yet prepared to discuss terms. sir francis hincks, stormy petrel of railway building, whom sir john macdonald had just made his finance minister, suggested to sir hugh allan of montreal that he should get into touch with these americans and provide the substantial canadian interest which was essential. sir hugh allan was then the foremost business man in canada. he was head of the great allan steamship line, and had become interested in railways shortly before, when rumours of the intention of the grand trunk to establish a rival steamship line to great { } britain had led him to assist in promoting the north shore from quebec westward, to compete with the grand trunk and ensure traffic for his steamers. he now opened negotiations with the american capitalists through m'mullen, came to terms, and then sought associates in canada. here difficulties arose: ontario objected that allan's control would mean a quebec rather than an ontario terminus, and that the northern pacific directors with whom he was associated were simply conspiring to get control of the canadian road, in order to delay its construction and prevent it becoming a rival to their own northerly route. sir george cartier, too, powerful in the cabinet and salaried solicitor of the grand trunk, was a stumbling-block; he declared himself emphatically opposed to control by any '_sacrée compagnie américaine_.' but sir hugh, believing much in money and little in men, resolved to buy his way through. he soon started a backfire in quebec which brought cartier to terms. ontario rivalry was harder to control: d. l. macpherson and other toronto men organized the interoceanic railway company to oppose allan's canada pacific company. both companies sought charters and aid. allan { } pretended to drop his american associates; macpherson charged that the connection still existed. the government endeavoured to bring about an amalgamation, with allan as president, and, failing this, to organize a new company. in the meantime allan was spending money so freely that even his new york associates were astounded. the dominion elections were held in august , and macdonald, cartier, and langevin drew heavily on allan's funds, $ , in all, with a promise from cartier that 'any amount which you or your company shall advance for that purpose shall be re-couped to you.' after the election a new company, the canadian pacific, was organized, with representative men from each province as directors; and the new board, of its own motion, it was declared, elected allan president. to this company the government granted a charter, promised a subsidy of thirty million dollars and fifty million acres of land, but insisted upon excluding the american interests. allan acquiesced, and, repaying the advances made, informed new york that negotiations were ended. m'mullen and his associates, angry at this treatment, conveyed rumours to opposition leaders, and finally allan's confidential { } correspondence, stolen by a clerk in the office of j. j. c. abbott, allan's solicitor, was made public.[ ] the fat was in the fire. with the political controversy which followed we are not here concerned. in sir john macdonald's defence it could be said, that though allan's money was taken no { } special favours were shown in the contract made; and that all that allan secured by the government's victory was the certainty that the railway project would not be postponed or dropped altogether, and that he would be given control. sir hugh allan had said with much force: 'the plans i propose are in themselves the best for the interests of the dominion, and in urging them on the public i am really doing a most patriotic action.' undoubtedly sir john macdonald sincerely held a similar opinion. { } the allan company gave up its charter, unable to raise capital in face of financial depression and political upheaval. the liberal party, led by alexander mackenzie, and swept into power by a wave of popular indignation, first endeavoured to induce other capitalists to take up the work. but the government's offers of $ , in cash and of , acres of land for each mile, plus an undetermined guarantee, had no takers in the years of depression that followed. mackenzie then decided that the government should { } itself build the road. he planned to build at first only the indispensable sections, using the waterways wherever possible, and hoped, but in vain, to secure british columbia's consent to an extension of the time set for completion. his first step was to subsidize the canada central, which ran from ottawa via carleton place to pembroke, to extend its line as far as lake nipissing, in order to connect with the proposed eastern terminus of the pacific road, and to award a contract (it was afterwards cancelled) for a branch from this junction point to georgian bay. passing by for the time the country north of lake superior, he next let contracts for the greater part of the distance between fort william and selkirk and for a road from selkirk to emerson, on the manitoba border. here connection was to be made with an american line, the st paul and pacific, of which more will be heard presently. when mackenzie left office in the work of location or construction was well advanced in all three sections. for two years the new administration of sir john macdonald carried on the same policy of government construction at a moderate pace. the work in hand was continued and the gaps in the road { } between port arthur and selkirk were put under contract. the line was made to pass through winnipeg--instead of striking west from selkirk, as the engineers had previously advised, and thus side-tracking the ambitious city growing up around old fort garry. contracts were let for two hundred miles of the extension westward from winnipeg. two seasons passed before the new government could make up its mind as to the british columbia section. late in it decided to adhere to the route chosen under the mackenzie administration, through the yellowhead pass, down the thompson and the fraser to port moody on burrard inlet. the difficult section from yale, the head of navigation on the fraser, to savona's ferry, near kamloops, was shortly afterwards placed under contract. the ten years' time allotted for the construction of the canadian pacific was nearly gone and there was little completed work to show. hard times, depression in the railway world, changes of government and political upheavals, disputes as to route and terminus, had delayed construction. the building of the link north of lake superior, necessary for all-rail connection between east and west on canadian territory, had been indefinitely postponed. { } something had been done, it is true. manitoba was being linked up with the east by a road south to minnesota and by another line to the head of lake superior, and a start had been made in british columbia. some day, under some administration, the gaps would be filled up and the promise to british columbia would be redeemed. suddenly, in june , sir john macdonald, speaking at bath, made the announcement that a group of capitalists had offered to build the road, on terms which would ensure that in the end it would not cost canada a single farthing. four months later a contract was signed in ottawa by which the canadian pacific syndicate undertook to build and operate the whole road. an entirely new turn had been given to the situation, and the most important chapter in canada's railway annals, if not in her national life, had been begun. [ ] 'lord strathcona may still remember the man who came into his office at winnipeg and said: "look at me; ain't i a healthy sight? i've come by the government water route from thunder bay, and it's taken me twenty-five days to do it. during that time i've been half-starved on victuals i wouldn't give a swampy indian. the water used to pour into my bunk at nights, and the boat was so leaky that every bit of baggage i've got is water-logged and ruined. i've broke my arm and sprained my ankle helping to carry half a dozen trunks over a dozen portages, and when i refused to take a paddle on one of the boats, an ottawa irishman told me to go to hell, and said that if i gave him any more of my damned chat he'd let me get off and walk to winnipeg."'--w. l. grant in _geographical journal_, october , p. . [ ] the northern pacific was at many stages in its history closely connected with canadian affairs. it had originally been projected in new england: the first proposal was to use the central vermont and a canadian road to be built or acquired as the eastern links, then, crossing into michigan, the railway was to strike northwestward to the pacific. when control fell into the hands of new york and philadelphia interests, these plans were dropped, but later the new management negotiated with governor archibald of manitoba, as well as with sir john macdonald, to endeavour to put through an international road, the first section running through canada to sault ste marie, the second through michigan and minnesota, the third through the canadian plains, and the fourth through the rockies to the sea on american territory. nothing came of the negotiations, though it may be noted that the canadian pacific to-day has carried out precisely this plan, in addition to its all-canadian line. [ ] this correspondence will be found in the journals of the house of commons, vol. vii, . in no other documents available to the public has the connection between politics and railway promoting in canada been made so evident. the following are a few brief extracts from letters addressed by sir hugh allan to various american associates during : thinking that as i had taken up the project there must be something very good in it, a very formidable opposition was organized in toronto, which for want of a better took as their cry 'no foreign influence; no yankee dictation; no northern pacific to choke off our canadian pacific,' and others equally sensible.... i was forced to drop ostensibly from our organization every american name, and put in reliable people on this side in place of them.... mr m'mullen was desirous of securing the inferior members of the government, and entered into engagements of which i did not approve, as i thought it was only a waste of powder and shot. on a calm view of the situation i satisfied myself that the decision of the question must ultimately be in the hands of one man, and that man was sir george e. cartier, the leader of the french party, which held the balance of power between the other factions.... it was evident that some means must be adopted to bring the influence of this compact body of men to bear in our favour, and as soon as i made up my mind what to do, i did not lose a moment in following it up. a railroad from montreal to ottawa, through the french country, north of the ottawa river, has long been desired by the french inhabitants; but cartier, who is a salaried solicitor of the grand trunk road, to which this would be an opposition, has interposed difficulties, and by his influence prevented it being built.... the plans i propose are in themselves the best for the interests of the dominion, and in urging them on the public i am really doing a most patriotic action. but even in that view, means must be used to influence the public, and i employed several young french lawyers to write it up in their own newspapers. i subscribed a controlling influence in the stock, and proceeded to subsidize the newspapers themselves, both editors and proprietors. i went to the country through which the road would pass, and called on many of the inhabitants. i visited the priests and made friends of them, and i employed agents to go among the principal people and talk it up. i then began to hold public meetings, and attended to them myself, making frequent speeches in french to them, showing them where their true interests lay ... and i formed a committee to influence the members of the legislature. this succeeded so well that in a short time it had out of on whom i could rely, and the electors of the ward in this city, which cartier himself represents, notified him that unless the contract for the pacific railway was given in the interests of lower canada he need not present himself for re-election.... the policy adopted has been quite successful, the strong french influence i succeeded in obtaining has proved sufficient to control the elections, and as soon as the government realized this fact, which they were unwilling to admit and slow to see, they opened negotiations with me.... yesterday we entered into an agreement, by which the government bound itself to form a company of canadians, only according to my wishes. that this company will make me president, and that i and my friends will get a majority of the stock, and that the contract for building the railroad will be given to this company, in terms of the act of parliament. americans are to be carefully excluded in the fear that they will sell it to the union [_sic_] pacific, but i fancy we can get over that some way or other. this position has not been attained without large payments of money. i have already paid over $ , , and will have at least $ , more to pay. [illustration: railways of canada, ] { } chapter viii building the canadian pacific the minnesota venture--canadian pacific syndicate--the contract--political opposition--terms of the contract--organizing the company--financing--construction in the months and years that followed, no men were so much in the mind and speech of the canadian public as the members of the new syndicate. the leading members were a remarkable group of men. probably never in the history of railway building, not even in the case of the 'big four' who built the central pacific--huntingdon, stanford, crocker, and hopkins--had the call of the railway brought together in a single enterprise men of such outstanding individuality, of such ability and persistence, and destined for success so notable. the canadian pacific was not their first joint enterprise. it was the direct outcome of a daring venture in connection with a bankrupt minnesota railway, which had brought them wealth beyond their wildest dreams, and had definitely turned their thoughts to railway work. early in the settlement of the northwestern { } states the need of railways, and of state aid to railways, was widely realized. in congress gave the territory of minnesota a large grant of public lands to use in bonusing railway building, and in the same year the legislature of the territory incorporated a company, the minnesota and pacific, to build from stillwater through st paul and st anthony's falls (minneapolis) to red river points. the state gave the new company millions of acres of land and a cash subsidy, municipalities offered bonuses, and a small amount of stock was subscribed locally. five years passed, and not a mile had been completed. the company, looted into insolvency by fraudulent construction company contracts, was reorganized as the st paul and pacific, heir to the old company's assets but not to its liabilities, and a beginning was made once more. trusting dutch bondholders lent over twenty millions, and by the road reached breckenridge on the red river, two hundred and seventeen miles from st paul. again a halt came. russell sage and his associates in control had once more looted the treasury. the dutch bondholders, through their agent, john s. kennedy, a new york banker, applied for a receiver, and in one jesse p. farley was { } appointed by the court. it seemed that the angry settlers might whistle in vain for their road. in st paul at that time there lived two canadians who saw the opportunity. the elder, norman w. kittson, had been hudson bay agent and head of a transportation company on the red river. the younger, james j. hill, an ontario farm-boy who had gone west while still in his teens, owned a coal and wood yard in st paul, and had a share in the transportation company. neither had the capital or the financial connection required to take hold of the bankrupt company, but they kept on thinking of it day and night. soon a third man joined their ranks, donald a. smith. a highland lad who had come to canada at eighteen, donald smith had spent a generation in the service of the hudson's bay company, mainly in the dreary wilds of labrador and on the shores of hudson bay. when in he became chief commissioner of the organization he had served so long and so well, it seemed to most men that he was definitely settled in his life work and probably near the height of his career. but fate knew, and donald smith knew, that his career was only beginning. coming down from the north { } each year by the red river to st paul, on his way east, he talked over the railway situation with hill and kittson. the more they talked the greater grew their faith in the country and the railroad. it was a faith, however, that few in the moneyed east shared with them. it had been the smashing of the rival road, the northern pacific, in , that had given the signal for the brief panic and the long depression of the seventies. the minnesota road itself had twice become bankrupt. the legislature would undoubtedly soon declare the land-grant forfeited, unless the construction promised was completed. to fill the cup, in the middle seventies minnesota and the neighbouring lands were visited by unprecedented swarms of grasshoppers or rocky mountain locusts. swarming down from the plateau lands of the rockies in columns miles high, covering the ground from horizon to horizon, they swept resistlessly forward, devouring every green thing in their way. when they had passed, hundreds of deserted shacks stood silent witnesses to the settlers' despair. [illustration: lord strathcona. from a photograph by lafayette, london] it was in that the further allies needed came from the east. thirty years earlier george stephen, a younger cousin of donald smith, had left his highland hills to seek his { } fortune in london, and after a short apprenticeship there had gone still farther afield, joining an uncle in montreal. he rose rapidly to a foremost place in the wholesale trade of montreal; selling led him into manufacturing, and manufacturing into financial activities. in he became president of the bank of montreal. associated with him in the same bank was still another shrewd, forth-faring scot, richard b. angus, who had risen steadily in its service until appointed to succeed e. h. king as general manager in . a lawsuit in connection with the bank's affairs took both stephen and angus to chicago in . a week's adjournment left them with unwonted leisure. a toss of a coin sent them to st paul rather than to st louis to spend the week. smith had already spoken of the project while in montreal, but at that distance caution had prevailed. now stephen, who had never before seen the prairie, was immensely taken with the rich, deep soil he saw before him. he knew from reading and experience that grasshopper plagues did not last for ever. he decided, therefore, to join in the attempt to get control of the minnesota road and its land-grant, and the famous group was complete. { } once george stephen had made up his mind, little time was ever lost. he sailed for europe and interviewed the amsterdam committee in charge of the dutch bondholders' interests, messrs chouet, weetjin and kirkhoven. they despaired of ever seeing their money back, and were weary of being assessed by the receiver for funds to keep the road together. stephen left amsterdam with an option in his pocket, given for the sum of one guilder, agreeing to sell him the dutch bonds for something like the amount of the unpaid interest, and agreeing, further, to wait until six months after reorganization for part of the payment. the next step was to provide the cash required for immediate necessities. about $ , was put up by the members of the group.[ ] money was borrowed from the bank of montreal, $ , in the first advance, and something under $ , in all, as stephen stated to inquiring shareholders at the bank's annual meeting in . money was advanced to the receiver to complete the most necessary extensions, those required to save the land-grant and that necessary to reach the canadian { } border to join the government road being built south from winnipeg. the threatened forfeiture of the land-grant was thus averted for a time. then the bonds were purchased for $ , , , the floating obligations and part of the stock were bought up, and the mortgage which secured the bonds was foreclosed. the assets were bought by the new company organized for the purpose, the st paul, minneapolis and manitoba, of which george stephen was president, r. b. angus vice-president, and james j. hill general manager. thus in june the whole system, comprising six hundred and sixty-seven miles of railway, of which five hundred and sixty-five were completed, and the land-grant of two and a half million acres, came into the possession of the little group.[ ] the after fortunes of the road, which ten years later expanded into the great northern of to-day, do not concern us here. it is only necessary to recount that the harvest reaped { } by the adventurers[ ] put the tales of el dorado to shame. a few days after control of the railway had been assured, the grasshoppers had risen in flight, and minnesota knew them no more. settlers swarmed in, the railroad platforms were jammed with land-seekers, and between the land-buyers of to-day and the wheat-shippers of to-morrow the owners of the once discredited railway saw their coffers fill to overflowing. in they divided among themselves the whole fifteen millions of stock issued, floating sixteen millions of bonds for extension and equipment. for three years they took no dividends, letting the profits go to further building. then in another $ , , stock was issued, and in a deferred dividend came in the shape of a $ , , issue of bonds, or, rather, the stockholders sold to themselves a $ , , issue for ten cents on the dollar. aside entirely from interest and dividends, the stockholders of the great northern in the seventeen years following were presented with over $ , , of interest-bearing securities. { } all the railway annals of the united states cannot present a duplicate of the startling success attained by these four or five canadians and their associates.[ ] these were the men to whom the canadian government turned when the minister of railways, sir charles tupper, urged them to unload upon a private company the burden of completing the road to the pacific. 'catch them before they invest their profits,' was the advice of sir john's most intimate adviser, that shrewd eastern townships politician, john henry pope. probably they came half-way. they knew the west as well as any men, and with their road built to the canadian boundary and with a traffic arrangement beyond to winnipeg, they were already in the field. of all the group stephen was most reluctant to undertake the new enterprise, but he was assured by his associates that the burdens of management would be shared by all. the government had also approached duncan m'intyre, a montreal capitalist who controlled the canada central, running from brockville by way of ottawa to pembroke, { } and under construction from that point to callender, the eastern end of the canadian pacific main line. he was more than willing to link up this railway with the larger project, and the group was formed. [illustration: lord mount stephen. from a photograph by wood and henry, dufftown. by courtesy of sir william van horne] they debated the question with the government early in . it was felt, however, that negotiations could not be concluded in canada. more capital would be needed than even these new-fledged millionaires could or would furnish, and nowhere was capital so abundant as in london. in july, therefore, sir john macdonald, sir charles tupper, and john henry pope sailed for london, accompanied by george stephen and duncan m'intyre. london capitalists did not bite as freely as anticipated. barings and rothschilds alike were chary about the enterprise. sir henry tyler, president of the grand trunk, was approached, and agreed to build if the link north of lake superior were omitted in favour of a line through the united states, south of the lake, a condition which sir john, strongly urged on by tupper, would not accept. an arrangement might have been made with a london group, but only on condition of a four per cent guarantee for twelve years, another condition which, less wisely, was also rejected. in the { } end the quest proved unavailing. it is true that the paris firm of cohen, reinach and co. entered the syndicate, and that the london house of morton, rose and co. also joined. it was really, however, the new york end of that firm, morton, bliss and co., which was interested. contrary to the general impression, the fact is, that though most of the shares when issued eventually drifted into english hands, no english financiers shared in the building of the canadian pacific until it was within one hundred days of completion. perhaps, in view of the grand trunk's record, it was as well that the men on this side of the atlantic were to be thrown on their own resources from the start, and given the chance for bigness which responsibility brings. back to ottawa the pilgrims came, and there on october , , the contract was signed by charles tupper for the government and by george stephen, duncan m'intyre, james j. hill, john s. kennedy, morton, rose and co. of london, and cohen, reinach and co. of paris. donald a. smith's name was not there. it was only two years since he and sir john, on the floor of the house of commons, had called each other 'liar' and 'coward' and any other sufficiently strong epithet they { } could put their tongues to, and it was to be a few years more before the two highlanders could cover their private feud with a coating of elaborate cordiality. so, to preserve appearances, smith's interest was kept a secret--but a very open one. when parliament met in december the contract was laid before it. the terms were princely. for constructing some nineteen hundred miles the syndicate were to be given free and complete the seven hundred and ten miles under construction by the government,[ ] $ , , in cash, and , , acres of selected land in the fertile belt. they were promised exemptions from import duties on construction materials, from taxes on land for twenty years after the patents were issued and on stock and other property for ever, and exemption from regulation of rates until ten per cent per annum was earned on the capital. assurance was given that for twenty years no competitive roads connecting with the western states would be chartered: 'no line of railway south of the canadian pacific, except such line as shall run southwest or to the westward of southwest, nor to be within fifteen miles { } of latitude °.' ten years were given to complete the task, and a million dollars were deposited as security. the contract was received by blake, then leader of the opposition, and his followers with a unanimous shout of disapproval. during the christmas recess blake endeavoured to raise the country against it. a rival syndicate was hastily organized, with sir william howland, a. r. m'master, william hendrie, a. t. wood, allan gilmour, george a. cox, p. larkin, james m'laren, alexander gibson, and other well-known capitalists at its head. after depositing $ , , in chartered banks as evidence of good faith, they offered to build the road for $ , , and , , acres less, to pay duty on all supplies imported, and to abandon the monopoly clause, the exemptions from taxation, and the exemption from rate regulation. with this weapon to brandish blake gave the government proposal no respite, but on a straight party vote the contract was ratified by parliament and received the formal royal assent in february . it was in many ways unfortunate that from the outset the canadian pacific project was made the football of party politics, but it was { } perhaps inevitable. the first duty of an opposition is to oppose, and even if some good measures are factitiously resisted, many a 'job' is prevented by this relentless criticism. the government proposal, it would now seem, was on the whole in the country's interest, but it had weak points. in attacking these the opposition was led on to take up a position of hostility to the whole project, while the government was equally indiscriminate in defending every jot and tittle of the bargain. in any event, with the bitter rivalry of the grand trunk and the canadian pacific looming up, it is doubtful if it could have been possible to prevent this antagonism being reflected in the politics of a country where the issues are so largely economic issues. that the government was right in deciding for private construction and operation, there has since been little question. to build and operate a pioneer road, to make the inevitable united states connections or extensions, to undertake the subsidiary enterprises and to enter into the flexible, intimate relations with producers and shippers necessary for success, were tasks for which government departments were not well fitted. with the traditions which has unfortunately become established { } in canadian politics, there would probably be campaign contributions in the one case and graft in the other, but in the one case, also, there would probably be efficiency, and in the other red tape and stagnation. as to what private company should be given the contract, there seemed more room for discussion. the members of the howland syndicate were successful and substantial business men, and their offer appeared to be much better than the offer accepted. it was, however, denounced as a sham by the government forces, on the ground that its signers knew that there was not the faintest likelihood of the ministry failing to carry through the contract it had signed. how successful the howland group would have proved we can only conjecture; it is certainly not likely that they would have developed more courage, persistence, or enterprise than the men who actually carried out the project; nor could they have fulfilled their obligations more fully and more honourably. the parties differed, again, on the question of the lake superior link. the government urged the necessity of building at once an all-canadian route, regardless of the added expense. the opposition favoured such a route eventually, but urged that it was better for the { } present to make use of a road running from the sault through northern michigan and minnesota. such a road would bring to montreal the traffic of the american as well as the canadian west. then, when our west had been settled and traffic warranted, the task of cutting a road through the wilderness north of the lake could be faced, and meantime it would not be necessary to offer any company the extravagant terms necessary to induce it to assume this burden from the start. there was much weight in this argument, which sir charles tupper himself had strongly urged only a few months before, and in the light of the later canadian pacific extension through precisely this american territory as well as through maine, there was much buncombe in the flag-waving answer made. yet, on the whole, so necessary to national unity was an unbroken road, so hard a country was this to make into one, that it was best to err on the side of safety. the political interests at stake warranted some risk of money loss. it was, however, on the question of the form and amount of the aid offered that most controversy arose. sir john macdonald had lightly prophesied that in the end the road would not cost canada a single farthing. he { } doubtless meant that land sales would repay the expenditure; even this did not prove true, and the statement awoke unreasonable expectations as to the bargain to be made. when the contract was made public it was denounced as meaning nothing more or less than that the country was to build the road and present it gratis to the company. to anticipate a few years, we may note the actual results at the end of , when the last rail had been laid. the cost of the main line only, including the government sections, and of equipment, to that date, was approximately $ , , . from private sources some $ , , net had been secured: the $ , , stock had been sold at varying prices, realizing slightly over $ , , for the treasury, and first mortgage bonds, land-grant bonds less amount redeemed, and outstanding accounts made up the balance. the government, on its part, had given, by the final arrangements, $ , , cash, and completed road costing another $ , , ; three and a half million acres of the land-grant had been sold for about $ , , , and at only two dollars per acre the fourteen odd million acres left were worth over $ , , . on the other hand, it was urged that the aid { } given was not so great as it seemed. the value of the government sections was particularly questioned.[ ] whatever its value, it was not more than enough to induce capitalists to run the great risks involved. the road had to be operated as well as built, and few believed that for years to come there would be sufficient traffic to make ends meet. its future depended on the future of the west, and it needed a robust optimism at times to believe that the west would overcome frost and drought and other plagues. the fact that in canadian pacific stock sold as low as / in london, and a shade lower on this side of the water, shows the estimate the world of finance put upon the bargain it had made. nor was the road completed in . it was then only begun. grades had to be bettered, trestle-work filled up, extensions flung out, terminals secured, and a new road built every few years. { } looking back now, after the lapse of thirty years, it would seem that the government would have done better if it had given less of the land which was to prove so valuable, and had, instead, guaranteed the dividend on the stock for a term of years. in the eighties, however, western acres were held in little esteem and money guarantees, with grand trunk memories fresh, looked dangerous--and it was in the eighties that the decision had to be made. [illustration: sir william cornelius van horne. from a photograph by notman] more valid was the criticism of the remaining terms. the exemption from duties was wise, if inconsistent in a protectionist government, and the exemption from regulation of rates until ten per cent was earned had a precedent in a clause in the general railway act, not repealed until , exempting all roads from such regulation until fifteen per cent on the capital invested had been earned. the exemption from taxation, however, was an unwarranted privilege, throwing undue burdens on homesteading settlers; and the interpretation afterwards given that the exemption on lands extended until twenty years after the patent had been issued still further increased the difficulty. objectionable, also, was the monopoly clause, barring united states { } connections for ten years. it was claimed that this exemption was essential if traffic was to be secured for the lake superior link, and essential also if capital was to be secured from england. the englishman, one of the heads of the road declared, hated a monopoly at home as he hated the devil, but he looked with favour on monopolies abroad. the monopoly clause, as will be seen later, for a time did more to split east and west than the lake superior link did to bind them together in spirit. but enough of discussion. action came quick. not a day was lost in organizing and beginning work. george stephen was chosen president, and held the post until . to him more than to any other man the ultimate success of the canadian pacific was due. indomitable persistence, unquenchable faith, unyielding honour stamped his character. he was one of the greatest of empire builders. he never despaired in the tightest corner, and never rested while a single expedient remained untried. duncan m'intyre became one of the two vice-presidents, and took an active part in the company's affairs until he dropped out { } in . richard b. angus came back from st paul to become vice-president and a member of the executive committee. his long banking experience and his shrewd, straightforward judgment proved a tower of strength in days of trial. donald a. smith, while after a director and a member of the executive committee, took little part in the railway's affairs, though at stephen's urging he more than once joined in going security when help was most needed. james j. hill left the directorate and unloaded his stock at the close of , because the company refused to accept his advice to omit the lake superior section, and because of the growing divergence of interests between the st paul, minneapolis and manitoba and the canadian pacific. with him retired john s. kennedy. the baron de reinach also withdrew at an early stage. the english directors, representing morton, rose and co. of london, retired as soon as the road was completed, being replaced by representatives of morton, bliss and co. of new york. e. b. osler came in with the ontario and quebec in . the board became more and more distinctively canadian. one of the first steps taken by the directors { } was to open offices in winnipeg, and put two men with united states experience in charge--a. b. stickney, later president of the chicago great western, as general superintendent, and general rosser as chief engineer. the rate of progress was not satisfactory, and early in a fortunate change was made. william c. van horne, at that time general superintendent of the chicago, milwaukee and st paul, and still under forty, was appointed general manager with wide powers. some years earlier, when he was president of the southern minnesota, the leading members of the st paul syndicate had had an opportunity of learning his skill. he had been in railroading since fourteen, beginning as a telegraph operator on the illinois central, and had risen rapidly in the service of one middle west road after another. his tireless driving force was precisely the asset the company now most needed. the first task was to find the money necessary to build the nineteen hundred miles remaining of the main line, to build or acquire necessary branches and extensions, and to provide equipment. the government subsidies were the first { } resource. the $ , , cash and the , , -acre land-grant were to be paid as construction advanced. if the land-grant were put on the market at once, for sale to settlers, it would bring relatively little, in face of the competition of the free homestead land in adjoining sections. three expedients were devised to make it available as soon as possible. an extensive campaign was begun to advertise the government free land and thus exhaust the supply along the railway line, and at the same time provide producers of freight. bonds based on the security of the land-grant were issued to the amount of $ , , ; $ , , of this issue was sold in at , and varying proportions of the remainder were used as pledge for the government loans or execution of the contract. these bonds were redeemed and cancelled as the lands on which they were based were sold. further, the canada north-west land company was organized to buy five million acres for a long hold. the company included several members of the syndicate as well as some english investors to whom land appealed more than railway stocks. it found itself unable to handle this amount and the purchase was reduced to , , acres. sales to other companies { } and to individuals brought the total amount received or due from land by the end of up to $ , , . next came the contributions of the members of the syndicate and other private investors. the capital stock authorized was $ , , . in the members of the syndicate subscribed $ , , at par. in may they allotted themselves $ , , at . in december of the same year $ , , was issued at / to a syndicate of new york bankers organized by w. l. scott; this stock was eventually sold largely in holland and in england. a final ten millions were pledged in new york and montreal for a loan of half that sum, and later sold for about the amount of the loan. all told, sixty-five millions of stock had been issued and some thirty-one million dollars had been brought into the treasury. then the flow ceased. the brief gleam of prosperity which had shone over north america after the gloom of the later seventies vanished. never had railway building been carried on so vigorously in the united states as in the years - , and the reaction was correspondingly severe. the collapse of the boom which had accompanied the first { } operations in manitoba, the failure of harvest after harvest, the fading away of settlers and speculators alike, robbed all but a persistent few of faith in the canadian north-west and in the railway whose fortunes rose or fell with it. the way of the canadian pacific was made particularly hard by the manoeuvres of rival companies. some of the united states pacific roads, awake to the seriousness of the competition threatened, attacked it in the new york market. the grand trunk, naturally alarmed by the incursion of the new road into its best paying territory in the east, used all the power of its influential directors and its army of shareholders in england to bar the london market. the financial policy adopted by the canadian pacific was unique in the records of great railway enterprises on this continent. it was simply to rely entirely on stock issues, to endeavour to build the road without incurring any bonded debt. not until the last year of construction, , were bonds based upon the security of the road itself issued for sale. it was doubtless desirable, if possible, to avoid the reckless methods by which so many american roads had been hopelessly waterlogged by excessive bond issues. the memory of the { } st paul and pacific's six-million share capital as against its twenty-eight-million bonded indebtedness was fresh in the minds of the members of the syndicate. by keeping fixed charges low, while earning power was still uncertain, they lessened the risk of having the road pass out of the stockholders' control into a receiver's hands. yet as bonds could have been sold more easily than stock, it increased the difficulty of finding the necessary capital. even so, it came within an ace of succeeding. in pursuance of this policy the management, faced with a hesitating market, decided upon a bold step. late in , acting in accordance with the advice of new york and london financiers, they decided to endeavour to make a market for the unissued stock by giving assurance of a dividend for a term of years. they offered to deposit with the government as trustees a sum sufficient to provide for ten years a dividend of three per cent on the $ , , stock already issued, to be supplemented, if possible, by a further dividend out of current revenues, and they arranged to make similar provision for the remaining $ , , as it was sold. over half the $ , , necessary to purchase this { } annuity was deposited with the government at once and security given for the early payment of the balance. only success could have justified such a locking up of the funds urgently needed for construction, and success did not come, though for a time it seemed probable. the sudden smash of the northern pacific, just completed by villard, brought the stock down lower than before the fillip had been given. with sixteen millions locked up or pledged the company was in a worse state than before.[ ] in this emergency stephen and smith and m'intyre pledged their st paul or other stock for loans in new york and montreal, but still the gap was unfilled. they turned to the { } government, requesting a loan of $ , , , to be secured by a first charge on the main line. in return, they agreed to complete the road by may , five years earlier than the contract required. the request at first was scouted by sir john macdonald. parliament would not consent, and if parliament consented the country would revolt. bankruptcy stared the company in the face when john henry pope came to the rescue. he soon convinced sir john that if the canadian pacific smashed, the conservative party would smash the day after, and the aid was promised. the cabinet was won over, and sir charles tupper, hastily summoned by cable from london, stormed it through caucus, and the loan was made. the funds thus secured were soon exhausted in rapid and costly construction in the mountain and lake superior sections. the government's blanket mortgage on the road made it impossible to borrow elsewhere. so, after the riel episode, to be noted later, a new arrangement was made with the government by which the $ , , stock unsold was cancelled and an equal amount of first mortgage bonds issued. twenty millions of this issue and the unsold lands were substituted for the government's security, and the remainder of the bonds { } sold at . this put the company once more in funds. the relief came none too soon. in one fateful day in july, when the final passing of the bill was being tensely awaited, the canadian pacific, which now borrows fifty millions any day before breakfast, was within three hours of bankruptcy for lack of a few hundred thousand dollars. but by march every cent of the company's obligations to the government was paid off, twenty millions in cash and the remainder in land at $ . an acre. the men behind the canadian pacific proved themselves possessed of courage and determination such as will always win them honour. at more than one critical stage they staked their all to keep the work going. but the fact remains that the bulk of the resources utilized in the original building of the road were provided or advanced by the people of canada. the canadian pacific is as truly a monument of public as of private faith. meanwhile, the work of construction had been going ahead. under william van horne's masterful methods the leisurely pace of government construction quickened into the most rapid achievement on record. a time-schedule, { } carefully made out in advance, was adhered to with remarkably little variation. work was begun at the east end of the line, from the point of junction with the canada central, but at first energy was devoted chiefly to the portion crossing the plains. important changes in route were made. the main line had already been deflected to pass through winnipeg. now a much more southerly line across the plains was adopted, making for calgary rather than edmonton. the new route was shorter by a hundred miles, and more likely to prevent the construction of a rival road south of it later. for many years after the palliser-dawson-hinds reports of the late fifties, it had been assumed that the tillable lands of the west lay in a 'fertile belt' or rainbow, following roughly the saskatchewan valley and curving round a big wedge of the american desert projecting north. certainly the short, withered, russet-coloured grass lands of the border country looked forbidding beside the green herbage of the north saskatchewan. but in professor macoun's investigations had shown that the southern lands had been belied by rumour, and that only a very small section was hopelessly arid. with this objection removed, the only drawback to the { } southern route was the difficulty of finding as good a route through the mountains as the northerly yellowhead pass route afforded, but on this the company decided to take its chances. work on the plains was begun in may , and by the end of the year miles had been completed. this progress was counted too slow, and under van horne's management a contract was made in , with langdon and shepard of st paul, to complete the line to calgary. later in the year a construction company was organized, the north american railway contracting company, to build all the uncompleted sections of the main line for $ , , cash and $ , , common stock. this was really a financing rather than a construction expedient, and was abandoned within a year. in this section the engineering difficulties were not serious, but the pace of construction which was demanded, and the fact that every stick of timber and every pound of food, as well as every rail and spike, had to be brought a great distance, required remarkable organization. three hundred sub-contractors were employed on the portion of the line crossing the plains. bridge-gangs and track-layers { } followed close on the graders' heels. in over two and a half miles of track a day were laid. in the following year, for weeks in succession, the average ran three and a half miles a day, and in one record-smashing three days twenty miles were covered. by the end of this year the track was within four miles of the summit of the rockies. the change of route across the plains had made it essential to pierce the rockies by a more southerly pass than the yellowhead. the kicking horse or hector pass, short but steep, was finally chosen, but here, as at the yellowhead, to cross the first range did not mean victory. the towering selkirk range faced the pass, as the cariboo mountains flanked the rockies farther north. until the rails reached the hills the engineers had found no way through them, and had contemplated a long detour to the north, following the winding columbia. then major rogers, the engineer whom james j. hill had suggested to take charge of the location of the mountain section, following up a hint of moberly, an earlier explorer, found a route, steep but practicable, across the selkirks, following the beaver river valley and bear creek, and then through rogers pass into the valley of the illecillewaet, { } and so through eagle pass to the settled location at kamloops. both in the kicking horse and in the rogers pass gradients of feet to the mile were found necessary, but these difficult stretches were concentrated within one operating section of a hundred and twenty miles, and could easily be overcome by the use of additional engines. unique provision was made against the mountain avalanches by erecting diverting timbers near the summits and building mile upon mile of snow-sheds, over which the avalanches passed harmless. as a result of these expedients and of raising the road-bed across the prairies unusually high, the canadian pacific lost less time through snow blockades than the great railways of the eastern united states. it was not until that the wilderness north of lake superior was attacked in strong force. nine thousand men were employed here alone. rock and muskeg, hill and hollow, made this section more difficult to face than even the fraser canyon. in one muskeg area to-day seven layers of canadian pacific rails are buried, one below the other. the stretch along the shore of the lake was particularly difficult. the laurentian rocks were the oldest known to geologists, and, what was { } more to the purpose, the toughest known to engineers. a dynamite factory was built on the spot and a road blasted through. one mile cost $ , to build and several cost half a million. the time required and the total expenditure would have been prohibitive had not the management decided to make extensive use of trestle-work. it would have cost over two dollars a cubic yard to cut through the hills and fill up the hollows by team-haul; it cost only one-tenth of that to build timber trestles, carrying the line high, and to fill up later by train-haul. an unexpected test of the need of this section came before it was completed. early in the government realized too late that serious trouble was brewing among the half-breeds and indians of the north-west. unless troops could be sent in before the grass grew, riel would have thousands of indians on the war-path, and a long and bloody contest and a serious setback to the west would be inevitable. the railway was far from complete, with a hundred and twenty miles of gaps unfilled, and the government considered it impossible to get the troops in in time. but van horne, who had had much experience in handling troops in the civil war, did not have { } that word in his vocabulary, and astonished the authorities by offering to take men from kingston or quebec to qu'appelle in ten days. part of the gaps were bridged by temporary rails laid on ice and snow, only ninety miles being uncompleted by spring. in one stretch the men were marched across the ice to save a long detour. through the rest they were carried, covered with furs and straw, in contractors' sleighs along the tote-roads from one camp to the next. in four days from leaving kingston the first troops landed at winnipeg; and though the revolt was not prevented, it was speedily crushed. there was no longer any question about the value of the north shore link, and the opposition to the canadian pacific fell from that hour. it was even suggested that the company should build a statue to louis riel. as for the government, it could well claim that its persistence in pushing through this part of the road nearly offset its red-tape carelessness in permitting the rebellion to come to a head. meanwhile, the government section between port arthur, or rather fort william, and winnipeg had been taken over by the company in , though not entirely completed. two years later the thousands of chinese { } navvies working on the difficult kamloops-port moody section finished their task, and the government work was done. the only gap remaining lay in the gold range, and here in the eagle pass, at craigellachie, on november , , the eastward and westward track-layers met. it was only a year or so before that the northern pacific had celebrated the driving of the last golden spike by an excursion which cost the company a third of a million, and heralded the bankruptcy of the road. there was no banquet and no golden spike for the last rail in the canadian pacific. william van horne had announced that 'the last spike would be just as good an iron spike as any on the road,' and had it not been that donald a. smith happened along in time to drive the spike home, it would have been hammered in by the navvy on the job. six months later the first passenger train went through from montreal to vancouver. the longest railway in the world was open from coast to coast, five years before the end of the time required by the original contract. to realize how great a work had been accomplished requires to-day some effort of the imagination. the canada the present { } generation knows is a united canada, an optimistic, self-confident canada, with rapidly rounding-out industries and occupations which give scope for the most ambitious of her sons as well as for tens of thousands from overseas. it is a canada whose nine provinces stretch almost unbroken from ocean to ocean. but the canada of a generation earlier was far other. on the map it covered half a continent, but in reality it stopped at the great lakes. there was little national spirit, little diversity of commercial enterprise. hundreds of thousands of our best-born had been drawn by the greater attraction of united states cities and farms, until one-fourth of the whole canadian people were living in the republic. it was the opening up of the west that changed the whole face of canadian life, that gave a basis for industrial expansion, that quickened national sentiment and created business optimism. and it was the building of the canadian pacific that opened up the west and bound it fast to the distant east. certainly not least among the makers of canada were the men who undertook that doubtful enterprise and carried it through every obstacle to success; and not least { } among the generations whose toil and faith have made possible the nation of to-day were the four millions of the canada of the eighties who flung a great railway across the vast unpeopled spaces of a continent to the far pacific. [ ] stephen, smith, hill, and kennedy each took one share, and kittson half a share; and later angus, after leaving the service of the bank to go with the railway, took the remaining half-share. [ ] not all were willing to attribute to courage and luck alone the full success of this stroke. some dutch bondholders, independently of the committee, asserted that kennedy had not played fair, and farley, the receiver of the road, sued hill for a share of the profits which he alleged had been promised for his collusion. in repeated trials farley was unable to produce evidence satisfactory to the courts, which held that in any case his claim must be rejected because 'based on inherent turpitude.' [ ] 'most men who have really lived have had, in some shape, their great adventure. this railway is mine' (james j. hill, in valedictory to the shareholders of the great northern, july , ). [ ] it was from their st paul investment that the leading men in the group secured the basis and the bulk of their great fortunes; the canadian pacific added little to their coffers. [ ] including the yale-port moody section, not yet formally under contract. [ ] giving evidence before the senate committee on interstate commerce in new york in , president van horne stated that the company was obliged to abandon part of the surveys on which the government had spent millions, and make new ones; that the government sections were unwisely located, especially in british columbia; that the cost of the remainder was increased by having to join it to the unwisely located sections, and that, allowing for the saving which could have been made in location, he could have duplicated the latter for twelve or fifteen millions. [ ] 'the payment to the government of $ , , , in advance, of secured dividends, has deprived the company for the moment of the means for continuous, vigorous exertion in construction, without enabling it to recoup itself by the sale of its stock, as was confidently and reasonably expected' (letter of george stephen to the government, january , ). speaking in parliament in , edward blake declared that, omitting the last ten millions issued, the company had raised on stock $ , , , and, counting the next two dividend payments, they would have paid or provided for dividends $ , , . already $ , , had been paid out in dividends, members of the syndicate receiving $ , , on their $ , , investment. in other words, before the road was opened for traffic, every cent paid in by the shareholders would have been paid back or set aside for dividends, leaving not a dollar for building the road. { } chapter ix the era of amalgamation subsidy and control--canadian pacific expansion--the monopoly clause--the grand trunk with the building of the intercolonial, the grand trunk, and the canadian pacific, the main lines of communication from ocean to ocean were completed. in the decade which followed, the marked features were: the adoption by the dominion government of a policy of aid to purely local roads, and the expansion of the two great private companies, partly by new construction and partly by acquisition of the smaller lines. it has been seen that the policy of canada after and of the dominion after confederation was to give assistance only to lines of more than local and usually more than provincial importance. during the first ten or fifteen years after confederation promoters looked to province and municipality for aid, and did not look in vain. soon the provinces outran their resources, and began to { } clamour for increased federal subsidies to meet the pressing charges. but the dominion government concluded that, if it had to provide the money needed, it might as well give it direct, and secure whatever political credit the grants would entail. in it decided to embark on a new subsidy policy. in that year sir charles tupper, minister of railways, introduced a resolution to grant a subsidy of $ per mile--sufficient to provide the hundred tons of steel rails required for each mile at the existing price of $ a ton--to each of four carefully selected roads, one in each of the four original provinces. during the next year eleven subsidies were voted, chiefly to quebec and new brunswick roads; in twenty-five were voted, and fresh votes were made every year thereafter. many of the subsidies lapsed through failure to begin construction, but usually they were revoted. the payments made averaged a million dollars a year. the practice did not make for pure politics, and it often led to the construction of lines for which there was no economic justification whatever. trusting shareholders were induced to invest on the unfortunately wrong assumption that the government had assured itself of the need { } and the potential profit of the line before endorsing it by a subsidy.[ ] in the western provinces a parallel policy of aiding local lines was adopted in , except that land instead of cash was offered, a policy maintained until . he who paid the piper then stood on his rights to call the tune. acting upon the wide power conferred by the british north america act, the dominion government in sweepingly designated as 'works for the general advantage of canada,' and therefore subject to federal control, not only the main lines of railways, but the branch lines then or thereafter connecting with or crossing these lines or any of them. the power thus claimed was not effectively exercised for some time. d'alton m'carthy repeatedly urged in parliament from onward the creation of a dominion railway commission, but the opposition of the railways proved too strong for him. when in the united states set up its interstate commerce commission, the { } government moved and appointed a royal commission, with sir a. t. galt as chairman, to consider the general question. their report noted the existence of many grievances and suggested specific remedies, but considered that until further experience of the workings of the english and american commissions was available, canada's needs could best be met by an extension of the powers of the railway committee of the cabinet. it may be noted that in the selling of railway tickets by private persons, a practice known as 'ticket scalping,' was prohibited in canada, though the railways were forced to buy the exclusive privilege of selling their own tickets by agreeing to redeem unused portions. the original contract with the canadian pacific had provided for an eastern terminus near lake nipissing, in order to show preference neither to montreal nor toronto, either of which could make connections by independent roads. similarly, we shall see, thirty years later, moncton was chosen as a terminus of the national transcontinental, to hold the balance even between halifax and st john. it was, however, impossible for the canadian { } pacific to accept as permanent an arrangement which left it halting in the wilderness, and depending upon possibly rival railways for outlet to the great cities and ports of the east. it had, in fact, been empowered in its charter to acquire the canada central and 'to obtain, hold, and operate a line or lines of railway from ottawa to any point at navigable water on the atlantic seaboard, or to any intermediate point'--terms sufficiently sweeping. few were surprised, therefore, when the directors began a policy of eastward expansion, though many were surprised at the boldness and extent of the plans and the speed and masterful strategy of the execution. the first and most obvious move was to buy out the canada central, extending from ottawa through carleton place to pembroke, and under construction westward to callender on lake nipissing. this was done in , and the road was completed two years later. again, in , the parent line of the canada central, the brockville and ottawa, was acquired, and three years later a controlling interest was secured in the stock of the st lawrence and ottawa, thus giving connection with the st lawrence both at brockville and { } at prescott. still pressing eastward, the canadian pacific next sought entrance to montreal and to quebec. the north shore road, built by the province of quebec, would most easily give the connection sought. the province was induced, in , to sell to the canadian pacific the western section, from montreal to ottawa. at the same time the eastern section, from st martin to montreal, was sold to the north shore syndicate. the grand trunk, alarmed at this advance, attempted to block further expansion by securing, jointly with the central vermont, control of the latter section. but the canadian pacific had the ear of both the dominion and the provincial governments, and threats of aid in building a parallel line forced the grand trunk to relinquish control to its great rival. not yet content, the canadian pacific sought winter ports at st john and halifax. it secured control of the south-eastern counties in quebec, built a short line through maine to mattawamkeag with the aid of a large dominion subsidy, acquired running rights or control by lease over part of the old european and north american, and thus entered st john. in its eastern development was completed for { } a time by the lease of the new brunswick railway, which had recently absorbed nearly all the small lines in western new brunswick.[ ] meanwhile the management had been equally aggressive in obtaining feeders in central and western ontario, the very heart of the grand trunk's territory. in the ontario and quebec was chartered, by interests friendly to the canadian pacific, to build a line from ottawa to toronto, by way of smith's falls. two years later this company acquired leases for years of three important lines, and transferred them, along with its own road, to the canadian pacific. the first of these lines was the toronto, grey and bruce, the narrow-gauge railway which ran north to georgian bay; the second was the credit valley, extending from toronto to st thomas; the third, the atlantic and north-west, a road with little mileage but most useful charter powers, used for the seaward extension. later, a railway was built from st thomas to windsor. thus the canadian pacific secured access to { } lake ontario, georgian bay, and the detroit river. not yet content, it built a branch to sault ste marie. here connection was made with the 'soo' lines, giving outlet to st paul and minneapolis, and with the several roads later combined to form the duluth, south shore and atlantic. both of these lines shortly afterwards came definitely under its control. in the prairie west the canadian pacific had been promised in a monopoly of through traffic for twenty years. the dominion government, it will be remembered, had agreed not to charter, nor to permit the territories to charter, any lines between the canadian pacific and the united states border, running south or southeast. going beyond these terms, the dominion endeavoured also to prevent manitoba from authorizing the construction of any such road, and disallowed one chartering act after another. from the outset this provision proved a source of bitter and dangerous strife. on the one side it was contended that without this clause the necessary capital could not have been secured and that faith must be kept; that the traffic of the west should go to build up the eastern provinces, which had made a { } vast outlay on the road, rather than a foreign country; that the rates of the canadian pacific were as reasonable as those of american roads; and that other causes than railroad monopoly were responsible for the slow growth of the west. but the west protested that the rates were exorbitant--otherwise american competition would not have been feared--pointed to the exodus of settlers and the discontent of those who stayed, and refused to be sacrificed in the interests of foreign shareholders or even of sister provinces. undoubtedly immigration was deterred, and relations between east and west were seriously strained. finally, in , the dominion government was forced to yield. the company's consent was secured by a bond guarantee for some necessary extensions, and the provision was repealed. the northern pacific was brought in by the manitoba government, and competitive local roads were chartered, but in this period the control of the canadian pacific over the western field was not seriously called in question. the task before the management to secure traffic for the great system thus built up was a difficult one. it was a greater achievement to operate the canadian pacific successfully { } than to build it. when it is realized that when the company began operation the number of white settlers between portage la prairie and kamloops, within twenty miles of the line, could be counted virtually on the fingers of one hand, the difficulty of finding traffic may be appreciated. sandford fleming had estimated that the road could not pay until there were two million people in the west. yet pay it did from the start. the company capitalized its scenery, and built up a paying tourist trade. when wheat was lacking, ends were made to meet by carrying trainload upon trainload of buffalo bones to eastern factories. united states traffic was carefully cultivated at both ends of the line. an active immigration campaign was carried on. various industries along the line, from coal companies to flour mills, were helped forward for years. a loyal staff was built up, and by grace of efficiency the company pulled through until the lean days of the early nineties were over. during this decade of extraordinary activity the grand trunk had been neither content nor passive. offended by the incursions into its best paying territory, it fought its younger rival in parliament and on the stock exchange, { } but with no lasting success in either quarter. it was more successful in its own constructive policy of expansion. in it had made a good bargain by selling to the intercolonial the branch from lévis to rivière du loup, which did not earn operating expenses, and by expending the proceeds in buying an extension to chicago, which enabled it at last to secure the through traffic from the west for which it had been in large part originally designed. its great coup came, however, in , when the onward march of the canadian pacific and the bitter experience of fruitless rate wars led it to purchase its old rival, the great western, with its michigan extensions. the construction of the st clair tunnel between port huron and sarnia, completed in , marked another forward step in its western territory. meanwhile it had acquired, in , the midland railway, itself a recent amalgamation of the midland, running from port hope to midland, with the toronto and nipissing, the grand junction, from belleville to peterborough, and the whitby and port perry, effected by two enterprising financiers, george a. cox and robert jaffray. four years later it absorbed the northern and northwestern roads, which had acquired { } jointly a branch from gravenhurst to north bay, so that here at least the older road checkmated its rival, securing the very paying link between toronto and the western lines of the canadian pacific. [ ] one such company, the caraquet, which was given $ , in subsidies, declared, in floating $ , in bonds in england, that the capacity of the road was taxed to its utmost, and that an immense traffic was in sight. at that time its entire rolling-stock consisted of two locomotives, one passenger car, two box and fifteen flat cars, and a snow-plough. [ ] the earliest intercolonial project, a railroad from st andrews north, was brought to completion in when a short road, the temiscouata, was built, linking the intercolonial at rivière du loup with the new brunswick railway at edmundston. [illustration: railways of canada, ] { } chapter x the canadian northern the opportunity--the canadian northern the first quarter-century of confederation failed to redeem the glowing promises and high hopes of the founders of the new nation. much had been done: the half-continent from ocean to ocean had been brought into the fold of one union; national consciousness was slowly growing; great efforts had been spent in linking the scattered parts by railways and waterways. but still political unity and economic prosperity both lagged. the country was torn by racial and religious bickerings. in the east, the exodus to the united states bled the country white; in the west, drought, frost, and the low prices of grain kept settlers away. canadian pacific stock, selling in the middle nineties at , registered the market's estimate of the future of the canadian west. then, slowly at first, and soon with cumulative momentum, came a transformation. { } world-wide causes worked with local factors to change the whole face of affairs. new discoveries of gold and rising prices gave everywhere a fillip to trade. in the united states the disappearance of free land set its farmers looking elsewhere. in canada change of methods, or the favourable turn of a climatic cycle, enabled the lands of the north-west to prove their abounding fertility. the discovery of gold in the klondike afforded good advertising for canada if little more of permanence. in the government and in the financial, the railway and the industrial worlds there were men who rose to the opportunity: no longer was canada's light hid under a bushel. the most was made of the alluring gifts she had to offer to men the world over who strove to better themselves, and the flood of immigration began. the first result of the swarming of thousands to the west was a demand for new railways, to open up plain and prairie and mineral range, and to make connection with east and west. the building of the railways in its turn gave a stimulus to every industry. as in the early fifties and early eighties, this period of rapid railway expansion--much longer, however, than previous periods--was { } an era of optimistic planning and feverish speculation. first to seize the golden opportunities were the group of men who built the canadian northern. railway history offers no more remarkable record than the achievement of these few men, who, beginning in with a charter for a railway one hundred miles long in manitoba, leading nowhere in particular, succeeded in building in twenty years a road from ocean to ocean, and in keeping it in their own hands through all difficulties and vicissitudes. yet it is not exactly correct to say that they began in . a long apprenticeship had been served before that time. william mackenzie and donald mann, the leaders in this group, had both been trained in railway construction. both were canadian-born; and had fared forth as youths to make their way in the world. william mackenzie, born at kirkfield, ontario, in , had been in turn school-teacher, country-store keeper, and lumberman before a contract on the victoria railway--part of the midland--revealed his destiny. donald mann, born four years later at acton, ontario, near james j. hill's old home, had been brought up for the christian ministry, but by { } twenty-one he was foreman in a lumber camp. at twenty-five he joined in the first rush to winnipeg, and next year he undertook the first of many contracts on the canadian pacific. william mackenzie had also carried through much work for this company. in the notable partnership of mackenzie and mann was formed. the firm built the calgary and edmonton, the qu'appelle, long lake and saskatchewan, the canadian pacific short line through maine, and many minor railways. they developed capacities which made each the complement of the other--mackenzie a master of finance, and mann as successful in extracting a subsidy from a politician as in driving ahead the work of construction. later z. a. lash, a shrewd and experienced corporation lawyer, joined them, and the three, with able lieutenants, carried through their ambitious plans without more than momentary pause, until within sight of the goal. it was in that william mackenzie and donald mann, along with two fellow-contractors, james ross and h. s. holt--it is noteworthy how many canadians eminent in finance and industry found their start in the building of the canadian pacific--decided to buy some of the charters of projected western { } roads then going a-begging, and to build on their own account. they secured the charter of the lake manitoba railroad and canal company, carrying a dominion subsidy of acres a mile for a line from portage la prairie to lake manitoba and lake winnipegosis, and induced the manitoba government to add a valuable guarantee of bonds and exemption from taxes. in running rights were secured over the track of the manitoba and northwestern from portage to gladstone, and construction was pushed a hundred miles northwest from gladstone to dauphin. next year lake winnipegosis was reached. then the partners looked eastward. the coming need of the west was an outlet from winnipeg to lake superior, to supplement the canadian pacific. accordingly in , under powers given by dominion, ontario, and minnesota charters, construction was begun both at winnipeg and near port arthur. three years later the line was completed. meantime the earlier road had branched westerly at sifton, and by had crossed the border into saskatchewan at erwood; while in , in amalgamation with the winnipeg great northern, chartered and subsidized to hudson bay, the name of the { } combined roads was changed to the canadian northern. then came the coup which first made the public and rival railways realize the ambitious reach of the plans of the new railway. it will be recalled that when, in , the ban upon competition southward with the canadian pacific had been lifted, the northern pacific had entered manitoba. it had gradually built up a system of three hundred and twenty miles, but had not given the competition looked for, dividing traffic with the canadian pacific rather than cutting rates. now the parent line was in the receiver's hands, and its straits gave the manitoba government its opportunity. it leased for years all the manitoba lines of the northern pacific, but decided it could not profitably operate them itself without connection with the lakes. the only question was whether to re-lease them to the canadian pacific or to the canadian northern. after a lively contest the younger road secured the prize. at a stroke it thus obtained extensive terminals in winnipeg, a line south to the american border, branches westward through fertile territory, and a link which practically closed the gap between its eastern and its western roads. { } the canadian northern had now become the third largest system in the dominion, stretching from lake superior to saskatchewan, with nearly thirteen hundred miles in operation in . the feeders were extending through the rich farming lands of the west; the line to port arthur supplemented the canadian pacific, providing a second spout to the funnel. but this merely local success did not long content its promoters. they announced their intention to build from sea to sea. transcontinental railways were then much in the air: the grand trunk, the trans-canada, the great northern all planned extensive projects. reviving prosperity and new-found confidence were making a dollar look as small to government and public alike as a dime had seemed some years before. aid might confidently be looked for--but by which aspirant? in and a junction of forces between the grand trunk and the canadian northern was proposed, and would have had much in its favour. the negotiators could not come to terms, however, and each road continued on its independent plan. nothing daunted by the dominion government's decision to recognize and aid the grand trunk, { } the canadian northern turned to a policy of piecemeal construction, seeking aid from the provinces as well as from the dominion. making hay while the subsidy sun shone and the prosperity of the laurier regime was at its height, the canadian northern pressed forward extensions, flung out branches, filled in gaps on every side. the main line was pushed westward to edmonton in . branch lines were thrown out freely in all the prairie provinces. in ontario the gap north of lake superior was bridged by a line from port arthur to sudbury, not completed until . toronto and ottawa were linked with the western lines, and several feeders were acquired which gave connection with kingston and brockville. in quebec the great northern, running from hawkesbury on the ottawa to quebec city, was absorbed in , and the quebec and lake st john five years later. by building a tunnel three miles long under mount royal, an entrance was secured into the heart of montreal. nova scotia did its part by lending money to another mackenzie and mann enterprise, the halifax and south-western. the inverness railway in cape breton and the nova scotia central with minor lines were built or acquired, giving the { } canadian northern first place in mileage in the province. the most difficult task still remained--building a third railway through the mountains to the pacific. surveys for a road from yellowhead pass to vancouver by sandford fleming's old route were begun in . by the aid of lavish guarantees and subsidies this last link in the transcontinental system was pushed to completion in . the financial and political aspects of this great enterprise were as striking as was the construction. governments have many a time given lavish aid, promoters have often built roads entirely out of the proceeds of bond issues, financiers have dominated great railway systems by a majority or controlling interest in the stock. but never before did a group of men plan to unite, on such a scale, all three arrangements--to build ten thousand miles of railway without themselves investing a dollar and still retain control. the men behind the canadian northern not only planned such a project, but carried it through, displaying in the process, and at every stage of the undertaking, a mastery of political diplomacy, an untiring persistence, and great financial resourcefulness. they are, { } therefore, entitled to a special place among the world's railway builders. their plan was simple in principle, if wondrously complicated in working out. it was to build the road by government subsidies and the proceeds of the bonds guaranteed by government, and to control the road by issuing to themselves, for their services of promotion and management, practically all the common stock. to carry out this audacious plan, political influence, public enthusiasm, and the confidence of outside investors in canada's future were all required and were all forthcoming. dominion and province vied in aid. this aid took many forms. the dominion had abandoned in its policy of giving land-grants, but the original companies which combined to form the canadian northern had previously been promised and later received over four million acres: up to about eighteen million dollars had been realized from the sale of parts of this land, and the grants unsold were worth at least ten millions more. in addition, ontario gave two million acres and quebec one-third as much. cash subsidies were not wanting. the liberal government of sir wilfrid laurier voted something { } less than two millions in cash to aid in building the link between winnipeg and lake superior. it declined to recognize or aid the extension to the pacific coast; but in the conservative government of sir robert borden gave over six millions for this work, and in the following year fifteen millions more for the ontario and western alberta sections of the main line. the provinces were less lavish, quebec, ontario, and manitoba offering all told six millions. but it was neither to land-grants nor to cash subsidies that the canadian northern looked for its chief aid, but to government guarantees. this device, the main form of state aid given in our first railway era, had long been discredited by the unlucky fate of the grand trunk and the northern guarantees, and had been sparingly used since. to the canadian northern its revival was chiefly due. it was a seductive form of aid: provided that the railway thus helped had good traffic prospects, the government stood little chance of loss and the railway greatly gained by the certainty of the sale of its bonds and the higher price secured. but, like other forms of the extension of public credit, such as the issue of paper money, state guarantees are { } difficult to keep within bounds, and compel ever-fresh extensions to save the old liability. so dominion and province alike found. from to , under sir wilfrid laurier, the dominion guaranteed bonds of the canadian northern system to the extent of fifty-six millions; from to , under sir robert borden, it endorsed the canadian northern's notes for forty-nine millions more. nor were the provinces behindhand. mainly in the seven years from , the five westernmost provinces pledged their credit on behalf of the same system to the astounding amount of over one hundred and thirty millions, british columbia leading; nova scotia made a loan of another five millions. thus endorsed, usually as to both principal and interest, the bonds of the canadian northern were floated with little difficulty, so long as money was to be had at all by any seeker. in the meantime, while the road was being built by state gifts and bondholders' lendings, the great bulk of the stock of the parent road and of the chief subsidiaries was conveyed to messrs mackenzie and mann for their services in promoting and managing the system. this method of financing had its dangers. it meant that there was no large commitment { } of shareholders' capital, to secure support in difficulty and compel responsibility in management. it meant that the control of the vast enterprise was in the hands of a few men, unchecked by public inquiry or the criticism of independent shareholders--whatever that might be worth. it meant that with all the cash capital taking the form of bonds, any failure to make ends meet, any lengthened depression, would bring risk of the mortgage-holders' foreclosure and receivership--not merely the shareholders' waiting for a turn of the tide--except in so far as the burden could be shifted to the governments that had endorsed the notes. in the early years, thanks to general prosperity and to the strategic location and careful management of the system, ends always met, and a little over, and funds were always forthcoming for fresh expansion. but early in a crisis arrived in the company's affairs. the mountain section particularly, what with the higher cost of labour and the unexpected engineering difficulties, was calling for tens of millions more; the stringency in the world's money markets, following the balkan wars, made investors chary of even gilt-edged offerings. there were many { } millions of subsidies and guarantees still to come from the state, but they would come only as the road was completed, and meantime construction had to be financed. the partner-owners could not provide the ready cash needed for completing the gigantic task. the bondholders had no inducement to do so unless further guaranteed by the state. the western provinces were at last becoming frightened of the load they had already assumed. there was only one resource, the dominion government. true, it had only in made a gift of $ , , on solemn assurances that not a cent more would be needed. but, it was urged, the emergency was real. the road could not be left hanging half finished, after all the millions already spent. canada's credit must be protected, and so the government, after a lively struggle, put through a positively last guarantee of forty-five millions. in return it was given forty out of the hundred millions stock to which the capital was reduced, and took the right to appoint one government director. whether this step meant that the government was now going to share the control and the profits of the company, or whether it meant that it was henceforth to be saddled with the { } responsibility for any deficits, was a point much in dispute. later, the outbreak of war in europe delayed, but did not altogether halt, the floating of the loan and the completion of the remaining links. meanwhile, the many subsidiary enterprises, which the example of the canadian pacific has caused us to think appropriate to the transcontinental railway, had been undertaken by its youngest rival. fast steamers between montreal and bristol, grain elevators, hotels, express and telegraph companies, all brought grist to the mill. hardly to be distinguished were the allied interests of the partner-owners--iron-mines in the lake superior district, coal-mines in alberta and vancouver island, whaling and halibut fisheries on the pacific, and lumber-mills on the british columbia coast--all bearing some relation to the development of the railway system. [illustration: canadian northern railway, ] in , a railway a hundred miles long, beginning and ending nowhere, operated by thirteen men and a boy! in , a great transcontinental system practically completed, over ten thousand miles in length, and covering seven of canada's nine provinces! the impossible had been achieved. { } chapter xi the expansion of the grand trunk the darkest days--new men at the helm--expansion in the east--the grand trunk in the eighties, it will be recalled, the activity of the canadian pacific in the eastern province had stirred the grand trunk to an aggressive counter-campaign. line after line had been absorbed, extension after extension had been built. new life seemed to have been injected into the old system. holders of even ordinary shares began to dream of dividends. the activity was brief and prosperity briefer. only in the golden days from to , when the west was enjoying its first 'boom' and railway construction was at its height, did the policy of expansion justify itself from the shareholder's point of view. the year saw the high-water mark of prosperity for the grand trunk; for in that year dividends were paid not only on guaranteed but on first, second, and third preference stock. not again until was even a { } partial payment made on the third preference; not until , save for a fraction in , was anything paid on second preference; first preference dividends were fractional and occasional, and even the guaranteed stock dividends were passed time and again. the financial position of this great system in the middle nineties may be briefly summed up in the statement that securities of the par value of £ , , , which in had a market value of £ , , , were worth in only £ , , . the junior securities had become only gambling counters on the stock exchange. where did the cause lie? there was not one; there were several. the first was in capitalization. the line had been hopelessly over-capitalized to begin with, and the new acquisitions doubled fixed charges, while net receipts increased only ten per cent; feeders had proved suckers.[ ] secondly, in the general commercial situation. the whole continent was undergoing a trying test of panic and depression, of low prices and industrial stagnation. for a quarter of a century after { } the gloom had been broken only at brief intervals--from to , and from to . in the price of wheat fell to the lowest point in a century. the great mississippi valley had been flooded with settlers, railway and steamship threw their millions of bushels on the world's markets, while the gold basis of prices failed to expand in proportion. western farms were, it was said, 'plastered with mortgages'; one-sixth of the railways in the united states went into receivers' hands in alone. free-silver agitators denounced the 'gold bugs' of the east; coxey armies marched to washington. another cause was in excessive competition. the st lawrence was more accessible to shippers than ever, while the canadian pacific had cut into the best paying territory in ontario. in the chicago traffic absolute demoralization ruled--reckless rate wars were waged, agreement after agreement was broken, line was played against line by grain-shipper or by dressed-beef magnate. a final cause was in management. the attempt was still being made to manage a great railway from london, three thousand miles away. the canadian officials had little independent discretion; interminable delays, lack of initiative, red { } tape, nepotism, followed inevitably. here and there officials strove strenuously to better conditions, but the odds were against them. practically no grand trunk stock was held in canada; it was not even quoted on canadian exchanges; canadians regarded the road entirely from the user's point of view. the traveller and shipper had less to complain of than the shareholder. the service of the road had been greatly increased. the mileage was large in proportion to population. rates were low. true, it was a rare event for a grand trunk train to arrive on time, but it usually arrived. for these various ills corresponding remedies were sought in turn. drastic capital reorganization was discussed, but nothing was done. commercial prosperity could not be revived by the efforts of a single railway. competition was met by agreement after agreement, 'gentleman's' and otherwise, but in vain. the most hopeful resource lay in the only remaining direction, change of management. in sir henry tyler resigned from the presidency after twenty-three years of faithful service. his place was taken by sir charles rivers-wilson, who had a record of efficient { } service on the borders of politics and finance. the new president and a committee of directors made a thorough investigation of the grand trunk, and recommended some immediate improvements. their chief contribution to its success, however, was the discovery of charles m. hays. [illustration: charles melville hays. from a photograph by notman] the great rival of the grand trunk had pressed forward to prosperity under the driving power of an american general manager. the new administration decided that it, too, would look to the united states for a chief executive of the ruthless efficiency and modern methods which the crisis demanded. they found him in the man who had pulled the wabash out of a similar slough of despond. mr hays was not quite forty when, in , he was appointed general manager of the grand trunk. he had risen rapidly since the days when, a boy of seventeen, he had entered the office of the atlantic and pacific. at twenty-nine he had been secretary to the general manager, and three years later manager himself, of the wabash. his presence was soon felt. the staff realized, some with relief, some with consternation, that the good old leisurely days, the days of vested interests, were gone. { } many were pensioned, some were dismissed. in some cases american officials were imported to fill the vacant posts, to the patriotic discontent of the old guard. equipment was overhauled, larger freight cars were ordered, and new terminals acquired. the main bridges on the road--the suspension at niagara falls, the international at fort erie, and the victoria at montreal--were all rebuilt on a larger scale between and . the double tracking of the main line from montreal westward was continued, and many of the sharp curves and heavy grades of the original construction were revised. elevators at portland, montreal, midland, tiffin, goderich, point edward, and fort william were built or acquired. trains came in on time. the whole system was 'speeded up.' later changes in the administration may be briefly summarized here. in mr hays's five-year contract as general manager expired. at the same juncture a vacancy occurred in the presidency of the southern pacific, which had fallen on evil days, and hays was offered and accepted the post at four times his salary with the grand trunk of $ , a year. a year later he was back again in canada. there was not room in the { } southern pacific for both hays and harriman, then in financial control, and the grand trunk directors seized the opportunity which the breach afforded. in the wide recognition of mr hays's great services led to long overdue increase of the authority of the canadian officials of the road by his appointment as president, on the retirement of sir charles rivers-wilson. three years later, with his projects for expansion still incomplete, he met a tragic death in the sinking of the _titanic_. mr edson j. chamberlin, who had increased his reputation for efficiency by his management for four years of the grand trunk pacific, was chosen as successor in the presidency. fortune favoured the new administration from the start. the tide in the continent's business affairs turned soon after the new men took the helm. the long depression ended, prices rose, farmers met mortgage payments, factory chimneys smoked once more, traffic multiplied. the first result of the improved conditions was the easing of the tension in railway relations. there was no longer a life-and-death necessity for rate-cutting and traffic-stealing. rate wars between the trunk lines in the united states came to an end. on the { } canadian side peace was longer in coming. the rush to the klondike in started a rate war between the canadian pacific and the grand trunk, with its american connections, which lasted nearly a year. in its course rates were cut in the east as well as in the west, and the canadian pacific sent its west-bound freight from toronto by smith's falls rather than use any longer the direct line of the grand trunk to north bay. peace was patched up, but the canadian pacific shortly afterwards set about building a road of its own from toronto north to its main line, thus threatening the grand trunk with permanent loss of western business, and providing it with one incentive toward the great westward expansion it was soon to undertake. along with prudent retrenchments went increasingly aggressive expansion, both east and west. it was one of the main objects of mr hays's policy to secure a hold on the rich traffic possibilities of new york and the new england states. portland, the original new england terminus of the grand trunk, had not become the great commercial centre it once expected to be. the first further step was taken in , when the grand trunk secured control of the five hundred miles of { } the central vermont, with which relations had been close for some years past. with running rights over a gap controlled by the boston and maine, this gave a line from st johns, quebec, to the port of new london, connecticut; from this point connection was made by boat to new york, where valuable terminal docks were owned. new london was not the final goal, however--providence and boston offered greater possibilities. but to seize them it was first necessary to break through the monopoly of new england land and water transport, which the new york and new haven line had acquired, or to come to terms with the interests in control. at first the word was to fight. the grand trunk was received with open arms by the business men of massachusetts and connecticut, eager for competition in railways, and in spite of all the political influence of the new haven, hays secured a charter for his southern new england railroad, to run from palmer, on the central vermont system, to providence; a branch from bellows falls to boston was also planned. construction was begun on the providence line in may , but suddenly halted. the grand trunk management declared the { } halt due to financial conditions, but new england suspected a compromise with the new haven. probably the change in policy was mainly due to the change in management, the new administration setting less store on the extension than the hays-fitzhugh executive had done. all these eastern activities, however, were overshadowed by the grand trunk pacific scheme. it was not the first plan the grand trunk had formed for westward expansion. in the embryo days of the canadian pacific, it may be recalled, the government had offered to the old line the opportunity of carrying through the new one. later, a connection with the northern pacific through sault ste marie had been discussed, but van horne had forestalled this move. still later an extension of the grand trunk from chicago northwesterly, possibly through control of the wisconsin central, had been under consideration. nothing came of these plans until the proved fertility and rapid settlement of the canadian north-west, the improved position of the grand trunk in the money markets, and the threatened loss of traffic between toronto and north bay, lured and urged the new administration forward. { } in mr hays announced that the directors were considering building a line from north bay, through new ontario westward, to a terminus on the pacific at port simpson or bute inlet. it would be a line of the highest standards. government aid, the announcement continued, would certainly be sought and expected. once more railways became canadian politics. there was little doubt that the government would aid either this or some rival transcontinental scheme. opposition to the lavish subsidy policy of the past had developed, indeed, but it was overwhelmed by the demands from every quarter for a vigorous forward policy. it was canada's growing time, and new-born confidence spurred country and government on. but if the line was to be not merely a private enterprise, but in part a policy of state, then considerations of high politics and low politics alike came in, and compelled material changes in the grand trunk's scheme before it could secure government acceptance. a road from north bay west would satisfy the local demands of the western provinces, but would not satisfy the local demands of the east, or meet certain common national { } aspirations. eastern, and particularly quebec, interests, demanded that any new trans-continental should be built far to the north, opening up the wilderness between hudson bay and the laurentian highlands bordering the st lawrence. a quebec company, the trans-canada, was in fact urgently seeking support for such a line, endeavouring, since patriotism is in canada the last refuge of the promoter, to stimulate investors by stressing the military advantages of the remote route. again, the maritime provinces protested against aid to a company to carry the traffic of the west to boston and portland instead of to st john and halifax. sir wilfrid laurier, the prime minister, endeavoured to combine all these ends. his plan provided for a road miles in length, beginning at moncton--a neutral point between the politically inconvenient rivalries of st john and halifax--crossing new brunswick northwesterly, skirting the maine border, and on to quebec city, where the st lawrence was to be crossed by a great bridge. thence it would strike westerly far to the north of existing settlements. from winnipeg the previously proposed route was followed. the west would have the development and { } competition demanded, the hinterland of quebec and ontario would be opened, and the ports of the maritime provinces put on an equality with their american rivals. and since this vast project was much beyond the power of the grand trunk to finance, it was arranged that the road should be divided into two sections. the eastern, from moncton to winnipeg, was to be built and owned by the government and leased to the grand trunk pacific, free for seven years and at a rental of three per cent of the cost for forty-three years following. the western, from winnipeg to the coast, was to be built and operated by the company, aided by a government guarantee of principal and interest on the greater part of the bond issue. the announcement of this plan in july led to a storm of controversy as fierce as that which followed the launching of the canadian pacific. the opposition brought forward various policies, looking to a greater measure of government ownership; the minister of railways, andrew g. blair, resigned in protest; rival railways opposed openly and sometimes by secret plot; two general elections were fought on the issue. but rarely is a government in canada defeated on a { } proposal, sound or unsound, to spend untold millions, if the money is to be had at all. the agreement went through, with modifications, in the following year, and the building of the great northern road began. the railway policy of the past twenty years is still on its trial, but some tentative conclusions may be ventured. in the first place, it seems clear that a new transcontinental was needed, not only to open the west, but to develop the hinterland of eastern canada. the rediscovery of a vast clay belt north of the height-of-land between hudson bay and the great lakes, its known resources in timber and pulp and its probable mineral wealth, as well as the farming areas of the western plains, and the forest, mine, and fishery wealth of northern british columbia, all gave some economic justification for the adventure. perhaps even stronger were the political considerations. here, again, if railways were canada's politics, it was not only because canadians were materialists, but because they were idealists. they were determined that, in spite of geography and diplomacy, in spite of rocky mountains and lake superior wildernesses, laurentian plateaus and maine intrusions, { } canada should be made one and independent. often this national spirit has been manipulated to serve sordid ends in railway as in tariff matters; the flag has covered a multitude of sinners. yet whether it was the grand trunk or the intercolonial, the canadian pacific or the grand trunk pacific, the national purpose has been strong, and must fairly be set on the assets side of the sheet. sir wilfrid laurier and sir john macdonald both worked with high courage and enduring faith for a greater and more united canada. any one who looked at a map of the dominion and realized how incredibly narrow a fringe of population was strung out on the southern border, could not but feel that some attempt to add a second storey to the structure, to give breadth as well as length, was a national necessity. perhaps least defensible was the quebec-moncton section; true, it was essential, if freight was to reach the maritime ports, that a shorter line with better grades than those of the intercolonial should be secured if possible. grades were bettered in the lines secured, but the saving in distance was not as great as old and incorrect surveys had led the government to anticipate. how should the road be built, granted its { } need? government ownership had its advocates, but experience of political 'machines' and a recognition of the difficulties of a government line in carrying on steamship or irrigation or other subsidiary activities, or in making international extensions, told heavily against such a policy. the real choice lay between the two private companies, the grand trunk and the canadian northern, which were seeking to rival the canadian pacific. undoubtedly the best solution would have been to amalgamate these companies, and thus to save the eventual outlay on a line north of lake superior, on closely parallel lines in the prairies, and on the enormously costly rival lines to be built through the rockies. true, competition even in railway matters has still its merits, but one strong competitor of the canadian pacific would have better served the country than two in financial straits. this solution appeared for a time possible. as has been seen, negotiations were carried on in and looking to such a union, but unfortunately without result. forced to choose, the government had no alternative but to give its aid to the older and better known system. what standards were to be set for the { } new road? the continent's pioneer traditions were plain: build the road in the cheapest way it could be made to hold together, with sharp curves and steep grades if need be, with scanty ballast, wooden bridges, and light rails, since traffic would be light and capital hard to get. then, if the country developed, and perhaps after a reorganization or two, rebuild the road on a permanent basis. but was not , and mr hays had learned on the wabash and on the grand trunk how difficult it was for a second-class road to compete, and how costly was the process of rebuilding with the line in operation. he knew that with high and rising wages for trainmen, and with frequency of service a minor matter on the long stretches, it was essential to concentrate loads in as few trains as possible, and that a locomotive could haul almost twice as great a load on a four-tenths grade as on a one per cent grade. so he determined to build from the outset up to the highest standard, securing a lower ruling grade than any other transcontinental enjoyed. the policy meant high fixed charges and low operating costs. what outlay would be involved and what state aid was needed? given the route and the standard set, the outlay could not but be { } vast. it proved, in fact, much greater than the estimates, as is the way with most big enterprises. the government section cost about a hundred and sixty instead of sixty millions, and the grand trunk pacific section about a hundred and forty, or three hundred millions in all--twice the estimate for the panama canal and nearly its actual cost.[ ] the standard set was high, and proved difficult to attain; labour was scarce and expensive, and prices of all materials were soaring constantly. the large expenditure lent colour to charges of corruption in the construction of the government section. investigation after investigation was held, however, without revealing any gross betrayal of trust. one contractor had been handled too tenderly for repeated delays, possibly engineers sometimes stretched classification on a losing contract, and doubtless contractors were as usual given the privilege of contributing to party campaign funds. but, fortunately for the good name of canada, the serious charges of corruption were not sustained. { } of this great outlay the country bore the lion's share. the grand trunk pacific was organized as a subsidiary company of the old grand trunk, which secured control of ownership of all but a nominal share of the $ , , common stock, given it in return for guaranteeing part of the pacific bonds. only $ , , preference capital stock was provided for, and this was not issued. the interest of the independent shareholder was thus negligible. the money required was secured by the issue of bonds and debenture loans guaranteed by the government or the grand trunk. up to , in connection with the western section, the government had guaranteed the company's bonds to the amount of over eighty millions, had lent twenty-five millions for ten years at four per cent, and had made or promised a cash gift of twenty-three millions. on the eastern section, the company was subsidized by the use for seven years of the road, rent free, equivalent to thirty-four millions. it was a vast outlay, though not as difficult for the country to bear as one-third the amount would have been a generation earlier. the unique and consoling feature, so far as posterity was concerned, was that the bulk { } of the government expenditure was provided out of surplus current revenue, so that for the future the net income to be received from rental would much more than balance interest on borrowings. once the contract was ratified by parliament and by the grand trunk, and the new company had been formally organized with mr hays as president and mr frank morse, and later mr chamberlin, formerly of the canada atlantic, as general manager, the work of surveying and determining the route began. on the government section political difficulties were met in new brunswick, from the advocates of a route down the st john to the city at its mouth, and engineering difficulties of many forms in the long trail through the northern wilderness. the bridge which was being constructed by an independent company across the st lawrence at quebec collapsed in , with great loss of life, and the delay in completing the second bridge made it necessary to depend upon car-ferries for some time. on the western section a good route through the prairies was decided upon, not without vigorous protest from the canadian pacific because of the close paralleling of its line. after repeated surveys of the { } peace, pine, wapiti, and yellowhead passes, the last was chosen, and a line was settled upon down the fraser and skeena valleys, passing through two million acres of fertile land. remarkably low grades were secured; in fact, as favourable as on the prairie section. kaien island, miles north of vancouver, was chosen as the terminus, rather than port simpson as originally designed, and soon on its magnificent harbour and most unpromising site of rock and muskeg the new and scientifically planned city of prince rupert began to rise. as the main line ran far to the north of the st lawrence lake and river system, the original plan provided for the construction of branch lines to fort william, to north bay, and to montreal. of these only the first, aided by the dominion and also by the ontario government, was built. for the connection with north bay running rights over the provincial road, the timiskaming and northern ontario, sufficed. later, in , the dominion government itself decided to build the montreal branch. in alberta and saskatchewan over miles of branch lines were begun, under guarantees of bonds by the provincial governments. in british columbia an independent { } road, projected by the contracting firm of foley, welch and stewart--the vancouver, pacific and great eastern--promised when completed to give the grand trunk pacific, by a traffic agreement, entrance into vancouver. the first contracts on the main line were let in . for ten years construction went on, at the rate of a mile a day, with occasional slackening from scarcity of labour or financial stringency, but with no complete halt. last to be completed were the section to be built by the company in the central plateau of british columbia and the section built by the government west of cochrane. meanwhile, the prairie lines had been in operation through to edmonton since , and grain reached fort william over the lake superior branch in the same year. from the beginning it had been questioned whether the grand trunk pacific would carry out its bargain to operate the government section. the management professed its intention to perform every promise, but fulfilment was delayed. in the company demurred to assuming the lease, on the double ground that the road was not definitely completed, and that, since the change of government in , the standard { } of construction agreed upon had not been maintained. accordingly the government took power to operate the road from winnipeg to moncton, and to expropriate the company's branch from superior to fort william, pending further negotiations. the great canadian railway companies are much more than railways. the grand trunk system, in its new expansion, branched into every neighbouring field which could be made to increase the traffic. fleets of steamers, on the pacific coast, on the great lakes, and on the new england route, filled in gaps in its lines. modern car-ferries crossed lake ontario and lake michigan, as well as the river detroit. elevators, it has been noted, were built at strategic points on the way from the wheat-field to the sea. magnificent hotels were opened at ottawa, winnipeg, and edmonton, with more rustic resorts in the parks along the route. tourist traffic was stimulated by lowered fares and alluring advertising. [illustration: grand trunk system, ] the grand trunk of was a much greater factor in the life of canada than the grand trunk of ; it had become nation-wide in its interests, and had shaken off the unfortunate traditions of its earlier stagnant { } days. difficult tasks still faced it: the building up of the traffic of the far north would demand ceaseless effort, and when the wheel of time should bring round slackened business once more, it would call for all its powers to make ends meet in face of rising wages, taxes, outlays of every kind. the record of the recent past gave assurance that the need would be met with courage and alert endeavour. [ ] one recent acquisition, the toronto belt railway, to meet a rental of $ , and working expenses of $ , , had gross receipts of less than $ a year. [ ] the chicago, milwaukee and puget sound, a high-grade road built to the pacific coast at nearly the same time, was capitalized, it may be noted, at $ , a mile, or nearly $ , a mile more than the cost of the grand trunk pacific and national transcontinental. { } chapter xii sundry developments the canadian pacific--the great northern--international connections--government roads--the intercolonial--on to hudson bay--opening up new ontario all the restless activity upon the part of its older and its younger rival did not rob the canadian pacific of the place it had held in the life and interest of the canadian people. with a confident assurance based on the extent and the strategic location of its lines, the imperial richness of its endowment, and the proved efficiency of its management, it pressed steadily forward until it became the world's foremost transportation system. the unbroken success and the magnitude of the operations of the canadian pacific in this period are almost without precedent in railway annals. by it had under its control more than eighteen thousand miles of railway, or more than six times the length of the original transcontinental line. it gave employment directly to ninety thousand men, whose monthly pay-roll reached five million dollars, and indirectly maintained many more, { } justifying the boast of its president in that directly or indirectly one-twelfth of the people of canada received their income from the canadian pacific. in alone, the supreme year of canadian railway expansion, the canadian pacific appropriated for new construction and betterments, equipment, terminal facilities, steamships and hotels, shops and elevators, nearly one hundred million dollars, or more than the original cost of the road. it touched the life of the nation at every conceivable point. from atlantic to pacific there was scarcely a town of any importance that was not reached by its lines. but its position was not merely national. it controlled over five thousand miles of railways in the united states, taking rank amongst the foremost systems of the republic. its steamship lines stretched more than half-way round the world, and in liverpool and trieste, hong-kong and yokohama and sydney, the red-and-white house flag of the canadian pacific made the company and the country known. the management of the canadian pacific showed stability and continuity. it trained up in its own ranks the men for its highest posts. sir george stephen, later lord mount { } stephen, on resigning the presidency in , had been succeeded by mr, afterwards sir, william c. van horne. as general manager, and then for eleven years as president, van horne carried the road through its most difficult period. in spite of failure of crops, low prices, and the slow trickling in of settlers, he kept aglow his own faith in the west and communicated it to others. indomitable courage, tenacity of purpose, breadth of vision, mastery of organization and detail marked him as one of the great railroad builders of the century. even when he retired from the presidency, becoming for another twelve years chairman of the board of directors, it was only to find new outlets for his energy in building pulp and paper mills in quebec and railways in cuba; for though, unlike many millionaires, he had not narrowed into his own business groove, and could paint a picture as well as buy one, the call to action never failed to stir him. when van horne came to the canadian pacific in , he brought with him the man destined to be his successor, thomas g. shaughnessy, a young irish-american still under thirty, who had been engaged in railway work since he was sixteen. appointed { } general purchasing agent, he rose rapidly, becoming president in and chairman of the board in . sir thomas shaughnessy maintained the progressive policy and the honourable record of straightforward management which has distinguished the canadian pacific--a railway singularly free from the questionable manipulations which have brought so many great american systems to bankruptcy. other men left their impress on the road: men like sir william whyte, for over twenty years in charge of the western lines, david m'nicoll, and george m. bosworth and many others, gave most effective service. after the first hurried staking out of the claim was over, by , the canadian pacific refrained from further expansion until about : between these years only three hundred miles were added to the system. then reviving prosperity and the activity of rival roads led to a new period of expansion. the additions made in this time can best be realized by a glance at the map (opposite next page). the most important may be noted briefly, beginning at the pacific coast. on vancouver island, the esquimalt and nanaimo railway, which had been projected { } originally when it was hoped that canada's first transcontinental would find its terminus at victoria by crossing the straits from bute inlet, was acquired from the dunsmuir interests. on the mainland of british columbia activity was concentrated in the southern section. the rich mineral discoveries in the boundary country led to the extension of the canadian pacific westward from lethbridge, through the crow's nest pass. the company was given a dominion subsidy, and in return a general reduction of rates was secured. after years of contention with the hill roads which were crowding into the same territory, and in face of immense engineering difficulties, a continuation of this line by way of penticton gave promise of a second through route. meanwhile, entrance was secured to spokane and portland in the united states. in the plains and prairie section a close network of lines developed. the narrow-gauge line of the alberta railway and irrigation company, which had done good pioneer service, under the guidance of elliott galt, in developing alberta's possibilities in coal and irrigated land, was absorbed in . the northern country was traversed by two new east and west lines. the qu'appelle, long lake and { } saskatchewan, extending from regina to prince albert, lost to the canadian northern in , was replaced by a new line and 'cutoffs' and extensions built in every quarter. south of the border equal activity was displayed in throwing out feeders for the soo and duluth lines. the acquisition of the wisconsin central in gave the canadian pacific entrance into chicago, while an agreement with the wabash made it possible to link up its western united states lines with its southern ontario road at detroit. in ontario, a branch from toronto to sudbury made the canadian pacific independent of the grand trunk's north bay link, an extension from guelph to goderich tapped a fertile country, a line from port m'nicoll on georgian bay to bethany near peterborough gave a short through route for grain, a lake shore route eastward from toronto provided access to the towns which the grand trunk, in its promoters' concern for through traffic or in its contractors' desire for low land charges, had side-tracked, while stock purchase and later a lease of the kingston and pembroke gave entrance into kingston. in quebec, short tentacles were pushed up into the laurentian hills north of ottawa; south of the st lawrence the chief step taken { } was the -year lease of the quebec central, sanctioned in . in the maritime provinces the new brunswick southern or shore line and the dominion atlantic, successor to the windsor and annapolis, were leased in , and running rights secured over the intercolonial into halifax. [illustration: canadian pacific railway, ] a marked feature of the canadian pacific policy from the beginning was the endeavour to control subsidiary or allied activities, and thus gain well-rounded independence. its steamship lines came to girdle half the world. on the pacific, service to hong-kong and yokohama had begun in and to australia in , while a service on the coast from seattle to the far north, and on the lakes of central british columbia, followed. the great lakes fleet was still earlier in being. in the purchase of fourteen elder-dempster vessels ranging from five to eight thousand tons gave a whole north atlantic fleet for seven millions, or the cost of a single _lusitania_. it was soon increased by larger and faster boats. a line to trieste, to secure a share of the immigration traffic from eastern europe, led to prolonged complications with the austrian government early in , on account of the hostility of german rivals. { } hotels followed steamships, some eight or ten being erected at strategic points from st andrews to victoria. departing from the usual american practice, the company owned and operated its own sleeping-cars, and maintained its own express and telegraph companies. its car-shops provided much of its rolling stock. grain elevators were built at terminal points. in the later years a systematic policy of developing its western lands was adopted. a special department of natural resources was established, irrigation works were begun on a huge scale in the tract of three million acres between calgary and medicine hat, and ready-made farms were provided or loans made to selected settlers. the method of financing these countless enterprises was equally striking. instead of increasing the proportion of bonded indebtedness, as was customary, the company sought additional capital chiefly by the sale of common stock. this procedure was possible because of the speculative value of the stock, based primarily on the growth of traffic, and of the value of the western lands still unsold: the dividend rose steadily to ten per cent in , and the practice which prevailed until of issuing the stock at par gave holders { } valuable rights. in the latter year was charged for the shares allotted, in , and in . as a result of the earlier policy an unnecessarily high price was paid for new capital, but fixed charges were kept low, and no great system was as safe from foreclosure. in the total assets of the company were valued at over $ , , . fifth in mileage among the railway systems of canada is the group of fragments connected with the great northern railway of the united states. james j. hill had not been least among the members of the original canadian pacific syndicate, but differences with his colleagues led to his retirement in . thenceforward he devoted himself entirely to the building up of the st paul, minneapolis and manitoba, the railway acquired from the dutch bondholders. under the name of the great northern it had been extended by from lake superior to puget sound, and continued to grow steadily until, twenty years later, it controlled nearly eight thousand miles. the great northern was remarkable in at least three respects. except for the original grants for the minnesota lines, it was built through to the coast { } without a dollar or an acre of subsidy from the state. its capitalization was kept close to the actual cost of the road and its fixed charges were low. it took the lead among american roads in an aggressive and enlightened endeavour to build up the country through which it ran, not only by flexible rate charges, but by a direct campaign of education among the farmers and other shippers on its route. the mineral wealth of southern british columbia and the farming wealth of the western plains turned hill's attention toward canada once more about the beginning of the twentieth century. in british columbia the progress of the great northern invasion was slow. the character of the country made construction difficult, and the canadian pacific, appealing to national prejudices, fought every inch of the way. but mr hill pressed on. the coal-fields of the crow's nest pass, in which he acquired a controlling interest, were made accessible by a road from the south, and a series of lines branching from spokane entered the boundary mining region. winding in and out across the border the road continued westward to vancouver. fortunately duplication was in large part avoided; by arrangements with the canadian pacific, the { } canadian northern, and the northern pacific, the difficult country south of the fraser was pierced by common lines, and common terminal facilities were secured. meanwhile, in and , more ambitious schemes were announced--the building of north and south lines through brandon and regina, and the construction of an east and west line from winnipeg to the pacific. in ten years, it was officially forecasted, the great northern would have as extensive a system in canada as in the united states. what was more startling, mr hill denounced 'spoon-feeding,' and did not ask for a cent of subsidy. the building of the grand trunk pacific and the canadian northern postponed indefinitely these larger plans. actual operations were confined to the construction of branches running northward in manitoba, to brandon, morden, and portage la prairie, and the acquisition, jointly with the northern pacific, of a lease of the canadian northern line from pembina to winnipeg, under the name of the midland, and of terminals in winnipeg. meanwhile, as the map shows, branches from the main great northern line nosed up to the border at nearly a dozen other places. the activities, real and projected, of the { } great northern in canada brought up acutely the question of the interrelations of canadian and american roads. to some these activities appeared evidences of an infamous plot to drain canadian traffic southward to united states ports and roads: to others they seemed to be philanthropic endeavours to rescue western canada from the clutches of monopoly. they were not, however, due to either political intrigue or knight-errantry, but to the same desire for profit which had led the canadian pacific to build up its great system in the western states. other things being at all equal, it was of course desirable that canadian traffic should follow canadian territory to canadian ports; it was to this end that uncounted millions had been spent. yet patriotism had a seamy reverse side of political buncombe. every hint of outside competition in the preserves of railway or industrial corporations in canada was denounced in interested quarters as dangerous and empire-smashing, while the counter-incursions into the territory of the united states were ignored or regarded as merely normal business enterprise. [illustration: great northern railway, ] as a matter of fact, in canadian railways controlled four miles in the united { } states for every mile in canada controlled by railways of the united states. the canadian pacific alone owned or leased over five thousand miles in the united states, chiefly in the northwest, while it had close working agreements with the wabash and the new york, new haven and hartford. the grand trunk controlled over seventeen hundred miles, two-thirds in the michigan peninsula and the remainder in new england, while the canadian northern ran for some forty miles through the united states, south of the lake of the woods. the american interests in canada were more scattered, but the great northern, the michigan central, the père marquette, and the new york central all developed important canadian extensions. in short, the interrelations were certainly no more extensive than would have been expected in the case of two friendly nations lying side by side for three thousand miles, connected by ties of speech and by common commercial and social customs. the only difficulty which arose out of the situation was the division of jurisdiction between the railway commission of canada and the interstate commerce commission of the united states. the heads of the two commissions, mr justice { } mabee for canada and mr knapp for the united states, endeavoured in to work out a plan for joint control, but without final success. in the past half-century government ownership of railways has been much discussed in canada, dividing attention with the allied question of railway ownership of the government. it cannot be said that any decisive public opinion or policy has resulted. important steps toward government ownership have been taken in the last twenty years. the intercolonial and prince edward island railways have been retained by the government and extended, a federal line has been built in manitoba and a provincial one in northern ontario, and the national trans-continental has been constructed by the government for lease to a private company. yet, at the same time, the main railway projects continued to be entrusted to private companies, and the proportion of the whole mileage under private operation increased. the most important incident in the intercolonial's later history was its extension from quebec to montreal in , by the purchase of the drummond county railway and the lease of a stretch of forty miles in length from { } the grand trunk. six years later the canada eastern, running from gibson to loggieville, was purchased. many bankrupt lines in the maritime provinces and quebec were offered to the intercolonial as valuable feeders. in the later years of the government of sir wilfrid laurier and in the first years of sir robert borden's administration, authority was sought to acquire such of these roads as might be desired, but restrictions due to the action of the canadian senate or the political difficulty of discriminating between the railways prevented any rapid acquisition. changes in administration were tried. as a half-concession to the demand that the intercolonial should be operated by an independent commission, a board of management was established in , consisting of the chief officials of the road. in this board was dissolved and the management vested in a single commissioner, f. p. gutelius, formerly of the canadian pacific. financial returns showed little improvement. true, the record, unbroken since , of annual failure to meet even operating expenses, was varied after by small surpluses in two years out of three, but the net deficits since confederation rose to over eleven { } millions by ; and while there was no question that the administration had been improved, there was room for belief that the surpluses had been in part book-keeping ones, obtained by including in the large capital expenditure items properly chargeable to revenue. at first sight this failure to meet operating expenses, much less to pay interest on the investment, together with constantly increasing capital outlay, seemed to warrant strong condemnation of government methods. and, in truth, a serious indictment could be framed. efficient government ownership is more difficult in a democratic country where shippers, employees, would-be employees, supply dealers, all have influence over the administration, than it is in a bureaucratic state. intercolonial employees were given their posts and kept in them by political influence, and their numbers were often as excessive as energy was lacking. supplies of coal and new land as required were usually purchased from political friends, with an additional margin for campaign contributions;[ ] at election times the { } road became a vast political machine. under the administration of the governments of laurier and borden the grosser scandals ceased, but in one form or other political influence continued to be exerted. yet this was not the whole story. if the intercolonial did not earn dividends, there were other reasons at work than government inefficiency. the road ran for long stretches through barren country where little local traffic originated. in competing for through traffic it was handicapped by the roundabout length of its route: it ran along two sides of a triangle, while the canadian pacific, subsidized by one political party, was built along the base, and the national transcontinental, built by the other party, came in between; in summer it had to face the competition of the st lawrence route as well. nor was dividend-earning the sole standard of success to be applied. the intercolonial was built originally for political and military ends, not merely for commercial gain. it had given shippers the lowest rates in the world: 'the surplus is in the pockets of the people,' one of the political heads declared. if, it was often urged, the canals of ontario and quebec were operated by the government at a dead { } loss, without a cent of tolls, why grudge the maritime provinces, to whom confederation had been less kind, the benefit of operating at bare cost the government railways! the intercolonial had undoubtedly done much to weld the eastern and central provinces together, and this was worth more than a million dollars or two in interest charges. the desire for rates at cost, or lower, which has made the people in eastern canada oppose all suggestions to turn over the intercolonial to the canadian pacific or canadian northern, led those of western canada to urge government ownership of the other federal venture, the hudson bay railway. owing to its far northern position, manitoba possesses ocean ports, nelson and churchill, which are nearer liverpool than new york is. why, then, carry the grain of the prairie fifteen hundred or two thousand miles to an atlantic port before loading it on the ocean freighter? proposals to build a railway to a hudson bay port and to establish a steamship line to carry the traffic at sea seemed plausible and won much western support. investigation soon made the difficulties clear. hudson bay was fairly free from ice, but hudson straits were studded with icebergs far into the summer. { } ships of special construction would be needed for the dangerous passage, and, in any event, grain could not be shipped until the spring after it was harvested and would have to be stored in elevators during the winter. and in the meantime the three transcontinental railways were enlarging the eastern funnels, while the panama canal made an outlet by vancouver feasible. still, there was a gambling chance that something would come of a railway to hudson bay, and if the stroke succeeded, canada would be given a new coast, and would front the sea at the north as well as at the east and the west. the territory between le pas, a terminus of the canadian northern, and port nelson, selected as the better port on hudson bay, had some mineral and agricultural promise. so, in the prosperous days of , it was decided to attempt the work. as it was largely an experiment, the government's plan of state construction and possibly operation found wide support. the line was still under construction in . [illustration: railways of canada, ] another exploration road which amply justified the faith of its promoters was the timiskaming and northern ontario. this railway, striking up from north bay into the mineral region and clay belt beyond the { } height-of-land, was begun by the ontario government in as a colonization road. it was fortunate enough to uncover the riches of cobalt's silver-camp in its construction; later, mining development at gowganda and porcupine brought it traffic; and the building of the grand trunk pacific made it an important connecting link. it was able, then, from the outset to show favourable results, direct as well as indirect. it was built and controlled by a government commission, efficient and more or less free from politics. [ ] the deputy-minister, mr collingwood schreiber, instanced in an attempt of a farmer, whose claim was nursed by influential politicians, to collect $ , for a gravel-pit liberally estimated to be worth $ . { } chapter xiii some general questions the question of state aid--the railway commission--progress in service--the unknown builders when the pace of construction slackened in , canada had achieved a remarkable position in the railway world. only five other countries--the united states, russia, germany, india, and, by a small margin, france--possessed a greater mileage; and, relatively to population, none came anywhere near her. three great systems stretched from coast to coast. need still existed for local extensions, but by a great effort the main trunk lines had been built. not only in mileage were the railways of canada notable. in the degree to which the minor roads had been swallowed up by a few dominating systems, in the wide sweep of their outside operations, in their extension beyond the borders of canada itself, and in the degree to which they had been built by public aid, they challenged attention. while there were nearly ninety railway companies in canada in , the three { } transcontinental systems controlled more than eighty per cent of the total mileage. the variety of the subsidiary undertakings--steamships, hotels, express service, irrigation and land development, grain elevators--has already been indicated. the control by canadian railways of seven or eight thousand miles of lines in the united states, with corresponding, if smaller, extensions into canada by american lines, was an outcome of geographic conditions, intimate social and trade connections, and a civilized view of international relations which no other countries could match. the aid given by the state had been remarkable in variety and in extent. in cash subsidies alone, up to , municipalities, chiefly in ontario, had given over $ , , ; the provinces, in the order of quebec, ontario, nova scotia, new brunswick, manitoba, and british columbia, double that sum; and the dominion $ , , . land-grants exceeded fifty million acres. guarantees reached $ , , --the dominion, british columbia, alberta, saskatchewan, and manitoba leading--with some sixty millions looming up in the year to follow. the privately owned railways of the dominion were then capitalized { } at a billion and a half; allowing for the 'water' in this capitalization on the one hand, and for construction out of earnings on the other, it may fairly be computed that, omitting the guarantees, the state had contributed from one-third to one-half their cost. the objections to this policy were manifold. it had been one great source of rottenness in politics. it had pauperized some sections of the country, leading them to look to the government to take the initiative in every movement. the land subsidies had delayed settlement, and the exemption of grants from taxation had pressed heavily on the average settler. the wealth of canada tended to concentrate in a few dominating groups. roads were built that were a sheer waste of capital, useless for traffic or colonization, or recklessly cutting into territory sufficient only for existing lines. yet the profits side of the account was large. settlement had been hastened, transport facilities had been provided, values had increased, social intercourse had been ameliorated, national unity had been fostered, in ways impossible had private enterprise been left to struggle on unaided. in future, it might be hoped, private capital could build unaided, or the state act directly. { } in the allied field of government regulation progress had been made. until very recent years, canada had been more anxious to get new railways than to control old ones, and, besides, the worse forms of discrimination which stirred indignation in the united states had not been widely practised in canada. but with the growing complexity of the industrial organization, and the recognition that competition could not solve the difficulties, a demand rose for more efficient regulation. the dominion government, acting upon an able and thorough report by dr s. j. m'lean, established in a railway commission, permanent, non-political, and large enough to make it possible for its members, singly or jointly, to hear complaints in all sections of the dominion. later, telegraph, telephone, and express rates and services were added to its jurisdiction. hampered by few of the constitutional limitations which have lessened the usefulness of the interstate commerce commission, and guided by efficient businesslike heads--blair, killam, mabee, drayton--it soon established a unique reputation for fairness, promptness, and common sense. but it is not merely in mileage or in relationship { } to the state that change has come in the three-quarters of a century since the first locomotive whistle was heard in canada. let us glance at some of the more striking changes in equipment and methods of operation. in the road bed, new standards of solidity have been set, grades cut down and curves straightened at a cost of uncounted millions, busy stretches double-tracked, steel bridges built in place of wooden trestles. the greatest single advance was the substitution, in the eighties chiefly, of steel for iron rails, making construction cheaper and repair easier, and permitting the running of heavier and faster trains. heavier trains in turn brought heavier rails, eighty to one hundred pounds to the yard being the usual weight on main tracks, instead of forty or fifty in early days. locomotives grew steadily in size from the _kitten_ of to the huge _mallet_ of to-day. freight engines were differentiated from passenger engines. coal was substituted for wood as fuel, and in some cases oil for coal. electricity replaced steam in tunnels and other places where smoke was troublesome. the crude little freight cars, carrying four or five tons, gave way to cars carrying thirty tons or more, specialized for all conceivable purposes, { } from cattle and coal cars and oil tanks to refrigerator cars for fruit or meats or milk. passenger coaches, following, as in other matters, american rather than english models, underwent a similar change, and improved steadily in size, strength, and convenience. the formal division into classes which marks european railway travel has not taken root in canada; but between pullman and parlour cars, first and second classes, the actual variety is great. train dispatching, at first by telegraph, and latterly by telephone, has become a fine art; safety devices such as the air-brake, and more slowly block signals, have been adopted. the old confusing diversity of local time has been remedied by the adoption of a zone system, in consequence largely of the persistent advocacy of sir sandford fleming. thus the increase in mileage by no means represents the increase in service rendered: every year the engines grow more powerful, the cars larger and the trains longer, and the freight service more speedy and trustworthy. true, the service is still far from perfect, and when a heavy snowstorm paralyses traffic, or the diversion to new competitive building of money which should have gone into equipment brings about congestion, { } vigorous denunciation follows these brief reversions to the traffic conditions of the good old days. there is no work that man has wrought that would give nobler and more enduring title to fame than the great cathedrals which mediaeval europe bequeathed to the world. yet no man's name is linked with theirs. they were the work of generations, of an epoch, the expression of the genius and the labour and the worship of uncounted thousands. there is a whole world of difference between the mediaeval cathedral and the modern railway, but this they have in common, that they are the work not of a few hands but of many, not a sudden creation, but the product of labours continued year after year. leaders were indispensable; we cannot forget the men who planned and the men who carried through and the men who organized the working of the great railway systems. keefer and fleming, poor and waddington, galt and hincks and howe, macdonald and laurier, mount stephen and strathcona, van horne and hays, shaughnessy and mackenzie, these and many more, though often bearing feet of clay, we shall honour as builders of a mighty heritage. { } but behind these loom up forgotten myriads who also were indispensable. the surveyor, often an explorer as well, striking out into the wilderness, braving sheer precipice and arctic blizzard in search of mountain pass or lower grade; the man with the pick and shovel, a mighty and ever-shifting army--english navvy, irish canaller, chinese coolie, swede or italian or ruthenian--housed in noisome bunkhouses, often fleeced by employment agent or plundering sub-contractor, facing sudden death by reckless familiarity with dynamite or slower death by typhoid and dysentery; the men who carried on the humdrum work of every day, track-mending, ticket-punching, engine-stoking; the patient, unmurmuring payer of taxes for endless bonuses--these, too, were perhaps not least among the railway builders of canada. { } bibliographical note there are surprisingly few secondary books dealing with canadian railway history available for the general reader. the admirable treatise by dr s. j. m'lean, 'national highways overland,' in vol. x of _canada and its provinces_, is much the best. trout, _the railways of canada_ ( ), and the article by t. c. keefer in _eighty years' progress of british north america_ ( ), are useful for the early period, but are scarce. there is, however, a wealth of first-hand material--pamphlets, travellers' notes, company reports, hansard debates, committee inquiries, and departmental returns. the largest collections of such material are to be found in the parliamentary library, ottawa, the library of the department of railways and canals, the toronto public library, and the library of queen's university, kingston. for progress from year to year since , see castell hopkins, _the canadian annual review_, vol. i _et seq_. see also, in this series, _the day of sir john macdonald_ and _the day of sir wilfrid laurier_. { } index alberta, railways in, , , ; grants in aid, , . allan, sir hugh, and the pacific scandal, - . america, north, ways of access into, - ; and transport development, - . angus, r. b., and the canadian pacific syndicate, , n., , . ashburton treaty, the, - . blair, andrew g., minister of railways, . blake, edward, his opposition to the c.p.r. contract, - , n. borden, sir robert, and the canadian northern, , . brassey, betts, peto and jackson, railway contractors in the maritime provinces, - , , , ; in canada, , - , , , and note, . british columbia, its terms of union with canada, , , , ; railway grants in aid, , . broun, sir richard, his railway, . buchanan, isaac, promotes the great western, . canada, before the advent of the railway, - , - , - ; development of water transport, - , - ; of land transport, - ; her railway policy, - , - , , - , - , , , , , , - , - ; railway building, - , - , , , - ; the grand trunk, - , - , , - , , ; the intercolonial, - ; the c.p.r., , - , - , - , - , - , ; a 'boom' period, , - , ; the canadian northern, - , , ; a period of depression, - , ; the grand trunk pacific, - , - ; railway interrelations with united states, , - , ; government roads, , - ; canada's position in the railway world, - . see railways. canada central railway, , , . canada north-west land company, . canada southern railway, , - , . canadian northern railway, ; building of, , - , , ; financing of, - ; other enterprises, , . canadian pacific railway, the great demand for, - ; the survey and route, - , , - , - ; the pacific scandal, - ; the syndicate, - , - ; terms of building contract, - , - ; financing of, - , - , - , , - , ; its construction, , - ; development eastward, - ; further expansion, - , - , ; and other railways, - , - , , , , ; the world's foremost transportation system, - , - . canadian pacific syndicate, the, - , - . capreol, f. c., his ingenious financing scheme, . caraquet railway company, n. cartier, sir george, ; and the c.p.r. contract, , , n. central vermont railway, , n., , . chamberlin, edson j., president of the grand trunk, , . champlain and st lawrence railway, - , , , - . chandler, e. b., ; his railway mission, , - . cox, george a., , . elgin, lord, governor-general of canada, . england, the locomotive contest in, - ; her lead in railway development, - . see great britain. european and north american railway, - , , - , , . farley, jesse p., and the canadian pacific syndicate, , n. fleming, sir sandford, , ; and the intercolonial, - , - , ; and the c.p.r., , - , . galt, sir a. t., ; his railway enterprises, , , , , - , , n., , , . gladstone, w. e., colonial secretary, . grand trunk railway, ; building and financing of, - , , , , , , - , - , , ; and the c.p.r., , , - ; in low water, - ; changes of administration and material, - , - ; eastern activities, - ; westward expansion, - , , , . see grand trunk pacific. grand trunk pacific, ; the demand for, ; question of the route, - , , - ; building and financing of, - , - , . grant, rev. george m., . great britain, her railway mileage in , ; her railway policy in canada, - , ; in the maritime provinces, , , - , . see england. great northern railway, its development in canada, - , , - . great western railway, building of, , , - , , , , , , , - , , , , , , - ; acquired by the grand trunk, . guarantee acts, to aid railway building, , , , , . gutelius, f. p., manager of the intercolonial, . gzowski and co., railway contractors, , n. hays, charles m., ; president of the grand trunk, - , - , , , ; drowned in the 'titanic' disaster, . hill, james j., and the c.p. syndicate, , , n., and note, , , ; and the great northern, n., - . hincks, sir francis, , , ; his railway policy, - , , , - , - , ; and railway enterprises, - , - , . holt, h. s., and the canadian northern, . holton, luther, his railway enterprises, , , - , n., . howe, joseph, , , ; his railway campaign in england, - , - , , ; and state ownership, - ; his prophecy, . howland, sir william, his railway syndicate, , . hudson, 'king,' railway promoter, , . hudson bay railway, - . intercolonial railway, - , ; building of, - , ; later development, - . jackson, henry, railway contractor, , , . jaffray, robert, . keefer, thomas c., a distinguished engineer, , . kennedy, john s., and the c.p. syndicate, , n., n., , . kittson, norman w., and the st paul and pacific, , , n. lash, z. a., and the canadian northern, . laurier, sir wilfrid, ; his railway policy, , , , , . liverpool and manchester railway, - , . mabee, justice, chairman of railway commission, - , . m'carthy, d'alton, and a railway commission, . macdonald, sir john, ; and the c.p.r., , , , - , - , , , - , , . macdonnell, allan, railway promoter, - . m'intyre, duncan, and the c.p.r., - , , , . mackenzie, alexander, and the c.p.r., - . mackenzie, william, ; and the canadian northern, - , - , . m'lean, s. j., his report on railways, . m'mullen, g. w., and the pacific scandal, - , , . macnab, sir allan, promotes the great western, , . macpherson, d. l., his railway enterprises, , , - , n., , - . manitoba, railways of, - , , , , , ; grants in aid, , , . mann, donald, and the canadian northern, - , - , . maritime provinces, their network of roads, ; their railway projects and policy, - , , n.; and the intercolonial, - , ; and the grand trunk pacific, - . merritt, w. hamilton, and the welland canal, - . midland railway, , , , . minnesota venture, the, - . mississippi, transport development on the, - . mitchell, peter, and the intercolonial, . montreal, and the st lawrence and atlantic railway, - , . morse, frank, manager of the grand trunk pacific, . mount stephen, lord, and the c.p. syndicate, - ; and the c.p.r., , , , , and note, - , . municipal loan fund, the, - . national transcontinental railway, , , . new brunswick, railways in, - , , n., ; grants in aid, . see maritime provinces. northern railway, building of, , , - , , , , - , , , n.; acquired by the grand trunk, . northern pacific railway, , n., , , , , , . north-west rebellion, the, and the c.p.r., - . nova scotia, railways in, , , n., ; grants in aid, , . see maritime provinces. ontario, railways in, , , - , , - , , - , - , n., , , ; and the c.p.r. contract, ; grants in aid, n., , , , , . osler, e. b., and the c.p.r., . pacific scandal, the, - . palliser, captain, his mistaken view regarding a railway to the pacific, . papineau, l. j., and state ownership of railways, . peto, brassey, betts and jackson, . see brassey. poor, john a., ; his railway enterprises, - , - , . pope, john henry, and the c.p.r., , , . prince edward island, its railway, , . see maritime provinces. quebec, railways in, - , - , , , - , n.; grants in aid, n., - , . quebec and richmond railway, , , n. railway commission, the, - , . railways, development of, , - , - ; the gauge question, - ; narrow-gauge lines, - , , ; wooden rails, - ; railway profits, , , , , , , ; railway jobbery, - , - and note, , n., ; grants in aid, and note, - , - ; 'ticket scalping,' . see under canada. reciprocity treaty, the, . richelieu, cardinal, and the power of steam, . rivers-wilson, sir charles, president of the grand trunk, - , . robinson, major, his railway survey, - , . rogers, major, his c.p.r. route through the rockies, . ross, a. m., and the grand trunk, , . ross, james, and the canadian northern, . ross, john, first president of the grand trunk, . rosser, general, and the c.p.r., . ruskin, john, his opinion of the railway, . sage, russell, and the st paul and pacific, . st lawrence, the canal system of the, - , - ; river steamers of, . st lawrence and atlantic railway, , , - , , , , , - , . st paul, minneapolis and manitoba railway, , , , , , . see great northern. saskatchewan, railways in, , , - ; grants in aid, , . scott, w. l., and the c.p.r., . shaughnessy, sir thomas, president of the c.p.r., - , . simpson, sir george, his record journey to the pacific, - . smith, donald, . see strathcona, lord. stephen, george. see mount stephen, lord. stephenson, george, his locomotive triumph, - , . stickney, a. b., and the c.p.r., . stockton and darlington railway, - , . strathcona, lord, n.; and the c.p. syndicate, - , - , , , , . surrey iron railway, . taché, e. p., his railway advocacy, . timiskaming and northern ontario railway, , - . trans-canada railway, , . tupper, sir charles, minister of railways, , , , , , . tyler, sir henry, president of the grand trunk, , . united states, their transport development, , - ; competition with canada for the western trade, - , ; railway development, , - , , - , ; depression in, , ; interrelations with canada, , - , - . van horne, sir william, and the c.p.r., n., , , , - , , , , . waddington, alfred, railway promoter, , , , . watkin, edwin, his pacific project, . watt, james, his reciprocating steam-engine, . young, john, his railway enterprises, , , , . zimmermann, samuel, railway contractor, . printed by t. and a. constable, printers to his majesty at the edinburgh university press generously made available by the internet archive/canadian libraries) national archives archives nationales of canada du canada [illustration] the stamps of canada by bertram w. h. poole published by severn-wylie-jewett co. publishers of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ boston, mass. * * * * * beautiful salvador set c, c, c, c, c, c, c, c, c and col, =each in colors=, used, fine, cat. $ . . price = c= no. , c on c rose and black, o.g., =rare= = c= oficial set. nos. to , unused, cat. $ . . price = c= =nicaragua=, set , nos. to , =used=, cat. c. special at . =mexico, sets and singles, new= , c, c, c, c, c, c, c, peso, o.g., fine . , pesos, o. g. . , gob. $ con. on issue, c, c, c, c, c, c, c & c . , pesos gob. $ con., rare . , g. c. m. c, c & c. for . oficial no. , o.g., p. =rare on no. = . above p not priced in scott's (foreign cats. $ . .) oficial, , set c to peso complete, scott's nos. to . nos. to postage due, gob. $ . nos. to postage due, carranza . nos. to postage due, villa . =rare single stamps= u. s. no. , c on bluish, mint perf'n . canal zone no. a, c mint perfection, =center inverted, rare= . above worth full catalogue =in fine condition.= =wanted to exchange= rare for rare, u. s. for u. s., foreign for foreign. send selections against any of above or against other selections. =even trade.= c. e. hussman, pres. columbia supply co., st. louis, mo. references, jefferson bank or publishers. * * * * * new united states loose leaf album this album is the only practical and feasible loose leaf book on the market today. we have put this album up in five sections so a collector is able to purchase such branches as he desires at a comparatively low cost. it is inches long and - / inches wide, very handy; there is but one set of stamps to a page artistically laid out. spaces have been provided for imperforate and part perforate pairs and the beauty of all; it is right up to the minute. what is more we will add new leaves each year with spaces for the latest stamps and if you are an owner of one of our albums, latest sheets will be promptly sent you when issued. after you have transferred your stamps into this album you cannot help realizing the great advantage in a practical up-to-date album. specimen pages and complete prospectus cheerfully mailed on request. postfree =section .= all postage to date. pps. =$ . = =section .= departments, special delivery, registration postage, dues, newspapers, postal savings, pp =. = =section .= revenues, complete to date, pages =. = =section .= confederate states. pages =. = =section .= colonies, cuba, guam, porto rico, phil. isl. ( pages per month with "herald") =. = special =spring back binder=, cloth & gilt = . = special =marquette prong binder=, black cloth and gilt = . = special =marquette prong binder=, black morocco leather and full gilt = . = special =transparent sheets=, per doz., c; per =. = special =blank leaves=, per doz., c; per =. = united stamp co., marquette bldg., chicago. * * * * * =b. n. a. proofs= a splendid assortment, neatly arranged in booklets of =die= and =plate proofs=, several hundred varieties of =canada=, =new brunswick=, =nova scotia= and =newfoundland=, also some =essays.= many unique items in color proofs. also the scarce =reprints= of new brunswick first issue. =selections of canada= including shades, blocks, etc. ( books), u. s. ( different books) or any other country. our free pink list describes fully selections ready to be submitted on approval to responsible collectors. this ad is good for years or more. j. m. bartels co. nassau street, new york * * * * * eugene klein counterfeit detector of the american philatelic society. member of the juries of the chicago and new york international philatelic exhibitions. honorary member of the new york stamp society. life member of the societe francaise de timbrologie, paris, and the junior philatelic society, london. i am prepared to examine stamps and give expert opinion for the following charges: unsurcharged stamps c each. overprints, stamps requiring plating and cancellations, c each. minimum charge cents. postage and registration extra. eugene klein chestnut st., philadelphia the postage stamps of canada by bertram w. h. poole author of various philatelic books [illustration] severn-wylie-jewett co. handbook no. price cents published by severn-wylie-jewett co. publishers _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ boston, mass. index page introduction chapter i--its postal history chapter ii--a postmaster's provisional chapter iii--the first issue chapter iv--the second issue chapter v--the perforated pence stamps chapter vi--the first "cents" issue chapter vii--the first dominion issue chapter viii--the c orange of chapter ix--the large c stamp chapter x--the small "cents" stamps chapter xi--the c and c stamps of chapter xii--the c stamp of chapter xiii--the diamond jubilee issue chapter xiv--the "maple leaf" issue of chapter xv--the "numeral" issue of chapter xvi--the "map" stamp of chapter xvii--the " cents" provisionals chapter xviii--the bi-sected provisionals chapter xix--the c carmine chapter xx--the c value of chapter xxi--the queen victoria seven cents chapter xxii--the king edward issue chapter xxiii--the quebec tercentenary issue chapter xxiv--king george stamps chapter xxv--the war tax stamps chapter xxvi--a proposed commemorative series chapter xxvii--official stamps chapter xxviii--the special delivery stamp chapter xxix--the registration stamps chapter xxx--the postage due stamps chapter xxxi--the "officially sealed" labels the postage stamps of canada. by bertram w. h. poole. introduction. canada was originally the french colony of new france, which comprised the range of territory as far west as the mississippi, including the great lakes. after the war of independence it was confined to what are now the provinces of quebec and ontario--then known as upper and lower canada. at the confederation ( ) it included only these two provinces, with new brunswick and nova scotia; and since then it has been extended by purchase ( ), by accession of other provinces (british columbia in and prince edward island in ), and by imperial order in council ( ), until it includes all the north american continent north of united states territory, with the exception of alaska and a strip of the labrador coast administered by newfoundland, which still remains outside the dominion of canada. on the atlantic the chief indentations which break its shores are the bay of fundy (remarkable for its tides), the gulf of st. lawrence, and hudson bay (a huge expanse of water with an area of about , square miles); and the pacific coast, which is small relatively, is remarkably broken up by fjord-like indentations. off the coast are many islands, some of them of considerable magnitude,--prince edward is., cape breton is., and anticosti being the most considerable on the atlantic side, vancouver and queen charlotte is. on the pacific; and in the extreme north is the immense arctic archipelago, bound in perpetual ice. the surface of the country east of the great lakes is diversified, but characterised by no outstanding features. two ranges of hills skirt the st. lawrence--that on the north, the laurentians, stretching , miles from lake superior to the atlantic, while the southern range culminates in the bold capes and cliffs of gaspé. the st. lawrence and its tributaries form the dominating physical feature in this section, the other rivers being the st. john, the miramichi, and the restigouche in new brunswick. eastern canada is practically the canadian part of the st. lawrence valley, ( , square miles), and the great physical feature is the system of lakes with an area of , square miles. in addition to the tributaries of the st. lawrence already mentioned, the dominion boasts the fraser, the thompson, and the greater part of the columbia river in british columbia; the athabasca and peace rivers, which flow into lake athabasca, and out of it as the slave river, which in its turn issues from the great slave lake and flows into the arctic ocean as the mackenzie river (total length , miles); the albany and the churchill, flowing into hudson bay, and the nelson, which discharges from lake winnipeg into hudson bay the united waters of the assiniboine, the saskatchewan, the red river and the winnipeg. west of the great lakes the scenery is less varied. from the lakes to the rockies stretches a vast level plain of a prairie character, slowly rising from feet at the east end to , feet at the foothills of the rockies. the eastern and western portions of the dominion are heavily wooded, and comparatively little inroad has been made on the forest wealth of the country. it is estimated that there are , , square miles of woodland and forest, chiefly spruce and pine, including about a hundred varieties; consequently the industries connected with the forest are of great importance, especially since the development of the pulp industry. the central prairie plain is almost devoid of forest. agriculture is the dominant industry in canada, not only in the great fertile plains of the centre, but also on the lands which have been cleared of forest and settled in other parts of the dominion. the canadian climate is cold in winter and warm in summer, but healthy all the year round. with all its extremes of cold it permits of the cultivation in the open air of grapes, peaches, tobacco, tomatoes, and corn. the snow is an essential condition of the prosperity of the timber industry, the means of transport in winter, the protector of the soil from frost, and the source of endless enjoyment in outdoor sports. the french canadians are almost exclusively the descendants of the french in canada in , there being practically no immigration from france. the french language is by statute, not by treaty, an official language in the dominion parliament and in quebec, but not now in any other province, though documents, etc., may for convenience be published in it. english is understood almost everywhere except in the rural parts of quebec, where the _habitants_ speak a patois which has preserved many of the characteristics of th century french. the indian people, numbering a little over , in , are scattered throughout the dominion. they are usually located on reserves, where efforts, not very successful, are made to interest them in agriculture and industry. many of them still follow their ancestral occupations of hunting and fishing, and they are much sought after as guides in the sporting centres. the dominion government exercises a good deal of parental care over them and for them; but the race is stationary, if not declining. the constitution of canada is of a federal character, midway between the british and united states constitutions. the federated provinces retain their local legislatures. the federal parliament closely follows the british model, and the cabinet is responsible to the house of commons. the members of the senate are appointed by the governor-general in council, and retain their seats for life, and each group of provinces is entitled to so many senators. the numbers of the commons vary according to the population. the local legislatures generally consist of one house, though quebec and nova scotia still retain their upper houses. the federal parliament is quinquennial, the local legislatures quadrennial. the lieutenant-governors of the provinces are appointed by the governor-general in council. the governor-general (appointed by the king, though paid by canada) has a right to disallow or reserve bills for imperial consent; but the veto is seldom exercised, though the imperial authorities practically disallowed temporarily the preferential clauses of . the constitution of canada can be altered only by imperial parliament, but for all practical purposes canada has complete self-government. in , jacques cartier landed on the gaspé coast of quebec, of which he took possession in the name of francis i, king of france. but nothing was done towards permanent occupation and settlement until , when samuel de champlain, who had visited the country in and , founded the city of quebec. meantime french settlements were made in what is now the maritime provinces, but known to the french as acadia. france claimed, as a result of this settlement, exclusive control of the whole immense region from acadia west to lake superior, and down the mississippi to the gulf of mexico. but the control of this region was not uncontested. england claimed it by right of prior discovery, based mainly on the discovery of newfoundland in by john cabot. in the north the charter granted in by charles ii to prince rupert to found the hudson's bay company, with exclusive rights of trading in the hudson bay basin, was maintained till , when, on a payment of $ , , , their territory was transferred to the newly created dominion of canada. a long struggle was carried on between england and france for the dominion of the north american continent, which ended in the cession of acadia by the treaty of utrecht in , and the cession of canada by the treaty of paris in . of all its canadian dependency france retained only the islands of st. pierre and miquelon, off the coast of newfoundland, and the vexatious french-shore rights. during the war of american independence canada was invaded by the americans, and the end of the war saw a great influx of loyalists from the united states, and the formation of two new colonies--new brunswick and upper canada (now ontario). the treaty of peace in took away from canada territory now included within minnesota, michigan, ohio, indiana, illinois and wisconsin. in , owing to differences of race, upper canada was separated from lower canada; but discontent resulted in rebellion in - which occasioned lord durham's mission and report. the results of that were the granting of responsible government to the colonists, and in the reunion of the two provinces. but the different elements, british and french canadians, worked no better together than they had done while separated; and in , as an escape from the deadlocks which occurred, confederation was consummated. after the war of independence the history of canada is chiefly concerned with the gradual removal of the commercial preferences she had enjoyed in the english market, and the gradual concession of complete powers of self-government. the half-breeds of the north-west broke out in rebellion in - , but it collapsed as soon as the forces led by colonel wolseley reached fort garry on winnipeg. riel, the leader, escaped, to return later and foment another outbreak in . this proved more dangerous but was eventually suppressed and riel executed. the chief events since have been the halifax award ( ), which justified the canadian contention against the united states interference with fisheries. the behring sea award ( ) settled the sealing difficulty; and a joint commission met at quebec in to determine all outstanding questions between canada and the united states. in these reached a final solution in the alaskan boundary commission's settlement of the frontier line between british columbia and alaska. chapter i.--_its postal history._ the _stamp collector's magazine_ for august, , contained an interesting article on the history of the canadian post-office, largely compiled from information given in the "canadian postal guide," which we cannot do better than quote in full. the earliest records of the administration of the post-office in canada, are dated , at which period the celebrated benjamin franklin was deputy postmaster-general of north america. at the time of his appointment, the revenue of the department was insufficient to defray his salary of $ per annum, but under his judicious management, not only was the postal accommodation in the provinces considerably extended, but the revenue so greatly increased, that ere long the profit for one year, which he remitted to the british treasury, amounted to $ , . in the evidence given by franklin before the house of commons in the year , in regard to the extent of the post-office accommodation in north america, he made the following statement:-- the posts generally travel along the sea coasts, and only in a few cases do they go back into the country. between quebec and montreal there is only one post per month. the inhabitants live so scattered and remote from each other in that vast country, that the posts cannot be supported amongst them. the english colonies, too, along the frontier, are very thinly settled. in , franklin was recalled, and the following year the war of independence broke out, and the office was filled by mr. hugh finlay, who had, under his predecessor, been postmaster at quebec. canada is divided into upper and lower. from a quebec almanack of , we glean that there were seven offices in the former and five in the latter. mr. finlay is designated as "deputy postmaster-general of his majesty's province of canada." at that time mails were dispatched monthly to england, and semi-weekly between quebec and montreal, or halifax. at baie des chaleurs the visits of the postman must, we conclude, have been few and far between, as they were only favored with a mail "as occasion offered". in , mr. george heriot succeeded mr. finlay. at this time prince edward island, nova scotia, and new brunswick, were all under the authority of the canadian administration. the following is taken from the advertising column of the _upper quebec gazette_, printed in :-- the mail for upper canada will be dispatched from the post-office at montreal, on the following days, to wit: monday, th january. monday, th february. monday, th march. monday, th april--the last trip. a courier from kingston may be looked for here in or days from the above periods, where he will remain or days, and then return to kingston. another courier will proceed from this with the niagara mail, via messrs. hatts', where the sandwich (co. essex) letters will be left, both from niagara and this 'till the courier comes from there to return with them. letters put into the post-office will be forwarded any time by w. allan, acting deputy postmaster. mr. heriot resigned in , and was succeeded by mr. d. sutherland, who, on his accession to office, found nova scotia and prince edward island wholly withdrawn from the canada charge. new brunswick, however, continued to be included in it. this appears also to have been withdrawn in , so that from that date until just lately, we have to do with canada proper. in there were post-offices, and , miles of established post-route. the number of miles of mail-travel was , . the letters that year were estimated at , , and newspapers, , . from the canadian postmaster-general's report for , now lying before us, we find the number of letters had increased to , , ; the miles of annual mail-travel was , , , the mails being carried regularly over , miles of railway route. the following extract from the _quebec mercury_, published on july , , conveys some idea of the postal communication with england at that period: no later advices have been received from europe since our last. some further extracts from the london papers, to st may, inclusive, brought to new york by the _corinthian_, will be found in another part of this number. in the _montreal courant_, dated september nd, , was the following paragraph, showing the improvement which had been effected in the communication between prescott and that city:-- expeditious travelling.--on saturday last, the upper canada line of stages performed the journey from prescott to this city in about hours, leaving the former place at a little before a. m., and arriving here a few minutes before in the evening. not many years ago this journey occupied two, and sometimes three days, but owing to the great improvements made by mr. dickinson, the enterprising proprietor, by putting steamboats on the lakes st. francis and st. louis, and keeping his horses in excellent condition, it is now performed in little more than one-third of the time. even so late as , newspaper proprietors found it (particularly in the upper province) better to employ their own couriers. as a proof of this we transcribe from the _queenston_ (niagara) _colonial advocate_, of that year the following advertisement:-- post-rider wanted immediately. the proprietor of this newspaper wishes to contract with a steady man (who can find and uphold his own horse) to deliver it to the subscribers once a week during the winter, on the route between york and niagara, _via_ ancaster. mr. thomas a. stayner was postmaster in , and through his recommendation a uniform rate of s d sterling, per half ounce, was adopted between any place in canada and the mother country. about this time regular steam communication across the atlantic was established. the transfer of the canadian post-office from the control of the imperial authorities to the colonial government, was effected april th, . mr. stayner then resigned, and the office was filled by the hon. james morris, who was the first postmaster-general. this may be termed the red-letter year of the canadian post-office. in the first place, the postage, which had hitherto been according to distance and had averaged cents on each letter, was reduced to a uniform rate of cents per half ounce. the newspaper charge was also considerably reduced. within a year after, the number of letters transmitted through the post had increased per cent. the operation of the department was greatly extended, and last, but most decidedly not least, was the introduction of postage stamps. in february, , the money-order system was first begun, and has within the last few years been greatly extended. letters seem to have been first registered in . in october of that year the grand trunk railway was completed as far as toronto so that, in connection with the great western, an unbroken line of postal communication was established between quebec in the east and windsor in the west. the decimal system of coinage was introduced in ; this, of course, as is well known, necessitated a new issue of postal labels. we now arrive at the issue of labels for the new dominion. the post-office act was passed on the st of december, , and came into operation the st of april last. the internal rate is reduced from cents to cents the half ounce; but the postage to this country remains unchanged. the following is the order for the issue of the new labels:-- postage stamps. to enable the public to prepay conveniently by postage stamp the foregoing rates, the following denominations of postage stamps for use throughout the dominion, have been prepared, and will be supplied to postmasters for sale:-- half-cent stamps, one-cent ditto, two-cent ditto, three-cent ditto, six-cent ditto, twelve-and-a-half-cent ditto, fifteen-cent ditto, all bearing as a device the effigy of her majesty. the postage stamps now in use in the several provinces may be accepted, as at present, in prepayment of letters, etc., for a reasonable time after the st of april; but from and after that date all issues and sales to the public will be of the new denomination. continuing the postal history from where the article in the _stamp collector's magazine_ concludes we find that in the color of the c value was changed to yellow as it was found that the brown-red color was too easily confused with the red of the c. early in the following year the c denomination appeared in a reduced size to be followed about april by the c and it was, naturally, presumed that the whole set would appear in this form. two years elapsed, however, before further additions were made for it was not until that the c and c values appeared. in , an entirely new value-- cents--was issued and in a c stamp made its appearance in the large size of the series. mr. c. a. howes, in his admirable monograph on the stamps of canada, explains the belated appearance of this label as follows:--"the die of this large cent stamp had been engraved in with the other values of the first dominion series, but as there were no rates requiring such a denomination in the set, it was not issued. when in the need for a cent value arose, the unused die was employed to make a plate for temporary use, until a new die conforming in size and design with the small stamps could be prepared." this large cent stamp had a short life of about four months when it was superseded by the c value in the same size as the other denominations of - . in , the / c value was reduced in size so that this stamp, as in the case of its predecessor of , was smaller than the other denominations. from that date until no further changes were made so far as new designs or values were concerned though some striking alterations in shade took place, notably in the case of the c and c values. in , c and c stamps were issued for use on heavy packages. these not only differed in design from the other stamps of the series then current but were also very much larger. in an c stamp was issued which was used for prepayment of postage and the registration fee and upon its advent the special registration stamps ceased to be printed though existing stocks were, presumably, used up. in , the diamond jubilee of queen victoria was celebrated by the issue of a special series of stamps comprising no less than sixteen values ranging all the way from / c to $ . as to the utility, to say nothing of the necessity, of some of the higher denominations perhaps the less said the better for before and since canada has managed to get along very well with a highest regular denomination of c. in the latter months of the same year, and early in a new set was issued in a uniform design showing the jubilee portrait of the queen. this is known as the maple leaf issue from the fact that the lower angles are ornamented with maple leaves and in contradistinction to a modified design which almost immediately replaced it which had numerals in the lower corners. the christmas of was marked by the issuance of the celebrated c map stamp with its proud motto "we hold a vaster empire than has been". this stamp was issued to mark the introduction of imperial penny postage, and one consequence of the reduction in the postal rate was so to reduce the demand for the c value that in order to use up existing supplies more quickly they were overprinted " cents". in , the color of the c stamp was changed from purple to carmine, thus conforming to postal union regulations, in december, , a c stamp of the type of was issued on the final exhaustion of the stock of the type; and in a c value was issued in place of the c for combined use in payment of registration and postage. in , c, c, c, c, and c values were issued bearing king edward's portrait, a year later the c value in the same type was placed on sale, and in , the stock of the old c stamps of having at last been used up, a king edward stamp of that value was issued. in the same year the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of quebec by champlain was celebrated by the issue of a special set of stamps these being of the same large size as the jubilee series of , but with a different design for each denomination, while in a new series bearing the portrait of king george v made its bow and this completes canada's postal history to date. chapter ii.--_a postmaster's provisional._ postage stamps were first placed on sale to the public in canada on april rd, , as we shall show later, but, according to an interesting article which appeared in the _london philatelist_ for june, , it seems possible that at least one postmaster anticipated events slightly by issuing a stamped envelope of his own shortly before the regular governmental stamps were ready. it will perhaps simplify matters to reproduce the article in its original form, viz.:-- canada: hand-stamped d envelope of . we are indebted to mr. e. b. greenshields, of montreal, for the following very interesting information:-- the following facts may be of interest to collectors of the stamps of british north america. some time ago a cover was offered to me, which seemed to me to be absolutely genuine, yet i had never, up to that time, heard of such envelopes being in existence. this letter was posted in new carlisle, gaspé, lower canada, on april th, , and was stamped "three pence" in two lines, inside a square, with a black border of neat design around the sides. across this was written, "letter r. w. kelly apl. ". the letter was addressed to toronto, c. w., and on the other side was stamped the date the letter was received, "apl. ". i sent the envelope to mr. donald a. king, of halifax, and received the following reply from him:-- halifax, n. s., february nd, . "dear sir,--i have yours of th inst. with cover, and am much obliged for your kindness in permitting me to have a look at it. it is new to me. i have no doubt it is absolutely genuine, and probably was made by the postmaster at new carlisle to save trouble in stamping the letter ' d' as was then the custom. it is just possible that the writer (whose name appears to be endorsed on the envelope) was the postmaster there. a reference to the postmaster-general's report for that year would give his name. as far as my memory serves me, the canadian stamps were not then in issue, though an advance circular may have been sent out. i have shown the cover to a friend of mine who is an expert in typography, and he assures me that the printing is as old as dated, and that such type and border could not be procured now at any cost. the only thing that i have seen that resembles it in any way was a cover from prince edward island, prepaid with a square of white paper stamped d and cancelled. this was an adhesive, and used some years after stamps were in use. as in your case, it had been recognised as paying postage. as to the value of your cover, it is impossible for me to say, but very considerable to any collector of british north america. "yours faithfully, "donald a. king." following up the clue given to me by mr. king, i wrote to the post office department at ottawa, and received the following courteous answer:-- ottawa, nd march, . "sir,--i am directed to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the th ultimo, inquiring whether r. w. kelly was postmaster of new carlisle, co. gaspé, quebec, in , and in reply am directed to inform you that r. w. kelly, doubtless the same man, was postmaster of new carlisle in . owing to the incompleteness of the early records of the department, which was then under the direction of the british office, the date of mr. kelly's appointment cannot be ascertained. he appears to have been postmaster from , however, until his resignation on the th april, . "as regards your inquiry as to whether postage stamps were used on the th april, , and your statement that you have an envelope sent on that date from new carlisle to toronto with 'three pence' printed on it, inside a fancy border, i have to say that postage stamps were issued to the public for the first time on the rd april, , and that stamped envelopes were not issued until some years later. the stamped envelope to which you refer may have been an envelope so stamped on the prepayment in the new carlisle post office, of three pence, the required charge for postage. "i am, sir, your obedient servant, "william smith, secretary." it will be noted from the conclusion of this letter that, according to the department at ottawa, one might infer that the use of such a stamp would not be irregular. this is confirmed by the following extract from a reply to a letter a friend of mine wrote to ottawa at my request:-- ottawa, march nd, . "i took those questions of mr. greenshields over to mr. ---- of the post office department. he tells me that before the first issue of stamps, which took place on the rd of april, , each postmaster had a steel stamp which he used to mark the amount prepaid on the letter. these stamps were of different patterns, and it is probably the impression of one of them that appears on mr. greenshield's envelope. in some of the smaller post-offices they continued to use these stamps as late as . "it is rather a singular coincidence that if the inquiry had been, regarding the position of postmaster, more than one day earlier, the canadian records would not have shown whether the man named had held office or not, the reason being that it was on the th of april, , that the post office department was transferred from the imperial government, and all records prior to that date are in the possession of the imperial authorities." it seems strange that more of these covers have not been found. such well-known authorities on the stamps of british north america as mr. lachlan gibb and mr. william patterson, of montreal, and mr. donald a. king, of halifax, had not seen any until i consulted them about this one. i think it is very interesting to hear of a stamped envelope like this being used by the post office just before the issue of postage stamps. so far as we have been able to find out the above constitutes all that has been published regarding this envelope. we can find no further mention of it in the columns of the _london philatelist_ or of any other journal published since nor does mr. howes so much as refer to it in his recently published monograph on canada's postal issues. yet, on the face of it, the matter seems one worthy of extended investigation by some canada specialist or other. its history, as given above, is similar in many respects to the history of many of the much sought after postmaster's provisional stamps of the united states and there is a possibility that this envelope may represent a legitimate postmaster's provisional. chapter iii.--_the first issue._ in common with the other colonies of british north america canada was granted the privilege of administrating its own postal service in , and in the same year an act was passed providing for the change. it is hardly necessary to quote this act in full though the following extracts are of interest:-- cap. vii. an act to provide for the transfer of the management of the inland posts to the provincial government, and for the regulation of the said department. ii.--and be it enacted, that the inland posts and post communications in this province shall, so far as may be consistent with the acts of the parliament of the united kingdom in force in this province, be exclusively under provincial management and control; the revenues arising from the duties and postage dues receivable by the officers employed in managing such posts and post communications shall form part of the provincial revenue, unless such monies belong of right to the united kingdom, or to some other colony, or to some foreign state, and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out of provincial funds, and that the act passed in the eighth year of her majesty's reign, and entitled an act to provide for the management of the customs, and of matter relative to the collection of the provincial revenue, shall apply to the said posts and post communications, and to the officers and persons employed in managing the same, or in collecting or accounting for the duties and dues aforesaid, except in so far as any provision of the said act may be insusceptible of such application, or may be inconsistent with any provision of this act. viii.--and in conformity to the agreement made as aforesaid between the local governments of the several colonies of british north america, be it enacted that the provincial postage on letters and packets not being newspapers, printed pamphlets, magazines or books, entitled to pass at a lower rate, shall not exceed threepence currency per half-ounce, for any distance whatsoever within this province, any fraction of a half-ounce being chargeable as a half-ounce; that no transit postage shall be charged on any letter or packet passing through this province, or any part thereof, to any other colony in british north america, unless it be posted in this province, and the sender choose to prepay it; nor on any letter or packet from any such colony, if prepaid there; that twopence sterling the half-ounce shall remain as the rate in operation as regards letter by british mails, to be extended to countries having postal conventions with the united kingdom, unless her majesty's government in the united kingdom shall see fit to allow this rate to be changed to threepence currency; that the prepayment of provincial postage shall be optional. that all provincial postage received within the province shall be retained as belonging to it, and that all provincial postage received within any other colony of the british north american colonies may be retained, as belonging to such colony. that no privilege of franking shall be allowed as regards the provincial postage. that provincial stamps for the prepayment of postage may be prepared under the orders of the governor in council, which stamps shall be evidence of the prepayment of provincial postage to the amount mentioned on such stamps; and that such stamps, prepared under the direction of the proper authorities in the other british north american colonies, shall be allowed in this province as evidence of the prepayment of provincial postage in such other colonies respectively, on the letters or packets to which they are affixed and which have been mailed there. the passage of the above act and its approval by the imperial government was followed by a notice to postmasters which gave the date at which the transfer of the postal system from imperial to provincial authority was to take effect, gave more explicit instructions with regard to rates of postage, and stated that postage stamps were being prepared. mr. howes gives the chief provisions of this notice as follows:-- notice to postmasters. general post office. montreal, _ th march, ._ sir:-- i am commanded by his excellency the governor general, to communicate to you the following instructions, for your guidance in the performance of your duties, under the new post office law of the th and th vict., chap. , passed at the last session of the provincial parliament, which will take effect, and supersede the imperial post office acts, hitherto in force in canada, on and from the th day of april next: .--from the above date, all letters transmitted by the post in canada, with the exception of packet letters to and from the united kingdom, will be liable to a uniform rate of _three pence_, currency, per half-ounce for whatever distance conveyed: prepayment will be optional: the charge increasing according to the weight of the letter, one single rate for every additional half-ounce, counting the fraction of a half-ounce as a full rate, thus: a letter, weighing not exceeding / ounce, will be liable to d postage. a letter, weighing more than / ounce, and not exceeding ounce, will be liable to d postage. a letter, weighing more than ounce, and not exceeding - / ounces will be liable to d postage, and so on. it will be observed that the above scale differs from that now followed, in advancing one rate for each half-ounce after the first ounce. .--the single packet rate for letters by the atlantic steam packet mails to and from england, via the united states, of s d sterling, if _unpaid_, and s d currency, if _prepaid_, as also the rate on letters, by those mails, via halifax, of s sterling, if _unpaid_, and s - / d currency, if _prepaid_, remain unaltered, and the present scale of weights is to remain in force as regards such letters. post masters must be very careful to observe this distinction when taxing letters, weighing over one-ounce, intended for the english mails. .--the regulations now in force with regard to letters to and from soldiers and sailors in her majesty's service, by which under certain conditions such letters pass through the post on prepayment of a penny only, remain unaltered. .--letters addressed to new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward's island, or newfoundland, are to be rated with the uniform rate of d per half-ounce. .--letters to and from the united states will be liable to the uniform rate of d per half-ounce, between the frontier line and the place of posting or place of destination in canada; and until further arrangements can be made, this charge on letters from canada to the united states must be prepaid at the time of posting. .--the charge on letters posted at an office for delivery in the same city, town, or place, and any additional charge made on letters delivered at the residence of parties to whom they are addressed, are to remain as at present, until further instructions. .--no franking privilege is allowed under the new act, except with regard to letters and packets on the business of the post office, addressed to or transmitted by the post master general. .--stamps for the prepayment of postage are being prepared and will be distributed for the use of the public at an early date. t. a. stayner. _deputy post master general._ shortly afterwards a notice, or department order, dated april nd, , was issued to postmasters regarding the rates of postage between canada and the united states, california and oregon. it is hardly necessary to reproduce this in its entirety and it will suffice to state that the rate on single letters to the united states was sixpence currency, equivalent to ten cents in united states money, while to california and oregon the rate was nine pence currency per half-ounce. on newspapers, pamphlets, etc., the rates were the same as those for canada itself with the stipulation that all such mail must be prepaid. certain offices were named for handling the mail between canada and the united states, viz: post sarnia, windsor, fort erie, queenston (the channel of communication with the united states for the country west of toronto), niagara, toronto, cobourg (a communication during summer only, by steamer to rochester), kingston, brockville, prescott, montreal, st. john's, dundee, and stanstead. on the st of april, , an order was issued from the post office department referring to the issue of stamps. the most interesting paragraphs from this order are:-- postage stamps are about to be issued, one representing the beaver, of the denomination of three pence; the second representing the head of prince albert, of the denomination of six pence; and the third, representing the head of her majesty, of the denomination of one shilling; which will shortly be transmitted to the post masters at important points, for sale. any letter or packet, with one or more stamps affixed, equal in amount to the postage properly chargeable thereon, may be mailed and forwarded from any office as a prepaid letter or packet; but if the stamps affixed be not adequate to the proper postage, the post master receiving the letter or packet for transmission will rate it with the amount deficient in addition. this regulation concerning letters short paid has reference only to letters passing within the province. stamps so affixed are to be immediately _cancelled_ in the office in which the letter or packet may be deposited, with an instrument to be furnished for that purpose. in post offices not so furnished, the stamps must be cancelled by making a cross (x) on each with a pen. if the cancelling has been omitted on the mailing of the letter, the post master delivering it will cancel the stamp in the manner directed, and immediately report the post master who may have been delinquent, to the department. bear in mind that stamps must invariably be cancelled before mailing the letters to which they are affixed. it is rather interesting to note that the series comprised only three values, though the postal rates, as shown in the notice quoted above, and further amplified in a lengthy set of "regulations and instructions" called for numerous rates of / d and d as well as - / d so that it certainly seems strange that no provision was made for stamps by means of which such rates could be prepaid. the beaver is typical of canada, for the prosperity of the colony is largely founded on this animal, whose skin has been a valuable article of commerce since the days of the early trappers in the land of the maple tree. the choice of a beaver as the central theme of the design of canada's first stamp--the d value--is, therefore, particularly appropriate. the stamp is rectangular in shape and the centrepiece is enclosed within a transverse oval band inscribed "canada postage" at the top, and "three pence" below. above the beaver is an imperial crown which breaks into the oval band and divides the words "canada" and "postage." this crown rests on a rose, shamrock, and thistle (emblematic of the united kingdom) and on either side are the letters "v r" (_victoria regina_, i.e. queen victoria). in each of the angles is a large uncolored numeral " ". mr. howes tells us that this stamp was designed by sir stanford fleming, a civil engineer and draughtsman. [illustration] the beaver, depicted on this stamp, rejoices in the scientific name of _castor fiber_. it is a rodent of social habits and was at one time widely distributed over europe and north america. it is now practically extinct except in canada and even there it is said to be in great danger of extermination. full-grown animals vary in length from thirty to thirty-six inches. they are covered with short, thick fur, which is of considerable value and their structural peculiarities are well worth noting. the beaver is furnished with powerful incisor teeth, with which it is able to bite through fairly large trees, and its fore paws are very strong. its hind feet are webbed, so that it is a powerful swimmer, and its tail is flattened, and serves as an excellent rudder. its ears are small and when laid back prevent any water entering them. beavers generally live in colonies, and show remarkable intelligence and ingenuity in the construction of their homes or "lodges" and in the building of dams, where water in the vicinity of their dwellings has become too shallow to suit their tastes. these dwellings are often constructed on the banks of rivers, but the canadian beaver is particularly fond of building lodges in the centre of large expanses of fairly shallow water. these are made of turf, tree-trunks, and other materials, and are often used as store houses for food reserves, as well as for living in. the d stamp follows the usual upright rectangular form and its central design consists of the portrait of prince albert, the royal consort. the portrait is enclosed within an upright oval inscribed in a similar manner to the d but with, of course, "sixpence" on its lower portion. the numeral " " is shown in each of the four angles. albert francis charles augustus emanuel the younger of the two sons of ernest, duke of saxe-coburg-gotha, was born in . he was carefully educated at brussels and bonn ( - ), where he showed himself an ardent student, acquired many accomplishments, and developed a taste for music and the fine arts. king leopold and baron stockmar had long contemplated an alliance between prince albert and princess victoria, and the pair were brought together in . when the succession of victoria was assured the betrothal took place, and on february th, , the marriage, which was one of real affection on both sides, was solemnized in the chapel royal, st. james palace. the prince consort's position as the husband of a constitutional sovereign was difficult, and in the early years of his married life his interference in matters of state was resented. ultimately he became "a sort of minister, without portfolio, of art and education", and in this capacity won much esteem and popularity. he also interested himself in agriculture and in social and industrial reform. to him was due the great exhibition of , which resulted in a balance of a million dollars available for the encouragement of science and art. his personal character was very high, and he exercised great influence on his children. he was an ideal consort, and entirely worthy of the title "albert, the good". on december th, , he succumbed to an attack of fever, and was buried in st. george's chapel, windsor. his remains were afterwards removed to the mausoleum at frogmore. [illustration] the d stamp is very similar in design to the d denomination but bears the portrait of queen victoria. the life and reign of queen victoria are matters of such general knowledge that biographical details are hardly necessary. a few words, however, regarding the source of this handsome portrait, which was used to adorn so many of the earlier british colonial stamps, will not be amiss. mr. howes tells us that this portrait "was taken from the full length painting by alfred edward chalon, r. a., which was ordered by the queen for her mother, the duchess of kent, as a souvenir of her majesty's first visit to the house of lords. the occasion was the prorogation of parliament, on july th, , and the queen is portrayed in her robes of state, because of which fact the painting is sometimes described as 'in coronation robes', but this is erroneous." the d requires a few words in explanation of the manner in which the value was expressed for "one shilling" would appear to be a more natural form for this amount rather than "twelve pence". mr. donald a. king says:--"this was undoubtedly done intentionally, as though it was intended for a one shilling stamp, yet it could not be called that, as there were a number of _shillings_ of different values in circulation in the colony. if the stamp had been lettered 'one shilling', the post office was liable to have tendered for it - / d, - / d, d or d, according to locality". mr. howes gives a fuller explanation which we cannot do better than quote in his own words:-- "a glance back at the rates of postage we have already quoted will show that it was generally necessary to give them in two forms, 'currency' and 'sterling'. the somewhat depreciated canadian currency required fifteen pence, as will be noted, to equal the shilling sterling--a point brought out on the two stamps issued subsequently for the british packet rates. add to this fact that in new england the 'shilling' was a current expression for - / cents ( pence currency), while in new york it represented - / cents ( - / pence currency) and we can readily see that in canadian territory contiguous to these sections the number of pence to a 'shilling' might often be a debatable quantity. as a matter of fact the french canadians of lower canada made general use of the 'shilling' as reckoned at pence ( cents) in the old currency, while the 'york shilling' was extensively used in upper canada. 'twelve pence' was without doubt wholly intentional, therefore, as the designation of the stamp, and was happy solution of any ambiguity in its use, even if it has proved a stumbling block to the understanding of latter day collectors." the three values forming this first issue were manufactured by messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch and edson, of new york, who are, perhaps, better known to fame as the engravers of the , c and c stamps for the united states government. all three stamps were printed from plates engraved in _taille douce_ the plates consisting of one hundred impressions arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each. the manufacturer's imprint--"rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york"--was engraved twice on each of the four sides quite close to the stamps. the imprints were so placed that the bottoms of the letters are always next to the stamps with the consequence that on the printed sheets of stamps the imprints read upwards at the left, downwards at the right, and upside down on the bottom margins. a variety of the d denomination is catalogued with "double transfer". this is, of course, a plate variety caused like all similar ones by a faulty or incorrect rocking of the roller impression on the plate and a correction on top of this impression which did not always entirely obliterate the first impression. mr. howes says this variety "is recognized by the letters ee pen being 'doubled' at the top, making it appear as if a line had been drawn through the words and giving it the name occasionally used of the 'line through threepence' variety." there are at least two other similar varieties of "double transfers" known on this value for in the _philatelic world_ for december, , mr. a. j. sefi described and illustrated three different ones. one of these is a variety mentioned by mr. howes, another shows a distinct doubling of parts of the details of the two left-hand corners, while the third variety shows a doubling of the upper right hand corner. it is quite possible a close study of these stamps would reveal others and also similar varieties in the d and d. "double strikes" are not uncommon on stamps produced by the line-engraved process though they are not often so striking as the first of these canadian varieties and those found on the united states c stamp of . according to a valuable summary from official records published in the _metropolitan philatelist_ we learn that the first delivery of stamps from the manufacturers took place on april th, , when , of the d denomination were delivered to the canadian government. on april th, a second supply of the same value comprising , stamps arrived in canada. on may nd , of the d were received followed two days later by , of the d this latter being the only consignment of the highest value ever received from the printers. we have already pointed out that the d was placed on sale on april rd, . the date of issue of the d is not known for certain as there are no official records relating to this though, as a supply was received on may nd, they were doubtless issued some time during the same month. the d was issued on june th as we shall show later. the three values of this series, as well as other denominations in pence issued later, were withdrawn from use on july st, , when decimal currency was introduced. by means of much diligent search through post office reports and other records mr. howes has determined that a total of , , d stamps were issued and a total of , of the d value. some of both these values were issued with perforation late in or early in . unfortunately there is no means of separating these from the imperforate ones as shown by the official figures but if we use the somewhat rough-and-ready means of reckoning afforded by catalogue quotations it would seem that of the above totals about three million of the d and , of the d were imperforate. the d value, as every collector knows, is a very rare stamp. even had the full supply of , stamps, received in the first and only consignment from the manufacturers on may th, , been issued, it would have been a rare variety, but as a matter of fact, the greater portion of the consignment was destroyed and only were actually issued. an interesting article published in the _metropolitan philatelist_ in shows that this denomination was first issued on june th, , and supplies were made to various post offices as follows:-- no. stamps june th, , hamilton, oct. th, , chippewa, nov. th, , thorold, nov. th, , toronto, mar. th, , montreal, sept. th, , ingersoll, apr. th, , ottawa (then known as bytown), oct. th, , sherbrooke, jan. th, , smith's falls, jan. th, , ottawa, feb. th, , l'islet, feb. th, , ingersoll, mar. nd, , sault s. marie, may th, , port. du fort, oct. st, , rowan mills, oct. th, , melbourne, oct. th, , montreal, dec. th, , smith's falls, total stamps, , the consignment sent to smith's falls on december th, , was the last distributed. while we can trace no official notice referring to the discontinuance of this denomination, or the actual date at which it ceased to be used, the writer of the article referred to above says that the balance of , stamps were destroyed on may st, , "in accordance with the practice of the department in cases of the discontinuance of stamps" though as this was the first canadian stamp to be discontinued, a precedent could hardly have been established. the following interesting excerpt from the _stamp collectors' magazine_ for april, , states that the d value was discontinued in and it also lays considerable stress on the scarcity of used specimens of this stamp, viz:-- one of our readers observing from a reply we made to a correspondent in the last october number, that we were in doubt as to whether the d was ever actually used, has been good enough to write the deputy postmaster-general on the subject and has obtained from him the following reply:-- "ottawa, th october, . "dear sir:--in reply to your note of the th inst., let me say that the twelve penny postage stamps were issued to the public in , but did not find favor, and so few were sold--only a few hundred altogether in three or four years--that they ceased to be issued in . "i am, dear sir, yours very faithfully, "w. a. smyth." this is satisfactorily conclusive as to the emission of the stamp in question; but if even only a few hundreds were used, we are surprised that no used copies turn up. were they used otherwise than for postage? mr. philbrick informs us that no unused copy of the stamp was ever seen by him, nor does he know of its existence. plenty of proofs on india paper, etc., exist, but the paper of the stamp was laid and thin, of a hard texture. an extract from the _stamp collectors' monthly gazette_, published at st. john, new brunswick, in september, , shows that the rarity of the d was already recognised as witnessed by the fact that "even $ " could be obtained for a specimen. we give the paragraph in full:-- this stamp, as some of our readers are aware, was in use but a short time, so short, that many persons even those residing in canada, knew nothing about it. one gentleman living in quebec, to whom we had written on the subject some time ago, informed us that we must have been laboring under some mistake, when we asked him for some particulars about it. he told us that no such stamp was ever issued; but a subsequent letter from him told a totally different tale (as was expected)--he gave us a few facts, and that was all we wanted. it was first intended for postage to england, and was actually used for a time. the postage was afterwards reduced and the d stamp took the place of the d. the latter is now (the genuine) one of the rarest in existence, and very readily obtains such prices as $ . and even $ . for one specimen. proofs are often offered for sale on india paper, with the word 'specimen' written on one side. amateur collections must content themselves with this last, for it is utterly impossible to obtain the real simon pure article for less than the sums we name, and even then, it is doubtful whether it can be had at the price or not. the color of the genuine stamp is black, it is an adhesive, and contains a portrait of queen victoria in an inscribed oval, with figures at corners. all three values of this first set were issued imperforate and while the d, of which at least three millions were issued, varies but little in shade, the d, printed in comparatively small quantities, provides a number of striking tints. in his check-list, mr. howes gives "black-violet, deep-violet, slate-violet, brown-violet, dull purple, slate, black brown, brownish black, and greenish black", and we have no doubt the list could be considerably amplified, though the above should be sufficient for the most exacting of specialists. the catalogue gives two distinct sorts of paper--laid and wove--for all three values, with a sub-variety of the latter, designated "thin", for the d and d denominations. but specialists are not satisfied with this meagre classification and recognise numerous other varieties such as thick white laid, soft white wove, thin and thick grayish, thick hard, thick soft, ribbed, etc. mr. d. a. king, in his article in the _monthly journal_, says, "there are fourteen varieties that we are able to distinguish", and he gives a general classification of their characteristics as follows:-- series i, ii, iv and v.--the texture of these papers is virtually the same, and it is indeed often difficult, particularly in the case of the d, to distinguish between the _laid_ and _wove_ papers. the lines in the _laid_ paper are of a most peculiar character, and cannot, as a rule, be brought fairly out by holding the stamp between one's eyes and the light. the best way to test these two papers is to lay the stamps, face down, on a black surface, and let the light strike them at about an angle of fifteen degrees, when the _laid_ lines are brought most plainly into view. it is necessary, however, to place the specimens so that the light will strike them parallel to their length, as the _laid_ lines run horizontally in the d, and vertically in the d and d. series iii.--this is an entirely different paper to those mentioned above. the _laid_ lines are most distinct, while the paper is of a different texture and color from the regular gray shade. series vi.--the paper of this series is almost as thick as that employed for series xii. there is a vast difference, however, in its appearance, as the paper of series vi. is much harder than that of series xii. it feels greasy when rubbed between the thumb and finger, and the color of the paper is distinctly different from that shown by series xii. series vii, viii and ix.--we are able to divide the thin-ribbed papers into three varieties, which the description plainly indicates. they are very distinct, and can be distinguished by a moment's inspection without hesitation. series x.--this is a very peculiar sort of paper, which is quite fragile, and will not bear much handling. it is quite as soft as that of series vii. series xi.--this paper is also of a peculiar texture; the surface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality is better than series x, although not as tough as series xii. series xii and xiii.--this paper presents, even when looking at the face of the specimens, so entirely different an appearance to that employed in any of the other series, that a reference to the back is hardly necessary. it is found in two thicknesses, which have the same appearance, and seems to have been employed for all the values except the d. series xiv.--we are surprised that this variety has hitherto escaped notice. it is so distinct, both in paper and color, from any of the other d stamps. it has only been found in shades of a peculiarly _brownish purple_ which is a color entirely different from that presented by specimens on any other of the papers employed. it is an exceedingly rare variety. it would indeed be a task for the most intrepid of specialists to try and complete his canadian stamps on such ambitious lines, to say nothing of acquiring the ingenuity necessary to differentiate between them. their philatelic importance is, in our humble opinion, not a matter of very great consequence. at that period, hand-made paper was still being used to a very large extent and even machine-made paper was not manufactured with the nicety of standardisation that is possible with the improved machinery of today. consequently, the sheets of paper, even in such a small commercial quantity as a ream, would generally show considerable variation in texture. thin and thick sheets were frequently mixed to obtain the necessary weight per ream specified in any particular grade of paper. no particular quality of paper was, apparently, specified for the manufacture of these stamps, and so long as it looked much about the same it is very obvious the printers made no particular effort to maintain an exact standard. it is even questionable that the wove and laid varieties mark distinct consignments or printings of the stamps. indeed, so far as the d is concerned at any rate, both varieties must have been included in the same consignment. but, more serious still, from the point of view of those collectors who consider the wove and laid papers should be treated as major varieties, mr. king admits that "the lines in the laid paper are of a most peculiar character" and that "it is often difficult to distinguish between the laid and the wove papers", while mr. howes states, "it happens sometimes that it is quite difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful scrutiny or even the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary to bring out the watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half suspicious way." writing in the _canada stamp sheet_ (vol. iv, page ), concerning the d value, mr. john n. luff stated, "it is my opinion that both the wove and laid papers are quite genuine and i think it is possible that both varieties might occur though there was only one lot sent out by the printers. it does not, of course, follow that the entire batch was printed on the same day or that two varieties of paper may not have been used. the early printers were not always very particular about their paper, provided it was somewhat alike in a general way. some collectors claim that laid paper is often of such nature that the lines do not show in some parts of the sheet, and i believe there is evidence to support this theory." it is quite within the bounds of possibility that the paper generally used for these stamps was intended to be what is known as "wove" to the trade, and that the "laid lines" originated in a purely accidental manner and are rather on the order of the "laid paper" varieties found in connection with the first c and c stamps of sarawak. in short, it is probable that in some sheets at any rate the laid lines showed only in part. at best, therefore, it would appear that the "wove" is but a minor variety of the "laid" or vice versa, and while both varieties, as well as other varieties easily distinguished, such as the very thin and very thick, are of interest to specialists, they throw no light whatsoever on the history of the stamps, and do not, from all the available facts, represent separate printings, so that their _philatelic_ importance (aside from comparative rarity as minor varieties, with its accompanying variation in monetary worth) is not of a particularly high order. one peculiarity resulting from the use of papers of such varying quality is an apparent difference in the size of stamps of the same denomination. for instance, the stamps on the thinner kinds of paper generally measure x mm., while those on thicker paper measure - / x - / mm. and papers of other thicknesses provide still other measurements. these differences in size (fairly considerable in relation to the comparatively small area of a postage stamp) proved very puzzling to collectors of twenty years or so ago for, though it was felt that the stamps came from the same plates, it was at the same time found impossible to account for such varieties, except on the hypothesis that all the impressions of the plate were not all applied alike or that the hardening of the plates before printing resulted in contraction in parts with a consequent variation in the size of different impressions. the same sorts of varieties have been noticed in many other stamps printed by the line engraved process, notably in such stamps as the "pence" ceylons, and proper investigation finally proved beyond a shadow of doubt that these differences in size were due to nothing more than uneven contraction of the paper after printing. it must be understood that in printing stamps by the line-engraved method the paper usually has to be slightly wetted (this was an invariable rule at the time these early canada stamps were printed) and it can be easily seen that the wetting would have quite different results on different qualities of paper. some would be more absorbent than others and would stretch while damp and contract again when drying. the amount of wetting administered would, also, result in differences even in the same qualify of paper. these variations in the size of the design, therefore, while interesting in themselves as examples of paper vagaries, are of little, if any, philatelic importance. bi-sected stamps were not used in canada to anything like the same extent that similar varieties were used in the other british north american provinces. the d is catalogued as having been divided diagonally and the halves used as d stamps, though there can have been no real necessity for such bi-section. a bi-sected stamp of quite another character was mentioned in the _monthly journal_ for april, , as follows:-- the _post office_ describes a so-called "split provisional" of the early d stamp, which is described as consisting of one and a half of the unperforated d on wove, upon an entire envelope postmarked "port hope, july th, , canada, paid c." our contemporary does not appear to perceive that the postmark plainly indicates that the supposed half stamp is really only a badly cut copy; the d of canada passed for cents, and as this letter is plainly marked "paid c", the stamps upon it evidently passed as two d, not as one and a half, which would have corresponded to no rate of postage. the same journal, two months later, made more extended reference to this variety and while its bona-fides as a "split" is established its use as a half stamp is as much a mystery as ever. we cannot do better than give the paragraph in full:-- in the new issues column of our number for april, we called in question the character of a supposed "split" _three pence_ stamp of canada, which had been chronicled in the _post office_, new york. in reply to our criticism, messrs. morgenthau & co., the publishers of that magazine, have most kindly forwarded to us the letter bearing the divided stamp, and have requested our opinion upon it. the specimen is such a curious one and presents, we think, such a puzzle for philatelists, that we have taken the liberty--which we hope its owner will pardon--of having a photographic block made from it, and we give a full size illustration, showing both the stamps and the postmarks, herewith. as our readers may perceive, we were quite wrong in suggesting that the "split" stamp was merely a badly cut copy, as it appears to have been carefully bi-sected diagonally and to have been intended to pass as a half stamp, making up, with the entire stamp to which it is attached, a rate of - / d. if this were all, though the specimen would be a great rarity--indeed, we believe it to be unique--it would not be necessarily a great puzzle to us. it is true that we do not know of any - / d rate in canada, and there never was a - / d stamp in use there; but still, such a rate might have existed, although there was no possible means of making it up except by the use of at least three / d stamps; but the puzzling part about this letter is that it is addressed from port hope in canada to new york, the single rate from canada to the united states was cents; the letter is marked "canada--_paid cts_." by the side of the stamps, and that rate was sixpence in canadian currency. the whole document appears to us to be perfectly genuine and _bona-fide_; we have examined it with a skeptical mind and a powerful magnifying glass, and we can only say that if it is a "fake" it is wonderfully well done. on the other hand, if it is genuine, the half stamp must have done duty as a whole one, because it certainly took two d stamps to make up the cents rate. the puzzle remains a puzzle to us, but we are grateful to messrs. morgenthau for their courteous reply to what may have appeared a captious criticism. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york, on laid or wove paper. imperforate. . d vermilion, scott's no. or no. . . d violet, scott's no. or no. . . d black, scott's no. or no. . the third report of the postmaster-general for canada, dated march st, , refers to a change in the rates of postage on single letters sent abroad and also mentions the possibility of additions to the meagre set of three values then current, viz.:-- in march, , the charge on packet letters between canada and the united kingdom and most foreign countries was reduced by the imperial government from s d sterling to d sterling the / oz., when sent in the closed mails through the united states, and from s sterling to d when sent from a provincial port--quebec and halifax. should no further changes be likely soon to take place in the charges on the correspondence with england, it would promote the public convenience to procure postage stamps of the value of d and - / d respectively, to correspond with the present packet charges. in the postmaster-general's fourth annual report, issued in the following year, the above recommendation was adopted so far as the d value was concerned, for we read:-- to promote the general convenience of the public in prepaying letters to the united kingdom at the new rate, postage stamps of the value of d currency, equal to d sterling, were procured, and issued to the public. [illustration] according to documentary evidence unearthed by messrs. king and howes the plate for this value was made, and the first stamps were printed from it during the last quarter of , for in the post office accounts for that period the item, "rawdon, wright & co., making stamps, £ - - ," appears. according to another list compiled from official sources the stamps did not reach canada until january nd, , and though we know of no official document bearing on the actual date of issue, or of any very early dated cover, in view of the fact that the stamps represented a denomination for which there was an urgent demand, it is only reasonable to suppose that this d value was placed on sale some time during the month of january, . mr. king states that this value was printed in sheets of stamps, arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten, and with the manufacturers' imprint shown eight times on the margins, as in the case of the three stamps previously issued. mr. howes, however, is of the opinion that these d stamps were printed in sheets of , rows of twelve each, like the - / d value issued later, and in support of his theory points out that the quantities delivered in the first supply ( , ) and second supply ( , ) are exactly divisible by into and full sheets respectively, whereas neither of these numbers is divisible by into an even number of complete sheets. in view of the absence of positive evidence in the shape of an entire sheet or full horizontal row of stamps, it must be admitted that there is much to be said in favor of mr. howes' theory. it will be noted the stamps have the values expressed in english currency, and the almost universal rule for stamps printed with values in shillings or pence, has been sheets of , , or owing to the fact that with such an arrangement reckoning in this currency is greatly simplified. the design corresponds in its general appearance to the d and d of though the portrait in the central oval is of jacques cartier, the discoverer of canada. in the 'eighties there was some little discussion regarding the portrait on this d stamp some claiming it was not intended to represent cartier, but sebastian cabot. a writer on the _halifax philatelist_ for says: "it is identically the same as all the existing portraits of jacques cartier, and totally unlike those existing of sebastian cabot. the style of dress and the way the beard is worn is that of the sixteenth century, instead of the fifteenth. there is a very rare and old print of sebastian cabot, taken from the original painting in the possession of charles jost harford, esq., in the legislative library at halifax, and anything more dissimilar to the face on the pence stamp cannot be imagined." the official notice announcing the issue of the stamp, to which we have already referred, makes no mention of the design at all but the portrait is undoubtedly that of cartier and mr. howes tells us that the original is a "three-quarter length portrait in the hotel de ville at st. malo, france, the birthplace of cartier." jacques cartier was born at st. malo, as stated above, in . in he sailed with two small vessels on a voyage of discovery, touching at newfoundland, and discovering new brunswick. in a second voyage ( - ) he explored the st. lawrence, and took possession of the land he discovered in the name of francis i of france. he made a third voyage in and died in . the words canada postage and tenpence on the inscribed oval frame are separated by a small beaver at the right and three maple leaves at the left. in the lower corners are the numerals " " followed by "cy" for currency, while in each of the upper angles is " d stg", representing the equivalent value in sterling. only the two supplies of this value, mentioned previously, were printed making a total of , stamps. when the decimal currency was introduced there was a balance on hand of , , which were afterwards destroyed so that the total quantity of d stamps issued was , . a double-transfer variety of this denomination is described by mr. howes as follows:-- in this case we find the letters a d a and s of "canada postage", and p e n of "pence"' showing a distinct doubling at the bottom, the transfer roller having been set a little too high at first and a very slight impression made on the plate. the stamp has not been seen in a pair to prove its character absolutely, but it bears all the ear-marks of being a proper plate variety and not due to a careless impression when printing. the postmaster general's report dated sept. th, , refers to the many benefits accruing to both the department and the public by the increased use of postage stamps in the prepayment of postal charges and also mentions the issue of two new denominations, viz:-- there is a very material economy of labor to the department in dealing with letters prepaid by stamp as compared with letters on which the postage is collected in money, as well as a manifest gain to the public, in the increased facilities which prepayment by stamp enables the post office to afford for posting and delivering letters so prepaid. it is gratifying, therefore, to observe that the use of stamps is gradually gaining ground, encouraging as it does the hope that it may be found practicable and expedient ere long to make prepayment by stamp the prevailing rule in canada, as it has for sometime been in, the united kingdom, in france, and in the united states. a reduction in the charge of book post packets when not exceeding oz. in weight, between canada and the united kingdom of one-half the former rate has been made. to facilitate the prepayment of letters passing from canada to england by the canadian steamers, a new stamp bearing value of pence sterling, or - / pence currency, being the canadian packet rate, has been secured and put in circulation. a new stamp has also been introduced of the value of one halfpenny to serve as the medium for prepaying transient newspapers. moreover, the department has been led, by the increasing use of postage stamps, to take measures for obtaining the canadian postage stamps in sheets perforated in the dividing lines, in the manner adopted in england, to facilitate the separation of a single stamp from the others on a sheet when required for use. it will thus be seen that the - / d value, which was recommended three years earlier (at the time the d was issued), materialised at last, though there appears to be no official record bearing on the date the new value was placed on sale to the public. the volume dealing with the postage stamps of british north america, published by the royal philatelic society some twenty years ago, gives the date of issue as june nd, , though no authority for this statement is given. [illustration] the design was adapted from that of the discarded d of , the same portrait of queen victoria adorning the central oval. the inscribed band around this contains the words canada packet postage at the top, and six pence sterling at the bottom, the two inscriptions occupying so much space that there was no room for dividing ornaments of any kind. in the upper and lower left hand corners is " d stg." and in the right hand corners " - / d cy." is shown. a word of explanation regarding the use of the word packet in the inscription is necessary. this does not refer to any parcel post (indeed, there was no parcel post at that period) as has sometimes been erroneously asserted, but refers to the fast mail steamers of the day which were then known as "packets". this denomination, as shown by the extract from the postmaster-general's report printed above, was intended for use on single letters sent to england via the canadian packets. this - / d stamp was, according to mr. howes, printed in sheets of arranged in ten horizontal rows of twelve each, each sheet showing the imprint of the manufacturers eight times on the margins as in the case of the values issued previous to . only one consignment, consisting of sheets ( , stamps) was received, and as , of these were still on hand when the decimal currency was introduced in , a simple calculation will show that the total quantity issued was , stamps. although there had been a real need for a halfpenny value since the first adhesives made their appearance in canada--as shown by several rates it was impossible to prepay in stamps without them--it was not until that a stamp of this denomination was placed in use. the following circular announced their impending issue:-- postage on newspapers and periodicals. post office department. toronto. _ th july, ._ under the post office law of last session taking effect from st august, , newspapers printed and published in canada, and mailed direct from office of publication, will pass free of canadian postage. periodicals so printed, published, and mailed when specially devoted to religious and to general education, to agriculture, or temperance, or to any branch of science, will pass free from any one post-office to another within the province. transient and re-mailed papers and periodicals will pass by post if prepaid by postage stamp--one halfpenny if not exceeding oz. in weight, and d if over oz. postage stamps of the value of one halfpenny each will be sold to the public at all the principal post offices (including all money order offices), with a discount of per cent. upon purchases of not less than twenty stamps and will be available in prepayment of newspapers and periodicals, and of drop and town letters. r. spence, postmaster-general. the royal philatelic society's book gives the date of the above notice--july th, --as the date of issue of the new stamp but, as mr. howes observes "it is more likely that the stamp was issued on st august, the day the new rates took effect." although this stamp is generally conceded to be the last of the "pence" values to be issued, until more definite information regarding the date of issue of the - / d can be procured, this supposition can rest on no more substantial basis than that of mere conjecture. [illustration] the design is quite unlike that of any of the other values expressed in pence and consists of the conventional profile portrait of the queen shown on so many of the stamps of the british empire, within an oval band inscribed canada postage, at the top, and one half penny, at the bottom. there are no numerals or inscriptions in the corners but merely a plain pattern of diagonally crossed lines. mr. howes states "the stamp was printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten, with the right marginal imprints as described for the series of ." from the postmaster-general's report we gather that , , halfpenny stamps were received prior to october st, , though whether these were all in one consignment or not is not quite clear. at any rate judging from the statement in the same report that "the department has been led to take measures for obtaining ... sheets perforated" it would appear that the above quantity comprised all the imperforate stamps of this denomination. on the other hand the total number of halfpenny stamps issued was , , and catalogue quotations for the imperforate and the perforated varieties hardly bear out the supposition that only the first lot were issued without perforation. while the d value is found on several sorts of paper no such extreme variation is provided as in the case of the stamps of . the - / d and / d values, printed at a later date, provide still fewer varieties, which would seem to indicate that as time progressed the manufacturers exercised a nicer discrimination in their choice of paper. most of the stamps seem to have been printed on a hard wove paper, varying a little in thickness; the d is found on a very thin paper; and the / d is recorded on ribbed paper, though whether this is a true "ribbed" variety or merely the result of some peculiarity in printing is open to discussion. as the ribbed lines are anything but distinct, though the paper showing this peculiarity is a little softer than that generally used, it is more than likely that the ribbing was purely accidental. owing to the differing qualities of paper used the same idiosyncrasies of measurement in the size of the designs may be noted, especially in the case of the d as was referred to in a previous chapter. but as all variations of this character in stamps printed from line-engraved plates were long ago conclusively proved to be due to nothing more exciting than paper shrinkage it is hardly worth while wearying our readers with a resurrection of all that has been written on the subject leading up to the proof. while examples showing the extremes of size are of interest in a specialised collection little can be said in favor of their philatelic value. _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york, on wove paper. imperforate. . / d pink, scott's no. . . - / d green, scott's no. . . d blue, scott's no. . chapter v.--_the perforated pence stamps._ in the report of the postmaster-general for september th, , to which we have already made reference, we read:-- moreover, the department has been led, by the increasing use of postage stamps, to take measures for obtaining the canadian postage stamps in sheets perforated in the dividing lines, in the manner adopted in england, to facilitate the separation of a single stamp from the others on a sheet when required for use. from the above statement, one would naturally infer that such a useful innovation would be adopted at once, especially so when it is considered that the utility and convenience of perforation had already been amply tested and had proved eminently satisfactory in england. unfortunately, no further mention of perforation is made in the reports of succeeding years, and this absence of direct official evidence combined with the existence of certain facts has given rise to much theorising as to the actual date of issue of the perforated varieties, and as to whether the perforation was applied by the manufacturers of the stamps, by the canadian government, or by private parties in canada. mr. donald a. king in his article in the _monthly journal_ says:-- it is an open question whether these stamps were delivered to the canadian post office department in a perforated condition or not. the manufacturers are wholly unable to throw any light on the subject; and while there is much to be said in favor of their having perforated the stamps, there are points against it almost as strong. in favor of it there is the fact that, at the date that these stamps were issued, it was more than probable that a firm like the manufacturers would have perforating machines. the normal gauge of the perforated set is , that being the only size ever used by the manufacturers, or their successors, the american bank note company; indeed, they call their standard and only gauge. on the other hand, we find that there are perforated stamps of the first series issued, viz., the d on _laid_ paper; also, that there exist two different varieties of perforation that were never used by the makers, viz., one gauging , and another that is described in the _american journal of philately_ for january, , as follows:-- "canada.--in a large lot of pence issues, purchased by us lately, we have found two copies of the d. on greyish wove paper, perforated , with oblique parallel cuts. this seems to confirm the theory that the pence issues of canada were not perforated by the manufacturers, but either by the canadian government, or by some persons authorized by them, who most likely experimented with different perforating machines, finally selecting the one perforating ." considering these facts, it may be that the stamps were sent to canada in an imperforate condition, and that the post office department had them perforated there, either buying a perforating machine, or entrusting them to some manufacturers of stationery. perforations gauging and may have been experimental, as specimens of these varieties are rare; perforation being adopted as giving the best results, the other sizes not being at all clearly cut, as the generally is. all the stock of / d, d and d on hand would, in this case, have been perforated, which might account for the copy of the d on laid paper that is known in this condition. there always remains the query why the - / d and d were not treated in the same manner, and to this no answer can be given. probably the safest theory to advance, and the one that i think is correct, is that the gauge was the official one used by the manufacturers, and that the and were the result of private enterprise by people using large quantities of stamps, and they may possibly antedate the regularly perforated issue. this point can only be settled by copies being found on the original covers. in commenting on the above it will save undue confusion if we state that the copy of the perforated d on laid paper to which mr. king refers was proved to be a forgery as shown by the following extract from the _american journal of philately_ for :-- there is no longer any mystery in regard to the origin of that _great rarity!_ the perforated pence on laid paper, these stamps having been perforated for four or five years in the shop of messrs. benjamin, sarpy & co., cullum street, london, who openly boast of having manufactured and sold those in the collection of the late hon. t. k. tapling and other prominent collectors. with regard to the varieties perforated and --while these are undoubtedly rare, all the evidence strongly points to the fact that they are unofficial varieties, a statement, we believe, which has never been seriously combated by students of the early canadian stamps. thus, most of the "contrary" evidence adduced by mr. king carries no weight with it at all. the most interesting point he raises is the fact that, though the - / d and d denominations were current at the same time as the / d, d and d, these values were not perforated. so far as the d is concerned this seems all the more strange when it is considered that one supply of this value was certainly printed after september, , the date of the report mentioning the adoption of perforation. mr. howes has made diligent search through official records and carefully scanned itemised reports of more or less petty expenditures, and he was unable to find any reference whatsoever to a disbursement such as would have been necessary had the government purchased a perforating machine or had the stamps perforated by some private concern. it is, therefore, unquestionable that the natural course--i. e., that the manufacturers should perforate the stamps--was the one followed. the real root cause of all the problems surrounding these perforated stamps seems to lie in the general acceptance of the assumption that they were issued in or early in --an assumption that appears to be entirely devoid of the support of tangible facts when the matter is scrutinised thoroughly. mr. howes has delved into the subject with his usual thoroughness and his deductions are so well founded that we imagine no unbiased student will venture to do other than agree that his findings are fully borne out by the history of the stamps so far as we know it. we, therefore, make no apology for reproducing his arguments in full:-- the date usually assigned to the appearance of the perforated stamps is january, . the london society gave simply " ," which is apparently set down merely because they have just quoted the announcement from the postmaster general's report for that year. evans and moens, in their catalogues, both name the date as november, . unfortunately, no more authoritative statement has been found, except that in messrs. corwin and king's article they say "mr. hooper positively states that it took place in january, ." mr. john r. hooper was at that time ( ) connected with the canadian post office department at ottawa and took pains to look up much information for the above-mentioned gentlemen. his reasons for the "positive statement" are not given, and inasmuch as he is quoted elsewhere as saying that "the records of the post office department are silent as to where this perforation was performed and by whom," and also seems a little uncertain in some other details, we feel that further confirmation is needed. in our table above we have given the supplies received after the th september, , and deducted the remainders so as to have the actual number issued. the d has already proved a stumbling block, for it was not perforated at all! next we find the d to the number of , , when the total issue, including the laid paper, was but , ; yet the catalogue value of the imperforates is some $ for each variety, and of the perforated stamp at least $ ! can anyone doubt that all these , d stamps were _not_ perforated? in the case of the d we have one and a third millions to compare with a total issue of three and a half millions--about a third in the supposed perforated class. yet the catalogue value of the latter is $ . against cents for the wove paper imperforate alone. with the / d stamp there are two millions against a total of three and a third millions, or about two to one in favor of the supposed perforated stamps, yet the latter are double the catalogue price of the former! the only conclusion to be drawn from these regularly appearing inconsistencies in each value is that all the supplies after th september, , were _not_ perforated, as the d stamp very glaringly intimates! if this be so, is it not possible that the order to perforate the new supplies was given to the manufacturers much later than has hitherto been thought to be the case? it hardly seems likely that this improvement would be ordered for a few supplies and then dropped, only to re-appear a year and a half later as a permanent feature of the new set. once adopted it was more than likely to be retained. let us see, then, just for curiosity's sake, what the supplies of the last six months of issue yield us for data. for the / d we find , roughly, with , remainders. call it , issued which, if perforated, would be a quarter of the total issue of / d stamps, or a ratio to the imperforates of one to three. this is not so far away from the catalogue ratio of two to one (inversely, of course,) in the value of the perforated stamps. with the d stamp we have , roughly, with , remainders, say , issued. of a total issue of , , this represents one-eighth, or a ratio of one to seven. the inverse ratio of seven to one for catalogue value comes pretty close when we compare $ . with cents! in the case of the d there are , , less , remainders, or , . this is approximately one-eighth the total issue of , , or again a ratio of one in seven. the inverse ratio of seven to one for a catalogue value would make the perforated stamp list $ with the imperforate at $ . but both laid and wove paper d stamps list at approximately $ , whereas, if all had been issued on but one variety of paper, we might find, perhaps, a single list price of, say $ . with this as a basis, the catalogue value of $ for the perforated d is in as close agreement with our supposition as are the others. and, best of all, the second supply of the d stamp is disposed of without any difficulty whatever under this hypothesis! it may be argued that reasoning thus from catalogue prices is too uncertain to prove of value. granted in many cases. but here is an issue from fifty to sixty years old; the stamps were regularly used in increasing numbers during their years of issue; they have always been popular and eagerly collected, so that the stock in existence has been pretty well handled and pretty well distributed. under these conditions the catalogue prices should by this time reflect fairly accurately the _relative_ rarity of the main varieties of each stamp at least; and it is this relative rarity that we are after in order to approximate the original supplies of the main varieties. the result is certainly of more than mere interest, the agreement being such that we are tempted to lay down the following propositions in regard to the perforated stamps for further proof or disproof:-- _first._ the regular perforation (gauge ) was done by the manufacturers and applied to the last requisitions previous to the change to decimal stamps. _second._ the date of the supposed issue of the perforated stamps should be changed from january, , to november, , or january, . _third._ the quantities of perforated stamps issued are placed approximately at:-- / d, , ; d, , ; d. , . in further support of the above postulates, we must say that every cover bearing any one of the three perforated stamps which we have been able to get a satisfactory date from has been postmarked in _ !_ not one has yet been seen which bore a date in even, and one d from the seybold collection, which was dated at brantford, december , , turned out to be bad. of course, perforated stamps are hard to find on original covers, but it is curious that so far not one has upset the theory we have laid down. these three perforated stamps do not provide much variation in the quality of the paper. most of the stamps are found on a hard wove paper, varying slightly in thickness, and though the / d and d are listed on ribbed paper, we venture to doubt that this is a true ribbed paper for the reasons set forth in our last chapter. mr. king records the d bi-sected diagonally and the halves used as d stamps, but, as in the case of the similar variety in the imperforate issues, there could have been no real need for such bi-section. _reference list._ - . stamps of preceding issues perforated . . / d pink, scott's no. . . d red, scott's no. . . d violet, scott's no. . chapter vi.--_the first "cents" issue._ while the somewhat cumbrous english currency of pounds, shillings and pence has presented little or no difficulty in those parts of the empire where it has always been on the same basis as in the mother country, the fact that in canada it had two valuations--"currency" and "sterling"--made it an inevitable conclusion that a change would have to be made sooner or later. the close proximity of canada to the united states gave it a very practical illustration of the advantages of a decimal system of money; the american currency of dollars and cents was legalised in the province of canada in ; and it is, therefore, small matter for wonder that ultimately a decimal system of currency similar to that in vogue in the united states was adopted. this change took place in and the postmaster-general's report for that year alluded to the necessary changes in the postage stamps as follows: the law of last session directing the conversion of all postage rates into decimals, and the collection of postage in the new decimal currency, was put in operation on the st july. decimal stamps of the value of cent, cents, and cents for ordinary correspondence, and of - / cents for canadian, and of cents for british packet postage rates were obtained in readiness for the commencement of the decimal postage law in july, , and have from that date been issued in lieu of the stamps previously in use. the law referred to on the above mentioned report was assented to on may th, , and as some of the provisions are of philatelic interest we reproduce them as follows:-- .--there shall be payable on all newspapers sent by post in canada, except "exchange papers" addressed to editors and publishers of newspapers, such rate of postage, not exceeding one cent on each such newspaper, as the governor in council shall from time to time direct by regulation and such rate shall be payable on all such newspapers, posted on or after the first day of july next. .--so much of any act as provides that newspapers posted within this province shall pass free of postage, in cases other than those in which they will be free under this act is hereby repealed. .--in order to adapt the operations of the post office to the decimal currency, the internal letter postage rate shall be changed from three pence to its equivalent of five cents, per half ounce--the charge for advertising a dead letter from three farthings to two cents--the charge for returning a dead letter to the writer, from one penny to three cents; and in all cases where a one halfpenny or penny rate of postage is chargeable, these rates shall be changed to one cent and two cents respectively. .--to promote simplicity and economy in the business of the post office, all letters posted in canada for any place within the province, and not prepaid, shall be charged seven instead of five cents per half ounce on delivery; and on letters posted for the british mails, for the other british north american provinces, or for the united states, when not prepaid, there shall be charged such addition to the ordinary rate, not in any case exceeding a double rate, as the post master general may agree upon with the post office authorities of those countries, for the purpose of enforcing prepayment. .--the post master general may establish a parcel post and parcels other than letters and not containing letters, may be sent by such parcel post, and when so sent shall be liable to such charges for conveyance and to such regulations as the governor in council shall from time to time see fit to make. it will be noted that the above act, aside from showing the rates in the new currency as compared with the old, provides for a greater limitation of the privilege of free transmission of newspapers, and also provides for the establishment of a parcel post. no further reference seems to have been made to the parcel post until the postmaster-general's report for june th, , where it is stated:-- by means of the parcel post a parcel may be sent within the province to or from any place, however remote from the ordinary lines of traffic conveyance, on prepayment of a postage rate of cents per lb., provided that the weight or size of the parcel does not exceed the carrying capacity of an ordinary mail bag; and provided that the contents of the parcel are not of a character to injure the rest of the mail. later the parcel post system was extended so that it embraced the sister provinces of new brunswick and nova scotia, the rate remaining at c per lb. apparently the weight and size of a parcel acceptable by the postal authorities still remained delightfully vague and indefinite and was simply limited by "the carrying capacity of an ordinary mail bag." [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] as we have seen from the postmaster-general's report for the first "cents" stamps were placed in use on july st of that year. the series comprised the values c, c, c, - / c and c these corresponding to the / d, d, d, - / d and d denominations previously in use. the designs of the new stamps were adapted from those of the corresponding values of the old issue as a comparison of the two series will amply demonstrate. the c differs from the / d only in the words denoting the value below the portrait. the c differs from the d not only as regards the new inscription of value but has small ornaments on the oval band dividing canada postage from five cents. in the corners the numerals " ," replacing " ," are placed in an oblique position on a ground of crossed lines. the c differs from the d in having the corner numerals (represented by the roman "x") placed obliquely on a cross hatched ground instead of upright on a ground of foliate ornamentation, while ten cents replaces six pence under the portrait. the - / c differs from the - / d only as regards the corners where " - / c" replaces the former values of " d. stg" and " - / d cy". on the new c the words of value required so much more room than the ten pence on the old denomination that the emblems between the upper and lower inscriptions on the oval were retired in favor of small elliptical ornaments. the upper corners were unaltered but in the lower ones " cy" was removed and " " substituted. [illustration] it is obvious that the original dies were made use of in each case, the central portions being retained and new orders engraved. the stamps were manufactured by the american bank note company, of new york, which firm had succeeded to the business established by messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch and edson. the new firm name came into effect on may st, . the stamps were printed in sheets of by the line-engraved process the manufacturers' imprint, "american bank note co., new york" appearing twice in each margin in very small letters. for some reason or other no imprint was applied to the plate for the c value. in the law relating to the adoption of decimal currency, reproduced above, we read in section that "in all cases where a one-half penny or penny rate of postage is chargeable, these rates shall be changed to one cent and two cents respectively." yet, though a c stamp was included in the series in no c made its appearance until . this new value was issued on august st, , according to the postmaster-general's report for that year while the report for the following year states that "a provision has been made for the transmission and delivery of canadian periodicals, addressed to the united kingdom, at the reduced rate of two cents each" and it is probably due to the increased demand for the c denomination under this new rate that the stamp made its appearance. [illustration] the design was evidently copied from the c though the addition of numerals in each of the lower corners gives it a strikingly different appearance from that of the lower value. curiously enough the c was printed in almost the same color as the c and in commenting on this fact the _stamp collectors' magazine_ for october st, , stated:-- we are surprised that a different hue was not chosen for the cents, and should imagine its great similarity to the cent, should the latter not be withdrawn from circulation, would tend to create confusion. this new denomination was printed in sheets of like the others of the series, and also had eight imprints in the margins. a close study of these stamps should reveal many points of interest. for many years a double transfer of the c, of a similar character to that found on its predecessor the d has been known. this is recorded in scott's catalogue as a "double transfer" while gibbons notes it as a variety "with extra line in outer oval at left". this variety, which is simply the most prominent of many double transfers found in connection with this c stamp, shows the outer line of the oval at left distinctly doubled, and the frame lines above are also double. other varieties which, though not so prominent, are of equal philatelic importance are found. we have seen the following and have no doubt many others exist:-- ( ) there are distinct traces of doubling in the letters ada and post of canada postage, in the numerals in the upper angles, and of the lines of the oval band. ( ) there is a faint doubling of the outer frame lines at the top right hand corner. ( ) there is a similar doubling of the outer frame lines affecting the lower right hand corner. ( ) the lines of the oval band are faintly doubled at the lower left. ( ) the letters post of postage, the " " above, and the lines of oval and frame all show distinct signs of double transferring. ( ) this double transfer affects the lines, numeral, and letters nada of canada at the upper left corner and while not so distinct as no. is nevertheless a true plate variety. we have found no traces of double transfers in the other denominations except a slight one on the - / c. this shows a slight doubling of the frame lines in the top left corner, as well as traces of colored lines in the adjacent " - / c". it is quite probable that any collector having sufficient material would find "doubles" in all of these values. in laying down the impressions on the plate or plates for the c value a guide dot was applied to the transfer roll. this occupied such a position that as each succeeding impression was applied to the plate it fell so that the guide dot would fall about the centre of the c of cents. consequently, the vast majority of these stamps show a conspicuous dot of color in the position indicated. the stamps without the colored dot are, usually, those from the extreme left vertical row of the sheet. on this same value--the c--we have seen specimens with colored dots outside and slightly to the left of the lower left corner. these are possibly plate dots marked to indicate where each row should commence. varieties with broken frame lines are not uncommon and these may be due in part to defective transfers and in part to wear. extreme wear is also shown, in some instances, by the numerals appearing on an almost plain ground. whether guide dots were used for the other denominations or not we cannot say. at any rate if they were used they were applied in such a position as to be completely hidden by some part or other of the designs. a small peculiarity in the c is worth noting. on the majority of specimens there is a slight defect or break in the outer line of the oval band above and to the right of the o of postage. this is probably due to a minute defect on the transfer-roll impression. many specimens of the - / c value show the tongue of the e of postage the same length as the upper and lower arms though the end is generally covered with a colored smudge. we are at a loss to account for the cause of this variety but that it is a "constant" one we have satisfied ourselves by the examination of a number of identical specimens. the c also exhibits a small peculiarity of engraving. a colored line projects upwards into the uncolored oval band above the space between os of postage. this was evidently caused by an accidental touch of the engraver's tool on the die for it is quite distinct on every specimen we have examined. the paper upon which the stamps of this series were printed does not provide so much variation as that of the earlier emissions. mr. d. a. king in his article in the _monthly journal_ says: the papers upon which these stamps are printed may be divided into five classes: i.--ordinary, coarse, white wove paper. ii.--similar paper, of a yellowish tint, and slightly ribbed. iii.--a hard greyish paper, very slightly ribbed. iv.--white wove paper, very slightly ribbed. v.--a white paper, very hard and closely ribbed. in addition we are told that all the above varieties come in at least two thicknesses. scott's catalogue is content with a classification of "wove" paper with a sub-variety of "ribbed" for the c and c denominations. mr. howes extends the "ribbed" variety to all values but, as we have pointed out in earlier chapters, it is extremely unlikely that any such variety as a real ribbed paper was used, the ribbed lines being simply due to some idiosyncrasy of manufacture. to again quote mr. king: the best way to distinguish this paper from the others that have the appearance of ribbing, is to hold the stamp before a strong light, when the ribbing will appear like fine horizontal laid lines on the c, and vertical laid lines in the other values. looking through the paper is the only sure test, as many of the stamps on the other papers have the appearance of being ribbed. to differentiate between stamps on ribbed paper and those having the "appearance" of being ribbed is surely getting very close to the ridiculous. with the exception of the c the stamps of this issue provide but little variation in shade but the c more than makes up for this lack in the others for it exists in almost every conceivable tint from bright red-lilac through shades of violet and brown to a brown so intense as to be catalogued as a distinct variety described as "black-brown". all the stamps of this series were normally perforated by single line machines. all values are known entirely imperforate and it would seem that these, or most of them, are perfectly legitimate errors. the _philatelic record_ for october, , says:--"we have seen a used _imperforate_ copy of the cents, , which is beyond challenge". mr. king states:--"the imperforate varieties are all legitimate, and undoubtedly genuine, having been seen in pairs, or in single copies with margins beyond cavil". mr. charles l. pack writing in the _london philatelist_ regarding these varieties says:-- i have the c and c postmarked in and at toronto and prescott, canada west. i also believe that these varieties were on sale at kingston, canada west, at about that time. i have also the c and c in undoubtedly early used condition. bi-sected varieties of the c and c of this issue are known though, as mr. howes states of these varieties, they "were never authorised and seldom used". the _philatelic record_ for october, , mentions a part of a cover with a c and half of a c side by side which were evidently used in prepayment of the - / c rate, while mr. howes records the existence of a pair of the c used with a half stamp of the same denomination to make up the - / c packet rate. the same writer records a diagonal half of the c used as a c stamp from bowmanville, upper canada, on february th, . whether these "splits" were the work of private parties or were made by postal officials to fill a temporary shortage of certain values will probably never be known. _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., new york, on white wove paper. perforated . . c pink, scott's no. . . c rose, scott's no. . . c vermilion, scott's no. . . c lilac, scott's no. . . - / c green, scott's no. . . c blue, scott's no. . chapter vii.--_the first dominion issue._ the steady growth of upper canada, chiefly due to immigration, until it had twice the population of its sister province, lower canada, aroused cries for a readjusted representation, which threatened the french with a hopeless minority in parliament and the country with another impasse. the federation of all the provinces under something like the american system was the only solution; and with, for the most part, the cordial coöperation of the maritime provinces, the great scheme was carried through, and the new dominion launched in . each province retained its local autonomy and separate legislature under a lieutenant-governor, always a canadian, nominated by the federal executive. to the latter was reserved all great affairs, such as defense, customs, crown lands, indians, and the organisation of the vast western territories then just beginning to open up. the famous sir john macdonald, the most illustrious of canadian statesmen, was prominent in the federal movement, as also was sir charles tupper. a final meeting was held in london, and early in the british north america act was passed through the imperial parliament. the new capital was fixed at bytown, a small town up the ottawa well removed from the frontier, fairly central to all the provinces, and felicitously rechristened ottawa. here were erected the stately houses of parliament for senate, commons, and the entire government staff, familiar to all travellers, and there, too, the governor-general of all british north america took up his residence, lord monck being the first to hold this high office, and sir john macdonald the first premier. the british north america act, referred to above, provided for the division of the dominion of canada into four provinces named ontario, quebec, nova scotia and new brunswick and also made provision for the admission of newfoundland, prince edward island, british columbia, etc., when such admission should be deemed advisable. the act went into force on july st, , and as a mark of the importance of this event the first day of july is now a national holiday known as "dominion day". it only remains to say that prince edward island, british columbia and manitoba (not then organised) came into the federation shortly afterwards. one of the chief duties of the first parliament, which met at ottawa on november th, , was the revision and consolidation of the laws of the various provinces now federated, and amongst these were, of course, the laws relating to the post office. the act passed for the regulation of the postal service is a lengthy one and the only provisions of special interest to us as philatelists, those relating to the rates of postage,--are more clearly and definitely tabulated in a department order issued from ottawa on march st, , to which we shall make reference later. before doing so, however, we make a short extract from the post office act insofar as it relates to definitions of various terms and expressions, viz.:-- the term "letter" includes packets of letters; the term "postage" means the duty or sum chargeable for the conveyance of post letters, packets and other things by post; the term "foreign country" means any country not included in the dominions of her majesty; the term "foreign postage" means the postage on the conveyance of letters, packets or other things, within any foreign country or payable to any foreign government; the term "canada postage" means the postage on the conveyance of letters, packets and other things by post within the dominion of canada or by canada mail packet; the term "mail" includes every conveyance by which post letters are carried, whether it be by land or water; the term "british packet postage" means the postage due on the conveyance of letters by british packet boats, between the united kingdom and british north america:--and the term "british postage" includes all postage not being foreign, colonial or canadian; the term "post letter" means any letter transmitted or deposited in any post office to be transmitted by post:--and a letter shall be deemed a post letter from the time of its being deposited or delivered at a post office, to the time of its being delivered to the party to whom it is addressed. the department order addressed to "all postmasters, and other persons employed in the postal service of canada" dealt chiefly with the rates of postage and as these are important we feel it is necessary to reproduce most of this rather lengthy document _in extenso:_-- principal rates of postage. letters. .--on letters passing between any two places within the dominion of canada, a uniform rate (irrespective of distance), of three cents per / oz., if prepaid; and five cents per / oz. if unpaid. .--on letters between any place in the dominion and any place in the united states, cents per / oz., if prepaid; and ten cents per / oz. if unpaid. .--on letters to or from the united kingdom, in mails by canada packets, to or from quebec in summer, or portland in winter; or by mail packet to or from halifax, - / c per / oz. on do. in mails via new york packet, cents per / oz. on letters to prince edward island, if prepaid, cents per / oz.; if posted unpaid, cents per / oz. on letters to newfoundland, to be in all cases prepaid, - / c per / oz. on letters to british columbia and vancouver island, in all cases to be prepaid, cents per / oz. on letters to red river, to be in all cases prepaid, cents per / oz. newspaper rates. .--newspapers printed and published in canada may be sent by post from the office of publication to any place in canada at the following rates, if paid quarterly in advance, either by the publisher, at the post office where the papers are posted, or by the subscriber, at the post office where the papers are delivered:-- for a paper published once a week, cents per quarter of a year. for a paper published twice a week, cents per quarter. for a paper published three times, cents per quarter. for a paper published six times, cents per quarter. if the above rates are prepaid by the publisher, the postmaster receiving payment must be careful to have the papers so prepaid separately put up, and marked, distinctly, as prepaid. when the above rates are not prepaid in advance, by either the publisher at the office of posting or by the subscriber at the office of delivery, the papers are to be charged one cent each on delivery. .--canadian newspapers, addressed from the office of publication to subscribers in the united kingdom, the united states, prince edward island and newfoundland, may be forwarded, on prepayment at the office in canada where posted, at the above commuted rates, applicable to such papers within the dominion. .--exchange papers passing between publishers in canada, between publishers in canada and publishers in the united states, prince edward island and newfoundland, are to pass free--one copy of each paper to each publisher. .--transient newspapers include all newspapers posted in canada, other than canadian newspapers sent from the office of publication, and when addressed to any place within the dominion, to the united kingdom, to the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland, must be prepaid two cents each by postage stamp. .--newspapers coming into canada will be subject to the following charges on delivery:-- if from the united kingdom, by mail packet to quebec, halifax or portland--free on delivery. by mails via the united states (new york), two cents each. if from the united states, two cents each, to be rated at the canada frontier, or exchange office receiving mails from the united states. if from prince edward island or newfoundland, when received by regular subscribers in canada from the office of publication, the ordinary commuted rates applicable to canada newspapers. transient papers--two cents each. .--the canada postage rates on newspapers coming or going to the united kingdom and the united states, will thus be the same as those charged in the united kingdom and the united states on newspapers there received from or sent to canada. .--canada news agents may post to regular subscribers in canada, british newspapers free, and united states newspapers unpaid, such papers in the latter case, must be duly rated two cents each for collection on delivery. printed papers, circulars, prices current, hand bills, books, pamphlets. .--the rate on printed matter of this description posted in canada, and addressed to any place in canada, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states, will be one cent per ounce, to be prepaid by postage stamp; and a like rate will be payable on delivery, when received from the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland. periodical publications. .--when posted in canada, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states, the rate will be one cent per four ounces. .--a like rate will be payable on delivery in canada, when received for the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland. .--periodicals weighing less than one ounce per number, when posted in canada for any place within the dominion, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states may, when put up singly, pass for one-half cent per number, to be prepaid by postage stamp. .--as the postage rates on periodicals, other than newspapers, will be payable in advance, and as certain classes of such periodicals, printed and published in canada, and sent from the office of publication to regular subscribers, have for some time past been exempted from postage when exclusively devoted to the education of youth, to temperance, agriculture and science, or for other reasons, it is ordered, that with respect to periodicals which do now enjoy this privilege or exemption, the exemption shall continue until the expiration of the current year--that is, until the st december, , and that from the st january, , all such special exemptions and privileges shall cease. parcel post. .--the rate on parcels, by parcel post, will be - / cents per ounces, that is to say:-- on a parcel not exceeding oz., - / cents. over oz., and not exceeding lb., cents. over lb. and not exceeding oz., - / cents. and so on, to the limit of three lbs. book and newspaper manuscript, and other miscellaneous matter. . on book and newspaper manuscript (meaning written articles intended for insertion in a newspaper or periodical, and addressed to the editor or publisher thereof, for insertion), printers' proof sheets, whether corrected or not, maps, prints, drawings, engravings, music, whether printed or written, packages of seeds, cuttings, roots, scions or grafts, and botanical specimens, the rate will be cent per ounce, when posted for any place in canada or the united states, and prepaid by postage stamp. postage stamps. .--to enable the public to prepay conveniently by postage stamps the foregoing rates, the following denominations of postage stamps for use throughout the dominion, have been prepared, and will be supplied to postmasters for sale:-- half cent stamps } one cent do. } two cent do. } all bearing, three cent do. } as a device, six cent do. } the effigy twelve and a half cent do. } of her majesty. fifteen cent do. } .--the postage stamps now in use in the several provinces may be accepted, as at present, in prepayment of letters, etc., for a reasonable time after the st. of april; but from and after that date all issues and sales to the public will be of the new denomination. the section regarding "franking and free matter" provides that only letters sent to or by the governor-general, the speaker or chief clerk of the senate or of the house of commons, parliamentary papers, and legislative documents, such as petitions, addresses, and votes, shall be carried free of postage. the most important change effected by the above quoted regulations was the reduction of domestic postage from five cents to three cents. it will be noted there are now no prepaid c or c rates and but one at c (on letters sent to british columbia and vancouver island) consequently these denominations were dropped from the new series. on the other hand the / c rate on transient newspapers, which had to be prepaid, the regular c letter rate, the c rate to the united states, and c for the new british packet rate made necessary the issue of these four values in addition to the c, c, and - / c denominations, which were retained. all these stamps were printed by the line-engraved process, as in the case of the earlier issues, the sheets consisting of one hundred specimens arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each. a new firm--the british american bank note company, of montreal and ottawa--were entrusted with the manufacture of these stamps and, like their predecessors, they applied their imprint to the plates, so that it is shown four times on the margins of the sheets of the printed stamps. mr. howes describes the imprint as follows:-- the imprint appears in colorless capitals on a narrow strip of color with bossed ends, and reads british american bank note co., montreal & ottawa. this strip is framed by a very thin parallel line, its entire width being but one millimeter, while its length is about mm. it occurs but once on a side, being placed against the middle two stamps (numbers and ) of each row at a distance of about mm. the inscription reads up on the left and down on the right, as before, but the bottom one is now upright, instead of being reversed. in the case of the half cent stamp at least, we find an additional marginal imprint over the second and third stamps of the top row. this consists of the words half cent, in shaded roman capitals mm. high, the whole being about mm. long. presumably the same thing, varied for each denomination, occurs on other values of the series, as we find it does on the succeeding issue; but a strip from the top of a sheet of the cent stamps proves that it was lacking on that value at least. the new stamps came into use on april st, , and are all much alike in design. all values show a profile portrait of queen victoria, with head to right, on a background of horizontal lines within a circle, but the ornamentation and disposition of the inscriptions and numerals of value in the surrounding frame is different on each. the _stamp collector's magazine_ for may, , in announcing the issue, gives a good description which we cannot forbear quoting, viz:-- we are now in possession of, as we presume, the entire series of stamps for the dominion of canada, consisting of seven values-- / cent, , , , , - / , and cents. it would be indeed odious to compare them with the issues for another confederation lately formed. they are the work of a newly-formed colonial company, and are worthy to take rank beside any which have been manufactured by the rival companies of new york. the design, as we stated last month in noticing the c--the first of the set to appear--bears a resemblance to that of the lower values of nova scotia, but shows the queen's head turned to the right. the new "british american bank note company, of montreal and ottawa", has done well to copy so good a device, and certainly has not spoilt it, as the english engravers did in the four penny south australian. moreover, whilst retaining the central figure, by enclosing it in a differently-patterned frame for each value, they have given greater variety to the series. in all, care has been taken to make the numerals distinct; and it is as well that this has been done, as two of the values assimilate considerably in shade. the half cent is distinguished from the rest by its smallness--it is quite one-third less in size, but the device is the same. the stamps are all printed on substantial paper, are perforated, and of the following colors: / cent black " dull red " green cents vermilion " brown - / " deep-blue cents mauve the two lowest values are for newspapers, and are far from being acceptable, notwithstanding their beauty of design, to the journalists. it had been expected that newspapers would be sent throughout the canadian provinces free of charge; and there has been in consequence, a loud but ineffectual outcry against the general imposition of even a reduced rate of postage, and more especially at the enactment, that the charge must be paid by senders. "proprietors of journals," says the _quebec chronicle_, "find it hard enough at present to collect the simple subscription, without demanding postage in advance. people who writhe at present under the payment of their bare paper account, will find forwarding postage, in advance, an excruciating sacrifice." the cents is no doubt primarily intended for soldiers' letters. the cents pays the new single rate for postage; the cents the charge on letters to the united states. the - / c represents the postage to england; and the c the rate for letters sent via new york. possibly a c will yet be added to the series, but the old c will find no substitute in it. the new rates came into operation on the st april, and we suppose on that date all the pre-existing stamps of canada, nova scotia, and new brunswick were withdrawn. [illustration] [illustration] the stamps of this series provide quite an extensive range of shades, especially as regards the c, c, and c. in the case of the latter value the range of tints is so great that it is difficult to know what was its originally intended color. the first shade was evidently mauve, as given in the _stamp collector's magazine_ chronicle, but, as is so frequently the case with mauves, lilacs and violets, tint variations were soon noticed. shades varying from deep red lilac to grey and blue-grey are known. it is difficult to draw the line, in some instances, between true shades and "fades" but the grey would appear to be undoubtedly a true color variety and one that should be recognised as a provisional, if wholly unintentional, color change. scott, in fact, lists it as a separate issue under the date - , but this is an arbitrary classification which has, apparently, no foundation in fact, and the best plan is to include the variety in its logical place with the rest of the series. the paper used for this set of stamps is what is generally known as "wove" and it varies, as mr. howes states, "from a very thin, almost pelure quality to a quite hard and thick variety." mr. king, who was evidently untiring in his efforts to discover varieties of paper, says, "this series is of a most interesting nature, having a very large number of varieties of paper, all quite distinct, and specimens of some are of considerable rarity." mr. king then lets himself go and describes some _seventeen_ varieties of paper but, with the exception of two well marked varieties to which we shall make extended reference shortly, they all seem to resolve themselves into minute variations of the wove paper such as can be found in connection with most stamps of the 'sixties and 'seventies with the aid of a micrometer and a well trained imagination! we doubt whether any specialist, however willing and enthusiastic, could follow mr. king through his intricate listing. scott's catalogue lists a sub-variety of all values except the / c on "watermarked" paper. the watermarked letters found in these stamps were known at least as early as and much speculation was rife as to their meaning. mr. john n. luff finally solved the problem by assembling a large number of the watermarked stamps so that he was able to reconstruct the complete watermark, viz:-- e. & c. bothwell clutha mills the letters are large double lined capitals - / mm. high with the exception of the initial letters e, c and b of the upper line, which are mm. high. the "watermark" is, of course, the trademark of the paper manufacturer and, like other watermarks of a similar nature, it is not of very great philatelic importance. it is very generally presumed that the paper watermarked in this manner was used provisionally--an opinion with which mr. howes seems to concur by his statement that "the watermarked paper must therefore have been used sometime during the course of the year , probably the middle, when supplies of all values except the / c were printed." but we fail to find from any evidence so far adduced that this watermarked paper was in use only during some well defined period. the fact that it is not found in connection with the / c proves nothing for this value was of a different size from the others and doubtless paper of a different size, but the same quality was used so as to prevent unnecessary waste in cutting into sheets for printing. at best, as we have already stated, it is but a papermaker's trade mark, and it is difficult to understand on what grounds it is included in the catalogue as a variety to the exclusion of similar and well known examples in the stamps of other countries. we must confess that more importance seems to be attached to the variety than is warranted by its philatelic status and we commend to our readers' attention major e. b. evans' pertinent comments regarding it, viz:-- we feel bound to state that, unless the paper itself is of a different nature from the plain wove, this watermark seems to us to possess no interest whatever. it is evidently entirely unofficial, and it is quite possible that it only occurred in one sheet out of several of identically the same paper. the other variety of paper which calls for special mention is a "laid" paper found in connection with the c and c values. it is obviously a true "laid" paper, the laid lines being very distinct, fairly wide and quite evenly spaced. while the use of this paper was, no doubt, quite unintentional, it is a distinct variation from the normal wove which cannot be ignored by specialists, though we hardly think it is entitled to rank as a "major" variety as shown by the classification followed in scott's catalogue. the c was discovered first and was mentioned in the _philatelic record_ for march, , as follows:--"mr. tapling informs us that he possesses the cents red, issue of , on laid paper." a few months later mr. corwin discovered a copy of the c which he described in the _national philatelist_ for january, , as follows:-- some time since i saw noted in the _philatelic record_ the existence of a cent canada stamp, emission of , on laid paper. in looking through my canadian varieties, after reading this note, i discovered also a copy of the one cent red, same emission, on laid paper. this laid paper was evidently used during the printing of the early supplies of the c and c denominations. scott's catalogue lists the varieties under the date " " but we can find no evidence of any kind in support of this classification. messrs. corwin and king record a copy of the c postmarked november th, , and the c is known dated august st, , all of which points to the early use of this laid paper. the c on "thin paper, horizontally laid" was mentioned in the _american journal of philately_ for october, , on the authority of mr. f. de coppet but as the variety is not now catalogued and no copy seems to be known we presume its authenticity is a debatable question. the c, orange, was at one time listed on laid paper but this has been satisfactorily proved to be simply a "figment of the imagination". in his article in the _london philatelist_ mr. c. l. pack describes the c as existing on "distinctly soft ribbed paper". mr. king gives "ribbed" varieties for all values on both thin and thick soft paper but, as in the case of the earlier canadian stamps found on ribbed paper, we think a lot of proof is yet necessary before these varieties can be accepted as anything better than accidental vagaries of printing. the perforation used for the stamps of this series had a gauge of , as with the stamps of the preceding issue, and was the work of single line or guillotine machines. that is, each line of perforation, both horizontally and vertically, represented a separate stroke on the machine. the _monthly journal_ for february, , lists a minor variety of perforation in the c, c, c, - / c and c denominations in which the measurement is - / x . whether a machine with a gauge of - / was in temporary use at some time or other is uncertain but if such was the case it seems strange that no copies are known perf. - / all round or perf. x - / . even if it were due to a slight error in the placing of the perforating needles in some part of the full row it is strange that specimens gauging x - / are not known. we have been unable to find any further references to these varieties other than that stated above so that, until more information is forthcoming on the subject, they should be accepted with reserve. the c of this series is known entirely imperforate and mr. howes records the / c as existing in a horizontal pair, imperforate between. the only "split" found in connection with this series occurs in the case of the c denomination, diagonal halves of which are known to have done postal duty as c. these appear to have been entirely unauthorized though, as they undoubtedly passed through the mail, they have an interest to collectors of stamps on cover. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the british american bank note company, at ottawa. wove paper. perf. . . / c black. scott's no. . . c brown red. scott's no. . . c green, scott's no. . . c red, scott's no. . . c brown, scott's no. . . - / c blue, scott's no. . . c lilac, scott's no. . . c gray, scott's no. . chapter viii.--_the c orange of ._ the c and c stamps of were so alike in color that it was soon found that confusion was easily possible between the two values. early in , therefore, the color of the c was changed to orange to prevent further mistakes. the exact date at which this change took place is not known, but in the _stamp collector's magazine_ for march st, , we read:-- we have just received copies of the one cent printed in brilliant orange. no doubt this colour has been adopted in order better to distinguish it from the cents, which it has hitherto too nearly approached. from the above extract it would seem that the orange colored stamps were in use at least as early as february and though it has been asserted that the change took place on january st, , we believe there are no official documents or early dated specimens in existence that would substantiate this statement. these c stamps may be found in both orange and yellow shades as well as a combination of both. so far as is known they were printed from the same plate or plates as the earlier brown-red stamps. the paper is the same as that used for the other denominations, _i.e._ wove, and the fact that this variety is not known with the watermark of the papermaker's trade mark is generally adduced as the strongest evidence in support of the theory that this watermarked paper was only of a provisional nature and was used some time during . the perforation is the usual and specimens are known entirely imperforate. _reference list._ . change of color. wove paper. perf. . . c orange, scott's no. . chapter ix.--_the large c stamp._ although it somewhat interrupts the chronological sequence of our narrative, before dealing with the small "cents" stamps, first appearing in , it will be as well to give the history of the large c stamp which, though not issued until , really belongs by virtue of its type and general appearance to the series of . it is known that the die for this c stamp was engraved in at the same time the dies for the / , c, c, c, c, - / c and c values were prepared for, in the _american journal of philately_ for june, , it is stated:-- the canadian government have had a cent stamp prepared, engraved of the same type as the present set, the most noticeable difference being the circle round the head which is corded. the specimen sent us is printed in brown on india paper, bearing the company's imprint underneath. though the die was all ready, as amply proved by the above extract, no plate was made as there was then no postal rate which required such a denomination. in , however, the single letter rate between canada and great britain was reduced to c as stated in the postmaster-general's report for , viz.:-- a treaty for the formation of a general postal union, and for the adoption of uniform postal rates and regulations for international correspondence, was arranged and signed at berne, switzerland, in october, , by the representatives of the post offices of the chief nations of the world. this agreement took effect between all the countries which were directly parties to the treaty in july last. the treaty did not include the british possessions beyond the sea, but canada has, with the concurrence of the imperial government, applied for admission as a member of this postal union. meanwhile the letter rate of postage between canada and the united kingdom has, by arrangement with the imperial post office, been reduced to the international rate of - / pence sterling-- cents currency--established by the union regulations; and this reduction has also been made applicable to correspondence passing by way of new york, making the rate between canada and the united kingdom uniform at cents by whatever route conveyed. although the report alluded to above is dated june th, it must have been published at a later date as the "july last" mentioned refers to july, , and when the cent rate came into operation stamps to fit this new rate were wanted in such a hurry that, as a temporary expedient, a plate was made from the die engraved in pending the preparation of a die conforming to the small sized stamps then in general use. there was only one printing and the total number issued is believed to have been about one million. mr. howes says it was issued on october st, . in the c single letter rate was, by treaty, extended to embrace the german states of prussia, baden, bavaria, hanover, saxony and wurtemberg and in the same year the rate on a single letter to newfoundland was reduced from c to c. at this time, of course, the small sized c stamps were in use but it will better preserve the continuity of our study of the postal rates to make one more extract from the postmaster-general's reports--that for ,--viz.: at the meeting of the international postal congress, which, under the provisions of the postal treaty of berne, concluded in october, , took place at paris in may, , canada was admitted to be a member of the general postal union from the st july, , and in consequence the rate of letter postage between canada and all europe became one uniform charge of cents per half ounce. newspapers and other printed matter, and samples and patterns of merchandise also became subject to uniform postage rates and regulations for all destinations in europe. the c rate was, thus, now well established, and canada had obtained membership in the universal postal union, for which she had been striving since . this large c stamp was printed by the line-engraved process, like the other denominations of similar designs. the portrait forming the centrepiece is like that on the values of though the medallion is enclosed within a "corded" circle instead of an ordinary plain line. "canada postage" is curved above the portrait, as usual, while below is "five cents". the numerals, shown in the lower corners, are somewhat smaller than those on the other denominations of this type. the stamps were printed in sheets of , in ten rows of ten, and with regard to the marginal imprints mr. howes tells us that "the sheet bore four marginal imprints, arranged as before, but of a slightly different type for the issue. this new imprint is in capitals and lower case letters on a colored strip mm. long and - / mm. wide, with a border of pearls, and reads: 'british american bank note co. montreal'. doubtless the words five cents in shaded roman capitals would be found over the second and third stamps of the top row if one were fortunate enough to possess this portion of a sheet." the stamps were printed on the wove paper then in use and perforated in the usual manner. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., montreal. wove paper. perf. . . c olive green, scott's no. . chapter x.--_the small "cents" stamps._ in the _american journal of philately_ for august, , we read "canada is shortly to have a new set of stamps. taking lessons in economy from our own country, it seems they are about altering their stamps to make them smaller, so as to save paper. the head will still remain exactly the same as now, but the frame and the margin around the head will be considerably less. we cannot see how this can be done without spoiling the beauty of the stamp. as to whether they are to retain the same colors we are unable to say." the issue of the united states was in use at that time and though this series is now generally popular it was regarded with very mixed feelings then as may be imagined from the _stamp collector's magazine_ comments on the above statement, viz.:--"we trust this intelligence is incorrect; that the example of the new united states stamps can have any attractive influence on the canadian authorities is hardly possible." the new issues do not seem to have formed the subject of any special official document or notice, nor does the reduction in the size of the labels seem to have been considered worthy of special mention in any of the reports issued by the postmaster-general. these smaller sized stamps were issued as the stocks of the earlier issues became exhausted or, in some cases, presumably as the old plates were discarded owing to wear, but it appears very probable that the dies for the c, c, c, c and c denominations were all engraved at the same period and, as regards the c, c and c, it is very possible that supplies were printed and held in stock long before it became necessary to issue them to the public. the c was the first value to appear and was probably on sale some time in january, . the _stamp collector's magazine_ for march st of that year chronicled this new stamp as follows:-- it appears that the reduction in the size of the dominion postage stamps, to which reference was made some months ago, is really to be carried out, and as an earnest of the execution of the project, we receive the three cents red, cut down to the size of the half cent, and with the design made to resemble that of the latter. the numerals in the upper corners are absent; the inscription, canada postage, is in almost microscopic lettering, and in lieu of the full denomination--three cents--in the lower margin, the word cents alone appears, flanked by the figure on each side. the cause of the change is not to be sought in any desire to economise paper; it lies in the simple fact that the smaller size is found the more convenient. the design certainly is not improved by it, and we might call upon these little stamps to "hide their diminished heads," were it not that the head, and that alone, remains as large as ever. the stamps, though in a fair way to become small by degrees as the canadian idea of convenience increases, are not likely to become "_beautifully_ less." a new value, however, made up from the parings of the old ones--an cents--is said to be in preparation, and will help to make up in quantity, for any deterioration in the quality. the next value to appear was the cent, which was recorded in the journal referred to above in its issue for april st, so that it was no doubt on sale some time in march, . in design it is similar to the c, the main difference being in the inscription at base. the denomination is given in full--one cent--and this follows the curve of the medallion instead of curving in the reverse direction as cents does on the c. [illustration] evidently there were large stocks on hand of some of the values of the issue for two years elapsed before any more of the small stamps appeared. then in the _stamp collector's magazine_ for february, , we read:--"we have received by the last mail specimens of a new cents brown of the small size. it is printed of a warm tint, and is as effective as its congeners." the design follows that of the c very closely with, of course, the numerals " " instead of " " in the lower angles. in the following month the c was chronicled, its color being given as "a delicate chrome-green." the design differs from the c and c chiefly in the direction of the curve of the word cents, which is reversed, as compared with those denominations, and much less pronounced. the c was the next value to appear and it was not on sale until quite late in , probably about november st. the design follows the general effect of the c but at the same time illustrates a new departure, inasmuch as the numerals of value are repeated in the upper corners in a smaller form. for what particular purpose this value was intended is not clear for there was, apparently, no regular rate at that time which required such a denomination. the next value placed on sale was the c, which was issued in february, , and superseded the large c design after it had been in use for only about four months. though the portrait is the same as that on the other values the frame is of a distinctly different style and cents is in much larger letters than before, showing that the previous values, following as they do a general pattern, were engraved much about the same time though many years elapsed before all were actually in use. [illustration] finally in july, , the / c value appeared and was recorded in the _philatelic record_ for july of that year in the following words:-- that "history repeats itself" is a proverb that is curiously illustrated by the latest issue of this colony. we all remember that in a / c stamp of smaller size than the other values of the series was emitted. a few years later, some say for economical reasons, the other values were reduced to the smaller size. recently it seems to have struck the canadian authorities that their idea of fourteen years ago was a happy one, and the / c has been proportionately cut down. the general arrangements of the design remain the same, but the ornamentation is simpler. the head and circle containing it are miniatures of the former, and the result is what the ladies would call "a dear little stamp," about the size of our lately defunct "halfpenny," but an upright instead of an oblong rectangle. we trust the price of paper will not again cause a general reduction; for if the canadian stamps go on growing "small by degrees, and beautifully less," they will in time become too microscopic to be collectible. after the issue of the / c value the only denominations of the series not provided with successors in the issue under notice were the - / c and c. regarding the former value the _stamp collector's magazine_ for may, , says, on the authority of a canadian journal:--"it is unlikely that the - / c small size will be issued, as the large ones are very little used, and can now be bought at the post-office for cents." but some three years later the _american journal of philately_ asserted that "canada will shortly issue the - / c and c values of postals in small size, to correspond with the others of the series." these stamps, however, never materialised though that dies and plates were made and stamps printed from them is evident from the existence of perforated essays of these two values. the portrait is exactly like that of the other denominations, and the borders are, on general lines, so like the c, c, c, c and c as to give considerable support to the belief that these unissued varieties were prepared for use at quite an early date. the stamps of this series were all produced by the line-engraved process and all values, with the exception of the / c, were at first printed in sheets of , arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten. the / c was printed in sheets of , arranged in two panes of each, placed side by side. a space of about mm. separated the two panels and these large sheets were cut into halves before leaving the printing establishment, thus making "post-office" sheets of stamps. in the later months of or early in the c, c and c values--the ones in most general demand--were printed in large sheets of arranged in ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps each. a close study of a large quantity of these stamps would probably result in the discovery of many interesting varieties in the way of double transfers. in the few stamps at our disposal we have found but one of any prominence. this occurs on the c denomination the top portion of the design having plainly been applied to the plate twice, the doubling being especially noticeable in the inscription canada postage. as these stamps were in use for a fairly lengthy period--nearly thirty years in the case of the c--it is obvious that a large number of plates must have been made, especially for those denominations which were generally used. at different times different marginal imprints or arrangements of the imprints were used, and given sufficient material a study of these marginal varieties should reveal much of interest. mr. howes has paid particular attention to these varieties and the following notes are chiefly based on his investigations. the earliest plates of the c, c, c, c and c, and probably the c as well (as this value was in use before the c), had the denomination in words above the second and third stamps on the top row of each sheet. these inscriptions, "one cent", etc., were in large shaded roman capitals mm. high. in the centre of each of the four margins is the manufacturer's imprint, british american bank note co. montreal & ottawa, in colorless roman capitals on a narrow strip of color mm. wide and mm. long; this imprint being, in fact, exactly like that found on the sheets of the issue. these remarks apply to the c, c, c and c (and probably to the c also), but not to the c. the c, which was not issued until , has the denomination shown in the upper margin in large shaded roman capitals, as in the case of the others, but the imprint is different, being like that found on the sheets of the large c stamp, _i.e._ "british american bank note co. montreal", in capitals and lower case letters on a strip of solid color mm. long by - / mm. wide, with a pearled border. this imprint was shown on each of the four margins. about this time new plates made for the other denominations also had this new style of imprint. sheets of the c and c show the imprint on top and bottom margins only, but whether other plates were used for these denominations with imprints on all four sides is not known for certain, though this is highly probable. the c and c values of this series have large numerals, " " or " " as the case may be, above the second stamp in the top row, while above the ninth stamp of the same row is "six" or "ten" in shaded roman capitals. the numerals are very thick and mm. in height, while the letters are mm. high as on the earlier plates, though the word "cents" has now been dispensed with. this arrangement has not been noted on other denominations as yet, though there is no reason why it should not be found in connection with the c, c and c. a sheet of the c value, with two marginal imprints, is noted with "three" in shaded roman capitals above the first two stamps of the top row, while the c is recorded without any marginal designation of value and with but two of the "montreal" imprints. the printing establishment of the british american bank note company was removed from montreal to ottawa in and plates made after that date show a new style of imprint viz:--"british american bank note co. ottawa", in white roman capitals on a strip of solid color measuring mm. long by - / mm. wide. this, it will be noted, is like the first type of imprint but with the words "montreal &" removed. on the c this is known mm. long and nearly mm. wide, this being from a sheet in the arrangement. the smaller style of imprint seems to have been characteristic of the sheets printed in the size, and writing with regard to these mr. howes says:-- the "ottawa" imprint appears three times, once in the middle of the top margin, over stamps and , and twice in the bottom margin, beneath stamps and , and again beneath stamps and . there are no imprints at the sides. the denomination appears in the top margin at both right and left and in a new style of lettering on these larger plates. thus we find one cent or two cent over stamps and as well as and , or three cent over the first four and last four stamps in plain egyptian capitals. [illustration] the / c value, which we have left until last on account of its different sheet arrangement, had the "montreal" imprint, described in connection with the other values, arranged six times on the margins--above and below each pane, at the right of the right hand pane, and at the left of the left hand pane--so that there were three imprints on each of the "post-office" sheets of stamps. in addition, to quote mr. howes, "over the top inscription of the right pane is the reversed figure , mm. high, and in the same position on the left pane the corresponding figure , evidently to designate the panes." this series provides a number of shade varieties, as is only natural in a set having such long currency, and their proper treatment is a matter involving some little perplexity. it was evidently the original intention of the printers to keep the colors of the small stamps as nearly like those of the large ones they superseded as possible, and while many shades match the colors of the earlier stamps to a nicety others show a divergence that at times almost approaches a "color change." as early as may, , the _stamp collector's magazine_ noted a change in the shade of the c viz.:-- by the courtesy of a montreal correspondent we are in possession of specimens of the current three cents, printed in bright orange-vermilion. a supply in this color has just been issued. the _philatelic record_ for march, , says "the c is now in carmine-red", and again in may that "the cents has changed its color from bronze-green to greenish grey." more than a year later (july, ) the same journal says "the cents stamp is now blue-green;" in december, , the c is recorded in "chestnut-brown"; while in april, , the c is chronicled as having been issued in "grey-black." similar color changes in most values were recorded in other journals but as there is an almost total lack of agreement as regards the names chosen to designate the different shades these chronicles are of little value in determining the chronological order of issue of even the most striking of the tints. it is also more than probable that after a change had been made the original or earlier tints were reverted to later on. the catalogues are equally at variance in their choice of color names and while gibbons' gives four shades for each of the c and c values, scott gives but two for the c and of the four given for the c not one agrees with any of the names given by gibbons'. the only point on which both catalogues agree is that a general change of colors took place during the period of - , _i.e._, after the printers had moved their establishment from montreal to ottawa. but though the later printings of the c and c do, undoubtedly, differ very materially from the earlier colors--almost enough so, in fact, to be classed as distinct colors--such varieties seem to have been purely accidental and to classify them as separate issues hardly seems correct. in this connection it is interesting to quote mr. howes' remarks:-- that the above changes were hardly of a character to warrant dignifying them as a "new issue," which is frequently done, is shown by a moment's consideration. the / c and c stamps showed no appreciable difference in coloring and therefore caused no comment. the cent did not retain its blue green shade unaltered, and the cent soon reverted to its former brilliant red hue, as the _philatelic journal of america_ for may, , says that "the carmine color recently adopted has been dropped, and the stamps are printed in colors similar to the ones in use before the change was made." the , , and cent stamps, however, made permanent changes, but only such as might readily be traceable to a new mixing of the inks in the case of the first two. the cent can hardly be so easily disposed of, as lake and brown-red are of quite different composition from a rose-lilac. but there can have been no official intention of altering the shades or colors or more definite and permanent changes would certainly have been made throughout the set. it remains, therefore, to classify them simply as shade varieties of the original set. mr. donald a. king, in his article in the _monthly journal_, gives no less than eight varieties of paper for the stamps of this issue, though all resolve themselves into slight, and in many cases probably imperceptible, variations in quality and thickness of the usual "wove" paper. mr. howes gives a thick and thin wove and "a closely ribbed paper." this latter like the ribbed varieties in the earlier issues, is evidently due to nothing more than some eccentricity of printing and is, consequently, of doubtful philatelic importance. the classification of the series into thick and thin papers seems to have more to be said in its favor if the statement made in gibbons' catalogue is to be relied on. according to a foot note the stamps printed prior to (that is, in montreal), are on a thinner paper than was used for subsequent printings. the _philatelic record_ for october, , mentions the c as being found on "fine laid paper" but this was evidently the variety more generally classified as "ribbed." the perforation used for the stamps of this series was the usual --the work of single-line or guillotine machines. all values are reported to exist perforated - / by , as mentioned in connection with the issues of , but this statement requires verification before it can be accepted as authoritative. all values are known entirely imperforate, the c in this condition being first recorded in the _philatelic record_ for december, . writing in the _london philatelist_ in mr. m. h. horsley says with regard to these varieties:--"imperforated copies of various values were sold over the post-office counter in montreal about the years - at their face value, and have been good for postage whenever people cared to use them." writing a little later on the same subject mr. c. l. pack also vouches for them, viz.:--"i quite agree with mr. horsley in regard to the various imperforate copies of the issues of to . there are a good many specimens of these stamps imperforate, and they were on sale at a canadian post office." curiously enough gibbons' catalogue entirely ignores these imperforate stamps though mr. howes is able to adduce documentary evidence in support of the statements made by philatelists of such undoubted authority as messrs. horsley and pack. scott's catalogue records the / c as existing in a horizontal pair imperforate between. the same work records the c bi-sected diagonally or vertically and the halves used for c stamps, while mr. howes adds the c, cut vertically and used for c. but as the "canadian postal guide" declares that "a mutilated stamp, or a stamp cut in half, is not recognised in payment of postage" such freaks can only have passed through the mails by carelessness or favor and their philatelic interest is negligible. in an act of parliament was passed making the prepayment of letters by postage stamp obligatory and imposing a fine of double the deficiency on all insufficiently prepaid letters. at the same time local or drop letters (accepted for c) were restricted to / oz. in weight. the postmaster-general's report for says:-- a reduction has been made, from the st september last, in the postage rate on closed parcels sent by post within the dominion, from - / cents per oz. of weight to cents per oz. under this change small parcels not exceeding ounces in weight are admitted to pass for cents instead of - / cents as before. it will thus be seen that this change did away with the chief use of the - / c value and made it practically useless. hence the reason it was never included among the series of small "cents" stamps. in another post office act increased the limit of weight of single letters from / oz. to oz., and at the same time increased the postal rate on local or drop letters from c to c, though a weight of oz. was allowed under the new schedule. an official notice recording these changes was published as follows:-- notice to the public changes in postage rates under authority of post office act . the rate of postage upon letters posted in canada, addressed to places within the dominion or in the united states, will be cents per ounce instead of cents per half ounce as heretofore. upon drop letters posted at an office from which letters are delivered by letter carrier, the postage rate will be cents per ounce, instead of cent per half ounce. the rate of postage upon drop letters, except in the cities where free delivery by letter carrier has been established, will be cent per ounce. the fee for the registration of a letter or other article of mail matter, will be five cents upon all classes of correspondence passing within the dominion. for the present and until further instructed, the registration fee may be prepaid by using the cent registration stamps and postage stamps to make up the amount. letters insufficiently prepaid will be charged double the deficiency as heretofore, provided at least a partial payment has been made. letters posted wholly unpaid will be sent to the dead letter office for return to the writer. john g. haggart, _postmaster-general._ post office department, ottawa, th may, . _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co. of montreal and ottawa. wove paper. perf. . . / c black, scott's no. . . c orange, scott's no. . . c green. scott's no. or . . c red. scott's no. or . . c grey, scott's no. or . . c brown, scott's no. or . . c magenta or brown red, scott's no. or . chapter xi.--_the c and c stamps of ._ the postmaster-general's report for states that "postage stamps of the value of cents and cents are about to be issued. these will be useful in prepayment of parcel post." these high values were, of course, intended to be used in making up relatively large amounts of postage. they were not issued to be used in prepayment of any specific rates though a study of the postal rates of the period show that the postage on a parcel weighing up to one pound sent to the united kingdom would require a c stamp, while a lb. parcel sent to japan would take the c denomination. the same rates show that the postage on lb. parcels sent to newfoundland was c, though no stamp of this value had been issued subsequent to the series of nor has one ever since been included in the regular series. [illustration] these new c and c labels were issued on february th, , and while alike in design, except as regards the denotation of value, they are quite dissimilar from any of the previously issued postage stamps of the dominion both as regards size and design. the portrait shows queen victoria in her widow's weeds and is similar to that shown on the bill stamps which were first issued in . above the portrait canada postage is curved, and on straight labels at the foot is the value in words, while between this inscription and the lower part of the medallion are figures of value. the stamps were, as usual, produced by the line-engraved process, and they were printed in sheets of at the ottawa establishment of the british american bank note company. the manufacturer's imprint was shown twice on each sheet--in the centre of the upper and lower margins. this imprint consisted of the words "british american bank note co. ottawa," on a strip of solid color measuring mm. in length and - / mm. in height. this colored strip has square ends and is enclosed within a pearled border. both values were printed on the wove paper used for the other denominations then current and the perforation was the usual made by single-line machines. evidently these values were but sparingly used, for mr. howes tells us:-- both were ordered to the number of half a million copies in , and in , more of the cent and , more of the cent were delivered, with a final copies in . these quantities were sufficient to last until the cent was superseded by the newer type in , and the cent by the king's head stamp in . some of the cent were returned for destruction and about , of the cent. it seems hardly possible that but copies of each were supplied in --_i.e._ two sheets of each value--if they were the normal perforated stamps. possibly this small supply consisted of the imperforates--both values being known in this condition--and if so they may have been printed to fill a special requisition. the imperforate c is on the normal shade but the c is, as mr. howes observes, in a "peculiar black blue" shade. there are no marked varieties in shade as can easily be understood from the few printings which took place. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co. of ottawa. wove paper. perf. . . c vermilion, scott's no. . . c deep blue, scott's no. . chapter xii.--_the c stamp of ._ until the registration fee had to be prepaid by means of the special stamps issued for the purpose. when, in , a uniform registration fee of c was adopted the public were given permission to use the ordinary postage stamps in making up the difference between the old rate of c and the new one. this was done largely to enable the old c labels to be used up. in it was decided to discontinue the use of special registration stamps altogether and to permit the payment of the registry fee by means of the regular postage stamps. as the rate of domestic postage was c at that time and the registration fee was c, a new stamp, by means of which both postage and registration could be paid together, it was decided, would be useful. consequently an c denomination was issued, this being recorded in the _philatelic record_ for october, , though, judging from the following extract from the weekly for august th, , it would appear that the new value was in general circulation at least as early as august st:-- the following orders were posted up in all canadian post-offices on august st: a new postage stamp of the value of c is now being put into circulation. this stamp will be available for the prepayment either of registration fee and postage combined, or of postage only. the c registration stamp, when the present supply is exhausted, will be withdrawn. [illustration] the new denomination, as stated in the _philatelic record_, "resembles in design the cents of the current series; but the head of the queen has been turned the other way, and is now to the left." this stamp was of similar size to the other values of the set then current (excepting the c and c, of course) and it was printed from steel plates in sheets of arranged in ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps each. according to mr. howes, there were no marginal imprints of any kind. this denomination was printed on wove paper and perforated like the others. the variety with gauge of - / x is reported in connection with this value but, like the similar varieties of the earlier issues which we have already mentioned, the statement requires verification before it can be definitely accepted. the c is known entirely imperforate in the blue-grey shade, which was one of the earliest if not the first shade for this stamp. the _philatelic record_ calls it "slate-grey" but evidently the tint now generally classified as "blue-grey" was meant. this stamp provides a large number of very distinct shade varieties. just months after it was first chronicled the _philatelic record_ says:--"whether by accident or intention does not appear to be quite clear, but copies of the present cents are found in much darker color than we have hitherto seen. messrs. a. smith & son have shown us copies that are slate-black of the darkest kind." a writer in the _canada stamp sheet_ for october, , says:-- there are three varieties of this stamp, the slate, the lilac-grey and the purple. the first and second tints are comparatively common, but the purple is not found in every dealer's stock nor has it a place in many stamp collections. in fact, it is a variety but little known to the average collector, from the fact that it is seldom offered, either on approval sheets or on the counter of the dealer. there ought to be no difficulty in distinguishing this stamp from its mates of the same denomination, for while the backs of the rest present a white surface, in this case the back or paper is of a decidedly purplish hue. in my opinion this stamp is a good one to pick up now, as its present value is far below its intrinsic worth. later still, a german paper referred to three main printings for this stamp a translation of the article appearing in _gibbons stamp weekly_ for june th, , as follows:-- the last stamp issued showing a portrait of the late queen victoria as a young girl was the cents, canada, issued in july, . the stamp was intended for a combined postage and registration stamp; c for postage (inland) c registration fee. there were three distinct printings of this stamp; they may be easily distinguished from each other by differences of shade. july, , blue-grey. october, , slate-grey. ? , purple-black. the total number issued of these stamps was , , , but unfortunately there are no records of the quantities of each of the three printings. it will be noticed that there is no cents in the king edward vii issue, for the simple reason that the inland rate had been reduced to cents; therefore the present combined postage and registration stamp is a cents. the above extract, it will be noted, is very explicit as regards the actual number issued as well as the dates of issue of the three most distinctive shades. on what authority these statements are based we cannot say, but mr. howes shows from official records that many more than the quantity stated were printed, viz.:-- the first delivery of these stamps, and of course the first printing, was of , , as recorded in the stamp accounts for . as these accounts were made up to th june, and there is no record of any "issue to postmasters," the stamps were doubtless delivered just before the accounts were closed, so that opportunity had not been given to distribute the new value. for the next few fiscal years the amount received from the manufacturers averaged over a million and a half annually, so that by the time it was superseded it had been printed to the number of at least - / millions. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co. ottawa. wove paper. perf. . . c grey, scott's no. . a, or a. chapter xiii.--_the diamond jubilee issue._ the year was an eventful one in the history of the british empire, for on june th the greatly revered queen victoria celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of her accession to the throne. naturally such an epochal event was marked in one way or another in even the most remote corners of the empire. in some cases there were public celebrations and rejoicings with, perhaps the erection of memorials, while some of the colonies marked the event by the issue of special series of postage stamps. the dominion of canada commemorated the "diamond jubilee" by the issue of a highly ornate set of stamps comprising no less than sixteen different denominations, and the inclusion of what were widely termed "unnecessary" high values and the unbusinesslike and somewhat discreditable manner in which they were placed on sale by the post office department cast a slur on canada's postal history which took many years to live down. early in the idea of issuing a special series of stamps was mooted as witness the following extract from the _weekly philatelic era_ for january th: many suggestions are being made and many plans laid for the fitting celebration of the sixtieth year of her majesty's reign. in canada ... a proposal has been made and an agitation started for the issue of a commemorative set of postage stamps by the dominion government.... it has been suggested that the new stamps be made a trifle larger than the present ones, that a somewhat recent picture of her majesty replace the present one, and that the figures and colors be made more pronounced.... the agitation for a new issue is quite pronounced and is by no means confined to philatelists. there appears to be a general desire on the part of the people to have a change. at first the intention seems to have been to issue only a cent stamp but, alas, this original intention was stifled like many other good ideas and the departmental officials, giving their enthusiasm free rein, finally decided on a set to consist of sixteen denominations ranging all the way from / c to five dollars. the announcement of the forthcoming issue of the stamps aroused so much general interest that the series formed the subject of a question in parliament and according to the _canadian hansard_--the official and verbatim record of parliamentary proceedings--the postmaster-general (mr. mulock) replied to his interrogator as follows:-- it is the intention of the government to issue a set of jubilee postage stamps. such stamps will be put into public use by being delivered to postmasters throughout canada for sale to the public in the same manner as ordinary postage stamps are sold. there will be a limit to the quantity to be issued. the denominations of jubilee stamps, and the total number of such jubilee stamps to be issued, are set forth in the following schedule: _number to be issued._ _denomination._ , / c stamps. , , c " , , c " , , c " , c " , c " , c " , c " , c " , c " , c " , $ " , $ " , $ " , $ " , $ " , , c postcards. total value of one stamp of each kind $ . - / . as soon as the total number of stamps mentioned in said schedule is issued the plates from which they will have been engraved will be destroyed in the presence of the head and two officers of the department. on the th of june the post office department will proceed to supply jubilee postage stamps to the principal post-offices in canada, and through them minor post offices will obtain their supply until the issue is exhausted. if this jubilee issue were to wholly displace the ordinary postage stamps it would supply the ordinary wants of the country for between two and three months, but as the use of the ordinary postage stamps will proceed concurrently with that of the jubilee stamps, it is expected that the jubilee stamps will last beyond the three months. inasmuch as the department is already receiving applications for the purchase of jubilee stamps, it may be stated that the department will adhere to the established practice of supplying them only to postmasters, and through them to the public, who may purchase them on and after the th june, . it will be noted that the post-office department made no pretense about the matter but stated quite candidly that the issue would be limited and before very long, by means of different official notices and communications it was made quite plain that the issue was intended to _sell_ and that restrictions would be placed on the scale of the more desirable values, which were issued in but small quantities. with the first supply of these stamps sent to postmasters the following circular was sent:-- n. b.--requisitions for _full sets_ of the jubilee stamps will be filled until the issue is exhausted.--e. p. s. post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, _june, ._ sir:--i am directed by the postmaster-general to send you herewith a supply of the jubilee stamps and c post card, equal to one month's ordinary requirements of your office. should this quantity prove insufficient it will, on your requisition addressed to this branch, be supplemented; but as the jubilee issue is limited, it would be necessary for you to apply early in order to secure further supplies of the same. i am also to instruct you not to sell any of the accompanying stamps or postcards before the opening of your office at the regular office hours on the th june instant--the eve of the anniversary they are intended to commemorate. these stamps and cards are, of course, like the ordinary issues, to be sold at face value. i am, sir, your obedient servant e. p. stanton, _superintendent._ p. s.--as there appears to be a somewhat general desire on the part of many persons to purchase, for souvenir purposes, complete sets of the jubilee stamps, it is hoped that you will so manage the sale of such stamps that persons applying to purchase full sets may be able to get them.--e. p. s. the stamps were placed on sale throughout the dominion on the morning of saturday, the th of june the eve of jubilee day proper. naturally there was a big rush on the part of the public to obtain specimens of the much heralded stamps and in the larger centres the post offices were literally besieged. speculators tried to corner the / c and c denominations, which advance particulars had shown to be the most desirable of the lower values, but the stamps were doled out carefully and large orders were promptly and firmly refused. but though care was exercised the department was convinced, from the result of the first day's sale, that steps would have to be taken to further restrict the sale of the desirable denominations. the demand for the stamps at the chief office was so great that a circular letter was prepared to be despatched to applicants, this reading as follows:-- post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, _ th june, ._ sir,--with reference to the numerous demands upon this office for the / c and c jubilee stamps, i am directed to explain that the respective quantities of jubilee stamps ordered bear, relatively, the same proportions to the actual requirements of the postal service, but the tendency to exhaust the halves and sixes has increased to such a degree, that it has become necessary to restrict their sale to the purchasers of full sets. hence i am to express the postmaster-general's regret that he is unable, having regard to the limited character of the jubilee issue, to comply with any requests for the / c or c denomination, apart from those for full sets. these sets may be obtained as long as the series of jubilee stamps last, but as the demands upon it are unusually heavy, it would be advisable to apply for full sets at the earliest possible moment. when postmasters obtain such sets to fill orders actual or prospective at their respective offices, they must not, in any case, break the sets. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent._ p. s.--under no circumstances will there be any issue of jubilee stamps, beyond the limits mentioned in the accompanying extract from hansard, containing the postmaster-general's statement on the subject. at the same time instructions were issued to postmasters that they were not to sell the / c, c, c and dollar denominations except in the complete sets of sixteen values. later this ruling was modified and sets to c and $ inclusive were allowed to be sold resulting in the issue of another circular to postmasters worded as follows:-- post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, _august, ._ sir,--i am directed to transmit to you the accompanying partial sets of jubilee stamps. these sets consist of two kinds: one from a / c to $ (value $ . - / ), the other from / c to c (value $ . - / ). you are instructed to sell these stamps as sets, and as sets only, representations having been made to the department that in various parts of the dominion there is a desire to obtain such sets for souvenir purposes. you must not, under any circumstances, break a set; for, besides the disappointment that such a course would cause, you would render yourself liable to loss, the department having decided not to allow credit for any broken sets returned to it by a postmaster who, notwithstanding the instructions herein given, sells any denominations of the stamps making up a set apart from the rest. i am also to ask you to use your best judgment in the sale of these sets, checking, as far as possible, any attempt on the part of speculators to monopolise them, and thus securing as general distribution of such sets in your vicinity as the circumstances may permit. to enable you to make change in connection with the sale of the enclosed sets i include a sufficient quantity of ordinary / c postage stamps. i may add that the accompanying supply has been based strictly upon the annual revenue of your office, and, having regard to the total number of sets available and the extent of their distribution, represents that proportion to which you are entitled. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent._ so anxious did the department show itself in its efforts to circumnavigate the speculator, and so obvious was the fact that the jubilee stamps were issued, like our own columbian stamps, for the pecuniary profit the government would derive from their sale, that it is small wonder that the series was condemned and discredited by the philatelic press almost universally. the following extract from the _monthly journal_ for june, , is typical of many:-- we are indebted to various correspondents for papers and cuttings with reference to the jubilee issue of this colony which will have taken place by the time this is in print. while acknowledging that the design of the stamps appears to be a very handsome and appropriate one, we feel bound to add that the affair possesses no other redeeming feature whatever. the canadian government has made a new contract for the supply of stamps, etc., with an american firm, which will apparently involve a new issue of stamps within a short time. if the occasion had been taken for the issue of a permanent series appropriate to the jubilee year, nothing could have been more agreeable to philatelists throughout the british empire; but to bring out a set of labels, including unnecessarily high values and printed in limited numbers, to be issued concurrently with the present stamps, is to reproduce all the most objectionable features of the unnecessary and speculative emissions, which we all desire to put an end to. we cannot expect that on such an occasion as this loyal british subjects will be able to abstain altogether from purchasing jubilee mementoes of this description, but we would most strongly recommend them to be satisfied with copies of one or two of the lower values. outside the british empire we trust that this discreditable issue will fall as flat as it deserves. to add to the unsavory tale we have only to say that there was much scandal on account of the openly expressed statements that the desirable values were, in many instances, cornered by postal employes who had, of course, "first option" on the supplies reaching their respective offices. thus, in the _philatelic messenger_ of new brunswick, we read: but now that the stamps have been issued in certain given numbers and in the postmaster-general's peculiar way, _where are they?_ that is what a great many want to know and that is a question which must be answered. i know where some of them are. i had a letter from a postmaster's son at a small office in quebec, asking me what i would give for c jubilee stamps. i had a letter from an office in p. e. island, asking my prices for / , , and c jubilee stamps. collectors in the principal cities of the dominion have seen whole sheets of / c stamps in the possession of post-office employees. these little incidents may give one some idea where the stamps are. i also have a pretty good idea where the stamps are not. a prominent toronto dealer laid $ on the stamp counter the first day of sale, and was tendered two specimens of the / c and c stamps. at montreal, toronto, st. johns, halifax, and all the principal cities, not more than two specimens of the / , , , , , and c stamps were sold to the same person, that is, of course, outside the post-office staff. i have it on good authority that there is not a stamp dealer in canada who has of the / c value unless he happens to be a post-office employé also. the stamps are not in the dealers' stock books then, for they have not been able to get them. i wrote to fredericton the other day for a few , , and c stamps and the postmaster returned the money and said they could be supplied only in complete sets. one meets with the same reception at nearly every post office. what were the stamps made for if not to be sold to the public as the public wants them? what would be thought of a furniture store where one could not purchase a table or a chair but must take a whole set? the thing is ridiculous. while the idea of issuing special stamps to commemorate the diamond jubilee was laudable enough, the restrictions applied to their sale and the inclusion of unnecessary high values was, to put it mildly, an official _faux pas._ it has been asserted that the values from $ to $ inclusive were quite unnecessary as it was not possible to use either of these denominations in prepayment of any legitimate postal charges. but it was also pointed out that as there was no limit to the weight of a package sent by first class mail a heavy letter could easily call for more postage than $ . indeed, in his article in the _monthly journal_, mr. donald a. king stated:-- at a post office with which i am somewhat familiar the posting of letters and parcels for the united kingdom and other postal union countries that called for postage from $ . upwards was, at certain periods, a matter of daily, often hourly, occurrence, so much so that the only comment it excited was from the clerk cancelling, who would audibly wish that there were higher values in the permanent issue than c and thus save time cancelling the entire length of a large envelope. within my own experience there has been more than one case where a letter has been mailed on which there was not space to place the stamps; an entire sheet ( ) of cents stamps was pasted on, obliterated, and then another with some odd values completed the prepayment; and the case can be recalled of a letter on which $ . postage was prepaid. while the jubilee set was in everyday use the sight of the higher values was quite common on any mail for the united kingdom and europe, shipping and commercial houses prepaying their mail with the "dollar" values simply as a matter of convenience. but though there may have been isolated instances in which high values could be used with convenience their very limited use is obvious from the fact that the canadian government has always, both before and since the emission of the jubilee set, found a c value high enough for all practical purposes. had postal requirements called for such constant use of high values as mr. king's remarks lead us to infer it is hardly likely that, when the remainders were finally withdrawn and destroyed in , out of a comparatively small total issue of , of each of the dollar stamps of the $ , of the $ , , of the $ , , of the $ , and , of the $ would be returned and destroyed. [illustration] the design is the same for all denominations and, as we have already stated, is a very handsome one. the stamps are of extra large size and show two portraits of queen victoria. that on the left, with the date " " below it, is identical with the portrait shown on the old d and - / d stamps, while the one on the right, with date " " below, is from a full length portrait painted in by professor von angelo of vienna. this shows the queen in her robes of state as she appeared on the assumption of the title "empress of india." above the portraits is canada postage and between these words is the so-called tudor crown of great britain with the letters "v. r. i." below--these latter, of course, standing for victoria regina imperatrix, (victoria, queen and empress). at the base the value is shown on a straight tablet and in the angles, and between the two dates, are maple leaf ornaments. these jubilee stamps were printed by the american bank note company, who had recently secured the contract for the printing of stamps, bank notes, etc., for the dominion. in the _montreal herald_ for january, , the following particulars are given with regard to the change of printers:-- the contract for the government engraving, for which tenders were called two months ago, has been awarded to the american bank note company, of new york, for a period of five and a quarter years. the contract is worth $ , , and may be renewed for a similar period. the work consists of engraving the dominion bank notes, revenue and postage stamps, postal cards, etc. at present the british american bank note company, better known as burland and company, formerly of montreal, have the contract. they tendered this time, but the new york company was the lowest. the new york company is one of the largest and best known in the world. the firm engraves notes for some of the banks in canada, including the canadian bank of commerce. under the terms of the new contract, the company will require to establish a place in ottawa to do the work, where the government can have supervision of it. as compared with the prices paid under the burland contract, the government will effect a saving of $ , by the new contract. the stamps were, like all canadian stamps, produced by the line-engraved process, the values from / c to c inclusive being printed in sheets of in ten horizontal rows of ten, and the other denominations in sheets of in ten horizontal rows of five stamps each. the only marginal inscription consists of the name ottawa followed by the number of the plate. this inscription appears at the top of the sheets only--above the centre of the fifth and sixth stamps in the case of the / , , , and c values and above the third stamp on the values from c to $ . the name is in thin roman capitals, - / mm. high, the total length of the inscriptions being about mm. the following are the numbers of the plates used:-- / cent, plate . cent, plates , , , . cents, plate , . cents, plates , , , , , , , , , , , . cents, plate . cents, plate . cents, plate . cents, plate . cents, plate . cents, plate . cents, plate . $ , plate . $ , plate . $ , plate . $ , plate . $ , plate . the paper was the usual wove variety and the perforation gauged --the production of single-line or guillotine machines. even in the case of values of which large quantities were printed, like the c, variations in shade are remarkably slight. the c is known split diagonally and the halves used as / c and while this practice was disproved of by the post office department the half stamps undoubtedly filled a local need as shown by an extract from a canadian newspaper printed in the _weekly philatelic era_, viz.:-- the _railway news_ last week on account of not receiving permission from the post-master general to allow papers to go through the mails free, was compelled to pay postage. no half cent stamps being available, the post office department allowed one cent stamps to be cut in halves for postage. this is the first time on record we believe where such was allowed and the stamps have been eagerly sought after, one dollar being paid for a single stamp with the post office stamp on it. the _news_ will pay twenty-five cents each for the one cent jubilee stamps cut in halves bearing the post-office stamp of november th, th, or th, which was allowed to pass through the mails on that date owing to there being no regular half cent stamps available. one set of jubilee stamps--said to be the first one printed, though of course this statement cannot be taken literally as meaning the stamps were printed one at a time:--was mounted in a specially designed portfolio and presented to the duke of york, now his most gracious majesty king george v. an account of this presentation set, taken from an old issue of the weekly, is worthy of reproduction: a very unique and handsome piece of work is the postal portfolio which is to be presented to his royal highness, the duke of york, by the dominion government, and which is on exhibition in the window of kyrie brothers, jewelers, toronto. the portfolio is in the form of an album, the cover of which is of royal blue morocco leather, handsomely decorated in gold. in the centre of the front cover is a raised shield in white on which are the words in gold letters, "dominion of canada, diamond jubilee postage stamps, nd june, ." the corners of the portfolio are decorated with guards of canadian gold made from british columbia and raney district ore. the right hand upper corner decoration is a design of maple leaves, and the lower corner of english oak leaves and acorns. the portfolio is fastened with a clasp of canadian gold in the form of oak leaves, while the bracket on the front holding the clasps in position, is entwined with maple leaves with the monogram of h. r. h. the duke of york--g. f. e. a.--george frederick ernest albert. on the third page is the inscription, "this collection of postage stamps issued at ottawa by the dominion of canada in commemoration of the diamond jubilee of her most gracious majesty queen victoria is presented to h. r. h. the duke of york, k. g., by the government of canada, ." the last page of this unique stamp album will contain the certificate of the destruction of the dies and plates in the presence of hon. wm. mulock, postmaster-general of canada.... this is probably the dearest stamp album in the world, and contains only a single specimen of each denomination of the jubilee issue. and now we conclude our history of this jubilee issue by another extract from the weekly giving an account of the destruction of the dies and plates from which the stamps were made:-- on friday afternoon, september th, i presented myself at the post-office department and joined a party who were just leaving the building to go over to the american bank note co.'s building, a couple of blocks away. arriving, we were conducted to the top floor by the manager. the plates, dies, etc., were brought out by those in charge, and the seventeen original dies after inspection by those present were placed one by one under a press and an obliterating roller passed over them several times; proofs were then pulled which faintly showed the outlines of the ovals, etc., but the words showing the values could not even be made out. next, the rolls for transferring the impression from the dies to the plates came in for their share of attention. there were nineteen of them, and a few burns from an emery wheel quickly put each one "out of sight." the plates, in number, were subjected to the same treatment as the dies, and the total time occupied in the destruction of the various parts occupied almost two hours. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa, on wove paper. perf. . . / c black, scott's no. . . c orange, scott's no. . . c green, scott's no. . . c rose, scott's no. . . c deep blue, scott's no. . . c yellow brown, scott's no. . . c dark violet, scott's no. . . c brown violet, scott's no. . . c steel blue, scott's no. . . c vermilion, scott's no. . . c ultramarine, scott's no. . . $ lake, scott's no. . . $ dark purple, scott's no. . . $ yellow bistre, scott's no. . . $ purple, scott's no. . . $ olive green, scott's no. . chapter xiv.--_the "maple leaf" issue of ._ soon after the printing contract was awarded to the american bank note company it was rumoured that a new series of stamps would be issued, but for a time public expectations of the new stamps were overshadowed by the appearance of the diamond jubilee issue. a cutting from an ottawa paper dated september th, , shows, however, that preparations for a new set were well in hand, viz.:-- the design for a new postage stamp has been approved by the postmaster-general. there is a portrait of her majesty as she appeared at the coronation, except that a coronet is substituted for a crown. the portrait has been engraved from a photo procured during the jubilee ceremonies, and upon which was the queen's own autograph, so that it is authentic. the corners of the stamp will be decorated with maple leaves, which were pulled from maple trees on parliament hill and engraved directly from them. everything indeed is correct and up to date, and the new issue will reflect credit on mr. mulock's good taste. the engravers will take care to make this permanent and ordinary issue a tribute to their skill. the present stock of stamps it will take some months to exhaust, and not till they are done will the new stamps be issued. it may be about november of this year. about a month later a circular was addressed to postmasters announcing the issue of the new stamps as follows: _circular to postmaster._ new issue of postage stamps, etc. the postmaster-general has made arrangements for a new issue of postage stamps, letter cards, stamped envelopes, post cards, and post bands. these will be supplied to postmasters in the usual way. postmasters are, however, instructed not to sell the stamps of any denomination of the new issue until the stamps of the corresponding denomination of the present issue are disposed of. the filling of requisitions by the postage stamp branch will be regulated by the same principle--that is to say, no item of the proposed issue will be sent out until the corresponding item of the present issue has been exhausted. to conform to the requirements of the international postal union the color of the new c stamp will be green and that of the c stamp a deep blue. r. m. coulter, deputy postmaster-general. post-office department, canada. ottawa, th october, . the postmaster-general's report for , issued after the stamps had made their appearance, also refers to the new issue and to add completeness to our history we extract the following:-- owing to the change of contract for the manufacture and supply of postage stamps, a new series of stamps became necessary at the beginning of the present fiscal year. new stamps ranging in value from the / c to the c denomination (inclusive) were printed, and the first supplies thereof sent out to postmasters as the corresponding denominations of the old stamps became exhausted. a considerable quantity of the higher values of that series ( cents, cents and cents) remaining over from the late contract, these three stamps continued to be issued, so that the department, previous to the introduction of the same denominations in the new series, might, in accordance with the universal practice, dispose of the old stamps in each case, before issuing any of the new. the design of the new stamps is of a uniform character, and consists of an engraved copy (reduced) of an authorized photograph of her majesty taken during the diamond jubilee year. this, placed within an oval bearing the usual inscriptions, is enclosed within a rectangular frame, a maple leaf on a lined ground occupying each of the triangular spaces between the two frames. to conform to the regulations of the universal postal union, the color of the new cent stamp is green, and that of the cents a deep blue. this necessitated corresponding changes in the colors of the other stamps of the new series; for example, purple instead of green being selected for the cent denomination, and orange instead of slate for the cent. the first denomination of the new series--the / cent--was placed on sale on november th, . about the end of the same month the c made its appearance, and this was quickly followed by the c, c, c and c in december. the c and c were issued early in january, , so that official instructions that the new stamps were not to be issued until the supplies of the old issue were exhausted were fully carried out, though all values were on sale within the space of about three months. [illustration] the design of the new stamps is at once simple and effective. in the central oval is a three-quarter face portrait of her majesty, with head to left, which was copied from a photograph taken by w. & d. downey, of london, at the time of the diamond jubilee celebrations. around the oval is a band of solid color containing the words canada postage above and the value in words below, all being in egyptian capitals. the spandrels are filled with a ground of horizontal lines on which maple leaves rest. while, as mr. howes observes, "much criticism was engendered by the fact that the portrait was too large for its frame, making the design appear cramped," public verdict, as a whole, expressed unqualified approval of the new design. the stamps, like those of the preceding issues, were printed from line-engraved plates and, with one exception, these plates contained one hundred impressions arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each. the exception referred to occurred in the / c, the first plate for which contained stamps, arranged in ten rows of twenty stamps each. this is mentioned in the _weekly philatelic era_ as follows:-- by some misunderstanding the contractors, the american bank note co., set the sheet up with stamps, and the first five hundred sheets were so printed. the sheets were afterwards cut in two through the imprint, and we have these half sheets with a close imperforated margin on either the left or right edge. afterwards sheets of stamps were issued, all the stamps perforated on all four sides. plate number collectors will find the earliest sheets difficult to obtain. both sheets bear the plate number . the imprint on the sheets followed the plan originated with the jubilee series, "ottawa--no-- ," etc., being placed in the centre of the top margin. each value began with no. and apparently for the c, c, c, and c the one plate sufficed. for the / c, as we have already shown, there were two plates, both numbered " "; while for the c there were two plates, for the c, three plates, and for the c, six plates. the stamps were printed on stout white wove paper, similar to that used for the jubilee stamps and at some time or other a slightly thinner and more brittle paper seems to have been used. the paper for the c is of a distinctly bluish color--this being the first occasion on which colored paper was used for any of the postage stamps of the dominion. the perforation was the regulation gauge of , which has been in continuous use since , and, as the _philatelic record_ stated when first chronicling the issue, "many of the stamp are badly centered, a characteristic defect of the american bank note company's work." the c is known entirely imperforate. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa, on wove paper. perf. . . / c black, scott's no. . . c green, scott's no. . . c purple, scott's no. . . c carmine, scott's no. . . c dark blue on bluish, scott's no. . . c brown, scott's no. . . c orange, scott's no. . . c brown-violet, scott's no. . chapter xv.--_the "numeral" issue of ._ the "maple-leaf" issue had not been long in use before complaints were made that owing to the lack of plain numerals it was a difficult matter to distinguish the various denominations. in its issue for april nd, , the _metropolitan philatelist_ stated another ground for complaint and also referred to a forthcoming change, viz.:-- much dissatisfaction is expressed by the french speaking inhabitants of the rural parts at the lack of figures of value on the stamps, the denomination in all cases being printed in english which they are unable to understand. it has, therefore, been decided to alter the new stamps by removing the maple leaves from the lower corners and inserting large numerals of value in their place. the space occupied by the head will also be somewhat enlarged and the value will be placed on a straight band below. a few months later the redrawn stamps made their appearance, for the _monthly journal_ for july th, , records the issue of the c and c denominations as follows:-- the design is certainly improved, the oval being enlarged so that its outer line covers the outer line of the rectangle at each side and at top and bottom. the band being the same width as before, this allows a larger space for the head, which no longer appears so closely "cribbed, cabined and confined." the inscriptions remain unchanged, but in each of the lower corners is a plain rectangular block, containing a colored numeral. mr. howes states that these two values were issued on june st, , and, following its usual custom, the canadian post-office did not place the other denominations on sale until the corresponding values of the old series were all used up. thus, the / c, c and c did not appear until early in september, the c was placed on sale in the first few days of october, the c was issued in the early part of november, while the c, which was the laggard of the series, was not on sale until july rd, . [illustration] although the design was entirely redrawn and the wider oval gave the portrait a less cramped effect, it did not satisfy all the critics--though, so far as this fact is concerned, it is doubtful if any stamp issued anywhere at any time has met with universal approbation! the stamps were produced by the usual method of steel engraved plates and they were printed in sheets of , in ten rows of ten, as had now become the regular custom. the imprint is like that on the sheets of the "maple leaf" issue and, again as with that series, the numbering of the plates started with " " for each denomination. so little interest seems to have been taken in these marginal varieties that no authoritative record of the several plates employed has been kept. mr. howes gives but one plate for the / c, c, c and c values, three for the c, four each for the c and c, and six for the c but it seems highly probable there were many more especially for such values as the c and c which were used in very large quantities. in there were rumours that some of the stamps of this type had been re-engraved, the foundation for the canard being the following paragraph from the weekly:-- mr. h. a. chapman has sent me a specimen of a re-engraved c canada numeral, in which the differences from the first issue demand recognition. the re-engraved type is shorter and wider than the one preceding it. i note also that the c is said to exist in the same condition. in reprinting this statement the _philatelic record_ observed "can this be true; or is it only another case of a slight difference caused by the shrinkage after wetting the sheets for printing purposes?" the _monthly journal_ for september. , soon set the matter at rest as shown by the following extract:-- miss a. l. swift very kindly informs us that a friend of hers made enquiries at headquarters in ottawa, and was assured that no re-engraving whatever has taken place, and that any differences that exist must be due to shrinkage or expansion of the paper during the process of printing. our correspondent, who is a well-known american writer upon philatelic subjects and a careful philatelist, tells us that the / c, c and c of the numeral type and several values of the maple leaf type, show these variations, and adds that in the case of the / c of both issues one size is found in grey-black only, and the other in deep black only. it is possible that the amount or thickness of the ink employed may have some effect upon the varying shrinkage of the paper. the same journal refers to the matter again in the following month, viz.:-- in reference to the question of the variations in the size of the stamps of the last two issues of this colony, a correspondent tells us that he has been studying these stamps, and has come to the conclusion, no doubt correctly, that the variations are due to differences in the quality and thickness of the paper. as in the old case of the ceylon stamps the longer copies are on thicker paper than the short ones. all stamps that are printed on damp paper, and especially those from plates engraved in _taille-douce_, are liable to vary in this way. the above seems to be the most reasonable explanation of the differences for the measurements of the so-called long and short stamps are practically constant, which one would naturally expect to find if two sorts of paper, differing slightly in thickness and quality, were used. _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa, on white wove paper. perf. . . / c black, scott's no. . . c green, scott's no. . . c purple, scott's no. . . c carmine, scott's no. . . c dark blue on bluish, scott's no. . . c brown, scott's no. . . c orange, scott's no. . . c brown-violet, scott's no. . chapter xvi.--_the "map" stamp of ._ shortly after great britain adopted penny postage for internal use in postal reformers began to dream of ocean penny postage, and although universal penny postage is not yet an accomplished fact it is within reasonable distance of being so. a great step in this direction was made in when at an imperial convention on postal rates held in london the mother country and various colonies agreed to adopt the rate of one penny per half ounce on letters sent to or from britain or one another. the following extract from the london _standard_ for july th shows in an interesting manner how far the movement had then progressed:-- we are authorised by the postmaster-general to state that, as the result of the imperial conference on postal rates, it has been agreed, on the proposal of the representative of the dominion of canada, that letter postage of one penny per half-ounce should be established between the united kingdom, canada, newfoundland, the cape colony, natal, and such of the crown colonies as may, after communication with, and approval of, her majesty's government, be willing to adopt it. the date on which the reduction will come into effect will be announced later on. the question of a uniform reduced rate for the whole empire was carefully considered; but it was not found possible to fix upon a rate acceptable to all the governments concerned. a resolution was therefore adopted, leaving it to those parts of the empire which were prepared for penny postage to make the necessary arrangements among themselves. since then other portions of the british empire have fallen into line and the ties binding the english speaking peoples have been further strengthened by the adoption of penny postage between the united states and great britain as well as with many of her colonies. elihu burritt, the "learned blacksmith" of new britain, connecticut, was one of the earliest advocates of ocean penny postage and late in he issued a pamphlet setting forth his views on the subject. exactly fifty years later imperial penny postage was inaugurated though it was on a much broader and more liberal basis than burritt had dared to hope in his fondest imaginings. canada, as will be noted from the preceding extract, was the leader in the movement for imperial penny postage and marked the culmination of its ambitious plans by issuing a special two cents stamp. mr. mulock, the then postmaster-general of the dominion, was responsible for the idea of issuing a special stamp as well as the sponsor for its design. the new stamp was first mentioned by the ottawa correspondent of the _outlook_ as follows:-- mr. mulock, the postmaster-general, has chosen the new inaugurating stamp. it is in the form of a miniature map of the world distinguishing british possessions and illustrating the relative vastness of the empire, in which canada, of course, plays a prominent part. in commenting on this paragraph the _philatelic record_, for december, , stated "a poster stamp even of the large plaster type, which 'distinguishes british possessions and illustrates the vastness of the empire', will indeed be a _multum in parvo_, and probably the less said the better in anticipation of the realisation of such an apparently absurd idea for a design on such a small engraving as a postage stamp needs to be." the _ottawa evening journal_ gave further particulars about the forthcoming stamp, viz.:-- the new imperial penny postage stamp, to be used between great britain and a number of her colonies after christmas day next, has been designed by the postmaster-general and ready to be issued. it is not to be a special issue, but will take its place among the regular issues. when mr. mulock was in britain he was surprised to notice that the great mass of the people did not appreciate the value or the greatness of the british possessions abroad. this was especially true of canada. the idea, therefore, suggested itself to him when he was considering a new stamp, to prepare something that would show the dimensions of greater britain compared with all other countries. mr. mulock asked for some designs from a few artists when he came back to canada, but they did not meet with his views, and he roughly sketched out something himself and passed it over to an artist to have it touched up. the feature of the new stamp is a neatly executed map in miniature of the world, showing the british possessions as compared with all other countries. the empire is distinguished from the possessions of the other powers by being in red. surmounting this map is a representation of the crown, underneath which is a bunch of oak and maple leaves, symbolizing the unity of the mother country and canada. at the upper edge of the stamp are the words "canada postage" in a neat letter. underneath the map is placed "xmas, ", so that the date of the inauguration of imperial penny postage shall be a matter of record. on the lower corners are the figures " ," indicating the denomination of the stamp, and at the lower edge is this suggestive passage taken from the works of one of our patriotic poets: "we hold a vaster empire than has been." mr. mulock will be able to claim the credit of giving the public the cheapest map of the world ever issued. the size of the stamp is about the same as the jubilee issue. the printing of the new stamps began on december st, both the governor-general and postmaster-general being present while the first sheets were run off the presses. although it was originally intended to issue the stamp on christmas day it was actually placed on sale quite early in the month as explained in the following extract from the weekly: _ottawa_, dec. th.--it having been stated in some newspapers that the new two-cent imperial stamp would not become available until christmas day, inquiry made at the post office department today to ascertain the truth of this statement elicits the fact that, although it was the original intention of the department that the new stamp should not come into use until the th inst., the demand from the public for it has become so pressing that the department has decided to issue it at once, and permit its immediate use to the extent of its face value for all postage purposes. in other words, as soon as it reaches the public it may, if preferred by the purchaser, be used instead of the ordinary two-cent stamp. the two-cent inter-imperial rate does not, of course, come into effect until christmas day. under date of december th the canadian correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_ refers to the actual issue of the stamp, viz.:-- the new imperial stamps referred to in past numbers of the _era_ were issued this morning, and although the new imperial rate does not come into effect until xmas-day, and they bear that inscription, they are receivable for ordinary postage now. the general design has already been described, but it may be well to say that the stamps are printed in three colors. the frame is in black with white letters, the seas are in a pale blue, or rather a lavender, and the british possessions are in a bright red. the map of the world is on mercator's projection, which magnifies high latitudes; consequently the dominion of canada, which occupies the middle of the upper part of the stamp, looks bigger than all the other british possessions put together. the border of the stamp is of cable pattern and measures mm. in width by - / in height. the stamp is printed on medium, machine-wove, white paper, similar to that used for the jubilee and subsequent canadian issues, and is perforated . [illustration] the design is well-known to all our readers and as it has already been extensively dissected in the above quotations, further comment is hardly necessary. the new stamps naturally caused lots of criticism on account of their somewhat bombastic legend "we hold a vaster empire than has been". this was taken from the jubilee ode written by sir lewis morris on the occasion of queen victoria's diamond jubilee, the last stanza of which reads as follows:-- we love not war, but only peace, yet never shall our england's power decrease! whoever guides our helm of state, let all men know it, england shall be great! we hold a vaster empire than has been! nigh half the race of man is subject to our queen! nigh half the wide, wide earth is ours in fee! and where her rule comes all are free. and therefore 'tis, o queen, than we, knit fast in bonds of temperate liberty, rejoice today, and make our solemn jubilee! the stamps were printed in the usual sheet arrangement of one hundred, arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten. the black portion was printed from line-engraved plates but the colored portions were, apparently, printed by lithography. consequently, three operations were necessary before the stamps were completed and, as may readily be understood, a three color process in such a small compass made exact register a matter of difficulty. thus on many stamps portions of the empire are found much out of place, sometimes wandering into the sea and sometimes encroaching in an altogether too familiar manner on their neighbours. the new stamps came in for much criticism, of which the following extract from the _monthly journal_ for january, , is a fair sample:-- it is not quite an occasion for captious criticism, and when we get a beautiful colored map of the world for a penny perhaps we ought not to criticise; but we cannot think that the design is a very appropriate one for a postage stamp. the blobs of red are not always quite correctly placed; we have even heard of cases in which a little irregularity of "register" has resulted in the annexation of the greater part of the united states, while england invaded france, and the cape of good hope went out to sea! the canadian newspapers are not quite happy about it, but that is natural, as they are to pay extra postage in future to make up any deficiency in the budget caused by the reduction in the imperial rate; we hear that even a ministerial organ at ontario complains that the new stamp is too large to lick and too small for wall paper! some people are never satisfied. the color chosen for the sea portion of the map was lavender at first, but as this was not considered altogether appropriate it was soon afterwards changed to sea-green. in addition to these two tints it also comes in a very pronounced blue. the line-engraved plates from which the black portion of the design was printed have four marginal imprints consisting of american bank note co. ottawa in roman capitals / mm. high, the whole inscription being mm. long. these are placed above the third and eighth stamps of the top row and below the corresponding stamps of the bottom row. in addition a plate number, in hair-line figures about mm. high, is shown above the division between the two central stamps of the top row, these figures being placed higher on the margin than the imprints. mr. howes tells us that plates , , , and are known but that plate does not seem to have been recorded though, presumably, it exists. all four plates are known with the lavender sea and this is known to indicate the first printings, it would appear that all the plates were at press together. the late mr. h. l. ewen wrote an exhaustive article on the numerous varieties of this stamp but as most of these were simply due to errors of register their philatelic importance is slight. one variety, however, which is constant is worthy of note. in this two small dots representing two islands in mid-pacific are shown side by side instead of one above the other as on the normal stamps. mr. ewen also referred to a slight retouching of one of the plates, viz.:-- readers will have noted that the stamps are each surrounded by what appears to be a rope. on the sheet of plate before us, the outer edge of this rope on the stamps at the end of each row (right hand side of each sheet) has worn away and has been replaced by a straight line engraved on the plate, except on stamp no. , which still shows the very defective nature of the rope. mr. howes states that the stamp, with all three colors for the sea, is known imperforate. how many were issued is not known for certain as these imperial stamps were reckoned together with the ordinary c in the postal accounts but according to the _london philatelist_ the total issue was about sixteen millions. in concluding this chapter we have only to add that the cost of manufacturing the stamps, on account of the three processes necessary, was the relatively high one of cents per thousand. _reference list._ xmas, . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. unwatermarked. perf. . . c black, lavender and red, scott's no. . c black, green and red. . c black, blue and red, scott's no. . chapter xvii.--_the " cents" provisionals._ one result of the imperial conference on postal rates held in london, in addition to the inauguration of imperial penny postage, was to revive the agitation for the reduction of the domestic rate on postage in canada from c to c on letters weighing one ounce or less. indeed just prior to this convention a bill in amendment of the post office act had been assented to by parliament under which it was agreed the reduced rate of postage should prevail, but no immediate steps were taken to enforce the reduction, it being left to the governor general to name a date when the change should take effect. the establishment of imperial penny postage, however, brought matters to a head, for it was a ridiculous state of affairs under which a charge of c had to be levied in carrying a letter from one town to another in canada while c would carry a similar letter (if under half an ounce in weight) to any point in the british isles. consequently the governor general named new year's day as the date when the reduced rate of domestic postage should come into force as shown by the following "order in council":-- post office department. by proclamation dated the th day of december, , in virtue of the act further to amend the post office act ( victoria, chapter ) and of an order in council in accordance therewith, it was declared that the postage rate payable on all letters originating in and transmitted by post for any distance in canada for delivery in canada, should be one uniform rate of two cents per ounce weight, from the st january, . the immediate effect of this change of rates was a vast increase in the demand for c stamps and a corresponding decrease in the use of the c. also, to fall in line with postal union requirements a change of color was necessary, but this did not take place at once, the postal authorities preferring to follow their usual precedent of using up the old stamps first. the c, which had been printed in large quantities, moved so slowly that the post-office department decided that the only way the stock could be used up within a reasonable time would be to reduce the stamps to the value of c by means of a surcharge. this intention, as well as a change in the color of the regular c stamps, was set forth in a circular issued on july st, , from which we extract the following:-- owing to the reduction in the domestic letter rate of postage, the issue of the c letter-card, the c stamped envelope, and the c postage stamp from the department has ceased. any unused c letter-cards, c stamped envelopes or c stamps, still extant, will, however, continue available for postal purposes, or may be exchanged at any post office, at their full face value, for postage stamps of other denominations. the color of the domestic-rate postage stamp, as prescribed by the universal postal union, is red, and it is intended to discontinue the issue of the ordinary two-cents purple colored stamps as soon as the present supply on hand is exhausted. this will be about the th july, . thereafter the department will issue two cents stamps in red, first, however, surcharging down to two cents the unissued remnant of the three cents stamps in red, now in the possession of the department, and as soon as the supply of such surcharged _threes_ is exhausted, the issue of two cents stamps in red will begin. the surcharged stamps will be issued to postmasters as c postage stamps and be recognised as postage stamps of that denomination. the official estimate of the time the then existing stock of c purple stamps would last was not far wrong for on july th the first of the surcharged labels were issued. the surcharge follows a somewhat peculiar arrangement the numeral " " and "s" of cents being larger than the rest of the inscription, which is flat at the bottom and concave at the top. this distinctive type is said to have been adopted to make counterfeiting difficult, though it is hardly likely anyone would have reduced a c stamp to the value of c with the idea of defrauding the government! evidently the inscription was specially engraved and from it a plate was constructed so that a sheet of one hundred stamps could be overprinted at one operation. some little variation will be found in the thickness of the type of the surcharge though whether this is due to the use of more than one plate or simply to overinking or wear is a doubtful matter. the normal position of the surcharge is horizontally across the bottom of the stamps but owing to poor register it is sometimes found much out of position, and specimens with the overprint across the centre of the labels have been recorded. the surcharge was, at first, applied only to the c stamps of the numeral type but it was soon decided to also use up the unissued remainders of the c "maple-leaf" design by surcharging them in the same manner. these stamps were first issued on august th. both varieties are known with inverted surcharge. how many of each of these three cent stamps were surcharged is not known for certain as the official figures dealing with the issue of stamps makes no distinction between the two varieties. it is stated that altogether , , were surcharged and as the varieties are equally plentiful it is only reasonable to suppose that approximately equal numbers of both types were used up. _reference list._ stamps of and surcharged " cents" in black. . c on c carmine "maple leaf", scott's no. . c on c carmine "numeral", scott's no. . chapter xviii.--_the bi-sected provisionals._ the somewhat sudden reduction of the domestic postal rate from c to c on single letters led to the production of a few provisional stamps of peculiar character at port hood, n. s., the postmaster of that town dividing some of his c stamps into two unequal portions and using the smaller parts as c and the larger ones as c. in the _monthly journal_ for january, , they are referred to as follows:-- in some offices c and c stamps ran short, and their places were supplied by one-third and two-thirds portions of c stamps divided vertically. in some places our correspondent says, these divided stamps were employed without further alteration, but in others we regret to hear that they were surcharged with a figure " " in purple, upon the figure " " of the larger portion or the word "one" in green, upon the smaller part; or, to further complicate matters, when thirds of two adjoining stamps were used for c each part was impressed with a figure " ." our informant's letter is franked in part by / of a c stamp surcharged " " so we fear that this horrible tale is founded on fact. in the same journal for march further reference is made to these provisionals, viz.:-- the surcharged fractions appear to have been used only at port hood, n. s., where the postmaster apparently did not consider it safe to use divided stamps without some distinguishing mark. we have seen other copies since, and find that a figure " " was struck upon the smaller portion; not the word "one" as previously stated. again in the april number of the same paper these split stamps are referred to:-- in reference to the cut and surcharged c stamps, a correspondent sends us the following extract from a letter from the postmaster of port hood:--"when the change in canadian postage was made--of which we got notice by wire--i had only a very few two cent stamps in stock, so that before i got my supply from ottawa i ran completely out of them, and, to keep my account straight, i was compelled to cut threes. this was for one day only, and not over stamps were cut. i would say about ' ' and ' ' were used. about ' ' and probably nearly as many ' ' were marked with the figures ' ' and ' ' as you describe, and were placed on letters for delivery in towns throughout the dominion. those were the only provisional stamps used by this office." once more, in june, the _monthly journal_ refers to the philatelically notorious port hood office:-- a correspondent tells us that the surcharged provisionals were not the first instances of the use of the scissors at port hood, an envelope emanating from that office and bearing the half of the c stamp, divided diagonally, having been found with the date july th, . we do not know what the regulations are in canada on the subject of receiving postage in cash, but we should suppose that if a postmaster runs out of c stamps, receives postage on certain letters, in cash, and then, to save an entry in his accounts, cuts c stamps in half and affixes the halves to the letters, it would not be considered a very heinous offence, and it would account for curiosities of this kind occasionally turning up. but port hood does not seem to have been the only office in which the scissors were used, for the following letter from the _montreal philatelist_ shows that stamps were bi-sected at at least one other office. in this instance the postmaster divided c stamps as well as the c though, apparently, he did not apply any surcharge to the fractions:-- cross road, country harbor, april th, . dear sir,--your enquiry re stamps to hand. at the time you mention the c postage was given us so suddenly that i was about out and all my neighbour p. m. was also out and as i could only charge the public c i could not afford to put on a c stamp so cut c and c to about even the thing up and sent them along. three or four days' letters were mailed in this way, but i do not know where they went to. yours very truly, e. s. sweet, postmaster. the same journal in referring to the port hood provisionals makes some interesting comments which are worth reproduction, viz.:-- this postmaster must be a relic of the anti-confederation regime, when such mutilations were allowed, as even an entire absence of the required values would not warrant, under present regulations, this antiquated process. in such cases the postmaster should forward the money to the office on which his mail is forwarded with a request to affix the necessary stamps; he can handstamp or write the amount paid on each letter if desired, but that is not necessary. as these fractional provisionals of the port hood p. o. were never issued to the public, but were affixed by the postmaster and the amount paid stamped on them, they are no more deserving of collection as postage stamps than the hand stamp or pen mark on an envelope would be if no stamp or portion of a stamp had been affixed. if it is asked "why cut up and affix the stamps then?" the answer is the postmaster knew no better and wanted to make his cash account correspond with the total of stamps sold and on hand. he tried to simplify his book-keeping--nothing more--but went about it in an antiquated and unlawful way. while genuine copies of these splits on original covers are interesting curiosities their philatelic value is not of the greatest importance, for they were, seemingly, never sold to the public but simply affixed by the postmaster after he had received payment in cash, to simplify his accounts. they were certainly not authorised and if they had been detected at the larger offices they would not have passed as valid for postage. in concluding our notes with regard to these cut stamps we reproduce a letter from the post office department in reply to a collector who had made enquiry about the validity of the splits: p. o. dept., ottawa, _march th, ._ in reply to your letter of the th march, _re_ stamps ' ' in blue, on / of , and ' ' in violet on / of cents, i beg to say that the superintendent of the stamp branch assures me that no such stamps were ever issued or recognised by this department, and if affixed to letters would be treated as ordinary mutilated stamps of no value. it appears that the postmaster of port hood, n. s., at the time of the change of rate found himself short of cents stamps, and, acting on the advice of some stamp fiend apparently, cut up a sheet or so of stamps to make twos and ones. he nearly lost his job over it, but the department never got hold of any of the mutilated stamps. anybody could make similar stamps by cutting up and marking old threes. hoping this may be satisfactory to you, yours, etc., w. h. harrington. _reference list._ the c stamp of divided vertically and each portion surcharged with a new value. . (c) in blue on one-third of c carmine, scott's no. a. . (c) in violet on two-thirds of c carmine. scott's no. b. chapter xix.--_the c carmine._ according to the post office circular quoted in our last chapter the issue of the c stamp in carmine--or red, as the color was officially termed--was to begin when the supply of surcharged c stamps was exhausted. the new c stamp was eventually placed on sale on august th, , and it is, of course, exactly like the same value previously issued in purple in all respects except that of color. the same plates were used and later many new ones were put to press. no accurate record of the different plates used for this denomination has been kept but, in addition to plates , , , and listed by mr. howes, there were probably many others. in canada followed the lead of many other countries by issuing the c value in convenient booklet form. the postmaster-general's report for refers to these booklets as follows:-- in the month of june, , the department commenced the issue to postmasters, of a small book of cent postage stamps, containing stamps, disposed on two sheets of stamps each, and interleaved with wax paper to prevent adhesion of the sheets. the size of the book is such as to make it convenient to be carried in the pocket or pocket-book. printed on the cover is postal information calculated to be of interest to the public. the price at which the book is issued is cents, one cent over the face value of the stamps being charged to cover the cost of binding, etc. these stamp books were first placed on sale on june th and they rapidly came into public favor as is evidenced by the increasing sales every year since. mr. howes tells us that "the books are about two by three inches in size, with stiff cardboard covers which are bound together by red cloth. the coat-of-arms of canada with the words canada postage beneath are engraved in red on the front cover, while inside are four pages of postal information and the two sheets of six stamps each--three horizontal pairs--backed by leaves of paraffined tissue paper." _reference list._ aug. th, . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c carmine, scott's no. . chapter xx.--_the c value of ._ on the th of december, , a c value was added to the numeral series, its advent being quite unannounced. the large c stamps of had been finally used up and the new label not only conformed to the others of the series in design but also took on a new color--olive-green in place of scarlet. it was printed from the usual style of line-engraved plate with the usual sheet arrangement of stamps arranged in ten horizontal rows of ten each, with the imprint and plate number in the centre of the top margin. only one plate--numbered " "--seems to have been used and mr. howes tells us that "an examination of the stamp accounts during its term of life make it appear probable that approximately , were issued." _reference list._ dec. th, . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c olive-green, scott's no. . chapter xxi.--_the queen victoria seven cents._ although the reduction in the domestic rate of postage from c to c in made the c stamp--which was primarily intended for the combined payment of postage and the registration fee--of little use it was not until december, , that this value was replaced by a seven cents denomination. the new stamp was first announced as being in preparation in a newspaper despatch dated ottawa, dec. th, , viz.:-- the post office department announces that on the th instant it will be in a position to supply a seven cent postage stamp to accounting post-offices throughout canada. this stamp, which is of yellow color, will be especially convenient for postage and registration fee on single rate letters, while it may also be used for other postage purposes to the extent of its face value. non-accounting offices can obtain their supply through the city post offices. this new stamp will bear the queen's head, the department not having yet decided on the design of the king's head issue. this posthumous queen's head stamp was of similar design to the other values of the numeral series and had the same sheet arrangement and marginal inscriptions. there was but one plate--numbered " "--from which mr. howes estimates about one million stamps were printed. this stamp was issued on december rd, , according to a statement in the official report. _reference list._ dec. rd, . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c olive-yellow, scott's no. . chapter xxii.--_the king edward issue._ king edward vii ascended the throne on january nd, , but it was not until nearly two and a half years later that the dominion of canada issued new stamps bearing the portrait of the new sovereign. in the meantime there was much comment and speculation as to when the new stamps would appear and as to what form they would take, though the post office department for reasons best known to itself, exercised a discreet silence on the matter. early in it was reported in the newspapers that designs had been submitted and that the postmaster-general had chosen one "bearing an excellent likeness of his majesty." but the earliest detailed information concerning the expected stamps appeared in the _metropolitan philatelist_ for april th, , viz:-- the king's head series of canadian stamps will probably shortly make its appearance. the die has been received by the post office department and approved of. the stamp will be very similar to the present stamp except that the maple leaf in each of the upper corners will be replaced by a crown. the figures of value will appear in the lower corners as at present and the value will be spelled out as at present in the oval frame which surrounds the portrait. this frame will be as in the present stamp. the portrait of the king shows him three-quarters to the right, head and shoulders, as the queen is in the present stamp, but there is no crown on his head. the portrait is an exceptionally nice one and it is understood that royalty has had something to do with its selection. the die was made in england, although the american bank note co. are contractors for the government work. these details all proved correct and shortly afterwards postmasters were given definite information with regard to the forthcoming stamps by means of an official circular, dated june th, and worded as follows:-- postmasters are hereby informed that a new issue of postage stamps, bearing the portrait of his majesty, king edward vii., and comprising five denominations ( c, c, c, c and c), is about to be supplied to postmasters for sale in the usual way, but none of these stamps are to be sold until the first of july, . the colors of the forthcoming series will be the same respectively as those now used for the denominations specified, except that the shade of the c will be slightly deeper. postmasters will please bear in mind that, notwithstanding the new issue, they are not to return to the department any of the old stamps on hand, but will sell them in the ordinary way. at first, the public may prefer getting new stamps, and if so, there is no objection to this wish being acceded to, but it is also desirable to work off in due course all remnants of old stamps. a change in the design of the stamp of the present series of postcards, post-bands and stamped envelopes, to correspond with that above referred to, will be made as soon as the present stock of these items shall have been exhausted. [illustration] the new king edward c, c, c, c and c stamps were accordingly issued to the public on dominion day (july st), . it will be noted in one of the extracts quoted above that the die for the new stamps was engraved in london, and shortly after the appearance of the stamps the _london philatelist_ published the following article which is of such interest as to merit its reproduction in full:-- although for a long time past we have been aware of the circumstances attending the preparation of the new postage stamps for canada, and in a position to illustrate the approved design, we have refrained from publishing the facts in compliance with the desire of the authorities that no details should be made public until the stamps have been completed and were ready to be put into circulation. we believe that the delay which has taken place in bringing out the new issue has been due to questions arising out of the existing contract under which the postage stamps of the dominion are produced, and that even after the approval of the design and the receipt of the die some difficulties were experienced in connection with the preparation of the plates by the contractors. these have happily been surmounted, and now that the issue is an accomplished fact it is with much gratification that we illustrate the design of the new stamp, our illustration, prepared some time back, being taken from a proof from the steel die engraved by messrs. perkins, bacon & co., of london, and used in the manufacture of the plates of the several values issued by the canadian postal authorities on the st instant by comparing our illustration with the stamp as issued it will be seen that the contractors or the postal authorities have made some alterations in the design, which, in our judgment, are by no means improvements. the leaves in the lower corners have been redrawn on a smaller scale, and hardly impinge upon the frame; their drawing is vastly inferior, and the graceful effect of the broken circle is lost. the numerals of value are in color on a white ground reversing the original design, the labels being larger and the figures taller and thinner, this also detracting materially from the charming homogeneity of the stamp as first proposed. the greatest alteration, and the worst, is the substitution of heavy diagonal lines for horizontal ones in the background. the latter were finely drawn and delicately shaded, leaving the king's head in clear outline, and _framed_ by the dark oval band containing the inscriptions. the background and frame no longer present this artistic effect, and the whole design materially suffers thereby. the circumstances connected with the inception of the issue are as gratifying as they are novel, and will be hailed with acclamation by the philatelists of the british empire. the postmaster of canada, sir william mulock, being one of the many distinguished visitors to this country during the coronation festivities, took the opportunity afforded by his visit of approaching the prince of wales, and of meeting his royal highness's suggestions and advice in the preparation of a new die for the canadian stamps. the prince, with his characteristic energy and courtesy, cheerfully undertook the task, and it will be seen from our illustration with absolute and conspicuous success. h. r. h. wisely decided, in the first instance, that it is advisable to have some continuity of design in succeeding issues, and therefore adopted the frame and groundwork of the then current stamps as a basis. in selecting a portrait of his majesty the prince decided to rely upon a photograph giving a true likeness of the king as we know him, in lieu of an idealised representation by an artist. the photograph eventually chosen, with the full approval of his majesty, was one taken shortly before the coronation. the likeness is undoubtedly what is termed a speaking one, and with the addition of the coronation robes represents as faithful and as pleasing a picture of the king, at the time of his accession to the throne, as it is possible to find. the introduction of the tudor crowns in the upper angles, which was another of the prince's innovations, obviates the difficulty that has so often made "the head that wears a crown" lie "uneasy" on a postage stamp. these emblems of sovereignty, taken in conjunction with the canadian maple leaves in the lower angles, completes a design that for harmony, boldness and simplicity has assuredly not been excelled by any hitherto issued stamps of the british empire. it is palpable, on analysing the stamp, ( ) that the attractiveness of the design has in no way been allowed to militate against its utility, for the country of origin and denomination are clearly expressed; ( ) that the boldness of the design has not been detracted from (as is so often the case) by superfluous ornamentation, and that the design has been artistically balanced by the introduction of the _right-sized portrait_ and the proper treatment of light and shade. these stamps were, of course, printed from line-engraved plates like those of the preceding issues, and the same sheet arrangement of stamps in ten rows of ten each was followed. the marginal imprint shown on the top margin of each sheet is like that shown on the queen's head sheets and the plates for each value were numbered from upwards. mr. howes records the following plates as having been used up to december, :-- cent--nos. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . cents--nos. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . cents--nos. , . cents--no. . cents--nos. , . it is very possible other plates were used for most denominations before the king george stamps were issued in . the colors were very similar to those employed for the corresponding values of the queen's head series except as regards the c, which was printed in a darker and more pleasing shade. nearly fifteen months elapsed before any other king edward stamps were issued when, on september th, , the c denomination made its appearance. this is of similar design to the others, was printed from the usual sized plate of , and bore imprint and plate number in the top margin as before. only one plate has been recorded and as the use of this denomination did not average over , a year, it is quite probable that only this one plate was made. this value was issued in the olive-green shade adopted for its predecessor. more than four years elapsed before the next and last value of the king edward series appeared. this was the c denomination, which was placed on sale on november th, , after the supply of the old blue stamps first issued in was finally used up. in design, sheet arrangement, etc., it conforms with the others of the series. one plate--numbered --was used. the c value of this series is known entirely imperforate and the history of the variety, which is now quite common, is of considerable interest. the imperforate stamps were first mentioned in the weekly for october th, , in the following editorial:-- we are enabled to report the existence of the two-cent canada, current issue, imperforate, a reader having shown us a sheet of one hundred of these varieties bearing the plate number . this is a discovery of momentous interest which must attract much attention not alone from specialists but from collectors, as we may say for the sake of distinction, as well. the fact that the pane bears so early a plate number removes it from any inclusion in the theory that the canadian authorities propose to issue stamps in imperforate sheets in the manner that has been employed by the united states. without doubt, the sheet under notice was regularly prepared for issue in the accepted way, and it is the belief from information at hand that a sheet of four hundred of the stamps was printed and reached the public. this announcement excited much interest among collectors of canadian stamps and enquiry regarding the seeming irregularity was made of the postal authorities at ottawa. the post office department were convinced that no irregularity could have occurred, but finally made an enquiry, and were, of course, compelled to believe the evidence of the existence of imperforate specimens. in the issue of the weekly for february th, , a more complete story of the find is related, viz.:-- the sheet as found was not of stamps, but of over stamps, as the right-hand half of the sheet on which our report was based and which was not before us when we wrote, contained a pane of stamps, plate number and an irregularly torn part of plate number , showing about fifteen whole stamps and parts of others. assuming that the lower pane in the left half was torn approximately in the manner of the right lower pane, or plate number , the find consisted originally of stamps, more or less. this reckoning agrees, we believe, with the recollection of the person who rescued the imperforates from oblivion, in a philatelic sense. the plate numbers on the sheet that gave authority for the chronicling of the stamps by the weekly are and , and not , as first printed. a. n. lemieux of chicago is the man who found the stamps. while in ottawa five years ago or so (this was later corrected to june, ), when he was in business in that city, he saw the stamps just within the iron fence that has been described as surrounding the establishment of the bank note company that prints the canadian stamps. the day was a rainy one and the sheet had evidently been blown out of the window. mr. lemieux apparently attached no value to the sheet of over stamps, which was in a wet, crumpled condition, and without gum. mr. lemieux was under the impression, no doubt, that gum had been on the sheet but had been washed off by the rain. mr. severn ultimately acquired what was left of this imperforate sheet, and later submitted the stamps to the officials at ottawa, who pronounced them but "printer's waste". mr. severn, in adding to the history of these imperforates, says:-- they seemingly had been trampled upon and subjected to the usage that would be given such castoff material. further, it was said that they had been blown or thrown out of a window, no doubt. it was suggested that the stamps be returned to ottawa and that there were moral grounds for such a course on the part of the holders. the description of "printer's waste" seems to be correct and the inference is that the stamps never had been gummed. they belong to that class of curiosities that appeal strongly to the specialist, but which the ordinary collector regards as something apart from his collecting policy. the stamps did not go back to ottawa, and the postal authorities there annoyed, doubtless righteously, that such things should escape from their well regulated printing establishment went to considerable trouble to make the imperforates of small monetary value. the following paragraph, written by a correspondent of the weekly, was the first inkling collectors had that the department had thought any more of the matter:-- it may be of interest to know that the last supplement to the canadian post office guide contains the following: "in view of representations which have been made to the department, it has been decided to permit the sale of the -cent denomination of canadian postage stamps of the current issue, in sheets of , _without the usual perforation._" i at once asked for a sheet of the -cent, and incidentally said i would take a sheet of the other denominations if available. a reply came today informing me that only the -cent would be available, and then not for some time, as the department intends to make a separate printing of these stamps, to supply whatever demand may occur. it was stipulated that applications for these imperforate stamps should be made to the postmaster at ottawa. when the sheets of these stamps came into collectors' hands it was found they had been printed from plates and --the same as those from which the originally chronicled "errors" were printed. it is obvious that the department issued these stamps simply to "get back" at the holder of the sheet so unfortunately blown or thrown out of the printing-office window in . that they were not intended for use in mailing machines seems amply proved from the fact that none of the c stamps of the present issue have been issued in imperforate sheets. no / c value was issued in the king edward design although the queen's head stamp of that denomination continued in use until . this value was primarily intended for use in prepaying the postage on transient newspapers, but for many years the number sold to the public was out of all proportion to those which could have been required for its legitimate use. there is no doubt that large quantities were purchased by stamp dealers for wholesaling to packet makers and dealers in the cheap approval sheet business and, undoubtedly, stamp collectors in canada usually preferred to use four / c stamps on their letters rather than an ordinary c one. this excessive demand for the / c resulted in the post office department issuing the following circular to postmasters in :-- the attention of postmasters is drawn to the fact that the postal necessity for the / c stamp, as such, is now confined to one purpose--prepayment of newspapers and periodicals posted singly, and weighing not more than one ounce each. as publications of the kind referred to must, in the nature of things, be few, and as in the case of their being mailed to subscribers by the office of publication, the bulk rate of postage would be far cheaper and more convenient for the publisher, the demand for the / c stamp throughout the dominion must be appreciably diminished as a result of this restriction of its use. while, of course, any number of / c stamps on an article of correspondence will be recognized to the full extent of their aggregate face value, it is not the wish of the department to supply them except for the sole specific purpose above mentioned, and an intimation to that effect should be given by postmasters to patrons of their office who are in the habit of buying / -cent stamps for other postal purposes. this circular had quite an effect on the use of / c stamps, for only about one-third as many were used in the year following the publication of the circular. finally, on may th, , the post office act was amended so that the special rate on newspapers was repealed and the minimum postage on any single piece of mail became c. this did away for the necessity of / c stamps and, of course, discounted any further possibility of the value being included in the king's head series. _reference list._ - . die engraved by perkins, bacon & co., london. plates prepared and stamps printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c green, scott's no. . . c carmine, scott's no. . . c blue on blue, scott's no. . . c olive-bistre, scott's no. . c brown lilac. scott's no. . . c olive-green. no. . . c purple. no. . chapter xxiii.--_the quebec tercentenary issue._ the year marked the three hundredth anniversary of the first permanent settlement in canada, made by champlain at quebec in , and plans were formed to celebrate the event in a fitting manner by means of fêtes, historical pageants, etc. in fact, the occasion was considered of such importance that the then prince and princess of wales (now king george v of england and his royal consort) were invited to be present at the festivities, and they made a special journey in one of britain's most formidable battleships. quite early it was rumoured that the post office department would mark the event, as in diamond jubilee year, by the issue of a series of special stamps, and though in march the hon. rudolphe lemieux, who was then postmaster-general, announced that such an issue would assuredly be made, the department exercised the greatest reticence as to what values would be included in the series, and what subjects would form the designs. naturally the department was inundated with all sorts of suggestions, more or less appropriate to the occasion, but, apparently, the "powers that be" had their plans already made and it was not until a few days before the stamps were ready for use that any information was made public regarding the series. the _toronto globe_ for july th printed the following despatch from its ottawa correspondent:-- postmaster-general lemieux has given instructions to issue a series of postage stamps commemorating the tercentenary. they are eight in number. four of them bear portraits of persons dear to canada, or whose names recall great events. the first represents the prince and princess of wales; the second the king and queen. next come cartier and champlain, and then, in connection with the battlefields park scheme, wolfe and montcalm. the second part of the issue represents cartier's arrival before quebec. on the calm waters of the mighty st. lawrence stand in bold relief three ships of the discoverer of canada, flying the fleur-de-lys. as a sequel to the above is a very picturesque tableau. in champlain's narrative of his third voyage to canada is found the following passage:-- "with our canoes laden with provisions, our arms and some merchandise to be given as presents to the indians, i started on monday, may , from the isle of sainte helaine, accompanied by four frenchmen and one indian. a salute was given in my honour from some small pieces of artillery." the artist, under the inspiration of these few lines, has depicted champlain's departure for the west. there stand two canoes. in one champlain's companions have already taken their places, paddle in hand, whilst the great explorer is still on shore, bidding good-bye to a few friends. the picture is full of life. the legend underneath reads as follows: "partement de champlain pour l'ouest." the word "partement", now obsolete, is the one used by champlain for the modern one "depart". the same note of old france is used in connection with a view of the first house in quebec, indeed in canada, champlain's habitation, which is called in his narrative "l'abitation de quebécq". this stamp is a clear reproduction of a cut from champlain's work. quebec as it was in is the next view, copied from bacqueville de la potherie's "histoire de la nouvelle france". it is a quaint picture of the old city, showing steeples here and there, the fort on the river front and in faint lines the laurentide mountains in the background. all stamps bear with the words "canada postage" the line "iiie centénaire de quebec". the postmaster-general has given special attention to the selection of portraits and historical scenes to be represented. his choice has been an excellent one. the carrying out of the engraving part of the plan has been entrusted to mr. machado, of the american bank note co., who, with keen artistic sense, has performed his part of the work with great success. in the same newspaper of the same date appears another despatch giving particulars of the designs alloted to each denomination and the chosen colors viz:-- the special postage stamps to be issued in commemoration of the tercentenary celebration at quebec are now ready, and will be placed on sale next week. the stamps are of most artistic design, and are larger than the ordinary size, to allow of adequate representation of historic scenes, portraits, etc. the description of each denomination is as follows:-- half-cent, grey, picture of the prince and princess of wales. one-cent, green, portraits of champlain and cartier. two-cent, red, king edward and queen alexandria. five-cent, blue, representation of l'habitation de quebec. seven-cent, yellow, pictures of montcalm and wolfe. ten-cent, mauve, picture of quebec in . fifteen-cent, orange, picture of the parliament of the west in the old regime. twenty-cent, green, picture of a courier du sois with indians. the stamps were placed on sale on july th and, as will be noted from our illustrations, they are as described above except that the c does not have champlain's name on it as stated in the first quotation, and that the c and c are incorrectly described in the second despatch. the stamps are of similar shape to the special series issued in diamond jubilee year though they are a trifle larger-- mm. taller and nearly mm. longer. the postmaster-general's report for referred to this issue as follows:-- to meet what appeared to be a general wish a special series of postage stamps, which has come to be known as the tercentenary series, was introduced as a feature of the celebration in july, , of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of quebec by champlain. the first supply of these stamps was sent out to postmasters about the middle of that month, and was on sale to the public by the time his royal highness, the prince of wales, reached quebec for the celebration. the demand for the new stamps was extraordinary, and for the better part of a month was steadily kept up. the interest taken in them was, in no small measure, due to the historic associations with which in design they were so happily linked, the subjects depicted in the several denominations of the series being in variety and appropriateness admirably adapted to the end in view,--popular recognition of an epoch-making event. except as regards the postal union denominations of c, c and c the colors chosen for the stamps of this series do not correspond with those of the regular set. the stamps were produced by the line-engraved process, which has long been the standard method of production for canada's stamps, and as usual they were issued in sheets of one hundred in ten rows of ten. it seems probable that the plates for the c, and possibly for the c also, consisted of two panes of stamps each placed one above the other. this seems to be proved from the fact that, whereas on most sheets the imprint "ottawa" followed by the plate number, appears in the centre of the top margin, sheets of the c are known with the imprint in the centre of the bottom margin, and in the case of plates and both imprint and number are inverted. the inversion on these particular plates was, probably, purely accidental. but though these large plates were used the stamps were always issued in the usual sheet size of . the following plates are known to have been used:-- / c dark brown. no. . c blue-green, nos. , , , . c carmine, nos. , , , . c dark blue, nos. , . c olive-green, no. . c dark violet, no. . c red-orange, no. . c yellow brown. no. . the stamps were all printed on the usual white wove paper and were perforated , though specimens of the c are known entirely imperforate. fairly well marked shades may be found in connection with the c and c denominations but the other values show but very slight differences. [illustration] [illustration] the royal portraits on the / c and c values call for little comment, though it is interesting to note that the portrait of the princess of wales (now queen mary) is exactly similar to that shown on the c stamp of newfoundland which was first issued in . the picture of the prince of wales (now his majesty king george v) was from a photograph by w. & d. downey, of london, taken just prior to his journey to india in . [illustration] the portrait of jacques cartier on the c is precisely like that which appears on canada's first d stamp. in _gibbons' stamp weekly_ for january th, , the following interesting account of cartier's voyage appears:-- in the year jacques cartier was empowered by philipp cabot, "the admiral of france," to fit out ships "to explore new territories, to gain them, by robbery or otherwise, for france, and at the same time to endeavour to find a north-west passage to cathay". as long before as the florentine explorer, giovanni verozzani, had seized the territories of north america lying to the north of the st. lawrence river in the name of the king of france, but the seizure had never been enforced, and remained a seizure only in name. on this, his first voyage, cartier discovered newfoundland, and, sailing on, anchored off the northerly coast of the gaspé peninsula, by which the river st. lawrence sweeps into the gulf of the same name. the season was very late, however, and bad weather was to be expected, so cartier was obliged to set sail for france without delay. he took with him to france two sons of an indian chief, and they caused great excitement in paris. king francis i was so pleased with this exploit that on october , , he nominated captain jacques cartier to be "royal pilot" (_pilote royale_), and had three more ships prepared for him to make a second voyage to newfoundland. preparations for the departure were hurried on at st. malo, cartier's birthplace, and at the beginning of may all was ready for the departure. three ships took part in the voyage, viz.: _la grande hermione_, _la petite hermione_, and _la hermionette._ the first two were vessels rated at and tons respectively, and the last was a galleon of tons. on the after part of the first two vessels there were no less than three decks as superstructure, while forward there was only one deck. they were provided with the full naval armament of the sixteenth century; on the gunwale were mounted small cannon, and also a battery of mortars or similar weapons. the galleon was a long slender ship of extremely low freeboard, rakish rigged as a single-master, both sails and oars being used as a means of propulsion; two small cannon were mounted forward, and a round dozen arquebuses were also carried. the total company and passengers of the three ships were only all told. on the morning of may th, , the little flotilla set forth on its long voyage of exploration after having saluted the town with every gun on board. on september th of the same year cartier sighted land, which spread itself out on either side of the ships as far as the eye could reach, and found signs of a village; the place was called canada by the natives, the meaning of the word in the native language being "the town". this village was the seat of "government", and was occupied by an indian chief called donnacona; it was situate right on the shore of the bay formed by the junction of the rivers st. charles and st. lawrence. the village seemed to consist of huts built irregularly on the steep sides of a mountain, the spot later being the position of the southerly and easterly quarters of quebec. [illustration] the historical moment of the arrival of cartier's brave little "fleet" is interestingly depicted on the c value of the tercentenary series. samuel de champlain, whose portrait is also shown on the c denomination, was born in and died in . again we are indebted to the article in _gibbons' stamp weekly_ for the following particulars:-- in he was commissioned by king henry iv of france to found a settlement in canada. on his first voyage he sailed up the st. lawrence, and established friendly relations with the various native chiefs of the tribes inhabiting the country through which the river flowed. on his second voyage he was accompanied by only thirty people, and on july rd, , he landed at the village of canada, which was mentioned above. his first thought was to find a site suitable for the erection of an "_abitation_" where he might pass the winter that was coming on. "i could find no more comfortable or better spot than the land around quebec, where countless nut trees were to be seen," wrote champlain. that was exactly the same place where cartier had built his fort sixty years before. thanks to extreme industry, winter quarters were rapidly erected. the habitation consisted of three principal buildings, each two stories high. two of these buildings measured ft. long by ft. wide, and the third, used as a storehouse, was ft. long by ft. wide and had a large cellar. in the first building champlain lived with a few of the workmen in the lower story; in the other the remaining workpeople lived, and had with them the arms and ammunition of the whole party. an annexe was attached to one of the buildings, and it was used as a smithy; a few of the people also slept there. the whole of the buildings were enclosed by a trench or moat ft. wide and ft. deep, to protect the settlers from the ravages of wild beasts. champlain had earthworks thrown up on the inner side of the moat, on which cannons were mounted. between the encampment and the river there remained a strip only ft. wide; and behind, on the side of the mountain, there was a plot of arable land a little more than ft. long and ft. wide, where champlain had corn sown and vines planted. [illustration] this "abitation" is shown on the c value of the series, while on the c is shown the city of quebec as it had grown by from such small and modest beginnings. [illustration] in the following may champlain decided to explore the river and his departure on this momentous journey is depicted on the c stamp. [illustration] on the c denomination are portraits of the two famous generals, montcalm and wolfe, both of whom were killed fighting each other on the heights of quebec. again, to quote from the article in _gibbons' stamp weekly:_-- [illustration] so early as quebec was captured by the english, in spite of champlain's brave defence; but canada was restored to france by one of the terms of the treaty of saint-germain-en-laye, which was concluded in . richelieu at once sent champlain back to quebec as governor-general of canada. twice more, in and , the english besieged quebec, but they were not able to capture the town. but in general james wolfe was ordered by pitt to clear the french right out of canada. the french troops were under the command of marquis ludwig joseph montcalm, of saint-veran. although the latter was in command of only a small force, he was able to claim several victories, but finally he was besieged in quebec by general wolfe, at the head of , men. he was obliged to give battle under unequal conditions, and on september th was mortally wounded at the battle of the heights of abraham and died two days later. the victorious english general was also killed in the same battle. the names of both these leaders, enemies though they were, have graven themselves inseparably on the memories of the inhabitants of quebec. in the governor of canada, lord dalhousie, erected a marble monument to their memory, on which is a latin inscription, which may be rendered freely thus:-- "their courage caused their death. history praises them both. posterity erects this monument to their honour." no advance information was published as to the numbers printed of the several values in the series, as in the case of the jubilee set, so that little attempt at cornering any particular values was made by speculators. true, large quantities of the / c value were bought up by people who imagined it would be as rare as the corresponding value of the jubilee stamps, but as there were two million of these they did not turn out to be the gold-mine it was fondly imagined they would. by september, , all values except the c, c and c had been exhausted and by the end of october these three values were sold out as well. the numbers issued were later given out by the postmaster-general in answer to two questions propounded to him in the house of commons by mr. perley, a member. the canadian _hansard_ gives this data as follows:-- .--what was the total amount received by the post office department from the sale of the special tercentenary stamps? .--what part of this sum would probably have been received as ordinary revenue if there had been no special issue of stamps? to these questions the hon. rudolphe lemieux, postmaster-general, responded: the following was the issue to postmasters of the tercentenary postage stamps: _denominations._ _quantities._ _value._ / cent , , $ , cent , , $ , cent , , $ , cent , , $ , cent , $ , cent , $ , cent , $ , cent , $ , ---------- --------- totals, , , $ , , the department has no knowledge whether the stamps in question have all been sold, as during their issue the ordinary postage stamps were also on sale, both issues being in use as preferred by the public. the proceeds derived from the sale of stamps of the two issues were not kept separately, but treated as arising from a common source. it is, therefore, impossible to state to what extent the issue of the tercentenary postage stamps may have affected the ordinary revenue. the fact that the prince of wales was an ardent stamp collector resulted in the presentation to him of a specially mounted set as shown by the following paragraph from the weekly:-- as the prince of wales is an enthusiastic collector of stamps, his royal highness will no doubt be very pleased to receive the set of the special tercentenary stamps which will be presented to him at quebec. the stamps will be held in small gold boxes, enclosed in a handsome large box of morocco leather. a second set accompanies the gift in a special gold box, on the cover of the large box is the prince's crest and a gold plate inscribed as follows: "set of canadian postage stamps issued upon the occasion of the quebec tercentenary, . presented to his royal highness the prince of wales by hon. rudolphe lemieux, postmaster-general of canada." sets of these stamps, in boxes with appropriate crests and monograms, will be presented to earl grey, sir wilfred laurier and hon. rudolphe lemieux. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . / c dark brown, scott's no. . . c blue green, scott's no. . . c carmine, scott's no. . . c dark blue, scott's no. . . c olive green, scott's no. . . c dark violet, scott's no. . . c red orange, scott's no. . . c yellow brown, scott's no. . chapter xxiv. _the king george stamps._ on may th, , king george v succeeded to the throne but the dominion of canada did not take steps towards issuing a series of stamps bearing the portrait of the new monarch until some time later. the c and c denominations were recorded in the _monthly journal_ for january, , so they were doubtless on sale on the st day of that month. the other values-- c, c, c, c and c--were placed on sale very soon afterwards and we believe the full series was in circulation before the end of january. [illustration] the new stamps form a highly attractive set and they are without question the handsomest set of "george" stamps issued by any of the british colonies. the portrait, which shows his majesty in an admiral's uniform, three-quarter face to left, is, as the _monthly journal_ states "the best portrait of king george that has yet appeared on stamps." the portrait is contained within an oval above which the words canada postage are curved in bold sans-serif capitals. below is the value one cent, etc., in words while in each of the lower angles the value is shown in figures on a plain square as in the case of the king edward stamps. in the upper corners are crowns, again like the king edward labels, but the treatment of the stamp as a whole is widely dissimilar. the portrait oval is smaller than before so that in place of the almost microscopical maple leaves shown on the king edward stamps we now find a spray of these leaves, beautifully drawn, in each of the lower spandrels. the stamps were printed in sheets of as before with the usual arrangement of marginal imprint and plate numbers. no record seems to have been made of the plates but that a very large number of the c at any rate were used is obvious from the high numbers found. the c and c values show a number of prominent shades. just a month after the stamps were first chronicled the _monthly journal_ noted that the c existed in two distinct shades--"yellow-green and blue-green". in october, , the same journal mentioned the receipt of the c "in a very markedly altered shade, deep ultramarine instead of the previous deep indigo", while in january, , we read of two very pronounced shades of the c--bright carmine and dull rose-red--in addition to the usual rose-carmine tint. in november, , this denomination was noted in still another striking shade described as "almost carmine-lake". in the february, , issue of the _philatelic gazette_ reference is made to these shades and other varieties as follows:-- collectors of shades should not fail to secure before it is too late, the interesting series of such varieties in the current king george series of canada. in the cent stamp four distinct shades are noted and in the cent value no less than ten distinct shades from a pale carmine rose to deep carmine and from a real brick red to a reddish-brown or sienna red. several "errors" or "freaks of printing" have appeared, mostly in the early impressions, caused probably by the rush and push of the printers in trying to meet the large demand. i have noted the following and believe they will be of interest to collectors: cent.--an accent between canada and postage; also accents between n and d of canada. cent.--the same varieties may be found on the cent stamp printed from plate one. cent.--on plate two there appeared on the th stamp on the plate a marked accent on the c of cents. cent.--in february, , some few sheets were issued, having the red horizontal guide lines running across the stamps. these were printed from unfinished plates from which the guide lines had not been removed. they are easily distinguished, having the lines about millimeters apart running across every stamp on the sheet. the lines are very plain where they run through the figures of value.--c. l. p. the variety last described is a very interesting one which may also be found in connection with the c denomination. to term them guide-lines and prints from "unfinished plates" is, however, quite incorrect. such guide-lines as are marked on a plate are only placed vertically or horizontally to correspond with the top or bottom or one of the sides of the stamp design. the lines, which we are now considering, appear comparatively close together though they are not equi-distant, as the above description would lead us to imagine, nor are they always parallel or straight. they are undoubtedly due to some inherent defects in the plates. possibly, in the rush to finish sufficient plates to cope with the demand for the new stamps some of them were hardened too quickly with the result that the surfaces cracked. these defective plates were certainly among the earliest ones used and judging by the scarcity of the stamps showing these peculiarities they were not in use long before they were discarded. the c and c values of this series were issued in coil form for use in automatic vending machines. these were first issued in november, , perf. vertically and imperforate at top and bottom. in october, , the c was issued perf. horizontally and imperforate at the sides and shortly afterwards the c appeared in the same way. these coil stamps show quite a number of distinct shades. the c in coil form was also issued with the perforation at top and bottom and imperforate at the sides. _reference list._ engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c green, scott's no. . (a) perf. vertically. scott's no. c. (b) perf. horizontally, scott's no. b. (c) perf. horizontally, scott's no. a. . c carmine. scott's no. . (a) perf. vertically, scott's no. a. (b) perf. horizontally, scott's no. b. . c deep blue. scott's no. . . c olive-yellow, scott's no. . . c dull purple, scott's no. . . c olive-green, scott's no. . . c sepia, scott's no. . chapter xxv. _the war tax stamps._ one result of the european war was that canada, in common with many other countries, had to impose special taxes. the hon. w. t. white, minister of finance, outlined the various tariff changes and special taxes in the house of commons, ottawa, on february th, , and a resume of the chief items in the new "budget" was published in the weekly for feb. th as follows:-- the tariff changes went into effect at the time of the announcement. the special tax on wine and champagne goes into effect at once. the other special taxes take effect at a date to be yet fixed. the stamp tax on letters means that the old cent postage rate is restored, and a city letter costs cents. there is to be no income tax. the following are some of the items of taxation:-- one cent on telegraph and cable messages. five cents for every five dollars on railroad and steamboat tickets. ten cents on sleeping car and five cents on parlor car tickets. one to three dollars per passenger from steamboat companies carrying to ports other than in canada, newfoundland, the united states of america, and british west indies. two cents on all bank checks, receipts and bills of exchange, express and post-office orders. one cent on postal notes. one cent (war stamp) on each letter and postcard. five cents per quart on non-sparkling wines sold in canada, and twenty-five cents per pint on champagne and sparkling wines. one cent on each twenty-five cents retail price of proprietary articles. the only tax that has interest to us as philatelists is the one cent impost on all letters and postcards. this came into effect on april th, , and special stamps were issued for the purpose. these are the regular c postage stamps of the king george series with the words "war tax", in two lines, in large colorless block capitals between the portrait and the value. as this stamp collected a tax on letters and postcards it will undoubtedly be considered collectible by the most advanced of the philatelic purists. a c value was also issued in this type and while this was primarily intended for use on money orders, checks, etc., it was also quite frequently used for postage. in fact there seems to have been no necessity for these special stamps, for so long as a letter had c postage on it (or c in the case of drop letters) the law was fully complied with. that both the c and c values were good for postage is proved by the following letter addressed to mr. gladstone perry in answer to an enquiry by him:-- post office department, canada, ottawa, _ nd april, ._ dear sir:-- i am directed to acknowledge the receipt of your favour of the th inst. on the subject of war tax stamps. in so far as the post office department is concerned, the war tax stamps have only been issued in two denominations, namely:--the one cent and two cent. the two cent war tax stamp may be used on money orders, cheques, notes and wherever else the tax on that amount is applicable. i would also add that ordinary postage stamps may also be used to pay the war tax and that post office war tax stamps are available for postage purposes. very sincerely yours, e. j. lemaire, superintendent, _postage stamp branch._ it was considered, however, that a stamp which would pay both postage and tax would be a great convenience to the public and in december, , a stamp of this sort was issued. the official announcement regarding these was as follows:-- post office department, canada, ottawa _december th, ._ sir:--i have the honor to enclose three specimens of a stamp which this department is issuing for postage and war tax purposes, having a value of three cents. this is an ordinary two cent postage stamp surcharged as follows: t c (one cent tax). this has been issued in response to the demand of the public for a stamp having the value of three cents so that postage and war tax might be paid by affixing one stamp. this stamp is of permanent validity. i have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, r. m. coulter, _deputy postmaster-general._ the new stamps were printed from engraved plates as usual from a special die adapted from the ordinary cent stamp. upon the king's coat, immediately below the portrait but within the portrait oval, is engraved a capital "t" beneath the left branch of which is the numeral " ", and beneath the right branch the letter "c" for cent. these presumably came into general use on january st, . sometime in july or august, , this special c stamp was reported as existing with a perforation of at top and bottom and at the sides. it was generally presumed these were stamps from sheets which had been originally intended for coil use and this was confirmed in a letter sent to a correspondent from the superintendent of the postage stamp branch at ottawa, viz.:-- the explanation of this lies in the simple fact that owing to quick deliveries of this stamp being required by the department, the manufacturers were obliged to use part of stock which had been prepared for roll postage and perforated sidewise with the wide perforation. these sheets were then perforated endwise with the regular perforation and issued. it is said that , of these stamps were supplied to the montreal post-office but whether this represents the total quantity issued or not we cannot say. as this c tax stamp was in the same color as the ordinary c label much confusion resulted and the advantage of issuing the stamp in a distinctive color was ultimately considered by the post office department. rumours that the color would be changed began to circulate early in september, , and shortly afterwards the stamp made its appearance in an attractive brown color. the new stamp was apparently distributed late in august and postmasters were instructed not to issue it until all stocks of the old c in carmine had been sold. the circular dealing with this matter is worded as follows:-- post office department, canada, ottawa, _ th august, ._ two-cent surcharged postage and war tax stamp. the postmaster will please observe that the c surcharged postage and war tax stamps, herewith enclosed, are printed in brown instead of in red, as formerly. in future these stamps will be issued in the colour mentioned so as to overcome the difficulty experienced owing to the similarity in colour to the ordinary c stamp. before offering to the public any of the new stamps it is very desirable that the old stock he entirely sold. r. m. coulter, deputy postmaster-general. _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c green, scott's no. . . c+ c carmine, scott's no. . (a) perf. x . . c+ c brown. chapter xxvi. _a proposed commemorative series._ before concluding our notes regarding the postage stamps proper of canada it will be as well to make brief reference to a proposed commemorative series which, fortunately or unfortunately as one views these special sets, never eventuated. early in proposals were on foot to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of sir george etienne cartier by the issue of a series of stamps of distinctive designs. cartier was a famous canadian premier who was born in lower canada in . becoming attorney-general for lower canada in , he was called to form the cartier-macdonald ministry in . after the fall of his ministry he again became attorney-general in . a fearless and upright leader, and a good orator, he did much for the moulding of a united canada. he is also famed as a writer of french lyrics, which were published in , two years after his death. whether the stamps ever got beyond the proposal stage is a moot point but at any rate a list of chosen subjects was published, viz.:-- cent, portraits of king george and queen mary. cents, the cartier monument. cents, cartier's birthplace. cents, portrait of the prince of wales. cents, victoria bridge, inaugurated by cartier. cents, canadian pacific railway train inscribed "all aboard for the west." cents, cartier's coat-of-arms; motto, "franc et sans dol"; inscription. "o canada, mon pays, mes amours". it was at one time definitely announced that the stamps would be placed on sale on june th but a correspondent making enquiry at headquarters was informed that "the department is not yet decided to sell the cartier stamps." as the stamps still failed to make an appearance a firm of english stamp dealers wrote to the canadian post-office department for information and received the following reply:-- post office department, canada. _office of the superintendent of the postage stamp branch._ ottawa, _ th june, _. dear sirs:--i beg to acknowledge the receipt of your favor addressed to the late mr. stanton, and in which you ask information with reference to the proposed issue of stamps to commemorate the centenary of sir george etienne cartier. the information which you have received from outside sources is not only premature, but inaccurate in several details, and i can only say that although it is possible that these stamps may be issued during the course of the next few months the whole question is still under the consideration of the department. yours very sincerely, e. j. lemaire, _superintendent_. finally, owing very probably to the war, it was decided not to issue this special series of stamps. chapter xxvii. _official stamps._ canada has never issued special postage stamps for use on departmental correspondence but in november, , a german paper,--_der philatelist_--on the advice of a correspondent, chronicled a series for official use. these were said to consist of the ordinary adhesives, two envelopes and a post card surcharged with the word official in black. to quote from the _philatelic record:_--"it is alleged that they were prepared and issued in , but after a short time were called in again. the surcharges are in some cases oblique, and in others perpendicular. it is at least strange that, considering our intercourse with canada, our first knowledge of the issue of official stamps so far back as should reach us from temesvar, wherever that may be". doubts were, naturally, expressed on all sides with regard to the authenticity of these labels and a letter addressed to ottawa on the subject resulted in the following reply:-- post office department, canada, ottawa, _ th may, _. sir:--i am directed by the postmaster-general to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the th ult., enquiring whether postage stamps bearing the word "_official_" on their face are in circulation in the dominion of canada, and beg, in reply, to say that no such stamp, card, newspaper wrapper, or envelope has _ever_ been issued by this department. i am, sir, your obedient servant, (signed) wm. white, _secretary_. two years later, in april, , after this canard had been satisfactorily disposed of another set of alleged official stamps was referred to in the _philatelic record_ as follows:-- mr. hechler sent to the transvaal correspondent of major evans a set of canadian stamps surcharged service, and he certainly vouched for the authenticity of the royal arms and supporters, with the word service on some canadian envelopes, which he declared had been issued to the troops that were sent out in the indian rebellion in , and with whom mr. hechler was serving. this rebellion did not break out until april of that year, and yet we find these envelopes described in the _timbre-poste_ of february of the same year, on the authority of _der philatelist_ of the previous january. this all seems to be very remarkable, especially as no one but mr. hechler appears ever to have had any of them. a little delving into the history of these stamps and envelopes soon showed that they were nothing more than a private speculation on the part of their sponsor, mr. hechler. it appears that hechler was a captain in a volunteer regiment which was despatched to assist in putting down the rebellion. he had the words service printed on a number of envelopes, postcards, and probably stamps as well, which were used in sending notices of drill, etc., to his company. but they were never issued or recognised by the government of canada. chapter xxviii. _the special delivery stamp._ in march, , the _philatelic record_ contained the following paragraph:-- we are informed that there is likely to be issued shortly "a new ten cent stamp of special design, which, when attached to a letter, will ensure its immediate delivery to its address at any free delivery office, between the hours of a. m. and midnight." a similar system has, we believe, been in use for some years in belgium, where the extra charge is paid in telegraph stamps. this was certainly a case of intelligent anticipation for it was not until fourteen years later that a stamp of this character was issued by the dominion of canada. the postmaster-general's report for referred to the introduction of the new stamp as follows:-- the calendar year has witnessed the introduction of the special delivery stamp, whereby on the payment of a delivery fee of cents in addition to the ordinary postage, a letter immediately upon its arrival at the office of destination is sent by special messenger for delivery to the addressee. a special-delivery stamp of the face-value of cents was prepared, and the first supplies thereof were sent out sufficiently early to postmasters to permit of the inauguration of the special delivery service on the st july, . the object of the service is to secure special and prompt delivery of a letter on which a special-delivery stamp, in addition to the ordinary postage, has been affixed. the new system was dealt with at some length in a circular issued to postmasters under date june th, , and as this is of considerable interest we reproduce it below:-- the postmaster-general has approved of arrangements whereby, on and from the first of july proximo, the senders of letters posted at any post office in canada and addressed to a city post office now having free delivery by letter carriers shall, on prepayment by special delivery stamps of the face-value of ten cents, affixed one to each letter, in addition to the ordinary postage to which the same are liable, secure their special delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed within the limits of letter carrier delivery at any one of the following post offices in cities, viz.:--halifax, st. john, n. b., fredericton, quebec, montreal, ottawa, kingston, toronto, brantford, hamilton, london, winnipeg, victoria, and vancouver. the hours of delivery to be within a. m. and p. m. daily, except sunday. these hours are subject to change as dictated by local circumstances. drop-letters posted for local delivery, and bearing special delivery stamps, in addition to the postage, will also be entitled to special delivery in the same manner as letters received at the post office by mail. registered letters may likewise come under the operations of this scheme of special delivery, in the same way as ordinary letters, provided they bear special delivery stamps, in addition to the full postage and the registration fee fixed by law, and the regulations respecting the record and receipting of registered matter are observed. in despatching registered letters that bear special delivery stamps, the postmaster should write prominently across the registered-package envelope the words "for special delivery." when special delivery letters (unregistered) number five or more for any one office the postmaster should make a separate package of them, marking it "for special delivery"; if such letters are fewer than five, he should place them immediately under the "facing-slip" of the letter-package which he makes up, either directly or indirectly, for the special delivery office for which they are intended, so that the most prompt attention may be secured therefor. special delivery stamps will be sold at all money order post offices in canada, (which may secure a supply of such stamps in the same way as ordinary stamps are obtained), for which the postmasters will have to account as they do for ordinary stamps and on the sales of which a total commission of ten per cent. shall be allowed to postmasters, except to postmasters having fixed salaries. for the present postmasters will use the existing forms of requisition in applying for special delivery stamps. (the usual discount may be allowed to a licensed stamp vendor at the time that he purchases special delivery stamps from the postmaster). special delivery stamps are to be cancelled as postage stamps are cancelled. stamps intended for special delivery are not available for any other purpose, and the article upon which one is affixed must have, besides, the ordinary postage prepaid by postage stamps. under no circumstances will special delivery stamps be recognised in payment of postage or of registration fee, nor can any other stamp be used to secure special delivery, except the special delivery stamp. special delivery stamps are not redeemable. letters intended for special delivery at any one of the city post offices above mentioned, and prepaid as directed, may be mailed at any post office in canada. the regulations relating to first class matter (inland post) apply also and equally to special delivery letters, the only difference being the special treatment which the latter receive with a view to accelerating their delivery. the object sought by the establishment of special delivery,--namely, the special delivery of letters transmitted thereunder,--will be much promoted if the senders of all such letters are careful to address them plainly and fully, giving, if possible, the street and number in each case. such care will serve not only to prevent mistakes, but also to facilitate delivery. all employees of the post office are enjoined to expedite, in every way in their power, the posting, transmission and delivery of letters intended for special delivery. [illustration] these special delivery stamps are distinctly different in design from the ordinary postage stamps, the reason for this being, of course, that letters intended for special delivery may be at once identified and their handling facilitated. the stamps are oblong in shape, measuring about mm. by mm. high. the centre consists of an engine turned oval, in the middle of which is the word ten in uncolored block letters on a solid disc of color. around this is an oval filled with lathe-work and then comes an oval band inscribed "special delivery within city limits" in similar lettering to that of the word of value. this, in turn, is enclosed within another oval of lathe-work. the frame shows "canada post office" in a straight label across the top, while the lower and side borders are filled with lathe-work intercepted at the bottom by a straight label containing "ten cents", and at each side by a small circle containing the numerals " ." the spandrels are filled with conventional foliate ornaments. the value and special use of the stamp is thus plainly depicted and letters bearing them are easily sorted from the ordinary mail. the stamps were, like all other canadian stamps, printed from line-engraved plates. they were printed in sheets of fifty arranged in ten horizontal rows of five each. the imprint and plate number "ottawa----no.---- " are shown in the upper margin above the central stamp. apparently this original plate is still in use, for no other plate number has yet been recorded. at first the stamps were printed in deep green, but in january, , the _philatelic record_ mentioned a new shade, described as blue-green, and recent printings have been in a very deep shade of blue-green. the use of these special delivery stamps, though somewhat restricted at first, soon grew steadily in volume, showing that the public appreciated the special service. the postmaster-general in referring to this matter in his report for says:--"the cent special delivery stamps, to which reference was made in the last report, came into use at the beginning of the current fiscal year, simultaneously with the commencement of the special delivery service, and of this stamp , were issued to meet the demands, which would go to show that the service is being availed of to a considerable extent throughout the country." later reports simply indicate the extension of the service to other offices, though the one for also concedes that the use of a special delivery stamp is not compulsory to secure this service so long as the extra fee of ten cents is prepaid. we read that:-- the regulations respecting special delivery have been so modified that it is no longer necessary for a person despatching a letter which he desires to have delivered immediately, to provide himself with the "special delivery" stamp issued by the department. he may now place upon his letter ordinary postage stamps to the value of ten cents in addition to the stamps required for the prepayment of postage and write across the corner of the envelope the words "special delivery". this will ensure the special delivery of the letter as provided for in the regulations. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c deep green, scott's no. . chapter xxix. _the registration stamps._ the convenience of the registry system was adopted in canada in may, , at which time the fee was the remarkably low one of one penny. in the system was extended to cover letters sent to the united states by mutual agreement between the post office departments of both countries, and while the domestic rate remained at one penny the fee for the registration of letters to the united states was three pence. mr. howes has discovered an interesting notice in the canadian directory for - which gives further details as follows:-- persons transmitting letters, which they desire should pass through the post as "registered letters", must observe that no record is taken of any letter unless specially handed in for registration at the time of the posting. upon all such letters, with the exception of those addressed to the united states, one penny must be prepaid as a registration charge. if addressed to the united states, the ordinary postage rate on the letters to that country _must be prepaid_, and in addition a registration charge of d per letter. the registry thus effected in canada will be carried on by the united states post office until the letter arrives at its destination. in like manner, letters addressed to canada may be registered at the place of posting in the united states, and the registry made there will accompany the letter to the place of delivery in canada. a certificate of registration will be given by the postmaster if required. the registration system can be applied to the letter portion of the mail only. the registration system at that time made no provision for compensation in case of the loss of letters, the small extra fee charged simply indicating that extra care would be taken to secure proper delivery. evidently at that time the fee was paid in money, and the letters then marked with a handstamp of some sort, for in the postmaster-general's report for we read, "it is also considered that it would be an improvement on the system if the charge for registration were made pre-payable by a stamp, instead of by money as at present." it is probable that shortly after this the prepayment of the registry fee was indicated by the affixing of stamps of the required value. the report for refers to the system as follows:-- a rate of charge for registration so low as, in no probable degree, to operate as a motive, with persons posting letters of value, to deny themselves the advantage of securing from the post office an acknowledgment of the receipt of the specific letter, has always been considered to be a cardinal point in the canadian registration system. the registration fee, or charge, has, therefore, under the influence of this consideration, been maintained at cents, though it is doubtful whether such a rate of charge covers the actual cost of the process; the address of the registered letter having, in the course of transmission, to be entered on an average not less than six times, and forms of certificate or receipt, and books in which to preserve permanent records at each post office, to be supplied. the postal officials were evidently strong believers in the registration system and lost no opportunity of dwelling on its merits. in his report for the postmaster-general tells of its manifold advantages as follows:-- when a letter is registered, that is to say, marked and recorded in the post office so as to individualise it from the bulk of ordinary letter correspondence, its presence in the post office can be identified and its course of transmission traced, and a registered letter is thus secured from the chance of abstraction by an unfaithful messenger employed to post it (as it is always open to proof whether the letter was posted for registration or not), from risk of loss by accidental mis-direction on the part of the sender, and from mistakes in the post office--such as mis-sending or delivery to a wrong party. against actual dishonesty on the part of the post office employes, a registered letter is incomparably more secure than an unregistered one, for an unregistered money-letter and the nature of its contents are, to any person accustomed to handle letters, as manifest as though the letter had been singled out and marked by the registered stamp. moreover, the safety of an unregistered letter is dependent on the integrity of a post office clerk during the whole time that it remains in his custody, frequently for hours, or even days; whilst a registered letter will almost invariably have to be acknowledged at the moment of its passing into an officer's hands, and cannot thereafter be suppressed without leaving him individually accountable for its disposal. at what date the registry system was extended to letters sent to other countries than the united states is not clear but mr. howes has succeeded in unearthing a document which shows the rates prevailing in - :-- the charge for registration, in addition to the postage, is as follows, viz.:-- on letters to any other place in canada or british north america, cents on letters for the united states, cents on letters for the united kingdom, - / cents on letters for british colonies or possession sent _via_ england, cents on letters for france and other foreign countries _via_ england, an equal amount to the postage rate. both the postage charge and registration fee must in all cases be prepaid. it was not until that the idea of issuing special stamps for the prepayment of the registration fee was mooted but in the postmaster-general's report for that year we read:-- it seems expedient to adopt some distinctive postage stamp to be used only in prepayment of the registration charge, both to make it clear that this charge has been duly paid and accounted for in every case, and to diminish the risk which is occasionally felt at points of distribution of omitting to carry on the registration in cases where the ordinary registration postmark is not as distinct and calculated to arrest attention as it should be. it has always been the policy of the canadian post office to admit letters to registration at a low rate of charge for the additional security thus given, so as to leave no adequate motive, on the score of cost, for sending valuable letters through the mails unregistered, and, doubtless, the very large proportion of such letters offered for registration demonstrates a gratifying measure of success in attaining the desired object. in spite of this recommendation it was not until three years later that special stamps for registration purposes made their appearance. they were finally placed on sale on november th, , and were referred to by the postmaster-general in his report for that year as follows:-- registration stamps have been issued, to be used by the public in prepaying the registration charges on letters passing within the dominion, or to the united kingdom or united states, each destination being distinguished by a different color in the stamp, as well as by a variation in the amount of registration charge and corresponding value of the stamp. there is a red stamp of the value of two cents for the prepayment of the registration charges on letters within the dominion. there is a green stamp of five cents value for registered letters addressed to the united states. there is a blue stamp of eight cents value for registered letters addressed to the united kingdom. these stamps are to apply exclusively to the registration charges and the postage rates on registered letters are to be prepaid by the ordinary postage stamps. it is believed that the use of these distinctive stamps for the registration charges will tend to give registered letters additional security against the risk which is sometimes felt of the registration escaping observation, when such letters are dealt with hurriedly or handled at night, whilst passing through the post. [illustration] these registration stamps were not only of distinctive design but also of distinctive shape so that they were readily recognised from ordinary postage stamps. they are long, narrow labels and the design is the same for each. on an engine-turned background the word "registered" in large uncolored roman capitals is curved prominently across the centre. below is "letter stamp", also curved but in smaller letters, while above is "canada" on a straight label in still smaller lettering. at each end are tables containing the value in words reading up at the left and down at the right, and in the upper corners are large uncolored numerals plainly denoting the value. like all other canadian stamps they were printed from line-engraved plates on unwatermarked paper. they were at first printed in sheets of fifty in ten horizontal rows of five stamps each. mr. howes describes the marginal details as follows:-- the imprint was the same as the second type employed for the small "cents" issue--"british american bank note co. montreal" in a pearled frame--and likewise appeared four times on the sheet, as already fully described in the chapter dealing with that issue. the denomination of the stamp was also expressed as two cents, in the shaded roman capitals which we found in the case of the postage stamps, over the first stamp in the top row of that value, but with the cent the word five alone appears. the cent we have not seen. on the cent there is also a large numeral , - / mm. high, over the last stamp in the top row (number ) but the cent has none. the stamps were ordinarily perforated , like the then current postage stamps, but the c in orange and the c in dark green are both known entirely imperforate. the postmaster-general's report for stated that "the registration charge on registered letters between the united kingdom and canada has been reduced from cents to cents". this, naturally, largely reduced the demand for the cents stamp though it is probable that the c rate still applied to foreign countries. shortly afterwards (the exact date has not been traced) the registration fee on letters to all foreign countries was reduced to cents so that the use of the c denomination was entirely abolished. the stamps in the hands of postmasters were called in and destroyed and by examining the official figures relating to the numbers originally issued and those destroyed mr. howes estimates that about , of these c registration stamps were used. in a general revision of postal rates took place, as already explained in chapter x, and one of these changes affected the registration fee. the domestic fee was raised from c to c so that the registration charge was uniform and was c on letters sent anywhere. this, of course, did away with the usefulness of the c registration stamps but, as indicated in the official circular, "for the present, and until further instructed, the registration fee maybe prepaid by using the cent registration stamps and postage stamps to make up the amount." the postmaster-general's report for , in referring to the advance in the registration charge, says:-- the charge for the registration of a letter, parcel, book or other articles of mail matter was also made uniform, and fixed at cents for all classes of matter. the frequent delay consequent upon the prepayment of a wrong registration fee will no longer take place. the removal of the printing establishment of the british american bank note company from montreal to ottawa resulted in some marked changes in the shades of the then current postage stamps as we have already shown in a previous chapter. the registration stamps were also affected in some degree the cents value, in particular, appearing in a number of new and brighter tints. the c appeared in blue-green--a distinct contrast from the green and yellow-green shades previously current. in some of the postage stamps, it will be remembered, appeared in sheets of instead of as formerly. about the same period new plates were made for the c registration stamp, these containing one hundred impressions in ten rows of ten, instead of fifty as before. on august st, , a regular postage stamp of the denomination of c was issued for the purpose of paying the postage and registration charge and the appearance of this sounded the death knell of the special registration stamps. the supplies in the hands of postmasters were used up and when exhausted no more were printed. much has been written regarding the c registration stamp printed in brown. these were originally found at the miscou light house post office in new brunswick and though the stamps were in an unmistakably dark brown shade it has since been satisfactorily proved that the change was quite accidental and that immersion in peroxide would restore them to their original color. although the postmaster of the above named office is said to have stated that the stamps were in brown when he received them there is little doubt he must have been mistaken. much the same thing happened in connection with the current six cents united states stamps at an office on the pacific coast (san pedro). some of these stamps were found in a distinct brown shade almost exactly matching that of the c value and though some local collectors had dreams of a rare error of color it was easily proved that they were simply oxidised. _reference list._ - . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., montreal or ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c vermilion, scott's nos. or . . c green, scott's no. . . c blue, scott's no. . chapter xxx. _the postage due stamps._ like most other countries canada managed to collect the postage due on insufficiently prepaid mail matter for many years without the use of special stamps for the purpose. about it dawned on the post office department that the use of special stamps would simplify matters and place the collection of monies due on a more systematic basis. consequently a circular was issued to postmasters, under date of june st, , advising them that postage due stamps would be issued and must, for the future, be used in collecting insufficient postage. the salient points from this circular are given by mr. howes as follows:-- commencing on the st july, , the present system of collecting unpaid postage will be discontinued and thereafter the following arrangements will supersede the regulations now in force:-- ( ) the department will issue a special stamp which will be known as the "postage due" stamp and on delivery of any article of mail matter on which unpaid or additional postage is to be collected the postmaster will affix and cancel as ordinary stamps are cancelled, postage due stamps to the amount of the extra postage charged on such article. ( ) the short paid postage must be collected from the addressee before postage due stamps are affixed; otherwise the postmaster is liable to lose the amount of such postage. ( ) postmasters will obtain postage due stamps on requisition to the department but the initial supply will be furnished without requisition, so that the new system may go into operation on the date above mentioned. when a new form is ordered "postage due" stamps will be included in the printed list, but it is proposed to use the stock on hand at present which would otherwise have to be destroyed. the denominations of the new stamps will be , and cents. in his report for the postmaster-general refers to the new innovation as follows:-- a system of accounting for short paid postage collected by postmasters, by means of special stamps known as "postage due" stamps, has been adopted by the department. these stamps are to be affixed to shortpaid mail matter and cancelled by postmasters when such matter is delivered to the addressee, and are not to be used for any other purpose. they cannot be used for the payment of ordinary postage, nor are they to be sold to the public. [illustration] these stamps are of special design and though of the same size as the regular postage stamps the design is printed the longer way so that in general appearance they are greatly different. the design has, as its centerpiece, a large uncolored numeral on an eight-sided tablet. above is canada and below is the word cent while at the sides are elaborate scroll ornaments. across the base the words postage due are shown in bold uncolored capitals while the balance of the design consists of an engine-turned groundwork. they are printed from line-engraved plates in sheets of one hundred, as usual. in the centre of the top margin is the imprint, "ottawa", followed by the plate number. mr. howes states that plate is known for all three values and plate for the cent only. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. no wmk. perf. . . c dull violet. scott's no. . . c dull violet. scott's no. . . c dull violet. scott's no. . chapter xxxi. _the "officially sealed" labels._ although "officially sealed" labels cannot by any stretch of the imagination be considered as postage stamps or, indeed, of having any philatelic significance yet they are collected by many, in common with adhesive registered labels, as having an interest owing to the fact that they are visible evidence of one phase of the working of the post office. the "officially sealed" labels used by the canadian post office seem to have been first recorded in the latter part of . the first type consists of a rectangular label, measuring about - / by mm. on which the words "officially sealed" are shown straight across the centre. above this, in a curve, is the inscription "post office canada", while below, in a similar curve, is "dead letter office". the border consists of a handsome piece of engine-turned engraving. these labels were normally perforated but they are also known entirely imperforate. much misconception existed as to the use of these labels until major e. b. evans, when visiting canada in , took the opportunity of finding out exactly for what they were used. the results of his investigations were published in the _philatelic record_ for november, , and as the article is full of interest we need make no apology for reproducing it _in extenso:_-- when i was in canada last july i made special enquiries about these labels, as there appeared to be some mystery about their use. everyone agreed that they were not placed upon _all_ letters opened at the dead letter office and returned to their senders, and no two persons seemed to have quite the same theory as to the rules for their employment or non-employment in any particular case. even gentlemen connected with the post office at halifax, such as mr. king and others, could give me no definite information. i therefore determined to see what i could do at headquarters in ottawa. fortunately, i was able, through a collector in an official position, to obtain an introduction to the deputy postmaster-general, who most kindly gave me the following particulars, which show that the employment of the _officially sealed_ labels is very restricted, thus accounting for their rarity. letters in canada, as in the united states, very frequently have on the outside the well-known notice containing the address of the sender, and a request that the letter may be returned if not delivered within a certain time. these, of course, are not opened at the dead letter office, and in fact, i think, are ordered not to be sent there, but are returned direct from the office to which they were originally addressed or from the head office of the district. on the other hand, those that have no indication of the address of the sender on the outside are sent to the dead letter office, and there necessarily opened; but neither of these classes thus properly dealt with is considered to require the _officially-sealed label._ it is only if one of the former class, having the sender's name and address on the outside, is sent to the dead letter office and there opened in _error_ that the _officially-sealed_ label is applied, to show that such letter has been opened officially, and not by any unauthorized person. whether these pieces of gummed paper ever had a more extended use or not i cannot say, but i was assured that the above was the substance of the regulations as to their employment. the deputy postmaster-general further stated that there had been so many requests for specimens of these labels that the department had been obliged to make it a rule to turn a deaf ear to all of them. in any case they are not _postage stamps_, properly speaking, at all. they indicate neither postage paid nor postage due, but simply that the letters to which they are attached have been opened by proper authority, and they at the same time afford a means of reclosing them. about a label of new design was introduced, this, of course, being the work of the american bank note company. these are larger than their predecessors and are very handsome labels. in the centre is an excellent portrait of queen victoria, adapted from the "law stamps" of , with "canada" in heavy uncolored roman capitals curved above, and, at the top, the words "officially sealed" in letters so graded that the tops form a straight line, while the bottoms follow the curve of "canada". under the portrait the words "dead letter" are shown on a straight label which extends right across the stamp, while below this is the word "office" on a curved tablet. the spaces at the sides and the bottom are filled with elaborate foliate ornaments and engine-turned work. these labels are also perforated and exist on two kinds of paper. until about the paper was of a pale blue color while subsequent printings have been on ordinary white paper. _reference list._ . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co. (no value) deep brown. - . engraved and printed by the american bank note co. (no value) black on blue paper. (no value) black on white paper. the end. [illustration] my specialty is th century english colonials united states and new issues large stock of king edward heads king george heads new issues always on hand send your want lists frank m. mason box , providence, r. i. popular handbooks =canal zone=--a specialized study of these stamps by wm. evans. m. d. illus. pr. c. =dealer and his stock=--by bill bloss. a useful book for any stamp dealer. pr. c. =oaxaca=--by roderick enfield. handsomely illustrated and printed. price c. =range tales=--by e. b. hill. seventeen complete sketches of arizona life into which philately is woven by the hand of an artist. illus. price c. a work of art. = cent green - =--by h. l. wiley. a very fine study. profusely illus. pr. c. =stamps of old german states=--by poole, freely illustrated. price c. =germany and its colonies=--by poole. freely illus. pps. price c. =u. s. parcel post, stamp booklets and postal saving stamps=--three books in one by h. l. wiley. price c. =u. s. stamped envelopes=--by louis g. barrett and j. m. bartels. - fully illustrated. cuts. price c. =the stamps of cook islands=--by poole. the only handbook published on these stamps. illustrated. price c. =stamp collectors' guide=--by poole. absolutely necessary to every collector. every chapter full of merit. price c. =how to deal in stamps=--a three part book by grant, wylie and smith, all experienced at the business. price c. =specialized study of u. s. stamps=--by f. e. goodwin. all adhesives fully covered. a book of great merit. price c. =gambia=--by dalwick. illus. price c. =hawaii=--a fine book by luff, howes and richards. two colors and illus. price c. =egypt=--by dalwick. illus. price c. =u. s. dept. stamps=--by goodwin. all u. s. collectors need it. price c. =u. s. grills to =--by w. l. stevenson. illus. blank pages for notes. pr. c. =virgin ids.=--by dalwick. price c. =severn-wylie-jewett co., boston, mass.= c. g. dietrich broadway, new york, n. y. entrance fulton street member a. p. s., dresden philatelic society, berlin and vienna dealers' association, offers his superb stock of medium and rare stamps of all countries. moderate prices--fine copies only. specialties british, british colonials used and unused th and th century send want lists approval selections sent to responsible collectors b. n. a. this is my specialty, and i can supply good, clean copies of most varieties at reasonable prices. i have also other british colonials and many nice foreign. give me good reference and i will be pleased to send you a selection on approval. w. w. walsh roy building halifax, nova scotia canada unused. used , py $ . $ . py fair .. . , / py fair . . / py perf. .. . , c . . c . . c shades . . - , c fair .. . - / c . . - / c no. a . . , / c . . c . . c . . c . . c shades . . - / c shades . . c . . c no. a . . , c . . c no. a . . - , c orange . . - , c . . c shades . . , c . . c . . - , c no. a . . c . . c shades . . - , c . . c . . c shades . . , jubilee / c . . c . . c . . c . . c . . c . . c . . set / - c . . complete set . . , c . . c . . c . . , c . . c shades . . c . . c no. . . c no. . . map-shades . . - c no. a . . c . . c . . complete set . . set quebec . . set king geo. . . set dues . . special del. . . var. postage only . var. postage only . var. postage only . var. war tax . a complete line of canada revenues in stock. if you collect these interesting stamps write us for a selection. all the cheaper varieties in stock at low prices. send for complete list. newfoundland unused. used , py $ . $ . py . . py no. a . . , c . . c fair . . c . . c . . c . . c . . - c no. . . c no. a . . c no. . . c no. . . c . . , c . . c . . c . . c . . , c shades . . c . . c . . , / c to c . . - , c . . c . . re-issue set . . jubilee set . . on c no. . . , c rose . . c orange . . , set . . , c . . guy c . . guy c . . eng. c . . eng. c . . eng. c . . eng. c . . coronation complete . . other varieties in stock. ask for our b. n. a. list--it's free on request. terms:--cash with order only. % discount on orders over $ . . postage extra on orders under $ . . registration c extra. stamps returnable where condition is unsatisfactory. * * * * * stamps on approval our books are arranged in five different grades, which will suit all classes of collectors from the beginner to the specialist. all sorts of stamps; all kinds of prices; but only one result to you--satisfaction. ask for circular describing our selections or send commercial reference for a trial selection. * * * * * marks stamp co. the house of stamp bargains toronto canada approval department ¶ special attention is paid to the approval department of my business, which is under my personal supervision. ¶ the most satisfactory manner in which to purchase stamps is from approval books when the collector has the opportunity of inspecting the specimens at his leisure. my stamps are all arranged in books by countries, mounted and arranged according to the latest edition of scott's catalogue. above each stamp the catalogue number and price is plainly shown and below my net selling price is marked. ¶ these books contain unused and used stamps, several copies of the same variety being included wherever possible so that the collector has ample choice. all minor varieties of shades, watermarks, perforation, etc., are included as well as occasional pairs and blocks of four. prices are most reasonable and average about half catalogue. as most of these books are of considerable value they can only be sent to collectors well known to me or to those supplying first class references. specialists ¶ a cordial invitation is extended to all advanced collectors and specialists to acquaint me of their special countries. i continually have rare and out-of-the-way items in stock and shall be glad to send particulars of these to interested clients. b. w. h. poole washington building, los angeles, cal. rail-way committee*** transcribed from the march edition by david price, email ccx @pglaf.org report of the knaresbrough rail-way committee. to the noblemen and gentlemen, proprietors of estates, on the adopted line; to the subscribers for the survey, _and to an enlightened and liberal public_, this report of the knaresbrough rail-way, (_originally intended for a canal_) is with all due deference and regard presented by their faithful and obedient servants, the committee. preface. if the river nidd and the brooks adjacent, in the vicinity of knaresbro', up the valley to ramsgill, near pateley-bridge, and near the adopted line, had not possessed the many water-falls, and given motion to the sixty-seven mills which they do;--or had the great landed proprietors, on the line now adopted been hostile to this all improving project, of this highly favoured and not less honoured, their native district;--or had the hand of nature, when it varied the surface of our earth, no doubt for wise purposes, and formed those high hills, composed their bowels of any other substance than what it is;--or had the commercial necessities of knaresbro' and its neighbourhood not existed, and the slow progress of their redemption, compared with others, at one time of far less note, not been too apparent; then, perhaps, this project, commendable as it is, would have shared the same fate, during a season of sickness, which it did twenty years ago. but since these falls of water do exist, and are always ready to lend their willing aid to turn the ponderous wheels which impart motion to many mill-stones and many thousand spindles, beyond the possibility of denial;--and since the great landed proprietors have expressed nothing unfriendly to the project, but, if any thing, the reverse, at this moment of national difficulties and distress, highly to their credit and understanding;--and since the all-wise hand of providence hath permitted an unceasing demand in one place, and a never-failing supply in another, at distances perhaps the most suitable and interesting for a work of this kind; {vi}--and, considering the necessity which the commerce of this district so evidently requires in an improved mode of transporting, from place to place, its heavy weights, with despatch and cheapness; then there can be no doubt of the propriety of prosecuting a scheme of this kind, so long, as we believe, on substantial data, that the completion of it will reward the shareholder, and give to this place what it once possessed, and be the means of rendering it again the first district in the kingdom for the manufacture of linens. report of the committee. at a meeting held the th day of march, , in the town's-hall, at knaresbro', your committee were authorised to appoint a suitable person to take a survey of the country, in order to point out the most eligible line for a canal to knaresbro'. after various correspondence with different engineers, the choice of your committee fell upon thomas telford, esq. a gentleman of long experience, and of whose abilities, as a civil engineer, every reliance was placed. about the latter end of may following, this gentleman visited knaresbro', viewed the localities of the place, took running and comparative levels over the shortest and most convenient ground, to the higher side of linton-lock, and also towards tadcaster. in the latter direction, as being a more direct communication with the port of hull, he fully recommended a close survey to be made, for which purpose he sent his assistant mr. palmer, who commenced the survey with such other assistance as he required, about the latter end of june, and continued surveying and levelling in various directions until the middle of september;--about this time your committee became alarmed for the success of the intended canal, both on account of the unfavourable ground between the town of knaresbro' and ribston, and the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient head of water in a natural manner. besides at this time the elevated situation of knaresbro' above the wharfe was ascertained to be feet, equal to locks of feet each; and hence, even if water could be obtained at a cheap rate, by artificial means, the number of locks requisite for locking down into a navigable part of the river wharfe or ouse, distant about twenty miles, would alone render the project unadvisable, by swelling the expense of the work in such a manner as would totally destroy the expected advantages to be derived by the trade of knaresbro' and the surrounding neighbourhood, or leave little or no hopes for the shareholders receiving a fair per centage for their money embarked. under these circumstances your committee abandoned all further hopes of a canal, and notwithstanding the funds then collected for the survey were exhausted, they relied on the same spirit which gave rise to the project, and felt convinced of the great utility and advantages of a rail-way, if taken from a navigable part of the river wharfe, and continued, passing knaresbro', up the valley to pateley-bridge. the object of extending the work thus far, was, in order to secure the back carriage of the lead, which is produced on a large scale in that neighbourhood, besides the excellent lime for agricultural purposes made at greenhow-hill, and the very excellent stone to be had there for making and repairing of highways; together with the inexhaustible quantities of stone for all purposes of building, which by the accounts we have of it, cannot be excelled; and also the produce of many flax and cotton mills, all of which are turned by water, and hence more likely to increase in number than diminish; the quantity of tonnage to be found in that direction, at a comparatively small expense in obtaining it, added to the tonnage of the lower end of the line, would, undoubtedly increase, not only the utility of the work, as regards the country in general, but give a preponderating quantity of tonnage in a descending direction; the advantages of which were so obvious to your committee, that a survey nearly upon new ground was undertaken, and continued under very favourable hopes, till at length it was brought within the compass of both plans and sections, and exhibited to your committee about the latter end of january, . from which data, and what more mr. palmer was able to give mr. telford from his own observations, your committee requested mr. telford to give his estimates of the most advantageous manner of communicating this place with the navigable part of the river ouse at acaster sailby, (this being at that time the point fixed on at the lower end of the line) either by a double rail-way only, or by a double rail-way to the brook crimple, and hence by a canal to acaster sailby, taking the water from this brook as a supply, and forward from knaresbro' to pateley-bridge, by a single rail-way, with passing places. the separate expenses of each, as furnished by mr. telford, are below:-- mr. telford's estimate. pounds . miles, with from the lowest part , feet fall. of the bond end, at the bottom of the high-street, in knaresbro', to the brook crimple, on ribston-green, a double railway m. yds. with from the crimple , feet fall. brook to acaster sailby, a canal add ten per cent. for , contingencies , m. yds. with from the same point , feet fall. in knaresbro' to acaster sailby, by a double rail-way . m. with a fall from the same point , of feet per mile. in knaresbro' to pateley-bridge, with passing-places in the foregoing estimates mr. telford has considered the canal, with its locks and bridges, as suitable for the humber sloops, and the rail-way sufficiently strong to admit of one ton and a half being carried by one waggon. when it was originally intended for the lower end of the line to commence at acaster sailby, it was unknown to your committee that an act of parliament existed, levying duties on merchandise on the river ouse, after the same had passed the wharfe mouth towards york; for the better information of the public, we insert as much as relates thereto. act of the th of george ii. "an act for rendering more effectual an act passed in the th year of the reign of his late majesty king george the first, entitled an act for improving the navigation of the river ouse, in the county of york:-- "that from and after the th day of june, , all and every the goods, wares, and merchandises, and other commodities, carried and conveyed on the said river ouse, above wharfe mouth, except such manure, dung, compost, or lime only, as shall be water borne, and used and applied in tillage; and also except all timber, stone, and other materials, made use of in or about the works necessary for improving of the navigation of the said river, shall pay the tolls or rates following, that is to say,-- "for every ton of wines and groceries, almonds, areack brandy, cyder, cydar egar, hops, fish oil, line-oil, florence oil, seville oil, and turpentine oil, rum, spirits, tobacco, vinegar, bacon, hams, sides, and pork; cases and chests by measure, china, coffee, cork, drugs, and medicines; dyers' ware, (except logwood, copperas, and alum); flour, glass, (except green glass bottles); haberdashers' wares, household furniture, iron wrought, linen, linen-drapers' wares, lemons, oranges, and nuts; leather and calves' skins; mercery ware, silk and woollen, paper white and books, garden seeds, salt, tea, and woollen-drapery ware,--two shillings and sixpence respectively;--and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity. for every ton of cheese, flax, pewter, soap, marble, bell-metal, brass battery, and copper, two shillings respectively, and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity. "for every ton of oak, bark, corn of all sorts, earthenware, green glass bottles, iron cast and unwrought, lead white and red; paper, cap, white, and brown; grass-seeds, beans and peas, rapeseed, stone, tallow, tin-plates and wire; timber, oak, ash and elm,--one shilling respectively; and so in proportion for every greater or less quantity. "for every ton of alum, copperas, logwood, brimstone, bricks, tiles, coals, hemp, hay, lime for building, lead, and turfs,--sixpence respectively; and so in proportion for any greater or less quantity. "for every firkin, pot, cask, or other vessel of butter, one penny. for every hundred of oysters, one penny. and that all other goods, not herein particularly rated, shall pay ad valorem, such rates or duties as shall be ascertained by the said commissioners, appointed by or in pursuance of the said former act." soon as your committee had clearly ascertained the existence of this act, and its consequent increase on the tonnage of flax, a deputation went down to the wharfe mouth, to examine the river, as far up as bolton percy, and found from their own observations, but more particularly from the information they collected, that vessels of seventy tons burden can navigate the river, nearly always once in twelve hours the whole year; and that, if a little improvement was made in the river at three places, which are rather too shallow for vessels of this burden, they might pass at all times without interruption; the deputation were also of opinion that the improvement was practicable at a moderate expense. this deputation also examined the line below bolton percy, (see the map { }) and found it passed through the estate of sir wm. milner bart. near his residence, and over lands in his own occupation, consequently more likely to meet with his opposition than his approbation. under these accumulated circumstances, your committee decidedly recommended a double rail-way, to commence at a bend in the river, near bolton percy, (see the map) which will shorten the length of the original line about one mile and a half, and lessen the expense of the project at the same time; thence in a line, nearly straight, to bow-bridge, passing on the south side of the village of wighill, and close to the north end of the village of walton. thence in a circuitous direction towards wetherby;--but if the line was permitted to pass from the north end of the village of walton to the north side of ingmanthorpe, the seat of richard fountaine wilson, esq. distant from his residence about four hundred yards, it would pass over very suitable ground, and shorten the length of the line five-eights of a mile more. by either of these lines it would cross the great north road, near the drover's inn, then proceed on the north side of the village of little ribston, and by the banks of the river nidd, sufficiently high to avoid the broken parts, crossing the said river by a bridge, near st. robert's well, and thence proceeding along the eastern side of the town of knaresbro', ascending, in an uniform manner, to the level of the bottom of the high-street, commonly called bond-end; where it will most conveniently pass behind, or on the west side of mr. wm. clayton's house; or, if more desirable to the owners of property at this point, it is possible to pass it under ground, and enter the valley of the nidd without affecting or destroying any property, except two or three old houses belonging to mrs. stubbs. the line, for a single rail-way, will then wind along the north bank of the valley, till it crosses the nidd by another bridge, the clumps of trees on scotton moor; from this point it will keep on very favourable ground along the south side of the river, passing half way between killinghall village and killinghall bridge; thence through the middle of hampsthwaite village, and close by wreaksmill crossing the nidd again below the village of birstwith; after which it winds along the north bank of the river nidd to pateley-bridge. your committee having stated their reasons for abandoning the project of a canal, and recommending that of a railway, and having also pointed out the adopted line, the next duty which presents itself to their notice is the revenue;--the nature and quantity of tonnage which is likely to come upon the line, and within the limits of its attraction;--and give to each such a charge as will equally benefit the various consumers. such as we conceive to be of the most general importance, first attracts notice, which is the article of coal, wherein there is little doubt but a saving of eight shillings per chaldron will, on the completion of the work, be effected--a most material object for the poor, and the general benefit of commerce. the rule by which this computation is made, compared with others we have seen, is very much on the safe side, but should a trifling mistake occur, we confidently believe that the decrease in the price of this article will very much enhance its consumption, without anticipating any increased demand at the lime-works and bleach-grounds, arising from an increase of business, which naturally follows the cheapness of carriage, and the rapid transport of goods from place to place. the increase of population, while speaking of this article, must not be omitted, since, in the last twenty-one years it hath increased from four to near seven thousand, including knaresbro', scriven-with-tentergate, and brearton. the most correct statement we are able to give is below:-- tons. knaresbro' and scriven with , tentergate, including lime-kilns and bleach-grounds brearton flaxby goldsborough haverah park killinghall plumpton harrowgate and bilton , ribston scotton stainburn , birstwith township hampsthwaite and felliscliffe do. clint do. darley do. hartwith do. thornthwaite do. dacre do. bewerley do. , bishopside do. updale do. , pateley tonnage , knaresbro' do. , total tonnage of coals , from good authority we are informed that kippax and haigh-moor coals can be delivered at bolton-percy for ten shillings per chaldron, or s. to s d. per ton.; and if any back carriage could be procured they would be delivered for less, hence the advantage of taking yarns, &c. from knaresbro', and the neighbourhood of pateley-bridge to barnsley, and bringing coals back; but independent of such an advantage we are able to prove the great saving named before in these coals: pounds _s._ _d._ cost per chaldron of the kippax, or haigh-moor coals, at the end of the rail-way, at or near bolton percy, is removing do. into the waggon, (if not landed d.) rail-way dues, miles, at d. per ton, per mile waggon dues, miles, at l. d. per ton, per mile the present cost by way of boroughbridge, is one pound five shillings, and hence the saving to the public on every ton, or chaldron of coals, will be nine shillings, except the merchants' profit. by the foregoing statement the tonnage of the knaresbro' and pateley-bridge coal, when it reaches knaresbro', will yield a revenue of pounds annually, being , tons, at d. per ton, per mile, for miles, and the tonnage on the coal belonging the district up to pateley-bridge will be tons, for miles, the average distance at d. per ton, per mile, or pounds s. d. making together pounds s. d. the next topic for our consideration which naturally presents itself, is the surplus produce of the soil, which although composed of a great variety, we shall here only notice that of corn; and although the town of knaresbro' and its vicinity, cannot complain of a scanty or contracted supply, nor yet of exorbitant prices, compared with their more western neighbours, the inhabitants of craven, and the borders of lancashire: who, at least must pay such suitable advance as will compensate for a long and expensive land, or a longer and protracted water carriage, neither of which in all probability, can in these days of depression, bear a further reduction of rate.--under these circumstances, knowing the soil in the neighbourhood of wetherby and tadcaster to be rich and fertile, we feel some confidence that corn and its produce in flour and meal, (which can so conveniently be converted by mills upon the line,) will soon become an article of tonnage in no small degree, nearly the whole length of the line; and thence being removed by land carriage from pateley-bridge to skipton and other places further west, will be found cheaper than heretofore. the quantity of tonnage on this head is not so clearly ascertained, still it will have some reference to the quantity of coals brought from skipton into the neighbourhood of pateley-bridge, or the quantity of lead taken from pateley-bridge, to ripon as either one or the other of these articles, in both directions must be considered back carriage, otherwise they could not be removed, as heretofore, at the usual low rates. from these data, and the fact of three waggons three days each week from knaresbro' towards skipton, we believe the tonnage under this head in that direction will be three thousand tons annually, which being nearly the whole length of the line, or twenty-five miles at d. per ton, per mile, will yield a revenue of pounds s. being aware some doubt may arise as to the computation of this tonnage being correct, we feel no apprehension as to the result. for while it must be admitted, that lead in this case ceases to be a back carriage, hence the expense of carrying corn from ripon to pateley-bridge must naturally increase, whilst on the contrary, the expense by the railway must as naturally decrease; these two circumstances in all probability will fully support the estimate, if not greatly exceed it. we now come to the present principal trade of the town and neighbourhood of knaresbro', which is that of dressing flax and spinning yarns; and what first takes our notice upon the subject of tonnage, is that of flax. this article during the latter period of the late war, was dressed and manufactured here in greater quantities than at present, probably owing to the profits upon it at that time being more adequate to the heavy expense of carriage, than they are now. the depressed state of the trade since that period has caused one flax-mill, turned by water, to be converted into a corn-mill, no doubt to the detriment of others in that line; and two more, turned by the power of steam, to stand still, and become useless; whereas, if carriage could be considerably reduced upon this article, and also in that of coal as stated already there remains little doubt but this useless property would regain its former value, and additional employment be afforded to the increasing population of the neighbourhood; an object at all times deserving the notice of the opulent and rich, and which of late, hath, with partial success engaged the united efforts of the legislature. in calculating on the tonnage of this article we have it in our power to be more exact than on that of any named before, for every individual concerned with it, has made his own return, and which added together amounts to two thousand four hundred and forty tons, being for the town of knaresbro', one thousand seven hundred; and for the neighbourhood up to pateley-bridge, seven hundred and forty. hence the amount of revenue from this tonnage will be as follows: pounds _s._ _d._ from bolton percy to knaresbro' tons per ann. miles, at d. per ton, per mile from knaresbro' to pateley-bridge, which is . miles, but for safety sake is only taken at . tons, miles at d. per ton, per mile having pointed out the probable amount of revenue which the article of flax will yield to the railway; we shall next endeavour to exhibit how much will be saved between the present and the projected mode of conveying it to knaresbro': from pounds hull, via b. bridge, the present expense per ton, is and the time of coming from to days from hull to bolton percy, per ton removing from the boat into the waggon rail dues, miles, at d. per ton per mile waggon dues, miles, at . d. per ton, per mile by this statement it appears there is a saving of s. per ton from hull to knaresbro'; and nothing seems to prevent the same ratio holding good from hull to pateley-bridge; besides should the flax come from hull on board the regular traders, it will in all probability arrive at the wharfe mouth in two tides, and from thence to knaresbro' in eight or nine hours; but should the trade of knaresbro' attract the notice of the owners of steam vessels, its dispatch would doubtless be greater; and more in proportion it would benefit the trade of the place; in as much as cheapness of carriage and dispatch of goods whether manufactured or otherwise are the very sinews of commerce, and in such proportion as these are obtained, so will the wealth and prosperity of the town or neighbourhood be regulated. in presuming upon any increase of tonnage on this head, we feel equally safe as on any other, or more so; for if the present mills turned by water, and spinning flax were found insufficient, some corn-mills might easily be converted, and in lieu of them, wind-mills might be erected, for which purpose many fine situations present themselves on both sides of the valley, where there is abundance of stone and lime always contiguous, which would render such erections less expensive than in many other places. the next subject for our consideration, and which naturally follows the last, is the tonnage arising from manufactured linen, which in former times when spinning was done by hand, was the staple trade of knaresbro' and its vicinity, but which, of late years has been much on the decline, perhaps owing to many causes. the principal one we are disposed to believe, arose from the capitalists originally engaged in that line becoming mill owners; and as mills for sometime did not increase by their numbers so rapidly as to glut the market with their produce, the profits in that branch were better than the other; and as this became apparent, its effects soon spread; so that few more reasons are requisite to prove the fact, of the linen manufacture having given place to that of yarns. another reason why it hath not made equal progress with other places, may be the length of time manufactured goods are on their passage to london, where there is a market for every thing every day; the port of york is the only one where these goods have been shipped, and from what cause we cannot say, but they have been frequently so long on their passage, that good connections have been entirely lost on that account; whereas if the railway was completed, hull would naturally become the port of knaresbro', and all produce of its manufacture would reach hull in two days, at a much less expense than at present, and london most probably in five or six days more. thus it is highly probable an order from london might be executed and warehoused in eight days, or sometimes in half that time; a convenience perhaps unenjoyed by any other place of the kind. notwithstanding the manufacture of linens here has not till lately been carried forward in that variety, nor the great increase of looms been made compared with other places, still the character of knaresbro' linens is maintained, when brought into service. with regard to the tonnage arising from linens, it alone will not be considerable, but as it is one article of tonnage in a descending direction, we beg leave to class with it, that of linen yarns, for should, by this improved mode of conveyance, either of these increase in quantity in a descending direction, the other as naturally will decrease, and as a considerable proportion of yarns made in this neighbourhood, finds a market at barnsley, and in that direction, it is presumed that along the railway, and thence by a barnsley boat, will be the cheapest mode of conveyance; and in the reverse direction coal will naturally become an article of tonnage and traffic. having already from good and safe data, stated the quantity of flax likely to come on this improved line of conveyance, at tons, and why a great proportion of it when made into linens, yarns, and tow, should naturally be tonnage in a descending direction, we hope the public will give us credit for estimating this tonnage, at tons, per annum, and which we will suppose to be all delivered at knaresbro'; hence the tonnage of it to bolton percy, will be tons, miles, at d. per ton, per mile pounds per annum, in a descending direction. we now come to that consideration belonging the tonnage arising from general merchandize, which will include every thing consumed for the support of the population, and which there is no occasion to dwell upon separately under respective heads. this tonnage is made up from entries of different individuals, and amounts to tons, per annum, in an ascending direction; for the town of knaresbro'; and for the district, up to pateley-bridge, ; the revenue arising from this source will be as under: tons, pounds miles, at d. per ton, per mile do. do. do. do. do. although the distance from knaresbro' to pateley-bridge is . miles, still we have only rated it at miles. timber and iron will also become articles of tonnage in an ascending direction, and although different when considered respectively, are in their application so liable to meet, that perhaps it may not infringe much on their respective rights if classed together for their amount of tonnage; the amount handed to us is composed of returns made by such individuals as are concerned in the trade, and although it does not form a conspicuous figure, nor produce a great sum, still perhaps it is not the less likely to make up its full share of increase; for with these, cast metal may be classed, and recollecting the great wear and tear in mills, machinery, and waggons on the railway, the quantity is more likely to be doubled, in a short period, than that of any named before; the amount of revenue as at present calculated, would be tons, up to knaresbro' from bolton percy, being miles, at d. per ton, per mile, is pounds s. d. and for the district of pateley-bridge, the returns are tons, taken at miles, at d. per ton, per mile, amounts to pounds s. d. per annum. another article of tonnage both ascending and descending may be named, and on which some revenue may be expected to arise, although the data for estimating it may be greatly clouded; it is that of passengers. the market of knaresbro' is generally well supplied, and prices moderate, as they are in other equally fertile districts, except in a few articles, such as poultry, butter and eggs; but the increase of price in these articles is the most felt during the harrogate season, when large quantities are in great demand for that improving place. contemplating the execution of this project, it would immediately afford a most complete opening for all produce of this kind, coming to the market, in an easy, comfortable, and cheap manner, from a neighbourhood which hath not before enjoyed such an advantage, and would bring with it a corresponding demand for such articles of merchandize as are sold at knaresbro', and in daily consumption in all farm houses. contemplating again the prospect of a steam conveyance from the lower end of the railway to hull, which is highly probable, it is only natural to suppose, that very few journies would be taken, by the inhabitants of knaresbro', and its vicinity, by any other conveyance to hull, because cheapness, expedition, and comfort would recommend it. having stated such as we can at present call the ascending tonnage, our next duty is to say what there is which presents itself, that we can rely upon for a descending tonnage, more than what hath already been treated of. of these we find a tolerable variety, and of some articles a never failing supply; viz. lead; stone for building; stone for highways; lime and lime stone; slates; flags; oak bark; wood; cotton twist; irish flax and linens; ashes and several other kinds of american produce; which if we treat of as they are respectively named, that of lead first takes our attention. this article from time immemorial has been extracted from the bowels of the earth, at greenhowhill, near pateley-bridge, in large quantities, the greatest part of which, of late years, has been carted to ripon, a distance of twelve miles, and thence shipped for hull, at an expense of one pound per ton. from good authority we are informed that these mines produce annually, tons, out of which quantity will become tonnage along the railway, as below:-- tons, miles, . d. per ton, per mile, is pounds . the advantage which the proprietors of these mines will derive from this improved mode of conveyance, is made apparent, by the following statement:-- from pateley pounds bridge to hull, by way of ripon and boroughbridge, per ton, is by the railway, from . pateley-bridge to bolton percy, miles, . d. per ton rail dues, . miles, at l. d. per ton, per mile removing from the waggon into the boat freight to hull from bolton percy by this statement it appears there is a clear saving of s. d. per ton; but should the freight and carriage at present be only s. instead of s. as before stated, then the saving will be s. d. which is an object of no small moment, and contributes its full share of recommendation to the project. stone for building, next claims our attention: it is of various kinds and qualities, some about birstwith is of a strong coarse grit, will bear an immense pressure, is well adapted for bridges, locks, wiers, &c. but is not to be had in blocks large enough for pier works. there is another kind of stone at dacre-pasture, of a much finer grit than the last, paler in colour, and well adapted for finer masonry, such as columns, pediments, &c. blocks of this kind may be had of large dimensions. another kind of stone is found at wilsill, in quality similar to that at birstwith, but may be risen in much larger blocks. when the ouse-bridge at york was building, in , the contractors for, or the inspectors of that work, got some stone from this neighbourhood for the piers, and by a letter from mr. william craven, one of the inspectors, there is no doubt of its being fit for any kind of public works, as bridges, locks, &c. the expense of land carriage from the quarry to ripon was the sole cause why a greater quantity was not made use of. there is another kind of stone found a little way above pateley-bridge, well adapted for flags, window heads and soles, staircases, landings, tomb-stones, and grind-stones; but owing to the beds being thin, it is not well adapted for general building purposes. at fellbeck, near smelthouse-mill, a slate quarry has lately been opened, which produces a slate of a darker colour than that of idle, is very sound, lays well on, and will probably improve in fineness, if pursued to a greater depth. a ton of it will cover about ten square yards. another slate-quarry, at bouthwaite, near pateley-bridge, has recently been discovered; the produce of which is much superior to that of idle; a ton of it will cover about square yards. all this stone and slate is immediately upon the adopted line, or can be brought to it for . d. per foot, which, with the expense of carriage to bolton-percy will cost at that place as below:-- pounds _s._ _d._ rail-dues . miles, at . d. per ton per mile waggon-dues, . do. do. calculating . feet of this stone to weigh one ton, it appears the carriage of each foot will cost and the . original cost delivered on the line cost of this stone at bolton-percy per foot which if necessity requires, may experience a little reduction. at this time the bramley-fall stone delivered at selby, costs s. per foot; and at york during the building of ouse-bridge it cost from d. to d. stone for highways. this is found in immense quantities at greenhow-hill, distant from pateley-bridge two miles, it resembles a grey flint; the road from pateley-bridge to skipton is principally composed of it; it is hard but easily broken small, and after a little using almost resembles one entire stone; its use and extraordinary properties are not known to a great distance, particularly towards ripon or ripley; this may be accounted for in two ways--first, the hills in either direction are long and steep; and dly, other materials are just at hand, of a quality sufficient for a road where the forbidding ascents deny the frequent passing of heavy carriages. this stone has been compared to that at middleton-tyas, near richmond, and when analysed is found to be exactly of the same quality, although a little lighter in colour; it was compared to this merely to prove a corresponding property. for it is a certain fact, that the middleton-tyas stone has been for some time, and is now, carted from the quarry to northallerton and brompton, distant and miles, for the use of their highways, at an expence of s. d. per ton to the former, and s. to the latter place. this fact is the more remarkable, since there has been a quarry open for many years, within yards of northallerton, but the stone is only of a common kind. from this circumstance, it is fair to expect, that provided the stone of greenhow-hill can be delivered at bolton-percy for s. d. per ton, and at cawood, selby, booth-ferry, and howden for s. it will both become an article of tonnage in a descending direction, and a great acquisition to that district; but as that neighbourhood has never been in the habit of paying such a high price for highway materials, it will probably in the first instance meet with many objections, which may be replied to in two ways-- st, that whatever is worth doing, is worth well doing; and that the best materials are the cheapest;--and dly, if the surveyors and overseers of northallerton and brompton have, by their experience, established the above fact, and found this stone cheaper than that at home, it is reasonable to conclude that the surveyors and overseers of the highways in the neighbourhood of cawood, selby, and howden, may do the same; for the soil of that district is equally fertile and rich as that of northallerton; and the occupiers of it equally opulent--hence their ability to do well whatever is worth doing. the expense of this stone at the before-mentioned places we state below:-- pounds _s._ _d._ one ton of stone delivered at pateley-bridge miles rail dues at d. per ton per mile miles waggon dues, do. cost of stone at bolton-percy per ton removing do. into the boat, do. freight of do. selby, cawood, or howden it is probable the expense of delivering this stone at pateley-bridge, might be reduced by the application of a railway from that place to the quarry; by this estimate horses are expected to be used; it is also possible to remove it from the waggon to the boat at less than is stated above. the neighbourhood of pateley-bridge possessing many water-falls on which more mills might be built, gave rise to an idea of cutting this last-mentioned stone by water-sawing, into scantlings for fire-places, hearths, and slabs; but upon an experiment being tried, it was found to contain what is termed the dry heads, which cause a division of the parts when brought into service, otherwise it yields a beautiful polish, and exhibits much of the shell and feather; but notwithstanding this last attempt hath failed to augment its value, another in reserve still remains of no small moment, which is that of the most excellent greenhow-hill lime. in the district where it has long been used as a manure either for arable or grassing land, no comment on its superior utility is requisite; but to those parts where its presence hitherto hath been forbidden by the rugged and steep hills, and to others at too great a distance to warrant the expense of a long land carriage, something of its superior quality as a manure in this place may not, we hope, be deemed unseasonable, especially as the carriage of it, when the railway is constructed, will be an object of less notice, and this will be exemplified hereafter. we have said before, the stone of greenhow-hill has been submitted to analysis, to prove a corresponding property with that of middleton-tyas; this inquiry was extended to ascertain if they produced similar lime, and we have great satisfaction to inform the public this was the case. we say a great satisfaction, because we have it in proof, that the middleton-tyas lime is situated in a country, where a knowledge of its excellence is not confined to narrow limits by steep and forbidding hills, but being more favourably situated, it has been for a great number of years, and is now, with increasing demand, conveyed generally or miles, and in some instances, into the immediate vicinity of other kilns, even at miles distance. the reader will be best able to calculate the expense of this lime to the consumer, when he is informed that the cost at the kilns is s. per chaldron of bushels winchester, one of which weighs st. lb. under this view of the case, we hope it may not be deemed impertinent to recommend a trial of this lime, even in districts where lime is plentiful and cheap, and which hath been upon proof hitherto satisfactory; and should it unexpectedly fail upon arable land, we still beg it may be admitted to a trial on grassing land. for the purpose of bleaching it hath been carted to bilton-cum-harrogate, and used with satisfaction, and frequently or miles towards ripley, to places distant from the nidd lime-kilns only or . miles. to say any thing of this lime for the purpose of building we are completely unable; for whenever it became a topic of conversation, its excellence as a manure alone may be named as one reason, and that of having at knaresbro' kilns, a kind as well adapted for building as any lime probably can be, and at a rate as reasonable as circumstances will admit of, may be offered as another reason. having ascertained that two tons of this lime stone will make one chaldron of lime, weighing ton cwt. qrs. we give below a statement of what it will cost at different points on the line, recommending at the same time on all occasions the lime-stone to meet the coal. pounds _s._ _d._ cost of the stone at pateley-bridge, tons miles rail-dues, at d. per ton per mile do. waggon-dues, do. . bushels of . coals, at d. per bushel breaking stone and burning at killinghall . toll-bar the chaldron of lime is miles additional tonnage on stone . miles . decrease of tonnage on coal at the bond-end knaresbro' the lime per chal. miles additional tonnage on stone miles decrease of tonnage on coal by the above statement it appears the greenhow-hill lime can be burnt at ribston, for s. d. per chaldron, a circumstance not unlikely to make it in great demand, whenever its properties are known for agricultural purposes. adverting now to some articles the exact quantity of which is difficult to ascertain, such as slate, oak bark, wood, irish flax and linens, ashes and some other kinds of american and colonial produce imported into liverpool, and which will have a cheap conveyance from liverpool to skipton by canal, and naturally become a back carriage from skipton to pateley-bridge; as corn, &c. will move in the other direction, and from pateley-bridge to knaresbro', by the railway at a much cheaper rate than heretofore, and will as a matter of course, increase the tonnage, as example will prove: via skipton. pounds _s._ _d._ the present cost per ton from liverpool to skipton in general merchandize, is do. from skipton to knaresbro' via leeds. the present cost per ton from liverpool to leeds do. leeds to knaresbro' via railway. the present cost per ton at skipton skipton to pateley-bridge pateley-bridge to knaresbro', per railway, miles, at d. per ton, per mile waggon dues, . miles, at . d. per ton, per mile . by the foregoing statement it appears, that when an average of the cost is taken, which the present modes of conveyance afford, and contrasted with the railway when completed, the latter will have a preference of s. . d. per ton, being a reduction of more than ten per cent. upon the present charges. having now dwelt on the different articles of tonnage in each direction, with as much accuracy as we are able, and finding the tonnage in the ascending direction amount to , tons per annum, and that in the contrary to , ; and believing from the best information we are able to obtain, that for every two tons moved in an ascending direction, three tons may be moved in the contrary; consequently we look to building stone, stone for highways and lime, and some other articles not enumerated, to make up the quantity of tonnage required to keep the whole waggons in full work; and to produce the greatest possible revenue. having enumerated such tonnage as falls within our power of calculation, and named a source with strong probability of much more; we come next to the general summary, and to contrast it with the expense of the project as stated by mr. telford, wherein we have no doubt, but every ample consideration is embraced. cost of the railway. bolton percy to knaresbro', , pounds miles, at , pounds per mile, double railway knaresbro' to pateley-bridge, , . miles, with passing places, single railway , revenue ascending. pounds _s._ _d._ , tons of coal, see page , . . . corn, &c. p. , . . . flax, p. , . . . merchandise , . . . timber and iron , revenue descending. pounds _s._ _d._ , tons linens and yarns, (see page ) , . . . lead . . . , total amount of revenue at present estimated by the above statements it appears the project will cost , pounds; and the amount of revenue arising from such tonnage as is comprehensible, will amount annually to , pounds s. d. which is rather more than per cent. per annum for the shareholders, independent of , tons more which the works will be able to perform, if required, and which from the low price of one penny per ton for rail dues, for twenty miles, will amount to , pounds s. d. and when only another penny per ton, per mile is estimated for waggon dues, this kind of tonnage will be conveyed at a cheap rate, and delivered in the neighbourhood where it is so much wanted, at prices agreeable to the foregoing estimates; a circumstance of itself likely to improve the value of all estates, containing the articles of stone and lime, and ultimately bring a great increase of tonnage in that direction, most desirable in all railway projects. in the foregoing estimates it is calculated that the waggons will be drawn by horses, at the same time we believe, that loco-motive engines might be applied to do the work at a less expense: but not having employed an engineer perfectly acquainted therewith, we are not authorized to say more on the subject. with regard to the annual repairs of a rail-way our engineer, mr. telford hath not supplied the information; but from other sources we have ascertained the repairs are in proportion to the quantity of business done; upon rail-ways well constructed, and made strong in the first instance, about l- th of the annual proceeds is highly sufficient, but if the castings are light and laid upon timber instead of stone, at least twice that sum will be required. having as a committee, accomplished in the best way we are able, what was originally intrusted to our care, (except deviating from a canal to a rail-way;) we now beg leave to lay the subject before the public, not doubting but that public will duly appreciate its utility, and also recommend to the noblemen and gentlemen who have estates on the line, to give it such a consideration as a work of this magnitude deserves, either as regards its importance, by the employment it will afford to the partially employed labouring poor, during the time the work is in progress, but more particularly during all the time hereafter; so long as one ton of lead, or stone may be found near the higher end of the line; or the river nidd flow in its present course; or the neighbourhood of selby or howden continue to produce more corn than is sufficient for its population; or as may regard its importance in an agricultural view, a sight of which should never be lost, nor whatever can promote its advancement, be treated with disdain or neglect, but quite the contrary; for upon the best, the cheapest, and most skilful method of causing the earth to bring forth abundantly, depends in a great measure our national prosperity; it gives a plentiful supply at home, will tend to reduce our alarming pauperism, and hence promote peace, the welcome inhabitant of every breast; of every cottage; of every mansion; of every state; and the safest rampart of every throne; for while we consider the soil only as an agent, let us not forget it is one of an incorruptible class; and whatever is skilfully committed to its care is generally repaid tenfold; then it should not be forgotten what was the state of the high-roads in this country eighty years ago, they were chiefly composed of clay; and now contrast that period, with the present, and say how much their improvement hath, or hath not, contributed to the advancement of that ancient, useful, respectable, and princely profession, of agriculture; if this is not denied, then contrast the present highways of the district through which the adopted line will pass, remembering the many steep and rugged hills, with the present much improved rail-ways where the uniformity of ascent and descent is maintained as a principal object, and permit it to come within your calculating powers to show, what benefit it may contribute to the perfection of a science on which so much wealth and public benefit depend. or as may regard its importance by the constant employment it will afford to nearly all ages and classes of people, who may be concerned directly or indirectly in the manufacture of yarns, linens, and cottons, and probably at better wages than are regularly paid at other manufacturing places, for should a considerable saving of carriage be effected, together with the quick dispatch and transport of goods from place to place, as we have contemplated; the profits of the masters would be improved, their business extended, competition created, and hence wages would be advanced; industry would thereby be promoted, and could morality and economy be taught by example, then pauperism would only be known by its name. if there be any doubt, that the completion of this project will not open new channels for such tillage as the various soils which are contiguous to the line require, we are unacquainted with it; because instead of that, we believe it will not only facilitate the transport of the various limes as may be requisite to suit the different soils, but also afford an opportunity of introducing great quantities of manure from the towns of leeds and hull, into places which the present modes in use never will accommodate. to enumerate all the advantages which a well constructed rail-way possesses over every other mode of conveyance, on lines where the ascent is great, as in this, would be a work of time, and therefore we shall dismiss it after quoting a passage from dupini's report to the french government: "the advantages which iron rail-ways present are immense.--england owes to them a part of her wealth. never without them could coal, lime, minerals, and other raw materials have been conveyed to such distances, and at the same time, at so trifling an expense." to the noblemen and gentlemen who have money vested in the security of the tolls, arising from the highways contiguous to the line, we beg to offer some observations, particularly to those who may feel alarm for their interests:--it is the opinion of others, better informed on these subjects than ourselves, that instead of reducing the annual amount of tolls, they have invariably been found to increase, particularly on such roads as cut the line in a transverse direction; but on roads parallel to the line, the increase has not been so great; and when it is remembered the great quantity of tonnage, a project of this kind must require to make it profitable, it must be admitted that a disposal of it in all directions will necessarily be the case; thus it is accounted for why the tolls have increased. to such noblemen and gentlemen who may at some future period (we hope not far distant) form themselves into a committee to ascertain the merits of this report, we beg to express a request, which we trust will be treated with attention, that they will permit all the money advanced towards the expenses of the survey already made, to become share money, (if the work should go forward) and the subscribers who may not be disposed to purchase shares, to have the option of receiving back the sum or sums so advanced by them. john eteson. matthew oates. wm. thackwray. francis cooper. wm. driffield. john ellison. thomas simpson. lambert ellison. robt. dearlove. isaac newton. michael meek. an account of the sixty-seven mills named in the preface of this report, showing how each mill is at this time employed:-- corn. flax. cotton. lead. shaw mills thornton wreaks waite fewstone west house west end bramley head darley thornthwaite summer-bridge fellbeck braisty wood low laith smelt house glass house holling house pateley-bridge bridge-house gate cockhill sun side scarah providence prosperous merry field low mill grass field new bridge gouthwaite hall ramsgill killinghall l scotton l knaresbro' do. chapman do. do. calverley's plumpton goldsbro' staveley hunsingore knox crimple spofforth wetherby thorp-arch tadcaster clifford besides the before-named mills, flax is sent from knaresbro' to be spun at scotland mill, near leeds. mickley mill, near ripon. bishopton mill, near ripon. ripon mill, and masham mill. n.b. soon as additional subscriptions are received, by the committee, to cover the expenses of the survey, a list of the same will be printed, and distributed to each subscriber, setting forth, also, the expenses of the survey, with every particular. edward baines, printer, leeds. footnotes: {vi} the committee alludes to the immense quantities of excellent stone for highways near pateley-bridge, and the great want of it in the neighbourhoods of howden and selby; and the surplus produce of the earth in these districts, and the increasing demand for it at skipton and pateley, and the eastern parts of lancashire. { } no surviving copies of this map are known.--dp. the panama canal conflict between great britain and the united states of america cambridge university press london: fetter lane, e. c. c. f. clay, manager edinburgh: , princes street london: stevens and sons, ltd., and , chancery lane berlin: a. asher and co. leipzig: f. a. brockhaus new york: g. p. putnam's sons bombay and calcutta: macmillan and co., ltd. _all rights reserved_ the panama canal conflict between great britain and the united states of america a study by l. oppenheim, m. a., ll. d. whewell professor of international law in the university of cambridge honorary member of the royal academy of jurisprudence at madrid member of the institute of international law second edition cambridge: at the university press cambridge: printed by john clay, m. a. at the university press preface to the second edition to my great surprise, the publishers inform me that the first edition of my modest study on the panama canal conflict between great britain and the united states is already out of print and that a second edition is at once required. as this study had been written before the diplomatic correspondence in the matter was available, the idea is tempting now to re-write the essay taking into account the arguments proffered in sir edward grey's despatch to the british ambassador at washington of november , --see parliamentary paper cd. --and, in answer thereto, in mr knox's despatch to the american chargé d'affaires in london of january , --see parliamentary paper cd. . but apart from the fact that the immediate need of a second edition does not permit me time to re-write the work, it seemed advisable to reprint the study in its original form, correcting only some misprints and leaving out the footnote on page . it had been written _sine ira et studio_ and without further information than that which could be gathered from the clayton-bulwer treaty, the hay-pauncefote treaty, the hay-varilla treaty, the panama canal act, and the memorandum which president taft left when signing that act. hence, the reader is presented with a study which is absolutely independent of the diplomatic correspondence, and he can exercise his own judgment in comparing my arguments with those set forth _pro et contra_ the british interpretation of the hay-pauncefote treaty in the despatches of sir edward grey and mr knox. l. o. cambridge, _february , _. contents i. article iii, no. of the hay-pauncefote treaty of and section of the american panama canal act of , pp. - --the memorandum of president taft, pp. - --the interpretation of article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty preferred by the united states, pp. - . ii. the claim of the united states that she has granted the use of the panama canal under a conditional most-favoured-nation clause, pp. - --the united states has never possessed the power of refusing to grant the use of the panama canal to vessels of foreign nations on terms of entire equality, p. --such use is the condition under which great britain consented to the substitution of the hay-pauncefote treaty for the clayton-bulwer treaty, p. . iii. if the use of the panama canal by vessels of foreign nations were derived from most-favoured-nation treatment, the united states would not be bound to submit to the rules of article iii, nos. - , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, p. --the panama canal would then lose its neutral character and would be in danger of eventually being made the theatre of war, p. --but it is the intention of the hay-pauncefote treaty permanently to neutralise the panama canal, p. --the three objects of the neutralisation of an inter oceanic canal, pp. - --is the united states, under the hay-pauncefote treaty, subjected to more onerous conditions than turkey and egypt are under the suez canal treaty?, pp. - . iv. six reasons for the untenability of the american interpretation of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, p. --the stipulation of article viii of the clayton-bulwer treaty, p. --the motive for, and the condition of, the substitution of the hay-pauncefote treaty for the clayton-bulwer treaty, p. --the rules of the suez canal treaty which serve as the basis of the neutralisation of the panama canal, p. --literal meaning of the words "all nations," p. --importance of article iv of the hay-pauncefote treaty, p. --the various contingencies contemplated by article ii of the same treaty, p. . v. the american contention that the exemption of american coasting trade vessels from the payment of canal tolls does not discriminate against foreign vessels, p. --every vessel shall bear a proportionate part of the cost of the panama canal, p. --meaning of the term "coasting trade" as upheld by the united states, pp. - --coasting trade vessels of the united states can trade with mexican and south american ports, p. --any special favour to a particular nation involves discrimination against other nations, p. . vi. is the united states prevented from refunding to her vessels the tolls levied upon them for use in the panama canal?, pp. - --difference of such refunding from exempting the vessels concerned from the payment of tolls, p. . vii. prominent members of the senate and many american newspapers condemn the special privileges granted to american vessels by the panama canal act, p. --the defeated bard amendment of , p. . viii. two schools of thought concerning the relations between international and municipal law, p. --the maxim that international law overrules municipal law, p. --the doctrine that international and municipal law are two essentially different bodies of law, p. --the two maxims of the practice of the american courts, pp. - --president taft's message to congress suggesting a resolution which would have empowered the american courts to decide the question as to whether section of the panama canal act violates article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, pp. - . ix. the panama canal conflict and the british-american arbitration treaty, pp. - --does the term "interests" mean "advantages" or "rights"?, p. --_pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt_, p. --the exemption of the vessels of the republic of panama from payment of tolls, pp. - . x. why it must be expected that the panama canal conflict will be settled by arbitration, pp. - --mr thomas willing balch's letter to the _new york sun_, pp. - . i. the panama canal conflict is due to the fact that the governments of great britain and the united states do not agree upon the interpretation of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty of september , , which stipulates as follows:-- "the canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations..., on terms of entire equality, so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation, or its citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions and charges of traffic, or otherwise. such conditions and charges of traffic shall be just and equitable." by section of the panama canal act of august , , the president of the united states is authorised to prescribe, and from time to time to change, the tolls to be levied upon vessels using the panama canal, but the section orders that _no tolls whatever shall be levied upon vessels engaged in the coasting trade of the united states_, and also that, if the tolls to be charged should be based upon net registered tonnage for ships of commerce, the tolls shall not exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per net registered ton nor be less, _for other vessels than those of the united states or her citizens_, than the estimated proportionate cost of the actual maintenance and operation of the canal[ ]. [ ] as regards the enactment of section of the panama canal act that the vessels of the republic of panama shall be entirely exempt from the payment of tolls, see below ix, p. . now great britain asserts that since these enactments set forth in section of the panama canal act are in favour of vessels of the united states, they comprise a violation of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty which stipulates that the vessels of all nations shall be treated on terms of entire equality. this assertion made by great britain is met by the memorandum which, when signing the panama canal act, president taft left to accompany the act. the president contends that, in view of the fact that the panama canal has been constructed by the united states wholly at her own cost, upon territory ceded to her by the republic of panama, the united states possesses the power to allow her own vessels to use the canal upon _such terms as she sees fit_, and that she may, therefore, permit her vessels to pass through the canal either without the payment of any tolls, or on payment of lower tolls than those levied upon foreign vessels, and that she may remit to her own vessels any tolls which may have been levied upon them for the use of the canal. the president denies that article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty can be invoked against such power of the united states, and he contends that this article iii was adopted by the united states for a specific purpose, namely, as a basis of the neutralisation of the canal, and for no other purpose. this article, the president says, is a declaration of policy by the united states that the canal shall be neutral; that the attitude of the government of the united states is that all nations will be treated alike and no discrimination is to be made against any one of them observing the five conditions enumerated in article iii, nos. - . the right to the use of the canal and to equality of treatment in the use depends upon the observance of the conditions by the nations to whom the united states has extended that privilege. the privileges of all nations to which the use of the canal has been granted subject to the observance of the conditions for its use, are to be equal to the privileges granted to any one of them which observes those conditions. in other words--so the president continues--the privilege to use the canal is a conditional most-favoured-nation treatment, the measure of which, in the absence of an express stipulation to that effect, is not what the united states gives to her own subjects, but the treatment to which she submits other nations. from these arguments of the president it becomes apparent that the united states interprets article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty as stipulating no discrimination against _foreign_ nations, but as leaving it open to her to grant any privilege she likes to her own vessels. according to this interpretation, the rules for the use of the canal are merely a basis of the neutrality which the united states was willing should be characteristic of the canal, and are not intended to limit or hamper the united states in the exercise of her sovereign power in dealing with her own commerce or in using her own canal in whatever manner she sees fit. the president specifically claims the right of the united states eventually to allow her own vessels to use the canal without the payment of any tolls whatever, for the reason that foreign states could not be prevented from refunding to their vessels tolls levied upon them for the use of the canal. if foreign states, but not the united states, had a right to do this--so the president argues--the irresistible conclusion would be that the united states, although she owns, controls, and has paid for the construction of the canal, is restricted by the hay-pauncefote treaty from aiding her own commerce in a way open to all other nations. since the rules of the hay-pauncefote treaty did not provide, as a condition for the privilege of the use of the canal upon equal terms with other nations, that other nations desiring to build up a particular trade, involving the use of the canal, should neither directly agree to pay the tolls nor refund to their vessels tolls levied, it is evident that the hay-pauncefote treaty does not affect the right of the united states to refund tolls to her vessels, unless it is claimed that rules ensuring all nations against discrimination would authorise the united states to require that no foreign nation should grant to its shipping larger subsidies or more liberal inducements to use the canal than were granted by any other nation. ii. it cannot be denied that at the first glance the arguments of the united states appear to be somewhat convincing. on further consideration, however, one is struck by the fact that the whole argumentation starts from, and is based upon, an absolutely wrong presupposition, namely, that the united states is not in any way restricted by the hay-pauncefote treaty with regard to the panama canal, but has granted to foreign nations the use of the canal under a conditional most-favoured-nation clause. this presupposition in no way agrees with the historical facts. when the conclusion of the hay-pauncefote treaty was under consideration, in , the united states had not made the canal, indeed did not own the territory through which the canal has now been made; nor was the united states at that time absolutely unfettered with regard to the projected canal, for she was bound by the stipulations of the clayton-bulwer treaty of . under this treaty she was bound by more onerous conditions with regard to a future panama canal than she is now under the hay-pauncefote treaty. since she did not own the canal territory and had not made the canal at the time when she agreed with great britain upon the hay-pauncefote treaty, she ought not to maintain that she granted to foreign nations the privilege of using _her_ canal under a conditional most-favoured-nation clause, she herself remaining unfettered with regard to the conditions under which she could allow her own vessels the use of the canal. the historical facts are five in number:-- firstly, in , great britain and the united states, by the clayton-bulwer treaty, agreed that neither of them would ever obtain or maintain for herself any exclusive control over a future panama canal, or fortify it, or occupy or colonise any part of central america; that the canal should be neutralised, should be open to the vessels of all nations under conditions of equality; and so forth. secondly, in , the two parties to the clayton-bulwer treaty agreed to substitute for it the hay-pauncefote treaty, article ii of which expressly stipulates _inter alia_ that the canal may be constructed under the auspices of the government of the united states and that the said government, _subject to the provisions of articles iii and iv_, shall have the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal. thirdly, the parties agreed--see the preamble of the hay-pauncefote treaty--that the general principle of the neutralisation of the canal as established by the clayton-bulwer treaty should not be impaired, and that, therefore, the united states--see article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty--agrees to adopt as the basis of the neutralisation of the canal certain rules, substantially the same as those embodied in the suez canal convention of , and amongst these a rule concerning the use of the canal by vessels of all nations on terms of entire equality without discrimination against any such nation, or their citizens or subjects, in respect of the conditions or charges of traffic, or otherwise, such conditions and charges to be just and equitable. fourthly, the parties agreed--see article iv of the hay-pauncefote treaty--that no change of the territorial sovereignty or of the international relations of the country or countries traversed by the future canal should affect the general principle of the neutralisation or the obligation of the parties under the hay-pauncefote treaty. fifthly, when, in , the united states by the hay-varilla treaty, acquired from the republic of panama the strip of territory necessary for the construction, administration, and protection of the canal, she acquired sovereign rights over this territory and the future canal _subject to the antecedent restrictions imposed upon her by the hay-pauncefote treaty_, for article iv of the latter stipulates expressly that _no_ change of territorial sovereignty over the territory concerned shall affect the neutralisation or obligation of the parties _under the treaty_. these are the unshakable historical facts. the united states did not _first_ become the sovereign of the canal territory and make the canal, and _afterwards_ grant to foreign nations the privilege of using the canal under certain conditions. no, she has never possessed the power of refusing to grant the use of the canal to vessels of foreign nations on terms of entire equality, should she ever make the canal. free navigation through the canal for vessels of all nations on terms of entire equality, provided these nations were ready to recognise the neutrality of the canal, was stipulated by the clayton-bulwer treaty, and this stipulation was essentially upheld by the hay-pauncefote treaty, and it was not until two years after the conclusion of the hay-pauncefote treaty that the united states acquired sovereign rights over the canal territory and made preparations for the construction of the canal. for this reason the contention of the united states that she has granted to foreign nations the use of the canal under certain conditions and that such grant includes a conditional most-favoured-nation treatment, is absolutely baseless and out of place. she has not granted anything, the free use of the canal by vessels of all nations having been the condition under which great britain consented to the abrogation of the clayton-bulwer treaty and to the stipulation of article ii of the hay-pauncefote treaty according to which--in contradistinction to article i of the clayton-bulwer treaty--the united states is allowed to have a canal constructed under her auspices. iii. if the assertion of the united states that she herself is entirely unfettered in the use of the canal, and that the conditions imposed upon foreign vessels in return for the privilege of using the canal involve a most-favoured-nation treatment, were correct, the united states would not be bound to submit to the rules laid down by article iii, nos. - , of the hay-pauncefote treaty. she could, therefore, if she were a belligerent, commit acts of hostility in the canal against vessels of her opponent; could let her own men-of-war revictual or take in stores within the canal even if there were no strict necessity for doing so; could embark and disembark troops, munitions of war, or warlike materials in the canal, although all these were destined to be made use of during the war generally, and not only for the defence of the canal against a possible attack. there ought, however, to be no doubt that the united states is as much bound to obey the rules of article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty as great britain or any other foreign state. these rules are intended to invest the canal with the character of neutrality. if the united states were not bound to obey them, the canal would lose its neutral character, and, in case she were a belligerent, her opponent would be justified in considering the canal a part of the region of war and could, therefore, make it the theatre of war. the mere fact that article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty refers to the rules in existence concerning the neutralisation of the suez canal, and that article iv of the suez canal treaty of expressly stipulates the neutralisation of the canal even should turkey be a belligerent, ought to be sufficient to prove that the neutralisation of the panama canal is stipulated by the hay-pauncefote treaty even should the united states be a belligerent. furthermore, one must come to the same conclusion if one takes into consideration the objects, which are three in number, of the neutralisation of an inter-oceanic canal. the first object is that a canal shall be open in time of war as well as in time of peace, so that navigation through the canal may be unhampered by the fact that war is being waged. if the canal were not neutralised, the territorial sovereign would be compelled, if he were neutral in a war, to prevent the passing through the canal of men-of-war of either belligerent, because such passage would be equivalent to the passage of belligerent troops through neutral land territory. the second object is that the territorial sovereign shall be prevented from closing a canal or interfering with the free use of it by vessels of all nations in case he himself is a party to a war. if the canal were not neutralised, the belligerent territorial sovereign could, during the war, close the canal or interfere with its free use by neutral vessels. the third object is that a canal shall not be damaged, nor navigation thereon be prevented or hampered by the opponent in case the territorial sovereign is himself a belligerent. if the canal were not neutralised, it could be blockaded, militarily occupied, and hostilities could be committed there. with these points in mind one may well ask whether it was worth while to agree at all upon the five rules of article iii, nos. - , of the hay-pauncefote treaty if the united states were not to be considered bound by these rules. that two years after the conclusion of the hay-pauncefote treaty the united states acquired sovereign rights over the canal territory and that she is at present the owner of the canal has not, essentially at any rate, altered the case, for article iv of the hay-pauncefote treaty stipulates that a change of territorial sovereignty over the canal territory should not affect the obligation of the contracting parties under that treaty. if this is correct, it might be maintained that the united states is, under the hay-pauncefote treaty, subjected to more onerous conditions than turkey and egypt are under the suez canal treaty, for article x of the latter stipulates that egypt and turkey shall not by the injunctions of articles iv, v, vii, and viii of the same treaty be considered to be prevented from taking such measures as might be necessary to ensure the defence of egypt and turkey by their own armed forces. but this opinion would not be justified because in this respect the case of the panama canal is entirely different from that of the suez canal. whereas the panama canal is an outlying part of the united states, and no attack on the main territory of the united states is possible from the panama canal, an attack on egypt as well as on turkey is quite possible from the suez canal. there is, therefore, no occasion for the united states to take such measures in the panama canal as might be necessary to ensure the defence of her main territory. indeed there might be occasion for her to take such measures in the canal as are necessary to ensure the defence of the canal and the surrounding territory, if a belligerent threatened to attack it. although this case is not directly provided for by the hay-pauncefote treaty--in contradistinction to article xxiii of the hay-varilla treaty--there is no doubt that, since, according to article ii of the hay-pauncefote treaty, the united states shall have and enjoy all the rights incident to the construction of the canal as well as the exclusive right of providing for the regulation and management of the canal there is thereby indirectly recognised the power of the united states to take all such measures as might become necessary for the defence of the canal against a threatening attack. apart from this case, the united states, even if she herself were a belligerent, has no more rights in the use of the canal than her opponent or a neutral power; on the contrary, she is as much bound as these powers to submit to the rules of article iii, nos. - , of the hay-pauncefote treaty. iv. however this may be, the question as to whether the stipulation of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty that vessels of all nations shall be treated on the basis of entire equality is meant to apply to vessels of all nations without exception, or only to the vessels of _foreign_ nations and not to those of the united states, can only be decided by an interpretation of article iii which takes the whole of the hay-pauncefote treaty as well as the clayton-bulwer treaty into consideration. ( ) there is no doubt that according to the clayton-bulwer treaty the future canal was to be open on like terms to the citizens of all nations including those of the united states, for article viii expressly stipulates "that the same canals or railways, being open to the subjects and citizens of great britain and the united states on equal terms, shall also be open on like terms to the subjects and citizens of every other state which...." ( ) the clayton-bulwer treaty has indeed been superseded by the hay-pauncefote treaty, but it is of importance to notice the two facts, expressed in the preamble of the latter:--(_a_) that the only motive for the substitution of the latter for the former treaty was to remove any objection which might arise under the clayton-bulwer treaty to the construction of the canal under the auspices of the government of the united states; (_b_) that it was agreed that the general principle of neutralisation as established by article viii of the clayton-bulwer treaty should not be considered to be impaired by the new treaty. now the equal treatment of american, british, and any other nation's vessels which use the canal is part and parcel of the general principle of neutralisation as established by article viii of the clayton-bulwer treaty, and such equal treatment must, therefore, be considered not to have been impaired by article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty. ( ) article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty stipulates--as a consequence of the fact, expressed in the preamble of the treaty, that the general principle of neutralisation of the canal as established by article viii of the clayton-bulwer treaty shall not be impaired by the hay-pauncefote treaty--that the united states adopts, as the basis of the neutralisation of the canal, six rules _substantially as embodied in the suez canal treaty of constantinople of _. now although the suez canal treaty nowhere directly lays down a rule which is identical with the rule of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, it nevertheless insists upon equal treatment of the vessels of all nations by stating in article xii:--"the high contracting parties, _in application of the principle of equality concerning the free use of the canal, a principle which forms one of the bases of the present treaty_, agree that...." that this principle of equality of all nations concerning the free use of the suez canal means equality of vessels of all nations with the exception of the vessels of egypt or even of turkey, has never been contended; such a contention would, i am sure, have been objected to by the parties to the suez canal treaty. for this reason the term "all nations" in the hay-pauncefote treaty can likewise only mean _all_ nations, including the united states. ( ) the literal meaning of the words "all nations" leads to the same conclusion. if something is stipulated with regard to "all" nations, every nation is meant without exception. if an exception had been contemplated, the words "all nations" could not have been used, and if all foreign nations only were contemplated, the words "all foreign nations" would have been made use of. ( ) there is also an argument from article iv of the hay-pauncefote treaty which states that no change of territorial sovereignty or of the international relations of the country or countries traversed by the canal should affect the general principle of neutralisation or the obligation of the high contracting parties under the treaty. the general principle of neutralisation is, as laid down in the preamble of the hay-pauncefote treaty, the general principle of neutralisation as established by article viii of the clayton-bulwer treaty, and it has already been shown--see above iv, no. , p. --that equal treatment of british, american, and any other nation's vessels using the canal is part and parcel of that general principle of neutralisation. ( ) lastly, article iv of the hay-pauncefote treaty must be read in conjunction with article ii. the latter does not exclusively contemplate the construction of the canal by the united states, it contemplates rather the construction _under the auspices of the united states, either_ directly at her cost, _or_ by gift or loan of money to individuals or corporations, _or_ through subscription to or purchase of stocks and shares. the question may well be asked whether, in case the united states had not acquired the canal territory and had not herself made the canal, but had enabled a company to construct it by the grant of a loan, or by taking shares, and the like, she would then also have interpreted the words "all nations" to mean "all foreign nations," and would, therefore, have claimed the right to insist upon her own vessels enjoying such privileges in the use of the canal as need not be granted to vessels of other nations. can there be any doubt that she would _not_ have done it? and if we can reasonably presume that she would not have done it under those conditions, she cannot do it now after having acquired the canal territory and having herself made the canal, for article iv declares that a change in the territorial sovereignty of the canal territory shall neither affect the general principle of neutralisation nor the obligation of the parties under the treaty. v. i have hitherto only argued against the contention of president taft that the words "all nations" mean all foreign nations, and that, therefore, the united states could grant to her vessels privileges which need not be granted to vessels of other states using the panama canal. for the present the united states does not intend to do this, although section of the panama canal act--see above i, p. --empowers the president to do it within certain limits. for the present the panama canal act exempts only vessels engaged in the american coasting trade from the payment of tolls, and the memorandum of president taft maintains that this exemption does not discriminate against foreign vessels since these, according to american municipal law, are entirely excluded from the american coasting trade and, therefore, cannot be in any way put to a disadvantage through the exemption from the payment of the canal tolls of american vessels engaged in the american coasting trade. at the first glance this assertion is plausible, but on further consideration it is seen not to be correct, for the following reasons: ( ) according to article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty the charges for the use of the canal shall be just and equitable. this can only mean that they shall not be higher than the cost of construction, maintenance, and administration of the canal requires, and that every vessel which uses the canal shall bear a proportionate part of such cost. now if all the american vessels engaged in the american coasting trade were exempt from the payment of tolls, the proportionate part of the cost to be borne by other vessels will be higher, and, therefore, the exemption of american coasting trade vessels is a discrimination against other vessels. ( ) the united states gives the term "coasting trade" a meaning of unheard-of extent which entirely does away with the distinction between the meaning of coasting trade and colonial trade hitherto kept up by all other nations. i have shown in former publications--see the _law quarterly review_, vol. xxiv ( ), p. , and my treatise on international law, nd edition ( ), vol. i, § --that this attitude of the united states is not admissible. but no one denies that any state can exclude foreign vessels not only from its coasting trade, but also from its colonial trade, as, for instance, france, by a law of april , , excluded foreign vessels from the trade between french and algerian ports. i will not, therefore, argue the subject again here, but will only take into consideration the possibility that great britain, and some other states, might follow the lead of america and declare all the trade between the mother countries and ports of their colonies to be coasting trade, and exclude foreign vessels therefrom. would the united states be ready then to exempt coasting trade vessels of foreign states from the payment of panama tolls in the same way that she has exempted her own coasting trade vessels? if she would not--and who doubts that she would not?--she would certainly discriminate in favour of her own vessels against foreign vessels. could not the foreign states concerned make the same assertion that is now made by the united states, viz. that, foreign vessels being excluded from their coasting trade, the exemption of their own coasting trade vessels from tolls did not comprise a discrimination against the vessels of other nations? the coasting trade of russia offers a practical example. by a ukase of russia enacted that trade between any of her ports is to be considered coasting trade, and the trade between st petersburg and vladivostock is, therefore, coasting trade from which foreign vessels are excluded. will the united states, since the panama canal act exempts all american coasting trade vessels from the panama canal tolls be ready to exempt russian coasting trade vessels likewise? surely the refusal of such exemption would be a discrimination against russian in favour of american coasting trade vessels! ( ) the unheard-of extension by the united states of the meaning of the term coasting trade would allow an american vessel sailing from new york to the hawaiian islands, but touching at the ports of mexico or of a south american state, after having passed the panama canal, to be considered as engaged in the coasting trade of the united states. being exempt from paying the canal tolls she could carry goods from new york to the mexican and south american ports concerned at cheaper rates than foreign vessels plying between new york and these mexican and south american ports. there is, therefore, no doubt that in such cases the exemption of american coasting trade vessels from the tolls would involve a discrimination against foreign vessels in favour of vessels of the united states. ( ) it has been asserted that the wording of article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty only prohibits discrimination _against_ some particular nation, and does not prohibit a _special favour_ to a particular nation, and that, therefore, special favours to the coasting trade vessels of the united states are not prohibited. but this assertion is unfounded, although the bad drafting of article iii, no. , lends some slight assistance to it. the fact that in this article the words "so that there shall be no discrimination against any such nation" are preceded by the words "the canal shall be free and open to the vessels of commerce and of war of all nations observing these rules, _on terms of entire equality_," proves absolutely that any favour to any particular nation is prohibited because it must be considered to involve a discrimination against other nations. vi. there is one more contention in the memorandum of president taft in favour of the assertion that the united states is empowered to exempt all her vessels from the panama canal tolls. it is thefollowing:--since the rules of the hay-pauncefote treaty do not provide, as a condition for the privilege of using the canal upon equal terms with other nations, that other nations desiring to build up a particular trade which involves the use of the canal shall not either directly pay the tolls for their vessels or refund to them the tolls levied upon them, the united states could not be prevented from doing the same. i have no doubt that this contention is correct, but paying the tolls direct for vessels using the canal or refunding to them the tolls levied is not the same as exempting them from the payment of tolls. since, as i have shown above in v ( ), p. , every vessel using the canal shall, according to article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, bear a proportionate part of the cost of construction, maintenance, and administration of the canal, the proportionate part of such cost to be borne by foreign vessels would be higher in case the vessels of the united states were exempt from the payment of tolls. for this reason the exemption of american vessels would involve such a discrimination against foreign vessels as is not admissible according to article iii, no. . vii. with regard to the whole question of the interpretation of article iii of the hay-pauncefote treaty, the fact is of interest that prominent members of the american senate as well as a great part of the more influential american press, at the time the panama canal act was under the consideration of the senate, emphatically asserted that any special privileges to be granted to american vessels would violate this article. president taft, his advisers, and the majority of the senate were of a different opinion, and for this reason the panama canal act has become american municipal law. it is likewise of interest to state the fact that the majority of the senate as constituted thirteen years ago took a different view from the majority of the present senate, a fact which becomes apparent from an incident in the senate in december , during the deliberations on the hay-pauncefote treaty of february , , the unratified precursor of the hay-pauncefote treaty of november , . senator bard moved an amendment, namely, that the united states reserves the right in the regulation and management of the canal to discriminate in respect of the charges of the traffic in favour of vessels of her own citizens engaged in the american coasting trade, but this amendment was rejected by to votes. as article ii, no. , of the unratified hay-pauncefote treaty of comprises a stipulation almost identical with that of article iii, no. , of the present hay-pauncefote treaty, there can be no doubt that the bard amendment endeavoured to secure such a privilege to american coasting trade vessels as the united states now by the panama canal act grants to these vessels. but the bard amendment was defeated because the majority of the senate was, in , convinced that it involved a violation of the principle of equality for vessels of all nations pronounced by article ii, no. , of the unratified hay-pauncefote treaty of . viii. the conflict concerning the interpretation of the hay-pauncefote treaty throws a flood of light on the practice of the united states respecting the relations between international law and her municipal law. two schools may be said to be opposing one another in the science of international law with regard to the relations between international and municipal law. there are, firstly, a number of publicists who assert that international law is above municipal law and that, therefore, the rules of the former are stronger than the rules of the latter. accordingly, a municipal court would have to apply the rules of international law whether they are expressly or implicitly recognised by the municipal law of the state concerned or not, and even in a case where there is a decided conflict between a rule of municipal law and a rule of international law. "_international law overrules municipal law_" must be said to be the maxim of this school of thought. there are, secondly, other publicists who maintain that _international law and municipal law are two essentially different bodies of law_ which have nothing in common but that they are both branches--but separate branches!--of the tree of law. the rules of international law are never, therefore, _per se_ part and parcel of the municipal law of a state, and a municipal court cannot apply the rules of international law unless they have been adopted, either expressly or implicitly, by the municipal law of the state concerned. should there be a conflict between a rule of international law and a rule of municipal law, a municipal court can only apply the rule of municipal law, leaving it to the legislature of its state to do away with the conflict by altering the municipal law. i believe that the teaching of the latter school of thought is correct[ ] since international and municipal law differ as regards their sources, the relations they regulate, and the substance of their law. rules of international law can, therefore, only be applied by municipal courts in their administration of the law in case and in so far as such rules have been adopted into municipal law either by a special act of the legislature, or by custom, or implicitly. [ ] see my treatise on international law, nd edition ( ), vol. i, §§ - . now the practice of the courts[ ] of the united states neither agrees with the doctrine of the former nor with the doctrine of the latter school of publicists, but takes a middle line between them. indeed it considers international law to be part and parcel of the municipal law of the united states. it is, however, far from accepting the maxim that international law overrules municipal law, it accepts rather two maxims, namely, first, that _international law overrules previous municipal law_, and, secondly, that _municipal law overrules previous international law_. in the administration of the law american courts hold themselves bound to apply the acts of their legislature even in the case in which the rules of these enactments are not in conformity with rules of previous international law. it is true that, according to article vi of the american constitution, all international treaties of the united states shall be the supreme law of the land, but in case an act of congress contains rules not in agreement with stipulations of a previous international treaty, the american courts consider themselves bound by the act of congress, and not by the stipulations of the previous treaty. it is obvious that, according to the practice of the courts of the united states, international law and municipal law are of _equal_ force, so that on the one hand new rules of international law supersede rules of previous municipal law, and, on the other hand, new rules of municipal law supersede rules of previous international law. for this reason, the american courts cannot be resorted to in order to have the question decided whether or no the enactments of section of the panama canal act are in conformity with article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty. [ ] see the account of the practice of the american court in scott's learned article in the _american journal of international law_, vol. i ( ), pp. - . it is a proof of the _bona fides_ of president taft that he desired that the american courts might be enabled to decide this question. in a message to congress, dated august , , in which the president stated his conviction that the panama canal act under consideration did not violate the hay-pauncefote treaty, he _inter alia_ suggested that congress should pass the following resolution:-- "that nothing contained in the act, entitled 'an act to provide for the opening, maintenance, protection, and operation of the panama canal, and the sanitation and government of the canal zone,' shall be deemed to repeal any provision of the hay-pauncefote treaty or to affect the judicial construction thereof, and in any wise to impair any rights or privileges which have been or may be acquired by any foreign nation under the treaties of the united states relative to tolls or other charges for the passage of vessels through the panama canal, and that when any alien ... considers that the charging of tolls ... pursuant to the provisions of this act violates in any way such treaty rights or privileges such alien shall have the right to bring an action against the united states for redress of the injury which he considers himself to have suffered; and the district courts of the united states are hereby given jurisdiction to hear and determine such cases, to decree their appropriate relief, and from decision of such district courts there shall be an appeal by either party to the action of the supreme court of the united states." congress, however, has not given effect to the suggestion of the president, and the american courts have not, therefore, the opportunity of giving a judicial interpretation to the hay-pauncefote treaty and of deciding the question whether or no through the panama canal act has arisen a conflict between american municipal law and international law as emanating from the hay-pauncefote treaty. ix. it has been asserted that the united states is bound by her general arbitration treaty of april , , with great britain to have the dispute concerning the interpretation of the hay-pauncefote treaty decided by an award of the permanent court of arbitration at the hague. it is, however, not at all certain that this dispute falls under the british-american arbitration treaty. article i of this treaty stipulates:-- "differences which may arise of a legal nature or relating to the interpretation of treaties existing between the two contracting parties and which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy, shall be referred to the permanent court of arbitration established at the hague by the convention of the th of july , provided, nevertheless, that they do not affect the vital interests, the independence, or the honour of the two contracting states, _and do not concern the interests of third parties_." since this stipulation exempts from obligatory arbitration such differences between the contracting parties as concern the interests of third parties, the question requires an answer whether in the controversial interpretation of the hay-pauncefote treaty other states than great britain and the united states are interested. the term _interest_ is, however, a very wide one and so vague that it is very difficult to decide this question. does "interest" mean "rights"? or does it mean "advantages"? if it means "advantages," there is no doubt that in the panama canal conflict the interests of third parties are concerned, for the free use of the canal by their vessels on terms of entire equality is secured to them by the hay-pauncefote treaty. on the other hand, if "interests" means "rights," it can hardly be said that the interests of third parties are concerned in the dispute, for the hay-pauncefote treaty is one to which only great britain and the united states are contracting parties, and according to the principle _pacta tertiis nec nocent nec prosunt_ no rights can accrue to third parties from a treaty. great britain has the right to demand from the united states, which owns and controls the canal, that she shall keep the canal open for the use of the vessels of all nations on terms of entire equality, but other states have no right to make the same claim. the case will be different when the canal has been opened, and has been in use for such length of time as to call into existence--under the influence and working of the hay-pauncefote treaty--a customary rule of international law according to which the canal is permanently neutralised and open to vessels of all nations, or when all maritime states, through formal accession to the hay-pauncefote treaty, have entered into it with all rights and duties of the two contracting parties. so long as neither of these events has taken place great britain and the united states can at any moment, without the consent of third states, abrogate the hay-pauncefote treaty and do away with the stipulation that the canal shall be open to vessels of all nations on terms of entire equality. in this connection it is of interest to draw attention to the fact that, in compliance with article xix of the hay-varilla treaty of november , , section of the panama canal act entirely exempts vessels of the republic of panama from payment of the panama canal tolls. it would seem that this exemption in favour of the vessels of the republic of panama violates article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, although it is in conformity with article xix of the hay-varilla treaty which stipulates that:-- "the government of the republic of panama shall have the right to transport over the canal its vessels and its troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times without paying charges of any kind." a treaty between two states can never invalidate a stipulation of a previous treaty between one of the contracting parties and a third state. bearing this point in mind, it must be maintained that the united states, being bound by article iii, no. , of the hay-pauncefote treaty, had not the power to enter into the stipulation of article xix of the hay-varilla treaty by which she granted exemption from payment of tolls to vessels of the republic of panama, and that great britain is justified in protesting against the enactment of section of the panama canal act in so far as it exempts vessels of panama from the payment of tolls. the fact that the right of panama to demand exemption from payment of tolls for her vessels is one of the conditions under which the republic of panama ceded to the united states the strip of territory necessary for the construction, administration, and protection of the canal, cannot invalidate the previously acquired right of great britain to demand equal treatment of the vessels of all nations without any exception whatever. it must be left to the united states and the republic of panama to come to an agreement concerning article xix of the hay-varilla treaty. although the united states promised an exemption from tolls which she had no power to grant, the republic of panama need not drop her claim to this exemption. since, however, the grant of the exemption would violate previous treaty rights of great britain, the republic of panama is at any rate entitled to a claim to an equivalent of the exemption, namely, the refunding, on the part of the united states, of tolls paid by vessels of the republic of panama for the use of the canal. whether these vessels are exempt from the payment of tolls or can demand to have them refunded, makes very little difference to the republic of panama, although article xix of the hay-varilla treaty stipulates exemption from, and not the refunding of, tolls. but the case of the vessels of panama is quite unique, for their exemption from tolls was one of the conditions under which the republic of panama ceded to the united states the canal territory. great britain and the united states being the only contracting parties to the hay-pauncefote treaty, and third states not having as yet either by formal accession become parties to this treaty or acquired, by custom, a claim to equal treatment of their vessels, there would seem to be nothing to prevent great britain from consenting to the exemption of the vessels of panama, should she be disposed to do so. x. however this may be, the question as to whether the united states is by the british-american arbitration treaty compelled to consent to have the dispute concerning the interpretation of the hay-pauncefote treaty brought before the permanent court of arbitration is of minor importance. for, even if she be not compelled to do so, it must nevertheless be expected that she will do so. if any dispute is, by its very character, fit and destined to be settled by arbitration, it is this dispute, which is clearly of a legal nature and at the same time one which concerns the interpretation of treaties. neither the independence, nor the honour, nor any vital interest of the parties can be said to be involved in the dispute. indeed it may be maintained that much more important than the dispute itself is the question whether it will or will not be settled by arbitration. great britain has already declared that if the dispute cannot be settled by means of diplomacy, she will request arbitration. the eyes of the whole world are directed upon the united states in order to find out her resolution. throughout her history, the united states has been a champion of arbitration, and no other state has so frequently offered to go, or consented to submit, to arbitration. it was the united states who at the first, as well as the second, hague peace conference led the party which desired that arbitration should be made obligatory for a number of differences, and she will, i am sure, renew her efforts at the approaching third peace conference. should she refuse to go to arbitration in her present dispute with great britain, the whole movement for arbitration would, for a generation at least, be discredited and come to a standstill. for if the leader of the movement is false to all his declarations and aspirations in the past, the movement itself must be damaged and its opponents must be victorious. prominent americans are alive to this indubitable fact, and it would seem to be appropriate to conclude this study with the text of the letter of mr thomas willing balch of philadelphia--the worthy son of his father who was the first to demand the settlement of the alabama dispute by arbitration--which the _new york sun_, an influential american paper, published on september , , on its editorial page. "to the editor of the _sun_. sir:-- a half century ago, americans believed firmly that we had a good cause of grievance against great britain for having allowed, during our great civil war, the use of her ports for the fitting out of a fleet of confederate cruisers, which caused our maritime flag to disappear almost entirely from the high seas. we pressed great britain long and persistently to agree that our claims, known under the generic name of the alabama claims, should be submitted for settlement to an impartial arbitration. finally, with reluctance, great britain acceded to our demands. and as a result the two nations appeared as litigants before the bar of the international court of justice, popularly known as the geneva tribunal. the result was a triumph for the united states, but also it was a greater triumph for the cause of civilization. to-day our government and that of great britain have once more come to an _impasse_, this time over the interpretation of the hay-pauncefote panama treaty. our government has definitely granted free passage through the panama canal to our vessels engaged in the coastwise trade. and as a consequence great britain has entered a protest and given notice that she will request that the hay-pauncefote international contract shall be submitted for interpretation to a judicial decision by the hague tribunal. though so short a time has elapsed since the panama canal bill became a law, mutterings have been heard of the possibility that the united states would refuse this request of great britain to refer the point in dispute to the hague court. but such a policy would be most unwise for the united states to pursue. no better means to injure our foreign trade and relations could be devised. apart, however, from the material aspect of the question, our national honor and credit would suffer if we refused to refer the matter for judicial settlement at the bar of the hague international court, especially as we have a treaty agreement with great britain to refer many forms of possible international dispute to that very tribunal in case ordinary means fail to settle them. in acceding to such a solution of the point of difference between the two powers, the honor of the united states and great britain surely will be as safe in the hands of their respective counsel as the honor of a private individual is in those of his lawyer in a suit before a municipal tribunal. the alabama arbitration which involved a large and important part of the rights and duties of neutrals and belligerents towards one another, was a notable advance in strengthening the power and majesty of international law among the nations of the world. the present dispute will turn on the correct interpretation of a treaty concerning whose meaning various parties and persons have offered different views. it seems to be clearly a case for a judicial decision. at the proper time, let the question be argued before the hague court, and whatever the decision may be, which both parties will be pledged in advance to accept, another triumph will have been won for the law of the nations. another step forward--and international law and justice can only advance a step at a time--towards the distant goal of universal peace through the expansion of the law of nations will be accomplished to the substantial gain and credit of civilization and humanity. and new honor and glory will accrue to the united states, which ever since the signing of jay's treaty in have done so much, probably more than any other power, to promote the cause of justice among the nations." cambridge: printed by john clay, m. a. at the university press [transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. author's spelling has been maintained.] the story of the first trans-continental railroad its projectors, construction and history "i fed the men who built it" compiled and published by w. f. bailey [illustration: buffalo] copies of this work may be procured at $ . each from either the compiler, fair oaks, california, or from the printers, the pittsburgh printing co., - seventh avenue, pittsburgh, penna. copyright by w. f. bailey press of pittsburgh printing co. table of contents. chapter page i. the project and its projectors, ii. the proposition in congress, iii. mostly financial, iv. commencement of the work, v. progress made, vi. indian troubles during construction, vii. the builders, viii. completion of the line, ix. the kansas division (kansas pacific ry.) x. the denver-cheyenne line (denver pacific r. r.) xi. history of the line since its completion, xii. the central pacific railroad, appendix. ( ) roster of officials, ( ) statistics, ( ) nomenclature, ( ) paddy miles' ride, ( ) copy report engineer in charge of survey, preface for some reason the people of today are not nearly as familiar with the achievements of the last fifty years as they are with those of earlier days. the school boy can glibly recount the story of columbus, william penn, or washington, but asked about the events leading up to the settlement of the west will know nothing of them and will probably reply "they don't teach us that in our school"--and it is true. outside of the names of our presidents, the rebellion, and the spanish-american war, there is practically nothing of the events of the last fifty years in our school histories, and this is certainly wrong. "peace hath her victories as well as war," and it is to the end that one of the great achievements of the last century may become better known that this account of the first great pacific railroad was written. it was just as great an event for lewis and clark to cross the rockies as it was for columbus to cross the atlantic. the mormons not only made friends with the indians as did penn, but they also "made the desert to blossom as the rose," and washington's battles at princeton, white plains, and yorktown were but little more momentus in their results than sandy forsythe's on the republican, custer's on the washita, or crook's in the sierra madre. the construction of the union pacific railroad was of greater importance to the people of the united states than the inauguration of steamship service across the atlantic or the laying of the atlantic telegraph. yet the one has been heralded from time to time and the other allowed to sink into temporary obscurity. to make good americans of the coming generation all that is necessary is to make them proud of american achievements and the west was and is a field full of such. the building of the pacific railroad was one of the great works of man. its promoters were men of small means and little or no financial backing outside of the aid granted them by the government. it took nerve and good yankee grit to undertake and carry out the project. how it was done it is hoped the succeeding pages may show. fair oaks, california, . poem read at the celebration of the opening of the pacific railroad, chicago, may th, . ring out, oh bells. let cannons roar in loudest tones of thunder. the iron bars from shore to shore are laid and nations wonder. through deserts vast and forests deep through mountains grand and hoary a path is opened for all time and we behold the glory. we, who but yesterday appeared but settlers on the border, where only savages were reared mid chaos and disorder. we wake to find ourselves midway in continental station, and send our greetings either way across the mighty nation. we reach out towards the golden gate and eastward to the ocean. the tea will come at lightning rate and likewise yankee notions. from spicy islands off the west the breezes now are blowing, and all creation does its best to set the greenbacks flowing. the eastern tourist will turn out and visit all the stations for pullman runs upon the route with most attractive rations. --_from the chicago tribune, may th, ._ the first trans-continental railroad. chapter i. _the project and the projectors._ president jefferson first to act on a route to the pacific--lewis and clark expedition--oregon missionaries--railroad suggested--mills --the emigrant --parker --dr. barlow's plan--hartwell carver's--john plumbe's--asa whitney--senator benton's national road. it would appear that thomas jefferson is entitled to the credit of being the first to take action towards the opening of a road or route between the eastern states and the pacific coast. while he was in france in as american envoy to the court of versailles he met one john ledyard who had been with captain cook in his voyage around the world, in the course of which they had visited the coast of california. out of the acquaintance grew an expedition under ledyard that was to cross russia and the pacific ocean to alaska, thence take a russian trading vessel from sitka to the spanish-russian settlement on nookta sound (coast of california) and from there proceed east overland until the settlements then confined to the atlantic seaboard were reached. through the efforts of jefferson the expedition was equipped and started. the russian government had promised its support but when the party had crossed russia, were within two hundred miles of the pacific, ledyard was arrested by order of the empress catherine, the then ruler of russia, and the expedition broken up. jefferson became president in . in on his recommendation, congress made an appropriation "for sending an exploring party to trace the missouri river to its source, to cross the highlands (i. e. rocky mountains) and follow the best route thence to the pacific ocean." so interested was jefferson that he personally prepared a long and specific letter of instructions and had his confidential man placed in charge. "the object of your mission," said jefferson, in this letter of instruction "is to explore the missouri river and such other streams as by their course would seem to offer the most direct and practicable communication across the continent for the purpose of commerce." this expedition known as the lewis and clark, made in - , brought to light much information relative to the west and demonstrated conclusively the feasibility of crossing overland as well as the resources of the country traversed. as a result the far west became the mecca of the fur trappers and traders. commencing with the astoria settlement in , for the next forty years or until the opening of the oregon immigration in , they were practically the only whites to visit it outside of the missionaries, who did more or less exploring and visiting the indians resulting in the rev. jason lee in and dr. marcus whitman in having established mission stations in oregon. the next record is of one robert mills of virginia who suggested in a publication on "internal improvements in maryland, virginia, and south carolina," issued in , the advisability of connecting the head of navigation of some one of the principal streams entering the atlantic with the pacific ocean by a system of steam propelled carriages. (h. r. doc. , th cong.) this was before there was a mile of steam railroad in the world, and under the then existing circumstances was so chimerical as to hardly warrant mention. in a weekly newspaper published in at ann arbor, michigan, called "the emigrant," appeared what was probably the first suggestion in print on the advisability of a pacific railroad. the article suggests the advisability of building a line from new york to the mouth of the oregon (columbia river) by way of the south shore of lake erie and lake michigan, crossing the mississippi river between and north latitude, the missouri river about the mouth of the platte, thence to the rocky mountains near the source of the last named river, crossing them and down the valley of the oregon to the pacific. it further suggested that it be made a national project, or this failing the grant of three millions of acres to a company organized for the purpose of constructing it. no name was signed to the article, but the probabilities are that it was written by s. w. dexter, the editor of the paper. with the whitman party leaving the east for the far northwest to establish a mission station was the rev. samuel parker, a presbyterian minister, who was sent under the auspices of the missionary board of his church to investigate and report on the mission situation and to suggest a plan for christianizing the indians. he crossed the continent to oregon and on his return in , his journal was published. it presented a very correct and interesting account of the scenes he visited. in it he says, "there would be no difficulty in the way of constructing a railroad from the atlantic to the pacific ocean * * * * and the time may not be so far distant when trips will be made across the continent as they are now to niagara falls to see nature's wonders." to just whom belongs the credit of being the first to advocate a railroad to the pacific coast is in dispute. no doubt the idea occurred to many at the time they were being introduced and successfully operated in the east. the two items referred to seem to be the first record of the idea or possibility. about the same time, although the date is not positively fixed, dr. samuel bancroft barlow, a practising physician of greenville, mass., commenced writing articles for the newspapers, advocating a pacific railroad and outlining a plan for its construction. his proposition contemplated a railroad from new york city to the mouth of the columbia river. as illustrating the lack of knowledge regarding the cost and operations of railroads, we quote from his writings "premising the length of the road would be three thousand miles and the average cost ten thousand dollars per mile, we have thirty million dollars as the total cost, and were the united states to engage in its construction, three years time would be amply sufficient * * * * at the very moderate rate of ten miles an hour, a man could go from new york to the mouth of the columbia river in twelve days and a half." another enthusiast was hartwell carver, grandson of jonathan carver the explorer of . his proposition was to build a railroad from lake michigan (chicago) to the south pass, with two branches from there, one to the mouth of the columbia river, and the other due west to california. south pass received its name from being south of the pass in general use. strange to say his "true pacific route" formulated without knowledge of the lay of the land was absolutely the best and the one that today is followed by the union pacific railway and affiliated lines, substituting granger for south pass. carver's proposition was to build the line by a private corporation who were to receive a grant of land for their right of way, the whole distance, with the privilege of taking from the public lands, material used in construction, with the further privilege of purchasing from the united states government, eight million acres of selected lands from the public domains at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, payable in the stock of the company. his road was to be laid on stone foundations and to be equipped with sleeping cars, dining cars and salon cars. his ideas as to the cost of the work were far too low, but outside of this he was seemingly inspired. at the time he was writing, , there were seven hundred and ninety-seven miles of railroads in operation in the united states. passenger coaches were patterned after the old stage coach, the track iron straps on wooden stringers, yet here he was outlining what today is an accomplished fact. a railroad with stone ballast from chicago to the south pass (granger, wyo.) one branch diverging from there to the mouth of the columbia, (portland, ore.,) the other to california, (san francisco and los angeles, cal.,) traversed by trains comprised of sleeping cars, dining cars and buffet cars. the union pacific and its connections. carver spent the best years of his life and what was in those days an ample fortune in endeavoring to further his project. the great opposition to his plan arose from the proposed diversion of the public lands and the stock feature, neither congress nor the public taking kindly to the idea of the government giving lands for stock in a private corporation. a third proposition was fathered by john plumbe of dubuque, iowa, who suggested at a public meeting, held at his home town in march , that a railroad be built from the great lakes to the columbia river. his plan contemplated an appropriation from congress of alternate sections of the public lands on either side of the right of way. the company to be capitalized at one hundred million dollars, twenty million shares at five dollars each. twenty-five cents per share to be paid down to provide a fund to commence operations and subsequent assessments of like amount to be paid as the money was needed until the full amount had been paid in. one hundred miles to be constructed each year and the whole line completed in twenty years. all of these propositions were more or less visionary and advanced by men of theory with little or no capital. they had the effect of awakening public interest and paved the way for a more feasible plan. the question of a pacific railway, its practicability, earnings, and effect, were constantly before the people. in the idea had become firmly fixed, the leading advocate being a new york merchant named asa whitney, who has been called the "father of the pacific railway." mr. whitney had spent some years in commercial life in china, returning to the united states with a competency. becoming enthused with the idea, he put his all,--energy, time, and money into the project of a trans-continental railroad, finding many supporters. at first he advocated carver's plan, but becoming convinced that it was not feasible, he sprung a new one of his own. he proposed that congress should give to him, his heirs and assigns, a strip of land, sixty miles wide, with the railroad in the center, this from a point on lake michigan to the pacific coast. this land he proposed to colonize and sell to emigrants from europe, from the proceeds build the line, retaining whatever surplus there might be after its completion, as his own. whitney was an indefatigable worker, thoroughly in earnest, a fluent speaker, both in public and private, well fortified with statistics and arguments. he personally travelled the whole country from maine to fifteen miles up the missouri river. the legislatures of maine, new hampshire, vermont, rhode island, new jersey, connecticut, new york, maryland, ohio, indiana, illinois, michigan, tennessee, alabama, and georgia, all endorsed his plan by favorable resolutions. the senate committee on public lands made a report recommending his proposition. thus strongly endorsed, his plan was brought before congress in in a bill entitled "authorizing asa whitney, his heirs or assigns, to construct a railroad from any point on lake michigan or the mississippi river he may designate, in a line as nearly straight as practicable, to some point on the pacific ocean where a harbor may be had." the road to be six foot gauge, sixty-four pound rails. the government to establish tolls and regulate the operation of the line, whitney to be the sole owner and receive a salary of four thousand dollars per year for managing it. the proposition was debated for days in the senate and then was tabled on a vote of twenty-seven to twenty-one. the opposition dwelt largely on the length of time whitney would necessarily require. say he could colonize and sell a million acres a year, this would only be funds enough to build one hundred miles and consequently the two thousand miles would require at least twenty years. the defeat was largely owing to the opposition of senator benton of missouri, the most pronounced friend of the west in the house, who used the argument of the power and capital it would put in the hands of one man, whitney's. this he characterized as a project to give away an empire, larger in extent than eight of the original states, with an ocean frontage of sixty miles, with contracting powers and patronage exceeding those of the president. upon the defeat of whitney's project, benton brought forward in one of his own for a great national highway from st. louis to san francisco, straight as may be, with branches to oregon and mexico. the government to grant a strip one mile wide, so as to provide room for every kind of road, railway, plank, macadamized, and electric motor, or otherwise constructed where not so practicable or advantageous. sleighs to be used during those months when snow lay on the ground. funds for its construction to be provided by the sale of public lands. bare in mind this was only fifty-six years ago, but eighteen years before the union pacific railway was completed, and was the proposition advocated by the recognized leader of the senate in matters western. up to the year when by the treaty of guadeloupe-hidalgo, mexico, ceded to us california, our only territory on the pacific coast was oregon and washington. the acquisition of california, followed very shortly by the gold discoveries and the consequent influx of people, gave that state a large population and furnished a prospective business for a pacific railway. this had heretofore been a matter of theory, very questionable, to say the least, being based on very hazy estimates of the prospective volume of trans-pacific business. with an active and aggressive population of three hundred thousand in california, practically all of eastern birth and affiliations the situation became materially changed and the necessity of railroad communication apparent. both great political parties pledged their support in their quadrennial platforms. presidents--pierce, buchanan, and lincoln, in their several messages to congress, strongly recommended its construction. the matter had been thoroughly discussed, both in and out of congress and the whole country was convinced of the advisability of its construction, and only awaited a leader and a feasible plan. from to the question vied with that of slavery in public interest. survey after survey was undertaken by the government and private parties. senator benton being the first to introduce a resolution looking to the appropriation of sufficient money to pay for a survey. this being in . the question of the north and south, entered into the matter, as it did everything else in the days preceding the rebellion. "you shall not build through free soil," said the south and "we won't permit it to run through the slave states," said the north. compromise was out of the question, and it was not until the southern element had been eliminated from congress by their secession was any action possible. it was found that private corporations, duly aided by land grants from the government, were able to build the necessary connecting links through the comparatively level country, between chicago and st. louis, and the missouri river. from the missouri river west it was felt that the undertaking was too great for any one set of men or corporation, besides local interests in california were already in the field, consequently two companies were determined upon, one of them working eastward, the other westward, and it was thus arranged. chapter ii. _the proposition in congress._ situation --curtis bill of --amended charter of --further amendments-- --legal complications in new york--controversy with central pacific. commencing with the session of , when a memorial on the subject of railroad communication between lake michigan and the pacific coast, was presented by hartwell carver, up to the present, the pacific railways have been ever present in congress. the catalogue of government publications gives one hundred and eighty-five having the union pacific, or pacific railroads as their subject. it is not necessary to recount the many schemes for the construction of these roads that were proposed to congress. we have already outlined the principal ones previous to . at this time our country was in the midst of its greatest difficulties. the north and south unable to harmonize over the slavery question, had recourse to the arbitration of arms. the union forces had met with numerous and severe reverses. the people of the pacific coast were loud in their demands for better means of communication. the government was straining to what seemed the breaking point, their credit and resources to carry on the war and as a government enterprise the building of a pacific railway was out of the question. all were convinced of not only the desirability of such a line but of the absolute necessity thereof, and it had resolved itself into a question of ways and means. previous discussions had thrashed out the chaff and it now remained for congress to winnow the wheat. government surveys had demonstrated the existence of five feasible routes through or over the rocky mountains. the northern, now followed by the northern pacific railroad, the south pass, snake and columbia rivers, now traversed by the union pacific railroad to granger, thence the oregon short line and oregon railway and navigation company. the middle route-union pacific railroad in connection with the southern pacific company (central pacific railroad). the thirty-ninth parallel route, now followed by the santa fe route and the southern via el paso, now followed by the sunset route. the first two while available, could be eliminated owing to their not reaching california direct, as could also the two latter, on account of their traversing in part at least, country that was then in a state of insurrection. these reasons were in themselves sufficient to determine the selection, but with the many other arguments advanced, there was no trouble in bringing congress to adopt practically unanimously the "south pass" "middle" "true pacific" route as it was variously called. for years this had been the route of the fur traders and trappers, the emigrant, the overland stage, and the pony express, and if these various interests had agreed as to this being the shortest and best route it was evident there were good and sufficient reasons for their decision, it being incontrovertible that it was the shortest one that reached the desired territory. especially as their decision was reinforced by the result of numerous surveys made by the government. the bill creating the union pacific railroad was known as the "curtis bill" from its author, congressman s. r. curtis of iowa. it carried the title of "an act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the missouri river to the pacific ocean and to secure to the united states government, the use thereof for postal, military, and other purposes." this act passed the senate, june th, , by a vote of thirty-five to two and became a law july st, of that same year. in addition to creating the union pacific railroad company it also authorized the central pacific railroad company to build a railroad from sacramento to the eastern boundary of california, where it was to connect with the union pacific railroad. the bill also recognized a company chartered by the legislature of kansas under the name of the leavenworth, pawnee and western railway company, later known as the kansas pacific railway. this latter line was to be built from leavenworth west to a junction with the union pacific railroad at or near the hundredth meridian or about two hundred and fifty miles west of omaha. the principal features of the bill so far as the union pacific railroad were concerned, were, the creation of a board of commissioners consisting of one hundred and fifty-eight commissioners to represent the interest of the united states government and who were to be named by the secretary of the interior. these were to constitute a preliminary organization. the union pacific railroad proper was to commence at a point on the hundredth meridian, west of greenwich, between the valley of the platte river on the north and the valley on the republican river on the south, with branch lines to be known as the iowa branch from said point to the missouri river. on the west it was to extend to the eastern boundary of california, where it was to connect with the central pacific railroad. the capital stock of the company was to consist of ten thousand shares at one thousand dollars each, not more than two hundred shares to be held by any one person. right of way through public lands was granted with the privilege of taking therefrom, without charge, earth, stone, lumber, or other material for construction purposes. the company was granted every alternate section of land as designated by odd numbers to the amount of five sections per mile, on each side of the road within the limits of ten miles, not sold, reserved or otherwise disposed of by the government, and to which a pre-emption or homestead claim had not been made up to the time the road was finally located, mineral lands being excepted. all lands thus granted, not sold or disposed of three years after the line was completed, were to be sold by the government at not to exceed one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, the proceeds to accrue to the railroad company. nothing but american iron was to be used in the rails. as fast as sections of forty miles were completed and accepted by commissioners appointed by the government for that purpose, one thousand dollar bonds of the united states bearing six per cent. interest, payable in thirty years, were to be issued to the company constructing the line. sixteen thousand dollars in bonds to the mile for the distance east of the rocky mountains and forty-eight thousand to the mile for one hundred and fifty miles for the mountain portion of the line. three-fourths of these bonds were to be delivered to the railroad company as the sections were accepted, the remaining fourth to be retained by the government until the entire line was completed. the bonds to constitute a first mortgage on the entire line equipment, terminals, etc? the road to be completed within twelve years, the first one hundred miles within two years. five per cent. of the net earnings, together with the entire amount accruing on transportation furnished the government was to be applied to the payment of these bonds, principal and interest. the bill which in reality constituted a charter, also provided that the gauge of the road and its eastern terminus should be left to the president of the united states to determine. these somewhat onerous conditions were accepted by the promoters. subscription books opened but capital fought shy of the proposition. two years solicitation only resulted in subscriptions to the amount of two million dollars being paid up in cash. it being evident that the necessary funds could not be procured on the terms of the original act, an appeal was made to congress resulting in a supplementary act passing the house of representatives, july nd, , and soon thereafter becoming law. this increased the amount of the land grant to the odd numbered sections within ten miles of either side the track, and made the bonds of the government a second mortgage instead of first, they to be issued on sections of twenty miles instead of forty, two-thirds of the bonds being available as soon as the grading was done. the limit extended in which the line must be completed, and but one-half the earnings on government business withheld to meet the bonds. the company was also authorized to maintain a ferry or ferries across the missouri river at omaha as a means of connection with the iowa lines until such time as they could construct a bridge suitable for this purpose. coupled with these favorable amendments were two provisions that eventually militated against the company. one of them permitting the kansas pacific railway to connect with the union pacific railroad at any point its projectors saw fit at or east of a point fifty miles west of denver, colo., instead of at the hundredth meridian. this created a competitor instead of a feeder. the second was allowing the central pacific railroad company to build on east one hundred and fifty miles to meet the road from the east instead of stopping at the california state line. the restriction to one hundred and fifty miles was withdrawn in subsequent legislation. this resulted in a race as to which company should cover the most ground and involved both of them in much additional expense. with the charter thus amended, the union pacific railroad company which had not thus far done any real work, commenced active construction. the credit mobilier was formed to do the actual building, and with many trials, discouragements, and unforeseen expense, the work was continued to its completion. the initial eastern point had been fixed by the charter two hundred and forty-seven miles west of omaha--at the hundredth meridian, branches being contemplated to connect it with the missouri river. in congress authorized commencement at omaha without reference to this fact,--the line to extend from omaha to a connection with the central pacific railroad. the question of the gauge or width of track was another matter that occupied the attention of congress. the question had by the charter been left to the president. there was a divergence of opinions as to the best gauge for railroad tracks. at this time the erie, and ohio and mississippi railroads used a six foot gauge. the california legislature had fixed five foot as the gauge in that state, while the principal eastern roads including the baltimore and ohio, new york central as well as the chicago and iowa lines, were what is known as standard gauge (i. e. four feet, eight and a half inches.) a committee of parliament had settled on five feet, three inches as the gauge in england. president lincoln had announced himself as in favor of five foot and the central pacific people had ordered their equipment of that width. the influence of the chicago-iowa lines as well as that of the union pacific people, was thrown in favor of the so called standard gauge, and on march nd, , congress passed what is one of the shortest laws on the statute books, namely, "be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states in congress assembled, that the gauge of the pacific railroad and its branches through its whole extent from the pacific coast to the missouri river, shall be and hereby is established at four feet, eight and one-half inches." in about the time the credit mobilier company was about to turn the finished road over, disgruntled stock and bondholders under the leadership of "jim fisk" endeavored to wrest possession from the union pacific railway company. certain stock was recorded in his name and although paid for with a check that was refused by the bank on which it was drawn, fisk went into court and secured an injunction preventing the board of directors acting until his relations with the company had been adjudicated by the courts. under cover of these legal proceedings in the state courts, the new york offices were forcibly entered, the books and securities of the company removed and a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty aroused that caused a serious depreciation in the value of the securities they were endeavoring to market. w. m. tweede being appointed receiver by the state courts of such property of the company as was to be found within its jurisdiction. it is said the trouble cost the company some six or seven million dollars. appealing to congress, they were granted authority to remove its eastern offices from new york city to boston. the next appearance in congress was made necessary by a dispute with the central pacific company over the point of connection. the union pacific company claimed their grade extended to humboldt wells, five hundred miles west of ogden, while the central pacific in reprisal claimed the line to the western end of weber canon some thirty miles east of ogden. the facts were the two completed lines met at promontory point fifty-three miles west of ogden, april th, . by act of congress, it was decided that the union pacific railroad company should build the line to promontory where the two roads should connect but that the central pacific railroad company should pay for and own the line west of ogden. this was "settled out of court" and the action of congress simply ratified an agreement made by the two companies. the above covers the more important matters so far as the action of congress was concerned. many other minor matters received attention at their hands--both before and since the completion of the road. as is stated in the opening paragraph of this chapter, the pacific railroads have been ever present in congress. the more important questions being referred to in their order later. chapter iii. _mostly financial._ preliminary organization--board of commissioners--company organized--directors and officers elected--hoxie contract--credit mobilier--ames' interest--compromise contract--davis contract--cost of line--land grant. when the pacific railroad bill passed congress and received the president's signature in , there was a well organized company to take hold of the western or california end. the union pacific or eastern end was not in such good shape. thomas c. durant, who was afterwards vice president of the company had with a few associates taken a prominent part in the matter but no regular organization existed. under the charter there were one hundred and fifty-eight persons named, who, together with five to be appointed by the secretary of the interior were to constitute a "board of commissioners" to effect a preliminary organization, open books for the subscription of stock and to call a meeting of the stockholders to elect a board of directors as soon as two thousand shares had been subscribed and ten dollars per share paid in. when the board of directors had been elected, the property or rather the proposition was to be turned over to them and the duties of the board of commissioners should cease and terminate. the company thus organized, should follow established precedents, stockholders should hold annual meetings, elect a board of directors, and adopt bylaws and rules for the conduct of its affairs. the directors thus elected to be not less than thirteen in number, two to be added to their number by appointment of the president of the united states. the board of directors to elect the officers of the company and exercise supervision. the board of commissioners met in chicago in september, , and organized, electing w. b. ogden, president and h. v. poor, secretary, as called for in the charter, and subscription books were duly opened. there was no disposition on the part of moneyed men to subscribe for the stock and it was only owing to a few public-spirited men coming in and taking the two thousand shares that the charter did not lapse. when the necessary stock had been subscribed, a meeting of the stockholders was held in new york city, in october, , at which a board of directors were to be elected,--a strange situation confronted them, there being no man or set of men who were able to assume control, although there were no lack of cliques who were desirous of doing so, but these were largely irresponsible parties either lacking in the necessary capital or not command the confidence of those who did have it. something had to be done, and accordingly thirty men of more or less prominence were elected to the position of directors, some of them without their knowledge and some declined to serve. the company was accordingly organized october th, . general john a. dix, who was elected president, had been a member of the cabinet and later a general in the united states army, was a man who was universally respected. the position was not of his seeking, and he gave notice he had neither the time nor inclination to give active attention to its affairs and the burden was practically assumed by the vice-president elect, thomas c. durant. but two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars the ten dollars per share called for by the charter on two thousand one hundred and eighty shares had been paid in and further funds were not obtainable. agitation was kept up and due representation made to congress, resulting in an amendment to the charter being passed. after the passage of the supplementary act in made necessary by the failure to secure funds, it was still regarded as an unpromising investment for the reason that investors could not feel any assurance that they or their friends would have any voice in the management of affairs or control of the company. the capital of the company was fixed by the supplementary act at one hundred million dollars, (one million shares at one hundred dollars each), consequently any interest holding over fifty millions of the stock would be paramount and vice versa. until it was determined who would be in control, investors fought shy. under the charter the subscription books must remain open until the completion of the road, making it possible for outsiders to wait until the road was near completion and then step in and by large subscriptions acquire control. as there were some funds available, a contract was entered into in may, , with h. m. hoxie, to build the first hundred miles. this contract was extended to cover from omaha to the hundredth meridian, two hundred and forty-seven miles, on october rd, , and on the th of the same month assigned to a company (simple partnership) composed of vice-president durant and six others, all stockholders of the railroad company. the capital of this partnership consisted of four hundred thousand dollars (but a small percentage of the amount necessary to carry out the hoxie contract). the members of the firm were unable or else unwilling, owing to the immense personal liability involved, to put up further funds and some other action was necessary. durant and his friends accordingly purchased the charter of a pennsylvania corporation of limited liability and elastic powers, known as the "pennsylvania fiscal agency" changed its name by legislative enactment to the credit mobilier of america. subscribers of the two million one hundred and eighty thousand dollars of union pacific stock were given the option of either exchanging union pacific stock for that of the credit mobilier, sell their union pacific stock to the credit mobilier, or turn it back to the union pacific railroad company and have it redeemed. by this the stockholders of the credit mobilier became the sole holders of the union pacific stock. the hoxie contract was reassigned to the credit mobilier who duly completed the work, finishing the line to the point specified october th, . owing to their inability to raise funds, it seemed as though the two companies, union pacific and credit mobilier, would fall down. there was no sale for the first mortgage bonds of the railroad, the government bonds were but little better, being worth but sixty-five cents on the dollar. durant and his friends were not men of wealth nor did they command the confidence of wealthy men. the company had become greatly involved and was compelled to sell some of its rolling stock to pay pressing debts. it was at this junction that oakes ames entered the field, being persuaded, it is said, to do so by president lincoln who desired to enlist his well-known executive ability and capital in the enterprise. through the efforts of himself and associates the paid up subscriptions were increased to two and a half million dollars. the original or first contract made with hoxie for a hundred miles had been extended to cover up to the hundredth meridian, and the line to that point, two hundred and forty-seven miles from omaha, was completed october th, . the second contract made was with a mr. boomer for one hundred and fifty-three and thirty-five hundredths miles from the hundredth meridian west, at the rate of nineteen thousand five hundred dollars per mile for that part of the distance east of the north platte river and twenty thousand dollars per mile west thereof. bridges, station buildings, and equipment to be additional. this contract was also assigned to the credit mobilier. on this, fifty-eight miles were completed when dissensions arose, occasioned by financial stringency among the stockholders of the credit mobilier. vice-president durant going into court, compelled suspension of action on the third contract, made march st, , with one j. m. williams who had assigned it to the credit mobilier. this covered two hundred and sixty-six and fifty-two hundredths miles, commencing at the hundredth meridian at the rate of fifty thousand dollars per mile. for a time matters were at a standstill, injunctions preventing the completion of present or the making of new contracts. finally a compromise was affected between the two factions, durant and his friends on the one side, and the ames interests on the other. under this, a fourth contract was made with oakes ames for which he was to receive from forty-two thousand to ninety-six thousand dollars per mile or forty-seven million nine hundred and fifteen thousand dollars for six hundred and sixty-seven miles, commencing at the hundredth meridian. this it is supposed is the largest contract ever made by one individual. it was later transferred by oakes ames to seven trustees acting for the credit mobilier, he and his brother oliver ames being among the number. this last contract carried the line to nine hundred and fourteen miles from omaha. the fifth contract was made with j. w. davis for one hundred and twenty-two miles at twenty-three million four hundred thousand dollars, and was in turn assigned to the same seven trustees for completion. in adjustment of accounts the union pacific railroad company would turn over to the credit mobilier or the trustees for the credit mobilier in payment for the work as fast as it was completed first mortgage (union pacific railroad) bonds, government bonds, union pacific railroad income bonds and union pacific railroad stock, these being sold or hypothecated by the trustees, furnished them the necessary funds required to pay for the construction work. as the union pacific stock could only be sold for cash at par according to act of congress, notwithstanding it was only worth thirty cents on the market, the railroad company would give their check to the credit mobilier on construction account and this check could then be used in payment of stock, making it a cash transaction. in settlement of the several contracts, the union pacific railroad company paid the credit mobilier: hoxie contract miles omaha to th meridian $ , , . ames contract th meridian west , , . davis contract to point five miles west of ogden , , . ______________ $ , , . these figures represent stocks and bonds at par and deducting amount of depreciation, would bring the actual cost of the main line omaha to ogden to about seventy-three million dollars. there were issued in payment for this construction, equipment, station building, and the expense of the company during the construction period. government bonds $ , , . first mortgage bonds , , . income bonds , , . land grant bonds , , . union pacific stock , , . _______________ $ , , . there were granted to the union pacific railroad company under its charter land grants of eleven million three hundred and nine thousand eight hundred and forty-four acres. up to december st, , sales of this land had brought in nineteen million ninety thousand six hundred and seventy-two dollars and forty-two cents and unsold land was then valued at two million three hundred and ninety five thousand five hundred and seven dollars. during the palmy days of the credit mobilier following the adjustment of the differences with the durant faction, thousands of dollars were spent in advertising and placing the stock. display advertisements were inserted in all the prominent newspapers and paid agents located in all the important cities. the result demonstrated the wisdom of the expenses, as not only were large quantities of its stock sold but the prices obtained for it were greatly advanced. no sooner was the completion of the road assured than did antagonism and hostility appear. for instance in a government inspector appointed for the purpose of examining and accepting completed sections of the road, refused to do so, until he received "his fee" (?) which he put at twenty-five thousand dollars, he being in no way entitled to anything from the company. by his refusal he tied up the issue of the government bonds, seriously affecting the credit of the company at a critical time. in washington the lobbyists were demanding blackmail with threats of organized hostility. speculators in well street were a unit in bearing the stock and in attacking the credit of the company. the stock of the credit mobilier up to the assignment by ames to the seven trustees, had not met with anything like a ready sale. for reasons of policy, some of this was assigned to members of congress, senators, and other public men. some being paid for, others had it carried on their account. after the crisis had passed, the value of the stock rapidly appreciated and in the forthcoming political campaign the subornation of congress in the interest of the credit mobilier by the use of this stock was made an issue and occasioned a great outcry. the accusation was thoroughly investigated by two committees during the next session and it was clearly proven to have been unfounded, so far as members of congress having received the stock as bribes, it being demonstrated that the company had no further favors to ask from congress and that the members receiving it had paid the market value therefor. notwithstanding, oakes ames was called to the bar of the house and severely censured for having sold it to them. the facts were, popular clamor demanded a scapegoat and ames was selected. this, and the anxiety and strain of the load he had been carrying proved too much for him and he died may th, . after his death the voice of calumny silenced, his work and character received the recognition it so well deserved. the cost of material used in the construction of the road was enormous, thus the ties brought from the east ran as high as two dollars and fifty cents laid down in omaha. the rails for the first four hundred and forty miles one hundred and thirty-five dollars per ton. this was before railroad connection was established between council bluffs and the east. after that the price got down to ninety-seven dollars and fifty cents per ton. the pay of laborers ran from two dollars and twenty-five cents to three dollars and fifty cents per day. train men two hundred dollars per month for conductors, one hundred and twenty-five dollars for brakemen, two hundred dollars to two hundred and fifty dollars for engineers, and one hundred and fifty dollars to one hundred and seventy-five dollars for firemen. telegraph operators eighty dollars to a hundred dollars. at times the company (credit mobilier) was paying as high as five hundred thousand dollars per month interest. and in fact it was claimed by several of the directors that the paramount reason for the haste displayed in building the road was not so much the competition with the central pacific as it was to get rid of the enormous interest charges they were paying and which they would cut off upon the road being accepted by the government and the consequent receipt of government bonds. chapter iv. _commencement of the work._ selection of omaha as eastern terminus--celebration over breaking ground--speech, george francis train--commencement of work--conditions october, --routes considered. the first move towards the construction of the road was the selection of an eastern terminus which by the charter was left to the president of the united states. this was fixed by president lincoln on december nd, , the official announcement being as follows: "i, abraham lincoln, president of the united states, do upon application of said company (the union pacific railroad) designate and establish such first above named point on the western boundary of the state of iowa east of and opposite to the east line of section ten in township fifteen, north of range thirteen, east of the sixth principal meridian in the territory of nebraska." "done at the city of washington this th day of march in the year of our lord . abraham lincoln." immediately upon receipt of advice as to the president's action on december nd, , the citizens of omaha regardless of their connection with the road arranged to break ground for the union pacific railroad and to properly celebrate the commencement of the work and especially the selection of their city as the eastern terminus, which was accordingly done. the spot selected for the initial point was near the ferry landing and not far above where the union pacific shops are now located. this particular spot with the first mile of track constructed, was long ago swept away by the missouri river. the ceremonies were commenced by asking the divine blessing on the enterprise in a prayer by the rev. t. b. lemon, pastor of the first methodist church in omaha. the reverend gentleman petitioned that the road make one the people of the east and west. that it would result in peopling the waste places of the west; that it might lend security to those on the frontier, and other similar requests, all of which have been fulfilled to a degree that is past being coincidental. the first earth was then removed by governor saunders of nebraska territory, mayor kennedy of omaha, george francis train and others assisting. congratulatory messages were received from different parts of the country. speeches were made by a. j. poppleton and others, the day being wound up by a banquet in the evening. the speech of the day was delivered by george francis train, then in his heyday, which is so characteristic of the man and of the ideas then prevalent relative to the road and the results of its construction as to warrant the following somewhat lengthy extracts: "i have no telegrams to read, no sentiments to recite. the official business being over and as i happen to be lying around loose in this part of the country at this particular time, it gives me a chance to meet some of the live men of nebraska at the inauguration of the grandest enterprise under god the world had ever witnessed. "america is the stage, the world the audience of today, while one act of the drama represents the booming of cannon on the rapidan, the cumberland and the rio grande, sounding the death knell of rebellion, the next scene has the booming of cannon on both sides the missouri to celebrate the grandest work of peace that ever engaged the energies of man. the great pacific railroad is commenced and if you know the men who have hold of the enterprise as well as i do, no doubt would arise as to its speedy completion. "four thousand years ago the pyramids were started, but they simply represented the vanity of man. the chinese wall was grand in conception, but built to break the tide of invasion. the suez canal was gigantic, but how limited all those things appear in comparison to this enterprise. "before the first century of our nation's birth we may see in the new york depots, some strange pacific railroad notices such as, 'european passengers for japan will please take the night train. passengers for china this way. african and asiatic freight must be distinctly marked for pekin via san francisco.' "ere ten years go by i intend to let the european traveller get a new sensation by standing on the ridge pole of the american nation and sliding off into the sea. "one day a dispatch will come in--we have tapped a mountain of copper, nineteen miles square, later on--we have just opened up another field of coal--or--we have struck another iron mountain this morning--when eureka--a telegram electrifies the speculators in wall streets and gold drops below par--at ten this morning we struck a pick into a mountain of solid gold. "the pacific railroad is the nation, and the nation is the pacific railroad. labor and capital shake hands today. the lion and the lamb sleep together. here in the west are the representatives of labor and in the east are those of capital. the two united make the era of progress. steam, gas, and electricity are the liberty, fraternity, and equality of the people. the world is on the rampage. events are earthquakes now. "ten millions of emigrants will settle in this golden land in twenty years." early in work was begun on the first hundred miles. the actual work being commenced within the corporate limits of omaha in february. about one hundred thousand dollars was spent in grading a due westerly route out of omaha. this was abandoned on account of it being so hilly, and a route south and thence west was adopted. the ties for this section were cottonwood from the missouri river bottom lands, treated with a view of making them last. it was found that the treatment was not effective and for the balance of the road, hard wood ties from michigan, indiana, and even as far east as pennsylvania were used, some of them costing as much as two dollars and fifty cents laid down in omaha. at this time there was no railroad completed into omaha from the east. the chicago and northwestern being the first to reach there, and its first train ran into council bluffs on sunday, january th, . consequently all supplies, other than those coming to them via the missouri river, had to be wagoned from des moines, iowa, one hundred and thirty-three miles. on the missouri river the company had in service six large steamboats carrying supplies and material for construction from kansas city where there was railroad connection with the east by way of the hannibal and st. joseph railroad and the missouri pacific railroad. everything had to be brought in, the country being destitute of even stone and lumber, involving great expense and delays. while the level country enabled rapid progress to be made in grading, it was almost impossible to bring forward the requisite material to keep up with the graders and track-layers. the contract for the first hundred miles had been let may, , to hubert m. hoxie. by its terms he was to receive securities to the face value of $ , per mile. sidings were to be not less than per cent. of the main line. station buildings, water-tanks and equipment was to be furnished by him to the value of five thousand dollars per mile. hoxie before this had been in the employ of the company in charge of the ferry between omaha and council bluffs. in march , his contract was transferred to the credit mobilier company, which as has been previously stated, was organized by the promoters and insiders of the railroad company to do the actual construction. several experiences with individual contractors had demonstrated that they could not be relied upon, in fact that it required more in the way of capital-influence, and omnipresence than any individual could exert, consequently all original contracts for the construction and equipping of the line were handled by the credit mobilier who subcontracted it with firms and individuals, they by their close relations with the company and financial interests as well as by their wide ramifications, being able to purchase materials and supplies to better advantage. everything was still held at war prices, iron, ties, lumber, provisions, etc., while currency and the government bonds on which they were relying, were greatly depreciated in value. labor was scarce and only to be had at extravagant figures. in the report of one of the government inspectors, made in , when the grading had progressed some twenty miles out of omaha, he stated: "there are now some two hundred men employed on the work and a like number of horses and oxen, together with two excavating machines that are doing the work of many men. it is confidently expected that this section (the first forty miles) will be ready to be laid with rails by june st, next." this he regarded as very commendable but as compared with four years later, when there were nearly twelve thousand men engaged and track was going down from two to ten miles a day, it seems anything else but satisfactory. a great amount of the preliminary work in the way of reconnoissance, surveying, and even locating was done under governmental auspices previous to , most of it by officers of the army. all of their reports and surveys were by action of congress given to the railroad company, thus saving them greatly in time as well as in money. in addition to the government surveys the company investigated and did more or less surveying before deciding upon the route to be followed through the rockies. in the report of the government directors for they refer to the following eight routes as having been investigated during the preceding year by the company, viz.: st via south platte river and hoosier pass. nd via platte river and tarryall pass. rd via north fork of south platte river. th via berthoud pass. th via boulder pass. th via cash le poudre-dale creek and antelope pass. th via evans pass. th via lodge pole creek, cow creek, and evans pass. th via lodge pole creek and cheyenne pass. th via lodge pole creek and south pass. the first seven of these routes included denver en route. something that the company considered essential and which was very reluctantly abandoned. chapter v. _progress made._ completion of eleven miles--excursion--officers--labor supply--ex-soldiers--methods employed--progress made--headquarter towns--rough times--competition with central pacific for territory--stations--buildings, etc. as we saw in our last chapter, ground was broken at omaha, december nd, . this, however, was more in the nature of a jollification on the part of the citizens of omaha over the selection of their city as the eastern terminus of the line,--it being under the auspices of "the leading citizens," organized and enthused by the irrepressible george francis train. grading was commenced in july, , and track-laying the spring of . the start was not auspicious, the line was originally located directly west from omaha, but after one hundred thousand dollars had been spent, it was abandoned on account of the hills and consequent heavy grades, and two new lines were surveyed, one to the north and then west and the other south nearly to bellevue, kan., and then west. this latter was called the "ox-bow route" and was finally selected by the company, notwithstanding violent opposition on the part of the people of omaha, who feared that the company would cross the missouri at bellevue, thus leaving omaha out. september th, , saw eleven miles finished, and in november an excursion was run from omaha to the end of the track, fifteen miles. this was gotten up by vice-president durant, who took an engine and flat car, inviting about twenty gentlemen to go with him on the first inspection trip to sailing's grove. among the excursionists was general sherman who gloried in the undertaking and expressed regret that at his age he could hardly anticipate living until the completion of the work. the party was very enthusiastic, and as the narrator naively puts it "as the commissary was well supplied, the gentlemen enjoyed themselves." for a number of reasons the work dragged. it took one year to complete the first forty miles. the lack of rail connections east of omaha were, previous to january, , when the chicago and northwestern railroad reached council bluffs, a very serious occasion of expense and delay. the work was new, those in charge were not at that time experienced, funds were scarce, and the credit of the company not yet established, and as a result the average rate of progress during the first twelve months was but a mile a week. the work of construction was in charge of vice-president and general manager, thomas c. durant.--the location, general granville m. dodge, chief engineer, formerly general of the united states army and who had up to this time been in charge of the department. the operation of the line, forwarding of material and supplies, actual construction, etc., was in charge of samuel b. reed, general superintendent and engineer in charge of construction. the track laying was done under contract by "casement brothers" (general and daniel) while mr. h. m. hoxie was ubiquitous with the title of general western agent. colonel silas seymour of new york was consulting engineer and mr. w. snyder, assistant superintendent and general freight and ticket agent. another of the reasons for the slow progress made up to was the scarcity of labor. the surrounding territory had no surplus workmen and the east had not as yet grasped the idea that the road was actually under construction. with the disbandment of the armies, both north and south after the war, this situation was changed for the better. large numbers of the ex-soldiers drifted west and were glad to find steady work at remunerative wages with the construction forces. the secretary of the interior in his annual report for stated that out of fifteen hundred laborers employed on the pacific railways, three hundred were negroes and performed their duties faithfully and well, and he recommended legislation looking to the employment of more of the surplus freedmen on the same work. among the officials,--engineers and bosses,--there were many who were ex-officers in the army. thus the chief engineer had been a general, the consulting engineer, a colonel, the head of the track-laying force, a general. this can best be explained by quoting from a paper on trans-continental railroads read by general dodge, before the society of the army of the tennessee at toledo, ohio, september, . "the work was military in character and one is not surprised to find among the superintendents and others in charge, a liberal sprinkling of military titles. surveying parties were always accompanied by a detachment of soldiers as a protection against indians. the construction trains were amply supplied with rifles and other arms and it was boasted that a gang of track-layers could be transmuted into a battalion of infantry at any moment. over half of the men had shouldered muskets in many a battle." the same facts are brought out by the following extract from a newspaper of that day. "the whole organization of the road is semi-military. the men who go ahead (surveyors and locators) are the advance guard, following them is the second line (the graders) cutting through the gorges, grading the road and building the bridges. then comes the main body of the army, placing the ties, laying the track, spiking down the rails, perfecting the alignment, ballasting and dressing up and completing the road for immediate use. along the line of the completed road are construction trains pushing 'to the front' with supplies. the advance limit of the rails is occupied by a train of long box-cars with bunks built within them, in which the men sleep at night and take their meals. close behind this train come train loads of ties, rails, spikes, etc., which are thrown off to the side. a light car drawn by a single horse gallops up, is loaded with this material and then is off again to the front. two men grasp the forward end of the rail and start ahead with it, the rest of the gang taking hold two by two, until it is clear of the car. at the word of command it is dropped into place, right side up, during which a similar operation has been going on with the rail for the other side,--thirty seconds to the rail for each gang, four rails to the minute. as soon as a car is unloaded, it is tipped over to permit another to pass it to the front and then it is righted again and hustled back for another load. "close behind the track-layers comes the gaugers, then the spikers and bolters. three strokes to the spike, ten spikes to the rail, four hundred rails to the mile. quick work you say,--but the fellows on the union pacific are tremendously in earnest." or as another writer has it, "we witnessed here the fabulous speed with which the line was built. through the two or three hundred miles beyond were scattered ten to fifteen thousand men (?) in great gangs preparing the road-bed with plows, scrapers, shovels, picks, and carts, and among the rocks, with drills and powder were doing the grading as rapidly as men could stand and move with their tools. long trains brought up to the end of the track, loads of ties and rails the former were transferred to teams and sent one or two miles ahead and put in place on the grade, then spikes and rails were reloaded on platform cars and pushed up to the last previously laid rail and with an automatic movement and celerity that was wonderful, practiced hands dropped the fresh rails one after another on the ties exactly in line. hugh sledges sent the spikes home,--the car rolled on and the operation was repeated; while every few minutes the long heavy train behind sent out a puff of smoke from its locomotive and caught up with its load of material the advancing work. the only limit to the rapidity with which the track could thus be laid was the power of the road behind to bring forward material." the above description applies to the later period of construction, when the forces had become thoroughly organized and the work systematized. the following table shows the rate of construction: ground broken at omaha december nd, . work commenced at omaha spring, . miles completed to gilmore september th, . miles completed to valley december st, . miles completed to fremont january th, . miles completed march th, . miles completed june nd, . miles completed to the th meridian october th, . miles completed december st, . miles completed to sidney, wyo. august, . miles completed to cheyenne, wyo. november th, . miles completed to laramie, wyo. may th, . miles completed december st, . miles completed to ogden, utah march th, . miles completed: to promontory, utah april th, . formal connection made may , . regular train service commenced july th, . completed according to judicial decision november th, . the progress made was daily wired east and published in the principal newspapers. thus in the "chicago tribune" items such as "one and nine-tenth miles of track laid yesterday on the union pacific railroad" appeared in every issue. during the construction of the line, headquarters were established at different points at the front, which were used as a basis of operations for the construction of the section beyond. these places enjoyed a temporary boom, some of them like jonah's gourd to wither up and die away, others profiting by the start are today points of importance. the first of these was north platte, nebraska, its selection being caused by the delay incident to bridging the river. this was the terminus of the road during the fall of and up to june . during this time it was the distributing point for all the country west. the mixture of railroad laborers, freighters, etc., all of them with more or less money, inaugurated a rough time and was the beginning of the wild scenes that attended the construction of the line. the town during the winter had a population of five thousand and over a thousand buildings. with the completion of the line to sidney, wyo., in june, , the rough element left and established themselves at that point, leaving at north platte about three hundred of the more sedentary law-abiding class who had determined on that point for their home. in moving to the front, houses were torn down, loaded on cars to be taken to the new site and there re-erected. when it was known that cheyenne was to be the terminus for the winter of - , there was a grand hegira of roughs, gamblers, prostitutes from all along the line and from the east. the population jumped to six thousand. dwellings sprang up like mushrooms. they were of every conceivable character. some simply holes in the ground roofed over, known as "dug outs," others of canvas, while some few were of wood and stone. town lots were sold at fabulous prices. the only pastimes were gambling and drinking. shooting scrapes with "a man for breakfast" were an every day occurrence, and stealing so common as to occasion no comment. it is said of old colonel murrian, the then mayor of cheyenne, that he advanced the city's script eighteen cents on the dollar, by inflicting a fine of ten dollars on those who "made a gun play" i. e. shot at any one,--and that it was his custom to add a quarter to the fines he inflicted, making them ten dollars and twenty-five cents or twenty-five dollars and twenty-five cents, with the explanation that his was dry work and the extra quarter was to cover the stimulant his arduous duties required. such conditions brought about an uprising on the part of the more respectable element. vigilance committees with "judge lynch" in command, took hold and from his court there was neither appeal, nor stays. witnesses were not held to be essential. the toughs were known and the judgments of the court generally right. at least the defendants were not left in a condition to make complaint or appeal. the vigilance committee during the first year of its existence hung or shot twelve of the desperadoes, and were instrumental in sending as many more to the penitentiary. the effect was to compel the tough element to either leave or abide by the laws and to put the decent element in control. the next headquarters was benton, wyo. in two weeks (july ) a city of three thousand inhabitants sprang up as if by the touch of aladdin's lamp. it was laid out in regular squares, divided into five wards, had a mayor and board of aldermen, a daily paper and volume of ordinances for the city government. it was the end of the freight and passenger service and the beginning of the division under construction. twice a day, long trains arrived from and departed for the east, while stages and wagon trains connected it with points in idaho, montana, and utah. all the passengers and goods for the west, came here by rail and were re-shipped to their several destinations. twenty-three saloons paid license to the city, while dance halls and gambling dens were even more numerous. the great institution was the "big tent." this was a frame structure, one hundred feet long and forty feet wide, floored for dancing, to which and gambling it was entirely devoted. a visitor to the city thus described it: "one to two thousand men and a dozen or more women were encamped on the alkali plain in tents and shanties." only a small proportion of them had aught to do with the road or any legitimate occupation. restaurant and saloon keepers, gamblers, desperadoes of every grade, the vilest of men and women made up this "hell on wheels" as it was most aptly termed. six months later, all that was left to mark the site was a few rock piles and half destroyed chimneys together with piles of old cans. the city after a tumultuous existence of only sixty days had "got up and pulled its freight" to the next headquarters. green river, bryan, bear river city, and wasatch were the headquarters successively. the first, owing to the railroad having made it the end of a division and located shops there, has survived; the other three are but memories. at bear river city, the tough element who had been driven out of the different points east, congregated in large numbers, proposing to make a stand, it being supposed it would become a permanent town. the law abiding element numbered about a thousand, the toughs as many more. three thugs were hung for murder, and in a reprisal the town was attacked on november th, , by the tough element. they seized and burned the jail, then sacked and destroyed the plant of the "frontier index," a printing outfit that followed up the railroad, issuing a daily paper, and which had been particularly outspoken in its denunciation of the lawless element. they then proceeded to attack some of the stores, but were met by the townspeople and in the pitched battle that ensued, badly defeated. they made an undignified retreat, leaving fifteen of their number dead in the streets. from this time on the tough element fought shy of the city and with the extension of the road, its business left. today there is not a thing to indicate that a town of four or five thousand had ever stood there. the tough element started in to make rawlins one of the "hells" but the decent element had had enough and proceeded to clean up the town--showing they proposed to stand no foolishness. the last of the railroad towns was wasatch located at the eastern end of the longest tunnel ( feet) on the road. in fact it was the delay occasioned by this work that gave rise to the town. when the line was put down a temporary track was built around the obstruction so as to permit the materials for the track beyond to reach the front. this place originally had a machine shop, round house and eating station all of which were removed to evanston in . upon the passage of the supplementary charter in the restriction confining the central pacific to the state of california was withdrawn and they were authorized to build for one hundred and fifty miles east of the california boundary. this latter restriction was also withdrawn by congress in , leaving the meeting point to be determined by the rapidity of the construction of the respective lines, or as the act of congress put it, they could locate, construct, and continue their line until it should meet the union pacific continuous line. with the experience of three years behind them and the land grant, government bonds and prospective earnings, not to speak of the element of pride ahead, the two lines entered into a race the like of which had never been seen. the rivalry extended from the presidents of the respective companies down to the boy who carried water to the graders. both forces, justly proud of their achievements, considered themselves a little better than the other. one form of the rivalry was as to which outfit could get the greatest amount of track down in one day. the union pacific's forces led off with six miles, soon after the central went them a mile better. then seven and a half miles were put down by the union pacific; the central pacific forces not to be outdone announced they could get down ten miles inside of one working day. vice-president durant offered to wager ten thousand dollars it could not be done, and the central pacific outfit resolved it should be done. waiting until there were but fourteen miles for them to lay, they started in and laid ten miles and two hundred feet from seven a.m. to seven p.m., using four thousand men in the operation. and then the union pacific outfit was mad. they claimed if they had massed their forces, made special preparation, etc., they could do better than their competitors, but they could not prove it for there was no more track to lay. the central pacific people ran their grade east of ogden to echo canon, this when their completed line was only built to the vicinity of wadsworth, nev. the union pacific railroad located their line to the california state line and had their graders at work as far west as humboldt wells, nev., four hundred and sixty miles west of ogden. this line west of promontory was never built, however, and it is said that one million dollars was expended in this way. as it was the central pacific had their grade established some eighty miles east of promontory point, thirty miles east of ogden, and this when the union pacific were laying their completed track within a mile of and parallel to their grade. the prize was so great that every nerve was strained on the part of both contestants as to who should push their track the further. the advantages were about equal. the central pacific were somewhat nearer their base of supplies, their laborers were the quiet, orderly, and easily managed chinese and then they were in comparatively good financial shape. the union pacific, though farther from their base of supplies, were in railroad communication with the points of manufacture, their men, while turbulent and hard to control, were enthusiastic and worth three to one of the opposing forces. they were well paid, well housed and well fed, and were handled by men who had as a rule, army experience back of them and who certainly were "bosses" in the best and fullest sense. during the winter of - the advantage was with the central pacific company. their line across the sierras was fully protected by snow sheds and they only met with one week's suspension of business from snow troubles during the whole winter, while the union pacific were blocked between cheyenne and green river for four long months. the rate of construction grew rapidly. during there were about two hundred men employed on the grading and track-laying. while it took one year to complete the first forty miles, the second year, the year , saw two hundred and sixty five miles done, over a mile a day working time, and this was exceeded from that on. there were about two thousand five hundred graders employed in in addition to four hundred and fifty track-layers and from this number up, until the completion of the road. their forces numbered twelve thousand men and three thousand teams, while six hundred tons of material were placed daily during the spring of when the contest was at its height. the maximum track laid in one day, was seven and a half miles. as the line progressed round houses were put up at omaha, north platte, cheyenne, laramie, and ogden, each having twenty stalls, and at grand island, sidney, rawlins, bitter creek, medicine bow and bryan, of ten stalls each. these were substantial buildings of brick or stone with sheet-iron roofs thoroughly fire proof. in addition to the large shops at omaha where much of the building of equipment was done, repair shops were built at cheyenne and laramie. stations were established at an average of fourteen miles apart. the station buildings were built of wood and of two classes, three-fourths of them twenty-five by forty feet, the remaining one-fourth thirty-six by sixty feet. at each station water tanks were erected, surmounted by wind mills. sidings three thousand feet long were located at each station and in some cases at points intermediate fifteen hundred feet long. in all there was about six per cent of the main line distance in side tracks. to accommodate not only the public, but their own employees, the company put up good sized hotels at north platte, cheyenne, laramie and rawlins. eating houses were established at grand island, north platte, sidney, cheyenne, laramie, rawlins, bryan (near granger long ago passed out of existence) wasatch (afterwards removed to evanston) and ogden. during construction days the charge for a meal was a dollar and a quarter, but with the opening of the road this was reduced to one dollar and afterwards to the present price seventy-five cents. chapter vi. _indian troubles during construction._ history of - - - - and --government posts established--major north and his pawnees--ex-soldiers ogallala--plum creek--sidney--battle at julesburg. the country through which the union pacific railroad was built was the hunting grounds of the pawnee, sioux, arapahoes, crows, blackfeet, bannock, snake and shoshones, the first three on the plains and the others to the west. these were among the most warlike tribes of the west, and during the construction of the road they were the occasion of serious trouble, not to speak of the annoyance and delay as well as the extra expense occasioned. the following summarizes the conditions existing on the plains during the time the road was under construction. during the summer of , the whole line of the overland stage from st. joseph, mo., to salt lake city, was subject to indian depredations, so much so, that ben holliday, its proprietor, asked the government for five soldiers at each of the stage stations, and two to accompany each coach. without these, he stated, he would discontinue the line. the year was known as "the bloody year on the plains," and its history is one constant account of attacks, skirmishes, depredations and murders by the indians. notwithstanding the peace conference at laramie in may, the year , was not much better and the relations between the whites and the indians were kept at a fighting point, culminating in the massacre by the indians at fort phil kearney of eighty-one regular soldiers. the year opened with troubles all along the line. the government inspectors reported "indian depredations have caused serious embarrassment to the locating, construction and operation of the line. constant and persistent attacks have occasioned great delay and expense." the government aroused to the dangers of temporizing, pushed a large number of troops into the field, restored old and built many new posts. this, together with the ease of communication resulting from the rapidly extending railroad, had a deterrent effect on the indians. was a repetition of the preceding year. a peace conference at fort laramie called for april was not attended by the indians until november. numerous attacks were made by them on the whites and the country kept in a turmoil. during the fall there was desperate fighting and the army assisted by citizens soldiers punished the indians as they had never been punished before, resulting in a much better condition of affairs during and thereafter. nearly all the indian troubles occurred on the plains and east of cheyenne. west thereof, either owing to better organization on the part of the railroad and military, or else to the intimidation of the tribes, there was but little annoyance from this source. the surveying parties were as a rule accompanied by a small detachment of regulars and to this fact may be attributed their comparative small loss of life. while they lost but few of their number, still they were compelled to work at great disadvantage and frequently brought to a full stop by the presence of war parties in numbers too great to be ignored. they, the surveying and engineering parties, were not so strong numerically as the grading outfits and did not have their resources. the different parties not only were frequently driven in but a number of them were obliged to fight for their lives. the station hilldale, wyo., perpetuates the name of one engineer, mr. hill, who was killed near this place by the indians while locating the road. another victim of the indians was colonel percy in charge of an engineering party on the preliminary survey. he was surprised by a party of them twenty-four miles west of medicine bow, wyo.--retreating to a cabin he stood them off for three days, at the end of which time they managed to set fire to the building and when the roof fell in he was compelled to get out, whereupon he was attacked and killed. this took place near hanna station, wyo., which was originally called percy in memory of the colonel. realizing the necessity of military to protect the construction forces, the government established numerous forts or posts along the line, viz: fort mcpherson, neb. (originally called cantonment mckeon, then cottonwood springs cantonment). established february, . fort sedgwick, colo., about four miles from the town of julesburg, colo. fort mitchell, near scotts bluffs, neb., a temporary proposition occupied only during the construction period. fort morgan, wyo., not far from sidney, wyo., established may, , abandoned may, . fort d. a. russell, near cheyenne, wyo., established july, , still occupied as an army post. fort sanders, wyo., near laramie, established june, . fort fred steele, fifteen miles east of rawlins, established june, . fort halleck, twenty-two miles west of medicine bow, abandoned . general sherman had prophesied that the influx of graders, teamsters, with their following would bring enough whiskey into the country to kill off all the indians, and that the only good indians were the dead ones. one of the most valuable forces during the building of the road was a battalion of four companies of pawnee indians mustered into the united states' service under the command of major frank j. north, january th, , this action being taken at the instance of general custer. they proved most effective, notwithstanding their somewhat ludicrous appearance. they were furnished the regular soldiers' uniform which they were permitted to modify to suit their individual ideas and taste. as a rule their head dress was the customary indian one of feathers. their arms were the regulation carbine and revolver of the cavalry to which they added on their own accord, hatchet, knife, spear, etc., and when fighting was to be done they would strip down to the buff or rather the copper skin. the construction forces at this time were being annoyed by the cheyennes and sioux, both of whom were the bitter foes of the pawnees. fort kearney was the headquarters of major north and his pawnees and their duty was to protect the construction forces while at work. as illustrating conditions existing, the following is of interest: a large body of indians appeared on the scene near julesburg, major north and forty of his pawnees started from fort kearney to the scene of the anticipated trouble. on the way he found the bodies of fourteen white men who had been killed by the indians and their bodies mutilated beyond recognition, their scalps torn off, tongues cut out, legs and arms hacked off and their bodies full of arrows. on arriving at julesburg, he found the place besieged. falling on the sioux, he put the whole band to fight, killing twenty-eight in the transaction. this party of indians had but a few days before surprised a party of fourteen soldiers, killing them all. soon after this trouble broke out with the cheyennes. major north and a party of twenty of his pawnees started to look into the matter, and while out, struck a band of twelve cheyennes. taking after them, the major was the only one who could get near them on account of his men's horses being tired out, but being better mounted, he was able to get within gun shot and killed one of the cheyennes. seeing his pawnees were some distance in the rear, the whole party turned on major north. he shot his horse, and using its body for a breastwork, fought the whole party, killing or wounding nine of them and held them at bay until his men were able to come up. this fight was considered one of the most daring on the plains and added greatly to the fame of the major and his pawnees. after the completion of the road, major north retired, and in company with w. f. cody (buffalo bill) went into the cattle business near north platte. as has been stated, many of the officers and men engaged on the work were ex-soldiers accustomed to the use of arms. the construction trains and in fact all of the workers were liberally supplied with arms, principally rifles, and it was the boast that ten minutes any time was long enough to transform a gang of graders or track layers into a battalion of infantry. every man on the work was armed, and it was the custom for the graders to carry their guns to and from their work, keeping them stacked within easy distance while at actual work. "the front" was seldom bothered. as a rule there were too many at hand to make an attack attractive. it was the little detached parties or single individuals that were most often molested. after the rails were down, the trains passing to and from the front and the employees at the isolated stations and most especially the section gangs were in constant danger. among the first serious experiences was that of a construction train near ogallala, neb. a party of sioux decided to capture it and compel it to stop; they massed their ponies on the track, with the result that there were some twenty or more dead horses, without damage of any consequence to the train. the trainmen used their guns and pistols to good advantage, resulting in a number of the indians being killed. later on, one of the sioux of the party, on being interviewed, said, "smoke wagon, big chief, ugh, no good." at another time, the indians succeeded in capturing a freight train near plum creek and held it and its crew in their possession. general dodge, the chief engineer, with a number of men, train crew, discharged men, etc., was running special, returning from the front to omaha when the news reached them, and to quote the general's own words: "they (the men on his special train) were all strangers to me. the excitement of the capture and the reports coming by telegraph brought all of them to the platform and when i called on them to fall in and go forward and retake the captured train, every man on the special went into line and by his position showed he had been a soldier. we ran down slowly until we came in sight of the train. i gave the order to deploy as skirmishers, and at the command they went forward as steadily and in as good order as we had seen the old soldiers climb the face of the kennesaw under fire." the train was quickly recaptured. another incident occurred in the same locality, four miles west of plum creek, in july, . a band of southern cheyennes, under chief turkey leg, took up the rails and ties over a dry ravine. it so happened that the train was preceded by a hand car with three section men--encountering the break, the car and men fell into the ravine and one of their men was captured and scalped. in his agony, he grabbed his scalp and got away in the darkness as had his two more fortunate companions. the engineer discovered the break by the light of his headlight, but not in time to stop his train, and the engine and two car loads of brick, immediately following it, toppled into the ravine with the balance of the train, box cars loaded with miscellaneous freight, piled up and round about. the engineer and fireman were caught and killed in the wreck. the conductor, discovering the presence of the savages, ran back and flagged the second section following, which was backed up to plum creek station. in the morning the inhabitants of plum creek, together with the train crews, sallied out to give battle with the indians, but found they had departed. from the cars, they had thrown out boxes and bales, taking from them whatever had struck their fancy. bolts of bright colored flannels and calicoes had been fastened to their ponies, which streamed in the wind, or dragged over the prairies. major north and his pawnees were at the front scattered in small detachments between sidney and laramie; within twenty-four hours they arrived on the scene in a special train. following the trail, in about ten days they fell upon the cheyennes, one hundred and fifty in number, and killed fifteen, taking two prisoners, one of them the nephew of turkey leg, their chief. another occurrence took place in april, , near elm creek station, a band of sioux attacked, killed and scalped a section gang of five, and on the same day attacked the station of sidney, coming out on the bluff above it and firing down on the town. at the time of the attack, two conductors were fishing in lodge pole creek, a little way below the station; they were discovered by the indians, who charged on them and shot one who fell forward as if killed. the other happened to have a pistol on his person with which he kept them at a distance until he reached the station, where he arrived with four arrows sticking in him and some four or five other bullet and arrow wounds, none of which proved serious. his companion also recovered. another serious attack was made on a train near ogallala station in september, . the ends of two opposite rails were raised so as to penetrate the cylinders, the engine going over into the ditch and the cars piling up on top of it. the fireman was caught in the wreck and burned to death, the engineer and forward brakeman, riding on the engine, escaped unhurt. the train crew and passengers being armed, defended the train, keeping the indians off until a wrecking train and crew arrived. word being sent to major north, who was at willow island, with one company of his pawnees, he came to the scene, followed the indians and overtaking them, two were killed, the balance escaping. the following month the same party attacked a section gang near potter station, driving them in and running off a bunch of twenty horses and mules. about fifteen of major north's pawnees started in pursuit, overtook and killed two and recovered the greater part of the stolen stock. the great battle of construction days occurred near julesburg in july, . the regulars, under general carr, and the pawnees (one hundred and fifty); under major north, had put in two months scouting for several bands of cheyennes and sioux that had been raiding through the republican and solomon valleys, attacking settlements, burning houses, killing and scalping men, women and children and raising cain generally. they ran them to earth near summit springs where they were encamped. on july th, they surprised and attacked the indians who were under the leadership of tall bull, a noted cheyenne chief. one hundred and sixty warriors were slain, among them tall bull. he was seen as the attack was made, mounted upon his horse with his squaw and child behind him trying to escape. being headed off, he rode into a draw or pocket in the side of a ravine where some fifteen other warriors had taken refuge. he had been riding on a very fine horse, this he took to the mouth of the draw and shot. he then sent his squaw and child out to give themselves up; this they did, the squaw approaching major north with hands raised in token of submission. she then advised the major there were still seven warriors alive in the draw, entreating that their lives be spared. as the indians were shooting at every man they caught sight of, it was impossible to save them and they were finally shot down. among the prisoners taken was a white woman who had been captured by the indians on one of their raids. she had been appropriated by tall bull as his squaw, and when the village had been attacked, he had shot her and left her in his tepee supposedly dead. soon after the fight commenced, she was found by one of the officers who, entering in the lodge, saw her in a sitting position with blood running down her waist. she was a german, unable to speak english, and up to this time had supposed the fight was between indians. on realizing that white men were in the vicinity and thinking when he started to leave her, that she was about to be deserted, she clasped him around his legs and in the most pitiful manner, begged him by signs and with tears not to leave her to the savages. after the fight she was taken to fort sedgwick where she recovered, and in a few months afterwards married a soldier whose time had expired. during the fight the troops captured nearly six hundred head of horses and mules, together with an immense amount of miscellaneous plunder, including nineteen hundred dollars in twenty dollar gold pieces that had been taken from the german woman's father at the time he had been killed and she captured. of this sum, nine hundred dollars was turned over to the woman; six hundred dollars by the pawnees, and the balance by the regulars. had the latter been as generous as the scouts when the appeal for its restoration was made, every dollar would have been returned. the above incidents are but a few out of thousands that occurred during the stormy construction days. they illustrate the trials and dangers encountered by the hardy pioneers. it was not only at "the front" that trouble was incurred, but after the building had proceeded, the section men, station employees and train crews were in constant danger. at the stations, it was a rule to build sod forts connected by underground passage with the living quarters to which retreat could be had in case of indian attacks. for some time small squads of soldiers were stationed at every station and section house along the line, being quartered in sod barracks. with the completion of the road and the establishment of regular train service, immigration soon poured in to such an extent as to make the settlers numerous enough to protect themselves, and it was not long until "lo," like the buffalo, was only a memory. chapter vii. _the builders._ their material and methods--oakes ames (financier)--george francis train (promoter)--john a. dix (first president)--thomas c. durant (vice president and president)--granville m. dodge (chief engineer)--subordinate officials--casement brothers, track-layers, mormons--materials used--their source--methods. at sherman station, the highest point on the union pacific railroad, stands a monument some sixty feet square and about the same height, bearing the simple legend, "in memory of oakes ames and oliver ames." this was erected in compliance with a resolution passed at the meeting of the company's stockholders held in boston, march th, , which read as follows, "resolved that in memory of oakes ames and in recognition of his services in the construction of the union pacific railroad to which he devoted his means and his best energies with a courage, fidelity, and integrity unsurpassed in the history of railroad construction, the directors (of this company) are requested to take measure in co-operation with such friends as may desire to contribute, for the erection at some point in the line of the road, of a suitable and permanent monument." (by the recent shortening of the line this monument has been left some three miles away from the present track. its removal to cheyenne depot grounds or some other equally prominent position is under consideration.) oliver ames was born at north easton, mass., january th, ; he passed his youth and early manhood assisting his father in the work of a farmer and later of manufacturing shovels, attending during the winter a country school. serving first as apprentice, then foreman, he was in due time taken into partnership with his father to whose business he succeeded. from twenty thousand dozen shovels turned out in , their output increased to one hundred and twenty-five thousand dozens in . a tireless worker dispensing with clerk or bookkeeper, his accounts were kept in his head. over six feet in height, weighing over two hundred pounds, broad shouldered and massive in built. elected to congress in where he was kept until . becoming associated with the union pacific in , at the time when the enterprise was languishing for lack of funds and it seemed almost hopeless. his attention was first directed in that channel by his duties as a member of the house committee of railroads in . he was then a man of considerable means, recognized as an authority on business matters, and he enjoyed the confidence of president lincoln and other prominent men of that day to a marked degree. in fact, it was at the urgent solicitation of the president that he undertook the almost hopeless task of financiering the construction of the road. entering into the undertaking with all of his energy and means, using his influence and persuasive powers with his fellow capitalists, he was able to raise by various means, the necessary funds for the construction of the line. among others who took stock in the company and credit mobilier were a number of public men, including vice-president colfax, speaker james g. blaine, james a. garfield, afterwards president, and others of that ilk. the cry of corruption and bribery was raised in the campaign of , resulting in investigation by congressional committees and a trial by the house, which rendered a very remarkable verdict, censuring mr. ames for having induced members of congress to invest in the stock of a corporation in which he was interested and whose interests depended on legislation of congress--but with the further finding on the part of the house committee that no one had been wronged--that the congressmen in question had paid him what the stock cost him and no more--that he had neither offered nor suggested a bribe--that their object in taking the stock originally was a profitable investment, and at the time no further action at the hands of congress was desired. leaving congress at the end of ten years' service, in ; he died from the effects of pneumonia during may, , universally respected and esteemed, and the one man above all others who by financiering the proposition, was entitled to a monument at the hands of the stockholders of the union pacific railroad. the following remarks made by him in regard to the road, at a time of apparently hopeless financial stringency, indicate quite clearly the character of the man and his views of the work: "go ahead; the work shall not stop if it takes the shovel shop. what makes me hold on is the faith of you soldiers," referring to the opinions held by the ex-soldiers employed on the construction. or again, when it became evident that either the ames' or the railroad company would have to go to the wall, "save the credit of the road--i will fail." george francis train may well be considered as the promoter of the union pacific railroad. in season and out. before congressional committees, public meetings, or to the unfortunate individual whom he succeeded in buttonholing "the union pacific railroad," was the subject of endless oratory. in no small degree was he responsible for the opinion, "the road should and must be built," that became prevalent in - , and which resulted in the action of congress looking to the construction of the line. he was prominent in its affairs and largely instrumental in the formation of the credit mobilier. as to the man himself, he was a genius, if, as a celebrated writer has said, "genius is a form of insanity." a contemporaneous writer (george d. prentice) thus describes him: "a locomotive that has run off the track, turned upside down and its wheels making a thousand revolutions a minute. a kite in the air without a tail. a ship without a rudder. a clock without hands. a sermon that is all text; the incarnation of gab. handsome, vivacious, versatile, muscular, neat, clean to the marrow. a judge of the effect of clothes, frugal in food and regular only in habits. with brains enough in his head for twenty men all pulling different ways. a man not bad--a practical joke in earnest." among his many undertakings were the freeing of ireland, candidacy for the presidency, woman's suffrage, circumnavigation of the world. as illustrative of his character the following incident is apropos: while publishing a newspaper in england he was assessed a small fine, failing to pay which he was put in jail, where he preached to the prisoners on the rights of man and attacked the monarchy. the day following the authorities freed him on the ground that he was demoralizing the prisoners. time has dealt lightly with him, and no one can read of his latter days--his brilliancy all eclipsed--a recluse except for his love and companionship for children--unmoved. in his day he was a power and in no small degree did he contribute to the living monument of great men--the union pacific railroad. the first president of the company, major general john a. dix, was selected for the universal respect in which he was held. secretary of the treasury in , resigning to go as general in the union army, he was the one man who it was felt would command confidence in the early days of the proposition, when the promoters had not as yet an opportunity to gain the respect of the financial world or of congress. it was understood that he would not be able to devote his entire time or attention to the proposition, being in the army at the time of his election. still in no small degree did he contribute to its success. appointed minister to france in , his absence from the united states made necessary his retirement. on his return in , he was elected governor of new york; and died greatly honored on april st, . the man who built the road was thomas c. durant. during the whole of its construction he was the man in control. he was vice president and general manager, with headquarters at omaha; from the day ground was broken until the line was finished. he had been connected with several of the iowa lines previous to the commencement of work on the union pacific railroad, mostly as contractor. as an organizer and director he was unsurpassed. in all the accounts of matters affecting the union pacific railroad--hearings before congress, opening ceremonies, excursions given, appointment of officials and completion ceremonies, his name appears. he made enemies as do all strong men, and he also disagreed with his associates as to the best methods to pursue--still, he built the road, and after the man who persuaded the public it was necessary and the one who found the funds, he it is who is entitled to credit. mr durant severed his official connections with the road may , , shortly after its completion, remaining, however, its largest stockholder. the surveying and actual work of construction of the union pacific was done under the direction of general granville m. dodge. from to general dodge was engaged in preliminary surveys for the pacific railroad, under governmental auspices. entering the union army he reached the grade of major general and at the close of the war entered the service of the union pacific railroad company as general superintendent and chief engineer. to his ability and knowledge was due the location of the line and the rapidity with which the work was done. the general is still living--is in active service--having, during the last thirty years been connected with construction of many of the important railroads of the west, among them the texas and pacific railway, missouri, kansas and texas, international and great northern and fort worth and denver city. he had been president of the missouri, kansas & texas railway; st. louis, des moines and northern railway, fort worth and denver city railway, etc. peter a. dey was the first engineer of the line, but left in . he was not able to accept the methods of enormous expenditures the company and the credit mobilier were adopting and retired on the ground that the hoxie contract was made against his recommendation. colonel silas seymour was consulting engineer of the line during - and , leaving it to enter the service of the kansas pacific railway. h. m. hoxie was first in charge of council-bluffs-omaha ferry, then of the steamboats carrying construction material on the missouri river, later assistant general superintendent, earning for himself the title of "the ubiquitous." he died in , while holding the position of vice president and general manager of the missouri pacific railway. s. b. reed, superintendent of construction, was the man who had the handling of the forces at the front. he it was who ran the construction trains--fought the indians and the toughs and bore the heat and burden of the day. he also made the surveys and located the line between salt lake valley and green river. p. t. brown, assistant engineer, was in charge of the advance survey under the direction of general dodge and also located the line from the "foot of the black hills" to julesburg. james a. evans was division engineer and in that capacity made many of the profiles, plats and estimates and final surveys. also made the final surveys and location between green river and the foot of the black hills. d. b. warren was superintendent utah division; colonel hopper, superintendent laramie division; l. h. eicholtz, engineer of bridges and buildings, and general ledlie, bridge builder. among others to whom credit is due is brigham young, the then head (president) of the mormon church, and other prominent mormons. the contract for grading from the head of echo canon to ogden, known as "the hundred mile job," costing two and a half million dollars, was taken by president young personally, and by him sublet in part to bishop john sharp and joseph a. young, the president's eldest son. they employed between five and six hundred men and the amount of their contract was about one million dollars. other subcontractors were apostle john taylor, george thatcher, brigham young, jr., etc. president young is said to have cleared about eight hundred thousand dollars out of this contract. east of his section the grading was done by joseph f. nounnan & company, gentile bankers of salt lake city, who sublet it to the mormons. west of president young's section the grading was done by sharp & young, the same parties mentioned above as subcontractors under president young. it was conceded that the mormons carried out their contracts not only to the letter, but in the spirit. doing some of the best work on the line. the track laying proper was done by general j. s. (jack) casement and his brother, d. t. (dan), with captain clayton as their superintendent. they had in their employ as high as two thousand men at one time and worked under a contract that gave them a substantial bonus for all track laid in excess of two miles a day, as well as made them allowance for idle time occasioned by their being unable to work on account of the grade not being ready for them. thus they were to receive eight hundred dollars per mile of track laid if two miles or less was laid in a day. if they laid over two miles in one day they were to receive twelve hundred dollars per mile, and for time they were idle waiting for the grade they were to receive three thousand dollars per day. many other names should be mentioned here and would did space permit, but will have to be omitted. the men who built the union pacific railroad are entitled to great credit and praise. they made money, much money out of the project, but they were entitled to it. their success brought in its train the usual consequences, they have been accused of almost every crime in the calendar, assailed by the press, investigated by congress, and sued by their less fortunate associates. their achievement speaks for them louder than words and they can leave their reputations to history for vindication. the line was originally laid with fifty pound iron from the mills of pennsylvania for four hundred and forty miles and with fifty-six pound iron west of there. as has been mentioned before, the first section was laid with cottonwood ties of local growth, treated by the burnettizing process, which was erroneously supposed would prevent decay. west of there hard wood ties from the east were used, some of them coming from far away pennsylvania, and costing the company two dollars and fifty cents laid down in omaha. for the mountain section, ties of local growth were largely and satisfactorily used. the basis was twenty-four hundred ties to the mile on the plains, twenty-six hundred and forty through the mountains, and twenty-five hundred west of laramie. the lumber for bridges and building came from minnesota and wisconsin, excepting in the far west, where native lumber was used. the grading was done to a very large extent by manual labor. it was before the day of the steam shovel or air drill. pick and shovel and wheelbarrow reinforced by teams and scrapers were the means used, excepting where rock was encountered and then hand drills and black powder and occasionally nitro-glycerine were relied upon to quarry the rock which was very much in demand for masonry work. the graders worked as much as two hundred miles ahead of the track. they were housed in tents, and all supplies for their sustenance and material used by them were necessarily hauled from the several terminal points. this resulted in the employment of a good sized army of teamsters and freighters. in the buffalo they had a food that, while cheap, was of the first order, and the number thus utilized was away up in the thousands. no pretense was made to ballast the track, as the construction work was done. the ties were laid on the grade with just enough dirt on them to keep them in place. speedy construction was considered of the first importance and then the ballasting could be done much cheaper after the track was down. to a very great extent temporary trestles of timber were used, to be replaced later by more permanent culverts of stone. in some places where the piles were thus replaced by masonry, it was necessary to tear out the stone and put in piles again. the heavy freshets proved more than the culverts could carry off, and besides the stone work would wash out much quicker than did piles. the bridges were mostly howe wooden truss uncovered, with stone or wooden abuttments. where the span was short, wooden trestles on piles were used. one reason for deferring the masonry work as well as the ballasting was the inability to handle the necessary supplies. every engine and all the equipment were kept in constant use hauling construction material to the front. notwithstanding what, to the contractor of today, would seem antiquated and expensive methods, the work progressed and made headway to an extent that has never since been equalled. it was the immense army, as high as twelve thousand men at times, that enabled this to be the case. one-fifth the number of men with modern methods and labor-saving devices would have been equally efficious. the expense of hauling water and supplies for the army of men was enormous. the statement has been made that this cost more than it did to do the actual grading. the great bugaboo of the day was the question of operating the line during the winter season, it being the general impression that the snow fall was so great through the rocky mountain region as to render it impossible to keep the line open. to ascertain the facts in regard to this as well as to obtain data as to the best method of overcoming the same, engineers were stationed at points where it was anticipated there would be trouble. for three winters they were kept in tents and dug outs to obtain information on this point, and on the spring and winter freshets which it was anticipated would be a source of great annoyance. chapter viii. _completion of the line._ connection made between union and central pacific railroads may th, --ceremonies at promontory may th, --celebrations in new york, philadelphia, chicago, omaha, salt lake city and san francisco. by the terms of the supplementary charter of , a great incentive was given the two companies, the union pacific railroad and the central pacific railroad to get down as great a mileage as possible. in addition to the government grant of land and bonds based on mileage, there was the traffic of the mormon country and salt lake city at stake. besides this, it was readily seen that the line having the greatest haul would be correspondingly benefitted when it came to subdividing earnings on trans-continental business. with these for incentive, both companies put forth every effort to cover the ground. in the early part of , rails of each company were going down from six to ten miles a day. records in track-laying were made then that have never been broken. near promontory a sign is still standing to announce "ten miles of track laid in one day." actual figures are not obtainable, but reliable contemporaries at that time stated there were twenty-five thousand men employed on the construction work of the two lines, as well as six thousand teams and two hundred construction trains. both companies were anxious to establish point of advantage that they could use in the controversy that was inevitable and which would determine the mileage and territory each was to enjoy. on april th, nine and a half miles remained unfinished. three and a half for the central pacific railroad, they having laid ten miles the day before, and six miles for the union pacific railroad, the latter being the ascent of promontory hill and including a stiff bit of rock work. when the two tracks came together, the central pacific railroad had nearly sixty miles of grading done parallel to the union pacific railroad track--that is from promontory east to the mouth of weber canon, while the union pacific railroad had located their line to the california state line and most of the grading was done as far west as humboldt wells, nev., four hundred and fifty miles from ogden. as stated the two tracks were brought together at promontory on may th, , but two rail lengths were kept open until the questions at issue were adjusted and also until a suitable program could be arranged for celebrating the event. everything satisfactorily arranged, monday, the th of may, , was set for the ceremonies. the central pacific railroad completed their track up to promontory may st. it was the intention to have the opening ceremonies on saturday, may th, and the central pacific officials were on hand for that purpose. the union pacific party coming west were delayed some forty-eight hours at piedmont by a gang of graders and track-layers, who not having received their wages side tracked the special train with vice-president durant and his party, holding them as hostages until the company had paid over to the contractor some two hundred and fifty thousand dollars due him and which he in turn distributed among his men. as early as : a.m. on the th, the spectators, mostly workmen of the respective companies, or other citizens of the railway camps commenced to arrive. at : a special over the central pacific railroad came in with a large number of passengers. at : the union pacific railroad contingent arrived in two trains and at : the central pacific railroad's second train, carrying president stanford and other officers of that company, and their guests completing the party. in all there were about eleven hundred persons present, including a detachment of the st united states infantry, and its band from fort douglass, utah. the chinese laborers of the central pacific railroad soon leveled the gap preparatory to putting down the ties and all but one rail length was finished. then engines number of the union pacific railroad and no. the "jupiter" of the central pacific railroad were brought up to either side of the gap. these engines were gaily decorated with flags and evergreens in honor of the occasion. a suitable prayer was offered by rev. dr. todd, of pittsfield, mass. the remaining ties were then laid, the last one being of california laurel finely polished and ornamented with a silver plate bearing the inscription "the last tie laid on the pacific railroad, may th, ", with the names of the directors of the central pacific railroad and that of the donor. this tie was put in position by superintendents reed of the union pacific railroad and strawbridge of the central pacific railroad, and was taken up after the ceremonies and has since that time been on exhibition in the superintendent's office of the southern pacific company at sacramento, (cal.) depot. for the closing act, california presented a spike of gold; nevada one of silver; arizona one of combined iron, gold and silver; and the pacific union express company, a silver maul. at twelve noon at a given signal, governor stanford on the south side of the rail and vice-president durant on the north, struck the spikes driving them home. the two engines were then moved up until they touched and a bottle of wine poured over the last rail as a libation. the trains of the respective roads were then run over the connecting link and back to their own lines. speeches and a banquet closed the occasion. in the crocker art gallery in sacramento hangs a large oil painting of the meeting of the two engines. the artist having inserted actual portraits of many of the more prominent officials of the two lines who participated in the ceremonies. by previous arrangement, the strokes on the final spikes were to be signaled over all the wires of the several telegraph companies through the united states, business being suspended for this purpose. first the message was sent over the wires "almost ready. hats off; prayer is being offered." then "we have got done praying; the spike is about to be presented." seven minutes later "all ready now; the spike will soon be driven." the signal will be three dots for the commencement of the blows. connection being made between the hammers and the wires, the blows on the spikes were flashed over practically the whole telegraph system of the united states. at : p.m. washington time, m. promontory local time, came the signal "done" and the bells of washington, new york, chicago, san francisco, and hundreds of other cities and towns announced that the american continent had been spanned, that through rail communication was established, never to be broken, that the union pacific railroad was completed. the formal announcement to president grant and through the press associations to every inhabitant of the civilized world, was couched in the following language: promontory summit, utah, may th, . "the last rail is laid, the last spike driven. the pacific railroad is completed. the point of junction is ten hundred and eighty-six miles west of the missouri river and six hundred and ninety miles east of sacramento city." leland stanford, central pacific railroad. t. c. durant, sidney dillon, john duff, union pacific railroad. no sooner were the ceremonies complete than there was a rush made to obtain souvenirs. in ignorance of the fact that the "last tie" had been taken up and an ordinary one substituted, the relic hunters carried off the substitute piecemeal. in fact some half dozen "last ties" were so taken in the first six months after the roads were completed. an odd coincidence occurred at the closing ceremonies. the rail on the east was brought forward by the union pacific laborers--europeans, that on the west by chinese, both gangs having americans as bosses. consequently here were europe, asia, and america joining in the work, the americans dominating. next morning the union pacific railroad brought in from the east half a dozen passenger coaches for the central pacific railroad, these being attached to the special train of governor stanford when he was returning to california, constituting the first through equipment. all over the land the different cities vied with one another in celebrating the event--which it was truly felt marked the beginning of a new epoch in the history of the united states. new york city celebrated with the "te deum" being sung in "trinity," the chimes ringing out "old hundred" (praise god from whom all blessings flow), and a salute of a hundred guns fired by order of the mayor. philadelphia rang "liberty bell" and all fire alarm bells. chicago had a parade four miles long, the city being lavishly decorated, and vice-president colfax speaking in the evening. omaha had the biggest day in its history: a hundred guns when the news came. a procession embracing every able-bodied man in the town, in the afternoon. speeches, pyrotechnics, and illuminations in the evening. at salt lake the mormons and gentiles held a love feast in the tabernacle and decided to build a few railroads for themselves. san francisco could not wait until the th. they started the evening of the th, when it was announced at the theaters the two roads had met, and it took two good solid days of celebrating to satisfy the people of that town. it was rightly felt that the completion of the line was an event in the history of our country. it marked the progress of the west, united the pacific coast population with that of the east. it was the commencement of the end of the indian troubles--assured the settlement of the west, and the development of its mines and other resources. there has been but three general celebrations held in this country over works of public improvement viz: the erie canal, atlantic cable, and the pacific railroad. of the three the latter was by far the more general. the poem by bret harte on this event is reproduced below: what the engines said. what was it the engines said, pilots touching head to head. facing on the single track, half a world behind each back. this is what the engines said, unreported and unread. with a prefatory screech, in a florid western speech, said the engine from the west, "i am from sierra's crest, and if altitudes' a test, why i reckon its confessed, that i've done my level best." "said the engine from the east, they who work best, talk the least, suppose you whistle down your brakes, what you're done is no great shakes. pretty fair, but let our meeting, be a different kind of greeting, let these folks with champagne stuffing, not the engines do the puffing. "listen where atlanta beats, shores of-snow and summer heats. where the indian autumn skies paint the woods with wampum dyes. i have chased the flying sun, seeing all that he looked upon, blessing all that he blest. nursing in my iron-breast; all his vivifying heat. all his clouds about my crest and before my flying feet every shadow must retreat." said the western engine, "phew!" and a long whistle blew, "come now, really that's the oddest talk for one so modest. you brag of your east, you do, why, i bring the east to you. all the orient, all cathay find me through the shortest way and the sun you follow here rises in my hemisphere. really if one must be rude, length, my friend, ain't longitude." said the union, "don't reflect, or i'll run over some director," said the central, "i'm pacific but when riled, i'm quite terrific, yet today we shall not quarrel just to show these folks this moral how two engines in their vision once have met without collision." that is what the engines said; unreported and unread, spoken slightly through the nose with a whistle at the close.' the first through train reached omaha may th, arriving in two sections and bringing about five hundred passengers. although through trains were on regular schedule commencing with may th, it was not until november th, , that the road was actually completed (according to judicial decision.) congress to make sure of the fact, authorized the president by resolution passed april th, , to appoint a board of five "eminent" citizens to examine and report on the condition of the road and what would be required to bring it up to first class condition. this board duly reported in october, , that the line was all right, but that a million and a half could be spent to advantage in ballasting, terminal facilities, depots, equipment, etc. on the strength of which the wise-acres decided the road could not be considered complete and withheld a million dollars worth of bonds due under the charter act. it was october st, , before the fact that the line was actually completed sifted through departmental red tape, and the secretary of interior on the further report of "three eminent citizens" discovered that the road had been completed november th, as reported by the previous board of five, and further that the total cost of the line had been one hundred and fifteen million, two hundred and fourteen thousand, five hundred and eighty-seven dollars and seventy-nine cents, as shown by the books of the company. for a while business was interchanged at promontory, but it was but a short time until the two companies got together and an agreement was reached by which ogden should be the terminus, and that the central pacific railroad company should purchase at cost price two million, six hundred and ninety-eight thousand, six hundred and twenty dollars the line from a point five miles west of ogden to the connection at promontory. this five miles was subsequently sold to the central pacific railroad. this arrangement was as the west puts it "clinched" by a resolution of congress, making ogden the terminus. chapter ix. _the kansas division (kansas pacific railway.)_ conflicting interest on location--leavenworth, pawnee and western chartered by kansas--plans to connect with the union pacific at the hundredth meridian--supplementary charter --san diego or denver--construction work--indian troubles--receiverships--consolidation with the union pacific. at the time congress passed the pacific railroad bill in there were three conflicting interests contending as to the location. first that in favor of the northern (now the northern pacific) route, second the central, and third that in favor of the missouri-kansas location. the northern interest had not developed to a sufficient extent to cut much figure, only having the support of minnesota, wisconsin and michigan. the central route was backed by chicago and the railroad interests centering there. the missouri-kansas route had the support of st. louis and the territory tributary thereto. the last two were sufficiently persistent to have both of them recognized. accordingly the charter called for the one line commencing at the hundredth meridian and running west with branches of feeders reaching that point, one from omaha (iowa branch, union pacific railroad), one from sioux city (to be known as the sioux city branch, union pacific railroad), one from st. joseph or atchison (to be built by the hannibal and st. joseph railroad, later known as the central branch, union pacific railway, eastern division and then the kansas pacific railway); this latter in connection with the pacific railroad of missouri from st. louis to kansas city to be the st. louis line. the pacific railroad bill of read, "the leavenworth, pawnee, and western railroad company of kansas are hereby authorized to construct a railroad from the missouri river at the mouth at the kansas river where it should connect with the pacific railroad of missouri (now the missouri pacific railroad) to the hundredth meridian of longitude upon the same terms and conditions as applied to the construction of the pacific railroad which it was to meet and connect with at the meridian point named." through kansas it was to be located so as to make connections with the several railroads through iowa and missouri, provided it could be done without deviating from the general direction of the whole line to the pacific coast. it further specified that two hundred miles should be built within the first two years and one hundred miles a year thereafter, and after finishing their own line they could unite on equal terms with the union pacific railroad company in the construction of the latter's line west of the hundredth-meridian. this gave them the alternate sections of land within five miles on either side and united states bonds to the amount of sixteen thousand dollars per mile,--similar to the aid extended the union pacific railroad company by the government. the leavenworth, pawnee and western railroad company had been incorporated by the legislature of the state of kansas in , and was organized in january, , but nothing was done of any consequence under its state charter. the company was re-organized june, , and changed its name to harmonize with the act of congress to "union pacific railway, eastern division." under its state charter it was to have extended from leavenworth, kan., on the east to pawnee, kan. (fort riley) on the west, with the privilege of building on west to the kansas state line,--the state charter not permitting work outside of the kansas boundaries. ground was broken on the line at wyandotte, kan., the state line between kansas and missouri, in august, . active grading commenced at wyandotte, september st, . the contract for the construction was first let by the leavenworth, pawnee, and western railroad company to ross, steele and company, but before they got down to actual work the company had been re-organized as the union pacific railway, eastern division, and had changed hands. the work was begun by samuel hallett who had been very prominent in promoting the latter company, the contract being in the name of hallett and fremont. the fremont being the erstwhile candidate for the presidency of the united states. he is best known today as "the pathfinder," from his several exploring expeditions between the mississippi valley and the pacific ocean. fremont had been identified with the idea of a railroad to the pacific in the interest of st. louis, mo. he, however, did not continue as one of the contractors but withdrew. it was a time of bitter feeling over the slavery question. missouri was "pro slavery," kansas "free soil." hallett inaugurated his work by planting a post inscribed on the missouri side "slavery," and on the kansas side "freedom." mr. hallett was assassinated on the streets of wyandotte, july th, . an employee named talbot had surreptitiously written the secretary of the interior in regard to the work not being up to requirements, more especially that the buildings were simply makeshifts put up to evade the law, etc. through this and other complaints the government refused to accept the first section of forty miles and withheld the bonds and land grants that congress had granted. hallett on his trips to washington became aware of talbot's action, and on his return called him to task with the result that talbot shot him from a doorway as he was returning to his work from his midday lunch. after hallett's death the work passed into the hands of st. louis parties with john d. perry as director. under the supplementary pacific railroad bill of , the conditions as far as the union pacific railroad--eastern division as it was then called, were materially improved. it was authorized to connect with the union pacific railroad at any point deemed desirable, but no more bonds or land grants were to be given than if connection were made as originally contemplated at the hundredth meridian. it was also given the option of building from the mouth of the kansas river to leavenworth thence west, or of building directly west with a branch from leavenworth connecting with the main line at lawrence, but in the latter case no bonds or land grant would be given account the branch line mileage. another feature of the bill was permission to build on west to a connection with the central pacific railroad, provided when it, the union pacific railroad--eastern division reached the hundredth meridian, the union pacific railroad proper was not proceeding with the construction of its line in good faith. the company under the discretion granted them elected to abandon the junction with the union pacific railroad at the hundredth meridian and to build directly west. the company proceeded to explore the country south and west in search of a practicable route to the pacific, which being found they then went further and had the several routes thoroughly surveyed. in their investigations they had four thousand four hundred and sixty-four miles chained and leveled. the most extensive survey on record. careful surveys demonstrated that the distance to the point of connection with the union pacific railroad would have been three hundred and ninety-four miles from kansas city, and this much of the line--kansas city to pond creek, kan.--was bonded-aided and land grant, the government aid amounting to six million three hundred and two thousand dollars. the hannibal and st. joseph railroad reached st. joseph, february, , kansas city, soon afterwards. the missouri pacific railway reached kansas city, october . owing to the fact that there were these railroad connections between the east and the eastern terminal of the line the work of construction was greatly facilitated and the expense of building the line greatly reduced. the headway made was slow at first. the work was new to the officers in charge as well as to the men. the following table shows the progress made: sept. , commenced work at state line (wyandotte, kan.) nov. , reached lawrence-- miles. oct. , first miles accepted by the government. dec. , miles done. aug. , reached manhattan-- miles. oct. , reached pawnee (fort riley) miles. jan. , to mile post . april , to mile post . oct. , to mile post . fall to mile post (phil sheridan.) mar. , reached kit carson-- miles. aug. , completed into denver. the difference in altitude between kansas city and the western boundary of kansas is some twenty-seven hundred feet and is thus distributed--six hundred feet the first two hundred miles, seven hundred and sixty-nine feet in the next hundred miles, and thirteen hundred and twenty thence to the kansas line. the original intention had been to follow the republican river, but this was changed and the "smoky hill route" from junction city, kan., west adopted. when the road reached monument, three hundred and eighty-six miles from kansas city, dissensions arose among the stockholders. one faction was for building to san diego on the pacific coast via new mexico and arizona, another was for building to pueblo and up the arkansas river, while the third and successful one was for pushing straight ahead to denver and from there to a connection with the main line of the union pacific railroad,--the idea being to secure for st. louis a portion of the trans-continental business and the line the carrying thereof. the line was built under contract by the following firms: hallett and fremont--wyandotte to lawrence, kan., thirty-nine miles. ira m. schoemaker and company--lawrence to mile post one hundred and forty--a distance of one hundred miles. schoemaker and miller--mile post one hundred and forty to mile post four hundred and five--two hundred and sixty miles. west of mile post four hundred and five or "phil sheridan" as it was then called, the denver extension was built by the company itself, general w. j. palmer being in charge. during the construction of the line, the contract to feed the forces at the front was let to goddard brothers who utilized to a very great extent buffalo meat for this purpose. to procure these they employed w. f. cody at five hundred dollars per month. during this engagement cody claims to have killed four thousand two hundred and eighty buffaloes, earning for himself the appellation "buffalo bill" by which name he has ever since been known. the best heads were by special arrangement shipped to the headquarters of the company at kansas city, where they were nicely mounted and used as an advertisement of the road. the line reached ellsworth, kan., the spring of and made for some time its terminus there. in all the history of "boom towns" or "railroad towns" there were none that surpassed this place. for ninety-three consecutive days there was one or more homicide in the town or its immediate vicinity--one hundred in all. another place that sprang into prominence during the time it was the end of the track was "phil sheridan" located near the point where the road crossed the hundredth meridian, mile post four hundred and five. during its brief existence it was a rattling noisy place, full of life and vigor, rowdyism predominating. not a stake, brick, or shingle is left to mark its site. it was here the construction rested for nearly a year and a half, financial troubles,--uncertainty as to whether to build to san diego, cal., or denver, and some very fine work on the part of the union pacific proper being the occasion of the suspension of work. on june th, , work was begun on the branch line from leavenworth to lawrence (leavenworth and lawrence railroad), major b. s. hennings being in charge as superintendent. upon the completion of the branch in the spring following, the headquarters of the union pacific railway--eastern division was moved to lawrence, the operation of the line being under the direction of r. h. shoemaker, superintendent, who was succeeded in december, , by george noble. the work of construction was in charge of general w. w. wright. at the meeting of the company held april st, , mr. john d. perry of st. louis was elected president, mr. adolph meier of the same place vice-president, and among the directors was thomas a. scott, of philadelphia, (afterwards president of the pennsylvania railroad.) in the population of the state of kansas was one hundred and thirty-five thousand eight hundred and seven and in when the line was completed three hundred and sixty-four thousand three hundred and ninety-nine. this marvelous increase was due in no small degree to the construction of this line and the facilities it provided for the settlers to reach the cheap land in the interior of the state as well as the security it gave them against indian depredations. stage lines between the missouri river points and denver had been running between st. joseph, atchison, and omaha for several years, but after the line was built some distance the route was changed and connection was made between the end of the track and denver by the holliday overland mail. much trouble was caused by the indians during the construction, even more than was encountered: on the union pacific railroad. to this cause in no small degree were the delays of and attributable. it was necessary not only to arm the engineer corps, but also the graders, the government issuing arms and ammunition for that purpose. military escorts and guards were furnished by the army to the railroad men, both on the grade or ahead surveying. for the better protection of the road and construction forces army posts or forts proper were maintained as follows: fort riley mile post fort harker mile post fort hays mile post fort wallace mile post it was the cheyennes, arapahoes, sioux, and the utes who made the trouble. in march , the company was authorized by special act of congress to assume the name of the kansas pacific railway company instead of the union pacific railroad (eastern division.) a witty epigram on this change that went the rounds of the papers at the time read as follows: the union pacific's about to apply for a change in its name and no wonder; tis as warlike as jove that great god of the skies, and pacific about as his thunder. and talking of this, it is strange as it goes through perpetual snows in some quarters, this railroad should be in the midst of its foes perpetually in hot water. while those in authority had decided to push through to denver, the idea of building through to san diego was not abandoned, and in a branch line was commenced at kit carson destined to pueblo and thence south along the rampart range to new mexico and thence to the coast. this line was completed nearly due south to fort lyon and some twenty miles of grading done between fort lyon and pueblo. financial stringency together with the building of the atchison, topeka and santa fe into the same territory resulted in the abandonment of these plans and eventually the track from kit carson to lyons was taken up under the following circumstances. the owners of the central branch (union pacific), r. m. pomeroy of boston and associates, were pushing the construction of this line westwardly and announced their intention of building to denver, thus making a competitor for the kansas pacific railway. mr. jay gould who at that time ( ) was the principal owner of the latter line, while out on an inspection trip over the line instructed his general manager, "sill smith" mr. sylvester t. smith to build into their territory and parallel them. out of this grew the junction city and fort kearney railway (now a part of the union pacific railroad). smith was unable to buy sufficient rails to build and accordingly took up those on the branch of the kansas pacific railway, kit carson to lyons, i. e. the arkansas valley railroad and re-laid them on the junction city line. some of the arkansas valley railway bonds were owned in holland and a representative of the dutch happened along on an investigating tour, but was unable to find any road. the matter soon got into court and an effort was made to locate who was responsible for the tearing up of the arkansas valley railway. finally general manager smith was put on the stand and frankly acknowledged what he had done--and that he had no orders from president, directors, or any one. the question was then asked who ordered you to build the junction city and fort kearney railway and the answer was jay gould; and who is he, for at that time he was not the well-known man he afterwards became. at this point judge dillon obtained permission to interrupt the proceedings with a query as in whose behalf all this investigating was being done. the holders of the bonds was the reply--then that must be myself, for said he, i have here in my hands all of the bonds in question. mr. gould had quietly bought in the bonds while the matter was in the courts, bringing the inquiry to an end. the line cost for its six hundred and seventy-three miles, kansas city to denver, and branch, leavenworth to lawrence, thirty-six million seven hundred and forty-seven thousand three hundred dollars, or about fifty-two thousand dollars per mile. in the road was unable to meet its obligations and was placed in the hands of c. s. greeley and henry villard, receivers,--a majority of its stock passing into the hands of interests friendly to mr. jay gould about . complaint was made that villard and greeley were not the proper men to act as receivers, that they were antagonistic to the owners of the bonds--lacking practical knowledge, etc. the matter finally reached the supreme court of the united states who in remanding it back to the district court ordered their removal and the appointment of one man and he a practical railroad man as receiver in their stead. under this order, in , sylvester t. smith who had been connected with the road in various capacities, including that of general manager, was appointed receiver. in the company was re-organized and in january consolidated with the union pacific railroad under the name of the union pacific railway company, the holders of kansas pacific railway stock being given share for share in the new consolidated company. the basis of the consolidation being miles capital stock funded debt. union pacific railroad , $ , , . $ , , . kansas pacific railway , , . , , . denver pacific railroad , , . , . ----- ------------- -------------- , , , . , , . chapter x. _the denver-cheyenne line (denver pacific railroad.)_ proposition for pacific railroad to reach denver--cheyenne route selected--branch line proposed--denver pacific incorporated and built--pro-rata controversy--operated by kansas pacific--consolidation with the union pacific. in the original plan for the union pacific railroad it was the intention that the line would run through denver and from there directly west across the mountains to salt lake. when the line was finally located it passed through cheyenne, leaving denver some one hundred miles to the south, the reasons for this being the much shorter distance via cheyenne as well as the decidedly better gradients that were possible via south pass route as against the routes via denver and berthoud or evans passes. the denver route was only given up after repeated efforts had been made to find a satisfactory line that way. the city of denver had for some time past been encountering a streak of hard luck--failure of some of its most promising mines in --division of the citizens over the civil war in and --fire and flood followed by the indian war on the plains in cutting off communication with the east--then the grasshoppers plague with the diversion of the pacific railway. vice president durant had made the remark "it's too dead to bury," and this it was that spurred its citizens up. in the authorities of the union pacific railroad offered to build a branch from some point on their main line to denver, provided the citizens of that place would pay for the grading of the line and furnish right of way and grounds for terminal. the citizens of denver were sore at being left to one side on the great overland route and gave the proposition but a luke-warm reception. it is true, county commissioners of arapahoe county, in which denver is located, ordered an election in august, , to vote on the proposition of issuing two hundred thousand dollars in bonds in favor of such a branch line. the election resulted in an overwhelming majority in favor of it, eleven hundred and sixty for to one hundred and fifty-seven against. the county commissioners in their negotiations with the union pacific people coupled with the proposition certain conditions as to the route which the branch line should follow, which not being satisfactory to the railroad people, they refused to accept the bonds on the conditions required. on november th, , george francis train addressed a public meeting at denver on the subject of a connection between denver and the union pacific railroad and as a result the denver pacific railway and telegraph company was organized five days later. on the day following the organization the directors met and elected bela m. hughes president, d. h. moffat, treasurer, and f. m. case, chief engineer,--one fourth of the necessary funds being subscribed. an arrangement was made with the union pacific railroad company by the terms of which that company was to complete the road as soon as it was ready for the rails. in other words the road was to be located, graded, and tied by the denver pacific company, and ironed and equipped by the union pacific railroad company. in connection with the denver pacific proposition an application was made to congress for a land grant to assist in the construction of the road, but before this was acted upon the kansas pacific railroad company had agreed to transfer the land grant which they had been given by congress so far as it applied to their proposed line from denver north, and the application of the denver pacific railroad to congress was consequently changed to one for bonds. this was granted in to the amount of twenty-four thousand dollars per mile, or two and a half million dollars in all. the grading was commenced may th, , and the same fall was completed to cheyenne, one hundred and six miles. owing to the delay of congress in acting on the bond proposition as well as on account of the financial stringency the union pacific railroad company was then encountering, the latter was not able to carry out its contract in regard to the completion of the denver pacific railroad, and the arrangement was accordingly cancelled. an arrangement was then entered into with the kansas pacific railway by which the latter company took a certain amount of stock in the denver pacific railroad and proceeded with its construction, completing the line between cheyenne and denver on june nd, . there was great rejoicing over the event. the last spike,--one of solid silver contributed by the miners of georgetown, colo.,--was driven by governor evans of colorado. the first engine to enter denver was the first engine that the union pacific railroad owned. it had been the first to enter cheyenne, also the first into ogden. in the road passed into the control of the kansas pacific railway company by purchase who operated it until the consolidation of both lines with the union pacific railroad company in . the kansas pacific railway was completed into denver in august , and immediately embarked in the through trans-continental traffic from kansas city and points east thereof, via denver and the denver pacific railroad. this was, of course, in competition with the main line of the union pacific railroad who in accepting business at cheyenne were losing the haul from omaha to that point. the kansas pacific railway and the denver pacific railroad people were insistent and with no little degree of correctness that under the original charter the union pacific railroad was compelled to accept business from all connections,--but the terms thereof were not fixed and instead of accepting a division based on the mileage of the respective lines as insisted upon by the two lines named, the union pacific railroad officials demanded a constructive mileage that would result in their line from cheyenne to ogden receiving six tenths of their local rates between those points when the business was competition with their long haul via omaha. an agreement to work on this basis pending judicial decision was made between the two interests in september . the question would not down, it was brought before congress, courts, and arbitrators constituting a "cause célèbre" the pro-rata controversy. out of this grew the building of a rival line between denver and cheyenne wholly under the union pacific railroad's control--locally known as the colorado central railroad. this line was comprised of the colorado central railroad, denver to golden, sixteen miles. it was commenced on new year's day , being the first railroad in the state of colorado. its extension to longmont, built in , and the line longmont to cheyenne completed in . this line was some one hundred and thirty miles against one hundred and six by the denver pacific railroad, notwithstanding which it was used by the union pacific railroad as its denver connection until the adjustment of the differences between the different interests, which was brought about by an agreement made june st, , by which the kansas pacific railway and the denver pacific railway were to be operated by the union pacific company. this was followed by an absolute merger of the three roads, in january the new combination being known as the union pacific railway company. chapter xi. _history of the line since its completion._ government indebtedness--absorption other lines--receivership--train robbers--settlement with government. upon the completion of the union pacific the rates for both freight and passengers were fixed at what now seems a very high figure. thus passenger fares locally were ten cents per mile. complaints arising, the matter was taken up in congress and steps taken towards the appointment of a board of commissioners who should have authority to fix rates, both freight and passengers. the whole question of earnings and expenses of the line was an unknown quantity and as soon as experience demonstrated what was reasonable and just, the company voluntarily adjusted their schedules,--until today the rates over the line are about on a parity with those charged by eastern lines through much more thickly settled states. in the agitation looking to a bridge across the missouri river in place of the slow and often unreliable ferry culminated, and on march th of that year the structure was commenced. three years were required for the work and the first train crossed on march th, . by an agreement made with the city of omaha that city was to be made the eastern terminus regardless of the bridge. this, however, was upset by the decision of the supreme court of the united states declaring the bridge an integral part of the line and that it commenced in iowa not nebraska. in the question of repayment of the government loans made in the shape of bonds arose,--more particularly that of the interests accruing thereon,--the bonds themselves not falling due until - . it was a question whether the lines were to pay this interest in cash or through services rendered in transporting men, materials, and mails for the government. the matter soon got into the courts and their decision as rendered by justice davis of the supreme court of the united states so fully and explicitly covers the ground as to warrant the somewhat lengthy extracts given below: in his opinion, judge davis said, "this enterprise (the building of the pacific railroads) was viewed as a national undertaking for national purposes and the public mind was directed to the end rather than the particular means to be employed for the purpose. although the road was a military necessity, there were other reasons active at the time in producing an opinion as to its necessity besides the protection of our exposed frontiers. there was a vast unpeopled territory between the missouri river and sacramento which was practically worthless without the facilities afforded by a railroad for the transportation of persons and property. with its construction the agricultural and mineral resources could be developed, settlements made, and the wealth and power of the united states essentially increased. and then there was also the pressing want in times of peace even of an improved and cheaper method for the transportation of the mails and supplies for the army and the indians." the policy of the country, to say nothing of the supposed want of power, stood in the way of the united states taking the work into its own hands. even if this were not so, reasons of economy suggested it were better to enlist private capital and individual enterprise in the project. this congress undertook to do, and the inducements held out were such as it was believed would procure the requisite capital and enterprise. but the purpose in presenting these inducements was to promote the construction and operation of a work deemed essential to the security of great public interests. besides it is fair to infer that congress supposed that the services to be rendered by the road to the government would equal the interest to be paid. congress well knew that the government bound itself to pay interest every six months and the principal at the time the bond matured, resting satisfied with the entire property of the company as security for the ultimate payment of the principal and interest. this settled the interest question and the next one to arise was the question as to the payment of five per cent, of the net earnings towards the extinguishment of the government indebtedness, as provided for in the act of , viz., "and after said road is completed, until said bonds and interest are paid, at least five per centum of the net earnings shall be annually applied to the payment thereof." by act of congress, june nd, , the secretary of the treasury was directed to require this payment, failing which, to bring suit. the supreme court decided this in that the company must pay this five per cent and defined net earnings as what was left out of the gross earnings after deducting all the expense of organization, operation, or for betterments paid out of earnings. in the so called "thurman act" became law, by which a sinking fund was established looking to the extinguishing of the company's indebtedness to the government. this sinking fund was to be made up of one half the amount accruing on government transportation, the five per cent of net earnings, plus enough more of the earnings to make up in all twenty-five per cent of the total net earnings, but not to exceed eighty-five thousand dollars per annum,--this sinking fund to be invested by the secretary of the treasury in government bonds. up to the policy of the company was to transfer all through freight at its eastern termini, none of its equipment being allowed to leave its own rails. soon after the absorption of the kansas pacific railroad and through it the denver pacific railroad, the union pacific entered upon a policy of extension by the absorption of other roads and building of branch lines. under this arrangement the texas lines--fort worth, texas, to denver, colo., eight hundred and one miles--were completed and added to the system. this line was built under the name of the denver, texas and gulf (formerly denver and new orleans), the fort worth and denver city and the denver city and fort worth railroads. in the railroad from atchison west--originally the line that was to have connected with the union pacific railroad at the hundredth meridian, known as the central branch union pacific--became part of the system by purchase and was leased to the missouri pacific railway company who have since that time operated it. another line added to the system was the narrow (three foot) gauge line from denver to leadville and gunnison. this line was commenced in under a charter from the colorado legislature, reaching buena vista, february nd, and gunnison, the summer of . it was absorbed by the union pacific on january st, . the utah and northern was commenced in by the citizens of utah and reached logan in and franklin, idaho, in . the means for building this road was raised by the people of northern utah with great difficulty, much of it being donated in labor,--in grading, track work, right of way, etc. after an attempt to operate as a local line more or less successful, it was sold to the union pacific railroad in february and by them extended to silver bow, mont.--huntington. ore., with a branch connecting the main line of the union pacific at granger, wyo., with pocatello, idaho, on the old utah and northern. on may th, , one week after the ceremonies at promontory, the utah central was commenced by the mormons, brigham young being president of the company. it was completed ogden to salt lake city, january th, . the work on the line was done very largely by the mormons in exchange for stock, its equipment being turned over to them by the union pacific as part payment (to the mormons) for work done on the grading of the line. the utah southern--salt lake city to frisco, utah, was commenced in may. , and completed in june , and absorbed by the utah central in . in the line from julesburg to denver was located and most of the grading done in that year and the two following. financial stringency together with complications arising over their relations with the kansas pacific railway forced the abandonment of the project. after the consolidation in the line was recommenced, practically new grades being necessary. it was completed in , the work being done under the colorado central railroad charter. all of the above lines were absorbed by the union pacific railway and were a part of that system up to when the total mileage reached eight thousand one hundred and sixty-seven, made up of one thousand eight hundred and twenty-three miles union pacific and six thousand three hundred and forty-four miles, owned, leased and controlled. on the th of october, , the united states court at omaha appointed s. h. h. clark, oliver w. mink, and e. ellery anderson, receivers, and in the following month frederick r. coudert and j. w. doane were added to represent the interests of the united states, this receivership being forced on the company by the very general business depression of and the consequent decrease in traffic and earnings. at the time of appointing receivers for the main line, the texas line and the denver, leadville and gunnison (south park) were segregated and placed under the control of separate receivers. the oregon short line and the oregon railway and navigation company reverted to the hands of the original companies, and have ever since been operated independently, although the controlling interest in both lines is owned by the union pacific railway company. in all, three thousand one hundred and thirteen miles of affiliated lines were segregated from the parent company. in february, , the "julesburg cut off"--julesburg to denver--reverted to the company, having been operated by the receiver of the union pacific denver and gulf railway in the interim. among other troubles which the line has encountered during its thirty-eight years existence has been that of train-robbers. these were a class of men the outgrowth of western desperadoism, now happily passed into history. without the fear of god, man, or the law, they would singly or in bands attack trains, rob the mail, express and sometimes the passengers. among the most noted cases of this kind were the big springs robbery, occurring september th, , when a gang of twelve masked men took possession of the station at that point, bound and gagged the employees, cutting the telegraph wires, and upon the arrival of the western train took possession of it, securing sixty-five thousand dollars from the express car, and thirteen thousand dollars and four gold watches from the passengers,--then mounting their horses they rode off. a reward of ten thousand dollars for their arrest immediately followed and three of the robbers were caught and hung. about one half of the money was recovered when they were captured. it is said the balance of the gang were apprehended and dealt with by a frontier court, 'judge lynch' officiating, this however is tradition, its truth not being known. another robbery was that committed by sam. bass and associates who held up the west bound pacific express train securing from the express car some sixty thousand dollars in gold. this money was all recovered and most of the band either killed or arrested. another great event of this kind occurred in the hills of wyoming, west of cheyenne during . the first section of the overland west bound carrying the mail and express was flagged and brought to a stop. a culvert behind it blown up with dynamite to prevent the second section interfering, and the express cars were then looted and the robbers rode off. persistent pursuit lasting for years, however, brought them one by one to justice, one being killed near kansas city while resisting arrest, another killed at cripple creek under similar circumstances. in (january st) the present company, union pacific railroad company, was organized under the laws of utah as successor to the union pacific railway company. during the construction days, wells, fargo and company operated the express service over the line. on completion the company organized its own express "the union pacific railroad express" which continued to handle the express until re-organized as the pacific express company. congress was appealed to in to pass a refunding bill, but failed to act. numerous unsuccessful attempts were made to reorganize the property, but this was impossible with the debt to the government in an unsettled condition. finally in an agreement (see foot note) as reached between the re-organization committee and the attorney general by which the line was to be foreclosed and the debt adjusted. this was accordingly done in . the account standing: amount due government. from union pacific. from kansas pacific. principal $ , , . interest , , . ------------- total $ , , . $ , , . less sinking fund , , . , , . ------------- ------------- balance due $ , , . $ , , . and these amounts were accordingly turned over to the united states government closing the account. [footnote: the agreement in question was signed by sidney dillon, president of the union pacific railroad company; robert b. carr, president of the kansas pacific railway company; w. a. h. loveland, president of the colorado central railroad company, and concurred with by henry villard and carlos s. greeley, receivers of the kansas pacific railway. it provided that the three lines should be operated as one property, under the general direction of the union pacific railroad company. the gross earnings to be pooled and apportioned between them on certain specified agreed per cents, based on the earnings of the respective roads during the preceding year, the arrangement to be binding for fifty years and to be subject to the approval of the court in whose hands the kansas pacific railway then was.] chapter xii. _the central pacific railroad._ suggested by theo. d. judah--huntington, crocker and hopkins--struggle for congressional aid--progress made. the preceding chapters in tracing the history of the union pacific railroad cover in a measure the preliminary events leading up to the building of the central pacific railroad,--its connection from ogden west. in addition to this there is a wealth of incident connected with its history that will well repay the student. the following are a few and but a very few of its salient points. for some years previous to the time when the final act was passed by congress--which was to provide those of the western coast with speedy and safe communication with the homes of their youth--the question of a grand trunk road had been discussed by californians as a public, and as private individuals. many self-reliant men were sanguine of success, could the project be rightly brought before congress. this feeling grew among the people of california, until a man who sought office at the hands of the people could not be elected were he not a "railroad man," provided that office was one wherein the holder could injure the prospects of the proposed road. through the counties where the line was supposed to run, the question was strongly agitated, for those counties were expected to assist the undertaking, by voting their credit in various sums. so eager were the people of the interior of the state to have the enterprise commenced and completed, that they were willing to accede to any terms which would insure the success of the enterprise and relieve them from the oppression of a powerful water monopoly, which controlled a majority of the shipping both via the panama route and around cape horn. the members of congress from california knew that their election was in part owing to this feeling, and that much was expected of them by their constituents. they failed not when the time arrived, but to one--a. a. sargent--more than all others, is california indebted for the great work which now binds her to her eastern sisters. but we are proceeding too fast, overlooking, but not forgetting, another name, none the less honored because the bearer lived not to behold the final completion of the work he initiated and so earnestly advocated. theodore d. judah now sleeps the sleep that knows no awaking, but still his presence can be seen and felt in every mile of the grand road which his genius brought into being. his name was a household word in the west, for thousands knew and appreciated the manly spirit and genial mind of the earnest, persistent and sanguine engineer. in the then little hamlet of sacramento, dwelt c. p. huntington, "charley" crocker, mark hopkins, and a few others--warm personal friends of judah--who, often, in the long, winter evenings, gathered around the stove in huntington and hopkin's store room, and there discussed the merits and demerits of the judah theory. these and some other gentlemen became convinced that the engineer was right--that the scheme was practicable. they subscribed fifty dollars a piece, and, in the summer, judah and his assistants made a careful survey of the passes in the sierras. this was in the summer of , and in the fall the engineer party returned, toil-worn and travel-stained, but vastly encouraged and elated with the result of their summer's work. so favorable was the report that fifteen hundred dollars were immediately raised to be used the following summer in the same manner. the summer of found judah and his party in the gulches and defiles of the sierras, earnestly prosecuting their labors. the result but confirmed the previous report, with, if possible, more encouraging details regarding country, cost, etc. judah then visited many of the principal capitalists of san francisco to obtain subscriptions for the work, but failed to obtain a dollar. "but this road--what is it? nothing that concerned them. it did not represent capital. a poor engineer wanted to make some money, and had started the idea for that purpose." these wise men shook their heads, and sneered at the undertaking. "what can they do," said they, "even with their charter from the state? they have no money--they are poor men. it's only a sharp dodge on their part. they think the road will be undertaken in time, and then when that time arrives, they will stand a chance to sell their charter and realize a few thousands--that's all. but they'll be dead before a railroad will be built across the continent." such was the general tone of conversation among moneyed men regarding the road in its infancy, and it cannot be denied that the people of california owe nothing to the capitalists of their state--not even their thanks--for aid in the earliest days of the enterprise. the bone and sinew of the people--the mechanic and the merchant, the farmer, laborer and miner--did all that could be expected of them. but the capitalists held back--and for good reason. they feared that the railroad would give the death blow to the monopolies in which they were more or less interested. sacramento alone deserves the credit of having originated and brought to a successful completion the central pacific railroad. when the state had chartered the company, when only funds were necessary to insure the completion of the work, only two subscriptions were obtained in san francisco, and one of these came from a woman. in , judah went to washington with charts, maps, etc., of the road. sargent was there, as enthusiastic in the support of the measure as judah himself. he drew up the bill under which the road was built. james h. campbell, of pennsylvania, and schuyler colfax (than whose there is no more honored name in california,) were his most efficient supporters in the house. in the senate, mcdougal, of california, wilson, of massachusetts, and morrill, of maine, also stood manfully by the measure. and there was fought the great battle. there, enlightened ideas, assisted by young and vigorous intellects, met and conquered prejudice and moneyed opposition, and opened a new commercial era in the annals of the union. but it was not accomplished without a long and wearying struggle, in which the bull-dog pertinacity and fierce grip of sargent was manifested. day after day, for weary weeks, in the committee of the whole, sargent and campbell stood up alternately, and answered objections as fast as made, in short, sharp, close and cutting speeches. and night after night, they held interviews with eastern senators and representatives, while at their side, supplying them with information on all desired points, sat theodore d. judah, the engineer, earnest and hopeful to the last. senators did not nor would not believe that the road could or would be built. said lovejoy, during one of the debates: "do i understand the gentleman from california to say that he actually expects this road to be built?" "the gentleman from illinois may understand me to predict that if this bill is passed, the road will be finished within ten years," responded sargent. people can now judge between lovejoy's and sargent's ideas of the vigor of the west. the end came, the bill was finally passed, and the news thereof caused the hearts of californians to leap for joy. ground was broken at sacramento, and work was commenced immediately. another battle was to be fought, a financial one. before they could receive any aid from the government, forty miles of road must be built and stocked, which would cost at least four million dollars, for that forty miles carried the road far up among the sierras, through a great portion of their heavy work. money was "tight"--in fact it always is when a man wants some--commanding two per cent. per month in california. the corporators put in their entire fortunes. the city of san francisco issued bonds in assistance of the work; the state and several counties also rendered material aid, but all combined was but a trifle compared to what was required. c. p. huntington, then vice-president of the road, went to new york for aid, but among the capitalists there he met the same answer that had been given to judah by the moneyed men of san francisco. finally, he met with fisk and hatch, dealers in government stocks. they feared not the result of the scheme. these energetic capitalists with the promptness of young and active minds--while older capitalists were questioning whether there was really a serious intention of building the road--pledged their faith to furnish the company with what money they required and when they required it. the sum ranged from five million dollars to twenty million dollars per year; but they failed not, the money was always ready. the success of the enterprise was now assured. the bonds of the company were put on the market, and advanced rapidly in price, and soon the company had at their command all needful funds. when the summit of the sierras was reached, the road was pushed rapidly forward. but long ere this was gained, when the company was toiling among the mountains, jeers and taunts of derision could be found in plenty in the columns of california newspapers. "the dutch flat swindle," as the road was termed by some of these far sighted journalists--when the company was laboring to overcome the heavy grade near that town--has passed into a byword in california, and now is suggestive of success. the route, after the "summit" was gained, was then comparatively easy, and rapid progress was made. the chinese laborers, who had worked on the road from first to last, drove the work forward, and on may th, , the roads met on promontory point, six hundred and ninety miles from sacramento. the following will show the number of miles completed during each year: in - - , twenty miles each year; in , thirty miles; in , forty-six miles; in three hundred and sixty-three miles; in , one hundred and ninety-one miles. appendix i. _roster union pacific railroad._ president. w. b. ogden, elected sept., . jno. a. dix, elected oct., . oliver ames, elected june, . thos. a. scott, elected april, . horace f. clark, elected march, . jno. duff, elected july, . sidney dillon, elected june, . chas. francis adams, elected june, . sidney dillon, elected dec., . s. h. h. clark, elected may, . h. g. burt, elected jan., . e. h. harriman, to date. vice president. thos. c. durant, elected oct., . jno. duff, elected may, . elisha atkins, elected may, . tom potter, elected may, . w. h. holcomb, elected oct., . s. h. h. clark, elected. may, . elisha atkins, elected nov., . o. w. mink, elected march, . w. m. d. cornish, elected july, . nd. vice president. s. r. callaway sept., , to june, . o. m. lane may, , to oct., . o. w. mink may, , to march, . rd. vice president. thos. l. kimball nov., , to aug., . secretary. h. v. poor, elected sept., . chas. tuttle, elected oct., . e. h. rollins, elected june, . h. mcfarland, elected march, . alex. millar, elected april, . treasurer. t. w. olcott, elected sept., . jno. j. cisco, elected oct., . j. m. s. williams, elected june, . e. h. rollins, elected may, . h. mcfarland, elected april, . jas. g. harris, elected april, . f. v. s. crosby, elected feb., . general manager. thos. c. durant oct., to may, . s. h. h. clark aug., to sept., . s. r. callaway oct., to may, . tom potter may, to july, . thos. l. kimball march, to nov., . e. dickinson dec., to may, . s. h. h. clark jan., to april, . e. dickinson april, . a. l. mohler, to date. assistant general manager. thos, l, kimball nov., to july, . g. m. cummings jan., to dec., . c. s. mellen nov., to march, . g. m. cummings march, to dec., . e. dickinson feb., to dec., . w. h. holcomb dec., to may, . e. dickinson may, to april, . general superintendent. g. m. dodge oct., to may, . w. snyder may, to july, . c. g. hammond sept., to oct., . t. e. sickles nov., to may, . s. h. h. clark june, to aug., . sylvester t. smith nov., to june, . e. dickinson july, to march, . assistant general superintendent. h. m. hoxie aug., . c. m. mead sept., to dec., . s. h. h. clark sept., to june, . e. dickinson nov., to aug., . traffic manager. thos. l. kimball aug., to sept., . c. s. mellon march, to april, . freight traffic manager. e. p. vining nov., to jan., . j. a. munroe oct., to date. asst. general traffic manager. p. p. shelby jan., to sept., . j. a. munroe nov., to march, . b. campbell july, to march, . general passenger agent. webster snyder oct., to may, . c. d. whitcomb june, to jan., . francis colton nov., to dec, . thos. l. kimball march, to nov., . j. w. morse nov., to sept., . j. s. tebbets sept., to march, . e. l. lomax march, to date. general ticket agent. jos. budd feb., to oct., . thos. l. kimball april, to nov., . c. s. stebbins nov., to sept., . asst. general passenger agent. beverly r. keim sept., to jan., . w. c. thompson feb., to april, . c. s. stebbins april, to jan., . s. b. jones may, to nov., . e. l. lomax sept., to march, . t. w. lee march, to april, . j. w. scott nov., to nov., . w. h. hurlburt march, to aug., . b. h. payne march, to april, . s. h. hutchison feb., to july, . garret fort sept., to date. general freight agent. s. h. h. clark june, to sept., . e. f. test oct., to feb., . h. brownson march, to july, . w. m. martin aug., to dec., . h. brownson march, to july, . e. p. vining oct., to nov., . p. p. shelby nov., to jan., . j. a. munroe jan., to dec., . j. s. tebbets dec., to nov., . f. b. whitney aug., to march, . j. a. munroe march, to nov., . elmer h. wood july to date. auditor. b. f. ham j. w. gannett may, to july, . h. b. wilbur july, to dec., . j. w. gannett dec., to july . e. w. young july, to date. among the superintendents and division superintendents were: j. m. barr, r. blickensderfer, j. o. brinkerhoff, w. h. baldwin, jr., s. h. h. clark, c. h. chappel, j. n. campbell, g. m. cummings, j. k. choate, h. dorrance, w. b. doddridge, e. dickinson, a. a. egbert, l. fillmore, c. w. fisher, w. e. green, w. w. hungerford, d. s. ives, c. w. johnson, r. law, p. i. nichols, j. t. odell, c. f. resseguie, j. rapelje, w. w. riter, c. j. smith, c. e. wartele, d. v. warren, e. w. weed. _roster kansas pacific railway._ president. jno. d. perry to may, . r. e. carr june, to aug., . a. meier aug., to nov., . sidney dillon aug., to may, . vice president. a. meier to aug., . t. f. oakes aug., to nov., . d. m. egerton aug., to may, . r. e. carr ( nd vice pres.) march, , to may, . secretary. c. b. lamborn june, to sept., . d. m. edgerton sept., to nov., . a. h. calif aug., to may, . treasurer. gen. w. j. palmer june, to may, . c. s. greeley june, to nov., . j. m. ham aug., to may, . general manager. r. e. carr dec., to aug., . general superintendent. a. anderson may, to may, . ed. s. bowen june, to nov., . o. s. lyford dec., to nov., . t. f. oakes nov., to april, . syl. t. smith july, to may, . asst. general superintendent. e. d. meier to april, . geo. noble may, to feb., . auditor. syl. t. smith may, to dec., . h. c. clements july, , to may, . general passenger and ticket agent. j. m. webster june, , to feb., . r. b. gemmell june, , to feb., . b. r. keim march, , to july, . e. a. parker july, , to nov., . peter b. groat march, , to dec., . d. e. cornell jan., , to july, . thos. l. kimball dec., , to may, . general freight agent. j. m. webster june, , to feb., . r. b. gemmell june, , to dec., . t. f. oakes jan., , to dec., . john muir jan., , to may, . appendix ii. _statistics union pacific railroad._ the following is a statement of the gross earnings and operating expenses of the line for the fiscal year, ending june th, of the years named below: year. gross operating u.p.r.r. u.p. sys. earnings. expenses. mileage. mileage. up to april st, , road was .... .... in the hands of and run by contractors .... .... ... $ , , . ......... .... ... , , . ......... .... ... , , . .... ... , , . , , . .... ... , , . , , . .... ... , , . , , . .... ... , , . .... ... , , . .... ... , , . .... ... , , . .... ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... , , . ... ... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... .... ... , , . .... ... , , . .... ... .... ... .... ... .... .... ... , , . , , . _statistics kansas pacific railway._ following statement shows gross earnings, operating expenses (including taxes), of the line up to its consolidation with the union pacific railroad in january, . gross operating k.p. owned or year. earnings. expenses. mileage. controlled. $ , , . $ , , . [a] ..... , , . , , . [a] ..... , , . , , . [a] ..... , , . , , . [a] ..... , , . , . . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . , , . ..... , , . ............ ..... [footnote a: average number miles operated.] _statistics kansas pacific railway._ the following statement shows the number of engines and cars owned during the years named: baggage total passenger mail and freight number year. engines. coaches. express. cars. cars. appendix iii. _nomenclature of the union pacific railroad._ there are two versions of the name union pacific. one that it was the expression of the union sentiment prevalent among its projectors and builders, it being named during the dark and gloomy days of the war of the rebellion; the other being that the whole project was the union of many and varied projects all looking to the building of a pacific railroad, and it was natural that the proposition that embraced them all should be called the "union pacific." we would rather believe it was somewhat of both these reasons that brought about the name in question. council bluffs, ia.--received its name from a council being held there in between lewis and clark's expedition and a party of ottoe and missouri indians. omaha, neb.--named after a tribe of indians variously known as mahas or omahas. papilion, neb.--called after the creek on which it is located, named by lewis and clark and derived from a latin word meaning butterfly. millard, neb.--named ofter the hon. ezra millard, a prominent citizen of omaha in the early days. elkhorn, neb.--so called from the elkhorn river near by. fremont, neb.--named after gen'l. fremont, the "pathfinder." ames, neb.--named after oliver ames, one of the prominent men in the history of the road. the place was originally called ketchum. north bend, neb.--so named from a northward bend in the platte river. schuyler, neb.--named after schuyler colfax, vice-president of the united states. columbus, neb--was first settled by a party of germans from columbus, ohio, who named it after their old home. clark, neb.--called after s. h. h. clark, gen'l supt. of the road while it was being constructed. central city, neb.--originally called lone tree. named central city owing to the "nebraska central r. r." making connection there with the union pacific. chapman, neb.--called after a roadmaster of that name. lockwood, neb.--named after a storekeeper of that name located there in the early days. grand island, neb.--named after an island in the platte river. wood river, neb.--called after a stream of that name adjacent to the town. shelton, neb.--named after the cashier of the company at omaha. kearney, neb.--named after gen'l kearney of mexican war fame. was the site of old ft. kearney established in for the protection of the overland route. cozad, neb.--named after a gentleman from cincinnati, ohio, who purchasing , acres from the railroad laid out the town. willow island, neb.--so named from the large number of willow bushes on an island in the platte river near by. bradys island, neb.--from an adjacent island in the platte river. ogallala, neb.--from the ogallala, a division of the sioux or dacotah tribe of indians, of which spotted tail was the most famous chief. the word means "throwing at or into." brule, neb.--from the brule sioux. red cloud was its most famous chief. the word is french meaning "burnt." they call themselves "burnt thighs." big springs, neb.--named after several large springs in the vicinity. a noted camping ground on the overland. julesburg, neb.--named after an agent of the overland mail co., variously referred to as jules bernard, jules beni, jules burg or dirty jules, who was at one time agent of the stage company at that point. lodge pole, colo.--from a stream of that name which the railroad follows for some little distance. sidney, neb.--named after sidney dillon, at one time president of the union pacific. brownson, neb.--called after a former general freight agent of the company. kimball, neb.--named after thos. l. kimball, general passenger agent, and afterwards general manager. pine bluffs, wyo.--takes its name from the stunted growth along the adjacent bluffs. hillsdale, wyo.--named after an engineer, (hill) who was killed here during the preliminary survey. cheyenne, wyo.--from an indian tribe of that name. the word is supposed to be derived from the french "chien" a dog and to mean dog soldier. other authorities connect it with the indian word "shallana" meaning red or red man. buford, wyo.--named after old ft. buford. sherman, wyo.--the highest point on the line named after the tallest general (sherman) in the union army. tie siding, wyo.--vast quantities of ties were shipped from this point for use in the construction, they coming from the mountains in the vicinity. laramie, wyo.--the name comes from jacques laramie, a fur trader who was killed in this vicinity by the indians in . medicine bow, wyo.--from the medicine bow mountains among which it is situated. ft. steele, wyo.--from ft. fred steele, established in on the same site. rawlins, wyo.--named after gen. jno. a. rawlins, gen'l grant's, chief of staff and his first secretary of war. creston, wyo.--so called from being the crest of the rocky mountains. green river, wyo.--from the river of that name whose waters run through a green shale, and while not discoloring the water impart that shade to the river. bitter creek, wyo.--from the creek of that name so called from the character of its water. granger, wyo.--named after an old settler, a mr. granger. ogden, utah.--named after peter ogden, an attache of the hudson bay co., who lived in this vicinity in the ( ) thirties. appendix iv. _paddy miles' ride._ the following is taken verbatim from a prominent newspaper of , and is a very excellent illustration of the style of writing prevalent at that time. mr. miles, or "paddy" as he was familiarly called, was foreman to the casement brothers, who laid the track of the union pacific railroad. one morning, paddy started down echo canon with a long train of flat cars, sixteen in number, loaded with ties and iron rails for the road below echo city, where were then, as now, the station, switches, etc. the reader will remember that, from the divide to the mouth of echo canon is heavy grade, no level space on which cars would slack their speed. the train had proceeded but a few miles down the canon, going at a lively rate, when the engineer discovered that the train had parted, and four loaded cars had been left behind. where the train parted the grade was easy, hence that portion attached to the locomotive had gained about half a mile on the stray cars. but when discovered, they were on heavy grade and coming down on the train with lightning speed. what was to be done? the leading train could not stop to pick them up, for, at the rate of speed at which they were approaching, a collision would shiver both trains, destroying them and the lives of those on board. there were two men, dutchmen, on the loose cars, who might put on the brakes, and stop the runaway. the whistle was sounded, but they heard it not; they were fast asleep, behind the piles of ties. on came the cars, fairly bounding from the track in their unguided speed, and away shot the locomotive and train. away they flew, on, around curves and over bridges, past rocky points and bold headlands; on with the speed of the wind, but no faster than came the cars behind them. "let on the steam," cried paddy, and with the throttle chock open, and wild terrible screams of the whistle, the locomotive plunged through the gorge, the mighty rocks sending back the screams in a thousand ringing echoes. "off with the ties," shouted paddy, once more, as the whistle shouted its warning to the station men to keep the track straight and free, for there was no time to pause--that terrible train was close on to them, and if they collided, the canon would have a fearful item added to its history. on went the train past the side-tracks, the almost frantic men throwing off the ties, in hopes that some of them would remain on the track, throw off the runaways, and thus save the forward train. down the gorge they plunged, the terror keeping close by them, leaping along--almost flying, said one, who told us the tale--while the locomotive strained every iron nerve to gain on its dreaded follower. again the wild scream of the locomotive of "switches open," rung out on the air and was heard and understood in echo city. the trouble was surmised, not known, but the switches were ready, and if the leading train had but the distance it could pass on and the following cars be switched off the track, and allowed to spend their force against the mountain side. on shot the locomotive, like an arrow from the bow, the men throwing over the ties until the train was well nigh unloaded, when just as they were close to the curve by which the train arrives at the station, they saw the dreaded cars strike a tie, or something equally of service, and with a desperate plunge rush down the embankment, some fifteen feet, to the little valley, and creek below. "down breaks," screamed the engine, and in a moment more the cars entered echo city, and were quietly waiting on the sidetrack for further developments. the excited crowd, alarmed by the repeated whistling, was soon informed of the cause of these screams, and immediately went up the track to the scene of the disaster, to bring in the dead bodies of the unfortunate dutchmen, who were surely crushed and torn in pieces. when they arrived at the scene of the disaster, they found the poor unfortunates sitting on the bank, smoking their pipes and unharmed, having just woke up. the first they knew of the trouble was when they were pitched away from the broken cars on the soft green sward. the debris of car frames, wheels and ties gave them the first intimation they had received that something was the matter. appendix v. the following verbatim report of the engineer in charge of a surveying party on the kansas pacific railway in will illustrate the difficulties encountered by those engaged in building the pacific railroads. engineer's office. phil sheridan, june th, . colonel william h. greenwood, chief engineer, kansas pacific railway. sir:-- on resuming the location of the line up the north fork of the smoky, on monday last, i made the change in the line mentioned in my last report. commencing as far back as station three hundred and forty-five, and producing tangent to station four hundred and thirty-eight by twenty-seven. we then bore to the left with a two degree curve and continued to station five hundred and forty-one, leaving the line for the night. the location of the line was continued on tuesday to station seven hundred and nine and ninety-five hundredths, making a total distance from sheridan of eight and nine-tenths miles. the line is an easy one for gradients; no heavy work occurs on it, but the many crossings of the stream obtained, make frequent bridges necessary. these should be of such a character as to allow a water-way of at least thirty feet, but bridges of simple construction could be used, stone of any kind being difficult to obtain. the soil is sandy and easily worked, but will make a substantial road-bed. having received your verbal orders to run a rapid line from a point west of here on the north fork, where that valley makes its deflection to the south, eastward to the three hundred and eighty-fifth mile post, i provided myself with ten days' supplies and rations, and on wednesday, the sixteenth, moved up the north fork as rapidly as the nature of the ground permitted, camping at night near the four hundred and twenty-fourth mile, on mr. reynold's preliminary line. before camp was fully arranged, a heavy squall struck it, tearing down all the tents, destroying one old one used as a cook tent and injuring some of the new ones. the herd was also stampeded, but was recovered without loss. the next morning i went up the valley about ten miles and ascended the divide to take observations. i found the course of the valley here was south of west and continued four miles westward. several large branches, with deep, broad valleys, almost as large as the main stream, came in from the north, which it would be impracticable to cross. i returned, therefore, to a point in the valley near the four hundred and thirtieth mile of mr. reynold's line, where ascent from the valley seemed easy, and commenced my line at station fifteen hundred and fifty-seven by eighty-three and ascended to an upper plateau in about one and a half miles, with a grade of fifty-two and eight-tenths feet per mile. i then turned to about magnetic east, and we held this course with some deflections northward until night. this day's work, some six miles, is extremely heavy, the first two miles averaging about forty thousand cubic yards of earthwork each. on friday we continued the line, swinging more to the northward, as the heavy ravines and rough country forced us away from our course. running ten miles, we found a good camping place at end of line, at night, in a large branch of the north fork, (the same which comes in two miles west of sheridan), where there were numerous large ponds of water, the drainage from the late rains. the line during the day had crossed the water courses at that immediate level, between the heavy breaks near the divide and those near their outlets; still, the work is very heavy, the crossings being wide and deep. any attempt to improve the line would only result in throwing it northward to the divide, coinciding with your preliminary line of . at the end of the work, friday, i obtain a grade of sixty-three feet per mile for six thousand and one hundred feet with extremely heavy work on straight lines. saturday morning we made one and a half miles further and were obliged to abandon the line for the day. on seventeen miles of this work we obtain average per mile: excavation , cubic yards. embankment , cubic yards. total per mile , cubic yards. i have suggested in the transit notes a change for three or four miles, which will save considerable work and improve the alignment materially. on saturday morning while looking up the line about two miles ahead of the party, i was attacked by ten mounted indians who came out of a ravine and were very close before i discovered them. my horse was wounded by a pistol ball in the hip at the first start, but i was able to dodge them and was gaining enough distance to enable me to dismount and fight them on foot, when another party, about forty in number cut me off in front and surrounded me, leaving as i supposed, no chance of escape. shooting down the nearest as they closed in, my horse, though wounded in four places and drenched in blood, carried me bravely and broke through their line, they closing up in my rear. one having a fast horse closed in with me as mine stumbled and partially fell. he emptied his revolver at me, but without other effect than to tear my clothes, then striking me on the head with his lance-staff told me in good english to "come off," which, under the circumstances, i did not feel justified in doing. having him then in good range, i placed my gun against his side and fired, shooting him diagonally through the body and dismounting him. feeling my horse giving away i threw myself from the saddle and catching the nearest indian as he turned disabled him so that he fell to the ground in a short distance. they were now all scattering under whip and spur, having turned the moment i leaped from my horse. i had now come in sight of the party and observed a fresh band endeavoring to cut off the level party and back flagman. mr. morton (rear flag) finding his pony too much excited to be managed jumped off, successfully repelling the indians with his carbine. messrs. schuyler and mccarty, rodmen, went to his assistance, though only armed with small revolvers. the indians shooting as they passed, struck mr. schuyler in the leg, the ball passing through the fleshy part of the thigh, wounding him severely, but not seriously. the mules of the line wagon becoming unmanageable were unhitched and fastened to the wagon securely while the instruments were being secured and preparations made for a general attack. by the time i had reached the wagon the men were concentrated and prepared for any attack in force. the indians now molested us but little, occasionally making a dash and firing a few shots then dashing away again. we moved slowly towards camp keeping out-flankers and in a short distance met lieutenant smith with a few dismounted men. the first alarm being given by morton's pony coming in followed close by a few of the red devils, camp had been struck and the wagons loaded preparatory to moving out to meet us. an attempt was made to stampede the stock, but it resulted in a miserable failure, the spencer carbines of lieutenant smith's detachment telling with effect. as it was unwise to separate the force, and as mr. schuyler's wound needed attendance, we deemed it best to come into sheridan, it being only fifteen miles. i cannot too highly commend the conduct of the men, they were all cool and ready. messrs. mccarty, morton, schuyler, scott and wheeler (leveler), were especially noticeable for presence of mind and cool courage at a very critical moment. lieutenant smith and his men, by prompt and vigorous action alone, saved the stock and rendered the safety of the line wagon certain. about seventy indians were engaged, of whom four are known to be killed. several others seemed hurt from their actions though nothing certain is known. the fight has demonstrated to me the inefficiency of our escorts and the need of more men upon the line, especially with the front and rear flag and level party. these men, engaged as they are, have no chance to observe any movements about them and could be surprised very easily and shot down without an opportunity of defense. the fact of my being surprised myself, and allowing these indians to get behind me and within fifty and seventy-five yards before discovering them, although always on the lookout, proves that we cannot feel safe without extraordinary precautions. my horse was severely wounded, but was able to come in here where he will receive every attention and will in a short time, i think, be fit for service--say one or two months. i must repeat urgently what i have before reported, the necessity for a good strong horse, fast enough to outrun an indian pony, strong enough to carry my heavy weight, with endurance to keep up his speed for miles if necessary, and hardy enough to stand constant hard riding such as will enable me to see all of the country as we pass it. our loss in property was as follows: two shovels--(abandoned from necessity.) one flag-- one chain--overlooked and left lying on the ground. private loss.--one field glass (mode of loss unknown, probably cut off by a ball.) one spur--(cut off by ball, saving the foot.) part of this property may be recovered. i shall start on the line again tomorrow and try and get through to carlyle station. i omitted last week to report some changes in the party. i have been too much occupied as yet to send in an estimate for my supplies for the month of july, but will do so from monument station. very respectfully, howard schuyler, resident engineer. none none none the story of the pony express an account of the most remarkable mail service ever in existence, and its place in history. by glenn d. bradley author of winning the southwest to my parents preface this little volume has but one purpose--to give an authentic, useful, and readable account of the pony express. this wonderful enterprise played an important part in history, and demonstrated what american spirit can accomplish. it showed that the "heroes of sixty-one" were not all south of mason and dixon's line fighting each other. and, strange to say, little of a formal nature has been written concerning it. i have sought to bring to light and make accessible to all readers the more important facts of the pony express--its inception, organization and development, its importance to history, its historical background, and some of the anecdotes incidental to its operation. the subject leads one into a wide range of fascinating material, all interesting though much of it is irrelevant. in itself this material is fragmentary and incoherent. it would be quite easy to fill many pages with western adventure having no special bearing upon the central topic. while i have diverged occasionally from the thread of the narrative, my purpose has been merely to give where possible more background to the story, that the account as a whole might be more understandable in its relation to the general facts of history. special acknowledgment is due frank a. root of topeka, kansas, joint author with william e. connelley of the overland stage to california, an excellent compendium of data on many phases of the subject. in preparing this work, various senate documents have been of great value. some interesting material is found in inman and cody's salt lake trail. the files of the century magazine, old newspaper files, bancroft's colossal history of the west and the works of samuel l. clemens have also been of value in compiling the present book. g.d.b. contents i--at a nation's crisis ii--inception and organization of the pony express iii--the first trip and triumph iv--operation, equipment, and business v--california and the secession menace vi--riders and famous rides vii--anecdotes of the trail and honor roll viii--early overland mail routes ix--passing of the pony express illustrations transportation and communication across the plains "a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone." the story of the pony express chapter i at a nation's crisis the pony express was the first rapid transit and the first fast mail line across the continent from the missouri river to the pacific coast. it was a system by means of which messages were carried swiftly on horseback across the plains and deserts, and over the mountains of the far west. it brought the atlantic coast and the pacific slope ten days nearer to each other. it had a brief existence of only sixteen months and was supplanted by the transcontinental telegraph. yet it was of the greatest importance in binding the east and west together at a time when overland travel was slow and cumbersome, and when a great national crisis made the rapid communication of news between these sections an imperative necessity. the pony express marked the highest development in overland travel prior to the coming of the pacific railroad, which it preceded nine years. it, in fact, proved the feasibility of a transcontinental road and demonstrated that such a line could be built and operated continuously the year around--a feat that had always been regarded as impossible. the operation of the pony express was a supreme achievement of physical endurance on the part of man and his ever faithful companion, the horse. the history of this organization should be a lasting monument to the physical sacrifice of man and beast in an effort to accomplish something worth while. its history should be an enduring tribute to american courage and american organizing genius. the fall of fort sumter in april, , did not produce the civil war crisis. for many months, the gigantic struggle then imminent, had been painfully discernible to far-seeing men. in , lincoln had forewarned the country in his "house divided" speech. as early as the beginning of the year the union had been plainly in jeopardy. early in february of that momentous year, jefferson davis, on behalf of the south, had introduced his famous resolutions in the senate of the united states. this document was the ultimatum of the dissatisfied slave-holding commonwealths. it demanded that congress should protect slavery throughout the domain of the united states. the territories, it declared, were the common property of the states of the union and hence open to the citizens of all states with all their personal possessions. the northern states, furthermore, were no longer to interfere with the working of the fugitive slave act. they must repeal their personal liberty laws and respect the dred scott decision of the federal supreme court. neither in their own legislatures nor in congress should they trespass upon the right of the south to regulate slavery as it best saw fit. these resolutions, demanding in effect that slavery be thus safeguarded--almost to the extent of introducing it into the free states--really foreshadowed the democratic platform of which led to the great split in that party, the victory of the republicans under lincoln, the subsequent secession of the more radical southern states, and finally the civil war, for it was inevitable that the north, when once aroused, would bitterly resent such pro-slavery demands. and this great crisis was only the bursting into flame of many smaller fires that had long been smoldering. for generations the two sections had been drifting apart. since the middle of the seventeenth century, mason and dixon's line had been a line of real division separating two inherently distinct portions of the country. by , then, war was inevitable. naturally, the conflict would at once present intricate military problems, and among them the retention of the pacific coast was of the deepest concern to the union. situated at a distance of nearly two thousand miles from the missouri river which was then the nation's western frontier, this intervening space comprised trackless plains, almost impenetrable ranges of snow-capped mountains, and parched alkali deserts. and besides these barriers of nature which lay between the west coast and the settled eastern half of the country, there were many fierce tribes of savages who were usually on the alert to oppose the movements of the white race through their dominions. california, even then, was the jewel of the pacific. having a considerable population, great natural wealth, and unsurpassed climate and fertility, she was jealously desired by both the north and the south. to the south, the acquisition of california meant enhanced prestige--involving, as it would, the occupation of a large area whose soils and climate might encourage the perpetuation of slavery; it meant a rich possession which would afford her a strategic base for waging war against her northern foe; it meant a romantic field in which opportunity might be given to organize an allied republic of the pacific, a power which would, perchance, forcibly absorb the entire southwest and a large section of northern mexico. by thus creating counter forces the south would effectively block the federal government on the western half of the continent. the north also desired the prestige that would come from holding california as well as the material strength inherent in the state's valuable resources. moreover to hold this region would give the north a base of operations to check her opponent in any campaign of aggression in the far west, should the south presume such an attempt. and the possession of california would also offer to the north the very best means of protecting the western frontier, one of the union's most vulnerable points of attack. it was with such vital conditions that the pony express was identified; it was in retaining california for the union, and in helping incidentally to preserve the union, that the express became an important factor in american history. not to mention the romance, the unsurpassed courage, the unflinching endurance, and the wonderful exploits which the routine operations of the pony express involved, its identity with problems of nation-wide and world-wide importance make its story seem worth telling. and with its romantic existence and its place in history the succeeding pages of this book will briefly deal. chapter ii inception and organization of the pony express following the discovery of gold in california in january , that region sprang into immediate prominence. from all parts of the country and the remote corners of the earth came the famous forty-niners. amid the chaos of a great mining camp the anglo-saxon love of law and order soon asserted itself. civil and religious institutions quickly arose, and, in the summer of , a little more than a year after the big rush had started, california entered the union as a free state. the boom went on and the census of revealed a population of , in the new commonwealth. and when to these figures were added those of oregon and washington territory, an aggregate of , citizens of the united states were found to be living on the pacific slope. crossing the sierras eastward and into the great basin, , more were located in the territories of nevada and utah,--thus making a grand total of nearly a half million people beyond the rocky mountains in . and these figures did not include indians nor chinese. without reference to any military phase of the problem, this detached population obviously demanded and deserved adequate mail and transportation facilities. how to secure the quickest and most dependable communication with the populous sections of the east had long been a serious proposition. private corporations and congress had not been wholly insensible to the needs of the west. subsidized stage routes had for some years been in operation, and by the close of several lines were well-equipped and doing much business over the so-called southern and central routes. perhaps the most common route for sending mail from the east to the pacific coast was by steamship from new york to panama where it was unloaded, hurried across the isthmus, and again shipped by water to san francisco. all these lines of traffic were slow and tedious, a letter in any case requiring from three to four weeks to reach its destination. the need of a more rapid system of communication between the east and west at once became apparent and it was to supply this need that the pony express really came into existence. the story goes that in the autumn of , united states senator william gwin of california was making an overland trip on horseback from san francisco to washington, d. c. he was following the central route via salt lake and south pass, and during a portion of his journey he had for a traveling companion, mr. b. f. ficklin, then general superintendent for the big freighting and stage firm of russell, majors, and waddell of leavenworth. ficklin, it seems, was a resourceful and progressive man, and had long been engaged in the overland transportation business. he had already conceived an idea for establishing a much closer transit service between the missouri river and the coast, but, as is the case with many innovators, had never gained a serious hearing. he had the traffic agent's natural desire to better the existing service in the territory which his line served; and he had the ambition of a loyal employee to put into effect a plan that would bring added honor and preferment to his firm. in addition to possessing these worthy ideals, it is perhaps not unfair to state that ficklin was personally ambitious. nevertheless, ficklin confided his scheme enthusiastically to senator gwin, at the same time pointing out the benefits that would accrue to california should it ever be put into execution. the senator at once saw the merits of the plan and quickly caught the contagion. not only was he enough of a statesman to appreciate the worth of a fast mail line across the continent, but he was also a good enough politician to realize that his position with his constituents and the country at large might be greatly strengthened were he to champion the enactment of a popular measure that would encourage the building of such a line through the aid of a federal subsidy. so in january, , gwin introduced in the senate a bill which proposed to establish a weekly letter express service between st. louis and san francisco. the express was to operate on a ten-day schedule, follow the central route, and was to receive a compensation not exceeding $ . for each round trip. this bill was referred to the committee on military affairs where it was quietly tabled and "killed." for the next five years the attention of congress was largely taken up with the anti-slavery troubles that led to secession and war. although the people of the west, and the pacific coast in particular, continued to agitate the need of a new and quick through mail service, for a long time little was done. it has been claimed that southern representatives in congress during the decade before the war managed to prevent any legislation favorable to overland mail routes running north of the slave-holding states; and that they concentrated their strength to render government aid to the southern routes whenever possible. at that time there were three generally recognized lines of mail traffic, of which the panama line was by far the most important. next came the so-called southern or "butterfield" route which started from st. louis and ran far to the southward, entering california from the extreme southeast corner of the state; a goodly amount of mail being sent in this direction. the central route followed the platte river into wyoming and reached sacramento via salt lake city, almost from a due easterly direction. on account of its location this route or trail could be easily controlled by the north in case of war. it had received very meagre support from the government, and carried as a rule, only local mail. while the most direct route to san francisco, it had been rendered the least important. this was not due solely to congressional manipulation. because of its northern latitude and the numerous high mountain ranges it traversed, this course was often blockaded with deep snows and was generally regarded as extremely difficult of access during the winter months. while a majority of the people of california were loyal to the union, there was a vigorous minority intensely in sympathy with the southern cause and ready to conspire for, or bring about by force of arms if necessary, the secession of their state. as the civil war became more and more imminent, it became obvious to union men in both east and west that the existing lines of communication were untrustworthy. just as soon as trouble should start, the confederacy could, and most certainly would, gain control of the southern mail routes. once in control, she could isolate the pacific coast for many months and thus enable her sympathizers there the more effectually to perfect their plans of secession. or she might take advantage of these lines of travel, and, by striking swiftly and suddenly, organize and reinforce her followers in california, intimidate the unionists, many of whom were apathetic, and by a single bold stroke snatch the prize away from her antagonist before the latter should have had time to act. to avert this crisis some daring and original plan of communication had to be organized to keep the east and west in close contact with each other; and the pony express was the fulfillment of such a plan, for it made a close cooperation between the california loyalists and the federal government possible until after the crisis did pass. yet, strange as it may seem, this providential enterprise was not brought into existence nor even materially aided by the government. it was organized and operated by a private corporation after having been encouraged in its inception by a united states senator who later turned traitor to his country. it finally happened that in the winter of - , mr. william russell, senior partner of the firm of russell, majors, and waddell, was called to washington in connection with some government freight contracts. while there he chanced to become acquainted with senator gwin who, having been aroused, as we have seen, several years before, by one of the firm's subordinates, at once brought before mr. russell the need of better mail connections over the central route, and of the especial need of better communication should war occur. russell at once awoke to the situation. while a loyal citizen and fully alive to the strategic importance which the matter involved, he also believed that he saw a good business opening. could his firm but grasp the opportunity, and demonstrate the possibility of keeping the central route open during the winter months, and could they but lower the schedule of the panama line, a government contract giving them a virtual monopoly in carrying the transcontinental mail might eventually be theirs. he at once hurried west, and at fort leavenworth met his partners, messrs. majors and waddell, to whom he confidently submitted the new proposition. much to russell's chagrin, these gentlemen were not elated over the plan. while passively interested, they keenly foresaw the great cost which a year around overland fast mail service would involve. they were unable to see any chance of the enterprise paying expenses, to say nothing of profits. but russell, with cheerful optimism, contended that while the project might temporarily be a losing venture, it would pay out in time. he asserted that the opportunity of making good with a hard undertaking--one that had been held impossible of realization--would be a strong asset to the firm's reputation. he also declared that in his conversation with gwin he had already committed their company to the undertaking, and he did not see how they could, with honor and propriety, evade the responsibility of attempting it. knowledge of the last mentioned fact at once enlisted the support or his partners. probably no firm has ever surpassed in integrity that of russell, majors, and waddell, famous throughout the west in the freighting and mail business before the advent of railroads in that section of the men, the verbal promise of one of their number was a binding guarantee and as sacredly respected as a bonded obligation. finding themselves thus committed, they at once began preparations with tremendous activity. all this happened early in the year . the first step was to form a corporation, the more adequately to conduct the enterprise; and to that end the central overland california and pike's peak express company was organized under a charter granted by the territory of kansas. besides the three original members of the firm, the incorporators included general superintendent b. f. ficklin, together with f. a. bee, w. w. finney, and john s. jones, all tried and trustworthy stage employees who were retained on account of their wide experience in the overland traffic business. the new concern then took over the old stage line from atchison to salt lake city and purchased the mail route and outfit then operating between salt lake city and sacramento. the latter, which had been running a monthly round trip stage between these terminals, was known as the west end division of the central route, and was called the chorpenning line. besides conducting the pony express, the corporation aimed to continue a large passenger and freighting business, so it next absorbed the leavenworth and pike's peak express co., which had been organized a year previously and had maintained a daily stage between leavenworth and denver, on the smoky hill river route. by mutual agreement, mr. russell assumed managerial charge of the eastern division of the pony express line which lay between st. joseph and salt lake city. ficklin was stationed at salt lake city, the middle point, in a similar capacity. finney was made western manager with headquarters at san francisco. these men now had to revise the route to be traversed, equip it with relay or relief stations which must be provisioned for men and horses, hire dependable men as station-keepers and riders, and buy high grade horses[ ] or ponies for the entire course, nearly two thousand miles in extent. between st. joseph and salt lake city, the company had its old stage route which was already well supplied with stations. west of salt lake the old chorpenning route had been poorly equipped, which made it necessary to erect new stations over much of this course of more than seven hundred miles. the entire line of travel had to be altered in many places, in some instances to shorten the distance, and in others, to avoid as much as possible, wild places where indians might easily ambush the riders. the management was fortunate in having the assistance of expert subordinates. a. b. miller of leavenworth, a noteworthy employe of the original firm, was invaluable in helping to formulate the general plans of organization. at salt lake city, ficklin secured the services of j. c. brumley, resident agent of the company, whose vast knowledge of the route and the country that it covered enabled him quickly to work out a schedule, and to ascertain with remarkable accuracy the number of relay and supply stations, their best location, and also the number of horses and men needed. at carson city, nevada, bolivar roberts, local superintendent of the western division, hired upwards of sixty riders, cool-headed nervy men, hardened by years of life in the open. horses were purchased throughout the west. they were the best that money could buy and ranged from tough california cayuses or mustangs to thoroughbred stock from iowa. they were bought at an average figure of $ . each, a high price in those days. the men were the pick of the frontier; no more expressive description of their qualities can be given. they were hired at salaries varying from $ . to $ . per month, the riders receiving the highest pay of any below executive rank. when fully equipped, the line comprised stations, about horses, station men and assistants and eighty riders. these are approximate figures, as they varied slightly from time to time. perfecting these plans and assembling this array of splendid equipment had been no easy task, yet so well had the organizers understood their business, and so persistently, yet quietly, had they worked, that they accomplished their purpose and made ready within two months after the project had been launched. the public was scarcely aware of what was going on until conspicuous advertisements announced the pony express. it was planned to open the line early in april. [ ] while always called the pony express, there were many blooded horses as well as ponies in the service. the distinction between these types of animals is of course well known to the average reader. probably "pony" express "sounded better" than any other name for the service, hence the adoption of this name by the firm and the public at large. this book will use the words horse and pony indiscriminately. chapter iii the first trip and triumph on march , , there appeared simultaneously in the st. louis republic and the new york herald the following notice: to san francisco in days by the central overland california and pike's peak express company. the first courier of the pony express will leave the missouri river on tuesday april rd at o'clock p. m. and will run regularly weekly hereafter, carrying a letter mail only. the point of departure on the missouri river will be in telegraphic connection with the east and will be announced in due time. telegraphic messages from all parts of the united states and canada in connection with the point of departure will be received up to o'clock p. m. of the day of leaving and transmitted over the placerville and st. joseph telegraph wire to san francisco and intermediate points by the connecting express, in days. the letter mail will be delivered in san francisco in ten days from the departure of the express. the express passes through forts kearney, laramie, bridger, great salt lake city, camp floyd, carson city, the washoe silver mines, placerville, and sacramento. letters for oregon, washington territory, british columbia, the pacific mexican ports, russian possessions, sandwich islands, china, japan and india will be mailed in san francisco. special messengers, bearers of letters to connect with the express the rd of april, will receive communications for the courier of that day at no. tenth st., washington city, up to : p. m. on friday, march , and in new york at the office of j. b. simpson, room no. , continental bank building, nassau street, up to : a. m. of march . full particulars can be obtained on application at the above places and from the agents of the company. this sudden announcement of the long desired fast mail route aroused great enthusiasm in the west and especially in st. joseph, missouri, salt lake city, and the cities of california, where preparations to celebrate the opening of the line were at once begun. slowly the time passed, until the afternoon of the eventful day, april rd, that was to mark the first step in annihilating distance between the east and west. a great crowd had assembled on the streets of st. joseph, missouri. flags were flying and a brass band added to the jubilation. the hannibal and st. joseph railroad had arranged to run a special train into the city, bringing the through mail from connecting points in the east. everybody was anxious and excited. at last the shrill whistle of a locomotive was heard, and the train rumbled in--on time. the pouches were rushed to the post office where the express mail was made ready. the people now surge about the old "pike's peak livery stables," just south of pattee park. all are hushed with subdued expectancy. as the moment of departure approaches, the doors swing open and a spirited horse is led out. nearby, closely inspecting the animal's equipment is a wiry little man scarcely twenty years old. time to go! everybody back! a pause of seconds, and a cannon booms in the distance--the starting signal. the rider leaps to his saddle and starts. in less than a minute he is at the post office where the letter pouch, square in shape with four padlocked pockets, is awaiting him. dismounting only long enough for this pouch to be thrown over his saddle, he again springs to his place and is gone. a short sprint and he has reached the missouri river wharf. a ferry boat under a full head of steam is waiting. with scarcely checked speed, the horse thunders onto the deck of the craft. a rumbling of machinery, the jangle of a bell, the sharp toot of a whistle and the boat has swung clear and is headed straight for the opposite shore. the crowd behind breaks into tumultuous applause. some scream themselves hoarse; others are strangely silent; and some--strong men--are moved to tears. the noise of the cheering multitude grows faint as the kansas shore draws near. the engines are reversed; a swish of water, and the craft grates against the dock. scarcely has the gang plank been lowered than horse and rider dash over it and are off at a furious gallop. away on the jet black steed goes johnnie frey, the first rider, with the mail that must be hurled by flesh and blood over , miles of desolate space--across the plains, through north-eastern kansas and into nebraska, up the valley of the platte, across the great plateau, into the foothills and over the summit of the rockies, into the arid great basin, over the wahsatch range, into the valley of great salt lake, through the terrible alkali deserts of nevada, through the parched sink of the carson river, over the snowy sierras, and into the sacramento valley--the mail must go without delay. neither storms, fatigue, darkness, rugged mountains, burning deserts, nor savage indians were to hinder this pouch of letters. the mail must go; and its schedule, incredible as it seemed, must be made. it was a sublime undertaking, than which few have ever put the fibre of americans to a severer test. the managers of the central overland, california and pike's peak express company had laid their plans well. horses and riders for fresh relays, together with station agents and helpers, were ready and waiting at the appointed places, ten or fifteen miles apart over the entire course. there was no guess-work or delay. after crossing the missouri river, out of st. joseph, the official route[ ] of the west-bound pony express ran at first west and south through kansas to kennekuk; then northwest, across the kickapoo indian reservation, to granada, log chain, seneca, ash point, guittards, marysville, and hollenberg. here the valley of the little blue river was followed, still in a northwest direction. the trail crossed into nebraska near rock creek and pushed on through big sandy and liberty farm, to thirty-two-mile creek. from thence it passed over the prairie divide to the platte river, the valley of which was followed to fort kearney. this route had already been made famous by the mormons when they journeyed to utah in . it had also been followed by many of the california gold-seekers in - and by gen. albert sidney johnston and his army when they marched west from fort leavenworth to suppress the "mormon war" of - . for about three hundred miles out of fort kearney, the trail followed the prairies; for two thirds of this distance, it clung to the south bank of the platte, passing through plum creek and midway[ ]. at cottonwood springs the junction of the north and south branches of the platte was reached. from here the course moved steadily westward, through fremont's springs, o'fallon's bluffs, alkali, beauvais ranch, and diamond springs to julesburg, on the south fork of the platte. here the stream was forded and the rider then followed the course of lodge pole creek in a northwesterly direction to thirty mile ridge. thence he journeyed to mud springs, court-house rock, chimney rock, and scott's bluffs to fort laramie. from this point he passed through the foot-hills to the base of the rockies, then over the mountains through south pass and to fort bridger. then to salt lake city, camp floyd, ruby valley, mountain wells, across the humboldt river in nevada to bisbys', carson city, and to placerville, california; thence to folsom and sacramento. here the mail was taken by a fast steamer down the sacramento river to san francisco. a large part of this route traversed the wildest regions of the continent. along the entire course there were but four military posts and they were strung along at intervals of from two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty miles from each other. over most of the journey there were only small way stations to break the awful monotony. topographically, the trail covered nearly six hundred miles of rolling prairie, intersected here and there by streams fringed with timber. the nature of the mountainous regions, the deserts, and alkali plains as avenues of horseback travel is well understood. throughout these areas the men and horses had to endure such risks as rocky chasms, snow slides, and treacherous streams, as well as storms of sand and snow. the worst part of the journey lay between salt lake city and sacramento, where for several hundred miles the route ran through a desert, much of it a bed of alkali dust where no living creature could long survive. it was not merely these dangers of dire exposure and privation that threatened, for wherever the country permitted of human life, indians abounded. from the platte river valley westward, the old route sped over by the pony express is today substantially that of the union pacific and southern pacific railroads. in california, the region most benefited by the express, the opening of the line was likewise awaited with the keenest anticipation. of course there had been at the outset a few dissenting opinions, the gist of the opposing sentiment being that the indians would make the operation of the route impossible. one newspaper went so far as to say that it was "simply inviting slaughter upon all the foolhardy young men who had been engaged as riders". but the california spirit would not down. a vast majority of the people favored the enterprise and clamored for it; and before the express had been long in operation, all classes were united in the conviction that they could not do without it. at san francisco and sacramento, then the two most important towns in the far west, great preparations were made to celebrate the first outgoing and incoming mails. on april rd, at the same hour the express started from st. joseph[ ], the eastbound mail was placed on board a steamer at san francisco and sent up the river, accompanied by an enthusiastic delegation of business men. on the arrival of the pouch and its escort at sacramento, the capital city, they were greeted with the blare of bands, the firing of guns, and the clanging of gongs. flags were unfurled and floral decorations lined the streets. that night the first rider for the east, harry roff, left the city on a white broncho. he rode the first twenty miles in fifty-nine minutes, changing mounts once. he next took a fresh horse at folsom and pushed on fifty-five miles farther to placerville. here he was relieved by "boston," who carried the mail to friday station, crossing the sierras en route. next came sam hamilton who rode through geneva, carson city, dayton, and reed's station to fort churchill, seventy-five miles in all. this point, one hundred and eighty-five miles out of sacramento had been reached in fifteen hours and twenty minutes, in spite of the sierra divide where the snow drifts were thirty feet deep and where the company had to keep a drove of pack mules moving in order to keep the passageway clear. from fort churchill into ruby valley went h. j. faust; from ruby valley to shell creek the courier was "josh" perkins; then came jim gentry who carried the mail to deep creek, and he was followed by "let" huntington who pushed on to simpson's springs. from simpson's to camp floyd rode john fisher, and from the latter place major egan carried the mail into salt lake city, arriving april , at : p. m.[ ] the obstacles to fast travel had been numerous because of snow in the mountains, and stormy spring weather with its attendant discomfort and bad going. yet the schedule had been maintained, and the last seventy-five miles into salt lake city had been ridden in five hours and fifteen minutes. at that time placerville and carson city were the terminals of a local telegraph line. news had been flashed back from carson on april that the rider had passed that point safely. after that came an anxious wait until april when the arrival of the west-bound express announced that all was well. the first trip of the pony express westbound from st. joseph to sacramento was made in nine days and twenty-three hours. east-bound, the run was covered in eleven days and twelve hours. the average time of these two performances was barely half that required by the butterfield stage over the southern route. the pony had clipped ten full days from the schedule of its predecessor, and shown that it could keep its schedule--which was as follows: from st. joseph to salt lake city-- hours. from salt lake city to carson city-- hours, from starting point. from carson city to sacramento-- hours, from starting point. from sacramento to san francisco-- hours, from starting point. from the very first trip, expressions of genuine appreciation of the new service were shown all along the line. the first express which reached salt lake city eastbound on the night of april , led the deseret news, the leading paper of that town to say that: "although a telegraph is very desirable, we feel well-satisfied with this achievement for, the present." two days later, the first west-bound express bound from st. joseph reached the mormon capital. oddly enough this rider carried news of an act to amend a bill just proposed in the united states senate, providing that utah be organized into nevada territory under the name and leadership of the latter[ ]. many of the mormons, like numerous persons in california, had at first believed the pony express an impossibility, but now that it had been demonstrated wholly feasible, they were delighted with its success, whether it brought them good news or bad; for it had brought utah within six days of the missouri river and within seven days of washington city. prior to this, under the old stage coach régime, the people of that territory had been accustomed to receive their news of the world from six weeks to three months old. probably no greater demonstrations were ever held in california cities than when the first incoming express arrived. its schedule having been announced in the daily papers a week ahead, the people were ready with their welcome. at sacramento, as when the pony mail had first come up from san francisco, practically the whole town turned out. stores were closed and business everywhere suspended. state officials and other citizens of prominence addressed great crowds in commemoration of the wonderful achievement. patriotic airs were played and sung and no attempt was made to check the merry-making of the populace. after a hurried stop to deliver local mail, the pouch was rushed aboard the fast sailing steamer antelope, and the trip down the stream begun. although san francisco was not reached until the dead of night, the arrival of the express mail was the signal for a hilarious reception. whistles were blown, bells jangled, and the california band turned out. the city fire department, suddenly aroused by the uproar, rushed into the street, expecting to find a conflagration, but on recalling the true state of affairs, the firemen joined in with spirit. the express courier was then formally escorted by a huge procession from the steamship dock to the office of the alta telegraph, the official western terminal, and the momentous trip had ended. the first pony express from st. joseph brought a message of congratulation from president buchanan to governor downey of california, which was first telegraphed to the missouri river town. it also brought one or two official government communications, some new york, chicago, and st. louis newspapers, a few bank drafts, and some business letters addressed to banks and commercial houses in san francisco--about eighty-five pieces of mail in all[ ]. and it had brought news from the east only nine days on the road. at the outset, the express reduced the time for letters from new york to the coast from twenty-three days to about ten days. before the line had been placed in operation, a telegraph wire, allusion to which has been made, had been strung two hundred and fifty miles eastward from san francisco through sacramento to carson city, nevada. important official business from washington was therefore wired to st. joseph, then forwarded by pony rider to carson city where it was again telegraphed to sacramento or san francisco as the case required, thus saving twelve or fifteen hours in transmission on the last lap of the journey. the usual schedule for getting dispatches from the missouri river to the coast was eight days, and for letters, ten days. after the triumphant first trip, when it was fully evident that the pony express[ ] was a really established enterprise, the st. joseph free democrat broke into the following panegyric: take down your map and trace the footprints of our quadrupedantic animal: from st. joseph on the missouri to san francisco, on the golden horn--two thousand miles--more than half the distance across our boundless continent; through kansas, through nebraska, by fort kearney, along the platte, by fort laramie, past the buttes, over the rocky mountains, through the narrow passes and along the steep defiles, utah, fort bridger, salt lake city, he witches brigham with his swift ponyship--through the valleys, along the grassy slopes, into the snow, into sand, faster than thor's thialfi, away they go, rider and horse--did you see them? they are in california, leaping over its golden sands, treading its busy streets. the courser has unrolled to us the great american panorama, allowed us to glance at the homes of one million people, and has put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes. verily the riding is like the riding of jehu, the son of nimshi for he rideth furiously. take out your watch. we are eight days from new york, eighteen from london. the race is to the swift. the pony express had been tried at the tribunal of popular opinion and given a hearty endorsement. it had yet to win the approval of shrewd statesmanship. [ ] root and connelley's overland stage to california. [ ] so called because it was about half way between the missouri river and denver. [ ] reports as to the precise hour of starting do not all agree. it was probably late in the afternoon or early in the evening, no later than : . [ ] authorities differ somewhat as to the personnel of the first trip; also as to the number of letters carried. [ ] on account of the mormon outbreak and the troubles of - , there was at this time much ill-feeling in congress against utah. matters were finally smoothed out and the bill in question was of course dropped. utah was loyal to the union throughout the civil war. [ ] eastbound the first rider carried about seventy letters. [ ] the idea of a pony express was not a new one in . marco polo relates that genghis khan, ruler of chinese tartary had such a courier service about one thousand years ago. this ambitious monarch, it is said, had relay stations twenty-five miles apart, and his riders sometimes covered three hundred miles in twenty-four hours. about a hundred years back, such a system was in vogue in various countries of europe. early in the nineteenth century before the telegraph was invented, a new york newspaper man named david hale used a pony express system to collect state news. a little later, in , a rival publisher, richard haughton, political editor of the new york journal of commerce borrowed the same idea. he afterward founded the boston atlas, and by making relays of fast horses and taking advantage of the services offered by a few short lines of railroad then operating in massachusetts, he was enabled to print election returns by nine o'clock on the morning after election. this idea was improved by james w. webb, editor of the new york courier and enquirer, a big daily of that time. in , webb organized an express rider line between new york and washington. this undertaking gave his paper much valuable prestige. in , hale and hallock of the journal of commerce started a rival line that enabled them to publish washington news within forty-eight hours, thus giving their paper a big "scoop" over all competitors. papers in norfolk, va., two hundred and twenty-nine miles south-east of washington actually got the news from the capitol out of the new york journal of commerce received by the ocean route, sooner than news printed in washington could be sent to norfolk by boat directly down the potomac river. the california pony express of historic fame was imitated on a small scale in by the rocky mountain news of denver, then, as now, one of the great newspapers of the west. at that time, this enterprising daily owned and published a paper called the miner's record at tarryall, a mining community some distance out of denver. the news also had a branch office at central city, forty-five miles up in the mountains. as soon as information from the war arrived over the california pony express and by stage out of old julesburg from the missouri river--denver was not on the pony express route--it was hurried to these outlying points by fast horsemen. thanks to this enterprise, the miners in the heart of the rockies could get their war news only four days late.--root and connelley. chapter iv operation, equipment, and business on entering the service of the central overland california and pike's peak express company, employees of the pony express were compelled to take an oath of fidelity which ran as follows: "i, ----, do hereby swear, before the great and living god, that during my engagement, and while i am an employe of russell, majors & waddell, i will, under no circumstances, use profane language; that i will drink no intoxicating liquors; that i will not quarrel or fight with any other employe of the firm, and that in every respect i will conduct myself honestly, be faithful to my duties, and so direct all my acts as to win the confidence of my employers. so help me god."[ ] it is not to be supposed that all, nor any considerable number of the pony express men were saintly, nor that they all took their pledge too seriously. judged by present-day standards, most of these fellows were rough and unconventional; some of them were bad. yet one thing is certain: in loyalty and blind devotion to duty, no group of employees will ever surpass the men who conducted the pony express. during the sixteen months of its existence, the riders of this wonderful enterprise, nobly assisted by the faithful station-keepers, travelled six hundred and fifty thousand miles, contending against the most desperate odds that a lonely wilderness and savage nature could offer, with the loss of only a single mail. and that mail happened to be of relatively small importance. only one rider was ever killed outright while on duty. a few were mortally wounded, and occasionally their horses were disabled. yet with the one exception, they stuck grimly to the saddle or trudged manfully ahead without a horse until the next station was reached. with these men, keeping the schedule came to be a sort of religion, a performance that must be accomplished--even though it forced them to play a desperate game the stakes of which were life and death. many station men and numbers of riders while off duty were murdered by indians. they were martyrs to the cause of patriotism and a newer and better civilization. yet they were hirelings, working for good wages and performing their duties in a simple, matter-of-fact way. their heroism was never a self-conscious trait. the riders were young men, seldom exceeding one hundred and twenty-five pounds in weight. youthfulness, nerve, a wide experience on the frontier and general adaptability were the chief requisites for the pony express business. some of the greatest frontiersmen of the latter 'sixties and the 'seventies were trained in this service, either as pony riders or station men. the latter had even a more dangerous task, since in their isolated shacks they were often completely at the mercy of indians. that only one rider was ever taken by the savages was due to the fact that the pony men rode magnificent horses which invariably outclassed the indian ponies in speed and endurance. the lone man captured while on duty was completely surrounded by a large number of savages on the platte river in nebraska. he was shot dead and though his body was not found for several days, his pony, bridled and saddled, escaped safely with the mail which was duly forwarded to its destination. that far more riders were killed or injured while off duty than when in the saddle was due solely to the wise precaution of the company in selecting such high-grade riding stock. and it took the best of horseflesh to make the schedule. the riders dressed as they saw fit. the average costume consisted of a buckskin shirt, ordinary trousers tucked into high leather boots, and a slouch hat or cap. they always went armed. at first a spencer carbine was carried strapped to the rider's back, besides a sheath knife at his side. in the saddle holsters he carried a pair of colt's revolvers. after a time the carbines were left off and only side arms taken along. the carrying of larger guns meant extra weight, and it was made a rule of the company that a rider should never fight unless compelled to do so. he was to depend wholly upon speed for safety. the record of the service fully justified this policy. while the horses were of the highest grade, they were of mixed breed and were purchased over a wide range of territory. good results were obtained from blooded animals from the missouri valley, but considerable preference was shown for the western-bred mustangs. these animals were about fourteen hands high and averaged less than nine hundred pounds in weight. a former blacksmith for the company who was at one time located at seneca, kansas, recalls that one of these native ponies often had to be thrown and staked down with a rope tied to each foot before it could be shod. then, before the smith could pare the hoofs and nail on the shoes, it was necessary for one man to sit astride the animal's head, and another on its body, while the beast continued to struggle and squeal. to shoe one of these animals often required a half day of strenuous work. as might be expected, the horse as well as rider traveled very light. the combined weight of the saddle, bridle and saddle bags did not exceed thirteen pounds. the saddle-bag used by the pony rider for carrying mail was called a mochila; it had openings in the center so it would fit snugly over the horn and tree of the saddle and yet be removable without delay. the mochila had four pockets called cantinas in each of its corners one in front and one behind each of the rider's legs. these cantinas held the mail. all were kept carefully locked and three were opened en route only at military posts--forts kearney, laramie, bridger, churchill and at salt lake city. the fourth pocket was for the local or way mail-stations. each local station-keeper had a key and could open it when necessary. it held a time-card on which a record of the arrival and departure at the various stations where it was opened, was kept. only one mochila was used on a trip; it was transferred by the rider from one horse to another until the destination was reached. letters were wrapped in oil silk to protect them from moisture, either from stormy weather, fording streams, or perspiring animals. while a mail of twenty pounds might be carried, the average weight did not exceed fifteen pounds. the postal charges were at first, five dollars for each half-ounce letter, but this rate was afterward reduced by the post office department to one dollar for each half ounce. at this figure it remained as long as the line was in business. in addition to this rate, a regulation government envelope costing ten cents, had to be purchased. patrons generally made use of a specially light tissue paper for their correspondence. the large newspapers of new york, boston, chicago, st. louis, and san francisco were among the best customers of the service. some of the eastern dailies even kept special correspondents at st. joseph to receive and telegraph to the home office news from the west as soon as it arrived. on account of the enormous postage rates these newspapers would print special editions of civil war news on the thinnest of paper to avoid all possible mailing bulk. mr. frank a. root of topeka, kansas, who was assistant postmaster and chief clerk in the post office at atchison during the last two months of the line's existence, in , says that during that period the express, which was running semi-weekly, brought about three hundred and fifty letters each trip from california[ ]. many of these communications were from government and state officials in california and oregon, and addressed to the federal authorities at washington, particularly to senators and representatives from these states and to authorities of the war department. a few were addressed to abraham lincoln, president of the united states. a large number of these letters were from business and professional men in portland, san francisco, oakland, and sacramento, and mailed to firms in the large cities of the east and middle west. not to mention the rendering of invaluable help to the government in retaining california at the beginning of the war, the pony express was of the greatest importance to the commercial interests of the west. the line was frequently used by the british government in forwarding its asiatic correspondence to london. in , a report of the activities of the english fleet off the coast of china was sent through from san francisco eastward over this route. for the transmission of these dispatches that government paid one hundred and thirty-five dollars pony express charges. nor did the commercial houses of the pacific coast cities appear to mind a little expense in forwarding their business letters. mr. root says there would often be twenty-five one dollar "pony" stamps and the same number of government stamps--a total in postage of twenty-seven dollars and fifty cents--on a single envelope. not much frivolity passed through these mails. pony express riders received an average salary of from one hundred dollars to one hundred and twenty-five dollars a month. a few whose rides were particularly dangerous or who had braved unusual dangers received one hundred and fifty dollars. station men and their assistants were paid from fifty to one hundred dollars monthly. of the eighty riders usually in the service, half were always riding in either direction, east and west. the average "run" was seventy-five miles, the men going and coming over their respective divisions on each succeeding day. yet there were many exceptions to this rule, as will be shown later. at the outset, although facilities for shorter relays had been provided, it was planned to run each horse twenty-five miles with an average of three horses to the rider; but it was soon found that a horse could rarely continue at a maximum speed for so great a distance. consequently, it soon became the practice to change mounts every ten or twelve miles or as nearly that as possible. the exact distance was governed largely by the nature of the country. while this shortening of the relay necessitated transferring the mochila many more times on each trip, it greatly facilitated the schedule; for it was at once seen that the average horse or pony in the express service could be crowded to the limit of its speed over the reduced distance. one of the station-keeper's most important duties was to have a fresh horse saddled and bridled a half hour before the express was due. only two minutes time was allowed for changing mounts. the rider's approach was watched for with keen anxiety. by daylight he could generally be seen in a cloud of dust, if in the desert or prairie regions. if in the mountains, the clear air made it possible for the station men to detect his approach a long way off, provided there were no obstructions to hide the view. at night the rider would make his presence known by a few lusty whoops. dashing up to the station, no time was wasted. the courier would already have loosed his mochila, which he tossed ahead for the keeper to adjust on the fresh horse, before dismounting. a sudden reining up of his foam-covered steed, and "all's well along the road, hank!" to the station boss, and he was again mounted and gone, usually fifteen seconds after his arrival. nor was there any longer delay when a fresh rider took up the "run." situated at intervals of about two hundred miles were division points[ ] in charge of locally important agents or superintendents. here were kept extra men, animals, and supplies as a precaution against the raids of indians, desperadoes, or any emergency likely to arise. division agents had considerable authority; their pay was as good as that received by the best riders. they were men of a heroic and even in some instances, desperate character, in spite of their oath of service. in certain localities much infested with horse thievery and violence it was necessary to have in charge men of the fight-the-devil-with-fire type in order to keep the business in operation. noted among this class of division agents, with headquarters at the platte crossing near fort kearney, was jack slade[ ], who, though a good servant of the company, turned out to be one of the worst "bad" men in the history of the west. he had a record of twenty-six "killings" to his credit, but he kept his division thoroughly purged of horse thieves and savage marauders, for he knew how to "get" his man whenever there was trouble. the schedule was at first fixed at ten days for eight months of the year and twelve days during the winter season, but this was soon lowered to eight and ten days respectively. an average speed of ten miles an hour including stops had to be maintained on the summer schedule. in the winter the run was sustained at eight miles an hour; deep snows made the latter performance the more difficult of the two. the best record made by the pony express was in getting president lincoln's inaugural speech across the continent in march, . this address, outlining as it did the attitude of the new chief executive toward the pending conflict, was anticipated with the deepest anxiety by the people on the pacific coast. evidently inspired by the urgency of the situation, the company determined to surpass all performances. horses were led out, in many cases, two or three miles from the stations, in order to meet the incoming riders and to secure the supreme limit of speed and endurance on this momentous trip. the document was carried through from st. joseph to sacramento-- miles--in just seven days and seventeen hours, an average speed of ten and six-tenths miles an hour. and this by flesh and blood, pounding the dirt over the plains, mountains, and deserts! the best individual performance on this great run was by "pony bob" haslam who galloped the one hundred and twenty miles from smith's creek to fort churchill in eight hours and ten minutes, an average of fourteen and seven-tenths miles per hour. on this record-breaking trip the message was carried the six hundred and seventy-five miles between st. joseph and denver[ ] in sixty-nine hours; the last ten miles of this leg of the journey being ridden in thirty-one minutes. today, but few overland express trains, hauled by giant locomotives over heavy steel rails on a rock-ballasted roadbed average more than thirty miles per hour between the missouri and the pacific coast. the news of the election of lincoln in november , and president buchanan's last message a month later were carried through in eight days. late in the winter and early in the spring of , just prior to the beginning of the war, many good records were made with urgent government dispatches. news of the firing upon fort sumter was taken through in eight days and fourteen hours. from then on, while the pony express service continued, the business men and public officials of california began giving prize money to the company, to be awarded those riders who made the best time carrying war news. on one occasion they raised a purse of three hundred dollars for the star rider when a pouch containing a number of chicago papers full of information from the south arrived at sacramento a day ahead of schedule. that these splendid achievements could never have been attained without a wonderful degree of enthusiasm and loyalty on the part of the men, scarcely needs asserting. the pony riders were highly respected by the stage and freight employees--in fact by all respectable men throughout the west. nor were they honored merely for what they did; they were the sort of men who command respect. to assist a rider in any way was deemed a high honor; to do aught to retard him was the limit of wrong-doing, a woeful offense. on the first trip west-bound, the rider between folsom and sacramento was thrown, receiving a broken leg. shortly after the accident, a wells fargo stage happened along, and a special agent of that company, who chanced to be a passenger, seeing the predicament, volunteered to finish the run. this he did successfully, reaching sacramento only ninety minutes late. such instances are typical of the manly cooperation that made the pony express the true success that it was. mark twain, who made a trip across the continent in has left this glowing account[ ] of a pony and rider that he saw while traveling overland in a stage coach: we had a consuming desire from the beginning, to see a pony rider; but somehow or other all that passed us, and all that met us managed to streak by in the night and so we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone before we could get our heads out of the windows. but now we were expecting one along every moment, and would see him in broad daylight. presently the driver exclaims: "here he comes!" every neck is stretched further and every eye strained wider away across the endless dead level of the prairie, a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. well i should think so! in a second it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling--sweeping toward us nearer and nearer growing more and more distinct, more and more sharply defined--nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of hoofs comes faintly to the ear--another instant a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hands but no reply and man and horse burst past our excited faces and go winging away like the belated fragment of a storm! so sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for a flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether we had seen any actual horse and man at all, maybe. [ ] this was the same pledge which the original firm had required of its men. both russell, majors, and waddell, and the c. o. c. and p. p. exp. co., which they incorporated, adhered to a rigid observance of the sabbath. they insisted on their men doing as little work as possible on that day, and had them desist from work whenever possible. and they stuck faithfully to these policies. probably no concern ever won a higher and more deserved reputation for integrity in the fulfillment of its contracts and for business reliability than russell, majors, and waddell. [ ] exact figures are not obtainable for the west bound mail but it was probably not so heavy. at this time--sept., --the telegraph had been extended from the missouri to fort kearney, nebraska, and letter pouches from the pony express were sent by overland stage from kearney to atchison. messages of grave concern were wired as soon as this station was reached. [ ] these were executive divisions and not to be confused with the riders' divisions. the latter were merely the stations separating each man's "run." [ ] slade was afterward hanged by vigilantes in virginia city, montana. the authentic story of his life surpasses in romance and tragedy most of the pirate tales of fiction. [ ] the dispatch was taken from the main line to the colorado capital by special service. denver, it will be remembered, was not on the regular "pony route," which ran north of that city. there was then no telegraph in operation west of the missouri river in kansas or nebraska. [ ] roughing it. chapter v california and the secession menace when the southern states withdrew, a conspiracy was on foot to force california out of the union, and organize a new republic of the pacific with the sierra madre and the rocky mountains for its eastern boundary. this proposed commonwealth, when once erected, and when it had subjugated all union men in the west who dared oppose it, would eventually unite with the confederacy; and in event of the latter's success--which at the opening of the war to many seemed certain--the territory of the confederate states of america would embrace the entire southwest, and stretch from the atlantic to the pacific. aside from its general plans, the exact details of this plot are of course impossible to secure. but that the conspiracy existed has never been disproved. that the rebel sympathizers in california were plotting, as soon as the war began, to take the presidio at the entrance to the golden gate, together with the forts on alcatraz island, the custom house, the mint, the post office, and all united states property, and then having made the formation of their republic certain, invade the mexican state of sonora and annex it to the new commonwealth, has never been gainsaid. that these conspiracies existed and were held in grave seriousness is revealed by the official correspondence of that time. that they had been fomenting for many months is apparently revealed by this additional fact: during buchanan's administration, john b. floyd, a southern man who gave up his position to fight for the confederacy, was secretary of war. when the rebellion started, it was found[ ] that floyd, while in office, had removed , firearms, together with much ammunition and heavy ordnance, from the big government arsenal at springfield, massachusetts, and distributed them at various points in the south and southwest. of this number, fifty thousand[ ] were sent to california where twenty-five thousand muskets had already been stored. and all this was done underhandedly, without the knowledge of congress. california was unfortunate in having as a representative in the united states senate at this time, william gwin, also a man of southern birth who had cast his fortunes in the golden state at the outset, when the gold boom was on. until secession was imminent, gwin served his adopted state well enough. his encouragement of the pony express enterprise has already been pointed out. it is doubtful if he were statesman enough to have foreseen the significant part this organization was to play in the early stages of the war. otherwise his efforts in its behalf must have been lacking--though the careers of political adventurers like gwin are full of strange inconsistencies[ ]. speaking in the senate, on december , , gwin declared, that he believed that "all slave holding states of this confederacy can establish a separate and independent government that will be impregnable to the assaults of all foreign enemies." he further went on to show that they had the power to do it, and asserted that if the southern states went out of the union, "california would be with the south." then, as a convincing proof of his duplicity, he had these pro-rebel statements stricken from the official report of his speech, that his constituents might not take fright, and perhaps spoil some of the designs which he and his scheming colleagues had upon california. of course these remarks reached the ears of his constituents anyhow, and though prefaced by a studied evasiveness on his part, they contributed much to the feeling of unrest and insecurity that then prevailed along the coast. it is of course a well-known fact that california never did secede, and that soon after the war began, she swung definitely and conclusively into the union column. the danger of secession was wholly potential. yet potential dangers are none the less real. had it not been for the determined energies of a few loyalists in california, led by general e. a. sumner and cooperating with the federal government by means of the swiftest communication then possible--the pony express--history today, might read differently. now to turn once more to the potential dangers[ ] that made the california crisis a reality. about three-eighths of the population were of southern descent and solidly united in sympathy for the confederate states. this vigorous minority included upwards of sixteen thousand knights of the golden circle, a pro-confederate secret organization that was active and dangerous in all the doubtful states in winning over to the southern cause those who feebly protested loyalty to the union but who opposed war. many of these "knights" were prosperous and substantial citizens who, working under the guise of their local respectability, exerted a profound influence. here then, at the outset, was a vigorous and not a small minority, whose influence was greatly out of proportion to their numbers because of their zeal; and who would have seized the balance of power unless held in check by an aroused union sentiment and military intimidation. another class of men to be feared was a small but powerful group representing much wealth, a financial class which proverbially shuns war because of the expense which war involves; a class that always insists upon peace, even at the cost of compromised honor. these men, with the influence which their money commanded, would inevitably espouse the side that seemed the most likely of speedy success; and in view of the early successes of the confederate armies and the zealous proselytizing of rebel sympathizers in their midst they were a potential risk to loyal california. the native spanish or mexican classes then numerically strong in that state, were appealed to by the anti-unionists from various cunning approaches, chief of which was the theory that the many real estate troubles and complicated land titles by which they had been annoyed since the separation from old mexico in , would be promptly adjusted under confederate authority. while nearly all these natives were ignorant, many held considerable property and they in turn influenced their poorer brethren. chimerical as this argument may sound, it had much weight. another group of persons also large potentially and a serious menace when proselyted by the apostles of rebellion, were the squatters and trespassers who were occupying land to which they had no lawful right. many of these men were reckless; some had already been entangled in the courts because of their false land claims. hence their attitude toward the existing government was ugly and defiant. yet they were now assured that they might remain on their lands forever undisturbed, under a rebel régime. added to all these sources of danger was the attitude of the thousands of well-meaning people--who, regardless of rebel solicitation, were at first indifferent. they thought that the great distance which separated them from the seat of war made it a matter of but little importance whether california aroused herself or not. they were of course counseling neutrality as the easiest way of avoiding trouble. turning now to the forces, moral, military, and political, that were working to save california--first there was a loyal newspaper press, which saw and followed its duty with unflinching devotion. it firmly held before the people the loyal responsibility of the state and declared that the ties of union were too sacred to be broken. it was the moral duty of the people to remain loyal. it truthfully asserted that california's influence in the federal union should be an example for other states to follow. if the idea of a pacific republic were repudiated by their own citizens, such action would discourage secession elsewhere and be a great moral handicap to that movement. and the press further pointed out with convincing clearness, that should the union be dissolved, the project for a pacific railroad[ ] with which the future of the commonwealth was inevitably committed, would likely fail. aroused by the moral importance of its position, the state legislature, early in the winter of - , had passed a resolution of fidelity to the union, in which it declared "that california is ready to maintain the rights and honor of the national government at home and abroad, and at all times to respond to any requisitions that may be made upon her to defend the republic against foreign or domestic foes." succeeding events proved the genuineness of this resolve. in the early spring of , the war department sent general edwin a. sumner to take command of the military department of the pacific with headquarters at san francisco, supplanting general albert sidney johnston who resigned to fight for the south. this was a most fortunate appointment, as sumner proved a resourceful and capable official, ideally suited to meet the crisis before him. nor does this reflect in any way upon the superb soldierly qualities of his predecessor. johnston was no doubt too manly an officer to take part in the romantic conspiracies about him. he was every inch a brave soldier who did his fighting in the open. like robert e. lee, he joined the confederacy in conscientious good faith, and he met death bravely at shiloh in april, . sumner was a man of action and he faced the situation squarely. to him, california and the nation will always be indebted. one of his first decisive acts was to check the secession movement in southern california by placing a strong detachment of soldiers at los angeles. this force proved enough to stop any incipient uprisings in that part of the state. some of the disturbing element in this district then moved over into nevada where cooperation was made with the pro-confederate men there. the nevada rebel faction had made considerable headway by assuring unsuspecting persons that it was acting on the authority of the confederate government. on june , , the rebel flag was unfurled at virginia city. again sumner acted. he immediately sent a federal force to garrison fort churchill, and a body of men under major blake and captain moore seized all arms found in the possession of suspected persons. a rebel militia company with four hundred men enrolled and one hundred under arms was found and dispersed by the federals. this decisive action completely stopped any uprisings across the state line, uprisings which might easily have spread into california. in the meantime, under general sumner's direction, soldiers had been enlisted and were being rapidly drilled for any emergency. the war department, on being advised of this available force, at once sent the following dispatch, which, with those that follow are typical of the correspondence which the pony express couriers were now rushing across the continent toward and from washington. telegraph and pony express. adjutant-general's office. washington, july , . brigadier general sumner, commanding department of the pacific. one regiment of infantry and five companies of cavalry have been accepted from california to aid in protecting the overland mail route via salt lake. please detail officers to muster these troops into service. blanks will be sent by steamer. by order: george d. ruggles. assistant adjutant general. while recognizing the great need of extending proper military protection to the mail route, it must have been disheartening to sumner and the loyalists to see this force ordered into service outside the state. for now, late in the summer of , the time of national crisis--the californian trouble was approaching its climax. on july , the union army had been beaten at bull run and driven back, a rabble of fugitives, into the panic stricken capital. then came weeks and months of delay and uncertainty while the overcautious mcclellan sought to build up a new military machine. the entire north was overspread with gloom; the confederates were jubilant and full of self-confidence. in california the psychological situation was similar but even more acute, for encouraged by confederate success, the rebel faction became bolder than ever, and openly planned to win the state election to be held on september . if successful at the polls, the reins of organized political power would pass into its hands and a secession convention would be a direct possibility. and to intensify the danger was the confirmed indifference or stubbornness of many citizens who seemed to place petty personal differences before the interests of the state and nation at large. as is well known, lincoln and the federal government accepted the defeat at bull run calmly, and set about with grim determination to whip the south at any cost. the president asked congress for four hundred thousand men and was voted five hundred thousand. in pursuance of such policies, these urgent dispatches were hurried across the country: war department. washington, august , . hon. john g. downey, governor of california, sacramento city, cal. please organize, equip, and have mustered into service, at the earliest date possible, four regiments of infantry and one regiment of cavalry, to be placed at the disposal of general sumner. simon cameron, secretary of war. by telegraph to fort kearney and thence by pony express and telegraph. war department, august , . hon. john g. downey, governor of california, sacramento city, cal. in filling the requisition given you august th, for five regiments, please make general j. h. carleton of san francisco, colonel of a cavalry regiment, and give him proper authority to organize as promptly as possible. simon cameron, secretary of war. telegraph and pony express and telegraph. the work of enlisting the five thousand men thus requisitioned was carried forward with great rapidity. within two weeks, on the th, the pony express brought word that the war department was about to order this force overland into texas, to act, no doubt, as a barrier to the advancing confederate armies who were then planning an invasion of new mexico as the first decisive step in carrying the conflict into the heart of the southwest. it was understood, further, that general sumner would be ordered to vacate his position as commander of the department of the pacific and lead his recruits into the service. to the authorities at washington, a campaign of aggression with western troops had no doubt seemed the best means of defending california and adjacent territory from confederate attack. to the unionists of california, the report that their troops and sumner were to leave the state spelt extreme discouragement. they had felt some degree of hope and security so long as organized forces were in their midst, and the presence of sumner everywhere inspired confidence among discouraged patriots. to be deprived of their soldiers was bad enough; to lose sumner was intolerable. accordingly, a formal petition protesting against this action, was drawn up, addressed to the war department, and signed by important firms and prominent business men of san francisco[ ]. in this petition they said among other things, that the war department probably was not aware of the real state of affairs in california, and they openly requested that the order, be rescinded. they declared that a majority of the california state officers were out-and-out secessionists and that the others were at least hostile to the administration and would accept a peace policy at any sacrifice. they were suspicious of the governor's loyalty and declared that, "every appointment made by our governor within the last three months, unmistakably indicates his entire sympathy and cooperation with those plotting to sever california from her allegiance to the union, and that, too, at the hazard of civil war."[ ] continuing at detailed length, the petitioners spoke of the great effort being put forth by the secession element to win the forthcoming election. whereas their opponents were united, the union party was divided into a douglas and a republican faction. should the anti-unionists triumph, they declared there were reasons to expect not merely the loss of california to the union ranks but internecine strife and fratricidal murders such as were then ravaging the missouri and kansas border. the petition then pointed out the truly great importance of california to the union, and asserted that no precaution leading to the preservation of her loyalty should be overlooked. it was a thousand times easier to retain a state in allegiance than to overcome disloyalty disguised as state authority. the best way to check treasonable activities was to convince traitors of their helplessness. the petitioners further declared that to deprive california of needed united states military support just then, would be a direct encouragement to traitors. an ounce of precaution was worth a pound of cure. the loyalists triumphed in the state election on september , , and on that date the california crisis was safely passed. the contest, to be sure, had revealed about twenty thousand anti-union voters in the state, but the success of the union faction restored their feeling of self-confidence. the pendulum had at last swung safely in the right direction, and henceforth california could be and was reckoned as a loyal asset to the union. such expressions of disloyalty as her secessionists continued to disclose, were of a sporadic and flimsy nature, never materializing into a formidable sentiment; and, adding to their discouragement, the failure of the confederate invasion of new mexico in , was no doubt an important factor in suppressing any further open desires for secession. sumner was not called east until the october following the election. his removal of course caused keen regret along the coast; but colonel george wright, his successor in charge of the department of the pacific, proved a masterful man and in every way equal to the situation. in the long run, colonel wright probably was as satisfactory to the loyal people of california as general sumner had been. the five thousand troops were not detailed for duty in the south. like the first detachment of fifteen hundred, their efforts were directed mainly to protecting the overland mails and guarding the frontier[ ]. throughout this crisis, news was received twice a week by the pony express, and, be it remembered, in less than half the time required by the old stage coach. of its services then, no better words can be used than those of hubert howe bancroft. it was the pony to which every one looked for deliverance; men prayed for the safety of the little beast, and trembled lest the service should be discontinued. telegraphic dispatches from washington and new york were sent to st. louis and thence to fort kearney, whence the pony brought them to sacramento where they were telegraphed to san francisco. great was the relief of the people when hole's bill for a daily mail service was passed and the service changed from the southern to the central route, as it was early in the summer. * * * yet after all, it was to the flying pony that all eyes and hearts were turned. the pony express was a real factor in the preservation of california to the union. [ ] bancroft. [ ] ibid. [ ] after the war had started, gwin deserted california and the union and joined the confederacy. when this power was broken up, he fled to mexico and entered the service of maximilian, then puppet emperor of that unfortunate country. maximilian bestowed an abundance of hollow honors upon the renegade senator, and made him duke of the province of sonora, which region gwin and his clique had doubtless coveted as an integral part of their projected "republic of the pacific." because of this empty title, the nickname, "duke," was ever afterward given him. when maximilian's soap bubble monarchy had disappeared, gwin finally returned to california where he passed his old age in retirement. [ ] senate documents. [ ] all parties in california were unanimous in their desire for a transcontinental railroad. no political faction there could receive any support unless it strongly endorsed this project. [ ] the signers of this petition were: robert c. rogers, macondray & co., jno. sime & co., j. b. thomas, w. w. stow, horace p. james, geo. f. bragg & co., flint, peabody & co., wm. b. johnston, d. o. mills, h. m. newhall & co., henry schmildell, murphy grant & co., wm. t. coleman & co., dewitt kittle & co., richard m. jessup, graves williams & buckley, donohoe, ralston & co., h. m. nuzlee, geo. c. shreve & co., peter danahue, kellogg, hewston & co., moses ellis & co., r. d. w. davis & co., l. b. beuchley & co., wm. a. dana, jones, dixon & co., j. y. halleck & co., forbes & babcock, a. t. lawton, geo. j. brooks & co., jno. b. newton & co., chas. w. brooks & co., james patrick & co., locke & montague, janson, bond & co., jennings & brewster, treadwell & co., william alvord & co., shattuck & hendley, randall & jones, j. b. weir & co., b. c. hand & co., o. h. giffin & bro., dodge & shaw, tubbs & co., j. whitney, jr., c. adolph low & co., haynes & lawton, j. d. farnell, c. e. hitchcock, geo. howes & co., sam merritt, jacob underhill & co., morgan stone & co., j. w. brittan, t. h. & j. s. bacon, r. b. swain & co., fargo & co., nathaniel page, stevens baker & co., a. e. brewster & co., fay, brooks & backus, wm. norris, and e. h. parker. (above data taken from government secret correspondence. ordered printed by the second session of the th congress in , senate document no. .) [ ] in the writer's judgment, these charges against governor downey were prejudicial and unjust. [ ] during the war of the rebellion, california raised , troops, more than the whole united states army had been at the commencement of hostilities. practically all these soldiers were assigned to routine and patrol duty in the far west, such as keeping down indian revolts, and garrisoning forts, as a defense against any uprising of indians, or protection against confederate invasion. the exceptions were the california hundred, and the california four hundred, volunteer detachments who went east of their own accord and won undying honors in the thick of the struggle. chapter vi riders and famous rides bart riles, the pony rider, died this morning from wounds received at cold springs, may . the men at dry creek station have all been killed and it is thought those at robert's creek have met with the same fate. six pike's peakers found the body of the station keeper horribly mutilated, the station burned, and all the stock missing from simpson's. eight horses were stolen from smith's creek on last monday, supposedly by road agents. the above are random extracts from frontier newspapers, printed while the pony express was running. the express could never have existed on its high plane of efficiency, without an abundance of coolheaded, hardened men; men who knew not fear and who were expert--though sometimes in vain--in all the wonderful arts of self-preservation practiced on the old frontier. that these employees could have performed even the simplest of their duties, without stirring and almost incredible adventures, it is needless to assert. the faithful relation of even a considerable number of the thrilling experiences to which the "pony" men were subjected would discount fiction. yet few of these adventures have been recorded. today, after a lapse of over fifty years, nearly all of the heroes who achieved them have gone out on that last long journey from which no man returns. while history can pay the tribute of preserving some anecdotes of them and their collective achievements, it must be forever silent as to many of their personal acts of heroism. while lasting praise is due the faithful station men who, in their isolation, so often bore the murderous attacks of indians and bandits, it is, perhaps, to the riders that the seeker of romance is most likely to turn. it was the riders' skill and fortitude that made the operation of the line possible. both riders and hostlers shared the same privations, often being reduced to the necessity of eating wolf meat and drinking foul or brackish water. while each rider was supposed to average seventy-five miles a trip, riding from three to seven horses, accidents were likely to occur, and it was not uncommon for a man to lose his way. such delays meant serious trouble in keeping the schedule, keyed up, as it was, to the highest possible speed. it was confronting such emergencies, and in performing the duties of comrades who had been killed or disabled while awaiting their turns to ride, that the most exciting episodes took place. among the more famous riders[ ] was jim moore who later became a ranchman in the south platte valley, nebraska. moore made his greatest ride on june , . he happened to be at midway station, half way between the missouri river and denver, when the west-bound messenger arrived with important government dispatches to california. moore "took up the run," riding continuously one hundred and forty miles to old julesburg, the end of his division. here he met the eastbound messenger, also with important missives, from the coast to washington. by all the rules of the game moore should have rested a few hours at this point, but his successor, who would have picked up the pouch and started eastward, had been killed the day before. the mail must go, and the schedule must be sustained. without asking any favors of the man who had just arrived from the west, moore resumed the saddle, after a delay of only ten minutes, without even stopping to eat, and was soon pounding eastward on his return trip. he made it, too, in spite of lurking indians, hunger and fatigue, covering the round trip of two hundred and eighty miles in fourteen hours and forty-six minutes an average speed of over eighteen miles an hour. furthermore, his west-bound mail had gone through from st. joseph to sacramento on a record-making run of eight days and nine hours. william james, always called "bill" james, was a native of virginia. he had crossed the plains with his parents in a wagon train when only five years old. at eighteen, he was one of the best pony express riders in the service. james's route lay between simpson's park and cole springs, nevada, in the smoky valley range of mountains. he rode only sixty miles each way but covered his round trip of one hundred and twenty miles in twelve hours, including all stops. he always rode california mustangs, using five of these animals each way. his route crossed the summits of two mountain ridges, lay through the shoshone indian country, and was one of the loneliest and most dangerous divisions on the line. yet "bill" never took time to think about danger, nor did he ever have any serious trouble. theodore rand rode the pony express during the entire period of its organization. his run was from box elder to julesburg, one hundred and ten miles and he made the entire distance both ways by night. his schedule, night run though it was, required a gait of ten miles an hour, but rand often made it at an average of twelve, thus saving time on the through schedule for some unfortunate rider who might have trouble and delay. originally, rand used only four or five horses each way, but this number, in keeping with the revised policy of the company, was afterward doubled, an extra mount being furnished him every twelve or fifteen miles. johnnie frey who has already been mentioned as the first rider out of st. joseph, was little more than a boy when he entered the pony service. he was a native missourian, weighing less than one hundred and twenty-five pounds. though small in stature, he was every inch a man. frey's division ran from st. joseph to seneca, kansas, eighty miles, which he covered at an average of twelve and one half miles an hour, including all stops. when the war started, frey enlisted in the union army under general blunt. his short but worthy career was cut short in when he fell in a hand-to-hand fight with rebel bushwhackers in arkansas. in this, his last fight, frey is said to have killed five of his assailants before being struck down. jim beatley, whose real name was foote, was another virginian, about twenty-five years of age. he rode on an eastern division, usually west out of seneca. on one occasion, he traveled from seneca to big sandy, fifty miles and back, doubling his route twice in one week. beatley was killed by a stage hand in a personal quarrel, the affair taking place on a ranch in southern nebraska in . william boulton was one of the older riders in the service; his age at that time is given at about thirty-five. boulton rode for about three months with beatley[ ]. on one occasion, while running between seneca and guittards', boulton's horse gave out when five miles from the latter station. without a moment's delay, he removed his letter pouch and hurried the mail in on foot, where a fresh horse was at once provided and the schedule resumed. melville baughn, usually known as "mel," had a pony run between fort kearney and thirty-two-mile creek. once while "laying off" between trips, a thief made off with his favorite horse. scarcely had the miscreant gotten away when baughn discovered the loss. hastily saddling another steed, "mel" gave pursuit, and though handicapped, because the outlaw had the pick of the stable, baughn's superior horsemanship, even on an inferior mount, soon told. after a chase of several miles, he forced the fellow so hard that he abandoned the stolen animal at a place called loup fork, and sneaked away. recovering the horse, baughn then returned to his station, found a mail awaiting him, and was off on his run without further delay. with him and his fellow employes, running down a horse thief was but a trifling incident and an annoyance merely because of the bother and delay which it necessitated. baughn was afterward hanged for murder at seneca, but his services to the pony express were above reproach. another eastern division man was jack keetly, who also rode from st. joseph to seneca, alternating at times with frey and baughn. keetley's greatest performance, and one of the most remarkable ever achieved in the service, was riding from rock creek to st. joseph; then back to his starting point and on to seneca, and from seneca once more to rock creek--three hundred and forty miles without rest. he traveled continuously for thirty-one hours, his entire run being at the rate of eleven miles an hour. during the last five miles of his journey, he fell asleep in the saddle and in this manner concluded his long trip. don c. rising, who afterwards settled in northern kansas, was born in painted post, steuben county, new york, in , and came west when thirteen years of age. he rode in the pony service nearly a year, from november, , until the line was abandoned the following october, most of his service being rendered before he was seventeen. much of his time was spent running eastward out of fort kearney until the telegraph had reached that point and made the operation of the express between the fort and st. joseph no longer necessary. on two occasions, rising is said to have maintained a continuous speed of twenty miles an hour while carrying important dispatches between big sandy and rock creek. one rider who was well known as "little yank" was a boy scarcely out of his teens and weighing barely one hundred pounds. he rode along the platte river between cottonwood springs and old julesburg and frequently made one hundred miles on a single trip. another man named hogan, of whom little is known, rode northwesterly out of julesburg across the platte and to mud springs, eighty miles. jimmy clark rode between various stations east of fort kearney, usually between big sandy and hollenburg. sometimes his run took him as far west as liberty farm on the little blue river. james w. brink, or "dock" brink as he was known to his associates, was one of the early riders, entering the employ of the pony express company in april, . while "dock" made a good record as a courier, his chief fame was gained in a fight at rock creek station, in which brink and wild bill[ ] "cleaned out" the mccandless gang of outlaws, killing five of their number. charles cliff had an eighty-mile pony run when only seventeen years of age, but, like brink, young cliff gained his greatest reputation as a fighter,--in his case fighting indians. it seems that while cliff was once freighting with a small train of nine wagons, it was attacked by a party of one hundred sioux indians and besieged for three days until a larger train approached and drove the redskins away. during the conflict, cliff received three bullets in his body and twenty-seven in his clothing, but he soon recovered from his injuries, and was afterward none the less valuable to the pony express service. j. g. kelley, later a citizen of denver, was a veteran pony man. he entered the employ of the company at the outset, and helped superintendent roberts to lay out the route across nevada. along the carson river, tiresome stretches of corduroy road had to be built. kelley relates that in constructing this highway willow trees were cut near the stream and the trunks cut into the desired lengths before being laid in place. the men often had to carry these timbers in their arms for three hundred yards, while the mosquitoes swarmed so thickly upon their faces and hands as to make their real color and identity hard to determine. at the sink of the carson[ ], a great depression of the river on its course through the desert, kelley assisted in building a fort for protecting the line against indians. here there were no rocks nor timber, and so the structure had to be built of adobe mud. to get this mud to a proper consistency, the men tramped it all day with their bare feet. the soil was soaked with alkali, and as a result, according to kelley's story, their feet were swollen so as to resemble "hams." they next erected a fort at sand springs, twenty miles from carson lake, and another at cold springs, thirty-two miles east of sand springs. at cold springs, kelley was appointed assistant station-keeper under jim mcnaughton. an outbreak of the pah-ute indians was now in progress, and as the little station was in the midst of the disturbed area, there was plenty of excitement. one night while kelley was on guard his attention was attracted by the uneasiness of the horses. gazing carefully through the dim light, he saw an indian peering over the outer wall or stockade. the orders of the post were to shoot every indian that came within range, so kelley blazed away, but missed his man. in the morning, many tracks were found about the place. this wild shot had probably frightened the prowlers away, saving the station from attack, and certain destruction. during this same morning, a mexican pony rider came in, mortally wounded, having been shot by the savages from ambush while passing through a dense thicket in the vicinity known as quaking asp bottom. although given tender care, the poor fellow died within a few hours after his arrival. the mail was waiting and it must go. kelley, who was the lightest man in in the place--he weighed but one hundred pounds--was now ordered by the boss to take the dead man's place, and go on with the dispatches. this he did, finishing the run without further incident. on his return trip he had to pass once more through the aspen thicket where his predecessor had received his death wound. this was one of the most dangerous points on the entire trail, for the road zigzagged through a jungle, following a passage-way that was only large enough to admit a horse and rider; for two miles a man could not see more than thirty or forty feet ahead. kelley was expecting trouble, and went through like a whirlwind, at the same time holding a repeating rifle in readiness should trouble occur. on having cleared the thicket, he drew rein on the top of a hill, and, looking back over his course, saw the bushes moving in a suspicious manner. knowing there was no live stock in that locality and that wild game rarely abounded there, he sent several shots in the direction of the moving underbrush. the motion soon ceased, and he galloped onward, unharmed. a few days later, two united states soldiers, while traveling to join their command, were ambushed and murdered in the same thicket. this was about the time when major ormsby's command was massacred by the utes in the disaster at pyramid lake[ ], and the indians everywhere in nevada were unusually aggressive and dangerous. there were seldom more than three or four men in the little station and it is remarkable that kelley and his companions were not all killed. one of kelley's worst rides, in addition to the episode just related, was the stretch between cold springs and sand springs for thirty-seven miles without a drop of water along the way. once, while dashing past a wagon train of immigrants, a whole fusillade of bullets was fired at kelley who narrowly escaped with his life. of course he could not stop the mail to see why he had been shot at, but on his return trip he met the same crowd, and in unprintable language told them what he thought of their lawless and irresponsible conduct. the only satisfaction he could get from them in reply was the repeated assertion, "we thought you was an indian!"[ ] nor was kelley the only pony rider who took narrow chances from the guns of excited immigrants. traveling rapidly and unencumbered, the rider, sunburned and blackened by exposure, must have borne on first glance no little resemblance to an indian; and especially would the mistake be natural to excited wagon-men who were always in fear of dashing attacks from mounted indians--attacks in which a single rider would often be deployed to ride past the white men at utmost speed in order to draw their fire. then when their guns were empty a hidden band of savages would make a furious onslaught. it was the established rule of the west in those days, in case of suspected danger, to shoot first, and make explanations afterward; to do to the other fellow as he would do to you, and do it first! added to the perils of the wilderness deserts, blizzards, and wild indians--the pony riders, then, had at times to beware of their white friends under such circumstances as have been narrated. and that added to the tragical romance of their daily lives. yet they courted danger and were seldom disappointed, for danger was always near them. [ ] root and connelley. [ ] pony riders often alternated "runs" with each other over their respective divisions in the same manner as do railroad train crews at the present time. [ ] "wild bill" hickock was one of the most noted gun fighters that the west ever produced. as marshal of abilene, kansas, and other wild frontier towns he became a terror to bad men and compelled them to respect law and order when under his jurisdiction. probably no man has ever equaled him in the use of the six shooter. numerous magazine articles describing his career can be found. [ ] inman & cody, salt lake trail. [ ] bancroft. [ ] indians would sometimes gaze in open-mouthed wonder at the on-rushing ponies. to some of them, the "pony outfit" was "bad medicine" and not to be molested. there was a certain air of mystery about the wonderful system and untiring energy with which the riders followed their course. unfortunately, a majority of the red men were not always content to watch the express in simple wonder. they were too frequently bent upon committing deviltry to refrain from doing harm whenever they had a chance. chapter vii anecdotes of the trail and honor roll no detailed account of the pony express would be complete without mentioning the adventures of robert haslam, in those days called "pony bob," and william f. cody, who is known to fame and posterity as "buffalo bill." haslam's banner performance came about in a matter-of-fact way, as is generally the case with deeds of heroism. on a certain trip during the ute raids mentioned in the last chapter, he stopped at reed's station on the carson river in nevada, and found no change of horses, since all the animals had been appropriated by the white men of the vicinity for a campaign against the indians. haslam therefore fed the horse he was riding, and after a short rest started for bucklands[ ], the next station which was fifteen miles down the river. he had already ridden seventy-five miles and was due to lay off at the latter place. but on arriving, his successor, a man named johnson richardson, was unable or indisposed to go on with the mail[ ]. it happened that division superintendent w. c. marley was at bucklands when haslam arrived, and, since richardson would not go on duty, marley offered "pony bob" fifty dollars bonus if he would take up the route. haslam promptly accepted the proposal, and within ten minutes was off, armed with a revolver and carbine, on his new journey. he at first had a lonesome ride of thirty-five miles to the sink of the carson. reaching the place without mishap, he changed mounts and hurried on for thirty-seven miles over the alkali wastes and through the sand until he came to cold springs. here he again changed horses and once more dashed on, this time for thirty miles without stopping, till smith's creek was reached where he was relieved by j. g. kelley. "bob" had thus ridden one hundred and eighty-five miles without stopping except to change mounts. at smith's creek he slept nine hours and then started back with the return mail. on reaching cold springs once more, he found himself in the midst of tragedy. the indians had been there. the horses had been stolen. all was in ruins. nearby lay the corpse of the faithful station-keeper. small cheer for a tired horse and rider! haslam watered his steed and pounded ahead without rest or refreshment. before he had covered half the distance to the next station, darkness was falling. the journey was enshrouded with danger. on every side were huge clumps of sage-bush which would offer excellent chances for savages to lie in ambush. the howling of wolves added to the dolefulness of the trip. and haunting him continuously was the thought of the ruined little station and the stiffened corpse behind him. but pony riders were men of courage and nerve, and bob was no exception. he arrived at sand springs safely; but here there was to be no rest nor delay. after reporting the outrage he had just seen, he advised the station man of his danger, and, after changing horses, induced the latter to accompany him on to the sink of the carson, which move doubtless saved the latter's life. reaching the carson, they found a badly frightened lot of men who had been attacked by the indians only a few hours previously. a party of fifteen with plenty of arms and ammunition had gathered in the adobe station, which was large enough also to accommodate as, many horses. nearby was a cool spring of water, and, thus fortified, they were to remain, in a state of siege, if necessary, until the marauders withdrew from that vicinity. of course they implored haslam to remain with them and not risk his life venturing away with the mail. but the mail must go; and the schedule, hard as it was, must be maintained. "bob" had no conception of fear, and so he galloped away, after an hour's rest. and back into bucklands he came unharmed, after having suffered only three and a half hours of delay. superintendent marley, who was still present when the daring rider returned, at once raised his bonus from fifty to one hundred dollars. nor was this all of haslam's great achievement. the west-bound mail would soon arrive, and there was nobody to take his regular run. so after resting an hour and a half, he resumed the saddle and hurried back along his old trail, over the sierras to friday's station. then "bob" rested after having ridden three hundred and eighty miles with scarcely eleven hours of lay-off, and within a very few hours of regular schedule time all the way. in speaking of this performance afterwards, haslam[ ] modestly admitted that he was "rather tired," but that "the excitement of the trip had braced him up to stand the journey." the most widely known of all the pony riders is william f. cody--usually called "bill," who in early life resided in kansas and was raised amid the exciting scenes of frontier life. cody had an unusually dangerous route between red buttes and three crossings. the latter place was on the sweetwater river, and derived its name from the fact that the stream which followed the bed of a rocky cañon, had to be crossed three times within a space of sixty yards. the water coming down from the mountains, was always icy cold and the current swift, deep, and treacherous. the whole bottom of the cañon was often submerged, and in attempting to follow its course along the channel of the stream, both horse and rider were liable to plunge at any time into some abysmal whirlpool. besides the excitement which the three crossings and an indian country furnished, cody's trail ran through a region that was often frequented by desperadoes. furthermore, he had to ford the north platte at a point where the stream was half a mile in width and in places twelve feet deep. though the current was at times slow, dangers from quicksand were always to be feared on these prairie rivers. cody, then but a youth, had to surmount these obstacles and cover his trip at an average of fifteen miles an hour. cody entered the pony express service just after the line had been organized. at julesburg he met george chrisman, an old friend who was head wagon-master for russell, majors, and waddell's freighting department. chrisman was at the time acting as an agent for the express line, and, out of deference to the youth, he hired him temporarily to ride the division then held by a pony man named trotter. it was a short route, one of the shortest on the system, aggregating only forty-five miles, and with three relays of horses each way. cody, who had been accustomed to the saddle all his young life, had no trouble in following the schedule, but after keeping the run several weeks, the lad was relieved by the regular incumbent, and then went east, to leavenworth, where he fell in with another old friend, lewis simpson, then acting as wagon boss and fitting up at atchison a wagon train of supplies for the old stage line at fort laramie and points beyond. acting through simpson, cody obtained a letter of recommendation from mr. russell, the head of the firm, addressed to jack slade, superintendent of the division between julesburg and rocky ridge, with headquarters at horseshoe station, thirty-six miles west of fort laramie, in what is now wyoming. armed with this letter, young cody accompanied simpson's wagon-train to laramie, and soon found superintendent slade. the superintendent, observing the lad's tender years and frail stature, was skeptical of his ability to serve as a pony rider; but on learning that cody was the boy who had already given satisfactory service as a substitute some months before, at once engaged him and assigned him to the perilous run of seventy-six miles between red buttes and three crossings. for some weeks all went well. then, one day when he reached his terminal at three crossings, cody found that his successor who was to have taken the mail out, had been killed the night before. as there was no extra rider available, it fell to young cody to fill the dead courier's place until a successor could be procured. the lad was undaunted and anxious for the added responsibility. within a moment he was off on a fresh horse for rocky ridge, eighty-five miles away. notwithstanding the dangers and great fatigue of the trip, cody rode safely from three crossings to his terminal and returned with the eastbound mail, going back over his own division and into red buttes without delay or mishap--an aggregate run of three hundred and twenty-two miles. this was probably the longest continuous performance without formal rest period in the history of this or any other courier service. not long afterward, cody was chased by a band of sioux indians while making one of his regular trips. the savages were armed with revolvers, and for a few minutes made it lively for the young messenger. but the superior speed and endurance of his steed soon told; lying flat on the animal's neck, he quickly distanced his assailants and thundered into sweetwater, the next station, ahead of schedule. here he found--as so often happened in the history of the express service--that the place had been raided, the keeper slain, and the horses driven off. there was nothing to do but drive his tired pony twelve miles further to ploutz station, where he got a fresh horse, briefly reported what he had observed, and completed his run without mishap. on another occasion[ ] it became mysteriously rumored that a certain pony express pouch would carry a large sum of currency. knowing that there was great likelihood of some bandits or "road agents" as they were commonly called getting wind of the consignment and attempting a holdup, cody hit upon a little emergency ruse. he provided himself with an extra mochila which he stuffed with waste papers and placed over the saddle in the regular position. the pouch containing the currency was hidden under a special saddle blanket. with his customary revolver loaded and ready, cody then started. his suspicions were soon confirmed, for on reaching a particularly secluded spot, two highwaymen stepped from concealment, and with leveled rifles compelled the boy to stop, at the same time demanding the letter pouch. holding up his hands as ordered, cody began to remonstrate with the thugs for robbing the express, at the same time declaring to them that they would hang for their meanness if they carried out their plans. in reply to this they told cody that they would take their own chances. they knew what he carried and they wanted it. they had no particular desire to harm him, but unless he handed over the pouch without delay they would shoot him full of holes, and take it anyhow. knowing that to resist meant certain death cody began slowly to unfasten the dummy pouch, still protesting with much indignation. finally, after having loosed it, he raised the pouch and hurled it at the head off the nearest outlaw, who dodged, half amused at the young fellow's spirit. both men were thus taken slightly off their guard, and that instant the rider acted like a flash. whipping out his revolver, he disabled the farther villain; and before the other, who had stooped to recover the supposed mail sack, could straighten up or use a weapon, cody dug the spurs into his horse, knocked him down, rode over him and was gone. before the half-stunned robber could recover himself to shoot, horse and rider were out of range and running like mad for the next station, where they arrived ahead of schedule. the following is a partial list, so far as is known[ ], of the men who rode the pony express and contributed to the lasting fame of the enterprise: baughn, melville beatley, jim "boston" boulton, william brink, james w. burnett, john bucklin, jimmy carr, william carrigan, william cates, bill clark, jimmy cliff, charles cody, william f. egan, major ellis, j. k. faust, h. j. fisher, john frey, johnnie gentry, jim gilson, jim hamilton, sam haslam, robert hogan (first name missing) huntington, let "irish tom" james, william jenkins, will d. kelley, jay g. keetley, jack "little yank" martin, bob mccall, j. g. mcdonald, james mcnaughton, jim moore, jim perkins, josh rand, theodore richardson, johnson riles, bart rising, don c. roff, harry spurr, george thacher, george towne, george wallace, henry westcott, dan zowgaltz, jose. many of these men were rough and unlettered. many died deaths of violence. the bones of many lie in unknown graves. some doubtless lie unburied somewhere in the great west, in the winning of which their lives were lost. yet be it always remembered, that in the history of the american nation they played an important part. they were bold-hearted citizen knights to whom is due the honors of uncrowned kings. [ ] afterwards named fort churchill. this ride took place in the summer of . [ ] some reports say that richardson was stricken with fear. that he was probably suffering from overwrought nerves, resulting from excessive risks which his run had involved, is a more correct inference. this is the only case on record of a pony messenger failing to respond to duty, unless killed or disabled. [ ] after the california pony express was abandoned, bob rode for wells fargo & co., between friday's station and virginia city, nevada, a distance of one hundred miles. he seems to have enjoyed horseback riding, for he made this roundtrip journey in twenty-four hours. when the central pacific r. r. was built, and this pony line abandoned, haslam rode for six months a twenty-three mile division between virginia city and reno, traveling the distance in less than one hour. to accomplish this feat, he used a relay of fifteen horses. he was afterwards transfered to idaho where he continued in a similar capacity on a one hundred mile run before quitting the service for a less exciting vocation. [ ] inman & cody, salt lake trail. [ ] root and connelley's overland stage to california. chapter viii early overland mail routes in the history of overland transportation in america, the pony express is but one in a series of many enterprises. as emphasized at the beginning of this book, its importance lay in its opportuneness; in the fact that it appeared at the psychological moment, and fitted into the course of events at a critical period, prior to the completion of the telegraph; and when some form of rapid transit between the missouri river and the pacific coast was absolutely needed. to give adequate setting to this story, a brief account of the leading overland routes, of which the pony express was but one, seems proper. before the middle of the nineteenth century, three great thoroughfares had been established from the missouri, westward across the continent. these were the santa fe, the salt lake, and the oregon trails. all had important branches and lesser stems, and all are today followed by important railroads--a splendid testimonial to the ability of the pioneer pathfinders in selecting the best routes. of these trails, that leading to santa fe was the oldest, having been fully established before . the salt lake and oregon routes date some twenty years later, coming into existence in the decade between and . it is incidentally with the salt lake trail that the story of the pony express mainly deals. the mormon settlement of utah in - , followed almost immediately by the discovery of gold in california, led to the first mail route[ ] across the country, west of the missouri. this was known as the "great salt lake mail," and the first contract for transporting it was let july , , to samuel h. woodson of independence, missouri. by terms of this agreement, woodson was to haul the mail monthly from independence on the missouri river to salt lake city, twelve hundred miles, and return. woodson later arranged with some utah citizens to carry a mail between salt lake city and fort laramie, the service connecting with the independence mail at the former place. this supplementary line was put into operation august , . in the early fifties, while the california gold craze was still on, a monthly route was laid out between sacramento and salt lake city[ ]. this service was irregular and unreliable; and since the growing population of california demanded a direct overland route, a four year monthly contract was granted to w. f. mcgraw, a resident of maryland. his subsidy from congress was $ , . a year. in those days it often took a month to get mail from independence to salt lake city, and about six weeks for the entire trip. although mcgraw charged $ . fare for each passenger to salt lake city, and $ . to california, he failed, in . the unexpired contract was then let to the mormon firm of kimball & co., and they kept the route in operation until the mormon troubles of when the government abrogated the agreement. in the summer of , general albert sidney johnston, later of civil war fame, was sent out with a federal army of five thousand men to invade utah. after a rather fruitless campaign, johnston wintered at fort bridger, in what is southwestern wyoming, not far from the utah line. during this interval, army supplies were hauled from fort leavenworth with only a few way stations for changing teams. this improvised line, carrying mail occasionally, which went over the old mormon trail via south pass, and forts kearney, laramie, and bridger, was for many months the only service available for this entire region. the next contract for getting mail into utah was let in to john m. hockaday of missouri. johnston's army was then advancing from winter quarters at bridger toward the valley of great salt lake, and the government wanted mail oftener then once a month. in consideration of $ , . annually which was to be paid in monthly installments, hockaday agreed to put on a weekly mail. this route, which ran from st. joseph to salt lake city, was later combined with a line that had been running from salt lake to sacramento, thus making a continuous weekly route to and from california. for the combined route the government paid $ , . annually. its actual yearly receipts were $ , . . the discovery of gold in the vicinity of denver in the summer of caused another wild excitement and a great rush which led to the establishment in the summer of of the leavenworth and pike's peak express, from the missouri to denver. as then traveled, this route was six hundred and eighty-seven miles in length. the line as operated by russell, majors, and waddell, and that same year they took over hockaday's business. as has already been stated, the new firm of pony express fame--called the central overland california and pike's peak express co.--consolidated the old california line, which had been run in two sections, east and west, with the denver line. in addition to the pony express it carried on a big passenger and freighting business to and from denver and california. turning now to the lines that were placed in commission farther south. the first overland stage between santa fe and independence was started in may, . this was also a monthly service, and by it was fully equipped with the famous concord coaches, which vehicles were soon to be used on every overland route in the west. within five years, this route, which was eight hundred fifty miles in length and followed the santa fe trail, now the route of the atchison, topeka, and santa fe railroad, had attained great importance. the government finally awarded it a yearly subsidy of $ , . , but as the trail had little or no military protection except at fort union, new mexico, and for hundreds of miles was exposed to the attacks of prairie indians, the contractors complained because of heavy losses and sought relief of the post office and war departments. finally they were released from their old contract and granted a new one paying $ , . annually, but even then they fell behind $ , . per year. by special act passed august , , congress laid out a monthly mail route from neosho, missouri, to albuquerque, new mexico, with an annual subsidy of $ , . . since the mexican war this region had come to be of great commercial and military importance. a little later, in march , the route was changed by the government to run monthly from independence and kansas city, missouri, to stockton, california, via albuquerque, and the contractors were awarded a yearly bonus of $ , . this line was also a financial failure. the early overland routes were granted large subsidies and the privilege of charging high rates for passengers and freight. to the casual observer it may seem strange that practically all these lines operated at a disastrous loss. it should be noted however, that they covered an immense territory, many portions of which were occupied by hostile indians. it is no easy task to move military forces and supplies thousands of miles through a wilderness. furthermore, the indians were elusive and hard to find when sought by a considerable force. they usually managed to attack when and where they were least expected. consequently, if protection were secured at all, it usually fell to the lot of the stage companies to police their own lines, which was expensive business. often they waged, single-handed, indian campaigns of considerable importance, and the frontiersmen whom they could assemble for such duty were sometimes more effective than the soldiers who were unfamiliar with the problems of indian warfare. added to these difficulties were those incident to severe weather, deep snow, and dangerous streams, since regular highways and bridges were almost unknown in the regions traversed. not to mention the handicap and expense which all these natural obstacles entailed, business on many lines was light, and revenues low. news from washington about the creation of the new territory of utah--in september --was not received in salt lake city until january . the report reached utah by messenger from california, having come around the continent by way of the isthmus of panama. the winters of - , and - were frightfully severe and such expensive delays were not uncommon. the november mail of was compelled to winter in the mountains. in the winter of - no steady service could be maintained between salt lake city and missouri on account of bad weather. finally, after a long delay, the postmaster at salt lake city contracted with the local firm of little, hanks, and co., to get a special mail to and from independence. this was accomplished, but the ordeal required seventy-eight days, during which men and animals suffered terribly from cold and hunger. the firm received $ , . for its trouble. the salt lake route returned to the government a yearly income of only $ , . . the route from independence to stockton, which cost uncle sam $ , . a year, collected in nine months only $ , . in postal revenues, whereupon it was abolished july st, . by the close of there were at least six different mail routes across the continent from the missouri to the pacific coast. they were costing the government a total of $ , , . and returning $ , . . the most expensive of these lines was the new york and new orleans steamship company route, which ran semi-monthly from new york to san francisco via panama. this service cost $ , . annually and brought in $ , . . while the steamship people did not have the frontier dangers to confront them, they were operating over a roundabout course, several thousand miles in extent, and the volume of their postal business was simply inadequate to meet the expense of maintaining their business[ ]. the steamer schedule was about four weeks in either direction, and the rapidly increasing population of california soon demanded, in the early fifties, a faster and more frequent service. agitation to that end was thus started, and during the last days of pierce's administration, in march , the "overland mail" bill was passed by congress and signed by the president. this act provided that the postmaster-general should advertise for bids until june following: "for the conveyance of the entire letter mail from such point on the mississippi river as the contractors may select to san francisco, cal., for six years, at a cost not exceeding $ , per annum for semi-monthly, $ , for weekly, or $ , for semi-weekly service to be performed semi-monthly, weekly, or semi-weekly at the option of the postmaster-general." the specifications also stipulated a twenty-five day schedule, good coaches, and four-horse teams. bids were opened july , . nine were submitted, and most of them proposed starting from st. louis, thence going overland in a southwesterly direction usually via albuquerque. only one bid proposed the more northerly central route via independence, fort laramie, and salt lake. the postoffice department was opposed to this trail, and its attitude had been confirmed by the troubles of winter travel in the past. in fact this route had been a failure for six consecutive winters, due to the deep snows of the high mountains which it crossed. on july , , the postmaster general announced the acceptance of bid no. " , " which stipulated a forked route from st. louis, missouri and from memphis, tennessee, the lines converging at little rock, arkansas. thence the course was by way of preston, texas; or as nearly as might be found advisable, to the best point in crossing the rio grande above el paso, and not far from fort filmore; thence along the new road then being opened and constructed by the secretary of the interior to fort yuma, california; thence through the best passes and along the best valleys for safe and expeditious staging to san francisco. on september is following, a six year contract was let for this route. the successful firm at once became known as the "butterfield overland mail company." among the firm members were john butterfield, wm. b. dinsmore, d. n. barney, wm. g. fargo and hamilton spencer. the extreme length of the route agreed upon from st. louis to san francisco was two thousand seven hundred and twenty-nine miles; the most southern point was six hundred miles south of south pass on the old salt lake route. because of the out-of-the-way southern course followed, two and one half days more than necessary were nominally-required in making the journey. yet the postal authorities believed that this would be more than offset by the southerly course being to a great extent free from winter snows. on september , , after elaborate preparations, the overland mails started from san francisco and st. louis on the twenty-five day schedule--which was three days less than that of the water route. the postage rate was ten cents for each half ounce; the passenger fare was one hundred dollars in gold. the first trip was made in twenty-four days, and in each of the terminal cities big celebrations were held in honor of the event. and yet today, four splendid lines of railway cover this distance in about three days! these stages--to use the west-bound route as an illustration--traveled in an elliptical course through springfield, missouri, and fayetteville, arkansas, to van buren, arkansas, where the memphis mail was received. continuing in a southwesterly course, they passed through indian territory and the choctaw indian reserve--now oklahoma--crossed the red river at calvert's ferry, then on through sherman, fort chadbourne and fort belknap, texas, through guadaloupe pass to el paso; thence up the rio grande river through the mesilla valley, and into western new mexico--now arizona to tucson. then the journey led up the gila river to arizona city, across the mojave desert in southern california and finally through the san joaquin valley to san francisco. today a traveler could cover nearly the same route, leaving st. louis over the frisco railroad, transferring to the texas pacific at fort worth, and taking the southern pacific at el paso for the remainder of the trip. as has been shown, the outbreak of the civil war in the spring of made it necessary for the federal government to transfer this big and important route further north to get it beyond the latitude of the confederacy. hence the southern route was formally abandoned[ ] on march , , and the equipment removed to the central or salt lake trail where a daily service was inaugurated. about three months was necessary to move all the outfits and in july , the first daily overland mail--running six times a week--was started between st. joseph and placerville, california, , miles by the way of forts kearney, bridger, and salt lake city. the hannibal and st. joseph railroad had been built into st. joseph and was doing business by february . for some time that city enjoyed the honor of being the eastern stage terminal; but within a year the railroad was extended to atchison, about twenty miles down the stream. the latter place is situated on a bend of the river fourteen miles west of st. joseph, and so the terminal honors soon passed to atchison since its westerly location shortened the haul. in transferring the butterfield line from the southern to the central route, it was merged with the central overland california and pike's peak express company which already included the leavenworth and pike's peak express company, under the leadership of general bela m. hughes. this line was known to the government as the central overland california route. as soon as the transfer was completed, through california stages were started on an eighteen day schedule a full week less time than had been required by the butterfield route, and ten days less than that of the panama steamers. this was the most famous of all the stage routes, and except for three interruptions, due to indian outbreaks in , , and , it did business continuously for several years. within a few months came another change of proprietorship, the route passing on a mortgage foreclosure into the hands of benjamin holladay, a famous stage line promoter, late in . early the following year holladay reorganized the management under the name of the overland stage line. this seems to have been what today is technically known as a holding company; for until the expiration of the old butterfield contract in [ ], he allowed the business east of salt lake city to be carried on by the old c. o. c. & p. p. co.; west of salt lake, the new overland line allowed, or sublet the through traffic to a vigorous subsidiary, the pioneer stage line[ ]. holladay was fortunate in securing a new mail contract for the central route which he now controlled. for supplying a six day letter mail service from the missouri to placerville together with a way mail to and from denver and salt lake city, he was paid $ , , a year for the three years beginning july , . at the expiration of this period he was to get $ , . in the meantime gold was discovered in idaho and montana, and holladay, encouraged by his big subsidy from the government, put stage lines into virginia city, montana, and boise city, idaho. in the butterfield overland despatch, an express and fast freight line, was started above the smoky hill route from topeka and leavenworth across kansas to denver. within a short time this organization, mainly because of the heavy expense caused by indian depredations, and was consolidated with the holladay company. just prior to this transfer, mr. holladay received from the colorado territorial legislature a charter for the "holladay overland mail and express company," which was the full and formal name of the new concern. this corporation now owned and controlled stage lines aggregating thirty-three hundred miles. it brought the service up to the highest point of efficiency and used only the best animals and vehicles it was possible to obtain. in addition to his federal mail bonus, holladay had the following rates for passenger traffic in force: in , from atchison to denver $ . in , from atchison to salt lake city $ . in , from atchison to placerville $ . in , on account of the rise of gold and the depreciation of currency, these rates were increased; the fare from the missouri river to denver was changed to $ . ; to salt lake $ . . the california rate varied from $ . to $ . . a year later the fare to virginia city, montana, was fixed at $ . and the rate to salt lake city reduced to $ . . these high rates and indian dangers did not seem to check the desire on the part of the public to make the overland trip. stages were almost always crowded, and it was usually necessary for one to apply for reservations several days in advance. late in the year , holladay's entire properties[ ] were purchased by wells fargo and co. this was a new concern, recently chartered by colorado, which had been quietly gaining power. within a short time it had exclusive control of practically all the stage, express, and freighting business in the west and this business it held. meanwhile the overland stage and freight lines were rapidly shortening on account of the building of the pacific railroads, and the terminals of the through routes became merely the temporary ends of the fast growing railway lines. by the early autumn of , the kansas pacific had reached junction city, kansas, and the union pacific was at fort kearney, nebraska. the golden era of the overland stage business was from to . after that, the old through routes were but fragments "between the tracks" of the central pacific and union pacific roads which were building east and west toward each other. wells fargo & co., however, clung to these fragments until the lines met on may th, , and a continuous transcontinental railroad was completed. then they turned their attention to organizing mountain stage and express lines in the railroadless regions of the west,--some of which still exist. and they also turned their energies to the railway express business, in which capacity this great firm, the last of the old stage companies, is now known the world over. [ ] authority for early mail routes is root and connelley's overland stage to california. [ ] the reader will keep in mind that during the early days of california history, practically all communication between that locality and the east was carried on by steamship from new york via panama. [ ] in june, , congress got into trouble with this company over postal compensations. the steamship company, it appears, thought its remuneration too low and it further protested that the diversion of mail traffic, due to the daily overland stage line and the pony express would reduce its revenues still further. congress finally adjourned without effecting a settlement, and the mail, which was far too heavy for the overland facilities to handle at that time, was piling up by the ton awaiting shipment. matters were getting serious when cornelius vanderbilt came to the government's relief and agreed to furnish steamer service until congress assembled in march, , provided the federal authorities would assure him "a fair and adequate compensation." this agreement was effected and the affair settled as agreed. at the expiration of the period, the war and the growing importance of the overland route made steamship service by way of the isthmus quite obsolete. [ ] the contractors are said to have been awarded $ , by the government for their trouble in haying the agreement broken. [ ] see page . holladay secured possession of the outfits of the c. o. c. & p. p. exp. co., between the missouri and salt lake city. [ ] the pioneer line which had recently come into power and prominence had gained possession of the equipment west of salt lake. this line was owned by louis and charles mclane. louis mclane afterward became president of the wells fargo express co. [ ] holladay is said to have received one million five hundred thousand dollars cash, and three hundred thousand dollars in express company stock for his interests. besides these amounts which covered only the animals, rolling stock, stations, and incidental equipment, wells fargo and co. had to pay full market value for all grain, hay and provisions along the line, amounting to nearly six hundred thousand dollars more. chapter ix passing of the pony express when edward creighton completed the pacific telegraph, and, on october , , began sending messages; by wire from coast to coast, the california pony express formally went out of existence. for over three months since july , it had been paralleled by the daily overland stage; yet the great efficiency of the semi-weekly pony line in offering quick letter service won and retained its popularity to the very end of its career. and this was in spite of the fact that for several weeks before its discontinuance the pony men had ridden only between the ends of the fast building telegraph which was constructed in two divisions--from the sierra nevada mountains and the missouri river--at the same time, the lines meeting near the great salt lake. the people of the far west strongly protested against the elimination of the pony line service. early in the winter of it became rumored--perhaps wildly--that the committee on finance in the house of representatives had, for reasons of economy, stricken out the appropriation for the continuance of the daily stage. whereupon the california legislature[ ] addressed a set of joint resolutions to the state's delegation in congress, imploring not only that the daily stage be retained, but that the pony express be reestablished. the stage was continued but the pony line was never restored. as a financial venture the pony express failed completely. to be sure, its receipts were sometimes heavy, often aggregating one thousand dollars in a single day. but the expenses, on the other hand, were enormous. although the line was so great a factor in the california crisis, and in assisting the federal government to retain the pacific coast, it was the irony of fate that congress should never give any direct relief or financial assistance to the pony service. so completely was this organization neglected by the government, in so far as extending financial aid was concerned, that its financial failure, as foreseen by messrs. waddell and majors, was certain from the beginning. the war department did issue army revolvers and cartridges to the riders; and the federal troops when available, could always be relied upon to protect the line. yet it was generally left to the initiative and resourcefulness of the company to defend itself as best it could when most seriously menaced by indians. the apparent apathy regarding this valuable branch of the postal service can of course be partially excused from the fact that the civil war was in absorbing all the energies which the government could summon to its command. and the war, furthermore, was playing havoc with our national finances and piling up a tremendous national debt, which made the extension of pecuniary relief to quasi-private operations of this kind, no matter how useful they were, a remote possibility. that the stage lines received the assistance they did, under such circumstances, is to be wondered at. yet it must be borne in mind that at the outset much of the political support necessary to secure appropriations for overland mail routes was derived from southern congressmen who were anxious for routes of communication with the west coast, especially if such routes ran through the southwest and linked the cotton-growing states with california. at the very beginning, it cost about one hundred thousand dollars to equip the pony express line in those days a very considerable outlay of capital for a private corporation. besides the purchase of more than four hundred high grade horses, it cost large sums of money to build and equip stations at intervals of every ten or twelve miles throughout the long route. the wages of eighty riders and about four hundred station men, not to mention a score of division superintendents was a large item. most of the grain used along the line between st. joseph and salt lake city was purchased in iowa and missouri and shipped in wagons at a freight rate of from ten cents to twenty cents a pound. grain and food stuffs for use between salt lake city and the sierras were usually bought in utah and hauled from two hundred to seven hundred miles to the respective stations. hay, gathered wherever wild grasses could be found and cured, often had to be freighted hundreds of miles. the operating expenses of the line aggregated about thirty thousand dollars a month, which would alone have insured a deficit as the monthly income never equaled that amount. a conspicuous bill of expense which helped to bankrupt the enterprise was for protection against the savages. while this should have been furnished by the government or the local state or territorial militia, it was the fate of the company to bear the brunt of one of the worst indian outbreaks of that decade. early in , shortly after the pony express was started, the pah-utes, mention of whom has already been made, began hostilities under their renowned chieftain old winnemucca. the uprising spread; soon the bannocks and shoshones espoused the cause of the utes, and the entire territory of nevada, eastern california and oregon was aflame with indian revolt. besides devastating many white settlements wherever they found them, the indians destroyed nearly every pony station between california and salt lake, murdered numbers of employes, and ran off scores of horses. for several weeks the service was paralyzed, and had it been in the hands of faint-hearted men it would have been ended then and there. the climax came with the defeat and massacre of major ormsby's force of about fifty men by the utes at the battle of pyramid lake in western nevada. help was finally sent in from a distance, and before the first of june, eight hundred men, including three hundred regulars and a large number of california and nevada volunteers, had taken the field. this formidable campaign finally served the double purpose of protecting the pony express and stage line and in subduing the indians in a primitive and effective manner. order was restored and the express service resumed on june . desultory outbreaks, of course, continued to menace the line and all forms of transportation for months afterwards. during this campaign, the local officers and employes of the express gave valiant service. it was remarkable that they could restore the line so quickly as they did. the total expense of this war to the company was $ , , caused by ruined and stolen property and outlays for military supplies incidental to the equipment of volunteers. this onslaught, coming so soon after the enterprise had begun, and when there was already so little encouragement that the line would ever pay out financially, must have disheartened less courageous men than russell, majors and waddell and their associates. it is to their everlasting credit that this group of men possessed the perseverance and patriotic determination to continue the enterprise, even at a certain loss, and in spite of federal neglect, until the telegraph made it possible to dispense with the fleet pony rider. not only did they stick bravely to their task of supplying a wonderful mail service to the country, but they even improved their service, increasing it from a weekly to a semi-weekly route, immediately after the disastrous raids of june, . nor did they hesitate at the instigation of the government a little later to reduce their postal rates from five dollars to one dollar a half ounce. this condensed statement shows the approximate deficit which the business incurred: to equip the line .....................................$ , maintenance at $ , per month (for sixteen months)..$ , war with the utes and allied tribes ................... $ , sundry items .......................................... $ , -------- total .................................................$ , the receipts are said to have been about $ , leaving a debit balance of $ , . that the company changed hands in is not surprising. while the pony express failed in a financial way; it had served the country faithfully and well. it had aided an imperiled government, helped to tranquilize and retain to the union a giant commonwealth, and it had shown the practicability of building a transcontinental railroad, and keeping it open for traffic regardless of winter snows. all this pony express did and more. it marked the supreme triumph of american spirit, of god-fearing, man-defying american pluck and determination--qualities which have always characterized the winning of the west. [ ] senate documents. university, alev akman, dianne bean, and carrie lorenz the old merchant marine, a chronicle of american ships and sailors by ralph d. paine contents i. colonial adventurers in little ships ii. the privateers of ' iii. out cutlases and board! iv. the famous days of salem port v. yankee vikings and new trade routes vi. "free trade and sailors' rights!" vii. the brilliant era of viii. the packet ships of the "roaring forties" ix. the stately clipper and her glory x. bound coastwise bibliographical note the old merchant marine chapter i. colonial adventurers in little ships the story of american ships and sailors is an epic of blue water which seems singularly remote, almost unreal, to the later generations. a people with a native genius for seafaring won and held a brilliant supremacy through two centuries and then forsook this heritage of theirs. the period of achievement was no more extraordinary than was its swift declension. a maritime race whose topsails flecked every ocean, whose captains courageous from father to son had fought with pike and cannonade to defend the freedom of the seas, turned inland to seek a different destiny and took no more thought for the tall ships and rich cargoes which had earned so much renown for its flag. vanished fleets and brave memories--a chronicle of america which had written its closing chapters before the civil war! there will be other yankee merchantmen in times to come, but never days like those when skippers sailed on seas uncharted in quest of ports mysterious and unknown. the pilgrim fathers, driven to the northward of their intended destination in virginia, landed on the shore of cape cod not so much to clear the forest and till the soil as to establish a fishing settlement. like the other englishmen who long before had steered across to harvest the cod on the grand bank, they expected to wrest a livelihood mostly from salt water. the convincing argument in favor of plymouth was that it offered a good harbor for boats and was "a place of profitable fishing." both pious and amphibious were these pioneers whom the wilderness and the red indian confined to the water's edge, where they were soon building ships to trade corn for beaver skins with the kennebec colony. even more energetic in taking profit from the sea were the puritans who came to massachusetts bay in , bringing carpenters and shipbuilders with them to hew the pine and oak so close at hand into keelsons, frames, and planking. two years later, governor john winthrop launched his thirty-ton sloop blessing of the bay, and sent her to open "friendly commercial relations" with the dutch of manhattan. brisk though the traffic was in furs and wampum, these mariners of boston and salem were not content to voyage coastwise. offshore fishing made skilled, adventurous seamen of them, and what they caught with hook and line, when dried and salted, was readily exchanged for other merchandise in bermuda, barbados, and europe. a vessel was a community venture, and the custom still survives in the ancient ports of the maine coast where the shapely wooden schooners are fashioned. the blacksmith, the rigger, the calker, took their pay in shares. they became part owners, as did likewise the merchant who supplied stores and material; and when the ship was afloat, the master, the mates, and even the seamen, were allowed cargo space for commodities which they might buy and sell to their own advantage. thus early they learned to trade as shrewdly as they navigated, and every voyage directly concerned a whole neighborhood. this kind of enterprise was peculiar to new england because other resources were lacking. to the westward the french were more interested in exploring the rivers leading to the region of the great lakes and in finding fabulous rewards in furs. the dutch on the hudson were similarly engaged by means of the western trails to the country of the iroquois, while the planters of virginia had discovered an easy opulence in the tobacco crop, with slave labor to toil for them, and they were not compelled to turn to the hardships and the hazards of the sea. the new englander, hampered by an unfriendly climate, hard put to it to grow sufficient food, with land immensely difficult to clear, was between the devil and the deep sea, and he sagaciously chose the latter. elsewhere in the colonies the forest was an enemy to be destroyed with infinite pains. the new england pioneer regarded it with favor as the stuff with which to make stout ships and step the straight masts in them. and so it befell that the seventeenth century had not run its course before new england was hardily afloat on every atlantic trade route, causing sir josiah child, british merchant and economist, to lament in that in his opinion nothing was "more prejudicial and in prospect more dangerous to any mother kingdom than the increase of shipping in her colonies, plantations, or provinces." this absorbing business of building wooden vessels was scattered in almost every bay and river of the indented coast from nova scotia to buzzard's bay and the sheltered waters of long island sound. it was not restricted, as now, to well-equipped yards with crews of trained artisans. hard by the huddled hamlet of log houses was the row of keel-blocks sloping to the tide. in winter weather too rough for fishing, when the little farms lay idle, this yankee jack-of-all-trades plied his axe and adze to shape the timbers, and it was a routine task to peg together a sloop, a ketch, or a brig, mere cockleshells, in which to fare forth to london, or cadiz, or the windward islands--some of them not much larger and far less seaworthy than the lifeboat which hangs at a liner's davits. pinching poverty forced him to dispense with the ornate, top-heavy cabins and forecastles of the foreign merchantmen, while invention, bred of necessity, molded finer lines and less clumsy models to weather the risks of a stormy coast and channels beset with shoals and ledges. the square-rig did well enough for deepwater voyages, but it was an awkward, lubberly contrivance for working along shore, and the colonial yankee therefore evolved the schooner with her flat fore-and-aft sails which enabled her to beat to windward and which required fewer men in the handling. dimly but unmistakably these canny seafarers in their rude beginnings foreshadowed the creation of a merchant marine which should one day comprise the noblest, swiftest ships driven by the wind and the finest sailors that ever trod a deck. even then these early vessels were conspicuously efficient, carrying smaller crews than the dutch or english, paring expenses to a closer margin, daring to go wherever commerce beckoned in order to gain a dollar at peril of their skins. by the end of the seventeenth century more than a thousand vessels were registered as built in the new england colonies, and salem already displayed the peculiar talent for maritime adventure which was to make her the most illustrious port of the new world. the first of her line of shipping merchants was philip english, who was sailing his own ketch speedwell in and so rapidly advanced his fortunes that in a few years he was the richest man on the coast, with twenty-one vessels which traded coastwise with virginia and offshore with bilbao, barbados, st. christopher's, and france. very devout were his bills of lading, flavored in this manner: "twenty hogsheads of salt, shipped by the grace of god in the good sloop called the mayflower.... and by god's grace bound to virginia or merriland." no less devout were the merchants who ordered their skippers to cross to the coast of guinea and fill the hold with negroes to be sold in the west indies before returning with sugar and molasses to boston or rhode island. the slave-trade flourished from the very birth of commerce in puritan new england and its golden gains and exotic voyages allured high-hearted lads from farm and counter. in the ship desire, built at marblehead, returned from the west indies and "brought some cotton and tobacco and negroes, etc. from thence." earlier than this the dutch of manhattan had employed black labor, and it was provided that the incorporated west india company should "allot to each patroon twelve black men and women out of the prizes in which negroes should be found." it was in the south, however, that this kind of labor was most needed and, as the trade increased, virginia and the carolinas became the most lucrative markets. newport and bristol drove a roaring traffic in "rum and niggers," with a hundred sail to be found in the infamous middle passage. the master of one of these rhode island slavers, writing home from guinea in , portrayed the congestion of the trade in this wise: "for never was there so much rum on the coast at one time before. not ye like of ye french ships was never seen before, for ye whole coast is full of them. for my part i can give no guess when i shall get away, for i purchast but slaves since i have been here, for slaves is very scarce. we have had nineteen sail of us at one time in ye road, so that ships that used to carry pryme slaves off is now forced to take any that comes. here is seven sail of us rum men that are ready to devour one another, for our case is desprit." two hundred years of wickedness unspeakable and human torture beyond all computation, justified by christian men and sanctioned by governments, at length rending the nation asunder in civil war and bequeathing a problem still unsolved--all this followed in the wake of those first voyages in search of labor which could be bought and sold as merchandise. it belonged to the dark ages with piracy and witchcraft, better forgotten than recalled, save for its potent influence in schooling brave seamen and building faster ships for peace and war. these colonial seamen, in truth, fought for survival amid dangers so manifold as to make their hardihood astounding. it was not merely a matter of small vessels with a few men and boys daring distant voyages and the mischances of foundering or stranding, but of facing an incessant plague of privateers, french and spanish, dutch and english, or a swarm of freebooters under no flag at all. coasts were unlighted, charts few and unreliable, and the instruments of navigation almost as crude as in the days of columbus. even the savage indian, not content with lurking in ambush, went afloat to wreak mischief, and the records of the first church of salem contain this quaint entry under date of july , : "the lord having given a commission to the indians to take no less than of the fishing ketches of salem and captivate the men... it struck a great consternation into all the people here. the pastor moved on the lord's day, and the whole people readily consented, to keep the lecture day following as a fast day, which was accordingly done.... the lord was pleased to send in some of the ketches on the fast day which was looked on as a gracious smile of providence. also there had been wounded men sent into salem a little while before; also a ketch sent out from salem as a man-of-war to recover the rest of the ketches. the lord give them good success." to encounter a pirate craft was an episode almost commonplace and often more sordid than picturesque. many of these sea rogues were thieves with small stomach for cutlasses and slaughter. they were of the sort that overtook captain john shattuck sailing home from jamaica in when he reported his capture by one captain charles vain, "a pyrat" of guns and men who took him to crooked island, plundered him of various articles, stripped the brig, abused the crew, and finally let him go. in the same year the seamen of the hopewell related that near hispaniola they met with pirates who robbed and ill-treated them and carried off their mate because they had no navigator. ned low, a gentleman rover of considerable notoriety, stooped to filch the stores and gear from a fleet of fourteen poor fishermen of cape sable. he had a sense of dramatic values, however, and frequently brandished his pistols on deck, besides which, as set down by one of his prisoners, "he had a young child in boston for whom he entertained such tenderness that on every lucid interval from drinking and revelling, i have seen him sit down and weep plentifully." a more satisfying figure was thomas pounds, who was taken by the sloop mary, sent after him from boston in . he was discovered in vineyard sound, and the two vessels fought a gallant action, the pirate flying a red flag and refusing to strike. captain samuel pease of the mary was mortally wounded, while pounds, this proper pirate, strode his quarter-deck and waved his naked sword, crying, "come on board, ye dogs, and i will strike you presently." this invitation was promptly accepted by the stout seamen from boston, who thereupon swarmed over the bulwark and drove all hands below, preserving thomas pounds to be hanged in public. in john quelch, a man of resource, hoisted what he called "old roger" over the charles--a brigantine which had been equipped as a privateer to cruise against the french of acadia. this curious flag of his was described as displaying a skeleton with an hour-glass in one hand and "a dart in the heart with three drops of blood proceeding from it in the other." quelch led a mutiny, tossed the skipper overboard, and sailed for brazil, capturing several merchantmen on the way and looting them of rum, silks, sugar, gold dust, and munitions. rashly he came sailing back to marblehead, primed with a plausible yarn, but his men talked too much when drunk and all hands were jailed. upon the gallows quelch behaved exceedingly well, "pulling off his hat and bowing to the spectators," while the somber puritan merchants in the crowd were, many of them, quietly dealing in the merchandise fetched home by pirates who were lucky enough to steer clear of the law. this was a shady industry in which new york took the more active part, sending out supplies to the horde of pirates who ravaged the waters of the far east and made their haven at madagascar, and disposing of the booty received in exchange. governor fletcher had dirtied his hands by protecting this commerce and, as a result, lord bellomont was named to succeed him. said william iii, "i send you, my lord, to new york, because an honest and intrepid man is wanted to put these abuses down, and because i believe you to be such a man." such were the circumstances in which captain william kidd, respectable master mariner in the merchant service, was employed by lord bellomont, royal governor of new york, new hampshire, and massachusetts, to command an armed ship and harry the pirates of the west indies and madagascar. strangest of all the sea tales of colonial history is that of captain kidd and his cruise in the adventure-galley. his name is reddened with crimes never committed, his grisly phantom has stalked through the legends and literature of piracy, and the kidd tradition still has magic to set treasure-seekers exploring almost every beach, cove, and headland from halifax to the gulf of mexico. yet if truth were told, he never cut a throat or made a victim walk the plank. he was tried and hanged for the trivial offense of breaking the head of a mutinous gunner of his own crew with a wooden bucket. it was even a matter of grave legal doubt whether he had committed one single piratical act. his trial in london was a farce. in the case of the captured ships he alleged that they were sailing under french passes, and he protested that his privateering commission justified him, and this contention was not disproven. the suspicion is not wanting that he was condemned as a scapegoat because certain noblemen of england had subscribed the capital to outfit his cruise, expecting to win rich dividends in gold captured from the pirates he was sent to attack. against these men a political outcry was raised, and as a result captain kidd was sacrificed. he was a seaman who had earned honorable distinction in earlier years, and fate has played his memory a shabby trick. it was otherwise with blackbeard, most flamboyant of all colonial pirates, who filled the stage with swaggering success, chewing wine-glasses in his cabin, burning sulphur to make his ship seem more like hell, and industriously scourging the whole atlantic coast. charleston lived in terror of him until lieutenant maynard, in a small sloop, laid him alongside in a hammer-and-tongs engagement and cut off the head of blackbeard to dangle from the bowsprit as a trophy. of this rudely adventurous era, it would be hard to find a seaman more typical than the redoubtable sir william phips who became the first royal governor of the massachusetts colony in . born on a frontier farm of the maine coast while many of the pilgrim fathers were living, "his faithful mother," wrote cotton mather, "had no less than twenty-six children, whereof twenty-one were sons; but equivalent to them all was william, one of the youngest, whom, his father dying, was left young with his mother, and with her he lived, keeping ye sheep in ye wilderness until he was eighteen years old." then he apprenticed himself to a neighboring shipwright who was building sloops and pinnaces and, having learned the trade, set out for boston. as a ship-carpenter he plied his trade, spent his wages in the taverns of the waterside and there picked up wondrous yarns of the silver-laden galleons of spain which had shivered their timbers on the reefs of the bahama passage or gone down in the hurricanes that beset those southerly seas. meantime he had married a wealthy widow whose property enabled him to go treasure-hunting on the spanish main. from his first voyage thither in a small vessel he escaped with his life and barely enough treasure to pay the cost of the expedition. in no wise daunted he laid his plans to search for a richly ladened galleon which was said to have been wrecked half a century before off the coast of hispaniola. since his own funds were not sufficient for this exploit, he betook himself to england to enlist the aid of the government. with bulldog persistence he besieged the court of james ii for a whole year, this rough-and-ready new england shipmaster, until he was given a royal frigate for his purpose. he failed to fish up more silver from the sands but, nothing daunted, he persuaded other patrons to outfit him with a small merchantman, the james and mary, in which he sailed for the coast of hispaniola. this time he found his galleon and thirty-two tons of silver. "besides that incredible treasure of plate, thus fetched up from seven or eight fathoms under water, there were vast riches of gold, and pearls, and jewels.... all that a spanish frigot was to be enriched withal." up the thames sailed the lucky little merchantman in the year of , with three hundred thousand pounds sterling as her freightage of treasure. captain phips made honest division with his backers and, because men of his integrity were not over plentiful in england after the restoration, king james knighted him. he sailed home to boston, "a man of strong and sturdy frame," as hawthorne fancied him, "whose face had been roughened by northern tempests and blackened by the burning sun of the west indies.... he wears an immense periwig flowing down over his shoulders.... his red, rough hands which have done many a good day's work with the hammer and adze are half-covered by the delicate lace rues at the wrist." but he carried with him the manners of the forecastle, a man hasty and unlettered but superbly brave and honest. even after he had become governor he thrashed the captain of the nonesuch frigate of the royal navy, and used his fists on the collector of the port after cursing him with tremendous gusto. such behavior in a governor was too strenuous, and sir william phips was summoned to england, where he died while waiting his restoration to office and royal favor. failing both, he dreamed of still another treasure voyage, "for it was his purpose, upon his dismission from his government once more to have gone upon his old fishing-trade, upon a mighty shelf of rock and banks of sand that lie where he had informed himself." chapter ii. the privateers of ' the wars of england with france and spain spread turmoil upon the high seas during the greater part of the eighteenth century. yet with an immense tenacity of purpose, these briny forefathers increased their trade and multiplied their ships in the face of every manner of adversity. the surprising fact is that most of them were not driven ashore to earn their bread. what daniel webster said of them at a later day was true from the beginning: "it is not, sir, by protection and bounties, but by unwearied exertion, by extreme economy, by that manly and resolute spirit which relies on itself to protect itself. these causes alone enable american ships still to keep the element and show the flag of their country in distant seas." what was likely to befall a shipmaster in the turbulent eighteenth century may be inferred from the misfortunes of captain michael driver of salem. in he was in command of the schooner three brothers, bound to the west indies on his lawful business. jogging along with a cargo of fish and lumber, he was taken by a privateer under british colors and sent into antigua as a prize. unable to regain either his schooner or his two thousand dollar cargo, he sadly took passage for home. another owner gave him employment and he set sail in the schooner betsy for guadaloupe. during this voyage, poor man, he was captured and carried into port by a french privateer. on the suggestion that he might ransom his vessel on payment of four thousand livres, he departed for boston in hope of finding the money, leaving behind three of his sailors as hostages. cash in hand for the ransom, the long-suffering captain michael driver turned southward again, now in the schooner mary, and he flew a flag of truce to indicate his errand. this meant nothing to the ruffian who commanded the english privateer revenge. he violently seized the innocent mary and sent her into new providence. here captain driver made lawful protest before the authorities, and was set at liberty with vessel and cargo--an act of justice quite unusual in the admiralty court of the bahamas. unmolested, the harassed skipper managed to gain cape francois and rescue his three seamen and his schooner in exchange for the ransom money. as he was about to depart homeward bound, a french frigate snatched him and his crew out of their vessel and threw them ashore at santiago, where for two months they existed as ragged beachcombers until by some judicial twist the schooner was returned to them. they worked her home and presented their long list of grievances to the colonial government of massachusetts, which duly forwarded them--and that was the end of it. three years had been spent in this catalogue of misadventures, and captain driver, his owners, and his men were helpless against such intolerable aggression. they and their kind were a prey to every scurvy rascal who misused a privateering commission to fill his own pockets. stoutly resolved to sail and trade as they pleased, these undaunted americans, nevertheless, increased their business on blue water until shortly before the revolution the new england fleet alone numbered six hundred sail. its captains felt at home in surinam and the canaries. they trimmed their yards in the reaches of the mediterranean and the north sea or bargained thriftily in the levant. the whalers of nantucket, in their apple-bowed barks, explored and hunted in distant seas, and the smoke of their try-pots darkened the waters of baffin bay, guinea, and brazil. it was they who inspired edmund burke's familiar eulogy: "no sea but is vexed by their fisheries. no climate that is not a witness to their toils. neither the perseverance of holland nor the activity of france, nor the dexterous and firm sagacity of england ever carried this most perilous mode of hardy industry to the extent to which it has been pushed by this recent people--a people who are still, as it were, but in the gristle and not yet hardened into the bone of manhood." in , seventy-eight whalers cleared from american ports, of which more than half were from nantucket. eight years later there were one hundred and twenty-five whalers out of nantucket which took , barrels of oil valued at $ , . in size these vessels averaged no more than ninety tons, a fishing smack of today, and yet they battered their way half around the watery globe and comfortably supported six thousand people who dwelt on a sandy island unfit for farming and having no other industries. every nantucket lad sailed for his "lay" or share of the catch and aspired to command eventually a whaler of his own. whaler, merchantman, and slaver were training a host of incomparable seamen destined to harry the commerce of england under the new-born stars and stripes, and now, in , on the brink of actual war, parliament flung a final provocation and aroused the furious enmity of the fishermen who thronged the grand bank. lord north proposed to forbid the colonies to export fish to those foreign markets in which every seacoast village was vitally concerned, and he also contemplated driving the fishing fleets from their haunts off newfoundland. this was to rob six thousand sturdy men of a livelihood afloat and to spread ruin among the busy ports, such as marblehead and gloucester, from which sailed hundreds of pinks, snows, and schooners. this measure became law notwithstanding the protests of twenty-one peers of the realm who declared: "we dissent because the attempt to coerce by famine the whole body of the inhabitants of great and populous provinces is without example in the history of this, or perhaps, of any civilized nation." the sailormen bothered their heads very little about taxation without representation but whetted their anger with grudges more robust. they had been beggared and bullied and shot at from the bay of biscay to barbados, and no sooner was the continental congress ready to issue privateering commissions and letters of marque than for them it was up anchor and away to bag a britisher. scarcely had a shipmaster signaled his arrival with a deep freight of logwood, molasses, or sugar than he received orders to discharge with all speed and clear his decks for mounting heavier batteries and slinging the hammocks of a hundred eager privateersmen who had signed articles in the tavern rendezvous. the timbered warehouses were filled with long-toms and nine-pounders, muskets, blunderbusses, pistols, cutlases, boarding-pikes, hand grenades, tomahawks, grape, canister, and doubleheaded shot. in the narrow, gabled streets of salem, boston, new york, and baltimore, crowds trooped after the fifes and drums with a strapping recruiting officer to enroll "all gentlemen seamen and able-bodied landsmen who had a mind to distinguish themselves in the glorious cause of their country and make their fortunes." many a ship's company was mustered between noon and sunset, including men who had served in armed merchantmen and who in times of nominal peace had fought the marauders of europe or whipped the corsairs of barbary in the strait of gibraltar. never was a race of seamen so admirably fitted for the daring trade of privateering as the crews of these tall sloops, topsail schooners, and smart square-riggers, their sides checkered with gun-ports, and ready to drive to sea like hawks. in some instances the assurance of these hardy men was both absurd and sublime. ramshackle boats with twenty or thirty men aboard, mounting one or two old guns, sallied out in the expectation of gold and glory, only to be captured by the first british cruiser that chanced to sight them. a few even sailed with no cannon at all, confident of taking them out of the first prize overhauled by laying alongside--and so in some cases they actually did. the privateersmen of the revolution played a larger part in winning the war than has been commonly recognized. this fact, however, was clearly perceived by englishmen of that era, as "the london spectator" candidly admitted: "the books at lloyds will recount it, and the rate of assurances at that time will prove what their diminutive strength was able to effect in the face of our navy, and that when nearly one hundred pennants were flying on our coast. were we able to prevent their going in and out, or stop them from taking our trade and our storeships even in sight of our garrisons? besides, were they not in the english and irish channels, picking up our homeward bound trade, sending their prizes into french and spanish ports to the great terror of our merchants and shipowners?" the naval forces of the thirteen colonies were pitifully feeble in comparison with the mighty fleets of the enemy whose flaming broadsides upheld the ancient doctrine that "the monarchs of great britain have a peculiar and sovereign authority upon the ocean... from the laws of god and of nature, besides an uninterrupted fruition of it for so many ages past as that its beginnings cannot be traced out." * * "the seaman's vade-mecum." london, . in only thirty-one continental cruisers of all classes were in commission, and this number was swiftly diminished by capture and blockade until in no more than seven ships flew the flag of the american navy. on the other hand, at the close of , one hundred and seventy-four private armed vessels had been commissioned, mounting two thousand guns and carrying nine thousand men. during this brief period of the war they took as prizes british merchantmen and inflicted losses of more than two million pounds sterling. over ten thousand seamen were made prisoners at a time when england sorely needed them for drafting into her navy. to lose them was a far more serious matter than for general washington to capture as many hessian mercenaries who could be replaced by purchase. in some respects privateering as waged a century and more ago was a sordid, unlovely business, the ruling motive being rather a greed of gain than an ardent love of country. shares in lucky ships were bought and sold in the gambling spirit of a stock exchange. fortunes were won and lost regardless of the public service. it became almost impossible to recruit men for the navy because they preferred the chance of booty in a privateer. for instance, the state of massachusetts bought a twenty-gun ship, the protector, as a contribution to the naval strength, and one of her crew, ebenezer fox, wrote of the effort to enlist sufficient men: "the recruiting business went on slowly, however, but at length upwards of three hundred men were carried, dragged, and driven abroad; of all ages, kinds, and descriptions; in all the various stages of intoxication from that of sober tipsiness to beastly drunkenness; with the uproar and clamor that may be more easily imagined than described. such a motley group has never been seen since falstaff's ragged regiment paraded the streets of coventry." there was nothing of glory to boast of in fetching into port some little nova scotia coasting schooner with a cargo of deals and potatoes, whose master was also the owner and who lost the savings of a lifetime because he lacked the men and guns to defend his property against spoliation. the war was no concern of his, and he was the victim of a system now obsolete among civilized nations, a relic of a barbarous and piratical age whose spirit has been revived and gloried in recently only by the government of the german empire. the chief fault of the privateersman was that he sailed and fought for his own gain, but he was never guilty of sinking ships with passengers and crew aboard, and very often he played the gentleman in gallant style. nothing could have seemed to him more abhorrent and incredible than a kind of warfare which should drown women and children because they had embarked under an enemy's flag. extraordinary as were the successes of the yankee privateers, it was a game of give-and-take, a weapon which cut both ways, and the temptation is to extol their audacious achievements while glossing over the heavy losses which their own merchant marine suffered. the weakness of privateering was that it was wholly offensive and could not, like a strong navy, protect its own commerce from depredation. while the americans were capturing over seven hundred british vessels during the first two years of the war, as many as nine hundred american ships were taken or sunk by the enemy, a rate of destruction which fairly swept the stars and stripes from the tracks of ocean commerce. as prizes these vessels were sold at liverpool and london for an average amount of two thousand pounds each and the loss to the american owners was, of course, ever so much larger. the fact remains, nevertheless--and it is a brilliant page of history to recall--that in an inchoate nation without a navy, with blockading squadrons sealing most of its ports, with ragged armies on land which retreated oftener than they fought, private armed ships dealt the maritime prestige of great britain a far deadlier blow than the dutch, french, and spanish were able to inflict. in england, there resulted actual distress, even lack of food, because these intrepid seamen could not be driven away from her own coasts and continued to snatch their prizes from under the guns of british forts and fleets. the plight of the west india colonies was even worse, as witness this letter from a merchant of grenada: "we are happy if we can get anything for money by reason of the quantity of vessels taken by the americans. a fleet of vessels came from ireland a few days ago. from sixty vessels that departed from ireland not above twenty-five arrived in this and neighboring islands, the others, it is thought, being all taken by american privateers. god knows, if this american war continues much longer, we shall all die of hunger." on both sides, by far the greater number of captures was made during the earlier period of the war which cleared the seas of the smaller, slower, and unarmed vessels. as the war progressed and the profits flowed in, swifter and larger ships were built for the special business of privateering until the game resembled actual naval warfare. whereas, at first, craft of ten guns with forty or fifty men had been considered adequate for the service, three or four years later ships were afloat with a score of heavy cannon and a trained crew of a hundred and fifty or two hundred men, ready to engage a sloop of war or to stand up to the enemy's largest privateers. in those days single ship actions, now almost forgotten in naval tactics, were fought with illustrious skill and courage, and commanders won victories worthy of comparison with deeds distinguished in the annals of the american navy. chapter iii. out cutlases and board salem was the foremost privateering port of the revolution, and from this pleasant harbor, long since deserted by ships and sailormen, there filled away past cape ann one hundred and fifty-eight vessels of all sizes to scan the horizon for british topsails. they accounted for four hundred prizes, or half the whole number to the credit of american arms afloat. this preeminence was due partly to freedom from a close blockade and partly to a seafaring population which was born and bred to its trade and knew no other. besides the crews of salem merchantmen, privateering enlisted the idle fishermen of ports nearby and the mariners of boston whose commerce had been snuffed out by the british occupation. philadelphia, baltimore, and charleston sent some splendid armed ships to sea but not with the impetuous rush nor in anything like the numbers enrolled by this gray old town whose fame was unique. for the most part, the records of all these brave ships and the thousands of men who sailed and sweated and fought in them are dim and scanty, no more than routine entries in dusty log-books which read like this: "filled away in pursuit of a second sail in the n. w. at . she hoisted english colors and commenced firing her stern guns. at . took in the steering sails, at the same time she fired a broadside. we opened a fire from our larboard battery and at . she struck her colors. got out the boats and boarded her. she proved to be the british brig acorn from liverpool to rio janeiro, mounting fourteen cannon." * but now and then one finds in these old sea-journals an entry more intimate and human, such as the complaint of the master of the privateer scorpion, cruising in and never a prize in sight. "this book i made to keep the accounts of my voyage but god knows beste what that will be, for i am at this time very impashent but i hope soon there will be a change to ease my trubled mind. on this day i was chaced by two ships of war which i tuck to be enemies, but coming on thick weather i have lost site of them and so conclude myself escaped which is a small good fortune in the midste of my discouragements." * * a burst of gusty laughter still echoes along the crowded deck of the letter-of-marque schooner success, whose master, captain philip thrash, inserted this diverting comment in his humdrum record of the day's work: "at one half past discovered a sail ahead. tacked ship. at tacked ship again and past just to leeward of the sail which appeared to be a damn'd comical boat, by g-d." * from the manuscript collections of the essex institute, salem, mass. * * from the manuscript collections of the essex institute, salem, mass. there are a few figures of the time and place which stand out, full-length, in vivid colors against a background that satisfies the desire of romance and thrillingly conveys the spirit of the time and the place. such a one was captain jonathan haraden, salem privateersman, who captured one thousand british cannon afloat and is worthy to be ranked as one of the ablest sea-fighters of his generation. he was a merchant mariner, a master at the outbreak of the revolution, who had followed the sea since boyhood. but it was more to his taste to command the salem ship general pickering of tons which was fitted out under a letter of marque in the spring of . she carried fourteen six-pounders and forty-five men and boys, nothing very formidable, when captain haraden sailed for bilbao with a cargo of sugar. during the voyage, before his crew had been hammered into shape, he beat off a british privateer of twenty guns and safely tacked into the bay of biscay. there he sighted another hostile privateer, the golden eagle, larger than his own ship. instead of shifting his course to avoid her, haraden clapped on sail and steered alongside after nightfall, roaring through his trumpet: "what ship is this? an american frigate, sir. strike, or i'll sink you with a broadside." dazed by this unexpected summons in the gloom, the master of the golden eagle promptly surrendered, and a prize crew was thrown aboard with orders to follow the pickering into bilbao. while just outside that spanish harbor, a strange sail was descried and again jonathan haraden cleared for action. the vessel turned out to be the achilles, one of the most powerful privateers out of london, with forty guns and a hundred and fifty men, or almost thrice the fighting strength of the little pickering. she was, in fact, more like a sloop of war. before captain haraden could haul within gunshot to protect his prize, it had been recaptured by the achilles, which then maneuvered to engage the pickering. darkness intervened, but jonathan haraden had no idea of escaping under cover of it. he was waiting for the morning breeze and a chance to fight it out to a finish. he was a handsome man with an air of serene composure and a touch of the theatrical such as nelson displayed in his great moments. having prepared his ship for battle, he slept soundly until dawn and then dressed with fastidious care to stroll on deck, where he beheld the achilles bearing down on him with her crew at quarters. his own men were clustered behind their open ports, matches lighted, tackles and breechings cast off, crowbars, handspikes, and sponge-staves in place, gunners stripped to the waist, powder-boys ready for the word like sprinters on the mark. forty-five of them against a hundred and fifty, and captain haraden, debonair, unruffled, walking to and fro with a leisurely demeanor, remarking that although the achilles appeared to be superior in force, "he had no doubt they would beat her if they were firm and steady and did not throw away their fire." it was, indeed, a memorable sea-picture, the sturdy pickering riding deep with her burden of sugar and seeming smaller than she really was, the achilles towering like a frigate, and all bilbao turned out to watch the duel, shore and headlands crowded with spectators, the blue harbor-mouth gay with an immense flotilla of fishing boats and pleasure craft. the stake for which haraden fought was to retake the golden eagle prize and to gain his port. his seamanship was flawless. vastly outnumbered if it should come to boarding, he handled his vessel so as to avoid the achilles while he poured the broadsides into her. after two hours the london privateer emerged from the smoke which had obscured the combat and put out to sea in flight, hulled through and through, while a farewell flight of crowbars, with which the guns of the pickering had been crammed to the muzzle, ripped through her sails and rigging. haraden hoisted canvas and drove in chase, but the achilles had the heels of him "with a mainsail as large as a ship of the line," and reluctantly he wore ship and, with the golden eagle again in his possession, he sailed to an anchorage in bilbao harbor. the spanish populace welcomed him with tremendous enthusiasm. he was carried through the streets in a holiday procession and was the hero of banquets and public receptions. such a man was bound to be the idol of his sailors and one of them quite plausibly related that "so great was the confidence he inspired that if he but looked at a sail through his glass and told the helmsman to steer for her, the observation went round,'if she is an enemy, she is ours.'" it was in this same general pickering, no longer sugar-laden but in cruising trim, that jonathan haraden accomplished a feat which paul jones might have been proud to claim. there lifted above the sky-line three armed merchantmen sailing in company from halifax to new york, a brig of fourteen guns, a ship of sixteen guns, a sloop of twelve guns. when they flew signals and formed in line, the ship alone appeared to outmatch the pickering, but haraden, in that lordly manner of his, assured his men that "he had no doubt whatever that if they would do their duty he would quickly capture the three vessels." here was performance very much out of the ordinary, naval strategy of an exceptionally high order, and yet it is dismissed by the only witness who took the trouble to mention it in these few, casual words: "this he did with great ease by going alongside of each of them, one after the other." one more story of this master sea-rover of the revolution, sailor and gentleman, who served his country so much more brilliantly than many a landsman lauded in the written histories of the war. while in the pickering he attacked a heavily armed royal mail packet bound to england from the west indies, one of the largest merchant vessels of her day and equipped to defend herself against privateers. a tough antagonist and a hard nut to crack! they battered each other like two pugilists for four hours and even then the decision was still in the balance. then haraden sheered off to mend his damaged gear and splintered hull before closing in again. he then discovered that all his powder had been shot away excepting one last charge. instead of calling it a drawn battle, he rammed home this last shot in the locker, and ran down to windward of the packet, so close that he could shout across to the other quarter-deck: "i will give you five minutes to haul down your colors. if they are not down at the end of that time, i will fire into you and sink you, so help me god." it was the bluff magnificent--courage cold-blooded and calculating. the adversary was still unbeaten. haraden stood with watch in hand and sonorously counted off the minutes. it was the stronger will and not the heavier metal that won the day. to be shattered by fresh broadsides at pistol-range was too much for the nerves of the gallant english skipper whose decks were already like a slaughterhouse. one by one, haraden shouted the minutes and his gunners blew their matches. at "four" the red ensign came fluttering down and the mail packet was a prize of war. another merchant seaman of this muster-roll of patriots was silas talbot, who took to salt water as a cabin boy at the age of twelve and was a prosperous shipmaster at twenty-one with savings invested in a house of his own in providence. enlisting under washington, he was made a captain of infantry and was soon promoted, but he was restless ashore and glad to obtain an odd assignment. as colonel talbot he selected sixty infantry volunteers, most of them seamen by trade, and led them aboard the small sloop argo in may, , to punish the new york tories who were equipping privateers against their own countrymen and working great mischief in long island sound. so serious was the situation that general gates found it almost impossible to obtain food supplies for the northern department of the continental army. silas talbot and his nautical infantrymen promptly fell in with the new york privateer lively, a fair match for him, and as promptly sent her into port. he then ran offshore and picked up and carried into boston two english privateers headed for new york with large cargoes of merchandise from the west indies. but he was particularly anxious to square accounts with a renegade captain hazard who made newport his base and had captured many american vessels with the stout brig king george, using her for "the base purpose of plundering his old neighbors and friends." on his second cruise in the argo, young silas talbot encountered the perfidious king george to the southward of long island and riddled her with one broadside after another, first hailing captain hazard by name and cursing him in double-shotted phrases for the traitorous swab that he was. then the seagoing infantry scrambled over the bulwarks and tumbled the tories down their own hatches without losing a man. a prize crew with the humiliated king george made for new london, where there was much cheering in the port, and "even the women, both young and old, expressed the greatest joy." with no very heavy fighting, talbot had captured five vessels and was keen to show what his crew could do against mettlesome foemen. he found them at last well out to sea in a large ship which seemed eager to engage him. only a few hundred feet apart through a long afternoon, they briskly and cheerily belabored each other with grape and solid shot. talbot's speaking-trumpet was shot out of his hand, the tails of his coat were shorn off, and all the officers and men stationed with him on the quarter-deck were killed or wounded. his crew reported that the argo was in a sinking condition, with the water flooding the gun-deck, but he told them to lower a man or two in the bight of a line and they pluckily plugged the holes from overside. there was a lusty huzza when the englishman's mainmast crashed to the deck and this finished the affair. silas talbot found that he had trounced the privateer dragon, of twice his own tonnage and with the advantage in both guns and men. while his crew was patching the argo and pumping the water from her hold, the lookout yelled that another sail was making for them. without hesitation talbot somehow got this absurdly impudent one-masted craft of his under way and told those of his sixty men who survived to prepare for a second tussle. fortunately another yankee privateer joined the chase and together they subdued the armed brig hannah. when the argo safely convoyed the two prizes into new bedford, "all who beheld her were astonished that a vessel of her diminutive size could suffer so much and yet get safely to port." men fought and slew each other in those rude and distant days with a certain courtesy, with a fine, punctilious regard for the etiquette of the bloody game. there was the scotch skipper of the betsy, a privateer, whom silas talbot hailed as follows, before they opened fire: "you must now haul down those british colors, my friend." "notwithstanding i find you an enemy, as i suspected," was the dignified reply, "yet, sir, i shall let them hang a little bit longer,--with your permission,--so fire away, flanagan." during another of her cruises the argo pursued an artfully disguised ship of the line which could have blown her to kingdom come with a broadside of thirty guns. the little argo was actually becalmed within short range, but her company got out the sweeps and rowed her some distance before darkness and a favoring slant of wind carried them clear. in the summer of , captain silas talbot, again a mariner by title, was given the private cruiser general washington with one hundred and twenty men, but he was less fortunate with her than when afloat in the tiny argo with his sixty continentals. off sandy hook he ran into the british fleet under admiral arbuthnot and, being outsailed in a gale of wind, he was forced to lower his flag to the great seventy-four culloden. after a year in english prisons he was released and made his way home, serving no more in the war but having the honor to command the immortal frigate constitution in as a captain in the american navy. in several notable instances the privateersmen tried conclusions with ships that flew the royal ensign, and got the better of them. the hero of an uncommonly brilliant action of this sort was captain george geddes of philadelphia, who was entrusted with the congress, a noble privateer of twenty-four guns and two hundred men. several of the smaller british cruisers had been sending parties ashore to plunder estates along the southern shores, and one of them, the sloop of war savage, had even raided washington's home at mount vernon. later she shifted to the coast of georgia in quest of loot and was unlucky enough to fall athwart captain geddes in the congress. the privateer was the more formidable ship and faster on the wind, forcing captain sterling of the savage to accept the challenge. disabled aloft very early in the fight, captain geddes was unable to choose his position, for which reason they literally battled hand-to-hand, hulls grinding against each other, the gunners scorched by the flashes of the cannon in the ports of the opposing ship, with scarcely room to ply the rammers, and the sailors throwing missiles from the decks, hand grenades, cold shot, scraps of iron, belaying-pins. as the vessels lay interlocked, the savage was partly dismasted and captain geddes, leaping upon the forecastle head, told the boarders to follow him. before they could swing their cutlases and dash over the hammock-nettings, the british boatswain waved his cap and yelled that the savage had surrendered. captain sterling was dead, eight others were killed, and twenty-four wounded. the american loss was about the same. captain geddes, however, was unable to save his prize because a british frigate swooped down and took them both into charleston. when peace came in , it was independence dearly bought by land and sea, and no small part of the price was the loss of a thousand merchant ships which would see their home ports no more. other misfortunes added to the toll of destruction. the great fishing fleets which had been the chief occupation of coastwise new england were almost obliterated and their crews were scattered. many of the men had changed their allegiance and were sailing out of halifax, and others were impressed into british men-of-war or returned broken in health from long confinement in british prisons. the ocean was empty of the stanch schooners which had raced home with lee rails awash to cheer waiting wives and sweethearts. the fate of nantucket and its whalers was even more tragic. this colony on its lonely island amid the shoals was helpless against raids by sea, and its ships and storehouses were destroyed without mercy. many vessels in distant waters were captured before they were even aware that a state of war existed. of a fleet numbering a hundred and fifty sail, one hundred and thirty-four were taken by the enemy and nantucket whaling suffered almost total extinction. these seamen, thus robbed of their livelihood, fought nobly for their country's cause. theirs was not the breed to sulk or whine in port. twelve hundred of them were killed or made prisoners during the revolution. they were to be found in the army and navy and behind the guns of privateers. there were twenty-five nantucket whalemen in the crew of the ranger when paul jones steered her across the atlantic on that famous cruise which inspired the old forecastle song that begins 'tis of the gallant yankee ship that flew the stripes and stars, and the whistling wind from the west nor'west blew through her pitch pine spars. with her starboard tacks aboard, my boys, she hung upon the gale. on an autumn night we raised the light off the old head of kinsale. pitiful as was the situation of nantucket, with its only industry wiped out and two hundred widows among the eight hundred families left on the island, the aftermath of war seemed almost as ruinous along the whole atlantic coast. more ships could be built and there were thousands of adventurous sailors to man them, but where were the markets for the product of the farms and mills and plantations? the ports of europe had been so long closed to american shipping that little demand was left for american goods. to the government of england the people of the republic were no longer fellow-countrymen but foreigners. as such they were subject to the navigation acts, and no cargoes could be sent to that kingdom unless in british vessels. the flourishing trade with the west indies was made impossible for the same reason, a special order in council aiming at one fell stroke to "put an end to the building and increase of american vessels" and to finish the careers of three hundred west indiamen already afloat. in the islands themselves the results were appalling. fifteen thousand slaves died of starvation because the american traders were compelled to cease bringing them dried fish and corn during seasons in which their own crops were destroyed by hurricanes. in , one-third of the seagoing merchant marine of great britain had been bought or built to order in america because lumber was cheaper and wages were lower. this lucrative business was killed by a law which denied englishmen the privilege of purchasing ships built in american yards. so narrow and bitter was this commercial enmity, so ardent this desire to banish the stars and stripes from blue water, that lord sheffield in advised parliament that the pirates of algiers and tripoli really benefited english commerce by preying on the shipping of weaker nations. "it is not probable that the american states will have a very free trade in the mediterranean," said he. "it will not be to the interest of any of the great maritime powers to protect them from the barbary states. if they know their interests, they will not encourage the americans to be carriers. that the barbary states are advantageous to maritime powers is certain." denied the normal ebb and flow of trade and commerce and with the imports from england far exceeding the value of the merchandise exported thence, the united states, already impoverished, was drained of its money, and a currency of dollars, guineas, joes, and moidores grew scarcer day by day. there was no help in a government which consisted of states united only in name. congress comprised a handful of respectable gentlemen who had little power and less responsibility, quarreling among themselves for lack of better employment. retaliation against england by means of legislation was utterly impossible. each state looked after its commerce in its own peculiar fashion and the devil might take the hindmost. their rivalries and jealousies were like those of petty kingdoms. if one state should close her ports is to english ships, the others would welcome them in order to divert the trade, with no feeling of national pride or federal cooperation. the articles of confederation had empowered congress to make treaties of commerce, but only such as did not restrain the legislative power of any state from laying imposts and regulating exports and imports. if a foreign power imposed heavy duties upon american shipping, it was for the individual states and not for congress to say whether the vessels of the offending nation should be allowed free entrance to the ports of the united states: it was folly to suppose, ran the common opinion, that if south carolina should bar her ports to spain because rice and indigo were excluded from the spanish colonies, new hampshire, which furnished masts and lumber for the spanish navy, ought to do the same. the idea of turning the whole matter over to congress was considered preposterous by many intelligent americans. in these thirteen states were nearly three and a quarter million people hemmed in a long and narrow strip between the sea and an unexplored wilderness in which the indians were an ever present peril. the southern states, including maryland, prosperous agricultural regions, contained almost one-half the english-speaking population of america. as colonies, they had found the old world eager for their rice, tobacco, indigo, and tar, and slavery was the means of labor so firmly established that one-fifth of the inhabitants were black. by contrast, the northern states were still concerned with commerce as the very lifeblood of their existence. new england had not dreamed of the millions of spindles which should hum on the banks of her rivers and lure her young men and women from the farms to the clamorous factory towns. the city of new york had not yet outgrown its traffic in furs and its magnificent commercial destiny was still unrevealed. it was a considerable seaport but not yet a gateway. from sandy hook, however, to the stormy headlands of maine, it was a matter of life and death that ships should freely come and go with cargoes to exchange. all other resources were trifling in comparison. chapter iv. the famous days of salem port in such compelling circumstances as these, necessity became the mother of achievement. there is nothing finer in american history than the dogged fortitude and high-hearted endeavor with which the merchant seamen returned to their work after the revolution and sought and found new markets for their wares. it was then that salem played that conspicuous part which was, for a generation, to overshadow the activities of all other american seaports. six thousand privateersmen had signed articles in her taverns, as many as the total population of the town, and they filled it with a spirit of enterprise and daring. not for them the stupid monotony of voyages coastwise if more hazardous ventures beckoned and there were havens and islands unvexed by trade where bold men might win profit and perhaps fight for life and cargo. now there dwelt in salem one of the great men of his time, elias hasket derby, the first american millionaire, and very much more than this. he was a shipping merchant with a vision and with the hard-headed sagacity to make his dreams come true. his was a notable seafaring family, to begin with. his father, captain richard derby, born in , had dispatched his small vessels to the west indies and virginia and with the returns from these voyages he had loaded assorted cargoes for spain and madeira and had the proceeds remitted in bills of exchange to london or in wine, salt, fruit, oil, lead, and handkerchiefs to america. richard derby's vessels had eluded or banged away at the privateers during the french war from to , mounting from eight to twelve guns, "with four cannon below decks for close quarters." of such a temper was this old sea-dog who led the militia and defiantly halted general gage's regulars at the north river bridge in salem, two full months before the skirmish at lexington. eight of the nineteen cannon which it was proposed to seize from the patriots had been taken from the ships of captain richard derby and stored in his warehouse for the use of the provincial congress. it was richard's son, captain john derby, who carried to england in the swift schooner quero the first news of the affair at lexington, ahead of the king's messenger. a sensational arrival, if ever there was one! this salem shipmaster, cracking on sail like a proper son of his sire, making the passage in twenty-nine days and handsomely beating the lubberly royal express packet sukey which left boston four days sooner, and startling the british nation with the tidings which meant the loss of an american empire! a singular coincidence was that this same captain john derby should have been the first mariner to inform the united states that peace had come, when he arrived from france in with the message that a treaty had been signed. elias hasket derby was another son of richard. when his manifold energies were crippled by the war, he diverted his ability and abundant resources into privateering. he was interested in at least eighty of the privateers out of salem, invariably subscribing for such shares as might not be taken up by his fellow-townsmen. he soon perceived that many of these craft were wretchedly unfit for the purpose and were easily captured or wrecked. it was characteristic of his genius that he should establish shipyards of his own, turn his attention to naval architecture, and begin to build a class of vessels vastly superior in size, model, and speed to any previously launched in the colonies. they were designed to meet the small cruiser of the british navy on even terms and were remarkably successful, both in enriching their owner and in defying the enemy. at the end of the war elias hasket derby discovered that these fine ships were too large and costly to ply up and down the coast. instead of bewailing his hard lot, he resolved to send them to the other side of the globe. at a time when the british and the dutch east india companies insolently claimed a monopoly of the trade of the orient, when american merchant seamen had never ventured beyond the two atlantics, this was a conception which made of commerce a surpassing romance and heralded the golden era of the nation's life upon the sea. his grand turk of three hundred tons was promptly fitted out for a pioneering voyage as far as the cape of good hope. salem knew her as "the great ship" and yet her hull was not quite one hundred feet long. safely captain jonathan ingersoll took her out over the long road, his navigating equipment consisting of a few erroneous maps and charts, a sextant, and guthrie's geographical grammar. in table bay he sold his cargo of provisions and then visited the coast of guinea to dispose of his rum for ivory and gold dust but brought not a single slave back, mr. derby having declared that "he would rather sink the whole capital employed than directly or indirectly be concerned in so infamous a trade"--an unusual point of view for a shipping merchant of new england in ! derby ships were first to go to mauritius, then called the isle of france, first at calcutta, and among the earliest to swing at anchor off canton. when elias hasket derby decided to invade this rich east india commerce, he sent his eldest son, elias hasket, jr., to england and the continent after a course at harvard. the young man became a linguist and made a thorough study of english and french methods of trade. having laid this foundation for the venture, the son was now sent to india, where he lived for three years in the interests of his house, building up a trade almost fabulously profitable. how fortunes were won in those stirring days may be discerned from the record of young derby's ventures while in the orient. in the proceeds of one cargo enabled him to buy a ship and a brigantine in the isle of france. these two vessels he sent to bombay to load with cotton. two other ships of his fleet, the astrea and light horse, were filled at calcutta and rangoon and ordered to salem. it was found, when the profits of these transactions were reckoned, that the little squadron had earned $ , above all outlay. to carry on such a business as this enlisted many men and industries. while the larger ships were making their distant voyages, the brigs and schooners were gathering cargoes for them, crossing to gothenburg and st. petersburg for iron, duck, and hemp, to france, spain, and madeira for wine and lead, to the french west indies for molasses to be turned into rum, to new york, philadelphia, and richmond for flour, provisions, and tobacco. these shipments were assembled in the warehouses on derby wharf and paid for the teas, coffees, pepper, muslin, silks, and ivory which the ships from the far east were fetching home. in fourteen years the derby ships made one hundred and twenty-five voyages to europe and far eastern ports and out of the thirty-five vessels engaged only one was lost at sea. it was in when the grand turk, on a second voyage, brought back a cargo of silks, teas, and nankeens from batavia and china, that "the independent chronicle" of london, unconsciously humorous, was moved to affirm that "the americans have given up all thought of a china trade which can never be carried on to advantage without some settlement in the east indies." as soon as these new sea-trails had been furrowed by the keels of elias hasket derby, other salem merchants were quick to follow in a rivalry which left no sea unexplored for virgin markets and which ransacked every nook and corner of barbarism which had a shore. vessels slipped their cables and sailed away by night for some secret destination with whose savage potentate trade relations had been established. it might be captain jonathan carnes who, while at the port of bencoolen in , heard that pepper grew wild on the northern coast of sumatra. he whispered the word to the salem owner, who sent him back in the schooner rajah with only four guns and ten men. eighteen months later, jonathan carnes returned to salem with a cargo of pepper in bulk, the first direct importation, and cleared seven hundred per cent on the voyage. when he made ready to go again, keeping his business strictly to himself, other owners tracked him clear to bencoolen, but there he vanished in the rajah, and his secret with him, until he reappeared with another precious cargo of pepper. when, at length, he shared this trade with other vessels, it meant that salem controlled the pepper market of sumatra and for many years supplied a large part of the world's demand. and so it happened that in the spicy warehouses that overlooked salem harbor there came to be stored hemp from luzon, gum copal from zanzibar, palm oil from africa, coffee from arabia, tallow from madagascar, whale oil from the antarctic, hides and wool from the rio de la plata, nutmeg and cloves from malaysia. such merchandise had been bought or bartered for by shipmasters who were much more than mere navigators. they had to be shrewd merchants on their own accounts, for the success or failure of a voyage was mostly in their hands. carefully trained and highly intelligent men, they attained command in the early twenties and were able to retire, after a few years more afloat, to own ships and exchange the quarterdeck for the counting-room, and the cabin for the solid mansion and lawn on derby street. every opportunity, indeed, was offered them to advance their own fortunes. they sailed not for wages but for handsome commissions and privileges--in the derby ships, five per cent of a cargo outward bound, two and a half per cent of the freightage home, five per cent profit on goods bought and sold between foreign ports, and five per cent of the cargo space for their own use. such was the system which persuaded the pick and flower of young american manhood to choose the sea as the most advantageous career possible. there was the crowninshield family, for example, with five brothers all in command of ships before they were old enough to vote and at one time all five away from salem, each in his own vessel and three of them in the east india trade. "when little boys," to quote from the memoirs of benjamin crowninshield, "they were all sent to a common school and about their eleventh year began their first particular study which should develop them as sailors and ship captains. these boys studied their navigation as little chaps of twelve years old and were required to thoroughly master the subject before being sent to sea.... as soon as the art of navigation was mastered, the youngsters were sent to sea, sometimes as common sailors but commonly as ship's clerks, in which position they were able to learn everything about the management of a ship without actually being a common sailor." this was the practice in families of solid station and social rank, for to be a shipmaster was to follow the profession of a gentleman. yet the bright lad who entered by way of the forecastle also played for high stakes. soon promoted to the berth of mate, he was granted cargo space for his own adventures in merchandise and a share of the profits. in these days the youth of twenty-one is likely to be a college undergraduate, rated too callow and unfit to be intrusted with the smallest business responsibilities and tolerantly regarded as unable to take care of himself. it provokes both a smile and a glow of pride, therefore, to recall those seasoned striplings and what they did. no unusual instance was that of nathaniel silsbee, later united states senator from massachusetts, who took command of the new ship benjamin in the year , laden with a costly cargo from salem for the cape of good hope and india, "with such instructions," says he, "as left the management of the voyage very much to my own discretion. neither myself nor the chief mate, mr. charles derby, had attained the age of twenty-one years when we left home. i was not then twenty." this reminded him to speak of his own family. of the three silsbee brothers, "each of us obtained the command of vessels and the consignment of their cargoes before attaining the age of twenty years, viz., myself at the age of eighteen and a half, my brother william at nineteen and a half, and my brother zachariah before he was twenty years old. each and all of us left off going to sea before reaching the age of twenty-nine years." how resourcefully these children of the sea could handle affairs was shown in this voyage of the benjamin. while in the indian ocean young silsbee fell in with a frigate which gave him news of the beginning of war between england and france. he shifted his course for mauritius and there sold the cargo for a dazzling price in paper dollars, which he turned into spanish silver. an embargo detained him for six months, during which this currency increased to three times the value of the paper money. he gave up the voyage to calcutta, sold the spanish dollars and loaded with coffee and spices for salem. at the cape of good hope, however, he discovered that he could earn a pretty penny by sending his cargo home in other ships and loading the benjamin again for mauritius. when, at length, he arrived in salem harbor, after nineteen months away, his enterprises had reaped a hundred per cent for elias hasket derby and his own share was the snug little fortune of four thousand dollars. part of this he, of course, invested at sea, and at twenty-two he was part owner of the betsy, east indiaman, and on the road to independence. as second mate in the benjamin had sailed richard cleveland, another matured mariner of nineteen, who crowded into one life an odyssey of adventure noteworthy even in that era and who had the knack of writing about it with rare skill and spirit. in , when twenty-three years old, he was master of the bark enterprise bound from salem to mocha for coffee. the voyage was abandoned at havre and he sent the mate home with the ship, deciding to remain abroad and gamble for himself with the chances of the sea. in france he bought on credit a "cutter-sloop" of forty-three tons, no larger than the yachts whose owners think it venturesome to take them off soundings in summer cruises. in this little box of a craft he planned to carry a cargo of merchandise to the cape of good hope and thence to mauritius. his crew included two men, a black cook, and a brace of boys who were hastily shipped at havre. "fortunately they were all so much in debt as not to want any time to spend their advance, but were ready at the instant, and with this motley crew, (who, for aught i knew, were robbers or pirates) i put to sea." the only sailor of the lot was a nantucket lad who was made mate and had to be taught the rudiments of navigation while at sea. of the others he had this to say, in his lighthearted manner: "the first of my fore-mast hands is a great, surly, crabbed, raw-boned, ignorant prussian who is so timid aloft that the mate has frequently been obliged to do his duty there. i believe him to be more of a soldier than a sailor, though he has often assured me that he has been a boatswain's mate of a dutch indiaman, which i do not believe as he hardly knows how to put two ends of a rope together.... my cook... a good-natured negro and a tolerable cook, so unused to a vessel that in the smoothest weather he cannot walk fore and aft without holding onto something with both hands. this fear proceeds from the fact that he is so tall and slim that if he should get a cant it might be fatal to him. i did not think america could furnish such a specimen of the negro race... nor did i ever see such a simpleton. it is impossible to teach him anything and... he can hardly tell the main-halliards from the mainstay. "next is an english boy of seventeen years old, who from having lately had the small-pox is feeble and almost blind, a miserable object, but pity for his misfortunes induces me to make his duty as easy as possible. finally i have a little ugly french boy, the very image of a baboon, who from having served for some time on different privateers has all the tricks of a veteran man-of-war's man, though only thirteen years old, and by having been in an english prison, has learned enough of the language to be a proficient in swearing." with these human scrapings for a ship's company, the cutter caroline was three months on her solitary way as far as the cape of good hope, where the inhabitants "could not disguise their astonishment at the size of the vessel, the boyish appearance of the master and mate, and the queer and unique characters of the two men and boy who composed the crew." the english officials thought it strange indeed, suspecting some scheme of french spies or smuggled dispatches, but richard cleveland's petition to the governor, lord mccartney, ingenuously patterned after certain letters addressed to noblemen as found in an old magazine aboard his vessel, won the day for him and he was permitted to sell the cutter and her cargo, having changed his mind about proceeding farther. taking passage to batavia, he looked about for another venture but found nothing to his liking and wandered on to canton, where he was attracted by the prospect of a voyage to the northwest coast of america to buy furs from the indians. in a cutter no larger than the caroline he risked all his cash and credit, stocking her with $ , worth of assorted merchandise for barter, and put out across the pacific, "having on board twenty-one persons, consisting, except two americans, of english, irish, swedes and french, but principally the first, who were runaways from the men-of-war and indiamen, and two from a botany bay ship who had made their escape, for we were obliged to take such as we could get, served to complete a list of as accomplished villains as ever disgraced any country." after a month of weary, drenching hardship off the china coast, this crew of cutthroats mutinied. with a loyal handful, including the black cook, cleveland locked up the provisions, mounted two four-pounders on the quarterdeck, rammed them full of grape-shot, and fetched up the flint-lock muskets and pistols from the cabin. the mutineers were then informed that if they poked their heads above the hatches he would blow them overboard. losing enthusiasm and weakened by hunger, they asked to be set ashore; so the skipper marooned the lot. for two days the cutter lay offshore while a truce was argued, the upshot being that four of the rascals gave in and the others were left behind. fifty days more of it and, washed by icy seas, racked and storm-beaten, the vessel made norfolk sound. so small was the crew, so imminent the danger that the indians might take her by boarding, that screens of hides were rigged along the bulwarks to hide the deck from view. stranded and getting clear, warding off attacks, captain richard cleveland stayed two months on the wilderness coast of oregon, trading one musket for eight prime sea-otter skins until there was no more room below. sixty thousand dollars was the value of the venture when he sailed for china by way of the sandwich islands, forty thousand of profit, and he was twenty-five years old with the zest for roving undiminished. he next appeared in calcutta, buying a twenty-five-ton pilot boat under the danish flag for a fling at mauritius and a speculation in prizes brought in by french privateers. finding none in port, he loaded seven thousand bags of coffee in a ship for copenhagen and conveyed as a passenger a kindred spirit, young nathaniel shaler, whom he took into partnership. at hamburg these two bought a fast brig, the lelia byrd, to try their fortune on the west coast of south america, and recruited a third partner, a boyish polish nobleman, count de rousillon, who had been an aide to kosciusko. three seafaring musketeers, true gentlemen rovers, all under thirty, sailing out to beard the viceroys of spain! from valparaiso, where other american ships were detained and robbed, they adroitly escaped and steered north to mexico and california. at san diego they fought their way out of the harbor, silencing the spanish fort with their six guns. then to canton with furs, and richard cleveland went home at thirty years of age after seven years' absence and voyaging twice around the world, having wrested success from almost every imaginable danger and obstacle, with $ , to make him a rich man in his own town. he was neither more nor less than an american sailor of the kind that made the old merchant marine magnificent. it was true romance, also, when the first american shipmasters set foot in mysterious japan, a half century before perry's squadron shattered the immemorial isolation of the land of the shoguns and the samurai. only the dutch had been permitted to hold any foreign intercourse whatever with this hermit nation and for two centuries they had maintained their singular commercial monopoly at a price measured in terms of the deepest degradation of dignity and respect. the few dutch merchants suffered to reside in japan were restricted to a small island in nagasaki harbor, leaving it only once in four years when the resident, or chief agent, journeyed to yeddo to offer gifts and most humble obeisance to the shogun, "creeping forward on his hands and feet, and falling on his knees, bowed his head to the ground, and retired again in absolute silence, crawling exactly like a crab," said one of these pilgrims who added: "we may not keep sundays or fast days, or allow our spiritual hymns or prayers to be heard; never mention the name of christ. besides these things, we have to submit to other insulting imputations which are always painful to a noble heart. the reason which impels the dutch to bear all these sufferings so patiently is simply the love of gain." in return for these humiliations the dutch east india company was permitted to send one or two ships a year from batavia to japan and to export copper, silk, gold, camphor, porcelain, bronze, and rare woods. the american ship franklin arrived at batavia in and captain james devereux of salem learned that a charter was offered for one of these annual voyages. after a deal of yankee dickering with the hard-headed dutchmen, a bargain was struck and the franklin sailed for nagasaki with cloves, chintz, sugar, tin, black pepper, sapan wood, and elephants' teeth. the instructions were elaborate and punctilious, salutes to be fired right and left, nine guns for the emperor's guard while passing in, thirteen guns at the anchorage; all books on board to be sealed up in a cask, bibles in particular, and turned over to the japanese officials, all firearms sent ashore, ship dressed with colors whenever the "commissaries of the chief" graciously came aboard, and a carpet on deck for them to sit upon. two years later, the margaret of salem made the same sort of a voyage, and in both instances the supercargoes, one of whom happened to be a younger brother of captain richard cleveland, wrote journals of the extraordinary episode. for these mariners alone was the curtain lifted which concealed the feudal japan from the eyes of the civilized world. alert and curious, these yankee traders explored the narrow streets of nagasaki, visited temples, were handsomely entertained by officers and merchants, and exchanged their wares in the marketplace. they were as much at home, no doubt, as when buying piculs of pepper from a rajah of qualah battoo, or dining with an elderly mandarin of cochin china. it was not too much to say that "the profuse stores of knowledge brought by every ship's crew, together with unheard of curiosities from every savage shore, gave the community of salem a rare alertness of intellect." it was a salem bark, the lydia, that first displayed the american flag to the natives of guam in . she was chartered by the spanish government of manila to carry to the marianne islands, as those dots on the chart of the pacific were then called, the new governor, his family, his suite, and his luggage. first mate william haswell kept a diary in a most conscientious fashion, and here and there one gleans an item with a humor of its own. "now having to pass through dangerous straits," he observes, "we went to work to make boarding nettings and to get our arms in the best order, but had we been attacked we should have been taken with ease. between panay and negros all the passengers were in the greatest confusion for fear of being taken and put to death in the dark and not have time to say their prayers." the decks were in confusion most of the time, what with the governor, his lady, three children, two servant girls and twelve men servants, a friar and his servant, a judge and two servants, not to mention some small hogs, two sheep, an ox, and a goat to feed the passengers who were too dainty for sea provender. the friar was an interesting character. a great pity that the worthy mate of the lydia should not have been more explicit! it intrigues the reader of his manuscript diary to be told that "the friar was praying night and day but it would not bring a fair wind. his behavior was so bad that we were forced to send him to coventry, or in other words, no one would speak to him." the spanish governors of guam had in operation an economic system which compelled the admiration of this thrifty yankee mate. the natives wore very few clothes, he concluded, because the governor was the only shopkeeper and he insisted on a profit of at least eight hundred per cent. there was a native militia regiment of a thousand men who were paid ten dollars a year. with this cash they bought bengal goods, cottons, chinese pans, pots, knives, and hoes at the governor's store, so that "all this money never left the governor's hands. it was fetched to him by the galleons in passing, and when he was relieved he carried it with him to manila, often to the amount of eighty or ninety thousand dollars." a glimpse of high finance without a flaw! there is pathos, simple and moving, in the stories of shipwreck and stranding on hostile or desert coasts. these disasters were far more frequent then than now, because navigation was partly guesswork and ships were very small. among these tragedies was that of the commerce, bound from boston to bombay in . the captain lost his bearings and thought he was off malabar when the ship piled up on the beach in the night. the nearest port was muscat and the crew took to the boats in the hope of reaching it. stormy weather drove them ashore where armed arabs on camels stripped them of clothes and stores and left them to die among the sand dunes. on foot they trudged day after day in the direction of muscat, and how they suffered and what they endured was told by one of the survivors, young daniel saunders. soon they began to drop out and die in their tracks in the manner of "benjamin williams, william leghorn, and thomas barnard whose bodies were exposed naked to the scorching sun and finding their strength and spirits quite exhausted they lay down expecting nothing but death for relief." the next to be left behind was mr. robert williams, merchant and part owner, "and we therefore with reluctance abandoned him to the mercy of god, suffering ourselves all the horrors that fill the mind at the approach of death." near the beach and a forlorn little oasis, they stumbled across charles lapham, who had become separated from them. he had been without water for five days "and after many efforts he got upon his feet and endeavored to walk. seeing him in so wretched a condition i could not but sympathize enough with him in his torments to go back with him" toward water two miles away, "which both my other companions refused to do. accordingly they walked forward while i went back a considerable distance with lapham until, his strength failing him, he suddenly fell on the ground, nor was he able to rise again or even speak to me. finding it vain to stay with him, i covered him with sprays and leaves which i tore from an adjacent tree, it being the last friendly office i could do him." eight living skeletons left of eighteen strong seamen tottered into muscat and were cared for by the english consul. daniel saunders worked his passage to england, was picked up by a press-gang, escaped, and so returned to salem. it was the fate of juba hill, the black cook from boston, to be detained among the arabs as a slave. it is worth noting that a black sea-cook figured in many of these tales of daring and disaster, and among them was the heroic and amazing figure of one peter jackson who belonged in the brig ceres. while running down the river from calcutta she was thrown on her beam ends and peter, perhaps dumping garbage over the rail, took a header. among the things tossed to him as he floated away was a sail-boom on which he was swiftly carried out of sight by the turbid current. all on board concluded that peter jackson had been eaten by sharks or crocodiles and it was so reported when they arrived home. an administrator was appointed for his goods and chattels and he was officially deceased in the eyes of the law. a year or so later this unconquerable sea-cook appeared in the streets of salem, grinning a welcome to former shipmates who fled from him in terror as a ghostly visitation. he had floated twelve hours on his sail-boom, it seemed, fighting off the sharks with his feet; and finally drifting ashore. "he had hard work to do away with the impressions of being dead," runs the old account, "but succeeded and was allowed the rights and privileges of the living." the community of interests in these voyages of long ago included not only the ship's company but also the townspeople, even the boys and girls, who entrusted their little private speculations or "adventures" to the captain. it was a custom which flourished well into the nineteenth century. these memoranda are sprinkled through the account books of the east indiamen out of salem and boston. it might be miss harriet elkins who requested the master of the messenger "please to purchase at calcutta two net beads with draperies; if at batavia or any spice market, nutmegs or mace; or if at canton, two canton shawls of the enclosed colors at $ per shawl. enclosed is $ ." again, it might be mr. john r. tucker who ventured in the same ship one hundred spanish dollars to be invested in coffee and sugar, or captain nathaniel west who risked in the astrea fifteen boxes of spermaceti candles and a pipe of teneriffe wine. it is interesting to discover what was done with mr. tucker's hundred spanish dollars, as invested for him by the skipper of the messenger at batavia and duly accounted for. ten bags of coffee were bought for $ . , the extra expenses of duty, boat-hire, and sacking bringing the total outlay to $ . . the coffee was sold at antwerp on the way home for $ . , and mr. tucker's handsome profit on the adventure was therefore $ . , or more than one hundred per cent. it was all a grand adventure, in fact, and the word was aptly chosen to fit this ocean trade. the merchant freighted his ship and sent her out to vanish from his ken for months and months of waiting, with the greater part of his savings, perhaps, in goods and specie beneath her hatches. no cable messages kept him in touch with her nor were there frequent letters from the master. not until her signal was displayed by the fluttering flags of the headland station at the harbor mouth could he know whether he had gained or lost a fortune. the spirit of such merchants was admirably typified in the last venture of elias hasket derby in , when unofficial war existed between the united states and france. american ships were everywhere seeking refuge from the privateers under the tricolor, which fairly ran amuck in the routes of trade. for this reason it meant a rich reward to land a cargo abroad. the ship mount vernon, commanded by captain elias hasket derby, jr., was laden with sugar and coffee for mediterranean ports, and was prepared for trouble, with twenty guns mounted and fifty men to handle them. a smart ship and a powerful one, she raced across to cape saint vincent in sixteen days, which was clipper speed. she ran into a french fleet of sixty sail, exchanged broadsides with the nearest, and showed her stern to the others. "we arrived at o'clock [wrote captain derby from gibraltar] popping at frenchmen all the forenoon. at a.m. off algeciras point we were seriously attacked by a large latineer who had on board more than one hundred men. he came so near our broadside as to allow our six-pound grape to do execution handsomely. we then bore away and gave him our stern guns in a cool and deliberate manner, doing apparently great execution. our bars having cut his sails considerably, he was thrown into confusion, struck both his ensign and his pennant. i was then puzzled to know what to do with so many men; our ship was running large with all her steering sails out, so that we could not immediately bring her to the wind, and we were directly off algeciras point from whence i had reason to fear she might receive assistance, and my port gibraltar in full view. these were circumstances that induced me to give up the gratification of bringing him in. it was, however, a satisfaction to flog the rascal in full view of the english fleet who were to leeward." chapter v. yankee vikings and new trade routes soon after the revolution the spirit of commercial exploration began to stir in other ports than salem. out from new york sailed the ship empress of china in for the first direct voyage to canton, to make the acquaintance of a vast nation absolutely unknown to the people of the united states, nor had one in a million of the industrious and highly civilized chinese ever so much as heard the name of the little community of barbarians who dwelt on the western shore of the north atlantic. the oriental dignitaries in their silken robes graciously welcomed the foreign ship with the strange flag and showed a lively interest in the map spread upon the cabin table, offering every facility to promote this new market for their silks and teas. after an absence of fifteen months the empress of china returned to her home port and her pilgrimage aroused so much attention that the report of the supercargo, samuel shaw, was read in congress. surpassing this achievement was that of captain stewart dean, who very shortly afterward had his fling at the china trade in an eighty-ton sloop built at albany. he was a stout-hearted old privateersman of the revolution whom nothing could dismay, and in this tiny experiment of his he won merited fame as one of the american pioneers of blue water. fifteen men and boys sailed with him, drilled and disciplined as if the sloop were a frigate, and when the experiment hauled into the stream, of battery park, new york, "martial music and the boatswain's whistle were heard on board with all the pomp and circumstance of war." typhoons and malay proas, chinese pirates and unknown shoals, had no terrors for stewart dean. he saw canton for himself, found a cargo, and drove home again in a four months' passage, which was better than many a clipper could do at a much later day. smallest and bravest of the first yankee east indiamen, this taut sloop, with the boatswain's pipe trilling cheerily and all hands ready with cutlases and pikes to repel boarders, was by no means the least important vessel that ever passed in by sandy hook. in the beginnings of this picturesque relation with the far east, boston lagged behind salem, but her merchants, too, awoke to the opportunity and so successfully that for generations there were no more conspicuous names and shipping-houses in the china trade than those of russell, perkins, and forbes. the first attempt was very ambitious and rather luckless. the largest merchantman ever built at that time in the united states was launched at quincy in to rival the towering ships of the british east india company. this massachusetts created a sensation. her departure was a national event. she embodied the dreams of captain randall and of the samuel shaw who had gone as supercargo in the empress of china. they formed a partnership and were able to find the necessary capital. this six-hundred-ton ship loomed huge in the ayes of the crowds which visited her. she was in fact no larger than such four-masted coasting schooners as claw around hatteras with deck-loads of georgia pine or fill with coal for down east, and manage it comfortably with seven or eight men for a crew. the massachusetts, however, sailed in the old-fashioned state and dignity of a master, four mates, a purser, surgeon, carpenter, gunner, four quartermasters, three midshipmen, a cooper, two cooks, a steward, and fifty seamen. the second officer was amasa delano, a man even more remarkable than the ship, who wandered far and wide and wrote a fascinating book about his voyages, a classic of its kind, the memoirs of an american merchant mariner of a breed long since extinct. while the massachusetts was fitting out at boston, one small annoyance ruffled the auspicious undertaking. three different crews were signed before a full complement could be persuaded to tarry in the forecastle. the trouble was caused by a fortune-teller of lynn, moll pitcher by name, who predicted disaster for the ship. now every honest sailor knows that certain superstitions are gospel fact, such as the bad luck brought by a cross-eyed finn, a black cat, or going to sea on friday, and these eighteenth century shellbacks must not be too severely chided for deserting while they had the chance. as it turned out, the voyage did have a sorry ending and death overtook an astonishingly large number of the ship's people. though she had been designed and built by master craftsmen of new england who knew their trade surpassingly well, it was discovered when the ship arrived at canton that her timbers were already rotting. they were of white oak which had been put into her green instead of properly seasoned. this blunder wrecked the hopes of her owners. to cap it, the cargo of masts and spars had also been stowed while wet and covered with mud and ice, and the hatches had been battened. as a result the air became so foul with decay that several hundred barrels of beef were spoiled. to repair the ship was beyond the means of captain randall and samuel shaw, and reluctantly they sold her to the danish east india company at a heavy loss. nothing could have been more unexpected than to find that, for once, the experienced shipbuilders had been guilty of a miscalculation. the crew scattered, and perhaps the prediction of the fortune-teller of lynn followed their roving courses, for when captain amasa delano tried to trace them a few years later, he jotted down such obituaries as these on the list of names: "john harris. a slave in algiers at last accounts. roger dyer. died and thrown overboard off cape horn. william williams. lost overboard off japan. james crowley. murdered by the chinese near macao. john johnson. died on board an english indiaman. seth stowell. was drowned at whampoa in . jeremiah chace. died with the small-pox at whampoa in . humphrey chadburn. shot and died at whampoa in . samuel tripe. drowned off java head in . james stackpole. murdered by the chinese. nicholas nicholson. died with the leprosy at macao. william murphy. killed by chinese pirates. larry conner. killed at sea." there were more of these gruesome items--so many of them that it appears as though no more than a handful of this stalwart crew survived the massachusetts by a dozen years. incredible as it sounds, captain delano's roster accounted for fifty of them as dead while he was still in the prime of life, and most of them had been snuffed out by violence. as for his own career, it was overcast by no such unlucky star, and he passed unscathed through all the hazards and vicissitudes that could be encountered in that rugged and heroic era of endeavor. set adrift in canton when the massachusetts was sold, he promptly turned his hand to repairing a large danish ship which had been wrecked by storm, and he virtually rebuilt her to the great satisfaction of the owners. thence, with money in his pocket, young delano went to macao, where he fell in with commodore john mcclure of the english navy, who was in command of an expedition setting out to explore a part of the south seas, including the pelew islands, new guinea, new holland, and the spice islands. the englishman liked this resourceful yankee seaman and did him the honor to say, recalls delano, "that he considered i should be a very useful man to him as a seaman, an officer, or a shipbuilder; and if it was agreeable to me to go on board the panther with him, i should receive the some pay and emoluments with his lieutenants and astronomers." a signal honor it was at a time when no love was lost between british and american seafarers who had so recently fought each other afloat. and so amasa delano embarked as a lieutenant of the bombay marine, to explore tropic harbors and goons until then unmapped and to parley with dusky kings. commodore mcclure, diplomatic and humane, had almost no trouble with the untutored islanders, except on the coast of new guinea, where the panther was attacked by a swarm of canoes and the surgeon was killed. it was a spirited little affair, four-foot arrows pelting like hail across the deck, a cannon hurling grapeshot from the taffrail, amasa delano hit in the chest and pulling out the arrow to jump to his duty again. only a few years earlier the mutineers of the bounty had established themselves on pitcairn island, and delano was able to compile the first complete narrative of this extraordinary colony, which governed itself in the light of the primitive christian virtues. there was profound wisdom in the comment of amasa delano: "while the present natural, simple, and affectionate character prevails among these descendants of the mutineers, they will be delightful to our minds, they will be amiable and acceptable in the sight of god, and they will be useful and happy among themselves. let it be our fervent prayer that neither canting and hypocritical emissaries from schools of artificial theology on the one hand, nor sensual and licentious crews and adventurers on the other, may ever enter the charming village of pitcairn to give disease to the minds or the bodies of the unsuspecting inhabitants." two years of this intensely romantic existence, and delano started homeward. but there was a chance of profit at mauritius, and there he bought a tremendous east indiaman of fourteen hundred tons as a joint venture with a captain stewart and put a crew of a hundred and fifty men on board. she had been brought in by a french privateer and delano was moved to remark, with an indignation which was much in advance of his times: "privateering is entirely at variance with the first principle of honorable warfare.... this system of licensed robbery enables a wicked and mercenary man to insult and injure even neutral friends on the ocean; and when he meets an honest sailor who may have all his earnings on board his ship but who carries an enemy's flag, he plunders him of every cent and leaves him the poor consolation that it is done according to law.... when the malay subjects of abba thule cut down the cocoanut trees of an enemy, in the spirit of private revenge, he asked them why they acted in opposition to the principles on which they knew he always made and conducted a war. they answered, and let the reason make us humble, 'the english do so.'" in his grand east indiaman young captain delano traded on the coast of india but soon came to grief. the enterprise had been too large for him to swing with what cash and credit he could muster, and the ship was sold from under him to pay her debts. again on the beach, with one solitary gold moidore in his purse, he found a friendly american skipper who offered him a passage to philadelphia, which he accepted with the pious reflection that, although his mind was wounded and mortified by the financial disaster, his motives had been perfectly pure and honest. he never saw his native land with so little pleasure as on this return to it, he assures us, and the shore on which he would have leaped with delight was covered with gloom and sadness. now what makes it so well worth while to sketch in brief outline the careers of one and another of these bygone shipmasters is that they accurately reflected the genius and the temper of their generation. there was, in truth, no such word as failure in their lexicon. it is this quality that appeals to us beyond all else. thrown on their beam ends, they were presently planning something else, eager to shake dice with destiny and with courage unbroken. it was so with amasa delano, who promptly went to work "with what spirits i could revive within me. after a time they returned to their former elasticity." he obtained a position as master builder in a shipyard, saved some money, borrowed more, and with one of his brothers was soon blithely building a vessel of two hundred tons for a voyage into the pacific and to the northwest coast after seals. they sailed along patagonia and found much to interest them, dodged in and out of the ports of chili and peru, and incidentally recaptured a spanish ship which was in the hands of the slaves who formed her cargo. this was all in the day's work and happened at the island of santa maria, not far from juan fernandez, where captain delano's perseverance found the high-pooped tryal in a desperate state. spanish sailors who had survived the massacre were leaping overboard or scrambling up to the mastheads while the african savages capered on deck and flourished their weapons. captain delano liked neither the spaniard nor the slavetrade, but it was his duty to help fellow seamen in distress; so he cleared for action and ordered two boats away to attend to the matter. the chief mate, rufus low, was in charge, and a gallant sailor he showed himself. they had to climb the high sides of the tryal and carry, in hand-to-hand conflict, the barricades of water-casks and bales of matting which the slaves had built across the deck. there was no hanging back, and even a mite of a midshipman from boston pranced into it with his dirk. the negroes were well armed and fought ferociously. the mate was seriously wounded, four seamen were stabbed, the spanish first mate had two musket balls in him, and a passenger was killed in the fray. having driven the slaves below and battened them down, the american party returned next morning to put the irons on them. a horrid sight confronted them. thirsting for vengeance, the spanish sailors had spread-eagled several of the negroes to ringbolts in the deck and were shaving the living flesh from them with razor-edged boarding lances. captain delano thereupon disarmed these brutes and locked them up in their turn, taking possession of the ship until he could restore order. the sequel was that he received the august thanks of the viceroy of chili and a gold medal from his catholic majesty. as was the custom, the guilty slaves, poor wretches, were condemned to be dragged to the gibbet at the tails of mules, to be hanged, their bodies burned, and their heads stuck upon poles in the plaza. it was while in this chilean port of talcahuano that amasa delano heard the tale of the british whaler which had sailed just before his arrival. he tells it so well that i am tempted to quote it as a generous tribute to a sailor of a rival race. after all, they were sprung from a common stock and blood was thicker than water. besides, it is the sort of yarn that ought to be dragged to the light of day from its musty burial between the covers of delano's rare and ancient "voyages and travels." the whaler betsy, it seems, went in and anchored under the guns of the forts to seek provisions and make repairs. the captain went ashore to interview the officials, leaving word that no spaniards should be allowed to come aboard because of the bad feeling against the english. three or four large boats filled with troops presently veered alongside and were ordered to keep clear. this command was resented, and the troops opened fire, followed by the forts. now for the deed of a man with his two feet under him. "the chief officer of the betsy whose name was hudson, a man of extraordinary bravery, cut his cable and his ship swung the wrong way, with her head in shore, passing close to several spanish ships which, with every vessel in the harbor that could bring a gun to bear, together with three hundred soldiers in boats and on ship's decks and the two batteries, all kept up a constant fire on him. the wind was light, nearly a calm. the shot flew so thick that it was difficult for him to make sail, some part of the rigging being cut away every minute. "he kept his men at the guns, and when the ship swung her broadside so as to bear upon any of the spanish ships, he kept up a fire at them. in this situation the brave fellow continued to lie for three-quarters of an hour before he got his topsails sheeted home. the action continued in this manner for near an hour and a half. he succeeded in getting the ship to sea, however, in defiance of all the force that could be brought against him. the ship was very much cut to pieces in sails, rigging, and hull; and a considerable number of men were killed and wounded on board. "hudson kept flying from one part of the deck to the other during the whole time of action, encouraging and threatening the men as occasion required. he kept a musket in his hand most part of the time, firing when he could find the leisure. some of the men came aft and begged him to give up the ship, telling him they should all be killed--that the carpenter had all one side of him shot away--that one man was cut in halves with a double-headed shot as he was going aloft to loose the foretopsail and the body had fallen on deck in two separate parts--that such a man was killed at his duty on the forecastle, and one more had been killed in the maintop--that sam, jim, jack, and tom were wounded and that they would do nothing more towards getting the ship out of the harbor. "his reply to them was, 'then you shall be sure to die, for if they do not kill you i will, so sure as you persist in any such cowardly resolution,' saying at the same time, 'out she goes, or down she goes.'" by this resolute and determined conduct he kept the men to their duty and succeeded in accomplishing one of the most daring enterprises perhaps ever attempted. an immortal phrase, this simple dictum of first mate hudson of the betsy, "out she goes, or down she goes," and not unworthy of being mentioned in the same breath with farragut's "damn the torpedoes." joined by his brother samuel in the schooner pilgrim, which was used as a tender in the sealing trade, amasa delano frequented unfamiliar beaches until he had taken his toll of skins and was ready to bear away for canton to sell them. there were many yankee ships after seals in those early days, enduring more peril and privation than the whalemen, roving over the south pacific among the rock-bound islands unknown to the merchant navigator. the men sailed wholly on shares, a seaman receiving one per cent of the catch and the captain ten per cent, and they slaughtered the seal by the million, driving them from the most favored haunts within a few years. for instance, american ships first visited mas a fuera in , and captain delano estimated that during the seven years following three million skins were taken to china from this island alone. he found as many as fourteen vessels there at one time, and he himself carried away one hundred thousand skins. it was a gold mine for profit while it lasted. there were three delano brothers afloat in two vessels, and of their wanderings amasa set down this epitome: "almost the whole of our connections who were left behind had need of our assistance, and to look forward it was no more than a reasonable calculation to make that our absence would not be less than three years... together with the extraordinary uncertainty of the issue of the voyage, as we had nothing but our hands to depend upon to obtain a cargo which was only to be done through storms, dangers, and breakers, and taken from barren rocks in distant regions. but after a voyage of four years for one vessel and five for the other, we were all permitted to return safe home to our friends and not quite empty-handed. we had built both of the vessels we were in and navigated them two and three times around the globe." each one of the brothers had been a master builder and rigger and a navigator of ships in every part of the world. by far the most important voyage undertaken by american merchantmen during the decade of brilliant achievement following the revolution was that of captain robert gray in the columbia, which was the first ship to visit and explore the northwest coast and to lead the way for such adventurers as richard cleveland and amasa delano. on his second voyage in , captain gray discovered the great river he christened columbia and so gave to the united states its valid title to that vast territory which lewis and clark were to find after toiling over the mountains thirteen years later. chapter vi. "free trade and sailors' rights" when the first congress under the new federal constitution assembled in , a spirit of pride was manifested in the swift recovery and the encouraging growth of the merchant marine, together with a concerted determination to promote and protect it by means of national legislation. the most imperative need was a series of retaliatory measures to meet the burdensome navigation laws of england, to give american ships a fair field and no favors. the atlantic trade was therefore stimulated by allowing a reduction of ten per cent of the customs duties on goods imported in vessels built and owned by american citizens. the east india trade, which already employed forty new england ships, was fostered in like manner. teas brought direct under the american flag paid an average duty of twelve cents a pound while teas in foreign bottoms were taxed twenty-seven cents. it was sturdy protection, for on a cargo of one hundred thousand pounds of assorted teas from india or china, a british ship would pay $ , into the custom house and a salem square-rigger only $ , . the result was that the valuable direct trade with the far east was absolutely secured to the american flag. not content with this, congress decreed a system of tonnage duties which permitted the native owner to pay six cents per ton on his vessel while the foreigner laid down fifty cents as an entry fee for every ton his ship measured, or thirty cents if he owned an american-built vessel. in , congress became even more energetic in defense of its mariners and increased the tariff rates on merchandise in foreign vessels. a nation at last united, jealous of its rights, resentful of indignities long suffered, and intelligently alive to its shipping as the chief bulwark of prosperity, struck back with peaceful weapons and gained a victory of incalculable advantage. its congress, no longer feeble and divided, laid the foundations for american greatness upon the high seas which was to endure for more than a half century. wars, embargoes, and confiscations might interrupt but they could not seriously harm it. in the three years after the merchant shipping registered for the foreign trade increased from , tons to , tons, presaging a growth without parallel in the history of the commercial world. foreign ships were almost entirely driven out of american ports, and ninety-one per cent of imports and eighty-six per cent of exports were conveyed in vessels built and manned by americans. before congress intervened, english merchantmen had controlled three-fourths of our commerce overseas. when thomas jefferson, as secretary of state, fought down southern opposition to a retaliatory shipping policy, he uttered a warning which his countrymen were to find still true and apt in the twentieth century: "if we have no seamen, our ships will be useless, consequently our ship timber, iron, and hemp; our shipbuilding will be at an end; ship carpenters will go over to other nations; our young men have no call to the sea; our products, carried in foreign bottoms, will be saddled with war-freight and insurance in time of war--and the history of the last hundred years shows that the nation which is our carrier has three years of war for every four years of peace." the steady growth of an american merchant marine was interrupted only once in the following decade. in the year war broke out between england and france. a decree of the national convention of the french republic granted neutral vessels the same rights as those which flew the tricolor. this privilege reopened a rushing trade with the west indies, and hundreds of ships hastened from american ports to martinique, guadeloupe, and st. lucia. like a thunderbolt came the tidings that england refused to look upon this trade with the french colonies as neutral and that her cruisers had been told to seize all vessels engaged in it and to search them for english-born seamen. this ruling was enforced with such barbarous severity that it seemed as if the war for independence had been fought in vain. without warning, unable to save themselves, great fleets of yankee merchantmen were literally swept from the waters of the west indies. at st. eustatius one hundred and thirty of them were condemned. the judges at bermuda condemned eleven more. crews and passengers were flung ashore without food or clothing, were abused, insulted, or perhaps impressed in british privateers. the ships were lost to their owners. there was no appeal and no redress. at martinique an english fleet and army captured st. pierre in february, . files of marines boarded every american ship in the harbor, tore down the colors, and flung two hundred and fifty seamen into the foul holds of a prison hulk. there they were kept, half-dead with thirst and hunger while their vessels, uncared for, had stranded or sunk at their moorings. scores of outrages as abominable as this were on record in the office of the secretary of state. shipmasters were afraid to sail to the southward and, for lack of these markets for dried cod, the fishing schooners of marblehead were idle. for a time a second war with england seemed imminent. an alarmed congress passed laws to create a navy and to fortify the most important american harbors. president washington recommended an embargo of thirty days, which congress promptly voted and then extended for thirty more. it was a popular measure and strictly enforced by the mariners themselves. the mates and captains of the brigs and snows in the delaware river met and resolved not to go to sea for another ten days, swearing to lie idle sooner than feed the british robbers in the west indies. it was in the midst of these demonstrations that washington seized the one hope of peace and recommended a special mission to england. the treaty negotiated by john jay in was received with an outburst of popular indignation. jay was damned as a traitor, while the sailors of portsmouth burned him in effigy. by way of an answer to the terms of the obnoxious treaty, a seafaring mob in boston raided and burned the british privateer speedwell, which had put into that port as a merchantman with her guns and munitions hidden beneath a cargo of west india produce. the most that can be said of the commercial provisions of the treaty is that they opened direct trade with the east indies but at the price of complete freedom of trade for british shipping in american ports. it must be said, too, that although the treaty failed to clear away the gravest cause of hostility--the right of search and impressment--yet it served to postpone the actual dash, and during the years in which it was in force american shipping splendidly prospered, freed of most irksome handicaps. the quarrel with france had been brewing at the same time and for similar reasons. neutral trade with england was under the ban, and the yankee shipmaster was in danger of losing his vessel if he sailed to or from a port under the british flag. it was out of the frying-pan into the fire, and french privateers welcomed the excuse to go marauding in the atlantic and the caribbean. what it meant to fight off these greedy cutthroats is told in a newspaper account of the engagement of captain richard wheatland, who was homeward bound to salem in the ship perseverance in . he was in the old straits of bahama when a fast schooner came up astern, showing spanish colors and carrying a tremendous press of canvas. unable to run away from her, captain wheatland reported to his owners: "we took in steering sails, wore ship, hauled up our courses, piped all hands to quarters and prepared for action. the schooner immediately took in sail, hoisted an english union flag and passed under our lee at a considerable distance. we wore ship, she did the same, and we passed each other within half a musket. a fellow hailed us in broken english and ordered the boat hoisted out and the captain to come aboard, which he refused. he again ordered our boat out and enforced his orders with a menace that in case of refusal he would sink us, using at the same time the vilest and most infamous language it is possible to conceive of. ... we hauled the ship to wind and as he passed poured a whole broadside into him with great success. sailing faster than we, he ranged considerably ahead, tacked and again passed, giving us a broadside and furious discharge of musketry, which he kept up incessantly until the latter part of the engagement. his musket balls reached us in every direction but his large shot either fell short or went considerably over us while our guns loaded with round shot and square bars of iron were plied so briskly and directed with such good judgment that before he got out of range we had cut his mainsail and foretopsail all to rags and cleared his decks so effectively that when he bore away from us there were scarcely ten men to be seen. he then struck his english flag and hoisted the flag of the terrible republic and made off with all the sail he could carry, much disappointed, no doubt, at not being able to give us a fraternal embrace. we feel confidence that we have rid the world of some infamous pests of society." by this time, the united states was engaged in active hostilities with france, although war had not been declared. the news of the indignities which american commissions had suffered at the hands of the french directory had stirred the people to war pitch. strong measures for national defense were taken, which stopped little short of war. the country rallied to the slogan, "millions for defense but not one cent for tribute," and the merchants of the seaports hastened to subscribe funds to build frigates to be loaned to the government. salem launched the famous essex, ready for sea six months after the keel was laid, at a cost of $ , . her two foremost merchants, elias hasket derby and william gray, led the list with ten thousand dollars each. the call sent out by the master builder, enos briggs, rings with thrilling effect: "to sons of freedom! all true lovers of liberty of your country! step forth and give your assistance in building the frigate to oppose french insolence and piracy. let every man in possession of a white oak tree be ambitious to be foremost in hurrying down the timber to salem where the noble structure is to be fabricated to maintain your rights upon the seas and make the name of america respected among the nations of the world. your largest and longest trees are wanted, and the arms of them for knees and rising timber. four trees are wanted for the keel which altogether will measure feet in length, and hew sixteen inches square." this handsome frigate privately built by patriots of the republic illuminates the coastwise spirit and conditions of her time. she was a salem ship from keel to truck. captain jonathan haraden, the finest privateersman of the revolution, made the rigging for the mainmast at his ropewalk in brown street. joseph vincent fitted out the foremast and thomas briggs the mizzenmast in their lofts at the foot of the common. when the huge hemp cables were ready for the frigate, the workmen carried them to the shipyard on their shoulders, the parade led by fife and drum. her sails were cut from duck woven in daniel rust's factory in broad street and her iron work was forged by salem shipsmiths. it was not surprising that captain richard derby was chosen to command the essex, but he was abroad in a ship of his own and she sailed under captain edward preble of the navy. the war cloud passed and the merchant argosies overflowed the wharves and havens of new england, which had ceased to monopolize the business on blue water. new york had become a seaport with long ranks of high-steeved bowsprits soaring above pleasant battery park and a forest of spars extending up the east river. in more than two thousand ships, brigs, schooners, and smaller craft had entered and cleared, and the merchants met in the coffee-houses to discuss charters, bills-of-lading, and adventures. sailors commanded thrice the wages of laborers ashore. shipyards were increasing and the builders could build as large and swift east indiamen as those of which boston and salem boasted. philadelphia had her stephen girard, whose wealth was earned in ships, a man most remarkable and eccentric, whose career was one of the great maritime romances. though his father was a prosperous merchant of bordeaux engaged in the west india trade, he was shifting for himself as a cabin-boy on his father's ships when only fourteen years old. with no schooling, barely able to read and write, this urchin sailed between bordeaux and the french west indies for nine years, until he gained the rank of first mate. at the age of twenty-six he entered the port of philadelphia in command of a sloop which had narrowly escaped capture by british frigates. there he took up his domicile and laid the foundation of his fortune in small trading ventures to new orleans and santo domingo. in he began to build a fleet of beautiful ships for the china and india trade, their names, montesquieu, helvetius, voltaire, and rousseau, revealing his ideas of religion and liberty. so successfully did he combine banking and shipping that in he was believed to be the wealthiest merchant in the united states. in that year one of his ships from china was captured off the capes of the delaware by a british privateer. her cargo of teas, nankeens, and silks was worth half a million dollars to him but he succeeded in ransoming it on the spot by counting out one hundred and eighty thousand spanish milled dollars. no privateersman could resist such strategy as this. alone in his old age, without a friend or relative to close his eyes in death, stephen girard, once a penniless, ignorant french cabin-boy, bequeathed his millions to philanthropy, and the girard college for orphan boys, in philadelphia, is his monument. the treaty of amiens brought a little respite to europe and a peaceful interlude for american shipmasters, but france and england came to grips again in . for two years thereafter the united states was almost the only important neutral nation not involved in the welter of conflict on land and sea, and trade everywhere sought the protection of the stars and stripes. england had swept her own rivals, men-of-war and merchantmen, from the face of the waters. france and holland ceased to carry cargoes beneath their own ensigns. spain was afraid to send her galleons to mexico and peru. all the continental ports were begging for american ships to transport their merchandise. it was a maritime harvest unique and unexpected. yankee skippers were dominating the sugar trade of cuba and were rolling across the atlantic with the coffee, hides, and indigo of venezuela and brazil. their fleets crowded the roadsteads of manila and batavia and packed the warehouses of antwerp, lisbon, and hamburg. it was a situation which england could not tolerate without attempting to thwart an immense traffic which she construed as giving aid and comfort to her enemies. under cover of the so-called rule of british admiralty courts began to condemn american vessels carrying products from enemies' colonies to europe, even when the voyage was broken by first entering an american port. it was on record in september, , that fifty american ships had been condemned in england and as many more in the british west indies. this was a trifling disaster, however, compared with the huge calamity which befell when napoleon entered berlin as a conqueror and proclaimed his paper blockade of the british isles. there was no french navy to enforce it, but american vessels dared not sail for england lest they be snapped up by french privateers. the british government savagely retaliated with further prohibitions, and napoleon countered in like manner until no sea was safe for a neutral ship and the united states was powerless to assert its rights. thomas jefferson as president used as a weapon the embargo of , which was, at first, a popular measure, and which he justified in these pregnant sentences: "the whole world is thus laid under interdict by these two nations, and our own vessels, their cargoes, and crews, are to be taken by the one or the other for whatever place they may be destined out of our limits. if, therefore, on leaving our harbors we are certainly to lose them, is it not better as to vessels, cargoes, and seamen, to keep them at home?" a people proud, independent, and pugnacious, could not long submit to a measure of defense which was, in the final sense, an abject surrender to brute force. new england, which bore the brunt of the embargo, was first to rebel against it. sailors marched through the streets clamoring for bread or loaded their vessels and fought their way to sea. in new york the streets of the waterside were deserted, ships dismantled, countinghouses unoccupied, and warehouses empty. in one year foreign commerce decreased in value from $ , , to $ , , . after fifteen months congress repealed the law, substituting a non-intercourse act which suspended trade with great britain and france until their offending orders were repealed. all such measures were doomed to be futile. words and documents, threats and arguments could not intimidate adversaries who paid heed to nothing else than broadsides from line-of-battle ships or the charge of battalions. with other countries trade could now be opened. hopefully the hundreds of american ships long pent-up in harbor winged it deep-laden for the baltic, the north sea, and the mediterranean. but few of them ever returned. like a brigand, napoleon lured them into a trap and closed it, advising the prussian government, which was under his heel: "let the american ships enter your ports. seize them afterward. you shall deliver the cargoes to me and i will take them in part payment of the prussian war debt." similar orders were executed wherever his mailed fist reached, the pretext being reprisal for the non-intercourse act. more than two hundred american vessels were lost to their owners, a ten-million-dollar robbery for which france paid an indemnity of five millions after twenty years. it was the grand climax of the exploitation which american commerce had been compelled to endure through two centuries of tumult and bloodshed afloat. there lingers today in many a coastwise town an inherited dislike for france. it is a legacy of that far-off catastrophe which beggared many a household and filled the streets with haggard, broken shipmasters. it was said of this virile merchant marine that it throve under pillage and challenged confiscation. statistics confirm this brave paradox. in , while napoleon was doing his worst, the deep-sea tonnage amounted to , ; and it is a singular fact that in proportion to population this was to stand as the high tide of american foreign shipping until thirty-seven years later. it ebbed during the war of but rose again with peace and a real and lasting freedom of the seas. this second war with england was fought in behalf of merchant seamen and they played a nobly active part in it. the ruthless impressment of seamen was the most conspicuous provocation, but it was only one of many. two years before hostilities were openly declared, british frigates were virtually blockading the port of new york, halting and searching ships as they pleased, making prizes of those with french destinations, stealing sailors to fill their crews, waging war in everything but name, and enjoying the sport of it. a midshipman of one of them merrily related: "every morning at daybreak we set about arresting the progress of all the vessels we saw, firing off guns to the right and left to make every ship that was running in heave to or wait until we had leisure to send a boat on board to see, in our lingo, what she was made of. i have frequently known a dozen and sometimes a couple of dozen ships lying a league or two off the port, losing their fair wind, their tide, and worse than all, their market for many hours, sometimes the whole day, before our search was completed." the right of a belligerent to search neutral vessels for contraband of war or evidence of a forbidden destination was not the issue at stake. this was a usage sanctioned by such international law as then existed. it was the alleged right to search for english seamen in neutral vessels that great britain exercised, not only on the high seas but even in territorial waters, which the american government refused to recognize. in vain the government had endeavored to protect its sailors from impressment by means of certificates of birth and citizenship. these documents were jeered at by the english naval lieutenant and his boarding gang, who kidnapped from the forecastle such stalwart tars as pleased their fancy. the victim who sought to inform an american consul of his plight was lashed to the rigging and flogged by a boatswain's mate. the files of the state department, in , had contained the names of six thousand american sailors who were as much slaves and prisoners aboard british men-of-war as if they had been made captives by the dey of algiers. one of these incidents, occurring on the ship betsy, captain nathaniel silsbee, while at madras in , will serve to show how this brutal business was done. "i received a note early one morning from my chief mate that one of my sailors, edward hulen, a fellow townsman whom i had known from boyhood, had been impressed and taken on board of a british frigate then being in port.... i immediately went on board my ship and having there learned all the facts in the case, proceeded to the frigate, where i found hulen and in his presence was informed by the first lieutenant of the frigate that he had taken hulen from my ship under a peremptory order from his commander to visit every american ship in port and take from each of them one or more of their seamen.... i then called upon captain cook, who commanded the frigate, and sought first by all the persuasive means that i was capable of using and ultimately by threats to appeal to the government of the place to obtain hulen's release, but in vain.... it remained for me only to recommend hulen to that protection of the lieutenant which a good seaman deserves, and to submit to the high-handed insult thus offered to the flag of my country which i had no means either of preventing or resisting." after several years' detention in the british navy, hulen returned to salem and lived to serve on board privateers in the second war with england. several years' detention! this was what it meant to be a pressed man, perhaps with wife and children at home who had no news of him nor any wages to support them. at the time of the nore mutiny in , there were ships in the british fleet whose men had not been paid off for eight, ten, twelve, and in one instance fifteen years. these wooden walls of england were floating hells, and a seaman was far better off in jail. he was flogged if he sulked and again if he smiled flogged until the blood ran for a hundred offenses as trivial as these. his food was unspeakably bad and often years passed before he was allowed to set foot ashore. decent men refused to volunteer and the ships were filled with the human scum and refuse caught in the nets of the press-gangs of liverpool, london, and bristol. it is largely forgotten or unknown that this system of recruiting was as intolerable in england as it was in the united states and as fiercely resented. oppressive and unjust, it was nevertheless endured as the bulwark of england's defense against her foes. it ground under its heel the very people it protected and made them serfs in order to keep them free. no man of the common people who lived near the coast of england was safe from the ruffianly press-gangs nor any merchant ship that entered her ports. it was the most cruel form of conscription ever devised. mob violence opposed it again and again, and british east indiamen fought the king's tenders sooner than be stripped of their crews and left helpless. feeling in america against impressment was never more highly inflamed, even on the brink of the war of , than it had long been in england itself, although the latter country was unable to rise and throw it off. here are the words, not of an angry american patriot but of a modern english historian writing of his own nation: * "to the people the impress was an axe laid at the foot of the tree. there was here no question, as with trade, of the mere loss of hands who could be replaced. attacking the family in the person of its natural supporter and protector, the octopus system of which the gangs were the tentacles, struck at the very foundations of domestic life and brought to thousands of households a poverty as bitter and a grief as poignant as death. ... the mutiny at the nore brought the people face to face with the appalling risks attendant on wholesale pressing while the war with america, incurred for the sole purpose of upholding the right to press, taught them the lengths to which their rulers were still prepared to go in order to enslave them." * * the press gang afloat and ashore, by j. r. hutchinson. chapter vii. the brilliant era of american privateering in was even bolder and more successful than during the revolution. it was the work of a race of merchant seamen who had found themselves, who were in the forefront of the world's trade and commerce, and who were equipped to challenge the enemy's pretensions to supremacy afloat. once more there was a mere shadow of a navy to protect them, but they had learned to trust their own resources. they would send to sea fewer of the small craft, slow and poorly armed, and likely to meet disaster. they were capable of manning what was, in fact, a private navy comprised of fast and formidable cruisers. the intervening generation had advanced the art of building and handling ships beyond all rivalry, and england grudgingly acknowledged their ability. the year of was indeed but a little distance from the resplendent modern era of the atlantic packet and the cape horn clipper. already these yankee deep-water ships could be recognized afar by their lofty spars and snowy clouds of cotton duck beneath which the slender hull was a thin black line. far up to the gleaming royals they carried sail in winds so strong that the lumbering english east indiamen were hove to or snugged down to reefed topsails. it was not recklessness but better seamanship. the deeds of the yankee privateers of prove this assertion to the hilt. their total booty amounted to thirteen hundred prizes taken over all the seven seas, with a loss to england of forty million dollars in ships and cargoes. there were, all told, more than five hundred of them in commission, but new england no longer monopolized this dashing trade. instead of salem it was baltimore that furnished the largest fleet--fifty-eight vessels, many of them the fast ships and schooners which were to make the port famous as the home of the baltimore clipper model. all down the coast, out of norfolk, wilmington, charleston, savannah, and new orleans, sallied the privateers to show that theirs was, in truth, a seafaring nation ardently united in a common cause. again and more vehemently the people of england raised their voices in protest and lament, for these saucy sea-raiders fairly romped to and fro in the channel, careless of pursuit, conducting a blockade of their own until london was paying the famine price of fifty-eight dollars a barrel for flour, and it was publicly declared mortifying and distressing that "a horde of american cruisers should be allowed, unresisted and unmolested, to take, burn, or sink our own vessels in our own inlets and almost in sight of our own harbors." it was captain thomas boyle in the chasseur of baltimore who impudently sent ashore his proclamation of a blockade of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, which he requested should be posted in lloyd's coffee house. a wonderfully fine figure of a fighting seaman was this captain boyle, with an irish sense of humor which led him to haunt the enemy's coast and to make sport of the frigates which tried to catch him. his chasseur was considered one of the ablest privateers of the war and the most beautiful vessel ever seen in baltimore. a fleet and graceful schooner with a magical turn for speed, she mounted sixteen long twelve-pounders and carried a hundred officers, seamen, and marines, and was never outsailed in fair winds or foul. "out of sheer wantonness," said an admirer, "she sometimes affected to chase the enemy's men-of-war of far superior force." once when surrounded by two frigates and two naval brigs, she slipped through and was gone like a phantom. during his first cruise in the chasseur, captain boyle captured eighteen valuable merchantmen. it was such defiant rovers as he that provoked the "morning chronicle" of london to splutter "that the whole coast of ireland from wexford round by cape clear to carrickfergus, should have been for above a month under the unresisted domination of a few petty fly-by-nights from the blockaded ports of the united states is a grievance equally intolerable and disgraceful." this was when the schooner syren had captured his majesty's cutter landrail while crossing the irish sea with dispatches; when the governor tompkins burned fourteen english vessels in the english channel in quick succession; when the harpy of baltimore cruised for three months off the irish and english coasts and in the bay of biscay, and returned to boston filled with spoils, including a half million dollars of money; when the prince de neuchatel hovered at her leisure in the irish channel and made coasting trade impossible; and when the young wasp of philadelphia cruised for six months in those same waters. two of the privateers mentioned were first-class fighting ships whose engagements were as notable, in their way, as those of the american frigates which made the war as illustrious by sea as it was ignominious by land. while off havana in , captain boyle met the schooner st. lawrence of the british navy, a fair match in men and guns. the chasseur could easily have run away but stood up to it and shot the enemy to pieces in fifteen minutes. brave and courteous were these two commanders, and lieutenant gordon of the st. lawrence gave his captor a letter which read, in part: "in the event of captain boyle's becoming a prisoner of war to any british cruiser i consider it a tribute justly due to his humane and generous treatment of myself, the surviving officers, and crew of his majesty's late schooner st. lawrence, to state that his obliging attention and watchful solicitude to preserve our effects and render us comfortable during the short time we were in his possession were such as justly entitle him to the indulgence and respect of every british subject." the prince de neuchatel had the honor of beating off the attack of a forty-gun british frigate--an exploit second only to that of the general armstrong in the harbor of fayal. this privateer with a foreign name hailed from new york and was so fortunate as to capture for her owners three million dollars' worth of british merchandise. with captain j. ordronaux on the quarterdeck, she was near nantucket shoals at noon on october , , when a strange sail was discovered. as this vessel promptly gave chase, captain ordronaux guessed-and as events proved correctly--that she must be a british frigate. she turned out to be the endymion. the privateer had in tow a prize which she was anxious to get into port, but she was forced to cast off the hawser late in the afternoon and make every effort to escape. the breeze died with the sun and the vessels were close inshore. becalmed, the privateer and the frigate anchored a quarter of a mile apart. captain ordronaux might have put his crew on the beach in boats and abandoned his ship. this was the reasonable course, for, as he had sent in several prize crews, he was short-handed and could muster no more than thirty-seven men and boys. the endymion, on the other hand, had a complement of three hundred and fifty sailors and marines, and in size and fighting power she was in the class of the american frigates president and constitution. quite unreasonably, however, the master of the privateer decided to await events. the unexpected occurred shortly after dusk when several boats loaded to the gunwales with a boarding party crept away from the frigate. five of them, with one hundred and twenty men, made a concerted attack at different points, alongside and under the bow and stern. captain ordronaux had told his crew that he would blow up the ship with all hands before striking his colors, and they believed him implicitly. this was the hero who was described as "a jew by persuasion, a frenchman by birth, an american for convenience, and so diminutive in stature as to make him appear ridiculous, in the eyes of others, even for him to enforce authority among a hardy, weatherbeaten crew should they do aught against his will." he was big enough, nevertheless, for this night's bloody work, and there was no doubt about his authority. while the british tried to climb over the bulwarks, his thirty-seven men and boys fought like raging devils, with knives, pistols, cutlases, with their bare fists and their teeth. a few of the enemy gained the deck, but the privateersmen turned and killed them. others leaped aboard and were gradually driving the americans back, when the skipper ran to the hatch above the powder magazine, waving a lighted match and swearing to drop it in if his crew retreated one step further. either way the issue seemed desperate. but again they took their skipper's word for it and rallied for a bloody struggle which soon swept the decks. no more than twenty minutes had passed and the battle was won. the enemy was begging for quarter. one boat had been sunk, three had drifted away filled with dead and wounded, and the fifth was captured with thirty-six men in it of whom only eight were unhurt. the american loss was seven killed and twenty-four wounded, or thirty-one of her crew of thirty-seven. yet they had not given up the ship. the frigate endymion concluded that once was enough, and next morning the prince de neuchatel bore away for boston with a freshening breeze. those were merchant seamen also who held the general armstrong against a british squadron through that moonlit night in fayal roads, inflicting heavier losses than were suffered in any naval action of the war. it is a story homeric, almost incredible in its details and so often repeated that it can be only touched upon in this brief chronicle. the leader was a kindly featured man who wore a tall hat, side-whiskers, and a tail coat. his portrait might easily have served for that of a new england deacon of the old school. no trace of the swashbuckler in this captain samuel reid, who had been a thrifty, respected merchant skipper until offered the command of a privateer. touching at the azores for water and provisions in september, , he was trapped in port by the great seventy-four-gun ship of the line plantagenet, the thirty-eight-gun frigate rota, and the warbrig carnation. though he was in neutral water, they paid no heed to this but determined to destroy a yankee schooner which had played havoc with their shipping. four hundred men in twelve boats, with a howitzer in the bow of each boat, were sent against the general armstrong in one flotilla. but not a man of the four hundred gained her deck. said an eyewitness: "the americans fought with great firmness but more like bloodthirsty savages than anything else. they rushed into the boats sword in hand and put every soul to death as far as came within their power. some of the boats were left without a single man to row them, others with three or four. the most that any one returned with was about ten. several boats floated ashore full of dead bodies.... for three days after the battle we were employed in burying the dead that washed on shore in the surf." this tragedy cost the british squadron one hundred and twenty men in killed and one hundred and thirty in wounded, while captain reid lost only two dead and had seven wounded. he was compelled to retreat ashore next day when the ships stood in to sink his schooner with their big guns, but the honors of war belonged to him and well-earned were the popular tributes when he saw home again, nor was there a word too much in the florid toast: "captain reid--his valor has shed a blaze of renown upon the character of our seamen, and won for himself a laurel of eternal bloom." it is not to glorify war nor to rekindle an ancient feud that such episodes as these are recalled to mind. these men, and others like them, did their duty as it came to them, and they were sailors of whom the whole anglo-saxon race might be proud. in the crisis they were americans, not privateersmen in quest of plunder, and they would gladly die sooner than haul down the stars and stripes. the england against which they fought was not the england of today. their honest grievances, inflicted by a government too intent upon crushing napoleon to be fair to neutrals, have long ago been obliterated. this war of cleared the vision of the mother country and forever taught her government that the people of the republic were, in truth, free and independent. this lesson was driven home not only by the guns of the constitution and the united states, but also by the hundreds of privateers and the forty thousand able seamen who were eager to sail in them. they found no great place in naval history, but england knew their prowess and respected it. every schoolboy is familiar with the duels of the wasp and the frolic, of the enterprise and the boxer; but how many people know what happened when the privateer decatur met and whipped the dominica of the british navy to the southward of bermuda? captain diron was the man who did it as he was cruising out of charleston, south carolina, in the summer of . sighting an armed schooner slightly heavier than his own vessel, he made for her and was unperturbed when the royal ensign streamed from her gaff. clearing for action, he closed the hatches so that none of his men could hide below. the two schooners fought in the veiling smoke until the american could ram her bowsprit over the other's stern and pour her whole crew aboard. in the confined space of the deck, almost two hundred men and lads were slashing and stabbing and shooting amid yells and huzzas. lieutenant barrette, the english commander, only twenty-five years old, was mortally hurt and every other officer, excepting the surgeon and one midshipman, was killed or wounded. two-thirds of the crew were down but still they refused to surrender, and captain diron had to pull down the colors with his own hands. better discipline and marksmanship had won the day for him and his losses were comparatively small. men of his description were apt to think first of glory and let the profits go hang, for there was no cargo to be looted in a king's ship. other privateersmen, however, were not so valiant or quarrelsome, and there was many a one tied up in london river or the mersey which had been captured without very savage resistance. yet on the whole it is fair to say that the private armed ships outfought and outsailed the enemy as impressively as did the few frigates of the american navy. there was a class of them which exemplified the rapid development of the merchant marine in a conspicuous manner--large commerce destroyers too swift to be caught, too powerful to fear the smaller cruisers. they were extremely profitable business ventures, entrusted to the command of the most audacious and skillful masters that could be engaged. of this type was the ship america of salem, owned by the crowninshields, which made twenty-six prizes and brought safely into port property which realized more than a million dollars. of this the owners and shareholders received six hundred thousand dollars as dividends. she was a stately vessel, built for the east india trade, and was generally conceded to be the fastest privateer afloat. for this service the upper deck was removed and the sides were filled in with stout oak timber as an armored protection, and longer yards and royal masts gave her a huge area of sail. her crew of one hundred and fifty men had the exacting organization of a man-of-war, including, it is interesting to note, three lieutenants, three mates, a sailingmaster, surgeon, purser, captain of marines, gunners, seven prize masters, armorer, drummer, and a fifer. discipline was severe, and flogging was the penalty for breaking the regulations. during her four cruises, the america swooped among the plodding merchantmen like a falcon on a dovecote, the sight of her frightening most of her prey into submission, with a brush now and then to exercise the crews of the twenty-two guns, and perhaps a man or two hit. long after the war, captain james chever, again a peaceful merchant mariner, met at valparaiso, sir james thompson, commander of the british frigate dublin, which had been fitted out in for the special purpose of chasing the america. in the course of a cordial chat between the two captains the briton remarked: "i was once almost within gun-shot of that infernal yankee skimming-dish, just as night came on. by daylight she had outsailed the dublin so devilish fast that she was no more than a speck on the horizon. by the way, i wonder if you happen to know the name of the beggar that was master of her." "i'm the beggar," chuckled captain chever, and they drank each other's health on the strength of it. although the treaty of ghent omitted mention of the impressment of sailors, which had been the burning issue of the war, there were no more offenses of this kind. american seafarers were safe against kidnapping on their own decks, and they had won this security by virtue of their own double-shotted guns. at the same time england lifted the curse of the press-gang from her own people, who refused longer to endure it. there seemed no reason why the two nations, having finally fought their differences to a finish, should not share the high seas in peaceful rivalry; but the irritating problems of protection and reciprocity survived to plague and hamper commerce. it was difficult for england to overcome the habit of guarding her trade against foreign invasion. agreeing with the united states to waive all discriminating duties between the ports of the two countries--this was as much as she was at that time willing to yield. she still insisted upon regulating the trade of her west indies and canada. american east indiamen were to be limited to direct voyages and could not bring cargoes to europe. though this discrimination angered congress, to which it appeared as lopsided reciprocity, the old duties were nevertheless repealed; and then, presto! the british colonial policy of exclusion was enforced and eighty thousand tons of american shipping became idle because the west india market was closed. there followed several years of unhappy wrangling, a revival of the old smuggling spirit, the risk of seizure and confiscations, and shipping merchants with long faces talking ruin. the theory of free trade versus protection was as debatable and opinions were as conflicting then as now. some were for retaliation, others for conciliation; and meanwhile american shipmasters went about their business, with no room for theories in their honest heads, and secured more and more of the world's trade. curiously enough, the cries of calamity in the united states were echoed across the water, where the "london times" lugubriously exclaimed: "the shipping interest, the cradle of our navy, is half ruined. our commercial monopoly exists no longer; and thousands of our manufacturers are starving or seeking redemption in distant lands. we have closed the western indies against america from feelings of commercial rivalry. its active seamen have already engrossed an important branch of our carrying trade to the eastern indies. her starred flag is now conspicuous on every sea and will soon defy our thunder." it was not until that great britain threw overboard her long catalogue of protective navigation laws which had been piling up since the time of cromwell, and declared for free trade afloat. meanwhile the united states had drifted in the same direction, barring foreign flags from its coastwise shipping but offering full exemption from all discriminating duties and tonnage duties to every maritime nation which should respond in like manner. this latter legislation was enacted in and definitely abandoned the doctrine of protection in so far as it applied to american ships and sailors. for a generation thereafter, during which ocean rivalry was a battle royal of industry, enterprise, and skill, the united states was paramount and her merchant marine attained its greatest successes. there is one school of modern economists who hold that the seeds of decay and downfall were planted by this adoption of free trade in , while another faction of gentlemen quite as estimable and authoritative will quote facts and figures by the ream to prove that governmental policies had nothing whatever to do with the case. these adversaries have written and are still writing many volumes in which they almost invariably lose their tempers. partisan politics befog the tariff issue afloat as well as ashore, and one's course is not easy to chart. it is indisputable, however, that so long as yankee ships were better, faster, and more economically managed, they won a commanding share of the world's trade. when they ceased to enjoy these qualities of superiority, they lost the trade and suffered for lack of protection to overcome the handicap. the war of was the dividing line between two eras of salt water history. on the farther side lay the turbulent centuries of hazard and bloodshed and piracy, of little ships and indomitable seamen who pursued their voyages in the reek of gunpowder and of legalized pillage by the stronger, and of merchant adventurers who explored new markets wherever there was water enough to float their keels. they belonged to the rude and lusty youth of a world which lived by the sword and which gloried in action. even into the early years of the nineteenth century these mariners still sailed--elizabethan in deed and spirit. on the hither side of were seas unvexed by the privateer and the freebooter. the lateen-rigged corsairs had been banished from their lairs in the harbors of algiers, and ships needed to show no broadsides of cannon in the atlantic trade. for a time they carried the old armament among the lawless islands of the orient and off spanish-american coasts where the vocation of piracy made its last stand, but the great trade routes of the globe were peaceful highways for the white-winged fleets of all nations. the american seamen who had fought for the right to use the open sea were now to display their prowess in another way and in a romance of achievement that was no less large and thrilling. chapter viii. the packet ships of the "roaring forties" it was on the stormy atlantic, called by sailormen the western ocean, that the packet ships won the first great contest for supremacy and knew no rivals until the coming of the age of steam made them obsolete. their era antedated that of the clipper and was wholly distinct. the atlantic packet was the earliest liner: she made regular sailings and carried freight and passengers instead of trading on her owners' account as was the ancient custom. not for her the tranquillity of tropic seas and the breath of the pacific trades, but an almost incessant battle with swinging surges and boisterous winds, for she was driven harder in all weathers and seasons than any other ships that sailed. in such battering service as this the lines of the clipper were too extremely fine, her spars too tall and slender. the packet was by no means slow and if the list of her record passages was superb, it was because they were accomplished by masters who would sooner let a sail blow away than take it in and who raced each other every inch of the way. they were small ships of three hundred to five hundred tons when the famous black ball line was started in . from the first they were the ablest vessels that could be built, full-bodied and stoutly rigged. they were the only regular means of communication between the united states and europe and were entrusted with the mails, specie, government dispatches, and the lives of eminent personages. blow high, blow low, one of the black ball packets sailed from new york for liverpool on the first and sixteenth of every month. other lines were soon competing--the red star and the swallow tail out of new york, and fine ships from boston and philadelphia. with the completion of the erie canal in the commercial greatness of new york was assured, and her atlantic packets increased in size and numbers, averaging a thousand tons each in the zenith of their glory. england, frankly confessing herself beaten and unable to compete with such ships as these, changed her attitude from hostility to open admiration. she surrendered the atlantic packet trade to american enterprise, and british merchantmen sought their gains in other waters. the navigation laws still protected their commerce in the far east and they were content to jog at a more sedate gait than these weltering packets whose skippers were striving for passages of a fortnight, with the forecastle doors nailed fast and the crew compelled to stay on deck from sandy hook to fastnet rock. no blustering, rum-drinking tarpaulin was the captain who sailed the independence, the ocean queen, or the dreadnought but a man very careful of his manners and his dress, who had been selected from the most highly educated merchant service in the world. he was attentive to the comfort of his passengers and was presumed to have no other duties on deck than to give the proper orders to his first officer and work out his daily reckoning. it was an exacting, nerve-racking ordeal, however, demanding a sleepless vigilance, courage, and cool judgment of the first order. the compensations were large. as a rule, he owned a share of the ship and received a percentage of the freights and passage money. his rank when ashore was more exalted than can be conveyed in mere words. any normal new york boy would sooner have been captain of a black ball packet than president of the united states, and he knew by heart the roaring chantey it is of a flash packet, a packet of fame. she is bound to new york and the dreadnought's her name. she is bound to the west'ard where the stormy winds blow. bound away to the west'ard, good lord, let her go. there were never more than fifty of these ships afloat, a trifling fraction of the american deep-water tonnage of that day, but the laurels they won were immortal. not only did the english mariner doff his hat to them, but a parliamentary committee reported in that "the american ships frequenting the ports of england are stated by several witnesses to be superior to those of a similar class among the ships of great britain, the commanders and officers being generally considered to be more competent as seamen and navigators and more uniformly persons of education than the commanders and officers of british ships of a similar size and class trading from england to america." it was no longer a rivalry with the flags of other nations but an unceasing series of contests among the packets of the several lines, and their records aroused far more popular excitement than when the great steamers of this century were chipping off the minutes, at an enormous coal consumption, toward a five-day passage. theirs were tests of real seamanship, and there were few disasters. the packet captain scorned a towboat to haul him into the stream if the wind served fair to set all plain sail as his ship lay at her wharf. driving her stern foremost, he braced his yards and swung her head to sea, clothing the masts with soaring canvas amid the farewell cheers of the crowds which lined the waterfront. a typical match race was sailed between the black ball liner columbus, captain de peyster, and the sheridan, captain russell, of the splendid dramatic fleet, in . the stake was $ , a side, put up by the owners and their friends. the crews were picked men who were promised a bonus of fifty dollars each for winning. the ships sailed side by side in february, facing the wild winter passage, and the columbus reached liverpool in the remarkable time of sixteen days, two days ahead of the sheridan. the crack packets were never able to reel off more than twelve or fourteen knots under the most favorable conditions, but they were kept going night and day, and some of them maintained their schedules almost with the regularity of the early steamers. the montezuma, the patrick henry, and the southampton crossed from new york to liverpool in fifteen days, and for years the independence held the record of fourteen days and six hours. it remained for the dreadnought, captain samuel samuels, in , to set the mark for packet ships to liverpool at thirteen days and eight hours. meanwhile the era of the matchless clipper had arrived and it was one of these ships which achieved the fastest atlantic passage ever made by a vessel under sail. the james baines was built for english owners to be used in the australian trade. she was a full clipper of tons, twice the size of the ablest packets, and was praised as "the most perfect sailing ship that ever entered the river mersey." bound out from boston to liverpool, she anchored after twelve days and six hours at sea. there was no lucky chance in this extraordinary voyage, for this clipper was the work of the greatest american builder, donald mckay, who at the same time designed the lightning for the same owners. this clipper, sent across the atlantic on her maiden trip, left in her foaming wake a twenty-four hour run which no steamer had even approached and which was not equaled by the fastest express steamers until twenty-five years later when the greyhound arizona ran eighteen knots in one hour on her trial trip. this is a rather startling statement when one reflects that the arizona of the guion line seems to a generation still living a modern steamer and record-holder. it is even more impressive when coupled with the fact that, of the innumerable passenger steamers traversing the seas today, only a few are capable of a speed of more than eighteen knots. this clipper lightning did her sea miles in one day, or eighteen and a half knots, better than twenty land miles an hour, and this is how the surpassing feat was entered in her log, or official journal: "march . wind south. strong gales; bore away for the north channel, carrying away the foretopsail and lost jib; hove the log several times and found the ship going through the water at the rate of to / knots; lee rail under water and rigging slack. distance run in twenty-four hours, miles." the passage was remarkably fast, thirteen days and nineteen and a half hours from boston light, but the spectacular feature was this day's work. it is a fitting memorial of the yankee clipper, and, save only a cathedral, the loveliest, noblest fabric ever wrought by man's handiwork. the clipper, however, was a stranger in the atlantic and her chosen courses were elsewhere. the records made by the james baines and the lightning were no discredit to the stanch, unconquerable packet ships which, year in and year out, held their own with the steamer lines until just before the civil war. it was the boast of captain samuels that on her first voyage in the dreadnought reached sandy hook as the cunarder canada, which had left liverpool a day ahead of her, was passing in by boston light. twice she carried the latest news to europe, and many seasoned travelers preferred her to the mail steamers. the masters and officers who handled these ships with such magnificent success were true-blue american seamen, inspired by the finest traditions, successors of the privateersmen of . the forecastles, however, were filled with english, irish, and scandinavians. american lads shunned these ships and, in fact, the ambitious youngster of the coastwise towns began to cease following the sea almost a century ago. it is sometimes forgotten that the period during which the best american manhood sought a maritime career lay between the revolution and the war of . thereafter the story became more and more one of american ships and less of american sailors, excepting on the quarter-deck. in later years the yankee crews were to be found in the ports where the old customs survived, the long trading voyage, the community of interest in cabin and forecastle, all friends and neighbors together, with opportunities for profit and advancement. such an instance was that of the salem ship george, built at salem in and owned by the great merchant, joseph peabody. for twenty-two years she sailed in the east india trade, making twenty-one round voyages, with an astonishing regularity which would be creditable for a modern cargo tramp. her sailors were native-born, seldom more than twenty-one years old, and most of them were studying navigation. forty-five of them became shipmasters, twenty of them chief mates, and six second mates. this reliable george was, in short, a nautical training-school of the best kind and any young seaman with the right stuff in him was sure of advancement. seven thousand sailors signed articles in the counting-room of joseph peabody and went to sea in his eighty ships which flew the house-flag in calcutta, canton, sumatra, and the ports of europe until . these were mostly new england boys who followed in the footsteps of their fathers because deep-water voyages were still "adventures" and a career was possible under a system which was both congenial and paternal. brutal treatment was the rare exception. flogging still survived in the merchant service and was defended by captains otherwise humane, but a skipper, no matter how short-tempered, would be unlikely to abuse a youth whose parents might live on the same street with him and attend the same church. the atlantic packets brought a different order of things, which was to be continued through the clipper era. yankee sailors showed no love for the cold and storms of the western ocean in these foaming packets which were remorselessly driven for speed. the masters therefore took what they could get. all the work of rigging, sail-making, scraping, painting, and keeping a ship in perfect repair was done in port instead of at sea, as was the habit in the china and california clippers, and the lore and training of the real deep-water sailor became superfluous. the crew of a packet made sail or took it in with the two-fisted mates to show them how. from these conditions was evolved the "liverpool packet rat," hairy and wild and drunken, the prey of crimps and dive-keepers ashore, brave and toughened to every hardship afloat, climbing aloft in his red shirt, dungaree breeches, and sea-boots, with a snow-squall whistling, the rigging sheathed with ice, and the old ship burying her bows in the thundering combers. it was the doctrine of his officers that he could not be ruled by anything short of violence, and the man to tame and hammer him was the "bucko" second mate, the test of whose fitness was that he could whip his weight in wild cats. when he became unable to maintain discipline with fists and belaying-pins, he was deposed for a better man. your seasoned packet rat sought the ship with a hard name by choice. his chief ambition was to kick in the ribs or pound senseless some invincible bucko mate. there was provocation enough on both sides. officers had to take their ships to sea and strain every nerve to make a safe and rapid passage with crews which were drunk and useless when herded aboard, half of them greenhorns, perhaps, who could neither reef nor steer. brutality was the one argument able to enforce instant obedience among men who respected nothing else. as a class the packet sailors became more and more degraded because their life was intolerable to decent men. it followed therefore that the quarterdeck employed increasing severity, and, as the officer's authority in this respect was unchecked and unlimited, it was easy to mistake the harshest tyranny for wholesome discipline. reenforcing the bucko mate was the tradition that the sailor was a dog, a different human species from the landsman, without laws and usages to protect him. this was a tradition which, for centuries, had been fostered in the naval service, and it survived among merchant sailors as an unhappy anachronism even into the twentieth century, when an american congress was reluctant to bestow upon a seaman the decencies of existence enjoyed by the poorest laborer ashore. it is in the nature of a paradox that the brilliant success of the packet ships in dominating the north atlantic trade should have been a factor in the decline of the nation's maritime prestige and resources. through a period of forty years the pride and confidence in these ships, their builders, and the men who sailed them, was intense and universal. they were a superlative product of the american genius, which still displayed the energies of a maritime race. on other oceans the situation was no less gratifying. american ships were the best and cheapest in the world. the business held the confidence of investors and commanded an abundance of capital. it was assumed, as late as , that the wooden sailing ship would continue to be the supreme type of deep-water vessel because the united states possessed the greatest stores of timber, the most skillful builders and mechanics, and the ablest merchant navigators. no industry was ever more efficiently organized and conducted. american ships were most in demand and commanded the highest freights. the tonnage in foreign trade increased to a maximum of , in . there was no doubt in the minds of the shrewdest merchants and owners and builders of the time that great britain would soon cease to be the mistress of the seas and must content herself with second place. it was not considered ominous when, in , the admiralty had requested proposals for a steam service to america. this demand was prompted by the voyages of the sirius and great western, wooden-hulled sidewheelers which thrashed along at ten knots' speed and crossed the atlantic in fourteen to seventeen days. this was a much faster rate than the average time of the yankee packets, but america was unperturbed and showed no interest in steam. in the british government awarded an atlantic mail contract, with an annual subsidy of $ , to samuel cunard and his associates, and thereby created the most famous of the atlantic steamship companies. four of these liners began running in --an event which foretold the doom of the packet fleets, though the warning was almost unheeded in new york and boston. four years later enoch train was establishing a new packet line to liverpool with the largest, finest ships built up to that time, the washington irving, anglo-american, ocean monarch, anglo-saxon, and daniel webster. other prominent shipping houses were expanding their service and were launching noble packets until . meanwhile the cunard steamers were increasing in size and speed, and the service was no longer an experiment. american capital now began to awaken from its dreams, and edward k. collins, managing owner of the dramatic line of packets, determined to challenge the cunarders at their own game. aided by the government to the extent of $ , a year as subsidy, he put afloat the four magnificent steamers, atlantic, pacific, baltic, and arctic, which were a day faster than the cunarders in crossing, and reduced the voyage to nine and ten days. the collins line, so auspiciously begun in , and promising to give the united states the supremacy in steam which it had won under sail, was singularly unfortunate and short-lived. the arctic and the pacific were lost at sea, and congress withdrew its financial support after five years. deprived of this aid, mr. collins was unable to keep the enterprise afloat in competition with the subsidized cunard fleet. in this manner and with little further effort by american interests to compete for the prize, the dominion of the atlantic passed into british hands. the packet ships had held on too long. it had been a stirring episode for the passengers to cheer in mid-ocean when the lofty pyramids of canvas swept grandly by some wallowing steamer and left her far astern, but in the fifties this gallant picture became less frequent, and a sooty banner of smoke on the horizon proclaimed the new era and the obliteration of all the rushing life and beauty of the tall ship under sail. slow to realize and acknowledge defeat, persisting after the steamers were capturing the cabin passenger and express freight traffic, the american ship-owners could not visualize this profound transformation. their majestic clippers still surpassed all rivals in the east india and china trade and were racing around the horn, making new records for speed and winning fresh nautical triumphs for the stars and stripes. this reluctance to change the industrial and commercial habits of generations of american shipowners was one of several causes for the decadence which was hastened by the civil war. for once the astute american was caught napping by his british cousin, who was swayed by no sentimental values and showed greater adaptability in adopting the iron steamer with the screw propeller as the inevitable successor of the wooden ship with arching topsails. the golden age of the american merchant marine was that of the square-rigged ship, intricate, capricious, and feminine in her beauty, with forty nimble seamen in the forecastle, not that of the metal trough with an engine in the middle and mechanics sweating in her depths. when the atlantic packet was compelled to abdicate, it was the beginning of the end. after all, her master was the fickle wind, for a slashing outward passage might be followed by weeks of beating home to the westward. steadily forging ahead to the beat of her paddles or the thrash of her screw, the steamer even of that day was far more dependable than the sailing vessel. the lightning clipper might run a hundred miles farther in twenty-four hours than ever a steamer had done, but she could not maintain this meteoric burst of speed. upon the heaving surface of the western ocean there was enacted over again the fable of the hare and the tortoise. most of the famous chanteys were born in the packet service and shouted as working choruses by the tars of this western ocean before the chanteyman perched upon a capstan and led the refrain in the clipper trade. you will find their origin unmistakable in such lines as these: as i was a-walking down rotherhite street, 'way, ho, blow the man down; a pretty young creature i chanced for to meet, give me some time to blow the man down. soon we'll be in london city, blow, boys, blow, and see the gals all dressed so pretty, blow, my bully boys, blow. haunting melodies, folk-song as truly as that of the plantation negro, they vanished from the sea with a breed of men who, for all their faults, possessed the valor of the viking and the fortitude of the spartan. outcasts ashore--which meant to them only the dance halls of cherry street and the grog-shops of ratcliffe road--they had virtues that were as great as their failings. across the intervening years, with a pathos indefinable, come the lovely strains of shenandoah, i'll ne'er forget you, away, ye rolling river, till the day i die i'll love you ever, ah, ha, we're bound away. chapter ix. the stately clipper and her glory the american clipper ship was the result of an evolution which can be traced back to the swift privateers which were built during the war of . in this type of vessel the shipyards of chesapeake bay excelled and their handiwork was known as the "baltimore clipper," the name suggested by the old english verb which dryden uses to describe the flight of the falcon that "clips it down the wind." the essential difference between the clipper ship and other kinds of merchant craft was that speed and not capacity became the chief consideration. this was a radical departure for large vessels, which in all maritime history had been designed with an eye to the number of tons they were able to carry. more finely molded lines had hitherto been found only in the much smaller french lugger, the mediterranean galley, the american schooner. to borrow the lines of these fleet and graceful models and apply them to the design of a deepwater ship was a bold conception. it was first attempted by isaac mckim, a baltimore merchant, who ordered his builders in to reproduce as closely as possible the superior sailing qualities of the renowned clipper brigs and schooners of their own port. the result was the ann mckim, of nearly five hundred tons, the first yankee clipper ship, and distinguished as such by her long, easy water-lines, low free-board, and raking stem. she was built and finished without regard to cost, copper-sheathed, the decks gleaming with brasswork and mahogany fittings. but though she was a very fast and handsome ship and the pride of her owner, the ann mckim could stow so little cargo that shipping men regarded her as unprofitable and swore by their full-bodied vessels a few years longer. that the ann mckim, however, influenced the ideas of the most progressive builders is very probable, for she was later owned by the new york firm of howland and aspinwall, who placed an order for the first extremely sharp clipper ship of the era. this vessel, the rainbow, was designed by john w. griffeths, a marine architect, who was a pioneer in that he studied shipbuilding as a science instead of working by rule-of-thumb. the rainbow, which created a sensation while on the stocks because of her concave or hollowed lines forward, which defied all tradition and practice, was launched in . she was a more radical innovation than the ann mckim but a successful one, for on her second voyage to china the rainbow went out against the northeast monsoon in ninety-two days and came home in eighty-eight, a record which few ships were able to better. her commander, captain john land, declared her to be the fastest ship in the world and there were none to dispute him. even the rainbow however, was eclipsed when not long afterward howland and aspinwall, now converted to the clipper, ordered the sea witch to be built for captain bob waterman. among all the splendid skippers of the time he was the most dashing figure. about his briny memory cluster a hundred yarns, some of them true, others legendary. it has been argued that the speed of the clippers was due more to the men who commanded them than to their hulls and rigging, and to support the theory the career of captain bob waterman is quoted. he was first known to fame in the old natchez, which was not a clipper at all and was even rated as slow while carrying cotton from new orleans to new york. but captain bob took this full-pooped old packet ship around the horn and employed her in the china tea trade. the voyages which he made in her were all fast, and he crowned them with the amazing run of seventy-eight days from canton to new york, just one day behind the swiftest clipper passage ever sailed and which he himself performed in the sea witch. incredulous mariners simply could not explain this feat of the natchez and suggested that bob waterman must have brought the old hooker home by some new route of his own discovery. captain bob had won a reputation for discipline as the mate of a black ball liner, a rough school, and he was not a mild man. ashore his personality was said to have been a most attractive one, but there is no doubt that afloat he worked the very souls out of his sailors. the rumors that he frightfully abused them were not current, however, until he took the sea witch and showed the world the fastest ship under canvas. low in the water, with black hull and gilded figurehead, she seemed too small to support her prodigious cloud of sail. for her there were to be no leisurely voyages with captain bob waterman on the quarter-deck. home from canton she sped in seventy-seven days and then in seventy-nine--records which were never surpassed. with what consummate skill and daring this master mariner drove his ship and how the race of hardy sailors to which he belonged compared with those of other nations may be descried in the log of another of them, captain philip dumaresq, homeward bound from china in in the clipper great britain. three weeks out from java head she had overtaken and passed seven ships heading the same way, and then she began to rush by them in one gale after another. her log records her exploits in such entries as these: "passed a ship under double reefs, we with our royals and studdingsails set.... passed a ship laying-to under a close-reefed maintopsail.... split all three topsails and had to heave to.... seven vessels in sight and we outsail all of them.... under double-reefed topsails passed several vessels hove-to." much the same record might be read in the log of the medium clipper florence--and it is the same story of carrying sail superbly on a ship which had been built to stand up under it: "passed two barks under reefed courses and close-reefed topsails standing the same way, we with royals and topgallant studding-sails," or "passed a ship under topsails, we with our royals set." for eleven weeks "the topsail halliards were started only once, to take in a single reef for a few hours." it is not surprising, therefore, to learn that, seventeen days out from shanghai, the florence exchanged signals with the english ship john hagerman, which had sailed thirteen days before her. two notable events in the history of the nineteenth century occurred within the same year, , to open new fields of trade to the yankee clipper. one of these was the repeal of the british navigation laws which had given english ships a monopoly of the trade between london and the british east indies, and the other was the discovery of gold in california. after centuries of pomp and power, the great east india company had been deprived of its last exclusive rights afloat in . its ponderous, frigate-built merchantmen ceased to dominate the british commerce with china and india and were sold or broken up. all british ships were now free to engage in this trade, but the spirit and customs of the old regime still strongly survived. flying the house-flags of private owners, the east indiamen and china tea ships were still built and manned like frigates, slow, comfortable, snugging down for the night under reduced sail. there was no competition to arouse them until the last barrier of the navigation laws was let down and they had to meet the yankee clipper with the tea trade as the huge stake. then at last it was farewell to the gallant old indianian and her ornate, dignified prestige. with a sigh the london times confessed: "we must run a race with our gigantic and unshackled rival. we must set our long-practised skill, our steady industry, and our dogged determination against his youth, ingenuity, and ardor. let our shipbuilders and employers take warning in time. there will always be an abundant supply of vessels good enough and fast enough for short voyages. but we want fast vessels for the long voyages which otherwise will fall into american hands." before english merchants could prepare themselves for these new conditions, the american clipper oriental was loading in at hong kong with tea for the london market. because of her reputation for speed, she received freightage of six pounds sterling per ton while british ships rode at anchor with empty holds or were glad to sail at three pounds ten per ton. captain theodore palmer delivered his sixteen hundred tons of tea in the west india docks, london, after a crack passage of ninety-one days which had never been equaled. his clipper earned $ , , or two-thirds of what it had cost to build her. her arrival in london created a profound impression. the port had seen nothing like her for power and speed; her skysail yards soared far above the other shipping; the cut of her snowy canvas was faultless; all clumsy, needless tophamper had been done away with; and she appeared to be the last word in design and construction, as lean and fine and spirited as a race-horse in training. this new competition dismayed british shipping until it could rally and fight with similar weapons the technical journal, naval science, acknowledged that the tea trade of the london markets had passed almost out of the hands of the english ship-owner, and that british vessels, well-manned and well-found, were known to lie for weeks in the harbor of foo-chow, waiting for a cargo and seeing american clippers come in, load, and sail immediately with full cargoes at a higher freight than they could command. even the government viewed the loss of trade with concern and sent admiralty draftsmen to copy the lines of the oriental and challenge while they were in drydock. british clippers were soon afloat, somewhat different in model from the yankee ships, but very fast and able, and racing them in the tea trade until the civil war. with them it was often nip and tuck, as in the contest between the english lord of the isles and the american clipper bark maury in . the prize was a premium of one pound per ton for the first ship to reach london with tea of the new crop. the lord of the isles finished loading and sailed four days ahead of the maury, and after thirteen thousand miles of ocean they passed gravesend within ten minutes of each other. the british skipper, having the smartest tug and getting his ship first into dock, won the honors. in a similar race between the american sea serpent and the english crest of the wave, both ships arrived off the isle of wight on the same day. it was a notable fact that the lord of the isles was the first tea clipper built of iron at a date when the use of this stubborn material was not yet thought of by the men who constructed the splendid wooden ships of america. for the peculiar requirements of the tea trade, english maritime talent was quick to perfect a clipper type which, smaller than the great yankee skysail-yarder, was nevertheless most admirable for its beauty and performance. on both sides of the atlantic partizans hotly championed their respective fleets. in the american navigation club, organized by boston merchants and owners, challenged the shipbuilders of great britain to race from a port in england to a port in china and return, for a stake of $ , a side, ships to be not under eight hundred nor over twelve hundred tons american register. the challenge was aimed at the stornaway and the chrysolite, the two clippers that were known to be the fastest ships under the british flag. though this sporting defiance caused lively discussion, nothing came of it, and it was with a spirit even keener that sampson and tappan of boston offered to match their nightingale for the same amount against any clipper afloat, british or american. in spite of the fact that yankee enterprise had set the pace in the tea trade, within a few years after england had so successfully mastered the art of building these smaller clippers that the honors were fairly divided. the american owners were diverting their energies to the more lucrative trade in larger ships sailing around the horn to san francisco, a long road which, as a coastwise voyage, was forbidden to foreign vessels under the navigation laws. after the civil war the fastest tea clippers flew the british flag and into the seventies they survived the competition of steam, racing among themselves for the premiums awarded to the quickest dispatch. no more of these beautiful vessels were launched after , and one by one they vanished into other trades, overtaken by the same fate which had befallen the atlantic packet and conquered by the cargo steamers which filed through the suez canal. until san francisco had been a drowsy little mexican trading-post, a huddle of adobe huts and sheds where american ships collected hides--vividly described in two years before the mast--or a whaler called for wood and water. during the year preceding the frenzied migration of the modern argonauts, only two merchant ships, one bark and one brig, sailed in through the golden gate. in the twelve months following, vessels cleared from atlantic ports for san francisco, besides the rush from other countries, and nearly fifty thousand passengers scrambled ashore to dig for gold. crews deserted their ships, leaving them unable to go to sea again for lack of men, and in consequence a hundred of them were used as storehouses, hotels, and hospitals, or else rotted at their moorings. sailors by hundreds jumped from the forecastle without waiting to stow the sails or receive their wages. though offered as much as two hundred dollars a month to sign again, they jeered at the notion. of this great fleet at san francisco in , it was a lucky ship that ever left the harbor again. it seemed as if the whole world were bound to california and almost overnight there was created the wildest, most extravagant demand for transportation known to history. a clipper costing $ , could pay for herself in one voyage, with freights at sixty dollars a ton. this gold stampede might last but a little while. to take instant advantage of it was the thing. the fastest ships, and as many of them as could be built, would skim the cream of it. this explains the brief and illustrious era of the california clipper, one hundred and sixty of which were launched from to . the shipyards of new york and boston were crowded with them, and they graced the keel blocks of the historic old ports of new england--medford, mystic, newburyport, portsmouth, portland, rockland, and bath--wherever the timber and the shipwrights could be assembled. until that time there had been few ships afloat as large as a thousand tons. these were of a new type, rapidly increased to fifteen hundred, two thousand tons, and over. they presented new and difficult problems in spars and rigging able to withstand the strain of immense areas of canvas which climbed two hundred feet to the skysail pole and which, with lower studdingsails set, spread one hundred and sixty feet from boom-end to boom-end. there had to be the strength to battle with the furious tempests of cape horn and at the same time the driving power to sweep before the sweet and steadfast tradewinds. such a queenly clipper was the flying cloud, the achievement of that master builder, donald mckay, which sailed from new york to san francisco in eighty-nine days, with captain josiah creesy in command. this record was never lowered and was equaled only twice--by the flying cloud herself and by the andrew jackson nine years later. it was during this memorable voyage that the flying cloud sailed miles in four days while steering to the northward under topgallantsails after rounding cape horn. this was a rate of speed which, if sustained, would have carried her from new york to queenstown in eight days and seventeen hours. this speedy passage was made in , and only two years earlier the record for the same voyage of fifteen thousand miles had been one hundred and twenty days, by the clipper memnon. donald mckay now resolved to build a ship larger and faster than the flying cloud, and his genius neared perfection in the sovereign of the seas, of tons register, which exceeded in size all merchant vessels afloat. this titan of the clipper fleet was commanded by donald's brother, captain lauchlan mckay, with a crew of one hundred and five men and boys. during her only voyage to san francisco she was partly dismasted, but lauchlan mckay rigged her anew at sea in fourteen days and still made port in one hundred and three days, a record for the season of the year. it was while running home from honolulu in that the sovereign of the seas realized the hopes of her builder. in eleven days she sailed miles, with four days logged for a total of knots. making allowance for the longitudes and difference in time, this was an average daily run of sea miles or land miles. using the same comparison, the distance from sandy hook to queenstown would have been covered in seven days and nine hours. figures are arid reading, perhaps, but these are wet by the spray and swept by the salt winds of romance. during one of these four days the sovereign of the seas reeled off nautical miles, during which her average speed was seventeen and two-thirds knots and at times reached nineteen and twenty. the only sailing ship which ever exceeded this day's work was the lightning, built later by the same donald mckay, which ran knots in the atlantic passage already referred to. the sovereign of the seas could also boast of a sensational feat upon the western ocean, for between new york and liverpool she outsailed the cunard liner canada by miles in five days. it is curiously interesting to notice that the california clipper era is almost generally ignored by the foremost english writers of maritime history. for one thing, it was a trade in which their own ships were not directly concerned, and partizan bias is apt to color the views of the best of us when national prestige is involved. american historians themselves have dispensed with many unpleasant facts when engaged with the war of . with regard to the speed of clipper ships, however, involving a rivalry far more thrilling and important than all the races ever sailed for the america's cup, the evidence is available in concrete form. lindsay's "history of merchant shipping" is the most elaborate english work of the kind. heavily ballasted with facts and rather dull reading for the most part, it kindles with enthusiasm when eulogizing the thermopylae and the sir launcelot, composite clippers of wood and iron, afloat in , which it declares to be "the fastest sailing ships that ever traversed the ocean." this fairly presents the issue which a true-blooded yankee has no right to evade. the greatest distance sailed by the sir launcelot in twenty-four hours between china and london was knots, compared with the miles of the sovereign of the seas and the miles of the lightning. her best sustained run was one of seven days for an average of a trifle more than miles a day. against this is to be recorded the performance of the sovereign of the seas, miles in eleven days, at the rate of miles every twenty-four hours, and her wonderful four-day run of miles, an average of miles. the thermopylae achieved her reputation in a passage of sixty-three days from london to melbourne--a record which was never beaten. her fastest day's sailing was miles, or not quite sixteen knots an hour. in six days she traversed miles, an average of miles a day. in this australian trade the american clippers made little effort to compete. those engaged in it were mostly built for english owners and sailed by british skippers, who could not reasonably be expected to get the most out of these loftily sparred yankee ships, which were much larger than their own vessels of the same type. the lightning showed what she could do from melbourne to liverpool by making the passage in sixty-three' days, with miles in ten consecutive days and one day's sprint of miles. in the china tea trade the thermopylae drove home from foo-chow in ninety-one days, which was equaled by the sir launcelot. the american witch of the wave had a ninety-day voyage to her credit, and the comet ran from liverpool to shanghai in eighty-four days. luck was a larger factor on this route than in the california or australian trade because of the fitful uncertainty of the monsoons, and as a test of speed it was rather unsatisfactory. in a very fair-minded and expert summary, captain arthur h. clark, * in his youth an officer on yankee clippers, has discussed this question of rival speed and power under sail--a question which still absorbs those who love the sea. his conclusion is that in ordinary weather at sea, when great power to carry sail was not required, the british tea clippers were extremely fast vessels, chiefly on account of their narrow beam. under these conditions they were perhaps as fast as the american clippers of the same class, such as the sea witch, white squall, northern light, and sword-fish. but if speed is to be reckoned by the maximum performance of a ship under the most favorable conditions, then the british tea clippers were certainly no match for the larger american ships such as the flying cloud, sovereign of the seas, hurricane, trade wind, typhoon, flying fish, challenge, and red jacket. the greater breadth of the american ships in proportion to their length meant power to carry canvas and increased buoyancy which enabled them, with their sharper ends, to be driven in strong gales and heavy seas at much greater speed than the british clippers. the latter were seldom of more than one thousand tons' register and combined in a superlative degree the good qualities of merchant ships. * "the clipper ship era." n.y., . it was the california trade, brief and crowded and fevered, which saw the roaring days of the yankee clipper and which was familiar with racing surpassing in thrill and intensity that of the packet ships of the western ocean. in , for instance, the raven, sea witch, and typhoon sailed for san francisco within the same week. they crossed the equator a day apart and stood away to the southward for three thousand miles of the southeast trades and the piping westerly winds which prevailed farther south. at fifty degrees south latitude the raven and the sea witch were abeam of each other with the typhoon only two days astern. now they stripped for the tussle to windward around cape horn, sending down studdingsail booms and skysail yards, making all secure with extra lashings, plunging into the incessant head seas of the desolate ocean, fighting it out tack for tack, reefing topsails and shaking them out again, the vigilant commanders going below only to change their clothes, the exhausted seamen stubbornly, heroically handling with frozen, bleeding fingers the icy sheets and canvas. a fortnight of this inferno and the sea witch and the raven gained the pacific, still within sight of each other, and the typhoon only one day behind. then they swept northward, blown by the booming tradewinds, spreading studdingsails, skysails, and above them, like mere handkerchiefs, the water-sails and ring-tails. again the three clippers crossed the equator. close-hauled on the starboard tack, their bowsprits were pointed for the last stage of the journey to the golden gate. the typhoon now overhauled her rivals and was the first to signal her arrival, but the victory was earned by the raven, which had set her departure from boston light while the others had sailed from new york. the typhoon and the raven were only a day apart, with the sea witch five days behind the leader. clipper ship crews included men of many nations. in the average forecastle there would be two or three americans, a majority of english and norwegians, and perhaps a few portuguese and italians. the hardiest seamen, and the most unmanageable, were the liverpool packet rats who were lured from their accustomed haunts to join the clippers by the magical call of the gold-diggings. there were not enough deep-water sailors to man half the ships that were built in these few years, and the crimps and boarding-house runners decoyed or flung aboard on sailing day as many men as were demanded, and any drunken, broken landlubber was good enough to be shipped as an able seaman. they were things of rags and tatters--their only luggage a bottle of whiskey. the mates were thankful if they could muster enough real sailors to work the ship to sea and then began the stern process of whipping the wastrels and incompetents into shape for the perils and emergencies of the long voyage. that these great clippers were brought safely to port is a shining tribute to the masterful skill of their officers. while many of them were humane and just, with all their severity, the stories of savage abuse which are told of some are shocking in the extreme. the defense was that it was either mutiny or club the men under. better treatment might have persuaded better men to sail. certain it is that life in the forecastle of a clipper was even more intolerable to the self-respecting american youth than it had previously been aboard the atlantic packet. when captain bob waterman arrived at san francisco in the challenge clipper in , a mob tried very earnestly to find and hang him and his officers because of the harrowing stories told by his sailors. that he had shot several of them from the yards with his pistol to make the others move faster was one count in the indictment. for his part, captain waterman asserted that a more desperate crew of ruffians had never sailed out of new york and that only two of them were americans. they were mutinous from the start, half of them blacklegs of the vilest type who swore to get the upper hand of him. his mates, boatswain, and carpenter had broken open their chests and boxes and had removed a collection of slung-shots, knuckle-dusters, bowie-knives, and pistols. off rio janeiro they had tried to kill the chief mate, and captain waterman had been compelled to jump in and stretch two of them dead with an iron belaying-pin. off cape horn three sailors fell from aloft and were lost. this accounted for the casualties. the truth of such episodes as these was difficult to fathom. captain waterman demanded a legal investigation, but nothing came of his request and he was commended by his owners for his skill and courage in bringing the ship to port without losing a spar or a sail. it was a skipper of this old school who blandly maintained the doctrine that if you wanted the men to love you, you must starve them and knock them down. the fact is proven by scores of cases that the discipline of the american clipper was both famously efficient and notoriously cruel. it was not until long after american sailors had ceased to exist that adequate legislation was enacted to provide that they should be treated as human beings afloat and ashore. other days and other customs! it is perhaps unkind to judge these vanished master-mariners too harshly, for we cannot comprehend the crises which continually beset them in their command. no more extreme clipper ships were built after . the california frenzy had subsided and speed in carrying merchandise was no longer so essential; besides, the passenger traffic was seeking the isthmian route. what were called medium clippers enjoyed a profitable trade for many years later, and one of them, the andrew jackson, was never outsailed for the record from new york to san francisco. this splendid type of ship was to be found on every sea, for the united states was still a commanding factor in the maritime activities of south america, india, china, europe, and australia. in its merchant tonnage rivaled that of england and was everywhere competing with it. the effects of the financial panic of and the aftermath of business depression were particularly disastrous to american ships. freights were so low as to yield no profit, and the finest clippers went begging for charters. the yards ceased to launch new tonnage. british builders had made such rapid progress in design and construction that the days of yankee preference in the china trade had passed. the stars and stripes floated over ships waiting idle in manila bay, at shanghai, hong-kong, and calcutta. the tide of commerce had slackened abroad as well as at home and the surplus of deep-water tonnage was world-wide. in earlier generations afloat, the american spirit had displayed amazing recuperative powers. the havoc of the revolution had been unable to check it, and its vigor and aggressive enterprise had never been more notable than after the blows dealt by the embargo, the french spoliations, and the war of . the conditions of trade and the temper of the people were now so changed that this mighty industry, aforetime so robust and resilient, was unable to recover from such shocks as the panic of and the civil war. yet it had previously survived and triumphed over calamities far more severe. the destruction wrought by confederate cruisers was trifling compared with the work of the british and french privateers when the nation was very small and weak. the american spirit had ceased to concern itself with the sea as the vital and dominant element. the footsteps of the young men no longer turned toward the wharf and the waterside and the tiers of tall ships outward bound. they were aspiring to conquer an inland empire of prairie and mountain and desert, impelled by the same pioneering and adventurous ardor which had burned in their seafaring sires. steam had vanquished sail--an epochal event in a thousand years of maritime history--but the nation did not care enough to accept this situation as a new challenge or to continue the ancient struggle for supremacy upon the sea. england did care, because it was life or death to the little, sea-girt island, but as soon as the united states ceased to be a strip of atlantic seaboard and the panorama, of a continent was unrolled to settlement, it was foreordained that the maritime habit of thought and action should lose its virility in america. all great seafaring races, english, norwegian, portuguese, and dutch, have taken to salt water because there was lack of space, food, or work ashore, and their strong young men craved opportunities. like the pilgrim fathers and their fishing shallops they had nowhere else to go. when the flying cloud and the clippers of her kind--taut, serene, immaculate--were sailing through the lonely spaces of the south atlantic and the pacific, they sighted now and then the stumpy, slatternly rig and greasy hull of a new bedford whaler, perhaps rolling to the weight of a huge carcass alongside. with a poor opinion of the seamanship of these wandering barks, the clipper crews rolled out, among their favorite chanteys: oh, poor reuben ranzo, ranzo, boys, o ranzo, oh, ranzo was no sailor, so they shipped him aboard a whaler, ranzo, boys, o ranzo. this was crass, intolerant prejudice. the whaling ship was careless of appearances, it is true, and had the air of an ocean vagabond; but there were other duties more important than holystoning decks, scraping spars, and trimming the yards to a hair. on a voyage of two or three years, moreover, there was always plenty of time tomorrow. brave and resourceful seamen were these new england adventurers and deep-sea hunters who made nautical history after their own fashion. they flourished coeval with the merchant marine in its prime, and they passed from the sea at about the same time and for similar reasons. modernity dispensed with their services, and young men found elsewhere more profitable and easier employment. the great days of nantucket as a whaling port were passed before the revolution wiped out her ships and killed or scattered her sailors. it was later discovered that larger ships were more economical, and nantucket harbor bar was too shoal to admit their passage. for this reason new bedford became the scene of the foremost activity, and nantucket thereafter played a minor part, although her barks went cruising on to the end of the chapter and her old whaling families were true to strain. as explorers the whalemen rambled into every nook and corner of the pacific before merchant vessels had found their way thither. they discovered uncharted islands and cheerfully fought savages or suffered direful shipwreck. the chase led them into arctic regions where their stout barks were nipped like eggshells among the grinding floes, or else far to the southward where they broiled in tropic calms. the new bedford lad was as keen to go a-whaling as was his counterpart in boston or new york to be the dandy mate of a california clipper, and true was the song: i asked a maiden by my side, who sighed and looked to me forlorn, "where is your heart?" she quick replied, "round cape horn." yankee whaling reached its high tide in when the new bedford fleet alone numbered sail and those owned in other ports of buzzard's bay swelled the total to vessels, besides thirty more hailing from new london and sag harbor. in this year the value of the catch was more than ten million dollars. the old custom of sailing on shares or "lays" instead of wages was never changed. it was win or lose for all hands--now a handsome fortune or again an empty hold and pockets likewise. there was captain w.t. walker of new bedford who, in , bought for a song a ship so old that she was about to be broken up for junk and no insurance broker would look at her. in this rotten relic he shipped a crew and went sailing in the pacific. miraculously keeping afloat, this envoy of his was filled to the hatches with oil and bones, twice running, before she returned to her home port; and she earned $ , on a total investment of eight thousand dollars. the ship sarah of nantucket, after a three years' cruise, brought back barrels of sperm oil which sold for $ , , and the william hamilton of new bedford set another high mark by stowing barrels of a value of $ , . the pioneer of new london, captain ebenezer morgan, was away only a year and stocked a cargo of oil and whalebone which sold for $ , . most of the profits of prosperous voyages were taken as the owners' share, and the incomes of the captain and crew were so niggardly as to make one wonder why they persisted in a calling so perilous, arduous, and poorly paid. during the best years of whaling, when the ships were averaging $ , for a voyage, the master received an eighteenth, or about nine hundred dollars a year. the highly skilled hands, such as the boat-steerers and harpooners, had a lay of only one seventy-fifth, or perhaps a little more than two hundred dollars cash as the reward of a voyage which netted the owner at least fifty per cent on his investment. occasionally they fared better than this and sometimes worse. the answer to the riddle is that they liked the life and had always the gambling spirit which hopes for a lucky turn of the cards. the countless episodes of fragile boats smashed to kindling by fighting whales, of the attack renewed with harpoon and lance, of ships actually rammed and sunk, would fill a volume by themselves and have been stirringly narrated in many a one. zanzibar and kamchatka, tasmania and the seychelles knew the lean, sun-dried yankee whaleman and his motto of a "dead whale or a stove boat." the civil war did not drive him from the seas. the curious fact is that his products commanded higher prices in than fifty years before, but the number of his ships rapidly decreased. whales were becoming scarce, and new england capital preferred other forms of investment. the leisurely old sailing craft was succeeded by the steam whaler, and the explosive bomb slew, instead of the harpoon and lance hurled by the sinewy right arm of a new bedford man or cape verde islander. roving whaler and armed east indiaman, plunging packet ship and stately clipper, they served their appointed days and passed on their several courses to become mere memories, as shadowy and unsubstantial as the gleam of their own topsails when seen at twilight. the souls of their sailors have fled to fiddler's green, where all dead mariners go. they were of the old merchant marine which contributed something fine and imperishable to the story of the united states. down the wind, vibrant and deep-throated, comes their own refrain for a requiem: we're outward bound this very day, good-bye, fare you well, good-bye, fare you well. we're outward bound this very day, hurrah, my boys, we're outward bound. chapter x. bound coastwise one thinks of the old merchant marine in terms of the clipper ship and distant ports. the coasting trade has been overlooked in song and story; yet, since the year , its fleets have always been larger and more important than the american deep-water commerce nor have decay and misfortune overtaken them. it is a traffic which flourished from the beginning, ingeniously adapting itself to new conditions, unchecked by war, and surviving with splendid vigor, under steam and sail, in this modern era. the seafaring pioneers won their way from port to port of the tempestuous atlantic coast in tiny ketches, sloops, and shallops when the voyage of five hundred miles from new england to virginia was a prolonged and hazardous adventure. fog and shoals and lee shores beset these coastwise sailors, and shipwrecks were pitifully frequent. in no hall of fame will you find the name of captain andrew robinson of gloucester, but he was nevertheless an illustrious benefactor and deserves a place among the most useful americans. his invention was the yankee schooner of fore-and-aft rig, and he gave to this type of vessel its name. * seaworthy, fast, and easily handled, adapted for use in the early eighteenth century when inland transportation was almost impossible, the schooner carried on trade between the colonies and was an important factor in the growth of the fisheries. * it is said that as the odd two-master slid gracefully into the water, a spectator exclaimed: "see how she scoons!" "aye," answered captain robinson, "a schooner let her be!" this launching took place in or . before the revolution the first new england schooners were beating up to the grand bank of newfoundland after cod and halibut. they were of no more than fifty tons' burden, too small for their task but manned by fishermen of surpassing hardihood. marblehead was then the foremost fishing port with two hundred brigs and schooners on the offshore banks. but to gloucester belongs the glory of sending the first schooner to the grand bank. * from these two rock-bound harbors went thousands of trained seamen to man the privateers and the ships of the continental navy, slinging their hammocks on the gun-decks beside the whalemen of nantucket. these fishermen and coastwise sailors fought on the land as well and followed the drums of washington's armies until the final scene at yorktown. gloucester and marblehead were filled with widows and orphans, and half their men-folk were dead or missing. * marvin's "american merchant marine," p. . the fishing-trade soon prospered again, and the men of the old ports tenaciously clung to the sea even when the great migration flowed westward to people the wilderness and found a new american empire. they were fishermen from father to son, bound together in an intimate community of interests, a race of pure native or english stock, deserving this tribute which was paid to them in congress: "every person on board our fishing vessels has an interest in common with his associates; their reward depends upon their industry and enterprise. much caution is observed in the selection of the crews of our fishing vessels; it often happens that every individual is connected by blood and the strongest ties of friendship; our fishermen are remarkable for their sobriety and good conduct, and they rank with the most skillful navigators." fishing and the coastwise merchant trade were closely linked. schooners loaded dried cod as well as lumber for southern ports and carried back naval stores and other southern products. well-to-do fishermen owned trading vessels and sent out their ventures, the sailors shifting from one forecastle to the other. with a taste for an easier life than the stormy, freezing banks, the young gloucesterman would sign on for a voyage to pernambuco or havana and so be fired with ambition to become a mate or master and take to deep water after a while. in this way was maintained a school of seamanship which furnished the most intelligent and efficient officers of the merchant marine. for generations they were mostly recruited from the old fishing and shipping ports of new england until the term "yankee shipmaster" had a meaning peculiarly its own. seafaring has undergone so many revolutionary changes and old days and ways are so nearly obliterated that it is singular to find the sailing vessel still employed in great numbers, even though the gasolene motor is being installed to kick her along in spells of calm weather. the gloucester fishing schooner, perfect of her type, stanch, fleet, and powerful, still drives homeward from the banks under a tall press of canvas, and her crew still divide the earnings, share and share, as did their forefathers a hundred and fifty years ago. but the old new england strain of blood no longer predominates, and portuguese, scandinavians, and nova scotia "bluenoses" bunk with the lads of gloucester stock. yet they are alike for courage, hardihood, and mastery of the sea, and the traditions of the calling are undimmed. there was a time before the civil war when congress jealously protected the fisheries by means of a bounty system and legislation aimed against our canadian neighbors. the fishing fleets were regarded as a source of national wealth and the nursery of prime seamen for the navy and merchant marine. in the bounty system was abandoned, however, and the fishermen were left to shift for themselves, earning small profits at peril of their lives and preferring to follow the sea because they knew no other profession. in spite of this loss of assistance from the government, the tonnage engaged in deep-sea fisheries was never so great as in the second year of the civil war. four years later the industry had shrunk one-half; and it has never recovered its early importance * * in , the tonnage amounted to , ; in , to , . the coastwise merchant trade, on the other hand, has been jealously guarded against competition and otherwise fostered ever since , when the first discriminatory tonnage tax was enforced. the embargo act of prohibited domestic commerce to foreign flags, and this edict was renewed in the american navigation act of . it remained a firmly established doctrine of maritime policy until the great war compelled its suspension as an emergency measure. the theories of protection and free trade have been bitterly debated for generations, but in this instance the practice was eminently successful and the results were vastly impressive. deepwater shipping dwindled and died, but the increase in coastwise sailing was consistent. it rose to five million tons early in this century and makes the united states still one of the foremost maritime powers in respect to saltwater activity. to speak of this deep-water shipping as trade coastwise is misleading, in a way. the words convey an impression of dodging from port to port for short distances, whereas many of the voyages are longer than those of the foreign routes in european waters. it is farther by sea from boston to philadelphia than from plymouth, england, to bordeaux. a schooner making the run from portland to savannah lays more knots over her stern than a tramp bound out from england to lisbon. it is a shorter voyage from cardiff to algiers than an american skipper pricks off on his chart when he takes his steamer from new york to new orleans or galveston. this coastwise trade may lack the romance of the old school of the square-rigged ship in the roaring forties, but it has always been the more perilous and exacting. its seamen suffer hardships unknown elsewhere, for they have to endure winters of intense cold and heavy gales and they are always in risk of stranding or being driven ashore. the story of these hardy men is interwoven, for the most part, with the development of the schooner in size and power. this graceful craft, so peculiar to its own coast and people, was built for utility and possessed a simple beauty of its own when under full sail. the schooners were at first very small because it was believed that large fore-and-aft sails could not be handled with safety. they were difficult to reef or lower in a blow until it was discovered that three masts instead of two made the task much easier. for many years the three-masted schooner was the most popular kind of american merchant vessel. they clustered in every atlantic port and were built in the yards of new england, new york, new jersey, and virginia,--built by the mile, as the saying was, and sawed off in lengths to suit the owners' pleasure. they carried the coal, ice, lumber of the whole seaboard and were so economical of man-power that they earned dividends where steamers or square-rigged ships would not have paid for themselves. as soon as a small steam-engine was employed to hoist the sails, it became possible to launch much larger schooners and to operate them at a marvelously low cost. rapidly the four-master gained favor, and then came the five- and six-masted vessels, gigantic ships of their kind. instead of the hundred-ton schooner of a century ago, hampton roads and boston harbor saw these great cargo carriers which could stow under hatches four and five thousand tons of coal, and whose masts soared a hundred and fifty feet above the deck. square-rigged ships of the same capacity would have required crews of a hundred men, but these schooners were comfortably handled by a company of fifteen all told, only ten of whom were in the forecastle. there was no need of sweating and hauling at braces and halliards. the steam-winch undertook all this toil. the tremendous sails, stretching a hundred feet from boom to gaff could not have been managed otherwise. even for trimming sheets or setting topsails, it was necessary merely to take a turn or two around the drum of the winch engine and turn the steam valve. the big schooner was the last word in cheap, efficient transportation by water. in her own sphere of activity she was as notable an achievement as the western ocean packet or the cape horn clipper. the masters who sailed these extraordinary vessels also changed and had to learn a new kind of seamanship. they must be very competent men, for the tests of their skill and readiness were really greater than those demanded of the deepwater skipper. they drove these great schooners alongshore winter and summer; across nantucket shoals and around cape cod, and their salvation depended on shortening sail ahead of the gale. let the wind once blow and the sea get up, and it was almost impossible to strip the canvas off an unwieldy six-master. the captain's chief fear was of being blown offshore, of having his vessel run away with him! unlike the deep-water man, he preferred running in toward the beach and letting go his anchors. there he would ride out the storm and hoist sail when the weather moderated. these were american shipmasters of the old breed, raised in schooners as a rule, and adapting themselves to modern conditions. they sailed for nominal wages and primage, or five per cent of the gross freight paid the vessel. before the great war in europe, freights were low and the schooner skippers earned scanty incomes. then came a world shortage of tonnage and immediately coastwise freights soared skyward. the big schooners of the palmer fleet began to reap fabulous dividends and their masters shared in the unexpected opulence. besides their primage they owned shares in their vessels, a thirty-second or so, and presently their settlement at the end of a voyage coastwise amounted to an income of a thousand dollars a month. they earned this money, and the managing owners cheerfully paid them, for there had been lean years and uncomplaining service and the sailor had proved himself worthy of his hire. so tempting was the foreign war trade, that a fleet of them was sent across the atlantic until the american government barred them from the war zone as too easy a prey for submarine attack. they therefore returned to the old coastwise route or loaded for south american ports--singularly interesting ships because they were the last bold venture of the old american maritime spirit, a challenge to the age of steam. no more of these huge, towering schooners have been built in the last dozen years. steam colliers and barges have won the fight because time is now more valuable than cheapness of transportation. the schooner might bowl down to norfolk from boston or portland in four days and be threshing about for two weeks in head winds on the return voyage. the small schooner appeared to be doomed somewhat earlier. she had ceased to be profitable in competition with the larger, more modern fore-and-after, but these battered, veteran craft died hard. they harked back to a simpler age, to the era of the stage-coach and the spinning-wheel, to the little shipyards that were to be found on every bay and inlet of new england. they were still owned and sailed by men who ashore were friends and neighbors. even now you may find during your summer wanderings some stumpy, weatherworn two-master running on for shelter overnight, which has plied up and down the coast for fifty or sixty years, now leaking like a basket and too frail for winter voyages. it was in a craft very much like this that your rude ancestors went privateering against the british. indeed, the little schooner polly, which fought briskly in the war of , is still afloat and loading cargoes in new england ports. these little coasters, surviving long after the stately merchant marine had vanished from blue water, have enjoyed a slant of favoring fortune in recent years. they, too, have been in demand, and once again there is money to spare for paint and cordage and calking. they have been granted a new lease of life and may be found moored at the wharfs, beached on the marine railways, or anchored in the stream, eagerly awaiting their turn to refit. it is a matter of vital concern that the freight on spruce boards from bangor to new york has increased to five dollars a thousand feet. many of these craft belong to grandfatherly skippers who dared not venture past cape cod in december, lest the venerable matilda emerson or the valetudinarian joshua r. coggswell should open up and founder in a blow. during the winter storms these skippers used to hug the kitchen stove in bleak farmhouses until spring came and they could put to sea again. the rigor of circumstances, however, forced others to seek for trade the whole year through. in a recent winter fifty-seven schooners were lost on the new england coast, most of which were unfit for anything but summer breezes. as by a miracle, others have been able to renew their youth, to replace spongy planking and rotten stems, and to deck themselves out in white canvas and fresh paint! the captains of these craft foregather in the ship-chandler's shops, where the floor is strewn with sawdust, the armchairs are capacious, and the environment harmonizes with the tales that are told. it is an informal club of coastwise skippers and the old energy begins to show itself once more. they move with a brisker gait than when times were so hard and they went begging for charters at any terms. a sinewy patriarch stumps to a window, flourishes his arm at an ancient two-master, and booms out: "that vessel of mine is as sound as a nut, i tell ye. she ain't as big as some, but i'd like nothin' better than to fill her full of suthin' for the west coast of africy, same as the horace m. bickford that cleared t'other day, stocked for sixty thousand dollars." "huh, you'd get lost out o' sight of land, john," is the cruel retort, "and that old shoe-box of yours 'ud be scared to death without a harbor to run into every time the sun clouded over. expect to navigate to africy with an alarm-clock and a soundin'-lead, i presume." "mebbe i'd better let well enough alone," replies the old man. "africy don't seem as neighborly as phippsburg and machiasport. i'll chance it as far as philadelphy next voyage and i guess the old woman can buy a new dress." the activity and the reawakening of the old shipyards, their slips all filled with the frames of wooden vessels for the foreign trade, is like a revival of the old merchant marine, a reincarnation of ghostly memories. in mellowed dignity the square white houses beneath the new england elms recall to mind the mariners who dwelt therein. it seems as if their shipyards also belonged to the past; but the summer visitor finds a fresh attraction in watching the new schooners rise from the stocks, and the gay pageant of launching them, every mast ablaze with bunting, draws crowds to the water-front. and as a business venture, with somewhat of the tang of old-fashioned romance, the casual stranger is now and then tempted to purchase a sixty-fourth "piece" of a splendid yankee four-master and keep in touch with its roving fortunes. the shipping reports of the daily newspaper prove more fascinating than the ticker tape, and the tidings of a successful voyage thrill one with a sense of personal gratification. for the sea has not lost its magic and its mystery, and those who go down to it in ships must still battle against elemental odds--still carry on the noble and enduring traditions of the old merchant marine. bibliographical note as a rule, american historians like mcmaster, adams, and rhodes give too little space to the maritime achievements of the nation. the gap has been partially filled by the following special works: winthrop l. marvin, "the american merchant marine: its history and romance from to " ( ). this is the most nearly complete volume of its kind by an author who knows the subject and handles it with accuracy. john r. spears, "the story of the american merchant marine" ( ), "the american slave trade" ( ), "the story of the new england whalers" ( ). mr. spears has sought original sources for much of his material and his books are worth reading, particularly his history of the slave-trade. ralph d. paine, "the ships and sailors of old salem: the record of a brilliant era of american achievement" ( ). a history of the most famous seaport of the atlantic coast, drawn from log-books and other manuscript collections. "the book of buried treasure: being a true history of the gold, jewels, and plate of pirates, galleons, etc." ( ). several chapters have to do with certain picturesque pirates and seamen of the colonies. edgar s. maclay, "a history of american privateers" ( ). the only book of its kind, and indispensable to those who wish to learn the story of yankee ships and sailors. j. r. hutchinson, "the press gang afloat and ashore" ( ). this recent volume, written from an english point of view, illuminates the system of conscription which caused the war of . nothing can take the place, however, of the narratives of those master mariners who made the old merchant marine famous: richard henry dana, jr., "two years before the mast" ( ). the latest edition, handsomely illustrated, ( ). the classic narrative of american forecastle life in the sailing-ship era. captain richard cleveland, "narrative of voyages and commercial enterprises" ( ). this is one of the fascinating autobiographies of the old school of shipmasters who had the gift of writing. captain amasa delano, "narrative of voyages and travels" ( ). another of the rare human documents of blue water. it describes the most adventurous period of activity, a century ago. captain arthur h. clark, "the clipper ship era" ( ). a thrilling, spray-swept, true story. far and away the best account of the clipper, by a man who was an officer of one in his youth. robert bennet forbes, "notes on ships of the past" ( ). random facts and memories of a famous boston ship-owner. it is valuable for its records of noteworthy passages. captain john d. whidden, "ocean life in the old sailing ship days" ( ). the entertaining reminiscences of a veteran shipmaster. captain a. w. nelson, "yankee swanson: chapters from a life at sea" ( ). another of the true romances, recommended for a lively sense of humor and a faithful portrayal of life aboard a windjammer. there are many other personal narratives, some of them privately printed and very old, which may be found in the libraries. typical of them is "a journal of the travels and sufferings of daniel saunders" ( ), in which a young sailor relates his adventures after shipwreck on the coast of arabia. among general works the following are valuable: j. grey jewell, "among our sailors" ( ). a plea for more humane treatment of american seamen, with many instances on shocking brutalities as reported to the author, who was a united states consul. e. keble chatterton, "sailing ships: the story of their development" ( ). an elaborate history of the development of the sailing vessel from the earliest times to the modern steel clipper. w. s. lindsay, "history of merchant shipping and ancient commerce," vols. ( - ). an english work, notably fair to the american marine, and considered authoritative. douglas owen, "ocean trade and shipping" ( ). an english economist explains the machinery of maritime trade and commerce. william wood, "all afloat." in "the chronicles of canada series." glasgow, brook and co., toronto, . j. b. mcmaster, "the life and times of stephen girard, mariner and merchant," vols. ( ). the relation of governmental policy to the merchant marine is discussed by various writers: david a. wells, "our merchant marine: how it rose, increased, became great, declined, and decayed" ( ). a political treatise in defense of a protective policy. william a. bates, "american marine: the shipping question in history and politics" ( ); "american navigation: the political history of its rise and ruin" ( ). these works are statistical and highly technical, partly compiled from governmental reports, and are also frankly controversial. henry hall, "american navigation, with some account of the causes of its former prosperity and present decline" ( ). charles s. hill, "history of american shipping: its prestige, decline, and prospect" ( ). j. d. j. kelley, "the question of ships: the navy and the merchant marine" ( ). arthur j. maginnis, "the atlantic ferry: its ships, men, and working" ( ). a vast amount of information is to be found in the congressional report of the merchant marine commission, published in three volumes ( ). note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) what philately teaches a lecture delivered before the section on philately of the brooklyn institute of arts and sciences, february , by john n. luff new york third edition by way of preface, i wish to say, that i have prepared this paper with the hope of interesting those who are not stamp collectors and my endeavor will be to indicate some of the interesting and instructive things that may be learned by those who follow this fascinating pursuit. much that i have to say will be ancient history to philatelists, but i trust they will remember that this is not especially intended for them and pardon any dryness in it, in view of its intent. stamp collecting, as pursued to-day, has become something more than an amusement for children. it affords instruction and mental relaxation to those who are older and more serious. on the title page of every stamp album and catalogue should be inscribed the old latin motto: "_te doces_" thou teachest, for it is certainly an instructor and affords much intellectual entertainment. [illustration: stamp, "hankow local post", cents] in connection with this motto we have a little philatelic joke from the orient. in one of the chinese treaty ports a stamp has been issued which bears the motto. we find them on the tea chests, written in excellent chinese, and, even if we do not read the language, we cannot doubt that they refer to the _tea doses_ which the chests contain. by some, philately has been called a science. perhaps it hardly merits so exalted a title but it opens for us a wide field for research, in which we may find many curious, interesting and instructive things. it trains our powers of observation, enlarges our perceptions, broadens our views, and adds to our knowledge of history, art, languages, geography, botany, mythology and many kindred branches of learning. [illustration: stamp, "canada postage", christmas , cents] philately embraces the whole earth and likewise the whole earth is sometimes embraced within the limits of a postage stamp. as an example of this, witness the recent effort of our canadian cousins in celebration of the achievement of the long-desired ocean penny postage, at present an inter-colonial rate of the british empire, but some day to be an international rate. the motto is a trifle bombastic and suggests the teutonic superlative; "so bigger as never vas," and the "xmas " reads like the advertisement of a department store: "gents pants for xmas gifts." but we must admit that the stamp is a pretty conceit, in spite of these defects and of the ambition of the artist, which has spread the "thin red line" over territory that has not otherwise been acquired. in addition to the things to be learned from the pictorial part of stamps, there are other things which attract the attention of the thoughtful and bring with them knowledge that is both interesting and valuable. the mechanical part of stamp making may be studied with much profit and entertainment. considered in all its aspects, philately is even more instructive than matrimony. you will remember the elder weller's views on the latter subject: "ven you're a married man, samivel, you'll understand a good many things as you don't understand now; but vether its worth while going through so much to learn so little, as the charity boy said ven he got to the end of the alphabet, is a matter o' taste. i rather think it isn't." this reproach cannot be applied to philately. it teaches even the unwilling and careless. in the effort to fill the spaces in their albums they must learn what varieties they are lacking and in what these differ from other and similar varieties. thus some knowledge must be gained, even if unsought. to the studious and the careful, in this as in other things in life, the greatest benefits naturally accrue. in my remarks this evening i shall endeavor to touch upon a few subjects which are quite certain to attract the attention of any one who takes up stamp collecting with any degree of earnestness and thoroughness. that these subjects open up other fields for interesting and profitable study will be readily apparent. let us take a postage stamp and consider it. aside from the name of the country whence it emanates and the expression of value, what do we find in it to study? first the design, next the means by which the design was prepared and placed upon the paper, thirdly the paper upon which the stamp is printed, and lastly the finishing touches of gum, perforation, etc. [illustration: stamp, "new zealand", pence] [illustration: stamp, "toga", s.] in the early days of stamps most countries made their own and they were, in some degree, an indication of the artistic progress, or want of it, in a country. but we have changed all that and to-day all effort seems to be directed toward producing artistic and attractive stamps. sometimes this is due to national pride and occasionally it is intended to draw attention to the resources and natural wonders of a country. as an example of the latter, here are the marvelous pink terraces of new zealand, which were, unfortunately, destroyed by volcanic disturbances a few years ago. but too often, we fear, these picture stamps are produced merely with a view to their ready salability to collectors. more frequently than not, these brilliant labels are the product of a distant country and are no longer indicative of the artistic status of the country by which they are issued. for example, a late issue from the tonga islands but made in london. indeed, the wilds of africa, the distant islands of the pacific and the tumultuous republics of central america far outshine the cultured countries of the old world in their postal stationery. the designs of stamps may suggest many things: the power of nations, the march of history, the glory of victory, the advance of civilization, art, industry, natural resources, scenic grandure, the dead and storied past, the living breathing present. the majority of stamps bear a portrait, usually that of a sovereign. the stamps of our own country present a portrait gallery of our great and heroic dead, for by law the faces of the living may not appear on our stamps or money. this is the reverse of the rule in monarchical countries, where the portrait of the reigning sovereign usually adorns the postal issues. the likeness most frequently seen on postage stamps is that of her most gracious majesty the queen of england. for more than half a century her portrait has adorned the numerous stamps of great britain and the british colonies, beginning in with a beautiful portrait--painted by an american, we may be proud to say--the portrait of the girl queen, wearing her coronation crown, and continuing, until to-day she wears a widow's veil beneath the crown of the empress of india. in the issue by which canada commemorated the sixtieth year of her majesty's reign the two portraits are happily combined. [illustration: stamp, "canada postage", - , ½ cent] [illustration: stamp, "haiti", cent] [illustration: stamp, "tonga", d.] [illustration: stamp, "samoa postage", ½ pence] [illustration: stamp, siam] [illustration: stamp, "republic liberia postage", - , cents] [illustration: stamp, "holkar state postage", ½ anna] following the lead of europe and america, other countries have placed the portraits of their rulers on their stamps and from this custom we may gain some slight information on the subject of ethnography. hayti, tonga, samoa, siam, liberia, holkar, etc., have shown us types of other races than the caucassian. one of the stamps of congo is adorned by a couple of natives in local full dress which appears to be much on the order of that of the lady in the ballad who wore a wreath and a smile. japan has placed on her stamps the portraits of two heroes of her late war with china. guatemala has the head of an indian woman. the stamps of british north borneo have the arms of the company with two stalwart natives as supporters and a similar device is used by the british central africa co. the stamps of obock show a group of natives. the picture is entitled "the missionary at dinner with the native chiefs." for further particulars of the missionary enquire within. [illustration: stamp, "congo", francs] [illustration: stamp, "emperial japanese post", sen] [illustration: stamp, "emperial japanese post", sen] [illustration: stamp, "guatemala", ½ real] [illustration: stamp, "british north borneo", cents] [illustration: stamp, "brit. central africa", s. & p.] [illustration: stamp, "république française obock", ct.] another large group of stamps have numerals of value as their distinguishing feature. as examples of this we find, the early issues of brazil and hawaii, many stamps of sweden, netherlands, denmark, etc., as well as the postage due stamps of many countries, including our own. [illustration: stamp, brazil, " "] [illustration: stamp, "hawaiian postage", cents] [illustration: stamp, "lösen", øre] [illustration: stamp, "nederland", ½ cent] [illustration: stamp, "danmark", øre] [illustration: stamp, arabic] in other countries only inscriptions are used. this is especially the case with the native states of india, in some of which as many as four languages are said to be employed on one stamp. these are interesting for their crude and curious designs but are not popular with collectors, probably because of our inability to read them. [illustration: stamp, arabic] afghanistan has varied the idea by placing on her stamps a tiger's head surrounded by a broad circle of inscriptions. owing to the short comings of native art the tiger is more often droll than ferocious. the method of cancellation used in that country is crude but effective. it consists in cutting or tearing a piece out of the stamp. needless to say, it is not popular with stamp collectors. [illustration: stamp, arabic, hindi] jhalawar, one of the native states of india, has also varied the monotony of inscriptions by the addition of a sort of jumping-jack figure. by some writers this is claimed to be a dancing dervish and by others a nautch girl. as pictured on the stamp the figure does not present the sensuous outlines which have always been attributed to those delectable damsels. bossakiewicz, in his _manuel du collectionneur de timbres poste_ says: "a dancing nymph, belonging to the secondary order of hindu divinities and known as an _apsara_." here is a problem which the next convert to philately may undertake to solve. you see there are still worlds to conquer, in spite of all the inky battles that have been waged by philatelic writers. [illustration: stamp, "diligencia", centavos] [illustration: stamp, "escuelas", centesimo] the first stamps of uruguay bear the inscription "diligencia" (stagecoach), thus plainly indicating the method then employed for transporting the mails. on some of the venzuelan stamps is the word "escuelas" (schools), a portion of the revenue from this source being devoted to the maintenance of the state schools. [illustration: stamp, "north borneo", cents] [illustration: stamp, "obock", , c.] [illustration: stamp, "sudan postage", millieme] [illustration: stamp, "correo lima", centavos] [illustration: stamp, "guatemala", centavos] [illustration: stamp, "new south wales", pence] [illustration: stamp, "new south wales", shilling] [illustration: stamp, "newfoundloand", cents] [illustration: stamp, "newfoundloand", cents] [illustration: stamp, "postage w. australia", shilling] [illustration: stamp, "republic liberia", cents] [illustration: stamp, "republic liberia", dollar] [illustration: stamp, "new zealand", pence] [illustration: stamp, "stamp duty tasmania", pence] the animal world has been thoroughly exploited by designers of stamps and many curious products have they shown us. this creature with the fine open countenance hails from north borneo but it is said that similar creatures have been seen by earnest philatelists after an evening of study in the billiard room of the collectors club, followed by a light supper of broiled lobster and welsh rarebit. very familiar to collectors are the camel of obock and the soudan, the llama of peru, the sacred quetzal of guatemala--the transmigrated form of the god-king of the aztecs--the lyrebird and kangaroo of new south wales. new foundland has pictured the seal and cod fish, western australia the black swan, liberia the elephant and rhinocerous, and new zealand the curious bird called the apterix, which is wingless and clothed in hair instead of feathers. tasmania shows us her animal freak, the platypus paradoxus, the beast with a bill, first cousin to our tailors and butchers, all of whom are beasts with bills. our own country has added to the philatelic "zoo" by placing a herd of cattle on one of the trans-mississippi issue. that it is a pretty picture cannot be denied but the connection between cows and postage stamps is not obvious. [illustration: stamp, "new brunswick postage", pence] [illustration: stamp, japanese, sen] [illustration: stamp, "imperio do brazil", reis] new foundland, nova scotia and new brunswick have adorned their stamps with the heraldic rose, thistle and shamrock of the british empire. japan, ever artistic and ever a lover of the beautiful, has placed on her stamps the chrysanthemum, both as a flower and in its conventionalized form as the crest of the imperial family. and nepal has the lotus, sacred to buddha. brazil has shown us the brilliant constellation of the southern cross which sparkles in the tropic sky. [illustration: stamp, "malta", shillings] many nations have used their coats of arms as appropriate decorations for their postal issues. on the five shilling stamps of malta we find the maltese cross, emblem of the knights of st. john and reminiscent of the crusades. [illustration: stamp, "postes egyptiennes", piastres] [illustration: stamp, [greek: hellas], [greek: drachmai]] [illustration: stamp, [greek: hellas], , [greek: drachmai]] [illustration: stamp, [greek: hellas], , [greek: drachmai]] [illustration: stamp, "fiji", penny] [illustration: stamp, "labuan", cents] [illustration: stamp, "congo", centimes] [illustration: stamp, "congo", francs] egypt has her sphynx and pyramids; greece an artistic series of pictures of her famous statues and ruins. fiji shows a pirogue, the native canoe, rudely shaped from a tree trunk and hollowed out by fire. labuan has a piratical looking native dhow. the stamps of rhodesia and the congo free state depict the advance of civilization on the dark continent. history is sumptuously illustrated in the series of stamps issued by our government to commemorate the th anniversary of the discovery of the new world by columbus and to celebrate the settlement and growth of the great west. portugal also has celebrated, in an elaborate issue of stamps, the voyage of vasco da gama to india. other countries have been quite too ready to do likewise until we have feared we were in danger of being drowned in the flood of commemorative and celebration stamps, many of which we felt were designed to replenish an empty treasury rather than to honor the glorious deeds of the past. [illustration: stamp, "st. vincent", shilling] [illustration: stamp, "république française", ] [illustration: stamp, "cape of good hope", penny] [illustration: stamp, "trinidad"] [illustration: stamp, "british east africa", ½ anna] quite a number of stamps have allegorical designs. one of the most beautiful examples comes from st. vincent. familiar figures to philatelists are those of peace and commerce on the stamps of france, hope with her anchor on the issues of the cape of good hope and britannia on several of the british colonies. the stamps of british east africa bear a flaming sun and the legend "light and liberty," typical of the light of civilization and progress now dawning upon that part of the world. and on one of the late issues of portugal is a beautiful allegory of the muse of history watching da gama's voyage to the east. [illustration: stamp, "portugal", - , reis] [illustration: stamp, greece] [illustration: stamp, "uruguay", centesimos] [illustration: stamp, "barbados", ½ penny] from allegory to mythology is but a step. greece has long displayed on her stamps the winged head of mercury and uruguay has given us a dainty picture of the messenger of the gods. the late issues of barbados have a picture of amphitrite, the spouse of neptune, in her chariot drawn by sea-horses. the handsome stamps of the united states, intended for the payment of postage on newspapers and periodicals bear the pictures of nine of the goddesses of grecian mythology. the stamps of china, shanghai and japan introduce subjects from oriental myths. this is not a pussy cat in a fit or trying to dance a _pas seul_ on the end of its tail. it is one of the most venerated of the chinese dragons. one of its provinces is to guard the sacred crystal of life. it has a human head, the wings of a bird, the claws of a tiger and the tail of a serpent. [illustration: stamp, "shanghai lpo", cash] [illustration: stamp, "nicaragua", centavo] [illustration: stamp, "estados unidos de colombia", cents] [illustration: stamp, "venezuela", c's] [illustration: stamp, "state of north borneo", cents] one of the stock arguments advanced in favor of philately, by those who think it needs other excuse than the entertainment it affords, is that it teaches geography. this is undoubtedly true, and, as if in support of the argument, several countries have given us what might be called map stamps. of late years, it has become customary for countries to exploit their attractions by issues of "picture" stamps, many of which show views of local scenery. one of the first in this line came from north borneo, showing a view of mt. kimbal, a celebrated volcano of the island. congo has given us two pictures which are microscopic gems of art. the first is a view of the railroad crossing the mopoxo river and the second the falls of inkissi. british guiana has recently shown us two of her natural wonders, mount roraima, a great table-topped mountain, and the kaiteur falls. new zealand has an extensive series of views, one of the most striking of which is mount cook. among the latest of these attractive issues is one from tonga, which includes a picture of a wonderful work of the pre-historic inhabitants of those islands, a tri-lithon, believed to have been erected as a burial place and monument of a chieftain. in its arrangement and massive simplicity it is suggestive of the druidic ruins of other lands. [illustration: stamp, "congo", centimes] [illustration: stamp, "congo", centimes] [illustration: stamp, "british guayana", , cent] [illustration: stamp, "british guayana", , cents] [illustration: stamp, "new zealand", pence] [illustration: stamp, "toga", d.] [illustration: stamp] crowns and post-horns figure on many stamps and both are significant of the authority and purpose of these seemingly trifling bits of paper. an interesting combination of these two emblems is found on one of the newspaper stamps of hungary. in this case the crown is not merely a creation of the artist's fancy but the historic crown of saint stephen, the "iron crown of hungary," so called because it has within its rim an iron band said to be made from one of the nails of the cross. in all these subjects of thought i have mentioned only a few examples under each head. the number might be multiplied many times, did i not fear to weary you. but, turning from the purely pictorial side, let us consider the material side of stamps and the various methods employed in producing them. the design having been selected, it becomes necessary to reproduce it in some form suitable for making stamps in large quantities. in a general way we may divide stamp printing into two classes: printing from metal plates and printing from stone, or lithography. the first class contains two grand sub-divisions. in the first of these sub-divisions the lines to be reproduced are sunken below the surface of the plate. this is known as _taille douce_ or line engraving. it is also called copper plate and steel engraving. the copper plates for our visiting cards are familiar examples of this style of work and our national paper currency presents very beautiful and elaborate results of the process. the second sub-division is known as typography or surface printing. as its name indicates, the lines to be reproduced are at the surface of the plate, the other parts being cut away. a newspaper is an example of typographical printing, the term being applied to designs made up from type, as well as to specially prepared plates. i need not suggest to you how wide a field for thought and exploration this subject of engraving opens to us, leading as it does directly into the world of books, pictures and art. but at present we must confine ourselves to the subject as applied to postage stamps, save for a brief consideration of its origin and history. the art of engraving owes its origin to the florentine goldsmiths of the fifteenth century. they were accustomed to ornament their work with incised lines which were filled with black enamel. a design thus filled with enamel was called a _niello_, a derivative of the word _nigellum_ (the most black). the brass and nickel signs with black letters, which we find at the doors of business houses, are modern forms of _nielli_. while making a _niello_, the artist naturally wished to see how the work was progressing and if any alterations were required. it was not desirable to put the enamel in the design because it was difficult to remove. to avoid this an impression of the work was taken in clay, from which a sulphur cast was made. the lines of the cast were filled with lamp black. thus a copy of the work was obtained which reproduced its coloring and showed the condition of the engraving. a more simple process was discovered later. this consisted in filling the lines of the engraving with a thick ink and pressing a sheet of damp paper against them. sufficient pressure was used to force the paper into the lines and take up the ink on its surface. this was the beginning of line engraving and plate printing. the process was at first employed for the preservation and duplicating of designs for goldsmith's engraving and afterwards for the sake of the work itself. it was not until the next century that the process assumed a leading place in the world of art. if it were not going too far away from our subject we might study the early engravers and their work with much profit and entertainment. but it is our purpose to consider the subject only so far as it applies to postage stamps. until the early part of the present century copper was practically the only metal used for engraving. only a limited number of impressions can be taken from a copper plate because it wears rapidly, and it is not suited to such work as the production of postage stamps. about the way was found to make steel of sufficient softness and fineness of grain to be available for engraving. to-day annealed steel is almost exclusively used for this purpose. annealed steel is steel which has been softened without being decarbonized. the surface is carefully ground and polished to a mirror-like brightness. any work which is to be reproduced many times, such as postage stamps and parts of bank-notes, is made on small pies of steel called dies. if the design to be used is in the shape of a drawing or engraving, a sheet of gelatin may be laid over it and the outlines traced with a sharp-pointed instrument. more often a photograph is taken on a ferrotype plate and the outlines scratched into the plate. these outlines are filled with vermilion. a piece of paper is then laid on the plate and the two passed through a hand-press. this is called "pulling" an impression. while the ink of the impression is still moist it is sprinkled with powdered vermilion to strengthen the lines. the block of steel is then covered with an etching ground (a composition of asphaltum, wax, resin and ether) and the impression is transferred to this. the outlines are cut through the etching ground and bitten into the steel with acid. the coating is then removed from the block and the artist proceeds with the engraving. the mechanical details and various methods of engraving are highly interesting but time will not permit their discussion. an engraver is seldom expert in more than one style of work. each makes a specialty of some branch, portraiture, lettering, scroll-work, etc. for this reason several engravers are usually employed on each die for a postage stamp. and in this inability of one individual to do all styles of work equally well lies one of the great securities against counterfeiting. in the course of making a die, proofs are usually taken and these are much prized by collectors. the die being finished, it is placed in a bath of cyanide of potassium and heated until the vessel containing it is red hot. this process occupies from fifteen minutes to half an hour for dies but may take as much as an hour for a large plate. the die is then transferred to a bath of oil, to cool and temper it. by this process it is thoroughly hardened. [illustration: from "the popular science monthly," vol. xlvi, no. . copyright, , by d. appleton & co.] in the case of postage stamps, where it is desired to exactly duplicate the design many times on a plate, recourse is had to transfer rolls. a transfer roll is a piece of soft steel, in shape a cross section of a cylinder. the edge is sufficiently wide to receive an impression from the die. we show you here a picture of a transfer press. from each side of the roll projects a small pin or trunion. these pins form an axle for the roll and by them it is held in the carrier of the press. a is the roll in the carrier. the die is placed on the table or bed b. the roll is held against the die with a pressure of many tons, obtained by compound leverage. by means of the wheel, e, and the connecting pinion and rack, the bed, carrying with it the die, is moved back and forth under the roll. this is called "rocking" and by it the soft steel of the roll is forced into the die and a reverse impression of the design is obtained. the roll is then hardened and, by a reversal of the process, impressions from it are transferred to the steel plate from which the stamps are to be printed. the plate is, of course, soft at first and is hardened after the required number of designs have been transferred to it. this process is so perfect that the most delicate lines of the die are repeated with absolute fidelity on the plate. when many plates of a stamp are likely to be needed, it is customary, in order to avoid risk of wear or damage to the original die, to make duplicate dies, called transfer dies, and from them the necessary rolls to make the plates. the plates are made with great care. they are touched up by hand and subjected to close scrutiny and the work is often gone over a number of times before the result is pronounced satisfactory. incidentally any guide lines and marks used by the transferrer are removed by burnishing. in the older issues of united states stamps, such lines and dots are frequently found on the stamps but the later issues are very free from them. plates that have become worn are "re-entered," that is to say, the transfer roll is applied to the plate in the original position and the lines thus sharpened and deepened. if, by any mistake in making or re-entering a plate, the roll is incorrectly placed and then changed to the correct spot, a double impression of some of the stronger lines will result. this is called a "double transfer" and sometimes, though wrongly, a "shifted die." these double transfers are quite common in the united states stamps made before but are scarce in the late issues, either because the work is now more carefully done or because any mistakes have been corrected. such a correction is effected by turning the plate on its face on a hard substance, hammering on the back until the surface is driven up smooth and then entering the design anew. a number of very delicate machines are used as aids to the engraver, though much more for bank-notes and large pieces of work than for postage stamps. these are called ruling machines, medallion rulers, cycloidal and geometric lathes. ruling machines are used to make the backgrounds of portraits, the shadings of letters and similar work. [illustration: coin stamp, "new south wales", shillings] here is a very pretty example of ruling, in the so-called "coin" stamp of new south wales. these machines rule either straight or curved lines. they can be adjusted to rule several thousand lines to an inch, but that is only done for microscopical work, not for engraving. the general principle of a medallion ruling machine is a rod, fixed on a pivot, at one end of which is a pin which is drawn across a medallion, while at the other end a graving point traces a corresponding line on the steel. the large stamps issued in the united states in , for the payment of postage on newspapers and periodicals, are examples of this work. cycloidal ruling in its simplest form resembles a series of loops. it is produced by a fixed point which is held against a plate while the latter is moved in a circle and, at the same time, forward. by altering the size of the circle and the speed of the forward movement a great variety of results are obtained. by cutting one series of loops over another, lace-like effects are produced. the process is still further varied by the use of eccentrics. [illustration: ruling patterns] the geometric lathe is a most delicate and complicated machine. by means of elaborate attachments very involved and eccentric motions are given to the plate under the graving point and extremely complicated and beautiful designs are produced. i think we are all familiar with these from the examples on our national currency. geometric lathework was used on a number of the united states stamps of the issue of and also on the $ , revenue stamp. the work of this machine is regarded as a great safeguard against counterfeiting. the most skillful engraver would have difficulty in imitating the simplest designs produced by it. the machines are too expensive to be obtained by anyone but a government or a great banknote company and there are very few men who thoroughly understand operating them. a turn of a screw or a variation of a single cog will change the result entirely. finally the work of the lathe is often reversed, so that the line which is cut by the graver and should print in color prints white, and vice versa. it would not be possible to imitate this by hand engraving. printing from line-engraved plates is largely done by hand presses. the ink used is very thick. when black it is made of finely pulverized carbon, mixed with oil. colored inks are composed of zinc white and dry colors, ground in oil. the colors are animal, vegetable or mineral. the latter cause the plates to wear out rapidly. green is an especially destructive color. in recent years aniline colors have been largely employed. they afford an elaborate range of shades and color combinations which are most puzzling to describe. soluble inks are much used by the leading english firm of stamp printers. they are very sensitive to water and are regarded as one of the best preventatives of the cleaning of used stamps. beautiful results are obtained by printing stamps in two colors. of course, this necessitates the use of two plates for each design. this also gives rise to some interesting varieties, caused by one part of the design being printed upside down. such oddities are scarce and are highly valued by philatelists. when a plate is to be printed from, it is first warmed, then the ink is applied and rubbed into the lines with a pad. the surface of the plate is wiped off with a cloth, then with the hand and lastly, polished with whiting. a sheet of dampened paper is next laid on the plate and the whole is passed under the roller of a press, which forces the paper into the lines of the plate, where it takes up the ink. when the plate is deeply engraved the ink seems to stand up from the surface of the paper in ridges and some times we find corresponding depressions on the backs of the stamps. the sheets are then dried, gummed and dried again. they are now so much curled and wrinkled that they are placed between sheets of bristol board and subjected to hydraulic pressure of several hundred tons which effectively straightens them out. the second process of printing from metallic plates is called typography. the plates for this process are the exact reverse of those engraved in _taille douce_. instead of the design being cut into the plate, it is on the surface and everything else is cut away. hence, the term "surface printing." this form of engraving is also called _épargné_ engraving, because the parts of the plate which bear the design are _épargné_ (preserved.) the dies for typographical plates are cut in wood or steel, usually the former. they are reproduced by two methods, stereotyping and electrotyping. in the former process casts of the die are taken in papier maché or plaster of paris. from these casts other casts are taken in type-metal. a sufficient number of these casts are clamped together or fastened to a backing of wood and thus form a plate. this process is not much used for stamps. it may interest you to know that most of our large newspapers employ this process. the type-set forms are, of course, flat. from them papier maché impressions are taken and bent into a curve, so that the casts made from them will fit the cylinders of the printing presses. in electrotyping, an impression is taken from the die in wax or gutta percha. the surface of this impression is coated with powdered plumbago. it is placed in a solution of sulphate of copper and, by the action of a galvanic battery, a thin shell of copper is deposited on it. this shell is backed with type-metal and is then ready for use. a number of these elecrotypes may be fastened together and electrotyped in one piece. there is also a photographic process for making typographical dies. this is said to be used in making the stamps of france and her colonies. [illustration: cliché with two stamps, "colombia", cents] [illustration: cliché with two stamps, "colonies de l'empire français", c.] stereotypes or electrotypes of single stamps are called _clichés_. in making up a plate it sometimes happens that a _cliché_ is placed upside down. the result, after printing, is a stamp in that position. this is called a _tête bêche_. we illustrate here such a stamp and another which is semi _tête bêche_, i.e., turned half around instead of being entirely inverted. like all oddities these are prized by stamp collectors. [illustration: stamp arrangement, "newfoundland", pence] the triangular stamps of the cape of good hope and new foundland are so arranged in the plate that half of them are _tête bêche_ to the other half. the same is true of the stamps of grenada of the issue of . [illustration: stamp, "hawaiian postage", cents] [illustration: stamp, "petersburg, virgina", cents] [illustration: stamp, "eranco en guadalajara", reales] [illustration: stamp, "ile de la réunion", centimes] another form of typography is found in stamps which are composed of printer's type and ornaments. these are usually called "type-set", to distinguish them from stamps produced by the normal process of typography. stamps made in this manner are often of a high degree of rarity, having been produced in remote parts of the world, where facilities were limited and the use of stamps restricted. to this class belong the stamps of the first issues of british guiana, hawaii and reunion, which rank among the greatest philatelic rarities. we show you here a number of type-set stamps. the first was used in the hawaiian islands, in payment of postage on letters between the different islands. there are a number of plates of these stamps, of different values, and each containing ten varieties. the second stamp was issued by the postmaster of petersburg, va., in the early days of the war of the rebellion and before the postal service of the confederate government was in working order. the third was used in the city of guadalajara, mexico, in , during the war between france and that country. it was made from the cancellation stamp in use in the post office, the usual date being replaced by the value. the stamps were struck by hand on sheets of paper which had been previously ruled into squares with a lead pencil. the fourth stamp is one of the reunion stamps previously mentioned. there were eight stamps in the setting, four having a central device like the stamp shown, and the other four being of a different design. it is interesting to remark that most of these type-set stamps show an evidence of their provisional nature and the stress under which they were made, in the paper on which they were printed. it was usually writing paper, such as would be found at a stationers at that period. some of the rare type-set stamps of british guiana were printed on the paper used for lining sugar barrels. [illustration: stamp, "shanghai lpo", candareens] the stamps of the first issue of shanghai supply an unique variety in typographed stamps. in these stamps the central design is cut upon a block of ivory and the surroundings are set up from printer's type and rules. the stamps were printed one at a time upon a hand press. the value, in both english and chinese, was changed as required, and it is recorded that on occasions the different values were produced literally "while you wait." under such circumstances it is not surprising to learn that minor varieties are very numerous. in printing from typographical plates the ink is applied to the surface by means of a roller. impressions from these plates, before they have been pressed, show the design forced into the paper, instead of raised above it, as in _taille douce_ printing. [illustration: stamp, "confederate states", cents] there is often a noticeable difference in the impressions made from the same plate by different workmen, owing to the varying degree of skill and care employed. we frequently find in stamp catalogues such terms as "london print" contrasted with "local print." these terms indicate a fine impression and an inferior one. we find a good example in two five cent stamps of the confederate states. they are both from the same plate but the first was printed in london by the skilled workmen of messrs. de la rue & co., and the last was locally made with poor facilities. embossing is a variety of printing connected with both line engraving and typography. embossing dies are produced by sinking lines in the plate but, as a rule, they are intended for such productions as stamped envelopes and the sunken portions are a series of hollows rather than sharply cut lines. an envelope, viewed from the reverse, will give an excellent idea of the appearance of such a die. in printing from these dies very heavy pressure is used and the paper usually is backed by a piece of leather or something of similar nature. in its simplest form embossing is a stamping in relief without color. the stamp of natal shown here was produced in this manner. the stamps of scinde, issued in , were embossed and for the red one large wafers, at that date in common use for sealing letters, were used. the brittle nature of this material is probably responsible for the scarcity of this stamp, especially of copies in fine condition. [illustration: stamp, embossed, "natal"] [illustration: stamp, embossed, "scinde district dawk", ½ anna] [illustration: stamp, "halfpenny postage"] [illustration: stamp, "heligoland", pfennig] [illustration: stamp, "bayern", kreuzer] embossing is usually combined with typography. the surface of the die being inked, that part of the design is printed in color at the same time that the rest is embossed. these three stamps show this class of work, one being an envelope stamp with the head deeply embossed. the heligoland stamp like all the stamps of that island is in the local colors, red, white and green, of which the inhabitants are so proud. in the case of the heligoland and bavaria stamps the entire sheets are embossed at one time and not each stamp singly, as is usual. [illustration] some curious varieties of this sort of printing are found among the early issues of peru. the machine in use there printed the stamps one at a time on long strips of paper. when the end of a strip was reached another was attached to it with gum, in order that the process might be continuous. it frequently happened that an impression was printed upon or partly upon the overlapping ends of the strips. in the course of time these ends became separated and thus we find stamps embossed partly with and partly without color and occasionally entirely without it. philatelists call these varieties semi-albinos and albinos. the latter term is also applied to envelope stamps which have been embossed without the die being inked. lithography, while a simpler and less expensive mode of making stamps than those previously described, is not often employed for the purpose. the work is inferior in quality and too easily counterfeited to commend itself. in lithography the lines of the design are neither sunken nor, to any appreciable extent, raised above the surface. the design is practically a drawing, in a certain greasy ink, upon stone of a particular quality. when several colors are used, as in chromo-lithography, a separate stone is prepared for each. the design is sometimes drawn directly on the stone and at others transferred to it. for stamps a die is made in wood, metal or stone. impressions from this are made in transfer ink (a very "fat" ink, made of soap, resin, tallow, etc.) upon transfer paper. these impressions are placed, face downward, on the stone and the paper is moistened. on being passed through a press the ink adheres to the stone and the paper is easily removed. a wet sponge is passed over the stone, the water adhering to the exposed surface but not to the greasy ink. while it is moist a roller, covered with transfer ink, is rolled over the designs to which it adheres. the wetting and rolling are alternated until the designs have sufficient body. lastly, a very weak solution of nitric acid, gum arabic and water is passed over the stone. this is at once washed off. it bites the stone to a very trifling extent and serves to clean the surface and add sharpness to the design. impressions taken from a lithographic stone are perfectly flat and smooth, the surface of the paper being neither raised nor depressed. they have usually a slightly greasy feel. [illustration, stamp, "n. caledonie", c.] an interesting specimen of lithography is supplied by the first issue of new caledonia. the design (fifty stamps in five rows of ten) was drawn upon the stone by a sergeant of marines, named triquéra. it is said the work was done with a pointed nail. as might be expected, it was very crude. another interesting stamp was issued in the island of trinidad in . in this case, the stone, after the designs had been placed upon it, was very deeply bitten with acid, so that it might properly be called etched and the impressions from it be said to be typographed from stone. this stone was used in , and . owing to its friable nature and want of care the stone deteriorated, so that the last impressions from it are little better than blurs. having considered the design and the methods of preparing plates and printing stamps the next thing to attract our attention is the paper. we here show you some photographs of paper. these were not taken by reflected light but by transmitting light through the paper, so that we have the fibre and structure of it. [illustration: paper] the two varieties of paper most used for stamps are termed wove and laid. wove paper has an even texture suggestive of cloth. like cloth it may show no grain when held to the light or it may have the appearance of interwoven threads. the paper ordinarily used for books and newspapers is wove. there is a very thin, tough wove paper, much like that familiarly known as "onion-skin," which is called pelure by philatelists. on a few occasions a wove paper, which is nearly as thick as card board, has been used for stamps. [illustration: paper] laid paper shows alternate light and dark lines, parallel and close together. these lines are called _vergures_. there are usually other lines, an inch or more apart, crossing the _vergures_ at right angles. ribbed paper has much the appearance of a fine closely laid paper. it is, however, a wove paper with a corrugated surface. in oriental countries, especially japan, a peculiar, tough, cottony paper is produced. it is sometimes wove and sometimes laid, usually thin and hard to tear. i believe this is made from rice straw. paper which has thin lines about the distance apart of the ruled lines in writing paper is called _batonné_, from the french _baton_, a stick or rule. if the paper between the _batons_ is wove, it is called wove batonné. if the space is filled with fine laid lines, it is called laid batonné. _quadrillé_ paper has laid lines which form small squares. when these lines form rectangles, it is called oblong quadrillé. [illustration: paper] [illustration: paper] [illustration: paper] some of the stamps of mexico were printed on paper ruled with blue lines. this was merely ordinary foolscap paper. many of the early stamps of russia were on a paper having the surface coated with a soluble enamel. this not only gave a very fine impression but, on an attempt to clean a cancelled stamp, the enamel would wash off, carrying the design with it. two stamps of prussia, issued in , are usually said to be on gold-beater's skin. but they are really on a very thin tough paper which has been treated with shellac, parrafine, or something which makes it transparent, and afterwards coated with a gelatine preparation. on this the design was printed reversed, i.e. only to be seen correctly when viewed through the paper. the stamps were gummed on the printed side. when they were affixed to an envelope any attempt to soak them off resulted in the paper coming away while the design adhered to the envelope, like a decalcomanie. essays of this nature were made in a number of countries, including our own, but prussia was the only one to make and use the stamps. there are several varieties of paper which have threads of silk or other fibre. the first of these is known as dickinson paper, from the name of its inventor. it has one or two threads of silk incorporated in the paper in the course of manufacture. for stamped envelopes two threads were generally used. they were placed about half an inch apart and the envelope was usually so printed that the threads would cross the stamp. for adhesive stamps only one thread was used. great britain and several of the german states made extensive use of this paper. it has never been successfully counterfeited. the best imitation was made by gumming together two thin pieces of paper with a silk thread between them but the fraud was not difficult to detect. some of the united states revenue stamps were printed on a paper which had a few bits of silk fibre scattered through it. the paper called granite or silurian has a quantity of colored threads mixed with the pulp. in switzerland blue and red threads were used, giving the paper a slightly grayish tone. in servia only red threads were used but in sufficient quantity to make the paper appear a faint rose color. manila is a coarse buff paper made from manila fibre. it is generally used for newspaper wrappers. it will scarcely be necessary to say that paper is found in a great variety of colors and that such colored paper has frequently been used for stamps. we cannot consider paper without treating of watermarks, since they are made in the process of paper making and constitute an important feature of stamp paper. watermarks are designs impressed in the paper pulp. the paper is slightly thinner in the lines of these designs and appears lighter when held to the light. of course you are all familiar with this appearance from having noticed the watermarks in note paper. on rare occasions the watermark is a thickening of the paper instead of a thinning. in such a case the watermark appears more opaque than the paper. watermarks in paper used for stamps are, of course, intended as a security against counterfeiting. [illustration: watermark u.s.p. (mirrored letters)] there are a great variety of watermarks; words, letters, figures, heraldic devices, etc., etc. sometimes the design covers the whole sheet and at other times several stamps, but usually there is a separate watermark for each stamp. the current stamps of the united states are watermarked with the letters "u. s. p. s.", united states postal service. this is so set up that the letters read in sequence from any point and in any direction. at one time several of the british colonies in australia employed paper watermarked with a figure or word of the value of the stamp intended to be printed on it. it can readily be understood that these would sometimes get mixed and result in more of those oddities in which philatelists delight. [illustration: watermark, crown with letters cc] [illustration: watermark, crown with letters ca] [illustration: watermarks, cross and orb, anchor, elephant head, pine-apple, castle] [illustration: water marks, post horn, turtle, geneva cross] here are some well-known watermarks. the letters cc under the crown stand for "crown colonies." this was extensively used on stamps of the british colonies. it has been replaced by a similar design, lettered ca, "crown agents for the colonies," which is still in use. a great variety of crowns have been used, as also of stars. the cross and orb are found on stamps of great britain. the anchor belongs to the cape of good hope, the elephant to india, the pine-apple to jamaica, the castle to spain (where else would we have castles if not in spain?) the post horn to denmark, the turtle to tonga. the geneva cross belongs to switzerland but is not really a watermark, as it is impressed in the paper after the stamps are printed. the pyramid and sun and the star and crescent both belong to egypt. the lion comes from norway, the sun from the argentine republic, the wreath of oak leaves from hanover, the lotus flower from siam. [illustration: us. pod ' ] [illustration: double eagle] [illustration: watermark, pyramid, moon and star] [illustration: watermark, lion with axe, sun, wreath, flower] here is one from travancore, it represents a shell sacred to the god vishnu. on the stamps of shanghai we find these chinese characters. they read kung pu, literally labor board, otherwise municipal council, by whose authority the stamps were issued. [illustration: watermark, shell] [illustration: watermark, chinese characters] the watermarks on the preceding page are from envelopes of the united states and russia. of course there are many more watermarks than those we show. on many sheets there are watermarked borders with the name of the country, the word "postage," or other inscriptions. there is much that is interesting in paper making. the best paper is made from linen rags but many other substances are used, cotton rags, esparto grass, straw, etc. very common paper, such as that used for the daily newspapers, is made from wood pulp. paper is made in two ways, by hand and by machinery. hand made paper is made by means of a mould and a deckle. a mould is a piece of fine wire gauze, tightly stretched on a wooden frame. if the paper is to be laid, coarser lines are woven in the gauze. if it is to be watermarked, the designs, made of wire bent in the desired shape or of bits of metal, are fastened to the surface. a deckle is a narrow wooden frame which fits on and around the sides of the mould. the deckle is movable, in order that it may be used with more than one mould. the mould is dipped in paper pulp and a quantity taken upon it. it is then shaken, to make the pulp cover the whole surface evenly and rid it of water. the edges of the resulting sheet are, naturally, rough and irregular and are called deckle edges. to make the paper pulp the rags are first boiled with soda and lime, to rid them of dirt and grease. they are then macerated in a vat, through which fresh water continually flows. when thoroughly ground the pulp is treated with a bleaching fluid which removes all color. it is then pressed and is ready for use. when about to be used the pulp is mixed with water and color is added if desired. when the paper is to be made by machinery the pulp is allowed to flow slowly from the vat upon a wide, endless band, usually made of fine wire gauze but occasionally of canvas or other form of cloth. this band is stretched upon rollers and travels slowly forward while, at the same time, it is shaken from side to side to distribute the pulp. two narrow bands of india rubber are stretched lengthwise of the gauze band and resting upon it. they serve to confine the pulp and regulate the width of the paper. these bands are also called deckles and produce the same edge as the frame used in making hand-made paper. as the pulp moves along with the gauze band it passes under a roller called the "dandy roll." the covering of this roll determines the character of the paper. when the paper is to be wove, it is covered with wire gauze. if it is to be watermarked the designs are attached to the surface of the roll and duly pressed into the paper. to make laid paper the surface of the roll is covered with longitudinal wires, with spaces the width of a wire between them. rings of wire pass around the roll at regular intervals and hold the longitudinal wires in place. for _batonné_ paper, there are thick longitudinal wires at intervals and between them either smaller wires or gauze, as the paper is to be laid _batonné_ or wove _batonné_. after passing the dandy roll the paper goes over a number of rollers covered with felt and cylinders heated by steam, until it is dry. it is then sized, dried again, pressed between heavy rollers, to give it a surface, and the edges trimmed by revolving cutters. it is then wound up in a roll or cut into sheets, as may be required. having duly considered the design, printing and paper of stamps, the next thing to attract our attention is the gum. most gums are prepared from potato starch, dextrin or gum arabic. gelatin is sometimes added to supply body and glycerine to give smoothness. gum varies much in thickness and color. the first three cent stamp of the danish west indies furnishes an instance of this. the stamps were sent from denmark without gum, as is frequently done with stamps for tropical countries. when they reached the islands the stamps were given to two druggists to be gummed. one used gum of good quality and, light color, while the other used poor material and of so dark color as to stain the paper and even darken the ink of the stamps. in hanover rose-colored gum was used for a number of issues. some of the earliest local prints of the south african republic were made upon paper sent out ready gummed from germany. the paper was much wrinkled by the gum and the effect may be seen in the wavy and broken lines of the ink. the stamps of the first issue of reunion were sold ungummed and were affixed to letters in any way that pleased the writers. some were fastened by wafers and some even were pinned on. formerly, sheets of stamps to be gummed were fastened in a frame and the gum applied by hand with a large brush. they were then sent to the drying room and hung up to dry. now the process is entirely mechanical. the sheets are fed into a machine in which they first pass under a gummed roller. then they are carried on an endless chain through a long box filled with steam pipes and emerge at the further end dry and ready to be pressed and perforated. the subject of perforations is also worthy of some brief attention. the first stamps were imperforate, necessitating the use of scissors or other instrument in separating them. this was a manifest inconvenience. in , henry archer, an irishman, began experimenting with machines for perforating stamps. after a number of attempts he succeeded in making a machine which was accepted by the english government and for which, in , he was allowed a compensation of £ , . james m. napier greatly improved on this machine and adapted it for steam power. the general principle of all perforating machines is a series of hollow needles, which remove rows of small disks of the paper from between the stamps, and thus fit them to be readily torn apart. for convenience of reference and description philatelists have adopted, as a standard of measurement, the space of two centimetres. the gauge of a perforation is determined by the number of holes in this distance. scales have been prepared for measuring perforations but it would be superfluous to attempt to describe them here. one of the largest perforations that has been used for stamps has seven holes in two centimetres. this was used on the stamps of france by susse freres, a firm of stationers. it was done for the convenience of themselves and their customers. some of the stamps of mexico have a still larger perforation gauging ½. the finest gauge is about . this is an unofficial perforation and was applied to some of the early stamps of tasmania. [illustration: perforation] [illustration: perforation] [illustration: perforation] [illustration: perforation] we show you here a variety of perforations. the first two are ordinary perforations of different gauges, ½ and . the third shows a perforation in square holes instead of round. the next is an example of pin perforation, the holes being far apart and small. two sides of the stamp show the holes before the stamps have been torn apart and a third side shows the ragged effect produced by separating them. another form of pin perforation is made by needles which are not hollow and merely prick holes in the paper without removing any of it. this sort of perforation has sometimes been made by a sewing machine with an unthreaded needle. [illustration: perforation] the last form of perforation shown is called lozenge. in this the machine removes small diamond shaped pieces from the paper. the effect before the separation is shown between the pair of stamps, while the outer edges show the appearance of single copies. [illustration: perforation] a variety of machines are used in perforating stamps. one perforates only a single row of holes at a time. this is known as the guillotine machine because its action suggests that unpleasant instrument. another machine is called the comb machine because the needles are arranged to perforate across the top of a row of stamps and at the same time between the stamps of that row. this arrangement somewhat resembles a comb. it will be seen that the first application perforates the stamps of one row on three sides. the application of the machine to the next row below completes the fourth side. in the best perforating machines the needles are arranged in circles around a spindle. the sheets pass under this roller and are perforated in one direction. a similar machine makes the perforations in the other direction. there is another form of separation called rouletting, from the french "roulette", a little wheel, its simplest form being produced by a small wheel with an edge of sharp points. by this process a series of small cuts is made between the stamps but none of the paper is removed. [illustration: rouletting, large gauge] [illustration: rouletting, small gauge] in these two illustrations are shown roulettes of large and small gauge. the same result is also obtained by setting printers rules which have a notched edge between the _clichés_ which compose the plate. these rules are set a trifle higher than the _clichés_ so that, when the sheet of paper is pressed against the plate in printing, the points of the rules are forced through it. these points receive ink the same as other parts of the surface of the plate and the effect thus produced is called rouletting in colored lines. [illustration: rouletting forms] [illustration: rouletting forms] there are a number of systems which produce the effect of rouletting in a variety of fancy forms. one is called _percé en arc_. this produces a series of arches on one stamp and a series of scallops on the adjacent one. here is an example of this rouletting, in a small gauge. a similar form is called serpentine perforation. it is here shown. [illustration: rouletting forms] [illustration: rouletting forms] still another form leaves the edges of the stamps in sharp points. this is called _percé en scie_ or saw-tooth perforation. when this perforation is very fine it is called serrate. there is still another form of rouletting, which we also show you. it is called rouletting in oblique parallel cuts and consists of a row of short cuts placed obliquely and parallel to each other. stamps thus rouletted have a very ragged edge when torn apart. this roulette was only used in tasmania and was a private production. [illustration: burelage] [illustration: control number, ] [illustration: moirée pattern] one of the nightmares of every government is the fear that its securities will be counterfeited or tampered with. i have several times mentioned precautions against such abuses in the shape of fine engraving, watermarks, enameled paper, sensitive inks, etc. there are numerous other devices which have been used with the same end in view. the patterns here shown were printed on the backs of the stamps in blue ink. the first is a band of interlaced lines, called a _burelage_. the second is a sort of control number. the number differs for each stamp on the sheet. the third resembles the lines in watered silk and is called _moirée_. it covers the entire back of the sheet. sometimes the stamps are covered with a network which only becomes visible on the application of certain chemicals. in this country the experiment has been tried of breaking the fibre of the paper by pressing into the stamps a group of tiny pyramids, called a grill. the idea was that the cancelling ink would penetrate the broken paper and could not be removed. we cannot finish our study of the material side of stamps without reference to another feature, i.e., surcharges. correctly speaking, a surcharge is an added charge, but in philately the term is applied to a variety of overprints, the majority of which indicate a reduction rather than an increase in value. years ago the word surcharge usually suggested a makeshift, something of a temporary nature prepared to meet an emergency and, therefore, interesting and likely to become valuable. but our little weaknesses are now well understood by those who are exploiting the commercial side of postage stamps and we have reason to fear that many recent surcharges were made for revenue only and not from any real necessity. the majority of surcharges are made to supply a value which has been temporarily exhausted. for example, many of the british colonies obtained their supplies of stamps in london. it may happen that an order is not placed early enough or there is delay in filling it and delivering the stamps. owing to this, the values most in use may be exhausted. under such circumstances, it is customary to provide a temporary supply by printing the needed value on some other stamp, usually one of higher value. to use a lower value would tempt the counterfeiting of the surcharge, for the profit to be made through the increased value. [illustration: stamp, "mauritius", surcharged cents] [illustration: stamp, "gibraltar", surcharged centimos] there are, however, a variety of other surcharges, a few of which may interest you. the first two stamps indicate a change in the form of the currency of the country, from pence to cents in mauritius and from the english half penny to its spanish equivalent in gibraltar. the seychelles stamp was prepared to meet a change in the rate for letters to countries in the international postal union. [illustration: stamp, "seychelles", surcharged cents] [illustration: stamp, "st. helena", surcharged penny] the first stamp made in st. helena was a six pence. for a long time no other value was engraved but the six pence stamps were printed in a variety of colors and surcharged with the desired values. the ceylon stamp has been made available for revenue purposes, as well as postal. the last stamp shown is from shanghai. its original value was cash. this was overprinted " cash" and the equivalent chinese characters in a double-lined frame, and again surcharged " cash." [illustration: stamp, "ceylon", cents, surcharged cents, postage, revenue] [illustration: stamp, "shanghai lpo", cash, surcharged cash, surcharged again cash] there is an interesting bit of history connected with these surcharges. the supply of cash stamps was exhausted and the postmaster surcharged that value on eight hundred of the cash stamps. a tourist, learning this and knowing that the regular cash stamps were expected to arrive at any moment, bought the entire lot. but the expected stamps failed to arrive and the postmaster made a second lot of surcharges but on the cash this time. when the tourist learned this he wished to return the stamps he had bought. the postmaster refused to take them back but, pressure being brought through the municipal council, finally consented. in the mean time the cash stamps had arrived and, not needing provisionals of that value, he restored them to their original value by the second surcharge, " cash." [illustration: stamp, penny, surcharged "cyprus", paras] [illustration: stamp, "antigua", surcharged "montserrat"] [illustration: stamp, "bermuda", surcharged "gilbraltar"] [illustration: stamp, "straits settlement", surcharged "perak"] this group illustrates stamps of one country or state surcharged for use in another. for a long time cyprus was supplied by overprinting the stamps of great britain. in like manner montserrat was surcharged on antigua stamps, gibraltar on bermuda and perak on the straits settlements. in the case of gibraltar some of the stamps were printed in other colors than were used in bermuda. the colony of eritrea has always been supplied by overprinting the italian stamps. [illustration: fives] in a large quantity of stamps were stolen in cuba and to prevent their being used the remaining stock were overprinted with the devices shown here. these were the _clichés_ used to print the control numbers on the tickets of the havana lottery. [illustration: stamp, "z. afr. republiek", penny, surcharged "transvaal"] [illustration: stamp, "transvaal postage", pence, surcharged "z.a.r", pence] sometimes surcharges are the outcome of historic events or are at least suggestive of such. the first stamp in this group is one of the crude products of the south african republic, which was surcharged during the british occupation of the country. the second is a stamp issued during the same occupation and surcharged after the boers again came into power. the chilian coat of arms on the stamps of peru tells its own story of war and invasion. lastly we have a stamp of fiji on which the initials "c.r.", cakambau rex, are overprinted with the "v.r." of the queen of england. [illustration: stamp, "correos del peru", centavo] [illustration] [illustration: stamp, "fiji", surcharched "v.r."] during the carlist insurrection in spain, the stamps of france, surcharged with a _fleur de lys_ surrounded by a five-rayed star, were used by don carlos to frank his correspondence across the frontier into france. these stamps were in use for only a brief period, pending the preparation and issue of the carlist stamps. [illustration: stamp, poland] it may be remarked that there are many suggestions of history in stamps that are not surcharged. the succession of portraits and other devices in the issues of a country is often eloquent of the march of great events, and there is a touch of pathos in poland's solitary stamp. finally, i wish to call your attention to a few stamps which tell most interesting stones, and which have a touch of mysticism and symbolism, which is not of to-day. [illustration: stamp, "correos mexico", ½ real] the coat of arms of mexico has its origin in the distant past. general lew wallace says in his historical romance the _fair god_: "the site of the city of tenochtitlan was chosen by the gods. in the south-western border of lake tezcuco, one morning in , a wandering tribe of aztecs saw an eagle perched, with outspread wings, upon a cactus, and holding a serpent in its talons. at a word from their priests, they took possession of the marsh and there stayed their migration and founded the city; such is the tradition. as men love to trace their descent back to some stoned greatness, nations delight to associate the gods with their origin." [illustration: stamp, persia] many stamps of persia bear the lion and the sun, the arms of the country and the insignia of its highest order of nobility. it is the lion of iran, holding in its paw the sceptre of the khorassan while behind it shines the sun of darius. there is a legend concerning the latter symbol to the effect that darius, hunting in the desert, threw his spear at a lion and missed. the beast crouched to spring, when the sun, shining on a talisman on darius' breast, so overpowered it that it came fawning to his feet and followed him back to the city. and for this reason the sun became part of the arms of the kingdom. but i think we may look further than this and find in it a relic of the ancient fire worship and of oriental pretentions to power over heaven and earth. [illustration: stamp, egypt, para] how much of egypt's myths and splendors are here depicted; the temple column called pompey's pillar, the obelisk of luxor, the mighty pyramids, last of all the sphynx, that fabled creature with the face of a woman, the body of a tigress and the heart of both. in fancy we can see her, crouched on a rock beside the great highway to thebes, propounding her fatal riddle to the bewildered passers by, till oedipus shall come. [illustration: stamp, turkey] on the stamps and coins of turkey we miss the portrait of the reigning sovereign, which we find on such issues of most monarchies. this is due to a law of mohammed, which forbids the reproduction of the human figure. on the stamps we find the crescent, said to have been the emblem of the byzantine empire and adopted by the turks after the fall of constantinople. we also find an elaborate device called the toughra or signature of the sultan. it owes its origin to the sultan murad i, a liberal sovereign and founder of many schools and institutions of learning but unable to write his own name. he signed imperial decrees by dipping his fingers in ink and placing them on the documents with three fingers close together and the little finger and thumb extended. in course of time this was adopted and, so to speak, consecrated as the signature of the sultan. it was also elaborated and arranged to form a written phrase, while preserving, in a general way, its original form. the toughra contains certain characters which are permanent and minor ones which change. the latter are the names of the sovereign and his father. thus the toughra which we illustrate reads: "his majesty abdul hamid, son of mejid, may he be always victorious." the small inscription at the side reads "_el ghazi_," the victorious, one of the titles of the sultan. the toughra is often referred to as the hand. in an article published in i find the following on this subject: [illustration: [arabic: el ghazi]] "the hand has to mussulmen three mystic significations; it denotes providence; it is the expression of law; and thirdly, of power; it restores the courage of the faithful and strikes terror to the hearts of their enemies. "as an emblem of law, the mussulman thus explains the meaning of the hand. it has five fingers, each, with the exception of the thumb, having three joints, all the fingers are subordinate to the unity of the hand, their common foundation. the five fundamental precepts of the law are: st--belief in god and his prophet. nd--prayer. rd--giving alms. th--fasting during the sacred months and at the appointed times. th--visiting the temples of mecca and medina. each of these precepts admits of three divisions, except the first, symbolized by the thumb, which has only two, _heart_ and _work_. these dogmas and their modifications have for their source the central doctrine of the unity of god; and all the creed of mohametanism is contained in the hand,--the five fingers and their forty joints. "the hand placed above the gates of the alhambra, upon the sultan's seal, and upon the stamps, symbolises the spiritual and temporal power which protects the good and the faithful and punishes their adversaries." [illustration: stamp, "korea", poon] this stamp is from corea, the land of the morning calm. in the corners are the plum blossom, the royal flower of the present dynasty which has existed over years. in the four corners of the central square are letters taken from the original alphabet of all languages and representing the four spirits that stand at the four corners of the earth and support it on their shoulders. the central device is an ancient chinese symbol which represents the dual principle in nature, the male and the female, the beginning and the end, the union of all opposite forces, of which the highest product is man. this symbol pervades all oriental art and thought. those of you who have seen vedder's illustrations of the rubaiyat of omar khayyam will remember the ever recurring swirl which "represents the gradual concentration of the elements that combine to form life; the sudden pause through the reverse of the movement that marks the instant of life, and then the gradual, ever-widening dispersion again of these elements into space." the swirl is only another form of the chinese symbol. a postage stamp is a tiny thing but it holds in its pictured space thoughts that embrace the beginning and the end of things, life, death and--we know not what. [illustration] *** the paths of inland commerce by archer b. hulbert a chronicle of trail, road, and waterway volume of the chronicles of america series ∴ allen johnson, editor assistant editors gerhard r. lomer charles w. jefferys abraham lincoln edition new haven: yale university press toronto: glasgow, brook & co. london: humphrey milford oxford university press copyright, by yale university press preface if the great american novel is ever written, i hazard the guess that its plot will be woven around the theme of american transportation, for that has been the vital factor in the national development of the united states. every problem in the building of the republic has been, in the last analysis, a problem in transportation. the author of such a novel will find a rich fund of material in the perpetual rivalries of pack-horseman and wagoner, of riverman and canal boatman, of steamboat promoter and railway capitalist. he will find at every point the old jostling and challenging the new: pack-horsemen demolishing wagons in the early days of the alleghany traffic; wagoners deriding clinton's ditch; angry boatmen anxious to ram the paddle wheels of fulton's clermont, which threatened their monopoly. such opposition has always been an incident of progress; and even in this new country, receptive as it was to new ideas, the washingtons, the fitches, the fultons, the coopers, and the whitneys, who saw visions and dreamed dreams, all had to face scepticism and hostility from those whom they would serve. a. b. h. worcester, mass., june, . the paths of inland commerce chapter chapter title page preface vii i. the man who caught the vision ii. the red man's trail iii. the mastery of the rivers 	 iv. a nation on wheels v. the flatboat age vi. the passing show of vii. the birth of the steamboat viii. the conquest of the alleghanies ix. the dawn of the iron age x. the pathway of the lakes xi. the steamboat and the west bibliographical note 	index the paths of inland commerce ∴ chapter i. the man who caught the vision inland america, at the birth of the republic, was as great a mystery to the average dweller on the atlantic seaboard as the elephant was to the blind men of hindustan. the reports of those who had penetrated this wilderness--of those who had seen the barren ranges of the alleghanies, the fertile uplands of the unakas, the luxuriant blue-grass regions, the rich bottom lands of the ohio and mississippi, the wide shores of the inland seas, or the stretches of prairie increasing in width beyond the wabash--seemed strangely contradictory, and no one had been able to patch these reports together and grasp the real proportions of the giant inland empire that had become a part of the united states. it was a pathless desert; it was a maze of trails, trodden out by deer, buffalo, and indian. its great riverways were broad avenues for voyagers and explorers; they were treacherous gorges filled with the plunder of a million floods. it was a rich soil, a land of plenty; the natives were seldom more than a day removed from starvation. within its broad confines could dwell a great people; but it was as inaccessible as the interior of china. it had a great commercial future; yet its gigantic distances and natural obstructions defied all known means of transportation. such were the varied and contradictory stories told by the men who had entered the portals of inland america. it is not surprising, therefore, that theories and prophecies about the interior were vague and conflicting nor that most of the schemes of statesmen and financiers for the development of the west were all parts and no whole. they all agreed as to the vast richness of that inland realm and took for granted an immense commerce therein that was certain to yield enormous profits. in faraway paris, the ingenious diplomat, silas deane, writing to the secret committee of congress in , pictured the old northwest--bounded by the ohio, the alleghanies, the great lakes, and the mississippi--as paying the whole expense of the revolutionary war. ¹ thomas paine in drew specifications for a state of from twenty to thirty millions of acres lying west of virginia and south of the ohio river, the sale of which land would pay the cost of three years of the war. ² on the other hand, pelatiah webster, patriotic economist that he was, decried in all schemes to "pawn" this vast westward region; he likened such plans to "killing the goose that laid an egg every day, in order to tear out at once all that was in her belly." he advocated the township system of compact and regular settlement; and he argued that any state making a cession of land would reap great benefit "from the produce and trade" of the newly created settlements. ¹ deane's plan was to grant a tract two hundred miles square at the junction of the ohio and the mississippi to a company on the condition that a thousand families should be settled on it within seven years. he added that, as this company would be in a great degree commercial, the establishing of commerce at the junction of those large rivers would immediately give a value to all the lands situated on or near them. ² paine thought that while the new state could send its exports southward down the mississippi, its imports must necessarily come from the east through chesapeake bay because the current of the mississippi was too strong to be overcome by any means of navigation then known. there were mooted many other schemes. general rufus putnam, for example, advocated the pickering or "army" plan of occupying the west; he wanted a fortified line to the great lakes, in case of war with england, and fortifications on the ohio and the mississippi, in case spain should interrupt the national commerce on these waterways. and thomas jefferson theorized in his study over the toy states of metropotamia and polypotamia--brought his ... trees and houses out and planted cities all about. but it remained for george washington, the virginia planter, to catch, in something of its actual grandeur, the vision of a republic stretching towards the setting sun, bound and unified by paths of inland commerce. it was washington who traversed the long ranges of the alleghanies, slept in the snows of deer park with no covering but his greatcoat, inquired eagerly of trapper and trader and herder concerning the courses of the cheat, the monongahela, and the little kanawha, and who drew from these personal explorations a clear and accurate picture of the future trade routes by which the country could be economically, socially, and nationally united. washington's experience had peculiarly fitted him to catch this vision. fortune had turned him westward as he left his mother's knee. first as a surveyor for lord fairfax in the shenandoah valley and later, under braddock and forbes, in the armies fighting for the ohio against the french he had come to know the interior as it was known by no other man of his standing. his own landed property lay largely along the upper potomac and in and beyond the alleghanies. washington's interest in this property was very real. those who attempt to explain his early concern with the west as purely altruistic must misread his numerous letters and diaries. nothing in his unofficial character shows more plainly than his business enterprise and acumen. on one occasion he wrote to his agent, crawford, concerning a proposed land speculation: "i recommend that you keep this whole matter a secret or trust it only to those in whom you can confide. if the scheme i am now proposing to you were known, it might give alarm to others, and by putting them on a plan of the same nature, before we could lay a proper foundation for success ourselves, set the different interests clashing and in the end overturn the whole." nor can it be denied that washington's attitude to the commercial development of the west was characterized in his early days by a narrow colonial partisanship. he was a stout virginian; and all stout virginians of that day refused to admit the pretensions of other colonies to the land beyond the mountains. but from no man could the shackles of self-interest and provincial rivalry drop more quickly than they dropped from washington when he found his country free after the close of the revolutionary war. he then began to consider how that country might grow and prosper. and he began to preach the new doctrine of expansion and unity. this new doctrine first appears in a letter which he wrote to the marquis de chastellux in , after a tour from his camp at newburg into central new york, where he had explored the headwaters of the mohawk and the susquehanna: "i could not help taking a more extensive view of the vast inland navigation of these united states [the letter runs] and could not but be struck by the immense extent and importance of it, and of the goodness of that providence which has dealt its favors to us with so profuse a hand. would to god we may have wisdom enough to improve them. i shall not rest contented till i have explored the western country, and traversed those lines, or great part of them, which have given bounds to a new empire." "the vast inland navigation of these united states!" it is an interesting fact that washington should have had his first glimpse of this vision from the strategic valley of the mohawk, which was soon to rival his beloved potomac as an improved commercial route from the seaboard to the west, and which was finally to achieve an unrivaled superiority in the days of the erie canal and the twentieth century limited. we may understand something of what the lure of the west meant to washington when we learn that in order to carry out his proposed journey after the revolution, he was compelled to refuse urgent invitations to visit europe and be the guest of france. "i found it indispensably necessary," he writes, "to visit my landed property west of the apalacheon mountains.... one object of my journey being to obtain information of the nearest and best communication between eastern & western waters; & to facilitate as much as in me lay the inland navigation of the potomack." on september , , washington set out from mount vernon on his journey to the west. even the least romantic mind must feel a thrill in picturing this solitary horseman, the victor of yorktown, threading the trails of the potomac, passing on by cumberland and fort necessity and braddock's grave to the monongahela. the man, now at the height of his fame, is retracing the trails of his boyhood--covering ground over which he had passed as a young officer in the last english and french war--but he is seeing the land in so much larger perspective that, although his diary is voluminous, the reader of those pages would not know that washington had been this way before. concerning great meadows, where he first saw the "bright face of danger" and which he once described gleefully as "a charming place for an encounter," he now significantly remarks: "the upland, east of the meadow, is good for grain." changed are the ardent dreams that filled the young man's heart when he wrote to his mother from this region that singing bullets "have truly a charming sound." today, as he looks upon the flow of youghiogheny, he sees it reaching out its finger tips to potomac's tributaries. he perceives a similar movement all along the chain of the alleghanies: on the west are the great lakes and the ohio, and reaching out towards them from the east, waiting to be joined by portage road and canal, are the hudson, the susquehanna, the potomac, and the james. he foresees these streams bearing to the atlantic ports the golden produce of the interior and carrying back to the interior the manufactured goods of the seaboard. he foresees the republic becoming homogeneous, rich, and happy. "open all the communication which nature has afforded," he wrote henry lee, "between the atlantic states and the western territory, and encourage the use of them to the utmost ... and sure i am there is no other tie by which they will long form a link in the chain of federal union." crude as were the material methods by which washington hoped to accomplish this end, in spirit he saw the very america that we know today; and he marked out accurately the actual pathways of inland commerce that have played their part in the making of america. taking the city of detroit as the key position, commercially, he traced the main lines of internal trade. he foresaw new york improving her natural line of communication by way of the mohawk and the niagara frontier on lake erie--the present line of the erie canal and the new york central railway. for pennsylvania, he pointed out the importance of linking the schuylkill and the susquehanna and of opening the two avenues westward to pittsburgh and to lake erie. in general, he thus forecast the pennsylvania canal and the pennsylvania and the erie railways. for maryland and virginia he indicated the potomac route as the nearest for all the trade of the ohio valley, with the route by way of the james and the great kanawha as an alternative for the settlements on the lower ohio. his vision here was realized in a later day by the potomac and the chesapeake and ohio canal, the cumberland road, the baltimore and ohio railway, and by the james-kanawha turnpike and the chesapeake and ohio railway. washington's general conclusions are stated in a summary at the end of his journal, which was reproduced in his classic letter to harrison, written in . his first point is that every state which had water routes reaching westward could enhance the value of its lands, increase its commerce, and quiet the democratic turbulence of its shut-in pioneer communities by the improvement of its river transportation. taking pennsylvania as a specific example, he declared that "there are one hundred thousand souls west of the laurel hill, who are groaning under the inconveniences of a long land transportation.... if this cannot be made easy for them to philadelphia ... they will seek a mart elsewhere.... an opposition on the part of [that] government ... would ultimately bring on a separation between its eastern and western settlements; towards which there is not wanting a disposition at this moment in that part of it beyond the mountains." washington's second proposal was the achievement of a new and lasting conquest of the west by binding it to the seaboard with chains of commerce. he thus states his point: "no well informed mind need be told that the flanks and rear of the united territory are possessed by other powers, and formidable ones too--nor how necessary it is to apply the cement of interest to bind all parts of it together, by one indissoluble bond--particularly the middle states with the country immediately back of them--for what ties let me ask, should we have upon those people; and how entirely unconnected should we be with them if the spaniards on their right or great britain on their left, instead of throwing stumbling blocks in their way as they do now, should invite their trade and seek alliances with them?" some of the pictures in washington's vision reveal, in the light of subsequent events, an almost uncanny prescience. he very plainly prophesied the international rivalry for the trade of the great lakes zone, embodied today in the welland and the erie canals. he declared the possibility of navigating with ocean-going vessels the tortuous two-thousand-mile channel of the ohio and the mississippi river; and within sixteen years ships left the ohio, crossed the atlantic, and sailed into the mediterranean. his description of a possible insurrection of a western community might well have been written later; it might almost indeed have made a page of his diary after he became president of the united states and during the whiskey insurrection in western pennsylvania. he approved and encouraged rumsey's mechanical invention for propelling boats against the stream, showing that he had a glimpse of what was to follow after fitch, rumsey, and fulton should have overcome the mighty currents of the hudson and the ohio with the steamboat's paddle wheel. his proposal that congress should undertake a survey of western rivers for the purpose of giving people at large a knowledge of their possible importance as avenues of commerce was a forecast of the lewis and clark expedition as well as of the policy of the government today for the improvement of the great inland rivers and harbors. "the destinies of our country run east and west. intercourse between the mighty interior west and the sea coast is the great principle of our commercial prosperity." these are the words of edward everett in advocating the boston and albany railroad. in effect washington had uttered those same words half a century earlier when he gave momentum to an era filled with energetic but unsuccessful efforts to join with the waters of the west the rivers reaching inland from the atlantic. the fact that american engineering science had not in his day reached a point where it could cope with this problem successfully should in no wise lessen our admiration for the man who had thus caught the vision of a nation united and unified by improved methods of transportation. chapter ii the red man's trail for the beginnings of the paths of our inland commerce, we must look far back into the dim prehistoric ages of america. the earliest routes that threaded the continent were the streams and the tracks beaten out by the heavier four-footed animals. the indian hunter followed the migrations of the animals and the streams that would float his light canoe. today the main lines of travel and transportation for the most part still cling to these primeval pathways. in their wanderings, man and beast alike sought the heights, the passes that pierced the mountain chains, and the headwaters of navigable rivers. on the ridges the forest growth was lightest and there was little obstruction from fallen timber; rain and frost caused least damage by erosion; and the winds swept the trails clear of leaves in summer and of snow in winter. here lay the easiest paths for the heavy, blundering buffalo and the roving elk and moose and deer. here, high up in the sun, where the outlook was unobstructed and signal fires could be seen from every direction, on the longest watersheds, curving around river and swamp, ran the earliest travel routes of the aboriginal inhabitants and of their successors, the red men of historic times. for their encampments and towns these peoples seem to have preferred the more sheltered ground along the smaller streams; but, when they fared abroad to hunt, to trade, to wage war, to seek new material for pipe and amulet, they followed in the main the highest ways. if in imagination one surveys the eastern half of the north american continent from one of the strategic passageways of the alleghanies, say from cumberland gap or from above kittanning gorge, the outstanding feature in the picture will be the appalachian barrier that separates the interior from the atlantic coast. to the north lie the adirondacks and the berkshire hills, hedging new england in close to the ocean. two glittering waterways lie east and west of these heights--the connecticut and the hudson. upon the valleys of these two rivers converged the two deeply worn pathways of the puritan, the old bay path and the connecticut path. by way of westfield river, that silver tributary which joins the connecticut at springfield, massachusetts, the bay path surmounted the berkshire highlands and united old massachusetts to the upper hudson valley near fort orange, now albany. here, north of the catskills, the appalachian barrier subsides and gives new york a supreme advantage over all the other atlantic states--a level route to the great lakes and the west. the mohawk river threads the smiling landscape; beyond lies the "finger lake country" and the valley of the genesee. through this romantic region ran the mohawk trail, sending offshoots to lake champlain and the st. lawrence, to the susquehanna, and to the allegheny. a few names have been altered in the course of years--the bay path is now the boston and albany railroad, the mohawk trail is the new york central, and fort orange is albany--and thus we may tell in a dozen words the story of three centuries. upon fort orange converged the score of land and water pathways of the fur trade of our north. these indian trade routes were slowly widened into colonial roads, notably the mohawk and catskill turnpikes, and these in turn were transformed into the erie, lehigh, nickel plate, and new york central railways. but from the day when the canoe and the keel boat floated their bulky cargoes of pelts or the heavy laden indian pony trudged the trail, the routes of trade have been little or nothing altered. traversing the line of the alleghanies southward, the eye notes first the break in the wall at the delaware water gap, and then that long arm of the susquehanna, the juniata, reaching out through dark kittanning gorge to its silver playmate, the dancing conemaugh. here amid its leafy aisles ran the brown and red kittanning trail, the main route of the pennsylvania traders from the rich region of york, lancaster, and chambersburg. on this general alignment the broadway limited flies today toward pittsburgh and chicago. a little to the south another important pathway from the same region led, by way of carlisle, bedford, and ligonier, to the ohio. the "highland trail" the indian traders called it, for it kept well on the watershed dividing the allegheny tributaries on the north from those of the monongahela on the south. farther to the south the scene shows a change, for the atlantic plain widens considerably. the potomac river, the james, the pedee, and the savannah flow through valleys much longer than those of the northern rivers. here in the south commerce was carried on mainly by shallop and pinnace. the trails of the indian skirted the rivers and offered for trader and explorer passageway to the west, especially to the towns of the cherokees in the southern alleghanies or unakas; but the waterways and the roads over which the hogsheads of tobacco were rolled (hence called "rolling roads") sufficed for the needs of the thin fringes of population settled along the rivers. trails from winchester in virginia and frederick in maryland focused on cumberland at the head of the potomac. beyond, to the west, the finger tips of the potomac interlocked closely with the monongahela and youghiogheny, and through this network of mountain and river valley, by the "shades of death" and great meadows, coiled nemacolin's path to the ohio. even today this ancient route is in part followed by the baltimore and ohio and the western maryland railway. a bird's-eye view of the southern alleghanies shows that, while the atlantic plain of virginia and the carolinas widens out, the mountain chains increase in number, fold on fold, from the blue ridge to the ragged ranges of the cumberlands. few trails led across this manifold barrier. there was a connection at balcony falls between the james river and the great kanawha; but as a trade route it was of no such value to the men of its day as the chesapeake and ohio system over the same course is to us. as in the north, so in the south, trade avoided obstacles by taking a roundabout, and often the longest route. in order to double the extremity of the unakas, for instance, the trails reached down by the valley of virginia and new river to the uplands of the tennessee, and here, near elizabethton, they met the trails leading up the broad and the yadkin rivers from charleston, south carolina. to the west rise the somber heights of cumberland gap. through this portal ran the famous "warrior's path," known to wandering hunters, the "trail of iron" from fort watauga and fort chiswell, which daniel boone widened for the settlers of kentucky. to the southwest lay the blue grass region of tennessee with its various trails converging on nashville from almost every direction. today the southern railway enters the "sapphire country," in which asheville lies, by practically the same route as the old rutherfordton trail which was used for generations by red man and pioneer from the carolina coast. in our entire region of the appalachians, from the berkshire hills southward, practically every old-time pathway from the seaboard to the trans-alleghany country is now occupied by an important railway system, with the exception of the warrior's trail through cumberland gap to central ohio and the highland trail across southern pennsylvania. and even cumberland gap is accessible by rail today, and a line across southern pennsylvania was once planned and partially constructed only to be killed by jealous rivals. these numerous keys to the alleghanies were a challenge to the men of the seaboard to seize upon the rich trade of the west which had been early monopolized by the french in canada. but the challenge brought its difficult problems. what land canoes could compete with the flotillas that brought their priceless cargoes of furs each year to montreal and quebec? what race of landlubbers could vie with the picturesque bands of fearless voyageurs who sang their songs on the great lakes, the ohio, the illinois, and the mississippi? in the solution of this problem of diverting trade probably the factor of greatest importance, next to open pathways through the mountain barriers, was the rich stock-breeding ground lying between the delaware and the susquehanna rivers, a region occupied by the settlers familiarly known as the pennsylvania dutch. in this famous belt, running from pennsylvania into virginia, originated the historic pack-horse trade with the "far indians" of the ohio valley. here, in the first granary of america, germans, scotch-irish, and english bred horses worthy of the name. "brave fat horses" an amazed officer under braddock called the mounts of five quakers who unexpectedly rode into camp as though straight "from the land of goshen." these animals, crossed with the indian "pony" from new spain, produced the wise, wiry, and sturdy pack-horse, fit to transport nearly two hundred pounds of merchandise across the rough and narrow alleghany trails. this animal and the heavy conestoga horse from the same breeding ground revolutionized inland commerce. the first american cow pony was not without his cowboy. though the drivers were not all of the same type and though the proprietors, so to speak, of the trans-alleghany pack-horse trade came generally from the older settlements, the bulk of the hard work was done by a lusty army of men not reproduced again in america until the picturesque figure of the cow-puncher appeared above the western horizon. this breed of men was nurtured on the outer confines of civilization, along the headwaters of the susquehanna, the potomac, the james, and the broad--the country of the "cowpens." rough as the wilderness they occupied, made strong by their diet of meat and curds, these tatars of the highlands played a part in the commercial history of america that has never had its historian. in their knowledge of indian character, of horse and packsaddle lore, of the forest and its trails in every season, these men of the cowpens were the kings of the old frontier. an officer under braddock has left us one of the few pictures of these people ¹: ¹ extracts of letters from an officer (london, ). from the heart of the settlements we are now got into the cow-pens; the keepers of these are very extraordinary kind of fellows, they drive up their herds on horseback, and they had need do so, for their cattle are near as wild as deer; a cow-pen generally consists of a very large cottage or house in the woods, with about four-score or one hundred acres, inclosed with high rails and divided; a small inclosure they keep for corn, for the family, the rest is the pasture in which they keep their calves; but the manner is far different from any thing you ever saw; they may perhaps have a stock of four or five hundred to a thousand head of cattle belonging to a cow-pen, these run as they please in the great woods, where there are no inclosures to stop them. in the month of march the cows begin to drop their calves, then the cow-pen master, with all his men, rides out to see and drive up the cows with all their new fallen calves; they being weak cannot run away so as to escape, therefore are easily drove up, and the bulls and other cattle follow them; and they put these calves into the pasture, and every morning and evening suffer the cows to come and suckle them, which done they let the cows out into the great woods to shift for their food as well as they can; whilst the calf is sucking one tit of the cow, the woman of the cow-pen is milking one of the other tits, so that she steals some milk from the cow, who thinks she is giving it to the calf; soon as the cow begins to go dry, and the calf grows strong, they mark them, if they are males they cut them, and let them go into the wood. every year in september and october they drive up the market steers, that are fat and of a proper age, and kill them; they say they are fat in october, but i am sure they are not so in may, june and july; they reckon that out of head of cattle they can kill about or steers, and four or five cows a year; so they reckon that a cow-pen for every head of cattle brings about £ sterling per year. the keepers live chiefly upon milk, for out of their vast herds, they do condescend to tame cows enough to keep their family in milk, whey, curds, cheese and butter; they also have flesh in abundance such as it is, for they eat the old cows and lean calves that are like to die. the cow-pen men are hardy people, are almost continually on horseback, being obliged to know the haunts of their cattle. you see, sir, what a wild set of creatures our english men grow into, when they lose society, and it is surprising to think how many advantages they throw away, which our industrious country-men would be glad of: out of many hundred cows they will not give themselves the trouble of milking more than will maintain their family. with such a race of born horsemen, every whit as bold and resourceful as the voyageurs, to bear the brunt of a new era of transportation, all that was needed to challenge french trade beyond the alleghanies was competent and aggressive leadership. the situation called for men of means, men of daring, men closely in touch with governors and assemblies and acquainted with the web of politics that was being spun at philadelphia, williamsburg, new york, london, and paris. generations of tenacious struggle along the american frontier had developed such men. the weisers, croghans, gists, washingtons, franklins, walkers, and cresaps were men of varied descent and nationality. they had the cunning, the boldness, and the resources to undertake successfully the task of conquering commercially the great west. they were the first men of the colonies to be unafraid of that bugbear of the trader, distance. we may aptly call them the first americans because, though not a few were actually born abroad, they were the first whose plans, spirit, and very life were dominated by the vision of an america of continental dimensions. the long story of french and english rivalry and of the war which ended it concerns us here chiefly as a commercial struggle. the french at niagara ( ) had access to the ohio by way of lake erie and any one of several rivers--the allegheny, the muskingum, the scioto, or the miami. the main routes of the english were the nemacolin and kittanning paths. the french, laboring under the disadvantages of the longer distance over which their goods had to be transported to the indians and of the higher price necessarily demanded for them, had to meet the competition of the traders from the rival colonies of pennsylvania and virginia, each of them jealous of and underbidding the other. when céloron de blainville was sent to the allegheny in , by the governor of new france, his message was that "the governor of canada desired his children on ohio to turn away the english traders from amongst them and discharge them from ever coming to trade there again, or on any of the branches." he sent away all the traders whom he found, giving them letters addressed to their respective governors denying england's right to trade in the west. to offset this move, within two years pennsylvania sent goods to the value of nine hundred pounds in order to hold the indians constant. the governor had already ordered the traders to sell whiskey to the indians at " bucks" per cask and had told the indians, through his agent conrad weiser, that if any trader refused to sell the liquor at that price they might "take it from him and drink it for nothing." there was but one way for the french to meet such competition. without delay they fortified the allegheny and began to coerce the natives. driving away the carpenters of the ohio company from the present site of pittsburgh, they built fort duquesne. the beginning of the old french war ended what we may call the first era of the pack-horse trade. the capture of fort duquesne by the english army under general forbes in and the final conquest of new france two years later removed the french barrier and opened the way to expansion beyond the alleghanies. thereafter settlements in the monongahela country grew apace. pittsburgh, uniontown, morgantown, brownsville, ligonier, greensburg, connellsville--we give the modern names--became centers of a great migration which was halted only for a season by pontiac's rebellion, the aftermath of the french war, and was resumed immediately on the suppression of that indian rising. the pack-horse trade now entered its final and most important era. the earlier period was one in which the trade was confined chiefly to the indians; the later phase was concerned with supplying the needs of the white man in his rapidly developing frontier settlements. formerly the principal articles of merchandise for the western trade were guns, ammunition, knives, kettles, and tools for their repair, blankets, tobacco, hatchets, and liquor. in the new era every known product of the east found a market in the thriving communities of the upper ohio. as time went on the west began to send to the east, in addition to skins and pelts, whiskey that brought a dollar a gallon. each pony could carry sixteen gallons and every drop could be sold for real money. on the return trip the pack-horses carried back chiefly salt and iron. doddridge's notes, one of the chief sources of our information, gives this lively picture: in the fall of the year, after seeding time, every family formed an association with some of their neighbors, for starting the little caravan. a master driver was to be selected from among them, who was to be assisted by one or more young men and sometimes a boy or two. the horses were fitted out with packsaddles, to the latter part of which was fastened a pair of hobbles made of hickory withes,--a bell and collar ornamented their necks. the bags provided for the conveyance of the salt were filled with bread, jerk, boiled ham, and cheese furnished a provision for the drivers. at night, after feeding, the horses, whether put in pasture or turned out into the woods, were hobbled and the bells were opened. the barter for salt and iron was made first at baltimore; frederick, hagerstown, oldtown, and fort cumberland, in succession, became the places of exchange. each horse carried two bushels of alum salt, weighing eighty-four pounds to the bushel. this, to be sure, was not a heavy load for the horses, but it was enough, considering the scanty subsistence allowed them on the journey. the common price of a bushel of alum salt, at an early period, was a good cow and a calf. thus, with the english flag afloat at fort pitt, as duquesne was renamed after its capture, a new day dawned for the great region to the west. beyond the alleghanies and as far as the rockies, a new science of transportation was now to be learned--the art of finding the dividing ridge. here the first routes, like the "great trail" from pittsburgh to detroit, struck out with an assurance that is in marvelous agreement with the findings of the surveyors of a later day. the railways, when they came, found the valleys and penetrated with their tunnels the watersheds from the heads of the streams of one drainage area to the streams of another. thus on the pennsylvania, the baltimore and ohio, the southern, the chesapeake and ohio, and other railroads, important tunnels are to be found lying immediately under the red man's trail which clung to the long ascending slope and held persistently to the dividing ridges. even this necessarily brief survey shows plainly how that preëminently american institution, the ridge road, came about. east and west, it was the legitimate and natural successor to the ancient trail. with the coming of the wagon, whose rattle was heard among the hills as early as braddock's campaign, the process of lowering these paths from the heights was inevitably begun, and it was to the riverways that men first looked for a solution of the difficult problems of inland commerce. eventually the paths of inland commerce constituted a vast network of canals, roads, and railway lines in those very valleys to which washington had called the nation's attention in . chapter iii the mastery of the rivers it would perhaps have been well, in the light of later difficulties and failures, if the men who at washington's call undertook to master the capricious rivers of the seaboard had studied a stately spanish decree which declared that, since god had not made the rivers of spain navigable, it were sacrilege for mortals to attempt to do so. even before the revolution, mayor rhodes of philadelphia was in correspondence with franklin in london concerning the experiences of european engineers in harnessing foreign streams. that sage philosopher, writing to rhodes in , uttered a clear word of warning: "rivers are ungovernable things," he had said, and english engineers "seldom or never use a river where it can be avoided." but it was the birthright of new world democracy to make its own mistakes and in so doing to prove for itself the errors of the old world. as energetic men all along the atlantic plain now took up the problem of improving the inland rivers, they faced a storm of criticism and ridicule that would have daunted any but such as washington and johnson of virginia or white and hazard of pennsylvania or morris and watson of new york. every imaginable objection to such projects was advanced--from the inefficiency of the science of engineering to the probable destruction of all the fish in the streams. in spite of these discouragements, however, various men set themselves to form in rapid succession the potomac company in , the society for promoting the improvement of inland navigation in , the western inland lock navigation company in , and the lehigh coal mine company in . a brief review of these various enterprises will give a clear if not a complete view of the first era of inland water commerce in america. the potomac company, authorized in by the legislatures of maryland and virginia, received an appropriation of $ from each state for opening a road from the headwaters of the potomac to either the cheat or the monongahela, "as commissioners ... shall find most convenient and beneficial to the western settlers." this was the only public aid which the enterprise received; and the stipulated purpose clearly indicates the fact that, in the minds of its promoters, the transcontinental character of the undertaking appeared to be vital. the remainder of the money required for the work was raised by public subscription in the principal cities of the two states. in this way £ , was subscribed, virginia men taking shares and maryland men shares. the stockholders elected george washington as president of the company, at a salary of thirty shillings a year, with four directors to aid him, and they chose as general manager james rumsey, the boat mechanician. these men then proceeded to attack the chief impediments in the potomac--the great falls above washington, the seneca falls at the mouth of seneca creek, and the shenandoah falls at harper's ferry. but, as they had difficulty in obtaining workmen and sufficient liquor to cheer them in their herculean tasks, they made such slow progress that subscribers, doubting washington's optimistic prophecy that the stock would increase in value twenty per cent, paid their assessments only after much deliberation or not at all. thirty-six years later, though $ , had been spent and lock canals had been opened about the unnavigable stretches of the potomac river, a commission appointed to examine the affairs of the company reported "that the floods and freshets nevertheless gave the only navigation that was enjoyed." as for the road between the potomac and the cheat or the monongahela, the records at hand do not show that the money voted for that enterprise had been used. the potomac company nevertheless had accomplished something: it had acquired an asset of the greatest value--a right of way up the strategic potomac valley; and it had furnished an object lesson to men in other states who were struggling with a similar problem. when, as will soon be apparent, new york men undertook the improvement of the mohawk waterway there was no pattern of canal construction for them to follow in america except the inadequate wooden locks erected along the potomac. it is interesting to know that elkanah watson, prominent in inland navigation to the north, went down from new york in order to study these wooden locks and that new yorkers adopted them as models, though they changed the material to brick and finally to stone. pennsylvania had been foremost among the colonies in canal building, for it had surveyed as early as the first lock canal in america, from near reading on the schuylkill to middletown on the susquehanna. work, however, had to be suspended when pontiac's rebellion threw the inland country into a panic. but the enterprise of maryland and virginia in in developing the potomac aroused the pennsylvanians to renewed activity. the society for promoting the improvement of roads and inland navigation set forth a programme that was as broad as the keystone state itself. their ultimate object was to capture the trade of the great lakes. "if we turn our view," read the memorial which the society presented to the legislature, "to the immense territories connected with the ohio and mississippi waters, and bordering on the great lakes, it will appear ... that our communication with those vast countries (considering fort pitt as the port of entrance upon them) is as easy and may be rendered as cheap, as to any other port on the atlantic tide waters." pennsylvania, lying between virginia and new york, occupied a peculiar position. her susquehanna valley stretched northwest--not so directly west as did the potomac on the south and the mohawk on the north. this more northerly trend led these early pennsylvania promoters to believe that, while they might "only have a share in the trade of those [the ohio] waters," they could absolutely secure for themselves the trade of the great lakes, "taking presq'isle [erie, pennsylvania] which is within our own state, as the great mart or place of embarkation." the plan which the society proposed involved the improvement of water and land routes by way of the delaware to lake ontario and lake otsego, and of eight routes by the susquehanna drainage, north, northwest, and west. a bill which passed the legislature on april , , appropriated money for these improvements. work was begun immediately on the schuylkill-susquehanna canal, but only four miles had been completed by , when the lancaster turnpike directed men's attention to improved highways as an alternative more likely than canals to provide the desired facilities for inland transportation. the work on the canal was renewed, however, in , when the rival erie canal was nearing completion, and was finished in . it became known as the union canal and formed a link in the pennsylvania canal system, the development of which will be described in a later chapter. in new york state, throughout the period of the old french and the revolutionary wars, barges and keel boats had plied the mohawk, wood creek, and the oswego to lake ontario. around such obstructions as cohoes falls, little falls, and the portage at rome to wood creek, wagons, sleds, and pack-horses had transferred the cargoes. to avoid this labor and delay men soon conceived of conquering these obstacles by locks and canals. as early as the brilliant gouverneur morris had a vision of the economic development of his state when "the waters of the great western inland seas would, by the aid of man, break through their barriers and mingle with those of the hudson." elkanah watson was in many ways the washington of new york. he had the foresight, patience, and persistence of the virginia planter. his journal of a tour up the mohawk in and a pamphlet which he published in may be said to be the ultimate sources in any history of the internal commerce of new york. as a result, a company known as "the president, directors, and company of the western inland lock navigation in the state of new york," with a capital stock of $ , , was authorized by act of legislature in march, , and the state subscribed for $ , in stock. many singular provisions were inserted in this charter, but none more remarkable than one which stipulated that all profits over fifteen per cent should revert to the state treasury. this hint concerning surplus profits, however, did not cause a stampede when the books were opened for subscriptions in new york and albany. in later years, when the erie canal gave promise of a new era in american inland commerce, elkanah watson recalled with a grim satisfaction the efforts of these early days. the subscription books at the old coffee house in new york, he tells us, lay open three days without an entry, and at lewis's tavern in albany, where the books were opened for a similar period, "no mortal" had subscribed for more than two shares. the system proposed for the improvement of the waterways of new york was similar to that projected for the potomac. a canal was to be cut from the mohawk to the hudson in order to avoid cohoes falls; a canal with locks would overcome the forty-foot drop at little falls; another canal over five thousand feet in length was to connect the mohawk and wood creek at rome; minor improvements were to be made between schenectady and the mouth of the schoharie; and finally the oswego falls at rochester were to be circumvented also by canal. all the objections, difficulties, and discouragements which had attended efforts to improve waterways elsewhere in america confronted these new york promoters. they began in at little falls but were soon forced to cease owing to the failure of funds. under the encouraging spur of a state subscription to two hundred shares of stock, they renewed their efforts in but were again forced to abandon the work before the year had passed. by november, , however, they had completed the canal and in thirty days had received toll to the amount of about four hundred dollars. the total actual work done is not clearly shown by the documents, but it is evident that the measure of success achieved was not equaled elsewhere on similar improvements on a large scale. from to the tolls received at rome amounted to over fifteen thousand dollars, and at little falls to over fifty-eight thousand dollars--a sum which exceeded the original cost of construction. dividends had crept up from three per cent in to five and a half per cent in , the year in which work was begun on the erie canal. no struggle for the mastery of an american river matches in certain respects the effort of the lehigh coal and navigation company to bridle the lehigh and make it play its part in the commercial development of pennsylvania. the failures and trials of the promoters of this company were no less remarkable than was the great success that eventually crowned the effort. in the lehigh coal mine company was organized and purchased some ten thousand acres in the mauch chunk anthracite region, nine miles from the lehigh river. it then appropriated a sum of money to build a road from the mines to the river in the expectation that the state would improve the navigation of the waterway, for which, it has already been noted, an appropriation had been made in , in accordance with the programme of the society for promoting the improvement of roads and inland navigation. nothing was done, however, to improve the river, and the company, after various attempts at shipping coal to philadelphia, gave up the effort and allowed the property, which was worth millions, to lie idle. in the lehigh coal mine company, in another effort to get its wares before the public, granted to rowland and butland, a private firm, free right to operate one of its veins of coal; but this operation also resulted in failure. in the company made a third attempt and granted to a private concern a lease of the entire property on the condition that ten thousand bushels of coal should be taken to market annually. difficulties immediately made themselves apparent. no contractor could be found who would haul the output to the lehigh river for less than four dollars a ton, and the man who accepted those terms lost money. of five barges filled at mauch chunk three went to pieces on the way to philadelphia. although the contents of the other two sold for twenty dollars a ton, the proceeds failed to meet expenses, and the operating company threw up the lease. but it happened that white and hazard, the wire manufacturers who purchased this lehigh coal, were greatly pleased with its quality. believing that coal could be obtained more cheaply from mauch chunk than from the mines along the schuylkill, white, hauto, and hazard formed a company, entered into negotiation with the owners of the lehigh mines, and obtained the lease of their properties for a period of twenty years at an annual rental of one ear of corn. the company agreed, moreover, to ship every year at least forty thousand bushels of coal to philadelphia for its own consumption, to prove the value of the property. white and his partners immediately applied to the legislature for permission to improve the navigation of the lehigh, stating the purpose of the improvement and citing the fact that their efforts would tend to serve as a model for the improvement of other pennsylvania streams. the desired opportunity "to ruin themselves," as one member of the legislature put it, was granted by an act passed march , . the various powers applied for, and granted, embraced the whole range of tried and untried methods for securing "a navigation downward once in three days for boats loaded with one hundred barrels, or ten tons." the state kept its weather eye open in this matter, however, for a small minority felt that these men would not ruin themselves. accordingly, the act of grant reserved to the commonwealth the right to compel the adoption of a complete system of slack-water navigation from easton to stoddartsville if the service given by the company did not meet "the wants of the country." capital was subscribed by a patriotic public on condition that a committee of stockholders should go over the ground and pass judgment on the probable success of the effort. the report was favorable, so far as the improvement of the river was concerned; but the nine-mile road to the mines was unanimously voted impracticable. "to give you an idea of the country over which the road is to pass," wrote one of the commissioners, "i need only tell you that i considered it quite an easement when the wheel of my carriage struck a stump instead of a stone." the public mind was divided. some held that the attempt to operate the coal mine was farcical, but that the improvement of the lehigh river was an undertaking of great value and of probable profit to investors. others were just as positive that the river improvement would follow the fate of so many similar enterprises but that a fortune was in store for those who invested in the lehigh mines. the direct result of the examiners' report and of the public debate it provoked was the organization of the first interlocking companies in the commercial history of america. the lehigh navigation company was formed with a capital stock of $ , and the lehigh coal company with a capital stock of $ , . this incident forms one of the most striking illustrations in american history of the dependence of a commercial venture upon methods of inland transportation. the lehigh navigation company proceeded to build its dams and walls while the lehigh coal company constructed the first roadway in america built on the principle--later adopted by the railways--of dividing the total distance by the total descent in order to determine the grade. not to be outdone in point of ingenuity, the lehigh navigation company, then suffering from an unprecedented dearth of water, adopted white's invention of sluice gates connecting with pools which could be filled with reserve water to be drawn upon as navigation required. by the necessary depth of water between mauch chunk and easton was obtained. the two companies were immediately amalgamated under the title of the lehigh coal and navigation company and by had sent over two thousand tons of coal to market. as most of the efforts to improve the rivers, however, met with indifferent success and many failures were recorded, the pendulum of public confidence in this aid to inland commerce swung away, and highway improvement by means of stone roads and toll road companies came into favor in the interval between the nation's two eras of river improvement and canal building. chapter iv a nation on wheels in early days the indian had not only followed the watercourses in his canoe but had made his way on foot over trails through the woods and over the mountains. in colonial days, englishman and frenchman followed the footsteps of the indian, and as settlement increased and trade developed, the forest path widened into the highway for wheeled vehicles. massachusetts began the work of road making in by passing an act which decreed that "the ways" should be six to ten rods wide "in common grounds," thus allowing sufficient room for more than one track. similar broad "ways" were authorized in new york and pennsylvania in ; stumps and shrubs were to be cut close to the ground, and "sufficient bridges" were to be built over streams and marshy places. virginia passed legislation for highways at an early date, but it was not until that strict laws were enacted with a view to keeping the roads in a permanently good condition. under these laws surveyors were appointed to establish in each county roads forty feet wide to the church and to the courthouse. in , pennsylvania turned her local roads over to the county justices, put the king's highway and the main public roads under the care of the governor and his council, and ordered each county to erect bridges over its streams. the word "roadmaking" was capable of several interpretations. in general, it meant outlining the course for the new thoroughfare, clearing away fallen timber, blazing or notching the trees so that the traveler might not miss the track, and building bridges or laying logs "over all the marshy, swampy, and difficult dirty places." the streams proved serious obstacles to early traffic. it has been shown already that the earliest routes of animal or man sought the watersheds; the trails therefore usually encountered one stream near its junction with another. at first, of course, fording was the common method of crossing water, and the most advantageous fording places were generally found near the mouths of tributary streams, where bars and islands are frequently formed and where the water is consequently shallow. when ferries began to be used, they were usually situated just above or below the fords; but when the bridge succeeded the ferry, the primitive bridge builder went back to the old fording place in order to take advantage of the shallower water, bars, and islands. with the advent of improved engineering, the character of river banks and currents was more frequently taken into consideration in choosing a site for a bridge than was the case in the olden times, but despite this fact the bridges of today, generally speaking, span the rivers where the deer or the buffalo splashed his way across centuries ago. on the broader streams, where fording was impossible and traffic was perforce carried by ferry, the canoe and the keel boat of the earliest days gave way in time to the ordinary "flat" or barge. at first the obligation of the ferryman to the public, though recognized by english law, was ignored in america by legislators and monopolists alike. men obtained the land on both sides of the rivers at the crossing places and served the public only at their own convenience and at their own charges. in many cases, to encourage the opening of roads or of ferries, national and state authorities made grants of land on the same principle followed in later days in the case of western railroads. such, for instance, was the grant to ebenezer zane, at zanesville, lancaster, and chillicothe in the northwest territory. these monopolies sometimes were extremely profitable: a descendant of the owners of the famous ingles ferry across new river, on the wilderness road to kentucky, is responsible for the statement that in the heyday of travel to the southwest the privilege was worth from $ , to $ , annually to the family. but as local governments became more efficient, monopolies were abolished and the collection of tolls was taken over by the authorities. the awakening of inland trade is most clearly indicated everywhere by the action of assemblies regarding the operation of ferries, and in general, by the beginning of the eighteenth century, tolls and ferries were being regulated by law. but neither roads nor ferries were of themselves sufficient to put a nation on wheels. the early polite society of the settled neighborhoods traveled in horse litters, in sedan chairs, or on horseback, the women seated on pillions or cushions behind the saddle riders, while oxcarts and horse barrows brought to town the produce of the outlying farms. although carts and rude wagons could be built entirely of wood, there could be no marked advance in transportation until the development of mining in certain localities reduced the price of iron. with the increase of travel and trade, the old world coach and chaise and wain came into use, and iron for tire and brace became an imperative necessity. the connection between the production of iron and the care of highways was recognized by legislation as early as , when maryland excused men and slaves in the ironworks from labor on the public roads, though by the middle of the century owners of ironworks were obliged to detail one man out of every ten in their employ for such work. while the coastwise trade between the colonies was still preëminently important as a means of transporting commodities, by the beginning of the eighteenth century the land routes from new york to new england, from new york across new jersey to philadelphia, and those radiating from philadelphia in every direction, were coming into general use. the date of the opening of regular freight traffic between new york and philadelphia is set by the reply of the governor of new jersey in to a protest against monopolies granted on one of the old widened indian trails between burlington and amboy. "at present," he says, "everybody is sure, once a fortnight, to have an opportunity of sending any quantity of goods, great or small, at reasonable rates, without being in danger of imposition; and the sending of this wagon is so far from being a grievance or monopoly, that by this means and no other, a trade has been carried on between philadelphia, burlington, amboy, and new york, which was never known before." the long philadelphia road from the lancaster region into the valley of virginia, by way of wadkins on the potomac, was used by german and irish traders probably as early as . in the people of maryland were petitioning for a road from the ford of the monocacy to the home of nathan wickham. four years later jost heydt, leading an immigrant party southward, broke open a road from the york barrens toward the potomac two miles above harper's ferry. this avenue--by way of the berkeley, staunton, watauga, and greenbrier regions to tennessee and kentucky--was the longest and most important in america during the revolutionary period. the virginia assembly in appointed commissioners to view this route and to report on the advisability of making it a wagon road all the way to kentucky. in , efforts were made in kentucky to turn the wilderness trail into a wagon road, and in this same year the kentucky legislature passed an act making the route from crab orchard to cumberland gap a wagon road thirty feet in width. from pennsylvania and from virginia commerce westward bound followed in the main the army roads hewn out by braddock and forbes in their campaigns against fort duquesne. in , braddock, marching from alexandria by way of fort cumberland, had opened a passage for his artillery and wagons to laurel hill, near uniontown, pennsylvania. his force included a corps of seamen equipped with block and tackle to raise and lower his wagons in the steep inclines of the alleghanies. three years later, forbes, in his careful, dogged campaign, followed a more northerly route. advancing from philadelphia and carlisle, he established fort bedford and fort ligonier as bases of supply and broke a new road through the interminable forest which clothed the rugged mountain ranges. from the first there was bitter rivalry between these two routes, and the young colonel washington was roundly criticized by both forbes and bouquet, his second in command, for his partisan effort to "drive me down," as forbes phrased it, into the virginia or braddock's road. this rivalry between the two routes continued when the destruction of the french power over the roads in the interior threw open to pennsylvania and her southern neighbors alike the lucrative trade of the ohio country. from the journals of the time may be caught faint glimpses of the toils and dangers of travel through these wild hill regions. let the traveler of today, as he follows the track that once was braddock's road, picture the scene of that earlier time when, in the face of every natural obstacle, the army toiled across the mountain chains. where the earth in yonder ravine is whipped to a black froth, the engineers have thrown down the timber cut in widening the trail and have constructed a corduroy bridge, or rather a loose raft on a sea of muck. the wreck of the last wagon which tried to pass gives some additional safety to the next. already the stench from the horse killed in the accident deadens the heavy, heated air of the forest. the sailors, stripped to the waist, are ready with ropes and tackle to let the next wagon down the incline; the pulleys creak, the ropes groan. the horses, weak and terror-stricken, plunge and rear; in the final crash to the level the leg of the wheel horse is caught and broken; one of the soldiers shoots the animal; the traces are unbuckled; another beast is substituted. beyond, the seamen are waiting with tackle attached to trees on the ridge above to assist the horses on the cruel upgrade--and braddock, the deceived, maligned, misrepresented, and misjudged, creeps onward in his brave conquest of the alleghanies in a campaign that, in spite of its military failure, deserves honorable mention among the achievements of british arms. everywhere, north and south, the early american road was a veritable slough of despond. watery pits were to be encountered wherein horses were drowned and loads sank from sight. frequently traffic was stopped for hours by wagons which had broken down and blocked the way. thirteen wagons at one time were stalled on logan's hill on the york road. frightful accidents occurred in attempting to draw out loads. jonathan tyson, for instance, in , near philadelphia saw a horse's lower jaw torn off by the slipping of a chain. save in the winter, when in the northern colonies snow filled the ruts and frost built solid bridges over the streams, travel on these early roads was never safe, rapid, nor comfortable. the comparative ease of winter travel for the carriage of heavy freight and for purposes of trade and social intercourse gave the colder regions an advantage over the southern that was an important factor in the development of the country. no genuine improvement of roads and highways seems to have been attempted until the era heralded by washington's letter to harrison in . but the problem slowly forced itself upon all sections of the country, and especially upon pennsylvania and maryland, whose inhabitants began to fear lest new york, alexandria, or richmond should snatch the western trade from philadelphia or baltimore. the truth that underlies the proverb that "history repeats itself" is well illustrated by the fact that the first macadamized road in america was built in pennsylvania, for here also originated the pack-horse trade and the conestoga horse and wagon; here the first inland american canal was built, the first roadbed was graded on the principle of dividing the whole distance by the whole descent, and the first railway was operated. macadam and telford had only begun to show the people of england how to build roads of crushed stone--an art first developed by the french engineer trésaguet--when pennsylvanians built the lancaster turnpike. the philadelphia and lancaster turnpike road company was chartered april , , as a part of the general plan of the society for the improvement of roads and inland navigation already described. this road, sixty-two miles in length, was built of stone at a cost of $ , and was completed in two years. never before had such a sum been invested in internal improvement in the united states. the rapidity with which the undertaking was carried through and the profits which accrued from the investment were alike astonishing. the subscription books were opened at eleven o'clock one morning and by midnight shares had been subscribed, each purchaser paying down thirty dollars. at the same time elkanah watson was despondently scanning the subscription books of his mohawk river enterprise at albany where "no mortal" had risked more than two shares. the success of the lancaster turnpike was not achieved without a protest against the monopoly which the new venture created. it is true that in all the colonies the exercise of the right of eminent domain had been conceded in a veiled way to officials to whose care the laying out of roads had been delegated. as early as the general court of massachusetts had ordered each town to choose men who, coöperating with men from the adjoining town, should "lay out highways where they may be most convenient, notwithstanding any man's property, or any corne ground, so as it occasion not the pulling down of any man's house, or laying open any garden or orchard." but the open and extended exercise of these rights led to vigorous opposition in the case of this pennsylvania road. a public meeting was held at the prince of wales tavern in philadelphia in to protest in round terms against the monopolistic character of the lancaster turnpike. blackstone and edward iii were hurled at the heads of the "venal" legislators who had made this "monstrosity" possible. the opposition died down, however, in the face of the success which the new road instantly achieved. the turnpike was, indeed, admirably situated. converging at the quaint old "borough of lancaster," the various routes--northeast from virginia, east from the carlisle and chambersburg region and the alleghanies, and southeast from the upper susquehanna country--poured upon the quaker city a trade that profited every merchant, landholder, and laborer. the nine tollgates, on the average a little less than seven miles apart, turned in a revenue that allowed the "president and managers" to declare dividends to stockholders running, it is said, as high as fifteen per cent. the lancaster turnpike is interesting from three points of view: it began a new period of american transportation; it ushered in an era of speculation unheard of in the previous history of the country; and it introduced american lawmakers to the great problem of controlling public corporations. along this thirty-seven-foot road, of which twenty-four feet were laid with stone, the new era of american inland travel progressed. the array of two-wheeled private equipages and other family carriages, the stagecoaches of bright color, and the carts, dutch wagons, and conestogas, gave token of what was soon to be witnessed on the great roads of a dozen states in the next generation. here, probably, the first distinction began to be drawn between the taverns for passengers and those patronized by the drivers of freight. the colonial taverns, comparatively few and far between, had up to this time served the traveling public, high and low, rich and poor, alike. but in this new era members of congress and the élite of philadelphia and neighboring towns were not to be jostled at the table by burly hostlers, drivers, wagoners, and hucksters. two types of inns thus came quickly into existence: the tavern entertained the stagecoach traffic, while the democratic roadhouse served the established lines of conestogas, freighters, and all other vehicles which poured from every town, village, and hamlet upon the great thoroughfare leading to the metropolis on the delaware. among american inventions the conestoga wagon must forever be remembered with respect. originating in the lancaster region of pennsylvania and taking its name either from the horses of the conestoga valley or from the valley itself, this vehicle was unlike the old english wain or the dutch wagon because of the curve of its bed. this peculiarly shaped bottom, higher by twelve inches or more at each end than in the middle, made the vehicle a safer conveyance across the mountains and over all rough country than the old straight-bed wagon. the conestoga was covered with canvas, as were other freight vehicles, but the lines of the bed were also carried out in the framework above and gave the whole the effect of a great ship swaying up and down the billowy hills. the wheels of the conestoga were heavily built and wore tires four and six inches in width. the harness of the six horses attached to the wagon was proportionately heavy, the back bands being fifteen inches wide, the hip straps ten, and the traces consisting of ponderous iron chains. the color of the original conestoga wagons never varied: the underbody was always blue and the upper parts were red. the wagoners and drivers who manned this fleet on wheels were men of a type that finds no parallel except in the boatmen on the western rivers who were almost their contemporaries. fit for the severest toil, weathered to the color of the red man, at home under any roof that harbored a demijohn and a fiddle, these hardy nomads of early commerce were the custodians of the largest amount of traffic in their day. the turnpike era overlaps the period of the building of national roads and canals and the beginning of the railway age, but it is of greatest interest during the first twenty-five years of the nineteenth century, up to the time when the completion of the erie canal set new standards. during this period roads were also constructed westward from baltimore and albany to connect, as the lancaster turnpike did at its terminus, with the thoroughfares from the trans-alleghany country. the metropolis of maryland was quickly in the field to challenge the bid which the quaker city made for western trade. the baltimore-reisterstown and baltimore-frederick turnpikes were built at a cost of $ , and $ a mile respectively; and the latter, connecting with roads to cumberland, linked itself with the great national road to ohio which the government built between and . these famous stone roads of maryland long kept baltimore in the lead as the principal outlet for the western trade. new york, too, proved her right to the title of empire state by a marvelous activity in improving her magnificent strategic position. in the first seven years of the nineteenth century eighty-eight incorporated road companies were formed with a total capital of over $ , , . twenty large bridges and more than three thousand miles of turnpike were constructed. the movement, indeed, extended from new england to virginia and the carolinas, and turnpike companies built all kinds of roads--earth, corduroy, plank, and stone. in many cases the kind of road to be constructed, the tolls to be charged, and the amount of profit to be permitted, were laid down in the charters. thus new problems confronted the various legislatures, and interesting principles of regulation were now established. in most cases companies were allowed, on producing their books of receipts and expenditures, to increase their tolls until they obtained a profit of six per cent on the investment, though in a number of cases nine per cent was permitted. when revenues increased beyond the six per cent mark, however, the tendency was to reduce tolls or to use the extra profit to purchase the stock for the state, with the expectation of ultimately abolishing tollgates entirely. the theories of state regulation of corporations and the obligations of public carriers, extending even to the compensation of workmen in case of accident, were developed to a considerable degree in this turnpike era; but, on the other hand, the principle of permitting fair profit to corporations upon public examination of their accounts was also recognized. the stone roads, which were passable at all seasons, brought a new era in correspondence and business. lines of stages and wagons, as well known at that time as are the great railways of today, plied the new thoroughfares, provided some of the comforts of travel, and assured the safer and more rapid delivery of goods. this period is sometimes known in american history as "the era of good feeling" and the turnpike contributed in no small degree to make the phrase applicable not only to the domain of politics but to all the relations of social and commercial life. while road building in the east gives a clear picture of the rise and growth of commerce and trade in that section, it is to the rivers of the trans-alleghany country that we must look for a corresponding picture in this early period. the canoe and pirogue could handle the packs and kegs brought westward by the files of indian ponies; but the heavy loads of the conestoga wagons demanded stancher craft. the flatboat and barge therefore served the west and its commerce as the conestoga and turnpike served the east. chapter v the flatboat age in the early twenties of the last century one of the popular songs of the day was the hunters of kentucky. written by samuel woodworth, the author of the old oaken bucket, it had originally been printed in the new york mirror but had come into the hands of an actor named ludlow, who was playing in the old french theater in new orleans. the poem chants the praises of the kentucky riflemen who fought with jackson at new orleans and indubitably proved that every man was half a horse and half an alligator. ludlow knew his audience and he saw his chance. setting the words to risk's tune, love laughs at locksmiths, donning the costume of a western riverman, and arming himself with a long "squirrel" rifle, he presented himself before the house. the rivermen who filled the pit received him, it is related, with "a prolonged whoop, or howl, such as indians give when they are especially pleased." and to these sturdy men the words of his song made a strong appeal: we are a hardy, freeborn race, each man to fear a stranger; whate'er the game, we join in chase, despising toil and danger; and if a daring foe annoys, no matter what his force is, we'll show him that kentucky boys are alligator-horses. the title "alligator-horse," of which western rivermen were very proud, carried with it a suggestion of amphibious strength that made it both apt and figuratively accurate. on all the american rivers, east and west, a lusty crew, collected from the waning indian trade and the disbanded pioneer armies, found work to its taste in poling the long keel boats, "cordelling" the bulky barges--that is, towing them by pulling on a line attached to the shore--or steering the "broadhorns" or flatboats that transported the first heavy inland river cargoes. like longshoremen of all ages, the american riverman was as rough as the work which calloused his hands and transformed his muscles into bands of tempered steel. like all men given to hard but intermittent labor, he employed his intervals of leisure in coarse and brutal recreation. their roistering exploits, indeed, have made these rivermen almost better known at play than at work. one of them, the notorious mike fink, known as "the snag" on the mississippi and as the "snapping turtle" on the ohio, has left the record, not that he could load a keel boat in a certain length of time, or lift a barrel of whiskey with one arm, or that no tumultuous current had ever compelled him to back water, but that he could "out-run, out-hop, out-jump, throw down, drag out, and lick any man in the country," and that he was "a salt river roarer." such men and the craft they handled were known on the atlantic rivers, but it was on the mississippi and its branches, especially the ohio, that they played their most important part in the history of american inland commerce. before the beginning of the nineteenth century wagons and conestogas were bringing great loads of merchandise to such points on the headwaters as brownsville, pittsburgh, and wheeling. as early as , we are told, jacob yoder, a pennsylvania german, set sail from the monongahela country with the first flatboat to descend the ohio and mississippi. as the years passed, the number of such craft grew constantly larger. the custom of fixing the widespreading horns of cattle on the prow gave these boats the alternative name of "broadhorns," but no accurate classification can be made of the various kinds of craft engaged in this vast traffic. everything that would float, from rough rafts to finished barges, was commandeered into service, and what was found unsuitable for the strenuous purposes of commercial transportation was palmed off whenever possible on unsuspecting emigrants en route to the lands of promise beyond. flour, salt, iron, cider and peach brandy were staple products of the ohio country which the south desired. in return they shipped molasses, sugar, coffee, lead, and hides upon the few keel boats which crept upstream or the blundering barges which were propelled northward by means of oar, sail, and cordelle. it was not, however, until the nineteenth century that the young west was producing any considerable quantity of manufactured goods. though the town of pittsburgh had been laid out in , by the end of the revolution it was still little more than a collection of huts about a fort. a notable amount of local trade was carried on, but the expense of transportation was very high even after wagons began crossing the alleghanies. for example, the cost from philadelphia and baltimore was given by arthur lee, a member of congress, in as forty-five shillings a hundredweight, and a few months later it is quoted at sixpence a pound when johann d. schoph crossed the mountains in a chaise--a feat "which till now had been considered quite impossible." opinions differed widely as to the future of the little town of five hundred inhabitants. the important product of the region at first was monongahela flour which long held a high place in the new orleans market. coal was being mined as early as and was worth locally threepence halfpenny a bushel, though within seven years it was being sold at philadelphia at thirty-seven and a half cents a bushel. the fur trade with the illinois country grew less important as the century came to its close, but maynard and morrison, cooperating with guy bryan at philadelphia, sent a barge laden with merchandise to illinois annually between and , which returned each season with a cargo of skins and furs. pittsburgh was thus a distributing center of some importance; but the fact that no drayman or warehouse was to be found in the town at this time is a significant commentary on the undeveloped state of its commerce and manufacture. after wayne's victory at the battle of the fallen timber in and the signing of the treaty of greenville in , which ended the earlier indian wars of the old northwest and opened for settlement the country beyond the ohio, a great migration followed into ohio, indiana, and kentucky, and the commercial activity of pittsburgh rapidly increased. by a score of profitable industries had arisen, and by the first bar-iron foundry was, to quote the advertisement of its owner, "sufficiently upheld by the hand of the almighty" to supply in part the demand for iron and castings. glass factories were established, and ropewalks, sail lofts, boatyards, anchor smithies, and brickyards, were soon ready to supply the rapidly increasing demands of the infant cities and the countryside on the lower ohio. when the new century arrived the pittsburgh district had a population of upwards of two thousand. one by one the other important centers of trade in the great valley beyond began to show evidences of life. marietta, ohio, founded in by revolutionary officers from new england, became the metropolis of the rich muskingum river district, which was presently sending many flatboats southward. cincinnati was founded in the same year as marietta, with the building of fort washington and the formal organization of hamilton county. the soil of the miami country was as "mellow as an ash heap" and in the first four months of over four thousand barrels of flour were shipped southward to challenge the prestige of the monongahela product. potters, brickmakers, gunsmiths, cotton and wool weavers, coopers, turners, wheelwrights, dyers, printers, and ropemakers were at work here within the next decade. a brewery turned out five thousand barrels of beer and porter in , and by the next year the pork-packing business was thoroughly established. louisville, the "little falls" of the west, was the entrepôt of the blue grass region. it had been a place of some importance since revolutionary days, for in seasons of low water the rapids in the ohio at this point gave employment to scores of laborers who assisted the flatboatmen in hauling their cargoes around the obstruction which prevented the passage of the heavily loaded barges. the town, which was incorporated in , soon showed signs of commercial activity. it was the proud possessor of a drygoods house in . the growth of its tobacco industry was rapid from the first. the warehouses were under government supervision and inspection as early as , and innumerable flatboats were already bearing cargoes of bright leaf southward in the last decade of the century. the first brick house in louisville was erected in with materials brought from pittsburgh. yankees soon established the "hope distillery"; and the manufacture of whiskey, which had long been a staple industry conducted by individuals, became an incorporated business of great promise in spite of objections raised against the "creation of gigantic reservoirs of this damning drink." thus, about the year , the great industries of the young west were all established in the regions dominated by the growing cities of pittsburgh, cincinnati, and louisville. but, since the combined population of these centers could not have been over three thousand in the year , it is evident that the adjacent rural population and the people living in every neighboring creek and river valley were chiefly responsible for the large trade that already existed between this corner of the mississippi basin and the south. in this trade the riverman was the fundamental factor. only by means of his brawn and his genius for navigation could these innumerable tons of flour, tobacco, and bacon have been kept from rotting on the shores. yet the man himself remains a legend grotesque and mysterious, one of the shadowy figures of a time when history was being made too rapidly to be written. if we ask how he loaded his flatboat or barge, we are told that "one squint of his eye would blister a bull's heel." when we inquire how he found the channel amid the shifting bars and floating islands of that tortuous two-thousand-mile journey to new orleans, we are informed that he was "the very infant that turned from his mother's breast and called out for a bottle of old rye." when we ask how he overcame the natural difficulties of trade--lack of commission houses, varying standards of money, want of systems of credit and low prices due to the glutting of the market when hundreds of flatboats arrived in the south simultaneously on the same freshet--we are informed that "billy earthquake is the geniwine, double-acting engine, and can out-run, out-swim, chaw more tobacco and spit less, drink more whiskey and keep soberer than any other man in these localities." the reason for this lack of information is that our descriptions of flatboating and keel boating are written by travelers who, as is always the case, are interested in what is unusual, not in what is typical and commonplace. it is therefore only dimly, as through a mist, that we can see the two lines of polemen pass from the prow to the stern on the narrow running-board of a keel boat, lifting and setting their poles to the cry of steersman or captain. the struggle in a swift "riffle" or rapid is momentous. if the craft swerves, all is lost. shoulders bend with savage strength; poles quiver under the tension; the captain's voice is raucous, and every other word is an oath; a pole breaks, and the next man, though half-dazed in the mortal crisis, does for a few moments the work of two. at last they reach the head of the rapid, and the boat floats out on the placid pool above, while the "alligator-horse" who had the mishap remarks to the scenery at large that he'd be "fly-blowed before sun-down to a certingty" if that were not the very pole with which he "pushed the broadhorn up salt river where the snags were so thick that a fish couldn't swim without rubbing his scales off." audubon, the naturalist-merchant of the mississippi, has left us a clear picture of the process by which these heavy tubs, loaded with forty or fifty tons of freight, were forced upstream against a swift current: wherever a point projected so as to render the course or bend below it of some magnitude, there was an eddy, the returning current of which was sometimes as strong as that of the middle of the great stream. the bargemen, therefore, rowed up pretty close under the bank and had merely to keep watch in the bow lest the boat should run against a planter or sawyer. but the boat has reached the point, and there the current is to all appearance of double strength and right against it. the men, who have rested a few minutes, are ordered to take their stations and lay hold of their oars, for the river must be crossed, it being seldom possible to double such a point and proceed along the same shore. the boat is crossing, its head slanting to the current, which is, however, too strong for the rowers, and when the other side of the river has been reached, it has drifted perhaps a quarter of a mile. the men are by this time exhausted and, as we shall suppose it to be o'clock, fasten the boat to a tree on the shore. a small glass of whiskey is given to each, when they cook and eat their dinner and, after resting from their fatigue for an hour, recommence their labors. the boat is again seen slowly advancing against the stream. it has reached the lower end of a sandbar, along the edge of which it is propelled by means of long poles, if the bottom be hard. two men, called bowsmen, remain at the prow to assist, in concert with the steersman, in managing the boat and keeping its head right against the current. the rest place themselves on the land side of the footway of the vessel, put one end of their poles on the ground and the other against their shoulders and push with all their might. as each of the men reaches the stern, he crosses to the other side, runs along it and comes again to the landward side of the bow, when he recommences operations. the barge in the meantime is ascending at a rate not exceeding one mile in the hour. trustworthy statistics as to the amount and character of the western river trade have never been gathered. they are to be found, if anywhere, in the reports of the collectors of customs located at the various western ports of entry and departure. nothing indicates more definitely the hour when the west awoke to its first era of big business than the demand for the creation of "districts" and their respective ports, for by no other means could merchandise and produce be shipped legally to spanish territory beyond or down the mississippi or to english territory on the northern shores of the great lakes. louisville is as old a port of the united states as new york or philadelphia, having been so created when our government was established in , but oddly enough the first returns to the national treasury ( ) are credited to the port of palmyra, tennessee, far inland on the cumberland river. in the following western towns were made ports of entry: erie, sandusky, detroit, mackinaw island, and columbia (cincinnati). the first port on the ohio to make returns was fort massac, illinois, and it is from the collector at this point that we get our first hint as to the character and volume of western river traffic. in the spring months of march, april, and may, , cargoes to the value of £ , , pennsylvania currency, went down the ohio. this included , barrels of flour, barrels of whiskey, , pounds of pork, , pounds of bacon, , pounds of cordage, yards of country linen, bottles, and barrels of potatoes. in the three autumn months of , for instance, twenty-one boats ascended the ohio by fort massac, with cargoes amounting to hundredweight of lead and a few hides. descending the river at the same time, flatboats and barges carried hundredweight of drygoods valued at $ , . when we compare these spring and fall records of commerce downstream we reach the natural conclusion that the bulk of the drygoods which went down in the fall of the year had been brought over the mountains during the summer. the fact that the alleghany pack-horses and conestogas were transporting freight to supply the spanish towns on the mississippi river in the first year of the nineteenth century seems proved beyond a doubt by these reports from fort massac. the most interesting phase of this era is the connection between western trade and the politics of the mississippi valley which led up to the louisiana purchase. by the treaty of san lorenzo in spain made new orleans an open port, and in the next seven years the young west made the most of its opportunity. but before the new century was two years old the difficulties encountered were found to be serious. the lack of commission merchants, of methods of credit, of information as to the state of the market, all combined to handicap trade and to cause loss. pittsburgh shippers figured their loss already at $ , a year. in consequence men began to look elsewhere, and an advocate of big business wrote in : "the country has received a shock; let us immediately extend our views and direct our efforts to every foreign market." one of the most remarkable plans for the capture of foreign trade to be found in the annals of american commerce originated almost simultaneously in the muskingum and monongahela regions. with a view to making the american west independent of the spanish middlemen, it was proposed to build ocean-going vessels on the ohio that should carry the produce of the interior down the mississippi and thence abroad through the open port of new orleans. the idea was typically western in its arrogant originality and confident self-assertion. two vessels were built: the brig st. clair, of tons, at marietta, and the monongahela farmer, of tons, at elizabeth on the monongahela. the former reached cincinnati april , ; the latter, loaded with barrels of flour, passed pittsburgh on the th of may. eventually, the st. clair reached havana and thus proved that muskingum valley black walnut, ohio hemp, and marietta carpenters, anchor smiths, and skippers could defy the grip of the spaniard on the mississippi. other vessels followed these adventurers, and shipbuilding immediately became an important industry at pittsburgh, marietta, cincinnati, and other points. the duane of pittsburgh was said by the liverpool saturday advertiser of july , , to have been the "first vessel which ever came to europe from the western waters of the united states." probably the louisiana of marietta went as far afield as any of the one hundred odd ships built in these years on the ohio. the official papers of her voyage in , dated at new orleans, norfolk (virginia), liverpool, messina, and trieste at the head of the adriatic, are preserved today in the marietta college library. the growth of the shipbuilding industry necessitated a readjustment of the districts for the collection of customs. columbia (cincinnati) at first served the region of the upper ohio; but in the district was divided and marietta was made the port for the pittsburgh-portsmouth section of the river. in all the western districts were amalgamated, and pittsburgh, charleston (wellsburg), marietta, cincinnati, louisville, and fort massac were made ports of entry. the louisiana purchase in gave a marked impulse to inland shipbuilding; but the embargo of , which prohibited foreign trade, following so soon, killed the shipyards, which, for a few years, had been so busy. the great new industry of the ohio valley was ruined. by this time the successful voyage of fulton's steamboat, the clermont, between new york and albany, had demonstrated the possibilities of steam navigation. not a few men saw in the novel craft the beginning of a new era in western river traffic; but many doubted whether it was possible to construct a vessel powerful enough to make its way upstream against such sweeping currents as those of the mississippi and the ohio. surely no one for a moment dreamed that in hardly more than a generation the western rivers would carry a tonnage larger than that of the cities of the atlantic seaboard combined and larger than that of great britain! as early as , two years before the trip of the clermont, captain keever built a "steamboat" on the ohio, and sent her down to new orleans where her engine was to be installed. but it was not until that the orleans, the first steamboat to ply the western streams, was built at pittsburgh, from which point she sailed for new orleans in october of that year. the comet and vesuvius quickly followed, but all three entered the new orleans-natchez trade on the lower river and were never seen again at the headwaters. as yet the swift currents and flood tides of the great river had not been mastered. it is true that in the enterprise had made two trips between new orleans and louisville, but this was in time of high water, when counter currents and backwaters had assisted her feeble engine. in , however, henry shreve conceived the idea of raising the engine out of the hold and constructing an additional deck. the washington, the first doubledecker, was the result. the next year this steamboat made the round trip from louisville to new orleans and back in forty-one days. the doubters were now convinced. for a little while the quaint and original riverman held on in the new age, only to disappear entirely when the colored roustabout became the deckhand of post-bellum days. the riverman as a type was unknown except on the larger rivers in the earlier years of water traffic. what an experience it would be today to rouse one of those remarkable individuals from his dreaming, as davy crockett did, with an oar, and hear him howl "halloe stranger, who axed you to crack my lice?"--to tell him in his own lingo to "shut his mouth or he would get his teeth sunburnt"--to see him crook his neck and neigh like a stallion--to answer his challenge in kind with a flapping of arms and a cock's crow--to go to shore and have a scrimmage such as was never known on a gridiron--and then to resolve with crockett, during a period of recuperation, that you would never "wake up a ring-tailed roarer with an oar again." the riverman, his art, his language, his traffic, seem to belong to days as distant as those of which homer sang. chapter vi the passing show of foreign travelers who have come to the united states have always proved of great interest to americans. from brissot to arnold bennett, while in the country they have been fed and clothed and transported wheresoever they would go--at the highest prevailing prices. and after they have left, the records of their sojourn that these travelers have published have made interesting reading for americans all over the land. some of these trans-atlantic visitors have been jaundiced, disgruntled, and contemptuous; others have shown themselves of an open nature, discreet, conscientious, and fair-minded. one of the most amiable and clear-headed of such foreign guests was francis baily, later in life president of the royal astronomical society of great britain, but at the time of his american tour a young man of twenty-two. his journey in - gave him a wide experience of stage, flatboat, and pack-horse travel, and his genial disposition, his observant eye, and his discriminating criticism, together with his comments on the commercial features of the towns and regions he visited, make his record particularly interesting and valuable to the historian. ¹ using baily's journal as a guide, therefore, one can today journey with him across the country and note the passing show as he saw it in this transitional period. ¹ journal of a tour in unsettled parts of north america in and by the late francis baily (london, ). landing at norfolk, virginia, baily was immediately introduced to an american tavern. like most travelers, he was surprised to find that american taverns were "boarding-places," frequented by crowds of "young, able-bodied men who seemed to be as perfectly at leisure as the loungers of ancient europe." in those days of few newspapers, the tavern everywhere in america was the center of information; in fact, it was a common practice for travelers in the interior, after signing their names in the register, to add on the same page any news of local interest which they brought with them. the tavern habitués, baily remarks, did not sit and drink after meals but "wasted" their time at billiards and cards. the passion for billiards was notorious, and taverns in the most out-of-the-way places, though they lacked the most ordinary conveniences, were nevertheless provided with billiard tables. this custom seems to have been especially true in the south; and it is significant that the first taxes in tennessee levied before the beginning of the nineteenth century were the poll tax and taxes on billiard tables and studhorses! from norfolk baily passed northward to baltimore, paying a fare of ten dollars, and from there he went on to philadelphia, paying six dollars more. on the way his stagecoach stuck fast in a bog and the passengers were compelled to leave it until the next morning. this sixty-mile road out of baltimore was evidently one of the worst in the east. ten years prior to this date, brissot, a keen french journalist, mentions the great ruts in its heavy clay soil, the overturned trees which blocked the way, and the unexampled skilfulness of the stage drivers. all travelers in america, though differing on almost every other subject, invariably praise the ability of these sturdy, weather-beaten american drivers, their kindness to their horses, and their attention to their passengers. harriet martineau stated that, in her experience, american drivers as a class were marked by the merciful temper which accompanies genius, and their perfection in their art, their fertility of resource, and the gentleness with which they treated female fears and fretfulness, were exemplary. in the city of brotherly love baily notes the geniality of the people, who by many travelers are called aristocratic, and comments on quaker opposition to the theater and the inconsequence of the peale museum, which travelers a generation later highly praise. proceeding to new york at a cost of six dollars, he is struck by the uncouthness of the public buildings, churches excepted, the widespread passion for music, dancing, and the theater, the craze for sleighing, and the promise which the harbor gave of becoming the finest in america. not a few travelers in this early period gave expression to their belief in the future greatness of new york city. these prophecies, taken in connection with the investment of eight millions of dollars which new yorkers made in toll-roads in the first seven years of this new century, incline one to believe that the influence of the erie canal as a factor in the development of the city may have been unduly emphasized, great though it was. from new york baily returned to baltimore and went on to washington. the records of all travelers to the site of the new national capital give much the same picture of the countryside. it was a land worn out by tobacco culture and variously described as "dried up," "run down," and "hung out to dry." even george washington, at mount vernon, was giving up tobacco culture and was attempting new crops by a system of rotation. cotton was being grown in maryland, but little care was given to its culture and manufacture. tobacco was graded in virginia in accordance with the rigidity of its inspection at hanover court house, pittsburgh, richmond, and cabin-point: leaf worth sixteen shillings at richmond was worth twenty-one at hanover court house; if it was refused at all places, it was smuggled to the west indies or consumed in the country. meadows were rapidly taking the place of tobacco-fields, for the planters preferred to clear new land rather than to enrich the old. at washington baily found that lots to the value of $ , had been sold, although only one-half of the proposed city had been "cleared." it was to be forty years ere travelers could speak respectfully of what is now the beautiful city of washington. in these earlier days, the streets were mudholes divided by vacant fields and "beautified by trees, swamps, and cows." departing for the west by way of frederick, baily, like all travelers, was intensely interested upon entering the rich limestone region which stretched from pennsylvania far down into virginia. it was occupied in part by the pennsylvania dutch and was so famous for its rich milk that it was called by many travelers the "bonnyclabber country." most englishmen were delighted with this region because they found here the good old english breed of horses, that is, the english hunter developed into a stout coach-horse. of native breeds, baily found animals of all degrees of strength and size down to hackneys of fourteen hands, as well as the "vile dog-horses," or pack-horses, whose faithful service to the frontier could in no wise be appreciated by a foreigner. this region of pennsylvania was as noted for its wagons as for its horses. it was this wheat-bearing belt that made the common freight-wagon in its colors of red and blue a national institution. it was in this region of rich, well-watered land that the maple tree gained its reputation. men even prophesied that its delightful sap would prove a cure for slavery, for, if one family could make fifteen hundred pounds of maple sugar in a season, eighty thousand families could, at the same rate, equal the output of cane sugar each year from santo domingo! the traveler at the beginning of the century noticed a change in the temper of the people as well as a change in the soil when the bonnyclabber country was reached. the time-serving attitude of the good people of the east now gave place to a "consciousness of independence" due, baily remarks, to the fact that each man was self-sufficient and passed his life "without regard to the smiles and frowns of men in power." this spirit was handsomely illustrated in the case of one burly westerner who was "churched" for fighting. showing a surly attitude to the deacon-judges who sat on his case, he was threatened with civil prosecution and imprisonment. "i don't want freedom," he is said to have replied, bitterly; "i don't even want to live if i can't knock down a man who calls me a liar." pushing on westward by way of historic sideling hill and bedford to statlers, baily found here a prosperous millstone quarry, which sold its stones at from fifteen to thirty dollars a pair. twelve years earlier washington had prophesied that the alleghanies would soon be furnishing millstones equal to the best english burr. as he crossed the mountains baily found that taverns charged the following schedule: breakfast, eighteen pence; dinner and supper from two shillings to two shillings and sixpence each. traversing laurel hill, he reached pittsburgh just at the time when it was awakening to activity as the trading center of the west. in order to descend the ohio, baily obtained a flatboat, thirty-six feet long and twelve feet broad, which drew eighteen inches of water and was of ten tons burden. on the way downstream, charleston and wheeling were the principal settlements which baily first noted. ebenezer zane, the founder of wheeling, had just opened across ohio the famous landward route from the monongahela country to kentucky, which it entered at limestone, the present maysville. this famous road, passing through zanesville, lancaster, and chillicothe, though at that time safe only for men in parties, was a common route to and from kentucky. on such inland pathways as this, early travelers came to take for granted a hospitality not to be found on more frequented thoroughfares. in this hospitality, roughness and good will, cleanliness and filth, attempts to ape the style of eastern towns and habits of the most primitive kind, were singularly blended. in one instance, the traveler might be cordially assigned by the landlord to a good position in "the first rush for a chance at the head of the table"; at the next stopping place he might be coldly turned away because the proprietor "had the gout" and his wife the "delicate blue-devils"; farther on, where "soap was unknown, nothing clean but birds, nothing industrious but pigs, and nothing happy but squirrels," daniel boone's daughter might be seen in high-heeled shoes, attended by white servants whose wages were a dollar a week, skirting muddy roads under a ten-dollar bonnet and a six-dollar parasol. or, he might emerge from a lonely forest in ohio or indiana and come suddenly upon a party of neighbors at a dreary tavern, enjoying a corn shucking or a harvest home. immediately dubbed "doctor," "squire," or "colonel" by the hospitable merrymakers, the passer-by would be informed that he "should drink and lack no good thing." after he had retired, as likely as not his quarters would be invaded at one or two o'clock in the morning by the uproarious company, and the best refreshment of the house would be forced upon him with a hilarity "created by omnipotent whiskey." sometimes, however, the traveler would encounter pitiful instances of loneliness in the wide-spreading forests. one man in passing a certain isolated cabin was implored by the woman who inhabited it to rest awhile and talk, since she was, she confessed, completely overwhelmed by "the lone!" every traveler has remarked upon the yellow pallor of the first inhabitants of the western forests and doubtless correctly attributed this sickly appearance to the effects of malaria and miasma. the psychic influences of the forest wilderness also weighed heavily upon the spirits of the settlers, although, as baily notes, it was the newcomers who felt the depression to an exaggerated degree. as he says: it is a feeling of confinement, which begins to damp the spirits, from this complete exclusion of distant objects. to travel day after day, among trees of a hundred feet high, is oppressive to a degree which those cannot conceive who have not experienced it; and it must depress the spirits of the solitary settler to pass years in this state. his visible horizon extends no farther than the tops of the trees which bound his plantation--perhaps five hundred yards. upwards he sees the sun, and sky, and stars, but around him an eternal forest, from which he can never hope to emerge:--not so in a thickly settled district; he cannot there enjoy any freedom of prospect, yet there is variety, and some scope for the imprisoned vision. in a hilly country a little more range of view may occasionally be obtained; and a river is a stream of light as well as of water, which feasts the eye with a delight inconceivable to the inhabitants of open countries. in direct contradiction to this longing for society was the passion which the first generation of pioneers had for the wilderness. when the population of one settlement became too thick, they were seized by an irresistible impulse to "follow the migration," as the expression went. the easy independence of the first hunter-agriculturalist was upset by the advance of immigration. his range was curtailed, his freedom limited. his very breath seems to have become difficult. so he sold out at a phenomenal profit, put out his fire, shouldered his gun, called his dog, and set off again in search of the solitude he craved. severe winter weather overtook baily as he descended the ohio river, until below grave creek floating ice wrecked his boat and drove him ashore. here in the primeval forest, far from "merrie england," baily spent the christmas of in building a new flatboat. this task completed, he resumed his journey. passing marietta, where the bad condition of the winter roads prevented a visit to a famous indian mound, he reached limestone. in due time he sighted columbia, the metropolis of the miami country. according to baily, the sale of european goods in this part of the ohio valley netted the importers a hundred per cent. prices varied with the ease of navigation. when ice blocked the ohio the price of flour went up until it was eight dollars a barrel; whiskey was a dollar a gallon; potatoes, a dollar a bushel; and bacon, twelve cents a pound. at these prices, the total produce which went by fort massac in the early months of would have been worth on the ohio river upwards of two hundred thousand dollars! in the preceding summer baily quoted flour at norfolk as selling at sixty-three shillings a barrel of pounds, or double the price it was bringing on the ice-gorged ohio. it is by such comparisons that we get some inkling of the value of western produce and of the rates in western trade. after a short stay at cincinnati, baily set out for the south on an "orleans boat" loaded with four hundred barrels of flour. at the mouth of pigeon creek he noted the famous path to "post st. vincent's" (vincennes), over which he saw emigrants driving cattle to that ancient town on the wabash. at fort massac he met captain zebulon m. pike, whose tact in dealing with intoxicated indians he commended. at new madrid baily made a stay of some days. this settlement, consisting of some two hundred and fifty houses, was in the possession of spain. it was within the province of louisiana, soon to be ceded to napoleon. new orleans supplied this district with merchandise, but smuggling from the united states was connived at by the spanish officials. from new madrid baily proceeded to natchez, which then contained about eighty-five houses. the town did not boast a tavern, but, as was true of other places in the interior, this lack was made up for by the hospitality of its inhabitants. rice and tobacco were being grown, baily notes, and georgian cotton was being raised in the neighborhood. several jennies were already at work, and their owners received a royalty of one-eighth of the product. the cotton was sent to new orleans, where it usually sold for twenty dollars a hundred weight. from natchez to new orleans the charge for transportation by flatboat was a dollar and a half a bag. the bags contained from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pounds, and each flatboat carried about two hundred and fifty bags. baily adds two items to the story of the development of the mechanical operation of watercraft. he tells us that in the fall of a party of "dutchmen," in the pittsburgh region, fashioned a boat with side paddle wheels which were turned by a treadmill worked by eight horses under the deck. this strange boat, which passed baily when he was wrecked on the ohio near grave creek, appeared "to go with prodigious swiftness." baily does not state how much business the boat did on its downward trip to new orleans but contents himself with remarking that the owners expected the return trip to prove very profitable. when he met the boat on its upward voyage at natchez, it had covered three hundred miles in six days. it was, however, not loaded, "so little occasion was there for a vessel of this kind." as this run between new orleans and natchez came to be one of the most profitable in the united states in the early days of steamboating, less than fifteen years later, the experience of these "flying dutchmen" affords a very pretty proof that something more than a means of transportation is needed to create commerce. the owners abandoned their craft at natchez in disgust and returned home across country, wiser and poorer. baily also noted that a dr. waters of new madrid built a schooner "some few years since" at the head of the ohio and navigated it down the ohio and mississippi and around to philadelphia, "where it is now employed in the commerce of the united states." it is thus apparent, solely from this traveler's record, that an ocean-going vessel and a side-paddle-wheel boat had been seen on the western waters of the united states at least four years before the nineteenth century arrived. baily finally reached new orleans. the city then contained about a thousand houses and was not only the market for the produce of the river plantations but also the center of an extensive indian trade. the goods for this trade were packed in little barrels which were carried into the interior on pack-horses, three barrels to a horse. the traders traveled for hundreds of miles through the woods, bartering with the indians on the way and receiving, in exchange for their goods, bear and deer skins, beaver furs, and wild ponies which had been caught by lariat in the neighboring apalousa country. baily had intended to return to new york by sea, but on his arrival at new orleans he was unable to find a ship sailing to new york. he therefore decided to proceed northward by way of the long and dangerous natchez trace and the tennessee path. though few europeans had made this laborious journey before , the natchez trace had been for many years the land route of thousands of returning rivermen who had descended the mississippi in flatboat and barge. in practically all cases these men carried with them the proceeds of their investment, and, as on every thoroughfare in the world traveled by those returning from market, so here, too, highwaymen and desperadoes, red and white, built their lairs and lay in wait. some of the most revolting crimes of the american frontier were committed on these northward pathways and their branches. joining a party bound for natchez, a hundred and fifty miles distant overland, baily proceeded to lake pontchartrain and thence "north by west through the woods," by way of the ford of the tangipahoa, cooper's plantation, tickfaw river, amite river, and the "hurricane" (the path of a tornado) to the beginning of the apalousa country. this tangled region of stunted growth was reputed to be seven miles in width from "shore to shore" and three hundred miles in length. it took the party half a day to reach the opposite "shore," and they had to quench their thirst on the way with dew. at natchez, baily organized a party which included the five "dutchmen" whose horse boat had proved a failure. for their twenty-one days' journey to nashville the party laid in the following provisions: pounds of biscuit, pounds of flour, pounds of bacon, pounds of dried beef, pounds of rice, ½ pounds of coffee, pounds of sugar, and a quantity of pounded corn, such as the indians used on all their journeys. after celebrating the fourth of july, , with "all the inhabitants who were hostile to the spanish government," and bribing the baker at the spanish fort to bake them a quarter of a hundredweight of bread, the party started on their northward journey. they reached without incident the famous grindstone ford of bayou pierre, where crayfishes had destroyed a pioneer dam. beyond, at the forks of the path where the choctaw trail bore off to the east the party pursued the alternate chickasaw trail by indian guidance, and soon noted the change in the character of the soil from black loam to sandy gravel, which indicated that they had reached the piedmont region. indian marauders stole one horse from the camp, and three of the party fell ill. the others, pressed for food, were compelled to leave the sick men in an improvised camp and to hasten on, promising to send to their aid the first indian they should meet "who understood herbs." after appalling hardships, they crossed the tennessee and entered the nashville country, where the roads were good enough for coaches, for they met two on the way. thence baily proceeded to knoxville, seeing, as he went, droves of cattle bound for the settlements of west tennessee. with his arrival at knoxville, his journal ends abruptly; but from other sources we learn that he sailed from new york on his return to england in january, . his interesting record, however, remained unpublished until after his death in . not only to francis baily but to scores of other travelers, even those of unfriendly eyes, do modern readers owe a debt of gratitude. these men have preserved a multitude of pictures and a wealth of data which would otherwise have been lost. the men of america in those days were writing the story of their deeds not on parchment or paper but on the virgin soil of the wilderness. but though the stage driver, the tavern keeper, and the burly riverman left no description of the life of their highways and their commerce, these visitors from other lands have bequeathed to us their thousands of pages full of the enterprising life of these pioneer days in the history of american commerce. chapter vii the birth of the steamboat the crowds who welcomed the successive stages in the development of american transportation were much alike in essentials--they were all optimistic, self-congratulatory, irrepressible in their enthusiasm, and undaunted in their outlook. dickens, perhaps, did not miss the truth widely when, in speaking of stage driving, he said that the cry of "go ahead!" in america and of "all right!" in england were typical of the civilizations of the two countries. right or wrong, "go ahead!" has always been the underlying passion of all men interested in the development of commerce and transportation in these united states. during the era of river improvement already described, men of imagination were fascinated with the idea of propelling boats by mechanical means. even when washington fared westward in , he met at bath, virginia, one of these early experimenters, james rumsey, who haled him forthwith to a neighboring meadow to watch a secret trial of a boat moved by means of machinery which worked setting-poles similar to the ironshod poles used by the rivermen to propel their boats upstream. "the model," wrote washington, "and its operation upon the water, which had been made to run pretty swift, not only convinced me of what i before thought next to, if not quite impracticable, but that it might be to the greatest possible utility in inland navigation." later he mentions the "discovery" as one of those "circumstances which have combined to render the present epoch favorable above all others for securing a large portion of the produce of the western settlements, and of the fur and peltry of the lakes, also." from that day forward, scarcely a week passed without some new development in the long and difficult struggle to improve the means of navigation. among the scores of men who engaged in this engrossing but discouraging work, there is one whom the world is coming to honor more highly than in previous years--john fitch, of connecticut, pennsylvania, and kentucky. as early as august, , fitch launched on a rivulet in bucks county, pennsylvania, a boat propelled by an engine which moved an endless chain to which little paddles were attached. the next year, fitch's second boat, operated by twelve paddles, six on a side--an arrangement suggesting the "side-wheeler" of the future--successfully plied the delaware off "conjuror's point," as the scene of fitch's labors was dubbed in whimsical amusement and derision. in rumsey, encouraged by franklin, fashioned a boat propelled by a stream of water taken in at the prow and ejected at the stern. in fitch's third boat traversed the distance from philadelphia to burlington on numerous occasions and ran as a regular packet in , covering over a thousand miles. in this model fitch shifted the paddles from the sides to the rear, thus anticipating in principle the modern stern-wheeler. it was doubtless fitch's experiments in that led to the first plan in america to operate a land vehicle by steam. oliver evans, a neighbor and acquaintance of fitch's, petitioned the pennsylvania legislature in for the right of operating wagons propelled by steam on the highways of that state. this petition was derisively rejected; but a similar one made to the legislature of maryland was granted on the ground that such action could hurt nobody. evans in took fiery revenge on the scoffers by actually running his little five-horse-power carriage through philadelphia. the rate of speed, however, was so slow that the idea of moving vehicles by steam was still considered useless for practical purposes. eight years later, evans offered to wager $ that, on a level road, he could make a carriage driven by steam equal the speed of the swiftest horse, but he found no response. in he asserted that he was willing to wager that he could drive a steam carriage on level rails at a rate of fifteen miles an hour. evans thus anticipated the belief of stephenson that steam-driven vehicles would travel best on railed tracks. in the development of the steamboat almost all earlier means of propulsion, natural and artificial, were used as models by the inventors. the fins of fishes, the webbed feet of amphibious birds, the paddles of the indian, and the poles and oars of the riverman, were all imitated by the patient inventors struggling with the problem. rumsey's first effort was a copy of the old setting-pole idea. fitch's model of had side paddle wheels operated by an endless chain. fitch's second and third models were practically paddle-wheel models, one having the paddles at the side and the other at the stern. ormsbee of connecticut made a model, in , on the plan of a duck's foot. morey made what may be called the first real stern-wheeler in . two years later fitch ran a veritable screw propeller on collect pond near new york city. although general benjamin tupper of massachusetts had been fashioning devices of this character eight years previously, fitch was the first to apply the idea effectively. in he evolved the strange, amphibious creation known as his "model of ," which has never been adequately explained. it was a steamboat on iron wheels provided with flanges, as though it was intended to be run on submerged tracks. what may have been the idea of its inventor, living out his last gloomy days in kentucky, may never be known; but it is possible to see in this anomalous machine an anticipation of the locomotive not approached by any other american of the time. thus, prior to almost every type of mechanism for the propulsion of steamboats had been suggested and tried; and in , stevens's twin-screw propeller completed the list. it is not alone fitch's development of the devices of the endless chain, paddle wheel, and screw propeller and of his puzzling earth-and-water creature that gives luster to his name. his prophetic insight into the future national importance of the steamboat and his conception, as an inventor, of his moral obligations to the people at large were as original and striking in the science of that age as were his models. the early years of the national life of the united states were the golden age of monopoly. every colony, as a matter of course, had granted to certain men special privileges, and, as has already been pointed out, the questions of monopolies and combinations in restraint of trade had arisen even so early as the beginning of the eighteenth century. interwoven inextricably with these problems was the whole problem of colonial rivalry, which in its later form developed into an insistence on state rights. every improvement in the means of transportation, every development of natural resources, every new invention was inevitably considered from the standpoint of sectional interests and with a view to its monopolistic possibilities. this was particularly true in the case of the steamboat, because of its limitation to rivers and bays which could be specifically enumerated and defined. for instance, washington in attests the fact that rumsey operated his mechanical boat at bath in secret "until he saw the effect of an application he was about to make to the assembly of this state, for a reward." the application was successful, and rumsey was awarded a monopoly in virginia waters for ten years. fitch, on the other hand, when he applied to congress in , desired merely to obtain official encouragement and intended to allow his invention to be used by all comers. meeting only with rebuff, he realized that his only hope of organizing a company that could provide working capital lay in securing monopolistic privileges. in he accordingly applied to the individual states and secured the sole right to operate steamboats on the waterways of new jersey, delaware, new york, pennsylvania, and virginia. how different would have been the story of the steamboat if congress had accepted fitch at his word and created a precedent against monopolistic rights on american rivers! fitch, in addition to the high purpose of devoting his new invention to the good of the nation without personal considerations, must be credited with perceiving at the very beginning the peculiar importance of the steamboat to the american west. his original application to congress in opened: "the subscriber begs leave to lay at the feet of congress, an attempt he has made to facilitate the internal navigation of the united states, adapted especially to the waters of the mississippi." at another time with prophetic vision he wrote: "the grand and principle object must be on the atlantick, which would soon overspread the wild forests of america with people, and make us the most oppulent empire on earth. pardon me, generous public, for suggesting ideas that cannot be dijested at this day." foremost in exhibiting high civic and patriotic motives, fitch was also foremost in appreciating the importance of the steamboat in the expansion of american trade. this significance was also clearly perceived by his brilliant successor, robert fulton. that the west and its commerce were always predominant in fulton's great schemes is proved by words which he addressed in to james monroe, american ambassador to great britain: "you have perhaps heard of the success of my experiments for navigating boats by steam engines and you will feel the importance of establishing such boats on the mississippi and other rivers of the united states as soon as possible." robert fulton had been interested in steamboats for a period not definitely known, possibly since his sojourn in philadelphia in the days of fitch's early efforts. that he profited by the other inventor's efforts at the time, however, is not suggested by any of his biographers. he subsequently went to london and gave himself up to the study and practice of engineering. there he later met james rumsey, who came to england in , and by him no doubt was informed, if he was not already aware, of the experiments and models of rumsey and fitch. he obtained the loan of fitch's plans and drawings and made his own trial of various existing devices, such as oars, paddles, duck's feet, and fitch's endless chain with "resisting-boards" attached. meanwhile fulton was also devoting his attention to problems of canal construction and to the development of submarine boats and submarine explosives. he was engaged in these researches in france in when the new american minister, robert r. livingston, arrived, and the two men soon formed a friendship destined to have a vital and enduring influence upon the development of steam navigation on the inland waterways of america. livingston already had no little experience in the same field of invention as fulton. in he had obtained, for a period of twenty years, the right to operate steamboats on all the waters of the state of new york, a monopoly which had just lapsed owing to the death of fitch. in the same year livingston had built a steamboat which had made three miles an hour on the hudson. he had experimented with most of the models then in existence--upright paddles at the side, endless-chain paddles, and stern paddle wheels. fulton was soon inspired to resume his efforts by livingston's account of his own experiments and of recent advances in england, where a steamboat had navigated the thames in and a year later the famous stern-wheeler charlotte dundas had towed boats of tons' burden on the forth and clyde canal at the rate of five miles an hour. in this same year fulton and livingston made successful experiments on the seine. it is fortunate that, in one particular, livingston's influence did not prevail with fulton, for the american minister was distinctly prejudiced against paddle wheels. although livingston had previously ridden as a passenger on morey's stern-wheeler at the rate of five miles an hour, yet he had turned a deaf ear when his partner in experimentation, nicholas j. roosevelt, had insisted strongly on "throwing wheels over the sides." at the beginning, fulton himself was inclined to agree with livingston in this respect; but, probably late in , he began to investigate more carefully the possibilities of the paddle wheel as used twice in america by morey and by four or five experimenters in europe. in an eight-mile trip which fulton made on the charlotte dundas in an hour and twenty minutes established his faith in the undeniable superiority of two fundamental factors of early navigation--paddle wheels and british engines. fulton's splendid fame rests, and rightly so, on his perception of the fact that no mere ingenuity of design could counterbalance weakness, uncertainty, and inefficiency in the mechanism which was intended to make a steamboat run and keep running. as early as november, , fulton had written to boulton and watt of birmingham that he had "not confidence in any other engines" than theirs and that he was seeking a means of getting one of those engines to america. "i cannot establish the boat without the engine," he now emphatically wrote to james monroe, then ambassador to the court of st. james. "the question then is shall we or shall we not have such boats." but there were difficulties in the way. though england forbade the exportation of engines, fulton knew that, in numerous instances, this rule had not been enforced, and he had hopes of success. "the british government," fulton wrote monroe, "must have little friendship or even civility toward america, if they refuse such a request." before the steamboat which fulton and livingston proposed to build in america could be operated there was another obstacle to be surmounted. the rights of steam navigation of new york waters which livingston had obtained on the death of fitch in had lapsed because of his failure to run a steamboat at the rate of four miles an hour, which was one provision of the grant. in april, , the grant was renewed to livingston, roosevelt, and fulton jointly for another period of twenty years, and the date when the boat was to make the required four miles an hour was extended finally to . any one who is inclined to criticize the livingston-roosevelt-fulton monopoly which now came into existence should remember that the previous state grants formed a precedent of no slight moment. the whole proceeding was in perfect accord with the spirit of the times, for it was an era of speculation and monopoly ushered in by the toll-road and turnpike organizations, when probably no less than two hundred companies were formed. it was young america showing itself in an unmistakable manner--"conceived in liberty" and starting on the long road to learn that obedience to law and respect for public rights constitute true liberty. finally, it must be pointed out that fulton, like his famous predecessor, fitch, was impelled by motives far higher than the love of personal gain. "i consider them [steamboats] of such infinite use in america," he wrote monroe, "that i should feel a culpable neglect toward my country if i relaxed for a moment in pursuing every necessary measure for carrying it into effect." and later, when repeating his argument, he says: "i plead this not for myself alone but for our country." it is now evident why the alliance of fulton with livingston was of such epoch-making importance, for, although it may have in some brief measure delayed fulton's adoption of paddle wheels, it gave him an entry to the waters of new york. livingston and fulton thus supplemented each other; livingston possessed a monopoly and fulton a correct estimate of the value of paddle wheels and, secondly, of boulton and watt engines. it was a rare combination destined to crown with success a long period of effort and discouragement in the history of navigation. after considerable delay and difficulty, the two americans obtained permission to export the necessary engine from great britain and shipped it to new york, whither fulton himself proceeded to construct his steamboat. the hull was built by charles brown, a new york shipbuilder, and the boulton and watt machinery, set in masonry, was finally installed. the voyage to albany, against a stiff wind, occupied thirty-two hours; the return trip was made in thirty. h. freeland, one of the spectators who stood on the banks of the hudson when the boat made its maiden voyage in , gives the following description: some imagined it to be a sea-monster whilst others did not hesitate to express their belief that it was a sign of the approaching judgment. what seemed strange in the vessel was the substitution of lofty and straight smoke-pipes, rising from the deck, instead of the gracefully tapered masts ... and, in place of the spars and rigging, the curious play of the walking-beam and pistons, and the slow turning and splashing of the huge and naked paddle-wheels, met the astonished gaze. the dense clouds of smoke, as they rose, wave upon wave, added still more to the wonderment of the rustics.... on her return trip the curiosity she excited was scarcely less intense ... fishermen became terrified, and rode homewards, and they saw nothing but destruction devastating their fishing grounds, whilst the wreaths of black vapor and rushing noise of the paddle-wheels, foaming with the stirred-up water, produced great excitement.... with the launching of the clermont on the hudson a new era in american history began. how quick with life it was many of the preceding pages bear testimony. the infatuation of the public for building toll and turnpike roads was now at its height. only a few years before, a comprehensive scheme of internal improvements had been outlined by jefferson's secretary of the treasury, albert gallatin. when a boy, it is said, he had lain on the floor of a surveyor's cabin on the western slopes of the alleghanies and had heard washington describe to a rough crowd of westerners his plan to unite the great lakes with the potomac in one mighty chain of inland commerce. jefferson's administration was now about to devote the surplus in the treasury to the construction of national highways and canals. the cumberland road, to be built across the alleghanies by the war department, was authorized by the president in the same year in which the clermont made her first trip; and jesse hawley, at his table in a little room in a pittsburgh boarding house, was even now penning in a series of articles, published in the pittsburgh commonwealth, beginning in january, , the first clear challenge to the empire state to connect the hudson and lake erie by a canal. thus the two next steps in the history of inland commerce in america were ready to be taken. chapter viii the conquest of the alleghanies the two great thoroughfares of american commerce in the first half of the nineteenth century were the cumberland road and the erie canal. the first generation of the new century witnessed the great burst of population into the west which at once gave ohio, indiana, illinois, michigan, and wisconsin a place of national importance which they have never relinquished. so far as pathways of commerce contributed to the creation of this veritable new republic in the middle west, the cumberland road and the erie canal, coöperating respectively with ohio river and lake erie steamboats, were of the utmost importance. the national spirit, said to have arisen from the second war with england, had its clearest manifestation in the throwing of a great macadamized roadway across the alleghanies to the ohio river and the digging of the erie canal through the swamps and wildernesses of new york. both of these pathways were essentially the fruition of the doctrine to which washington gave wide circulation in his letter to harrison in , wherein he pictured the vision of a vast republic united by commercial chains. both were essentially western enterprises. the highway was built to fulfil the promise which the government had made in to use a portion of the money accruing from the sale of public lands in ohio in order to connect that young state with atlantic waters. it was proposed to build the canal, according to one early plan, with funds to be obtained by the sale of land in michigan. so firmly did the promoters believe in the national importance of this project that subscriptions, according to another plan, were to be solicited as far afield as vermont in the north and kentucky in the southwest. all that washington had hoped for, and all that aaron burr is supposed to have been hopeless of, were epitomized in these great works of internal improvement. they bespoke coöperation of the highest existing types of loyalty, optimism, financial skill, and engineering ability. yet, on the other hand, the contrasts between these undertakings were great. the two enterprises, one the work of the nation and the other that of a single state, were practically contemporaneous and were therefore constantly inviting comparison. the cumberland road was, for its day, a gigantic government undertaking involving problems of finance, civil engineering, eminent domain, state rights, local favoritism, and political machination. its purpose was noble and its successful construction a credit to the nation; but the paternalism to which it gave rise and the conflicts which it precipitated in congress over questions of constitutionality were remembered soberly for a century. the erie canal, after its projectors had failed to obtain national aid, became the undertaking of one commonwealth conducted, amid countless doubts and jeers, to a conclusion unbelievably successful. as a result many states, foregoing federal aid, attempted to duplicate the successful feat of new york. in this respect the northern canal resembled the lancaster turnpike and tempted scores of states and corporations to expenditures which were unwise in circumstances less favorable than those of the fruitful and strategic empire state. in the conception of both the roadway and the canal, it should be noted, the old idea of making use of navigable rivers still persisted. the act foreshadowing the cumberland road, passed in , called for "making public roads leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic, to the ohio, to said state ohio and through the same"; and hawley's original plan was to build the erie canal from utica to buffalo using the mohawk from utica to the hudson. historic cumberland, in maryland, was chosen by congress as the eastern terminus of the great highway which should bind ohio to the old thirteen. commissioners were appointed in to choose the best route by which the great highway could reach the ohio river between steubenville, ohio and the mouth of grave creek; but difficulties of navigation in the neighborhood of the three sister islands near charlestown, or wellsburg, west virginia, led to the choice of wheeling, farther down, as a temporary western terminus. the route selected was an excellent compromise between the long standing rival claims of pennsylvania, maryland, and virginia to the trade of the west. if baltimore and alexandria were to be better served than philadelphia, the advantage was slight; and pennsylvania gained compensation, ere the state gave the national government permission to build the road within its limits, by dictating that it should pass through uniontown and washington. in this way pennsylvania obtained, without cost, unrivaled advantages for a portion of the state which might otherwise have been long neglected. the building of the road, however satisfactory in the main, was not undertaken without arousing many sectional and personal hopes and prejudices and jealousies, of which the echoes still linger in local legends today. land-owners, mine-owners, factory-owners, innkeepers and countless townsmen and villagers anxiously watched the course of the road and were bitterly disappointed if the new sixty-four-foot thoroughfare did not pass immediately through their property. on the other hand, promoters of toll and turnpike companies, who had promising schemes and long lists of shareholders, were far from eager to have their property taken for a national road. no one believed that, if it proved successful, it would be the only work of its kind, and everywhere men looked for the construction of government highways out of the overflowing wealth of the treasury within the next few years. in april, , the first contracts were let for building the first ten miles of the road from its eastern terminus and were completed in . more contracts were let in , , and . even in those days of war when the drain on the national treasury was excessive, over a quarter of a million dollars was appropriated for the construction of the road. onward it crawled, through the beautiful cumberland gateway of the potomac, to big savage and little savage mountains, to little pine run (the first "western" water), to red hill (later called "shades of death" because of the gloomy forest growth), to high-flung negro mountain at an elevation of feet, and thence on to the youghiogheny, historic great meadows, braddock's grave, laurel hill, uniontown, and brownsville, where it crossed the monongahela. thence, on almost a straight line, it sped by way of washington to wheeling. its average cost was upwards of thirteen thousand dollars a mile from the potomac to the ohio. the road was used in , and in another year the mail coaches of the united states were running from washington to wheeling, west virginia. within five years one of the five commission houses doing business at wheeling is said to have handled over a thousand wagons carrying freight of nearly two tons each. the cumberland road at once leaped into a position of leadership, both in volume of commerce and in popularity, and held its own for two famous decades. the pulse of the nation beat to the steady throb of trade along its highway. maryland at once stretched out her eager arms, along stone roads, through frederick and hagerstown to cumberland, and thus formed a single route from the ohio to baltimore. great stagecoach and freight lines were soon established, each patronizing its own stage house or wagon stand in the thriving towns along the road. the primitive box stage gave way to the oval or football type with curved top and bottom, and this was displaced in turn by the more practical concord coach of national fame. the names of the important stagecoach companies were quite as well known, a century ago, as those of our great railways today. chief among them were the national, good intent, june bug, and pioneer lines. the coaches, drawn by four and sometimes six horses, were usually painted in brilliant colors and were named after eminent statesmen. the drivers of these gay chariots were characters quite as famous locally as the personages whose names were borne by the coaches. westover and his record of forty-five minutes for the twenty miles between uniontown and brownsville, and "red" bunting, with his drive of a hundred and thirty-one miles in twelve hours with the declaration of war against mexico, will be long famous on the curving stretches of the cumberland road. although the freight and express traffic of those days lacked the picturesqueness of the passenger coaches, nothing illustrates so conclusively what the great road meant to an awakening west as the long lines of heavy conestogas and rattling express wagons which raced at "unprecedented" speed across hill and vale. searight, the local historian of the road, describes these large, broad-wheeled wagons covered with white canvas as visible all the day long, at every point, making the highway look more like a leading avenue of a great city than a road through rural districts.... i have staid over night with william cheets on nigger [negro] mountain when there were about thirty six-horse teams in the wagon yard, a hundred kentucky mules in an adjoining lot, a thousand hogs in their enclosures, and as many fat cattle in adjoining fields. the music made by this large number of hogs eating corn on a frosty night i shall never forget. after supper and attention to the teams, the wagoners would gather in the bar-room and listen to the music on the violin furnished by one of their fellows, have a virginia hoe-down, sing songs, tell anecdotes, and hear the experiences of drivers and drovers from all points of the road, and, when it was all over, unroll their beds, lay them down on the floor before the bar-room fire side by side, and sleep with their feet near the blaze as soundly as under the parental roof. meanwhile new york, the other great rival for western trade, was intent on its own darling project, the erie canal. in , three years before the building of the cumberland road, joshua forman offered a bill in favor of the canal in the legislature of new york. in plain but dignified language this document stated that new york possessed "the best route of communication between the atlantic and western waters," and that it held "the first commercial rank in the united states." the bill also noted that, while "several of our sister states" were seeking to secure "the trade of that wide extended country," their natural advantages were "vastly inferior." six hundred dollars was the amount appropriated for a brief survey, and congress was asked to vote aid for the construction of the "buffalo-utica canal." the matter was widely talked about but action was delayed. doubt as to the best route to be pursued caused some discussion. if the western terminus were to be located on lake ontario at the mouth of the oswego, as some advocated, would produce not make its way to montreal instead of to new york? in a new committee was appointed and, though their report favored the paralleling of the course of the mohawk and oswego rivers, their engineer, james geddes, gave strength to the party which believed a direct canal would best serve the interests of the state. it is worth noting that livingston and fulton were added to the committee in . the hopes of outside aid from congress and adjacent states met with disappointment. in vain did the advocates of the canal in plead that its construction would promote "a free and general intercourse between different parts of the united states, tend to the aggrandizement and prosperity of the country, and consolidate and strengthen the union." the plan to have the government subsidize the canal by vesting in the state of new york four million acres of michigan land brought out a protest from the west which is notable not so much because it records the opposition of this section as because it illustrates the shortsightedness of most of the arguments raised against the new york enterprise. the purpose of the canal, the detractors asserted, was to build up new york city to the detriment of montreal, and the navigation of lake ontario, whose beauty they touchingly described, was to be abandoned for a "narrow, winding obstructed canal ... for an expense which arithmetic dares not approach." it was, in their minds, unquestionably a selfish object, and they believed that "both correct science, and the dictates of patriotism and philanthropy [should] lead to the adoption of more liberal principles." it was a shortsighted object, "predicated on the eternal adhesion of the canadas to england." it would never give satisfaction since trade would always ignore artificial and seek natural routes. the attempting of such comparatively useless projects would discourage worthy schemes, relax the bonds of union, and depress the national character. but though these westerners thus misjudged the possibilities of the erie canal, we must doff our hats to them for their foresight in suggesting that, instead of aiding the erie canal, the nation ought to build canals at niagara falls and panama! the war of suspended all talk of the canal, but the subject was again brought up by judge platt in the autumn of . with alacrity strong men came to the aid of the measure. de witt clinton's memorial of addressed to the state legislature may well rank with washington's letter to harrison in the documentary history of american commercial development. it sums up the geographical position of new york with reference to the great lakes and the atlantic, her relationship to the west and to canada, the feasibility of the proposed route from an engineering standpoint, the timeliness of the moment for such a work of improvement, the value that the canal would give to the state lands of the interior, and the trade that it would bring to the towns along its pathway. the erie canal was born in the act of april , , but the decision of the council of revision, which held the power of veto, was in doubt. an anecdote related by judge platt tends to prove that fear of another war with england was the straw that broke the camel's back of opposition. acting-governor taylor, chief justice thompson, chancellor kent, judge yates, and judge platt composed the council. the two first named were open opponents of the measure; kent, yates, and platt were warm advocates of the project, but one of them doubted if the time was ripe to undertake it. taylor opposed the canal on the ground that the late treaty with england was a mere truce and that the resources of the state should be husbanded against renewed war. "do you think so, sir?" chancellor kent is said to have asked the governor. "yes, sir," was the reported reply. "england will never forgive us for our victories, and, my word for it, we shall have another war with her within two years." the chancellor rose to his feet with determination and sealed the fate of the great enterprise in a word. "if we must have war," he exclaimed, "i am in favor of the canal and i cast my vote for this bill." on july , , work was formally inaugurated at rome with simple ceremonies. thus the year was marked by three great undertakings: the navigation of the mississippi river upstream and down by steamboats, the opening of the national road across the alleghany mountains, and the beginning of the erie canal. no single year in the early history of the united states witnessed three such important events in the material progress of the country. what days the ancient "long house of the iroquois" now saw! the engineers of the cumberland road, now nearing the ohio river, had enjoyed the advantage of many precedents and examples; but the commissioners of the erie canal had been able to study only such crude examples of canal-building as america then afforded. never on any continent had such an inaccessible region been pierced by such a highway. the total length of the whole network of canals in great britain did not equal that of the waterway which the new yorkers now undertook to build. the lack of roads, materials, vehicles, methods of drilling and efficient business systems was overcome by sheer patience and perseverance in experiment. the frozen winter roads saved the day by making it possible to accumulate a proper supply of provisions and materials. as tools of construction, the plough and scraper with their greater capacity for work soon supplanted the shovel and the wheelbarrow, which had been the chief implements for such construction in europe. strange new machinery born of mother necessity was now heard groaning in the dark swamps of new york. these giants, worked by means of a cable, wheel, and endless screw, were made to hoist green stumps bodily from the ground and, without the use of axe, to lay trees prostrate, root and branch. a new plough was fashioned with which a yoke of oxen could cut roots two inches in thickness well beneath the surface of the ground. handicaps of various sorts wore the patience of commissioners, engineers, and contractors. lack of snow during one winter all but stopped the work by cutting off the source of supplies. pioneer ailments, such as fever and ague, reaped great harvests, incapacitated more than a thousand workmen at one time and for a brief while stopped work completely. for the most part, however, work was carried on simultaneously on all the three great links or sections into which the enterprise was divided. local contractors were given preference by the commissioners, and three-fourths of the work was done by natives of the state. forward up the mohawk by schenectady and utica to rome, thence bending southward to syracuse, and from there by way of clyde, lyons, and palmyra, the canal made its way to the giant viaduct over the genesee river at rochester. keeping close to the summit level on the dividing ridge between lake ontario streams and the valley of the tonawanda, the line ran to lockport, where a series of locks placed the canal on the lake erie level, miles from and feet above albany. by june, , the canal was completed from rochester to schenectady; in october boats passed into the tidewaters of the hudson at albany; and in the autumn of the canal was formally opened by the passage of a triumphant fleet from lake erie to new york bay. here two kegs of lake water were emptied into the atlantic, while the governor of the state of new york spoke these words: this solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from lake erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication, which has been accomplished between our mediterranean seas and the atlantic ocean, in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the state of new york; and may the god of the heavens and the earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it subservient to the best interests of the human race. throughout these last seven years, the west was subconsciously getting ready to meet the east halfway by improving and extending her steamboat operations. steamboats were first run on the great lakes by enterprising buffalo citizens who, in , secured rights from the fulton-livingston monopoly to build the walk-in-the-water, the first of the great fleet of ships that now whiten the inland seas of the united states. regular lines of steamboats were now formed on the ohio to connect with the cumberland road at wheeling, although the steamboat monopoly threatened to stifle the natural development of transportation on western rivers. the completion of the erie canal--coupled with the new appropriation by congress for extending the cumberland road from the ohio river to missouri and the beginning of the pennsylvania and the chesapeake and ohio canals, reveal the importance of these concluding days of the first quarter of the nineteenth century in the annals of american transportation. never since that time have men doubted the ability of americans to accomplish the physical domination of their continent. with the conquest of the alleghanies and of the forests and swamps of the "long house" by pick and plough and scraper, and the mastery of the currents of the mississippi by the paddle wheel, the vast plains beyond seemed smaller and the rockies less formidable. men now looked forward confidently, with an optimist of these days, to the time "when circulation and association between the atlantic and pacific and the mexican gulf shall be as free and perfect as they are at this moment in england" between the extremities of that country. the vision of a nation closely linked by well-worn paths of commerce was daily becoming clearer. what further westward progress was soon to be made remains to be seen. chapter ix the dawn of the iron age despite the superiority of the new iron age that quickly followed the widespreading canal movement, there was a generous spirit and a chivalry in the "good old days" of the stagecoach, the conestoga, and the lazy canal boat, which did not to an equal degree pervade the iron age of the railroad. when machinery takes the place of human brawn and patience, there is an indefinable eclipse of human interest. somehow, cogs and levers and differentials do not have the same appeal as fingers and eyes and muscles. the old days of coach and canal boat had a picturesqueness and a comradeship of their own. in the turmoil and confusion and odd mixing of every kind of humanity along the lines of travel in the days of the hurtling coach-and-six, a friendliness, a robust sympathy, a ready interest in the successful and the unfortunate, a knowledge of how the other half lives, and a familiarity with men as well as with mere places, was common to all who took the road. as thackeray so vividly describes it: the land rang yet with the tooting horns and rattling teams of mail-coaches; a gay sight was the road in those days, before steam-engines arose and flung its hostelry and chivalry over. to travel in coaches, to know coachmen and guards, to be familiar with inns along the road, to laugh with the jolly hostess in the bar, to chuck the pretty chamber-maid under the chin, were the delight of men who were young not very long ago. the road was an institution, the ring was an institution. men rallied around them; and, not without a kind of conservatism expatiated on the benefits with which they endowed the country, and the evils which would occur when they should be no more:--decay of british spirit, decay of manly pluck, ruin of the breed of horses, and so forth and so forth. to give and take a black eye was not unusual nor derogatory in a gentleman: to drive a stage-coach the enjoyment, the emulation, of generous youth. is there any young fellow of the present time, who aspires to take the place of a stoker? one sees occasionally in the country a dismal old drag with a lonely driver. where are you, charioteers? where are you, o rattling quicksilver, o swift defiance? you are passed by racers stronger and swifter than you. your lamps are out, and the music of your horns has died away. behind this change from the older and more picturesque days which is thus lamented there lay potent economic forces and a strong commercial rivalry between different parts of the country. the atlantic states were all rivals of each other, reaching out by one bold stroke after another across forest, mountain, and river to the gigantic and fruitful west. step after step the inevitable conquest went on. foremost in time marched the sturdy pack-horsemen, blazing the way for the heavier forces quietly biding their time in the rear--the conestogas, the steamboat, the canal boat, and, last and greatest of them all, the locomotive. through a long preliminary period the principal center of interest was the potomac valley, towards whose strategic head virginia and maryland, by river-improvement and road-building, were directing their commercial routes in amiable rivalry for the conquest of the western trade. suddenly out from the southern region of the middle atlantic states went the cumberland national road to the ohio. new york instantly, in her zone, took up the challenge and thrust her great erie canal across to the great lakes. in rapid succession, pennsylvania and maryland and virginia, eager not to be outdone in winning the struggle for western trade, sent their canals into the alleghanies toward the ohio. it soon developed, however, that baltimore, both powerful and ambitious, was seriously handicapped. in order to retain her commanding position as the metropolis of western trade she was compelled to resort to a new and untried method of transportation which marks an era in american history. it seems plain that the southern rivals of new york city--philadelphia, baltimore, and alexandria--had relied for a while on the deterring effect of a host of critics who warned all men that a canal of such proportions as the erie was not practicable, that no state could bear the financial drain which its construction would involve, that theories which had proved practical on a small scale would fail in so large an undertaking, that the canal would be clogged by floods or frozen up for half of each year, and that commerce would ignore artificial courses and cling to natural channels. but the answer of the empire state to her rivals was the homely but triumphant cry "low bridge!"--the warning to passengers on the decks of canal boats as they approached the numerous bridges which spanned the route. when this cry passed into a byword it afforded positive proof that the erie canal traffic was firmly established. the words rang in the counting-houses of philadelphia and out and along the lancaster and the philadelphia-pittsburgh turnpikes--"low bridge! low bridge!" pennsylvania had granted, it has been pointed out, that her southern neighbors might have their share of the ohio valley trade but maintained that the splendid commerce of the great lakes was her own peculiar heritage. men of baltimore who had dominated the energetic policy of stone-road building in their state heard this alarming challenge from the north. the echo ran "low bridge!" in the poor decaying locks of the potomac company where, according to the committee once appointed to examine that enterprise, flood-tides "gave the only navigation that was enjoyed." were their efforts to keep the chesapeake metropolis in the lead to be set at naught? there could be but one answer to the challenge, and that was to rival canal with canal. these more southerly states, confronted by the towering ranges of the alleghanies to the westward, showed a courage which was superb, although, as time proved in the case of maryland, they might well have taken more counsel of their fears. pennsylvania acted swiftly. though its western waterway--the roaring juniata, which entered the susquehanna near harrisburg--had a drop from head to mouth greater than that of the entire new york canal, and, though the mountains of the altoona region loomed straight up nearly three thousand feet, pennsylvania overcame the lowlands by main strength and the mountain peaks by strategy and was sending canal boats from philadelphia to pittsburgh within nine years of the completion of the erie canal. the eastern division of the pennsylvania canal, known as the union canal, from reading on the schuylkill to middletown on the susquehanna, was completed in . the juniata section was then driven on up to hollidaysburg. beyond the mountain barrier, the conemaugh, the kiskiminitas, and the allegheny were followed to pittsburgh. but the greatest feat in the whole enterprise was the conquest of the mountain section, from hollidaysburg to johnstown. this was accomplished by the building of five inclined planes on each slope, each plane averaging about feet in length and feet in height. up or down these slopes and along the intermediate level sections cars and giant cradles (built to be lowered into locks where they could take an entire canal boat as a load) were to be hauled or lowered by horsepower, and later, by steam. after the plans had been drawn up by sylvester welch and moncure robinson, the pennsylvania legislature authorized the work in , and traffic over this aerial route was begun in march, . in autumn of that year, the stanch boat hit or miss, from the lackawanna country, owned by jesse crisman and captained by major williams, made the journey across the whole length of the canal. it rested for a night on the alleghany summit "like noah's ark on ararat," wrote sherman day, "descended the next morning into the valley of the mississippi, and sailed for st. louis." well did robert stephenson, the famous english engineer, say that, in boldness of design and difficulty of execution, this pennsylvania scheme of mastering the alleghanies could be compared with no modern triumph short of the feats performed at the simplon pass and mont cenis. before long this line of communication became a very popular thoroughfare; even charles dickens "heartily enjoyed" it--in retrospect--and left interesting impressions of his journey over it: even the running up, bare-necked, at five o'clock in the morning from the tainted cabin to the dirty deck; scooping up the icy water, plunging one's head into it, and drawing it out, all fresh and glowing with the cold; was a good thing. the fast, brisk walk upon the towing-path, between that time and breakfast, when every vein and artery seemed to tingle with health; the exquisite beauty of the opening day, when light came gleaming off from everything; the lazy motion of the boat, when one lay idly on the deck, looking through, rather than at, the deep blue sky; the gliding on, at night, so noiselessly, past frowning hills, sullen with dark trees, and sometimes angry in one red burning spot high up, where unseen men lay crouching round a fire; the shining out of the bright stars, undisturbed by noise of wheels or steam, or any other sound than the liquid rippling of the water as the boat went on; all these were pure delights. ¹ ¹ american notes (gadshill edition), pp. - . dickens also thus graphically depicts the unique experience of being carried over the mountain peaks on the aerial railway: there are ten inclined planes; five ascending and five descending; the carriages are dragged up the former, and let slowly down the latter, by means of stationary engines; the comparatively level spaces between being traversed, sometimes by horse, and sometimes by engine power, as the case demands. occasionally the rails are laid upon the extreme verge of a giddy precipice; and looking from the carriage window, the traveler gazes sheer down, without a stone or scrap of fence between, into the mountain depths below. the journey is very carefully made, however; only two carriages traveling together; and while proper precautions are taken, is not to be dreaded for its dangers. it was very pretty traveling thus, at a rapid pace along the heights of the mountain in a keen wind, to look down into a valley full of light and softness; catching glimpses, through the tree-tops, of scattered cabins; children running to the doors; dogs bursting out to bark, whom we could see without hearing; terrified pigs scampering homewards; families sitting out in their rude gardens; cows gazing upward with a stupid indifference; men in their shirt-sleeves looking on at their unfinished houses, planning out tomorrow's work; and we riding onward, high above them, like a whirl-wind. it was amusing, too, when we had dined, and rattled down a steep pass, having no other motive power than the weight of the carriages themselves, to see the engine released, long after us, come buzzing down alone, like a great insect, its back of green and gold so shining in the sun, that if it had spread a pair of wings and soared away, no one would have had occasion, as i fancied, for the least surprise. but it stopped short of us in a very business-like manner when we reached the canal; and, before we left the wharf, went panting up this hill again, with the passengers who had waited our arrival for the means of traversing the road by which we had come. ¹ ¹ op. cit. this pennsylvania route was likewise famous because it included the first tunnel in america; but with the advance of years, tunnel, planes, and canal were supplanted by what was to become in time the pennsylvania railroad, the pride of the state and one of the great highways of the nation. in the year before pennsylvania investigated her western water route, a joint bill was introduced into the legislatures of the potomac valley states, proposing a potomac canal company which should construct a chesapeake and ohio canal at the expense of maryland, virginia, and the district of columbia. the plan was of vital moment to alexandria and georgetown on the potomac, but unless a lateral canal could be built to baltimore, that city--which paid a third of maryland's taxes--would be called on to supply a great sum to benefit only her chief rivals. the bitter struggle which now developed is one of the most significant in commercial history because of its sequel. the conditions underlying this rivalry must not be lost sight of. baltimore had done more than any other eastern city to ally herself with the west and to obtain its trade. she had instinctively responded to every move made by her rivals in the great game. if pennsylvania promoted a lancaster turnpike, baltimore threw out her superb baltimore-reisterstown boulevard, though her northern road to philadelphia remained the slough that brissot and baily had found it. if new york projected an erie canal, baltimore successfully championed the building of a cumberland road by a governmental godmother. so thoroughly and quickly, indeed, did she link her system of stone roads to that great artery, that even today many well-informed writers seem to be under the impression that the cumberland road ran from the ohio to washington and baltimore. now, with canals building to the north of her and canals to the south of her, what of her prestige and future? for the moment baltimore compromised by agreeing to a chesapeake and ohio canal which, by a lateral branch, should still lead to her market square. her scheme embraced a vision of conquest regal in its sweep, beyond that of any rival, and comprehending two ideas worthy of the most farseeing strategist and the most astute politician. it called not only for the building of a transmontane canal to the ohio but also for a connecting canal from the ohio to the great lakes. not only would the trade of the northwest be secured by this means--for this southerly route would not be affected by winter frosts as would those of pennsylvania and new york--but the good godmother at washington would be almost certain to champion it and help to build it since the proposed route was so thoroughly interstate in character. with the backing of maryland, virginia, western pennsylvania, ohio, and probably several states bordering the inland lakes, government aid in the undertaking seemed feasible and proper. theoretically the daring scheme captured the admiration of all who were to be benefited by it. at a great banquet at washington, late in , the project was launched. adams, clay, and calhoun took the opportunity to ally themselves with it by robustly declaring themselves in favor of widespread internal improvements. even the godmother smiled upon it for, following monroe's recommendation, congress without hesitation voted thirty thousand dollars for the preliminary survey from washington to pittsburgh. quickly the chesapeake and ohio canal company and the connecting maryland canal company were formed, and steps were taken to have ohio promote an ohio and lake erie company. as high as were the hopes awakened by this movement, just so deep was the dejection and chagrin into which its advocates were thrown upon receiving the report of the engineers who made the preliminary survey. the estimated cost ran towards a quarter of a billion, four times the capital stock of the company; and there were not lacking those who pointed out that the erie canal had cost more than double the original appropriation made for it. the situation was aggravated for baltimore by the fact that maryland and virginia were willing to take half a loaf if they could not get a whole one: in other words, they were willing to build the canal up the potomac to cumberland and stop there. baltimore, even if linked to this partial scheme, would lose her water connection with the west, the one prized asset which the project had held out, and her potomac valley rivals would, on this contracted plan, be in a particularly advantageous position to surpass her. but the last blow was yet to come. engineers reported that a lateral canal connecting the potomac and chesapeake bay was not feasible. it was consequently of little moment whether the chesapeake and ohio canal could be built across the alleghanies or not, for, even if it could have been carried through the great plains or to the pacific, baltimore was, for topographical reasons, out of the running. the men of baltimore now gave one of the most striking illustrations of spirit and pluck ever exhibited by the people of any city. they refused to accept defeat. if engineering science held a means of overcoming the natural disadvantages of their position, they were determined to adopt that means, come what would of hardship, difficulty, and expenditure. if roads and canals would not serve the city on the chesapeake, what of the railroad on which so many experiments were being made in england? the idea of controlling the trade of the west by railroads was not new. as early as february, , certain astute pennsylvanians had advocated building a railroad to pittsburgh instead of a canal, and in a memorial to the legislature they had set forth the theory that a railroad could be built in one-third of the time and could be operated with one-third of the number of employees required by a canal, that it would never be frozen, and that its cost of construction would be less. but these arguments did not influence the majority, who felt that to follow the line of least resistance and to do as others had done would involve the least hazard. but baltimore, with her back against the wall, did not have the alternative of a canal. it was a leap into the unknown for her or commercial stagnation. it is regrettable that, as baltimore began to break this fresh track, she should have had political as well as physical and mechanical obstacles to overcome. the conquest of the natural difficulties alone required superhuman effort and endurance. but baltimore had also to fight a miserable internecine warfare in her own state, for maryland immediately subscribed half a million to the canal as well as to the newly formed baltimore and ohio railroad. in rival pageants, both companies broke ground on july , , and the race to the ohio was on. the canal company clung doggedly to the idle belief that their enterprise was still of continental proportions, since it would connect at cumberland with the cumberland road. this exaggerated estimate of the importance of the undertaking shines out in the pompous words of president mercer, at the time when construction was begun: there are moments in the progress of time, which are counters of whole ages. there are events, the monuments of which, surviving every other memorial of human existence, eternize the nation to whose history they belong, after all other vestiges of its glory have disappeared from the globe. at such a moment have we now arrived. this oracular language lacks the simple but winning straightforwardness of the words which director morris uttered on the same day near baltimore and which prove how distinctly western the new railway project was held to be: we are about opening a channel through which the commerce of the mighty country beyond the allegheny must seek the ocean--we are about affording facilities of intercourse between the east and west, which will bind the one more closely to the other, beyond the power of an increased population or sectional differences to disunite. the difficulties which faced the baltimore enthusiasts in their task of keeping their city "on the map" would have daunted men of less heroic mold. every conceivable trial and test which nature and machinery could seemingly devise was a part of their day's work for twelve years--struggles with grades, locomotives, rails, cars. as rumsey, fitch, and fulton in their experiments with boats had floundered despondently with endless chains, oars, paddles, duck's feet, so now thomas and brown in their efforts to make the railroad effective wandered in a maze of difficulties testing out such absurd and impossible ideas as cars propelled by sails and cars operated by horse treadmills. by may, , however, cars on rails, running by "brigades" and drawn by horses, were in operation in america. it was only in this year that in england locomotives were used with any marked success on the liverpool and manchester railroad; yet in august of this year peter cooper's engine, tom thumb, built in baltimore in , traversed the twelve miles between that city and ellicott's mills in seventy-two minutes. steel springs came in , together with car wheels of cylindrical and conical section which made it easier to turn curves. the railroad was just beginning to master its mechanical problems when a new obstacle confronted it in the potomac valley. it could not cross maryland to the cumberland mountain gateway unless it could follow the potomac. but its rival, the canal, had inherited from the old potomac company the only earthly asset it possessed of any value--the right of way up the maryland shore. five years of quarreling now ensued, and the contest, though it may not have seriously delayed either enterprise, aroused much bitterness and involved the usual train of lawsuits and injunctions. in the canal company yielded the railroad a right of way through the point of rocks--the potomac chasm through the blue ridge wall, just below harper's ferry--on condition that the railroad should not build beyond harper's ferry until the canal was completed to cumberland. but probably nothing but the financial helplessness of the canal company could have brought a solution satisfactory to all concerned. a settlement of the long quarrel by compromise was the price paid for state aid, and, in maryland subsidized to a large degree both canal and railroad by her famous eight million dollar bill. the railroad received three millions from the state, and the city of baltimore was permitted to subscribe an equal amount of stock. with this support and a free right of way, the railroad pushed on up the potomac. though delayed by the financial disasters of , in it was at hancock; in , at piedmont; in , at fairmont; and the next year it reached the ohio river at wheeling. spurred by the enterprise shown by these southerners, pennsylvania and new york now took immediate steps to parallel their own canals by railways. the line of the union canal in pennsylvania was paralleled by a railroad in , the same year in which the allegheny portage railway was constructed. new york lines reached buffalo in . the pennsylvania railroad, which was incorporated in , was completed to pittsburgh in . it is thus obvious that, with the completion of these lines and the building of the chesapeake and ohio railway through the "sapphire country" of the southern alleghanies, the new railway era pursued its paths of conquest through the very same mountain passageways that had been previously used by pack-horseman and conestoga and, in three instances out of four, by the canal boat. if one motors today in the juniata valley in pennsylvania, he can survey near newport a scene full of meaning to one who has a taste for history. traveling along the heights on the highway that was once the red man's trail, he can enjoy a wide prospect from this vantage point. deep in the valley glitters the little juniata, route of the ancient canoe and the blundering barge. beside it lies a long lagoon, an abandoned portion of the pennsylvania canal. beside this again, as though some monster had passed leaving a track clear of trees, stretches the right of way of the first "pennsylvania," and a little nearer swings the magnificent double-tracked bed of the railroad of today. between these lines of travel may be read the history of the past two centuries of american commerce, for the vital factors in the development of the nation have been the evolution of transportation and its manifold and far-reaching influence upon the expansion of population and commerce and upon the rise of new industries. thus all the rivals in the great contest for the trade of the west speedily reached their goal, new york with the erie and the new york central, and pennsylvania and maryland with the pennsylvania and the baltimore and ohio. but what of this west for whose commerce the great struggle was being waged? when the railheads of these eager atlantic promoters were laid down at buffalo on lake erie and at pittsburgh on the ohio they looked out on a new world. the centaurs of the western rivers were no less things of the far past than the tinkling bells borne by the ancient ponies of the pack-horse trade. the sons of this new west had their eyes riveted on the commerce of the great lakes and the mississippi valley. with road, canal, steamboat, and railway, they were renewing the struggle of their fathers but for prizes greater than their fathers ever knew. new york again proved the favored state. her mohawk pathway gave her easiest access to the west and here, at her back door on the niagara frontier, lay her path by way of the great lakes to the north and the northwest. chapter x the pathway of the lakes as one stands in imagination at the early railheads of the west--on the ohio river at the end of the cumberland road, or at buffalo, the terminus of the erie canal--the vision which washington caught breaks upon him and the dream of a nation made strong by trans-alleghany routes of commerce. link by link the great interior is being connected with the sea. behind him all lines of transportation lead eastward to the cities of the coast. before him lies the giant valley where the father of waters throws out his two splendid arms, the ohio and the missouri, one reaching to the alleghanies and the other to the rockies. northward, at the end of the erie canal, lies the empire of the great lakes, inland seas that wash the shores of a northland having a coastline longer than that of the atlantic from maine to mexico. ships and conditions of navigation were much the same on the lakes as on the ocean. it was therefore possible to imagine the rise of a coasting trade between illinois and ohio as profitable as that between massachusetts and new york. yet the older colonies on the atlantic had an outlet for trade, whereas the great lakes had none for craft of any size, since their northern shores lay beyond the international boundary. if there had been danger from spain in the southwest, what of the danger of canada's control of the st. lawrence river and of the trade of the northwest through the welland canal which was to join lake ontario to lake erie? but in those days the possibility of canadian rivalry was not treated with great seriousness, and many men failed to see that the west was soon to contain a very large population. the editor of a newspaper at munroe, new york, commenting in on a proposed canal to connect lake erie with the mississippi by way of the ohio, believed that the rate of western development was such that this waterway could be expected only "some hundred of years hence." even so gifted a man as henry clay spoke of the proposed canal between lake michigan and lake superior in as one relating to a region beyond the pale of civilization "if not in the moon." yet in twenty-five years michigan, which had numbered one thousand inhabitants in , had gained two hundredfold, and ohio, indiana, and illinois had their hundreds of thousands who were clamoring for ways and means of sending their surplus products to market. early in the century representatives of the fulton-livingston monopoly were at the shores of lake ontario to prove that their steamboats could master the waves of the inland sea and serve commerce there as well as in tidewater rivers. true, the luckless ontario, built in at sackett's harbor, proved unseaworthy when the waves lifted the shaft of her paddle wheels off their bearings and caused them to demolish the wooden covering built for their protection; but the walk-in-the-water, completed at black rock (buffalo) in august, , plied successfully as far as mackinac island until her destruction three years later. her engines were then inherited by the superior of stronger build, and with the launching of such boats as the niagara, the henry clay, and the pioneer, the fleet builders of buffalo, cleveland, and detroit proved themselves not unworthy fellow-countrymen of the old seafarers of salem and philadelphia. but how were cargoes to reach these vessels from the vast regions beyond the great lakes? those thousands of settlers who poured into the northwest had cargoes ready to fill every manner of craft in so short a space of time that it seems as if they must have resorted to arts of necromancy. it was not magic, however, but perseverance that had triumphed. the story of the creating of the main lakeward-reaching canals is long and involved. a period of agitation and campaigning preceded every such undertaking; and when construction was once begun, financial woes usually brought disappointing delays. when a canal was completed after many vicissitudes and doubts, traffic overwhelmed every method provided to handle it: locks proved altogether too small; boats were inadequate; wharfs became congested; blockades which occurred at locks entailed long delay. in the end only lines and double lines of steel rails could solve the problem of rapid and adequate transportation, but the story of the railroad builders is told elsewhere. ¹ ¹ see the railroad builders, by john moody (in the chronicles of america). ohio and illinois caught the canal fever even before the erie canal was completed, and the ohio canal and the illinois-michigan canal saw preliminary surveying done in and respectively. ohio particularly had cause to seek a northern outlet to eastern markets by way of lake erie. the valleys of the muskingum, scioto, and miami rivers were producing wheat in large quantities as early as , when ohio was admitted to the union. flour which brought $ . a barrel in cincinnati was worth $ in new york. there were difficulties in the way of transportation. sometimes ice prevented produce and merchandise from descending the ohio to cincinnati. at other times merchants of that city had as many as a hundred thousand barrels awaiting a rise in the river which would make it possible for boats to go over the falls at louisville. as these conditions involved a delay which often seemed intolerable, the project to build canals to lake erie met with generous acclaim. a northward route, though it might be blocked by ice for a few months each winter, had an additional value in the eyes of numerous merchants whose wheat, sent in bulk to new orleans, had soured either in the long delay at louisville or in the semi-tropical heat of the southern port. the ohio legislature in authorized the survey of all possible routes for canals which would give ohio an outlet for its produce on lake erie. the three wheat zones which have been mentioned were favored in the proposed construction of two canals which, together, should satisfy the need of increased transportation: the ohio canal to connect portsmouth on the ohio river with cleveland on lake erie and to traverse the richest parts of the scioto and muskingum valleys, and to the west the miami canal to pierce the fruitful miami and maumee valleys and join cincinnati with toledo. de witt clinton, the presiding genius of the erie canal, was invited to ohio to play godfather to these northward arteries which should ultimately swell the profits of the commission merchants of new york city, and amid the cheers of thousands he lifted the first spadefuls of earth in each undertaking. the ohio canal, which was opened in , had a marked effect upon the commerce of lake erie. before that date the largest amount of wheat obtained from cleveland by a buffalo firm had been a thousand bushels; but in the first year of its operation the ohio canal brought to the village of cleveland over a quarter of a million bushels of wheat, fifty thousand barrels of flour, and over a million pounds of butter and lard. in return, the markets of the world sent into ohio by canal in this same year thirty thousand barrels of salt and above five million pounds of general merchandise. ever since the time when the erie canal was begun, canadian statesmen had been alive to the strong bid new york was making for the trade of the great lakes. their answer to the erie canal was the welland canal, built between and and connecting lake erie with lake ontario by a series of twenty-seven locks with a drop of three hundred feet in twenty-six miles. this undertaking prepared the way for the subsequent opening of the st. lawrence canal system ( miles) and of the rideau system by way of the ottawa river ( miles). there was thus provided an ocean outlet to the north, although it was not until that an american vessel reached london by way of the st. lawrence. with the hudson and the st. lawrence in the east thus competing for the trade of the great lakes, it is not surprising that the call of the mississippi for improved highways was presently heard. from the period of the war of onward the position of the mississippi river in relation to lake michigan was often referred to as holding possibilities of great importance in the development of western commerce. already the old portage-path links between the fox and wisconsin and the chicago and illinois rivers had been worn deep by the fur traders of many generations, and with the dawning of the new era enthusiasts of illinois were pointing out the strategic position of the latter route for a great trade between lake michigan and the gulf of mexico. thus the wave of enthusiasm for canal construction that had swept new york and ohio now reached indiana and illinois. indian ownership of land in the latter state for a moment seemed to block the promotion of the proposed illinois and michigan canal, but a handsome grant of a quarter of a million acres by the federal government in came as a signal recognition of the growing importance of the northwest; and an appropriation for the lighting and improving of the harbor of the little village of chicago was hailed by ardent promoters as sure proof that the wedding of lake michigan and the mississippi was but a matter of months. all the difficulties encountered by the advocates of earlier works of this character, in the valleys of the potomac, the susquehanna, and the mohawk, were the portion of these dogged promoters of illinois. here, as elsewhere, there were rival routes and methods of construction, opposition of jealous sections not immediately benefited, estimates which had to be reconsidered and augmented, and so on. the land grants pledged to pay the bonds were at first of small value, and their advance in price depended on the success of the canal itself, which could not be built--unless the state underwrote the whole enterprise--if the lands were not worth the bonds. thus the argument ran in a circle, and no one could foresee the splendid traffic and receipts from tolls that would result from the completed canal. the commissioners in charge of the project performed one interesting service in these early days by putting chicago on the map; but the two terminals, ottawa on the illinois and chicago on lake michigan--both plotted in --were very largely figures of speech at that time. the day of miracles was at hand, however, for the little town of one hundred people at the foot of lake michigan. the purchase of the lands of the potawatomies, the black hawk war in , which brought steamboats to chicago for the first time, and the decision of illinois in to pledge her good name in favor of the illinois and michigan canal made chicago a city of four thousand people by the panic year of . so absorbed were these chicago folk in the building of their canal and in wresting from their lake firm foothold for a city (reclaiming four hundred feet of lake bed in two years) that the panic affected their town less than it did many a rival. although the canal enterprise came to an ominous pause in , after the expenditure of five millions, the pledge of the state stood the enterprise in good stead. local financiers, together with new york and boston promoters, advanced about a quarter of a million, while french and english bankers, notably baring brothers, contributed about three-quarters of a million. with this assistance the work was carried to a successful ending. on april , , the first boat passed over the ninety-mile route from chicago to ottawa, and the great lakes and the mississippi basin were united by this erie canal of the west. though its days of greatest value were soon over, no one can exaggerate the importance of this waterway in the growth and prosperity of chicago between and . by chicago was sending north and south annually by boat over twenty million bushels of wheat and corn. the awakening of the lands behind lake erie, lake huron, and lake michigan brought forth innumerable demands for roads, canals, and railways to the ports of buffalo, cleveland, toledo, detroit, milwaukee, and chicago. there were actually hundreds of these enterprises undertaken. the development of the land behind lake superior was particularly spectacular and important, not only because of its general effect on the industrial world but also because out of it came the st. mary's river ship canal. nowhere in the zone of the great lakes has any region produced such unexpected changes in american industrial and commercial life as did the region of michigan, wisconsin, and minnesota contributory to lake superior. if, as the story goes, benjamin franklin said, when he drew at paris the international boundary line through lake superior, that this was his greatest service to america, he did not exaggerate. the line running north of isle royale and thence to the lake of the woods gave the united states the lion's share of that great inland seaboard and the inestimably rich deposits of copper and iron that have revolutionized american industry. from earliest days rumors of deposits of bright copper in the land behind lake superior had been reported by indians to fur traders who in turn had passed the story on to fur company agents and thus to the outside world. as a result of her "toledo war"--as her boundary dispute was called--michigan had reluctantly accepted the northern peninsula lying between lake superior and lake michigan in lieu of the strip of ohio territory which she believed to be hers. if michigan felt that she had lost by this compromise, her state geologist, douglass houghton, soon found a splendid jewel in the toad's head of defeat, for the report of his survey of confirmed the story of the existence of large copper deposits, and the first rush to el dorado followed. amid the usual chaos, conflict, and failure incident to such stampedes, order and system at last triumphed and the richest copper mines of the new world were uncovered. then came the unexpected finding of the mammoth iron-ore beds by william a. burt, inventor of the solar compass. the circumstance of this discovery is of such national importance that a contemporary description by a member of burt's party which was surveying a line near marquette, michigan, is worth quoting: i shall never forget the excitement of the old gentleman when viewing the changes of the variation. he kept changing his position to take observations, all the time saying "how would they survey this country without my compass" and "what could be done here without my compass." at length the compassman called for us all to "come and see a variation which will beat them all." as we looked at the instrument, to our astonishment, the north end of the needle was traversing a few degrees to the south west. mr. burt called out "boys, look around and see what you can find." we all left the line, some going to the east, some going to the west, and all of us returned with specimens of iron ore. but it was not enough that this aladdin's land in the northwest should revolutionize the copper and steel industry of the world, for as soon as the soil took to its bosom an enterprising race of agriculturists it bade fair to play as equally important a part in the grain industry. copper and iron no less came out of the blue of this cold northern region than did the mighty crops of minnesota wheat, corn, and oats. in the decade preceding the civil war the export of wheat from lake superior rose from fourteen hundred bushels to three and a quarter millions of bushels, while in nearly seven million bushels of corn and oats were sent out to the world. the commerce of lake superior could not await the building of a canal around the foaming rapids of the st. mary's river, its one outlet to the lower lakes. in the decade following the discovery of copper and iron more than a dozen ships, one even of as much as five hundred tons, were hauled bodily across the portage between lake huron and lake superior. the last link of navigation in the great lake system, however, was made possible in by a grant by congress of , acres of michigan land. although only a mile in length, the work proved to be of unusual difficulty since the pathway for the canal had to be blasted throughout practically its whole length out of solid rock. it was completed in , and the princely empire "in the moon" was in a position to make its terms with the coal fields of pennsylvania and to usher in the iron age of transportation and construction. it is only in the light of this awakening of the lands around the great lakes that one can see plainly the task which fell to the lot of the successors of the frail walk-in-the-water and sturdier superior of the early twenties. for the first fifteen years the steamboat found its mission in carrying the thousands of emigrants pouring into the northwest, a heterogeneous multitude which made the lake erie boats seem, to one traveler at least, filled with "men, women and children, beds, cradles, kettles, and frying pans." these craft were built after the pattern of the walk-in-the-water--side-wheelers with a steering wheel at the stern. no cabins or staterooms on deck were provided; and amid such freight as the thriving young towns provided were to be found the twenty or thirty cords of wood which the engines required as fuel. the second period of steamboating began with the opening of the ohio canal and the welland canal about and extended another fifteen years to the middle of the century, when it underwent a transformation owing to the great development of chicago, the completion of the illinois and michigan and st. mary's canals, and the new railways. this second period was marked by the building of such steamers as the michigan, the great western, and the illinois. these were the first boats with an upper cabin and were looked upon with marked suspicion by those best acquainted with the severe storms upon the great lakes. the michigan, of tons, built by oliver newberry at detroit in , is said to have been the first ship of this type. these boats proved their seaworthiness and caused a revolution in the construction of lake craft. later in this period freight transportation saw an equally radical advance with the building of the first propellers. the sloop-rigged vandalia, built by sylvester doolittle at oswego on lake ontario in - , was the first of the propeller type and was soon followed by the hercules, the samson, and the detroit. one very great handicap in lake commerce up to this time had been the lack of harbors. detroit alone of the lake ports was distinctly favored in this respect. the harbors of buffalo, cleveland, milwaukee, and chicago were improved slowly, but it was not until the great chicago convention of that the nation's attention was focused on the needs of western rivers and harbors, and there dawned a new era of lighthouses and buoys, breakwaters and piers, and dredged channels. another handicap to the volume of business which the lake boats handled in the period just previous to the civil war was the inadequacy of the feeders, the roads, riverways, and canals. the erie canal was declared too small almost before the cries of its virulent opponents had died away, and the enlargement of its locks was soon undertaken. the same thing proved true of the ohio and illinois canals. the failure of the welland canal was similarly a very serious handicap. although its locks were enlarged in , it was found by that despite the improvements it could not admit more than about one-third of the grain-carrying boats, while only one in four of the new propellers could enter its locks. as late as the middle forties men did not in the least grasp the commercial situation which now confronted the northwest nor could they foresee that the land behind the great lakes was about to deluge the country with an output of produce and manufactures of which the roads, canals, ships, wharfs, or warehouses in existence could handle not a tenth part. they did not yet understand that this trade was to become national. it was well on in the forties before the galena lead mines, for instance, were given up as the terminal of the illinois central railroad and the main line was directed to chicago. the middle of the century was reached before the lake shore was considered at cleveland or chicago as important commercially as the neighboring portage paths which by the ordinance of had been created "common highways forever free." the idea of joining buffalo, cleveland, and chicago with the interior--an idea as old as the indian trails thither--still dominated men's minds even in the early part of the railroad epoch. chicago desired to be connected with cairo, the ice-free port on the mississippi; and cleveland was eager to be joined to columbus and cincinnati. the enthusiastic railway promoters of ohio, indiana, and illinois drew splendid plans for uniting all parts of those states by railway lines; but the strategic position of the cities on the continental alignment from new york to the pacific by way of south pass never came within their horizon. the ten million dollar illinois scheme did not even contemplate a railway running eastward from chicago. but the future of the commerce of the great lakes depended absolutely upon this development. there was no hope of any canals being able to handle the traffic of the mighty empire which was now awake and fully conscious of its power. the solution lay in joining the cities to each other and to the atlantic world markets by iron rails running east and west. this railroad expansion is what makes the last decade before the civil war such a remarkable series of years in the west. in the half decade, - , the baltimore and ohio and pennsylvania railways reached the ohio river; the links of the present lake shore system between buffalo and chicago by way of cleveland and toledo were constructed; and the pennsylvania line was put through from pittsburgh to chicago. the place of the lake country on the continental alignment and the imperial situation of chicago, and later of omaha, came to be realized. the new view transformed men's conceptions of every port on the great lakes in the chain from buffalo to chicago. at a dozen southern ports on ontario, erie, huron, and michigan, commerce now touched the swiftest and most economical means of transcontinental traffic. this development culminated in the miracle we call chicago. in not a line of rail entered the town; its population then numbered about twenty-five thousand and its property valuation approximated seven millions. ten years later four thousand miles of railway connected with all four points of the compass a city of nearly one hundred thousand people, and property valuation had increased five hundred per cent. the growth of buffalo, cleveland, and detroit during this period was also phenomenal. when the crisis of came, the service performed by the walk-in-the-water and her successors was seen in its true light. the great lakes as avenues of migration had played a providential part in filling a northern empire with a proud and loyal race; from farm and factory regiment on regiment marched forth to fight for unity; from fields without number produce to sustain a nation on trial poured forth in abundance; enormous quantities of iron were at hand for the casting of cannon and cannon balls; and, finally, pathways of water and steel were in readiness in the nick of time to carry these resources where they would count tremendously in the four long years of conflict. chapter xi the steamboat and the west two great fields of service lay open before those who were to achieve by steam the mastery of the inland waterways. on the one hand the cotton kingdom of the south, now demanding great stores of manufactured goods, produce, and machinery, was waiting to be linked to the valleys and industrial cities of the middle west; and, on the other hand, along those great eastward and westward rivers, the ohio and missouri, lay the commerce of the prairies and the great plains. but before the steamboat could serve the inland commerce of the west, it had to be constructed on new lines. the craft brought from the seaboard were of too deep draft to navigate shallow streams which ran through this more level country. the task of constructing a great inland river marine to play the dual rôle of serving the cotton empire and of extending american migration and commerce into the trans-mississippi region was solved by henry shreve when he built the washington at wheeling in . shreve was the american john hawkins. hawkins, that sturdy old admiral of elizabethan days, took the english ship of his time, trimmed down the high stern and poop decks, and cut away the deep-lying prow and stern, after the fashion of our modern cup defenders, and in a day gave england the key to sea mastery in the shape of a new ship that would take sail and answer her rudder beyond anything the maritime world until then had known. shreve, like hawkins, flagrantly ignoring the conventional wisdom of his day and craft, built the washington to sail on the water instead of in it, doing away altogether with a hold and supplying an upper deck in its place. to few inventors, indeed, does america owe a greater debt of thanks than to this ohio river shipbuilder. a dozen men were on the way to produce a clermont had fulton failed; but shreve had no rival in his plan to build a flat-bottomed steamboat. the remarkable success of his design is attested by the fact that in two decades the boats built on his model outweighed in tonnage all the ships of the atlantic seaboard and great lakes combined. immediately the ohio became in effect the western extension of the great national highway and opened an easy pathway for immigration to the eastern as well as the western lands of the mississippi basin. the story goes that an old phlegmatic negro watched the approach of one of the first steamboats to the wharf of a southern city. like many others, he had doubted the practicability of this new-fangled yankee notion. the boat, however, came and went with ease and dispatch. the old negro was converted. "by golly," he shouted, waving his cap, "the mississippi's got her massa now." the mississippi had indeed found her master, but only by slow degrees and after intervals of protracted rebellion did she succumb to that master. luckily, however, there was at hand an army of unusual men--the "alligator-horses" of the flatboat era--upon whom the steamboat could call with supreme confidence that they would not fail. theodore roosevelt has said of the western pioneers that they "had to be good and strong--especially, strong." if these men upon whom the success of the steamboat depended were not always good, they were beyond any doubt behemoths in strength. the task before them, however, was a task worthy of hercules. the great river boldly fought its conquerors, asking and giving no quarter, biding its time when opposed by the brave but crushing the fearful on sight. in one respect alone could it be depended upon--it was never the same. it is said to bring down annually four hundred million tons of mud, but its eccentricity in deciding where to wash away and where to deposit its load is still the despair of river pilots. the great river could destroy islands and build new ones overnight with the nonchalance of a child playing with clay. it could shorten itself thirty miles at a single lunge. it could move inland towns to its banks and leave river towns far inland. it transferred the town of delta, for instance, from three miles below vicksburg to two miles above it. men have gone to sleep in one state and have wakened unharmed in another, because the river decided in the night to alter the boundary line. in this way the village of hard times, the original site of which was in louisiana, found itself eventually in mississippi. were la salle to descend the river today by the route he traversed two and a half centuries ago, he would follow dry ground most of the way, for the river now lies practically everywhere either to the right or left of its old course. if the mississippi could perform such miracles upon its whole course without a show of effort, what could it not do with the little winding canal through its center called by pilots the "channel"? the flatboatmen had laboriously acquired the art of piloting the commerce of the west through this mazy, shifting channel, but as steamboats developed in size and power the man at the wheel had to become almost a superman. he needed to be. he must know the stage of water anywhere by a glance at the river banks. he must guess correctly the amount of "fill" at the head of dangerous chutes, detect bars "working down," distinguish between bars and "sand reefs" or "wind reefs" or "bluff reefs" by night as well as by day, avoid the "breaks" in the "graveyard" behind goose island, navigate the hat island chutes, or find the "middle crossing" at hole-in-the-wall. he must navigate his craft in fogs, in storms, in the face of treacherous winds, on black nights, with thousands of dollars' worth of cargo and hundreds of lives at stake. as the golfer knows each knoll and tuft of grass on his home links, so the pilot learned his river by heart. said one of these pilots to an apprentice: you see this has got to be learned.... a clear starlight night throws such heavy shadows that if you didn't know the shape of a shore perfectly you would claw away from every bunch of timber because you would take the black shadow of it for a solid cape; and you see you would be getting scared to death every fifteen minutes by the watch. you would be fifty yards from shore all the time when you ought to be within fifty feet of it. you can't see a snag in one of those shadows, but you know exactly where it is, and the shape of the river tells you when you are coming to it. then there's your pitch-dark night; the river is a very different shape on a pitch-dark night from what it is on a starlight night. all shores seem to be straight lines, then, and mighty dim ones, too; and you'd run them for straight lines only you know better. you boldly drive your boat right into what seems to be a solid, straight wall (you knowing very well that in reality there is a curve there) and that wall falls back and makes way for you. then there's your gray mist. you take a night when there's one of these grisly, drizzly, gray mists, and then there isn't any particular shape to a shore. a gray mist would tangle the head of the oldest man that ever lived. well, then, different kinds of moonlight change the shape of the river in different ways.... you only learn the shape of the river; and you learn it with such absolute certainty that you can always steer by the shape that's in your head and never mind the one that's before your eyes. ¹ ¹ mark twain, life on the mississippi, pp. - . no wonder that the two hundred miles of the mississippi from the mouth of the ohio to st. louis in time contained the wrecks of two hundred steamboats. the river trade reached its zenith between and , in the two decades previous to the civil war, that period before the railroads began to parallel the great rivers. it was a time which saw the rise of ohio, indiana, illinois, missouri, iowa, and arkansas, and which witnessed the spread of the cotton kingdom into the southwest. the story of king cotton's conquest of the mississippi south is best told in statistics. in , the year of the first voyage which the new orleans made down the ohio river, tennessee, louisiana, and mississippi exported five million pounds of cotton. in these same states exported almost two hundred million pounds of cotton. to take care of this crop and to supply the cotton country, which was becoming wealthy, with the necessaries and luxuries of life, more and more steamboats were needed. the great shipyards situated, because of the proximity of suitable timber, at st. louis, cincinnati, and louisville became busy hives, not since paralleled except by such centers of shipbuilding as hog island in - , during the time of the great war. the steamboat tonnage of the mississippi valley (exclusive of new orleans) in the hustling forties exceeded that of the atlantic ports (exclusive of new york city) by , tons. the steamboat tonnage of new orleans alone in was more than double that of new york city. those who, if the old story is true, ran in fear to the hills when the little new orleans went puffing down the ohio, in , would have been doubly amazed at the splendid development in the art of boat building, could they have seen the stately sultana or southern belle of the fifties sweep swiftly by. after a period of gaudy ornamentation ( - ) steamboat architecture settled down, as has that of pullman cars today, to sane and practical lines, and the boats gained in length and strength, though they contained less weight of timber. the value of one of the greater boats of this era would be about fifty thousand dollars. when captain bixby made his celebrated night crossing at hat island a quarter of a million dollars in ship and cargo would have been the price of an error in judgment, according to mark twain, ¹ a good authority. ¹ op. cit., p. . the yorktown, built in for the ohio-mississippi trade, was typical of that epoch of inland commerce. her length was feet, breadth of beam feet, and the diameter of wheels feet. though her hold was feet in depth, yet she drew but feet of water light and barely over feet when loaded with tons of freight. she had boilers, feet long and inches in diameter, double engines, and two -inch cylinders. the stateroom cabin had come in with captain isaiah sellers's prairie in , the first boat with such luxuries ever seen in st. louis, according to sellers. the yorktown had private cabins. it is interesting to compare the yorktown with the queen of the west, the giant british steamer built for the falmouth-calcutta trade in . the queen of the west had a length of feet, a beam of feet, a draft of feet, and private cabins. the building of this great vessel led a writer in the new york american to say: "it would really seem that we as a nation had no interest in this new application of steam power, or no energy to appropriate it to our own use." the statement--written in a day when the mississippi steamboat tonnage exceeded that of the entire british empire--is one of the best examples of provincial ignorance concerning the west. on these steamboats there was a multiplicity of arrangements and equipments for preventing and for fighting fire. one of the innovations on the new boats in this particular was the substitution of wire for the combustible rope formerly used to control the tiller, so that even in time of fire the pilot could "hold her nozzle agin' the bank." much of the great loss of life in steamboat fires had been due to the tiller-ropes being burned and the boats becoming unmanageable. the arrival of the railroad at the head of the ohio river in the early fifties brought the east into an immediate touch with the mississippi valley unknown before. but however bold railway engineers were in the face of the ragged ranges of the alleghanies, they could not then out-guess the tricks of the ohio, the mississippi, or the missouri, and railway promoters could not afford to take chances on having their stations and tracks unexpectedly isolated, if not actually carried away, by swirling, yellow floods. the mississippi, too, had been known at times to achieve a width of seventy miles, and tributaries have overflowed their banks to a proportionate extent. it was several decades ere the ohio was paralleled by a railway, and the mississippi for long distances even today has not yet heard the shrill cry of the locomotive. so the steamboat entered its heyday and encountered little competition. until the civil war the rivers of the west remained the great arteries of trade, carrying grain and merchandise of every description southward and bringing back cotton, rice, and sugar. the rivalries of the great lines of packets established in these days of the steamboat, however, equaled anything ever known in railway competition, and, in the matter of fast time, became more spectacular than anything of its kind in any line of transportation in our country. with flags flying, boilers heated white with abundance of pine and resin, and bold and skillful pilots at the steering wheels, no sport of kings ever aroused the enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands to such a pitch as did many of the old-time races northward from new orleans. the j. m. white and her performances stand out conspicuously in the annals of the river. her builder, familiarly known to a generation of rivermen as billy king, deserves to rank with henry shreve. commissioned in to build the j. m. white for j. m. converse of st. louis, with funds supplied by robert chouteau of that city, king proceeded to put into effect the knowledge which he had derived from a close study of the swells made by steamboats when under way. when the boat was being built in the famous shipyards at elizabeth, on the monongahela, the wheel beams were set twenty feet farther back than was customary. converse was struck with this unheard-of radicalism in design, and balked; king was a man given to few words; he was resolved to throw convention to the winds and trust his judgment; he refused to build the boat on other lines. converse felt compelled to let chouteau pass on the question; in time the laconic answer came: "let king put the beams where he pleases." thus the craft which converse thought a monstrosity became known far and wide for both its design and its speed. in the j. m. white made the record of three days, twenty-three hours, and nine minutes between new orleans and st. louis. ¹ of course the secret of billy king's success soon became known. he had placed his paddle wheels where they would bite into the swell produced by every boat just under its engines. he had transformed what had been a handicap into a positive asset. it is said that he attempted to shield his prize against competition by destroying the model of the j. m. white, as well as to have refused large offers to build a boat that would beat her. but it is said also that an exhibition model of the boat was a cherished possession of e. m. stanton, secretary of war, and that it hung in his office during lincoln's administration. ¹ this performance is illustrated by the following comparative table showing the best records of later years between new orleans and st. louis, a distance estimated in as miles but in as miles, owing to the action of the river in shortening its course. year boat time j. m. white d. h. m. missouri d. h. -- dexter d. h. -- natchez d. h. m. r. e. lee d. h. m. the steamboat now extended its service to the west and north. the ancient fur trade with the indians of the upper mississippi, the missouri, and the arkansas, had its headquarters at st. louis, whence the notable band of men engaged in that trade were reaching out to the rockies. the roll includes ashley, campbell, sublette, manuel lisa, perkins, hempstead, william clark, labadie, the chouteaus, and menard--men of different races and colors and alike only in their energy, bravery, and initiative. through them the village of st. louis had grown to a population of four thousand in , when major long's expedition passed up the missouri in the first steamboat to ascend that river. this boat, the western engineer, was built at pittsburgh and was modeled cunningly for its work. it was one of the first stern wheelers built in the west; and the saving in width meant much on streams having such narrow channels as the missouri and the platte, especially when barges were to be towed. then, too, its machinery, which was covered over or boarded up, was shrouded in mystery. a fantastic figure representing a serpent's open mouth contained the exhaust pipe. if the new orleans alarmed the population of the ohio valley, the sensation caused among the red children of the missouri at the sight of this gigantic snake belching fire and smoke must have thoroughly satisfied the whim of its designer. the admission of missouri to statehood and the independence of mexico mark the beginning of real commercial relations between st. louis and santa fé. in captain william becknell organized the first wagon train which left the missouri (at franklin, near independence) for the long dangerous journey to the arkansas and on to santa fé. in the following year two expeditions set forth, carrying out cottons and other drygoods to exchange for horses, mules, furs, and silver. despite the handicaps of indian opposition and mexican tariffs, the santa fé trade became an important factor in the growth of st. louis and the missouri river steamboat lines. in the pathway was "surveyed" from franklin to san fernando, then in mexico. this santa fé trade grew from fifteen thousand pounds of freight in to nearly half a million pounds twenty years later. by steamboat traffic up the missouri began to assume regularity. the navigation was dangerous and difficult because the missouri never kept even an approximately constant head of water. in times of drought it became very shallow, and in times of flood it tore its wayward course open in any direction it chose. "of all variable things in creation," wrote a western editor, "the most uncertain are the action of a jury, the state of a woman's mind, and the condition of the missouri river." a further handicap, and one which was unknown on the ohio and rare on the mississippi, was the lack of forests to supply the necessary fuel. the missouri, it is true, had its cottonwoods, but in a green state they were poor fuel, and along vast stretches they were not obtainable in any quantity. the steamboat linked st. louis with that vital stretch of the river lying between the mouth of the kansas and the mouth of the nebraska. from this region the great western trail ran on to california and oregon. in the early thirties bonneville, walker, kelley, and wyeth successively essayed this overland trail by way of the platte through the south pass of the rockies to the humboldt, snake, and columbia rivers. from independence on the missouri this famous pathway led to fort laramie, a distance of miles; another -mile climb brought the traveler through south pass; and so, by way of fort bridger, salt lake, and sutter's fort, to san francisco. the route, well known by hundreds of oregon pioneers in the early forties, became a thoroughfare in the eager days of the forty-niners. ¹ ¹ for map see the passing of the frontier, by emerson hough (in the chronicles of america). the earliest overland stage line to great salt lake was established by hockaday and liggett. after the founding of the famous overland stage company by russell, majors, and waddell in , stages were soon ascending the platte from the steamboat terminals on the missouri and making the twelve hundred miles from st. joseph to salt lake city in ten days. stations were established from ten to fifteen miles apart, and the line was soon extended on to sacramento. the nineteen hundred miles from st. joseph to sacramento were made in fifteen days, although the government contract with the company for handling united states mail allowed nineteen days. a host of employees was engaged in this exciting but not very remunerative enterprise--station-agents and helpers, drivers, conductors who had charge of passengers, in addition to mail and express and road agents who acted as division superintendents. in the overland route was taken over by the renowned ben holliday, who operated it until the railway was constructed seven years later. freight was hauled by the same company in wagons known as the "j. murphy wagons," which were made in st. louis. these wagons went out from leavenworth loaded with six thousand pounds of freight each. a train usually consisted of twenty-five wagons and was known, in the vernacular of the plains, as a "bull-outfit"; the drivers were "bull-whackers"; and the wagon master was the "bull-wagon boss." the old story, however, was repeated again here on the boundless plains of the west. the western trails streaming out from the terminus of steamboat traffic between kansas city and omaha had scarcely time to become well known before the railway conquerors of the atlantic and great lakes regions were planning the conquest of the greater plains and the rockies beyond. the opening of the chinese ports in turned men's minds as never before to the pacific coast. the acquisition of oregon within a few years and of california at the close of the mexican war opened the way for a newspaper and congressional discussion as to whether the first railway to parallel the santa fé or the overland trail should run from memphis, st. louis, or chicago. the building of the union pacific from omaha westward assured the future of that city, and it was soon joined to chicago and the east by several lines which were building toward clinton, rock island, and burlington. but the construction of a few main lines of railway across the continent could only partially satisfy the commercial needs of the west. true, the overland trade was at once transferred to the railroad, but the enormous equipment of stage and express companies previously employed in westward overland trade was now devoted to joining the railway lines with the vast regions to the north and the south. the rivers of the west could not alone take care of this commerce and for many years these great transportation companies went with their stages and their wagons into the growing dakota and montana trade and opened up direct lines of communication to the nearest railway. on the south the cattle industry of texas came northward into touch with the railways of kansas. eventually lateral and trunk lines covered the west with their network of lines and thus obliterated all rivalry and competition by providing unmatched facilities for quick transportation. in the last days previous to the opening of the first transcontinental railway line a unique method of rapid transportation for mail and light parcels was established when the famous "pony express" line was put into operation between st. joseph and san francisco in . by relays of horsemen, who carried pouches not exceeding twenty pounds in weight, the time was cut to nine days. the innovation was the new wonder of the world for the time being and led to an outburst on the part of the enthusiastic editor of the st. joseph free democrat that deserves reading because it breathes so fully the western spirit of exultant conquest: take down your map and trace the footprints of our quadrupedantic animal: from st. joseph, on the missouri, to san francisco, on the golden horn--two thousand miles--more than half the distance across our boundless continent; through kansas, through nebraska, by fort kearney, along the platte, by fort laramie, past the buttes, over the mountains, through the narrow passes and along the steep defiles, utah, fort bridger, salt lake city, he witches brigham with his swift pony-ship--through the valleys, along the grassy slopes, into the snow, into the sand, faster than thor's thialfi, away they go, rider and horse--did you see them? they are in california, leaping over its golden sands, treading its busy streets. the courser has unrolled to us the great american panorama, allowed us to glance at the home of one million people, and has put a girdle around the earth in forty minutes. verily the riding is like the riding of jehu, the son of nimshi for he rideth furiously. take out your watch. we are eight days from new york, eighteen from london. the race is to the swift. ¹ ¹ quoted in inman's the great salt lake trail, p. . the lifetime of many and many a man has covered a period longer than that interval of eighty-six years between , when george washington had his vision of "the vast inland navigation of these united states," and the year , when the two divisions of the union pacific were joined by a golden spike at promontory point in utah. in point of time, those eighty-six years are as nothing; in point of accomplishment, they stand unparalleled. when washington's horse splashed across the youghiogheny in october, , the boundary lines of the united states were guarded with all the jealousy and provincial selfishness of european kingdoms. but overnight, so to speak, these limitations became no more than mere geometrical expressions. "pennamite," "erie," and "toledo" wars between the states, suggesting a world of bitterness and recrimination, are remembered today, if at all, only by the cartoonist and the playwright. the ancient false pride in mock values, so cherished in europe, has quite departed from the provincial areas of the united states, and americans can fly in a day, unwittingly, through many states. problems that would have cost europe blood are settled without turmoil in the solemn cloisters of that american "international tribunal," the supreme court, and they appear only as items of passing interest in our newspapers. in unifying the nation the influence of the supreme court has been priceless, for it has given to americans, in place of the colonial or provincial mind, a continental mind. but great is the debt of americans to the men who laid the foundations of interstate commerce. no antidote served so well to counteract the poison of clannish rivalry as did their enthusiasm and their constructive energy. these men, dreamers and promoters, were building better than they knew. they thought to overcome mountains, obliterate swamps, conquer stormy lakes, master great rivers and endless plains; but, as their labors are judged today, the greater service which these men rendered appears in its true light. they stifled provincialism; they battered down chinese walls of prejudice and separatism; they reduced the aimless rivalry of bickering provinces to a businesslike common denominator; and, perhaps more than any class of men, they made possible the wide-spreading and yet united republic that is honored and loved today. bibliographical note the history of the early phase of american transportation is dealt with in three general works. john luther ringwalt's development of transportation systems in the united states ( ) is a reliable summary of the general subject at the time. archer b. hulbert's historic highways of america, vols. ( - ), is a collection of monographs of varying quality written with youthful enthusiasm by the author, who traversed in good part the main pioneer roads and canals of the eastern portion of the united states; indian trails, portage paths, the military roads of the old french war period, the ohio river as a pathway of migration, the cumberland road, and three of the canals which played a part in the western movement, form the subject of the more valuable volumes. the temptation of a writer on transportation to wander from his subject is illustrated in this work, as it is illustrated afresh in seymour dunbar's a history of travel in america, vols. ( ). the reader will take great pleasure in this magnificently illustrated work, which, in completer fashion than it has ever been attempted, gives a readable running story of the whole subject for the whole country, despite detours, which some will make around the many pages devoted to indian relations. for almost every phase of the general topic books, monographs, pamphlets, and articles are to be found in the corners of any great library, ranging in character from such productions as william f. ganong's a monograph of historic sites in the province of new brunswick (proceedings and transactions of the royal society of canada, second series, vol. v, ) which treats of early travel in new england and canada, or st. george l. sioussat's highway legislation in maryland and its influence on the economic development of the state (maryland geological survey, iii, ) treating of colonial road making and legislation thereon, or elbert j. benton's the wabash trade route in the development of the old northwest (johns hopkins university studies in historical and political science, vol. xxi, ) and julius winden's the influence of the erie canal upon the population along its course (university of wisconsin, ), which treat of the economic and political influence of the opening of inland water routes, to volumes of a more popular character such as francis w. halsey's the old new york frontier ( ), frank h. severance's old trails on the niagara frontier ( ) for the north, and charles a. hanna's the wilderness trail, vols. ( ), and thomas speed's the wilderness road (the filson club publications, vol. ii, ) for pennsylvania, virginia, and kentucky. the value of hanna's work deserves special mention. for the early phases of inland navigation john pickell's a new chapter in the early life of washington ( ), is an excellent work of the old-fashioned type, while in herbert b. adams's maryland's influence upon land cessions to the united states (johns hopkins university studies in historical and political science, third series, i, ) a master-hand pays washington his due for originating plans of trans-alleghany solidarity; this likewise is the theme of archer b. hulbert's washington and the west ( ) wherein is printed washington's diary of september, , containing the first and unexpurgated draft of his classic letter to harrison of that year. the publications of the various societies for internal improvement and state boards of control and a few books, such as turner camac's facts and arguments respecting the great utility of an extensive plan of inland navigation in america ( ), give the student distinct impressions of the difficulties and the ideals of the first great american promoters of inland commerce. elkanah watson's history of the ... western canals in the state of new york ( ), despite inaccuracies due to lapses of memory, should be specially remarked. for the rise and progress of turnpike building one must remember w. kingsford's history, structure, and statistics of plank roads ( ), a reliable book by a careful writer. the cumberland (national) road has its political influence carefully adjudged by jeremiah s. young in a political and constitutional study of the cumberland road ( ), while the social and personal side is interestingly treated in county history style in thomas b. searight's the old pike ( ). motorists will appreciate robert bruce's the national road ( ), handsomely illustrated and containing forty-odd sectional maps. the best life of fulton is h. w. dickinson's robert fulton, engineer and artist: his life and works ( ), while in alice crary sutcliffe's robert fulton and the "clermont" ( ), the more intimate picture of a family biography is given. for the controversy concerning the fulton-livingston monopoly, note w. a. duer's a course of lectures on constitutional jurisprudence and his pamphlets addressed to cadwallader d. colden. the life of that stranger to success, the forlorn john fitch, was written sympathetically and after assiduous research by thompson westcott in his life of john fitch the inventor of the steamboat ( ). for the pamphlet war between fitch and rumsey see allibone's dictionary. the great lakes have not been adequately treated. e. channing and m. f. lansing's the story of the great lakes ( ) is reliable but deals very largely with the routine history covered by the works of parkman. j. o. curwood's the great lakes ( ) is stereotyped in its scope but has certain chapters of interest to students of commercial development, as has also the story of the great lakes. the vast bulk of material of value on the subject lies in the publications of the new york, buffalo, michigan, wisconsin, illinois, and chicago historical societies, whose lists should be consulted. these publications also give much data on the mississippi river and western commercial development. s. l. clemens's life on the mississippi (in his writings, vol. ix, - ) is invaluable for its graphic pictures of steamboating in the heyday of river traffic. a. b. hulbert's waterways of western expansion (historic highways, vol. ix, ) and the ohio river ( ) give chapters on commerce and transportation. for the beginnings of traffic into the far west, h. inman's the old santa fé trail ( ) and the great salt lake trail ( ) may be consulted, together with the publications of the various state historical societies of the trans-mississippi states. various bibliographies on this general subject have been issued by the library of congress. seymour dunbar gives a good bibliography in his a history of travel in america, vols. ( ). the student will find quantities of material in books of travel, in which connection he would do well to consult solon j. buck's travel and description, - (illinois state historical library collections, vol. ix, ). index a. adams, j. q., and internal improvements, . albany, old bay path to, ; road to baltimore, ; clermont's voyage to, . alexandria (va.), rival of new york city, . alleghanies, pathways across, - , et seq. allegheny portage railway, . american, new york, quoted, . appalachian mountains, pathways across, - . arkansas, influence of river trade on, . "army" plan of occupying west, . ashley, fur trader, . audubon, j. j., description of barge journey, - . b. baily, francis, journey in united states ( - ), - ; quoted, - . balcony falls, trail between james and great kanawha rivers at, . baltimore, road to albany, ; part in transportation development, - , - . baltimore and ohio railroad, ; washington's vision realized by, ; follows old trail, , ; state appropriation, ; contest with canal company, - ; reaches ohio, , . baltimore-frederick turnpike, . baltimore-reisterstown turnpike, - , . baring brothers contribute to canal work, . bay path, see old bay path. becknell, captain william, organizes first wagon train for sante fé, . bedford, fort, established, . bixby, captain, at hat island, . black hawk war ( ), . bonneville, captain b. l. e., on overland trail, . "bonnyclabber country," , . boone, daniel, . bouquet, colonel henry, criticizes washington, . boston and albany railroad, , . boulton and watt of birmingham, fulton uses engine of, , . braddock's road, . brissot, french traveler in america, , . broad river, trail on, . brown, charles, builds hull of clermont, . brown, george, and baltimore and ohio railroad, . brownsville (penn.) growth of, . bryan, guy, of philadelphia, . buffalo, demand for means of transportation, , ; harbor improvement, ; growth, . buffalo-utica canal, ; see also erie canal. bunting, "red," stagecoach driver, . burt, w. a., discovers iron ore in michigan, - . c. calhoun, j. c., and internal improvements, . california, western trail to, ; acquisition of, . campbell, fur trader, . canals, early projects, - ; inadequacy of, ; in the west, et seq.; see also chesapeake and ohio canal, erie canal, welland canal. catskill turnpike, . céloron de blainville sends english traders from ohio country, - . charleston (s. c.), trails to tennessee from, . charleston (wellsburg) made port of entry, . charlotte dundas (steamboat), , . chastellux, chevalier de, washington's letter to, . chesapeake and ohio canal, washington's vision realized in, ; plan for, , , ; company formed, ; engineering difficulties, ; state subscription, ; contest with baltimore and ohio railroad, - . chesapeake and ohio railroad, ; washington's vision realized in, ; follows old route, . chicago, harbor improvement, , ; canal terminal, ; growth, - , ; demand for means of transportation, , ; convention discusses rivers and harbors ( ), ; illinois central railroad to, . chickasaw trail, . chillicothe (o.), grant to zane at, . china, influence on west of opening ports, . chiswell, fort, "warrior's path" from, . choctaw trail, . chouteau, robert, . cincinnati, founded, ; ship-building, , ; made port of entry, ; see also columbia. clark, william, fur trader, . clay, henry, and internal improvements, ; on western canal project, . clermont (steamboat), , - . cleveland, demand for means of transportation, , ; harbor improvement, ; growth, . clinton, dewitt, memorial ( ), ; and ohio and miami canals, . columbia (cincinnati), port of entry, , ; baily at, ; see also cincinnati. comet (steamboat), . conemaugh river, kittanning trail follows, . congress, fitch appeals to, ; appropriation for canal survey, . connecticut path, . connecticut river, old bay path, . connellsville (penn.), growth of, . converse, j. m., . cooper, peter, builds engine tom thumb, . cotton, influence on river navigation, . cowpens, description of inhabitants, - . crawford, agent for washington, letter to, . crisman, jesse, owner of hit or miss, . cumberland (md.), eastern terminus of cumberland road, . cumberland gap, "warrior's path" through, ; railroad through, . cumberland road, ; washington's vision realized in, ; building authorized, - ; importance, ; plan, - ; route, - ; building of, - ; cost, ; stage lines, - ; freight traffic, - ; extension to missouri, ; baltimore and, - ; bibliography, . d. day, sherman, quoted, . deane, silas, plan for payment of revolutionary war debt, - . delaware water gap, . delta (la.), changed by mississippi river, . detroit, washington marks out commercial lines to, ; port of entry, ; demand for transportation facilities, ; harbor, ; growth, . detroit (lake steamer), . dickens, charles, cited, ; describes canal boat journey, - ; describes aerial railway, - . doddridge, notes, quoted, - . doolittle, sylvester, builds vandalia, . duane (ship), - . duquesne, fort, , , . e. enterprise (steamboat), . "era of good feeling," . erie (penn.), as place of embarkation, ; port of entry, . erie canal, , , , - ; washington foresees, , ; work begun ( ), , ; hawley writes challenge to new york concerning, ; state enterprise, , - , ; hawley's original plan, ; building of, - ; completion, ; locks enlarged, . erie railroad, ; washington forecasts, - ; follows indian trade route, . "erie" war, . evans, oliver, and steam propelled wagon, - . everett, edward, quoted, - . f. fallen timber, battle of, . ferries, - . fink, mike, "the snag," ; "snapping turtle," . fitch, john, steamboat experiments, , - , - ; petition to congress, - ; obtains monopoly from states, ; fulton and, . forbes, general john, captures fort duquesne, ; breaks army road, . forman, joshua, bill for erie canal project, . franklin, benjamin, on making rivers navigable, ; and international boundary line, . frederick (md.), trail from, . free democrat, st. joseph, quoted, - . freeland, h., account of the clermont, - . french as commercial rivals, . fulton, robert, steamboat experiments, , - ; and livingston, - ; on erie canal committee, ; bibliography, . fur trade, french and, ; with illinois country, ; headquarters at st. louis, . g. gallatin, albert, scheme of internal improvements, . geddes, james, engineer, . gibbons, thomas, steamboat competitor of ogden, . great britain, steamboat experiments in, ; fulton imports engine from, , . great kanawha river, washington outlines route by way of, ; as trade route, . great lakes, washington's vision concerning, ; french on, ; navigation of, et seq. great meadows, washington on, ; nemacolin's path by, . "great trail," . great western (lake steamer), . greensburg (penn.), growth of, . greenville, treaty of, . h. hamilton county (o.) organized, . hard times (miss.), location changed by mississippi river, . hawkins, john, shreve compared with, . hawley, jesse, and erie canal, , . hazard, of pennsylvania, ; and lehigh coal, . hempstead, fur trader, . henry clay (steamboat), . hercules (lake freighter), . heydt, jost, leads immigrants south, . "highland trail," , . hit or miss (canal boat), . hockaday and liggett establish stage line to great salt lake, . holliday, ben, and overland route, . horses, pack, ; in "bonnyclabber country," . hough, emerson, the passing of the frontier, cited, (note). houghton, douglass, discovers copper in michigan, . hudson river, washington foresees joining to great lakes, ; pathway along, ; see also erie canal. i. illinois, trade with, ; growth of population, , ; canal fever, , ; railway projects, ; influence of river trade on, . illinois (lake steamer), . illinois central railroad, . illinois-michigan canal, - , , , . illinois river, french on, . independence (mo.), overland trail from, . indiana, migration to, ; growth of population, , ; canal enthusiasm, ; railway projects, ; influence of river trade on, . indians, trails, , ; pack-horse trade with, , . ingles ferry, . iowa, influence of river trade on, . j. j. m. white (river boat), , , . james-kanawha turnpike, . james river, ; washington's vision regarding, , ; as trade route, . jefferson, thomas, plan for settlement of west, . june bug, stagecoach line, . juniata river, kittanning trail along, , . k. keever, captain, builds steamboat on ohio, . kent, chancellor, and erie canal, , . kentucky, wagon road constructed to, - ; migration to, . king, billy, builder of the j. m. white, . kittanning trail, , . knoxville (tenn.), baily reaches, . l. labadie, fur trader, . lake shore railroad, , . lancaster (o.) grant to zane at, . lancaster turnpike, , - . laramie, fort, overland trail to, . lee, arthur, on cost of transportation ( ), . lee, henry, washington writes to, . lehigh coal and navigation company, , . lehigh coal company, - . lehigh navigation company, - . lewis and clark expedition, . liggett and holliday run stage to salt lake, . ligonier (penn.), growth of, . ligonier, fort, . lisa, manuel, fur trader, . livingston, r. r., and fulton, - ; on erie canal committee, . long, major, expedition up missouri river, . louisiana cotton exports, . louisiana of marietta (ship), . louisiana purchase, , . louisville, importance and growth, - ; as river port, - , ; shipbuilding, . ludlow, actor, sings the hunters of kentucky, - . m. mackinaw island, port of entry, . marietta (o.), founded, - ; shipbuilding, ; as port of entry, . maryland, washington outlines trade routes for, ; roads, , , - ; cotton grown in, ; cumberland road, ; canals, , ; canal company formed, ; see also baltimore. massac, fort (ill.), port of entry, ; , ; baily at, . massachusetts, old bay path, ; roads, , - . mauch chunk (penn.), coal from, . maynard and morrison, trade with illinois, . menard, fur trader, . mercer quoted, . miami canal, . michigan, growth of population, , ; plan for erie canal funds from sale of land in, , ; development, ; "toledo war," - ; minerals, . michigan (lake steamer), . milwaukee, demand for transportation facilities, ; harbor improvement, . minnesota, development, . mirror, new york, prints the hunters of kentucky, . mississippi cotton exports, . mississippi river, washington's vision of navigation on, ; french on, ; importance to commerce, ; canal to connect with lake michigan, , ; navigation, et seq.; eccentricities, , . missouri, influence of river trade on, ; admitted as state, . missouri river, navigation on, , , . mohawk river, route through appalachians, . mohawk trail, . mohawk turnpike, . mohawk valley, washington and, . monongahela farmer (ship), . monroe, james, fulton writes to, , , ; recommends congressional aid for canals, . montreal, furs brought to, ; rival of new york city, , . moody, john, the railroad builders, cited, (note). morey, samuel, inventor of stern-wheeler, , , . morgantown (penn.), growth of, . morris, gouverneur, of new york, , . n. nashville (tenn.), trails to, . natchez (miss.), baily at, , . natchez trace, . national, stagecoach line, . nemacolin path, , . newberry, oliver, of detroit, builds michigan, . new madrid, baily at, . new orleans, made open port, ; baily at, ; steamboat tonnage of ( ), . new orleans (steamboat), , , . new york (state), washington foresees communication lines of, ; canal project, - ; roads, , ; livingston obtains steamboat monopoly, ; steamboat grant to livingston, roosevelt and fulton, ; railroads, , ; see also erie canal. new york central railroad, ; washington and, ; follows mohawk trail, , . new york city, baily at, ; erie canal and, , ; tonnage compared to that of river ports, . niagara, french at, . niagara (steamboat), . nickel plate railroad, . northwest, deane's plan for, - ; navigation of great lakes, et seq.; immigration to, - . o. ogden, aaron, vs. gibbon, . ohio, migration to, ; growth of population, , ; and cumberland road, ; canals, - ; admitted as state ( ), ; railroads, ; influence of river trade on, . ohio and lake erie company, . ohio canal, , , , . ohio river, washington and, , ; access of french and english to, ; value of cargoes on ( ), ; baltimore and ohio railroad reaches ( ), , ; navigation, . old bay path, , . ontario (steamboat), . orange, fort (albany), ; see also albany. ordinance of , . oregon, western trail to, ; effect of acquisition on transportation, . orleans (steamboat), . ormsbee, of connecticut, makes steamboat model, . ottawa (ill.) canal terminal, . overland stage company, . overland trail, , . p. palmyra (tenn.), as river port, . pedee river, . "pennamite" war, . pennsylvania, washington and transportation in, , - ; canals, - , ; roads, , , , - , , - , - ; "bonnyclabber country," , ; and great lakes, ; railways, . pennsylvania canal, ; washington forecasts, ; route, ; engineering achievement, - . pennsylvania railroad, , ; washington and, - ; follows indian trail, ; incorporated ( ), ; reaches ohio river, . perkins, fur trader, . philadelphia, roads to, - ; meeting to protest against monopoly of lancaster turnpike, ; baily at, ; rival of new york city, . philadelphia and lancaster turnpike road company, - . philadelphia road, . pickering plan of occupying west, . pike, captain z. m., . pioneer, stagecoach line, . pioneer (steamboat), . pitt, fort, . pittsburgh, growth, , ; trade with, - , - , ; shipbuilding, ; port of entry, ; baily reaches, . platt, judge, and erie canal, , . pontiac's rebellion, - , . "pony express," . potomac canal company, . potomac company, - , . potomac river, washington's vision regarding, , ; commerce on, - . prairie (steamboat), . presq'isle (erie) recommended as place of embarkation, . prices in , . putnam, general rufus, advocates pickering plan, - . q. quebec, furs brought to, . queen of the west (british steamer), . r. railroads, et seq.; see also names of railroads. revolutionary war, plans for payment of debt of, - . rhodes, mayor of philadelphia, . rideau canal system, . rivers and harbors, government policy of improvement, ; chicago convention ( ), . roads, et seq., ; tolls, - ; see also cumberland road. robinson, moncure, - . roosevelt, theodore, quoted, . rumsey, james, ; general manager of potomac company, ; steamboat experiments, , , , ; virginia grants monopoly to, ; fulton and, . russell, majors, and waddell found overland stage company, . rutherfordton trail, . s. sacramento, stage line to, . st. clair (brig), . st. joseph (mo.), stage line from, . st. lawrence canal system, . st. louis, shipbuilding, ; headquarters for fur trade, ; trade with santa fé, . st. mary's river ship canal, , , . salt lake city, stage line to, . samson (lake freighter), . sandusky, port of entry, . san francisco, overland trail to, . san lorenzo, treaty of, . santa fé, trade with, . santa fé trail, . "sapphire country," , . saturday advertiser, liverpool, on the duane, - . schoph, j. d., crosses mountains in chaise, . schuylkill-susquehanna canal, . searight describes freight wagons on cumberland road, - . sellers, captain isaiah, . shreve, henry, builds double-decked steamboat, ; invents flat-bottomed steamboat, . society for promoting the improvement of roads and inland navigation, , - , , . south, trade with, ; demands for commerce, . southern belle (steamboat), . southern chesapeake and ohio railroad, . southern railway, . stanton, e. m., has model of j. m. white, . stephenson, robert, on pennsylvania canal, . stevens, e. a., invents twin-screw propeller, . sublette, fur trader, . sultana (steamboat), . superior (steamboat), , . superior, lake, copper and iron deposits near, ; commerce from, - . susquehanna river, washington foresees joining to west, . t. taverns, - , - . taylor, acting-governor of new york, and erie canal, , . tennessee, trails to, ; cotton exports, . tennessee path, baily on, . thackeray, w. m., quoted, . thomas, p. e., and baltimore and ohio railroad, . thompson, chief justice of new york, and erie canal, . toledo (o.), demand for transportation facilities, . "toledo war," - , . tom thumb, peter cooper's engine, . transportation, conestoga wagons, - , ; steamboats, et seq.; stagecoaches, ; "j. murphy wagons," ; see also canals, ferries, horses, railroads, roads. tupper, general benjamin, . twain, mark, cited, . tyson, jonathan, . u. unaka mountains, see alleghanies. union canal, , , ; see also pennsylvania canal. union pacific railroad, , . uniontown (penn.), growth of, . v. vandalia (lake freighter), . vesuvius (steamboat), . virginia, washington's vision of trade routes for, ; indian trails, ; roads, - , , ; negroes, ; tobacco, ; canals, , . virginia road (braddock's road), . w. walk-in-the-water (steamboat), , , , . "warrior's path," , . washington (d. c.), baily at, , - . washington, first double-decked steamboat, , . washington, fort, . washington, george, vision of inland navigation, et seq., ; doctrine of expansion, ; journey to west, - ; letter to harrison, , , , ; journal, ; and river improvement, ; president of potomac company, ; and army roads, ; and crop rotation, ; prophecy regarding millstones, - ; rumsey and, - , - . watauga, fort, . waters, dr., of new madrid, builds schooner, . watson, elkanah, of new york, , , , , . wayne, anthony, . webster, pelatiah, and settlement of northwest, . weiser, conrad, . welch, sylvester, . welland canal, , , , , . western engineer (steamboat), . western inland lock navigation company, , - . western maryland railway, . westfield river, old bay path along, . westover, stagecoach driver, - . wheeling, western terminus of cumberland road, . white, of pennsylvania, , , . wickham, nathan, . wilderness road, , . winchester (va.), trail from, . wisconsin, development of, . woodworth, samuel, the hunters of kentucky, - ; the old oaken bucket, . y. yadkin river, trail on, . yates, judge, and erie canal, . yoder, jacob, - . york road, . yorktown (steamboat), , . z. zane, ebenezer, , . zanesville (o.), grants to zane near, . the chronicles of america series . the red man's continent by ellsworth huntington . the spanish conquerors by irving berdine richman . elizabethan sea-dogs by william charles henry wood . the crusaders of new france by william bennett munro . pioneers of the old south by mary johnson . the fathers of new england by charles mclean andrews . dutch and english on the hudson by maud wilder goodwin . the quaker colonies by sydney george fisher . colonial folkways by charles mclean andrews . the conquest of new france by george mckinnon wrong . the eve of the revolution by carl lotus becker . washington and his comrades in arms by george mckinnon wrong . the fathers of the constitution by max farrand . washington and his colleagues by henry jones ford . jefferson and his colleagues by allen johnson . john marshall and the constitution by edward samuel corwin . the fight for a free sea by ralph delahaye paine . pioneers of the old southwest by constance lindsay skinner . the old northwest by frederic austin ogg . the reign of andrew jackson by frederic austin ogg . the paths of inland commerce by archer butler hulbert . adventurers of oregon by constance lindsay skinner . the spanish borderlands by herbert eugene bolton . texas and the mexican war by nathaniel wright stephenson . the forty-niners by stewart edward white . the passing of the frontier by emerson hough . the cotton kingdom by william e. dodd . the anti-slavery crusade by jesse macy . abraham lincoln and the union by nathaniel wright stephenson . the day of the confederacy by nathaniel wright stephenson . captains of the civil war by william charles henry wood . the sequel of appomattox by walter lynwood fleming . the american spirit in education by edwin e. slosson . the american spirit in literature by bliss perry . our foreigners by samuel peter orth . the old merchant marine by ralph delahaye paine . the age of invention by holland thompson . the railroad builders by john moody . the age of big business by burton jesse hendrick . the armies of labor by samuel peter orth . the masters of capital by john moody . the new south by holland thompson . the boss and the machine by samuel peter orth . the cleveland era by henry jones ford . the agrarian crusade by solon justus buck . the path of empire by carl russell fish . theodore roosevelt and his times by harold howland . woodrow wilson and the world war by charles seymour . the canadian dominion by oscar d. skelton . the hispanic nations of the new world by william r. shepherd historic highways of america . paths of the mound-building indians and great game animals . indian thoroughfares . washington's road (nemacolin's path): the first chapter of the old french war . braddock's road and three relative papers . the old glade (forbes) road: pennsylvania state road . boone's wilderness road . portage paths: the keys of the continent . military roads of the mississippi basin: the conquest of the old northwest . waterways of westward expansion: the ohio river and its tributaries . the cumberland road . pioneer roads and experiences of travelers: volume i . pioneer roads and experiences of travelers: volume ii . the great american canals: volume i the chesapeake and ohio canal and pennsylvania canal . the great american canals: volume ii the erie canal . the future of road-making in america: a symposium . index archer hulbert completed a fifteen-part series from - on the historic highways of america, which he distilled into this one volume for the chronicles of america series. project gutenberg offers thirteen of the fifteen volumes in the historic roads series. we are also missing the sixteenth volume from our collection, which is an index of the other fifteen volumes. transcriber's notes introduction: the chronicles of america series has two similar editions of each volume in the series. one version is the abraham lincoln edition of the series, a premium version which includes full-page pictures. a textbook edition was also produced, which does not contain the pictures and captions associated with the pictures, but is otherwise the same book. this book was produced to match the textbook edition of the book. we have retained the original punctuation and spelling in the book, but there are a few exceptions. obvious errors were corrected--and all of these changes can be found in the detailed notes section of these notes. the detailed notes section also includes issues that have come up during transcription. one common issue is that words are sometimes split into two lines for spacing purposes in the original text. these words are hyphenated in the physical book, but there is a question sometimes as to whether the hyphen should be retained in transcription. the reasons behind some of these decisions are itemized. detailed notes section: chapter on page , pack-saddles was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. the word was used inside a quote, so prior references may not give us the right transcription. however, it is the best information that we have available. on page , packsaddle was not hyphenated and appeared in the middle of a line. a word with the same prefix, pack-horse, was consistently spelled with a hyphen. we transcribed the word without the hyphen, because the evidence suggests that the author intended packsaddles without the hyphen, but pack-horse and pack-horsemen with the hyphen. chapter on page , stock-holders was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. on page , stockholders was spelled without a hyphen. also, on page , stockholders was spelled without a hyphen. we transcribed the word without the hyphen. chapter on page , stage-coach was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. in several other instances, stagecoach was spelled without the hyphen. you will find one instance of stage-coach with a hyphen, on page : it is from quoted text. we transcribed the word without the hyphen. chapter on page , pack-horse was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. in many other instances, pack-horse was spelled with the hyphen. we transcribed the word with the hyphen. chapter on page , iron-shod was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. there was no other use of the word in this book. we transcribed the word without the hyphen. on page , stern-wheeler was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. on the same page, stern-wheeler was used again, hyphenated, in the middle of a line. we transcribed the word with the hyphen. index on page , stage-coach was hyphenated between two lines for spacing. we transcribed the word without the hyphen. see the note in this section under chapter for a further explanation. university, alev akman, dianne bean, and stephanie manke the railroad builders a chronicle of the welding of the states volume in the chronicles of america series by john moody new haven: yale university press toronto: glasgow, brook & co. london: humphrey milford oxford university press contents i. a century of railroad building ii. the commodore and the new york central iii. the great pennsylvania system iv. the erie railroad v. crossing the appalachian range vi. linking the oceans vii. penetrating the pacific northwest viii. building along the santa fe trail ix. the growth of the hill lines x. the railroad system of the south xi. the life work of edward h. harriman xii. the american railroad problem bibliography the railroad builders chapter i. a century of railroad building the united states as we know it today is largely the result of mechanical inventions, and in particular of agricultural machinery and the railroad. one transformed millions of acres of uncultivated land into fertile farms, while the other furnished the transportation which carried the crops to distant markets. before these inventions appeared, it is true, americans had crossed the alleghanies, reached the mississippi valley, and had even penetrated to the pacific coast; thus in a thousand years or so the united states might conceivably have become a far-reaching, straggling, loosely jointed roman empire, depending entirely upon its oceans, internal watercourses, and imperial highways for such economic and political integrity as it might achieve. but the great miracle of the nineteenth century--the building of a new nation, reaching more than three thousand miles from sea to sea, giving sustenance to more than one hundred million free people, and diffusing among them the necessities and comforts of civilization to a greater extent than the world had ever known before is explained by the development of harvesting machinery and of the railroad. the railroad is sprung from the application of two fundamental ideas--one the use of a mechanical means of developing speed, the other the use of a smooth running surface to diminish friction. though these two principles are today combined, they were originally absolutely distinct. in fact there were railroads long before there were steam engines or locomotives. if we seek the real predecessor of the modern railroad track, we must go back three hundred years to the wooden rails on which were drawn the little cars used in english collieries to carry the coal from the mines to tidewater. the natural history of this invention is clear enough. the driving of large coal wagons along the public highway made deep ruts in the road, and some ingenious person began repairing the damage by laying wooden planks in the furrows. the coal wagons drove over this crude roadbed so successfully that certain proprietors started constructing special planked roadways from the mines to the river mouth. logs, forming what we now call "ties," were placed crosswise at intervals of three or four feet, and upon these supports thin "rails," likewise of wood, were laid lengthwise. so effectually did this arrangement reduce friction that a single horse could now draw a great wagon filled with coal--an operation which two or three teams, lunging over muddy roads, formerly had great difficulty in performing. in order to lengthen the life of the road, a thin sheeting of iron was presently laid upon the wooden rail. the next improvement was an attempt to increase the durability of the wagons by making the wheels of iron. it was not, however, until , when the first rails were cast entirely of iron with a flange at one side to keep the wheel steadily in place, that the modern roadbed in all its fundamental principles made its appearance. this, be it observed, was only two years after watt had patented his first steam engine, and it was nearly fifty years before stephenson built his first locomotive. the railroad originally was as completely dissociated from steam propulsion as was the ship. just as vessels had existed for ages before the introduction of mechanical power, so the railroad had been a familiar sight in the mining districts of england for at least two centuries before the invention of watt really gave it wings and turned it to wider uses. in this respect the progress of the railroad resembles that of the automobile, which had existed in crude form long before the invention of the gasoline engine made it practically useful. in the united states three new methods of transportation made their appearance at almost the same time--the steamboat, the canal boat, and the rail car. of all three, the last was the slowest in attaining popularity. as early as john stevens, of hoboken, aroused much interest and more amused hostility by advocating the building of a railroad, instead of a canal, across new york state from the hudson river to lake erie, and for several years this indefatigable spirit journeyed from town to town and from state to state, in a fruitless effort to push his favorite scheme. the great success of the erie canal was finally hailed as a conclusive argument against all the ridiculous claims made in favor of the railroad and precipitated a canal mania which spread all over the country. yet the enthusiasts for railroads could not be discouraged, and presently the whole population divided into two camps, the friends of the canal, and the friends of the iron highway. newspapers acrimoniously championed either side; the question was a favorite topic with debating societies; public meetings and conventions were held to uphold one method of transportation and to decry the other. the canal, it was urged, was not an experiment; it had been tested and not found wanting; already the great achievement of de witt clinton in completing the erie canal had made new york city the metropolis of the western world. the railroad, it was asserted, was just as emphatically an experiment; no one could tell whether it could ever succeed; why, therefore, pour money and effort into this new form of transportation when the other was a demonstrated success? it was a simple matter to find fault with the railroad; it has always been its fate to arouse the opposition of the farmers. this hostility appeared early and was based largely upon grounds that have a familiar sound even today. the railroad, they said, was a natural monopoly; no private citizen could hope ever to own one; it was thus a kind of monster which, if encouraged, would override all popular rights. from this economic criticism the enemies of the railroad passed to details of construction: the rails would be washed out by rains; they could be destroyed by mischievous people; they would snap under the cold of winter or be buried under the snow for a considerable period, thus stopping all communication. the champions of artificial waterways would point in contrast to the beautiful packet boats on the erie canal, with their fine sleeping rooms, their restaurants, their spacious decks on which the fine ladies and gentlemen congregated every warm summer day, and would insist that such kind of travel was far more comfortable than it could ever be on railroads. to all these pleas the advocates of the railroad had one unassailable argument--its infinitely greater speed. after all, it took a towboat three or four days to go from albany to buffalo, and the time was not far distant, they argued, when a railroad would make the same trip in less than a day. indeed, our forefathers made one curious mistake: they predicted a speed for the railroad a hundred miles an hour--which it has never attained consistently with safety. if the american of today could transport himself to one of the first railroad lines built in the united states it is not unlikely that he would side with the canal enthusiast in his argument. the rough pictures which accompany most accounts of early railroad days, showing a train of omnibus-like carriages pulled by a locomotive with upright boiler, really represent a somewhat advanced stage of development. though stephenson had demonstrated the practicability of the locomotive in and although the american, john stevens, had constructed one in which had demonstrated its ability to take a curve, local prejudice against this innovation continued strong. the farmers asserted that the sparks set fire to their hayricks and barns and that the noise frightened their hens so that they would not lay and their cows so that they could not give milk. on the earliest railroads, therefore, almost any other method of propulsion was preferred. horses and dogs were used, winches turned by men were occasionally installed, and in some cases cars were even fitted with sails. of all these methods, the horse was the most popular: he sent out no sparks, he carried his own fuel, he made little noise, and he would not explode. his only failing was that he would leave the track; and to remedy this defect the early railroad builders hit upon a happy device. sometimes they would fix a treadmill inside the car; two horses would patiently propel the caravan, the seats for passengers being arranged on either side. so unformed was the prevalent conception of the ultimate function of the railroad, and so pronounced was the fear of monopoly that, on certain lines, the roadbed was laid as a state enterprise and the users furnished their own cars, just as the individual owners of towboats did on the canals. the drivers, however, were an exceedingly rough lot; no schedules were observed and as the first lines had only single tracks and infrequent turnouts, when the opposing sides would meet each other coming and going, precedence was usually awarded to the side which had the stronger arm. the roadbed showed little improvement over the mine tramways of the eighteenth century, and the rails were only long wooden stringers with strap iron nailed on top. so undeveloped were the resources of the country that the builders of the baltimore and ohio railroad in petitioned congress to remit the duty on the iron which it was compelled to import from england. the trains consisted of a string of little cars, with the baggage piled on the roof, and when they reached a hill they sometimes had to be pulled up the inclined plane by a rope. yet the traveling in these earliest days was probably more comfortable than in those which immediately followed the general adoption of locomotives. when, five or ten years later, the advantages of mechanical as opposed to animal traction caused engines to be introduced extensively, the passengers behind them rode through constant smoke and hot cinders that made railway travel an incessant torture. yet the railroad speedily demonstrated its practical value; many of the first lines were extremely profitable, and the hostility with which they had been first received soon changed to an enthusiasm which was just as unreasoning. the speculative craze which invariably follows a new discovery swept over the country in the thirties and the forties and manifested itself most unfortunately in the new western states--ohio, indiana, illinois, and michigan. here bonfires and public meetings whipped up the zeal; people believed that railroads would not only immediately open the wilderness and pay the interest on the bonds issued to construct them, but that they would become a source of revenue to sadly depleted state treasuries. much has been heard of government ownership in recent years; yet it is nothing particularly new, for many of the early railroads in these new western states were built as government enterprises, with results which were frequently disastrous. this mania, with the land speculation accompanying it, was largely responsible for the panic of and led to that repudiation of debts in certain states which for so many years gave american investments an evil reputation abroad. in the more settled parts of the country, however, railroad building had comparatively a more solid foundation. yet the railroad map of the forties indicates that railroad building in this early period was incoherent and haphazard. practically everywhere the railroad was an individual enterprise; the builders had no further conception of it than as a line connecting two given points usually a short distance apart. the roads of those days began anywhere and ended almost anywhere. a few miles of iron rail connected albany and schenectady. there was a road from hartford to new haven, but there was none from new haven to new york. a line connected philadelphia with columbia; baltimore had a road to washington; charleston, south carolina, had a similar contact with hamburg in the same state. by , new york state, from albany to buffalo, possessed several disconnected stretches of railroad. it was not until , when work was begun on the erie railroad, that a plan was adopted for a single line reaching several hundred miles from an obvious point, such as new york, to an obvious destination, such as lake erie. even then a few farsighted men could foresee the day when the railroad train would cross the plains and the rockies and link the atlantic and the pacific. yet, in nearly all the railroads in the united states lay east of the mississippi river, and all of them, even when they were physically mere extensions of one another, were separately owned and separately managed. successful as many of the railroads were, they had hardly yet established themselves as the one preeminent means of transportation. the canal had lost in the struggle for supremacy, but certain of these constructed waterways, particularly the erie, were flourishing with little diminished vigor. the river steamboat had enjoyed a development in the first few decades of the nineteenth century almost as great as that of the railroad itself. the mississippi river was the great natural highway for the products and the passenger traffic of the south central states; it had made new orleans one of the largest and most flourishing cities in the country; and certainly the rich cotton planter of the fifties would have smiled at any suggestion that the "floating palaces" which plied this mighty stream would ever surrender their preeminence to the rusty and struggling railroads which wound along its banks. this period, which may be taken as the first in american railroad development, ended about the middle of the century. it was an age of great progress but not of absolutely assured success. a few lines earned handsome profits, but in the main the railroad business was not favorably regarded and railroad investments everywhere were held in suspicion. the condition that prevailed in many railroads is illustrated by the fact that the directors of the michigan and southern, when they held their annual meeting in , had to borrow chairs from an adjoining office as the sheriff had walked away with their own for debt. even a railroad with such a territory as the hudson river valley, and extending from new york to albany existed in a state of chronic dilapidation; and the new york and harlem, which had an entrance into new york city as an asset of incalculable value, was looked upon merely as a vehicle for wall street speculation. meanwhile the increasing traffic in farm products, mules, and cattle from the northwest to the plantations of the south created a demand for more ample transportation facilities. in the decade before the civil war various north and south lines of railway were projected and some of these were assisted by grants of land from the federal government. the first of these, the illinois central, received a huge land-grant in and ultimately reached the gulf at mobile by connecting with the mobile and ohio railroad which had also been assisted by federal grants. but the panic of , followed by the civil war, halted all railroad enterprises. in the year some miles of railroad had been constructed; in only were laid down. the southern railroads were prostrated by the war and north and south lines lost all but local traffic. after the war a brisk recovery began and brought to the fore the first of the great railroad magnates and the shrewdest business genius of the day, cornelius vanderbilt. though he had spent his early life and had laid the basis of his fortune in steamboats, he was the first man to appreciate the fact that these two methods of transportation were about to change places--that water transportation was to decline and that rail transportation was to gain the ascendancy. it was about that vanderbilt acted on this farsighted conviction, promptly sold out his steamboats for what they would bring, and began buying railroads despite the fact that his friends warned him that, in his old age, he was wrecking the fruits of a hard and thrifty life. but vanderbilt perceived what most american business men of the time failed to see, that a change had come over the railroad situation as a result of the civil war. the time extending from to about marks the second stage in the railroad activity of the united states. the characteristic of this period is the development of the great trunk lines and the construction of a transcontinental route to the pacific. the civil war ended the supremacy of the mississippi river as the great transportation route of the west. the fact that this river ran through hostile territory--vicksburg did not fall until july , --forced the farmers of the west to find another outlet for their products. by this time the country from chicago and st. louis eastward to the atlantic ports was fairly completely connected by railroads. the necessities of war led to great improvements in construction and equipment. business which had hitherto gone south now began to go east; new orleans ceased to be the great industrial entrepot of this region and gave place to st. louis and chicago. yet, though this great change in traffic routes took place in the course of the war, the actual consolidations of the various small railroads into great trunk lines did not begin until after peace had been assured. the establishment of five great railroads extending continuously from the atlantic seaboard to chicago and the west was perhaps the most remarkable economic development of the ten or fifteen years succeeding the war. by these five great trunk lines, the new york central, the pennsylvania, the erie, the baltimore and ohio, and the grand trunk, had connected their scattered units and established complete through systems. all the vexations that had necessarily accompanied railroad traffic in the days when each one of these systems had been a series of disconnected roads had disappeared. the grain and meat products of the west, accumulating for the most part at chicago and st. louis, now came rapidly and uninterruptedly to the atlantic seaboard, and railroad passengers, no longer submitted to the inconveniences of the civil war period, now began to experience for the first time the pleasures of railroad travel. together with the articulation of the routes, important mechanical changes and reconstruction programmes completely transformed the american railroad system. the former haphazard character of each road is evidenced by the fact that in civil war days there were eight different gages, with the result that it was almost impossible for the rolling stock of one line to use another. a few years after the civil war, however, the present standard gage of four feet eight and one-half inches had become uniform all over the united states. the malodorous "eating cribs" of the fifties and the sixties--little station restaurants located at selected spots along the line--now began to disappear, and the modern dining car made its appearance. the old rough and ready sleeping cars began to give place to the modern pullman. one of the greatest drawbacks to ante-bellum travel had been the absence of bridges across great rivers, such as the hudson and the susquehanna. at albany, for example, the passengers in the summer time were ferried across, and in winter they were driven in sleighs or were sometimes obliged to walk across the ice. it was not until after the civil war that a great iron bridge, two thousand feet long, was constructed across the hudson at this point. on the trains the little flickering oil lamps now gave place to gas, and the wood burning stoves--frequently in those primitive days smeared with tobacco juice--in a few years were displaced by the new method of heating by steam. the accidents which had been almost the prevailing rule in the fifties and sixties were greatly reduced by the westinghouse air-brake, invented in , and the block signaling system, introduced somewhat later. in the ten years succeeding the civil war, the physical appearance of the railroads entirely changed; new and larger locomotives were made, the freight cars, which during the period of the civil war had a capacity of about eight tons, were now built to carry fifteen or twenty. the former little flimsy iron rails were taken up and were relaid with steel. in the early seventies when cornelius vanderbilt substituted steel for iron on the new york central, he had to import the new material from england. in the civil war period, practically all american railroads were single track lines--and this alone prevented any extensive traffic. vanderbilt laid two tracks along the hudson river from new york to albany, and four from albany to buffalo, two exclusively for freight and two for passengers. by the american railroad, in all its essential details, had definitely arrived. but in this same period even more sensational developments had taken place. soon after the imagination of the american railroad builder began to reach far beyond the old horizon. up to that time the mississippi river had marked the western railroad terminus. now and then a road straggled beyond this barrier for a few miles into eastern iowa and missouri; but in the main the enormous territory reaching from the mississippi to the pacific ocean was crossed only by the old trails. the one thing which perhaps did most to place the transcontinental road on a practical basis was the annexation of california in ; and the wild rush that took place on the discovery of the gold fields one year later had led americans to realize that on the pacific coast they had an empire which was great and incalculably rich but almost inaccessible. the loyalty of california to the northern cause in the war naturally stimulated a desire for closer contact. in the ten years preceding the importance of a transcontinental line had constantly been brought to the attention of congress and the project had caused much jealousy between the north and the south, for each region desired to control its eastern terminus. this impediment no longer stood in the way; early in his term, therefore, president lincoln signed the bill authorizing the construction of the union pacific--a name doubly significant, as marking the union of the east and the west and also recognizing the sentiment of loyalty or union that this great enterprise was intended to promote. the building of this railroad, as well as that of the others which ultimately made the pacific and the atlantic coast near neighbors--the santa fe, the southern pacific, the northern pacific, and the great northern--is described in the pages that follow. here it is sufficient to emphasize the fact that they achieved the concluding triumph in what is certainly the most extensive system of railroads in the world. these transcontinental roads really completed the work of columbus. he sailed to discover the western route to cathay and found that his path was blocked by a mighty continent. but the first train that crossed the plains and ascended the rockies and reached the golden gate assured thenceforth a rapid and uninterrupted transit westward from europe to asia. chapter ii. the commodore and the new york central a story was told many years ago of commodore vanderbilt which, while perhaps not strictly true, was pointed enough to warrant its constant repetition for more than two generations. back in the sixties, when this grizzled railroad chieftain was the chief factor in the rapidly growing new york central railroad system, whose backbone then consisted of a continuous one-track line connecting albany with the great lakes, the president of a small cross-country road approached him one day and requested an exchange of annual passes. "why, my dear sir," exclaimed the commodore, "my railroad is more than three hundred miles long, while yours is only seventeen miles." "that may all be so," replied the other, "but my railroad is just as wide as yours." this statement was true. practically no railroad, even as late as the sixties, was wider than another. they were all single-tracked lines. even the new york central system in was practically a single-track road; and the commodore could not claim to any particular superiority over his neighbors and rivals in this particular. instead of sneering at his "seventeen-mile" colleague, vanderbilt might have remembered that his own fine system had grown up in less than two generations from a modest narrow-gage track running from "nothing to nowhere." the vanderbilt lines, which today with their controlled and affiliated systems comprise more than , miles of railroad--a large portion of which is double-tracked, no mean amount being laid with third and fourth tracks is the outgrowth of a little seventeen-mile line, first chartered in , and finished for traffic in . this little railroad was known as the mohawk and hudson, and it extended from albany to schenectady. it was the second continuous section of railroad line operated by steam in the united states, and on it the third locomotive built in america, the de witt clinton, made a satisfactory trial trip in august, . the success of this experiment created a sensation far and wide and led to rapid railroad building in other parts of the country in the years immediately following. the experiences of a participant in this trial trip are described about forty years later in a letter written by judge j.l. gillis of philadelphia: "in the early part of the month of august of that year [ ], i left philadelphia for canandaigua, new york, traveling by stages and steamboats to albany and stopping at the latter place. i learned that a locomotive had arrived there and that it would make its first trip over the road to schenectady the next day. i concluded to lie over and gratify my curiosity with a first ride after a locomotive. "that locomotive, the train of cars, together with the incidents of the day, made a very vivid impression on my mind. i can now look back from one of pullman's palace cars, over a period of forty years, and see that train together with all the improvements that have been made in railroad travel since that time.... i am not machinist enough to give a description of the locomotive that drew us over the road that day, but i recollect distinctly the general make-up of the train. the train was composed of coach bodies, mostly from thorpe and sprague's stage coaches, placed upon trucks. the trucks were coupled together with chains, leaving from two to three feet slack, and when the locomotive started it took up the slack by jerks, with sufficient force to jerk the passengers who sat on seats across the tops of the coaches, out from under their hats, and in stopping, came together with such force as to send them flying from the seats. "they used dry pitch for fuel, and there being no smoke or spark catcher to the chimney or smoke-stack, a volume of black smoke, strongly impregnated with sparks, coals, and cinders, came pouring back the whole length of the train. each of the tossed passengers who had an umbrella raised it as a protection against the smoke and fire. they were found to be but a momentary protection, for i think in the first mile the last umbrella went overboard, all having their covers burnt off from the frames, when a general melee took place among the deck passengers, each whipping his neighbor to put out the fire. they presented a very motley appearance on arriving at the first station. then rails were secured and lashed between the trucks, taking the slack out of the coupling chains, thereby affording us a more steady run to the top of the inclined plane at schenectady. "the incidents off the train were quite as striking as those on the train. a general notice of the contemplated trip had excited not only the curiosity of those living along the line of the road, but those living remote from it, causing a large collection of people at all the intersecting roads along the route. everybody, together with his wife and all his children, came from a distance with all kinds of conveyances, being as ignorant of what was coming as their horses, and drove up to the road as near as they could get, only looking for the best position to get a view of the train. as it approached the horses took fright and wheeled, upsetting buggies, carriages, and wagons, and leaving for parts unknown to the passengers if not to their owners, and it is not now positively known if some of them have stopped yet. such is a hasty sketch of my recollection of my first ride after a locomotive." the mohawk and hudson railroad was originally constructed with inclined planes worked by stationary engines near each terminus, the inclinations being one foot in eighteen. the rail used was a flat bar laid upon longitudinal sills. this type of rail came into general use at this period and continued in use in parts of the country even as late as the civil war. the roads that now make up the new york central were built piecemeal from to ; and the organization of this company in the latter year, to consolidate eleven independent roads extending from albany to buffalo, finally put an end to the long debate between canals and railroads. the founding of this company definitely meant that transportation in the united states henceforth would follow the steel route and not the water ditch and the towpath. canals might indeed linger for a time as feeders, even, as in the case of the erie and a few others, as more or less important transportation routes, but every one now realized that the railroad was to be the great agency which would give plausibility to the industrial organization of the united states and develop its great territory. besides the pioneer mohawk and hudson, this consolidation included the utica and schenectady, which had been opened in and which had operated profitably for many years, always paying large dividends. the tonawanda railroad, opened in , and the buffalo and niagara falls, also finished in the same year, were operated with profit until they were absorbed by the new system. in the auburn and syracuse and the hudson and berkshire railroads were opened. the former after being merged in with the rochester and syracuse railway, became a part of the consolidation. the syracuse and attica railroad, opened in , the attica and buffalo, opened in , the schenectady and troy, opened in the same year, and several other small lines, some of which had undergone various changes in name and ownership, were all merged into the new york central railroad. this great property now comprised five hundred and sixty miles of railroad, the main stem extending from albany to buffalo. though it had as yet no connection with the hudson river railroad, the new york central railroad at this period was the most substantial and important of american railroad systems. it developed a large and healthy through traffic to the great lakes and was practically free from railroad competition. the erie railway, which for many years had been struggling under great difficulties to reach the great lakes and had gone through nearly a generation of financial vicissitudes, was just getting its through line actively under way. the pennsylvania railroad was just pushing through to the waters of the ohio and was not likely for many years to compete with the new york central for the lake traffic. the baltimore and ohio, while remotely a competitor, was, like the pennsylvania, looking more for the traffic of the ohio valley than for that of the lakes. the period of six years following the consolidation of was one of great prosperity for the new york central system, and, notwithstanding the setbacks to business caused by the panic of , large dividends were continuously paid on the capital stock. in the year --before the vanderbilt regime opened--the management embraced what to modern men of affairs are famous names. erastus corning was president, dean richmond was vice-president, and john v. l. pruyn, nathaniel thayer, isaac townsend, and chauncey vibbard were directors. the headquarters of the company were at albany, and the stock was owned mainly by residents of that city. meanwhile the building of railroads in other parts of the state and under other leadership was going forward rapidly. as far back as the first mile of the new york and harlem railroad was opened for traffic. this single mile remained for some time the only property of the company. it extended through what is now a thriving part of down-town new york. its original terminus was at prince street, but the line was afterwards extended southward to the city hall and later to the astor house. it was not until that the road reached northward to harlem and not until that williamsbridge became the northern terminus. the line was looked upon as a worthless piece of property until , when it was extended north to chatham, to connect with the albany and stockbridge railroad, and thus give a through line from new york city to albany. another property built in these days and destined to become eventually an important part of the vanderbilt lines was the hudson river railroad. this company was chartered in , but for many years was frowned on as an unsound business venture, because of the belief that it would be in direct competition with the river traffic and therefore could never be made to pay. nevertheless the promoters went ahead and by the road had been opened to poughkeepsie. the entire line of one hundred and forty-four miles was completed to east albany in . at the same time the troy and greenbush railroad, extending six miles to troy, was leased, thus giving the new hudson river railroad an entry into the city of troy. the hudson river railroad was entirely independent of the new york central enterprise and was controlled in those early days by a group of new yorkers, prominent among whom was samuel sloan. as we enter the civil war period, we find the three important properties which were afterwards to make up the vanderbilt system all developing rapidly and logically into the strategical relationship which would make ultimate consolidation inevitable. the completion of the erie railway and its gradual development as the only through line across the state from new york to the great lakes; the opening, expansion, and general solidification of the pennsylvania lines and their aggressive policy of reaching out to the lake region on the west and across new jersey on the east; the extension of the erie interests into the new england field, and the possibility that the latter might gain control of the harlem or the hudson river railroad--all these considerations naturally aroused in the new york central interests a desire to insure the future by obtaining for themselves control of the lines that would connect their own system with new york city and the eastern seaboard. during the civil war, however, no progress was made in this direction. it was not until , four years after the closing of the war, that any radical change took place. but in the years that had intervened, a new and commanding figure in the railroad world had come upon the scene. this man had grown to be the dominating genius, not only in the field of railway expansion, but in the world of finance as well. his name was cornelius vanderbilt. born in in very humble circumstances, he had received little or no education, and as a youth had eked out a living by ferrying passengers and garden produce from staten island to new york. he had painfully saved a few hundred dollars within a year or two after his marriage, and with this capital he began his career in the transportation business. from his first ferrying project he engaged in other undertakings and laid the foundation of his subsequent fortune in steamboat navigation. about , at an age when most men are beginning to retire from active affairs, the "commodore"--as he was called on account of his numerous fleet--entered actively into the field of railway development, management, and consolidation. the extraordinary character and genius of the man are well depicted by the events of the years that followed. before the opening of the civil war and until immediately after its end, the new york central and the erie systems were controlled by bitterly antagonistic interests. these interests were beginning to foresee the day when extremely aggressive competition would call into play their greatest energies. vanderbilt, wiser than his generation, foresaw more than this. his vision took in the vast future values of the properties as developed trunk lines, and the greater possibilities of their control and operation as a consolidated whole. he was in a very real sense the forerunner or pioneer of the great consolidation period of a half century later. he was the harriman and the hill of his day. the erie had its own approach to new york city, but the new york central was connected with the metropolis only by the river and the two independent roads--the harlem railroad and the hudson river railroad. to get the latter two roads under his complete control was vanderbilt's first object. he would then have unimpeded access to new york and so become independent of the river. he began his ambitious plans by making himself the master of the harlem property, and in so doing got his first experience in railroad stock manipulation and at the same time picked up a moderate fortune. it was comparatively easy to buy the control of the harlem railroad. the company had never paid a dividend, and, in , when the commodore quietly began his work, the stock was selling below thirty dollars a share. before the close of this year he had manipulated the stock until it had reached ninety-two, and by a corner, in august of that year, he raised it to . on this deal vanderbilt reaped a nice little fortune--but evidently not enough to enable him to carry through the ambitious plans which were in the back of his head, for in we find him manipulating another corner and this time running the price of the stock up to . in this wise the commodore not only added millions to his already growing fortune but also made himself a power in the financial world. financiers began to fear him, and he found it comparatively easy later to buy up the control of the hudson river railroad, which he did by paying about for the stock. then he began speculating again, sent hudson river up to , and incidentally reaped another fortune for himself. by this time vanderbilt had achieved a great reputation as a man who created values, earned dividends, and invented wealth as if by magic; other railroad managers now began to lay their properties at his feet and ask him to do with them what he had done with the harlem and the hudson river. for under the commodore's magic touch the harlem railroad for the first time in its long history began to pay dividends at a high rate, and in four years the earnings of the hudson river property had nearly doubled. one of the first properties to be placed at vanderbilt's feet was the new york central, and the control passed into his hands in the winter of - . he was now in a powerful position and immediately began to lay his plans for obtaining control of the erie railroad in the following year. in the latter effort he did not succeed, however, and after a protracted and dramatic contest he was defeated by his great adversary, "uncle" daniel drew. the story of this contest need not be detailed here, as it is given in full in the chapter on the erie railroad. in the fall of the commodore, having secured everything in the railroad field he had sought except the erie, put through his scheme for consolidation. the new york central and hudson river railroad was incorporated. it included the old new york central and also the hudson river railroad but not the harlem. the capital of the consolidated company was placed at ninety million dollars, a figure of such magnitude in those days that the world was startled. the system embraced in all nearly miles of railroad lines. a few years later the harlem railroad was leased to the property at a high valuation and a large dividend was guaranteed on the stock, the ownership of which was retained by the vanderbilt family. the vanderbilt system as it is now understood really began with these transactions. from this time on, its history has been similar in many respects to that of other large systems which were the outgrowth of merger or manipulation in these early days. during the remarkable period of commercial and industrial development in this country from onward, when thousands of miles of new lines were built every year, when the growth of population was beginning to make the states of ohio, indiana, and illinois centers of wealth and production, and when the wonderful northwestern country embracing the states of michigan, wisconsin, and minnesota, was so rapidly opened up and brought nearer to the eastern markets, the vanderbilt railroad interests were not idle. the original genius, cornelius vanderbilt, was soon gathered to his fathers, but his son, william h. vanderbilt, was in many ways a worthy successor. by the vanderbilt lines had grown in extent and importance far beyond any point of which the elder vanderbilt had ever dreamed. long before this year the system included many smaller lines within the state of new york, and it had also acquired close control of the great lake shore and michigan southern system, with its splendid line from buffalo to chicago, consisting of more than miles of railroad; the michigan central, owning lines from detroit to chicago, with many branches in michigan and illinois; the canada southern railway, extending from detroit to toronto; and in addition to all these about miles of other lines in the states of ohio, indiana, michigan, and pennsylvania. in this same year , another event of importance took place. the new york, west shore and buffalo railroad, which after strenuous efforts extending over many years had constructed a new trunk line from weehawken along the west shore of the hudson to albany and thence to buffalo, came under the control of the new york central. the great system in the middle west, now known as the "big four," or cleveland, cincinnati, chicago and st. louis--embracing miles of lines westward from cleveland and columbus, ohio, to indianapolis, springfield, and cincinnati, and having traffic connections with st. louis--was also a vanderbilt property at this time, although not under the formal control of these interests. another important competing line secured in this period was the new york, chicago and st. louis, built to parallel the lake shore and known as the "nickel plate" route. this road extended from buffalo to chicago, and, like the west shore, had been constructed with the hope of ultimately selling out to its competitor. the development of railroad properties under the vanderbilt influence was not confined to the territory east of chicago and the mississippi valley. as early as a large system of roads had been merged in the section extending westward from chicago to omaha and radiating throughout iowa, minnesota, kansas, wisconsin, missouri, and other states. this company was known as the chicago and north western railroad, and its property, which was one of large and growing value, by embraced a system of over miles of road. although neither controlled by the new york central nor directly affiliated therewith, it was classed as a vanderbilt property. while for many years after the death of the commodore the vanderbilt family remained in direct financial and operating control of the new york central and its myriad of subsidiary lines and their genius as railroad builders and operators was distinctly evident, yet the brains and resources of the vanderbilts were not alone responsible for the brilliant career of the system down to recent times. william h. vanderbilt, though a man of unusual ability, did not possess the breadth of view or the sagacity of his father, and in the course of a few years he found himself exposed to a cyclone of public criticism. he had let it be widely known that he was personally the owner of over eighty-seven per cent of the hundred million capital of the company. in the new york legislature, backed by the force of the popular anger and surprise at the accumulation of a hundred million dollar fortune by one man in ten years, was investigating the management of the new york central with a view to curtailing its power; the rate wars were on between the seaboard and chicago; and jay gould was threatening to divert all the traffic of his wabash, st. louis, and pacific lines from the new york central and turn it over to other eastern connections unless vanderbilt would give him a vital interest in the vanderbilt lines. vanderbilt was harassed beyond endurance and, being of softer material than his father, was fearful of the outcome of public opinion, notwithstanding the fact that in a moment of anger--according to the statement of a newspaper reporter whose veracity vanderbilt denied to his dying day--he had used the familiar expression, "the public be damned!" there were intimations that the legislature was planning to impose heavy taxes on the property, solely because vanderbilt held this gigantic personal ownership in the property. this prospect frightened him and he consulted friends whose judgment he respected. they urged him to sell a considerable part of his holdings in order to distribute the ownership of the property among a large number of people. this plan could not be carried out, however, in the ordinary way, because large sales of stock by the vanderbilt interests, if the speculating and investing public learned that he was making them, would greatly depreciate the price and might create general demoralization and a panic, while they would certainly injure the credit of the new york central property. but a way out of the dilemma had to be found. it was at this juncture that a new personality, later to be closely identified with the vanderbilt lines for a long series of years, appeared upon the scene. vanderbilt was advised to consult j. pierpont morgan, of the banking house of drexel, morgan and co. at that time the name of j.p. morgan was just beginning to come prominently to the front in banking circles in new york. the drexels had been conspicuous in business in philadelphia for many years and in a sense were the fiscal agents of the great pennsylvania railroad company. but the spectacular success of the house of morgan a few years before in marketing the french government loan in england had added largely to its prestige. and so vanderbilt concluded that, if any man could show him a way out in his difficult problem, pierpont morgan was that man. the upshot of the matter was that morgan devised a plan for the sale of a large amount of vanderbilt's stock holdings through private sale in england, and in such a way that the knowledge of such sale would not become public in america. a confidential syndicate was formed which undertook to take the stock in a block and pass it on to english investors at approximately its current market price of about $ per share. the sale was promptly accomplished; the stock went into the hands of unknown interests abroad; vanderbilt received more than $ , , in cash, which he largely reinvested in united states government bonds, and the morgan syndicate reaped a profit of about $ , , . five months after the closing of the syndicate public announcement was made of the sale and of the syndicate profit. the striking success of this transaction naturally added greatly to the prestige of. j. p. morgan as a financier of very large caliber, and it had the satisfactory effect of curtailing the legislative attacks on vanderbilt. from that date forward, the history of the vanderbilt railroads has been closely identified with the house of morgan. j.p. morgan and his business associates became the company's financial agents, and thereafter all plans of expansion or consolidation were handled directly by them. in the board of directors morgan banking interests had full representation, which they have held until this day. the subsequent history of the vanderbilt lines is chiefly a story of business expansion and growth. from to , the great panic year, the new york central each year added to its mileage, either by merger of smaller lines or by construction. all this time it was consolidating the system, eliminating the weaker links, and strengthening the stronger. its lines penetrated all the best eastern railroad territory outside of new england, new jersey, and pennsylvania, and no other railroad system in the country, with the single exception of the pennsylvania, covered anything like the same amount of rich and settled territory, or reached so many cities and towns of importance. new york, buffalo, cleveland, detroit, chicago, st. louis, cincinnati, indianapolis--these are a few of the great traffic centers which were included in the vanderbilt preserves. the population of all these cities, as well as that of the hundreds of smaller places and the countryside in general, was growing by leaps and bounds. furthermore the northwest, beyond the great lakes and through to the pacific coast, saw the beginnings of its great development at this time; and the wheat fields of the far western country became a factor of profound importance in the national development. consequently when the period of depression arrived with the panic of , the vanderbilt properties were, as a whole, in a strong position to meet the changed situation and, like the great pennsylvania property, they all passed through to the advent of the new industrial era without the defaulting of a bond or the passing of a dividend. the remarkable character of this achievement is evident in view of the fact that in the period from to more than sixty-five per cent of all the railroad mileage in the united states went into the hands of receivers. after the close of this era of panic, the vanderbilt lines began expanding again, though on a much smaller scale than in their more active time. in william k. vanderbilt, then president, made the announcement that the new york central had leased the boston and albany railroad, at that time a lucrative line running from albany across massachusetts into boston. this gave the system an entry into the new england field, which it has continuously held since. a few years later this new england interest was increased by the acquisition of the rutland railroad in vermont, thus making connection with the ogdensburg and lake champlain, a line running across the northern part of new york state, which had also come under vanderbilt control. when business revived in the closing years of the nineteenth century, the history of american railroads began a new chapter. federal railroad regulation, which started in a moderate way with the passage of the interstate commerce act in , had steadily increased through the years; the sherman anti-trust act, passed in , had been interpreted broadly as affecting the railroads of the country as well as the industrial and other combinations. these influences had thus greatly curtailed the consolidation of competing lines which had gone on so rapidly during the decades following the civil war. railroad managers and financiers therefore began to face a very serious problem. competition of a more or less serious nature was still rampant, rates were cut, and traffic was pretty freely diverted by dubious means. consequently many large railroad systems of heavy capitalization bid fair to run into difficulties on the first serious falling off in general business. great men are usually the products of their times and one of the men developed by these times takes rank with the greatest railroad leaders in history. edward h. harriman had risen in ten years from comparative obscurity and was now the president of the union pacific railroad, which he had, in conjunction with the banking house of kuhn, loeb and company, reorganized and taken out of bankruptcy. harriman was one of the originators of the "community of interest" idea, a device for the partial control of one railroad system by another. for instance, although the law forbade any railroad system from acquiring a complete control of a competing line by purchasing a majority of its capital stock or by leasing it, nothing was said about one railroad having a minority investment interest in another. a minority investment, even though it be as low as ten or twenty per cent, usually constitutes a dominating influence if held by a single interest, for in most cases the majority of the shares will be owned in small blocks by thousands of investors who never combine for a definite, practical purpose. thus the interest which has the one large block of stock usually controls the voting power, and runs little risk of losing it unless a contest develops with other powerful interests--and this is a contingency which it almost never has to meet. carrying out this policy of promoting harmony among competing lines, the new york central and pennsylvania railroad early in acquired a working control of the reading company, which in turn controlled the new jersey central and dominated the anthracite coal traffic. later the baltimore and ohio shared this reading interest with the lake shore of the new york central system. the new york central and the pennsylvania acquired a working control of the same kind in the chesapeake and ohio railway, which was an important element in the soft coal fields and was reaching out to grasp soft coal properties in ohio and indiana. these and other purchases, and the consequent voice acquired in the management, established comparative harmony among eastern railroads for a long time; they stabilized rates and enabled formerly competing roads to parcel out territory equitably among the different interests. later, harriman, and to some extent morgan, carried the community of interest idea some steps further. morgan caused the new york central to acquire stock interests in certain "feeder" lines such as the new york, new haven and hartford and the chicago, milwaukee and st. paul, as well as in competing lines; and harriman caused the union pacific not only to dominate the southern pacific company by minority control but also to acquire interests in the illinois central, the baltimore and ohio, the new york central, and other eastern properties. the fact was that harriman had plans in view for acquiring actual control of the new york central for the union pacific and thus, with the illinois central, of creating a continuous transcontinental line from ocean to ocean. in the past decade few unusual or startling events have marked the history of the vanderbilt lines. the vanderbilt family no longer possesses a majority interest in the stock, or anything which approaches it, and the new york central system and its subsidiaries have come to be known more and more as morgan properties. the system has grown up with the country. many of its former controlled roads have now been merged into the main corporation and many new lines have been added to it. hundreds of millions of dollars of new capital have been spent on the main lines and terminals since . in the entire property, including controlled lines, embraced more than , miles of main track, besides about miles of extra tracks; over , freight cars are in use on the system, and every year upwards of , , tons of freight are transported. the gross annual revenues of the entire system now aggregate more than $ , , , while the total capitalization in stocks and bonds exceeds a billion dollars. it is indeed a far cry from that day in august, , when the de witt clinton locomotive made its trial trip over the primitive rails of the seventeen-mile mohawk and hudson road--a far cry even from that other day, thirty-eight years later, when the sagacious commodore startled the financial world by his new york central and hudson river railroad, with a capital of ninety million dollars. chapter iii. the great pennsylvania system in the early forties the commercial importance of philadelphia was menaced from two directions. a steadily increasing volume of trade was passing through the erie canal from the central west to the northern seaboard, while traffic over the new baltimore and ohio railroad promised a great commercial future to the rival city of baltimore. with commendable enterprise the baltimore and ohio company was even then reaching out for connections with pittsburgh in the hope of diverting western trade from eastern pennsylvania. moreover the financial prestige of philadelphia had suffered from recent events. the panic of , the contest of the united states bank with president jackson, its defeat, and its subsequent failure as a state bank, the consequent distress in local financial circles--all conspired to shift the monetary center of the country to new york. it was at this time that philadelphia capitalists began to bestir themselves in an attempt to recover their lost opportunities. philadelphia must share in this trade with the central west. the designs of the baltimore and ohio company must be defeated by bringing pittsburgh into contact with its natural eastern market. to this end, the pennsylvania railroad was incorporated on april , , with a franchise permitting the construction of a railroad across the state from harrisburg to pittsburgh. an added incentive to constructive expansion was given by an act of the legislature authorizing the baltimore and ohio to extend its line to pittsburgh if the pennsylvania company failed to avail itself of its franchise. in order to avoid the heavy cost of constructing a road between philadelphia and harrisburg, the pennsylvania railroad entered into arrangements with the philadelphia and columbia--a railroad opened in and owned by the state--which ran through chester and lancaster to columbia. this road was primitive in the extreme and used both steam and horse power. as late as a train was started only when sufficient traffic was waiting along the road to warrant the use of the engine. belated trains were hunted up by horsemen. yet the road was in those days famous for the "rapidity and exceptional comforts of the train service." between columbia and harrisburg passengers westward bound had to use the pennsylvania canal. construction of the main line westward to pittsburgh began at once and progressed rapidly. by making use of the alleghany portage railroad from hollidaysburg, the pennsylvania railroad eventually secured a continuous line from harrisburg to pittsburgh. but between philadelphia and harrisburg passengers were for a long time subjected to many inconveniences. finally in the pennsylvania railroad bought the philadelphia and columbia from the state, rebuilt it, and extended it to harrisburg. at the same time the pennsylvania bought the main line of the public works, which included the alleghany portage railroad. on july , , the first through train passed over the entire line from philadelphia via mount joy to pittsburgh without transfer of passengers. at the same time the first smoking car ever attached to a passenger train was used, and sleeping cars also soon began to appear. the railroad genius identified with the history of the pennsylvania railroad during the following decade is j. edgar thomson. a man of vision and of great shrewdness and ability, he was more like the modern railroad head of the ripley or underwood type than of the vanderbilt, garrett, or drew type. his interest was never in the stock-market nor in the speculative side of railroading but was concentrated entirely on the development and operation of the pennsylvania railroad system. his dreams were not of millions quickly made nor of railroad dominance simply for the power that it gave; his mind was concentrated on the growth and prosperity of a vast railroad system which would increase with the years, become lucrative in its operations, and not only radiate throughout the state of pennsylvania but extend far beyond into the growing west. under the thomson management, which lasted until , the record of the pennsylvania railroad was one of progress in every sense of the word. while daniel drew was lining his pockets with loot from the erie railroad and commodore vanderbilt was piling up his colossal fortune through consolidation and manipulation, j. edgar thomson was steadily building up the greatest business organization on the continent. in , the entire pennsylvania railroad system was represented merely by the main line from philadelphia to pittsburgh, with a few short branches. by the road had expanded within pennsylvania alone to nearly one thousand miles and also controlled lines northward to the shores of lake erie, through the state of new york. but the master accomplishment of the thomson administration was the acquisition of the pittsburgh, fort wayne and chicago line in . this new addition gave the company its own connection with chicago and made a continuous system from the banks of the delaware at philadelphia to the shores of lake michigan, thus rivaling the far-flung vanderbilt line, a thousand miles long, which the industrious commodore was now organizing. shortly thereafter the pennsylvania began to expand on the east also and obtained an entry into new york city by acquiring the united railroad and canal company, which owned lines across the state of new jersey, passing through trenton. in the latter years of the thomson management it became more and more evident that it was important for the pennsylvania railroad to have further western connections which would reach the growing cities of the middle west. while the fort wayne route made a very direct connection with chicago and included branches of value, yet the keen competition which was developing in the expansive years following the civil war made actual control of the middle western territory a matter of sound business policy. the vanderbilt lines were reaching out through ohio, indiana, and illinois; the baltimore and ohio was steadily developing its western connections, and now jay gould had come actively on the scene with large projects for the erie. to offset these projects, early in a "holding company"--probably the first of its kind on record--known as the pennsylvania company was formed for the express purpose of controlling and managing, in the interest of the pennsylvania railroad, all lines leased or controlled or in the future to be acquired by the pennsylvania railroad interests west of pittsburgh and erie. this company took over the lease of the fort wayne route and also acquired control by lease of the erie and pittsburgh, a road extending northward through ohio to lake erie. after this date the expansion of the system west of pittsburgh went on rapidly. in the cleveland and pittsburgh railroad, which had been opened as early as , came under the pennsylvania control. soon after this, many smaller lines in ohio were merged in the system. the most important acquisition during this period, however, was the result of the purchase of the great lines extending westward from pittsburgh to st. louis, with branches reaching southward to cincinnati and northward to chicago. this system--then known as the "pan handle" route and later as the pittsburgh, cincinnati, chicago and st. louis was a consolidation of several independent properties of importance which had been gradually extending themselves over this territory during the previous decade. this new system, which embraced over fourteen hundred miles of road, gave the pennsylvania a second line to chicago, a direct line to st. louis, a second line to cincinnati, and access to territory not previously tapped. while the achievements of the pennsylvania railroad company during these years of consolidation and expansion are not to be compared with those of more modern times, it is well to realize that even as early as the seventh decade of the last century this railroad was always in the forefront in matters of high standards and progressive practice. it was the pioneer in most of the improvements which were later adopted by other roads. the pennsylvania was the first american railroad to lay steel rails and the first to lay bessemer rails; it was the first to put the steel fire-box under the locomotive boiler; it was the first to use the air brake and the block signal system; it was the first to use in its shops the overhead crane. in these earlier years also the pennsylvania had established its enviable record for conservative and non-speculative management. no railroad wrecker or stock speculator had ever had anything to do with the financial control of the company, and this tradition has been passed on from decade to decade. the stockholders themselves, even in those days of loose methods and careless finance, had the dominating voice in the affairs of the company and were also factors in the approval or disapproval of any proposed policies. in the matter of its finances the pennsylvania developed and established an equally clean record. the company began almost at the beginning to pay a satisfactory dividend on its shares and continued to do so right through the civil war period. since the through line from philadelphia to pittsburgh was opened, not a single year has passed without the payment of a dividend--a sixty-year record which can be duplicated by no other american railroad system. the pennsylvania still continued to forge ahead even during the exciting period from to about , when the trunk lines were aggressively carrying on that policy of cutthroat competition between chicago and the atlantic seaboard which resulted in so severely weakening the credit and position of properties like the baltimore and ohio and the erie. the pennsylvania, too, indulged in rate cutting, but the management was equal to the situation and made up in other directions what it lost in lower rates. it gave superior service, developed a high efficiency of operation, and steadily maintained its properties at a high standard. during these years the president was george b. roberts, who had succeeded thomas a. scott in . roberts's management spanned the period from to and embraced a decade of comparative prosperity for the country as a whole and nearly a decade of panic and industrial and financial depression. during the earlier decade the business of the pennsylvania was continually benefited by the industrial development and growth which marked the period. it was at this time that the pittsburgh district took its permanent place as the great center of steel and iron manufacture. the discovery of petroleum in western pennsylvania, creating an enormous new industry in itself, proved to be an event of far-reaching significance for the pennsylvania railroad. the extensive opening up of the soft coal sections of western pennsylvania, ohio, and indiana, also meant much for this great system of railroads. still further developments in other directions accrued to the benefit of the pennsylvania railroad. in this period, by obtaining the control of a line to washington, the system acquired a southern artery running through wilmington, delaware, and baltimore to washington. afterwards, with other roads, the pennsylvania acquired control of the richmond, fredericksburg and potomac railroad and thus obtained a line to richmond, virginia. on the north and to the east the expanding movement also went on. in addition to the development of its main line from philadelphia to jersey city, the pennsylvania acquired many other new jersey lines, including the west jersey and seashore, a road running from camden to atlantic city and cape may. during the whole of the aggressive administrations of both thomas a. scott and george b. roberts the great system continued to spread out steadily until it had penetrated as far as mackinaw city on the north and chesapeake bay on the south. its network of lines stretched across the eastern section of the continent from new york to iowa and missouri, while the intensive development of shorter lines in the state of pennsylvania and to the north was unceasing. the northern central running south from sodus bay on lake ontario through central pennsylvania to baltimore, the buffalo and alleghany valley extending from oil city northward and joining the main system to the east, the western new york and pennsylvania operating north from oil city to buffalo and rochester--these lines the pennsylvania railroad acquired and definitely consolidated in the roberts regime. after the retirement of roberts, frank thomson, a son of the earlier president of the same name, was placed at the head of the system for three years. but in alexander j. cassatt, who had for many years been identified with the pennsylvania as officer, director, and stockholder, took the helm, and a new chapter and probably the greatest in the history of this remarkable railroad began. the name of alexander j. cassatt will always be linked with the comprehensive terminal developments in the region of new york city which were begun almost immediately on his accession to the presidency and which were carried forward on bold and far-reaching lines. perhaps more than any other one person, cassatt foresaw the approach of the day when new york city as a commercial center would outstrip both in density of population and in amount of wealth all the other cities of the world. he and his predecessors had for many years witnessed the great industrial development of the pittsburgh district, where property values had grown by leaps and bounds and where the steadily advancing development of industry and material resources had been so unmistakably reflected in the increasing earning power and value of the pennsylvania railroad properties. but while at pittsburgh the road had everything to favor it as far as terminals and rights of way through the heart of the great industrial district were concerned, in the great eastern metropolis the pennsylvania railroad was at an obvious disadvantage, particularly as compared with the new york central, which had its splendid terminal rights penetrating to the heart of the city. cassatt saw that his company must without delay take a number of bold and, for the time, enormously expensive steps toward the development of terminal facilities in greater new york or else forever abandon the idea of getting nearer the heart of the city than the new jersey shore and thus run the risk, in the keen contest for commercial supremacy, of ultimately falling behind other more advantageously situated lines. there were still further incentives to immediate action on the part of the pennsylvania railroad. while the new york central was in an ideal position for handling all traffic destined for the new england states, the pennsylvania could control practically none of this business, as its terminals were on the wrong side of the hudson and necessitated not merely the inconvenient transfer of passengers but also the much more expensive handling of freight. other disadvantages from which the pennsylvania suffered were involved in its inability to make the most economical terms for foreign shipping, as a large proportion of such freight had to be constantly transferred on lighters to the new york and brooklyn sides of the harbor. thus any comprehensive plan for terminal development on the part of the pennsylvania must necessarily include not only a tunnel system into new york city but also an outlet through the city to long island and a connection with the new england railroads. the first move in the development of this terminal system was the acquisition in of the control of the long island railroad, embracing all the steam railway mileage on long island, with lines extending along both the north and south shores to montauk point. this acquisition added extensive freight yards and terminals on the brooklyn side of the east river. the company then obtained franchises and began the construction of its great tunnels under the north and east rivers and entirely across new york city, with a mammoth passenger station at seventh avenue and thirty-second street. a great railroad bridge was planned to cross from long island to the mainland, connecting with the new york, new haven and hartford system, in the stock of which the pennsylvania at this time purchased an interest. the terminal construction occupied a period of many years and cost over one hundred million dollars, besides the added costs involved in building up and developing the old, worn-out long island railroad. only recently has the project been rounded out and completed through the final construction of the important connection with the new england railroad systems. but the realization of this plan is undoubtedly the greatest achievement in all the long career of the pennsylvania railroad. had the project been delayed for another decade, it probably could not have been accomplished because of the growing expense of operation and the difficulties of getting franchise rights and rights of way through and under the metropolis. while the tunnel development is the notable achievement of the cassatt regime, this remarkable man's name is also closely identified with the "community of interest" idea already explained. this "community of interest" scheme was pushed aggressively by cassatt in cooperation with harriman, hill, and morgan. large stock purchases were made in the norfolk and western, the chesapeake and ohio, and the baltimore and ohio. as the latter road had in its turn acquired, jointly with new york central interests, a working control of the reading company, and the reading company had secured majority ownership of the new jersey central system, it is apparent that the domination which the pennsylvania had obtained over the entire eastern seaboard south of new york city and north of baltimore was made nearly complete. the "community of interest" plan held sway with the large railroads of the country and was very effective for perhaps half a dozen years, until the interstate commerce laws were amended in such a way as to give the government complete control over railroad freight and passenger rates. in the pennsylvania began to dispose of the bulk of its holdings in competing properties, the most notable transactions being the sale of its entire interest in the chesapeake and ohio to independent interests and a substantial part of its baltimore and ohio holdings to the union pacific railroad. a few years later, when the union pacific was forced by the federal courts to dispose of its control of the southern pacific company, a trade was made between the pennsylvania and the union pacific whereby the latter took from the pennsylvania the remainder of its baltimore and ohio investment and gave in exchange a portion of its own large holding of southern pacific stock. to get a fair idea of the meaning and magnitude of the great pennsylvania railroad system today one must do more than scan maps and study statistics. one should travel by daylight over its main line from new york to pittsburgh. although the route is over the same ground which the road followed a generation or two ago, a four-track line runs practically all the way, with long stretches of hundreds of miles of five, six, and eight tracks. where mountains were climbed thirty years ago, one will now find them bored by tunnels; where sharp curves were necessary before straight trackage only will be encountered today. grades have been eliminated everywhere and the whole route has been modernized and strengthened by the laying of one hundred to one hundred and fifty pound rails. undoubtedly the fortunate location of the pennsylvania lines in the half dozen states which represent the financial and industrial heart of the continent has had much to do with its vast growth and the expansion of its business; but its high reputation can be explained only by the long record of its superior methods and management. one of the primary objects of pennsylvania railroad policy has been to keep pace with the growth of the country. instead of following in the wake of industrial progress and making its improvements and extensions after its competitors had made theirs, its management has usually had the foresight to prepare well in advance for future needs. chapter iv. the erie railroad "before introducing a friend to a distinguished stranger, it is advisable to give him some account of the person whose acquaintance he is about to make; and so, fellow-traveler, whom i introduce to the new york and erie railroad, it may be well to prefix here a brief sketch of the history and present condition of this, the lion of railways. true, he is yet in an unfinished state, but you will find that what there is of him is complete, and of wondrous organization and activity. his magnificent head and front repose in grandeur on the shores of the hudson; his iron lungs puff vigorously among the highland fastnesses of rockland; his capacious maw fares sumptuously on the dairies of orange and the game and cattle of broome; his lumbar region is built upon the timber of chemung, and the tuft of his royal extremity floats triumphantly on the waters of lake erie." this exultant, characteristically american, description appeared in harper's "guide-book of the new york and erie railroad", published in , soon after the opening of the main line of more than four hundred and sixty miles from piermont on the hudson to dunkirk on lake erie. that this railroad, which after nearly twenty years of struggle and of financial vicissitudes had finally linked the great lakes with the atlantic coast, was looked upon as a property of wonderful character and limitless future is indicated in all the railroad literature of that time. appleton's "illustrated handbook of american travel", published in , devotes several pages to a description of this remarkable achievement in railroad extension and among other things says: "this great route claims a special admiration for the grandeur of the enterprise which conceived and executed it, for the vast contribution it has made to the facilities of travel, and for the multiplied and various landscape beauties which it has made so readily and pleasantly accessible. it traverses the southern portion of the empire state in its entire length from east to west, passing through countless towns and villages, over many rivers, through rugged mountain passes now, and anon amidst broad and fertile valleys and plains. in addition it has many branches, connecting its stations with other routes in all directions, and opening new stores of pictorial pleasures.... an interesting feature of this road is its own telegraph, which runs by the side of the road and has its operator in nearly every station house. this telegraph has a double wire, enabling the company to transact the public, as well as their own private business. daily trains leave for the west on this route, with connections by boat from the foot of duane street, morning, noon, and night." the erie railroad system was foreshadowed in the time of queen anne, when the colony of new york appropriated the sum of five hundred dollars to john smith and other persons for the purpose of constructing a public road connecting the port of new york with the west in the vicinity of the great lakes. the appropriation was coupled with the condition that within two years the beneficiaries should have constructed a road wide enough for two carriages to pass, from nyack on the hudson river to sterling iron works, a distance of about thirty miles; and that they should cut away the limbs of trees over the track in order to allow the carriages to pass. in this way began the internal improvement system of the state of new york, which after the lapse of more than a century resulted in opening the erie canal and in projecting a railroad system connecting new york and the valley of the hudson with lake erie. after the opening of the erie canal in , the legislature of new york directed a survey of a state road which was to be constructed at public expense through the southern tier of counties from the hudson river to lake erie. the unfavorable profile exhibited in the survey apparently caused the project to be abandoned. but the idea still held sway over the minds of many people; and the great benefits brought to the mohawk valley and surrounding country by the erie canal led the southern counties to demand a transportation route which would work similar wonders in that region. this growing sentiment finally persuaded the legislature to charter in april, , the new york and erie railroad company, and to give it authority to construct a line and to regulate its own charges for transportation. during the following summer a survey of the route was made by colonel de witt clinton, jr., and in a second survey was made of the whole of the proposed route. when the probable cost was estimated, many opponents arose who declaimed the undertaking was "chimerical, impractical, and useless." the road, they declared, could never be built and, if built, would never be used; the southern counties were mountainous, sterile, and worthless, and afforded no products requiring a market; and, in any case, these counties should find their natural outlet in the valley of the mohawk. this antagonism was successfully opposed, however, and the construction of the road was begun in . the panic of interfered with the work, but in the state legislature came forward with a construction loan of three million dollars, and the first section of line, extending from piermont on the hudson to goshen, was put into operation in september, . in the following year the company became financially embarrassed and was placed in the hands of receivers. this catastrophe delayed further progress for years, and it was not until that sufficient new capital was raised to go on with the work. the original estimate of the cost for building the entire line of miles had been three million dollars, but already the road had cost over six millions and only a small portion had been finished. the final estimate now rose to fifteen millions, and, although some money was raised from time to time and new sections were built, there was no certainty that the entire road would ever be completed. ultimately the state of new york canceled its claim against the property, new subscriptions of some millions were secured, and more money was raised by mortgaging the finished sections. finally, in , after eighteen years of effort, the line was opened to lake erie. in addition there had been added various feeders or branches, giving the road an entry into scranton, pennsylvania, and into geneva and buffalo, new york. it had its terminus on lake erie at dunkirk and its eastern terminus at piermont, near nyack on the hudson, about twenty-five miles by boat from new york city. the financial condition of the erie at this time manifested the beginning of that general policy of improvidence and recklessness which afterward, for nearly a generation and a half, made the company a speculative football in some of the most disreputable games of wall street stock-jobbers. for though the original estimate had been three millions and the highest estimate of the cost during construction had been fifteen million dollars, the company, in , started its career with capital obligations of no less than twenty-six millions--a very large sum for those days. the fact that these initial obligations constituted a heavy burden became apparent when the erie began operations. they made necessary such high freight rates that shippers held indignation meetings and again and again made appeals for legislative relief. although much money had been raised after for improvements, the condition of the erie steadily grew worse. it soon became notorious for many accidents due to carelessness in running trains and to the breaking of the brittle iron rails. but in spite of these drawbacks the business of the erie grew. in it acquired the ramapo and paterson and the paterson and hudson river railroads and in this way it obtained a more direct connection with new york city. it changed the tracks of its new railroads to the six-foot gage, which the erie had adopted from the start and which it persisted in maintaining for many years despite the world-wide practice of establishing a standard width of four feet eight and one-half inches. the most conspicuous figure in the history of the erie railroad system in these early days was daniel drew. from , when the main line was opened, until , this man was a director and, for the larger part of the time, treasurer. born in , he had driven cattle when a boy from his native town of carmel in putnam county to the new york city market and, for some years later, he had been proprietor of the bull's head tavern. shrewd, unscrupulous, illiterate, good-natured, and sometimes generous, he was in many ways unlike his great adversary in the railroad world, commodore vanderbilt. drew affected a pious and sanctimonious attitude in all his dealings, while vanderbilt had a more frank and open nature and usually made no pretensions to righteousness. for many years following , drew, who owned or controlled nearly one-half the stock of the erie, appeared to think that his office of treasurer carried with it the right to manipulate the stock of the road at any time it might help his pocketbook to do so. he frequently advanced money which the road could not obtain elsewhere, always taking full security and excessive commissions. this practice gave him the name of "speculative director," and by the time his great contests with commodore vanderbilt broke out, he was reputed to be worth many millions, most of which he had acquired by juggling in wall street with erie securities. the entire period in the affairs of the erie system from the ascendancy of daniel drew in to the end of the civil war witnessed an endless succession of stock-market exploits both large and small. in the spring of , however, drew found an opportunity to achieve a real masterpiece in manipulation. the stock of the erie road was then selling at about and the company was in pressing need of funds. the treasurer came to the rescue as usual and made the necessary advances on adequate security. the company had in its treasury a considerable amount of unissued stock and had also the legal right to issue bonds to the extent of $ , , which could be converted into stock. drew took these bonds and the unissued stock as security for a loan of $ , , . it so happened, naturally, that drew was soon heavily short of erie stock in wall street. the market was buoyant; speculation was rampant; and the outside public, the delight and prey of wall street gamblers, were as usual drawn in by the fascination of acquiring wealth without labor. all this time our friend, daniel drew, was quietly selling erie stock and closing contracts for the future delivery of the certificates; and he was doing this at rising prices. as the days went by, his grave, desponding manner grew more and more apparent. erie stock continued to rise. in the loan market its scarcity became greater hour by hour. the rumor began to spread that "uncle daniel" was cornered. his large obligations for future delivery must be met. where was the erie stock to come from? the stock continued to soar, and treasurer drew seemed to become more and more depressed. then the blow fell. drew laid his hands on the collateral which he held for his loan to the erie. in the twinkling of an eye his $ , , in erie bonds was converted into erie stock, which he proceeded to dump in wall street. erie quotations fell from to . every one at last realized the trap--but not before daniel drew had pocketed a few millions in profits. by this time drew had come to be looked upon as a stock operator to be both admired and feared, and this incident took its place in wall street history as a brilliant coup side by side with vanderbilt's harlem railroad and other celebrated exploits. it was soon followed, however, by much more sensational events. we have seen that the portentous figure of vanderbilt was just at this time looming up in the railroad world, and vanderbilt had his own theory of the management and financing of railroads. it was inevitable that he should clash with drew. he was a few years older than drew, and the two men, as we have seen, had much in common. both were well on in life before they had transferred their activities to steam railroads. when finally, in , they crossed swords in connection with the two railroad systems extending through new york state, both were more than seventy years old and had been successful in the acquisition of millions by methods of their own invention. they were no doubt equally unscrupulous, but, while drew was by nature a pessimist and "bearish," vanderbilt, in the wall street vernacular, was always a "bull." having obtained control of the new york central, the hudson river, and the harlem railroads, commodore vanderbilt now decided in the summer of to go after the erie, of which drew was nominally in possession, although no one knew when he owned a majority of the stock or when he was temporarily short of it. usually he loaded up as the annual election of officers approached and liquidated shortly thereafter. besides vanderbilt there was another interest at this time trying for the control of the erie. this interest consisted of certain wall street speculators and certain boston capitalists who proclaimed themselves railroad reformers. these so-called reformers were as unscrupulous and crafty as either of the other men, and they really represented nothing but an attempt to raid the erie treasury in the interest of a bankrupt new england corporation known as the boston, hartford and erie railroad. as was well said, the name of this latter road was "synonymous with bankruptcy, litigation, fraud, and failure." the erie railroad control was always nominally for sale, and, as the annual election approached, a majority of stockholders stood ready to sell their votes to the highest bidder. commodore vanderbilt cleverly secured the cooperation of the "reformer" element, corralling their proxies, and thus he appeared to be in a position to oust the drew interests without difficulty. on the sunday preceding the election the commodore saw drew and amicably explained to him the trap he had laid, and showed him clearly that there was no way out of the situation. upon this disclosure, treasurer drew at once faced about and agreed to join hands with vanderbilt in giving the market for the stock the strong upward twist it had lacked before that hour. jointly they would make so much money that neither side would lose anything. "uncle daniel" went away apparently satisfied and contented with the compromise. but the commodore had not finished. a few hours later he took the boston adventurers into his confidence and explained that he proposed to continue drew in the directorate. the boston men were puzzled and confused by this sudden change of front. later, all parties met at drew's house, and vanderbilt brought the boston men to terms by proposing a plan to drew whereby they would be entirely left out. this ruse succeeded and a written agreement to the advantage of all, but at the expense of the outside stockholders and of the general public, was then drawn up. this, however, was only the beginning of the fight. vanderbilt was now in the erie as a joint owner, but he had stretched out his hands to control the road and he meant to succeed. in february of , frank work, the single representative of vanderbilt on the erie board, applied for an injunction against treasurer drew and his brother directors to restrain them from the repayment of the $ , , borrowed by the railroad from drew in , and to restrain drew from taking any legal steps toward compelling a settlement. judge barnard granted a temporary injunction, and two days later vanderbilt's attorney petitioned for the removal from office of treasurer drew. the papers presented in the case exposed a new fountain of erie stock which had up to that time been entirely overlooked. a recently enacted law of the state of new york--probably fathered by drew--authorized any railroad company to create and issue its own stock in exchange for the stock of any other railroad under lease to it. upon the basis of this law drew and his close satellites had secretly secured ownership of a worthless piece of road connecting with the erie and known as the buffalo, bradford and pittsburgh. then, as their personal needs in the stock-market or at elections demanded, they had supplied themselves with new erie stock by leasing the worthless road to the erie and then exchanging erie stock for the worthless stock of the leased line. the cost of the line to drew and his friends, as financiers, was about $ , . they then issued, as proprietors, $ , , in bonds of the road, payable to one of themselves as trustee. this person then shifted his character, became counsel for both sides, and drew up a contract leasing the line to the erie for years, the erie agreeing to guarantee the bonds in consideration. these men then reappeared as directors of the erie and ratified the lease. after that it was a simple matter to divide the loot. the erie was thus saddled with a $ , , mortgage at seven per cent in addition to a further issue of capital stock. following the first injunction another was now issued restraining drew and the erie board from making any further issues of stock, by conversion of bonds or otherwise, and also forbidding the erie to guarantee any further issues of bonds. an additional injunction forbade drew from having any transactions in erie stock or fulfilling any contracts until he had returned to the treasury the shares involved in his loan transaction of and in the purchase of the worthless buffalo, bradford and pittsburgh road. matters now looked forbidding for treasurer drew. instead of being allowed to manufacture fresh erie stock certificates at his own will, as had been his habit for fifteen years, he was to be cornered by a legal writ and forced to work his own ruin. but notwithstanding the apparently desperate situation it was quite evident that drew's nerves were not seriously affected. although he seemed rushing on destruction, he continued day after day to put out more short stock, all in the face of a steadily rising market. his plans, apparently, were carefully matured, and he said that if the commodore wanted the stock of his road he would let him have all he desired--at the proper price. as usual the erie treasury was short of funds, and as usual "uncle daniel" stood ready to advance all the money required--that is, on proper security. there was but one kind of security to offer and that was convertible bonds. no stock could be issued by the company for less than par, but convertible bonds could be disposed of by the directors at any price. a secret meeting of the executive committee was held, at which it was voted to issue immediately and to offer for sale $ , , in convertible bonds at / . drew's broker at once became the purchaser of $ , , worth. in ten minutes after the meeting had adjourned, the bonds had been issued, their conversion into stock demanded and made, and certificates for , shares of stock deposited in a broker's safe, subject to drew's order. a few days later came the injunction, and erie stock began to soar in the markets, in response to which "uncle daniel," who had been industriously selling his many thousands of new shares, now determined to bring up the reserves and let the eager buyers have the other five millions; but before the bonds could be converted the injunction had been served. the date for the return of the writ was tuesday the th of march; but the erie ring needed less time than this and decided on monday the th as the day to defeat the corner. saturday and sunday were busy days for drew and his friends. all his brokers had been enjoined, so a dummy was made the nominal purchaser of the bonds. this dummy then made his formal demand for the conversion of the bonds and was refused. all this was done upon affidavit, as it was the plan of drew to get from some judge a writ of mandamus to compel the erie railroad to convert the bonds. the stock certificates for which they were to be exchanged were signed in blank and made ready for delivery. drew had agreed to sell , shares of stock at to the firms of which jay gould and james fisk, jr., were members; they were also erie directors. on monday morning, the th of march, the certificates, filled out in the names of these firms, were handed by the secretary to an employee who was directed to carry them from the office of the company in west street to the transfer clerk in pine street. the messenger left, but in a moment or two returned to report to the apparently amazed secretary that fisk had met him outside the door, had taken the certificates away from him, and "had run away with them." it was true. the stock certificates had been "stolen" and were beyond the control of an injunction. the stock certificates next appeared in every part of wall street. on the same day the erie representatives applied to judge gilbert of brooklyn for an injunction on the ground that certain persons, including judge barnard, had entered into a conspiracy to speculate in erie stock and to use the process of the courts to aid the speculation. to the amazement of everybody, judge gilbert issued an injunction restraining all parties to all the other suits from further proceedings; in one paragraph ordering the erie directors to continue in the discharge of their duties--in direct defiance of the injunction of one judge--and in the next paragraph forbidding the directors to desist in the conversion of bonds--in direct defiance of another judge. the drew interests were now enjoined in every direction. one judge had forbidden them to move, and another judge had ordered them not to stand still. it was a strategic position which drew and his agents could not have improved upon, and while matters stood this way the , shares of erie stock had been flung on the market. vanderbilt, who was ignorant of this situation, bought the new stock as eagerly as the old. then, when the facts came out, the quotations dropped with a thud. uncle daniel was victorious; the attempted corner had been a failure; and the commodore was holding the bag. further dramatic events followed. the erie directors learned that process for contempt had been issued and that their only chance of escape from jail lay in immediate flight. so, stuffing all that was worth while of the erie railroad into their pockets, they made off under cover of darkness to jersey city. one man carried with him in a hackney coach over $ , , in greenbacks. two of the directors lingered and were arrested; but a majority collected at the erie station in jersey city and there, free from interference, went on with the transaction of business. without disturbance they were able to count their expenses and divide the profits. vanderbilt was now loaded up with reams of erie stock at high costs, and the load was a severe strain on him. he dared not sell for fear of causing a financial collapse. drew had taken away about seven million dollars of his money and an artificial stringency had been created in wall street by this exodus of most of its available cash. but vanderbilt weathered the storm and, as his generally optimistic attitude inspired confidence, the sky began to clear. but this stock-market battle did not end the war. new injunctions flew in all directions. osgood, son-in-law of vanderbilt, was appointed receiver of the , shares of illegally issued stock and was immediately enjoined from acting by another judge. then peter b. sweeney, of the tammany ring, was appointed in his stead without notice to the other side. there was nothing for a receiver to do, as every dollar he was to "receive" was known to be in new jersey and beyond his reach. nevertheless he was subsequently allowed a fee of $ , by judge barnard for his services! while the legal battle was going on neither drew nor vanderbilt was idle. a plot was arranged for bringing the erie directors over by force, but this failed. in the meanwhile the erie directors persuaded the new jersey legislature to rush through a bill making the erie railway a new jersey corporation. this move, however, was intended merely to meet an emergency. it was the intention of the erie interests to do their real work with the legislature at albany. this was also the intention of the vanderbilt interests. consequently, during the subsequent session, the grafters in that body were wooed by both sides. when the legislature convened, a bill was promptly introduced making legal the recent issue of erie stock, regulating the power to issue convertible bonds, providing for the guaranty of the bonds of the boston, hartford and erie, and forbidding the consolidation of the central and the erie under the control of cornelius vanderbilt. but evidently the commodore's purse was open wider than "uncle daniel's," for this bill was defeated by a decisive vote. now jay gould appeared upon the scene. he left jersey city with half a million of the erie's money in his pocket and arrived in albany immediately after the defeat of this bill. on his arrival he was arrested on a writ issued against him for contempt of court and was held in bail of half a million dollars for his appearance in new york a few days later. he appeared before judge barnard in new york and was put in the charge of a sheriff. but the sheriff was served with a writ of habeas corpus, and gould was again brought before the court. then in some mysterious way the hearing was deferred and gould returned to albany, taking the officer as a traveling companion. after reaching his destination gould became so ill that he could not return to new york, though he managed to go to the capitol in a driving snowstorm. here he became rapidly convalescent, as did also many members of the legislature. members, indeed, who had been too sick or too feeble to attend the legislative sessions during this cold winter suddenly found their health returning and flocked to albany on the fastest trains. gould stayed in albany until april, and by this time a remarkable change had come over the mentality of a majority of the legislators. on the th of april a bill was presented in the senate which met the approval of the erie interests and which judge barnard afterwards designated as a bill for legalizing counterfeit money. this bill, which was passed after due debate, legalized the issues of erie bonds and stocks which had been put out by drew; it provided for the guaranty of the bonds of connecting roads as desired by drew; and it forbade all possible contracts for consolidation or division of receipts between the erie and the vanderbilt roads, a provision also desired by drew. in fact it was the same bill in different form that had been voted down so decisively a short time before. but the real tug of war was to get the bill through the lower house. fabulous stories were told of money which would be expended and the market quotations for votes never soared so high. then, at the critical moment, vanderbilt surrendered, made a secret deal with his foe, and withdrew his opposition to the bill. the anger of the disappointed grafters and vote-sellers knew no bounds, and they immediately set to work passing other bills which they felt would annoy or injure vanderbilt, with the hope that he would still be induced to give them what they regarded as their rightful spoils. the details of this settlement between drew and vanderbilt were not announced until some months afterward. by the terms agreed on vanderbilt was relieved of , shares of erie stock at , payable partly in cash and partly in bonds guaranteed by the erie, and received $ , , in cash for an option given the erie railroad to purchase his remaining , shares at within four months, besides about $ , to compensate his friends who had worked so heroically for him. this total sum of nearly $ , , no doubt represented part of the "slush fund" which drew expected that the company would have to give up to the venal legislators, and it was therefore no hardship to hand it over to vanderbilt instead. as a part of the general settlement the boston interests were relieved of their $ , , of largely worthless bonds of the boston, hartford and erie railroad, for which they received $ , , of erie securities. thus in all about $ , , in cash or securities was drawn out of the erie treasury in final settlement of this great stock-market manipulation. and this does not include the pickings of gould and fisk and the smaller fry, of which there is no official record. but that these gentlemen did not go empty-handed there is not the shadow of a doubt! the sensational stock-market deal between the drew and vanderbilt interests was but a truce, however, and did not settle the troubles of the erie. jay gould was now becoming a dominating factor and in october of was chosen president. the various stock-market struggles that ensued from the ascendency of jay gould to the receivership of the erie in is a long and intricate tale. suffice it to say that the events were generally similar to those already recounted--stock-market corners, over-issues of bonds and stocks, injunctions, court orders, arrests, legislative bribes. less than a week after his election jay gould frankly announced that the company had just issued $ , , of convertible bonds and that a third of these had already been converted into stock. he further announced that the company now had $ , , of common stock outstanding, whereas the public had understood that it was only $ , , . during the few years that followed, the poor erie was systematically looted. millions were wasted in new york real-estate speculation, and the company's money was used in the erection of the grand opera house on twenty-third street, to which the executive offices of the erie railroad were moved. finally the new ring, comprising as leading spirits jay gould and james fisk, jr., eliminated daniel drew and left him high and dry without a cent, through a new stock corner. about this time the road was financially on its last legs, and jay gould was appointed receiver. this started further litigation which dragged on for several years until, in , gould was turned out by general daniel e. sickles in combination with the english shareholders. the new interests, when they finally got control, elected an entirely new management and made h. j. jewett, a practical railroad man, president. but the erie was already bankrupt, and not much could be done toward saving the situation. in may, , the road confessed inability to meet its obligations, and jewett was appointed receiver. it was three years from the date of the receivership before the erie property was taken out of the hands of the courts. in april, , a new company, the new york, lake erie and western railroad, took over the property; jewett was elected its president, and a new chapter in the history of the property began. had the reorganization of the erie been drastic enough, the road might not so soon have fallen into financial difficulties again, for it owned valuable coal lands in eastern pennsylvania and rapidly increased its earnings in this region. moreover the extension of the system westward should have increased its earning capacity. up to this time the erie had no chicago connection and was at an obvious disadvantage compared with its competitors. it improved this situation in by acquiring the new york, pennsylvania and ohio, and the franchise of the chicago and atlantic railway. two years later it obtained control of the cincinnati, hamilton and dayton and found itself in a position in which it could compete for through traffic with the pennsylvania and the new york central. but in carrying through these extensive plans, the erie again became involved in financial difficulties; the sensational grant and ward failure in wall street in was a severe blow to the company's credit, as this firm was at that time doing important financing for the erie. the english security holders stepped to the front again, demanded president jewett's resignation, and elected john king in his stead. in and a financial readjustment took place, but the company continued to carry the bulk of the heavy load of obligations which had been created during the years of the drew and gould managements. it was surely an evidence of the inherent worth of the property that during the half dozen or more years following, the erie succeeded in struggling along in the face of all its financial and other handicaps and at the same time showed substantial growth in the volume of its business. the company was kept above water until without again appealing to the courts; but by that time the indebtedness had once more mounted, and in july of that year erie receivers were appointed for the fourth time in its history. the name of pierpont morgan is closely identified with the story of the railroad during this latest reorganization period. morgan's firm came to the front in , with the powerful backing of the large english interests, and proposed a plan which involved heavy sacrifices by many of the security holders but which was designed to insure the permanent future of the property. the plan was vigorously opposed, however, by edward h. harriman, august belmont, and other powerful interests, and it was not until august, , that a final compromise was effected and a reorganization was carried through. but at last the erie was taken out of receivership, and an entirely new company, intelligently designed and having ample working capital for future development, was formed with e. b. thomas at its head. this new president, like daniel willard of the baltimore and ohio and many of the modern railroad leaders, was a practical railroad man who had worked up from the ranks and who had no large financial interest or banking connections to divert his attention from the real business of management. under thomas, who remained at the head of affairs from to , the erie made substantial progress. the system was solidified and its territory was more uniformly and systematically developed. in , the erie secured control of the new york, susquehanna and western system, gaining thereby an important branch to wilkesbarre; and in it purchased jointly with the lehigh valley railroad the stock of the pennsylvania coal company of which the erie later became sole owner. the real achievement of the thomas administration was the development of the property as a heavy carrier of anthracite coal. on the financial side during this period the credit of the house of morgan, intelligent administration, and modern methods did much to improve the reputation of the erie and enable it to live down its bad inheritance. in frederick d. underwood succeeded thomas. like his predecessor, underwood represented the modern type of railroad president--a hard-working, eminently practical big business manager of great executive talent. underwood's idea was to make the erie a great freight-carrying system by developing its tonnage and its freight capacity in every way possible. consequently he favored opening up the property more extensively in the soft coal fields of ohio and indiana, reconstructing roadbeds, laying extra tracks, and eliminating grades and curves. the history of the erie railroad ever since has been a record of progress. during these years the system has been practically rebuilt. it now has a double track from new york to chicago; it has extensive mileage in the soft coal regions of ohio and indiana, and its soft coal tonnage today far overtops its tonnage of anthracite coal; its train load averages far higher than that of the new york central or of any other eastern trunk lines except the pennsylvania; its steep grades throughout new york state have been for the most part eliminated, and many short cuts for freight traffic have been built. in carrying through these extensive developments in fifteen years the erie has spent hundreds of millions of dollars. more money indeed has been used legitimately for improvement and development since the reorganization of than during the previous sixty years of its existence. of course this outlay has meant that the erie has had to create new mortgages and borrow many millions; but a large part of the expenditure for improvement has come directly from earnings. the underwood administration has been conservative in paying dividends and the stockholders grumble. but the erie is at last coming into its own. instead of being a speculative football and a hopelessly bankrupt road, as it was for nearly forty years, it is now in the forefront of the great trunk lines of the eastern section of the united states. it is no longer, what it was called for many years, the "scarlet woman of wall street," but is a respectable member of the american railroad family. chapter v. crossing the appalachian range the story of the baltimore and ohio railroad takes us back more than ninety years. when the scheme for the construction of a railroad from baltimore to the waters of the ohio river first began to take form, the united states had barely emerged from the revolutionary period. many of the famous men of that great day were still living. john adams and thomas jefferson had been dead only a year; madison and monroe had recently retired from public life; john quincy adams held the office of president, and the "reign" of andrew jackson had not yet begun. at this time steam navigation on the rivers was only in its beginnings, but no one could doubt that it would come into general use. two decades had passed since the clermont had been launched on the hudson by robert fulton, and steamboats were now carrying cargoes successfully against the swift currents up the mississippi from new orleans and were threatening the extinction of the aggressive flatboat traffic. great strides had also been made in the construction of turnpike roads. the famous national pike from cumberland to vandalia, illinois, had been in large part completed and had done much for the opening up of the western territory. canal building was likewise an extensive development of this period. the idea of connecting the waters of the chesapeake with those of the ohio had been broached by george washington before the revolution, and he had also prophesied the union of the hudson and lake erie by canal. he believed that a country of such great geographical extent as the united states could not be held together except by close commercial bonds. the opening of the erie canal to new york in stimulated other cities on the atlantic seaboard to put themselves into closer commercial touch with the west. this was especially true of the city of baltimore. a canal connecting chesapeake bay and the ohio river was advocated to protect the trade of baltimore and the south from the competition of new york and the east which would inevitably result from the construction of the erie canal and the public works of pennsylvania. but discouragements in plenty frustrated the plan. the cost was believed to be excessive and the engineering difficulties were said to be almost insuperable. george bernard, a french engineer, was of the opinion that the high elevations and scarcity of water along the route would prevent such a canal from having much practical value. for these reasons baltimore believed that its position as a center for the rapidly developing western trade was slowly but surely slipping away. this was the situation that led to the building of the baltimore and ohio railroad. two men--philip e. thomas and george brown--were the pioneers in this great undertaking. they spent the year investigating railway enterprises in england, which were at that time being tested in a comprehensive fashion as commercial ventures. their investigation completed, they held a meeting on february , , including about twenty-five citizens, most of whom were baltimore merchants or bankers, "to take into consideration the best means of restoring to the city of baltimore that portion of the western trade which has lately been diverted from it by the introduction of steam navigation and by other causes." the outcome was an application to the maryland legislature for a charter for a company to be known as "the baltimore and ohio railroad company" having the right to build and operate a railroad from the city of baltimore to the ohio river. the formal organization took place on april , , with philip e. thomas as president and george brown as treasurer. the capital of the proposed company was fixed at five million dollars. the construction of the railroad began on july , . the venerable charles carroll of carrollton, then more than ninety years old and the only surviving signer of the declaration of independence of fifty-two years before, said on this occasion, as he laid the first stone: "i consider this among the most important acts of my life, second only to my signing the declaration of independence." his vision was indeed prophetic. it was determined that the first section of road constructed should extend to ellicott's mills, twelve miles distant, but, owing to delays in obtaining capital, the actual laying of the rails was not begun until the fall of , and this first section was not opened for traffic until may , . at first, experiments were made with sails for propelling the cars, but it was soon found that a more effective source of power was supplied by mules and horses. the flying dutchman, one of the cars devised to furnish motive power, provided for the horse or mule a treadmill which would revolve the wheels and make the distance of twelve miles in about an hour and a quarter. steam locomotives at this time were in their infancy and, until the opening of the liverpool and manchester railroad in this same year, they had attained a speed of only six miles an hour. horses and mules, and even sail cars, made more rapid progress than did the earliest locomotive. in spite of these crude and primitive facilities for transportation, however, the traffic on the new railroad was of large volume from the beginning, and the company could not handle the amount of merchandise offered for transport in the first months. construction was now rapidly pushed ahead, and by the whole line had been opened to point of rocks, with a branch to frederick, maryland, making seventy-two miles in all. in , steam locomotives were tested, and one of them, the york, was found capable of conveying fifteen tons at the rate of fifteen miles an hour on level portions of the road. this achievement was regarded as a great triumph, and in the directors of the road called attention to "the great increase in velocity" that had been obtained in this way. from this time forward the expansion of the railroad proceeded with a certainty born of success. a branch was built to washington and the main line was extended to harper's ferry. beyond this point construction was slow because financial difficulties stood in the way, and it was not until after the panic of that further aggressive building began. but by the line was completed to cumberland, maryland, and by , to wheeling. meanwhile, the branch from cumberland to parkersburg, virginia, was built. the road now comprised a total system of more than five hundred miles and reached two points of importance on the ohio river, one northward near the pennsylvania-ohio state line and one southward in the direction of cincinnati. the parkersburg extension was of great importance because it opened a through route to st. louis, by means of the cincinnati and marietta railroad--which was at this time completed from cincinnati to belpre, ohio, opposite parkersburg--and the ohio and mississippi, which extended more than three hundred miles from st. louis to cincinnati. times were not the best, however, and, although much traffic was developed, the immense cost of the extensions heavily burdened the baltimore and ohio company, while the panic of seriously embarrassed its credit. soon after this panic and before the company had begun to recover from its effects, john w. garrett, one of the large stockholders in the road and son of a baltimore banker, was elected to its presidency, and a new chapter in the history of the baltimore and ohio began. almost immediately following garrett's election, a remarkable change became apparent. losses were turned into gains; deficits were converted into surpluses; and soon garrett had gained the reputation of being the most remarkable and efficient railroad manager in the world. he seemed to be almost an aladdin of railroad management for, even when he could not show increases in amount of business done, he reported greater profits by showing lower expenses. in those days the railroads did not furnish detailed reports of business to the stockholders or to the public. at the annual meetings it was customary for a president or the directors simply to announce, either orally or in a brief printed statement, the amount of gross business and profits for the year. no such thing as a balance sheet or detailed financial statement saw the light of day--practically everything was taken by the stockholders on faith. and great was their faith. when, therefore, garrett announced large increases in profits in years when most railroads were standing still or were incurring losses, he was implicitly believed. under garrett's management a new era of expansion almost immediately began; work was started on the long delayed branch to pittsburgh and plans were laid for establishing a line of steamships from baltimore to the leading european ports. but the civil war, which bore heavily on the baltimore and ohio, interfered with these ambitious schemes. early in the confederates took possession of a large part of the line east of cumberland; in the next four years important sections of the road were repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt, as they passed into the hands of the federal or confederate troops. the company, however, managed to get through without default in its securities, and, when peace was restored in , the baltimore and ohio resumed its policy of aggressive expansion. before very long the road, with its connections constructed or purchased, reached the cities of pittsburgh, sandusky, and chicago, and further strengthened its connections with cincinnati and st. louis. it acquired steamboats, grain elevators, and docks; it constructed hotels as mountain summer resorts; it built dry docks in baltimore; and finally it proceeded to organize and operate an express company, a telegraph company, and a sleeping-car company. to carry out these ambitious plans the capital stock and debt were of course increased again and again, and in the course of these operations a large part of the new securities issued was sold to english investors. notwithstanding these great increases in liabilities, the company continued to report large surpluses and to pay large dividends, generally ten per cent annually. in fact, this liberal rate was, with brief exceptions, paid right through the civil war period, in spite of the fact that large parts of the line were frequently destroyed and traffic was often at a standstill. with such prosperity under such conditions garrett's reputation as a railroad manager naturally suffered no eclipse. in the course of the civil war, as already noted, through traffic routes from new york to chicago had been established, and in the succeeding years the consolidations of the great competing systems into trunk lines had taken place. the struggle of the baltimore and ohio for its share of western business led to fierce rivalry with the pennsylvania. this competition became so severe and intense that, in , the pennsylvania road refused to carry the baltimore and ohio cars over its line to new york on any terms whatever. since this was the only way in which the baltimore and ohio could reach new york, the situation was a serious one. garrett retaliated by making destructive reductions in passenger rates from washington and baltimore to western points. the cuts were soon made on other roads and affected both freight and passengers. all the lines became involved. passenger fares from chicago to baltimore and washington were reduced from nineteen dollars to nine dollars, and those to new york and boston from twenty-two to fifteen dollars. still the fight continued, and before the end of it was possible to travel from chicago to new york first class for twelve dollars and to ship grain to new york for as low a rate as twelve cents. despite the fact that competition had cut earnings almost to the point of extinction, the baltimore and ohio continued to report surprisingly good profits. the company borrowed additional funds from time to time but continued to pay the liberal ten per cent dividend until , when it somewhat reduced the rate. these dividend payments indicated, however, a prosperity that was only apparent, and they did not greatly deceive the bankers, for the credit of the baltimore and ohio weakened from day to day. the fact is that the reports of operations inspired little public confidence; to the farseeing, there were danger signals ahead. nevertheless the ten per cent dividends were resumed in and continued at this rate without interruption until . on the death of john w. garrett in , his son robert, who succeeded him as president, continued the same policy of competition and aggression. with the object of gaining an entrance into philadelphia and through that gateway of reaching new york, he started work on a branch from baltimore to philadelphia to meet, at the northern boundary of maryland, the baltimore and philadelphia railroad--a line which independent interests were then building through delaware with the intention of obtaining an entrance into philadelphia. the pennsylvania interests strongly opposed garrett's new project and many years before had gone so far, in their determination to block the baltimore and ohio from acquiring control of the philadelphia, wilmington and baltimore railroad, as to purchase that road themselves. despite this opposition the baltimore and ohio went forward with their plans and secured an entry into philadelphia by acquiring control of the schuylkill east side railway, which was a short terminal road of great strategic value. north of philadelphia the company arranged a traffic contract with the philadelphia and reading, whose lines extended to bound brook, new jersey, and also with the central railroad of new jersey beyond bound brook to jersey city. afterward, by purchasing the staten island rapid transit company the baltimore and ohio acquired extensive terminals at tidewater on staten island and constructed a connection in new jersey with the new jersey central. thus, after many years of struggle and at heavy cost, the baltimore and ohio finally secured an entry into the new york district independently of the pennsylvania railroad. both freight and passenger charges, however, were still maintained at an unprofitable rate, and, after the death of john w. garrett, the credit of the baltimore and ohio continued to decline. dividends were gradually reduced and by were omitted entirely. as is usually the case, the cessation of dividends awakened the sleeping stockholders. they began an investigation to ascertain the whereabouts of that remarkable surplus which had been reported from year to year and which, according to official report, had shown a constant growth. this investigation disclosed a startling state of affairs. instead of a surplus, the company had been piling up deficits year after year, had been borrowing money right and left on onerous terms, had been charging up millions of dollars of expenses to capital accounts--and as a matter of fact, instead of making money, it had for the most part been losing it. now the company urgently needed cash, and the only way it could obtain that essential commodity was by selling its express, telegraph, and sleeping-car business. during the entire administration of john w. garrett, extending over more than two decades, current expenditures of enormous amounts which should have been deducted from the income had been credited to the surplus; many millions which would never be returned had been advanced to subsidiary lines, or had been spent, and therefore should have been put down in the books as losses. when these facts became public, the capital stock of the baltimore and ohio, which for generations had been looked upon as one of the most secure of railroad investments, dropped to almost nothing, and the most strenuous financial efforts were required to keep the company out of bankruptcy. these disclosures, towards the end of , ended the first period of active garrett management in the baltimore and ohio. the directors then turned to new york bankers for the cash that was needed to put the affairs of the company on a sound basis. samuel spencer, who afterward became a partner in the banking house of j. p. morgan and company, was elected president and active manager. he introduced radical reforms, entirely revolutionized the organization, and adopted modern methods. he wrote off the books a large amount of the much vaunted "surplus" and he took important steps toward the general improvement of the property. had the new interests been allowed to continue their efforts unmolested, the history of the baltimore and ohio in the next decade might have been very different. but the original controlling interests, the garrett family, still held the balance of power. as the bad bookkeeping and other irregularities of the past naturally reflected on the garretts, it was their interest to suppress further investigation as far as possible; and their antagonistic attitude toward the policy adopted by the new spencer management was seen in the annual election of directors in november, . only five of the members of the board were reelected, president spencer was ousted, and charles j. mayer was elected in his place. this second change in management sidetracked the plans for radical reform, and little improvement resulted either in earning power or in financial condition. the company had fallen upon evil days. the net profits did not increase, and eight years after they were smaller than in that year, while the debt and interest charges constantly grew. despite these ominous facts, dividends were paid regularly on the preferred stock and in they were resumed on the common stock. in the latter year a twenty per cent dividend was declared "to compensate shareholders for expenditures in betterments and improvements in the physical condition of the property," while at the same time the directors decided to raise five million dollars of new capital for expenditures which would be necessary to handle the increased traffic created by the world's fair at chicago. the traffic problem continued to be a thorn in the flesh and until freight rates were constantly being cut. the opening of the baltimore and ohio connection to new york had brought keener competition from the pennsylvania railroad and had made deep inroads into the baltimore and ohio revenues. such conditions made even the garrett interests feel that something should be done, and in a "community of interest" scheme was proposed. to control the stock of the baltimore and ohio railroad, edward r. bacon in new york, acting harmoniously with the garrett family, formed a syndicate of capitalists representing the richmond terminal system, the philadelphia and reading railroad, the northern pacific railroad, and other properties. the ultimate plan, which proved too visionary, was to consolidate under one control a vast network of lines extending all over the continent. the syndicate had made little progress toward rehabilitation when the panic of occurred. in this year and the next the earnings of the baltimore and ohio fell off rapidly and the dividend was reduced. nevertheless, as late as january, , the directors insisted that financially the company was in better condition than for several years and that on the whole it was in a stronger position than at any time since . but in this same year it became necessary to stop all dividend payments; the company began to have difficulties in securing ready money; and before the close of the year the situation seemed hopeless. early in mayer tendered his resignation, and john k. cowan succeeded him. the new president did his utmost to obtain money to meet the current needs, but he was unsuccessful. a receivership and reorganization seemed absolutely necessary, and in february, , the receivership was announced. with the property now in the hands of the courts, the opportunity at last came to make real the reforms which had been proposed and begun nearly a decade earlier under the wise but quickly terminated administration of samuel spencer. a thorough housecleaning was now carried through without interference or interruption. a reorganization committee was formed, with whom were deposited the garrett shares as well as those of the morgan and new york and philadelphia interests. a full investigation of past management disclosed that the records for the interim extending from the brief morgan control under spencer to the receivership contained the same kind of irregularities and errors of policy that had prevailed under the earlier garrett management. statements of profits had been swelled by arbitrary entries in the books and nearly six million dollars which had not been earned had been paid out in dividends. furthermore the company had endorsed the notes of certain subsidiary roads to the extent of over five million dollars, and had made no record whatever of this action for the stockholders. as in the case of numerous other railroads, the financial breakdown of the baltimore and ohio railroad was primarily due to a bad or reckless financial policy, for there was nothing inherently insecure in the railroad property itself. during all the years of the garrett regime, the company had shared in the general growth and expansion of industry, wealth, and population within its territory. it had been progressive in matters of expansion and had built up its system to meet the needs of modern times. its trackage and equipment compared favorably with similar systems, and most of its extensions and branches had been wisely planned and had proved profitable. the operating management of the railroad was generally good and it usually secured its proportion of what business was to be obtained. but the steady increase in its debts over a number of years, its extravagance in dividend payments, and its painful efforts to keep down its operating expenses had so weakened the property that, when the hard times of to arrived, it was in no position to weather the storm. the only wonder is that the management succeeded in keeping the system intact and apparently solvent so long as it did. the receivership at once adopted a vigorous policy of improvement. the rolling stock had run down until it could not handle even ordinary business. while the company had been depleting its credit and paying out all its cash in dividends, the equipment had been going into the scrap heap. for two years the receivers made large expenditures on equipment and roadbed, borrowing money for this purpose; the result was that when, in , the courts surrendered the property, it was in splendid condition to take advantage of the tide of commercial and industrial prosperity which was just then beginning to flow throughout the united states. while the reorganization of the baltimore and ohio was not so drastic as that of many other systems which went through the courts during this period, it was thorough enough to meet the situation. the fixed charges were cut down radically and the stockholders were assessed in large amounts. in all, more than thirty-six million dollars was raised by assessments and the sale of new securities; the liabilities of the company were greatly reduced; and its credit was promptly restored. formerly the baltimore and ohio had been struggling under a burden of floating indebtedness, with so little money in its treasury that it could not even put a new coat of paint on the passenger cars and had to continue to use oil lamps to light some of its best trains. but now the floating debt was replaced by a large available cash capital, and as a result of the liberal policy followed by the receivers, the equipment and roadbed were brought fully up to the standards required for handling the traffic of the road both economically and effectively. with the reorganization of finished, the baltimore and ohio railroad entered a new period in its history. the strong, progressive interests which now took control concentrated their energies on developing traffic, increasing earnings, and rounding out the general system. they adopted careful measures for unifying the system by adding other lines and connections of value; they paid much attention to the improvement and development of terminals; and they spent many millions in acquiring and expanding the terminal properties of the company at chicago, st. louis, philadelphia, and baltimore. the financial history of the baltimore and ohio since the close of the nineteenth century is interesting chiefly in connection with changes in the control of the property. after the reorganization a group of prominent financiers, including marshall field, philip d. armour, norman b. ream, and james j. hill jointly purchased a large interest in the stock. but this purchase, while perhaps representing a dominating interest, did not involve actual control. soon afterward, interests identified with the pennsylvania railroad began to appear in the baltimore and ohio, and before long the pennsylvania had a strong representation on the board. as a consequence, the baltimore and ohio almost lost its individuality and for a time was popularly regarded practically as a subsidiary of its old rival line. the purpose of the pennsylvania in obtaining this ascendency over the baltimore and ohio was to regulate the soft coal traffic. already it had acquired dominating interests in the chesapeake and ohio, the norfolk and western, and other soft coal properties. these purchases were merely manifestations of that "community of interest" policy which at this time led several large systems to acquire interests in competing lines. several of the railroad leaders of that time, notably james j. hill and edward h. harriman, believed that if these great systems actually owned large blocks of stock in each other's properties, this common association would ipso facto end the competition that, if continued, would ultimately ruin them all. the supreme court had decided that the "pooling" arrangements which had so long prevailed among great competing roads violated the sherman anti-trust act; and the american public, which now was cultivating a new interest in railroad problems, believed that the "community of interest" plan was merely a scheme to defeat the interstate commerce act and the sherman act and to maintain secretly all the old railroad abuses. these inter-railroad purchases therefore became so unpopular that the pennsylvania sold its baltimore and ohio stock. at this time edward h. harriman of the union pacific, who had at his disposal vast funds of the latter property which he had obtained by the settlement of the great northern and northern pacific deal, decided to acquire control of a system of roads in the east in order to establish a complete transcontinental line in the interest of the union pacific. it was the theory that such a purchase by the union pacific would not defy the law or outrage the popular conscience because the union pacific, unlike the pennsylvania, did not compete with the baltimore and ohio, but was only a western extension of that system. harriman in august, , therefore purchased nearly all the pennsylvania holdings in the old garrett property and thus obtained virtual control. at this same time the baltimore and ohio had been developing a "community of interest" plan on its own account. in the year , it acquired a substantial stock interest in the newly reorganized reading company, which controlled the philadelphia and reading railroad and the philadelphia and reading coal and iron company. it did not obtain a majority interest but, with the lake shore and michigan southern railroad of the new york central system, it now controlled the reading system. the reading company meanwhile had secured control of the central railroad of new jersey, over the lines of which the baltimore and ohio reached new york city. in the following years the baltimore and ohio property was still further rounded out by purchasing the cincinnati, hamilton and dayton, a small system of doubtful value radiating through the state of ohio and, by additional extensions, into the soft coal fields of west virginia. new energy was put into the expansion and improvement of the southwestern lines to st. louis, while the eastern terminal properties were still further improved. the practical control of the baltimore and ohio remained in the hands of the union pacific interests until . in that year, however, the union pacific liquidated its holdings by distributing them to its own individual stockholders in the shape of a special dividend. the baltimore and ohio thus became once more an independent property. the story of the baltimore and ohio for the past decade has been mainly a record of a growing, well-managed, and efficient business. it is closely identified with the personality of its notable and efficient president, daniel willard, a conspicuous example of the modern type of railroad manager. in the earlier days of railroading, and especially in the long period which came to an end with the death of harriman, the typical railroad president was usually a man of great wealth who had secured his position by owning a large financial interest in the property. the country was full of "wall street railroad generals." but in recent years the efficient railroad head has come more and more to be the practical railroad man who has risen from the ranks, who has no important personal financial interest in the property but who is paid an adequate salary to operate a system in a purely businesslike way. notable examples of this modern type of railroad president are, besides daniel willard, edward p. ripley of the atchison, topeka and santa, fe, benjamin f. bush of the missouri pacific, and fairfax harrison of the southern. the efficient management of today is abundantly shown in the recent record of the baltimore and ohio. president willard has been unmolested by financial interests and has been continuously backed up in his policies by the owners of the road. as a result the baltimore and ohio of the present decade has reached an enviable position as one of the great eastern trunk lines, comparing well with other progressive properties like the pennsylvania, the new york central, the southern, the illinois central, and the louisville and nashville. millions have been poured into the property in the past fifteen years; its main lines have been largely rebuilt; its rolling stock is chiefly of the most modern types; and its terminals and structures are such as modern conditions demand. chapter vi. linking the oceans in , when the charter was granted by the united states government for the construction of a railroad from omaha to the pacific coast, the only states west of the mississippi valley in which any railroad construction of importance existed were iowa and missouri. during the three decades which had passed since the first railroad construction, the earlier methods of transportation by boat, canal, and stage coach gave place in the eastern half of the united states to more modern methods of transportation. as a result of these new conditions, the states, cities, and towns were welded together, and population and prosperity increased rapidly in those inland sections which had formerly languished because they had no means of easy and rapid communication. the construction of extensive railways, however, and particularly the consolidation of small, experimental lines into large systems, dates from the days of the discovery of gold in california. the nation did not begin to realize the extraordinary possibilities of the vast western territory until its attention was thus suddenly and definitely concentrated on the pacific by the annual addition of over fifty million dollars to the circulating medium. the wealth drawn so copiously from this western part of our continent had a stimulating effect on the commerce, manufactures, and trade of the entire eastern section. people began to understand that with the acquisition of california the nation had obtained practically half a continent, of which the future possibilities were almost unlimited, so far as the development of natural resources and the general production of wealth were concerned. the public conviction that a railroad linking the west and the east was an absolute necessity became so pronounced after the gold discoveries of ' that congress passed an act in providing for a survey of several lines from the mississippi to the pacific. though the published reports of these surveys threw a flood of light on the interior of the continent, they led to no definite result at the time because the rivalry of sections and groups of interests for the selection of this or that route held up all progress. the act of , which created the union pacific railroad company, together with the amending act of , authorized the construction of a main line from an initial point "on the one hundredth meridian of longitude," in the territory of nebraska to the eastern boundary of california, with branch lines to be constructed by other companies and to radiate from this initial point to sioux city, to omaha, to st. joseph, to leavenworth, and to kansas city. * provision was made for a subsidy of $ , a mile for the level country east of the rocky mountains; $ , a mile for the lines through mountain ranges; and $ , a mile for the section between the ranges. the original plan to secure the government subsidies by a first mortgage on the lines was amended so as to allow private capital to take the first mortgage, the government taking a second lien for its advances. in addition to these subsidies the several companies were to receive land grants of , acres to the mile in alternate sections contiguous to their lines. upon the same terms the central pacific, a company incorporated under the laws of california, was authorized to construct a line from the pacific coast, at or near san francisco, to meet the union pacific railroad. * these ambitious designs were never fully realized. the main line ran eventually west from omaha, meeting the sioux city branch at fremont. the only other branch which was constructed to connect with the union pacific was that from kansas city and it ran first to denver. the public was quick to realize the significance of this huge enterprise, for the papers of the day were full of such comments as the following: "it is useless to enlarge upon the value and importance of this great work. it concerns, not the united states alone, but all mankind. its line is coincident with the natural and convenient route of commerce for the world.... over it the trip will be made from london to hong kong in forty days, over a route possessing every comfort and attraction, which takes a continent in its course, and which, from the variety and magnitude of its sources, from the race which now dominates it, and from the extent of their numbers, wealth and productions, must soon give law to the commercial world." notwithstanding these and similarly optimistic sentiments, the meager financial support given to the enterprise by the public at large had been very discouraging. although the construction had been liberally subsidized by the government, gross extravagance had promptly crept in; juggling of accounts for the purpose of securing profits on the government advances was freely indulged in, and after only a small section of the line had been completed it was announced that more capital must be forthcoming or the work would cease. out of this situation grew the plan for subletting the work to a construction company known as the pennsylvania fiscal agency--a name which was afterwards changed to that of the credit mobilier of america. the story of the credit mobilier, with its irregularities involving conspicuous politicians, is one of the most disgraceful in american history. the detailed history of these operations need not be considered here; it is sufficient to say that finally, in spite of political scandals, the union pacific lines were brought to completion. within two years after the letting of the contracts to this new company, in , over five hundred miles of road were completed and in operation. an advertisement published late in announced that "five hundred and forty miles of the union pacific railroad, running west from omaha across the continent, are now completed, the track being laid and trains running within ten miles of the rocky mountains.... the prospect that the whole grand line to the pacific will be completed by was never better." as a matter of fact, the line through to the coast was finished earlier than had been predicted. one fact which increased the rapidity of construction was the growing financial difficulty of the company. it was absolutely imperative that the through line be completed in order that the resulting business might make the operation of trains pay. but aside from this, another influence was at work to encourage rapid construction. the act of provided that the central pacific might also build across nevada to meet the union pacific, on condition that it completed its own allotted section first. as the central pacific also was receiving a heavy government subsidy per mile, and as there was great profit in construction undertaken with this government subsidy, there was naturally a strong incentive for both companies to build all the mileage possible and as rapidly as possible. the central pacific enterprise was backed by a group of men who were awake to the possibilities of the situation and who had made large fortunes in the gold-mining boom of previous years, such as leland stanford, collis p. huntington, mark hopkins, and the crockers. the rivalry between them and the union pacific interests woke the whole continent and formed a chapter in american railroad history as startling and romantic as anything in the stories of the vanderbilts and goulds with their financial gymnastics. as the contest proceeded, public interest increased and the entire country watched to see which company would win the big government subsidies through the mountains. through the winter of the work continued on the union pacific with unabated energy, and freezing weather caught the builders at the base of the wasatch mountains; but blizzards could not stop them. the workmen laid tracks across the wasatch on a bed of snow and ice, and one of the track-laying trains slid bodily, track and all, off the ice into a stream. the two companies had over twenty thousand men at work that winter. suddenly the central pacific surprised the eastern builders by filing a map and plans for building as far as echo, some distance east of ogden. the union pacific forces, however, were equal to the occasion. at first, one mile a day had been considered rapid construction, but now, even with the limited daylight of the winter months, they were laying over two miles a day, and they finally crowned their efforts by laying in one day between sunrise and sunset nearly eight miles of track. in the meantime the central pacific also had stopped at nothing. the company had a dozen tunnels to build but did not wait to finish them. supplies were hauled over the sierras, and the work was pushed ahead regardless of expense. on may , , the junction was formed, the opposing track layers meeting at promontory point, five miles west of ogden, utah. spikes of gold and silver were driven into the joining tracks, and the through line from the missouri river to the pacific ocean had been completed; the first engine from the pacific coast faced the first engine from the atlantic. the whole country, from president grant in the white house to the newsboy who sold extras, celebrated this achievement. chicago held a parade several miles long; in new york city the chimes of trinity were rung; and in philadelphia the old liberty bell in independence hall was tolled again. the cost of the union pacific railroad from omaha to its junction with the central pacific formed a subject of controversy for a generation. the saving of six months of the allotted time for completing the road no doubt increased its cost to the builders, for at times they borrowed money in the east at rates as high as and per cent. besides, in pushing the line far beyond the bounds of civilization without waiting for the slower pace of the settler and the security which his protection afforded, it often became necessary for half the total number of workmen to stand guard and thus reduce the working capacity of the construction force. even so, hundreds were killed by the indians. governmental restrictions of various kinds also increased the cost of the road. for example, the stipulation that only american iron should be used increased the cost by at least ten dollars for every ton of rail laid. the requirement that a cut should be made through each rise in the laramie plains, thus giving the track a dead level instead of conforming to the natural roll of the country, ultimately resulted in a waste of from five to ten million dollars. extraordinary costs such as these, combined with the extravagant methods of construction and financing, brought the total cost of the property up to what was in those days a fabulous sum of money. the records indicate that the profits which accrued through the credit mobilier and in other ways in the construction up to the time of the opening in exceeded fifty millions of dollars. while the union pacific was being built, from to , other railroads were not idle, and many were rapidly reaching out into the central west. not only had the chicago and north western reached omaha and made connection with the union pacific, but the kansas pacific had penetrated as far west as denver and had joined the union pacific at cheyenne. the close relationship between railroad expansion and the general development and prosperity of the country is nowhere brought more distinctly into relief than in connection with the construction of the pacific railroads. with the opening of a transcontinental line the vast el dorado of the west was laid practically at the doorstep of eastern capital. not only did american pioneers turn definitely toward the west, but foreign emigrants bent their steps in vast numbers in that direction, and capital in steadily increasing amounts made its way there. towns sprang up everywhere and soon developed into busy centers of trade and commerce. caravan trains, which a few years before had followed a single westward line, now started from points along the railroad artery and penetrated far to the north and south. the settlers knew that the time was not far distant when all the vast territory west of the missouri, from the canadian border to the rio grande, would be reached by the rapid spread of the railroad. in the sixties and seventies there sprang up and rapidly developed in size and importance such centers as kansas city, sioux city, denver, salt lake city, cheyenne, atchison, topeka, helena, portland, seattle, duluth, st. paul, minneapolis, and scores of smaller places. the entire pacific slope was soon dotted with towns and cities, and even the great arid plains of the west--as well as the "great american desert" covering utah, arizona, new mexico, and parts of nevada--began to take on signs of life which had not been dreamed of a decade before. but the development of this great section of the country during the next few years was even more notable. by four different lines of railroad were running through to the pacific states, and a fifth, the denver and rio grande, had penetrated through the mountains of colorado and across utah to the great salt lake. these were the years when the modern industrial era was really beginning. man's viewpoint was changing, and instead of remaining content with the material achievements of the atlantic and central sections of the continent, he began to realize that the vast western regions and the thousand miles of pacific coast line were destined to be america's inexhaustible patrimony for the years to come. in the union pacific began its expansion to the eastward and acquired control of the kansas pacific, which had come upon evil days, and of the denver pacific, a most important connecting link. in january, , these two companies were absorbed by the union pacific, which thus obtained a continuous line from st. louis westward. in the meantime the central pacific, operating from ogden west to the coast, had added many branches, while a new company--known as the southern pacific railroad of california--had for some years been constructing a system of lines throughout that state south of the central pacific and by had penetrated to yuma, arizona, miles southeast of san francisco. it had also built lines into arizona and new mexico and soon joined the santa fe route, which had for some time been working westward. during the southern pacific continued its eastern extensions along the rio grande to el paso, texas, where it formed a connection with a new road under construction from new orleans. a junction was also made at el paso with the mexican central, which was under construction to the city of mexico. the southern pacific railroad was closely allied with the central pacific interests headed by collis p. huntington, and in the great southern pacific company was formed, which acquired stock control of the entire aggregation of railroads in the south and southwest. at the same time the central pacific came under direct control of the southern pacific through a long lease. during these eventful years, while the southern pacific properties were penetrating eastward through the broad stretches of country to the south of the union pacific lines, equally interesting events were occurring in the north. in a consolidation was formed of the oregon steamship and navigation company with several short railway lines in oregon and washington, under the name of the oregon railway and navigation company. these railroad lines extended east from portland to the oregon state line, and north to spokane, and they finally made connection with the new northern pacific. at the same time, another road, known as the oregon short line railroad, was built from granger, wyoming, on the line of the union pacific to a junction with the oregon railway and navigation company at huntington, oregon, on the snake river. the oregon short line came under the control of the union pacific and was opened for traffic in . later a close alliance was made with henry villard, the controlling spirit in the oregon railway and navigation company. ultimately the entire system of oregon lines passed under union pacific control, to be lost in the receivership of , but later recovered under the harriman regime. when, after ten more years of expansion, the great union pacific property went into the hands of receivers in , it had grown to a system of more than miles. it completely controlled the oregon railway and steamship lines, the lines to st. louis, and also an important extension known as the union pacific, denver and gulf railroad, running from a point in wyoming across colorado to fort worth, texas. the financial failure of the system was due to a variety of causes. its management had been extravagant and inefficient, and construction and expansion had been too rapid. the policy of building expensive branch lines where they were not needed and of obligating the parent company to finance them had been a grievous mistake and had contributed largely to the downfall of the company. further than this, the credit of the union pacific was steadily growing weaker because the time was drawing near when its heavy debt to the united states government would fall due. in all its history of more than twenty years the company had never paid any interest on the government debt nor had it maintained a sinking fund to meet the principal when due. consequently, the accruing interest had mounted year by year and, should the government enforce payment at maturity in - , the company would be doomed to bankruptcy. this government debt, including accrued interest, amounted to the sum of $ , , . attention should not, however, be diverted from the fact that during all these years a vast expansion of competitive lines had been going on far southward of the union pacific. under the guiding genius of collis p. huntington, the southern pacific company in had consolidated and solidified a gigantic system of railways extending from new orleans to the pacific and throughout the entire state of california to portland, oregon, with branch lines radiating through texas and making close connection with roads entering st. louis. in addition to these railroads, huntington acquired control of a steamship line operating from new york to new orleans and galveston, and subsequently of the pacific mail steamship company, operating along the coast from oregon south to the isthmus of panama and across the pacific ocean. the ever-growing effects of this powerful and well-managed competitor--combined with the large development of the santa fe system during these years, the competition of the completed northern pacific, and the possibilities of the new great northern railway or hill line, now completing its main artery to the pacific--were far-reaching enough in themselves to bring the union pacific upon evil days. consequently few were surprised when, under the great pressure of the panic of , the property was forced to confess insolvency. the union pacific had simply repeated the story of most american railroads; it had been constructed in advance of population and had to pay the penalty. yet it had more than justified the hopes of the daring spirits who projected it. it may have made individuals bankrupt, but it magnificently fulfilled the part which it was expected to play. it had opened up millions of acres to cultivation, given homesteads to millions of people, many of whom were immigrants from europe, developed mineral lands of incalculable value, created several new great states, and made the american nation a unified whole. its subsequent history belongs to another chapter of this story--a history that is richer than the first in the matter of financial success but that can never surpass the early pioneering years in real and permanent achievement. chapter vii. penetrating the pacific northwest it is only when one reads such a book as francis parkman's "oregon trail" that one fully realizes the vast transformation which has taken place within little more than half a century in the great northwestern territory beyond the mississippi and the missouri. in that fascinating history we read of the romantic and thrilling experiences of parkman and his companions in their summer journey across the plains of nebraska and through the mountain ranges of wyoming, montana, and oregon. we read of their hairbreadth escapes from the indians; their chase of the buffalo and other wild animals of the far western country; of the wearisome weeks that they spent in crossing the deserts where absolute loneliness reigned; and finally of their arrival, after months of hardship, in the vast oregon country, which with its great natural resources, splendid climate, and large extent has come to be known in these modern days as the empire of the northwest. it was to penetrate and bring this great virgin region within reach of the east that the northern pacific railroad company was chartered by congress in , just prior to the closing of the civil war. during this same period the union pacific route was being surveyed, and the first ground was broken in december, , for the line which was later to connect omaha with san francisco. like the union pacific charter, that of the northern pacific also contained an extensive land grant. from the modern viewpoint, such land grants look colossal, but in those days the general opening up and development of the western country had progressed to so slight an extent that the significance of giving away millions of acres of the public lands to encourage a precarious railroad enterprise was then no more than the passing over to capitalists today of exclusive rights in extensive tracts of territory in brazil and the other south american republics. even these great opportunities to acquire almost an empire of fertile lands or rich forests were not as a rule looked upon as attractive enough to tempt capital into the wilderness. the old saying that capital is the most timid thing in the world and does not like pioneering is strongly emphasized by such instances as this, and no doubt in the enormous grants of free land made by congress did not appear especially attractive to the man who had money to invest. whatever the public attitude may have been, the act of congress of july , , creating the northern pacific railroad, gave that company the right to construct a line from some point on lake superior, either in minnesota or in wisconsin, westward and north of latitude degrees, to or near portland, oregon. the land grant consisted of forty alternate sections of public land for each mile within the territories penetrated and twenty alternate sections within the states through which the railroad might pass. the hazardous character of this undertaking will be realized when it is remembered that at this time no railroad had yet penetrated the rocky mountains; that the entire railroad system of the united states was less than , miles; and that west of the mississippi there was no mileage worth mentioning. it was still less than a generation since parkman and his companions had made their four months' journey from st. louis to the mouth of the columbia river, and between the fringe of civilization along the pacific slope and the region about chicago and st. louis lay almost a third of the continent uninhabited, undeveloped, and unknown. the scheme languished for several years until finally, in , the firm of jay cooke and company of philadelphia undertook to raise the necessary capital. the story of the northern pacific for the next few years was closely bound up with that of jay cooke, who was one of the most conspicuous characters of his time in the financial world. he was a man of commanding personality, great energy, unusual resourcefulness, and with a large personal following. he had built his reputation through his great success in financing united states government loans during the civil war. he now undertook to raise more than one hundred million dollars to carry through the northern pacific enterprise. he achieved remarkable success for a time and within three years had built over five hundred miles of the main line to the pacific coast. but the outbreak of the franco-prussian war and the consequent financial stringency abroad, the difficulty of marketing bonds on an uncompleted enterprise, combined with the poor showing made by those sections of the line completed and in operation, brought matters to a crisis, and in september, , jay cooke and company were obliged to close their doors. the affairs of the railroad were so closely involved with those of the banking firm that, although strenuous efforts were adopted to save the railroad, its revenues were inadequate. as a result, in april, , general lewis cass was appointed receiver. the uncompleted property was operated for some years thereafter under the protection of the courts and no plan of reorganization was devised until . during the receivership only a moderate amount of additional mileage was constructed, and it was not until many years had passed that the system penetrated the mountains and reached the pacific coast. but when the new company took possession in , aggressive building was resumed, and for a time it looked as though the project would be promptly finished. however, in , the company still had about one thousand miles to construct in order to complete its main artery. at this time financial difficulties appeared, and the days of stress were tided over only by the help of a syndicate and the oregon and transcontinental company. with the formation of the oregon and transcontinental company begins the regime of henry villard, the dominating factor in northern pacific affairs for many years afterward. some years before, villard, who had long been interested in western railroad enterprises and who had become prominent through his activities in connection with the kansas and pacific railway, had succeeded in forming the oregon railway and navigation company as a combination of steamboat lines operating on the willamette and columbia rivers in oregon, with an ocean line connecting portland and san francisco. a connecting railroad line, which had been built to walla walla in southeastern washington, penetrated a portion of the territory through which the northern pacific was projected. in a contract was arranged between the two companies whereby the oregon railway and navigation company, in order to share in the traffic, undertook to construct a line eastward to meet the northern pacific line at the mouth of the snake river. this arrangement would allow the northern pacific to run its trains into portland and would obviate the necessity of constructing its own road into that city. in spite of this arrangement, villard feared that the northern pacific company might decide, after all, to build its own line to portland as soon as it was able to finance the project. it was for the purpose of preventing this move that he formed the oregon and transcontinental company, a holding corporation which promptly acquired, in the open market and by private purchases, a dominating interest in the northern pacific railroad. at the same time villard placed the control of the oregon railroad and navigation company in the hands of the new transcontinental. villard thus came to control the entire northern pacific system and, backed by the deutsche bank of berlin and other german and dutch interests, at once began an aggressive policy of expansion and development. the business of the system developed rapidly. the main line through to the pacific coast was now in operation, and the entire system amounted to about miles of road. but villard followed a financial policy which was not sound and paid dividends without justification. in a short time the company consequently found itself financially embarrassed. as a result of financial losses in , villard was obliged to retire from active control of the properties. but in he once more got possession of the northern pacific with german capital and succeeded in arranging a lease of the oregon short line, which had been developed by the union pacific interests, embracing a cross-country road from its main lines in wyoming northward into oregon and washington. at the same time the interest of the transcontinental company in the oregon railway and navigation company was linked with the oregon short line company. these transactions, however, still left the transcontinental company in control of the situation, as it retained its majority ownership of northern pacific railroad stock. for the next few years the northern pacific did not follow a policy of rapid expansion. other trunk lines, such as the union pacific, rock island, santa fe, burlington, and north western, were all growing and keeping pace with the rapid settlement of the west; but the northern pacific in these years simply rested content with its position as a single track transcontinental route having but few branches. its only important extension was made by acquiring the wisconsin central railroad, which gave the company a line between st. paul and chicago and a valuable and important entrance into the latter city. it was expected that, with this accession, the affairs of the company would be permanently established on a sound basis, but the overliberal policy of paying out practically all the surplus in dividends was continued in the face of large increases in fixed charges. early in it began to be rumored that the northern pacific was not in so easy a financial position as had been assumed. the stockholders took alarm; and the committee which was appointed to investigate the situation discovered a deplorable state of affairs. as a result of the severe criticism of villard's policy, steps were at once taken to oust him from control, but without success until june, . two months later, receivers were appointed who discovered that the company was insolvent and had no funds to pay quickly maturing obligations. receivers were appointed also for most of the branch lines, including the wisconsin central system. the oregon short line, which was tied through guarantees with the union pacific although leased to the northern pacific, was involved in the general crash but was later separately reorganized. to rehabilitate the northern pacific railroad effectively was a difficult problem. its debt was enormous; its roadbed and rolling stock had been neglected; and, as a result of the recent crash, its valuable feeders on both east and west, the wisconsin central and the oregon properties, were removed from its control. besides these adverse conditions, competition of a serious nature was looming up. james j. hill had for many years been quietly developing the great northern railway. this great system he had financed in an extremely conservative manner; he had extended it through territory where construction costs were low; and he had secured control of branches and feeders which might have come under the sway of the northern pacific had that company been more farsighted. hill had operated his road from the beginning at very low cost; he had kept its credit high; and even in the period of financial depression he had reported large profits and had paid substantial dividends on his stock. with such a competitor in the field, it really looked for a while as though the northern pacific could have no future whatever. finally, in may, , a plan sponsored by edward d. adams, representing new york interests and those of the deutsche bank of berlin, proposed a practical merger with the great northern railroad company: the old stock and bondholders were to make all the sacrifices and to supply all the new capital, and the great northern was then to be presented with half the stock of the new company, in consideration for which it was to guarantee the new northern pacific bonds. the situation was somewhat similar to that which existed in new york state as early as when commodore vanderbilt had achieved his great reputation as a wizard at railroading by acquiring the harlem and hudson river railroads and by forcing the new york central lines to terms. james j. hill had become a modern wizard, and the only hope for the northern pacific seemed to be to lay the road at his feet and ask him to do with it what he had done with the great northern--make it a "gold mine." this plan, however, met with too much opposition and was abandoned. during the following year a new plan, backed by both the american and the german interests, secured the strong cooperation and endorsement of j. p. morgan and company. this was the first instance of morgan's entry into railroad reorganization in the west. during the previous few years he had been increasing his reputation as a reorganizer of eastern railroad properties, and by this time he had successfully organized or was rehabilitating the erie, the reading, the baltimore and ohio, the southern, and the hocking valley systems. but he had kept clear of the far western field and had definitely refused to reorganize the union pacific on the ground that its territory was too sparsely settled and that there was little hope for its future, especially as its partial control by the united states government made any reorganization extremely difficult. the new plan for the northern pacific was carried out with no regard to the hill interests: the old stockholders were heavily assessed; all bondholders were forced to make sacrifices; the wisconsin central lines were entirely eliminated and separately reorganized; and the oregon lines were dissociated from the northern pacific and afterwards returned to the control of the new union pacific. while the new northern pacific as reorganized in came directly under morgan's control and was immediately classed as a morgan property, it did not remain exclusively such for very long. in the promotion and development of the great northern system, hill had hitherto maintained an independent position so far as banking alliances were concerned, but he now began to develop closer relations with the morgans and became heavily interested in the first national bank of new york, an institution which for many years had been more or less directly identified with the morgan interests. on more than one occasion thereafter the banking firm of j. p. morgan and company acted as financial agent for the great northern. soon after the reorganization of the northern pacific, it became known that hill had acquired an important interest in the property, and as time went on this interest was substantially increased. within a year or two the northern pacific began to be classed as one of the hill lines. with a substantial hill representation on the board of directors and a managerial policy which was clearly inspired by hill, the company now entered upon a new stage in its career. the outstanding dramatic event in the story of the modern northern pacific was the famous corner which occurred in the spring of as a result of a contest between the hill and the harriman interests for the control of the property. the details of this operation, which sent the price of northern pacific stock up to $ a share and precipitated a stock-market panic, form part of the story of the harriman lines. the contest resulted in the formation of the northern securities company, a corporation of $ , , capital, devised as a holding company under the joint control of the hill and harriman interests, for the purpose of retaining a majority of the stocks of the northern pacific and the great northern. the hill interests, jointly with the morgan control of the northern pacific, had been quietly accumulating stock in the chicago, burlington and quincy railroad, and harriman felt that there was grave danger to the union pacific in this move, as the burlington had already penetrated into the union pacific territory and might at any time start to build through to the coast its own line parallel to the union pacific. harriman consequently began to buy up northern pacific stock in the open market and thus, together with the efforts of the hill and morgan people to retain and strengthen their control, brought about the corner. the northern securities company was designed to harmonize all interests and to keep the control of the burlington property jointly in the hands of harriman and hill. but as the result of a suit under the sherman anti-trust act, this combination was declared illegal, and in the company was dissolved. the final outcome of the situation was that the northern pacific, sharing with the great northern the joint control of the burlington lines, was left indisputably in the hands of the hill-morgan group, where it has ever since remained. these three great railroad systems, the northern pacific, the great northern, and the chicago, burlington and quincy, constituting nearly twenty thousand miles of railroad, have been known ever since as hill lines. since the dramatic days of the harriman-hill contest the history of the northern pacific system has been simply a striking reflection of the growth in population and wealth of the great northwest. the states through which it operates have grown with astounding rapidity during the past two decades; small cities have spread into great centers of manufacture and trade; hundreds of smaller towns have sprung up; natural resources of untold value have been developed. in the meanwhile the northern pacific has forged ahead in its earnings and profits, and the stock of the road has come to be known as one of the highest class of investment issues. although new competition appeared, in both the local and the through business of the company--notably by the extension of the st. paul system largely through northern pacific territory to the puget sound region--the superior modern business management of james j. hill, backed by the strong resources of the morgan banking interests, made the northern pacific one of the standard railroad systems of america. chapter viii. building along the santa fe trail the santa fe route, or the atchison, topeka and santa fe railroad, which has in modern times developed into one of the largest and most profitable railroad systems in this country, was projected long before the idea of a transcontinental line to the pacific coast had taken full possession of men's minds. as early as a plan was worked out for the construction of a line of about forty miles within the state of kansas to connect what were then the obscure and unimportant townships of atchison and topeka. at that time not a mile of railroad had been built in kansas or in any territory west of that state, except on the pacific coast, to which there had been an enormous immigration occasioned by the wonderful discovery of gold. the outbreak of the civil war delayed the undertaking of the atchison-topeka line, and nothing more was done until . in that year new interests took control of the enterprise and acquired rights for its extension through southwestern kansas in the direction of santa fe, the capital of the territory of new mexico. the company, which had originally been the atchison and topeka, now changed its name to the atchison, topeka and santa fe and obtained from the government a very valuable land grant of acres for every mile constructed, the only condition being that within ten years the line should be completed from atchison to the western border of kansas. the plan involved the building of only miles of road, which when finished would assure the company nearly three million acres of land within the state of kansas. a decade would seem to be ample time for the construction of this comparatively short railroad, particularly with the inducement of so extraordinary a land grant. not only the union pacific but the central pacific and kansas pacific--all built within this decade--had to accomplish far more construction in order to secure their respective grants, and yet they had their complete lines in operation years before the santa fe had fifty miles of track in actual commission. the reason for this delay was of course a financial one. the other roads had all received government aid in cash or securities in addition to land grants. but the atchison line was, from the start, thrown on its own resources in raising capital, and it was not until late in --nearly a year after the opening of the union pacific to the coast--that any construction work whatever was done. in that year the section from topeka to burlingame, consisting of about twenty-eight miles, was opened for traffic, and a year later the extension to emporia was finished, thus making a total of sixty-one miles under operation. the terms of the land grant provided that the entire line across kansas should be completed by june, . when by only sixty-one miles of track had been built, the company still had over four hundred miles to go within ten months if it expected to obtain the land grant. but so energetically did the owners of the property work from that time on that within seven months they had reached the eastern boundary of colorado and had thus saved the grant. but like most of the western railroads built in those early days the santa fe property was, in a sense, ahead of its time. the rapidity with which it shot across the state of kansas in was equaled only by the promptness with which it fell into financial straits. no sooner had its complete line been opened for traffic than the panic of occurred; the company became embarrassed by a large floating debt; and a compromise had to be made with the bondholders whereby a postponement of a year's interest was arranged. no attempts were made to extend the santa fe during the long period of depression following the panic of . the road ended in at the colorado state line, and during the next few years the only building of importance was a western spur to connect with the denver and rio grande at pueblo, thereby giving an outlet to the growing city of denver and the rapidly developing mining regions of colorado. about , construction was resumed in a leisurely way, down the valley of the rio grande into new mexico and in the direction of albuquerque. in this extension, as in later building, the line of the old arizona trail was usually followed. one writer has declared that "the original builders of the atchison followed the line of the arizona trail so religiously that if the trail skirted a ten-foot stream for a quarter of a mile to strike a shallow spot for fording, the railroad builders did likewise, instead of bridging the stream where they struck it, and where the trail ran up a tree or hid in a hollow rock to avoid the wolves or savages, the railroad did the same!" the traveler of a generation ago over this particular section of the santa fe lines might have felt that there was some truth in this criticism; but the atchison has long since cut out these idiosyncrasies of early construction, and the main line in this section of new mexico is now noted for alinement and absence of curves and grades. the builders of the santa fe lines in the early days no doubt planned ultimately to penetrate to the pacific coast, knowing that the real opportunity for the road lay in that direction. the southwest was yet but sparsely settled; and no railroad which had as its objective the plains or alkali deserts of arizona or new mexico could thrive--at least it could not for decades to come. and yet in the early eighties the real objective of the atchison system had not been determined. having passed its original objective point, santa fe, the road had reached albuquerque, but it could not afford to stop there. through traffic it must have or die. new mexico, with its thin population and its total lack of development, could not supply traffic in sufficient amount even to "feed the engines." to extend somewhere, then, was an imperative necessity. but whither? several routes were under consideration. the southern pacific lines had worked eastward to el paso on the mexican border, several hundred miles due south from albuquerque, and it looked feasible to extend the atchison to that point and arrange a traffic agreement with the southern pacific, or to build an extension through new mexico to deming and then westward along the river valleys and down into mexico to guaymas on the gulf of california. it was possible, in the third place, to build directly west from albuquerque through arizona and southern california to the coast. ultimately all of these plans were carried out. the first extension of the santa fe was to deming, new mexico, where in march, , its tracks met those of the southern pacific, and by agreement the company secured the use of the southern pacific to benson, arizona. from the first this new through route to the pacific began to pay handsomely. later on the line into guaymas, mexico, was added by the purchase of the sonora railway. soon afterward the santa fe secured from the st. louis and san francisco railway a half interest in the charter of the atlantic and pacific, a company which planned to build through to the coast. meanwhile the st. louis and san francisco had been acquired by the gould and huntington interests, which, as the owners of the texas and pacific and the southern pacific systems, naturally opposed the plans of the santa fe. the matter was compromised by the agreement of the santa fe to build no farther west than the colorado river, where the santa fe was to be met by an extension of the southern pacific line from mojave, california. this arrangement proved unprofitable to the santa fe, for the southern pacific naturally diverted traffic to el paso and ogden. a new arrangement was accordingly made in , involving the purchase, by the atlantic and pacific, of the southern pacific division between needles and mojave, the obtaining of trackage rights between mojave and san francisco, and the use of the southern pacific terminals at san francisco. to assure a connection with the coast in southern california, the santa fe built a line to colton, acquired the california southern railway from colton to san diego, and effected an entrance to los angeles by leasing the southern pacific tracks from colton. the santa fe had now reached the pacific coast over its own lines, but it was handicapped by poor connections with the east. its next move therefore was eastward to chicago, where it acquired the chicago and st. louis railroad between chicago and streator, illinois, and then constructed lines between the latter point and the missouri river. during the same year the company opened branches southward to the gulf of mexico, until by may, , the entire system comprised miles. this rapid expansion of the property, combined with extravagance in management and a reckless policy in the payment of dividends, brought the company into financial difficulties within a year after the completion of the system. unprofitable branches had been built, and these had become an immediate burden to the main system. it is the same story that has been told of most of the large railroads of those days. strenuous efforts were made to save the property from a receivership, and a committee was appointed in september, , to devise ways and means of reform and reorganization. the new management of the santa fe was a rational one and substantially reduced the obligations of the road. had its spirit been maintained, a second failure and reorganization a few years later would not have been necessary. new interests, however, came into the property, and, though it was hoped that they would support a conservative policy, the former programme of expansion was resumed until in the st. louis and san francisco system was merged with the santa fe on a very extravagant basis. within a year it was clear that the st. louis and san francisco would prove more of a liability than an asset. during the same time the less important purchase of the colorado midland railway also turned out to be a poor investment. the next four years were marked by more bad financial management which culminated in the failure of the reorganized company. in an exchange of income bonds for fixed interest-bearing bonds so increased the fixed charges of the company that, as a result of the panic of and its ensuing depression, the great santa fe system suddenly found itself in the hands of a receiver. the president, john w. reinhart, had persistently asserted throughout that the company was financially sound; but an examination of its books subsequently made in the interest of the security holders disclosed gross irregularities, dishonest management, and manipulation of the accounts. during the year the property was operated under the protection of the courts, and early in a new and comprehensive scheme of reorganization was carried out. this latest plan involved dropping the st. louis and san francisco system, the colorado midland, and all other unprofitable branches; it wiped out the floating debt; it supplied millions of new capital; and it enabled the succeeding management at once to build up and improve the property. at the head of the new company was placed edward p. ripley--a railroad manager of great executive ability and a practical, broad-minded business man of the modern type, who has ever since remained president of the road. the history of the santa fe since has been closely identified with ripley's business career, and its record during these two decades has been an enviable one. steady progress from year to year in volume of business, in general development of the system, in improvement of its rights of way, terminals, and equipment, has characterized its history through periods of depression as well as times of prosperity. its resources have grown to vast totals; its credit equals that of the best of american railroads; its stocks and bonds are prime investments; and each year it pours millions of dollars of profits into the hands of its stockholders. chapter ix. the growth of the hill lines the states which form the northern border of the united states westward from the great lakes to the pacific coast include an area several times larger than france and could contain ten englands and still have room to spare. the distance from the head of the great lakes at duluth to the pacific coast in the state of washington is greater than the distance from london to petrograd or the distance from paris to constantinople, and three times the distance from washington, d.c., to chicago. fifty years ago these states, with the single exception of wisconsin, were practically a wilderness in which only the indian and buffalo gave evidences of life and activity. no railroads penetrated the forests or the mountain ranges. far southward some progress in the march of civilization had been made; the union pacific had linked the west with the east before the eighth decade of the century began, and the northern pacific project was being painfully pushed through the intermediate tier of states during the seventies. but the material resources of the great northwest had still to be discovered. when the northern pacific railway failed in , the crash involved a little railroad known as the st. paul and pacific, running out of st. paul for a couple of hundred miles westward, with a branch to the north joining the northern pacific at brainerd, minnesota. the st. paul and pacific had been acquired in the interest of the northern pacific some years earlier but was now regarded as a property so worthless that its owners would be glad to get rid of it, if only they could find a purchaser rash enough to take it over. during the three years following the panic of the crops of minnesota were practically eaten up by the grasshoppers, and poverty reigned among the farmers. at that time a short, stocky man with long hair, one blind eye, and the reputation of being the greatest talker in town, kept a coal and wood store in st. paul. his name was james j. hill. for years he had been a familiar figure, sitting in his old chair in front of his store and discoursing on current events. this man was not only an interesting talker; he was a visionary, a dreamer--and one of his dreams was to buy the st. paul and pacific railroad and to transform it into a real railway line. nearly twenty years had passed since he had drifted in, an eighteen-year-old scotch-irish boy from ontario, and had begun work in a steamship office on the levee at st. paul. now, in , he was thirty-eight years old and a town character. and the town felt that it had his measure. he had already tried a variety of occupations, and at this time was agent for lines of steamboats on the mississippi and the red river. everybody knew him and liked him, but no one took him very seriously. the idea of his controlling the st. paul and pacific was even amusing. now the most promising part of the st. paul and pacific when it failed in was the line from st. paul to breckenridge on the red river. hill was the mississippi steamboat agent at one end; at the other, an old hudson bay trader, norman w. kittson, ran two little old stern-wheel steamboats from breckenridge to winnipeg. a large part of the freight that hill and kittson handled was for the hudson's bay company. it came up the mississippi, went across on the st. paul and pacific to breckenridge, and then down the red river on kittson's steamboats until it was received at fort garry, winnipeg, by donald alexander smith, then commissioner for the hudson's bay company. smith, who became afterwards lord strathcona and high commissioner for canada in england, was a tall, lean, urbane scotchman with a soft manner and a long red beard. in he was fifty-six years old, with a life of strange, wild adventure behind him. he had gone when little more than a boy to labrador to take charge of a station of the hudson's bay company. among the northern indians he stayed for thirteen years. in the sixties he was practically king over all the savage territory of the company along the waters entering hudson bay. by the seventies he was a man of means and he had some influence in the new dominion of canada. it would be a great advantage to smith to have a good railroad from st. paul to winnipeg as the red river boats were frozen up in the winter and the service on the st. paul and pacific, under the receiver, was impossible. so smith listened with favor to hill's project of getting hold of the st. paul and pacific and making a real railroad out of it. and whenever smith went to montreal he talked the matter over with his cousin george stephen--later lord mount stephen--who was the head of the bank of montreal. in stephen and richard b. angus, the general manager of the bank, went to chicago on business. while there, they had two weeks' time on their hands, and tossed a penny to decide whether to run down to st. louis or up to st. paul. the penny sent them to st. paul. "i am glad of that," said stephen; "it will give us a chance to see the prairies and look over that st. paul and pacific road that donald smith is always talking about." when they arrived in st. paul, james j. hill took them over the line to breckenridge. the country had been scoured by the grasshoppers and looked like the top of an old rusty stove. but stephen was a broad-minded man, wise enough to know that the pest of grasshoppers could not last forever. he was greatly impressed with the ultimate possibilities of the soil and, under the hypnotic influence of hill's eloquence, became quite enthusiastic over the scheme for getting hold of the railroad; but, as it would evidently involve millions, he didn't see how it could be done. the road had originally been financed by bonds sold largely in holland, and to do anything at all it was necessary to get in touch with these dutch bondholders. in stephen went over to amsterdam and secured an option on the bonds at thirty cents on the dollar--less than the accrued interest which was due and unpaid on them. he then came back to america, conferred with john s. kennedy at new york, who represented both dutch and american bondholders, and brought kennedy into the combination. in the spring of the st. paul and pacific was taken over. people still smiled at hill and wondered how he had induced a hard-headed bank president like stephen to put up the money. nobody in st. paul believed in the future of the road. even the syndicate's attorneys, when offered a choice between taking $ , in cash or $ , of the new road's stock for their services, preferred the cash. had they taken the stock and held it for thirty years, they would have had, in principal and interest, some $ , , . to the surprise of everybody, including hill and his friends, the grasshoppers suddenly disappeared in the early summer of and never came back. that summer saw the biggest wheat crop that had ever been harvested in minnesota. "hill's folly," as it was afterwards called, with its thirty locomotives and few hundred cars, was feverish with success. hill worked every possible source to get extra cars and went all the way to new york to buy a lot of discarded passenger coaches from the harlem railroad. by the end of the season it was evident to everybody that the st. paul and pacific was going to have a career and that "jim" hill's dream was coming true. immediately the fortunate owners began to plan for the future. they had acquired the road at an initial cost of only $ , in cash. in the following year they advanced money for the completion of the unfinished section, as necessary to obtain the benefit of a generous grant of land from the state. then, in , having acquired full possession of the property, and having several millions of dollars in profits, they issued bonds for further developments. this gave them sufficient basis to enlarge their scheme greatly, and in the formation of the st. paul, minneapolis and manitoba railroad, they created $ , , of stock, which was divided equitably among hill, stephen, angus, smith, kennedy, and kittson. this stock was all "water," but the railroad prospered so extraordinarily in the succeeding few years that by the stock was worth $ a share. and in they issued to themselves $ , , of six per cent bonds for $ , , --a further division of $ , , , coming out of nothing but good will, earning power, and future prospects. the decade from to witnessed a steady growth of the system formed in under the name of the st. paul, minneapolis and manitoba. the odd miles which it embraced when hill and his coterie made their big stock division had grown in to miles. it then consisted of a main line reaching from st. paul and minneapolis across minnesota and the northern part of north dakota, far into montana, with a second main line from duluth across minnesota to a junction with the st. paul line in north dakota, besides numerous branches reaching points of importance in both these states. but the development of the hill properties had by no means reached its limit at this time. hill's dream had been to construct a through line across the northern tier of states and territories to the pacific, and this plan had been constantly in his mind while he was building up the system in manitoba. the original line running up into manitoba and reaching winnipeg was all very well as a start. it had paid so well that the original group of men had become millionaires almost overnight. but hill meant to show the public that, after all, the early success was only an incident and merely a stepping-stone to the really great thing. practical railroad men everywhere ridiculed the idea of a railroad running across the far northern country, climbing mountain ranges, traversing hundreds of streams and extending for great stretches through absolutely wild and uninhabited regions. especially did they deem it absurd to attempt such an undertaking without government aid, subsidies, or grants of land, pointing to the experience of such roads as the union pacific, northern pacific, and santa fe. all these had received financial assistance and large land grants, and yet all had gone through long periods of financial vicissitude before they had become profitable and stable enterprises. but hill was more farseeing than his critics. in , the name of the company was changed to the great northern railway, and under this title the extension to the coast was rapidly carried forward and was opened in the panic year of . when all the other transcontinental lines went into bankruptcy, hill's road not only kept out of the courts but actually earned and paid annual dividends of five per cent on its stock. the five years from to were years of uninterrupted prosperity for the great northern railroad. each year its credit rose; each year it grew to be more of a force in the western railway situation. in these years the control of the property had somewhat changed and a few of the original promoters had died or had withdrawn. but hill, lord strathcona, lord mount stephen, and john s. kennedy of the original group, all held their large interests, and hill in particular had added to his holdings as the years had gone by. the secret of hill's striking success with his western extension was the method by which the line was constructed. hill had a theory that it was far better to go around mountains and avoid grades than to climb them or to bore through them; it was always better to find the route which would make long hauls easy and economical. he thus built his road with the idea of keeping down the operating costs and of showing a larger margin of profit than the others. from the very start the great northern was noted for its low ratio of operating expenses and its comparatively long trains and heavy trainloads. it was by this method that it really made its money. by the year the great northern railway absolutely controlled its own territory. but it was still handicapped by lack of an independent entrance into chicago, as its eastern lines terminated at duluth and st. paul. at the western end also, the situation was unsatisfactory. it seemed important for the great northern to control a line of its own into portland, oregon, because the northern pacific railroad, which, as we have seen, had been reorganized several years before by the morgan interests, had been rapidly extending its lines in oregon and washington. hill and his associates, therefore, had been quietly buying a substantial interest in the northern pacific property and thus, in the course of time, had come into closer relations with the morgan group in new york. soon afterward, under hill's influence, the northern pacific began the construction of further extensions in oregon and reached into territory that the harriman interests in the union pacific railroad had regarded as their own. this move created much friction between the harriman and hill groups, and in order to forestall danger harriman in turn began quietly accumulating an interest in the northern pacific property by purchases in the open market. the story of the battle royal between the hill and harriman interests will be told in a subsequent chapter. it is not necessary to repeat the history of the famous corner of nor of the compromise effected by the formation of the northern securities company. the final result of this contest was the complete harmonizing of the western railroad situation, so far as the hill and the harriman interests were concerned. in the succeeding years the great northern system penetrated to the heart of manitoba and constructed lines through british columbia to nelson and vancouver. it built other branches to spokane, washington, and helena and butte, montana. moreover by the discovery of extensive ore deposits on the lines of the company in northern minnesota and by subsequent purchases of other mines, the great northern acquired control of about sixty-five thousand acres and hundreds of millions of tons of iron ore. all the properties so controlled were leased on a very profitable basis to the united states steel corporation. the great northern railroad itself did not retain control of the ore lands but, through a trusteeship, gave a beneficial interest in them to its stockholders in the shape of a special dividend. the profits under this lease promised to be very large in the course of time, but the steel corporation had the option to cancel after a five-year period, and in , as the result of a united states government suit for the dissolution of the steel corporation, the lease was canceled. since that time the trustees of the ore lands have executed other leases, and the great northern ore certificates are bringing in a substantial return to their owners. the three hill lines--the great northern, the northern pacific, and the chicago, burlington and quincy--have been unusually profitable. the great northern and the northern pacific have steadily paid liberal dividends to their stockholders on increasing amounts of capital stock; and the burlington, whose whole stock is owned by these two roads, has also handed over liberal profits year by year, at the same time accumulating an earned surplus of more than one hundred million dollars and spending an almost equal amount of profits on the improvement and maintenance of the property. the burlington today controls the colorado southern, which extends southward from the burlington lines in wyoming, passing through denver, pueblo, fort worth, and other points southward to the gulf. chapter x. the railroad system of the south in the year a small single-track railroad was opened from richmond to danville, virginia. this enterprise, like many others in ante-bellum days, was carried out largely with funds supplied by the state. as long afterwards as , three-fifths of the stock was owned by the state of virginia, but soon after this time the state disposed of its investment to a railroad company operating a line in north carolina from goldsboro westward to greensboro, and projected southward to charlotte. in modern times, this little road, like the richmond and danville, has become an integral part of the southern railway system, but in those days it was controlled, curiously enough, by the pennsylvania railroad company. after the new owners of the richmond and danville began aggressively to extend their lines. by leasing the north carolina railroad, a small property forming a link with the greensboro line, they created a through route from richmond to charlotte. by they had built the road southward to atlanta, georgia, and had thus formed the first continuous route from richmond to that city. because of the extreme disorder and depression in the south during the years after the civil war the line did not prosper and was sold under foreclosure about . but the company was reorganized in and acquired the charlotte, columbia and augusta, thus extending its lines into the heart of south carolina and tapping a rich territory. during these early years the pennsylvania railroad interests, which still held control, supplied the funds necessary for making improvements. at the same time that the richmond and danville was linking up the commercial centers of the southern atlantic seaboard, another system--known as the east tennessee, virginia and georgia--was being built up in the appalachian mountains to the west. this property and its predecessors had to some extent been state-owned enterprises at first, but in the pennsylvania railroad interests acquired control. a holding company called the southern railway securities company was now formed for the purpose of controlling all the pennsylvania railroad interests south of washington. besides the properties mentioned, this securities company soon obtained several other atlantic seaboard properties extending from richmond to charleston, and also the memphis and charleston railroad, running from memphis to chattanooga. thus at this early day a considerable railroad system had been welded together in the south, reaching many points of importance and forming direct connection at washington with the northern properties of the pennsylvania system. had this experiment been successful, we would perhaps today reckon the great southern railway system as part of the pennsylvania group. but the outcome was disappointing; the roads did not prosper; and soon the poorer sections began to default. the pennsylvania then disposed of its interests and left the roads to shift for themselves. the east tennessee was the best of these minor lines, and in it began to acquire others extending through the south. soon it had penetrated the heart of alabama, reaching what is today known as the birmingham district. additional extensions were made to macon and rome, georgia, and on the north an alliance was arranged with the norfolk and western, while with a view to securing some of the business of the west, a connection was constructed at kentucky-tennessee state line. such was the condition of the east tennessee property by the end of . in the meantime the richmond and danville had practically stood still. about this time a definite revival set in throughout the south as the long-drawn-out period of depression following the war came to an end. railroad activity revived, and both the east tennessee, virginia and georgia and the richmond and danville roads passed into the hands of new and more aggressive interests. the new owners constructed the georgia pacific, which ultimately stretched across alabama and mississippi. to finance this enterprise and to consolidate their interests, a new holding company--the richmond and west point terminal railway and warehouse company--was formed in with large powers and authority to acquire the stocks and bonds of railroad properties in many southern states. in addition to the properties already named, the virginia midland railway was now acquired, and by the entire system had been merged under this organization. the company also secured the control of a line of steamboats running from west point, virginia, to baltimore, and made close traffic arrangements with the clyde line of steamers running between new york and philadelphia and all important southern points. the personality at the head of the richmond and west point terminal railway and warehouse company was calvin s. brice, a man who had become increasingly prominent in railway affairs in the southern states. brice was something of a genius at combination and by had linked together and solidified the various properties in a very efficient manner. nevertheless the competitive conditions of the time, combined with the necessarily more or less crude and hazardous methods adopted in financing and capitalizing the enterprise, prevented the credit of the organization from reaching a sound and secure level. the tennessee properties especially proved an encumbrance, and they were almost immediately threatened with bankruptcy. brice therefore decided to reorganize these subsidiary lines, and a new company called the east tennessee, virginia and georgia railway took over this section of the system in . in the meanwhile the richmond and danville properties, which were themselves becoming burdened with an ever growing debt, gave the brice interests constant trouble. a large amount of the stock of the richmond and danville, as well as most of its bond issues, remained still outstanding in the hands of the public. consequently the only way in which brice and his friends could save the richmond and danville property from completely breaking up was to merge it more closely with the holding company in some way. but the credit and standing of the holding company itself were anything but high, for in addition to paying no dividends it had piled up a heavy floating debt of its own and had a poor reputation in wall street. the situation thus becoming acute, the management carried through a remarkable stock-juggling plan. instead of merging the richmond and danville directly into the west point terminal company, the directors secretly decided to turn the terminal company assets over to the richmond and danville without apprising the stockholders of the terminal company. in conformity with this plan, early in the richmond and danville leased the virginia midland, the western north carolina, and the charlotte, columbia and augusta railroads, and later in the year the columbia and greenville and certain other small lines. at about the same time the richmond and danville obtained in some unknown way large amounts of the terminal company stock, a portion of which it now issued in exchange for stocks and bonds of certain of these subsidiary companies which it had leased. having carried through these transfers, the richmond and danville then threw the remainder of its terminal company stock on the market, where it was bought by investors who knew nothing about these secret transactions. the terminal company was now left high and dry so far as the richmond and danville was concerned. but at this juncture a surprising thing happened. the management of the terminal company, in its turn, began to buy shares of richmond and danville stock and in a short time regained its former control. this shifting of power exactly reversed the situation which had previously existed, when the terminal company itself had been controlled by the danville company. these changes were followed by a further move on the part of the brice and thomas interests, which now formed a syndicate and turned over to the terminal company a majority of the stock of the east tennessee company for $ , , in cash and a large amount of new terminal company stock. when these transactions had been accomplished, the terminal company found itself once more securely in control of the entire system, and the brice and thomas interests had incidentally very considerably increased their fortunes and also their hold on the general situation. from this time, the terminal company went aggressively forward in an ambitious plan for further expansion. by acquiring control of the central railroad and banking company of georgia, the terminal management was involved with new financial interests which immediately sought to control the system and to eliminate the brice and thomas group. the consequent internal contest was adjusted, however, in may, , by electing as president john h. inman, a man who had been identified with the central railroad of georgia system. the richmond terminal system now put in motion further plans for expansion. in it acquired a system of lines extending south from cincinnati to vicksburg and shreveport, known as the queen and crescent route, and in the meantime made a close alliance with the atlantic coast line system. by the end of the richmond terminal system embraced over miles of railroad, while the louisville and nashville, the next largest system in the southern states, had only about miles. but as opened, the vast richmond terminal system was perilously near financial collapse. notwithstanding the great value of many of the lines, its physical condition was poor; the liabilities and capitalization were enormous; and much of the mileage was distinctly unprofitable. about this time many disquieting facts began to leak out: during the previous year the richmond and danville had been operated at a large loss, and this fact had been concealed by deceptive entries on the books; the dividends, paid on the central railroad of georgia stock had not been earned for some years; and the east tennessee properties were hardly paying their way. various investigating committees were now appointed, and finally a committee headed by frederic p. olcott of new york took charge and worked out a complete plan of reorganization. the scheme, however, met with strenuous opposition, and thus matters dragged on into the panic period of , when the entire system went into bankruptcy and into the hands of receivers. the various sections were operated separately or jointly by receivers during this unsettled period, and it looked for some time as though an effective reorganization which would prevent the properties from entirely disintegrating could not be successfully accomplished. in the dark days of , after olcott and the central trust company had failed to effect a reorganization of the richmond terminal system, a new interest came to the rescue, represented by the firm of j. p. morgan and company, whose growing reputation was due to the unusual personality of j. p. morgan himself. he was essentially an organizer. the railroad properties which had become more or less identified with the morgan interests had for the most part prospered. it was felt that morgan's banking-house was the only one in wall street which might be equal to the task. the proposal was made to him; he did not invite it. in fact, it is said that for some time he was much opposed to taking hold of this disintegrated and broken-down system of railroads operating largely in poor and unprogressive sections, populated for the most part by negroes. said morgan, "niggers are lazy, ignorant, and unprogressive; railroad traffic is created only by industrious, intelligent, and ambitious people." after months of discussion, however, morgan finally agreed to undertake the task, and out of the previous chaos there emerged the southern railway company, which has been closely identified with morgan's name ever since. probably of the many railroad systems which morgan reorganized from down to the time of his death, no system has become more distinctly a morgan property than the southern railway company. the plan of reorganization whereby this great aggregation of loosely controlled and poorly managed southern railroads was welded together into an efficient whole was a very drastic one in its effect on the old security holders. debts were slashed down everywhere, assessments were levied, and old worthless stock issues were wiped out. valueless sections of mileage were lopped off, and an effort was immediately made to strengthen those of real or promising value. millions of dollars of new capital were spent in rebuilding the main lines; terminals of adequate scope were constructed in all centers of population; and alliances were made with connecting links with a view to building up through traffic from the north and the west. the first ten years of the southern railway system under the morgan control were practically years of rebuilding and construction. while after ten years of work the main system still radiated through most of the territory already occupied in a crude way in , yet it had acquired a large number of feeders and smaller railroads in other sections. the mobile and ohio, operating with its branches about one thousand miles from mobile to st. louis, missouri; the georgia southern and florida, furnishing an important connection from the main system to various points in the state of florida; the alabama great southern, operating in and near the birmingham district of alabama--all these properties were molded into the system during these years. the system was then rounded out toward the north and consolidated through joint control, with the louisville and nashville, of the chicago, indianapolis and louisville railroad, which operated lines northward into ohio and illinois and on to chicago. thus, with the lines of the queen and crescent route running southward from cincinnati to new orleans, the system secured a direct through line from its various southern points to the shores of the great lakes. in addition to these developments, the management of the southern railway system arranged direct connection with washington through the joint acquisition with other lines of the richmond, fredericksburg and potomac; it made traffic arrangements with the pennsylvania and the baltimore and ohio systems to baltimore, philadelphia, and new york; and it also developed close alliances with the coastwise steamships plying northward from various southern points. in the reorganization of the central of georgia railway system was cut off and separately reorganized, although it remained under the control of morgan for a number of years. finally in morgan sold his georgia properties to charles w. morse. they subsequently passed to edward h. harriman, who afterwards merged them into the illinois central system, under which control they have since remained. as compared with the old richmond terminal aggregation with its broken-down rails and roadbed, poor equipment, and miserable service, the modern southern railway system shows startling changes. the southern states have grown enormously in population and wealth during the last generation; the industrial activities of the south at the present time are elements of large importance to the country as a whole. cities have vastly increased in population; new towns and manufacturing districts have been built up; and at the present there is scarcely a mile of unprofitable railroad in the entire miles under operation. in recent years large soft coal deposits have been discovered and developed on many of the branch lines, and today the coal tonnage of the southern railway is exceeding the relatively unstable lumber tonnage of two or three decades ago. chapter xi. the life work of edward h. harriman in a previous chapter there has been related the early history of the great line that first joined the atlantic and the pacific oceans--the union pacific. but the history of this property in recent years is almost as startling and romantic as its story in the sixties and seventies. it was not until recent days that the golden dreams entertained by these early builders came true. the man who really reaped the harvest and who at the same time gave the union pacific that position among american railroads which its founders foresaw was the last, and some writers think, the greatest of all american railroad leaders. the union pacific, a bankrupt railroad in , lay quiescent under the stress of the hard times that lasted until . the long story of its tribulations hardly made it a tempting morsel for the men who were then most active in the railroad field. in or the several protective committees which had been appointed to look after the interests of stockholders and defaulted bondholders had tried to induce j. p. morgan to undertake the reorganization, but he had refused. to reorganize the union pacific meant that not far from one hundred millions of new capital would sooner or later have to be supplied, and there was no other banking-house in america at that time which seemed strong enough for the task. smaller concerns were all involved in the morgan syndicates or in other undertakings, and a combination of these at the moment seemed out of the question. about this time the german-jewish bankinghouse of kuhn, loeb and company began looking into the situation. kuhn, loeb and company were known as a very conservative but very rich concern with close connections in frankfort and berlin. though it had been long established in new york it had not been identified with the railroad reorganization movement nor had it been prominent as an investing or underwriting institution. but now the active partner of the business, jacob h. schiff, set out seriously to persuade the various committees to adopt a plan of reorganization which he had devised. though he made some progress, he soon found much secret opposition and thought that morgan might be quietly attempting to secure the property. morgan, however, was not interested. the mystery was still unsolved. the fact was that edward h. harriman, who for some years past had been a powerful influence in the affairs of the illinois central railroad but who was unknown to the average wall street promoter and totally unheard of throughout the country, had made up his mind to reorganize the union pacific railroad. he therefore began to work quietly with various interests in an attempt to tie up the property. but soon he, like schiff, encountered serious opposition. he also immediately jumped to the conclusion that morgan was secretly at work, and he called on morgan for the facts. morgan replied, as he had replied to schiff, that he was not interested, but that he wished harriman success. as schiff continued to meet with difficulty, he soon called on morgan again. again morgan replied that he was not interested. "but," he said, "i think if you will go and see a chap named e. h. harriman you may find out something." who was harriman? schiff had hardly heard of him and had never met him. how could a small man like harriman, with no money, no powerful friends, no big financial backing, reorganize a great system like the union pacific railroad? the idea seemed ridiculous. nevertheless, as the opposition continued, schiff soon got in touch with harriman. in the course of a conference, he warned this daring interloper to keep his hands off the union pacific. but harriman was not moved by threats. on the contrary, he insisted that schiff should leave the union pacific alone; that he himself had already worked out his plans to reorganize it. schiff laughed at this idea, termed it chimerical, and asserted that kuhn, loeb and company were easily able to obtain the needed one hundred millions or more through their foreign connections on a basis of from four to five per cent, and that in america no such sum of new capital could at that time be raised through banking activities at better than six or seven per cent. harriman then sprang his surprise on schiff. for some years he had been financially interested in the affairs of the illinois central. this property had at that time higher credit than any other american railroad; it had raised large sums of capital in europe on as low a basis as three per cent, and on most of its bonds paid only three and one-half per cent interest. for nearly fifty years the property had been paying dividends with hardly an interruption, and altogether it had an enviable reputation as one of the soundest investments. harriman's influence in the affairs of the company had been increasing quietly for years; the management had been left almost completely in his hands; and the directors were in effect largely his puppets, and a majority would do his bidding in almost anything he might propose. harriman now announced to schiff that he intended to have the union pacific reorganized as an appendage of the illinois central. the necessary one hundred millions would be raised by a first mortgage on the entire union pacific lines at three per cent, and the mortgage would be guaranteed by the illinois central, while the latter company would receive a majority of the new union pacific stock in consideration for giving its guarantee. here was a poser for schiff, who saw at once that if harriman could use the illinois central credit in this way, he certainly could carry out his plan. schiff soon found that harriman would have no difficulty in using illinois central credit. the upshot of the matter was that the two men got together and jointly reorganized the union pacific. harriman was made chairman of the board of directors, and kuhn, loeb and company became the permanent bankers for the new railroad system. thus with one bound harriman had leaped to the forefront in american railroad finance and by a bold act which was characteristic of the man. for edward h. harriman was not only a hardheaded, practical business builder who like morgan thought in big figures, but he was also a bold plunger, which morgan was not. possessing a vivid imagination, he not only saw far into the future but he also planned far into that same future. morgan was also a man of vision, but his vision did not carry him far beyond the present. the things morgan saw best were those immediately before him, while the things that harriman saw best were at a distance. morgan's big plans of procedure were based on what he saw in a business way in the near future; he reorganized his railroads with the idea of making them pay their way as soon as possible and of showing a good return on the capital invested. he thought little of what might be the outcome a decade or two hence or of what combinations might later be worked on the chessboard as a result of his immediate moves. morgan's mind was not philosophical; it was intensely practical. while morgan declined the proffered control of the union pacific on the theory that it was only a "streak of rust" running through a sparsely settled country and across an arid desert, harriman dreamed of the great undeveloped west filling up with people during the following generation, of the empty plains being everywhere put under cultivation, and of the arid desert responding to the effects of irrigation on a large and comprehensive scale. he foresaw the wonderful future of the pacific states--the opening up of natural resources in the mountains, the steady stream of men and women who would ultimately emigrate to this vast section from the east and from foreign lands and who would build up towns and great cities. at the same time, with that practical mind of his, harriman calculated that the union pacific railroad--situated in the heart of this huge area, having the most direct and shortest line to the pacific, and with all traffic from the east converging over half a dozen feeder lines to omaha and kansas city--would haul enormous amounts of tonnage just as soon as the western country revived from the depression under which it had been struggling for half a dozen years. when harriman took hold of the union pacific he had already determined to absorb the oregon lines, with their tributaries running up into the puget sound country and to the butte mining district; to get hold of the southern pacific properties at the earliest possible moment; and to link the illinois central in some way to the union pacific so that the latter would have its own independent outlets to chicago and st. louis. all these plans he ultimately accomplished, as well as many others, some of which his farseeing imagination may have conceived then. while harriman was able very promptly to carry through his first scheme and recapture the oregon lines, which had been separately reorganized as a result of the receivership, he found it a far more difficult matter to secure a dominating interest in the great system of railroads controlled by collis p. huntington. huntington was a hard man to deal with. himself one of the practical railroad magnates of his time, he also had the gift of vision and undoubtedly foresaw that the ultimate result must be a consolidation of the properties; but he fully expected that his company would absorb the union pacific. had it not been that during the panic period the southern pacific had heavy loads of its own to carry and that its credit was none too high, huntington might then have attempted to gain control of the union pacific. events finally worked to the benefit of harriman. when collis p. huntington died in , it was in most people's minds only a question of time as to when the powerful harriman interests would take over the southern pacific properties. consequently there was no surprise when in announcement was made that the union pacific had purchased the holdings of the huntington estate in the southern pacific company and was therefore in virtual control. by a master stroke the railroad situation in the west had been radically changed. the huntington system comprehended many properties of large and growing value, which were now feeling the full benefit of the agricultural prosperity at that time spreading throughout the great southwest. aside from this prize, the union pacific acquired the main line to the pacific coast which it had always coveted and thus added to its system over nine thousand miles of railroad and over four thousand miles of water lines, besides obtaining a grip on the railroad empire of this entire portion of the continent not to be readily loosened by competitors. at the same time that harriman was strengthening his position on the west and south, the great northern and northern pacific properties, both now operated under the definite control of james j. hill, were following a policy of expansion fully as gigantic as that of the union pacific. the great northern lines operating from duluth to the pacific coast had become powerful elements in the western railroad situation, and hill had devised many plans for diverting to the north the through traffic coming from the central section of the continent. he had established on the great lakes a line of steamships running from duluth to buffalo, and was also operating on the pacific ocean steamship lines which gave him a connection with japan, china, and other oriental countries. after the reorganization of the northern pacific railroad, which fell under the domination of morgan, the affiliations of the hill and morgan interests became very close, and in a short time hill had as secure a grip on the northern pacific as he had always had on the great northern. this powerful combination looked like a menace to the harriman-kuhn-loeb interests which controlled the territory to the south and radiated throughout the state of oregon. when, therefore, the northern pacific began a little later to build into territory in oregon and washington which the union pacific regarded as a part of its own preserves, much bad feeling was engendered between the two interests. matters were brought to a climax in the spring of when the harriman people suddenly made the discovery that the hill-morgan combination had been quietly buying control of the valuable chicago, burlington and quincy railroad, which operated a vast system west and northwest of chicago, penetrated as far into the union pacific main-line territory as denver, and connected at the north with the eastern terminals of both the great northern and northern pacific systems. this move meant but one thing to harriman: the hill-morgan interests were trying to surround the union pacific and make it powerless, just as the southern pacific had attempted to do many years before. harriman now played one of his bold strokes. he immediately began to purchase northern pacific stock in the open market in order to secure control of that property. it was well known that while the hill-morgan alliance dominated the northern pacific, it did not actually own a majority of the stock, and to secure this majority was harriman's purpose. this move would effectually check the invasion of the union pacific territory by giving the harriman interests a voice in the control of the chicago, burlington and quincy. the price of northern pacific common stock soared day after day until on may , , it sold at $ a share, and a momentary panic ensued. at the time morgan was on the ocean and could not be reached. his partners were apparently not equal to the emergency. but harriman was. when the panic reached its height, both interests had purchased far more than a majority of northern pacific stock--in contracts for future delivery. it was seen that to insist on the delivery of shares which did not exist would not only bankrupt every "short" speculator, large and small, but would undoubtedly bring all wall street tumbling down like a house of cards. so, in the midst of the excitement, the two interests reached a compromise. the outcome was the formation of the northern securities company with a capital of $ , , , nearly all of which was issued to acquire the capital stocks of the northern pacific and great northern railroads. all the properties, including the burlington, thus came under the joint control of the harriman and hill groups. the division of territory on both the east and the west was worked out amicably: the northern pacific abandoned some of its plans for extensions in oregon, and the burlington system remained as it was, with the understanding that no extensions should be built to the pacific coast. later the burlington acquired control of a cross-country system, the colorado southern, extending south to the gulf, but to this day has made no attempt to build beyond the lines it owned to wyoming in . as is well known, the northern securities company was subsequently declared to exist in violation of the sherman anti-trust act, and on a decision of the united states supreme court in it was practically dissolved and all its securities were returned to the original holders. this dissolution left the hill-morgan interests in undisputed control of the burlington properties, but harmonious relations had in the meantime been established among the contestants, assuring an equitable division of territory and traffic. the final outcome was that the union pacific railroad company, which had purchased with its large surplus and by the use of its high credit many million dollars' worth of the capital stocks of the great northern and northern pacific railroads, received these stocks back after several years of great prosperity and after the appreciation in the market values of the stocks had exceeded $ , , . there was no further necessity for holding them and most of the stocks were sold at the high prices of and , with actual net profit for the union pacific railroad in excess of $ , , . no such gigantic financial transaction as this had ever before been carried through by an american railroad corporation. with an overflowing treasury in the union pacific, harriman immediately turned his face toward the east. it had for years been one of his dreams to control a continuous line of railroad from the atlantic to the pacific. as early as he had all but completed negotiations for the acquisition of the new york central lines in the interest of the union pacific; but this plan had met with opposition from the vanderbilts and morgan and had been dropped. harriman now took advantage of an opportunity which presented itself to acquire for the union pacific what was practically a dominating interest in the baltimore and ohio, a large block of whose stock was disposed of by the pennsylvania railroad. harriman had already largely added to the union pacific's holdings in the illinois central. jointly with the lake shore of the vanderbilt system, the baltimore and ohio had, as already described, acquired a dominating interest in the reading company, including all the latter company's interests and affiliations as well as its entry into the new york district through control of the central railroad of new jersey. harriman, therefore, by a single stroke, now found himself in practical possession of a coast-to-coast system of railroads extending all the way from new york to san francisco, portland, and los angeles, and passing through all the important cities of the country. the illinois central system, operating nearly five thousand miles of road southward from chicago to new orleans, passing through st. louis, with an arm reaching out to sioux city on the west and a network of branches covering the middle states, had thus become the great link welding together the eastern and western harriman systems. later the union pacific acquired large interests in other properties and purchased substantial amounts of stock in the atchison, topeka and santa fe, the new york central, the st. paul, and the chicago and north western railroads. it also acquired a dominating interest in the chicago and alton property, operating from chicago to st. louis, with western branches. in the panic period of , harriman personally purchased from charles w. morse, who had acquired the property from morgan a short time before, the entire capital stock of the central of georgia railway, which he later turned over to the illinois central. the central of georgia lines connect at several points with the illinois central and have given the system various outlets on the south atlantic seaboard. harriman died in september of , and with his death the wizard touch was clearly gone. what would have been the later history of the union pacific had he lived can be only conjectured. the new management, with judge robert s. lovett at its head, continued the broad and efficient operation which had characterized mr. harriman's regime, but it soon abandoned the policy of further growth and expansion. this alteration in policy, however, was perhaps more the result of changing conditions than of relinquishment of harriman's aims. many new laws for the regulation of the railways had been passed, and in the powers of the interstate commerce commission were greatly augmented. a period of reform had now begun, and after a wave of "progressivism" overspread the country. new interpretations were given to the sherman act, and suits were soon under way against all the railroads and industrial combinations which appeared to be infringing that statute. the great standard oil and tobacco trusts were dissolved in this period, and a suit which was brought to divorce the union pacific and the southern pacific company was finally decided against the union pacific, with the result that the two big properties were separated. the union pacific turned a large amount of its southern pacific stock holdings over to the pennsylvania railroad, in exchange for which it received from the pennsylvania the remainder of the baltimore and ohio stock which the pennsylvania interests had retained after the sale to the union pacific in . immediately after this, the union pacific management, seeing no particular advantage in retaining an interest in the baltimore and ohio, gave the shares to its own stockholders in a special dividend. thus, since harriman's death, the union pacific railroad has once more returned to very much its original condition prior to its acquisition of the southern pacific. it still controls the illinois central and the chicago and alton and has investment interests in a large number of other railroads. it is still the premier system of the west and promises to remain so indefinitely; but the bold harriman touch is gone and will never return. chapter xii. the american railroad problem during the last fifty years the railroad has perhaps been most familiar to the american people as a "problem." as a problem it has figured constantly in politics and has held an important position in many political campaigns. the details that comprise this problem have been indicated to some extent in the preceding pages--the speculative character of much railroad building, the rascality of some railroad promoters, the corrupting influence which the railroad has too frequently exerted in legislatures and even in the courts. the attempts to subject this new "monster" to government regulation and control have furnished many of the liveliest legislative and judicial battles in american history. farmers, merchants, manufacturers, and the traveling public have all had their troubles with the transportation lines, and the difficulties to which these struggles have given rise have produced that problem which is even now apparently far from solution. railroads had been operating for many years in this country before it dawned upon the farmers that this great improvement, which many had hailed as his greatest friend, might be his greatest enemy. it had been operating for several decades in the manufacturing sections before the enterprising industrialist discovered that the railroad might not only build up his business but also destroy it. from these discoveries arose all those discordant cries of "extortion," "rebate," "competition," "long haul and short haul," "regulation," and "government ownership," which have given railroad literature a vocabulary all its own and have written new chapters in the science of economics. the storm center of all this agitation concerned primarily one thing--the amount which the railroad might fairly charge for transporting passengers and freight. the battle of the people with the railroads for fifty years has been the "battle of the rate." this has taken mainly two forms, the agrarian agitation of the west against transportation charges, and the fight of the manufacturing centers, mainly in the east, against discriminations. perhaps its most characteristic episodes have been the fight of the "grangers" and their successors against the trunk lines and that of the general public against the standard oil company. even in the fifties and the sixties, the american public had its railroad problem, but it was quite different in character from the one with which we have since grown so familiar. the problem in this earlier period was merely that of getting more railroads. the farmer pioneers in those days were not demanding lower rates, better service, and no discrimination and antipooling clauses; they asked for the building of more lines upon practically any terms. this insistence on railroad construction in the sixties explains to a great extent the difficulties subsequently encountered. in a large number of cases railroad building became a purely speculative enterprise; the capitalists who engaged in this business had no interest in transportation but were seeking merely to make their fortunes out of constructing the lines. not infrequently the farmers themselves furnished a considerable amount of money, expecting to obtain not only personal dividends on the investment but larger general dividends in the shape of cheap transportation rates and the development of the country. even when the builders were more honest, their mistaken enthusiasm had consequences which were similarly disastrous. the simple fact is that a considerable part of the mississippi valley, five or ten years after the civil war, found itself in the possession of railroads far in excess of the public need. in the long run this state of affairs was probably not a great economic evil, for it stimulated development on a tremendous scale; but its temporary effect was disastrous not only to the railroads themselves but to the struggling population. the farmer had mortgaged his farm to buy stock in the road; and his town or county or state had subsidized the line by borrowing money which it frequently could not repay. when this property became bankrupt, not only wiping out these investments but leaving the agricultural population at the mercy of what it regarded as exorbitant rates and all kinds of unfair discriminations with high interest charges on its mortgages and high local taxes, the blind fury that resulted among the farmers was not unnatural. many of the railroad evils were inherent in the situation; they were explained by the fact that both managers and public were dealing with a new agency whose laws they did not completely understand. but the mere play of personal forces in themselves aggravated the antagonism. the fact that most of the railroad magnates lived in the east added that element of absentee landlordism which is essential to most agrarian problems. many of the western capitalists were real leaders; yet it is only necessary to remember that the most active man in western railroads in the seventies was jay gould, to understand the suspicion in which the railroad promoter of that day was generally held. it is significant that of all the existing railroad abuses, the one which seemed to arouse particular hostility was the free pass. there were many greater practical evils than this, yet the fact that most editors and public officials and politicians and legislators and even many judges rode "deadhead" was a constant reminder of the influence which this "alien" power exercised over the government and the public opinion of the communities of which it was theoretically the servant. many of these roads had a greater income than the states they served; their payrolls were much larger; their head officials received higher salaries than governors and presidents. the extent to which these roads controlled legislatures and, as it seemed at times, even the courts themselves, alarmed the people. the stock-jobbing that had formed so large a part of their history added nothing to their popularity. yet, when all these charges against the railroads are admitted, the fundamental difficulty was one which, at that stage of public enlightenment, was beyond the power of individuals to control. nearly all the deep-seated evils arose from the fact that the railroads were attempting to do something which, in the nature of the case, they were entirely unfitted to do--that is, compete against one another. when the great trunk lines were constructed, the idea that competition was the life of trade held sway in america, and the popular impression prevailed that this rule would apply to railroads as well as to other forms of business. to the few farseeing prophets who predicted the difficulties which subsequently materialized, the answer was always made that competition would protect the public from extortion and other abuses. but competition between railroads is well-nigh impossible. only in case different companies operated their cars upon the same roadbed--something which, in the earliest days, they actually did on certain lines--could they compete, and any such system as a general practice is clearly impracticable. one railroad which paralleled another in all its details might compete with it, but there are almost no routes that can furnish business enough for two such lines, and the carrying out of such an idea involves a waste of capital on an enormous scale. probably the country received its most striking illustration of this when the west shore railroad in new york state was built almost completely duplicating the new york central, with the result that both roads were nearly bankrupted. while no one railroad can completely duplicate another line, two or more may compete at particular points. by this contingency had produced what was regarded as the greatest abuse of the time--the familiar problem of "long and short haul." two or more railroads, starting at an identical point, would each pursue a separate course for several hundred miles and then suddenly come together again at another large city. the result was that they competed at terminals, but that each existed as an independent monopoly at intermediate points. the scramble for business would thus cause the roads to cut rates furiously at terminals; but since there was no competition at the intervening places the rates at these points were kept up, and sometimes, it was charged, were raised in order to compensate for losses at the terminals. thus resulted that anomaly which strikes so strangely the investigator of the railroad problem--that rates apparently have no relation to the distance covered, and that the charge for hauling a load for seventy-five miles may be actually higher than that for hauling the same load one hundred or one hundred and fifty miles. the expert, looking back upon nearly a hundred years of railroad history, may now satisfactorily explain this curious circumstance; but it is not surprising that the farmer of the early seventies, overburdened with debt and burning his own corn for fuel because he could not pay the freight exacted for hauling it to market, saw in the system only an attempt to plunder. yet even the shippers at terminal points had their grievances, for the competition at these points became so savage and so ruinous that the roads soon entered into agreements fixing rates or formed "pools." in accordance with this latter arrangement, all business was put into a common pot, as the natural property of the roads constituting the pool; it was then allotted to different lines according to a percentage agreement, and the profits were divided accordingly. as the purpose of rate agreements and pools was to stop competition and to keep up prices, it is hardly surprising that they were not popular in the communities which they affected. the circumstance that, after solemnly entering into pools, the allied roads would frequently violate their agreements and cut rates surreptitiously merely added to the general confusion. the early seventies were not a time of great prosperity in the newly opened west, and the farmers, looking about for the source of their discomforts, not unnaturally fixed upon the railroads. their period of discontent coincided with what will always be known in american history as "the granger movement." in its origin this organization apparently had no relation to the dissatisfaction which its leaders afterward so successfully capitalized. its founder, oliver hudson kelley, at the time when he started the fraternity was not even a farmer but a clerk in the agricultural bureau at washington. afterward, when the grangers had become an agrarian force to be feared, if not respected, it was a popular jest to refer to the originators of this great farmers' organization as "one fruit grower and six government clerks." kelley's first conception seems to have been to organize the farmers of the nation into a kind of masonic order. the patrons of husbandry, which was the official title of his society, was a secret organization, with signs, grips, passwords, oaths, degrees, and all the other impressive paraphernalia of its prototype. its officers were called master, lecturer, and treasurer and secretary; its subordinate degrees for men were laborer, cultivator, harvester, and husbandman; for women--and women took an important part in the movement--were maid, shepherdess, gleaner, and matron, while there were higher orders for those especially ambitious and influential, such as pomona (hope), demeter (faith), and flora (charity). certainly these titles suggest peace and quiet rather than discontent and political agitation; and, indeed, the organization, as evolved in kelley's brain, aimed at nothing more startling than the social, intellectual, and economic improvement of the agricultural classes. its constitution especially excluded politics and religion as not being appropriate fields of activity. it did propose certain forms of business cooperation, such as the common purchase of supplies, the marketing of products, perhaps the manufacture of agricultural implements; but its main idea was to contribute to the social well-being of the farmers and their families by frequent meetings and entertainments, and to improve farming methods by collecting agricultural statistics and by spreading the earliest applications of science to agriculture. the idea that the "grange," as the organization was generally known, would ultimately devote the larger part of its energies to fighting the railroads apparently never entered the minds of its founders. had it not been for the increasing agricultural discontent against railroads and corporations in general, the patrons of husbandry would probably have died a painless death. but in the early seventies this hostility broke out in the form of minority political parties, the principal plank in whose platform was the regulation of the railroads. farmers' tickets, anti-monopoly parties, and anti-railroad candidates began to appear in county and even state elections, sometimes achieving such success as to frighten the leaders of the established organizations. the chief aim of the discontented was "protection from the intolerable wrongs now inflicted onus by the railroads." "railroad steals," "railroad pirates," "wall street stock-jobbers," and like phrases supplied the favorite slogans of the spirited rural campaigns. these parties, though much ridiculed by the metropolitan press, started a political agitation which spread with increasing force in the next forty years and in recent times eventually gained the ascendency in both the old political parties. the panic of and the unusually hard times that followed added fuel to the flame. it was about this time that the patrons of husbandry gave evidences of a new vitality, chiefly manifested in a rapidly increasing membership. on may , , there were granges in the united states, while nineteen months later, on january , , there were , , with a total membership of over seven hundred thousand. in the eastern states the movement had made little progress; in the south it had become somewhat more popular; in such states as missouri, iowa, kansas, nebraska, montana, idaho, and oregon, it had developed into almost a dominating influence. it is not difficult to explain this sudden and astonishing growth: the farmers in the great grain states seized upon this organization as the most available agency for remedying their wrongs and rescuing them from poverty. in their minds the national grange now became the one means through which they could obtain that which they most desired--cheaper transportation. not only did its membership show great increase, but money from dues now filled the treasury to overflowing. at the same time the organs of the capitalist press began to attack the grange violently, while the politicians in the sections where it was strongest sedulously cultivated it. but the leaders of the movement never made the fatal mistake of converting their organization into a political party. it held no political conventions, named no candidates for office, and even officially warned its members against discussing political questions at their meetings. yet, according to a statement in the "new york tribune", "within a few weeks the grange menaced the political equilibrium of the most steadfast states. it had upset the calculations of veteran campaigners, and put the professional office-seekers to more embarrassment than even the back pay." the grangers fixed their eyes, not upon men or upon parties, but upon measures. they developed the habit of questioning candidates for office concerning their attitude on pending legislation and of publishing their replies. another favorite device was to hold granger conventions in state capitals while the legislature was sitting and thus to bring personal pressure in the interest of their favorite bills. this method of suasion is an extremely potent political force and explains the fact that, in certain states where the granges were most powerful, they had practically everything their own way in railroad legislation. the measures which they thus forced upon the statute books and which represented the first comprehensive attempt to regulate railroads have always been known as the "granger laws." these differed in severity in different states, but in the main their outlines were the same. practically all the granger legislatures prohibited free passes to members of the legislatures and to public officials. a law fixing the rate of passenger fares--the maximum ranging all the way from two and one-half to five cents a mile--was a regular feature of the granger programme. attempts were made to end the "long and short haul" abuse by passing acts which prohibited any road from charging more for the short distance than for the long one. more drastic still were the laws passed by iowa in and the famous potter bill passed by wisconsin in the same year. both these measures, besides fixing passenger fares, wrote in the law itself detailed schedules of freight rates. the iowa act included a provision establishing a fund of $ , which was to be used by private individuals to pay the expenses of suits for damages under the act, and this same act made all railroad officials and employees who were convicted of violations subject to fine and imprisonment. the potter act was even more severe. it not only fixed maximum freight rates, but it established classifications of its own. the railroads asserted that the framers of this law had simply taken the lowest rates in force everywhere and reduced them twenty-five per cent. but iowa and wisconsin and practically all the states that passed the granger laws also established railroad commissions. for the most part these commissions followed the model of that established by massachusetts in , a body which had little mandatory authority to fix rates or determine service, but which depended upon persuasion, arbitration, and, above all, publicity, to accomplish the desired ends. the massachusetts commission, largely owing to the high character and ability of its membership--charles francis adams serving as chairman for many years--had worked admirably. in the most part these new western commissions were limited in their activities to regulating accounting, obtaining detailed reports, collecting statistics, and enforcing the new railroad laws. these measures, following one another in rapid succession, produced a national, even an international sensation. the railroad managements stood aghast at what they regarded as demagogic invasions of their rights, and the more conservative elements of the american public looked upon them as a violent attack upon property. up to this time there had been little general understanding of the nature of railroad property. in the minds of most people a railroad was a business, precisely like any other business, and the modern notion that it was "affected with a public interest" and that the public was therefore necessarily a partner in the railroad business had made practically no headway. "can't i do what i want with my own?" commodore vanderbilt had exclaimed, asserting his exclusive right to control the operations of the new york central system; and that question fairly well represented the popular attitude. that the railroad exercised certain rights of sovereignty, such as that of eminent domain, that it actually used in its operations property belonging to the state, and that these facts in themselves gave the state the right to supervise its management, and even, if necessity arose, to control it--all this may have been recognized as an abstruse legal proposition, but it occupied no practical place in the business consciousness of that time. naturally the first step of the railroads was therefore to contest the constitutionality of the laws, and while these suits were pending they resorted to various expedients to evade these laws or to mitigate their severity. a touch of liveliness and humor was added to the situation by the thousands of legal fare cases that filled the courts, for farmers used to indulge in one of their favorite agricultural sports--getting on trains and tendering the legal two and a half cents a mile fare, a situation that usually led to ejectment for nonpayment and then to a suit for damages. the railroads easily met the laws forbidding lighter charges for long than for short hauls by increasing the rates for the longer distances, and the laws fixing maximum rates within the state by increasing the rates outside the state. when the courts decided the cases against the railroads, as in most cases they did, these corporations set about to secure the repeal of the laws. they started campaigns of education, frequently through magazine or newspaper articles pointing out the injustice of the granger laws and insisting that they were working great public damage. it is a fact that a decrease in railroad construction followed the granger demonstration, and the friends of the railroads insisted that timid capital hesitated to embark in an enterprise that was constantly subject to legislative attack. these campaigns succeeded much better than the more violent opposition to which the railroads had first resorted. the western states in the majority of cases repealed their most drastic legislation. nearly all the laws fixing maximum rates disappeared from the books, and even iowa and wisconsin substituted for these measures supervisory and advisory commissions after the massachusetts model. while the granger movement thus failed effectively to curb the railroads, it succeeded in arousing great popular interest in the railroad problem and in placing before the public several of the most important details of that problem. not the least of its achievements were the decisions which it obtained from the supreme court of the united states. the granger cases are among the most epoch-making in american history, and they fixed for all time the principles of american policy in dealing with the railroad question. they are particularly worthy of study by those who have regarded the supreme court as the bulwark of social injustice and as a body which can always be relied upon to protect the rights of property against the interests of the masses. in its railroad decisions this charge hardly holds; for these granger cases sustain practically all the legal contentions made by the granger legislatures. * the cases fixed for all time the point that a state, acting under the police power, may regulate the charges of a railroad even to the extent of fixing maximum rates. they even went so far as to hold that the right to fix rates is not subject to any restraint by the court on the ground of unreasonableness, a principle which the supreme court has reversed in more recent times. the courts also held that a state, at least until congress acted, could regulate interstate commerce, but this decision also has since then been reversed. these subsequent reversals of decisions which were exceedingly popular at the time, however, not only constituted sound law but promoted the public interest, for they established that body of law which has made possible the present more comprehensive system of federal regulation of railroads. * the cases of particular interest were: munn vs. illinois, u.s. ; peik vs. chicago and northwestern railway company, u.s. ; and chicago, burlington and quincy railway company vs. cutts, u.s. . meanwhile the demand for regulation was gaining strength in the eastern states, but for somewhat different reasons. the farmers of new england, new york, and the eastern region in general had not particularly sympathized with the granger legislation; they already had great difficulty in competing with the large western farms, and a reduction in rates to the seaboard would have made their position even less endurable. this attitude was unquestionably selfish but entirely comprehensible. the agitation for railroad reform in the east came chiefly from the manufacturing and commercial classes. here the main burden of the complaint was the railroad rebate. this was a method of giving lower rates to large shippers than to small--charging the favored shipper the published rate and then, at stated periods, surreptitiously returning part of the payment. this was perhaps the most vicious abuse of which the railroads have ever been guilty. that the common law forbade the practice and that it likewise violated the implied contract upon which the railroad obtained its franchise was hardly open to dispute; yet up to no specific law in this country prohibited the practice. for many years the rebate hung over the american business world, a thing whose existence was half admitted, half denied, a kind of ghostly economic terror that seemed persistently to drive the small corporation to bankruptcy and the large corporation to dominating influence. the standard oil company was the "monster" that was believed especially to thrive upon this kind of sustenance, though this was by no means the only industry that maintained such secret relations with the railroads; the carnegie steel corporation, for example, accepted rebates almost as persistently. it was not until , when the hepburn committee in new york state had its hearings, that all the facts concerning the rebate were exposed officially to public view. the contracts of the standard oil company with the railroads were placed upon the records and these showed that all the worst suspicions regarding this practice were justified. this disclosure made the railroad rebate one of the most familiar facts in american industrial life; and in consequence a demand arose for federal legislation that would definitely make the practice a crime and also for some kind of federal supervision to do effectively the work which the state commissions had failed to do. by this time it was clear enough that the only hope of adequate regulation lay with the federal government. congressman reagan, of texas, had for years been pushing a bill to regulate interstate commerce and to prohibit unjust discriminations by common carriers; other measures periodically made their appearance in the senate; but the houses had been unable to agree and nothing had been done. two facts presently gave great impetus to the movement; in the united states supreme court, reversing its previous decision, decided that no state could fix rates for railroad lines outside its own borders, in other words, that interstate rates were exclusively within the jurisdiction of the federal authority *; and a senate committee, under the chairmanship of shelby b. cullom, conducted an investigation of railroad conditions which made clear the need of immediate reform. as a consequence, congress passed the interstate commerce act, which received president cleveland's signature on february , . this measure specifically made illegal rebates, pools, higher charges for short than for long hauls (when the hauls in question were upon the same road); it required railroads to file their tariffs, and it established a commission of five members, who had powers of investigation, including the right to make the companies produce their books. this commission received power to establish systems of accounting and the like, but it had no prerogative to fix rates. inadequate as this measure seemed to the radical element, it was generally hailed as marking the beginning of an era in the federal control not only of railroads but of other corporations, and this impression was increased by the high character of the men whom president cleveland appointed to the first board. * wabash, st. louis and pacific railway company vs. illinois, u.s. . the interstate commerce commission lasted essentially in this form for nearly twenty years. on the whole it was a failure. such was the judgment passed by justice harlan of the united states supreme court when he remarked in one of his decisions that the commission was "a useless body for all practical purposes"; and such, indeed, was the judgment of the commission itself, for in its report of it declared that the attempt at federal regulation had failed. the chief reasons for this failure, the commission said, were the continued existence of secret rates and the fact that published tariffs were not observed. * the managers of the great american railroad systems would not yet admit that the fixing of railroad rates was the concern of any one but themselves, and they still regarded railroad management as essentially a private business. if they could obtain large shipments by granting special rates, even though they had to do it by such underhanded ways as granting rebates, they believed that they were entirely justified in doing so. thus rebates flourished almost as much as ever, passes were still liberally bestowed, and pools were still formed, though they sometimes took the shape of "gentlemen's agreements." * but it should be added that the effectiveness of the commission as an administrative and regulating body was diminished by decisions of the courts, notably the decision of the supreme court in the maximum rate case. see u.s. . in , when president roosevelt became intensely active in the railroad problem, conditions were fairly demoralized. attempts to enforce the anti-pooling clause had led railroads to purchase competing lines, and when the united states supreme court pronounced this illegal, the situation became chaotic. the evils of overcapitalization also became an issue of the times. the interstate commerce commission had become almost moribund, and there was a general sentiment that the trouble arose from the fact that the commission had no power to fix rates and that the solution of the railroad problem would come only when such power was vested in it. * the interstate commerce act which became a law on june , , was the outcome of one of the greatest battles of president roosevelt's political life. the act increased the membership of the commission from five to seven members, placed under its jurisdiction not only railroads but pipe lines, express companies, and sleeping-car companies, added to the other familiar restrictions a "commodities clause," which prohibited any railroad from transporting a product which it had produced or mined, "except such articles or commodities as may be necessary and intended for its use in the conduct of its business as a common carrier"--this clause was intended to end the railroad monopoly of the coal mines--and made the failure to observe published tariffs a crime punishable with imprisonment. the amended law did not give the commission the right to fix rates in the first instance but did empower it, on complaint, to investigate charges and on the basis of this investigation to determine just maximum rates, regulations, and practices, though carriers were given the right of appeal to the courts. * the elkins act of had, it is true, increased the effectiveness of the commission in dealing with discriminations, but it had not solved the problem of securing reasonable rates. thus, in essence, the public had obtained the reform which it had been demanding for years. the reorganized commission did not hesitate to exercise its new powers. it soon began actually fixing rates, and from being a half-alive despised institution it rapidly developed into one of the most powerful agencies of administration. in the succeeding ten years its powers were still further enlarged by acts of congress and the privilege of fixing charges practically passed out of the hands of the railroads into the control of the interstate commerce commission. the railroads, that is, practically lost the power to regulate their own income. meanwhile, the progressive movement in american politics had led to the creation of commissions in most of the states, with similar authority over rate making within the states, besides exercising numerous other powers over service and capitalization. many railroads fell upon evil days and receiverships again became common. naturally the railroad managers attributed these calamities to the fact that they were so constantly being regulated; but they probably pushed this claim too far, for the causes of their troubles were more complex. in , in the heat of a political campaign, the federal government took a step which introduced a new principle into railroad management and made the roads practically helpless. the four brotherhoods of railroad operatives were making demands for a so-called eight-hour day, and threatened a general strike that would paralyze all business and industry and throw the whole life of the nation into chaos. properly to appreciate the consequences of this event, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that the plea for an "eight-hour day" was spurious. an eight-hour day cannot be rigidly enforced on railroads; the workmen well knew this, and indeed they did not really demand such working hours. what they asked for was a full day's pay for eight hours and "time and a half" pay for all in excess of that amount; that is, they demanded an increase in wages. president wilson, having failed in his attempt to settle the difficulty by arbitration, compelled a democratic congress over which his sway was absolute to pass a law-sponsored by chairman adamson of the house committee on interstate commerce--which granted practically what the unions demanded. in passing this law, congress asserted an entirely new power which no one had ever suspected that it possessed--that of fixing the wages which should be paid by common carriers and possibly by other corporations engaged in interstate commerce. the railroads immediately took the case to the united states supreme court, which promptly sustained the law. this decision, unquestionably the most radical in the history of that body, declared virtually that congress could pass any law regulating railroads which the public interest demanded. and thus, after fifty years of almost incessant struggle with the public, was the mighty railroad monster humbled. it had lost power to regulate the two items which represent the existence of a business--its income and its outgo. the interstate commerce commission was now fixing railroad rates, and congress was fixing the amounts of railroad wages. it remained for the great war to precipitate the only logical outcome of this situation--government control. the steadily increasing responsibilities of war soon told heavily upon all lines until, in the latter part of , the whole railroad system of the united states had all but broken down. the unions were pressing demands for wage increases that would have added a billion dollars a year to their annual budgets. the fact that so large a part of the output of american locomotive works was being shipped to the allies made it difficult for the american lines to maintain their own supply. nearly all coastwise ships and tugs were utilized for war work, a large part of them had been sent to the other side, and this put an additional strain upon the railroads. the movement of troops, the heavy building operations in cantonments and shipbuilding plants, the manufacture and transportation of munitions, all put an unprecedented pressure upon them. everywhere there was great shortage of cars, equipment, and materials. possibly the railroads might have risen to the occasion except for the fact that the enormous increase in the cost of labor and supplies made demands upon their treasuries which they could not meet. they repeatedly asked the interstate commerce commission for an increase in rates, but this request was repeatedly refused. the roads were therefore helpless, and their operations became so congested as to create a positive military danger. under these circumstances there was profound relief when president wilson took over the roads and placed them under government control, with william gibbs mcadoo, secretary of the treasury, in active charge. mcadoo immediately took the step which the administration, while the railroads were under private control, had steadily refused to sanction, and now increased the rates. these increases were so great that they made the public fairly gasp, but, under the impulse of patriotism, there was a good-natured acquiescence. mcadoo also increased wages by hundreds of millions of dollars. his administration on the whole was an able one. he ignored for the moment the prevailing organization and managed the roads as though they constituted a single system. he instituted economies by concentrating ticket offices, establishing uniform freight classifications, making common the use of terminals and repair shops, abolishing circuitous routes, standardizing equipment, increasing the loads of cars and by introducing a multitude of other changes. all these reforms greatly increased the usefulness of the roads, which now became an important element in winning the war. properly regarded, the american railroads became as important a link in the chain of communications reaching france as the british fleet itself. it is not too much to say that the fate of the world in the critical year hung upon this tremendous railroad system which the enterprise and genius of americans had built up in three-quarters of a century. in february, , great britain, france, and italy made official representations to the american government, declaring that unless food deliveries could be made as they had been promised by hoover's food administration, germany would win the war. mcadoo acted immediately upon this information. he gathered all available cars, taking them away from their ordinary routes, and rushed them from all parts of the country to the great grain producing states. all other kinds of shipments were discontinued; officials and employees from the highest to the lowest worked day and night; and presently the huge supplies of the indispensable food started towards the atlantic coast. so successful was this operation that, on the th of march, the supplies so exceeded the shipping capacity of the allies that carloads of food stood at the great north atlantic ports awaiting transportation. this dramatic movement of american food supplies was an important item in winning the war and fairly illustrated the great part which the american railroads played in turning the tide of battle from defeat to victory. bibliographical note general literature on the history of american railroads is surprisingly scarce. while numerous volumes have been written in recent years on special phases of the railroad question, few histories of any real value are available. probably the best outline history of american railroad development as a whole is still arthur t. hadley's "railroad transportation, its history and its laws" ( ), but this necessarily covers only the earlier periods of railroad growth and its discussions are limited to the problems which confronted the carriers many years ago. an extremely valuable book (now out of print) giving a very complete picture of railroad building and expansion in the pre-civil war period is "the book of the great railway celebration of ", by william prescott smith. this is primarily a description of the opening of the ohio and mississippi railway, which connected the mississippi valley for the first time with the eastern seaboard. a volume of real value, but somewhat technical, giving a complete and accurate view of the reorganization period of the great railroad systems, from to , is "railroad reorganization", by stewart daggett ( ). this book contains outline sketches of the histories of nearly all of the large systems, as well as very accurate details of the financial reorganizations of all of the defaulted properties. the most comprehensive history of any american railroad system is "the story of erie", by h. s. mott ( ), but even this is partially unreliable and much of it is compiled from unofficial sources. on the financial history of the erie railroad, the really valuable authority is charles francis adams in his "chapters of erie" ( ). this book furnishes a full and accurate account of the regime of daniel drew, jay gould, james fisk, jr., and the famous "erie ring," including "boss" tweed, and also throws side lights on the character and career of commodore vanderbilt. among other important histories of particular railroad systems may be mentioned "the union pacific railway", by john p. davis ( ) and "history of the northern pacific railroad", by eugene v. smalley ( ); but neither of these volumes covers the recent and more interesting periods in the development of these properties. to get a complete and satisfactory view of the later development of the northern pacific system, one must turn to modern biographical works, such as the "life of jay cooke", by e. p. oberholtzer ( ), the "memoirs of henry villard" ( ), and the "life of james j. hill", by joseph gilpin pyle ( ), which also recounts at length the rise and development of the great northern railway system. but in these volumes, as in many biographies of great men, the authors often betray a bias and misrepresent facts vital to an understanding of the development of both of these railroad systems. a recent volume entitled the "life story of j. p. morgan", by carl hovey, although extremely laudatory and therefore in many ways misleading, contains valuable information about the development of the vanderbilt lines after and also about the financial vicissitudes and rehabilitation of the many morgan properties, such as the southern railway, the modern erie system, the northern pacific, the reading, and the baltimore and ohio. some of the railroad companies many years ago themselves published histories of their lines, but most of these attempts were of little value, as they were always too laudatory and one-sided and evidently were usually written for political purposes. the best of this class of railroad histories was a book issued by the pennsylvania railroad many years ago, giving a record (largely statistical) of the growth and development of its lines. but this book has been long out of print and covers the period prior to only. for original material on american railroad history, one must depend almost entirely on financial and railroad periodicals and official and state documents. by far the most valuable sources for all aspects of railroad building and financing during the long period from to are the "american railroad journal" ( - ) and "hunt's merchant magazine" ( - ). both of these periodicals are replete with details of railroad building and growth. and for the period from to the present time the best authority is the "commercial and financial chronicle", with its various supplements. the story of modern railroading is so intertwined with finance and banking that to get any broad and complete view of the subject one must consider it largely from the viewpoint of wall street. for facts regarding operation and management of modern railroads, the "railroad age-gazette" also is extremely useful. by far the most valuable sources for railroad statistics, railroad legislation, and all related facts, are the annual reports and bulletins of the interstate commerce commission, which have been regularly issued since . many state commissions also have issued volumes of value. the best account of the origin of the granger laws is contained in s. j. buck's "the granger movement" ( ). the beginnings of federal regulation are traced in l. h. haney's "a congressional history of railways in the united states, - " ( ). the history of recent railroad regulation by state and federal legislation, and of court decisions affecting the railroads, is clearly and succinctly told in william z. ripley's "railroads: rates and regulation" ( ), and in johnson and van metre's "principles of railroad transportation" ( ). rides on railways by samuel sidney. preface. the following pages are an attempt to supply something amusing, instructive, and suggestive to travellers who, not caring particularly where they go, or how long they stay at any particular place, may wish to know something of the towns and districts through which they pass, on their way to wales, the lakes of cumberland, or the highlands of scotland; or to those who, having a brief vacation, may wish to employ it among pleasant rural scenes, and in investigating the manufactures, the mines, and other sources of the commerce and influence of this small island and great country. in performing this task, i have relied partly on personal observation, partly on notes and the memory of former journeys; and where needful have used the historical information to be found in cyclopaedias, and local guide-books. this must account for, if it does not excuse, the unequal space devoted to districts with equal claims to attention. but it would take years, if not a lifetime, to render the manuscript of so discursive a work complete and correct. i feel that i have been guilty of many faults of commission and omission; but if the friends of those localities to which i have not done justice will take the trouble to forward to me any facts or figures of public general interest, they shall be carefully embodied in any future edition, should the book, as i hope it will, arrive at such an honour and profit. s. s. london, august, . contents. london and north western railway euston station the mixed train camden station aylesbury woburn and bedford the bucks railway banbury oxford wolverton station blisworth, northampton weedon rugby and its railways arnold and his school coventry to birmingham birmingham warwick, leamington, kenilworth, stratford-on-avon soho the black country (walsall, dudley, wednesbury, darlaston) stafford liverpool manchester the road to yorkshire yorkshire leeds through lincolnshire to sheffield sheffield derbyshire from chester to north staffordshire the lakes home list of engravings. euston square, london harrow-on-the-hill viaduct over the river colne, near watford looking from the hill above boxmoor station towards berkhamsted berkhamsted station leighton buzzard denbigh hall bridge the wolverton viaduct bridge in the blisworth embankment view from top of kilsby tunnel, looking towards rugby coventry the sherborne viaduct, near coventry the avon viaduct the aston viaduct aston hall newton road station, near birmingham the railway near penkridge stafford view near whitmore vale-royal viaduct excavation at hartford viaduct over the mersey and mersey and irwell canal, kingston the dutton viaduct the warrington viaduct london and north western railway. according to mr. punch, one of the greatest authorities of the day on all such subjects, the nearest way to euston station is to take a cab; but those who are not in a hurry may take advantage of the omnibuses that start from gracechurch street and charing cross, traversing the principal thoroughfares and calling at the george and blue boar, holborn, the green man and still, oxford street, and the booking offices in regent circus. euston, including its dependency, camden station, is the greatest railway port in england, or indeed in the world. it is the principal gate through which flows and reflows the traffic of a line which has cost more than twenty-two millions sterling; which annually earns more than two millions and a-half for the conveyance of passengers, and merchandise, and live stock; and which directly employs more than ten thousand servants, beside the tens of thousands to whom, in mills or mines, in ironworks, in steam-boats and coasters, it gives indirect employment. what london is to the world, euston is to great britain: there is no part of the country to which railway communication has extended, with the exception of the dover and southampton lines, which may not be reached by railway conveyance from euston station. the buckinghamshire lines from bletchley open the way through oxford to all the western counties, only interrupted by the break of gauge. the northampton and peterborough, from blisworth, proceeds to the eastern coast of norfolk and lincoln. at rugby commences one of several roads to the north, either by leicester, nottingham, and lincoln, or by derby and sheffield; and at rugby, too, we may either proceed to stafford by the direct route of the trent valley, a line which is rendered classical by the memory of sir robert peel, who turned its first sod with a silver spade and honoured its opening by a celebrated speech; or we may select the old original line through coventry, birmingham, and wolverhampton, passing through a network of little railways leading to warwick and leamington, the result of unprofitable competition. a continuation of the trent valley line intersects the pottery district, where the cheapest delft and the most exquisite specimens of china ware are produced with equal success; and thus we reach liverpool and manchester by the straightest possible line. at stafford we can turn off to shrewsbury and chester, or again following the original route arrive at crewe, the great workshop and railway town of the london and north western. crewe affords an ample choice of routes-- st, to leeds by stockport (with a branch to macclesfield) and huddersfield, or from leeds to york, or to harrogate, and so on by the east coast line through durham, newcastle, and berwick, to edinburgh; dly, direct to manchester; rdly, to warrington, newton, wigan, and the north, through the salt mining country; and, thly, to chester. at chester we may either push on to ireland by way of the holyhead railway, crossing the famous britannia tubular bridge, or to birkenhead, the future rival of liverpool. at liverpool steamers for america warranted to reach new york in ten days are at our command; or, leaving commerce, cotton, and wool, we may ride through proud preston and lancaster to kendal and windermere and the lake district; or, pressing forward through "merry carlisle," reach gretna at a pace that defies the competition of fathers and guardians, and enter scotland on the direct road to glasgow, and, if necessary, ride on to aberdeen and perth. a short line from camden station opens a communication with the east and west india docks and the coast of essex, and another, three miles and a half in length, from willesden station, will shortly form a connexion with the south western, and thereby with all the south and western lines from dover to southampton. the railway system, of which the lines above enumerated form so large a part, is barely twenty-five years old: in that space of time we have not only supplied the home market but taught europe and america to follow our example; even egypt and india will soon have their railways, and we now look with no more surprise on the passage of a locomotive with a few hundred passengers or tons of goods than on a wheelbarrow or patent hansom cab. grouse from aberdeen, fat cattle from norfolk, piece goods from manchester, hardwares from sheffield, race horses from newmarket, coals from leicestershire, and schoolboys from yorkshire, are despatched and received, for the distance of a few hundred miles, with the most perfect regularity, as a matter of course. we take a ticket to dine with a friend in chester or liverpool, or to meet the hounds near bletchley or rugby, as calmly as we engage a cab to go a mile; we consider twenty miles an hour disgustingly slow, and grumble awfully at a delay of five minutes in a journey of a hundred miles. millions have been spent in order to save an hour and a half between london and liverpool; yet there are plenty of men not much past thirty who remember when all respectable plain practical common sense men looked upon the project for a railway between london and birmingham as something very wild if not very wicked; and who remember too, that in winter the journey from london to liverpool often occupied them twenty-two hours, costing pounds inside and pounds out, besides having to walk up the steepest hills in derbyshire,--the same journey which is now completed in six hours at a cost of pounds s., and in twelve hours for s. d., by the parliamentary train in an enclosed carriage. it may be perhaps a useful wholesome lesson to those who are in the habit of accepting as their just due--without thought, without thankfulness--the last best results of the industry and ingenuity of centuries, if, before entering the massive portals of euston station, we dig up a few passages of the early history of railways from dusty blue books and forgotten pamphlets. in , the project of a railway from liverpool to manchester came before a committee of the house of commons, and, after a long investigation, the principle was approved, but the bill thrown out in consequence of defects in the survey. the promoters rested their case entirely on a goods' traffic, to be conveyed at the rate of six or seven miles an hour. the engineer was george stephenson, the father of the railway system, a man of genius, who, although he clearly foresaw the ultimate results of his project, had neither temper nor tact enough to conciliate the ignorant obstinacy of his opponents; in fact, he was a very bad witness and a very great man. it is curious, in reading the evidence, to observe the little confidence the counsel for the bill had in their engineer, and the contempt with which the counsel for the opposition treated him. the promoters of the railway expected few passengers, hoped to lower the rates of the canals, and had not made up their minds whether to employ locomotives or horses; george stephenson looked forward confidently at that same period to conveying the greater portion of the goods and passenger traffic by a complete railway system; but he either would not or could not explain the grounds of his confidence, and therefore we find mr. harrison, the most eminent parliamentary counsel of that day, speaking in the following insolent strain of a man whose genius he and his friends were unable to appreciate:-- "every part of this scheme shows that this man (george stephenson) has applied himself to a subject of which he has no knowledge, and to which he has no science to apply. . . . . when we set out with the original prospectus, we were to gallop at the rate of twelve miles an hour, with the aid of the devil in the form of a locomotive, sitting as postillion on the fore horse. but the speed of these locomotives has slackened. the learned sergeant would like to go seven, but he will be content with six miles an hour. i will show that he cannot go six. practically, or for any useful purposes, they may go at something more than four miles an hour. the wind will affect them: any gale of wind which would affect the traffic on the mersey, would render it impossible to set off a locomotive engine, either by poking the fire, or keeping up the pressure of the steam until the boiler burst. a shower of rain retards a railway, and snow entirely stops it." in reply, mr. adams modestly observed, "i should like my learned friend to have pointed out any part of the publication in favour of the liverpool and manchester railway, which justified his statement that we professed that goods were to be carried at the rate of twelve miles an hour; we have proved that they can be carried at seven miles an hour, and it was never intended they should be conveyed at a higher rate." in the following year the liverpool and manchester bill was carried, and in the career of the civilizing locomotive commenced, but it took many more years to convince "practical men" that the railway would successfully compete with the coach and canal. when, in , the scheme of a railway between london and birmingham was made public, a very clever pamphlet appeared under the title of "beware the bubbles," in which we find the following comical prognostications of the results of railways:-- "after all, what advantage does the london and birmingham railway hold out? only one,--celerity of motion; and, after all, the ten miles an hour is absolutely slower than the coaches, some of which go as fast as eleven or twelve miles an hour; and, with the length of time that the engine and its cumbrous train requires ere it can stop, and the other contingencies, there would be little difference in the time of a twelve miles an hour coach and a fifteen miles an hour engine, supposing twenty or thirty stoppages, to pick up little parcels, between london and birmingham. the conveyance is not so safe as by coach." after enumerating a series of theoretical dangers, he proceeds. "another consideration, which would deter invalids, ladies, and children from making use of the railway, would be want of accommodation along the line, unless the directors of the railway chose to build inns at their own expense. but those inns the directors would have, in great part, to support, because they would be out of the way of any business except that arising from the railway, and that would be trifling. commercial travellers would never, by any chance, go by the railroad. the occasional traveller, who went the same route for pleasure, would go by the coach-road also, because of the cheerful company and comfortable dinner. "not one of the nobility, the gentry, or those who travel in their own carriages, would really like to be drawn at the tail of a train of waggons, in which some hundreds of bars of iron were jingling with a noise that would drown all the bells of the district, and in momentary apprehension of having his vehicle broken to pieces, and himself killed or crippled by the collision of those thirty-two ton masses. even if a man had no carriage of his own, what inducement could he have to take so ungainly a conveyance. three hours is more than the maximum difference by which the ordinary speed of coaches could be exceeded; and it is not one traveller in a thousand to whom an arrival in london and birmingham three hours sooner would be of the slightest consequence. "then as to goods. the only goods that require velocity in coming to london, are ribands from coventry. half the luggage room of a coach, on a saturday night, is quite adequate to the conveyance of them. the manufacturers of coventry will never be such fools as to send their property on an errand by which it must travel further and fare worse. for heavy goods, the saving by canal would be as twelve to one, beside the perfect safety. in the canal boat there is no danger of fracture, even to the most delicate goods; whereas, if fine china goods were to be brought by the rapid waggons, the breakage would probably be twenty-five per cent. "as to the profits of the undertaking let us be extravagantly liberal. suppose that the railway was to get one-third of the goods, as well as one- third of the passengers, see what they would make of it:-- one-third of the goods . . . , pounds one-third of the passengers . , -------- , pounds -------- annual expenses . . . . . , pounds returns. . . . . . . . , -------- annual deficiency . . . . , pounds -------- to meet an outlay of , , pounds. "but the probability is that canals would reduce their rates one-half; and thus, competing wholesomely, extinguish the railway. the coach-masters would do the same thing--run for twelve months at half the present fares, and then not one man in his senses would risk his bones on the railway. the innkeepers would follow a course precisely similar, and give nice smoking dinners, foaming tankards and bottles of beeswing at so cheap a rate, and meet their customers with so good humoured faces, and do so many of those kind offices that legions would flock to the hospitable road. and while all this was going on, and the thousands of men which the authors of this ridiculous scheme had expected to send upon the parish were thriving, the solitary stranger who had nobody to tell him better would go swinging at the tail of the engine, bumping first on the iron plates on this side and then on the iron plates on that side; and if he escaped being scalded to death by the bursting of his engine, or having all his bones broken by collision with another, he would be fain to rest for the night within some four bare walls and gnaw a mouldy crust which he brought in his pocket, or, as an alternative of luxury, wade some ten miles through the mire, and feast upon a rasher of rusty bacon and a tankard of the smallest ale at the nearest hedge alehouse." all this now sounds inexpressibly droll, and yet this prophet of evil was not entirely wrong; nay, in some important particulars he was more right than the railway promoters, whom he so heartily detested. the railway did cost nearly seven millions instead of four millions as calculated by the projectors, and the cost of working before the amalgamation with the grand junction did amount to , pounds per annum: two figure facts which would have effectually crushed speculation could they have been proved in ; but then the per contra of traffic was equally astounding in its overflow, instead of one-third of the existing traffic, or , pounds a-year allowed by the pamphleteer, the london and birmingham earned a gross revenue of nearly , pounds, while still leaving a traffic in heavy goods on the canals sufficient to pay from to pounds per cent. to the proprietors, in spite of a reduction of rates of upwards of pounds per cent. indeed this traffic actually increased on the grand junction canal, since the opening of the birmingham railway, from , pounds in , to , , pounds in . perhaps on no point would the expectation of the most sanguine among the early projectors of railways been more satisfactorily exceeded than in regard to safety. swiftness, and cheapness, and power, acute intelligent engineers foresaw; but that millions of passengers should be whirled along at a speed varying from twenty to fifty miles an hour with more safety than they could have secured by walking a-foot, would have seemed an anticipation of the very wildest character. yet such is the case. in , upwards of seventy millions of souls were conveyed by railway; when eleven passengers were killed and fifty-four injured, or less than one to each million of passengers conveyed. even at the risk of seeming trite, prosy, and common-place, it is right to remind the young generation who consider the purchase of a railway ticket gives them a right to grumble at a thousand imaginary defects and deficiencies in railway management, how great are the advantages in swiftness, economy, and safety, which they enjoy through the genius, enterprise, and stubborn perseverance of george stephenson and his friends and pupils in . euston station. this station was an after-thought, the result of early experience in railway traffic. originally the line was to have ended at camden town, but a favourable opportunity led to the purchase of fifteen acres, which has turned out most convenient for the public and the proprietors. it is only to be regretted that it was not possible to bring the station within a few yards of the new road, so as to render the stream of omnibuses between paddington and the city available, without compelling the passenger to perspire under his carpet-bag, railway-wrapper, umbrella, and hat-box, all the way from the platform to the edge of euston square. the great gateway or propylaeum is very imposing, and rather out of place; but that is not the architect's fault. it cost thirty thousand pounds, and had he been permitted to carry out his original design, no doubt it would have introduced us to some classic fane in character with the lofty titanic columns: for instance, a temple to mercury the winged messenger and god of mammon. but, as is very common in this country,--for familiar examples see the london university, the national gallery, and the nelson column,--the spirit of the proprietors evaporated with the outworks; and the gateway leads to a square court-yard and a building the exterior of which may be described, in the language of guide books when referring to something which cannot be praised, as "a plain, unpretending, stucco structure," with a convenient wooden shed in front, barely to save passengers from getting wet in rainy weather. [euston square, london: ill .jpg] as melrose should be seen by the fair moonlight, so euston, to be viewed to advantage, should be visited by the gray light of a summer or spring morning, about a quarter to six o'clock, three-quarters of an hour before the starting of the parliamentary train, which every railway, under a wise legislative enactment, is compelled to run "once a-day from each extremity, with covered carriages, stopping at every station, travelling at a rate of not less than fifteen miles an hour, at a charge of one-penny per mile." we say wise, because the competition of the railway for goods, as well as passengers, drove off the road not only all the coaches, on which, when light-loaded, foot-sore travellers got an occasional lift, but all the variety of vans and broad-wheeled waggons which afforded a slow but cheap conveyance between our principal towns. at the hour mentioned, the railway passenger-yard is vacant, silent, and as spotlessly clean as a dutchman's kitchen; nothing is to be seen but a tall soldier-like policeman in green, on watch under the wooden shed, and a few sparrows industriously yet vainly trying to get breakfast from between the closely packed paving-stones. how different from the fat debauched-looking sparrows who throve upon the dirt and waste of the old coach yards! it is so still, so open; the tall columns of the portico entrance look down on you so grimly; the front of the booking-offices, in their garment of clean stucco, look so primly respectable that you cannot help feeling ashamed of yourself,--feeling as uncomfortable as when you have called too early on an economically genteel couple, and been shown into a handsome drawing-room, on a frosty day, without a fire. you cannot think of entering into a gossip with the railway guardian, for you remember that "sentinels on duty are not allowed to talk," except to nursery maids. presently, hurrying on foot, a few passengers arrive; a servant-maid carrying a big box, with the assistance of a little girl; a neat punctual-looking man, probably a banker's clerk on furlough; and a couple of young fellows in shaggy coats, smoking, who seem, by their red eyes and dirty hands, to have made sure of being up early by not going to bed. a rattle announces the first omnibus, with a pile of luggage outside and five inside passengers, two commercial travellers, two who may be curates or schoolmasters, and a brown man with a large sea-chest. at the quarter, the scene thickens; there are few hansoms, but some night cabs, a vast number of carts of all kinds, from the costermonger's donkey to the dashing butcher's whitechapel. there is very little medium in parliamentary passengers about luggage, either they have a cart-load or none at all. children are very plentiful, and the mothers are accompanied with large escorts of female relations, who keep kissing and stuffing the children with real gibraltar rock and gingerbread to the last moment. every now and then a well-dressed man hurries past into the booking-office and takes his ticket with a sheepish air as if he was pawning his watch. sailors arrive with their chests and hammocks. the other day we had the pleasure of meeting a travelling tinker with the instruments of his craft neatly packed; two gentlemen, whose closely cropped hair and pale plump complexion betokened a recent residence in some gaol or philanthropic institution; an economical baronet, of large fortune; a prize fighter, going down to arrange a little affair which was to come off the next day; a half- pay officer, with a genteel wife and twelve children, on his way to a cheap county in the north; a party of seven irish, father, mother, and five grown- up sons and daughters, on their way to america, after a successful residence in london; a tall young woman and a little man, from stamford, who had been up to london to buy stone bottles, and carried them back rattling in a box; a handsome dragoon, with a very pretty girl,--her eyes full of tears,--on his arm, to see him off; another female was waiting at the door for the same purpose, when the dragoon bolted, and took refuge in the interior of the station. in a word, a parliamentary train collects,--besides mechanics in search of work, sailors going to join a ship, and soldiers on furlough,--all whose necessities or tastes lead them to travel economically, among which last class are to be found a good many quakers. it is pleasing to observe the attention the poor women, with large families and piles of packages, receive from the officers of the company, a great contrast to the neglect which meets the poorly clad in stage-coach travelling, as may still be seen in those districts where the rail has not yet made way. we cannot say that we exactly admire the taste of the three baronets whom a railway superintendent found in one third-class carriage, but we must own that to those to whom economy is really an object, there is much worse travelling than by the parliamentary. having on one occasion gone down by first-class, with an oxford man who had just taken his m.a., an ensign of infantry in his first uniform, a clerk in somerset house, and a manchester man who had been visiting a whig lord,--and returned third-class, with a tinker, a sailor just returned from africa, a bird-catcher with his load, and a gentleman in velveteens, rather greasy, who seemed, probably on a private mission, to have visited the misdemeanour wards of all the prisons in england and scotland; we preferred the return trip, that is to say, vulgar and amusing to dull and genteel. among other pieces of information gleaned on this occasion, we learned that "for a cove as didn't mine a jolly lot of readin and writin, readin was prime in winter; plenty of good vittles, and the cells warmed." it must be remarked that the character of the parliamentary varies very much according to the station from which it starts. the london trains being the worst, having a large proportion of what are vulgarly called "swells out of luck." in a rural district the gathering of smock-frocks and rosy-faced lasses, the rumbling of carts, and the size, number, and shape of the trunks and parcels, afford a very agreeable and comical scene on a frosty, moonlight, winter's morning, about christmas time, when visiting commences, or at whitsuntide. no man who has a taste for studying the phases of life and character should fail to travel at least once by the parliamentary. the large cheap load having rumbled off from the south side of the station, about nine o'clock preparations are commenced for the aristocratic express, which, on this line, is composed of first-class carriages alone, in which, at half the price of the old mail coach fares, the principal stations on the line are reached at railway speed. to attend the departure of this train, there arrive not only the republican omnibi and cabs, from the damp night crawler to the rattling hansom, but carriages, with coronets and mitres emblazoned, guarded by the tallest and most obsequious of footmen, and driven by the fattest and most lordly of coachmen; also the neatest of broughams, adorned internally with pale pink and blue butterfly bonnets; dashing dogcarts, with neat grooms behind, mustached guardsmen driving; and stately cabriolets prance in, under the guidance of fresh primrose-coloured gloves. but, although the passengers by the express train are, in every respect, a contrast to those by the parliamentary, the universal and levelling tendency of the railway system is not less plainly exhibited. the earl or duke, whose dignity formerly compelled him to post in a coupe and four, at a cost of some five or six shillings a mile, and an immense consumption of horse-flesh, wax-lights, and landladies' curtsies on the road, now takes his place unnoticed in a first-class carriage next to a gentleman who travels for a great claret and champagne house, and opposite another going down express to report a railway meeting at birmingham for a morning paper. if you see a lady carefully and courteously escorted to a carriage marked "engaged," on a blackboard, it is probably not a countess but the wife of one of the principal officers of the company. a bishop in a greatcoat creates no sensation; but a tremendous rush of porters and superintendents towards one carriage, announces that a director or well-known engineer is about to take his seat. in fact, civility to all, gentle and simple, is the rule introduced by the english railway system; every porter with a number on his coat is, for the time, the passenger's servant. special attention is bestowed on those who are personally known, and no one can grumble at that. some people, who have never visited the continent, or only visited it for pleasure, travelling at their leisure, make comparisons with the railways of france and germany, unfavourable to the english system. our railways are dearer than the foreign, so is our government,--we make both ourselves; but compare the military system of the continental railways; the quarter of an hour for admission before the starting of the train, during which, if too early or too late, you are locked out; the weighing of every piece of baggage; the lordly commanding airs of all the officials if any relaxation of rules be required; the insouciance with which the few porters move about, leaving ladies and gentlemen to drag their own luggage;--compare all this with the rapid manner in which the loads of half-a-dozen cabs, driving up from some other railway at the last moment, are transferred to the departing express; compare the speed, the universal civility, attention, and honesty, that distinguish our railway travelling, and you cannot fail to come to the conclusion that for a commercial people to whom time is of value, ours is the best article, and if we had not been a lawyer-ridden people we might also have had the cheapest article. before starting the express train, we must not fail to note one new class of passengers, recruited by the speed of railways, viz., the number of gentlemen in breeches, boots, and spurs, with their pinks just peeping from under their rough jackets, who, during the season, get down to aylesbury, bletchley, and even wolverton, to hunt, and back home again to dinner. but the signal sounds. the express train moves off; two gentlemen at the last moment are, in vain, crying out for punch and the times, while an unheeded hammering at the closed door of the booking-office announces that somebody is too late. there is always some one too late. on this occasion it was a young gentleman in a pair of light top-boots, and a mamma and papa with half-a-dozen children and two nursery-maids in a slow capacious fly. we cannot bestow unqualified praise upon the station arrangements at euston. comfort has been sacrificed to magnificence. the platform arrangements for departing and arriving trains are good, simple, and comprehensive; but the waiting-rooms, refreshment stand, and other conveniences are as ill-contrived as possible; while a vast hall with magnificent roof and scagliola pillars, appears to have swallowed up all the money and all the light of the establishment. the first-class waiting-room is dull to a fearful degree, and furnished in the dowdiest style of economy. the second-class room is a dark cavern, with nothing better than a borrowed light. the refreshment counters are enclosed in a sort of circular glazed pew, open to all the drafts of a grand, cold, uncomfortable hall, into which few ladies will venture. a refreshment-room should be the ante-room to the waiting-room, and the two should be so arranged with reference to the booking-office and cloak-rooms, that strangers find their way without asking a dozen questions from busy porters and musing policemen. euston station reminds us of an architect's house, where a magnificent portico and hall leads to dungeon-like dining-room, and mean drawing-room. why are our architects so inferior to our engineers? on the platform is the door of the telegraph office, which also has offices for receiving and transmitting messages at all the principal stations. the mixed train. the mixed train on this line holds an intermediate rank between the parliamentary and the express, consisting as it does of first and second- class carriages, at lower fares than the one and higher than the other, stopping at fewer stations than the parliamentary, and at more than the express; but worth notice on the present occasion, because it is by these trains only that horses and carriages are allowed to be conveyed. carriages require very careful packing on a truck. at the principal stations this may be very well left to the practised porters, but at road-side stations it is a point which should be looked to; for it has not unfrequently happened that the jogging, lateral motion of the railway has heated the axles of a carriage or truck, so that at the end of the journey the wheels have been found as fast as if they had been welded, and quite unfit to travel. travelling in a carriage on a truck is by no means safe: some years since lady zetland and her maids were nearly burned to death, sparks from the engine having set fire to their luggage. the maid threw herself off the truck, and had an extraordinary escape. the arrangements of the boxes for carrying horses are now very complete, and when once a horse, not of a naturally nervous disposition, has been accustomed to travel by rail, it will often be found better to take him on to hunt at a distance than to send him overnight to a strange place with all the disadvantages of change of food, and temptations to neglect in the way of the groom. it is, however, a class of traffic to which few of the railway companies have paid much attention; yet, in our opinion, capable of great development under a system of moderate fares, and day tickets. the rates are not always stated in the time tables, but on the london and north western a day ticket for a horse costs fourteen shillings for thirty miles. besides horses, packs of hounds, and even red deer are occasionally sent by rail. but deer travel in their own private carriages. hounds are generally accompanied by the huntsman, or whip, to keep them in order. and on the great western line a few years ago a huntsman was nearly stifled in this way. the van had been made too snug and close for travelling comfortably with twenty couple of warm fox-hounds. if there is the slightest doubt about a horse entering the van quietly, the best way is to blindfold him before he becomes suspicious. among other pursuits, horse racing has been completely revolutionised by the rail. the posting race-horse van was a luxury in which only the wealthiest could indulge to a limited extent, but now the owner of a string of thoroughbreds, or a single plater, can train in the south or the north, and in four and twenty hours reach any leading course in the kingdom; carrying with him, if deemed needful, hay, straw, and water. as we move slowly off toward camden station, by the fourth of the eighteen passenger trains which daily depart from euston, and emerging with light whirl along within sight of rows of capital houses, whose gardens descend to the edge of the cuttings, we are reminded that under the original act for taking up euston, it was specially provided, at the instance of lord southampton, that no locomotive should be allowed to proceed further to the south than camden town, lest his building land should remain neglected garden land for ever. this promise was accepted with little reluctance by the company, because in it was popularly considered that the ascent to reach camden town could not be easily overcome by a heavily loaded locomotive. consequently a pair of stationary engines were erected at camden town, and a pair of tall chimneys to carry off their smoke and steam. but the objections in taste, and difficulties in science, have vanished. on this line, as on all others, tenants are readily found for houses fringing a cutting; locomotives run up even such ascents as the bromsgrove lickey, between worcester and birmingham, with a load of tons. so ten minutes have been saved in time, and much expense, by doing away with the rope traction system. the stationary engines have been sold, and are now doing duty in a flax mill in russia, and the two tall columns, after slumbering for several years as monuments of prejudices and obstacles overcome, were swept away to make room for other improvements. it is, however, very odd, and not very creditable to human nature, that whenever a railway is planned, the proprietors are assailed by unreasonable demands for compensation, in cases where past experience has proved that the works will be an advantageous, and often an ornamental addition. in a sheffield line was vehemently opposed by a liverpool gentleman, on the ground that it would materially injure the prospect from a mansion, which had been the seat of his ancestors for centuries. the tale was well told, and seemed most pitiful; an impression was produced on the committee that the privacy of something like hatfield, or knebworth, was about to be infringed on by the "abominable railway." a stiff cross-examination brought out the reluctant fact, however, that this "house of my ancestors," this beautiful elizabethan mansion had been for many years let as a lunatic asylum at pound per annum. in another instance a railway director sold a pretty country seat, because the grounds were about to be intersected by a railway embankment; two years after the completion of the railway he wished to buy it back again, for he found that his successor, by turfing and planting the slope, had very much increased the original beauty of the gardens. camden station. but thus gossiping, we have reached camden station, and must take advantage of an unusual halt to look into the arrangements for building waggons and trucks, and conveying coals, merchandise, goods, and all live stock included between pigs and bullocks. not without difficulty did mr. robert stephenson succeed in inducing the directors to purchase thirty acres of land here; it was only by urging, that, if unused, the surplus could be sold at a profit, that he carried out his views. genius can foresee results which, to ordinary capacities, are dark and incomprehensible. since it has been found necessary to take in an additional plot of three more acres, all now fully occupied. in no respect were the calculations of parties engaged in the construction of railways more at fault than with regard to the station accommodation needed for goods traffic, which, on the principal lines, has added full twenty-five per cent. to the original estimates. george stephenson calculated the cost of getting over chat moss at , pounds; his opponent proved that it would cost four hundred thousand: but it was executed at exactly the sum stephenson set down, while the capital involved in providing station room for merchandise at liverpool and at manchester, has probably exceeded the original estimate for the whole line. on this railway the increase of the goods traffic has been of very recent date. at a very early period after the opening of the line, the merchandise department became the monopoly of the great carriers, who found it answer their purpose to divide the profits afforded by the discount allowed to carriers by the railway company, without seeking to develop an increase of occupation. under this system, while carriers grew rich, the goods traffic remained stationary. but when the amalgamation with the grand junction, which had always been its own carrier, took place, a great reduction in rates was made, as well as arrangements for encouraging the conveyance of every kind of saleable article. the company became a common carrier, but employing messrs. pickford, and chaplin and horne to collect goods. the result was a marvellous increase, which has been progressing ever since. a regular trade is now carried on between london and the most remote parts of the kingdom in every conceivable thing that will bear moving. sheep have been sent from perth to london, and covent garden has supplied tons of the finer description of vegetables to the citizens of glasgow; every saturday five tons of the best fish in season are despatched from billingsgate to birmingham, and milk is conveyed in padlocked tins, from and beyond harrow, at the rate of about one penny per gallon. in articles which are imported into both liverpool and london, there is a constant interchange, according to the state of the market; thus a penny per pound difference may bring a hundred chests of congou up, or send as many of hyson down the line. all graziers within a day of the rail are able to compete in the london market, the probability of any extraordinary demand increases the number of beasts arriving weekly at camden station from the average of to , and the sheep from to ; and these animals can be brought from the furthest grazing grounds in the kingdom without any loss of weight, and in much better condition than the fat oxen were formerly driven to smithfield from the rich pastures round aylesbury, or the valley of the thames. camden station, under the alterations effected in - , has a double line, for goods waggons only, , feet in length, entirely clear of the main line. the length of single lines, exclusive of the main line, exceeds twelve miles. to describe it in detail would be a very unsatisfactory task; because, in the first place, it can ill be understood without a map, and in the next, changes are constantly taking place, and still greater changes will be forced on the company by the increase of goods traffic, which, great as it is, is only in its infancy. even now freights are paid to the london and north western for all the way to china. but, as an agricultural implement of commerce, the locomotive has been comparatively as little used as the stationary engine, although hundreds of trades of a semi-rural character are drawing toward the railway lines, and away from the country towns, which were formerly the centre of rural commerce, because standing on the highways or near canals. but such a revolution can only be effected slowly. at camden will be found a large yard for the reception of the midland counties' coal, the introduction of which has had a considerable effect in bringing down the price of sea-borne coal. the cattle pens have lately been altered and enlarged. just before christmas this place is almost as amusing and exciting as a spanish bull-fight; although, as a general rule, the silence of a place where, during every quarter of an hour, of day and night, so enormous a business is being carried on, is very surprising. twenty-four steam waggon horses, or engines, for heavy loads are kept in a circular engine-house, or stable, feet in diameter, with an iron roof. this form renders every engine accessible at a moment's notice. the steam race-horses for the passenger work are kept in an oblong building opposite the carters. the demand being more regular, there is no need for the expensive circular arrangement of stables for this class of engines. in a large boiler-house, boiling water and red-hot coke are kept ready night and day, so that on the occasion of any sudden demand no time need be lost in getting up steam. there is besides a waggon-building department, a shop for executing such trifling repairs in the locomotives as need no reference to the great workshop at wolverton. the passenger carriages are most of them built at euston station, by mr. wright. the carrying department is very conveniently situated close to the regent's canal, so as to have easy communication with inland as well as sea navigation. a series of sheds occupy an area of , superficial feet, and the platforms to receive goods from railway trucks on one side and from waggons on the other, occupy , feet. these platforms and sheds are provided with cranes, for loading and unloading, with a power varying from one ton and a half to twenty tons. by these appliances, work of the most miscellaneous character goes on all day, and part of the night. the railway trucks and waggons are moved about by horses: it is amusing to see the activity with which the heavy brutes often bring a waggon up at a trot, jump out of the way just at the right moment, and allow the waggon to roll up to the right spot by its own momentum. the horses are lodged in stables in the underground vaults, which we cannot commend, as they are dark, damp, full of draughts, and yet ill ventilated; but it was necessary to use these vaults, and difficult to find stabling for such a number of horses close at hand. the carrying department at camden is very miscellaneous, and moves everything, from the contents of a nursery ground to a full grown locomotive, but they do not impress a stranger so much as the arrangements at manchester and liverpool. the annual consumption of gas at camden exceeds six million cubic feet. under the railway system the certainty and rapidity with which merchandise can be transmitted, changes and simplifies more and more every year the operations of trade. for instance, southampton is the great port for that part of our indian, south american, and mediterranean trade which is conducted by steamers. when a junction has been effected between the london and north western and the south western, costly packages of silk, muslin, gold tissue, jewellery, may be sent under lock from the glasgow manufacturers to the quay alongside at southampton in a few hours, without sign of damage or pilferage, and at the last moment before the departure of the steamer. the communication between the docks on the thames and camden town, will enable a grocer in manchester to have a hogshead of sugar or tobacco sent in answer to a letter by return of post, at a saving in expense which may be imagined from the fact, that it costs more to cart a butt of sherry from the london docks to camden town, than to send it by rail all the way to manchester. to provide for the enormous and annually increasing traffic in passengers and merchandise, there are:-- state carriage. horse boxes. locomotives and tenders. sheep vans. first-class mails. goods waggons. second-class carriages. trolleys. third-class. cribb rails. post-offices. sheets. carriages,--trucks for cart horses. letters and newspapers. parcel carts. guards' brakes. making a grand total rolling stock of , . the passenger carriages afford eleven miles of seat room, and would accommodate , individuals, or the whole population of two such towns as northampton. the loading surface of the goods equals eleven acres, and would convey , tons. if the tires of all the company's wheels were welded into one ring, they would form a circle of seventy-two miles. to keep this rolling stock up in number and efficiency, there are two establishments, one at camden town, and one at wolverton. camden town is the great coach house of the line, where goods waggons are built and repaired in one division, where sound locomotives, carriages and trucks are kept ready for use in another. the waggon building department of camden is worth visiting, especially by railway shareholders. every one is interested in railways being worked economically, for economy gives low rates and increased profits, which both increase trade and multiply railways. hitherto the details of carrying, especially as to the construction of waggons and trucks, have been much neglected. on one line running north, it is said that the loss in cheese stolen by the railway servants, amounts to as much as the whole sum paid for carrying agricultural produce, and on the line on which we are travelling, breakages have sometimes amounted to , pounds a-month. the fact is, that railway carriers have been content to use rude square boxes on wheels, covered when loaded, if covered at all, with a tarpaulin, without any precautions for draining off the wet, to which it was constantly exposed when out of use,--without "buffers" or other protecting springs, so that the wear and tear of the waggon and its load, from inevitable shocks, was very great. the imperfect protection of a tarpaulin was, and is, a great temptation to pilferage. these sources of expense, in wear and tear of conveyances, loss of tarpaulin coverings, each worth pounds s., breakage, pilferage of goods, combine to sum up a formidable discount from the profits of railway carrying, and, in the case of certain goods, lead the owners to prefer the slower transit of a canal boat. even iron suffers in market value from exposure to the weather; porcelain and glass are liable to perpetual smashes, on waggons without buffers, in spite of the most careful packing; while tea, sugar, cheese, and all untraceable eatables are pilfered to an enormous extent, besides more valuable goods. it was hoped that railway transit would put an end to the dishonesty which was carried on wholesale on the canals; but, where open trucks are used, this expectation has been only partly realised, for the temptation of opportunity has been too strong, for even the superior class of men employed on railways. in order to meet these evils, mr. henson, who has the charge of the waggon- building department at camden, has built and patented a covered waggon with buffers, which unites with great strength, safety, capacity, and smoothness of motion. the scientific manner in which these waggons are framed, gives them strength in proportion to their weight. the buffers with which they are fitted, and the roof, protecting from the weather, render them altogether durable, and therefore economical; while the construction, as will be seen from our vignette, renders pilferage, unless by collusion with the respectable party who overlooks the unloading, almost impossible. a diminution of the cost for repairs of rolling stock (on an average equal to pounds per ann.), and of the cost for compensation to customers for breakage and pilferage, should be a leading object with every sensible railway director. indeed these losses, with deadweight, and lawyer's bills, are the deadly enemies of railway directors. further improvements in these waggons have been effected by the use of corrugated iron, which is light and strong at the same time; and the iron waggons have been again improved by employing iron covered with a thin coating of glass, under a new patent, which renders rust impossible and paint unnecessary. the simple contrivance by which the door and moveable roof is locked and unlocked by one motion, is worthy of the notice of practical men. of these lock-up waggons, with springs and buffers, are in use on the london and north western railway. mr. henson has also succeeded in establishing a traffic in gunpowder, by inventing a carriage of sheet iron, lined with wood, in which four-and-a-half tons of gunpowder can be conveyed without fear of explosion either from concussion or external combustion. the shops at camden have room for building or repairing waggons. they are to be seen in every stage of progress. the great object is to combine strength with lightness. if the strength being the same, the saving of a ton can be effected in a waggon, it will amount to from thirty to ninety tons in an ordinary goods train. an important consideration, for deadweight is the great enemy of the railway, and ninety tons of useless weight is equivalent to a loss of pounds in sending a goods train a journey to birmingham. british oak is the favourite wood for the frames of railway waggons; teak, if of equal quality, is dearer, and the inferior is heavier, without being so strong. if in any of the many countries with which we trade a wood can be discovered as good and as cheap as english oak, the railways which are constantly extending their carrying stock, can afford a steady demand. about the passenger carriages, which every one can see and examine for himself, there is not much to be said. on the continent, where they cannot afford to use mahogany, they use sheet-iron and papier-machee for the panels; in england, mahogany chiefly in the first class. when we began, stage coaches were imitated; there are some of the old cramped style still to be seen on the richmond line; then came enormous cages--pleasant in summer, fearfully cold in winter, without fires, which have not been introduced in england, although they are found in the north of europe and america. a medium size has now come into favour, of which some fine specimens are to be seen in the hyde park exhibition. on the great northern line some second-class carriages have been introduced, varnished, without paint, and very well they look. economy again, and the increase of branches, have led to the use of composite carriages for first and second-class passengers all on one body. these, which were in use years ago on the northern coal lines, are now revived and improved. the camden station has received an entirely new feature by the completion of the line to the docks and to fenchurch street, with stations at islington, hackney, and bow. already an immense omnibus traffic has been obtained--a sort of traffic which produces the same effect on engines as on horses. they are worn out rapidly by the continual stoppages. but horses show wear and tear directly, whereas iron and brass cannot speak except through increased expenses and diminished dividends. leaving camden, at which trains stop only on arriving, we swiftly pass kilburn, where an omnibus station is to be established for the benefit of the rising population of citizens, to willesden, where the junction line through acton to the south western is to commence. willesden has been rendered classic ground, for the hero-worshippers who take highwaymen within the circle of their miscellaneous sympathies, by mr. harrison ainsworth's "jack sheppard,"--the "cage" where this ruffian was more than once confined still remains in its original insecurity. sudbury affords nothing to detain us. the next station is within a mile of harrow-on-the-hill, with its beacon-like church spire. rich pasture lies around, famous for finishing off bullocks fed in the north. harrow school is almost as much one of the institutions of england as oxford and cambridge universities. it is one of the great public schools, which, if they do not make the ripest scholars, make "men" of our aristocracy. this school was founded by one john lyon, a farmer of the parish, who died in . [harrow-on-the-hill: ill .jpg] attached to it there are four exhibitions of pounds each, and two scholarships of pounds each. the grand celebrity of the school rests upon the education of those who are not on the foundation. the sons of noblemen and wealthy gentlemen, who in this as in many other instances, have treated those for whose benefit the school was founded, as the young cuckoo treats the hedge sparrow. among its illustrious scholars harrow numbers lord byron and sir robert peel. an old saw runs: "eton fops, harrow gentlemen, winchester scholars, and westminster blackguards." since the palmy days when dr. drury was master and byron and peel were pupils, harrow has declined to insignificance, and been by the abilities of dr. wordsworth raised again. the term of harrow gentlemen still deservedly survives, harrow being still the gate through which the rich son of a parvenu family may most safely pass on his way to oxford, if his father desires, as all fathers do in this country, that his son should amalgamate with the landed aristocracy. at pinner, the next station, we pass out of middlesex into hertfordshire. watford, a principal station, is within a mile of the town of that name, on the river colne. here henry vi. encamped with his army before the battle of st. albans. cassiobury park, a favourite spot for picnics, is close to the station. it was the opposition of the late proprietor, the earl of essex, that forced upon the engineer of the line the formidable tunnel, which was once considered an astonishing railway work,--now nothing is astonishing in engineering. [viaduct over the river colne: ill .jpg] near king's langley we pass the booksellers' provident retreat, erected on ground given by mr. dickenson, the great paper maker, who has seven mills on the neighbouring streams, and reach boxmoor, only noticeable as the first station opened on the line. [looking from the hill above box moor station towards berkhamsted: ill .jpg] the next station is berkhamsted. cowper the poet was born here, his father was rector of the parish. berkhamsted castle is part of the hereditary property of the prince of wales and duke of cornwall. at this castle william the conqueror, after the battle of hastings, met the abbot of st. albans with a party of chiefs and prelates, who had prepared to oppose the norman, and disarmed their hostility by swearing to rule according to the ancient laws and customs of the country. having, of course, broken his oath, he bestowed the castle on his half-brother, robert moreton, earl of cornwall. king john strengthened the castle, which was afterwards besieged by the dauphin of france. when edward iii. created the black prince duke of cornwall, the castle and manor of berkhamsted were bestowed upon him "to hold to him, and the heirs of him, and the eldest sons of the kings of england, and the dukes of the said place;" and under these words through civil wars and revolutions, and changes from plantagenet to tudor, from tudor to stuart, with the interregnum of a republic, an abdication, and the installation of the brunswick dynasty. the castle is now vested in albert prince of wales. [berkhamsted station: ill .jpg] the chiltern hills, including the chiltern hundreds, the only office under the crown always open to the acceptance of all without distinction of parties, lies within a short distance of berkhamsted. ashdridge park, formerly the seat of the duke of bridgewater, the originator and author, with the aid of brindley and telford, of our great canal system, lies about a mile to the eastward. the scenery of the park and gardens are fine. the house is modern. tring station, a mile and a half from the town, may be reached from london, . miles, in less than an hour by the express train, and the traveller arrives in as wild a district as any in england. three miles north of tring lies the town of ivinghoe, possessing a large cruciform church, worthy of a visit from the students of "christian architecture," with an old sculptured timber roof, and containing a tomb with a norman french inscription,--according to some the tomb of henry de blois, bishop of winchester, brother of king stephen. at the rose and crown we are informed venison is to be had in perfection at moderate charges during the season. the station is the highest point on the line, being feet above the sea, above camden town, and above birmingham. in the course of the tring excavation in the gravel deposits above the chalk, the tusk and teeth of an elephant were found, and in crossing the icknield or roman way, about thirty-three miles, were sixteen human skeletons, and several specimens of roman pottery: two unique urns are now in the possession of the antiquarian society. two miles from tring we pass from hertfordshire into buckinghamshire. it remains a disputed point whether the name of the county is derived from bucken or boccen, a deer, according to spelman, or with lysons, boc, a charter, or with camden from bucken, beech trees, which, as in his time, still abound and flourish. unfortunately the state of agriculture does not allow the pastors of the country to take the ease and rest that was enjoyed by the celebrated mr. tityrus before the repeal of the roman corn laws, an ease which has cost many an unfortunate schoolboy a flogging. our next halt, cheddington, is noticeable only because it stands on the fork, of which a short branch, nine miles in length, leads to aylesbury. aylesbury. aylesbury, standing on a hill, in the midst of one of the richest, if not the richest, tracts of pasture lands in england, is very ancient without being venerable. the right of returning two members to parliament is found periodically profitable to the inhabitants, and these two mp's with a little lace, constitute its only manufactures. the loss of the coaching trade by the substitution of the railroad, was a great blow to its local prosperity. among other changes, the aylesbury butchers often go to london to buy meat, which has passed in the shape of oxen through the town to ride to london. the berry field, said to be the best field in england, lies in the vale of aylesbury. the saying of "good land bad farmers," is not belied among the mass of those who meet in the markets of aylesbury. with a few exceptions the farming is as bad as it can be, the farmers miserably poor, and the labourers ignorant to a degree which is a disgrace to the resident clergy and gentry. we had some experience of the peasantry during the railway surveys of , , and found them quite innocent of thinking and reading, with a timid hatred of their employers, and perfect readiness to do anything not likely to be found out, for a pot of beer. they get low wages, live low, and work accordingly. it was round aylesbury, that for many years, the influence of the insolvent duke of buckingham was paramount. to city sportsmen, aylesbury has interest as the centre of baron rothschild's (stag) hunt; to politicians, because of great meetings of the country party held there. we must not omit to notice the duck trade carried on by the poorer order of people round the town. they hatch the ducks under hens generally in their living rooms, often under their beds, and fatten them up early in spring on garbage, of which horse flesh not unfrequently forms a large part. the ducks taste none the worse if for the last fortnight they are permitted to have plenty of clean water and oats, or barleymeal. most of the aylesbury ducks never see water except in a drinking pan. the cheap rate at which the inferior grain can be bought has been a great advantage to these duck feeders. the many means now open of reaching the best markets of the country will probably change the style and make the fortunes of a new race of bucks farmers. those of the present generation who have neither capital nor education can only be made useful by transplantation. returning from aylesbury, and gliding out of the deep cuttings over a fine open country, we approach the leighton buzzard station, and see in the distance the lofty octagonal spire of the leighton buzzard church. the town is half a mile from the station, and commands the attention of the church antiquary from its fine church and cross. the church, says a very competent authority on such matters, "is one of the most spacious, lightsome, and well-proportioned perpendicular churches, cruciform, with a handsome stone spire. the roof, stalls, and other wood- work very perfect. the windows, some ironwork, and other details, full of interest." the cross stands in an open area in the centre of the market place, and is twenty-seven feet high above the basement, which is raised by rows of steps about five feet. at leighton buzzard a branch line of seven miles communicates with dunstable. [leighton buzzard: ill .jpg] dunstable is situated in the centre of the dunstable chalk downs, where the celebrated dunstable larks are caught which are made mention of in one of miss edgeworth's pretty stories. the manufactures are whiting and straw hats. of an ancient priory, founded in , by henry i., and endowed with the town, and the privileges of jurisdiction extending to life and death, nothing remains but the parish church, of which the interior is richly ornamented. over the altar-piece is a large painting representing the lord's supper, by sir james thornhill, the father-in-law of hogarth. in a charity school founded in , forty boys are clothed, educated, and apprenticed. in twelve almshouses twelve poor widows are lodged, and in six houses near the church, called the maidens' lodge, six unmarried gentlewomen live and enjoy an income of pounds per ann. with this brief notice we may retrace our steps. on leaving leighton, within half a mile we enter a covered tunnel, and we strongly recommend some artist fond of "strong effects" in landscape to obtain a seat in a coupe forming the last carriage in an express train, if such are ever put on now, sitting with your back to the engine, with windows before and on each side, you are whirled out of sight into twilight and darkness, and again into twilight and light, in a manner most impressive, yet which cannot be described. perhaps the effect is even greater in a slow than in an express train. but as this tunnel is curved the transition would be more complete. at bletchley the church (embowered in a grove of yews, planted perhaps when henry viii. issued his decrees for planting the archer's tree) contains an altar tomb of lord grey of wilton, a.d. . the station has now become important as from it diverge the bedford line to the east, and the lines to banbury and oxford to the west. a branch connects bletchley with bedford . miles in length, with the following stations:- fenny stratford. lidlington. woburn sands. ampthill. ridgmount. bedford. woburn and bedford. woburn is one of those dull places, neat, clean, and pretentious in public buildings, which are forced under the hot-house influence of a great political family. we pass it to visit woburn abbey, the residence of the russell family, with its extensive and magnificent gardens, its model farms, its picture gallery, and other accessories of a great nobleman's country seat. it was at woburn that francis, duke of bedford, held his sheep-shearing feasts, and by patronising, in conjunction with coke of norfolk and mr. western, improvements and improvers in agriculture and stock-breeding, did so much to promote agricultural improvement in this county, and to create that large class of wealthy educated agriculturists, which confers such great benefits on this country. now that every country gentleman has at least one neighbour who is, or professes to be, an agricultural improver, it is difficult to give an adequate idea of the benefit we have derived from the agricultural enthusiasm of the noblemen and gentlemen who first made the science of cultivating breeding fashionable, we must be excused the word, among a class which had previously been exclusively devoted to field sports or to town life. they founded that finest of all modern characters--the english country gentleman, educated, yet hearty, a scholar and a sportsman, a good farmer, and an intelligent, considerate landlord; happy to teach, and ready to learn, anything connected with a pursuit which he follows with the enthusiasm of a student and the skill of a practical man. the other stations have nothing about them to induce a curious traveller to pause. not so can we say of bedford. bedford has been pauperised by the number and wealth of its charities. a mechanic, or small tradesman, can send his child if it be sick to a free hospital; when older to a free school, where even books are provided; when the boy is apprenticed a fee may be obtained from a charity; at half the time of apprenticeship, a second fee; on the expiration of the term, a third; on going to service, a fourth; if he marries he expects to obtain from a charity fund "a portion" with his wife, also educated at a charity; and if he has not sufficient industry or prudence to lay by for old age, and those are virtues which he is not likely to practise, he looks forward with confidence to being boarded and lodged at one of bedford's fifty-nine almshouses. the chief source of the charities of bedford is derived from an estate of thirteen acres of land in the parish of st. andrew, holborn, london, bequeathed by sir william harpur, an alderman of that city, in the reign of edward vi., for founding a free school for instructing the children of the town in grammar, and good manners. this land, now covered with valuable houses, produces some , pounds per annum. on this fund there are supported, st. a grammar school, with eighty boys on the foundation, and as many private boarders; a commercial school, containing to boys; a national school, of boys, where on the half holidays girls are received, a regular girls' school and an infant school. beside which, the girls in the hospital for poor children, another branch of the charity, are taught household duties, needlework, reading and writing. in these schools the children of all resident parishioners of bedford's five parishes are entitled to receive gratuitous instruction. in the national school twenty-five boys are clothed from a fund left by alderman newton, of leicester. the warden and fellows of new college, oxford, are visitors, and appoint the master and second master of the grammar school. there are four masters, viz., the head, with two assistant masters; a mathematical master, and a writing master. the scholars enjoy the advantage of eight exhibitions, of pounds per annum each, six of which must be bestowed on town boys, the remaining two may go to boarders. the cheap and good education attainable as a matter of right in this borough, have rendered it a favourite resort of half-pay officers and unbeneficed clergymen, blessed with large families. the church of st. paul is large, with a nave and a south aisle, divided by early english piers and arches. a stone pulpit, ornamented with gilt tracery, on a blue ground, has been removed in favour of an oak one, with the chancel. the church of st. peter has an old norman door, a fine antique front, and some curious stained glass in the windows. john bunyan, author of the "pilgrim's progress," was co-pastor in a baptist meeting house, in mill-lane, from until his death in . the chair in which he used to sit is still preserved in the vestry as a relic. a few miles from bletchley, is a forgotten, but once celebrated spot, denbigh hall, over which the traveller whirls without notice, yet worthy of remembrance, because it affords a name and date for tracing the march of railway enterprise. in , a gap in the intended railway from london to birmingham extended from an obscure public-house, called denbigh hall, to rugby. at either point travellers had to exchange the rail for the coach or chaise. on june , , when queen victoria was crowned, for days before the coronation, the coaches for the intermediate space were crammed; the chaises and post horses were monopolised, and at length, to cover thirty odd miles, every gig, standing waggon, cart, and donkey cart that could be obtained in the district, was engaged, and yet many were disappointed of their journey to london. on this london and birmingham line, in addition to, and without disturbing the ordinary traffic, , souls have been conveyed in one train, at the rate of thirty miles an hour. truly queen victoria can set the railway conquests of her reign against the glories of the war victories of queen anne and her grandfather, king george. [denbigh hall bridge: ill .jpg] the bucks railway. a recent extension from bletchley traverses buckinghamshire, and by a fork which commences at winslow, passes through buckingham and brackley to banbury by one line, and by bicester to oxford by the other. we need not pause at brackley or winslow. buckingham is notable chiefly as being on the road to princely palatial stowe, the seat of the buckingham family, now shorn of its internal glories in pictures, sculptures, carvings, tapestry, books, and manuscripts. its grounds and gardens, executed on a great scale in the french style, only remain to delight the traveller; these would require, and have been often described in, illustrated volumes. here we shall not dwell upon the melancholy scene of grandeur, power, and wealth frittered away in ignoble follies. banbury. banbury is more celebrated than worth seeing. commercial travellers consider it one of the best towns in england, as it is a sort of metropolis to a great number of thriving villages. banbury cakes are known wherever english children are bred, and to them, where not educated in too sensible a manner, the homeric ballad of-- "ride a cock horse to banbury cross," is sung. unfortunately, the puritans, in the time of edward vi., pulled this famous cross down. they were in great force there; for as drunken barnaby, in his tour, tells us:-- "there i found a puritan one, hanging of his cat on monday for killing of a rat on sunday." at banbury was fought, after the english fashion, one of the great fights that preceded the carrying of the reform bill. previous to that change, sixteen electors had the privilege of sending a member to parliament. during the reform excitement six of these privileged gentlemen seceded from their usual compact, and determined to set up on their own account. for want of a better man, they pitched upon mr. easthope, of the morning chronicle, since that period, much to his own astonishment no doubt, pitchforked into a baronetcy. the old original m.p. was colonel hutchinson, the companion of sir robert wilson in carrying off lavalette. on entering the town, ten thousand reformers set up such a howling, that colonel hutchinson, thinking his last hour at hand, drew a dagger. upon which more groans and shrieks followed, with such threats as made it prudent for the friends of the colonel to compel him to retreat. under these circumstances, the streets of the town were crammed full with an excited mob; the poll was opened; the six, amid tremendous plaudits, voted for easthope, and reform; the ten very discreetly staid at home, and thus, by six votes, a baronetcy was secured to the unopposed candidate. it is droll to look back upon the movement which led public opinion to prefer a stockjobber to a gallant soldier. banbury manufactures horse girths and other kinds of webbing, as well as excellent ale. there are two inns, both good. the buckinghamshire railway has reduced the price of coal to the inhabitants from s. to s. per ton, on , tons per annum. bicester, commonly pronounced bister, is thirteen miles by the road from oxford, a town as ancient as the heptarchy; famous for a well once sacred and dedicated to st. edburgh, for its well attended markets and cattle fairs, and especially for its excellent ale. it is in the centre of a capital hunting country. the women make a little bone lace. oxford. oxford is one of the great gates through which our rich middle classes send their sons to be amalgamated with the landed and titled aristocracy, who are all educated either there or at cambridge. to say of any one that he is an "oxford man," at once implies that he is a gentleman, and when a well-looking, well-mannered, and even moderately endowed young gentleman has passed respectably through his curriculum at christchurch or magdalen, balliol, oriel, university, or any other of the correct colleges, it rests with himself whether he runs the race of public life in england on equal terms with the sons of the oldest of the titled and untitled aristocracy, even though his father were an eminent retired dust contractor, and his mother laundry maid or factory girl. but money alone won't do it, and the pretension, the display, the coxcombry permitted in a peer, must be carefully avoided by a parvenu. thus oxford interests classes who care very little for its educational, antiquarian, or architectural resources, as one of the institutions of the country by which any capable man may cut off his plebeian entail, and start according to the continental term "noble." the material beauty of oxford is great--the situation, in a rich valley bounded by softly flowing rivers, fine--the domes, and spires, and old grey towers rising in clusters, prepare the mind of the approaching traveller for the city where the old colleges and churches, planting out and almost composing it, afford at every bend of the long streets, at every turn of the narrow thoroughfares, some grand picture, or charming architectural effect; even our quakers are proud of oxford in england when they travel in america. then oxford is so decorously clean, so spotlessly free from the smoke of engines and the roar of machinery; the groves and gardens, and trim green turf seen through richly-carved and corbeled archways, give such a feeling of calm study, and pleasant leisure, that we will defy the bitterest radical and the sourest dissenter not to be softened and charmed by his first impressions. to those who arrive prepared to be pleased, stored with associations of the past, fortunate enough to have leisure and introductions to some affable don long resident, and proud to display the treasures and glories of his beloved alma mater, oxford affords for many days a treat such as no other city in the world can supply to an englishman. the best known route from london is by the great western railway, which, according to the original plan, would have passed close to the city. but all the university and ecclesiastical dignitaries were up in arms; they saw, in their mind's eye, the tender, innocent undergraduates flying from the proctor-guarded precincts, where modesty, virtue, and sobriety ever reign, to the vice-haunted purlieus of london, at all hours of the night and day. the proctors and professors triumphed; the railway was obliged to leave a gap of ten miles of common road between its invading, unhallowed course, and the sacred city; and great was the rejoicing in the convocation chamber, and many the toasts in the senior common rooms to the health of the faithful sons of oxon, who in parliament had saved the city from this commercial desecration. but as even grosvenor-square was at length glad to admit gas after abiding longest of all in the genteel gloom of oil lamps, so was oxford in the end glad to be put on a branch, as it could not be put on a main line; and now, beside the rail on which we are travelling, worcester, banbury, and wolverhampton, and two roads to london and birmingham are open to the wandering tastes of the callow youth of the university; as may be ascertained by a statistical return from the railway stations whenever a steeple-chase or jenny lind concert takes place in or near any of the towns enumerated. the entrance from bletchley is, perhaps, the finer, as rolling round a semicircle, we sweep into sight of the dome of radcliffe library and the spire of st. mary's church, descend, enter the city by the cheltenham-road, and passing through an inferior suburb, reach the head of high-street, of which a great german art critic declared, "that it had not its equal in the whole world." wide, long, and gently curving, approached from either end, it presents in succession the colleges of lincoln, brasenose, university, all souls, queen's, st. mary's church, with peeps of gardens with private houses, and with shops, which do not detract, but rather add, to the dignity and weight of the grand old buildings. having slowly sauntered up and down, and scanned the various characters peculiar to the city of universities--as, for instance, an autocrat in the person of a dean of christchurch, a principal of balliol, or a master of jesus, a proctor newly made, but already endowed with something of the detective police expression; several senior fellows, plump, shy, proud, and lazy--walking for an appetite, and looking into the fishmongers on their way to the parks; a "cocky" master of arts, just made, and hastening to call on all his friends and tradesmen to show off his new dignity, and rustle the sleeves of his new gown; three lads, just entered from a public school (last month they laid out tip in mother brown's tarts), on their way to order three courses and dessert at the mitre, where very indifferent fare is provided for fashionable credit prices; a pale student, after dr. pusey's own heart, in cap and gown, pacing monk-like along, secretly telling his beads; a tuft (nobleman) lounging out of the shop of a tailor, who, as he follows his lordship to the door, presents the very picture of a dean bowing to a prime minister, when a bishop is very sick. a few ladies are seen, in care of papas in caps and gowns, or mammas, who look as if they were doctors of divinity, or deserved to be. the oxford female is only of two kinds--prim and brazen. the latter we will not describe; the former seem to live in perpetual fear of being winked at, and are indescribable. from these street scenes, where the ridiculous only is salient, for the quiet and gentlemanly pass by unnoticed, while pompous dons and coxcombical undergraduates are as certain of attention as turkeycocks and bantams, we will turn into the solemn precincts of a few of the colleges. at the head stands christchurch in dignity and size, founded by cardinal wolsey, pope clement vii. consenting, in , on the revenues of some dozen minor monasteries, under the title of cardinal college. the fall of wolsey--england's last cardinal, until by the invitation of modern mediaeval oxford, pius ix. sent us a wiseman--stopped the works. one of wolsey's latest petitions to henry was, "that his college at oxford might go on." and by the king, after some intermediate changes, it was finally established as christchurch. the foundation now consists of a dean, eight canons, eight chaplains, a schoolmaster, an organist, eight choristers, and students, of whom a considerable number are exhibitioners from westminster school. it is in symbolism of these students that the celebrated great tom of christchurch clangs each evening times. besides these students, there are generally nearly independent members, consisting of noblemen, gentlemen commoners, and commoners. to be a gentleman commoner of christchurch, all other advantages being equal, is the most "correct thing" in the university; none can compete with them, unless it be the gentlemen commoners of magdalen. the christchurch noblemen, or tufts, are considered the leaders of fashion, whether it be in mediaeval furniture, or rat hunting, boating, or steeple- chase riding, old politics or new religions. among the illustrious men it claims as pupils are, sir philip sydney and ben jonson, camden and south, bolingbroke and locke, canning and sir robert peel, whom oxford rejected. the front is in aldate's-street, for which consult mr. spier's pretty guide card, the entrance under the lofty clock tower, whence, at ten minutes past nine every evening, the mighty tom peals forth his sonorous summons. the "tom gateway" leads into the quadrangle familiarly termed "quad," feet by , the dimensions originally planned by wolsey; but the buildings which bound it on three sides were executed after the destruction of the old edifice in the great civil wars from designs by sir christopher wren in . the hall on the south side is ancient; we ascend to it by a flight of steps under a handsome groined roof supported by a single pillar. the hall is feet long, wide, and high. the open roof of oak richly carved, decorated with the arms of wolsey and henry viii. other carvings adorn the fire-place and a fine bay window. on the sides of the rooms are hung a series of portraits of ecclesiastics, poets, philosophers (these are few), statesmen, and noblemen, representing distinguished students of the college. the dinner hour, when the dean and chief officers sit in state on the dais, masters and bachelors at the side tables, and undergraduates at the lower end, is an impressive sight, recalling feudal times. the feeding is the worst of any in oxford, much to the advantage of the taverns and pastrycooks. when in queen elizabeth visited oxford, a play was performed before her in this hall by the students, in the course of which, "a cry of hounds belonging to themselves" having been counterfeited in the quadrangle, the students were seized with a sudden transport; whereat her majesty cried out, "o excellent! these boys in very truth are ready to leap out of the window to follow the hounds." amid the many changes of taste and opinion since the days of queen bess, the love of hunting still prevails in christchurch, not one of the least healthy tastes, in an age of perpetual competing work; and the christchurch drag is one of the stock amusements anathematized toward the end and permitted at the beginning of every hunting term, for the glory of the chief tuft and the benefit of hard-reading men, who cannot waste their time in trotting from cover to cover dependent on the vagaries of such an uncertain animal as a fox, and are therefore content to hunt a "cad" armed with a red herring over the stiffest country he can pick. after the hall, the kitchen should be visited. it is the most ancient part of the building, for wolsey, with a truly ecclesiastical appreciation of the foundation of all sound learning, began with the kitchen, and it survived him. agriculture, gardening, cooking, and confectionery, were among the civilizing arts brought to great perfection by religious houses and lost for a long period after the reformation, which, like other strong medicines, cleared our heads at the expense of our stomachs. in wolsey's kitchen may be seen the huge gridiron on which our ancestors roasted sheep whole and prepared other barbarous disgusting dishes. in the peckwater quadrangle are to be found the library and the guise collection of pictures, which contains curious specimens of that early school which the mad mediaevalists are now fond of imitating, and a few examples of the famous italian masters who rose on the force of genius, which did not disdain study but did disdain imitation. wickliff was a warden, and sir thomas more a student, in canterbury hall, which was amalgamated in wolsey's college. the chapel of christchurch is the cathedral of oxford. the oldest parts belonged to the church of st. frideswide's priory, consecrated a.d. . wolsey pulled down fifty feet of the nave and adapted it to the use of his college. the stained glass windows, without which every gothic cathedral has a bare, naked, cold appearance, and which were peculiarly fine, nearly all fell a sacrifice to puritanical bigotry. for the many curious and beautiful architectural features we must refer in this instance, as in all others, to the architectural guides, such as parker's, with which every one who feels any interest in the subject will provide himself. leaving christchurch by the canterbury gate up merton-lane, we pass on one hand corpus christi, founded in the reign of henry viii., where bishop sewel, author of "the laws of ecclesiastical polity," and richard hooker, a protestant whom even a pope praised, were bred; on the other, oriel, where studied walter raleigh, one of england's greatest men, a poet and philosopher, soldier and statesman, mariner and historian; not guiltless, yet worthy of pity in his fall and long imprisonment, and of honour in his brave and christian death,--the victim of the ever feeble treacherous stuarts. what other line of kings has had the fate to sign away the lives of two such men as raleigh and strafford? oriel also claims as students prynne, who, with his libels and his ears, laid the foundation of our liberty of the press; bishop butler, whose "analogy" showed how logic and philosophy could be applied to support the cause of christian truth; dr. arnold, the reformer of our modern school system, whom oxford persecuted during life and honoured in death; and lastly, the clever crotchety archbishop whateley, who has not only proved that napoleon bonaparte never existed, but that mr. gibbon wakefield's bankrupt schemes of colonization were triumphant successes. next we come to merton, the most ancient of all the colleges, founded th january . the oldest of its buildings now standing is the library, the oldest in england, erected . wickliff was a student of merton. university college, which next falls in our way, claims to date from king alfred, but has no charters so ancient as those of merton. the buildings are not more early than charles i., but the chapel contains some of grinling gibbons's best carvings, and a monument by flaxman of sir william jones, who was a fellow of this university. the modern part, fronting high-street, is from the designs of barry, the architect of the palace of westminster. university college has one of the old customs, of which several are retained in oxford, called "chopping at the tree." on easter sunday a bough is dressed up with flowers and evergreens, and laid on a turf by the buttery. after dinner each member, as he leaves the hall, takes up a cleaver and chops at the tree, and then hands over "largess" to the cook, who stands by with a plate. the contribution is, for the master half a guinea, the fellows five shillings, and other members half a crown each. in like manner, at queen's college, which stands opposite university, on christmas day a boar's head is brought into the hall in procession, while the old carol is sung-- the boar's head in hand bear i bedecked with bays and rosemary, and i pray you, my masters, be merry. qui estis in convivio, caput apri defero, reddens laudes domino. while on new year's day the bursar presents to every member a needle and thread with the words, "take this and be thrifty." we have not been able to obtain a statistical return of the standing of the queen's men in the books of the tradesmen of oxford as compared with members of other colleges, but we recommend the question to mr. newdegate or some other oxonian figure monger. this college was founded by philippa, queen of edward iii. it was directed by the statutes that there should be twelve fellows and seventy poor scholars, who were to be summoned to dinner by the sound of a trumpet; when the fellows, clothed in scarlet robes, were to sit and eat, while the poor scholars, kneeling in token of humility, were to dispute in philosophy. the kneeling, disputing, and scarlet robes have been discontinued, but the trumpet still sounds to dinner. there are usually about members on the books of this college. lower down the high-street is all-souls, whose two towers are picturesque centres of most views of oxford. the buildings are various in character and merit, and well worth examination. the grand court was designed by hawksmoor rather on the principles of a painter than an architect; he wished it to make a good picture with the existing buildings, and he succeeded. all-souls is composed entirely of fellows, who elect from other colleges gentlemen whose qualification consists in being "bene nati, bene vestiti, et moderater docti in arte musica." with so easy a qualification as that of being well born, well dressed, and able to sing the old hundredth psalm, old king cole, or kilruddery, it may be imagined that all-souls has never done anything to disturb the minds of kings, cabinets, or reviewers, or even of the musical critics. pleasant gentlemanly fellows, when they do get into parliament it is usually as the advocates of deceased opinions. had joanna southcote been genteel, the fellows of all-souls and some other colleges would have continued joanna southcotians fifty years after her decease. all-souls, too, has its legend and its commemorative ceremony. the diggers of the foundations found in an old drain a monstrous mallard, a sort of alderman among wild ducks, thriving and growing fat amid filth. on being cooked he was found first-rate, and, in memory of this treasure-trove and of the foundation-day, annually on the th january the best mallard that can be found is brought in in state, all the mallardians chanting-- o the swapping swapping mallard, etc. from queen's we proceed to new college, built in the palmiest days of gothic architecture by william of wykeham, also architect of windsor castle and of winchester cathedral, of which he was bishop, as well as chancellor of england under edward iii. he was indeed a learned, pious, earnest man. "a worker-out of the glorious dreams he dreamed." according to his plan, a certain number of poor boys, of origin as humble as his own, were to receive a training in the best learning of the age; from these, the ablest were to be selected annually and sent to new college, with the enjoyment of such an income as would support them while studying philosophy and theology. at present, after a year's probation, youths at eighteen or nineteen become actual fellows, in enjoyment of an income varying from to pounds per annum, until such time as they marry or are provided with a college living. "wykeham laid the first stone of his new college on the th march . being finished, the first warden and fellows took possession of it april , , at three o'clock in the morning." the original buildings consist of the principal quadrangle, containing the hall, chapel, and library, the cloisters, and the tower. additions, quite out of keeping with the rich simplicity of the original design, were made by sir christopher wren. the chapel, first shorn of its ancient splendour by puritan zeal, and since restored in mistaken taste, is still one of the most beautiful edifices of the kind in england,--perhaps in europe. weeks of study will not satisfy or exhaust the true student of gothic architecture here. we trust that, sooner or later, some of the funds now spent on guttling and guzzling will be devoted to substituting facsimiles of ancient coloured glass for the painted mistakes of sir joshua reynolds, and restoring the ancient glories of gilt and colour to the carved work. if possible, the stranger should attend the service, when he will hear grand singing and accompanied by a magnificent organ. the silver gilt crozier of wykeham, formerly studded with rich gems, is one of the few relics of value preserved by new college. charles i. received the greater part of a rich collection of plate as a contribution to his military chest in the great civil war. this crozier interests, for, gazing on it, we are carried back five centuries, when it was not a bauble made in birmingham, but a symbol of actual power and superior intelligence. the sceptre of a prince of a church which then absorbed almost all the intellect and all the learning of the age. the garden with its archery-ground, and the "slipe," with its stables and kennels, complete what was meant to be a temple of sacred learning and active piety, but which has become a very castle of indolence, a sort of happy valley, for single men. winchester school still retains its ancient character for scholarship. (it is said to be almost impossible to "pluck" a wykehamist); but the foundation has been grossly abused, the elected being not poor boys but the sons of wealthy clergymen and gentlemen, as indeed they had need be, for, by another abuse, the parents of boys on the foundation have to pay about pounds a-year for their board. but, when a boy, distinguished for diligence and ability among his fellows, has been, at eighteen or nineteen years, elected to a fellowship of new college, his work for life is done,--no more need for exertion,--every incentive to epicurean rest. fine rooms, a fine garden, a dinner daily the best in oxford, served in a style of profusion and elegance that leaves nothing to be desired, wine the choicest, new college ale most famous, a retiring-room, where, in obsequious dignity, a butler waits on his commands, with fresh bottles of the strong new college port, or ready to compound a variety of delicious drinks, amid which the new college cyder cup and mint julep can be specially recommended. newspapers, magazines, and novels, on the tables of both the junior and senior common rooms, and a stable for his horse and a kennel for his dog, form part of this grand club of learned ignorance. and so, in idle uselessness, he spends life, unless by good fortune he falls in love and marries; even then, we pity his wife and his cook for the first twelve months,--or, by reaction, flies into asceticism and becomes a father of st. philip neri or a follower of saint pusseycat. but, after all this virtuous remonstrance on the misdirection of william of wykeham's noble endowment, we must own that, of our oxford acquaintance, none are more agreeable than those new college fellows of the old school, "who wore shocking bad hats and asked you to dinner." much better than the cold- blooded "monks without mass" who are fast superseding them, just as idle and more ill-natured. from new college we will go on to magdalen, the finest--the wealthiest of all: it cannot be described, it must be seen; with its buildings occupying eleven acres and pleasure-grounds a hundred acres, its tower whereon every may morning at daybreak a mass used to be and a carol is still sung, and its deer-park. here we may say, as of new college, is too much luxury for learning. the sons of dukes have become mathematicians; we have known an attorney's clerk, the son of a low publican, become an accomplished linguist in his leisure hours,--but such men are mental miracles, almost monsters: a fellow of magdalen or new college who works as hard as other men deserves to be canonized. we have not space to say anything of the other colleges. st. john's is noted for its gardens, pembroke because samuel johnson lodged there for as long a space as his poverty would permit. the colleges visited, we proceed to "the schools," which contain the bodleian library, founded by sir thomas bodley in , and by bequests, gifts from private individuals, by the expenditure of a sum for the last seventy years out of the university chest, and the privilege of a copy of every new british publication, has become one of the finest collections in europe; especially rich in oriental literature. the books are freely open to the use of all literary men properly introduced, and the public are permitted to view the rooms three times a week. the picture gallery contains a collection of portraits of illustrious individuals connected with the university, by holbein, vandyke, kneller, reynolds, wilkie, and others. among these are henry viii., the earl of surrey, and sir thomas more, by holbein. among the sculptures are a bust of the duke of wellington by chantrey, and a brass statue of the earl of pembroke, chancellor of the university from to , which is said to have been executed from a design by rubens. there is also a chair made from timber of the ship in which drake sailed round the world, and the lantern of guy fawkes. on the ground floor are the arundel marbles, brought from smyrna in the seventeenth century by the earl of that name. the theatre, close at hand, built by sir christopher wren, will contain three thousand persons, and should be seen to be appreciated when crowded by the elite of the university and of england, on the occasion of some of the great oxford festivals, when the rich costumes of the university, scarlet, purple, and gold, are set off by the addition of england's beauty not unadorned; as, for instance, on the last visit of the queen and prince albert. the clarendon press, built from designs of vanbrugh out of the profits of the university (garbled) edition of "clarendon's history of the great rebellion," and the ashmolean museum, where may be seen the head of the dodo, that extinct and deeply to be regretted bird, are close at hand, as also the radcliffe library, from the dome of which an excellent view of the city may be obtained. the university galleries, which present an imposing front to st. giles- street, contain, beside antique sculpture, the original models of all chantrey's busts, and a collection of original drawings of michael angelo and raffaelle, made by sir thomas lawrence, and purchased after his death by the university, the present earl of eldon contributing two-thirds of the purchase-money. constitution and costume of the university of oxford. the university is a corporate body, under the style of "the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the university of oxford." it includes nineteen colleges and five halls, each of which is a corporate body, governed by its own head and statutes respectively. the business of the university, as such, is carried on in the two houses of convocation and of congregation; the first being the house of lords, and the other, which includes all of and above the rank of masters of arts, the house of commons. the chancellor--elected by convocation, for life--never, according to etiquette, sets his foot in the university, excepting on occasions of his installation, or when accompanying royal visitors. he nominates as his representative a vice chancellor from the heads of colleges, annually, in turn, each of whom holds his office for four years. the vice chancellor is the individual who may occasionally be seen walking about in state, preceded by a number of beadles carrying maces, or, as they are profanely called, "pokers." the two proctors are next in authority to the vice chancellor. their costume is a full dress gown, with velvet sleeves, and band-encircled neck. they are assisted by two deputies, or pro-proctors, who have a strip of velvet on each side of the gown front, and wear bands. the proctors have certain legislative powers; but are most conspicuous as a detective police force, supported by "bulldogs," i.e., constables. a proctor is regarded by an undergraduate, especially by a fast man, with the same affection that a costermonger looks on a policeman. in the evenings, it is their duty to prowl round, and search, if necessary, any house within three miles, for so far does their authority extend. the dread of the proctor compels tandem drivers to send their leaders a distance out of town; and many an excited youth, on the day of a neighbouring steeplechase, is stopped, when driving out of the city, with--"your name, sir, and of what college?" "lord r. christchurch." "go back to your rooms, my lord, and call on me in an hour at worcester." the members of the university are divided into those who are on the foundation and those who are not. those on the foundation are the dean, president, master, warden, according to the charter of the college; the fellows, scholars, called demies at magdalene, and post-masters at merton; chaplains, bible-clerks, servitors, at christchurch and jesus. the qualifications for these advantages vary; but leading colleges--oriel and balliol--have set an example likely to be followed of throwing fellowships and scholarships open to the competition of the whole university, so that the best man may win. the disadvantage of the system lies in the fact, that having won, the incentives are all in the direction of idleness. the degree was formerly obtained by passing first through a preliminary examination termed a "little go," and afterwards through the "great go." the latter, successfully performed, entitles, at choice, to the title of b.a. (bachelor of arts), or s.c.l. (student of civil law). with time and money, the degrees of m.a. or b.c.l., and eventually d.c.l., may be obtained, without farther examination. but very recently an intermediate examination has been imposed. a candidate for a degree in music has only to perform an exercise previously approved by the professor of music in the music schools. doctors of divinity and masters of arts wear a stuff gown, with two long sleeves, terminating in a semicircle. the full dress of doctors of divinity is scarlet, with sleeves of black velvet--pink silk for doctors of law and medicine. bachelors wear a black stuff gown, with long sleeves tapering to a point, and buttoned at the elbow; noblemen undergraduates a black silk gown, with full sleeves, "couped" at the elbows, and a velvet cap with gold tassel; scholars the same shaped gown, of a common stuff, with ordinary cloth cap; gentlemen commoners a silk gown with plaited sleeves, and velvet cap; if commoners, a plain black gown without sleeves, which is so hideous that they generally carry it on their arm. the expense of maintaining a son at the university may be fixed at from pounds, as a minimum, to pounds a-year; the latter being the utmost needful. but a fool may spend any amount, and get nothing for it. the fashion of drinking has gone out to a great extent; and the present race of undergraduates are not more random and extravagant than any set of young men of the same age and number would be if thrown together for two or three years. at the same time, it is not the place to which a father to whom economy is an object should send a son, least of all one previously educated on the milk and water stay-at-home principle. as a general rule, it is not among the nobility, and sons of the wealthy gentry, that much excess is found to prevail; but among those who at the university find themselves for the first time without control, with money and with credit at command. in a summer or autumnal visit, christchurch meadow, and some of the many beautiful walks round oxford, should be sought out and visited alone; on such occasions, on no account be tormented with one of the abominable parrot-like guides. these horrid fellows consider it their duty to chatter. we have often thought that a dumb guide, with a book for answering questions, would make a great success. in winter, when the flooded meadows are frozen over, those who love to see an army of first-class skaters will find an oxford day ticket well worth the money--youth, health, strength, grace, and manly beauty, in hundreds, cutting round and round, with less of drawback from the admixture of a squalid mob than in any other locality. and then again in the hunting season, take the ugliest road out of oxford, by the seven bridges, because there you may see farthest along the straight highway from the crown of the bridges, and number the ingenuous youth as on hunters they pace, or in hack or in dogcart or tandem they dash along to the "meet." arrived there, if the fox does get away--if no ambitious youngster heads him back--if no steeplechasing lot ride over the scent and before the hounds, to the destruction of sport and the master's temper--why then you will see a fiery charge at fences that will do your heart good. there is not such raw material for cavalry in any other city in europe, and there is no part of our social life so entirely novel, and so well worth exhibiting to a foreigner, as a "meet" near oxford, where in scarlet and in black, in hats and in velvet caps, in top-boots and black-jacks, on twenty pound hacks and two hundred guinea hunters, finest specimens of young england are to be seen. on returning, if the sport has been good, you may venture to open a chat with a well-splashed fellow traveller on a beaten horse, but in going not--for an oxford man in his normal state never speaks unless he has been introduced. the only local manufactures of oxford, except gentlemen, are boots, leather- breeches, and boats; these last in great perfection. the regattas and rowing-matches on the isis are very exciting affairs. from the narrowness of the stream, they are rather chases than races; the winners cannot pass, but must pursue and bump their competitors. the many silent, solitary wherries, urged by vigorous skilful arms, give, on a summer evening, a pleasing life to river-side walks, although that graceful flower, the pretty pink bonnet and parasol, peculiar to the waters of richmond and hampton, is not often found growing in the oxford wherry. comedies, in the shape of slanging matches with the barges, are less frequent than formerly, and melodramatic fistic combats still less frequent. but old boatmen still love to relate to their peaceable and admiring pupils how that pocket hercules, the honourable s--- c---, now a pious clergyman, had a single combat with a saucy six foot bargee, "all alone by they two selves," bunged up both his eyes, and left him all but dead to time, ignorant then, and for months after, of the name of his victor. oxford sometimes contends with cambridge on neutral waters in an eight-oared cutter match, but is generally defeated, for a very characteristic reason--cambridge picks a crew of the best men from the whole university; oxford, more exclusive, gives a preference to certain colleges over men. christchurch, magdalene, and a few others, will take the lead in all arrangements, and will not, if they can help it, admit oarsmen from the unfashionable colleges of jesus, lincoln, or worcester! it is worth knowing that in the long vacation, commencing on july , there is no place like oxford for purchasing good dogs and useful horses. oxford hacks have long been famous, and not without reason. nothing slow would be of any use, whether for saddle or harness; and although the proportion of high-priced sound unblemished animals may be small, the number of quick runners is large. there is an establishment in holywell street which is quite one of the oxford sights. there, early in winter mornings, more than a hundred stalls are to be found, full of blood cattle, in tip-top condition, and on summer afternoons no barracks of a cavalry regiment changing quarters are more busy. we must not leave oxford without visiting blenheim, the monument of one of our greatest captains and statesmen, with whom, perhaps, in genius and fortune, none can rank except clive and wellington. blenheim should be seen when the leaves are on the trees. the house is only open between eleven o'clock and one. the better plan is to hire a conveyance, of which there are plenty and excellent to be had in the city, at reasonable charges. when we remember this splendid pile--voted by acclamation, but paid for by grudging and insufficient instalments by the english parliament--was finished under the superintendence of that beautiful fiery termagant, sarah duchess of marlborough, who was at once the plague and the delight of the great duke's life, every stone and every tree must be viewed with interest. we should advise you, before passing a day at blenheim, to refresh your memory with the correspondence of the age of queen anne and her successors, including swift, bolingbroke, pope, and walpole; not forgetting the letters of duchess sarah herself, and disraeli's "curiosities of literature," for the history of the building of blenheim, and how the duchess worried the unfortunate architect, vanbrugh. blenheim contains a large number of first class paintings, including an altar-piece by raffaelle, several good titians, a very fine collection of rubens, choice specimens of vandyke and sir joshua reynolds. after returning to bletchley our next halt is at wolverton station. wolverton station. wolverton, the first specimen of a railway town built on a plan to order, is the central manufacturing and repairing shop for the locomotives north of birmingham. the population entirely consists of men employed in the company's service, as mechanics, guards, enginemen, stokers, porters, labourers, their wives and children, their superintendents, a clergyman, schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, the ladies engaged on the refreshment establishment, and the tradesmen attracted to wolverton by the demand of the population. this railway colony is well worth the attention of those who devote themselves to an investigation of the social condition of the labouring classes. we have here a body of mechanics of intelligence above average, regularly employed for ten and a-half hours during five days, and for eight hours during the sixth day of the week, well paid, well housed, with schools for their children, a reading-room and mechanics' institution at their disposal, gardens for their leisure hours, and a church and clergyman exclusively devoted to them. when work is ended, wolverton is a pure republic--equality reigns. there are no rich men or men of station: all are gentlemen. in theory it is the paradise of louis blanc, only that, instead of the state, it is a company which pays and employs the army of workmen. it is true, that during work hours a despotism rules, but it is a mild rule, tempered by customs and privileges. and what are the results of this colony, in which there are none idle, none poor, and few uneducated? why, in many respects gratifying, in some respects disappointing. the practical reformer will learn more than one useful lesson from a patient investigation of the social state of this great village. [the wolverton viaduct: ill .jpg] those who have not been in the habit of mixing with the superior class of english skilled mechanics will be agreeably surprised by the intelligence, information, and educational acquirements of a great number of the workmen here. they will find men labouring for daily wages capable of taking a creditable part in political, literary, and scientific discussion; but at the same time the followers of george sand, and french preachers of proletarian perfection will not find their notions of the ennobling effects of manual labour realised. there are exceptions, but as a general rule, after a hard day's work, a man is not inclined for study of any kind, least of all for the investigation of abstract sciences; and thus it is that at wolverton library, novels are much more in demand than scientific treatises. in summer, when walks in the fields are pleasant, and men can work in their gardens, the demand for books of any kind falls off. turning from the library to the mechanics' institution, pure science is not found to have many charms for the mechanics of wolverton. geological and astronomical lectures are ill attended, while musical entertainments, dissolving views, and dramatic recitations are popular. it must be confessed that dulness and monotony exercise a very unfavourable influence on this comfortable colony. the people, not being quakers, are not content without amusement. they receive their appointed wages regularly, so that they have not even the amusement of making and losing money. it would be an excellent thing for the world if the kind, charitable, cold-blooded people of middle age, or with middle-aged heads and hearts, who think that a population may be ruled into an every-day life of alternate work, study, and constitutional walks, without anything warmer than a weak simper from year's end to year's end, would consult the residents of wolverton and crewe before planning their next parallelogram. we commend to amateur actors, who often need an audience, the idea of an occasional trip to wolverton. the audience would be found indulgent of very indifferent performances. but to turn from generalities to the specialities for which wolverton is distinguished, we will walk round the workshops by which a rural parish has been colonised and reduced to a town shape. * * * * * wolverton workshops.--to attempt a description of the workshops of wolverton without the aid of diagrams and woodcuts would be a very unsatisfactory task. it is enough to say that they should be visited not only by those who are specially interested in machinery, but by all who would know what mechanical genius, stimulated as it has been to the utmost during the last half century, by the execution of profitable inventions, has been able to effect. at wolverton may be seen collected together in companies, each under command of its captains or foremen, in separate workshops, some hundreds of the best handicraftsmen that europe can produce, all steadily at work, not without noise, yet without confusion. among them are a few men advanced in life of the old generation; there are men of middle age; young men trained with all the manual advantages of the old generation, and all the book and lecture privileges of the present time; and then there are the rising generation of apprentices--the sons of steam and of railroads. among all it would be difficult to find a bad-shaped head, or a stupid face--as for a drunkard not one. it was once remarked to us by a gentleman at the head of a great establishment of this kind, that there was something about the labour of skilled workmen in iron that impressed itself upon their countenances, and showed itself in their characters. something of solidity, of determination, of careful forethought; and really after going over many shops of ironworkers, we are inclined to come to the same opinion. machinery, while superseding, has created manual labour. in a steam-engine factory, machinery is called upon to do what no amount of manual labour could effect. to appreciate the extraordinary amount of intellect and mental and manual dexterity daily called into exercise, it would be necessary to have the origin, progress to construction, trial, and amendment of a locomotive engine from the period that the report of the head of the locomotive department in favour of an increase of stock receives the authorization of the board of directors. but such a history would be a book itself. after passing through the drawing-office, where the rough designs of the locomotive engineer are worked out in detail by a staff of draughtsmen, and the carpenters' shop and wood-turners, where the models and cores for castings are prepared, we reach, but do not dwell on the dark lofty hall, where the castings in iron and in brass are made. the casting of a mass of metal of from five to twenty tons on a dark night is a fine sight. the tap being withdrawn the molten liquor spouts forth in an arched fiery continuous stream, casting a red glow on the half-dressed muscular figures busy around, which would afford a subject for an artist great in turner or danby-like effects. but we hasten to the steam-hammer to see scraps of tough iron, the size of a crown-piece, welded into a huge piston, or other instrument requiring the utmost strength. at wolverton the work is conducted under the supreme command of the chief hammerman, a huge-limbed, jolly, good-tempered vulcan, with half a dozen boy assistants. the steam-hammer, be it known, is the application of steam to a piston under complete regulation, so that the piston, armed with a hammer, regularly, steadily, perpendicularly descends as desired, either with the force of a hundred tons or with a gentle tap, just sufficient to drive home a tin tack and no more. at a word it stops midway in stroke, and at a word again it descends with a deadly thump. on our visit, an attempt was being made to execute in wrought, what had hitherto always been made in cast iron. success would effect a great saving in weight. the doors of the furnace were drawn back, and a white glow, unbearable as the noon-day sun, was made visible, long hooked iron poles were thrust in to fish for the prize, and presently a great round mass of metal was poked out to the door of the fiery furnace--a huge roll of glowing iron, larger than it was possible for any one or two men to lift, even had it been cold. by ingenious contrivances it was slipped out upon a small iron truck, dragged to the anvil of the steam-hammer, and under the direction of vulcan, not without his main strength, lodged upon the block. during the difficult operation of moving the white-red round ball, it was beautiful to see the rapid disciplined intelligence by which the hammerman, with word or sign, regulated the movements of his young assistants, each armed with an iron lever. at length the word was given, and thump, thump, like an earthquake the steam- hammer descended, rapidly reducing the red-hot dutch cheese shape to the flatter proportions of a mighty double gloucester, all the while the great smith was turning and twisting it about so that each part should receive its due share of hammering, and that the desired shape should be rapidly attained, sometimes with one hand, sometimes with the other, he interposed a flat poker between the red mass and the hammer, sharing a vibration that was powerful enough to dislocate the shoulder of any lesser man. "hold," he cried: the elephant-like machine stopped. he took and hauled the great ball into a new position. "go on," he shouted: the elephant machine went on, and again the red sparks flew as though a thousand homeric blacksmiths had been striking in unison, until it was time again to thrust the half-welded cheese into the fiery furnace, and again it was dragged forth, and the jolly giant bent, and tugged, and sweated, and commanded,--he did not swear over his task. at length having succeeded in making the unwieldy lump assume an approach to the desired shape, he observed, in a deep, bass, chuckling, triumphant aside, to the engineer who was looking on, "i'm not a very little one, but i think if i was as big again you'd try what i was made of." since that day we have learned that the experiment has been completely successful, with a great diminution in the weight and an increase of the strength of an important part of a locomotive. we have dwelt upon the picture because it combined mechanical with manual dexterity. a hammerman who might sit for one of homer's blacksmith heroes, and machinery which effects in a few minutes what an army of such hammermen could not do. if our painters of mythological vulcans and sprawling satyrs want to display their powers over flesh and muscle, they may find something real and not vulgar among our iron factories. after seeing the operations of forging or of casting, we may take a walk round the shops of the turners and smiths. in some, whitworth's beautiful self-acting machines are planing or polishing or boring holes, under charge of an intelligent boy; in others lathes are ranged round the walls, and a double row of vices down the centre of the long rooms. solid masses of cast or forged metal are carved by the keen powerful lathe tools like so much box- wood, and long shavings of iron and steel sweep off as easily as deal shavings from a carpenter's plane. at the long row of vices the smiths are hammering and filing away with careful dexterity. no mean amount of judgment in addition to the long training needed for acquiring manual skill, is requisite before a man can be admitted into this army of skilled mechanics; for every locomotive contains many hundred pieces, each of which must be fitted as carefully as a watch. if we fairly contemplate the result of these labours, created by the inventive genius of a line of ingenious men, headed by watt and stephenson, these workshops are a more imposing sight than the most brilliant review of disciplined troops. it is not mere strength, dexterity, and obedience, upon which the locomotive builder calculates for the success of his design, but also upon the separate and combined intelligence of his army of mechanics. considering that in annually increasing numbers, factories for the building of locomotive, of marine steam-engines, of iron ships, and of various kinds of machinery, are established in different parts of the kingdom, and that hence every year education becomes more needed, more valued, and more extended among this class of mechanics, it is impossible to doubt that the training, mental and moral, obtained in factories like those of wolverton, crewe, derby, swindon, and other railway shops, and in great private establishments like whitworth's and roberts' of manchester, maudslay and field's of london, ransome and may of ipswich, wilson of leeds, and stephenson of newcastle, must produce by imitative inoculation a powerful effect on the national character. the time has passed when the best workmen were the most notorious drunkards; in all skilled trades self-respect has made progress. a few passenger carriages are occasionally built at wolverton as experiments. one, the invention of mr. j. m'connel, the head of the locomotive department, effects several important improvements. it is a composite carriage of corrugated iron, lined with wood to prevent unpleasant vibration, on six wheels, the centre wheels following the leading wheels round curves by a very ingenious arrangement. this carriage holds sixty second-class passengers and fifteen first-class, beside a guard's brake, which will hold five more; all in one body. the saving in weight amounts to thirty-five per cent. a number of locomotives have lately been built from the designs of the same eminent engineer, to meet the demands of the passenger traffic in excursion trains for july and august, . it must be understood that although locomotives are built at wolverton, only a small proportion of the engines used on the line are built by the company, and the chief importance of the factory at wolverton is as a repairing shop, and school for engine-drivers. every engine has a number. when an engine on any part of the lines in connection with wolverton needs repair, it is forwarded with a printed form, filled up and signed by the superintendent of the station near which the engine has been working. as thus--"engine , axle of driving-wheel out of gauge, fire-box burned out," etc. this invoice or bill of particulars is copied into a sort of day-book, to be eventually transferred into the account in the ledger, in which no. has a place. the superintendent next in command under the locomotive engineer-in-chief, places the lame engine in the hands of the foreman who happens to be first disengaged. the foreman sets the workmen he can spare at the needful repairs. when completed, the foreman makes a report, which is entered in the ledger, opposite the number of the engine, stating the repairs done, the men's names who did it, and how many days, hours, and quarters of an hour each man was employed. the engine reported sound is then returned to its station, with a report of the repairs which have been effected. the whole work is completed on the principle of a series of links of responsibility. the engineer-in-chief is answerable to the directors for the efficiency of the locomotives; he examines the book, and depends on his superintendent. the superintendent depends on the foreman to whom the work was entrusted; and, should the work be slurred, must bear the shame, but can turn upon the workmen he selected for the job. in fact, the whole work of this vast establishment is carried on by dividing the workmen into small companies, under the superintendence of an officer responsible for the quantity and quality of the work of his men. the history of each engine, from the day of launching, is so kept, that, so long as it remains in use, every separate repair, with its date and the names of the men employed on it, can be traced. allowing, therefore, for the disadvantage as regards economy of a company, as compared with private individuals, the system at wolverton is as effective as anything that could well be imagined. the men employed at wolverton station in march, , numbered , of whom were overlookers, were foremen, draughtsmen, clerks, engine- drivers, firemen, and labourers; the rest were mechanics and apprentices. the weekly wages amounted to pounds s. d. of course these men have, for the most part, wives and families, and so with shopkeepers, raise the population of the railway town of wolverton to about , , inhabiting a series of uniform brick houses, in rectangular streets, about a mile distant from the ancient parish church of wolverton, and the half-dozen houses constituting the original parish. for the benefit of this population, the directors have built a church, schools for boys, for girls, and for infants, which are not the least remarkable or interesting parts of this curious town. the clergyman of the railway church, the rev. george waight, m.a., has been resident at wolverton from the commencement of the railway buildings. his difficulties are great; but he is well satisfied with his success. in railway towns there is only one class, and that so thoroughly independent, that the influence of the clergyman can only rest with his character and talents. the church is thinly attended in the morning, for hard-working men like to indulge in rest one day in the week; in the evening it is crowded, and the singing far above average. to the schools we should like to have devoted a whole chapter now, but must reserve an account of one of the most interesting results of railway enterprise. there is a literary and scientific institution, with a library attached. scientific lectures and scientific books are very little patronized at wolverton; astronomy and geology have few students; but there is a steady demand for a great number of novels, voyages, and travels; and musical entertainments are well supported. the lecture-room is extremely miserable, quite unfit for a good concert, as there is not even a retiring room, but the directors are about to build a better one, and while they are about it, they might as well build a small theatre. some such amusement is much needed; for want of relaxation in the monotony of a town composed of one class, without any public amusements, the men are driven too often to the pipe and pot, and the women to gossip. in the summer, the gardens which form a suburb are much resorted to, and the young men go to cricket and football; but still some amusements, in which all the members of every family could join, would improve the moral tone of wolverton. work, wages, churches, schools, libraries, and scientific lectures are not alone enough to satisfy a large population of any kind, certainly not a population of hard-handed workers. * * * * * wolverton embankment was one of the difficulties in railway making, which at one period interested the public; at present it is not admitted among engineers that there are any difficulties. the ground was a bog, and as fast as earth was tipped in at the top it bulged out at the bottom. when, after great labour, this difficulty had been overcome, part of the embankment, fifty feet in height, which contained alum shale, decomposed, and spontaneous combustion ensued. the amazement of the villagers was great, but finally they came to the conclusion expressed by one of them, in "dang it, they can't make this here railway arter all, and they've set it o' fire to cheat their creditors." on leaving wolverton, before arriving at roade, a second-class station, after clearing a short cutting, looking westerly, we catch a glimpse of the tower of the church of grafton, where, according to tradition, edward iv. married lady gray of groby. the last interview between henry viii. and cardinal campeggio, relative to his divorce from catherine of aragon, took place at the mansion house of this parish, which was demolished in . about this spot we enter northamptonshire, and passing roade, pause at blisworth station, where there is a neat little inn. blisworth, northampton. miles. miles. blisworth. . oundle. . northampton. . wansford. . wellingborough. stamford by coach. higham ferrers. . peterborough. thrapston. from blisworth branches out the line to peterborough, with sixteen stations, of which we name above the more important. the route presents a constant succession of beautiful and truly english rural scenery, of rich lowland pastures, watered by the winding rivers, and bounded by hills, on which, like sentinels, a row of ancient church towers stand. the first station is northampton. * * * * * northampton, on a hill on the banks of the river nene, is a remarkably pleasant town, with several fine old buildings, an ancient church, an open market square, neat clean streets, and suburbs of pretty villas, overlooking, from the hill top, fat green meadows, flooded in winter. shoemaking on a wholesale scale, is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. for strong shoes northampton can compete in any foreign market, and a good many light articles, cut after french patterns, have been successfully made since the trade was thrown open by peel's tariff. there are several factories, in which large numbers of young persons are employed, but the majority work by the piece at home for the master manufacturers. northampton is also great in the fairs and markets of a rich agricultural district, and rejoices over races twice a year, in which the facilities of the railroad have rendered some compensation to the inn-keepers for the loss of the coaching trade. northampton was originally intended to be a main station of the railway between london and birmingham. the inhabitants were silly enough to resist the bestowal of this benefit upon them, and unfortunate enough to be successful in their resistance. in after years, when experience had rendered fools wise, they were glad to obtain the present branch through to peterborough; but the injury of the ill-judged opposition can never be cured. the church of all saints, in the centre of the town, has an ancient embattled tower which escaped the great fire of . st. peter's, near the west bridge, a remarkably curious specimen of enriched norman; st. sepulchre's, a round church of the twelfth century, all deserve enumeration. there are also two hospitals, the only remains of many religious houses which existed before the reformation. st. john's consists of a chapel and a large hall, with apartments for inferior poor persons; st. thomas's is for twenty poor alms- women. no vestiges, beyond the earthworks, remain of the castle built by simon de st. liz, who was created earl of northampton by william the conqueror. northampton was a royal residence during the reigns of richard i., john, and henry iii.; a battlefield during the wars of the barons and the wars of the roses; but the ancient character of the town was almost entirely destroyed by the great fire of ,--not without benefit to the health, though at the expense of the picturesqueness of this ancient borough. northampton is important as the capital town of one of our finest grazing and hunting counties, where soil and climate are both favourable to the farmer. large numbers of the scotch, welch, and herefords sold in smithfield, are fed in the yards and finished in the pastures of northamptonshire. the present earl of spencer keeps up, on a limited scale, the herd of short- horns which were so celebrated during the lifetime of his brother, better known as lord althorpe,--at his seat of althorpe, six miles from the town, and also carries on a little fancy farming. the late earl of spencer was much more successful as a breeder than as a farmer; indeed, it may be questioned whether the prejudices of that amiable and excellent man in favour of pasture land, did not exercise an injurious influence over the proceedings of the royal agricultural association. northampton returns two members to parliament, and has a mayor and corporation. the railway route from northampton to peterborough presents a series of pleasant views on either side,--so pleasant that he who has leisure should walk, or ride on horseback, along the line of saxon villages, visit the series of curious churches at wellingborough, higham ferrers, with its collegiate church and almshouse, thrapston and oundle, and other stations. within two miles of thrapston is drayton house, lowick, the seat of the sackville family, which retains many of the features of an ancient castle, and has a gallery of paintings by the old masters. the church of lowick contains several monuments, brasses, and windows of stained glass. near oundle is to be found the earthwork of fotheringay castle, where mary queen of scots was confined, tried, and executed. the castle itself was levelled to the ground by order of her son, james i. on leaving oundle we pass a station appurtenant to wansford in england, of which we shall say a word presently. here we may take coach across to stamford in lincolnshire (see stamford), unless we prefer the rail from peterborough. there is a point somewhere hereabouts where the three counties of northampton, lincoln, and huntingdon all meet. * * * * * wansford in england.--if about to investigate the antiquities of stamford or peterborough, the traveller will do well to stop at wansford for the sake of one of the best inns in europe, well known under the sign of "the haycock at wansford in england." this sign represents a man stretched floating on a haycock, apparently in conversation with parties on a bridge. it is intended to illustrate the legend of drunken barnaby, who, travelling during the time of the plague from london northward, tasting and criticising the ale on the road, drank so much of the northamptonshire brewst that he fell asleep on a haycock, in one of the flat meadows. in the night time, as is often the case in this part of the country, a sudden flood arose, and our toper awaked to find himself floating on a great tide of water, which at length brought him to a bridge, upon which, hailing the passengers, he asked, "where am i?" in full expectation of having floated to france or spain; whereupon they answered, "at wansford." "what!" he exclaimed in ecstacy, "wansford in england!" and landing, drank the ale and gave a new name to the inn of this village between three counties. the inn (which belongs to the duke of bedford) affords a sort of accommodation which the rapid travelling and short halts of railways have almost abolished. but an easy rent, a large farm, and a trade in selling and hiring hunters, enables the landlord to provide as comfortably for his guests, as when, in old posting days, five dukes made the haycock their night halt at one time. on entering the well carpeted coffee- room, with its ample screen, blazing fire, and plentiful allowance of easy chairs, while a well appointed tempting dinner is rapidly and silently laid on the spotless table-cloth,--the tired sportsman or traveller will be inclined to fancy that he is visitor to some wealthy squire rather than the guest of an innkeeper. when we add that the bed-rooms match the sitting- rooms, that the charges are moderate, that the pytchley, earl fitzwilliam's, and the duke of rutland's hounds (the beevor), meet within an easy distance; that the county abounds in antiquities, show-houses like burleigh, that pleasant woodland rides are within a circle of ten miles, that good pike- fishing is to be had nearly all the year round, while in retirement wansford is complete; we have said enough to show that it is well worth the notice of a large class of travellers,--from young couples on their first day's journey, to old gentlemen travelling north and needing quiet and a bottle of old port. the last station, peterborough, presents an instance of a city without population, without manufactures, without trade, without a good inn, or even a copy of the times, except at the railway station; a city which would have gone on slumbering to the present hour without a go-a-head principle of any kind, and which has nevertheless, by the accident of situation, had railway greatness thrust upon it in a most extraordinary manner. * * * * * peterborough is one of the centres from which radiate three lines to london, viz., by the northampton route, on which we have travelled; by the direct line, through herts, of the great northern; and by the eastern counties, with all its norfolk communications. from peterborough also proceeds an arm of the midland counties, through stamford, oldham, and melton mowbray, and the best leicestershire grass country, to leicester or to nottingham,--while the great northern, dividing, embraces the whole of lincolnshire and makes way to hull, by the humber ferries, on the one hand, and to york on the other. there is, therefore, the best of consolation on being landed in this dull inhospitable city, that it is the easiest possible thing to leave it. peterborough dates from the revival of christianity among the saxons; destroyed by the danes a.d. , rebuilt by edgar in , it was attacked and plundered by saxon insurgents from the fens under hereward the wake, in the time of william the conqueror. at the dissolution of religious houses under henry viii., peterborough was one of the most magnificent abbeys, and, having been selected as the seat of one of the new bishoprics, the buildings were preserved entire. in the civil wars, the lady chapel and several conventual buildings were pulled down and the materials sold. at present the cathedral is a regular cruciform structure of norman character, remarkable for the solidity of its construction. it was commenced , by john de saiz, a norman. the chancel was finished, a.d. , by abbot martin de vecti. the great transept and a portion of the central tower were built by abbot william de vaudeville, a.d. to , and the nave by abbot benedict - . the fitting up of the choir is of woodwork richly carved. the greater number of the monuments, shrines, and chantry chapels, were destroyed by the parliamentary troops. two queens lie buried here, catherine of aragon and mary of scotland, without elegy or epitaph, monument or tombstone. the cathedral viewed, nothing remains to detain the traveller in this peculiarly stupid city. within a pleasant ride of five miles lies milton house, the seat of earl fitzwilliam. * * * * * stamford.--although stamford is not upon this line of railway, travellers passing near should not fail to visit so ancient and interesting a town. few english boroughs can trace back more distinctly their antiquity. six churches still remain of the fifteen which, beside many conventual buildings, formerly adorned it. for stamford was one of the towns which, had not the reformation intervened, would have been swallowed up by the ever hungry ecclesiastical maw. stamford awakens many historic recollections. it has a place in domesday book, being there styled stanford: king stephen had an interview there with ranulph, earl of chester. in , the jews of stamford were plundered and slain by the recruits proceeding to the crusades; and, ten years afterwards, when edward i. expelled the jews from england, "their synagogue and noble library at stamford were profaned and sold." many of the books were purchased by gregory of huntingdon, a monk of ramsey abbey, a diligent student of ancient languages; and thus the result of much learning, collected in spain and italy, and handed down from the times when the jews and arabs almost alone cultivated literature as well as commerce, was sown in england, the last of european kingdoms to become distinguished in letters. stamford was the refuge of oxford students on the occasion of disturbances in . it was taken by the lancastrian army of the north under queen margaret in , and given up to plunder; and, in , when thirty thousand lincolnshire men marched, under the command of sir robert wells, against edward iv., under the walls of stamford they were defeated, and, flying, left their coats behind. but the latest battles of stamford have been between whig and tory, and even these have ceased. the houses and public buildings are all built of a rich cream-coloured stone, which gives an air of cleanliness and even distinction, which is an immense advantage. there are two fine hotels. the borough returns two members, both nominated by the marquis of exeter, who owns a large proportion of the vote- giving houses. the bull-running has been abolished here, as also at tutbury, in staffordshire; but those who are curious to see the ceremony may have occasional opportunities in the neighbourhood of smithfield market, where it is performed under the especial patronage of the aldermen of the city of london. weedon. the next station after blisworth is weedon, properly, weedon bec, so called because formerly there was established here a religious house, or cell, to the abbey of bec in normandy. the church, a very ancient building, contains portions of norman, and various styles of english, architecture. [bridge in the blisworth embankment: ill .jpg] the importance of weedon rests in its being the site of a strongly fortified central depot for artillery, small arms, and ammunition, with extensive barracks, well worth seeing, but not to be seen without an order from the board of ordnance. in passing, a few mild soldiers may be seen fishing for roach in the canal, and a few active ones playing cricket in summer. the weedon system of fortification eschews lofty towers and threatening battlemented walls, and all that constitutes the picturesque; so that weedon barracks look scarcely more warlike than a royal rope manufactory. after weedon we pass through kilsby tunnel, , yards long, which was once one of the wonders of the world; but has been, by the progress of railway works, reduced to the level of any other long dark hole. [view from the top of kilsby tunnel: ill .jpg] rugby and its railways. rugby, miles from london, the centre of a vast network of railways, is our next halting place. that is to say, first, an arm of the midland to leicester, to burton, to derby, to nottingham, and through melton mowbray to stamford and peterborough; thus intersecting a great agricultural and a great manufacturing district. second, the trent valley line, through atherstone, tamworth and lichfield, to stafford, and by cutting off the birmingham curve, forming part of the direct line to manchester. third, a line to leamington, which may be reached from this point in three- quarters of an hour; and fourth, a direct line to stamford, by way of market harborough; which, with the leamington line, affords the most direct conveyance from norfolk, and lincolnshire, through peterborough to birmingham, gloucester, and all that midland district. the oxford and rugby line, which was one of the subjects of the celebrated battles of the gauges, has not been constructed; and it may be doubted whether it ever will. the town lies about a mile from the station on the banks of the avon, and owes all its importance to laurence sheriff, a london shopkeeper in the time of queen elizabeth, who, in , endowed a school in his native village with eight acres of land, situated where lamb's conduit-street, in london, now stands, whence at present upwards of pounds a year is derived. rugby was long considered the most snobbish of english public schools, a sad character in a country where style and name go so far. some twenty years ago, when the rugbaeans had the "presumption" to challenge the wykehamists to play at football, the latter proudly answered, that the rugbaeans might put on worsted stockings and clouted soles, and the wykehamists in silk stockings and pumps would meet them in any lane in england. but, since that time, the harrow gentlemen, the eton fops, the winchester scholars, and the westminster blackguards, have had reason to admit that arnold, a wykehamist, long considered by the fellows of that venerable institution an unworthy son, succeeded in making rugby the great nursery of sound scholars and christian gentlemen, and in revolutionizing and reforming the educational system of all our public schools. the following, by one of arnold's pupils, himself an eminent example of cultivated intellect and varied information, combined with great energy in the practical affairs of life and active untiring benevolence, is a sketch of "arnold and his school." in the year , the head mastership became vacant of the grammar school at rugby, and the trustees, a body of twelve country gentlemen and noblemen, selected, to the dismay of all the orthodox, the rev. thomas arnold, late fellow of oriel college, oxford, and then taking private pupils at laleham, middlesex. transplanted from oriel, the hotbed of strange and unsound opinions, out of which the conflicting views of whateley, hampden, keble, and newman, were struggling into day; himself a disciple of the suspected school of german criticism; known to entertain views at variance with the majority of his church brethren on all the semipolitical questions of the day; an advocate for the admission of roman catholics to parliament, for the reform of the liturgy and enlargement of the church, so as to embrace dissenters; the distrust with which he was regarded by all who did not know him may be imagined. it was a critical time, the year ; the mind of the country was then undergoing that process of change which shortly afterwards showed itself in the emancipation of the roman catholics, the passing of the reform bill, the foundation of the london university, and the publications of the useful knowledge society. old opinions were on all sides the objects of attack. at such a period, public schools, with their exclusively classical teaching and their "fagging" systems, were naturally regarded as institutions of the past not adapted to the present. it seemed probable that a remodelling, or, according to the phrase of the day, a "reform" of them, would be attempted by the new intellectual school of which lord brougham was regarded as the type. it was the views of this party which, it was anticipated, dr. arnold would hasten to introduce into rugby. we now know that he did not do this, although he did reform not only the school of rugby, but gave a bias to the education of the sons of what is still the most influential class in this country, which has lasted to the present day, and that in a direction and in a manner which surprised his opponents, and at one time provoked even his friends. it may not be uninteresting to such of our readers as love to trace the origin of those changes of opinion, which are at times seen to diffuse themselves over portions of society from an unseen source, to learn how this original man commenced his task of training the minds committed to him in those peculiar tendencies, both as to feeling and thinking, which enter appreciably into the tone of the upper classes of the present generation. dr. arnold, from the day on which he first took charge of the school, adopted the course which he ever after adhered to, of treating the boys like gentlemen and reasonable beings. thus, on receiving from an offender an answer to any question he would say, "if you say so, of course i believe you," and on this he would act. the effect of this was immediate and remarkable; the better feeling of the school was at once touched; boys declared, "it is a shame to tell arnold a lie, because he always believes you;" and thus, at one bold step, the axe was put to the root of the inveterate practice of lying to the master, one of the curses of schools. in pursuance of the same views, when reprimanding a boy, he generally took him apart and spoke to him in such a manner as to make him feel that his master was grieved and troubled at his wrong-doing; a quakerlike simplicity of mien and language, a sternness of manner not unmixed with tenderness, and a total absence of all "don-ish" airs, combined to produce this effect. nor were his personal habits without their effect. the boys saw in him no outward appearance of a solemn pedagogue or dignified ecclesiastic whom it was a temptation to dupe, or into whose ample wig javelins of paper might with impunity be darted; but a spare active determined man, six feet high, in duck trousers, a narrow-brimmed hat, a black sailor's handkerchief knotted round his neck, a heavy walking-stick in his hand,--a strong swimmer, a noted runner; the first of all the masters in the school-room on the winter mornings, teaching the lowest class when it was his turn with the same energy which he would have thrown into a lecture to a critical audience, listening with interest to an intelligent answer from the smallest boy, and speaking to them more like an elder brother than the head master. { } they soon perceived that they had to deal with a man thoroughly in earnest, acute, active, and not easily deceived; that he was not only a scholar but a gentleman, who expected them to behave as the sons of gentlemen themselves. their attention was awakened, and, although their fears were somewhat excited, their sympathies and interest were at the same time aroused. this was a good commencement; but arnold was ready with other means no less effectual for engaging their thoughts. he opened out to them at once "fresh fields and pastures new," in the domain of knowledge; he established periodical examinations, at which (if a tolerable proficiency in the regular studies was displayed) a boy might offer to be examined in books on any subject he might prefer, and prizes were awarded accordingly. the offer was eagerly seized; modern history, biography, travels, fiction, poetry, were sought after; the habit of general reading was created, and a new intellectual activity pervaded the school. the writer well remembers the effect produced on him when he heard that arnold had lent one of the boys humphrey clinker, to illustrate a passage in his theme. he felt from that time forth that the keys of knowledge were confided to him, and, in proof of this, his own little library, and those in the "studies" of many of his neighbours, shortly doubled their numbers. french, german, and mathematics, were encouraged by forming distinct classes on these subjects, and by conferring for high standing in them some of the privileges as to exemption from fagging, which previously had only attached to a similar standing in classics. modern history was also introduced as a recognised branch of school study. the advantage of this was, that many of the boys, who, from deficient early training or peculiar turn of mind, were unable to bring themselves to proficiency in the regular latin and greek course of the school, and consequently were idle and listless, found other and more congenial paths in which intelligence and application would still meet with their reward. by these simple means, now generally adopted in classical schools, but up to that time supposed to be incompatible with high accomplishments in classical learning, the standard of intelligence and information was incalculably raised, and the school, as a place of education in its wider sense, became infinitely more efficient. we should have stated that dr. arnold's skill as a teacher was unrivalled; he imparted a living interest to all he touched, to be attributed mainly to his habit of illustrating ancient events by "modern instances." thus, thucydides and napier were compared almost page by page; thus the "high church party" of the jews was pointed to as a type of "the tories." by means of his favourite topic, physical geography, he sought to bring the actual theatre of events before his pupils. thus he would describe (when living at laleham), the vatican and janiculum hills of rome, as being "like the hills on the right bank of the thames behind chertsey;" the monte marie as being "about the height and steepness of cooper's hill," and "having the tiber at the foot of it like the thames at anchorwick." to philology even, the deadly science of dead languages, and the great business of public schools, he contrived to impart life by continually pointing out its bearing on the history of the races of mankind. the interest thus given to study was something before unknown in schools. so far we have confined ourselves to the effect of arnold's system on the mind, but the source of his most anxious thoughts and constant solicitude lay deeper than this; it related to the spiritual condition, or, according to the german phrase, "the inner life," of the boys. with his usual indifference to personal labour he assumed the preachership of the chapel, declining however, also, with characteristic disinterestedness, the salary attached, hitherto given to increase the stipend of a junior master, and his famous "quarter of an hour" sermons, into which he threw all the power of his character and his intellect, no doubt gave him an opportunity of confirming, on certain minds, that influence which was primarily due to his earnest acts of heart and head. we here approach a portion of his career on which difference of opinion must always exist. impressed with an abiding conviction that all earthly things were subordinate to the relation between man and his maker; keenly appreciating all that was "of good report," and impatient of evil, or what seemed to him to be of evil tendency, even to intolerance, it must be admitted that in arnold there was something of the zealot. with his acute sense of responsibility as to the spiritual state of the boys, it was natural that he should seek to impress those with whom he was brought in contact, and he did so. the personal notice he bestowed on boys of serious tendencies, asking them to his house and conversing with them on solemn subjects had this effect, and soon engendered "a sect" in the school. now, the boys who were thus susceptible and formed this sect, were generally of the milder order of character, and not of that precocious virility which always gives influence in a great school; hence arose among the natural leaders of the school, the strong in character and the stout in heart and hand, a reaction against arnold and against arnold's views, as being opposed to the traditional notions of the school. this reaction was strengthened by the peculiar nature of some of these views, such, for instance as those on the subject of the code of honour. arnold, although himself a man actuated by a nice sense of honour, felt it his duty to set himself strongly in words against the code of honour; it was the constant object of vituperation on his part, even from the pulpit. his notions on this point, however, never gained ground with his hearers, who could not be brought to believe that their master (himself as true a knight errant as ever drew sword or pen,) was serious when he told them that the spirit of chivalry was "the true antichrist." the attempt to introduce a more highly-wrought tone of religious feeling than was perhaps of wholesome growth in very young minds was, therefore, not without its drawbacks; the antagonism to some of his own views which it called forth, combined with the utter disregard to established views which characterized his own teaching, and which the school caught from him, told upon the boys' minds. the direct and indirect effect of arnold's school of thought may indeed, now, we think, be traced in the general distrust of hitherto received opinions, which, but little tinged in england it is true with either licentiousness or irreverence, is nevertheless characteristic of the present generation. these effects are also more manifest now that arnold's personal influence can no longer be exercised. so long as he was at his post, his earnest simplicity of character, his purity of life, his intellectual vigour, his fearless seeking after truth, carried away the sympathies of all who were brought in contact with him; not one of whom but will say, on looking back to the impression he left on them, "behold an israelite indeed in whom there was no guile!" thus the reform introduced into rugby by arnold, and indirectly into other public schools through him, was then very different from that which was anticipated from him. he did, it will be seen, none of the things he was expected by his party to do. he strenuously inculcated the views of christian doctrine most opposed to those of the latitudinarian party. { } he stoutly adhered to the system of "fagging," as being the best mode of responsible government for the school "out of school," founding his opinion on his own experience at winchester, on which he often dwelt. he raised and improved the standard of classical learning in its wider sense, so that the scholars of rugby gained a high standing at the universities; and by showing that this was attainable consistently with acquirements in other branches of learning, and with the utmost amount of intelligent interest in the knowledge of the day, he confirmed that opinion in favour of the advantage of classical learning, as a sound philosophical means of training the faculties for worldly affairs, which we have seen lately advocated and applauded even in the heart of manchester itself, at the opening of owen's college. the change he introduced was thus more thorough, more deep and comprehensive, than any which the suggestions of his partisan supporters would have accomplished. it was a change in the very spirit of education, reaching beyond the years of boyhood or the limits of school walls. coventry to birmingham, instead of turning off from rugby by the new route to leamington, we will keep the old road, and so push on straight to the great warwickshire manufactory and mart of ribands and watches. first appears the graceful spire of st. michael's church; then the green pastures of the lammas, on which, for centuries, the freemen of coventry have fed their cattle, sweep into sight, and with a whiz, a whirl, and a whistle, we are in the city and county of coventry--the seat of the joint diocese of lichfield and coventry--which return two members to parliament, at the hands of one of the most stubbornly independent constituencies in england; a constituency which may be soft-sawdered, but cannot be bullied or bribed. a railroad here branches off to nuneaton, distant ten miles, a sort of manufacturing dependency of the great city; and on the other, at the same distance, to leamington, with a station at kenilworth. in addition to its manufacturing importance, an importance which has survived and increased in the face of the changes in the silk trade and watch trade, commenced by huskisson, and completed by peel, coventry affords rich food for the antiquarian, scenes of deep interest to the historical student, a legend for poets, a pageant for melodramatists, and a tableau for amateurs of poses plastiques. once upon a time kings held their courts and summoned parliaments at coventry; four hundred years ago the guilds of coventry recruited, armed, clothed, and sent forth six hundred stout fellows to take part in the wars of the roses; at coventry the lists were pitched for mary of lancaster, and phillip mowbray, duke of norfolk, to decide in single combat their counter- charges before the soon-to-be-dethroned richard ii. at coventry you will find the effigy of vile peeping tom, and can follow the course through which the fair godiva rode naked, veiled by her modesty and flowing tresses, to save her townsmen from a grievous tax. to be sure, some english niebuhrs have undertaken to prove the whole story a legend; but, for our parts, we are determined to believe in tradition and alfred tennyson's sonnet. there are three ancient churches in coventry, of which st. michael's, built in the reign of henry i., is the first; the spire rising feet from the ground, the lofty interior ornamented with a roof of oak, curiously carved, and several windows of stained glass. [coventry: ill .jpg] st. mary's hall, a large building, now used for corporation council meetings, and festivities, erected in the reign of henry vi., is one of the richest and most interesting vestiges of the ornamental architecture of england. the principal room has a grotesquely-carved roof of oak, a gallery for minstrels, an armoury, a chair of state, and a great painted window, which need only the filling up of royal and noble personages, their attendants, and the rich burgesses of coventry, to recall the time when richard ii. held his court in this ancient city, and, with "old john of gaunt," settled the sentence on harry of hereford, and philip of norfolk. in this chamber is to be seen a beautiful piece of tapestry, executed in , measuring thirty feet by ten, and containing eighty figures. in the free school, founded by john moles, in the reign of henry viii., sir william dugdale, the antiquarian and historian of warwickshire, was educated. the income is about pounds a-year, and the scholars have open to competition two fellowships of st. john's college, oxon, one at catherine's hall, cambridge, and six exhibitions at either university. previous to the investigations of the charity commissioners, the fine school-room was locked up, and the books of the library torn for waste paper to light fires. at present, under the reformed system, the school is attended by a large number of scholars. there are more than a dozen educational and other charities for the benefit of the poor, enjoying a revenue of many thousands a-year. there are also several curious specimens of domestic architecture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries to be found in coventry. it is, however, on the whole, a dark, dirty, inconvenient city. the surrounding belt of lammas lands on which the freemen have the right of pasturing their horses and cows, has prevented any increase in the limits of the city. in the middle ages coventry was celebrated for its "mysteries and pageants," of which an account has been published by mr. reader, a local bookseller. the chief manufactures are of ribands and of watches, both transplantations from the continent. the electors of coventry distinguished themselves by their consistency during the free-trade agitation. they exacted a pledge from their members in favour of free-trade, except in watches and ribands. more recently these same coventry men have had the good sense to prefer a successful man of business, the architect of his own fortunes, to a right honourable barrister and ex-railway commissioner. [the sherborne viaduct, near coventry: ill .jpg] one thing needful to preserve the manufacturing position of coventry is, a first-rate school of design--labour, and coal, and ample means of conveyance they have, east and west, and north and south; and now the manufacturers only need the cultivation of true principles of taste among the whole riband- weaving population. for taste is a rare article, and many draughts of small fry must be made before one leviathan salmon can be caught. great advances have been made recently in the production of the best kinds of ribands. a specimen produced by subscription for the hyde park exhibition of , proved that coventry was quite able to rival the choicest work of france in the class of machine-made ribands. the application of steam power to this class of manufactures is of but recent date. coventry surveyed, and this may be done in a few hours, unless the traveller is able and willing to examine its rich manufactories, it is difficult to resist the invitation of the railway porter, bawling, to kenilworth, leamington, and warwick, names calling up a crowd of romantic associations, from shakspeare to scott and bulwer; but for the present we must keep steadily on to birmingham, where steam finds the chief raw materials of poetry and fashioner of beauty. birmingham. a run of nineteen miles brings us to what the inhabitants call the hardware village, a healthy, ugly town, standing upon several hills, crowned with smoke, but free from fog. the old railway station stands at the foot of one of these hills, leaving a drive of a quarter of a mile through a squalid region, almost as bad as the railway entrance into bristol, before entering into the decent part of the town; but the new station, now in course of rapid completion, will land passengers behind the grammar school, in new street, the principal, and, indeed, only handsome street of any length in birmingham. at the old station there is an excellent hotel, kept by mr. robert bacon, who was so many years house steward to the athenaeum club, in pall mall; and at the refreshment-rooms a capital table d'hote is provided four times a-day, at two shillings a-head, servants included, an arrangement extremely acceptable after a ride of miles. [newton road station, near birmingham: ill .jpg] at the new station similar refreshment-rooms are to be provided, and it is to be hoped that the architect will plan the interior first, and the exterior afterwards, so that comfort may not be sacrificed, as it usually is in english public buildings, to the cost of an imposing portico and vestibule. as a railway starting point, birmingham has become a wonderful place. in addition to those main lines and branches passed and noted on our journey down, it is also the centre at which meet the railroads to derby and sheffield; to worcester, cheltenham, gloucester, and bristol; to london through oxford, by the broad gauge great western, to shrewsbury and chester through wolverhampton, beside the little south staffordshire lines, which form an omnibus route between birmingham, walsall, dudley, and lichfield, and other iron nets "too tedious to describe." to a stranger not interested in manufactures, and in mechanic men, this is a very dull, dark, dreary town, and the sooner he gets out of it the better. there are only two fine buildings. the town hall, an exact copy externally of the temple of jupiter stator at rome, built of a beautiful grey anglesey marble, from the designs of messrs. hansom and welch, who also undertook to execute it for , pounds. it cost , pounds, and the contractors were consequently ruined. a railway company would probably have paid the difference; but, in such cases, communities have no conscience, so the people of brummagem got the hall of which they are justly proud "a bargain." the interior is disappointing, and wants the expenditure of some more thousand pounds in sculptures and decorative details, to bring it into harmony with its noble external effect. the great room, feet in length, by feet in width and height, will contain upwards of , persons. musical meetings are held here periodically, for the benefit of certain charities; but the sight best worth seeing, is the hall at the period of an election, or of political excitement, crowded with a feverish army of workmen, cheering, groaning, swaying to and fro, under the speeches of their favourite orators. then in this pagan temple may be seen a living specimen of a brummagem jupiter, with a cross of vulcan, lion-faced, hairy, bearded, deep-mouthed swaggering, fluent in frank nonsense and bullying clap-trap, loved by the mob for his strength, and by the middle classes for his money. the lofty roof re-echoes with applause. the temple, the man, and the multitude, all together, are well worth a journey to birmingham to see. there is also the free school of king edward vi., in new street, a stately pile, built by barry, before he had become so famous as he is now; which supplies first-rate instruction in classics, mathematics, modern languages, and all branches of a useful english education, after the plan introduced into our public schools by dr. arnold, to the sons of all residents, at an extremely cheap, almost a nominal rate. ten exhibitions of pounds each for four years at oxford or cambridge are open to the competition of the scholars. the salary of the head master is pounds a-year, with a residence, and the privilege of boarding eighteen pupils. of the second master, pounds. beside under masters. these liberal appointments have secured a succession of competent masters, and cannot fail to produce a permanent and favourable change in the character of young birmingham. the diffusion of sound classical learning was much needed to mitigate the coxcombical pretensions of the half-educated, and the vulgar coarseness of the uneducated. the inhabitants of manufacturing towns are apt to grow petty plutocracies, in which after wealth, ignorance and assumption are the principal qualifications. brass turns up its nose at iron, and both look down upon tin, although half an hour in the world's fire make all so black as to be undistinguishable. besides this, which we may term the high school, there are four schools supported out of king edward vi.'s foundation, where reading, writing, and arithmetic, are taught. the funds on which these magnificent ecclesiastical establishments are supported, arise from lands in the neighbourhood which originally produced only pounds a year, and were part of the estates of the guild of the "holy cross." after being occupied first as fields and then as gardens, the rise of manufactures and extension of the town of birmingham, converted a great portion into building land. the present revenue amounts to about , pounds per annum, and are likely to be still further increased. twenty years ago, school lands which are now leased for terms of years, and covered with buildings, were occupied as suburban gardens at trifling rents. eventually the birmingham free school will enjoy an income equal to the wants of a university as well as a school. meagre accounts of the income and expenditure of this noble foundation are published annually, under the regulations of an act of parliament passed in ; but no report of the number of scholars, or the sort of education communicated, is attached to this balance sheet. it would be very useful; and we hope that the self- elected corporation, who have the management, will see the propriety of supplying it. birmingham also possesses a chartered college, "queen's college," similar to that at durham; first established as a medical school by the exertions of the present dean, mr. sands cox, since liberally endowed by the rev. dr. warneford to the extent of many thousand pounds, and placed in a position to afford the courses in law, physic, and divinity, required for taking a degree at the university of london. also a blue coat school, and school for the blind. in a picturesque point of view there are few towns more uninviting than birmingham; for the houses are built of brick toned down to a grimy red by smoke, in long streets crossing each other at right angles,--and the few modern stone buildings and blocks of houses seem as pert and as much out of place as the few idle dandies who are occasionally met among the crowds of busy mechanics and anxious manufacturers. what neatness--cleanliness--can do for the streets, bell-pulls, and door-knockers, has been done; the foot- pavements are, for the most part flagged, although some of the round pebble corn-creating footways still remain in the back streets. one suburb, edgbaston, is the property of lord calthorpe, and has been let out on building leases which entirely exclude all manufactories and inferior classes of houses. the result has been a crop of snug villas, either stucco or polished red brick; many of them surrounded by gardens and shrubberies, and a few of considerable pretension. of this suburb the birmingham people think a great deal; but, as it is built upon a dead flat in long straight lines, its effect is more pleasing to the citizen after a hard day's work, than to the artist, architect, landscape gardener, or lover of the picturesque. birmingham is, in fact, notable for its utility more than its beauty,--for what is done in its workshops, rather than for what is to be seen in its streets and suburbs. nowhere are there to be found so numerous a body of intelligent, ingenious, well educated workmen. the changes of fashion and the discoveries of science always find birmingham prepared to march in the van, and skilfully execute the work needed in iron, in brass, in gold and silver, in all the mixed metals and in glass. when guns are no longer required at the rate of a gun a minute, birmingham steel pens become famous all over the world. when steel buckles and gilt buttons have had their day, britannia teapots and brass bedsteads still hold their own. no sooner is electrotype invented, than the principal seat of the manufacture is established at birmingham. no sooner are the glass duties repealed than the same industrious town becomes renowned for plate glass, cut glass, and stained glass; and, when england demands a palace to hold the united contributions of "the industry of the world," a birmingham banker finds the contractor and the credit, and birmingham manufacturers find the iron, the glass, and the skill needful for the most rapid and gigantic piece of building ever executed in one year. in order to appreciate the independent character and quick inventive intelligence of the birmingham mechanic, he should be visited at his own home. a system of small independent houses, instead of lodgings, prevails in this town, to the great advantage of the workmen. it is only within a very few years that the working classes have had, in a local school of design, means of instruction in the principles of taste, and arts of drawing and modelling; while, until the patent laws are put upon a just foundation, their inventive faculties can never be fully developed. when the artizans of birmingham have legislative recognition of their rights as inventors, and free access to a first-rate school of design, their "cunning" hands will excel in beauty as well as ingenuity all previous triumphs. the wealthier classes have, from various causes, deteriorated within the last sixty years, while the workmen have improved within that time. men who have realized fortunes no longer settle down in the neighbourhood of their labours. they depart as far as possible from the smoke of manufactures and the bickerings of middle class cliques, purchase estates, send their sons to the universities, and in a few years subside into country squires. professional men, as soon as they have displayed eminent talent, emigrate to london; and the habit, now so prevalent in all manufacturing towns, of living in the suburbs, has sapped the prosperity of those literary and philosophical institutions and private reunions, which so much contributed to raise the tone of society during the latter half of the last century. the meetings of an old literary and philosophical society have been discontinued, and the news room was lately on the brink of dissolution. instead of meeting to discuss points of art, science, and literature, the middle classes read the times and punch, and consult the penny cyclopaedia. the literary and scientific character which birmingham acquired in the days when boulton, watt, priestly, darwin, murdoch, and their friends, met at the birmingham lunarian society, to discuss, to experiment, and to announce important discoveries, have passed away never to return; and we are not likely to see again any provincial town occupying so distinguished a position in the scientific world. the only sign of birmingham's ancient literary pre- eminence is to be found in several weekly newspapers, conducted with talent and spirit far beyond average. it is an amusing fact, that the sect to which priestly belonged still trade on his reputation, and claim an intellectual superiority over the members of other persuasions, which they may once have possessed, but which has long been levelled up by the universal march of education. the richer members publish little dull books in bad english on abstruse subjects, and, like consuelo's prebendary, have quartos in preparation which never reach the press. in fact, the suburban system of residence and the excessive pretension of superiority by the "pots over the kettles" have almost destroyed society in birmingham, although people meet occasionally at formal expensive parties, and are drawn together by sympathy in religion and politics. nothing would induce an educated gentleman to live in birmingham except to make a living, yet there are residing there, seldom seen out of their factories, men of the highest scientific and no mean literary attainments. there are a number of manufactories, which, in addition to their commercial importance, present either in finished articles, or in the process of manufacture, much that will interest an intelligent traveller. glass.--messrs. f. & c. oslers, of broad street, have attained a very high reputation for their cut and ornamental, as well as the ordinary, articles of flint glass. the have been especially successful in producing fine effects from prismatic arrangements. their gigantic chandeliers of great size, made for ibrahim pacha, and the nepalese prince, were the steps by which they achieved the lofty crystal fountain, of an entirely original design, which forms one of the most novel and effective ornaments of the crystal palace. the manufactory as well as the show-room is open to the inspection of respectable strangers. messrs. rice and harris are also extensive manufacturers of cut and coloured glass; and messrs. bacchus and sons have been very successful in their imitations of bohemian glass, both in form and colour. messrs. chance have acquired a world-wide reputation by supplying the largest quantity of crown glass in the shortest space of time for paxton's palace. these works, in which plate and every kind of crown glass is made, are situated at west bromwich. the proprietors have benevolently and wisely made arrangements for the education of their workmen and their families, which are worthy of imitation in all those great factories where the plan, which originated in lancashire, has not been already adopted. a letter of introduction will be required in order to view messrs. chance's establishment, of which we shall say more when noting the social state of the birmingham operatives. papier mache.--messrs. jennens and bettridge's works are so well known that it is only necessary to refer to them for the purpose of saying that in their show-rooms some new application of the art which they have carried to such perfection is constantly to be found. pianos, cradles, arm-chairs, indeed complete drawing-room suites, cornices, door-plates, and a variety of ornaments are displayed, in addition to the tea-trays and tea-chests in which the art of japanning first became known to us. although messrs. jennens and co. have the largest establishment in birmingham, there are several others who produce capital work; among them may be named mr. thomas lane and messrs. m'callum and hodgson, who both exhibited specimens of great merit at the last birmingham exhibition of manufactures. but metals afford the great staple of employment in birmingham, and we shall avail ourselves, in describing the leading trades, and touching on the social position of the workmen, of the admirable letters on labour and the poor in birmingham which appeared in the morning chronicle in the course of . { } * * * * * birmingham buttons.--"a brummagem button" is the old-fashioned nickname for a birmingham workman. the changes of fashion, and the advances of other manufactures, have deprived that trade of its ancient pre-eminence over all other local pursuits; but the "button trade," although not the same trade which made great fortunes in a previous generation, still employs five or six thousand hands, of which one-half are women and children. in the middle of the eighteenth century a plain white metal button was made, which may occasionally be seen in remote rural districts, on the green coats of old yeomen, wearing hereditary leather breeches. at that period the poorer classes wore coarse horn or wooden buttons, chiefly home made, and the tailor made, as well as the clothes, buttons covered with cloth. by degrees very handsome gilt buttons came into wear, and continued to employ many hands, while the blue coat which figures in the portraits of our grandfathers remained in fashion. in , the florentine, or covered button, now in almost universal use, which is manufactured by machinery with the aid of women and children, was introduced, and by the gilt button trade had been almost destroyed. the change produced great distress, vast numbers of persons were thrown out of work, who could not at once turn to any other employment. in a deputation from the gilt button trade waited upon george iv. and the principal nobility, to solicit their patronage. the application succeeded, coloured coats with metal buttons came into fashion, and dandies of the first water appeared in bright snuff-coloured, pale green, and blue coats, such as are now only worn by paul bedford or keeley, in broad farce. in a cheap mode of gilding, smart for a day, dull and shabby in a week, completely destroyed the character of gilt buttons, and brought up the florentine again. this change was, no doubt, materially assisted and maintained by bulwer's novel of "pelham," which set all young men dressing themselves up like crows with white shirts. in a deputation to prince albert attempted another revival of the gilt button trade, and at the same time the silk stocking weavers waited on the prince to endeavour to drive out the patent leather boots, and bring in the low shoe. both attempts failed. at present there are symptoms of a turn of fashion toward coloured coats and bright buttons, which may be successful, because the fashionable world abhors monotony. the flame coloured coats, long curls, and pink under waistcoats of george iv., were succeeded by the solemn sables of an undertaker; the high tight stock made way for a sailor's neckcloth. for a time shawl waistcoats, of gay colours, had their hour. then correct tight black yielded to the loosest and shaggiest garments that could be invented. perhaps the year may see our youth arrayed in blue, purple and pale brown. but a very little consideration will prove that these artificial changes, although they may benefit a class, are of little advantage to the community. if a man gives s. more for a coat with gilt buttons than for one with plain buttons, he has s. less to expend with some other tradesman. the florentine button, first invented in , and since much improved, is a very curious manufacture. it is made--as any one may see by cutting up a button--of five pieces; first, the covering of florentine, or silk; second, a cover of metal, which gives the shape to the button; third, a smaller circle of mill-board; fourth, a circle of coarse cloth, or calico; fifth, a circle of metal, with a hole punched in the centre, through which the calico or cloth is made to protrude, to form the shank, to be sewed on to the garment. "ranged in rows on either side of a long room of the button factory, (says the correspondent of the morning chronicle) are from to girls and young women, from the age of fourteen to four or five and twenty, all busily engaged, either at hand or steam presses, in punching out metal circles slightly larger than the size of the button which is to be produced. before each press the forewoman is seated, holding in her hand a sheet of zinc or iron, about two feet long, and four inches broad. this she passes rapidly under the press if worked by hand, and still more rapidly if worked by steam, punching and cutting at the rate of from fifty to sixty disks in a minute. as they are cut they fall into a receptacle prepared to receive them. the perforated sheets are sold to the founder to be melted up, and made into other sheets. in other rooms younger women are engaged in cutting up florentine cloth, or other outside covering material, paste board and calico. of these a young woman can punch , a-day, and of metal, , a-day. the upper discs are submitted by another set of girls to presses from which each receives a blow that turns up an edge all round, and reduces it to the exact size of the button. the lower disk is punched for the shank to come through, stamped with the maker's name, or the name of the tailor for whom the buttons are made, and coated with varnish, either light or black. "the five pieces then pass into a department where a woman superintends the labours of a number of children from seven to ten years of age. "these little creatures place all five pieces, one after another, in regular order, in a small machine like a dice-box, constructed to hold them, which is placed under a press, when a firm touch compresses the whole together in the neat form, which any one may examine on a black dress coat, without stitch or adhesive matter." this patent was the subject of long litigation between rival inventors, to the great benefit of the lawyers, and loss of the industrious and ingenious. within the last twelve months messrs. chadbourne, button-makers, of great charles street, have adapted this florentine button to nails for furniture and carriages. the patent linen sewn-through button is another recent invention, which has superseded the old wire button for under garments, than which it is cheaper, neater, and more durable. it is composed of linen and circles of zinc. horn buttons, with shanks, which are extensively used for cloth boots and sporting jackets, are made from the hoofs of horned cattle, which are boiled, cut, punched, dyed, stamped when soft, and polished by brushes moved by steam power; the chief part of the work being done by women and children. pearl buttons have become an important part of the birmingham manufactures, partly on the decline of metal buttons. they are extensively used on coats and waistcoats, where gilt buttons were formerly employed. the shell used in the manufacture of buttons, studs, card counters, etc., is the mother of pearl, the concha margaritifera of naturalists. five kinds of shell are employed:--first. the buffalo shell, so named because it arrived packed in buffalo skins; it comes chiefly from panama, is the smallest and commonest, and sells to the trade at about pounds a ton.--second. the black scotch, from the sandwich islands, whence it is sent to valparaiso and to sydney, new south wales, worth from to pounds a ton. the large outer rim is of a blackish, or rather greenish, tint, the centre only being white. the outer rim was formerly considered worthless, and large quantities were thrown away as rubbish. change of fashion has brought the prismatic hues of the dark pearl into fashion for shooting-coats, waistcoats, and even studs. it used to be a standing story with a bristol barber that a square in that city had been built on thousands of pounds worth of tobacco stalks, thrown away as useless, until it was discovered that that part of the plant was capable of making a most saleable snuff. and so in birmingham; the irvingite church, on new hall hill, is said to be built on hundreds of tons of refuse shell, which would now be worth from to pounds per ton. the third shell is the bombay, or white scotch, worth from to pounds per ton. the fourth comes from singapore, and is brought there to exchange for british manufactures by the native craft which frequent that free port. it is a first-rate article, white to the edge, worth from to pounds per ton. the fifth is the mother of pearl shell, from manilla, of equal value and size, but with a slight yellow tinge round the edge. pearl buttons are cut out and shaped by men with the lathe, polished by women with a grinding-stone, and sorted and arranged on cards by girls. glass buttons were formerly in use among canal boatmen, miners, and agricultural labourers, in certain districts. they are now chiefly made for the african market. the process of making them and studs is well worth seeing. beside the buttons already enumerated, they make in birmingham the flat iron and brass buttons, for trowsers; steel buttons, for ladies' dresses; wooden buttons, for overcoats; agate buttons, for which material is imported from bohemia; and, in fact, every kind of button and stud, including papier mache. the manufacture of brass shanks is a separate trade, and the writer of the letters already quoted, states the annual production at, or upwards of, three millions per working day. of these, part are made by hand, but the greater number by a shank-making machine, wrought by steam power, and only requiring the attendance of one tool-maker. "the machine feeds itself from a coil of brass or iron wire suspended from the roof, and cuts and twists into shanks, by one process, at the rate of per minute, or nearly , , per annum. some button manufacturers employ one of these machines; the majority buy the shanks." * * * * * guns and swords.--according to hutton, the historian of birmingham, the town was indebted for its occupation in supplying our army with fire-arms, to an ancestor of a gentleman who now represents a division of warwickshire, a sir roger newdigate, in the time of william iii. the story, however, seems only half-true. hutton would imply that the first muskets manufactured in england were made in birmingham. it seems more likely, that the connexion with william iii. arose from the desire of that monarch to have the flint-lock, which was superseding the match-lock on the continent, made in his own dominions. at any rate, the revolution of , which the romantic anti-commercial party of young england so deeply regret, gave birmingham its gun trade, as well as hampton court its asparagus beds. when walpole gave us peace, the attention of the manufacturers was directed to fowling-pieces, and from that time forward birmingham has contained the greatest fire-arm factory in the world, although, of course, subject to many fluctuations. twenty years ago, "a long war soon," was as regular a toast at convivial meetings of birmingham manufacturers, as at any mess-room or in any cock-pit in her majesty's service. the government has made several attempts, by establishing manufactories with public money and under official control, to become independent of birmingham, but the end has invariably been great loss and pitiful results in the number of arms produced. we hope to live to see the time when our navy will be built as economically as our guns are made--by private contract--and our public ship-yards confined to the repairing department. during the war which ended at the battle of waterloo, the importance and prosperity of the gun-makers were great. it was calculated that a gun a minute was made in birmingham on the average of a year, but the peace threw numbers out of work and reduced wages very considerably. time has brought the trade to a level; indeed, it is one of the great advantages of birmingham, that the prosperity of the town does not rest on any one trade; so that if some are blighted others are flourishing, and when one fails the workmen are absorbed into other parallel employments. the gun trade now depends for support on the demand for--first, cheap muskets for african and other aboriginal tribes; secondly, on cheap fowling-pieces, rifles, pistols, blunderbusses, etc., for exportation to america, australia, and other countries where something effective is required at a moderate price; thirdly, on the home demand for fowling-pieces of all qualities, from the commonest to those sold at the west end of london, at fancy prices; fourthly, on that for fire-arms required by our army and navy; and, lastly, on occasional uncertain orders created by wars and revolutions on the continent. there are a vast number of guns, or parts of guns, made in birmingham, which bear the names of retailers in different parts of the kingdom. even very fashionable gun-makers find it worth their while to purchase goods in the rough state from birmingham manufacturers on whom they can depend, and finish them themselves. this is rendered easy by the system. no one in birmingham makes the whole of a gun. the division of labour is very great; the makers of the lock, the barrel, and the stock, are completely distinct, and the mechanics confine themselves to one branch of a department. the man who makes the springs for a lock has nothing to do with the man who makes the nipple or the hammer; while the barrel-forger has no connexion with the stock-maker or lock-maker. the visitor who has the necessary introductions, should by no means omit to visit a gun-barrel factory, as there are a good many picturesque effects in the various processes, beside the mechanical instruction it affords. the following is the order of the fabrication of a common gun:-- the sheets for barrels are made from scraps of steel and iron, such as old coach-springs, knives, steel chains, horse shoes and horseshoe nails, and sheets of waste steel from steel pen manufactories. these, having been sorted, are bound together, and submitted first to such a furnace, and then to such a steam hammer as we described in our visit to wolverton, until it is shaped into a bar of tough iron, which is afterwards rolled into sheets of the requisite thickness. from one of these sheets a length sufficient to make a gun barrel is cut off by a pair of steam-moved shears, of which the lower jaw is stationary and the upper weighs a ton, of which plenty of examples may be seen in every steam engine factory. the slip of iron is made red hot, placed between a pair of rollers, one of which is convex and the other concave, and comes out in a semicircular trough shape; again heated, and again pressed by smaller rollers, by which the cylinder is nearly completed. a long bar of iron is passed through the cylinder, it is thrust into the fire again, and, when red hot, it is submitted to the welder, who hammers it and heats it and hammers it again, until it assumes the form of a perfect tube. damascus barrels are made by incorporating alternate layers of red hot steel and iron, which are then twisted into the shape of a screw while at white heat. the bar thus made is twisted in a cold state by steam power round a bar into a barrel shape, then heated and welded together. these are the barrels which present the beautiful variegated appearance which gives them the name of damascus. the barrels, whether common or twisted, are then bored by a steel rod, kept wet with water or oil, and turned by steam. the process occupies from two to three hours for each barrel. the next operation is that of grinding the outside of the barrel with sandstone wheels, from five to six feet in diameter when new, driven by steam. these stones chiefly come from the neighbouring district of bilston; in four months' work, a stone of this size will be reduced to two feet. the employment is hard, dangerous from the stones often breaking while in motion, in which case pieces of stone weighing a ton have been known to fly through the roof of the shop; unwholesome, because the sand and steel dust fill eyes, mouth, and lungs, unless a certain simple precaution is taken which grinders never take. after grinding, a nut is screwed into the breech, and the barrel is taken to the proof house to be proved. the proof house is a detached building, the interior of which is lined with plates of cast iron. the barrels are set in two iron stocks, the upper surface of one of which has a small gutter, to contain a train of powder; in this train the barrels rest with their touchholes downwards, and in the rear of the breeches of the barrels is a mass of sand. when the guns, loaded with five times the quantity of powder used in actual service, have been arranged, the iron-lined doors and windows are closed, and a train extending to the outside through a hole is fired. some barrels burst and twist into all manner of shapes; those which pass the ordeal are again examined after the lapse of twenty-four hours, and, if approved, marked with two separate marks, one for viewing and one for proving. the mark for proving consists of two sceptres crossed with a crown in the upper angle; the letters b and c in the left and right, and the letter p in the lower angle. for viewing only, v stands instead of p underneath the crown, the other letters omitted. after proving, the jiggerer fastens the pin, which closes up the breech. in the mean time the construction of the lock, which is an entirely different business, and carried on in the neighbouring towns of wednesbury, darleston, and wolverhampton, as well as in birmingham, has been going on. the gun lock makers are ranged into two great divisions of forgers and filers, beside many subdivisions. the forgers manufacture the pieces in the rough, the filers polish them and put them together. in the percussion lock, there are fifteen pieces; in the common flint lock, eight. by a process patented about eleven years ago, parts of a gun lock formerly forged by hand are now stamped with a die. the use of this invention was opposed by the men, but without success. the barrel and lock next pass into the hands of the stocker. the stocks, of beechwood for common guns, of walnut for superior, of which much is imported from france and italy, arrive in birmingham in a rough state. the stocker cuts away enough of the stock to receive the barrel, the lock, the ramrod, and shapes it a little. the next workman employed is the screw-together. he screws on the heel plate, the guard that protects the trigger, puts in the trigger plate, lets in the pipes to hold the ramrod, puts on the nozzle cap, and all other mountings. after all this, a finisher takes the gun to pieces, and polishes, fits all the mountings, or sends them to be polished by women; the lock is sent to the engraver to have an elephant and the word "warranted," if for the african market, put on it; a crown and the words "tower proof," if for our own military service; while the stock is in the hands of the maker off and cleanser, it is carved, polished, and, if needful, stained. common gun barrels are polished or browned to prevent them from rusting, real damascus barrels are subjected to a chemical process, which brings out the fine wavy lines and prevents them from rusting. all these operations having been performed, the barrel, the lock, and the stock, are brought back by the respective workmen who have given them the final touch, and put together by the finisher or gun maker, and this putting together is as much as many eminent gunmakers ever do. but, by care and good judgment, they acquire a reputation for which they can charge a handsome percentage. for these reasons, with local knowledge, it is possible to obtain from a birmingham finisher who keeps no shop, a first-rate double gun at a very low figure compared with retail prices. belgium and germany compete with birmingham for cheap african guns, and even forge the proof marks. neither in quality nor in price for first-rate articles can any country compete with us. * * * * * swords and matchetts.--the sword trade of birmingham is trifling compared with that in guns. the foreign demand has dwindled away until it has become quite insignificant, and the chief employment is afforded by our own army and navy. nevertheless, good swords are made in birmingham, which is the only town in england where any manufacture of the kind exists, although the blades often bear the names of more fashionable localities. it is among the traditions of the birmingham trade, that in , when our government was about to transfer its orders for swords to germany, in consequence of the inferiority of english swords, a mr. gill claimed to compete for the contract; and that in order to show what he could do, he appeared before the board of ordnance with a sword, which he tied round his thigh, and then untied, when it immediately became straight. in the end mr. gill was the means of retaining the sword trade in birmingham. sword-grinding is worth seeing. sword-makers find their principal employment in producing matchetts, a tool or weapon very much like the modern regulation cutlass, but stronger and heavier, with a plain beech-wood handle, worth wholesale from d. to d. each. they are used in the east and west indies, ceylon, and south america, for cutting down sugar-canes and similar uses. we take the name to be spanish; it is used by defoe and dampier. we only mention the article as one of the many odd manufactures made, but never sold retail, in england. * * * * * steel pens.--all the steel pens made in england, and a great many sold in france, germany, and america, whatever names or devices they may bear, are manufactured in birmingham. in this respect, as in many others of the same nature, the birmingham manufacturers are very accommodating, and quite prepared to stamp on their productions the american eagle, the cap of liberty, the effigy of pio nono, or of the comte de chambord, if they get the order, the cash, or a good credit. and they are very right; their business is to supply the article, the sentiment is merely a matter of taste. there are eighteen steel pen manufacturers in the birmingham directory, and eight penholder makers. two manufacturers employ about , hands, and the other seventeen about as many more. we can most of us remember when a long hard steel pen, which required the nicest management to make it write, cost a shilling, and was used more as a curiosity than as a useful comfortable instrument. about , or , the first gross of three slit pens was sold wholesale at pounds s. the gross of twelve dozen. a better article is now sold at d. a gross. the cheapest pens are now sold wholesale at d. a gross, the best at from s. d. to s.; and it has been calculated that birmingham produces not less than a thousand million steel pens every year. america is the best foreign customer, in spite of a duty of twenty-four per cent; france ranks next, for the french pens are bad and dear. mr. gillott, who is one of the very first in the steel-pen trade, rose by his own mechanical talents and prudent industry from a very humble station. he was, we believe, a working mechanic, and invented the first machine for making steel pens, which for a long period he worked with his own hands; he makes a noble use of the wealth he has acquired; his manufactory is in every respect a model for the imitation of his townsmen, as we shall show when we say a few words about the condition of the working population; a liberal patron of our best modern artists, he has made a collection of their works, which is open to the inspection of any respectable stranger. the following description of his manufactory, which is not open to strangers without special cause shown, will be found interesting in a social as well as a commercial and mechanical point of view. * * * * * gillott's steel-pen factory.--in the first department, sheets of steel received from sheffield are passed through rolling mills driven by steam, under charge of men and boys, until they are reduced to the thinness of a steel pen, to the length of about thirty inches, and the breadth of about three inches. these steel slips are conveyed to a large roomy workshop, with windows at both sides, scrupulously clean, where are seated in double rows an army of women and girls, from fourteen to forty years of age, who, unlike most of the women employed in birmingham manufactories, are extremely neat in person and in dress. a hand press is opposite each; the only sound to be heard is the bump of the press, and the clinking of the small pieces of metal as they fall from the block into the receptacle prepared for them. one girl of average dexterity is able to punch out one hundred gross per day. each division is superintended by a toolmaker, whose business it is to keep the punches and presses in good working condition, to superintend the work generally, and to keep order among the workpeople. the next operation is to place the blank in a concave die, on which a slight touch from a concave punch produces the shape of a semitube. the slits and apertures which increase the elasticity of the pen, and the maker's or vendor's name, are produced by a similar tool. when complete all but the slit, the pens are soft and pliable, and may be bent or twisted in the hand like a piece of thin lead. they are collected in grosses, or great grosses, into small square iron boxes, and placed by men who are exclusively employed in this department in a furnace, where they remain until box and pens are of a white heat. they are then taken out and immediately thrown hissing into oil, which cures them of their softness, by making them as brittle as wafers. on being taken out they are put in a sieve to drain, and then into a cylinder full of holes, invented by mr. gillott, which, rapidly revolving, extracts the last drop of moisture from the pens, on a principle that has been successfully applied to drying sugar, salt, and a vast number of other articles of the same nature. by this invention mr. gillott saves in oil from to pounds a-year. the pens having been dried are placed in other cylinders, and polished by mutual friction, produced by reverberatory motion. they are then roasted or annealed, so as to procure the requisite temper and colour, whether bronze or blue. the last process is that of slitting, which is done by women, with a sharp cutting tool. one girl, with a quick practised finger, can slit as many as , pens in a day. they are now ready for the young girls whose duty it is to count and pack them in boxes or grosses for the wholesale market. it has lately been stated by one of a deputation to the chancellor of the exchequer, on the subject of the paper duties, that steel pens for the french market are sent in bags instead of arranged on cards to the loss of paper makers and female labour, in consequence of the heavy excise duty on card board. * * * * * brasswork.--birmingham is by far the greatest producer of ornamental and useful brasswork. in the directory will be found a list which affords some idea of the number and varieties of the brass trade, as all these employ a certain number of working hands, varying from two or three apprentices to many hundred skilled workmen. it includes bell-founders, bottle-jack makers, brass founders, bronze powder makers, brass casters, clasp makers, coach lamp furniture, ornament makers, cock founders, compass makers, copper-smiths, cornice pole makers, curtain ring, bronze wire fender, gas-fitting, lamps, chandeliers (partly brass, partly glass), ecclesiastical ornament, lantern, letter-clip, mathematical instrument, brass and metallic bedstead, military ornament, brass nail, saddlers' ironmonger, (chiefly brass), scale, beam, and weighing machines, stair rod, moulding and astrigal, brass thimble makers, tube, brass and copper-wire drawers, wire workers and weavers, and many other trades less directly connected with brass. new articles are made in this metal every day. one manufacturer, who first hit upon the hand-clip for papers, made a very handsome sum by it. the registration of designs act has been a great stimulus to certain branches of this trade. lucifer boxes are quite a new article, unknown the other day, now manufactured in thousands for all quarters of the globe, germany, russia, holland, india, australia, california. then there are ornaments for south american and cuban saddles and harness; rings for lassos, and bells for sheep, cattle, and sledges, brass rings, as coins for africa; and weights for weighing gold in california. among the branches of the brass trade which have become important, since the increase of emigration about ship lamps have been made in one year, at a cheap rate; and within the last five years brass egg cups have been sent in enormous numbers to turkey, where they are used to hand round coffee. south america is a great mart for cheap brass ware. of this trade, it may be said, in the words of a vulgar proverb, "as one door shuts another opens." the use of china and glass, in conjunction with brass for house furniture and chandeliers, has also created a variety, and afforded an advantageous impetus to the trade. mr. winfield is one of the manufacturers in brass whose showrooms are open to the public. he also has claims on our attention for the wise and philanthropic manner in which he has endeavoured to supply the lamentable deficiency of education among the working classes. he holds a very leading position as a manufacturer of balustrades, tables, window-cornices, candelabra chandeliers, brackets, curtain-bands, and above all of metal bedsteads, which last he has supplied to some of the chief royal and princely families of europe, besides spain, algeria, and the united states. in all these works great attention has been paid to design as well as workmanship, as was amply proved both at the local exhibition in , where a large gas bracket, in the italian style, of brass, with parisian ornaments, excited much admiration; and in , in hyde park, where we especially noted an ormolu cradle and french bedstead in gilt and bronze, amid a number of capital works of his production. mr. winfield is patentee of a curious process for drawing out the cylinders used in making bedsteads. messrs. messengers and sons have one of the finest manufactories in ornamental iron, brass, and bronze, for lamps, chandeliers, and table ornaments. for a long series of years they have spared no expense in obtaining the best models and educating their workmen in drawing and modelling. in their show-rooms will be found many very pleasing statues in gold-colour, in bronze, and copies from antique types of vases, lamps, candelabra, etc. messrs. salt and lloyd are also eminent lamp makers, and generally exhibit, beside table-lamps, the last and best carriage-lamps. messrs. ratcliffes are another enterprising firm. all such of these manufactories as have show-rooms open to strangers, will be found by an inquiry at any hotel; for although birmingham is a large town, everybody knows everybody, and the cab drivers will usually be found competent to guide through the voyage of investigation. next, after brass, we will take steel, divided into heavy and light steel toys. * * * * * heavy steel toys.--heavy steel toys are the name by which, by a sort of brummagem bull, a variety of articles which are the very reverse of toys, and which are often not made of steel at all, are designated. heavy steel toys are tools or articles of an implement nature, used in domestic economy. the list includes nearly articles. among these are included the tools of carpenters, coopers, gardeners, butchers, glaziers, farriers, saddlers, tinmen, shoemakers, weavers, wheelwrights, as well as corkscrews, sugar- tongs, sugar-nippers, boot-hooks, button-hooks, door-scrapers, calipers, printing-irons, dog-collars, chains, whistles, tinderboxes, and tobacco- stoppers. hammers occupy a leading place, of which there are two or three hundred varieties, belonging to different trades, each of which is divided into eight or ten different weights. birmingham has the largest share of the heavy toy trade, although there are extensive manufacturers in sheffield and wolverhampton. fine edge tools are chiefly and best made at sheffield. this trade increases annually in importance, as it consists of articles which are greatly in demand in new countries; and new markets are opened by every new colonising enterprise of the anglo-saxon race. the manufacture includes a great deal of wood-work for handles, as well as iron and steel. for although many axes are made for the american market, after special patterns, and with national mottoes, no handles are ever sent, as the backwoodsmen have better wood for their purpose at command. our axe handles are stiff; a backwoodsman must have a flexible handle or haft. the germans once tried to compete with us in the home market, but the attempt was a failure. as an instance of the odd accidents that affect the birmingham trade, about three years ago, when flounces were in fashion, a great demand sprang up for pinking irons, previously only used for ornamenting the hems of shrouds. a workman informed the correspondent of the morning chronicle that he had earned about pounds a week for two years at making them. the scientific tools of housebreakers are known to be made by certain journeymen in the steel toy trade. on the other hand, hand-cuffs, leg-irons, and similar restraining instruments are manufactured for home use and exportation. occasionally, london and liverpool houses in the brazilian or cuban trade have ordered suits of chains, intended for the use of slave-ships. these are cheap, coarse, painted black, and horrid looking. among the orders on the books of a manufacturer, were several dozen pair of hand-cuffs for ladies. * * * * * the edge tool manufacture, which is increasing in birmingham, probably in consequence of the repeated strikes at sheffield, added to the superior position of birmingham as regards coal, and the markets of london, liverpool, and bristol, is often carried on in conjunction with that of steel toys. there are forty-five different kinds of axes; fourteen for the american market, twelve adzes, twenty-six bills and bill-hooks, and upwards of seventy hoes for different foreign countries--spain, portugal, south america, the united states, and australia, which will soon consume as much hardware as america did fifty years ago. * * * * * light steel toys.--these include chatelains, watch chains, keys, seals, purses, slides, beads, waist buckles, dress swords, steel buttons for court dresses, bodkins, spectacle frames, knitting and netting implements, and steel snuffers. shoe and knee buckles, which were once universally worn, alone employed five thousand persons in their manufacture, when it was the staple trade of the town. the expense and inconvenience of shoe buckles sent them out of fashion. dragoons hung in the stirrup, and cricketers tore the nails of their fingers in picking up cricket balls, from the inconvenient buckle. the trade is extremely fluctuating, and depends very much on inventive taste in which we are manifestly inferior to the french. some articles we can make better than they can, but they are always bringing out something new and pretty. in small beads they undersell us enormously, while in beads of / th of an inch in diameter, and upwards, we can undersell them. a visit to a manufactory of light steel toys will afford a great deal of amusement and instruction. * * * * * medalling.--die sinking.--here again are trades by which birmingham keeps up its communication with all the civilised, and part of the uncivilised world. the first great improvements in coining the current money of the realm originated at soho, near birmingham, at the manufactories of two men whose memory englishmen can never hold in sufficient respect--matthew boulton and james watt. they were the inventors of the machinery now in use in the royal mint; for a long period they coined the copper money, as also some silver money for the united kingdom, as well as money of all denominations for many foreign countries, tokens, and medals innumerable. they made coins for the french convention. during the war, when money was scarce and small notes were in circulation, many tradesmen, and several public establishments issued "tokens," which were, in fact, metal promissory notes, as they were seldom of the intrinsic value stamped on them. by this expedient retailers advertised themselves, and temporarily increased their capital. some successful speculators made fortunes, others were ruined by the presentation of all their metal notes of hand at periods of panic. at any rate, the manufacture of these articles had a great deal to do with the education of workmen for the medal manufacture which is now so extensively carried on. the dies from which coins and medals are struck, are, of course, all executed by hand, and the excellence of each coin or medal depends on the skill of each individual workman; therefore there has been no great improvement in execution--indeed, some medals and coins struck two thousand years ago, rival, if they do not excel, the best works of the present day. the improvements of modern mechanical science are all in the die presses, and in producing cheap metal. these improvements have enabled birmingham to establish a large trade in cheap medals, which are issued in tens of thousands on every occasion that excites the public mind. jenny lind and father mathew were both excellent customers of the medallists in their day. the medallists are not confined to the home market; france has been supplied with effigies of her rival presidents, louis napoleon and cavaignac, and we should not be surprised to find that some day a contract has been taken for the medals which the pope blesses and distributes. schools and temperance societies are good customers, and occasionally a good order comes in from a foreign state or colony, for coins. in mr. ralph heaton made ten tons of copper coin for bombay, called cock money, so called because bearing a cock on the obverse, from dies purchased at the sale at soho. the late sir richard thomason was a considerable manufacturer of medals, and a very curious collection may be seen at the showrooms of his successor, mr. g. r. collis, who carries on the same trade, and is consul for a number of countries between turkey and timbuctoo. the most important part of the die-sinking trade, is that for making patterns in brass, mixed metal, and iron in curtain bands, pins, lamp pillars, cornices, coffin furniture, and all articles in which stamping has superseded the more expensive process of hammering out. within the last twenty years, and notably within the last ten years, public taste has required an increased amount of ornament in all domestic manufactures; stimulated by this demand, great improvements have been made in stamping, and excellence in the art of die-sinking has become more widely diffused. the birmingham die-sinkers admit that they are inferior to the french in design, while in the execution of cutting heavy steel dies, they are decidedly superior. die-sinking is an art, like painting or sculpture, which requires personal aptitude to enable an apprentice to acquire excellence. it is carried on in birmingham by men who work themselves, employing two or three journeymen. the names of these artists seldom appear. a london or parisian tradesman undertakes an order which is passed to some noted birmingham house, which transmits it to a hard-handed man in a back street. * * * * * coffin ornaments.--the manufacture of ornaments for coffins is a very important part of the trade, and it is curious to find, that even in this last concession to human vanity, there is a constant demand for new designs. who is it that examines and compares the ornaments of one coffin with that of another? we never heard of the survivors of a deceased examining an undertaker's patterns. and yet, a house which consumes forty tons of cast iron per annum for coffin handles, stated to the gentleman to whose letters we are indebted for this information, "our travellers find it useless to show themselves with their pattern books at an undertaker's, unless they have something tasteful, new, and uncommon. the orders for ireland are chiefly for gilt furniture for coffins. the scotch, also, are fond of gilt, and so are the people in the west of england. but the taste of the english is decidedly for black. the welsh like a mixture of black and white. coffin lace is formed of very light stamped metal, and is made of almost as many patterns as the ribbons of coventry. all our designs are registered, as there is a constant piracy going on, which it is necessary to check." dies are cut in soft metal and then hardened. die-sinking is one of the arts so interesting in all its branches, from the first design to the finished coin or ornament, that every intelligent traveller should endeavour to see it. * * * * * platers, gilders, and electro-platers.--large fortunes have been made in birmingham by plating copper, "in the good old times;" but sheffield was, until within the last ten years, the principal seat of the manufacture. sheffield plate was a very superior article, and for years would look and stand wear like silver. plating was effected by laying a thin film of silver on a sheet of copper, which was afterwards shaped into tea or coffee services, forks, spoons, candlesticks, trays, tea urns, and other articles for house use. it was also applied to harness, saddlery, and every thing formerly made of silver alone. a great impetus was given to this trade by our intercourse with the continent at the close of the war, which sent steel pronged forks out of fashion. the first inroad upon the plates on copper was made by the invention of white metal, called german silver. the next was the discovery of the art of plating by galvanic instead of mechanical agency, now known as electro-plating. the result of the application of electric power to plating, however, has been to transfer a large share of the sheffield plate business to birmingham. it is a curious fact that a veterinary surgeon (of the name of askew) invented the first german silver manufactured in england, and that a dr. wright, of the same town, discovered the practicability of electro-plating about the same time that several other persons had discovered that metal could be deposited by a galvanic current, but had not thought of applying it practically to manufactures. the old system of plating is still carried on both in sheffield and in birmingham; improvements have been introduced by the employment of a white metal instead of copper as the foundation, and by grafting on, as it were, silver tips to forks and silver edges to prominent ornaments; but the balance of advantage in economy and facility are so greatly in favour of the electro- plating process, that, no doubt, when the patents under which it is now worked expire, its use will become universal. since the first patent was published, important improvements have been made in france, germany, and america, which the original patentees have incorporated. copperplates cast from wood cuts and stereotypes can be reproduced with great facility and economy, and the exact touches of an artist in clay or wax can be reproduced in metal without the translation of casting. nothing is too small or too large,--the colossal statue of an amazon on horseback spearing a lioness, by kiss, the berlin sculptor, exhibiting in the hyde park exhibition of , was copied in zinc and bronzed by this process; and, by the same means, flowers, feathers, and even spiders' webs have been covered with a metal film. at present, a handsome electro-plated teapot, exactly resembling silver, may be purchased at what a britannia metal one cost fifteen years ago. messrs. elkington and mason, the purchasers of the secret from the original discoverer and authors of valuable improvements, are at the head of one of the finest and most interesting silver and electroplating establishments in the kingdom. in commencing this new manufacture, the commercial difficulties they had to overcome, in addition to those of a practical and mechanical nature, were very formidable. the messrs. elkingtons originally intended to confine themselves to plating for the trade. but the prejudice against the new process was so great, that the manufacturers of the needful articles could not be induced to try it. messrs. elkington were, therefore, very unwillingly, compelled to invest a capital in becoming manufacturers of plated forks, spoons, cruets, candlesticks, tea services, and all the et ceteras of imitation silver. the additional venture did not serve their purpose. the retail dealers, equally prejudiced, refused or neglected to push off the new plate. more anxiety and more expenditure of capital followed, for the patentees were obliged to establish retail establishments in several cities in this country, america, and our colonies. the struggle ended in complete success; the use of electro plate has become universal, and the manufacture is not confined to messrs. elkington, but is carried on, under licence from the patentees, by a vast number of firms. the result, however, has been, as already stated, to transfer a good deal of the plated trade of sheffield to birmingham, for the former town has slowly and unwillingly adopted the new method, which has deprived its manufacturers of their ancient pre-eminence. electro-plating has not, as was imagined on its first discovery, lessened the demand for manual labour in the plate trade; on the contrary, it has largely increased it, while extending the sale of a superior, and superseding an inferior, class of goods. although for all ordinary articles, such as forks, spoons, teapots, etc., there are, no doubt, many manufacturers in birmingham quite equal to messrs. elkingtons, their manufactory is especially worth visiting; because, in the first place, the whole manufactory is open, and conveniently arranged for the inspection of visitors; and, in the next place, the firm pay great attention to the artistic merit of their more expensive work. they spare no expense to obtain copies from the best antique models, and original designs from living artists, beside keeping up a staff of draughtsmen and modellers. in the manufactory may be seen the whole history of a plated dinner service, from the pickle fork to the epergne, or vase, which crowns the centre of the table at a grand banquet. in one room men are at work in cutting out forks and spoons from flat sheets of white metal, which is afterwards shaped, ornamented, engraved, and then, if to be covered with silver, subjected to the action of a current of electricity, produced by an immense pair of magnets--if to be coated with gold, to the action of galvanic batteries; this process requires explanation which must be sought in works, like mr. alfred smee's, especially devoted to the subject. then comes the burnishing, by the action of leather-covered wheels and wire brushes, in steam-driven motion, and then the burnishing by hand, which is chiefly performed by young girls and women. and an agreeable and profitable occupation it seems to be. the manufacture of such articles as teapots is equally interesting. in the process of joining such parts as the handle and spout by hard solder, that is to say, solder as difficult to melt as the main body of the object, one of the most valuable inventions for chemical processes, the blow-pipe, is employed with the aid of two other great scientific aids of modern times. the flame of the blow-pipe is made by a stream of gas, and driven, instead of by a man's breath, by a steam blast, so that the mechanic has a power and a facility of manipulation which would be unattainable under the old system of working with a lamp and puffed out cheeks. there is great matter for reflection in the sight of the hundreds of ingenious industrious workmen and workwomen under one roof, employed mainly through the agency of three powers, which, if not discovered, were utilised in the last years of the eighteenth, and early years of the nineteenth century--steam, gas and electricity. in one series of the workshops of this same establishment, a considerable manufacture of genuine silver plate is carried on, and it is curious to find mechanics engaged in hammering out or chasing plate, using exactly the same tool that was employed in the fifteenth century, or perhaps in roman times. no improvement has, or, as it would appear, can be, effected; all superiority now, as then, depending on the workmen. a great deal of ornamental work, of a stereotype character, is done by stamping instead of chasing. the steel dies for this purpose form a very costly stock in trade. a single pair of dies for a sacramental cup will sometimes cost pounds. among the modern improvements, we must not fail to note the patent seamless teapots of britannia metal, and white metal, electrotyped--capital things for bachelors, the spouts are not likely to melt off on the hob. the show rooms of this establishment contain, in addition to the ordinary contents of a silversmith's shop, a number of exquisite copies in gold, silver, and bronze electro-plate of cups and vases of greek and etruscan execution, and of chased work by benvenuto cellini, and other master goldsmiths of the fifteenth century. the messrs. elkington have doubled their trade since the birmingham exhibition in , and there is reason to believe that, instead of displacing labour as was anticipated, this invention has increased the number and the wages of the parties employed. * * * * * the britannia metal manufacture is closely allied to the plate trade; an ingenious improvement, well worth examination, has recently been introduced by messrs. sturgis of broad street, by which teapots are cast whole, instead of having the spouts and handles soldered on. * * * * * the gilt toy and mock jewellery trade, once one of the staple employments of birmingham artizans, has dwindled away until it now occupies a very insignificant place in the directory. bad cheap articles, with neglect of novelty and taste in design, ruined it. in cheap rubbish foreigners can always beat us, but the birmingham gilt toy men made things "to sell" until no one would buy. * * * * * fox and henderson's manufactory.--the london works conducted by messrs. fox, henderson, and co., who have become known to all the world by their rapid and successful erection of the crystal palace, are situated at smethwick, about four miles from birmingham on the dudley road. they were established after the commencement of the london and birmingham railway, for the manufacture of iron and machinery required in the construction of railways. the shops, which are of large dimensions, are built in a quadrangle, enclosing a large area or open space, which is employed as a yard for material or finished goods as may be accidentally required. the first place into which the stranger is shown is called the truck shop, and will accommodate three hundred carriage builders and carpenters. adjoining it is the boiler makers' shop, or, more properly, a shop for workers in plate-iron, for boilers are not made in the establishment, but iron doors, navy casks, and wrought iron railway carriages are produced in this department. these shops form one side of the quadrangle. the forges, which are very numerous, occupy the first department of another side of the range of buildings. the forges, as is now usual, are supplied with air by the motion of a fan worked by the engine, and by the side of them many strong and stalwart arms are wielded with as much skill and ingenuity as distinguished some of the smiths of the middle ages. the mechanical engineering shops join the forges, and in them will be found many of those beautiful self-acting tools for which this age is so remarkable. there are drilling, planing, screwing, and slotting machines of various designs and adapted to different purposes, as well as numerous expensive and very perfect lathes. here the switches used for conducting trains from one line to another are made, as well as all kinds of machine work. connected with this is the turntable shop, which is, to a stranger, as interesting as any part of the establishment, from the magnitude of the machinery and the ease with which gigantic masses of iron are carried about by the traveller to and from the planing and other machines. the wheel shop, which is next visited, is chiefly used for the manufacture of railway carriage wheels, of which, as must be well known, there are many varieties. the foundry and anchor manufactory must not be omitted in an enumeration of the departments. the other two sides of the quadrangle are occupied by saw-pits, painters' shops, stores, offices, and all the conveniences required for carrying on a business which frequently gives employment to eleven or twelve hundred men. the reputation of messrs. fox, henderson, and co., has been long established among engineers for the construction of railway bridges, iron roofs, and works of a similar kind; but it has been made european, if not universal, by the rapidity and skill with which they have constructed the industrial exhibition. strangers, if introduced, are permitted to see the works. besides the manufactures we have enumerated and described, there are many others of more or less importance; and new inventions and the spur of enterprise are creating new manufactures in birmingham every day. there are manufacturers of steam-engines and other machinery, of stoves, grates, and other iron foundry. one firm (messrs. hardman iliffe) employs a great number of workmen in making every kind of church furniture, from the most approved mediaeval models and the designs of mr. pugin. another executes stained-glass windows. saddlery and harness, or parts of saddles and whips, employ a certain number of hands; and not only imitation but a good deal of real jewellery is made. there is one large and curious manufactory of gold chains. in a word, there is no town in the world in which the execution of work, however new or complex, in metal, wood, horn, or ivory, can be so certainly effected as in birmingham. there are not many merchants in birmingham, in the large sense of the term. the chief mercantile business is done by parties termed factors, who in effect are, if not actually, the agents of great merchants. these "factors" purchase what they need for their wholesale customers from the manufacturers. about , of the birmingham manufacturers are what are termed garret- masters; they work themselves, and employ a few hands. the "factor" buys as few as half-a-dozen tea-pots, or a hundred gross of pearl buttons, from these little men, until he makes up his number. his business partakes more of the character of retail than wholesale, and the grinding--technically slaughtering--system of the factors of birmingham has an unfavourable yankeefying effect on their character. the principal mercantile houses are in direct communication with american houses, if not actual partners or agents. a panic in new york finds an immediate echo in warwickshire and staffordshire, just as a fall or rise of cotton in new orleans is immediately felt in lancashire. it is worth observing, that in some instances great transactions are carried on with wonderfully little show in birmingham, and no state. we could not give a better instance of the difficulty of "judging by appearances" than in the following sketch from nature. there is a broad street of tall mean houses, which, except at the workmen's dinner hour, seems always empty. in this street is a large house of a dirty, faded appearance; the cobwebbed windows blocked up; the door with a broken knocker and a sad want of paint. it is evidently the ci-devant residence of a birmingham manufacturer of the old school, before the suburbs of edgbaston and handsworth sprang up, now turned into a warehouse or receptacle for lumber. as to apply to the front door would be useless, you turn up a dark passage at the side, and reach another dingy door, which gives way with a rattle at your touch, and closes with a rattle and a bang; passing through you ascend a flight of creaking deal stairs, and reach a suite of low rooms, about as imposing in appearance as a deserted printing-office. a few juvenile clerks--the very converse of the snug merchants' clerks of the city of london--are distributed about. a stranger would not give pounds for the furniture, capital, and credit, of the whole concern. and yet, in this strange place, is conducted a trade of many tens of thousands per annum, with branches in all the principal towns of germany, spain, portugal, south america, and british india! a rapid idea of the birmingham hardware trade may be obtained from the extensive show-rooms of messrs. herbert, in the bull-ring. if we have failed to do justice to any branch of manufacture, we have a very sufficient excuse in the difficulty we experienced in obtaining access to manufactories, or even information as to what was worth examination. health and education. after detailing at such length the material advantages of this interesting and important community, we should not be doing right if we did not present the reverse of the medal in certain drawbacks and deficiencies which seriously interfere with the prosperity and progress of "the hardware village." the birmingham public are so often in the habit of hearing from their favourite orators that they are the most intelligent, moral, and intellectual people in the world,--that their town is the healthiest, and their opinions the soundest, of any community in england, that it is not extraordinary if they overlook blots which are plain enough to a stranger. perhaps they are quite right; perhaps they are more honest, more sensible, more sound politicians, than any other british community. perhaps, too, they are cleaner, more sober, and better educated than the towns of a, b, and c; but, without entering into comparisons, which, in such cases, are of no practical benefit, we shall proceed to show that, with all their excellent industrious, intelligent, and ingenious qualities, the people of birmingham are much more dirty, drunken, and uneducated than they ought to be, considering that the town is in a very healthy situation; that the mass of the population is engaged in skilled employments, and that patriots, bearded and unbearded, are plentiful, who seem to have a great deal of influence, for good or evil. first, then, as to drunkenness, the great parent of british poverty and crime--drunkenness, which is a greater tax upon us than the national debt; let us see what share that has in the grievances of birmingham. it appears that in there were, including hotels, taverns, gin-shops, and beer-shops, altogether establishments for the supply of intoxicating liquors. the total number of houses in the borough being , , it results that in every houses one is a wine, beer, or spirit shop. that as the number of bakers' and chandlers' shops is only , there are more shops engaged in selling drink than in selling bread, and if only four persons be supposed to be supported by selling liquors, that will be more than twice as many as are engaged in the gun trade, viz., . or to put the calculation in another form, if we allow the sum of pounds per annum as the wages of the five thousand persons who live by the sale of intoxicating drinks, it will be found that the people of birmingham must expend at least a quarter of a million on wine, beer, and spirits. that too much is so expended is proved by the police returns, which show that out of persons taken into custody in , nearly half the offences arose from intoxication. in other respects, considering the population, the crime of birmingham is rather below than above average. it cannot be said that it is either a brutal or dishonest, but it is essentially a drunken town. the causes of the prevalence of this degrading vice are several, and may be traced out very clearly. metal work is hard and thirsty work, but it may be doubted whether what is really drunk while at work, or immediately after work, does harm. but it has long been, and still is, the habit of the mechanics in a number of trades, to make a holiday of monday; it has even a local name--it is called shackling day, "shackling" being a term which can be perfectly translated by the french verb, flaner. a shackler must drink, if not smoke. the more plentiful and pressing the work is, the more determined are the men engaged to make saint monday, and very often tuesday and wednesday also. the time so lost when trade is at high water, and the losses imposed on the manufacturer by the consequent non-fulfilment of contracts, eventually form a second drawback on the earnings of the workman, in addition to the day's wages lost, and the days' wages spent on "shackling days." secondly, it has been proved that a large percentage of the married women engaged in work factories are compelled so to work to support their families in consequence of the improvidence of their husbands. thirdly, in the same way children, from a very early age,--seven years, and even younger,--work in order to support their improvident parents. women engaged in work all day cannot keep comfortable houses for their husbands. an uncomfortable home drives a husband, no matter of what rank, to the tavern or the club. the custom of sending children to work from the time they can earn sixpence a-week, renders education impossible. in the evenings they are only fit to sleep: on sundays, in fine weather, the majority very naturally prefer walking in the fields to the dry task of acquiring knowledge, the value of which they are not sufficiently educated to appreciate. the effect of the want of education and the habit of idle mondays on the male population is sufficiently lamentable. a man who can neither read nor write, in addition to the abstract pleasure saxons have in drinking, finds an occupation and a substitute for ideas in a pot and pipe. the effect on the female population is even more baneful. they are so fully occupied that they have neither time to write, nor to cook, to read nor to sew, and they become wives and mothers with no better qualification for their important duties than girls educated in a fashionable school, without being able to obtain the assistance of servants and governesses. wives engaged in factories are obliged to leave their children to the care of strangers or elder children, themselves scarcely above the age of children. one consequence is, that according to the report of a committee of physicians and surgeons in : "the ratio of infant mortality in birmingham is very considerable, greatly exceeding that of the metropolis, and of the agricultural districts, though not as high as in some provincial towns." "severe burns and scalds, particularly the former, are so numerous, that in the general hospital two rooms are devoted for their reception." we have not been able to obtain any precise statistics of education among the operative classes; but we find that among criminals upwards of ninety per cent. are either totally or very imperfectly educated, and that of , young persons between the age of ten and fifteen engaged in manufacture, not more than , have an opportunity of education, except from sunday schools. in sunday schools the instruction is confined to reading the scriptures and religious books, except in the schools attached to the meeting-houses of the society of friends and the unitarians, the conductors of which have had the good sense to accommodate their plans to the peculiar wants of a manufacturing district. no general movement seems to have been attempted to correct this crying evil of infant employment and neglected education, none of the patriots, bearded or shaven, have ventured to exert their strong lungs in so unpopular a cause: it is so much easier to stand on your own dunghill and abuse the lord of the manor than to put on an apron and a cap, mix up the lime and water, and whitewash your own cottage. but several manufacturers have honourably distinguished themselves by beginning the work of reformation at home. mr. gillet, the pen manufacturer, whose work is principally done by females, admits no girls into his shops under thirteen; he makes ability to read indispensable, and gives a preference in obtaining employment to those who can write; and requires a certificate of regular attendance from a sunday school teacher. mr. winfield, who employs nearly five hundred hands, of whom few are women, established an evening school in , at a charge of a penny a week, for his own work people, in which reading, writing, arithmetic, english grammar, geography, and drawing, are taught, with occasional lectures on the principles of mechanics, natural philosophy, and history. a small library is attached to the school. "when the school was first established, it was remarked that scarcely a boy knew his companion except by a nickname, and that fights on entering and leaving school were of common occurrence. at present the practice of nicknames has disappeared, and a fight does not take place once in three months. "the proceedings of the evening commenced with a hymn. an orphan boy, fourteen years of age, a self-taught musician, placed himself before a small organ, provided by mr. winfield, and played the evening hymn. all the boys accompanied him with their voices, and sang very creditably; after this they were formed into their usual classes. "the school labours under great disadvantages; the hours of attendance are not sufficiently long; even these few hours are infringed on when trade is brisk, and the men, working over-hours, require the boys to assist them; and from physical exhaustion of the boys after the labour of the day, they sometimes fall asleep over their books. "a hymn is sung, a prayer said, and the bible read without comment, no catechism or doctrinal point is introduced. the school includes the sons of people of the church of england, roman catholics, wesleyans, presbyterians, and unitarians." messrs. peyton & barlow, metal-bedstead makers, mr. bacchus, glass-maker, mr. middlemore, currier, and messrs. chance, glassmakers, have also established schools for the parties in their employ. mr. william chance is an earnest philanthropist; he has established a ragged school, at his own expense, in birmingham, open to all, and at his works in spon lane, west bromwich, one school for his workmen alone, and another open to the neighbourhood. the first school, in spon lane, is divided into three departments, for infants, for girls, and for boys. a weekly charge of d. is made, for which books and stationery are provided; punctual attendance and cleanliness are conditions insisted upon. the number of scholars, of whom one-third are from messrs. chance's works, has steadily increased from the time of opening. the boys are instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and the elements of drawing. the girls are taught plain needlework instead of drawing. no catechism is taught, but the bible is read without comment. one- half are the children of parents in communion with the church of england, and the other half of dissenters. in it contained boys, girls, and infants. it is difficult to rate too highly the advantage the operative classes obtain from the preliminary training afforded by infant schools. but infant schools are useless, if the education is to cease at seven years old. the other school is strictly confined to the boys and men employed in the glass works. it opened july, , with scholars, all boys from twelve years of age, before which none are admitted into the manufactory. by degrees the men, at first deterred by shame, began to attend, and at present a considerable number avail themselves of the advantage for commencing or extending the imperfect education they had obtained at sunday schools. these schools are not self-supporting, but are found, even in a commercial point of view, to repay the philanthropic firm by whom they have been founded and supported. the birmingham free and industrial school, founded in by the energetic exertions of the hon. and rev. grantham yorke, rector of st. philip, includes a day school for boys and girls above seven years of age; two industrial classes; and an asylum for deserted and orphans. the scholars are not of the class to which we are specially calling attention. we shall, therefore, content ourselves with mentioning the existence of such a school for the refuse population of this large town. the deficient education of the working classes, consequent on unregulated infant labour, would alone be sufficient to account for the prevalence of the idle custom of losing at least one day every week in busy times, and the drinking habits, which are a blot upon a population of superior intelligence. but a still more demoralizing influence exists in the state of the dwellings of the working classes in birmingham, which, although at first sight very attractive in appearance, forming neat courts of cottages, compared with the crowded lodging-houses of many manufacturing towns, are, nevertheless, lamentably deficient in two essentials for health and decency, viz., efficient drainage, and a sufficient supply of wholesome water. in two thousand courts, inhabited by fifty thousand people, the supply of water is either obtained at great loss of time from wells, often dirty, sometimes fetid, or purchased at an extravagant rate from itinerant water- carriers. a private water company exists, but has scarcely been called upon at all to supply the houses of the working classes. under these circumstances, with a clean external appearance, the filth in which fifty thousand people live seems to be only understood by the local medical inspectors, whose reports have hitherto produced so little effect, it is not extraordinary that after long hours of toil, the inhabitants fly to the bright saloons of gin shops, and the snug tap-rooms of beer shops. we have dwelt thus at length upon the moral, and educational, and sanitary shortcomings of a town which can, no doubt, draw comparisons, very much to its own advantage, with other manufacturing district towns, because birmingham is in a position to set an example, to lead the way in an all- important reform without consulting the opinions of the ministers or the parliament of the day. birmingham may, if it pleases, go far toward affording every working man the means of drinking and washing in an ample supply of clean water, of living in a well-drained cottage, and of sending his children to school for two hours every day, without waiting for the decision of parliament upon all the crotchets of the chartists, or plans of the financial reform association. pity it is that none of the well-applauded brummagem patriots have pluck enough to battle a little unpopularity in so honest a cause. but clap-trap costs less trouble than work, and gets more cheers. it is the misfortune of birmingham to be sacrificed to the disagreements of two rival factions, one calling itself conservative, and the other radical, both filling the pockets and doing the work of lawyers at the expense of the ratepayers. nothing can be done until the municipal corporation obtains the powers now vested in several sets of virtually irresponsible commissioners. when these wars of the pots and kettles are ended, the ratepayers will be able to turn their undivided attention to local reforms without having their minds distracted by those little legal squabbles, under cover of which business is neglected, and pockets are picked. it is to be hoped that the session of will settle this point. the whole kingdom is interested in the good government and prosperity of its greatest inland town. { } warwick, leamington, kenilworth, stratford on avon. before leaving birmingham, it will be convenient to say something about warwick, leamington, kenilworth, and stratford on avon, of which the one is the assize town, another the watering place, and the third and fourth the antiquarian or rather romantic lions of the county in which birmingham stands first, for wealth, population, manufacturing, and political importance. warwick, in spite of its parliamentary, municipal, and assize honours, would soon be as much forgotten as a hundred other dull little country towns, without local trade or local attractions, if it were not for the castle, the church, and the river, which, in connection with striking epochs in england's history, will ever render it a favourite pilgrimage. after being destroyed by the danes, warwick was restored by ethelfreda, the daughter of alfred the great, who built a fort there, a.d. . at domesday survey it was a borough, and contained houses, of which belonged to the king. members were sent to parliament in the time of edward i., when also the paving of the town and the erection of a wall round it were commenced. in the time of philip and mary, the first charter of incorporation was granted. the town stands on the west side of the river avon,--shakspeare's avon, from which it is separated by warwick castle and grounds. it was formerly a little county metropolis, many of the families of rank and fortune had winter residences there; the warwick balls were frequented by a select and exclusive set; a small theatre was well supported, and few races assembled more distinguished company than used to throng the warwick course once a year, in family coaches and four-in-hands. all this grandeur has departed, leamington has absorbed the wealth and fashion of warwick, the town mansions have fallen into plebeian hands, the theatre has ceased to be a training school for the london boards, the streets are silent except when a little temporary bustle is produced by an influx of birmingham attorneys, their clients, and witnesses, at the assizes, of stout agriculturists and holiday labourers on "fair days," or the annual "mop," when an ox is roasted whole, and lads and lasses of rosy rural breed range themselves along the pavement to be hired, or at the races twice a year, when, although the four horses with postilions and outriders are seldom seen, railroads from a distance, and leamington from close at hand, pour a variegated stream of sightseers and gamblers on one of the prettiest pieces of ground in england. warwick has no manufactures, but, being a borough very evenly balanced between the two contending political parties, its inhabitants have enjoyed a fuller share of the favours of government than has fallen to the lot of towns of more commercial importance. warwick stands on solid rock, in which the cellars are excavated; and this circumstance, added to its position on the top of a hill, renders it particularly dry and clean. there are several excellent inns, supported by the surrounding' farmers, which are much to be preferred to more fashionable hotels. the roast geese to be found at the farmers' ordinaries on market days about michaelmas time, are worthy of commendation; and the farmers themselves, being of a jovial and hospitable turn of mind, render these dinners pleasanter to a stranger who can dine at an unfashionable hour, than the eternal "anything you please, sir; steak or chop, sir," in a solitary box, which haunts us for our sins in the coffee-rooms of english hotels. warwick deserves a long journey, if it were only for the sake of the fine woodland scenery which surrounds it for ten miles, but the castle is the especial object of attraction,--a castle which realizes almost more than any other those romantic ideas of a feudal abode which were first put into circulation by the "castle of otranto," and became part of the education of our youth under the influence of the genius of sir walter scott. the castle rises upon the brink of the river, which foams past over the weir of an ancient mill, where once the inhabitants of the borough were bound by feudal service to grind all their corn. the best approach is from the leamington lower road, over a bridge of one arch, built by a late earl of warwick. caesar's and guy's towers rise into sight from a surrounding grove. the entrance is through an arched gateway, past a lodge, where the relics of earl guy, the dun cow slayer, are preserved; and a winding avenue cut in solid rock effects a sort of surprise, which, as the castle comes again suddenly into view, is very pleasing. the exterior realizes a baronial abode of the fourteenth or fifteenth century; the interior has been modernized sufficiently to be made comfortable, still retaining many striking features of its ancient state. a closely cropped green sward covers the quadrangle, which was formerly the tilting ground. the date of caesar's tower, the oldest part of the building, is uncertain. guy's tower, of the latter part of the fourteenth century, is in fine preservation. the great entrance hall, a grand old room sixty-two feet by thirty-seven, is adorned with armour and other appurtenances to feudal state. at a great fire-place with fire dogs, room might be found for a cartload of faggots. a suite of rooms, commanding views of delightful scenery, are adorned with ancient tapestry, armour, and pictures by rubens, vandyke, velasquez, and other eminent painters. among the portraits are ignatius loyola, the founder of the jesuits, prince rupert, and charles i. on horseback, by vandyke. hours may be profitably and agreeably spent in investigating the treasures of warwick castle. the grounds, although not extensive, are picturesquely arranged; in one of the greenhouses, the warwick vase, an antique celebrated for its size and beauty, will be found. the numerous copies in various materials, but especially in metals, cast in birmingham, have rendered the form of this relic of classic art well known. after the castle, st. mary's church must be visited for its beautiful chapel with altar tomb, on which lies prostrate in humble prayer the effigy of richard beauchamp, earl of warwick, styled "the good." this beauchamp was regent of france in , during the absence of the duke of bedford, and carried on the war there with signal success. he was afterwards governor of the infant king, henry vi. while a second time ruling over france, he died at rouen on the th april, . it was the daughter of the good earl who married richard nevil, created, on succeeding to the warwick estates through his wife, earl of warwick, known as "the king maker;" a grand character in shakspeare's henry vi., and the hero of sir bulwer lytton's "last of the barons." then there is leicester hospital, founded in the time of richard ii., as two guilds, in honour of the virgin and st. george the martyr, which, after the reformation, was re-established under its present name by queen elizabeth's favourite, robert dudley, earl of leicester, as an almshouse for a master and twelve brethren, "being impotent or infirm men." these last have been, in consequence of the improved value of the trust-funds, increased to twenty, and receive each an allowance of pounds per annum: the master has pounds. the buildings of this charity consist of a quadrangle, formed by the brethren's lodgings and public kitchen, of a chapel of ancient architecture over the west gate of the town, and an ancient hall. previous to the reform bill, the influence of the warwick family returned two members for the borough of warwick: since that period they have as yet only returned one; but, in the absence of the countervailing influence of any manufactures, it seems likely that a popular earl, of whatever politics, would be able to resume the ancient influence of the house, and again return two. * * * * * leamington, about two miles distant, may be reached by two turnpike roads and a pleasant footpath; the distance of all being about two miles. mineral waters, fashion, a clever physician, the warwickshire hounds, the surplus capital of birmingham, speculative builders, and excellent sanitary regulations have contributed to the rapid rise of this picturesque and fashionable watering-place; in what proportions it would be difficult to say. the waters, which resemble mild epsom salts, first brought the village into notice in , although the existence of mineral springs at leamington priory had been recorded by camden and dugdale. in people drank harder than they do now, read less, played cards more, were altogether "faster," and had more need of purifying waters and pump-room amusements. a long war shut out our idlers from the continent, and created an additional demand for our native mineral produce. at a later period the talents of dr. jephson attracted an army of invalids and would-be invalids; sir walter scott's novels brought kenilworth and warwick castle into fashion, just as garrick, like a second peter the hermit, preached up a pilgrimage to stratford-on- avon. so land-jobbers and builders rushed to prepare tempting abodes for the armies of the sick, the sporting, and the romantic, who gathered round the springs. although the beautiful stone which has made bath the queen of watering- places, was not to be had, the materials for roman cement, then lately invented, were plentiful. with these aids the town authorities had the good sense to enforce cleanliness, and all manner of rules for making the streets fit for the lounging promenades of the well-dressed. water-carts and brooms were kept in active employment; beggars and dust-heaps were under the eye of a vigilant police. the result was, that at the expense of many ruined builders and speculators, leamington grew from a pretty village into a fine town, peopled not only by invalids in the water-drinking season, and sportsmen in the winter season, but by a number of permanent residents of independent fortune, of all ranks between retired manufacturers and irish peers. attached to the manufacturing districts, it has become what brighton is to the london stock exchange. as hunting quarters, leamington is convenient for men with few horses, as the meets are near and the railways convenient. an ill-natured opinion prevails that the scarlet coat is more worn there by fortune-hunters than fox-hunters, and that the tailor is a person of more importance with the majority of the field than the huntsman; but this story probably originates in the number of carriages full of pretty faces to be found at the cover sides round leamington. the country cannot be compared with northamptonshire or leicestershire, or even oxfordshire. the farmers are better sportsmen than agriculturists. warwickshire landlords think more of the politics of their tenants, than of their intelligence or capital. great improvements have, however, been effected within the last ten years, and we must not forget to mention that the birmingham agricultural and poultry show, which is the finest local exhibition in the kingdom, draws a great many of its exhibitors from this county. leamington, long without direct railway communication, is now wrapped up between the broad-gauge and the narrow-gauge, like a hare in a bottle-spit. the opening of the line to rugby affords a new short way to london. the population will henceforward increase at the expense of its gentility, but the police and sanitary arrangements before alluded to, will always make leamington a favourite with invalids, hypochondriacs, and flaneurs. the multiplicity of these railroads compels us to abandon the plan of describing, as we pass, the more celebrated towns, mansions, or castles, because it would be impossible to follow out such a zig-zag of topography. it is better to take it for granted that the traveller will stop at certain places, and from them make excursions to everything worth seeing in the neighbourhood. in this manner, as birmingham gave occasion for an examination into the leading manufactures, we presume that leamington will be the best central encampment for a survey of everything within a circle of ten miles interesting to the antiquarian, the historian, the artist, the poet, the agriculturist, and the happy beings who have a taste for all these pursuits. the number of interesting places within an easy walk or drive of leamington, forms one of its great advantages as a watering place. either on foot or in a carriage (and leamington is extremely well provided with carriages for hire), warwick castle, or stratford-on-avon, or guy's cliff, and kenilworth, or stoneleigh abbey, may be visited in the course of a day, or part of a day. the detailed beauties of these places will be found fully set forth in county histories and local guides. a brief reference, sufficient to enable a traveller to make up a plan of campaign, will be all we shall attempt. * * * * * stoneleigh abbey, the residence of lord leigh, is noticeable for its fine woodland scenery,--splendid oaks adorn the park, and as having been the subject of a series of very extraordinary trials at the suit of claimants of the estate and ancient title. the true heirs of this estate have never been discovered; many claimants have successively appeared, and endeavoured to prop up their claims by extraordinary fabrications of evidence. for instance, a certain tombstone, bearing inscriptions of great importance, was not only described and sworn to by a cloud of witnesses, as having been at a certain year in stoneleigh church, but other witnesses, with equal circumstantiality, related how, on a particular occasion, this said tombstone was taken down and destroyed. and yet, it was clearly proved before the house of lords that no such tombstone ever existed. the present family are now secure in the estates under the statute of limitations, but the late peer, up to a short period before the old title was revived in his favour, occupied stoneleigh as a trustee, as it were, for want of a better claimant. in the incidents of the leigh peerage, are the materials of half-a-dozen romances. * * * * * guy's cliff--where guy, earl of warwick, and slayer of the dun cow, lived and died as a hermit, fed daily by his countess, little knowing whom she fed--is situated on the banks of the avon, about a mile from warwick, on the high road to kenilworth, and may also be approached by footpaths across the fields leading to the same village. the pictures of guy's cliff have been extravagantly praised, but the natural and artificial beauties of its gardens and pleasure grounds constitute its chief attraction. for, says dugdale, it is "a place of so great delight in respect to the river gliding below the rock, the dry wholesome situation, and the fair grove of lofty elms overshadowing it, that to one who desireth a retired life, either for his devotions or study, the like is hardly to be found." what dugdale said two hundred years ago may truly be repeated now, especially in a warm autumn or summer evening, when the click of a water-mill adds sound to the pleasure to be derived from the thick shade of the lofty trees overhead, mossy turf under the feet, and the sight of flowing water. henry v. visited this hermitage; and shakspeare, on what authority we know not, is said to have frequented it. * * * * * kenilworth follows guy's cliff, once a retired country village of one street, one church, and one inn, now vulgarized by being made the site of a railway station. at the risk of offending the kenilworthians, we strongly advise the romantic youths and maidens inspired by sir walter scott's romance not to visit the ruins, which, although an excellent excuse and pleasant situation for a picnic, have nothing romantic about them beyond grey walls. the woods and waters which formed so important a part of the scenery during queen elizabeth's visit, have disappeared, as well as all the stately buildings. at the same time, imagination will go a long way, and it may not be a day ill spent after reading laleham's "princely pleasures of kenilworth," in which he describes what he himself saw when queen elizabeth visited the earl of leicester there in , to journey over, especially if accompanied by a cold collation, including a salad of the avon crawfish, and a little iced punch. it would be still better for good pedestrians to walk the distance by the fields and push on to the inn for refreshment, without which all tame scenery is so very flat. in the sublimity of the alps, the pyrenees, or even the great highland hills, a man may forget his dinner; but, when within the verge of the horizon church-towers and smoking chimneys of farm-houses continually occur, visions of fat, brown, sucking pigs, rashers of ham and boiled fowls, with foaming tankards, will intrude unbidden after an hour or two of contemplation. * * * * * stratford on avon, with shottery, where ann hathaway was courted by shakspeare and charlecote, the residence of the sir thomas lucy whom the poet immortalised as justice shallow, are all within ten miles of leamington. on all these so much has been written that we will not venture to "pile up the agony" any higher. the best companion on the road to stratford is charles knight's life of shakspeare, which colours all the scenes of the poet's life in warwickshire with the atmosphere of the sixteenth century, and summons to meet us in the streets of stratford costumes and characters contemporary with falstaff, shallow, and dogberry so well, that we do not see the clods in corduroys, the commercial gents in paletots, and the police in trim blue, whom we really meet. [the avon viaduct: ill .jpg] soho. watt, boulton, murdoch. on leaving birmingham, the railway almost immediately passes from warwickshire into staffordshire, through two parishes, handsworth and aston, which, presenting nothing picturesque in natural scenery or remarkable in ancient or modern buildings, with one exception, yet cannot be passed over without notice, because they were residences of three remarkable men, to whom we are largely indebted for our use of the inventions which have most contributed to the civilisation and advance of social comfort in the nineteenth century. two miles from old birmingham, now part of the modern town, lies soho, in the suburb of handsworth, which, in , was a bleak and barren heath. in that year matthew boulton, the son of a wealthy birmingham hardwareman, purchased soho, and erected on it a mansion, with pleasure grounds, and a series of workshops, for carrying on the then staple trades of the town, in shoe buckles, buttons, and other articles included in the general title of "toys." in , boulton entered into partnership with james watt, and commenced, in concert with him, the experiments in which watt had been for some years engaged for improving savary's imperfect steam-pumping engine. after years of the concentrated labour of genius of the highest order, and the expenditure of not less than , pounds, their success was complete, and watt's inventions, in the words of lord jeffrey, rendered the steam engine "capable of being applied to the finest and most delicate manufactures, and its power so increased, as to set weight and solidity at defiance. by his admirable contrivances, it became a thing stupendous alike for its force and its applicability, for the prodigious power it can exert, and the ease and precision, and ductility with which that power can be varied, distributed, and applied. the trunk of an elephant that can pick up a pin or rend an oak, is as nothing to it. it can engrave a seal, and crush masses of obdurate metal like wax before it; draw out, without breaking, a thread as fine as gossamer, and lift a ship of war like a bauble in the air. it can embroider muslin, and forge anchors, cut steel into ribands, and impel loaded vessels against the fury of the winds and waves." the march of death and time have removed all the men who were engaged in assisting james watt and matthew boulton in their great works. the numerous mechanical trades in coining, plating, and other birmingham manufactures, in addition to the construction of steam engines, which first turned the waste of soho into the largest workshop in europe, have passed into other hands, and been transplanted. the manufactory of steam engines, removed to another site, still exists under the name of the old firm; but within a very recent period the pleasure grounds in which james watt often walked, in earnest converse with the partner to whose energetic and appreciative mind he owed so much, have been invaded by the advances of the neighbouring town, and sliced and divided into building lots. aston hall and park must soon suffer the same fate. [aston viaduct: ill .jpg] very soon there will be no vestiges of the homes of these great men, but they need no monuments, no shrines for the reverence of admiring pilgrims. every manufactory in the town of birmingham is a monument of the genius which first fully expanded within the precincts of soho. thousands on thousands find bread from inventions there first perfected or suggested. when watt explained to smeaton, the architect of eddystone lighthouse and the greatest engineer of the day, the plan of his steam engine, he doubted whether mechanics could be found capable of executing the different parts with sufficient precision; and, in fact, in , when watt produced, under the patronage of dr. roebuck, his third model, with a cylinder of block tin eighteen inches in diameter, there were only one or two men capable of giving the requisite truth of workmanship to air-pump cylinders of two inches in diameter. at the present day, as before observed in reference to wolverton, there are thousands of skilled workmen employed at weekly wages, to whom the most difficult problems of watt's early experiments are familiar handiwork. at handsworth, too, working for a long life in the soho manufactories as the servant, confidential assistant, and friend, lived another remarkable man, william murdoch, the inventor of illumination by gas, and the author of the first locomotive steam engine, and of several important contributions to practical science, to which justice has scarcely been done. william murdoch employed coal gas so early as , for the purpose of lighting his house and offices at redruth, in cornwall, when he was superintending the pumping engines erected there by messrs. boulton and watt; for it was he who erected for them in that district the first cornish pumping engine, with separate condenser. he had at that time in regular use a portable gas lantern, formed by filling a bladder with gas, and fixing to it a jet, which was attached to the bottom of a glass lantern, which he used for the purpose of lighting himself home at night across the moors from the mining engines. his locomotive engine, made upon the non-condensing principle (since adopted in all engines for that purpose), was constructed, in consequence of a lameness which confined him to the sofa, and set to work at redruth in . it is still in existence in perfect working order, and was exhibited before a meeting of the mechanical engineers at birmingham, in the year , when a memoir of mr. murdoch was read, which has been kindly forwarded to us by the president, john m'connell, esq., c.e. it is among the traditions of redruth, that one night william murdoch, wishing to try an experiment with his new invention, lighted the lamp under the boiler, and set it a-going on a narrow, smooth, hard-rolled gravel walk leading to the church, a mile distant. the little engine went off at a great pace, whistling and hissing as it went, and the inventor followed as fast as he could in chase. soon he heard cries of alarm, horror, despair, and came up to the worthy clergyman of the parish cowering up against the hedge, almost in a fainting fit, under a strong impression that it was the evil one in person who just hissed past him in a fire-flaught. those of this generation who remember their first encounter with a locomotive in a dark night, can realize the terror of a country clergyman on encountering so strange an apparition in a night walk. it speaks as highly for messrs. boulton and watt, in whose service he passed all the active years of his life, as for mr. murdoch, that on leaving cornwall, he refused pounds a-year, which was offered him by the mining adventurers to remain in the county, in charge of the steam-pumping engines. liberal as the offer seems, it would have paid them well, for on his departure the engines lost twenty-five per cent. of their working power. handsworth church, near soho, contains a marble statue of james watt, by chantrey, a copy of that erected in westminster abbey. the railway passes aston hall, where james watt and his only surviving son lived until his death a few years ago. the park contains some fine trees, and the house is a good specimen of the domestic architecture of the time of elizabeth. [aston hall: ill .jpg] it was sold for a trifling sum, with an imperfect title, which time has cured, to a speculating banker; and, after having been let to the late james watt on a long lease, is now likely to exchange mansion and park for a congeries of cottages in rows, forming forty-shilling freeholders. the passion which the mechanics of birmingham have for investing in land has rendered land near that town dearer than in parallel situations near london. the black country. walsall, dudley, wednesbury, darlaston. the first diverging railway after leaving handsworth, on the road to the north, is what, for want of a better name, is called the south staffordshire, which connects birmingham with dudley, walsall, lichfield, and tamworth, thus uniting the most purely agricultural with the most thoroughly manufacturing districts, and especially with that part of the great coal-field which is locally known as the "black country." in this black country, including west bromwich, wednesbury, dudley, and darlaston, bilston, wolverhampton, and several minor villages, a perpetual twilight reigns during the day, and during the night fires on all sides light up the dark landscape with a fiery glow. the pleasant green of pastures is almost unknown, the streams, in which no fishes swim, are black and unwholesome; the natural dead flat is often broken by huge hills of cinders and spoil from the mines; the few trees are stunted and blasted; no birds are to be seen, except a few smoky sparrows; and for miles on miles a black waste spreads around, where furnaces continually smoke, steam-engines thud and hiss, and long chains clank, while blind gin-horses walk their doleful round. from time to time you pass a cluster of deserted roofless cottages of dingiest brick, half-swallowed up in sinking pits or inclining to every point of the compass, while the timbers point up like the ribs of a half-decayed corpse. the majority of the natives of this tartarian region are in full keeping with the scenery--savages, without the grace of savages, coarsely clad in filthy garments, with no change on week-days and sundays, they converse in a language belarded with fearful and disgusting oaths, which can scarcely be recognized as the same as that of civilized england. on working days few men are to be seen, they are in the pits or the ironworks, but women are met on the high-road clad in men's once white linsey-woolsey coats and felt hats, driving and cursing strings of donkeys laden with coals or iron rods for the use of the nailers. on certain rare holidays these people wash their faces, clothe themselves in decent garments, and, since the opening of the south staffordshire railway, take advantage of cheap excursion trains, go down to birmingham to amuse themselves and make purchases. it would be a useful lesson for any one who is particularly well satisfied with the moral, educational, and religious state of his countrymen, to make a little journey through this black country. he will find that the amiable enthusiasts who meet every may at exeter hall to consider on the best means of converting certain aboriginal tribes in africa, india, and the islands of the pacific, need not go so far to find human beings more barbarous and yet much more easily reclaimed. the people of this district are engaged in coal-mining, in ironworks, in making nails, and many other articles, or parts of articles, for the birmingham trade. their wages are, for the most part, good; fuel is cheap; well supplied markets, and means of obtaining the best clothing are close at hand. but, within sixty years a vast dense population has been collected together in districts which were but thinly inhabited as long as the value lay on the surface, instead of in the bowels of the earth. the people gathered together and found neither churches, nor schools, nor laws, nor customs, nor means for cleanliness at first, nor even an effective police to keep order. and thus they became one of the most ignorant, brutal, depraved, drunken, unhealthy populations in the kingdom, unless it be a set of people in the same occupations in the neighbourhood of manchester. we shall never forget, some five-and-twenty years ago, passing near bilston on a summer's holiday, and seeing a great red, pied bull foaming, and roaring, and marching round a ring in which he was chained, while a crowd of men, each with a demoniacal-looking bulldog in his arms, and a number of ragged women, with their hair about their ears, some of them also carrying bull-dog pups, yelled about the baited bull. it gave us an awful fright, and haunted our childish dreams for years after. the first change forced upon the governing classes, by feelings of self- protection was an organized police, and the "black" people are now more disgusting than dangerous. the cholera of , which decimated bilston and wednesbury, did something toward calling attention to the grievous social and sanitary wants of this district. in that pestilence several clergymen and medical men died, like heroes, in the discharge of their duties. some churches were built, some schools established; but an immense work remains to be done. bull-baiting has been put down, but no rational amusements have been substituted for that brutal and exciting sport. in the northern coal fields, near newcastle-on-tyne especially, we have noticed that when the miner ascends from the pit in the evening, his first care is to wash himself from head to foot, and then to put on a clean suit of white flannel. as you pass along the one street of a pitman's village, you will see the father reading a chambers' journal or a cheap religious magazine at the door of his cottage while smoking a pipe, and nursing a child or two on his knee; and through the open door, a neat four-post bed and an oak or mahogany chest of drawers bear witness to his frugality. in wednesbury, bilston, and all that district, when work is over you find the men drinking in their dirty clothes and with grimy faces at the beer-shop of the "buttey," that is to say, the contractor or middleman under whom they work, according to the system of the country, and the women hanging about the doors of their dingy dwellings, gossiping or quarreling,--the old furies and the young slatterns. in the face of such savagery, so evidently the result of defective education, two opposite and extreme parties in the state, the anti-church mialls and the pro-church anthony denisons, combine to oppose the multiplication of education that teaches decency if it teaches nothing else. one great step has been made by the health of town's act, which is about to be applied to some of these coal towns; and railways have rendered the whole district so accessible that no foul spot can long remain unknown or unnoticed. * * * * * walsall, eight miles from birmingham, the first town in our way, which may be reached directly by following the south staffordshire, or by an omnibus, travelling half-a-mile from bescot bridge, lies among green fields, out of the bounds of the mining country, although upon the edge of the warwickshire and staffordshire coalfield,--indeed the parliamentary borough includes part of the rough population just described. it is very clean, without antiquities or picturesque beauties, and contains nothing to attract visitors except its manufactures, of which the best known is cheap saddlery for the american, west indian, and australian markets. they make the leather and wooden parts, as well as stirrups and bridles; also gunlocks, bits, spurs, spades, hinges, screws, files, edge tools, and there is one steel-pen manufactory, besides many articles connected with the birmingham trade, either finished or unfinished, the number of which is constantly increasing. walsall is celebrated for its pig-market, a celebrity which railroads have not destroyed, as was expected, but rather increased. special arrangements for comfortably disembarking these, the most interesting strangers who visit walsall, have been made at the railway station. the principal church, with a handsome spire, stands upon a hill, and forms a landmark to the surrounding country. the ascent to it, by a number of steps, has, according to popular prejudice, produced an effect upon the legs of the inhabitants more strengthening than elegant, which has originated the provincial phrase of "walsall-legged." but this is, no doubt, a libel on the understandings of the independent borough. the houses are chiefly built of brick, but it seems as if some years ago the inhabitants had been seized with an architectural disease, which has left its marks in the shape of an eruption of stucco porticoes, and one or two pretensious mansions, externally resembling jails or infirmaries, internally boasting halls which bear the same proportion to the living rooms as falstaff's gallon of sack to his halfpennyworth of bread. no doubt there are persons whom this style of house exactly suits, the portico represents their pride, the parlour their economy. what was intended for the walsall public library consists of a thin closet behind a gigantic ionic portico, now tottering to its fall; and in like manner a perfectly dungeon-like effect has been given to the principal hotel by another portico, which affords a much better idea of the charges than of the accommodation to be found within. as a general rule in travelling, we pass by all hotels with porticoes to take refuge in more modest green dragons or blue boars. walsall has a municipal corporation of six aldermen and eighteen councillors. the reform bill, to increase the troubles of this innocent borough, placed it in schedule b, and gave it the privilege of making one m.p. fierce contests at every general election have been the result, in which some blood, much money, and more beer, have been expended. but neither party has thought it worth while to make the education of the savages of the black country a piece of politics, and, if any one did, he would only be torn to pieces between church and dissenters. * * * * * dudley in worcestershire, about six miles from walsall by the south staffordshire railway, has a castle and more than one legend for the antiquarian, a cave, and limestone pits full of fossils for the geologist, and especial interest for the historical economist, being the centre of the district where the first successful attempts were made to smelt iron by coal,--a process which has contributed, almost as much as our success in textile manufactures, to give this small island a wealth and power which a merely agricultural non-exporting community could never have attained. iron was manufactured with charcoal in england from the time of the romans till the middle of the eighteenth century, when the timber of many counties had been entirely exhausted by the process. in , in the reign of elizabeth, it was enacted that "no timber of the breadth of one foot square at the stub, and growing within fourteen miles of the sea, or any part of the river thames or severn, or any other river, creek, or stream, by the which carriage is commonly used by boat or other vessel, to any part of the sea, shall be converted to coal, or fuel for making iron;" { a} and, in , a further act was passed to prevent the destruction of timber. "for remedy whereof it was enacted that no new iron works should be erected within twenty-two miles of london nor within fourteen miles of the river thames, nor in the several parts of sussex near the sea therein named. this act not to extend to the woods of christopher durrell, in the parish of newdigate, within the weald of surrey, which woods have been coppiced by him for the use of his iron works in those parts." at the same period, we find from a letter in the stradling correspondence, { b} that, while iron was made in surrey, sussex, and kent, where not a pound is now manufactured, in glamorganshire, at present a great seat of iron manufacture, iron was so scarce that an anvil was leased out at the rent of s. d. a year, { } a rent at which, taking the then value of money, a very tolerable anvil could now be purchased. when the woods of the kingdom began to be exhausted, attention was turned to pit coal, which had long been in use for fuel in the counties where it was plentifully found. a curious account of the first successful experiments is to be found, told in very quaint language, in the metallum martis of dudley dudley, son of lord edward dudley (an ancestor of the late earl dudley and ward, and of the present lord ward, who now enjoys the very estates referred to, and derives a princely income from the mineral treasures, the true value of which was discovered by his unfortunate ancestor), published in the reign of charles ii. this mr. dudley was an early victim of the patent laws, which, to this day, have proved to be for the benefit of lawyers and officials, and the tantalization of true inventors and discoverers. the following extracts contain his story, and enable us to compare the present with the then state of iron manufacture:-- "having former knowledge and delight in ironworks of my father's when i was but a youth, afterwards, at twenty years old, was i fetched from oxford, then of baliol college, anno , to look after and manage three ironworks of my father's, one furnace and two forges in the chace of pensnel, in worcestershire; but wood and charcoal growing very scanty, and pit-coals in great quantities abounding near the furnace, did induce me to alter my furnace and to attempt by my new invention, the making of iron with pit-coal, and found at my trial or blast, facere est addere inventioni. after i had proved by a second blast and trial, the feasibility of making iron with pit- coal and sea-coal, i found by my new invention the quality good and profitable, but the quantity did not exceed above three tons a week." after this, the inventor obtained a patent from king james i., for thirty-one years in the nineteenth year of his reign. "but the year following the grant there was so great a flood of rain,--to this day called the great may-day flood,--that it ruined the author's ironworks and inventions, and at a market town called sturbridge, in comitatu wigorniae, one resolute man was carried from the bridge in the day time." "as soon as the author had repaired his works, he was commanded to send all sorts of bar iron up to the tower of london, fit for making of muskets and carbines, { } and the iron being so tried by artists and smiths, that the ironmasters and ironmongers who had complained that the author's iron was not merchantable, were silenced until the twenty-first of king james." "at the then parliament all monopolies were made null, and divers of the ironmeasters endeavoured to bring the invention of making iron with pit-coal within the compass of a monopoly; but the lord dudley and the author did prevail, yet the patent was limited to continue but fourteen years." this exception in the statute of monopolies, which incontestably proves the claim of the dudley family to the honour of having invented the art of smelting iron with coal, runs in the following terms:--"provided also that this act shall not extend to, or be prejudicial to, a graunt or priviledge for the melting of iron ewer, and of maling the same into sea coals or pit coals, by his majesties letters patent under the great seale of england, made or graunted to edward lord dudley." after the passing of the act, it seems that dudley dudley made "great store of iron and sold it at pounds a ton, and also cast-iron wares, as brewing cisterns, pots, mortars;" but, being ousted of his works, he again set up a furnace at "himley, in the county of stafford." himley hall is the present residence of lord ward, the representative of the dudley family. from that time forward, the life of the unfortunate inventor was but one series of misfortunes. under charles i. he got into law-suits, was the victim of riots set on by the charcoal ironmasters, and was eventually lodged in prison in the compter. then came the great rebellion, during which he had the disadvantage of being a royalist as well as an inventor, and of having "cromwell, with major wildman and many of his officers, as opponents in rival experiments tried in the forest of dean, where they employed an ingenious glassmaster, edward dagney, an italian then living in bristow," but they failed. and so he was utterly ruined. on the accession of charles ii., he petitioned, and eventually sent in the statement from which the preceding extracts have been made, but apparently without any success. the king was too busy making dukes and melting the louis d'ors of his french pension, to think of anything so common as iron or so tiresome as gratitude. the iron manufacture, for want of the art of smelting by coal, and of a supply of wood, which the march of agriculture daily diminished, dwindled away, until, in the middle of the eighteenth century, it was revived at colebrook dale by the darbys. in the intermediate period, we were dependent on russia, spain, and sweden for the chief part of the iron used in manufactures. but one of the most curious passages in dudley's metallum martis, is the following picture of the dudley coal-field:--"now let me show some reasons that induced me to undertake these inventions. well knowing that within ten miles of dudley castle, there be near , smiths of all sorts, and many ironworks within that circle decayed for want of wood (yet formerly a mighty woodland country); secondly, lord dudley's woods and works decayed, but pit- coal and iron stone or mines abounding upon his lands, but of little use; thirdly, because most of the coal mines in these parts are coals ten, eleven, and twelve yards thick; fourthly, under this great thickness of coal are very many sorts of ironstone mines; fifthly, that one-third part of the coals gotten under the ground are small, when the colliers are forced to sink pits for getting of ten yards thick, and are of little use in an inland country, unless it might be made use of by making iron therewith; sixthly, these colliers must cast these coals and slack out of their ways, which, becoming moist, heat naturally, and kindle in the middle of these great heaps, often sets the coal works on fire and flaming out of the pits, and continue burning like aetna in sicily or hecla in the indies." (sic.) at present, for more than ten miles round dudley castle, iron works of one kind or another are constantly at work; no remains of mighty woodland are to be found. the value of the ten yard coal is fully appreciated, but the available quantity is far from having been worked out. the untouched mineral wealth of lord ward in this district was valued, ten years ago, at a million sterling. the small coal is no longer wasted, but carefully raised from the pits and conveyed by the numerous canals, tram-roads, and railroads, to iron works, glass works, and chemical works. but still heaps of waste, moistened by rain, do smoke by day, and flaming by night in conjunction with hundreds of fiery furnaces and natural gases blazing, do produce, on a night's journey from dudley to wolverhampton, not the effect of one aetna or hecla, but of a broad "inferno," from which even dante might have gathered some burning notions. the political croakers who are constantly predicting that the last inevitable change, whether it be a municipal corporation reform, a tithe commutation, or a corn tax repeal, will prove the ruin of england, should study the geographical march of our manufactures, and mark how, on the whole population, the rise of a new staple in one district, or the invention of a new art, constantly creates a new demand for labour. the exhaustion of our forests, instead of destroying, founded one great element of our world-wide commercial influence. we make no apology for this digression, knowing that, to many minds, facts connected with the rise of the iron trade will have as much interest as notes on the scene of a battle or the birthplace of a second-rate poet, besides, as we omit to say what we do not know, it is necessary we should say what we do. besides mining and smelting iron ore, a considerable population in and around dudley is engaged in the manufacture of glass and of nails; the latter being a domestic manufacture, at which men, women, and children all work at home. the castle dates from a saxon prince, dodo, a.d. ; but, like the bird of the same name, the original building is extinct. but very interesting ruins of a norman gateway, tower, and keep, are in existence; and form, with the caves, a show-place leased by the south staffordshire as an attraction to their excursion trains. the caves are lighted up on special occasions, and were honoured by a visit from the geologists of the british association when last they met at birmingham. a fossil, called the dudley locust, is found in great quantities and varieties in the limestone quarries, which form part of the mineral wealth of the neighbourhood. the broad gauge line through birmingham and oxford will shortly afford dudley a direct and rapid communication with london. to passengers this will be a great convenience, but a mode of conveyance so unwieldy, clumsy, and costly, is singularly ill fitted for a mineral district, as experience among the narrow tram-ways of the north has amply proved. dudley returns one member to parliament; whose politics must, it is supposed, be those of the holder of the ward estate. returning from dudley through walsall to bescot bridge, the rail pursues its course through a mining country to bilston and wolverhampton. on the road we pass in sight of the birmingham canal, one of the finest works of the kind in the kingdom. an enormous sum was spent in improving the navigation, in order to prove that any railway was unnecessary. the proprietors, under the influence of their officials, a snug family party, shut their eyes and spent their money in opposing the inevitable progress of locomotive power to the last possible moment. even when the first london and birmingham railway was nearly open, a scheme for a new canal was industriously hawked round the county; and, although there were not enough subscribers found to execute the work, a small percentage was sufficient to furnish a surveyor's new house very handsomely. still, there is no probability of the canal ever ceasing to be an important aid to the coal trade in heavy freights. * * * * * wednesbury, { } pronounced wedgebury, and spelt wednesberie in domesday book, stands in the very heart of the coal and iron district, and is as like tipton, darlaston, bilston, and other towns where the inhabitants are similarly employed, as one sweep is like another. birmingham factors depend largely on wedgebury for various kinds of ironwork and "heavy steel toys." the coal pits in the neighbourhood are of great value, and there is no better place in the kingdom to buy a thoroughbred bull dog that will "kill or die on it," but never turn tail. the name is supposed to incorporate that of the saxon god woden, whose worship consisted in getting drunk and fighting, and, to this day, that is the only kind of relaxation in which many of the inhabitants ever indulge. the church stands upon a hill, where ethelfleda, lady of mercia, built a castle to resist the danes, a.d. , about the time that she erected similar bulwarks at tamworth and other towns in the midland counties, but there are no antiquities worth the trouble of visiting. parties who take an interest in the progress of education in this kingdom among those classes where it is most needed, that is to say, masses of miners and mechanics residing in districts from which all the higher and most of the middle classes have removed; where the clergy are few, hard worked, and ill paid; where the virtues of a thinly peopled agricultural district have been exchanged for the vices, without the refinements, of a crowded town population, should traverse this part of staffordshire on foot. they will own that, in spite of the praiseworthy labours of both church and dissent,--in spite of the progress of temperance societies and savings' banks,--a crowd of children are daily growing up in a state of ignorance, dirt, and degradation fearful to contemplate. to active philanthropists, not to seekers of the picturesque, archaeologists, and antiquarians, do we address ourselves. still we ought to add that, in the iron works and rolling mills, there are studies of half naked men in active motion at night, with effect of red firelight and dark shade, in which the power of painting flesh and muscular development might be more effectively displayed than in the perpetual repetition of model eves and sprawling nymphs. * * * * * wolverhampton formerly lay away from railroads, at a convenient omnibus distance; but competition has doubly pierced it through and through. one line connects it with shrewsbury; another, on the point of completion, will connect it with dudley, birmingham, and oxford, and another with worcester,--add to these means of communication the canals existing before railroads commenced, extending to hull, liverpool, chester, and london, and it will be seen that wolverhampton is most fortunately placed. the great railway battle of the gauges commenced at wolverhampton, and has been carried on ever since at the cost of more than a million sterling in legal and parliamentary expenses, beside the waste of capital in constructing three railways where one would have been sufficient, and the extra cost of land traversed where a price was paid, st, for the land; nd, for the revenue; rd, for compulsion; th, for influence, and th, for vote, if the landowner were a member of either house of parliament. at the end of the battle, a competing line to london has been established, which will end shortly in a compromise; and, if one district has two railways, others, much needing, have none. the shareholders on both sides have lost their money, the engineers have reaped a harvest, and the lawyers have realized a fortune. the experience of water companies, gas companies, canal companies, and railway companies, has distinctly been, that, between great monied corporations with large capitals sunk in plant, competition is impossible and must end in a compromise. but these contests are profitable to lawyers, who must always win, whether their clients do or not. it is no exaggeration to say that, as surely as spain and portugal are priest-ridden, so surely is great britain lawyer- ridden. no sooner does the science, the industry, and the enterprise of the country carve out some new road to commercial prosperity, than the attorney sets up a turnpike upon it and takes toll; and, if dispute arises as to the right of road, however the contest be decided, it ends in two attornies taking toll. in chancery, in the laws affecting patents of inventions, in the law affecting canals, in railways, a standing army of lawyers are constantly engaged in fighting battles, which end in our bearing the wounds and their sharing the spoil. so it was in these battles of the gauges. but to return to wolverhampton, the name of which recalled battles wherein so much useful money has been wasted, the town, although of rising importance in a commercial point, offers no other attraction to the curious traveller than its numerous manufactories of hardware, and machinery of various kinds, including firearms, tinned ware, locks and keys, of extraordinary cheapness, gun locks, files, screws, and japanned ware. the tea trays, and other japanned ware of wolverhampton, are equal in taste and execution to anything produced in birmingham; indeed, it was at the manufactory of the messrs. walton that the plan of skilfully copying the landscapes of our best artists on japan were originated. the first tea-tray of the kind was copied from one of turner's rivers of france, by a gentleman who has since taken up a very important position in applying the true principles of art to british manufactures. wolverhampton, and all the towns and villages in the coal and iron district, are only so many branch-birminghams; in that hardware metropolis the greater part of the goods made are ordered and sold. the town is of great antiquity, although with as few remains as most flourishing towns built of brick, where manufactures have chased away mansions. the name is derived from walfrana, a sister of king edgar, who founded a monastery there in a.d. , and collected a village round it named walfrana hampton, which was eventually corrupted into wolverhampton. in the oldest church, st. peter's, there is a pulpit formed of a single stone, elaborately sculptured, and a font, with curious bas-relief figures of saints. the church is collegiate, and the college consists of a dean, who holds the prebend of wolverhampton, which was annexed by edward iv. to his free chapel of st. george, within the castle of windsor. a free grammar school, supported by endowments, affords a head master pounds a-year; the second master pounds; and a third master pounds. some years ago these gentlemen had only seventy scholars to teach, but we trust this is, or will be, amended. wolverhampton was made a parliamentary borough by the reform act, returning two members from boundaries which include the townships of bilston, willenhall, wednesfield, and the parish of sedgeley. the population has increased more than five fold in the last forty years. bird, the artist, congreve, inventor of the rockets which bear his name, and abernethy, the eminent surgeon, were natives of wolverhampton; huskisson, who began the commercial reforms which peel finished, was born at oxley hall, in the immediate neighbourhood. close to the town is a good racecourse, well frequented once a year, formerly one of the most fashionable meetings in the country. the ladies' division of the grand stand used to be a complete parterre of the gayest flowers; but railroads, which have added to the quantity, have very much deteriorated the quality of the frequenters of races, and unless a change takes place, a grand stand will soon be as dark, as busy, and as dull as the stock exchange. from wolverhampton a line nineteen miles in length, through albrighton (where staffordshire ends and shropshire begins) and shifnal to wellington, shortens the route to shrewsbury by cutting off an angle; but as there is nothing to be said about this route except that at albrighton are the kennels of the hunt of that name, (a hunt in which the greater or less luxury in horseflesh of the young ironmasters affords a thermometer of the state of the iron trade,) we shall on this occasion take the stafford line. within an easy distance of wolverhampton are a very large number of the noblemen's and gentlemen's seats, in which staffordshire is so rich; more than one ancient and dilapidated family has been restored by the progress of smoke-creating manufactures, which have added to the wealth even more than they destroyed the picturesqueness of the country. if we were conducting a foreigner over england with the view of showing him the wealth, the power, and the beauties of our country, we should follow exactly the course we have hitherto pursued, and after an exhausting inspection of the manufactories of the coal country, should turn off the rail, after leaving wolverhampton on our road to stafford, and visit some of the beautiful mansions surrounded by that rich combination of nature and art which so eminently distinguishes the "stately homes of england." for instance, before reaching penkridge we pass--on the right hand, moseley court, where the ancestors of the proprietors, the whitgreaves, concealed charles ii. after the battle of worcester,--on the left, wrottesley hall, the seat of the scientific nobleman of that name, and chellington park, the residence of the ancient roman catholic family of the giffords, where an avenue of oaks, the growth of centuries, with a magnificent domain stocked with deer and game, afford the admirers of english scenery delicious vistas of wood, water, and rich undulating pasture. the contrast between the murky atmosphere and continued roar of the ironmaking country, and the silence of the deer-haunted green glades is most striking, and most grateful to eye and ear. as we rush along the valley of the penk, too rapidly to drink in its full beauties; on the right, teddesley hall, the mansion of lord hatherton, rising above the tops of the trees, reminds us that the noble lord's farms are well worth a visit from any one taking an interest in agriculture. poor land has been rendered comparatively fertile, and by a complete system of drainage, mere marshy rush-growing meadows have been made capable of carrying capital root and wheat crops, while the waste water has been carried to a head, and then by a large overshot water wheel, working below the surface of the ground, made useful for thrashing, chaff and root cutting, and other operations of the farm. at penkridge, a rural village of considerable antiquity, ten miles from wolverhampton, adorned by a gothic church, and several picturesque houses of the elizabethan style of domestic architecture, it will be convenient to descend, if an expedition is intended, over cannock chase to beaudesert, the seat of the marquis of anglesey. [the railway near penkridge: ill .jpg] this cannock chase completes the singular variations of soil and occupation to be found in staffordshire. from the densely-populated iron districts, and the model agriculture of disciples of the same school as lord hatherton, we can turn our faces to a vast moorland, forty miles square, stretching from where it is first seen on the banks of the railway to the banks of the trent, as wild as any part of wales or scotland, intersected by steep hills, by deep valleys, covered with gorse and broom, dotted with peat marshes, tenanted by wild deer and feathered game, and fed over by the famous "kenk" sheep, nearly as wild as deer, and in flavour rivalling the best mountain mutton. this great waste was once covered with dense forests, in which the wolf, the bear, the wild boar, and the wild bull were hunted by our saxon kings. it is not among the least wonders effected by the locomotive that a short hour can transport us from the midst of the busiest centres of manufactures to a solitude as complete as is to be found in the prairies of america or australia, unless we by chance stumble upon a prying gamekeeper or an idle rustic seeking whortle-berries or snaring hares. on this chase, begged by his ancestors from an easy king as a kitchen garden, the hero of the light cavalry at waterloo annually takes his sport, mounted on a perfect shooting cob, and with eighty years upon his shoulders, can still manage to bring down his birds right and left. long may such blanks of solitude and wild nature remain amid the busy hum of commerce to remind us of what all england once was, to afford, at a few holidays in the year, a free breathing place to the hardworking multitude, and to the poet and student that calm delight which the golden fragrance of a gorse-covered moor can bestow. before we reach stafford we leave on the right, although not in sight, shugborough, the deserted mansion of the earl of lichfield, a descendant of the lord anson who "sailed round the world but was never in it." stafford. stafford castle, on the summit of a high hill, whose slopes are clothed with forest trees, gives in the romantic associations it awakens a very false idea of the town to be found below. the towers of the castle built by the son of robert de tonei, the standard bearer of william the conqueror, have survived the wars of the roses and the contests of the great rebellion, while the remainder has been restored in an appropriate style by the family of the present possessors, representatives of the ancient barony of stafford--no relation of the staffords who in another part of the county enjoy the dukedom of sutherland. but the town, prosperous in spite of many changes of fashion, has completely lost any antique air it may ever have enjoyed, and now, in all the smugness of brick, quite realises the idea of a borough which at every election is for sale to the highest bidder. [stafford: ill .jpg] the principal manufacture is that of shoes for exportation. many remarkable men have represented stafford, some as remarkable for their talent as for their folly. sheridan's most brilliant speeches, and urquhart's most undeniable failures in the house of commons, were both due to the borough of stafford. it is, in fact, a stepping-stone to the house of commons, always ready for the highest bidder and promiser, but whoever would sit for stafford for a series of parliaments, would need the use of the philosopher's stone. the independent electors would exhaust california if they had the chance. as the stafford shoemakers, to the deep disappointment of its agricultural neighbours, have not yet been ruined by the influx of foreign boots and shoes, its chief interest at present is derived from its being the point from which several important railways radiate. * * * * * stafford to manchester.--beside the old grand junction line to crewe, the trent valley line, about which we intend to say a few words on our return journey, ends, strictly speaking, at stafford, after passing by atherston, tamworth, and lichfield; but, since the construction of the north staffordshire, which joins the trent valley at colewich, the most direct way to manchester is through the pottery district and macclesfield, instead of by stafford and crewe. direct lines have generally proved a great mistake, except so far as they have accommodated the local traffic through which they passed. to the shareholders they have been most unprofitable wherever the original shareholders were not lucky enough to bully the main lines into a lease, and, to the average of travellers very inconvenient, by dividing accommodation. but shareholders should look at the local traffic of a proposed direct line, on which alone good dividends can be earned. these direct projects were partly the result of the imperfect manner in which, in consequence of opposition and from want of experience, the original main branch lines were executed, and partly in that plethora of money, which, in this thriving country, must be relieved from time to time by the bleeding of ingenious schemers. we are enjoying, in this year of , the advantages derived from money spent, and lost to the spenders, in our own country instead of being sunk in greek or spanish bonds, south american mines, or the banks and public works of the united states. at one period, in the height of the ten per cent. mania, a school of railway economists sprang up which advocated placing the construction and the profits of railways in the hands of government, and they supported their theories by ex post facto criticism on the blunders of railway companies,--on the astonishing dividends of mr. george hudson's lines,--and on the hard terms on which capitalists had agreed to execute french railways for the french government. these ingenious reasons did not prevail. people were reminded that the steam boats, the public works, the "woods and forests" under government charge, were not managed with remarkable success or economy. the tempting dividends melted away, and projects for french railways, on the principle of the state taking profits and the speculators the risk, which had excited the admiration of cato morrisson, first hung fire and then exploded, so that rich districts of france which, on the system of "profits to private enterprise," would have enjoyed railway conveyance ten years ago, are still left to the mercy of the slow diligences and slower waggons to this hour. to a commercial country like england, the waste of a few millions on railways badly planned, are of little importance compared with the national saving effected by the cheap conveyance of produce. the great importance of the direct line between rugby, macclesfield, and manchester, is not that it saves an hour in the transit of an impatient traveller, but that it places in easy communication purely agricultural and thoroughly manufacturing communities, so as to render an interchange of produce easy. shareholders sometimes suffer, but the public always gains. on the other hand, parliament should take care that railway extension to blank districts is not prevented by conceding parallel lines to directors hunting for a dividend, by dividing instead of increasing the existing traffic. when an alteration of the law settlement has released from parish bondage and vegetation those adscripti glebae agricultural labourers, the advantage of our network of railways will be still more felt. * * * * * stafford to shrewsbury.--the third line diverging from stafford, counting the continuation of the london as a fourth, is the railway to shrewsbury, passing through newport and wellington, where it joins the direct line from wolverhampton, and affording, by a continuation which passes near oswestry, chirk, and llangollen, { } to wrexham, chester, and birkenhead, another route to liverpool, and, through chester, the nearest way to holyhead and ireland. * * * * * newport.--the first station after leaving stafford for shrewsbury, and immediately after crossing into shropshire, is a small market town and borough, with a corporation, which can be traced back to henry iii. the church, of the fifteenth century, with an interior of great beauty, has been frightfully disfigured by aisles built of bricks in a common builders' style of architecture. this corporation offers an example which might be with advantage followed by greater men holding the same office; they have but a small income, and they apply it to keeping in order cisterns and conduits which supply the town with water. there is a free grammar school founded by one william adams in , which has a library attached to the school and five scholarships. the best, of pounds a year, to christchurch, oxford. * * * * * wellington stands at the base of the wrekin, is the centre of the shropshireman's toast and the chief town of the coal and iron district, and is the point where the line from wolverhampton makes a junction, affording the nearest road from birmingham to shrewsbury. it was here that charles i., on his march from wellington to shrewsbury, assembled his troops, and, in order to allay the growing disaffection among them, declared that he would "support the reformed religion, govern by law, uphold the privileges of parliament, and preserve the liberty of the subject." from wellington you may proceed by omnibus to coalbrookdale, where the first iron bridge was built over the severn, where the darbys and dickensons have carried on iron works for more than a century, where coal was first applied profitably to smelting iron, and where the fine iron castings of berlin have been rivalled, and successful attempts have been made to introduce the principles of the fine arts into domestic manufactures. the firm are members of the society of friends. fortunately their tenets do not prevent them from selling us coal-scuttles of beautiful design, although their wives and daughters are bound, according to the conservative principles of their sect, to wear bonnets of an unvarying and hideous coal-scuttle shape. * * * * * shrewsbury, miles from wellington, is, in more respects than one, an interesting town, situated partly on a precipitous peninsula formed by the swift clear waters of the severn, united to the opposite side by bridges, in one of which the huge undershot waterwheels of a corn mill are for ever turning. a stranger without letters of introduction, condemned to spend a few hours here with nothing to do, may easily pass the time pleasantly in hunting out picturesque bits of river scenery, or even in chucking pebbles into the stream, instead of drinking sherry negus he does not want, or poking about the dull streets of a modern town, while all the respectable inhabitants are lost in wonder "who that strange man in the white hat is." the manufactures of shrewsbury are not very important; thread, linen, and canvas, and iron-works in the neighbouring suburb of coleham; a considerable and ancient trade is carried on in welsh flannel and cloths from the neighbouring counties of denbigh, montgomery, and merioneth, and markets and fairs are held for the benefit of the rich agricultural district around, in which, besides fine butter, cheese, poultry, and live stock, a large assemblage of the blooming, rosy, broad-built shropshire lasses show the advantage of a mixture of welsh and english blood. but shrewsbury is most famous for its school, its cakes, its ale, and the clock mentioned by falstaff, for which on our last visit we found an ingenuous frenchman industriously searching. the royal free grammar school, endowed by edward vi., was raised, by the educational talents of the late dr. butler, afterwards bishop of lichfield and coventry, to a very high position among our public schools; a position which has been fully maintained by the present master, dr. kennedy. as for the cakes and ale, they must be tasted to be appreciated, but not at the same time. in the history of england and wales, shrewsbury plays an important part. it is supposed that the town was founded by the britons of the kingdom of powis, while they were yet struggling with the saxons, or rather the angles, for the midland counties, and, it is probable, was founded by them when they found uttoxeter (the uriconiam of the romans), no longer tenable. on the conquest of the town by the anglo-saxons it received the name of scrobbes- byrig; that is to say scrub-burgh, or a town in a scrubby or bushy district, and, in the saxon chronicle, scrobbesbyrig-scire is mentioned, now corrupted or polished into shropshire. ethelfleda, whose name we have so often had occasion to mention as the builder of castles and churches, founded the collegiate church of st. alkmund; and athelstan established a mint here. it is evident that the "athelstan the unready," mentioned in ivanhoe, must have very much degenerated from the ancestor who established a mint for ready money. according to domesday-book, shrewsbury had, in edward the confessor's time, two hundred and fifty-two houses, with a resident burgess in each house, and five churches. it was included in the earldom of shrewsbury, granted by william the conqueror to his kinsman, roger de montgomery, who erected a castle on the entrance of the peninsula on which the town now stands, pulling down fifty houses for that purpose. in the wars between stephen and the empress maude, the castle was taken and retaken; and in the reign of john the town was taken by the welsh under llewellyn the great, who had joined the insurgent barons in ; and again attacked and the suburbs burned by the welsh in . shrewsbury was again taken by simon de montfort and his ally, llewellyn, grandson of llewellyn the great, in , the year before de montfort fell on the field of evesham. and here, in , david, the last prince of wales, was tried, condemned, and executed as a traitor. here, too, in , in the reign of richard ii., a parliament was held, at which the earl of hereford (afterwards henry iv.) charged the duke of norfolk with treason. the charge was to have been decided by a trial of battle at coventry. on the appointed morning, "hereford came forth armed at all points, mounted on a white courser, barded with blue and green velvet, gorgeously embroidered with swans and antelopes of goldsmiths' work. the duke of norfolk rode a horse barded with crimson velvet, embroidered with lines of silver and mulberries." at that time it took more days to travel from shrewsbury to coventry than it now does hours. the cloth of gold was as splendidly, perhaps more splendidly, embroidered than anything we can do now; but in the matter of shirts, shoes, stockings, and the clothing necessary for health and comfort, and of windows and chimneys, and matters necessary for air and shelter, mechanics and day labourers are better provided than the squires and pages of those great noblemen. five years after, the harry of hereford having become henry iv. of england, assembled an army at shrewsbury to march against owen glendower, and the following year he fought the battle of shrewsbury against hotspur, and his ally the douglas, which forms the subject of a scene in shakspeare's play of henry iv. at that battle percy hotspur marched from stafford toward shrewsbury, hoping to reach it before the king, and by being able to command the passage of the severn to communicate with his ally glendower; but henry, who came from lichfield, arrived there first, on the th july, . the battle was fought the next day at hateley field, about three miles from the town. in the wars of the roses shrewsbury was yorkist. in the great civil war charles i. came to shrewsbury, there received liberal contributions, in money and plate, from the neighbouring gentry, and largely recruited his forces; and in the course of the war the town was taken and retaken more than once. thus it will be seen that shrewsbury is connected with many important events in english history. the first charter of incorporation extant is of richard i. two members are returned to parliament of opposite politics at present; but a few years ago it was the boast of the salopians, that the twelve members returned by the different constituencies of the county were all of that class of politics which, for want of a better name, may be called "sibthorpian." shrewsbury is a good starting point for an expedition into wales, and we can strongly recommend the walk from chirk, one of the stations on the line to chester, over the hills by footpaths to llangollen: from one point a view may be caught of the three great civilizers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. a splendid viaduct, carrying the shropshire canal over a deep valley, in its day considered a triumph of engineering art--the holyhead mail road, perhaps the best piece of work of the kind in the world, and the railway, which has partly superseded both. there is more than one pleasant spot on the bye-path we have suggested where a thoughtful pedestrian may sit down, and, smoking a cigar in the presence of a sweetly calm landscape of grassy valleys and round-topped hills, ponder over these things, not without advantage, to the sound of bells borne by lively welsh sheep, whose mutton has been raised d. a pound in value by stephenson's steam-engines. but our road lies by the english rail this time, therefore we must return to stafford. * * * * * stafford to crewe.--on leaving stafford for crewe we pass on the right ingestrie park, the seat of the earl of talbot; the ruins of chartley castle, the property of earl ferrers, the defendant in the action brought by miss smith for breach of promise of marriage; and sandon park, the seat of the earl of harrowby, who for many years, before succeeding his father, represented liverpool in the house of commons as lord sandon. soon after passing norton bridge station, about seven miles from stafford, we come in sight of swinnerton hall, the seat of the ancient family of fitz- herbert. the first lord of the manor of swinnerton received this name at the hands of the norman conqueror. one of the farms of the present proprietor of swinnerton hall is held by a liverpool merchant, who has carried out modern agricultural improvements, especially in stock feeding, with great success; having availed himself of the facilities of the railroad and his commercial knowledge, to import from liverpool various kinds of nutritive pulse and grain. near the whitmore station the railway winds for two miles through an excavation in solid stone, enclosed by intermediate slopes of turf, ending, as it were in an arch, which, spanning the road, forms a sort of frame to a wild region that stretches on beyond. [view near whitmore: ill .jpg] without anything very important to induce a halt by the way, the train runs into crewe. crewe is a wonderful place; sixteen years ago, the quietest of country- villages, now intersected in every direction with iron roads pointing from it to almost every point of the compass. a story is extant, with what foundation of truth we know not, of a gentleman who purchased a small farm here, as a safe investment and occasional retreat from the bustle of manchester, and eventually realized from it, when a railway station was erected, more hundreds than he had paid pounds. at any rate, if it is not true, it might have been. at present, besides the line formerly called the grand junction, until its amalgamation with the london and birmingham, there is a line from crewe to chester and birkenhead; another to manchester direct, by macclesfield, formerly known as the manchester and birmingham--both are now merged in the london and north western; and lastly, a short cross branch of fifteen miles, forming a union with burslem on the north staffordshire. in addition to the bustle created by the arrival and departure of innumerable trains at crewe, the london and north western company have a large establishment for building and repairing the locomotives and other machinery in use on their lines north of birmingham. this establishment is under the charge of mr. trevethick, c.e., a son of the trevethick who, in , in conjunction with vivian, took out the first patent for a locomotive engine, which they executed the following year. { } the railway village of crewe is on the same plan as that of wolverton, but situated in much prettier scenery; and includes a church, infant, boys' and girls' schools, a library and literary institution, held in the town-hall, where a fine room is occasionally well filled by popular lectures, and balls in the winter. on one occasion, about three years ago, the name of a gentleman looking over the works in company with a foreman was recognized as that of a writer on a popular subject, and he was requested by a deputation of the men to deliver a lecture the same evening in the town-hall. he consented; and a written notice, stuck up in the workshops at one o'clock, assembled at six o'clock upwards of six hundred of the mechanics and their wives and families, forming a most attentive and intelligent audience. this establishment was considerably reduced during the depression in railway property, and several of the mechanics emigrated to the united states. one of these, a chartist politician, a methodist preacher, and a coach-spring maker, with a little taste for sporting, expressed himself, in a letter which found its way into the "emigrant's journal," well pleased with the people, the laws, and the institutions amongst which he had transplanted himself; but when he came to speak of the railroads, he considered them "not fit to carry hogs to market." so much for a man criticising his own trade. we must not pause to describe as we could wish, in detail, the arrangements of this interesting village; for we have heavy work before us, and must press on. parties passing, who have leisure to stay a day, will find very fair accommodation at the inn overlooking the station, and often, about one o'clock, a fine hot joint of grass-fed beef of magnificent dimensions. in winter, this hotel is one of the quarters of gentlemen going to meet the cheshire hounds, a first-rate pack, with a country which, if not first-rate, is far from second-rate, including certain parts of grass country which may be fairly compared to leicestershire and northamptonshire. crewe hall, one of the "meets," is the seat of lord crewe, the grandson of the beautiful mrs. crewe, so celebrated for her wit and buff and blue politics, in the time of charles james fox, the duchess of devonshire, the westminster election, and "all the talents of the last century." the hall is picturesquely situated on a rising ground, well wooded, near a small lake, and contains, among other pictures, portraits of fox, "coke of norfolk," and several other political friends with whom the first lord crewe was closely associated. the hounds meet there occasionally, when a "find" is sure, and a gallop through the park a thing to be remembered. * * * * * nantwich, about five miles from crewe, is one of the towns which supplies cheshire's salt exports, middlewich and northwich being the other two. in all, rich brine springs are found, but the celebrated mines of rock-salt are found at northwich only. it is vulgarly imagined that the word wich has something to do with salt, these three towns being often described as the "wiches." this is an error; and wich is merely an anglo-saxon corruption of the roman word vicus, as in harwich. the salt-works of nantwich are mentioned in "domesday book." the town was more than once besieged during the great civil wars, lastly by lord byron, unsuccessfully, with an army chiefly irish, which was compelled to raise the siege and defeated by sir thomas fairfax and sir william brereton. among the antiquities remaining is a cross church, in a mixture of styles, partly early english and partly decorated english, and a several curious old houses of black timber and plaster. the trade of this place has derived much advantage from the junction of the chester, ellesmere, and liverpool and birmingham canals, close by. at the nantwich yearly fairs, samples of the famous cheshire cheese made in the neighbourhood, of the best brands, may be found. major-general harrison, one of the regicides who was put to death on the restoration of charles ii., was a native of nantwich, and milton's widow, who was born in the neighbourhood, died there in . just before reaching the hartford bridge station, on the way to chester, we pass vale royal abbey, the seat of the cholmondeley family, pronounced chumleigh, whose head was created in lord delamere. [vale royal viaduct: ill .jpg] the abbey lies in a valley sheltered by old trees, the remains of a great forest; wood-covered hills rise behind it, closing in the vale; below runs the weaver, "that famous flood," whose praises were sung by michael drayton in his polyolbion. in this instance, as in many others, the "monks of old" showed their taste in choosing one of the most beautiful and fertile sites in the county for their residence. the cheshire prophet, nixon, lived as ploughboy with the cholmondeley family, according to tradition, for which we no more answer than for his prophecies, doubts having recently been thrown on both. a breed of white cattle with red ears are preserved at vale royal, in memory of the preservation of part of the family by a white cow when in hiding during the civil wars. but we have not space to enter into the details of this, or the historical reminiscences connected with the ruins of beeston castle, which also falls in our way to chester; for we must get on to liverpool and leave for the present cheshire, with its cheesemaking pastures, ancient mansions, and more ancient families, as well as its coal mines and cotton mills, to visit the twin capitals of liverpool and manchester, which are at once the objects of the contempt and sources of the rent of the cheshire territorial aristocracy. the antiquarian and historical student may linger long in cheshire, which abounds in interesting architectural remains of several centuries, particularly of the black and white timbered mansions, and is studded with the sites of famous stories. [excavation at hartford: ill .jpg] we shall pass hartford station without notice, and shall not pause to visit northwich and the celebrated marston salt pits, although well worth visiting, for which purpose a cricketer's suit of flannel will be found the best costume, and a few good bengal lights an assistance in viewing the wonders of the salt caves. on across the long dutton viaduct, spanning the weaver navigation, we drive until, crossing the mersey and irwell canal and the river mersey, we quit cheshire and enter lancashire, to run into the warrington station. [the dutton viaduct: ill .jpg] * * * * * warrington may be dismissed in a very few words. it is situated in the ugliest part of lancashire, in a flat district, among coal mines, on the banks of a very unpicturesque river, surrounded by a population in character much resembling that described in the "black country" of staffordshire, and worcestershire, and shropshire. it was one of the earliest seats of manufacture in lancashire, and has the advantage of coal close at hand, with canal and river navigation and railways to chester through runcorn (nineteen miles), to crewe, to liverpool, to manchester, and thereby to all quarters in the north of england. [the warrington viaduct: ill .jpg] coarse linens and checks, then sailcloth, were its first manufactures; at present, cotton spinning, power-loom weaving, the manufacture of glass, machinery, and millwork, pins, nails, tools, spades, soap, hats, and gunpowder, and many other trades, are carried on here. the markets for live stock of the district and from ireland are important, and market gardening is carried on to a considerable amount in the neighbourhood of the town. the mersey is navigable up to warrington at spring tides for vessels, "flats," of from seventy to one hundred tons. a salmon and smelt fishery, which formerly existed, has disappeared from the waters by so many manufactories. warrington, under the reform act, returns one member to parliament. its ale is celebrated: it formerly returned an m.p. the inhabitants enjoy the benefit of three endowed schools, one of them richly endowed. howard's work on prisons was first printed at warrington. [warrington: ill .jpg] on leaving warrington, a few minutes bring us to newton junction, upon the old manchester and liverpool railway, where george stephenson established the economy of steam locomotive conveyance twenty-one years ago. in half an hour we are rolling down the edgehill tunnel into liverpool. liverpool. when you land on the platform, if you can afford it, go to the adelphi hotel, where the accommodation is first-rate, but the charges about the same as in bond street or st. james's street, london. there are others to suit all purses, and plenty of dining-houses on the london system, so that it is not absolutely necessary to submit to the dear and often indifferent dinners which are the rule in the coffee-rooms of most english hotels. liverpool has no antiquities of any mark; the public buildings and works worth seeing are few but important, although a page might be filled with the names of institutions of various kinds. by far the most interesting, original, and important, are those connected with the commerce of the town. that is to say, the docks and the gigantic arrangements at the railways for goods' traffic. st. george's hall, a splendid building in the corinthian style, containing the law courts and a hall for public meetings, as a sort of supplement to the town-hall, meets the view immediately on leaving the railway station. the mechanics' institution in mount street, one of the finest establishments of the kind in the kingdom, provides an excellent education for the young, and for adults, at a very cheap rate. a collegiate institution, opened in , for affording a first-class education on the plan of the durham and marlborough colleges, at a less expense than at oxford or cambridge, is to be found at everton in a handsome elizabethan building. the town-hall, with its auxiliary buildings, encloses the exchange on three sides. the vestibule contains a statue of george canning by chantrey: in the centre of the exchange stands a monument to nelson, which we cannot admire. on the occasion of an invitation to dinner from the mayor, or of a grand ball, it is worth while to penetrate beyond the vestibule, otherwise the walk through tolerably handsome rooms is scarcely worth the trouble, although it costs nothing. the immense news-rooms of the exchange, under one of the arcades, are open to every respectable stranger introduced,--we may almost say without introduction. there are several other news-rooms with libraries attached. the lyceum in bold street, and the athenaeum in church street, which was founded by purchases from the library of william roscoe, contain a number of valuable works of reference. the royal institution of science and literature, founded by william roscoe in , by the subscription of shareholders, contains a museum of natural history of considerable value, some curious pictures, a set of casts from the aegina and phigaleian marbles, and a collection of philosophical instruments, with a laboratory and a theatre in which lectures are occasionally delivered. this institution is not flourishing. it was lately offered to the corporation as a free gift by the proprietors, on condition that the museum, etc., were to be open free to the town. the offer was declined by a small majority. there are several cemeteries, one of which has been ingeniously arranged in an exhausted stone quarry, and contains a marble statue of huskisson, by gibson, commemorating the facts of his having represented liverpool in several parliaments, and been killed on the th sept., , by a locomotive, at the opening of the manchester and liverpool railway. on the last occasion of his election for liverpool, in conjunction with the late general gascoigne, without opposition, the windows of huskisson's friends were smashed by the high tory mob which accompanied gascoigne's chairing procession. such are the changes of time. where could a high tory mob be found now, or who now differs with the mild liberalism of huskisson? a workhouse on a very extensive scale, capable of affording indoor relief to ; a blind asylum, celebrated for the singing of the inmates, two infirmaries, are far from completing the list of public institutions of a town with nearly , inhabitants; but, in the greater number, resemble all other institutions of the same kind, and, for the rest, a local guide may be consulted. the best part of the town may be seen in a walk from st. lukes' church at the top of bold street, a short distance from the adelphi hotel, through church street, lord street, crossing castle street, down to st. george's pier. by this line the best and the busiest streets of liverpool will be seen, with shops nearly equal to the finest in london, and with customers in fine ladies, who are quite as pretty, and much more finely dressed, than the residents of that paradise of provincial belles, belgravia. indeed both sexes in this town are remarkable for their good looks and fashionable costume, forming a strong contrast to the more busy inhabitants of manchester. in bold street is the palatine, a miniature copy of the clubs of pall mall: at the doors and windows may be seen, in the intervals of business, a number of young gentlemen trying very hard to look as if they had nothing to do but dress fine and amuse themselves. but so far from being the idle fellows they would be thought, the majority are hardworking merchants and pains-taking attornies, who bet a little, play a little, dote upon a lord, and fancy that by being excessively supercilious in the rococo style of that poor heathen bankrupt brummel, they are performing to perfection the character of men of fashion. this, the normal state of young liverpool, at a certain period the butterfly becomes a grub, a money grub, and abandoning brilliant cravats, primrose gloves, and tight shiny boots, subsides into the respectable heavy father of genteel comedy, becomes a churchwarden, a patron of charities, a capitalist, and a highly respectable member of society. the manchester man is abrupt, because his whole soul is in the money-making business of the day; the liverpool gentleman's icy manners are part of his costume. the "cordial dodge," which has superseded brummel's listless style in the really fashionable world, not having yet found its way down by the express train to the great mart of cotton-wool. 'change hours, which are twice a-day, morning and afternoon, afford a series of picturesque groups quite different to those of any other town, which should be kept in mind when visiting manchester. but perhaps the pleasantest thing in liverpool is a promenade on one of the piers, or rather quays (for they run along and do not project into the river) when the tide is coming in, the wind fair for the mersey, and fleets of merchantmen are driving up with full-bellied sails to take their anchorage ground before going into dock. an examination of the docks, with the curious dock arrangements of the railway companies, and the sailor's home, of which prince albert laid the first stone in , will take a day. the cheshire side of the mersey forms a suburb of liverpool, to which steamers are plying every ten minutes from the villages of rock ferry, tranmere, birkenhead, monk's ferry, seacombe, liskeard, egremont, and new brighton. the best idea of the extent of the liverpool docks may be obtained from the seacombe hotel, an old-fashioned tavern, with a bowling green, where turtle soup, cold punch, and claret are to be had of good quality at moderate charges. in fine weather a seat after dinner at the window of this tavern is not a bad place for considering the origin, rise, progress, and prospects of the commerce of liverpool. there is the river, with its rapidly-flowing muddy waters before you, ploughed in all directions by boats, by ships, by steamers, by river barges and flats; on the opposite side five miles of docks, wherein rise forest after forest of masts, fluttering, if it be a gala day, with the flags of every nation--russian, sardinian, greek, turkish, french, austrian, but chiefly, after our own, with the stripes and stars of the great republic. no better text for such a contemplation can be found than the following inscription, copied from the model, contributed by liverpool to the great exhibition of industry:-- progress of the commerce of liverpool. under queen elizabeth, | queen anne, | queen victoria, a.d. . | a.d. . | a.d. . | | population. | , | about , | | tonnage { } | , | , , | | number of | | , vessels | | | | dock dues. - | | , pounds | | income of | , | , pounds corporation | | | | customs dues | , | , , pounds this extraordinary progress, of which we have far from seen the limits, has been founded and supported by a position which every commercial change, every new invention relating to sea-borne coasting trade, or inland conveyance, has strengthened. the discovery of the passage around the cape of good hope, and improvements in the art of navigation, destroyed the commercial importance of venice, and extinguished a line of river ports from antwerp to cologne. in our own country, the cinque ports, harwich, great grimsby, and other havens, fell into decay when navigators no longer cared to hurry into the first harbour on coming within sight of land. but liverpool, situated on the banks of a river which, until buoyed and improved at a vast expense, was a very inferior port for safety and convenience, has profited by the changes which have rendered the american the most important of our foreign customers, and ireland as easily reached as runcorn in a sailing flat. the rise of the cotton manufacture has been as beneficial to liverpool as to those districts where the yarn is spun and woven. the canal system has fed, not rivalled or "tapped," the trade of the mersey. the steamboats on which the seafaring population of liverpool at first looked with dislike and dismay, have created for their town--first, a valuable coasting trade, independent of wind or tide, which with sailing vessels on such a coast and with such a river could never have existed; and next, a transatlantic commerce, which, through liverpool, renders new york nearer to manchester than dublin was five and twenty years ago; while, at the same time, the opposite coast of cheshire has been transformed into a suburb, to which omnibus-steamers ply every five minutes. and yet little more than five and twenty years ago there was only one river steamer on the mersey, and that a flat bottomed cattle boat, with one wheel in the centre. bristol took the lead in establishing transatlantic steamers; but liverpool, backed by manchester, transplanted to her own waters the new trade, and even the steamers that proved the problem. railways (the only great idea in this generation that liverpool has ventured to originate and execute) have not, as was promised, transferred any part of the liverpool trade to manchester; but, on the contrary, largely increased and strengthened their connection with the cotton metropolis. an hour now takes the cotton broker to his manufacturing customers twice a week, who formerly rose at five o'clock in the morning to travel by coach in four hours to manchester, and returned wearied at midnight. the electric telegraph, the next great invention of this commercial age was not less beneficial to this port by facilitating the rapid interchange of communication with the manufacturing districts, and settling the work of days in a few hours. a hundred miles apart merchants can now converse, question, propose, and bargain. by all these improvements uncertainties have been reduced to certainties, and capital has been more than doubled in value. on the expected day, well calculated beforehand, the steamer arrives from america; with the rapidity of lightning the news she brings is transmitted to manchester, to birmingham, to sheffield, to london, to glasgow; a return message charters a ship, and a single day is enough to bring down the manufactured freight. thus news can be received and transmitted, a cargo of raw material landed, manufactured goods brought down by rail from the interior of england, and put on board a vessel and despatched, in less time than it occupied a few years ago to send a letter to manchester and get an answer. and under all these changes, while commerce grows and grows, the porters and the brokers, the warehousemen and the merchants, are able to take toll on the consumption of england. even the old dangerous roadstead, and far-falling tides of the mersey, proved an advantage to liverpool; by driving the inhabitants to commence the construction of docks before any other port in the kingdom, and thus obtain a certain name and position in the mercantile world, from having set an example which cities provided with more safe and convenient natural harbours were unwilling to follow. the first dock ever constructed in england is now the site of the liverpool custom house; a large building erected at a period when our architects considered themselves bound to lodge all public institutions in grecian temples. this dock was constructed in , and twelve others have since been added, occupying the shore from north to south for several miles, including one which will accommodate steamers of the largest class. these docks are far from perfect in their landing arrangements. cargo is discharged in all but one, into open sheds. the damage and losses by pilferage of certain descriptions of goods are enormous. attempts have been repeatedly made to establish warehouses round the docks into which goods might be discharged without the risk or expense of intermediate cartage. but the influence of parties possessed of warehouse property is too great to allow the execution of so advantageous a reform. whigs and radicals are, in this instance, as determined conservators of abuses which are not time-honoured as any member for lincoln city or oxford university. in more than half the african slave trade was carried on by liverpool merchants. the canal system commenced by the duke of bridgewater next gave liverpool an improved inland communication. after arkwright's manufactures stimulated the trade of america, cotton imports into liverpool soon began to rival the sugar and tobacco imports into bristol. the irish trade was rising at the same time, and the comparatively short distance between the midland counties, where irish livestock was chiefly consumed, soon brought the irish traders to liverpool. the progress of steam navigation presently gave new openings to the coasting trade of liverpool. in the admirable canal system, which united liverpool with the coal and manufacturing districts in the kingdom, was found insufficient to accommodate the existing traffic, and the railroad was the result. by the railroad system liverpool has been brought within an hour of manchester, two hours of leeds, and four hours of london; and into equally easy, cheap, and certain communication with every part of england and scotland; while fully retaining all the advantages of being the halfway house between the woollen districts, the iron districts, and the cotton districts, and america--the intermediate broker between new orleans, charleston, new york, and manchester. six-sevenths of all the woollen imported into england comes through liverpool, besides a large trade in sugar, tobacco, tea, rice, hemp, and every kind of irish produce. thus liverpool is in a position to take toll on the general consumption of the kingdom; and this toll in the shape of dock dues, added to the increase in the value of landed property, occupied by warehouses, shops, and private residences, has enabled the municipal corporation to bestow on the inhabitants fine buildings, and greatly improve the originally narrow streets. liverpool has no manufactures of any special importance. few ships are built there in comparison with the demands of the trade, in consequence of the docks having taken up most of the space formerly occupied by the building-yards. the repairs of ships are executed in public graving docks, chiefly by workmen of a humble standing, called pitchpot masters,--a curious system, whether advantageous or not to all parties, is a matter of dispute. the environs of liverpool are particularly ugly, remarkably flat, and deficient in wood and water. there are scarcely any rides or drives of any kind. the best suburb, called toxteth park, although no park at all, lies on the southern side of the town, parallel with the mersey. in this direction the wealthiest merchants have erected their residences, some of great size and magnificence, surrounded by pleasure-grounds and fancy farms, presenting very favourable instances of the rural tastes of our countrymen in every rank of life. but there is nothing in the environs of liverpool to make a special ride necessary, unless a stranger possesses a passport to one of the mansions or cottages of gentility to be found on each side of the macadamized road behind rich plantations, where hospitality is distributed with splendour, and not without taste. the north shore of the mersey consists of flat sands, bounded on the land side by barren sand hills, where, driven by necessity, and tempted by a price something lower than land usually bears near liverpool, some persons have courageously built houses and reclaimed gardens. on this shore are the two watering-place villages of waterloo and crosby, less populous, but as pleasant as margate, with salt river instead of salt sea bathing, in shade and plenty of dust. the hard flat sands, when the tide is down, afford room for pleasant gallops. the best settlement on the opposite shore, called new brighton, has the same character, but enjoys a share of the open irish sea, with its keen breezes. it must be bracing, healthy, dreary, and dull. * * * * * birkenhead is a great town, which has risen as rapidly as an american city, and with the same fits and starts. magical prosperity is succeeded by a general insolvency among builders and land speculators; after a few years of fallow another start takes place, and so on--speculation follows speculation. birkenhead has had about four of these high tides of prosperous speculations, in which millions sterling have been gained and lost. at each ebb a certain number of the george hudsons of the place are swamped, but the town always gains a square, a street, a park, a church, a market-place, a bit of railway, or a bit of a dock. the fortunes of the men perish, but the town lives and thrives. thus piece by piece the raw materials of a large thriving community are provided, and now birkenhead is as well furnished with means for accommodating a large population as any place in england, and has been laid out on so good a plan that it will be one of the healthiest as well as one of the neatest modern towns. it has also the tools of commerce in a splendid free dock, not executed so wisely as it would have been if mr. rendel, the original engineer, (the first man of the day as a marine engineer), had not been overruled by the penny-wise pound-foolish people, but still a very fine dock. warehouses much better planned than anything in liverpool; railways giving communication with the manufacturing districts; in fact, all the tools of commerce--gas, water, a park, and sanitary regulations, have not been neglected. some people think birkenhead will be the rival of liverpool, we think not: it will be a dependency or suburb of the greater capital. "where the carcase is, there the eagles will be gathered together." birkenhead is too near to be a rival; shipping must eventually come to birkenhead, but the business will still continue to be done in liverpool or manchester, where are vested interests and established capital. an hour or two will be enough to see everything worth seeing at birkenhead. to those who enjoy the sight of the river and shipping, it is not a bad plan to stop at one of the hotels there, as boats cross every five minutes, landing at a splendid iron pontoon, or floating stage, on the liverpool side, of large dimensions, constructed with great skill by mr. w. cubitt, c.e., to avoid the nuisance of landing carriages at all times, and passengers at low tides in boats. at liskeard, a ferry on the cheshire side, mr. harold littledale--a member of one of the first firms in liverpool--has established a model dairy farm, perhaps one of the finest establishments of the kind in the kingdom. all the buildings and arrangements have been executed from the plans and directions of mr. william torr, the well known scientific farmer and short- horn breeder, of aylsby manor, lincolnshire. no expense has been spared in obtaining the best possible workmanship and implements, but there has been no waste in foolish experiments; and, consequently, there is all the difference between the farm of a rich man who spends money profusely, in order to teach himself farming, and a farm like that at liskeard, where a rich man had said to an agriculturist, at once scientific and practical, "spare no expense, and make me the best thing that money can make." the buildings, including a residence, cottages, and gardens, occupy about four acres, and the farm consists of acres of strong clay land, which has been thoroughly drained and profusely manured, with the object of getting from it the largest possible crops. fifty tons of turnips have been obtained from an acre. eighty cows are kept in the shippons, ranged in rows, facing the paths by which they are all fed at the head. they are fed on turnips, mangels, or potatoes, with cut chaff of hay and straw, everything suitable being cut and steamed, in the winter--on green clover, italian ray-grass, and a little linseed-cake, in the summer. they are curry-combed twice a day, and the dung is removed constantly as it falls. the ventilation and the drainage has been better managed than in most houses, so that the shippons have always a sweet atmosphere and even temperature. the fittings, fastenings, and arrangements of the windows, hanging from little railways, and sliding instead of closing on hinges, are all ingenious, and worth examination. mr. littledale makes use of a moveable wooden railway, carted over by a donkey in a light waggon, to draw root crops from a field of heavy land. the churn in use in the dairy makes eighty pounds of butter at a time, and is worked by the steam-engine also used for cutting and steaming the food of the cows. the milk and cream produced at this dairy is sold by retail, unadulterated, and is in great demand. a brief account of this farm appeared in the "farmer's magazine" of may, , with a ground plan; but several improvements have been made since that time. to parties who take an interest in agricultural improvement, a visit to liskeard farm will be both interesting and profitable. we believe that mr. torr also farms another estate, which he purchased, in conjunction with friends, from sir william stanley, at eastham, near hooton (a pleasant voyage of an hour up the river), and cultivates after the north lincolnshire style, in such a manner as to set an example to the cheshire farmers--not a little needed. the country about eastham is the prettiest part of the mersey. while on the subject of agricultural improvements, we may mention that mr. robert neilson, another mercantile notability, holds a farm, under lord stanley, at a short railroad ride from liverpool, which we have not yet had an opportunity of examining, but understand that it is a very remarkable instance of good farming, and consequently heavy crops, in a county (lancashire) where slovenly farming is quite the rule, and well worth a visit from competent judges, whom as we are also informed mr. neilson is happy to receive. if, as seems not improbable, it should become the fashion among our merchant princes to seek health and relaxation by applying capital and commercial principles to land, good farming will spread, by force of vaccination, over the country, and plain tenant-farmers will apply, cheaply and economically, the fruits of experience, purchased dearly, although not too dearly, by merchant farmers. a successful man may as well--nay, much better--sink money for a small return in such a wholesome and useful pursuit as agriculture, than in emulating the landed aristocracy, who laugh quietly at such efforts, or hoarding and speculating to add to what is already more than enough. if a visit be paid to mr. neilson's farm, it would be very desirable to obtain, if possible, permission to view the earl of derby's collection of rare birds and animals, one of the finest in the world. but permission is rarely granted to strangers who have not some scientific claim to the favour. lord derby has agents collecting for him in every part of the world, and has been very successful in rearing many birds from tropical and semi-tropical countries in confinement, which have baffled the efforts of zoological societies. the aviaries are arranged on a large scale, with shrubs growing in and water flowing through them. in fine weather some beautiful parrots, macaws, and other birds of a tame kind, are permitted to fly about the grounds. there is something very novel and striking in beholding brilliant macaws and cockatoos swinging on a lofty green-leaved bough, and then, at the call of the keeper, darting down to be fed where stately indian and african cranes and clumsy emus are stalking about. the late earl was celebrated as a cockfighter, and the possessor of one of the finest breeds of game fowls in the kingdom. a few only are now kept up at knowsley, as presents to the noble owner's friends. knowsley lies near prescott, about seven miles from liverpool. the family are descended from the lord stanley who was created earl of derby by the earl of lancaster and derby, afterwards henry iv., for services rendered at the battle of bosworth field. an ancestress, charlotte de la tremouille, countess of derby, is celebrated for her defence of latham house against the parliamentary forces in the great civil war, and is one of the heroines of sir walter scott's novel of "peveril of the peak." { } liverpool is particularly well placed as a starting point for excursions, in consequence of the number of railways with which it is connected, and the number of steamboats which frequent its port, where a whole dock is especially devoted to vessels of that class. by crossing over to birkenhead, chester may be reached, and thence the quietest route to ireland, by britannia bridge and holyhead; or a journey through north wales may be commenced. by the east lancashire, starting from the station behind the exchange, a direct line is opened through ormskirk to preston, the lakes of cumberland, and to scotland by the west coast line. from the same station a circuitous route through wigan and bolton, on the lancashire and yorkshire railway, opens a second road to manchester, and affords a complete communication with the manufacturing districts of lancashire and yorkshire. on the roads to london it is not now necessary to treat. the steam accommodation from liverpool has always been excellent, far superior to that afforded in the thames. no such wretched slow-sailing tubs are to be found as those which plied between london and boulogne and calais, until railway competition introduced a little improvement. the interior fittings and feeding on board liverpool boats are generally superior. the proprietors have taken the scotch and americans as models, and not the stingy people of the thames. it is very odd that while the french and scotch can contrive to give a delicious breakfast or dinner on shipboard, while the germans on the rhine are positively luxurious, and while we know that a steam-boiler offers every convenience for petits plats, the real old english steam-boats of the general steam navigation company never vary from huge joints and skinny chickens, with vegetables plain boiled. we remember, some years ago, embarking on a splendid french steamer, afterwards run down and sunk in the channel, to go to havre, and returning by boulogne to london. in the french vessel it was almost impossible to keep from eating,--soups, cutlets, plump fowls, all excellent and not dear. on board the english boat it was necessary to be very hungry, in order to attack the solid, untempting joints of roast and boiled. this is a travelling age, and both hotel keepers and steam-boat owners will find profit in allowing the spirit of free trade and interchange to extend to the kitchen. our public cooks are always spoiling the best meat and vegetables in europe. more than twenty lines of steamers ply from liverpool to the various ports of ireland; the isle of man, which is a favourite watering-place for the lancashire and cheshire people; glasgow and other parts of scotland, whitehaven and carlisle, bangor, caernarvon, and other ports of wales, beside the deep-sea steamers to new york, philadelphia, and boston; to constantinople, malta, and smyrna; and to gibraltar, genoa, leghorn, civita vecchia (for rome), naples, messina, and palermo; so that an indifferent traveller has ample choice, which is sometimes very convenient for a man who wants to go somewhere and does not care where. the amusements of liverpool include two theatres, an amphitheatre for horsemanship, and several sets of subscription concerts, for the use of which a fine hall has been erected. the race-course is situated at some miles distant from the town; races take place three times a-year, two being flat races, and the third a steeple- chase. they are well supported and attended, although not by ladies so much as in the midland and northern counties. the liverpool races are chiefly matters of business, something like the newmarket, with the addition of a mob. a large attendance comes from manchester, where more betting is carried on than in any town out of london. gambling of all kinds naturally follows in the wake of cotton speculation, which is gambling. the crashes produced in liverpool by the sacra fames auri are sometimes startling, and they come out in visible relief, because, in spite of its size, gossip flourishes as intensely as in a village. during one of the cotton manias a young gentleman, barely of age, in possession of an income of some two thousand a-year from land, and ready money to the extent of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, joined an ingenious penniless gentleman in speculating in cotton, and found himself in less than twelve months a bankrupt; thus sacrificing, without the least enjoyment, a fortune sufficient for the enjoyment of every rational pleasure, or for the support of the highest honours in the state. such instances are not uncommon, although on a less magnificent scale; indeed, it is well to be cautious in inquiring after a liverpool merchant or broker after an absence of a few years; a very few years are sufficient to render the poor rich and the rich poor, an eighth of a penny in the pound of cotton will do it. the municipal corporation of liverpool is the wealthiest in england after london, and virtually richer than london, inasmuch as the expenses are trifling, the property is improving, and the liverpool aldermen and common- councillors have no vested claims to costly entertainments. the majority is in the hands of the conservative party, the liberal party having only enjoyed the sweets of power for a brief period after the passing of the financial reform bill; but the principle of representation keeps down any inclination toward the inevitable jobberies of a close self-elected body, and pushes local legislators on, quite up to the mark of the public opinion of the locality they govern. a stranger, who has no interest in party squabbles, must confess that the funds of this wealthy estate are on the whole fairly and wisely distributed. the irish population, amounting to many thousands of the poorest and most ignorant class, who find a refuge from the miseries of their own country in the first port from dublin, and employment in the vast demand for unskilled labour caused by the perpetual movement in imports and exports, impose a heavy tax on the poor-rates and police-rates of this borough. in the education of this part of the community, the liberal corporation made provision in the extensive corporation schools, by adopting the irish government scheme of instruction, permitting the roman catholics to make use of their own translation of the bible, and to absent themselves from the religious instruction of the orthodox. on this question the municipal elections were fought. the general education party were eventually beaten. the roman catholics were withdrawn from the schools, and thrown entirely upon the priests or the streets for education, and great was the rejoicing among the party who carried a large wooden bible as their standard. but subsequent events have induced those who have given any attention to the state of the operative classes in liverpool, of whatever politics, to doubt whether it would not have been better to have been busy, for the last fifteen years, in teaching those classes something, who, knowing nothing, supply very expensive customers to the liverpool courts of law and jail. liverpool returns two members to the house of commons. the election contests were formerly wonderfully bitter and absurd, for on one occasion, just before the passing of the reform bill, nearly two hundred thousand pounds were spent by two parties, between whose politics there was scarcely a shade of difference. william roscoe represented liverpool for a short time, but was rejected at a second election, in consequence of his opposition to the slave trade. he was the son of a publican, and rose from an office boy to be an attorney in large practice, and eventually a banker. he was ruined by the stopping of his bank, which, after being for many years under the taxing harrows of the old corrupt bankrupt system, paid twenty shillings in the pound. william roscoe was a voluminous writer of political pamphlets and poetry, which are now quite forgotten; his literary reputation deservedly rests upon his lives of lorenzo de medici, published in , and of leo x; the former of which has recently been republished by mr. bohn, in his cheap series of reprints. of even more value than his literary productions, was the school, or party, which he founded in liverpool, while he was still wealthy and influential, embracing all who had a taste for literature and art. at that period liverpool was rising into wealth on a vigorous prosecution of the slave trade, of which its parliamentary representatives were the avowed supporters. at that time vulgar wealth was the only distinction, and low debauchery the almost only amusement of the principal merchants. absurd as it may now seem, when all the well-to-do world profess to be educated and temperate, roscoe and his friends rendered inestimable service by making elegant tastes and temperate habits respectable, and by raising up an opposition to the old slave trade party, whose paradise lay in turtle soup, port wine, and punch. he set an example to merchants of stocking a library as well as a cellar, which has been followed, until now it is considered a matter of course. william roscoe died in , at a very advanced age. he was a remarkably fine-looking man, with a grand aristocratic head. in addition to huskisson and george canning, liverpool once very nearly had the honour of sending to parliament henry brougham, in days when the chancellorship and the house of lords could scarcely have been expected by that versatile genius, even in a dream. at present liverpool interests are well represented in the house of commons. the borough has had the good sense to prefer a merchant townsman, sir thomas birch, and the son of a merchant, and friend and co-minister of the late sir robert peel, mr. cardwell, to a soldier, and the dreamy poetical son of a protectionist duke. a place like liverpool ought to find in its own body better men than young lords or old soldiers. but young liverpool dearly loves a lord, of any politics; and a little polite attention from a duke will produce an unconscious effect even on the trade report of a broker of "fashion." mr. william brown, at the head of the greatest american house in the world, after baring's, represents south lancashire, but on manchester influence, scarcely with the consent of liverpool. mr. brown, who is an irishman by birth, has been entirely the architect of his own fortune, and began business--on a very limited scale indeed--within the memory of persons now living. the firm has now agents in every town of any importance in the united states, and is the means of keeping in active employment hundreds of traders in all our manufacturing districts. the relations with birmingham and the hardware country are very close. another liverpool man of whom the liverpool people are justly proud, is the best debater in the house of commons, if he only knew his own mind, the right honourable william gladstone, the son of sir john gladstone, bart., of fasque, n.b., formerly a liverpool merchant. sir john gladstone is a scotchman, and in conjunction with another gentleman, also the head of a first-rate liverpool house, mr. sandbatch, went out to the west indies (demerara) as journeymen bakers, in the same way that mr. miles, the grandfather of the members for east somerset and bristol, and founder of the great bristol banking house, went out to barbadoes as a journeyman cooper. if we add to these instances that the first sir robert peel and mr. brotherton (who himself told the house, in a debate on the factory time bill, that he had commenced life as a factory operative), beside many others, too numerous to mention, it will be found that our house of commons is not so far out of the reach of industrious merit as foreigners usually imagine. in conclusion, we may note that liverpool, which gave very cold and niggard support to the great exhibition (chiefly because the project was ill received by the ducal house which patronizes the fashionables of the town), sent a contribution which very completely represented its imports, specifying the scientific and commercial name of each article, country of production, and quantity imported. this collection occupies a considerable space, but it will be found, on examination, that a few staples employ the greater part of the shipping inwards. cotton occupies by far the largest place, the air is filled with floating motes of cotton all round the business quarters of the town; timber probably stands next in the tonnage it employs; west indian produce is less important than it was formerly; a great trade is done with south america, in hides, both dry and salted; tobacco, both from the united states and cuba, arrives in large quantities. there are several great snuff and cigar manufactories in liverpool. the hemp and tallow trade is increasing, as is the foreign corn trade. the mediterranean, and especially the italian, trade, has been rendered more important by steam communication. the china trade has not increased as much as was expected. when the docks and public institutions have been examined, and the places of interest on the cheshire shore visited, liverpool presents nothing to detain the traveller who has no private claims on his attention. it must be acknowledged that the general appearance of the town and of the people is more agreeable than that of birmingham or manchester, although liverpool can claim none of the historical and antiquarian interest in which bristol and chester are rich. there are parts of the town devoted to low lodging houses, and accommodation for the poor irish and emigrants, as bad as the worst parts of st. giles's or spitalfields. indeed, the mortality is greater than that of any other town in england. liverpool is a great port for emigration to the united states and canada. on the line of packet ships the accommodation for those who can pay pounds and upwards is excellent; in the timber ships they are packed like herrings after being lodged like pigs. but what can be expected for the fare. at pounds the shipowners undertake to give a passage, and find two quarts of water and a pound of bread per day. the government emigration agents are indefatigable in their efforts, municipal and parliamentary regulations have been from time to time applied to the subject, nevertheless the frauds and cruelties inflicted on emigrants are frightful. an attempt was made some short time since to have an emigrant's home as a sort of model barrack, erected in one of the new docks, so as to form a counterpoise to the frauds of emigration lodging-house keepers, but local jealousies defeated a plan which would have been equally advantageous to the town and the emigrants. the state of poverty and crime in liverpool, fed as it is by the overflowings of many districts, is an important subject, which has excited the anxious attention of several enlightened residents, among others of the late police magistrate, mr. edward rushton, who died suddenly without being able to bring his plans to maturity. in conclusion we may say of liverpool, that it is a town which has a great and increasing population, a wealthy corporation, a thriving trade, yet less of the materials of a metropolis than many other towns of less commercial importance. for further temporary information, a traveller may advantageously consult the liverpool papers, of which there is one for every day in the week--that is to say, an albion, a times, a mail, a standard, a mercury, a journal, a chronicle--of all shades of politics, of large size, conducted with great ability, and affording, in addition to the news and politics of the day, a great deal of general information, in the shape of extracts from popular works and original articles. if we would learn why the opinions of inhabitants of towns prevail over the opinions of landowners and agriculturists, we have only to compare the active intelligence of the two as exhibited by such journals as are to be found in liverpool, manchester, and birmingham with those supported by the rural community. a single sect expends more on the support of the press than all the farmers and farmers' friends united, who are more numerous, more wealthy, not wanting in intelligence in their own pursuits, but quite without cohesion or combination. * * * * * liverpool to manchester.--there are two ways from liverpool to manchester, one by the lancashire and yorkshire railway, through bolton, which has a station behind the exchange, and one by the old route, through newton. the line by the new one has bolton upon its course, and renders the aintree racecourse half as near manchester as liverpool. for choice take a tuesday or saturday, and travel up by the early cotton brokers' express to manchester, so as to see one more phase of the english commercial character. the brokers are a jovial set and hospitable, as keen as yankees and as industrious. there is a marked difference between them and the spinners, but they are of no particular country. liverpool, like manchester, although not to the same degree, is colonised by strangers. both irishmen and scotchmen are to be found among the most respectable and successful, and a considerable number of americans are settled there as merchants and shipping agents; indeed it is half american in its character. in this year of , to describe the liverpool and manchester railway would be absurd; acres of print, in all civilized languages, and yards of picture- illustration, have been devoted to it. at newton station you see below you a race-course of great antiquity, and what was once a huge hotel, built to supply a room large enough for the mother partingtons of lancashire to meet and prepare their mops for sweeping back the atlantic tide of public opinion. there they met, and dined and drank and shouted, and unanimously agreed that it was foolish legislation which transferred the right of representation from the village of newton to the great city of manchester; after which they went home, and wisely submitted to the summons which found its speaking-trumpets at manchester. fortunately for this country, a minority knows how to submit to a majority, and the conservative hall, by a sort of accidental satire on its original uses, has been turned into a printing office. a little farther on is chat-moss, a quaking bog, which the opponents of the first railway proved, to the satisfaction of many intelligent persons, to be an impassable obstacle to the construction of any solid road. we fly across it now reading or writing, scarcely taking the trouble to look out of the window. but if we do, we may see reclamation and cultivation, in the shape of root-crops and plantations, extending over the wet waste. william roscoe was one of the first to attempt to reclaim this moss; and it is worthy of note, that it was among the literary and scientific friends of roscoe that george stephenson's idea of a railroad from liverpool to manchester, through chat-moss, found its warmest supporters, at a time when support was much needed; for the shares were hawked, and even distributed among friends who were guaranteed against loss, in order to make up a fitting parliamentary subscription to what has proved one of the most successful speculations in public works, of this century. manchester. as we roll into manchester, and mark by what successive invasions the city has been half-surrounded by railways, it is amusing to remember the fears which landowners expressed in , and really felt, lest the new flaming and smoking carriage-apparatus should damage the value of property which has been more than doubled in value by the new invention. manchester is the greatest manufactory in the world. the cradle and metropolis of a trade which employs a million and a half of souls, beside the sailors, the merchants, the planters and the slaves, who grow or carry or buy the raw material, it is the second city in the empire, and perhaps, considered in relation to the commercial influence of great britain, scarcely second. blot out the capital, the credit, the living enterprise, the manufacturing power of manchester, and we have lost a century of commercial progress. manchester is essentially a place of work and action, carried on by men recruited from every district where a mental grenadier of the manchester standard is to be found. suffolk and devonshire, norfolk and cornwall send their quota, as well as the neighbouring manufacturing schools of yorkshire, cheshire, and lancashire. scotchmen in great numbers, and some irishmen, chiefly from the north, are also at home there. we are speaking now not of operatives, but of those who rise to be manufacturers or merchants. the americans are rather constant visitors than permanent residents; but the germans are sufficiently numerous to be able to form a society of their own, the most agreeable in manchester; and the commerce of greece is represented by a great number of houses, which are increasing in number and importance. then manchester, although only an inland canal port, trades largely and directly, through liverpool chiefly, to the most parts of the world, consuming one-tenth of the whole imports of that town. the correspondence of a first-class house for one morning would alone be a lesson in geography. then again, the ceaseless enterprise and enormous powers of manufacture are supported by a constantly-improving mechanical ingenuity, which seems to those unaccustomed to such works nothing less than miraculous: as, for instance, some of the inventions of mr. whitworth and of mr. roberts. but all this is hidden from the eye of a stranger; and manchester is a dark and dingy ledger, closely clasped, unless he comes prepared to open a good account, or armed with letters of introduction of a more than ordinarily pressing nature. the gentleman who was all smiles while accepting your civilities, and energetically amusing himself on a tour of pleasure, has scarcely time to look up from his desk to greet you when enthroned in his counting-house. the fact is, that these manchester men rise early, work hard, dine at one o'clock, work again, and go home, some distance out of town, to work or to sleep,--so they have no time for unprofitable hospitality or civility. we do not say this by way of idle reproach to the people of manchester, who follow their vocation, and do work of which we as englishmen have reason to be proud, but partly by way of warning to travellers who, armed with the sort of letters that have proved passports to everything best worth seeing throughout the rest of europe, may expect to pass an agreeable day or two in the cotton metropolis; and partly by way of hint to politicians who, very fond of inveighing against the cold shade of aristocracy, would find something worth imitating in the almost universal courtesy of modern nobility, which is quite consistent with the extremest liberality of abstract opinions. dr. dalton, the celebrated natural philosopher, for many years a resident in manchester, has proved that manchester is not so damp and rainy a place as is generally imagined; that the mean annual fall of rain is less than that of lancaster, kendal, and dumfries. nevertheless, it is better to expect rain, for although the day at liverpool, halifax, or sheffield may have been brilliantly fine, the probability is that you will find the train, as it approaches the city, gradually slipping into a heavy shower or a scotch mist. the walk from any of the stations is very disheartening; tall warehouses, dingy brick houses, a ceaseless roar of carts and waggons in the main streets, and a population of which all the better dressed march at double quick time, with care-brent brows, and if pausing, only to exchange gruff monosyllables and short words. at one o'clock the factory hands are dismissed, and the masters proceed to dinner on horseback and in all sorts of vehicles at a thundering pace. the working-class population will be found less unhealthy and better looking than would be expected. the costume of the women, a cap and a short sleeved jacket fitting the waist, called a lancashire bedgown, is decidedly picturesque. for a quarter of an hour some streets are almost impassable, and the movement gives the idea of a population deserting a city. an hour's silence follows, after which the tide flows again: the footpaths are filled with the "hands;" and the "heads," with very red faces, furiously drive their hundred guinea nags back to business. now this is one of the sights of manchester. again, tuesday is the business day at the exchange, in st. ann's square. the room is one of the finest in the kingdom; the faces and the scene generally afford much curious matter for the study of the artist and physiognomist. compare it with the groups of well dressed dawdlers at leamington, cheltenham, bath, with the very different style of acute intellect displayed at a meeting of the institute of civil engineers, or with the merchants of liverpool, part of whom also attend manchester. the personal appearance of the manchester manufacturers and their customers, as seen on 'change, fully justifies the old saw, "liverpool gentlemen, manchester men, rochdale fellows (fellies), and wigan chaps." in liverpool all are equal,--merchant deals with merchant; in manchester the millowner is an autocrat, restrained by customs of the trade and occasional strikes, and he carries his rough ways into private life. but facts show that, with all its plate and varnish, liverpool is as inferior to manchester in an intellectual, as it is superior in an external point of view. in politics manchester leads, and liverpool and lancashire unwillingly follow,--in the education of the operative and middle classes,--in literary, scientific, and musical associations,--in sanitary measures,--in the formation of public parks and pleasure grounds, manchester displays an incontestable superiority; being more rapid, more energetic, and more liberal than her more fashionable neighbours. a list of a few of the institutions and public establishments will show this. the royal institution in mosley street occupies a large building, established for the encouragement of the fine arts by exhibitions of paintings and sculptures, and the delivery of lectures. the philosophical society was established in , and has numbered among its members dr. dalton, dr. henry, and dr. percival, and has had its transactions translated into french and german. the natural history society has filled a museum in peter street with objects of natural history, and opens it during holiday seasons to the public at a nominal charge, when thousands of visitors, chiefly operatives, attend. the mechanics' institution, founded in , after surviving many difficulties, has become one of the most flourishing and useful institutions of the kind in the kingdom. its chief activity is displayed in the education of the operative members in the class-rooms. the library is large, well selected, and in constant requisition. in one department the school of design is carried on, and could not be conducted in a more appropriate building. this school of design, supported by the government for the purpose of promoting design as applied to the staple manufactures, and diffusing a general feeling for art amongst the manufacturing community, was formerly accommodated within the walls of the royal institution as a tenant, paying a rent, strangely enough, for the use of a building which had ostensibly been erected for promoting art and science! it was not until , that, on the recommendation of a committee of the house of commons, active steps were taken to establish in england that class of artistic instruction applied to manufactures which had been cultivated in france ever since the time that the great colbert was the minister of louis xiv. at manchester, some of the leading men connected with the calico-printing trade and looms of art, established a school of design within the royal institution, where two rooms were lent rent-free; but, as soon as government apportioned a part of a special grant to the manchester school, the committee, who were also as nearly as possible the council of the royal institution, with that appetite for public money which seems incident to men of all nations, all classes, and all politics, voted out of the pounds per annum for rent. this school did nothing of a practical nature, and consequently did not progress in public estimation. the master was a clever artist, but not up, perhaps he would have said not down, to his work. a school of design at manchester is meant, not to breed artists in high art, but to have art applied to the trades of the city. the master was changed, and, at the request of the local committee, the council of the school of design at somerset house sent down, in , mr. george wallis, who had shown his qualifications as an assistant at somerset house and as master of the spitalfields school. at that time the manchester school had been in existence five years, and had done nothing toward its original object. in two years from the time of mr. wallis taking the charge, the funds of the school were flourishing; the interest taken in it by the public was great, and nearly half the institution was occupied by the pupils, while the applications for admission were more numerous than could be accommodated. under this management the public, who care little for abstract art, were taught the close connexion between the instruction of the school of design and their private pursuits. this is what is wanted in all our towns. it is not enough to teach boys and girls,--the manufacturers and purchasers need to be taught by the eye, if not by the hand. according to part of mr. wallis's plan, an exhibition was held of the drawings executed by the pupils for the annual prizes, which had a great influence in laying the foundation for the efforts made by manchester at the great exhibition of industry in hyde park. while matters were proceeding so satisfactorily, the somerset house authorities (who have since been tried and condemned by a committee of the house of commons), proceeded to earn their salaries by giving instructions which could not be carried out without destroying all the good that had been done. the manchester committee and mr. wallis protested against this red tapish interference. it was persisted in; mr. wallis { } resigned, to the great regret of his pupils and manufacturing friends in the managing council. the result was that the undertaking dwindled away rapidly to less than its original insignificance,--the students fell off, and a deficit of debt replaced the previously flourishing funds. out of evil comes good. the case of manchester enabled mr. milner gibson, m.p. for manchester, to get his committee and overhaul the schools of design throughout the kingdom. certain changes were effected. the school, no longer able to pay the high rent required by the royal institution, was removed to its present site in brown street, placed under the management of mr. hammersley, who had previously been a successful teacher at nottingham, and freed from the meddling of incompetent authorities. and now pupils anxiously crowd to receive instruction, and annually display practical evidence of the advantages they are enjoying. the manchester mechanics' institution was one of the pioneers in the movement which led to the great exhibition. in , was held its first polytechnic exhibition for the purpose of showing the connexion between natural productions, science, and manufactures. subsequent exhibitions were carried out with great effect as a means of instruction and education, and with such success as to pay off a heavy debt which had previously cramped the usefulness of the institution. there are also several other institutions of the same class, amongst others salford, ancoats, and miles platting auxiliary mechanics' institutes. the athenaeum constitutes a kind of literary club for the middle classes, who are provided with a good library and reading-room in a very handsome building. the manchester library contains , volumes, the manchester subscription library, established , has the most extensive collection of books in the city. a concert hall in peter street, exclusively used for the purposes indicated by its name, is supported by subscribers at five guineas each. the chetham society has been founded for the purpose of publishing ancient mss. and scarce works connected with the history of lancashire. the exchange has upwards of two thousand subscribers. by way of helping the body as well as the mind, in the inhabitants of manchester formed by subscription three public parks, called queen's park, peel's park, and philip's park, in three different parts of the suburbs. * * * * * the free grammar school was founded by hugh oldham, bishop of exeter, in the early part of the sixteenth century. it was originally founded for the purpose of furnishing simple and elementary instruction to the poor. this design is sufficiently proved by the language of the foundation deed, which describes those sought to be benefited as persons who had been long in ignorance "on account of the poverty of their parents." the present income of the school is upwards of pounds a-year, leaving a considerable income over its expenditure, notwithstanding that the operations of the school have been extended by a decree of the court of chancery. in the year the court authorised the erection of a new building to include a residence for the master. there are two schools, called the higher and lower. the instructions given embrace the greek and latin, and the french, german, and other modern languages; english literature, mathematics, the modern arts and sciences, etc. a library is attached to the school for the use of the pupils. there are twelve exhibitions, of the annual value of pounds each, for four years, in the gift of the warden and high master, who, however, respect the recommendations of the examiners. these gentlemen are three in number, being masters of arts and bachelors of law of two years' standing, two of them appointed by the professor, and one by the high master. they each receive pounds for their services. in addition to the twelve exhibitions mentioned above, there are fifteen others connected with the school, the bequest of a merchant named hulme. these are appropriated to under-graduates of brasenose college, oxford. their value is to be fixed by the patrons, but cannot exceed the sum of pounds a year. they are to be held for four years from the thirteenth term after matriculation. there are sixteen scholarships to the same college; and sixteen to st. john's, cambridge, varying in value from l to pounds, stand in rotation with the pupils of marlborough and hereford schools, and six scholarships of pounds to magdalen college, oxford, manchester pupils having the preference. the examiners have also the power of making awards of books or mathematical instruments, to the value of pounds, in any cases of great merit. the high master's salary is fixed not to exceed pounds, with house-rent and taxes free. he is also allowed to take twenty boarders. he has the assistance of an usher (salary pounds, with house and fifteen boarders); an assistant (salary pounds, with house and twelve boarders); an usher's assistant (salary pounds, with house and ten boarders). there are, in addition, a master of the lower school, a writing, and a mathematical master, a teacher of english literature, and another of foreign languages; all, with the exception of the last, having houses, and their aggregate salaries amounting to pounds. four hundred scholars attended in . manchester new college is an institution belonging to the unitarian body, on the plan of king's college, london, and was opened for the reception of students on the th october, . the curriculum of instruction embraces every department of learning and polite literature. the lancashire independent college is one of the affiliated colleges of the london university, and was established for the education of candidates for the christian ministry amongst congregational dissenters. there are three resident professors, the principal being the rev. dr. vaughan, formerly professor of history in the university of london. owen's college has recently been opened on the testamentary endowment of a mr. owen, for affording an education on the plan of university college, london. chetham's hospital, or, as it is more properly termed, "college," was founded by charter in the year , by humphrey chetham, a manchester citizen and tradesman, who had, during his lifetime, brought up, fed, and educated fourteen boys of manchester and salford. he paid a heavy fine to charles i. for persisting in his refusal of a baronetcy, and in was appointed sheriff of his county. by his will chetham directed that the number of boys he had previously provided for should be augmented by the addition of one from droylsden, two from crumpsall, four from turton, and ten from bolton; and left the sum of pounds to be devoted to their instruction and maintenance, from six to fourteen years of age, and for their apprenticeship afterwards to some trade. the funds having since increased, boys are now received, in the following proportions, from the several places mentioned in the founder's will, viz.:--manchester, ; salford, ; droylsden, ; crumpsall, ; bolton, ; turton, . they are clothed, fed, boarded, lodged, and instructed in reading, writing, grammar, and arithmetic. the boys are selected by the feoffees in annual meeting at easter, within six days before the monday in which week an application must be sent in to the governor, accompanied by a printed note of recommendation, signed by the overseers and churchwardens of the place in which the candidate resides. the college library is situated in the same old building in which accommodation is found for the college, and is a fine collection of upwards of , volumes. the germ of this library consisted of the books bequeathed by humphrey chetham, many of them of great scarcity and value. the collection contains comparatively few volumes of modern date. the library is open to the use of the public without charge or restriction, and a small, but convenient, reading-room is provided for their accommodation. books are not allowed to be removed from the premises, and every reader is obliged to make an entry of each volume he wishes to obtain. notwithstanding the immense population of manchester and salford, this valuable institution is comparatively little used, the number of readers averaging less than twenty per day. swinton school.--in connexion with the workhouse an industrial house and school has been erected at swinton, five miles from the city, which affords so admirable an example for imitation by all manufacturing or crowded communities, that we are glad to be able to extract the main facts concerning it from a graphic description in the first volume of dickens's household words:-- "swinton school cost sixty thousand pounds, and is a handsome building in the tudor style of architecture, with a frontage of feet, containing more than windows. pleasure grounds and play grounds surround it, and it resembles more a nobleman's palace than the home of pauper children. the inmates consist of children, of whom are orphans, and deserted by their parents, under charge of a chaplain, a head master, a medical officer, a roman catholic priest, a governor, a matron, six schoolmasters, and four school-mistresses, with a numerous staff of officials, nurses, and teachers of trades, receiving salaries and wages amounting to , pounds a-year, besides board. some in the institution are as young as one year and a half. all are educated, and those who are old enough are taught trades and domestic employments. when they leave they are furnished with two suits of clothes. the character of the institution stands so high, that the public are eager for the girls as domestic servants. if it has not already been done, we hope that the cultivation of land on the system of market gardens will be added to the trades, as affording a more certain, and, in some respects, more generally useful employment. educated agricultural labourers are rare, much prized, and soon promoted to be overseers and bailiffs. the education at swinton is conducted on the modern plan, which prevails in the best schools under government inspection. the children are taught to love and look upon their masters and mistresses as friends, to be consulted and applied to as they would to kind parents. for instance take this bit, familiar to visitors of infant schools, but still new to many:-- the children under six years of age, summoned by the sound of a whistle from the play ground, trooped in glad groups to an anteroom, and girls and boys intermixed, at a signal from the master marched into the schoolroom singing a tune. then followed such viva voce instruction as too many better endowed children do not get for want of competent teachers. indeed a better education is now given in workhouses than can be obtained for children under twelve years of age at any paid school that we know of. for instance:-- "what day is this?" "monday." "what sort of a day is it?" "very fine." "why is it fine?" "because the sun shines, and it does not rain." "is rain a bad thing, then?" "no." "what is it useful for?" "to make the flowers and the fruit grow." "who sends rain and sunshine?" "god." "what ought we to do in return for his goodness?" "praise him." "let us praise him, then," added the master. and the children altogether repeated, and then sang, a part of the th psalm." now all this is very fine, and a wonderful improvement on the old dog-eared redinmadeasy, but better follows. after a time the children grew tired and sleepy, one fell asleep. did the master slap them all round and pull the ears of the poor little fat somnus? no. he marched them all out singing and beating time to play for a quarter of an hour. we commend swinton to the consideration of the credulous disciples of the firebrand school of economists, who believe that manchester men devour little children daily, without stint or mercy for their poor little bodies or souls. manchester obtained a municipal corporation under the provisions of the general act for that purpose, passed in the reign of his late majesty william iv. gas works, established in , are the property of the town, and produce a surplus income amounting to between three and four thousand pounds a year, which are devoted to public improvements. the corporation have recently obtained power to establish water works, and to purchase up the plant of an existing company. the guardians of the workhouses of manchester have a most difficult task to perform, especially in times of commercial depression, as thousands are thrown upon their hands at once. among the most troublesome customers are the irish, who flock to manchester through liverpool in search of work, and form a population herding together, very ignorant, very poor, and very uncleanly. manchester manufactures. it is quite impossible to give the same sort of sketch of the manufactures of this city as we gave of birmingham, because they are on so much larger and more complicated a scale. one may understand how a gun-barrel or a steel-pen is made at one inspection; but in a visit to a textile mill, a sight of whizzing machinery, under the charge of some hundred men, women, boys, and girls, only produces an indefinable feeling of confusion to a person who has not previously made himself acquainted with the elements of the subject. to attempt to explain how a piece of calico is made without the aid of woodcuts, would be very unsatisfactory. premising, then, that the cotton in various forms is the staple manufacture of manchester, and that silk, mixed fabrics of cotton and silk, cotton and wool, etc., are also made extensively, we advise the traveller to prepare himself by reading the work of dr. ure or the articles on textiles in the penny cyclopaedia. a visit to the workshops of the celebrated machinists messrs. sharpe, roberts, & co. would probably afford a view of some parts of the most improved textile machinery in a state of rest, as well as a very excellent idea of the rapid progress of mechanical arts. improvements in manufacturing machines are so constant and rapid, that it is almost a proverb--"that before a foreigner can get the most improved machinery which he has purchased in england home and at work, something better will be invented." a manchester manufacturer, on the approach of a busy season, will sometimes stop his factories to put in new machines, at a cost of twenty thousand pounds. of equal interest with messrs. sharpe, roberts, & co., are the works of messrs. whitworth, the manufacturers of exquisite tools, more powerful than any elephant, more delicately-fitted than any watch for executing the metalwork of steam-engines, of philosophical instruments, and everything requiring either great power or mathematical nicety. some of these tools for planing, boring, rivetting, welding, cutting iron and other metals, are to be found in great iron manufactories. indeed, mr. roberts and mr. whitworth are of a class of men who have proved that the execution of almost all imitations of natural mechanics are merely a question of comparative expense. if you choose to pay for it, you may have the moving fingers of a man, or the prehensile trunk of an elephant, perfectly executed. from the manufacture of machines, the next step lies naturally to some branch of cotton manufactures. cotton.--the rise of this manufacture has been wonderfully rapid. in the time of henry viii., the spinning wheel came into use in england, superseding the spindle and distaff, which may still be seen in the south of france and italy, and in india, where no other tools are used. in the same reign manchester became distinguished for its manufactures. in the seventeenth century, humphrey chetham, whose name has already been mentioned as the founder of a splendid charity, was among the eminent tradesmen. the barbarities of the duke of alva on the protestants of the netherlands, and the revocation of the edict of nantes, by which the persecutions of the french protestants was renewed, supplied all our manufacturing districts with skilful artisans and mechanics in silk and woollen. in , the importation of raw cotton only amounted to nineteen million pounds weight, obtained from the west indies, the french, spanish, and dutch colonies, and from turkey and smyrna. two years previously an american ship which imported eight bags was seized, on the ground that so much cotton could not be the produce of the united states! so early as , one charles wyatt, of birmingham, took out a patent for spinning yarn by machinery, which he tried at northampton, but reaped no profits from the invention, which was discontinued and forgotten. in , james hargreaves, an illiterate weaver residing near church, in lancashire, who seven years previously had invented a carding machine, much like that in use at the present day, invented the spinning jenny,--by which eighty spindles were set to work instead of the one of the spinning wheel. hargreaves derived no benefit from his invention; twice a mob of spinners on the old principle rose and destroyed all the machinery made on his plan, and chased him away. in , richard arkwright took out his first patent (having mr. need of nottingham and mr. strutt of derby as partners,) for spinning with rollers. arkwright was born in the humblest class of life at preston in lancashire. at "proud preston" he first followed the business of a barber, then became a dealer in hair, travelling the country to collect it, and selling it prepared to the wigmakers. having accumulated a little money, he set about endeavouring to invent perpetual motion, and, in the search, invented, or sufficiently adapted and improved, a cotton spinning apparatus to induce two practical men like the messrs. need and strutt to join him. his claim to original invention has been disputed. that he was not the first inventor is clear, and it is equally clear that he must have been a man of very considerable and original mechanical genius. with arkwright's patent, the rise of the cotton trade began. in , mr. samuel crompton's invention came into use, called the mule jenny, because partaking of the movements of both hargreaves' and arkwright's inventions, by which, for the first time, yarn fine enough for muslins could be spun. crompton did not, probably could not, afford to take out a patent, but worked his mule jenny with his own hands in an attic at bolton, where he carried on a small spinning and weaving business. already, in , there were between four and five million spindles on this principle, but the inventor continued poor and almost unknown. mr. kennedy (author of a brief memoir of crompton), and mr. lee, raised pounds for him by subscription, and he afterwards received a grant of pounds from parliament, which his sons lost in business. mr. kennedy again exerted himself and raised an annuity of pounds, which the unfortunate inventor only lived two years to enjoy. the spinning machines threatened to out-travel the weaving powers of the country, when, in , dr. cartwright, a clergyman of kent, with no previous knowledge of weaving, after an expenditure of , pounds, invented the power-loom, for which he afterwards received a grant of , pounds from parliament. to supply our cotton manufactures, there were imported in , , bales of lbs. each. of this quantity, , , bales came from the united states. the manchester manufacturers have lately raised a small fund by subscription, and sent out mr. mackay, a barrister, author of the western world, to examine and report on the prospects of obtaining cotton from india; and the son of the late mr. john fielden, a great manufacturer, has embarked a considerable sum at natal in the cultivation of cotton. the dependence on the united states for such a staple has begun to render our manchester men uncomfortable. they have not, however, displayed the spirit and energy that might have been expected either from their usual political vigour or from the tone of their advice to the farmers in distress. the successive improvements in weaving by machinery we shall not attempt to trace. to use the phrase of a nottingham mechanic, "there are machines now that will weave anything, from a piece of sacking to a spider's web." but fine muslins and fancy goods are chiefly woven by hand. the power-loom has recently been adapted, under bright's patent, to weaving carpets, which are afterwards printed. with respect to spinning; fine yarns which cost twenty guineas a pound have been reduced to four shillings by improved machinery, and in the great exhibition of industry messrs. houldsworth exhibited as a curiosity, a pound of cotton spun , miles in length. arkwright, among the early improvers, was the only one who realized a large fortune, which his patience, his energy, his skill, his judgment, his perseverance well deserved, whether he was an original inventor or not. the large supplies of cheap coals by canal soon made lancashire the principal seat of the manufacture. among the many who realized great wealth by the new manufacture, was the first sir robert peel, who began life near bolton as a labouring man, by frugality accumulated enough money to commence first with a donkey a small coal trade, and then to enter on a cotton mill, which eventually placed him in a position to become a member of parliament and a baronet, and to give his son that starting place in education and society of which he availed himself so wisely and so patriotically, to his own honour and the permanent benefit of his country. there are several mills and factories in manchester in which the most perfect productions of mechanical skill may be seen in operation; but it is a trade which will be seen under much more favourable circumstances in some of those valleys near manchester, where the masters of the mill provide the cottages of their "hands," or where the cottages are held in freehold by the more frugal workmen themselves, with little gardens attached, in pure air in open situations. there are many cotton lords, and the number is increasing, who take the warmest interest in the condition of the people in their employ, and who do all they can to promote their health, their education, and their amusements. a visit to one of these establishments, will convince those who have taken their ideas of a manufacturing population from the rabid novelettes and yet more rabid railings of the ferrand school, that there is nothing in the factory system itself, properly conducted, opposed to the permanent welfare of the working classes. on the contrary, in average times, the wages are sufficient to enable the operatives to live in great comfort, and to lay by more than in other trades; while between the comfort of their position and that of the agricultural labourer there is no comparison, so infinitely are the advantages on the side of the factory hand. there have also been a series of legislative and other changes during the last twenty years, all tending to raise the condition of this class. at the same time, it is impossible not to observe that, quite irrespective of political opinions, there is a wide gulf between the great mass of the employers and the employed. there is dislike--there is undefined distrust. those who doubt this will do well to investigate working-class opinions for themselves, not at election time, and in such a familiar manner as to get at the truth without compliments. probably in times of prosperity this feeling is not increasing--we are strongly inclined to think it is diminishing; but it is a question not to be neglected. manchester men, of the class who run at the aristocracy, the army, and the navy just as a bull runs at a red rag, will perhaps be very angry at our saying this; but we speak as we have found mobs at fires, and chatty fustian jackets in third class trains on the lancashire and yorkshire line; and, although a friend protests against the opinion, we still think that the ordinary manchester millhand looks on his employer with about the same feelings that mr. john bright regards a colonel in the guards. we hope we may live to see them all more amiable, and better friends. manchester during the last seventy years, has been peopled more rapidly than the "black country" which we have described, with a crowd of immigrants of the most ignorant class, from the agricultural counties of england, from ireland, and from scotland. these people have been crowded together under very demoralising circumstances. but we do not dwell or enter further into this important part of the condition of manchester, because, unlike birmingham, the corn law discussions have, to the enormous advantage of the city, drawn hundreds of jealous eyes upon the domestic life of the poor; and because men of all parties, church and dissent, radicals and conservatives, are trying hard and as cordially as their mutual prejudices will allow them, to work out a plan of education for raising the moral condition of a class, who, if neglected in their dirt and ignorance, will become, in the strongest sense of the french term, dangereuse! but to return to the manchester of to-day; it has become rather the mercantile than the manufacturing centre of the cotton manufacture. there are firms in manchester which hold an interest in woollen, silk, and linen manufactures in all parts of the kingdom and even of the continent. from a pamphlet published last year by the rev. mr. baker, it appears that there are five hundred and fifty cotton manufactories of one kind or other in the cotton district of lancashire and cheshire. of these, in ashton-under- lyne, dukinfield, and mosley, there are fifty-three mills, blackburn fifty- seven, bolton forty-two, burnley twenty-five spinning manufactories, at heywood twenty-eight mills, oldham one hundred and fifty-eight, preston thirty-eight, staley bridge twenty, stockport forty-seven mills, warrington only four, manchester seventy-eight. the following is a brief outline of the stages of cotton manufacture which may be useful to those who consider the question for the first time. when cotton has reached manchester from the united states, which supplies per cent. of the raw material; from egypt, which supplies a good article in limited quantity; from india, which sends us an inferior, uncertain, but increasing, quantity, but which with railroads will send us an improved increasing quantity; or from any of the other miscellaneous countries which contribute a trifling quota--it is stowed in warehouses, arranged according to the countries from which it has come. it is then "passed through the willow, the scuthing machine, and the spreading machine, in order to be opened, cleaned, and evenly spread. by the carding engine the fibres are combed out, and laid parallel to each other, and the fleece is compressed into sliver. the sliver is repeatedly drawn and doubled in the drawing frame, more perfectly to strengthen the fibres and to equalize the grist. the roving frame, by rollers and spindles, produces a coarse loose thread, which the mule or throstle spins into yarn. to make the warp, the twist is transferred from cops to bobbins by the winding machine, and from the bobbins at the warping machine to a cylindrical beam. this being taken to the dressing machine, the warp is sized, dressed, and wound upon the weaving beam. the weaving beam is then placed in the power loom, by which machine, the shuttle being provided with cops with weft, the cloth is woven." sometimes the yarn only is exported, in other cases the cloth is bleached, or dyed, or printed, all of which operations can be carried on in manchester or the surrounding auxiliary towns. the best mode of obtaining a general idea of the trade carried on in manchester will be to visit two or three of the leading warehouses in which buyers from all parts of the world supply their respective wants. for instance, messrs. j. n. phillips and co., of church street; messrs. bannermans and sons, york street; messrs. j. and j. watts and co., of spring gardens; and messrs. wood and westhead, of piccadilly. next, to go over one of the leading cotton mills, say briley's or houldsworth's; then messrs. lockett's establishment for engraving the plates used in calico-printing, and messrs. thomas hoyle and son's print works. this work completed, the traveller will have some idea of manchester, not without. * * * * * silk.--the silk trade of manchester and of macclesfield, which for that purpose is a suburb of manchester, arose in the restrictions imposed upon spitalfields, at the request of the weavers, by successive acts of parliament, for the purpose of regulating employment in that district. in there were not jacquard looms in manchester and its neighbourhood, whilst at the present time there are probably , employed either on silk or some branch of figure weaving. the most convenient silk manufactory for the visit of the stranger is that of messrs. james houldsworth of portland street, near the royal infirmary. this firm was established by a german gentleman, the late mr. louis schwabe, an intelligent german, who introduced the higher class of silk manufacture with such success as to enable him to compete with even the very first class of lyons silks for furniture damasks. in addition to the extensive application of the jacquard loom, mr. schwabe introduced, and mr. henry houldsworth improved and perfected, the embroidering machines invented by mr. heilmann of mulhausen. the improvements are so great that the original inventor cannot compete with them. rows of needles elaborate the most tasteful designs with a degree of accuracy to which hand labour cannot approach. messrs. winkworth and proctor are also producers of high class silks for ladies' dresses and gentlemen's waistcoats. manchester is particularly celebrated for plain silk goods of a superior quality at a moderate price. there are also manufactories of small wares, which include parasols and umbrellas. a parasol begins at . d. wholesale. in manchester the tastes and costumes of every country are consulted and suited. the brown cloak of the spaniard, the poncho of the chilean, the bright red or yellow robe of the chinese, the green turban of the pilgrim from mecca, the black blanket of the caffre, and the red blanket of the american indian may all be found in bales in one manchester warehouse. in passing through the streets, the sign "fents" is to be seen on shops in cellars. these are the odd pieces, of a yard or two in length, cut off the goods in the manufactories to make up a certain even quantity; and considerable trade is driven in them. selections are sometimes bought up as small ventures by sea captains and emigrants. paper-making is carried on extensively in the neighbourhood of manchester from cotton waste. this was formerly thrown away; scavengers were even paid to cart it away. after a time, as its value became quietly known among paper-makers, parties were found willing to take on themselves the expense of removing it. by degrees the waste became a regular article of sale; and now, wherever possible, a paper-mill in this part of the country is placed near, or worked in conjunction with, a cotton-mill. the introduction of cotton waste has materially reduced the price of paper. no doubt, when the excise is abolished, many other articles will be employed for the same purpose. to describe the railroads, which are every hour departing for every point of the compass, would take up too much space. but the railway stations, several of which have been united by works as costly, and almost as extensive, as the pyramids of egypt, are not among the least interesting sights. at these stations barrels of flour will be found, literally filling acres of warehouse room, and cucumbers arrive in season by the ton. * * * * * the canals must be mentioned, and remind us that at worsley, near manchester, the duke of bridgwater, "the father of inland navigation," aided by the genius of brindley (another of the great men, who, like arkwright and stephenson, rose from the ranks of labour, and directly contributed to the rise of this city) commenced the first navigable canal constructed for commercial purposes in great britain. at the present day the construction of a canal is a very commonplace affair, but it is impossible to doubt the high qualities of the mind of the duke of bridgwater, when we consider the education and prejudices of a man of his rank at that period, and observe the boldness with which he accepted, the tenacity with which he adhered to, the energy and self-sacrifice with which he prosecuted the plans of an obscure man like brindley. a disappointment in love is said to have first driven the duke into retirement, and rendered him shy and eccentric, with an especial objection to the society of ladies, although he had once been a gay, if not dissipated, young gentleman, fond of the turf. he rode a race at trentham hall, the seat of his brother-in-law, the marquis of stafford. when he retired from the pleasures of the fashionable world, his attention was directed to a rich bed of coal on his estate at worsley, the value of which was almost nominal in consequence of the expense of carriage. he determined to have a canal, and, if possible, a perfect canal, and who to carry out this object he selected brindley, who had been born in the station of an agricultural labourer, and was entirely self-educated. to the last he conducted those engineering calculations, which are usually worked out on paper and by rule, by a sort of mental arithmetic. brindley must have been about forty years of age when he joined the duke. he died at fifty-six, having laid the foundation of that admirable system of internal commerce which is better described in baron charles dupin's force commerciale de la grande bretagne than in any english work. one often-told anecdote well illustrates the characters of the nobleman and his engineer, if we remember that no such works had ever been erected in england at that time. "when brindley proposed to carry the canal over the mersey and irwell navigation, by an aqueduct feet above the surface of the water, he desired, for the satisfaction of his employer, to have another engineer consulted. that individual, on being taken to the place where the intended aqueduct was to be constructed, said, that 'he had often heard of castles in the air, but never was shown before where any of them were to be erected.'" but the duke had faith in brindley, persevered and triumphed, although, before the completion of all his undertakings, he was more than once reduced to great pecuniary difficulties. the canal property of the duke of bridgwater, with the lancashire estates, are now vested in the earl of ellesmere, a nobleman who well knows, and conscientiously works out, the axiom, "that property has its duties as well as its rights." a visit to worsley will prove what an enlightened and benevolent landowner can do for a population of colliers and bargemen. the educational and other arrangements of a far-sighted character show that there are advantages in even such large accumulations of property as have fallen to the share of the present representative of the duke of bridgwater. those who desire to pursue closely the state of the operative population in manchester, will find ample materials in the annual reports of factory inspectors, and school inspectors, under the committee of the council of education, and of the municipal officers of health. * * * * * fires.--dreadful fires occur occasionally in manchester. if such a catastrophe should take place during the stay of a visitor, he should immediately pull on an overcoat, even although it be midnight, and join in the crowd. an excellent police of officers and men renders the streets quite safe at all hours; and a fire of an old cotton factory, where the floors are saturated with oil and grease, is indeed a fearfully imposing sight. it also affords an opportunity of some familiar conversation with the factory hands. * * * * * in taking leave of manchester, which is indeed the great heart of our manufacturing system, we may truly say that it is a city to be visited with the deepest interest, and quitted without the slightest regret. on our political railroad we are under deepest obligations to the manchester stokers; but heaven forbid that we should be compelled to make them our sole engineers. the road to yorkshire. middleton.--and now, before taking a glance at the woollens and hardware of yorkshire, we suggest, by way of change from the perpetual hum of busy multitudes and the whizzing and roaring of machinery, that the traveller take a holiday, and spend it in wandering over an agricultural oasis encircled by hills, and so far uninvaded by the stalks of steam-engines, where the air is comparatively pure and the grass green, although forest trees do not flourish. the visit requires no distant journey. it is a bare six miles from the heart of manchester to middleton. nine times a-day omnibuses ply there. these original, if not primitive vehicles, are constructed to carry forty-five passengers, and on crowded market-days may sometimes be seen loaded with seventy specimens of a note-worthy class. middleton, lately a dirty straggling town, of , inhabitants, a number at which it has remained stationary for ten years, built without plan, without drains, without pavement, without arrangements for common decency, stands on the borders, and was the manorial village, of the middleton and thornham estates, which had been in the family of the late lord suffield for many hundred years. in the village, land was grudgingly leased for building, and no steam-engine manufactories were permitted. the agricultural portion of some acres of good land for pasturage and root crops, celebrated for its fine supplies of water and for its (unused) water-power, was divided into little farms of from twenty to seventy acres, very few exceeding fifty acres, inhabited by a race of farmer-weavers, who, from generation to generation, farmed badly and wove cleanly in the pure atmosphere of middleton. they were, most of them, bound to keep a hound at walk for the lord of the manor. now the old lords of the manor and owners of the estate of middleton (the harbords, afterwards barons suffield), were proud men and wealthy, who despised manufactures and resisted any encroachment of trade on the green bounds within which their old manor house had stood for ages. so when the inventions of crompton, hargreaves, arkwright, and cartwright began to coin gold like any philosopher's stone, for well-managing cotton manufacturers, speculators cast their eyes upon the pleasant waters of middleton and thornham, proposing to erect machinery and spin the yarn or thread, and otherwise to use the abundant water-power. but the lords of middleton would have none of such profits, (and if they could afford to reject them, we will not say that up to a certain point they were not wise), and so they gave short answers to the applicants, who went away and found, half-a-mile off, on the borders of yorkshire, similar conveniences and more accessible ground- landlords in the byrons, lords of the manor of rochdale. and when, some time afterwards, a like application met with a like answer, other manufacturers went away to another corner, and built oldham. so the middleton farms continued very pretty picturesque farms; middleton village grew into a miserable town, and was passed over in , when every population was putting forth its claims to a share in making the laws of the united kingdom; while oldham, with , inhabitants, was allotted two members, (an honour which cost the life of one of them, our best describer of english rural scenery, in racy saxon english, william cobbett); rochdale, with , , obtained one, and eventually made itself loudly heard in the house, in the person of john bright, a gentleman of pluck not without eloquence, who has done a good deal, considering the disadvantages he has laboured under, in not having been brought to his level in a public school, and in having been brought up in the atmosphere of adulation, to which the wealthy and clever of a small sect are as much exposed as the scions of a "proud aristocracy." a few years ago, the late lord, who had occasionally lived on the estate, died. his successor pulled down the manor house, became an absentee, always in want of ready money, and introduced the irish system into the management of his estate. that is to say, good farming became a sure mode of inviting an increase of rent--for indispensable repairs no ready money was forthcoming, so tenants who had an indisputable claim to such allowances, received a reduction of rent instead; they generally accepted the reduction, and did no more of the repairs than would just make shift. the land in the town suitable for building was let at chief rents to the highest bidder, with no consideration for the mutual convenience of neighbours, or the welfare of future residents. thus mismanaged and dilapidated, the estates were brought into the market, and purchased for messrs. peto & betts, by their land agent, mr. francis fuller, for less than , pounds; and the lands of the aristocracy of blood passed into the possession of the aristocracy of trade. here was a subject for a doleful ballad from "a young englander," commencing-- "ye tenants old of middleton ye cannot need but sigh, departed are the traces of your own nobility, the locomotivocracy have gone and done the trick, and england's aristocracy's obliged to cut its stick." a visit to middleton, however, will show that on this occasion the tenantry have no reason either to sigh or weep, and the visit is worth making, independently of the pleasantness of a change from town to country, because it affords an opportunity of seeing what can be done with a neglected domain when it passes into the hands of men of large capital, liberal views, and a thorough determination that whatever they take in hand shall be done in the best possible manner. messrs. peto & betts are managing this estate on the same principles that they have conducted the undertaking by which, in a very few years, they have acquired a large fortune and an influential position. not by avariciously grasping, and meritlessly grinding all the subordinates whose services they required; not by squeezing men like oranges, and throwing them away when squeezed; but by choosing suitable assistants for every task they undertook, and making those assistants, or advisers, feel that their interests were the same, that they were prepared to pay liberally for services strenuously rendered. by this system servants and sub-contractors worked for them with all the zeal of friends, and by this system the tenantry of middleton will attain a degree of comfort and prosperity hitherto unknown, while the estate they occupy will be largely increased in value. it is most fortunate that, at a time when so much landed property is passing into the hands of men of the class of which these gentlemen may be considered the intellectual leaders, an example has been set, by them, of liberal and judicious management. for this reason we do not think these rough notes on middleton will be considered a useless digression. * * * * * drains and repairs.--instead of the ordinary system of bit-by-bit repairs and instead of arrangements for the tenants to execute drains, as the first step after the change of proprietorship, a complete survey was made of the defects and of the value of all the holdings. on this survey the rents were fixed, with the understanding that while no increase of rent would be imposed on a good tenant, lazy slovenly farming would be forthwith taxed with an additional ten per cent. the landlords have themselves undertaken to execute a complete deep drainage of the whole property at a cost of , pounds. for this they charge the tenants five per cent. on the outlay per acre occupied. farm buildings and farm houses are being put in thorough repair, and tenants are expected so to keep them. in the course of these repairs farm houses were found in which the windows were fixtures, not intended to open! while as to the farming, it is scarcely possible to imagine anything more barbarous. it is not a corn-growing district, and what corn is grown these weaver farmers, indifferent apparently to loss of time, first lash against a board to get part of the grain out, and then thrash the rest out of the straw! market garden cultivation, stall feeding, and root crops would answer well, but at the time of the survey only two gardens were cultivated for the sale of produce in the unlimited markets of oldham, rochdale, and manchester; and little feeding except of pigs. orchard trees are now supplied by the landlords, free of cost, to all willing to take charge of them. it will be very difficult to induce these people to change their old slovenly style of farming, for their chief pride is in their weaving, which is excellent, and many of them are in possession of properties held for two and three generations without change. but the system of encouraging the good, and getting rid of the lazy, will work a reformation in time, especially as there are some very good examples on the estate. for instance, benjamin johnson, who, paying the highest rent per acre, has creditably brought up ten children on nine acres of land, without other employment. middleton is a district especially suited for small farms, so much so that it has been determined to divide one or two of the larger ones. altogether it is a very primitive curious place, with several originals among the tenantry, and some beautiful natural scenery, among whom a morning may be spent with profit and pleasure. with the town and building land an equally comprehensive system has been adopted. the defects of the existing buildings are to be cured as soon as, and in the best manner, that circumstances will admit; while all new houses are to be built and drained on a fixed plan, and all roadside cottages to have at least a quarter of an acre of ground for a garden. it will take some years to work out complete results; it is, however, gratifying to see a landowner placing himself in the hands of competent advisers, planning not for the profits of the hour, but for the future, for the permanent health, happiness, and prosperity of all dwelling on his property. the pecuniary results promise to be highly satisfactory; it is already evident that increased rents will be accompanied by increased prosperity, and it is thought in the neighbourhood that in the next ten years, the property will, from the judicious expenditure of , pounds, be worth at least , pounds. so much for employing a scientific and practical agriculturist as land agent, instead of a fashionable london attorney. { } yorkshire. from manchester to leeds is a journey of forty-five miles, and about two hours. we should like to describe yorkshire, one of the few counties to which men are proud to belong. we never hear any one say, with conscious pride, "i am a hampshireman or an essex man, or even a lancashireman," while there are some counties of which the natives are positively ashamed. but we have neither time nor space to say anything about those things of which a yorkshireman has reason to be proud--of the hills, the woods, the dales, the romantic streams,--above all, of the lovely wharfe, of the fat plains, the great woods, the miles of black coal mines, where we have heard the little boys driving their horses and singing hymns, sounding like angels in the infernal regions, the rare good sheep, the teeswater cattle, that gave us short-horns, of horses, well known wherever the best are valued, be it racer, hunter, or proud-prancing carriage horse; hounds that it takes a yorkshire horse to live with; and huntsmen, whom to hear tally-away and see ride out of cover makes the heart of man leap as at the sound of a trumpet; foxes stanch and wily, worthy of the hounds; and then of those famous dalesmen farmers, tall, broad-shouldered, with bullet heads, and keen grey eyes, rosy bloom, high cheek bones, foxy whiskers, full white-teethed, laughing mouths, hard riders, hard drinkers, keen bargainers, capital fellows; and besides those the slips, grafts, and thinnings from the farms, who in factories, counting-houses, and shops, show something of the powerful yorkshire stamp. everything is great in yorkshire, even their rogues are on a large scale; in spain, men of the same calibre would be prime ministers and grandees of the first class; in france, under a monarchy, a portfolio, and the use of the telegraph, with no end of ribands, would have been the least reward. here the honours stop short between two dukes, as supporters arm in arm; but still we are obliged to own that no one but a yorkshireman could have so bent all the wild beasts of belgravia and mayfair, from the countess gazelle to the ducal elephant, to his purpose, as an ex-king did. our task will be confined on the present occasion to a sketch of huddersfield and leeds, centres of the woollen manufacture, which forms the third great staple of english manufactures, and of sheffield, famed for keen blades. * * * * * huddersfield, twenty-six miles from manchester, is the first important town, on a road studded with stations, from which busy weavers and spinners are continually passing and repassing. it is situated in a naturally barren district, where previously to the inhabitants chiefly lived on oaten cake, and has been raised to a high degree of prosperity by the extension of the manufactures, a position on the high road between manchester and leeds, intersected by a canal, uniting the east and west, or inland navigation, and more recently by railroads, which connect it with all the manufacturing towns of the north. an ample supply of water-power, with coal and building stone, have contributed to this prosperity, of which advantage has been taken to improve the streets, thoroughfares, and public buildings. the use of a light yellow building stone for the houses has a very pleasant appearance after the bricks of manchester and liverpool. the huddersfield canal, which connects the humber and mersey, is a very extraordinary piece of work. it is carried through and over a backbone of hills by stairs of more than thirty locks in nine miles, and a tunnel three miles in length. at one place it is yards below the surface, and at another . feet above the level of the sea. when we examine such works, so profitable to the community, so unprofitable to the projectors, how can we doubt the capability of our country to hold its own in any commercial race? men make a country, not accidents of soil or climate, mines or forests. for centuries california and central america have been in the hands of an iberian race, fallow. a few months of anglo-saxon rule, and land and sea are boiling with fervid elements of cultivation, commerce, and civilization. with time the dregs will disappear, and churches and schools, cornfields and fulling-mills, will supersede grizzly bears and wandering indians. all the land in huddersfield belongs to the ramsden family, by whom the cloth hall was erected. six hundred manufacturers attend this hall every tuesday. the principal manufactures are of broad and narrow cloths, serges, kerseymeres, cords, and fancy goods of shawls and waistcoatings, composed of mixed cotton, silk, and wool. the neighbourhood of huddersfield was the centre of the luddite outbreak, when a large number of persons engaged in the cloth manufacture, conceiving that they were injured by the use of certain inventions for dressing cloth, banded together, traversed the country at night, searching for and carrying off fire-arms, and attacking and destroying the manufactories of persons supposed to use the obnoxious machines. great alarm was excited, some expected nothing less than a general insurrection; at length the rioters were attacked, dispersed, a large number arrested, tried, and seventeen hanged. since that period not one but scores of mechanical improvements have been introduced into the woollen manufacture without occasioning disturbance, and with benefit in increased employment to the working classes. the case of the luddites was one of the few on which lord byron spoke in the upper house, and horace smith sang for fitzgerald . . . "what makes the price of beer and luddites rise? what fills the butchers' shops with large blue flies?" the population is about , , and returns one member to the house of commons. about half a mile from the town is lockwood spa, of strongly sulphurous waters, for which a set of handsome buildings have been provided. leeds. leeds, seventeen miles from huddersfield, is the centre of five railways, by which it has direct connection with hull, liverpool, manchester, newcastle, on the east, and carlisle on the west coast, sheffield, nottingham, derby, and birmingham, in the midland counties, possesses one of the finest central railway stations in the kingdom, and has also the advantage of being in the centre of inland navigation (a great advantage for the transport of heavy goods), as it communicates with the eastern seas by the aire and calder navigation to the humber, and westward by the leeds and liverpool to the mersey. the town stands on a hill, which rises from the banks of the river aire. leeds has claims to antiquity, but few remains. when domesday book was compiled it appears to have been an agricultural district. wakefield was formerly the more important town. lord clarendon, in , speaks of leeds, halifax, and bradford, "as three very rich and populous towns, depending wholly upon clothing." the first charter was granted to leeds by charles i., and the second by charles ii., on petition of the clothworkers, merchants, and others, "to protect them from the great abuses, defects and deceits, discovered and practised by fraudulent persons in the making, selling, and dyeing of woollen cloths." the principal manufacture of leeds is woollen cloth. formerly the trade was carried on by five or six thousand small master clothiers, who employed their own families, and some thirty or forty thousand servants, and also carried on small farms. but the extension of the factory system has somewhat diminished their numbers. there are still, however, in connection with leeds, several small clothing villages, in which the first stages of the operation are carried on, in spinning, weaving, and fulling. large quantities of worsted goods are brought to leeds to be finished and dyed, which have been purchased, in an undyed state, at bradford and halifax. the dye-houses and dressing-shops of leeds are very extensive. goods purchased in a rough state in the cloth halls and piece halls are taken there to be finished. there are also extensive mills for spinning flax for linen, canvas-sailing, thread, and manufactures of glass and earthenware. in connection with messrs. marshall's flax factory, the same firm are carrying on extensive experiments near hull in growing flax. cloth halls.--previous to , the cloth market was held in the open street. in , the present halls were erected, and in them the merchants purchase the half manufactured article from the country manufacturers. the coloured cloth hall is a quadrangular building, . yards long, and broad, divided into six departments called streets. each street contains two rows of stands, and each stand measures inches in front, and is inscribed with the name of the clothier to whom it belongs. the original cost was pounds s. this price advanced to pounds at the beginning of the present century; but it has now fallen below its original value--not owing to a decrease in the quantity of manufactured goods, but owing to the prevalence of the factory system--in which the whole operation is performed, from sorting the piece to packing the cloth fit for the tailor's shelves--over the domestic system of manufacturing. an additional story, erected on the north side of the coloured cloth hall, is used chiefly for the sale of ladies' cloths in their undyed state. the white cloth hall is nearly as large as the coloured cloth hall, and on the same plan. the markets are held on tuesdays and saturdays, on which days alone the merchants are permitted to buy in the halls. the time of the sale is in the forenoon, and commences by the ringing of a bell, when each manufacturer is at his stand, the merchants go in, and the sales commence. at the end of an hour the bell warns the buyers and sellers that the market is about to close, and in another quarter of an hour the bell rings a third time, and the business of the day is terminated. the white cloth hall opens immediately after the other is closed, and the transactions are carried on in a similar manner. the public buildings of leeds are not externally imposing, and it is, without exception, one of the most disagreeable-looking towns in england--worse than manchester; it has also the reputation of being very unhealthy to certain constitutions from the prevalence of dye-works. the wealthy and employing classes in leeds (we know no better term) have a reputation for charity, and good management of charitable institutions. howard the philanthropist visited the workhouse, and praised the management, at a period when to deserve such praise was rare. the subscriptions to public charities are large, and there is an ancient fund for pious uses, said to amount to upwards of pounds a-year, managed by a close self-elected corporation, about the distribution of which they do not consider themselves bound to give any detailed information. dr. hook, the vicar of leeds, has organized a system of house-to-house visitation, for the purpose of affording aid, in poverty and sickness, to the deserving and religious, and educational instruction to all, which has effected a great deal of good, and would have done more, had not well known circumstances shaken the confidence of the leeds public in the honesty of some of the teachers. all parties agree, however differing in opinions, that dr. hook himself is a most excellent, charitable, self-sacrificing man. a new grammar school--first founded in by the rev. sir william sheafield, and since endowed by several other persons--is lodged in a building of ample size, with residence for the head master, and enjoys an income of pounds a-year; and there are four exhibitions of pounds a-year to magdalen college, cambridge, tenable till degree of m.a. has been taken; one exhibition of pounds a-year, tenable for five years, at queen's college, oxford, open to a candidate from leeds school; and four of pounds each, at oxford or cambridge, for four years. there were scholars in . it is open to the sons of all residents in leeds, without any fee to the masters, who are liberally paid. the elements of mathematics are taught. the charity commissioners reported it to be satisfactorily and ably conducted. the leeds philosophical and literary society, the leeds literary institution, and the leeds mechanics institute, are all respectable in their class. the mechanics institute forms the centre of a union of yorkshire associations of the same kind. three newspapers are published in leeds, of large circulation, representing three shades of political opinion. the leeds mercury--which has, we believe, the largest circulation of any provincial paper--was founded, and carried on for a long life, by the late mr. edward baines, who represented his native town in the first reformed parliament, and for some years afterwards--a very extraordinary man, who, from a humble station, by his own talents made his way to wealth and influence. he was the author of the standard work on the cotton trade, as well as several valuable local histories. the mercury is still carried on by his family. one son is the proprietor of a liverpool paper, and another, the right honourable matthew talbot baines, represents hull, and is president of the poor-law board. among the celebrated natives of leeds, were sir thomas denison, whose life began like whittington's; john smeaton, the engineer of eddystone lighthouse, the first who placed civil engineering in the rank of a science; the two reverend milners (joseph, and isaac, dean of carlisle), great polemical giants in their day, authors of "the history of the church of christ;" dr. priestly, inventor of the pneumatic apparatus still used by chemists, and discoverer of oxygen and several other gases; david hartley, the metaphysician whom coleridge so much admired that he called his son after him; and edward fairfax, the translator of tasso. nor must we forget ralph thoresby, author of "ducatus leodiensis, or the topography of the town and parish of leeds"--a valuable and curious book, published in ; and of "vicaria leodiensis, a history of the church of leeds," published in . wool growing, and woollen manufactures.--yorkshire is the ancient seat of a great woollen manufacture, founded on the coarse wools of its native hills; but coal and cheap conveyance, with the stimulus mechanical inventions have applied in the neighbouring counties to cotton, have given yorkshire such advantages over many ancient seats of manufacture, that it has transplanted and increased a considerable portion of the fine cloth trade formerly carried on in the west of england alone, besides engrafting and erecting a variety of other and new kinds of textiles, in which wool or hair have some very slight part. it is quite certain that woollen garments were among the first manufactured among barbarous tribes. we have seen this year, in the exhibition in hyde park, specimens of white felted cloth from india, equal, if not superior, to anything that we can manufacture for strength and durability, which must have been made with the rude tools, of the form which has been in use for probably at least two thousand years. english coarse wools have been celebrated, and in demand among foreign nations, from the earliest periods of our history. in the time of william the conqueror, an inundation in the netherlands drove many clothiers over, and william of malmesbury tells us that the king welcomed them, and placed them first in carlisle, where there are still manufactories, and then in the western counties, where they could find what was indispensable for their trade--streams for washing and plenty of wood for boiling their vats. very early the manufacturers applied to restrain the exportation of english wool. in the time of edward i., we find a duty of twenty shillings to forty shillings per bag on importation. edward iii. prohibited the export of wool, at the same time he took his taxes and subsidies in wool, which became a favourite medium of taxation with our monarchs, and sent his wool abroad for sale. under his reign, flemish weavers were encouraged to settle here and improve the manufacture, which became spread all over england thus--norfolk fustians, suffolk baize, essex serges and says, kent broadcloth, devon kerseys, gloucestershire cloth, worcestershire cloth, wales friezes, westmoreland cloth, yorkshire cloth, somersetshire serges, hampshire, berkshire, and sussex cloth: districts from a great number of which woollen manufactures have now disappeared. we have parliamentary records of the mutual absurdities by which the woollen manufacturers, on the one hand, sought to obtain a monopoly of british wool, and the wool growers endeavoured to secure the exclusive right to supply the raw material. act after act was laid upon everything connected with wool, so that it is only extraordinary that, under such restrictive trammeling, the trade survived at all. "odious! in woollen! 'twould a saint provoke! were the last words that poor narcissa spoke." in , when, the price of wool being low, the lincolnshire woolgrowers met under the chairmanship of their great landowners, and resolved on petitions praying "that british might be exported and that irish wool might be excluded from england;" thereupon the yorkshire manufacturers met and resolved that "the exportation of wool would be ruinous to the trade and manufactures of england," that the manufacturers would be obliged to leave the kingdom for want of employment, and that the importation of irish woollen yarn ought to be interdicted. the manufacturers were under the impression that no other country than england could produce the long wools suitable for the manufacture of worsted. some time afterwards the woollen manufacturers thought themselves likely to be ruined by the introduction of cotton cloth, "to the ruin of the staple trade of the kingdom," and succeeded in placing an excise duty upon the new fabric. the contention between sheepowners and manufacturers continued until, in , when the influence of mr. huskisson's opinions on trade were beginning to be felt in parliament, and to the disgust of both parties, a compromise was effected by a reduction of all wool duties to a uniform duty of ld. per lb. on the export of british and importation of foreign wool. the last step was a total repeal of all duties. english wools may be divided into long and short staples. the long is used for worsted, which is finished when it leaves the loom; the short for cloth, which is compacted together, increased in bulk and diminished in breadth, by fulling; that is, so beating as to take advantage of the serrated edges of the wool which lead it to felt together. foreign wool, known as merino, has been used from an early period. in the time of the stuarts, an attempt was made to monopolize all the spanish wool exported. wars and bad government in spain have destroyed the export trade in merino wool, but the breed, transplanted into germany, has multiplied and even improved. our finest wool is obtained from silesia, and the breed is cultivated with more or less success in many parts of the european continent. in england, all attempts to cultivate the merino with profit have failed. next to germany in quality, and exceeding that country in quantity, we obtain our greatest supply of fine wool from australia, where, in the course of twenty-five years, the merino sheep has multiplied to the extent of twelve or thirteen million head, and is still increasing; thus doubling our supply of a fine article, not equal to german, but, at the low price at which it can be furnished, helping to create entirely new manufactures by intermixing with our own coarse wools, which it renders more available and valuable. we also obtain wool from the cape of good hope, from india, from egypt, and from south america. besides pure wool, our manufacturers use large quantities of goat's hair, called mohair, from the mediterranean, of camel hair, of thibet goat's hair, of the long grey and black hair of the tame south american llama and alpaca, and of the short soft red hair of the vicuna, a wild animal of the same species. indeed, almost every year since the repeal of all restrictions on trade, has introduced some new raw material in wool or hair to our manufacturers. the alpaca and vicuna, now an important article of trade and manufacture, although well known to the native peruvians at the time of the conquest by the spaniards, has only come into notice within the last twenty years. the first article of the kind that excited any attention was a dress made for her majesty from a flock of llamas belonging to her majesty, under the superintendence of mr. thomas southey, the eminent wool broker. the stock from the small flock of merinos taken out by colonel macarthur to what was then only known as botany bay, now supports , souls in prosperity in australia, and supplies exports to the amount of upwards of a million and a half sterling per annum. the great exhibition afforded an excellent display of the variety and progress of yorkshire woollen manufactures, proving the immense advantage they derived from choice and mixture of various qualities and materials. in several examples the body was of stout english wool, with a face of finest australia,--in some cases, of mohair,--and, in one instance, a most beautiful article was produced by putting a face of vicuna on british wool. as at present conducted, the process of a woollen factory up to certain stages of machinery is the same as that of a cotton factory. but it will be seen that a great deal depends on an ample supply of water of good quality. cloth manufacture.--( .) the first operation is that of sorting the wool. each fleece contains several qualities,--the division and arrangement requires judgment; the best in a silesian fleece may be worth s. a pound, and the rest not worth half the money. after sorting, wools are mixed in certain proportions. ( .) the mixture is first soaked in a hot ley of stale urine and soap, rinsed in cold water, and pressed between rollers to dry it. ( .) if the cloth is to be dyed in that operation, next succeeds the scouring. supposing it dyed, ( ) wyllying follows, by which it is subject to the operation of the spikes of revolving wheels, for the purpose of opening the fibres and sending it out in a light cloud-like appearance, to where a stream of air driven through it, clears away all impurities by a sort of winnowing process, and sends it out in a smooth sheet. ( .) if any impurities remain, it is hand picked. ( .) it is laid on the floor, sprinkled with olive oil, and well beaten with staves. ( .) the operation of the scribbling machine follows, by which it is reduced to a fleecy sheet and wound on rollers. ( .) the carding machine next reduces it to hollow loose short pipes. these are joined ( ) in the slubbing machine into a weak thread, and here we see the use of the young hands, boys and girls, who piece one of these pipes as they are drawn through the machine by a slow clockwork motion, bending one knee every time as they curtsey sideways toward the machine. they earn very good wages and look healthy; but, where the wool is dyed, what with the dye and what with the oil, the piecers are all ready toileted to sing to a banjo; and sometimes, with rubbing their faces with their dirty hands, they get sore eyes. ( .) spinning hardens the thread. ( .) weaving is done by hand or by power-loom. the power-looms are becoming more common. after weaving, it is washed in soap-water and clean water by machinery,--then stretched on tenterhooks and allowed to dry in a smooth extended state: (l ) then examined for all hair and impurities to be picked off by "burlers." after this follows ( ) fulling, or felting, which gives woollen goods that substance which distinguishes them. every hair of wool is saw-edged, and this by beating will mass together. superfine cloth with a thick solution of soap spread between each layer, and, folded into many piles, is exposed to the long continued action of revolving wooden hammers on wheels, three separate times, for four hours each time. this process diminishes both breadth and length nearly one half. after "fulling" cloth is woolly and rough; to improve the appearance it is first ( ) teazled--that is, raked with cylinders covered with the round prickly heads of the teazle plant. many attempts have been made to invent wire and other brushes for the same purpose, but hitherto nothing has been found more effective and economical than the teazle. to apply them the cloth is stretched on cloth beams, and made to move in one direction, while the teazle cylinders turn in another. when the ends of the fibres have been thus raised, they are ( ) sheared or clipped, in order to produce the same effect as clipping the rough coat of a horse. formerly this operation was performed by hand. the introduction of machinery created formidable riots in the west of england. at present the operation is performed with great perfection and rapidity, by more than one process. when the cloth has been raised and sheared once, it is in the best possible condition for wear; but in order to give superfine cloth beauty, it is sheared several times, then exposed to the action of steam, and at the same time brushed with cylinder brushes. other operations, of minor importance, are carried on for the purpose of giving smoothness and gloss. it may be observed that a brilliant appearance does not always, in modern manufactures, betoken the best cloth. an eminent woollen manufacturer having been asked what cloth he would recommend for wear and warmth to a backwoodsman, answered quickly, "nothing can wear like a good blanket." the small manufacturers generally dispose of their cloth in the rough state. the progress of machinery has called into existence a great number of factories, especially in worsted and mixed stuffs, has given value to many descriptions of wool formerly valueless, and, coupled with the repeal of the duty, brought into the market many kinds unknown a few years ago. "properties once prized," mr. southey remarks in his essay on wools, "have given way to some other property upon which machinery can better operate, and yield more desirable results. spanish wool, once deemed indispensable, is now little sought after. it is supplanted by our colonial wool, which is steadily advancing in quality and quantity, while angora goat, and alpaca wools are forcing their way into and enhancing the value of our stuff trade." . . . "machinery has marshalled before its tremendous power the wool of every country, selected and adopted the special qualities of each. nothing, in fact, is now rejected. even the burr, existing in myriads in south america and some other descriptions of wool, at one time so perplexing to our manufacturers, can now, through the aid of machinery, be extracted, without very material injury to the fibre." . . . "in no description of manufacture connected with the woollen trade has machinery been more fertile in improvements than in what may be termed the worsted stuff trade." "the power-looms employed, in the west riding of yorkshire, in the worsted stuff trade, increased from , in , to , in (and are probably not far from , at the present time). worsted goods formerly consisted chiefly of bombazets, shalloons, calamancoes, lastings for ladies' boots, and taminies. now the articles in the fancy trade may be said to be numberless, and to display great artistic beauty. these articles, made with alpaca, saxony, fine english and colonial wools, and of goats' hair for weft, with fine cotton for warp, consist of merinoes, orleans, plain and figured parisians, paramattas, and alpaca figures, checks, etc." the machines for combing and carding, of the most improved make, will work wool of one and a half inch in the staple, while for the old process of hand- combing four inches was the minimum. but we must not enter further into these details, as it is our purpose rather to indicate the interest and importance of certain manufactures than to describe the process minutely. the yorkshire woollen manufacture is distributed over an area of nearly forty miles by twenty, occupied by clothing towns and villages. leeds, bradford, halifax, huddersfield, dewsbury, and wakefield, are the great manufacturing centres. mixed or coloured cloths are made principally in villages west of leeds and wakefield; white or undyed cloths are made chiefly in the villages occupying a belt of country extending from near wakefield to shipley. these two districts are tolerably distinct, but at the margins of the two both kinds of cloth are manufactured. flannels and baizes are the principal woollen articles made in and near halifax, together with cloth for the use of the army. blankets are made in the line between leeds and huddersfield. bradford provides very largely the spun worsted required for the various manufactures. stuffs are made at bradford, halifax, and leeds, and narrow cloths at huddersfield. saddleworth furnishes broadcloth and kerseymeres. as a specimen of the variety of articles produced in one factory, take the following list, exhibited in the crystal palace by a huddersfield manufacturer:--"summer shawls; summer coatings; winter woollen shawls; vestings; cloakings; table covers; patent woollen cloth for gloves; do. alpaca do.; do. rabbits' down do.; trowserings; stockingnett do." we may observe, that there is no more pleasant mode of investigating the processes of the woollen manufacture, for those resident in the south of england, than a visit to the beautiful valley of the stroud, in gloucestershire, where the finest cloths, and certain shawls and fancy goods, are manufactured in perfection in the midst of the loveliest scenery. white- walled factories, with their resounding water-wheels, stand not unpicturesque among green-wooded gorges, by the side of flowing streams, affording comfortable well-paid employment to some thousand working hands of men and women, boys and girls. through lincolnshire to sheffield. on leaving leeds there is ample choice of routes. it is equally easy to make for the lake districts of cumberland and westmoreland, or to proceed to york, and on by newcastle to scotland, or to take the road to the east coast, and compare hull with liverpool--a comparison which will not be attended with any advantage to the municipal authorities of hull. the aldermen of hull are of the ancient kind--"slow," in the most emphatic sense of the term. for proof,--we have only need to examine their docks, piers, and landing-places; the last of which are being improved, very much against the will of the authorities, by a lincolnshire railway company. from hull there is a very convenient and swift railway road open to london through lincolnshire, which, branching in several directions, renders easy a visit either to the wolds, where gorse-covered moors have been turned, within the last century, into famous turnip-land, farmed by the finest tenantry in the world; or to the fens, where the science of engineers learned in drainage, greatly aided by the pumping steam-engine, has reclaimed a whole county from eels and wild ducks. lincolnshire is not a picturesque county; both the wet half and the dry half, both the fen district and the wold district, are treeless; and the wolds are only a line of molehills, of great utility, but no special beauty. but it is the greatest producing county in england, and the produce, purely agricultural, is the result of the industry and intellect of the men who till the soil. in devonshire and somersetshire we are charmed by the scenery, and amazed by the rich fertility of the soil, while we are amazed by the stolidity of the farmers and their labourers--nay, sometimes of the landlords--whose two ideas are comprised in doing what their forefathers did, and in hating every innovation. there fences, guano, pair-horse ploughs, threshing machines, and steam-engines, are almost as much disliked as cheap bread and manchester politics. but on the wolds of lincolnshire a race of agriculturists are to be found who do not need to be coddled and coaxed into experiments and improvements by the dinners and discourses of dilettanti peers; but who unite the quick intelligence of the manufacturer with the hearty hospitality for which the english used to be famous. among the lincolnshire farmers rural life is to be seen in its most agreeable aspect. the labourers are as superior to the southern peasantry as their employers to the southern tenantry. books, newspapers, and music may be found in the farm-houses, as well as old ale and sound port wine. at aylsby, six miles from great grimsby, mr. william torr has a fine herd of short horns and a flock of pure leicester sheep, well worth a visit. the celebrated wold farmers are about ten miles distant. any one of them is worth six baden barons. after crossing from hull, if a visit to these wold farms be intended, grimsby is the best resting-place, a miserable town of great antiquity, which, after slumbering, or rather mouldering, for centuries on the profits of parliamentary privileges and a small coasting trade, has been touched by the steam-enchanter's wand, and presented with docks, warehouses, railways, and the tools of commerce. these, aided by its happy situation, will soon render it a great steam-port, and obliterate, it is to be hoped, the remains of the squalid borough, which traces back its foundation to the times of saxon sea- kings. we must record, for the credit of great grimsby, that it evinced its improved vitality by subscribing a larger sum to the exhibition of industry than many towns of ten times its population and more than ten times its wealth. the execution of the railway and dock works, which will render great grimsby even more important than birkenhead, has been mainly due to the exertions of the greatest landowner in the county, the earl of yarborough, who has wisely comprehended the value of a close connexion between a purely agricultural and manufacturing district. his patriotic views have been ably seconded by mr. john fowler, the engineer of the manchester and lincolnshire railways, and mr. james j. m. rendel, the engineer of these docks as well as of those at birkenhead. the grimsby docks occupy thirty-seven acres, cut off from the sea. the work was courageously undertaken, in the midst of the depression which followed the railway panic, by messrs. thomas, hutchins, & co., contractors, and has been carried through in an admirable manner, in the face of every kind of difficulty, without an hour's delay. they will open in march next. the first stone was laid by prince albert in may , when he electrified the audience at dinner by one of those bursts of eloquence with which the events of the great exhibition have made us familiar. it was on the occasion of his ride to brocklesby that lord yarborough's tenantry rode out to meet the prince, and exhibited the finest farmers' cavalcade for men and horses in england. lord yarborough has done for lincolnshire what the duke of bridgwater did for lancashire; and, like the duke, he has been fortunate in having for engineering advisers gentlemen capable of appreciating the national importance of the task they undertook. it is not a mere dock or railway that messrs. fowler and rendel have laid out--it is the foundation of a maritime colony, destined not only to attract, but to develop new sources of wealth for lincolnshire and for england, as any one may see who consults a map, and observes the relative situation of great grimsby, the baltic ports, and the manufacturing districts of yorkshire, lancashire, and cheshire. for the sake of the future it may be well worth while to visit these great works. it may be a pleasant recollection for the man who, in some ten or twenty years, beholds the docks crowded with steamers and coasters, and the railway busy in conveying seaborne cargoes, to recall the fact that he saw the infancy, if not the birth, of that teeming trade; for it is not to every man that it is given to behold the commencement of such a future as seems promised to gloomy, swampy great grimsby. at great grimsby we are in a position to take a large choice of routes. we may go back to london by louth, famous for its church, spire, and comical coat of arms; { } by boston and peterborough; or take our way through the ancient city of lincoln to nottingham and the midland counties, where the famous forest of robin hood and the dukeries invite us to study woodland scenery and light-land farming; but on this occasion we shall make our way to sheffield, over a line which calls for no especial remark--the most noticeable station being east retford, for the franchise of which birmingham long and vainly strove. what delay might have taken place in our political changes if the m.p.'s of east retford had been transferred to birmingham in , it is curious to consider. sheffield. the approach to sheffield from lincolnshire is through a defile, and over a long lofty viaduct, which affords a full view of the beautiful amphitheatre of hills by which it is surrounded. the town is situated in a valley, on five small streams--one the "sheaf," giving the name of sheffield, in the southern part of the west riding of yorkshire, only six miles from derbyshire. the town is very ugly and gloomy; it is scarcely possible to say that there is a single good street, or an imposing or interesting public building,--shops, warehouses and factories, and mean houses run zigzagging up and down the slopes of the tongues of land, or peninsulas, that extend into the rivers, or rather streamlets, of the porter, the riveling, the loxley, the sheaf, and the don. almost all the merchants and manufacturers reside in the suburbs, in villas built of white stone on terraces commanding a lovely prospect. the picturesqueness, the wild solitude of the immediate neighbourhood of sheffield, amply compensates for the grimy gloom in which the useful and disagreeable hardware trade is carried on. all around, except where the don opens a road to doncaster, great hills girdle it in, some of which at their summit spread out into heath-covered moorlands, where the blackcock used lately to crow. almost in sight of the columns of factory smoke, others of the surrounding ridge are wood-crowned, and others saddlebacked and turfed; so that a short walk transports you from the din of the workshop to the solitude of "the eternal hills." we do not remember any manufacturing town so fortunately placed in this respect as sheffield. for an excellent and truthful description of this scenery, we may turn to the poems of ebenezer elliott, who painted from nature and knew how to paint in deep glowing colours. "hallamshire, which is supposed by antiquarians to include the parish of sheffield, forms a district or liberty, the importance of which may be traced back to even british times; but sheffield makes its first appearance as a town some time after the conquest. in the domesday book the manor of sheffield appears as the land of roger de busk, the greater part held by him of the countess judith, widow of waltheof the saxon. in the early part of the reign of henry i. it is found in the possession of the de levetot family, and the site of their baronial residence. they founded an hospital, called st. leonard's (suppressed in the reign of henry viii.), upon an eminence still called spital hill, established a corn mill, and erected a bridge there, still called the lady's bridge, from the chapel of the blessed lady of the bridge, which had previously stood near the spot; and their exertions and protection fixed here the nucleus of a town. the male line of the levetots became extinct by the death of william de levetot, leaving an infant daughter, maud, the ward of henry ii. his successor, richard, gave her in marriage to gerard de furnival, a young norman knight, who by that alliance acquired the lordship of sheffield. there is a tradition that king john, when in arms against his barons, visited gerard de furnival (who espoused his cause), and remained for some time at his castle of sheffield. "on the th of november, , edward i. granted to lord furnival a charter to hold a market in sheffield on tuesday in every week, and a fair every year about the period of trinity sunday. this fair is still held on tuesday and wednesday after trinity sunday, and another on the th of november. the same lord furnival granted a charter to the town, the provisions of which were of great liberality and importance at that period, viz., that a fixed annual payment should be substituted for the base, uncertain services by which they had previously held their lands and tenements, that courts baron should be held every three weeks for the administration of justice, and that the inhabitants of sheffield should be free from the exaction of toll throughout the entire district of hallamshire, whether they were vendors or purchasers." about this time sheffield began to be famous for the manufacture of falchion heads, arrows, files, and whittles. chaucer tells us of the miller that "a sheffield thwytle bare he in his hose, round was his face, and camysed was his nose." the ample water-power, the supply of iron ore close at hand, and in after times, when its value for smelting was discovered, the fields of coal--all helped sheffield. "another only daughter, and another maud, transferred by her marriage the lordship of sheffield to the more noble family of talbot, earl of shrewsbury. william lord furnival died th april , in his house in holborn, where now stands furnival's inn, leaving an only daughter, who married sir thomas nevil, and he in died, leaving an only daughter, maud, who married john talbot, earl of shrewsbury. george, fourth earl of shrewsbury, built the lodge, called sheffield manor, on an eminence a little distance from the town, and there he received cardinal wolsey into his custody soon after his apprehension. it was on his journey from sheffield manor up to london, in order to attend his trial, that the cardinal died at leicester abbey. in the reign of queen elizabeth, mary queen of scots, who had been committed to the custody of george, sixth earl of shrewsbury, after being confined in tutbury castle, was removed in first to sheffield castle, and then to sheffield manor house, where she spent fourteen years. it was for the alleged intention of moving her hence that thomas duke of norfolk, an ancestor of the ducal family, still closely connected with sheffield, suffered on the scaffold. the grandson of this duke of norfolk, at whose trial the earl of shrewsbury presided as high steward, afterwards married the granddaughter of the earl, and thereby became possessed of this castle and estate." and now, in , another son of norfolk is about to acquire a large fortune by a talbot. during the reign of elizabeth, the duke of alva, whose persecutions did more for extending and improving the manufactures of this country than any amount of parchment protection, drove over, in addition to the weavers of linen and fullers of cloth, artizans in iron and steel. these, according to the wise rule of settling all one craft in one spot, were by the advice of the queen's chamberlain, the earl of shrewsbury, settled on his own estate at sheffield, and the neighbourhood thenceforward became known for the manufacture of shears, sickles, knives of every kind, and scissors. about this time ( ), according to a survey, sheffield contained about inhabitants, of whom the most wealthy were " householders, which relieve the others, but are poore artificers, not one of whom can keep a team on his own land, and above ten have grounds of their own, which will keep a cow." in , an act of the incorporation of cutlers was passed, entituled "an act for the good order and government of the makers of sickles, shears, scissors, and other cutlery wares in hallamshire and parts near adjoining." gilbert, seventh earl of shrewsbury, the last of the male line of the house of talbot, who inherited the hallamshire estates, died on the th may , leaving three daughters, co-heiresses. the lady alethea talbot, the youngest, married the earl of arundel, and the other two, dying without issue in , the whole estates descended to her grandson, thomas howard, earl of arundel, who was restored to the title of duke of norfolk by charles ii., on his restoration, and in that family a considerable property in sheffield remains to this day--not without narrow escapes of extinction. charles james fox's friend, jockey of norfolk, was one of a family which seems to afford every contrast of character in possession of the title. in the great civil wars, sheffield was the scene of more than one contest. in , on the st august, after the battle of marston moor, the castle was besieged by twelve thousand infantry dispatched by the earl of manchester, compelled to surrender in a few days, and demolished by order of parliament. the manor was dismantled in by order of thomas duke of norfolk, and the splendid park, shaven of its great trees, was converted into building land, or accommodation land, part of which is still known by the name of the park. during the eighteenth century the sheffield trade was entirely confined to the home market, and chiefly conducted by pack horses. in a step toward extension was made by the completion of works, which rendered the don navigable up to tinsley. in the sheffield and tinsley canal was completed; and now manchester, leeds, hull, and liverpool, are all within a morning's ride. the art of silver-plating was invented at sheffield by thomas bolsover, an ingenious mechanic, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, and extensively applied by mr. joseph hancock. this trade has been seriously affected by the invention of electro-plating, which has transferred much of the sheffield trade to birmingham. the invention of britannia metal speedily followed that of plating. in a direct trade to the continent was opened by mr. thomas broadbent. the example was soon followed. the first stage-coach to london, started in , and the first bank was opened in . at present the population can be little short of , . the passing of the reform bill gave to sheffield two representatives. the constituency is one of the most independent in the kingdom. no "man in the moon" has any room for the exercise of his seductive faculties in sheffield. what is still more strange, until after the enactment of the municipal corporation bill, sheffield had no local authorities. the petty sessions business was discharged by county magistrates, and the master cutler acted as a sort of master of the ceremonies on occasions of festivity, without any real power. that honorary office is still retained, although sheffield has now its aldermen and common councillors. there is a "royal free grammar school" founded in , with an income from endowments of about pounds a-year. free to thirty boys, as regards classics, subject to a charge of four guineas per annum for instruction in the commercial department. in there were eighty-one scholars. manufactures.--sheffield, through every change, has deservedly retained its reputation for the manufacture of razors, surgical instruments, and the highest class of cutlery, and a considerable number of carpenters' and other steel tools. in the coarser steel articles birmingham does a considerable and increasing business, and sheffield workmen settling in germany and in the united states have, from time to time, alarmed their native town by the rivalry of their pupils; nevertheless, it may confidently be asserted, that with its present advantages sheffield can never lose her pre-eminence in cutlery if her sons are only true to her and themselves. the steel consumed in england is manufactured chiefly from iron imported from sweden and russia. it has not been exactly ascertained whence arises the superiority of this iron for that purpose. but all foreign iron converted into steel is composed of magnetic iron ore, smelted with charcoal. this kind of ore is found in several countries, particularly in spain. in new zealand, at new plymouth it is said to be found in great quantities; but from the two countries first mentioned we obtain a supply of from , to , tons, of which about come from sweden. the celebrated mines of danemora produce the finest swedish iron, and only a limited quantity is allowed to be produced each year. all the steel-iron used in england is imported into hull. bar-steel is manufactured by heating the iron, divided into lumps, in pots, with layers of charcoal, closely covered over with sand and clay, for several days. by this means the iron is carbonized and converted into what is commonly called blistered steel. the heat is kept up a longer or shorter time according to the hardness required. bar-steel, as it comes from the furnace, is divided and sorted, and the pieces free from flaws and blisters are rolled out and converted into files, knives, coach-springs, razors, and common implements, according to quality. it will be seen that there is a good deal of science and judgment required to manufacture the best steel. sheer steel is made from bar-steel by repeated heating, hammering, and welding. cast steel, a very valuable invention, which has in a great degree superseded sheer steel for many purposes, was first made in by mr. hunstman, at allercliff, near sheffield. it is made by subjecting bar-steel, of a certain degree of hardness, to an intense heat, for two or three hours, in a crucible, and then casting it in ingots. the indian wootz steel, of which such fine specimens were exhibited in the exhibition, and from which extraordinary sabres have been made, is cast steel, but, from the rudeness of the process, rarely obtained perfect in any quantity. whenever we have the good fortune to intersect india with railroads, steel-iron will be among the number of our enlarged imports. the hard and elastic qualities of steel, known as "temper," are obtained by heating and then cooling rapidly. for this purpose baths of mercury and of boiling oil are used. some waters are supposed to have peculiar virtues for tempering steel. case-hardening, a process much used for tools and plough-shares, consists in superficially hardening cast iron or wrought iron by heating it in a charcoal crucible, and so converting it into steel. the successful operations for converting steel into various kinds of instruments, depends very much upon manual skill. the mechanics are united in trades' unions of great power, and have exercised an influence over the manufacturers of the town of a very injurious nature. at one period, the razor-grinders and superior mechanics in several branches, were able to earn as much as five and six, and even ten, pounds a-week. at that period, when they had almost a monopoly of the cutlery trade, on a very trifling excuse they would decide on taking a holiday, or, as it is termed, "playing." strikes for higher wages generally took place whenever any good orders from foreign markets were known to have reached the town. by these arbitrary proceedings, arising from an ignorance of the common principles of political economy, which it is to be hoped that the spread of education will remove, the sheffield cutlery trade has been seriously injured. a few years ago large numbers of the cutlers emigrated. further depression was produced by the rivalry of birmingham in the electrotype process, which has, to a considerable degree, superseded the sheffield plate and other trades, the latter town being better placed for the foreign trade, while the workmen are less turbulent. beside cutlery and sheffield plate, britannia metal, and other similar ornamental and domestic articles, a good deal of heavy ironware is made in sheffield. we may notice the fire-grates, stoves, and fenders, of which all the best, wherever sold and whatever name and address they bear, come from sheffield. in this branch of manufacture a great deal of artistic taste has been introduced, and many scientific improvements for distributing and economizing heat. the firm of stuart and smith, roscoe place, distinguished themselves at the great exhibition, by producing a series of beautiful grates, at prices between two pounds and one hundred guineas. there are some establishments for the manufactory of machinery. within the last year or two sheffield has enjoyed a revival of prosperity, especially in the article of edge tools. the mechanics of sheffield are a very remarkable and interesting set of people, with a more distinct character than the mechanics of those towns which are recruited from various parts of the country. they are "sheffielders." a public meeting at sheffield is a very remarkable scene. the rules of public business are perfectly understood and observed; unless in periods of very great excitement, the most unpopular speaker will receive a fair hearing. a fair hearing does not express it. the silence of a sheffield audience, the manner in which they drink in every word of a stranger, carefully watching for the least symptom of humbug, and unreduced by the most tempting claptrap, is something quite awful. a man with a good coat on his back must dismiss all attempts at compliments, all roundabout phrases, and plunge into the middle of the business with the closest arguments he can muster, to produce any effect on the sheffield blades. although they look on all gentlemen with the greatest distrust, and have a most comical fear of imaginary emissaries from government wandering to and fro to seduce them, they thoroughly understand and practise fair play. the sterling qualities of these men inspire one with respect, and regret that they should be imposed upon by such "blageurs" as feargus o'connor and his troop. perhaps they are wiser now. the sheffielders, by way of relaxation, are fond of gardening, cricket, dog fighting, and formerly of hunting. they are very skilful gardeners,--their celery is famous. a few years ago, one of the trades hired land to employ their unemployed members. many possess freehold cottages. cricket and similar amusements have been encouraged by the circumstance that, in summer droughts, the water-power on which the grindstones depend often falls short, and then there is a fair reason for turning out to play or to garden, as the case may be, according to taste. sheffield bulldogs used to be very famous, and there are still famous ones to be found; but dog fighting, with drinking, is going out of fashion. but, although other towns play at cricket, and love good gardening and good dogs, we presume that the sheffielders are the only set of mechanics in europe who ever kept their own pack of hounds. such was the case a few years ago, when we had the pleasure of seeing them; and, if they are still in existence, they are worth going a hundred miles to see. the hounds, which were old english harriers, slow and deep-mouthed, were quartered at various cottages in the suburbs. on hunting mornings, when the men had a holiday, the huntsman, who was paid by a general subscription, took his stand on a particular hill top and blew his horn. in a few minutes, from all quarters the hounds began to canter up to him, and he blew and blew again until a full complement, some ten or twelve couples, had arrived. the subscribers came up in twos and threes on the hacks of the well known "shanks," armed with stout sticks; and then off they set, as gay and much more in earnest than many dozen who sport pink and leathers outside on hundred guinea nags. music is a good deal cultivated among all classes in sheffield. there are two scientific associations, but of no particular mark. sheffield has produced two poets of very different metal, james montgomery and ebenezer elliott, both genuine; and a sculptor, chantrey, who was apprenticed there to a wheelwright. the railway communications of sheffield were long imperfect,--they are now excellent. the clothing districts of yorkshire are united by two lines. the north midland connects it with derbyshire, and affords a short road by derby and through leicestershire to london on one side, and by burton to birmingham on the other. the lincolnshire line has shortened the distance to hull, whence the steel-iron comes, and fat cattle; the manchester line carries away the bars converted into cutlery, and all the plated ware and hardware, by liverpool, to customers in america, north or south. we must not forget that there are coal-pits close to the town, of extensive workings, which are extremely well suited for the visit of an amateur. even a courageous lady might, without inconvenience, travel underground along the tramways in the trucks, if she did not mind the jolting. the miners are not at all like our staffordshire friends, but are very decent fellows. there are a good many wesleyan methodists among them, and hymns may be heard sometimes resounding along the vaulted galleries, and rising from behind the air-doors, where children sit all day on duty,--dull work, but not hard or cold. a well managed coal mine is a very fine sight. derbyshire. from either sheffield or manchester a most delightful journey is open through derbyshire to a good pedestrian, or to a party of friends travelling in a carriage with their own horses. for the latter purpose an irish outside car, fitted either with a pole or outrigger for a pair of horses, is one of the best conveyances we know. the front seat holds the driver; two ladies and two gentlemen fill up the two sides. the well contains ample space for the luggage of sensible people; umbrellas and waterproof capes can be strapped on the intermediate cushion, and then, if the horses are provided with military halters and nosebags, you are prepared for every eventuality. to other impedimenta it is not amiss to add a couple of light saddles, so that, if necessary, some of the party may ride to any particular spot. this mode of travelling is particularly well suited for derbyshire, wales, devonshire, and all counties where there are beautiful spots worth visiting to which there are no regular conveyances, and which, indeed, are often only accidentally discovered. by this mode of travelling you are rendered perfectly independent of time and taverns, so long as you reach an inn in time to go to bed; for you can carry all needful provant for both man and beast with you. derbyshire is in every respect one of the most beautiful counties in england, and deserves a closer investigation than can be obtained from the outside of a coach, much less from the windows of a flying train, whenever the promised railway line, which we propose to traverse, shall be completed. derbyshire possesses two kinds of scenery totally distinct in character, but both remarkably picturesque, several natural curiosities of a very striking character, two very pleasant bath towns,--buxton and matlock; beside the antiquarian glories of hardwicke and haddon, and the palatial magnificence of chatsworth, with its porticoes, its fountains, its pleasure grounds, its victoria regia, and the house of glass that has been the means of making joseph paxton famous all over the civilized world. while the country round the peak is wild, bare, and rugged, the line of valleys and dales on which lies the road from matlock to burton and manchester, presents the most charming series of pictures of undulating woodland scenery, adorned by mansions and cottages, that it is possible to imagine. the high road continually runs along the steep side of valleys,--on one side are thick coverts climbing the rocky hill-sides, all variegated with wild flowers, briars, and brushwood; on the other side, sometimes on a level with the road, sometimes far below, a river winds and foams and brawls along; if lost for a short distance, again coming in sight of the road, enlivening and refreshing the scene. in the main avenue of the crystal palace, mr. carrington exhibited a model which represented with extraordinary accuracy all this country, and which gave a very exact picture of derbyshire, with all the undulations of its hills and rivers worked to a scale. those who have never been in the county should endeavour to see it, as it will teach them that we have a switzerland in england of which they knew not. one charm of this part of derbyshire is the intermixture of cultivation and wild nature, or woods so planted as to well emulate nature. on bits of level space you meet a cottage neatly built of stone, all covered with roses and woodbines, which flourish wonderfully on the loose soil in the showery atmosphere. the cottages of derbyshire are so pretty that you are at first inclined to imagine that they are for show,--mere fancy buildings. but no; the cheapness of good building stone, the suitability of the soil for flowering shrubs, and perhaps something in the force of example, create cottage after cottage fit for the dwellings of arcadian lovers. and every now and then the landscape opens on a villa or mansion so placed that there is nothing left for the landscape gardener to do. the farm buildings, and corn mills, and silk mills, are equally picturesque: game abounds. early in the morning and in the evening you may often see the pheasants feeding close to the roadside, and, in the middle of the day, the sudden sharp noise of a detonating ball will set them crowing in the woods all around. we cannot say that the streams now swarm with trout and grayling as they did when honest isaac walton sung their praises in quaint poetical prose, although they still twine and foam along their rocky beds all overhung with willows and tufted shrubs; but, where the waters are preserved, there good sport is to be had. the roadside inns are not bad. the half-mining, half-farming people are quaint and amusing. the caverns of the peak and the lead mines, afford something strange and new. altogether we can warmly commend a trip through derbyshire, as one affording great variety of hill and dale, wood and stream, barren moors, and rich cultivation, fine parks and mansions, and beautiful hamlets, cottages, and roadside gardens, where english peasant life is to be seen under most favourable aspects. * * * * * hardwicke.--supposing that we proceed from sheffield, we would take the railway to chesterfield, which is not a place of any interest. thence make our way to hardwicke, on the road to mansfield. hardwicke hall is a good specimen of the style of domestic architecture in the time of queen elizabeth, which has remained unaltered since that period. mary queen of scots was imprisoned here, and some remains of tapestry worked by her are exhibited, as well as furniture more ancient than the house itself. it belongs to the duke of devonshire. from hardwicke we proceed to matlock, which may be reached by an unfinished railway, intended to traverse the vales, and thence run into manchester. the village and baths are in the centre of a dale through which the river derwent flows, along between overhanging trees, except where, in some parts, its course lies through the narrow gut of perpendicular rocks. on either side rise hills, for the most part adorned with wood, to the height of three hundred feet. the waters, which are supplied to several small and one large swimming bath, have a temperature of from to degrees of fahrenheit. they are not now much in fashion, therefore the village has continued a village, and is extremely quiet or dull according to the tastes of the visitor. at the same time, there are a number of delightful expeditions to be made in the neighbourhood, on foot or horseback, and on donkeys,--hills to be ascended and caves to be explored. by permission of sir richard arkwright of willersley castle, close to matlock and several other river preserves, good fishing may be obtained. from matlock, the next halt should be at bakewell, where there is an excellent inn, which is a good encampment for visiting both chatsworth and haddon hall. chatsworth is three miles from bakewell. the present building occupies the site of that which was long occupied by mary queen of scots during her captivity, and which was taken down to make room for the present structure at the close of the seventeenth century. the park is ten miles in circumference, and is intersected by the river derwent, which flows in front of the mansion. this place has long been celebrated for its natural and artificial beauties, but within the last few years the duke of devonshire has largely added to its attractions, by alterations carried on at an immense expense, under the direction of mr. joseph paxton, which, among other things, include the largest greenhouse in the world--the house where the victoria regia was first made to flower, and a fountain of extraordinary height and beauty. these grounds, with the house, containing some fine pictures, are open to the visits of all well-behaved persons. indeed, from the arrangements made for the convenience of visitors, it would seem as if the duke of devonshire has as much pleasure in displaying, as visitors can have in examining, his most beautiful domains, which is saying a great deal. haddon hall, one of the most perfect specimens of a mansion of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, is situated on the left bank of the wye, at a short distance from bakewell. the "interiors" of mr. joseph nash have rendered the beauties of the architecture of haddon hall well known, but it also enjoys the advantage of a very fine situation, backed by old trees. it is the property of the duke of rutland, uninhabited, but perfectly preserved. good fishing is to be obtained near bakewell, through the landlord of the hotel. buxton may be the next halt, the leamington of manchester, but although more picturesquely situated, it has not enjoyed anything like the tide of prosperity which has flowed for the warwickshire watering place. the thermal waters of buxton have been celebrated from the time of the romans. the town is situated in a deep basin, surrounded by bleak hills and barren moors, in strong contrast to the verdant valley in which the village of matlock lies. the only entrance to and exit from this basin is by a narrow ravine, through which the river wye flows on its way to join the derwent toward bakewell. the highest mountains in derbyshire are close at hand, one of which is one thousand feet above the valley in which buxton stands, and two thousand one hundred feet higher than the town of derby. from this mountain four rivers rise, the wye, the dove, the goyt, and the dean. buxton consists of a new and old town. in the old town is a hall, in which mary queen of scots lodged whilst visiting the buxton waters for her health, as a prisoner under charge of the earl of shrewsbury. a latin distich, a farewell to buxton, scratched on the window of one of the rooms, is attributed to the hand of that unhappy princess. the new part of the town commences with the crescent, which contains two houses, a library, an assembly-room, a news-room, baths, and other buildings, and is one of the finest structures of the kind in the kingdom. the stables, on a magnificent scale, contain a covered ride, a hundred and sixty feet long. this immense pile was built by the late duke of devonshire in , and cost , pounds. the public baths are very numerous and elegant; and indeed every comfort and luxury is to be obtained there by invalids and semi-invalids, except that perpetual atmosphere of amusement, without form, or fuss, or much expense, which forms the great charm of german watering places. we cannot understand why at the present moderate price of all kinds of provisions in england, a tariff of prices, and a set of customs of expense are kept up, which send all persons of moderate fortune to continental watering places, or compel them to depart at the end of a fortnight, instead of staying a month. why do we english,--after dining at a table d'hote, all the way from baden- baden to boulogne, for something not exceeding half-a-crown a-head, without drinking wine, unless we like,--find ourselves bound, the moment we set our foot in england, to have a private or stereotyped dinner at five or six shillings a-head, and no amusement. in london, for gentlemen only, there are three or four public dinners at a moderate figure. when will some of our bell-wethers of fashion, to whom economy is of more consequence than even the middle classes, set the example at leamington, tunbridge wells, buxton, and cheltenham, of dining with their wives and daughters at the public table? how long are we to be slaves of salt soup, fried soles, and fiery sherry? the decayed watering places, ruined by the competition of the continent, should try the experiment of commercial prices, as an invitation to idlers and half-invalids to stay at home. another great help to our watering places and farmers, would be the repeal of the post-horse tax. it brings in a mere trifle. the repeal would be an immense boon to places where the chief attraction depends on rides and drives. it would largely increase the number of horses and vehicles for hire, and be a real aid to the distressed agricultural interest, by the increased demand it would make for corn, hay, and straw. besides, near a small place like matlock, or ilfracombe, in devonshire, farmers would work horses through the winter, and hire them out in summer. it is a great tax to pay four shillings and sixpence as a minimum for going a mile in any country place where flies and cabs have not been planted. the environs of buxton afford ample room for rides, drives, picnics, and geological and botanical explorations. beautifully romantic scenes are to be found among the high crags on the bakewell road, overhanging the river wye. among the natural curiosities is a cave called poole's hole, five hundred and sixty yards in length, with a ceiling in one part very lofty, and adorned with stalactites, which have a beautiful appearance when lighted up by roman candles or other fireworks. as buxton is only twenty-two miles from manchester, travellers who have the time to spare should on no account omit to visit one of the most romantic and remarkable scenes of england. * * * * * macclesfield.--from buxton it will not be a bad plan to proceed to macclesfield, and again in cheshire, on the borders of derbyshire, take advantage of the rail. the turnpike road to that improving seat of the silk manufacture is across one of the highest hills in the district, from the summit of which an extensive view into the "vale royal" of cheshire is had. the hills and valleys in the vicinity of whaley and chapel-en-le-frith are equally delightful. macclesfield has one matter of attraction--its important silk manufactories. in other respects it is externally perfectly uninteresting. the earl of chester, son of henry iii., made macclesfield a free borough, consisting of a hundred and twenty burgesses, and various privileges were conferred by edward iii., richard ii., edward iv., elizabeth, and charles ii. one of the churches, st. michael's, was founded by eleanor, queen of edward i., in . it has been partly rebuilt, but there are two chapels, one the property of the marquis of cholmondeley, which was built by thomas savage, archbishop of york, whose heart was buried there in . the other belongs to the leghs of lyme. a brass plate shows that the estate of lyme was bestowed upon an ancestor for recovering a standard at the battle of cressy. he was afterwards beheaded at chester as a supporter of richard ii. another ancestor, sir piers legh, fell fighting at the battle of agincourt. we do not know what manner of men the leghs of lyme of the present generation are, but certainly pride is pardonable in a family with an ancestry which took part in deeds not only recorded by history, but immortalized by shakspeare. there is a grammar school, of the foundation of edward vi., with an income of pounds a-year, free to all residents, with two exhibitions of pounds per annum, tenable for four years. but there must be some mismanagement, as it appears from parker's useful educational register, that in only twenty-two scholars availed themselves of these privileges; yet macclesfield has a population exceeding thirty thousand. the education of the working classes is above average, and music is much cultivated. we abstain from giving the figures in this as in several other instances, because the census, which will shortly be published, will afford exact information on all these points. the establishment of silk factories on the river bollen brought macclesfield into notice in the beginning of this century. unhampered by the restrictions which weighed upon the spitalfields manufacturers, and nurtured by the monopoly accorded to english silks, the silk weaving trade gradually attained great prosperity between and . at that period the commencement of the fiscal changes, which have rendered the silk trade quite open to foreign competition, produced a serious effect on the prosperity of macclesfield. in the number of mills at work had diminished nearly one-half, and the number of hands by two-thirds. since that period, after various vicissitudes, the silk trade has acquired a more healthy tone, and we presume that the inhabitants do not now consider the alterations commenced by huskisson, and completed by peel, injurious to their interests; since, at the last election, they returned one free-trader, a london shopkeeper, in conjunction with a local banker and manufacturer. macclesfield has now to contend with home as well as foreign competition, for silk manufactories have been spread over the kingdom in many directions. we may expect to see in a few years, as the result of the universal extension of railway communication, a great distribution and transplantation of manufacturing establishments to towns where cheap labour and provisions, or good water or water-power, or cheap fuel, offer any advantages, there is something very curious to be noted in the manner in which certain of our principal manufactures have remained constant, while others have been transplanted from place to place, and in which ports have risen and fallen. the glory of the cinque ports seems departed for ever, unless as harbours of refuge, while folkestone, by the help of a railway, has acquired a considerable trade at the expense of dover. the same power which has rendered southampton great has reduced falmouth and harwich to a miserably low ebb. the sea-borne trade of chester is gone for ever, but birkenhead hopes to rise by the power of steam. no changes can seriously injure hull, although railways will give great grimsby a large share of the overflowings of the new kind of trade created by large steam boats and the repeal of duties on timber; and so we might run through a long list of commercial changes, past, present, and to come. macclesfield has shared largely in these influences. having acquired its commercial importance as one of the glasshouses in which, at great expense, we raised an artificial silk trade, when it lay at a distance of at least three hours from manchester for all heavy goods, and at least three days from london; it has now communication with london in five hours, and with the port of liverpool, through manchester, in two hours if needful. thus it enjoys the best possible means of obtaining the raw material and sending off the manufactured article. in the time of queen charlotte, the wife of george iii., it was contrary to the laws of the palace for any servant to wear a silk gown; but extended commerce and improved machinery have rendered it almost a matter of course for the respectable cook of a respectable lawyer or surgeon, to afford herself a black silk gown without extravagance or impertinence,--which is so much the better for the weavers and sailors. we shall not attempt to describe the silk manufacture, which is on the same principles as all other textiles, except that less work can be done by machinery. but it is one of the most pleasant and picturesque of all our manufacturing operations. the long light rooms in which the weaving is conducted are scrupulously clean and of a pleasant temperature,--no dust, no motes are flying about. the girls in short sleeves, in the course of their work are, as it were, obliged to assume a series of graceful attitudes. the delicacy of their work, and the upward position in which they hold them, render their hands white and delicate, and the atmosphere has something of the same effect on their complexion. many of the greatest beauties of belgravia might envy the white hands and taper fingers to be found in a silk mill. unfortunately this trade, which in factory work is healthy and well paid, is, more than any other, subject to the vicissitudes of fashion. the plain qualities suffer from such changes less than the rich brocades and fancy patterns. it must be remarked that, although the repeal of protective duties to eighteen per cent. produced a temporary depressing effect on the trade of macclesfield, the general silk trade has largely increased ever since , and has spread over a number of counties where it was before unknown, and has become an important article of export even to france. an example of the readiness with which, in these railroad days, a manufacture can be transplanted, was exhibited at tewkesbury four years ago. the once- fashionable theatre of that decayed town was being sold by auction; it hung on the auctioneer's hammer at so trifling a sum that one of the new made m.p.'s of the borough bought it. having bought it, for want of some other use he determined to turn it into a silk mill. in a very short space of time the needful machinery was obtained from macclesfield, with an overseer. while the machinery was being erected, a bevy of girls were acquiring the art of silk weaving, and, in less than twelve months, five or six hundred hands were as regularly engaged in this novel process, as if they had been so engaged all their lives. without railroads, such an undertaking would have been the work of years, if possible at all. raw silk is obtained from italy, from france in small quantities, as the exportation of the finest silk is forbidden, from china, from india in increasing quantities, and from brusa in asia minor through constantinople. the raw silk, imported in the state in which it is wound from the cocoons, has to be twisted into thread, after being dyed, so as to approach the stage of yarn in the cotton manufacture. this twisting is technically called throwing, and is one of the departments in which the greatest improvements have been introduced, as shown by silk throwers from macclesfield in the machine department of the great exhibition; and, by the improvements, the cost of throwing, or twisting, has been reduced from s. per lb. to s. it takes about twelve pounds of cocoons to make one pound of reeled silk, and that pound will produce from fourteen to sixteen yards of gros de naples. many attempts have been made to naturalize the silk-worm in this country, but, after rather large sums have been expended on it, it is now quite clear that, although it be possible to obtain large quantities of silk of a certain quality, the undertaking cannot be made to pay: the climate is an obstacle. for centuries the silk-worm was only known to the chinese,--the greeks and romans used the substance without knowing from what it was produced or whence it came. in the sixth century, in the reign of justinian, the eggs of the silk-worm were brought secretly to constantinople from china by the nestorian monks in a hollow cane, hatched, and successfully propagated. for six centuries the breeding of silk-worms was confined to the greeks of the lower empire. in the twelfth century the art was transferred to sicily, and thence successively to italy, spain, and france. great efforts were made in the reign of james i. to promote the rearing of silk-worms in england, and mulberry trees were distributed to persons of influence through many counties. the scheme failed. but in a company was incorporated, with a like purpose, and planted trees, and erected buildings in chelsea park. this scheme also failed. great efforts were made to plant the growth of silk in the american colonies, and the brilliant prospects of establishing a new staple of export formed a prominent feature in the schemes for american colonization, of which so many were launched in the beginning of the eighteenth century. but up to the present time no progress has been made in it in that country, although silk-worms are found in a natural state in the forests of the union. indeed, it seems a pursuit which needs cheap attentive labour as well as suitable climate. some attempts have been made in australia, but there again the latter question presents an insurmountable obstacle. if the mulberry would thrive in natal, where native labour is cheap, it would be worth trying there, although we cannot do better than develop the resources of the silk-growing districts of india, where the culture has been successfully carried on for centuries. at the great exhibition an extremely handsome banner was exhibited, manufactured from british silk, cultivated by the late mrs. whitby of newlands, near southampton, who spent a large income, and many years in the pursuit, solely from philanthropic motives, and carried on an extensive correspondence with parties inclined to assist her views; but, although to the last she was sanguine of success in making silk one of the raw staples of england, and a profitable source of employment for women and children, we have seen no commercial evidence of any more real progress than that of gardeners in growing grapes and melons without glass-houses. almost every country in europe has made the same attempts, but with very moderate success. russia has its mulberry plantations, so has belgium, austria proper, hungary, bavaria, and even sweden; but lombardy and cevennes in france bear away the palm for excellence, and there is an annual increase in the quantity and quality of silk from british india. but no matter where it grows, we can buy it and bring it to our own doors nearly as cheap as the natives of the country, often cheaper. in macclesfield every kind of silk article is produced, including ribbons, narrow and richly-ornamented satin, velvet, silk embroidered for waistcoats and gown pieces. from cheshire to north staffordshire. on leaving macclesfield we are, as usual, embarrassed by a choice of routes, due to the perseverance of mr. ricardo, one of the members for the potteries, who has endowed his constituents with a set of railways, which cut through their district in all manner of ways. these north staffordshire lines, tria juncta in uno, form an engineering continuation of the trent valley, and are invaluable to the manufacturers of porcelain and pottery in that district. to the shareholders they have proved rather a disappointment. the ten per cent. secured to the trent valley company, by the fears of the london and north- western, has not yet rewarded the patriotism of the north staffordshire shareholders. but to our route, we may either make our way by leek, cheadle, alton, and uttoxeter to burton, famous for the ale of bass and game of cricket nourished on it, and through burton to derby. (the learned and lively author of the "cricket field" remarks, that the game of cricket follows malt and hops--no ale, no bowlers or batsmen. it began at farnham hops, and has never rolled further north than edinburgh ale.) or by congleton, burslem, hanley, and stoke upon trent (the very heart of the potteries), then either pushing on to uttoxeter to the north, or keeping the south arm past trentham to norton bridge, which will convey you to the trent valley line, the shortest way to london. * * * * * congleton is an ancient borough of cheshire, on the borders of staffordshire, containing a number of those black and white oak frame and plaster houses, which are peculiar to that county, and well worth examining. it is situated in a deep romantic valley on the banks of the river dane, and enjoys a greater reputation for health than commercial progress. the population does not appear to have increased between the two last census. the municipal corporation dates from a remote period. it appears from the corporation books that the mayor and aldermen patronised every kind of sport--plays, cock fights, bear baiting, morris dancing. so fond were they of bear baiting, that in , by a unanimous vote, they transferred the money intended for a bible to the purchase of a bear. times are changed; every inhabitant of congleton can now have his own bible for tenpence. bear baiting and cock fighting have been discontinued; but we hope the inhabitants have grown wiser than they were some fifteen years ago, when they allowed themselves, for the sake of petty political disputes, to be continually drawn through the courts of law and chancery--a process quite as cruel for the suitors, and more expensive and less amusing than bear-baiting. at the town hall is to be seen a "bridle" for a scold, which the ladies of the present generation are too well behaved ever to deserve. president bradshaw, the regicide, was a cheshireman, born and christened at stockport. he practised as barrister, and served the office of mayor in , at congleton, of which he afterwards became high steward. at macclesfield, according to tradition, he wrote, when a boy, on a tombstone, these prophetic lines:-- "my brother henry must heir the land, my brother frank must be at his command, whilst i, poor jack! will do that, that all the world shall wonder at." bradshaw became chief justice of the county palatine of chester under the commonwealth, was dismissed by cromwell for his republican opinions, died in , was magnificently buried in westminster abbey, and disinterred and gibbeted with cromwell and ireton at the restoration. a piece of vengeance on poor dead bones that remained unimitated until one of the mobs of the first french revolution scattered the bones of the french kings buried in the vaults of st. denis. the lakes. some of our readers may feel disposed to visit the charming scenery with which cumberland and westmoreland abound; and that they may be assisted in their route thereto, and in their rambles through that beautiful district, we will furnish a few notes descriptive of the most convenient and pleasant routes. from congleton an easy diversion may be made, by railway, to crewe, and from thence the journey, along the north-western line, passing northwich (cheshire) and warrington (lancashire), via parkside, to preston, garstang, and lancaster, is rapid and agreeable. the approach to preston is remarkably pleasing, the railway being carried across a magnificent vale, through which the river lune, a fine, wide stream, equalling in beauty the far-famed dee, runs towards the irish channel. * * * * * preston is a populous manufacturing town, in which cotton-spinning is carried on to a very large extent, and is surrounded by a rich agricultural district, which furnishes in abundance every kind of farming produce. the borough returns two members to parliament, is a corporate town, and has acquired a distinction by its guilds, which are conducted with great spirit every twenty years. the market, which is held on the saturday, is well supplied with fruits, vegetables, and fish, salmon included, taken from the river lune. * * * * * lancaster, twenty miles northward, is also a borough town, returning two members to parliament, and is governed by a mayor and town council. it is one of the ancient ports of lancashire, and, being the county town, the assizes for north lancashire are held there. some years ago the assizes for the whole of lancashire were regularly holden at lancaster, and in those palmy days, as the judicial sittings generally extended to sixteen or twenty days, a rich harvest was reaped, not only by "the gentlemen of the long robe," but also by the numerous innkeepers in the place. the assize business for south lancashire was at length removed to liverpool, as the most convenient site for the large number of suitors from that part of the county; and since that period the town of lancaster has lost much of its importance. there are many objects of especial interest within the town and in the immediate district. the ancient castle (now the county gaol), once the residence of john of gaunt, duke of lancaster; the nisi prius court, an elegant and spacious building from a design by the late mr. harrison of chester; and the old parish church, are worthy of close inspection; whilst from the castle terrace and churchyard delightful views of the river, morecambe bay, and the distant hills of cumberland and westmoreland, are commanded. the village of hornby, a few miles northward, situated on the banks of the lune, is one of the most picturesque and retired spots in the kingdom. the river, for several miles from lancaster, is studded with enchanting scenery, and is much frequented by the lovers of the rod and line. from lancaster the tourist may proceed easily, via the lancaster and carlisle railway, into the very midst of the lake district. kendal is about twenty miles from lancaster, and from the former pretty town a branch line runs direct to windermere, whence parties may proceed to bowness, ambleside, keswick, and other delightful and time-honoured places in westmoreland and cumberland. from kendal also sedburgh, orton, kirkby stephen, shap, brough, and the high and low lands circumjacent, may be visited. ulverston, ravenglass, whitehaven, cockermouth, all nearly equally accessible from the kendal railway station, will furnish another interesting route to the traveller. the midland part of cumberland consists principally of hills, valleys, and ridges of elevated ground. to the tourist the mountainous district in the south-west is the most interesting and attractive. this part comprises saddleback, skiddaw, and helvellyn, with the lakes of ulleswater, thirlmere, derwent-water, and bassenthwaite. besides these lakes there are several of smaller size, equally celebrated for their diversified and striking scenery. buttermere, whose charms are sweetly sung by many of our poets, crummock- water, loweswater, ennerdale, wast-water, and devock-lake, are frequented by hosts of travellers, and retain no small number of admirers. the most remarkable phenomena connected with the lakes are the floating island and bottom-wind, both of which are occasionally seen at derwent-water, and neither of which has yet received a satisfactory explanation. most of the lakes abound in fish, especially char, trout, and perch; so that anglers are sure of plenty of sport in their visits to these fine sheets of water. in cumberland there are several waterfalls, namely, scale force and sour milk force, near buttermere; barrow cascade and lowdore cascade, near keswick; airey force, gowbarrow park; and nunnery cascade, croglin. the highest mountains in the same county are,--scaw fell (eskdale), feet, highest point; helvellyn (keswick), ; and skiddaw (keswick), . the climate of cumberland is various; the high land cold and piercing; the lower parts mild and temperate. the district is generally considered to be healthy, and many remarkable instances of longevity are noted by the local historians. the oldest inhabitants on record are john taylor, of garrigall, who died in , aged years, and mr. r. bowman, of irthington, who died june , , aged years. the oldest oak tree in cumberland of which there is any record--a tree which had stood for years in wragmire moss, inglewood forest--fell from natural decay on the day of mr. bowman's demise. cumberland is wholly in the diocese of carlisle, with the exception of the wood of allerdale-above-derwent, in the diocese of chester, and the parish of alston, in that of durham. it contains parishes. it is comprehended in the province of york, and in the northern circuit. the assizes are held at carlisle twice a-year. the principal coach roads in westmoreland are the old mail road from lancaster to carlisle and glasgow; and the road (formerly a mail road) through stamford, newark, doncaster, and greta bridge, to carlisle and glasgow. there is a second road from lancaster to kendal, through milnthorp. roads lead from kendal south-westward to ulverston and dalton-in- furness; westward to bowness, and across windermere by the ferry to hawkshead, and coniston water in furness, and to egremont and whitehaven in cumberland; north-westward by ambleside to keswick, cockermouth, and workington, in cumberland; north-eastward by orton to appleby, with a branch road to kirkby stephen to brough; eastward to sedbergh, and onwards to yorkshire. the railways in the district are, the preston and carlisle, the kendal and windermere, the cockermouth and workington, the furness (between fleetwood, furness abbey, ulverston, broughton, and the lakes), the maryport and carlisle, whitehaven junction, and whitehaven and furness junction (between whitehaven, ravenglass, bootle, and broughton). wordsworth, whose soul, as well as body, was identified with this district, says of the mountains of westmoreland, that "in magnitude and grandeur they are individually inferior to the most celebrated of those in some other parts of the island; but in the combinations which they make, towering above each other, or lifting themselves in ridges like the waves of a tumultuous sea, and in the beauty and variety of their surfaces and colours, they are surpassed by none." the lakes are numerous, beautiful, and extensive in size. ulleswater is embosomed in the centre of mountains, of which helvellyn forms part. the upper part of it belongs wholly to westmoreland, while its lower part, on the border of cumberland and westmoreland, is about seven miles long, with an average breadth of half a mile. the higher portion of the lake is in patterdale. haweswater is formed by the expansion of the mardale-beck; and all the larger affluents of the eden, which join it on the left bank, rise on the northern slope of the cumbrian ridge. the river leven, which flows out of windermere, belongs to lancashire; but the rothay, or raise-beck, which drains the valley of grasmere, the streams which drain the valleys of great and little langdale, and the trout-beck, which all flow into windermere, and may be regarded as the upper waters of the leven, belong to westmoreland. elterwater, grasmere, and rydal water, are connected with the streams which flow into windermere. this last-named lake has been described as situated in lancashire; whilst in a county survey, and in the court rolls at lowther castle, it is included in westmoreland. all the lakes, large and small, have some distinguishing feature of beauty. their boundary lines are either gracefully or boldly indented; in some parts rugged steeps, admitting of no cultivation, descend into the water; in others, gently sloping lawns and rich woods, or flat and fertile meadows, stretch between the margin of the lake and the mountains. tarns, or small lakes, are generally difficult of access, and naked, desolate, or gloomy, yet impressive from these very characteristics. loughrigg tarn, near the junction of the valleys of great and little langdale, is one of the most beautiful. the county of westmoreland is divided between the dioceses of carlisle and chester. the parishes are only thirty-two in number. the population in was , . of monumental remains there are but few in the county. "arthur's round table," near eamont bridge, is worthy of a visit, as well as other fragments, supposed to be druidical, in the same district. there are several ancient castles which will attract the attention of the antiquary, if he should be near, in his journeyings, to the site of any of them. the most conspicuous remnant of other days in cumberland is the druidical temple near kirkoswald, consisting of a circle of sixty-seven unhewn stones, called long meg and her daughters. a brief description of the leading towns within the lake district will be useful. * * * * * kendal, as we have already stated, is about twenty miles by railway from lancaster. it is a market-town, pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill rising from the river kent; contains two churches, and several dissenting places of worship; the ruins of the old castle of the barons of kendal; and a town-hall, the town being governed by a corporation under the municipal reform act. the kendal and windermere railway runs no farther than birthwaite, which is nine miles from kendal, two from bowness, and five from ambleside. from the railway terminus coaches and omnibuses meet all the trains in the summer, and convey passengers onwards to bowness, ambleside, and other places. * * * * * bowness is a picturesque village placed on the banks of windermere, and contains an ancient church, with square tower, dedicated to st. martin. in the churchyard are deposited the remains of the celebrated bishop watson, author of "the apology for the bible," he having resided at calgarth park, in the neighbourhood, for several years. in the vicinity are the residences of professor wilson (elleray), the earl of bradford (st. catherine's), and the rev. thomas staniforth (storrs hall, formerly the residence of colonel bolton, of liverpool, the intimate friend of the late mr. canning). from the school-house, which stands on an eminence, delightful views of windermere, and other parts of the district, are seen to great advantage, belle isle, on the lake, appearing to be part of the mainland. this island is more than a mile in circumference, and comprises about thirty acres. we may add, that storrs hall, whilst occupied by colonel bolton, was frequently the retreat of many "choice spirits," canning, wordsworth, southey, and wilson, of the number. mr. bolton was a princely merchant of liverpool, and colonel of a volunteer regiment whilst england was in dread of french invasion. he was one of mr. canning's warmest political friends, and always took an active part in the electioneering contests for liverpool in which canning was engaged. lockhart, referring to one of these "gatherings," says:--"a large company had been assembled at mr. bolton's seat in honour of the minister; it included mr. wordsworth and mr. southey. there was high discourse, intermingled with as gay flashings of courtly wit as ever canning displayed. there were beautiful and accomplished women to adorn and enjoy this circle. the weather was as elysian as the scenery. there were brilliant cavalcades through the woods in the mornings, and delicious boatings on the lake by moonlight; and the last day professor wilson ('the admiral of the lake,' as canning called him) presided over one of the most splendid regattas that ever enlivened windermere. the three bards of the lakes led the cheers that hailed scott and canning." looking back on that bright scene, of which nothing now remains but a melancholy remembrance, wilson remarks, "windermere glittered with all her sails in honour of the great northern minstrel, and of him the eloquent, whose lips are now mute in dust. methinks we see his smile benign--that we hear his voice--silver sweet." * * * * * windermere has been termed, not inaptly, the english zurich. before its diversified beauties were "married to immortal verse," it was the favourite resort of thousands who admired external nature. but the "lake poets," as wordsworth, southey, coleridge and others were once derisively termed, have linked the lake district with the language of the nation. windermere lake is eleven miles in length, and one mile in breadth. numerous islands diversify its surface, one of which (belle isle) we have already referred to. its depth in some parts is about feet. "the prevailing character of the scenery around windermere is soft and graceful beauty. it shrinks from approaching that wildness and sublimity which characterise some of the other lakes." it abounds with fish, especially char (salmo alpinus), one of the epicurean dainties. * * * * * ambleside, fourteen miles north-west of kendal, is partly in windermere, but chiefly in grasmere parish. this is one of the favourite resorts of travellers in quest of pleasure. it has been compared to a delightful swiss village, the town reposing in a beautiful valley, near the upper end of windermere lake; "no two houses being alike either in form or magnitude," and the entire place laid out in a rambling irregular manner, adding to its peculiarity and beauty. the pretty little chapel which ornaments the place was erected in , on the site of an older structure. the neighbourhood is studded with attractive villas; but the most interesting of the residences is that of the lamented poet wordsworth, at rydal mount. * * * * * rydal village is one mile and a quarter from ambleside, and is planted within a narrow gorge, formed by the advance of loughrigg fell and rydal knab. rydal hall, the seat of lady le fleming, stands in the midst of a finely-wooded park, in which are two beautiful waterfalls, shown on application at the lodge. rydal mount, wordsworth's residence for many years, stands a little above the chapel erected by lady le fleming. mrs. hemans describes it as "a lovely cottage-like building, almost hidden by a profusion of roses and ivy." "from a grassy mound in front, commanding a view always so rich, and sometimes so brightly solemn, that one can well imagine its influence traceable in many of the poet's writings, you catch a gleam of windermere over the grove tops." "a footpath," mr. phillips says, "strikes off from the top of the rydal mount road, and, passing at a considerable height on the hill side under nab scar, commands charming views of the vale, and rejoins the high road at white moss quarry. the commanding and varied prospect obtained from the summit of nab scar, richly repays the labour of the ascent. from the summit, which is indicated by a pile of large stones, eight different sheets of water are seen, viz., windermere, rydal, grasmere, and coniston lakes, and loughrigg, easdale, elterwater, and blelham tarns. the solway firth is also distinctly visible." knab, a delightful residence formerly occupied by de quincy, "the english opium eater," and by hartley coleridge, eldest son of samuel taylor coleridge, is situated close by. in the walk from ambleside to rydal, should the tourist pursue his course along the banks of the rothay, he will, having crossed the bridge, pass the house built and inhabited by the late dr. arnold, master of rugby school. grasmere village is a short walk from rydal, and only four miles from ambleside. wordsworth lived here for eight years, at a small house at town end; here he wrote many of his never-dying poems; to this spot be brought his newly-wedded wife in ; and in the burial ground of the parish church are interred his mortal remains. wordsworth quitted this sublunary scene, for a brighter and a better, on april , . gray once visited grasmere water, and described its beauties in a rapturous spirit. mrs. hemans, in one of her sonnets, says of it:-- "--------------------- fair scene, most loved by evening and her dewy star! oh! ne'er may man, with touch unhallowed, jar the perfect music of the charm serene! still, still unchanged, may one sweet region wear, smiles that subdue the soul to love, and tears, and prayer." a comfortable hotel has recently been opened, from which, as it stands on an eminence, a fine view is obtained; and at the red lion and swan inns every necessary accommodation for tourists may be had. in the neighbourhood there is some delightful panoramic scenery. from butterlip how and red bank the lake and vale are seen to great advantage. "the wishing gate," about a mile from grasmere, should be visited. it has been so called from a belief that wishes indulged there will have a favourable issue. helm crag, a singularly-shaped hill, about two miles from the inn, commands an extensive and delightful prospect; helvellyn and saddleback, wansfell pike, the upper end of windermere, esthwaite water, with the coniston range, and langdale pikes, are all distinctly visible. the glen of esdaile, marked by highly-picturesque features, lies in a recess between helm crag and silver how, and the ascent commands fine retrospective views. throughout this district the hills and dales are remarkably interesting, and offer numerous attractions to the tourist. delightful excursions may be made from grasmere into langdale and patterdale, and the ascent from grasmere to the top of helvellyn, to langdale pikes, and to dunmail raise will be events not easily to be forgotten. a heap of stones on the summit of dunmail raise marks the site of a conflict in between dunmail, king of cumberland, and edmund, the saxon king. in descending this hill thirlmere comes into view. thirlmere lies in the vale of legberthwaite, and the precipices around it are objects of special admiration. the ascent of helvellyn is sometimes begun at the foot of thirlmere. * * * * * keswick is a market town, in the county of cumberland, and parish of crosthwaite, and is situated on the south bank of the greta, in a large and fertile vale, about a mile from derwent water. coleridge, describing the scene, says:--"this vale is about as large a basin as loch lomond; the latter is covered with water; but in the former instance we have two lakes (derwent water and bassenthwaite mere), with a charming river to connect them, and lovely villages at the foot of the mountain, and other habitations, which give an air of life and cheerfulness to the whole place." the town consists only of one street, and comprises upwards of two thousand inhabitants. some manufactures are carried on, including linsey-woolsey stuffs and edge tools. black-lead pencils made here have acquired a national repute: the plumbago of which they are manufactured is extracted from "the bowels of the earth," at a mine in borrowdale. the parish church, dedicated to st. kentigern, is an ancient structure standing alone, about three-quarters of a mile distant, midway between the mountain and the lake. within this place of worship the remains of robert southey, the poet and philosopher, lie buried. a marble monument to his memory has recently been erected, representing him in a recumbent position, and bearing an inscription from the pen of wordsworth, his more than literary friend for many years, and his successor to the poet- laureate-ship. a new and beautiful church, erected at the eastern part of the town by the late john marshall, esq., adds much to the quiet repose of the scene. mr. marshall became lord of the manor by purchasing the forfeited estates of ratcliffe, earl of derwentwater, from the commissioners of greenwich hospital, to whom they were granted by the crown. the town contains a well-stocked public library, purchased from funds left for that purpose by mr. marshall; two museums, containing numerous specimens illustrating natural history and mineralogy; and a model of the lake district, made by mr. flintoff, and the labour of many years. the residence of the poet southey (greta hall) is, however, perhaps the most interesting object in the neighbourhood to visitors. the house is situated on an eminence near the town. charles lamb, describing it many years since, says:--"upon a small hill by the side of skiddaw, in a comfortable house, quite enveloped on all sides by a nest of mountains" dwells robert southey. the poet himself, who delighted in his beautiful and calm mountain-home, and in the charming scenery by which he was surrounded, remarks:--"here i possess the gathered treasures of time, the harvest of so many generations, laid up in my garners, and when i go to the window there is the lake, and the circle of mountains, and the illimitable sky." on another occasion, when dallying with the muse, he says, in his finely-descriptive verse:-- "'twas at that sober hour when the light of day is receding, and from surrounding things the hues wherewith the day has adorned them fade like the hopes of youth till the beauty of youth is departed: pensive, though not in thought, i stood at the window beholding mountain, and lake, and vale, the valley disrobed of its verdure; derwent retaining yet from eve a glassy reflection, where his expanded breast, then smooth and still as a mirror, under the woods reposed; the hills that calm and majestic lifted their heads into the silent sky, from far glaramara, bleacrag and maidenmawr to grisedale and westernmost wythop; dark and distant they rose. the clouds had gather'd above them, high in the middle air huge purple pillowy masses, while in the west beyond was the last pale tint of the twilight. green as the stream in the glen, whose pure and chrysolite waters flow o'er a schistous bed, and serene as the age of the righteous. earth was hush'd and still; all motion and sound were suspended; neither man was heard, bird, beast, nor humming of insect. only the voice of the greta, heard only when all is stillness." the scenery in the neighbourhood of keswick is replete with beauty, and the numerous walks and rides possess brilliant attractions. villas and prettily- built cottages add grace and quietness to the landscape. gray, on leaving keswick, was so charmed with the wonders which surrounded him, that he felt great reluctance in quitting the spot, and said, "that he had almost a mind to go back again." from the eminence near keswick on which the druidical circle stands a magnificent view is obtained of derwentwater, latrigg, skiddaw, helvellyn, dunmail raise, with the vale of st. john and the borrowdale mountains. * * * * * buttermere stands near the foot of the lake, and by seatoller is fourteen miles from keswick. taking the vale of newlands by the way, the distance is much less. in the vicinity of seatoller is the celebrated mine of plumbago, or black lead. "it has been worked at intervals for upwards of two centuries; but, being now less productive, the ore has been excavated for several years consecutively. this is the only mine of the kind in england, and there are one or two places in scotland where plumbago has been discovered, but the lead obtained there is of an inferior quality. the best ore produced at the borrowdale mine sells for thirty shillings a pound. all the ore extracted from the mine is sent direct to london before a particle is sold." buttermere is a mere hamlet, comprising a small episcopal chapel, only a few farm-houses, with the victoria and another inn for the accommodation of visitors. de quincy, who has long been a resident of the lake district, and a fervent admirer of its many beauties, describes this secluded spot as follows:--"the margin of the lake, which is overhung by some of the loftiest and steepest of the cumbrian mountains, exhibits on either side few traces of human neighbourhood; the level area, where the hills recede enough to allow of any, is of a wild, pastoral character, or almost savage. the waters of the lake are deep and sullen, and the barren mountains, by excluding the sun in much of his daily course, strengthen the gloomy impressions. at the foot of this lake lie a few unornamented fields, through which rolls a little brook, connecting it with the larger lake of crummock, and at the edge of this miniature domain, upon the road-side, stands a cluster of cottages, so small and few, that in the richer tracts of the island they would scarcely be complimented with the name of hamlet." the well-known story of mary, the beauty of buttermere, with the beautiful poem describing her woes, entitled, "mary, the maid of the inn," has given to the village a more than common interest. as the melancholy tale is told, mary possessed great personal beauty, and, being the daughter of the innkeeper, she fulfilled the duty of attendant upon visitors to the house. among these was a dashing young man who assumed the aristocratic title of the honourable colonel hope, brother of lord hopeton, but whose real name was hatfield, and who had taken refuge from the arm of the law in the secluded hamlet of buttermere. attracted by mary's charms, he vowed love and fidelity to her, and she, in the guilelessness of her youth, responded to his overtures, and became his wife. soon after her marriage her husband was apprehended on a charge of forgery--a capital crime in those days; he was convicted at carlisle of the offence, and forfeited his life on the scaffold. mary, some years afterwards, took to herself a second husband, a respectable farmer in the neighbourhood, with whom she lived happily throughout the remainder of her days. she died a few years ago amidst her native hills. while in this district the tourist will derive pleasure from visiting crummock water, lowes water, and wast water. a coach travels daily between birthwaite (the terminus of the kendal and windermere railway,) and cockermouth, connecting the whitehaven and maryport line with the former railway. by this or other conveyances cockermouth may easily be visited, as well as whitehaven, maryport, etc. * * * * * cockermouth is a neat market-town, and sends two members to parliament. the ancient castle was a fortress of great strength, but since the civil wars it has lain in ruins. traces of a roman castrum, with other antique remains, are to be seen in the neighbourhood. wordsworth was a native of cockermouth, and tickell, the poet, and addison's friend, was born at bridekirk, two miles distant. inns:--the globe and sun. maryport is seven miles from the town, workington eight miles, keswick (by whinlatter) twelve miles, by bassenthwaite water thirteen and a half miles, whitehaven fourteen miles, wigton sixteen miles, and carlisle twenty-seven miles. * * * * * whitehaven, a market-town and seaport, in cumberland, near the cliffs called scilly bank, in the parish of st. bees, contains about , inhabitants. the lowther family have large estates around the town, with many valuable coal-mines. coarse linens are manufactured in the place; and a large maritime and coal trade is carried on there. there is a spacious harbour, giving excellent accommodation to vessels within it. "the bay and harbour are defended by batteries, formerly consisting of upwards of a hundred pieces, but lately suffered to fall into decay. these batteries received extensive additions after the alarm caused by the descent of the notorious paul jones in . this desperado, who was a native of galloway, and had served his apprenticeship in whitehaven, landed here with thirty armed men, the crew of an american privateer which had been equipped at nantes for this expedition. the success of the enterprise was, however, frustrated by one of the company, through whom the inhabitants were placed on the alert. the only damage they succeeded in doing was the setting fire to three ships, one of which was burnt. they were obliged to make a precipitate retreat, and, having spiked the guns of the battery, they escaped unhurt to the coast of scotland, where they plundered the house of the earl of selkirk." among the principal residences in the neighbourhood of whitehaven are, whitehaven castle, the seat of the earl of lonsdale, and moresby hall, built after a design by inigo jones. inns.--black lion and golden lion. * * * * * st. bees, in which parish whitehaven is situated, is four miles to the south of whitehaven. the church, dedicated to st. bega, is an ancient structure, and is still in tolerable preservation. until the chancel was unroofed, but in that year it was repaired, and is now occupied as a college, for the reception of young men intended for the church, but not designed to finish their studies at oxford or cambridge. the grammar-school adjacent was founded by archbishop grindal. ennerdale lake is nine miles to the east of whitehaven, from which town it is easily reached. * * * * * maryport is a modern seaport on the river ellen. the town is advancing in prosperity, and the population rapidly increasing: an excellent maritime trade is carried on between maryport, liverpool, dublin, and other places. the village of ellenborough, from which the late lord chief justice law derived his title, is in the vicinity of the town. * * * * * workington stands on the south bank of the derwent. workington hall afforded an asylum to mary queen of scots when she visited the town. * * * * * penrith, an ancient market town, containing about inhabitants, is on the line of the preston and carlisle railway. the ruins of the castle, supposed to have been erected by neville, earl of westmoreland, overlook the town from the west. it is built of the red stone of the district, and has suffered much from the action of the weather. the court is now used as a farm-yard. the parish church, dedicated to st. andrew, is a plain structure of red stone. there are several ancient monuments within the church; and in the south windows are portraits of richard, duke of york, and cicely neville, his wife, the parents of edward iv. and richard iii. in the churchyard is a monument called the "giant's grave," said to be the burial-place of owen caesarius, who was "sole king of rocky cumberland" in the time of ida. not far distant is another memorial, called the "giant's thumb." sir walter scott, on all occasions when he visited penrith, repaired to the churchyard to view these remains. the new church, recently built at the foot of the beacon hill, is in the gothic perpendicular style of architecture. "the beacon," a square stone building, is erected on the heights to the north of the town. "the hill upon which the beacon-tower stands," we are informed by mr. phillips, "is one of those whereon fires were lighted in former times, when animosities ran high between the english and the scotch, to give warning of the approach of an enemy. a fiery chain of communication extended from the border, northwards as far as edinburgh, and southwards into lancashire. an act of the scottish parliament was passed, in , to direct that one bale should signify the approach of the english in any manner; two bales that they were coming indeed; and four bales that they were unusually strong. sir walter scott, in his "lay of the last minstrel," has given a vivid description of the beacons blazing through the gloom like ominous comets, and startling the night:-- "a score of fires from height and hill and cliff were seen; each with warlike tidings fraught, each from each the signal caught, each after each they glanced to sight as stars arise upon the night." the antiquities in the neighbourhood are numerous and interesting; and the prospects from the heights are extensive and picturesque. ulleswater, helvellyn, skiddaw, saddleback, some of the yorkshire hills, and carlisle cathedral can be distinctly seen on a clear day. brougham castle is situated one mile and three-quarters from penrith. it was one of the strongholds of the great barons of the borders in the feudal times. at present it is in a very decayed state, but still is majestic in its ruins. its earliest owner was john de veteripont, from whose family it passed by marriage into the hands of the cliffords and tuftons successively, and it is now the property of sir john tufton. tradition records, but on what authority we know not, that sir philip sidney wrote part of his "arcadia" at this baronial mansion. wordsworth's "song at the feast of brougham castle" is one of his noblest lyrical effusions. "the countess's pillar," a short distance beyond the castle, was erected in by lady anne clifford, as "a memorial of her last parting at that place with her good and pious mother, margaret, countess dowager of cumberland, the nd of april, , in memory whereof she has left the annuity of pounds, to be distributed to the poor, within the parish of brougham, every nd day of april for ever, upon a stone hereby. laus deo." this was the lady anne clifford of whom it was said by the facetious dr. donne, that she could "discourse of all things, from predestination to slea silk." her well-known answer, returned to a ministerial application as to the representation of appleby, shows the spirit and decision of the woman:--"i have been bullied by an usurper (the protector cromwell), i have been neglected by a court, but i'll not be dictated to by a subject--your man shan't stand!" about two miles from penrith is the curious antique relic called arthur's round table, already referred to. it is a circular area above twenty yards in diameter, surrounded by a fosse and mound. six miles north-east of penrith are the ancient remains, long meg and her daughters. dacre castle is situated five miles west-south-west of penrith. brougham hall, the seat of henry, lord brougham and vaux, stands on an eminence near the river lowther, a short distance from the ruins of brougham castle. it has been termed, from its elevated position and the prospects it commands, "the windsor of the north." the mansion and grounds are exceedingly beautiful, and will repay the tourist for his visit thereto. lowther castle, the residence of the earl of lonsdale, is in the same district, and is one of the most princely halls in the kingdom, erected in a park of acres. hackthorpe hall, a farm- house, is contiguous, and was the birth-place of john, first viscount lonsdale. shap (anciently heppe), a long straggling village in the vicinity, and near which is a station on the preston and carlisle railway, has derived some note from the elevated moors close by, known by the name of shap fells. shap spa, in the midst of the moors, attracts crowds of visitors during the summer season. the spring is said to yield medicinal waters similar to those of leamington. inns.--greyhound, and king's arms. in closing this rapid sketch of the lake district we may add, that the leading mountains in cumberland and westmoreland are thirty-five in number; the passes, five; the lakes, eighteen; and the waterfalls, twelve. "wanderings among the lakes," a companion volume to this, now in preparation, will form a useful illustrated guide to their most remarkable features. home. following that plan of contrasts which travellers generally find most agreeable, we should advise that tourists, taking their route southward, will avail themselves of the north staffordshire lines to visit two of the most beautiful mansions, if they were foreign we should say palaces, in england--alton towers, the seat of the earl of shrewsbury, and trentham hall, the seat of the duke of sutherland, and conclude by investigating the porcelain manufactories, which, founded by wedgwood, are carried on with excellent spirit and taste by a number of potters, among whom alderman copeland and mr. herbert minton are pre-eminent. alton towers stand near cheadle, on the churnet valley line; trentham hall not far from stoke. a day may be pleasantly spent in examining the elaborate gardens of alton, which are a magnificent specimen of the artificial style of landscape gardening. mr. loudon gives a very elaborate description of them in his large work on the subject of gardens to great houses. at cheadle the earl of shrewsbury has erected at his own expense, mr. pugin being his architect, a small roman catholic church, which is a magnificent specimen of that gentleman's taste in the "decorated" style. "heraldic emblazonments, and religious emblems, painting and gilding, stained glass, and curiously-wrought metal work, imageries and inscriptions, rood loft and reredos, stone altar and sedilia, metal screenwork, encaustic paving, make up the gorgeous spectacle." the doors of the principal entrance are painted red, and have gilt hinges fashioned in the shape of rampant lions spreading over nearly their entire surface. in one of the canopied niches is a figure, representing the present earl of shrewsbury kneeling, with a model of the church in his hand as the founder, with his "patron," st. john the baptist, standing behind him. this cheadle church, in which mr. pugin has had full scope on a small scale for the indulgence of his gorgeous faith and fancies, reminds us that at oscot college, within sight of the smoke of birmingham and wolverhampton, towns where the best locks, clasps, hasps, bolts, and hinges can be made; the doors and windows, in deference to mr. pugin's mediaeval predilections, are of the awkward clumsy construction with which our ancestors were obliged to be content for want of better. on the same principle the floors ought to have been strewed with rushes, the meat salt, the bread black rye, and manuscript should supersede print. but it is not so, there is no school in the kingdom where the youth are better fed, or made more comfortable than at oscot. trentham has a delicious situation on the trent, which forms a lake in the park, inhabited by swans and monstrous pike. the hall used to be one of the hideous brick erections of the time of pigtails and laced waistcoats,--the footman style of dress and architecture. but the genius of barry (that great architect whom the people on the twopenny steamboats seem to appreciate more than some grumbling members of the house of commons) has transformed, without destroying it, into a charming italian villa, with gardens, in which the italian style has been happily adapted to our climate; for instance, round- headed laurels, grown for the purpose, taking the place of orange trees. this trentham hall used to be one of the magical pictures of the coach road, of which the railway robbed us. for miles before reaching it, we used to look out for the wooded park, with its herds of mottled deer, and the great lake, where the sight of the swans always brought up that story of the big pike, choked like a boa, with a swan's neck. a story that seems to belong to every swan-haunted lake. but what one railway took from us another has restored much improved. so we say to all friends, at either end of the lines, take advantage of an excursion, or express train, according to your means, and go and see what we cannot at this time describe, and what exceeds all description. for the hour, you may enjoy trentham hall as much as if it were your own, with all the bridgwater estates, mines, canals, and railways to boot. and that is the spirit in which to enjoy travelling. admiration without envy, and pity without contempt. from trentham you may proceed through the potteries. you will find there a church built, and we believe endowed, by a manufacturer, mr. herbert minton. and then you may have a choice of routes. but to london the most direct will be by tamworth and lichfield, on the trent valley line. to those who look below the surface, who care to know something about the workman as well as the work, such a tour as we have traced could not fail to be of the deepest interest. it embraces the whole course of the emigration from low wages to higher that is constantly flowing in this country. new sources of employment daily arising in mines, in ports, in factories, demand labour; to supply that labour recruits are constantly marching from the country lane to the paved city. the agricultural districts of staffordshire have a population of under two hundred souls per square mile. the pottery and iron districts of the same county of over seven hundred. these swarms of men are not had where they labour, they are immigrants. take another instance, in kent and devonshire, the wages of farm labourers are eight to nine shillings a-week. in north cheshire they are fifteen. the cost of living to the labourer in both places is about the same; fuel is cheap in cheshire. what makes the difference in the demand for labour in cheshire but the steam-engines? towns must be prepared to lodge decently, and educate carefully, children of rural immigrants, or woe betide us all. it is education that has saved the united states from the consequences of the tide of ignorant misery daily disembarking on the atlantic shores. sometimes we hear fears for the condition of farmers under manufacturer landlords. those who express these fears must have travelled with their ears shut. more than seventy per cent. of the great landowners in the great travelling counties are manufacturers, or merchants, or lawyers, by one or two descents. in lancashire, cheshire, yorkshire, or warwickshire, examine closely, and you will find it so. as a general rule, a rich pawnbroker retired will make a better landlord than a poor baronet. but in this country two generations will make one of the baronet's sons a successful shopkeeper, and the pawnbroker's a baronet, or even a peer. "i tell you what, sir," said a talkative stud groom once, in charge of race horses for russia, and travelling first class, "i've been in petersburg, in vienna, and in berlin, and i lived ten years with the earl of ----. for all the points of blood our aristocracy will beat any of these foreign princes, counts, and dukes, either for figure or for going; but it won't do to look into their pedigree, for the crosses that would ruin a race of horses, are the making of the breed of english noblemen." here our irregular imperfect guidance ceases. perhaps, although deficient in minuteness of detail, this pot pourri of gossip, history, description, anecdote, suggestion, and opinion, may not only amuse the traveller by railway, but assist him in choosing routes leading to those scenes or those pursuits in which he feels an interest. notes. { } the operation of this personal influence on the individual boys with whom he was brought into contact, was much assisted by the system which about this time began to prevail at public schools, of giving each boy a small room called "a study" of his own, in which he might keep his books, and where he could enjoy privacy. the writer, who was at a public school both when all the boys lived in one great school-room in which privacy was impossible and after the separate studies were introduced, would wish to record his earnest conviction of the advantage of the present plan of separate studies,--of the vital influence it has on the formation of character, no less than of habits of study in the young. he can well remember how every better impression or graver thought was effaced, often never to return, as the boy came out from the master's room or from reading a letter from home, and was again immersed in the crowd and confusion of the one common school-room of such a school as winchester. he would here venture to suggest that the plan of separate sleeping-rooms, like those in the model lodging-houses, would present equal advantage with that of separate studies, and might be introduced at little expense in public schools. it has already been introduced in the roman catholic college at oscot. { } he appeared, in religious feeling, to approach the evangelical party at more points than any other; pungently describing them, nevertheless, when he said--"a good christian, with a low understanding, a bad education, and ignorance of the world, becomes an evangelical." he appears to have died before he came to the application of the rules of german criticism (in which he followed niebuhr in history) to theological subjects. it is curious to speculate on what the result would have been in the mind of this ardent anglo-protestant and lover of truth. { } these letters, full of information and suggestion, are attributed to charles mackay, esq., ll.d., the well-known poet and prose writer. { } we were happy to find, while these sheets were passing through the press, that the birmingham corporation have introduced a bill for absorbing the petty commissionership of the suburbs, which, once distant villages, now form part of the borough; and that they seek for power to compel efficient drainage and ample supply of water. to do all this will be expensive, but not extravagant; nothing is so dear to a town as dirt, with its satellites, disease, drunkenness, and crime. we sincerely trust that the corporation will succeed in obtaining such ample powers as will render thorough drainage compulsory, and cause clean water to be no longer a luxury. some of the opposition call themselves conservatives. in this instance it means of dirt, fees, and bills of costs. { a} eliz., c. . { b} edited by the rev. montgomery maherne. { } "touchinge an anvyle wch he did sett for a yere. the bargayne is witnessed by two persons, viz., john wallis clerke, minister of porlocke, and john bearde of selworthye, who sayeth that about our lady-day last past, r. h. did sell to heire the said anvyle to the said thomas sulley at a rent of iii.s. iiii.d. for the yere." { } showing that the manufactory of muskets had then commenced in england, contrary to hutton's statement, see p. ante. { } the best way to wednesbury is by an iron canal boat, drawn by horses, at ten miles an hour. the inn is the royal oak, kept by a droll character. the event of his life is having seen the duke of wellington driving over westminster bridge in a curricle. to obtain a good view, as the horses went slowly up the ascent, he caught hold of a trace and hopped backwards for twenty yards with his mouth open. { } see cathrall's wanderings in north wales. { } see heberts on railroads, p. . { } we may add that, in , about , emigrants embarked from the port chiefly for the united states, employing large vessels of , tons. { } the earl of derby has died while these sheets were passing through the press. { } at the great exhibition of industry of , mr. g. wallis, at the suggestion of the board of trade, had the management and arrangement of the department of manufactures. { } mr. francis fuller, whose plan of management on this estate affords a model for both english and irish landowners, is the gentleman, who, after taking most active and vigorous means, in co-operation with mr. scott russell and mr. henry cole, for bringing before the public prince albert's plan of a great exhibition of industry of all nations, alone saved the whole scheme from being abandoned before it was made public, by finding contractors in messrs. mundays to advance the , pounds, and who did actually advance , pounds, without which the president of the board of trade refused to issue the royal commission, on which the whole success of the scheme rested. until the scheme was safely launched, mr. fuller, as a member of the executive committee, devoted his time, and freely expended his money, for the purpose of supporting this great undertaking. when it was fairly launched the care of his important business, of which middleton forms a very small part, occupied the greater part of his time, and hence his name has appeared less in conjunction with that splendid triumph of industry than those of other gentlemen. { } a little boy undergoing the operation of being flogged, in the manner that mother hubbard performed the deed before sending the children to bed. manual of ship subsidies an historical summary of the systems of all nations by edwin m. bacon, a.m. contents chapter preface i introductory ii great britain iii france iv germany v holland-belgium vi austria-hungary vii italy viii spain-portugal ix denmark-norway-sweden x russia xi japan-china xii south america xiii the united states xiv summary index preface the intent of this little book is to furnish in compact form the history of the development of the ship subsidies systems of the maritime nations of the world, and an outline of the present laws or regulations of those nations. it is a manual of facts and not of opinions. the author's aim has been to present impartially the facts as they appear, without color or prejudice, with a view to providing a practical manual of information and ready reference. he has gathered the material from documentary sources as far as practicable, and from recognized authorities, american and foreign, on the general history of the rise and progress of the mercantile marine of the world as well as on the special topic of ship subsidies. these sources and authorities are named in the footnotes, and volume and page given so that reference can easily be made to them for details impossible to give in the contracted space to which this manual is necessarily confined. e.m.b. boston, mass. september , . chapter i introductory the term _subsidy_, defined in the dictionaries as a government grant in aid of a commercial enterprise, is given different shadings of meaning in different countries. in all, however, except great britain, it is broadly accepted as equivalent to a bounty, or a premium, open or concealed, directly or indirectly paid by government to individuals or companies for the encouragement or fostering of the trade or commerce of the nation granting it. ship subsidies are in various forms: premiums on construction of vessels; navigation bounties; trade bounties; fishing bounties; postal subsidies for the carriage of ocean mails; naval subventions; government loans on low rates of interest. in great britain they comprise postal subsidies and naval subventions, ostensibly payments for oversea and colonial mail service exclusively, or compensation for such construction of merchant ships under the admiralty regulations as will make them at once available for service as armed cruisers and transports. they are assumed to be not bounties in excess of the actual value of the service performed, with the real though concealed object of fostering the development of british overseas navigation. still, notwithstanding this assumption, such has been their practical effect. their original objects when first applied to steamship service, as defined by a parliamentary committee in , were--"to afford us rapid, frequent, and punctual communications with distant ports which feed the main arteries of british commerce, and with the most important of our foreign possessions; to foster maritime enterprise; and to encourage the production of a superior class of vessels, which would promote the convenience and wealth of the country in time of peace, and assist in defending its shores against hostile aggression." to foster british commerce they have undeniably been employed to meet and check foreign competition on the seas, as the record shows. in the united states they have taken the form of postal subsidies openly granted for the two-fold purpose of the transportation of the ocean mails in american-built and american-owned ships, and the encouragement of american shipbuilding and ship-using. chapter ii great britain england has never granted general ship-construction or navigation bounties except in the reigns of elizabeth and james i. under elizabeth parliament offered a bounty of five shillings per ton to every ship above one hundred tons burden; and under james i that law was revived, with the bounty applying only to vessels of two hundred tons or over.[a] a policy of government favoritism to shipping, however, began far back in the dim ninth century with alfred the great. under the inspiration of this saxon of many virtues, his people increased the number of english merchant vessels and laid the foundation for the creation and maintenance of a royal navy.[b] the saxon athelstan, alfred's grandson, whose attention to commerce was also marked, first made it a way to honor, one of his laws enacting that a merchant or mariner successfully accomplishing three voyages on the high seas with a ship and a cargo of his own should be advanced to the dignity of a thane (baron).[c] the first navigation law was enacted in the year , fifth of richard ii. this act, introduced "to awaken industry and increase the wealth of the inhabitants and extend their influence,"[d] ordained that "none of the king's liege people should from henceforth ship any merchandise in going out or coming within the realm of england but only in the ships of the king's liegeance, on penalty of forfeiture of vessel and cargo."[e] this act of richard ii was the forerunner of the code of cromwell, which came to be called the "great maritime charter of england," and the fundamental principles of which held up to the second quarter of the nineteenth century. under charles i was enacted ( ) the first restrictive act with relation to the commerce of the colonies, which ordained "that none in any of the ports of the plantations of virginia, bermuda, barbados, and other places of america, shall suffer any ship or vessel to lade any goods of the growth of the plantations and carry them to foreign ports except in english bottoms," under forfeiture of certain exemptions from customs.[f] it was followed up four years later ( ) under the commonwealth, by an act prohibiting "all foreign vessels whatever from lading with the plantations of america without having obtained a license."[g] cromwell's code, of which the act of was the germ, was established the next year, . its primary object was to check the maritime supremacy of holland, then attaining dominance of the sea; and to strike a decisive blow at her naval power. the ultimate aim was to secure to england the whole carrying trade of the world, europe only excepted.[h] these were its chief provisions: that no goods or commodities whatever of the growth, production, or manufacture of asia, africa, or america should be imported either into england or ireland, or any of the plantations, except in english-built ships, owned by english subjects, navigated by english masters, and of which three-fourths of the crew were englishmen; or in such ships as were the real property of the people of the country or place in which the goods were produced, or from which they could only be, or most usually were, exported.[i] this last clause was the blow direct to holland, for the dutch had little native products to export, and their ships were mainly employed in carrying the produce of other countries to all foreign markets. it was answered with war, the fierce naval war of - , in which was exhibited that famous spectacle of the at first victorious dutch admiral, van tromp, sweeping the english channel with a broom at his masthead. with the final defeat of the dutch after hard fighting on both sides, their virtual submission to the english navigation act, and their admission of the english "sovereignty of the seas,"[j] by their consent to "strike their flag to the shipping of the commonwealth," england, in her turn, became the chief sea power of the world.[k] during the ten years of peace that followed, however, the dutch despite the english navigation act, succeeded in increasing their shipping, and regained much of the carrying trade if not their lost leadership.[l] cromwell's act was confirmed by charles ii in , and made the basis of the code which then her statesmen exalted as "the great maritime charter of england." early in charles ii's reign also (in ) indirect bounties were offered for the encouragement of the building of larger and more efficient ships for service in time of war. these were grants of one-tenth of the customs dues on the cargo, for two years, to every vessel having two and one-half or three decks, and carrying thirty guns.[m] thirty years later ( ), in william and mary's reign, the time was extended to three years. under william and mary the granting of bounties on naval stores was begun, and this system was continued till george iii's time.[m] with william and mary's reign also began the giving of indirect bounties to fishermen for the catching and curing of fish. after the middle of the eighteenth century vessels engaged in the fisheries were regularly subsidized, with the object of training sailors for the merchant marine and the royal navy.[m] while the fundamental rules of the "maritime charter" of remained practically unimpaired, although in the succeeding years hundreds of regulating statutes were passed, breaks were made in the restrictive barriers of the code during the first third of the nineteenth century by the adoption of the principle of maritime reciprocity.[n] in (july ) a convention establishing a "reciprocal liberty of commerce," between the "territories of great britain in europe and those of the united states," was signed in london.[o] in - reciprocity treaties were entered into with various continental powers. in (august ) the treaty of with the united states was renewed. in a treaty for regulating the commercial intercourse between the british colonial possessions and the united states was executed.[p] under these conventions, repeatedly interrupted by british orders in council and by presidents' proclamations,[q] the trading intercourse between both countries was regulated till the abrogation of the code of . in an indirect move against the code was made, with the appointment of a committee of the house of commons to inquire into the working of the reciprocal treaties and the condition of the mercantile marine of the country.[r] at this period the competition of the united states in the overseas carrying trade of the world was hard pressing england. the americans were building the best wooden ships, superior in model and seaworthiness, the fastest sailers. they were leading in shipbuilding. much of the british shipping trade was carried on in american-built vessels. the splendid american clipper ships were almost monopolizing the carrying trade between great britain and the united states. most of the shipping of the world was yet in wooden bottoms. iron ships were in service, but iron-shipbuilding was in its infancy. the parliamentary inquiry of was followed up in with a move openly against the ancient code. its principles as they then stood, essentially as in , despite the multitude of regulating statutes, are thus enumerated: . certain named articles of european produce could only be imported into the united kingdom for consumption in british ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce, or of the country from which they were usually imported. . no produce of asia, africa, or america could be imported for consumption into the united kingdom from europe in any ships; and such produce could only be imported from any other place in british ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce and from which they were usually imported. . no goods could be carried coastwise from one part of the united kingdom to another in any but british ships. . no goods could be exported from the united kingdom to any of the british possessions in asia, africa, or america (with some exceptions with regard to india) in any but british ships. . no goods could be carried from any one british possession in asia, africa, or america, to another, nor from one part of such possession to another part of the same, in any but british ships. . no goods could be imported into any british possession in asia, africa, or america in any but british ships, or in ships of the country of which the goods were the produce; provided, also, that such ships brought the goods from that country. . no foreign ships were allowed to trade with any of the british possessions unless they had been especially authorized to do so by an order in council. . powers were given to the queen in council which enabled her to impose differential duties on the ships of any foreign country which did the same with reference to british ships; and also to place restrictions on importations from any foreign countries which placed restrictions on british importations with such countries. finally, in , with the adoption of the commercial policy founded on freedom of trade, came the repeal of the restrictive code, excepting only the rule as to the british coasting trade; and in the restrictions on that trade were removed, throwing it also open to the participation of all nations. meanwhile the british ocean-mail subsidy system for steamship service, instituted with the satisfactory application of steam to ocean navigation, in the late eighteen-thirties, had become established: the first contract for open ocean service, made in , being for the carriage of the peninsular mails to spain and portugal. although successful ventures in transatlantic steam navigation had begun nearly a score of years earlier, the practicability of the employment of steam in this service was not fully tested to the satisfaction of the british admiralty till . in this, as in so many other innovations, americans led the way. the first steamer to cross the atlantic was an american-built and american-manned craft. this pioneer was the _savannah_, built in new york and bought for service between savannah and liverpool. she was a full-rigged sailing-vessel, of tons, with auxiliary steam power furnished by an engine built in new jersey. her paddles were removable, so fashioned that they could be folded fan-like when the ship was under sail only.[s] she made the initial voyage, from savannah to liverpool, in the summer of , and accomplished it in twenty-seven days,[t] eighty hours of the time under steam. afterwards she made a trip to st. petersburg, partly steaming and partly sailing, with calls at ports along the way. her gallant performance attracted wide attention, but upon her return to america she finally brought up at new york, where her machinery was removed and sold. an english-built full-fledged steamer made the next venture, but not until a decade after the _savannah's_ feat. this was the _curaçoa_, tons, and one hundred horsepower, built for hollanders, and sent out from england in . the third was by a canada-built ship--the _royal william_, or more tons, and eighty horsepower, with english-built engines, launched at three rivers. she crossed from quebec to gravesend in . the next were the convincing tests that settled for the admiralty the question of transatlantic mail service by steamship instead of sailing packet. these were the voyages out and back of the _sirius_ and the _great western_ in . the _sirius_ had been in service between london and cork. the _great western_ was new, and was the first steamship to be specially constructed for the trade between england and the united states. both were much larger than their three predecessors in steam transatlantic ventures, and better equipped. the _sirius_ started out with ninety-four passengers, on the fourth of april, , and reached new york on the twenty-first, a passage of seventeen days. the _great western_, also with a full complement of passengers, left three days after the _sirius_, sailing from bristol, and swung into new york harbor on the twenty-third, making her passage in two days' less time than her rival. both were hailed in new york with "immense acclamation." they sailed on their homeward voyage in may, six days apart, and made the return passage respectively in sixteen and fourteen days. the _great western_ on her second homeward voyage beat all records, making the run in twelve days and fourteen hours, and "bringing with her the advices of the fastest american sailing-ships which had started from new york long before her."[u] this clinched the matter. the admiralty now invited tenders for the transatlantic mail service, by steam, between liverpool, halifax, and new york. the first call for tenders was made in october, . the st. george's packet company, owners of the _sirius_, and the great western steamship company, owners of the _great western_, put in bids, the former offering a monthly service between cork, halifax, and new york for a yearly subsidy of sixty-five thousand pounds; the latter, a monthly service between bristol, halifax, and new york for forty-five thousand pounds a year. neither offer was accepted for the reason, as was stated, that a semimonthly service was desired.[v] instead, private arrangements were made with samuel cunard and associates for a carriage between liverpool, halifax, quebec, and boston, twice a month, for a term of seven years, the subsidy to be sixty thousand pounds annually, less four thousand pounds for making only one voyage a month in the winter season.[w] the contract required mr. cunard and his associates to furnish five ocean steamships and two river steamers, the latter on the st. lawrence.[v] there were also definite restrictions as to turning their steamers over to the government for use in time of war. all were to be inspected by admiralty officers, and were to carry officers of the navy to care for the mails.[x] the service was started with the _britannia_, the first of the four to be finished, sailing from liverpool for boston on july , . thus was begun the career of the celebrated cunard line. in the subsidy was increased to eighty thousand pounds, and the number of steamers to five; and in , a further increase brought the subsidy to eighty-five thousand pounds.[y] the admiralty's favoritism toward the cunard associates aroused a protest from the unsuccessful bidders for the subsidy, and at length the great western company, whose bid had been the lowest, caused a parliamentary inquiry to be made into the transaction. they complained that a monopoly had been granted "to their injury and to that of other owners of steamships engaged in the trade, and who were desirous of entering it"; and they asked the inquiry on the broad grounds "that the public were taxed for a service from which one company alone derived the advantage, and which could be equally well done and at less expense if mails were sent out by all steamers engaged in the trade, each receiving a certain amount percentage on the letters they carried."[z] although the fact was brought out in the testimony that the great western company had offered to perform the service on practically the same basis as the cunard associates, and that afterwards the great western had proposed to do it at half the subsidy to the cunarders, the investigating committee sustained the admiralty's action.[aa] the great western company overcame the advantage of the cunarders in the latter's high mail subsidy by increased enterprise and superior management; and prospered. in they launched the _great britain_, the largest and finest steamship up to that period built for overseas service.[ab] she was, moreover, distinguished as the first liner to be built of iron instead of wood, and to be propelled by the screw instead of the paddle-wheel. in the latter innovation, however, she was not the pioneer. again the americans were first in the application of the auxiliary screw to ocean navigation,[ac] as they had been first in despatching a steamer across the atlantic. the initial transatlantic subsidy to the cunard company was followed up in and with contracts for steam mail-carriage to the west indies and south american ports.[ad] the first ( ) went to the royal mail steam packet company, for the west indian service, the mail subsidy fixed at two hundred and forty thousand pounds a year;[ae] the second ( ), to the pacific steam navigation company. the latter enterprise was promoted by an american,[af] after he had failed to obtain support in his own country[ag] for a project to establish an american steamship line to ports along the west coast of south america, a field in which american sailing ships had long been preëminent.[ah] up to the british lines monopolized the transatlantic service. then the situation became enlivened by the advent of competing american steamships subsidized by the united states government, with high-paying mail contracts. the first of these was the new york, havre, and bremen line starting in ; the next, the celebrated collins line between new york and liverpool, underway in . the competing vessels were american-built, wooden side-wheelers; those of the collins line superior in equipment and in passenger accommodations, and faster sailers, than the british craft.[ai] to meet this competition the cunard company increased their fleet while the admiralty increased the subsidy. four new steamers were first added, in , to run directly between liverpool and new york, and the postal subsidy was raised to one hundred and forty-five thousand pounds a year for forty-four voyages--three thousand nine hundred and twenty-five pounds a voyage.[aj] the competition began sharply with the regular running of the collins liners, in . meanwhile during this year and the next additional contracts were given the cunard company for carrying the mails between halifax, new york, and bermuda, on the north american side, in small steamers, fitted with space for mounting an -pounder pivot-gun, subsidy ten thousand six hundred pounds a year; and for a monthly mail conveyance between bermuda and st. thomas, subsidy four thousand one hundred pounds a year.[ak] these services united the west indies with the united states and canada.[ak] in john inman entered the trade with his "inman line" of transatlantic screw steamers, which were to carry general cargo and emigrant passengers, then a steadily increasing business, and to be independent in all respects of either the admiralty or the post-office.[al] the unsubsidized line prospered. the next year ( ) the cunard company increased their liners' horsepower, and the admiralty again increased their subsidy. the contract, now made to run for ten years, provided a subsidy of one hundred and seventy-three thousand three hundred and forty pounds per fifty-two round trips a year. the americans were pressing them closer. now freight rates were cut, and the british premier is quoted as advising the cunard company to run without freight if necessary to "beat off the american line."[am] the increasing subsidies occasioned a parliamentary investigation. the committee, evidently impressed by the gravity of the american competition, reported that "the cost of the north american service was not excessive," but they advised that all contracts thereafter "be let at public bidding."[an] this recommendation was not heeded. in , upon the plea that the americans were about to build larger and more powerful liners, the cunard company asked a five years' extension of the contract of . the extension was promptly granted. at the same time they were awarded an additional subsidy of three thousand pounds for a monthly mail service between new york and nassau in the bahamas.[ao] the next year ( ) after suffering crushing disasters in the loss of two of their steamers, and the withdrawal of their subsidy, the collins company failed, and their line was abandoned.[ap] so this competition ended. meanwhile complaints of the admiralty's partiality in the allotment of the contracts had been renewed more vigorously, with wider criticism of grants for mail carriage largely in excess of the postage received; and in - another parliamentary investigation was made. the ultimate result of this inquiry was a radical change in the system. the management of the ocean mail-service was taken from the admiralty and placed wholly in the hands of the post-office department; and at the expiration of the cunard company's extended contract, the service was thrown open to public competition, as the parliamentary committee of had advised. bids were now received from the cunard, the inman, the north german lloyd, and other lines. the inman company had previously offered to perform the service, and had done so for sea-postage only.[aq] contracts were finally concluded with the three named. the contract with the inman line was for a fortnightly halifax service, for seven hundred and fifty pounds the round trip, nineteen thousand five hundred pounds a year, and a weekly new york service for sea-postage. that with the cunard line was for a weekly service to new york at a fixed subsidy of eighty thousand pounds. that with the north german lloyd was for a weekly service, at the sea-postage. these contracts were to run for a year only. the cunard's subsidy, although considerably less than half the amount that the company had received the previous ten years, showed a loss to the government, at sea-postage rates, of forty-four thousand one hundred and ninety-six pounds, since the amount actually earned at sea-postage rates was twenty-eight thousand six hundred and eighty-six pounds.[ar] when advertisements for tenders were next issued, it was found that the cunard and inman companies had formed a "community of interests," with an agreement not to underbid each other. they asked a ten years' contract on the basis of fifty thousand pounds fixed subsidy for a weekly service. instead, they were awarded seven years' contracts: the cunard for a semi-weekly service, seventy thousand pounds subsidy; the inman, for a weekly service, thirty-five thousand pounds subsidy.[ar] at the same time contracts were made with the north german lloyd and the hamburg-american lines for a weekly service for the sea-postage. the cunard and inman grants were sharply criticised, and a parliamentary committee was appointed to investigate them. the committee's report sustained the critics. it observed that "the payments to be made when compared with those made by the american post office for the homeward mails are widely different, inasmuch as the american post office has hitherto paid only for actual services rendered at about half the rate of the british post office when paying by the quantity of letters carried." the committee recommended that these contracts be disapproved, and that the system of fixed subsidies be abolished. "under all circumstances," they concluded, "we are of the opinion that, considering the already large and continually increasing means of communication with the united states, there is no longer any necessity for fixed subsidies for a term of years in the case of this service."[as] this recommendation, however, was not accepted, and the contracts were duly ratified. the report of this parliamentary committee is significant in the evidence it indirectly affords, confirming the declaration of ,[at]--that the postal subsidies were not as assumed, payments solely for services rendered, but in fact were concealed bounties. in - , when a renewed effort was made to establish an american line of american-built ships,[au] the british subsidies were again increased. then, also, was instituted by the admiralty the naval subvention system--the payment of annual retainers to certain classes of merchant steamers, the largest and swiftest, in readiness for quick conversion into auxiliary naval ships in case of war, and to preclude their becoming available for the service of any power inimical to british interests. at the expiration of the cunard and inman seven years' contracts the postmaster-general applied the principle of payment according to weight throughout for the carriage of the north american mails. but preference was given to british ships, these receiving higher rates per pound than the foreign. in an arrangement was entered into by which the cunard and oceanic lines were to carry all mails except specially directed letters, and the pay was reduced.[av] this method of payment continued till . then another sharp change was made in the subsidy system to meet another, and most threatening american move. in was formed by certain american steamship men, through the assistance of j. pierpont morgan, the "international mercantile marine company," in popular parlance, the "morgan steamship merger," a "combine" of a large proportion of the transatlantic steam lines.[aw] upon this, in response to a popular clamor, subsidy, and in a large dose, was openly granted to sustain british supremacy in overseas steam-shipping. to keep the cunard line out of the american merger, and hold it absolutely under british control and british capitalization, and, furthermore, to aid the company immediately to build ships capable of equalling if not surpassing the highest type of ocean liners that had to that time been produced (the highest type then being german-built steamers operating under the german flag), the cunard company were resubsidized with a special fixed subsidy of three-quarters of a million dollars a year, instead of the admiralty subvention of about seventy-five thousand dollars, and in addition to their regular mail pay, the subsidy to run for a period of twenty years after the completion of the second of two high-grade, high-speed ocean "greyhounds" called for for the atlantic trade. the government were to lend the money for the construction of the two new ships at the rate of - / per cent per annum, the company to repay the loan by annual payments extending over twenty years. the company on their part pledged themselves, until the expiry of the agreement, to remain a purely british undertaking, the management, the stock of the corporation, and their ships, to be in the hands of or held by british subjects only. they were to hold the whole of their fleet, including the two new vessels, and all others to be built, at the disposal of the government, the latter being at liberty to charter or purchase any or all at agreed rates. they were not to raise freights unduly nor to give any preferential rates to foreigners.[ax] the subsidy is equivalent to about twenty thousand dollars for an outward voyage of three thousand miles. * * * * * of the british colonies, canada grants mail and steamship subsidies, and fisheries bounties. in - the dominion's expenditures in mail and steamship subsidies amounted to a total equivalent to $ , , . the amount appropriated for - increased to $ , , ; while the estimates for - reached a total of $ , , . in these estimates the larger items were: for service between canada and great britain; australia by the pacific; canadian atlantic ports and australia and new zealand; south africa; mexico by the atlantic, and by the pacific; west indies and south america; china and japan; canada and france.[ay] the home government pays the same amount as canada toward maintaining the china and japan, and british west indies services.[az] the fisheries bounties amounted to one hundred and sixty thousand dollars in .[ba] * * * * * the grand total of subsidies and subventions paid by great britain and all her colonies in approximate ten million dollars annually. the subsidies and mail pay of the imperial government amounted, in round numbers, to four million dollars, of which, in , the cunard company received seven hundred and twenty-nine thousand dollars.[bb] besides the admiralty subventions, retainer bounties are paid to merchant seamen and fishermen of the royal naval reserve. since the establishment of steam in regular ocean navigation, and the substitution of iron for wooden ships, england has maintained her leadership among the maritime nations. the total tonnage of the united kingdom and her colonies, steam and sailing ships, in - , stood at , , tons.[bc] nearly four fold that of any other nation. footnotes: [footnote a: royal meeker, "history of ship subsidies."] [footnote b: john e. green, "short history of the english people."] [footnote c: w.h. lindsay, "history of merchant shipping."] [footnote d: lindsay.] [footnote e: david a. wells, "our merchant marine," p. .] [footnote f: john lewis ricardo, "the anatomy of the navigation laws," p. .] [footnote g: lindsay, vol. iii.] [footnote h: lindsay, "our navigation laws"; also his history.] [footnote i: ricardo; also lindsay in other words.] [footnote j: meaning the waters between great britain and the continent.] [footnote k: green, p. .] [footnote l: ricardo, p. .] [footnote m: meeker.] [footnote n: w.w. bates, "american marine," pp. - .] [footnote o: john macgregor, "commercial tariffs."] [footnote p: lindsay, vol. iii, p. .] [footnote q: macgregor.] [footnote r: lindsay, vol. iii, p. ; also pp. - and .] [footnote s: rear-admiral george h. preble, "chronological history of steam navigation."] [footnote t: preble. lindsay says thirty-seven.] [footnote u: preble, p. ; also bates, p. .] [footnote v: meeker.] [footnote w: parliamentary papers , vol. xlvi, no. , as to the private contract.] [footnote x: lindsay, vol. iv.] [footnote y: meeker; also parl. papers , vol. xii, no. .] [footnote z: lindsay, vol. x; also parl. papers, report h. of c., aug., .] [footnote aa: report of select com. ( ) parl. papers, vol. xv, no. , p. .] [footnote ab: lindsay, vol. iv.] [footnote ac: the _princeton_, sloop-of-war fitted with the ericsson screw, launched the same year.] [footnote ad: lindsay, vol. iv, p. , _note_.] [footnote ae: john r. spears, "the story of the american merchant marine," pp. - .] [footnote af: william wheelwright, of newburyport, massachusetts, sometime american consul at guayaquil.] [footnote ag: winthrop l. marvin, "the american merchant marine," p. ; also preble; and lindsay, vol. iv, pp. - .] [footnote ah: marvin, p. .] [footnote ai: see p. , _post_.] [footnote aj: meeker.] [footnote ak: lindsay, vol. iv, p. , _note_.] [footnote al: wells, p. .] [footnote am: bates, p. ; also p. .] [footnote an: meeker.] [footnote ao: meeker.] [footnote ap: see p. , _post_.] [footnote aq: meeker.] [footnote ar: meeker.] [footnote as: parl. papers, - , - .] [footnote at: see p. , _ante_.] [footnote au: the american steamship co. of phila., with iron steamers built on the delaware--the _pennsylvania_, _ohio_, _indiana_, and _illinois_.] [footnote av: meeker.] [footnote aw: ultimately embracing the american, red star, white star, atlantic transport, and dominion lines.] [footnote ax: for details of this contract see report of (u.s.) commissioner of navigation for , pp. - , and - . the two steamships called for were the _lusitania_, , gross tons, launched june , ; and the _mauretania_, , gross tons, launched sept. , , both quadruple screw turbines, about , horsepower; the largest, fastest, and completest steamers afloat till the production in of the _olympic_, , gross tons, of the international mercantile marine co.'s white star line.] [footnote ay: u.s. consul, charlottetown, p.e.i. in daily con. repts. (jan. ) , no. .] [footnote az: consul general small, halifax, in con. repts. (dec.) , no. .] [footnote ba: the american year book, .] [footnote bb: american year book, .] [footnote bc: lloyd's register, - .] chapter iii france france has been rightly termed the bounty-giving nation _par excellence_.[bd] she first adopted a policy of state protection of native shipping in the middle of the sixteenth century with the enactment ( ) of an exclusive navigation act, forbidding her subjects to freight foreign vessels in any port of the realm, and prohibiting foreign ships from carrying any kind of merchandise from french ports.[be] this was followed up in the next century with the institution of the direct bounty system to foster french-built ships.[bd] in the reign of louis xiv, colbert, louis's celebrated finance minister, perfected (about ) an elaborate system of navigation laws, evidently copied from the rigorous english code. this was directed primarily against the commerce of holland and england, with the ultimate object of upbuilding the home merchant marine and the laying of a broad basis for a national navy.[bf] these acts included decrees giving french ships the monopoly of trade to and from the colonies of france; imposing tonnage duties on foreign shipping; awarding direct premiums on french-built ships. england retaliated immediately. holland remonstrated first, then made reprisals. for a time under colbert's energetic administration of the finances and the marine, "prosperity grew apace. at the end of twelve years everything was flourishing."[bg] then came the six years' war ( - ) with france and england combined against holland, and at its end the french merchant marine lay sorely crippled.[bg] still the fundamental principles of the stringent navigation laws long remained. a decree in , and subsequent ordinances, defined what should constitute a french vessel; and corporal punishment was ordained against a captain for a second offence in navigating a vessel of alien ownership under the french flag.[bh] by later decrees, no alien was permitted to command a french vessel. an ordinance of further restricted alien command by shutting out even french subjects who had married aliens.[bh] it was required that every french vessel should be manned by a crew two-thirds of whom were french subjects.[bh] the system of regulations restricting the trade of the french colonies to french ships, and to the home market held till well into the nineteenth century. during the revolution a decree (may, ) prohibited acquisition of all vessels of foreign build. in (sept.) it was ordained that no foreign commodities, productions, or merchandise should be imported into france, or into any of her colonies or possessions, except directly in french ships, or in ships belonging to the inhabitants of the countries in which the articles imported were produced, or from the ordinary ports of sale or exportation. all officers and three-fourths of the crew were required to be natives of the country of which the foreign vessel bore the flag, under penalty of confiscation of vessel and cargo, and a fine enforcible under pain of imprisonment. a tonnage tax was levied on foreign ships alone. despite this elaborate code designed for its benefit the domestic mercantile marine almost entirely disappeared during the wars of the republic and the empire; and after the restoration its revival was so slow that for some time foreign ships were absolutely necessary for the supply of the french market.[bh] still the underlying principles of the code were retained by the restoration government, modified in a few particulars. the modifications included the removal of the prohibition on indirect commerce--- the carrying trade between france and other countries:--yet advantage even in this commerce was held for the french flag through "flag surtaxes," added to the ordinary customs duties levied upon the merchandise imported into france in foreign bottoms, and by the tonnage charges.[bi] a law of march, , renewed the prohibition against the importation of foreign-built ships.[bi] early under napoleon iii movements toward the adoption of an economic policy similar to that then established in england were begun, and shortly a succession of radical changes in the maritime code were instituted.[bj] in a commercial treaty with england was entered into. in freedom of access of foreign shipping to the french west indies was permitted, subject to the payment of special duties varying according to the ports whence the goods were brought, or to which they were imported. then at length, in , numerous restrictions of the old code were swept away.[bj] this law of (may) admitted duty-free all materials, raw or manufactured, including boilers and parts of engines necessary for the construction, rigging, and outfitting of iron or wooden ships; abolished a premium, or bounty, granted by a law of (may) on all steam engines manufactured in france intended for international navigation; admitted to registration foreign-built and fully equipped ships upon the payment of two francs a ton; abolished all tonnage duties on foreign ships, except such as had been or might be levied for the improvement of certain commercial harbors; abolished the flag surtaxes; opened colonial navigation to foreign ships. the monopoly of the coasting trade alone was retained for french ships.[bk] complaints against these new regulations were promptly raised by shipbuilders and ship-outfitters,[bk] and in a parliamentary inquiry into their grievances was made. it appeared that shipbuilders, though enabled to import free such materials as they needed, were handicapped by numerous and extensive formalities; while the outfitters were embarrassed by special burdens which the law laid upon them, and which their british competitors did not have to bear.[bl] in laws were passed which reversed much of the act of . a tax of from thirty to fifty francs a ton measurement was re-imposed on all foreign ships purchased for registration in france, together with a duty on marine engines; again a tonnage duty, of from fifty centimes to one franc, was imposed on ships of any flag coming from a foreign country or from the french colonies; and the provisions freeing materials for ship construction, and admitting foreign-built ships to french registration upon payment of the two-franc tax per ton, were repealed.[bm] in an extra-parliamentary commission took up the general question of the state of the commercial marine,[bn] and the outcome of this inquiry was the establishment of the system of direct bounties. this system was applied for the first time in the merchant marine act passed in january, . the act of granted both construction and navigation premiums, and was limited to ten years. the construction bounties, as was declared, were given "as compensation for the increased cost which the customs tariff imposed on shipbuilders" in consequence of the repeal of the law granting free import of materials by construction; the navigation bounties, "for the purpose of compensating the mercantile navy for the service it renders the country in the recruitment of the military navy." the construction bounties, on gross tonnage, were as follows: for wooden ships of less than tons, ten francs a ton; of more than tons, twenty francs; for composite ships, that is, ships with iron or steel beams and wooden sides, forty francs a ton; for iron or steel ships, sixty francs; for engines placed on steamers, and for boilers and other auxiliary apparatus, twelve francs per kilograms; for renewing boilers, eight francs per kilograms of new material used; for any modification of a ship increasing its tonnage, the above rates on the net increase of tonnage.[bo] the navigation bounties were confined to ships engaged in the foreign trade, and were to be reduced annually during the ten years' term of the law.[bp] they were thus fixed: for french-built ships, one franc and fifty centimes a registered ton for every thousand sea miles sailed the first year, the rate to diminish each succeeding year of the term seven francs and fifty centimes on wooden ships, and five centimes on iron and steel ships; for foreign-built ships owned by frenchmen admitted to registry, one-half the above rates; for french-built steamers constructed according to plans of the navy department, an increase of fifteen per cent above the ordinary rate.[bq] the first effect of this law was to stimulate the organization of a number of new steamship companies, and to occasion activity in various ship-yards, foreign (english) as well as home, in building steamships for their service.[br] most of the domestic-built iron and steam tonnage produced during the law's ten years' term was of steamers.[bs] the tonnage of steamships increased from , tons in to , tons in . of this increase more than three-fifths were represented by vessels bought in other countries.[bt] the results of the navigation bounties are shown in official statistics covering the years - . during this period iron or steel french-built ships earning these bounties increased from , tons to , tons, gross tonnage; while wooden or composite tonnage decreased from , tons to , gross. foreign-built iron or steel tonnage earning the bounties increased from , tons to , tons, gross; and wooden or composite tonnage increased from , tons to , tons, gross.[bs] in the law which had then reached its limit of ten years was extended for two years. doubting its renewal shipowners had sometime before ceased to increase their fleets.[bs] these results were variously pronounced unsatisfactory, and a revised or a new law was called for, with more and higher bounties. owners of wooden sailing-ships were especially clamorous for larger benefits. they argued that sailing-ships being much slower than steamers should therefore receive higher mileage subsidies in order to compete on equal terms with steamships.[bu] a new law was enacted in (january ). this act cut off bounties to foreign-built ships, and granted increased construction premiums. the construction subsidies were again declared to be given as "compensation for the charges imposed on shipbuilders by the customs tariff"; the navigation bounties, "by way of compensation for the burden imposed on the merchant marine as an instrument for recruiting the military marine." the construction subsidies were not to be definitely earned till the ships were registered as french; and by ships built in france for foreign mercantile fleets, not till they had been delivered. the navigation bounties were accorded to french-built ships, of more than tons for sailing-ships, and tons gross for steamers, engaged in making long voyages and in international coasting; and were limited to ten years. they were based on gross tonnage per thousand sailed miles. to merchant steamships built in accordance with plans approved by the navy department, the rate of fifteen per cent above the regular navigation bounty provided in the law of , was increased to twenty-five per cent. all ships receiving the navigation bounty were subject to impressment in case of war.[bv] the effect of this law appears to have been a division of the interests of shipowners and shipbuilders. the shipowners found the builders constantly increasing their prices until a point was reached where they were accused of absorbing both premiums for construction and navigation, by calculating the amount of bounty which proposed construction would demand, and adding that amount to their cost price.[bw] the increase of the bounty on sailing-ships was made in the expectation that it would check their falling off, which had been rapid since the development of steamship building; merchant sailing-ships were regarded as the best school for seamen, all of whom in french commerce, up to the age of forty-five, are subject at any time to draft into the national navy. it did this and more. there resulted the "strange phenomenon," as professor viallatés puts it, "of a steady increase in the sailing-fleet, while the number of steam-ships remained stationary."[bx] thus, like its predecessor, unsatisfactory, the law of was succeeded by another act further enlarging the bounty system. this law was promulgated in (april ). it provided three classes of bounty: construction and navigation as before, and "commission compensation" or "shipping premiums." the construction bounty remained as in previous law. the navigation bounty, now introduced as awarded "as a general compensation for the charges imposed on the merchant navy, and for the excessive cost of vessels built in france," was increased.[by] it was payable to all french-built sea-going ships, steam and sailing, of over tons gross, and less than fifteen years old, and was limited to twelve years. to stimulate speed development, only ships showing a trial speed of at least twelve knots with half load were to receive the full navigation bounty; to those making less than twelve knots the bounty was diminished by five per cent; to those making less than eleven, by ten per cent. the shipping bounty was declared to be granted "as compensation for the charges imposed on the mercantile marine" by making merchant vessels practically schools for seamen. it was a "chartered allowance" made to foreign-built iron or steel steamers manned under the french flag for long voyages or for international coastwise trade, of more than gross tons, belonging to french private persons or joint-stock or other companies, the latter having on their boards a majority of french citizens, and the chairman and managers being french. this allowance was reckoned on the gross tonnage, and per day while the steamer was in actual commission (three hundred days the maximum number in any one year).[bx] the rate varied according to the tonnage. up to tons gross, it was fixed at five centimes per ton; from to tons, at four centimes; to , three centimes; above , two centimes; over , the same grant as . the creation of this "chartered allowance," as professor viallatés explains, was to prevent the navigation bounty from becoming to the same extent as under the previous law merely another form of bounty upon shipbuilding. it could so become, he points out, only to the extent of which it exceeded the owner's bounty.[bz] not all of the shipping and navigation bounties were to go to shipowners. five per cent was to be retained for sailors' insurance "with a view to reducing the deductions imposed on them for the purpose of that insurance"; and six per cent to be reserved for distribution for the benefit of marines, as follows: "two-thirds to the provident fund, with a view to diminishing the deductions on mariners' pay and to increasing the funds for assisting the victims of shipwreck and other accidents, or their families; one-third to the invalids' fund, with a view to granting subventions to the chambers of commerce or public institutions for the creation and support of sailors' homes in french ports, intended to assist the nautical population, or of any other institutions likely to be of use to them, especially schools for seamen." the requirement in the old law of as to the composition of the crews of french merchant ships was modified, reducing the proportion of sailors who must be frenchmen. french-built ships were privileged to chose between the shipping and the navigation bounties. to obtain the shipping bounty for the maximum of three hundred days steamers must make during the year a minimum of thirty-five thousand miles if engaged in the overseas trade, or twenty-five thousand if in "_cabotage international_."[ca] shipowners agreeing to maintain on routes not served by the subsidized main steamers a regular line, performing a fixed minimum of journeys per year, with vessels of a certain age and tonnage, were permitted to claim, in lieu of the regular bounties, a fixed subsidy during the term of their agreement, equal to the average of the bounties to which the vessels in commission would be entitled for the whole of the journeys performed. the new tonnage to be admitted to the benefit of the law was limited to three hundred thousand gross tons of steamers and one hundred thousand gross tons of sailing-ships; of which new tonnage freight-built ships could form two-fifths. the appropriation for the payment of the bounties was also limited, to guard against a too heavy burden upon the national treasury. this was fixed at two hundred million francs: one hundred and fifty million for the shipping and navigation bounties and fifty million for the construction bounties.[cb] unforeseen results of an unsatisfactory nature followed the application of this law. professor viallatés effectively states them in the fewest words: "to be sure of profiting by the advantages of the law the ship-owners hastened to order vessels and to place them on the stocks. their haste increased when it was seen that there existed a considerable discrepancy between the allowed tonnage and the money appropriated. the appropriation of one hundred and fifty million francs, opened to assure the payment of the navigation bounties and the compensation for outfit, was much too little. the rush was such, as soon as this formidable mistake was discovered, that, less than nine months after its promulgation, from december , , the useful effect of the law was completely exhausted."! thereupon resort was had to another extra-parliamentary commission to frame another system. the result was a law of (april), which separated the shipbuilder from the shipowner. the provisions for the construction bounty were redrawn with the object, as professor viallatés explains,[cc] "not only to equalize the customs duties affecting the materials employed, but also to give the builders a compensation sufficient to enable them to concede to the french shipowners the same prices as foreign builders." the rates were thus fixed on gross measurement: for iron and steel steamships, one hundred and forty-five francs per ton; for sailing-ships, ninety-five francs per ton: these bounties to decrease annually to four francs and fifty centimes for steamships and three francs ninety centimes for sailing-ships during the first ten years of the law's application, thereafter to stand at one hundred francs and sixty-five francs, respectively; for engines and auxiliary apparatus, twenty-seven francs fifty centimes per hundred kilograms. the navigation bounty to owners of french or foreign-built ships under the french flag, was calculated per day of actual running: for steamships, four centimes per ton gross up to tons; three centimes more up to ; two more to and above; for sailing-ships, three centimes per ton up to tons, two more up to , and one more to and above. this bounty to continue for the first twelve years of the law. the provisions for fostering speed development in steamships excluded from compensation those making on trial, half laden, less than nine knots, in place of ten in the previous law; reduced the rate to fifteen per cent of the bounty for those showing more than nine and less than ten knots; and increased this rate by ten per cent for those making at least fourteen knots, by twenty-five per cent for fifteen knots, and thirty per cent for sixteen knots. the extra bounty equal to twenty-five per cent of the regular navigation bounty to steamships constructed on plans approved by the navy department, and the provision making all merchant ships subject to requisition by the government in case of war, were retained as in previous laws.[cd] this is the law at present in force. the total cost of the french bounty system in the twenty-four years from its establishment with the law of to , when the law of had practically run out, was in round numbers upward of three hundred and eighty-one million francs. professor viallatés shows that the new law of would absorb during the first seven years of its application, upward of eighty-four million francs.[ce] these construction and navigation bounties are exclusive of the subventions to steamships for carrying the mails. the establishment of the french postal ocean steamship subsidy system dates back to , when a contract was made with the union maritime company for a service to new york, mexico, and the west indies. the assertion is made by professor meeker that the french postal subventions paid "ostensibly for the furtherance of the mails," are "both greater in amount and more influential upon shipbuilding, navigation, and commerce than are the general premiums upon shipbuilding and navigation."[cf] says viallatés: "the system is calculated to secure regular and rapid postal communication with certain countries beyond seas, and at the same time to constitute an auxiliary fleet capable of being utilized by the navy in times of war. the existence of fixed lines with constant service is also a means of favoring the expansion of the national commerce. the state obtains, moreover, in exchange for the subsidy, direct advantages; the free carriage of the mails and the funds of the public treasury; transport of officials at a reduced price, and of arms and stores destined for the service of the state." meeker: "the greater part of the concealed subventions undoubtedly goes to the shipbuilders, for all mail contract steamers must be built in french yards and of french materials. these first costs are estimated to be from twenty-five to fifty per cent greater in france than in england."[cg] there is no competition in the letting of the french mail contracts. they go to four steamship concerns. for many years more than one half of the total steam tonnage of france has been owned by these four subsidized lines: the _compagnie générale transatlantique_, the _compagnie des messagéries maritimes_, the _chargeurs réunis_, and the _compagnie fraissant_.[cg] the great ship-yards have developed a capacity for building steamships of the largest class. the tonnage since , when it had fallen to , tons, had increased only to , , tons in . by - , it had reached , , tons.[ch] the total mail subsidies average, in round numbers, five million dollars a year, while the construction and navigation bounties amount to three and a half million dollars additional. practically every french vessel floating the french flag and engaged in foreign trade either receives or has received subsidies, or bounties, from the government.[ci] footnotes: [footnote bd: meeker.] [footnote be: lindsay, vol. iii.] [footnote bf: rear-admiral alfred t. mahan, "the influence of sea power upon history," pp. - .] [footnote bg: mahan, p. .] [footnote bh: lindsay, vol. iii.] [footnote bi: prof. achille viallatés, "how france protects her merchant marine," in north american review, vol. , .] [footnote bj: lindsay, vol. iii.] [footnote bk: lindsay, vol. iii, also viallatés.] [footnote bl: viallatés.] [footnote bm: lindsay, vol. iii, pp. - .] [footnote bn: viallatés.] [footnote bo: meeker. also wells, pp. - , _note_.] [footnote bp: wells, pp. - , _note._] [footnote bq: meeker. also wells.] [footnote br: wells, p. .] [footnote bs: meeker.] [footnote bt: viallatés.] [footnote bu: meeker.] [footnote bv: for this law see meeker.] [footnote bw: u.s. consul robert skinner, marseilles; con. repts., xol. xviii ( ), p. .] [footnote bx: viallatés.] [footnote by: meeker.] [footnote bz: north american review, vol. clxxxiv, .] [footnote ca: embracing voyages within the limits of the ports of the mediterranean, north africa, and europe below the arctic circle--meeker.] [footnote cb: meeker and viallatés, summaries of this law.] [footnote cc: north american review, vol. clxxxiv, .] [footnote cd: for this law see senate doc. no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote ce: north american review, vol. clxxxiv, .] [footnote cf: meeker.] [footnote cg: meeker.] [footnote ch: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote ci: senate rept., no. , th, cong., st sess.] chapter iv germany germany was a close follower of france in the adoption of the direct ship bounty system. only two months after the promulgation of the initial french law of , bismarck brought the question before the reichstag, with an exhibit of this act. in an elaborate memorial (april , ) he reviewed the general subject of state bounties and subsidies to shipping in various maritime countries, and closed with this pointed declaration: "it is deserving of serious consideration whether, under the circumstances as given, german shipping and german commerce can hope" for further prosperous developments as against the competition of other nations aided by public funds and assistance.[cj] at this time the german marine was represented by a substantial fleet of merchant steamships, but all were foreign-built, mostly from british ship-yards. the government was paying only a postal subsidy of about forty-seven thousand dollars--a sum in proportion to the weight of the parcels forwarded--in the overseas trade to the participating german steam lines. a first step had been taken indirectly in favor of domestic shipbuilding six years earlier ( ), when bismarck, in introducing the general protective system, exempted this industry, and free entry was permitted to german ship-yards of materials used in the construction and equipment of merchant as well as of war-ships, which then were only on the domestic stocks.[ck] bismarck's proposal of , to meet french subsidies with german subsidies, was avowedly with the single object of promoting with state aid a german mercantile marine. the project was brought before the reichstag early in and warmly discussed. earnest protests were raised against it by shipping merchants of the chief german seaports;[cl] while earnest support came from other merchants and varied interests. the initial proposal was for the establishment of a subsidized mail service by german steamships. it contemplated an annual subsidy of four million marks, with fifteen years' contracts, for such service between germany and australia and east asia. the measure was defeated in the reichstag that year. brought forward the next year ( ), and in a new form, it was finally enacted in april and went into effect the following july. this law increased the annual subsidy from four million marks as first proposed to four million four hundred thousand marks, of which one million seven hundred thousand was offered for the east asian line, to china and japan; two million three hundred thousand for the australian line, and four hundred thousand for a branch line connecting trieste with the australian line at alexandria. the contracts in accordance with it all went to the north german lloyd company, of bremen. the convention between the government and this company required that the new vessels to be furnished must be built in german yards and of german material. the coal supply was, as far as practicable, to be of german product. the chancellor was empowered to take over all the company's steamers for the mobilization of the navy, at their full value, or on hire at proper compensation. the sale or loan of a steamer to a foreign power could be made only by permission of the chancellor. the number of voyages to be made on each line yearly, and the rate of speed, were set down in careful detail. failure to observe the table of voyages, without sufficient reason, subjected the company to heavy penalties. all persons employed in connection with the mail service were, if practicable, to be german subjects. all officers in the service of the empire, relief crews, weapons, ammunition, equipments, or supplies for the imperial navy, were to be carried at twenty per cent under the regular tariff.[cm] subsequent laws made additions to the free list of raw and manufactured shipbuilding material; and preferential rates on the state railroads were arranged for the transportation of steel, iron, timber, from the interior, where these are found at an average distance of some four hundred miles from the coast, to the ship-yards.[cn] speedily large and superior steamships were designed and turned out from the enlarged ship-yards, the first ocean flyer being the _auguste victoria_ for the hamburg-american line. in a subsidy of ninety thousand marks annually was granted for an east african line on a ten-years' contract. within less than six years the establishment of a fortnightly asiatic service was agitated; and in a bill granting a yearly subsidy of one million four hundred thousand marks therefor, was brought before the reichstag. if this were forthcoming the north german lloyd agreed, besides furnishing the fortnightly service, to increase the speed of their steamers, to send ships direct to japan, and to meet all requirements of the admiralty with respect to ships and crews.[co] now the advocates of further subsidies maintained that the policy instituted with the law of had proved its effectiveness. the indirect advantages from the subventions were claimed to be quite as great as the direct. while before all large ships for german companies had been ordered in england, now all large ships for the german transatlantic lines were built in germany.[co] this condition, the increasing activity in domestic shipbuilding, and the steady growth of the empire's commercial marine, were presented as conclusive evidence of the law's effect. germany was now pressing into sharp rivalry with england, and turning out larger and speedier steamships.[cp] the increased subsidy for the china service was especially urged upon these grounds: the importance of placing the german mail service in the east on a par with the services of england and france, the benefits to commerce, and the aid of the national defence.[cq] the measure met opposition at the session in which it was first introduced; but at the next session ( ), after amendment, it became law. by this act the subsidy was fixed at one million and a half marks a year for the extension of the east asiatic service to china direct, and for making the whole service fortnightly; and the contract was extended for another fifteen years. it was conditioned that if foreign competing lines should increase the speed of their ships the north german lloyd must do likewise, and without additional subsidy, unless the foreign companies should receive extra payments.[cr] the total annual subventions for the asiatic and australian service had now reached five million five hundred and ninety thousand marks ($ , , ). after january, , under a contract between the north german lloyd and the hamburg-american line then made, a part of this subsidy went to the latter. in the subvention to the east african line was increased to one million three hundred and fifty thousand marks. thus germany's grand total of annual payments in postal subventions had reached six million nine hundred and forty thousand marks. besides these postal subventions and the free entry to materials used in ship-construction and equipment, and the preferential railway rates on long hauls of the heavy domestic materials, barely covering the cost of handling and transportation,[cs] the government bestows a special form of indirect bounty upon the subsidized steamship lines in the shape of largely reduced through freight rates. these include substantial reductions on merchandise exported from inland germany to east africa and the levant. thus the combined land and sea through rates are brought considerably below those in force on goods sent to german ports for direct importation.[ct] under these and other favoring conditions the german merchant marine has advanced in total tonnage from an insignificant place in to the third in rank among the maritime nations in . between and , a period of only fifteen years, its growth was tenfold.[cu] in the gross tonnage stood at , tons: in it had reached a total of , , tons. steamers and sailing-ships were nearly equal in tonnage. german-built steamships had won the speed record in ocean liners. thereafter the output of steamships became much the larger, and in the government was taking measures to revive the sailing-ship trade, because of its value as a training-school for seamen for the navy.[cv] in - the total tonnage was recorded at , , tons.[cw] the other influences contributing to this extraordinary growth are variously stated according to the observer's point of view. the united states consul at hamburg sees them in the "rapid transformation of the country from a non-producing nation into one of the foremost industrial powers of europe, a large available supply of excellent and cheap labor, and the geographical situation of the empire."[cx] the historian of modern germany sees them in german business methods: "the astonishing success of the german shipbuilding industry is due partly to its excellent management and organization; partly to the application of science and experience to industry; * * * partly to the harmonious co-ordination and co-operation of the various economic factors which in more individualistic countries, such as great britain, are not co-ordinated, and often serve rather to obstruct and to retard progress by unnecessary friction than to provide it by harmonious action."[cy] footnotes: [footnote cj: for this memorial see u.s. con. rept., no. , jan., , pp. - .] [footnote ck: j. ellis barker, "modern germany," rd edition, .] [footnote cl: wells, p. .] [footnote cm: u.s. con. rept., no. , , pp. - .] [footnote cn: barker, rd ed.] [footnote co: meeker.] [footnote cp: u.s. con. repts., , no. , p. .] [footnote cq: meeker. also german report on the operation of the law of , in report of (u.s.) commissioner of navigation for .] [footnote cr: meeker. also german report on the operating of the law of , in report of commission of navigation for .] [footnote cs: barker, rd ed.] [footnote ct: meeker.] [footnote cu: barker, rd ed.] [footnote cv: u.s. con. rept, no. , july, , pp. - .] [footnote cw: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote cx: u.s. consul general robert p. skinner, hamburg, in daily con. repts., april , , no. .] [footnote cy: barker, modern germany, p. .] chapter v holland--belgium the home government of the netherlands gives neither construction nor navigation bounties. only subventions to steamship lines for carrying the mails are granted. the single purpose of these subventions is declared to be to secure the prompt and effective furtherance of the mails at reasonable cost.[cz] the contracts are not publicly let, but go to the several steamship lines plying to foreign ports and to the dutch colonies. the amounts fixed by contract are at a given rate per voyage. the cost of the subventions to the dutch east indian lines is divided equally between the home and colonial governments. independently of the home government the dutch east indian government grants general mileage subventions for the maintenance of lines making regular communication with the various ports of the east indies.[cz] holland's gross tonnage in had reached the respectable total of , , tons,[da] ranking her eighth among the maritime nations. * * * * * belgium had a subsidy system for shipbuilding before . at present neither bounties to domestic shipping nor postal subventions are paid by the government. subsidies, or premiums, however, are given to certain foreign steamship lines to encourage the commerce of antwerp. these include an annual payment of eighty thousand francs ($ , ), and the refunding of lighterage and pilotage dues, to the north german lloyd on their east asiatic and australian lines; and fifteen hundred francs ($ . ) to the german-australian line for each call to and from australia, the maximum subvention limited to thirty-nine thousand francs ($ ). a danish steamship concern is also exempted from lighterage and harbor dues and granted other facilities, but receives no money premiums.[db] belgium tonnage in comprised only steam and sailing ships for a total of , tons.[dc] footnotes: [footnote cz: meeker.] [footnote da: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote db: meeker.] [footnote dc: lloyd's register, - .] chapter vi austria-hungary the imperial government of austria-hungary spurred by the action of germany, instituted a direct subsidy system, also modelled after that of france, in , when the austrian merchant marine was languishing.[dd] a postal subsidy had long been in operation, the subsidies being all awarded to a single steamship company--the austrian lloyd, earlier the austro-hungarian lloyd. they were practically mileage and speed bounties,[de] increasing with the extension of service. ten-years' contracts were at first made with this company. the contracts, executed in , particularly guarded domestic interests. in the purchase of materials it was required that preference be given to austro-hungarian industries. the coal used must be bought from austro-hungarian subjects in the proportion of two tons from austria and one ton from hungary, provided that "the price is not greater than foreign coal, and that the steam-producing power of the native coal is equal to at least eighty-four per cent of that of foreign coal." in the building and repairing of their ships, or parts of ships, and engines, the company must also favor home interests. ships, engines, or boilers could be ordered abroad only with the consent of the foreign office when shown that the work cannot be made in austria within proper time, or that the want can be supplied by a foreign country on more favorable terms.[df] by a law of july, , the rates for mail-contract steamships were fixed as follows: for fast lines, making above ten knots, a maximum rate of seventy kreutzers per nautical mile; for slower lines, fifty kreutzers a mile. the total amount of mileage bounty payable each year was limited to two million nine hundred and ten thousand florins. but in addition to this bounty the government agreed to pay the suez canal tolls. to encourage the austrian lloyd to build larger and swifter vessels the government further agreed to advance the company one million and a half florins. this was to be furnished in three equal payments yearly ( , , ), and was to be repaid in five equal payments of three hundred thousand florins each, beginning in january, . the company's ships were to be exempted from consular fees, "the same as vessels of the imperial navy"; and were to be at the disposal of the naval and military departments in case of war. all the officials of the company were to be austrian subjects, "naval officers either active or retired to be given the preference"; and there was to be an administrative committee of eight members, the president appointed by the emperor and two other members by the ministry of commerce, the intention of this provision being to give the government control over the company's affairs.[dg] the general subsidy law of (november ) was the outcome of the deliberations of a special parliamentary committee appointed that year; and its declared object, as set forth in this committee's report, was "to put a stop to the decline of our merchant fleet, to allow it to cope with foreign competition, and to secure for the inhabitants of our coast needed employment and profits in maritime pursuits."[dg] three years before ( ), with the same object in view, a preliminary step had been taken in the exemption of all iron and steel steam and sailing ships from trading and income taxes while engaged in ocean voyages.[dg] the law provided two classes of subsidies--a trade bounty and a navigation bounty. they were to go to all steamers and sailing-ships engaged in the deepseas trade or long-coasting trade, and not receiving mail subventions. at this time a large percentage of the austrian steam tonnage was receiving the postal subsidies, and most of this tonnage was owned by the austrian lloyd company.[dg] the trade bounty was for ships making long voyages; the navigation bounty for those engaged in coastwise voyaging. ships entitled to the trade bounty were required to be owned at least two-thirds by austrian subjects, to be not over fifteen years old, and registered a or a . the rates were thus fixed: for the first year after launching, iron or steel steamers, six florins ($ . ) per ton, iron or steel sailing-ships, four florins and fifty kreutzers; wooden or composite (part iron) sailing-ships, three florins. after the first year the rate was to be reduced five per cent annually till the end of the fifteenth year. as an inducement to employ home work and to utilize home materials, the bounty was to be increased by ten per cent for iron or steel sailing-ships built in the austrian ship-yards, and by twenty-five per cent if at least one-half of the materials used in the construction were of austrian origin. if more than one year had elapsed since the launching of a ship otherwise entitled to a bounty, a deduction of fifteen per cent was to be made for each year that had passed. the navigation bounty was fixed at five kreutzers per net ton of capacity for every hundred nautical miles sailed. the exemption from the production and income taxes, granted in , was extended for a term of five years from january , . the law was to be in force for ten years. as the end of the term of this law was approaching ship-owners began agitating for its renewal with an increase in the subsidy. since its enactment the production of steam tonnage had been accelerated, and the decline of sail tonnage had been checked; but no marked change in the merchant marine generally had been manifest.[dh] of the bounties paid the austrian lloyd had received a large share in behalf of their ships which were not directly under contract for the mail service. the remainder went to the various companies controlling the coast and river trade. the ten to twenty-five per cent addition to the trade bounty for ships built in domestic yards and from domestic materials, finally went for the most part to a single large building concern at trieste. while most of the austrian tonnage was yet of foreign build, mostly constructed in british yards, the increase in the proportion of domestic build was considerable after . the greater part of the materials used was austrian product. consequently allied industries increased with this increased output of home ships.[di] at length in (february ) a new law was enacted increasing the navigation and construction bounties. for the navigation subsidies, to go to shipowners according to the tonnage of the ships and the number of miles run, allotments were thus made: for the first year, $ , ; for , $ , ; , $ , ; , $ , , ; , $ , , ; and for the five years remaining of the term, of the law--which ends december , --$ , , a year. the construction subsidies were raised as follows: for ships launched after july , : steamers built of iron and steel $ . per gross ton, sailing-ships of iron and steel, $ . ; for marine engines, boilers, pipes, and auxiliary apparatus, $ . per . pounds. to entitle a ship to these bounties fifty per cent of the materials used in its construction must be home product.[dj] this year ( ) also the annual postal subventions to the austrian lloyd were increased $ , , , for a further period of fifteen years. this contract called for an increase of speed to the levant and the orient. the suez canal tolls were to be paid by the government as before. * * * * * the kingdom of hungary grants bounties to hungarian ships, or ships owned in greater part by hungarian subjects, independently of the imperial government. her first general bounty law was also enacted in and was limited to ten years. the subsidies granted were of two classes--premium on purchase, and a mileage bounty. the purchase subsidy was based on net tonnage and was payable for a term of fifteen years from the date of the ship's launching, reduced each succeeding year by seven per cent; the mileage subsidy, for the same term, was in proportion to the length of the voyages made "in the interest of national commerce whether to or from hungarian ports." the premiums on purchase were thus fixed for the first year: for vessels employed in long-distance coasting trade--sailing-ships, six krone (each cents); steamers, nine krone per ton; employed in deep-sea trade,--sailing-ships, nine krone; steamers, twelve krone per ton. iron or steel ships rated first class were entitled to these bounties. the mileage subsidy was fixed at five hellers per ton, per hundred nautical miles run. it was offered only for voyages "to places where no company in receipt of state subsidies is obliged to maintain regular communications;" and it was not to be given for "petty coasting trade."[dk] this law was succeeded by an act of granting construction bounties, with the intent of fostering domestic shipping and the use of domestic material. the rates were proportioned according to the amount of foreign or domestic material used, construction with domestic product receiving the highest bounty. these rates were: for iron or steel hulls, thirty to sixty krone per ton; for wooden ships, ten to twenty-five krone per ton; for engines and auxiliary machinery, ten to fifteen krone per ton of materials used; for boilers and pipes, six to ten krone per ton of material. the total amount to be paid out yearly was limited to the modest figure of two hundred thousand krone ($ , ).[dl] the law of in reality was not effective, for ships of the hungarian merchant marine continued to be built in foreign parts--mainly in british yards;[dk] and while the carrying capacity had considerably increased, the tonnage had continued to decline.[dk] by the situation had become so unsatisfactory that, as the american consul at budapest wrote, the passing of a new navigation-development law by hungary's parliament had, it was believed, become a pressing necessity.[dm] * * * * * in the austrian government guaranteed a maximum sum of one million crowns (approximating $ , ) annually to the austro-american shipping company for their service between trieste and brazil and argentine ports. should the service tend successfully to promote home industries and agriculture, this subsidy was to be increased, the amount of increase to depend upon the amount of cargo carried in excess of a certain minimum. the contract was to run for fifteen years from january , . the service, beginning with sailings three times a month, was to become weekly on january , .[dn] the total austria-hungary tonnage in - was recorded at , tons.[do] footnotes: [footnote dd: meeker.] [footnote de: u.s. con. rept., jan., , no. , p. - .] [footnote df: u.s. con. repts., vol. xxxii, , no. , pp. - .] [footnote dg: meeker.] [footnote dh: u.s. con. rept., no. , march, , pp. - .] [footnote di: meeker.] [footnote dj: u.s. con. rept., no. , july, , p. .] [footnote dk: meeker.] [footnote dl: meeker. also parl. papers, com., , no. , p. .] [footnote dm: u.s. con. rept., no. , april, , p. .] [footnote dn: u.s. con. rept., no. , jan., , p. .] [footnote do: lloyd's register, - .] chapter vii italy early after its establishment in the kingdom of italy adopted a subsidy system with the object of reviving and upbuilding the then languishing italian merchant marine. this policy was instituted in with the grant of premiums on the construction of wooden ships. at the same time materials used in the construction, repair, or enlargement of ships were made duty-free.[dp] for a while under these conditions, before iron ships had come much into use, the merchant marine prospered. then it again began to languish; and in the promulgation of the french general bounty law was made the special occasion for considering the adoption of a similar measure.[dq] the draft of a bill modelled after that law was promptly introduced in the chamber of deputies, in february. but with its consideration such perplexities arose that at length the whole subject was referred to a commission of inquiry, to investigate and report a more satisfactory one. the result of this inquiry was a bill which became law december , , to continue in force for ten years. this law provided for general construction subsidies, on the following scale: for steamers and sailing-ships built of iron or steel, sixty lire ($ . ) per gross ton; for steam or sailing ships built of wood, fifteen lire; for _galleggianti_ (floating material: the term signifying merchant ships navigating the italian seaboard, rivers, and lakes, but not provided with certificates of nationality), of iron or steel, thirty lire; for construction and repairs of marine engines, ten lire per quintal; for marine boilers, six lire per hundred kilograms of weight. these bounties were to be increased from to per cent (according to the degree of speed and other desirable qualities shown) for steamers built on plans approved by the government engineers as to be convertible into cruisers, showing a speed of not less than fourteen knots an hour, and with sufficient coal-carrying space to steam four thousand miles at ten knots. the law was applicable to ships bought abroad as well as those of domestic build. but it forbade the sale or charter to a foreigner of any steamer upon which the bounty had been paid, except by government permission. the laws of granting premiums and free entry to shipbuilding materials were suspended during the ten years' term of this act.[dr] in , a new tariff of the previous year (july, ) having increased the customs duties on shipbuilding materials, additional bounties on construction and repair were granted by a royal decree to offset these disadvantages to the shipbuilders. a provision was added for the payment of fifty lire per gross ton for construction of war-ships, and eight and a half-lire per horsepower for engines, nine and a half lire per quintal for boilers, and eleven lire per quintal for other apparatus, to be used in war-ships. navigation bounties were also added to italian ships as follows: . lire per gross ton for every thousand sea miles run beyond the suez canal or the strait of gibraltar to or from ports outside of europe; the same for ships sailing between one continent with its adjacent islands and another continent with its adjacent islands, outside the mediterranean. sailing-ships of above fifteen years of age were ineligible to these bounties; so also were mail-route steamers.[ds] in , after the expiration of this law, a new law was enacted (july ) closely modelled upon it. the construction subsidies were the same, except that war-ships built for foreign countries were debarred from receiving bounties. the navigation subsidy per gross ton for every thousand sea miles sailed beyond the suez canal and the strait of gibraltar was increased to . lire, the rate to be diminished by ten centimes for steamers and fifteen centimes for sailing-ships every three years. an important addition was the reënactment of the customs rebates on shipbuilding materials. this law was also to be in force ten years.[ds] in (november ) a royal decree was issued modifying the law of in several particulars. no bounty was hereafter to be allowed to vessels built in italian yards for foreigners. the customs drawbacks were abrogated, and in place of them was granted a bounty of five lire per quintal of metal used in repairs. a bounty of fifty-five lire per gross ton was offered for iron or steel steamers showing a speed of above fifteen knots; fifty lire, for steamers speeding twelve to fifteen knots; forty-five lire, for steamers or sailing-ships with speed below twelve knots; and thirteen lire per net ton for modern hulls. the navigation subsidies per gross ton per thousand miles, were thus fixed: for steamers, forty centimes up to the fifteenth year after construction; for sailing-ships, twenty centimes up to the twenty-first year after construction. the yearly distances run for which the bounties were to be paid were limited to thirty-two thousand miles for a steamer below twelve knots; forty thousand for one of twelve to fifteen knots; fifty thousand above fifteen knots, and ten thousand for a sailing-ship. all italian ships were eligible to this bounty; foreign ships were debarred. the maximum expenditure for all the bounties was limited to ten million lire ($ , , ) a year. in (may) a new subsidy bill was enacted providing for the continuance of the arrangement under the measure of , with a few immaterial modifications.[dt] early in the government was reported to have in readiness ten bills looking to the support of domestic shipping and shipbuilding. eight of these had relation to the increase of subsidy on the italian mail and cargo service of the mediterranean. other routes subsidized included lines to central america, chile, canada. domestic shipbuilding was to be aided to the extent of twelve hundred and forty thousand dollars.[du] italy's mail subvention system dates from , when the italian steamship companies by a convention (july ) consolidated with the government.[dv] all the lines receiving the mail subsidy came to be owned by a single powerful corporation, the italian general navigation company. while the rates paid per mile are not so high as those paid by several other countries, the requirements as to size of vessels, speed, and amount of service to be rendered, are less exacting. accordingly these subventions are in fact, as professor meeker recognizes them, "partly in the nature of concealed bounties." in the government spent in these subventions a total equalling $ , , . by the total had only slightly increased, the amount that year being $ , , . in the total was $ , , . the mail steamships are required to carry government civil and military employees at half price. previous to the italian general navigation company owned more than half of the italian steam tonnage, and most of the large steamships.[dw] after the sail tonnage steadily increased. in it was recorded that "the italian flag now flies over some of the best modern transatlantic liners in the port of new york; the mediterranean is full of italian ships; and the lloyd italiano has five new ten-thousand-ton steamers nearly ready for service in south america."[dx] between and the italian gross tonnage increased from , tons to , , tons.[dy] footnotes: [footnote dp: meeker.] [footnote dq: bismarck's memorial to the german reichstag, april, .] [footnote dr: u.s. con. rept., jan., , no. , pp. - . also meeker.] [footnote ds: meeker.] [footnote dt: u.s. consul j. k. wood, venice, in daily con. repts., no. , aug , .] [footnote du: u.s. consul t. st. j. gaffney, dresden, germany, in daily con. repts., no. , april , .] [footnote dv: meeker.] [footnote dw: meeker.] [footnote dx: u.s. senate rept., no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote dy: lloyd's register, - .] chapter viii spain--portugal spain instituted a ship-construction bounty system in , when her merchant marine was languishing, and in a comprehensive system of mail subventions, contracting for the whole ocean service with a single steamship company, _la compañia transatlantica española_. previous to , for a quarter of a century and more, postal subventions had been given to private commercial houses, or individuals, providing steam communication with the spanish colonies and foreign ports; but much of the service during that period had been performed by this company through cessions from the holders of the contracts. before the adoption of the private contract system, the service to the colonies had been performed by the first regular steamship line between the peninsula and the antilles (in ), established at the state's expense. the ships of this line were all under the command of officers of the navy, and performed various services for the government besides carrying the mails and despatches. under the contract of (ratified by the cortes in ) the company were to furnish all the mail steam communication between the peninsula and the colonies and possessions, and foreign ports, for a total maximum subvention of , , pesetas ($ , , ) annually. the subsidy was calculated on the number of nautical miles run. the total sum was distributed among the budgets for the peninsula and the several colonies.[dz] in the subvention was redistributed over the various lines, the total amounting in round numbers to $ , , . the contract went as a whole also to the spanish transatlantic company, to run for twenty years. a particular requirement was that the company must favor spanish trade in every possible way.[ea] the first construction subsidy law, that of (june ), granted a bounty of forty francs ($ . ) per measured ton of . cubic metres on all ships built in spain. all tariff duties paid on imported materials for building, careening, or repairing ships or their machinery, were to be refunded by the government.[eb] during the decade between and the spanish marine slowly increased. further to foster it, in a more general subsidy law was enacted. this act granted a construction subsidy of forty pesetas ($ . ) per gross ton for wooden ships; seventy-five pesetas ($ . ), for iron and steel steamers; and fifty-five pesetas ($ . ), for ships of mixed construction and for sailing-ships of iron and steel.[ec] the year following the passage of this law was marked by rapid expansion in the national marine. then came a more rapid decline. this was due, it is assumed, to increased taxes, and business depression occasioned by the colonial wars, involving enlarged government expenditures and the cutting off of much colonial trade.[ec] during the war with the united states ( ) spain lost eighteen large steamers of , tons. after that war, with the development of her national resources, the spanish marine again began rapidly to grow.[ec] in (law of june ) the system was extended with the addition of general navigation bounties calling for an annual expenditure of , , pesetas ($ , ). for ships making monthly sailings to various named points, among them brazil, uruguay, and the argentines, and semi-weekly sailings to algeria, bounties were provided ranging from seven to seventeen cents per ton gross for every thousand miles run, to continue for a period of ten years. spanish ships manned by spanish crews and ranked by maritime agencies as first class were made eligible to them. all ships receiving these bounties must admit naval cadets and perform certain services for the government. to shipbuilders, as off-set to the duties on imported materials which they must pay, bounties for port materials as well as for ships were granted by this law. the construction subsidies were increased to $ . per gross ton for wooden ships not possessing their own motor power, and $ . self-propelling; $ . for iron or steel ships without motor, $ . for ships for freight only, $ . , freight and passengers; and $ passengers only. ten per cent of the bounties for passenger ships was to be added for each knot made above fourteen per hour. the sale of a ship to a foreigner within two years after the ship's construction was made invalid unless about a third of the bounty received be repaid. ships built abroad for spanish citizens were to be relieved of certain duties "provided it appears that it was absolutely necessary that they be built abroad."[ed] the total amount paid in mail subventions in was $ , , ; in navigation subsidies, $ , , . the total spanish tonnage the same year comprised vessels of , tons.[ee] * * * * * portugal grants postal subventions of comparatively small amounts to three steamship companies which perform all her mail carrying. a move toward the institution of a general subsidy system was made in , when a bill was before the cortes providing construction and navigation bounties for the encouragement of domestic shipbuilding and ship-using; but this measure was not enacted. in the republic offered a subsidy of one thousand dollars per voyage in either direction for steamship service between lisbon and new york, with call at the azores, the contract to run for three years.[ef] portugal controls her shipping service with her colonies, the trade with them being restricted to the portuguese flag.[eg] her total tonnage is small: in only , tons.[eh] footnotes: [footnote dz: u.s. con. rept., no. , january, , pp. - .] [footnote ea: u.s. vice con. gen. william dawson jr., con. repts., no. , oct., .] [footnote eb: u.s. con. repts., .] [footnote ec: meeker.] [footnote ed: u.s. con. rept., no. , oct., .] [footnote ee: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote ef: daily con. repts., no. , may , .] [footnote eg: meeker. also parliamentary papers.] [footnote eh: lloyd's register, - .] chapter ix denmark--norway--sweden denmark pays postal subventions to two steamship companies for carrying the mails to sweden and to iceland, and "trade" subsidies to other companies to encourage particularly the export trade. the latter are payments directly for reductions in freight rates, which are supervised by the government.[ei] the postal subventions are not large, and they are generally accepted as only fair remuneration for service rendered.[ej] * * * * * norway and sweden both give subsidies for mail carriage solely, and grant no direct bounties on shipping. both, however, undertake the furtherance of commerce and navigation through "state contributions," in the form of loans to shipowners from government funds.[ek] such aid has been granted to several steamship lines. in the swedish government granted a loan equivalent to half a million dollars american money toward the capital of a new line between swedish ports and new york, philadelphia, and baltimore.[el] shipping is exempt from taxation in both countries.[em] the swedish tonnage in stood at a total of vessels of , tons.[en] * * * * * in norway the laws put no restriction upon shipowners as to purchase in any market. most of her steam tonnage is foreign-bought, and largely second-hand. her merchant fleet, however, consists for the greater part, of wooden sailing-ships, and these are mostly of domestic build.[em] besides the mail subsidies the government grant "trade" subsidies to some forty norwegian steamship companies to enable them to maintain routes to various foreign ports. these subsidies amount to about half a million dollars annually.[eo] in norway stood in tonnage fourth among european maritime countries: her total tonnage being , , tons.[ep] norway has by far the largest percentage of sea-faring population, and her mariners are found in the crews of all nations in europe and america. footnotes: [footnote ei: meeker.] [footnote ej: parl. papers.] [footnote ek: meeker.] [footnote el: u.s. con. rept., no. , , p. .] [footnote em: meeker.] [footnote en: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote eo: report of (u.s.) commissioner of navigation for .] [footnote ep: lloyd's register, - .] chapter x russia in russia steamship lines were early subsidized with mileage bounties, besides receiving postal subventions; and later the government adopted the policy of returning the suez canal tolls to the subsidized lines. the mileage subsidies are direct bounties avowedly for the encouragement of russian navigation, and are very large.[eq] in a government commission, appointed to consider and report upon the state of the empire's mercantile marine, declared that russia was losing a vast sum annually through the lack of a sufficient commercial fleet of her own, and yet no progress seemed to be making toward increasing her tonnage. to remedy this unsatisfactory condition the commission suggested the removal of the duty on ships built abroad for russia, and the free admission of all material necessary for ship construction.[er] favoring laws followed. by a measure of july that year ( ) ships bought abroad, if destined for the foreign sea-borne trade, were exempted for a period of ten years from the heavy duties levied on such vessels.[eq] the next year ( ) the coasting trade, reserved exclusively for russian ships, was extended to include navigation between any two russian ports in any seas; and, further to restrict this trade to subjects of the empire, it was enacted that ships engaged in it must be manned exclusively by russian officers and seamen.[eq] at this period russia's shipping industry, outside the government works for the construction of battle-ships, was of comparatively little consequence. in the few extensive ship-yards river steamers, tugs, and other small craft, built from russian materials and by russian workmen, were chiefly turned out. the materials could be bought cheaper abroad, but russian labor was cheaper. according to the united states consul at st. petersburg, the wages of common workmen were then from fifty-one to sixty-four cents a day, while skilled workmen were receiving but seventy-seven cents to one dollar a day.[es] in the decade - the amount of subsidies expended directly to encourage shipping increased rapidly, and the tonnage increased in extent and importance. in - the total tonnage stood at , tons of which , were steam and , sailing ships. in - a total of , tons was reached, of which , were steam and , sailing ships.[et] in the granting of bounties in the form of loans to ship-owners was proposed, with the object of inducing them to buy russian ships built of russian materials instead of foreign product. the scheme contemplated a mortgage on the finished ship at fifty per cent of the actual cost, without interest, to cover a period of twenty years, the loans to be in equal yearly payments. the amount of the bounty was to depend upon the difference between the cost of home-built and foreign-built ships. the loans were to be made only on first-class sea-going steamers. the plans and specifications were to be approved by the minister of finance before building; and steamers of over one thousand tons register must show an average speed of not less than ten knots on a six hours' trial; those under one thousand tons, of not less than eight knots. in addition to the loans the government was to bear part of the expense of insurance. to facilitate the export of russian goods in russian-built ships, a rebate was allowed of half the expense of russian coal used in steamers carrying less than three-fourths of a full cargo on export, and one-half cargo on import. it was estimated that this scheme for fostering domestic shipbuilding would entail smaller drafts on the national treasury than would the granting of direct construction and navigation premiums.[eu] progress was checked appreciably by the war with japan ( - ). but the year after, the empire was active again in advancing her interests in the east, by systematically granting subsidies to steamship lines to various asiatic points.[ev] by the tonnage had been brought to a total of , tons, approaching that of the year before the war. of this total , was steam tonnage. the greater part of the steam fleet was foreign built, only of the total, steamers, being of russian product. the largest number were built in england ( ). others were obtained from various european yards. more than ninety per cent were of iron and steel. of the sailing-ships, ninety per cent were home product.[ew] in the total tonnage stood at , tons.[ex] the mileage subsidies in were going principally to eleven steamship companies; the postal subventions mainly to four. those receiving the mileage subsidies carry the mails and government passengers free. the largest mileage subsidy goes to the black sea navigation company, the oldest and most important of the subsidized lines (founded in , with government aid).[ey] in addition to the subsidy the government pays back the suez canal tolls. the russian volunteer fleet stands second on the list of subsidy receivers. this is practically a government affair. it was created in the war-time of - , by private subscription, as an auxiliary war fleet; and was reorganized for general service in . the members of the board of managers are state nominees, and the officers and crews are regarded as employees of the crown.[ez] the subsidy is fixed at six hundred thousand rubles ($ , ) a year; and the refunded suez canal tolls amount to another six hundred thousand rubles.[fa] the mileage subsidies, given directly to foster shipping, increased rapidly from year to year after , while the postal subventions, for mail carriage chiefly, remained practically constant.[fb] footnotes: [footnote eq: meeker.] [footnote er: u.s. consul smith, moscow, in con. rept., no. , p. , sept., .] [footnote es: u.s. con. gen. r.t. greener, st. petersburg, in u.s. con. rept., no. , p. , may, .] [footnote et: report of the merchant marine commission (u.s.), , vol. ii, p. .] [footnote eu: u.s. commercial agent r.t. greener, vladivostock, in u.s. con. repts., no. , p. , october, .] [footnote ev: same, no. , p. , october, .] [footnote ew: con. gen. john h. snodgrass, moscow, in u.s. con. repts., no. , pp. - , march, .] [footnote ex: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote ey: con. gen. snodgrass, con. repts., no. , oct., .] [footnote ez: parl. papers: report of com. of enquiry into steamship subsidies, .] [footnote fa: list given in rept. of mer. marine com., with totals paid in - , vol. , p. .] [footnote fb: mecker.] chapter xi japan--china while france is the bounty-giving nation _par excellence_, japan is a pressing second. the development of a modern merchant marine, together with a modern navy, was among the first undertakings of the awakening empire upon her assumption of occidental civilization. adopting what seemed to her statesmen of the new regime, from their study of western methods, to be the speediest way to that end, she started out energetically to attain it through lavish money-grants from the national treasury for the establishment of steamship companies of her own people in coastwise and ocean service, and of modernized ship-yards and shipbuilders. the initial venture resulted in the creation of a steamship monopoly. this was the subsidizing, in , of the pioneer concern, to supply steam communication between various domestic ports, and also with siberia, china, and corea. it was founded by a broad-visioned japanese merchant, jwasaki yataro,[fc] and controlled by him. to break his monopoly the government in set up a rival state-supported company.[fc] after a period of "desperate competition" and warfare, jwasaki persuaded the new concern to unite with his. so was effected a community of interests after the most approved western pattern.[fc] by this union was formed, in , the powerful _nippon yusen kaisha_ (japan mail steamship company), which remained the most powerful of japanese steamship establishments, with lines running to the same ports to which the american steamers run. coincident with the state-aiding of steamship companies was the granting of liberal postal subvention. next followed the institution of a general subsidy system, frankly designed to stimulate domestic shipbuilding and to further navigation by japanese ships. this system was embodied in two acts promulgated in , the year after the finish of the japan-china war ( - ), when the merchant marine was growing pretty rapidly, but not rapidly enough for the aspiring nation. these were, a shipbuilding encouragement law, the aim of which was to stimulate the building of vessels above tons; and a navigation encouragement law, to foster open-sea navigation. their model was the french system. these laws offered construction and navigation subsidies, and also made provision for a widely extended postal service with increased postal subventions. the construction bounties were available for "any company composed of japanese subjects exclusively as members and shareholders which shall establish a ship-yard conforming to the requirements of the minister of state for communications, and shall build ships." the rates were fixed as follows: for ships of over tons, twenty yen ($ . ) per gross ton; of over and under tons, twelve yen; for engines built with ships, or in any other domestic dock-yard, with the consent of the minister of communications, five yen per horsepower. japanese materials only were to be used, unless the minister of communications should give permission to use foreign materials. the navigation bounties were granted only for iron and steel ships owned exclusively by japanese subjects, and plying between japan and foreign ports. the rates in this class were: twenty-five sen (about - / cents) per gross ton per thousand miles run for ships of tons steaming at ten knots an hour; ten per cent added for every additional tons up to tons, and twenty per cent for every additional knot up to seventeen. foreign-built ships less than five years old, owned by japanese, were admitted to these bounties. the postal routes established were fifteen in number, calling for an annual expenditure of , , yen (about $ , , ) when in full operation. the payments for postal service were to be computed at the mileage rate given for navigation. previous to this act the postal subventions had amounted annually to nine hundred and forty-five thousand yen in and , and nine hundred and thirty thousand yen in the subsequent years.[fd] the effect of these laws was to stimulate overproduction. the _nippon yusen kaisha_ ordered eighteen large freight steamers aggregating , tons. other companies doubled and trebled their fleets.[fd] one result of the overproduction was the forcing down of freights. this, together with the business depression of - , brought losses to the shipping companies despite the large subsidies. the rapidly increasing amounts of the subsidies, too, were giving the government concern. from a total of , , yen in the sum expended annually had grown by to , , yen. the total paid between and had amounted to , , yen, about $ , , .[fd] accordingly, in (march), a law was enacted modifying the system. the navigation bounties on foreign-built ships were reduced by half, while the subventions to the postal lines were fixed at certain yearly sums. a law of (february ) extended the postal services. under these laws the postal subventions reached a total of about , , yen ($ , , ) a year. of this total the _nippon yusen kaisha's_ was the lion's share,-- , , yen, about $ , , .[fd] after the passage of these laws the various companies further increased their tonnage, but the merchant marine grew more wholesomely for a while. in the total tonnage had reached , tons, and the japanese mercantile fleet had risen to the position of eighth in the world in point of tonnage, whereas in it was only thirteenth.[fe] in the united states consul at yokohama wrote: "the building of ships of over ten thousand tons in japanese yards is now quite common.... the war [with russia] has given a great impetus to the shipbuilding and dock-yard industry which has made remarkable progress during the last few years."[ff] that year ( ) the government brought forward several ship-subsidy bills making provision for further japan sea services.[fg] in the amount of state aid to the merchant marine had increased to an equivalent of $ , , and additional amounts were asked for, one for the line to south america.[fh] the budget for - carried the largest amounts yet devoted by japan to ship subsidizing. at the end of official statistics placed the number of steamers at , with a gross tonnage of , , . . of these, one hundred and one were steamers of more than three thousand tons.[fh] in a new subsidy system was adopted (the laws of revised), to go into effect january . the fixed navigation bounties granted by the old system on specified routes were abolished, and a general subsidy offered open to all steamships conforming to the provisions of the new law. the subsidized open-sea routes, however, were limited to four--the european, the north american, south american, and australian;[fi] and coasting services in the far east were not affected. among other conditions imposed on the beneficiaries were the requirements that steamers must carry more than one-half their maximum load; that each must have a wireless telegraph outfit, this, however, instituted at the government's expense; that the department of communications be furnished with information as to freights and passenger rates; and that proper terminal facilities, as piers, warehouses, lighters, be provided by the subsidized companies.[fj] the steamers receiving the full subsidy must be home-built, of steel, of over tons gross, and showing a speed of at least twelve knots per hour. the rate was fixed at fifty sen per gross ton for every thousand nautical miles, and ten per cent of this sum added per additional speed of one nautical mile an hour, according to the conditions of the route. upon a vessel the age of which exceeds five years the subsidy decreases five per cent each year till the age of fifteen is reached, when it ceases. foreign-built steamers under five years of age, which may be put in service with the sanction of the government authorities, are entitled to half of the subsidy. the construction subsidies were arranged in two classes, and each class in four grades.[fk] the rates were slightly increased over those of the law of , and their benefits were limited to steel vessels of over tons instead of tons. the total appropriations for ship subsidies in the budget for - amounted, in american money, to $ , , , of which $ , , were for navigation, and $ , for construction subsidies: an increase of $ , in the former class over the appropriation of the previous year, and a decrease in the latter class of $ , .[fl] the total japanese tonnage in stood at , , tons.[fm] the _nippon yusen kaisha_ practically owns nine-tenths of the ocean-going steamships flying the japanese flag.[fn] * * * * * china, too, taking on western ways, is emulating japan in establishing a modern merchant marine. the government is giving state aid to native steamship companies, and subsidizing ship-yards. according to the united states consul-general at hongkong the government is now ( ) to furnish half of the amount of an extension of the capital of the chinese merchants' steam navigation company to twenty million taels (about $ , , gold), and thirty additional steamers of modern type are to be built for service--ten on foreign routes, including a route to the united states, and twenty on routes between chinese ports; while a new ship-yard is to be set up at shanghai under government auspices, capitalized at five million taels (about $ , , gold). footnotes: [footnote fc: meeker.] [footnote fd: meeker.] [footnote fe: u.s. con. rept., no. , march, .] [footnote ff: u.s. con. rept., no. , jan, , pp. - .] [footnote fg: con. gen. h.b. miller, yokohama, in con. repts., no. , pp. - , may, .] [footnote fh: vice con. gen. e.g. babbitt, yokohama, in con. repts., no. , p. , may, .] [footnote fi: japan year book, .] [footnote fj: u.s. con. gen. thomas sammons, yokohama, in daily con. repts., no. , aug. , .] [footnote fk: japan year book, .] [footnote fl: u.s. ambassador thomas j. o'brien, tokyo, in daily con. repts., no. , may , .] [footnote fm: lloyd's register, - .] [footnote fn: japan year book, .] chapter xii south america brazil gives subventions from the federal treasury to several foreign steamship companies, and some of the states of the federation also make similar grants from their treasuries. besides the subventions to lines to foreign ports, the government grants state aid to a considerable number of coast lines operating between rio de janeiro and other brazilian ports. the total amount of the subventions in was equal to $ , , .[fo] the principal beneficiary was the _lloyd brazileiro_, maintaining the line between brazilian ports and the united states. * * * * * argentina is adopting a policy of giving subsidies to foreign steamship companies which extend her communications with foreign ports. as far back as a decree was issued offering a subsidy of twenty thousand dollars a year for a line between argentina and the united states. but it was not taken. in the government was prepared to pay a subsidy to a new steamship company promoted to furnish a regular service to south africa.[fp] in there appeared the first steam vessel flying the american flag at buenos aires in twenty years.[fq] chile grants mail subsidies, which have no appreciable effect in the merchant marine.[fr] footnotes: [footnote fo: con. gen. george e. anderson, rio de janeiro, in daily con. repts., no. , p. , sept. , .] [footnote fp: daily con. repts., march , .] [footnote fq: same, january , .] [footnote fr: meeker.] chapter xiii the united states while a navigation code founded in and , and developed in , , and , after the model of the then existing english code,[fs] has been retained in modified form through enactments in subsequent years, a system of general ship-subsidies, though repeatedly proposed, has never been adopted by the united states. from to bounties were given to fishing vessels and men employed in the bank and other deep-sea fisheries,[ft] but no subsidies to the merchant marine were granted till , and these were only postal subsidies--payments in excess of an equivalent for services to be rendered in ocean mail-carriage. the law enacted that year had for its declared purpose the encouragement of american ocean steamship-building and running. with this act, therefore, the real history of government aid to domestic shipping in this country begins. at the time of the adoption of this policy america was still leading the world in ocean sailing-ships with her splendid fleets of fast-sailing packets and "clippers", while england had taken the lead in steamships. the law of was the culmination of a move begun in congress in , the year after the first cunarder had crossed from liverpool to halifax and boston. its aim was to parry england's bold stroke for maritime supremacy with her state-aided steamship lines, and directly to "protect our merchant shipping from this new and strange menace."[fu] the first move of was for an appropriation of a million dollars annually for foreign-mails carriage in american-owned ships.[fu] the law of (march ) authorized the postmaster-general to contract with american ship-owners exclusively for this service to be performed in american vessels, steamships preferred, and by american citizens, for a period of from four to ten years, with the proviso that congress by joint resolve might at any time terminate a contract. the subsidy was embodied in the rates of postage thus fixed: upon all letters and packets not exceeding a half-ounce in weight, between any ports of the united states and any foreign ports not less than three thousand miles distant, twenty-four cents, with the inland postage added; upon letters and packets over one half-ounce in weight, and not exceeding one ounce, forty-eight cents, and for every additional half-ounce or fraction of an ounce, fifteen cents; to any of the west india islands, or islands in the gulf of mexico, ten cents, twenty cents, and five cents, respectively; upon each newspaper, pamphlet, and price-current to any of the ports and places above enumerated, three cents: inland postage to be added in all cases. the postmaster-general was to give the preference to such bidder as should propose to carry the mails in a steamship rather than a sailing-ship. contractors were to turn their ships over to the government upon demand for conversion into ships of war, the government to pay therefor the fair full value, as ascertained by appraisers. the postmaster-general was further authorized to make ten-years' contracts for mail carriage from place to place in the united states in steamboats by sea, or on the gulf of mexico, or on the mississippi river up to new orleans, on the same conditions regarding the transfer of the ships to the government when required for use as war ships.[fv] the next year, , in the annual post-office appropriations act (june ), provision was made for the application of twenty-five thousand dollars toward the establishment of a line of mail steamers between the united states and bremen; and early in (february ) a contract was duly concluded for a bremen and havre service, the first under the law of . this was a five years' contract entered into with the ocean steam navigation company, upon the basis of an earlier agreement (february ) with edward mills of new york, which mr. mills had transferred to the new organization. the subsidy was fixed at one hundred thousand dollars a year for each ship going by cowes to bremen and back to new york once in two months a year, and seventy-five thousand dollars a year for each ship going by cowes to havre and back to new york. the contractors were to build within a year's time four first-class steamships of not less than tons, nor less than a thousand horsepower; and were to run their line "with greater speed to the distance than is performed by the cunard line between boston and liverpool and back."[fw] provision for the subsidy thus called for was promptly made in this item in the post-office appropriation bill for the ensuing year, approved march : "for transportation by steam-ships between new york and bremen according to the contract with edward mills, $ , ."[fx] the next step was the enactment of a law which had for its declared objects "to provide efficient mail services, to encourage navigation and commerce, and to build up a powerful fleet in case of war."[fy] this measure, approved march , , entitled "an act to provide for the building and equipment of four naval steamships," made provision for the construction, with government aid, of merchant mail-steamships under the supervision of the navy department that they might be rendered suitable if needed for war service. the act directed the secretary of the navy to accept on the part of the government certain proposals that had been made for the carriage of the united states mails to foreign ports in american-built and american-owned steamships. these proposals had been submitted to the postmaster-general (march , ) by edward k. collins and associates (james brown and stewart brown) of new york, and a.g. sloo of cincinnati: one for mail transportation by steamship between new york and liverpool, semimonthly, the other between new york and new orleans, havana, and chagres, twice a month. the secretary was directed to contract with messrs. collins and sloo in accordance with the provisions laid down in this act. these required that the steamers be built under the inspection of naval constructors and be acceptable to the navy department; that each ship carry four passed midshipmen of the navy to serve as watch-officers, and a mail agent approved by the postmaster-general. mr. sloo's ships for his west india service were to be commanded by officers of the navy not below the grade of lieutenant. the secretary was further directed to contract for mail-carriage beyond the isthmus,--from panama up the pacific coast to some point in the territory of oregon, once a month each way; but this service could be performed in either steam or sailing ships, as should be deemed more expedient.[fz] all the contracts thus provided for were concluded the same year. each was to run for ten years. the first executed was that with mr. sloo. it called for five steamships of not less than tons, and a semi-monthly service. the line was to touch at charleston, if practicable, and at savannah. the ships were to have engines by direct action; and each ship was to be sheathed with copper. the subsidy was fixed at two hundred and ninety thousand dollars a year, a rate of $ . - / per mile, the distance to be sailed out and back being , miles.[ga] mr. sloo immediately set over his contract to george law, marshall o. roberts, and bowes mcilvaine, of new york.[gb] the second contract was for the pacific service, connecting with the mail by the sloo line across the isthmus. this was made with arnold harris of arkansas. it provided for a monthly service between panama and astoria, oregon, calling at san diego, monterey, and san francisco, with a subsidy of one hundred and ninety-nine thousand dollars per annum. three steamers were to be furnished, two of not less than a thousand tons each. upon receiving the contract mr. harris immediately transferred it to w.h. aspinwall of new york, representing the newly formed pacific mail steamship company.[gc] the third was the collins contract. this stipulated for a semi-monthly service between new york and liverpool during the eight open months of the year, and a monthly service through the four winter months, with five steamers, each of not less than tons and engines of a thousand horsepower. the first ship was to be ready for service in eighteen months after the date of the contract, november , . the subsidy was fixed at $ , per twenty round trips, or three hundred and eighty-five thousand dollars a year, a rate of $ . a mile for sailing about , miles.[gd] by subsequent acts the secretary of the navy was authorized to advance twenty-five thousand dollars a month on each of the ships called for by these several contracts from the time of their launching to their finish; and the date of the completion of the first collins steamer and the opening of the new york and liverpool service was extended to june , .[ge] at the same time that the secretary of the navy was executing these contracts the postmaster-general under the authority of an act "to establish certain post routes and for other purposes," also approved march , ,[gf] was contracting for a steamship mail-service between charleston and havana, with a subsidy of forty-five thousand dollars per annum. this contract was entered into with m.c. mordecai of charleston, who agreed to furnish steamships suitable for war purposes, and to perform a monthly service.[gg] several other propositions for steamship service to various foreign countries were made to the postmaster-general at this time, but none was accepted.[gh] the pioneer bremen-havre line began its service on the first day of june , with two steamers. these were the _washington_ and the _hermann_, built in new york, strong and large, of tons and tons, respectively, side-wheelers, bark-rigged. at first they made the run to bremen in from twelve to seventeen days, much better time than the average clipper.[gi] but up to they had no regular schedule of sailings, and, their speed being unsatisfactory, few mails were sent by them. the subsidy payments, therefore, were made for each voyage separately.[gj] they had also ceased to command the patronage of travellers. nevertheless, as a committee of the senate in reported, they were believed to have been "profitable to their owners as freight vessels, and of essential service in promoting the interests of american commerce."[gk] the full service, with twelve trips to bremen and twelve to havre, was finally begun in , when two more, and larger ships,--the _franklin_ and the _humboldt_, each of tons, were added to the havre line. four years before, the original company, because of financial difficulties, had organized a separate corporation for the havre service. in congress extended the contract to ;[gj] and southampton was made the point of shifting the mails. the new york and chagres, the charleston and havana, and the pacific line, were all under way before the close of . the pacific line was the first in operation. the service began with the three steamers called for by the contract, the first sailing from new york on the sixth of october, the other two early in december. they were the _california_, tons, the _panama_, tons, the _oregon_, tons, all built in new york. the new york and chagres line was started also in december with the sailing of the _falcon_, tons, a purchased steamer which the navy department accepted temporarily, while the new ships were building, that the service might be immediately begun. the opening of the new territory south of oregon acquired through the mexican war, and the beginning of the rush of the "argonauts" to the newly discovered gold fields of california, had made all concerned anxious to get these connecting steamship lines a-going. at first the service was halting because of unavoidable circumstances. the pacific company were unable at once to meet the demands. sufficient or competent crews could not be obtained on the california coast during the gold excitement,[gl] at fever heat in . but it was not long before more ships were put on, and the service improved and prospered. by september, , the chagres company had their first completed ship in commission. this was the _ohio_, tons, built in new york. by june, , the second, the _georgia_ (and the third of the line, for the _falcon_ was retained) was running. soon afterwards the _illinois_ was added. at about the same time the pacific company had added two more to their fleet--the _columbia_ and the _tennessee_. in the postmaster-general was authorized to increase the pacific trips to semi-monthly; and the subsidy was increased. an additional contract (march ) was then made with mr. aspinwall, as president of the pacific mail.[gm] this called for the enlargement of the line within a year, to six steamers; and for semi-monthly trips from panama to oregon and back, with stops and mail delivery at named points in california; and increased the company's subsidy by one hundred and forty-nine thousand two hundred and fifty dollars per annum. thus the yearly total became three hundred and forty-eight thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. before the semi-monthly trips were begun, san diego and monterey were dropped for the regular service, to be served by a slower line.[gn] also this year ( ) two more steamers were added to the fleet. by this time on the atlantic side the collins line was in promising operation. the service had auspiciously begun in with four of the five steamships called for by the contract. these were the _atlantic_, tons, the _arctic_, tons, the _baltic_, tons, and the _pacific_, tons, each some seven hundred tons larger than the measurement stipulated--"at least tons." all were built in new york ship-yards; were especially designed for fast sailing; and in size, model, finish, and fittings were pronounced to be "such steamers as the world had never seen."[go] in all respects they were superior to the cunarders with which they were aggressively to compete; and it was the boast of the americans that they would "beat the english in steam navigation, as they had beaten them in fast sailing." all associated with the enterprise were of large experience in maritime affairs. mr. collins, a native of truro, cape cod, and long a shipping merchant of new york, had been at the head of fast clipper-ship lines--the new orleans and vera cruz packet line, and the more famous "dramatic line" (the ships named for plays and players) of transatlantic sailers. the commanders of the steamers were all tried clipper captains. the _atlantic_ made the initial voyage, steaming gallantly out of new york harbor on the twenty-seventh of april, a month before the contract time for the beginning of the service. the _pacific_ followed in june, the _baltic_ in november, the _arctic_ in december. they beat the cunarders' time on the average by a day. their popularity was immediately established. their passenger traffic rapidly increased. but the severe condition of the mail contract, with their quick sailings allowing only short stays in port, made it impossible for the company to secure a profitable share of the freight business without a heavy outlay for slower cargo boats. within a few months after the start of the line the cunard company had cut freight rates from seven pounds ten shillings per ton to four pounds. so, while the collins ships continued steadily to outsail the cunarders and got the bulk of the passenger traffic, the cunarders got most of the freighting. moreover, the collins ships were far more expensive to run. indeed, the cost of the rapid service was enormous. mr. collins stated before a committee of congress that to save a day or a day and a half in the run between new york and liverpool cost the company nearly a million dollars annually. accordingly more subsidy was asked for. this was granted in , the act being stimulated by england's move late in in raising the cunards' subsidy to £ , ($ , ), for forty-four trips a year: about nineteen thousand dollars per voyage. the extra allowance lifted the collins subsidy to $ , for twenty-six trips a year, thirty-three thousand dollars per voyage, a rate of upward of five dollars a mile.[gp] the competition now became sharper. still the collins line maintained its record sailings, and continued to beat the english. then it was sharply checked by a grave disaster. on the twenty-fourth of september, , the _arctic_, when forty miles off cape race, rushing through a fog, was rammed by a french steamer, and sunk with three hundred and seven souls. this calamity had a depressing effect on the company's affairs. two years later, in , congress determined to reduce the subsidy, and notice of the discontinuance of the extra allowance of was ordered.[gq] only a few weeks after this action another disaster, even more appalling than the first one, befell the company. on september the _pacific_ sailed from liverpool for her homeward voyage with a full complement of passengers; passed to sea out of sight; and was never more heard of. she was replaced by the _adriatic_, the fifth ship called for by the contract, which was launched the year before, the largest, finest, swiftest, and most luxurious then afloat; and the company struggled on against accumulating odds. at length, in , congress abandoned the subsidy system and returned to the method of payment for foreign mail-carriage according to the actual service rendered, with a proviso, however, favoring american ships, such to receive the inland-postage plus the sea postage, while foreign ships were to have the sea postage only.[gr] this was the final blow. the last voyage of the collins line was made in january, . then it perished. in april following, the ships were seized by the mortgagees and sold. so closed the career of the pioneer united states ship company in the transatlantic service. the splendid _adriatic_ passed to english ownership and the american flag gave way to the british. for several years this ship "held the transatlantic record with a passage of five days nineteen hours from galway to st. john's."[gs] of the other subsidized lines, the ships of the bremen service were withdrawn and laid up after the subsidy ceased. the havre line continued a while longer with two ships that had replaced the _humboldt_ and the _franklin_, both of which had been lost,--the _humboldt_ wrecked at halifax on december , ; the _franklin_ stranded on montauk point on july , . then with the charter of the two new steamers by the government in for use in the civil war, the havre line also disappeared. the cost to the government of this first steamship subsidy venture, covering the thirteen years between and , was approximately fourteen and a half million dollars.[gt] meanwhile, within this period, the american wooden sailing-ships continued to be the glory of the seas, and the american clippers reached their highest development. the appearance of steamships on the north atlantic and the pacific had inspired the producers of the "wonderful american sailing-ships" to greater efforts for their perfection; and the clipper, surpassing all other types of sailers in size, sea-qualities, and speed, was the result of the intensified rivalry of canvas and steam.[gu] the american clipper-ship era fairly opened with the advent of the collins steamship line.[gv] between and clipper-ships were built for nearly every trade,[gw] and they were on every sea. some of the first were employed in the transatlantic packet service. more became engaged particularly in the "booming" trade to california, in the long-voyage traffic to china and india.[gx] "when john bull came floating into san francisco, or sydney, or melbourne, he used to find uncle sam sitting carelessly, with his legs dangling over the wharf, smoking his pipe, with his cargo sold and his pockets full of money."[gy] the crimean war, - , opened a new and prosperous market for american fast sailing-ships, as transports. to meet the demand american ship-yards produced in more tonnage than they had ever built before.[gz] the sailing-ship interests strenuously opposed the subsidy system. they denounced it as class legislation unjustly favoring the few, and urged its abolishment.[ha] how strong this influence was in bringing about the change in policy is a mooted question. * * * * * no further move for fostering the american merchant marine with state aid directly or indirectly, was made till . then the steamship-subsidizing policy was revived, first with a proposition for the establishment of an american mail-line to brazil. a subsidy of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars per year was proposed, one hundred and fifty thousand to be paid by the united states and one hundred thousand by the brazilian government. congress endorsed the scheme. the act embodying it (may )[hb] authorized the postmaster-general to contract for a monthly service between the two countries, touching at st. thomas, w.i., by first-class american sea-going steamships of not less than tons. the steamers were to be built under naval inspection, and to be subject to taking for war service. bids were to be openly advertised for. the contract was to run for ten years. thus was established the pioneer american line between philadelphia and rio de janeiro, which continued from to , and was then abandoned. in the same session of congress a bill was introduced, authorizing an annual subsidy of five hundred thousand dollars for an ocean mail-steamship service to japan and china via hawaii. this also received favorable consideration, and was passed february , . the service was to be monthly, performed by american-built ships of not less than tons, also constructed under naval inspection. tenders for the contract were to be advertised for, but bids only from united states citizens were to be entertained. the contract was to run for ten years. only one bidder appeared (as was evidently expected)--the pacific mail steamship company. the contract went to that company, and under it, in , their prosperous asiatic service began. at the outset they were released from the obligation of stopping at hawaii, and congress voted another subsidy--seventy five thousand dollars per annum--for a distinct hawaiian service.[hc] the contract for this service, also advertised for, went to the california, oregon, and mexican line. * * * * * thus far the granting of postal subsidies for the establishment of steamship lines alone had engaged the advocates of state aid to american shipping. now was agitated the institution of a general subsidy system as a means of fostering the rehabilitation of the merchant marine of all classes in ocean service, sailing-ships as well as steamers. the situation had become acute. through the great loss of tonnage in the civil war, and through the steadily advancing change from wood to iron in ship construction and from sail to steam propulsion, the american merchant marine had been brought distressingly low. from , when the united states was standing second in rank among the nations in the extent of her ocean tonnage, to , this tonnage had declined from , , to , , tons: a loss of more than forty-three per cent; while england, the first in rank and chief competitor, had in the same period gained , tons, or more than forty per cent. moreover, of this increase in english tonnage, a large percentage had been in steamers, one ton of which class was estimated to be equal in efficiency to three tons of sailing-ships; while, by substituting largely iron for wood, england had gained a still further advantage in her much larger class of iron vessels, doubly as durable as those of wood.[hd] the matter was brought up in congress by a resolution of the house, march , , calling for the appointment of a select committee, "to inquire into and report at the next session of congress the causes of the great reduction of american tonnage engaged in the foreign carrying trade, and the great depression of the navigation interests of the country; and also to report what measures are necessary to increase our ocean tonnage, revive our navigation interests, and regain for our country the position it once had among the nations as a great maritime power." of this committee representative john lynch of maine was made chairman. the committee gave a series of hearings mainly in atlantic seaboard cities, and submitted their report on february , , accompanied by two bills recommended for passage; the one, a bounty bill, the other, relative to tonnage duties. with these measures the history of years of effort to establish the principle of general ship-subsidies in the american economic system properly begins. the lynch bounty bill, entitled "an act to revive the navigation and commercial interests of the united states," made provision for the remission of duties upon the raw materials entering into the construction of sailing and steam-ships; for the taking in bond, free of duty, of all stores used in vessels in sailing to foreign ports; and for bounties, or subsidies, to american sailing and steam-ships engaged in foreign commerce, already built as well as to be built: the aid being extended to those already built because they had been sailed during the civil war and since "at great disadvantage."[he] the amount of duties to be remitted was to be equal to the amount per ton collected on the materials required for certain defined classes of ships: on wooden vessels, eight dollars a ton; on iron, twelve dollars a ton; on composite vessels (vessels composed of iron frames and wooden planking), twelve dollars a ton; on iron steamers, fifteen dollars a ton. where american materials were used in the construction of iron or composite vessels, allowance was to be made of an amount equivalent to the duties imposed on similar articles of foreign manufacture. the bounties were thus classified: to owners of american registered ships engaging for more than six months in a year in the carrying trade between america and foreign ports, or between ports of foreign countries, a dollar and a half per ton upon a sailing-ship each year so engaged, and a dollar and a half upon a steamer running to and from the ports of the british north american provinces; four dollars upon a steamer running to and from any european port; and three dollars to and from all other foreign ports.[hf] the intent of the second bill, "imposing tonnage duties and for other purposes," was the readjustment of the existing tax upon tonnage so that it should fall "more equitably upon the different classes of vessels affected thereby."[hf] it removed all tonnage, harbor, pilotage, and other like taxes imposed upon shipping by state and municipal authority (except wharfage, pierage, and dockage); and imposed a duty of thirty cents per ton on all ships, vessels, or steamers entered in the united states. the committee's measures were ably advocated, but they finally went down in defeat. * * * * * in the pacific mail steamship company came forward with an offer to add another monthly mail-steamship service to japan and china, for an additional subsidy of a half million dollars a year. at the same session a project to establish a subsidized line to australia was introduced; another, for a subsidized line from new orleans to cuba. these failed, while the scheme of the pacific mail won. a bill authorizing such contract was enacted june , that year, after prolonged and warm debates, and by close votes in house and senate. two years afterwards it was discovered that bribery had been employed in securing the passage of that act; the charge being that a million dollars had been spent by a corrupt lobby in pushing the bill through.[hg] upon these disclosures, and because the company had failed to fulfil its conditions, congress, by act of march , , abrogated the contract.[hh] in the first contract with the pacific mail for the japan and china service, expired. during its ten years' term the company had received from the government a total of $ , , . .[hi] with the pacific mail exposure the word subsidy became unsavory to the public taste, and for some years after no subsidy measure, however carefully guarded or respectably backed, could find favor in congress. a second project for subsidizing a new line to brazil, proposed by john roach, the noted american shipbuilder, in , was among those ventured, only to fail. * * * * * a decade later, in , when conditions seemed to be growing more propitious, the subject was revived with vigor by the introduction of a navigation subsidy bill proposed by the american shipping league.[hj] from this evolved in a tonnage bounty bill reported in the house by representative james m. farquhar of new york.[hk] the final outcome, indirectly, of these moves was the reëstablishment of the postal subsidy system, abandoned in , in the enactment march , , of what is known as the postal aid law. this one ship-subsidy law now on the statutes was in its original draft one of two proposed measures, termed respectively the mail ship bill and the cargo ship bill, both reported in the senate by senator william p. frye of maine. the cargo bill provided for navigation bounties to sailing-ships and steamers. the objects of these measures, as stated by the promoters, were "( ) to secure regular and quicker service to countries now reached; ( ) to make new and direct commercial exchanges with countries not now reached; ( ) to develop new and enlarge old markets in the interest of producers and consumers under the reciprocity treaties completed and under consideration; ( ) to assist the promotion of a powerful naval reserve; (s) to establish a training-school for american seamen."[hl] both bills passed the senate, but the house rejected the cargo bill and passed the mail bill only after amending it essentially. the subsidy rate was cut one-third on steamers of the first class--the highest class of ocean liners,[hm]--and was reduced on the second class. the act as finally approved comprises the following features: empowering the postmaster-general to contract for terms of from five to ten years with american citizens for carrying the mails on american steamships between ports of the united states and ports in foreign countries, the dominion of canada excepted; the service on such lines "to be equitably distributed among the atlantic, mexican gulf, and pacific ports." proposals to be invited by public advertisement three months before the letting of a contract; and the contract to go to the lowest responsible bidder. the steamships employed, to be american-built, owned and officered by american citizens; and the following proportion of the crews american citizens, to wit: "during the first two years of each contract, one-fourth thereof; during the next three succeeding years, one-third thereof; and during the remaining time of the continuance of such contract, at least one-half thereof." the subsidized steamships are ranked in four classes: in the first class, iron or steel screw steamships, capable of making a speed of twenty knots an hour at sea of ordinary weather, and of a gross tonnage of not less than , tons; second class, iron or steel, speed of sixteen knots, , tons; third class, iron or steel, fourteen knots, , tons; fourth class, iron or steel, or wooden, twelve knots, , tons. only those of the first class eligible to the contract service between the united states and great britain. all except the fourth class to be constructed under the supervision of the navy department, with particular reference to prompt and economical conversion into auxiliary cruisers, of sufficient strength and stability to carry and sustain at least four effective rifled cannon of a calibre of not less than six inches; and to be of the highest rating known to maritime commerce. the subsidy, or rate of compensation, as it is termed, for mail-carriage is thus fixed in each class: first class, not exceeding four dollars (in the original draft six dollars) a mile; second class, two dollars a mile, by the shortest practicable route for each outward voyage; third class, one dollar a mile; fourth class, two-thirds of a dollar a mile for the actual number of miles required by the post office department to be travelled on each outward bound voyage. pro rata deductions from the compensations, and penalties, are imposed for omission of a voyage or voyages, and for delays or irregularities in service. no steamship in the contract service is to receive any other bounty or subsidy from the national treasury. sanction is given to naval officers to volunteer for service on the contract mail steamships; and, while so employed, they are to receive furlough pay in addition to their steamship pay, provided they are required to perform such duties as appertain to the merchant service. the training-school for seamen is established by a provision requiring that the contract steamers "shall take cadets or apprentices, one american-born boy for each thousand tons gross register, and one for each majority fraction thereof, who shall be educated in the duties of seamanship, rank as petty officers, and receive such pay for their services as may be reasonable."[hn] the first advertisements for proposals under this act resulted in contracts with eleven existing lines, of the third and fourth classes. no bids were received for the north atlantic service calling for american-built steamships in the first class. but an offer was made by the american line[ho] to begin the performance of the service with two british-built liners--the _city of new york_ and the _city of paris_--acquired from the inman line, if these steamers were admitted to american registry, the company agreeing immediately to order two similar ships from american shipyards and add these to their fleet. the proposition was accepted, and a supplementary act was passed (may , ), legalizing such registry.[hp] the new american ships were promptly built,--the _st. louis_ and the _st. paul_, launched november, , and april, , respectively,--each , tons, "larger, swifter, safer, and more luxurious"[hq] than the two british-built vessels: a perfection of workmanship deemed a matter for congratulation by patriotic americans. to this extent at least the subsidy law was declared to have been beneficent. it had become evident, however, that the law was not fostering the establishment of new american-owned and american-built steamship lines as its promoters had hoped. in the contract service had been reduced by the discontinuance of three of the routes. in only three contracts were in operation. up to no lines had been established on the pacific under the law. in the judgment of the subsidy advocates the law's failure to produce the anticipated results only proved its inadequacy in not providing enough subsidy. accordingly, further measures were proposed affording a more generous supply. in december, , senator mark hanna, of ohio, brought forward a bill providing liberal navigation and speed bounties to all american vessels engaged in the foreign trade. this measure, as defined by its title, proposed "to promote the commerce and increase the foreign trade of the united states, and to promote auxiliary cruisers, transports, and seamen for government use when necessary." the subsidy was again termed "compensation." it was to be payable on gross tonnage for mileage sailed both outward and homeward bound, according to speed. the rate to steamships showing on trial test a speed above fourteen knots was to increase proportionately; sailing-ships and steamers of less trial speed than fourteen knots, were to receive the lowest rate. this was fixed at one dollar and fifteen cents per gross ton for each hundred of the first fifteen hundred miles sailed both outward and homeward bound, and one cent per gross ton for each hundred miles over one hundred miles both ways. the additional speed bounties ranged from one cent per gross ton for steamers of , tons and speeding fourteen knots, to . cents for those over , tons and showing twenty-three knots. the act was to be in force for a term of twenty years, and no contracts were to be made under it after ten years. the hanna bill met strong opposition, and was finally dropped. a substitute measure, drawn by senator frye, of maine, took its place. this also was lost with the adjournment of the fifty-seventh congress. at the opening of the next congress, in december, , senator frye introduced his bill in an amended form. this offered subsidies to contract mail-steamships based upon tonnage and speed, and practically restored the rates of the original postal aid bill. it further provided a fixed subsidy upon tonnage to other american steamers and sailing-ships, registered, and to be built in the united states. the bill passed the senate, but failed with the house. * * * * * in the matter was taken up with greater vigor, by president roosevelt. in his annual message to congress december , the president, "deeply concerned at the decline of our ocean fleet and the loss of skilled officers and seamen," recommended the appointment by congress of a joint commission to investigate and report at the next session, "what legislation is desirable or necessary for the development of the american merchant marine and american commerce, and, incidentally, of a national ocean mail service of adequate auxiliary naval cruisers and naval reserves." in response congress by act of april , , created the merchant marine commission with power to make the broadest kind of an inquiry. this body was composed of five senators and five representatives, two of the senators and two of the representatives members of the minority party. senator jacob h. gallinger of new hampshire was chairman. eight months between the adjournment and reassembling of congress was devoted to its appointed task. all the larger ports of the country were visited, its itinerary embracing the principal cities on the north atlantic seaboard, on the great lakes, on the pacific coast, and on the southern coast and gulf of mexico. hearings were given in all these places to hundreds of citizens: commercial bodies, shipbuilders, shipowners, shipping merchants, merchants in general trade, manufacturers, bankers, lawyers, editors, doctrinaires. so wide indeed was the investigation, and so liberal the "open door" rule, admitting for consideration any "intelligent suggestion offered in good faith," that "alien agents" of foreign steamships were heard with the rest.[hr] while differences of opinion as to methods and policies naturally were encountered, the commission declared that it found public sentiment, as this was sounded throughout the united states, "practically unanimous not in merely desiring, but in demanding an american ocean fleet, built, owned, officered, and so far as may be, manned by our own people." this sentiment was "just as earnest on the great lakes ... as on either ocean."[hr] the results of the investigation were embodied in an elaborate report, comprising majority and minority reports of the commission, and the mass of testimony taken at the hearings: the whole filling three large pamphlet volumes, in all of nearly two thousand pages.[hs] the majority reported a bill. this was presented as merely an extension of the principles of the postal aid act of , involving "no new departure from the established practice of the government." its ocean mail sections were intended "simply to strengthen the existing act on lines where it has happened to prove inadequate." the subsidies which it granted were termed, inoffensively, "subventions," and its promoters protested that these "subventions" were "not in any opprobrious sense a subsidy or bounty." they were "not bounties outright, or mere commercial subsidies such as many of our contemporaries give." they were "granted frankly in compensation for public services rendered and to be rendered."[ht] the proposed measure, however, was more than an extension of the act of . its scope was indicated by its title: "to promote the national defence, to create a force of naval volunteers, to establish american ocean mail lines to foreign markets, to promote commerce, and to provide revenue from tonnage." the subsidies offered comprised mail subventions to steamships; subventions to general cargo carriers and deep-sea fishing-ships, both steam and sail; and retainers to officers and men of american merchant ships and deep-sea fishing vessels enrolling as naval volunteers. it opened with provisions for the establishment of a naval reserve. the new mail subsidies provided for ten specified lines of "steamships of the united states" of sixteen, fourteen, thirteen, and twelve knots speed, to the greater countries of south america, to central america, to africa, and to the orient, with a total maximum subsidy for the ten lines of $ , , a year. in all contracts it was to be specified that the steamships must carry in their own crews a certain increasing proportion, up to one-fourth, of men enrolled as naval volunteers. the subventions to american general cargo carriers, or the "tramp" type of ships, and deep-sea fishing-vessels, steam or sail, were fixed at these rates: those engaged in the foreign trade for a full year, five dollars per gross ton; so engaged for nine months and less than a year, four dollars; for six months, two dollars. these subsidies were conditioned upon these requirements: the employment in the crews of a certain proportion of naval volunteers; one-sixth of the crews to be citizens of the united states or "men who have declared their intentions to become citizens;" ships to carry the mails when required free of charge; all ordinary repairs to be made in the united states; the ships to be in readiness for government taking for naval service in time of need. the payments in this class were to be made on contracts for a year at a time, renewable from year to year; and no vessel was to receive them for a longer period than ten years. the retainers to officers and men of the merchant marine and deep-sea fishing-ships as inducements to enroll as naval volunteers, were fixed at rates ranging from a hundred dollars a year for the master or chief engineer of a large steamship to twenty-five dollars for a sailor or fireman, and fifteen dollars for a boy, these retainers being independent of their regular pay. the provisions relating to tonnage revenue increased the tonnage taxes on all vessels, american and foreign, entering american ports, with a rebate of eighty per cent of the tonnage duties allowed to american ships carrying american boys as apprentices and training them in seamanship or engineering for the merchant service and naval reserve.[hu] the minority report, signed by three of the four democratic members of the commission, although outlining measures of relief which, in the judgment of the signers, would "accomplish substantial and permanent good without injustice to any other american interest and without doing violence to any fundamental principle of right or of organic law," proposed no bill. while the minority "saw objections to the entire bill" recommended by the majority, they were disposed to withhold any opposition except to the sections providing for direct subsidies. these they declared to be "so obnoxious to democratic principles and to the economic sense of the country" that they were compelled to enter their "earnest protest against their enactment into law." instead of subsidies, the remedial legislation which they outlined included: a return to the discriminating-duty policy; and the putting on the free list of all materials which enter into the construction of ships no matter whether intended for foreign or domestic trade,--thus admitting ships built from foreign materials, in whole or in part, to the coastwise trade, from which they are now excluded. the minority held also that it would probably "be necessary to remove the duties not only for materials but from all materials sold cheaper abroad than at home," meaning steel and iron products. "in this way, and in this way only, will our shipbuilders be enabled to obtain our materials at the prices at which they are sold to foreign shipbuilders."[hv] the report of the commission was submitted to the fifty-eighth congress, third session, january , .[hw] no action was had on the bill in that congress. it was referred to the committee on commerce; reported back to the senate with sundry amendments and a minority report against it;[hx] was debated tentatively; and finally passed over at the request of its sponsor, senator gallinger, who expressed himself as satisfied that the bill could not receive the consideration it deserved at that session. meanwhile both houses had directed a continuance of the commission's inquiry. in may the chairman, senator gallinger, held conferences in new york with several representatives of the shipping interests who had not been heard; and later sessions were held in washington, at which other statements were received and considered. at the opening of the fifty-ninth congress, december , , senator gallinger submitted a supplementary report of the commission, and with it introduced a new bill--the previous bill in a new draft.[hy] at the same time representative charles h. grosvenor, of ohio, the first house member of the commission, introduced the bill to the house. this draft added several new features to the original bill. the most important were provisions for increasing the subsidies payable under the law of to the single american contract line to europe, and to the oceanic line from san francisco to auckland and sydney. these provisions added two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to the former's subsidy of seven hundred and fifty thousand, and two hundred and seventeen thousand to the latter's of two hundred and eighty-three thousand. the reasons given for these increases were: in the case of the american line, because this line "meets the fiercest competition of the state-aided corporations of europe, soon to be intensified by the new subvention of one million one hundred thousand dollars granted to the cunard company by the british government, on terms so liberal as to make it equivalent to one and a half million dollars a year"; and in the case of the australasia line, because it "operates in pacific waters where cost of fuel, labor, etc., is considerably greater than at atlantic ports; ... is required to maintain a very high speed; ... employs exclusively white crews instead of the asiatics utilized by many other pacific companies." another provision, as a special encouragement for american shipowners to enter the philippine trade, added a subvention of thirty per cent above the regular rate, or six and a half dollars a ton. the naval volunteer retainers were extended to seamen of the great lakes and coastwise trade.[hz] in the senate the bill fared well as a whole. like the original bill it came back from the committee on commerce amended, though slightly, and with a minority report against it: the minority again emphasizing their "unqualified opposition to this renewed effort to donate to certain favored interests moneys collected by the government for public purposes under its power of taxation."[ia] it was closely fought by the opposition in debate, opened with senator gallinger's argument in its behalf on january , . but it successfully ran the gauntlet. further amended in several particulars, but unscathed in its essential parts, it passed the senate, february , by a vote of to , five republican senators and all the democrats voting in the negative.[ib] in the house its progress was less prosperous. it lay with the committee on merchant marine and fisheries into the second session of this congress; and more hearings were given. reframed after the enacting clause, but practically the same in principle, it was reported back january ( ) by mr. grosvenor, accompanied by an explanatory report of the majority of the committee;[ic] and bill and report were referred to the whole house on the state of the union. later the views of the minority were filed.[ic] on january a message from president roosevelt in behalf of the measure was received. the president particularly urged the "great desirability of enacting legislation to help american shipping and american trade by encouraging the building and running of lines of large and swift steamers to south america and the orient." as striking evidence of the "urgent need of our country's making an effort to do something like its share of its own carrying trade on the ocean," he directed attention to the address of secretary root before the trans-mississippi commercial congress at kansas city, mo., the previous november, giving the results of the secretary's experiences on his recent south american tour. the proposed law, mr. roosevelt repeated, was in no sense experimental. it was "based on the best and most successful precedents, as for instance on the recent cunard contract with the british government." so far as south america was concerned, its aim was to "provide from the atlantic and pacific coasts better american lines to the great ports of south america than the present european lines." under it "our trade friendship" would "be made evident to the south american republics."[id] backed by the explanatory report and this message, the friends of the measure opened the debate, february , mr. grosvenor leading. it was a great debate, long and hot. numerous amendments were put in; some changing the proposed routes, others adding new ones. at length on march , three days before the end of this congress, the much amended bill was passed, and went back to the senate for concurrence.[ie] as it now stood it was shorn of the provisions for lines from the pacific coast to japan, china, the philippines, and australasia. the new subsidized lines were all to run to south america. two of these were to run from the atlantic coast to brazil and argentina, respectively; one, from the pacific coast to peru and chile; and one from the gulf of mexico to brazil. on all four lines sixteen-knot steamers were required, with speed on the average above the european mail lines to south america. the subsidies were reserved exclusively to ships to be built in the united states, so that the mail service could not be performed by existing steamers; thus a wholly new ocean-mail fleet was guaranteed.[if] the bill was reached in the senate march , and strenuous efforts were made by senator gallinger and others to push it through. but it failed in the closing hours of the session to reach a vote. so this measure fell.[ig] another effort was made in the sixtieth congress. in his message at the beginning of this congress (december , ) president roosevelt recommended an amendment to the act of march , , "which shall authorize the postmaster-general in his discretion to enter into contracts for the transportation of mails to the republics of south america, to asia, the philippines, and australia at a rate not to exceed four dollars a mile for steamships of sixteen-knots speed or upward, subject to the restrictions and obligations" of that act. in other words, to give the same subsidy to steamers in these services as allowed to the twenty-knot american mail transatlantic line, instead of two dollars a mile.[ih] a bill to this effect was introduced in the senate december [ii]; on february , , was reported back from the committee on commerce so amended as to provide the four-dollar-a-mile subsidy to american sixteen-knot steamers on routes of four thousand miles or more to south america, the philippines, japan, china, and australasia; was debated at length; further amended; and finally, passed, march . in the house it was referred to the committee on post office and post roads;[ij] issued therefrom in a dew draft;[ik] debated; and finally failed to pass. thereupon the subsidized service to australia by way of honolulu and the samoan group was abandoned. again the measure was pressed in the sixty-first congress. it now had the backing of president taft. in his annual message december , , "following," as he graciously said, "the course of my distinguished predecessor," he earnestly recommended the passage of a "ship-subsidy bill looking to the establishment of lines between our atlantic seaboard and the eastern coast of south america, china, japan, and the philippines." the bill, as introduced by senator gallinger (february , ), provided for subsidized lines of the second and third classes on routes to the points named by mr. taft, four thousand miles or more in length outward voyage, or on routes to the isthmus of panama: the second class to receive the subsidy rate per mile provided in the law of for steamers of the first class, and the third class the rate applicable to the second class. if no contract should be made for a line between a southern port and south american ports, and two or more should be established from northern atlantic ports, it was required that one of the latter should touch outward and homeward at two ports of call south of cape charles. the total expenditure for foreign mail-service in any one year was limited--not to exceed the estimated revenue therefrom for that year.[il] the bill came back from the committee on commerce in march without amendment, and with a report.[im] in june it was put over for consideration in december of the third session of this congress. when at length it was reached, senator gallinger submitted a substitute. this, instead of naming the points to be covered, provided for subsidized routes to south america south of the equator outward voyage; provided for one port of call instead of two on the southern atlantic coast; guarded against "discrimination detrimental to the public interest," in other words "combines," by a provision that no contract be awarded to any bidder engaged in any competitive transportation business by rail, or in the business of exporting or importing on his own account, or bidding for or in the interest of any person or corporation engaged in such business, or having control thereof through stock ownership or otherwise; and fixed the limit of the total expenditure for foreign mail service in any one year at four million dollars. this substitute was finally passed on february , , by a vote of to , the chairman casting his vote in the affirmative. in the house the measure went to the committee on post office and post roads; and there rested. various other subsidy bills and measures for the revival of the ocean merchant marine without subsidies, were put into this congress, as in previous ones, but few escaped from the committees; and these few fell short of passage. footnotes: [footnote fs: wells, chaps. and , pp. - . also rept. of commissioner of navigation for .] [footnote ft: u.s. statutes at large. also rept. of commission of navigation, .] [footnote fu: marvin, pp. - .] [footnote fv: u.s. statutes at large, vol. v, p. .] [footnote fw: this contract in executive document, th cong., st sess, no. .] [footnote fx: u.s. statutes at large, vol. ix, p. .] [footnote fy: meeker.] [footnote fz: u.s. statutes at large, vol. ix, p. .] [footnote ga: meeker.] [footnote gb: for the sloo contract see exec. does., nd congr., st sess., no. .] [footnote gc: for this contract see exec. docs., nd cong., st sess., no. .] [footnote gd: meeker. this contract in exec. docs., nd cong., st sess., no. , pp. - .] [footnote ge: navy appropriation bills, aug. , , march , .] [footnote gf: u.s. statutes at large, vol. ix, p. .] [footnote gg: exec. docs., th cong., st sess., no. .] [footnote gh: exec. docs., th cong., st sess., no. .] [footnote gi: marvin, p. .] [footnote gj: meeker.] [footnote gk: report in the senate sept. , , in exec. docs., nd cong., st sess., no. , pp. - .] [footnote gl: meeker.] [footnote gm: for contract see exec. docs., nd cong., st sess., no. , pp. - .] [footnote gn: exec. docs., nd cong., st sess., no. , pp. - .] [footnote go: marvin, p. . the measurement of these steamers is differently given by spears: p. . "when done, the ships were found to have fine models--they rode the waves in a way that excited the admiration of all sailors. but the keelsons under the engines were only inches deep, while the keels were ft. long, and there was 'give' enough to rack the engines to pieces." spears, p. .] [footnote gp: meeker.] [footnote gq: u.s. statutes at large, vol. xi, p. ; chap. clxi, aug. , .] [footnote gr: same appropriation act for ocean steamship service, june , .] [footnote gs: marvin, p. .] [footnote gt: meeker gives the details as follows: bremen line ( - ) $ , , ; havre line ( - ) $ , ; collins line ( - ) $ , , ; new york to aspinwall ( - ) $ , , ; astoria and san francisco to panama ( - ) $ , , ; charleston to havana ( - ) $ , .] [footnote gu: marvin, p. .] [footnote gv: bates, p. .] [footnote gw: same, p. .] [footnote gx: marvin, p. .] [footnote gy: george frisbie hoar.] [footnote gz: marvin, p. .] [footnote ha: bates, p. .] [footnote hb: united states statutes at large, vol. xiii, p. .] [footnote hc: session of - .] [footnote hd: report of the select committee on the merchant marine, in repts. of committee, , st cong., d bess., house kept., no. .] [footnote he: house rept., no. , st cong., nd sess.] [footnote hf: house report, no. , st cong., d sess.] [footnote hg: house docs., no. , also miscellaneous docs.; nos. and , d cong., nd sess.] [footnote hh: house docs., no. , rd cong., st sess.] [footnote hi: meeker.] [footnote hj: house docs., rept., no. , st cong., st sess.] [footnote hk: text of this bill in bates, pp. - .] [footnote hl: house rept., no. , st cong., d sess.] [footnote hm: marvin, p. .] [footnote hn: united states statutes at large, vol. xxvi, p. .] [footnote ho: originally the international navigation company established in philadelphia in , and beginning service between philadelphia and liverpool with four american-built steamships.] [footnote hp: united states statutes at large, vol. xxvii, p. .] [footnote hq: marvin, p. .] [footnote hr: report of the merchant marine commission ( ), vol. i, p. iii.] [footnote hs: report of the merchant marine commission, together with the testimony taken at the hearings, vols., p. ; senate report, no. , th cong., d sess.] [footnote ht: same: report of the majority, vol. i, pp. xxiii, xxx, xxxi.] [footnote hu: this bill in report of the merchant marine commission, vol. i, pp. xlvi, li.] [footnote hv: rept. of the merch. marine com., views of the minority, vol. i, p. lvi.] [footnote hw: senate bill, , th cong., d sess.] [footnote hx: senate report no. , th cong., d sess.] [footnote hy: senate report no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote hz: senate report no. i, th cong., st sess. this bill is senate no. .] [footnote ia: senate report no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote ib: cong. record, vol. , part i, th cong., d sess.] [footnote ic: house report no. , th cong., d sess.] [footnote id: house doc. no. , th cong., d sess.] [footnote ie: cong. record, vol. , part , th cong., d sess., p. .] [footnote if: cong. record, th cong., d sess., p. .] [footnote ig: same, p. .] [footnote ih: senate report no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote ii: senate bill no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote ij: cong. record, th cong., p. .] [footnote ik: house bill no. , th cong., st sess.] [footnote il: senate bill no. , th cong., d sess.] [footnote im: senate report no. , same.] chapter xiv summary ship subsidies, open or concealed, are now granted by nearly every maritime nation. whatever may be the designation of these government grants,--whether mail subsidies, naval subventions, retaining fees for possible naval service, construction bounties, navigation bounties, trade bounties, government loans, government partnerships, tariff advantages, canal refunds,--whatever may be their form, all are distinctly government aids, direct or indirect, the primary object of which is the development and expansion of the merchant marine of each nation granting them; and generally, if not universally, the upbuilding of this marine for service in time of need as an auxiliary to the national navy. summarized, the various grants of the various nations thus appear: _great britain_ grants mail subsidies, and admiralty subventions; her colonies, steamship subsidies. _france_: mail subsidies; construction and navigation bounties; fisheries bounties. _germany_: mail subsidies; steamship subsidies; preferential rates on the state railroads for shipbuilding materials. _belgium_: premiums to certain steamship lines; pilotage refunds. _austria-hungary_: mail subsidies; construction and navigation bounties; suez canal refunds. hungary; bounties to hungarian ships. _italy_: mail subsidies; construction and navigation bounties. _spain_: mail subsidies; construction and navigation bounties. _portugal_: mail subventions to steamship companies. _denmark_: trade subsidies; exemptions from harbor dues. _sweden_: state contributions--loans to steamship companies. _norway_: state contributions; trade subsidies. _russia_: mail subsidies; mileage subsidies; government loans; steamship subsidies; suez canal refunds. _japan_: state aid to steamship companies; mail subsidies; construction and navigation bounties; fisheries bounties. _china_: state aid to steamship companies; subsidies to ship-yards. _south america_: brazil and argentina, subsidies to foreign steamship companies. _united states_: mail subsidies to seven steamship lines. the united states confines the coastwise trade to american ships, and these are exempted from tonnage dues. it excludes foreign-built ships from american registry, admitting only american ships, or those taken in war as prizes or forfeited for a breach of united states laws, belonging to american citizens.[in] ownership of american ships is restricted to "citizens of the united states, or a corporation organized under the laws of any of the states thereof."[io] the master of an american ship, and all officers in charge of a watch, including the pilots, must be american citizens. since foreign materials for ship-building have been admitted free of duty. since such materials, and all articles necessary for the outfit and equipment of ships, have been duty-free, with this proviso: that vessels receiving these rebates of duties "shall not be allowed to engage in the coastwise trade of the united states more than six months in any one year," except upon repayment of the duties remitted; and that vessels built for foreign account and ownership shall not engage in this trade.[ip] in the subsidized american service covered only the one transatlantic line from new york to southampton, calling at plymouth and cherbourg; lines to the north coast of south america--to venezuela; to mexico; to havana; to jamaica; and on the pacific, from san francisco to tahiti. the total cost of the service for the year on these seven subsidized routes was $ , , . , a net excess over the amount allowable at present rates to steamers not under contract of $ , . , or, deducting the amount would have been paid non-contract steamers for the despatch of the foreign closed mails which these steamers carry without additional cost to the department, a total excess of $ , . .[iq] "all other mail service between the united states and foreign countries," the postmaster-general regretfully reported, is "wholly dependent on steamships over whose sailings the department has no control."[ir] * * * * * the total tonnage of the united states in as given by lloyd's was , , tons: no. of vessels. tons. sea , , northern lakes , , philippine islands , ---- --------- total , , the number of ships on the lakes as given does not include wooden vessels trading on the great lakes. while the ocean tonnage has declined from more than two and a half million tons in to some eight hundred thousand tons, that engaged in the coastwise and inland trade has steadily increased for many years.[is] on the great lakes especially is employed a fine and powerful merchant fleet. the end. footnotes: [footnote in: registry law of , in revised statutes, sec. .] [footnote io: revised statutes, see. .] [footnote ip: tariff act of aug. , , sec. .] [footnote iq: postoffice department report, .] [footnote ir: postmaster-general hitchcock, report, .] [footnote is: american year book, .] index _adriatic_, the steamer, american shipping league, american steamship company, american year book, _reference to_, anderson, com. gen. george e., _reference to_, _arctic_, the steamer, _argentina_, use of subsidies in, aspinwall, w.h., _atlantic_, the steamer, atlantic transport line, _auguste victoria_, the steamer, australasia line, australian line, austria-hungary, history of the use of subsidies in, provisions for two classes of subsidies in, increase in the proportion of steamers built in, total of tonnage in, grants of, austrian lloyd company, austro-american shipping company, austro-hungarian lloyd company, _see_ austrian lloyd company. babbitt, vice con. gen. e.g., _reference to_, _baltic_, the steamer, barker, j. ellis, _reference to his_ "modern germany," bates, w.w., _reference to his_, "american marine," belgium, use of subsidies in, bismarck's memorial to the german reichstag, _reference to_, black sea navigation company, brazil, use of subventions in, _britannia_, the steamer, brown, james, brown, stewart, _california_, the steamer, canada, granting of mail and steamship subsidies by, cargo ship bill, the, charleston and havana line, _chargeurs réunis_, chile, use of mail subsidies, china, use of subsidies in, chinese merchants' steam navigation company, _city of new york_, the steamer, _city of paris_, the steamer, "clippers," american, colbert, finance minister of france, collins, edward k., collins line, the, _columbia_, the steamer, _campagnie des messagéries maritimes_, _compagnie fraissant_, _compagnie générale transatlantique_, compañia transatlantica española, la, cromwell, code of, _see_ maritime charter of england, great, cunard, samuel, cunard company, _curaçoa_, the steamer, dawson, gen. william, jr., _reference to_, denmark, granting of postal subventions and "trade" subsidies by, dominion line, "dramatic line," dutch east indian lines, east african line, east asian line, england, history of the use of subsidies in, first navigation law of, great maritime charter of, cromwell's code for, competition between the united states and, testing of steam for navigation in, building of steamships, total of subsidies paid in, grants of, _falcon_, the steamer, farquhar, james m., france, history of the use of subsidies in, the navigation laws of, the disappearance of the domestic mercantile marine of, commercial treaty between england and, the merchant marine act of, organization of steamship companies in, granting of "shipping premiums" in, total cost of bounty system in, capacity of, for building steamships, grants of, _franklin_, the steamer, frye, william p., gaffney, t. st. j., u.s. consul, gallinger, jacob h., _georgia_, the steamer, german-australian line, germany, history of the use of subsidies in, first steps in domestic shipbuilding in, establishment of a subsidized mail service in, building of large steamships in, extraordinary growth of the merchant marine in, grants of, _great britain_, the steamer, _great western_, the steamer, great western steamship company, green, john r., _reference to his_ "short history of the english people," greener, gen. r.t., u.s. con., _reference to_, grosvenor, charles h., hamburg-american lines, hanna, mark, harris, arnold, _hermann_, the steamer, hitchcock, postmaster-general, _reference to_ report of, hoar, george frisbie, holland, maritime supremacy of, granting of subventions for carrying mails in, _humboldt_, the steamer, hungary, _see_ austria-hungary _illinois_, the steamer, _indiana_, the steamer, inman, john, "inman line," "international mercantile marine company," international navigation company, _see_ american line italian general navigation company, italy, history of the use of subsidies in, construction, subsidies provided for in, mail subvention system of, increase of tonnage in, grants of, japan, history of the use of subsidies in, japan mail steamship company, _see, nippon yusen kaisha_, the japan year book, _reference to_, jwasaki yataro, the japanese merchant, law, george, lindsay, w.h., _reference to his_ "history of merchant shipping," _also his_, "our navigation laws," _lloyd brazileiro_, the, lloyd italiano line, lloyd's register, _reference to_, _lusitania_, the steamer, lynch, john, lynch bounty bill, macgregor, john, _reference to his_, "commercial tariffs," mellvaine, bowes, mail ship bill, the, maritime charter of england, great, marvin, winthrop l., _reference to his_ "american merchant marine," _mauretania_, the steamer, meeker, royal, _reference to his_ "history of ship subsidies," merchant marine commission, the, miller, con. gen. h.b., _reference to_, mills, edward, mordecai, m.c., morgan, j. pierpont, "morgan steamship merger," _see_ "international mercantile marine company" navigation, report of (u.s.) commissioner of, _reference to_, navigation law, first english, new orleans packet line, new york, havre, and bremen line, new york and chagres line, _nippon yusen kaisha_, the, north german lloyd line, norway, granting of subsidies for mail carriage by, o'brien; thomas, u.s. ambassador, _reference to_, ocean steam navigation company, _ohio_, the steamer, _olympic_, the steamer, _oregon_, the steamer, _pacific_, the steamer, pacific mail steamship company, pacific steam navigation company, _panama_, the steamer, parliamentary papers, _reference to_, _pennsylvania_, the steamer, portugal, granting of postal subventions and subsidies by, postal aid law, the, postal ocean steamship company, preble, george h., _reference to his_, "chronological history of steam navigation," _princeton_, sloop-of-war, the, red star line, ricardo, john lewis, _reference to his_, "anatomy of the navigation laws," roach, john, roberts, marshall o., roosevelt, president, root, secretary, royal mail steam packet company, _royal william_, the steamer, russia, history of the use of subsidies in, proposed granting of bounties in the form of loans, increase in the fleet of, grants of, russian volunteer fleet, st. george's packet company, _st. louis_, the steamer, _st. paul_, the steamer, sammons, thomas, u.s. con. gen., _savannah_, the first steamer to cross the atlantic, shipbuilding, in the united states, in england, in france, in germany, in austria-hungary, in spain, in russia, in japan, in the united states, _sirius_, the steamer, sloo, a.g., skinner, robert, u.s. consul, small, consul general, _reference to_, smith, u.s. consul, _reference to_, snodgrass, con. gen. john h., _reference to_, south america, use of subsidies in, spain, history of the use of subsidies in, spears, john r., _reference to his_ "story of the american merchant marine," subsidy, definition of term, various forms of, use of, in england, in canada, in france, in germany, in holland and belgium, in austria-hungary, in italy, in spain, in portugal, in denmark, norway, and sweden, in russia, in japan, in china, in south america, in the united states, summary of, sweden, granting of subsidies for mail carriage by, taft, president, _tennessee_, the steamer, union maritime company, united states, competition in the overseas between england and the, history of the proposed system of ship subsidies in the, establishment of mail steamers in the, the "clippers" of the, revival of the steamship-subsidizing policy in the, condition of the merchant marine in the, bills in congress relative to bounties in the, grants of the, ownership of ships in the, subsidized service of, in , total tonnage of the, van tromp, the dutch admiral, vera cruz packet line, viallatés, achille, _reference to_, _washington_, the steamer, wells, david a., _reference to his_ "our merchant marine," wheelwright, william, white star line, wood, j.k., u.s. consul, _reference to_, transcriber's notes this is a plain text version. it uses the latin- character set. the following are used to represent special characters and marks: [~d] [~r] indicates a tilde above d, r [p=] indicates a line below p [=o] [=co] [=xon] indicate an overline extending , & characters [^p] indicates an inverted breve above p [oe] indicates an oe ligature italic typeface in the original is indicated with _underscores_. bold typeface in the original is indicated by upper case. small capital typeface in the original is indicated by upper case. there are a large number of footnotes which have been numbered sequentially and grouped together at end of the book. there are numerous quotations from documents in german, french and archaic english which use many abbreviations, variant spellings and inconsistent spellings. these are retained, unless an obvious typo correction is listed at the end of this document. * * * * * studies in economics and political science. edited by the hon. w. pember reeves, ph.d., _director of the london school of economics and political science._ no. in the series of monographs by writers connected with the london school of economics and political science. the development of rates of postage * * * * * the development of rates of postage an historical and analytical study by a. d. smith, b.sc. (econ.) of the secretary's office, general post office, london with an introduction by the right hon. herbert samuel, m.p. postmaster-general - and - london: george allen & unwin ltd. ruskin house museum street, w.c. [_thesis approved for the degree of doctor of science_ (economics) _in the university of london_] _first published in _ (_all rights reserved_) preface this study, which was prepared primarily as a research studentship report for the university of london, is intended to be a contribution to the history of rates of postage, and an attempt to ascertain the principles, economic or otherwise, on which they are and have been based. the postmaster-general accorded me permission to consult the official records at the general post office, london, and through this courtesy i have been enabled to include a detailed examination of the economic aspect of the rates in the inland service in this country, and to place in the appendix copies of some original documents which have not before been printed. without this permission, which i desire here to acknowledge, it would, indeed, scarcely have been possible to undertake the inquiry. it must be made clear, however, that the work is of entirely private character, and cannot be taken as in any way expressing the views of the british postal administration. in , as the holder of the mitchell studentship in economics at the university of london, i visited ottawa and washington; in i visited paris and the international bureau at berne; and in , berlin. i am much indebted to the various postal administrations visited, to whom, by the courtesy of the postmaster-general, i carried official letters of introduction in addition to my letters from the university, for facilities to consult official papers relating to the subject of investigation, and for assistance from members of the staff with whom i was brought into contact. the work was all but completed at the outbreak of war, but publication has been unavoidably delayed. the overpowering necessities created by the war have caused governments again to look to postage for increased revenue. penny postage itself has been in danger in the country of its origin. various war increases of postage have already been made, both here and abroad, and brief particulars of the changes in the countries dealt with have been included. further proposals for increasing the revenue from postage will possibly be made, and i am hopeful that these pages, in which the course of postage is traced, may then be found of service. for the privilege of numerous facilities in connection with my work on the rates in this country i am indebted to mr. w. g. gates, assistant-secretary to the post office; and for assistance in my inquiries abroad i am indebted to dr. r. m. coulter, c.m.g., deputy postmaster-general, ottawa, and mr. william smith, i.s.o., at the time of my visit secretary to the canada post office; to congressman the hon. david lewis, of maryland, and mr. joseph stewart, second assistant postmaster-general, united states post office; to m. vaillé, of the secrétariat administratif, ministry of posts and telegraphs, paris; and to m. ruffy, director of the international bureau, universal postal union, berne. i am especially indebted to professor graham wallas for valuable suggestions and advice. a. d. smith. london school of economics, . contents page preface v introduction xi i. the rate for letters-- letter post in england letter post in canada letter post in the united states of america letter post in france letter post in germany ii. the rate for newspapers-- newspaper post in england newspaper post in canada newspaper post (second-class mail) in the united states of america newspaper post in france newspaper post in germany iii. the rate for parcels-- parcel post in england parcel post in the united states of america parcel post in france parcel post in germany iv. minor rates-- (i) book post (ii) samples (iii) commercial papers (iv) postcards (v) rate for printed matter for the blind (vi) minor rates in the united states and canada v. local rates vi. international rates-- (i) international letter post (ii) international parcel post vii. an analysis of cost-- method cost viii. conclusion appendix a-- i. rates of inland letter postage charged in england, - ii. foreign rates in the british service iii. the thurn and taxis posts in germany iv. parcel post in canada v. the supplemental services vi. post office revenue vii. graphs appendix b-- documents and extracts illustrating aspects of postal history-- (i) ancient posts (ii) nuncii and cursores (iii) witherings' scheme for the reform of the posts in england, (iv) the monopoly and the general farm of the posts (v) the english post office in (vi) the cross posts (vii) the early posts in north america (viii) the clerks of the road and the transmission of newspapers appendix c-- list of authorities index introduction this book contains a collection of facts and an examination of principles which will be of value to all students of the subject with which it deals. it is more comprehensive than any book on rates of postage yet published in the english language, or, i believe, in any other. it is careful and unbiased, and although here and there some of the author's conclusions may not meet with unanimous acceptance, they cannot fail to stimulate useful discussion on a matter which is far more important than is often realized. the whole of our social organization has come to depend in large degree upon the post. commerce, in all its departments, relies upon it. all the variety of associations which are, in their wide expansion, distinctive of modern civilization and necessary to its life and energy--employers' associations, trade unions, co-operative societies, friendly societies, religious bodies, political and propagandist organizations of every kind, local, national, and international--the whole nervous system of the modern state, depends upon the quick transmission of information and ideas; it would never have reached and could not maintain its present development without cheap, reliable, and speedy means of communication. the indirect effects of changes--even small changes--in the postal system are often extensive and almost incalculable. where the state itself conducts an industry there is always a risk that commercial considerations and fiscal considerations will not be sufficiently distinguished. charges may be fixed at a higher point than is warranted by the cost of the services rendered. the surplus goes to the national revenue. it is a tax, but a concealed tax, and in the case of postal rates it is one of the worst kinds of tax, a tax on communications. on the other hand, charges may be fixed at a lower point than will cover the cost of the service. the deficit is a subsidy, but a concealed subsidy. the halfpenny postage rate for bulky newspapers, for example, or the extension of telegraph offices to rural districts, may be socially useful, but they are unremunerative. the loss that they involve to the exchequer may be justifiable, but if so it should be deliberately incurred. it should not be hidden in the profit that is made on the letter post. without a scientific examination into the actual cost of each part of the postal and telegraphic service, and into the precise relation of revenue to cost, the charges may include, haphazard, an excess which is nothing but pure taxation, the expenditure may include an addition which is nothing but pure subsidy, and neither the administrator nor the taxpayer may be aware of the fact. it is therefore one of the essential duties of the post office to make such examinations, and of students or critics of postal affairs to check or to supplement them. mr. a. d. smith has made a useful contribution to the application, in this sphere, of the methods of science to the conduct of industry; and since the postal service is the most international of all forms of social activity, it may be expected that his contribution will be of value, and will have its influence, far beyond the limits of our own country. herbert samuel. i the rate for letters letter post in england in england the postal service, as an organized means for the carrying of the king's despatches, dates back some four hundred years, and as a recognized arrangement for the carrying of letters for the public, some three hundred years. before the establishment of a regular system of posts, provision had been made for carrying the king's despatches by special messengers, called _nuncii_ or _cursores_, attached to the royal household.[ ] their function was naturally one of importance, and, from early times, large sums were expended in their maintenance. they were employed on the private and confidential business of the crown and of members of the royal household, and on affairs of state, both in england and abroad, although their function was primarily to serve the convenience of the king. this was a system for the conveyance of official despatches only.[ ] no public provision was made for the conveyance of letters for private individuals. such letters were conveyed by servants, by special messengers, or by the common carriers,[ ] and there is evidence of the existence of a considerable private correspondence in the frequent issue of writs during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ordering supervision of the traffic in private letters, the uninterrupted transmission of which was a source of much anxiety to the crown from fear of the fomenting of sinister and treasonable plots against itself.[ ] the establishment of the _nuncii_ or _cursores_ developed into a regular system. on certain lines of road relay stages were set up, at which the messengers might without delay obtain a change of horses, a system first set up by edward iv in , during the war with scotland.[ ] such relay messengers were called "posts," a word borrowed from the french.[ ] the term was also applied to the line of route, and the expression "post," or "line of posts," was used to denote a route along which, at certain stages, post-horses were kept in readiness for the use of the king's messengers. travelling in this way the messengers were able to cover a hundred miles a day. the establishment of lines of regular posts became a feature of the administrative system, and a special officer of the royal household was appointed to control them. the first recorded master of the posts was brian tuke, who held the office in . the posts, like the establishment of special messengers, were maintained solely at the cost of the king. the master received a salary from the king (which in a patent issued in is given as £ s. d. a year), and also the amount of his expenses incurred in providing for the carrying of letters. the regular postmasters received a daily wage from the king. on lines along which no regular post had been established, but along which it might on occasion be necessary to send special messengers, the townships were obliged to furnish horses for the service of the messengers. remarks in contemporary papers suggest that no payment was made in such cases, but that horses were supplied gratis for the king's service.[ ] there is no record of the early days of tuke's tenure of the office of master of the posts; but in thomas cromwell complained to tuke concerning the condition of the posts, and the great default in the conveyance of letters.[ ] the posts were in many cases established on account of some special circumstance, and were of a temporary character. the first regular post--that established in during the war with scotland--was, of course, temporary; but at much later dates, when "ordinarie," or permanent, posts had been established, such as the post from london to berwick and that from london to beaumaris, it was still usual to establish "extra ordinarie" posts "in divers places of the realme" as occasion might from time to time require, as, for example, during the periods of the sovereign's progresses.[ ] the early posts had a second function, not less in importance than that of providing for the conveyance of the sovereign's despatches, and despatches sent on affairs of state viz. the provision of means by which persons actually travelling on the business of the sovereign, though not bearing despatches, might do so with facility. this second function, the travelling post, continued until the eighteenth century. it is a function which is essentially akin to the provision of a means of intercommunication by means of letters. in many parts of the united kingdom, and also in other countries, the means provided for the conveyance of the mail are still largely used by persons desiring to travel.[ ] the use of the post-horses by ordinary travellers commenced at an early period. in , when the posts had been in existence only some fifty or sixty years, a rate of a penny a mile for persons riding post was fixed by statute.[ ] great abuses grew up round the travelling post, or "thorough post," as it was called.[ ] riders in post frequently failed to pay a reasonable sum for the hire of horses; and since king's messengers, although paying no fixed rates, obtained better accommodation than others, riders in post travelling on their own affairs made no scruple to represent themselves as travelling on public service. orders directed against these abuses were issued in . riders in post on the king's affairs, with a special commission signed either by one of the principal secretaries of state, by six at least of the privy council, or by the master of the posts, were to pay at the rate of - / d. a mile for a horse. all others riding post about their own affairs were to make their own terms with the postmaster, and to pay in advance.[ ] the net result was that for all persons riding with the special commission a fixed rate was payable in place of uncertain rates as hitherto, and the postmasters were protected from being imposed upon by persons riding post on their private business. without the special commission it was useless to pretend to be travelling on the king's affairs. by this proclamation the postmasters were also given the exclusive right of letting horses to travellers.[ ] the wages of the postmasters in respect of the "post for the pacquet" were a fixed sum per day, and a certain number of horses had to be kept in readiness, in proportion to the amount of the wages paid. as regards the service for the state, the system of posts was therefore on a complete and definite financial basis. the rates for the thorough post, although not in any way rates of postage in the modern sense, were the first rates applied to the service of the posts (the pay of the postmasters for the packet post being merely wages per diem), and it was to them that the term "postage" was first applied. these rates were in fact the original "postage." the number of regular posts was in early times quite small.[ ] in order to provide a means of reaching other parts of the kingdom with some degree of facility, the municipalities were required to maintain, or at least provide when required, post-horses for the use of the king's messengers.[ ] some municipalities made definite provision of horses: leicester, for example, maintained "certen poste-horses" (four in number) for the service of the prince; but if horses were not provided voluntarily, the magistrates and constables were authorized to seize them for the king's service wherever they could be found.[ ] many of the posts continued for a long period to be of a temporary nature. even in the seventeenth century some which it might be thought would have been important at any time, were regarded as extraordinary posts, and were discontinued with the disappearance of the special circumstances on account of which they had been established.[ ] a third function became attached to the posts, viz. the transmission of private letters. as it is impossible to say at what date the posts began to be used by ordinary travellers, so it is impossible to say at what date they were first used for the conveyance of letters other than those on the affairs of the king or of the state. the universities and municipalities provided services for the carriage of their own letters;[ ] but from a very early period the posts were also made use of for the conveyance of unofficial letters. the master of the posts received no direct profit from the carrying of such letters,[ ] but the price paid to him for the office of deputy postmaster was probably thereby increased.[ ] a proclamation of th april prohibited the conveyance of letters to or from countries beyond the seas by any person other than the ordinary posts and messengers; and referred to previous similar prohibitions. the object of this prohibition, which foreshadowed the monopoly of the carriage of all letters, whether for places within the realm or to or from foreign countries, was alleged to be the redress of disorders among the posts in general, and particularly to prevent inconveniences both to the royal service and the lawful trade of honest merchants.[ ] a proclamation of repeated this prohibition.[ ] in a legal struggle was in progress between matthew de quester and lord stanhope, both of whom claimed to hold a king's patent conferring the right to carry foreign letters.[ ] this litigation led to laxity and omission in the conduct of the foreign service, so that merchants trading abroad were put to great inconvenience. in consequence, in november of that year, the king granted the merchant companies permission to arrange for the conveyance of their foreign letters by their own messengers. the high authorities were disturbed by the grant of this permission,[ ] and in october it was revoked "upon weightie reasons of state." only the merchant adventurers were still permitted to use their own messengers, and they and all other merchants were required in times of war and danger to the state to acquaint the secretaries of state from time to time with what letters they forwarded abroad. the foreign post continued in an unsatisfactory state, and a reorganization in accordance with a proposition submitted by the master of the foreign posts, thomas witherings, was notified in orders issued on the th january . in consequence of complaints, both of ministers of state and merchants, it was decided to send no more letters by the carriers, who came and went at pleasure, but, in conformity with other nations, to erect "stafetti," or packet posts, at fit stages, to run day and night without ceasing. under this new system the foreign postmaster of england undertook, with the consent of the foreign governments, to provide "stafetti" for the conveyance of foreign letters on the continent, e.g. he arranged the "stafetti" between calais and antwerp. for the inland posts the financial arrangements of remained some thirty years undisturbed, and notwithstanding that the posts were used by travellers, and for the general conveyance of private letters, they remained a charge on the king's revenue. in the deficit was some £ , , and in that year witherings submitted a plan for the complete reorganization of the inland posts.[ ] the new system, which applied only to the "post for the pacquet," was to be based on a definite scale of charges. previously, there had been no regular system of charging letters carried for the public, and it is at this point that the modern post office emerges. up to this time the conveyance of letters for private individuals, although it may have been a source of emolument to the postmasters and couriers, was not recognized by the state as part of the function of the service. under the proposed system, a charge was to be made for every letter or packet, varying in accordance with the distance for which the letter or packet was conveyed, and its size. the latter was to be graduated for light letters according to the number of sheets, and for heavier letters and packets according to weight, starting from the ounce. here, therefore, is to be seen at the inception of "postage" in the modern sense a definite distinction between the rate charged on the ordinary letter, the weight and bulk of which are in general insignificant, and that charged on the larger and heavier packets of deeds, or what not, which might be forwarded by post. the reform of the posts on these lines was carried out by witherings in october , and constitutes a remarkable development of the post office system. the rates of charge were as follow:-- -----------------------------------+--------+--------+-------- | | | | single | double | per distance of transmission. | letter.| letter.| ounce. | | | -----------------------------------+--------+--------+-------- | | | not exceeding miles | d. | d. | d. exceeding miles, not exceeding | | | miles | d. | d. | d. exceeding miles | d. | d. | d. | | | -----------------------------------+--------+--------+-------- the great change of modified this system only at two points, viz. ( ) uniformity of rate, that is, the elimination of the table of distances from the rate-table, and ( ) the introduction of the method of charge according to weight for all letters and packets. the monopoly of foreign letters was by this time well established, and the reason for its existence well defined. a further proclamation of the th february - again declared this monopoly, and proceeded to declare a monopoly of letters between persons within the realm, the second monopoly being justified, not on the ground of necessity in order to guard the safety of the state, but on the ground that commerce and correspondence within the realm would benefit.[ ] the real explanation of the new prohibition for inland letters was no doubt the fact that witherings had been appointed master of the inland letter office for the purpose of bringing into operation his scheme for reorganizing the posts, and it was essential to the success of the scheme that he should have the sole right of carrying letters. there was, of course, the political reason of danger to the state from free and uncontrolled transmission of letters, but the feeling in that respect seems not to have been so strong regarding the inland letters as regarding the foreign letters. it developed later, however.[ ] in witherings was displaced on some charge of maladministration, and the office was given to philip burlamachi, a merchant of the city of london. witherings did not give up the office without a struggle. for two years he strove to retain it, but without much success; and in he assigned his patent to the earl of warwick, who continued the struggle. burlamachi was backed by edmund prideaux, afterwards attorney-general. into the merits or progress of the contest it is unnecessary to enter. it will be sufficient to record that the lords espoused the cause of the earl of warwick and the commons that of burlamachi; that the contest continued some two years; and that in the end the lords gave way, and burlamachi continued master of the posts. the office fell vacant in , and parliament appointed prideaux to the charge of the posts.[ ] this task he entered upon with some seriousness, and with considerable success. he extended the service, but raised the minimum postage to d. from a report submitted by him to the council of state in , it appears that he had established "a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the nation," and that with the moneys received as postage he had been able to defray the whole cost of the postmasters of england with the exception of those on the dover road.[ ] at the time of his appointment the posts involved a charge to the state of some £ , a year.[ ] it might therefore be thought that for prideaux to be able to carry on the system, to give a despatch of letters to all parts of the kingdom every week, and at the same time make the proceeds of postage cover the whole cost, except for the dover road, was a considerable achievement. the commons were not, however, altogether satisfied. the long disputes between the various patentees, and their anxiety not to lose any part of the business of conveying letters, made it evident that there was a profit other than the salary paid by the king, notwithstanding that funds for the maintenance of the posts were drawn from the exchequer year by year. the office of master of the posts was bought and sold. witherings sold part of his wife's estate to the value of £ a year in land to obtain the office. the deputy postmasters also bought their offices. and in , by vote of both houses, burlamachi had been required to give an account of the _profits_ of the letter office. the letter office was in fact not on the simple basis of payment by the messengers to the master of posts of all receipts, payment by the master of posts from the receipts of the ordinary fixed wages of the deputy postmasters (together with the cost of special expresses) and of his own salary, and payment from the exchequer of the balance necessary to complete such payment. the deputy postmasters took, and retained for their own use, the postage received on private letters, paying a percentage to the master of the posts; and they had also the monopoly, which was very lucrative, of letting horses to travellers riding post. in view of these profits they were prepared to purchase from the master of the posts the office of deputy postmaster, and sums received from that source, together with the percentage of the postage of private letters, constituted the emoluments of the master of the posts, additional to his salary. the commons, being no doubt aware of this, concluded that there ought to be a net revenue from the office, and required prideaux to pay the sum of £ , a year.[ ] witherings, who by some strange chance seems never to have been altogether ousted from his offices, but to have retained that of master of the foreign post, died in , and there were numerous claimants for the succession to the office. the council of state invited all persons with claims to submit them, and in reporting on the claims, suggested the farming of the inland and foreign letter offices. the question was put to the house of commons that the whole business be "recommitted to the council of state to take into consideration and present their opinions to the parliament how the same may be managed for the best service of the state and ease of the people." the addition of the words "by contract or otherwise" was suggested, and accepted by the house.[ ] the question was considered by a committee, who, having found much difficulty in dealing with the numerous claims in respect of the foreign and inland letter offices, decided on the th november , probably as a way out of the difficulty, to recommend that the offices should be let to farm. the matter was not hurriedly disposed of. on the th may ,[ ] resolutions were passed by the house of commons asserting the state monopoly of the carriage of letters, and directing the committee appointed to consider the posts to fix rates for private letters, to obtain tenders from persons for farming the carrying of letters, and to recommend what annual sum in their opinion the state should require in case it were thought well to let the posts to farm. on the th june the inland and foreign letter offices were let to john manley at a rent of £ , a year,[ ] and thus was instituted the system of farming, which continued until as regards the main posts, and until the late eighteenth century as regards the bye posts. the rent continuously increased. shortly after the restoration it was raised to £ , a year, and in to £ , a year. the rate for a single letter, which had been raised by prideaux to d., was in or reduced to d., owing to the efforts and competition of clement oxenbridge and others, who established and maintained rival services for the carriage of letters. these "interlopers" received scant consideration from prideaux, and the services which they had established were suppressed.[ ] in an ordinance of the commonwealth parliament further reduced the rate to d. for a single letter sent for distances under miles, and d. for distances over miles. the rates were not, however, as low as would appear at first sight. there is the difference in the value of money to be allowed for; and there is the further consideration that postage was not charged according to the direct distance. all the post roads converged on london, and there were no cross posts. all letters from towns on one post road for towns on another post road must therefore pass through london, and all letters passing through london were subjected to an additional rate of postage;[ ] that is to say, they were charged the appropriate rate in respect of the distance to london, and then, in addition, the appropriate rate in respect of the distance from london to destination. the ordinance of placed the post office system for the first time on a statutory basis.[ ] the objects for which such an office was required were given as three in number: first, to maintain certain intercourse of trade and commerce; secondly, to convey public despatches; and thirdly, to discover and prevent many dangerous and wicked designs against the peace and welfare of the commonwealth. in an act of parliament was passed, dealing with the post office.[ ] essentially it was the ordinance of , passed as an act to give it legal validity under the changed order of things. the clauses relating to the use of the post office as a means of detecting plots against the state were included in a modified form, and this function was by no means lost sight of.[ ] during the excitement caused by the popish plot it was freely exercised. the general farm of the posts was abolished in , and the administration of the office undertaken by the government, except in the case of the smaller branch posts, in regard to which the practice of farming was even extended in the early years of the eighteenth century.[ ] the revenue yielded by the office continued to expand. in it had reached £ , ; and when, for various reasons, but chiefly to provide for the control of the post office in scotland, which had been brought under the english authorities by the act of union, a new post office act became necessary, the ministers, involved in a protracted war, seized the opportunity to obtain an increased revenue from the office. under william iii this had been thought of.[ ] the act of ,[ ] which remained for over fifty years the principal act relating to the post office, was to be an instrument of taxation. for some fifty years the post office had been yielding a revenue, constant and increasing, but nevertheless more or less fortuitous. its functions had always been defined as primarily to provide for the transmission of letters, for the benefit of commerce, and for the safety and security of the kingdom, by bringing all letters into "one post office settled and established in this kingdom," and conducted immediately under the eye of the king's government. the amount paid for the farm had increased with the passing of the years, in measure with the increase of the business of the office--not by any change in the scale of charges, which remained as fixed in . now, however, the office was made a financial instrument, the proceeds of which were to be regulated by manipulation of the rates of charge. the results of the act of did not fulfil the anticipations of its framers. provision had been made for the disposal of that increase of revenue which was looked for: "the full, clear, and entire weekly sum of seven hundred pounds of lawful money of _great britain_" was to be paid out of the revenues of the post office "towards the establishment of a good, sure, and lasting fund, in order to raise a present supply of money for carrying on the war and other her majesty's most necessary occasions."[ ] this £ was to be paid entirely from the proceeds of the increase in the rates. the existing revenue of £ , a year was to be disposed of as theretofore. all pensions and charges on the revenue were to continue, and were to have preference over the payment of £ a week. of the surplus over and above the £ , a year and the £ a week, one-third part was to be at the disposal of parliament, the rest to be paid into the exchequer with the £ , . but the increase of revenue was so small that some of these provisions remained for many years inoperative. the increase of rate was found burdensome. merchants resorted to every available means of avoiding the additional expense.[ ] a large clandestine traffic in letters grew up. the very postboys were found carrying letters outside the mail for what fees they could obtain. in the net revenue had been £ , . in it was £ , , an increase of £ , . after the deduction, therefore, of the £ a week (or £ , a year), the payment of which had preference over all other payments chargeable on the post office revenue, excepting only the expenses of management, the actual net revenue of the post office available for the purposes prescribed by the act was in , £ , , or less than the revenue of by £ , . the act provided that one-third of the surplus of the yield of postage over and above the sum of £ , (£ , plus the £ a week) should be at the disposal of parliament for the use of the public; but although the gross revenue had exceeded that sum, there was no surplus for the use of the public, the explanation being that the sum mentioned in the act, viz. £ , , was the amount of gross revenue, which could only serve as a basis provided the cost of management remained stationary. as a matter of fact, the cost so greatly increased that the net revenue was not sufficient to provide the sum of £ a week and also a revenue equal to that obtained before . as mr. joyce has pointed out, the treasury had confounded gross and net revenue.[ ] the essentially fiscal character of the rates of is evidenced by a provision of the act that from and after the st june the rates charged under the previous acts were to be restored.[ ] but after , although they were without legal sanction, the rates of continued in operation, and by an act of they were made perpetual.[ ] the fifty years following the act of the th of anne were uneventful.[ ] the chief development was in connection with the cross posts; a development which, although not having direct reference to the question of the rates of postage, was yet of importance. at the commencement of the eighteenth century the main system of the post office still centred on london. all the main post routes radiated from london, and the great bulk of the letters passing by post were either for or from london, or passed through london. but there were, of course, numbers of letters which were not sent to london at all: letters between two towns on a post road, or letters between towns on different post roads, which could be sent direct and not by way of london. these letters were known as bye letters and cross post letters.[ ] since they were not handled in london, the authorities had not the same means of checking their numbers, and the postmasters' accounts of postage in respect of them, as could be applied in london, and grave irregularities arose. the revenue was continually defrauded by the failure of the postmasters to bring to account the postage on such letters. no record was made in respect of many of them, and their transmission became so notoriously unsafe that illicit means of conveyance were constantly resorted to. the matter was already so serious that a special clause was included in the act of the th of anne, providing that for the suppression of the abuse any postmaster found guilty of embezzling the postage of bye or way letters should forfeit £ for every letter and £ for every week during which he continued the practice.[ ] even this penal clause was insufficient to check the abuse, as owing to the unsatisfactory method of dealing with bye and way letters there was small risk of detection in fraud. in ralph allen, then postmaster of bath, proposed to the postmasters-general that the management of the bye and cross post letters should be leased to him for a term of years, and offered a rent one and a half times as great as the revenue from the letters at that time. the offer was accepted, and the lease, which in the first instance was for seven years, was renewed from time to time. allen, whose discovery was merely that of a method of check on the receipts of the postmasters from the bye and cross letters, was able to pay the rent agreed upon, largely to suppress the illicit transmission of the letters, and to make a handsome profit.[ ] the chief importance of allen's work lies, however, not so much in the fact of his rendering the bye and cross post letters subject to effective check, as in the fact that in order to retain his lease he, on each occasion of renewal, undertook the provision of additional facilities. by this means a daily post was gradually extended to almost all the post routes.[ ] in the inland rates for short distances were reduced, and a new standard of charge was introduced. hitherto, all charges had been regulated on a mileage basis. for short distances they were now based on the number of post stages. for one post stage the rate was made d. for a single letter, for a double letter d., for a treble letter d., and for every ounce d.; for two post stages, d., and in proportion for double, treble, and ounce letters.[ ] the financial result of the change was unsatisfactory.[ ] up to this period the mails were carried by postboys riding horse. notwithstanding that on all the chief roads stage-coaches were running more expeditiously than the post-horses, the post office kept to the old way. the superiority of the stage-coaches as means for the conveyance of letters was noticed by mr. john palmer, proprietor of the theatre of bath,[ ] who was so greatly impressed with the fact that he devised a complete and definite plan for the establishment of a system of mail conveyance by coach. the cost of the riding post (boy and horse) was d. a mile, and palmer estimated that the change could be carried out without involving any increase of cost, especially if, as he proposed, the coaches carrying the mails should be exempted from toll. the proposal was severely criticized by the district surveyors of the post office, who reported on it.[ ] at the treasury, however, the proposal met with a more favourable reception. pitt called a conference on the st june , and after hearing the explanations of palmer and the criticisms of the representatives of the post office, decided that the plan should be given a trial. accordingly, on the nd august the first mail-coach ran. the experiment, which was conducted on the bath road, proved successful, and the plan was rapidly extended throughout the kingdom. the first coach cost d. a mile, the same rate as the riding post; but ultimately the coaches proved to be cheaper than the horse posts. in the rate was no more than a penny a mile.[ ] almost simultaneously with the introduction of mail-coaches there was an increase in the rates of postage, made solely with a view to increased revenue.[ ] the alteration was more or less fortuitous. in his budget of pitt had proposed a tax on coals which had not been well received, and the increased postage was substituted. palmer is said to have claimed the credit of suggesting the substitution.[ ] if so, his faith in his plan was abundantly justified. notwithstanding the handicap of increased rates, it was an unqualified success, and the effect on the revenue was immediate and considerable. at about this time several horse and cross post mails had been molested, and it was desired, in response to a considerable public agitation, to establish mail-coaches on the minor posts. this would have involved heavy cost, and as an alternative freeling (secretary to the post office, afterwards sir francis) suggested that only responsible persons should be employed--at this time the post riders, in fact as well as name, were in many instances mere boys--and that the riders should be armed. in order to obtain funds to meet the cost of this scheme, the rates of postage were again increased in .[ ] a further increase was made in in order to-provide an additional contribution of £ , a year to the exchequer.[ ] the new rates were elaborate and complicated, comprising no less than thirteen rates for each class of letter, according to the distance of transmission. another increase followed in , when the post office was called upon to provide an additional £ , a year.[ ] this time the increase was made in a very simple manner, viz. by increasing the rates of in every case by d. for a single letter, d. for a double letter, d. for a treble letter, and d. per ounce. all these increases, made with the avowed intention of increasing revenue, were successful in their main object. the net revenue, which in was £ , , had risen in to £ , , and in reached the sum of £ , , . the fiscal results seemed, therefore, to justify the government in turning again and again to the post office when they were hard pushed to find revenue. this must be the justification of the further increase of .[ ] the rates then established were the highest ever charged in england. the net revenue rose slightly after their establishment, but never increased materially. these rates continued in operation until , when they were completely swept away, and new rates based on principles fundamentally different were established. this was the system, due to sir rowland hill, of uniform rates, irrespective of distance of transmission, first introduced in the united kingdom in , and since adopted throughout the civilized world, not only for inland services, but for the international service.[ ] the story of the conception, advocacy, and adoption of uniform postage is fully told by sir rowland hill in his _history of penny postage_,[ ] and need be only briefly dealt with here. the plan itself is described in the famous pamphlet, _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, which was issued by sir rowland hill in . the reform was directly related to the great reform movement in england of the second quarter of the nineteenth century, and is a brilliant example of the application of the deductive method in politics. sir rowland hill was a member of a radical family, remarkable even in those days for its zeal for reform. it was the ambition of all members of the family to aid as far as possible the great movement; and all the brothers interested themselves in the study of social and economic questions, with a view to reform and improvement.[ ] in the year there was a large surplus of revenue, and the brothers speculated on the direction in which reduction of taxation might best be made.[ ] sir rowland hill examined carefully the results of the financial reforms which had been introduced in recent years, and found that the effect on the revenue of reductions in the rate of tax showed very considerable variations. while in some cases, as, for example, leather and soap, a reduction of the duty by one-half had reduced the revenue by one-third, a similar reduction of the duty on coffee had increased the revenue by one-half. from this sir rowland hill concluded that it was of the utmost importance to select carefully the taxes to be reduced, and he cast about for some guiding principle in the light of which the most suitable tax for reduction might be discovered. this principle he deduced to be as follows, viz. that the tax which most called for reduction was that which had failed most to keep pace with the increasing numbers and prosperity of the nation.[ ] tested in this way, the tax on letters proved unsatisfactory. while in most other departments of the revenue the preceding twenty years had been years of expansion and progress--as might be anticipated during a period of peace following great and exhausting wars--in the case of the post office the period had been one of stagnation. attention had already been directed to this fact by sir henry parnell.[ ] between the years and the duty on stage-coaches had increased from £ , to nearly £ , a year. during the same period the revenue of the post office, both gross and net, had not increased at all--in point of fact, it had slightly decreased. if it had kept pace with the increase of population, the annual net revenue would have increased by half a million. if it had increased in the same proportion as the duty on stage-coaches, the revenue of would have exceeded that of by no less than £ , , . these facts convinced sir rowland hill that a reduction of the rates of postage was urgently necessary; and apart from financial considerations, the moral and intellectual results which would follow a facilitation of intercourse appealed powerfully to a reforming radical.[ ] having arrived at the conviction that the post office offered most scope for his zeal, he found no lack of material to work upon. a commission of inquiry into the revenue departments had reported on the post office in . a commission of inquiry on the post office had been sitting for some years, and had made numerous voluminous reports. sir rowland hill set to work to make a careful study of the information contained in these reports, and as the result of this study evolved a complete plan for the reform and reorganization of the whole post office system, a plan involving the transformation both of the theory of post office finance, and of the methods of practical working.[ ] his inquiries led him to examine the cost of the post office service as a whole, and its relation to the work performed by the post office in respect of individual letters, or, as he termed it, "the natural cost of conveying a letter."[ ] the investigations and calculations made in this connection elucidated a fact of first importance, viz. that the cost of the conveyance of a letter from one town to another was exceedingly small, being on the average no more than nine-hundredths of a penny--in the case of a mail from london to edinburgh the cost of conveyance was no more than one-thirty-sixth of a penny. this fact was developed. it was shown that not only was the cost for conveyance for the average of distance exceedingly small, but that it did not vary with the distance. the variation was rather in the inverse proportion to the number of letters enclosed in a mail.[ ] thus, while the average cost of the conveyance of a letter from london to edinburgh was one-thirty-sixth of a penny, the cost of the conveyance of a letter for a shorter distance was often greater, owing to the small number of letters included in the mail. on these facts rests the whole case for uniformity of rate irrespective of distance:[ ] and they are sufficient to demonstrate that the principle is fundamentally sound. the proposal for a uniform rate was the outstanding feature of the plan, but there were others of importance. it was a chief merit that the plan might be introduced without causing any serious diminution of net revenue, and the object of the further proposals was so to modify and simplify the working methods of the service as to enable the increased traffic which a low uniform rate would inevitably bring into the post to be dealt with without a proportionate increase in working expenses. a vast increase in the number of letters must occur if the revenue was to be maintained, and this increase was confidently anticipated. with the existing rates there was a very large clandestine traffic in letters outside the post office, and it was calculated that a low uniform rate would effect the complete suppression of that traffic, and attract all letters into the post. but in order to maintain the net revenue, it was essential to simplify effectively the methods of working. this simplification was to be secured by the introduction of the system of prepayment, and the principle of charging by weight. covers and sheets of paper bearing the revenue stamp already impressed were to be sold at all post offices. the postage label, which has become so characteristic a feature of post office business throughout the civilized world, was proposed as an expedient to meet a certain exceptional case. if any person bringing a letter to the post should not be able to write the address on the stamped cover in which the letter was to be enclosed, sir rowland hill suggested that "this difficulty might be obviated by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash, which the bringer might, by applying a little moisture, attach to the back of the letter, so as to avoid the necessity for redirecting it."[ ] letters prepaid in either of these ways were to pass through the post as franks,[ ] i.e. without change or record. by this method a great reduction in the work of the post office would be effected. under the existing system it was necessary to record and charge forward on the postmasters all letters the postage of which was to be collected on delivery, and these letters formed the vast majority. all such labour would be dispensed with. the increase of the number of letters was to be further encouraged by the provision of additional facilities, such as the establishment of day mails and increased frequency of deliveries in towns.[ ] it has sometimes been thought that sir rowland hill's theory included the proposition that the increase of the number of letters varied in inverse proportion to the reduction of rate effected, that is to say, that if the rate were reduced by one-half, the number of letters posted would be doubled; if the rate were reduced by two-thirds, the number of letters posted would increase threefold.[ ] this is not the case. his estimate was that with the reduction of postage in the united kingdom to the uniform rate of one penny, i.e. an average reduction of seven-eighths (from about eightpence), an immediate fourfold increase in the number of letters might be anticipated. this estimate was framed with regard to the circumstances existing in the united kingdom at the time, and there is no other rule applicable to the relation between reduction of postage and resultant increase of postal traffic than that it is relative to the particular circumstances of time and place. especially, it may be said, where postage is already low, further reduction is hardly likely to result in largely increased traffic. in brief, sir rowland hill calculated that by the adoption of his proposals for the modification of methods of working, the letter postage in the united kingdom might be reduced to the uniform rate of one penny irrespective of distance, without causing loss to the net revenue of more than £ , a year. the pamphlet, _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, in which the plan was embodied, was first issued privately in january for circulation in political and official circles, to which sir rowland hill had access, partly through the celebrity of his family on account of their school system, but chiefly through his brother matthew davenport hill, then a member of parliament. in february the author was invited to give evidence before the commissioners for post office inquiry.[ ] the proposals were not, however, viewed favourably by the government, and were resolutely opposed by the postmaster-general and many of the high authorities of the post office.[ ] finding it impossible to impress the official mind, sir rowland hill issued the pamphlet to the public,[ ] and it met with immediate, widespread, and influential support. the press, chambers of commerce, and other bodies actively supported propaganda for the adoption of the scheme.[ ] public meetings in support of it were held in all parts of the country, and numerous petitions in its favour were submitted to parliament. so strong was the public feeling that in november the government were constrained to appoint a select committee of the house of commons for the express purpose of considering sir rowland hill's proposals. this committee took a vast amount of evidence. the contentions of sir rowland hill were in the main sustained by this evidence, and the committee recommended (but only by the casting vote of its chairman) the adoption of a uniform rate. they were not, however, satisfied that the net revenue would be maintained if the uniform rate were made as low as one penny, and they therefore recommended the rate of twopence.[ ] the committee reported in august, , but no immediate steps were taken by the government to carry out their recommendations. the condition of the national finances was not so healthy as in , when the proposals were first broached, and they did not improve in the following years.[ ] the doubt as to the financial result of the scheme therefore made its early adoption in the normal course unlikely. the reform was, however, warmly taken up by the radicals,[ ] and in party exigencies enabled them to insist on the introduction of uniform penny postage as the price of their support in parliament.[ ] on the th january , therefore, the reform was introduced.[ ] the new rate was one penny for each of the first two half ounces, and twopence for each additional ounce. the results were disappointing financially. the reduction in net revenue in the first year was one million pounds sterling (from £ , , to £ , ), instead of £ , as forecasted. the number of letters, also, was doubled only, instead of quadrupled (in , millions, in , millions). but the numbers continued to increase rapidly, in agreeable contrast to the stagnation under the old system. by they had quadrupled; by they had reached millions; and the expansion has since been continuous.[ ] the gross revenue of was equalled in , and the net revenue of was reached in . it has since gone on increasing. the plan was not an immediate financial success: neither was it a complete financial failure, as sometimes alleged.[ ] the recovery of revenue was slow, but it was constant; and ultimately the plan has abundantly justified itself as a financial arrangement. the changes in the british letter rates since have not been numerous or fundamental. the limit of weight for letters, viz. ounces, fixed in , was abolished in . in the progression of weight and charge above one ounce was made a penny the half-ounce. in the rates were reduced. letters up to ounce in weight became transmissible at the penny rate; for the second ounce, and for every succeeding ounces up to ounces, the rate was made / d.; and for letters weighing more than ounces, d. the ounce, including the first ounce. in the rate of / d. for every ounces after the second ounce was continued without limit; and in , on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of queen victoria, a further reduction of the rate for heavier letters was made. the scale of d. for the first ounces, and / d. for each succeeding ounces, was then introduced. this method of effecting a reduction was dictated largely by a desire to simplify the rates of postage. it admitted of the abolition of the sample post, and of the book post (except as regards packets not exceeding ounces in weight), and thus removed a source of confusion and loss of time both to the staff and the public. in recent years postal traffic of all kinds has increased rapidly. the growth in numbers is shown by the following table:-- -----------+----------------------- | total number of postal year. | packets dealt with in | the united kingdom. -----------+----------------------- - | , , , - | , , , - | , , , - | , , , - | , , , - | , , , [ ] -----------+----------------------- the ordinary letter, however, remains the characteristic of post office business and the sheet-anchor of postal finance. the vast proportion in point of numbers still consists of packets of small weight.[ ] in - , of a total traffic of some six thousand million packets (including parcels), nearly three thousand five hundred millions passed at the letter rate of postage (less than per cent. of which exceeded ounce in weight), one thousand millions at the postcard rate, another thousand millions at the / d. packet rate (none exceeding ounces in weight). the average weight of the two hundred million newspapers was just over ounces, and of the hundred and thirty million parcels, some to pounds. of the total traffic (including parcels), more than four thousand millions, consisting in general of ordinary letters and postcards, were under ounce in weight; and of the remaining two thousand millions (including parcels) only some five hundred millions exceeded ounces in weight. the post office, in addition to its ordinary function of providing for the transmission of letters and packets, undertakes a number of subsidiary services. there are, of course, the telegraphs and telephones, the money order, postal order, and savings bank business, which have for many years been an integral part of the business of the post office. in recent years the post office has also undertaken the issue of certain local taxation licenses, and the payment of old age pensions and army pensions. now it has undertaken the sale of war loan stock, exchequer bonds, and war savings certificates. apart from the telegraphs, telephones, and savings bank, however, these services form only a small part of the work of the post office. while the total cost of the ordinary postal services (i.e. excluding telegraphs, telephones, and savings bank) was in - some £ , , , the cost of the subsidiary services was only about a million. the staff of officers has increased as follows:-- --------------+---------+---------+----------- year. | male. | female. | total. --------------+---------+---------+----------- - | | | , - | , | , | , - | , | , | , - | , | , | , - | , | , | , - | , | , | , [ ] --------------+---------+---------+----------- concurrently with the increase of the number of officers, the rate of wages has been revised on several occasions, as the result of the recommendations of parliamentary and other committees appointed to consider the question of post office wages. the cost of the increases of wages which have been granted as the result of these revisions, calculated on the basis of the staff at the dates of the respective revisions, without allowance for subsequent growth of force, is some £ , , per annum.[ ] the increase of the number of officers has, of course, increased the ultimate cost of each successive improvement in pay and conditions of service. the increased wages of the staff have naturally counterbalanced to some extent the economies resulting from the large increase of business. since the first of these revisions, the fawcett of - , the wages of the staff have absorbed a larger percentage of the total revenue of the postal services,[ ] and the cost for staff per packet handled has increased from . d. in - to . d. in - , and . d. in - .[ ] during the same period the cost of conveyance of postal packets has decreased from . d. per packet other than a parcel in - , to . d. in - , and . d. in - .[ ] the total cost of dealing with a postal packet other than a parcel has in recent years shown a small decrease. the cost in - has been estimated at . d.[ ] the gross revenue of the postal services, i.e. excluding telegraphs and telephones, has increased from £ , , in - to £ , , in - , and £ , , in - . the net revenue from postal services has increased from £ , , in - to £ , , in - , and £ , , in - . the expansion of net revenue has not kept pace with the increase in the total number of packets passing by post. since the total numbers have increased some - / -fold, and the net revenue some - / -fold.[ ] the relation between the gross revenue and the total expenditure on the postal services, which in recent years has not shown any large variation, fluctuates in the neighbourhood of per cent.[ ] note.--on the st november , in order to secure increased revenue for war purposes, the inland letter rate was increased to the following:-- for packets not exceeding ounce in weight d. for packets between ounce and ounces d. for every succeeding ounces / d. under the existing abnormal circumstances it is difficult to form a satisfactory estimate of the result of this increase. numerous contrary forces are in operation. the growth of the army and the dislocation of private business resulting from the war have had important effects on the number of letters posted. large numbers of letters are exchanged with men in the army, but, on the other hand, all letters from troops on active service pass free of postage. it has been estimated that in the first five months the new rates yielded an increased revenue of nearly half a million.--see postmaster-general's statement, rd july (_parl. debates (commons_), vol. lxxxiii. cols. - ). * * * * * letter post in canada when canada came into british hands after the capture of quebec, no postal arrangements existed in the province. the population numbered only some , , excluding the indians, and with so small a number spread over so vast a territory it was not to be expected that any post office establishment of the ordinary type could be maintained.[ ] very soon, however, the english merchants interested in the canadian trade urged upon the british government the necessity for a regular service from new york to quebec, and in this they were supported by the governor of the province. the government instructed the deputy postmasters-general in america to take steps for the establishment of the post, and they accordingly proceeded to quebec. there they met a young scotsman, hugh finlay, who offered to conduct a regular post between quebec and montreal, undertaking all risks, for a commission of per cent, on all revenue collected on the post,[ ] and, in addition, a monopoly of licensing persons to provide horses and conveyances for the use of travellers--the old monopoly which had existed for so long in england as a source of emolument to the postmasters. finlay contracted for the conveyance of the mail with a number of men, to whom he made over the exclusive right of furnishing travellers on the route. in addition to this privilege, these men, who were styled _maîtres de poste_, were remunerated by payment at the rate of d. a league ( d. a mile) for providing horses and carriages for the couriers. between quebec and montreal, a distance of miles, there were twenty-seven _maîtres de poste_ and two post offices, viz., three rivers and berthier. on the whole route, which was not of the easiest, there was not a single inn; there were six ferries to cross, that at three rivers being three miles wide, and one near montreal nearly three-quarters of a mile. there was a service twice a week in each direction, and the journey occupied about forty hours, the courier who left quebec at five o'clock on monday afternoon arriving at montreal on wednesday morning, and the courier leaving montreal on thursday evening reaching quebec on saturday morning. the statutory authority for the establishment of posts in canada, as in other parts of north america, was section of the act of the th of anne. this act, however, failed to prescribe for north america rates of postage for letters passing greater distances than miles. hence, for the post from quebec to montreal no legal rate was ascertainable. the rate actually charged was d. for a single letter, and so in proportion for double, treble, and ounce letters, which was not an excessive charge, seeing that the legal charge for distances up to miles was d. for a single letter. it proved sufficient, however; the whole scheme was completely successful and greatly appreciated by the colonists. to link this local post with the service from england, the postmasters-general at new york arranged a connecting post to run monthly in connection with the arrival and departure of the english packets. they realized that the number of letters likely to be carried by such a post would be small and would not yield a revenue nearly equal to the expenses, the more so as, in any case, a comparatively high rate of postage would be payable on account of the great distance, and in recommending its establishment, they suggested moderate rates of charge.[ ] the act of provided reduced rates of postage for north america. "the vast accession of territory gained by the late treaty of peace," and the establishment of new posts in america, for which rates of postage could not be ascertained under the existing law,[ ] made a new act necessary, and the rates prescribed in that act were fixed under the enlightened principle that moderate rates might yield increased revenue.[ ] the rate which would apply to canada, for the greatest distances, was fixed at d. for a single letter for not more than miles, and d. for each miles beyond miles--double letters double rates, treble letters treble rates, ounce letter four times the single rate, in the usual way. in january finlay was appointed joint "deputy-general for the northern district of america" in the room of dr. franklin. he was allowed to retain, for the time being, the benefits of the post office at quebec, which, in the words of the letter of appointment, he had been "so instrumental in bringing to a degree of perfection."[ ] the disturbances of in the coast colonies soon affected the post to canada. in september of that year, the prospect of getting mails through from canada to new york was so slight that finlay was anticipating the suspension of all communication with the rest of the world during the whole of the winter, unless letters could be conveyed to halifax. the couriers were frequently held up by armed men and robbed, and by november matters had become so serious that all postal arrangements in the province were stayed. quebec was besieged throughout the winter and spring. after its relief finlay tried to set up the posts again, but unsuccessfully, as the governor refused to re-establish the monopoly of the _maîtres de poste_, on the ground that travellers in canada were very well accommodated in horses and conveyances and did not desire its re-establishment. without it finlay was unable to maintain a service, and no posts existed during the remaining period of the war. after peace had been restored, finlay represented the matter so strongly that the monopoly was re-established. the posts were again set up, and finlay was appointed deputy postmaster-general of canada, nova scotia, and new brunswick. the mails for canada were still sent by way of new york, as before the war, but for military reasons it was important that a mail route should be established from halifax, the military headquarters, to run altogether within british territory. in a fortnightly post (monthly in winter) was accordingly established between quebec and halifax.[ ] the mail went by river du loup, near the grand portage, where the courier from quebec handed over his mail to the courier from fredericton; by the madawaska to the grand falls; thence by boat to fredericton. a fresh courier went by boat from fredericton to the mouth of the st. john's river. here the mail was transferred to a sloop of about tons burthen for conveyance across the bay of fundy to digby, whence the route lay by annapolis. the total distance from quebec to halifax was miles, and the time required for the trip varied from twenty-one to thirty-one days. a mail route from montreal into upper canada was also established, but this was rather a military post, intended to serve the military stations and frontier settlements. the mail was despatched only once a year and was, in consequence, known as the "yearly express." the route followed was by the st. lawrence from montreal to matilda, augusta, and kingston; across lake ontario to niagara; thence to detroit fort, at the base of lake st. clair, and across lake huron to michilimackinac, at the head of lakes huron and michigan. after continuing some six years this post was curtailed and went no farther than niagara.[ ] in finlay was succeeded in the deputy ship by john heriot. the population had now increased to , , but there were only twenty post offices in the whole of the five provinces. heriot's patent gave him authority to establish new routes and offices, but, in accordance with the general policy, only when in his opinion their establishment would be likely to benefit revenue. the rates at this time were, of course, nominally based on the act of the th george iii, but as the routes had never been properly measured, the distances on which the rates were actually based were largely a matter of conjecture. the posts were said, however, to have paid their way and even to have yielded a surplus revenue, which was transmitted to england.[ ] the administration of the posts rested ultimately with the postmasters-general in london. the service could be extended only by their authority, and the colonists found that the deputy in the colonies, being bound by his instructions from the postmasters-general, was unable to extend and improve the service in the manner which they themselves thought desirable. a large number of immigrants entered the provinces, especially upper canada, during this period, and settlements were springing up in remote districts far away from the post routes. heriot was admonished from london that in considering the provision of new services he must look to the revenue to be anticipated as well as to the convenience of the public, and to adopt no scheme involving sacrifice of revenue. his instructions forbade the opening of any post office or post route unless the anticipated revenue was sufficient at least to pay the postmaster and courier. he found that these restrictions prevented him from providing a service in any degree adequate to the demands of the settlers, or indeed adequate to their real needs. it was essential that the settlers in the remote districts should be kept in touch with civilization. they could not be allowed to pass beyond the reach of the government. they must be kept in contact with the means provided for the administration of the law. for these reasons it was essential to provide post accommodation, although in the nature of the case it could not be expected that a revenue sufficient to cover the cost would be obtained. all these considerations were pressed on the deputy, and he was so far persuaded as sometimes, in response to urgent local representations, to depart from his specific instructions. but such cases usually led to a reprimand. the natural result was that the province was driven itself to undertake by grants from the public funds the provision of many local services which it deemed essential. thus grew up the anomalous system under which the colonies made large grants in aid of the service, but were unable to exercise any substantial control over its administration. the more important routes were self-supporting and were controlled entirely from england. in order to obtain extensions of the service the colonists, through the governor, requested the establishment of certain services, undertaking that, if the revenue derived from these services should prove insufficient to meet the expenditure, the balance should be made up by the colony. a regular post was established in between quebec and york (toronto) under a guarantee of this kind. the colonists naturally wished to have some controlling voice in the administration; but the deputy, holding office under the imperial authorities, was not bound to concede to them any rights over the administration of the service, however great sums they might pay towards its maintenance--a situation which was sure to lead to difficulties. whether or not serious trouble occurred depended in large degree on the character of the deputy.[ ] in later years there was considerable friction and much irritation on the part of the colonists. in nova scotia the system of grants in aid was developed to an even greater extent than in upper canada. when sir george provost became governor in , there were only five post offices in nova scotia--halifax, windsor, horton, annapolis, and digby--and they were all on the line of the quebec post. sir george was anxious for an extension of the posts on military rather than general grounds, and he asked the postmaster of halifax, john howe, to establish several new routes. howe was inclined to favour the projected posts, but heriot realized that they could not be expected to yield a revenue equal to their cost, and he informed the governor that his instructions from england prevented compliance with the request. sir george provost thereupon induced the legislature to appropriate a sufficient sum for the establishment of the posts. the governors of new brunswick and prince edward island followed this example, with the result that a large part of the post office establishment in these provinces was outside the jurisdiction of the imperial authorities. this development is noteworthy. it has always been found in canada that for a large part of the country the circumstances are such that a postal service adequate to the necessities of the inhabitants cannot be self-supporting, but the legislature has never hesitated to make grants from general taxation in order to provide means of communication. in the early days the question of post office communication was intimately bound up with the question of general means of communication, and was usually treated in connection with the making or maintenance of roads. for a long period the posts in canada were maintained not solely for the transmission of letters, but to a great extent on account of collateral advantages. they were largely military in character, and were identified with the military routes.[ ] in daniel sutherland was appointed deputy postmaster-general for canada, nova scotia, and new brunswick. under his administration the development of the service was pushed forward, and so far as was found consistent with the interests of revenue, new offices and routes were established. but in there were still no more than forty-nine post offices in the whole of british north america, distributed thus: in lower canada twenty offices, in upper canada nineteen, in nova scotia six, in new brunswick three, and in prince edward island one. the progress was from this time somewhat more rapid. by the number of offices in the canadas alone had risen to sixty-nine, and during the next ten or fifteen years the growth, both of post office accommodation and of post office revenue, was more rapid than the growth of population. the settlers were not, however, completely satisfied. their complaints were to some extent laid against the administration of the office--they claimed, for example, that gross overcharges of postage were being made, through incorrect computation of the distances on the post roads--but they became more and more dissatisfied that the control of the whole of the service and its officers should rest with the postmaster-general in england. the question was, of course, to a large extent political, and one only among the several general grievances of the colonists at this period, which caused so much anxiety to the home authorities. as early as a movement began in upper canada to obtain the transference of the administration to the provincial authorities. a committee of the house of assembly considered the abuses of the existing post office system, and on presentation of their report, in march , the house passed a resolution condemning the administration of the service. the question continued to receive a good deal of attention. the chief complaint of the colonists was that a net revenue was year by year transmitted to london. there is no doubt that a balance was paid over to the imperial administration year by year, but it is questionable whether any of this balance was a net revenue on the local service.[ ] the colonists chose so to regard it. they advanced the contention that the legal right of the imperial government to levy postage rates in the colonies at all was doubtful, because postage was a tax; and the raising of money by authorities outside the colonies was a direct infringement of their own constitution, which provides that "no tax shall be levied on the people of this country except such as shall be appropriated for the public use and accounted for by the legislature,"[ ] and of the declaratory act, in which great britain disclaimed the right to impose upon a colony any duty, tax, or assessment, except where necessary for the regulation of commerce.[ ] the government were advised by the law officers that it would not be wise to contest the point, and proceeded to consider a measure for placing the establishment on a more satisfactory basis. if the home government could have agreed to hand over the entire administration of the office in british north america to the local legislatures, there would have been an end of the matter. but such a course would have left the interior provinces at the mercy of those on the seaboard as to the conveyance across those colonies of the mails to and from england. although there was no desire to continue the appropriation to the imperial revenue of any surplus which might arise on the service in north america, it was felt to be highly desirable that the imperial government should retain control over the administration of the office, particularly in the matter of fixing the rates of postage, since by that means excessive charges for transit across other provinces would be prevented. but in controlling the administration from london there was the difficulty that any alteration of the rates of postage by act of the british parliament might be an infringement of the rights of the colonists under the declaratory act of . accordingly, all intention of direct legislation by the british parliament was abandoned, and in an act was passed,[ ] repealing the act of the th george iii, on which the whole post office establishment of north america rested, conditionally on the passing by the legislatures of all the provinces of a bill for the regulation of the colonial post office service, which had been prepared in london. this bill provided that the ultimate control of the whole service in british north america should remain in the hands of the postmaster-general in london, but that the rates of postage should be fixed by the local legislatures, and any surplus of revenue over expenditure should be divided between the provinces. nova scotia was prepared to accept the bill, but only with modifications which would have prevented its adoption as the basis of a general service throughout the five provinces. new brunswick and both upper and lower canada rejected the bill. the assembly of lower canada substituted a bill of its own.[ ] the legislative council were indisposed to accept the substituted bill,[ ] and in march adopted an address to his majesty, explaining that in their view it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impracticable, to secure the co-operation between the separate post office establishments of the several provinces essential for the attainment of the purpose of the original measure, and they pointed for illustration to the united states, a country where, notwithstanding a keen regard for state rights, the whole control and management of the post office department had been delegated to the federal government. since the post office establishment was a most effective means for strengthening the ties connecting the several provinces, as well as an essential aid and convenience of commerce, they deemed the best course to be the retention by the imperial parliament of the exclusive power of legislating for the control and management of the post office in all parts of the empire. in march of the following year, there being still no prospect of the adoption of the bill by the provinces, the house of assembly and legislative council of upper canada adopted a joint address to his majesty, substantially identical with that adopted a year earlier by the legislative council of lower canada. it was clear that little progress was to be anticipated.[ ] in a commission was appointed. its attention was directed more especially to the faulty administration of the office and the excessive rates of postage. to remedy the former, and to make the administration more amenable to local control, they suggested placing the deputy postmaster-general under the control of the governor-general in all matters which did not conflict with the authority of the postmaster-general in england. as to postage, they were satisfied that the rates at that time in operation were too high. they considered that the rates should be such as would yield a revenue sufficient to meet the expenses of the department, and no more; and in their view, if the revenue improved after the establishment of such rates, which there should be no difficulty in calculating, the proper course would be either to grant further facilities or further to reduce the rates. there should not in any case be a net revenue of any magnitude. the commissioners themselves made an estimate of the rate which should fulfil the requirements they had detailed. in so doing they proceeded on much the same lines as sir rowland hill in his pamphlet _post office reform: its importance and practicability_. they had no difficulty in answering the demand for penny postage in british north america, a demand based on its successful inauguration in england. the circumstances in the two countries were not comparable. england, small and densely populated, the first industrial and commercial nation of the world, could not in such a matter be compared with a country of vast extent, sparsely peopled and almost entirely agricultural. while sir rowland hill had been able to show that in the case of letters conveyed for comparatively long distances in england the actual cost of carriage was only one thirty-sixth part of a penny, the commissioners found that in british north america the actual average cost of conveyance was no less than d., and the actual average total cost of dealing with letters no less than - / d. uniformity of rate at a penny, which had been justified in england on existing facts of the service, could therefore find no similar justification in north america. there could, however, be no doubt that with a reduction of the rate, which then averaged - / d. a letter, the number of letters would be very greatly increased and the cost per letter consequently reduced. the public were in the habit of making use of every available means other than the post for forwarding their letters. steamboats which carried a mail would carry outside the mail many times the number of letters that were enclosed in the mail. teamsters, stage drivers, and ordinary travellers all carried large numbers of letters, and in cases where no such opportunity offered, persons had been known to enclose the letter in a small package, which could be sent as freight at less charge than the rate of postage on the single letter. if, therefore, all these letters, and the many additional letters which would be written if transmission were cheap and easy, were sent in the mails, the cost of the service would not be by any means proportionately increased, and the average cost per letter would be very greatly reduced. it would still, however, have been considerably more than a penny. their conclusions were less satisfactory in regard to the rates actually recommended. they proposed a graduation according to distance of no less than five stages, starting with as short a distance as miles. for this the rate was d., and the scale rose to s. for distances over miles. the only virtues of the rates were that they were lower than those in operation in the united states and were to be charged by weight.[ ] the chief recommendations of this report were carried out under the authority of the colonial office. the weight basis for determining rates of postage was adopted, and the deputy postmaster-general's authority was restricted. his privilege of sending newspapers free of postage was also taken away, and in compensation he was given a salary of £ , a year--personal to himself, and high on account of his long enjoyment of the lucrative newspaper privilege. that for his successor was fixed at £ , a year. the agitation in the provinces in regard to the post office continued during the succeeding years, but it was less vehement and concerned itself more with the question of rates than with questions of administration. in a member of the headquarters staff of the british office (mr. w. j. page) was commissioned to examine and reorganize the service in the maritime provinces, with the object more especially of introducing such measures of reform as should bring the expenditures of the department in those provinces within the revenue. his reports throw a flood of light on the state and methods of the service.[ ] he found extraordinary anomalies in the methods of charging postage, in the methods of remunerating the deputy-postmasters, the couriers, and the way office keepers, and in the relations subsisting between the post office and the local legislatures. the financial arrangements of the office were in a condition which can only be described as chaotic. postage was, of course, chargeable on the total journey of the letter. but in nova scotia letters were charged with a new rate at each office through which they passed, and postage became an excessive charge on all letters which passed through two or three offices. deputy-postmasters were paid a percentage, usually per cent., on the amount of postage collected by them, but their chief remuneration in many cases arose from the right which they exercised of franking all their private and business correspondence, a consideration which they had principally, if not exclusively, in view in taking up their appointments. many of the deputies were lawyers or other professional men. the privilege was nominally subject to the limitation of four single letters, or two double letters, or one packet of an ounce by each mail; but this limitation was very generally disregarded. to such an extent was this the case that one-half of many mails consisted of free letters. couriers received fixed wages, which were either paid by the deputy postmaster-general out of the general funds of the department, or from grants in aid, given by the legislature specifically for the support of the respective routes. way office keepers received no remuneration from the department: in many instances the existence of the way offices was unknown at halifax. this was explained in great part by the manner in which such offices were usually established. a courier travelling a particular line of road received from the despatching postmaster a number of "way letters," or letters for persons living on or near his route. partly for his own convenience, and partly for the accommodation of the persons addressed, the courier would leave packets of the letters at some house on the route, and the occupant would collect the postage on behalf of the courier. in course of time the courier induced the postmaster to make up the letters for this particular place separately, and to open a private account with the householder, who thus became an agent for the postmaster, and the house became a way office. the keepers of these way offices usually charged a fee of d. on each letter received or sent. the post office was not in any way concerned in the transactions, except that in some cases, where it was not always possible for the way office keeper to obtain his fee in advance, the practice grew up, with the co-operation of the deputy-postmaster, of charging forward the unpaid way office keeper's fee as unpaid forward "postage." some of the way office keepers also claimed and exercised the same rights of franking as the deputy postmasters. others were paid on the basis of a percentage of per cent. of the postage collected; and in such cases some of the keepers still collected their fee of d., and some did not. when letters were sent from one way office to another--as was frequently the case, since often there were several way offices in succession--a fresh fee was charged; and a letter might be charged four or five twopenny fees and no postage, the fees all being appropriated by the way office keepers and nothing finding its way to the post office revenue. indeed, the post office department received scarcely any revenue from the way offices, and no sort of control over them was even attempted. the house of assembly was in the habit of establishing post routes, and of voting increases in the salaries of existing couriers, the resulting expense of which was to be paid by the post office. the action of the legislature was often taken on the presentation of memorials from persons interested, or on the initiative of a member specially interested in post office matters with some axe to grind. the legislature would vote, say, £ or £ , for a courier to some remote place, for which the number of letters was negligible--perhaps a dozen in a year, perhaps two a week and a few newspapers. the resolution of the house would then be forwarded to the postmaster-general, who by virtue of his delegated authority established the route, the cost over and above the amount voted by the house being drawn from post office funds. the whole system was permeated with jobbery, and the house used to become more than usually active in these matters as the elections approached. in cape breton, in , the expenses of the couriers amounted to some £ , and the revenue, after deducting the commission of the three postmasters in the island, was some £ --the explanation being that the member for the island was one of the leaders in post office matters in the legislature. internal correspondence was at this time literally nonexistent, many of the couriers conveying only newspapers (which in general went free), and fee letters (that is, letters charged only with the way office keeper's fee, and no postage). except in five towns (halifax, yarmouth, and picton in nova scotia; and st. john and fredericton in new brunswick) there was no provision for the delivery of letters except at the post office window. in those towns, delivery was made in the first instance at the post office, but all letters which were not called for within a short time after the arrival of the mail, were sent out for delivery throughout the town by letter carrier. an additional charge of d. per letter was made by the carrier, and retained by him as his remuneration. in some cases d. was charged also for the delivery of newspapers; in others this penny was charged only where the receivers could be induced to pay; and in some cases newspapers were delivered free. at halifax two letter carriers were employed, and their total weekly earnings were estimated at £ s., indicating , as, approximately, the weekly number of letters and newspapers received. at fredericton a charge of d. was made on letters and on newspapers, but the amount was taken by the postmaster, who paid a weekly wage to the carrier. the postmaster estimated his annual receipt at about £ s., corresponding with a weekly average of letters and newspapers delivered in fredericton. he paid the carrier £ s. per annum. up to there were no internal posts in prince edward island. the only post office in the province was at charlottetown. in the legislature resolved to establish an inland service, and appointed couriers to travel weekly for the conveyance of letters. way office keepers were also nominated at various places. a uniform rate of d. for single letters, and / d. for newspapers published in the island, was fixed for transmission within the island, and, in consideration of the whole expense being borne by the provincial treasury, the deputy postmaster-general of nova scotia and new brunswick agreed to the retention by the province of the net revenue. the way office keepers received as their remuneration per cent. on the postage collected, with the privilege of franking for transmission within the island. the province made a small grant, at first £ per annum and later £ , in aid of the administration of the posts. the first wish of the home authorities was to bring the expenditure within the revenue, and after he had been in the colony some two months mr. page submitted a scheme which should remove the deficit in nova scotia, then over £ , a year.[ ] this scheme, which was not lacking in boldness, proposed the discontinuance of no less than twenty-four couriers, and reduction of the frequency of the mail in two other cases, involving towns of some importance. on the th july the post office of new brunswick was separated from that of nova scotia and a large number of services abolished. following on these drastic measures, the new brunswick legislature, in , adopted a joint address to his majesty, praying for redress. they asked for a reduction of letter rates, for the abolition of newspaper rates, and for the application of all surplus revenue to the extension of facilities for inter-provincial communication, adding that in consideration of the introduction of these changes the legislature would guarantee to provide such sums as might from time to time be necessary to defray the expenses of the department. the reply of the colonial office was that the prayer of the petition could not be granted, since other provinces were involved; but that, so long as the province guaranteed the charges, the proposal as regards newspapers, taken by itself, was unobjectionable. the home authorities, seeing that in nova scotia and new brunswick the service still showed a deficit year by year, remained indisposed to introduce reduced rates; but when lord clanricarde was appointed postmaster-general there was a change of policy. lord clanricarde came to the conclusion that the time was ripe for a reduction of rates in british north america, although he was convinced that such a reduction would entail heavy postal deficits in all the provinces. it would be for the provincial legislatures to make good these deficits, and he concluded it was therefore expedient that the full control of the service should be handed over to the provincial authorities, subject to certain conditions imposed with the view of preventing friction between the provinces over the transit across the sea-board provinces of mails for or from the interior. lord elgin, secretary of state for the colonies, suggested to the governor-general[ ] that one or two members of the executive councils of canada, nova scotia, new brunswick, and prince edward island should meet at montreal to discuss the question and mature a plan, which could be submitted to the respective legislatures, for the assumption by the provinces of the administration of the post office. a conference was arranged, and a plan for the establishment of a uniform system throughout the british north american colonies elaborated. the conference made clear that in the repeated remonstrances against the "transfer of assumed surplus receipts" to the revenue of the british office there was no desire on the part of the provinces to make the post office a source of revenue, or, indeed, to call into question the prudent management of the imperial government; but that the remonstrances were prompted by a growing conviction of the great importance of an efficient postal system as a factor in their social and commercial welfare, and as "a means in a new country of extending civilization." the provinces were impressed by the great social and moral benefits which had followed the introduction of cheap postage in the mother country, and were anxious to extend to their own land the benefits of the system, which had already been introduced by their great neighbour. the delegates were satisfied that the most suitable rate would be d. the half ounce, uniform, irrespective of distance; but, thinking it likely that some of the provinces might be unwilling entirely to disregard distance, they recommended that an option be suggested for any province that wished so to do to charge double rates for distances greater than miles. they recommended the establishment throughout british north america of a uniform system and rate of postage, with as little local modification as the circumstances of the various provinces might demand. but for two main reasons they were opposed to a common administration: ( ) they considered that the control by each province of its postal establishment would be a powerful aid to economy in administration, would prevent imprudent extensions of postal accommodation, and would prevent also any feeling of jealousy between the provinces with regard to the application of the funds of the establishment to the extension of services in the respective provinces; ( ) they thought the various provinces would be more likely to accept a system under local control, each province defraying the entire cost of its service, and retaining all postage collected within its limits, whether prepaid or post-paid.[ ] the home authorities accepted the recommendations of the conference, subject to a few slight modifications in non-essentials, and an act, passed in , authorized provincial legislatures to establish posts within their respective territories, but gave them no authority over the posts between the colonies and places abroad.[ ] the transfer of the post office systems to the provincial governments was accomplished in . delegates from all the colonies met to consider the arrangements to be made for conducting the office under the new conditions. with the example of england before them, as before the world, the delegates were anxious for a uniform rate, and for a low uniform rate. they realized, however, that conditions vastly different from those prevailing in england prevailed in british north america. with their great distances and their thinly settled districts, with the rigours of the american climate and the generally poor state of the roads, it could not be anticipated that rates which had been found successful in england, with its comparatively small area and dense population, with its less difficult climate and its better facilities for intercommunication, would prove equally successful. in the end a compromise was adopted--uniformity of rate, but a rate moderately high, viz. cents.[ ] a period of great development ensued, especially in the maritime provinces. under the stimulus of the reduction of the rate to the new uniform charge of cents per / ounce, in place of a charge graduated by distance which had averaged over d. a letter, the number of letters increased so rapidly that in four years the gross revenue had recovered its former level.[ ] but in both nova scotia and new brunswick the account regularly showed a heavy deficit, in partial explanation of which there was the fact that both governments carried newspapers in the mails free of charge. in canada, with a larger number of commercial communities, the results were somewhat better. but even there the accounts showed a deficit until . from that year there was an annual surplus until , when the heavy charges for conveyance of the mails by railway began to tell. these conditions continued until the confederation of the british north american colonies in . the control of the post office was within the powers assigned to the new dominion government. the government was desirous of not falling behind other countries in the provision of post office services, and it was necessary for political reasons to take advantage of every available means for facilitating intercommunication between the different parts of the dominion. shortly after confederation, therefore, a bill to establish and regulate a federal dominion post office was brought before the dominion parliament. a reduction of the letter rate of postage from cents to cents per / ounce was proposed, and a rate of postage on newspapers. in some of the provinces newspapers had previously been carried by the posts free of charge; and the establishment of a rate of postage for them was to some extent bound up with the reduction of the letter rate, since with the lower rate for letters the free transmission of newspapers would have proved so great a strain on the revenue, that either the government would have been compelled to make larger grants in aid, or services would have to be withheld in districts where it was desirable they should be provided. some members were disposed to think the better course would have been to retain the old rate for letters and to allow newspapers to pass free, as had long been the practice in the lower provinces; and the imposition of a rate on newspapers was characterized as a tax on the dissemination of public intelligence and a retrogressive step towards old and exploded abuses.[ ] other members desired to follow the english example and reduce the letter rate to cents, the equivalent of a penny; but this was deemed impracticable on account of the different conditions under which the post office was conducted in canada, where the mails were carried very long distances through a sparse population.[ ] in the united states, where the circumstances were more nearly comparable, the rate was still cents. with a rate of cents in canada, as proposed, it was anticipated that there would be a considerable deficit, but that the deficit would soon disappear.[ ] it was alleged that there was no demand for a reduction and that everybody was willing to pay cents; but the real objection was not to a reduction in the letter rate _per se_. the objection arose from the assumption, fairly well grounded, that the reduction was only possible if accompanied by the establishment of a postage on newspapers, to which a number of members were strongly opposed. the rate of cents for / -ounce letters was, however, adopted. in three years the yield of postage at cents surpassed the former yield at cents.[ ] in a bill for modifying rates of postage was introduced. the main propositions of the bill were ( ) to reduce the letter rate to cents per ounce, and ( ) to impose a postage on newspapers. since there had been several changes in newspaper postage, and for about nineteen years newspapers had been passing through the post in canada free of any charge for postage.[ ] the postal service was at this time being carried on at some loss to the general dominion revenue, and, as in , the proposal to charge postage on newspapers was made to counterbalance any loss of revenue which might result from the reduction in the letter rate of postage. it was hoped that with this counterbalance any such loss would soon be made good, and that, indeed, the post office would become a self-sustaining department.[ ] the arguments in parliament were almost identical with those of , when the previous similar proposals as regards the letter and newspaper rates were before it. stress was, however, now laid on the contention that letter-writing was the pursuit of the wealthy, and of business and commercial men, who were well able to pay for their correspondence, while the newspapers were sent mainly to the farmers of the country, who wrote few letters. the government were proposing at this time to raise a million dollars by a tax on sugar, a course denounced as an imposition by the government on the poorer classes, to whom sugar is a necessity, while the reduction of postage would present the wealthier classes with some $ , a year.[ ] the reduction was carried, and the -cent rate has proved successful. the gross revenue recovered within four years.[ ] the number of letters has largely increased, especially in recent years, largely, no doubt, in consequence of the growing commercial prosperity. the total number, which in was some millions, had in increased to millions. the financial result has also proved satisfactory. the post office service in canada as a whole in showed a profit of some $ , , , and there is no doubt that the greater part of this profit was derived from letters. note.--in a war-tax of / -d. was imposed on all letters and postcards. on the assumption that the numbers posted would not be appreciably diminished, the increase of revenue was estimated at $ , , a year, and this estimate has been realized. * * * * * letter post in the united states of america the new england colonies had not been long established when the public authorities first took cognizance of the arrangements for the distribution of letters. in the general court of the massachusetts bay colony made an order for the establishment of a service in respect of letters for or from places abroad. a house-to-house delivery of letters received from abroad at the low uniform rate of d. would seem to have been contemplated.[ ] at various intervals during the latter half of the century, post offices were established in most of the other colonies--in virginia in , in new york in , in connecticut in , in philadelphia in , and in new hampshire in .[ ] these post offices were set up in the various colonies by legal enactment, but they were in general local and municipal in character. in the circumstances of the case they could at that time hardly have been otherwise. the colonies were independent of each other in administrative matters, and seldom acted together for any purpose. the population relatively to the extent of the colonies was extremely small, the settlements were scattered, and the roads were mere trails.[ ] in general there was very little intercourse between the various colonies. such intercommunication as was carried on usually went by means of coastwise vessels or by occasional travellers. the one exception was a post route from new york to boston, established in to go monthly. the system established in virginia in was of a primitive character, being merely a requirement that every planter should furnish a messenger to convey the mail to the next plantation, under penalty of forfeiting a hogshead of tobacco in default. in , by an order in council, the establishment of a post office in jamaica, and such other of his majesty's plantations in america "as shall be found convenient," was authorized. on the th february the crown granted a patent to thomas neale (then master of the mint) vesting in him the american post, with full power and authority to erect post offices in the chief parts of the american colonies "for the receiving and despatching of letters and pacquets, and to receive, send, and deliver the same under such rates and sums of money as the planters shall agree to give." it was no light matter to obtain the acquiescence of all the colonies in the exercise of general rights as regards the post office in north america, especially as they had previously been free to make their own arrangements in this respect. neale was himself never in north america, but his deputy there, andrew hamilton, who was a very capable man, was able not only to secure the acceptance by the colonies of a general postal system under neale's patent, but to obtain from some of them small grants in aid. most of the colonies passed acts authorizing the establishment of post offices under the provisions of the patent; and the principle of postal monopoly was introduced in these enactments.[ ] the general assembly of virginia authorized a post office in the colony, believing such an office to be of "generall concernement and of great advantage for the increase and preservation of trade and commerce therein, for thereby speedy and safe despatch may be had."[ ] the rates of postage were as follows:-- every letter for distance not d. not exceeding exceeding one sheet english miles ditto two sheets " d. every pacquet " d. per ounce of writs and weight. deeds every letter above distance - / d. not exceeding of english one sheet miles ditto two sheets " d. every pacquet " d. per ounce. of writs and deeds the rates established in the other colonies were similar but not identical. the new postal service under the authority of the patent was commenced on the st may . a post was set up from portsmouth, new hampshire, to boston, saybrook, new york, philadelphia, maryland, and virginia. five stages were fixed, and a rider was appointed to each stage. in summer the service was performed weekly, and in winter fortnightly. at the commencement, as may be readily understood, the conditions were somewhat difficult.[ ] but with the growth of population and commerce, conditions improved. the service to the south was for many years subject to general irregularity and temporary suspension, especially at times of flood. the post office in america has from its first establishment as a general system, as distinguished from the merely local or municipal posts, had to reckon with two factors which have been of great importance in relation to all the main services--a vast extent of territory and a sparse population. the rates were higher than those in operation in england, but at first, and for many years, the revenue was insufficient to defray the expenses. the finance of the american post office consequently differed fundamentally from that of the english office. neale was required by the terms of his patent to render an account at the end of three years of the receipts and expenditures of the american post. his first account was not, however, rendered until . it showed that the expenses up to may were £ , , and the receipts £ , , there being thus a loss of £ , . the account was accompanied by a statement prepared by hamilton, explaining the great advantages to the trade and commerce of the colonies, as well as to their security, which the post office provided; showing how necessary in consequence was the continuance of the office, and recommending that definite rates of postage for the whole territory be fixed by statute. other regulations for the conduct of the system were also suggested, as the existing arrangement, involving such serious loss to the patentee, could not be continued indefinitely. neale contented himself with a brief remark to the effect that whenever his majesty should see fit to take the conduct of the posts into his own hands, he (neale) would be glad to surrender his patent--of course, for a consideration.[ ] the postmasters-general opposed the suggested increase of rates on general grounds, their experience having taught them that "the easy and cheap corresponding doth encourage people to write letters, and that this revenue was but little in proportion to what it is now, till the postage of letters was reduced from sixpence to threepence." neale died shortly afterwards, and his rights in the patent were transferred to his creditors, who were hamilton himself and an englishman named west. hamilton died in , and his widow carried on the posts for some two or three years. in she and west endeavoured to obtain an extension of the term of the patent; so that, although the posts had been conducted for some years at heavy loss, both by hamilton and by his widow, the conditions had improved, and there was now reasonable anticipation of a profit from the office. the view of the postmasters-general, however, ultimately prevailed, and in the patent was bought back for the crown for the sum of £ , . when, a few years later, a general act of parliament was found necessary, the opportunity was taken to place the american posts on a definite statutory footing.[ ] the preamble recites that posts had at great charges been established on the mainland of north america through most of her majesty's plantations and colonies, and the postmasters-general were authorized to establish a "chief letter office" in new york, and other chief offices at some convenient place or places in each of the colonies in america, and to appoint deputies for the "better managing, ordering, collecting, and improving the revenue" granted by the act. rates for the transmission of letters between england and america were fixed, and detailed rates for transmission between specific towns within the north american colonies. the rates between london and america were s. for a single letter, s. for a double letter, and so on. for transmission within the colonies the rates were, broadly, for distances under miles, d. the single letter, d. the double letter, and so on; distances under miles, for a single letter d., and so in proportion for double and treble and ounce letters. these rates were, in general, higher than those which had been fixed by the colonies under the neale patent, but for several years they did not produce sufficient revenue to meet expenses. in the postmasters-general were for the first time able to say that in the future the post office in north america, even if it yielded no net revenue, would no longer involve a charge, and there was a good prospect of a profit. the act of provided rates for the longer distances and made a general reduction of nearly per cent. the rates now became, for a single letter, for conveyance for any distance not exceeding miles, d.; from to miles, d.; from to miles, d.; for each additional miles, d.[ ] in the intervening period the chief events had been the appointment of benjamin franklin, in , to be postmaster of philadelphia, and in , to be joint postmaster-general for british north america, and the acquisition of canada in . the latter event had, indeed, been one of the reasons assigned for the passing of the act of .[ ] under andrew hamilton the posts had run only along the coast, the great main route extending from portsmouth, n.h., through boston and new york to maryland and virginia. under his son, john hamilton, who succeeded him in the office, the posts were pushed inland as occasion offered or circumstances demanded, and for these extensions john hamilton adopted the principle of establishing routes in those cases where the postage was sufficient to maintain them. on such a basis the system could not, however, be very largely developed. the circumstances of the country made any great extension impossible, and in the posts still went mainly along the sea coasts.[ ] franklin was dismissed in . the crown post office was continued in north america, but about this time a competing system arose. for some years there had been friction in the colonies between the authorities and the publishers of newspapers. the anomalous english system of the distribution of newspapers free by post by certain favoured individuals had been introduced in america. the favoured officials were the american postmasters-general, and for that reason the office was much sought after by publishers. both franklin and hunter, who were joint postmasters-general (franklin from to , and hunter from to his death in ), were printers, and franklin's dismissal is sometimes attributed to a desire on the part of the british government to hamper the distribution of his publications, and so restrict their influence. great efforts were at this time made by the crown authorities in america to prevent the dissemination of ideas contrary to the british ascendancy. as early as the governor of pennsylvania endeavoured to prevent the publication of improper intelligence in newspapers, and suggested that special instructions should be given to the postmasters-general. the feeling against the newspapers grew with the developments of the years that followed, and by much trouble was being caused by the crown postmasters to the publishers of newspapers. many were toning down their comments in order to retain the privilege of free transmission, but some began to look for other means of distributing their papers. william goddard of baltimore, publisher of the _maryland journal_, suggested the establishment of "an _american_ post office on constitutional principles," and visited various colonies in the early part of the year with the object of enlisting support for his project. he received a good measure of approval, and on the th april subscriptions were invited from the public towards the establishment of an american post office. the scheme of this post office was that subscriptions should be invited for its establishment and maintenance, and "for the necessary defence of post officers and riders employed in the same"; and that the subscribers in each colony should appoint a committee from among themselves, whose business should be to appoint postmasters at places where offices had hitherto been kept or might be judged necessary, "and to regulate the postage of letters and packets, with the terms on which newspapers are to be carried."[ ] meantime the committees of safety and the assemblies of the various colonies made certain provision for the transmission of mails, both within and between the colonies. in may the new york committee appointed a sub-committee to inquire of the postmaster, mr. foxcroft, the reason for the recent discharge by him of the post riders. the postmaster's explanation was that the last four mails between new york and boston had been held up and violated on the journey, and he had discharged the post riders on the ground that it was no longer safe to send them with mails. the committee thereupon themselves immediately arranged for the despatch of mails from new york, and a few days later issued a notice "to acquaint the publick that a constitutional post office is now rising on the ruins of the parliamentary one." in the course of the next few months several provincial congresses passed resolutions establishing post offices in the respective colonies. massachusetts fixed rates of postage at - / d. for a single letter for not more than miles, and increased rates for greater distances. the whole matter was at the same time under the consideration of the continental congress sitting at philadelphia. goddard had, from the first establishment of the constitutional post office, expected congress to assume control.[ ] in may, congress appointed a committee to consider the matter, and on the th july, having received the committee's report, agreed to resolutions providing for the establishment of a post office. benjamin franklin, who had been a member of the committee, was unanimously chosen to be the first postmaster-general. it was provided that the remuneration of the deputies should, in general, be per cent. on the sums they collected, the rate which had usually been paid under the parliamentary system.[ ] postage of letters was to be per cent. less than those appointed by act of parliament. it was feared that such rates would prove too low, and the proceeds of the office be insufficient to support the necessary riders; and as people were in general well satisfied with the rates lately paid, or at least had made no complaints regarding them, the lowering of the rates was deferred.[ ] the parliamentary post continued for some years, concurrently with the constitutional post, as the new independent post office was called. on the th october a debate arose in congress as to the expediency of stopping the "parliamentary or ministerial posts." the stopping of the post was desired chiefly as a means for hindering the correspondence of their enemies. inaction in the matter was advocated by some who professed to find the royal post of great convenience; and by others who, although desirous of seeing the parliamentary post stopped, thought it unnecessary to take active measures against it, since it would soon cease in any case. on christmas day, , the secretary to the post office in new york issued a notification to the public that, in consequence of the decision of a provincial convention at annapolis not to permit the parliamentary post to travel through the province, that mail would be discontinued, and the letters held at new york at the disposal of the persons to whom they were addressed. the parliamentary post did not, however, altogether die. as late as the secretary in london wrote to the deputy-general at new york that the postmasters-general were glad to find that a number of letters were being brought to the post office to be delivered, and as they hoped that method would be continued, the deputy would, no doubt, soon have sufficient funds to pay the expenses of the establishment. but in the postmasters-general were concerned to find that the whole postage would not defray the cost of management, a circumstance attributed to the fact that the mails were often seized on arrival and carried first to the headquarters of the army. in consequence of this, a great part of the letters were never delivered at all. very little postage could be collected, and the postmasters-general addressed strong representations to lord george germain, his majesty's principal secretary of state.[ ] in , in view of the great necessity, for the safety of the colonies, that means should be provided for the frequent and rapid transmission of intelligence, further dispositions with regard to the posts were made by the congress. riders were appointed for every twenty-five or thirty miles on the several post roads. they were required to proceed through their respective stages three times a week. they were to set out immediately on the receipt of the mail and were to travel "by night and by day, without stopping," until they had delivered the mail to the next rider. it was found that the revenue produced by the existing rates of postage fell far short of the expenses, and on the th october the rates were raised by per cent. the difficulties of the administration continued, and various committees of inquiry were appointed. in april one of these committees recommended the doubling of the rates, a course which met with approval from patriotic americans.[ ] even this increase was not sufficient. in october of that year there was a balance of £ s. d. due to the postmaster-general, and arrears of £ , s. d. to the post riders. for the discharge of these liabilities and for the continuance of the functions of the office a draft on the treasurer was authorized. in december a further grant was found to be absolutely necessary in order to maintain the service, and the sum of $ , was voted.[ ] the establishment of express riders which had been maintained in conjunction with the postal service was at the same time abolished, and the rates of postage raised per cent. on those paid in . but the cost still outran the revenue, and in may sums amounting to $ , were voted in aid of the service. the finances of the posts became involved in further difficulties through the general depreciation of money, and congress found it necessary in december to make good the depreciation on the pay of post riders, and to raise their nominal pay to double the sum received before the war.[ ] several minor changes of the rates of postage were made in this period. in december the congress fixed the rates on letters at half the rates paid at the commencement of the war: and in october at the actual rates charged at the commencement of the war. but, whatever the rates, during the war they never produced sufficient revenue to meet expenses, and the controlling factor in the administration of the service was the necessity for a means of circulating the earliest intelligence of the movements of the enemy, and of their ally, in order to make the best disposition of their own forces. by the articles of confederation congress was vested with the sole and exclusive rights and power of establishing a post office for the united states; and, deeming "the communication of intelligence with regularity and despatch from one part to another of the united states essentially requisite to the safety as well as the commercial interest thereof," in revised all the regulations made theretofore in respect of the post office, and reduced them to one act. the postmaster-general was required to cause the mail to be carried with all care and despatch at least once in every week to and from each of the stated post offices, and was given a monopoly of "letters, packets, or other despatches." postmasters were to be paid such commission as the postmaster-general might think their services merited, not exceeding per cent. of the postage collected by them. rates of postage on single letters were fixed as follows:-- distance. rate.[ ] not exceeding miles dwt. gr. exceeding miles, not exceeding miles " " exceeding miles, not exceeding miles " " and so on, advancing grains for every hundred miles. for all letters for or from europe by packet or despatch vessels, the charge was dwt. the rates were doubled for double letters; trebled for treble letters; and a packet weighing an ounce was charged equal to four single letters, and in that proportion if a greater weight. in the event of a surplus of post office revenue over expenses, the postmaster-general was required to pay the amount to the treasurer of the united states "until the sums of money heretofore advanced by the united states for the support of the general post office, with the interest thereon at per cent. per annum," should be repaid, after which any such surplus was to be devoted to the establishment of new post offices or other improvements of the service. if the necessary expenses were found to exceed the revenue, the excess was to be paid to the postmaster-general by the treasurer of the united states.[ ] cross posts were farmed in much the same way as the cross posts and bye posts had been farmed in england,[ ] and the farmers were bound by contract not to charge rates in excess of those fixed by the ordinance.[ ] after the adoption of the constitution an act of the constitutional congress became necessary. the president, in recommending to congress the provision of the post office and post roads on a liberal and comprehensive scale, referred to the political importance of such a service as aiding the diffusion of a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government,[ ] a consideration which was paramount in determining the attitude of the united states government towards the posts. it was held to be a first duty of the government to afford every possible means for the dissemination of intelligence--general intelligence for the information and education of the people, and more especially political intelligence for the education of the people as citizens of the republic. they were making, it was their legitimate boast, a tremendous experiment in politics. they were essaying to demonstrate to the world whether a people had the genius to govern itself, whether democracy and the republic were abstract political ideas only, or whether they could be made actual living things. the english commonwealth had failed. the french revolution had come after their own and was still in doubtful case. they could therefore neglect no means likely to strengthen the foundation of their own republic, and in this view must consider seriously the question of providing effective means for the enlightenment of the sovereign people on all matters pertaining to the executive government and the legislature.[ ] in order to secure the dissemination of such intelligence members of congress were given extensive powers of franking both letters and newspapers. on the question of rates, opinion in congress was divided. although at the time the gross revenue of the post office was small, some members anticipated an increase sufficient to yield a net revenue, as in england and most other european countries; whilst others, with more wisdom, pointed out the vital difference in the case of america on account of "its great extent and uncultivated state, as well as from a thousand other causes."[ ] the new rates were based on eight zones of distance. for distances under miles the charge for single letters was cents; for distances over miles the charge was cents; every double letter, double rates; every triple letter, triple rates; and every packet weighing ounce avoirdupois, the rate of four single letters for each ounce. the rates for letters fixed by the act of continued some thirty years, except for slight modifications in and , and except for a brief period at the time of the war of - with great britain. the government then attempted to obtain an increased revenue from the post office, and the rates of postage were increased per cent. the effect on the revenue and on the business of the country was, however, so disastrous that the increased rates were maintained only for about a year.[ ] in the laws relating to the post office were codified. the codifying act placed on the postmaster-general the duty of establishing such post offices, and appointing such postmasters on the post roads as should appear to him expedient, and of providing for the carriage of the mail on all post roads that were or might be established by law,[ ] with such frequency as he should think proper, "_having_ _regard to the productiveness_" of the routes, the means of the department, and other circumstances. errors and irregularities crept into the service; but they were for the most part the result of "the representations and pressing solicitations of the citizens," sustained by members of congress from almost every section of the country, of the extension of the franking privilege, of the desire of the head of the department "to extend the benefits of mail facilities and stage-coach accommodations to every portion of the community," and of legislation extending the transportation of the mail over unproductive routes. the deficits which resulted were not regarded altogether as an evil, because the public had greatly benefited by the measures which had produced them.[ ] despite the solicitude of congress the revenue failed to recover, and in and several succeeding years showed a deficit. sir rowland hill's pamphlet _post office reform: its importance and practicability_ attracted attention in america, and as early as the question of applying the principle of uniformity of rate to the american service was under consideration. the rate proposed was not, however, cents, the equivalent of a penny, but cents. sir rowland hill himself expressed the opinion that owing to the widely different circumstances penny postage might not be applicable to the united states, but that, as the american people did not look for a revenue from their post office, a low general rate might be feasible.[ ] although a low and uniform rate was not immediately adopted, the example of great britain had great influence.[ ] there was considerable public agitation in favour of reduction of rates, and in many respects the circumstances resembled those obtaining in england before the reform. the high rates of postage led to constant and widespread evasion, advantage being taken of all available private means for the transmission of letters, and an association formed in new york to work for the adoption of reduced postage held meetings in the large cities. in the finances of the department were in a more nourishing condition. for four years the service had been able to maintain itself. the state of the public treasury had prevented any material change in previous years, but as difficulties under that head had ceased, the government recommended the introduction of low rates--gradually, in order to prevent any serious dislocation of the finance of the department.[ ] a statute was accordingly passed which, while not introducing uniform postage, went a great way in that direction. there were to be only two distance charges, viz. for distances not exceeding miles, or greater than miles, respectively. the new rate for ordinary letters was cents for distances not exceeding miles, and cents for any greater distance. this statute also introduced the principle of charge by weight instead of by sheets, the half-ounce being taken as the unit weight.[ ] the reduction resulted in so great a fall in the revenue that in the first year at the reduced rates there was a deficit of between one and two million dollars. in calling attention to this deficit, the president, in his message to congress, said that no principle had been more generally acquiesced in by the people than that the post office should sustain itself, but congress had "never sought to make it a source of revenue except for a short period during the last war with great britain." at the same time the service should not become a charge on the general treasury, and it would be necessary either to curtail the existing service or so to modify the act of the previous march as to improve the revenue. as curtailment of service was out of the question, revision of the rates was recommended.[ ] but the rates were not revised. revision in an upward direction was, indeed, hardly feasible. the public agitation for low rates continued after the passing of the act of . many citizens were convinced that the system already adopted in england might be introduced in the united states. the benefits which had resulted in england in the way of commercial, social, and moral betterment were largely dwelt upon. the chief demand was for a uniform rate, which now meant simply the abolition of the increased charge for distances over miles. there was, of course, sir rowland hill's calculation in regard to cost of conveyance, which showed the futility of any attempt to make distance the basis of charge; and the further consideration that the actual cost of transit for each letter sent in a mail varies not in accordance with the distance travelled, but inversely as the number of letters contained in the mail. moreover, it was not considered just that the letters of the people of the populous eastern states should be taxed in order to provide unremunerative mail services to the remote and newly settled western states.[ ] under the old high rates the revenue had not increased in proportion to the increase of population, but since the reduction of the increase was so much more rapid that even with the reduced rates the revenue was greater than ever before. the government preferred rates of postage which were too low to rates which were too high, arguing that in the former case the great mass of the people would benefit, whilst in the latter case the benefits would extend only to a few.[ ] the need for some further reduction was well illustrated by the fact that the ordinary charge for transporting a barrel of flour from detroit to buffalo was at this time the same as the charge for carrying in the same conveyance a letter weighing half an ounce, viz. cents. in an act reduced to cents the rate of postage on letters not going over miles, with a fourfold charge on pacific mails, on account of the great expense incurred by the department. it was estimated that the expense of such mails was four times as great as in the case of ordinary mails, but the proposal met with opposition.[ ] in mail matter was classified in three groups: ( ) letters, ( ) regular printed matter, ( ) other miscellaneous matter. the charge for letters (first-class mail matter) was made cents a half ounce irrespective of distance. the rate was reduced to cents a half ounce in , in deference to the wish and determination of the public, supported by a very decided vote in congress. it was anticipated that the revenue would not suffer severely, but that, as in the case of the earlier reductions, there would be an increase in the number of letters. it was also anticipated that many letters sent unsealed at cent would be transferred to the sealed post, thus yielding an additional cent. the number of groups or classes of mail matter had been increased to four in , and the department was now asked to consider whether by rearranging the third and fourth class matter additional revenue could be obtained from such matter in order to diminish the deficiency resulting from the reduction of letter postage. the department was unable to suggest any method for achieving this object; but the contemplated reduction was not delayed. the condition of the treasury was good, "there being money enough to meet any deficiency, even if it were as large as the maximum ($ , , )," estimated on the basis of the number of letters then passing by post without allowance for any increase.[ ] the actual loss of revenue consequent on the reduction was only $ , , . a large stimulus was given to general correspondence, and, as anticipated, to the use of the sealed letter in place of postcards or unsealed circulars, whereby the department reaped considerable profit. in the allowance for weight was raised, and the rate became cents for each ounce or fraction of an ounce. since that date the rate has not been changed, although from time to time proposals have been made for a reduction to cent. the public and the department realize that the -cent rate is immensely profitable. it not only sustains the service for letters: it enables the department to carry the heavy burden of both the second-class matter and the expensive rural delivery service, both of which involve heavy deficits, and still to show only a comparatively small, though fluctuating, deficit.[ ] as early as the question of cent letter postage had attained considerable prominence. many newspapers were advocating the reduction, and numerous associations and conventions had declared for it. the postmaster-general, mr. wanamaker, himself declared that great numbers of the people believed in cent postage and wanted it, and that the existing rate yielded a large profit which would permit of a reduction of letter postage if it could be devoted to that purpose.[ ] in mr. wanamaker expressed the view that in time not only would cent postage be successfully demanded, but that the time was not far off; although he himself thought that many other improvements and extensions ought to be provided before such reduction was made, and that it would not be just and fair to the service, upon which much effort had been spent in order to make it self-supporting, to heap upon it a burden of millions from which it could not recover for years.[ ] the question was by no means lost sight of.[ ] with the department showing a deficit in most years, pressure could not be brought to bear for a reduction of postage which could only result in throwing a heavy charge on the public treasury. should, however, the department succeed in its efforts to obtain a higher rate of charge on second-class matter, and such higher charge results as satisfactorily to the revenue as the department anticipates, there can be little doubt that reduction of letter postage would soon follow.[ ] * * * * * letter post in france the roman posts in france disappeared in the confusion which followed the incursions of the barbarians. charlemagne repaired the roads to germany, to italy, and to spain, in the early part of the ninth century, and established on them a system of relays; but with the passing of the carlovingian empire these arrangements fell into decay. the feudal system which arose after the break-up of the empire was little adapted for the encouragement of posts. its tendencies were rather towards disintegration and isolation. although some of the services survived, there was for centuries no general system of posts in france.[ ] during this period the chief means of communication were provided by the monasteries, which maintained regular intercourse between their various establishments scattered throughout france, spain, germany, and other countries; by travelling merchants, and by journeymen. when a regular service of posts was again established in france, it was provided, not by the state, but by the university of paris, which in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries increased in importance and renown, and attracted large numbers of students from all parts of france, and from foreign countries. in order to provide a means of communication between the students and their homes, the university obtained from the king authority to employ for the purpose messengers, to whom were accorded certain special privileges. thus, in , the messengers of the university were exempted from payment of tolls, or of fees for entry into towns. at first they travelled on foot, but at a later date on horseback or by carriage. the system developed regularity and rapidity, and in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was employed, although without authority, by the public generally.[ ] this service continued until , when the privileges of the university were suppressed, monetary compensation ( , fr.) being paid from the revenue of the posts.[ ] an ordinary postal service was re-established by louis xi in .[ ] relay stations were set up on the main routes, four leagues apart. at each station four or five horses were provided by the postmasters, who were required to convey the royal despatches without special remuneration. for conducting the royal couriers from stage to stage, however, payment was made at the rate of sous for each stage for every horse. in the postmasters were given the exclusive right of furnishing horses for the use of couriers. in order to provide accommodation for travellers, a system of relays was established in , in addition to the ordinary posts.[ ] the stages were fixed at distances varying from twelve to fifteen leagues, and the charge for a horse was sous for each stage. this system was amalgamated with the posts in , and the functions for which the relays had been established were exercised by the posts until after the revolution. they were definitely abandoned to private enterprise in . the transmission of ordinary letters for private individuals was not at first contemplated,[ ] but it became common for the royal messengers to carry letters for the public. the conveyance of private letters was first definitely provided for by the state in . in that year a special system of messengers was established, whose function was to convey legal documents between the parliament and the inferior courts, and was limited to the period during which parliament was sitting. these messengers were required to carry letters for private individuals at the following rates:-- for a single letter deniers for a packet of three or four letters " for packets of letters weighing an ounce or more " irrespective of distance.[ ] under richelieu the ordinary posts were given a regular organization. fixed days of departure and arrival were appointed; offices were established in the towns; and in the first general table of rates was issued.[ ] previously the rate was fixed mutually between the couriers and the senders or receivers of letters.[ ] for single letters the tariff of prescribed rates of sous for transmission between paris and dijon, and sous for transmission between paris and lyons, paris and bordeaux, paris and toulouse. for letters composed of more than one sheet, but less than / ounce in weight, the rate varied from to sous; and for larger packets the rate was from to sous per ounce. in the posts were given the monopoly of the carriage of letters.[ ] in the first years the posts had been a charge on the state, but at about this time they were let at farm, and proved a fruitful and growing source of revenue to the state. by the annual rent of the farm had risen to , , livres, and in , the last year of the farm, the net revenue was about , , fr. a new tariff was established in , as follows:-- ---------------------+------------------------------------+----------- | letters | packets. distance. | | | single. | with envelope. | double. | per ounce. ---------------------+---------+----------------+---------+----------- less than leagues | sous | sous | sous | sous from to | " | " | " | " " to | " | " | " | " above leagues | " | " | " | " ---------------------+---------+----------------+---------+----------- the progression for distance was in decreasing proportion. in the rates were raised mainly in order to provide funds to meet the expenses of the wars of louis xiv. two reasons were assigned: the necessity for increased revenue, and the necessity for remedying certain defects in the existing rates, in regard to the distances and the progression of weight--the charges should be proportionate to the actual distance traversed by the couriers; and the existing rate of charge for ounce letters was therefore unjust, because it required at least six single letters to make up a weight of ounce.[ ] as a matter of fact, the new rates fixed in did not vary exactly with distance. the number of zones was doubled, and the distances were reckoned according to the number of stages, and the routes actually followed by the couriers. the charge for a single letter varied from to sous. these rates remained in force until , when a variety of causes led to a further increase of rates. the seven years' war had made an increase of taxation necessary; there had been a depreciation of money, and an increase in the cost of all commodities, which had resulted in an increase of the expenses of conducting the posts. under the tariff of the eight zones of were maintained, and the rate for single letters varied from to sous, with an additional rate of sou for all letters enclosed in an envelope. the principle of charge according to weight was introduced for letters weighing less than ounce, which up to this time had been charged only according to the number of sheets. double letters weighing more than / ounce and less than / ounce, were rated at sous for the first zone, and for the other zones a "rate sous less than the ordinary rate for double letters." packets were charged by the ounce, and the rate per ounce was four times that for a single letter. as with the tariff of , distances were calculated according to the route actually followed by the couriers. no further modification of the rates was made until after the revolution. the lease of the posts was due to expire on the st december , and it was decided that the legislature should rectify the tariff before the date at which the posts would revert to the state.[ ] a rectification was accordingly announced by the decrees of the th- nd august . this revision slightly increased the rates of . the initial rate of sous for single letters circulating within the same _département_ was retained; the rate for letters circulating in the same _arrondissement_ was fixed at sous; between _départements_ the rate was increased, and varied from to sous, according to distance of transmission; and the number of zones was increased to eleven.[ ] distances were no longer to be reckoned according to the length of the route actually traversed, but from point to point as the crow flies. the points were not, however, the actual points of posting and of delivery. in each department a point was fixed upon, and the rate for all letters posted or delivered in the _département_ was calculated as from that point; so that for a given weight the same rate was payable on all letters exchanged between the same two _départements_. this system, though comprising a very large number of rates, was much simpler than the earlier systems. any one town or village now had only rates for each step in the scale of rates, whereas under the previous system a special rate must be calculated for every other town or village in france. to assist the application of this tariff, a map showing the central point fixed upon for each of the _départements_, and the distances from each central point to all others, was prepared and supplied to every post office in france. the tariff of also abolished the method of charge according to the number of sheets, and substituted the simpler method of charge according to weight alone. the maximum weight for a single letter was fixed at / ounce, and for heavier letters the rates were-- from / oz. to / oz. - / times the rate for a single letter " / " / " twice " " / " " times " " " - / " times " and so on, the increase being one single rate for each / ounce increase of weight. the rate for letters circulating within the same town remained sous an ounce. this tariff continued in operation only for a short period. in these troubled times the public services fell into complete disorder, and the control of the posts by the government did not prove a success. when in farm the rent had been comparatively large; but under state management, even with the increased rates of , the finances were altogether unsatisfactory. in there had been a profit of millions. soon there was a deficit: in it was found necessary to allow millions in aid. further increases in the rates followed. in [ ] they were made livres sous, livres, livres sous, or livres, according to distance, but, like most other very high postage rates, failed of their purpose. instead of increasing revenue, they almost destroyed correspondence. transmission by private means became widespread.[ ] other circumstances--the general insecurity of the times, and the violation of the secrecy of letters by officers of the government--contributed to this development. at the end of six months the rates were lowered to , , , and decimes, according to distance, but these rates were still high. the posts were reconstituted under the consulate and the empire, and further minor changes introduced, the object held in view in all these changes being chiefly to secure a revenue sufficient to meet the expenditures of the service. the last tariff under the old system of charge according to distance was introduced in .[ ] the number of zones, which in had been increased to fourteen, in order to provide for the extended territory resulting from the french conquests, was reduced to eleven. the rates ranged from centimes to fr. for single letters, and the weight limit for a single letter was fixed at grammes. distances were reckoned as the crow flies. in a postal service was established in the rural communes, and an additional rate of decime imposed on all letters received or delivered in the communes.[ ] this surcharge was abolished in . as in england, the charges imposed on letters sent for considerable distances were exceedingly heavy. the charge on a letter from paris to marseilles, weighing grammes, was no less than fr. . attention was soon directed to sir rowland hill's proposals for the reform of the english system. before the reform had been introduced in england, the french government were urged to improve the french service on the lines proposed by sir rowland hill. in july m. lherbette, member of the chamber of deputies, suggested the introduction of a government measure, and in this he met with considerable support. the government, however, contented themselves with remarking that it would be better to await the result of the projected reform in england. in the following years the question was frequently raised in the french parliament, on the budget, or on reports and petitions, and there was considerable public feeling in favour of the reform. in , _conseils généraux_ presented petitions in favour of reduced postage. in m. de st. priest made a proposal to reduce the number of zones to two, and to fix the rate of postage at centimes for distances up to kilometres, and centimes for greater distances. a parliamentary commission, appointed to examine this proposal, made an estimate of the actual cost to the post office of the transmission of letters, and found that while the cost of a letter going kilometres (postage centimes) was · centimes, the cost of a letter going kilometres (postage fr. ) was · centimes. the commission reported in favour of a uniform rate of centimes, but the proposal was not adopted. other proposals for the introduction of a reformed system were made in february and january . it was left to the republican government of to introduce the reform.[ ] the national assembly had under consideration at the same time two propositions for effecting the reform--that of m. de st. priest, and that of the government itself, both proposing a uniform rate of centimes for single letters. these propositions were referred to a parliamentary commission, of which m. de st. priest was a member, and the report of the commission, which recommended the reform, was adopted by the assembly. the government bill to give effect to the recommendation of the commission was opposed in the national assembly, mainly on the ground that the benefit of the reduction of rate would accrue almost entirely to the business and commercial interests and not to the general public; and on the ground that a letter was a parcel, and should be charged like any other parcel, according to its weight and according to the distance transmitted. the government's justification for the proposal rested chiefly on the moral and social benefits which would result,[ ] and they contended that if, as the opposers of the reduction had argued, commercial letters comprised seven-eighths of the total number of letters passing by post, such an extraordinary fact itself did not show that advantage from reduced rates would accrue only to business interests. it showed the injustice of the existing rates, and would never have existed if the postage on letters had not been higher in france than in any other country in the world. the commission had, moreover, made a calculation of the actual cost of conveying and delivering letters, which showed that the average cost per letter was from to centimes. the government estimated that the number of letters would double in the first year (i.e. would increase from millions[ ] to millions), and the result would therefore be a diminution of , , fr., or per cent. of the total receipts. this would represent the total loss, since the minister of finance assured the assembly that, after the most minute and persistent inquiries, he had received from the postal administration definite statements that no increase in expenses would be caused by the increase in the number of letters--a result explained by the fact that the increase of traffic would be appreciable only in certain large towns; in other places the result would simply be that the postmen would each have a few more letters to carry. moreover, under the new system the manipulation of correspondence would be much simplified and facilitated.[ ] frédéric bastiat proposed to the assembly, as an amendment, a postage of centimes on letters up to grammes, and fr. for packets from to grammes. he said that the transmission of thought, of communications between men, was the very essence of society, from which arose wealth, business, civilization, and taxes themselves. consequently, to him it appeared an anomaly to place a tax on such communication.[ ] on the economic aspect of the question he contended that a rate of centimes would provide sufficient revenue to meet the expenses of the service.[ ] the government were not convinced, and maintained their original proposal, which was carried. the new rates were-- letters not exceeding - / grammes centimes from - / grammes to grammes " " " to " fr. over grammes fr. for each grammes, or fraction of grammes the special rates for local letters were continued, viz.-- letters "de paris pour paris" not exceeding grammes, centimes; letters circulating in the limits of the same post office not exceeding grammes, centimes. the reform, which took effect on the st january , was much less sweeping than the reform of in england--the initial rate was centimes, corresponding to a twopenny rate--and the results were naturally less striking in france. they were nevertheless quite considerable. the total number of letters posted increased from , , in to , , in , an increase of per cent., compared with increase of per cent. in the first year in england. the gross revenue from letters and other packets fell from , , fr. in to , , fr. in , a decrease of , , fr. the net revenue fell from , , to , , fr. thus there remained a substantial surplus. both the gross and net revenue recovered in much less time than in england, as might have been expected, since the falling off had not been nearly so great. moreover, in , on account of financial stress,[ ] the initial uniform rate was raised to centimes, and the rate for letters of from - / grammes to grammes, to centimes. the result of this was a set-back to the total numbers, which were only , , in , but an improvement in the gross and net revenue. by the net revenue had reached , , fr., and by the gross revenue had reached , , fr. in the initial rate for single letters was again reduced to centimes, and the change was immediately reflected in the total number of letters. in the number was , , , and in , , , , an increase of per cent. in the number was , , , an increase of per cent. over the number for . minor modifications were made in and . the next important change followed the war of . it was necessary to increase existing taxes wherever possible, and to impose fresh taxes, in order to meet the heavy charges on the national exchequer resulting from the war. the possibility of obtaining an increased revenue from increased rates of postage was not overlooked. in the government presented a bill for the purpose, solely as a fiscal measure.[ ] new rates as follows were established:-- letters not exceeding grammes centimes from to grammes " " to " " over grammes " for each grammes, or fraction of grammes for local letters not exceeding grammes the rate of centimes was continued. the results of this increase of rates are somewhat difficult to determine with any degree of precision. other circumstances affected the number of letters, such as the loss of alsace-lorraine (an industrial province), the establishment of postcards in , and the reduced means of the people by reason of increased taxation. the number of letters, which in was , , , was in only , , , and the figures for were not regained until . if the numbers are adjusted by reckoning the loss of alsace-lorraine to have resulted in a decrease in numbers proportionate to the numbers of its population, that is, one twenty-third of the total population of france, and adding the normal increase of millions a year, the number in would have been millions, whereas it was in point of fact millions. the reduction was even greater in the following years. in the total number fell to , , . the financial result was no more satisfactory. the revenue in was , , fr. in it had risen to , , fr., an increase of per cent. only, while the rates had been raised per cent. for letters from office to office and per cent. for local letters. in the yield was less. it was, indeed, little more than would have resulted from the old rates if the normal increase of numbers under those rates had continued, although it may be doubted whether this would have been the case in view of the heavy financial strain imposed by the war of . in any case, the financial result of the increase of rates, which pressed heavily on commercial and social intercourse, was extremely small.[ ] but if the rates were higher in france than in other countries, there were yet some aspects in which the french service was in advance.[ ] compared with england, for example, the uniform rate covered a much greater extent of territory, and a daily delivery of letters was afforded to every hamlet, and even to every isolated house, throughout that greater territory.[ ] this service was provided by a body of , rural postmen, the number of rural postmen in england at this time being only , . facilities for the posting of letters were also more extended in france: the number of posting-boxes was , , as compared with some , in the united kingdom.[ ] it was always desired to withdraw the increase of as soon as the financial situation would allow. this course was hastened by the establishment in of the universal postal union, of which france became a member. the international rate for ordinary letters adopted by the union was centimes. as a result the internal rates of france were much higher than the rates for letters posted in france for places in other countries of the union. such a situation could not continue, and in august the internal rates were reduced. the new rates were:-- letters not exceeding grammes centimes from to grammes " " to " " over grammes " for each grammes, or fraction of grammes the special local rates were retained. the letter rate still remained comparatively high, and in the following year numerous proposals were put forward in parliament for a reduction. in november the government proposed the reduction of postage on ordinary letters to centimes, and on postcards to centimes, the special rates for local letters being continued. these proposals were referred to the budget commission, who expressed the opinion that the time had arrived for the introduction of complete uniformity of rate,[ ] and recommended a uniform initial rate for letters of centimes for grammes, and a uniform rate of centimes for postcards. further consideration of the proposals was interrupted by the dissolution of the chamber. in the next session, m. caillaux, minister of finance, adopted the report of the commission, and in april the rate for letters was reduced to centimes for each grammes, or fraction of grammes. the general rate was thus brought to the level of the local rate, which now disappeared. the results of this reform were eminently satisfactory. the total number of letters, which had during the years to increased by only , , , or some one and one-third per cent. per annum, increased from , , in to , , in , or per cent. in two years, and from to the rate of increase was . per cent. per annum. the government had estimated that the reduction would involve a loss to the revenue of some millions for the first year. the actual loss was , , fr. these figures are figures of gross revenue. the figures for net revenue are less satisfactory, both in character and in the amounts indicated. their character is unsatisfactory because the expenses of the postal and telegraph departments were not separate; and the figures for net revenue therefore represent the net revenue on the whole service, both postal and telegraph, and not merely for the postal traffic alone. at this time, however, the telegraph business was small comparatively, and the figures indicate generally the result of the reform. in the net revenue was , , fr. in it fell to , , fr., and in to , , fr., from which date there was a gradual, but steady, recovery. in it had reached , , fr. , an amount higher than that of , and in the net revenue passed millions, a sum never before reached in france.[ ] the rate fixed in , although marking a considerable reduction of the previous rate, was felt to be unsatisfactory. one of the principal reasons invoked as justifying the suggestion for a further reduction of the rate, was that the number of letters actually posted in france was much less than the number posted in other countries. this circumstance was attributed partly to the high initial rate, and partly to the fact that the progression of charge was directly proportionate to the increase of weight. the initial rate was in point of fact much higher than the corresponding rate in other countries. the press often called attention to the unfavourable position in france in this respect, and developed public opinion strongly in favour of a reduction. representations from business houses, chambers of commerce, and _conseils généraux_ were constantly received by parliament. the question was frequently advanced in the legislature, and numerous suggestions for legislation were put forward by members. thus, in m. chassaing proposed, among other reforms, the reduction of the letter rate to centimes for each grammes. although admitting the desirability of granting the boon, the budget commission were unable to recommend that course on account of the serious effect on the net revenue which must be anticipated.[ ] in m. millerand, minister for commerce, industry, posts, and telegraphs, in a report to the president,[ ] recommended a reduction of the rate on the grounds that it would give satisfaction to the public, and, at the same time, increase appreciably the number of letters transmitted by post. he suggested the following scale:-- letters not exceeding grammes centimes from to grammes " over grammes " for each grammes, or fraction of grammes such a reduction would bring the rate of letter postage down to the level of the existing rate for postcards; and m. millerand regarded the reduction of the latter rate to centimes as an inevitable corollary, and a reform which might safely be made.[ ] assuming this further reduction, and applying the proposed reduced rates to the statistics of existing traffic--ignoring both the probable increase of traffic and the increase of expenses which would result from the increase of traffic--it was estimated that the loss to revenue would be-- fr. on single letters , , on heavy letters , , on charged letters , on postcards , , ---------- total , , the reduction of revenue would be . per cent. of the total yield. the reform of had entailed an increase of working expenses of about millions ( - / millions of capital cost, and - / millions of annual expenses). the increase of traffic from the proposed reform would, however, be per cent. less than the increase after (because the reduction was five-fifteenths of the rate instead of six-fifteenths as in ), and the increase of cost would therefore be proportionately less. calculated on this basis, the increase was estimated at , , fr. ( , , fr. capital expenses and , , fr. annual). in all, therefore, the reduction would involve a loss of revenue of , , fr., and an increase of expense of , , fr.--a total loss of , , fr.[ ] in order as far as possible to replace this loss, m. millerand proposed to abolish the special tariff for _papiers d'affaires_ and subject them to letter postage, and also to increase the rates on small packets of printed matter, other than newspapers and periodicals.[ ] the deficit to be looked for in the first year would then be , , fr., and might be estimated to disappear in the eighth year. the gross revenue would recover in the third year. the government was not, however, prepared to sacrifice the revenue, and the proposal was deferred. the question still continued to receive attention in the country and in parliament.[ ] at length, in view of the persistent agitation,[ ] the government in , on the recommendation of the budget commission, resolved to face the inevitable loss of revenue and make the reduction. the result was in many ways satisfactory. the number of packets sent at the letter rate of postage increased very considerably. a large quantity of traffic was diverted from the cheaper open post to the letter post, in order to obtain the advantage of secrecy, some large business houses sending at the letter rate millions of communications which would, under the old rates, have been sent by the open post. in , before the reduction, the number of packets passing by post was , , , . in the number had increased to , , , , and in to , , , . the loss of net revenue was nevertheless very great. the gross revenue was diminished by some millions, and the expenses increased by - / millions. the net revenue fell from , , fr. in to , , fr. in . the reduction of placed france in a position of equality with most other nations as regards the initial rate for letters. indeed, the french rate was slightly lower than that in several other countries. thus, the equivalent of the german and austrian initial rates was · centimes, of the swedish · centimes, and of the english · centimes. but as regards the weight allowed for the initial rate, and also as regards the rates for heavier letters, the position was still unsatisfactory. the maximum weight allowed to pass at the initial rate was grammes, and the rate for a letter of grammes was fr. .[ ] in germany the rate for a letter of that weight was · centimes, in england · centimes, and in switzerland centimes. attention was therefore now directed to a modification of the scale of rates for the heavier letters. the budget commissions of recommended the reform.[ ] in their view the unfavourable comparison with other countries in this respect could be justified neither by logic nor by regard to the interests of the treasury. logically, a rate of postage ought to be proportionate to the cost of the service performed, and this was far from varying in accordance with the weight of postal packets.[ ] the number of heavy letters was, moreover, small proportionately, and the effect on the treasury of a reduction of rate for such letters would be slight. indeed, it was thought an increase of revenue might be anticipated, since, in addition to the natural increase resulting from the reduction, there would, as in , be a tendency for many packets sent by the open post to be sent under the advantage of the closed post. it was urged that the reduction should be accompanied by certain modifications in the minor rates, which would lead to a desirable simplification of rates: the special rate for commercial papers should be abolished, and the general rate for postcards should be made centimes; the whole of the reforms being carried out at the same time, in order that the increases might be seen in their proper relation to the compensating reductions. otherwise the public might forget the benefits, and resent the increases. the net loss of revenue was estimated at million francs.[ ] the law of the th april increased the unit of weight for letters to grammes. for the heavier letters the rates were: from to grammes, centimes; from to grammes, centimes; and so on, adding centimes for each grammes or fraction of grammes up to the maximum weight allowed, viz. i kilogramme. the special rate for commercial papers over grammes in weight was abolished. the privileged rate was retained for packets weighing not more than grammes, parliament refusing to agree to its total abolition. note.--on the st january , as a war measure, the general letter rate was raised from centimes to centimes. * * * * * letter post in germany[ ] a system of messengers (_boten-anstalten_) existed in brandenburg as early as the first half of the sixteenth century, and in a master of the messengers (_botenmeister_) was appointed, whose duty was to control the sending and receiving of all despatches.[ ] the incorporation of prussia and cleve in the mark of brandenburg rendered necessary the improvement and extension of the messenger service, and in the elector john sigismund appointed twenty-four messengers, who were paid at a fixed rate, according to the length of the route traversed. thus, for the strasburg, cologne, and düsseldorf routes the payment was thalers, and for the cracow, königsberg, and mainz routes, thalers. once a year they were supplied with an outfit of clothing. when not travelling, they were required to report themselves every hour to the _botenmeister_, and to hold themselves in readiness at all times to set out if necessary without delay. the journeys were made according to set times, and the messengers, who carried both letters and parcels, were provided with a way-bill, on which the times of arrival at and departure from the various points were entered. the _boten-anstalten_ really comprised two kinds of undertakings--the so-called _post-boten_ and the _landkutschen_. the former were the ordinary messengers; the latter a kind of stage-coach system, which carried both passengers and merchandise.[ ] the rates of charge were based on the actual length of the journey, and also upon any accidental circumstance which might have a relation to the question, such as high general prices.[ ] in a riding post between cöln a. d. spree and crossen was established, and shortly afterwards a similar post to glogau, in order to provide a means of communication between the government and the swedish army. for the same purpose in a daily messenger service (_botenpost_) was established from tangermünde to berlin, and in a military post (_dragonerpost_) was established between berlin and osnabruck, in connection with the conference preceding the signing of the treaty of westphalia. all these services were for the conveyance of the court and administrative correspondence only. the _botenmeister_ nevertheless frequently undertook the conveyance of private letters, for which special charges were made, and often the messengers themselves clandestinely carried private letters. in the _botenmeister_ of berlin established a special messenger route for the conveyance of private letters (_ordinari-boten-cours_) from berlin to leipzig and hamburg, and at about the same time the _botenmeister_ of königsberg established a similar route to danzig. in other large towns messenger services for the conveyance of ordinary letters were established by private individuals, but these services were often inefficiently conducted. the messengers followed no fixed route, and the services were irregular and unsafe. they were at best only makeshifts. as the result of a variety of circumstances, the establishment of regular posts became a necessity in the time of the great elector. the extension of the brandenburg territory, and the political developments, rendered it desirable to adopt all possible means for binding together the entire territory. regular posts would also contribute to the national welfare and assist industry and commerce, although there was little prospect that at the outset they would prove profitable.[ ] in a riding post between königsberg and danzig was established; shortly afterwards a post between berlin and königsberg, and thereafter others. in the control of all the posts was definitely assumed by the electoral administration.[ ] in general the posts went twice weekly; stages were erected for the exchange of horses and postilions. at first, postilions were changed every twelve (german) miles,[ ] and horses every four (german) miles. later, the stages for the changing of horses were reduced to three miles. the usual speed of the posts, travelling day and night, was one mile an hour, and punctuality was insisted on.[ ] the journey from berlin to königsberg occupied four days, and that from königsberg to cleve ten days.[ ] there was at first no delivery service, and all letters must be obtained at the post office, where the people were consequently in the habit of congregating to await the arrival of the post.[ ] the postage was retained by the postmaster as the remuneration for his services. for the actual management and conduct of the service he drew on the state funds to the extent of some , thalers annually, and all official despatches were consequently conveyed free. this charge diminished, however, with the years, and in course of time the service came to yield a profit to the state. in the postmaster's patent granted in it was provided that a portion of the proceeds of postage should be accounted for to the state treasury.[ ] the rates of postage were at first fixed according to ancient custom, but they were on several occasions reduced. the postage on a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight sent from berlin to wutzkow, from breslau to wutzkow, or from berlin to frankfort, was groschen, and from berlin to magdeburg, - / groschen.[ ] with the growth of commerce and the establishment of the travelling post and parcel post, the service became more and more successful financially. in the expenses represented some per cent. of the gross revenue. by they had fallen to some per cent. the gross revenue was at the same time rapidly increasing. the net revenue, which was, of course, increasing still more rapidly, was in about , thalers, and by had risen to some , thalers. the rates of postage were modified in , and again in ; but as the old rates were retained as the basis of both revisions, the charges remained for fifty years substantially unchanged. a letter from berlin to hamburg now cost - / groschen, to bremen groschen, to dresden groschen, to frankfort-on-main groschen, and so on. during the next fifty years prices were gradually, but steadily, rising in prussia. the seven years' war produced a sudden and very considerable rise in the prices of all agricultural products. and not only did the purchasing power of money fall owing to the scarcity and high price of provisions, but its value also decreased through depreciation.[ ] the cost of conducting the postal service rose correspondingly, and the financial difficulties were increased owing to the falling off of traffic consequent on the war. at the end of the king was asked to agree to a contribution in aid, but assistance was not forthcoming. something had to be done; and on the th january , in common with the general increase of taxation, the rates for parcels and for value letters were increased per cent.; the travelling post rates, which varied from to groschen per mile, were increased by groschen per mile; and the fees for guides, which were about groschen per station, by about groschen per station. the letter rate remained unchanged.[ ] in the early part of a new tariff was introduced. the rates for parcels fixed in were maintained, and new and higher rates for letters were introduced. the increase in the general rates varied from about per cent. to about per cent. the minimum, which for letters passing between many neighbouring places had formerly been only pfennigs, was increased to groschen. the raising of the rate led to a large amount of fraud, and caused much public inconvenience. the revenue did, indeed, increase in the first year quite appreciably; but in the second and third years, instead of the normal yearly increase, there was a notable decrease. complaints against the new rates were widespread, and it was alleged that the increased charges embarrassed commerce. in the rates for heavy letters, printed matter, and documents were reduced again to those of . the rates had previously been based on a variety of considerations,[ ] but this miscellaneous basis was now put aside and a uniform system established, the same letter rate being applied throughout the state. the coinage edict of , by which the thaler was divided into silver groschen instead of groschen as previously, made necessary an alteration of the postage charges, and amended rates were established on the st january . no account was taken of a less amount than a half-groschen, and odd amounts were reckoned at the next half-groschen above, with the result that in certain cases the rate became higher than formerly. a reduction of the rates of postage was in contemplation, but while the discussions on the proposals were in progress, the state finances became somewhat straitened. it became necessary to look about for fresh revenue, and a commission appointed to consider the question recommended that more revenue should be obtained from the post office. the postmaster-general pledged himself to bring up the surplus from , or , thalers, where it then stood, to a million, and, if possible, to , , thalers. accordingly, in the rates of postage were revised, and, in general, increased. in many cases the increase was as much as per cent., and the tariff as a whole was the highest ever fixed in prussia. the chief characteristics of this important change were that letter and parcel rates were reckoned according to the direct distance (_luftlinie_) between the post offices, and not according to the distance by way of the post routes, or the time occupied on the journey, or any of the other considerations which had previously entered into the reckoning. all special rates for individual routes and places were abolished. the new rates were, for a single letter not exceeding / loth ( / ounce) in weight-- up to miles silver groschen from miles to miles - / " " " " " " " " - / " " " " " " " " " " " " " and for each miles further, silver groschen more. a map of distances was prepared, and every post office was furnished with a table compiled from this map, showing the distances between that office and all other post offices in prussia, together with the corresponding rates of postage.[ ] formerly, direct rates of postage existed only between a limited number of post offices, and letters for any other places were charged an additional rate (_binnenporto_) in respect of the distance not covered by the ordinary rate. this charge was now abolished. each post office could calculate the rate to any other post office by means of its table of rates. there was, however, an additional charge (_landporto_) in the case of places at which there was no post office, but which were situated on the post routes. it was arranged that letters might be despatched to or from such places so long as the post-messenger was not thereby delayed on his journey, and for the forwarding of any such letters to or from the nearest post office the lowest rate of postage was charged, reckoned as from the nearest post office. letters up to ounce in weight were sent by riding post. letters exceeding ounce in weight were sent by parcel post (_fahrpost_), and were charged the corresponding rate, unless the sender expressly requested transmission by riding post. for the longer distances the rates were higher than previously. the rate for the greatest distance within the prussian postal territory, which under the old rates was silver groschen for a single letter--that is, for a letter up to / ounce in weight--was now silver groschen. the reduction was greatest for letters going only short distances. the rate for the shortest distances was reduced from - / silver groschen to silver groschen. but the higher rates applied to letters passing between the great centres, and these formed the greater part of the whole number. in addition, the progression of the scale of weights was made very rapid. from the earliest days of the post office in prussia the progression of weight had been by the half-ounce, and this had not been changed even in . the scale was now made-- from / oz. to / oz. - / times the rate " / " / " twice the rate " / " " - / times the rate " " - / " " " - / " - / " - / " " - / " - / " " and so on for each quarter-ounce a half rate more.[ ] the year was also noteworthy for the experimental establishment in the district of the frankfort-on-oder post office of a rural delivery system. this was the first step towards the general extension of the rural delivery throughout prussia. the experiment was successful, and the system was extended in the following year. for delivery by the rural letter-carriers an additional charge was made for each letter, according to the following scale:-- for distances not exceeding - / miles silver groschen " " " " " " " " " - / " for the longer distances the rates of were found to be oppressive for ordinary letters, and burdensome to commerce and literature. financially also the increase was not a success. for , the last year of the old rates, the surplus was , thalers, an increase of , thalers over the surplus of . the surplus for , the first year of the new rates, was , , thalers, an increase of , thalers over the surplus of . apparently, therefore, the new rates had produced an immediate increase of net revenue. this was, however, not the case. while the actual proceeds of postage in were , thalers greater than in , the proceeds of postage in were only , thalers greater than in .[ ] the increased yield of postage was therefore quite small. and even this small increase disappeared in . for that year the yield of postage was only , thalers greater than in , and in there was an actual falling off of , thalers. the increase of net revenue was therefore attributable to other causes. thus, for example, in , by some means or other, a reduction of no less than , thalers was effected in the expenses of the service. the rates were soon found to need amendment. changes were made in the subsidiary rates, the rates for commercial papers, for magazines, etc., but the letter rate remained unchanged until , when a considerable reduction was made. the following rates for a single letter (not exceeding / ounce in weight), were established:-- not exceeding miles silver groschen from miles to miles - / " " " " " " " " - / " " " " " " " " " " " " " for each further miles within the prussian administration " these rates were applied to letters, printed matter sent under band, and letters containing samples of merchandise. it was estimated that this change would reduce the gross receipts from postage by , thalers, and the net revenue for was estimated at , thalers instead of , , thalers. the actual decrease in in the gross receipts from postage was, however, only , thalers, and the actual falling off in net revenue only , thalers. the gross revenue soon recovered, and in exceeded that of .[ ] the prussian administration, while not prepared to introduce complete uniformity of rate irrespective of distance, were yet desirous of simplifying the rates, and of removing from them any trace of the fiscal tradition, so far as this course could be followed without involving serious sacrifice of net revenue.[ ] in september the distinction between the letter rate and the rate for printed matter and documents was abolished, and on the st october the following scale of weights for all letters, publications, etc., was introduced, viz.:-- not exceeding / oz. rate (i.e. sgr.) from / oz. to / oz. - / " " / " / " rates " / " " - / " " " " " " " " " and over ounces rates, until the charge was less than double parcel rate. the rates were still based on the old theory of distance. the prussian administration feared that a complete reform of the rates on the english model would have a disastrous effect on the postal revenue, and so upset the equilibrium of the state finance. they had, of course, the experience of england to guide them, and they had not failed to note the large reduction of net revenue which the adoption of the reform of had entailed. in the following year, however, a great step was taken in the direction of the new system. by the law of the st december the following simplified rates of postage, to take effect from the st january , were established:-- for a single letter not exceeding / oz. ( zollloth)-- up to miles silver groschen miles to miles " all other distances " for a letter weighing-- from / oz. to oz. rates " " - / " " " - / " " " " " " " " " " " and so on, until the rate became less than the parcel rate ( zollloth = - / loth). the reductions in prussia were in all cases made with careful regard to the possible financial results. the desire to remove all trace of the fiscal tradition did not extend to a desire to relieve the post office of its revenue-producing function, and the actual loss of net revenue which resulted in prussia from the introduction of cheap postage was much less than the loss in england.[ ] the set-back to the revenue consequent on the reduction of was recovered in ; the set-back consequent on the reduction of the rates of value letters and parcels in (on the average some - / per cent.) was recovered in ; and that occasioned by the reform of the st january was recovered in . but the reform of , which retained the three distance charges, was far from being a complete reform of the character of that in england. no change of importance was made in the ordinary letter rate between and . in the latter year the maximum weight for packets passing by letter post was fixed at half a pound ( loth).[ ] a further step towards simplicity and reduction of the letter rate was taken in ,[ ] when the weight scale was revised and the three steps established in abolished, two only being substituted. letters up to half an ounce in weight were to pass at the single rate, and letters exceeding that weight at double rate. the three distance zones were maintained. the special fee for delivery which was collected from the addressee by the post office of destination was still in force. it was, of course, in effect, an increase of the normal rate of postage, and as such it lay as a heavy burden on the letter traffic. in the case of packets of printed matter not exceeding half an ounce in weight it amounted to per cent. on the normal rate. it was, moreover, disproportionate to the cost of the service of delivery.[ ] since the prussian administration had incessantly urged the abolition of the charge. special charges for delivery had already been abolished in england, in france, and in other of the larger states. the efforts of the administration were, however, frustrated by the minister for finance, who was unable, from regard to the needs of the national exchequer, to abandon the revenue obtained from this source. these financial considerations delayed the abolition of the charge by at least a decade.[ ] the existence of the charge was found to be especially unfortunate in regard to foreign letters, since its collection was regarded by foreign administrations as an addition to the ordinary postage and consequently an evasion of the terms of agreements under which foreign rates had been fixed. the charge was ultimately abolished in .[ ] in order to avoid inconvenient reduction of revenue, it was arranged that the abolition should be effected gradually: for certain classes of traffic as from the date of the coming into force of the act, for other classes as from the st july , and for the remainder as from the st july . the political events of the years and occasioned far-reaching modifications of the postal service in germany. after the expulsion of austria from the german league, prussia took over the administration of the postal service in the duchies of the elbe. prussia had also absorbed the kingdom of hanover. the territory of the prussian postal administration was thus largely extended; and in addition the prince of thurn and taxis relinquished in favour of the crown of prussia the control which he had exercised over the postal service in eighteen states.[ ] the north-german union was established in , and the postal arrangements for the whole territory of the union were unified. up to this time ten independent postal administrations had existed in this territory,[ ] and the rates of these administrations differed in various particulars. the prussian rates were applied temporarily to all postal traffic passing between the old and new prussian territories, and the rates of the union service were applied to traffic passing between the territories forming the north-german union. the continuance of these conditions was not consistent with a unified administration of the postal affairs of the whole north-german union, and a reform of the rates became necessary. germany was in almost the only one of the great states of the world which still maintained a scale of rates of postage for letters graduated according to distance. prussia had already repeatedly endeavoured to introduce the principle of uniformity of rate irrespective of distance which had been adopted by all others, or at least to secure further simplification; but advance in this direction had always been hindered by financial considerations.[ ] the political developments now opened the way for a thorough reorganization of the rates, and this was achieved by the law of the th november . this law, which took effect from the st january , established uniform rates for letters, irrespective of distance, of the following amounts-- sgr. (= pf.) for letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight, and sgr. for all letters of greater weight. after the refounding of the german empire in , there was fresh legislation in regard to the post office.[ ] among other changes, the limit of weight for the single letter was fixed at grammes, and the limit of maximum weight at half a pound. this law also abolished the charge for rural delivery, a long-desired reform which had been frequently urged upon the reichstag. in order to assist further the interests of residents in the country, it was arranged that on payment of a monthly fee of sgr. letters might be handed to and delivered by the post messenger, in a closed pouch, at places on his route. the rates established under this law have remained in operation substantially unchanged up to the present time. the most important modification was made in , when the maximum limit of weight of the single letter was raised from to grammes. under these rates the letter post has developed continuously. in the total number of letters passing by post within the territory of the imperial post office was millions, and in the number had increased to , millions. as in other countries, the letter rate has proved extremely profitable. the net revenue of the imperial post office in amounted to · million marks, and in to million marks. in germany, however, the railways are state-owned, and the imperial post office is not required to pay to the railways a full equivalent for the services performed. the value of the service performed by the railways on behalf of the post office for which no charge is made against the post office is not definitely known.[ ] the newspaper traffic, the parcel post, and the imperial telegraph service are carried on at heavy loss. the post office also performs numerous services, such as those in connection with the national insurance schemes, for which it receives no monetary credit; and there is no doubt that taken by itself the letter traffic is largely profitable at the existing rates, even when full allowance has been made for all legitimate charges against the service. note on rural delivery until the eighteen-thirties there was no state provision for the letter traffic in country districts. residents in the country must deliver all their letters at, or fetch them from, the nearest post office, which was done on market-day or by messengers. in a beginning was made in prussia by the introduction experimentally of a delivery service at certain post offices. in the following years the number of rural deliverers and the number of posting-boxes in the villages were increased, and a uniform delivery fee (_landbestellgeld_) of silver groschen instituted. the delivery fee was abolished on the st january (law of th october, ). this meant the abandonment of a yearly revenue of - / million marks. in spite of the increase in the number of post offices there were still in as many as million people, the greater half of the whole nation, and , localities, outside the limits of the postal service.[ ] in a great step forward was taken. the number of rural deliverers was largely increased, and also the number of postal stations in the country (_posthülfstellen_).[ ] a daily delivery was extended to the greater number of places, the rural routes in most cases being so arranged that the deliverer returned by the same route, thereby enabling an answer to be sent the same day to letters received on the outward journey.[ ] * * * * * ii the rate for newspapers newspaper post in england in england newspapers have enjoyed special privileges in regard to transmission by post since about the middle of the seventeenth century. the origin of the privilege is to be looked for in the special circumstances under which the early newspapers, and the newsletters and newsbooks from which they were derived, were issued, and the means by which the news included in them was obtained. at that period the post was the chief means by which news could be collected or distributed. the newsletters were distributed by post,[ ] and the news which they contained was for the most part obtained through the agency of the post office from correspondents in various parts of the country. it was, indeed, an important part of the function of the post office to furnish news to the court, and to the other departments of state, as well as to the general public.[ ] in general monck appointed henry muddiman, a journalist who had already issued the _parliamentary intelligencer_ and the _mercurius publicus_, to write on behalf of the royalist cause. in consideration of his services he was, after the restoration, given the privilege of free transmission for his letters.[ ] this gave him an advantage over other journalists, and his newsletters and newsbooks became extremely popular. in , however, he was supplanted by roger l'estrange, a royalist who had not to that time been properly recompensed for his faithfulness. l'estrange was an able writer, who after the passing of the licensing act of had been requested to draw up proposals for the regulation of the press. as a reward for his services in that connection he was given the office of surveyor of the press, his remuneration being the sole privilege of writing and publishing newsbooks and advertisement. l'estrange also secured the privilege of free postage from lady chesterfield, one of the farmers of the post office.[ ] l'estrange's privilege put an end to muddiman's newsbooks, but in no way interfered with his newsletters and his right to free postage. he was able, therefore, to continue his newsletters, and did so with great success. after the restoration muddiman had attached himself to sir edward nicholas, one of the principal secretaries of state, and his under-secretary, joseph williamson, from whom he had been in the habit of obtaining part of his news. williamson was a grasping man, who became jealous of the success of the newswriters, and finding that l'estrange was unpopular, conceived the idea of getting the control of the whole business into his own hands. he therefore suggested that muddiman should go to oxford, where the court had removed owing to the plague, and publish a new journal in opposition to l'estrange. while muddiman was at oxford, williamson would obtain by an agent in the post office, james hickes, the names of all his correspondents.[ ] the plan was eminently successful, and on the th november the _oxford gazette_ appeared, to be transformed a few months later, with its twenty-fourth issue ( th february - ), into the _london gazette_. muddiman, however, gained knowledge of williamson's designs regarding his correspondents, and on the th february left the _gazette_. williamson thereupon took control of its publication, and, with the assistance of hickes, continued its issue. he appointed correspondents in all the leading seaports, and in a few other english towns, and also in continental cities, who were required to furnish accounts of passing events. in return for their services the correspondents received regularly copies of the _gazette_. both the letters from correspondents and the _gazettes_ which were their reward passed free of postage.[ ] the regular supply of a copy of the _gazette_ was so great a privilege that it was often regarded as sufficient wages for a post-messenger or even a deputy-postmaster.[ ] this became a recognized practice before the end of the seventeenth century, and the privilege was regarded as forming part of the ordinary emoluments of the deputy-postmasters.[ ] the _gazettes_ were sent out from london by officers known as clerks of the road, under the frank of these officers; and the privilege of franking these _gazettes_ became extended so that the clerks of the road ultimately became entitled to frank any newspaper to whomsoever addressed.[ ] in the eighteenth century the clerks of the road developed the exercise of their privilege. they accepted subscriptions and undertook the supply of newspapers generally throughout the country. they became, in fact, newsagents. their newspaper business was something quite apart from their duties as officers of the post office. it was conducted in a separate building, by a separate staff, and they found it very lucrative.[ ] the postage on newspapers at the letter rate would have been prohibitive. hence newspapers either went under frank or did not go by post at all, and the whole business of distribution through the post fell into the hands of the clerks of the road. their profits were in part applied to the discharge of certain payments--the salaries of some of the inferior clerks and some charitable payments--in connection with the post office.[ ] in the privilege was explicitly recognized by statute,[ ] but the same act gave a severe blow to the whole system by authorizing members of parliament to send newspapers free of postage. the members did not confine the exercise of the privilege to newspapers sent by or to them for their own use, but granted orders for free postage to booksellers and newsagents on a liberal scale.[ ] the booksellers naturally cut the prices charged by the clerks of the road. the charge of the latter had been £ a year for a daily paper, and £ s. a year for an evening paper. the booksellers in advertised a charge of £ a year for a daily paper, and £ a year for an evening paper.[ ] as a result a large part of the traffic went to the booksellers, and the profits of the clerks of the road fell so rapidly that it was soon found necessary to relieve them of the charges on their profits.[ ] efforts were made to check the abuse of the privilege of franking of newspapers held by members of parliament under the act of . an act of ( geo. iii, cap. ) required not only that the member should sign the newspaper packets, but that the whole superscription, together with the date of posting and the name of the post-town in which the paper was intended to be posted, should be in his handwriting. the member must, moreover, himself be in the post-town where the paper was posted on the date shown on the paper. these regulations were not long maintained. they were probably too stringent to be enforced, and in the course of a few years the appearance on the newspaper or wrapper of any member's name, whether written by himself or by any other person, or even printed, was sufficient to secure free transmission through the post. in the conditions were definitely repealed, and newspapers became legally entitled to free transmission by post.[ ] there were reasons why the government and the post office did not suppress the extension of the privilege accorded to newspapers. at this time heavy general taxes were imposed on newspapers--the paper duty, the advertisement duty, and the stamp duty. these charges had been first imposed in the early years of the eighteenth century, when newspapers were changing character, and they were in the nature of restrictions on the liberty of the press, a continuation of the restrictions which had previously been maintained by means of licensing acts.[ ] newspapers were at that time ceasing to be mere chronicles of events, and were beginning to publish comments and to criticize persons and parties. a bill to impose a tax of d. a copy on all periodical publications was brought into parliament in , but was abandoned owing to the opposition of the newspaper proprietors, who represented that they were in the habit of selling their papers at a / d. a copy.[ ] in a message from the crown, adverting to the undesirable character of the new development of newspaper enterprise, recommended that a remedy be found without delay. the result was the imposition of a stamp duty of / d. the sheet on all newspapers of a sheet and a half.[ ] the privileges with regard to their transmission by post were, however, in no way interfered with. in the tax was raised to - / d. a copy, in to d., in to - / d., and in to d., at which amount it stood until . in onerous restrictions with regard to registration, bonds, and sureties were imposed, mainly with the view of preventing the issue of publications of undesirable character.[ ] in consideration of these charges the government were prepared to allow free transmission by post. moreover, the franking privilege of the clerks of the road was favoured as an economy. they argued that as these officers received considerable sums from their newspaper business their salaries from the post office were correspondingly low, and if the newspaper business were taken from them it would be necessary for the post office to make good the loss in income which they would suffer.[ ] it would seem that there was at this time no conception of charging a rate of postage on newspapers; and so far the authorities were right in thinking the abolition of the privilege would cause an addition to the expenses of the post office, in compensation for which there would be no increase in revenue. whatever were the taxes paid to other departments, it was clearly in the financial interest of the post office, so long as newspapers passed free by post, to retain a system which enabled certain of its officers to obtain part of their income from special arrangements for the distribution of the newspapers, instead of from post office funds. the clerks of the road still held an advantage over the ordinary newsagents. the local postmasters acted as their agents, and they had, moreover, the important privilege of posting their papers later. newsagents were not permitted to post after seven o'clock, but the clerks of the road could post as late as eight o'clock. they were able, therefore, to retain a considerable business. in it was estimated that as many as one-eighth of all the newspapers sent out from london were sent by the clerks of the road.[ ] the privilege of late posting was withdrawn in , and their business then ceased.[ ] it seems anomalous that at the same time that the government, with the object of restricting the publication and distribution of newspapers, imposed a heavy stamp duty and a duty on advertisements, they should have assisted, by allowing free transmission by post, the distribution of such newspapers as were able to survive the impositions; but the heavy taxes were intended to prevent the issue of cheap newspapers, and expensive papers could only find sale among those who were not attracted by dangerous doctrines, political or otherwise.[ ] in the view of the government this aristocratic character ensured, moreover, a high moral tone in the press. without such taxes the english press might become a moral danger and might conceivably sink to the level of the american press of the day, which, according to some eminent persons, was very low indeed.[ ] the question of free transmission by post received little attention. chief interest was centred on the allegation that the stamp duty so raised the price of legitimate newspapers as to place them beyond the reach of any but the well-to-do. the question of allowing the free publication of newspapers, or of, at least, reducing the heavy burdens under which they lay, became urgent after the passing of the reform act of .[ ] the increase in the number of people directly interested in political affairs through the extension of the franchise, and the awakened general interest in social and economic problems, not only produced a great demand for newspapers, but made necessary provision for the dissemination of accurate political intelligence.[ ] numerous unstamped papers, which found a ready sale, were issued in various parts of the country, in defiance of the law. thus, in london, one of these papers, _the poor man's guardian_, an able and "socialistic" paper, bore on its title-page a notification that it was deliberately published contrary to law, in order to test "the power of right against might."[ ] the government took strong action against such publications. numerous prosecutions were undertaken, and a large number of persons in various parts of the country were imprisoned; but the circulation of the papers could not be checked. popular sentiment was largely on the side of the publishers and sellers of unstamped papers, sympathy being so strong that frequently subscriptions for their benefit were raised.[ ] it became apparent very soon after the passing of the reform act that the heavy duty could not be maintained. it was indeed so high, and the sale of the unstamped publications was so great, that in the years after there was an actual diminution in the yield of the stamp duty. in the government were constrained to deal with the question. they introduced a bill providing for the reduction of the duty from d. a sheet to d. a sheet. the chancellor of the exchequer said that the reduction was simply a concession to public necessity and expediency. if the duty were maintained at its then existing level, public feeling against it would increase, and might lead to a general disposition to encourage illegal publications. the reduction would, moreover, assist the moral improvement of the people. the reduction of the duty was not carried without opposition. _the times_, which had attained its position under the old duties, and the other great newspapers then successfully conducted, were opposed to the reduction, foreseeing the possibility of the rivalry of new and cheap competitors.[ ] an attempt was made to argue that the benefit would not accrue to the public, since the public did not in general buy newspapers but went to the public-house to hear them read. such persons would still go to the public-house, and would therefore derive no benefit from the reduced price: the advantage would be with the publican. on the other hand, it was anticipated that the reduction of the duty would so cheapen the newspapers that they would be brought within reach of all. mr. spring rice said he knew that "the newspaper was one of the great attractions to take the poor man from home to visit the public-house; if, therefore, the adoption of this proposition tended to keep the poor man at home, it would afford a great moral aid to the improvement of the people."[ ] the moral uplifting of the poor man was a mighty shibboleth in those days, and one which gave a power to these arguments. the rates fixed by the act of were d. for the first sheet, not exceeding , superficial square inches, and a halfpenny for a second sheet not exceeding , square inches. the existing provisions with regard to registration and sureties were continued. they were considered of importance, in view of the likelihood of the establishment of cheap irresponsible papers which might be found publishing slanderous and scurrilous, if not blasphemous, statements. there is little doubt that the government had in mind a wish still to keep some restriction on the press, and the radicals always took that view. the penny duty undoubtedly had the effect of preventing the issue of really cheap newspapers.[ ] although in parliament the government argued that they were entitled to the penny as a postage charge,[ ] it is unlikely that they did not realize how illogical it would be to charge a penny stamp duty on every copy of a newspaper that was printed, in order to secure the free transmission by post of such copies as the publisher might wish to distribute by that means.[ ] the proportionate numbers of newspapers sent or not sent by post would not be the same for all publications. such a provision was therefore bound to work unequally. moreover, the new duty meant that it would still be impossible to issue a newspaper at the price of one penny, and the cheap newspaper was still barred. the duty was in fact still a restrictive tax; and by those who were opposed to all "taxes on knowledge," of which the newspaper duty had been considered one, the question was never regarded as settled by this reduction.[ ] the official whigs did not say much on the question of the restrictive character of the duty. the radicals were not so careful to hide the repressive side. while not suggesting that the government (with whom they voted) desired the continuance of a restrictive duty, they roundly accused the opposition of desiring to restrain the dissemination of intelligence, "in order to keep up their influence over a certain class of people, and at the same time to perpetuate the ignorance which had hitherto hung about them."[ ] after the passing of the act with its definite postal privilege for newspapers coming within its provisions, questions arose as to the status with regard to transmission by post of certain publications which were not newspapers of the ordinary type, but rather of the nature of critical or literary reviews. the proprietors of these publications desired to transmit by post a part of their issues. they were not, however, prepared to pay at the letter rate by the ounce, but wished to bring under the stamp act that portion of their impression which would pass by post, and pay duty accordingly on those copies only. this course was agreed to by the government in ,[ ] subject to a maximum limit of weight per copy of ounces. the privilege was at first conceded only to periodicals, termed "class" newspapers, dealing with a particular subject and addressed to a certain class of the community, such as, for instance, papers relating to law, medicine, or architecture. it was restricted to papers dealing with what might be termed the higher intellectual subjects. these were held to form fair ground of exemption; but other specialist papers relating to subjects less intellectual then appeared; such as papers relating to turf news, or reporting cases before the police courts. these papers being entirely devoted to one subject, it became a question whether the privilege of stamping only a part of their impression could be given them. instead of attempting any sort of discrimination in such cases, the government made one general rule that all papers devoted to the discussion of one subject should be accorded the privilege. thereupon a great variety of such papers came into existence, and very soon some of them began to include in their issues matter which could only be regarded as news of a general character. this raised a further question: how much such general news should be regarded as destroying the "class" character of the publication. the government found themselves in a difficulty. if the law was not rigorously enforced, the papers paying the tax raised a great outcry against the injustice to themselves; and if the law was enforced in respect of those "class" publications which published general news, there was a great outcry against the discrimination between the "class" papers.[ ] the whole position in regard to these papers became unsatisfactory and anomalous.[ ] it was, in point of fact, found impossible to enforce the law. the outbreak of the crimean war led to a development which reduced the whole position to absurdity. publications were issued giving the latest and fullest available intelligence from the seat of war. these publications confined themselves strictly to the subject of the war. they published nothing on any other topic; and on that ground, although devoted entirely to the publication of news of burning interest, they claimed to be exempt from the newspaper duty in common with all other "class" newspapers.[ ] in the session of the house of commons passed a resolution, although it was opposed by the government, affirming that the laws in reference to the periodical press and newspaper stamp were "ill-defined and unequally enforced," and that the subject demanded the early consideration of parliament. the government gave the matter their attention. mr. gladstone, then chancellor of the exchequer, prepared a plan which was embodied, with modifications, in a bill introduced in the following session by his successor. this bill provided for the abolition of the duty except on such copies as it might be desired to send by post. the proposal was welcomed as the abolition of the last of the taxes on knowledge, and a liberation of the press.[ ] the only serious opposition to the bill was made on the ground that in the exceptional circumstances of the time--the nation being engaged in a war--the loss of revenue could be ill-afforded; and that the withdrawal of the duty would lower the moral character of the press, and open the way for seditious and blasphemous publications and for unrestrained libellous attacks on the government, on public authorities, and private individuals.[ ] the government justified their proposals on the ground that the administration of the existing law had become exceedingly difficult, and that the resolution of the previous session condemning the ambiguity of the existing law and the unsatisfactory character of its administration left them little choice in the matter.[ ] an amendment to the bill of , proposing the reduction of the stamp duty to / d., which was in effect providing for the transmission of newspapers by post at the uniform rate of / d., was opposed by the government. there was no desire to make the postage of newspapers a source of revenue. on this point there was general agreement. at the same time there was no disposition to carry newspapers at less than cost. sir rowland hill, in the course of his evidence before the committee of , had said that the post office could profitably carry newspapers at a penny,[ ] and that it was unlikely that they could be carried profitably for a halfpenny. members of the government and other members of the house were convinced that a halfpenny rate would involve a loss, and they opposed the amendment on that ground.[ ] the act & vict. cap. ( ) had reduced the stamp duties on newspapers,[ ] and repealed the duties on advertisements. a further act (the newspaper stamp duties act of , & vict. cap. ), repealed the stamp duty, as such, in respect of newspapers, and provided that periodical publications conforming to certain conditions should be entitled to free transmission by post, if "printed within the united kingdom on paper stamped for denoting the rate of duty now imposed by law on newspapers." the chief conditions were that the publication should be issued at intervals not exceeding thirty-one days, should bear the title and date of publication at the top of every page, and should not be printed on or bound in pasteboard or cardboard. the maximum limit of weight for publications not strictly newspapers, which in had been raised to ounces, was now abolished, and newspapers and all other stamped periodical publications were made subject to the same restrictions as to number of sheets and extent of letterpress, etc. concurrently with the passing of this act, the book post rates were reduced with the view of permitting the transmission of unstamped newspapers at low rates of postage.[ ] under the act of , stamp duty at the rate payable at that time under the existing law must be paid in order to secure the privilege of free transmission of newspapers by post. the duty was chargeable according to the number of sheets; and in the case of some leading newspapers, such as _the times_ and the _illustrated london news_, amounted to - / d. per copy for each issue. the proprietors of these publications in approached the post office with the view of obtaining a reduction of the charge for the transmission of their papers by post. this request was submitted by the post office, and was met by the government in a liberal spirit. in view of the importance now attached by parliament to the free circulation of newspapers, as shown by the removal of taxation from them, an object of scarcely inferior importance to the circulation of letters, it was now decided that since the whole of the existing system rested on the assumption that the free circulation of newspapers in general was an object of importance, and one to be attained even at a disproportionate cost to the post office, a line should not be drawn so as to exclude from the lowest rate one paper, and that paper the one with the largest circulation. such was the result of the existing limitation to ounces of the weight of newspapers which might be carried by the post for d., and the limit was therefore raised from ounces to ounces. in the question was raised in the house of commons whether the post office charge could be reduced, especially in view of the fact that railway companies were distributing newspapers at a uniform rate of / d. a copy. in the question was again raised in parliament. a resolution was moved in favour of an inland rate of / d. for ounces on printed matter, and a postage of / d. on newspapers. it was urged that the concession would be of special value in rural districts: it would indeed "be hard to say what the effect might be in time on the social condition of the people." in several continental countries newspapers were already transmissible by post at very low rates. against the possible objection that by introducing a rate lower than the d. rate they were jeopardizing its maintenance for letters, and that the proposal might therefore lead to a general / d. rate, it was argued that so far from that being the case, the best way of ensuring the permanence of the d. rate was to grant the concession asked.[ ] the marquess of hartington, the postmaster-general, was unable to accept the motion because he thought such proposals, before being assented to by the house, should be thoroughly looked into to discover whether there was a reasonable probability that the loss of revenue would or would not be a permanent loss, and the post office should be given ample time to consider whether the additional duties which would be thrown upon it could be undertaken with due regard to other services, which were of greater importance than the transmission of circulars or newspapers. the influx of a largely increased number of circulars and newspapers would cause serious embarrassment in the practical working of the post office, and might impair the efficiency of the service in respect of letters. the primary business of the post office being the "rapid and punctual transmission of letters," such a result would give just cause for dissatisfaction. the marquess of hartington asked that the motion should not be pressed. the chancellor of the exchequer told the house that he had not got £ , to give away. mr. gladstone also emphasized the seriousness of the financial aspect of the proposals, and assured the house that the government honestly intended to investigate the question, however much their suggestion for deferring a vote upon it might look like a pretext for evading it altogether. but when the chancellor of the exchequer moved the previous question, the motion was lost by a large majority. a main contention of the advocates of the reduction of rate was that in many foreign countries--in france, in belgium, in switzerland, in the united states--extremely low rates of postage for newspapers were in operation, and what was possible in those countries ought to be possible in england. following this vote in the house of commons the matter was further considered at the post office, and in the next session an act was passed providing that any newspaper conforming to certain conditions, the chief of which were that it should be issued at intervals of not more than seven days and should consist wholly or in great part of political or other news or of articles relating thereto or to other current topics, should be entitled to transmission by post at the rate of / d. per copy irrespective of weight. the privilege of retransmission was withdrawn.[ ] the statutory basis of the newspaper post has remained unchanged since , and the provisions of the act of were included in the post office act of , which contains the present authority for the privilege. there has been some necessary interpretation by the post office of the definition of a newspaper as given in the act. the chief points on which difficulty has arisen are ( ) as to the amount of news-matter required in a publication, and ( ) as to the character of the matter which can be accepted as news-matter. the act provides that the publication should consist "wholly or in great part of political or other news or of articles relating thereto, or to other current topics." this requirement is considered to be satisfied if as much as one-third of the publication consists of matter accepted as news. the proportion, when fixed, was based on an examination of the proportion of news-matter contained in the average newspaper, and represents the actual proportion then generally met with. there is no provision regarding the proportion to be maintained between the size of a newspaper within the meaning of the act and its supplement, but, under the accepted interpretation of the statute, a newspaper may contain a supplement of equal size, and that supplement may consist wholly of advertisements. the result of this is that publications containing a proportion of only one-sixth of news-matter may pass at the newspaper rate of postage. as to the second requirement, a strict interpretation of the regulation is not insisted on, and, in general, articles, pictures, or drawings relating to any matters of current or topical interest are accepted. this lack of precision in the provisions of the act, and the consequent difficulty of framing or enforcing regulations restricting the privilege within even reasonable limits, have been largely taken advantage of, especially in recent years, by the publishers of trade and fashion papers, with the result that publications weighing in some cases as much as pounds are sent through the post at the usual newspaper rate of a halfpenny. nor are the enormous weight of these papers, and the large proportion of advertisement matter, the only objections. the news-matter on which they rely as entitling them to the newspaper privilege is often of the most doubtful character, consisting largely of accounts of shop sales or of commercial exhibitions, with lengthy descriptions of the articles displayed. this abuse of the privilege is, however, confined to a comparatively small proportion of the newspapers entitled to transmission at the newspaper rate. with the fall in the price of paper, and the improvements in printing methods and machinery, all newspapers have tended to increase in size. but in general the increase has been small. in the average weight of newspapers passing by post was · ounces,[ ] and in it had increased to · ounces. the number of papers entitled to the privilege which could be regarded as excessively heavy is not more than about (out of a total of some , ),[ ] and although practically all these papers are published in london, and are largely distributed through the post, they do not form more than a small proportion of the total number of packets passing by newspaper post. but such of these publications of vast bulk and weight as are sent at the newspaper rate derive a great advantage--an advantage measured by the heavy loss incurred by the post office in respect of each such publication.[ ] many of the moderately heavy papers, such as the ordinary sixpenny london newspapers, are for the most part in compliance both with the letter and the spirit of the regulations, and their transmission at the / d. rate is not, perhaps, open to serious objection. but there can be little doubt that if the possibility of developments in the publication of trade journals such as have occurred, had been foreseen, some provision would have been made for the prevention of the transmission at heavy loss to the post office of large numbers of publications which are, in effect, trade catalogues. while the newspaper post involves a very considerable loss, it affords the public a useful facility, and one which is largely availed of for the purpose the act of was intended to assist, viz. the dissemination of intelligence.[ ] the rate has proved too high to secure a large postal traffic in newspapers. the total number passing by post within the united kingdom in was some millions, which, in days when individual daily newspapers publish as many as a million copies of every issue, is only an insignificant portion of the newspaper traffic of the country. it is also only a small portion of the total postal traffic, which in the same year amounted to some , millions. in this respect there has been a great transformation. under the old conditions newspapers were distributed almost exclusively by post, and formed a large proportion of the total number of postal packets and by far the greater bulk of all the mails,[ ] while now they form only an inconsiderable proportion both in bulk and number. the post office has no monopoly of the distribution of newspapers, and for the most part newspaper publishers themselves provide for the distribution of by far the larger part of their issues. in all the large towns this is the case.[ ] private enterprise can of course compete wherever the traffic would be profitable, and private agencies provide satisfactorily for the distribution of the vast proportion of newspapers, it being found practicable throughout a large part of the country to place newspapers on sale at the published price; and in all such cases payment of postage, which in the days of the halfpenny newspaper represents an additional charge of per cent. on the published price, is out of the question. only those for the more remote towns and country districts are left to the post office; but the newspaper traffic by post, although conducted at a loss, comprises so small a part of the whole postal traffic, that the result on the finances of the post office is not serious. if, however, such an unremunerative rate were applied to a class of traffic likely to assume large proportions the result would be financially disastrous, and this is the answer to such suggestions as those of mr. wells to extend the newspaper rate to other classes of printed matter.[ ] in the privilege of transmission at the / d. rate was extended to colonial newspapers, registered for the purpose in this country. note.--on the st november , as part of the war increases of postage, the rate on newspapers was altered to / d. for every ounces or part of ounces. * * * * * newspaper post in canada no special provision for the transmission of newspapers had been made in the act of which first prescribed rates of postage for the canadian territories. consequently, if sent in the mails, they were, in strictness, liable to postage at the ordinary rates for letters and packets. those rates would generally have amounted to at least a shilling a copy, and would therefore have prevented altogether the distribution of newspapers by post. postage was in practice waived, newspapers being allowed to pass by post on payment of a small charge quarterly to the deputy postmaster-general, who retained the proceeds as a perquisite of his office. the amount was at first a mere trifle; but in later days it formed the greater part of his emoluments. the precise date at which this arrangement was established is uncertain. it certainly existed in nova scotia in , and probably commenced on the first publication of a newspaper in canada.[ ] the rates charged were low, and were varied from time to time at the will of the deputy postmaster-general. the following, which were charged in canada in , may, however, be regarded as typical:-- for a weekly paper s. d. currency a quarter " " bi-weekly " s. d. " " " " " tri-weekly " s. d. " " " " " daily " s. d. " " " in the maritime provinces the rates were somewhat lower, the charge for a weekly paper being only s. d. a year. these amounts were payable by the proprietor of the paper, and were accepted only in respect of papers sent regularly. papers mailed casually by persons other than publishers, and denominated "transients," were charged d. currency each. the publishers thought even these moderate charges objectionable, and the feeling against them was increased when it became known that they rested on no legal authority, but solely on the custom of the office and the sanction of sir francis freeling; and that the proceeds, instead of being accounted for as part of the general post office revenue, were appropriated by the deputy postmaster-general. they were also objected to as arbitrary and inequitable, since papers were charged the same rate whether they were conveyed miles or miles. as letters were at that time charged on a scale of rates graduated according to distance, the application of the principle of uniformity to the newspapers was naturally not appreciated; and in view of the heavy charges incurred for transportation it could not have been justified on economic grounds. the resentment against the charge first took definite form in the lower provinces. in a mr. ward, a publisher, petitioned the nova scotian house of assembly to be relieved from the charges on his newspapers. a committee of the house, which considered the matter, found that under the imperial acts it was no part of the duty of the deputy postmaster-general to receive or transmit newspapers, other than those received from great britain, and that the deputy was therefore justified in making the charge complained of. they found also that sixty years earlier the deputy made a yearly charge of s. d. on each newspaper sent by post, and that at that time all editors acquiesced in the charge. at the same time the committee regarded the charge as so undesirable that they recommended the house should grant a sum to remunerate the deputy for his services in transmitting newspapers, in order that the charges might be abolished. the deputy postmaster-general in the lower provinces was himself a publisher, and it was alleged that he was interested directly or indirectly in every newspaper published in nova scotia, with the exception of two, with the result that, while all the newspapers in which he was interested passed free of postage, the two outsiders were made to pay. the deputy postmaster-general himself seemed to think the arrangement was best kept in the background. when questioned by the house of assembly, he adopted a reticent attitude and made equivocating statements. he gave particulars purporting to show the amounts paid as postage in respect of certain newspapers controlled by him, and on further interrogation by the house of assembly admitted that the journals paid no postage. meanwhile, publishers in both lower and upper canada also were working for the abolition of the deputy postmaster-general's privilege. in december a publisher of montreal, mr. r. armour, approached sir francis freeling, declaring that the subject might eventually involve a question of high constitutional importance, viz. "to what extent the post office of great britain is authorized by law to regulate the internal post office establishments of the colony, and to draw a revenue therefrom." he received no satisfaction from sir francis freeling, who replied that the charges were "the long established and authorized perquisite of the officer in question (the deputy postmaster-general) and that all newspapers circulated by post in british north america otherwise than under his privilege are liable by law to the charge of the full rates of postage." mr. armour then petitioned the local legislature, and towards the end of the year a committee of the house of assembly was appointed to consider the whole question of the management of the post office in the province of lower canada. the committee found it impossible to obtain any useful information concerning the finances of the service from the deputy postmaster-general, mr. t. a. stayner, whose attitude was a source of much irritation, resulting in great intensity of feeling both against the privilege of the deputy and the administration of the service from london. in the publishers in upper canada, who were working in concert with the publishers of lower canada, also succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a committee of the house of assembly. this committee, in its report, challenged the legality of any postage charge whatever raised in the province under authority of the british postmaster-general. in the publishers in nova scotia submitted a petition to the king, but obtained no satisfaction.[ ] in the lower provinces there was a sentiment in favour of the free transmission of newspapers, which had been encouraged, if not originally induced, by the circumstance that for a considerable period the holder of the office of deputy postmaster-general for those provinces, mr. howe, took little trouble to enforce the payment of that postage which, when paid, was his perquisite, preferring to forgo the proceeds rather than incur the risk of odium which might attach to any attempt to enforce his privilege.[ ] in mr. edmund ward, the publisher of the _federation sentinel_, petitioned the lieutenant-governor and house of assembly in new brunswick for the abolition of the postage rate on newspapers, on the grounds that it was illegal, a tax on knowledge, and of no benefit to the public revenue, since the proceeds were retained by an official already adequately remunerated for his services. the petition was submitted to the home authorities; and the solicitor to the post office advised that, since the act of repealed the act of the th of george iii, cap. , the charge on newspapers made by the deputy postmaster-general in north america rested on no legal basis, and long established usage and custom was the only justification for allowing newspapers to pass by post at less than the legal rate. the house of assembly in new brunswick also took up the question on their own account. like the nova scotians, they were anxious to facilitate the distribution of newspapers. they regarded the charge for postage as an odious tax on knowledge, and in , in a joint address to his majesty, recommended its abolition. in the house of assembly of nova scotia also petitioned for the abolition of postage on newspapers and pamphlets, contending that the proceeds of the postage rate, which was collected from the country districts, on which it lay as a heavy burden, did not benefit the general revenue, since they were appropriated by the deputy postmaster-general, and that the newspapers were well-nigh the only vehicle of information in the province. in reply, the british authorities pointed out that since pamphlets were charged as letters in england, the treasury could not sanction free transmission in the colonies; moreover, even with the existing rate, the number of newspapers sent by post was increasing so rapidly that it was becoming a matter of some difficulty, on account of the bad condition of the roads in the province, to provide for their transmission from place to place. free transmission was therefore not conceded; but in july certain changes were made in the general system of rates, and the deputy postmaster-general's newspaper privilege was withdrawn, a uniform rate of / d. per sheet for transmission to any point in nova scotia, new brunswick, canada, and prince edward island being established. when the post office service throughout british north america was unified and transferred to provincial control, the then existing rates of postage on newspapers and pamphlets were continued, but power was reserved to each legislature to authorize transmission within its respective province free of postage. by virtue of this power nova scotia in abolished altogether the rate of postage on newspapers, taking pride in the fact that they were the first authority in british north america to grant the boon. new brunswick soon followed suit. but the result of this, coupled with the reduction in letter postage at the unification, was adverse to the finances of the service in these provinces. for several years the accounts showed a deficit, which was met by the provinces cheerfully as a contribution of no less value than contributions made for roads, bridges, and schools.[ ] in connection with the changes introduced at the time of the confederation, a charge for the transmission of newspapers by post was made general throughout the federated area. the charge met with considerable opposition from the maritime provinces, which thus lost the boon of free transmission.[ ] it was justified as nothing more nor less than a simple charge for freight, the remission of which would be to offer a bounty to a particular industry. the possibilities of usefulness of the post office would, it was argued, be greatly reduced if the service were loaded with the burden of the gratuitous distribution of newspapers throughout so vast a country; since, if from the diminution of revenue which such a course must produce, the department were forced to look to parliament for assistance, parliament would be disposed to discourage the establishment of new offices in the thinly settled districts, where it was of the greatest importance that they should be found.[ ] the arguments of members from the maritime provinces were somewhat diverse. they said there was an essential distinction between letters and newspapers, in that letters were private communications between individuals, while newspapers were in some measure the organs of communication between the government and the people, and furnished the only means by which to acquire that acquaintance with the law which everybody was presumed to possess. newspapers occupied a similar position to that of schools, and presented one of the easiest channels of enlightenment. in many cases, for the ordinary folk no other means of education were open. on them the tax would be an imposition which might be contrasted, it was said, with the favour accorded to the commercial and wealthy classes by the reduction in the postage on letters. it was further argued that in the existing state of the dominion, owing to the presence of a certain amount of sectional feeling and mutual hostility between different portions of the country, which could be attributed largely to the lack of that sort of information which newspapers could provide, it would be folly to hinder the freest possible distribution.[ ] moreover, a postage charge would fall unequally. the large towns and thickly populated areas would be able to obtain their papers by means of the railroad or other agency at little cost; but the outlying districts, which ought to be treated with special favour by the legislature, would have no alternative to the payment of postage. the large newspapers would be able to distribute their issues by express, while the smaller ones would be compelled to use the post. the "tax" would yield only some $ , a year in nova scotia; and for such a paltry sum it surely could not be wise to levy this "tax upon knowledge," which "of all the heavy burdens laid upon nova scotia was the most oppressive."[ ] these arguments were ineffective, and a rate which averaged half a cent a copy was imposed. in the rate was modified, and made a bulk rate of cent a pound, an extremely low rate. the average weight of newspapers at that time was so small that, in the case of certain typical papers selected by the government for the purpose, it was found that the numbers required to make up a pound were from ten to fifteen. in the total yield under the old rate had been only some $ , . the new rate was therefore likely to yield only some $ , a year, and the advocates of free transmission argued that as such a small sum would hardly be worth the trouble of keeping the accounts, the government, having gone so far, might well have taken a step further and abolished altogether the postage on newspapers. the government defence was that the rate proposed was the lowest possible, and to mail free the papers published in the various parts of the dominion would be to impose too heavy a burden upon the public treasury.[ ] the canadian people had only to wait a few years for the boon. in an act was passed "to provide for the free transmission of canadian newspapers within the dominion." no discussion on the measure took place in parliament, and authoritative statements of the reasons inducing the adoption of so generous a policy are not to be obtained;[ ] but in well-informed quarters it is held that, in general, the leniency shown to newspapers is not due solely to the acceptance by parliament of the arguments usually advanced in their favour, plausible and convincing as they probably are to many minds, but has always been dictated more or less by fear of the political power wielded by them; or, what is really the same thing, as a result of direct pressure at ottawa by the newspaper proprietors, based on their influence with the electors or the chiefs of parties, and exercised in their own interests.[ ] in this view, the ultimate step taken in marked no concession to popular sentiment, but the climax of the power of the newspaper interest, and a consummation for which they had long striven. at the same time the total abolition of postage on newspapers was in accord with the widespread feeling, which had from an early period found expression in the legislatures of the canadian provinces: the feeling that newspapers are of great educational value, especially in new countries and in countries with an extended franchise, such as had been the canadian provinces almost from their first organization; that in such countries it was necessary to educate the sovereign people; and that newspapers afforded the best and most practicable way.[ ] during the period of free transmission, which continued some seventeen years, the number and gross weight of newspapers sent through the post increased enormously, and the privilege was considerably abused. numerous publications were constantly appearing demanding free transmission, and in many cases they were of very questionable character; that is to say that, while conforming to the letter of the requirements of the law, they were often not genuine newspapers at all, but mere vehicles for the distribution of trade advertisements. the vast increase in the cost of dealing with the quantity of newspapers sent through the mails became a question for serious consideration. heavy demands were being made by the railway companies for increases in the amount of their remuneration for the conveyance of mails, on the ground of the increase in tonnage due to the very large numbers of newspapers being sent. the actual statistics of the post office traffic in canada are illuminating on this point. in the total weight of newspapers passing in the mails was , , pounds, and the estimated number of newspapers , , . for the same year the total number of letters passing through the post was , , , and their total weight , , pounds.[ ] in the canadian government desired to reduce the internal letter postage, which still stood at cents, to the almost universal rate of cents;[ ] but the loss of revenue which such a reduction would entail was so great that they were driven to seek fresh revenue to meet the deficiency. in view of the abuses of the newspaper privilege, and the generally unsatisfactory position which had developed, this was thought to be a suitable occasion for the reimposition of postage on newspapers.[ ] the rate proposed was / cent a pound. opposition to the change was made on the same grounds as in : that newspapers were the real educators of the people, that the dissemination of intelligence, particularly of political intelligence, was of the utmost importance, and that no impediment should be put in the way of their freest possible distribution. the great necessity for a new source of postal revenue made it impossible, however, to continue the free privilege in its entirety, and the / -cent bulk rate was carried. the free privilege was continued for local papers distributed within a radius of ten miles, in order to enable the country papers to compete with the papers of the large towns. the country papers are very jealous (and perhaps somewhat fearful) of the great city papers, although the telegraph has given the country papers an advantage in point of time. this is of great value in a country of enormous distances--especially in the case of daily papers--but is yet not of vital importance in the case of weekly newspapers, which do not rely so much on late news. the competition of the weekly papers of the great cities is severe; and the radius of competition even of their daily papers is considerable. the letter-carriers of ottawa were at that time daily engaged in carrying free enormous quantities of newspapers published in montreal or toronto.[ ] the rate fixed in was not intended to be permanent; and in , when the revenue had become sufficiently buoyant to warrant the step, a bill was introduced to reduce the postage on newspapers to / of cent a pound for transmission in the province or territory of distribution. the general purpose of the bill was to reduce the rate for limited distances, and the province or territory was adopted as the most convenient unit of area. newspapers were being posted literally by the ton, and the department thought it unreasonable to convey car-loads of such mail from ocean to ocean for the same rate as for any shorter distances within a province.[ ] the bill passed the lower house, although it was severely criticized as introducing the vicious principle of provincial legislation; and "a serious aggravation of the tyrannical injustice" was that a distinctive tax would be placed on city publications, while preferential privileges would be given to country newspapers.[ ] the postmaster-general explained that with a bulk rate it was possible to make nice distinctions of rate in regard to distance travelled, which would be quite out of the question with a rate such as that for letters charged separately on each individual item; the charge for the transportation of a letter for a short distance would be so small that no division of coin could be found to correspond to it, but with matter mailed by the ton and wagon-load, and paid for by the ton and wagon-load, the charge could well be adjusted for distance: but he admitted that he had made no calculation as to whether the / cent a pound would cover the cost of newspapers within the bounds of each province.[ ] the bill was rejected by the senate on account of the undesirability on general political grounds of introducing any sort of distinctions based on the provincial boundaries. the proposal was revived in another form in . it was then proposed to reduce the postage to / cent a pound on newspapers when the distance of transmission did not exceed miles. the postmaster-general said definitely in parliament that the rate would not cover the cost, and, further, that the reduction would involve a loss of revenue of from $ , to $ , a year on a total revenue from newspapers of from $ , to $ , .[ ] the reduction was carried; and in the reduced rate of / cent a pound was extended to all newspapers passing within the dominion, when posted in bulk. the privilege is availed of by the publishers of many periodicals which are virtually nothing more than advertising media; but this abuse has not assumed serious proportions, and with the finances of the department in a flourishing state, it has not been felt necessary to curtail the privilege, although it involves great loss.[ ] * * * * * newspaper post (second-class mail) in the united states of america a system for the distribution of newspapers by post, analogous, though not identical, with that which grew up in great britain, existed from an early period in america. there the privilege of franking newspapers was a perquisite, but it was not the perquisite of one officer, as in england. all postmasters exercised the privilege as part of their general privilege of franking all their correspondence, the arrangement being part of their emoluments as postmasters; and post-masterships were much sought after by newspaper publishers, who were thereby enabled to obtain free of charge the advantage of the distribution of their publications by what in most cases was the best, if not the only, available means. the most notable example was benjamin franklin, who was for nearly forty years connected with the post office in north america, first as postmaster of philadelphia, and afterwards as joint postmaster-general for the northern part of north america, and who, throughout this period, was able to circulate his publications by post free of charge. the post office, especially in regard to the exercise of this privilege, is regarded by americans as having been an important factor making for a general understanding between the colonies, and a conception of the possibility of common action.[ ] as early as the crown authorities in the colonies were looking with a jealous eye on the unrestricted distribution of newspapers, and were contemplating measures for preventing the dissemination of objectionable ideas.[ ] as the friction between the colonies and the mother country grew in the years that followed, the crown postmasters became more and more active in their endeavours to hamper the distribution by post of newspapers which published improper intelligence, or proclaimed improper political doctrines. in franklin was dismissed, and his dismissal has been ascribed to a desire to impede the distribution of his publications.[ ] there is no doubt that the crown authorities attempted through the postmasters to prevent the distribution of colonial newspapers, and it was this action which led in the first instance to the suggestion for the establishment of an independent american post office.[ ] the resolutions of the continental congress by which the american office was established in did not provide for the transmission of newspapers. nor does the ordinance of the st october prescribe any rates for their transmission; but licenses the postriders to carry them, presumably outside the mail, the charges made by them for the service to be retained by the riders as a perquisite. the statute of first fixed rates for newspapers, as follows: cent a copy when sent for distances less than miles, and - / cents a copy when sent for distances greater than miles. this charge was opposed in congress, and efforts were made to legalize free transmission by extending, so as to cover the transmission of newspapers, the general privilege of franking conferred by the bill on members of congress, on the ground that as the government of the country was a government of opinion, which always depended ultimately on the suffrages of the people, much greater reliance was to be placed on the confidence of the people than on any other circumstance. such confidence could only result from the fullest information, which the people had a right to expect, not only as regards the actions of the government but as regards the principles on which they were grounded.[ ] some members were disposed to approach the question from the financial side, and contended that the rates proposed were not sufficient to discharge the expense of the service. the middle way between economic rates and free transmission was finally adopted. an act of amended the rates on newspapers and provided a further special rate for magazines and pamphlets. newspapers might now pass from any one place to any other within the same state for cent; magazines and pamphlets at cent a sheet for distances not exceeding miles; - / cents a sheet for distances over miles and not exceeding miles; and cents a sheet for any greater distance. a suggestion was made in congress to reduce the newspaper rate to half a cent for distances not exceeding miles, and cent for any greater distance; on the ground that it was desirable to encourage the distribution of newspapers from the seat of government and the large towns, since such papers must contain more complete information than the country publications, which could only publish selections from the metropolitan papers. there was, however, a feeling that country papers performed a useful function and should be encouraged. the rates on magazines were altered in to - / cents a sheet for any distance not exceeding miles and - / cents for any greater distance, when published periodically and sent to subscribers; and cents on each sheet for distances under miles, and cents a sheet for any greater distance, when not published periodically. in the free privilege for newspapers was first introduced, those of not more than , square inches in size, posted by the editors or publishers, being allowed to pass free within miles of the place of publication. smaller newspapers, if conveyed more than miles, were charged the rates fixed by the act of (which had been re-enacted by a statute of ); and newspapers of greater size were charged a uniform rate of cents without regard to distance. pamphlets, magazines, periodicals, and all printed or other matter, were to be charged by weight: - / cents for the first ounce, and cent for each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce, without regard to distance. the free privilege for local newspapers was withdrawn in , except as regards copies exchanged between publishers. the latter privilege was continued from a desire to assist the country publisher, who seems always to have had friends in congress, and who was in the habit of obtaining much of the information published in his papers from the great atlantic cities, and other large towns which were centres of political or other interests. the free privilege was not long withheld.[ ] an act of again extended it to all weekly newspapers sent from the office of publication to _bona fide_ subscribers within the county where published, provided the newspaper did not exceed ounces in weight; with a scale of postages graduated according to distance for papers sent out of the county where published. a graduated scale for pamphlets, periodicals, magazines, and all other printed matter, was also established by this act. in the following year a rate of cent was fixed for each newspaper, periodical, unsealed circular, or other article of printed matter, not exceeding ounces in weight, sent to any part of the united states; and for every additional ounce or fraction thereof, cent additional. in the rate of postage on any newspaper, periodical, unsealed circular, or other article of printed matter, not exceeding ounces in weight, conveyed over the overland route between any state or territory east of the rocky mountains and any state or territory on the pacific, was made cent. the letter rate between the same areas was cents per / ounce. a statute of classified mail matter, defining three groups. newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets fell into the second group, which comprised all printed matter issued at stated intervals, but different rates were fixed for different sections of such matter. on printed matter issued weekly and sent to regular subscribers, the rate was cents a quarter for publications not exceeding ounces in weight, with an additional rate for every additional ounces or fraction thereof. if issued seven times a week, the rate was cents a quarter for every ounces. if issued less frequently than weekly, the charge was cent a copy not exceeding ounces in weight, and small newspapers might be sent in packages and charged the same rates by weight. on transient[ ] second-class matter, and miscellaneous matter of the third class--the third class included all other printed matter--the rate was fixed at cents for each ounces or fraction thereof. the rates of were slightly modified in , and a local delivery rate of cent was established for newspapers. two years later a new method of charging postage on newspapers and periodicals posted by publishers or newsagents was introduced. instead of being charged on each individual packet, postage was to be charged on the gross weight of the newspapers posted by a publisher, irrespective of the number of separate packets to be handled. the rate was cents a pound on newspapers and periodicals published weekly, and cents on those issued less frequently than once a week. these rates only applied to such newspapers and periodicals as were mailed from a known office of publication, or news agency, to regular subscribers or newsagents, and did not apply to those for local delivery. by a statute of publications designed primarily for advertising purposes, or for circulation free, or at nominal rates, were made third-class matter, and thus excluded from the privilege. in the present rate of cent a pound (bulk rate) and a revised classification were established. matter was admitted to the second class on the following conditions:-- _first._--it must regularly be issued at stated intervals as frequently as four times a year, must bear a date of issue, and must be numbered consecutively. _second._--it must be issued from a known office of publication. _third._--it must be formed of printed paper sheets, without board, cloth, leather, or other substantial binding, such as distinguish printed books for preservation from periodical publications. _fourth._--it must be originated and published for the dissemination of information of a public character, or devoted to literature, the sciences, arts, or some special industry, and having a legitimate list of subscribers; _provided_, _however_, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to admit to the second-class rate regular publications designed primarily for advertising purposes, or for free circulation, or for circulation at nominal rates. in the privilege was extended so as to include under certain conditions the periodical publications of benevolent or fraternal societies; and again in , to include the periodical publications issued by state departments of agriculture. it was provided by the statute of that a supplement may be enclosed with a second-class publication, without subjecting it to extra postage, provided that it is germane to the publication which it supplements, that is to say, is matter supplied in order to complete that to which it is added or supplemented, but omitted from the regular issue for want of space or time, or for greater convenience. it must, however, in every case be issued with the publication. since the establishment of these conditions and rates, there has been a steady and growing increase in the amount of second-class matter sent through the mails. in , under the old rates, the total weight sent at the pound rate was , , pounds. in the following year the total weight was , , pounds; and by the total had increased to , , pounds, that figure representing an increase of no less than , , pounds on the total for . during the whole of this period the accounts of the post office in the united states had in two years only (in and ) shown a surplus of revenue over expenditure. in view of the vast quantity of matter sent in the mails at very low rates, the question naturally suggested itself whether, seeing that it was necessary year by year to call on the public treasury for funds to meet the deficiency in the post office accounts, it would not be practicable, and equitable, to obtain an increased revenue from this class of traffic. the fact that considerable abuses of the second-class mail privilege had grown up made consideration of the question the more necessary. periodicals obtained so great a privilege as compared with ordinary books, that publishers sought devious ways to obtain the advantage of the pound rate. books termed a "library" were issued periodically, with a frequency sufficient to meet the requirements of the act, numbered in series, and devoted to literature or science; were issued from a known office of publication, and with a list of subscribers. complying thus with all the requirements of the act, there seemed no ground on which these publications could be refused admission to the second-class privilege, and they were accordingly entered. the practice grew, and a multitude of libraries, comprising books on every conceivable subject, were distributed through the mails as second-class matter. the act permitted the posting of sample copies, and as no limit to the number of such copies was fixed, the mails were burdened with vast quantities of sample copies of publications which, while complying with the letter of the statute, as did the "libraries," were in reality mere advertising media. the subscription list was extremely small in comparison with the number of sample copies sent out, and in many cases the subscriptions had been obtained by the offer of premiums at least equal in value to the subscriptions. another abuse appeared. under the law, copies of newspapers and periodicals mailed under the second-class privilege which were found to be undeliverable were, when returned to the publisher, liable to postage at the rate of cent for each ounces; but newsagents had the right to send second-class mail to one another, and in order to avoid the higher rate on returned copies, the publishers arranged a scheme by which the copies were returned by one newsagent to another newsagent whose office was near by the publisher's office. these abuses assumed such proportions that in the postmaster-general, mr. wanamaker, brought them to the notice of congress and asked a remedy. nothing was done, however. in mr. wanamaker again complained of the same gross abuses, and especially of the book abuse, which had then become, he said, "a practice of so long standing that it has crystallized into law, allowing to paper-covered books which are simply numbered, and dated, and designated as periodicals, though in reality not so, the privileges of genuine periodicals."[ ] he also attacked with vigour the sample-copy abuse.[ ] several postmasters-general caused estimates to be made of the actual cost to the post office of the handling and transmission of the second-class mail. an estimate made in indicated the cost of transportation for all mail matter as cents a pound, and on that basis second-class matter at that time involved a loss of nearly million dollars for transportation alone. in the total loss on account of the second-class mail was estimated at million dollars. a further estimate made in indicated that the cost of transportation of second-class matter was at least cents a pound, and that the cost of handling was a further cents, giving a total cost of cents a pound on matter for which postage at the rate of only cent a pound was paid.[ ] in postmaster-general cortelyou submitted an estimate which put the loss on second-class matter at some $ , , a year; and he recommended that the whole question should be considered by congress, and a law enacted which should simplify the tests by which mail matter was classified. these vigorous and oft-repeated recommendations of successive postmasters-general, though not resulting in legislation, at length achieved a result in the appointment in of a joint commission of congress on second-class mail matter. the commission held meetings in new york, and took evidence from the post office department and from representatives of each national organization of publishers in the united states. their report, presented in january , was in no sense conclusive. their chief difficulties had arisen from the impossibility of obtaining from the department any statistics as to the cost of mail matter class by class--a difficulty which is inherent in post offices conducted on the modern system of accounting for postage of all classes by postage labels of the same type, and handling all classes of matter promiscuously; and their chief recommendations were that the department should take fresh statistics with regard to all mail matter,[ ] and make an analysis of operating expenses with a view to apportionment between the various classes of mail matter. the commission was so dissatisfied with the department's position with regard to the ascertainment of a proper division of the total expenses, that they recommended the appointment of a further commission to examine thoroughly "the whole business system" of the post office, and particularly to determine, if possible, firstly, the actual cost of all the postal services; secondly, the proper apportionment of that cost between the various classes of mail matter; and thirdly, what modifications of the system of bookkeeping and accounting were desirable.[ ] by a statute of the nd march , congress authorized the appointment of a joint commission "to make an investigation into the business system of the post office and postal service." the same gentlemen who had composed the commission of were appointed to the new commission, but its labours led to no practical result. the other recommendation of the penrose-overstreet commission, viz. that further statistics should be obtained with regard to second-class matter, was also adopted by congress, and the statute authorizing the commission on business methods also authorized the taking of statistics of the weight, number of pieces, and average haul of all classes of mail matter, separately, and the average load of all cars by which it was forwarded by railway.[ ] with the statistics so obtained as a basis,[ ] the department undertook the task, which, as stated by the commission of , had previously been impossible of performance, of calculating the actual working cost assignable respectively to the various classes of mail matter. a committee, which was appointed in october , and reported in november , arrived at the conclusion that the cost of dealing with second-class mail matter was about cents a pound. the whole subject was before the committee on the post office and post roads of the house of representatives in january and february . many representatives of the publishing interest attended and gave evidence, and the department's calculations were subjected to examination and criticism.[ ] congress and the executive were still, however, unable to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion on the question, and on the th march a joint resolution of congress authorized the appointment of a further commission on second-class mail matter, this time not a congressional commission. a judge, the president of a university, and a business gentleman were appointed to the commission, which held sessions in new york in the latter part of the year, and took evidence from the post office department and representatives of the publishing interests. they found that the data available were insufficient to enable them to determine the total cost to the post office of the services performed in respect of second-class mail matter; but they were able to estimate the cost in regard to certain items of the expenses of the post office. the cost under those headings, which must, of course, be less than the total cost, they found as - / cents a pound for ordinary paid-at-the-pound-rate matter and cents a pound for free and transient matter.[ ] that part of the general expenses of the service which the commission were unable to assign satisfactorily between the various classes of mail matter was estimated by the post office department to amount to over cents a pound for second-class mail matter.[ ] on this basis, of course, a heavy increase in the rate of postage would be warranted; but in view of the uncertainty of the effect of the competition of the express companies which would result from a large increase in the rate of postage, of the fact that the publishers' business established in faith of constancy of the postage would seriously suffer from such a sudden increase, and of the well-known policy of encouraging distribution of educational literature,[ ] the commission hesitated to recommend any large increase, and contented themselves with recommending that the rate be raised from to cents a pound. given that the actual cost of the handling and transporting of second-class mail matter is on the average cents a pound (regarding which the department is quite satisfied) and a rate of postage for such matter of cent a pound, the department has, on the face of things, a strong case; and it is not necessary to ascribe other motives in order fully to explain and justify the course it has adopted. but the publishers felt that they were not favourably regarded by the republican administration. they claim, and the claim is admitted in influential quarters immune from pressure from them, that they are largely responsible for the establishment of the insurgent wing of the republican party, whose action against the late administration proved so disastrous to the fortunes of the party. in the course of these political activities they have made enemies; and they conclude that in the republican party, many of whose members have been disgraced, if not indeed driven from public life, there has arisen a strong feeling against the publishers. the activity of the department against the second-class rate is alleged to have begun after the publication of articles in the magazines exposing the corruption in the cities, and incidentally reflecting on members of the republican party. moreover, the department's most drastic recommendations have been directed not against second-class matter as a whole, but against the periodicals; and they have been made under the guise of preventing, as contrary to the intent of the statute, the dissemination at the second-class rate of vast quantities of advertising matter. thus, the department has recommended that that portion of periodicals which consisted solely of advertising matter should be charged at a higher rate than the rest of the publication (which would be allowed the second-class rate), while nothing at all was proposed as regards ordinary newspapers, a discrimination which cut the publishers of the periodicals deeply. the representations of the post office department, extending over some twenty years, and of most decisive and emphatic character, have not yet succeeded in obtaining legislation for the reform of the second-class mail scheme; but some few years back the department arrived at the conclusion that the authority of the existing law was sufficient to enable the more flagrant abuses to be checked, if not eliminated. a series of rulings were thereupon promulgated, and by this means some of the worst abuses have been removed, such as, for example, the transmission as second-class matter of "libraries," issued as periodicals. these rulings were resented by the publishing interests, with whom it was a source of great complaint that the interpretation of the statute defining second-class mail matter was left to arbitrary decision by officials of the department.[ ] the intense feeling in america against any sort of bureaucracy, and especially against a bureaucracy of the central government, leads to a natural jealousy of the exercise of this power, and as a remedy the suggestion was advanced that provision should be made, first, for questions of the interpretation of the act to be decided in the first instance by a permanent commission located at washington, on which the publishers should be represented; and secondly, that there should be an appeal from the decisions of this commission to the ordinary courts of justice. the department admits that its position with regard to the interpretation of the statutes is unsatisfactory. under the existing system, all manner of questions are asked regarding the private business of the publisher, and the decisions from washington are often delayed.[ ] but as against the contention of the department, which was for an amendment of the law, the publishers contended that the law, while no doubt not altogether perfect, was in the main sound and just, and the rate of postage of cent a pound was as great a boon as was ever conferred by congress. they denied that it was in any sense a subsidy.[ ] they also denied the existence of a deficiency, and contended that so far from its being true that the post office business involved a loss, there was each year a profit of millions of dollars. this result they arrived at by estimating the cost to the post office of the distribution of government free matter, and the cost of the rural free delivery, which they added together, setting the total against the deficit shown in the published accounts of the department. by this means a balance of profit was obtained for each year. the estimated postage payable at the usual rates in respect of the free matter was of course an item legitimately to be added to gross revenue; but it was doubtful whether the cost of the rural delivery service could be deducted from gross expenses, as the publishers insisted, on the ground that the service was "extraordinary." the publishers made a further allegation. at that time the express companies cut even the very low existing cent-a-pound rate on second-class mail matter for short distances, and if that rate were raised the range of their competition would be extended. with a -cent rate a much greater proportion of the traffic would inevitably fall to them. this would, of course, be very advantageous to the companies, to whom, as to railways, any increase in the volume of traffic handled would be welcome. these express companies had for many years been faithful supporters of the republican party, and behind the suggestion to increase second-class rates the publishers were convinced there was a desire on the part of the leaders of the party to reward their faithful allies.[ ] but perhaps the chief contentions of the publishers, which the post office was bound to some extent to admit, and would in any case find it difficult to meet, were the claim that newspapers create a vast quantity of first-class mail; and the claim that since the payment made to the railway companies in respect of the transportation of the mail is based on a sliding scale, decreasing as the volume of traffic increases, the weight of second-class matter brings down appreciably the rate actually to be paid. some who appeared before the commission of were inclined to go beyond these general contentions as to the relative claims of second-class matter, and to assail the whole administration of the department from the economic standpoint; challenging especially the relations with the railway companies, and arguing that the payment made for the conveyance of mails was not equitable when compared with the charges made by the companies for similar services performed for the express companies. notwithstanding these contentions, there can be no question that the transmission of the second-class mail at the present rates involves the department in heavy loss; and that congress, not unaware of this, attaches importance to the advantages which a low rate for such matter confers. the commission were satisfied on both points. it is, however, doubted by many whether the effect of this privilege has been altogether salutary from the educational point of view. it has encouraged to an almost incredible extent the publication of periodical magazines, and many of these magazines are of a high order of merit as periodical publications. the united states leads the world in the publication of this kind of matter.[ ] but the reading matter which is found in these publications is to a large extent light and trivial. the publication of serious intellectual works has shown little advance in recent years,[ ] and there is a fairly widespread feeling in america that the two developments are connected. but that is a matter difficult to determine. in any case, many people are proud of the development in periodicals, and the department, in spite of its efforts, has so far failed to secure any increase of rate. although the postmaster-general and the president[ ] adopted the recommendations of the commission of , and urged their consideration on congress, congress has not taken action, and has, indeed, forbidden the department to extend certain arrangements for the use of freight trains for the transmission of second-class matter, whereby a saving of expense could be secured, a phenomenon probably explicable by the constitution of american politics.[ ] * * * * * newspaper post in france in france, printed matter, whether issued periodically or otherwise, seems always to have enjoyed a lower rate of postage than the written letter. before the revolution there was diversity of practice as regards the rate of postage charged on newspapers. some privileged papers paid only or deniers the sheet, while others paid deniers. all the rates were purely arbitrary. when the committee on public taxation of the national assembly considered the question of fixing the rate for newspapers, they considered not only how to regularize the rate, but also whether they could raise it. viewed from the economic standpoint, the rate was thought by some to be inadequate.[ ] the committee was satisfied that not only would the new rates cover the cost of the service, but that there would also be a slight profit, although they felt it would not be proper, or even possible, to make that part of the business of the post office a really lucrative source of revenue.[ ] the decree of - august established the rate of deniers per sheet for daily newspapers (and other daily publications), and deniers per sheet for other periodical publications. pamphlets or unbound books were charged a sou the sheet. bound books were not allowed to pass by post. it is unlikely that these rates were remunerative. they were modified several times during the next few years; but although the modifications were in the direction of increase, the rates for newspapers still compared very favourably with the rates for letters.[ ] a law of messidor, an iv ( ), established a rate of centimes for newspapers and other periodical publications delivered in the place of publication, and centimes for all other destinations; but this discrimination was removed by the law of thermidor, an iv, which substituted a general rate of centimes the sheet. an attempt was made by the administration to raise the rates on newspapers and books. as regards newspapers the proposal was, however, rejected by the conseil des anciens. in a new rate for newspapers and other periodical publications was established, viz. centimes for each sheet. for other printed matter the rate was fixed at centimes per sheet.[ ] this law failed to prescribe the limits of size of the sheets according to which postage was to be charged, an omission supplied by an ordinance of the th march , which fixed the dimension of the sheet at centimetres by . the newspapers interested tried to resist this restriction, contending that the ordinance was illegal, because the laws of prescribed no limit and the government could not impose one by ordinance: for such a purpose a new law was necessary. the law of the frimaire, an viii ( th december ), had established a scale of charges according to weight, and the rates were fixed according to the distance actually traversed, under the arrangements then existing. this restriction, which was unfortunate, because the services existing during the revolutionary period were not of a character to serve as a basis for the future, was felt to be onerous, and numerous complaints were lodged by communes which felt themselves placed under a disadvantage. in the rates were revised and placed on a more stable basis.[ ] the principle first established in , of charge according to the distance between two places reckoned as the crow flies, was re-established; and a provision was inserted in the law to meet the difficulty which had arisen as to the legality of the ordinance of , purporting to fix the size of the sheets on which the postage on printed matter was calculated. postage on newspapers and periodicals was made centimes for each sheet of square decimetres for all destinations; but the charge was reduced by one-half for newspapers and periodicals circulated within the department where they were published, the reduced rate being established with the view of protection of the country press, whose subscribers were in general local, against the competition of the parisian press. in the rate of centimes the sheet for newspapers and other periodical publications was reduced to centimes. the rates of remained otherwise unchanged. in the newspaper tax and the postage were assimilated--that is to say, newspapers were subjected only to one tax, and payment of that tax secured the right of transmission by post. the tax was at the rate of centimes per sheet of square decimetres or less for newspapers published in the departments of seine and seine-et-oise, and centimes for those published elsewhere. all newspapers on which a tax of centimes was paid, were entitled to free transmission by post throughout france. those on which a tax of centimes was paid, were entitled to free transmission by post within the department in which they were published and the adjoining departments. in order to obtain transmission by post throughout france, an additional sum of centimes per paper must be paid on these latter newspapers.[ ] the minister of justice, in introducing the measure in the national assembly, explained that it would serve a double purpose: on the one hand it would give an increase of revenue of some six millions a year; and on the other it would safeguard society against detestable doctrines, because it would fall specially on those evil newspapers and books[ ] which were circulated at a low price in town and country, propagating prejudices and error, exciting the passions and corrupting the conscience of the public.[ ] louis napoleon bonaparte, in , desirous that there should be no obstacle in the way of his ultimate assumption of absolute power and the imperial crown, issued a decree further restricting the press in france. the publication of newspapers or periodicals dealing with political or economic questions, unless authorized by the government, was forbidden; and the rates of postage in force prior to the law of were imposed on newspapers, in addition to the tax imposed by that law.[ ] the same principles led to the discrimination introduced in between political and non-political papers. the former were subjected to a higher rate of postage than newspapers of a non-political character, because the government felt it to be necessary that there should be some moderating influence to check the effect of political journals in times of intense political excitement, and adopted this expedient.[ ] the rates for printed matter had for a long period caused considerable confusion, and given rise to many complaints from members of the public. they were still determined according to the linear surface of the sheets, a method which was found to cause considerable embarrassment and difficulty in its practical application. to all other classes of postal traffic the more logical and more convenient principle of charge according to weight had already been applied, and in this principle was applied also to printed matter of all descriptions. weight was made the basis of the charge, without reference to superficies or to distance, except that for political reasons the privilege of half-rates for newspapers circulating in the department in which they were published was continued.[ ] the reduction of the actual rates made by this law was slight, and was estimated not to have any appreciable effect on the total revenue. in any case the question was "regarded less from the financial point of view than from the point of view of the satisfaction which it would give to the needs of commerce and industry and of private intercourse in general."[ ] the new rate was centime for each grammes, with a minimum of centimes for political, and centimes for non-political newspapers. this reduction of rate, together with the reduction for other printed matter, for samples, and for commercial papers, resulted in a large increase in the number of bulky packets sent by post. in order to ensure prompt delivery, it was found necessary in paris to separate to some extent the letter-post traffic from the traffic sent at the lower rates, and the principle of providing a separate staff of postmen for the delivery of newspapers, magazines, samples, etc., was introduced.[ ] the application of this principle has since been extended, and the two kinds of traffic are now dealt with in paris altogether separately, by separate staffs of officers. the newspaper rates were next revised in . the discrimination between political and non-political newspapers was abolished, but the privilege accorded to local newspapers was continued. the new rates were:-- . two centimes for the first grammes and centime for each further grammes or fraction of grammes for newspapers published in the departments of seine and seine-et-oise and circulating outside the department where published; and for newspapers published in other departments and circulating outside the department where published and the adjacent departments. . one centime for the first grammes and / centime for each additional grammes or fraction of grammes for newspapers published in the departments of seine or seine-et-oise and circulating within the department where published. . one centime for the first grammes and / centime for each additional grammes or fraction of grammes for provincial papers other than those of seine and seine-et-oise, circulating within the department where published or adjacent departments. the existing rate for inland newspapers, which is based on the law of the th april , is as follows:-- two centimes for each copy up to grammes, and centime for each grammes or fraction of grammes above grammes. only half these rates is charged when the papers circulate within the department in which they are published or the adjacent department. in [ ] the rates in respect of newspapers sorted and bundled according to the offices of destination and the post routes, were reduced to centime for the first grammes and centime for each additional grammes or fraction of grammes--half this rate being charged for papers circulating within the department of publication or the adjacent departments. the value of a centime is roughly one-tenth of a penny. it is hardly necessary, therefore, to point out that these rates are divorced entirely from economic considerations, and are to be explained only on political and administrative grounds.[ ] it has been estimated that in the loss on printed matter of all kinds was million francs. in france, as in other countries, the privilege of transmitting periodical publications at a specially low rate of postage was much availed of for the transmission of advertising matter, of publications which were essentially of the character of catalogues or prospectuses rather than newspapers properly speaking. a law of ,[ ] passed with a view, among other things, of minimizing this abuse of the privilege, restricted the application of the reduced rate to publications issued not less frequently than once a month. the new regulation had good results, restricting, as was desired, the number of periodical publications not legitimately entitled to the privilege. it had also a result which was regarded by parliament as undesirable: it shut out from the privilege the numerous quarterly journals of scientific and learned societies.[ ] by the same law the minimum rate of postage for small packets of printed matter sent under loose band, the _imprimés non urgent_, was raised from centime to centimes. the result of this was a little unsatisfactory. in order to evade the higher charge, advertisers took to printing in newspapers, circulating at centime, announcements formerly sent out separately as loose leaflets, a man[oe]uvre which struck doubly: not only was the legitimate rate of postage evaded, but instead of dealing with the matter as non-urgent at its convenience, the post office was obliged to treat it in the same way as all other newspaper matter--that is, to give it the benefit of equal treatment with matter sent at the letter rate. note on supplements. a decree of the th november gave to the two chambers the constitutional right of discussing the policy of the government at home and abroad, and as a natural corollary of this it was desired to secure the untrammelled publication and distribution of reports of the debates. this was attained by exempting from postage the supplements of journals when they were devoted entirely to the reproduction of the official reports of the proceedings of the chambers, the _motifs des projets de lois_, reports of parliamentary commissions, or official documents deposited by the government at the office of the chambers. the press law of the th may extended the exemption to supplements devoted to the extent of one half to the publication of reports of parliamentary debates or documents, but only on condition that the supplements contained no advertisements. the privilege was continued by the law of .[ ] in order to obtain the privilege the supplements must be printed on sheets detached from the main publication, but they must be enclosed with the publication. they must not exceed in size that part of the paper subject to postage, and if sent separately, they are liable to postage at the ordinary rate. in the official reports of parliamentary debates were exempted from postage when sent by the printer to the editors of country papers, or by those editors to their subscribers, if enclosed with the local paper. m. jaccottey's view is that in order to conform to the spirit of the law, the rate for periodicals ought to be confined to newspapers and other periodical publications devoted to letters, science, and arts; and that it is an abuse of the privilege that commercial advertising should avail itself of the privilege by, say, publishing at regular intervals successive editions of library catalogues, or by borrowing the titles of illustrated journals, their outside covers, and the methods of distribution, and inserting in them prospectuses which are not of the nature of periodicals.[ ] ordinary supplements may be enclosed in newspapers. they are weighed with the paper, and postage is charged according to the total weight. if sent separately, they are regarded as a number of the paper, and postage is charged accordingly. in order to obtain the benefit of the privileged rate, all supplements must bear printed indication of the fact that they are supplements, and must bear the title and date of the main paper.[ ] these definitions were amplified by the administration in by an instruction (no. ) which provided that detached advertisement sheets of any sort, issued exceptionally (feuilletons, fiction, stop press news, late articles, pictures, artistic engravings, or others), which are the genuine production of the publication, whatever the size and shape or pagination, ought to be regarded as fulfilling the conditions prescribed by law for supplements and to be admitted to the privilege of the reduced rate. * * * * * newspaper post in germany from the time of their first publication in germany, newspapers have been distributed through the post. little is known of the precise arrangements under which they were at first transmitted, but there is no doubt that they were accorded privileged conditions as compared with ordinary letters. the postmasters were themselves largely interested in the publication of newspapers.[ ] by the conduct of newspaper businesses by postmasters had become recognized as a common and long-established arrangement.[ ] the distribution of the newspapers was largely made through the post, and a rate of charge, built up of two elements, came into existence. the first element was the "discount" (_der rabatt_). this was a payment made by the publisher to the postmaster as remuneration for the work of the latter in connection with the posting and despatch of the papers and the collection of subscriptions. this discount was arranged between the postmaster and the publisher, and generally took the form of a fixed percentage proportion of the published price (_erlasspreis_). the second element was the "percentage" (_die provision_). this was in addition to the published price. it was collected from the addressee, and belonged partly to the postmaster at the place of destination and partly to the postmaster at the place of publication.[ ] the rates were fixed by the postmasters at their discretion, and gross irregularities and anomalies in the rates resulted. public complaint arose, and it was found necessary for the state to assume control of the traffic and fix definite rates of charge. this course was first adopted in prussia in , when the following rates were established[ ]:-- pf. for each whole sheet of the primary publication (_hauptblattes_) - / pf. " half " " " " - / pf. " quarter " " " " - / pf. " whole " supplement pf. " half " " this method of charge did not, however, prove altogether satisfactory, because the term "sheet" was not defined with any degree of precision. it was thought that a better basis for the rate might be found in the price at which the newspapers were sold to the public, because, it was argued, the price must stand in exact proportion to the number and size of the copies, and also to their real value. accordingly, in the rate was fixed generally at per cent. of the published price.[ ] at a somewhat later date this rate was reduced to - / per cent. of the published price in the case of newspapers appearing less frequently than four times a month.[ ] in the minimum yearly rate payable in respect of any newspaper was fixed at sgr.[ ] the application of this tariff resulted in many cases in considerable discrepancies between the amount charged and the service rendered. the improvements in the manufacture of paper and in the methods of printing, particularly the introduction of the rotary press, had cheapened the processes of production, and led to a great expansion of the newspaper trade. with this expansion came a more than proportionate expansion of the business of advertising. the result was that, as in england and america, the newspapers increased in bulk; but so far from there being a corresponding increase in price, there was in point of fact a very considerable decrease. moreover, advertisements became a more important source of revenue than the subscriptions themselves. a rate of charge based on the selling price, which might have been reasonable when newspapers were produced under the old conditions, was totally inapplicable under the altered circumstances.[ ] the financial results proved extremely unsatisfactory. from the causes indicated, the average weight of the individual copies of newspapers continued to increase, while at the same time the price (and with the price, the postage) continued to decrease. in the administration of the imperial post office estimated that the total cost of the transmission of newspapers by post in germany, for staff, post offices, transport, equipment, etc., was , , m., or about / pf. per copy.[ ] the number of newspapers transmitted by post in germany was at that time about a thousand millions annually, and the total postage received in respect of them was less than million m., or on the average about / pf. per copy;[ ] in the case of a number of papers the postage was as little as / pf. per copy.[ ] the annual loss to the administration on account of the newspaper traffic was therefore on the average / pf. per copy, or a total of about , , m. a year. for many years the question was before the budget commission of the reichstag, and a change soon followed the publication of this estimate. new rates, based on entirely new principles, were established in . when the act establishing the new rates was in preparation, the imperial post office administration based their proposals mainly on the principle that the charges should cover the cost of the service rendered.[ ] the original proposals to the reichstag were accordingly calculated to secure an increased revenue of - / million m. the budget commission, however, so modified the proposals as to reduce this amount to , m., and further modifications were made in the reichstag itself, with the result that under the new rates the administration was left to work with an even greater loss than formerly.[ ] the large publications of the great cities, supported as they were to a large extent by the advertisements they carried, had obtained a wide circulation, to the prejudice of the provincial press.[ ] with a view to affording some measure of protection to the provincial press as against the press of the large cities, proposals were made in the reichstag for the adoption of a zone rate for newspapers on the ground that the cost to the post office for distributing newspapers at great distances was appreciably greater than the cost of distribution in the case of newspapers sent short distances only, and that a zone rate would therefore be just.[ ] the authorities were not, however, prepared to adopt this proposal, which they characterized as retrograde and unnecessary.[ ] they considered that if the rate were raised for the longer distances the traffic would be taken away from the post office by private enterprise, and if the rate for the shorter distances were further lowered, the revenue from newspapers would be still further, and undesirably, reduced. the new scheme of rates of was based on three considerations: the length of time covered by the subscription, the frequency of issue, and the weight of the newspaper; and the rates were reckoned in the following way:-- (_a_) two pf. for each month of sending. (_b_) pf. yearly for papers appearing once weekly or less frequently, and pf. yearly more for each further publication weekly. (_c_) pf. yearly for each kilogramme of the yearly weight, subject to a free weight of kilogramme yearly for each of so many editions as the rate (_b_) is applied to.[ ] the weight for any year was to be fixed according to the actual weight of the numbers of the paper during the previous year, and for new publications the rate was to be applied quarterly on the basis of the weight of such numbers as had appeared. the publisher was required to deposit with the post office a complete copy of each issue for the purpose of calculating the weight charge. financially, the result of the rates has been unsatisfactory; the amendments of the proposals of the postal administration which were made by the reichstag could hardly have had any other effect. from the year to the year the increase in the number of newspapers was per cent. ( , - / millions; , , millions), but the increase in newspaper postage was only about per cent. ( , , m. in and , , m. in ); and if the cost of the service remained approximately the same as in , which there is little reason to doubt, the loss to the administration was about a million marks. in the case of a number of papers a higher rate of postage became payable; but in the case of some of the expensive illustrated and scientific publications the new rate represented a considerable reduction. thus, in one case, the rate became m. pf. instead of pf. yearly, while in another the rate was reduced from m. pf. to pf. yearly.[ ] but the reduction of rate did not represent the whole disadvantage. the greater part of the issue of illustrated and scientific journals and trade papers had formerly been distributed through the ordinary channels of the publishing trade. now that the postage rates were in many cases so largely reduced, it became cheaper in those cases to distribute a larger number by post, and this course was naturally adopted. increase in the number sent by post in such circumstances simply resulted in increased financial loss. an indication of the extent of the privilege which the newspapers enjoy as compared with other printed matter may be obtained by comparing the revenue which was actually obtained from the newspapers with the revenue which would have been obtained from the same number of packets of ordinary printed matter of similar size and weight. in , in the inland service in germany, some million packets of ordinary printed matter were transmitted, and the postage on them amounted to , , m. if the , million newspapers had yielded postage in the same proportion, they would have brought in a revenue of some millions of marks, whereas in actual fact they yielded only some - / millions.[ ] the present rate rests on the two grounds of frequency of issue and weight of copies. it is therefore in practice more difficult to apply than the former rate based simply on the price, since the weight factor is variable and requires exact determination in every case. moreover, the reichstag forbade rounding up of the weight, which would be essential if a rate in even pfennigs were to be ascertained. the calculation of the actual rate must be carried to the second decimal place in pfennigs, and a rounding up of broken pfennigs is permitted only at the final settlement for the regular subscription period. this complexity has, of course, added largely to the cost of administration, without a corresponding increase in revenue. it is anticipated that with the growth of the newspaper traffic the loss to the postal administration will tend to increase rather than to diminish. there is, however, no disposition to restrict the privilege accorded to newspapers. the attempt made by the administration in to secure an increased revenue from them was, as explained, frustrated by the reichstag. since the post office has held the monopoly of the distribution of political newspapers, and the general advantage resulting from such an effective control of the dissemination of public intelligence no doubt explains the continuance of so favourable and unremunerative a rate.[ ] note on delivery fees for newspapers. house-to-house delivery of newspapers was introduced in , the lowest charge (i.e. in addition to ordinary postage) being pf. quarterly. in a uniform delivery fee was fixed for town and country. for papers appearing weekly or less frequently the charge was pf., for papers appearing two or three times weekly pf., for papers appearing four to seven times weekly pf., and for papers appearing more frequently than seven times weekly pf. quarterly. the system of charging delivery fees has been continued, and those at present in operation are:-- for each copy monthly (_a_) for newspapers delivered less frequently than once a week pf. (_b_) " " once a week pf. (_c_) " " twice a week pf. (_d_) " " thrice a week pf. (_e_) " " four times a week pf. (_f_) " " five times a week pf. (_g_) " " six or seven times a week pf. (_h_) " " eight times a week pf. (_i_) " " nine times a week pf. (_k_) " " ten times weekly pf. (_l_) " " eleven times weekly pf. (_m_) " " twelve to fourteen times weekly pf. (_n_) " " fifteen times weekly pf. (_o_) " " sixteen times weekly pf. (_p_) " " seventeen times weekly pf. (_q_) " " eighteen times weekly pf. (_r_) for official gazettes pf.[ ] the delivery fees are collected in advance for the complete subscription period. in the amount collected for delivery in towns was , , m., and for delivery in the country districts , , m. note on special supplements. special advertisement supplements were permitted to be sent by post together with newspapers by the order of th september . these supplements in form or character must not be similar to the main newspaper. they must not be printed at the same office, and no charge might be made for their insertion. a special supplement must not exceed one sheet and must not be bound. the newspapers in which they were inserted must bear a notification to that effect in a prominent position. all copies of the supplement must be submitted to the post office and the postage paid in advance. they were then stamped at the office of posting, and if not posted within three days the postage might be forfeited. the rate for each supplement was / sgr.[ ] the number of such supplements was not as great as was anticipated, the chief reason for which was that the postage was still too high and the regulations too complicated. in the rate was reduced to / pf. for each copy, with a reduction of per cent. when as many as , copies were posted at the same time. the obligation to submit all copies to the post office for stamping, and the requirement to post them within three days thereof, were at the same time removed, and the simple obligation to give previous notice of posting substituted. the obligation to indicate on the newspapers that a special supplement was enclosed was also withdrawn. in the regulations were further relaxed. special supplements were allowed to be printed at the same office as the newspaper, and charges for the advertisement might be made.[ ] the limit of size was extended to two sheets, at which it remains.[ ] in ( th march) the rate was changed to / pf. for each grammes weight for each supplement. the number of special supplements in was millions. * * * * * iii the rate for parcels parcel post in england the london penny post established by william dockwra in was in some degree a parcel post, but throughout the country no sort of parcel post service existed until the introduction of the regular system in . the weight limit for packets sent by dockwra's post was at first fixed at pound, but it was afterwards extended.[ ] the penny post was employed to such an extent for the transmission of bulky packets and parcels that delivery was retarded, and it was found necessary to reduce the number of such parcels. the privilege of sending parcels even of pound weight was accordingly withdrawn in .[ ] the letter rate charged by the ounce was sufficiently high to restrict effectively the number of packets of large size entrusted to the post.[ ] in their report of on the post office, the select committee on finance recommended a reduced rate for the heavier packets and small parcels, in order to encourage their transmission by post, but the suggestion met with no favour.[ ] for many years afterwards the official view was that it was desirable to confine the post to light packages, and that any increase in the number of heavy packets would disorganize the service, which existed to provide for the expeditious transmission of light letters. its arrangements had been made with this object, and to load it with a large number of heavy packets would be subjecting it to an unfair strain, under which it would inevitably break down.[ ] so long as the delivery of parcels is provided for by foot (or cycle) post, it is impossible to raise indefinitely the limit of weight for individual parcels. the establishment of the book post in was, of course, a step in the direction of a general parcel post. the post office having by this means become the carrier of small parcels containing goods of a certain class, the demand for a post for parcels of any kind of goods was inevitable. in the 'sixties there was considerable agitation for extended parcel post facilities. the familiar argument was advanced that the post office had already an establishment for the collection and delivery of letters in some twelve thousand districts, and that this establishment might be used, to the great advantage of the public, to afford any additional services within its capacity; that, as all the main establishment charges were paid--rent, salaries, etc.--an additional service could be rendered without adding proportionately to the expenses. it was urged also that the sample post rate was too high and was fenced by troublesome regulations; that the book rate was also too high; that there was no reason why the book trade should be favoured; that in respect to the mass of the people the charges were so high as to impose on the transmission of small articles the same sort of prohibition that was placed on the transmission of letters under the old postal system; that a comprehensive system could not be carried out by the railways until the railways would co-operate; that even if the railways did co-operate they had not means at their disposal equal to those of the post office; that a parcel post system was already in operation in several continental countries; and that, in fine, by the establishment of a similar service in this country an immense boon would be conferred on the public. the post office was, however, not favourably disposed towards the idea. it was proposed to meet the agitation to some extent by reducing the rates of postage on the heavier letters, and thus to carry small parcels under the guise of letters. this proposal was not, however, carried through. in the rates for letters of medium weight were reduced, but those on letters above ounces were retained at a height which could only be regarded as prohibitive.[ ] the public agitation in favour of a parcel post service continued; and when in a large number of the railway companies announced that they proposed to convey small parcels over any part of their lines at low uniform rates, attention was called to the fact in the public press, and suggestions made that the post office should co-operate by undertaking the delivery of the parcels. the official view was now somewhat more favourable to the idea. an international parcel post service had been established in in connection with the universal postal union, and this fact had strengthened public opinion in favour of a parcel post service in this country. it was recognized that such a service would afford undoubted advantages to the public, especially in rural districts. it would provide facilities which private enterprise had not seen fit to undertake. it would provide a service reaching to all parts of the country, for which there was no other equally suitable machinery. the post office could not, however, in establishing a parcel post service, act as freely as in its arrangements for the conduct of the letter service. the conveyance of the parcels from place to place was likely to prove a serious undertaking, and for such conveyance the post office was dependent on the railway companies. in the case of letter mails the cost for conveyance is a very minor part of the total expenses of the service, but when negotiations with the railway companies were begun it was soon found that such would not be the case with parcel mails. the companies, regarding the parcel traffic as to a large extent their own proper business,[ ] were not disposed to agree to easy terms, and there was the further difficulty that numerous companies had to be satisfied, since it was desired to establish the system under an agreement which should include all the principal companies.[ ] from the first, the question of the remuneration of the companies was approached from a point of view totally different from that in which their remuneration for the ordinary letter mails was regarded. letter mails are conveyed as entities, and the company have never been concerned with the number of letters enclosed in the mail or the amount of postage paid. they arrange for the conveyance of a given number of mails, and are remunerated accordingly. but with parcels the question was approached as one for the determination of just remuneration of the companies for conveying, not mails containing parcels, but single parcels. and the question to be settled was what proportion of the postage paid on the individual parcels should go to the companies. in view of the heavy expenses of every description which would be incurred and of the large number of heavy letters which would be transferred to the parcel post, causing a considerable reduction of revenue, the post office declined to accept less than half the total receipts, and after some demur the companies agreed. the rates of postage proposed were two in number--for parcels not exceeding pounds in weight, d.; for parcels not exceeding pounds in weight, s. difficulties arose subsequently as to the amount of freedom of action to be left to the postmaster-general and the duration of the agreement. the first proposal was for an agreement in perpetuity, and the draft agreement gave the companies what was called a "partnership interest" in the parcel post business. it was, however, regarded as essential that the parcel post business should be no less under the control of the postmaster-general than the existing letter post, and that, on the expiration of any agreement made with the railway companies, the statutes relating to the conveyance of letter mails by railway should apply to parcel mails. after the failure of the first scheme, negotiations with the railway companies were suspended, but the public agitation for a parcel post was daily gathering strength, and in february the postmaster-general again approached the companies. the new proposals were somewhat different from those originally made. a scale with four rates ( d. for pound, rising to s. for pounds) was now suggested by the post office, largely in deference to the strong disposition of the railway companies in favour of an increased number of rates. the low initial rate of d. for pound was now proposed on the ground that a large proportion of the business to be done would be between the large towns and the rural districts. for the development of such business a low initial rate was essential; and as such parcels would not be likely to be to any large extent railway borne, the post office would obtain almost the whole of the proceeds of the postage. it was, moreover, now taken into reckoning that a considerable increase in the number of letters would result, since numerous communications relative to parcels posted would pass, and the revenue would thus benefit indirectly. the letter service would benefit, too, in other ways: it would be relieved of heavy packages; and the existence of a parcel post service would justify the provision of more efficient services in rural districts. the rates proposed were in general very much higher than those at the time existing in germany, france, switzerland, and belgium, and they were estimated to yield a profit. in the further negotiations serious difficulty was encountered on two points only: ( ) the proportion of postage to be paid to the companies, and ( ) the length of time for which the agreement should be made. the earlier agreement had been for an equal division between the post office and the railway companies of the postage paid on all parcels. it was now decided that payment could only be made in respect of parcels actually conveyed by railway. the companies thereupon asked a higher proportion. they anticipated that parcel post traffic would be largely long-distance traffic, involving in many cases transfers on the journey; and although they expected to retain a good deal of the short-distance traffic, they could only achieve this by reducing their rates generally, especially the rates for small parcels. after some higgling, they agreed under protest to accept per cent. of the postage on all such parcels as should be conveyed by railway. they also agreed to the limitation of the duration of the bargain, and the term was fixed at twenty-one years. the agreement was embodied in the post office (parcels) act of .[ ] the companies parties to the arrangement undertook the service of conveying the post parcels from the vehicles of the postmaster-general at the despatching railway station to the vehicles of the postmaster-general at the station of destination--that is to say, they undertook all handling of parcel mails on railway stations and transfer to and from trains and from train to train where necessary--in consideration of payment of per cent. of the postage paid on all parcels conveyed by railway for the whole or part of their journey, the post office being required to keep a record of the amount of postage paid on every such parcel. the remuneration was to be paid to the railway clearing committee in london, by whom it would be distributed between the various companies. the agreement was to continue for twenty-one years, and thereafter until terminated by either party. the postmaster-general retained the power of revising the rates of postage, but in the event of such revision the companies might claim revision of the terms of their remuneration (even during the first twenty-one years). in any case, on the termination of the agreement, the statutes governing the conditions under which ordinary mails are conveyed by railway, and the determination of the remuneration of railway companies in respect of such conveyance, were to apply equally to the conveyance of parcel mails by railway. the postmaster-general has twice exercised his right of revising the rates of postage, and in each case the rates were lowered. the companies have not exercised their right to ask for a revision of the terms of their remuneration, and the provisions of the act therefore continue in operation. in the first complete year of the service ( - ) the number of parcels conveyed was some millions. the increase in the traffic has been large and constant. in - the total number of parcels exceeded millions. the service affords a great public convenience, and the simplicity of its rates is an undoubted boon. the uniform rate has, however, proved unsatisfactory in some respects. at all points at which the traffic would be profitable, the post office is open to the competition of private enterprise; but for that part of the traffic for which the uniform rate must inevitably be unprofitable (unless it be fixed so high as to be exorbitant for short-distance and average-distance traffic) there will naturally be no competition. the number of local, or short-distance, parcels is consequently small, and the number of parcels sent for long distances, to remote places, is comparatively large. no great use is, however, made of the post for the transmission of parcels of agricultural produce from rural districts. there is a moderate traffic in butter and eggs from ireland to england, and in cream from the west of england. proposals for the introduction of a specially low rate for agricultural products have frequently been considered, but there are obvious objections to the establishment of a special rate for a special class of traffic. moreover, for parcels from country districts the present uniform rate is often ludicrously low. the cost of preparing and packing each separate small consignment for transmission by post is, however, considerable, and only the affluent are able to indulge in that method of obtaining food supplies.[ ] the exceptional character of the post office traffic in parcels, and the small degree in which the rates of charge measure the utility of the service of transportation which they cover, are well illustrated by the statistics of the traffic, which indicate that the total numbers are unaffected by fluctuations in general trade, and that the reductions of the rates which have been made since the establishment of the service have had no appreciable effect on the volume of traffic.[ ] the actual rates for the heavier parcels are probably more profitable than the rates for light parcels, since the principle of degression is not much recognized in the scale of rates. this view is confirmed by the fact that the post is little used for heavy parcels, the average weight of a post parcel being no more than · pounds. it is, as a matter of fact, not improbable that the parcel post service as a whole is conducted at heavy loss.[ ] note.--as a war measure the rates were increased on st november by d. at each step in the scale, and are now as follow:-- parcels not exceeding lb d. exceeding lb., not exceeding lb. d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " s. * * * * * parcel post in the united states of america several causes operated to prevent the early establishment in the united states of a parcel post system. the two factors of extent of territory and sparsity of population, which had from the first so greatly influenced the policy of the government towards the post office, were of much greater importance in regard to a parcel post system. the weight of the individual letter is very small, and as the cost of transportation depends in most cases entirely on weight, the system of uniform rates which had been introduced in england had not been found impossible of adoption in the united states. but with parcels, cost of transportation is an appreciable item for every parcel, and in a country of vast distances there must be an appreciable variation in the actual cost for each parcel. consequently, any uniform rate which would render the service self-supporting must be measurably above the rate which would suffice for local and short-distance traffic, and measurably below the rate which would be necessary for long-distance traffic. private agencies would therefore cut such a rate and absorb all the short-distance traffic, while the long-distance traffic would be left to the post office, and would be carried at a loss. this had been found to be the case with second-class matter, where weight is an important factor, and also with the fourth-class matter. the establishment of a parcel post system, therefore, would involve a reconsideration of the fundamental principles on which the rates of postage were in general based. the creation, in , of a third class of miscellaneous mail matter[ ] was virtually the establishment of a limited parcel post. the rate, for third-class matter, cents for each ounces or fraction thereof, was increased in to cent an ounce. these rates were comparatively high; and as the limit of weight was pounds, the traffic naturally never assumed large proportions. with the establishment in of an international parcel post in which the united states participated, although having no real internal parcel post, it was inevitable that the question of establishing a system equal in scope to those of other countries should arise. for forty years there was a demand, becoming more general and insistent, for the establishment of such a general parcel post. active official support was first given to the proposals for a parcel post in and by postmaster-general wanamaker, who explained that although the demand for such a system was widespread, the greatest pressure came from "interior places," which were, in fact, really most in need of it, because they had no facilities for obtaining small packages of merchandise from the towns.[ ] opposition to any sort of parcel post came then, as always, from the express companies, who, although not able or not desirous of affording a service to all parts, were much concerned at the prospect of losing traffic. mr. wanamaker proposed to propitiate them by transferring to them a considerable amount of traffic deemed by him to belong properly to the express companies, viz., traffic carried by the post office for the other executive departments free of charge, under "penalty frank,"[ ] and comprising many packages of considerable weight and bulk. mr. wanamaker also desired to put a stop to the transmission, as second-class matter, of periodicals which were really ordinary books, by transferring such traffic to the express companies. although in favour of a full parcel post system, and recognizing that there was a strong desire in the country for the boon, mr. wanamaker was not prepared to advocate its immediate establishment. he thought other reforms should take precedence; such as free-delivery extension, postal telegraph, postal telephone, and cent postage on land and sea, all of which, except the extension of free delivery, are still waiting adoption. a number of postmasters criticized the suggestions of the postmaster-general in regarding parcel post, but most of them had, by , expressed themselves in favour of a full parcel post system, and according to mr. wanamaker the remainder were "probably interested express agents." the situation was in some respects unsatisfactory. it was a common practice for business firms to contract with express companies to carry large quantities of small packages at a rate per package just below the rate of postage. the express companies took such of the packages as they thought fit to handle, and left the post office to carry the remainder, all long-distance traffic, and unprofitable both to the express companies and to the post office. but the companies were secured by their profit in the short distances. naturally, therefore, they offered strenuous opposition to the establishment of a parcel post.[ ] with the establishment of rural mail delivery there arose a new demand for a parcel post. persons living on the rural routes desired to take advantage of the new service for the delivery of small parcels of merchandise of all kinds, food-stuffs, tobacco, dry goods, etc., which they would order from the local store-keeper by post or by telephone. the rate then payable on such parcels was the general rate for fourth-class matter, viz. cents a pound, which for parcels of goods of small intrinsic value was prohibitive. in response to this demand, the first definite proposals for a parcel post[ ] were put forward by the department in , when the establishment of a special rate of cents a pound was suggested, with a maximum limit of weight of pounds, for parcels from any distributing office for rural routes to any patron on the routes from that office. such a rate "would be a great convenience to the patrons and become a source of revenue to the department." the rate of cents was estimated to be ample remuneration in such cases, because there would be no expense for railway transportation, and as it would be merely employing a system already established, there would be no additional expense for delivery: the rural carriers could easily perform the service.[ ] they had at first been allowed to carry express packages, but the privilege had been subsequently withdrawn. they were, however, still authorized by law to carry merchandise for hire, on behalf of patrons of the rural routes, and to carry passengers. in general, their work for the post office only employed them to the extent of percent, of their full capacity, and a large unutilized margin therefore existed. the proposal was again advanced in following years. postmaster-general meyer interested himself in the question, and advocated in speeches in various parts of the country the immediate adoption of a parcel post system. in he suggested the introduction of a local parcel post service experimentally. he made at this time numerous treaties with foreign countries for parcel post services between those countries and the united states, at a general rate of cents a pound. the result was that parcels could be posted at any town in the united states for transmission to places in, say, europe or australia, at the rate of cents a pound, but could only be posted for transmission to another town in the united states on payment of a rate of cents a pound. when this situation was realized, there was naturally a good deal of irritation, and the existence of such an anomaly was made an argument for a domestic service.[ ] the preferential rate obtained by parcels going abroad continued to be a strong argument in favour of a general parcel post, and members of congress constantly referred to it in the discussions on the subject. there was, moreover, and still is, an important body of opinion which goes much further than the advocacy of a parcel post system. in that view, the express companies are the enemy or, at any rate, the oppressive character of the express rates is viewed so seriously that no solution of the present difficulties of the country, and especially of the "high cost of living" problem, is thought possible short of a complete express service run by the general government. relief will only be found under some system which will bring the producer of the necessaries of life into direct relationship with the consumer,[ ] in order that the enormous middleman's charges be eliminated and the consumer obtain the produce at a price not greatly above the actual cost of production. the railways refuse to handle shipments less than pounds, and their minimum charge is cents. the ordinary consumer who requires consignments of much less than pounds' weight has no use for such a service. for shipments of less weight, the only service available is the express service, the minimum rate for which, in general cents, is too great for farm products, which are usually of low value and could not bear a rate of cents. the express service, which is restricted to the railway system, has, moreover, no means of reaching that vast body of the people, estimated at some , , , who are living on the farms, and who alone are able to supply the desired traffic in food-stuffs. the government has in recent years, at heavy expense, extended to some millions of people the benefits of free mail delivery, and the intention of the advocates of a government express service, a "postal express," is that the state should take over the express companies, paying them fair compensation for their property, and work their service in conjunction with the rural mail delivery. by this means an extensive service could be provided at reasonable rates of charge.[ ] in february bills were introduced in the senate to increase the limit of weight of fourth-class matter, and to provide a rural delivery parcel post for merchandise and other articles mailed on rural delivery routes. legislation did not, however, result. meantime, the feeling in favour of a parcel post was spreading, more especially in the farming districts. in november a sub-committee of the senate committee on post offices and post roads was appointed to examine the practicability of establishing a parcel post system. the sub-committee was appointed on a resolution of the senate, moved by senator jonathan bourne, jr., the chairman of the senate committee on post offices and post roads, and there is indication that the adoption of the system had already been practically decided upon, the real question before the sub-committee being that of its practicability as an immediate proposition. the post office representatives advocated a limited experimental introduction of parcel post on rural routes and in the city delivery offices. they were impressed with the radical differences between the united states and most other countries where parcel post was in operation, and hesitated to recommend the introduction of a general service. but the members of the sub-committee had in mind to introduce as soon as practicable a complete system by the method of enlarging the scope of the fourth-class regulations and reducing the rates of postage. numerous witnesses appeared before the sub-committee, representing general societies of business men, such as the national dairy union, the associated retailers of st. louis, me., and the retail dry goods association of new york; educational or social societies, such as the american library association, the postal progress league, and the knights of labour; farmers' societies, such as the state granges and the farmers' educational and co-operative union of america. several farmers, lawyers, and other gentlemen appeared to give their own personal views. the chief opposition to the parcel-post came from the representatives of the retailers, who stand in constant fear of losing their business to the mail-order or catalogue houses. the business of these houses is very large, amounting in the aggregate to nearly $ , , per annum, and there is perhaps some reason for the local merchants' apprehensions. the bulk of the mail-order traffic is, however, distributed as freight. but the country merchants were much alarmed, and there were doleful prophecies of the results of a parcel post. the local merchant was represented as the mainstay of the country-side. he it was who sustained the country town, which afforded so valuable a local market for the farmer. he it was to whom alone that same farmer could look for credit to tide him over bad times. he it was who made the country town a social centre where the farmer might come into touch with civilization and refinement. and on the continuance of the prosperity of the country merchant depended the continuance of the army of travelling salesmen, without whose patronage railroads would be driven to reduce the number of trains, hotels would go out of business, and throughout the country accommodation for travellers would be found extremely poor. in short, parcel post would reduce the country merchant to the same condition as the small shopkeeper in europe; and the country towns would become mere hamlets and deserted villages.[ ] the parcel post was, of course, as likely in to prove a blow to the express companies as in the earlier years when they had so strongly resisted any proposal for its introduction. in face, however, of the strong and widespread movement in the country in its favour, they realized that they would be unable always successfully to resist its establishment, and no open opposition to the proposals of was encountered from them. they did not appear before the senate sub-committee. the sub-committee saw no insuperable difficulty in the way of introducing a general system at once. moreover, they were impressed by the fact that a parcel post system was in operation in most other countries of the world, even in australia, a country slightly larger in area than the united states and much more sparsely populated, where the two factors which so radically distinguished the united states from most other countries in which a parcel post had been established were met with in even greater degree. when the questions of the desirability and practicability of establishing a system had been decided, there still remained the difficult and important question of the scheme of rates of charge on which the system should be based. some of the witnesses before the sub-committee advocated a uniform rate, representing that a graduated rate was undesirable and would be unacceptable, as giving a special privilege to certain sections of the people. a more general opinion was that a flat rate would be unsound economically. with such a rate, the express companies would step in and take all the profitable traffic; and it would, moreover, be necessary to fix the rate so high as to render it prohibitive for goods of low value and for the purpose of moving traffic on the rural routes. in a country of vast extent the actual cost to the government for the transportation of parcels of the same weight would differ widely in proportion to the distance for which they were conveyed in the mails, and the differences would be sufficiently great to render it easily possible to graduate a scale of postage approximately in accordance with the distance and the actual cost. the department estimated the cost of transportation for mail matter to be · cents for each miles, and taking this as a basis, differential rates in respect of transportation were arrived at for a series of zones. the charge for handling, i.e. for collection, delivery, administrative and all other incidental services, was calculated as an altogether separate item. the sub-committee had the evidence of mr. john l. newbold, a gentleman of long experience in a transport business which dealt mainly with small parcels for delivery within the limits of the city of washington, and was therefore in a high degree comparable to delivery service which would be performed by the post office in respect of parcels. mr. newbold offered to contract with the government to handle all post parcels for delivery within the city of washington at cents a parcel, with a limit of weight of pounds. estimates by similar delivery companies in new york city indicated the cost to them of packages up to pounds, which was a little over cents per package. the department's estimate of the handling cost of fourth-class matter showed a cost of a fraction under cents for the first pound, with an approximate increase of per cent. for each additional pound. these data furnished a basis for calculating rates of postage, when the limitation of the zones had been determined, a matter of some little difficulty. the first, and most obvious, suggestion was that the zones should be reckoned as from each post office, but in view of the fact that there were some , post offices in the united states, grave practical difficulties would arise with a scheme providing for special rates from each post office. it was then thought the state might be adopted as the unit of area, but the states differ so widely in area that such a system would have resulted inequitably, giving equal postage charges for very unequal services. a citizen in texas or new york state, for example, would be able to send his parcel many times as far as a citizen of massachusetts or delaware. the same objection applied, though not in so great degree, to the county as a unit of area. moreover, these units would be liable to arbitrary change. failing the discovery of any satisfactory unit based on the political divisions, recourse was had to purely theoretical divisions, based on the imaginary lines of latitude and longitude. the actual degree parallels were rejected as the limits of the units of area because, within the quadrangle formed by them, there would be a maximum zone distance of some miles; while at the same time, for transmission between two places perhaps only two miles apart but lying on different sides of the line, postage would be chargeable as for the second zone. this difficulty was overcome by an ingenious suggestion, which emanated from the department, to divide the degree quadrangles in four, that is, into squares of minutes dimension, and to allow the sending of parcels at the first zone rate from or to places in every contiguous quadrangle. under this method, which was adopted, the united states is divided into , units of area, which are definite, never-changing, and practically uniform in size, the slight difference in area depending on the distance from the equator being negligible. each unit is given an index number, and all post offices in the unit have the same index number. each unit has its own zone limits, which apply equally to every office in the unit. so that in order to discover for what zone postage is to be charged between two places, it is only necessary to ascertain what are the zone limits for the units of area in which the places are respectively situated. a simple reference to a guide showing in what unit of area the post office of destination falls, and a consultation of the zone map of the office at which the packet is posted, that is, a map showing the boundaries of each zone measured from the unit of area in which the office is situated as centre, gives in a very short space of time the rate applicable to the parcel. a simplification of rates and regulations is always attended by a diminution of the difficulties of administration, by economy of actual working, and by convenience to the public. in connection with the proposed parcel post the department, with these objects in view, suggested the abolition of the separate class for printed matter, and its amalgamation with the parcel post matter, thus reducing the number of classes of mail matter to three. the chairman of the senate sub-committee adopted this suggestion, and embodied it in the bill which he prepared and introduced in the senate on the th may , retaining, however, a rate of cent per ounce up to ounces, in order to provide for circular matter which, under the third-class rate, passed at cent for ounces. this was apparently a doubling of the rate, but as the average weight of circulars is under ounce, in actual practice the great bulk of them would continue to pass at cent. this provision would, however, raise the rate on all catalogues and circulars weighing more than ounce; and although per cent. of the number of pieces of third-class matter actually posted are under ounces in weight and would have fallen under the proposed special rate, and per cent. are under ounce in weight and would have passed for the same amount as under the existing third-class rate, viz. cent, this provision of the bill was strenuously opposed by printers and catalogue houses. not regarding the consolidation of the two classes as in any way essential to the establishment of a parcel post system, the senate committee on post offices and post roads, when they came to consider the bill, decided to eliminate that feature. in general this bill represented the conclusions of the sub-committee, and, apart from the foregoing change, was substantially accepted by the senate committee. the only other amendments made were an increase of the number of zones from six to eight, with the view of "protecting the local merchant in the field of his business," and a slight raising of the rates for the shorter distances, partly from a fear that the rates proposed in the bill would not be self-sustaining, and partly from a desire further to protect the local retail merchant against the catalogue houses. the essential provisions of the bill, as thus amended, were embodied in the post office appropriation bill for the fiscal year , were accepted by congress, and became law on the th august . the actual zones and rates fixed were as follows:-- first zone: all territory within quadrangle or unit of area and every contiguous quadrangle. second zone: all units of area outside the first zone within a radius of, approximately, miles from the centre of a given unit of area. third zone: the same within a radius of, approximately, miles. fourth zone: the same within a radius of, approximately, miles. fifth zone: the same within a radius of, approximately, , miles. sixth zone: the same within a radius of, approximately, , miles. seventh zone: the same within a radius of, approximately, , miles. eighth zone: all units of area outside the seventh zone. the rates were:-- on rural route: cents for the first pound or fraction of a pound, and cent for each additional pound or fraction of a pound. each additional first pound. pound. first zone cents. cents. second zone " " third zone " " fourth zone " " fifth zone " " sixth zone " " seventh zone " " eighth zone " " although, of course, with the body of the people the main arguments had been the ordinary contentions of the advantage of such a system as providing a most convenient facility for persons in all parts of the states, and especially in the rural districts, whereby they would be able by the utilization of existing machinery to have articles of all descriptions brought to their doors, yet in congress the argument was largely based on the possibility of finding in the parcel post a means of reducing the "high cost of living," a problem which is giving much anxiety to politicians in america. by means of the parcel post, producer and consumer are to be brought into direct relations the one with the other. all middlemen and their profits will be eliminated, and either the producer will get more for his products or the consumer will pay less--which of these will happen does not appear: probably in some degree both are hoped for. the experience of england may not be any indication of what will happen in america. but it is certain that in england the produce sent direct from farm to consumer, whether eggs, butter, or poultry, is not obtained by the consumer at less cost than he could buy it in his own town. there is an advantage, but it rests solely in quality. the products obtained from the farm are more fresh, are probably better altogether, but the price is not less. in england these considerations have been sufficient to prevent the wholesale use of the parcel post for food-stuffs. it is, in fact, in general used for such traffic only by those people to whom a little extra expense is not an object of consideration. the conditions in america seem, however, to be substantially different from those in this country, and a large development of parcel post business of this character is anticipated.[ ] on the th august the limit of weight was increased to pounds in the local, first, and second zones; and on st january the limit in local, first, and second zones was further increased to pounds, and in the remainder of the zones to pounds. on the th march books and printed matter were admitted to the fourth class, or parcel post, with a rate of postage of cent for each ounces up to ounces, the ordinary parcel post pound rates to apply to packets exceeding ounces in weight. the service, as a whole, has been enormously successful. it is estimated that in the second year the post office was handling parcels at the rate of , , annually, a figure which may be compared to its advantage with that for the united kingdom. in the united kingdom the annual number of parcels posted is some , , , say three per head of the total population as compared with eight per head in the new service in the united states. * * * * * parcel post in france the conveyance of parcels of merchandise, which had been undertaken by the early posts in france, was abandoned to private enterprise in .[ ] when, therefore, proposals were made for the establishment of an international parcel post service, france was without an internal service of the kind. she became, nevertheless, a party to the convention of , which established an international service,[ ] availing herself of the privilege reserved to those countries without an inland parcel post service, of arranging for their obligations under the terms of the convention to be assumed by railway and steamship companies. a contract was concluded with the administration of the state railways, the six great railway companies, and the shipping companies in receipt of subsidies for the conveyance of mails, under which those bodies undertook to conduct a service on behalf of the postal administration in accordance with the provisions of the convention. they were to receive in its entirety the prescribed territorial transit rate of centimes on every parcel, but not the surtax of centimes.[ ] the payment of centimes per parcel was to be divided by the companies among themselves if the parcel was conveyed by more than one party, and constituted the full remuneration for the entire service performed, including the customs formalities. the contracting companies were required to print at their own cost a list of places served, and to keep the list available for reference by members of the public. the establishment of an international service of this kind necessitated the provision of facilities for the transmission of ordinary inland parcels within france.[ ] the companies were accordingly required to undertake also the transportation of inland parcels upon their railways and the delivery of inland parcels in localities adjoining their lines under the same conditions and for the same remuneration as in the case of parcels in the international service. a difficulty existed in the fact that small parcel traffic (_l'envois par messagerie_) was subject to special taxation.[ ] these taxes frequently exceeded the charge for transmission, and in some cases the value of the parcel itself. in order to encourage the use of the service, these taxes were reduced or modified by a series of laws at a sacrifice of revenue exceeding two and a half million francs a year. the service, which was established on the st may , did not include the whole of france, but extended only to localities served by the state railways, the six contracting companies, and certain subsidiary companies which contracted for the business with the larger companies. the maximum limit of weight was fixed at kilogrammes, and the rates of postage were centimes for parcels transported from railway station to railway station, and centimes for parcels delivered at the residence of the addressee. the service became immediately popular, the number of parcels posted during being at the rate of over half a million a month. soon after its establishment the service was extended to the smaller subsidiary lines, and to districts not served by railway. the latter extension, which it was not found easy to arrange, was provided for by introducing into the contracts for the conveyance of the ordinary mails in those districts a clause empowering the administration to require the contractor to convey post parcels for a remuneration of centimes per parcel--the amount to be increased to centimes for parcels delivered at residence. the lisbon congress ( ) raised the limit of weight in the international service from kilogrammes to kilogrammes, but a corresponding increase was not made in the internal french service until . the maximum limit of weight was raised to kilogrammes in , and the following rates of postage are now in operation:-- ---------------------------------------------------------- weight. | delivered at | delivered at | railway station. | residence or | | poste restante. --------------------+------------------+------------------ | fr. | fr. not exceeding kg. | · | · - kg. | · | · - kg. | · | · [ ] --------------------+------------------+------------------ cumbersome parcels are charged rates per cent. greater than the ordinary rates.[ ] parcels redirected or returned to sender are subject to an additional rate of postage, and to a tax (_droit de timbre_) of centimes.[ ] parcels for despatch are accepted only at the railway stations or offices of the companies or by their agents. they are delivered at the stations of the companies or at their offices in towns or at the offices of their agents, to be called for, or they are delivered at residence; but the latter service is undertaken only when a delivery service organized by the companies, or their agents, for their own purposes already exists. parcels are accepted for localities not served directly by the contracting companies, but such parcels are conveyed only to the point served by railway nearest to the place of destination. it is left to the public to provide for their further transmission. in the case of parcels delivered only at the railway station, an advice of delivery is sent to the addressee by the company or their agents within twenty-four hours of the receipt of the parcel. this advice is sent by post, and the postage, centimes, is recovered from the addressee. if parcels are not called for within eight days, the sender is asked to give instructions regarding their disposal. the control of the service in districts served by railway rests entirely in the hands of the railway companies. the postal administration takes no part directly in its management, but co-operates with the companies by affording certain small facilities in regard to parcels. for example, on payment of the usual delivery fee of centimes a parcel may be delivered from the railway station to the local post office, where it will be retained in the poste restante. in districts not reached by the railway or their agents, the management of the service falls on the postal administration. the service in such districts is, however, far from complete. there are in france some , communes, but the parcel post service extends only to some , railway stations, and only at about one-half of these can parcels be delivered at the residence of the addressee.[ ] to a limited extent a service is given in certain localities not directly served by railway. in these cases, which are arranged only with the concurrence of the companies, the service is conducted by the ordinary road carriers.[ ] the extension of the service in the rural districts is one of the problems which face the postal administration.[ ] a local parcel post service was established in paris in by arrangement with the compagnie des messageries nationales, but it did not prove profitable, and was discontinued in . a new service was set up in . the contractor is required to make two deliveries on week-days and one on sundays and feast days (_les jours fériés_), and to maintain an office in each arrondissement. the system has, however, developed. three daily deliveries are now given, and nearly offices have been opened. the rate of postage is centimes for parcels not exceeding kilogrammes, and centimes for parcels between and kilogrammes. the total number of inland parcels posted during the year - was about millions. * * * * * parcel post in germany in the days of the horse-posts it was obviously undesirable to burden the mails with weighty packages, and the transmission of parcels by post was from the first discouraged in germany, although not forbidden. parcels were charged as letters by the half-ounce, a sufficiently high rate to prevent the use of the posts for their transmission to any inconvenient degree. the first imperial posts did not, indeed, undertake the transmission of parcels. the business was left to private enterprise, and was conducted by the _boten-anstalten_. the posts themselves were, however, made use of for the transmission of parcels of merchandise for private individuals at least as far back as the thirty years' war. owing to the dislocation of industry and commerce during that war and the high rates of postage charged, the number of parcels was extremely small, and their transmission was confined to limited areas.[ ] as early as the messengers were allowed to carry parcels so long as their travelling was not thereby impeded,[ ] and in a regular parcel service was in operation between basel and zurich, schaffhausen, lindau, and ulm. in the great elector ordered that no parcels should thenceforward be carried by the posts free of postage. this may perhaps be taken as the origin of a recognized parcel post service in prussia.[ ] the rates charged were at first based on the numerous diverse circumstances which governed the early letter rates. they were increased in the event of any rise in the price of provender, and varied according to the mode of transmission and according as the parcels were sent by day or night, in fine weather or in bad weather.[ ] in some cases the rate was varied according to the nature of the contents of the parcels. in a tariff, under which the rates were regulated according to the distance and without reference to the mode of transmission, was established between certain offices in prussia, and in this tariff was extended generally. the rate from magdeburg to stendal was groschen per pound, to leipzig groschen per pound, and to berlin groschen per pound. in the summer and winter rates were abolished in prussia. the rate for ordinary parcels from berlin to hamburg was groschen per pound, from berlin to magdeburg pf. per pound, from berlin to frankfort pf. per pound, from berlin to leipzig groschen per pound, etc. for provisions the rates were reduced by one-half, and for fancy goods the rates were doubled, a method of charge which gave rise to many practical difficulties. in saxony, by an ordinance of the th july , parcels were divided into four classes, as follows:-- . packets of documents (_akten-pakete_). the letter rate was applied to these in the following manner:-- - pound parcels were charged as - / ounces - " " " " " " - " " " " " " . money and fancy goods-- for the value of - miles thaler current groschen - " " " " - " " " " and so on up to miles. (note.--_distances are given in german miles throughout._) . commercial goods-- -------+----------------------------------------------------------- | miles. +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- weight.| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | | | | | | | | | | +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- pounds.| gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | gr. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- the weight was calculated for each pound up to pounds, then for pounds and . for parcels weighing more than pounds the rate increased for each pounds. . valuable goods, e.g. gold, silver, cloth of gold, brocade, were charged double the rate for commercial goods. in a parcel rate was established in brunswick and lüneburg, based simply on weight and distance, without reference to the nature of the contents.[ ] the prussian rates of continued in force until , when a general revision of postal rates was necessitated by the financial difficulties resulting from the outbreak of the seven years' war. the rates for ordinary commercial transport in prussia rose to such a degree that the post, still working on rates fixed in , became the cheapest means of transport. consequently the parcel post traffic increased, but it was found that the expenses of the service were not covered by the revenue derived from the parcels. the rates were accordingly increased on the simple plan of raising them all by per cent. (except in ostfriesland, where the increase was per cent.). a further revision of the rates was made in . apart from the fact that the rates were further increased, this revision was in many respects beneficial, since it introduced a uniform and definite rate for the whole country.[ ] in the rates of were restored. up to this time the rates had been based partly on the actual length of the post routes, partly on the time occupied by the post-messengers in traversing the routes. they therefore varied according as the roads were good or bad.[ ] in a mathematical measurement of the roads of prussia was made, and thereafter the time factor was eliminated and the rates based on distance only. the distance was measured, not in a direct line, but by way of the post routes. the events of the napoleonic period resulted in a great increase of prices in prussia, and in order to meet the additional expense of conducting the posts, the rates were increased by per cent. between and , but the general basis of charge remained unchanged. in important modifications were introduced. the discrimination according to the nature of contents of parcels was abolished, and the rates were based solely on considerations of weight and distance of transmission. further, the distance between post offices was no longer to be reckoned according to the distance by way of the post routes, but according to the direct distance.[ ] the general parcel rate was fixed at pf. per pound for each miles, with a minimum charge of twice letter rate for parcels not exceeding pounds in weight, and three times letter rate for parcels weighing more than pounds. in the case of several parcels directed to the same place, the postage was reckoned according to the total weight. the postmaster-general was authorized to increase the rates in the event of a rise in the cost of forage.[ ] a special rate, in addition to ordinary postage, was also introduced in respect of parcels directed to or sent from offices for which no normal rate had been fixed. in a reduction of postage by per cent. was authorized where the total yearly weight of parcels was between , and , pounds, and of per cent. where the total yearly weight exceeded , pounds. this reduction was, however, abolished in . with the introduction of railways and the transformation of the transportation industry which ensued, the rates of were found to be too high. in they were accordingly reduced by one-half, experimentally, but only in respect of parcels sent on certain railway routes. in this reduction was extended to all railway routes,[ ] and in the rate for parcels not conveyed exclusively on railway routes was reduced to pf. per pound for each miles. the distinction was, however, found inconvenient and was removed in .[ ] a general rate of - / pf. per pound for every miles was then established, with a minimum postage of twice letter rate, and a provision that odd ounces, which had previously been ignored, should be charged as a full pound, and that when several parcels were directed to the same address the postage must be reckoned for each parcel singly. under the german-austrian postal union, established in , it was at first arranged that separate parcel rates should be charged by each administration to and from the frontier, according to its own inland rates. later the rate was fixed at pf. per pound for each miles, to be charged by each administration concerned in the transmission. in one definite parcel rate was established for the whole territory of the union, graduated according to direct distance, viz. pf. per pound for each miles, with minima of from - / to sgr. the whole revenue from parcels was credited to a common fund and divided according to certain percentages. a new parcel rate, based on weight and distance only, was established at the founding of the north german union in . the method of calculating the distance of transmission for the purpose of determining the postage charge was also modified. the then existing arrangement in prussia, based on the regulations of , provided that the rate should in all cases be reckoned according to the actual distance between the post offices concerned. under this method, when a new post office was established, a parcel rate for every other post office must be calculated, causing much labour and wasting much time. this method was now abandoned. the whole territory of the north german union was divided into imaginary squares, with sides miles in length, the points of intersection of the diagonals being taken as the centres from which all distances were calculated.[ ] the rates between any offices in two different squares were made identical. such a method rendered unnecessary the calculation of a special rate of postage for every post office, and also rendered unnecessary any fresh calculations of rates in respect of any new post offices. the progression of distances was by stages of miles up to miles, of miles from to miles, and of miles thereafter, the increase in the length of the steps being justified on the ground that the cost of transportation does not increase in direct proportion to the distance.[ ] the rate was pf. per pound for each step in the scale of distances. the rate of was applied to the imperial post office by the law of th october . this tariff, with its comparatively small progressions of distances, was found inconvenient, especially with the large growth of the traffic. the rates had, moreover, been found too high for small parcels sent over long distances. in point of fact, by far the greater part of parcels under the weight of kilogrammes were less than - / kilogrammes in weight. new parcel rates were accordingly introduced on the st january .[ ] for all parcels not exceeding kilogrammes in weight, uniform rates were established, on the ground that an increase of postage according to the distance of transmission was unjustifiable in the case of light parcels.[ ] for the first miles the rate was pf., and for all other distances pf. a zone tariff based on six zones of distance was established for parcels of greater weight than kilogrammes. for the first kilogrammes such parcels were charged the uniform rate applicable to parcels not exceeding kilogrammes in weight, and the following table shows the charges for the weight exceeding kilogrammes:-- distance. for each kg. after the first kg. zone i not exceeding miles / sgr. ( pf.) " ii from - miles " " iii " - " " " iv " - " " " v " - " " " vi over " " for cumbrous and unwieldy parcels an additional charge not exceeding per cent. of the ordinary postage might be made. with the increase of traffic it was found impossible to forward all the parcels by the postal trains, and the post office was only permitted to send a limited quantity of parcels by the ordinary express trains.[ ] in it was arranged that parcels which must be delivered without delay--e.g. those containing fish or flowers--should be forwarded by express train on payment of a special fee of mark each. in this additional fee was made applicable to all urgent parcels, whatever the contents. the tariff of has proved too high both for heavy and for very light parcels, and some curious anomalies result from the combination of zone rates and uniform rates. a parcel of kilogrammes sent for any distance greater than miles costs pf. eight parcels of kilogrammes each could, therefore, for marks be sent for any distance; but if made up into one parcel of kilogrammes the postage would be marks for places in the third zone ( to miles), and for places in the sixth zone (over miles) no less than marks.[ ] it is therefore to the advantage of the public to divide a heavy parcel, though such a proceeding obviously increases the cost to the administration of its handling and transmission. the despatch of heavy parcels by post is naturally discouraged, and the proportion of such parcels is decreasing.[ ] of the total number of parcels sent by post in , more than per cent. were less than kilogrammes in weight, and the number of greater weight than kilogrammes formed less than per cent. the average amount of postage per parcel on parcels falling in zones iii, iv, v, and vi is not appreciably greater than that on parcels falling in zone ii.[ ] the number of heavy parcels in the higher zones is, therefore, negligible,[ ] and is least in the highest zones.[ ] in the case of very light parcels also the rate is excessive. the number of parcels under kilogramme in weight, which in formed about per cent. of the total, fell in to . per cent., in to . per cent., and in to . per cent.[ ] similarly the rates for the longer distances are too high generally, and the number of parcels falling under the higher zone rates is extremely small. in , . per cent. of the total number of parcels were delivered within the first zone, and per cent. within the first three zones, those in the sixth zone forming only . per cent.[ ] notwithstanding these defects in the scheme of rates, the total number of parcels has largely increased,[ ] and the cheapness of many of the rates has led to the development of a traffic in certain food-stuffs, and has encouraged numerous localized industries.[ ] in view of the small number of heavy parcels it has been suggested that the post should be restricted to parcels not exceeding kilogrammes in weight, parcels of greater weight being left to the railways.[ ] this would result in the exclusion of about per cent. only of the parcels. the proposal is, however, objected to on the ground that the postal service for such parcels ought not to be withdrawn unless the railways can afford as punctual, speedy, and cheap a service as the post office;[ ] an argument which is sound only if the present rate is profitable to the post office (which is doubtful), or otherwise so long as it is assumed that the post office ought to continue the present service for the public advantage, regardless of considerations of cost and revenue. to meet the difficulty with light parcels a lower rate has been proposed for parcels under kilogramme in weight, but a further modification in favour of parcels between kilogramme and kilogrammes in weight is deprecated as involving an undesirable complication of the uniform rates.[ ] the parcel post business is conducted as part of the general post office business, and consequently it is not possible to eliminate from the general expenses of the whole service the expenses incurred in dealing with parcels. it cannot be said, therefore, whether either the light parcels or the heavy parcels, the short-distance parcels or the long-distance parcels, are or are not profitable to the administration, or, indeed, whether the parcel post service as a whole is a remunerative service or otherwise; but german writers on the subject hold the opinion that the cost of the service exceeds the revenue derived from it.[ ] * * * * * iv minor rates (i) book post united kingdom in sir rowland hill proposed the provision of special facilities for the transmission by post in the united kingdom of books and other printed matter. he thought such a concession expedient as a matter of policy, especially in view of the "state of the public mind on the important subject of education." a low rate of postage would facilitate the transmission of scientific and literary reports and other documents "tending to the extension and diffusion of knowledge," and would be highly prized by the literary and scientific societies, which were a feature of those days. private families, especially the rural clergy, would also in that way be enabled to obtain valuable publications otherwise, to them, unattainable. sir rowland hill recognized that there were objections to the granting of a special rate for a special class of matter; but he argued that, in effect, the proposal was nothing more than an extended application of an existing principle, applied to newspapers and parliamentary proceedings, and (in regard to certain places abroad) ordinary periodical publications.[ ] the rate proposed was d. per pound, which was virtually the rate charged on newspapers, with this difference to its advantage, that, whereas d. paid on newspapers would represent six packets to be dealt with separately, d. paid under the proposed book post rates would be in respect of one packet only. the high minimum charge of d. was proposed as a security against fraud: with such a minimum there would be no temptation to send a packet as a cover for a written communication. as a measure of economy it was proposed to send the packets by the day mails as far as possible, by this means avoiding loading heavily the important night mail trains and adding to their cost; and it was anticipated that the rates proposed would yield some profit to the revenue. objection was raised on the ground that the post ought to be confined to small packets as far as possible, and should convey large letters and packets only when necessity was urgent: heavy packets would impede the work of the post office, and would cause inconvenience in many ways, especially as regards foot-messengers;[ ] but, as it was not thought likely that any very great number of book packets would be posted, the objection was not upheld, and the cheaper rate was introduced. at first various restrictions were imposed, and considerable public dissatisfaction resulted, especially in regard to certain of the regulations. these regulations were consequently relaxed in so as to allow practically any printed matter to pass at the book rate. in the rate was reduced,[ ] and in circulars were admitted at the privileged rate. as a result of this the number of book packets increased rapidly. in the total number was , , ; in the number increased to , , ; and in reached , , . in the rates for heavier packets were further reduced. the rate for packets over ounces in weight became d. for each ounces, instead of d. for each ounces. in , when the / d. rate for newspapers and for postcards was established,[ ] an important change in the book post was made. as the result of pressure from the public and a vote in the house of commons in favour of a reduction, carried against the wishes and recommendation of the government,[ ] the rate on book packets was reduced to / d. for every ounces. since the regulations governing admission to the book post have been modified from time to time, chiefly in the direction of enabling the formal documents of commerce to pass at the reduced rate. all documents admitted to the privilege must conform to certain requirements, and it is obvious that all such documents must be open to inspection by the post office. it is therefore an indispensable requirement that the documents be sent in open covers. thus arises that curious distinction between the "closed" post and the "open" post, a lower rate of postage being given to packets containing articles or documents of a certain description, on condition that the contents are open to inspection by the postal authorities. in the ordinary letter rate was made d. for the first ounces, and / d. for each additional ounces. the book post, therefore, disappeared, except as regards packets not exceeding ounces in weight; and in its name was changed to the "halfpenny packet post." it is available for practically all the formal documents of commerce, and, in addition, many other packets of miscellaneous character, and remains a most important branch of post office traffic.[ ] in - the number of halfpenny packets (excluding postcards) was no less than , millions, or about one-fifth of the total number of packets passing by post in the united kingdom. when on the st november the postage on letters over ounce in weight was increased, the book post was re-established as it had existed prior to , except for unimportant modifications of the regulations. it had been proposed to abolish altogether the / d. rate of postage,[ ] but in view of strong representations from the printing trade, and of the hostility of the general public, this proposal was abandoned. * * * * * france particulars of the earlier rates of postage charged on printed matter in france cannot now be ascertained, but they appear always to have been lower than the rates for letters. before the revolution an octavo book could be sent for any distance for sous, and the postage on circulars was less than a centime.[ ] by the decrees of - august , a rate for daily newspapers of deniers the sheet was established, and a rate of deniers the sheet for other newspapers and for periodical publications. during the succeeding years the rates were modified a number of times. in the following rates were established:-- centimes the sheet for newspapers; centimes the sheet for unbound books, catalogues, and prospectuses.[ ] a distinction was always made between ordinary printed matter and periodical publications. in the size of the sheet which was the basis of the charge was fixed at square decimetres. the system of charge by weight was applied to printed matter in , with the following rates:-- centime for each grammes up to grammes centimes from to grammes centime for each grammes beyond grammes. these rates were increased by some per cent. in . after the establishment of the universal postal union the rates in the internal service were in some cases higher than those in the international service, and it became advantageous to commercial men to post their packets abroad. the french administration were then required under the international convention to distribute them in france without receiving any postage.[ ] this anomalous situation was put an end to in , when the following rates were established:-- when sent under band-- centime for each grammes up to grammes centimes from grammes to grammes; " for each grammes or fraction of grammes thereafter. when sent in open envelopes-- centimes for each grammes or fraction of grammes. the rates have since been reduced, and are now as follow:-- centimes for packets not exceeding grammes in weight " between grammes and grammes " " grammes and grammes " for each grammes or fraction of grammes thereafter. the number of packets of printed matter has increased rapidly, as the subjoined table shows:-- number of packets of ordinary printed matter , , , , , , the administration are given power to delay the despatch or transmission of packets of ordinary printed matter should circumstances render that course desirable. in a special rate of centimes for those delivered locally, and centimes for others, was conceded to certain formal printed documents, such as notifications of births, marriages, or deaths. in , to these were added prospectuses, catalogues, prices current, and _cartes de visite_. these documents must be sent under band or in open envelopes. the special rates on these classes of packets have been continued. under an order of the th november the rate for _cartes de visite_ was made centimes when sent under band, but formulas of courtesy must not appear on the cards. _cartes de visite_ sent in open envelopes are still charged centimes. * * * * * germany in prussia the order of did not provide a special rate for ordinary printed matter sent by letter post. a reduced rate of two-thirds that for ordinary merchandise was, however, provided for books and other similar matter,[ ] under the name of _schriften- und aktentaxe_, when sent by parcel post.[ ] in special rates were prescribed for various classes of printed matter sent under band (_versendung unter kreuzband_), viz. books, music, catalogues, prospectuses, prices-current, printed circulars, as follow-- for each ordinary sheet of printed matter or for eight sheets small octavo size pf. for a half sheet pf. " quarter sheet pf. " sheet of music pf. " half sheet " pf.[ ] the sheets were to be sent under band, and the name of the sender and the number of sheets were to be written on the outside. the sending of written matter in such packets was forbidden, under penalty of a fine of ten times letter postage on a packet of the same size. in the rate for matter sent under band (printed lottery winning lists, etc., were now included) was made a quarter letter rate, and, like other rates, was made chargeable according to direct distance of transmission. when, in ,[ ] the rates for letters were revised and reduced, the rate for matter sent under band was continued at a quarter letter rate, and became (for loth zollgewicht = - / loth prussian)-- up to german miles / sgr. to " / sgr. over " / sgr. with the exception of the name and address of the addressee no writing was permitted on these packets, but by the order of the th may the writing of the name and address of the sender and the date was permitted. with the increase in the number of packets sent under band at the reduced rate, there grew up an increasing abuse of the privilege by the enclosure in such packets of written communications. in order to check this, it was provided in that when any large number of such packets were posted by the same person, a few of the packets should be examined in the presence of the sender. no penalty was at first imposed; but in it became necessary to take action, and the royal order of the th june , prescribing a penalty of thalers in cases where a letter was enclosed in a packet passing at a rate less than letter rate, was made applicable to the case of packets sent under band; and the regulation of the th december , prescribing a surcharge of ten times letter rate for a packet of like weight, was made applicable to cases where a communication was written on the printed sheet sent at the reduced rate.[ ] in , when the german-austrian postal union was founded, a uniform rate of silverpfennigs for each loth was introduced for packets sent under band. following the establishment of the union, the prussian administration (§ of law of th june ) fixed a uniform rate for its own service of silverpfennigs for each loth. for local packets sent under band (_stadtpost-kreuzbandsendungen_) a rate of sgr. for each packet was introduced, reduced to - / pf. for each packet when as many as packets were posted at the same time, or pf. each when from to were posted at one time. the definition of printed matter entitled to the privilege[ ] was now enlarged.[ ] the penalty for misuse of the privilege was made a surcharge of four times the amount of the postage, but not less than thalers, which might be increased fourfold on repetition of the offence. in the maximum charge for packets sent under band was fixed at six times letter rate, in order to get rid of the anomaly of a higher charge on heavy packets sent under band than on letters.[ ] the fact that packets under band could be sent for pf. throughout the territory of the union, but that for transmission within the prussian territory the charge was pf., and that in consequence prussian commercial men were posting their packets abroad in large numbers, led to a reduction of the rate in to pf. for each loth.[ ] the large increase of traffic which resulted made desirable a simplification of the definition of packets entitled to the privilege. only communications of general application could pass, and the officials found themselves often in doubt as to the application of the existing definition. thus, notices of the despatch of goods, invitations, or printed letters could not be sent at the privileged rate, while, e.g., notices of marriages could. so far as the union was concerned, in the privilege was limited to documents reproduced by mechanical means.[ ] the maximum limit of weight was reduced from loth to / pfund ( loth). this definition was introduced in the prussian inland service in . the rate of postage was also modified in that year. the rate of pf. for each loth was retained, but with the proviso that the charge on packets sent under band should not exceed twice letter rate. this effected a great reduction of charge for the heavier packets. whereas previously the rate for a packet under band weighing loth, sent more than german miles, had been sgr., it now became sgr.[ ] in a special rate of pf. for printed matter sent in the form of an open card was introduced in prussia.[ ] the simplification of definition and reduction of rate resulted in a large increase of traffic. in , when the north german postal services were unified, the penalty for abuse of the privilege was reduced to a surcharge of four times letter rate, but not less than a thaler; and the law of , founding the imperial post office, abolished the fine because it had been found that the offences were for the most part committed through ignorance of the regulations. slight changes were made in the regulations under which printed matter was admitted to the privilege, but no change was made in the rates of charge. the law regarding the imperial post office ( th october ) left the fixing of rates for printed matter to the imperial chancellor. the maximum limit of weight was raised from / pound ( grammes) to pound ( grammes). the rates of postage were / sgr. for each grammes up to grammes, with a maximum of sgr.; from to grammes, sgr.[ ] the large increase of traffic resulting from the reductions in the rates for printed matter and for samples caused practical difficulties, and in [ ] the acceptance of letters, postcards, printed matter, and samples was to be only in the _briefkasten_. in [ ] the limit of weight for printed matter was raised to kilogramme, and the rate was made-- not exceeding grammes pf. to grammes pf. to " pf. over " pf. in (order of th march) the definition of printed matter was further extended.[ ] the tariff of raised by about per cent. the postage on packets between and grammes. against this protests were made, especially since the rate for the transmission of such packets for the furthest points of the universal postal union was no greater than the rate for transmission within germany. in the rates were modified, packets between and grammes being divided into two groups, to grammes, and to grammes. the rate for the first was made pf., for the latter it remained pf. the increase of the maximum limit of weight has led to practical difficulties.[ ] this traffic has attained large proportions. in the number of packets of printed matter passing in the inland service was nearly a thousand millions.[ ] * * * * * (ii) samples united kingdom in england, letters containing samples and patterns were from the first establishment of the post office charged with double postage. in , arising out of the general dissatisfaction with the post office felt at that time by the trading public, the legality of the double charge was contested. merchants, while admitting that any letter containing a pattern or sample which should weigh as much as an ounce must pay at the ounce rate, contended that, if weighing less than an ounce, the letter should be charged according to the number of sheets of paper, and that the pattern which was enclosed should be ignored.[ ] the act of the th of anne prescribed the postage on "every single letter or piece of paper" not of the weight of one ounce, and prescribed that "a double letter" should pay double rate.[ ] the contention of the merchants was that the enclosure of a pattern or sample did not convert a single letter into a double letter, and that to constitute a double letter there must be a second sheet of paper--a contention which is sound enough if postage be regarded as a tax on communications and not as a mere charge for the conveyance of a packet. at bristol, manchester, and gloucester, legal proceedings were taken against local postmasters for demanding and receiving more than the legal postage. in each case a special verdict, in almost identical terms, was given, and the postmasters-general were advised by the attorney-general that the decision was likely to go against the crown if they brought up one of the verdicts for argument. in their difficulty they resorted to parliament, and obtained specific statutory authority for an additional charge in respect of patterns and samples.[ ] this state of affairs continued until , when samples were given a definite statutory privilege. under an act of that year it was provided that a packet of patterns or samples might pass as a single letter on condition that it did not exceed ounce in weight, that it was open at the sides, and that it contained no writing other than the name and address of the sender and the price.[ ] this privilege was continued by the act of .[ ] in an additional penny was charged on all such packets.[ ] in a further addition to the postage was made, viz. an addition of d. for every "letter, packet, or cover not exceeding an ounce in weight" and containing a pattern or sample, if "closed or not open at the sides," or an addition of d. if open at the sides.[ ] by the consolidating act of it was provided that packets or covers containing patterns or samples and not exceeding an ounce in weight, if open at the sides and without any "letter or writing in, upon, or within such packet or cover," other than the name and address of the sender and the price, should be charged as single letters, but "letters not open at the sides containing patterns or samples and not exceeding ounce in weight" were to be charged as double letters.[ ] in the treasury were empowered to fix rates of postage for all letters by weight,[ ] and in rates of postage, charged according to weight alone, "without reference to the number of sheets or pieces of paper, or enclosures," were legalized.[ ] this act contained no special provision in respect of packets containing samples or patterns. on the st october , with the declared object of benefiting trade and commerce by affording facilities for the cheap transmission of _bona fide_ trade patterns and samples of merchandise throughout the country, an "inland pattern and sample post" was established. since the post office, and the post office alone, had the means of conveying such articles at a moderate rate of charge to and from all parts of the country, including even the most remote, it was thought some special concession ought to be made. the privilege was, however, restricted within narrow limits, as it was feared that a large increase in the number of moderately heavy packets would impede the work of the post office. it would, moreover, seriously affect the amount of the payments to railway companies for the conveyance of mails, a matter of grave anxiety to the post office at that time.[ ] the privilege was therefore restricted to genuine samples, and no article of intrinsic value might be sent at the reduced rate. the original rates were:-- under ounces d. " " d. " " s. d. " " s. d. the computations of the financial effects of the rates were made--as was usual in such cases--by estimating the effect on the gross revenue, taking into account the probable increase in the number of packets, and estimating also what additional expense would be incurred in dealing with the additional traffic.[ ] the main financial principle seems to have been that as the letter rate was enormously profitable, a reduced rate for a comparatively small volume of traffic could be given without involving actual loss, and without any serious result on the net revenue. in the rates were reduced by one-third. in the exclusion of articles of intrinsic value was abandoned; but there was no relaxation of the essential condition that the articles must be _bona fide_ samples. in there was a further slight modification of the rates. the number of packets sent at the privileged rate increased from half a million in to a million in , and by the number had reached three millions. the facilities afforded by this post were taken advantage of to a large extent for the forwarding of small packets of goods on sale or in execution of an order. it was estimated that at least half the packets were not genuine samples at all, but contained goods of this kind; and the definite restriction of the post to its original purpose of carrying trade samples and patterns was deemed necessary. this was provided for in the act of , the rate of postage being at the same time reduced to / d. for every ounces. the enforcement of the restriction gave rise to considerable public dissatisfaction. it was apparent that fairly general use had been made of the sample post for the transmission of small parcels of all kinds of goods. many persons living in remote parts of the country were in the habit of obtaining supplies of goods of various kinds by this means; and it was alleged that by the facilities afforded by this post some industries, such as lace-making, were actually created in certain districts, or at any rate were greatly helped. the post was also much used for the sending of small personal gifts. public agitation against the restriction became so strong that the postal authorities, although apparently holding the view that a general parcel post was indefensible in principle, became fearful that, unless the public were given some concession on this point, an attack might be made on the d. rate for ordinary letters. such an attack, if successful, would of course have been fatal to post office revenue. it was proposed, therefore, to make definite provision for the transmission by post at low rates of postage of small packets containing articles other than samples. a rate for small parcels, whatever the contents, would at the same time remove the difficult and unsatisfactory task of deciding what was or was not a sample or pattern. these objects might be secured by a general reduction of the rates for inland letters; and this course was ultimately adopted, after some hesitation from fear of the effect on the revenue. the rates on the heavier inland letters were accordingly reduced by treasury warrant of th august , and the sample post at the same time abolished.[ ] in the early 'eighties there was a strong demand from the public for the re-establishment of the sample post. the advantage to trade was emphasized, and attention was called to the existence of a privileged rate for samples on the continent and in the international service. the existence of a low sample rate in the international service led, indeed, to a curious development. as samples which, if posted in this country, would be charged d., could be posted on the continent for foreign transmission at a charge of d., several firms in england were in the habit of sending large numbers of sample packets in bulk to belgium, where they were posted at the d. rate addressed to places in england. the result of this man[oe]uvre was that, instead of receiving the inland postage of d. for these packets, the british post office performed practically the same service in respect of them as if they had been posted in england, but received nothing, since under the postal convention the whole of the postage on foreign letters is retained by the country of origin. it was estimated that there was in this way a loss to revenue of £ , a year. it was in great part the existence of this anomaly which led to the re-establishment of the sample post in . no exact estimate was made of the cost of dealing with sample packets, but the authorities stated that the rates proposed, viz. under ounces d., over ounces and under ounces - / d., and over ounces and under ounces d. ( ounces to be the maximum weight), would be remunerative, and that any immediate loss to revenue in consequence of the reduction in rates would therefore be likely soon to be made up. this statement must, however, have been based on general considerations and estimates. in the following year the secretary to the post office (sir arthur blackwood) told a select committee of the house of commons that the post office had not any return of the cost per million letters, or any return of that kind by quantity, and that the post office could not give the actual cost per million letters.[ ] the post, which was re-established in the interests of trade and could only be used by traders, was continued until , when the jubilee reductions brought down the postage on ordinary letters to the level of the sample rate. the sample post was never more than a very minor part of the post office business. in , when the total number of letters passing by post was some millions, the number of samples was one million. in the number of samples was four millions. in , the last year of its existence as a special rate, the number of samples was nine millions. in that year the number of letters, etc., was some , millions. as a result of the increase of letter postage on the heavier letters, as a war measure, it has been deemed necessary to re-establish the inland sample post. on the st november the post was accordingly re-established substantially as it existed prior to . the rates of postage are the same, and the regulations practically unaltered. * * * * * france in france, by the decree of - august (article ), samples were accorded a privileged rate of one-third letter postage, with the reservation that in no case could the postage charged be less than that on a single letter. in , when a low uniform rate for letters was adopted, it was thought that the privilege given to samples need not be continued. the suppression of the special privileged rate was found almost to exclude samples from the mails, and in they were again given a privilege by the extension to them of the rates and conditions applied to printed matter.[ ] the limit of weight for samples was fixed at kilogrammes, and the limit of each dimension at centimetres; but these limits were found to be too great. the post became encumbered with large packets which it could not enclose in the mails, and which, as a matter of fact, it had not the means of dealing with. consequently, in the limit of weight was reduced to grammes, and the maximum dimension to centimetres.[ ] it was still found, however, that packets of samples gave rise to considerable embarrassment in the service. their irregular size rendered stamping more difficult, and their volume and the unsatisfactory manner in which they were made up for the post caused inconvenience, especially in the travelling offices, where space is limited. the object in view in establishing the sample rate had been to encourage trade by the distribution of trade samples, and not to found a new general means of conveyance for small parcels. but commercial houses were not slow to take advantage of the means afforded for the distribution of small packages of goods. at first it was made a condition of acceptance at the privileged rate that the articles should bear the name of the dealer or maker, but this precaution was abandoned before long.[ ] a minimum rate of centime for packets not exceeding grammes in weight had been fixed in . this proved too low, and in the minimum was raised to centimes, which proved to be too high. the number of samples, which in had been , , , fell in to , , .[ ] in december this rate was reduced by one-half, and in august the rate was fixed at centimes for each grammes. under this rate the numbers increased rapidly: , , packets were sent through the post at the sample rate in , and by the numbers had risen to , , . the present rate is centimes per grammes, with a maximum limit of grammes. the number of sample packets in the year - was about millions.[ ] * * * * * germany samples were first given a privilege in prussia in .[ ] packets containing samples were then given single letter rate up to - / loth, and half the letter rate for heavier packets. they must either be sent enclosed in a letter or attached to a letter, and the letter must not exceed / loth in weight. in the following rates for samples were established:-- not exceeding german miles silver groschen to german miles " over " " and for heavier packets, half letter rate. under the austro-german postal union, established on the th april , the ordinary rate for single letters was charged in the case of samples for each loth, according to distance. in the prussian internal rates for samples were brought into accord with those of the union. samples must be sent in unsealed covers and must be easily recognizable as such. the maximum weight was loth, and the maximum charge was not to exceed six times letter rate. in a further privilege was conceded. when sent together with a letter, samples might be enclosed in sealed covers; but in order to enable the administration to maintain a control over the use of the privilege, the postal officials were empowered at discretion to require the sender to open such packets.[ ] in , when the austro-german postal union was renewed, the limit of weight for samples was reduced to / pound ( loth). following this reduction the prussian rates for samples were reduced in : for samples weighing more than loth only the rate for a double letter (according to distance) was to be charged. the reduction was not followed by any large increase in the number of sample packets. every sample must still be accompanied by a letter, a circumstance which made the application of the sample rate heavy. with a view to the further encouragement of the traffic this requirement was removed in , and the despatch of samples under band, in envelopes, little bags, or similar covers, authorized. new rates were introduced as follows: pf. for each - / loth. to prevent abuse of the privilege it was provided that no article of marketable value could be sent at the reduced rate. the packet must be marked to show that it contained a sample, and might also bear the name and address of the senders, the trade mark, and the number of samples and prices. in the rate for the imperial postal service was made / sgr. for each grammes with a maximum of sgr. practical difficulties arose from the great increase of traffic which followed this reduction of rate. large packets and packets of awkward shape were posted, causing practical difficulties, especially in the sorting carriages, and it was found necessary to decline to accept samples over the counter, and to forbid the acceptance of samples in roll form. the sample rate was, moreover, complicated as compared with the letter rate. while there were but two rates for letters, there were five for samples, viz. , , , , and pf. in the sample rate was simplified by the introduction of a single rate of pf. for all sample packets, with a maximum limit of weight of grammes. the maximum limit of weight was raised in to grammes, and in to grammes. the present rates for samples are:-- not exceeding grammes pf. - grammes pf. prepayment is compulsory. the sample post traffic has increased, but has not attained large proportions compared with letters. in the number of samples was , , and in - , millions (inland service). the minimum rate ( pf.) is high compared with the minimum rates for ordinary printed matter and newspapers, and a minimum rate of pf. has been suggested.[ ] * * * * * (iii) commercial papers united kingdom letter postage was found to be high for the formal documents of commerce, and from very early times there has been a disposition to accord an exceptionally low rate to such documents. the act of conferred a special privilege on merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading. they were to be "without rate in the price of letters," that is to say, no account was to be taken of them. this privilege was continued by the th of anne.[ ] the postmasters-general contended that the privilege was granted in the case of letters for foreign transmission only, but the merchants affected to interpret the act as applying in the case of inland letters also. they naturally pointed out that restriction of the privilege to foreign letters imposed on traders within the realm a burden of postage not imposed on traders beyond the sea,[ ] and the postmasters-general found so much difficulty in maintaining the additional charge in the case of inland letters that they were ultimately driven to apply to parliament, in , for the express sanction of law.[ ] from this time commercial or other papers obtained no special advantage over ordinary letters in the inland service; and in , when the post office was endeavouring by all possible means to increase its net revenue, the privilege in the case of foreign letters was withdrawn.[ ] the introduction of a specially low rate for commercial documents was considered in the 'thirties of last century by the treasury commissioners of inquiry into the management of the post office, who recommended the adoption of a general / d. rate.[ ] nothing came, however, of this suggestion. the privilege to commercial papers has since been restored by little and little as extensions of the book post, established in (_q.v._), and at the present time most of the formal documents of commerce not exceeding ounces in weight pass at the reduced rate of / d. * * * * * france (_papiers d'affaires_) in the french service commercial papers (_papiers d'affaires_) constitute a special category of postal packets. documents included under this heading may be described briefly as papers and documents, whether wholly or partly written, containing communications which are not of a personal character. until such papers were charged at the same rate as letters. this rate was found to be burdensome,[ ] and in a rate of centime for each grammes was established--the same rate as that for samples and ordinary printed matter--but the minimum charge was fixed at centimes. in the rate was altered to correspond with that for samples. it now became centimes for the first grammes, and centimes for each further grammes. as a consequence of the adhesion of france to the universal postal union, the rate, together with that for samples, was changed in to centimes for each grammes. the discarding, in the case of _papiers d'affaires_, of the principle of a minimum charge equal at least to the minimum charge for letters, had unfortunate results. it has been found extremely difficult always to distinguish between documents entitled to be regarded as _papiers d'affaires_ and documents which are of a personal character, and therefore subject to letter postage. the privilege is at present restricted to packets weighing not more than grammes, and the rate of postage is centimes. packets weighing more than grammes are subject to letter postage. the number of packets passing as _papiers d'affaires_ increased rapidly, but still forms only an inconsiderable fraction of the total number of postal packets. in the number was , ; in it exceeded millions; and in it reached millions. it is necessary to issue a long and detailed list showing the kinds of documents admissible at the reduced rate, and the difficulty of administering the rate is considerable. * * * * * germany (_geschäftspapiere_) after the abolition of the old prussian _schriften- und aktentaxe_[ ] in , neither the north german bund nor the imperial administration granted a special rate for wholly or partly handwritten communications which were not of the nature of personal and individual correspondence. either letter or parcel rate must be paid on such packets. in the international service the rate for such was the same as the rate for printed matter, and the unfavourable position in the inland service in this respect gave rise to public complaints. in , therefore, a special class of packets, named _geschäftspapiere_, was introduced in the internal service of the german imperial administration. papers partly or wholly written, but not of the nature of private or personal communications, were admissible at a reduced rate of postage.[ ] except for local traffic the new rates were:-- not exceeding grammes pf. - grammes pf. grammes to kilogramme (maximum) pf. compared with the total postal traffic the number of packets passing at the reduced rate is quite small, but it is increasing, and is sufficiently large to indicate that the privilege affords a considerable advantage to the public. the number of packets of _geschäftspapiere_ was:-- , , , , , , , , * * * * * (iv) postcards the idea of postcards originated with dr. h. von stephan, who submitted a proposal for their introduction at the meeting of the delegates of the german postal union at karlsruhe in . dr. von stephan had realized that the ordinary form of the letter missive, although most suitable in many ways for many kinds of correspondence, was not always convenient. much commercial correspondence might be conducted with briefer and less formal communications, and for such short and urgent messages a simple and less costly means would be welcomed. the proposal was therefore for the issue of cards which should be addressed on the front, and at the back should bear the written message.[ ] the cards should be transmitted unenclosed. the proposal was not well received by the delegates. it was, however, revived in by professor herrmann of vienna, who brought it to the notice of the austrian postal administration. it was viewed favourably by that administration, and the cards were introduced in the austrian service on the st october , being sold at the price of kreuzer. the innovation was an immediate success, nearly three million cards being sold in the first three months; and following on this success the cards were soon introduced in most other countries. except in france, and for the first two years in germany, the rate charged has from the first been one-half the minimum rate for letters. in france the minimum for postcards bearing ordinary messages has never been less than centimes.[ ] this reduction of per cent. cannot be justified on any ground of cheaper handling. the manipulation and conveyance of postcards is perhaps slightly less expensive than that of ordinary light letters, but any such difference is small, and in point of fact postcards are usually regarded as causing a little more trouble in the process of sorting. for all practical purposes it may safely be assumed that postcards and ordinary light letters involve approximately the same cost for their handling and transmission.[ ] this difference in the rates of postage charged on ordinary light letters and postcards, respectively, is therefore either a standing evidence of the fiscal character of the rate for light letters, or of the uneconomic character of one or other of the rates, or of both. the postcard has proved immensely popular. its use for formal and unconfidential communications is a great convenience. by avoiding the necessity for folding and enclosing in envelopes, time is saved in the making up of correspondence for the post; and the saving in postage when a quantity is sent out is very considerable. the cards are a convenience also in the practical working of the post office service. their use diminishes both the weight and bulk of the mails; on account of their lightness and uniformity of size and shape large numbers can be packed together in small space. in this respect they contrast strongly with the irregularly shaped packets of books or of general merchandise, which represent the maximum of encumbrance to post office working. the introduction of the picture postcard gave a great impetus to the use of this means of correspondence. except in france, the traffic has assumed large dimensions. in the united kingdom in - the total number of postcards was about , , , while the total number of packets passing at the letter rate was about , , , .[ ] (v) rate for printed matter for the blind the low rate for matter printed in raised type for the use of the blind is a purely philanthropic concession.[ ] in the united kingdom the rates are:-- for a packet not exceeding ounces in weight / d. " exceeding ounces and not exceeding lb. d. " " lb. " " lb d. it will be noted that the initial penny rate is maintained (the ounces for / d. being merely the ordinary printed matter rate), but a comparison with the ordinary parcel post rates (see chapter iii) will show that if, as there is reason to believe, those rates are unremunerative, the rates for literature for the blind must involve a heavy loss on each packet. the number of packets is, however, only some , per annum. similar low rates are in operation in other countries. in the united states packets containing matter of this kind are carried free. * * * * * (vi) minor rates in the united states and canada in the united states and canada a special method of differentiating rates of postage has been adopted. all postal traffic is termed "mail matter," and is classified in four groups, to each of which is applied an appropriate rate. the classification, which is almost identical in the two countries, is based partly on the general character of the packets (size, shape, etc.), but more largely on certain general principles of administration, and on the intrinsic value of the contents. thus the ordinary letter, which is the most important and valuable traffic, is placed in the first class of mail matter, and is charged the highest rate. newspapers and periodicals, which are regarded as of great importance in aiding the education and enlightenment of the people, are placed in the second class of mail matter and are given the lowest rate.[ ] books and all other printed matter, commercial papers, postcards, etc., are regarded as of less importance than letters, and are deemed to be less entitled to encouragement from the state in their distribution, but still entitled to preferential treatment as compared with packets containing miscellaneous articles. they are accordingly placed in the third class of mail matter, and are given a rate intermediate between that of the first class and that of the second. all other articles sent by post--the residuum of postal packets--are placed together in a fourth class of mail matter, to which is applied a rate higher than the third-class rate, but considerably lower than the first-class rate.[ ] the rates for first-class matter (letters) and second-class matter (newspapers and periodicals) in the united states have been dealt with. they may be repeated here for purposes of comparison: the rate for letters is cent for each ounces or fraction of ounces; the rate for newspapers is cent a pound or fraction thereof when sent from publisher to subscriber--when sent otherwise the rate is cent for every ounces. on third-class matter the rate is cent for each ounces or fraction thereof, and on fourth-class matter the rate is cent for every ounce or fraction of an ounce. with the view of encouraging agriculture, seeds, cuttings, bulbs, scions, roots, and plants are given the same rate as ordinary printed matter in the third class. in canada the rate of postage on first-class matter is cents per ounce or fraction of an ounce, except on postcards, for which the rate is cent, and local or "drop" letters, on which the rate is also cent (_supra_, p. ). on second-class matter the rate is / cent a pound when posted by publishers to subscribers, otherwise cent for each ounces or fraction thereof. on general third-class matter (including samples) the rate is cent for each ounces or fraction thereof: a special rate of cents for the first ounces and cent for each additional ounces or fraction thereof is given for seeds, cuttings, roots, bedding-plants, scions, or grafts. the object of this privilege is evident. the rate on fourth-class matter is cent for each ounce or fraction thereof. these rates have not been calculated with reference to the cost of the service in each case. classification was introduced in the united states postal service as far back as , but until no attempt had been made to apportion the total cost between the various classes. the estimate then made showed that the second-class mail involved a heavy loss, probably equal to six or seven times the rate of postage.[ ] * * * * * v local rates united kingdom local postal services, providing for the delivery of local letters at reduced rates of postage, existed in the united kingdom over a long period. the first service was established in london in . up to this time the business of the post office had been restricted to the transmission of letters between the post towns, and no rate of postage existed except in respect of letters sent over appreciable distances.[ ] the idea of a local service seems to have originated with a mr. robert murray; but the london local post was actually established by william dockwra, "a merchant, a native and citizen of london, formerly one of his majesty's sub-searchers in the custom house of london." other citizens of london were concerned in the undertaking, which was established without reference to the authorities of the post office, and was intended to be purely a private commercial undertaking.[ ] under dockwra's scheme london, with westminster and the suburbs, was divided into seven districts or "precincts," in each of which was a "sorting house." scattered over the city and suburbs were from four hundred to five hundred receiving houses for the taking-in of letters. messengers called at the houses for letters every hour. letters and parcels not exceeding pound in weight or £ in value were accepted and conveyed at the uniform charge of d., payable in advance. the service was not restricted to letters for delivery within the london area and the surrounding district. letters which were to be transmitted through the general post[ ] were accepted at any of the receiving offices, and conveyed to the general post office in lombard street; and letters received in london by the general post were delivered by the penny post, if for places outside the general post delivery.[ ] this facility proved of much advantage to the public, and led to a large increase in the number of general post letters. when well established, dockwra's new system proved profitable and attracted the attention of the authorities of the general post office. they contended that the service was an infringement of the monopoly conferred on the postmasters-general by the act of ,[ ] and in , at the instance of the duke of york, in whom were vested the profits of the general post office, an action was brought against dockwra to restrain him from continuing a breach of the privilege of the postmasters-general. dockwra was ordered by the court to pay nominal damages, and was forbidden to continue his penny post. the post was not, however, abolished, but was taken over and managed by the postmasters-general. although the service had been decided to fall within their monopoly, the rates charged rested on no legal authority. no statute authorized the conveyance anywhere of letters at the rate of d. no authority existed for any rate below the minimum general post rate of d., under the act of , a state of affairs which continued until the passing of the act of . a penny rate of postage was then fixed for all letters "passing or repassing by the carriage called the penny post, established and settled within the cities of london and westminster, and borough of southwark, and parts adjacent, and to be received and delivered within english miles distant from the general post office in london."[ ] at first the service had included only the cities of london and westminster, the borough of southwark, and the immediate suburbs; but the residents in the neighbouring towns and villages, recognizing the advantage of the system, soon asked that it might be extended to include their respective localities, voluntarily agreeing to pay an additional penny on delivery, on each letter. this further charge was at first appropriated by the messengers as their remuneration; but as the amount received by them in this way was found to exceed what might fairly be regarded as reasonable wages, the second penny was in made part of the ordinary revenue of the post office. there was, however, no legal authority for the collection of this additional charge, which remained a voluntary payment until .[ ] the limit of weight for packets sent by the penny post was also extended, parcels of considerable size and weight being accepted. the rate of postage, however, remained uniform at a penny. one of the charges against dockwra in later years, when he was dismissed from the office of comptroller of the penny post, to which he had been appointed under william iii, was that he forbade the taking in of any but very small band-boxes, and all parcels over pound in weight.[ ] the penny post was found to be a great convenience to londoners and dwellers in the vicinity.[ ] it facilitated both local intercourse and, through its connection with the general post, general intercourse with all parts of the country. it was also advantageous in a way which was not satisfactory to the postmaster-general. for some years before its establishment there had been much difficulty from the evasion of postage resulting from the illicit transmission of letters. carriers, especially, made a business of the conveyance of letters. the difficulty had been so serious that in the reigns both of charles ii and of james ii special officers had been appointed whose duty it was to search any person or vehicle suspected of carrying clandestine mails. the establishment of the penny post led to a very large development of this traffic. previously, when the carriers arrived with the letters, there was no means at their disposal for effecting distribution and delivery within london, other than by themselves delivering the letters individually, or by employing special messengers, or, in the last resort, by employing the general post, to avoid whose charge was the whole object of entrusting letters to the carriers. the penny post removed this difficulty, and the public were not slow to avail themselves of the opportunity afforded.[ ] the penny post did not, however, mark the limit of possibility in the way of cheap postal facilities. in charles povey established a halfpenny post in london, and found this low rate profitable. his undertaking, like that of dockwra, proved to be an infringement of the monopoly of the postmasters-general, and was suppressed within a few months, although povey was very reluctant to discontinue his service.[ ] the london penny post was for a long period the only local post in the kingdom. its advantages were, however, generally recognized, and the post office act of [ ] gave to the postmasters-general power to establish penny posts in any town where that course seemed to them expedient. under this authority numerous penny posts were established in all parts of the country. as many as such penny posts were established between and . they were established only when it could be reasonably anticipated that the yield of the penny postage would cover the expenses of the service; but when once established they were not usually discontinued, even if the revenue fell below the expenses.[ ] like the london penny post, these local services included the area surrounding the town in each case. for transmission within a penny post area the rate of postage was d.; for transmission to another such area the general rate was charged in addition; and another penny was charged in respect of the second penny post. the conveyance of parcels ceased in . the act of that year[ ] forbade the transmission by the penny post of any packet over ounces in weight unless it had passed, or was intended afterwards to pass, by the general post. during all this period, however, the people of london enjoyed an efficient postal service which in point of lowness of charges was in advance of anything they have enjoyed since, unless the privileges of the postcard and the halfpenny post, that is, of a rate half the minimum (and only) rate of the penny post, can be set against the cheap transmission of considerable packages by the old service. a further act of [ ] empowered the postmasters-general at their discretion to extend the limits of the post beyond the -mile circle prescribed by the act of . no additional postage was imposed on letters delivered beyond the -mile circle. under the act of the charge would be d. an additional rate of d. was, however, imposed on all letters posted within the extended limits and beyond the -mile circle; and also on all letters posted without the original limits of the penny post and delivered within those limits, i.e. the cities of london and westminster, and the borough of southwark, with their suburbs. by this act prepayment of postage, hitherto compulsory in the penny post, was made optional. an act of [ ] raised to d. the rate for letters passing by the penny post, whether or not they were to pass by the general post, within the original limits of the penny post. for letters passing by the penny post, posted or delivered outside the original limits, no additional rate was prescribed. the charge was already d.; and the rate of postage on letters passing by the london local post therefore now became uniformly d. henceforward the service was known as the "twopenny post." the act of contained an important clause (clause ) of general application, providing that the postmasters-general might at discretion undertake the conveyance and delivery of letters "directed to persons abiding in towns, villages, and places (not being post-towns)," for such sums as might be agreed upon between the postmasters-general and the inhabitants. under this provision it was found possible to extend the service to a considerable number of places.[ ] an act of [ ] imposed an additional charge of d., making d. in all, on letters sent by the twopenny post and not passing by the general post, directed to or sent from places beyond the limits of the general post delivery; and on every letter passing by the general post and directed to places beyond the limits of the general post delivery, and delivered by the twopenny post, an additional charge of d.[ ] there were now, in reality, two local posts in the london area--the twopenny post, for letters transmitted between places within the limits of the delivery of the general post; and the threepenny post, for letters directed to or sent from places within the limits of the local service, but beyond the limits of the general post delivery. in the limits of delivery of the twopenny post were extended to include all places within a radius of miles of the general post office; and in the limits of the threepenny post were extended to include all places beyond the -mile limit, and not exceeding miles from the general post office.[ ] no further modifications of importance were made before the establishment of uniform penny postage. the introduction of a uniform rate of postage for the whole country of d., only half the lowest rate which had been charged in the london local post, obviously made unnecessary the continuance of that post, and also of the penny posts scattered up and down the country; or rather extended to the whole country the benefit of rates based on items of local cost only, since the system of uniform postage irrespective of distance rests on the recognition of the preponderating cost of the local or terminal services, and the relatively insignificant cost per letter of the service--conveyance from place to place--which depends on the distance of transmission. financially the london penny and twopenny posts were always successful. under the penny rate the profits had approached half the gross receipts--in they were per cent.--and under the twopenny rate at once rose to more than per cent., in reaching per cent. the net revenue, which in under the penny rate was £ , , had in under the twopenny rate risen to £ , .[ ] canada special local rates have from quite early dates been in operation in america. if in england the lowest rate fixed for general post letters had been found too high to afford reasonable accommodation for the public in london and other cities, it may well be imagined that the lowest rate in canada, gauged as it was to the needs of a service which should cover a country of vast area and ill-provided with roads, would be found altogether high for local letters. moreover, in most places no sort of delivery service existed. local letters could only be placed in the post office to be called for by the persons to whom they were addressed. in canada the actual cost of the conveyance of the mail was consequently disproportionately high compared with other expenses of the service, and the justice of a lower rate for such letters as obtained no benefit from that expenditure naturally suggested itself. the lowest rate fixed by the act of for transmission within canada of a single letter was d., and, rather than charge such a rate on local letters, the deputies in nova scotia allowed such letters to be deposited in the post office free. at confederation a special rate for local letters of cent per / ounce was established. at this time there was still no authorized house-to-house delivery of letters in any part of canada, and local letters were actually what they are always termed, viz. "drop" letters. they were letters dropped into the post office letter-box and handed out at the office to the addressee on application. when in delivery by letter-carrier was introduced in certain towns, the drop-letter rate was not disturbed. it was thought, however, that a postage charge of cent was not sufficient to cover the cost of the service of delivery at the place of address, performed by an expensive establishment of letter-carriers; and in , on that ground, though much against the wishes of the mercantile community, the rate was raised to cents an ounce in cities and towns where the system of delivery by letter-carrier was established, the existing rate of cent per / ounce being continued in other cities and towns. the ordinary letter rate was still cents. this change therefore left all local letters with a lower rate than ordinary letters.[ ] the -cent rate proved to be too high. much dissatisfaction resulted, and evasions were constant. in defiance of the law, which conferred on the postmaster-general the monopoly of the carriage of letters, merchants made arrangements for the transmission and delivery by their private messengers of their letters for local delivery. the evil assumed such proportions that the suppression of the private carriage of local letters was deemed out of question, and the government concluded that the only satisfactory solution of the difficulty was the re-introduction of the general cent drop-letter rate.[ ] so great was the number of drop letters sent otherwise than through the post office that no actual loss of revenue was anticipated from a reduction of the rate, which should bring back those letters to the post. this anticipation was more than realized. in a very short time after the passing of the act of legalizing the reduction to cent, the gross revenue from local letters surpassed that obtained under the -cent rate. france in a local service (_la petite poste_) was established in paris by m. velayer. he obtained from the king the exclusive privilege of erecting letter-boxes, which were opened three times daily, in various parts of the city,[ ] and set up an office in the royal palace at which tickets bearing the words "port-payé le ... du ... de l'an " might be purchased at the price of a sou. no money was paid to the letter-carrier by persons posting or receiving letters. a label was affixed to the letter, which was then delivered without further charge.[ ] the service was not a success and was discontinued. in a local postal service was re-established in paris by m. de chamousset. the new service was avowedly in imitation of the london penny post. the rate was sous for a letter not exceeding ounce in weight, delivered in paris, and sous if delivered in surrounding villages not served by the general post. this venture proved more successful than the earlier service of m. velayer. at the outset it employed about two hundred men, and the profits for the first year were , livres. but its founder, m. de chamousset, met with no better fate than dockwra, the founder of its prototype. such large profits could not escape the notice of the government, and the service was taken over by the king, chamousset being given a pension of , livres as its inventor.[ ] the service was continued, and its success led to the establishment of similar local services in other towns--bordeaux, lille, lyons, nancy, marseilles, montpellier, nantes, rouen, strasburg, etc.[ ] the ordinary letter rate in france remained at a moderately high level until a comparatively late date, and a special rate for local letters continued until . in that year the ordinary rate for letters was reduced to centimes, the level of the existing local rate, and since that time local letters have enjoyed no special privilege in france. germany in germany the delivery of local letters in towns was for a long period conducted as a private undertaking of the postmaster or letter-carrier. between and it was made a branch of the general postal service, and the delivery charge (_ortsbestellgeld_), which, in general, had been retained by the letter-carrier as wages, was, in the latter year, made payable to the general revenue. an arrangement was also made for the acceptance and delivery of local letters, at the rate of sgr.[ ] if the letters were called for at the post office (and the service of delivery at the house therefore not performed) the rate was reduced to / sgr.; and when one person posted as many as one hundred local letters at the same time, the rate for each letter was no more than - / pf. (reduced in to pf.), including delivery at residence. when as many as fifty were posted at one time, the rate was reduced to / sgr. by a regulation of the st december the limit of weight for the single letter was, however, raised to / pound, and a rate of sgr. imposed on heavier letters, but the rates were not otherwise materially changed. the law of th september abolished the delivery fee on ordinary letters. in [ ] the rate for local packets of printed matter was reduced to pf. when, at the foundation of the north german union in , the postal rates were reorganized, the question of the local rates proved to be one of some little difficulty, since the existing rates differed very considerably in the different parts of the union. the prussian rates were high as compared with the rates in some other states; and any rate which could be applied generally was likely to represent a considerable reduction of the prussian rates, but a considerable increase of the rates in other states. the reorganization of the local rates was consequently delayed. after much discussion a new local rate for places in the former prussian postal territory (excepting berlin and hamburg) was established:[ ] for ordinary letters / sgr., for printed matter and samples / sgr. in hanover the local letter rate was made / sgr.; in brunswick / sgr.; and in cassel, erfurt, frankfort-on-main, and hamburg similar rates were established.[ ] from the st january a uniform rate of pf. for local letters was introduced throughout the imperial postal territory. the rate was irrespective of weight, but there was a maximum limit of grammes. all other local packets (postcards, printed matter, and samples) were subject to the ordinary rates of postage. no special local rate was fixed for parcels: the lowest zone rate was payable, and was, of course, in effect a local rate. the general application of the new letter rate would, in certain cases, have resulted in increased rates, and in those cases (constance, darmstadt, and karlsruhe) a rate of pf.--the equivalent of the previously existing rate--was established. in berlin, in view of the specially expensive arrangements for the delivery of letters, the rate of pf. for local letters remained in force.[ ] for the delivery of local parcels no charge had previously been made beyond the rate of local postage, although in respect of all packets from outside a delivery charge was collected. from the st january , however, local parcels were made liable to a delivery charge.[ ] in general, the local rates introduced on the st january remained for more than a quarter of a century unchanged, but in course of time difficulties in their administration developed. the order of the th december had prescribed a special local rate for letters only; for all other kinds of postal traffic the ordinary rates remained applicable. consequently, a local postcard was charged the same postage as a letter weighing grammes; similarly the rates for printed matter or samples for local delivery were high when compared with the rate for local letters. such rates were, moreover, anomalous when compared with the rates for long-distance traffic, which, for postcards, printed matter, and samples, were much less than for letters. in fact, for local delivery printed matter and samples had only to be placed in sealed covers in order to pass at the rate of pf. in many of the larger towns the delivery of local letters was undertaken by private enterprise at rates much lower than those of the imperial post office. the undertakings secured a very large proportion of the local traffic, and found even these low rates very profitable. moreover, the large increase in the number of post offices, and the withdrawal of numerous places from the areas assigned to certain offices, had led, in many cases, to great difficulties in deciding whether letters were subject to the general or the local rate of postage.[ ] the regulations governing local traffic were accordingly revised under the law of the th december . local rates were considerably reduced in amount, and were made applicable to all traffic passing between a town area and the neighbouring area (_nachbarorts-verkehr_),[ ] by which the advantage of these rates was greatly extended. in order to enable the post office adequately to fulfil its public functions, as the phrase went, it was thought necessary, in view of the development of the private undertakings, to confer upon it the exclusive right to deal with local traffic. at first the proposal was to extend the monopoly only to closed letters, but the reichstag widened the prohibition, and forbade private undertakings to conduct arrangements for the transmission of letters, sealed or unsealed, postcards, printed matter, or samples addressed to particular persons.[ ] the traffic left open to private enterprise, viz. the delivery of unaddressed open letters, parcels, newspapers, and magazines, was regarded by most of the proprietors as insufficient to warrant the continuance of their undertakings, and on the st april almost all the private establishments of this kind were discontinued. the proprietors were, however, compensated by the state for the loss of their profits.[ ] the first undertaking of this kind had been established in berlin in the 'seventies, under the title _brief- und druckschriften-expedition_. its success led to the establishment in berlin and various other places of similar undertakings, some of which were profitable, but most of which were unsuccessful. the cheaper rates, however, attracted a considerable volume of traffic, and at the time of their suppression some seventy-seven such undertakings were in existence. most of them were not of long standing, only fourteen of the seventy-seven having been founded in the 'eighties, forty having been founded in the years - - , in a period of speculation resulting from the high dividends paid by the berliner packetfahrt-aktiengesellschaft. the size of the undertakings varied largely. in some cases the whole business was conducted by the members of a family; in others as many as a hundred men were employed; and in the case of the berliner packetfahrt-aktiengesellschaft the letter traffic alone employed a thousand men. the amount of traffic dealt with was considerable, and large additions to the postal staff were found necessary.[ ] some of the employees of the private establishments were taken over by the imperial postal administration, and a sum of - / million marks was paid as compensation to employees who were not taken over. although special provision had been made in the statute with regard to the amount of compensation to be paid to the proprietors, the determination of the actual amount was a matter of some difficulty, owing largely to the unsatisfactory and unreliable manner in which the accounts of many of the undertakings had been kept.[ ] in several cases also the owners asked exorbitant amounts. after much negotiation the sum to be paid was finally decided. it amounted to some six million marks. in order to get rid of the private establishments for the handling of private letters, etc., the imperial administration therefore paid in all (i.e. including the compensation to the employees of the private undertakings) a sum of about - / million marks.[ ] the new rates were as follow[ ]:-- (_a_) letters-- not exceeding grammes in weight pf. (_b_) postcards pf. (_c_) printed matter-- not exceeding grammes pf. grammes to " pf. " " pf. " " pf. " , " pf. (_d_) commercial papers-- not exceeding grammes pf. grammes to " pf. " , " pf. (_e_) samples-- not exceeding grammes pf. grammes to " pf. (_f_) mixed packages of (_c_), (_d_), and (_e_)-- not exceeding grammes pf. grammes to " pf. " , " pf. these rates applied throughout the imperial postal territory, including berlin, which thus for the first time obtained the advantage of local rates; and in they were extended to all places which had a post office for only part of the year, such as small watering-places, summer resorts, and beauty spots.[ ] the result of the reduced rates was not satisfactory financially. it was not, of course, possible to calculate with any exactness the actual cost of the service performed by the post office in respect of local traffic; but such estimates as the administration were able to make tended to show that the cost exceeded the revenue, and that the local business was therefore conducted at some loss.[ ] consequently, when in imperial requirements made it necessary to obtain an increased revenue from the post office, the administration placed the burden on the local traffic, although not without some opposition in the reichstag. on the st july the rates for local traffic, with the exception of the rate for local letters, were made the same as the general rates for transmission throughout the imperial postal territory. the rate for letters remained as formerly, pf. for letters not exceeding grammes in weight.[ ] * * * * * vi international rates (i) international letter post the adoption in numerous countries of the principle of uniformity of rate for inland postal traffic, and the enormous simplification of the system of rates and of their practical administration which it achieved, led naturally to an endeavour to effect a like simplification of the rates for postal traffic exchanged between the various countries. the rates in operation varied enormously, not only as between different countries, but frequently in respect of letters passing between the same two countries.[ ] the arrangements for the exchange of such traffic between different countries had been conducted under conventions and agreements entered into by the countries immediately concerned, and the rates to be charged were prescribed by these conventions or agreements. foreign rates were often built up by the addition of a rate for the transmission abroad to the ordinary rate chargeable for the inland transmission. the fact that numerous rates were chargeable for one and the same letter in respect of its transmission within the same country thus naturally made the rates charged for transmission abroad likewise numerous. in many cases there was an additional variation in the rate of postage between two countries according as one or other route was followed. and not only were the international rates of postage high and complicated. the methods employed for accounting between the countries respectively concerned in regard to the proceeds of postage on international letters were equally complicated and burdensome. in the necessity for some simplification of the arrangements for the interchange of correspondence led to the formation of the austro-german postal union by prussia and austria. the chief feature of the arrangement was the adoption of a common rate of postage for the whole territory of the union, moderate in amount, and based on a small number of zones of distances. the advantages resulting from the union were soon apparent. other german states joined, and within a short time the question of extending it to foreign countries was mooted. at a conference held in berlin in , a general european postal union was adumbrated. the first definite suggestion for the general re-organization of international postal traffic on a common basis came, however, from america. in , mr. blair, postmaster-general of the united states, in a note to the postal administrations of the world, suggested the assembling of a congress representative of all nations for the discussion of the subject. the proposal was favourably received by fifteen administrations,[ ] representing nine-tenths of the commerce and nineteen-twentieths of the correspondence of the world. the representatives of these administrations (with the exception of ecuador) met at paris in may . the conference was not empowered to enter into any definite arrangement for the amelioration of the system of international postal traffic. its function was simply to discuss and proclaim general principles applicable to the conduct of the traffic, with a view to their ultimate adoption by the nations of the world. the discussions centred on the three fundamental questions of uniformity of weights, uniformity of rate, and simplification of accounting.[ ] thirty-one articles of agreement were adopted.[ ] these articles recommended, _inter alia_, the adoption for ordinary letters of a unit of weight and a progression of weight of grammes; and for corrected proofs, samples, and documents not in the nature of a letter, a unit and progression of grammes. the conference was convinced that transit charges were often an invincible obstacle to the establishment of a really advantageous international system, and recommended that the transit rate for each country should never exceed half the postage reckoned at the inland rate of the country traversed, and that for small countries it should be even less. for sea transit the conference recommended that in no case should the charge against an administration in respect of such transport be greater than the actual charge made on the country of destination by the shipping agency by whom the mails were conveyed. although its conclusions were without the sanction of authority, the conference was nevertheless of great assistance to the development of an international system. it brought into prominence the obstacles in the way of international postal intercourse, and the difficulties which must be removed before a common system could be founded. and it formulated general principles which might with advantage be observed in the making of fresh agreements between individual countries, and might serve as a basis for a common agreement. its conclusions were, as a matter of fact, so used in numerous instances. towards the end of dr. von stephan, of the postal administration of the north german union, published in the official journal of the union a definite project for a postal union between all civilized nations, and proposed a discussion of the project at a universal congress. the proposal was taken up by the administration of the north german union. the diplomatic arrangements for calling a conference were, however, interrupted by the franco-german war of . after the conclusion of peace, the proposal was again taken up, and the swiss government undertook the task of inviting the administrations of the chief countries to send representatives to a congress at berne. the invitation was readily accepted, and the congress met in . the proposal submitted to the conference was that the union should cover the following categories of postal traffic:-- ( ) letters. ( ) postcards. ( ) newspapers and other printed matter. ( ) samples. ( ) commercial papers. each contracting state should fix its own international rates, under the limitation that for letters the rate should not exceed d., or centimes; and for newspapers or other printed matter, for samples or commercial papers, should not be less than d., or centimes. there should be no division of postage, but each state should retain the postage which it collected. each state should give liberty of transit, and transit charges should be abolished, except in the case of extraordinary charges or services.[ ] the proposals which gave rise to most discussion were those for the establishment of a uniform rate, and for the gratuitous transit of mails across the territory of intermediate countries. the vast number of rates actually existing was made an argument in favour of the uniform rate; and a low rate was recommended on the ground that it was well known that, although low rates imposed a temporary monetary loss, they were in a broad view profitable to the finances of the state.[ ] it was urged that as all rates were already tending to equality, the congress, by establishing uniformity, would only be advancing by a few years an existing tendency. the principle of uniformity of rate and of weight was adopted unanimously, the rate of charge being fixed at centimes, and the unit of weight, and progression in the scale of weight, at grammes. the rate of charge, centimes (with the reservations[ ]), was arrived at by consideration of the case of the most unfavourably situated country as regards conditions of transit, viz. a case in which there would be five intermediate countries, and consequently five transit rates. as most, if not all, of the countries represented had already adopted inland penny postage, this rate, assuming centimes (or d.) to be a reasonable charge for the inland service at both ends, left centimes ( - / d.) to cover the cost of transmission from country of origin to country of destination; and there was in addition the optional margin up to centimes which might be taken advantage of, if a charge of centimes was thought by any administration to be too little. a proviso was added that for all sea transits exceeding nautical miles a surtax not exceeding half the general rate of the union might be added to the postage charge, whether for letters, samples, printed matter, or commercial papers. a reduced rate for commercial papers, samples of merchandise, newspapers, books, pamphlets, catalogues, etc., was adopted without discussion, the delegates no doubt basing their action on the existence of similar reduced rates in many countries. the minimum rate for such packets was fixed at centimes, and the unit of weight and the progression of weight at grammes. the maximum weight for samples was fixed at grammes, and that for other articles at , grammes. a proposal to increase the weight for samples was opposed by dr. von stephan on the ground that it would cause practical inconvenience in the post offices. m. radoikovitch, the serbian delegate, proposed a modification of the progression of rate. he suggested that the packets should be divided into two categories--those not exceeding grammes, and those over grammes in weight. for the lighter packets he proposed a progression of grammes, and for the heavier packets a greater progression. for the sake of simplicity it was considered preferable to retain the single progression, and the proposal, which met with no support, was withdrawn.[ ] all packets (samples, etc.) sent at the lower rate must be sent under band or in open envelopes, or made up in such a way as to admit of their being easily examined.[ ] the proposal for gratuity of transit was advanced with a view to simplification of the administration of the union. its adoption would have made all countries independent, so far as expenses and accounting were concerned, of intermediate countries, and would have assisted the adoption of a low rate of postage. it was, however, resolutely opposed by those countries which, owing to their geographical situation and the means of communication which they controlled, were called upon to serve as intermediaries to a special degree. the case of belgium was of particular importance. it naturally resulted from her situation that she was called upon to perform for other countries a transit business much greater than that performed by other countries for belgium. the net revenue accruing to the belgian administration from this source was very considerable.[ ] france and italy were in a somewhat similar position, mainly owing to the transmission of the mails between england and india by the overland route. france rejected entirely the principle of gratuitous transit. it was feared that if an administration derived no benefit from transit traffic it might be led to discourage it, to the detriment of general facilities for the transmission of mails, and the congress arrived at the conclusion that some method of specially remunerating all countries for transit services ought to be devised. a simple reservation as regards special expenses caused by transit traffic was objected to on the ground that in most cases the international traffic was forwarded by the ordinary means and no special expense was caused--the real causes of post office expenses being the services of despatch and delivery.[ ] indeed, it was contended on this ground that the transit of international mails could not be regarded as a service rendered. agreement was reached on most of the points raised by the proposals, and a convention constituting an international postal union, under the title "l'union générale des postes,"[ ] was signed on the th october , to become operative on the st july . the chief provisions of the convention in regard to the rates of postage were as follows:-- ( ) the rate of postage for the union was fixed-- (_a_) at centimes for single letters, with liberty for each country, as might be necessary on account of its monetary system or for other reasons, to fix a higher or lower rate, provided that such rate was not greater than centimes, and not less than centimes. the unit of weight for a single letter was fixed at grammes, and the scale of progression was by steps of grammes. (_b_) for postcards, half the rate for letters. (_c_) for printed matter, samples, and commercial papers the unit rate was fixed at centimes, with liberty for each country to fix a rate not exceeding centimes or less than centimes. the unit weight was fixed at grammes, and the progression of weight was by steps of grammes. the maximum limit of weight for samples was fixed at grammes, and for printed matter and commercial papers at , grammes.[ ] ( ) in cases where letters were forwarded by sea for distances over miles, a surtax not exceeding half the general union rate of prepaid postage might be added to the normal rate. ( ) the proposal as to the division of postage was accepted, with slight amplification. ( ) transit payments, that is, rates of payment by one administration to another administration in respect of the transmission of closed mails over the territory of the second administration by means which it provided, were fixed at fr. per kilogramme for mails containing letters and postcards, and centimes per kilogramme for mails containing other articles. the rates were increased to fr. and to centimes, respectively, when the distance of transmission exceeded kilometres on the territory of one administration. in the case of sea transits exceeding nautical miles, the despatching country was required to pay to the administration which provided the service, the expenses of the transportation, not exceeding fr. per kilogramme for letters and centimes per kilogramme for other articles. in november the indian post office administration applied for admission to the union. a further conference at berne was thereupon called to consider this request. representatives of a large majority of the signatories of the treaty of attended the conference, and other questions were raised. france, spain, and holland asked for the admission of their respective colonies; brazil submitted a declaration of adhesion; and great britain intimated that canada and newfoundland would submit applications. the original union had been limited to the european countries, turkey (including turkey-in-asia), russia-in-asia, northern africa, egypt, and the united states of america; and these further developments widened the problem before the congress. instead of merely considering the question of admitting india, it was called upon to face the possible extension of the union to the remotest parts of the globe. the question of transit rates, particularly of transit rates by sea, became therefore one of very great importance and difficulty, since it was necessary to fix such rates as would permit of the maintenance of that uniformity and lowness of the rates of postage which were the fundamental bases of the union. on this point there were prolonged and difficult discussions. the french delegates submitted a proposal for the application of the treaty of berne to all quarters of the globe, with a uniform transit rate of fr. per kilogramme for letters and centimes for printed matter, etc.[ ] the countries which maintained the more important and costly maritime services were not, however, prepared to submit to the loss of revenue which the adoption of the proposed transit rates would entail.[ ] germany submitted a scheme for classifying all countries of the world outside the union into four groups with four graduated maritime transit rates of fr. , fr., fr. and fr. per kilogramme, respectively, for letters, and centimes, fr., fr., and fr. per kilogramme for printed matter, etc.,[ ] a proposal which was opposed as contrary to the fundamental principle of uniformity, and calculated to give rise to difficulties and complications. moreover, the zones, being reckoned as from europe, were not applicable as between the distant countries themselves, e.g. between mexico and the west indies.[ ] the conference was able to arrive at an agreement only as regards the admission of british india and the french colonies in asia, africa, america and the pacific. the entry of these territories was fixed for the st july , and the general international rates of postage and transit rates, fixed under the convention of , were made applicable to the new territories of the union, except that for transit by sea for distances exceeding nautical miles a surtax equal to the full postage rates ( centimes and centimes) was authorized, instead of a surtax of half rates fixed under the original treaty; and the transit rates in respect of mails for or from these territories for distances of more than nautical miles were made fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards, and fr. per kilogramme for printed matter, samples, and commercial papers. the later congresses have added numerous services to those provided under the original scheme, such as, e.g., reply-paid postcards. for the most part, however, these additional services are of minor importance, and concern only a small part of the international traffic,[ ] the bulk of which still passes under the main divisions established at the first congress. in connection with the rates applied to those classes of the traffic there are three chief points of importance--the initial charge, the scale of weights, and the transit rates. the question of modifying the international letter rate, which had remained unchanged since the foundation of the union, was raised at the washington congress in . the austrian delegate proposed, not indeed that the initial charge should be reduced below centimes, but that the maximum weight allowed for the single letter should be increased from grammes to grammes. the british and french delegates opposed the proposal.[ ] the french delegates said it would involve a loss of more than a million francs to their administration. in some cases, e.g., italy, the raising of the limit would have had the effect of rendering the international service cheaper than the internal service. in the end the proposal was rejected. the subject of transit rates, which had not been seriously considered since the first congress, was also raised at the congress of washington ( ), two proposals in regard to it, by germany and by austria-hungary respectively, being under discussion. in the original project of the union, gratuitous transit had been proposed, with the reservation that remuneration should be paid in cases of special expenses occasioned to an intermediary by the transit of foreign mails. the new german proposal was for the abolition of all transit payments except in those cases where, according to the statistics of the international service, a payment of more than , fr. a year was due, and in those cases the actual amount due to be reduced by per cent., or at least by , fr.; to make the amount payable only by those countries whose share exceeded , fr.; and the reduction of the maritime transit rate from fr. to fr. this proposal was avowedly a step towards completely gratuitous territorial transit. the austrian proposal was for gratuitous transit for all correspondence sent _à découvert_, and a reduction of the transit rates for closed mails. gratuitous transit, to which, as already stated, the german proposal admittedly tended, was advocated by the delegates of the south american countries, but was opposed by several other countries, especially by belgium, france, and italy. as at the first congress, the delegates of the latter countries called attention to the great expense to which they were put in providing transport for transit mails, and rejected altogether the idea of gratuitous transit. in face of this opposition, the proposals could not be carried in their entirety. the transit rates were, however, considerably reduced, and simplifications in the method of ascertaining the amounts payable in respect of transit were introduced. the land rates were reduced from fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and centimes per kilogramme for other articles, to fr. and to - / centimes for the years and , to fr. and to - / centimes for the years and , and to fr. and to - / centimes for and after . the maritime transit rates were similarly reduced. countries whose expenses for the transit of foreign mails exceeded the receipts, and those whose combined receipts and expenses for that purpose did not exceed , fr. per year, were excused all payment under this head. at the next congress, held at rome in , the question of reducing the letter rate and transit rates was again discussed. proposals to raise the limit of weight for single letters from grammes to grammes were submitted by several states. it was pointed out that, although in general sufficient, the limit of grammes was often exceeded, and frequently the weight of letters required to be tested, causing inconvenience both to the public and the postal administrations. the german delegate expressed the opinion that the public were anticipating some concession, and that as reduction of the initial rate of centimes was impossible, an increased limit of weight would no doubt be appreciated.[ ] the british delegates pointed out that the equivalent of grammes in british weight was / or / ounce, a unit which would be highly inconvenient and could not be adopted. they would have accepted a limit of grammes; but in many countries the existing limit of weight for the initial letter rate in the inland service was grammes, and the introduction of a higher initial weight in the international service might lead to difficulties in the case of those administrations which desired to retain the lower limit in the inland service. on these grounds they inclined to the maintenance of the _status quo_. the delegates of the united states, italy, and turkey supported the british view. the italian delegates pointed out that the result would in effect be to compel those countries in which the limit was grammes to introduce modifications into their internal service--a position which it was obviously undesirable for the congress to take up. japan advocated the maintenance of the existing limit, because the effect of raising it would be to render further reduction of transit rates still more difficult. in the end the proposal was adopted by thirteen votes against twelve.[ ] countries using the avoirdupois system were to regard ounce as the initial weight limit. gratuitous transit was still unacceptable to the majority,[ ] but both land and sea charges were reduced. the land transit rates were reduced to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and centimes per kilogramme for other articles, for distances not exceeding , kilometres; to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and centimes per kilogramme for other articles, for distances between , and , kilometres; to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and centimes per kilogramme for other articles, for distances between , kilometres and , kilometres; and to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and centimes per kilogramme for other articles, for distances exceeding , kilometres. the sea transit rates were reduced to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and to centimes for other articles, for distances not exceeding nautical miles; to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and to centimes for other articles, for distances exceeding nautical miles, between countries of europe, between parts of europe, africa, and asia on the mediterranean and black seas, and between europe and north america; to fr. per kilogramme for letters and postcards and to fr. for other articles, for all routes not falling under the above headings. at this congress the question of reducing the international letter rate was raised by sir j. g. ward, the australasian delegate. in new zealand had introduced a universal penny rate for letters, and the financial results of the change had been regarded as satisfactory. the loss of revenue was some £ , in the first year, reduced to £ , in the second. there was an increase of per cent. in the number of foreign letters posted in the first year, as compared with an increase of . per cent. for the last year under the - / d. rate.[ ] the proposal met with strong opposition and little support. the opposition was based entirely on financial considerations, many of the delegates stating that their administrations were unable to face the sacrifice of revenue involved. in this connection the term "sacrifice of revenue" means sacrifice of gross revenue, and not necessarily that the carrying of foreign letters at a penny would on the whole result in actual loss through the cost of service being greater than a penny, although it is probable that the cost of a foreign letter weighing as much as an ounce would be slightly more than a penny.[ ] the proposal was defeated by eighteen votes to three.[ ] (ii) international parcel post the universal postal union as at first constituted provided only for the transmission of what may be regarded in the broad sense as letter post traffic. it made no provision for the transmission in the international service of packages of ordinary merchandise. such packets could in strictness only be forwarded at the letter rate, which was almost prohibitive; although frequently they were forwarded at the sample rate, in which case the weight of the packet was strictly limited. the french administration proposed, in the project of the congress of paris of , to extend in that direction the facilities provided by the union, by amplifying the definition of samples to include small parcels of ordinary goods,[ ] a proposal which was rejected by a majority of the administrations. it was, however, submitted to the congress under another form. the german administration proposed, not the extension of the sample privilege, but the establishment of a new service, which should provide for the transmission of parcels of general merchandise not exceeding kilogrammes in weight, the parcels to be charged a rate of postage sufficient to reimburse the administrations for the expenses of transmission. although this proposal was favourably received, many of the delegates had no power to enter into any arrangement of that nature. the question was therefore referred to the international bureau, with instructions to call a special conference for its consideration, if on investigation that course should be found desirable. at this time the circumstances in the different countries in regard to the transmission of small parcels varied. in some a service was provided by the post office; in others, the majority, the business was left to the railways or other forms of commercial transport. in all cases the services between different countries were regulated by conventions and agreements on such terms as could be mutually arranged between the contracting parties. in general the rates of postage were based on the rates for inland transmission in each of the countries concerned. they were often extremely complicated, and several administrations had mutually agreed to a uniform rate for parcels not exceeding kilogrammes in weight. the suggestion for a special conference was, in general, well received, and the conference met in paris in . all the countries of europe (except greece), canada, the united states, egypt, british india and persia, were represented. the fact that in many of the countries the post office had not at that time undertaken the transmission of parcels was a serious obstacle to the adoption of any sort of general agreement; and on the question of rates there was divergence of opinion whether the principle of uniformity should be accepted, and a fairly high maximum limit of weight conceded at a low uniform rate of postage, in order that the service might be of real advantage to the public, or whether the rates should be graduated according to scales of weight and distance. the original suggestion had been for a limit of kilogrammes, but at the conference a proposal for a limit of kilogrammes was submitted. several delegates were unable to accept the higher maximum, and the limit originally proposed was retained.[ ] as regards the rates of postage to be charged there was also diversity of opinion. some delegates held that the rate should be so fixed as to avoid the possibility of the service involving an administration in loss, while others, in view of the public benefits to be derived from the establishment of the service, were prepared to agree to rates which might prove insufficient to cover the expenses.[ ] simple uniform rates were regarded as a cardinal feature of a postal service for parcels.[ ] after prolonged discussion agreement was finally arrived at, and a convention was signed by all the delegates, with the exception of those representing great britain, british india, holland, and persia, to be brought into operation on the st october . financial considerations were the chief obstacle in the way of the participation of great britain.[ ] the contracting parties undertook to provide a mutual service for the interchange of parcels not exceeding kilogrammes in weight. liberty of transit was guaranteed throughout the territory of each contracting country, and for transit services the respective countries were to be remunerated as follows: the administration of the country of origin was required to pay to the administration of each other country concerned in the transmission, and to that of the country of destination, centimes for each parcel in respect of land transit. in cases where a sea transit was involved, the sum of centimes for each parcel was payable on sea routes not exceeding nautical miles; centimes for routes between and , nautical miles; fr. for routes between , and , nautical miles; fr. for routes between , and , nautical miles; and fr. for all routes exceeding , nautical miles. the rate of postage was based on the foregoing payments, and amounted to as many times centimes as there might be administrations concerned in the transmission, with the addition of all rates for sea transit, and with the reservation that each country might charge an additional centimes (raised in certain cases to , to centimes, or to fr.). in addition, the country of destination might charge a delivery fee of centimes. it was not anticipated that these rates would in all cases be sufficient to cover the expenses of carrying on the service, but the general advantages were regarded as adequate compensation for any monetary sacrifice which might be entailed.[ ] any administration which did not at that time conduct a parcel post service was authorized to arrange for the international service to be undertaken on its behalf by railway and steamship companies. at the lisbon congress in the maximum limit of weight was raised to kilogrammes, at which point it remains, and special rates were established for parcels which, on account of their size, shape or fragility, were inconvenient for transmission.[ ] such parcels, which had previously been excluded altogether from the service, were now admitted, subject to a rate of postage per cent. greater than the rate on ordinary parcels. at the congress of washington in , power to charge special rates was given to the administration of british india, viz. a rate not exceeding fr. for land transit, a surtax not exceeding fr. on each parcel posted or delivered in british india, and a scale of rates graduated according to weight on all parcels posted in british india, provided that the average receipt of the indian administration did not exceed fr. for each parcel.[ ] the special transit charge was abandoned at the rome congress of . no changes of importance were made at the rome congress of . several proposals in regard to the maximum limit of weight were discussed. the bulgarian delegates proposed an increase of the maximum to kilogrammes, but the proposal found no support.[ ] the swiss delegate proposed an increase to kilogrammes. this met with some support; but in view of the practical difficulties which would have been imposed on certain administrations in dealing with parcels of so great a weight, the proposal was negatived. the indian delegate proposed the insertion of a provision enabling any country to charge postage on parcels originating in that country according to a scale of weights of its own choice, in substitution for the existing single rate.[ ] the general proposal was rejected,[ ] but a clause was added provisionally according to india the faculty of applying to parcels posted in india a tariff graduated by weight, provided the mean of the rates was not in excess of the normal rate of the union. the land transit rate remained unchanged, viz. centimes for each country participating in the territorial transit. russia was given power to collect a transit fee of fr. per parcel in respect of both russia-in-europe and russia-in-asia, separately; and turkey to collect a transit rate of fr. on a parcel sent across turkey-in-asia. owing to the undeveloped state of the transport services in persia, that administration was empowered provisionally to decline the transport of parcels for and from other countries. the maritime transit rates were reduced to the following:-- centimes for transits not exceeding nautical miles centimes " - , " " fr. " , - , " " - / fr. " , - , " " fr. " exceeding , " " for parcels not exceeding kilogramme the transit rate should in no case exceed fr. * * * * * vii an analysis of cost method the post office[ ] performs but one service in respect of the ordinary postage paid on a packet, under whatever rate or regulations the packet is posted. whether the packet be a letter, a postcard, a halfpenny packet, a newspaper packet or a parcel,[ ] the service performed in respect of the ordinary postage is simply to transmit the packet without delay to the place of its address.[ ] there are, of course, several intermediate stages in the progress of the packet from the place of posting to the place of delivery. under the most favourable circumstances, as in the case of a letter from one small town to another small town for which there is a direct mail, the packet is handled two or three times by various officers; and in many cases, as with the letters from a suburb of one large town to a suburb of another large town, or to a place in a rural district or vice versâ, as many as ten or twelve times. although the character of the service to be performed, viz. transmission to the place of its address, is identical in every case, the character of the packet naturally has considerable influence on the nature and cost of handling at the various stages, and the methods adopted in dealing with the packet. but the operations are in essence the same, and the chief difference is in the amount of time occupied and the nature of the office fittings employed. this variation of cost and method does not correspond with variation in the rate of postage paid on the packets. except in the case of parcels, all distinction on the basis of rates of postage disappears once the sorting office is reached. in regard to the chief indoor operations there is, except at the smallest offices, complete separation between packets sent by parcel post and all other packets; but parcels are in some cases taken out with other packets for delivery at the same time and by the same officer. except in rural districts they are, however, generally taken out separately for the first morning delivery, and frequently for the last evening delivery. speaking broadly, there is as regards delivery, as for other operations, essential separation between parcels and all other classes of packets. in regard to packets other than parcels, the chief, and in many cases the only, separation in actual handling is as between those packets which can be passed through the stamping machine and those which cannot; and between those packets which can conveniently be dealt with at the ordinary letter-sorting frames, and tied in bundles for enclosure in the mail-bags, and those which on account of their irregular size and shape are sorted at pigeon-hole frames, and cannot be tied in bundles, but are forwarded loose in the mail-bags. the dividing line is almost identical in both cases, and is determined by the size and shape of the packet. in the largest offices more divisions are made, in some cases as many as five.[ ] the more usual number is three, "short letters," "long letters," and other packets.[ ] the division of the packets is made in all cases, not with reference to the various rates of postage under which the packets may have been posted, but with the view simply of securing that packets of the same shape and size shall, as far as possible, be brought together, and their subsequent handling thereby facilitated. in cases where there are four or five such divisions of the packets, the separation is likewise made from considerations independent of the rates of postage, although it happens that, as a rule, a large proportion of the packets posted under a given rate fall into a certain group. thus all postcards fall to be handled with the short letters; all newspapers fall to be handled with the heavier packets sent at the letter rate; and a large proportion of the halfpenny packets, viz. the short halfpenny packets, fall to be handled with the short letters. there are in general three methods of handling. the sorting is done either at the ordinary open frames, or at the newspaper frames, or directly into the mail-bags, the two latter methods being alternative. short letters are dealt with at the ordinary sorting frames. long letters (which include a large proportion of "circulars") are dealt with in some cases at the ordinary frames, and in some cases at the frames provided for the larger packets (the "newspaper" frames). all other packets are dealt with at the newspaper frames, or are sorted directly into the mail-bags in those cases where frames for hanging the bags are provided. stamping is performed either by hand or by machine. when first brought into the sorting office the packets are placed on an open table, and the ordinary letters, circular letters, and postcards are arranged in order with the addresses in the same direction, or, as it is termed, "faced." simultaneously, all other packets are picked out for treatment separately. the postage labels affixed to the letters and other packets are then obliterated with a dated stamp. after stamping, the letters and packers are taken to the respective sorting tables, where they are separated (in one or more operations) into groups corresponding to the various towns to which they will be despatched. before enclosure in the mail-bags, all short letters, postcards, and short halfpenny packets, and some of the long letters, are tied in bundles, other packets being sent loose. from the first office of destination many of the packets are sent forward to another office, since it is naturally not possible always to enclose a packet in a direct mail-bag for the town to which it is addressed. these packets are resorted and despatched. the letters, etc., for immediate delivery do not require to be faced, as they are received in bundles, in which they are arranged with the addresses in the same direction. but, except when received for the first morning delivery, letters are stamped to show the date and time of receipt, after which they are sorted in the order of delivery, and delivered by the postmen. in the delivery of the packets one division is made, viz. between the short letters, postcards, and short halfpenny packets, which are tied in bundles; and the letter packets and halfpenny packets of irregular size and shape, and the newspapers, which are carried loose in the delivery bag. the postman takes out of his bag a bundle of letters, etc., from which he delivers in order. these have been sorted up in the order of delivery at the sorting office, so that no time is lost in finding the proper letter for delivery. it is not possible, however, to arrange the irregular-shaped packets in this manner. when the postman has such a packet to deliver, he has first to find it among those in his bag. he then frequently finds that it is too large to be put through the letter-box, and further time is lost in gaining the attention of the householder.[ ] there is, therefore, in the matter of delivery, a heavy balance against the heavier and more bulky packets, as compared with the short letters, postcards, and short halfpenny packets. as regards the actual transmission from post office to post office, there is only one real division of the whole of the packets, viz. that between the parcel post on the one hand, and the whole of the remaining classes of packets on the other. in a number of cases separate mails are made up for newspapers and large packets; but compared with the total number of mails, the number of such separate mails is small, and the arrangement may be regarded as exceptional. in a considerable number of cases, however, packets sent at the parcel post rate are enclosed in the same mail-bag with packets sent at other rates. the arrangement is made somewhat extensively for mails from a post town to subordinate and other small offices in the immediate neighbourhood, but only exists in those cases where the number of parcels to be enclosed is small. as in every case where on the average as many as eight parcels are available at the time of despatch a separate mail may be made up, the arrangement does not exist extensively between any large centres with any considerable traffic; but it has been extended in recent years, and the total number of parcels forwarded in this way forms an appreciable proportion of the total number of parcels sent by post. there is in these cases, so far as mails conveyed by railway are concerned, complete separation in regard to one important element of cost, viz. the cost of conveyance. separate payment for the conveyance of parcels is made under the arrangement established by the parcel post act; while comprehensive payments are made for the conveyance of all other packets, arranged by negotiation with the individual railway companies or, failing agreement, fixed by the court of railway and canal commission in the manner prescribed by statute.[ ] the handling of a postal packet from posting to delivery therefore comprises the following operations in order:-- collection, facing, stamping, sorting, conveyance, stamping,[ ] sorting, delivery; and in the case of those packets which pass through more than one office there are, for every such office, the additional operations of sorting and conveyance.[ ] the bags are conveyed between the various post offices by mail-van (horse-drawn or motor), by mail-cart, by railway, or in a few cases by carrier-cycle, tricycle, or motor-cycle. the vans, carts, or cycles of course convey the bags from office to office, but when the bags are sent by railway it is necessary to provide for their conveyance to and from the railway stations. this is largely done by mail-van, mail-cart, or carrier-tricycle; but in a great number of cases throughout the country, where only two or three small bags are concerned, their conveyance between the station and the post office is provided for by cycle postman or "runner" service; that is to say, the bags are fetched or taken by a postman or porter. cost in order to ascertain the cost of dealing with postal packets of the various classes, the relative cost, and the actual cost, of the various operations must be ascertained, and all general charges apportioned. the cost of the "postal" service, shown in table b,[ ] i.e. the cost of the whole of the services controlled by the post office, less the cost of the telegraphs and telephones, may be grouped, as shown in table c, under the following main headings:-- ( ) cost of staff, ( ) cost of conveyance of mails, ( ) cost of buildings, ( ) cost of stores, and miscellaneous expenditure. staff since parcels are, to a considerable extent, dealt with separately, it has been possible to estimate the relative cost of the manipulative services in regard to parcels on the one hand, and all other postal packets (letters, postcards, halfpenny packets, and newspapers) on the other. the ratios of cost are shown in table d, and the total cost of the manipulative services in respect of parcels calculated on this basis is shown in table f. no similar ratios of relative cost have been estimated in regard to the various classes of packets other than parcels, since they are dealt with together, and it is necessary, therefore, to ascertain the actual cost for staff under the various headings of collection, stamping, sorting, and delivery. as regards collection, it is difficult to discover a basis on which a computation of the relative cost for the different classes of packets may be made, because the cost varies greatly, not only as between each class, but from place to place, in regard to any particular class of packet. many of the ordinary letter packets are posted in large numbers at head post offices, and in respect of packets so posted there is no cost of collection. light letter packets and halfpenny packets (especially halfpenny packets) are, moreover, handed in at post offices in considerable numbers for prepayment of postage in cash. in that case the cost of subsequent handling is slightly reduced, because under the regulations for such prepayment the packets must be tied in bundles with the addresses in the same direction, that is to say, the operation of facing must be performed by the person who posts the packets. against this, however, must be set the very considerable expense incurred both in towns and rural areas for the collection of ordinary light letter packets, postcards, halfpenny packets, and newspaper packets from posting boxes, and the cost of van services, which are frequently provided for the collection of letters from business premises. very little of the cost of these services can be attributed to the heavier letter packets, which are to a large extent handed in at the post office counter to be weighed. this involves considerable expense, which corresponds to cost of collection, and may be dealt with under that heading. the best estimate that can be made is that the cost of collection per packet is approximately the same in all cases. facing and stamping may be regarded as one operation, the one being really preparatory to the other. here there is less difficulty. the relative cost per packet may fairly be taken as the ratio of the time taken in performing the operation in the case of each class of packet. in regard to facing and stamping, and also in regard to sorting, the letter packets proper, that is to say packets sent at the ordinary letter rate of postage, fall in general into three classes according to the facility with which they can be handled, viz. ( ) "short letters," ( ) "long letters," ( ) "letter packets" (that is, the bulky packets sent at the letter rate).[ ] in order to complete the calculation, the number of packets which fall respectively into these three classes must be estimated. it has been indicated that the actual division is made according to the size and shape of the packets. the division corresponds approximately with variation in weight. few packets weighing more than / ounce would come within the class of short letters, that is, of letters which can be dealt with at the ordinary sorting frames; but as there is no analysis of the number of packets of less than ounce weight, there is no alternative to the adoption of ounce as the limit of this class.[ ] the effect of this is slightly adverse to the short letters and favourable to the heavier packets. as between long letters and the heavier packets the limit is less definite. in many cases packets of the same weight fall into one or other class according to their size or shape, but the mean weight of such indeterminate packets is roughly ounces, and that weight is adopted as giving the mean upper line of division for long letters. in table h are shown the relative rates of stamping and sorting for each of the various classes of packets. the proportionate cost per packet of stamping and of sorting, based on the rates shown in table h, is given in table j.[ ] the actual cost is shown in table l. as regards the cost of delivery some difficulty presents itself. letter packets, postcards, halfpenny packets, and newspaper packets are, in all cases, taken out for delivery by the same postman, and it is not possible, therefore, as with stamping and sorting, to ascertain the rates of work for the various classes of packets. but the features in the different packets which lead to differences in the rate of sorting, viz. weight and irregularity of shape and size, lead also to differences in the time taken for delivery. in practice the postman makes a division of the packets; and the time occupied in the delivery of the bulky and irregular packets is greater proportionately, as compared with the time occupied in the delivery of ordinary letters, than is the time occupied in sorting. it is not possible, however, to estimate with any degree of exactness the relative amount of time actually occupied in delivering packets of the various classes, and for the division of the cost of delivery (table j) the rates adopted for the division of the cost of sorting are taken. this method favours the bulky and irregular-shaped packets. conveyance the cost of conveyance of letter mails by railway forms by far the greater part of the whole cost of conveyance. the cost of conveyance of letter mails by road and sea, estimated on such data as are available, is shown in table m. as the total cost of the conveyance of mails is known, the total cost of the conveyance of parcel mails can be ascertained (table m). the best basis for division of this cost is the gross weight of the various classes of packets. payment is made purely on a weight basis in respect of the conveyance of a very large proportion of the mails, and, so far, division on the basis of weight is correct. but payment for the conveyance of a proportion of the mails is made on the basis of the cost of providing for the conveyance, and more or less independently of the weight carried. this applies in the case of mail-carts, motor-vans, or special trains which do not carry a full load. the amount paid in such cases is a single sum, calculated, so far as letter mails are concerned, without reference to the fact that postal packets of different classes are to be conveyed--without indeed, in some cases, much reference to the fact that any given quantity of mails is to be conveyed. in the absence of an assigned basis of payment which can be used to divide such sums, the division between the various classes of packets is made in proportion to the total weight of each class. in table n is shown the division of the whole cost of conveyance of letter mails between the various classes on this basis. general charges separate statistics are obtainable (table b) in regard to (_a_) buildings and office fittings, and (_b_) stores, but no exact estimate can be made of the cost of administration and accounting. the cost for buildings and office fittings is divided as between parcels and other packets on the basis defined in table d; and as between the various classes of packets other than parcels, on the basis of the gross weight of the packets (table o). the cost for stores, including the small sum under the heading "miscellaneous expenditure," is similarly divided as between parcels and other packets. as between the various classes of packets other than parcels, the cost is divided on the basis of simple numbers (table p). the cost for administration and accounting, which is comparatively small,[ ] cannot be stated exactly. it is contained in the total cost of staff (table c), and is consequently divided between the various classes in the same proportion as the cost of the manipulative staff. tables a to q show the complete calculation. table q shows the final result, which is that the average total cost of dealing with postal packets is as follows:-- for an ordinary letter-- d. under ounce . over ounce, under ounces . over ounces . for an average letter packet . for a postcard . for a halfpenny packet . for a newspaper packet . for a parcel . for the letter packets under ounce in weight, for those between ounce and ounces in weight, for the halfpenny packets and for the postcards, the estimated average cost will be approximately the actual cost per packet; but in the case of letter packets over ounces in weight and newspaper packets, the variations in weight and convenience of handling are considerable, and there will be an appreciable variation for individual packets above and below the estimated average cost. the cost will vary with the weight and size (but not proportionately), and the deviation will be greatest in the case of the heavier packets, since with both these classes the average weight of the great bulk of the packets is less than the general average. of all letter packets, postcards, halfpenny packets and newspapers, the number exceeding ounces in weight forms less than per cent. with so small a proportion of heavy packets the result may be taken as almost exact in the case of the lighter packets. it is not in excess of the actual cost, because the calculation, taken as a whole, is biassed in favour of the heavier packets. the resultant figures are figures of average cost. they represent the cost of those packets in each class in respect of which the average amount of service is performed, and not exceptional cases, as when packets travel over very long distances, or when a packet is redirected or returned to the sender, in which latter cases obviously double the normal service is performed. the calculation is approximate in that at certain points it has been necessary to frame estimates on imperfect data. this is inevitable in dealing with a service conducted over a large area and under diverse conditions.[ ] in general the manner in which the result is affected by the use of imperfect data has been indicated. these variations have been borne in mind throughout, and, as their effects are produced in varying directions, the combined effect is not such as to invalidate the results arrived at. the result suggests the following conclusions:-- ( ) that no class of packet sent at the letter rate of postage involves a loss to revenue; ( ) that there is a large profit on ordinary light letters; ( ) that in the case of packets of the weight of about ounces the profit is less, but is still appreciable; ( ) that there is a considerable profit on postcards; ( ) that there is a profit on the halfpenny packets; ( ) that there is a heavy loss on the newspaper packets, averaging nearly / d. per packet; ( ) that as regards packets other than parcels, the principle of uniformity of rate, irrespective of distance, is well founded. the cost of conveyance (. d. per packet) is still, in the phrase of sir rowland hill, "not expressible in the smallest coin"; ( ) that as regards the cost of conveyance there is no case for a reduced rate of postage for local letters; ( ) that as between local letters and other letters there is appreciable difference in the cost of handling, but this difference would not be sufficient to justify a discrimination measurable in coin; ( ) that the parcel post is conducted at considerable loss. if the cost be taken, as shown in table l, at · d. per parcel, the loss is on the average almost - / d. per parcel, or nearly £ , , on the total number of parcels dealt with in - . the matter is, however, complicated by the question whether a strictly mathematical proportion of the total expenses of the post office can fairly be charged against the parcel post.[ ] table a total numbers dealt with in the united kingdom, - . +-------------------+----------------------+ | letters | , , , [ ] | | postcards | , , [ ] | | halfpenny packets | , , , [ ] | | newspaper packets | , , | | parcels | , , [ ] | +-------------------+----------------------+ | total | , , , | +-------------------+----------------------+ * * * * * table b statement of expenditure in the year - in connection with the postal services, including money order and postal order business, but excluding post office savings bank and government annuity business. £ (a) salaries, wages and allowances , , (b) rent, rates, office fittings, water, light and heating , (c) conveyance of mails (excluding payments to foreign and colonial administrations):-- £ £ £ by rail-- ordinary postal packets , , parcels , , --------- , , by road , " packet , --------- , , _less_-- contributions received towards the cost of packet and mail services _ , _ --------- , , (d) purchase of stores and uniform clothing , (e) manufacture of stamps, etc. , (f) travelling, law charges, and incidental expenses , (g) estimated rental value of premises belonging to the post office used for postal purposes , (h) estimated pension liability for the year , , amount expended by other government departments in respect of various services rendered, viz.:-- £ (i) maintenance and repair of buildings , (j) rates on government property , (k) issue of postage stamps , (l) stationery, printing, etc. , (m) cost of audit (exchequer and audit department) , ------- , (n) net revenue contribution to the exchequer for the year , , ----------- £ , , =========== --_annual report of the postmaster-general_, - , appx. n, p. . table c statement of expenditure, summarized and adjusted. items in table b. net cost. (a) and (h) staff, £ , , . _deduct_-- £ £ ( ) officers in charge of eastern mails , ( ) post office agencies abroad , ( ) cost of services to other departments} , ( ) " money order service }excluding , ( ) " postal order service } postage , ( ) " registration and insurance service , ( ) " express delivery service , ( ) " private boxes and bags , ( ) " cash on delivery service, reply coupons, certificates of posting, late fee services, etc. , --------- _proportion allocated to staff_ , , , , (b), (g), (i), and (j) buildings, £ , . _deduct_-- in respect of ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), and ( ) above , , (_c_) conveyance of mails, £ , , . _deduct_-- ( ) packet services outside the united kingdom , ( ) conveyance of mails across panama , ( ) receipts from foreign countries for land transit , -------- , , , (_d_), (_e_), (_k_), and (_l_) stores, £ , . _deduct_-- in respect of ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), ( ), and ( ) above , , (_f_) and (_m_) miscellaneous , ----------- total £ , , =========== table d cost of staff and buildings. in the examination of proposals for revisions of staff and accommodation at post offices, the whole work of the offices is reduced to a common denominator for each chief division of the work, and is stated in terms of that denominator. thus all indoor work is reduced to and expressed in terms of units representing the work in connection with , letters posted and delivered, the term "letter" in this connection covering all packets sent by post other than parcels. there are no ratios for the separate classes of "letters." all outdoor work is reduced to and expressed in terms of a unit of , letters (posted and delivered), i.e. the complete service. for office accommodation the unit is , letters posted or delivered, whichever is the greater number at the office in question. certain ratios are taken for the expression in terms of letters of the various divisions into which the work performed by the post office falls. as between letters and parcels the ratios are as follow:-- units ratios. -------------------------------------------------------- | value in letters. +----------------------------------------- | indoor | outdoor | office | work. | work. | accommodation. --------------+--------+---------+----------------------- letter posted | / | -- } | { (whichever is the " delivered | / | } | { greater traffic) " forwarded | / | -- | / " collected | -- | x | -- | | | parcel posted | | -- | " delivered | | | " forwarded | | -- | " collected | -- | x | -- --------------+--------+---------+----------------------- , letters (weekly) = unit of postal work. for each unit of work so determined there is a corresponding normal cost. for indoor work the normal cost is approximately £ , for outdoor work £ s., and for office accommodation £ s., per annum. since the unit to which a certain normal cost is allowed is built upon calculations which give a parcel a definite relative value as compared with a letter, the ratios show the relative cost to the post office of a letter and of a parcel. table e relative cost of staff for letters and parcels. it is estimated that on the average more than half the total number of letters are not sent forward direct to the post office of destination, but are forwarded from the office at which they are posted to an intermediate office; that is to say, more than half the total number of letters travel in two mails, and incur a handling at an intermediate office. the handling at that office is termed "forwarding." the letters are termed "forward letters."[ ] expressed in another way, the estimate is that all letters are forwarded, on the average, in . mails. it is estimated that on the average a greater proportion of parcels travel in this way in two mails. the actual estimate is that a parcel travels in . mails. hence-- total handling of letter = letter posted + letter delivered + . letter forwarded. total handling of parcel = parcel posted + parcel delivered + . parcel forwarded. now a letter forwarded = / letter posted and delivered (table d). and a parcel forwarded = / parcel posted and delivered (table d). hence total handling of letter = . letter posted and delivered. and total handling of parcel = . parcel posted and delivered. the ratio between the total cost of handling (indoor) of letter and the total cost of handling (indoor) of parcel is therefore-- . × : . × = : . . the normal unit cost for indoor work is £ (approximately). for outdoor work the ratio is : , and the normal unit cost £ s. the ratio for all indoor and outdoor services is therefore approximately : . * * * * * table f actual cost of staff for letters and parcels. the total cost of handling a parcel is times the total cost of handling a packet other than a parcel (table e). in - the total number of parcels dealt with was , , (table a). the cost of handling these parcels was equivalent to the cost of handling , , × = , , , packets other than parcels. in - the total number of packets other than parcels dealt with was , , , (table a). and the total cost of staff engaged in dealing with all packets, including parcels, was £ , , (table c). hence the total cost of handling , , parcels was £ , , × , , , / , , , = £ , , . and the total cost of handling , , , packets other than parcels was £ , , . table g analysis of cost of staff. letter mails. _total cost_, £ , , . the handling of postal packets falls into the following groups of operations:-- (_a_) collection and delivery, (_b_) facing, stamping, and sorting, (_c_) administration and accounting. the cost of administration and accounting when reduced to the individual packet is extremely small. in general also it varies to some extent with the size of the packet. thus the newspaper packets and the halfpenny packets, which are considerably heavier than the ordinary letters, notoriously involve more difficulty and expense in administration; and the postcard, the lightest postal packet, notoriously involves least difficulty and expense in administration. parcels undoubtedly involve much more expense for accounting than any other class of packet; so that if the expense for administration and accounting be divided in the ratio adopted for sorting, stamping, collection, and delivery, which also depends largely on the weight of the packet, no appreciable error is introduced. no attempt is made, therefore, to isolate the expense for administration and accounting. the total cost of collection and delivery is estimated to be double the total cost of facing, stamping, and sorting. the cost of delivery is estimated to be four times the cost of collection. the cost of sorting is estimated to be four times the cost of facing and stamping. the total cost of handling packets other than parcels (excluding cost of conveyance) = £ , , . hence-- £ total cost of collection = , , " " facing and stamping = , " " sorting = , , " " delivery = , , ---------- total £ , , ========== table h relative rates of sorting and stamping. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |relative rate |relative rate | of stamping. | of sorting. ---------------------------------------+--------------+--------------- ordinary letter packets-- | | (_a_) not exceeding oz. | , | (_b_) over oz., not exceeding oz.| | (_c_) over oz. | | postcards | , | halfpenny packets | | newspaper packets | | ---------------------------------------+--------------+--------------- * * * * * note i. the rates both as regards stamping and as regards sorting are not actual but relative rates. in both cases the handling of an ordinary light letter is taken as the standard with which the rate of handling other articles is compared. the table is intended to indicate, e.g., that if in a given period of time ordinary light letters would be sorted, only letters weighing between ounce and ounces, or only halfpenny packets, would be sorted in the same period; or if in a given period of time , ordinary light letters would be stamped, only letters over ounce in weight, or only newspapers, would be stamped in the same period. all that is aimed at is the normal relative rate of sorting for each class of packet. it is not necessary to ascertain the normal absolute rate. * * * * * note ii. _rates of stamping._--in determining rates of stamping, a serious complication is introduced by the use of machines (both hand and power) at many offices for stamping certain classes of packets. in london, where approximately one-third of the total number of postal packets is posted, power machine-stamps are employed, except at a few of the sub-district sorting offices, at which hand machine-stamps are still employed. there are a few of the smaller offices at which all the stamping is done by hand, but the number of such offices and the number of packets so stamped is negligible. the power machine stamps at rates varying from to times as great as that of an officer stamping by hand; the hand machine stamps at a rate about ten times as great. power machine-stamps are in use in the provinces in towns in which approximately a quarter of the total number of postal packets is posted. hand machine-stamps are in use in other towns in the provinces where approximately one-twelfth of the total number of postal packets is posted. in the remaining towns there is hand stamping only. the foregoing estimates give an average rate of stamping throughout the kingdom for those classes of packets which are of a size and shape to pass through the machine-stamp, where available, of about ten times as great as that of an officer stamping by hand. this figure must now be applied to the various classes of packets shown in the table, in conjunction with the rates of hand-stamping for such packets as cannot be passed through the machine-stamp. (_a_) practically all letters under ounce can be passed through the machine-stamp if available. hence the rate for this class is ten times the rate of hand-stamping. (_b_) none of the second or third classes of packets can be passed through the machine. further, these packets are of irregular shape and are therefore much less convenient to deal with than ordinary letters. the rate of hand-stamping is therefore only about three-fourths the rate for ordinary letters. (_c_) all postcards can be passed through the machine-stamp if available. the rate is therefore ten times the rate of hand-stamping. (_d_) a large proportion of halfpenny packets cannot, on account of their size and shape, be passed through the machine-stamp, and the figure for the machine-stamp must be considerably reduced for these packets. the nearest estimate that can be formed for these packets is . times the rate for hand-stamping. (_e_) newspapers cannot be passed through the machine-stamp, but in a number of cases the wrappers are taken to the post office before the newspapers are enclosed in them for cancellation of the postage stamps (in order to secure a prompt despatch when the newspapers are actually posted). the rate for such stamping is slightly greater than the rate of hand-stamping for ordinary letters. on the other hand, the rate of stamping newspaper packets is not more than two-thirds the rate of hand-stamping ordinary letters. the nearest estimate that can be formed for all newspapers is that the rate of stamping is four-fifths the rate of hand-stamping ordinary letters. * * * * * note iii. _rates of sorting._--(_a_) the average rate of sorting for ordinary letters is taken as the unit. (_b_) the rate of sorting letters and the rate of sorting postcards may be taken as identical. (_c_) owing to the irregular shape of newspaper packets, and letter packets over ounces in weight, the average normal rate of sorting must be taken as considerably less than that for letters. both classes are usually sorted at the packet tables and not at the ordinary letter frames. (_d_) the letter packets between ounce and ounces in weight present some difficulty, since they include a considerable number of long letters, which are sorted at the ordinary letter frames at nearly the same rate as short letters, while the rest are sorted at the packet tables at about the same rate as the heavier packets. the figure should obviously be between (_a_) and (_c_). (_e_) the halfpenny packets also fall into two classes: ( ) those sorted as short letters, and ( ) those sorted at the newspaper frames. a very large proportion fall into the second class, and the average normal rate of sorting, as in the case of the second class of letter packets, is intermediate between (_a_) and (_c_). table j staff. this table shows the relative cost per packet, based on the rates of work (table h), the cost of an ordinary letter being taken as the unit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | facing and | | description of packet. |collection.| stamping. | storing. | delivery. | | [ ] | | [ ] --------------------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------- ordinary letter packets-- | | | | (a) not exceeding oz. | | | | (b) over oz., not | | | | exceeding oz. | | - / | - / | - / (c) over oz | | - / | - / | - / postcards | | | | halfpenny packets | | - / | - / | - / newspaper packets | | - / | - / | - / --------------------------+-----------+------------+----------+---------- * * * * * table k staff (relative cost). this table shows the ratios in table j weighted according to the number of packets in each class. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | facing and | | description of packet. |collection. | stamping. | storing. | delivery. --------------------------+------------+------------+----------+----------- ordinary letter packets-- | | | | (a) not exceeding oz. | | | | (b) over oz., not | | | | exceeding oz. | . | . | . | . (c) over oz. | . | . | . | . postcards | . | . | . | . halfpenny packets | . | . | . | . newspaper packets | . | . | . | . --------------------------+------------+------------+----------+----------- table l staff (actual cost). this table shows the ratios given in table k applied to the total cost (tables f and g). -------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------- | |facing and| | | description of packet. |collection| stamping |storing. |delivery.| total. -------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------- ordinary letter packets--| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ (a) not exceeding oz.| , | , | , , | , , | , , (b) over oz., not | | | | | exceeding oz. | , | , | , | , | , (c) over oz. | , | , | , | , | , postcards | , | , | , | , | , , halfpenny packets | , | , | , | , | , , newspaper packets | , | , | , | , | , -------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------- total | , , | , | , , | , , | , , -------------------------+----------+----------+---------+---------+---------- table m conveyance. _total cost of conveyance of mails within the united kingdom_: £ (a) for conveyance by railway , , (b) " " " road , (c) " " " sea , ---------- total £ , , ========== of the payment for conveyance by railway, £ , , is the cost of the conveyance of letter mails, and £ , , the cost of the conveyance of parcel mails. the payment for conveyance by road is, on such estimate as can be made, assignable in equal proportions between letter mails and parcel mails. of the payment for conveyance by sea, £ , is, on such estimate as can be made, assignable to the conveyance of letter mails. the cost of the conveyance of letter mails is therefore-- £ by railway , , " road , " sea , ---------- total £ , , ========== and the cost of the conveyance of parcel mails is-- £ by railway , , " road , " sea , ---------- total £ , , ========== table n conveyance: analysis of cost. letter mails. _total cost_, £ , , . cost of conveyance is assigned between the various classes of packets in proportion to the gross weight. +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | description of packet. | gross weight. | cost of | | | [ ] | conveyance. | +--------------------------+------------------+------------------+ |ordinary letter packets-- | lb. | £ | | (a) not exceeding oz. | , , | , | | (b) over oz., not | | | | exceeding oz. | , , | , | | (c) over oz. | , , | , | |postcards | , , | , | |halfpenny packets | , , | , | |newspaper packets | , , | , | +--------------------------+------------------+------------------+ * * * * * table o buildings. _total cost_, £ , . twelve times as much office accommodation is required in respect of a parcel as in respect of a packet other than a parcel (table d). hence-- the total cost of buildings may be divided as between parcels on the one hand and all packets other than parcels on the other hand in the ratio-- , , × : , , , i.e. : . the total cost for buildings chargeable to parcels is therefore £ , , and the total cost for buildings chargeable to other packets is £ , . the latter sum is assigned between the respective classes of packets in proportion to the gross weight of each class (table n) as follows:-- cost for buildings. ordinary letter packets-- £ (a) not exceeding oz. , (b) over oz., not exceeding oz. , (c) over oz. , postcards , halfpenny packets , newspaper packets , -------- total £ , ======== this division gives an advantage to the light packets as compared with the heavier packets sent by letter post; but, as between parcels and other packets, an advantage is given to parcels (cf. _supra_, table e). table p stores and miscellaneous expenditure. _total cost_, £ , . as between parcels and other packets respectively, this amount is assigned on the unit basis, reckoning one parcel equivalent to twelve other packets (table d). as between the various classes of packets other than parcels, the amount is assigned on the basis of simple numbers. ordinary letter packets-- £ (a) not exceeding oz , (b) over oz., not exceeding oz , (c) over oz , postcards , halfpenny packets , newspaper packets , parcels , -------- total £ , ======== this method gives an advantage to the heavy packets. table q total cost. --------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------ | | | | | | cost description of | staff. |conveyance.|buildings.|stores,| | per packet | | | |etc. | total. |packet --------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------ ordinary letter | | | | | | packets-- | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | d. (a) not exceeding | , , | , | , | , | , , | . oz | (b) over oz., not | | | | | | exceeding oz.| , | , | , | , | , , | . (c) over oz. | , | , | , | , | , | . | | | | |---------| all letter packets | ... | ... | ... | ... | , , | . | | | | |=========| postcards | , , | , | , | , | , , | . halfpenny packets | , , | , | , | , | , , | . newspaper packets | , | , | , | , | , | . parcels | , , | , , | , | , | , , | . --------------------+---------+-----------+----------+-------+---------+------ viii conclusion in relation to the rate of postage, the traffic of the post office falls into two main groups: on the one hand light letters and packets approximating to that type, and on the other the heavier packets and parcels. this division corresponds with an important difference in the practical working of the post office service, the task of providing for the transmission of ordinary letters, hundreds of which can be conveyed by foot-messenger without difficulty, being one entirely different from that of providing for the transmission of larger packets, a few scores of which would render necessary the use of a vehicle. * * * * * as to the transmission of letters, sir rowland hill first perceived the significance of the fact that with objects of light weight the cost of conveyance, even over great distances, is small, and in his scheme of reform he consciously applied this fact to the determination of the rate of letter postage. this consideration remains; and as regards the ordinary letters of business or private communication--the average weight of which is less than half an ounce--the principle of uniformity of rate irrespective of distance, which is now the characteristic of letter postage, is well founded. of the whole expense of conducting the postal services, the expense of the actual conveyance of a letter from place to place is not only small as compared with the cost of the terminal services of collection and delivery, but is actually so small in amount that no monetary system provides a coin of sufficiently small value to make its collection a practical possibility. the uniform rate, by making practicable the system of prepayment of postage by means of adhesive labels, has, moreover, effected great economy in the working of the service, and its simplicity is a boon to the public, the more so as it has been possible to fit the common rate to a popular coin. a low uniform rate is, however, only made possible from the financial standpoint by the post office monopoly of the carriage of letters, although that monopoly is justified on other grounds. with a uniform rate, owing to the varying conditions under which the service is conducted in different districts, there is inevitably a variation in the amount of profit. in certain cases, the rate is actually unprofitable; and were private undertakings permitted to compete for the more profitable traffic, such as the local traffic in large centres of population, the profits of the post office would be reduced to vanishing-point. improvements in the means of communication have naturally had considerable effect on the development of the post office. the introduction of the stage-coach in the eighteenth century, and of railways and steamboats in the nineteenth, in turn revolutionized the methods of general transportation. by these improvements the capacity of the post office was largely increased, and regularity, rapidity, and increased frequency of service made possible. but such general improvements, while of the utmost importance as regards the capacity and character of the post office service, can affect the rates of postage only so far as they affect the cost of transportation of the mails, or, by largely increasing traffic, enable economies of business on a large scale to be secured. the stage-coach cheapened the cost of transportation, but, in england, had no effect on the rates of postage, because at the time of its introduction the charges were of a purely fiscal character, and the benefit of cheaper transportation was not passed on to the users of the post office. the effect of the introduction of the railway has, at any rate as regards letter postage, not been much greater. sir rowland hill's reform, which standardized letter postage, was based on the ascertained cost of conveyance of mails by stage-coach.[ ] he found the cost of such conveyance too small to be taken into account; and the introduction of the railway could not, of course, improve such a situation.[ ] the ordinary light letter, weighing on the average considerably less than an ounce, comprises the overwhelming bulk of post office traffic, and the heavier letters occupy a quite subsidiary place. with the growth of post office traffic, and the consequent economies resulting from business on a large scale, the profits of the post office have gradually increased, but not to such an extent as to admit of the reduction of sir rowland hill's penny rate without destroying the net revenue. any reduction has been limited to the heavier letters. the penny rate for the ordinary letter, though so moderate, is considerably in excess of the average cost even of long-distance letters.[ ] its maintenance, therefore, depends not on economic, but on general political and financial considerations. the question is, what general considerations shall be allowed to govern the rate? shall it be fixed on the simple basis of cost and revenue, or shall it be fixed at such a level as to yield a surplus revenue? in other words, is it thought that the general public advantages which would result from a reduction of postage to the cost basis would counterbalance the disadvantages which would result from the loss of public revenue? this question will, of course, be answered in accordance with the varying circumstances in the different countries and at different times.[ ] an important consideration in relation to any proposal for reduction or increase of the letter rate, or, indeed, of any rate of postage, is, of course, the probable effect on the volume of traffic. sir rowland hill, when he put forward his plan, laid stress on the increase in the number of letters which he anticipated would follow the adoption of his proposal. since that time it has become almost an axiom that a reduction of rate will naturally and inevitably be followed by an increase of the traffic, more or less considerable, according as the reduction is large or small. indeed, some writers have thought that the new postal system was based on a law of fixed relative proportions between a reduction of rate and the corresponding result on traffic. in point of fact, sir rowland hill's estimates were based only partially on the probable effect of the reduction in stimulating traffic, and rather on the anticipation that, with a rate reasonably low, all that vast letter traffic which it was well known was being unlawfully dealt with outside the post office would be attracted to the lawful service. it is probable that a point of approximate satiety can be reached in the reduction of postage rates no less than in the reduction of the price of other commodities. a reduction would then result in only slightly increased consumption of the commodity--that is, in the case of letters, increase of the number posted. _per contra_, a moderate increase of rate would result in a comparatively small reduction of the number of letters.[ ] but moderate variations of postage on ordinary letters are difficult to make, since popular charges, such as a penny or halfpenny, while they offer obvious advantages from many points of view, are not susceptible of slight modifications. the variation of rate according to the weight of the packet is a point which has received insufficient attention. there can be no doubt that the cost to the post office of performing the service it affords in respect of packets of any kind entrusted to it increases with the increase of the weight and size. but it does not increase proportionately. a letter of ounces does not cost twice as much to collect, transmit, and deliver as a letter of ounces. the operations of stamping, sorting, and making up for despatch occupy more time and cause more inconvenience in the case of the larger packet, but the difference is slight when compared with the difference in size and weight. nor does the cost of conveyance vary directly with the weight. in any system of rates, therefore, which are accurately adjusted to the cost of the service, the rate of charge must increase considerably less rapidly than the increase in weight, that is to say, the rate would be degressive. of modern postage rates very few are constructed on this principle, and to that extent they are uneconomic. in the case of letters, since the weight of the packet is normally unimportant, and simplicity of charge very important, this factor has been for the most part ignored.[ ] * * * * * the same consideration which makes the uniform rate irrespective of distance economically just in the case of ordinary letters, takes away any ground on the score of cost of service for a special rate for local letters lower than the general uniform rate. on the other hand, the considerations which make for monopoly and unified control in the case of a general service, do not apply with the same force in the case of a service limited to a small area. in the latter case, competition can much more easily be set up; and as the uniform penny rate is much higher than the cost of service even in the case of long-distance letters, competing agencies, which can leave aside unprofitable districts, such as the rural districts, can secure a profit on a local service while charging much lower rates. the maintenance of a local rate for letters side by side with a uniform rate per cent. greater for all distances outside the local area, as in canada, is nevertheless inconsistent from the economic standpoint. * * * * * the postcard, which may be regarded as a development of the letter post, is, in effect, an admission that the letter rate is much higher than the cost of service. the difference in cost of service in the case respectively of a light letter and a postcard is negligible. indeed, in some respects light letters are more easily and more rapidly handled than postcards. from that standpoint, therefore, there is nothing to justify the difference of per cent. in the rate of charge, and the lower rate is an arbitrary concession. the logical ground for its existence is rather to be looked for in the familiar and generally accepted principle applied to the determination of transportation rates by railway, by road, or by sea, viz. charging "what the traffic will bear," or the variation of the rates according to the intrinsic value of the goods transported.[ ] many messages are sent on postcards which otherwise would be sent as closed letters. but, at the same time, many messages are sent on postcards which otherwise would not be sent at all. this has been especially the case since the introduction of the picture postcard. * * * * * these remarks apply equally to the lower rate which has been conceded to circular letters. both rates represent a great concession relatively to the letter rate, and under them a large traffic has grown up.[ ] they closely approximate to the actual cost of service, and probably yield a small profit. they are of great importance in the general scheme of rates, because they provide a cheap means for the transmission of a very large proportion of ordinary personal and commercial messages, and thus indirectly strengthen the position of the profitable penny rate for ordinary letters. the picture postcard has strengthened the position of the letter rate in another way, viz. by raising the cost of sending a postcard, so that in many cases it is now greater than that of a letter. a common charge for a picture postcard is a penny; the cost of sending a communication on such a card by post is then three-halfpence, whereas the cost of a letter is only a penny plus the very slight cost of the paper and envelope. * * * * * the newspaper rate involves some new considerations. the original aim of the posts was the distribution of a certain form of intelligence. they had by the seventeenth century developed into an instrument whose main function was the distribution of letters. the first postal traffic in packets which were not letters was that in newspapers. the early newspapers were, however, in fact as well as in some cases in name also, merely news "letters," and it would have been surprising, therefore, had the posts not been made use of for their distribution. for newspapers, however, the charges have from the first been of a fundamentally different character from those for letters, and the traffic in newspapers, so far from being a source of profit, has in general resulted in heavy loss. there are certain general considerations which render the application of the rates of postage charged on letters inappropriate. the bulk and weight of a single newspaper is usually much greater than the bulk of a single letter; and if the newspaper were charged at the same rate and on the same basis as the letter, viz. by weight, it must in general be charged several times the rate for an ordinary letter. such a charge would be unjust, because, as already pointed out, the cost of performing the services of transportation and delivery does not increase in direct proportion, or anything approaching direct proportion, to the increase of weight. if a newspaper is regarded as a very heavy letter, the importance of the factor of weight is at once perceived. weight charges levied on newspapers should at least be on a degressive scale. but any system of charge by weight proportioned to letter postage must lead to a higher charge than that for a single letter. how much higher is of little consequence, because even the rate for single letters would be almost prohibitive for ordinary newspapers. the papers would either be excluded from the mails and despatched by private agencies, where such agencies exist, or, in countries where the post office holds the monopoly of the carriage of newspapers, the traffic would be greatly restricted. a lower rate for newspapers is also justified on the principle of charging "what the traffic will bear." but the chief reason is that it has usually been considered desirable to encourage the distribution of newspapers for the benefit of the public; and in its origin, the special rate for newspapers seems to rest rather on the two general considerations of the expediency of providing for the easy distribution of intelligence, and the impossibility of charging newspapers with the same rate as letters. * * * * * merchants' and manufacturers' samples are not, of course, strictly speaking, of the nature of correspondence, and their conveyance by post represents in some aspects an expansion of function. the main function of the post office is the distribution of letters, or, as it may be expressed generally, the distribution of any species of communication between persons, reduced to material form, whether as manuscript letters, postcards or circular letters, printed or written, or even in the form of newspapers. for samples of merchandise some relationship to ordinary communications may perhaps be claimed. they are themselves often the necessary complement of letters of business and are forwarded in order to convey a precise notion of the commodities with which the business is concerned, a purpose served much more effectively by the small sample than by the descriptive letter, which would be the only alternative. so far, then, as the post office is intended to assist the transmission of information of whatever sort, the carriage of merchants' samples is perhaps a legitimate part of its function, especially as the encouragement of trade is no small part of its main function. the transmission of small packets not inconvenient to handle and transport, although essentially different in make-up from letters, was therefore a natural development when advantage to commerce would result. the impracticability of charging the ordinary letter rate, since such a charge would have been prohibitory, which has influenced the newspaper rate, is equally applicable to samples. the case for a lower rate was strengthened by the consideration that commerce would benefit, and the general considerations of the justice of a lower weight-rate for moderately heavy packets and for packets of less intrinsic value, applied to sample packets, no less than to newspapers, although this point of view was not perhaps consciously adopted. based on these considerations, a special rate was given to samples, fixed more or less arbitrarily, and without examination into the question of what rate would be the lowest profitable rate for the business. * * * * * the basis of the book rate is only to a slight degree economic, that is to say, related to the cost of providing the service. the justification for a low rate rests for the most part on the same considerations as the privileged rate for newspapers: the desirability of assisting the education of the people and the utility of books for the purpose, the comparatively low intrinsic value, and the impossibility of charging the scale of rates applied to letters--even less possible in the case of books than in the case of newspapers. * * * * * the exceptionally low rate for printed matter for the blind has been given as a measure of philanthropy. by its means, although at some loss to postal revenue, the effect of the disadvantage of bulk and weight in such printed matter, which results from the affliction, is in a large degree removed.[ ] * * * * * the question of the rate to be applied to parcels is one of considerable difficulty. while considerations of public utility would probably make it undesirable for the state to derive a profit from the business, they would hardly extend to the point of conducting a large transportation business at a loss, and the results in england and germany show how important and difficult is the problem of fixing remunerative rates. the rates for newspapers, samples, ordinary printed matter, etc., have been accorded not solely with reference to the cost of the service, but on grounds more or less political and social as regards the fact of granting a privileged rate, and more or less empirical as regards the fixing of the actual amount of the charge. for the most part this method has answered sufficiently well, the reason being that the cost per packet is comparatively small, and the privileged traffic has not generally assumed large proportions relative to the letter traffic. these empirical methods cannot, however, be applied in the case of parcels. the expense of the service performed by the post office is not, as with a letter, actually small, and confined to that of collection at one end and delivery at the other end of the journey, with a negligible cost (per packet) for transmission between the points of origin and destination. cost of transportation itself becomes an appreciable item in respect of every parcel. for this transportation the post office is in the main dependent on the railways, and in the determination of its cost the principles determining ordinary railway rates must necessarily apply. those principles are complex and to a large degree indeterminate. on the problem of railway and other transport rates many volumes have been written, and many more will yet be written before a solution is arrived at.[ ] railways, like the post office, are unable to allocate the actual working costs with any degree of precision between the various kinds of service they perform. like the post office, they have one general set of expenses, although they have diverse sources of revenue.[ ] even if the cost of service could in each case be definitely ascertained, its adoption as the sole basis of the rates would prove unsatisfactory.[ ] for the most part the principles on which the rates are actually fixed resolve themselves into a consideration of "what the traffic will bear," that is to say, the test by actual observation and computation, strengthened, if need be, by actual experiment, of the rates which will yield the maximum advantage to the railway company. the advantage to the railway conducted under private management may be defined to be the excess of receipts from the traffic over the out-of-pocket expenses actually incurred in handling the traffic. to obtain this maximum it has been found necessary to vary the charge according to the nature of the goods. elaborate, detailed classifications of goods have been arranged with distinct scales of rates for each class, devised on the basis of charging each kind of goods with the rate likely to yield to the railway the maximum of advantage as defined above.[ ] although somewhat crude and a little empirical, certainly largely arbitrary, this method has been almost universally adopted for the determination of railway charges.[ ] a characteristic feature of such charges is that account is invariably taken of the distance over which the goods are transported. in contrast with this, the principle of uniformity of rate irrespective of distance has been universally adopted in regard to all postal packets other than parcels, and to some extent for parcels. the application of the principle to parcels rests, however, on other grounds than its application to letters. sir rowland hill himself never contemplated that the principle was necessarily applicable to all matter which might be sent by post.[ ] the circumstances under which he made his discovery, and the facts on which he relied, make it plain that, in the absence of other overpowering considerations, the grounds advanced in the case of light letters will not justify uniformity of rate irrespective of distance for packets of considerable weight, which necessarily involve appreciable cost for transportation. from the financial point of view, the uniform rate is, moreover, inapplicable to any class of traffic not secured to the post office by monopoly, since private undertakings will always step in and take away the profitable sections. for heavy parcels a uniform rate cannot be justified. there are, however, certain considerations not purely economic which may be held to justify a uniform rate for small parcels, especially if it be held that the state may conduct such a business for the advantage of the public, and abandon to some extent ordinary commercial balancing of cost and revenue. simplicity, afforded in a high degree by the uniform rate, facilitates the administration and practical conduct of post office business, and is, therefore, desirable, even if a little unjust. complicated rates are an unfailing source of irritation to the public as well as a source of embarrassment to the staff, and there is not much doubt that one feature of the parcel post which commends it to the public favour is the simplicity of its rates.[ ] there is, moreover, to be considered the view that it is no part of the duty of the post office to provide services in towns or districts for which private industry gives adequate services, but rather to cover the whole country, so that the public may always have ready to hand a means of forwarding small packages of goods to friends or relatives, or traders to customers, in other parts of the country. such a service has many features which distinguish it from business undertakings of the ordinary type. in this way uniform rates may prove justified; since if in regard to any local service, or the service between any two points, the uniform rate, which must necessarily in certain cases yield considerable profit, is found burdensome, it is in all such cases open to private industry to provide the remedy. in the case of light parcels the cost of the services of collection and delivery is much greater than that of conveyance; and the variation of the total cost with distance of transmission is small proportionately. the uniform rate can therefore be fixed near the level of the cost. but even for such parcels it is economically unsound. it cannot be fixed at a really low level, because it is to be applicable to a parcel sent across the whole territory of a postal administration; and with such a parcel, even if weighing only pound, the cost of transportation is an appreciable item. the uniform rate for parcels is an expedient for smooth working rather than a scientific rate, and against the acceptance of uniformity of rate as a principle must be placed the fact that railway companies have not adopted it. the actual results of the uniform rate have not been altogether satisfactory. the small use of the post for the transmission of the heavier parcels appears to indicate that the rate for such parcels is, in general, too high.[ ] for local traffic in small towns, where cost of conveyance is negligible, it is almost prohibitive,[ ] and is much higher than the rates charged by competing agencies. the considerations in favour of a degressive rate apply with greater force to parcels of moderate weight than to the comparatively light packets which pass at the letter rate, and this feature should receive fuller recognition in the determination of parcel rates than has hitherto been the case. to sum up: there are important differences between the letter and parcel traffic: ( ) the letter traffic is a monopoly in which the more profitable business belongs to the state as well as the unprofitable, while the parcel business is not a monopoly, and any traffic which proves profitable may at once attract private competition; ( ) in the letter traffic the cost of transmission for a given distance is negligible, and in the parcel traffic it is important; ( ) the social arguments which make it desirable for the state to secure as wide as possible a diffusion of letters containing information, of newspapers, books, and samples, do not apply in the same way, or to the same degree, to the traffic in parcels containing goods. * * * * * in essentials the case of international rates differs little from that of inland rates. the work in connection with a letter falls into three main divisions: ( ) at the place of posting; ( ) transmission from place of posting to place of delivery; and ( ) at the place of delivery. in the case of inland letters, the first and third factors preponderate to such a degree that their cost alone need be taken into consideration in fixing the rate. the factor of transmission can be ignored. in the case of letters from one country to another, the services at the offices of posting and delivery are performed under different, instead of under the same, administrations, but for all practical purposes are otherwise unaffected. the only factor seriously affected is that of transportation. the variation in the cost for transportation[ ] depends largely on distance, and in that respect various countries are affected in varying degrees, not only as regards the actual distances over which their letters for or from places abroad are sent, but in the way in which those distances compare with the distances over which letters in the inland service are conveyed; and the question therefore wears a different aspect in the different countries. thus a very large proportion of letters in the british service are forwarded over greater distances than letters in the inland service. the same thing is probably true of france and germany. distances in the inland services of the united states and canada are, however, comparable with the distances in the international services in europe, and in many cases with distances in their own international services. if, therefore, mere distance of transmission were the only consideration, there would obviously be little to urge against the application of the ordinary penny letter rate for inland transmission, at least to the traffic of the whole of europe, just as it has been applied to the traffic of the whole of the united states and canada.[ ] but it is doubtful whether inland distances are really comparable with international distances. the cost of maintaining lines of communication between distant countries is often altogether out of proportion to the quantity of mails conveyed; and the sums paid, although ostensibly payments for the conveyance of mails, are often really subsidies, paid sometimes in order to assist the shipping or other industry, sometimes for political purposes.[ ] they cannot, therefore, be used as a basis for calculating the amount of postage which should be charged on private letters. this was particularly the case in earlier times.[ ] with the expansion of commerce and the establishment for commercial purposes of regular lines of steamers between the principal countries of the world, the task of the post office has been much simplified, and, notwithstanding the growth of mails, the cost actually reduced.[ ] it is, however, still heavy, and in some cases the payments include an element of subsidy. the cost of transmission by sea of a foreign letter in the british service is on the average / d. foreign rates are not, however, fixed on a simple cost basis. the reduction to a penny of the letter rate between great britain and all parts of the british empire; between great britain, egypt, and the united states; and between the united states and germany and france, has been made from considerations of general advantage, political or otherwise, rather than from considerations of immediate profit or loss on the postal service. the international parcel post has always been regarded as primarily commercial,[ ] and the service has been deliberately restricted to small parcels on the ground that the conduct of an ordinary transportation undertaking is not a postal function, and that the admission of heavy parcels would render impossible the maintenance of the postal principle of uniformity of rate. parcel mails are in the international service frequently denied the privilege of rapid transmission accorded to letter mails.[ ] the developments of the present war have emphasized the essential distinction to be drawn between communications on the one hand, and packages of goods sent by parcel post on the other. * * * * * the general basis of postal rates is naturally affected in some degree by the fact that the post office is a state undertaking, and the propriety of government control deserves consideration. adam smith, with his individualistic leaning, was bound to touch on the question of a state post office. he thought there was no objection to the conduct of the post office by the government,[ ] and economists since his day have generally followed his view.[ ] this acceptance of state control as theoretically justifiable has probably been induced by the logic of facts rather than by the recognition of any peculiar characteristics tending to that view discoverable in the postal service as an industrial organization.[ ] the transmission and delivery of letters for private individuals may have some affinity to the transmission of official despatches, but in theory such affinity is slight, especially in regard to the transmission and delivery of local letters. because the government had found it essential for its own purposes to establish a system of posts, it did not necessarily follow that the government must assume also the function of conveying letters for private individuals. but the post office is one of those organizations in the case of which the normal influence of economic forces tends to exclude competition. its operations are spread over large areas, and duplication of services over large areas would result in waste of effort and increase of expenses. competing postal establishments would exhibit the same glaring economic waste as competing arrangements for the supply of gas, water, or electricity. the service thus almost certainly becomes a monopoly; and its nature makes the assumption of its management by the state advantageous. in times of war, state monopoly of the means of communication (postal, telegraph, telephone, and wireless) is essential. even if these services were in private hands at the outbreak of war, the first action of the government would undoubtedly be to assume control. a further reason justifying the conduct of the postal service by the government rather than by private enterprise is that it is a necessity for the state to provide a means for the regular transmission of intelligence by letter of script throughout its territory. if the working of the service were left to private enterprise, it would be certainly confined to such routes as were found profitable, and those parts of the country in which profitable routes could not be established would be left unserved. the state alone can secure the establishment of a complete service, in which regard must not be confined to considerations of mere profit.[ ] there are also minor features which render state management peculiarly applicable to the postal service. the actual operations are simple. as adam smith said: "there is no mystery in the business."[ ] the work is for the most part of a routine character, and calls for no special skill or knowledge. that is not to say that in the performance of the actual duties there is no room for the acquirement of considerable manipulative skill. it means that in principle the chief operations are simple, and may be reduced to routine processes. there is the further important consideration that the operations of the post office are intimately connected with the daily life of the people, and are constantly subject to public observation and criticism. assuming a state parcel service, there is to be considered the question whether that service should be attached to the letter post or whether it would be more economical to set up a separate service. it might appear at first sight that this question has been determined by the practice. but as the financial scheme of the letter post rests on the fact that the actual transportation of the letters occupies, as regards expense, a quite subsidiary place,[ ] it is difficult to discover any special relation between the letter post and a business which is really part of the general transport industry. it may in some instances be advantageous to utilize for parcels the service provided for the transmission and delivery of letters. an organization reaching to all parts of the country is ready to hand, and one which, in rural districts especially, is often not employed to its full capacity. it may therefore in some cases manifestly be economical to give additional work to the service; but, at the same time, the provision of a service for parcels may in other cases add unduly to the cost of the general service--as, for example, when it becomes necessary to make special arrangements on account of occasional variations in the numbers of parcels.[ ] in any case, a postal service should be limited to parcels of moderate size and weight, because the post office, as at present organized, is for the most part adapted to the handling of packets which can be delivered by foot-messengers. in rural districts this is almost universally the rule.[ ] it is frequently necessary in the towns to separate entirely the parcel post traffic from the ordinary light letter post traffic (except in those parts of the service where the parcel post traffic is very restricted), to provide a separate staff, and to furnish different equipment.[ ] in effect, two establishments are maintained. a separate parcel staff could, of course, collect and deliver traffic of any dimensions or character. but difficulties would arise in regard to the transportation from town to town of heavy parcels,[ ] and in rural districts their distribution could not be undertaken without a reorganization of the general arrangements of the mail service. any sort of regular house-to-house delivery would be enormously expensive. to a large extent--in the united kingdom at any rate--such a service would be a duplication of services already provided by railway companies, and consequently economically wasteful. the transportation of parcels is, indeed, in many aspects a service more appropriate to the railways than to the post office. the post office, for example, is handicapped as compared with the railways by the fact that, while the larger part of its traffic in parcels must under present conditions necessarily be conveyed by railway for some part of the journey, the actual points of despatch and receipt of the parcels by the post office are not in the large majority of cases adjacent to the railway stations from or at which the traffic is despatched or received by railway.[ ] it is, in consequence, necessary in such cases for the post office to provide a service between the respective railway stations and post offices.[ ] if the railway companies provided adequate collection and delivery services there would be no need for division of the function with the post office. in many districts, however, the railway companies would find the provision of any sort of regular and universal service unremunerative, and this is probably the ultimate reason why the state has found it necessary to intervene. in the united states the introduction of a parcel post, and its extension to heavier parcels, was avowedly in a large degree due to the fact that in many parts of the country the railways, which are in private hands, did not provide any service for parcels. where a service was provided by the railways, the rates and conditions were not satisfactory, and the establishment of a parcel post represents an attempt to prevent the full application of the principle of charging "what the traffic will bear." the post office, moreover, as a public undertaking, cannot bargain freely for special facilities or terms with individuals or firms having large numbers of parcels for delivery within a limited area. without such specialization the post office must often be unable to offer the most economical service, and private carrying agencies secure the business. in those countries where a parcel post is in operation, the post office does not rank as a transportation agency comparable with those of the commercial world. the traffic which it secures is private and personal rather than commercial, to a large degree exceptional traffic which the machinery of the ordinary commercial transportation agencies cannot, or at any rate in general does not, deal with--traffic for remote and isolated residences, spasmodic in character, and, compared with the total traffic in parcels, small in amount.[ ] the uniform rate favours such traffic, but the expense to the post office is disproportionate to the revenue. from the broader standpoint this is perhaps not altogether loss to the state, since by this means local industries are often brought in touch with markets which could not otherwise be reached, and the rural population is enabled to obtain from the towns many amenities not otherwise procurable. viewed in the light of these considerations, and especially of the fact that it is open to competition at all points where its rates would prove profitable, it will not appear extraordinary that the parcel post is less successful financially than the letter post.[ ] the conditions under which postal business is conducted render it impossible to earmark the expenses properly chargeable to the parcel post, since expenses are for the most part incurred jointly. but the parcel post is to a large extent a secondary service engrafted on the letter post, and is perhaps not properly chargeable with a mathematical proportion of the total cost of the two services based on the relative cost of handling individual letters and individual parcels. theoretical estimates of the cost of the parcel post must, therefore, be accepted with reserve. but a proved moderate loss on the parcel post would not be conclusive against the propriety of its maintenance. postal rates are simple, definite, and generally known; and every post office is a receiving agency. it is convenient to use the post, which offers the further advantages of quick transmission, and the greater degree of security attaching to a state institution. the line on which a postal service for small parcels can best be justified is that by the utilization of existing machinery for the disposal of additional traffic, not so large as to overburden or disorganize the practical arrangements, a useful public advantage can be secured without inordinate cost. nevertheless, the parcel post service is not a true postal service, but rather a commercial undertaking.[ ] the question of the legitimacy of state control, which in the case of the letter post is of academic interest only, is therefore of real importance in the case of a parcel service, and those who have a distrust of all state interference in industry may legitimately argue that it should stand aside from the parcel business. * * * * * appendixes appendix a i. rates of inland letter postage charged in england, - witherings' rates, . --------------------------------------------------------------- | single | double | | letter. | letter. | per ounce. -------------------------------+---------+---------+----------- under miles | d. | d. | d. miles and not exceeding | d. | d. | d. above | d. | d. | d. to or from scotland | d. | | " " ireland | d. | after ounces, | | d. the ounce. -------------------------------+---------+--------------------- --royal proclamation of st july . this was the introduction of postage in the modern sense. the object of the exceptional rate for ireland was to avoid interference with a proclamation recently issued there by the lord deputy and council. "a single letter is one written on one sheet of paper sealed; a double letter is one sheet of paper which covers another sheet sealed up; a treble letter proportionately."--_calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), , p. . ordinance of . --------------------------------------------------------------------------- for every letter |if single.|if double.|per ounce. ------------------------------------------+----------+----------+---------- | s. d. | s. d. | s. d. to or from any place within miles | | | of london | | | at a further distance than miles | | | to or from scotland | | | to or from ireland | | | in ireland-- | | | to or from any place within miles | | | of dublin | | | at a further distance than miles | | | ------------------------------------------+----------+----------+---------- --h. scobell, _a collection of acts and ordinances_, london, , p. . act of ( car. ii, cap. ). -------------------------------------------------------------- |on single|on double| | letter. | letter. |per ounce. -------------------------------+---------+---------+---------- from london-- | d. | d. | d. miles and under | | | above miles | | | to or from berwick | | | from berwick within scotland-- | | | miles and under | | | above miles | | | to or from dublin | | | from dublin within ireland-- | | | miles and under | | | above miles | | | -------------------------------+---------+---------+---------- n.b.--there were no cross posts. between two towns not on the same post road, however near, letters could circulate only through london, and whenever a letter passed through london an additional rate was imposed, e.g. from bristol to exeter (less than miles) a letter would be sent via london and charged two rates for over miles. ( anne, cap. ). -------------------------------------------------------------------- |single.|double.| ounce. --------------------------------------------+-------+-------+------- from london-- | d. | d. | d. miles and under | | | above miles | | | to edinburgh | | | to dublin | | | from edinburgh within scotland-- | | | miles and under | | | above miles and not exceeding miles| | | above miles | | | from dublin within ireland-- | | | miles and under | | | above miles | | | --------------------------------------------+-------+-------+------- the initial charge was raised from d. to d. the area of the penny post delivery was therefore restricted to the -mile circle from the general post office. previously, towns within about miles had been served by the penny post, but an additional penny was charged for all packets delivered in the suburbs. ( . geo. iii, cap. ). for great britain-- not exceeding one post stage d. for england only-- over one and not exceeding two stages d. no change was made in other inland rates. ( geo. iii, sess. , cap. ). the rates of were increased by d. for a single letter for distances under miles, and d. for greater distances. ( geo. iii, cap. ). within england, wales, and berwick-- for a single letter. not exceeding miles d. from to miles d. " to " d. " to " d. " to " d. over miles d. within scotland-- in addition to existing rates d. ( geo. iii, cap. ). within great britain-- not exceeding miles d. to miles d. to " d. to " d. to " d. to " d. to " d. to " d. for every miles above d. ( geo. iii, cap. ). within great britain, in addition to existing rates-- d. for a single letter d. " double " d. " triple " d. " an ounce letter. ( geo. iii, cap. ). within great britain-- for a single letter. not exceeding miles d. above but not exceeding miles d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " " " " d. " miles d. these rates were re-enacted by i vict., cap. , § . the usual increased charges for double, treble, and ounce letters applied throughout. additional rates were charged in respect of conveyance by packet boat, e.g. for a single letter between holyhead and dublin, d.; in respect of menai bridge, d.; in respect of conway bridge, d.; and in respect of any letter conveyed in scotland by a mail carriage with more than two wheels, / d. (see vict., cap. , §§ , , and ).[ ] by and vict., cap. , the treasury was empowered to regulate rates of postage, and subsequent changes have been made by treasury warrant. . not exceeding / ounce (uniform rate d. irrespective of distance of transmission). " ounce ( " " " ). d. for each additional ounce, or fraction of an ounce, d. . rate for letters exceeding ounce in weight reduced to d. for each / ounce, or fraction of / ounce, after the first ounce. . not exceeding ounce d. " ounces - / d. for every additional ounces or fraction of ounces up to ounces, / d. for letters exceeding ounces in weight, d. per ounce, including the first ounce. . rate of / d. per ounce after the second ounce continued without limit. . not exceeding ounces d. for every ounces, or fraction of ounces, thereafter, / d. . not exceeding ounce d. " ounces d. for every ounces, or fraction of ounces, thereafter, / d. * * * * * ii. foreign rates in the british service one of the earliest regular posts in england was the post to dover, established for the transmission of despatches to and from the continent.[ ] this post early assumed considerable importance relatively to the other posts. the settlement of foreign artisans in this country, in consequence of the persecutions on the continent, naturally led to the growth of a considerable intercourse with places abroad. there was besides a large cloth trade. letters were not, however, sent exclusively by the king's post. frequently the merchants made their own arrangements for the conveyance of their letters; and since one of the functions of the post in those days was to enable the authorities to keep a close watch on all correspondence passing within the realm, in order that conspiracies against the state might be detected, this proceeding of the merchants was viewed by the government with much jealousy. it led to the first assumption by the state of the monopoly of the carriage of letters. in , before the use of the posts for the transmission of inland letters for private individuals had been officially recognized, a royal proclamation forbade the conveyance of letters to or from places outside the realm except by the king's post. a further proclamation to the same effect, so far as it related to foreign letters, was issued in .[ ] in the foreign post was separated from the ordinary post, and a foreigner, matthew de quester, who had been appointed by lord stanhope, then master of the posts, to superintend the foreign post, was appointed to control the service. in de quester published the following tariff applicable to foreign letters:-- to or from the hague, brussels, paris, and vienna s. to or from any part of germany s. from venice for a single letter d. from venice for any letter other than a single letter s. d. from leghorn and florence for a single letter s. from leghorn and florence for any letter other than a single letter s. the ounce.[ ] the tariff was incomplete, but is noteworthy as the first set of rates of any description issued in england for the conveyance of letters by post. stanhope had charged certain fees on letters for the continent. on letters to or from amsterdam or hamburg, for example, his fee had been d.[ ] but, until this time, no general table of rates had been issued. by the ordinance of [ ] the following rates for foreign letters were established:-- --------------------------------------------------------------- | for a | | |single |double | per |letter.|letter.| ounce. ---------------------------------------+-------+-------+------- | d. | d. | d. to leghorn, genoa, florence, lyons, | | | marseilles, aleppo, constantinople | | | to st. malo, morlaix, nieuhaven | | | to bordeaux, rochelle, nantes, bayonne,| | | cadiz, madrid | | | to hamburg, frankfort, cologne | | | to dantzic, leipsic, lübeck, stockholm,| | | copenhagen, elsinore, königsberg | | | ---------------------------------------+-------+-------+------- no rates were fixed for letters passing outside europe. these rates were not substantially altered by the act of , although in some cases a variation according to the route followed was introduced. for example, a letter sent to the north of italy via lyons was charged d. more than a letter sent direct. under james ii rates of postage ( d. a single letter, s. a double letter, and s. the ounce) were fixed for letters to and from jamaica, although no service to and from the island was provided by the crown. in regular mail services were established under contract between dover and calais and between dover and ostend, and in a service between england and holland. it is probable that packets were sailing between dover and calais before that time,[ ] but in general the cross-channel services had previously been conducted by boats hired casually for the conveyance of particular mails. for the calais service a sum of £ , a year was paid, and for the dutch service a sum of £ a year.[ ] letters from abroad brought by merchant ships (known as "ship letters") were by the ordinance of [ ] and by the act of made subject to postage on arrival in this country. such letters were required to be given up to the postmaster at the port of arrival, who forwarded the letters to london, where they were charged with the proper amount of postage. no payment was made to the shipmaster in respect of letters handed over to the post office in this way, and no penalty was incurred if the letters were not so handed over. this part of the act consequently remained a dead letter. the farmers of the post office saw, however, that it would be profitable to them to offer a small pecuniary inducement to the shipmasters, and accordingly offered to pay a penny for every letter brought by private ship and handed over by the shipmaster to the postmaster of the port of arrival.[ ] as the farmers were able to charge the legal rate of inland postage on all such letters, there was a sufficient margin to leave a profit after payment of the penny. the regular ship letter fee, which was afterwards legalized, originated in this practice. most of the ship letters came to the port of london, and the establishment of the penny post in had a serious effect on the proceeds of the ship letter money. if the letters were for delivery in london, they could be dropped into the penny post for delivery at a penny each, whereas if handed in to the general post office as ship letters they would be charged at the appropriate foreign rates, according to their place of origin. thus, letters from marseilles for delivery in london would be charged s. each, although the service actually performed by the post office was no greater than that performed for a penny in the penny post. the foreign rates, as applied to ship letters, were therefore for the most part a simple tax, and the use of the penny post was greatly resorted to.[ ] the postmasters-general protested continually against this fraud on the revenue; and in , in order to put a stop to it, two officers were appointed whose duty it was to receive letters and packets from all "masters of ships and vessels, mariners, and passengers as shall be by them hereafter brought in any ships or vessels into the port of london."[ ] the payment of a penny a letter to the shipmasters was without legal sanction until the act of .[ ] this act revised the foreign rates, in general in an upward direction, the increase on the rates of varying from d. to d., and first established statutory rates for letters passing to or from the colonies. from london to or from the west indies the rate was d. for a single letter, and to or from new york d. the rate to the west indies was, in , reduced to s. for a single letter, and this rate became in course of time the standard for all colonial letters. in , in addition to the ordinary shilling rate, letters from the colonies were subjected to a charge at the inland rate in respect of transmission within this country: e.g., a letter from america would be charged the shilling rate, and the inland rate from falmouth to its destination. an addition of d. was also made to the rates on letters to or from places abroad, other than places in the colonies. in an additional penny was laid on letters between great britain and the american colonies. the act of had made illegal the despatch by private ship of letters which could be sent by the regular packets; but for places to which no packet service existed, shipmasters were free to accept and carry letters, and to charge what fees they chose. so far as it directed that all letters for places abroad should be sent by packet where a packet service existed, the act was ineffective. from the chief coffee-houses in the city of london it was customary to collect letters to be sent in this way by private ship where no packet service existed. this practice was extended to those places to which there was a packet service, and became generally recognized. shipmasters usually charged a fee of d. per letter,[ ] and the whole traffic was conducted independently of the post office. no attempt was made to collect postage on letters conveyed by private ship, whether received or despatched by such ship, except in respect of transmission within the kingdom. the penny authorized by the act of went to the master of the ship. about the year frederick bourne, a clerk in the foreign department of the post office, suggested a scheme which should bring all ship letters into the post and subject them to postage for foreign transmission. he proposed that inward ship letters should be charged a uniform rate of d., and outward letters should be charged half the packet rate; for those places to which there was no packet rate, the rate was to be based on what the packet rate might be presumed to be if a packet service existed. in view of the long period during which the provisions of the act of anne had not been enforced in this respect, pitt was unwilling to attempt to suppress the illegal practice which had grown up. he considered that in respect of outward letters the service performed by the post office, which amounted to no more than sealing the bags and handing them to the shipmaster, was insufficient to justify compulsory payment of packet postage. the proposal was therefore adopted only as a permissive measure: merchants were given the option of handing their letters to the post office. the act authorizing the change empowered the post office to despatch and receive letters by vessels other than the regular sailing packets. on letters despatched by private ship the post office was authorized to charge half the packet rates in the case of letters for places to which a packet service existed; in cases in which no rate of postage was established, the charge was to be half the rates then paid, as near as could be ascertained.[ ] on letters brought in by such vessels, in addition to the inland postage, a charge of d. a single letter, and so in proportion, was authorized. a fee of d. was payable to the master of the ship in respect of every letter delivered to or received from him by the post office in proper course. a ship letter office was opened on the th september . no vessel was allowed to make entry or break bulk until letters brought by it had been handed over to the post office. the chief object in view was not, however, achieved. letters sent out of the country by private ship still continued for the most part to be handed to the shipmaster without the intervention of the post office. efforts were made to secure the assistance of coffee-house keepers as agents of the post office, but without success; and for many years the proportion between incoming and outgoing private ship letters was eighteen to one.[ ] in a further ship letter act[ ] raised the rate on inward single letters from d. to d., and made it compulsory to hand all outward ship letters to the post office to be charged. the east india company, whose servants had previously been allowed to send and receive letters free, protested strongly against the new act, although the official correspondence of the company had been exempted. the company pointed out that the post office maintained no packet communication with the east indies, and to charge postage was to levy a charge where no service was performed, and in effect to lay a tax on letter-writing. they had a stronger weapon than sound argument: the ships sailing between england and india were to a large extent controlled by them, and the act laid no compulsion on the owners of private ships to carry letters for the post office. when, therefore, the post office requested the company to carry post letters to india, the company replied that they did "not see fit to authorize the commanders or owners of any of their ships to take charge of any bag of letters from the post office subjected to a rate of postage for sea conveyance."[ ] in consequence of this difficulty an act was passed in making it compulsory on all shipmasters to carry such mails as should be tendered to them by the post office. the post office was required to pay the owners a reasonable sum as remuneration for the carriage of the letters, the ordinary fee of d. a letter still being paid to the commander as a perquisite. the east india company was placated by the concession of further exemptions in its favour. by this act the rate of postage to india or the cape was fixed at d. the ounce on letters, and on newspapers at d. the ounce--the first enactment providing a lower rate for newspapers than for letters in the foreign service.[ ] the result of this act was eminently satisfactory. in the first eighteen months or so the postage on letters for india and the cape of good hope amounted to £ , , while the amount paid for the conveyance by private ship was only £ , ; although it should be explained that expense was incurred for less than half the number of despatches, the remainder being conveyed by his majesty's ships, or by ships of the east india company which were placed at the disposal of the post office free of charge. other minor changes were made in subsequent years. in a postal treaty was arranged with france, under which certain rates--in general, rates slightly lower than those previously in force--were agreed for all letters passing through france. the rates for colonial letters were revised when uniform postage was introduced in the inland service. they were made chargeable according to weight, and for transmission to any port in the colonies were fixed generally at s. the / ounce. in , on political grounds, the postmaster-general[ ] proposed the establishment of a general s. rate for all colonial letters. the proposal was not immediately adopted, but a few years later a rate of d. the / ounce was established for all parts of the empire except india, the cape, mauritius, and tasmania. this rate was extended to all the colonies in , and to the united states in . in the rate for letters to the united states, canada, and prince edward island was reduced to d. in the universal postal union rate of - / d. came into operation. the next great advance was the result mainly of the efforts of sir j. henniker heaton, who for many years advocated the facilitation of postal intercourse, especially within the empire. in penny postage was established between the united kingdom and all the chief colonies except australia, the cape, and natal. in these colonies joined, and were followed by egypt and the sudan. in a special rate of d. a pound was established for magazines and trade journals posted in the united kingdom, for canada. the rate did not cover the cost of service, and its justification is to be sought in political considerations. in order to secure the low rate canada undertook to defray the whole cost of ocean transport. difficulties in regard to the financial arrangements arose subsequently, and on the st january the rate was altered to the following, viz. d. for the first ounces, - / d. for - / pounds, - / d. for - / pounds, and so on. under the old system the rates of postage were for the most part nominal, that is to say, no attempt was made to adjust the rates to the actual cost of providing the service, although in allocating between the different states the total amount of postage, a rough assignment as between land and sea services was made.[ ] the usual d. rate for single letters to and from the various colonies illustrates this. the actual cost of service must have varied greatly. in the case of the colonies other considerations, mainly political, were allowed to enter. in the case of foreign countries the whole arrangements for the interchange of correspondence were based on such agreements as could be arrived at, and the actual rates of postage were determined in that way.[ ] the chief difficulties in negotiations occurred in connection with the division between the contracting parties of the postage collected. the packet service was often conducted at a loss, and the rates of postage on foreign and colonial letters were not, in general, fixed with a view to rendering the service self-supporting, although this was regarded as a condition to be aimed at.[ ] by the consolidating acts of ( vict., cap. & ) the postmaster-general was empowered to require the masters of outward-bound vessels to accept mails, and to deliver them without delay on arrival at the port of destination, under penalty of £ . the general character of the foreign packet service was entirely changed by the introduction of steam propulsion, which greatly shortened the length of voyages and introduced a degree of punctuality and regularity hitherto undreamt of. until this time the post office had, for many long-distance services, relied on its own packets; i.e. packets sailing under contract expressly for the conveyance of the mails and under the control of the post office. in , with the introduction of steam vessels, this policy was changed and that of crown ownership of the packets adopted. this method was found extremely costly, and the commissioners of revenue inquiry reported emphatically against it.[ ] the policy of providing for the service by contract was then reverted to. it now appeared, however, that vessels sailing for commercial purposes could be counted upon to sail and arrive regularly, and the government desired therefore to make use of them for the despatch of mails. it was proposed to forward mails by the _great western_ under the powers conferred on the postmaster-general by the act of ( vict. , § ) for the prescribed remuneration (§ ). the owners refused to carry mails on these terms, and the law officers advised that the postmaster-general had no power, either by statute or common law, to compel the owners to carry mails.[ ] it was not found necessary, perhaps it was not deemed wise, to follow up the question of powers. in a contract was entered into with samuel cunard for the provision of a steamship service between england and north america, at a cost to the post office of £ , a year. this policy proved successful. it has been followed in the case of all the great routes, and has continued until the present day. in considering the question of the rates of postage the sums paid to the shipping companies are a little misleading. the payments were not then, and are not now, made solely from regard to the fact that the vessels convey mails. other considerations, such as the desirability of encouraging the shipping industry, its value to the commerce of the nation, and the value of a strong mercantile marine as a naval reserve, have always entered largely into the question. it was in accordance with this view, and largely on account of abuses in the administration of the services by the post office which had come to light, that the control of the post office packet services and of contracts for the conveyance of mails by sea was in transferred from the post office to the admiralty. the control was in retransferred to the post office, but the amount of the subsidies paid to steamship companies conveying mails has continued to be influenced by other than purely post office considerations. the chief development in this direction has been a legal decision obtained in , in a dispute between the post office and the cunard steamship company, which arose from an attempt by the post office to introduce the american system of despatching mails by the fastest ships available, and paying, not a general subsidy, but a sum calculated on the basis of the weight of mails carried. the high court ruled that the postmaster-general is entitled to have all such mails as he may think fit received on board any of the company's ships and conveyed and delivered at the ports of destination without delay.[ ] failing agreement as to the payment to be made in respect of such services, the post office can fall back on its statutory right to the conveyance by merchant ship of all letter mails at the rate of a halfpenny a letter. the extension of penny postage to all countries has been prevented simply by financial considerations.[ ] in the question of establishing penny postage with france received a good deal of public attention both in this country and in france, but the government were not prepared at that time to face the sacrifice of revenue. * * * * * iii. the thurn and taxis posts in germany the great number of the principalities which made up the germany of the early middle ages, the mutual jealousy of the princes, and the indefinite authority of the emperor, made the introduction of any sort of general system of communication extremely difficult. but for a long period before posts of the ordinary type were established in germany, there existed throughout the empire a system of messengers (_boten-anstalten_). these establishments were maintained by the political administration, by the scholastic institutions, by political corporations, by merchant bodies, or by private individuals.[ ] their function was to effect the exchange of the correspondence of their founders. in addition, the occasional posts (_metzger_), merchants travelling to the fairs, judicial and imperial messengers, and pilgrim monks were much employed for the carrying of letters. the system of _boten-anstalten_ was widely extended, and its functions were not limited to the conveyance of letters.[ ] its messengers travelled some of the great routes, such as hamburg-stettin-danzig; hamburg-leipzig-nuremberg; cologne-frankfort-augsburg; and these services were more or less permanent in character. services on other routes were established to meet local or temporary needs, such as the assembly of the reichstag, the meeting of the electors, peace congresses, war conferences, and fairs; and these services were discontinued when the occasion which had required them disappeared. the organization of this system of messengers resembled in many ways that of ordinary posts: it was established and managed by the political authorities; the services were regular; the routes were fixed and stages were appointed; and the messengers undertook the conveyance of letters, goods, and persons, by foot, horse, or wagon.[ ] at a later date letter-carriers were employed in some instances for the delivery of letters conveyed by the messenger services. a charge of pf. was raised on letters so delivered, the delivery charge on letters obtained directly from the _botenmeister_ being pf.[ ] the intellectual awakening of the early sixteenth century, the great discoveries of that period and their effect on commerce, together with the tendency then developing towards amalgamation of the principalities and creation of larger political entities, all increased the necessity for an efficient system of intercommunication. the result is seen in the establishment of an imperial system of posts.[ ] the regular imperial posts were established towards the end of the fifteenth century by the emperor maximilian i. johann von taxis was the first imperial postmaster, and the earliest record of his tenure of the office is in .[ ] a decree suppressing the system of _boten-anstalten_ and the _metzgerposten_ was issued, but these posts continued, and it was discovered at a later date that their continuance was not incompatible with the maintenance of a system of imperial posts.[ ] the imperial posts were to provide more particularly for the transmission of despatches, and their immediate object was to provide a means of obtaining information regarding the turks, and a means of communication with the princes of neighbouring territories.[ ] their history is inseparable from that of the family of thurn and taxis, to whom their management was from the first entrusted. this family was of italian origin, and before the establishment of the imperial posts, roger the first of thurn and taxis had established a horse-post between italy and the tyrol, which proved of so much value to the empire that as a reward roger was made a chevalier. on the routes along which the imperial posts were laid, stages were fixed at intervals of about (german) miles, and messengers were stationed at each stage.[ ] these messengers from the first enjoyed the privilege of exemption from all taxes and charges in all the countries through which the post routes passed. the posts were solely for the service of the emperor, and at his charge; and at first, like the earlier messenger services, were established temporarily for special purposes, such as the movements of the imperial court, or to meet necessities arising from war; or permanently to provide services between distant and newly acquired territory.[ ] in francis von taxis was appointed _capitaine et maître de nos postes_ at ghent by philip the fair, son of the emperor maximilian i, and in a convention was concluded between philip and von taxis under which the latter undertook to establish a line of posts between the court of maximilian i, the court of the french king, and the spanish court, for a payment of , livres a year. the german and spanish services were intended to maintain permanent and regular communications. the french post was intended to facilitate diplomatic intercourse.[ ] the time occupied in the transmission of letters between innsbruck and brussels at this period was - / days in summer and - / days in winter; between paris and brussels hours; and between granada and brussels days. owing to financial difficulties the payments to von taxis from the royal exchequer could not be kept up, and in order to maintain the service another source of revenue had to be discovered. it was found in the acceptance for transmission by the posts of private letters, and in allowing the use of the posts by private persons desirous of travelling. this was made part of the ordinary business of the posts, with the reservation that the use of the posts by private persons should not interfere with or impede the official service.[ ] in the emperor maximilian conferred on francis von taxis, and on several others of his family, titles of hereditary nobility in the empire and in the austrian and burgundian dominions, together with the dignity of count palsgrave.[ ] in the taxis posts were extended to verona, rome, and naples, and were improved and accelerated. in the office of imperial postmaster-general was conferred on lamoral von taxis and his descendants as an hereditary fief. the actual development of the posts was of a twofold character. at first the taxis family were able to establish their posts in various parts of the empire without opposition; the princes were themselves satisfied with their messenger systems, and were indisposed to establish posts on account of the heavy cost. but after a time, when the profitable character of the taxis posts became apparent,[ ] the princes questioned the right of the imperial postmaster-general to lay posts within their territories, and claimed that they alone possessed that right.[ ] in the posts were proclaimed an imperial reservation,[ ] but this theory was never accepted by the princes.[ ] the taxis posts, therefore, never became general throughout the empire. eights were obtained in certain states, so that they became an important system reaching many parts of the empire; but they did not altogether supplant the territorial services.[ ] in the early part of the seventeenth century the struggle against the monopoly of the imperial posts developed. the states were jealous of the growing power of austria, and political affinities were weakening. there was, moreover, some feeling against such an office being held by an alien family.[ ] the palatinate, würtemberg, saxony, brandenburg, and mecklenburg established posts within their respective territories.[ ] the whole question became involved with the disputes which led up to the thirty years' war, and the princes found their position indirectly strengthened by the peace of westphalia, which contained no settlement of the disputes regarding the posts, but merely referred the question to the next reichstag. attempts were made to extend the imperial posts, but much opposition was encountered. nevertheless, the system continued to expand and attained considerable dimensions. the family held the exclusive right of carrying passengers as well as letters; and it was estimated that during the eighteenth century the house of thurn and taxis received a gross sum of , livres per day, and a net profit of four millions a year. some , men, and a greater number of horses, were employed in the service.[ ] the revolutionary wars were disastrous to the system. the taxis posts were in many instances replaced by territorial posts,[ ] and by the peace of luneville ( ), which made the rhine the boundary between france and germany, the family lost control of all their posts to the west of the rhine. they were, however, compensated for the loss of the revenues of those posts by a grant of territory (reichs-deputationshauptschluss of february ). in the following years the prince of taxis strengthened his position by a series of agreements with the german states, but with the establishment in of the confederation of the rhine and the abdication of the emperor, the holy roman empire and the imperial posts fell together. in prince charles anselm of thurn and taxis attempted unsuccessfully to regain possession of the posts in the low countries. the territorial posts were not, however, altogether satisfactory, and the rights of the taxis family were restored by the agreement of , establishing the german confederation; in pursuance of which the family recovered the posts in electoral hesse in , in schwarzburg-rudolstadt, oldenburg, and saxe-coburg in , hesse-darmstadt in , and würtemberg in . the posts in other states were recovered in subsequent years, and in the taxis posts comprised an area of , square (german) miles, with a yearly income of a million marks.[ ] in most cases a rent was paid to the state for the privilege of conducting the posts. thus, würtemberg received a yearly payment of , florins, the grand duchy of hesse of , florins, and electoral hesse of , thalers.[ ] in addition, the governments of the respective states were given considerable privileges in regard to free transmission of state correspondence, etc. the rates of postage charged compared favourably with those charged in the states in which territorial posts were established.[ ] in the rates were simplified by the introduction of a scale based on three distance zones: not exceeding miles, kr. ( sgr.); from to miles, kr. ( sgr.); and for distances exceeding miles, kr. ( sgr.). in these rates were reduced to , , and kr. respectively for the three zones.[ ] in addition there was a local rate of kr. ( / sgr.) for letters delivered within a distance of miles. in some of the towns a still lower local rate, kr. ( / sgr.) was in operation.[ ] the taxis posts were, however, still regarded with a good deal of jealousy, although it was recognized that in some ways the system was advantageous in providing a unified postal service for a large part of germany at a time when it would have been difficult to arrange directly between the various states for the maintenance of a common service. the situation was materially changed when, after the events of - , prussia absorbed the duchies of the elbe, hanover, electoral hesse, the grand duchy of hesse, nassau and frankfort. prussia, of course, desired to assume control of the posts in these territories, which formed a large part of the whole taxis system. after some discussion of the rights of the taxis family, as a result of which it appeared that legally the system was well grounded, and could not be taken, therefore, from the taxis family without compensation, the prussian government decided to buy up the rights of the family in the new prussian territory.[ ] the taking over of these posts would have left so small a system in the hands of the taxis family that they preferred to negotiate for the transfer of the whole system to prussia. the compensation to be paid was based mainly on consideration of the net revenue of the taxis posts. during the years - this had been as follows:-- florins. - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , - , [ ] the amount of compensation was agreed at three million marks. the sum was voted by the prussian parliament without debate, and on the st july prussia assumed the control of the entire taxis system of posts. the administration was amalgamated with that of the ordinary prussian posts. iv. parcel post in canada difficulties arising from the circumstances of the country made the early establishment of a parcel post system impracticable.[ ] for many years, however, a strong feeling in favour of a parcel post system existed, especially among the farmers of the west; and with the establishment of a service in the united states in it became impossible to withhold a similar service from canada. the question was discussed in parliament in january , and, as the immediate adoption of a system was obviously desired, the government undertook to give the matter fullest consideration, with the view of submitting a scheme at an early date. the matter was really of some urgency since, under an existing convention, although no internal parcel post service was in operation, canada was called upon to carry throughout her territory parcels originating in the united states; and in june , when the success of the service in the united states was seen to be assured, a bill was introduced authorizing the establishment of a parcel post in canada. there could be no question of applying a flat rate in a country of such vast territories and scattered population;[ ] and the canadian system, like the american, is based on zones of distance. the limits of the zones correspond with the provincial boundaries. each province forms a zone, with a flat rate within its borders; a rate as for an additional zone is charged on parcels crossing into an adjoining province; and a rate as for a third zone on parcels crossing an intermediate province to a third province; and so on. the three maritime provinces are grouped together as one zone, and a special local zone rate is given for parcels delivered within miles of the place of posting. this local rate is independent of the provincial boundaries. it is a concession to the storekeepers of the smaller towns, given chiefly for their protection against the competition of the great departmental stores of montreal, toronto, and winnipeg. the determination of the actual amount of the rates was left to the post office department, with the proviso that they must be such as would make the service self-supporting. the service was introduced in april , with the following rates of charge:-- (_a_) five cents for the first pound and cent for each additional pound or fraction thereof, up to four pounds, and cents for each subsequent pound up to eleven pounds within a radius of miles from the place of mailing, irrespective of provincial boundaries. (_b_) ten cents for the first pound and cents for each subsequent pound or fraction thereof, for all points in the province in which a parcel is posted, outside of the -mile radius. (_c_) ten cents for the first pound and cents for each additional pound or fraction thereof, for all points outside the province in which a parcel is posted, and beyond the -mile radius, with an additional charge of cents a pound for each province that has to be crossed to the destination of the parcel, not including the province in which it is to be delivered, up to a maximum of cents a pound.[ ] an additional charge to meet the extra cost of transportation is made on parcels addressed to or posted at offices in certain outlying districts when the parcels have to be conveyed on stage routes over miles in length. statistics of the number of parcels dealt with are not taken by the canada post office. * * * * * v. the supplemental services in connection with the transmission of postal packets, other services, which are supplemental, and in some cases complementary, have been added, e.g. registration and insurance, in order that senders may protect themselves against loss or damage of packets in the post.[ ] closely allied to the transmission of ordinary letters is the transmission of money from place to place, and from early times the post office has also undertaken this function for appropriate fees. this is the money order and postal order business. these services apply only to a very small proportion of the total number of packets posted, and may in general be regarded as exceptional.[ ] in addition to these supplemental functions, the post office has usually been called upon to undertake services which have little or no relation to the transmission of letters from place to place. thus, the british post office conducts a savings bank, undertakes the issue of certain local taxation licences (gun and dog licences, etc.) on behalf of the inland revenue department and local authorities, pays old age pensions, sells stamps on behalf of the national health and unemployment insurance commissioners, exhibits certain government notices in the windows of post offices, and, in general, stands ready to perform any service to which, by reason of its ramifications reaching to the remotest part of the kingdom, it may be specially well adapted.[ ] in many countries the post office has assumed the control of the telegraph or telephone systems, or both--this, of course, largely in consideration of the close affinity between the essential character of those services--transmission from place to place of information and intelligence--and the primary function of the post office; and in consideration of the tendency of those services, like the letter service, to develop on monopolistic lines.[ ] in continental countries the government control of the telegraphs has been regarded as a military necessity.[ ] the assumption of these functions has no necessary relation to the rates charged for the transmission of packets, but the circumstances under which the services are conducted, whether at a profit or at a loss, may indirectly affect the rates. * * * * * vi. post office revenue in england, germany, and france the post office has, almost from the first, been a source of revenue to the state. what has happened has been that since the reform the governments have been glad to take whatever net revenue a penny rate would yield, but, in general, they have not been prepared to raise that rate in order to obtain a greater revenue.[ ] the only one of the five countries which does not make, and on principle does not wish to make, a revenue out of the post office is the united states of america. the penny letter rate is not by any means as low as the cost of the service. it is, however, not a burdensome charge in any circumstances, and, although so much greater than the cost, represents in a large number of instances much less than the full measure of benefit which the provision of the service confers on the beneficiary. this is, of course, the ordinary case of the purchaser of a commodity securing a "consumer's surplus."[ ] rates which yield a profit of per cent. (pp. and ) must, however, be admitted to contain some element of taxation. in france particularly the post office occupies a definite place in the fiscal system.[ ] there is, however, considerable diversity of opinion among economists with regard to the theoretical character of this revenue. indeed, the general classification of public revenues is itself not yet agreed upon.[ ] under any classification there is difficulty in assigning a place for the post office revenue. with the simplest and most fundamental division it has been regarded as falling under one or other heading, according to the notion of the writer, or in accordance with certain changes of conception based on variations in attendant circumstances.[ ] the difficulty of classification arises from the fact that of the total amount of the postage charges actually levied, only a portion can in any case be regarded as taxation. a person who purchases a commodity from the state, but in purchasing it is charged something more than its actual value, is not taxed to the extent of the whole of the amount which he is charged. there can be no taxation in that part of the amount for which he receives equivalent value in the commodity purchased. it is easy to say of the gross postal revenue that so much is tax (i.e. the net revenue), and so much is cost of service (i.e. the actual expenses), though it may not be easy to justify even this distinction;[ ] but what principle is to be followed in determining whether a particular postage charge (e.g. the letter rate or the parcel rate), or any part of it, is taxation? taxes are reckoned according to the rate of charge. thus, the income tax is s. d. in the pound on earned incomes; but approached in this way postage is not a tax. if the charge only covers the cost of the service, there can be no tax.[ ] and when there is a surplus (above normal commercial profit) it cannot be argued that the whole charge becomes a tax. the solution seems to be that in such a case it is neither tax nor industrial price. it contains elements of both, and cannot be classed wholly under either.[ ] the differing analyses of post office revenue result largely from their being based on consideration of the balance-sheet of the post office, as indicating whether postal charges are to be regarded as taxes.[ ] the character of postal charges should not, however, be determined by reference solely to the amount of the surplus revenue. the true classification rests on the conception that the character of public revenue (including post office revenue) varies with varying circumstances.[ ] the penny letter rate is a source of very considerable profit, and is therefore not a pure price. nor can it be said that this penny rate, although it is the source of practically all the profit, is a pure tax. in the case of a large number of letters there is no surplus beyond the cost of the service, and often the cost is greater than the yield of the postage on the particular letters dealt with. in such cases the rate does not contain any element of tax. in other cases the proportion of surplus over cost which the rate yields is exceedingly large.[ ] but in all cases it contains some element of remuneration for service rendered. that part of it which is appropriated to cover the cost of conducting the service is of the nature of a price for a service rendered. the remaining part (when found), after allowance has been made for the element of monopoly, is a tax.[ ] but it does not exist in all cases. three categories of letters are therefore found; and the letter rate in general may, according to the circumstances under which the service is rendered, be ( ) of composite character, partly price and partly tax, ( ) a pure price, ( ) a mere fee. the other rates (excepting for the moment the parcel rate) have all for some specific purpose of state been fixed at a lower level than the letter rate; but, for the most part, without any nice adjustment to the cost of service. consequently these subsidiary rates are not prices, and do not contain any element of taxation.[ ] they are, however, charges made to individuals in respect of certain services performed by the state, and fall, therefore, under the heading of fees. the parcel rates in england and germany may be put under the same heading. in both cases the service is conducted at a loss, and the charges cannot therefore be regarded as prices. in the united states and in canada the law provides that the rates for parcels must in all cases be such as to yield a revenue sufficient to cover the cost of the service, and the presumption is therefore that in those countries the rates will partake of the nature of prices.[ ] although there has been diversity of opinion regarding the nature of post office revenue, there has been remarkable unanimity as to the propriety of raising a net revenue for the state on the service for the transmission of letters. in the days of high rates and relatively high revenue it was not challenged.[ ] sir rowland hill's reform took away any sort of feeling that the revenue obtained from the post office lay as a burdensome tax, but the amount of surplus revenue was still so considerable that it could fairly be regarded as containing an element of tax.[ ] it has, moreover, steadily increased, and its existence been made the justification for claims for further reductions of rate.[ ] the use of the post office for the purpose of taxation, that is, the refusal to give away in improvements of service, or by reduction of rates, the net surplus of revenue, is accepted by economists as justifiable[ ] and the public acquiesces. the surplus is obtained with the minimum of sacrifice on the part of those who pay, and it would be difficult to discover a tax in substitution which would fall as lightly. apart from the fact that rates higher than would be necessary for defraying the actual cost of the service must of necessity operate to some extent to the disadvantage of trade and commerce,[ ] there is little to urge against the raising of revenue from the post office, especially as it is obtained from such popular charges as a penny and a halfpenny, which are well within the reach of the poorest. payment is, moreover, in a large degree voluntary. the number of letters which a private individual must write, and cannot avoid writing, in the course of a year is very small. if he has anything of importance to write, he does not think a penny an excessive sum to pay for its transmission. if he has nothing to write, there is no law to compel him to pay postage. the profits of postage are, however, large; and the existence of the state monopoly, and the essentially fiscal character of the rates charged, should not be overlooked.[ ] * * * * * vii. graphs [illustration: united kingdom _inland rates of postage , and new rates introduced ^st november ._] [illustration: united kingdom ( - )] [illustration: united kingdom ( - )] [illustration: united kingdom] [illustration: united kingdom _movement of statistics of postal traffic - _] [illustration: united kingdom _number of letters delivered per head of population ( - _)] appendix b documents and extracts illustrating aspects of postal history (i) ancient posts. _persia_ (_circa_ b. c. ). "in darius's idea of government was included rapidity of communication. regarding it as of the utmost importance that the orders of the court should be speedily transmitted to the provincial governors, and that their reports and those of the royal secretaries should be received without needless delay, he established along the lines of route already existing between the chief cities of the empire, a number of post-houses, placed at regular intervals, according to the estimated capacity of a horse to gallop at his best speed without stopping. at each post-house were maintained, at the cost of the state, a number of couriers and several relays of horses. when a despatch was to be forwarded, it was taken to the first post-house along the route, where a courier received it, and immediately mounting on horseback, galloped with it to the next station. here it was delivered to a new courier, who, mounted on a fresh horse, took it the next stage on its journey; and thus it passed from hand to hand till it reached its destination. according to xenophon, the messengers travelled by night as well as by day; and the conveyance was so rapid that some even compared it to the flight of birds. excellent inns or caravanserais were to be found at every station; bridges or ferries were established upon all the streams; guard-houses occurred here and there, and the whole route was kept secure from the brigands who infested the empire. ordinary travellers were glad to pursue so convenient a line of march; it does not appear, however, that they could obtain the use of post-horses, even when the government was in no need of them. "_note._--it was not the distance a horse ridden gently could accomplish in the entire day, but the distance he could bear to be galloped once a day. from the account which herodotus gives of the post-route between sardis and susa, we may gather that the persians fixed this distance at about fourteen miles."--george rawlinson, _the five great monarchies of the ancient eastern world_, london, , vol. iii. pp. - . _roman empire._ "the advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish throughout their extensive dominions the regular institution of posts. houses were everywhere erected at the distance only of five or six miles; each of them was constantly provided with forty horses, and, by the help of these relays, it was easy to travel an hundred miles in a day along the roman roads. the use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an imperial mandate; but though originally intended for the public service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or conveniency of private citizens (pliny, though a favourite and a minister, made an apology for granting post-horses to his wife on the most urgent business)."--edward gibbon, _the history of the decline and fall of the roman empire_, london, ed. , vol. i. p. . _arabia._ "the first traces of the arabian postal arrangements date from about fifty years after the death of mahomed. calif mdowija, who died in , is regarded as the founder of the arabian posts. kodama, a native of bagdad, who died in , gives an account of the service in his work called _the book of taxes_. there were postal stations on the six great highroads starting from bagdad. at some stations there were relays of horses, but in syria and arabia the messengers rode on camels; and in persia the letters were conveyed from station to station by messengers on foot. the postal service under the califs was an independent branch of the administration, and in addition to the conveyance of despatches and travellers was added the supervision of all the authorities in outlying possessions. of the two classes of superior postal officers, the _nowaqquium_ was the postmaster who received the postal packets and letters and attended to their conveyance, whereas the _farwaneqqyun_ was a kind of chief postmaster at the capital of a province, who controlled the work of the postmasters and made his own report on all the civil and military authorities to the central office in bagdad. these reports were so valuable that calif abu djafar manssur is credited with the statement: 'my throne rests on four pillars, and my power on four men--a blameless kazi (judge), an energetic chief of police, an honest minister of finance, and a faithful postmaster who gives me reliable information on everything.' it has been said that the roman _cursus publicus_, the _frumentarii_, the _agentes in rebus_, and the _curiosi_ served a similar purpose, but the arabian arrangement was more systematic. in the post office of the califs the letters and packets posted, as well as those received from other places, were entered in special lists, where their number and address had to be stated. this practice was observed in india till a few years ago, and it will thus be seen that the letter bill of the modern posts was in use already among the egyptians in b.c., and also among the arabs. from the information that has been preserved, it is inferred that the arabian posts did, to a certain extent, transmit private letters, but this was not done officially, and the couriers and postmasters conveyed such correspondence, along with the official despatches, on their own account."--i. g. j. hamilton, _outline of postal history_, calcutta, , p. . _mexico_. "communication was maintained with the remotest parts of the country by means of couriers. post-houses were established on the great roads, about two leagues distant from each other. the courier, bearing his despatches in the form of a hieroglyphical painting, ran with them to the first station, where they were taken by another messenger and carried forward to the next; and so on till they reached the capital. these couriers, trained from childhood, travelled with incredible swiftness--not four or five leagues an hour, as an old chronicler would make us believe, but with such speed that despatches were carried from one to two hundred miles a day. fresh fish was frequently served at montezuma's table in twenty-four hours from the time it had been taken in the gulf of mexico, two hundred miles from the capital. in this way intelligence of the movements of the royal armies was rapidly brought to court; and the dress of the courier, denoting by its colour the nature of his tidings, spread joy or consternation in the towns through which he passed."--w. h. prescott, _history of the conquest of mexico_, london, , pp. , . a similar system existed in peru (w. h. prescott, _history of the conquest of peru_, philadelphia, , vol. i. p. ). _china._ "from the city of kanbulu[ ] there are many roads leading to the different provinces, and upon each of these, that is to say, upon every great highroad, at the distance of twenty-five or thirty miles, accordingly as the towns happen to be situated, there are stations, with houses of accommodation for travellers, called _yamb_ or post-houses. these are large and handsome buildings, having several well-furnished apartments hung with silk, and provided with everything suitable to persons of rank. even kings may be lodged at these stations in a becoming manner, as every article required may be obtained from the towns and strong places in the vicinity; and for some of them the court makes regular provision. at each station four hundred good horses are kept in constant readiness, in order that all messengers going and coming upon the business of the grand khan, and all ambassadors, may have relays, and, leaving their jaded horses, be supplied with fresh ones.... when it is necessary that messengers should proceed with extraordinary despatch, as in the cases of giving information of disturbance in any part of the country, the rebellion of a chief or other important matter, they ride two hundred, or sometimes two hundred and fifty miles in the course of a day."--_travels of marco polo the venetian_, london, , pp. et seq. (ii) _nuncii_ and _cursores_. "the royal _nuncii et cursores_ constituted a very important branch of the royal establishment, and the payments to them form a very large and important item in the household and wardrobe accounts from the earliest period when those accounts exist. "these messengers were employed both in england and in foreign parts, and as well on affairs of state as what may be considered as the private and confidential business of the crown and royal family and the individuals attached to or composing the royal court. these messengers, so attached to the court, became the foundation of the establishment, which about the time of henry viii, or somewhat earlier, assumed the form of the regular establishment of the post; and the information connected with them is important, as showing that the institution was intimately connected with the person of the sovereign, and that, in the first instance, it was his convenience that was sought. those servants who, by usage, were more particularly employed on state affairs, probably became those who are now specially termed the 'queen's messengers.'"--_report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , appx., p. . (iii) witherings' scheme for the reform of the posts, . a proposition for setling of staffets or pacquet posts betwixt london and all parts of his maiesties dominions, for the carrying and recarrying of his subiects l[~r]es. the cleere proffitt whereof to goe towards the payment of the postm^{rs} of y^{e} roades of england, for w^{ch} his ma^{tie} is now chardged w^{th} _l._ p añm. in the first place, a certen office or compting house to be by his ma^{tie} appointed w^{th}in the cittie of london, of purpose for carrying out & receiving in of all l[~r]es to be conveyed from y^{e} cittie of london into all p^{ts} w^{th}in his ma^{ts} dominions & answers thereof retorned to the said cittie of london, according as occasion shall serve. inprimis, for the northerne and scotland roade, all l[~r]es to be put into one portmantle that shalbe directed to edenburgh in scotland, and for all places of the s^{d} roade, or neere the s^{d} roade, to be accordinglie put into y^{e} s^{d} portmantle, w^{th} [p=]ticuler baggs directed to such postm^{rs} as live upon the road neere unto any cittie or towne corporate. _as for example_-- one bagge to be directed to cambridge w^{th} such l[~r]es therein as shalbe directed to that place or neere thereunto; to take port for them as is now p[~d] to the carriers, w^{ch} is two pence a single l[~r]e, and so accordinglie as they shalbe in bignes. at cambridge a footpost to be provided, w^{th} a knowne badge of his ma^{ts} armes, whome upon the markett daies is to goe to all townes w^{th}in : : or miles, there to receive & deliver all such l[~r]es as shalbe directed to those places. the l[~r]es that the s^{d} footpost shall then and there receive, hee is to bring them to the s^{d} towne of cambridge before the retorne of the portmantle out of scotland, w^{ch} is to retorne at a certen daie & houre, by w^{ch} meanes they maie be upon the verie instante comeing back of the s^{d} portmantle, as before, put into a little bagge, w^{ch} s^{d} bagg is to be put into y^{e} s^{d} portmantle as aforesaid. it is alwaies to be understood that upon the verie instant cominge of the portmantle to cambridge, the bagg of l[~r]es for that place & thereaboutes ymmediatly to be tooke out of the s^{d} portmantle; the said portmantle being presentlie to goe forwards, night and day, w^{th}out stay, to huntingdon, w^{th} fresh horse & man. at w^{ch} place the like rule is to be observed as before at cambridge, & so the s^{d} portmantle is to goe from stage to stage, night & day, till it shall come to edenburgh. the bags of l[~r]es to be left at all stages as at cambridge and huntingdon, as before. only it is to be understood, that the further the l[~r]es shall goe, the port thereof is to be advanced, as to ^{d}, ^{d}, & ^{d}, & to scotland more. by this way of carrying and recarrying of l[~r]es, his ma^{ts} subjects shall, once in daies, receive answer from edenburgh in scotland, and so consequently from all p^{ts} betwixt london & scotland. the daie and howre of the comeing and going of the s^{d} portmantle to and from london to be alwaies certaine. by w^{ch} meanes all stages upon the road will knowe at what certen howre the portmantle is to come to y^{t} place. it is truth it maie be alledged, that some citties & townes of noate will lye so farre from any of the mayne roads of england, as hull & other townes of noate upon the sea coasts, as that it wilbe impossible for a footman to carry and recarry the s^{d} l[~r]es w^{th}in such time as shalbe limitted: for remedie thereof a horse is to be provided for the s^{d} footpost, for the execu[=co]n of the s^{d} service w^{th} more expedi[=co]n. the like rule is to be observed to westchester & so to ireland. the like rule is to be observed to oxford, bristoll, & so to ireland. the like rule is to be observed to worcester, shrewesbury, and so to y^{e} marches of wales. the like rule to be observed to exceter, & so to plymouth. the like rule to be observed to canterbury, & so to dovo^{r}. the like rule to be observed to chelmesford, colchester, and so to harw^{ch}. the like rule to be observed to newmarket, bury, norw^{ch}, and so to yarmouth. in the first place, it wilbe a great furtherance to the correspondency betwixt london & scotland, & london & ireland, and great help to trades, & true affec[=co]n of his ma^{ts} subiects betwixt theis kingdomes, which, for want of true correspondency of l[~r]es, is now destroyed, & a thing above all things observed by all other nations. _as for example_-- if anie of his m^{ats} subiects shall write to madrill, in spain, hee shall receive answer sooner & surer then hee shall out of scotland or ireland. the l[~r]es being now carried by carriers or footposts or miles a day, it is full two monthes before any answer can be received from scotland or ireland to london, w^{ch} by this conveyance all l[~r]es shall goe miles at y^{e} least in one day & night. it will secondlie be alledged, that it is a wrong to the carriers that bring the said letters. to which is answered, a carrier setts out from westchester to london on the mundaie, w^{ch} is miles. the s^{d} carrier is daies upon the road, and upon his cominge to london delivers his letters of advise for his relodinge to westchester againe, and his forced to staie in london two daies at extraordinary charges before he can get his loding redy. by this conveyance l[~r]es wilbe fr[=o] westchester to london in one day & night, so that the s^{d} carriers loading wilbe made ready a weeke before the s^{d} carriers shall come to london, and they no sooner come to london but maie be redy to depte againe. the like will fall out in all other pts. besides, if at any time there should be occasion to write from anie of the coast townes in england or scotland to london, by this conveyance l[~r]es wilbe brought ymmediatly: & from all such places there wilbe weekely advise to & from london. _as for example_-- anie fight at sea: any distress of his ma^{ts} shipps, (w^{ch} godd forbidd), anie wrong offered by any other nation to any of y^{e} coaste of england, or anie of his ma^{ts} forts: the posts being punctually paid, the newes will come sooner then thought. it wilbe, thirdlie, alledged that this service maie be [^p]tended by the lo: stanhope to be in his graunt of post m^{r} of england. to w^{ch} is answered, neither the lo: stanhope, nor anie other that ever enjoyed the postm^{s} place of england, had any benefitt of the carrying and recarrying of the subiects l[~r]es: beside, the profitt is to paie y^{e} posts of the road, w^{ch} next unto his ma^{tie}, belong to y^{e} office of the s^{d} lo: stanhope, and upon determina[=co]n of any of the s^{d} posts places, by death or otherwise, the lo: stanhope will make as much of them as hath heretofore bin made by this said advancement of all theire places. the lord stanhope now enioying what either hee or any of his predecesso^{s} hath ever heretofore done to this day. (indorsed by sec. coke) "proposition for missive letters." --_report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , appx., pp. - . (iv) the monopoly and the general farm of the posts. no. . "whereas heretofore sundry wayes have bene devised to redresse the disorders among the postes of our realme in generall, and particularly to prevent the inconveniences, both to our owne service and the lawfull trade of the honest merchants, by prohibiting that no persons whatsoever should take upon them, publiquely or privately, to procure, gather up, receive ... any packets or letters to or from the countreys beyond the seas, except such our ordinarie posts and messengers for those parties, etc."--royal proclamation, april th . no. . "there has long been a constant trade betwixt london and norwich in sundry sorts of stuffs and stockings made in norwich and norfolk, which trade has always been maintained by the merchants of norwich employing their stocks in buying wares of the makers and sending them up weekly in carts by common carriers to london, whence they are dispersed into all parts of this kingdom, and also exported to foreign parts, in which intercourse of trade we always had our letters safely and speedily carried by our common carrier, by a horseman, not in manner of postage by change of horses, but as is usual by common carriers, and for little or no charge to us. of late mr. witherings has intercepted our letters and molested our carriers, forbidding them to carry any of our letters otherwise than to go along with their carts, and no faster."--petition to privy council, ; j. w. hyde, _the post in grant and farm_, london, , p. . no. . " ... by a proclamation dated about july his majestie did expresse his pleasure, that _thomas witherings_ should have the carriage of the said letters who would settle it in a better and more speedy course; thereupon he undertook the said work, and for a long time, after his said undertaking, it cost him some weeks l. l. l. more than he received, to the great weakening and hazard of the ruine of his estate. it is verie true, that untill he had his patent of his office granted unto him for his life, which was in the yeare , he did in some places lay horses of his owne, in others he did make use of the ordinarie post-horses, and because he desired quick dispatch, hee paid them for a guide and a horse to carrie the male d. _per_ mile, after not conceiving a guide necessarie he made only use of one horse, and paid d. _per_ mile.... for the other posts, they have d. _per_ mile which is more than ordinarie pay. but the objection which seems to carrie the greatest shew, or colour of probabilitie with it is; that the p^{mrs} had formerly , _l._ _per annum_ fee, onely for carrying his majesties packets, that witherings hath reduced this to , l. _per annum_, and yet puts a greater burthen upon them by carrying his male; hath displaced many of them and received , l. for post places."--_full and cleare answer to a false and scandalous paper entituled: the humble remonstrance of the grievances of all his majesties posts of england, together with carriers, waggoners, etc._, , pp. , . no. . reasons presented to the committee for postmasters why the office should not be farmed:-- ( ) what is of public interest, if farmed, often becomes a great public grievance. ( ) the postmasters who have served faithfully and others who run best to lynn, yarmouth, etc., must be restrained and will complain as they did in to the late parliament which ordered them redress. ( ) by farming, the pay of postmasters will be made so inconsiderable that they will grow careless. ( ) the expectations of the people now at this juncture so highly raised to hopes of ease and freedom, will be disappointed when they see new monopolies. * * * * * suggestions for reducing the office into one channel, for easing the people, encouraging the postmasters and raising money for the public:-- . to declare it unsafe for private persons to erect post stages without licence. . to chose faithful persons in all the roads and appoint a supervisor on each road. . to declare that you have appointed them postmasters and give power to their controller only to sign labels for speedy conveyance of mails and give them writs of assistance. signed by robert girdler and seven others.--_calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), th november, . no. . offers of the well-affected postmasters to the posts' committee.... the order of the council in the case of the inland post office being that it be improved to the greatest advantage either by farm or account, they conceive the advantages consist not so much in the advance of money, as the service and safety of the state, and beg to offer, . that persons of known integrity may be employed in all parts, and a sufficient salary allowed, as becomes a trust of that great concernment. . that a fit person be appointed for the control thereof, according to orders from the state, etc. . as righteousness exalteth a nation, it is hoped that after the expense of so much blood and treasure, the very things adjudged and condemned in others (viz. monopolies) will not now be practised, but that next to public safety, you will be tender of the people's just liberty; for both by the laws of god and man it is lawful for every man to employ himself in a lawful calling, especially in that to which he has been bred, and it is also lawful for divers men to employ themselves in one calling, otherwise there must be as many callings as men. . for avoiding of many inconveniencies that will follow in the farming of it, viz. the persons depositing or obliging themselves for so much money a year, will not lay out themselves and their estates without expectation of profit, which must arise either out of the people's letters or postmasters' labour, besides the hazard to the commonwealth; for notwithstanding the faithfulness of the postmasters yet if they will not do their work at their rates (which may prove an oppression too heavy, like that in egypt) others shall.--_calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), may . no. . "petition of john mann, mayor, and aldermen & inhabitants of norwich:-- "having much commerce with london we have always employed a faithful and careful messenger to carry letters, bills of exchange, etc., but he has lately been molested by john manley whose agents have not only rifled and detained our letters and goods, but charged more than double price for small parcels of ware, which is a greater burden to many of us than the monthly assessment.... "having bought our liberties at vast expense of blood and treasure, we hope not again to be troubled with distasteful monopolies but to have liberty to convey our letters freely."--_calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), - , p. . no. . "also it hinders a man to be as civil as otherwise he would, or might be, in having, or returning an accompt to, or from his friend, many a man in these times being forced to set a greater value of d. or d. then of three times as much in former times, when money was more plentiful; and certainly any man but a farmer wil confess it to be a strange imposition, that a man cannot have an accompt of the condition of his wife or family, without paying thrice as much as he need; & it seems as unreasonable for a man to be forced to pay d. for what may be done for a penny, (in relation to letters) as for a man to be compelled to pay thrice as much for meat or any other commodity, as the price currant."--j. hill, _a penny post_, london, , p. . no. . , cap. . _postage of england, scotland, and ireland settled._ "whereas it hath been found by experience, that the erection and settling of one general post office, for the speedy conveying, carrying, and re-carrying of letters by post, to and from all places within england, scotland and ireland, and into several parts beyond the seas, hath been, and is the best means, not only to maintain a certain and constant intercourse of trade and commerce betwixt all the said places, to the great benefit of the people of these nations, but also to convey the publique despatches, and to discover and prevent many dangerous, and wicked designs, which have been and are daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this commonwealth, the intellegence whereof cannot well be communicated, but by letter of escript, "be it enacted by his highness the lord protector and the parliament, and it is enacted and ordained by authority thereof, that from henceforth there be one general office, to be called and known by the name of the post office of england, and one officer from time to time to be nominated, etc."--h. scobell, _a collection of acts and ordinances_, london, , p. . (v) extract from "the present state of london," by tho. de laune, gent., london, . _of the post-office._ this office is now kept in lumbard-street, formerly in bishopsgate-street, the profits of it are by act of parliament settled on his royal highness the duke of york. but the king by letters patents, under the great seal of england, constitutes the post-master-general. from this general office, letters and packets are dispatched: on mondays-- to france, spain, italy, germany, flanders, sweedland, denmark, kent, and the downs. on tuesdays-- to holland, germany, sweedland, denmark, ireland, scotland, and all parts of england and wales. on wednesdays-- to all parts of kent, and the downs. on thursdays-- to france, spain, italy, and all parts of england and scotland. on fridays-- to flanders, germany, italy, sweedland, denmark, holland, kent, and the downs. on saturdays-- all parts of england, wales, scotland, and ireland. letters are returned from all parts of england and scotland, certainly every monday, wednesday, and friday; from wales every monday and friday; and from kent and the downs every day: but from other parts more uncertainly, in regard of the sea. * * * * * a letter containing a whole sheet of paper is convey'd miles for d. two sheets for d. and an ounce of letters for d. and so proportionably; a letter containing a sheet is conveyed above miles for d. two sheets for d. and every ounce of letters for d. a sheet is conveyed to dublin for d. two for a shilling, and an ounce of letters for d. this conveyance by post is done in so short a time, by night as well as by day, that every hours, the post goes miles, and in five days, an answer of a letter may be had from a place miles distant from the writer. moreover, if any gentlemen desire to ride post, to any principal town of england, post horses are always in readiness, (taking no horse without the consent of his owner) which in other kings reigns was not duly observed; and only d. is demanded for every english mile, and for every stage to the post-boy, d. for conducting. besides this excellent convenience of conveying letters, and men on horse-back, there is of late such an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of better rank, to travel from london, and to almost all the villages near this great city, that the like hath not been known in the world, and that is by stage-coaches, wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltred from foul weather, and foul ways, free from endamaging ones health or body by hard jogging, or over violent motion; and this not only at a low price, as about a shilling for every five miles, but with such velocity and speed, as that the posts in some foreign countries, make not more miles in a day; for the stage-coaches, called flying-coaches, make forty or fifty miles in a day, as from london to oxford or cambridge, and that in the space of twelve hours, not counting the time for dining, setting forth not too early, nor coming in too late. * * * * * the several rates that now are and have been taken for the carriage of letters, pacquets, and parcels, to or from any of his majesties dominions, to or from any other parts or places beyond the seas, are as followeth, that is to say, s. d. morlaix, st. maloes, caen, newhaven, and places of like {single distance, carriage paid to rouen {double {treble {ounce hamburgh, colen, frankfort, carriage paid to antwerp, is {single {double {treble {ounce venice, geneva, legorn, rome, naples, messina, and all {single otherparts of italy by way of venice, franct pro mantua {double {treble {ounce marseilles, smirna, constantinople, aleppo, and all parts {single of turky, carriage paid to marseilles {double { / ounce {ounce and for letters brought from the same places to england {single {double {treble {ounce the carriage of letters brought into england, from calice, {single diep, bulloign, abbeville, amiens, st. omers, montrel {double {treble {ounce rouen {single {double {treble {ounce genoua, legorn, rome, and other parts of italy by way of {single lyons, franct pro lyons {double { / ounce {ounce the carriage of letters outwards-- to bourdeaux, rochel, nants, orleans, bayon, tours, and {single places of like distance, carriage paid to paris {double {treble {ounce letters brought from the same places into england {single {double { / ounce {ounce the carriage of letters outwards-- to norembourgh, bremen, dantzick, lubeck, lipswick, and {single other places of like distance, carriage paid to hamburgh {double { / ounce {ounce paris {single {double {treble {ounce dunkirk, ostend, lisle, ipers, cambray, ghent, bruxels, {single bruges, antwerp, and all other parts of flanders. {double sluce, flushing, middleburgh, amsterdam, rotterdam, delph, {treble hague, and all other parts of holland and zealand. {ounce all merchants accounts, not exceeding a sheet, bills of exchange, invoices, bills of lading, shall be allowed without rate in the price of the letters, and also the covers of the letters not exceeding a sheet, to marseilles, venice, or legorn, towards turkie. * * * * * the said office is managed by a deputy, and other officers to the number of seventy seven persons; who give their actual attendance respectively, in the dispatch of the business. upon this grand office, depends one hundred eighty two deputy-post-masters in england and scotland; most of which keep regular offices in their stages, and sub-post-masters in their branches; and also in ireland, another general office for that kingdom, which is kept in dublin, consisting of eighteen like officers, and forty-five deputy-post-masters. the present post-master-general, keeps constantly, for the transport of the said letters and pacquets; {france, two pacquet-boats. between england and {flanders, two pacquet-boats. {holland, three pacquet-boats. {ireland, three pacquet-boats. and at deal, two pacquet-boats for the downs. all which officers, post-masters, pacquet-boats, are maintained at his own proper charge. and as the master-piece of all those good regulations, established by the present post-master-general, for the better government of the said office, he hath annexed and appropriated the market-towns of england, so well to their respective post-stages, that there is no considerable market-town, but hath an easie and certain conveyance for the letters thereof, to and from the said grand office, in the due course of the males every post. though the number of letters missive in england, were not at all considerable in our ancestors days, yet it is now so prodigiously great, (since the meanest people have generally learned to write) that this office is farmed for above , rather , _l_. a year. (vi) the cross posts.[ ] no. (_a_). to the r^{t}. hon^{ble}. sidney l^{d}. godolphin lord high trearer of england. may it please y^r. lo^{pp}. my lord grandville and seaverall gentlemen of cornwell having represented to us that by reason of the post road passing along the south coast of cornwell seaverel inland towns are under great disadvantages in their correspondence paying two pence p^r letter over & above the common postage being serv'd only by a by post; we did give directions to our deputys of exeter, plym^o, and lanceston to meet and consult what method might be proper to serve those parts more conveniently, and at as easie an expence to her ma^{tie}. as might be, and to report to us their opinion of that matter with an estimate of the charge; which they accordingly did, and have proposed a scheme of that matter how 'tis to be performed with the charge of each stage, which amounts according to their computation to about £ p^{r} ann a sum more considerable than we at first apprehended; but we doubt the charge her ma^{tie}. will be put to will scarce be recompenced by the increase of letters upon settling such a stage, especially when we consider the great number of letters for that country which pass frank: if y^{r} lo^{pp}. shall think fitting a post be settled for the midland towns, as well as for the south coast, we shall upon y^{r} directions endeavour to do it with the best husbandry we can, and as we hope to the satisfaction of the country, and shall lay before y^{r}. lo^{pp}. an establishm^t. to be approved by y^{r}. lo^{pp}. we have indeed found by experience in other places, that where we have made the correspondence more easie and cheap, the number of letters has been thereby much increased; and therefore do believe such a settlement may be attended with the like effect in those parts. all which is humbly submitted to y^{r}. lo^{pp}. r.c. t.f. gen^{l}. post office, ^{d}. _novemb^{r_}. . no. (_b_). after my hearty comendations, whereas my very good lord john lord grandville and seaveral gentlemen of cornwall have represented to you, that by reason of the post road passing along the south coast of cornwall, seaveral inland towns are under great disadvantages in their correspondence; whereupon you have proposed to me the settlement of a new post for the midland towns, as well as for the south coast, the better to serve those parts, the charge whereof will amount to two hundred and sixty pounds p. ann i approve of what you have proposed, and do hereby authorize and require you to settle and establish such a post accordingly. but you are at twelve months end to represent to me or the lord high treasurer or commiss^{rs}. of the treasury then being, how far such a post doth answer the expence her ma^{tie}. is at in settling the same. and for so doing this shall be y^{r}. warrant. whitehall treary chambers the th december . godolphin. to my very loving friends s^{r}. rob^{t}. cotton kn^{t}. and s^{r}. thom^{s}. frankland bar^{t}. her ma^{ties}. post-m^{r}. gen^{l}. no. . s^{r}. robert cotton kn^{t}. and sir thomas frankland baronet her m^{ties}. post master gen^{l}. in the kingdoms of england scotland and ireland and in all her m^{aties} other dominions territorys and isles thereunto belonging in europe affrica and america. to all people to whom this shall come greeting know ye, that whereas the county of lincoln has not hitherto been served so well with the correspondence by letters as other parts of the nation, several towns therein not having had the convenience of a post at all, and others having been obleig'd to pay an extraordinary tax above the common postage, we have thought it proper to appoint mr. richard bigg of winslow in the county of buckingham gentleman, and mr. richard dixon of bourn in the county of lincoln gentleman (having receiv'd good testimony of the fidelity and loyalty of both and each of them to her ma^{tie}. and reposing great trust & confidence in the knowledge care and ability of them both) to be our lawfull and sufficient deputys with full power and authority to erect settle and establish posts in such towns of the said county for the carrying and conveying the letters as well those called the london letters as the by letters of the said county, as shall be judged most proper for her ma^{ties}. service, and the improvem^{t}. of the correspondence of the said county and to agree and contract with such persons as the said richard bigg and richard dixon or either of them shall think fitt to agree and contract with for performing the riding part through such stages as shall be erected by them or for keeping letter offices in any towns of the said county, and do by these presents depute constitute authorise and appoint the said rich^{d}. bigg and richard dixon to be our lawfull and sufficient deputys in manner and form aforesaid from the tenth day of august next ensuing the date hereof during such time as we or the postmaster gen^{l}, for the time being shall think fit under such conditions payments and instructions to be faithfully observ'd perform'd and done by the said rich^{d}. bigg and richard dixon their deputys and servants as they shall from time to time receive from the gen^{l}. post office in london in writing subscribed by us our deputy or deputys in the post office, in witness whereof we the said s^{r}. robert cotton and sir thomas frankland have hereunto sett our hands & caused the seal of the said office in such cases used to be affixed this fourth day of august . r.c. t.f. no. . to y^{e} rt. honble y^{e} lords com^{rs}. of his majestys treary. may it please your l.sps-- a proposall having some time since been made to your lordsps that a cross post might be settled between bristol & shrewsbury, you were pleased to refer y^{e} same to us to consider of it & report our opinions thereupon w^{ch} wee did accordingly and acquainted yo^{r} lordsps wee did hope wee should find some persons who would at their owne cost and charges undertake to settle a cross post, upon such terms as his majesty would not be a loser and the people receive the benefit they proposed. the establishing such a cross roade would undoubtedly be of great use to trade & convenience to y^{e} people and appeares to be very much desired by the several countrys thro' w^{ch} it wou'd pass; but as at present it might become loss to y^{e} revenue wee think it our duety to lay y^{e} whole state of the case before yo^{r} lorsps to receive yo^{r} further directions and have hereunto annexed a scheme both of the charge & loss that may accrew to the office thereby. wee must observe to yo^{r} lordsps that lond^{o}. (from y^{e} establishing of a post office) having been esteemed the center all letters passing thro' one road to an other thro' lond^{o}. have been constantly taxed with a double post first to lond^{o}. y^{n} to y^{e} places where to they were directed, but the settling of this cross post w^{ch} will cause a direct intercourse between y^{e} west bristol & chester roades, all lres, passing that way can only be charged w^{th} a single post according to y^{e} distance of one place from an other; but y^{n} it ought to be considered on the other hand that the passing thro' lond^{o}. is both tedious and chargeable, and a more speedy conveyance would in all probability produce of an encrease of y^{e} n^{o}. of letters besides the bringing such into y^{e} office as are now conveyed by carryers; for where ever there are any townes w^{ch} have comerce one w^{th} an other so as to occasion a cons^{t}. intercourse by carryer or tradesmen wee do find it a general practice to convey at y^{e} same time a considerable no. of lres as pticularly between bristol & worcester & worcester & shrewsbury; where there are two persons that make it their business to colect & disperse letters and make a considerable advantage by it. that if y^{e} settling this roade should have y^{t} good effect to suppress all these by posts (as in all probability it will) notwithstanding at present there will be some loss the revenue in time may be improved by it; and wee do find that the cross road set up yeares & / since between e[=xon][ ] & bristol doth now produce about l. p. annum neat proffit, but in regard this is altogether new wee can not possibly be so much masters of it as to know w^{t}. terms to propose to any undertakers that may be equall between the king and them and therefore if yo^{r} lordsps do agree to the proposal wee are of opinion it may be most proper to be set up and managed for his majesty and carryed on as far as chester.... (vii) the early posts in north america.[ ] no. (_a_). to the right honble the lords comrs. of his majesty's treas'y. thomas neale esq^{re}. humbly sheweth that their sacred majesty's by their letters pattents bearing date the th day of february granted to the said thomas neale a power of settling post offices in north america to be executed by a person to be nominated by the said thomas neale and deputed by the postmaster generall of england and thereby directed that accounts shall be kept of the charge and produce of the said post offices, and transmitted to the right honble the lord treasurer or lds. comissioners of the treasury for the time being. that in pursuance of this grant andrew hamilton esq^{re}. was nominated and deputed to erect post offices, who hath at thomas neales great charge settled 'em miles in length, upon the continent of america and kept true accounts of the expences and proffits thereof, which acc^{ts}. sworne to by the said deputy postmaster before the governor of new yorke are now humbly laid before your lordshipps and an abstract of it for yor. lordspps. ease. that the said deputy postmaster is come over to give your lordshipps information of all matters relating to that subject which your lordshipps shall think fit to enquire of, and hath proposed the method contained in the memoriall annexed as of absolute necessity in his opinion to support the post, which proves a great service to the crowne as well as advantage to his majesty's subjects residing in those colliny's and trading thither. all which is humbly submitted to your lordshipps judgment & direction. tho: neale. no. (_b_). to the right honourable the lords com^rs, of his majesty's treasury. the memoriall of andrew hamilton esqr. deputed by the postmr. generall of england, to mannage the post office in north america, humbly offered. the post office in north america produces these good effects. it encreases trade and correspondence betwixt the colonys there. it affords merchts. more frequent opertunitys of corresponding with europe. it contributes much towards putting the kings subjects in security in time of warr by ye. frequent conveyance of intelligence when allarms happen, for want of wch. many familys have been cutt off before the settling of the post. and it readily conveys court packets from the colony, where they are delivered to those whither they are addressed without any expence to the crowne, or said coliny, besides many other advantages. but not withstanding these publick and private benefits arising by it and the unspeakable loss to those collonys and england should the post fall yet the undertaker besides a considerable sume he hath been out of pocket already (above the produce in carrying it on) must still be in disburse for support of it or must let it fall. to prevent which it is humbly offered that a postage upon all letters as well those that come from beyond sea to north america as what go's from colony to colony may be ascertained by an act of parliament in england. that no masters of ships or sailers bound to america shall receive any letters but at the post office to be appointed for that purpose. that in like manner no masters of shipps shall receive letters in america that are directed to europe or from one part of america to another but from the respective post offices in the ports where they load or from whence they saile which said post offices shall put the letters in a maile and take a receipt of the master that he shall deliver them in to the first post office where he shall arive free of charge, for which he shall be allowed in america a penny a letter for his care excepting such letters as concerne the ship or cargoe which the freightors or owners if they think fit may commit to the care or charge of the master or friend. excepting also such letters of merchants as may contain bulky accounts which no master is intended to be hindered of carrying as also excepting such letters which the agents or proprietary governments may send to the respective governors whose agents they are. it being only hereby intended that the bulke of letters w^{ch} hitherto have gone very loosely, to the great loss of merchants may for the future be conveyed in mailes to prevent frauds or inconveniencys which have often hitherto happened. that the said master shall under a penalty be obliged to call at the respective post offices where he shall load for the maile and if none be ready to be sent that he bring with him a certificate for his justification that he called. the method at present used to get letters transported to america is this-- the masters bound thither put up bags in coffee houses wherein the letters are put and for which one penny a letter is usually paid and d. if it exceeds a single letter. this is lyable to several abuses. first any one under pretence that he wants to have his letters up again may come to those bags and take out other mens letters and thereby discover the secrets of merchants and tis in their power intirely to w^{th}draw them. ^{dly.} severall masters upon their arrivall often keep up letters till they have disposed of their loading and are ready to saile again, and then drop them to the great hurt of those that are concerned, which inconveniencys would be prevented if letters were delivered from the post offices in mailes and likewise delivered by them in mailes into the post office where they arrive. offices may be erected in london and other sea port townes in england that trade with america and so they may be in ireland and the same penny a letter which is paid into the coffee houses would support such offices in england and ireland to receive such letters. such offices will be a great convenience to lodge such letters as may concerne his majestys affairs in america. if masters were obliged to receive letters to and from america from the post office only, in mailes and delivered them so at the first post office they arrive at; there would be saved to the king a penny a letter, which now masters of shipps and passengers receive, for every american letter they deliver at the respective offices and whereas now many letters are delivered by masters and passengers themselves to the persons concerned, all those letters would then be brought into the post office to the encrease of that revenue. that it be provided that the post and his horse shall go fferry ffree. that the rates following may be set upon letters-- to or from europe or to the west indies to north america six pence p. single letter d. p. double d. for a packet if a packet contain nothing but invoices, accts. gazetts &ca. to be accounted but as a single letter. upon inland letters as followes-- d. where the distance from new yorke to boston is within miles the postage where the distance exceeds miles and within postage to and from boston to new yorke being miles to and from boston to jersey miles to and from boston to philadelphia miles to and from boston to annapolis in maryland miles to and from boston to james towne in virginia miles to and from new yorke to annapolis miles to and from new yorke to james towne miles and many broad and dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over if it be objected y^{t}. there is no reason to grant a postage upon forrensic letters where the postmaster is at no charge of conveyance, it is answered first that it remidies the evills that letters are subject to by the present method of conveyance. ^{dly}. it encreases the revenue of the post office in england. ^{dly}. that those colonys having but little correspondence with an other if the reale expence of conveying letters from coliny to colony were charged upon inland letters it would discourage all correspondence. exa: the charge of a letter from new yorke to boston at present is after y^{e} rate of d. a letter and considering the fewness of y^{m}. and the extraordinary charge and trouble of keeping up the post in time of wintor taking it one post with an other a single letter would not be carryed for ^{d}. the charges of settling a post throughout virginia and maryland will cost at least ^{d}. p. ann. & letters in a year will not come from those collonys to the neighbouring colonys their correspondence being chiefly w^{th}. europe. all which is humbly submitted by may it please your lordshipps your lordpps most obedient servant and: hamilton. i humbly beg leave of your lordspps to add y^{t}. w^{n}. his majesty shall at any time be inclinable to take this post office under his immediate direction i humbly make a proffer to make a surrendor of y^{e}. pattent upon payment of ^{d} or ^{d}. p. ann. for life for the remaining tearme of y^{e}. pattent. tho: neale. a calculation what charge will carry ye post from newcastle in pensilvania to james city in virginia about miles. there being a great many broad & dangerous rivers to be crossed makes it difficult to procure men to ryde ye stages and will cost at least to carry ye post from newcastle through maryland to james city in virginia _l._ p ann. i reckon yt in or yeares & may be less this charge will be defrayed by what may arise by postage upon letters. the post from newcastle to new england now at last defraying att last its own charge there will remain only ye sallery to be allowed to ye deputy postmaster generall which by ye increase of ye post will in yeares more in probobility alsoe be defrayed. as i have laid ye first foundation of ye american post soe if ye king think fitt to continue me on this trust i will take upon me ye managem^{t} of ye whole from piscatway miles eastward of boston to james city in virginia w^{ch} is & odd miles for _l._ p annum and will keep exact accts. of ye produce. soe yt _l._ will in all probability be ye utmost charge ye king will be att to bring ye american post to support it self vizt. _l._ for two yeares carrying it through maryland & virginia and _l._ more for yeares salery to ye manager or deputy postmaster gen^{ll} and will thereafter bring in a revenue all which is most humbly submitted. and: hamilton, dep^{t} postm^{r} of north america. _aprill th _ no. (_c_). cock pit treasury chambers. the l^{ds}. com^{rs}. of his majties treary are pleased to refer this petition and ye account annexed to s^{r}. robt. cotton kn^{t}. & s^{r}. tho. frankland barr^{t}. his majties postm^{rs}. generall who are desired to examine ye particulars and report to their lopps a true state thereof together w^{th}. their opinion what is fit to be done therein. w^{m} lowndes. the account annex'd to y^{e} petition makes y^{e} charges of erecting y^{e} post in north america from may to may - / -------------- the produce of s^{d} post - / -------------- m^{r}. neale out of pocket at may - / -------------- - / no. (d). to the right honble the lords com^{rs}. of his maj^{tys}. treary. may it please your lordspps. in obedience to yo^{r}. ld.spps. order of refference upon y^{e} memoriall of thomas neale and andrew hamilton esq^{rs}. wee have considered the same and do find that the said a: hamilton hath established a regular post to pass weekly from boston to new yorke in new england and from new york to newcastle in pensilvania which must undoubtedly be of great benefit and advantage to the people and tend to the encreasing of trade in those plantations; wee have likewise examined the accounts given in by the said hamilton of the proffit and charge arising by this post and do find that the proffits have every yeare encreased, so as to defray all charges, excepting the sallary paid to the said andrew hamilton for his care in managing and settling the posts in north america and it may be hoped that upon the severall governors giving all reasonable encouragement to this usefull undertaking, and a due care in the management thereof, it may in some years bring in a considerable proffit. wee have consulted his majestys attorney and solliciter generall whether his majesty can settle the rates and postage between england and any of the ports in america, and for the port of letters to and from new yorke to or from any part of the said plantations; and they are of opinion his majesty may settle such rates in both respects as shall be thought reasonable (regard being had to the proportions and rates settled by the act), for letters carried beyond sea, so y^{t} it doth not seeme necessary there should be any additionall act of parliam^{t}. for the settling of rates upon all such letters. to prevent any collections of letters that may be made by any masters of ships or seamen wee are humbly of opinion it may be proper to appoint an officer here whose business it should be to take care of all letters directed to any of his majestys plantations, and upon going off of ships to those parts to put them up in severall and distinct bags, sealed with the seale of the office and sent to y^{e} ma^{r}. of such vessell who shall deliver y^{m}. to y^{e} deputy postm^{r}. in the first port where he shall arrive such deputy paying him one penny for each letter contained in y^{e} said bag as a recompence for his care: and y^{e} same method may likewise be observed in england for all such letters as shall come from america: and upon such officers being established it may be fit to give publick notice that no other person presume to make collection of letters for those parts. wee have considered of the severall rates mentioned in mr. hamiltons memoriall for the inland post of letters between one place & an other in america and are humbly of opinion some of them are too high. it having been found by experience in this office that y^{e} easy and cheap corresponding doth encourage people to write letters and that this revenue was but little in proportion to what it now is till the postage was reduced from sixpence to d. wee have advised with mr. hamilton who hath settled and managed this post under mr. neale and is recomended to us by the governor of virginia to be well acquainted with that country about enlarging the post through virginia & maryland and by his competation hereunto annexed do find that it will require ^{d}. further charge than w^{t} has already been expended to establish and bring the whole to perfection there. upon the whole it appears to us that as the establishing this american post whereby the several colonys have a regular way of corresponding with each other is of great advantage to the trade of his maj^{tys}. subjects in those parts so it may in few years bring in a cleare proffit over and above what may be required to defray y^{e} necessary charges but it is to be apprehended that considering the same is in the hands of a private person the severall governors will not give that encouragem^{t}. to it they would do if the profit and advantage arrising thereby were to accrew to his maj^{ty}. all which is humbly submitted to your lordsps. consideration. gen^{l}. post office th april . r: cotton tho: frankland. no. (_e_). to the right honble &c^{a}. the humble memoriall of tho: neale esq^{r}. may it please your lordsps. though after strugling with many difficultys in the first settling the american post i have now at last at a great charge made it a regular post and brought it to such a pass that where settled it supports it self and will in a very few yeares bring in a fair revenue, yet since the postm^{r}. gen^{l}. in their report to your lordsps conserning y^{e} post have declared their opinion that it will not receive so due encouragement nor so soon attain to perfection in the hands of a private person for the good of the publick, as it would, were it in the hands of the king; i humbly offer to lay my pattent of that post office at his majestys feet rather then an undertaking so usefull & beneficiall to his majestys subjects in america and to those that trade thither should want the least advantage for its support and to leave my selfe to his maj^{tys} justice and goodness for a recompence of my risque and disbursments by a yearly pention or otherwise. and whereas in y^{e} memoriall annexed to the report, the abuses hitherto practiced in conveying letters to america and the method for preventing them for the future are set forth i humbly beseech yo^{r} lordsps. y^{t} the said method if approved of by your lordps. or such other as your lordsps. shall think more proper may be put in execusion for the benefit of the publick and mine till his maj^{ty}. shall declare his pleasure conserning the surrender of my patent. all which is most humbly submitted to yo^{r}. lordsps. great wisdom &c^{a}. by my lords your ever obedient tho: neale. _april , ._ no. (_f_). to the kings most excellent ma^{ty}. the humble petition of andrew hamilton, and robert west. sheweth that your maj^{tie}. and the late queen of blessed memory in the fourth year of your raigne, by letters patent granted to thomas neale esq^{r}. full power and authority to erect a post, and post office in north america, to hold for one and twenty yeares without any account, and by the same letters patent directed the post master generall of england to issue deputations from time to time to such persons as mr. neale or his assignes should nominate, to execute the same power. in pursuance of which grant, the post master generall at mr. neales nomination, deputed your peticoner hamilton, who hath setled a post from new yorke southward as far as virginia, and eastward seventy miles beyond boston in new england, which proves of great advantage to the trade of those coloneys, and of no lesse service to your maj^{tys}. governm^{t}. there. in the setling and supporting w^{ch} post, your pet^{r}. west, above seven yeares agoe upon the request and credit of mr. neale, advanced two hundred pounds, and your petitioner hamilton hath since disbursed eleven hundred pounds more, and brought it to such perfection, that it allready defrays its own charge, and will in time be a considerable revenue. that mr. neale being unable to pay your pet^{rs}. or to give them other satisfaction, in august assigned all his interest in the said post to your petitioner west for secureing all the monys due to both your petitioners and all such other sumes as your pet^{r}. hamilton should expend in further enlarging the said post, with common interest for the whole moneys. that mr. neale dying before payment of any part of the said debts, and all persons declining to act either as his executor, or administrator, your pet^{rs}. will be necessitated to dispose of the said post for satisfaction of their debts, but being sensible it is more for your maj^{ties}. interest and service, to have such post under the management and controll of some officer to be appointed by your ma^{tys}. than of any private person. your petitioners humbly tender the same to your maj^{tie}. and if your maj^{tie}. shall not thinke fit to accept it, they humbly pray that your maj^{tie}. will gratiously encourage the continuance and enlargement of the said post, by granting them a further terme of years therein, and such additional priviledges as are necessary for the improvement of it. and your petitioners shall ever pray &c^{a}. at the court. no. . london _feb^{ry}. th ._ sir, my present disagreable situation as an officer under the crown without employment, and without a salary, occasioned by the rebellion in america, induces me to give you the trouble of this adress, and to request your advice and assistance in procuring that relief which my present circumstances require. you are not a stranger to my appointment to the office of deputy postmaster of philadelphia in the year by the deputy postmasters general of north america, and that i continued to act in that office, and as i trust to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, until the confusion and sedition in that country rendered it impossible for me to be of any kind of service. in the spring having good reason to believe from a variety of information that there was a danger of breaking up the post office at philadelphia under the crown, and seizing upon all the monies in my custody, i immediately made up my accounts, and remitted the balance in my hands to the comptroller in new york up to the ^{th} april of the same year. about this time the disaffected merchants in philadelphia set up by subscription a post office in opposition to government, appointed william bradford postmaster and compelled many of the well effected merchants and others to send their letters to it for conveyance; and in may following the mail was seized in new england under a public avowel of the rebels. under these circumstances finding not only my person was in danger, but that i could be of no further service to the crown by my continuing in philadelphia, i left it and came into new york where my conduct being approved, i procured leave of absence, and returned to london in order to represent the true state of the offices in america, which on my arrival i did. you will also recollect that as soon as possible after hearing that the city of philadelphia was in possession of the kings troops i again embarked under an expectation that the war would be settled by the commissioners, and to take care of the post office affairs in that city. but on my arrival finding that all letters by the packets &c^{a}. were taken up by the commander in chief, and delivered not only to the army and navy but even to the merchants, the city being evacuated soon after, i was obliged to return again to this place for safety. when in the execution of my office my salary amounted to two hundred and twenty five pounds sterl^{g}. p. ann. out of which i paid clerks wages and office rent. this i received up to the of april . since that time i have subsisted on my own means (except two hundred pounds at the post office by warrant from the treasury) without receiving any other part of my salary from government. in these circumstances it is with reluctance i find myself under the necessity of applying for the same allowance from the crown, which has been made to other persons in office under it, in the like situation. i am sir &^{ca}. thos. foxcroft. anth. todd, esq^{r}. treasury authorized £ a year from th april, , "until he may be reinstated in the office or otherwise provided for." no. . general post office, _february th, ._ sir, in your letter dated the st instant which we did not receive till the th, we have the honor to inform you that after much difficulty we have but lately obtained mr. finlay's accounts as deputy post master general in america the first statement of which was for the period between the th of april and the th of october and exhibited a balance due to the office up to that date of £ . . sterling but the account was inadmissible in point of form for reasons hereafter mentioned. we are satisfied sir that you will form no opinion without having read the full state of the question on both sides and the proofs and documents by which our conduct towards mr. finlay may be judged and that you will form no hasty conclusion from his statement of his own case, which you will find to be greatly misrepresented. in support of this assertion we have ordered copies of the letters that we have lately written to mr. finlay upon the subject of his debt to be laid before you, and we shall if you will permit us order our deputy accountant general and desire mr. callender to wait upon you and to explain the particulars of all that have passed. mr. callender is mr. finlay's agent without whose knowledge and concurrence, we have taken no one step of late in this business, nor sent out any dispatch to mr. finlay that mr. callender has not previously seen and approved. he will be able to satisfy you sir, whether our conduct towards mr. finlay has been grounded upon severity or upon forbearance, more than perhaps our duty strictly speaking, would justify. in the mean time that we may do away any erroneous impression, which mr. finlay's letters may have made upon your mind, as well as upon gov^{r}: clarke's, we shall shortly put together the points which our correspondence will prove, and we shall rely upon your justice to transmit copy of that correspondence to gov^{r}: clarke, that he may have full and correct information upon the subject. there is and has long been a considerable balance due from mr. finlay, to this revenue, for the payment of which he has given no security, which balance we have repeatedly but in vain called upon him to pay. he is in possession from us not as he tells governor clarke, of a salary of £ per annum, but of a pension of £ p. annum, a salary of £ more, and a commission of £ per cent on the net produce of letters within the province of canada, which he assured us in may produced to him a nett receipt of £ p. annum, but previous to his receiving any net produce, all charges, dead letters, under deputies salaries, and other allowances are by the words of his commission, to be first deducted. instead of this he has charged the office £ per cent upon the gross, the dead letters only deducted, and not upon the net produce and claimed to be allowed for sundry of those articles of management, which by his commission on the articles which are to be deducted before the net produce is paid to him. he also charges his pension for several quarters, which he must know, was paid to his agent in this country during a part of the time he claims it in canada. in an account amounting to several thousand pounds and for several years, he has sent us home the particulars of no one article of expenditure whatever, & one voucher only which is but for £ . his accounts from the length of time and the manner in which they have at different periods been stated, are in a confused and contradictory state, and radically wrong, from his having taken considerable credit for money received by his agent here on account of his pension, and the whole of the articles of his disbursements being destitute of vouchers, up to the period of the th of october , without which they cannot pass this, or the auditors' office, together with his having taken a credit for his £ p. cent on false principles, and contrary to the words of his commission, which says it shall be on the net and not on the gross produce. the accountant general therefore thought it more adviseable, and mr. finlay's own agent strongly recommended the measure, of mr. finlay's coming to england to adjust in person, the whole, and render an account capable of being incorporated in the annual accounts of this office, for the auditors in which the true balance must be ascertained. as far as depends upon us we have given him the option to come or not, just as he pleases, provided we have an intelligible account and his balance paid. his letter to governor clarke of th october contains one misrepresentation which is too strong not to be observed upon; for he says we are about to reduce his income from £ a year to £ , though we have often told him that we would allow him, and our proposal for doing so is now before the privy council, an income of £ p. annum net, besides £ per annum for his clerk. he will also receive £ p. year from the province as maître des postes, but which in fact is paid ultimately by this country, being allowed in the governor general's accounts: however independent of that £ p. annum, he will then be in the receipt of £ p. annum from us net money, free of all deductions for managing an internal revenue in america which will not produce to this country at the end of the year a single shilling after paying the expence of the post between halifax, through the king's colonies, and quebec, besides which this office pays the expence of four packet boats which cost upon the present peace establishment about £ p. annum, though the correspondence between great britain and america does not yield above £ per annum. the commissioners of enquiry recommend that mr. finlay's pension of £ a year should cease, which however we have continued to him, and that his salary only of £ p. annum should remain and they do not appear to have known that exclusive of this pension and salary he enjoyed a former commission from the year of £ per cent upon the net postage of all money received in canada, for which however in our calculation we had allowed him £ per annum though he in his own dispatches assured us it produced him only £ per annum. we have shewn this letter to mr. church and mr. callender before it was copied out fair, they have altered and approved of it, so that we are now sir communicating to you, not only our own sentiments, but those of the deputy accountant general and mr. finlay's own agent. we are, sir, walsingham, chesterfield. the right hon^{le}. henry dundass. (viii) the clerks of the road and the transmission of newspapers.[ ] no. . to the r^{t}. hono^{ble}. the lord com^{rs}. of his maj^{tie}. treasury. may it please your lordshipps the postmaster generall representation for increasing the clarks salaries. wee humbly lay before your lo^{r}pps that upon some information given the last summer to the then lords justices as if his majesties revenue of the post office was lessened by a practice which had been long used of the clarks of the roads sending great quantitys of gazetts and other prints free of postage. their exellancyes thought fitt to lay the same before his maj^{tie}. who was thereupon pleased to signifie his pleasure to us by the lord keeper (now lord chancellor) in a comittee of councell that his majes^{tie}. did not think it reasonable that practice should for the future be continued but we acquainting their lordshipps that this having been a perquisite constantly allowed to the six clarks of the roades on consideration of the smalness of their sallarys it would be reasonable upon the taking of it away to allow them a compensation for the same whereupon they told us wee should lay that matter before your lordshipps of the treasury as wee now doe and upon the strictest enquiry wee can make the case appears to be as followes. upon the first establishing of the post office england was divided into six roades and a clark appointed to each road and their sallaryes being but small they were constantly allowed even by the farmers themselves the privilidge of sending gazetts and some other prints free, as the business and revenue of the office increased by petting up new posts soe likewise did their perquisites in soe much that complaint was made thereof to the late king james when duke of york who upon a full examination into the matter thought it more adviseable to continue it as an incouragement to them than to compensate them by an addition of sallary and besides that the office hath considerably increased since wee came into it the present juncture of affairs by the frequent and long sessions of parliament and the war wherein the greatest part of this side of the world is engaged hath occationed peoples being more desirous of news then formerly soe as wee believe the postage of prints sent by the six clarkes may now amount to about ... tho att the same time the clarkes does not receive soe great an advantage by them they paying the first cost for them and susteyne frequent losses by their customers failing in their paym^{t}. now upon the takeing this perquisite from them wee are humbly of opinion it will be reasonable to give them such an equivolent as is conteyned in the skeme hereonto annexed for wee must observe to your lordshipps that not only the improvement of the revenue but all the letters being duely accounted for doth in a great measure depend upon those officers they being the persons who make the charges upon all the postmasters of england and the very nature of the office requires such despatch that its scarce possible to contrive such cheque but y^{t} these officers being in combination with the postmasters may defraud his majestie and therefore it does not seem adviseable that men should be under such a temtation for want of a due incouragement. the attendance is alsoe soe great and at those unseasonable times and houres as renders them uncapable of applyeing themselves to any other business whereby to helpe to support themselves and familys though the addition of sallary which we have proposed doth not amount to halfe so much as the postage of prints now sent by the severall clarkes yet we cannot say his majesty will be a gainer thereby for it must be considered y^{t} many persons who are now furnished with them from the clarkes for two pence a peice will scarce have them if they must pay a groat or six pence a peice beside the troubling some friend in towne to send them and whether they may not find out some otherways of being furnished with them then by the post as by flyeing coaches &c^{t}. or whether those officers or persons who have the privelidge of franking their letters may not hereafter supply those with such prints as they are now furnished with from this office. whereas the business of the office is soe much increased that for the regular and due dispatch of the letters wee have been forced to appoint a sortor to each clarke of the road for an assistant whereby their trouble and attendance is very much greater then it was and being taken from sorting the burden and trouble of the rest is proportianably increased as there are fuer hands to perform it nether they or the assistant having any other advantage or perquisites besides theire bare sallary of forty pounds a yeare which is soe poor a subsistance that such as have dyed since wee came into the office have scarce left enough to bury them wee are humbly of opinion this may deserve your lordshipps consideration and soe upon the whole matter though we must acknowledge it an unseasonable time to propose an increase of sallaryes which has made us defer it thus long we could not omit this oppertunity of doeing it and humbly hope if your lordshipps shall think fitt to give these poor men the incouragement proposed it will tend very much to his majesty service in this office. no. . the right honorable lord walsingham, and the earl of chesterfield, his majesty's post master general. the undersigned the clerks of the roads gratefully considering the report made by your lordships to government which recommends for them a salary of three hundred pounds p. annum with their present privilege of franking newspapers unimpaired ask permission to submit to your lordships notice the following plan for increasing the circulation of newspapers and in consequence the revenue arising from the stamp duty probably to the amount of eight thousand pounds p. annum though attended by no additional expence to government but entirely at their own risque and which they have determined immediately to execute should your lordships arrangement take place. they would first premise that when they were relieved by your lordships from the payment they formerly made to the officers in this department and from the office which was filled by mr. tamineau, they reduced their charge from forty pounds per centum to twenty & twenty five pounds per centum on the prime cost of the papers which latter sum is the additional charge now made on the prime cost by all the stationers printers & dealers who serve the country with papers, and if in some cases it be less, it is on account of payment being made in advance. they now propose upon the establishment of your lordships arrangement to reduce the general charge on the prime cost from twenty and twenty five per centum to ten and fifteen pounds per centum, and as all the circulators of newspapers will now regulate their charge for newspapers sold in the country by that of the clerks of the roads, the charge fixed by the clerks will be the general one in the course of six months from its commencement. this reduction will cause a greater demand for newspapers in the country many who now take a weekly paper will then take a three day paper & many who now take a three day paper will then take a six day paper and two persons who now join the expence of a weekly or a three day paper may be induced by the reasonable charge to take each a paper or increase the number as above, and as the reduction becomes generally known which by the means of their agents the post masters and other correspondents throughout great britain & ireland it can be in fourteen days, the stationers printers and dealers must likewise lessen their charge or risk the loss of their customers. by abolishing the monopoly once enjoyed by the clerks in the offices of the secretaries of state, and the clerks of the roads in this office, permitting the public to send and receive newspapers free, the number increased as this circumstance became known from-- , to , weekly and it is by confirming this liberty to the public and by a reduction in the charge that the circulation of newspapers and consequently the increase of revenue is intended to be promoted. the probable increase in the number of newspapers circulated in the country through the above reduced price may be stated at the lowest computation at one half penny each upon one hundred newspapers each clerk of the road, one hundred each of the twenty principal stationers & dealers and for the more inconsiderable dealers which are very numerous fifty of whom are known four hundred papers by every poste, which together will make the additional number circulated every post three thousand. by preserving the privelege of franking to the clerks of the roads a competition will be occasioned between them & the other dealers, the public will be supplied on more moderate terms, and an increase of consumption will be promoted but should this competition be destroyed by the abolition of the privelege of the clerks of the roads, the principal dealers purchasing the business carried on by less extensive circulation might thereby occasion a monopoly and then fix the price as it might suit their private interest and diminish the number of newspapers circulated thereby greatly injuring the revenue as formerly by the monopoly of the clerks of the secretaries of state and the clerks of the roads for it would be the interest of the stationers and other dealers as it was that of the clerks under government to sell a less number at an advanced price, the capital employed would not be so large nor the trouble nor the risk so great. the clerks of the roads here beg your lordships attention to a proposal which there is no doubt will occasion a yet further increase of circulation of newspapers, it has been before stated to your lordships in the report upon the plan proposed by the commissioners relative to a tax on newspapers that before the duty of one penny postage was laid on all newspapers sent by post to ireland, the weekly number remitted to that kingdom was upon an average , , and that the weekly number now sent upon an average is only , , should government consent to repeal this duty it is evident from the above statement that they would gain a considerable sum the clerks of the roads will with pleasure make a considerable reduction in their charge to ireland, as in the case of home consumption which will be a means of still further extending of circulation. { number of newspapers which passed through the general post { office london between the th april , and the th of april { , with the amount at two pence each stamp duty, and { london newspapers , , £ , . . { compared. { number of newspapers which passed through the general post { office london between the th of january and the th of { january , with the amount at two pence each stamp duty, { london newspapers , , { country ditto , { --------- { total no. , , £ , . . { six clerks of the roads at each night probable { twenty principal dealers at do. , gain by { fifty less dealers at each night this plan. { ----- { no. , { , each night at two pence each stamp duty £ , p. ann. { to ireland before the tax. { number of newspapers which passed through the general post { office to ireland between the th january and the th { january at two pence each stamp duty, and { , £ , . . { to { to ireland since the tax. ireland { number of newspapers which passed through the general post compared. { office to ireland between the th january and the th of { january at two pence each stamp duty and one penny each { postage, { , £ . . edmund barnes charles coltson isaac henry cabanes samuel ardron william ogilvy charles evans. no. . to the right honorable lord walsingham and the earl of chesterfield, his majesty's post master general. the paper from the post master general relative to the tax proposed by the commissioners having been communicated to the clerks of the roads and the inspector of franks they beg permission to offer the subsequent observations. that the proposal by the commissioners for government to receive a tax of a penny for the postage of each newspaper passing through the post office, however eligible it might appear at the time it was first proposed, will not they believe at this period, be productive of that expected advantage to the public the encrease of revenue, as the reasons annexed among others may probably prove. because since the proposal was made to the commissioners, and they made their report an additional stamp has been imposed of one halfpenny a paper, and another halfpenny on each has been added by the printers, so that the public now pay one penny more than they did at that time. because the proposed tax would be a means of compelling the stationers, printers and dealers to send their papers by coach the same day at the customary charge of one farthing each paper instead of sending them by post on government account at a penny the second day. and it cannot be supposed that a number of persons many of them of considerable property would quietly submit to have the circulation of their papers confined to post conveyance at one penny each paper, without those serious efforts to oppose and prevent it which the prospect of certain and total ruin to their business and consequently to their families must excite. but allowing it were possible to confine the whole of the papers sold in the country to post conveyance and a recompence made to those stationers and printers employed in the distribution at present would not the encreased price occasioned by this tax very much diminish the number of newspapers now printed to the great injury of the stamp duty? probably to a greater amount than would be gained by the plan proposed. for were the stage coaches prohibited conveying newspapers all the morning papers now conveyed by them to many parts of the kingdom would be lost to the stamp revenue, and all the morning papers read at the coffee houses and other public houses, would be collected by the newsmen at a small sum each paper in the afternoon and sent into the country by the post in the evening without the least trouble to themselves, it being their daily business to go round their london district, early in the morning, and in the afternoon before the dispatch of the papers by the post. before the penny postage was laid on all papers sent by post to ireland the weekly number remitted to that kingdom was upon an average , : the number now sent upon an average is only , weekly. because when the tax was recommended by the commissioners the first cost of a london newspaper was threepence only, the first cost is now fourpence, to which add the tax for postage it will be fivepence to any post town in england, which is one halfpenny more than the highest charge now made by any dealer in the country for a london newspaper. but should this tax take place the people who live at a distance from any post town must pay an additional halfpenny a paper and some twopence on the receipt of each paper which will bring the cost to fivepence halfpenny, some sixpence, and some as high as sevenpence each london newspaper. this high price the clerks of the roads well know by experience would induce many people to take only a three day paper who now take a six day paper and many who now take a three day paper only a weekly paper, and as the salaries of the clerks of the roads employed in the business would be certain and no way answerable for any loss on the papers would there not be a great many people customers no way able to pay for their newspapers many of whom this mode of business would certainly introduce? consequently government would be subject to several deficiencies in payment for newspapers sent into the country whether paid for half yearly, yearly, or each paper on delivery, the receiver in the latter case would not feel himself obliged to give notice for his paper to be discontinued but would refuse it when offered, the cost of the paper would then be lost to government. this latter mode of payment would give an opportunity to the deputy post masters or their clerks to order more papers than actually required which after being read would be returned with the quarterly dead letters to be allowed as refused or gone away. because the proposed tax would cause a decided preference of country newspapers to those of london encrease the sale of the former and diminish that of the latter for as very few of the country newspapers pass through the post office, the country printers would be enabled to undersell the london printers a penny a paper. the usual method with a country printer is immediately upon the arrival of his london paper to print his own with the london news and disperse them to runners from ten to fifteen miles around the town he resides in; these runners not only disperse a considerable quantity of newspapers but carry also letters which must materially injure the revenue. because notwithstanding the revenue to be raised by this tax is very uncertain the conduct and management of it will be attended with much expence taken out of the hands of those deeply interested in its success the greater burden will fall upon the deputy post masters in the country; the country newspapers when they arrive cannot be dispersed without a direction being numerous, the deputies will no doubt expect an increase of salary adequate to the business imposed on them; this it is conceived will bring a fresh expence upon government. in most large towns two additional assistants to the post master will be necessary one at £ and the other at £ per annum, it will also materially delay (in most of the post towns) the delivery of the letters by the time it will necessarily take in selecting folding and directing the papers; allowing the same time to a post master and his assistants as it takes herewith the same number of hands to dispatch them in the post office, the delay in many large towns will be from one to two hours. the clerks of the roads not having received any recompence whatever for the losses sustained by the act of which abolished their then privelege of franking letters and gave to the public liberty to send and receive newspapers etc. free by a permit from peers and members of parliament to the great diminution of their sale of papers; and by the further extension of this liberty to the public to send and receive them free under the sanction of a peer or member's name without the usual permit; and by the separation of the irish from the english office, would certainly consider themselves intitled by justice to a sufficient recompence for their lives were the privelege now remaining to them taken away. the rest of the officers in the inland department who have always been told to look up to a clerkship of the road as a reward for their long services would also consider themselves entitled to larger salaries were the privelege of franking newspapers by the six clerks of the roads further restricted or abolished. number of news papers which passed through the general post office london between the th january and the th january with the amount at one penny each-- london newspapers , , £ , . . . country " , £ . . . ----------- ------------------ , , £ , . . . edmund barnes isaac henry cabanes william ogilvy charles coltson saml ardron charles evans. * * * * * appendix c list of authorities united kingdom allen, ralph. a narrative of mr. allen's transactions with the government for the better management of the bye, way, and cross road posts. 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(annually.) sénat. rapport fait au nom de la commission du budget chargée d'examiner le projet de loi portant fixation du budget général, postes, télégraphes, et téléphones. (annually.) germany crole, b. e. geschichte der deutschen post von ihren anfängen bis zur gegenwart. eisenach, . dambach, otto. das gesetz über das postwesen des deutschen reiches vom . oktober . berlin, . dieckmann, carl. postgeschichte deutscher staaten seit einem halben jahrtausend. leipsic, . faulhaber, b. geschichte des postwesens in frankfurt am main. frankfurt a. m., . grosse, oskar. die beseitigung des thurn und taxis'schen postwesens in deutschland durch heinrich stephan. minden in westf., . grunow, f. w. zur reform des paketportos in deutschland und Österreich-ungarn. leipsic, . haass, friedrich. die post und der charakter ihrer einkünfte, mit einem anhang über die packetpost. stuttgart, . holzamer, j. zur geschichte der briefportoreform in den culturstaaten. tübingen, . hull, c. h. "die deutsche reichs-packetpost." sammlung nationalökonomischer und statistischer abhandlungen des staatswissenschaftlichen seminars zu halle (saale) von prof. dr. conrad. jena, . jung, j. entwickelung des deutschen post und telegraphenwesen in den letzten jahren. leipsic, . kÖhler, b. die reichs-post und telegraphentarife in ihren rechtlichen formen. berlin, . meyer, a. die deutsche post im weltpostverein und im wechselverkehr. berlin, . mÜller, c. f. die fürstlich thurn und taxis'schen posten und posttaxen. jena, . posten und posttaxen. freiburg im breisgau, . nickau, p. j. wettbewerb in der kleingewerbeförderung innerhalb des reichspostgebiets. würzburg, . ohmann, f. die anfänge des postwesens und die taxis. leipzig, . perrot, f. die anwendung des penny-porto-systems auf den eisenbahntarif und das packet-porto. rostock, . portas, k. deutsche postzeitungsgebührentarif. königsberg, . rÜbsam, joseph. francis von taxis, the founder of the modern post, and johann baptista von taxis, his nephew, - . _l'union postale_, berne, . schmid, k. a. h. zur geschichte der briefporto-reform in deutschland. jena, . schmidt, artur. die tarife der deutschen reichs-post- und telegraphenverwaltung. _finanz-archiv_, berlin, - . von stephan, heinrich. geschichte der preussischen post. berlin, . ullrich, p. die finanzen der reichs-post- und telegraphenverwaltung. stettin, . die brieftaxe in deutschland. freiburg im breisgau, . die uebernahme der privat-beförderungsbetriebe durch die reichs-postverwaltung. _deutsche verkehrs-zeitung_, berlin, march . handwörterbuch der staatswissenschaften. jena, and . allgemeine dienstanweisung für post und telegraphie. berlin, . archiv für post und telegraphie. beihefte zum amtsblatt des reichs-postamts. fortnightly. berlin. blätter für post und telegraphie. zeitschrift der höheren post- und telegraphen-beamten. berlin. stenographische berichte über die verhandlungen des reichstags. berlin. (cited _reichstag, official reports_.) general acworth, w. m. elements of railway economics. oxford, . adams, h. c. science of finance. new york, . alexander, e. porter. railway practice. new york, . baines, f. e. posts, telegraphs, and telephones, and their relation to trade. london, . bastable, c. f. public finance. london, . bennett, a. r. the telephone systems of the continent of europe. london, . burritt, elihu. ocean penny postage. london, . cohn, g. the science of finance. translated by t. b. veblen. chicago, . colson, c. railway rates and traffic. london, . darwin, leonard. municipal trade. london, . ely, r. t. taxation in american states and cities. new york, . farrer, lord. the state in its relation to trade. london, . fischer, p. d. post und telegraphie im weltverkehr. berlin, . giffen, sir r. essays in finance. london, . grierson, j. railway rates, english and foreign. london, . haass, dr. friedrich. weltpostverein und einheits-porto (welt-penny porto). heidenheim (brenz), . hadley, a. t. railroad transportation. its history and its laws. new york, . hamilton, i. g. j. an outline of postal history and practice, with a history of the post office in india. calcutta, . jevons, w. s. a state parcel post. _contemporary review_, january . methods of social reform. london, . jones, r. the nature and first principle of taxation. london, . jÜrgensohn, arved. weltportoreform. berlin, . knoop, d. outlines of railway economics. london, . lee, john. economics of telegraphs and telephones. london, . leroy-beaulieu, p. traité de la science des finances. paris, . mcculloch, j. r. taxation and the funding system. london, . merritt, a. n. scope of government functions. journal of political economy, chicago, july . meyer, h. r. public ownership and the telephone in great britain. new york, . northcote, stafford. twenty years of financial policy. london, . parnell, sir h. on financial reform. london, . plehn, c. c. introduction to public finance. new york, . ripley, w. z. railway problems. boston, u.s.a., . say, l. dictionnaire des finances. paris, . seligman, e. r. a. essays in taxation. new york, . spencer, herbert. the man versus the state. london, . stein, l. von. lehrbuch der finanzwissenschaft. leipsic, . terra, otto de. im zeichen des verkehrs. berlin, . wagner, adolph. finanzwissenschaft. leipsic, . wilhelm, julius. frachtporto. vienna, . memoranda, chiefly relating to the classification and incidence of imperial and local taxes. bluebook c. , . ruffy, m. e. l'union postale universelle. sa fondation et son développement. lausanne, . official documents of the international postal congresses. published by the international bureau, berne. statistique générale des postes. (annually.) berne. l'union postale. (monthly.) berne. note.--_the foregoing list includes particulars of the chief works consulted, but is not in any sense a complete bibliography._ index act of union, acts, post office, _see_ post office acts advertisement duty, , , agriculture, encouragement of, , _aktentaxe_, , allen, ralph, armour, r., australia, parcel post in, bastiat, frédéric, bath road, _binnenporto_, blackwood, sir arthur, , blind, rate on printed matter for, , bonaparte, louis napoleon, book post, , , , books, rate for, _see_ rates of postage _boten-anstalten_, , , , _botenmeister_, , _botenpost_, bourne, jonathan, senator, buildings, post office, cost of, , burlamachi, philip, bye letters, canadian magazine post, cape breton, posts in, carriers, common, and conveyance of letters, , , , _cartes de visite_, catalogues, , , chesterfield, lady, clanricarde, lord, , "class" newspapers, , classification of mail matter, _see_ mail matter; of postal revenue, _see_ revenue, net clerks of the road, , , - closed post, , note _colis encombrants_, colonial letters, rates for, , commercial papers, rate for, _see_ rates of postage commissioners of inquiry into fees and emoluments, , note; into revenue departments, , , note; of post office inquiry, , note; , commissioners on post office in british north america, report of, , , committee, select, on postage, , ; on newspaper stamps, , , commonwealth, the, confederation of british north american colonies, , , , conference, international postal, , congress, constitutional (united states), ; continental (united states), , congress, international postal, , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , , convention, general postal union, , ; parcel post (international), , conveyance of mails, cost of, , , , , , , , , , , conway bridge, additional rate for, cost of handling (united kingdom), , ; for buildings, , ; for conveyance of mails, , , , , , , , , , , ; for staff, , , ; for second-class mail (united states), , ; letters (france), ; newspapers (germany), ; parcels (germany), , (united states) ; postcards, council of state, , country newspapers (protected), _see_ newspapers (provincial) couriers, post, _see_ post-couriers crimean war, cromwell, thomas, cross-posts, , , , , cumbersome parcels, additional charge for, , , ; definition of, note, note cunard, samuel, cunard steamship company, _cursores_, , , daily post, establishment of, in england, declaratory act, , , deficit, on newspapers, , , , ; on parcels, , , ; on second-class mail, , , , delivery fees, , , , , , deputy postmasters, _see_ postmasters deputy postmaster-general (north america), , , , , , , dockwra, william, , double letter, definition of, _dragonerpost_, drop letter, duty (paper), , note; (advertisement), , , ; (stamp), , , , east india company, elgin, lord, evasion of postage, , , , , express companies, competition for second-class mail, ; delivery of parcels, , farm (of the posts), , , , , , fee letter, _see_ letters finance, , finlay, hugh, , first-class mail matter, _see_ mail matter, classification of fittings (for sorting), ; cost of, foot-messengers, , , , foreign letter office, , , foreign posts, _see_ posts fourth-class mail matter, _see_ mail matter, classification of foxcroft, thomas, , frank, definition of, note franking, , , , , , , , , , - franklin, benjamin, , , , , freeling, sir francis, , , freight trains, use of for second-class mail, _gazette, london_, , _gazette, oxford_, , general post, general post delivery (london), germain, lord george, german-austrian postal union, , , , , _geschäftspapiere_, gladstone, w. e., , goddard, william, gratuitous transit (of foreign mails), , , halfpenny packet post, hamilton, andrew, , , - hamilton, john, hand-stamping machines, handling, cost of, _see_ cost of handling; method of, hartington, marquess of, heaton, sir j. henniker, heriot, john, hickes, james, hill, matthew davenport, hill, sir rowland, - , , , , , , , , horse-posts, _see_ posts howe, john, , _illustrated london news_, inland letter office, , international parcel post, _see_ parcel post jaccottey, p., joyce, h., king's messengers, , , , _landbestellgeld_, _landkutschen_, _landporto_, laurier, sir wilfred, l'estrange, roger, , letter rate, _see_ rates of postage letters, definition of "single," "double," "treble," ; bye, ; cross-post, ; drop, ; fee, ; way, , ; average weight of, , , licences, issue of, by post office, licensing act, , , lichfield, lord, local newspapers (protected), _see_ newspapers (provincial) local penny posts, local rates, _see_ rates of postage _london gazette_, , london penny post, , , london threepenny post, london twopenny post, loss on certain branches of post office business, _see_ deficit maberley, colonel, , magazine post to canada, magazines, transmission by post, , , , , , mail-coach, introduction of, mail matter, classification of, , , , mail order business, _maîtres de poste_, , manley, john, , _maryland journal_, master of the posts, , menai bridge, additional rate for, merchant adventurers, merchant companies, _mercurius publicus_, military post routes, , , millerand, a., , monopoly, postal, , , , , , , , , , , , - monsell, w., muddiman, henry, , mulock, sir william, , , murray, robert, neale, thomas, , , - net revenue, _see_ revenue, net new england colonies, newsbooks, , newsletters, newspaper rate, _see_ rates of postage newspaper stamps, select committee on, , , newspaper supplements, , , newspapers, average weight of, , , ; cost of transmission, , ; franking of, ; free transmission of, , , , , , , , ; "class," , ; political, , ; provincial (protected), , , , , , , ; transient, , nicholas, sir edward, north german union, , , , , _nuncii_, , , old age pensions, payment of, open post, , note oxenbridge, clement, _oxford gazette_, , pacific mails, packet post, _see_ post for the packet packet postage, page, w. j., , palmer, john, paper duty, , _papiers d'affaires_, , parcel post, international, , , , ; local, , ; loss on, , , , parcel post act, , , parcel rate, _see_ rates of postage parcels, cost of transportation, , , , , , , ; average weight of, , , , paris, university of, , _parliamentary intelligencer_, parnell, sir henry, pattern post, _see_ rates of postage (samples) penalty frank, penny post (london), , , penny posts (local), penny postage, uniform, introduction of, penrose overstreet commission, , periodicals, transmission by post, , , , , pitt, william, , political newspapers, , _poor man's guardian_, popish plot, post office acts-- , ; , , , ; , , , , , ; , , ; , ; , ; , , , ; , , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , , , ; , ; , , , , ; , , , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , ; , ; , post office revenue, _see_ revenue, net postage, origin of term, , ; prepayment of, , , ; rates of, _see_ rates of postage postage, uniform, _see_ uniform postage postage stamps, introduction of, postal monopoly, _see_ monopoly postal traffic, growth of, in united kingdom, postal union convention, , _post-boten_, post-boys, , , postcards, ; average weight of, post-couriers, , , , , , , , , , , post for the packet, , , post-horses, , , , , , - , , postmasters, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , post-riders, , , , , post-roads, , post-stages, , , , , , - posts, ; cross-posts, , , , , ; extraordinary, , ; foreign, , ; horse, , , , , , , , ; military, , , ; ministerial, ; municipal, ; ordinary, ; parliamentary, ; regular, , ; temporary, , ; thorough, , ; thurn and taxis, , ; travelling, - , ; university, , povey, charles, power stamping machines, prepayment of postage, , , press, restrictions upon, , , , , , , , prideaux, edmund, prince edward island, posts in, profit, post office, _see_ revenue, net prospectuses, transmission by post, , , provincial newspapers, _see_ newspapers provost, sir george, de quester, matthew, , railway clearing committee, railway companies, remuneration of, for conveyance of mails, , railway rates, basis of, , , randolph, thomas, rates of postage-- england. _letters_, , ; , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , , , ; , , _newspapers_, , ; , , ; , ; , _book post_, , ; , , , ; , ; , _parcels_, , ; , _samples_, , , , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; , _commercial papers_, , ; , _local rates_, , ; , ; , , ; , canada. _letters_ (first-class mail), , ; , - ; , ; , ; , , _newspapers_ (second-class mail), , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , _book post_ (third-class mail), _fourth-class mail_, _parcels_, , _local rates_, , , ; , united states of america. _letters_ (first-class mail), , ; , , ; , ; , ; , , , ; , , ; , ; , , ; , , _newspapers_ (second-class mail), , ; , , ; , , , ; , , ; , _book post_ (third-class mail), , _fourth-class mail_, , _parcels_, , ; , france. _letters_, , , , ; , , ; , ; , ; , ; , , , ; , , ; , ; , , _newspapers_, , , , ; , , ; , ; , , , _book post_, , , ; , ; , _parcels_, , ; , _samples_, , , ; , , , _papiers d'affaires_, , , , _local rates_, , ; , , germany. _letters_, , , ; , , , ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , , , _newspapers_, , , ; , _book post_, , , , ; , ; , ; , , ; , _parcels_, , , ; , , ; , , , , ; , , , , ; , - _samples_, , , ; , , , ; , , _geschäftspapiere_, , _local rates_, , ; , , , ; , ; , international. _letters_, , ; , _parcels_, , , ; , ; , rates, international transit, _see_ transit rates redirection (of letters, etc.), , note reform act, , revenue, net, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ; theoretical character of, , rice, spring, richelieu, riders in post, , , , , rural delivery, , , , note, , ; free, sample rate, _see_ rates of postage savings bank, post office, , _schriftentaxe_, , second-class mail, _see_ mail matter, classification of; congressional commission on, , ; , ; deficit, , , , ; use of freight trains for, select committee on postage, report of, , ; on newspaper stamps, , , seven years' war, , , ship letter office, ship letters, , single letter, definition of, smith, adam, , sorting frames, _stafetti_, , staff, - ; cost of, , , stage coach, , note, stamp duty (on newspapers), , , , stamping machines, stamps, postage, introduction of, stanhope, lord, , , state control of post office, stayner, t. a., stephan, h. von, , supplemental services, , , supplements (newspaper), , , , surveyors (post office), , sutherland, daniel, taxes on knowledge, , taxis, j. von, telegraphs, post office, , telephones, post office, , temporary uniform fourpenny rate. note third-class mail matter, _see_ mail matter, classification of thirty years' war, , thorough post, , threepenny post (london), thurn and taxis posts, , _times_ newspaper, , trade journals, transmission by post, , , transient newspapers, , transit, gratuitous, , , transit rates, international, , , , , , , travelling post, - , treble letter, definition of, tuke, brian, , tupper, sir charles, twopenny post (london), uniform postage, , , , , , , , , , _union générale des postes_, _union postale universelle_, , note universal penny postage, , universal postal union, , university posts, , urgent parcels, special fee for, wages (of postmasters), , wages, post office, , walkley, a. b., note wanamaker, j., , , , ward, edmund, , ward, sir j. g., warwick, earl of, way letter, , way office, , weighing of mails (united states), , wells, h. g., west, robert, williamson, joseph, witherings, thomas, , , , , yearly express, zone rates, , , , , , * * * * * _printed in great britain by_ unwin brothers, limited, the gresham press, woking and london * * * * * [ ] _report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , appx., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . _annual report of the postmaster-general_, , p. . [ ] _encyclopædia of the laws of england_, london, , vol. xi. p. . j. w. hyde, _the post in grant and farm_, london, , p. . [ ] _report from secret committee on the past office_ (_commons_), , appx., p. . in a writ or letter was issued to the constable of dover and warden of the cinque ports, to the mayor and sheriffs of london, the bailiffs of bristol, southampton, and portsmouth, and the sheriffs of hants, somerset, dorset, devon, and cornwall, reciting that previous orders _de scrutinio faciendo_ had not been observed, in consequence of which many letters prejudicial to the crown were brought into the kingdom; and commanding them to "make diligent scrutiny of all persons passing from parts beyond the seas to england, and to stop all letters concerning which sinister suspicions might arise, and their bearers, and to keep the bearers in custody until further directions, and to transmit the letters so intercepted to the king with the utmost speed." [ ] richard iii in "followed the practice which had been recently introduced by king edward in the time of the last war with scotland ( ) of appointing a single horseman for every miles, by means of whom travelling with the utmost speed, and not passing their respective limits, news was always able to be carried by letter from hand to hand miles within two days."--_third continuation of the chronicle of croyland_, oxford, , p. . the system was identical with that of the posts of antiquity (_vide_ appendix b, pp. - , _infra_). [ ] derived from _posta_, a contraction for _posita_, from _ponere_, to place. the general use of the word is to signify relays placed at intervals on the routes followed by messengers. [ ] "ne men can kepe horses in redynes without som way to bere the charges"--tuke to cromwell, august (_report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , appx., p. ). [ ] "the king's pleasure is that postes be better appointed, and laide in al places most expedient; with commaundement to al townshippes in al places on payn of lyfe, to be in such redynes, and to make such provision of horses at al tymes, as no tract or losse of tyme be had in that behalf "--ibid., appx., p. . [ ] "a.d. . the office of the maister of the postes. the accompte of thomas randolphe esquier, maister of the postes.... as also of the yssuyng and defrayment owte of the same, as well for the wages of the ordinarie postes laide betwene london and barwicke and elles where within hir ma^ts realme of englande, as also for the wages of divers extra ordenarie postes laid in divers places of the realme in the tyme of hir ma^ts severall progresses, and also to divers postes for cariage of packets of l'res from sittingbourne, dartforde rochester, canterbury and dover for hir ma^ts service and affayres, as occasion from tyme to tyme did requier."--ibid., appx., p. . [ ] in the united kingdom this system exists to a considerable extent, chiefly in the south and west of ireland, and in many parts of scotland, more especially among the western isles. in remote parts the means of communication are in general provided for the double purpose, and economy to the post office naturally results from the fact that the contractors for the mail service have a source of income in addition to the post office payment. indeed, it is probable that since the days of the post-boys by far the greater portion of the mails has always been conveyed by means not exclusively provided for that purpose. the mail coaches carried passengers and goods, and it was from that traffic that the income of the proprietor was mainly derived. the payment in respect of the mails was very small, the real consideration inducing the proprietors to carry the mail being the fact that the mail coaches were exempt from tolls. the railway displaced the mail coach, and increased the dependence of the mail service on means of communication provided primarily for other purposes. the number of trains run solely for the conveyance of mails has always been extremely small. the weight of mails to be conveyed is usually insufficient to warrant the provision of a special train, and the post office is therefore compelled, as far as possible, to make use of such trains as may be run for other traffic, endeavouring to obtain such modification in the times and working as will make them of the greatest advantage to the mail service without destroying their utility for general traffic. the existence of extensive means of communication for general purposes therefore results advantageously to the post office. [ ] and edward vi, cap. . [ ] "the lords of the privie counsell, endevouring heretofore the like furtherance of the service of the state, as well in horsing such as ride on their prince's affaires, as the speedy despatch of packets in all places where posts were erected and ordeined, considering that for the service of the one, a daily fee is allowed, and for the other, no certaine wages at all, but the hire of the horses let out, and that often ill paide, whereby they stand not so bound to the one, as to attend to the other; and that the townes and countreys besides became many wayes vexed and perplexed, by the over great libertie of riders in poste, specially by such as pretend publike service by speciall commission, contrary to the king's meaning or their lordships' orders."--orders for thorough posts and couriers, riding post on the king's affairs, _(report from secret committee on the post office (commons_), , appx., p. ). the "thorough post" was the term applied to the travelling facilities provided by the posts, i.e. when the messenger travelled "through," in contradistinction to the "post for the pacquet" (or "packet"), i.e. the post for the transmission of the mail, or "pacquet." [ ] " . first it is ordered, that in all places where posts are layde for the packet, they also, as persons most fit, shall have the benefit and preheminence of letting, furnishing, and appointing of horses to all riding in poste (that is to say) with horse and guide by commission or otherwise. " . and, like as in the orders for the carrying of the packets, the furtherance of our service and the state is only aymed at; so in this it is intended that none be holden to ride on publique affairs but with speciall commission, and the same signed either by one of our principall secretaries of state, ... and of all such so riding in publike affaires, it shall be lawfull for the posts, or the owners of the horses, to demand, for the hire of ich horse, after the rate of twopence halfe-peny the mile (besides the guides groats). but of all others riding poste with horse and guide, about their private businesses the hire and prices are left to the parties discretions, to agree and compound within themselves."--ibid., appx., p. . [ ] contemporary papers show that this was largely a measure of police, intended to enable the government to keep a watch on all persons travelling about the kingdom. [ ] as late as there were only four, and they touched only a small portion of the kingdom. they were ( ) the courte to barwicke, ( ) the courte to beaumaris, ( ) the courte to dover, and ( ) the courte to plymouthe. [ ] see _supra_, p. . [ ] "the constables many times be fayn to take horses oute of plowes and cartes."--brian tuke, (_report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , appx., p. ). [ ] the post from london serving the "westerne part" of the kingdom was discontinued in as unnecessary except in time of war.--ibid., appx., p. . [ ] "universities and great towns had their own particular posts; and the same horse or foot post went through the journey, and returned with other letters, without having different stages as at present. it was thus practised later in scotland as having less commerce than in england."--d. macpherson, _annals of commerce_, london, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] the committee of secrecy of the house of commons were of opinion that the practice of carrying private letters probably began at an early period and became a perquisite of the postmasters (_report from secret committee on the post office_ (_commons_), , p. ). [ ] ibid., appx., p. . [ ] ibid., appx., p. ; see p. , _infra._ [ ] ibid., appx., p. . [ ] the business of carrying foreign letters had been conducted by the holder of the general patent for carrying letters, although that patent covered only inland posts and foreign posts within the king's dominions. in a patent was issued to matthew de quester and his son, conferring on them the office of postmaster of england for foreign parts. the holder of the patent for the inland posts, who had hitherto been conducting this service, attempted to resist this new grant, but without success; and for some time there was a sort of triple division of the posts, viz. the inland posts, the posts in parts beyond the seas within the king's dominions, and the posts for foreign parts out of the king's dominions. there was, nevertheless, no regular provision for the conveying of letters for places out of england. the foreign mails were conveyed by men who were engaged in other business, who bought their places in the posts, and were accused of delaying the mails through "more minding their own peddling traffic than the service of the state or merchants, omitting many passages, sometimes staying for the vending of their own commodities, many times through neglect by lying in tippling-houses."--see j. w. hyde, _the post in grant and farm_, london, , p. . [ ] "nether can anie place in christendom bee named wher merchants are allowed to send their letters by other body or posts, then by those only which are authorized by the state.... your lordship best knoweth what accompt wee shal bee hable to give in our places of that w^{ch} passeth by letters in or out of the land, if everie man may convey lrs, under the covers of merchants, to whome and what place hee pleaseth."-- th february . john coke to lord conway (_report from secret committee on the post office (commons)_, , appx., p. ). [ ] a copy is given in appendix b, _infra_, pp. - . [ ] "now his majesty ... taking into his princely consideration how much it imports this state and this whole realm, that the secrets be not disclosed to foreign nations; which cannot be prevented if promiscuous use of transmitting or taking up of foreign letters by these private posts and carriers aforesaid should be suffered, which will be also no small prejudice to his merchants in their trading.... and his majesty, taking further into his consideration that the mutual commerce and correspondency of his subjects within his majesty's dominions will be as advantageous and beneficial as the trade with foreign nations, and that nothing will more increase and advance the same than the safe and speedy conveying, carrying, and re-carrying of letters from one place to another ... he doth hereby straightly charge and command, that no post or carrier whatsoever within his majesty's dominions, other than such as shall be nominated and appointed by the said thomas witherings, shall presume to take up, carry, receive, and deliver any letter or letters, pacquet or pacquets whatsoever, to any such place or places where the said thomas witherings shall have settled posts, according to the said grant, except a particular messenger sent on purpose with letters by any man for his own occasions, or letters by a friend, or by common known carriers."--proclamation of th february - (_report from secret committee on the post office (commons)_, , appx., p. ). [ ] " . june th. council of state to (serjeant dendy and his assistants?):-- "you are to repair to some post stage miles from london on the road towards york; seize the letter mail going outward, and all other letters upon the rider, and present them by one of yourselves; the other shall then ride to the next stage, and seize the mail coming inwards, and bring the letters to council, searching all persons that ride with the mail, or any other that ride post without warrant, and bring them before council, or the commissioners for examinations. all officers civil and military to be assistants. with note of like orders for chester road and the western roads."--_calendar of state papers (domestic series_), , p. . [ ] _commons journal_, th september , p. . [ ] ibid., st march , p. . [ ] ibid. [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, london, , p. . [ ] _commons journal_, th october, , p. . [ ] _register of council of state_, th may , vol. xvi. pp. - . [ ] _calendar of state papers (domestic series)_, - , p. . [ ] "the case of the first undertakers for reducing letters to half the former rates, viz. clem. oxenbridge, rich. blackwell, fra. thompson, and wm. malyn. we observed that the postage of inland letters was long continued at d. a letter, and that the whole benefit went into one hand, to the grievance of many. being encouraged by the votes of the last parliament (made in the time of their primitive, free, and public actings, viz. august ) that the taking of letters from and the restraints and imprisonments of gower, chapman, cotton, and mackedral were against the law and the liberty of the subject ... and that the said secretaries and witherings were delinquents, being also encouraged by the opinion of the judges given in the house of lords, that the clause in witherings' patent for restraint of carrying letters was void and against law--we attempted to put the same in practice, but through the interest of mr. prideaux, who for many years had enjoyed excessive gains by the former high rates, we met with all the obstruction he could make against us, by stopping our mails, abusing our servants, etc., though he always held forth that it was free for any to carry or send letters as they pleased."--_calendar of state papers (domestic series)_, / , p. . cf. john hill, _a penny post_, london, . [ ] "cross posts did not exist. between two towns not being on the same post road, however near the towns might be, letters could circulate only through london; and the moment london was reached an additional rate was imposed. hence the apparent charges, the charges as deduced from the table of rates, might be very different from the actual charges. bristol and exeter, for instance, are less than miles apart; but in , and for nearly forty years afterwards, letters from one to the other passed through london, and would be charged, if single, not d. but d., and if double, not d. but s. that is to say, the postage or portage, as it was then called, would consist of two rates, and each of these rates would be for a distance in excess of miles."--h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . cf. _infra_, appendix b, pp. - . this practice of charging according to the route traversed and not according to direct distance was also followed in other countries. it is perhaps comparable to the practice of computing railway charges on the basis of the distance by railway, and not as the crow flies. [ ] h. scobell, _collection of acts and ordinances_, london, , p. . [ ] car. ii, cap. . [ ] see, e.g., royal proclamations, th january - and th july . [ ] see appendix, pp. - . [ ] "as early as william's reign they (the postmasters-general) had been asked to estimate how much an additional penny of postage would produce; ... the necessities of the civil list had prompted the inquiry."--h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] anne, cap. . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] "the additional tax has never answered in proportion to the produce of the revenue at the time it took place, the people having found private conveyances for their letters, which they are daily endeavouring to increase, notwithstanding all the endeavours that can be used to prevent them."--statement by the postmasters-general, th may (_british official records_). [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] "an important legal decision, with which the post office had only the remotest concern, an improved system of expresses following as a natural consequence from circumstances over which the post office had no control, a simple contrivance to facilitate the posting of letters (i.e. the aperture), and an acceleration of the mail between london and edinburgh--this as the record of forty or fifty years' progress is assuredly meagre enough; and yet we are not aware of any omission."--h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] "a letter between bath and london would be a london letter, and a letter from one part of the country to another which in course of transit passed through london would be a country letter. a bye or way letter would be a letter passing between any two towns on the bath road and stopping short of london--as, for instance, between bath and hungerford, between hungerford and newbury, between newbury and reading, and so on; while a cross post letter would be a letter crossing from the bath road to some other--as, for instance, a letter between bath and oxford."--ibid., p. . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] "to give a slight idea of the nature of this conveyance: _the bye and way letters_ were thrown promiscuously together into one large bag, which was to be opened at every stage by the deputy, or any inferior servant of the house, to pick out of the whole heap what might belong to his own delivery, and the rest put back again into this large bag, with such bye letters as he should have to send to distant places from his own stage. but what was still worse than all this, it was then the constant practice to demand and receive the postage on all such letters before they were put into any of the country post offices. hence (from the general temptation of destroying these letters for the sake of the postage) the joynt mischief of embezling the revenue and interrupting and obstructing the commerce, fell naturally in, to support and inflame one another. indeed, they were then risen to such a height, and consequently the discredit and disrepute of this conveyance grown so notorious, that many traders and others in divers parts of the kingdom had recourse to various contrivances of private and clandestine conveyance for their speedier and safer correspondence; whereby it became unavoidable but that other branches of the post office revenue should be greatly impair'd, as well as this ... "now whilst the _bye and way letters_ continued to be conveyed in so precarious and unsafe a way, as is shewn above, it was thought hard to punish such as undertook to convey them in a speedier and safer manner. but from a time that this branch of the revenue was put under a just regulation, in consequence of the contract with mr. allen, all such persons who were any way concerned in this illegal collection and conveyance of letters, were by proper officers employed by him, strictly enquired after, and when detected, the most notorious of them punished as a terror to the rest."--ralph allen's narrative, nd december (ralph allen's _bye, way and cross road posts_, london, , pp. and ). [ ] "upon the next renewal of his contract, which was in the year , the postmasters-general, after largely expressing, as usual, their sense of the integrity of his conduct, and the services he had done to the public, told him they judged it but reasonable to expect some addition to his rent of £ , a year for the _bye, way and cross road letters_, altho' he should still continue to support and increase the produce of the country letters for the benefit of the king. to which, mr. allen answered, that their expectations of additional rent appeared very reasonable to him, and which he should have made in his own way (a way he was going to open to them) had they not themselves proposed it. that there are two ways of giving this additional rent: the one was by paying a further some of money yearly, such as he could afford to his majesty's use without any advance to public commerce, the other was by paying his majesty, and immediately too, a much larger sum than he could in the first way pretend to advance, in causing a considerable increase of the produce of the _london and country letters_ by means of extending and quickening the correspondence of london and several of the most considerable trading towns and cities thro'out the kingdom; a project that would be of infinite advantage to commerce. which of these two ways the postmasters-general would think fit to prefer, he left to themselves to consider; who on duly weighing all circumstances, did not in the least hesitate to prefer the latter method. "upon which mr. allen agreed to erect, at his own expence, one every day cost from london to bath, bristol, and glocester towards the _west_; and from london to cambridge, lynn, norwich, and yarmouth towards the _east_; and to all intermediate places in both quarters: and--that all the increase of the postage of letters thus conveyed between london and the several places, east, and west of it above-mentioned, should, without any charge or deduction, be paid in directly for his majesty's use, as well as all the increase of the _country letters_ within that district, that is, such letters as pass between one country town and another thro' london. "all this was accordingly done and executed conformable to the terms of the contract."--ibid., pp. - . similar extensions were made at the renewals of the lease in and . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] "it is certain that the alteration of the rates of postage in the year has not been attended with every good consequence then expected from it and has been some loss to the revenue."--mr. draper, district surveyor, _british official records_, . [ ] "at a time when the mail leaving london on monday night did not arrive at bath until wednesday afternoon, he (palmer) had been in the habit of accomplishing the distance between the two cities in a single day. he had made journeys equally long and equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result of observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the horses kept at the post houses it was always the worst that were set aside to carry the mail, and that the post was the slowest mode of conveyance in the kingdom. he had also observed that, where security or despatch was required, his neighbours at bath who might desire to correspond with london would make a letter up into a parcel and send it by stage-coach, although the cost by stage-coach was, porterage included, s. and by post d."--h. joyce, _history of the post office_, pp. - . cf. d. macpherson, op. cit., vol. iv. p. . [ ] "if the present hours fixed at all the offices of the kingdom with the greatest care and attention to that regular plan of correspondence which has been established after long experience were to be altered it would throw into the greatest confusion for the present and would be many years before it could be restored to the degree of perfection it now has."--observations on mr. palmer's plan by mr. draper, district surveyor (_british official records_, ). "indeed, it is a pity that the author of the plan should not first have been informed of the nature of the business in question, to make him understand how very differently the posts and post offices are conducted to what he apprehends, and that the constant eye that has been long kept towards their improvement in all situations and under all circumstances has made them now almost as perfect as can be without exhausting the revenue arising therefrom."--observations on mr. palmer's plan by mr. hodgson, district surveyor. ibid. "upon the whole it appears impracticable upon a general system to convey the mails by machine."--observations on mr. palmer's plan by mr. allen, district surveyor. ibid. [ ] "in there were forty-two mail-coach routes established, connecting sixty of the most important towns in the kingdom, as well as intermediate places. these coaches cost the government £ , a year, only half the sum paid for post-horses and riders under the old system. the coaches made daily journeys over nearly two-thirds of the total distance traversed and tri-weekly journeys over something less than one-third the total distance. the remainder travelled one, two, four, and six times a week."--j. c. hemmeon, _history of the british post office_, cambridge, mass., , p. . [ ] geo. iii, sess. , cap. . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, pp. - . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . for details of the changes in the rates during this period see appendix, pp. - . [ ] "von epochemachender bedeutung war die berühmte von _rowland hill_ angeregte portoreform bei briefen (sogenanntes pennyporto) in grossbritannien ."--a. wagner, _finanzwissenschaft_, leipzig, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] sir rowland hill and g. birkbeck hill, _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, london, . [ ] "they were all full of high aims--all bent on 'the accomplishment of things permanently great and good.' there was no room in their minds for the petty thoughts of jealous spirits. each had that breadth of view which enables a man to rise above all selfish considerations. each had been brought up to consider the good of his family rather than his own peculiar good, and to look upon the good of mankind as still higher than the good of his family. each was deeply convinced of the great truth which priestly had discovered, and bentham had advocated--that the object of all government, and of all social institutions, should be the greatest happiness of the greatest number for the greatest length of time. in their youth their aims were often visionary; but they were always high and noble."--ibid., vol. i. p. . [ ] "early in the 'thirties there had been some reduction in certain departments of taxation. it occurred to me that probably some ease might be given to the people by lowering the postal rate.... although occupied with other affairs, the reduction in the postal rate was not dismissed from my thoughts. the interest it had excited induced me to read reports, etc., on postal administration."--ibid., vol. i. p. . [ ] "the best test to apply to the several existing taxes for the discovery of the one which may be reduced most extensively, with the least proportionate loss to the revenue, is probably this: excluding from the examination those taxes, the produce of which is greatly affected by changes in the habits of the people, as the taxes on spirits, tobacco, hair-powder, let each be examined as to whether its productiveness has kept pace with the increasing numbers and prosperity of the nation. and that tax which proves most defective under this test is, in all probability, the one we are in quest of."--rowland hill, _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, london, , p. . [ ] "the revenue of the post office has been stationary at about £ , , a year since . this can be accounted for only by the great duty charged on letters; for with a lower duty the correspondence of the country through the post office would have increased in proportion to the increase of population and national wealth."--sir henry parnell, _on financial reform_, london, , p. . [ ] "while thus confirmed in my belief that, even from a financial point of view, the postal rates were injuriously high, i also became more and more convinced, the more i considered the question, that the fiscal loss was not the most serious injury thus inflicted on the public; that yet more serious evil resulted from the obstruction thus raised to the moral and intellectual progress of the people; and that the post office, if put on a sound footing, would assume the new and important character of a powerful engine of civilization; that though now rendered feeble and inefficient by erroneous financial arrangements, it was capable of performing a distinguished part in the great work of national education."--sir rowland hill in _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, london, , vol. i. p. . [ ] _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, by rowland hill, london, . [ ] "in order to ascertain, with as much accuracy as the circumstances of the case admit, the extent to which the rates of postage may be reduced, under the condition of a given reduction in the revenue, the best course appears to be, first to determine as nearly as possible the natural cost of conveying a letter under the varying circumstances of distance, etc., that is to say, the cost which would be incurred if the post office were conducted on the ordinary commercial principles, and postage relieved entirely from taxation; and then to add to the natural cost such amount of duty as may be necessary for producing the required revenue."--ibid. p. . [ ] "i found, first, that the cost of conveying a letter between post town and post town was exceedingly small; secondly, that it had but little relation to distance; and thirdly, that it depended much upon the number of letters conveyed by the particular mail; and as the cost per letter would diminish with every increase in such number, and as such increase would certainly follow reduction of postage, it followed that, if a great reduction could be effected, the cost of conveyance per letter, already so small, might be deemed absolutely insignificant. "hence, then, i came to the important conclusion that the existing practice of regulating the amount of postage by the distance over which an inland letter was conveyed, however plausible in appearance, had no foundation in principle, and that consequently the rates of postage should be irrespective of distance."--sir rowland hill, _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, london, , vol. i. p. . [ ] "it appears, then, that the cost of mere transit incurred upon a letter sent from london to edinburgh, a distance of miles, is not more than _one thirty-sixth part of a penny_. if therefore the proper charge (exclusive of tax) upon a letter received and delivered in london itself were twopence, then the proper charge (exclusive of tax) upon a letter received in london, but delivered in edinburgh, would be twopence _plus_ one-thirty-sixth part of a penny. now, as the letters taken from london to edinburgh are undoubtedly carried much more than an average distance, it follows, that when the charge for the receipt and delivery of the letter is determined, an additional charge of one-thirty-sixth part of a penny would amply repay the expense of transit. _if, therefore, the charge for postage be made proportionate to the whole expense incurred in the receipt, transit, and delivery of the letter, and in the collection of its postage, it must be made uniformly the same from every post town to every other post town in the united kingdom_, unless it can be shown how we are to collect so small a sum as the thirty-sixth part of a penny."--rowland hill, _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, london, , pp. - . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] a "frank" was a letter or packet bearing on the outside the signature of a person entitled to send letters free of postage. [ ] these proposals are not, however, necessarily related to the principle of uniformity, and, although interesting and important at the time, are now only of historical interest. they relate more particularly to the practicability of applying low and uniform rates to the postal service in the united kingdom, having regard to the circumstances then obtaining and to the necessity for maintaining a large net revenue. given that uniformity of rate was scientifically sound, it did not follow that it should be immediately adopted, and the financial effect was, to say the least, speculative. but since it was unlikely that the plan would be adopted if any large decrease in revenue were likely to result, sir rowland hill was at great pains to explain methods by which his plan could be adopted without serious reduction of net revenue, and it was in this connection that the question of the increase in traffic which might be anticipated assumed such importance. [ ] see, e.g., h. von stephan, _geschichte der preussischen post_, berlin, , p. . [ ] _ninth report of commissioners for inquiring into the mode of conducting the business of the post office department_, , appendix, pp. - . [ ] "of all the wild and visionary schemes he had ever heard or read of, it was the most extraordinary."--lord lichfleld, postmaster-general, june , _parl. debates_ (_lords_), vol. xxxviii, col. . "he considers the whole scheme of mr. hill as utterly fallacious; he thought so from the first moment he read the pamphlet of mr. hill; and his opinion of the plan was formed long before the evidence was given before the committee. the plan appears to him a most preposterous one, utterly unsupported by facts, and resting entirely on assumption. every experiment in the way of reduction which has been made by the post office has shown its fallacy; for every reduction whatever leads to a loss of revenue, in the first instance: if the reduction be small, the revenue recovers itself; but if the rates were to be reduced to a penny, revenue would not recover itself for forty or fifty years."--abstract of evidence of colonel maberly, secretary to the post office, _third report from the select committee on postage_, , p. . [ ] _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, by rowland hill, second edition, london, . [ ] see _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, london, ; sir henry cole, _fifty years of public work_, london, . [ ] _third report of the select committee on postage_, th august , § . [ ] in - the deficiency was £ , , ; in - , £ , ; in - , £ , , ; in - , £ , , ; and for - it was estimated at £ , , . [ ] "was the committee ignorant--we think not--that the radicals in politics and the sectarians in religion, have been the warmest advocates--and indeed (except the mercantile body we have alluded to) the only very zealous advocates for this penny post?"--_quarterly review_, october , p. . cf. _edinburgh review_, january ; j. morley, _life of cobden_, london, , p. . [ ] "on the th april , lord melbourne's government brought in what is generally known as the jamaica bill--a bill for suspending for five years the constitution of that colony. this measure was strongly opposed by the conservative party (led by sir robert peel), and by many of the radicals. on the second reading of the bill, the government only escaped defeat by the narrow majority of five votes. the ministry thereupon resigned; sir robert peel was sent for by her majesty, but owing to the 'bedchamber difficulty' failed to form a government. lord melbourne was recalled, and in the negotiations with the radical members for future support to his government, the bargain was struck that that support should be given, provided penny postage was conceded. "thus one of the greatest social reforms ever introduced was, to speak plainly, given as a bribe by a tottering government to secure political support."--_the post office of fifty years ago_, london, , p. . cf. _parl. debates_, th march , vol. cxxxvii, col. ; sir stafford h. northcote, _twenty years of financial policy_, london, , pp. - . [ ] as a temporary measure, with the view of minimizing the practical difficulties of the post office, a uniform rate of d. a letter ( d. a letter for london local letters) was introduced on the th december . [ ] estimate of number of chargeable letters delivered in the united kingdom (in round numbers):-- letters . millions franks . " letters . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " " . " - " , . " - " , . " the total number of packets of all descriptions delivered in the united kingdom in the year - was about , millions.--_annual reports of the postmaster-general._ [ ] see j. r. mcculloch, _taxation and the funding system_, edinburgh, , p. . [ ] the number of letters per head of population shows a continuous increase, as follows:-- -----------+----------+-----------+----------+--------- year. | england. | scotland. | ireland. | united | | | | kingdom. -----------+----------+-----------+----------+--------- - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | - | | | | -----------+----------+-----------+----------+--------- [ ] as in other countries. it is contrary to the general principles upon which the post is conducted in the leading countries of europe to throw a quantity of heavy matter upon the letter post, which exists primarily for the carriage of light letters, and would be seriously hampered by the transmission of large numbers of heavy packages." [ ] of these, , were established and , unestablished officers. [ ] the following table shows the date and annual cost of the various revisions:-- - . fawcett revision £ , - . raikes revision , - . tweedmouth revision (including norfolk-hanbury concessions) , . stanley revision , . hobhouse committee revision , . holt committee revision , , - . other improvements , ---------- total £ , , in addition, the annual cost of the war bonus granted in is estimated at £ , , . [ ] ----------+------------------------- | percentage of salaries, year. | wages, etc., to total | revenue. ----------+------------------------- - | . - | . - | . - | . - | . - | . - | . - | . - | . ----------+------------------------- [ ] the increase is partly accounted for by the fact that parcels are included in the later figures. deducting the estimated cost of the parcel post (see _infra_, chapter vii), the cost for staff for packets other than parcels was, in - , some . d. per packet. [ ] omitting the cost of conveyance of mails by sea, and omitting the cost of conveyance of parcels by railway, which is fixed by the parcel post act of . the following table shows the movement of the general cost of conveyance of mails:-- ------------+-------------+------------------------------------ | | percentage of cost of conveyance year. | cost of | of mails by road and rail to total | conveyance. | revenue (excluding cost of | | conveyance of parcels by railway). ------------+-------------+------------------------------------ - | £ , | . - | , , | . - | , , | . - | , , | . - | , , | . - | , , | . [ ] assuming there is no loss on the parcel post. if there is such loss, the cost per packet other than a parcel would be reduced (see _infra_, chapter vii). [ ] the general increase of wages partly accounts for this (see p. , opposite). the cost of working is, however, higher in the larger offices (where the bulk of postal work is done) than in the smaller offices, and tends to be highest in the largest offices. the matter is complicated by the fact that higher scales of pay are in force in the larger towns. [ ] ---------------+------------------------------------ | percentage of total expenditure to | total revenue. year. +------------------------------------ | postal services. | all services. ---------------+------------------+----------------- - a b | . | -- - b | . | -- - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - | . | . - c | . | . a: penny postage introduced, th january . b: revenue does not include proceeds of impressed stamp on newspapers. c: estimated. --_report of postmaster-general_, - , pp. - . [ ] "the inhabitants live so scattered and remote from each other in that vast country, that posts cannot be supported among them."--benjamin franklin, evidence before house of commons, th january, (_parl. history_, vol. xvi. col. ). [ ] the usual rate of remuneration for deputy postmasters in north america. cf. _infra_, pp. and . [ ] "on account of the scarcity of money, people will forbear to correspond until they find occasions by friends, travellers, and the like, to send their letters, which makes it to be wished that the legislature might enact that the rate of postage for the greatest distances on the continent of america may not exceed s. d. for a single letter and so in proportion."--_british official records_, . [ ] preamble of geo. iii, cap. . [ ] "the present rates may in some parts be reduced, and the revenue nevertheless may hereafter be improved, by means of a more extensive circulation."-- geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] _british official records_, th february . [ ] _british official records_, rd september . [ ] j. g. hendy, _empire review_, london, , vol. iv., p. . [ ] "there is no doubt that the revenues of the provinces showed a nominal surplus, but it is not so clear that this surplus, which amounted to £ in , and to £ , in , was a surplus on the provincial services. many years later, when the administration of the post office in the colonies and the question of the disposal of the surplus revenue had become part of a political matter of the first magnitude, the provincial legislatures alleged that the surplus amounted to a very considerable sum each year, and that the circumstances constituted a taxation of the colonies by the mother country; but the deputy postmaster-general asserted that this surplus was in fact composed of revenues to which the colonies had no claim, viz. the charges for british packet postage, that is, for transmission of letters across the ocean, and payments in respect of military postage, and that in point of fact the local service had never yielded a surplus--that, indeed, there was probably a deficit. "this i feel myself bound to state as my firm conviction, that neither for the last ten years, nor for any previous period, has the postage of lower canada afforded one farthing of net revenue."--mr. t. a. stayner, deputy postmaster-general (_report of special committee of the house of assembly on the post office department in the province of lower canada_, th february , p. ). [ ] see, e.g., _report of special committee, house of assembly, lower canada_, th march . [ ] in governor carleton of new brunswick manned the posts at st. john, cumberland, preguile, and fredericton with a troop of soldiers, by which means "the route was kept in good order"; and in the duke of kent, then commander-in-chief of the forces in nova scotia, constructed a military post road from halifax to annapolis, and also other roads in the vicinity of halifax.--_british america_ (british empire series, vol. iii., london, ), p. . [ ] _vide_ p. , note, _supra._ [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] will. iv, cap. . [ ] _report of special committee, house of assembly, lower canada_, th march . [ ] ibid., _legislative council, lower canada_, th march . cf. _report of select committee, legislative council, upper canada_, th february . [ ] "we have failed to discover reasonable grounds for hoping that the several colonial legislatures will soon (if indeed they ever will) arrive at such uniformity in their enactments for the management of the post office within their respective localities as would ensure the establishment of a practicable system, more especially since it is admitted that the bill of one legislature, in order to become effective, must correspond in all its material provisions with the bills of all the other legislatures, and that after these bills have been found to correspond with one another, and had in consequence thereof become laws, no alterations in them, however expedient it might be deemed by one legislature for the improvement of the system, could be carried into effect, until agreed to by each separate legislature."--_joint address, legislature of upper canada_, march , p. . an example of the difficulties likely to be encountered, and some justification for the reluctance of the imperial authorities to yield control of the service, is afforded by a dispute which occurred at about this time between canada and nova scotia concerning the arrangements for the transmission of the british mails between quebec and halifax. nova scotia refused for the first time to make good the deficiency in the post office revenue. the authorities in london thereupon ordered the deputy in the province to discontinue all unremunerative services, a course of action which proved effective. [ ] _report of the commissioners appointed to enquire into the affairs of the post office in british north america_, st december . [ ] _british official records_, - . [ ] w. j. page, report of st october (_british official records_). [ ] despatch of th august . [ ] _report of a committee of the executive council of canada on the post office_, th june . [ ] & vict., cap. . [ ] _correspondence on the subject of the establishment of a general post office system in british north america_, montreal, th february . [ ] in , $ , ; in , $ , ; in , $ , . [ ] "he would, were it necessary for the revenue, prefer to retain the existing letter rate than to extend through the dominion this newspaper impost, unknown in the maritime provinces before."--hon. dr. tupper, _parl. debates_ (_canada_), _house of commons_, th december . [ ] hon. mr. campbell, ibid., _senate_, rd december . [ ] "the postal service should be expected to yield a revenue; but the service should be performed as low as possible, and if it paid its way that was all that need be desired."--hon. mr. campbell, ibid. [ ] the revenue in was $ , , , and in , $ , , . in the rate was made cents per ounce. [ ] see _infra_, p. . [ ] sir w. mulock, _parl. debates_ (_canada_), _house of commons_, st april (_official reports_, vol. xlvi.). [ ] sir charles tupper, ibid., th may . [ ] in , $ , , : in , $ , , . [ ] "it is ordered that notice be given that richard fairbanks his house in boston is the place appointed for all letters which are brought from beyond the seas or are to be sent thither to be left with him, and he is to take care that they are to be delivered or sent according to the directions; and he is allowed for every letter a penny, and must answer all miscarriages through his own negligence in this kind." [ ] stanley i. slack, _a brief history of the postal service_, omaha. [ ] m. e. woolley, _early history of the colonial post office_, providence, r.i., , p. . [ ] new york, in , enacted that any persons or body politic or corporate other than the postmaster-general presuming to "carry, re-carry, or deliver letters for hire, or to set up or imploy any foot-post, horse-post, or pacquet-boat whatsoever" for the carrying of letters or packets should forfeit £ ; and the act of new hampshire, passed in , provided that no person or persons whatsoever should carry letters for hire, "except letters sent by private friend or by any messenger for or concerning the private affaires of any person." [ ] preamble of act ( st april ). [ ] "the mail carriers rode through the wilderness in this year of the beginning."--stanley i. slack, _a brief history of the postal service_, omaha, p. . [ ] see _infra_, appendix b, pp. ff. [ ] "an act for establishing a general post office for all her majesty's dominions" ( anne, cap. ). [ ] geo. iii, cap. . see _supra_, pp. - . [ ] cf. _supra_, p. . [ ] evidence of benjamin franklin before house of commons committee, th january . the committee were, of course, most anxious on points having relation to the taxation of the colonies by the english parliament, and dr. franklin was asked questions directed to discovering whether the colonists regarded postage, which was fixed by act of the british parliament, and had been newly fixed by such act in the previous year ( geo. iii, cap. ), as a tax. on this point dr. franklin emphatically held that the postage paid on a letter was not of the nature of a tax, but that it was simply payment for service performed; and, moreover, the payment of postage was not compulsory, since a man might still, as before the passing of the act, send his letter by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thought it cheaper or safer. dr. franklin said that every assembly encouraged the post office in its infancy by grants of money; that they would not have done this if they had thought the postage charge a tax, and as a matter of fact the system was always regarded as supplying a great convenience (w. cobbett, _parliamentary history of england_, vol. xvi. cols. - ). [ ] _manifesto to the american people_, issued by goddard, nd july . earlier in the manifesto it was remarked that "newspapers, those necessary and important alarms in time of public danger, may be rendered of little consequence for want of circulation." [ ] "it is not to be doubted but that the institution will be properly regulated by the continental congress."--_manifesto to the american people_, th may . [ ] _journals of the continental congress, - _, pub. washington, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] resolution of th september . ibid., vol. iii. p. . [ ] _british official records_, th december . [ ] "the officers of the american army beg leave to inform their friends and correspondents that the postage of all letters to and from the army is doubled: but as their pay is fully adequate to every expense, they therefore request them to send all letters by the public post, and not _through any [oe]conomical view_ by a private conveyance. 'tis a pity that the honourable congress did not treble the postage for officers' letters, as a large annual sum by this means would be put into the public treasury. the several printers of newspapers on the continent are requested to insert the above."--_pennsylvania packet_, nd june . [ ] in all, no less a sum than $ , was advanced to the post office during the year .--_journals of the continental congress_, - , pub. washington, , vol. xv. pp. and . [ ] ibid., vol. xviii. p. . [ ] the rates were given in pennyweights and grains of silver, each pennyweight being estimated as equivalent to five-ninetieths of a dollar. [ ] _journals of congress_, philadelphia, - , vol. vii. p. . [ ] see pp. - , _supra._ [ ] ibid., vol. xii. p. . [ ] message to congress, th october . [ ] see _debates and proceedings in congress_, th december . (washington, .) [ ] ibid., th december . [ ] see _congressional record_ (_house of representatives_), st february . [ ] questions of the establishment and maintenance of the post roads were dealt with by congress separately from questions of mail service. [ ] _reports of senate committee_, th january , p. . [ ] letter to hon. mr. kennedy, _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, pp. - . [ ] see d. d. t. leech, _the post office department of the united states of america; its history, organization, and working_, washington, d.c., . [ ] message to congress, rd december . [ ] some notion of the spirit in which the question was approached may be gathered from the following extracts:-- "to content the man dwelling more remote from town with his homely lot, by giving him regular and frequent means of intercommunication: to assure to the emigrant, who plants his new home on the skirts of the distant wilderness or prairie, that he is not forever severed from the kindred and society that still share his interest and love: to prevent those whom the swelling tide of population is constantly pressing to the outer verge of civilization from being surrendered to surrounding influences and sinking into the hunter or savage state: to render the citizen, how far soever from the seat of his government, worthy, by proper knowledge and intelligence, of his important privileges as a sovereign constituent of the government: to diffuse, throughout all parts of the land, enlightenment, social improvement, and national affinities, elevating our people in the scale of civilization, and binding them together in patriotic affection."--_report of house committee_, th may . "it [the post office] was a most important element in the hand of civilization, especially of a republican people. there would be room to dilate in reference to the utility of the diffusion of sciences, the promotion of morals, and all these great benefits resulting from the intercourse of mind and mind.... because it was so well understood by those who framed the constitution, we find in that sacred instrument that the power of this department of the public service is exclusively vested in congress.... every nook and corner of this country should be visited by its operations, that it should shed light and information to the remote frontier settler as well as to the inhabitant of the populous city or densely populated districts."--mr. merrick in the senate when introducing the bill, th january (_congressional globe_). "and what element but universal enlightenment of the people forms the chief corner-stone in the temple of our political hopes? and what instrument so calculated to awaken the ambition of the people to become educated as the cultivation of the taste for epistolatory correspondence, calling into action those energies of the mind so necessary to the intelligent discharge of the high and responsible duties of freemen, in a country where every man is equal, and the builder and maker of his government."--mr. paterson in the house of representatives, st march (_congressional globe_). [ ] "the extension of the mail service and the additional facilities which will be demanded by the rapid extension and increase of population on our western frontier will not admit of such curtailment as will materially reduce the present expenditure."--message to congress, nd december . [ ] "the honour and interest of the nation required that as soon as the title to the country was settled, our citizens who were resident there, and those who shall go to settle there, should enjoy the benefits of the mail. and as it was the nation's business to establish the mail, it was equally the nation's business to pay the expense. no man can show how it is just and reasonable that the letters passing between boston and new york should be taxed per cent. to pay the expenses of a mail to oregon on the pretext that the post office must support itself."--j. leavitt, _cheap postage_, boston, mass., , p. . [ ] mr. root (_congressional globe, house of representatives_, th december ). [ ] "sir, i am acquainted with the privations and hardships incident to the settlement of a new country: and i do not intend that my friends who are now combating the trials and hardships of california and oregon shall be visited by their government with such injustice. the men who are settling those countries are sacrificing their lives for a coming generation. i will not add to their hardships by taxing them four times as much as a citizen of the old states of the union for a letter which shall give them intelligence of their friends left behind them, and shall chill that gush of feeling which will swell their bosoms, as they take possession of a letter that comes from their far-distant native land."--mr. sweetser (ibid., th january ). [ ] _congressional record, senate_, th january . [ ] the cost of the provision and maintenance (lighting, heating, etc.) of post office buildings is charged directly on the federal treasury, and does not in any way figure in the post office deficit. [ ] "if the postal revenue arising from letter postage could be set aside for its proper uses, the millions of letter-writers of this country might quickly be permitted to enjoy a reduced taxation on letter-writing. in point of fact, there is a dear gain of nearly $ , , from letter postages."--_annual report of the postmaster-general_, , p. . [ ] ibid., , p. . [ ] "there is now, and has been for many years, an insistent demand for the reduction of letter postage. the advocates of that reduction argue that the volume of business naturally resulting therefrom would offset the temporary loss in revenue. they insist that the charge for first-class matter is out of all proportion to the cost of its handling and transportation."--_annual report of the postmaster-general_, , p. xlvi. [ ] "as the profit on first-class matter is almost equal to the loss on second-class matter, it will readily be seen that an equalization of rates on the basis of the cost of service would permit a reduction in letter postage from cents to cent an ounce."--mr. hitchcock, postmaster-general, evidence before commission of . [ ] p. jaccottey, _traité de législation et d'exploitation postales_, paris, , p. . e. gallois, _la poste_, etc., paris, , pp. and . [ ] a. de rothschild, _histoire de la poste aux lettres_, paris, , p. . [ ] p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . [ ] edict of th june . [ ] edict of th may : "Édit du roy pour l'établissement des relais de chevaux de louage, de traite en traite, sur les grands chemins, traverses et le long des rivières, pour servir à voïager, porter malles et toutes sortes de bagages." [ ] "louis xi ne se préoccupait nullement de la correspondance des particuliers, ni du développement des relations commerciales et sociales: il poursuivait un but exclusivement politique. "engagé dans sa grande lutte contre la féodalité, il cherchait le moyen de transmettre avec célérité ses ordres dans les provinces et d'être rapidement informé des man[oe]uvres de ses ennemis.... l'institution créée par louis xi pour son usage exclusif était donc identique dans son but, sinon dans ses moyens, à la course publique des romains."--p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . see also d. macpherson, op. cit., vol. i. p. . [ ] a. belloc, _les postes françaises_, paris, , pp. and . [ ] regulation of th october . [ ] see charles bernede, _des postes en général, et particulièrement en france_, nantes, . [ ] léon cazes, _le monopole postale_, paris, . [ ] edict of th december . [ ] decrees of th- th august . [ ] p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . cf. _le moniteur universel_, août , p. . [ ] law of th december . [ ] p. leroy-beaulieu, _traité de la science des finances_, paris, , vol. i. p. . [ ] law of th march . [ ] law of rd june . [ ] "citoyens représentants, puisque l'honorable défenseur de l'interêt du trésor a porté à cette tribune un mot, je ne le nie pas; il est vrai qu'au comité des finances j'ai dit que cette loi était une loi d'amour; je le répète, et j'adresse de sincère remerciements à la monarchie, pour avoir laissé à la république le soin de donner cette loi au pays."--le citoyen goudchaux, ministre des finances, assemblée nationale, août (_le moniteur universel, journal officiel de la république française_). [ ] "la question que j'appelerai sociale est la première qui se presente à mon esprit ... je dis done, que, au point de vue sociale, la diminution de la taxe des lettres, loin d'être favorable uniquement aux négociants, aux gros banquiers, comme on l'a supposé toute à l'heure, sera favorable aussi au plus grand nombre des citoyens ... "quant à l'avantage moral qui résulterait de l'accroissement de ces correspondances, je crois inutile de m'appesantir sur ce côté de la question. est-il douteux, en effet, que les enfants auront toujours à profiter des conseils d'un père, d'une mère? est-il douteux que les liens de famille so resserreront davantage, lorsque les rélations seront plus fréquentes?"--le citoyen goudchaux, assemblée nationale, août (ibid.). [ ] the total is made up thus:-- local letters in towns of the departments - / millions local letters in paris " foreign letters - / " letters passing between different towns " ------ " [ ] see _le moniteur universel, journal officiel de la république française_, août . [ ] "je concevrais quo le gouvernement établît un impôt sur tout autre chose pour favoriser celle-là, mais qu'il établisse un impôt, sur celle-là, cela me parait contradictoire. tous les jours nous votons des taxes pour faciliter la locomotion des hommes et des choses, nous construisons des routes, des canaux, des chemins de fer dont nous livrons gratuitement l'usage au public, et ensuite nous entravons par des taxes la transmission des idées! je dis quo le gouvernement ne doit pas faire des profits sur ce service. c'est là un principe qui s'est étendu sur presque toute l'europe. en angleterre on est complètement entré dans cette voie. aux etats-unis le gouvernement fait des frais et des frais énormes pour en épargner à ceux qui veulent correspondre."--le citoyen frédéric bastiat, assemblée nationale, août , ibid. [ ] "les frais de la poste sont à peu près de millions. qu'est-ce que la poste nous porte? qu'est-ce qu'elle distribue? elle distribue trois natures d'objets; d'abord une multitude de journaux, et remarquez-le bien, ces journaux sont soumis à la même législation que je propose aujourd'hui pour les lettres; car, telle est la puissance de l'habitude, ce qui vous a paru fort extraordinaire se pratique sous nos yeux, tous les jours pour les journaux; et cependant aujourd'hui vous trouvez singulier qu'on le propose pour les lettres. la poste transporte done des journaux dont le poids, si je ne me trompe, est de kilogrammes. "elle transporte ensuite toutes les dépêches administratives dont le poids dépasse , à , kilogrammes. "enfin elle transporte les lettres dont le poids n'est pas égal ni à celui des journaux, ni à celui des dépêches administratives. "en conséquence, si vous répartissez les millions ou millions, si vous voulez, sur les trois services, vous verrez qu'il ne faut pas mettre au compte des lettres plus d'une douzaine de millions de francs. "eh bien, si toutes les lettres étaient taxées à centimes, il n'y a pas de doute que les ou millions de frais seraient parfaitement couverts."--le citoyen frédéric bastiat, ibid. [ ] edgar bonnet, _importance, des postes et télégraphes au point de vue social et économique_, paris, . [ ] m. caillaux, assemblée nationale, août (_journal officiel de la république française_). [ ] p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . [ ] see _rapport sur l'administration des postes_, présenté au ministre des finances par m. léon riant, directeur-général, octobre . [ ] "toute commune doit être desservie une fois par jour, au moins (_loi du avril, , art. _) sauf exception temporaire en cas de force majeure, et dont il est rendu compte au directeur du département."--_instruction générale sur le service des postes et des télégraphes_, paris, , vol. iv. p. , instr. . [ ] it must further be borne in mind that france was less developed industrially. [ ] "nous avons jugé cette réforme insuffisante; elle ne serait pas de nature à donner une satisfaction réelle à notre industrie et à accélérer suffisamment le mouvement de la correspondance. on pouvait discuter peut-être l'opportunité de la mesure; mais dès que cette mesure est reconnue nécessaire, elle doit être complète, de manière à produire tous ses effets.... "la réforme à centimes entraînerait done un déficit total de millions; et celle à centimes, de millions; le rapprochement de ces deux chiffres suffit à démontrer que le sacrifice n'est pas assez considérable pour hésiter à faire une réforme complète en réduisant immédiatement la taxe à centimes."--_rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, déposé le juillet . [ ] _rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, chambre des députés, , no. . [ ] their remarks are characteristic of the attitude adopted towards the reform. they said:-- "l'adoption de cette proposition de m. chassaing aurait pour effet de créer dans le budget de un déficit qu'il ne parait guère possible d'évaluer à moins de millions. quel qu'il puisse être, dans la situation actuelle, il serait indispensable de le combler et l'on ne pourrait pour cela recourir qu'à des ressources nouvelles. l'auteur de la proposition n'en indique pas. ii se borne à demander l'abandon d'une recette sans dire par quoi cet abandon serait compensé. sera-ce à l'impôt qu'il faudra s'adresser? mais ce n'est pas seulement d'une diminution de recette qu'il s'agira. on a vu qu'une augmentation de dépense était le corollaire immédiat de la proposition, car plus prompt et plus sensible sera l'effet de la réduction de tarif, plus pressante sera la nécessité d'ouvrir de nouveaux bureaux, de créer de nouveaux courriers, de renforcer le personnel chargé de la manipulation et de la distribution, plus tôt s'imposera l'obligation de réorganiser le service de paris. "c'est là une [oe]uvre ou l'initiative et l'intervention du gouvemement sont nécessaires. "mais, en tout cas, et pour ce qui concerne la commission du budget de , un abandon de recettes de millions ayant lui-même pour consequence une augmentation de dépense de millions ne lui ont pas paru admissibles."--_rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, chambre des députés, , no. , p. . [ ] _rapport sur les conditions du fonctionnement de l'administration des postes et des télégraphes_, par a. millerand, le ministre du commerce, de l'industrie, des postes, et des télégraphes, may . [ ] "en tout cas les résultats de l'expérience faite à l'étranger prouvent que l'on peut abaisser la taxe des cartes postales jusqu'à la moitié de celle des lettres simple sans craindre que les cartes fassent concurrence aux lettres et que la généralisation de ce mode de correspondance à prix réduit amène une diminution des revenus de la poste."--m. millerand, op. cit. [ ] ibid. [ ] on such packets the rate was centime for each grammes. m. millerand was of opinion that any rate less than centimes involved a loss to the net revenue. in it had been estimated that the average cost of dealing with a postal packet (taking all classes into consideration) was centimes: in it had been estimated at . centimes. the budget commission of estimated the cost at centimes.--see _rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, chambre des députés, , no. . [ ] "c'est tomber dans la banalité de dire que la france n'occupe pas dans le monde, au point de vue du trafic postal, un rang correspondant à l'importance de sa population, de son commerce, de son industrie, et de sa haute civilisation."--ibid. [ ] "depuis de longues années, les chambres de commerce et la presse toute entière réclaimaient une réforme depuis quelque temps réalisée dans la plupart des pays étrangers. mais le souci de l'équilibre budgétaire avait toujours fait ajourner la réduction à centimes de la taxe des lettres."--ibid., sénat, , no. . [ ] on the proposal at the universal postal congress of to increase the weight unit for international letters, the budget report (chambre des députés, session , no. ) contained the following:-- "alors que tous nos voisins ou presque tous s'étaient conformés à partir du ^er octobre , aux indications du congrès de l'union postale universelle, il était humiliant pour la france de montrer que des préoccupations purement fiscales l'empêchaient d'adopter, avec le même empressement que l'allemagne, la belgique, l'angleterre ou la suisse, la réforme." [ ] _rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, sénat, , no. . ibid., chambre des députés, , no. . [ ] "il n'en coute pas plus pour timbrer, trier, transporter et distribuer un objet pesant qu'un objet léger. tout au plus doit ou tenir compte de l'encombrement produit par les objets volumineux et du surcroît de travail qu'occasionne le contrôle obligatoire du poids des objets pesantes, en graduant les tarifs suivant une progression nettement décroissante par rapport au poids."--ibid. [ ] see table of financial effect, _rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, sénat, , no. . [ ] prior to the date of the establishment of the imperial german post office, the text deals more particularly with the rate in prussia. for a sketch of the thurn and taxis posts in germany see _infra_, appendix a, pp. ff. [ ] h. von stephan, _geschichte der preussischen post_, berlin, , p. . [ ] f. haass, _die post und der charakter ihrer einkünfte_, stuttgart, , p. . [ ] f. haass, op. cit., p. . [ ] h. von stephan, op. cit., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] german mile= . kilometres. distances are given throughout in german miles. [ ] h. von stephan, op. cit., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] "dass unter solchen umständen bei ankunft der posten namentlich an bedeutenderen orten ein grosser zusammenlauf von menschen stattfand, ist begreiflich. auch finden wir mehrere rescripte wider das tumultuarische treiben des publicums vor den posthäusern."--ibid., p. . [ ] in the posts yielded , thalers surplus (revenue , thalers, expenditure , thalers); in , , thalers (revenue , thalers, expenditure , thalers); in , , thalers (revenue , thalers, expenditure , thalers); and in , , thalers (revenue , thalers, expenditure , thalers). the net revenue of the posts was generally devoted to the payment of state officials, to the improvement of means of communication (building of canals, etc.), and to beneficence. for example, the elector, during the severe illness of his first wife, made a vow to found an almshouse and ordered , thalers yearly to be assigned for its support. of this sum , thalers were laid on the post revenues.--ibid., p. . [ ] a groschen was roughly the equivalent of a penny. the value of money was then about four times its present value. [ ] the price of a bushel of rye in berlin, which from to had varied from groschen to a thaler, rose to thalers. [ ] the edict of the th january proclaiming the higher rates remarked that the raising of the letter rate would be detrimental to the public and prejudicial to the credit of the service, and that "in spite of the high price of corn and the depreciation of money, raising of the letter rate could not be thought of, and that in the neighbouring states this measure, however soon it might be set aside, had worked to their disadvantage."--h. von stephan, op. cit., p. . [ ] "the encouragement of a particular business or manufacture in a particular place; the better opposing of the competition of a neighbouring route; tenderness for existing difference in newly acquired districts; the difference in the price of corn in a province, and at an earlier date even of money, weight, length of the miles, as also, in the case of travelling post charges, the season of the year; all these circumstances were often brought into consideration in the fixing of postage rates."--ibid., p. . [ ] the ascertainment of the direct distances was commenced in . it was completed in a year and a half (including two revisions), and a map of distances prepared. there were , , distances to measure, and the measuring was done by land surveyors. the distances so measured were tabulated for practical use by postal officials.--h. von stephan, op. cit., p. , n. ; moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] the rates were to be rounded up. one or pfennigs were to be counted as pfennigs, or pfennigs as pfennigs, or pfennigs as pfennigs, and or pfennigs as silver groschen. [ ] h. von stephan, op. cit., pp. and . [ ] this does not take into account the normal yearly increase, which was , thalers under the old rates. if that be taken into account there was still a loss in . thus:-- --------+------------------------+---------------+----------- year. | probable gross postage | | | receipts under old | actual yield. | loss. | rates. | | --------+------------------------+---------------+----------- | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , --------+------------------------+---------------+----------- --ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] "die preussische postverwaltung war bei einführung der weitgreifenden taxermässigungen mit grosser vorsicht und mit weiser berechnung aller in betracht kommenden vorstände schrittweise zu werke gegangen und hatte die erleichterungen ohne bedeutende opfer aus der postkasse erkauft."--moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] regulation of st december . [ ] law of st march . [ ] moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] ibid. [ ] law of th september . [ ] law of th february . see _infra_, appendix, p. . [ ] prussia, hanover, the two mecklenburgs, oldenburg, brunswick, saxony, hamburg, bremen, lubeck, and the thurn and taxis posts. [ ] moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] law of th october . [ ] for it has been estimated at , , m. p. ullrich, _die finanzen der reichs-post- und telegraphenverwaltung_, stettin, , p. , n. . [ ] j. jung, _entwickelung des deutschen post- und telegraphenwesen in den letzten jahren_, leipzig, , p. . [ ] the following table (j. jung, loc. cit.) shows the increase in the number of rural deliverers:-- , , , , , , [ ] in a number of cases the deliverer was provided with a vehicle for the sake of speed, and worked out from the railway. in there were , such services.--_handwörterbuch der staatswissenschaft_, jena, , p. . [ ] "there was a profession of 'news writers,' or correspondents, who collected such scraps of information as they could from various sources, and for a subscription of three or four pounds per annum sent them every post-day to their employers in the country."--a. andrews, _the history of british journalism_, london, , vol. i. p. . [ ] e.g., "to mr. neale, deale, nov. . " ... you should give me a constant accompt (as m^r lodge was wont to doe) of all newes that happens in your parts. it is expected from me at whitehall, and much wondered at, y^t my officers doe not give me y^e first, and best accompt of all that passes, all newes, comeing (probably) first to theire hands. i pray be carefull, and punctuall herein hereafter. i shall be ready, in all things (as i have bin) to shew myself y^rs, &c." --documents from peover hall, _british official records_. "the post office packets in those days were carriers of news as well as of the mails. the officers had instructions to record most carefully in their journals full details of any events of public importance occurring in the countries which they visited. these journals, which frequently contained news later and more authentic than any which had yet reached london, were sent up from falmouth immediately after the arrival of the packets, and lay at the post office open to the inspection of the merchants."--a. h. norway, _history of the post office packet service_, london, , p. . "an old instruction was renewed in , that all postmasters should transmit to me (the secretary), for the information of his majesty's postmaster-general, an immediate account of all remarkable occurrences within their districts, that the same may be communicated, if necessary, to his majesty's principal secretaries of state. this has not been invariably attended to, and i am commanded by his lordship to say, that henceforward it will be expected of every deputy."--cited (without giving source) by j. w. hyde, _a hundred years by post_, london, , p. . "the mail-coach it was that distributed over the face of the land, like the opening of apocalyptic vials, the heartshaking news of trafalgar, of salamanca, of vittoria, of waterloo."--de quincey, _the english mail-coach_. [ ] "as it seems clear that the 'remonstrance' (_the remonstrance and address of the army_) was framed by clarges, henry muddiman must have settled its wording and final form, as he did that of many other documents.... for this reason, after the restoration, he became sole privileged journalist of the kingdom, and was granted the privilege of free postage for his letters like the officers of state."--j. b. williams, _a history of english journalism_, london, , p. . [ ] _calendar of state papers, charles ii_, vol. , no. . [ ] j. b. williams, _a history of english journalism_, p. . [ ] _calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), - , p. viii. [ ] "i find that the south wales maile is much retarded in your stage; particularly that yo^r riding servant calles at severall places by y^e way; and that you allow him noe other wages, but what hee getts (by a _gazette_ news-letter, w^ch you give him y^e benefitt of) from severall gentlemen near y^e roade, and this hinders y^e due course of the post, not only to y^e damage and discreditt of y^e office, but to y^e prejudice of publique businesse; it is much complained of and i canot longer dispence with it; wherefore i give you this freindly admonicon and remaine yo^r, etc. mr. davyes, feb. th, ."--documents from peover hall, _british official records_. "i am clearly of your opinion, that hereford and the hay is y^e best roade for the pembroke maile, the onely difficulty will be to bring you and mr. phillpotts to reason.... "i pray consider these points, that y^e hay being in your branch will much encrease your share, and it is easier to send thither than to abergaveny--if you will joyne issue in this proposall i will give y^e contrey y^e satisfaction to turne the roade that way; and by y^e tyme i have your answer i shall be ready, to give directions for the change; you must provide a fitt person, to keepe the office at hay and for his encouragem^t i will send him a _gazette_ by every post, few of y^e by offices expect more, and some make great suite and would pay money for the imployment. i pray close w^th me herein, being desirous to continue--i pray give me your opinion of sending y^e maile into wales tymes a weeke, as i doe to all other places. i am, y^{rs}, etc. "mr. awbrey, brecon, st april, ."--documents from peover hall, _british official records_. [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] _tenth report of the commissioners on fees and emoluments_, , p. . "for post office purposes the kingdom was divided into six roads--the north road, the chester or holyhead road, the western road, the kent road, and the roads to bristol and to yarmouth; and these roads were presided over by a corresponding number of clerks in london, whose duty it was to sort the letters and to tax them with the proper amount of postage."--h. joyce, ibid., p. ; cf. _infra_, appendix b, p. . [ ] _eighteenth report of commissioners of revenue inquiry_, , appx., p. . [ ] "that the six clerks of the road are also allowed to frank newspapers from the london office. "that the newspapers franked by them are not included in any of the accounts of deductions in respect of franks. that the profits arising from their franking newspapers may amount to £ , or £ , p. ann., and that a considerable allowance is made thereout to the comptroller, deputy-comptroller, by night clerk and six assistants; all of whom as well as the six clerks of the roads would without such advantage be very insufficiently provided for."--evidence of anthony todd, secretary to the post office. _report of committee appointed to enquire into the several frauds and abuses in relation to the sending or receiving of letters and parcels free from the duty of postage_ (_commons journal_, march , ). "the profits derived by the clerks of the road from the privilege of sending newspapers into the country free of postage, were so considerable that they were not only able to make a good provision for their families but also to pay thereout an annual sum of £ , to officers and clerks in this dept. in aid of their salaries, which on that account were proportionately small from the public; and this situation of clerk of the roads was looked up to as the reward of their long and arduous labour in the subordinate stations of the office. twenty years before, of the sum of £ , paid to the officers of the inland dept., £ , was paid by the public and £ , from the profits on the circulation of newspapers."--_tenth report of the commissioners on fees and emoluments_, , p. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] "the produce of this privilege has long been decreasing, and is now reduced to one-third the above sum from the operation of an act of by which members of both houses were empowered to have newspapers, votes, and all other printed parliamentary papers, sent by post in their names, free from postage, upon a written notice of the direction of such papers being sent to the postmaster-general by the respective members, whose names were to be used instead of the former mode of franking newspapers the same as letters. the printers, news sellers, and others, availing themselves of this privilege, have obtained numerous orders, readily granted, under the persuasion of increasing the stamp revenue. the present number of orders in the office is , , and the number of newspapers sent weekly by the post in consequence thereof is , ; these dealers are enabled to supply their customers in the country at a cheaper rate than the clerks in the office can, who are loaded with out payments from their profits, and are obliged to purchase their papers at an advanced price from an officer appointed by the postmaster-general to supply them."--_tenth report of the commissioners on fees and emoluments_, , p. . [ ] a. andrews, _the history of british journalism_, london, , vol. i. pp. - . [ ] "the postmaster-general, sensible of this diminution, lately directed the payments thereout to the other officers and clerks in the office to be discontinued, and reimbursed some of them out of the revenue; but this is not the only expence to which the public is subjected by the increase of these orders. the number of newspapers to be forwarded every night is now so great, that ... a separate office is allotted ... and extra persons are employed, at an annual expence of £ , to perform the duty of sorting and packing up the newspapers; besides it is in proof that letters and written papers are frequently enclosed in them, by which the revenue is defrauded, without a possibility of prevention, while the present mode continues; as the number is by far too great to admit of a general search for enclosures."--_tenth report of the commissioners on fees and emoluments_, , p. . [ ] geo. iv, cap. , § . [ ] "was there no way by which, without the necessity of constant contention, private men might be prevented from using the press to make their opinions public? the pamphleteers were not rich, but they were often persons of education, and not penniless. when only a few copies of their writings were wanted they could pay for them, but now that reading was become more common, and that great numbers of copies were printed, the cost had, to a great extent, to be paid by the readers. if these sheets could be taxed their distribution might become difficult, and when any one attempted to evade the tax he could be punished, not as a libeller, but as a smuggler."--collet dobson collet, _history of the taxes on knowledge_, london, , vol. i. p. . [ ] _chambers's encyclopædia_, london, , vol. vii. p. . [ ] "there was no doubt but that, in the first instance, the stamp duty upon newspapers had been imposed for political purposes."--attorney-general, th march , _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] "whereas many papers containing observations upon public acts tending to excite the hatred of the public to the constitution of this realm, and also vilifying our holy religion, have lately been published in great numbers, and at a very small price, and it is expedient that the same should be restrained."--preamble of the "six acts," . [ ] "sir francis freeling states that he succeeds to the enjoyment of the privilege of franking which had previously appertained to the situation of the comptroller of the inland office, when he held the situation of principal and resident surveyor, and that it was deemed a measure of economy to provide for the remuneration of this officer by these means in lieu of salary."--_eighteenth report of the commissioners of revenue inquiry, post office_, , p. . [ ] about millions a year. ibid., p. . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] "these laws (the six acts) were specially directed--not against the morning newspapers, which had been cajoled or frightened into comparative silence, or shared in the then general feeling in favour of a 'strong government'--but against the radical writers and speakers, 'cobbett, wooler, watson, hunt,' as byron reminds us, all of whom had contributed, by cheap political publications and strong political harangues, to raise a demand for reform, loud enough and daring enough to be most troublesome to the authorities."--f. k. hunt, _the fourth estate_, london, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] "newspapers are so cheap in the united states, that the generality even of the lowest order can afford to purchase them. they therefore depend for support on the most ignorant class of the people. everything they contain must be accommodated to the taste and apprehension of men who labour daily for their bread, and are of course indifferent to refinement either of language or reasoning."--quoted by lord sandon, th june ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. . [ ] the duties on newspapers at that time were ( ) the duty on paper, d. per pound weight ( / d. a sheet), ( ) a duty of d. a copy, ( ) a duty of s. d. on every advertisement. [ ] "the change which had taken place in the political condition of the country made it essential to communicate to the people sound political knowledge and information. he would say that the security of that house, living, as it did, in the affections of the people--of the government, possessing, as it did, the confidence of the people--and of the monarchy, reigning, as it did, and as he trusted it ever would, in the hearts of the people, depended upon the diffusion of sound political knowledge."--chancellor of exchequer, th june ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. . [ ] "many of these publications circulated to the amount of several thousand copies weekly; their sale, in several instances, was larger than the sale of some among the most popular legitimate papers; their influence over large bodies of the working classes was much greater."--e. lytton bulwer, th june ; ibid., vol. xiii. col. . "you have laws imposing severe penalties upon those who are guilty of breaches of these laws; but it has been found impossible to stop the sale of those cheap and obnoxious publications by fiscal laws; and the success with which they are broken, the sympathy excited in favour of the offenders, and the assistance which they receive, only give encouragement to pursue the same course. i have been informed that, within the last fortnight or three weeks, between forty and fifty persons have been taken before the police magistrates, and convicted for selling these publications."--mr. o'connell, th june ; ibid., vol. xiii. col. . "as long as the tories were in power lord liverpool, or even canning, could consistently advocate the restriction of political discussion. but the fact that the whigs had now held office since , and that the tax remained undiminished, was only to be explained by their rooted disbelief in every principle which they professed to hold. "year after year place had brought the question forward. every year the chancellor of the exchequer declared himself in favour of repeal in principle, and every year the government, for reasons which they dared not avow, continued the tax. meanwhile the commissioners of stamps so used their power of prosecution as to set up a peculiarly odious form of censorship. the _penny magazine_, for instance, was allowed to circulate unstamped, while the _poor man's guardian_ was prosecuted."--graham wallas, _the life of francis place_, london, , p. . [ ] "the market for a newspaper at twopence appeared to be insatiable, and this ready demand produced an ample supply. in vain the police apprehended hawker after hawker; in vain the stamp office gave the informers and detectives additional premiums for vigilance, the trade went on with an exciting degree of activity. as the london gaols became crowded with 'victims,' the public sympathies were touched, and a fund was raised by subscription to support the families of the men and women (for women were seized and imprisoned) whilst under sentence."--f. k. hunt, _the fourth estate_, london, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] "this tax was a charter to the existing newspapers--it was not they who suffered from it--it was the public--it was the government--it was order--it was society that suffered."--e. lytton bulwer, nd may ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. xxiii. col. . see also _g.j._ holyoake, _sixty years of an agitator's life_, london, , vol. i. p. . [ ] _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. . [ ] " . _chairman_: that penny which was left when the stamp was reduced, was called by some noble lord the worst penny of all; and was not it always foreseen by those who looked deeply into the subject, that the retention of that penny just made the difference between not being able to circulate a cheap paper and being able to circulate it?--it makes all the difference, i think."--evidence of mr. h. cole, _report from select committee on newspaper stamps_, th july . [ ] "the penny was avowedly retained in not for the purposes of revenue but as a compensation to the state for services performed in the transmission of newspapers by post."--viscount canning, th may ; _parl. debates_ (_lords_), vol. cxxxviii. col. . [ ] mcculloch has some remarks which indicate the line on which was justified the practice of charging the stamp duty on every copy of a newspaper, in order that a portion of them might be transmitted by post without further charge:-- "_impolicy of imposing a postage on newspapers._--the duties now substantially repealed produced, in , £ , nett, no inconsiderable sum in a period of war. in point of fact, however, they could hardly be called duties, and ought rather to have been regarded as a payment for the trouble and expense attending the conveyance and distribution of newspapers by post. but supposing such to be the case, it was argued that the duty should be so limited, that is, that it should only be imposed on papers carried by the post. matters of this sort are not, however, to be decided by mere logical considerations. the effect of the new plan is to confine, in a greater or less degree, according to circumstances, the circulation of newspapers to the districts within which they are published; and this certainly is not a desirable object.... under the new plan the charge for conveyance, or it may be postage, being added to the price of the metropolitan journals, they will be dearer than the local papers, and people in many, or rather perhaps in the majority of instances, will be disposed to prefer the low-priced though inferior journal published at their door, to the superior but higher priced journal of the capital.... on the whole, therefore, we anticipate little or no advantage from the new plan. but we are, at the same time, ready to admit that no system of this sort can be safely judged _a priori_; and that the results of experience may differ very widely from those of theory."--j. r. mcculloch, _commercial dictionary_, london, , p. . [ ] "we are living under a disguised censorship of the press. i use the word advisedly; and i find that generally where there is an avowed censorship of the press there are no taxes on knowledge; no stamp duty and generally no paper duty. from the time when the stamp duty was first imposed in the reign of queen anne, the number of newspapers has been very much diminished by the stamp. for instance, steele's _spectator_ was nearly if not quite ruined by it; and from that time to this the amount of revenue has never been so large as to be a serious subject of consideration."--evidence of collet dobson collet, _report from the select committee on newspaper stamps_, th july , p. . [ ] mr. roebuck, th june ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. xxxiv. col. . [ ] treasury minute, no. , , th november : "it appears that these papers, though stamped as newspapers, are not according to law newspapers, and consequently need not have been stamped, but that the proprietors have caused them to be stamped for the purpose probably of obtaining the facility of passing them free of postage. "my lords consider that all publications which are in the construction of the law newspapers and are compelled to be stamped are in equity entitled to the privilege of passing free of postage, but with respect to publications, which like these now under consideration are not properly newspapers, or necessarily stamped, they are of opinion that they are not in equity entitled to the privilege, and that my lords must take into consideration the convenience of the public service and the other circumstances of the case. my lords are desirous of affording every fair facility which may not be inconsistent with the proper despatch of the mails, and in this view they consider that a limit of weight may be properly applied, and adverting to the average weight of a large newspaper, they are of opinion that the limit may be properly fixed at ounces. "they are pleased therefore to direct that for the future in all cases where applications are made for the transmission of any stamped publication through the post free of postage, if it shall appear that such publication is legally a newspaper and compelled to be stamped such paper shall pass postage free whatever may be its weight, and that when such publication may not appear to be strictly a newspaper, still it should be permitted the indulgence in case the weight shall not exceed ounces." [ ] _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] "if a tradesman at the present time carries his circular to the board of inland revenue, he obtains the postal privilege on the condition of his declaring his circular to be a newspaper, although, if the board of inland revenue were afterwards to prosecute him for not stamping his entire impression, he would be entitled to go into a court of justice and there to contend that that was not a newspaper which he himself had declared to be a newspaper in order to obtain the postal privilege for part of his impression."--mr. gladstone, th march ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] 'the solicitor of the board of inland revenue, being examined before a committee upon the subject of class publications, was asked why class publications were not subjected to the compulsory stamp. inadvertently, instead of saying that they were exempted because they were addressed to a particular class of the community, he said that it was because they related only to one subject. in giving that reason, he made a slight error of statement. that error has now been taken up in different parts of the country, and a number of periodicals have appeared, such as the _war telegraph_ and the _war times_, containing intelligence relating exclusively to the war, which they say is 'one subject,' and so saying, set the board of inland revenue at defiance."--chancellor of the exchequer, th march ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] "i am quite satisfied, from years of attention to this subject, that there never was so large a measure involved in a small measure, so to speak, as is the case with regard to this proposition for making the press free. i am willing to rest on the verdict of the future, and i am quite confident that five or six years will show that all the votes of parliament for educational purposes have been as mere trifles compared with the vast results which will flow from this measure, because, while the existing papers will retain all their powers of usefulness, it will call to their aid numbers of others not less useful, and while we continue to enjoy the advantage of having laid before us each morning a map of the events of the world, the same advantage will be extended to classes of society at present shut out from it."--john bright, th march ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. cols. - . [ ] "another objection, and that of a more serious character, has been brought under my notice by various persons, who have described the proposition to repeal the compulsory newspaper stamp as one which would be most dangerous to society. it has been described as a measure which will open the floodgates of sedition and blasphemy, and which will inundate the country with licentious and immoral productions, which will undermine the very foundations of society, and scatter the seeds of revolution broadcast over the land. these expressions are not exaggerated representations of the opinions which have been communicated to me from many quarters since this measure has been under my consideration."--chancellor of the exchequer in house of commons, th march ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. col. . "the right hon. gentleman who has just resumed his seat (mr. disraeli) has spoken of the 'liberty of the press.' that has been long spoken of. it has been said that it must be 'free as the air we breathe; take it away, we die.' but, sir, what is the 'liberty of the press'? it is the liberty of a certain number of persons to slander anonymously whomever they please, against whom you have no redress. it is freedom to the anonymous libeller."--mr. drummond in the house of commons, rd april ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] "this is not merely a fiscal matter, because, as i have already stated to the committee, the existing law respecting the stamp duty upon newspapers has been brought into a most inconsistent state by a succession of indulgences which were made for the benefit of a certain class of newspaper publications. the consequence of these indulgences is, that the greatest difficulty exists in the administration of the present law."--chancellor of the exchequer in house of commons, th march ; ibid., vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] "q. . _mr. cobden_: would the carrying of newspapers be profitable to the post office at the present rates, provided you were left to adopt your own regulations as to the transmission of newspapers without the intervention of the board of inland revenue?--in one sense it would be profitable and in another it would not. if we were to charge against the newspapers a share of the fixed expenses of the establishment, then it is very questionable whether it would be profitable; but if you consider, as we probably should, that the expenses of the establishment are incurred in respect of the letters, and only calculate the additional expense which would be thrown upon us for the transmission of newspapers, then i think we should find them profitable. "q. : having an immense organization at the post office with a certain amount of fixed charges, with a large amount of postmen necessarily travelling over the whole of the kingdom, you would find it profitable to carry newspapers for a penny, in addition to the letter carrying, would you?--yes. "q. : therefore, if the newspaper stamp were abolished, and you were left to regulate the postage at the post office, you would deem it profitable to carry newspapers at a penny each?--yes, certainly we should: what i mean is, that the carrying of newspapers would not increase our expenses to the extent of a penny each. "ans. : i was in hopes that we might distribute them at a halfpenny, if we could have completed a plan in the simple form in which it presented itself to my mind at first. "q. : the plan is so far under consideration, and, perhaps, these difficulties may be got over?--i cannot hold out any expectation of that; i think i have considered it sufficiently to see that those difficulties are all but insuperable."--evidence of sir rowland hill, _report from select committee on newspaper stamps_, th july . [ ] "he believed it would be admitted that there was no wish to make revenue out of this carriage of newspapers; but, on the other hand, the newspaper interest had no right to ask that their productions should be carried at less than cost price. it should be as near as possible an equal bargain between the parties, by which neither the revenue on the one hand, nor the newspapers on the other, should gain.... he believed it was the opinion of the post office that a halfpenny would not be sufficient to cover the expenses of transmission."--lord stanley, rd april ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxxxvii. col. . [ ] the duty was reduced to d. upon a sheet containing a superficies not exceeding , inches. [ ] see _infra_, p. . [ ] "another objection might be urged that, by once touching the permanency of the d. rate they were endangering its stability, and that if the edge of the wedge were once inserted it might lead to the uniform rate of / d. he shared no such apprehension, and believed that the wisest way to maintain the permanency of the d. rate was to remove the cause of the agitation."--mr. graves, th april ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxcv. col. . [ ] "a newspaper with an impressed stamp circulates free for fifteen days. it is the last relic of the old taxes on knowledge. the law is complicated and leads to fraud by the abuse of free transmission. an unstamped newspaper now goes at the rate of d. for every ounces, and every fraction of ounces. about , , newspapers pass through the post office annually with an impressed stamp, and about the same number without. what we propose to do is to abolish the impressed stamp altogether, at a loss to the revenue of £ , .... then we propose to carry all newspapers which weigh less than ounces for a / d. that will be limited to bona fide newspapers; but we propose, instead of d. for every ounces and fraction on of ounces, to charge / d. for every ounces of other printed matter. there will in this way be a loss to the post office, over and above that incurred by the abolition of the impressed stamp, of £ , a year. there may be besides some additional expense in connection with building and the increase in the number of persons to be employed; but this has not been estimated for, and the amount cannot be very large."--chancellor of the exchequer, th april ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. ce. col. . the limitation to ounces was withdrawn. ibid., vol. cciii, col. . [ ] _parl. debates_ (_commons_), th may , vol. cxxxviii. col. . [ ] in the number of registered newspapers which normally exceeded ounces in weight was . [ ] see _infra_, p. . the size and weight of many of the largo trade papers has decreased in consequence of the war. [ ] "newspapers and books are carried at a low rate for the sake of the education and general information of the people."--mr. w. monsell (postmaster-general), th march ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cciv. col. . [ ] in the average weight of the mails which left london daily was cwt. of which cwt. consisted of newspapers. [ ] only some copies of the _daily mail_ are delivered in london by the post each day. [ ] "there is no reason whatever why the post office should charge a man threepence or fourpence for a book and a halfpenny for these vast trade circulars, and it would be the simplest, as well as the wisest and most beneficial of reforms, to bring the book post down to the newspaper level."--h. g. wells, _mankind in the making_. london, , chap. ix. the following further suggestions by mr. wells are reprinted here for the consideration of postal reformers. their adoption involves merely an extension of the principle of state benefit. "now, in the first place, the post office as one finds it in great britain might very well be converted into a much more efficient distributing agency by a few simple modifications in its method. at present, in a large number of country places in great britain, a penny paper costs three-halfpence including the necessary halfpenny for postage, and the poorer people can afford no paper at all, because the excellent system in practice abroad of subscribing to any registered periodical at the post office and having it delivered with the letters has not been adopted. government publications and government maps, which ought also to be obtainable at a day's notice, through the post office and post free, have to be purchased at present in the most devious way through a remote agent in london. there is no public reason whatever why a more intimate connection should not be established between the stationery office and the post office."--ibid. "it would be the simplest thing in the world to have a complete, business-like catalogue of government publications, kept standing in type and reissued and reprinted quarterly, distributed to every post office, and by its means one ought to be able to order whatever one wanted at once, pay for it on the spot, and get it delivered to any address in great britain in the next twenty-four hours."--ibid. [ ] _report of special committee, house of assembly, lower canada_, th february , p. . [ ] sir francis freeling replied to the petition. he said the practice of his deputy in north america was not illegal, but was based on an act of parliament authorizing certain of his officers to circulate newspapers by post; that as it had been in existence since the first establishment of the post office in the colony, the petitioners must have entered into the business with a full knowledge of the charge to which their publications would be subject if sent by post; there was no stamp duty in the colonies to give the publishers a right to free transmission; and, moreover, the amount of the charge was less than the similar charge in the united states. [ ] "mr. howe was very loose, and rarely took any steps to obtain or enforce the payments of the amounts due to him for the transmission of journals through the post.... "i cannot look upon it as the mere collection of a private source of emolument to the officer, but i conceive that the department is interested in the question not only inasmuch as the amount received from this source goes in aid of a larger salary to the officer, but that whenever the time comes that the substitution of a postage rate on newspapers supersedes the present mode of sending them, a due enforcement of such rate will be most unfavourably received, if a free transmission has been previously permitted from the negligence of the party to whom the collection of the charge was deputed and whose perquisite it was."--report of mr. page, (_british official records_). [ ] "it may fairly be viewed in the same light as the amounts annually granted by the legislature for roads and bridges, and for the support of common schools. the mail carriage to all parts of the province secures us the travelling public conveyance which would not otherwise exist, and the very large amount of newspapers, etc., which pass through the post office affords strong evidence that the department may be considered a branch of our educational system."--postmaster-general of new brunswick, . [ ] "already they found a tax proposed on every poor man who took a newspaper for the information of his family; a stamp tax, an impost unknown in the maritime provinces, and one which had cost england half this continent."--mr. macdonald in canadian house of commons, th december (_ottawa times_). [ ] sir john a. macdonald in canadian house of commons, th december , ibid. [ ] "if ever there was a time when it was necessary for the interests of the whole dominion that just the sort of information which newspapers conveyed should be disseminated through all the provinces, it was now."--hon. dr. tupper in canadian house of commons, th december (_ottawa times_). [ ] mr. savary in canadian house of commons, th december (ibid.). [ ] hon. mr. mackenzie in canadian house of commons, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), nd february . [ ] "there was good reason for the enactment of the old law that made the rate for the carriage of newspapers a cent a pound, and there never was even a semblance of sense or reason or any request for the repeal of that law. the truth is that its repeal was a mere whim of a gentleman of the senate, who, anxious to pose in the niche of personal popularity, jollied through parliament a measure that has cost this country in postal rates millions of dollars, creating a big deficit in the spending department, which has stood in the way of reform every time a reform was proposed."--mr. ross robertson, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), th may . [ ] see _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), th july . [ ] the following remarks by sir charles tupper in the dominion house of commons, though made at a somewhat later date, will illustrate this. he said: "there is abundant evidence that manhood suffrage in the dominion is a far higher franchise than manhood suffrage in great britain, for the reason that there are tens of thousands of electors in the united kingdom who go to the polls without having the remotest idea not only of public questions before the country, but, if their lives depended on it, they could not state who is the prime minister of great britain to-day. i give that as an indication of the great advance the people of canada have made in intelligence; and the thorough knowledge which the mass of the people here have in respect of the political issues, and all other questions of that kind, as well as general information, rests largely on the fact that newspapers have so largely increased in circulation until they now reach almost every individual in the country."--sir charles tupper, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), th may . [ ] in great britain the figures are in very different proportion. while the letters are , , , , the newspapers are only some , , . the circumstances of the two countries are in such contrast that the figures afford no basis for argument as regards the relative postage rates: but they illustrate very effectively a fundamental difference in the general character of the two postal services. in great britain the number of separate newspaper mails is extremely small proportionately to the number of letter mails. in canada the proportions are almost reversed. the postmen on delivery in great britain carry their letters and packets in a light canvas bag, and the number of newspapers taken out by any one postman is quite small (the proportion is about one newspaper to twenty-five packets of other description). in canada the letter-carriers are weighted with newspapers, carried either strapped in a bundle or stuck in a satchel which is full to overflowing. in effect, the general practical arrangements in canada must be made largely with a view to the handling of vast quantities of newspapers, while in great britain the arrangements are in general based on letter traffic, and, except at the largest offices, the arrangements for newspapers are incidental. letters, however, receive first consideration in canada, and the discrimination in their favour against the newspaper matter, in point of promptness of handling, is carried to much greater lengths than in great britain. [ ] cf. _supra_, p. . [ ] "i trust that after the reimposition of postage on newspapers has been fairly in working order, we shall then have the post office a self-sustaining department."--sir william mulock, postmaster-general, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), st april . [ ] sir william mulock, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), st april , col. . [ ] "hon. gentlemen are entirely in error in assuming that the length of the journey does not make extra cost. it lays the foundation for extra claims by railways, and there is in the department at present, on the part of practically all the railways in canada, application for increased payment. it is quite impossible to treat newspaper postage in the same way as letter postage."--sir william mulock, ibid., th july . [ ] "this new bill is little else than a special tax and handicap on certain montreal newspapers, which are the only ones which have the bulk of their circulation outside of their own province. we have always favoured newspaper postage, but we are not favourable to its being collected off a few papers, and thus making them pay for the carriage of their own mails."--mr. foster, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), th july . sir wilfrid laurier made some interesting observations. he said: "a newspaper is merchandise, a letter is not. a letter simply conveys to somebody the views and thoughts of another. but newspapers are merchandise, and the publisher of a newspaper a manufacturer of merchandise which he sells. now, i do not see any reason why this class of merchandise should not pay freight for its transportation as well as any other class of merchandise."--in canadian house of commons, th july . [ ] sir william mulock, ibid., th july . [ ] ibid., rd july . [ ] ibid., th january . [ ] "the growth of the post office from this humble beginning solidified the american colonies and made independence possible."--_the american post office_, by nathan b. williams. reprinted as senate document no. of the st congress, nd sess., p. . [ ] e.g., "mr. franklin has in particular the great advantage of circulating his papers free, and receiving intelligence, which he may make the best or worst use of in the present situation of affairs."--minutes of pennsylvania council, st march . the council recommended that the postmaster be commanded to be extremely cautious "to prevent the publication of improper intelligence," and that the governor should be authorized to exercise a censorship on the publication of news. [ ] it was in point of fact due to his action in submitting to the assembly of pennsylvania english official letters addressed from the governor of the colony which had come into his hands. [ ] see _supra_, pp. - . [ ] "to take it (the franking privilege) away would be levelling a deadly stroke at the liberty of the press; the information conveyed by franks may be considered as the vital juices, and the channels of the post office as the veins; and if these are stopped, the body must be destroyed; it is treading on dangerous ground to take any measures that may stop the channels of public information.... it is the duty of the members to dispense the newspapers among those people who cannot, perhaps, otherwise obtain them, under the protection of franks.... the establishment of the post office is agreed to be for no other purpose than the conveyance of information into every part of the union."--_debates and proceedings in the congress of the united states_, th december (pub. washington, ). [ ] "the poisonous sentiments of the cities, concentrated in their papers, with all the aggravation of such a moral and political cesspool, will invade the simple, pure, conservative atmosphere of the country, and meeting with no antidote in a rural press, will contaminate and ultimately destroy that purity of sentiment and of purpose which is the only true conservatism. fourierism, agrarianism, socialism, and every other ism, political, moral, and religious, grow in that rank and festering soil.... relieve them (the country papers) from the burden of postage and they can successfully compete with the city publishers. reduce the rate of postage on newspapers and pamphlets, and you diffuse light and knowledge through the land."--mr. venables in house of representatives, th december (_congressional globe_). [ ] i.e. odd packets posted by members of the public, as against the regular bulk postings of publishers. [ ] _report of postmaster-general_, , p. . [ ] "the law cannot be so construed as to permit such an abuse--an abuse that, while operating to load down the mails with immense masses of stuff of insufficient value to command cash-paying subscribers to any extent, would be a wrong to every business institution which issues its advertising circulars and other matter in an undisguised manner and therefore pays the lawful rate of postage on them."--ibid., p. . [ ] "the most urgent need of the postal service is the rectification of the enormous wrongs which have grown up in the perversion and abuse of the privilege accorded by law to second-class matter. this reform is paramount to all others.... for this costly abuse, which drags on the department and weighs down the service, trammels its power and means of effective advancement in every direction."--ibid., , pp. and . in it was stated that the whole cost of the extension of the rural free delivery service could be met from the saving which would result from the elimination of the second-class mail abuses.--ibid., , p. . in it was described as "the one great overshadowing evil of the service, because it underlies and overtops all other reform and advance."--ibid., , p. . [ ] there had been, under an act of th june , a weighing of second-class matter from st july to st december . [ ] _report of postal commission on second-class mail matter_, . known as the penrose-overstreet commission, from the names of two of its members. [ ] the actual statistics to be obtained were defined thus:-- "the postmaster-general shall cause a record to be kept from july first to december thirty-first, nineteen hundred and seven, inclusive, of the weight in pounds, respectively, of first-class, second-class, free, paid-at-the-pound-rate, and transient, third-class, and fourth-class matter and all franked and penalty matter and the equipment carried in connection therewith. "for thirty days during such period he shall require a record to be kept of the weight of each of the classes above specified despatched from such post-offices as he shall determine to be representative for the purpose and have computed thereon, in the most practicable way, the average haul of the mail of the different classes and sub-classes as hereinbefore set out. for seven days during such period he shall cause a record to be kept of the revenue received from each of the classes and sub-classes of mail matter hereinbefore specified and a count of the number of pieces of each class and sub-class, showing also for the first class the number of letters, postal cards, and other matter separately, and for thirty consecutive days during such period he shall cause a record to be kept for the purpose of ascertaining the average load of railway post-office cars other than storage cars, the average load of storage cars, and the average load in compartment cars. "such record shall be reported to congress by may first, nineteen hundred and eight, and the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby appropriated, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, to cover the expense of such weighing and counting and the recording and compilation of the information so acquired, and the rent of necessary rooms in the city of washington, and the same shall be immediately available."--statute of nd march . [ ] _special weighing of the mails_, . document , th congress. [ ] _hearings before committee on post office and post roads_ (_house of representatives_), january-february . [ ] _report of commission on second-class mail matter._ appendix to message of president of nd february , pp. - . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] "the historic policy of encouraging by low postal rates the dissemination of current intelligence, and the extent to which it has proved successful, should not be overlooked."--ibid., p. . [ ] "if the republic of our patriotic love is to live and our people preserve their liberties, the sheet-anchor of their salvation is a free, independent, untrammelled and fearless press, and we believe that to maintain this happy condition publishers must not be subjected to any arbitrary authority that claims and exercises the power to destroy by closing the mails against them without the right to appeal to the courts, a right that is held sacred by every citizen, however humble, whenever and wherever his opportunity to earn a livelihood in an honourable business is called in question or denied him."--evidence of mr. wilmer atkinson of philadelphia, pa., _report of commission on second-class mail matter_, , p. . [ ] "publishers are now sometimes kept on the anxious seat for months awaiting decisions which may wreck their businesses."--evidence of mr. madden, third assistant postmaster-general.--ibid., p. . [ ] "there is no 'subsidy' at all, as claimed by the foolish, but simply that the lawmakers of the greatest government on earth have been wise enough to see to it that the people shall have periodical literature within easy reach, and with as little expense as possible."--evidence of wilmer atkinson, ibid., p. . [ ] "who knows but that the onerous restrictions of the department have some connection with the efforts of the express companies to have second-class mail rates increased, and by both means drive the publishers of the country to employing the express companies to carry their publications? such would not be beyond the craftiness of these skilled farmers in the field of legislation."--nathan b. williams, _the american post office_, ; document , st congress, nd session, p. . [ ] "yet we publish more periodicals than germany, france, russia, great britain, switzerland, belgium, and holland aggregated, and you may then add all the other countries of europe, then canada and mexico. then add all the central american states, and the south american states, and the african colonies--north, south, east, and west. you must still add australia, and hindoostan, and all other asiatic countries, including japan and china, and even then you haven't reached the end or the story. you then have only per cent. of the total against our ."--c. w. burrows, _one cent postage_, etc., cleveland, ohio, , p. . [ ] "the great decrease in all the more serious departments of literature, as well as in some of the lighter ones, is a curious and unexplainable condition of our book production. scientific and philosophical writings are as conspicuous through their absence as are the simply amusing books."--_publishers' weekly_ (new york), th january . [ ] message to congress, nd february . [ ] "no lobby ever sent to washington in furtherance of the most corrupt legislation has ever been more persistent or dealt less fairly with both legislators and public than the lobby that has worked for the retention of the second-class mail graft."--c. w. burrows, _one cent postage_, etc., cleveland, ohio, , p. . [ ] "je vois que le prix du port des journaux fera d'un vingt-quatrième du prix des lettres. le prix n'est sans doute pas suffisant pour les frais de la poste, et je ne crois pas que l'envoi des journaux doive être à la charge de la nation."--m. biozat, assemblée nationale, août (_le moniteur universel_). [ ] "si vous examinez set objet sous un point de vue fiscal, je vous dirai qu'en augmentant le tarif, vous diminuez le produit, en rendant la circulation de plusieurs feuilles impossible. le plus léger surhaussement de taxe priverait de tout bénéfice les autres des productions périodiques les plus utiles, telles que les journaux d'agriculture, de physique, d'histoire naturelle, de médecine, etc., qui, par leur nature, ne sont pas susceptibles d'avoir un grand nombre de souscripteurs. et les journaux que l'on aurait peut-être en vue d'écarter sous le poids d'un impôt onéreux seraient précisément ceux que l'avide curiosité du public ferait résister à la surtaxe. personne d'ailleurs ne révoquera ne doute que, de tous les commerces, celui des idées soit le plus précieux, et je crois que vous devez le favoriser de toutes les manières."--m. larochefoucault, assemblée nationale, août (ibid.). [ ] the increase during the revolutionary period was nevertheless considerable. before the revolution the cost of distributing , prospectuses by post was livres. under the rates then in operation it would be , livres, and under the new rates then ( ) proposed, , livres. before the revolution a volume could be sent from one end of france to the other for sous.--a. belloc, _les postes françaises_, paris, , p. . [ ] "le conseil des cinq-cents, considérant qu'il importe de faciliter la circulation des ouvrages périodiques, brochures, catalogues, et prospectus tant pour encourager la libre communication des pensées entre les citoyens de la république que pour augmenter le total du revenu public...."--_proclamation_, . [ ] law of th march . [ ] law of th july . [ ] there was also at this time a tax on books. [ ] m. rouher, assemblée nationale, mars (_le moniteur universel_). [ ] decree of th february . [ ] the political press was somewhat strictly controlled. the law of on the liberty of the press, which was continued by the press law of the th june , imposed on every printer the obligation to deposit with the procurator imperial every article treating of political matters or social economy twenty-four hours before publication, under penalty of a fine of to fr. a decree of subjected political publications to a stamp duty. [ ] "les journaux n'étant plus dangereux et ne pouvant plus faire que du bien, l'honorable membre eût désiré qu'une légère réduction des droits de poste leur permît d'acquérir une existence plus sûr, plus indépendante, afin qu'on pût les retrouver fidèles et dévoués, si la france avait encore des jours difficiles à traverser. nul n'a oublié, en effet, l'admirable attitude de la presse départmentale au milieu des événements de , son empressement à se rallier à la cause du président de la république, le courage que ses rédacteurs ont montré pour la défense de l'ordre, courage que quelques-un on payé de leur vie. "telles sont les considérations d'équité et de politique qui avaient fait réclamer en faveur de la presse départmentale une réduction de taxe. tout ce que la commission a pu obtenir, c'est qu'il n'y aura pas d'aggravation de taxe lorsque le numéros circuleront dans les départments limitrophes. rien ou à peu près rien ne sera done changé aux charges que les journaux de province ont supportées jusqu'à ce jour."--m. paul dupont, chambra des députés, mai (_le moniteur universal_). [ ] motif du loi, cited a. belloc, op. cit., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] law of th april. [ ] "la poste perd sur le transport des journaux et des imprimés. "pour l'année , m. jaccottey (_traité de législation et d'exploitation postales_, p. ) calculait que le coût, c'est-à-dire la dépense moyennement, fait pour un objet quelconque de correspondance, n'avait pas été supérieur à fr. . il fixait de même le produit moyen des imprimés, par unité, à o fr. , et il évaluait la perte du trésor à millions.... "le nombre des imprimés de toute catégorie était à cette époque de millions.... "or, il y a eu, en , dans la circulation intérieure:-- " , , journaux ayant rapporté , , fr. soit, par unité, centime , , , imprimés de toute nature, dont , , sou enveloppes, avec un produit total de , , ou par unité centimes . pour ces , , journaux, périodiques, imprimés de toute catégorie, circulent à prix réduit, la recette total a été de , , fr. et le produit moyen de centimes . "la perte a done été de près de millions."--_rapport portant fixation du budget_, chambre des députés, ; no. , p. . [ ] th april . [ ] "il serait à désirer qu'on pût remédier à une conséquence regrettable de la disposition particulière qui réserve aux seuls journaux paraissant au moins une fois par mois le tarif spécial accordé à la presse. "en fermant la porte aux feuilles d'annonces trimestrielles on l'aussi fermée aux bulletins et annales de même périodicité publies par un grand nombre d'associations et de sociétés (sociétés littéraries, archéologiques, scientifiques, agricoles, syndicats professionels et agricoles, associations professionelles amicales d'instituteurs, sociétés de secours mutuels, etc.), qui doivent être encouragées par tous les moyens au lieu d'être gênées dans leur essor."--ibid., sénat, , no. , p. . [ ] defined thus in the law of : "pour moitié au moins de leur superficie à la reproduction des débats des chambres, des exposés des motifs des projets de lois, des rapports de commissions, des actes et documents officiels, et des cours, officiels ou non, des halles, bourses, et marchés." [ ] p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . [ ] certain questions arose on this point, and the council of state decided that there was no need to inquire whether the printed sheet added to the newspaper constituted an accidental and unforeseen addition, whether it was the production of the paper, whether it really appertained to the paper, nor whether it was printed at the same time. all that was necessary, in order that it might be regarded as a supplement, was that it should bear the title and date of the number which it accompanied.--ibid., p. . the keeper of the seals concurred in this opinion, and held that it was unnecessary to inquire into the circumstance in which the supplement was joined to the paper, whether it was special or whether it was printed at the same time; but that the supplement ought to fulfil the conditions imposed on all newspapers, to mention the title of the paper, together with the date or serial number, and to preserve, at least materially, the appearance of an annexe to the principal journal.--ad. frault, _manuel postal, théorique et pratique_, paris, , pp. - . [ ] the second oldest newspaper in germany, the _postavisen_, which appeared in frankfurt in , was published by the taxis postmaster, johann von den birghden. cf. b. faulhaber, _geschichte des postwesens in frankfurt am main_, frankfurt, , p. . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. , part . p. ; _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] regulativ über die künftige verwaltung des zeitungswesens, th december . [ ] decree of th june . [ ] statute of th november , fixing rates of postage for the north german union:-- "diese bestimmung entsprang aus der erkenntniss, dass die weniger häufig erscheinenden zeitschriften durch die volle besorgungsgebühr von pct. des verlagspreises um so härter getroffen würden, als letzterer der natur der sache nach in vielen fällen verhältnissmässig hoch sei."--_archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] statute of th november. [ ] "wir haben heute in deutschland blätter, deren jahresabonnement jährlich mark beträgt, und solche, deren jahresabonnement bis mark beträgt. die post erhebt nun an gebühr prozent von dem abonnementspreise, womit sie die beförderungskosten decken muss. die post erhält für dieselbe leistung von einem täglichen blatte, welches mark abonnementspreis erhebt, mark pro jahr und von dem andern täglichen blatt, welches bloss mark erhebt, pfennig pro jahr. das ist ein ganz unhaltbarer zustand. wenn sie beide blätter nun auf ihren inhalt prüfen, was erblicken sie da? auf der einen seite inseratenblatt, das den text als nebensache behandelt, das mit sehr niedrigen redaktionskosten hergestellt wird. auf der anderen seite haben sie ein blatt, zu dessen herstellung hervorragende kräfte, mit einem worte intelligenz erforderlich ist, und dass die intelligenz nicht billig ist, wissen wir alle miteinander; diese muss bezahlt werden. für die post bildet die hauptsignatur der zeitungen: viele anzeigen--schweres gewicht; niedriger abonnementspreis--niedrige postprovision (weil die herstellungskosten durch die inserate gedeckt werden). die post macht in folge dessen ein schlechtes geschäft damit. ein blatt mit wenigen anzeigen bedeutet auch gleichzeitig ein geringeres gewicht und einen höheren abonnementspreis, und das setzt eine hohe postprovision voraus. "das sind erscheinungen, über die seit jahren geklagt wird, und die durch die neue vorlage in ein gerechteres verhältniss zu leistung und gegenleistung gebracht werden sollen."--abgeordneter dietz, _reichstag, official reports_, th november , vol. iv. p. . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, vol. , part i. p. . [ ] in the number of newspapers passing by post was millions, and the average postage / pf. per copy. [ ] _reichstag, official reports_, vol. iv. pp. - : "seit jahren ist im reichstag sowohl als auch in der budgetkommission erneut die forderung aufgestellt worden, es soll ein anderer tarif aufgestellt werden. in der budgetkommission ist namentlich in den letzten zehn jahren von den verschiedensten parteien anerkannt worden, dass die post bei der beförderung der zeitungen thatsächlich mit verlust arbeitet, und dass demzufolge seitens der zeitungen eine höhere gebühr entrichtet werden müsste. ich kann den herren nur das beispiel, welches in der budgetkommission des öfteren erläutert worden ist, wieder vorführen. wir befördern rund millionen drucksachen; für diese, millionen drucksachen nehmen wir millionen ein. demgegenüber stehen eine milliarde zeitungsexemplare und eine einnahme von noch nicht millionen."--von podbielski (postmaster-general), st november . [ ] "es musste ein tarif gefunden werden, der auf dem grundsatz der abwägung der _leistung und gegenleistung_ beruht, der der postverwaltung eine mässige mehreinnahme wenigstens für die zukunft, wenn auch nicht für die unmittelbare gegenwart sichert."--dr. oertel, th november ; _reichstag, official reports_, vol. iv. p. . [ ] von podbielski, st november ; _reichstag, official reports_, vol. iv. p. . [ ] "die inseratenpresse macht eine sehr starke konkurrenz auch der provinzialpresse, der kleinen presse. die erstere hat langsam den abonnementspreis so weit herabgedrückt, dass schliesslich die provinzpresse, wenn sie nicht zu grunde gehen wollte, gleichfalls mit einer ermässigung des abonnementspreises hat vorgehen müssen, mit einer ermässigung, die sich wirthschaftlich nicht aufrecht erhalten lässt. die abonnementspreise sind hier und da so niedrig geworden, dass manche verleger wohl ursache gehabt haben, zu schreien, man möge ihnen seitens der post durch einen gerechten tarif entgegenkommen, um die furchtbare konkurrenz in etwas zu mildern."--abgeordneter dietz, th november ; _reichstag, official reports_, vol. iv. p. . [ ] "der zonentarif ist meiner ansicht nach vollkommen gerechtfertigt auch vom gesichtspunkte der leistung und der gegenleistung aus. die kleine provinzpresse bleibt auf einen kleinen verbreitungsbezirk beschränkt, und dort ist sie in vielen exemplaren an einem und demselben orte verbreitet. die grosse presse dagegen geht in einzelnen exemplaren durch das ganze reich, sie verursacht demgemäss der post bedeutend mehr kosten und lasten, mehr arbeit als die kleine presse. der herr staatssekretär des reichspostamts hat das in der kommission selbst zugeben müssen. er wies z. b. darauf hin, dass schon jetzt durch die grosse anzahl von blättern, welche von berlin aus in die provinz hineingehen, die post gezwungen wäre, tagtäglich einen extrapostwagen zu stellen, welcher lediglich zeitungen von hier nach köln mit der eisenbahn befördert; die beförderung dieses einen wagens koste der post , mark. bei dieser beförderung kommt aber im grossen und ganzen nur die grosse oder die farblose presse, welche zu einem billigeren preise gegeben wird, in betracht. die kleine provinzpresse macht der post nicht derartige ausgaben, wie ich bereits vorhin betont habe. daher erscheint es angebracht, dass wir zwei zonen schaffen, dass die zeitungen in der ersten zone zu einem billigeren satze versendet werden als diejenigen in der zweiten zone."--dr. marcour, th november ; _reichstag, official reports_, vol. iv. p. . [ ] von podbielski, th november ; ibid., vol. iv. p. . [ ] statute of th december :-- "(_a_) pf. für jeden monat der bezugszeit. "(_b_) pf. jährlich für das wöchentlich einmalige oder seltenere erscheinen, sowie pf. jährlich mehr für jede weitere ausgabe in der woche. "(_c_) pf. jährlich für jedes kilogramm des jahresgewichts unter gewährung eines freigewichts von je kg. jährlich für soviele ausgaben, wie der gebühr zu (_b_) unterliegen."--article (sec. iii), law of th december . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. , part i. p. . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, ibid., p. . [ ] cf. dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, vol. , part i. p. . [ ] _allgemeine dienstanweisung für post und telegraphie_, berlin, , abschnitt v, i. pp. - . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . the present regulations are as follow:-- "als aussergewöhnliche zeitungsbeilagen werden solche ... die nach form, papier, druck oder sonstiger beschaffenheit nicht als bestandtheile derjenigen zeitung oder zeitschrift erachtet werden können, mit welcher die versendung erfolgen soll. "jede versendung aussergewöhnlicher zeitungsbeilagen muss von dem verleger bei der verlags-postanstalt unter entrichtung der gebühr für so viele exemplare, als der zeitung u. beigelegt werden sollen, vorher angemeldet werden. das einlegen in die einzelnen zeitungs u. exemplare ist sache des verlegers. "aussergewöhnliche zeitungsbeilagen dürfen nicht über zwei bogen stark, auch nicht geheftet, geklebt oder gebunden sein; die einzelnen bogen müssen in der bogenform zusammenhängen. die postanstalten sind zur zurückweisung solcher beilagen befugt, die nach grösse und stärke des papiers oder nach ihrer sonstigen beschaffenheit zur beförderung in den zeitungspacketen nicht geeignet erscheinen. "die gebühr für aussergewöhnliche zeitungsbeilagen beträgt / pf. für je gramm jedes einzelnen beilage-exemplars. ein bei berechnung des gesammtbetrags sich ergebender bruchtheil einer mark wird nöthigen fallen auf eine durch theilbare pfennigsumme aufwärts abgerundet."--_allgemeine dienstanweisung für post und telegraphie_, berlin, , abschnitt v, i. p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] nd august . [ ] when in dockwra was dismissed from the comptrollership, one of the charges against him was that he forbade the acceptance of band-boxes or other parcels over pound in weight--to the great inconvenience of traders and the peril of many sick folk who might have received "phisick" by the penny post. [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] "in sir john burgoyne wrote to complain that, for a packet of papers sent to him at dublin, which had been forwarded from some other part of ireland by mail-coach, as a _letter_, instead of a _parcel_ (i.e. a coach-parcel), he had been charged a postage of £ ; that is to say, for a packet which he could easily have carried in his pocket, he was charged a sum for which he could have engaged the whole mail-coach, i.e. places for four inside and three outside passengers, with their portmanteaus, carpet bags, etc."--_the post office of fifty years ago_, london, , p. . [ ] "it has been suggested that if the proportional charge on letters by weight was more gradual, many things which now pass as parcels by the mails and augment the profit of the proprietors would be sent by the post on account of the superior safety. "it is certain that great numbers of small parcels are sent by the mail coaches at an inferior rate of carriage, which, considering this establishment as a species of exclusive carrying trade, must subtract considerably from its revenue." _seventh report_, july, (_commons reports_, vol. xii. p. ). [ ] e.g., in the secretary reported: "with respect to the conveyance of pamphlets and periodical publications by the post, treasury has expressed itself to me as decidedly hostile to any such infraction of the carrying trade of the country. it is moreover physically impossible. we have the greatest difficulty in conveying letters, newspapers, and official packets; many of the official forms, etc., remain some days until we can take them by the mail coaches." and in , when sir rowland hill put forward his proposal for a book post, colonel maberley, then secretary, said: "the post ought to be confined to small packets as much as possible and to convey large packets only when the necessity is urgent." he was especially afraid of the inconvenience which would be caused to foot-messengers.--_british official records._ cf. & vict., cap. , § . [ ] see _supra_, p. . [ ] as they had always done. "the post office has recently absolutely entered into competition with the railway companies. as carriers, the companies derived considerable profit from parcels. the post office, finding that railways afford the means of carrying any quantity of bulk, has seen fit to undertake the conveyance of books and other parcels at very reduced postal rates. if the post office should extend its operations a little further, it must be brought into absolute antagonism with the companies. books are heavier articles than laces or muslins, or many other fabrics, the conveyance of which enters largely into railway receipts. the post office having made book parcels profitable, may try to turn to account the conveyance of other, whether lighter or heavier, articles of trade. it might be thought advisable to carry a small valuable parcel to aberdeen for d., a rate at which railway companies, having to pay interest on capital, certainly cannot hope to compete with a department which insists on the right of travelling on their roads at the mere actual cost. you will not, therefore, fail to see that the post office arrangements may be carried to a point at which great injustice would be done to railway companies."--robert stephenson before the institution of civil engineers, january (s. smiles, _life of george stephenson_, london, , p. ). [ ] see leslie stephen, _life of henry fawcett_, london, , pp. - . [ ] & vict., cap. . [ ] jevons had foreseen that the rich would benefit; but he anticipated a large general traffic in household supplies. see w. s. jevons, "a state parcel post," _contemporary review_, london, , p. . [ ] see graphs at pp. and , _infra._ [ ] the estimates on which this statement is based are given below at p. , cf. leslie stephen, loc. cit. p. . [ ] see p. , _supra._ [ ] _annual reports of the postmaster-general_, washington, and . [ ] i.e. under the government frank, for the fraudulent use of which a penalty of $ is imposed. [ ] "in point of fact there are but four strong objections to the parcels post, and they are the four great express companies, who would be just as well off with an - or -pound parcel post if the heavy freight of the executive departments and the immense packages of bogus serial books that are now thrown upon the mails were shut out and turned over to the express companies, where they belong."--_report of the postmaster-general_, washington, , p. . [ ] ibid., , p. . [ ] cf. _supra_, p. , note . [ ] "when the british government can secure better mail facilities in the united states for the english people than uncle sam can secure in this country for our own people, it is time that somebody be heard from."--mr. hartranft, secretary of the postal progress league of california. [ ] "the difficulty now lies in the absence of a connected transportation conduit, which will receive the small shipment at the farm and convey it, like a letter, direct to the consumer."--hon. david j. lewis, _postal express_, , nd congress, nd sess., doc. no. , p. . [ ] ibid. [ ] mr. s. norvell: "i found the conditions in europe very much worse than i had anticipated. i found the way the people lived was entirely different from what i had anticipated, and no man who has simply lived in this country and has read in a general way about the conditions in europe can appreciate how the people live in europe without going among them and studying the subject. the business of europe, while in the aggregate, of course, it is very large, as a matter of fact is a peanut business."--_hearings before the sub-committee on parcel post_, washington, , vol. ii. p. . cf. _address at atlantic city, n.j._, th november . [ ] "the department believed and still believes that the parcel post, in time, will become an important factor in improving and cheapening the food supply of the great cities. hence, on march , , twelve of the large post offices were designated for special test of a farm-to-city service. farmers were invited to register their names and designate the commodities they desired to sell. lists of farmers and of the articles each offered were then printed and distributed by the carrier force. the results exceeded expectations; shipments of country products at the twelve offices named so materially increased that now eighteen additional offices have been named for similar exploitation of the farm-to-city service. the department's preliminary experience warrants the conclusion that direct shipment of food products that are consumed substantially in the same form in which they are produced offers practical possibilities of reducing the cost of living."--_report of postmaster-general_, washington, - , p. . [ ] law of vendémiaire, an vi. [ ] _vide infra_, p. . [ ] art. § , convention of . [ ] "en obtenant ainsi le concours des compagnies pour le transport des colis internationaux, m. le ministre devait évidemment être frappé des conditions dans lesquelles allait se trouver la circulation des colis à l'intérieur. tandis que les premiers circuleraient en france avec la plus grande facilité à un prix forte réduit, notre commerce intérieur non seulement continuerait à payer des taxes de transport relativement élevées, mais encore resterait assujetti à tous les inconvénients qui résultent de la multiplicité des taxes et du manque d'entente entre les compagnies."--_journal officiel de la république française_, janvier, , p. . [ ] ( ) la taxe sur la grande vitesse; ( ) l'impôt du timbre; ( ) la taxe de plombage; ( ) le droit de statistique. [ ] _tarif pour le transport des colis postaux_, paris, , p. . [ ] "sont considérés comme encombrants: les colis dépassant m. dans un sens quelconque; les colis qui, par leur forme, leur volume ou lour fragilité, ne se prêtent pas facilement au chargement avec d'autres colis, ou qui demandent des précautions spéciales."--ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] _rapport portant fixation du budget générale_, sénat, , no. . [ ] "il faut que le bureau soit situé sur le parcours d'un courrier en voiture, et que les compagnies de chemins de fer veuillent bien consentir à accepter les colis à acheminer sur le bureau de poste.... bref, tout compte fait, il n'y a pas une commune sur six en france où l'on puisse reçevoir à domicile un colis postal."--ibid., chambre des députés, session , no. . [ ] "il faudrait apporter au service des colis postaux dea perfectionnements que _les compagnies se refuseront à effectuer et qui semblent plutôt du ressort de l'administration_. la reception et la distribution des colis postaux dans les communes rurales est une de ces améliorations désirables. "il est inutile d'insister sur l'importance économique de cette question. les colis postaux fournissent ou devraient fournir un moyen facile et rapide de transport à bon marché; ils devraient favoriser aussi bien les intérêts du commerce que ceux de l'agriculture. ii s'en faut de beaucoup qu'ils rendent tous les services que l'on est en droit d'en attendre."--ibid., sénat, , no. . [ ] f. haass, _die post und der charakter ihrer einkünfte, stuttgart_, , p. . [ ] ordinance issued at breslau; c. h. hull, _die deutsche reichs-packetpost_, jena, , p. . [ ] c. h. hull, ibid. p. . [ ] e.g., "wann die botten innerhalb landes verschickt werden, soll ihnen von jeder meill ein groschen und sechs pfennig des tages und dan zween groschen, so des nachtes, und im bösenschnee und regenwetter lauffen, sowohl auch des tages zween groschen warttgeld, endtrichtet und gegeben werden."--post und botenordnung, juni , brandenburg; cited _f_. haass, ibid. [ ] the new parcel rates were, e.g.:-- -----------+----------------+-------------- weight. | up to miles. | - miles. -----------+----------------+-------------- pounds. | pf. | gr. pf. | | - | | - | | - - - | | -----------+----------------+-------------- [ ] the rates of compared with those of as follows: for the transmission of a pound parcel from berlin-- . . to hamburg - / gr. gr. to magdeburg pf. pf. to königsberg - / gr. - / gr. --f. haass, op. cit. p. . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. i. p. . [ ] h. von stephan, op. cit. p. . [ ] moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . if the average price of oats in the most important districts in prussia should exceed a thaler a bushel, the rate might be increased from pf. to pf. [ ] cabinet order of th march . [ ] law of nd june . [ ] a similar system had been introduced in the german postal union in . the sides of the squares were, however, miles long, and were too large for the smaller distances of the north german union. [ ] motiv zur posttaxnovelle vom november ; cited f. haass, op. cit. p. . [ ] law of th may . [ ] motiv zur posttaxnovelle vom mai . [ ] railway postal law of th december . [ ] the parcel rate for kilogrammes sent as one parcel or as four parcels each of kilogrammes in each zone would be as follows:-- ----------------------+----------------+--------------- zone. | as one parcel. | as parcels, | pf. | each of kg. | | pf. ----------------------+----------------+--------------- i (up to miles) | | ii ( - " ) | | iii ( - " ) | | iv ( - " ) | | v ( - " ) | | vi (over " ) | | ----------------------+----------------+--------------- --c. h. hull, op. cit. p. . [ ] parcels in imperial german postal service (inland):-- -----+-----------------+-----------+-----------+----------- year | parcels not | from | from | over | exceeding kg. | to kg. | to kg. | kg. -----+-----------------+-----------+-----------+----------- | per cent. | per cent. | per cent. | per cent. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----+-----------------+-----------+-----------+----------- --_finanz-archiv_, , vol. i. p. ; c. h. hull, op. cit. p. . [ ] average postage per parcel (pf.):-- zone. . . ortssendungen · · i · · ii · · iii · · iv · · v · · vi · · --ibid., p. [ ] average weight of parcels in imperial german postal service (inland):-- -----+--------------+------------------+-------------- year.| all parcels. | parcels not | parcels over | kg. | exceeding kg. | kg. -----+--------------+------------------+-------------- | | | | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · -----+--------------+------------------+-------------- --ibid., p. . [ ] "angenommen es hätte im jahre unter packeten das gewicht eines in zone iii . kg.; eines in zone iv . kg.; eines in zone v . kg., oder eines in zone vi . kg., das der anderen neun je kg. betragen, so stände der durchschnittsportobetrag schon auf seiner thatsächlichen höhe."--c. h. hull, loc. cit. p. . [ ] _statistik der deutschen reichs-post- und telegraphen-verwaltung_, , berlin, , p. . [ ] an analysis of the traffic of the imperial post office gives the following result:-- numbers-- . . per cent. per cent. parcels not exceeding kg. in weight . . " " - kg. " . . " " - kg. " . . " " - kg. " . . " " - kg. " . . " " - kg. " . . " " - kg. " . . " over kg. in weight . . revenue and distance of transmission-- per cent. postage, m. local parcels . , zone i . , , " ii . , , " iii . , , " iv . , , " v . , " vi . , --f. haass, ibid. p. ; _finanz-archiv_, ; vol. i. p. ; cf. statistik, , p. . [ ] total number in , millions; in , millions; in , millions; in , millions. [ ] "infolge seiner billigkeit hat sich für viele handels- und erwerbszweige ein unmittelbarer verkehr zwischen produzenten und konsumenten entwickelt (butter-, fleisch-, fischsendungen, u.s.w.), der früher durch zwischenhandel verteuert und erschwert wurde. ganz neue erwerbszweige haben sich gebildet, indem erzeugnisse, die früher am produktionsorte fast gar nicht verwertbar waren, in massen billig nach weit entfernten gegenden versandt werden können, um dort verwertung zu finden. auch die hausindustrie ist durch direkten bezug von rohstoffen für spinnerei, weberei, u.s.w., neu belebt worden."--dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. i. p. . [ ] "'der eisenbahn den gross- und massenverkehr, der post den kleinverkehr,' empfiehlt auch _de terra_. in der tat erscheint dieser vorschlag verlockend. denn die post kann den ungeheueren paketverkehr schon jetzt nur mit mühe bewältigen und ist zu dem zwecke oft zur einstellung kostspieliger transportmittel (eisenbahnbeiwagen) genötigt."--ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] "abgesehen aber von diesem rein politischen einwand würde die aufstellung eines komplizierten zonentarifs bei dem heutigen umfang des packetverkehrs den dienst unerträglich erschweren und verzögern. es lässt sich wohl fragen ob, wenn jedes packet auf seine beförderungsentfernung zu prüfen wäre, der dienst sich technisch durchführen liesse, wenigstens zu gebühren, welche den verkehr nicht allzusehr einschränken würden."--c. h. hull, op. cit. p. ; _vide_ also dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. i. p. . [ ] e.g. "es ist sogar wahrscheinlich, dass, wenn zu den kosten der eisenbahnleistungen für packetpostzwecke ein betrag für verzinzung des eisenbahn-anlagekapitals noch hinzugerechnet wird, die packetpost dann mit einem defizit arbeitet."--c. h. hull, op. cit. p. ; ibid., p. . cf. g. cohn, _finanzwissenschaft_, berlin, , p. , f. w. grunow, _zur reform des paketportos in deutschland und Österreich-ungarn_, leipzig, , p. ; contra, _handwörterbuch der staatswissenschaft_, jena, , vol. vi. p. . [ ] _british official records_, . [ ] _british official records_, . [ ] the new rates were-- not exceeding ounces d. " " ounces d. " " pound d. d. for every additional half-pound. [ ] see _supra_, pp. - . [ ] th april, ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxcv. col. . "the post office revenue is derived mainly from the circulation of letters which pay d. for half an ounce, and if they exceed half an ounce, another d. the writers of those letters are not necessarily rich people, or persons to whom the postage is a matter of indifference; they are, in a certain sense, the helots who bear the burden of the expense of the department. is it, then, not a question worth considering, whether--supposing we accede to this request and carry ounces of printed matter for a / d., for the benefit of a particular class of the community--that might not interfere with the possibility of maintaining the d. postage on letters?"--chancellor of exchequer in house of commons, th april ; _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. cxcv. col. . [ ] the growth of the traffic is shown by the following table:-- average annual year. number of book packets - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , , - , , , --_the post office: an historical summary_, london, , p. ; and _annual reports of postmaster-general_. [ ] see _first report of the committee on retrenchment in the public expenditure_, (parliamentary papers, cd. and cd. ); _times_ newspaper, th september . [ ] a. belloc, _les postes françaises, recherches historiques_, paris, , p. . [ ] law of thermidor, an iv ( nd july ). [ ] p. jaccottey, op. cit. p. . [ ] "gedruckte bücher und aemter-rechnungen, akzise-, zoll-, und messzettel, sowie für stempelpapier."--_archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] this rate was, e.g., groschen per pound from berlin to xanten or duisburg, groschen to hamburg, and pf. to spandau.--ibid., p. . [ ] ibid. [ ] law of st december . [ ] the first penalty applied also to sample packets. [ ] "zeitungen, journale, preis-courante, gedruckte cirkularien, empfehlungsschreiben, correkturbogen ohne beigefügtes manuskript und gedruckte lotterie-gewinnlisten." [ ] to include "druckschriften, ankündigungen und sonstige anzeigen." [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] order of th april . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] order of rd march . [ ] order of th december . [ ] "alle durch buchdruck, kupferstich, stahlstich, holzschnitt, lithographie, metallographie, und photographie vervielfältigten gegenstände" (sofern sie nach ihrer form und sonstigen beschaffenheit zur versendung mit der briefpost geeignet erscheinen).--_archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] "auch der erhöhung des meistgewichts lässt sich das wort nicht reden. mit dieser massnahme wächst sofort die unhandlichkeit der sendungen und damit die vermehrung und kostspieligkeit der betriebsmittel. bereits jetzt müssen zur bewältigung der massen v.a. in den bahnposten, besonders infolge der vielfach vertretnen rollenform, ausserordentliche austrengungen gemacht werden. zudem bietet das billige paketporto hinreichend günstige gelegenheit zur versendung schwerer drucksachen. zu einer aenderung des drucksachentarifs liegt demnach ein bedürfniss nicht vor."--_finanz-archiv_, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] _statistik der deutschen reichs-post- und telegraphen-verwaltung_, , p. . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] "for the port of every single letter, or piece of paper, to or from any place not exceeding eighty _english_ miles distant from the said general post office in _london_, and within that part of _great britain_ called _england_, and not coming from or directed on shipboard, three-pence; and for the like port of every double letter, sixpence; etc."-- anne, cap. , § . [ ] "for every single letter or cover containing one or more paper or papers with patterns, or containing one or more pattern or patterns of cloth, silk, stuff, or one or more sample or samples of any other sort of goods, or one or more piece or pieces of any sort of thing enclosed therein, or affixed thereto, though not paper, if the same together do not weigh an ounce weight, the rates payable for a double letter shall be paid, and no more."-- geo. ii, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] will. iv & vict., cap. , § . [ ] & vict., cap. , § . [ ] & vict., cap. , § . [ ] _vide_ _annual reports of the postmaster-general_ et seq. [ ] _british official records_, . [ ] see _supra_, p. . "the public felt aggrieved at the restriction, and, as the difficulty of defining samples in all cases could not be overcome, it was decided to reduce the inland letter postage to such an extent as would enable the public to send through the post in closed covers not only patterns and samples, but also any light articles for a moderate charge; thus abolishing altogether the distinction between letters and samples, and providing a cheap and convenient post for small parcels."--_seventeenth report of the postmaster-general_, london, , p. . [ ] _report of select committee on estimates of revenue departments_, , p. . it may be noted, in justification of the view sometimes advanced that additional traffic can without loss be undertaken by the post office at rates lower than those for the main services, that in this case the post office anticipated that no direct additional expense would be incurred in the provinces in dealing with the increase of traffic, and that in london the additional expense would only amount to some £ a year. [ ] see _supra_, p. . [ ] arrête of th march . in these limits were raised slightly--to grammes and to centimetres respectively. [ ] in the compagnie des chemins de fer de l'est filed a petition in which they contested the right of the post office to send samples of merchandise by railway without specially remunerating the railway company. they claimed that under the law they were obliged to carry free only "letters" and "despatches." the case was, however, decided against the company.--p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] _statistique générale du service postal_, berne, , p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] dr. artur schmidt, _finanz-archiv_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] geo. i, cap. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] "we find that in france, and generally on the continent, the circulation of prices current, at a low charge, is encouraged by the government, and we are of opinion that any facility which can be given for the transmission of mercantile information must tend to promote the commercial interests of the country; we therefore beg to recommend to your lordships, in the first place, that english prices current, and publications of a similar nature published in this country, be permitted to pass through the medium of the post office without the imposition of a charge so high as to impede their general circulation.... we hope ... your lordships may find it practicable to permit the free transmission of prices current by post, if printed on paper bearing a halfpenny stamp."--_fifth report of commissioners_ ( th april ), pp. , . [ ] "cette assimilation les soumettait à des taxes exorbitantes; elle provoquait la fraude, et multipliait les contraventions au monopole de la poste."--p. jaccottey, op. cit., p. . [ ] see _supra_, p. . [ ] "als geschäftspapiere sind zu gelassen: alle schriftstücke und urkunden, ganz oder teilweise mit der hand geschrieben oder gezeichnet, welche nicht die eigenschaft einer eigentlichen und persönlichen korrespondenz haben, wie prozessakten, von öffentlichen beamten aufgenommene urkunden jeder art, frachtbriefe oder ladescheine, rechnungen, quittungen auf gestempelten oder ungestempelten papier, die verschiedenen dienstpapiers der versicherungsgesellschaften, abschriften oder auszüge aussergerichtlicher verträge, gleichviel ob auf gestempelten oder ungestempelten papier geschrieben, handschriftliche partituren oder notenblätter, die abgesondert versandten manuskripte von werken oder zeitungen, korrigierte schülerarbeiten mit ausschluss jeglichen urteils über die arbeit, militarpässe, lohn-, dienst- oder arbeitsbücher, u.s.w. (§ , postordnung)."--_finanz-archiv_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] _l'union postale_, berne, st july . [ ] a proposal to introduce postcards in france was made by m. wolowski in the national assembly on the rd august , in the debate on the bill for raising the rates of postage. the proposal was rejected on account of the probable effect on the revenue. the cards would no doubt substitute letters to some extent, and at the time, of course, the chief object in view was an increase of revenue. m. wolowski repeated his proposal in as an amendment to the budget. he was able to point to the effect in england of the introduction of postcards--an increase of per cent. in the number of letters, as compared with an increase of per cent. in the year preceding their introduction. the proposal was opposed by the budget commission and by the government, but the amendment was voted by the assembly and was incorporated in the law of the th december . the rate of postage was fixed at centimes for cards circulating within the area served by the same office and centimes for others. (the minimum letter rate was at this time centimes for letters circulating in the area served by the same office and centimes for others.) in the rate was made uniform at centimes for all cards. this rate still continues in respect of cards bearing written messages in the nature of personal communications, but it has been reduced to centimes in respect of picture postcards or commercial advertisement cards which do not boar a written communication of more than five words. the circulation of postcards is naturally much restricted, and the reduction of the general rate to centimes is much desired. there has been a good deal of discussion of the matter by the parliamentary budget commissions, but financial considerations have so far prevented the concession of this boon. [ ] see _infra_, pp. - ; cf. c. h. hull, op. cit., p. . [ ] _annual report of postmaster-general_, - , p. . [ ] e.g., "as to books for the blind, there can be only one opinion. the afflicted must be looked after before anybody else."--sir adolphe caron, _parliamentary debates, canada_ (_commons_), th may . [ ] cf. _supra_, chapter ii. [ ] "inland post comprehends all matter deposited in a post office in canada for delivery either from the same or from any other post office in canada. "such matter is divided into four classes:-- "( ) letters, postcards, and all matter either wholly or partly in writing or typewriting, except the manuscript of books or newspapers and certain documents of the dominion and provincial governments and of municipal authorities, which belong to class . "( ) newspapers and periodicals. "( ) printed matter not included in class , samples, and certain miscellaneous matter. "( ) merchandise."--_canada official postal guide_, , p. . [ ] see _supra_, p. . [ ] see _infra_, pp. - . [ ] see _the practical method of the penny post_, london, . [ ] the "general post" was the term applied to the service throughout the country as distinguished from local services. [ ] the general post office only provided for the delivery of letters within a restricted area. see _ninth report of commissioners of post office inquiry_, , p. . [ ] car. ii, cap. , § . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] geo. ii, cap. . see d. macpherson, op. cit., vol. iii., p. . [ ] _ninth report of the commissioners of post office inquiry_, , pp. and . [ ] "we have said that to us who live at the end of the nineteenth century it may appear incredible that up to april the general post office in lombard street was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of london. but it is by no means certain that our descendants may not think it more incredible still that london, with all its boasted progress, has only now recovered a post which, in point of convenience and cheapness, at all approaches that which an enterprising citizen established more than two hundred years ago."--h. joyce, _history of the post office_, pp. , . [ ] "no stage-coach entered london without the driver's pockets being stuffed with letters and packets, and he was moderate indeed if he had not a bagful besides. the waggoner outstripped his waggon and the carrier his pack-horse: and each brought his contribution. the higgler's wares were the merest pretext. it was to the letters and packets that he looked for profit."--h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] when threatened by the postmasters-general with prosecution "according to the utmost rigour of the law," he replied, according to their account, that "he should not be so unjust to himself as to lay down his undertaking at our demand, that his case was not as mr. dockwra's was, neither did we live under such a constitution as he did when the penny post was first set up (that is, an arbitrary government and bribed judges)."--_ninth report of the commissioners of post office inquiry_, , p. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] _ninth report of the commissioners of post office inquiry_, , p. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. , § . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] _ninth report of the commissioners of post office inquiry_, , p. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] clause . [ ] these changes followed the recommendations of the commissioners of revenue inquiry, who, in their twenty-first report ( ), remarked strongly on the intricacy and confusion of the boundaries of the posts in london, viz. the general post, the foreign post, the twopenny post (town delivery), and the twopenny post (country delivery). all these had different delivery areas, and in addition there was the "threepenny post town delivery," comprising the area lying between the limits of the general post delivery and those of the town delivery of the twopenny post. [ ] the following statement shows the rates charged in the twopenny post:-- "for every letter transmitted by such post within the limits of delivery for the time being of the general post d. for every letter transmitted by such post between a place within the said limits and any place beyond the same, or between places, both of which are beyond the said limits d. and for every letter originally sent by the general post directed to places beyond the said limits, and for every letter originally sent by the twopenny post, and afterwards passing through the general post, in addition to all other rates chargeable thereon d. newspapers sent by the twopenny post, and not passing or intended to pass by the general post, are charged each d. but newspapers by the general post and delivered by the twopenny post, received by the twopenny post and afterwards passing by the general post, have, since august , been exempted from postage."--_ninth report of the commissioners of post office inquiry_, , p. . [ ] "it is on this principle that it has been found that where a letter has been dropped into the post office in a city, and delivered by a letter-carrier, it does not pay to deliver it for cent, which is just half the rate charged in any other country in the world; and this provision is to assimilate the rate to that prevailing in other countries."--mr. haggart, _parliamentary debates, canada_ (_commons_), th april . [ ] "we have been influenced to make this change from the fact that in large cities and towns the departmental stores, the manufacturing establishments, and other concerns which do a large postal business, use the messenger service to deliver their letters as they found it cheaper, and in this way a large amount of revenue was lost to the post office.... several firms will amalgamate their messenger service, employing say five or ten boys, to whom they will pay cent or / cent for each letter, and in that way they will make a profit. of course, this action on their part is illegal, but it is one of those illegalities that we can hardly prosecute, and we thought it was better to adopt the uniform -cent rate which we had formerly."--hon. r. lemieux (postmaster-general), _parliamentary debates, canada_ (_commons_), th june . [ ] a. de rothschild, _histoire de la poste aux lettres_, paris, , p. . [ ] " août .--on fait à sçavoir à tous ceux qui voudront écrire d'un quartier de paris en un autre, que leurs lettres, billets ou mémoires seront fidèlement portés et diligemment rendus à leur addresse, et qu'ils en auront promptement responce, pourvu que lorsqu'ils escriront, ils mettent avec leurs lettres un billet qui portera: _port-payé_, parce que l'on ne prendra point d'argent; lequel billet sera attaché à la dite lettre, ou mis autour de la lettre ou passé dans ou en telle autre manière qu'ils trouveront à propos, de telle sorte néanmoins que le commis le puisse voir et oter aisément. la date sera remplis du jour ou du mois qu'il sera envoyé. le commis général qui sera au palais rendra de ces billets de _port-payé_ à ceux qui en voudront avoir, pour le prix _d'un sol marqué_; et chacun est adverti d'en acheter pour sa nécessité le nombre qu'il lui plaira, afin que lorsqu'on voudra escrire, l'on ne manque pas pour si peu de chose à faire ses affaires."--advertisement issued by m. velayer, cited a. de rothschild, _histoire de la poste aux lettres_, paris, , p. . [ ] a. de rothschild, ibid., p. . [ ] a. belloc, _les postes françaises_, paris, , p. . [ ] moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] th may . [ ] order of nd october . [ ] moch, ibid. [ ] moch, ibid. [ ] administrative order of th december . [ ] moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] "als nachbarorte im sinne des gesetzes sollen solche orte der engen unmittelbaren nachbarschaft gelten, deren bebaute ortsgrenzen nicht zu weit von einander entfernt bleiben und die wegen ihrer lage und ihres wirtschaftlichen zusammenhanges als ein einheitlicher verkehrsbezirk (taxgruppe) angesehen werden können, ferner aber solche orte, die zwischen zwei hiernach eine taxgruppe bildenden anderen orten an der diese verbindenden strasse oder eisenbahn liegen, auch wenn ein wirtschaftlicher zusammenhang hier nicht vorhanden ist."--moch, ibid. [ ] ibid., p. ; articles and of law of th december . [ ] _reichstag, official reports_, vol. ii., p. . [ ] "um ein klar wirkendes bild von dem umfange der verkehrszunahme zu geben, sei nur erwähnt, dass die ober-postdirektion in berlin im kalenderjahre eine um beamte und , unterbeamte höhere. personal verstärkung für ihren bezirk hat eintreten lassen mussen als im jahre vorher; am april sind allein--ohne die zahlreichen aushülfskräfte-- unterbeamte neu eingestellt worden."--_deutsche verkehrs-zeitung_, berlin, th march , p. . [ ] ibid. [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] order of th march . see moch, _archiv für post und telegraphie_, berlin, , p. . [ ] order of th march. w. hess, ibid., , p. . [ ] _reichstag, official reports_, th may . [ ] _finanz-archiv_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "une partie des pays qui out pris part au congrès de berne avait fixé le maximum du poids des lettres à grammes; l'autre partie n'avait fixé aucune limite de poids. dans certains pays, l'épaisseur des lettres était limitée. au danemark, par exemple, elle ne pouvait pas dépasser - / centimetres. la grande-bretagne avait fixé le maximum de dimension des lettres pour l'étranger à pieds ( centimètres) en longueur et à pied ( centimètres) en largeur ou épaisseur. "le port des lettres se calculait tantôt pas - / grammes, tantôt par grammes et tantôt par grammes; parfois aussi l'échelle de progression ne comportait que deux poids (lettres de grammes et lettres de plus de grammes). "les taxes des lettres d'un pays différaient presque pour chaque pays correspondant; en outre, la taxe d'une lettre pour un seul et même pays variait fréquemment suivant la voie d'expédition. l'allemagne n'avait pas moins de taxes pour les lettres affranchis à destination des autres pays d'europe (abstraction faite des taxes réduites pour les rayons limitrophes); la france n'en avait pas moins de , et la grande-bretagne pas moins de ; les etats-unis d'amérique en avaient pour leurs rapports avec pays européens. la moins élevée de ces taxes était, pour l'allemagne, de pfennig jusqu'à grammes ( pfennig de à grammes); pour la france, de centimes par grammes; pour la grande-bretagne, de pence par / once; pour les etats-unis d'amérique, de cents par / once. la plus élevée était, pour l'allemagne, de pfennig par grammes; pour la france, de centimes par grammes; pour la grande-bretagne, de pence par / once; pour les etats-unis d'amérique de cents par / once. "les taxes des lettres à destination des pays d'outre-mer variaient davantage encore; elles étaient, en outre, toujours extrêmement élevées. une lettre affranchie de l'allemagne pour le pérou, à expédier par la voie de hambourg, payait pfennig par grammes; si elle était expédiée par la voie d'angleterre ou de france, elle payait pfennig par grammes. pour une lettre d'une / once de la grande-bretagne pour la bolivie, l'expéditeur devait payer shilling pence et une taxe additionnelle était, en outre, réclamée du destinataire. une lettre simple de la russie pour la cochinchine (voie des paquebots français) payait kopecks; de l'autriche pour la république de honduras (voie de panama), kreuzer; de l'italie pour la république argentine ou l'uruguay (voie de belgique), lire centesimi. "pour ses relations avec le japon, la russie no disposait pas de moins de voies d'éxpédition, pour lesquelles il existait taxes différentes rien pour les lettres affranchies."--m. e. ruffy, _l'union postale universelle_; _sa fondation et son développement_, lausanne, , pp. , . [ ] austria, belgium, costa-rica, denmark, ecuador, spain, france, great britain, italy, holland, portugal, prussia, the sandwich islands, switzerland, and the hanse towns. [ ] m. e. ruffy, _l'union postale universelle; sa fondation et son développement_, lausanne, , p. . [ ] or, as they were called, "principes généraux de nature à faciliter les relations de peuple à peuple par la voie de la poste et pouvant servir de base aux conventions internationales destinées à régler ces relations."--ibid. [ ] _documents du congrès postal international_, berne, , pp. - . see m. e. ruffy, ibid., pp. , and . [ ] _documents du congrès postal international_, berne, , p. . [ ] "toutefois, comme mesure de transition, il est réservé à chaque pays, pour tenir compte des convenances monétaires ou autres, la faculté de percevoir une taxe supérieure ou inférieure à ce chiffre, moyennant quelle ne dépasse pas centimes et ne descende pas au dessous de centimes.... "pour tout transport maritime de plus de milles marins dans le ressort de l'union, il pourra être ajouté au port ordinaire une surtaxe qui ne pourra pas dépasser la moitié de la taxe générale de l'union fixée pour la lettre affranchie."--article of convention, ibid., p. . [ ] _documents du congrès postal international_, berne, , pp. - . [ ] règlement de détail, secs. xi, xii and xiii, ibid., p. . [ ] "la belgique occupe une position pour ainsi dire unique dans le monde. placée au centre de la partie la plus riche, la plus active et la plus peuplée de l'europe, elle forme, en quelque sorte, le carrefour des grandes voies postales de notre continent. il s'en suit que la belgique rend de très grands services à tous les etats de l'europe, tandis qu'elle-même n'a à réclamer que fort peu de services de ses voisins." belgium received , fr. net annually in respect of transit traffic, and the ratio between the transit services rendered by belgium to other countries and by other countries to belgium was to .--_documents du congrès postal international_, berne, , pp. - . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] changed in to "l'union postale universelle." [ ] those countries which were unable to adopt the metric system of weights were given liberty to substitute the ounce avoirdupois ( . grammes), a half-ounce being reckoned the equivalent of grammes, and ounces the equivalent of grammes.--_documents du congrès postal international_, berne, , p. . [ ] "en accédant, disent-ils, à l'union postale, la france s'est imposé des sacrifices considérables dont elle a d'avance calculé la portée. elle est prête à en faire de nouveaux aujourd'hui en vue de compléter la grande [oe]uvre de berne; et, à ce propos, m. ansault a cru devoir déclarer que les subsides accordés à des lignes de paquebots ne peuvent pas être considérés comme ayant un caractère postal, c'est-à-dire, que l'on ne doit pas chercher dans le produit de la taxe des lettres une rémunération de ces services, lesquels sont établis principalement pour les besoins du commerce et de l'industrie, aussi bien que dans un intérêt politique. en proposant une taxe maritime de fr. . par kilogramme de lettres et de ct. par kilogramme de journaux, le gouvernement français a eu en outre pour but de faire cesser une anomalie injustifiable aux yeux du public, à savoir qu'une missive pour les colonies françaises paie une taxe plus élevée qu'une lettre pour la partie la plus reculée des etats-unis d'amérique."--_actes de la conférence postale de berne_, , p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., pp. , . [ ] _actes de la conférence postale de berne_, , p. . [ ] thus in - the number of foreign reply-paid postcards in the case of the united states was , . the total number of foreign postcards posted in the united states in the same year was , , . [ ] "m. buxton forman, délégué de la grande-bretagne, ne voit pas l'utilité de la mesure proposée, qui, on son pays du moins, n'est pas demandée par le public. il serait d'ailleurs presque impossible à l'administration britannique d'y adhérer...." the french view was stated by m. ansault: "la modification demandée ne répond à aucun besoin. les statistiques tenues en france témoignent que le poids moyen de la lettre n'atteint pas grammes; il reste donc une marge de grammes avec le poids actuel. c'est largement suffisant; en augmentant cette marge, on risquerait de provoquer le groupement des lettres au détriment de la recette postale."--_documents du congrès postal de washington_, , p. . in the same year the limit of weight for the single letter in the british inland service was raised from to ounces. [ ] _documents du congrès postal de rome_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] ibid., vol. ii., p. . [ ] "pour nous, le service gratuit est un rêve, un beau rêve, si vous voulez, mais que nous ferions bien, en gens pratique, de laisser aux rêveurs."--a. b. walkley, british delegate, ibid., vol. ii., p. . [ ] _documents du congrès postal de rome_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "the british post office itself is unable to agree with the new zealand government that the sacrifice of net postal revenue involved would be 'temporary in duration and inconsiderable in amount.' "the experience of the british post office in connection with the imperial penny postage scheme shows that if the increased cost of dealing with increased quantities of postal matter be taken into account, as it should be, the department has not recovered, and cannot recover, the loss of net postal revenue involved by the reduction of the imperial letter rate, which was estimated in at £ , for the first year. "recent calculations show that, in the case of a letter for a foreign country, the expense to the exchequer can be taken at about one penny per half-ounce rate, and in the case of a letter for a colony, where a long sea transit is generally involved, at about a penny farthing, excluding the heavy cost of subsidized packet service."--_papers laid before the colonial conference, : memorandum by general post office_ (cd. ), p. . it was estimated that the introduction of universal penny postage, together with the ounce unit (_vide supra_), would involve an initial loss of £ , a year. ibid., p. . [ ] the united states, australasia, and egypt voted in favour of the universal penny rate. canada, great britain, british india, and japan abstained from voting. the remainder voted against the proposal.--_documents du congrès postal de rome_, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "chaque jour de nouvelles difficultés surgissent, soit dans les rapports du public avec les administrations, soit dans les rapports entre les administrations, sur la definition de l'échantillon. tel objet est admis dans un pays et refusé dans un autre. ici, on repousse un article sans valeur, uniquement parce qu'il est entier et on en exige la détérioration ou lacération; là, au contraire, ce même article passe sans observation, par la raison qu'il n'est suj'et à aucun droit de douane. cette dernière doctrine paraissant la plus logique et la plus conforms à l'esprit libéral de l'union, qui ne saurait refuser au commerce des facilités compatibles avec les exigences du service, on a pensé que, sous la double réserve d'une limite de poids de grammes et de la prohibition des articles sujets aux droits de douane, il y aurait un simplification, profitable à tout le monde, à étendre la qualification d'échantillons aux menus objets, même entiers et non détériorés."--see m. e. ruffy, _l'union postale universelle: sa fondation et son développement_, lausanne, , p. . [ ] "la proposition d'élever le poids des paquets de à kilogrammes modifie notablement l'économie du projet; c'est la substitution d'un vrai service de messagerie au transport de simples colis postaux. le gouvernement anglais estime que le transport de paquets d'un tel poids est de domaine de l'industrie privée."--s. a. blackwood, _documents de la conférence postale de paris_, , p. . [ ] "si on transporte à perte, plus le trafic sera grand, plus les dépenses augmenteront. ii serait en désaccord avec les vrais principes d'économie politique, d'entreprendre un service postal dont les frais pèseraient sur une autre branche de l'exploitation ou seraient à la charge du trésor. un économiste aussi distingué que m. fawcett ne pourrait admettre cette théorie."--s. a. blackwood, _documents de la conférence postale de paris_, , p. . "m. günther fait remarquer à m. le délégué de la suéde que le nombre des colis échangés entre la suède et l'étranger n'étant pas très important, son administration aurait à faire peu de sacrifices."--ibid., p. . [ ] "il paraît de toute nécessité d'adopter un droit uniforme, car autrement, avec un tarif variable suivant le poids ou le lieu de destination, on aurait un service des messageries, avec de nombreuses taxes, graduées, et non plus un service très simple de colis postaux."--m. le président; ibid., p. . [ ] "quant à la taxe internationale de centimes, sans addition possible, elle ne peut être accepté par l'administration britannique qu'elle constituerait en perte. la taxe devant être partagée entre l'État et les compagnies, une somme de centimes ne couvrirait les frais."--s. a. blackwood, ibid. [ ] "le commerce surtout vous saura le meilleur gré d'avoir élevé jusqu'à kilogrammes le poids des petits colis transportés par la poste, et d'avoir abaissé la taxe à un chiffre minime. dans bien des cas même, ce prix ne sera pas l'équivalent des frais; et les gouvernements qui consentent à ce sacrifice méritent une gratitude toute particulière; je vous l'exprime ici bien volontiers et bien hautement au nom de la france, au nom de l'europe et au nom de l'humanité, qui profiteront si largement du progrés nouveau que vous venez de réaliser."--m. barthélémy saint-hilaire, foreign minister of france, to the conference; _documents de la conférence postale de paris_, , p. . [ ] the convention of washington, , defined cumbersome parcels (_colis encombrants_) as follows:-- "(_a_) les colis dépassant mètre centimètres dans un sens quelconque; "(_b_) les colis qui, par leur forme, leur volume ou leur fragilité, ne se prêtent pas facilement au chargement avec d'autres colis ou qui demandent des précautions spéciales, tels que plantes et arbustes en paniers, cages vides ou renfermant des animaux vivants, boîtes à cigares vides ou autres boîtes en fardeaux, meubles, vannerie, jardinières, voitures d'enfants, rouets, vélocipedes, etc. "les administrations qui n'admettent pas les colis encombrants ont la faculté de limiter à centimètres le maximum de dimension de ces objets. les administrations qui assurent des transports par mer ont aussi la faculté de limiter à centimètres le maximum de dimension et à décimètres cubes le volume des colis postaux destinés à être transmis par leurs services maritimes et de ne les accepter au delà de ces limites qu'à titre de colis encombrants."--_documents du congrès postal de washington_, , p. . [ ] ibid. pp. - . [ ] "m. herman, délégué de la france, déclare qu'il est impossible d'entrer dans les vues de l'administration bulgare, laquelle semble ne plus tenir compte de l'idée première qui a conduit à la création des colis postaux pour l'échange d'objets de petit poids, à des prix très modérés. en créant les colis postaux, les administrations participant n'ont pas eu l'intention de faire concurrence aux compagnies de transport. si les tarifs des articles de messagerie sont trop élevés, ce n'est pas évidemment à l'union postale de les diminuer."--_documents du congrès postal de rome_, , berne, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "il n'y a aucun besoin ou avantage à son avis, d'avoir une taxe uniforme pour les colis de même catégorie de poids expédiés de différents pays. pour les lettres, cette uniformité a l'avantage, pour l'expéditeur, de connaître, dans n'importe quel pays, le prix du port des lettres. mais, pour un colis postal, l'expéditeur doit toujours aller au bureau de poste pour y déposer la déclaration en douane et, aussi, pour connaître le tarif qui varie selon le nombre des pays et services intermédiares."--m. kisch, delegate for india, _documents du congrès postal de rome_, , berne, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "n'est-ce pas précisément l'unité de tarif qui caractérise le colis postal? elle est très appreciée du commerce dont elle facilite les opérations. si l'on entre dans la voie de la taxation au poids, comme pour les articles de messagerie, ce sera un recul."--m. mazoyer, _documents du congrès postal de rome_, , berne, , vol. ii., p. . [ ] the analysis relates to the british inland service in - . [ ] the number of packets sent at the blind post rate is very small comparatively (some , a year), and those packets are therefore not considered separately. [ ] in general, for any supplemental service an additional fee is charged, the only exceptions being that, in the case of a packet sent at the letter rate of postage, if the person to whom it is addressed cannot be traced, the packet is returned to the sender without charge; and that under certain conditions the address written on any packet (but not the name of the person to whom it is addressed) may be amended, and the packet sent forward, without payment of additional postage. parcels are forwarded to a second address in this way free of charge only when the first address and the substituted address are within the delivery of the same post office, or are within the same "town delivery area." in certain circumstances the post office itself undertakes to amend the address and forward packets in this way free of charge--that is to say, to "redirect." these are, however, minor services, and apply only to a small fraction of the total number of packets posted. for example, the actual proportion redirected is as follows:-- per cent. of total number posted. letters . postcards . halfpenny packets . newspapers . the service of free redirection applies to all classes of packets; but for the return to the sender in case of non-delivery of postcards, halfpenny packet, or newspapers, an additional rate of postage is charged, and the packets are only so returned when they bear on the outside a written or printed request for return in case of non-delivery. this inquiry relates only to the cost of the simple transmission and delivery of the packet, and consideration of all other services, such as registration or express delivery, is excluded. [ ] in london there are the following divisions:-- ( ) "short letters" (including postcards and a large proportion of the halfpenny packets). halfpenny packets which are of such size as to admit of handling with the short letters are referred to as "short halfpenny packets." ( ) "long letters" (for the most part letters of foolscap size). ( ) "circulars" (that is, packets sent at the letter rate or by the halfpenny packet post, posted in large numbers at one time and generally of uniform size but which cannot conveniently be dealt with at the ordinary letter-sorting frames). ( ) "packets" (that is, packets which are bulky or of irregular shape and cannot therefore be sorted at the ordinary sorting frames). ( ) "newspapers." [ ] divisions and , and divisions and , described in the preceding footnote, being combined. [ ] the postman does not rely on his memory to discover at which houses he has packets to deliver. usually he reverses in the bundle of letters that letter for delivery next preceding a packet. a complication is thus introduced in the preparation of the short letters for delivery. [ ] & vict., cap. and & vict., cap. . [ ] in recent years the stamping at the office of receipt has been to a large extent dispensed with. [ ] in addition to these principal operations there are certain minor operations. the packets are in general sorted on frames, from which they are collected at intervals and taken to the despatching table for enclosure in the mail-bags. here the short letters, etc., are tied in bundles (as explained above), and in many cases a label is affixed, on which the name of the office of destination is written by the despatching officer. next a letter bill is prepared. on this are entered particulars of the mail and of registered letters. the bundles of letters, etc., the loose packets, the registered letters and the letter bill (to which are tied all packets which are insufficiently prepaid and are to be charged on delivery), are enclosed in a mail-bag on which is stencilled the name of the office of destination, and in some cases particulars of the route to be followed. the bag is then tied, sealed, and sent forward. the despatch of each bag is recorded, as is the receipt of each bag from another office. the opening of bags at the office of receipt also comprises a distinct series of operations. first the letter bill is obtained and examined. the receipt of the registered letters and charged packets is verified, and the letters and packets are withdrawn for special treatment. the bag is then emptied on the "opening table," reversed, in order to ensure that no packets are overlooked, and the contents distributed for sorting. [ ] see _infra_, p. (from _postmaster-general's report_, - , appx. n). [ ] cf. _supra_, p. . [ ] see _the post office, an historical summary_, london, , p. . [ ] there is practically no short-distance newspaper traffic, and it is probable that, on the average, newspaper packets undergo one more intermediate handling than packets sent at the letter rate. in the absence of precise information, no adjustment of the relative cost for sorting has been made on this account. the result will, therefore, be slightly to the advantage of the newspaper packets. [ ] it has been estimated at . d. per letter. [ ] cf. _supra_, p. . [ ] see _supra_, p. , n. , and _infra_, p. . [ ] in this number . million undelivered packets and . million redirected packets are included twice. the service performed in respect of both these classes of packet is, however, at least twice as great as that performed in respect of an ordinary packet; and as it is desired to estimate the cost of the normal service, no adjustment of the numbers is made on this account. the total number actually delivered was , , , , but of these, . millions were foreign and colonial letters. as the number of foreign and colonial letters despatched ( . millions) exceeds the number received, and a foreign or colonial letter received plus a foreign or colonial letter delivered may be taken as equivalent to an inland letter fully dealt with, the number delivered in the united kingdom has been adjusted by adding half the difference between the number of foreign and colonial letters despatched and received respectively. [ ] number of postcards delivered, . millions. number of foreign and colonial postcards delivered in the united kingdom, . millions; number despatched, . millions. [ ] number of packets actually delivered, , . millions. number of foreign and colonial packets of printed matter, commercial papers, and samples received, . millions; number despatched, . millions. [ ] number of parcels delivered, , , . number of foreign and colonial parcels received, , , ; number despatched, , , . [ ] this definition indicates the strict nature of "forward" packets. in practice it is, however, impracticable to divide postal packets precisely on these lines, and the actual statistics of "forward" packets are not exactly accurate. the practical division approximates, however, to the line of the exact division. [ ] adjusted to allow for the fact that two men are needed to work the machine-stamp. the cost of the machine-stamp itself is a negligible item. [ ] for the relative cost of delivery the same rates are taken as for the cost of sorting. there are no data on which any actual comparison can be based, but it is obvious that the same features, viz. irregularity of shape and size, which lead to differences in the cost of sorting lead to similar differences in much the same degree in the cost of delivery. [ ] the average weight of letter packets not exceeding ounce is . ounce. the average weight of all letter packets is . ounce. in the case of packets between ounce and ounces the average weight is assumed to be . ounces; and . ounces in the case of those between ounces and ounces. of ordinary letter packets, . per cent. do not exceed ounce in weight, . per cent. are between ounce and ounces, and . per cent. are between ounces and ounces in weight. the average weight of a postcard is . ounce, of a halfpenny packet . ounce, and of a newspaper packet . ounces ( . per cent. containing only one newspaper, average weight . ounces; . per cent. containing two or more newspapers, average weight . ounces). [ ] _life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, vol. i., p. . [ ] sir rowland hill was strongly of opinion that the use of the railway increased the cost of conveyance of mails (_life of sir rowland hill and history of penny postage_, vol. i., pp. and ). the cost of conveyance by stage-coach from london to edinburgh was, according to sir rowland hill, about / th of a penny per letter, and less for the whole country (ibid., vol. i., p. ; _post office reform: its importance and practicability_, pp. - ). the cost of conveyance by railway at present averages for the whole kingdom about . d. per letter. [ ] an important fact in this connection is that the service is adjusted to the circumstances of the respective countries. thus, in england and france, provision is made for the delivery of letters at every house in the country, while in the united states and canada there is in general no house-to-house delivery in rural districts. until recently there was no rural delivery service of any kind in the latter countries. letters could be obtained only at the rural post offices. and the system now being introduced provides only for delivery into roadside boxes at the points on the rural deliverer's route nearest to the house of the addressee. such adjustments, of course, materially affect the cost and profit of the service. [ ] e.g. the war increases in the united kingdom and in other countries. the point is further considered in the appendix "post office revenue," _infra_, p. ff. [ ] graphically, the variation of the number of letters with changes in the rate of postage would be represented by an asymptotic curve. [ ] it appeared in the english letter rate of , but disappeared with the changes of . it has been reintroduced into the letter rate with the war changes of november , and the result is an awkward scale. [ ] this point is dealt with more fully in connection with the parcel rate. the whole question of subsidiary rates is dismissed by bastable with the following:-- "one of the principal distinctions now turns on the character of the articles transmitted. circulars and postcards would not bear the same charge as ordinary letters. the transmission of newspapers gives a yet smaller fund of utility on which to levy a tax, and is affected by the competition of carrying agencies. the result is seen in the lower halfpenny rate."--c. f. bastable, _public finance_, london, , p. . [ ] in england two-fifths of the total number of postal packets pass at a halfpenny. [ ] the concession of specially low rates for these classes of packets has given rise to a noteworthy general line of division between postal packets. all packets passing at privileged rates must obviously be subject to examination and check by the post office in order to ensure that the privilege is not abused, a necessity which leads immediately to the principle of the "open" post, as contrasted with the "closed" post, the ordinary sealed letter packet. the difference in charge is not, however, based on the consideration that the packets are open to inspection. the effect is in the reverse direction. the view of practical officers is that, other things being equal, the treatment of a packet sent by the open post is more expensive to the post office than its treatment if sent by letter post. the requirement is imposed in order that compliance with other conditions may be ensured. in none of the five countries are ordinary letters allowed to pass at postcard rate if merely enclosed in open covers. but a printed circular letter, if sent in a sealed cover, would lose its claim to the privileged rate. [ ] "fixing a railway rate is, in one word, an art--not a science, and it is an art which, in bagehot's phrase, must be exercised 'in a sort of twilight, ... in an atmosphere of probabilities and of doubt, where nothing is very clear, where there are some chances for many events, where there is much to be said for several courses, where, nevertheless, one course must be determinedly chosen and fixedly adhered to.'"--w. m. acworth, _elements of railway economics_, oxford, , p. . "the problem of railway rates has not, like that of postal charges, passed beyond the domain of current discussion. this is in part due to the fact that railways are universally regarded as a source of profit, to companies when privately owned, to the state when public property; but it is in larger measure due to the fact that the social significance of railways is not yet clearly understood. the problem of railway rates is a problem by itself, and stands as one of the most important of the unsettled problems of the day."--h. c. adams, _science of finance_, new york, , p. . [ ] "the cost of the service of transport for any given commodity cannot, under the varying conditions of railway operation, be even approximately calculated. the first insuperable difficulty is the division of the expenditure for any given work. though railway economists have endeavoured, by means various and ingenious, to allocate the different items of railway expenditure, they have been unable to determine such a relatively simple matter as the division between passenger and goods traffic, and though estimates have been formulated, many of the charges have been allocated to one head or another by arbitrary decision, and not as a result of positive knowledge."--_railway news_, london, th september , p. . [ ] "though all the rates must be so fixed as to pay all the expenses both of construction and working, separate rates cannot be fixed according to cost of individual service or even according to the average cost of services to traffic in the same group. for in the first place the cost of the service cannot be ascertained. and secondly, if it could be ascertained, it would be of no use as a standard. to charge the average cost would be to drive away a large portion of the traffic and so increase almost proportionately the average cost of the remainder. this increase would then drive away a fresh portion, and so once more increase proportionately the cost to that still remaining. and so on."--w. m. acworth, "the theory of railway rates," _economic journal_, london, , p. . [ ] "the process is in practice worked out as follows. first comes classification. the whole of the commodities known to commerce are entered on a list divided into classes, eight in number here, six in france, and about ten in number in the united states. to each class belongs a normal scale of rates, ranging, let us say, from / d. per mile in the lowest to d. per mile in the highest. the classification undoubtedly takes account of greater or less cost of carriage to the companies, arising out of the differences of packing, liability to theft or damage, proportion of space occupied to weight, etc. but it is safe to say that its main principle is, the more valuable the commodity, the higher the rate it can afford to pay."--ibid., p. . [ ] "historically this theory has been recognized and approved by english legislation from the time when adam smith applauded the equity of statutory turnpike tolls at the rate of one shilling for a light carriage and eightpence for a heavy dray, through the whole long series of canal acts and railway acts, down to the elaborately careful revision of the railway companies' charging powers in the series of provisional order confirmation acts dated and . the opinion of modern economists all over the world as to the justice of the underlying principle may be conveniently summarized in a sentence borrowed from the first annual report of the american interstate commerce commission: 'with this method of arranging tariffs little fault is found, and perhaps none at all by persons who consider the subject from the standpoint of public interest.'"--ibid., p. . [ ] "one great element of the reform introduced by you in the postage was, that there should be one uniform rate throughout?--yes, it was proposed with a view to simplification, but the principle has been carried to an extent that i did not contemplate, and did not recommend."--evidence of sir rowland hill, _report of select committee on newspaper stamps_, , question no. . [ ] in the same way that the soap-makers of port sunlight secured a large sale by the simple expedient of refraining from varying the price of their tablets of soap with the variations in the cost of raw materials, making the adjustment in the weight of the tablets instead of in the price; and for the same reason that many people prefer restaurants widely known and with numerous branches, not always because the charges are less, but because it is well known what the charges and what the service obtained will be. [ ] in the united kingdom less than per cent. exceed pounds in weight, and not more than per cent. exceed pounds. the proportion for short-distance parcels is much less, and the proportion for foreign parcels is very much greater, over per cent. being above pounds in weight. [ ] even in the london postal area, which is of considerable extent, the local traffic is quite small, amounting to some four or five million parcels only per annum in a total traffic of some millions. [ ] i.e. the actual cost incurred by a government in providing packet services, not the amounts paid to intermediate countries as "transit rates" under the international convention. [ ] total area of europe , , square miles. " " united states (with alaska) , , " " " canada , , " of the total area of europe, russia accounts for some , , square miles. [ ] e.g. the transportation of indian mails through france and italy. for this service a special train in each direction between calais and brindisi is provided by the french and italian governments, and the payment made by the british government in respect of the service is much in excess of the ordinary transit rates fixed by the postal union convention. [ ] the following particulars relate to the british packet service in :-- ------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+---------- | contract | other |sea postage.| profit or packets. | payments. | payments. | | loss. ------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+---------- | £ | £ | £ | £ dover and calais } | , | , | , | + , dover and ostend } | | | | peninsular | , | | , | - , north american | , | | , | - , west indian } | | | | pacific } | , | , | , | - , brazilian } | | | | west coast of africa | , | -- | , | - , cape of good hope | , | -- | , | - , australian | , | , | , | - , east indian | , | , | , | - , | | | | on the whole service } | , | , | , | - , the figures were } | | | | ------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+---------- --_annual report of the postmaster-general_, , appx. h, pp. - . [ ] in , when the total number of foreign letters was very much less than at present, the cost of the british foreign packet service was some £ , , and in the cost had fallen to some £ , .--_annual reports of the postmaster-general_, , pp. - ; - , p. . [ ] _vide supra_, chapter vi. [ ] e.g., parcel mails are not forwarded by the train between calais and brindisi run specially for the indian mails. parcels are, it is true, forwarded to america by the cunard packets which carry the letter mails, but this arrangement is due to special circumstances. the cunard line, being heavily subsidized (with other than post office ends in view), is required to carry all mails tendered. otherwise it might be found economical to send parcels by slower cargo boats. [ ] _wealth of nations_, ed. , vol. ii., p. . [ ] "the business being one which both can and ought to be conducted on fixed rules, is one of the few businesses which it is not unsuitable to a government to conduct."--j. s. mill, _principles of political economy_, london, , vol. ii. bk. v. chap. v. § . "it is clear that the restriction put upon the liberty of trade by forbidding private letter-carrying establishments is a breach of state duty. it is also clear that were that restriction abolished, a natural postal system would eventually grow up, could it surpass in efficiency our existing one. and it is further clear that if it could not surpass it, the existing system might rightly continue; for the fulfilment of postal functions by the state is not _intrinsically_ at variance with the fulfilment of its essential function."--herbert spencer, _social statics_, london, , p. . professor cannan sums the matter up from the point of view of modern opportunism:-- "much too great importance is commonly attributed to this part of state action: the sale of commodities. we may be sure that if the state had not happened to undertake the business of carrying letters, some private organization would have been established for the purpose. whether it would have done the work better or worse than the present state post office does it, is a question which we have no means of answering. so, too, on the other hand, if the state in this country had undertaken the provision of railways, we should have had a railway system of some sort; it might have been a better or it might have been a worse system; whether it would have been better or worse would have depended on the wisdom of those who had the largest share in devising and extending it, and who these persons would have been, and what their wisdom would have been, we have no means of telling."--edwin cannan, _elementary political economy_, london, , p. . [ ] "before the rise of the economic schools that opposed industrial action on the part of the state, the method of public postal service was firmly established, and was seen to give, on the whole, sufficiently satisfactory results. it, therefore, escaped the hostile criticism that economists freely bestowed on the less efficient public departments."--c. f. bastable, _public finance_, london, , p. . [ ] "he was always eager to improve the mail service to remote towns; and would observe that one good result of state management was the consideration of out-of-the-way places. a private management, he said, might probably have introduced a halfpenny post in london, and have left the country worse served than at present."--leslie stephen, _life of henry fawcett_, london, , p. . [ ] "the post office is properly a mercantile project. the government advances the expense of establishing the different offices and buying or hiring the necessary horses or carriages, and is repaid with a large profit by the duties upon what is carried. it is perhaps the only mercantile project which has been successfully managed by, i believe, every sort of government. the capital to be advanced is not very considerable. there is no mystery in the business. the returns are not only certain but immediate."--_wealth of nations_, ed. , vol. ii., p. . [ ] _vide supra_, p. . [ ] in the united kingdom the expense incurred in providing specially for the disposal of parcels in this way often exceeds the total amount of the postage paid on the parcels. [ ] in the united kingdom, horse-posts or cycle-posts are in general provided in view of the length of the route to be traversed, rather than in view of the weight of traffic to be carried. [ ] the need for such a separation between ordinary letters and packets of appreciable weight is felt even in regard to the letter post itself. in england, the extension of the weight limit for penny letters, and the reduction of the rates for the heavier letters, has led to serious practical difficulties and has impeded smooth and rapid working. in the larger offices the letter post traffic is dealt with in two divisions: ( ) the lighter, homogeneous traffic, the light letters and postcards; and ( ) the heavier packets, and packets of irregular shape (p. ). in france, the extension of the maximum limit of weight gave rise to similar difficulties; so much so that the question of establishing a separate slower post for such packets has been seriously considered. in paris, at the present time, there is a completely separate indoor and outdoor staff for the newspapers and packets. [ ] it is only necessary to glance into a van containing railway parcels in order to realize how impossible it would be to apply to such packages the usual postal method of enclosure in sacks; and conveyance _à découvert_ by railway companies on behalf of the post office would give rise to obvious practical difficulties. in germany and switzerland postal parcels are so despatched, but the railways are state-owned in those countries, and the service is in many respects a railway service. [ ] the railways frequently establish receiving offices in various parts of a town. the services necessary for the conveyance of parcels from these offices to the railway stations are not, however, comparable with the services for closed parcel mails between the post offices and the stations, but rather with the services between branch post offices and the chief post office. the service from the chief post office to the railway station is a further service. [ ] in france heavy parcels are not accepted at post offices, but must be taken to a railway station. _vide supra_, p. . [ ] the general proportion of parcels to letters for the united kingdom as a whole is in ; but on some of the remoter rural routes the proportion of parcels frequently rises to in , and sometimes to more than in . [ ] _vide supra_, pp. and . [ ] the naval operations during the present war in regard to neutral mails have brought out clearly the essential distinction between letters and parcels. the arguments as to the customary inviolability of mails have been based on the idea of free communication. but parcels containing goods, possibly contraband, e.g. rubber, obviously cannot claim the privileges of communications, and the right of sea-power to interfere with parcel mails has been admitted. "the government of the united states is inclined to regard parcels post articles as subject to the same treatment as articles sent by express or freight in respect of belligerent search, seizure, and condemnation."--united states note to great britain, th january . [ ] for particulars of other acts relating to packet postage, and of acts relating to ship letters, and to rates of postage within ireland, see schedule a of vict., cap. . rates for transmission within ireland were also fixed by vict., cap. (§ ). [ ] _vide supra_, p. , n. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] _calendar of state papers_ (_domestic series_), - , p. . [ ] h. joyce, _history of the post office_, p. . [ ] h. scobell, _a collection of acts and ordinances_, london, , p. . [ ] h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] h. scobell, ibid. [ ] _historical summary of post office services_, london, , p. . [ ] the number of letters still handed in to the general post office was, however, quite considerable. thus, in , , ship letters were received.--_vide_ h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] _london gazette_, no. , st- th december ; cited h. joyce, ibid., n. . [ ] anne, cap. , § . [ ] h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] act of geo. iii., cap. , §§ and ; h. joyce, ibid.; j. c. hemmeon, _history of the british post office_, p. . [ ] h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] geo. iii, cap. . [ ] h. joyce, ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. ; geo. iii, cap. . [ ] the marquis of clanricarde. [ ] "the principle upon which the postal communication between england and the australian colonies has latterly been conducted is, that a postage of d. for a single letter has been charged, of which d. was understood to represent the sea rate, d. for collecting or delivering a single letter in any part of the united kingdom, and the same in any part of the colonies; so that the whole cost of sending a letter from any part of the united kingdom to any part of the australian colonies, or _vice versâ_, should not exceed d. "as the whole cost of the packet service has hitherto been borne by the imperial government, the portion of the postage which represented the sea service has been accounted for to the home post office, so that of the d. charged, d. has been appropriated to england, and d. to the colony receiving or despatching the letter, as the case might be."--_second report of the postmaster-general_, london, , p. . [ ] cf. h. joyce, ibid., pp. - . [ ] cf. note , opposite. [ ] th report, , and nd report, . [ ] _historical summary of post office services_, p. . [ ] _historical summary of post office services_, p. . [ ] "the advantage of imperial unity, which was held in to justify the sacrifice of revenue incidental to a measure calculated to bind together the united kingdom and her possessions beyond the seas, cannot, of course, be urged as a plea in favour of universal penny postage; but apart from all other arguments for and against the proposal, the decisive consideration is that the british government are not at present in a position to bear the very heavy loss that would be involved in the reduction of foreign postage from - / d. to d."--_papers laid before the colonial conference_, ; _memorandum by general post office_ (cd. ), p. . [ ] h. von stephan, _geschichte der preussischen post_, berlin, , p. . [ ] "kommt es doch vor, dass ein bote eines deutschen reichsfürsten ausser dem botenlohn noch eine besondere vergütung beansprucht, weil er auf dem botengange gleichzeitig einige schweine für die herrschaft nach dem bestimmungsort hat treiben müssen. da diese begleitung auf kein besonders lebhaftes gangtempo schliessen lässt, so dürfen wir es dem garzonus nicht verdenken, wenn er die deutschen boten zum wetteifer mit ihren collegen im alten persien ermahnt, deren geschwindigkeit xenophon in der kyropädie mit dem fluge der kraniche vergleicht."--ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] b. e. crole, _geschichte der deutschen post_, eisenach, , p. . [ ] "die vereinigung oesterreichs mit den burgundischen niederlanden ruft die erste reichspost, die vereinigung von brandenburg, preussen, cleve und hinterpommern unter einem scepter die erste brandenburgische staatspost hervor."--h. von stephan, op. cit., p. . [ ] f. ohmann, _die anfänge des postwesens_, leipzig, , pp. , , and . [ ] "( ) die unterhaltung solcher boten lange jahre vor errichtung der posten üblich gewesen; ( ) dem taxis wäre nur das post-, nicht das botenwesen zu lehen gegeben; ( ) es würden ihnen (den boten nämlich) viele waren und kostbarkeiten anvertraut, welche sie überliefern und dafür stehen, welches wieder der postillone werk nicht sei; ( ) die posten dienten wohl zu briefen, nicht aber zu bestellung anderer sachen, also könnten posten und boten wohl nebeneinander bestehen."--imperial rescript of , given by beust, teil , s. ff; cited f. haass, _die post und der charakter ihrer einkünfte_, stuttgart, , p. . [ ] "for very good and potent reasons, especially on account of the troublesome war, as also for the purpose of obtaining good and reliable information about the turks, the hereditary enemies of the whole of christendom, and other potentates, adjacent to the empire, in order that the emperor, the king, and other potentates may exchange their correspondence."--dr. joseph rübsam, _l'union postale_, , p. . [ ] "es lag allweg meil wegs ein post von den andern, einer war zu kempten, einer zu bless, einer an der bruck zu elchingen und also fortan imerdar meil wegs von einander und must allweg ein pot des andern warten, und so bald der ander zu ihm ritt, so bliess er ein hörnlin, das hört ein bott der in der herberg lag und must gleich auf sein. einer musste all stand ein meil, das ist stund (wohl für den fussgänger berechnet) weit reiten, oder es ist ihm am lohn abzogen, und musten sie reiten tag und nacht."--"memminger chronicle," cited f. ohmann, _die anfänge des postwesens_, leipzig, , p. . [ ] dr. joseph rübsam, ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] "contrary to what was usually the case with the postal arrangements in antiquity and the middle ages, the institution founded by francis von taxis, though chiefly intended to serve the purposes of the state, assumed from its very beginning a character of public utility and political economy, for it was at the disposal of anybody wanting a rapid, cheap, and safe means of conveyance for his letters."--dr. joseph rübsam, ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] von beust, cited h. von stephan, op. cit., p. . [ ] b. e. crole, _geschichte der deutschen post_, eisenach, , p. ; h. von stephan, geschichte der preussischen post, berlin, , pp. - . [ ] proclamation of th november ; b. e. crole, op. cit., p. . [ ] an account of the struggles between the taxis family and the princes is given in crole's _geschichte der deutschen post_ (part iii, chaps. iv. and v.). [ ] "trotz der ausdehnung der taxis'schen posten im 'reich' hörte das botenwesen in den einzelnen ländern und in den reichsstädten keineswegs auf sondern entwickelte sich fort und fort und hatte seine botenmeister, auch postmeister und andere bedienstete."--b. e. crole, op. cit., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] e. gallois, _la poste et les moyens de communication des peuples à travers les siècles_, paris, , p. . [ ] b. e. crole, op. cit., p. . [ ] the territory of the taxis posts shrank between the years and from , square (german) miles to square (german) miles, and a number of territorial posts took the place of the imperial posts. in there were no less than of these territorial posts.--_die brieftaxe in deutschland_, freiburg im breisgau, , p. ; c. f. müller, _die fürstlich thurn und taxis'schen poster und posttaxen_, jena, , p. . [ ] oskar grosse, _die beseitigung des thurn und taxis'schen postwesens in deutschland_, minden in westf., , p. . [ ] c. f. müller, op. cit., p. . [ ] the rates for a letter weighing loth ( / ounce) were:-- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- distance | | (german | in würtemberg | in prussia miles). | (taxis posts). | (state post). ---------+------------------------------+----------------------------- - | kr. = - / pf. | - / sgr. d - / sgr. e - | kr. = - / pf. | sgr. - / sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | - / sgr. sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | sgr. - / sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | - / sgr. - / sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | - / sgr. - / sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | sgr. sgr. - | kr. = sgr. | - / sgr. sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | - / sgr. sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | sgr. - / sgr. - | kr. = sgr. - / pf. | sgr. - / sgr. ---------+------------------------------+----------------------------- d: rates established th december . e: rates established st october .--ibid., pp. and . [ ] k. a. h. schmid, _zur geschichte der briefporto-reform in deutschland_, jena, , p. . [ ] oskar grosse, _die beseitigung des thurn und taxis'schen postwesens in deutschland_, pp. - . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] the conditions were in many respects similar to those obtaining in the united states. _vide supra_, p. . [ ] "in england you have thickly congested rural districts, large towns every few miles, and tremendous cities: in canada you have a population of less than , , spread over a vast area, with few cities or large towns, and with vast spaces that must be traversed where no population exists.... we are giving, as compared with england, a flat rate in an area twice as great as britain gives parcel post, and where all the conditions are much less favourable."--hon. l. pelletier, _parl. debates, canada_ (_commons_), th june . [ ] _canada official postal guide_, , pp. - . [ ] such improvements as the introduction of letter-cards, reply-paid postcards, etc., afford conveniences to the public, but they have little bearing on general questions of rates of charge. the number of such articles passing by post is insignificant in comparison with the total postal traffic. [ ] thus, in the united kingdom, the number of letters registered in - was . per cent. of the total number posted. the total cost of the supplemental services, including registration, insurance, and express delivery, was in - only about a million, out of a total cost for all postal services of over £ , , (_annual report of the postmaster-general_, - , p. ). [ ] "in the present century the post office has assumed three new functions--the transmission of money, and telegrams, and the custody of savings. these are alike only in requiring a widespread system of branch offices."--a. m. ogilvie's article on "the post office" in r. h. inglis palgrave's _dict. political economy_, london, , vol. iii. p. . "the so-called 'post office' is in fact a collection of different, though connected, industries."--c. f. bastable, _public finance_, london, , p. . [ ] see h. r. meyer, _public ownership and the telephone in great britain_, new york, . [ ] "to-day, state ownership is the general rule over europe, and only in america is there private ownership on a large scale. it is significant that the first seizure of this monopoly of the state was in france, on the simple ground that it was not safe to allow so important a device to be in other than the hands of the state. in a law was passed making every kind of telegraph a state monopoly. this was due to napoleonic influence. it was not until that the british government claimed the monopoly."--john lee, _economics of telegraphs and telephones_, london, , p. . [ ] "no man can feel a more intimate conviction than i do that, whatever our financial difficulties may be, we must not take measures to meet them which should bear upon the comforts of the labouring classes.... well, then, i must, with my sense of public duty, abandon the idea of raising a revenue from the post office."--sir r. peel, th march , _parl. debates_ (_commons_), vol. lxi. col. . "if, therefore, it should also happen that it (the penny) is the best rate adapted ultimately to produce the largest amount of money profit, such a coincidence would be the result of _accident, not of design_."--_report from select committee on postage_, ; evidence of sir rowland hill, answer . "the post office, and, since the fall in silver, the mint, both produce in england a net revenue, but the yield of revenue ought to be considered as purely incidental if not accidental."--j. shield nicholson, _principles of political economy_, london, , vol. iii. p. . as a war measure the united kingdom has now increased the rate on letters over one ounce in weight. such letters are, however, only a small proportion of the total number of letters posted (_vide supra_, p. ). canada has imposed a war tax of one cent on all letters, and on postcards (_supra_, p. ). [ ] _vide_ alfred marshall, _principles of economics_, london, , vol. i. p. . "if i put a letter in the pillar-box rather than walk half a mile to deliver it by hand, it is clear that i value the service at one penny at least, and if its true value is to be taken at less than a penny, it must be assumed that some one would have carried the letter for less than a penny if the post office monopoly had been absent. but to deal thoroughly with this question it would be necessary to enter on a discussion of the austrian theory of value and marshall's conception of 'consumer's rent.'"--e. cannan (_memoranda on classification and incidence_, p. ). [ ] "notre système fiscal demande aux impôts indirects la plus grande partie de nos recettes budgétaires. les allumettes sont lourdement taxées. Écrire une lettre est, malgré tout, moins indispensable à l'homme qu'allumer du feu. tant que les objets de première necessité sont frappés, il n'y a pas raison décisive pour refuser de laisser prélever sur les correspondances de toutes sortes un impôt indirect, qui apparaît, dans les écritures budgétaires, comme un excédent de recettes des postes, télégraphes, et téléphones sur leurs dépenses. "si légitimes que soient en principe les bénéfices de l'État-postier, tenons pour certain que le public, à moins de quelque catastrophe imprévue, ne permettra pas de les accroître beaucoup, et que les ministres de finances de demain auront beaucoup de peine à conserver le peu qui leur en reste."--_rapport portant fixation du budget général_, chambre des députés, session , no. . [ ] "the widest division of public revenue is into ( ) that obtained by the state in its various functions as a great corporation or 'juristic person,' operating under the ordinary conditions that govern individuals or private companies, and ( ) that taken from the revenues of the society by the power of the sovereign."--c. f. bastable, _public finance_, london, , p. . of. c. c. plehn, _introduction to public finance_, new york, , p. ; e. b. a. seligman, _essays in taxation_, new york, , p. , et seq.; see also bastable, op. cit., p. . [ ] e.g. "the common mode of levying a tax on the conveyance of letters is by making the government the sole authorized carrier of them, and demanding a monopoly price. when this price is so moderate as it is in this country under the uniform penny postage, scarcely if at all exceeding what would be charged under the freest competition by any private company, it can hardly be considered as taxation, but rather as the profits of a business; whatever excess there is above the ordinary profits of stock being a fair result of the saving of expense, caused by having only one establishment and one set of arrangements for the whole country, instead of many competing ones."--j. s. mill, _principles of political economy_, london, , vol. ii. p. . [ ] _vide_ note , opposite. [ ] "wherever the benefit to the individual can be even approximately estimated there is a strong presumption in favour of levying the cost incurred from him and converting the tax into a 'fee.'"--c. f. bastable, op. cit., p. . "to be properly remunerative to the state, as to a private individual, the price at which a commodity is sold must be sufficient to pay interest on the capital invested in the business, that is to say, to pay for the use of the property which must be used in producing the commodity, as well as to pay the more immediate cost of its production in wages and materials. there is no ground at all for the theory sometimes put forward that the state should deliberately abstain from making a profit from the working of an institution like the post office. taxpayers are indeed nearly all users of the post office, and users of the post office are nearly all taxpayers, but there is nothing to show that people are taxed in the same proportion as they use the post office--the largest taxpayers are not necessarily the largest users of the post office. consequently it is not a matter of complete indifference whether the state, which in this case means the taxpayers, makes a profit on the business or not. the only question difficult to decide is how much interest on the capital invested the state ought to obtain, in order to make the business remunerative but not a source of taxation. when the state has no monopoly, or only a monopoly secured by driving out all competitors in fair commercial rivalry (if such a case has ever occurred), it may charge what it can get for the commodity sold without making the business a source of taxation. but when the state has conferred on itself a monopoly of a business, it is evident that to charge the price which would bring in the largest profit would often be simply equivalent to laying a tax on the commodity. in this case, the price charged should only be such as would produce a rate of interest which would satisfy private individuals or joint-stock companies, supposing there were no monopoly. the rate of interest should be reckoned in relation to the actual market value of the property used, not in relation to what it may have originally cost the state. when the state makes a bad investment the loss should be written off once for all as soon as it is discovered. if, for instance, a state has bought telegraph apparatus for far more than it is worth, there can be no reason why the senders of telegrams, and not the whole body of taxpayers, should pay for the mistake."--edwin cannan, _elementary political economy_, london, , pp. - . the cost which ought in strictness to be taken is the cost of the most economical private commercial undertaking which would provide an equal service if the monopoly of the post office were withdrawn:-- "i do not regard the greater part of the post office revenue as a tax at all. if all of it were earned by doing for the public on a large scale work that no private company could do as cheaply, because it would have to do it on a small scale, then i should say that none of the post office revenue was a tax. that part, however, of its revenue which it gets by prohibiting others from performing services for the public is a tax."--alfred marshall, _the times_, th april . [ ] the terms "mixed taxes" and "quasi-taxes" have been applied to charges of this character. "mixed taxes, or quasi-taxes, naturally arise when a governing body makes demands for payments, and gives something in return, but without any pretence of equivalence between individual payments and individual returns."--r. jones, _the nature and first principle of taxation_, london, , p. . [ ] e.g. "many definitions of the word 'tax' have been proposed, but i know of none which would include just so much of the post office revenue as happens to be in excess of the amount expended in the year and no more. "i believe that the desire to reckon this amount and no more as a tax, arises from a somewhat dim impression that it is the sum which the state exacts in excess of what a private company, without any legal or natural monopoly, would have to be satisfied with for performing the same services. but it is not. in the first place, such a private company would expect and receive about per cent. on its capital in addition to the mere working expenses. we do not know what the capital of the post office is, but it must be very great, seeing that all the more important offices are owned in fee simple. secondly, a company would raise new capital for new buildings and the purchase of more land, instead of defraying the expense as if it were current working expenditure. thirdly, a company would not 'encourage thrift' by giving away upwards of £ , a year to the depositors in the savings bank, by paying - / per cent. fourthly, in all sorts of ways the post office is not conducted as a commercial enterprise would be. for example, it spends more than a company would do in the less profitable districts. "the only argument i know of in favour of treating the so-called 'net revenue' alone as a tax, thus breaks down. if any part of the gross revenue is a tax, the whole must be."--e. cannan (_memoranda on classification and incidence_, p. ). [ ] "the payment for the same service may be a price in one state, a fee in a second, or a tax in a third.... the controlling consideration in the classification of public revenues is not so much the conditions attending the action of government or the kinds of businesses conducted by the government, as the economic relations existing between the individual and the government."--e. r. a. seligman, _essays in taxation_, p. . [ ] this has been held a justification for regarding the letter rate as a whole as a pure tax:-- "a special service is no doubt rendered to each contributor of the tax, as well as a general service to the whole community, by means of the facilities of communication always available; but the charge is what is technically known as a tax, and the fact that a particular, as well as a general, service is rendered, does not alter the tax nature of the charge. apart from the theory it has also to be considered that the productive portion of the post office revenue is derived from charges where the cost is very little--from letters, for instance, in the metropolitan district, or in and between great centres of population, where the cost of conveyance and delivery does not exceed, probably, one-tenth of a penny per letter, and the surplus of nine-tenths is spent on other services of the post office on which there is a deficit."--sir robert giffen, k.c.b. (_memoranda on classification and incidence_, p. ). the argument is that in large towns the cost of the service is infinitesimal, and the charge is therefore tax. obviously this has no application to country services. plehn does not take this view:-- "_postal surplus not the result of taxation._" "there are some writers who regard any surplus acquired in this way as practically the result of taxation, and class any charge for the public service, above the cost thereof, as a special tax. this classification presupposes that the service is, by nature, of a public character, an assumption contrary to the fact, for no function except that of governing itself, in the narrowest possible sense, is _by nature_ of a public character, nor, on the other hand, _by nature_ of a private character. on this consideration, therefore, it is better to class these gains, not as taxes, but as the earnings of a public industry."--c. c. plehn, _introduction to public finance_, p. . [ ] "on the purely financial side the gain from the service must generally be a small one; the return for capital employed is little, and the only remaining element would be the economy that results from the application of monopoly, and the consequent unity of the service. any further charge is really a form of taxation."--c. f. bastable, _public finance_, london, , p. . "when we come to look more closely into the essential character of this 'public utility' in respect of its economic and financial value, it will appear that in this case an important administrative function has attached to it, as it were involuntarily, an effective contrivance for the levying of a tax, such as to require that the post office be taken up in connection with the theory of taxation."--g. cohn, _science of finance_, translated by t. b. veblen, chicago, , p. . [ ] the rates for postcards, printed matter, and samples roughly correspond with the cost of service and are perhaps to some extent prices. [ ] the suggested classification, if satisfactory from the speculative point of view, does, however, give rise to practical difficulties. in public financial statements it is, of course, impossible to show the actual nature of the revenue on such a basis. the only practicable course is to classify as a whole the gross revenue and the net revenue for the entire service. there is difference of opinion even as to this apparently simple problem. the common-sense solution would seem to be that recommended by sir edward hamilton, viz. to reckon the net revenue as a tax and the balance of gross revenue as payment for services rendered; although in view of the complications resulting from the existence of unremunerative services, and the failure to make proper allowance in respect of the capital employed in the service, such a course is unscientific and misleading. "the whole of the receipts from the various sources administered by the post office has always been treated in our public accounts as 'non-tax revenue.' it is all carried to the exchequer; and the whole cost is annually provided by parliament. therefore, to omit altogether this public receipt from a classification of taxes would seem to be the natural course to take. but the charge which is made for the carriage of letters, telegrams, and parcels, so far as the post office services are a state monopoly, is unquestionably 'an obligatory contribution by persons in respect of or incidental to something which they do.' accordingly, to take no account of this charge, which nobody can avoid, would be to omit something which falls within our definition of a tax. at the same time it is obvious that to treat the whole of the post office revenue as a tax would for present purposes be misleading, inasmuch as the amount actually expended by the state represents direct and immediate service rendered to those who write letters or send telegrams. regard being had to these considerations, when balanced one with another, it appears to me that the least incorrect course to adopt is to treat as a tax the amount by which the revenue derived from post office services exceeds the cost of administering those services."--sir e. w. hamilton, k.c.b. (_memoranda on classification and incidence_, p. ). see also p. , n. , _supra._ [ ] "there cannot be devised a more eligible method than this of raising money upon the subject; for therein both the government and the people find a mutual benefit. the government acquires a large revenue, and the people do their business with greater ease, expedition, and cheapness than they would be able to do if no such tax (and of course no such office) existed."--sir william blackstone, _commentaries on the laws of england_, london, , vol. i. p. . "nor, while the rates of postage are confined within due limits, or not carried so high as to form any serious obstacle to correspondence, is there, perhaps, a more unobjectionable tax."--j. r. mcculloch, _taxation and funding_, p. . [ ] "the post office in reality is neither a commercial nor a philanthropic establishment, but simply one of the revenue departments of the government. it very rightly insists that no country post office shall be established unless the correspondence passing through it shall warrant the increased expense, and it maintains a tariff which has no accordance whatever with the cost of conveyance. books, newspapers, and even unsealed manuscripts, can be sent up to the weight of ounces for a penny; whereas if a sealed letter in the least exceeds / ounce it is charged d. it is obvious that the charges of the post office are for the most part a purely arbitrary system of taxes, designed to maintain the large net revenue of the post office, now ( ) amounting to a million and a half sterling. "it will thus be apparent that sir rowland hill's scheme of postal tariff consisted in substituting one arbitrary system of charges for a system more arbitrary and onerous."--w. s. jevons, _methods of social reform_, london, , p. . [ ] "will it pay? "i will here lay down what may seem to financiers in this house a somewhat startling position. i hold that the state has no right to make a profit out of the post office. (cheers.) ... probably half the letters sent are business letters; and another very large share is sent by persons of small means who have many stern inducements to take care of their pence. in other words, one half of your postal revenue is derived from a tax on the machinery of trade, and another large share from the poorest class of citizens. "this is practically a tax on commerce."--sir j. henniker heaton, _parl. debates_ (_commons_), th march . [ ] "regarded as a tax diffused over the whole community, it is on the whole defensible, though the tendency to insist that the postal profits shall be devoted to improving the service is already becoming more pronounced."--c. f. bastable, op. cit., p. . "the post office, therefore, is at present one of the best sources from which this country derives its revenue. but a postage much exceeding what would be paid for the same service in a system of freedom is not a desirable tax. its chief weight falls on letters of business, and increases the expense of mercantile relations between distant places. it is like an attempt to raise a large revenue by heavy tolls: it obstructs all operations by which goods are conveyed from place to place, and discourages the production of commodities in one place for consumption in another; which is not only in itself one of the greatest sources of economy of labour, but is a necessary condition of almost all improvements in production and one of the strongest stimulants to industry and promoters of civilization."--j. s. mill, _principles of political economy_, london, , vol. ii. p. . "it may happen (quite acceptably) that a surplus comes in from an undertaking which is primarily carried on for administrative purposes alone. a striking instance of this is afforded by the letter post. if the administrative purpose in question admitted of no aim beyond the covering of its own expenses, such a surplus would have no meaning, or at any rate no other meaning than that of a surplus in the hands of a consumers' club, which is returned to the members, on the closing of the accounts for the year, in the proportion in which they have contributed to it. the fact that the postal service not only retains any such surplus but even (with due regard to its primarily administrative function) consciously seeks it, is to be explained on the ground that, without hindrance to the administrative function, the different abilities of the citizens to contribute to public purposes may be drawn on by this means, with desirable results which are not attainable in any other way."--g. cohn, op. cit., p. . cf. _the development of the post office_, fabian research department, london, , pp. - . [ ] the extent to which any such disadvantage may be experienced is, of course, largely minimized by the existence of a low rate containing no element of tax, (see _supra_ chapter iv) for most of the formal documents of commerce. [ ] "it is wholly misleading to point to the fact that the business of the post office now yields a very considerable profit, and to suggest that increased remuneration can easily be provided from that source. that profit is not in a bag to be drawn upon at will. it goes into the national exchequer, and forms part of the revenue of the country, and if two or three millions is taken from it, the deficit in the exchequer must be made good in other ways. and it has never been admitted, nor can it now be admitted, that the profits of the post office belong in equity to the staff rather than to the taxpayer. the post office is not like a private business. parliament has established a monopoly, and has fixed certain rates of postage. if parliament chose to relax that monopoly, or to reduce those rates of postage, the profit would straightway disappear. it does not do so, because it desires to retain for the exchequer the sums so brought. "parliament has also established the sixpenny telegram, extended the telegraph service into remote rural districts, and has given very cheap rates to the press. this has resulted in the telegraphs being worked at a loss of over a million a year. no one would suggest that it would be just, because of this loss, to reduce the wages of the men and women employed in the telegraph service, and it is equally beside the mark to quote the profits on the postal side as though the pay of the staff should be determined by their amount."--the right hon. herbert samuel, british postmaster general, to a deputation from the staff, th november . [ ] pekin. [ ] from the _british official records_. [ ] exeter. [ ] from the _british official records_. [ ] from the _british official records_ (undated). * * * * * transcriber's notes with the exception of a few minor punctuation corrections, changes have been made to the text only as follows: footnote : "werte" changed to "werke" (zu werke gegangen) footnote : "bedeutender" changed to "bedeutende" (...hatte die erleichterungen ohne bedeutende opfer aus der postkasse erkauft) footnote : "reichs-post" changed (added hyphen) to "reichs-post-" (die finanzen der reichs-post- und telegraphenverwaltung) footnote : "post" changed (hyphen added) to "post-" (entwickelung des deutschen post- und telegraphenwesen) page : added closing parenthesis in "(hauptblattes)" footnote : "jahrengeklagt" changed to "jahren geklagt" (das sind erscheinungen, über die seit jahren geklagt wird) footnote : "blätte" changed to "blätter" (wenn sie beide blätter nun auf ihren inhalt prüfen) footnote : "worden" changed to "werden" (...es soll ein anderer tarif aufgestellt werden.) footnote : "vorgeben" changed to "vorgehen" (gleichfalls mit einer ermässigung des abonnementspreises hat vorgehen müssen) footnote : "erachten" changed to "erachtet" (derjenigen zeitung oder zeitschrift erachtet werden können) footnote : "charakter ihre ein künfte" changed to "charakter ihrer einkünfte" (die post und der charakter ihrer einkünfte) footnote : "seine" changed to "seiner" (seiner billigkeit) footnote : "weberi" changed to "weberei" (bezug von rohstoffen für spinnerei, weberei, u.s.w.) footnote : "kostspeiliger" changed to "kostspieliger" (...und ist zu dem zwecke oft zur einstellung kostspieliger transportmittel (eisenbahnbeiwagen) genötigt.) page : the anchor position for footnote did not appear in the original text, but is inferred from context. page "schriften" changed to "schriften-" (under the name of _schriften- und aktentaxe_) footnote : "personlichen" changed to "persönlichen" (die eigenschaft einer eigentlichen und persönlichen korrespondenz) footnote : "dienst" changed to "dienst-" (lohn-, dienst- oder arbeitsbücher) page : changed "releived" to "relieved" (they were relieved by your lordships) footnote : "ein" changed to "im" (als nachbarorte im sinne des gesetzes...) footnote : "post" changed (hyphen added) to "post-" (dem taxis wäre nur das post-, nicht das botenwesen zu lehen gegeben) footnote : "taxis'sche" changed to "taxis'schen" (trotz der ausdehnung der taxis'schen posten) generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) the mail pay on the burlington railroad statements of car space and all facilities furnished for the government mails and for express and passengers in all passenger trains on the chicago, burlington and quincy railroad prepared in accordance with requests of the post-office dept. the mail pay on the chicago, burlington & quincy railroad the present system under which the government employs railroads to carry the mails was established in , thirty-seven years ago. under this system, the post office department designates between what named towns upon each railroad in the country a so-called "mail route" shall be established. congress prescribes a scale of rates for payment per mile of such mail route per year, based upon the average weight of mails transported over the route daily, "with due frequency and speed," and under "regulations" promulgated from time to time by the post office department. to this is added a certain allowance for the haulage and use of post office cars built and run exclusively for the mails, based upon their length. the annual rate of expenditure to all railroads for mail service on all routes in operation june , , was $ , , . for weight of mail, and for post office cars $ , , . , the "car pay," so-called, being nine and five-tenths per cent of the total pay. the payment by weight is, therefore, the real basis of the compensation to railroads. the rate itself, however, varies upon different mail routes to a degree that is neither scientific nor entirely reasonable. the rate per ton or per hundred pounds upon a route carrying a small weight is twenty times greater than is paid over a route carrying the heaviest weight. the government thus appropriates to its own advantage an extreme application of the wholesale principle and demands a low rate for large shipments, which principle it denounces as unjust discrimination if practiced in favor of private shippers by wholesale. the effect of the application of this principle has been to greatly reduce the average mail rate year by year as the business increases. this constant rate reduction was described by hon. wm. h. moody (now mr. justice moody of the united states supreme court) in his separate report as a member of the wolcott commission in the following language: "the existing law prescribing railway mail pay automatically lowers the rate on any given route as the volume of traffic increases. mr. adams shows that by the normal effect of this law the rate per ton mile is $ . , when the average daily weight of mail is pounds, and, decreasing with the increase of volume, it becomes . cents when the average daily weight is , pounds." note.--since the railroads have been paid at much reduced rates. on the heavy routes the pay is now . cents per ton per mile. post office department officials have announced, as their conclusion from the results of the special weighing in , that the average length of haul of all mail is miles. the bulk of the mail is now carried on the heavy routes at . cents per ton per mile, or $ . per ton for the average haul, that is, for one and seven-tenths cents per pound. the railroads, therefore, receive less than one and three-fourths cents per pound for carrying the greater part of the mails. * * * * * but the rate reduction for wholesale quantities has not had the effect of reducing the actual remuneration of the railroads for carrying the mails to nearly so great an extent as the increasing requirements for excessive space for distributing mails en route. this feature was likewise discussed by judge moody in his report in the following language: "the rule of transportation invoked is based upon the assumption that the increase of traffic permits the introduction of increased economy, notably, the economy which results in so loading cars that the ratio of dead weight to paying freight is decreased. yet this economy is precisely what our method of transporting mail denies to the railroads. instead of permitting the mail cars, whether apartment or full postal cars, to be loaded to their full capacity, the government demands that the cars shall be lightly loaded so that there may be ample space for the sorting and distribution of mail en route. in other words, instead of a freight car, a traveling post office." an illustration of the extent to which the reductions have been carried, as shown upon one railroad system, is set forth in the letter of january , , addressed to the committee on post offices and post roads of the house of representatives by mr. ralph peters, president of the long island railroad, who states that the actual cost to his company of carrying the united states mail for the year was $ , , while the total compensation for that service paid by the government was $ , . mr. peters says: "the long island company received from the government for mail service performed in expensive passenger trains one-half the rate received by it per car mile for average class freight in slow-moving freight trains." the long island company notified the government that it would decline to carry the mails by the present expensive methods, unless congress makes some provision for a more adequate compensation. a notification of similar import has been given by the new york, new haven & hartford railroad company, the principal carrier in new england. their position in this matter will undoubtedly be taken by other roads, because the same condition of inadequate compensation prevails upon hundreds of small railroads and mail routes, especially in the southern and western states. notwithstanding these facts, a powerful interest, which commands the public ear and derives great profit from the one-cent-per-pound rate of postage, has, in order to divert public attention from itself, for years industriously and systematically circulated false statistics and false statements among the people regarding the railroad mail pay, and is now circulating them. the extent to which the public is being deceived regarding the railroad mail pay is disclosed daily. in a recent hearing before the senate committee on post offices and post-roads, senator carter of montana said: "we are all getting letters on this subject. i received the other day a letter from a very intelligent lady in montana claiming that the government is paying to the northern pacific railway on that branch line for carrying the mail $ , per year. on inquiring at the post office department, i find that the total compensation of the northern pacific company for mail service on that line is $ , per year." this state of things was a sufficient reason for the post office department to institute the present series of inquiries tending to show the space in passenger trains upon the railroads demanded and used by the government for the mails in comparison with the space devoted to express and passenger service, and the relative rates of compensation in each class of service and the extent to which the roads are receiving for carrying the mails the cost to them of performing the service. in order to give these facts fair consideration, it is not necessary to admit that "space" is, or is not, a better and more workable basis for determining what is reasonable mail pay than "weight," nor to admit that the companies are only entitled to be paid by the government for the service rendered to it the bare cost of rendering that service, that is, to receive back the train operating cost. questions of speed and facilities furnished, and the preference character of the traffic and the exceptional value of the service, and other elements, must be considered as well as space and cost, but that is no reason why the relative proportion of space used and the relation of compensation to cost should not be ascertained and given due weight, in the consideration of the important question of what is adequate mail pay to the railroads. the following pages are based upon answers to the interrogatories of the post office department and contain a statement of the mail service performed by the chicago, burlington and quincy railroad company, a system extending westward from chicago into eleven different states and embracing approximately ten thousand miles of main and branch lines. the two principal tables of interrogatories were sent out under date of september , , by the post office department as the basis for this investigation. these tables indicate the minute and thorough manner which the department employed in making this inquiry. some questions having arisen regarding the meaning and scope of the word "authorized" in connection with the returns of space occupied and used for the mails in post office cars and apartment cars, and in certain other features, the department, under date october , , issued an important supplementary letter of instructions. pursuant to these interrogatories, instructions and requests the burlington company has filed with the department the exact and detailed statements, train by train and car by car, of the mail service upon each of the one hundred and two mail routes on its system, large and small, for the month of november, , which were thus called for. these answers state the facts and state them in the manner prescribed wherever possible. every inch of space on passenger trains and cars which in these tables is shown to be occupied or used for mail or express or for passengers is set down from actual measurements made, car by car, and not upon any "estimate" or "consist" basis. in the appendix will be found four tables prepared under the direction and supervision of mr. dewitt which contain the results of this investigation into the mail service upon the burlington, as disclosed in these statements. exhibit a is a statement of the car facilities or space used in every car in service on the road during the month of november for mail, and for express or occupied by passengers based upon replies to questions prescribed in form . exhibit b is a statement of the station facilities, furnished for the mail, prepared on form . exhibit c is a statement of revenues and expenses and of train and car mileage, prepared on form . exhibit d is a statement of the number, and cost, and present value of post office cars and apartment cars, prepared on form . the integrity of the returns. in november, , all the service rendered in all passenger trains and cars of the burlington system, reduced to a common basis of car foot miles (that is, each foot of linear space that was carried one mile), amounted to , , car foot miles, divided as follows: in passenger service. mails. express. , , , , , , ( . %) ( . %) ( . %) the original circular of the post office department contained certain "notes," to the effect that in reporting the length of postal cars and apartment cars, and the space therein used for mails, the railroad companies should only report the length or space "authorized" by the officials of the department; also that in reporting space used in cars for what is known as the "closed pouch service," the railroads should make an arbitrary allowance of six linear inches across the car for the first pounds or less of average daily weight of pouch mail and three linear inches for each additional pounds. these directions were modified by the subsequent circular letter of the department, dated october , . this letter, among other things, directs the company to take credit for "surplus" space in post office cars and apartment cars, if actually used for the storage of mails. the practical difficulties attending the measurement and proper allotment of the space used for the mails in postal and other cars run on a passenger train will be better understood when it is known that such space is or may be described in at least eight different ways, and is actually used on the burlington road as follows, namely: . space in post office cars specially "authorized" ( . %). . space in apartment cars specifically "ordered" ( . %). . space ordered in post office cars operated in lieu of apartment cars ( . %). . additional space actually used for storage of mails when the railroad company operates larger post office or apartment cars than the authorization calls for ( . %). . space in storage cars actually used for mails ( . %). . space in baggage cars used for closed pouch mails ( . %). . the return deadhead movement of space ordered and required in one direction only ( . %). (ninety-five per cent of all the "space" shown in these returns for the burlington, as used for the mails, comes within the foregoing seven classes, as properly authorized space about which no question can arise.) . "surplus" space; that is, space furnished to the government in post office and apartment cars in excess of actual requirements ( . %). this five per cent is the only portion of the space claimed as used for mails regarding which any question can be raised, affecting the integrity of these returns. what is the correct view as to this five per cent? it is manifestly against the interest of the railroad company to furnish space for mails that is not required, and it will never furnish such space if it can be avoided. but the "requirements" of the post office department are not fixed and certain quantities, by any means. it is entirely impracticable for any railroad company to keep on hand at all times a supply of cars of all lengths in order to meet exactly the requirements of the department officials. these statistics have been called for by the post office department to enable it to make accurate comparisons between the space used and the facilities furnished on passenger trains for the three classes of service performed, that is, for express companies, for the government in mail carriage, and for passengers. the point of the whole inquiry is this: does the government contribute to the cost of the passenger train service upon the railroads of the country its fair share, that is, in proportion to the space and facilities it demands and requires the companies to furnish for the mails? in making the comparison all the car space in all passenger trains must be measured and tabulated and has been measured and tabulated in the tables here submitted. a passenger car may have seats to accommodate eighty persons; the average load it carries may be fifteen persons. but in making up these returns of "space," all the empty space in that car is credited as passenger space. that car may likewise be loaded only one way and returned "dead head," but these returns have credited such return movement as passenger space. the same is true of the express service in these returns. all space in all baggage and express cars set aside for the express company's use is, in these tables of statistics, credited to express, whether in fact loaded or "surplus," or "dead head" space. how is a comparison possible, unless the space credited to the mails is recorded in the same way? as stated above, only five per cent of the whole space is involved in the question of "surplus" space, and if that five per cent should be entirely thrown out, the percentage results would not be materially changed. results upon the burlington road. the government cannot justly ask a railroad company to carry the mails without profit. the passenger business on the burlington road is conducted without profit if it is charged with the expenses assignable to passenger traffic, and a proper proportion of the expenses not thus specifically assignable, and a fair share of the taxes and the charges for capital in the form of interest on bonds and dividends on stock. the profit in the business comes from the freight. this fact gives force to the present inquiry of the post office department to determine whether the government, in proportion to the service and facilities it requires from the roads on passenger trains, is contributing a fair proportion of the passenger train earnings. if the passenger train business, as a whole, is carried on at a loss, the government ought, in fairness, to stand at least its share of the loss. the earnings of the burlington company from all passenger train service in november were $ , , . the following table shows the earnings from passengers, from mail and express, and the space used in passenger trains by the three classes of traffic and the proportion of earnings contributed for facilities so used: _earnings._ _car foot miles._ passengers $ , , ( . %) , , ( . %) express , ( . %) , , ( . %) mails , ( . %) , , ( . %) ---------- ----------- total $ , , , , this table shows that for each one thousand feet of space used in passenger trains the three classes of passenger traffic contributed in earnings as follows: passengers $ . . % express $ . . % mails $ . % in proportion to the space occupied and facilities used on passenger trains, the burlington road receives from passengers per cent more than the government pays for mail transportation, and from the adams express company per cent more; that is, the express business pays the railroad company better than the government pays for carrying the mails by per cent. if the government had paid to the railroad company as much as the express company for each foot of space required and used on passenger trains, it would, for november, have paid $ , more than it did pay, or an increase in annual mail pay of more than a million dollars. * * * * * it may be of interest to note that the returns for the pennsylvania system just being filed show the following: _earnings._ _car foot miles._ passengers . % . % express . % . % mails . % . % for each , feet of passenger train space used on the pennsylvania the traffic contributed in earnings as follows: passengers $ . % express . % mails . % on the pennsylvania the passenger business is worth to that company per cent more than the government mail business, and the express business is worth per cent more than the mails, indicating that express rates are relatively higher in the west than the east, but that neither in the east nor in the west is it a paying business to carry the mails at present rates. is the government paying the railroads for carrying the mails the cost of doing the work? no. the government paid the c. b. & q. for carrying the mails in november $ , , or at the rate of $ , , annually. the total operating expenses of the road for that month were $ , , . the items of passenger train operating expense strictly assignable were as follows: transportation expense $ , fuel passenger engines $ , salaries passenger engineers , salaries passenger trainmen , train supplies, etc. , injuries to persons , station employees , joint yards and terminals , miscellaneous , -------- maintenance of equipment $ , repairs, passenger cars $ , depreciation, passenger cars , miscellaneous ------- traffic expense $ , advertising $ , outside agencies , superintendence , miscellaneous , ------- maintenance of way, etc. $ , buildings and grounds $ , joint tracks, etc. , miscellaneous , ------ general expense $ , salaries, clerks, etc. $ , insurance , legal expense , miscellaneous ------ -------- total $ , proportion operating expense not assignable $ , , ---------- total $ , , a large part of the operating expenses of every railroad, such as maintenance of roadway, station expense, general office expense and the like, are common to both the freight and passenger service, and it seems impossible to assign all of them specifically. the post office department, in the circular under which the roads are reporting, recognizes this condition and calls for the "proportion" of the expense "not directly assignable and the basis of such apportionment." the apportionment of non-assignable expense on the burlington has been made on the basis of train mileage. in the month of november the mileage of passenger trains was forty-five and four-tenths per cent of the total train mileage, and the foregoing sum ($ , , ) of non-assignable expense is forty-five and four-tenths per cent of the operating expenses for that month, common to both kinds of traffic, and therefore incapable of specific assignment to either. these two classes of passenger expense (assignable and non-assignable) aggregate $ , , monthly, or at the rate of $ , , per year, and . per cent of this sum, or $ , , , is the annual operating cost to the burlington company of transporting the government mails. cost of carrying the mails $ , , earnings from carrying the mails , , ---------- loss $ , these figures show that, in proportion to the service rendered, the government paid to that company $ , less than the actual cost of doing the work, not including anything for taxes, nor for interest paid by the company upon its funded debt, which was necessary to be paid, in order to preserve the property, to say nothing of a return upon the capital represented by the capital stock. the correct mail's proportion of taxes and interest for the year is $ , , which added to the $ , loss above operating expenses, shows a loss of $ , , : loss, operating expenses over revenue $ , . % of taxes and interest , ---------- annual loss on mails $ , , this takes no account of the annual value at two cents per mile of the transportation of inspectors and postal employees, other than clerks in charge of the mails ($ , ), nor of clerks in charge of the mails ($ , ). these two items of service rendered to the government by the c. b. & q. road are of the admitted value of $ , annually. the railroad company has the same duty and legal responsibility towards these clerks as towards passengers. * * * * * is there another fair way of testing this question? in a letter dated march , , from hon. frank h. hitchcock, postmaster-general, to hon. john w. weeks, chairman of the post office committee of the house, printed in full herewith, he states it is estimated that the average annual cost to the railroads of operating a post office car for the government is $ , , including $ , for lighting, heating, repairs, etc., and that the total average pay received for the car and its contents including post office car pay, is $ , per annum, showing a loss in this branch of the service of $ , per car. there are , full postal cars in actual service in the country, and the loss thereon, therefore, aggregates $ , , , to say nothing of the postal cars in reserve. but that is the smaller part of the loss. there were , apartment cars in actual use in , averaging twenty feet in length, and the cost of operating each of these, according to mr. hitchcock's figures, would be one-third of $ , , or $ , . the average haul of apartment cars is miles, and the average load in a twenty-foot apartment car is officially stated as pounds, making the rate per mile on routes carrying an average daily weight of only pounds, $ . per annum, and the average earnings, therefore, $ , per year, an average loss of $ , per car and an actual loss per year from operating the , apartment cars of $ , , , to say nothing of the apartment cars in reserve. the c. b. & q. has full post office cars and apartment cars, and applying to them the foregoing figures given in mr. hitchcock's letter, the loss from operating them in was $ , , adding to which $ , , the mail's proportion of taxes and interest, that must be included in estimating "cost," in which the government's business should share, the estimated loss on the business was $ , , , compared with $ , , , arrived at by charging the government business with . per cent of the passenger expense, that being its proportion of the space used in passenger trains. the government should be willing to pay fairly for what it exacts from the railroads, and it exacts from the c. b. & q. . per cent of its passenger train facilities. if it had paid . per cent of the passenger train expenses of the road in , it would have paid approximately a million dollars more than it did pay. the government which demands from the railroads that they build and transport daily over their roads for its benefit , traveling post offices as full postal cars and apartment cars should be willing to pay what the postmaster-general estimates to be the actual cost of operating those cars, and a fair proportion of the taxes and interest. if it had paid such cost in , it would have paid to the c. b. & q. approximately a million dollars more than it did pay. results on various mail routes. the foregoing are statements of results on the burlington system as a whole, showing earnings and expenses and facilities furnished to the government mail service. it may be of interest, and throw light on the situation, to show results for november upon several separate mail routes in the system, ranging from small routes carrying pounds of mail daily, up, through routes carrying weights, respectively, of , , and , , and , pounds daily, to the heaviest route carrying , pounds, covering the fast mail service from chicago to omaha. weights of express packages are not kept on separate mail routes and statements therefore of express earnings for such separate mail routes are necessarily estimated, but, as given in the following tables, they are approximately correct and corroborate the comparative results for the burlington system as a whole, which results are based upon exact figures for express as well as for mails and for passengers. i. route , , kenesaw to kearney (nebraska), . miles. average daily weight pounds. _percentage _percentage _should earn _did of space of on basis of actually occupied._ earnings._ space used._ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . express . . ------ $ , the mail earnings on this route are $ per month, or $ . daily. the service for the government is performed in an apartment car fifteen feet long, and closed pouch service, four trains carrying mail daily, except sunday, giving an actual return to the railroad of three and a half cents per mile run, or about one passenger fare at three cents per mile although the government demands the use of a -foot car fitted up as a post office in which a postal clerk is carried free, and this car must be lighted, heated and kept in repair, and carried over the route each way daily, except sunday. on this branch the actual earnings on passengers per passenger car are cents per car mile. the post office apartment car equals one-quarter of a passenger car, and the mail should, on this basis, earn at least cents per mile, but it does earn, for all the mail service, at the rate of -½ cents per mile, less the expense of delivering mail to and from post offices. during the weighing period the mails are carried on days and weighed on days, but under the cortelyou order, these aggregate weights are divided by and the result is called the "average" and forms the basis of pay on this route for four years. this mail service in a traveling post office on an expensive railroad is paid about one-third the rate per mile that the government pays to a rural route carrier who carries an average of pounds of mail. ii. route , . odell to concordia, kansas. miles. average daily weight, pounds. _per cent _per cent _should earn _did space_ earnings_ on space_ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . express . . ------ $ , mail earnings $ per month ( days), or $ per day. this service demands a twenty-five-foot apartment car each way for which the pay amounts to . cents per car mile run, or about the fares of two passengers at three cents per mile who may occupy one seat. the service is six days per week, but the aggregate weight carried in the six days is divided by seven to obtain the cortelyou "average" on which the pay is based. the payment for a twenty-five-foot traveling post office is a little over half the pay per mile for a rural route carrier. iii. route , . streator to aurora (ills.). miles. average daily weight, , pounds. _per cent _per cent _should earn _did space_ earnings_ on space_ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . , express . . ------ $ , mail earnings ( days), $ per month, or $ per day. four trains on this road carry mail daily, two each way, two in a twenty-five-foot mail apartment and two in a thirty-foot mail apartment, an average earning rate of . cents per car mile. the passenger cars on this branch carry an average of passengers each, and earn cents per car mile. the average mail apartment furnished is half a passenger coach. these four apartment cars, at the same rate as the passenger cars ( cents per mile), would earn $ , per year. the passenger train earnings on the branch are $ , a year. the mails demand . per cent of the facilities, and on that basis should earn for the company $ , . the mail earnings were $ , , this being the annual compensation after a reduction of nine and one-half per cent through the cortelyou order, requiring the aggregate of weighings to be divided by to ascertain the "average." iv. route , . edgemont to billings (wyoming). miles. average daily weight, , pounds. _per cent _per cent _should earn _did space_ earnings_ on space_ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . , , express . . , , ------- $ , two -foot postal cars are run daily each way. the mail earnings are $ , per month, or $ per day. the total earnings of the passenger trains on this road are $ , , a year, and the mails required . per cent of the passenger train facilities; on this basis they ought to pay $ , a year. these post office cars are hauled , miles every year. the postmaster-general estimates that the actual cost to the railroads of operating a sixty-foot postal car is cents per mile. at this rate the burlington company should be paid $ , a year for the service of the postal cars only. it is, in fact, paid for all the mail service on this road $ , annually. v. route , . galesburg to quincy (ills.). . miles. average daily weight, , pounds. _per cent _per cent _should earn _did space_ earnings_ on space_ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . , , express . . , , ------- $ , mail earnings from all sources $ , per month, or $ per day. the service is performed in three -foot postal cars, two -foot apartments and one -foot apartment, each way daily; also one -foot postal car and one full storage car, daily except sunday, in addition to some space furnished for closed pouches in ordinary baggage cars. the car space provided for the mails on this route is equivalent to ten full sixty-foot cars daily, over the whole length of the route, or , car miles a year. at cents per mile the pay would be $ , , whereas the actual pay is only $ , . if the government paid for the service in proportion to the facilities it demands and receives, it would pay $ , . vi. route , . chicago to burlington ( miles). average daily weight, , pounds. _per cent _per cent _should earn _did space_ earnings_ on space_ earn._ passenger . . $ , $ , mail . . , , express . . , , -------- $ , on the basis of space used and facilities provided for the mails, the burlington road is underpaid $ , a year on this route. two-thirds of the weight of mail is carried in special trains run at great speed and unusual expense, for which no extra allowance is made. the extension of the route to omaha is across iowa, where it is "land grant," and subject to land grant deductions. the government made a "gift" to the company in of lands amounting to , acres and then valued at $ . per acre, or $ , . the mail pay deductions to june , , on account of this iowa land grant aggregate $ , , , and still continue at the rate of $ , a year. neither in the foregoing six statements of results upon separate mail routes, nor in the general statement of results upon the burlington road has any allowance been made for the expense to the company of what is called the "mail messenger service." at all points where the post office is not over one-fourth of a mile from the railroad station the railroad company must have all the mails carried to and from the post office. what an important item of expense this amounts to appears in the following extract from the report of the wolcott commission, which states: "out of , stations supplied by messenger service , are paid for by the department at a cost of between $ , , and $ , , per annum, leaving the other , stations to be supplied by and at the expense of the railroads." investigation has shown that on mail routes, where the average mail pay of the railroad company is $ a year, the average cost of this mail messenger service is $ , calculating only $ as the expense for each station where they are required to perform the service. there are instances where the company pays in cash each year, for delivering the mails between station and post office, considerably more than the government pays for the entire mail service over its line of road. there is no such feature in the express service. why do railroads carry the mails without profit? the question is sometimes asked why the railroads continue to carry the mails if there is no profit in the business. carrying the mails is not the only traffic which railroads take upon terms that would bankrupt them if applied to all their business. there is no profit in running passenger trains on most railroads; that is, the receipts from all the traffic carried on passenger trains are not sufficient to pay a train mileage or car mileage share of operating expenses and taxes and charges for the use of capital. but a large part of this cost of conducting the business of a railroad, such as taxes, interest, maintenance of roadway, general office expenses, and many others, would continue substantially the same if the passenger trains were discontinued. having the railroad, and its taxes, and interest, and maintenance expenses to meet, anyhow, no railroad can afford to refuse any income from passenger trains that amounts to more than their train operating cost. on the same principle they accept low rates per mile as a share of through passenger fares which, if applied to all passenger fares, would show a loss. the road is there, the trains are running, and the cars only partially loaded; the addition of through passengers may not materially increase the expense, and the road is better off to accept the business at less than the average cost, rather than to reject it. but whatever the passenger trains lose must be made up by the freight trains if the road is to continue in business. the constant aim of the managers of the railroad is to secure from each class of traffic not only the operating cost peculiar to that traffic, but a proportion of the general cost; but business is not necessarily rejected on which it is impossible to secure such proportion. many of the reasons which impel them to run passenger trains without profit apply to their acceptance of the government mails. they facilitate the freight business; it is better to carry them at a loss than not to carry them at all. but is that any reason why the government should not pay fair value for what it receives? is it good policy for the government to force upon the companies the alternative of carrying the mails at a loss or refusing to carry them at all? what are the mails? they are the letters and packets that are conveyed from one post office to another under public authority. who conveys them? the railroads convey nine-tenths of them. the railroads are the mail service of this country. the post office department states that it receives from the people who use the mails eighty-four dollars on every one hundred pounds of letters and post cards. who makes that money for them? the railroads. the railroads convey those letters and cards from post office to post office--not the government. for a service like that the government can afford to pay. what does it pay? on the great bulk of the business the railroad companies which do the work and earn the money receive less than two dollars a hundred. on every pound of first-class mail the government collects eighty-four dollars a hundred. the fact that the congress, for purposes of general education or other reasons, thinks it is good public policy to carry the magazines and other second-class matter at one dollar a hundred is something about which the railroads have nothing to do and nothing to say. the mail pay of the railroads has been reduced in the past four years more than eight million dollars a year. part of this was done by act of congress, but the greater part came from the arbitrary and illegal cortelyou order. these reductions were made without any hearing being granted to the railroads. hearings were refused by the committee which reduced the pay three and a half millions, and no pretense of a hearing was made by secretary cortelyou when his autocratic order was issued reducing the mail pay approximately five million dollars a year. this order was an arbitrary and unwarranted and illegal exercise of executive power. the last hearing allowed to the railroad companies on this subject was by the wolcott commission, to , composed of eminent senators and representatives. they reported, after two years' investigation, that the mail pay was reasonable and should not be reduced. upon the question whether railroads should be asked to carry the mails at a loss their report expressed the following views: "it seems to the commission that not only justice and good conscience, but also the efficiency of the postal service and the best interests of the country demand that the railway-mail pay shall be so clearly fair and reasonable that while, on the one hand, the government shall receive a full _quid pro quo_ for its expenditures and the public treasury be not subjected to an improper drain upon its funds, yet, on the other hand, the railway mail service shall bear its due proportion of the expenses incurred by the railroads in the maintenance of their organization and business as well as in the operations of their mail trains. "the transaction between the government and the railroads should be, and in the opinion of the commission is, a relation of contract; but it is a contract between the sovereign and a subject as to which the latter has practically no choice but to accept the terms formulated and demanded by the former; and, therefore, it is incumbent upon the sovereign to see that it takes no undue advantage of the subject, nor imposes upon it an unrighteous burden, nor 'drives a hard bargain' with it. the commission, therefore, believes that the determination whether the present railway mail pay is excessive or not should be reached, as near as may be, upon a business basis, and in accordance with the principles and considerations which control ordinary business transactions between private individuals." the postal car pay. the wide credence which has been given to the statement that the government is paying to the railroads an annual rent for postal cars equal to the cost of building them is remarkable. the government does not pay a rental for any car. the idea is an erroneous one, and is based upon ignorance regarding the payment of what is called "post office car pay." originally, the mail business on railroads was the transportation of mail bags, and was essentially a freight traffic. but its character has entirely changed. the business now consists almost wholly in providing moving post offices, expensive to build and expensive to operate, in which the average weight for which pay is received is about two tons in full postal cars and six hundred pounds in apartment cars. the post office department weighed all the mails carried in all postal cars and apartment cars in the country during october, , and the average weight of mail on the burlington road loaded in a forty-foot postal car was found to be less than , pounds; in fifty-foot cars it was , pounds; and in sixty-foot cars it averaged less than , pounds; in apartment cars it was pounds. the average load carried in an ordinary freight car on the burlington road is from , to , pounds. railroads, as a rule, haul a ton of paying or productive freight for every ton of dead or unproductive load. in the government mail business they carry nineteen tons of dead weight for each ton of paying weight. these cars are fitted up as post offices and are used for distribution en route in order to expedite and facilitate the prompt transmission and delivery of mails. they largely take the place of very expensive distribution offices in cities. the railroads provide cars for freight traffic, but refused to build, and maintain, and haul these moving post offices with their clerks and paraphernalia, without pay. that is the post office car pay of which so much is said. the truth regarding this feature of the subject is clearly stated in the following recent letter from the postmaster-general: (_congressional record_, march , , st congress, second session, vol. , no. , page .) letter of the postmaster-general relative to the cost of furnishing and operating railway post office cars. "office of the postmaster-general, washington, d.c., march , . "hon. john w. weeks, _chairman committee on post offices and post roads, house of representatives_. "my dear sir: in response to your inquiry made of the second assistant postmaster-general in regard to the cost of maintaining and operating railway post office cars and its relation to the compensation received by railroad companies for the same and your reference to the speech delivered by senator vilas on the subject in the united states senate, february , , i have the honor to advise you as follows: "the department has not at this time sufficient information upon this point to give from its own records a reliable estimate. as you are aware, we have recently asked railroad companies to submit answers to inquiries with reference to the cost of operating the mail service, and it is believed that when these shall have been received we will be in a position to furnish such information. inasmuch, however, as it may be of importance to you to have estimates made from time to time by others and such incomplete information as we have at present, i submit the following: "the cost of operating a railway post office car has been variously estimated (but not officially by the department) as from to cents a car mile. the average run per day of such a car is about miles. estimating the cost at cents a car mile, the total cost of operating such car for one year would be $ , . "the specific items which constitute this total cost are not definitely known to the department. however, as to the cost of lighting, cleaning, repairs, etc., the general superintendent of railway mail service furnished the following estimates before the commission to investigate the postal service in , viz.: lighting, $ ; heating, $ ; cleaning, water, ice, oil, etc., $ ; repairs, $ ; proportion of original cost of car (estimating the life of a car at fifteen years and the original cost at $ , ), $ ; total, $ , . recent inquiry gives the following as the approximate cost of maintaining a car at the present time: lighting (electric), $ ; heating, $ ; cleaning, $ ; repairs, $ ; oil and brasses, $ ; interest on cost of car (at $ , ), $ ; annual deterioration (estimating the life of a car at twenty years), $ ; total, $ , . these figures give the cost of a car built according to the department's standard specifications. the cost of modern steel cars being built by some of the railroad companies is from $ , to $ , . "the compensation received by a railroad company for operating a car and carrying the mails in it would be approximately as follows: "the pay for a -foot car at $ a track mile per annum, for a track mileage of miles, would be $ , . the average load of a -foot car, according to statistics obtained recently, is . tons. the rate per ton of an average daily weight of , pounds carried over the route is $ . . at this rate the company would receive $ , . per annum for the average load of mail hauled in the car. this sum added to the specific rate for the railway post office car ($ , ), makes the total pay for the car and its average load $ , . per annum. "senator vilas' argument was based upon the theory that the rates fixed for railroad transportation alone, based on the weights of the mails carried, are adequate compensation for all services rendered, including the operation of railway post office cars, and that, therefore, the railroad companies would be required to operate postal cars owned by the post office department for the compensation allowed by law for the weight of mails alone, including apartment-car space and facilities. such theory is not justified by the facts, as will appear from the following: "a careful perusal of the debates in both houses of congress which led to the enactment of the present law fixing the rate of pay for railroad transportation of the mails and for railway post office cars clearly indicates that the additional compensation for railway post office cars was intended to cover the additional expense imposed upon the railroad companies for building, maintaining, and hauling such cars. the companies at that time insisted that these cars, which were practically traveling post offices, did not carry a remunerative load, and that therefore the amount of pay, based on weight, did not compensate them for their operation. this led to the specific appropriation for railway post office cars. in this connection it should be borne in mind that the purpose of the railway post office car is to furnish ample space and facilities for the handling and distribution of mails en route. therefore, the space required is much greater than would be required for merely hauling the same weight of mails. "in regard to any proposal for government ownership of postal cars, other facts as well as the above should be given consideration. such cars must be overhauled, cleaned, and inspected daily. it would be necessary to either arrange with the railway companies for this service or for the department to employ its own inspectors, repair men, and car cleaners at a large number of places throughout the country, which would probably be more expensive than the cost to the railway companies in that respect at present. it would hardly be feasible to establish a government repair shop. therefore, the department would be compelled to use the shops of the several railway companies throughout the country. without the closest supervision and attention of the government's inspectors it could scarcely be expected that our cars would receive the same consideration in railroad shops as those owned by the railway companies. these shops are frequently congested, and it is probable that the railroad work would be given the preference. "yours very truly, "frank h. hitchcock, "_postmaster-general_." the wolcott commission carefully investigated the whole subject of postal car pay and their conclusions regarding this form of compensation and its reasonableness are set forth in their report in the following language: "until a comparatively short time prior to the distribution of the mails in transitu was unknown. prior to the late sixties the railroads simply transported the mails, which were delivered at the post offices and there distributed. accordingly, 'weight' as the basis of compensation was at the time of its adoption and long thereafter entirely adequate. "for a few years, however, prior to the distribution of the mails in transitu had been practiced to a sufficient extent to satisfy the post office department and congress that it was a desirable innovation and a branch of the postal service that should be very much enlarged. but it was recognized that if the railroads were not only to transport the mail itself, but also to supply, equip, and haul post offices for the distribution of the mails, the compensation upon weight basis that had obtained up to that time was not entirely adequate and just, and therefore the law of , as already indicated, contained a provision allowing additional compensation for railway post office cars. at first these cars were mostly not exceeding or feet in length and of light construction, similar to baggage and express cars. "from the policy of the department, however, of constantly demanding better and better facilities from the railroads and the introduction of every improvement that could be discovered, it has come to pass that, today, the railroad post office cars, with the exception of a few obsolete ones that are being discontinued as rapidly as practicable, are elaborate structures, weighing between , and , pounds; built as strongly and fitted up, so far as suitable to the purpose for which it is intended, as expensively as the best pullman and parlor cars; costing from $ , to $ , ; maintained at a cost of $ , per year; traveling on an average of , miles per annum; provided with the very best appliances for light, heat, water, and other comforts and conveniences; placed in position for the use of the postal authorities from two and a half to seven hours before the departure of the train upon which they are to be hauled, and owing to the small space allowed in them for the actual transportation of the mails, accompanied on the denser lines by storage cars for which no additional compensation is paid by the government and on the less dense lines the larger bulk of mails is carried in the baggage cars without additional compensation for the car. "these cars are constructed and fitted up by the railroads in accordance with plans and specifications furnished by the department, and the amount of mail transported therein is determined exclusively by the postal authorities. from these two facts it results that the railroad must haul , pounds of car when the weight of the mail actually carried therein is only from , to , pounds--often very much less, and occasionally somewhat more. "taking in view all these facts, as disclosed by the testimony filed herewith, we are of opinion that the 'prices paid * * * as compensation for the postal-car service' are not excessive, and recommend that no reduction be made therein so long as the methods, conditions, and requirements of the postal service continue the same as at present." mail rates and express rates. no feature of this question has been more persistently misrepresented than the relative value to the railroads of the mail business and the express business. as elsewhere shown, the express business is per cent more valuable to the burlington road than the government mails on the mere basis of space used and facilities furnished in passenger trains. there are many other considerations which increase this disparity of value in favor of the express, but reference to them is omitted in order to direct public attention to the following statements of the postmaster-general in his recent letter upon the subject: (_congressional record_, march , , st congress, second session, vol. , no. , page .) letter of the postmaster-general relative to the service rendered by the railroad companies in connection with the mails and with express. "office of the postmaster-general, "washington, d.c., january , . "hon. john w. weeks, _chairman committee on post offices and post roads, house of representatives_. "my dear sir: in response to your inquiry as to the difference between the service rendered the post office department by railroad companies in the carriage and handling of the mails, and that rendered express companies, i would state that from such information as we have been able to obtain in regard to the service rendered to express companies, the difference is substantially as follows: "the post office department requires the railroad company to take the mail from the post office wherever the office is within rods of the depot, and the company has an agent, and in many cases to perform the terminal service regardless of the distance between the post office and the station. wherever the terminal service is taken up by the department, by means of regulation or screen-wagon service, the contractor delivers the mail at a specified place at the depot, and from that point the railroad employees transport it to the cars, and if the amount is so great that it would impose a hardship upon the postal employees to load and store this mail, the railroad company is called upon to furnish porters to do the work. where the mail messenger or contractor can drive direct to the cars, he does so. the express companies haul all of their matter to the railroad stations and put it in the cars, using their own employees and their own trucks. "the cars furnished the post office department and those furnished the express companies differ very materially. the former are built according to specifications furnished by the department, and are fully equipped with letter cases, paper racks, drawers, and lockers for registered mail and supplies, and all of the equipment necessary for the distribution of mail en route. the cars furnished the express companies have very little, if any, interior furnishings, and are more like the cars used for the transportation of baggage. in both cases the cars used are owned by the railroad company. "the number of employees transported for the post office department is very much greater than for the express companies. there are frequently five or six clerks in the postal cars, and on fast mail trains, where there are two or three working cars to a train, the number runs up as high as . the express seldom requires more than two men in a car. "the post office department claims as much space at depots without specific payment therefor as may be required for the storing and handling of mail in transit. the express companies are required to pay the railroad companies for all space used at depots. "on smaller lines a separate apartment must be furnished for the mails other than baggage mails. the express matter is usually placed in the baggage car. "upon arrival at terminals the railroad company may be required to unload a mail car, if the quantity is such as to impose a hardship upon the clerks, and to see that it is loaded into the contractor's wagons; or, if the terminal service devolves upon the railroad company, that it is delivered into the post office. the express company unloads and handles its own matter. "the railroad and express companies frequently use a joint employee to handle baggage and express, thereby economizing in cost of help. that can very seldom be done in connection with the postal service. "the railroad company has charge of all baggage mails in transit and receives them into and delivers them from the cars. it also handles other mails when necessary to transfer them between cars or trains. it is held responsible for reasonable care in their transportation. deductions are made for failures to perform service according to contract, and fines are imposed for delinquencies. the company is required to keep a record of all pouch mails carried on trains in charge of their employees and handled at stations where more than one regular exchange pouch is involved and no mail transfer clerk is located, and to prepare and forward shortage slips when a pouch is due and not received. they are required to make monthly affidavits as to performance of service. it is understood that the company never assumes control of express matter. the department is not informed as to the terms of contracts between railroad and express companies, and therefore can not state what responsibility is imposed as to transportation. "mail cranes for the exchange of mail at points where trains do not stop are erected and kept in repair by and at the expense of the railroad company, whose employees must hang the mail bag on the crane and adjust it for catching at points where the company provides side service. the mail catchers are also furnished by them. no service of this character is rendered express companies. "a railroad company is required by law to carry the mails upon any train that may be run, when so ordered by the postmaster-general, without extra charge therefor, and as a result the mails are carried on the fastest trains and with great frequency. express matter is not as a rule carried on the fast limited passenger trains, nor with the frequency with which mails are carried. "in this connection your attention is invited to pages to , , , to , part , and pages to , part , of the testimony before the congressional commission which investigated the postal service in --wolcott-loud commission. "yours very truly, "f. h. hitchcock, "_postmaster-general_." the government does not own any railroad, but, under the present system, the post office department dictates to the railroad companies upon what passenger trains and in what kind of cars the mails shall be carried. it insists on such space and facilities as it deems necessary for the mails being furnished on the fastest and most expensive trains and demands that these trains keep their fast schedules; this means that all other trains on the road are side-tracked and delayed whenever that is necessary in order to expedite the mails. there are no such features in the express business. demanding a preference traffic, the government ought to be willing to pay for it more than express rates. in fact, it pays much less than express rates. the ablest and most competent witness who appeared before the wolcott commission on this subject was henry s. julier, vice-president and general manager of the american express company, who said: "without question, the government has the cheaper service by far." mr. julier further stated that seven pounds is the average weight of packages sent by express, and the seven pound package is the typical express package, and therefore the earnings from carrying such packages are the true index of the rates actually received. some railroads receive as their compensation fifty per cent of the express company's earnings; the c. b. & q. receives fifty-seven and a half per cent. mr. julier was asked by the commission to file statements showing from the rates in force exactly the revenue received per hundred-weight by the railroad company from the express in comparison with the mail rates. he filed the following: _table showing rates received by railways per hundred-weight for mails and rates received for express between points named._ express. per cent of mail. express companies' rate per earnings on fourteen pounds allowed -pound packages railroad companies weighing in the under last aggregate weighing, pounds, yields the including the pay railroad companies for post office the rate per distance. cars. pounds noted below. new york to buffalo $ . $ . chicago . . omaha , . . indianapolis . . columbus . . east st. louis , . . portland, me. . . chicago to milwaukee . . minneapolis . . new orleans . . detroit . . cincinnati . . cincinnati to st. louis . . chicago . . cleveland . . since the filing of these statistics, the rates paid to railroads for carrying the mails have been reduced almost a fifth. the statements of the postmaster-general and the statistics confirm the evidence of these returns that the express business is much more valuable to railroad companies than the government mail business. w.w. baldwin, _vice-president_. john dewitt, _general mail agent_. may, . appendix. _exhibit a._ [form .] there are on file in the post office department one hundred and two separate statements showing, for the month of november as to each mail route on the burlington system, the space occupied and used for mail and for express and for passengers. in order to make a comparison it was, of course, necessary to reduce each item of space used in each car to a common basis of feet, and the following table shows what are the actual facilities furnished in passenger trains for the three classes of traffic reduced to linear car-foot space: _car foot mileage._ _mail._ _passengers._ _express._ , , , , , , ( . %) ( . %) ( . %) _exhibit b._ [form .] _station facilities furnished for the mails and express and the value of other items of service rendered._ _mail expense._ monthly cost of handling mail at stations, labor, etc. $ , . monthly rental value of mail rooms in stations , . monthly rental value of tracks occupied by mail cars for advance distribution . cost of lighting and heating mail cars for advance distribution . value of , miles of free transportation to post office employees, not including postal clerks in charge of mail , . switching mail cars for advance distribution , . ---------- total for november $ , . the foregoing does not include the rental value of space furnished by the railroad company to the government for handling mails and mail trucks on station platforms, and for storing the mails on platforms at large terminals. this is a large item, but statistics of such space used were not called for. at chicago station platform space to the amount of over , square feet is devoted exclusively to mails handled by the burlington and pennsylvania. in addition to the foregoing, the burlington company transported on its trains during november postal clerks in charge of mail for the government a distance of , , miles in the aggregate. if the government had paid their fare at two cents per mile the amount paid would have been $ , . . these items of station facilities and other service rendered to the government for the mails amounted to $ , for november, or at the rate of more than one million dollars annually. _express expense._ rental value of space in station buildings used for express, for which no rent is paid $ . rental value of tracks used for advance loading of express . value of , miles of free transportation to express company officials and employees at two cents per mile. . --------- $ , . in addition to the foregoing, the agents and employees of the railroad company in the month of november rendered service at stations in handling express and in other ways for the express company to the amount of $ , , but the express company paid to the same persons $ , in commissions. the express company also shared in the salaries paid to certain baggage men and other joint train employees in november to the amount of $ , , in addition to the payment of commissions, as aforesaid. all the items of expense to the railroad company on account of the express in the way of space furnished and free transportation to employees, and services of station agents, amount to $ , , while the cash payments by the express company to the railroad company indirectly, through payments in commissions to station agents and the salaries of baggage men amounts to $ , , a pecuniary gain or income from express of $ , per month, or at the rate of $ , annually, compared with a large outgo annually on account of the mails as shown in the foregoing items. _exhibit c._ [form .] _revenues and expenses and train and car mileage._ _revenues._ receipts in november from all passenger traffic (not including mail and express) $ , , receipts from express , receipts from mails , ---------- total $ , , _expenses._ total operating expenses of the road for november $ , , passenger operating expenses, and one-twelfth of the taxes and one-twelfth of the interest on the funded debt $ , , the passenger operating expenses are distributed as follows: _assignable expenses._ transportation expense $ , fuel passenger engines $ , salaries passenger engineers , salaries passenger trainmen , train supplies, etc. , injuries to persons , station employees , joint yards and terminals , miscellaneous , -------- maintenance of equipment $ , repairs, passenger cars $ , depreciation, passenger cars , miscellaneous -------- traffic expense $ , advertising $ , outside agencies , superintendence , miscellaneous , -------- maintenance of way, etc. $ , buildings and grounds $ , joint tracks, etc. , miscellaneous , -------- general expense $ , salaries, clerks, etc $ , insurance , legal expense , miscellaneous -------- -------- total $ , _proportion of non-assignable expenses._ operating expenses $ , , taxes and interest , ---------- $ , , ------------- total $ , , exhibit a shows that the entire space in all cars run on passenger trains on the burlington in november was divided as follows: passengers occupied . % of the space. mail . % of the space. express . % of the space. if each of these three classes of traffic had contributed earnings and paid expenses in proportion to the space occupied by it, the result in comparative profit or loss to the company would have been as follows: _comparative profit and loss._ _earnings._ _expenses._ _profit._ _loss._ passengers $ , , $ , , $ , mail , , , express , , $ , ---------- ---------- $ , , $ , , if the government had paid to the burlington company for carrying the mails . % of the actual cost of doing the work, and a proportion of the taxes and interest on the funded debt, it would, for november, have paid $ , more than was paid, indicating that for the year the government is paying $ , , less than the actual fair cost of the service it is receiving. _exhibit d._ [form .] _statement of mail cars and apartment cars._ _postal cars._ _original _present _number average average _kind of car_ owned_ cost_ value_ feet or more in length $ , . $ , . to feet in length , . , . less than feet in length , . , . -- --------- --------- total $ , . $ , . _apartment cars._ _original _present _number average average _kind of car_ owned_ cost_ value_ cars with mail apartments feet or more in length $ , . $ , . cars with mail apartments to feet in length , . , . cars with mail apartments to feet in length , . , . cars with mail apartments less than feet in length , . , . --- --------- --------- total $ , . $ , . * * * * * transcriber's notes: in this plain text version of the book only symbols from the ascii and latin- character set have been used. italic typeface is indicated by _underscores_. small capital typeface is indicated by upper case. irregular ordering and duplicate figure numbering has been retained as in the original. minor inconsistencies in punctuation and formatting in the original are retained. detailed corrections and observations on the text are listed in further transcriber's notes at the end. * * * * * the postage stamp in war. _by the same author._ a new work on the postage stamps of the new british protectorate of egypt in the melville stamp book series (_no._ ) is now on the press and will be published in january, , by stanley gibbons, ltd., strand, w.c. price d. post free. ½d. ... the ... postage stamp in war by fred j. melville, editor of "the postage stamp." mdccccxv - published - by - fred. j. - melville, - - sudbourne - rd., brixton, - london, - england. copyright. all rights of translation and reproduction reserved. _acknowledged with thanks._ _to many collectors and dealers we are indebted for the loan of stamps, envelopes, etc., for illustration in this work, including messrs. e. bentley wood, h. h. harland, w. j. holmes, nathan heywood, j. ireland, r. wedmore, stanley gibbons, ltd., hugo griebert & co., alfred smith & son, w. t. wilson, whitfield king & co., charles nissen & co., lewis may & co., w. s. lincoln & son, bright & son, r. roberts, bridger & kay, a. c. roessler, c. davies, and others._ _captain lionel crouch has kindly assisted in revising the proofs._ contents. chapter i. the postage stamp with the flag.--british posts in the crimea--the abolition of the capitulations--the british fleet in the baltic--abyssinian expedition--the first army postal corps-- egypt--dongola expedition--south africa--the british army post in france, --how to address soldier's letters--the postmarks from france--the navy's postmarks. page . chapter ii. indian army postal service--china expeditionary force--british railway administration in china--somaliland--the forbidden city of lhassa--indian expeditionary force in france. page . chapter iii. south african wars--transvaal--orange river colony--krugersdorp-- kuruman--lydenburg--mafeking--pietersburg--rustenburg--schweizer renecke--volksrust--vryburg--wolmaranstad--the union--south african war of . page . chapter iv. france--napoleon's minister of posts--the second republic--the presidency--empire--french expeditions to china and mexico-- sedan--metz--strasburg--the siege of paris--balloon post--pigeon post--peace--military frank stamps--the german invasion, --red cross stamps--war postcards and postmarks. page . chapter v. russia--war charity stamps--portraits of the tsars--war stamps of --japan--war with china--the empress jingo--triumphal military and naval reviews--kiao-chow--belgium--king albert-- bombardment of malines--private postal service--germanised posts--red cross stamps--bogus stamps--postmarks--serbia--"death mask" stamps--king peter--montenegro--king nicholas. page . chapter vi. the enemy's stamps--germany--austria--bosnia--hungary--turkey. page . chapter vii. american wars.--united states--civil war--confederate stamps--hispano-american war--vera cruz--canada--mexican revolution--south and central america. page . chapter viii. miscellaneous wars and commemorations--patriotic empire stamps--victoria--new zealand--barbados' nelson stamp--a dutch naval commemoration--balkan wars--greece--albania--epirus-- bulgaria--roumania--italy--portugal--spain--mysterious melillas--china. page chapter ix. the great war of - . check list of new war stamps. page . [illustration: russia's new war stamps. (_figs. - . see chapter v._)] the postage stamp in war. chapter i. the postage stamp with the flag.--british posts in the crimea--the abolition of the capitulations--the british fleet in the baltic--abyssinian expedition--the first army postal corps--egypt--dongola expedition--south africa--the british army post in france, --how to address soldier's letters--the postmarks from france--the navy's postmarks. the postage stamp follows the flag. the same small talisman which passes our letters across the seven seas to friends the world over maintains the lines of personal communication with our soldiers and sailors in time of war. wherever the british tommy goes he must have his letters from home; like the lines of communication, which are the life-line of the army, postal communication is the chief support of the courage and spirit of the individual soldier. his folk at home send him new vigour with every letter that tells of the persons, places and things that are nearest and most cherished in his memory. in these days letter-sending and letter-getting are so common-place that few give any thought to the great organisation by which thousands of millions of postal packets are posted and delivered in this country every year. and now that most of us have friends at the front, in france, in belgium, or on the high seas, we are perhaps inclined to take it all just as a matter of course that letters pass and repass much in the ordinary humdrum way. this is plain to the conductors of our postal services when during war time they get numerous complaints from individuals of delay or even non-delivery, or any one of a number of other minor inconveniences which must often be unavoidable in the stirring times of war. to-day many thousands of letters and postal packets are being sent to and received from the troops of the british expeditionary force in france, yet it is a simple fact that but a small percentage of the civilian population in this country knows anything of the existence, far less of the workings, of the army postal service as an organisation separate and distinct from the postal department of the home government. the army postal service is administered under a director of postal services, who is responsible to the commander in chief of the army, and whose system is established with the co-operation of the inspector-general of communications. the formation of a british army post office corps is of comparatively recent date. it was first suggested by colonel du plat taylor in the seventies, as a means of using the services of the post office rifle volunteers in war time, but it was not until the egyptian campaign in that the corps was formed. prior to this, however, bodies of servants of the post office had done duty with the army in organising and maintaining postal communication with the armies in the field and with the links connecting up with the home service. during the crimean war extensive arrangements were made by the post office to maintain postal communication with the forces in turkey, the black sea, and the baltic. prior to the war, the british government did not maintain any postal packets between mediterranean ports save some steam vessels for the transport of the indian mails, and some of these were taken up by the military and naval authorities. letters for constantinople and the levant ordinarily went through the french and austrian administrations and were chargeable at the then high foreign rates of postage. with the assistance of the french government, letters were sent _viâ_ marseilles to constantinople (or _vice-versâ_) at first at intervals of three times a month, but afterwards six times a month, and during the latter period of the war, twice a week. but the french mail packets went no further than constantinople, so the british postmaster-general sent out an experienced officer, mr. e. j. smith, of the london general post office, to turkey as postmaster of his majesty's forces; and three assistant postmasters, together with seven letter sorters. as the facilities for land transport accorded the postmaster proved insufficient he was furnished with eighteen horses and mules for the exclusive use of his office. the postmaster was supplied with the postage stamps of the home country, then (so far as the penny and twopence denominations were concerned) in the early and beautifully engraved design of william wyon's "queen's head." this was the first use of british postage stamps on foreign territory, or indeed anywhere beyond the limits of the british isles, and stamp collectors take a considerable interest in the english stamps which survive with the various crimean postmarks specially supplied to the postmaster of his majesty's forces in the east. stamps used on letters from the forces may be recognised by either the crown and stars or cypher and stars or the circular dated postmarks (_figs._ - ). a range of the early penny red stamps, from the imperforate red-brown stamp of to the die ii. large crown perforated stamp may be found, as well as the twopence blues of the same period, and the d. rose ( ), d. violet ( ), and s. green ( ) (_see figs. - _). there are possibly others not yet known to collectors. [illustration: _figs. - . crimean postmarks._] [illustration: _figs. - . british stamps found with crimean postmarks._] the correspondence dealt with by this small staff was considerable, averaging , letters despatched to and , received from the seat of war in each month. in one year , letters were despatched to and , received from the forces in the crimea. the chief officer in charge at the british post offices in turkey and the crimea during the war, mr. e. j. smith, is specially mentioned in the postmaster-general's report for as having discharged his duties in a very creditable manner. in that year his services were offered to and accepted by the turkish government with a view to establishing an improved postal service in the sultan's dominions. since this date british post offices have been maintained (in common with post offices of other powers) in various parts of the turkish dominions, using british stamps with or without a special overprint. these offices were closed in october, , as a result of turkey's declaration of the "abolition of the capitulations," just prior to turkey's open acts of war against the allied forces of great britain, france, and russia in the present war. ordinary british stamps used at the british post-offices in the ottoman empire may be distinguished by postmarks (_figs._ - ). [illustration: (constantinople)] [illustration: (smyrna) (beyrout) _postmarks of british post offices in turkish empire._] the first three are from constantinople, the fourth and fifth from smyrna, and the last two beyrout. there are also "s" stamboul, "b " alexandria, "b " suez, as well as ordinary date stamps of all these places. the following are illustrations of samples of the stamps which were in use at the british post-offices in turkey at the time of the abolition of the capitulations. (_figs._ , ). [illustration: ] special arrangements were also made for maintaining postal communications with the british fleet in the baltic, the stamps used being distinguishable by postmarks of diamond-shaped internal configuration (_fig._ ). it is possible that date marks of dantzig may also be found on british stamps of this period; they appear on the covers of letters bearing british stamps with the diamond cancellations. in the early part of the naval campaign letters were transmitted exclusively by war vessels or transports, but in the beginning of may, , when the greater part of the fleet had reached its destination the admiral commanding in chief was directed to establish regular weekly communication by steamer between the ships under his command and the port of dantzig. mails for the fleet were despatched from london every tuesday to dantzig, under cover of a bag addressed to her britannic majesty's consul at that port, who handed the bag over to the commander of the steamer which was timed to arrive at dantzig each friday. this arrangement, while satisfactory in respect of speed and regularity, involved the charging of the high foreign rates of postage, as the route was through belgium and prussia, but, as often as facilities offered, mails were made up for transmission by government transports passing to and from england and the baltic, by which soldiers and sailors were able to send and receive letters at their privilege rate of one penny each. abyssinian expedition. the following is the type of date stamp used by the british post-office corps accompanying sir robert napier's successful expedition to abyssinia in - (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] the indian government sent an army postal corps to abyssinia, the mails to and from the united kingdom connecting up with the vessels carrying the indian mails off jubbel teer in the red sea. the late mr. j. g. hendy of the g.p.o. muniment room records[ ] that, in april , a direct weekly mail service was established between suez and zoulla. the rates for letters under half an ounce were the same as to india, _viz._: _viâ_ southampton. _viâ_ marseilles. officers of army or navy, d. d. soldiers and seamen, d. d. for persons serving on board transports or other persons not belonging to the naval or military forces, d. s. d. he also states that naval and military officers, when serving on colonial or foreign stations, were permitted, under treasury warrant of may , , to send or receive letters at the reduced british postage of d. per ounce, in all cases where the postage of ordinary letters to or from the same place was higher than d. the privilege was withdrawn on january , , and then letters became liable to the general rates of postage. [footnote : "the postmarks of the british isles from ." by j. g. hendy. london, ; p. .] egypt. the organisation of an army postal corps was authorised on july , , for service in egypt, and it was promptly completed. colonel du plat taylor was instructed to form the corps of two officers and one hundred men from the post-office volunteers ( th middlesex) for enrolment in the first-class army reserve. the men combined the advantages of experience in postal work, as sorters and postmen, with army training. the officers selected were major sturgeon (of the money order office) and captain viall (receiver and accountant general's department), the former taking command with the army rank of captain, and the latter seconding him, with the army rank of lieutenant. the men received their post-office pay, and, while on active service, in addition to free kit and rations, the privates drew army pay of s., corporals s. d., and sergeants s. d. per day. [illustration: ] the famous blind postmaster-general, henry fawcett, inspected the corps at the general post office on july , and the officers with men sailed on august , disembarking at alexandria on august . their first postal duties were undertaken at alexandria and ramleh, but two days after disembarkation they re-embarked, joining up with lord wolseley's main forces at ismailia on august . the base was at ismailia, whence the post office corps sent out its branches, planting advanced base and field post offices connecting the base with the changing front, between which and the base a daily service was maintained. in september, shortly after the battle of tel-el-kebir, the army and the army post office reached cairo, and re-embarked for home on october . the despatches gave high praise to the efficiency and useful service of the corps. three years later, major sturgeon (promoted in recognition of his services in egypt, ) again commanded a corps of twenty n.c.o.'s and men, in sir gerald graham's suakim expedition of . the corps left england on march , and returned on july , after a more difficult experience with the suakim garrison than they had met with in the first egyptian campaign. dongola expedition. of the dongola expeditionary force under general kitchener in we have no record of the use of english stamps, but mr. h. h. harland has shown us an interesting envelope with the postmark of wadi-halfa camp, the letter not being prepaid as no stamps were available (_fig._ ). [illustration: _fig. . dongola expeditionary force._] south africa, - . major sturgeon was succeeded in the command of the army postal corps by his second in command, captain viall. on the death of the latter ( ), captain g. w. treble of the london postal service took the command, which he held at the outbreak of the south african war in , aided by captain w. price (now colonel w. price, c.m.g., in command of the army post office with the british expeditionary force in france) and lieutenant h. m'clintock, these latter officers belonging to the secretary's office of the g.p.o., london. a first portion of the company, with captain treble, left england with general buller and his staff, and the rest followed on october , and several further detachments went out with later contingents. in south africa they had a very wide area to cover. at the outset captain treble established himself with the headquarters of the inspector general of communications in cape colony, and moved about keeping close touch with the movements of the forces, an important part of his duties being to forward to the various offices the information necessary to ensure the correct circulation of the mails. captain price was at cape town, and lieutenant m'clintock at pietermaritzburg. the british military mails were made up in the london g.p.o. in special bags addressed to the army post office, and sent to the g.p.o. at cape town, in which building the detachment of the army postal corps under captain price had established its base office. the bags containing military mails were handed over to the army base post office at cape town whence they were distributed to the various military post offices established at the centres of the troops, and to field post offices with each brigade or division in the field. in the return direction the soldiers' letters were handed in at field post offices and forwarded through various channels, sometimes ordinary and ofttimes military to the base at cape town, whence they were despatched to england in the ordinary way. early in the average weekly mail from london to the field forces was bags of letters, postcards, etc., and boxes of parcels; the incoming mail from the field forces was bags of letters per week. in a letter dated from cape town, february , from lieutenant preece, who went out with reinforcements for the army post office corps in february, are some interesting glimpses of the difficulties of the work of this service[ ]: "price, of the post office corps, met us and told us (captain) palmer was to leave at once for kimberley with men (captain) labouchere and (lieut.) curtis to proceed on to natal with men, and i was to take the remainder ashore here (cape town) and stop to help at the base. at . on monday morning i marched off with my men to the main barracks and bid good-bye to the good ship 'canada' and her merry cargo. after lodging the men in barracks i went off to the g.p.o., where i found price and his men ensconced in one huge wing, overwhelmed with work, and at breaking-down point. the mails every week increase now, and we have , pieces of mail matter to sort and distribute every week, over a country larger than france, among a shifting population of soldiers, each of whom expects to get his letters as easily as he gets his rations. it is a vast job, and we have done wonderfully so far with a totally inadequate staff. we have come in the nick of time. the recent movements (the advance of lord roberts from modder river, relief of ladysmith, etc.) have caused chaos among our mails. we receive and send telegrams every hour either to a field post office or to headquarter staffs. the latter order immediate reinforcement at modder river, and price has decided to send me up with more men to proceed to paardeberg, or wherever the troops are, to get things straight." [footnote : st. martins le grand, vol. x., page .] the preliminary arrangements necessitated by the vast area of the operations provided for two base offices, the one in cape colony and the other in natal, and field post offices, and by june, , the army postal corps was composed of ten officers and n.c.o.'s and men, exclusive of post office telegraphists, etc., serving with the royal engineers. many interesting statistics of the mails at different periods of the war have been given in various records, but it will suffice to quote some general ones on the authority of the postmaster-general. his forty-sixth report, , states: during eight months of the crimean war, , letters were sent out, and , were sent home. during a similar period of the war in south africa , , letters were sent out, and , , were sent home. the work of the corps was not undisturbed by the depredations of the enemy, and not infrequently the members of the corps had to defend the mails in their charge along with the guards provided by the military. on june , , general de wet, who has lately extinguished the admiration in which britons held him for his brilliant and elusive tactics, by his treachery in the present war, swooped down with men and guns on roodewal station where lieutenant preece had bags, a several weeks' accumulation of mails for lord roberts' main army. there were men of the army postal corps, and these, with about men in charge of supplies, etc., had to defend the station. two of the seventeen were killed, and lieutenant preece and the remainder of his gallant little corps were taken prisoners. the mail bags were used as a barricade. it is recorded that when the gallant little band surrendered, and de wet, riding an english cavalry horse, came up, the boer general was most polite and even kind in many ways, and expressed himself as "very sorry to do it," when asked not to destroy the letters and registered parcels. he said if he did not do so, his young boers would open and read them and turn the letters of the soldiers into ridicule. the bags were opened, the contents strewed about, and the boers possessed themselves of the valuables, while tobacco, cigarettes, cakes, chocolates were so plentifully strewed about that the young boers even invited their prisoners to help themselves, as the general was going to burn everything. and he did burn the entire station. in his forty-seventh report ( ) the postmaster-general states: the army post office is still in operation in south africa. the staff now consists of officers and about men. the weekly mail for the army post office contains on an average , letters and , packets of printed matter; and it is estimated that during the year ended st march, , , , letters were sent to the troops and , , were received from them. during the same period the parcels sent out to the forces in south africa by post amounted to , , the largest number despatched on any one occasion, namely, on the st of december, , being , . about such parcels are now sent each week. as to the magnitude and difficulties of the work of the army post office, i cannot do better than quote the following paragraph from earl roberts' despatch of the th august last:-- "the magnitude of the task set the military postal service may be appreciated when it is realised that the army mails from england have exceeded in bulk the whole of the mails arriving for the inhabitants of cape colony and natal, and contained each week little short of , letters, newspapers, and parcels for the troops. no little credit is therefore due to the department under major treble in the first few months, and for the greater part of the time under lieut.-colonel j. greer, director of military postal services, for the way in which it has endeavoured to cope with the vast quantity of correspondence, bearing in mind the incessant manner in which the troops have been moved about the country, the transport difficulties which had to be encountered, the want of postal experience in the bulk of the personnel of the corps, and the inadequacy of the establishments laid down for the several organisations." his majesty has been pleased to confer the honour of c.m.g. on messrs. greer and treble in acknowledgment of their services. the forty-eighth report ( ) mentions no change of any importance in the army postal service in south africa, and gives the weekly average mail from england as , letters and , packets of printed matter: the total number of letters for the year ended march , , was , , outward, and , , homeward, showing a decrease compared with previous returns. during the same period , parcels were sent out. the last official reference to the army postal service in south africa is contained in the forty-ninth ( ) report, announcing its withdrawal, postal communications with the troops still on service in the old colonies and the new ones being carried on through the colonial post offices under the ordinary regulations. the peace was declared may , . the war in south africa left its impress on many pages of the stamp collector's album, but at this juncture we are chiefly concerned with the immediate work of the british military postal service. collectors have followed the use of the stamps of the home country into the distant fields of operations by means of the various postmarks which are summarised as follows from the collection of captain guy r. crouch, of the oxford and bucks light infantry[ ]: [footnote : _the postage stamp_, vol. xiv., pp. - .] [illustration: ] type (_fig._ ). office numbers from to , and . used also at cape town base with initials bo (base office) and an asterisk (sometimes omitted) in lieu of the office number. also at sub-base offices with larger office numerals to . type (_figs._ , ). commonly without the year being noted, as in the first illustration but also found with the year as in the second illustration of this mark. it has been largely supposed, but without much, if any, foundation that these year-less marks originated in ladysmith during the siege, but little correspondence can have been passed out of the town during that period, and the origin of many of these marks is known _not_ to have been ladysmith. [illustration: ] type (_fig._ ). used in sub-offices supplementary to type , found stamped in blue-green as well as in black. office numbers - . type (_fig._ ). used in base office at cape town. type (_fig._ ). a locally made rubber-stamp cancellation found in several sub-varieties. type (_fig._ ). used in the field post offices attached to the natal field force with name of place or number. type is similar to type but lettered natal field force, found in black and in violet. type , a newspaper cancellation, with nff (natal field force) in white letters on a black ground, circular shape. [illustration: a a.] type (_fig._ a). a thick lined circle, mm. in diameter, lettered f.p.o. (field post office) and a number, also used for newspapers. type . an almost circular obliteration lettered p.o.a. (post office, africa) with the number , a bracket at each side and two thick bars at top and at bottom. type (_fig._ ). used in travelling post offices (t.p.o.), struck in black or violet. the travelling post offices are "east no. ," "midland," "western," and "northern." type (_fig._ ). for fixed army post offices in orange river colony and transvaal, used from about the end of and for a short time after the declaration of peace. a fancy type of town postmark is shown in _fig._ a. another interesting postmark relic of the war in south africa is one struck in red "recovered from wreck of mexican" a ship which was returning from south africa with mails from the troops, and which foundered after collision with the ss. _winkfield._ the bulk of the mail was recovered. the great war, . the army postal service with the british expeditionary force on the continent in the present war is under the command of colonel w. price, c.m.g., who as captain price had the long experience of service with the army post office in south africa. it is scarcely necessary to say that the volume of correspondence now being dealt with by the service is unprecedented in the history of the british army. in the early months of the war the outgoing mail to the army base post office in france averaged , parcels and , to , letters a day. it is impossible to give statistics of the number of branch offices of all grades established, but already there are many interesting postmarks originating with the british army in france. the various types of marks so far recorded are:-- army base post office (_fig._ ). advance base post office (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] army post offices with the troops (_figs._ - ). [illustration: ] there are also a number of types of censor marks, not all necessarily military, and printed labels used in re-sealing opened letters (_figs._ - ): [illustration: a . a. b. c. d.] in this connection may also be mentioned the various marks used on letters sent by prisoners of war in charge of the british military authorities at home and abroad. an old type of prisoner-of-war mark dated is illustrated in _fig._ , from "pre-victorian postage stamps and franks" by mr. g. a. foster.[ ] [footnote : london. : charles nissen & co.] [illustration: ] the following are examples of the marks now being used (_figs._ , ): [illustration: a. a.] it may be well to give a brief outline of the methods of the army postal service, that its work may be better known and understood. in addressing letters to the troops it is important to give the full military particulars of the addressee, _viz_:--regimental number, rank, name, squadron, battery or company, battalion, regiment (or other unit), staff appointment or department, and title of the expeditionary force. with these details set out clearly on the envelope, the work of the army postal service is facilitated and the letter stands every chance of going through without delay. in france, as the postmarks already illustrated denote, the british army postal service has several grades of post offices. the chief is the base post office, the principal sorting establishment for all mail matter passing between our british post office and the army postal service. the base office is quite a large concern and has a vast amount of clerical work to perform. in it letters are sorted, letters taking precedence over all other mail matter, after which the newspapers, and lastly the parcels are dealt with. accounts of all the branch post offices are filed and the general routines and formulae of the post office at home are adhered to in detail. letters, etc., for services, departments and units at the base are put into callers' boxes for delivery to the post orderlies. those for more distant services and units are forwarded to the various grades of branch offices. at the base office one of the most complicated and difficult tasks is the re-direction of letters. here are kept hospital lists, giving names of men away from their units in hospital, and these hospital rolls are revised weekly. here also records have to be kept of the movements of the units, and these records are constantly in process of revision, and frequent communication is maintained with every branch office in the field. from the base office mails for field units are forwarded to the advanced base post office, which in its turn distributes them to the field post offices serving the units to which the letters are addressed. there are several kinds of field post offices; those "with train" are attached to the headquarters of each train, and handle the letters of the units served by the train. branch field post offices are attached to the general headquarters, and to the headquarters of armies, divisions, and brigades. then there are stationary field post offices at various points on the line of communication, and in some cases travelling post offices on railway lines. it devolves upon the director of army postal services, who is represented at general headquarters, and at the headquarters of each army by an assistant director, to organise the service, and to supply to the various offices the information necessary to ensure the proper circulation of the mails. this, especially in a campaign like the present, is a delicate task, often complicated by the restrictions necessary in military policy to preserve secrecy as to the movements of the troops. * * * * * naval postmarks. of the naval postal arrangements, reference has already been made to the cancellations used on letters originating with the british fleet in the baltic during the crimean war (_fig._ ). special navy post offices were in the early days established by local postmasters at various ports as a link between the land service and the fleet in home waters. the letters were marked with _fig._ , and the local postmaster collected an extra penny charge upon such letters for delivery to ships lying in the harbour or roadstead. [illustration: ] the late mr. w. g. hendy, of the muniment room, records that with the introduction of uniform penny postage ( ) it was decided so far as portsmouth was concerned, that such letters should be delivered free in the harbour as far as spithead; but it was not until may, , that the practice of charging the extra penny for delivery was abolished at devonport and plymouth, and free delivery extended to all vessels lying in the harbour (hamoaze), although not to vessels lying in plymouth sound. the following are types of postmarks used after free delivery was granted. (_figs._ , .) [illustration: ] the same authority states that a privilege was accorded to non-commissioned officers, seamen, and soldiers of sending and receiving within any part of the british dominions, under certain regulations, letters on their own concerns only, not exceeding half an ounce, at the rate of one penny each. such letters had to be superscribed with the name of the seaman or soldier, his class and description, the name of the ship or regiment to which he belonged; and if they were the writers of the letters, they had to be countersigned by the officer commanding. when this regulation was not complied with letters were charged as ordinary, and postmarked with _fig._ . [illustration: ] no doubt there are many more postmarks with a naval interest, including those valued by collectors as indicating stamps on letters originating in the various naval stations abroad from to , recognised by the following letters and numbers:-- a to a . pacific naval stations. a to a . atlantic naval stations. b , b , b . african naval stations. b (mauritius), b and c (hong kong), b (seychelles). also "b", "h", and the date stamp in the case of "ascension". in the present war the naval postmarks promise to be of exceptional interest. the postmarks for both army and navy give no clue to the locality in which the correspondence originates; this, of course, applies to mails coming from the field or area of operations; there is no occasion to disguise place of origin of letters going out to sailors or soldiers. most of the naval marks at present in use bear no inscriptions of any kind, though there is a type inscribed fleet post office (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] even the machine cancellation, doubtless used in some large centre of naval concentration, has had bars (or type turned base upwards) in lieu of the lettering and date (_fig._ ). [illustration: . _machine cancellation_ (_navy_).] other naval marks introduced in the present campaign, in accordance no doubt with a secret code, are in various devices, such as a propeller, a target, and various arrangements of rings, etc. (_figs._ - ). [illustration: a. a.] chapter ii. indian army postal service--china expeditionary force--british railway administration in china--somaliland--the forbidden city of lhassa--indian expeditionary force in france. the army postal service forms a highly organised branch of the indian army organisation. it dates from - , when, during the afghan war, a mail cart route was set up between peshawar and jellalabad, and a horse post was conducted thence to kabul, in all about miles. jhelum and peshawar were also connected by rail, a military transport train being run by the post office between these points. even earlier than this date there were postal arrangements for indian expeditionary forces, including that operating in abyssinia ( - ), the type of postmark being lettered f.f. (field force), as in _fig._ . [illustration: ] the postmarks used on letters despatched from troops accompanying the numerous indian military expeditions form a very considerable range for philatelic exploration. they include egypt, miranzi, kurrum, hazara, waziristan, suakim, tochi, chitral, malakand, tirah, china, tibet, somaliland, and south africa. the system of the indian army postal service is similar to that already described for the british expeditionary force on the continent. a base office is established at each military base, and works as a head office, communicating with india and with the field. field post offices of st and nd class are attached to brigades, divisional troops, and divisional headquarters, and these fly a distinguishing flag by day and display a distinguishing lamp by night. the establishment of base and field offices varies according to the size of the force which they are to serve, but ordinarily the establishment of a base office is: postmaster, deputy postmasters, clerks, khalassis, packers, sweeper. first class field post offices are accompanied by postmaster, clerks, packer, tent khalassis, and sweeper, while for second class field post offices the establishment consists only of a postmaster, a packer, and a sweeper. in addition there are supervising officers for each division, and in the event of the post office making its own arrangements for transport between the base and the field offices, a number of overseers are required. the officers and men all have the word "post" in brass letters on the shoulders of their uniforms. postage stamps of india (including postcards and embossed envelopes, both ordinary and "official") are stocked by all field post offices, and ordinarily a six-months' supply is sent out with the force, and is distributed from the base office to the field post offices. it is part of the duty of the base office to see that each field office maintains a sufficient stock of stamps, in accordance with a minimum determined by the chief superintendent in respect of each field post office. in , in connection with the boxer troubles in china, indian troops were despatched to assist with contingents from all the powers in the relief of the legations, and with them went their army post office. since the settlement of the troubles a permanent legation guard has been maintained by the indian army in china. on reaching china, the indian army post office established its base at hong kong, but this was temporarily shifted to wei-hai-wei on account of objections raised by the postmaster-general of the british colony of hong kong. the new base did not prove satisfactory, however, and ultimately hong kong became the permanent base, and the army post office worked in harmonious co-operation with the british post office and the chinese imperial post. field post offices were set up at pekin, tientsin, shanghai, stonecutters' island, wei-hai-wei, tongshau, matao, ching-wang-tao, yangstun, tongku, sinho, hanku, shan-hai-kwan, and many other points, sometimes consisting of a couple of tents, but often during this campaign in more substantial structures, and even (according to mr. ashley c. vernieux) in the temple of heaven at pekin. with the troops sent to china in the indian post office started the supply of specially overprinted indian stamps, so that stamps bought in china could not be subject to speculation and sale in india by reason of varying rates of exchange. the queen victoria stamps then current, values from pies to rupee were overprinted with the initials c.e.f. (china expeditionary force), and the successive issues of indian stamps have been similarly overprinted for the use of the troops still maintained in china (_figs._ - .). [illustration: ] the postmarks used on the expedition were _fig._ for the base office, and _fig._ for the advanced base, similar marks inscribed at top "_field p.o. no._ ..." or "f.p.o. no. ..." or single line circular marks inscribed f.p.o. (_figs._ , ). there are also a single-line circular date mark of the base office, and registered marks (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] fig. illustrates the postmark of the present base post office of the indian troops in china, located at tientsin. on the suppression of the boxer rising the troops of the allies were in occupation of chihli, and the pekin shanhaikwan railway was divided up between the english, japanese, germans and russians. by february, , the administration of the whole of the line was in the hands of the british, but it was under the control of a board consisting of a british director and two deputies, one german and the other japanese. at this period the allies had about , men in chihli, but the british troops were stationed at various stations on the line. to facilitate the prompt delivery of the letters of these british troops, the postal superintendent of the british force applied for a sorting van to be attached to the train so that letters could be dealt with _en route_.... to this application the reply was that no concession could be given to the british which was not given to all the other forces, and that as the service was then restricted to one train a day, such a concession might result in the train consisting largely of mail vans. but to meet the general convenience, subject to the british postal authorities undertaking to receive and deliver the letters of all nationalities posted at the stations or in a box attached to the van, thus making the service international, a van was placed at their disposal from april , . the new facilities were announced in the circular, of which a facsimile is given (_fig._ ), and the extra fee was collected by surcharging and selling a number of ½ cent chinese stamps "b.r.a. five cents" in black or green (_fig._ ). the b.r.a. stands for british railway administration. [illustration: ] director of railways: circular no. d/ : : . british railway administration. railway postal service. .--in order to allow of letters being posted up to the latest possible time, it has been arranged, with effect from the th april, , to open post offices at the railway stations at peking, tientsin, tongku, tongshan and shanhaikwan. these offices will open an hour before the advertised time of departure of the trains carrying the mails and will close ten minutes before the trains leave. .--only ordinary letters will be accepted at these post offices. registered or insured letters cannot be accepted, nor can newspapers or parcels. .--the letters should in all cases have affixed to them the same stamps, or be franked in the same manner, as if they were going through the post in the ordinary way. the railway postmaster will therefore accept letters stamped with the stamps of any nationality with post offices now in northern china, and the stamp will indicate the nationality of the post office to which the letter will have to be handed over for delivery, or further transit, at the end of the railway portion of the journey. unpaid, underpaid, and unfranked letters will be accepted, but they will be liable to all penalties now existing, and unpaid and unfranked stamps will also run the risk of misdelivery. .--the letters must be handed, _together with a fee of five cents for each letter_, to the railway postmaster at any of the stations above named. this five cents is a late letter fee and is in addition to the ordinary postage. .--the railway postmaster will then affix the railway stamp, and will retain the letter for posting in the train. the railway stamp will not be issued to the public to affix themselves, nor will the railway postmaster accept any letters with the railway stamp already affixed. .--this service can be used for letters to europe or any country over sea. the trains carrying mails leave the stations as detailed below: peking to tientsin . tientsin to peking . tientsin to tongku . tongku to tientsin . tongku to tongshan . tongshan to tongku . tongshan to shanhaikwan . shanhaikwan to tongshan . j. r. l. macdonald. [illustration: ] about the same period india had military post offices with the troops engaged on the swat frontier and against the waziris. field post office no. was the office at camp khar on the swat frontier, nos. a and were respectively at zam and jani khel in connection with the blockading of the mahsud waziris (_type of fig._ ). [illustration: ] indian stamps were also used by the forces engaged in the somaliland campaign of - , at first without overprint, of which the following are types of the postmarks (_figs._ , ): [illustration: ] and during stamps of india appeared overprinted for use in british somaliland (_fig._ ). colonel younghusband's mission to the tibetan government was accompanied by army postal service which set up its base in the chumbi valley, and during the occupation of the forbidden city a field post office was set up at lhassa. indian stamps used on this mission are recognisable by the postmarks of lhassa, including two mis-spellings of the name lahassa (_fig._ ), and lahssa (_fig._ ). [illustration: a] the indian forces in south africa also had their own postal establishment, with a special series of postmarks. in the present campaign the indian forces are accompanied by fully-equipped field postal arrangements, and following up the precedent of the china expeditionary force, the indian expeditionary force in europe is furnished with a set of current indian postage stamps, cards, etc., overprinted i.e.f. (_figs._ - ). the indian troops enjoy free postage on unregistered letters and postcards posted to the united kingdom, france, and india, but correspondence to all other countries, such as switzerland, holland, scandinavia, and the rest of the world has to be prepaid with i.e.f. stamps, as also the parcels and registered letters for all countries. the next figure ( a) illustrates the type of base post office mark used in france, and no doubt similar marks are being used on these stamps supplied to the indian forces engaged in egypt and elsewhere during the present war. _fig._ b although not definitely identified is probably an indian army postmark in use in france. the first instalment of the "i.e.f." indian stamps issued to troops included: pies, grey (fig. ), , stamps. ½ anna, green (fig. ), , " anna, rose-carmine (fig. ), , " annas, mauve (fig. ), , " ½ annas, ultramarine (fig. ) , " " orange-brown (fig. ), , " " olive (fig. ), , " " purple (fig. ), , " " dull claret (fig. ), , " rupee, green and brown (fig. ), " and the following supplies of postcards and envelopes. ¼ anna inland postcard, single, reams ¼ anna inland postcard, reply, " anna international single postcard, " ½ anna envelopes, small size, " [illustration: b.] chapter iii. south african wars.--transvaal--orange river colony--krugersdorp-- kuruman--lydenburg--mafeking--pietersburg--rustenburg--schweizer renecke--volksrust--vryburg--wolmaranstad--the union--south african war of . [illustration: ] transvaal. the stamps of the transvaal illustrate the important changes through which the country has passed during the past forty years. _fig._ represents an early stamp of the republic, while the next figure (_fig._ ) is just one example of several denoting the annexation of the country by the british in . there are several types of the "v.r. transvaal" overprint, as in _figs._ - . [illustration: ] these were followed by stamps bearing the portrait of the british sovereign (_fig._ ). a great blow to british prestige was struck in , and the result of the disaster of majuba hill was the establishment of a second republic which in its turn overprinted the queen victoria stamps with a dutch inscription "een penny" (_fig._ ), subsequently returning to the original arms design of south african republic stamps (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] just before the outbreak of the last south african war in the ascendancy of president kruger had led to the ambition to see his features depicted upon the postage stamps of his country, and a new stamp design (_fig._ ) was prepared for this purpose, and a special paper was manufactured watermarked z.a.r. (zuid afrikaansche republiek) as illustrated in _fig._ . but the stamp was never issued, and the quantity of the "z.a.r." paper was sold and used for purposes very different from that for which it was prepared. in , after the late lord roberts' march to pretoria, the contemporary south african transvaal stamps came under british control again, and were issued at first with the overprinted initials of queen victoria, v.r.i. (_fig._ ), and later of king edward, e.r.i. (_fig._ ). these were superseded in due course by the london printed issue of transvaal stamps bearing the portrait of king edward (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] orange river colony. on march , , field marshal lord roberts issued the following proclamation. "whereas it is deemed expedient and necessary for the welfare of the orange free state that the postal service shall be resumed in the aforesaid republic as far as circumstances permit. "now therefore, "i, frederick sleigh, baron roberts of khandahar, k.g., g.c.b., g.c.s.i., g.c.i.e., v.c., field marshal and commander-in-chief of the british forces in south africa, do hereby nominate and appoint david george amosi falck administrator of the civil posts in such portions of the orange free state as have been or may hereafter be occupied by british troops. "and i do hereby order that the postal and telegraph services shall be resumed in the portions of the aforesaid republic already referred to, from the nineteenth day of march, , under the existing laws and conventions of the orange free state, subject to such alterations as may from time to time be notified. given under my hand at bloemfontein this seventeenth day of march, . god save the queen. (signed) roberts, _field marshal, commander-in-chief british forces in south africa._ the administrator shortly afterwards issued the following notice. it is hereby notified for general information that orange free state postage stamps, in use up to the th inst., are no longer valid; surcharged stamps of the same denomination having been substituted. (signed) a. falck, _administrator._ general post office, _bloemfontein, march nd, ._ [illustration: ] the stamps of the orange free state were successively overprinted "v.r.i." and "e.r.i." (_fig._ ), and later on new stamps were issued with the portrait of king edward (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] cape of good hope stamps were also used in the new colony with a special overprint reading "orange river colony" (_fig._ ). a sixpence blue stamp of the orange free state (_type of fig._ ) was in readiness for issue at bloemfontein when the british forces took over the control, and a few of these escaped the "v.r.i." overprint. the stamp is familiar to collectors with the overprint, and strictly speaking, without the overprint it has no record of postal use. a type-set label was issued by the orange free state early in the war to indicate the franking of official correspondence probably on military service. the stamp has a border of fancy type ornament and simple type inscriptions in three lines "in dienst--r.d.m.--o.v.s." the so-called "commando brief" stamp alleged to have franked the correspondence of burghers on commando is a bogus production. krugersdorp. the south african republic stamps alleged to have been used in this transvaal town with v.r.i _typewritten_ across them are believed to be purely fictitious creations. kuruman. during the siege of this town in british bechuanaland cape of good hope stamps were overprinted "kuruman besieged" and the date, but they are not fully credited by philatelists as _bonâ fide_ issues. lydenburg. during the temporary occupation of this south african republic town in september, , the stamp commemorative of penny postage (_fig._ ) was surcharged "v.r.i. d." and the ordinary transvaal stamps were locally overprinted "v.r.i." (_fig._ ). the values are ½d. green, d. carmine and green, d. brown, ½d. blue, d. on d. carmine and green, d. sage green and deep green, d. lilac and green, s. ochre and green. [illustration: ] mafeking. during the memorable siege of mafeking, a bechuanaland town but under the cape postal administration, arrangements were made for a local post, and for occasional transmission of letters to cape colony, natal, rhodesia, and the united kingdom. the postal arrangements of the town had only been transferred to the cape colony shortly before the siege, a fact which explains the variety of bechuanaland and cape stamps available in the town during the siege. payment of postage at the special rates chargeable for the service in the town and beyond was payable in the stamps of either "british bechuanaland," "bechuanaland protectorate," or of the cape overprinted "mafeking--besieged," and the new value (_figs._ - ). as will be noticed from the illustrations, the bechuanaland stamps were chiefly created by overprinting the name "british bechuanaland" or "bechuanaland protectorate" on english stamps. [illustration: ] the foregoing stamps were chiefly used for letters sent by native runners who had to dodge through the enemy's lines and get either to buluwayo in the north or kimberley in the south. a special penny and a threepence stamp were prepared by a photographic process in the town, and these form the most interesting philatelic souvenirs of the south african war. the penny stamp, designed by dr. w. a. hayes, shows a portrait of sergeant-major goodyear, of the cadet corps (_fig._ ), and there are two sizes of threepence stamp, designed by captain greener, the chief paymaster, showing a portrait of the gallant defender of mafeking, general baden powell. [illustration: ] pietersburg. this town in the north of the transvaal provided an interesting set of type-set provisional stamps during the boer occupation, from march until april , , when the british troops occupied the town and district. the stamps, which were but roughly printed in the office of _de zoutpansberg wachter_ in the town, are inscribed "postzegel" at top "z. afr. rep." at each side, and " " at foot. the value is expressed in figures and word in the rectangular opening of the frame of printer's rule (_fig._ ). the values issued were ½d. green, d. rose, d. orange, d. blue, d. green, and s. yellow, and owing to the crudity of the printing, specialists find a very extensive range of minor technical varieties amongst this issue of six denominations. [illustration: ] rustenburg. after the relief of the british garrison by baden powell's force in june, , the british hand-stamped south african republic stamps with the _sans serif_ initials v.r. in violet, the values known being ½d. green, d. carmine and green, d. brown and green, ½d. blue and green, d. purple and green, d. lilac and green, s. ochre and green, s. d. dull violet and green (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] schweizer renecke. this transvaal hamlet, in which a british force under colonel chamier was besieged from august , , to january , , overprinted some cape of good hope ½d. and d. and transvaal ½d., d., d., and d. stamps with a handstamp, reading "besieged" in violet, but this scarcely alters the postal status of the stamps (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] volksrust. here also in june, , a number of boer stamps were overprinted "v.r.i." in serif letters. the stamps used for the overprinting were fiscal stamps of the type of _fig._ , converted for postal use by the overprint "postzegel" (postage stamp) (_fig._ ). the values overprinted v.r.i. were d. pale blue, d. carmine, s. olive-bistre, s. d. brown, s. d. purple. [illustration: ] vryburg. in november, , the boers occupied this town in griqualand west, and they surcharged some of our cape colony stamps in stock there with the initials of the south african republic (z.a.r.) and a new value (_figs._ , , ). [illustration: ] the town was retaken by the british in may, , and certain stamps of the south african republic left behind by the boers were overprinted with an english inscription (_figs._ - ). [illustration: ] wolmaranstad. occupied by the british in june, , the available south african republic stamps having the dutch name overprinted "cancelled" and the addition of the sans serif letters, separated by hyphens "v-r-i." in blue and red. the values are the ½d., d., d., ½d., d., d., d., and s. of the regular south african stamps, and the d. red commemorative stamp, in which, however, the word cancelled is in a square, script type (_figs._ , ). [illustration: ] union of south africa. it was fondly regarded as the settlement of british and boer troubles in south africa when the former belligerents in the transvaal, free state, natal, and cape colony combined to form the union of south africa. the opening of the union parliament was commemorated in a special stamp (_fig._ ), the first to bear the portrait of h.m. king george v. after the decease of king edward. [illustration: ] this has since been followed with a complete issue of georgian stamps for the whole of the union (_fig._ ). south africa in . already we have a first instalment of special marks used on letters of general botha's loyal forces against the rebels, and against german raiders. the first (_fig_. ) is the handstamp struck in violet of an official regimental frank. the army base and field post offices have their postmarks of the pattern indicated in _fig_. , and the censor label illustrated (_fig_. ) is printed in violet, apparently in sheets which before use are endorsed with a black mark of concentric circles bearing an inscription of which only a portion shows on each label, and of which we have only seen an undecipherable part. [illustration: ] all three of these were used on a letter from a member of the south african scottish regiment at luderitzbucht in german south-west africa. chapter iv. france--napoleon's minister of posts--the second republic--the presidency--empire--french expeditions to china and mexico--sedan--metz--strasburg--the siege of paris--balloon post--pigeon post--peace--military frank stamps--the german invasion, --red cross stamps--war postcards and postmarks. the postal arrangements of france have been deranged oft-times within the past century by war and revolution. it is just a century since the famous episode of the lavalettes occurred. the count de lavalette was director of posts under napoleon, and in he did his best to upset the organisation and fled on the approach of the allies. the following year he returned to his post, and after waterloo he was arrested on a treason charge and sentenced to the guillotine. the countess made desperate efforts to gain the clemency of louis xviii., but without avail. in the end she gained permission to go to her husband in his prison. she went in a sedan chair with her daughter, and an old servant of the family. the gaoler left the couple to their last farewell, and on his return saw the broken-hearted wife assisted out by her two companions. a little later he approached the count, who lay collapsed upon his bed covered in a large cloak, and his face buried in his hands. it was some time after ere the gaoler discovered that his prisoner was the lady, and that the count had got clear away. french stamps provide a very interesting record of the political changes in the country, and provide one of the best illustrations of how stamps demarcate the periods of a nation's history. we have dealt at some length with this aspect of french stamps elsewhere,[ ] and limit our account here to a short pictorial one. the first french stamps (_fig._ ) are inscribed repub. franc., and followed in the wake of the revolution of when m. etienne arago was in charge of the post office. they were first issued january , , after the election of prince louis napoleon to the presidency. the head on the stamp engraved by the elder barre is not the head of liberty, as is commonly supposed, but that of ceres, the italian goddess of agriculture, who was the same as the greek demeter or "mother earth," appropriate for the design of the stamps of a country which is "one of ceres' chiefest barns for corn." napoleon's _coup d'etat_ of december, , was followed by the issue in of stamps in which his portrait takes the place of ceres (_fig._ ). late in the same year the empire was proclaimed, so in the abbreviated inscription repub. franc. was altered to empire franc. (_fig._ ). napoleon's successes in italy and elsewhere were acclaimed by adding the victor's crown of laurel to the portrait on the stamps in (_fig._ ). his various expeditions are marked for the collectors in a most interesting range of army postmarks, used in the crimea, china, mexico, etc., and of french stamps used in the french post offices in the levant, similar to the british ones described in chapter i., and now rendered obsolete by the closing of the post offices in october, , as a result of the "abolition of the capitulations." the mexican expedition, largely owing to the civil war troubles in the states, led to the placing of emperor maximilian on the throne of mexico, and to the issue of stamps of the mexican empire bearing that ill-fated ruler's portrait (_fig._ ). [footnote : "all about postage stamps." by fred j. melville. london, . t. werner laurie, ltd.] [illustration: ] the franco-german war has left the stamp collector an interesting series of stamps catalogued as alsace and lorraine (_fig._ ), but more properly called the stamps of the german army of occupation, as they were used in the parts of france occupied by the german army during the war and afterwards in the two annexed provinces until superseded by the german imperial issues. september , , witnessed the surrender of napoleon to the prussians at sedan, and in november we find the head of ceres recur on the stamps lithographed at bordeaux during the siege of paris (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] this period is undoubtedly the most interesting one in modern postal history. there is a vast array of army postmarks of the war, special postcards issued by the auxiliary committee of the red cross at strasburg, letters sent from metz during the siege by free balloons, and letters sent by a variety of ingenious methods from paris. m. steenackers was the director of posts under the republic proclaimed september , , and his endeavours to maintain postal communications between paris and the outer world are among the most fascinating of postal records. a cable was laid under the seine to rouen, but the germans dragged the river and destroyed it. telegraph wire had to be smuggled into the country, as the swiss government declared it to be contraband. letters were enclosed in different forms of hollow spheres and thrown into the river; the spheres were flanged so that they would rotate with the current. hundreds of gallant messengers, ladies as well as men, strove to reach the city with concealed messages, mostly without success. one lady is said to have succeeded in getting through with a letter which had been secreted in a hollow tooth and the tooth stopped with gold. even dogs were sent with messages to paris, but most of them were shot by the enemy. the chief means of sending letters out of paris was the balloon post, and almost the only messages received within the city came by carrier pigeons. there were free balloons and passenger balloons, a higher rate of postage being charged for the latter. letter sheets, etc., were issued for both services inscribed "par ballon non-monte," or par ballon monte. a register was kept of the services of aeronauts during the siege. the messages sent by pigeons were at first written in very small handwriting, but afterwards they were photographed in microscopical minuteness, so that a very large number could be carried by one pigeon. these photomicrographs were projected on to a screen by means of an optical lantern to read and transcribe the messages when received in paris. the films were placed in tubes attached to the pigeon's tail. one pigeon arriving in paris january , , delivered , messages by this means. the later and more peaceful history of france has been typified on its stamps by m. jules sage's allegory (_fig._ ) representing peace clasping hands with commerce across the world by means of the post, and by the late m. roty's pleasing semeuse or sower design (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] by a law promulgated february , , a long discussed project to allow soldiers and sailors serving with the colours a limited free postage was brought into operation. each man coming under the description was allowed to send two letters a month free, and by another law of december , , the _franchise militaire_ stamp system was introduced. these were at first the then current centimes stamps with the overprint f.m. (_fig._ ); their distribution is in the hands of the military authorities, who allow two stamps a month to each private or non-commissioned officer in the army and navy, enabling them to send two letters not exceeding gr. free of postage. the two types of the centimes "rights of man" issue exist with the f.m. overprint, issued in and respectively (_figs._ , ), and the succeeding sower type (_fig._ ) appeared in . when the french inland postage rate was reduced from centimes to centimes, april , , the centimes stamps were overprinted f.m. instead of the centimes, two of the sower types of centimes value receiving the overprint f.m. respectively in and (_figs._ , ). since january , , these stamps have been used on the official correspondence of the french civil service as well as by the military. [illustration: ] after forty years the fair fields of france are once again ravaged by the german invaders, and already our allies across the channel have issued special stamps which serve the double purpose of denoting postage and of collecting small contributions to the french red cross. the following is the official decree: le président de la république française. sur le rapport du ministre du commerce, de l'industrie, des postes et des télégraphes, décrète: article premier.--il est créé un timbre-poste spécial, dénommé "timbre de la croix-rouge française." le public aura la faculté, dans le régime interieur seulement, d'utiliser ce timbre qui vaudra affranchissement jusqu'à concurrence de centimes seulement. art. .--ce timbre-poste est vendu centimes. la différence entre le prix de vente et le valeur d'affranchissement, déduction faite de la remise réglementaire de p. , sera versée à la commission institutée par le décret du août, , au ministère de la guerre, sous l'autorité du service de santé militaire et avec le concours des sociétés formant la croix-rouge française. art. .--par mesure transitoire et en attendant l'impression du nouveau timbre, le public aura à sa disposition des timbres-poste ordinaires à centimes, portant en surcharge le signe de la croix-rouge et le chiffre . art. .--le ministre du commerce et le ministre des finances sont chargés, chacun en ce qui le concerne, de l'execution du présent décret. fait à paris, le août, . r. poincare. par le président de la république: _le ministre du commerce, de l'industrie, des postes et des télégraphes_, gaston thomson, _le ministre des finances_, j. noulens. [illustration: ] as indicated in the decree, the first stamp (_fig._ ) was only of provisional character, the ordinary french centimes stamp being surcharged "+ c", and selling for centimes, two-thirds representing the postage, and one-third the red cross contribution. this was issued on august , , and in all , were printed before the definite red cross stamp (_fig._ ) was issued on september . the principality of monaco has also issued a similarly overprinted stamp for the french red cross (_fig._ ), and yet another of this class of stamp has been issued for the french protectorate in morocco (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] special postcards have been furnished to the french troops and there is a special postcard for the use of the public in writing to soldiers. they are decorated with the flags of the allies in colours, and the first kind, "modèle a," bear instructions to the effect that "this card must be handed to the quartermaster. it must bear no indication of the place of sending nor any information relating to military operations, past or future. otherwise it will not be forwarded." on "modèle b" (_fig._ ), for the use of the public, it is stated that "if it is to be forwarded immediately the card shall contain _personal news_ only." messrs. alfred smith & sons report the existence of an unofficial imitation of "modèle b" sold in the streets of paris. it differs from the genuine variety in the following details: (i) the flags are misplaced so that the french flag leans over to the right, instead of being vertical; (ii) the red and blue colours are shaded with black lines only, instead of white and black lines; (iii) the ruled line at the back is plain, instead of being composed of square dots. there is also a variety of plain letterpress cards, headed "correspondance militaire--republique francaise--carte postale", and other textual inscriptions, or in some cases with only the first two words, with an arrangement of space for the address. [illustration: ] many military postmarks have already been noted by collectors in connection with the present campaign, but it is too early yet to arrange them with proper regard to their use and significance. one interesting episode is marked by the postmark of the central military postal administration of paris (_figs._ , ). this establishment accompanied the french government when the latter moved to bordeaux on september , and continued to use the postmark inscribed paris there, so that impressions of _fig._ bearing dates between september and october (the date of the return to paris) originated not in paris, but in bordeaux. [illustration: ] a somewhat pathetic interest attaches to the mark _fig._ indicating "lieu de destination envahi" (place of destination invaded), and it appears that tours has been a temporary centre for civil correspondence undeliverable to parts of the country which have been invaded (_figs._ - ). _figs._ - represent various types of army postmarks, regimental franks, etc., being used during the present campaign. [illustration: ] chapter v. russia--war charity stamps--portraits of the tsars--war stamps of --japan--war with china--the empress jingo--triumphal military and naval reviews--kiao-chow--belgium--king albert--bombardment of malines--private postal service--germanised posts--red cross stamps--bogus stamps--postmarks--serbia--"death mask" stamps--king peter--montenegro--king nicholas. russia. the empire of the tsars has provided collectors with a few stamps of philanthropic interest in connection with its wars. a set of four denominations was issued in and sold at kopecs per stamp in excess of the face-value, this extra sum going to the fund organised by the imperial women's patriotic union for the benefit of orphans of soldiers and sailors who fell in the war with japan. the following are the descriptions of the stamps which were printed by the imperial printing office at st. petersburg in the delicate colour work for which that establishment is justly celebrated; the figure in brackets denotes the price, in kopecs, charged for each, including the kopecs charity contribution (_figs._ - ): ( ) kopecs, red-brown, cerise, and yellow-green. ( ) " violet, red-lilac, and buff. ( ) " dark blue, pale blue, and rose. ( ) " dark blue, pale blue, and orange. [illustration: ] normally the stamps are perforated × ½, but the ( ) kopecs exists perforated , ½; ½; and a compound of these two measures. the ( ) and ( ) kopecs also exist perforated , ½. the stamps appear to have been designed by richard sarring, an artist attached to the great printing works of the russian government. the subjects represented are-- kopecs. monument of admiral nachimoff at sebastopol, a hero who was wounded in the crimean war. " monument to two national heroes of the tartar dominion, minin and pascharski. " statue of peter the great. " the kremlin, with statue of alexander ii. in the foreground. the small doles of kopecs per stamp collected in this manner for the orphans' fund yielded about , roubles, roughly £ . the portraits of the tsars never appeared on the stamps of russia until , when a very fine portrait and view series of stamps were issued (_figs._ - ), and although not issued as war stamps they are full of reminiscence of the three centuries of the stirring history of the romanofs. the set begins with a picture of peter the great, after a portrait by the dutch painter de moor, on the kopec stamp. there is another portrait of peter on the kopecs stamp, this one being copied from an engraving of the picture painted by kneller to the order of king william iii., and now at hampton court. czar alexander ii. figures on the green kopecs stamp, and alexander iii. is portrayed on the kopecs. the present czar, nicholas ii., appears on the kopecs brown, the kopecs blue, and the highest value in the set, viz., the roubles ( rouble = s. ½d.). a portrait of catherine ii., after the painter skorodoñmow, and another of elizabeth ii. after tchemesow, add two more to the list of illustrious females in the stamp collectors' portrait gallery. these are on the kopecs green and kopecs brown, respectively. the other czars depicted are nicholas i. ( kopecs), alexander i. ( kopecs), alexei michaelovitch ( kopecs), paul i. ( kopecs), and last, but actually the first and founder of the dynasty, michael feodorowitch ( kopecs). on three of the rouble values are views which include the kremlin at moscow ( rouble), the winter palace at st. petersburg ( roubles), and the romanof house ( roubles). [illustration: ] early in the course of the present war the russians invaded east prussia, and it is reported that they were using russian stamps in that country, but up to the time of writing, examples have not come to hand. the only special marks yet noted in this country from russia are various censor marks and labels (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] in this war philatelic history is repeating itself, for russia has issued a new set of war charity postage stamps (_figs._ - ) for a fund organised by the imperial women's patriotic union, of the face values kopec, , and kopecs, each of which sells for one kopec more than the franking value denoted. the extra kopec goes to the fund, which is to relieve distress among widows and orphans of soldiers and sailors killed in the war (see _frontispiece_). [illustration: ] japan. the rapid modern rise of our far eastern ally to power is marked upon a few interesting stamps of a commemorative character. japan's successful war against china ( - ) was commemorated by an issue of four stamps in . these are of two denominations, each of which is in two varieties, an outcome of an eastern etiquette which at a later date was evinced in the stamps of the republic of china. the japanese stamps in question portray two heroes of the war; the denominations were sen and sen, but that there should be no suggestion of any inequality in their admiration for the two heroes, the japanese postal authorities had two stamps of each denomination prepared so that each warrior figured on a sen and also a sen stamp. thus neither could be regarded as being valued higher than the other, and neither could be said to be given greater prominence. one of the portraits (_figs._ , ) is that of the late marshall, prince arisugawa taruhito, chief of the staff of the army of the japanese empire, and the other (_figs._ , ) is the late lieutenant general prince kitashirakawa, commander of the imperial guards engaged in the subjugation of formosa. [illustration: ] at a later date, , there was a proposal to commemorate the services of the late lieutenant general, and a sen stamp was announced; its design was to comprise the imperial crest (the chrysanthemum) and a formosan shinto shrine. the stamps were heralded as about to be issued in time for the festival of the shrine celebrated at taipeh on october and , . in , as the outcome of japanese military successes in the east against china and russia, full administrative control was taken over corea, and a special stamp of the value sen was issued to mark the amalgamation of the japanese and corean postal services. yet another pair of stamps commemorates somewhat ancient history; they were issued in and bear the portrait of the empress jingo-kôgô (_fig._ ), who is stated to have been regent from to in lieu of her son ojin. she waged a victorious war against corea. the legend goes that the god sumiyoshi acting as pilot for her on the sea, caused gigantic fishes to surround the boat and keep it afloat when a great storm threatened to send the ship to the bottom. [illustration: ] the next two stamps (_figs._ , ) were issued on april , , to mark, according to the inscriptions the "campaign of the th and th years of meiji. memorial postage stamp of the triumphal military review--one sen five rin" (or, for the higher value--three sen). in the centre is a trophy of arms, including a field gun, rifles, and ammunition, and the imperial flag, the crest or chrysanthemum, within a wreath of rice plant and pine. in the spandrels are the five-pointed stars, badges worn by the japanese soldiers. [illustration: ] two years later a great naval review was held at kobe, and although no special adhesive stamp was issued, a quaint postmark representing the bow of a battleship was used (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] the stamps already mentioned under japan have only a commemorative association with war. in the sen carmine stamp then current was specially overprinted with japanese characters (_fig._ ), signifying war or field service. these were prepared for and issued to the japanese military and naval forces in china and corea, and it is very probable that the japanese forces recently co-operating with the british at kiaochow used stamps of this kind, but with the overprint on the new sen stamp illustrated (_fig._ ). belgium. brave little belgium, whose king is the outstanding hero of the present war has not hitherto had any occasion to provide collectors with war stamps since the first belgian issue of adhesive postage stamps in - with the portrait of leopold i. (_figs._ , ). but the german invasion, and the gallant efforts to frustrate it, have left their mark imperishably in the stamp album. the last current ordinary stamps of belgium were in four designs by m. ed. pellens, a professor at the antwerp académie des beaux arts, and these included a good portrait of king albert (_figs._ - ). [illustration: ] these stamps were manufactured at the belgian state stamp-printing factory at malines, and as the factory was destroyed in the bombardment of the town late in august, it is unlikely that more of these stamps will be printed. the belgian authorities had been preparing a new issue of stamps before the war, and had ordered machinery in england, which at the time of writing is not delivered, but which will probably be delivered to the government at havre, where temporary arrangements will be made to supply belgian stamps to the inhabitants of the small part of the country not in the hands of the enemy, and incidentally to be ready to reorganise the belgian postal system as the germans get driven further and further back to their own country. [illustration: ] early in september, , it was reported that a private postal service was working between ostend and blankenberghe, and brussels, namur and nivelles at a charge of franc per letter, but no information is yet to hand of any special stamps or postmarks being used in connection with the service. [illustration: ] the germans have conducted the posts in belgium with a view to the requirements of their own countrymen in the temporarily conquered land, and incidentally to make profit out of the belgians and out of philatelists. there will no doubt be many interesting curiosities in the postmark line arising from the germanisation of the names on the cancelling cachets, such as lowen (louvain), lüttich (liège), kales (ostend), etc. but the chief philatelic interest attaches to the issue of special stamps, or rather the ordinary german stamps, overprinted in gothic type "belgien", and with the currency surcharged in centimes (_fig._ ). of these there are four denominations, centimes on pfennig brown, centimes on pfennig green, centimes on pfennig red, and centimes on pfennig blue. the belgian government authorised the preparation of stamps for collecting funds for the red cross, and these made their appearance on october , . there are two sets of three values-- , and centimes. the set in the smaller size portrays king albert (_figs._ , ), and the larger size stamps bear a picture of a monument commemorating the belgian war of independence, (_figs._ , ). [illustration: ] the belgian red cross stamps were for some time rather difficult to obtain, as it appears that the stock was left behind at post offices to which the belgian authorities have not had access since their removal to havre. undoubtedly vast numbers of these stamps could have been sold in england and elsewhere had they been procurable from belgian sources. [illustration: ] the interest aroused in the belgian red cross stamps, and the difficulty in obtaining them, has probably been responsible for the attempt to exploit collectors with a set of three labels purporting to be "new belgian stamps, sold in flanders only during two days. the emission was very small, only , series, which were paid the double of the nominal value, i.e., centimes." the "stamps" are figured (green), (red) and (blue), but no "c" or centimes. they bear within a fancy frame lettered belgique at top and belgie below portraits of king albert and his consort (_figs._ , ). messrs. alfred smith & son submitted these "stamps" to the belgian postal administration, and were told that not only are they not official stamps, but that "they have apparently been obliterated with a stolen or forged date-stamp." the "postmark" reads roulers-- octo-- - -- . the belgian government moved to havre in france on october , , and there they have a special post office using the postmark _fig._ . the headquarters of the habitations of the belgian government are reckoned part of belgium, and while the belgians may send letters to their different addresses in havre or to belgium, for the unit rate of centimes ( d.), letters for france, even for another part of havre, are treated as foreign letters, and require to be prepaid at the centimes ( ½d.) rate. there are also belgian military postcards at present in use by the soldiers, and a variety of military postmarks, of which _fig._ is an example. [illustration: ] an interesting trio of covers has been received from a young marine who was with the naval brigade at antwerp. the first, dated october , , has the postmark (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] on the th he was evidently interned in leeuwarden (_fig._ ) holland, his letter being censored (_fig._ ). on the th he wrote from groningen, where most of the naval brigade men were interned. the letter has the groningen machine cancellation, and _fig._ struck in violet: portvrij franc de post. militaires étrangers internés dans les pays-bas. [illustration: ] serbia. revolutionary disturbances have assisted the changes of the stamps of serbia. michael obrenovich iii., who figures on the issue of , was assassinated on june th, , by the friends of the abdicated prince, alexander karageorgevich. milan iv., his successor, had a troublous reign; during his period the country was recognised as a kingdom with milan as king, but he abdicated in in favour of alexander, his son. the portraits of milan and alexander figure on the stamps of their respective reigns, and in the case of alexander we get one of those philatelic issues which must imprint on our minds the memory of notable or notorious events. it is within the memory of most of our readers that alexander and his consort, queen draga, were assassinated by a number of military officers in , and the house of karageorgevich once again ruled in serbia in king peter, the present monarch. at the time of the assassination a new series of stamps bearing the portrait of alexander was in readiness for issue, but before they were sent out under the new _regime_ the effigy of the murdered king was almost completely obliterated by the overprinting of a design of the serbian arms (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] the year following the grimmest of all the royal tragedies of serbia the surviving dynasty commemorated its centenary, and issued perhaps the most sensational stamp series known to collectors. these will go down to posterity as the "death mask" stamps, although the curiosity of artistry which led to this designation probably owes more to the excited imagination of the serbian and foreign public than to any gruesome intent on the part of revolutionary artists. the coronation stamps of king peter, issued september , , are of large size, and in two designs, by g. janovic. m. mouchon was the engraver, and the stamps were printed at the french government stamp printing factory in paris. the names of the designer and engraver appear in microscopic letters below the design of each stamp. the first design (_fig._ ) shows a medal on which the profile of the new king peter is superimposed upon the profile of the founder of the dynasty "kara," or black george. the names inscribed upon the medal are kara gjorgje at left, and petar i. at right. to the left and right of the medal respectively are the centennial dates - , and below are the serbian arms, with the motto spes mihi prima deus. along the top of the stamp in sclavonic characters is kraljevina srbija (kingdom of servia), the value in para is in the lower left corner, and the word poshta in the lower right corner. this design was used for all the para values. for the higher values in dinar (_fig._ ), the same frame design is used, but for the medallion what may have been the reverse of a coronation medal is shown. this is reputed to be an allegory representing the successes of the guerilla leader kara-george, founder of the dynasty against the turks in . there is a minute inscription on the medallion below the picture signifying the dawn of liberty, . these stamps were at first received by collectors with disdain and some disgust; the memory of the tragedy of june th, , was still too fresh to allow the world to join readily in any jubilation over the centenary of a dynasty which had been dragged from obscurity after many years, to occupy a throne lately emptied by the foul hands of assassins. it is even said that the early sales of the stamps were entirely disappointing. but this was all changed from the moment rumours of a cunning intrigue attached themselves to the issue. it is probably--almost certainly--an accidental effect produced by the drawing or engraving of the two heads, one over the other, that they produce in more ways than one, other composite "faces." by masking the lower part of the profile of kara george it is possible to distinguish a new face with an ugly gashed brow; but the alleged "death mask" of alexander is seen by turning the stamp upside down, and regarding that portion of the inverted profiles which may be marked off in triangle fashion with the chins as the base of the triangle. there is certainly a curious and hideous effect, but similar, if less ghastly, artistic curiosities occur in numbers of other stamps, and in many other forms of pictorial representation, and in the case of the serbian coronation issue it is probably pure accident. _fig._ represents the current type of serbian stamp, with a military portrait of king peter. [illustration: ] montenegro. tsar nicholas of montenegro has not given us any special war stamps, but the warrior king's portraits, at various stages in his career appear on the stamps issued in for his jubilee. the para shows him as he was during his student days in paris (_fig._ ), the and paras show him with his bride at the date of their marriage, (_fig._ ). the other values show various portraits of the king, including one of him on a charger leading his troops to battle (_fig._ ). chapter vi. the enemy's stamps--germany--austria--bosnia--hungary--turkey. germany. in postal arrangements for armies in the field germany has shown earlier organised war posts than any of our allies. as with the regular postal systems on the continent, their early history is bound up with the records of the princely house of thurn and taxis, of which house count roger set up in the first horse post between the tyrol and italy. about johann baptista von taxis created the first field post offices operating with the armies of the emperor charles v. against the turks and in italy. the hereditary monopoly which the thurn and taxis family enjoyed from the fifteenth century continued well into the nineteenth, the last remnant of it being purchased from the family by prussia in for three million thalers. the growth of prussian dominion and the fusion of the german states into one vast empire is well demonstrated in the stamp album by the joint austro-prussian issues for the conquered danish duchies, by the disappearance of the states from the list of separate stamp issuing countries, replaced at first by stamps of the north german confederation, and later by stamps of the german empire. the stamp collection plainly shows the modern progress of military prussia to the lead in the germanic countries. collectors have many interesting postal relics of the austro-prussian war of in the form of feldpost brief, and the franco-prussian war brought about the first special war stamps issued by germany for the use of their armies of occupation in alsace and lorraine, and in the invaded parts of france (_fig._ ). of this campaign there are also the "feldpost brief," and the then novel form of communication by postcard was also adopted for military purposes in the "feldpost correspondenz karte." from the foundation of the empire the stamps show little change. being a collection of sovereign states it has never been regarded as appropriate for the kaiser's portrait to figure on the stamps as king george's does on most of the stamps of the british empire. the german stamps to-day bear a female head (_fig._ ) drawn by paul waldroff after a representation of "germania" by an actress fräulein anna führing, which so impressed the kaiser that he adopted this as the symbol of germany on its stamps. on modern high value german stamps there are pictures of more war-like interest. the marks stamp shows an allegory of the union of north and south germany from a painting by anton von werner, with the motto "seid einig, seid einig" (be united, be united!); the marks (_fig._ ) shows a group of german princes with the kaiser on horseback at their head, a scene drawn by w. pape of the unveiling of the memorial to kaiser wilhelm i. the highest german stamp denomination, the marks (_fig._ ) shows another group, with the present kaiser prominent in it. this is also by pape, and represents one of those spectacular appearances which the kaiser has revelled in, the delivery of an address on the anniversary of the reconstitution of the german empire. the motto "ein reich, ein volk, ein gott" (one kingdom, one people, one god) is one which, as we now know, may be carried too far! [illustration: ] since the outbreak of the present war the german armies have no doubt provided a great deal of new material for philatelic study, and a recent number of a stamp journal published in the fatherland tells us that collectors there are zealously following the development of the german field post offices, adding the following information: there is a lot of interesting material already, not only with regard to the printed forms used in the field mail service, but also with regard to the field post cancellations, troop letter cancellations, and censor postmarks. the correspondence coming from the garrisons very rarely bear a field post cancellation, and it is generally cancelled with ordinary town postmarks like the mails of troops still at home. besides this, there is, occasionally, a censor troop cancellation; to the latter also belong the lazarett cancellation (hospital service), of which we have seen several that were interesting. lately, a large number of pieces of mail have been coming from troops in the enemies' country, without postal cancellations--owing to strategic reasons--which is much to be regretted from the view-point of the collector. in the near future, the working out of german field post cancellations of the war of will be an exceptionally thankful philatelic report. we will only mention the news that france had issued several occupation stamps which were said to have been used during the occupation of muelhausen. a collector in muelhausen wrote to us about this mythological issue of stamps, that the french, during both occupations, have neither used their own stamps, nor have they organised any kind of postal service.[ ] belgium, as already noted in chapter v., has been provided with stamps of the germania type overprinted "belgien" and the value in centimes (_fig._ ). these have, no doubt, been issued in enormous quantities with the hope of raking in shekels not only from the belgians and from german stamp collectors, but also from collectors and curiosity hunters in neutral countries. although there are plenty to be had in switzerland, holland, and other neutral countries at about sixpence the set of four, it is extraordinary to relate that in one or two isolated cases british dealers have obtained and sold supplies at very fancy prices. as in the case of the similar issue so called "alsace and lorraine" of - , there will be plenty to go round, and it will be time enough when the huns have ceased from troubling us to gather these relics into our albums as memorials of germany's trail through the beautiful towns of belgium. in any case it is inadvisable to buy any unused stamps originating in an enemy country since the outbreak of the war, as they represent a clear contribution to the enemy's treasury. [footnote : incidentally the german journal, _berliner briefmarken-zeitung_, in a very moderate article on the war's effect on the stamp trade, states that german collectors are buying up belgian, serbian, and montenegrin stamps, evidently in the "opinion that these countries will become non-existent."] [illustration: ] very few postmarks of the present war have so far reached us from germany, but _fig._ is a type of the field post office date mark. _figs._ , are censor marks, and the next (_fig._ ) is the cover of a letter from a prisoner of war interned at kissingen. [illustration: ] austria. the stamps of francis joseph the unlucky, who has been on the throne of austria since the first austrian issue appeared in , do not call for more than pictorial representation here. the general postage stamps current in austria were originally issued as a special series to mark the sixtieth year of the emperor's reign ( ). slightly modified, they were re-issued for the celebration of his eightieth birthday ( ). the illustrations (_figs._ - ) show the original issue of as still current. the portraits are copied from paintings in the royal palaces, and the subjects are: heller (charles vi.), heller (maria theresa), heller (joseph ii.), heller (leopold ii.), heller (francis i.), heller (ferdinand). [illustration: ] of the present sovereign, unluckier than ever in the present war, the series comprises several good portraits. the heller shows him at the time of his accession in , the heller a portrait painted thirty years later, ; the heller shows him in the uniform of a field marshal, and on the krone he figures with the insignia of the order of the golden fleece. contemporary portraits appear on the , , and heller (_figs._ , , ), and a particularly fine portrait stamp of large size is the kronen (_fig._ ) printed in deep brown, blue and ochre. [illustration: ] the and kronen stamps (_figs._ , ) respectively present views of the imperial palaces schönbrunn and hofburg. [illustration: ] on october , , two stamps were issued in austria of a war charity postal character, selling for heller more than the face value, the extra heller going to the fund for the widows and orphans of austrian soldiers killed in the war. the designs are adapted from the ordinary and heller stamps (_figs._ , ) by a lengthening of the stamps for the addition of the date (_fig._ ). these although paying postage to the value of and heller, sell at and heller respectively. [illustration: ] bosnia-herzegovina. the military occupation of bosnia-herzegovina by austria under the treaty of berlin, , was followed thirty years later by the coup of october , , by which the emperor-king proclaimed his sovereignty over the two provinces. his portrait first appeared on a bosnian stamp of the pictorial series of - in which, incidentally, there are included views of sarajevo where occurred the murder of the archduke francis ferdinand on june , , a tragedy which provided a pretext for hastening the german plans for a world war. in the emperor-king's portrait re-appeared on the stamps of the military postal administration of these provinces (_fig._ ). the and heller stamps of giving views of the pass of narenta with a view of the river prenj, and the valley of vrba, are reported to have been overprinted " " and surcharged and hellers for use in collecting heller contributions to the austrian war fund. hungary. the stamps of hungary, in the lower values (_fig._ ) depict the turul, the mythical bird of the magyars, which was said to have been the messenger between them and heaven, and their guide along the road that took them into hungary. when the magyars proclaimed arpad their first king, the turul perched upon his forehead. two of these low value stamps have been, with modifications and overprint, adapted for selling as war charity postage stamps (_fig._ ) at + filler, and + filler. the war inscriptions read "hadi segely" (war relief) and on label at the foot, obliterating the original inscription, "ozvegyeknek es arvaknak ket ( ) filler" (for the widows and orphans two filler). the next illustration (_fig._ ) is a charity postcard from hungary bearing one of the war relief stamps. [illustration: ] turkey. the coming of the young turk has completely changed the aspect of turkish stamps. they have robbed the collector of a rare illusion, and we owe them a grudge for it. the picturesque fancies which we treasure in our memories as the children store up the fables of the nursery, are dear to us children of a larger growth. but our love of fantastic lore suffers many a shock. ever since the first stamps of the sublime empire appeared in the reign of abdul aziz, on whom be peace, we collectors of stamps (on whom there can be no peace, for in stamps there is constancy but in change) have nourished a fond fancy that pictures and portraits are forbidden to the muslim, and that allah, who is great, and his prophet, muhammed, have set the curse upon such works of satan. [illustration: ] much has been written by philatelists, as well as by muhammedan scholars, upon the subject, and the continued philatelic fidelity to the _thoughra_ (the sultan's sign manual) on the turkish stamps has ingrained into collectors the belief that the turks would never depart from their reading of the law as set forth by muhammed in this particular. the verse which, in the koran, sets forth the alleged prohibition is transcribed:-- o believers! surely wine and games of chance, and statues, and the divining arrows are an abomination of satan's work! avoid them that ye may prosper. the wise men of the east, who have drunk deep of the streams of wisdom that flow from the book of warnings, have read many different meanings into the verse, and in turkey it has been taken to imply the forbidding of all figures, and even the ruminative game of chess is barred by the strict muslim. we, of christian faith, would appear to have a more emphatic prohibition of the making of pictures in the translation of the mosaic law:-- and god spake all these words, saying, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or the likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. [illustration: ] our theologians have not regarded the second commandment as a condemnation of the making of pictures, though many an earnest believer, during the phases of pictorial frenzy through which we have passed and are still passing, may have regarded the picture paper and the picture palace as abominations of satan's work. the new pictorial stamps of turkey have dispelled one of the mellow myths of our cult, a myth which, perhaps, was simply an exaggeration of a prohibition which is more in common with western ideas than with western practices. for instance, there have been recorded seizures of pictorial postcards in turkey, attributed to the muhammedan law; but these probably concerned cards which gave offence to muslim susceptibilities by their blatant portrayal of the unveiled faces (_inter alia_) of women. if the prohibition of pictures in the past has been no myth, and the late departure from precedent is the result of the advent of the new turk, then, indeed, the new turk hath courage, for each true believer of the prophet must needs regard every new-born child, whether a creature of the flesh or of the mind, as a thing that is touched by satan. yet one other illusion concerning turkish stamps has been shattered of recent years. we are told now that the crescent, so long an emblem of the sublime empire, owes nothing to the moon. the barking of dogs on the appearance of the moon at the siege of byzantium may have saved the city, and the partial eclipse of the orb of night may have aided the turks at the capture of constantinople, but the turkish crescent is no memorial thereof, merely a horse-shoe or an amulet. professor ridgeway says it is the result of the base-to-base conjunction of two claw or tusk amulets. says another writer, "there is no historical evidence that the turks thought at all of the moon when they adopted a crescent as their national symbol." turkey's first departure from the _thoughra_ device for its stamps was in , when a set of crude picture stamps displayed an alleged view of the new general post office at constantinople (_fig._ ). later in the same year a finely-engraved set of three denominations, , , and paras, was issued to commemorate the recapture on july , , of the fortress of adrianople after the balkan war. the design, which was engraved in london, shows a view of the mosque of selim (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] on january , , a fine new set of london-printed stamps was issued depicting a number of scenes in the turkish empire and a portrait of h.m. sultan muhammed v. incidentally some of the designs are of warlike interest, notably the cruiser _hamidieh_ on the piastres (_fig._ ), turkish war office on the piastres (_fig._ ), and the forts of the bosphorus on the piastres (_fig._ ). the vignettes of the full set of the issue are: paras, mauve. hippodrome obelisk. " sepia. column of constantine. " purple-brown. the seven towers. " deep blue. leander's tower. " green. fanaraki. " scarlet. castle of europe. piastre, bright blue. sultan ahmed mosque. ½ " carmine and black. martyr's monument. ¾ " grey and red-brown. bathing fountains of salem. piastres, green and black. cruiser _hamidieh_. ½ " orange and green. candilli. " deep lilac. ministry of war. " red-brown. sweet waters of europe. " dull yellow-green. suleimanieh mosque. " rose. the bosphorus. " indigo. sultan ahmed's fountain. " green and black. sultan muhammed v. [illustration: ] in addition there were issued four postage due stamps, one bearing the warlike "arms" of turkey, and the other the thoughra, or sign-manual, of sultan muhammed v. (_figs._ , ). already the present war, even before turkey had on its part opened hostilities, has produced an important effect upon the postal arrangements of turkey by the "abolition of the capitulations" which took effect on october , . the various powers interested in turkey have for many years maintained agencies of their own postal administrations in constantinople and other parts of the turkish empire, and these, owing to the untrustworthiness of the turkish service, secured the bulk of the foreign correspondence both of europeans and turks. latterly, turkey has been endeavouring to compete more keenly with these rival post offices within its own dominions, and they have sold specially earmarked stamps to business firms for use on foreign correspondence at a substantial discount off face value. [illustration: ] the star overprinted in blue or red (_figs._ , ) on the current stamps indicates those sold in this way. each of the foreign post offices in turkey, including our own british post office, used special stamps. years ago, when the british office was first set up, ordinary english stamps were sold, but there were abuses of the currency values so that it was found desirable to overprint our english stamps for use in turkey with either the value in turkish currency, or with the word levant, which effectually prevented any large purchases in turkish money being exchanged at the english face value. the turkish government has long been trying to get these foreign post offices closed, but without success until the outbreak of the present war; they are all now closed, and their stamps consequently obsolete. the nations having had special stamps for their post offices in turkey are:-- great britain (closed october, ). france ( " " ). russia ( " " ). italy ( " " ). roumania (discontinued ). austria (closed october, ). germany ( " " ). [illustration: ] a curious set of stamps, never really required for postal duty, was issued by the turks during the graeco-turkish war of , under the pretext of being required for the use of the turkish army of occupation. the turkish inscription on these odd-shaped stamps (_fig._ ) reads "special for thessaly, that part of the country conquered." even at the time these stamps first saw the light in thessaly, the turks were boarding their transports to evacuate the country. large remainder stocks have been sold since the evacuation, and extensive forging of these stamps has been detected. chapter vii. american wars--united states--civil war--confederate stamps--hispano-american war--vera cruz--canada--mexican revolution--south and central america. united states. in december, , south carolina in convention repealed the act adopting the constitution of the united states, a move which was promptly followed by other southern states, and led to the american civil war. on february , , a provisional confederate government under jefferson davis was set up at montgomery, alabama, with all the appendages of military and civil administration, including a post office department. the confederate government later moved to richmond, virginia, and throughout the long and bloody war from - the confederate states maintained a separate postal service, with separate postage stamps. judge john h. reagan was postmaster-general. the united states postage stamps current at the beginning of the war were the beautiful series of - , and as large quantities remained in stock at southern post offices, these issues were demonetized and replaced hurriedly by the now rare _première gravures_ of august, , which were promptly superseded by the more finished designs of september, . the confederate states stamps lack the excellence of engraving and printing of the united states stamps, a deficiency due to the difficult conditions under which they were produced in the country or imported from england. but what they lack in this respect is more than amply compensated by their historic significance and associations. the home produced stamps were prepared under the stress of invasion; the foreign manufactured ones and much of the material for the local productions had to be brought through the blockade. in the annals of philately there are no more exciting records than those which tell of the capture of a ship bearing three de la rue plates and , dollars worth of confederate states stamps, which the agent of davis's government managed to throw overboard, or of the despatch (preparatory to the evacuation of richmond) of printing press, dies, plates, and stamps to columbia, in south carolina, where they arrived only to be destroyed in the holocaust following upon general sherman's capture of the city. the different designs of the successive issues of confederate stamps are shewn in _figs._ - ; their history we have dealt with at length in "confederate states of america: government postage stamps."[ ] [footnote : melville stamp books, no. . stanley gibbons, ltd., london, .] some bogus stamps purporting to have been used in various temporary services are illustrated (_figs._ - ), including one showing a fort at charlestown, and another which purports to prepay "blockade postage" to europe. the postmasters of a number of towns in the confederate states found it desirable pending the receipt of stamps from the confederate government to prepare and issue provisional stamps of their own to denote prepayment of postage. among these are some of the rarest postage stamps known to collectors; the best authenticated issues emanated from:-- athens and macon in georgia; baton rouge and new orleans, in louisiana; beaumont, goliad, gonzales, helena, independence, and victoria in texas; bridgeville, greenville, grove hill, livingston, mobile and uniontown in alabama; charleston and spartanburg in south carolina; lenoir in north carolina; danville, emory, fredericksburg, greenwood, jetersville, lynchburg, marion, petersburg, pittsylvania, pleasant shade and salem in virginia; kingston, knoxville, memphis, nashville, rheatown, and tellico plains in tennessee; and new smyrna in florida. [illustration: ] the war with spain produced a considerable effect upon stamp issues; but the war tax stamps which were very popular with young collectors by reason of their bearing a picture of the battleship _maine_ (_figs._ , ) were in no sense postage stamps, though often affixed to letters as small contributions to the war funds. throughout the campaign there were many united states military postal cancellations used in cuba (_fig._ ), porto rico (_fig._ ), and the philippines (_fig._ ), and united states postage stamps were later overprinted for these and other former spanish colonies, e.g., cuba, guam, philippine islands and porto rico (_figs._ - ). these have since been replaced by definite issues for the republic of cuba, and for the philippines. [illustration: ] the united states stamps offer a very wide field for association with war interest, many of them bear portraits of warrior heroes, and their cancellations in connection with expeditionary forces cover a wide range of territory from the neighbouring and troublesome republic of mexico (where the united states recently used its own stamps at the post office of vera cruz) to china. [illustration: ] canada. our great north american dominion gave us a patriotic empire stamp a few years ago to mark the introduction at christmas , of imperial penny postage (_fig._ ). it shows a map of the world on mercator's projection with the british possessions coloured in red, and with a line quoted from sir lewis morris's jubilee ode, "we hold a vaster empire than has been." the "bumptiousness" of the quotation led _punch_ to suggest a few alternatives: we are richer than anybody. we are tremendous swells. the policeman outside mansion house is the finest in the world. our fleet can smash all the rest. mind your eye! by jingo, if we do--!!! go to jericho! the difficulties of printing a map of the world in colours within the space of a postage stamp led to "minor" geographical inexactitudes, such as the annexation by the red colour, of the united states, the invasion of france by england, and the removal of the cape of good hope out into the sea. but unlike the dominican republic's map stamp of it did not lead to complications with other countries. canada's quebec tercentenary issue includes some stamps of martial interest (_figs._ - ), the cents shows the french governor champlain's house in quebec, round which a wide ditch was dug and breastworks were thrown up and cannon mounted to protect the colonists from the savages. generals wolfe and montcalm are portrayed on the cents, the cents shows the old city and fort of quebec in , and the other denominations show incidents in the exploration of canada and portraits of king edward and queen alexandra, and of king george and queen mary. [illustration: ] mexico. mexican stamps from to the rise of porforio diaz demonstrate some of the political changes through which the country has passed, from republic to empire, and back to republic. revolution has brought about provisional stamps of a rare order, such as the guadalajara, chiapas, and campeche stamps of - , and the more recent issues of the "constitutionalist" party for sonora (_figs._ - ) and tamaulipas (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] _figs._ , represent ordinary mexican stamps commandeered and overprinted by the rebels. [illustration: ] martial portraits figure on the stamps of many of the south and central states; to mention them all would require a goodly sized dictionary of american biography. in addition, specialists find much interest in tracing, by extra-territorial postmarks, the movements of troops in the various wars between brazil and paraguay, chili and peru, etc.; and many of the countries give us scenes recording outstanding incidents in their histories, especially on their issues commemorative of the centenary of their freedom from the spanish yoke. chili, for example, depicts the battles of chacabuco, roble, maipo, the sea fight of april , , between the _lautaro_ and the _esmeralda_, and another ending in the capture of the _maria isabella_ on october . in this series also is a portrait of the renowned admiral cochrane, the th earl of dundonald, who organised the chilian navy and played a great part in chili's struggles for freedom from spain. ecuador's issue of marks the end of a period of civil strife and the triumph of the liberal party, a portion of the proceeds of the sale of the stamps being devoted to the destitute families of soldiers killed while serving in defence of the liberal cause. [illustration: ] colombia gives us a number of stamp designs of war-like interest, including warrior heroes, and a crude picture (_fig._ ) of the cruiser _cartagena_. a particularly bitter commemoration of the centenary of the independence of colombia in was the picturing on a registration fee stamp of the wholesale executions ordered by the spanish victors at carthagena on february , . (_fig._ ). to this stamp objections were raised by the spanish minister at bogota, and in deference to his protests it was withdrawn from circulation. guatemala displays its artillery barracks (_fig._ ). the much disturbed dominican republic warns off possible invaders by displaying the fortress of santo domingo. its map issue of (_fig._ a), owing to a dispute over the boundary indicated nearly led to war with the haytian republic. hayti shows the fortress of sans souci (_fig._ ). peru having had its stamps much overprinted by the chilians in - , vaunts more peaceful subjects on its recent picture stamps, e.g., its general post office, municipal institute of hygiene, and the lima medical school. uruguay, after its civil war of , added a "peace" overprint to its contemporary stamps, reading paz- . it also illustrates the fortress and port of montevideo, and its cruiser of the same name on its issues of and (_fig._ ), and venezuela has given us crude sketches of the revolutionary steamer _bankigh_ (_fig._ ), and a map stamp illustrative of the great boundary dispute with great britain. [illustration: a ] brazil also furnishes examples of stamps specially furnished to soldiers and sailors for use on their letters home in war-time. these were printed by a stationer in rio de janeiro and were used during the war with paraguay - . the army franks are inscribed exercito (army), and those for the sister service armada (navy). chapter viii. miscellaneous wars and commemorations.--patriotic empire stamps--victoria--new zealand--barbados' nelson stamp--a dutch naval commemoration--balkan wars--greece--albania-- epirus--bulgaria--roumania--italy--portugal--spain--mysterious melillas--china. [illustration: ] australasia has not had much occasion for war stamps, but it is worthy of note that at the time of the south african war victoria issued two postage stamps of patriotic designs, obtained in public competition. the victoria cross design (_fig._ ) gained the prize for the penny stamps and the prize for the twopence stamps was awarded for the other design (_fig._ ) showing a picket on foot and armed scouts scanning the horizon of the open veldt in the transvaal, whilst in the distance are the faint outlines of the hills which the british have had to scale. the central figures in the latter design are in the uniform of the victorian contingent. these stamps sold at s. and s. each although they only prepaid d. and d. postage respectively, the balance going to the patriotic fund. [illustration: ] in connection with the same campaign new zealand issued in a stamp printed in a khaki colour to commemorate the sending of a new zealand contingent to the war. the stamp (_fig._ ), designed by mr. j. nairn of wellington and engraved in new york, pictures the part of the contingent sent as new zealand's response to "the empire's call." barbados marked the centenary of the battle of trafalgar by an issue of stamps depicting the "first monument erected to nelson's memory, " (_fig._ ). the monument is in the capital of the colony, bridgetown, but its claim to be the first erected to nelson's memory is contested. another naval hero, michael a. de ruyter, admiral-in-chief of the dutch fleet, is commemorated on a set of stamps of holland issued in for the ter-centenary of his birth. this design, in addition to a portrait of the admiral, depicts a battle at sea (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] the recent balkan wars ( - ) would require a volume to describe in detail the philatelic results. two greek stamp designs commemorate the victories of the troops allied against turkey. one shows the cross of constantine over the acropolis and city of athens and the bay of salamis; the other depicts the eagle of zeus flying over mount olympus with a snake in its talons. _fig._ shows the design of two war charity stamps sold for the benefit of greek soldiers incapacitated in the campaign, and for the widows and orphans of the killed. greece overprinted stamps very lavishly for territories occupied during the war. when the fleet occupied mytilene the greek authorities overprinted the turkish stamps they found there with a greek inscription rendered "greek occupation--mytilene." lemnos was furnished with greek stamps overprinted lemnos in greek characters, and many other places were provided with greek stamps overprinted with an inscription signifying "greek administration." in samos four issues of new stamps appeared in - , and icaria's independent government stamps prepared just prior to the greek occupation were overprinted "greek administration." [illustration: ] albania's separate stamp issues were an outcome of the balkan wars. the first were created in by overprinting turkish stamps with a device of a double-headed eagle and the word shqipenie (_fig._ ). since then four or five new issues have appeared, crude labels of circular handstamp pattern (_fig._ ) with the value typewritten. more recently a series has appeared depicting skanderbeg, the warrior hero of the albanians, and these were overprinted in march, , with an inscription "_ mars. ._ rroftë mbreti. " to commemorate the arrival of prince william of wied as mpret. the year was the date of the death of skanderbeg. [illustration: ] the "autonomous state of epirus," another outcome of the balkan troubles, has given us some quaint stamps. the first was the skull and cross-bones issue (_fig._ ), the inscriptions on which read "liberty or death--defence of the fatherland--lepta ." this was succeeded by a more ambitiously designed stamp (_fig._ ) showing an evzone or light infantryman in the act of firing. the simple name "epirus" was extended to "autonomous epirus" (_fig._ ). other crude issues have appeared in epirote districts, as yet not very satisfactorily authenticated. these include koritza (_fig._ ) and moschopolis (_fig._ ), both places in lower albania. another curious provisional is one for gumuldjina (_fig._ ) in the vilayet of adrianople. [illustration: ] crete's troubles may be ended with the final settlement of the turks; in its stamps since we see the influence of the british, russian and greeks, and a remarkable range of revolutionary stamps. on one modern stamp of (_fig._ ) is depicted the landing of prince george of greece at suda on his appointment as high commissioner. he is being received by admirals of various powers, noel of great britain, skrydloff of russia, pottier of france, and bettolo of italy. a still more recent stamp of crete shows the fort at suda, and was issued to celebrate the raising of the greek flag on may , . [illustration: ] on two stamps of commemorative of the war of independence bulgaria pictured a cherry wood cannon, a home-made affair used by the bulgarian patriots against the turks, and drawn from one which is preserved in the national museum at sofia (_fig._ ). the following year, , the th anniversary of the battle of shipka pass (august , ) was the occasion for a set of stamps showing a view of the ravine with the bulgars tumbling rocks down upon their enemies (_fig._ ). later stamps of this country show some interesting portraits of king ferdinand (_figs._ - ) in naval and military uniforms, and one showing the king with the sceptre in his right hand and the orb in his left, and wearing the garb of the ancient tsars of bulgaria. these form part of a fine pictorial issue of , and it is noteworthy that these stamps may be found with turkish cancellations, used by the victorious bulgars in the recent campaign before they could substitute bulgarian postmarks for those left behind by the turks. in the pictorial set up to the stotinki, was issued with an overprint in sclavonic characters signifying "war of liberty" to mark the successes against the turks. [illustration: ] the enlightened prince cuza was responsible for the introduction of many reforms in roumania, among them being postal reform, with the use of adhesive stamps, those of bearing his portrait. he was obliged to abdicate the year following the issue of the stamps as a result of a conspiracy. the late king charles was his successor, there being no further developments to recall. rather in this case we read from our stamps the more peaceful story of the growth of the king's beard. in commemorating the th year of king charles' reign a long pictorial series of stamps showed among other pictures prince charles saluting the first shot fired at the battle of calafat, the meeting of prince charles and osman pasha in , the roumanian army crossing the danube in , the triumphant entry of the victorious army into bucharest, and prince charles riding at the head of his army in . [illustration: ] italy has given us commemoration portraits of garibaldi (_figs._ , ), and its war with turkey in extended the use of the overprinted italian stamps of tripoli (_figs._ - ). from the italian pages of our albums much of the story of the makings of united italy may be learnt chiefly by the absorption into one of all the separate stamp issuing states, sardinia, naples, sicily, parma, modena, romagna, tuscany, and, although much later, the states of the church. the jubilee of the union was commemorated by a set of four fine designs in , one by signor a. sezanne showing (_fig._ ) a sword grasped by a hand, symbolical of the italian union, and at the sides are branches of palm in memory of the warriors who died in the wars of independence. [illustration: ] portugal does not offer much war-interest, though plenty of historical associations, in its postage stamps. the republic followed so soon after the assassination of king carlos that the stamps with the portrait of the young king manuel had no long service without a distinguishing mark to show that the stamps were issued by the republican government (_fig._ ). these have since given place to a distinctive republican design (_fig._ ). it is interesting to note that the red cross society and the civilian rifle corps in portugal have a limited privilege of free postage, for which they use their own special stamps (_figs._ , ). the postage stamps of spain introduce us to the revolutionary element in in which year isabella ii. fled to france as a result of the revolution under prim and serrano. that was in september, and the current stamps were overprinted before the end of the year with the words habilitado por la nacion (authorised by the nation), signifying that they were now being used under the provisional revolutionary assembly. one of the forms of overprint reads halilitado por la junta revolucionaria. some of the known overprints did not emanate from the headquarters of the provisional government but were added at the order of local juntas or revolutionary councils. the familiar emblematic figure of spain followed on the stamps issued on january , . the republican form of government did not last long, and in the duke of aosta, second son of king victor emmanuel of italy, was chosen king of spain, now a limited monarchy, as amadeus i., and his portrait was introduced on the stamps of - . the tiny ¼c. de peseta stamps of the former year bear a small design of a royal crown. changes at this period followed in rapid succession, and amadeus failing to make headway as a constitutional sovereign resigned his troublesome crown in february, , in favour of peaceful retirement in italy. the little stamps aforementioned were changed under the new government--this time another form of republic--to shew a mural crown in lieu of the royal one, and the portrait of amadeus gave way to an emblematic figure peace in july, . peace! what most desire, but few can obtain and keep. nor was the next stamp design of justice (july, ) much less wide of the mark. there were actually in spain between the revolution of and the restoration of the house of bourbon three different types of republic, the limited monarchy under amadeus, and a military dictatorship. in , too, the pretender carlos proclaimed himself king of spain, and issued the celebrated carlist stamps from to . so far as the general issues of spanish stamps are concerned, their changes subsequent to the restoration of alphonso xii., son of isabella ii., are free from further revolutionary changes, but there are postal war tax stamps of - , and (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] a remarkable instance of planting a bogus set of stamps on collectors occurred in connection with the melilla campaign in - . in the set there are or possibly varieties, each for a different detachment of the spanish forces. the inventor of the scheme apparently launched his venture by going about amongst the troops, sailors, officers, etc., distributing specimens of the stamps he had conceived in their behoof, and consequently the appearance of some of the labels on letters emanating from soldiers and others at the war gave colour to the supposition that these gaudy labels had been provided by a generous and otherwise unoccupied government at madrid. of the fifty-three stamps, all _except_ nos. and are perforated. nos. to are in design of _figs._ , , and were supposed to have been for the use of the five army corps. the colours are ( ) black frame, arms red and yellow; ( ) blue frame, arms red and yellow; ( ) as no. perforated; ( ) as no. perforated; ( ) black, red, and orange; [illustration: ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( - ) ( )] - . one for each regiment of "cazadores" or chasseurs, the name of the regiment on each stamp. - . one for each regiment of foot, with the name of a regiment on each stamp. - . one for each warship, the name of a ship on each stamp. . commissariat department. . civil guard; a disciplinary corps, half military, half police, à la royal irish constabulary. . staff. [illustration: ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( - )] . engineers. . artillery. . medical staff corps. - . one for each fort; name of the fort on each stamp. [illustration: ] china's troubles during the boxer rebellion were reflected in the stamp album by the "c.e.f." stamps of india (see chapter ii.) and by the use of the stamps of several of the powers co-operating in the defence of the legations. the revolution of made its mark in the overprinting of the imperial stamps with various republican overprints (_figs._ , ) and the revolution when completed was commemorated by two sets of stamps issued in november ; one set bears the portrait of dr. sun yat sen in a frame in which are unripe ears of wheat, and inscribed "in commemoration of the _revolution_" (_fig._ ); the second set bears the portrait of president yuan shi kai, and in this set the ears of wheat are ripe, and the inscription reads "in commemoration of the _republic_" (_fig._ ). although not issued in connection with warfare, it may be noted that the only separate postage stamps of heligoland appeared while the island was in british possession (_fig._ a). since its cession to germany in the islanders have used german stamps. [illustration: a.] chapter ix the great war of - . check-list of new stamps. at new year, it is too early to show more than a few of the first philatelic signs of the great world war which is being waged between great britain, france, russia, japan, belgium, serbia, montenegro, germany, austria-hungary, turkey. but the developments are already full of significance, and the stamps of each of the countries at war acquire a new interest in the occasions for their extra-territorial use as the armies invade the territories of their opponents. at the beginning of august the germans invaded france and belgium, accompanied, or followed shortly, by field postal organisations, of which few particulars are yet available. by the middle of august the french had entered alsace and german lorraine, and the russians having invaded east prussia set up posts there in which they used the current russian stamps. the british expeditionary force, with its well-equipped army postal service, was in france by the th. about this period the germans invaded cape colony. the tsar's promise of autonomy to poland may ultimately demonstrate its fulfilment in the issue of new stamps for poland. france issued its first red cross stamp, and similar war charity stamps have since appeared in monaco, french morocco, russia, austria, hungary, and bosnia. japan's declaration of war, and successful attack on kiaochow, probably led to the use of japanese soldiers' stamps (_figs._ , ) by the forces engaged, possibly along with indian stamps overprinted c.e.f. (china expeditionary force, _fig._ ), for the use of the co-operating british land forces. on the th the british along with the french took togoland, and have already issued stamps of the anglo-french occupation of that former german colony (_figs._ - ). prior to their issue the british gold coast stamps were used in togo for a time (_fig._ ). towards the end of the month the bombardment of malines destroyed the belgian state stamp-printing works, rendering it necessary to create an entirely new series of belgian stamps when the government finds itself in a position to do so. on the th samoa was taken by the new zealand forces, and english stamps have been used there (_fig._ ), and already a provisional and a definitive set of british samoa stamps have appeared (_figs._ , ). [illustration: a. b. ] german attacks in september on various british and french colonial possessions may in some cases leave philatelic records, chiefly in the way of war postmarks which may be looked for from the affairs in nyasaland, british east africa, zanzibar, german south-west africa, etc. postmarks, too, record the withdrawal of the french government to bordeaux (_figs._ , ), and the sending of great loyal contingents from canada (_fig._ ) australia, and new zealand (_fig._ ). the effect on stamp issues caused by turkey's abolition of the capitulations has already been referred to as rendering a considerable number of stamp issues obsolete, and this event has been commemorated on the turkish issue, which, by the way, was printed in london. australia's capture of german new guinea and the bismarck archipelago, is already reported to have been followed by the re-issue of the german colonial stamps of new guinea (_figs._ a, b) with a british "g.r.i." overprint. some postal aspects of the retirement of the belgian government to havre in october (_fig._ ) and the issue of german stamps for belgium (_fig._ ) have already been referred to. turkey's entry into the war in november may have the effect of removing turkey from the list of european stamp-issuing states, and has already led to the long anticipated proclamation of a british protectorate over egypt, and the annexation of cyprus. the fall of tsingtau renders obsolete the german colonial type of stamp for kiaochow, although there may have been some interesting provisional issue here, and also possibly in the marshall and marianne islands. all these and many more happenings of the past few months will leave their traces in new stamps, or in new uses for stamps, and when at last the enemy shall be vanquished and peace reigns once more, one of the most fascinating histories of the great war will be that recorded in the pages of the stamp album. the following is a synopsis, or check list, of distinctive postage stamps already issued in connection with the war. issues reported but not yet seen by or satisfactorily vouched for to the present writer are not included. austria. october , . war relief stamps. current design adapted (_fig._ ) sold at heller over face-value. heller green. " carmine. belgium. october , . red cross stamps. lithographed on white wove unwatermarked paper. perf. ½. white gum. (a) _head of king albert (figs. , )._ c. green. c. red. c. purple (cross in red). (b) _monument design (figs. , )._ c. green (cross in red). c. red. c. purple (cross in red). belgium (german administration). october, . current german empire stamps, overprinted in black "belgien," and new value in gothic type (_fig._ ). perforated . issued in brussels. centimes on pfennig, brown. " " green. " " carmine. " " ultramarine. bosnia. october (?), . war relief stamps. and heller stamps of the issue overprinted and heller, respectively. heller on heller, green. " " carmine. france. august , . contemporary centimes stamp, surcharged "+ c." in red (_fig._ ). c. + c. vermilion. september , . definitive stamp. sower design adapted, inscription reading "croix-rouge postes" (_fig._ ). c. + c. vermilion. french morocco. september , . red cross stamp. the centimes "rights of man" type, already overprinted " ," and native inscription, further surcharged "+ c." (_fig._ ). c. + c. red. hungary. october, . war relief stamps. the and filler "inundation" stamps of overprinted in black in the centre of the stamp "hadi ségély" (war relief) and on label at the foot, obliterating the original inscription, "ozvegyeknek es arvaknak ket filler" (for the widows and orphans two filler) (_fig._ ). seventeen values , , , , , , , , , , , , and filler, and , , and korona. india expeditionary force. october, . stamps of india overprinted i.e.f. in seriffed type, for use with british troops on the continent (_figs._ - ). perf. . p. grey. ½a. green. a. carmine. a. mauve. ½a. (die ) blue. a. brown orange. a. olive. a. purple. a. claret. r. green and brown. monaco. october, . red cross stamp. current centimes stamp of this principality, surcharged "+ c." in red (_fig._ ). c. + c. red. new guinea. october, . provisional issue. german colonial (ship) type for deutsch-neu-guinea, overprinted "g.r.i." and new value in english. (similar to _figs._ - .) perforated . d. on pf., brown. d. on pf., green. d. on pf., carmine. d. on pf., ultramarine. d. on pf., black and red on _yellow_. d. on pf., black and orange on _buff_. d. on pf., black and carmine. d. on pf., black and purple on _buff_. d. on pf., black and carmine on _rose_. russia. november , . war charity stamps. surface-printed at the russian imperial state printing works on enamelled surface coloured papers (_figs._ - , see frontispiece). sold for kopec extra per stamp. ( ) kopec. ( ) kopecs. ( ) kopecs. ( ) kopecs. samoa (british). september , . provisional issue. german colonial (ship) type for samoa overprinted "g.r.i." and new value in english (_figs._ - ). wove paper, unwatermarked. perforated . [illustration: ] ½d. on pf. brown. no fraction bar to "½." comma after "g.r.i," ½d. on pf. green. two small fraction bars to "½." comma after "g.r.i," d. on pf. carmine. ½d. on pf. ultramarine. no fraction bar to "½." inverted surcharge. comma after "g.r.i," d. on pf. black and red on _yellow_. double surcharge. d. on pf. black and orange on _buff_. d. on pf. black and carmine. d. on pf. black and purple on _buff_. double surcharge. inverted " " for " ." d. on pf. black and carmine on _rose_. s. on mark carmine. error " shillings." s. on marks blue. s. on marks violet. s. on marks carmine and black. september , . permanent issue. new zealand stamps overprinted "samoa" in _sans-serif_ type mm. high and mm. long. the type of stamp is indicated in brackets (_figs._ , ). orange-red overprints for ½d., d., ½d.; and blue for d., d., and s. white wove paper. watermarked "n.z." single-lined and star. perfs. various. [illustration: ] ½d. green (king edward). d. carmine (dominion). d. mauve (king edward). ½d. blue (pictorial). d. carmine (king edward). s. vermilion (king edward). togoland (british issue). october, . german colonial stamps for togo overprinted "togo--anglo-french--occupation" in three lines in black (_figs._ - ). wove paper, perforated . [illustration: ] _(a) surcharged with new value in pence (figs. , )._ ½d. on pf. brown (no wmk.). d. on pf. green (wmk. lozenges). _(b) without new value (fig. )._ pf. brown. pf. green. pf. carmine. pf. blue. pf. black and red on _yellow_. pf. black and orange on _buff_. pf. black and carmine. pf. black and purple on _buff_. pf. black and carmine on _rose_. mark carmine. marks blue. togoland (french issue). october, . similar stamps, but with overprint reading "togo--occupation--franco-anglaise," and new value in french currency. . on pf. brown. on pf. green. pf. carmine. pf. blue. pf. black and red on _yellow_. pf. red and black on _buff_. pf. red and black. pf. red and black on _rose_. mark carmine. marks blue. turkey. october, . current stamps (_see figs. et seq._) overprinted (?) in commemoration of the closing of all foreign post offices in turkey, as a consequence of the abolition of the capitulations. the overprint is in two lines of turkish characters. paras, purple-brown. paras, green. paras, scarlet. piastre, blue. piastres, green and black. piastres, deep lilac. piastres, red-brown. _notice._ [this check list of stamps of the war will be revised, continued and presented as a supplement which will be given away from time to time with _the postage stamp_ ( d. weekly), of all newsagents, or by post s. d. per annum from the publishers, s. r. le mare, paternoster square, london, e.c.] appendix. egypt--sudan--morocco--military postcards--additional postmarks. egypt.--an event of the greatest interest to philatelists is the termination of the suzerainty of turkey over egypt, and the placing of the latter country under british protection. as a british protectorate, egypt will be transferred to the british empire division of the stamp catalogues, and a greatly increased interest will be taken in the postage stamps of the land of the pharaohs, with the result that the earlier issues will rise appreciably in value. as recently as january , , a handsome new series of stamps was issued in egypt, on the anniversary day of the accession of the now deposed khedive, abbas ii. these were not of a commemorative character, but were issued on the anniversary as a compliment to the then reigning khedive. they probably call for no change in the designs under the new conditions, and as they are denominated in english the present stamps may be continued in use. but they will probably be changed in regard to the watermarked paper on which they are printed, as the watermarked device is that popularly known as the "star and crescent" (_fig._ ), although modern authorities appear to agree that the turkish symbol is not a crescent (_vide_ p. ). the new egyptian flag, under sultan hussein i., is red with _three_ silver crescents each enclosing a star, instead of the turkish flag with the single "crescent" and star. thus although a new form of watermark may not be deemed necessary, a change to the "multiple" (or as printers term it, the "all-over") watermark of similar device would appropriately denote the new regime. [illustration: ] the designs on the fine series of stamps (_figs._ - ) now current in egypt are:-- millieme, sepia: gyassas or sailing-boats on the nile; m., green: cleopatra in the garb and head-dress of the goddess isis; m., orange-yellow: the ras-el-tin palace in the muhammedan quarter of modern alexandria; m., vermilion: the pyramids of giza; m., lake: the sphinx of giza; m., cobalt: the two colossi of amenophis iii. on the banks of the nile at thebes; m., olive: the pylon or gateway to the karnak temple; m., lilac: the citadel at cairo; m., slate: the rock temple at abû simbel, ipsambul; m., marone: the aswân dam, at the first cataract of the nile. [illustration: ] in view of the great future now opening up for british philatelists in the study and collection of egyptian stamps, the present writer has completed a full illustrated history of these stamps for publication in the "melville stamp books series," published by messrs. stanley gibbons, ltd., strand (_see_ page ). this will be issued almost simultaneously with the present volume. [illustration: ] an egyptian stamp which might have been included in the body of the present work is _fig._ , a postage-due stamp issued in . at that time the egyptian postal regulations charged milliemes for prepaid letters but double that sum ( milliemes) for unpaid letters, from or to non-commissioned officers and men of the egyptian army in garrison on the frontier, as well as at suakim and tokar; the same tariff was applicable to soldiers taking part in the expedition to the sudan. in consideration of the fact that such soldiers would be most frequently in places where they would be unable to get postage stamps, the authorities decided that unpaid letters sent by them should only be liable to the single rate of milliemes instead of the double rate of milliemes. but as there was no postage-due stamp of milliemes to use in collecting this sum, it was temporarily permitted to use a millieme stamp, with half of another millieme stamp divided diagonally, until the surcharged stamp (_fig._ ) milliemes on milliemes could be prepared and issued. [illustration: ] sudan.--the first stamps of the sudan were created by overprinting egyptian stamps in for use at the camp post office at wadi haifa, and at points south thereof, the overprint reading "soudan" and repeated in arabic characters. the first stamps of special design, the attractive "camel" issue, also have military associations, being designed by colonel stanton of the oxford light infantry, depicting a camel rider, alleged to be a portrait of slatin pasha. the rider is carrying mail, and is armed with a rifle and two spears (_fig._ ). these stamps were overprinted for use of army officials either with the words "official-army" as in _fig._ , or "army service" as in _fig._ . another interesting sudanese military stamp design was used for the military telegraph service (_fig._ ). [illustration: ] morocco.--following upon the proclamation of egypt as a british protectorate, it was announced that great britain has recognised the french protectorate in morocco and has adhered to the franco-moroccan treaty of march , . the french stamps for morocco (_fig._ ) have now been overprinted "protectorat-francais", as may be seen by comparing this centimes value with the same denomination utilised for red cross stamp purposes (_fig._ ). the change in the status of morocco may render the british postal agencies there unnecessary, in which case the series of british stamps overprinted "morocco agencies" (_figs._ , ) may be rendered obsolete. [illustration: ] postcards and postmarks. the remaining illustrations, added as this work is being sent to press, supplement the philatelic records of the present war, as already outlined in the earlier chapters. _fig._ is the original issue of the french military postcard, on thin green card. _fig._ is also french, printed on a thicker silurian card. _fig._ is a german field postcard (medium white) despatched by a british prisoner of war in the english lager at sennelager. a few additional naval postmarks are also shown (_figs._ - ). _fig._ appears to be in the design of an "iron cross" (!) _fig._ is a mark used by the censor in handling registered mail, and is on correspondence originating at a depot for convalescent horses. _figs._ - are various types of censor marks, no. being a dutch one on a letter posted at maastricht. at the time of going to press we have noted british military censor marks up to no. . we are also able to state definitely that _fig._ b (chapter ii.) is a field postmark of the indian expeditionary force in france. [illustration: ] * * * * * transcriber's notes: irregular and duplicate figure numbering has been retained throughout. the only intentional changes to the text are where typographical errors have been corrected as follows: page , "page " changed to "page " (in table of contents: chapter iv ... page .) page , "page " changed to "page " (in table of contents: chapter vi ... page .) page , an appendix starting on p. is not listed in the table of contents. page , figure originally on page moved to page ; appears as illustration for html version and is transcribed as text for this plain text version. page , note hand-written correction to the poster (figure ) "stamps" should read "letters" (unpaid and unfranked letters will also run the risk of misdelivery.) page , missing closing parenthesis added "(fig. )". page , there is no figure . page , " " changed to " " ("figs. - ".) pages & , duplicate use of figure numbers and . page , "womens'" changed to "womens'" (the imperial women's patriotic union.) page , figure appears as illustration for html version and is transcribed as text for this plain text version. page , "fraulein" changed to "fräulein" (an actress fräulein anna führing). page , suspected error in original unchanged: "susceptibilities" for "sensibilities" (which gave offence to muslim susceptibilities). page , "incriptions" changed to "inscriptions" (the inscriptions on which read "liberty or death...") page , in the transcription of the overprint "halilitado por la junta revolucionaria" it is unclear whether "halilitado" is an error for "habilitado" in the typesetting or in the original overprint. page , "pharoahs" changed to "pharaohs" (postage stamps of the land of the pharaohs). +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's notes: | | | | * words in italics are represented between underscores: _text_. | | * bold-faced words are represented between equal signs: =text=. | | * several obvious typographical and lay-out errors have been | | corrected. | | * inconsistencies in the original have been left as they were: | | geographical names in the tables are often spelled differently| | from those in the text, table lay-out is often inconsistent, | | several words are used spaced, hyphenated and/or non- | | hyphenated, both per cent. and per cent are used, etc. | | * in the table of contents, pages that have no page number in | | the original have been listed as --. | | * several tables have been split and/or rearranged to fit the | | available width. | * page , under table 'cost statement': ' yds. of sand' | | should probably be ' cu. yds. of sand'; ditto for 'rock'. | | * table b, page : the (¶) symbol is not explained in the | | original document. | | * table g: lowest price mentioned for riprap is $ . (last | | row), lowest price in column riprap is $ . . | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ [illustration: on the pacific highway in the siskiyou mountains, jackson county. macadamized in ] third biennial report of the oregon state highway commission covering the period december st, to november th, oregon state highway commission s. benson, chairman w. l. thompson, commissioner; r. a. booth, commissioner herbert nunn, state highway engineer salem, oregon: state printing department letter of transmittal salem, oregon, december , . honorable james withycombe, governor of the state of oregon, dear sir: in compliance with section , article ii, chapter , laws of , we have the honor to submit herewith the report of the state highway commission for the period december , to november , . the commission desires at this time to express its appreciation of the courtesies and assistance rendered to it by the various state officers and county officials in the work of the past two years. respectfully submitted, oregon state highway commission, s. benson, chairman w. l. thompson, commissioner r. a. booth, commissioner attest: roy a. klein, secretary table of contents page letter of transmittal to the governor table of contents report of the state highway commission general resume of the work of the biennium proposals received on construction jobs bond sales financial statement state highway engineer's report to the highway commission letter of transmittal work accomplished moneys available and expended paving macadamizing grading bridges elimination of grade crossings federal cooperation post road projects forest road projects the pacific highway the columbia river highway county work supervised by the highway department construction work by state forces state highway funds equipment office organization cost keeping employes in the army service tabulated statements of expenditures and costs allotments to various highway funds summary of fund allotments and fund expenditures expenditures segregated by counties expenditures segregated under the heads of general administrative, surveys, construction engineering, construction, equipment, etc. expenditures for construction detailed by jobs expenditures for surveys detailed by jobs expenditures for equipment, bond interest and overhead summary of county funds expended by the department general tabulated information and highway maps miles of highway construction by the department during and tabulation of bridge design and construction miles of location surveys made by the department during and miles of different types of roads in each county motor vehicle registration by counties county bond issues tabulation of contract prices -- yearly expenditure of state funds in counties mileage table of main travelled roads map of main travelled roads -- official designation of state highways employes of the highway commission numbers and mileages of state highways map of state highway system general description of work in various counties baker county benton county clackamas county clatsop county columbia county coos county crook county curry county deschutes county douglas county gilliam county grant county harney county hood river county jackson county jefferson county josephine county klamath county lake county lane county lincoln county linn county malheur county marion county morrow county multnomah county polk county sherman county tillamook county umatilla county union county wallowa county wasco county washington county wheeler county yamhill county third biennial report of the state highway commission of the state of oregon - the law establishing this commission was approved by governor withycombe on february , and on march the following appointments were made: s. benson, portland, for the three-year period; w. l. thompson, pendleton, two-year period; e. j. adams, eugene, one-year period. the first meeting was held on march , , when this commission was organized and s. benson elected chairman and g. ed ross, secretary. the former commission, consisting of james withycombe, governor, ben w. olcott, secretary of state, and thos. b. kay, state treasurer, held meetings on december , and january , and on the qualification of the members of the new commission, as provided in section , article ii, chapter , laws of , transferred all records, maps, equipment and property in its possession. the former commission, in view of proposed legislation providing for a new highway code, made no appropriations nor were policies outlined, so that when the new commission entered upon its duties, it was not embarrassed by policies made by its predecessors. at a meeting on april , , herbert nunn was appointed state highway engineer. on april , , robert a. booth, of eugene, was appointed by governor withycombe to succeed e. j. adams. on august , , roy a. klein was appointed secretary to succeed g. ed ross, resigned. the commission has held fifty-one meetings for the transaction of its business. the state highway system as outlined in the law has been adopted and the work of the biennium confined to the various units of this system. specifications covering hard surface pavement have been prepared by the state highway engineer and adopted by the commission, as well as specifications for grading and bridge construction which have been acceptable to the united states office of public roads and are used on all federal aid projects in the state. surveys have been made on state highway routes to determine the best and most economical location, at the request of the counties, and also several important bridges have been designed and constructed under the supervision of the department. engineers have been furnished at state expense to supervise construction work being done by the counties on state highways in several instances. the program for depending upon the passage of the $ , , . bonding act, the working season remaining after ratification by the voters was short, but engineering parties were sent out and the first contract under this act was let on june , . all except the smaller contracts entered into were carried over into the working season. no new paving or grading contracts of any magnitude have been awarded this year due to the rising costs of material and scarcity of labor. there was early seen the necessity of conserving labor and capital in the national emergency and for that reason the commission has been unable to give aid to many meritorious projects submitted by various sections of the state. at a meeting held on june , the commission went on record, as a war measure, to devote its resources to the completion of the two trunk line highways, the columbia river highway and the pacific highway, completing projects under construction, temporary surfacing to keep trunk highways open or roads to develop resources which are an aid in the prosecution of the war. notwithstanding the mandatory nature of the state law which created the commission and provides funds for work under it, the commission believes this course was warranted and that its action will be supported. due to the uncertainty of materials, supplies, labor conditions, etc., contractors have been unable to make satisfactory bids and on several occasions no satisfactory bids being received, the commission undertook to do the work by day labor, in each case effecting a saving under the low bid. in a few cases, either no bids being received or the ones received being considered excessive, work has been let on the cost plus basis with definite cost limit set, beyond which no percentage would be paid. three of these force account jobs have later been taken over by the commission, as it was felt that the work could be handled more economically with its own forces. to determine the legality of the state and federal co-operative bonds for co-operation on post and forest roads, a friendly suit was brought in the supreme court which was decided favorable to the issue. the interpretation placed on the federal aid road law by the secretary of agriculture requiring actual carriage of the mails or a reasonable prospect before approving as eligible for federal co-operation eliminated from the classification practically all of the columbia river highway and especially links in the pacific highway in douglas county on which it was desired to receive federal aid. under the post road law seventeen projects have been agreed upon, and to date ten have been approved, three disapproved, two pending and two in preparation. construction work has been started on two of these projects. under the forest road law fourteen projects have been approved. construction has been started on four of these projects. several will carry over into the program. a railroad asphalt paving plant was purchased but not used during the season, since no bituminous pavements were constructed, under new contracts, in that period. three concrete pavers are owned by the commission, as well as three road rollers, four rock crushers, and six auto trucks, besides considerable grading construction equipment. a large part of this equipment has been in use this season and not only has saved the cost of rented equipment but has been available at times when it was impossible to get the same elsewhere. a total of seventy-one projects have been advertised as follows. it will be noted that the number of proposals exceeds the number of bidders which may be explained by the fact that on paving work bidders have made proposals on more than one type of pavement. =============================+================+===========+=========== project | date | number of | number of | | proposals | bidders -----------------------------+----------------+-----------+----------- sheridan paving | may , | | sheridan grading | may , | | cummings hill grading | june , | | pendleton paving | june , | | rex-tigard grading | july , | | rex-tigard paving | july , | | clackamas-marion paving | july , | | siskiyou grading | july , | | siskiyou paving | july , | | astoria-svenson grading | july , | | astoria-svenson paving | july , | | goble section grading | july , | | rainier hill section grading | july , | | cascade locks section grading| july , | | viento section grading | july , | | ruthton hill section grading | july , | | columbia county bridges, wood| aug. , | | columbia county bridges, | | | concrete | aug. , | | wasco county, macadam | aug. , | | cummings hill, macadam | aug. , | | condon-thirty mile creek, | | | macadam | aug. , | | mult. county line-scappoose, | | | paving | aug. , | | bend-lapine, cindering | aug. , | | clatsop county line-goble, | | | macadam | aug. , | | new era grading | aug. , | | divide-latham macadam | aug. , | - | - pioneer mountain section, | | | grading | aug. , | - | - lakeview-paisley macadam | aug. , | - | - svenson-westport macadam | aug. , | | tillamook-cloverdale paving | aug. , | | oregon city-canby paving | sept. , | | lane county line-comstock | | | grading | sept. , | | comstock-leona grading | sept. , | | yoncalla-oakland grading | sept. , | | locust hill section grading | sept. , | | wolf creek-grave creek | | | grading | nov. , | | myrtle creek-dillard grading | nov. , | | bridge creek section grading | nov. , | | john day bridge | nov. , | | goble creek bridge | nov. , | | onion flat bridge | nov. , | | canemah-new era grading | dec. , | | tualatin bridge | jan. , | | umpqua bridge ½ miles south | | | of dillard | jan. , | | umpqua bridge mile north | | | of dillard | jan. , | | pendleton-echo grading and | | | macadam | feb. , | | echo-morrow county line | | | grading and macadam | feb. , | | umpqua bridge ½ miles south | | | dillard | feb. , | | hood river bridge | mar. , | | umpqua bridge ½ miles south | | | dillard | mar. , | | beaver creek bridge no. | mar. , | | half viaduct little jack | | | falls | mar. , | | svenson-columbia county line | | | macadam | mar. , | | sheridan-mcminnville section | | | paving | mar. , | | graham creek bridge | mar. , | ... | ... plympton creek bridge | mar. , | ... | ... little creek bridge | mar. , | ... | ... big creek bridge | mar. , | ... | ... clatsop county line-tide | | | creek macadam | mar. , | ... | ... half viaducts in columbia | | | county | mar. , | ... | ... stone wall construction | | | columbia county | mar. , | ... | ... cascade locks section gravel | may , | | salem-aurora paving unit | | | no. | june , | | salem-aurora paving unit | | | no. | june , | | fanno creek bridge | july , | | elgin-minam section grading | july , | | union-telocaset section | | | grading | july , | | elgin-minam section grading | july , | | ashland paving | july , | | divide-comstock macadam | july , | | divide overhead crossing | sept. , | | divide overhead crossing | | | grading | sept. , | | marshfield-coquille macadam | oct. , | | | +-----------+----------- | | | -----------------------------+----------------+-----------+----------- under the provisions of the six million dollar bonding act, bonds to the amount of $ , , . par value have been sold. these bonds bear four per cent interest and mature in from five to twenty-five years from date of issue. an average of six proposals were made for each issue. ===========+==========+===========+===============+==========+========== date of | date of | numbers | highest |par value |price paid sales | bonds | | bidder | | -----------+----------+-----------+---------------+----------+---------- aug. , | aug. , | - | lumbermen's | $ , | $ , | | | trust | | | | | company | | sept. , | sept. , | - | e. h. rollins | , | , | | | & sons | | mar. , | april , | - | henry teal | , | , | | | | | july , | july , | - | e. h. rollins | , | , | | | & sons and | | | | | a. b. leach | | | | | +----------+---------- totals |$ , , |$ , , --------------------------------------------------+----------+---------- under the provisions of chapter of the laws of , (bean-barrett) bonds to meet federal co-operation are authorized. four hundred thousand dollars par value of these bonds were sold august , by the board of control to the highest bidder, clark-kendall & co., whose proposal was $ , . . these bonds are four per cent and mature in from four to eight years. the work accomplished during the biennium may be summed up as follows: miles of hard surface. . miles of broken stone or gravel surface. . miles of graded roadbed. bridges. with the close of the war and the prospect of declining prices of material and a more plentiful supply of labor, the commission looks forward to as a year in which a great deal can be accomplished and at this date a tentative program has been prepared providing for improvement of the state highways in every county of the state. the report of the state highway engineer to the commission is hereto appended, showing in detail the work accomplished and the expenditures during the biennium. financial statement oregon state highway commission statement for the biennium ending november , one-quarter mill tax fund-- balance on hand december , $ , . turnover january , , . turnover january , , . ----------- total receipts $ , . expenditures from ¼ mill tax fund to nov. , , . -------------- balance on hand december , $ , . automobile license fund-- turnover october , $ , . turnover april , , . turnover october , , . ----------- total receipts $ , . total expenditures to nov. , , . ------------ balance, december , $ , . six million dollar bond fund-- august , , $ , . bonds $ , . accrued interest , . sept. , , $ , . bonds , . accrued interest , . march , , $ , . bonds , . accrued interest . july , , $ , . bonds , . accrued interest , . ----------- total receipts from bond sales $ , , . expenditures to november , , , . ------------ ------------ balance on hand december , $ , . state and federal co-operative bonds-- august , , sold $ , . $ , . accrued interest , . ----------- $ , . expenditure of board of control this issue . ----------- turnover by board of control to state highway commission $ , . expenditures to nov. , , . ------------ balance on hand december , $ , . summary =======+===========+===========+=============+============+============= | | | | federal | | | | |co-operative| | ¼-mill | auto | six million | bonds |bean-barrett | | | | state and | -------+-----------+-----------+-------------+------------+------------- total |$ , . |$ , . |$ , , . | $ , . |$ , , . funds | | | | | expend-| , . | , . | , , . | , . | , , . itures | | | | | +-----------+-----------+-------------+------------+------------- balance| $ , . |$ , . |$ , . | $ , . |$ , . -------+-----------+-----------+-------------+------------+------------- [illustration: little jack falls on the columbia river highway between goble and rainier in columbia county] report of the state highway engineer to the state highway commission of the state of oregon - herbert nunn, state highway engineer letter of transmittal salem, oregon, december , . to the honorable state highway commission, s. benson, chairman, w. l. thompson, commissioner, r. a. booth, commissioner. gentlemen: i have the honor to submit report covering the operations of the highway department for the fiscal years ending november , , and november , . in view of the fact that the state highway department did not complete its organization until late in the season of and due to the further fact that practically all contracts were awarded after the first day of july, , it was impossible to place before the state highway commission a report which would be of any particular value to the general public at the end of the last fiscal year. therefore, it has been decided to submit the two fiscal years under one cover in order that the public may have at its command a statement of public highway expenditures and the accomplishments of the state highway department under the supervision of the state highway commission. it was considered advisable by the highway commission to award contracts and get work under way as early in as the necessarily late organization of the department would permit. the matter of preparing estimates and calling for bids was therefore carried out as rapidly as possible, using the data and surveys of the previous administration as a basis for estimates. it is believed that by awarding the contracts during the year , approximately twenty per cent was saved on all construction for the reason that the shortage in labor and material did not become serious in the state of oregon until late in that season. i wish to call the attention of the commission to the law which requires the state highway commission to make county surveys upon the state highway system within the boundaries of any county making application. i believe the law to be a good one, inasmuch as it furnishes free to counties engineering skill which they cannot afford and places at their command an organization which is in a position to carry out preliminary location and estimates. the law states that this work shall be charged to the counties under any future appropriation which may be made to them. the law limiting the expenditures of the state highway department for engineering and administrative purposes to ten per cent of the total moneys appropriated for construction, is sufficient for all purposes of the state highway department, as an examination of the tabulated report will show. however, as there are no separate funds set aside for the county work as above noted, it has been necessary for this department to charge in all such work against our own engineering forces, and when i state to you that the total sum for strictly county work, as requested by the county courts, amounts to $ , . in two years, you will see that the department is carrying a rather heavy burden which in reality does not belong to it. so far the department has been able to carry the burden and still live within the ten per cent, but at any time the counties increase their construction and engineering work and request our supervision, this might exceed the lawful limit which we are allowed. i recommend that this law be made clearer and that certain funds be set aside for engineering work handled by the state highway department for counties. in order to anticipate the large amount of construction for , the state highway department has worked a rather large engineering force throughout the summer of and will continue it through the winter of and . this preliminary work is absolutely necessary in order to award contracts early in the spring of . the federal government requires very carefully prepared plans and estimates for all future government work and this has been anticipated also, and practically every project has been completed as to engineering features and submitted to the federal government for approval. respectfully submitted, herbert nunn, state highway engineer. report of the state highway engineer to the oregon state highway commission december , , to november , work accomplished during the two-year period covered by this report, conditions have been unusually unfavorable for highway construction work. labor and materials of all kinds have been difficult to secure, wages and prices have been very high, transportation facilities have been inadequate and many other conditions have operated to interfere with highway construction. during the last year public sentiment has been opposed to the prosecution of construction work and the restrictions imposed by the federal government have prevented the undertaking of any extensive program of road improvement. for these reasons the highway department has not handled nearly the amount of work that it would have handled under normal conditions, but nevertheless a great stride has been made in the development of oregon's good roads system, and the department feels that a fairly good showing has been made. the actual construction work undertaken and completed during the two years consists of fifty miles of paving, one hundred and eleven and eight-tenths miles of macadamizing, one hundred and thirty-four and five-tenths miles of grading and forty bridges and large culverts. in addition to this actual construction work the department has made surveys of nine hundred and two miles of state roads and has prepared designs for forty-two bridges for county authorities. moneys available and expended from december , , to november , , the state highway department has had available for expenditure a total of $ , , . of state and county funds. of this amount $ , , . has been expended. these amounts distributed over funds are as follows: =================================+===============+=============== funds | amounts | amounts | available | expended ---------------------------------+---------------+--------------- state funds: | | one-quarter mill tax fund | $ , . | $ , . automobile license fund | , . | , . six million dollar bond fund | , , . | , , . state and federal co-operative | , . | , . bond fund | | +---------------+--------------- total state funds | $ , , . | $ , , . county funds | , . | , . +---------------+--------------- grand total | $ , , . | $ , , . ---------------------------------+---------------+--------------- paving a total of fifty miles of pavement was completed by the department during the and seasons. had it not been for the entrance of the united states into the war, this mileage would have been more than doubled, but with need of paving materials, labor and capital for war uses, the commission felt that it must curtail its paving program to the greatest possible extent. to this end, only three miles of pavement was started during the season, whereas under normal conditions the mileage of new work would have been greatly in excess of the forty-seven miles undertaken in . the sections of pavement completed are as follows: clackamas county-- miles oregon city to canby . clatsop county-- astoria to svensen . columbia county-- scappoose to multnomah county line . jackson county-- ashland hill section . tillamook county-- tillamook-cloverdale section . umatilla county-- pendleton to adams . pendleton to state hospital . washington county-- multnomah county line to yamhill county line . yamhill county-- newberg to washington county line . sheridan east . ---- total miles paved . all of the above pavements are sixteen feet in width, and despite the fact that the prices of material and labor increased greatly during the period between the inauguration of the six million dollar paving program and the actual commencement of work, the cost of these paved roads has been only slightly in excess of $ , . per mile per foot width contemplated at the time the six million dollar bond issue was voted. the actual cost of the fifty miles of completed pavement was approximately $ , . which gives a unit cost of $ , . per mile per foot width. each of the sections paved is described in full in an article under the heading of the particular county in which it is located. macadamizing one hundred and twelve miles of state roads have been surfaced with broken stone and gravel macadam. practically all of this surfacing is sixteen feet wide; there are, however, a few short stretches of nine-foot width necessitated by the coming on of wet weather before the full sixteen-foot width could be completed. the total quantity of broken stone and gravel placed in these miles of surface was , cubic yards, an average of , cubic yards per mile, which quantity of material per mile gives an average loose thickness of eight and one-half inches for macadam sixteen feet wide. the department's specifications call for a minimum thickness of six inches. in many places, however, particularly on the lower columbia river work it was found necessary to place as much as eighteen and twenty-four inches of rock before a satisfactory foundation could be secured. the sections upon which broken stone or gravel surfacing was placed are as follows: clatsop county-- miles astoria to columbia county line . columbia county-- clatsop county line to goble . deschutes county-- bend-lapine section (cinder macadam) . douglas county-- divide to leona . gilliam county-- condon to thirty mile creek . hood river county-- cascade locks to hood river . jackson county-- siskiyou mountain section . lake county-- lakeview-paisley section . lane county-- divide-cottage grove section . wheeler county-- cummins hill section . ----- total miles of macadam surfacing . a complete description of each of the above sections will be found in the chapter devoted to the county in which the work was performed. grading the grading work of the highway department is confined to the building of those sections of state roads which are so located that the counties in which they occur are not directly interested in their construction or which are so expensive that county funds are inadequate for their construction. the total number of miles graded during the last two-year period was . miles, most of which was on the pacific and columbia river highways. while the grading work was greatly curtailed during on account of war conditions, work was continued in those localities where resident labor was available and where the work interfered in no way with more essential war industries. a complete tabulation of the grading jobs is given elsewhere in this report, and a detailed outline of each is given under the respective county headings. a few of the more important grading jobs are as follows: miles grading between cascade locks and hood river in hood river county . elimination of roberts mountain grades in douglas county . grading of rice hill section between oakland and yoncalla . elimination of wolf creek-grave creek grades in josephine county . reduction of cummins hill grade in wheeler county . grading between oregon city and new era in clackamas county . bridges the state highway department has, during the period covered by this report, prepared designs for ninety-six bridges and fourteen special culverts. of these structures sixty bridges and ten culverts have been constructed at a total cost to state and counties of $ , . . the structures paid for out of state funds consist of twenty-two reinforced concrete bridges, ten wood bridges, and seven culverts. the total expenditure of state funds for these bridges and culverts was $ , . . [illustration: reinforced concrete bridge over hood river, nearing completion, on the columbia river highway at hood river city. built in .] the structures paid for out of county funds consist of thirteen reinforced concrete bridges, fourteen wood and steel bridges, and four culverts; the total cost of these structures being $ , . . of the structures paid for by the counties, the state highway department supervised the construction for three reinforced concrete bridges, four steel and wood bridges, and one culvert; the cost of which totaled $ , . . a complete tabulation of the bridges designed and constructed is given in another part of this report, and complete descriptions of the more important structures will be found in the articles devoted to the particular counties in which the structures are located. the $ , . intercounty bridge across the willamette river at salem was completed, and has attracted more than local attention. while the cost of this structure was borne by marion and polk counties the design and construction engineering were handled by this department. the reinforced concrete arch bridge at hood river, the largest concrete bridge yet constructed in this state was designed and built under state supervision, although the county also contributed toward its cost. among the proposed bridges of considerable magnitude for which county officials have requested designs from this department may be mentioned the deschutes and oregon city. the former will be located between the present toll bridge and the railroad bridge across the deschutes river and will thus obviate the necessity of toll payments. it will consist of a series of reinforced concrete arches. the oregon city bridge will replace the old suspension bridge across the willamette. studies are being made and comparisons of various types of bridges and locations of site are being made. during the war period, both for patriotic and economic reasons the employment of steel bridges was discontinued and wooden truss bridges used instead. now that the demand for steel for war purposes has subsided, and there are indications of a decline in the price of structural steel in the near future, the resumption of use of that material in the construction of bridges will probably be more general. elimination of grade crossings the department is working consistently for the elimination of dangerous grade crossings. no less than ten grade crossings have been done away with as far as through traffic on state roads is concerned, during the past two years. most of these eliminations have been brought about by holding roads on the same side of railway tracks instead of crossing over and back. two of the eliminations, however, were brought about by grade separations; one near rex in washington county and another near ashland in jackson county, both of these grade separations being undercrossings. an agreement was also reached whereby a reinforced concrete overhead crossing will be constructed to eliminate a very dangerous grade crossing on the pacific highway near divide, in lane county. this structure would have been built in , but on account of the requirements of material for war purposes, the united states highway council ordered the construction delayed. it will undoubtedly be constructed during the season. federal co-operation in , the united states congress enacted a law making available $ , , . of federal government moneys for co-operation with the several states in the construction and improvement of roads. of this amount, $ , , . is appropriated for co-operation on "post roads," roads over which either rural or star post routes are operated, and $ , , . is appropriated for co-operation on "forest roads," roads within or partly within national forests. during the five year period prior to july , , there will become available to the state of oregon from the government funds set aside by this act the following amounts: ===============================+================+================ | for | for | post roads | forest roads -------------------------------+----------------+---------------- july , , to july , |$ , . | $ , . july , , to july , | , . | , . july , , to july , | , . | , . july , , to july , | , . | . july , , to july , | , . | , . +----------------+---------------- totals |$ , , . | $ , . -------------------------------+----------------+---------------- total amount of government funds apportioned to the state of oregon for co-operative work. $ , , . . with the funds thus apportioned to the state, the government will co-operate on approved road projects to not to exceed fifty per cent of their cost. therefore, the state, or the state co-operating with the counties, must provide amounts at least equal to the amounts set aside by the federal government in order to avail itself of the funds apportioned to it. in , the state legislature passed a bill accepting the terms of the federal government's co-operative offer and authorizing the issue of bonds to the amount of $ , , . to provide the funds necessary to match the government funds. there is thus available for expenditure on post and forest roads in the state during the five years prior to july , , the following amounts: for post road projects: federal government funds $ , , . state funds , , . -------------- $ , , . for forest road projects: federal government funds $ , . state funds , . -------------- , , . -------------- total $ , , . for post road projects the plans are prepared, contracts let and work supervised by the state highway department, subject, of course, to approval and acceptance by the secretary of agriculture through the federal office of public roads and rural engineering. for forest road projects, the plans are prepared, contracts let and work supervised by the federal office of public roads and rural engineering acting for the secretary of agriculture. the state highway department is, therefore, directly responsible for the work done on post road projects, whereas on forest road projects the responsibility rests with the office of public roads and rural engineering, the state highway department simply approving the projects and auditing the claims presented by the federal government against the state's share of the funds. it is the policy of the highway department to match the government funds with equal amounts from state funds only, any county funds which may be available being used to increase the total amounts available rather than to reduce the amount of state co-operation. on projects approved to november , , the amount of these additional funds provided by counties is approximately $ , . . post road projects up to november , , fifteen post road projects had been submitted to the office of public roads for approval. of these fifteen projects nine have received approval, three have been rejected as not complying with the government requirements as regards rural and star route mail service over them, and three are pending action by the secretary of agriculture. the rejected projects were the wolf creek-grave creek project in josephine county, the canyonville-galesville project in douglas county, and the myrtle creek-dillard project also in douglas county. the first and third of these projects have since been constructed without government co-operation, and the second is under construction as a "forest road." construction is now under way on two post road projects both of which are in union county. these are the elgin-minam project, estimated to cost $ , . , and the union-telocaset project, estimated to cost $ , . . the contracts for the construction of both jobs were let on july , , to union county, represented by the county court, the lowest bidder. subsequent to the letting, however, the attorney general gave the opinion that the county court had no legal authority to enter into a contract of this nature, and in order to facilitate matters and prevent delay in construction the state highway commission on september , , agreed to take the work over at the prices bid by the county, the county agreeing to reimburse the state in case the cost of the work exceeded the bid prices. the total estimated cost of all projects agreed upon to date is $ , , . of which $ , . is to be paid by the federal government, $ , . by the state, and $ , . by the counties interested. on page is given a tabulation of the post road projects approved, giving the estimated cost of each project with the respective amounts to be paid by the state, the federal government and the counties. forest road projects the federal authorities and the state highway commission have to date agreed upon co-operation on fourteen forest road projects. the total estimated cost of these fourteen projects is $ , , . ; $ , . to be provided by the government, $ , . by the state, and $ , . by the counties. construction is already under way on three of the forest projects, namely: the canyonville-galesville section of the pacific highway in douglas county, the three rivers project in tillamook county, and the ochoco canyon project in crook county. post road projects projects agreed upon to november , =========+=======+========+=============+=================================== |project| miles | | funds provided projects |number | and | estimated +-----------+-----------+----------- +----+ | kind | total | by | by | by | | of work| cost |government | state | counties --------------+--+--------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- baker | | | | | | county: | | | | | | baker-middle | | . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . bridge | |miles-- | | | | section | |grading | | | | sag section | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . of baker- | |miles-- | | | | baker- | |grading | | | | cornucopia | |and | | | | road | |gravel | | | | canyon | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . section of | |miles-- | | | | baker- | |grading | | | | cornucopia | | | | | | road | | | | | | | | | | | | grant county: | | | | | | john day to | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... fiske creek | |miles-- | | | | section | |grading | | | | | |and | | | | | |gravel | | | | hall hill to | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... prairie | |miles-- | | | | city | |grading | | | | section | |and | | | | | |gravel | | | | | | | | | | harney county:| | | | | | burns-crane | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . project | |miles-- | | | | | |grading | | | | | |and | | | | | |gravel | | | | malheur | | | | | | county: | | | | | | project to be| | | , . | , . | , . | , . selected | | | | | | | | | | | | marion | | | | | | county: | | | | | | salem- | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... aurora | |miles-- | | | | project | |grading | | | | | | | | | | union county: | | | | | | elgin-minam | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... project | |miles-- | | | | | |grading | | | | union- | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... telocaset | |miles-- | | | | project | |grading | | | | | | | | | | wasco county: | | | | | | the dalles- |..| . | , . | , . | , . | , . three mile | |miles-- | | | | creek | |paving | | | | project | | | | | | | | | | | | wheeler | | | | | | county: | | | | | | fossil- | | . | , . | , . | , . | ... sarvice | |miles-- | | | | creek | |grading | | | | project | | | | | | | | | | | | wheeler and | | | | | | grant | | | | | | counties: | | | | | | sarvice | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . creek- | |miles-- | | | | valades | |grading | | | | ranch | | | | | | project | | | | | | | | | | | | yamhill | | | | | | county: | | | | | | grande | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . ronde | |miles-- | | | | project | |grading | | | | | |and | | | | | |gravel | | | | --------------+--+--------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- total estimated cost|$ , , . | | | of all projects | | | | federal government | |$ , . | | funds | | | | state funds | | |$ , . | county funds | | | |$ , . --------------------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- the canyonville-galesville section is what is generally known as cow creek canyon, one of the worst stretches on the pacific highway. this section is . miles in length, and is to be graded sixteen feet wide; the estimated total cost being $ , . . the work is under contract to john hampshire & co., of grants pass. the three rivers project is . miles in length and lies between hebo and dolph on the portland-tillamook highway in tillamook county. the county of tillamook, represented by its county court was the low bidder on this work, but before the contract was entered into, the attorney general ruled that the county court had no authority to contract work of this kind. the state highway department having available the necessary equipment and desiring to get this important piece of road work under way, agreed with the federal government to take the work over at the prices bid by tillamook county. a tabulation of forest road projects approved to date and giving the estimated cost and amounts of county, state and government funds is given below. forest road projects projects approved to november , =====================+=============+=================================== | | funds provided | estimated +-----------+-----------+----------- projects | total | by | by | by | cost | government| state | county ---------------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- clackamas county: | | | | zigzag section of | | | | mt. hood road |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . | ... | | | | crook county: | | | | ochoco canyon | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | | | | | curry county: | | | | curry-coos project | , . | , . | , . | ... | | | | deschutes-lane | | | | counties: | | | | mckenzie pass | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | | | | | douglas county: | | | | canyonville- | , . | , . | , . | , . galesville | | | | tiller trail | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | | | | | lake county: | | | | lapine-lakeview | , . | , . | , . | ... project | | | | | | | | jackson county: | | | | medford-crater | | | | lake project | , . | , . | , . | , . | | | | josephine county: | | | | grants pass- | | | | crescent city | , . | , . | , . | ... project | | | | | | | | klamath county: | | | | anna creek section | | | | of crater lake | , . | , . | , . | ... road | | | | | | | | lane county: | | | | eugene-florence | , . | , . | . . | , . project | | | | | | | | tillamook county: | | | | three rivers | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | | | | | wallowa county: | | | | flora-enterprise | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | | | | | wheeler county: | | | | ochoco canyon | , . | , . | , . | , . project | | | | +-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- total estimated |$ , , . | | | cost of all | | | | projects | | | | federal govt. funds| |$ , . | | state funds | | |$ , . | county funds | | | |$ , . ---------------------+-------------+-----------+-----------+----------- [illustration: mount ashland from the pacific highway in jackson county. elevation of highway , feet] the pacific highway the pacific highway running from portland, through oregon city, salem, albany, eugene, roseburg, grants pass, medford and ashland to the california line, is probably the most important through highway in the state. along it are situated nine of the most important cities of the state. it traverses the immensely productive valleys of the willamette, the umpqua and the rogue rivers. it is the intercommunicating road for nine of the thirty-five counties of the state, and passes through the county seats of all but one of the nine. it is the only continuous and direct road along the pacific coast west of the cascade mountains, and connecting as it does the metropoli of the three pacific coast states it is the most important interstate highway in the west. from the standpoint of the tourist, oregon would not be on the map if it had no pacific highway. it is the road that makes oregon accessible to tourists from other states. being the most important highway in the state, the pacific highway should be the best highway in the state. to make it the best and at the same time to bring it up to the standard of the same highway in the adjacent states of washington and california is one of the ends toward which the highway commission has been working during the past two years. during that time . miles of the very worst stretches of this highway have been newly graded to trunk highway standards. this grading has eliminated practically all of those heavy and dangerous grades which have made oregon notorious for bad roads and which have kept thousands of auto tourists from visiting the state. in addition to grading . miles on the pacific highway, the highway commission has put down . miles of pavement and . miles of macadam, the total cost of all of these improvements being $ , . . as a part of the program, the highway commission has already appropriated for the improvement of the pacific highway the sum of $ , , . , with which it is planned to build miles of pavement and miles of macadam surface. the particular sections of the pacific highway constructed during and , together with their mileages and total costs are given below. all of these sections are completed with the exception of the canyonville-galesville forest road project which is well under way. ================================================+=====+=========== sections |miles| total cost ------------------------------------------------+-----+----------- grading (including bridges)-- | | oregon city to new era | . |$ , . divide to leona | . | , . yoncalla to oakland | . | , . myrtle creek to dillard | . | , . canyonville to galesville | . | , . wolf creek to grave creek | . | , . grants pass to jackson county line | . | , . ashland undercrossing | . | , . | | macadam-- | | cottage grove to divide | . | , . divide to leona | . | , . siskiyou to california line | . | , . | | paving-- | | oregon city to canby | . | , . ashland hill section | . | , . +-----+----------- total cost of improvements completed and under| | way on pacific highway, - | |$ , . ------------------------------------------------+-----+----------- the columbia river highway the columbia river highway is second only to the pacific highway as a commercial necessity in the state of oregon; furthermore, the columbia river highway is the only connecting link between eastern and western oregon that can be kept open for vehicular traffic throughout the entire year. from a scenic standpoint, the columbia river highway has now become world famous, not only because of its wonderful natural advantages of location, but because of the high standard of construction. a large part of this combined commercial and scenic road is now open to traffic and the coming year will see the elimination of the last almost impassable barrier--the summit between hood river and mosier, a piece of construction . miles in length which will cost approximately $ , for the grading alone. the columbia river highway parallels the columbia river from the pacific ocean to umatilla, a distance of miles, thence southeast an additional miles to pendleton, where it connects with the old oregon trail. the old oregon trail continues southeast for a distance of miles, crossing the idaho-oregon line at huntington; making a continuous highway miles in length. at this date, the grading of the columbia river highway is practically complete from astoria to hood river, a total distance of miles, and the greater part of it is now either paved or macadamized. the cost of work completed on the columbia river highway between astoria and portland during the period covered by this report, after all payments are made will be approximately $ , . , of which amount $ , . has been expended to date. the work accomplished consists of . miles of grading, . miles of macadamizing, miles of paving, reinforced concrete bridges and one covered wood draw bridge. on the upper columbia river highway between hood river and cascade locks, . miles have been graded, miles gravelled, and a number of reinforced concrete bridges built, among which is the hood river bridge at hood river, costing $ , . . the total cost of the work completed between hood river and cascade locks will amount to $ , . . the sections improved during this period, with their mileages and costs are as follows: ====================================+=====+============= sections |miles| total cost ------------------------------------+-----+------------- grading-- | | cascade locks to hood river | . |$ , . goble to clatskanie | . | , . astoria to svensen | . | , . | | bridges-- | | hood river bridge | | , . beaver valley bridges | | , . john day river bridge | | , . other bridges | | , . | | paving-- | | astoria to svensen | . | , . scappoose to multnomah county line| . | , . | | macadamizing-- | | astoria to svensen | . | , . svensen to columbia county line | . | , . clatsop county line to goble | . | , . cascade locks to hood river | . | , . +-----+------------- total expenditures and | |$ , , . ------------------------------------+-----+------------- during , work will be undertaken on the columbia river highway to the amount of $ , , . , comprising miles of pavement, miles of gravel macadam and miles of grading. this work when completed will provide a surfaced highway between astoria and pendleton. county work supervised by the highway department that the counties of the state have confidence in the highway department and recognize the ability of the department to get results is evidenced by the fact that $ , . of county funds have been voluntarily turned over to the department during and to be expended under its supervision. this, $ , . , is the actual amount of money paid out by counties on vouchers audited and approved by the department. in addition to this a large amount of work has been done by counties under the supervision of the department, for which payment was made direct by the counties without being audited by the highway department. no record of the total amount thus expended is available, but it is estimated to be about $ , . . no part of this amount is included in any of the tabulations of expenditures given in this report. the cost of engineering and supervision of work handled in this manner, has been paid by the highway department and is included in table vi of the financial report as "engineering county construction." for co-operation on post and forest road projects, a total of $ , . of county funds have already been pledged. of this amount $ , . will be expended under state supervision, and $ , . under federal government supervision. construction work by state forces while the major part of the work supervised by the state highway department is handled under the contract system, it has been found to be good business for the department to go into competition with contractors and where satisfactory bids are not received to proceed to handle the work with state forces. during and , the department handled in this manner the construction of . miles of macadam surfacing, . miles of concrete paving, and . miles of grading. although war conditions prevailed during the past year and every possible obstacle had to be surmounted, the work done with state forces made a creditable showing when compared with cost plus and contract jobs. especially is this true of paving work where a comparison of costs with bid prices show a very substantial saving to the state, as illustrated by the following table: ===================+======+==========+==========+===========+========== |length| prelimi- |cost based|actual cost|saving to | in | nary | on lowest| with state| state | miles| estimate | bid price| forces | | | of cost | | | -------------------+------+----------+----------+-----------+---------- sheridan paving | . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . ashland hill paving| . | , . | , . | , . | , . +------+----------+----------+-----------+---------- total | . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . -------------------+------+----------+----------+-----------+---------- highway construction by the state highway department with its own forces has its limitation, however, in spite of the fact that it is often possible to do work at less cost than by contract. the oregon state highway department is by law and of necessity an engineering organization and, in order to have the best success in handling construction work, it is necessary to have a distinct organization. in the hiring of men for handling such construction, it is necessary for the state to compete with contractors for the higher priced and more experienced men, and the contractor is often in a position to offer more salary than the state. furthermore, it is necessary for the state to carry large quantities of expensive equipment which is idle at least a part of the year, and, in fact, the amount of equipment necessary to handle all of the state work by force account would represent too large a portion of the year's available money for road work. in handling its construction work direct, however, the department has the advantage of not being required to make a profit on the work, neither has it to pay interest on the necessary moneys to carry payrolls and other incidentals, neither is there any loss in retained percentage. the state does not have to carry a construction bond and, in fact, there are many reasons why a state should handle its construction direct, cheaper than by contract. there is much to be said on both sides of the question, but the department at this time does not believe that it is justified in attempting to handle all of the state work, believing that only under certain conditions where the state does not receive reasonable bids the work should be handled direct. the state highway department has many large construction jobs under contract at one time, and it is obvious, even to the layman, that an organization to handle all of this work with state forces is impossible under the present laws of the state of oregon, and the department recommends that force account be limited to such cases as are mentioned above and work for which the quantities and cost can not be closely estimated in advance of construction, such as maintenance work and light grading. state highway funds the funds at the disposal of the highway department are divided as follows: * * * * * =the state highway fund= provides for one-quarter mill tax on the assessed valuation of the state. this fund amounted to $ , . in ; $ , . in and in will equal $ , . . the money available in this fund provides a sufficient sum for the salaries and expenses of the state highway department, and the cost of maintaining state highways which have been constructed or improved. it is provided also, that with the proceeds of this fund, the commission may enter into co-operative agreements with any county for the survey, construction, improvement or maintenance of any state highway upon such basis or contribution as may be agreed upon. the bridge department is maintained out of this fund and furnishes designs for structures desired by the counties. * * * * * =the automobile license fund.= under the provision of section , chapter , laws of , the secretary of state is directed to transfer to an account under the jurisdiction of the state highway commission, the receipts from the automobile license fees, less the cost of administration. the law provides that these funds be transferred on april and october of each year. the receipts from this fund were $ , . and with the rapid increase of the number of automobiles, it is expected that this amount will be increased from year to year. the fund provides for the payment of principal and interest, as the same shall become due, on the bonded indebtedness of the state of oregon, contracted for road purposes under the provisions of the six million dollar bonding act and the state and federal road bonding act. the unexpended balance may be expended on such state highway projects as the commission approves. this fund is also used for co-operative work in counties where the six million dollar fund may not be used and on state highways not eligible for improvement under the post and forest road acts. * * * * * =the six million dollar road bond fund= provides for the issuance of six million dollars in bonds during the next five years. it provides for the sale of one million dollars in bonds in ; two million dollars in , and the balance as the commission may think advisable. the primary purpose of this act was to provide paving on the main highways of the state, contingent upon the counties preparing the road bed according to the plans of the state highway engineer. it also provides funds for the grading of the road bed on the columbia river highway in clatsop, columbia and hood river counties and on the pacific highway in jackson county. at this date a total of $ , , par value of bonds have been sold. * * * * * =state and federal co-operative road bonds.= under the federal aid road act there is provided for expenditure by the federal government during the next five years, $ , , . for the construction of post roads in the state of oregon and there is also available during the same period the sum of $ , . for the construction of highways within or partly within the national forests of the state. the purpose of this act is to meet federal aid in an equal amount and under this provision a total of $ , , . in bonds is authorized to be issued by the board of control and placed in a special fund to be used in carrying out the provisions of this act. a total of $ , . par value of these bonds have been sold. equipment the state highway department owns construction and hauling equipment to the approximate value of $ , . . this equipment is too varied and extensive to be shown in detail in this report. however, it includes six heavy auto trucks, two light auto trucks, twenty-two touring cars, three concrete mixers, two gasoline locomotives, three road rollers, one brown hoist, one asphalt paving plant, three rock crushers and an extensive supply of camp equipment, small tools, drills, steel, pipe, etc. most of this equipment is in fine working condition and adaptable to general highway work and has been used during the past year. however, we have on hand a certain amount of machinery which was bought for special purposes in former years, and while it has no doubt made a saving sufficient to justify its original cost, the department has no more use for it and it would be advantageous to the department if this equipment could be disposed of and the money invested in more necessary machinery. under present conditions, the state law makes it necessary to return any money from the sale of materials, supplies or equipment into the general fund of the state, and it is impossible to get this money back into highway funds without a special act of the legislature. despite this fact, however, some equipment was disposed of during the past year and the money turned into the general fund. if the state highway department is to proceed with any considerable amount of work with state forces, it will be necessary to purchase some additional equipment so that the work may be prosecuted more economically, especially is this true of concrete bridge work and general maintenance work. these are special types of work and special types of equipment are necessary to handle them properly. during the past year a great amount of equipment has been rented from private contractors and in case of short jobs and on special types of work, this is economical, but on long jobs, it is much more economical to purchase the necessary machinery as the amount paid out in rentals for a period of six or eight months is a considerable portion of the purchase price. during the past season a warehouse was built by the department for the purpose of housing construction equipment. this warehouse is located on state property near the penitentiary. it is by feet in size and has railroad facilities. all idle equipment and left over material is shipped to salem, for storage, at the close of the season. there the equipment is overhauled, repaired, repainted, and placed in readiness for the next season's work. the warehouse was built by the department with day labor. it will probably be advisable during the coming year to erect two more units to the warehouse to take care of a larger amount of equipment and provide for repair shop and garage. a garage was rented at north capitol street, salem, and an efficient automobile mechanic was placed in charge. by this means the automobiles of the department are kept in good repair, oiled and tires vulcanized. facilities are provided also for overhauling and repainting, which effects a considerable saving. office organization the work handled in the offices of the state highway department is of four classes, each requiring specialized training, and, in a way, of little or no relation to each other. for this reason, the office organization consists of four different offices or departments: the general office, the auditing department, the office engineering department and the bridge department. the work of these departments is outlined in the following paragraphs. * * * * * =general office.=--all business of the highway commission and all business of the department with the public is transacted through the general office. under the direction of the secretary of the commission and the first assistant engineer, this office handles all correspondence, the issuance of bonds, the execution of contracts, the purchase of supplies and equipment, and all general office detail. the seal of the state highway commission and the minutes of the commission meetings are in the custody of the secretary. all mail is received and distributed through the secretary's office, and in it filed all correspondence, legal documents, etc. this office also keeps a record of all state equipment and takes care of the charging out of rental and depreciation on same. the purchase of office, engineering and construction supplies and equipment is handled by this department and a considerable saving is realized by buying in quantities. on all stock supplies, each job is charged with the amount furnished and similarly rental on our own engineering instruments and automobiles is charged, so that the cost of each job may be determined. on construction projects which are furnished with our own trucks, road rollers, etc., each piece of equipment is rented out to the job in the same manner. a record is kept of the rental charged on each piece of equipment so that its value can be determined at any time. * * * * * =auditing department.=--this department, working under the supervision of the auditor, handles all claims against the commission, verifies each one, prepares the vouchers to cover, sends them out to claimants to be certified, and mails out the warrants when received from the secretary of state. all vouchers drawn from the counties for co-operative work or projects over which the commission has supervision, are also audited in this department. in there were , state vouchers passed, aggregating a total of $ , . ; in , , were passed, aggregating $ , , . . in there were county vouchers totaling $ , . , and in , vouchers totaling $ , . . a total of all such vouchers for the biennium aggregating $ , , . . employes of the commission are paid by payroll warrants drawn in favor of the state highway engineer and bank checks issued against the same. the total number of paychecks issued in was , , and in there was a total of , . it will be noted that in the past two years the commission has done considerable work by day labor and the above statement includes all direct employes. it is desirable to expedite payment of labor claims, especially to men who quit on short notice. the present law requires that claims be prepared in voucher form, approved by the commission for payment and then sent to the secretary of state for audit. the warrant when received is deposited in a bank and a paycheck issued. it is recommended that a revolving payroll fund be created on which pay checks could be drawn and sent out immediately as requested. these could later be listed and the payroll voucher prepared in the usual manner in favor of the state highway engineer. the warrant when received, to be refunded to the payroll fund which would be kept intact. the state highway engineer should furnish a payroll bond to cover. this fund could also be used for emergency claims to take advantage of trade discounts and permit the payment of small claims which it is desired to pay promptly. in the numerous cases in which the commission has taken over the work to do with its own forces, the necessary bookkeeping and detail records for handling material, supplies and labor payrolls have been carried by this office. on several force account jobs each invoice and payroll of the contractor has been carefully checked and verified before being paid. the record of both state and county funds have been audited by reputable certified public accountants and found correct. mr. g. ed ross served in the capacity of auditor until his resignation in july, , when his duties were taken over by roy a. klein, assistant engineer. * * * * * =office engineering department.=--in the office engineering department are handled the numerous office details in connection with the engineering work of the department. the more important of these duties are the working up of maps, profiles, specifications and estimates for new projects; the checking of monthly and final estimates for payments on contract work; the filing of engineering records of all kinds; the keeping of cost distribution and the compilation of reports, statistics and other data. during the past year this department, in addition to its other work, prepared and had published a road map of the state of oregon. this map shows all of the main traveled roads of the state and is believed to be the most authentic as well as the most complete road map of oregon yet published. a small reproduction of the map is contained in this report. single copies of a larger size, by inches will be supplied upon application. * * * * * =bridge department.=--the bridge department prepares designs, plans, specifications and estimates for all bridges and similar structures. the inspection and the supervision of construction of bridges is also in charge of this department. the laws of the state require that bridge designs be prepared for counties by the highway department, upon the request of county courts. twelve counties have taken advantage of this law during the past two years and have called upon the department for designs for a total of thirty-four bridges and six culverts, and of these structures twenty-seven bridges and four culverts have been built. a total of ninety-five bridges and fifteen culverts were designed by the bridge department, of which fifty-nine bridges and eleven culverts have been constructed. cost keeping the keeping of an accurate segregation of expenditures and a detailed distribution of costs for an organization handling the amount of work and the character of work handled by the highway department is a matter of the greatest importance. the highway department seldom has under way less than eighty or ninety separate and distinct jobs. these jobs are scattered all over the state, and few of them are of sufficient size to warrant the employment of timekeepers on the jobs to keep exact records of expenditures and costs. the records for all of these jobs must be kept in the main office where it is impossible for those keeping the records to be personally familiar with the details of the numerous expenditures made on each of the many jobs. to secure proper records of expenditures, therefore, a system of cost keeping must be used which requires little attention from the engineers and superintendents in charge of the various jobs, and at the same time gives sufficient information to those keeping the records in the main office to enable them to segregate all expenditures so that detailed information as regards total expenditures, monthly expenditures, expenditures from different funds, expenditures for different purposes, unit costs, etc., are readily available at any time, and in such form that all jobs may be combined to give total expenditures of various kinds, so that the department is always informed as to the financial status of each job and of all jobs. the system of cost keeping now in use by the department has been evolved from a number of other systems in use on work of a similar nature, and is a system specially devised to meet the requirements of the department. for every cent expended by the highway department or under its supervision, there appears in the cost records, entries which give at a glance the name of the county in which the expenditure is incurred, the name of the particular job, whether it is an engineering cost or a construction cost, the particular part of the work involved, the fund from which it is paid, and a reference to the original invoice or statement upon which the payment is made. these records are so arranged and so summarized each month that almost any desired combination of costs is available, such as the totals for each county, for each job, for each fund, for engineering, for construction, for surveys, for administration, for construction engineering, etc. the expenditure tabulations given in various parts of this report, and especially those in the part devoted to the financial report, give a good idea of the results being obtained with the system in use although they do not give the detail which is readily available in the records themselves. employes in the united states army service the state highway department is very proud of its representation in the army service and in recognition of the patriotism of those employes who have gone to the front, the department has maintained a service flag upon which there are now sixty stars. the men represented by these stars are listed on the following roll of honor: honor roll name and company former position with department abbott, charles h., d engineers inspector brown, merle, batt. f, th field artillery chainman chittick, ernest chainman chrisman, william chainman coats, solomon chainman conway, m. a., navy timekeeper cook, harold, private, s. a. t. c., willamette university blueprinter cooley, lorrin d., company mechanic, th co., coast chainman artillery cowgill, w. c. jr., st provisional co., d resident engineer engineers cutler, oscar, d engineer reg. locating engineer glass, d. g., d lieut., co. d, d engineers locating engineer grabenhorst, eugene b., private, co. p, th bn., instrumentman d engineers green, e. r. private, co. a, d engineers resident engineer greenwood, p. s. transitman grey, ulric r., camp -c, spruce squadron instrumentman hale, e. e. chainman harris, milton, d lieut. transitman hodgman, k. e., captain, spruce division, signal resident engineer corps hyatt, waldron, d co., st regiment, u. s. marine corps instrumentman ingels, hollis g., h. q. co., d inf. levelman ingram, r. c., corporal, co. l, d engineers draftsman isakson, c. o., st lieut., th engineers instrumentman jones, melville s., master engineer, co. c, th engineers computer judd, henry c., d co., coast artillery chainman junken, fred s., navy rodman kelley, c. c., st lieut., co. e, d bn., th district engineer engineers kinsey, claude, co. a, th engineers instrumentman lawrence, perry, amb. co. no. topographer lytle, k. d., co. c, d engineers transitman mcclintock, john, hospital unit, coast artillery chainman mcclintock, leon, hospital unit, coast artillery rodman may, aloys h. transit rodman metzger, floyd s., co. c. q. m. unit no. timekeeper miller, e. v. draftsman miller, ralph w. e., corporal, co. i, d infantry costkeeper minton, joseph, co. m, d infantry rodman moe, forrest l., th co. coast artillery chainman moore, don h., co. a, th engineers chainman moore, merton, co. a, th engineers chainman moore, royal, co. c, s. a. t. c., u. of california chainman morgan, silas b. rodman murdock, r. b., d lieut., co. c, d engineers district engineer murphy, thomas, hospital corps, th division chainman noble, chas. s., y. m. c. a. locating engineer nunn, roy, sergeant, h. q. co., th depot brig. resident engineer oerding, chas., engineers chainman oerding, harry, co. a, th engineers chainman quine, ralph, hospital unit, coast artillery chainman reiter, c. g., st lieut. locating engineer rynning, p. b., co. h, d engineers resident engineer schaffenberg, h. chainman smith, frederic w., co. c, q. m. unit no. timekeeper smith, thos. p. stakeman stretchberry, ray, th co., d engineers rodman sutter, l. r., co. f, th engineers chainman tilley, walker b., co. k, th railway engineers instrumentman welborn, forrest, sergeant, th machine gun company clerk wilson, otis e. inspector withycombe, earl, th engineers resident engineer vester, albert chainman summary the classification of employes lost to the department through enlistment in the army is as follows: district engineers locating engineers resident engineers transitmen draftsmen levelmen computers topographers timekeepers inspectors office clerks blue printer rodmen chainmen -- total number [illustration: reinforced concrete half viaduct on the columbia river highway between goble and rainier in columbia county, constructed in ] financial report fund allotments and expenditures during the fiscal period december , , to november , grand total of funds allotted $ , , . grand total of expenditures , , . ------------- balance on hand december st, $ , . the details of fund allotments and expenditures are set forth in tables as follows: table i. fund allotments from all sources. table ii. summary of fund allotments and fund expenditures. table iii. expenditures segregated by counties. table iv. expenditures segregated under the headings of general administrative, surveys, construction engineering, construction, equipment and unclassified. table v. expenditures for construction detailed by jobs. table vi. expenditures for surveys detailed by jobs. table vii. expenditures for equipment, bond interest and overhead. table viii. summary of county funds expended by department. table i fund allotments from all sources--december st, , to november th, _one-quarter mill tax fund_-- balance on hand dec. , $ , . turnover january , , . turnover january , , . ----------- total $ , . _automobile license fund_-- turnover october , $ , . turnover april , , . turnover october , , . ----------- total $ , . _six million dollar bond fund_-- bond sale, august , $ , . accrued interest , . bond sale, september , , . accrued interest , . bond sale, march , , . accrued interest . bond sale, july , , . accrued interest , . ----------- total $ , , . _state and federal co-operative bond fund_-- bond sale, august , $ , . accrued interest , . less expenditures by board of control . ----------- total $ , . _county funds_-- payments on vouchers drawn by department , . ----------- grand total funds allotted to highway department, december , to november , , , . (for description of the several funds provided for the work of the highway department see pages and .) table ii summary of fund allotments and fund expenditures--december st, , to november th, ==============================+=============+=============+=========== | | | balance funds | allotments | expenditures| december, | | | , ------------------------------+-------------+-------------+----------- one quarter mill tax fund | $ , . | $ , . |$ , . automobile license fund | , . | , . | , . six million dollar bond fund | , , . | , , . | , . state and federal co-operative| | | bond fund | , . | , . | , . ------------------------------+-------------+-------------+----------- total state funds |$ , , . |$ , , . |$ , . | | | county funds | , . | , . | ... ------------------------------+-------------+-------------+----------- grand total |$ , , . |$ , , . |$ , . ------------------------------+-------------+-------------+----------- table iii expenditures segregated by counties (including county funds expended under state supervision)--december st, , to november th, ===========+===============+===============+=============== county | state funds | county funds | total -----------+---------------+---------------+--------------- baker | $ , . | ... | $ , . benton | . | $ . | . clackamas | , . | , . | , . clatsop | , . | ... | , . columbia | , . | ... | , . coos | , . | , . | , . crook | , . | ... | , . curry | , . | ... | , . deschutes | , . | ... | , . douglas | , . | , . | , . gilliam | , . | ... | , . grant | , . | . | , . harney | , . | ... | , . hood river | , . | , . | , . jackson | , . | ... | , . josephine | , . | ... | , . klamath | . | ... | . lake | , . | ... | , . lane | , . | ... | , . lincoln | , . | ... | , . linn | . | . | . malheur | . | ... | . marion | , . | , . | , . morrow | , . | , . | , . polk | . | , . | , . sherman | , . | ... | , . tillamook | , . | , . | , . umatilla | , . | , . | , . union | , . | . | , . wallowa | . | ... | . wasco | , . | . | , . washington | , . | , . | , . wheeler | , . | , . | , . yamhill | , . | , . | , . +---------------+---------------+--------------- total | $ , , . | $ , . | $ , , . -----------+---------------+---------------+--------------- table iv expenditures segregated under the headings of general administration, surveys, construction engineering, construction, equipment and unclassified. =========================+===============+===============+============ classification | total | state | county | | funds | funds -------------------------+---------------+---------------+------------ general administration | | | and supervision | $ , . | $ , . | ... surveys and engineering | | | county work | , . | , . | $ , . construction engineering | , . | , . | . construction | , , . | , , . | , . equipment | , . | , . | ... unclassified (interest | | | on bonds, etc.) | , . | , . | ... +---------------+---------------+------------ grand total expenditures | $ , , . | $ , , . | $ , . -------------------------+---------------+---------------+------------ table v expenditures for construction work detailed by jobs--december st, , to november th, ==================================+=============================+ | totals | +--------------+--------------+ | estimated | expended | jobs | total | to date | | cost of job | | ----------------------------------+--------------+--------------+ clackamas county: | | | paving--oregon city to canby | $ , . | $ , . | grading--canemah hill section | , . | , . | grading and rock crushing--new | , . | , . | era | | | grading--multnomah co. line to | , . | , . | oswego | | | clatsop county: | | | grading and paving--astoria to | , . | , . | svensen | | | macadamizing--svensen to | , . | , . | columbia co. line | | | john day river bridge east of | , . | , . | astoria | | | plympton creek bridge at | , . | , . | westport | | | big creek bridge near knappa | , . | , . | little creek culvert near knappa| . | . | miscellaneous charges on work | . | . | prior to | | | columbia county: | | | paving--multnomah co. line to | , . | , . | scappoose | | | macadam--clatsop co. line to | , . | , . | clatskanie | | | macadam--clatskanie to delena | , . | , . | macadam--delena to goble | , . | , . | macadam--goble section | , . | , . | grading--goble section | , . | , . | grading--rainier hill section | , . | , . | grading--beaver valley section | , . | , . | grading--deer island section | , . | , . | concrete viaduct, cribbing and | , . | , . | masonry wall, near prescott | | | beaver valley bridges | , . | , . | scappoose culvert | , . | , . | goble creek bridge near goble | , . | , . | graham creek culvert near | . | . | clatskanie | | | coos county: | | | coast highway and myrtle point- | , . | , . | coquille road | | | crook county: | | | ochoco canyon forest road | , . | , . | project (federal government | | | cooperates on this project to | | | the amount of $ , . ) | | | deschutes county: | | | cinder macadam--bend to lapine | , . | , . | douglas county: | | | grading--divide to comstock | , . | , . | grading and macadam--comstock | , . | , . | to leona | | | grading--oakland to yoncalla | , . | , . | grading--myrtle creek to dillard| , . | , . | macadamizing--divide to comstock| , . | , . | maintenance--glendale to stage | . | . | road pass | | | umpqua river bridges near | , . | , . | dillard | | | gilliam county: | | | macadam--condon to thirty mile | , . | , . | creek | | | hood river county: | | | grading--cascade locks section | , . | , . | grading--viento section | , . | , . | grading--ruthton hill section | , . | , . | macadam--cascade locks to hood | , . | , . | river | | | hood river bridge | , . | , . | jackson county: | | | macadam--siskiyou to california | , . | , . | line | | | ashland under-crossing | , . | , . | paving--ashland hill section | , . | , . | maintenance--siskiyou section | . | . | josephine county: | | | grading--wolf creek to grave | , . | , . | creek | | | grading--locust hill section | , . | , . | miscellaneous charges on | . | . | construction in | | | lake county: | | | grading and macadam--lakeview | , . | , . | to paisley | | | lane county: | | | macadam--divide to cottage grove| , . | , . | construction prior to | . | . | lincoln county: | | | grading--pioneer mountain | , . | , . | section | | | marion county: | | | salem bridge over willamette | , . | , . | river | | | polk county: | | | approach to salem bridge | , . | , . | reinforced concrete bridge at | , . | , . | dallas | | | reinforced concrete bridge | , . | , . | between monmouth and dallas | | | charges on work prior to | . | . | tillamook county: | | | grading and paving--tillamook | , . | , . | to hebo | | | grading--three rivers forest | , . | , . | road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | umatilla county: | | | paving--wild horse creek section| , . | , . | union county: | | | grading--la grande to hot lake | , . | , . | grading--elgin-minam post road | , . | , . | project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . ) | | | grading--union-telocaset post | , . | , . | road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | washington county: | | | grading and paving--multnomah | , . | , . | co. line to newberg | | | onion flat trestle near sherwood| , . | , . | tualatin river bridge near | , . | , . | tigardville | | | fanno creek bridge near tigard | , . | , . | wheeler county: | | | grading--cummins hill section | , . | , . | macadam--cummins hill section | , . | , | grading--bridge creek section | , . | , . | resurfacing between fossil and | , . | . | condon | | | yamhill county: | | | grading rex to newberg | , . | , . | sheridan paving, | , . | , . | sheridan paving, | , . | , . | completion of sour grass cut-off| , . | , . | +--------------+--------------+ |$ , , . |$ , , . | ----------------------------------+--------------+--------------+ ==================================+=============================+ | state funds | +--------------+--------------+ | state's | expended | jobs | share of | from | | estimated | state funds | | cost | to date | ----------------------------------+--------------+--------------+ clackamas county: | | | paving--oregon city to canby | $ , . | $ , . | grading--canemah hill section | , . | , . | grading and rock crushing--new | , . | , . | era | | | grading--multnomah co. line to | . | . | oswego | | | clatsop county: | | | grading and paving--astoria to | , . | , . | svensen | | | macadamizing--svensen to | , . | , . | columbia co. line | | | john day river bridge east of | , . | , . | astoria | | | plympton creek bridge at | , . | , . | westport | | | big creek bridge near knappa | , . | , . | little creek culvert near knappa| . | . | miscellaneous charges on work | . | . | prior to | | | columbia county: | | | paving--multnomah co. line to | , . | , . | scappoose | | | macadam--clatsop co. line to | , . | , . | clatskanie | | | macadam--clatskanie to delena | , . | , . | macadam--delena to goble | , . | , . | macadam--goble section | , . | , . | grading--goble section | , . | , . | grading--rainier hill section | , . | , . | grading--beaver valley section | , . | , . | grading--deer island section | , . | , . | concrete viaduct, cribbing and | , . | , . | masonry wall, near prescott | | | beaver valley bridges | , . | , . | scappoose culvert | , . | , . | goble creek bridge near goble | , . | , . | graham creek culvert near | . | . | clatskanie | | | coos county: | | | coast highway and myrtle point- | , . | , . | coquille road | | | crook county: | | | ochoco canyon forest road | , . | , . | project (federal government | | | cooperates on this project to | | | the amount of $ , . ) | | | deschutes county: | | | cinder macadam--bend to lapine | , . | , . | douglas county: | | | grading--divide to comstock | , . | , . | grading and macadam--comstock | , . | , . | to leona | | | grading--oakland to yoncalla | , . | , . | grading--myrtle creek to dillard| , . | , . | macadamizing--divide to comstock| , . | , . | maintenance--glendale to stage | . | . | road pass | | | umpqua river bridges near | , . | , . | dillard | | | gilliam county: | | | macadam--condon to thirty mile | , . | , . | creek | | | hood river county: | | | grading--cascade locks section | , . | , . | grading--viento section | , . | , . | grading--ruthton hill section | , . | , . | macadam--cascade locks to hood | , . | , . | river | | | hood river bridge | , . | , . | jackson county: | | | macadam--siskiyou to california | , . | , . | line | | | ashland under-crossing | , . | , . | paving--ashland hill section | , . | , . | maintenance--siskiyou section | . | . | josephine county: | | | grading--wolf creek to grave | , . | , . | creek | | | grading--locust hill section | , . | , . | miscellaneous charges on | . | . | construction in | | | lake county: | | | grading and macadam--lakeview | , . | , . | to paisley | | | lane county: | | | macadam--divide to cottage grove| , . | , . | construction prior to | . | . | lincoln county: | | | grading--pioneer mountain | , . | , . | section | | | marion county: | | | salem bridge over willamette | . | . | river | | | polk county: | | | approach to salem bridge | ... | ... | reinforced concrete bridge at | . | . | dallas | | | reinforced concrete bridge | ... | ... | between monmouth and dallas | | | charges on work prior to | . | . | tillamook county: | | | grading and paving--tillamook | , . | , . | to hebo | | | grading--three rivers forest | , . | , . | road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | umatilla county: | | | paving--wild horse creek section| , . | , . | union county: | | | grading--la grande to hot lake | , . | , . | grading--elgin-minam post road | , . | , . | project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . ) | | | grading--union-telocaset post | , . | , . | road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | washington county: | | | grading and paving--multnomah | , . | , . | co. line to newberg | | | onion flat trestle near sherwood| , . | , . | tualatin river bridge near | , . | , . | tigardville | | | fanno creek bridge near tigard | , . | , . | wheeler county: | | | grading--cummins hill section | , . | , . | macadam--cummins hill section | , . | , . | grading--bridge creek section | , . | , . | resurfacing between fossil and | , . | . | condon | | | yamhill county: | | | grading rex to newberg | ... | ... | sheridan paving, | , . | , . | sheridan paving, | , . | , . | completion of sour grass cut-off| , . | , . | +--------------+--------------+ |$ , , . |$ , , . | ----------------------------------+--------------+--------------+ ==================================+=========================+============ | county funds |construction +------------+------------+ engineering | county's | expended | cost jobs | share of | from | included in | estimated |county funds| preceding | cost | to date | columns ----------------------------------+------------+------------+----------- clackamas county: | | | paving--oregon city to canby |$ ... |$ ... |$ , . grading--canemah hill section | , . | , . | , . grading and rock crushing--new | , . | , . | , . era | | | grading--multnomah co. line to | , . | , . | . oswego | | | clatsop county: | | | grading and paving--astoria to | ... | ... | , . svensen | | | macadamizing--svensen to | ... | ... | , . columbia co. line | | | john day river bridge east of | ... | ... | . astoria | | | plympton creek bridge at | ... | ... | . westport | | | big creek bridge near knappa | ... | ... | . little creek culvert near knappa| ... | ... | . miscellaneous charges on work | ... | ... | . prior to | | | columbia county: | | | paving--multnomah co. line to | ... | ... | , . scappoose | | | macadam--clatsop co. line to | ... | ... | . clatskanie | | | macadam--clatskanie to delena | ... | ... | , . macadam--delena to goble | ... | ... | , . macadam--goble section | ... | ... | . grading--goble section | ... | ... | , . grading--rainier hill section | ... | ... | . grading--beaver valley section | ... | ... | ... grading--deer island section | ... | ... | . concrete viaduct, cribbing and | ... | ... | . masonry wall, near prescott | | | beaver valley bridges | ... | ... | . scappoose culvert | ... | ... | ... goble creek bridge near goble | ... | ... | . graham creek culvert near | ... | ... | . clatskanie | | | coos county: | | | coast highway and myrtle point- | , . | , . | , . coquille road | | | crook county: | | | ochoco canyon forest road | , . | ... | ... project (federal government | | | cooperates on this project to | | | the amount of $ , . ) | | | deschutes county: | | | cinder macadam--bend to lapine | ... | ... | ... douglas county: | | | grading--divide to comstock | , . | , . | , . grading and macadam--comstock | , . | , . | , . to leona | | | grading--oakland to yoncalla | , . | , . | , . grading--myrtle creek to dillard| ... | ... | , . macadamizing--divide to comstock| ... | ... | . maintenance--glendale to stage | ... | ... | ... road pass | | | umpqua river bridges near | ... | ... | . dillard | | | gilliam county: | | | macadam--condon to thirty mile | ... | ... | , . creek | | | hood river county: | | | grading--cascade locks section | ... | ... | , . grading--viento section | ... | ... | , . grading--ruthton hill section | ... | ... | , . macadam--cascade locks to hood | ... | ... | . river | | | hood river bridge | , . | , . | , . jackson county: | | | macadam--siskiyou to california | ... | ... | . line | | | ashland under-crossing | ... | ... | . paving--ashland hill section | ... | ... | . maintenance--siskiyou section | ... | ... | josephine county: | | | grading--wolf creek to grave | ... | ... | , . creek | | | grading--locust hill section | ... | ... | . miscellaneous charges on | ... | ... | . construction in | | | lake county: | | | grading and macadam--lakeview | ... | ... | ... to paisley | | | lane county: | | | macadam--divide to cottage grove| ... | ... | . construction prior to | ... | ... | . lincoln county: | | | grading--pioneer mountain | ... | ... | ... section | | | marion county: | | | salem bridge over willamette | , . | , . | . river | | | polk county: | | | approach to salem bridge | , . | , . | ... reinforced concrete bridge at | , . | , . | . dallas | | | reinforced concrete bridge | , . | , . | ... between monmouth and dallas | | | charges on work prior to | ... | ... | . tillamook county: | | | grading and paving--tillamook | , . | , . | , . to hebo | | | grading--three rivers forest | , . | ... | ... road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | umatilla county: | | | paving--wild horse creek section| ... | ... | , . union county: | | | grading--la grande to hot lake | ... | ... | . grading--elgin-minam post road | ... | ... | . project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . ) | | | grading--union-telocaset post | ... | ... | , . road project (the federal | | | government cooperates on this | | | project to the amount of | | | $ , . .) | | | washington county: | | | grading and paving--multnomah | , . | , . | , . co. line to newberg | | | onion flat trestle near sherwood| ... | ... | . tualatin river bridge near | ... | ... | ... tigardville | | | fanno creek bridge near tigard | ... | ... | ... wheeler county: | | | grading--cummins hill section | , . | , . | , . macadam--cummins hill section | ... | ... | , . grading--bridge creek section | , . | , . | . resurfacing between fossil and | ... | ... | ... condon | | | yamhill county: | | | grading rex to newberg | , . | , . | ... sheridan paving, | , . | , . | , . sheridan paving, | , . | , . | , . completion of sour grass cut-off| ... | ... | . +------------+------------+----------- |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . ----------------------------------+------------+------------+----------- summary estimated total cost expended to date state $ , , . $ , , . county , . , . federal government , . ... ------------- ------------- totals $ , , . $ , , . table vi expenditures for surveys and engineering county construction detailed by jobs--december , , to november , ==================================+============+===========+============ | expenditures jobs +------------+-----------+------------ | by state | by county | total ----------------------------------+------------+-----------+------------ baker county | | | survey, baker-middle bridge |$ , . | ... | $ , . section | | | survey, middle bridge-black | , . | ... | , . bridge section | | | survey, canyon sec. of baker- | . | ... | . cornucopia road | | | survey, sag section of baker- | . | ... | . cornucopia road | | | survey unity to baker | . | ... | . | | | benton county | | | reconnaissance | . | ... | . survey, corvallis to polk | ... | $ . | . county line | | | | | | clackamas county | | | survey, zig zag creek forest | . | ... | . road project | | | survey, oswego to oregon city | . | ... | . survey, oregon city to new era | , . | ... | , . survey, canby to aurora | , . | ... | , . | | | clatsop county | | | reconnaissance, coast & col. | . | ... | . river highways | | | | | | columbia county | | | reconnaissance, columbia river | . | ... | . highway | | | survey, columbia city to | . | ... | . scappoose | | | | | | coos county | | | survey, coast hwy. & myrtle | , . | ... | , . point-coquille road | | | survey, myrtle point to douglas | , . | ... | , . county line | | | | | | curry county | | | survey, coast highway | , . | ... | , . | | | deschutes county | | | survey, harney county line west | . | ... | . seven miles | | | | | | douglas county | | | survey, canyon creek pass to | . | ... | . johns ranch | | | survey, johns ranch to jacques | . | ... | . ranch | | | survey, brockway to round | . | ... | . prairie | | | survey, roseburg to coos county | , . | ... | , . line | | | survey, canyonville-galesville | . | ... | . forest project | | | miscell. surveys and | . | ... | . reconnaissance | | | | | | gilliam county | | | survey, john day river to | , . | ... | , . blalock | | | survey and engineering county | . | ... | . const. john day river to | | | arlington | | | | | | grant county | | | survey, big basin section of | , . | . | , . john day highway | | | survey, & engineering county | , . | ... | , . const. fisk creek to hall hill| | | survey, hall hill to prairie | . | ... | . city | | | survey, john day to fisk creek | , . | ... | , . | | | harney county | | | survey, burns to crane | . | ... | . survey, sage hen to burns | . | ... | . survey, deschutes co. line east | . | ... | . seven miles | | | | | | hood river county | | | survey, hood river to mosier | , . | ... | , . (two routes) | | | | | | jackson county | | | survey, ashland to klamath falls| , . | ... | , . survey, medford to crater lake | , . | ... | , . | | | josephine county | | | survey, wolf creek to grave | , . | ... | , . creek | | | survey, grave creek to grants | , . | ... | , . pass | | | survey, wolf creek to stage road| . | ... | . pass | | | engineering county const. grants| , . | ... | , . pass to jackson county line | | | | | | klamath county | | | reconnaissance, klamath falls | . | ... | . to olene | | | survey, klamath falls to | . | ... | . chiloquin | | | survey, chiloquin to sand creek | . | ... | . survey, anna creek forest road | . | ... | . project | | | | | | lane county | | | survey, goshen to cottage grove | , . | ... | , . survey, eugene to florence | , . | ... | , . survey for overhead crossing at | . | ... | . divide | | | | | | lincoln county | | | surveys for bridge at toledo and| . | ... | . waldport | | | | | | linn county | | | survey, albany to jefferson | . | . | . | | | malheur county | | | reconnaissance | . | ... | . survey, cow valley-brogan | . | ... | . section | | | | | | marion county | | | survey, salem-aurora | , . | ... | , . survey, salem-jefferson | , . | ... | , . | | | morrow county | | | survey, columbia river highway | , . | , . | , . survey, oregon-washington | , . | ... | , . highway | | | engineering county const. | , . | ... | , . oregon-washington highway | | | | | | polk county | | | survey between monmouth and | . | ... | . dallas | | | survey near eola | . | ... | . survey, independence to benton | . | ... | . county line | | | | | | sherman county | | | survey, columbia river highway | , . | ... | , . | | | tillamook county | | | survey, tillamook to hebo | . | ... | . survey, neskowin to salmon river| , . | ... | , . | | | umatilla county | | | survey, pendleton to kamela | , . | , . | , . survey, pendleton to umatilla | , . | , . | , . survey, pendleton to gilliam | , . | . | , . co. line via pilot rock | | | engineering county const., | . | ... | . pendleton to poor farm | | | | | | union county | | | survey, la grande to kamela | , . | . | , . survey, la grande to minam | , . | ... | , . survey, union to telocaset | . | ... | . survey, la grande to union | . | ... | . | | | wallowa county | | | survey, flora-enterprise forest | . | ... | . road project | | | | | | wasco county | | | survey, seuferts to deschutes | , . | ... | , . river | | | design culvert over three mile | | . | . creek | | | | | | washington county | | | survey, multnomah co. line to | $ , . | ... | $ , . newberg | | | survey and engineering county | , . | ... | , . const. beaverton to gaston | | | | | | wheeler county | | | survey, john day river highway | , . | $ . | , . survey, mitchell to dayville | , . | ... | , . survey, fossil to gilliam county| . | ... | . line | | | survey, ochoco canyon forest | . | ... | . road project | | | engineering county const. | . | ... | . sarvice creek summit section | | | engineering county const. fossil| . | ... | . to gilliam county line | | | engineering county const. | . | ... | . sigfrit hill section | | | | | | yamhill county | | | survey, mcminnville to dayton | . | ... | . survey, grand ronde section | , . | ... | , . | | | miscellaneous | | | reconnaissance surveys in | , . | ... | , . various counties | | | +------------+-----------+------------ total expenditure for surveys and |$ , . | $ , . | $ , . engineering county | | | construction work | | | ----------------------------------+------------+-----------+------------ table vii general expenditures--december , , to november , administrative and general supervision: general administrative $ , . state highway commissioners , . auditing department , . purchasing department . office engineering department , . bridge department , . pendleton office , . roseburg office . state highway engineer and assistants , . ------------ total $ , . equipment and stock: equipment (this item represents all expenditures for purchase and maintenance of heavy equipment less monthly rentals charged against jobs) $ , . stock (this item represents all expenditures for supplies and materials bought and held for distribution, less deductions made as supplies and materials are shipped out and charged to jobs) , . construction of new warehouse at salem , . ------------ total $ , . unclassified: interest and other costs on bonds $ , . miscellaneous . ------------ total $ , . table viii county funds expended by state highway department--december , to november , . county amount on totals for each job each county benton county survey--independence to corvallis $ . $ . clackamas county grading--new era to canemah , . ... grading--multnomah county line to oswego , . , . coos county grading--coast highway & coquille-myrtle , . , . point rd. douglas county grading--divide to comstock , . ... grading and macadam--comstock to leona , . ... grading--oakland to yoncalla , . , . grant county survey--john day river highway . . hood river county hood river bridge , . , . linn county survey--albany to jefferson . . marion county salem bridge , . , . morrow county survey of columbia river highway , . , . polk county approach to salem bridge , . ... dallas bridge , . ... bridge between monmouth and dallas , . , . tillamook county grading & paving--tillamook to cloverdale , . , . umatilla county surveys--pendleton to echo , . ... surveys--pendleton to pilot rock . ... surveys--pendleton to kamela , . , . union county surveys--la grande to kamela . . wasco county design for three mile creek bridge . . washington county grading--multnomah co. line to newberg , . , . wheeler county grading--cummins hill section , . ... grading--bridge creek section , . ... surveys--john day river highway . , . yamhill county grading--rex to newberg , . ... sheridan paving, , . ... sheridan paving, , . , . ----------- total county funds expended by department $ , . the above tabulated amounts cover only those expenditures made on vouchers drawn by the highway department. the department has supervised a very large amount of county construction upon which payment has been made direct by the county, which payments are not included above. [illustration: reinforced concrete cribbing near prescott on the columbia river highway in columbia county. built in ] general tabulated information and highway maps tables table a--miles of highway construction completed by the highway department during and . table b--tabulation of bridge design and construction. table c--miles of location surveys made by the department during and . table d--miles of different types of roads in each county. table e--motor vehicle registration by counties. table f--county bond issues. table g--tabulation of contract prices. table h--yearly expenditure of state funds in counties. table i--mileage table of main traveled roads. table j--official designation of state highways. table k--employes of the state highway department. table l--numbers and mileages of state highways. maps map i.--main traveled roads of the state. map ii.--state highway system. table a miles of highway constructed by highway department - ========================+========+========+========+========+======== | | bitu- | broken | | jobs |concrete| minous | stone | gravel | grading |pavement|pavement| macadam|macadam | ------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- clackamas county-- | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... oregon city to canby | ... | . | ... | ... | ... new era to oregon city| ... | ... | ... | ... | . multnomah county line | ... | ... | ... | ... | . to oswego | | | | | | | | | | clatsop county-- | | | | | astoria to svensen | ... | . | . | ... | . svensen to westport | ... | ... | . | . | ... | | | | | columbia county-- | | | | | multnomah county line-| ... | . | ... | ... | ... scappoose | | | | | westport to clatskanie| ... | ... | . | ... | ... clatskanie to delena | ... | ... | . | ... | ... delena to goble | ... | ... | . | ... | ... goble section | ... | ... | . | ... | . beaver valley section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . rainier hill section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | | | | | coos county-- | | | | | marshfield to curry | ... | ... | ... | ... | . county line | | | | | coquille to myrtle | ... | ... | ... | ... | . point | | | | | | | | | | deschutes county-- | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... bend to lapine | ... | ... | ... | . | ... (cinder macadam) | | | | | | | | | | douglas county-- | | | | | myrtle creek to | ... | ... | ... | ... | . dillard | | | | | oakland to yoncalla | ... | ... | ... | ... | . divide to comstock | ... | ... | . | ... | . comstock to leona | ... | ... | . | ... | . | | | | | gilliam county-- | | | | | mayville to wheeler | ... | ... | . | ... | ... county line | | | | | condon to thirty mile | ... | ... | . | ... | ... creek | | | | | | | | | | hood river county-- | | | | | cascade locks section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . viento section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . ruthton hill section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . cascade locks to hood | ... | ... | ... | . | ... river | | | | | | | | | | jackson county-- | | | | | siskiyou mountain | ... | ... | . | ... | ... section | | | | | ashland undercrossing | ... | ... | ... | ... | . ashland paving | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | josephine county-- | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... wolf creek to grave | ... | ... | ... | ... | . creek | | | | | grants pass-jackson | ... | ... | ... | ... | . county line | | | | | | | | | | lake county-- | | | | | lakeview to paisley | ... | ... | . | ... | . | | | | | lane county-- | | | | | divide to cottage | ... | ... | . | ... | ... grove | | | | | | | | | | lincoln county-- | | | | | pioneer mountain | ... | ... | ... | ... | . section | | | | | | | | | | tillamook county-- | | | | | tillamook-cloverdale | ... | . | ... | ... | . paving | | | | | | | | | | umatilla county-- | | | | | pendleton-adams | ... | . | ... | ... | ... section | | | | | pendleton-west | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | | | | | union county-- | | | | | elgin to minam | ... | ... | ... | ... | . union to telocaset | ... | ... | ... | ... | . la grande to hot lake | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | | | | | washington county-- | | | | | multnomah county line | ... | . | ... | ... | . to newberg | | | | | | | | | | wheeler county | | | | | cummins hill section | ... | ... | . | ... | . fossil-cummins hill | ... | ... | . | ... | ... section | | | | | bridge creek section | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | | | | | yamhill county-- | | | | | sheridan paving | . | ... | ... | ... | . multnomah county line,| ... | . | ... | ... | . newberg paving | | | | | ------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- totals | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+-------- table b bridge and culvert design and construction december st, , to november th, ====================+===================+=============================== | |total length of bridge | |and approaches (feet) | | +-------------------------- | | |width of roadway (feet) | | | +---------------------- | | | |loading (see footnote) | | | | +--------------- |structure no. | | | | total cost | +---------------+ | | | actual cost name of structure | | type of | | | | if complete; | | structure | | | | estimated | | | | | |if uncompleted --------------------+---+---------------+----+---+------+-------------- benton: | | | | | | culvert on west | |double 'x ' | | |heavy |[ ]$ . side highway, | |r. c. culvert | | | | ½ mi. no. of | | | | | | corvallis | | | | | | culvert on west | |double 'x ' | | |heavy |[ ] , . side highway, | |r. c. culvert | | | | mi. no. of | | | | | | corvallis | | | | | | bridge over mill | |reinforced | | |heavy |[ ] , . race south of | |concrete bridge| | | | corvallis | | | | | | | | | | | | clatsop: | | | | | | drawbridge over | | - ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . john day river | |spans | | | | | | - ' lift span| | | | plympton creek | |r. c. thru span| | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge at | | | | | | westport | | | | | | big creek bridge | |r. c. bridge | | |heavy |[ ] , . near knappa | | 'x ' r. c. | | | | little creek | | culvert | | |heavy |[ ] . culvert near | | | | | | knappa | | | | | | bridge over | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . mcdonald's log | |bridge | | | | chute on colum- | | | | | | bia river hwy. | | | | | | | | | | | | columbia: | | | | | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge no. | |bridge | | | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge no. | |bridge | | | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} |heavy |[ ] , . beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. "a" | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | |} | | bridge no. "b" | |bridge | |} | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge no. | |bridge | | | | beaver creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge no. | | | | | | culvert near | | 'x ' | | |heavy |[ ] , . scappoose on | |r. c. culvert | | | | columbia river | | | | | | highway | | | | | | graham creek | |double 'x ' | | |heavy |[ ] . culvert near | |r. c. box | | | | clatskanie | | | | | | goble creek bridge| | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . at goble | |bridge | | | | half viaduct near | |r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . little jack | |half viaduct | | | | falls | | | | | | | | | | | | coos: | | | | | | overhead railway | |r. c. viaduct | | |heavy |[ ] , . crossing at | | | | | | overland | | | | | | ' wooden truss | |wooden truss | | |medium|[ ] . haynes slough | | ' lift (wood)| | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | | | | | | north slough | | ' lift (wood)| | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | | | | | | isthmus slough | | ' draw span | | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | | | | | | larson slough | | ' wood lift | | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | |and trestle | | | | powers bridge | | - ' wood | | |medium|[ ] , . | |spans | | | | bridge at gravel | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . ford--no. fork | | | | | | of coquille | | | | | | river | | | | | | | | | | | | douglas: | | | | | | pheasant creek | | 'x ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . culvert near | |culvert | | | | curtin | | | | | | pass creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . culvert, mi. | |bridge | | | | north of | | | | | | comstock | | | | | | umpqua river | | - ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge south of | |spans | | | | dillard | | | | | | rock creek bridge | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . near anlauf | |bridge | | | | umpqua river | | - ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge north of | |spans | | | | dillard | | | | | | ' r. c. bridge | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . | |bridge | | | | van tyne creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge between | |bridge | | | | myrtle creek | | | | | | and dillard | | | | | | viaduct mile | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . north of myrtle | |viaduct | | | | creek | | | | | | viaduct mile | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . north of myrtle | |viaduct | | | | creek | | | | | | pass creek culvert| |double 'x ' | | |heavy |[ ] , . ½ miles north | |r. c. culvert | | | | of comstock | | | | | | | | | | | | grant: | | | | | | john day river | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . bridge at | | | | | | monument | | | | | | gulch | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] . gulch | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] . gulch | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] . rock creek | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . john day river at | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . goose rock | | | | | | north fork john | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . day river | | | | | | holmes creek | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . rattlesnake creek | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . dixie creek bridge| | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , , at prairie city | | | | | | | | | | | | hood river: | | | | | | east fork of hood | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . river | |viaduct | | | | neal creek bridge | | ' bridge, | | |heavy |[ ] , . | |r. c. | | | | bridge over hood | | ' wooden | | |medium|[ ] , . river at dee | |span | | | | odell creek bridge| | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . | |bridge | | | | herman creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge | |bridge | | | | culvert for flume | |r. c. culvert | ...| |heavy |[ ] . line at mitchell| | | | | | point | | | | | | culvert for pipe | | 'x ½' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . line at cascade | |culvert | | | | locks | | | | | | viento creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge at viento| |bridge | | | | gorton creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge | |bridge | | | | parham creek | | 'x ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . culvert near | |culvert | | | | viento | | | | | | indian creek | |culvert | |...|... |[ ] , . hood river bridge | | ' r. c. arch| | |heavy |[ ] , . at hood river | |and viaduct | | | | half viaduct on | | ' half | |...|heavy |[ ] , . ruthton hill | |viaduct | | | | | | | | | | jackson: | | | | | | big applegate near| | ' wood span,| | |medium|[ ] , . jacksonville | | ' approach | | | | | | | | | | josephine: | | | | | | trestle over dry | | ' wood | | |medium|[ ] , . gulch east of | |trestle | | | | wolf creek | | | | | | coyote creek | | ' wood | | |medium|[ ] . bridge east of | |trestle | | | | wolf creek | | | | | | | | | | | | lane: | | | | | | overhead railway | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . crossing at | |viaduct | | | | divide | | | | | | | | | | | | lincoln: | | | | | | alsea river, | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . miles above | | | | | | waldport | | | | | | | | | | | | linn: | | | | | | bridge over mill | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . race in lebanon | |bridge | | | | | | | | | | marion: | | | | | | willamette river | |steel bridge | | | (¶) |[ ] , . bridge at salem | | | | | | slough | | 'x ' r. c. | ...|...|heavy |[ ] , . | |culvert | | | | slough | |double ½'x ' | ...|...|heavy |[ ] . | |r. c. culvert | | | | | | | | | | multnomah: | | | | | | overhead crossing | | ' wooden | | |heavy |[ ] . --ore. elec. ry.| |overcrossing | | | | at capital hill | | | | | | slough | | ' wooden span| | |medium|[ ] , . | | | | | | polk: | | | | | | mulkey cut-off | | ' wood | | |medium|[ ] . near monmouth | |trestle | | | | lacreole creek in | | ' r. c. arch | | |heavy |[ ] , . dallas (not | | | | | | designed by | | | | | | state) | | | | | | r. c. bridge | | ' wood bridge| | |heavy |[ ] , . between dallas | | | | | | and monmouth | | | | | | little luckiamute | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . big luckiamute, | | ' suspension| | | ... |[ ] . at montgomery | |foot bridge | | | | school (see also| | | | | | marion county | | | | | | for salem | | | | | | bridge) | | | | | | | | | | | | sherman: | | | | | | john day river | | - ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge on | |deck spans | | | | columbia river | | | | | | highway | | | | | | | | | | | | tillamook: | | | | | | bridge over north | | ' lift and | | |medium|[ ] , . fork of nehalem | | ' span | | | | river | | | | | | bridge over beaver| | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . creek, north of | |bridge | | | | beaver | | | | | | bridge over beaver| | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . creek in beaver | |bridge | | | | munson creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . bridge | |bridge | | | | | | | | | | umatilla: | | | | | | bridge over wash- | | ' wood span | | |medium|[ ] , . out gulch near | | | | | | reith | | | | | | | | | | | | union: | | | | | | grand ronde river | | - ' wooden | | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | |spans | | | | grand ronde river | | - ' wooden | | |medium|[ ] , . bridge | |spans | | | | bridge between la | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . grande and hot | |bridge | | | | lake | | | | | | bridge between la | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . grande and hot | |bridge | | | | lake | | | | | | bridge between la | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . grande and hot | |bridge | | | | lake | | | | | | bridge between la | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . grande and hot | |bridge | | | | lake | | | | | | bridge between la | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . grande and hot | |bridge | | | | lake | | | | | | box culvert near | | 'x ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] . hot lake | |box culvert | | | | | | | | | | wasco: | | | | | | eight mile creek | | ' r. c. box | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge east of | |culvert | | | | the dalles | | | | | | three mile creek | | 'x ' r. c. | ...| |heavy |[ ] . bridge--east of | |culvert | | | | the dalles | | | | | | mosier creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge at mosier| |viaduct | | | | butler creek | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge | |bridge | | | | tygh creek bridge | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . near tygh valley| |bridge | | | | rock creek bridge | | ' r. c. | | |heavy |[ ] , . | |bridge | | | | | | | | | | washington: | | | | | | onion flat trestle| | ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . between rex and | |trestle | | | | tigardville | | | | | | tualatin river | | ' wood span | | |heavy |[ ] , . bridge, mi. | | | | | | so. of | | | | | | tigardville | | | | | | fanno creek bridge| | ' wood | | |heavy |[ ] , . at tigard | |trestle | | | | | | | | | | wheeler: | | | | | | bridge over bridge| | ' wooden | | |medium|[ ] , . creek, near | |span | | | | mitchell | | | | | | bridge over bridge| | ' wooden span| | |medium|[ ] , . creek, mi. | | | | | | west of mitchell| | | | | | bridge over west | | ' wooden span| | |medium|[ ] . branch creek, | | | | | | near mitchell | | | | | | bridge at mitchell| | ' wooden | | |medium|[ ] , . | |span | | | | | | | | | | yamhill: | | | | | | bridge over | | ' wooden span| | |medium|[ ] , . yamhill river-- | | | | | | mi. west of | | | | | | grande ronde | | | | | | bridge over cedar | | ' wooden span| | |medium|[ ] . creek-- mi. | | | | | | west of grande | | | | | | ronde | | | | | | --------------------+---+---------------+----+---+------+-------------- total | $ , . --------------------------------------------------------+-------------- [ ] designed by highway department but not yet constructed. [ ] designed by highway department and construction supervised by counties. [ ] designed and construction supervised by highway department. where loading is referred to as "heavy," the structure is designed for a twenty-ton roller and for lbs. per sq. ft. where loading is referred to as "medium," the structure is designed for a fifteen-ton roller and for lbs. per sq. ft. summary of bridge and culvert design and construction designed and construction supervised by highway department $ , . designed by highway department and construction supervised by counties , . designed by highway department but not yet constructed , . ----------- total $ , . table c miles of location surveys made by highway department - jobs miles baker county-- baker to middle bridge . canyon section of baker-cornucopia road . sag section of baker-cornucopia road . middle bridge to black bridge . clackamas county-- canby to oregon city . oregon city to multnomah county line . aurora to canby . columbia county-- columbia city to scappoose . coos county-- myrtle point to douglas county line . marshfield to curry county line . coquille to myrtle point . curry county-- coast highway . douglas county-- johns ranch to jacques ranch . canyon creek pass to johns place . coos county line to roseburg . gilliam county-- columbia river highway . grant county-- big basin section of john day river highway . john day to fisk creek . fisk creek to hall hill . hall hill to prairie city . harney county-- burns to crane . hood river county-- hood river to mosier . jackson county-- ashland to klamath falls . josephine county-- wolf creek to grave creek . grants pass to grave creek . wolf creek to stage road pass . klamath county-- klamath falls-chiloquin . lane county-- goshen to cottage grove . eugene to florence . divide to overhead . linn county-- albany to jefferson . marion county-- salem to aurora . salem to jefferson . morrow county-- columbia river highway . heppner to willows . heppner to umatilla county line . polk county-- between monmouth and dallas . between salem and dallas . sherman county-- columbia river highway . tillamook county-- tillamook to cloverdale . neskowin to salmon river . umatilla county-- pendleton to umatilla . pendleton to pilot rock . pilot rock to morrow county line . pendleton to kamela . union county-- elgin to minam . union to telocaset . la grande to elgin . la grande to union . la grande to kamela . wasco county-- seuffert to deschutes river . washington county-- multnomah county line to newberg . beaverton to hillsboro . forest grove to gaston . wheeler county-- sarvice creek to grant county line . ochoco forest to grant county line . fossil to gilliam county line . fossil to mouth of sarvice creek . yamhill county-- mcminnville to dayton . grande ronde section . ----- total miles of surveys . table d miles of different types of road in each county (these mileages are only roughly approximate as accurate data is obtainable in very few counties) ==========+========================================================== | public roads | |concrete pavements | | |asphaltic concrete counties | | | |plank roads | | | | |broken stone | | | | | |gravel roads | | | | | | | earth roads | | | | | | |improved | | | | | | | |un- | | | | | | | |improved ----------+--------+----+-----+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------- baker | , . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | , . benton | . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . clackamas | , . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . clatsop | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ... columbia | . | ...| . | . | . | . | . | . coos | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . crook | , . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | , . curry | . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . deschutes | , . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | , . douglas | , . | . | . | . | . | . | . | , . gilliam | . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . grant | . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | . harney | , . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | . hood river| . | ...| . | ...| . | . | . | . jackson | . | . | . | ...| . | . | . | . jefferson | , . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . josephine | . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . klamath | , . | ...| . | ...| . | . | . | . lake | , . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | , . lane | , . | ...| ...| . | . | . | . | . lincoln | . | ...| ...| . | . | . | . | . linn | , . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . malheur | , . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | . marion | , . | ...| . | ...| . | . | . | . morrow | . | ...| ...| ...| . | ...| . | . multnomah | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . polk | , . | ...| . | ...| . | . | . | . sherman | . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | . tillamook | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | . umatilla | , . | ...| . | ...| . | . | . | , . union | . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . wallowa | , . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| . | , . wasco | , . | ...| ...| ...| . | . | . | . washington| . | ...| . | . | . | . | . | . wheeler | . | ...| ...| ...| . | ...| . | . yamhill | , . | . | ...| ...| . | . | . | . +--------+----+-----+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------- total | , . | . | . | . | , . | , . | , . | , . ----------+--------+----+-----+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------- table e motor vehicle registration by counties ===========+===========+========= county | total | number | number of | persons | motor | per auto | vehicles | -----------+-----------+--------- baker | , | . benton | , | . clackamas | , | . clatsop | , | . columbia | | . coos | , | . crook | | . curry | | . deschutes | | . douglas | , | . gilliam | | . grant | | . harney | | . hood river | | . jackson | , | . jefferson | | . josephine | | . klamath | , | . lake | | . lane | , | . lincoln | | . linn | , | . malheur | , | . marion | , | . morrow | | . multnomah | , | . polk | , | . sherman | | . tillamook | | . umatilla | , | . union | , | . wallowa | | . wasco | , | . washington | , | . wheeler | | . yamhill | , | . -----------+-----------+-------- total | , | . -----------+-----------+-------- state registration total number of passenger vehicles , total number of ford trucks , total number of trucks of other makes , ----- total number of trucks, all makes , ------ total number of motor vehicles of all types and all makes , table f county bond issues as proof that the people of oregon are awake to the value of good roads, the following list is given of counties which have voted bond issues for the development of their road systems: ===========+=================+=============== county | amount of bonds | date voted -----------+-----------------+--------------- coos | $ , . | june columbia | , . | feb. clatsop | , . | nov. , crook | , . | douglas | , . | aug. grant | , . | june , hood river | , . | july , jackson | , . | sept. , multnomah | , , . | mar. wasco | , . | nov. wheeler | , . | nov. +-----------------+--------------- total | $ , , . | -----------+-----------------+--------------- table g--tabulation of contract prices giving unit prices of all unit price contracts for paving and grading work, - ========+============+====================+======+=================== contract| | | n m | no+-----+ | | u i | | job | contractor | m l | kind of work | | | b e | | | | e s | | | | r | --+------------------+--------------------+------+------------------- |cummins hill |elliot construction | . |grading | | co. | | |wild horse paving |warren construction | . |paving | | co. | | |multnomah county |oskar huber | . |grading and paving | line-newberg | | | |astoria-svenson |warren construction | . |grading and paving | | co. | | |goble section |warren construction | . |grading | | co. | | |rainier hill |a. l. clark | . |grading |cascade locks |a. d. kern | . |grading |viento section |a. d. kern | . |grading |ruthton hill |a. d. kern | . |grading |delena-goble |clark & dibble | . |macadam | | | | |tillamook paving |oskar huber | . |grading and paving |multnomah county |warren construction | . |paving | line-scappoose | co. | | |oregon city-canby |ore. hassam paving | . |paving | | co. | | |yoncalla-oakland |warren construction | . |grading | | co. | | |comstock-leona |hall & soleim | . |grading & macadam | | | | |divide-comstock |s. s. schell | . |grading |locust hill |a. anderson | . |grading |wolf creek-grave |american express | . |grading | creek | co. | | |myrtle creek- |calvert & wolke | . |grading | dillard | | | |bridge creek |united construction | . |grading | | co. | | |canemah-new era |clackamas county | . |grading | | court | | |divide-comstock |s. s. schell | . |macadam | macadam | | | |union-telocaset |state | . |grading |elgin-minam |state | . |grading |hall hill-prairie |a. d. kern | . |grading & macadam | city | | | | | | | lp|lowest unit price | | | hp|highest unit price| | | ---------------------+--------------------+------+------------------- ==+==========+=====================+======+=================+========= ct|clearing | excavation | over-| concrete |rubble no| and | cubic yards | haul,| cubic yards |masonry |grubbing +--------+------+-----+ cu. +-----+-----+-----+ cu. |lump sum | common |inter-|solid| yds. |class|class|class| yds. | | | me- |rock | per | a | b | c | | | |diate | | ' | | | | --+----------+--------+------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+--------- | ... |$ . |$ . |$ . | ... | ...| ...| ...|$ . | | ... | ... | ...|$. | ...| ...| ...| ... |$ , . | . | . | . | ... | ...| ...|$ . | | , . | . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | | , . | . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | . | | | | | | | | | | ... | . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | ... | free | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | free | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | free | . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | . | ... | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | ... | | | | | | | | | | ... | . | . | ...| . | ...| ...| . | ... | ... | . | . | ...| . | ...| ...| ...| ... | ... | ... | ... | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ... |$ , . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | , . | . ½ | . | . | . ½ | . | . | ...| . | | | | | | | | | | , . | . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | ... | , . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | ... | , . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | ... | ... | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | | | | | | | | | | . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | . | ... | ... | ... | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ... | ... | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | ... | ... | . | . | . | . | . | . | ...| . | ... | . | ... | . | . | . | . | . | ... | | | | | | | | | lp| | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . hp| | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . --+----------+--------+------+-----+------+-----+-----+-----+-------- ==+======+=================+========================================== ct| metal| plain | reinforced concrete pipe no| rein-| concrete | lineal feet |force-| pipe | | ment | lineal feet | |pounds+--------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------+-------- | | -in. | -in. | -in. | -in. | -in. | -in. | -in. --+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------+-------- | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |$ . | $ . | $ . | ... | $ . | ... | ... | ... | . | . | . | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | ... | . | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | . | . | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | . | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... |[ ]. |[ ]. |[ ] . | ... |[ ] . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |$ . |$ . |$ . | ... | ... | . | ... | . | . | . | . | ... | ... | . | ... | . | | | | | | | | | . | . | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . |[ ]. |[ ]. | ... | ... |[ ] . |[ ] . |[ ] . | . |[ ]. | ... | ... |[ ]. |[ ] . |[ ] . |[ ] . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | lp| . | . | . | . | . | . |[ ] . | . hp| . | . | . | . | . | . |[ ] . | . --+------+--------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------+-------- ==+=====================================+======+=====+======+========= ct| corrugated galvanized iron pipe | -inch|guard|lumber|asphaltic no| lineal feet |porous|fence| and |concrete | |drain | lin.|timber| inches | | tile | ft. | , |on rock |-------+------+--------+------+------+ lin. | | ft. | base | -in.| -in.| -in. | -in.| -in.| ft. | |b. m. |sq. yd. --+-------+------+--------+------+------+------+-----+------+--------- |[ ]$. | ...|[ ]$ . | ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| $ . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| $. | $. | . | . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | | | | | | | | | | . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | ... | . | ...| ... | | | | | | | | | | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| . | ...| ...| . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| . | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| . | . | . | . | ...| ...| . | ...| . | ... | . | . | . | ...| ...| ... | ...| . | ... | | | | | | | | | | ...| ...| . | ...| ...| . | ...| . | ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| . | ...| ...| ... | [ ]. |[ ]. | [ ]. |[ ]. |[ ]. | . | . | . | ... | [ ]. |[ ]. | [ ]. |[ ]. |[ ]. | . | . | . | ... | [ ]. |[ ]. | ...| ...| ...| ... | . | ...| ... | | | | | | | | | | . | ...| ...| ...| ...| . | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ...| ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ... | ...| . | . | . | ...| ... | ...| ...| ... | ...| . | . | ...| ...| ... | ...| ...| ... | | | | | | | | | lp| . | . | . |[ ]. |[ ]. | . | . | . | . hp| . | . | . |[ ]. |[ ]. | . | . | . | . --+-------+------+--------+------+------+------+-----+------+--------- ==+=====================+=======+=======+========+=======+======== ct| macadam |broken | sand |broken | clay | rip- no| cubic yards, | stone |cu. yd.|stones | fil- | rap | (loose measure) |cu. yd.|(loose |shoul- | ler | cu. +------+------+-------+(loose |meas.) | ders | cu. | yd. |broken|gravel|crushed|meas.) | | li. | yd. | |stone | |gravel | | | ft. | | --+------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------- | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |$ . | ... | . |$ . | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | . |$ . | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . ½ | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | . | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | | | | | | | | | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | . | . | ... | ... | ... | . | ... | | | | | | | | lp| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . hp| . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . --+------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------- [ ] indicates that contract price on culvert pipe is for hauling and placing only, the pipe to be furnished to the contractor. table h yearly expenditures of state funds in counties , , , , ==========+=========+=========+=========+==========+==========+========== counties | | | | | | total ----------+---------+---------+---------+----------+----------+---------- baker | | |$ . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . benton | |$ . | . | . | | . clackamas |$ . | | , . | , . | , . | , . clatsop | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . columbia | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . coos | | | . | , . | . | , . crook | | . | , . | | , . | , . curry | | | | . | , . | , . deschutes | | | | , . | , . | , . douglas | | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . gilliam | | | . | , . | , . | , . grant | | | . | , . | , . | , . harney | | | | | , . | , . hood river| , . | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . jackson | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . jefferson | | | | | | josephine | | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . klamath | | | | . | . | . lake | | | | , . | . | , . lane | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . lincoln | | . | . | , . | . | , . linn | | . | . | . | . | , . malheur | | | . | . | . | , . marion | . | . | . | . | , . | , . morrow | | | . | , . | , . | , . multnomah | , . | . | | | | , . polk | . | . | , . | . | . | , . sherman | , . | . | . | . | , . | , . tillamook | | . | , . | , . | , . | , . umatilla | | | . | , . | , . | , . union | | | . | , . | , . | , . wallowa | | | | | . | . wasco | | . | . | . | , . | , . washington| , . | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . wheeler | | | . | , . | , . | , . yamhill | . | . | , . | , . | , . | , . +---------+---------+---------+----------+----------+---------- totals $ , . | | | | | $ , . | | | | $ , . | | | $ , . | | $ , , . | $ , , . ------------------------------------------------------------------------- table i mileage table main traveled roads showing distances between some of the important towns; for convenience in obtaining mileage for long trips; to be used in connection with the official automobile road map on opposite page. all distances between points west of the cascade range and eastern oregon points are via portland and the columbia river highway, unless otherwise noted. =============+======+======+======+======+======+======+===+======+====== | p | s | a | e | r | m | p | b | b | o | a | l | u | o | e | e | a | e | r | l | b | g | s | d | n | k | n | t | e | a | e | e | f | d | e | d | l | m | n | n | b | o | l | r | | a | | y | e | u | r | e | | | n | | | | r | d | t | | | d | | | | g | | o | | | | | | | | | n | | -------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+---+------+------ portland | ...| | | | | | | | salem | | ...| | | | | | |[ ] albany | | | ...| | | | | |[ ] corvallis | | | | | | | | |[ ] eugene | | | | ...| | | |[ ] |[ ] roseburg | | | | | ...| | |[ ] |[ ] grants pass | | | | | | | |[ ] |[ ] medford | | | | | | ...| |[ ] |[ ] ashland | | | | | | | |[ ] |[ ] ore.-cal. | | | | | | | | | state line | | | | | | | | | crater lake | | | | | | | | | klamath falls| | | | | | | | | astoria | | | | | | | | | tillamook | | | | | | | | | marshfield |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | |[ ] |[ ] the dalles | | | | | | | | | pendleton | | | | | | |...| | walla walla | | | | | | | | | la grande | | | | | |[ ] | | | baker | | | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | ...| huntington | | | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | prineville | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | bend | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | ... burns | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | lakeview | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | canyon city | |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] |[ ] | | | -------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+---+------+------ [ ] via eugene and mckenzie river highway. [ ] via klamath falls. [ ] via scottsburg. [illustration: automobile road map, showing the main traveled roads of oregon with mileages prepared by the oregon state highway department] =this is not a map of the system of state highways.= this map is intended as a guide to the main traveled, existing, through highways and roads connecting important centers of population. the heavier weight lines are intended to designate the most generally traveled, through routes, rather than their relative condition or importance. table j official designation of state highways =no. . pacific highway--= from portland south via oregon city, salem, albany, eugene, roseburg, grants pass, medford and ashland to the oregon-california state line. =no. . columbia river highway--= from astoria east via rainier, portland, hood river, the dalles, arlington and umatilla, to pendleton. =no. . coast highway--= from astoria south via tillamook, toledo, florence, marshfield, coquille and gold beach to oregon-california state line. =no. . the dalles-california highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near the dalles, south via shaniko, redmond, bend, lapine and klamath falls to the oregon- california state line. =no. . the john day river highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near biggs, southeasterly through wasco, condon, fossil, dayville, prairie city and vale to the oregon- idaho state line at ontario. =no. . the old oregon trail--= from a junction with highway no. , at pendleton, southeasterly through la grande, baker and huntington to a junction with highway no. at or near ontario. =no. . central oregon highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near bend, easterly through millican, riley, burns, crane and juntura to a junction with highway no. , at or near vale. =no. . oregon-washington highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near willows, through ione, heppner, pendleton and freewater to the oregon-washington state line. =no. . pendleton-john day highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near pilot rock south to a junction with highway no. , at or near john day. =no. . la grande-enterprise highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near la grande, through elgin and enterprise to joseph. =no. . enterprise-flora highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near enterprise, north to flora. =no. . baker-cornucopia highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near baker, east through middle bridge and halfway to cornucopia. =no. . baker-unity highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near baker, southwest to a junction with highway no. , at or near unity. =no. . antelope-mitchell highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near antelope to a junction with highway no. , at or near mitchell. =no. . mckenzie river highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near eugene, easterly through the mckenzie valley and through sisters, redmond, prineville and mitchell to a junction with highway no. , at or near dayville. =no. . albany-sisters highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near albany, southeasterly to a junction with highway no. near sisters. =no. . bend-sisters highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near bend, northwesterly to a junction with highway no. , at or near sisters. =no. . lakeview-burns highway--= from a point on highway no. , near lakeview, northeasterly to a junction with highway no. , at or near burns. =no. . lapine-lakeview highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near lapine southeasterly through fort rock, silver lake, paisley and lakeview to the oregon-california state line. =no. . klamath falls-lakeview highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near klamath falls, east to a junction with highway no. , at or near lakeview. =no. . ashland-klamath falls highway--= from a point on highway no. near ashland, east to a junction with highway no. , at or near klamath falls. =no. . medford-crater lake highway--= from a point on highway no. at medford, northeasterly, through trail and the rogue river valley to a junction with highway no. near crater lake. =no. . klamath-crater lake highway--= from a junction with highway no. near crater lake, southeasterly to a junction with highway no. , at or near chiloquin. =no. . the rim highway--= from a point on highway no. near crater lake, thence around crater lake to the point of beginning. =no. . grants pass-crescent city highway--= from a point on highway no. at grants pass, southwesterly through kerby and waldo to the oregon-california state line. =no. . mt. hood highway--= from portland through gresham and bull run around the south and east sides of mt. hood and to a junction with highway no. , at or near hood river. =no. . clackamas highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near oregon city, northeasterly to a junction with highway no. , at or near pleasant home. =no. . the west side highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near portland, thence south on the west side of the willamette river through newberg, mcminnville, dallas, independence and corvallis to a junction with highway no. , at or near eugene. =no. . forest grove-mcminnville highway--= from portland through hillsboro, forest grove and carlton to a junction with highway no. , at or near mcminnville. =no. . salem-independence highway--= from a point on highway no. , at salem, southwesterly to a junction with highway no. at independence. =no. . albany-corvallis highway--= from a point on highway no. , at albany to a junction with highway no. , at or near corvallis. =no. . yamhill-nestucca highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near mcminnville, through sheridan, willamina, and dolph to a junction with highway no. , at or near hebo. =no. . corvallis-newport highway--= from a point on highway no. , at corvallis westerly to a junction with highway no. , at or near toledo. =no. . eugene-florence highway--= from a point on highway no. , near eugene, westerly through goldson and deadwood to a junction with highway no. , near florence. =no. . coos bay-roseburg highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near coquille, easterly up the middle fork of the coquille river, through camas valley and brockway to a junction with highway no. , near dillard. =no. . pendleton-cold springs highway--= from a point on highway no. , at or near pendleton, northwest to cold springs. table k employes of the oregon state highway commission november , herbert nunn, state highway engineer r. a. klein, assistant engineer c. a. dunn, assistant engineer m. o. bennett, division engineer c. h. whitmore, division engineer j. c. mcleod, division engineer c. w. wanzer, district engineer p. m. hall-lewis, asst. div. eng'r s. h. probert, office engineer l. w. metzger, designing engineer e. a. skelley, chief draftsman l. c. elwell, voucher clerk c. l. turner, cost clerk m. s. farwell, bridge draftsman c. e. farnsworth, office draftsman theo. rowland, office draftsman james moberg, office draftsman w. c. crews, office draftsman r. e. raley, office computer j. c. tibbits, clerk l. n. myers, clerk h. m. mcdaniel, clerk c. f. smith, clerk helen ingrey, stenographer margaret h. hodge, stenographer grace fugate, stenographer gertie witzel, stenographer delia ferguson, stenographer r. h. baldock, locating engineer r. h. coppock, locating engineer c. a. harrington, locating engineer b. h. mcnamee, locating engineer j. h. scott, locating engineer e. b. bishop, resident engineer h. c. compton, resident engineer m. e. dewitt, resident engineer f. n. drinkhall, resident engineer h. b. fletcher, resident engineer h. n. hackett, resident engineer a. s. kennedy, resident engineer j. e. nelson, resident engineer j. e. peck, resident engineer r. a. pratt, resident engineer w. p. smith, resident engineer c. e. carter, resident bridge engineer j. m. baker, supt. of construction c. l. grutze, supt. of construction w. h. burtis, foreman of repair shop w. s. hodge, transitman tom opedal, transitman wm. t. nelson, field draftsman h. r. wessell, field draftsman chas. e. lytle, timekeeper l. n. russell, timekeeper f. a. keith, levelman h. w. lange, levelman m. m. brown, field computer l. d. coppock, field computer jack slavens, head chainman chas. collier, rodman clyde leghorn, rodman ora l. nochols, rodman m. s. parker, rodman katherine riddle, rodman orville widdows, rodman fred busch, chainman claire hopper, chainman j. f. jones, chainman j. a. matott, chainman warren pearson, chainman boyd potter, chainman a. h. rudd, chainman j. j. sturgill, chainman d. e. tompkins, chainman e. wiggins, chainman frank galdabini, rock checker pete knudson, rock checker l. parker, rock checker c. s. peck, rock checker table l state highways names, numbers, mileages. highways miles no. pacific highway no. columbia river highway no. coast highway no. the dalles-california highway no. the john day river highway no. the old oregon trail no. central oregon highway no. oregon-washington highway no. pendleton-john day highway no. la grande-enterprise highway no. enterprise-flora highway no. baker-cornucopia highway no. baker-unity highway no. antelope-mitchell highway no. mckenzie river highway no. albany-sisters highway no. bend-sisters highway no. lakeview-burns highway no. lapine-lakeview highway no. klamath falls-lakeview highway no. ashland-klamath falls highway no. medford-crater lake highway no. klamath-crater lake highway no. the rim highway no. grants pass-crescent city highway no. mt. hood highway no. clackamas highway no. the west side highway no. forest grove-mcminnville highway no. salem-independence highway no. albany-corvallis highway no. yamhill-nestucca highway no. corvallis-newport highway no. eugene-florence highway no. coos bay-roseburg highway no. pendleton-cold springs highway ----- total mileage state highways , [illustration] [illustration: the pacific highway in pass creek canyon, douglas county. graded and macadamized in and ] description of work of the state highway department in the counties of the state - baker county although baker county is generally well supplied with railroads there are sections still isolated and much in need of improved transportation facilities. some of the most fertile and productive areas of the county are not served by rail transportation and depend upon roads for communication with railway points. this situation with the character of the winter season and soil conditions found here render improved highways of extreme importance. since state and federal aid have been made available the people of baker county are fast coming to a realization of the situation and are making strenuous efforts to co-operate in highway improvement. no bond issues have been voted in this county but an example of their enthusiasm is supplied by the fact that private donations for co-operative improvement of one road amount to $ , . . state and federal aid were extended in and the co-operation has resulted in plans for improving three sections of the baker-cornucopia highway. other roads in the county will receive the consideration of the highway commission during the coming season. four sections of the baker-cornucopia highway have been surveyed, and plans for three of these are nearly complete. together the four sections make about thirty-eight miles of location survey. construction work will begin on this road early in the coming season. survey of the baker-cornucopia highway during and the state highway department surveyed a greater part of the baker-cornucopia highway. the policy of giving first attention to those portions of the road most in need of improvement resulted in the surveying of four separate sections. these sections are designated as follows: baker-middle bridge; love bridge-black bridge; canyon and sag sections. these surveys were made under the direction of j. o. kingsley and w. c. crews, locating engineers for the state highway department. the baker-middle bridge section extends from baker to a point near middle bridge on lower powder river. beginning at baker the line follows closely the present main traveled road east for about six miles, thence along the palmer road to the present crossing at ruckles creek, thence down ruckles creek to a point about two miles south of keating, thence easterly, leaving ruckles creek, and entering the lower powder river valley near middle bridge. this survey is . miles in length. the plans for this work are completed. the love bridge-black bridge section covers that portion of the route through the canyon between the keating and richland districts. at present all traffic passes through sparta and over the mountains to the north of the powder river there being no road through the canyon. this survey is about ten miles long and involves heavy and expensive construction. this project begins at a point about seven miles east of keating and ends about five miles west of richland. there is a four-mile section of the baker-cornucopia highway lying between middle and love bridges that has not been definitely located. no office work has been done for this survey. what is known as the canyon section extends through the canyon east of richland. this survey begins at a point . miles east of richland and parallels the powder river along the north bank for a distance of . miles. the project ends at the point where the proposed route leaves the powder river and leads over the mountains toward pine valley. plans are almost completed for this project. the sag section is that part of the road leading north from the divide between powder river and pine valley. this survey which is . miles long begins at the divide and ends at a point in the edge of pine valley two miles south of halfway. the location follows very near the route of the present road. the office work in connection with this survey is nearing completion. baker-cornucopia post road project the state highway commission requested government aid in the construction of the baker-cornucopia highway and this request has resulted in the approval by the federal office of public roads of three projects on this highway. these three projects, namely, baker-middle bridge, canyon section and sag section have a combined length of . miles, and the total estimated cost of these constructions is $ , . . baker county will co-operate with the state and government in defraying the cost of this construction. the following tabulation indicates the amounts and segregations of funds for each project. ================================+============+============+============ appropriated for expenditure in | state | county | government | funds | funds | funds --------------------------------+------------+------------+------------ baker-middle bridge section | $ , . | $ , . | $ , . canyon section | , . | , . | , . sag section | , . | , . | , . +------------+------------+------------ totals | $ , . | $ , . | $ , . --------------------------------+------------+------------+------------ no plans have been made for financing the love bridge-black bridge section which was surveyed in . this is an important section of the road and will probably receive early attention from the state highway commission. benton county during and , very little work was done by the highway department in benton county. at the request of the county court a short section of the west side highway north of corvallis was staked for grading to be done by the county, and designs were prepared for three concrete structures. two of these were for box culverts for the pacific highway about five miles north of corvallis. the other was for an foot reinforced concrete bridge over a mill race south of corvallis. a short reconnaissance was made of the corvallis-newport road between blodgett and eddyville. for work to be done in benton county in , the highway commission has set aside $ , . . with this amount it is planned to pave the west side highway from corvallis north to the polk county line, approximately seven miles. clackamas county the work under the supervision of the highway department in clackamas county during and has consisted of . miles of grading between new era and oregon city, . miles of paving between oregon city and canby, and . miles of grading between oswego and the multnomah county line. the first of these jobs was done by the state and county in co-operation; the second was a strictly state job; and the third was a county job supervised by the state. the total expenditure on the work done in clackamas county was $ , . , of which clackamas county paid $ , . and the state $ , . . between new era and oregon city, the pacific highway has been graded on an entirely new location, paralleling the southern pacific railway along the bank of the willamette river instead of following the location of the old road farther back from the river, where the grading is not so heavy, but where a number of heavy grades are required. in addition to eliminating these heavy grades, a considerable saving in distance is effected, and the dangerous crossing under the southern pacific tracks at oregon city is avoided. grading--vicinity of new era on august , , bids were considered by the state highway commission for the grading of two and one-half miles on the pacific highway near new era. the most satisfactory proposal received was a cost plus ten per cent proposal submitted by the warren construction company, and a contract was entered into with that firm on the cost plus ten per cent basis. this work involved the grading of new era hill, just south of new era, and some heavy rock excavation from new era north. after the work had started, it was decided to pave between oregon city and canby, and the contract for this paving let to the oregon hassam paving company. the most feasible place to secure the crushed rock necessary for this paving was from the rock being excavated under the grading contract with the warren construction company, and the highway department entered into an agreement with the paving company, whereby the state would crush the rock from a big cut at new era, and furnish the crushed rock for the paving upon certain agreed terms, the crushing to be done under the cost plus contract with the warren construction company. on this basis the work was carried on by the warren construction company until march , , at which time it was deemed advisable by the highway commission to take the work over and complete it with state forces. the total cost of the grading and rock crushing was $ , . , and the amount received for the crushed rock furnished for the paving was $ , . . clackamas county co-operated with the state on this work, the total amount paid out of county funds being $ , . . [illustration: at the top of canemah hill on the pacific highway in clackamas county. graded and paved in ] grading--canemah hill section to complete the grading of the pacific highway between oregon city and canby preparatory to the paving of this section, clackamas county agreed to appropriate $ , . toward the grading between fly creek and oregon city, known as the canemah hill section. on december , , the highway commission received bids for this grading and the lowest bid having been submitted by clackamas county, the contract was awarded to the county. this piece of work was about one and one-half miles in length and involved some very heavy rock excavation. there has been expended on this work to date the sum of $ , . , of which amount clackamas county has paid $ , . . the work complete will cost approximately $ , . . mr. m. e. dewitt was the resident engineer in charge. detailed statement of expenditures to november , grading--canemah hill (work in progress) engineering $ , . construction-- clearing and grubbing $ . common excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch porous drain tile, lin. ft. at c . class a concrete, cu. yds. at $ . . class c concrete, cu. yds. at $ . . rubble masonry, cu. yds. at $ . . overhaul per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c , . crushed rock for drain tile, cu. yds. . -inch concrete pipe in place, lin. ft. . ----------- $ , . less per cent retained pending completion , . ----------- , . ----------- total expended to november , $ , . paid by state--engineering , . paid by county--construction , . ----------- total $ , . this work is estimated to cost complete $ , . [illustration: bituminous pavement on the pacific highway south of oregon city in clackamas county. graded and paved in ] paving--oregon city to canby a contract was awarded on september , , to the oregon hassam paving company of portland, for a sixteen-foot bituminous pavement between oregon city and canby, a distance of . miles. a considerable part of the crushed rock used in this pavement was furnished by the highway department from a rock point which it was necessary to remove in connection with the grading just north of new era. the paving of this section is practically complete at this date and the contracting company is to be complimented upon the excellence of its work. the cost of the work completed will be about $ , . of which amount $ , . has been paid. mr. m. e. dewitt acted as resident engineer for the highway department on this work. detailed statement of expenditures to november , paving oregon city to canby engineering $ , . construction-- standard bitulithic pavement, , sq. yds. at $ . $ , . stone shoulders, , lin. ft. at . ½ , . hauling and placing broken stone furnished by state, , ¼ cu. yds., at $ . , . broken stone, loose measure, , ¼ cu. yds., at $ . , . installing wooden headers at railroad crossing . filling low places after rolling, clearing debris after forest fire . excavating spongy place in subgrade and refilling . loading and hauling to bring outside ft. of roadbed to grade; no material nearby . grading feet north from new era, and dismantling and loading crusher , . ----------- total due contractor for work done to november , $ , . less per cent retained pending completion , . ----------- $ , . less plant rock and miscellaneous items furnished by state , . ----------- $ , . ---------- total expended to november , $ , . this work is estimated to cost complete $ , . oswego to the multnomah county line on april , , a contract was awarded by clackamas county to the glemorrie quarry company of oswego for the regrading of a . mile section of the west side pacific highway between oswego and the multnomah county line. at the request of the clackamas county court the engineering supervision of this work was handled by the highway department, mr. m. e. dewitt, resident engineer, on work between oregon city and canby, being in charge. this piece of work eliminated some very bad curves on the old road and greatly improved the grade. the work was completed on september , , at a total cost of $ , . . of this amount $ . was expended by the state for the engineering. the construction cost of $ , . was paid by the county. detailed expenditure statement grading--multnomah county line to oswego engineering $ . construction-- clearing and grubbing $ . common excavation, , . cu. yds. at c . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . solid rock excavation, . cu. yds. at $ . , . -inch plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . class c concrete, cu. yds. at $ . . drainage structures under roadbed to protect embankment and private water supply . --------- , . --------- total cost $ , . paid by state $ . paid by county , . --------- total $ , . oregon city bridge the state highway department has been requested by the county court of clackamas county to prepare plans and estimates for a bridge over the willamette river at oregon city. this will replace the old suspension bridge at that place which is too light for the modern traffic conditions in that vicinity. surveys and studies of the site are being conducted at this time. in this case, as is customary, the state highway department will furnish plans free of cost to the county. clatsop county during the period from december , , to november , , the state highway department expended in clatsop county the sum of $ , . . the work accomplished consists of . miles of bituminous paving, . miles of broken stone macadam, . miles of gravel macadam, . miles of new grading, one covered wood draw bridge, two reinforced concrete bridges, and - x ft. reinforced concrete box culvert, all of these improvements being on the columbia river highway between astoria and the columbia county line. astoria-svensen paving on july , , the state highway department contracted with the warren construction company for nine miles of paving between astoria and svensen. this contract called for a -foot bituminous pavement on a crushed rock base and with two-foot macadam shoulders. the contract also included the grading of a section . miles in length about midway between astoria and svensen, this section being known as the john day cut-off. work was started on the grading of the cut-off on august , , and on the erection of the paving plant on august . on september , the first batch of hot stuff was placed on the road at the svensen end. the work was just nicely started, however, when the rainy season which came on unusually early, started in and the work had to be discontinued. at this time the work on the grading of the cut-off was but fifty or sixty per cent complete, and only one mile of paving had been laid. the following season, the roadbed did not become sufficiently dry to permit of resumption of work until about the th of june, but even at that late date the contractors were not able to start work on account of the shortage in materials and labor resulting from the participation of the united states in the war, and it was not until july the work was resumed. continued shortage of labor and material made progress very slow particularly on the placing of rock base, and when the rainy season came on a total of only . miles of paving had been completed. the grading of the john day cut-off had been finished, however, and considerable progress made on the removal of slides and regrading of roadbed. [illustration: bituminous paving near svenson in clatsop county on the columbia river highway. paved in ] the paving was discontinued on october but in order to provide a passable roadbed at as early a date as possible, it was decided to continue the placing of rock base during the winter months. this work is now in progress, and it is expected that a rocked surface over the remaining unpaved distance of . miles will be secured by about january , . the paving work will be continued again next season, and will undoubtedly be completed early in the season. it is estimated that the grading and paving of this section will cost completed $ , . . the total expenditures to november , , amounted to $ , . and there remained unpaid to the contractor for work done to that date the sum of $ , . . the engineering work was in charge of mr. j. e. nelson, during the season, and in charge of mr. h. n. hackett during the season. svensen-westport macadam from westport to svensen in clatsop county, . miles of -foot waterbound macadam, . miles of -foot waterbound macadam and . miles of gravel was laid. this work was handled by the warren construction company prior to december , , at which time the state highway department took the work over and proceeded with state forces. on this section the unit costs show a slight advantage in favor of doing the work with state forces. conditions were practically the same as on the clatskanie-westport section in columbia county--the state paying higher wages than the contractor, but the contractor having the disadvantage of more unfavorable weather conditions. the main advantage in the state doing this work was gained by having better control of the organization and more direct supervision of the work. the original intention was to complete all macadam -feet wide but the increased cost of labor, supplies, etc., made it necessary to reduce the width of the macadam to nine feet so as to complete the full distance with the money available. cost statement--svensen-westport macadam ===========================+==========+=========+============+======= item | unit | quan- | cost | unit | | tity | | cost ---------------------------+----------+---------+------------+------- by warren construction co.,| | | | on cost plus contract-- | | | | clearing and grubbing | acres | |$ . |$ . excavation | cu. yd. | , | , . | . -inch by -inch pipe | foot | , | , . | . waterbound macadam |[ ]cu. yd.| , | , . | . engineering | ... | ... | . | ... by state forces-- | | | | excavation | cu. yd. | , | , . | . -inch by -inch pipe, | foot | , | . | . laying only | | | | waterbound macadam | cu. yd. | , | , . | . engineering | | | , . | ... | | +------------+ total | ... | ... |$ , . | ... ---------------------------+----------+---------+------------+------- [ ] including , cubic yards of gravel purchased at a cost of $ , . and , cubic yards crushed rock purchased at a cost of $ , . . all other rock was crushed and cost of crushing is included in the cost of the macadam. [illustration: covered wood drawbridge on the columbia river highway in clatsop county, over the john day river east of astoria. built in . lift span-- feet] john day river bridge as a part of the improvement of the columbia river highway between astoria and svensen, a bridge was constructed over the john day river about four miles east of astoria. the john day river is a stream navigable to small boats, so it was necessary to provide a movable span of -foot clear opening. owing to the unusually high price of steel it was decided to construct this bridge of wood. the movable span is of the single leaf bascule type operated by a windlass. counter weights are employed to assist the movement of the span and in order to compensate for the variable pull required to lift the span at different phases of its movement, the counter weight cables operate over spiral drums in such manner that their pull is a maximum when the span is down, and is least when the span is raised, gradually changing between the two extremes. in order to guard against failure of the operator to close the gate on the side of the stream opposite the machinery, an automatic gate was constructed. it closes when the bridge starts to open and when the bridge closes it swings back out of the way automatically. the bridge rests on concrete piers carried on piling, and besides the lift span there are two -foot covered wooden spans. the operating machinery is completely housed in by means of a tower. the crossing was designed to carry -ton trucks and the covered spans have laminated wood floors with asphaltic wearing surface. one of the most serious objections raised against covered wooden bridges is the lack of light. this was overcome in this case, as in other wooden bridges on primary roads designed by this department, by whitewashing the interior and the addition of open windows at panel points. these are provided with returns, and with the asphaltic wearing surface on the floors of such bridges prevent moisture coming in contact with the structural timbers of the bridge. this bridge was built by the portland bridge company and the total cost will be about $ , . . the payments on the bridge to november , , amounted to $ , . . mr. leigh m. huggins was resident engineer in charge of construction. big creek bridge this bridge is located on the columbia river highway near knappa. it consists of two forty-five-foot reinforced concrete spans, and was built by the state highway department with state forces at a cost of $ , . . plympton creek bridge the plympton creek bridge is located on the columbia river highway in the town of westport. it is a two thirty-foot span structure and was built by the state highway department with state forces at a cost of $ , . . little creek culvert this is a by reinforced concrete structure and is located on the columbia river highway near knappa. it was built by the highway department with state forces at a cost of $ . . columbia county the state highway department expended in columbia county during and , the sum of $ , . , which is the largest amount expended in any one county in the state. with this amount the following work was completed: . miles of bituminous paving. . miles of broken stone macadam. . miles of grading. reinforced concrete bridges. reinforced concrete box culverts. all of this work is on the columbia river, and all but the . miles of paving is between the clatsop county line and a point about two miles east of goble. multnomah county line-scappoose paving a contract was awarded to the warren construction company, august , , for . miles of bitulithic pavement sixteen feet wide on crushed rock base, with two foot macadam shoulders. the old road bed on this section was in excellent condition for base for pavement being old macadam about sixteen feet in width. the grade was followed closely, scarified, and clean crushed rock spread over the entire surface and rolled. material was borrowed along each side to obtain the required twenty-four foot of roadbed. a sixteen foot span wooden bridge was replaced by an x feet reinforced concrete culvert built by lindstrom bros. on the basis of cost plus ten per cent. construction cost of culvert class a concrete, cu. yds. at $ . $ , . reinforcing steel, , lbs. at c . --------- $ , . contractors percentage . --------- total cost $ , . paving work was started november , , and completed december , with the exception of about feet of new fill made at the culvert which was completed in june, . engineering work was done by p. w. marx, under the supervision of chas. h. whitmore, assistant engineer. detailed expenditure statement--paving--multnomah county line to scappoose engineering $ , . right-of-way attorney fees . contract construction work as follows: common excavation, cu. yds. at c $ . standard bith. pavement, , . sq. yds. at $ . , . broken stone, loose measure, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . broken stone shoulders, , lin. ft. at c , . force account: feet of -inch corrugated iron pipe and feet of -inch porous drain tile . total paid to contractor $ , . ----------- total cost $ , . westport-clatskanie macadam on the clatskanie-westport section, which extended from clatskanie to the clatsop county line, the work was handled originally by the warren construction company, on a cost plus ten per cent. basis. the state highway department took this work over december , , and from that time on the work was handled by this department. this work consisted of . miles of sixteen-foot waterbound macadam. on this section the costs show that the warren construction company laid crushed rock slightly cheaper than the state. however, the state did all the finishing on this section, which is more expensive than laying the base rock and it was necessary to raise the wages twenty-five per cent. after the work was taken over by the department. c. l. grutze was resident engineer on this work. cost statement--westport-clatskanie macadam ===========================+==========+========+==============+======== item | unit | quan- | total cost | unit | | tity | | cost ---------------------------+----------+--------+--------------+-------- by warren construction co. | | | | on cost plus contract-- | | | | clearing and grubbing | acres | ½ | $ . | $ . excavation | cu. yd. | , | , . | . -ft. by -in. drain pipe | foot | , | , . | . water-bound macadam |[ ]cu. yd.| , | , . | . engineering | | | . | by state forces-- | | | | excavation | cu. yd. | , | , . | . -ft. by -in. drain pipe | foot | | . | . (laying) | | | | water-bound macadam | cu. yd. | , | , . | . engineering | | | . | | | +--------------+ total cost | | | $ , . | ---------------------------+----------+--------+--------------+-------- [ ] , cu. yds. purchased at cost of $ , . , all other rock crushed on this job. clatskanie-delena macadam the section extending from a point three miles east of clatskanie to a point two and one-half miles east of delena, known as the clatskanie-delena section, was completed by l. o. herrold on a basis of cost plus ten per cent. this work consisted of eleven miles of sixteen foot waterbound macadam, one and one-tenth miles of nine foot waterbound macadam and all necessary grading, drainage, etc. the foundation on part of this section was very poor and , cubic yards of rubble base was used in order to make satisfactory foundation for macadam. while this increased the cost of the macadam, it was the only way in which a permanent foundation could be secured on this section. p. m. hall-lewis was resident engineer on this work. cost statement--clatskanie-delena macadam (cost plus per cent) item cost engineering $ , . general construction , . clearing and grubbing . excavation and embankment , . drainage structures , . miscellaneous structures , . quarrying and crushing , . placing, rolling, sprinkling, etc. , . camp construction and operation . ----------- total $ , . this work includes , cubic yards of excavation, , cubic yards of crushed rock macadam and , cubic yards of rubble base, besides numerous small structures, drains, etc. delena-goble macadam clark & dibble of rainier contracted with the highway department to construct five and seven-tenths miles of broken stone macadam between delena and goble. the prices at which this work was taken by the contractors was very low, and the result was that almost from the first the work was handicapped by lack of proper finances. it became evident to the department that the contractor would be unable to complete all of this work before the winter rains set in, so to facilitate matters and to provide a passable road for the winter, the department took over the part of the work between rainier and goble after about $ , . worth of work had been done on this part by clark & dibble. the work of the highway department on this section is described in the article on the rainier-goble macadam. clark & dibble successfully carried to completion the two and one-tenths miles of macadam west of rainier. a complete statement of the costs of the work handled by the contractors is given below. detailed expenditure statement--macadam--delena to goble engineering $ , . construction-- common excavation, cu. yds. at c $ . intermediate excavation, cu. yds. at c . solid rock excavation, cu. yds. at $ . . broken stone macadam, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . -inch corrugated iron pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . clay filler, , cu. yds. at $ . , . force account-- lowering -inch corrugated iron culverts . lengthening existing culverts and opening ditches . -inch corrugated iron pipe, lin. ft. . clearing slides and ditching near prescott , . removal of slides , . side ditches for macadam work . preparation of subgrade for macadam . spreading, sprinkling, and rolling macadam . --------- , . less credit for days use of state roller at $ . . --------- total amount paid to contractor , . ----------- total cost $ , . rainier-goble macadam in columbia county the state highway department laid twenty-four and one-tenth miles of sixteen foot waterbound macadam and four and two-tenths miles of nine foot waterbound macadam between goble and the clatsop county line. of this the rainier-goble section was taken over from the contractors, clark & dibble, after being partly completed. this was done in order to facilitate the work and get the road open for traffic before the rainy season. while the work done by the state on this section cost more per cubic yard than the contractor was originally receiving, the actual difference in cost for the job was not sufficient to justify the department in allowing the contractor to proceed with the work which would have entailed leaving the road closed to traffic for another winter. cost statement--rainier-goble macadam (state forces) ===============================+========+========+============+===== item | unit | amount | cost | unit | | | | cost -------------------------------+--------+--------+------------+----- engineering | | | $ . | intermediate excavation |cu. yds.| | , . | . quarrying and crushing |cu. yds.| , | , . | . hauling stone |cu. yds.| , | , . | . placing and rolling |cu. yds.| , | , . | . camp construction and operation| | | . | general construction | | | . | | | | ---------- | total | | | $ , . | -------------------------------+--------+--------+------------+----- goble macadam work a contract was awarded to warren construction company september , , for macadamizing the goble cut-off on a basis of cost plus ten per cent. columbia county has a quarry on the old road about three-fourths of a mile west of goble, which was equipped with complete crushing outfit and arrangements were made by the contractor for the use of this equipment and all the rock for this job was crushed and hauled from this quarry. work was started march , , and completed june , . engineering work was done by h. c. compton as resident engineer under the supervision of chas. h. whitmore. cost statement construction engineering $ . excavation and embankment . drainage . quarrying and crushing ( , cu. yds. crushed) , . spreading and rolling ( , cu. yds.) , . hauling ( , cu. yds) , . camp construction and operation . corral construction and operation . ---------- total cost $ , . goble grading section a new location of the columbia river highway was made from a point two miles east of goble to goble creek and a new concrete bridge built over goble creek, making a saving in distance of about one-half mile and doing away with several excessive grades, sharp curves and narrow roadbed, also a dangerous bridge and trestle across goble creek. a rock cut between goble and goble creek was taken out by the s. p. & s. ry. co. with steam shovels and the material used by them for riprap, thus making a considerable saving to the state highway commission. the material for the west approach to the new bridge was obtained by blasting and barring down rock from a dangerous perpendicular cliff about , feet west of the bridge, from which large rocks had fallen onto the highway. to make the highway safe it was necessary to remove this material and by using it in the bridge approach, did away with other borrow which would have been necessary. the cliff is about feet high with the highway and s. p. & s. ry. side by side at the foot, necessitating very light shots and careful work and was completed without accident to men or interruption of traffic on the railroad. [illustration: on the columbia river highway near goble in columbia county. graded and macadamized in and ] the material for the east approach was obtained by trimming up the cut left by the railroad company. a contract for grading the cutoff was awarded to the warren construction company, august , , and work started in july, . from the east end of the section to ruben, about one mile in length, the material was handled by teams. rock work at ruben and at goble was sub-let to station men. the fill across the flat between ruben and goble was made from side borrow, by using a steam hoisting engine, with boom and clam shell bucket. this work was done in the fall and winter and the material was light loam and sand and very wet, and did not pack very solid in the fill, therefore a strip of rock sixteen feet wide and one foot in thickness, taken from the rock cuts at either end, was placed on the fill and rolled thus making a solid base for the crushed rock macadam. the engineering work was done by a. f. pratt, resident engineer and w. e. eddy, assistant state highway engineer, until october , , when it was taken over by h. c. compton, resident engineer, under the supervision of chas. h. whitmore, assistant engineer. detailed expenditure statement--grading goble section engineering $ , . guarding s. p. & s. ry. tracks . right-of-way damages . rental on state industrial ry. track furnished contractor . payments to contractor for work as follows: clearing and grubbing $ , . common excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . overhaul per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c . force account-- replacing trestle for warren packing co.'s plant, goble . borrowing approximately cu. yds. rock to cover dirt fill . removal of overhanging rock near goble creek bridge , . widening grade and building fill from goble postoffice to goble creek bridge , . cutting off rock point to give safe sight distance around curve . removal of slide west of goble creek . placing feet drain tile in quicksand . placing timber foundation for culvert . -------- total paid to contractor $ , . ----------- grand total cost $ , . rainier hill grading on july , , a contract was entered into with a. l. clark of rainier for the widening of the rainier hill section, a section two and two-tenths miles in length, located just west of rainier. this work was let under a unit price contract, but the nature of the work was such that a considerable part of it could not be fairly measured and paid for on a unit, and on this part the contractor was allowed cost plus ten per cent. the total cost of this improvement was $ , . . a detailed cost statement follows: detailed expenditure statement--grading--rainier hill section engineering $ . construction-- common excavation, , cu. yds. at c $ . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul per lin. ft., cu. yds. at c . -inch corrugated iron pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . force account-- excavation for cribbing and placing rip-rap . -foot extension to -inch culvert . widening old roadbed, removal of slides and general improvement work not subject to measurement , . culvert pipe furnished by state . --------- , . ---------- total cost $ , . beaver valley grading before the columbia river highway through beaver creek canyon between delena and inglis was opened for traffic in july, , in order to reach clatskanie from delena, it was necessary to travel over a narrow, dangerous, earth and corduroy road, either by way of maygar and quincy or through the hills about eight miles into clatskanie. both of these roads were passable for autos only about three months during the dry season. the grading of this section was partly completed by the county under supervision of mr. bowlby, state highway engineer in . this section being a very important link in the columbia river highway and no funds being available from county or state funds during or , s. benson decided to advance the necessary funds to make this section passable. about four miles of grading was completed between inglis and delena, leaving only the building of bridges to open this section. this work was later macadamized by the state. the engineering work was done by a. k. grondahl. a bill was passed by the legislature refunding to mr. benson $ , . which is a large portion of the amount expended by him. cost statement clearing and grubbing $ , . grading--labor and teams , . explosives , . pipe culverts . ---------- total $ , . prescott hill section this section of the highway was built along the steep hillside, several slides having occurred narrowing the roadbed in some places to about eight feet and making it very dangerous, it was necessary to build several retaining walls, half viaducts and guard fences. this was done by oscar lindstrom on a basis of cost plus ten per cent. a half-viaduct seventy-five feet in length was built containing fifty-three cubic yards of concrete and , pounds reinforcing steel, with standard bridge railing for guard fence. two hundred and fourteen linear feet of rubble masonry walls were built on a slope of three-fourths to one, and standard bridge railing placed on top for guard fence. these walls contain cubic yards of rock. a reinforced concrete crib forty-one feet long, fifteen feet high and seven feet wide was built and filled with large rock. the members were cast on the dock in rainier and hauled to the location. a reinforced concrete slab on solid earth foundation was used for footing, on the required angle to give the crib a batter of one-fourth to one. the total cost of the prescott hill improvement was $ , . . goble creek bridge a ninety-foot reinforced concrete bridge was built over goble creek on the columbia river highway about one-half mile east of goble. this bridge has a pile foundation which was put in by the warren construction company on a cost plus basis for $ , . . the superstructure was built by lindstrom and fiegeson on a unit price basis. the cost of the structure complete was $ , . . the engineering work in connection with this work was handled by h. c. compton, resident engineer, on the goble section, and the inspection of the placement of steel and pouring of concrete was in charge of l. m. huggins. cost statement--goble creek bridge engineering $ . construction-- class a concrete, cu. yds. at $ . $ , . reinforcing steel, , lbs. at ½c , . concrete hand rail, lin. ft. at $ . . construction of cement shed and unloading cement . pile foundation (force account) , . --------- total construction cost , . --------- grand total cost of bridge $ , . beaver creek bridges for a considerable distance between rainier and clatskanie the columbia river highway follows beaver creek, crossing the creek in many places. to replace a number of temporary wooden structures and to provide bridges at every crossing, the highway department in and constructed nine reinforced concrete bridges across this stream. the spans of these structures vary from thirty to feet, there being one thirty-foot, one fifty-foot, two sixty-foot, four seventy-foot and one -foot spans in all. the thirty-foot span structure was built by l. o. herrold of salem, on a cost plus ten per cent basis and cost $ , . . the other eight structures were built by l. o. herrold of salem, on a unit price basis, the cost of the eight being $ , . . graham creek culvert a double x foot reinforced concrete box culvert was built on the columbia river highway to provide passage for graham creek near marshland. this culvert was built with state forces. it contains fifty cubic yards of concrete and cost $ . . survey--columbia city to scappoose a survey was made between scappoose and mcbride a distance of eleven and two-tenths miles. this survey follows the s. p. & s. ry. on the south side the entire distance and is shorter than the present traveled road by about one mile, and also does away with six grade crossings. while most of the roadbed will be entirely new work, it will not be of heavy construction, the country being comparatively flat. between scappoose and st. helens the material is mostly earth. between st. helens and mcbride the material is mostly rock. [illustration: one of nine reinforced concrete bridges in the beaver creek valley, columbia county, on the columbia river highway between rainier and clatskanie. all built in and ] two bridges of thirty foot spans or more are needed, also several box culverts and pipe culverts. the survey from scappoose to st. helens was made by p. w. marx; from st. helens to mcbride by h. c. compton. coos county the work of the highway department in coos county consisted entirely in assistance given the county in the making of surveys and the engineering of construction work done under the county's bond issue of $ , . . for this purpose $ , . of state funds were expended, and the total amount of county expenditures audited and vouchered through the highway department was $ , . . these expenditures were made on work on the coast highway between marshfield and the curry county line, and on the coos bay-roseburg highway between coquille and myrtle point. the engineering work was in charge of r. b. murdock. crook county crook county is one of the districts of eastern oregon where the road program is an expensive one. prineville now has rail communication with outside points, and in sections of the county there is found some good natural roads, but much is wanting in the line of transportation facilities. owing to a large portion of the county being mountainous in character, much of the roads are little else than trails. formerly the boundaries of crook county encircled an area now comprising several counties. the paring process, caused by the forming of new counties left crook county in a peculiar position. the local road map indicates that the county is divided into two communities with the dividing line following the rugged country a few miles east of prineville. a single road that is a succession of heavy grades and poor alignment, is the sole medium of traffic communication between the two ends of the county. the people of crook county are fully aware of the importance of highways. although local funds will not go far, a remarkable beginning has been made. a county bond issue of $ , . has been voted for road construction. the general progressiveness and co-operative spirit existing throughout the county is shown by the fact that $ , . of the bond issue is to be expended on one road. reference is made to the proposed road up crooked river from prineville, connecting the east and west end of the county. the state highway commission has ordered a location survey made of the crooked river highway between prineville and the shorty davis ranch. the length of this line will be about thirty miles, and practically a water grade can be secured. this work will start easily in . the immediate purpose of the survey is to gather definite data for the consideration of the state highway commission. the county authorities have made application for state aid and request early consideration of the matter. the state highway commission is cooperating in the construction of the ochoco forest road in crook county. ochoco-canyon forest road the state highway commission extended aid to crook county by helping to secure federal aid and by appropriating state funds for the construction of a nine and seven-tenths mile section of the mckenzie river highway between prineville and mitchell. this section is adjacent to the wheeler county line and connects up with proposed grading work in wheeler county. construction work is in progress under the direction of the united states office of public roads. the cost of this work will be defrayed by co-operative funds from the state, county and government. the total estimated cost is $ , . . the following statement shows the appropriations made for this work: total estimated cost of work $ , . appropriated by state , . appropriated by government , . appropriated by county , . curry county the most important highway in this county is, of course, the coast highway, which affords an outlet to california on the south and coos bay on the north. between the coos county line and port orford the route of the coast highway lies along the foot of the mountains and on a comparatively level plain and, except in a few cases at river crossings, the grades of the present road are not excessive. the alignment could be improved but is satisfactory for the present. a gravel surfacing on this section makes it passable the whole year round. south of port orford the topography of the county changes. the slopes are steep; in many cases reaching forty degrees, and are badly broken up. this section is also subject to slides of which there is abundant evidence of recent activity. the drainage being at right angles to the coast must be crossed by the highway requiring considerable rise and fall in the grade line. a survey from port orford south was commenced in december of . a line was located and staked ready for construction between port orford and hubbard creek, eliminating steep grades and sharp curves on the present road. a close preliminary line was run between hubbard creek and mussel creek (arizona inn), a thorough study made of the conditions and the following route recommended, which eliminates the excessive grades and high summit of , feet of the present road. the location lies between elevation and , dropping into and crossing drainage as it is met, following close to the beach until brush creek is reached, then following up brush creek on the east side of humbug mountain until an intersection with the present road is reached, straightening out present road for about one mile, then following the coast between elevation and , dropping into mussel creek. the controlling points on this route are the slides which must be headed to secure a stable roadbed. a twelve-foot roadbed has been proposed for this project, with maximum six per cent grades and the construction even for this narrow width is heavy as it will be necessary to bench out the entire width of the roadbed on solid ground, the slopes being too steep for fill to catch. considerable bridging is required and a gravel surface provided throughout the entire length to insure an all year road, so the cost of even this narrow roadbed will be high. a beach route located about ten feet above high tide has been proposed, and, while this has the advantage of shorter distance and no rise and fall, this route is not believed to be feasible because the underlying rock is soft and disintegrates readily and is eroded by tidal action to a considerable extent. the numerous slides at this elevation would also make construction on this location inadvisable for a permanent road. a reconnaissance was made between mussel creek and gold beach. after leaving mussel creek, considerable development work is required to attain standard grade, and but a small portion of the present road could be used. passing euchre creek, there will be utilized along cedar creek a new section of road about eight miles in length which has been recently graded by the county. if widened and the alignment corrected in a few locations, this would afford a direct route to the rogue river where a ferry runs regularly. between the river crossing and gold beach there is a fair road requiring only straightening out and widening. a large portion of the total area of curry county is in the forest reserve making the taxable area relatively small. for this reason and in view of the heavy cost of construction, aid is asked by the county from state and federal sources. the most needed improvement is the section between port orford and brush creek. in view of the increasing probability of the coast military highway by the federal government, which would be a great benefit to this county as well as to the state in general, it is desired to construct such sections as are undertaken on the correct location and standard grades, so that future widening and surfacing only will be necessary to bring it to the high standards which will undoubtedly be maintained on this military highway. it has been proposed by the commission to co-operate with the forest service in a joint forest aid project in coos and curry counties, each contributing $ , . , the forest money to be spent in northern coos county and the state money, between port orford and brush creek. curry county has offered to co-operate with county tax funds. it is hoped that this project can be carried out during the season. deschutes county bend-lapine cinder macadam during the year , an appropriation was made by the highway commission for the construction of cinder macadam between bend and lapine. this work was advertised and, proposals were received on august , . as the bids submitted at that time were not considered favorable, all were rejected, and the work was undertaken under the supervision of the county court. this section, which had been graded under a previous administration, passes through a flat, pine district, with a surface formation of volcanic ash, which is a very poor road material, roads without surfacing becoming practically impassable during the summer season. as no rock or gravel was available for macadamizing, scoria or volcanic cinder was used, of which material there is an inexhaustible supply along the right-of-way. this scoria is very light, weighing about , pounds per cubic yard. it, however, has made an excellent macadam, and because of its lightness can be handled and placed cheaper than either rock or gravel. the results are as favorable as if the best pit-run gravel could have been had. a total of , cubic yards of cinder macadam was placed on this section and twelve and five-tenths miles of completed surface was secured. the total cost was $ , . , giving a unit cost of approximately $ , . per mile, which is proof of the economy of this type of construction where volcanic cinder is obtainable. survey--rolyat to one hundred mile road in september and october, , the state highway commission made a location survey on the section of the bend-burns highway between rolyat, in deschutes county and the one hundred mile road, in harney county. the object of the survey at this time is to secure a more direct route and to avoid the bad section of the present road through the glass buttes district. the length of this survey is seventeen and one-tenth miles and it materially shortens the distance, as compared with the present road between the terminal points mentioned. fifteen and six-tenths miles of this line are in deschutes county and one and five-tenths miles in harney county. the northeast corner of lake county is touched by the survey but only for a short distance. the definite limits are not shown as the county lines could not be found and it was deemed not advisable to go to the cost of reestablishing the lines for the purpose of the survey. the new location leads in an easterly direction from rolyat and continues to the north of the present road. the plans for this survey will be made up in the near future. h. b. wright was the locating engineer in charge. douglas county as a result of the liberal co-operation of douglas county, a very large amount of work has been done during and on the pacific highway across that county. from a $ , . bond issue the county set aside $ , . for the improvement of the pacific highway north of roseburg, with the understanding that the highway department would expend an equal amount on the same highway south of roseburg. in accordance with this arrangement, it was agreed that the county would grade . miles between yoncalla and oakland, grade and macadamize . miles between comstock and leona, and grade . miles between comstock and the lane county line; and that the state would grade . miles between myrtle creek and dillard and macadamize . miles between comstock and the lane county line. it was further agreed that if the county would cooperate with the state and federal government to the amount of $ , . on the canyonville-galesville forest road project, this amount would be considered a part of the $ , . to be provided by the county in connection with the general scheme of improvement outlined. all of the work contemplated in this co-operative agreement has been carried to completion, and when final payments have been made the total expenditure by the state will be approximately $ , . and by the county $ , . . the canyonville-galesville forest road project referred to above involves the grading of a . mile section over canyon creek pass, and it will eliminate one of the very worst stretches on the pacific highway between portland and the california line. this is estimated to cost $ , . , of which the county will pay $ , . , the state $ , . and the federal government $ , . . in summary, the improvement work on the pacific highway in douglas county during and , including the work now under way, consisted of . miles of grading and . miles of macadamizing. the expenditures on the individual sections by the county, state and federal government when final payments are completed, will be approximately as follows: ======================+===========+===========+==========+=========== sections | by | by | by | total | state | county | federal | | | | govt. | ----------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------- lane county line- | | | | comstock grading |$ , . |$ , . | ... | $ , . lane county line- | | | | comstock macadam | , . | ... | ... | , . comstock-leona | | | | grading and | , . | , . | ... | , . macadam | | | | oakland-yoncalla | , . | , . | ... | , . grading | | | | myrtle creek-dillard | , . | ... | ... | , . grading | | | | canyonville-galesville| , . | , . | , . | , . grading | | | | umpqua river bridges | , . | ... | ... | , . +-----------+-----------+----------+----------- total |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . ----------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+----------- [illustration: bridge on pass creek-- ft. span. on pacific highway near comstock in douglas county] grading--comstock to the lane county line this section runs through the northern portion of the pass creek canyon, and has been the dread of tourists heretofore. it has always been a hard road to travel under summer conditions and absolutely impassable in winter, even for horse-drawn conveyances. the contract for this improvement involved . miles of grading and was awarded to s. s. schell of oakland, oregon on september , . the bulk of the grading was done that fall and the job was completed in the spring of . the road bed was graded to a width of feet with per cent maximum grades and easy curves. in addition to the grading, the contract included two drainage structures over pass creek, one a double x reinforced concrete box culvert and the other a -foot reinforced concrete bridge. all construction charges were paid by douglas county. engineering charges were paid by the state. mr. e. b. bishop was the resident engineer in charge on this section. detailed expenditure statement--grading comstock to lane county line engineering $ , . construction-- clearing and grubbing $ , . common excavation, , cu. yds. at c. , . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at c. , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul per ft., , cu. yds. at c. . -inch plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch porous drain tile, lin. ft. at c. . class a concrete, . c. y. at $ . , . class b concrete, . c. y. at $ . . metal reinforcement, , lbs. at c. . repairing timber bridge . laying . lin. ft. of drain tile and backfilling . total paid to contractor , . ---------- total cost $ , . paid by county , . paid by state $ , . ---------- total $ , . macadam--comstock to lane county line on august , , a contract was awarded to s. s. schell for macadamizing the above newly graded section in pass creek canyon, by the state highway commission, same to be a standard three course broken stone, water bound surface. this work was carried through in a very able manner on the part of the contractor and completed november , . this surfacing makes an all year road, of one of the worst pieces of road in the state. the entire cost of this work was paid by the state. detailed expenditure statement--macadamizing--comstock to lane county line engineering $ . advertisements for bids . construction-- broken stone macadam, , cu. yds. at $ . $ , . earth filler, cu. yds. at c. . removing slides . ---------- total paid to contractor , . ---------- total cost $ , . grading and macadam--comstock to leona this section is through the south end of pass creek canyon, beginning approximately a mile and a half south of comstock and extending to a point a half mile north of leona, being . miles in length. the contract was a joint contract signed by the county court and state highway commission and was awarded to hall & soleim of eugene on september , . work covered by the contract was for grading and macadamizing, culverts and bridges. due to shortage of labor, poor shipments on macadam rock, and financial difficulties, the contractors were obliged to ask the state highway commission to take over the work. on august , , after a conference with the county court and the contractor's surety company, this was done. the work was completed november , . the construction details under the state supervision were handled by a state construction engineer, representing the contractors and surety company, and the engineering details by the resident engineer on the work--the latter rendering regular monthly estimates of work done on the unit contract prices, of the original contract. this work complete will cost approximately $ , . of which the county will pay $ , . and the state $ , . . the construction of this section was in charge of e. b. bishop, resident engineer, and f. e. lapointe, construction superintendent. grading--oakland to yoncalla this work extends from the calapooya river bridge at oakland to a point two miles south of yoncalla, a total distance of . miles. a contract for clearing, grading and culverts was awarded the warren construction company, september , , being the last of three contracts signed jointly by the county court and state highway commission. this work was completed july , , and is an excellent piece of standard construction feet in width. it eliminates the old excessive grade over rice hill, and some bad sections just north of oakland--there being now no grades over per cent. on the completion of the grading the state highway commission requested permission of the capital issues committee to sell bonds, part of which were to cover the rocking of this unit to make it passable for winter. this request was refused on the ground that it was not a necessary war measure. the road will therefore not be passable this winter, but it is expected that the section will be macadamized during the season. mr. robert a. pratt was resident engineer in charge of the construction. detailed expenditure statement--grading--oakland to yoncalla engineering $ , . construction-- clearing and grubbing $ , . common excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c , . -inch plain concrete pipe, , lin. ft. at $ . , . -inch corrugated galvanized iron pipe, lin. ft. at $ . , . -inch corrugated galvanized iron pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch porous drain tile, , lin. ft. at c . class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . class b concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . metal reinforcement, , lbs. at c . lumber, , f. b. m. at $ . . extra work on culverts, drain ditches, rock back filling . hauling and placing rip-rap for embankments, approximately cu. yds. . lowering water pipe crossing . rebuilding right of way fence . grubbing for borrow pit . extra clearing and grubbing account of line change . gasoline furnished state . -ft. by -in. corrugated iron pipe (hauling and placing) . -ft. by -in. corrugated iron pipe in place . total paid to contractor $ , . ----------- total cost $ , . paid by state $ , . paid by county , . ----------- total $ , . [illustration: along the umpqua river north of myrtle creek in douglas county. graded in and ] grading--myrtle creek to dillard on november , , a contract was awarded to calvert & wolke of grants pass (now known as the grants pass construction company, james logan, president), for the clearing, grading, culverts and concrete bridges on a section of . miles between myrtle creek and the junction of the pacific highway with the roseburg-coos bay highway, one mile and a half north of dillard. this construction eliminates the well but unfavorably known roberts mountain grade just south of roseburg, on which several lives have been lost and also, seven grade crossings of the southern pacific railway. it will be a water grade highway along the beautiful umpqua river. the road will not be open to the public until the completion of two bridges over the umpqua, which are now under construction and which are expected to be completed about january , . it is expected that this entire section will be macadamized during the season. mr. f. n. drinkhall is resident engineer in charge of the grading on this section. detailed statement of expenditures to november , --grading--myrtle creek to dillard engineering $ , . culvert pipe furnished by state , . construction-- clearing and grubbing, % completed $ , . common excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul, per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c . -inch plain concrete pipe, , lin. ft. at c . -inch corrugated galvanized iron pipe, lin. ft. at c . -inch corrugated galvanized iron pipe, lin. ft. at c . -inch corrugated galvanized iron pipe, lin. ft. at c . -inch porous drain tile, , lin. ft. at c , . class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . class c concrete, cu. yds. at $ . . metal reinforcement, , lbs. at c , . lumber and timber, , f. b. m. at $ . . rough dry walls (approx.) (force account) cu. yds. . clearing outside r. o. w. (force account) . back-filling over drain tile with gravel . --------- total amount earned by contractor to nov. , , . per cent retained until completion of contract , . --------- total paid contractor to nov. , , . ---------- total amount expended to november , $ , . umpqua river bridge one mile north of dillard this bridge consists of - foot covered wooden howe truss spans on concrete piers. the spans are continuous, thus forming a roof over feet long. open windows are constructed at panel points to light the spans and make a more artistic appearance, lack of light and unsightly appearance having been the chief objections to covered wooden bridges. this bridge being on the pacific highway, was designed for heavy traffic loading. a laminated wood floor system is used and provision is made for an asphaltic wearing surface although a three inch wooden decking is used temporarily. this type of bridge is regarded as being very durable, and under conditions of the past year or two, very economical. the structure complete will cost approximately $ , . . mr. a. s. kennedy was resident engineer for this bridge as well as the one two and one-half miles south of dillard. the construction is being handled by the portland bridge company. [illustration: van tyne creek viaduct north of myrtle creek in douglas county. built in ] bridge two and one-half miles south of dillard this bridge is similar to the one described above, except that there are two -foot spans instead of three. the cost of construction will be approximately $ , . . it is being built under a contract with the portland bridge company. van tyne creek bridge this is a -foot reinforced concrete viaduct on the pacific highway near dole, north of myrtle creek. it was constructed by the grants pass construction company, under their grading contract for the section between myrtle creek and dillard. the total cost of the structure was $ , . . half viaducts north of myrtle creek these structures, two in number, were constructed within a few hundred feet of each other on the pacific highway between myrtle creek and dillard and span crevices in the face of a rock bluff. they are of reinforced concrete construction of the through girder type and of spans of feet and feet respectively. the foot structure cost complete $ , . , and the foot structure cost $ , . . both were built by the grants pass construction company under their contract for grading between myrtle creek and dillard. myrtle creek bridge the bridge over the umpqua river at myrtle creek being inadequate for modern traffic a survey has been made for a new structure. as contemplated, the new bridge will eliminate a grade crossing that now exists at one end of the present bridge. canyonville-galesville forest road project under a co-operative agreement between douglas county, the state and the federal government, a . mile section of the pacific highway between canyonville and galesville is being constructed. this project will eliminate the heavy grades and dangerous curves through what has been erroneously called cow creek canyon. this section has heretofore been one of the very worst on the entire highway, and its improvement is of great importance. the work is under contract to john hampshire & co. of grants pass. the supervision of the work is in the hands of the federal office of public roads. it is estimated that the project complete will cost $ , . , of which the county will pay $ , . , the state $ , . and the federal government $ , . . surrey--coos county line to roseburg during april and may , a preliminary survey was made from the coos-douglas county line eastward to a connection with the new pacific highway location between roseburg and dillard. some construction on this line was contemplated in the spring of , but was postponed until the close of the war. location surveys were in charge of mr. c. c. kelley, locating engineer. the length of the survey is . miles. survey--johns ranch to jacques ranch this survey was made in july , and is on the pacific highway between glendale and canyonville. the survey was . miles in length and was made by mr. c. c. kelley, locating engineer. survey--canyon creek pass to johns ranch this survey consisted of the location of a . mile section of the pacific highway from canyon creek pass to johns ranch in cow creek valley. it was made by c. c. kelley, locating engineer, in august, , and the section is now being constructed as a part of the canyonville-galesville forest road project. gilliam county gilliam county presents an interesting situation from the viewpoint of highways. besides the columbia river highway the county is traversed by the john day highway, one of the important routes of eastern oregon. this large mileage of state highways along with the fact that there are many large agricultural communities to be served, renders important and necessary an extensive road building program. [illustration: the john day river highway south of condon in gilliam county macadamized in ] the people of gilliam county have long realized the value of good roads. although continuous effort has been put forth, expensive construction and limited funds have resulted in only a beginning. county authorities have always shown a keen interest in the plans for state co-operation, regardless of whether gilliam county was to be benefitted directly or whether improvements were to be made in the neighboring counties. the state highway commission has always recognized the urgency of building the columbia river highway, and in addition has from the beginning realized the necessity of an improved road leading inland from condon. during the state highway commission made a location survey of the columbia river highway between john day river and arlington, and a reconnaissance survey has been made from arlington east to the morrow county line. since august the state highway commission has expended $ , . for macadamizing the john day highway between condon and thirty mile creek. in addition $ , . of state funds has been set aside for maintaining and resurfacing this section during the coming winter. gilliam county court and the road district in the north end of the county through heroic efforts have raised $ , . for grading the columbia river highway between arlington and blalock, a distance of eight and sixty-eight one-hundredths miles. this work is to be started at once and rushed during the winter season. the state highway department will supply engineering supervision. condon-thirty mile creek--macadam in august a contract was let by the state highway department to warren construction company of portland for macadamizing a five and seven-tenths mile section of the john day highway between condon and thirty mile creek. the contractor was paid on the basis of cost plus ten per cent for labor and plus five per cent for materials. rock was quarried and crushed at two different points on the job and trucks and teams were used for hauling. the old road was scarified and re-dressed prior to laying the macadam. a dry macadam six inches thick was laid over the five and seven-tenths miles. the average width of the surface is about fourteen feet. the state paid the entire cost of this work amounting to $ , . and it is thought that about $ , . per mile will be required for maintenance and re-dressing during the next few months. c. a. harrington was resident engineer and inspector for the department on this work. mayville-wheeler county line--grading and macadam at the completion of the state work on the cummins hill macadam, gilliam county deemed it advisable to avail themselves of the opportunity to utilize the installed equipment and organization for macadamizing the john day highway between mayville and wheeler county line, one mile south. accordingly they graded and laid macadam for this distance thereby connecting mayville up with the wheeler county macadam. gilliam county paid the full cost of this work amounting to about $ , . for both grading and macadam. the engineering and inspection was done by the state department with george hibbet in charge. columbia river highway--survey a location survey of the columbia river highway was made by the state highway department during . beginning at the john day river near its mouth the line follows up the columbia river paralleling the o.-w. r. & n. railway and ends at arlington. the total length of the survey is twenty-three and ninety-six one-hundredths miles. the plans for the eight and sixty-eight one-hundredths miles section from arlington to blalock have been completed but there are revisions to be made in the remainder of the line owing to right-of-way encroachments upon the railroad property. this survey was made under the direction of c. a. harrington and b. h. mcnamee, locating engineers for the state department. grant county grant county lies in the mountainous section of the state and its limits on three sides, north, east and south follow water sheds. the general slope of the lands and direction of the drainage is toward the west but even here the country is of such rugged character that no natural passageways are found to relieve the isolated condition. the roads in all directions are very rough and of little economic value to the county. the narrow gauge railway leading from baker to prairie city serves the whole county for both passenger and freight traffic. it is readily seen that the call for improved roads for these settlements is an urgent one. to meet the demands for transportation facilities the county has made a very creditable showing towards financing highway improvements. in november a bond issue was voted providing $ , . . the mileage is so great however, and the construction so heavy and expensive, that county funds available for permanent work are altogether inadequate. grant county was among the first to apply for state and federal aid and its call did not go unheeded. the state highway commission drew heavily upon its first apportionments of post road funds in order to provide a connecting road between spray and dayville through the big basin and picture gorge. the co-operative plans provide also for the improvement of the john day-prairie city sections. two sections of the john day highway in this county aggregating thirty-one and thirty-one hundredths miles in length have been definitely established by location surveys, an additional location is to be made in the near future. in november the state highway commission received bids for the grading and macadamizing of that section of the john day highway between hall hill and prairie city. the cost of this work is to be defrayed by state and government funds in equal amounts. funds have been set aside by the commission for the matching of federal and county funds in the construction of the john day highway between the grant-wheeler county line and dayville. this is a portion of post road project no. extending from the mouth of sarvice creek, wheeler county to valades ranch, grant county. the project covers a total of forty-eight and ninety-five hundredths miles, twenty-three and forty-five hundredths miles of which are in grant county. the appropriations for the improvement are apportioned as follows: grant county, $ , . ; state, $ , . ; government, $ , . . total estimated cost, $ , . . the department has also appropriated funds for the grading and macadamizing of that section between the town of john day and fisk creek, seven and four-tenths miles east of the town. the total estimated cost of the work is $ , . , which amount is to be supplied in equal amounts by the state and government. the improvement from john day to prairie city is listed for early completion owing to an urgent request from the war department to keep the road in condition for hauling chrome ore. the following summary shows state and federal aid to be extended grant county during the next season. =======================+==========+==========+==========+=========== appropriated for | state | county |government| total expenditures in | funds | funds | funds | -----------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- hall hill to prairie |$ , . | ... |$ , . |$ , . city | | | | wheeler county line to | , . |$ , . | , . | , . valades ranch | | | | john day to fisk creek | , . | ... | , . | , . -----------------------+----------+----------+----------+----------- hall hill section--grading and macadamizing in july of this season the grant county court turned over to the state departments funds for the improvement of certain sections between john day and prairie city. the hall hill section, three and five-tenths miles in length, received first attention as it was much in need of repair. the grading is almost completed and gravel macadam is laid on two and twenty-four hundredths miles. there has been expended on this work up to november , $ , . , and approximately $ , . will be required for completion of the same. county funds will be supplied to finish this section. state forces and local labor are being employed on this work under the direct supervision of c. a. harrington, resident engineer for the department. in addition to the grading and macadamizing this work involves the construction of a -foot span bridge over the john day river. summary of construction quantities excavation-- , cu. yds. solid rock; , cu. yds. intermediate; , cu. yds. common. pipe-- lin. ft. -inch; lin. ft. -inch; lin. ft. -inch. survey of big basin section of john day highway in a location survey was made from the grant-wheeler county lines east of spray to valades ranch, five miles west of dayville. the line crosses the north fork of the john day river at kimberly's ranch and follows up the big basin valley along the east bank of the john day river. a crossing is made near the upper end of big basin and the line follows the west bank of the river through picture gorge canyon. on leaving picture gorge the line enters the john day valley, and continues on the west side of the river to valades ranch where the project ends. valades ranch is five miles west of dayville. this is a portion of the sarvice creek-valades ranch post road project and the grant county section is twenty-three and forty-five hundredths miles in length. this survey was made under the direction of r. h. coppock, locating engineer. survey of john day highway from john day to prairie city in a location survey was made from the town of john day to prairie city. the line follows the south limit of the valley east from john day for eight and five-tenths miles and crosses the river to the north side of the valley at the bridge site on the present road. it continues thence along the north side of the valley to prairie city. the length of this survey is twelve and seventy-four hundredths miles. c. a. harrington and r. h. coppock were the locating engineers on this section. the office work for this survey is finished and plans are complete. sarvice creek-valades ranch port road project (same as for wheeler county) john day-fisk creek post road project the state highway department has submitted to the government for the purpose of securing post road aid, that section of the john day highway between john day and fisk creek. this project is five and seventy-two hundredth miles in length and the total estimated cost is $ , . . the co-operation is to be on the basis of fifty per cent of the cost from each the state and government. assurance has been received that the project will receive the support of the government and it is expected that construction work will begin in the near future. hall hill-prairie city post road project the office of public roads has approved the application for post road aid on the john day highway between hall hill and prairie city. the length of this project is two and fourteen hundredths miles. the total estimated cost is approximately $ , . . the road is to be graded and surfaced with gravel macadam. this improvement involves also the construction of a fifty foot span bridge near prairie city. the apportionment of the costs provide for the payment of $ , . by each the state and government. bids were received for this work on november and a contract for the construction was later awarded kern & co. of portland, oregon. work will begin in a short time and the bid price for this improvement was $ , . . harney county roads in harney county are few in number, but the combined mileage of these few is enormous. fortunately a large portion of the county roads are good most of the year, but during the winter season communication by the valley roads is usually extremely difficult. highways are of extreme importance in this county owing to the scarcity of railroads. the value of improved highways is fully appreciated by the people and a very creditable beginning has been made on the roads in the vicinity of burns. however, county funds are entirely inadequate for the carrying out of a road building scheme of any magnitude. the state highway commission extended aid in to the amount of $ , which appropriation calls for a like amount from the federal government. the county joins in the co-operative work to the amount of $ , . . this makes a total of $ , . for a beginning. present plans provide that work shall start early in . additional support was secured from the state in the forms of surveys. approximately nineteen miles of the central oregon highway within harney county was surveyed in . survey of central oregon highway--burns-experimental farm section during the state highway commission surveyed a six mile section of the central oregon highway leading east from burns and past the government experimental farm. this project begins one and one-half miles east of burns and ends two miles east of the experimental farm. the plans for this survey are practically completed. this survey was made under the direction of h. b. wright, locating engineer. sage hen to burns section survey this is also a section of the central oregon highway and is ten and thirty-nine hundredths miles in length. the line begins near sage hen creek and parallels the present road into burns, with a considerable saving in distance. this survey was made at the request of the county authorities in order that some improvements they have planned may be placed upon a permanent location. h. b. wright was locating engineer on this survey. glass butte section survey this is a portion of the survey between rolyat in deschutes county and one hundred mile road in harney county. fifteen and six-tenths miles are in deschutes county and fifteen in harney county. this survey was made at the request of the counties in order that local funds may be expended on a permanent location. the present road through glass butte section between rolyat and one hundred mile road is in poor material and much longer than necessary. local plans provide for the opening of the new road as soon as practicable. h. b. wright, locating engineer for the state department directed the surveying of this line. reconnaissance survey burns to vale in april, , the state highway department made a reconnaissance survey over the route from burns to vale. all possible routes were covered in the survey and reported upon fully to the state highway engineer and the commission. the investigation resulted in the establishing of the route from burns direct to crane and down the malheur river through river side, juntura, harper and vale. this survey was made by m. o. bennett, division engineer for the state highway department. hood river county grading--cascade locks to hood river that section of the columbia river highway from the multnomah county line to hood river passes through the narrowest part of the columbia river gorge through the cascade range. the steep river banks rise directly up from the water's edge for a large part of the distance, so the space for both railroad and highway is necessarily restricted. at many points, the right of way of the railroad and highway is contiguous and construction under these conditions involved extremely heavy work which added materially to the cost. [illustration: the columbia river highway west of lindsay in hood river county] previous to , there was no road through the county, but from the proceeds of a bond issue of $ , , the county built on state standards a roadway to connect the uncompleted portions. in , the state built about one mile, including the mitchell point tunnel, one of the many scenic features of the columbia river highway. one mile of pavement adjoining the multnomah county pavement was built in by mr. s. benson. there remained about fourteen miles which require improvement, and on august , , contracts were awarded to a. d. kern for grading of these remaining sections to bring to standard grade and alignment. this improvement eliminated ruthton hill, with its narrow, steep grades, three railroad crossings, a narrow, steep grade near wyeth and the improvement through the village of cascade locks to the end of the pavement. the work was divided as follows: cascade locks section, . miles; viento section, . miles; ruthton hill section, . miles. these contracts were completed in september, . due to the close proximity to the railroad tracks, the work required extreme care and watchfulness but was accomplished without accident and without delays to railroad traffic. the costs of construction for each of the three sections follows: detailed expenditure statement--grading--cascade locks section engineering $ , . construction--general-- common excavation, , cu. yds. at c $ , . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul, per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c , . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, , lin. ft. at $ . , . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe. lin. ft. at $ . . class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . class c concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . . placing reinforcing steel, , lbs. at . ½ . catch basins, at $ . . extra clearing and grubbing, . acres at $ . , . extra clearing, . acres at $ . . herman creek bridge-- class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . $ , . class c concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . . reinforcing steel (placing) , lbs at . ½ . reinforcing steel furnished by state , . removing old bridge and constructing temporary bridge . wet excavation for piers . concrete toe wall to protect fill , . railing . -------- total cost of herman creek bridge , . gorton creek bridge-- excavation for piers $ . class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . placing reinforcing steel, , lbs. at . ½ . reinforcing steel furnished by state . railing . rip-rap . -------- total cost of gorton creek bridge , . force account work as follows-- construction and removal of temporary bridge over dry creek . removing slide from o.-w. r. r. & n. tracks . gravel surfacing--end of pavement to cascade locks , . railing for viento creek bridge . excavating in water and placing corrugated iron pipe . excavation and placing drain tile in wet cuts . excavation and placing box drain for form crossing . riprap on slope to keep fill off o.-w. r. r. & n. right of way . water pipe and private road crossing . sinking test holes in gravel pit at cascade locks . road crossing for herman creek ranger station . hauling dirt to cover boulders . placing concrete pipe . flagmen guarding track (contractor's force) , . miscellaneous construction items paid direct by state-- replacing fence . reinforcing steel for concrete culverts . concrete pipe furnished by state . moving building in cascade locks , . guarding o.-w. r. r. & n. tracks (ry. co. force) , . guarding western union telegraph line . ----------- total construction cost $ , . grand total cost of job , . deduction for rental of state cars and track . ----------- total cash expenditure $ , . [illustration: the columbia river highway near viento in hood river county. graded and graveled in and ] detailed statement of expenditures to november , --grading and bridges--viento section engineering $ , . guarding o.-w. r. r. & n. tracks . guarding western union telegraph lines . diverting flume lines . reinforcing steel furnished by state . contract work as follows: common excavation, , . cu. yds. at c $ , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul, per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c , . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . class a concrete, cu. yds. at $ . , . class c concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . . placing reinforcing steel, , lbs. at . ½ . rubble masonry, cu. yds. at $ . . catch basins, one at $ . . gravel backfill in rock cut (force account) . repairing lindsay creek bridge (force account) . private road approach (force account) . clearing rock from mitchell point tunnel (force acc't) . viento creek bridge-- class a concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . $ , . placing reinforcing steel, , lbs. at . ½ . excavation for footings (force account) . material furnished by state . --------- total cost of viento creek bridge , . -------- total cost to november , $ , . per cent retained of total amt. ($ , . ) earned by contractors , . ----------- total paid amount to november , $ , . detailed statement of expenditures to november , --grading ruthton hill section engineering $ , . material furnished by state for concrete half viaduct . guarding o.-w. r. r. & n. tracks . contract construction work as follows: common excavation, , . cu. yds. at c $ , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at c . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinforced concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . class c concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . . rubble masonry, cu. yds. at $ . . force account-- connecting road with morton . covering sharp rocks with clay . reinforced concrete viaduct at ruthton hill , . ----------- $ , . less per cent retained pending completion of contract , . ----------- total payments to contractor to nov. , $ , . ----------- total expended to november , $ , . [illustration: on the columbia river highway in hood river county two miles east of cascade locks. graded and graveled in and ] macadamizing--cascade locks to hood river on july , , a contract was awarded to a. d. kern of eighteen miles of gravel surfacing between hood river and the multnomah county line on the basis of cost plus fifteen per cent on labor and supplies and twelve and one-half per cent on equipment; provided, that no percentage should be paid on any cost over $ , . this work also includes the building of shoulders on the one mile of pavement built by s. benson in adjacent to the multnomah county line. the gravel for this work was taken from pits at cascade locks, herman, sonny and hood river, was loaded by steam shovels, screened at two of the pits and hauled by auto trucks. as a result there is now a gravel surface between hood river and cascade locks. a total of , cubic yards was placed upon the road at an average cost of $ . per cubic yard which represents total cost of excavating, screening, hauling, spreading and rolling. hood river bridge the largest concrete bridge so far designed and constructed by the state highway department is that spanning hood river near the city of hood river. it consists of three arch spans feet, center to center of piers, feet of reinforced concrete approach on the hood river side and a short approach on the opposite side. as in other arch work of similar magnitude studied by the department, it was found economical to support the arch superstructures on ribs instead of using rings extending clear across the roadway, and the open spandrel idea was carried out. the concrete viaduct approach on the west side crosses three railroad tracks which govern the height of the bridge. in order to minimize this height through concrete girders were used, the girders projecting above rather than below the roadway slab. the total cost of the structure complete will be about $ , . , of which hood river county will contribute $ , . . the bridge was built under contract by parker & banfield. mr. c. e. carter was resident engineer on the work. herman creek bridge this is a ninety-foot reinforced concrete viaduct on the columbia river highway near cascade locks. this structure was built by a. d. kern in connection with the grading contract on the cascade locks section. the cost complete was $ , . . gorton creek bridge this is a -foot reinforced concrete bridge at wyeth on the columbia river highway. it was built by a. d. kern under the grading contract for the cascade locks section. the total cost was $ , . . hood river-mosier surveys contemplating construction of the columbia river highway between hood river and mosier to eliminate the high summit, narrow road bed, and excessive grades between these points the department made very thorough surveys for this important project. a survey had previously been made developing distance up the hood river valley and reaching a summit of , feet with a corresponding additional length required on the mosier end, making a total distance of . miles. because of its length and high summit a lower route was considered and a survey was made adjacent to the railroad, using a portion of the old abandoned railroad grade, but involving extremely heavy construction at certain points where the line skirts the high bluffs. the summit on this route was only feet and its length . miles. however, the railroad company was contemplating a revision in the alignment of their tracks on this section, as well as the construction of a second track, which would still further lessen the space available for a highway. also taking into consideration the difficult nature of the work and the uncertain cost due to track protection in blasting operations and the limited conditions under which the work must lie done to avoid interference with the railroad traffic, this route was revised in favor of a route further away from the tracks up on the side-hill. the summit reached is feet and the length of this line is . miles, which includes a development of per cent grade at each end and provides for a foot roadbed. this adopted route is very scenic and affords a splendid view of the washington shore, as well as a view up and down the river. the construction is very heavy, being located on steep side-hill slopes and at one point involves a tunnel feet long. this project is divided by the county line, making . miles in hood river county and . miles in wasco county. this project will be placed upon the program. jackson county [illustration: heavy grading on ruthton hill in hood river county. constructed in and ] the highway department expended in jackson county during and the sum of $ , . . the work accomplished with this amount consists of six and five-tenths miles of -foot crushed rock macadam in the siskiyou mountains, an undergrade crossing with the southern pacific railway just north of ashland, and , lineal feet of grading and paving north of ashland. a survey has also been started on the ashland-klamath falls road about fifteen miles of which was completed before weather conditions made it necessary to discontinue field work until spring. ashland hill grading and undercrossing on account of a contemplated undergrade crossing with the southern pacific railway, a stretch of , feet on the pacific highway just north of ashland was left unpaved between ashland and medford when the balance of the distance between those points was paved in . in arrangement was made between the county and railway company for the construction of this undercrossing and the state highway commission set aside funds to cover the cost of the , feet of grading in connection therewith. the installation of the undercrossing structure was handled by the southern pacific railway company. the grading was handled by the county grading forces under the supervision of the highway department. mr. f. h. walker acted as resident engineer. the grading was commenced on january , , and completed august , . the total cost of the grading was $ , . , and was paid entirely from state funds. cost statement ashland hill grading industrial insurance $ . grading, labor, teams, material, etc. , . explosives . concrete drainage structures . pipe culverts . irrigation flume diversions . --------- total $ , . engineering . --------- total cost $ , . ashland hill paving bids were called for on august , , for the paving of the ashland hill section, but as no satisfactory bids were received the work was undertaken by the highway department with state forces. this section of paving is , feet in length, and the type of pavement laid is a -foot concrete, ½ inches thick at the sides and ½ inches thick at the center. the mixture was a : : ½, and a ratio of . gallons of water per sack of cement was used. the average haul on material was . miles and hauling was done by means of trucks. the cement was shipped to the job prior to the beginning of construction and stored at convenient locations near the work. a sixteen cubic foot koehring mixer equipped with boom and bucket was used for mixing the aggregate. the pavement, after being struck off, was finished by the roller and belt method. the pavement first being rolled from two to four times depending on the condition of the concrete and later belted with eight and ten inch belts. the eight inch belt being used first. a very satisfactory surface was obtained in this manner. [illustration: concrete pavement on ashland hill in jackson county, on the pacific highway north of ashland. graded and paved in ] continuous forms were used on this work and ¼x inch elastite joints were placed at foot intervals, leaving approximately two inches of concrete above the elastite and giving the pavement the appearance of monolithic construction. it was found that a better riding pavement could be produced in this way as the inequalities at joints were eliminated and we believe that the use of this pavement will justify the adoption of this type on future work. gravel and crushed rock shoulders two feet wide were built on this section and the pavement was not covered while curing as the weather was cool and damp. however, the pavement was kept wet by sprinkling when necessary. the crusher and roller on this work were furnished by jackson county free of charge. mr. j. m. baker was superintendent of construction on this work. cost statement ashland hill pavement , feet ' concrete pavement built in unit quantity item total cost cost sq. yds.-- : : ½ concrete pavement average thickness " $ , . $ . cu. yds.--crushed gravel in shoulders , . . pounds--reinf. steel . . lin. ft.--expansion joints . . ---------- total cost of construction $ , . engineering . ---------- grand total cost $ , . siskiyou mountain macadam during the season, ½ miles of broken stone macadam was constructed on the pacific highway in the siskiyou mountains. this macadam is sixteen feet in width, and extends from the california state line to siskiyou. it was constructed with state forces under the supervision of l. l. clarke, construction superintendent. a total of , cubic yards of rock were crushed and placed on the road. the cost of the work complete was $ , . . survey--ashland to klamath falls on august , , a location survey was started between ashland and klamath falls. after a careful reconnaissance of the low passes, the route via green springs mountain was chosen, as against the dead indian summit, feet higher. surveys were continued until november , when they were discontinued for the winter months. the present road is in such poor condition, that maintaining a locating party at work during the winter would be very expensive. during the short time the party was in the field, . miles of location were staked, a six per cent grade from the summit of green springs mountain toward ashland being obtained, whereas the present road has many stretches over per cent. also, over a section between the green springs summit and jenny creek, miles to the south, a location has been obtained that will give for the greater distance, very cheap construction and the lightest of grades. this will be appreciated by all who have traveled the present rocky road with its series of bad grades. [illustration: on the pacific highway south of wolf creek in josephine county. constructed in and ] this road is a very vital one to the rogue river and klamath valleys. at present it is only passable during summer months for auto traffic, while a road built on standard line and grades would soon make it an all year highway. there will be an enormous exchange of commodities between the two valleys when the road is constructed. it will make a three hour auto trip between ashland and klamath falls, which now takes ½ hours by train via weed, california. the location will be resumed in the spring, and continued to klamath falls. surveys have been in charge of mr. j. h. scott, locating engineer. jefferson county jefferson is the only county in eastern oregon that has not applied for state aid in some form. this county has been included in the state's general post road scheme and doubtless will receive early attention from the state highway commission. the state highway commission has ordered a reconnaissance survey made from kingsley and tygh valley in wasco county south through the warm springs indian reservation into jefferson county along the west side of the deschutes river. this investigation will be made during the coming spring. the county is traversed by the dalles-california highway which will be a very important road. the antelope-mitchell highway also passes through the northeast corner of the county. josephine county during the two year period covered by this report, a very marked improvement has been made in the pacific highway across josephine county. during this time . miles, or more than one-quarter of the total mileage of this highway in the county, were completed on standard grades and alignment, eliminating some of the heaviest and most dangerous grades between portland and the california line. the work done by the state consisted of the grading of a . mile section between wolf creek and grave creek in the northern part of the county, and the grading of a one mile section, known as the locust hill section, about three miles south of grants pass. the work done by the county consisted of . miles of grading between locust hill and the jackson county line. this county work was contracted under state highway department specifications and was engineered by the department engineers. in addition to this construction work, location surveys were made over . miles of the pacific highway, completing the location across the county. these surveys were made in three sections: one from wolf creek to grave creek; one from grants pass to grave creek; and one from wolf creek to stage road pass. the total amount of money expended by the state in josephine county during the fiscal years and was $ , . , and the amount expended by josephine county under state supervision was approximately $ , . . some considerable amount of work was also done by the county in grading just south of grants pass. while this work was not under state supervision, it was on the state survey and is standard as regards grade, alignment, cross-section, etc. [illustration: on the wolf creek-grave creek section of the pacific highway in josephine county. graded in ] grading--wolf creek to grave creek to eliminate four very heavy grades on the pacific highway between wolf creek and grave creek in northern josephine county, the highway commission appropriated funds for the grading of a . mile section between those points. the contract for the work was awarded to the american exploration and construction company of grants pass on november , . this construction was practically all on steep side-hills, and as only a small part of the material to be moved was hard rock, the job was an ideal one for steam shovel operation and over fifty per cent of the total yardage was moved by this method. the work was handled by the contractors in a very creditable manner, and an excellent roadbed was secured. the grading was completed on october , . the width of roadbed is feet and the maximum grade is per cent. mr. j. e. nelson was in charge of the work as resident engineer. it is expected that this section will be macadamized during the season. detailed expenditure statement--grading--wolf creek to grave creek engineering $ , . culvert pipe furnished by state , . payments to contractor for work as follows: clearing and grubbing $ , . common excavation, , cu. yds. at . , . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at . , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul, per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at . . " concrete pipe, , lin. ft. at . . " corr. galv. iron pipe, . lin. ft. at . . " corr. galv. iron pipe, . lin. ft. at . . " corr. galv. iron pipe, . lin. ft. at . . " corr. galv. iron pipe, . lin. ft. at . . class "a" concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . class "c" concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . , . " porous drain tile, lin. ft. at . . trestle timber, , f. b. m., at $ . , . metal reinforcement, , lbs. at . . extra clearing, . acres at $ . . painting railings on coyote creek and dry gulch bridges (force account) . gravel backfilling for drain tile (force account) . culvert pipe furnished by state , . --------- total paid to contractors , . ---------- total cost of work $ , . grading--locust hill section to complete the grading of the pacific highway between grants pass and rogue river, the highway commission set aside funds for the construction of the locust hill section, a section one mile in length located about three miles south of grants pass. the contract for this work was awarded to albert anderson & co. of grants pass, and the construction was completed about june , . the necessary engineering supervision of this work was given by mr. j. e. nelson, resident engineer of the wolf creek-grave creek section. detailed expenditure statement--grading locust hill section engineering $ . construction: clearing and grubbing $ . common excavation, cu. yds. at . . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at . , . solid rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . overhaul per lin. ft., , cu. yds. at . . " plain conc. pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . -------- , . -------- total cost $ , . county construction--locust hill to jackson county line in the spring of , the county court of josephine county requested the highway department to engineer for them the construction of . miles of grading on the pacific highway between locust hill and the jackson county line. plans and specifications were prepared for this work by the highway department and it was let by the county court in two units: one to albert anderson & co., of grants pass; the other to s. s. schell of oakland, oregon. the construction engineering was handled by the state highway department under resident engineer h. c. compton. the work was completed in september, , the total cost to the county being approximately $ , . . the final estimate to albert anderson & co., was as follows: final estimate to albert anderson--grading between locust hill and jackson county line clearing, lump sum bid $ . common excavation, , . cu. yds. at . , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at . , . solid rock excavation, . cu. yds. at $ . . " plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at . . " plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . " plain concrete pipe, lin. ft. at $ . . class "c" concrete, . cu. yds. at $ . . " drain tile, lin. ft. at . . run-of-bank gravel, cu. yds. at $ . . overhaul, per lin. ft., cu. yds. at . . ---------- total $ , . survey--wolf creek to grave creek the old county road between wolf creek and grave creek on the pacific highway in northern josephine county, passed over two summits about feet above the valley levels of grave and wolf creeks, giving four long, heavy grades, in some places the grade being as high as per cent. these two summits were about one mile apart, and the nature of the ground was such that support could be had for a practically level grade between the two. with a view to locating this level grade between the summits and developing five per cent grades down the sides, a preliminary survey was made in october and november, , under the direction of mr. s. h. probert. this survey was worked up in the office during january and february, , and in july, , the projected location was staked on the ground by mr. c. c. kelley, locating engineer. the length of the survey was . miles, the terminal points being about three-quarters of a mile east of wolf creek post office and about three-quarters of a mile west of the grave creek bridge. the construction of this section, which was undertaken in the fall of , is described in another article in this report. survey--wolf creek to stage road pass [illustration: on the wolf creek-grave creek section of the pacific highway in josephine county. graded in ] this survey begins about three-quarters of a mile south of the wolf creek post office and follows, in a general way, the present county roads into the town of wolf creek and from wolf creek to a point about two miles south of stage road pass. at this point it connects with a survey made by the highway department in , and which is the location survey for a five per cent grade down from state road pass, which pass is on the line between douglas and josephine counties. the length of the survey from east of wolf creek to the connection with the previous survey is . miles. it was made in july, , under the direction of mr. c. c. kelley, locating engineer. survey--grants pass to grave creek to complete the location of the pacific highway across josephine county, a survey was made in between grants pass and grave creek. this survey follows, in a general way, the present road between those points, deviating from it only where improvements in alignment or grade can be secured. the most important feature of this location is that it is on a five per cent grade over the sexton mountain summit. the total length of the survey is . miles. mr. c. c. kelley was in charge of the work as locating engineer. klamath county in klamath county the work of the highway commission to date has been limited to surveys. a careful reconnaissance has been made from klamath falls to bend, klamath falls to olene, and klamath falls to ashland. funds were limited for more extensive surveys during , but the location from ashland to klamath falls (see jackson county report) was started and will be continued to klamath falls in . a short section between the klamath falls city limits, through pelican city to a connection with the existing road to bend was located by the highway department in august, , and stakes set for , feet of grading. this section has since been graded and covered with a cinder surface by the county. state surveys in this section were in charge of j. h. scott, locating engineer. lake county grading and macadamizing between lakeview and paisley in the state highway commission appropriated funds to assist the county with the grading and macadamizing of a section of the lakeview-paisley road through crooked creek canyon. this work was handled by the county, and the total amount of state funds expended was $ , . . the work done consisted of . miles of grading and . miles of rock surfacing. lane county macadam--latham to divide in state aid was given to lane county in the amount of $ , . . this money was used in macadamizing the pacific highway between latham and divide. the work was handled by county forces under the supervision of h. w. libby, county roadmaster. divide overcrossing for the elimination of the dangerous grade crossing of the pacific highway with the southern pacific railway at divide, the highway department made surveys and prepared plans for an overhead crossing at that point. the public service commission of oregon ordered that this overhead crossing be built, forty per cent of the cost to be paid by the railway company, thirty per cent by the state and thirty per cent by the county. bids were received for the construction of the structure and approach fills on september , , but before work was begun, the united states highways council ordered that construction be delayed until after the war on account of the shortage in steel and cement. work will, therefore, not be undertaken until the season. the structure designed for this overcrossing is a three span reinforced concrete viaduct, providing clearance for the double tracking of the railway. the cost of the structure and the approach fills is estimated to be $ , . . in connection with this, about . miles of new grade must be built to connect with the present road, no part of the cost of which will be shared by the railway company. this grading is estimated to cost $ , . . as soon as the grading is completed, it will be macadamized by the highway commission. survey--goshen to cottage grove in june, , a survey was made from goshen to a connection with the pacific highway south of cottage grove. this survey is on the east side of the southern pacific railway from goshen to creswell, crosses the railway at grade at that point, and continues on the west side all the way to cottage grove, closely following the southern pacific alignment the entire distance. the total length of the survey was . miles. mr. c. c. kelley was the locating engineer in charge. lincoln county pioneer mountain grading in , the state highway commission extended state aid to lincoln county in the grading of a one mile section of the corvallis-newport road. this section is in the vicinity of pioneer mountain, and is known as the pioneer mountain section. the grading was handled by county forces and the total amount of state funds expended was $ , . . bridge surveys in may, , surveys were made by the department for two large bridges in lincoln county. one of these was for a bridge over alsea river near waldport and the other was for a bridge across the yaquina river at toledo. at the present time the only means of crossing the streams at these points is by ferry. for the alsea river crossing a foot bridge has been designed and is now under construction by curtis gardner, bridge contractor. this bridge consists of one foot medium traffic wood span and feet of wood trestle. the total cost of the structure will be approximately $ , . . the construction is under the supervision of the highway department, but is being paid for by lincoln county. the design has not yet been prepared for the bridge at toledo, but the total length of the bridge will be about , feet. neskowin-salmon river survey in june, , a survey was made between neskowin in tillamook county and salmon river in lincoln county. this survey was of a preliminary nature and was made to determine the feasibility of a road between these points. it was found that a five per cent grade could be obtained, but that owing to the extremely rugged nature of the country, a road of standard width and on a standard alignment would be so expensive as to be impracticable at this time. the total length of the survey was eight miles. mr. j. h. scott was in charge of the work as locating engineer. linn county albany-jefferson survey a survey of the pacific highway between the marion county line (santiam river) and albany, was made in december, , and a definite route between these two points adopted. in a general way the located route follows the present road. near the jefferson end, however, the new location cuts across the property of e. m. miller, paralleling the southern pacific tracks with a net saving of , feet in distance over that of the present road. near miller station the line again leaves the old road, eliminating four dangerous right angle turns by cutting diagonally across. the new location also provides for the elimination of the present grade crossing on the w. e. fisher property by means of an overhead crossing just north of the grade crossing. for the first one-half mile south of the santiam river bridge it will be necessary to materially raise the grade of the present road as it is considerably below high water, and therefore subject to overflow. it will also be necessary to construct a few low bridges on this section to provide waterways for flood waters. it is expected that the albany-jefferson section will be graded and paved during the season. malheur county malheur county is an important highway center. it is most favorably situated with respects to highways in eastern oregon, in that it serves as a common junction point for the old oregon trail, john day highway and central oregon highway. a fourth highway will enter the county from nevada leading from winnemucca north through jordan valley. malheur county is fairly well equipped for road work and has already made a most creditable showing. all the people are good roads boosters, having learned the value and necessity of improved roads. this was proven by their voting a $ , . bond issue at the recent election. the purpose of this fund is to meet the state and federal appropriation of $ , . . in area, malheur county is an empire in itself. the natural result is an extra large mileage of roads, and many of them run through mountainous districts. to improve only the main highways in malheur county is a huge undertaking. the state highway commission fully realizes the inability of most of the counties in eastern oregon to cope with the situation and has determined to extend aid in every manner possible. that state aid may be substantial and a benefit to all the counties, the commission is making an urgent call for more state funds. in malheur county near brogan a . mile section of the john day highway has been surveyed by the state highway department. the commission has set aside $ , . for the construction of this road and an equal amount is requested from the government. the county has appropriated $ , . for the purpose of co-operating in this construction. state funds to the amount of $ , . have been set aside for the improvement of a . mile section of the central oregon highway. this section extends from vale . miles west to burrell's ranch. the government is requested to share in the cost in amount equal to the sum given by the state. the county's share in this project will be $ , . . the following statement shows the amounts appropriated for expenditure in : state county government section funds funds funds totals cow valley-brogan $ , . $ , . $ , . $ , . section burrell-vale section , . , . , . , . both of the above mentioned sections are post road projects. negotiations with the u. s. public roads office are under way for the grading of the cow valley-brogan road, and the burrell-vale project will be submitted within a short time. it is hoped construction will begin early in . survey of john day highway--cow valley-brogan section during october and november, , the state highway commission made a location survey of a . mile section of the john day highway between cow valley and brogan. the line follows in the direction of the present road, but marked departures from the location were made in several places. plans for this work are about fifty per cent complete. r. h. coppock, locating engineer for the state department, was in charge of this work. survey of the central oregon highway--burrell ranch-vale section a survey is in progress on the section of the central oregon highway between burrell's ranch and vale. this line will follow along near what is called the post hill road, and will be about seven miles in length. immediately upon completion of the field work, the plans will be rushed in order that early action may be taken by the u. s. office of public roads. the state commission's construction program includes this section. the survey is in charge of r. h. coppock, locating engineer. reconnaissance survey of central oregon highway and jordan valley road during april, , a reconnaissance survey was made by m. o. bennett, division engineer, for the department, over the routes between burns and vale for the purpose of establishing a definite route for the central oregon highway. this investigation resulted in the choice of the river route by the state highway commission. the route as selected goes direct from burns to crane, thence down the malheur river through riverside, juntura and harper to vale. in november, , a reconnaissance survey was made by the state department for the purpose of establishing the most feasible route between jordan valley and vale and ontario. this report has not yet been submitted to the commission, but the findings seem to favor the sucker creek route. this survey was made by manche o. bennett, division engineer. marion county salem-aurora paving one of the first paving projects to come up for consideration by the state highway commission was that of the pacific highway between salem and aurora in marion county. upon investigating this project, it was found that rural mail was carried over practically the entire distance between salem and aurora. this fact made the improvement of this road subject to federal aid, and as very few sections of state roads west of the cascade mountains will qualify for federal aid, it was considered advisable to use some of the federal money available to the state in the improvement of this section. with a view to securing the approval of this project by the federal office of public roads, and to undertaking the construction during the season, the necessary surveys were made in january and february, , and the plans submitted to the office of public roads in march, . the final approvement by the government was received june , , and on june proposals for the construction were received and opened. the lowest bid received was from warren construction company, portland, oregon, but as it was in excess of the state highway engineer's estimate, and in excess of the available funds, all bids were rejected. [illustration: intercounty bridge over the willamette at salem. built by marion and polk counties in and . cost $ , . . total length , feet.] the work would have then been started by the highway department with state forces, but it was just at this time that the shortage of labor, materials, transportation facilities, etc., became serious, and the federal government called for curtailment of road construction, and the highway commission was forced to order the discontinuance of preparation for this paving, as well as for all other proposed work in the state. now, that peace is in sight, there is every reason to believe that the highway commission will order that construction begin on the salem-aurora paving at the very earliest date, and its completion may be looked for during the season. this paving is to be sixteen feet wide with a two-foot rock shoulder on each side. the type will depend upon the bids received. the paving will start about four miles north of the city limits of salem and extend to the marion-clackamas county line, just north of aurora, the total length being eighteen miles. it is estimated that this work will cost $ , . . the salem bridge the new bridge over the willamette river at salem, designed and built under the supervision of the state highway department, is one of the largest strictly highway bridges erected in the united states in . this structure has a total length of , feet, and consists of feet of reinforced concrete approach on the marion county end, six steel spans over the river aggregating lineal feet, and feet of high class pile trestle approach on the polk county end. to provide for the river navigation, the u. s. engineers required a minimum horizontal clearance normal to the channel of feet and a vertical clearance of at least sixty-six feet above low water, in case a high level type of bridge were adopted. after careful study it was decided to construct a high level bridge of the deck type, and to carry the pony channel span on cantilevers projecting from the adjoining spans, giving an arch effect over the channel. by this type of construction, a clear distance of about feet between channel piers was obtained. to minimize the cost of fabrication and erection of steel, four spans were made practically the same. the east span was necessarily shorter than the typical ones, since otherwise it would place the channel opening too far across the river. this span is not so deep as the adjoining one, and the difference in height is made up by means of a rocker under the small span, which, of course, also serves the purpose of movable shoes. the channel span rests on cast steel rockers on one end, which are carried by a shelf on the cantilever panel. the opposite end of the span was pin connected. previous to the design of the bridge, wash borings were made, which indicated in a general way that the bed of the stream was composed of a few feet of gravel, underlaid with sand for a considerable depth. it was accordingly decided to carry the foundations down below the probable point of future scour, and carry the loads entirely upon piling. the two channel piers were sunk about thirty-five feet below low water. the west approach is carried on fir piling treated in an open vat with carbolineum to a temperature of about degrees f. lumber being comparatively cheap, the entire roadway deck of the bridge and wooden approach is composed of fir, three by seven inches and twenty-six feet long on edge, spiked together, thus projecting a foot outside the curb on either side, the roadway being twenty-four feet between curbs. an asphaltic wearing surface three and one-half inches thick effectively waterproofs the wood, and the small interstices between the pieces will allow sufficient circulation of air to preclude any possibility of attack of dry rot. the ends of the floor members were painted with hot carbolineum, as were also the wooden members contiguous to openings in the floor occasioned by expansion joints between spans. the two five-foot concrete sidewalks are carried on brackets beyond the trusses. the curbs serve as reinforced concrete beams to carry half the sidewalk load to the trusses, there being small concrete struts extending up from the top of the top chords at panel and midpanel points. between the bottom of the curb and the top of the wooden floor is a three-quarter-inch cushion of "sarco." since the bridge is on a grade, it was necessary to precast this in sheets the width of the curb. when the material hardened, it was rolled up in convenient lengths and placed. it will thus be possible in the future to renew the wooden floor with comparatively little difficulty, although it is believed that the wood floor base, protected as it is now, should last at least fifty years. on account of the rather extreme length for pony trusses of the channel span, feet between end pins, it was decided to tie the trusses together, and this was accomplished by means of two arched lattice struts placed each twenty feet and six inches from the center of the span. a final coat of battleship gray paint was applied to the steel work, and has evoked considerable favorable comment, being an innovation from the black paint commonly used in this part of the country. the bridge was built by the coast bridge company and robert wakefield of portland. the cost of the structure complete was $ , . , of which marion county paid approximately $ , . and polk county $ , . . the engineering cost for the work is remarkably low. it includes surveys, borings, inspection of cement and steel fabrications, resident engineer's salary, cost of design, blue prints and supplies and stenographic work, and amounts to $ , . , or about one and eight-tenths per cent of the total cost. surrey--salem to jefferson a reconnaissance between the city limits of salem and the linn county line (santiam river) just south of jefferson, was made in the spring of , and the following facts developed, as regards the comparison of three possible routes between these points: via turner and marion: length, . miles. railroad grade crossings, with main line of southern pacific. bridges, . overflow, long stretches. light grades--very little rise and fall. via liberty and ankeny hill: length, . miles. no railroad crossings. bridges, small. undulating steep grades--heavy work to cut to per cent or extensive alignment changes involving added distance. new right of way required through valuable orchard property. present road macadamized or graveled entire length. jackson hill route: length, miles. no railroad crossings. bridges, small. five per cent grades. good alignment. low summit obtained by alignment change going to the east of jackson hill, involving two miles of new construction. right of way required--unimproved except in one instance. direct route. present road macadamized or graveled except for five miles. a detailed survey was made over this so-called jackson hill route, and its advantages caused the highway commission to adopt it as the route of the pacific highway between these points. it is estimated the cost will be $ , . to complete the subgrade, and it is expected this project will be commenced in . morrow county in morrow county there are found all classes of conditions affecting roads and highway improvement. in some parts of the county there are good natural roads, while in other sections they are extremely poor. as in most other eastern oregon counties, morrow county has to wrestle with the problem of maintaining a large road mileage with a constant shortage of road funds. highways are of extreme importance, as there are large agricultural communities that have no railway connections. during the past two years the highway movement in morrow county has experienced a wonderful growth. county authorities have broken the bonds of established custom, and have made a most creditable beginning in highway improvement. although they have been supported by special road taxes, in most of the districts the available funds are far from adequate. the state highway commission early realized the importance of good roads in this county, and took steps to extend the state aid through the post road fund. the plans failed when the u. s. office of public roads found it impossible to co-operate on the projects in question. this failure was due to nonfulfillment of post road requirements. additional state aid was extended through the provisions of the $ , , . fund, but the execution of these plans were delayed by war conditions. this fund is still available, and the state highway commission will begin work as soon as conditions will permit. morrow county has received favorable consideration from the highway commission in the matter of surveys, it being the only county in eastern oregon in which the total mileage of state roads has been surveyed. those surveys cover the columbia river highway in the north end of the county, and the oregon-washington highway via heppner, ione and lexington. the columbia river highway was first surveyed under the direction of m. o. bennett, and later additional work was done by oscar cutler. this survey was . miles in length. r. h. baldock was locating engineer on the oregon-washington highway survey, which has a total length of . miles. heppner grading--oregon-washington highway during morrow county graded . miles of standard road adjacent to the town of heppner. a . -mile section begins at the west city limits of heppner and extends down willow creek on the state survey. another section extends from the east city limits up hinton creek for a distance of . miles. the county paid the total cost of this improvement which required $ , . . the state department supplied the engineering supervision for this work through r. h. baldock, resident engineer. following is a statement of construction quantities: heppner east common excavation, , cu. yds. at. $ . culverts . ------- total $ . heppner west common excavation, cu. yds. at . $ . intermediate excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . , . culverts , . --------- total $ , . jones hill grading the . -mile section of the oregon-washington highway known as the jones hill grade, lies about ten miles east of heppner, and extends over the divide between hinton and butler creeks. the state location involved the construction of an entirely new road. this improvement was paid for in full by the county, the total cost being $ , . . r. h. baldock, resident engineer for the state highway department, was the engineer in charge. construction quantities are shown in the following statement: rock excavation, , cu. yds. at $ . $ , . common excavation, , cu. yds. at . , . culverts , . ---------- total cost $ , . heppner macadam after grading the . -mile section of the oregon-washington highway west of heppner, and . miles east, morrow county proceeded to surface with a standard waterbound macadam. this work was done on a force account basis by the united contracting co. and warren construction co. the work was completed and opened to traffic in july, . the . miles of macadam cost the county a total of $ , . . a total of , cubic yards of rock was placed, making the unit cost $ . per cubic yard. crushed trap rock was secured from a quarry near the city limits, and suitable binder material was found near at hand. the engineer in charge was r. h. baldock of the state department. multnomah county although the assessed valuation of multnomah county is more than thirty-five per cent of the total assessed valuation of the entire state, this county has renounced all claim to any share of the state funds available for road purposes, and will construct and maintain in a high state of improvement, at its own expense, all state roads within its boundaries. this liberal attitude of the people of multnomah county is to be commended, and it makes available for expenditure in counties outside of multnomah county, a much greater amount of money than would otherwise be the case. the roads of multnomah county represent some of the heaviest grading construction, some of the best improved and some of the most scenic highways to be found anywhere in the world. the upper columbia river highway is by many considered the most scenic highway in the united states, and attracts a multitude of tourists annually. an interesting tabulation of the amounts expended by multnomah county in the construction of the columbia river highway, both above and below portland, is appended: columbia river highway, east d street via sandy road to hood river county line ==============+=====+===========+===========+===========+============= section |miles| pavement | grading | bridges | total --------------+-----+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------- sandy road to | . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . troutdale | | | | | sandy cut-off | . | , . | , . | ... | , . to auto club| | | | | bridge | | | | | columbia river| . | , . | , . | , . | , , . highway to | | | | | county line | | | | | +-----+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------- totals | . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , , . --------------+-----+-----------+-----------+-----------+------------- total construction cost $ , , . engineering , . ------------- grand total $ , , . vista house at crown point building $ , . retaining walls and pavement , . ---------- total $ , . st. helens road, portland to columbia county line length, miles ===============+==========+==========+===========+==========+=========== | | | | | totals ---------------+----------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- regrade and | ... |$ , . | $ , . | ... | $ , . macadam | | | | | hard surface |$ , . | , . | , . | , . | , . shoulders | ... | , . | ... | ... | , . drainage | ... | ... | , . | ... | , . bridges | ... | , . | , . | ... | , . right of way | ... | ... | , . | ... | , . and miscel- | | | | | laneous | | | | | engineering, | , . | , . | , . | , . | , . superinten- | | | | | dence and | | | | | overhead | | | | | +----------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- total |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . ---------------+----------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- summary pavement $ , . bridges , . grading , . engineering and overhead , . ----------- grand total $ , . polk county the work of the state highway department in polk county during and has been confined chiefly to the design and the supervision of construction of bridges. in addition to the design and supervision of the salem bridge which is partly within polk county, and which is described in detail in an article in the chapter devoted to marion county, the department has handled, at the request of the polk county court, the following bridge work, all of which has been paid for by the county. between monmouth and dallas a foot reinforced concrete bridge was built over a slough on the mulkey cut-off. this bridge complete cost $ , . . the hollingshead bridge over the little luckiamute river south of dallas is a foot covered wooden span on concrete piers. this bridge was built at a cost of $ , . . a foot suspension foot-bridge was built over the big luckiamute river at a cost of $ . , to accommodate school children attending the montgomery school. the lacreole creek bridge in dallas is a reinforced concrete arch structure seventy feet long. this bridge was not designed by the highway department, but the department supervised its construction. it is a very pretty structure with sidewalks and lighting fixtures. it was built at a cost of $ , . . sherman county sherman county is so situated with respect to the state highway system, that its boundaries include a comparatively small mileage of state roads. this however, is no indication of the value improved roads will be in the county. the situation is of both state wide and local importance. this county is found with many miles of good natural road. in addition they have graded a large mileage and in some localities unusual attention is given to road maintenance. the county is fairly well equipped for road work and have plans for quite an extensive program. state aid in sherman county thus far has been confined to highway surveying, but the state highway commission has definite plans for extending aid in the construction of the deschutes and john day river bridges and the grading of the columbia river highway. it is expected this work will start early the coming season. the deschutes river bridge. various attempts have been made by sherman, wasco county and the state to raise funds for the construction of the deschutes river bridge on the columbia river highway. success crowned these efforts recently when a final agreement was reached between the three. the total estimated cost of this bridge is between $ , . and $ , . . the state department plans call for a reinforced concrete structure about feet in length. sherman county has pledged $ , towards defraying the cost of the bridge providing funds are raised for completing same. this condition has been met by the state highway commission and negotiations are already underway for securing right-of-way. in this connection it is pertinent to state that wasco county also has appropriated $ , . for co-operation in this work. the state's share of the cost will be approximately $ , . , according to the present estimate. columbia river highway survey during the state department made a location survey of the columbia river highway between the deschutes and john day rivers. the line follows the river canyon through sherman, biggs and rufus. the length of this survey is . miles. the field work only has been completed on this survey and construction plans will be made up soon. c. s. noble was the locating engineer for the department. john day bridge this inter-county bridge will be located on the columbia river highway across the john day river, below mcdonald, and will obviate the necessity for the toll ferry at mcdonald. as designed, the crossing calls for - foot wooden deck spans on concrete piers and about feet of high class wooden approach and feet of fill. the cost, which is estimated to be $ , . , will be borne by sherman and gilliam counties, and the state, and it is probable that construction work will start next spring. tillamook county paving--tillamook south a contract was awarded on august , , to oskar huber of portland for the grading and paving of a five mile section extending south from the end of the paving then in place about three miles south of tillamook city. the old road which this paving was to follow in a general way contained many sharp curves and had a roadbed not eighteen feet wide on the average. on this was a light surfacing of gravel and rock macadam about twelve feet in width. the roadbed was widened to a twenty-four foot width, all excessively sharp curves were eliminated, and all wooden culverts, trestles, and bridges were replaced with modern concrete structures, and the decking on two steel bridges renewed and paved. as there is available in this vicinity no ledge rock, it was found necessary to haul and crush large boulders from the creek bed to provide the necessary rock for the base and mixture. some sand was obtained locally, but most of it had to be shipped in from portland and hauled to the work from tillamook. the job was completed by december th of this year, and on account of the unusually bad conditions faced by the contractor as regards labor and materials, mr. huber is to be commended for the prompt completion of the work as well as for the excellence of construction. by an arrangement between the county and the highway commission the county pays for all grading in connection with this improvement and also for twenty-five per cent of the cost of the paving. the total cost of the grading and paving complete is $ , . of which the county will pay $ , . and the state $ , . . mr. c. w. wanzer was in charge of this work as resident engineer. detailed statement of expenditures to november , --grading and paving--tillamook section engineering $ , . contract construction work as follows-- common excavation, , . cu. yds. at c $ , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. at c , . overhaul, per lin. ft., , . cu. yds. at c . -inch reinf. conc. pipe (placing only) lin. ft. at c . -inch reinf. conc. pipe (placing only) lin. ft. at c . -inch reinf. conc. pipe (placing only) lin. ft. at $ . . -inch reinf. conc. pipe (placing only) lin. ft. at $ . . clearing and grubbing (force account) . moving fences (force account) . standard bitulithic pavement, , . sq. yds. at $ . , . broken stone loose measure, , cu. yds. at $ . , . crushed stone shoulders, , lin. ft. at c . ---------- total amount earned by contractors to nov. , , . less % retained pending completion , . ---------- total payments to contractor to november , , . ---------- total expenditure to november , , . paid by state , . paid by county , . ---------- total $ , . three rivers forest project a federal aid forest road project is now under construction between hebo and dolph in tillamook county. this project is . miles in length, includes grading and nine foot rock surfacing, and is estimated to cost $ , . of which $ , . will be paid by the county, $ , . by the state, and $ , . by the federal government. this work is handled under the supervision of federal office of public roads. the contract was awarded to the tillamook county court, but the state's attorney general ruled that the court had no authority which would allow them to contract to do work of this nature. to facilitate matters the highway commission took the contract over from the county, and the work is now in progress, the highway department acting as contractors and being paid for the work at the unit prices originally bid by tillamook county. it was so late in the year when this work was taken over by the state that little work can be done until the season. work is in progress, however, on camp construction, clearing, and such other portions of the work as can be done during the winter months. mr. j. m. baker is superintendent of construction on this work. tillamook-cloverdale survey on the tillamook-cloverdale road a preliminary survey has been completed from tillamook to hebo, a distance of miles, and of this about nine miles have been located. this is a very important section as it is the most direct route from the willamette valley to the beaches of tillamook county, and is not served with a railroad. the engineer in charge of this work was mr. c. a. dunn. umatilla county the highway problem of umatilla county is of greater magnitude than it would seem to be at first consideration. the fact that the county is well supplied with rail transportation only renders the demand for highways more urgent. soil conditions are generally unfavorable for good natural roads although gravel deposits suitable for highway construction are found in most localities. the county has made constant efforts towards an improved system of roads, but with , miles of county roads to care for and with considerable bridge work in the program, the available funds are found to be entirely inadequate. the main roads or trunk highways through the county have had the benefit of a large percentage of local funds but owing to a large mileage and character of improvement necessary, there remains a great deal yet to be done. when the state of oregon voted to expend $ , , . in surfacing roads constructed by the counties, umatilla county was among the first to take advantage of the state aid. the state highway commission extended additional aid through the post road fund, but these plans were later cancelled owing to requirements of the u. s. office of public roads. the state highway department has surveyed the old oregon trail for the entire distance across the county and . miles of the oregon-washington highway have been surveyed. in addition a considerable mileage of reconnaissance surveys have been made preliminary to definite location. in and the state highway department expended $ , . in constructing eleven miles of pavement near pendleton. the cost of maintenance on this road has been divided equally between the state and county. funds were set aside by the state highway commission in to macadamize the mile section of old oregon trail from pendleton west to the morrow county line. war conditions caused a postponement of this improvement. the funds are still intact and work will proceed as soon as conditions will permit. following are statements showing amounts of state funds expended in umatilla county and funds appropriated to be expended in . expended in and for paving on wild horse road and pendleton-reith section $ , . appropriated to be expended in on macadamizing old oregon trail from pendleton to morrow county line near umatilla , . wild horse paving the state highway commission on june , , let a contract to the warren construction company for paving a ten mile section of the wild horse road northeast of pendleton and one mile of the old oregon trail leading west from pendleton. the pavement laid was bitulithic and the subgrade was an old macadam road built by the county. the macadam road was of insufficient width for supporting a foot pavement, which condition required widening of the grade, re-ditching and the placing of extra crushed rock for base. the widening of the road bed was done with county funds expended under the direction of the state highway department. the work of widening the grade cost the county, $ , . for the miles. [illustration: on the paved road between pendleton and adams in umatilla county. paved in ] paving work begun in july, , and an excellent pavement of the standard two-inch bitulithic type was secured, with a six inch crushed rock base. the total cost of this work was $ , . or $ , . per mile. m. o. bennett was the engineer in charge and chas. noble was the inspector on this work. following is a detailed cost statement: detailed cost statement--wild horse paving standard bitulithic pavement, , . sq. yds. at $ . $ , . broken stone loose measure. , . cu. yds. at $ . , . crushed stone. , lin. ft. at c , . extra work on road approaches . ------------ $ , . engineering and inspection , . ------------ total $ , . wild horse grading when plans were made in for the wild horse paving. feet was the width decided upon. upon investigation it was found this would require widening of the old road bed from one foot to five feet, re-ditching for a large part of the miles and the replacing of several culverts. this work was done under the direction of the state highway department and the entire cost was defrayed from county funds. the total cost to the county was $ , . . oscar cutler of the state highway department was resident engineer in charge. pendleton-pilot rock section--grading and macadamizing upon the completion of the survey by the state highway department of the section of the oregon-washington highway between pendleton and pilot rock, the umatilla county court started grading. where the construction is light the road grader was used to great advantage. through the aid of the division office of the state department new right-of-way was secured in some places and the alignment of the road naturally improved. during september and october, , the section between pendleton and the county poor farm was graded and macadamized on a six per cent development over grave yard hill. this work, both grading and macadamizing is of excellent character and will soon be opened to traffic. w. c. crews, engineer for the state department made the relocation on this section and was resident engineer during construction. the following is a statement showing quantities and total and unit costs: item and quantity total cost unit cost excavation, , cu. yds $ , . $ . gravel, , cu. yds , . . concrete bridge , . ---------- total cost $ , . an additional four miles from the county poor farm south was graveled by the county with an expenditure of $ , . . survey of columbia river highway and old oregon trail during and the state highway department made a location survey over the entire east and west route across umatilla county, excepting the six mile section between pendleton and the indian agency. on this six miles a base line survey only was made. the section of this road between the morrow county line and pendleton is a part of the columbia river highway and has a total length of . miles. it passes through umatilla, hermiston, stanfield, echo and reith. from pendleton east the road is known as the old oregon trail. the survey in the east end of the county begins at the umatilla indian agency, follows the general direction of the present road up cabbage hill, passes through meacham and ends at the union county line near kamela. a five per cent grade was secured on the cabbage hill climb. the total length of this section is . miles. r. h. baldock and oscar cutler were the locating engineers on this work. the plans for this survey are practically complete. survey of oregon-washington highway the state survey of the oregon and washington highway extends from the end of the pavement ten miles northeast of pendleton, through pendleton, and pilot rock to the morrow county line west of butter creek. this survey was made in and a section south of pendleton was relocated in . the total length of this line is . miles. r. h. baldock and oscar cutler were the locating engineers on this work and the revision was made under the direction of w. c. crews. union county in the matter of highway improvement union county has shown considerable progress. substantial road building machinery is owned by the county in units sufficient to allow work to proceed simultaneously in various sections of the county. it is noticeable however that most of their work has been done (and justifiably so) on local and feeder roads rather than on trunk highways. local funds and equipment are inadequate to make all the improvements needed when the mountainous sections of the main roads are considered. as in other counties the state highway commission easily recognized the necessity and importance of co-operation and accordingly in plans were laid and steps taken to extend state and federal aid. during and a total of . miles of survey was made on the two principal roads of the county. . miles on the old oregon trail and . miles on the la grande-joseph highway. agreements were signed by the secretary of agriculture providing for co-operation with the state on equal basis, for the grading of a six mile section between union and telocaset and a . mile section between elgin and minam. the respective amounts expended on each of these projects to the date of this report, november , , are: $ , . and $ , . . state funds amounting to $ , . have been expended for grading in cooperation with the county on the la grande-hot lake section. this road is . miles in length and involves the opening of a new road for the entire distance. the state highway commission has set aside funds for graveling this section preparatory to surfacing. the completion of these three projects will require approximately $ , . from the state, $ , . from the federal government, and $ , from the county. the following summary shows for each project amounts expended to date and funds set aside to be expended during : expended in and ===================+==========+=========+==========+========== | state | county |government| total | funds | funds | funds | -------------------+----------+---------+----------+---------- union telocaset |$ , . | ... | ... |$ , . elgin-minam | , . | ... | ... | , . la grande-hot lake | , . | , . | ... | , . -------------------+----------+---------+----------+---------- total |$ , . |$ , . | ... |$ , . -------------------+----------+---------+----------+---------- appropriated for expenditure in ===================+==========+=========+==========+========== | state | county |government| total | funds | funds | funds | -------------------+----------+---------+----------+----------- union telocaset | ... | ... |$ , . | $ , . elgin-minam |$ , . | ... | , . | , . la grande-hot lake | , . |$ , . | ... | , . -------------------+----------+---------+----------+----------- total |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . |$ , . -------------------+----------+---------+----------+----------- the absence of figures in the column headed "county funds" in the above tabulation is explained by the fact that union county, in the matter of co-operation, has agreed to expend certain sums on other roads than those mentioned in the table. the county's appropriation for the improvement of the la grande-kamela section of the old oregon trail is $ , . and $ , . additional has been stipulated for use in improving the elgin-willow creek section of the la grande-joseph highway. the county has also provided funds for the completion of the grading between la grande and hot lake. union-telocaset section grading in august, , the state highway commission called for bids on the grading of a six mile section between union and telocaset. the union county court was the successful bidder and the commission awarded the contract but it later developed that the county could not legally hold the position of contractor in doing state work. as the other bids were unsatisfactory the situation resulted in the state taking over the work and doing it with the state forces, and by november , the project was about % complete. the total estimated cost of this work is $ , . and $ , . has been expended to date. mr. r. a. pratt is resident engineer in charge. elgin-minam section the state highway commission opened bids on the grading of a . mile section between elgin and minam hill. in the letting of this work they experienced the same difficulty as with the union-telocaset work. (see report on the union-telocaset grading). the subsequent action of the state highway commission in taking the contract over to be done by state forces resulted in work starting in august, . owing to weather and soil conditions work on this section has closed down for the winter. the amount expended is $ , . and the total estimated cost is $ , . . mr. r. a. pratt, resident engineer for the state highway department was in charge of this work and mr. c. a. dunn was superintendent. la grande-hot lake grading in november, , the state highway department appropriated $ , . to co-operate on the grading of that section of the old oregon trail between hot lake and la grande. grading work started within the month and two miles were graded when work was closed for the winter. this work was continued during the present season and up to november , about five miles of grade had been completed. in addition to the $ , . of state money the county has expended about $ , . . it will require about $ , . to complete the grading and an additional $ , . for bridges. the bridge plans call for concrete structures. survey of the old oregon trail, union county the state highway department has made a location survey of . miles of the old oregon trail in union county. the survey begins at the union-umatilla county line near kamela and continues through la grande, hot lake and union and ends at telocaset. office plans are complete for most of this work. locating engineer d. d. glass made the survey from la grande to telocaset and r. h. baldock, locating engineer, was in charge of the work between kamela and la grande. survey of la grande-joseph highway, union county in a final location survey was made from la grande to minam, a distance of . miles. d. g. glass, locating engineer for the state department, was in charge of the crews. beginning at la grande the line runs through island city, and elgin and ends at minam at the confluence of the minam and wallowa rivers. plans for this work are practically complete. the location from island city to elgin is to be reconsidered with the view of making some changes in the route. [illustration: a survey camp in eastern oregon] union-telocaset post road project a co-operative agreement between the state and government provides for the construction of a portion of the old oregon trail between union and telocaset. this section, six miles in length, begins at union and follows up pyles canyon near the location of the present road to a point . miles north of telocaset. the total estimated cost of this project is $ , . making $ , . to be paid by each the state and government. union county joins in the co-operation of the work, in case the total cost exceeds the amount stipulated in the federal agreement. if the total cost should exceed the estimate given in the project agreement, the county agrees to pay the full amount of such cost. work was started on this section august, , and $ , . had been expended to november . r. a. pratt is resident engineer for the department. the work is being done by the state forces under the supervision of c. a. dunn, assistant engineer. elgin-minam post road project the state highway commission secured an agreement with the u. s. office of public roads providing for the construction of a . mile section of the la grande-joseph highway. the survey for this improvement begins at elgin and follows east in the direction of the present road to the top of minam hill. it is estimated that this work will cost $ , . or $ , . for each the state and government. in case the cost of this work exceeds the estimate shown in the project agreement, the county agrees to pay such cost. in this manner union county is co-operating in this improvement. work opened up here in august under the supervision of c. a. dunn, assistant engineer, for the department. state forces are employed on force account basis. the expenditures to november amount to $ , . , and the project is about % completed. r. a. pratt is resident engineer for the state department. wallowa county wallowa county's road problem is entirely local in character as this district is not touched by a trunk road of the state system. some very good natural roads are found in this district, while others are very bad. the latter designation applies more especially to some of the mountain roads, which are extremely narrow and very dangerous. the la grande-joseph highway is very important locally, since it is the only road connecting the valley with outside points. the people in general are very much interested in highway possibilities, but the county funds have proven inadequate to make much of a showing towards permanent work. most of the available county funds are required for maintenance of the existing roads, many of which extend through mountainous areas. additional state aid is much needed if any substantial improvements are hoped for. a general reconnaissance survey was made in october, , by the state highway department from elgin to joseph. the purpose was to gather general information for the use of the state highway commission. this survey was made by m. o. bennett, division engineer for eastern oregon. during this visit the matter of post road aid was taken up with the county authorities. it was understood that the county would make application at once, but it appears that no further action was taken. the state highway commission has extended aid to wallowa county by co-operating on the flora-enterprise forest road and also helped to secure government aid on the same project. the county made an appropriation to help in the construction of this road. work is in progress on this road under the direction of the u. s. office of public roads. the following statement shows the estimate cost and segregation of funds: state appropriation $ , . federal appropriation , . county appropriation , . ---------- total estimated cost $ , . wasco county the dalles-three mile post road project an appropriation has been made, by the state highway department, from the post road fund for co-operation in the paving of a two mile section of the dalles-california highway between the east city limits of the dalles and three mile creek. a project statement has been prepared, requesting $ , . from the u. s. office of public roads. the state will supply a like amount and wasco county $ , . . this makes a total of $ , . which is the estimated cost of the project. the present gravel road will serve as a base for the pavement which is to be feet wide. the improvement will include re-ditching of the road bed and the installation of culvert pipe in several places. it is planned that work will start early in . the pine hollow-kingsley post road project the section of the dalles-california highway in wasco county between pine hollow, near dufur, and kingsley is designated by the state highway commission as a post road. this section is . miles long and follows near the line of the present road. the project begins at the road forks ¼ miles south of dufur and ends at a point on the present road ½ miles north of kingsley. the plans provide for the grading of the road bed, the estimated cost of which is $ , . the state and government are each requested to appropriate $ , . and the county will expend $ , . . it is expected this work will be done in . antelope grade post road project the state highway commission has designated as a post road a three mile section of the dalles-california highway immediately north of antelope. this is known as the antelope grade section. the new road will be a % grade along near the present road. the total estimated cost of grading to standard width and properly draining is $ , . ; and the funds are to be provided as follows: state $ , . ; government, $ , . ; and wasco county, $ , . . it is hoped this work will start early in . survey--seufert to the deschutes river a survey was made in april, , for the columbia river highway between seufert and the deschutes river, along the river for the purpose of comparison with a previous survey over the hill, conforming closely to the present road. this route, which was subsequently adopted, has a summit of feet against feet on the hill route, and a length of . miles, a saving of . miles in distance. between the dalles and seufert about two miles was graded to standard width and grade in . the proposed route follows close to the railroad, which is crossed near big eddy on a proposed overhead bridge and utilizes the old state portage railroad roadbed, as well as the already graded bank of the government canal. near celilo, another overhead crossing of the o.-w. r. r. & n. co. tracks is proposed, and from this point to the deschutes river the highway is located between the oregon trunk railroad and the o.-w. r. r. & n. co., using about two miles of abandoned railroad roadbed. this improvement requires only very light construction, except for short distances, and it is believed it can be kept free from drifting blow sand by the use of sand fences, as the portage railroad is used where the sand is the worst, and this was kept open with very little maintenance. with a smooth roadbed, and with nothing to cause drifting, it is thought that the maintenance on this account will be negligible. the route is attractive, as it makes available at close range the locks at big eddy, the celilo canal, and the magnificent celilo falls. the estimated cost of this project is $ , . . it is proposed to include this project in the program. deschutes river bridge. among the bridges expected to be built in the near future is the proposed reinforced concrete arch bridge over the deschutes river at miller, about a mile above the river's mouth. this will be a state and inter-county structure, and will connect sherman and gilliam counties on the columbia river highway, and will be located a few hundred feet below the present old wooden toll bridge which it will replace. the design, which is practically completed, contemplates seven arch spans aggregating feet in length with a filled approach at either end. the estimated cost of the bridge is $ , . . washington county during and , the state highway department in co-operation with washington county has completed the grading, bridging and paving of the west side highway across that county. this work has involved the grading and paving of . miles and the construction of three bridges and one undergrade railway crossing. on this work, when final payments are complete, the state will have expended $ , . and the county will have expended $ , . . in addition to this construction, the department has made surveys between beaverton and hillsboro and between forest grove and gaston, and has furnished the county engineering services in connection with the grading of these two sections. paving--multnomah county line to newberg the pavement on the west side state highway between the multnomah county line and newberg is . miles in length, of which . miles is in washington county and . miles in yamhill county. this pavement is a two-inch standard bitulithic surface on a crushed rock base. it is sixteen feet wide with a two-foot macadam shoulder on each side. the grading in washington county and the paving in both washington and yamhill counties was done by oskar huber of portland under a contract awarded him on july , . the work was started in august, , and was completed in october, . [illustration: covered wood bridge over the tualatin river on the west side highway in washington county. built in ] the grading in washington county will cost complete approximately $ , . of which washington county has paid $ , . . the part of the paving within washington county will cost complete $ , . all of which is paid for from state funds. detailed statement of expenditures to november , grading and paving multnomah county line to newberg engineering $ , . right-of-way costs . construction: crushed stone shoulders, , . lin. ft. @ . $ , . standard bitulithic pavement, , . sq. yds. @ $ . , . broken stone, loose measure, , . cu. yds. at $ . , . clearing and grubbing , . common excavation, , . cu. yds. @ . , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. @ . , . solid rock excavation, cu. yds. @ $ . . overhaul per lin. ft., , . cu. yds. @ . , . -inch reinf. conc. pipe, , lin. ft. @ $ . , . -inch reinf. conc. pipe, lin. ft. @ $ . . -inch reinf. conc. pipe, lin. ft. @ $ . . -inch porous drain tile, , lin. ft. @ . , . rip-rap, cu. yds @ $ . . force account: lowering and lengthening existing culverts , . replacing bridge approach at tualatin river . special wide ditches alongside road near four corners . back-fill and planking at onion flat trestle . tearing down old trestles at onion flat . replacing private water supply crossing . rebuilding right of way fences . grading at middleton r. r. crossing , . blind drains . new -foot culvert . new -foot culvert and special fill over it . drain tiling, back-filled with rock . ----------- total amount earned by contractor to nov. , $ , . less amount retained pending completion of contract , . ----------- total paid contractor to november , , . ----------- total expended to november , $ , . onion flat bridge this crossing consists of a laminated wood deck on heavy stringers supported by a series of creosoted pile bents. it is on the west side highway about four miles southwest of tigard and is designed for heavy traffic loading. an asphaltic wearing surface prevents moisture coming in contact with the wooden floor and with the treated piling tends to give the maximum length of life to the main members of the structure. this bridge is feet long and cost complete $ , . . fanno creek bridge the fanno creek bridge at tigard on the west side highway consists of a superstructure similar to the onion flat bridge, carried on wood bents on concrete foundations. a sidewalk was built on one side to accommodate pedestrians. the bridge is feet long and cost $ , . . tualatin river bridge the bridge consists of a covered howe truss wooden bridge of foot span and lineal feet of pile trestle approach. like the others constructed by the state on main highways, this bridge is of heavy traffic design, and the bridge and approaches have laminated wood floors with asphaltic wearing surfaces. windows are provided at panel points to provide light and to add to the appearance of the structure. cost $ , . . votaw undercrossing a grade separation was made on the west side highway near votaw, wherein a wooden trestle was constructed to carry the southern pacific line above the roadway. the structure was designed and built under the supervision of the railroad's engineering department. final settlement has not yet been made with the railway company, but it is estimated that the state's share of the cost of this structure will be $ , . . the balance of the cost will be paid by the railway company, no share of the cost being borne by the county. survey--beaverton to hillsboro a location survey was started january , , from the west city limits of beaverton and completed to the city limits of hillsboro, a distance of . miles. the alignment parallels the southern pacific railway on the north side of the tracks and eliminates four grade crossings. the entire section was graded by washington county during the season. survey--forest grove to gaston a survey was made from forest grove to gaston, a distance of approximately miles. the alignment follows the existing road with the exception of a change at dilley to eliminate two railroad crossings. considerable grading was done between dilley and gaston, reducing the grade to five per cent. mr. c. g. reiter, county surveyor of washington county, was employed as locating engineer for the state, and also supervised the grading in both of the above sections. wheeler county wheeler county, being without either rail or water transportation facilities, is entirely dependent upon its roads for communication with outside points, as well as between points within the county. all of the large amount of agricultural products of the county must be transported for long distances over roads and highways, and likewise, all manufactured articles and other supplies from points without the county must be brought in over them. for that reason, good roads are of the utmost importance to all of wheeler county, which fact is fully recognized by the wheeler county people. every effort is being made by the county to build up and improve its road system, but the funds available within the county are entirely inadequate. in november, , bonds were voted to the amount of $ , . , the maximum allowed the county under the state laws, but this amount is hardly enough to make a beginning on the necessary road construction in the county, as wheeler county is rough and mountainous, and road construction is therefore heavy and expensive. the state highway commission realizing the importance of the construction of roads in this county, and the impossibility of the financing of their construction by the county alone, early determined to assist to the greatest possible extent. surveys have been made by the department over all but two miles of the two most important cross-county roads, the john day river highway and the mckenzie river highway. during and the state highway department expended the sum of $ , . , cooperating with the county in the construction of . miles of grading and macadamizing between fossil and the gilliam county line. state aid was also granted the county to the amount of $ , . for the construction of nine-tenths of a mile, known as the bridge creek section, on the mckenzie river highway just west of mitchell, the total cost of which was $ , . . for the construction of . miles on the john day river highway between the mouth of sarvice creek and the grant county line, the highway department has set aside the sum of $ , . to be added to , . of federal post road funds and $ , . of county funds to provide the total amount of $ , . which the project is estimated to cost. the department has further been instrumental in securing federal aid for the construction of a forest road project . miles in length between mitchell and the crook county line, known as the ochoco canyon project. on this project the state will expend $ , . , the federal government, $ , . and the county, $ , . , $ , . in all. in summary, state aid and federal government aid extended to wheeler county during and and set aside to be expended in and , are as follows: =========================+==========+===========+==========+=========== | | | federal | | state | county | govt. | total | funds | funds | funds | -------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- expended in and | | | | -- | | | | on grading cummings hill |$ , . |$ , . | ... |$ , . sec. | | | | on macadamizing cummings | , . | ... | ... | , . hill section | | | | on grading bridge creek | , . | , . | ... | , . sec. | | | | -------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- total |$ , . | $ , . | ... |$ , . | | | | appropriated for expen- | | | | diture in and | | | | -- | | | | on sarvis creek-grant |$ , . | $ , . |$ , . |$ , . county line section | | | | on ochoco canyon section | , . | , . | , . | , . -------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+----------- total |$ , . | $ , . |$ , . |$ , . -------------------------+----------+-----------+----------+---------- cummings hill grading on june th , a contract was let to the elliott contracting co. of portland, oregon, for the construction of . miles of grade between the foot of cummings hill, north of fossil, and the gilliam county line. this construction was a five per cent development to eliminate the heavy grades and narrow roadbed of the former road. work was commenced on july th, , and completed on october th, . the work of the contracting firm was very satisfactory, and an excellent piece of grading was secured. the engineer in charge for the highway department was mr. b. h. mcnamee. the total cost of the work was $ , . , of which the state paid $ , . and wheeler county $ , . . the detailed cost statement follows: detailed expenditure statement--grading cummings hill, section engineering $ , . construction: common excavation, , cu. yds. @ . $ , . intermediate excavation, , . cu. yds. @ . , . solid rock excavation, , . cu. yds. @ . , . -inch corr. iron pipe, lin. ft. @ . . -inch corr. iron pipe, lin. ft. @ . . rubble masonry, . cu. yds @ . . ---------- , . ---------- $ , . bridge creek grading the grading of a nine-tenth mile section in bridge creek canyon was contracted to the united contracting co. of portland, oregon, on november th, . this section is on the mckenzie river highway about four miles west of mitchell. in addition to the grading, the contract involved the construction of a ninety foot bridge over bridge creek. the work was started on february th, and completed on june th, . the engineering was in charge of mr. r. h. coppock. the total cost of the work was $ , . of which the state paid $ , . and wheeler county $ , . the detailed cost statement follows: detailed expenditure statement--grading bridge creek section engineering $ . construction: common excavation, . cu. yds. @ . $ , . intermediate excavation, . cu. yds. @ . . solid rock excavation, . cu. yds. @ . , . overhaul per lin. ft., cu. yds. @ . . -inch corr. iron pipe, lin. ft. @ . . -inch corr. iron pipe, lin. ft. @ . . -inch corr. iron pipe, lin. ft. @ . . rubble masonry, . cu. yd. @ . . guard fence, lin. ft. @ . . -foot bridge & approaches: superstructure and trestle (lump sum) $ , . class "a" concrete in piers, . cu. yds. @ $ . , . ---------- $ , . ---------- $ , . ----------- $ , . macadamizing on cummins hill section on august th, , no satisfactory unit price bid having been received, the state highway department entered into a "cost plus" contract with the warren construction company of portland, oregon, to macadamize with broken stone the cummins hill section between fossil and the gilliam county line, on the john day river highway. the rock for this work was crushed on the job, and the macadam surface was constructed sixteen feet wide with a compacted thickness of six inches. payment to contractor was made on the basis of actual cost plus a percentage of per cent on labor and five per cent on materials. to november th, , the state had expended $ , . on this work, and it is estimated that there are bills outstanding against it to the amount of $ , . . in addition to the . miles of grading done by the state on cummins hill the county continued the grading at the foot of the hill for a distance of . miles, making a total of . miles. the full section has been macadamized, giving wheeler county . miles of standard macadam road. butte creek summit grading during the season, the county has graded under state supervision, a one and seven tenths mile section about nine miles southeast of fossil on the john day river highway. this section is known as the butte creek summit section. the construction was paid for entirely by the county. engineering supervision was furnished by the state highway department, the engineer in charge of the work being mr. b. h. mcnamee. the total amount expended by the county, prior to november th, on this work was approximately $ , . , and the quantities of construction completed to this date were as follows: common excavation , cu. yds rock excavation , cu. yds. pipe, -inch lin. ft. pipe, -inch lin. ft. pipe, -inch lin. ft. clearing acres grading between cummins hill and fossil during april and may, , wheeler county graded, under the direction of the state highway department, a section of the john day highway between cummins hill and fossil. this grade was . of a mile in length and joined up with the cummins hill grading. this improvement cost the county approximately $ , . . geo. hibbert was inspector and transitman in charge for the state department. survey of the john day river highway with the exception of a two mile section immediately west of fossil, the entire john day river highway through wheeler county is covered by location survey made during the past two years. the total length of survey on this highway is . miles. for all but about twelve miles, of this total, the detailed plans are practically complete. the survey of this highway has been in charge of b. h. mcnamee. survey of the mckenzie river highway the state highway department has completed a survey of the mckenzie river highway in wheeler county from the boundary of the ochoco national forest west of mitchell to the grant county line near dayville, a total distance of miles. this survey was made by locating engineer r. h. coppock. the plans are complete except for the eight miles west from the grant county line. from the west end of this survey at ochoco forest boundary, the federal office of public roads has made a survey to the crook county line, so the survey of the mckenzie river highway is complete all of the way through wheeler county. survey of highway no. in , pursuant to a request from the county court, a section of highway no. between mitchell and antelope was surveyed. this survey begins at the point on the mitchell-prineville survey about four miles west of mitchell and extends . miles down bridge creek to where connection is made with the present road. this survey was made by r. h. coppock, locating engineer. sarvice creek-valades ranch post road project application has been made to, and approved, by the federal office of public roads for post road co-operation on a . miles section of the john day river highway in wheeler and grant counties. . miles of this project are in wheeler county and miles in grant county. the total estimated cost of the project is $ , . , and the funds are to be provided as follows: state $ , . , government $ , . ; wheeler county $ , . and grant county $ , . . the survey for this project parallels the john day river on the north bank, through wheeler county and extends from the mouth of sarvice creek in wheeler county to valades ranch about four miles west of dayville in grant county. in grant county a crossing is made to the west bank near the upper end of the big basin. it is expected that construction will be commenced on the sarvice creek-valades ranch project early in . ochoco canyon forest project a federal aid co-operative agreement has been entered into between the state, the federal government, and wheeler county for the grading of a . mile section on the mckenzie river highway. this section is known as the ochoco canyon section and extends from the crook county line to a point about miles west of mitchell. this work is estimated to cost $ , . of which the state will pay $ , . , wheeler county $ , . , and the federal government $ , . . it is expected that this section will be built during the season. yamhill county in yamhill county the state highway department has co-operated with the county in the grading and paving of . miles between rex and newberg and of miles between sheridan and mcminnville. the total expenditure on this work amounts to $ , . of which the county has paid $ , . . an effort has been made to secure federal aid in the construction of a section of the portland-tillamook highway from grande ronde west. with this in view, the necessary surveys have been made, and it is expected that federal aid will be secured so that the construction may be undertaken during the season. sheridan paving-- in the highway department constructed with its own forces and equipment . miles of concrete pavement from sheridan east on the sheridan-mcminnville road. this pavement was feet wide, ½ inches thick at the center and ½ inches thick at the edges. the mix used was a : ½: . in connection with the paving there was a considerable amount of grading, the total expenditure for grading, culverts, etc., being $ , . . the cost of the . miles of paving was $ , . , the unit cost being $ . per cubic yard. yamhill county co-operated in the payment for this work to the amount of $ , . . a complete statement of the costs on this work is given below. cost statement--sheridan paving-- quantity item cost unit cost cu. yds. common excavation } cu. yds. intermediate excavation } $ , . $ . cu. yds. solid rock excavation } lin. ft. -inch culvert pipe . . lin. ft. -inch culvert pipe . . lin. ft. -inch culvert pipe . . lin. ft. -inch porous drain tile . . cu. yds. class "c" concrete . . , sq. yds. concrete pavement , . . lin. ft. expansion joints . . ----------- total construction cost $ , . engineering , . ----------- grand total cost $ , . paid by state $ , . paid by county , . ----------- total $ , . sheridan paving-- early in , yamhill county requested that the concrete pavement laid in be continued to a total length of four miles, and offered to pay for all grading necessary in connection therewith. this request was granted by the highway commission and in the early spring, construction was started on the additional . miles. the type of pavement laid on this section was the same as that laid in , except that crushed rock aggregate was used instead of gravel, and the mix was reduced to : : ½. [illustration: state owned paving plant in operation near sheridan in yamhill county. on the yamhill nestucca highway] the coarse aggregate consisted of crushed stone ranging from ¼ inch to ½ inches. for the fine aggregate, both columbia river and willamette river sand was used. the stone was crushed from a quarry operated by the state on deer creek which was near the center of the job and consisted of an altered basalt of rather coarse texture. the quality of this stone is not equal to the true basalt; but tests made by the oregon agricultural college showed that it was of good quality. the average haul on this material was . of a mile. crushing was begun early in march and cubic yards of material stored in a stock pile which was rehandled later by means of an automatic loader purchased by the state highway department for this class of work. the output of the crusher was insufficient to keep the mixer running and by means of this stock pile it was possible to keep the material coming on to the road steadily and finish the job in a minimum length of time and with the least inconvenience to traffic. in this connection the experience on this job shows the advisability of using a stock pile of material to draw from in case of emergencies. when this is done the work is allowed to go ahead steadily, although a breakdown at the crusher may occur. the saving made by a steady run more than offsets the cost of rehandling the material, which is done very reasonably by the use of machinery. the sand was shipped to ballston and sheridan by railroad, approximately equal amounts being shipped to both places and was so divided as to get a minimum length of haul on this material. the average haul was . miles. at ballston the sand was unloaded from the cars into bunkers, which dumped directly into trucks, while at sheridan no bunkers were available and the material was unloaded on the ground and rehandled by means of an automatic loader. no delay was caused by car shortage as we used our stock pile at sheridan in emergencies. all the material was hauled and handled by means of trucks, two of which belonged to the state highway department, others working on a yardage basis. the pavement, after being struck off, was finished by the roller and belt method; being rolled from two to four times, according to the condition of the concrete and later belted with eight and ten inch belts. the eight inch belt being used first. by using this method of finishing, we were able to eliminate the use of skilled labor, which showed a material saving in the finishing item, and at the same time secured a very satisfactory surface. as soon as sufficiently hardened, the pavement was covered with earth from the roadside and kept moist for at least one week while curing. the earth covering was later removed by means of an ordinary road grader, when ready to be opened for traffic, the elastite joints being trimmed at the same operation. a short stretch of pavement was left out at deer creek to allow a fill to settle during the winter rains. in conformity with our general practice, sufficient crushed rock was left on the job to complete this stretch and make repairs. elastite joints were placed every thirty feet and extended the entire width and depth of the pavement. continuous forms were used on a portion of this pavement and were found to be much superior to the ordinary type, and the department has adopted the continuous form for future work. these forms are made by using two pieces of form lumber ½ inches by ½ inches nailed together. the joints are lapped one-half the length of the stick. the finished form is x ½ inches and is easily placed on either tangents or sharp curves. the concrete was mixed with a sixteen cubic foot koehring mixer equipped with bucket and boom. the plant is owned by the department. the grading was paid for by yamhill county and the crusher, roller, grader, and scarifier were also furnished by them free of charge. earth shoulders were built along the pavement by means of road grader. mr. j. m. baker was superintendent of construction on this work. cost statement-- . miles, -foot concrete pavement, east of sheridan--built in quantity and item total cost unit cost grading $ , . , sq. yds., : : ½ concrete pavement average thickness inches , . $ . , lin. ft., expansion joints . . cu. yds., broken stone macadam . . ---------- total cost of construction $ , . engineering , . ---------- grand total cost $ , . bbls. cement used on this work at a cost of $ , . f. o. b. work. yds. of sand and yds. broken stone left stored on job. paving--multnomah county line to newberg a complete description of the paving of the . mile section of the west side highway between the multnomah county line and newberg is given in the chapter devoted to washington county. it should be mentioned here, however, that . miles of this pavement is within yamhill county, and was built by the state at a cost of $ , . . the construction of the subgrade was paid for by yamhill county, part of it having been done by county forces and the balance of it by the paving contractor under a cost plus per cent agreement with the county. for the work done under this agreement, the contractor was paid $ , . . survey--grande ronde section a survey was made in the spring of between grande ronde and the bee ranch at the east end of the sour grass road improved in . this is an important link about ½ miles in length on the yamhill-nestucca highway, connecting as it does the cities of mcminnville, willamina, sheridan and tillamook. in addition it will afford a short and direct route between the hay and grain fields of the willamette valley and the dairy ranches of the coast. further, this highway is used by hundreds of autoists in summer enroute to the tillamook beaches. from the fact that only ½ miles of this section are in service as a postal route, federal aid could be applied for only on that section and cooperation has been requested as follows: united states government $ , ; state of oregon $ , ; yamhill county $ , . for the remaining four miles, yamhill county has appropriated $ , from the funds. it is estimated that the total cost of the remaining section will be $ , and it is expected that the work will be done in . the entire project as proposed will be graded feet wide, conforming to the state standards as to alignment and grade and surfaced with macadam feet in width, thus closing the gap and affording a road between portland and tillamook which will be open the entire year. [illustration: portraits of king george v] peeps at postage stamps [illustration] by stanley c. johnson m.a., d.sc., f.r.e.s. with sixteen full-page plates containing specimen stamps in black and white a. & c. black, ltd. , & soho square, london, w. other volumes in the peeps series peeps at many lands and cities vols. peeps at nature vols. peeps at history vols. peeps at great railways vols. peeps at miscellaneous subjects vols. heraldry; the heavens; british army; royal navy, etc. published by a. & c. black, ltd. , & soho square, london, w. agents america the macmillan company & fifth avenue, new york australasia oxford university press flinders lane, melbourne canada the macmillan company of canada, ltd. st. martin's house, bond street, toronto india macmillan & company, ltd. macmillan building, bombay bow bazaar street, calcutta contents chapter page introduction i. philatelic terms explained ii. how to form a stamp collection iii. specializing iv. the stamps of great britain v. stamps worth fortunes vi. common stamps vii. stamps of special interest viii. forged stamps ix. pioneers of postage x. commemorative stamps xi. interesting picture stamps xii. stamps and history xiii. war stamps xiv. some famous collections list of illustrations . portraits of king george v. _frontispiece_ facing page . overprinted stamps . some members of our royal family . postage stamps having special uses . specimen stamps . some penny stamps of great britain . portraits of some european monarchs . curious stamps . stamps bearing national emblems . noted statesmen of the u.s.a. . some view stamps . zoological stamps . some hapsburg portraits . stamps from the great war zone . stamps coming from countries which no longer have separate issues . commemorative stamps [note.--the other volumes in the "peeps" series, with few exceptions, contain coloured illustrations; but, in order to conform with the regulations of the inland revenue authorities, the pictures in the present volume are necessarily printed in black.] postage stamps introduction every boy and girl--and, we might add, man and woman--should collect stamps. our reasons for making this statement are many. first, stamp-collecting is a highly fascinating pursuit, which helps to while away countless pleasant hours. on this score alone it is worth following. secondly, it encourages methodical habits. we examine our stamps carefully, we discriminate between the good and the bad specimens, we keep a watch for minor varieties, we marshal our treasures in correct order, and so on. thirdly, a vast amount of geography is learnt by collecting. the stamps bring all sorts of out-of-the-way countries to our notice, whilst the postmarks make us conversant with various towns. fourthly, we get to know of hundreds of interesting facts concerning the currency and language used in every corner of the globe. the inscriptions on the specimens teach us these matters. fifthly, stamp-collecting assists us to gain a real knowledge of history. ask any collector when columbus discovered america? who was prince henry the navigator? over what country did king amadeus reign? what form of government is possessed by paraguay? his answers will be far more intelligent than those given by a non-collector. but the foregoing are not the only matters which our stamps teach us. what is the difference between an engraving and a lithograph, between cream-laid paper and wove paper, between magenta and cerise? these and a thousand other questions the stamp collector can answer correctly and without hesitation. surely a pastime which can help us to gain so much valuable knowledge is worth the attention of every boy and girl, as well as man and woman. chapter i philatelic terms explained adhesive.--a stamp which is kept in position by moistening the gummed under-surface. most stamps are adhesives. postcards, envelopes, and wrappers which have the stamp printed on them, are not adhesives. block.--a number of stamps not torn apart. a strip of stamps and a number of stamps forming an odd shape are, however, not considered as blocks. chalk-surface.--a surface given to stamps by means of a preparation of chalk, in order that obliterations may not be cleaned out. commemorative stamps.--stamps issued to remind people of bygone events. control letters.--letters on the margin paper of sheets of stamps, for official purposes of control. entire.--a postcard, wrapper, or envelope complete as it has passed or would pass through the post--_i.e._, not the stamp cut from it. error.--a stamp which contains some faulty workmanship, of whatever kind. facsimile.--see forgery. forgery.--an unofficial stamp, one made in order to cheat. in cases where a real stamp is given an unauthorized overprint (which see), the stamp constitutes a forgery. hinges.--the papers gummed on one surface used for fixing stamps to the album. imperforate.--stamps that are not provided with perforated margins to facilitate separation. label.--another name for a stamp. local stamps.--stamps which are available for use in some town or special area. there are none in england at the present time. russia and morocco are probably the only areas where they still exist, though switzerland, turkey, germany, china, and the united states recognized them until within recent years. mint.--a term applied to an unused stamp in perfect condition, including the gum on the back. mounts.--see hinges. obliteration.--marks placed on a stamp by the authorities to denote that it has gone through the post. obsolete.--a stamp that is no longer issued by the postal authorities. official stamps.--those printed for use in government offices--_i.e._, the obsolete inland revenue officials of great britain. overprint.--an inscription printed on the face of a stamp to alter in some way its original use. perforated.--a frame of small holes around a stamp made in order to facilitate separation from its neighbour. perforation, compound.--exists when the holes are not of the same size and distance apart around the four sides of a stamp. perforation gauge.--an instrument for measuring the perforations of a stamp. usual cost about d. philatelist.--not merely a stamp collector, but one who "loves" ([greek: philos=a lover) his stamps. plate numbers.--usually spoken of in connection with the line-engraved stamps of great britain. they serve to indicate the plate from which any particular stamp was printed. provisionals.--stamps which are intended for temporary use whilst a permanent issue is being prepared. remainders.--genuine stamps left over after the particular issue has become obsolete. there is no objection to remainders as there is to reprints. reprints.--stamps printed from dies after they have become obsolete. many countries sell their obsolete dies, with the result that more or less inaccurate reprints are made from them. reprints, for philatelic purposes, should be classed with forgeries. rouletted.--the presence of a frame of small slits around a stamp in order to facilitate separation from its neighbour. speculative stamps.--postage stamps issued by an unscrupulous government for philatelic, rather than postal, purposes. strip of stamps.--a row of stamps joined together (compare block). surcharge.--an overprint placed on a stamp to alter its face value. variety.--a term to describe a stamp that differs from another in some slight way. watermark.--a thinning of the paper on which a stamp is printed so as to create a distinctive design. chapter ii how to form a stamp collection most philatelists drift into stamp-collecting--that is to say, the start is made unconsciously, and without any definite planning. probably the first specimens are obtained through the generosity of a friend who possesses a few duplicates, or may be the letters coming regularly from a relative living in some remote part of the world supply the earliest treasures. but however the beginning is made, progress will be slow unless friends are very generous or a little money is spent on buying sufficient specimens to make a fair start. in the ordinary course, the collector will be wise if he spends a few shillings on buying a packet of the commoner stamps which form the basis of all collections. the packet should cost as much as the beginner can reasonably afford, and be composed of different stamps--that is to say, without containing any duplicates. if four or five shillings are to be invested, as many as four hundred varieties may be expected, whilst a thousand varieties will usually cost about half a guinea. armed with such a nucleus as this, the fascinations of the pastime begin to make themselves evident. duplicates will quickly accumulate, and serve to form the basis of exchanges amongst friends. approval sheets will invariably come to hand from dealers, and permit of additional specimens being secured at a very cheap rate; whilst attractive bargains will be obtained, from time to time, through the medium of advertisements in newspapers and magazines. but the reader may argue that stamp-collecting is a costly pastime if every specimen must be bought. in practice it is anything but an expensive hobby. if the writer were to sell his collection, he would obtain about three or four times the amount he spent on forming it. the reason for this lies in the fact that stamps seldom lose their value, but frequently rise in price. when a hundred or more varieties have accumulated, an album should be procured. these may be obtained at all prices and in a bewildering variety of patterns. too often the young philatelist provides himself with a voluminous album in which his tiny but growing collection appears as a drop of water in the ocean. it is far better to buy a small, cheap album which may serve as a temporary home until the treasures have grown sufficiently numerous to warrant a more expensive one. many collectors prefer to house their stamps in a scrap-book containing a number of fairly stout, smooth, blank leaves. in such a book as this we are free to arrange the stamps just as fancy dictates; we can place them close together or far apart, and we can reserve as many or as few pages as seems desirable for each individual country. the writer's collection is contained in two books of this description. great britain fills the first fifteen pages, and the colonies follow in alphabetical order in the first volume. in the second volume the foreign countries are set out in the order in which their governments first issued stamps--_i.e._, brazil comes first, then the united states, then france, belgium, bavaria, spain, etc. this is, of course, a somewhat unusual plan to follow, but it certainly has advantages. whilst speaking of albums, it will be well to point out that stamps should never be fixed to more than one side of a page. if both faces are used, the stamps will rub against each other and also catch one with another. before the specimens are placed in the album, each should be carefully examined, and cleaned, if necessary. when paper is adhering to the backs, it should be removed. this unsticking process is easily performed when the specimen is immersed in a bowl of hot water, but, unfortunately, many stamps will be utterly ruined if even a trace of moisture is allowed to come in contact with their colours. no rule can be given as to which stamps spoil and which do not when treated with a hot bath, but it is safe to say that valuable specimens suffer considerably, whilst common varieties emerge from the ordeal unscathed. perhaps this is just a matter of natural contrariness. to be on the safe side, however, no stamp should be plunged into hot water. cheap varieties may well be floated on the surface of warm water, but the rarer kinds must not be subjected to even this treatment; they should be placed face upwards on a sheet of wet blotting-paper, and left until the adhering paper can be peeled off without an effort. after the under-surface of a stamp has been cleaned, it should be pressed between two sheets of dry blotting-paper and carefully dried. if it seems liable to cockle or is creased in any way, it is a good plan to flatten it out by means of a warm, though not hot, iron, the stamp being protected by three or four thicknesses of white blotting-paper. fixing the stamps to the album is the next operation. on no account should the under-surface be gummed all over and the whole stamp stuck down to the page of the hook. the collection will need constant rearranging, certain specimens will have to make way for more perfect copies, and so on; this will be quite impossible unless hinges are used. these contrivances are thin but tough pieces of paper, approximately one by three-quarters of an inch in size, and gummed on one surface. they cost about sixpence per thousand. [illustration: overprinted stamps indian stamp used by chinese expeditionary force great britain: army official india: on her majesty's service indian stamp used in patiala north borneo stamp used after institution of british protectorate indian stamp of / anna converted to / anna great britain: inland revenue bulgaria: change of value bermuda s. value converted to / d. portugal stamp surcharged "republic"] when a stamp is to be fixed to the album, a gummed strip is taken and folded so that the adhesive side is turned outwards; one flap is then moistened and stuck to the stamp and the other is moistened and stuck to the page. the specimen is thus hinged to the album in such a way that its underside can be inspected easily--a necessary matter when the watermark or the quality of the paper requires examination. the hinge should be fastened as high up on the back of the stamp as possible, but not so high that it touches the perforated edge. one little point needs mention. on no account should cheap hinges be used or hinges made at home and fixed with ordinary gum. unless the adhesive is entirely free from acid--and ordinary or cheap gum is not--the stamps will become discoloured and entirely ruined. the writer laments to this day a fine set of old queenslands which he fixed, many years ago, by means of some cheap and nasty hinges. the stamps grow more and more discoloured as time wears on, but the exasperating thing is that good copies of these australian treasures are now worth almost as many pounds as they were pence in the days when the offending gum was applied to their under-surface. some method must be adopted for the arrangement of the stamps in the album. beginners are apt to fix the specimens in no particular order, merely one after the other as they come into their possession; but this is clearly a wrong plan to follow. either of the following methods is worth adopting: . sort out the stamps of each country according to the prices printed on them, and then stick all the specimens of one value together, but in order of age. . sort out the stamps of each country according to their issues; then arrange each set in the album, in ascending order of the values. to follow either of these plans, we must know the date of issue of all our specimens. this, of course, requires a certain amount of knowledge, but information of such a kind comes with marvellous rapidity when once the collector's interest has become fully aroused. as a guide, however, a catalogue such as the one published by messrs. stanley gibbons, ltd., should be procured. the colour, pattern, watermark, approximate market value and date of issue of every postage stamp may then be learnt with certainty. we must guard against cramping the specimens too closely together. in order that our collection may grow naturally, space must be left for additions which may reasonably be expected to fall into our possession. every distinct issue should be started on a fresh line, and room must be allowed at the end of a country for future issues. as to the stamps which ought and which ought not to be admitted into the album, a great deal could be written. in the first case, it is well to rule out every specimen which is not perfect in every detail. torn stamps are almost worthless--even though they may be copies of rarities--and on no account should a place be found for them in the collection. there is no need to throw them away or get rid of them; they might well be allotted a home in a minor album. not only torn stamps, but copies which have lost two or three teeth of the perforated edge, copies which have been heavily postmarked, copies which are dirty or discoloured, and copies which have served for revenue and not for postal purposes--all these should be kept out of the collection. concerning the stamps which have been cut out of entires--that is to say, from postcards, letter-cards, wrappers, and impressed envelopes--a difference of opinion exists among experts. some say that they ought not to be included, whilst others urge their inclusion. without a doubt, these stamps are interesting; and as they serve for purely postal uses, there seems no reason why they should not be allowed a home in the collection. perhaps the collector should be advised not to seek after specimens of this nature, but that is quite another thing to excluding them rigorously. there are many kinds of stamps which do not serve for franking letters in the usual way, but as their functions are purely postal, a position in the album should be awarded them. among such stamps as these may be mentioned the "postage due" issue which great britain put into use early in . these labels serve the purpose of indicating and at the same time checking the fees which are levied on letters and parcels that have been insufficiently prepaid. it is interesting to note, that though our authorities have only issued stamps of this nature recently, foreign countries have used them for close on half a century. such stamps from abroad may be recognized by the inscriptions which they bear--"a percevoir," "a payer," "te betalen," "deficit," "segnatasse," "too late," etc. another kind of stamp which should be accepted is the "parcels post" label. though we at home have no special labels for this particular service, many continental countries use them, notably belgium and the united states. then there are the "express delivery" stamps of the united states, canada, italy, etc. the purpose of these labels is sufficiently explained by the wording on the united states stamp: "secures immediate delivery at any post office." a fourth stamp of special usage is the newspaper stamp. though many of our home railways employ these labels, there are no governmental varieties. abroad, however, we find a number of countries use them--the newspaper stamps of hungary and spain being fairly common. there is one kind of postage stamp, however, that should not be extended a welcome in the usual way--we have in mind the specimens known as "local" stamps. these special labels--they are mostly obsolete--came chiefly from germany, russia, switzerland, and china, and were used by private companies which possessed certain postal privileges. as a rule the operations of these bodies were carried out in small areas (hence "local" stamps), usually in out-of-the-way districts where the ordinary postal arrangements did not penetrate. genuine obliterated stamps of this class possess a certain amount of interest, and in some cases command high prices; but as there were so many varieties, and as it is difficult to discriminate between the genuine and the fictitious, collectors are well advised to leave them all alone. undoubtedly a number of the carrying companies went on printing and selling their stamps to collectors long after the postal rights were taken from them. this fact alone should make the cautious philatelist hesitate before purchasing specimens known as "locals." more dangerous than the "locals" are the commemorative stamps which certain impecunious governments issue with the idea of attracting philatelists.[ ] these stamps invariably bear exquisite designs, and are usually current for a limited period. their appearance is heralded with much beating of drums, and the idea is carefully spread abroad that only the earliest purchasers will be able to secure copies. as a rule these labels are printed in millions, and are often sold to large buyers under face value. the proceeds go towards making the country solvent, or in providing for palatial postal headquarters. of course, such stamps can hardly be considered postage stamps, as the number used for postal service is but a minute fraction of the whole issue. it is on these grounds that the wise collector should refuse to treasure up labels, the main purpose of which is to amass money for an unscrupulous government. [ ] some commemorative stamps are, of course, issued in a purely legitimate way, and must not be confused with the above. the objection to commemorative, or perhaps it would be better to say speculative, stamps disappears in cases where the specimens have been through the post. such labels have franked letters or parcels, and have thus fulfilled the conditions which we demand of genuine used stamps. unfortunately, this fact has been noted by at least one government, and in order that its gaudy labels should not be shunned by the collector, it has had some thousands of unused copies specially cancelled in the hope that the obliterations will serve to make them more acceptable. undoubtedly some of the stamps marked in this way are very attractive; but, of course, they are not postage stamps in any sense, and can thus make no appeal to the philatelist. a third group of undesirable stamps comes from south america. about thirty years ago a mr. seebeck, of new york, entered into an agreement with ecuador, honduras, salvador, and nicaragua, to supply each of these republics with new stamp-dies once a year on condition that the old dies should be handed to him as they fell out of use. as soon as a set of dies became superseded, he printed from the plates and flooded the market with unused copies. the seebeck issues, needless to say, are of little interest. seebeck is not the only man who has printed from discarded dies; there are, in fact, many types of stamps on the market which have been produced from obsolete plates. such stamps are known as "reprints," and are worthless except as curiosities. perhaps the best-known reprints are those bearing the inscription "heligoland"; but as these labels emanate from the government printing works at berlin, and have never been to this little island, it is clear that they have served no genuine postal purpose. reprints are difficult to distinguish from the original stamps, but as a rule slight differences in colour prove sufficient clues to their identity. often the correct kind of paper and watermark are unobtainable by those who print them, and then the merest novice may detect their origin with the aid of a catalogue. there are so many undesirable stamps to be found on the market in an unused condition that the beginner may feel that the safest plan will be to confine his attentions to obliterated varieties alone. there is much reason in such an argument, but it is not altogether a wise course to follow. unused specimens, as long as they are issued for genuine postal purposes by reputable countries, are more sought after than those which have been obliterated, and their value is more likely to rise in the future. one matter which often puzzles the novice is how to decide whether two particular stamps are similar or different. if there is the slightest variation in--(_a_) design; (_b_) method employed of printing; (_c_) colour; (_d_) method employed for separating the individual stamps; (_e_) texture of paper; (_f_) watermark--then the two stamps may be looked upon as being different, and both should be placed in the album. certain stamps bear designs on their reverse side--_i.e._, the horn on early issues of sweden. copies both with and without the design should be added to the collection. the addition of advertising matter on the reverse side (see new zealand issues), however, does not constitute a difference. in the case of recent belgian stamps which bear the inscription, "not to be delivered on sunday," in both french and flemish, specimens with and without the label should not both be given a home in the collection. lastly, it may be well to point out that stamps, on paper of various textures, which have been cut from entires, should not be considered as individual varieties, seeing that most governments are prepared to impress any letters, cards, etc., that may be supplied to them, and varieties of such stamps must be, on this account, unlimited. when the collector has amassed a number of good duplicates, it will be a wise plan for him to join one of the many exchange clubs. in this way he will be able to turn his surplus stamps into specimens for the collection. the working of these organizations is simple. each member sends a sheet of his own stamps, with prices marked on them, to the secretary of the club, who places them all in a portfolio which is forwarded to each member in turn. when a member receives the portfolio, he selects specimens at will from any of the sheets, but he generally endeavours to balance his own takings with the takings of all the members from his sheet. [illustration: some members of our royal family prince albert in queen victoria queen alexandra edward vii george v queen mary prince of wales] another and perhaps better way of enriching one's collection is open to the philatelist who is able to obtain quantities of the medium class british and colonial stamps. briefly, the method is to insert an advertisement in a journal, which enjoys an overseas circulation, to the effect that for every hundred stamps sent of the reader's country, a hundred or more well-mixed british and colonials will be despatched by the advertiser in return. the writer used to make it a practice of inserting some such notice as this two or three times every season, and the plan invariably brought in many valuable additions to his collection. suitable mediums are the _overseas daily mail_, the _boy's own paper_ (in the boy's own column), _the philatelic journal of america_, and _l'Ã�cho de la timbrologie_. before closing this chapter, it may be well to give some hints on how to value one's collection. possessed of a stamp catalogue, the philatelist can easily jot down the price of every stamp in his album, and so arrive at the total catalogue value. but this figure will be much above the price a dealer would give for the treasures. the catalogue value of a stamp is the selling price. what we want to know is the buying price--a very different matter. to get an approximate idea of the value which a collection would realize, we should calculate as follows: . nothing for all stamps catalogued at d. or d. . one penny each for stamps marked d. or d. each. . three-halfpence to twopence each for stamps marked d. to d. . quarter catalogue value for stamps quoted between d. and s. . half catalogue value for other stamps, except for rarities, which often command full catalogue figures. none but first-class specimens, and, in the case of used stamps, only those which have served postally, should be taken into consideration. chapter iii specializing as a rule it takes but a few months for the young collector to discover that he much prefers the stamps of one particular country, or group of countries, to any of the others figuring in his album. when such a preference manifests itself, it is a good plan to specialize in the favoured country or group. by this we do not mean to say that the general collection should be discontinued, or even neglected, but merely that special attention be given to the stamps which have made the greater appeal to the philatelist. some countries are better suited to specializing than others. undoubtedly great britain holds the premier position. not only does it stand first from patriotic motives, but the plate numbers and plate letters which the earlier issues bore, the control letters which later issues bear, and the colour varieties known to exist amongst certain of the current values, all help to make it a country full of interest. among the colonies there is much scope for the specialist, notably in queensland, south australia, india--if the native states be excepted--canada, including the specimens issued by the various provinces prior to , and the transvaal. in other parts of the world we may single out the united states, portugal, the argentine republic, the spanish colonies, together with the subsequent occupation of certain of them by the united states, and the french colonies. of the latter only used specimens should be collected, as unused copies of any of the dependencies may be bought at face value in paris--a matter which largely robs the labels of their interest. but the specialist need not necessarily confine himself to a country, or even a group of countries. in this connection the following divisions may be suggested: . stamps issued owing to wars. . edwardian stamps. . parcels post stamps. . commemorative stamps, as long as they are not issued for speculative purposes. . the line-engraved stamps of great britain (see following chapter). just as certain countries or groups present exceptional chances for specializing, so others offer but poor opportunities. in cases where the issues are few, or where the stamps are high priced, the path of the specialist is beset with difficulties, and should not be followed. the first need of the collector who intends to pay particular attention to an individual group of stamps is a blank album containing about two dozen pages. into this volume should be gathered the specimens bearing on the chosen section as they are obtained. less formality and regularity will be called for when placing the stamps in this book than was demanded in the general collection; in other words, the stamps need not be ranged so precisely according to age and value. whatever method is adopted should be used rather for contrasting and comparing minor details than for showing complete issues. in the stamps of great britain, for instance, we should not place, say, the edwardian issue in two or three methodical rows, the halfpenny first, followed by the penny, then the three-halfpenny, and so on, up to the one pound. we should group together the varieties of, say, the threepenny, which include such shades as purple on yellow, purple on lemon, deep purple on lemon, dull purple on yellow, and which are found perforated , also by . when placed side by side, these various shades and perforations will show up clearly; but if scattered over two or three pages of the album, their meaning will be lost entirely. it is clear that the specialist must know a good deal more about his stamps than was demanded of the general collector. in the first place, he must be able to distinguish one form of printing from another. for his benefit it may be well to mention that the chief processes employed in printing stamps are ( ) typography, ( ) lithography, and ( ) engraving. typography, or surface-printing, is the process employed in the production of our current british stamps. a die is cut with the design standing out in relief--_i.e._, the portions which are to receive the ink are raised. from this die a number of identical moulds are taken and ranged side by side. they are then clamped together and placed in an electro bath which deposits a layer of copper upon the moulds. when the coating is deemed sufficiently thick, the electrical action is arrested, the moulds are removed, and the copper plate reveals a number of replicas of the original die. lithography is a process which results from etching on stone. a piece of stone possessing a flat surface is taken, and the design drawn in ink upon it either by hand or some mechanical means. the surface of the stone is then flooded with a weak acid, which eats away the unprotected parts, but leaves untouched the parts covered by the greasy lithograph ink. the stone is then sponged with water, and printer's ink, also greasy, applied. this latter adheres only to the lines made by the lithographic process, with the result that impressions of the design may be transferred to paper. lithography, it should be added, is only suitable in cases where comparatively few copies are needed, or where a temporary issue must be printed expeditiously. it is a process which demands but little capital outlay, a fact which has made it a favourite means of stamp-producing among the poorer republics of south america. with forgers, too, it has gained favour in their work of imitating genuine stamps. engraving, known variously under the name of copper-plate printing, engraving in _taille-douce_, and line-engraving, produces the finest stamps figuring in our collections. the process is worked much on the lines detailed for typography, but the main difference is that in the latter the design is printed by the raised parts of the block, whilst in the former the recessed parts produce the lines which form the design. in addition to the above, the following occasional methods of producing stamps may be registered: . by the use of ordinary printer's type. (examples may be found among the earliest issues, as in the case of the first stamps of british guiana.) . by photographic means. (example--the mafeking stamps bearing the head of baden-powell.) . by means of rubber hand-stamps. (example--first issue of new republic, south africa.) . embossing. (example--the current british stamped penny and halfpenny envelopes.) after the various styles of printing have been recognized, the specialist must study the papers used in stamp-production. the chief varieties are-- . wove.--this paper possesses no patterns of any kind, but under the microscope appears to have a number of porous marks. it is used for the current british stamps. . granite.--a variety of wove, used fairly frequently. it may be distinguished by the short, tiny, coloured hairs which are impressed upon the paper. . laid.--this paper possesses a number of parallel ribs, which can only be seen when the stamp is held up to the light. . quadrilled.--a paper bearing vertical and horizontal watermark lines of a somewhat obvious character. the various methods used for separating stamps is the next matter for study. in the earliest times postmasters used ordinary scissors for detaching one stamp from another. the specimens so treated are styled "imperforate." the use of scissors was clearly an awkward way of performing what is now a simple matter, and it is well known that from the outset the need for a more expeditious method was felt. as a consequence many people gave the question of stamp-separating their attention, with the result that, eight years after the advent of the first postage adhesive, henry archer patented the rouletting machine, which cut slits along the margins of the stamps. the slits served the same purpose as the perforation holes in the stamps of to-day, but the drawback to this pioneer method was that in pulling one copy from another the labels were likely to become torn. between and archer tried many systems for separating stamps, and, in the latter year, perfected a machine for perforating instead of rouletting the margins of adhesives. most stamps are now described as "perf. , , or ," which means that within the space of centimetres a specimen contains , , or holes. a stamp catalogued as "perf. x "--_e.g._, british fourpenny bright orange, edward issue--has fifteen holes per centimetres along the top and bottom edges, and fourteen holes along either side. as a difference of perforation often makes a considerable difference in the market value of a stamp, every philatelist should possess a gauge for measuring the holes; these are obtainable from dealers at a cost of sixpence each. we said at the commencement of this chapter that great britain offered the greatest opportunities to the specialist. let us now see how the stamps of our own country should be treated in a specialized collection. first of all, it should be the aim of the philatelist to procure not merely one specimen of any particular label, but specimens in pairs and in blocks of four or more. individual copies of the early penny black are worth about two shillings, but four copies in one block would fetch as much as ten to twelve shillings; also a fine copy on a postal wrapper would be much more valuable than a loose specimen. the moral, therefore, is clear: we should never separate costly stamps nor tear them from their envelopes. young collectors seem to dislike the plan of admitting entire envelopes to their albums, but this is a prejudice which should be overcome. [illustration: postage stamps having special uses canada: registered letter fee stamp belgium: parcels post stamp u.s.a.: parcels post stamp italy: unpaid tax stamp india: telegraph stamp germany: official stamp austria: stamp for franking newspapers sweden: official stamp spain: war-tax stamp levied on letters] an ideal first page for a special collection of british stamps would show a whole wrapper bearing a nice copy of the penny black, then the individual stamp in pairs or blocks, followed by a somewhat similar arrangement affecting the sister stamp--the twopenny blue. the page should not be crowded with specimens, but much space ought to be given up to explanatory written matter. at the head of the page, for instance, the following might be neatly printed: "line-engraved stamps. issued may st, ." elsewhere room might be found for the statement that the adhesives given on the page were engraved by mr. frederick heath, and printed by the famous firm of perkins, bacon and co.; whilst below each stamp the particular watermark, paper, and method of separation should be mentioned. nor should the notes end here; any little piece of postal information which may be discovered should be added to swell the interest of the collection. as an example of such matter, we may quote the following recipe for making red obliterating ink, which was sent to every postmaster in the kingdom when the penny black was first issued: take lb. printer's red ink, pint linseed oil, / pint of the droppings of sweet oil, and well mix. another early stamp which will well repay attention is the perforated penny red with control letters in the four corners. this specimen bears various plate numbers, from to (nos. , ,[ ] , excepted). the collector will do well to seek out a copy of each number and arrange them in numerical order on three or four pages of the album. the distinctive numbers are to be found on either side of the head, hidden among the filigree lines. no. , it may be said, is somewhat difficult to obtain, but all the others are fairly common. [ ] plate no. is supposed to have been rejected as unfit for use. an unused copy, however, figures in the tapling collection in the british museum. "plate reconstructing" is another favourite work of the specialist. let us first explain that many of the early british stamps contained various letters in the four corners. in a sheet of stamps, the specimens found in the first row were all lettered a, in the lower left-hand corner, those in the second row b, in the third row c, and so on throughout the twenty rows. in the right-hand lower corner the first stamp of every row was lettered a, the second b, and so on until the twelfth stamp bore the letter l. the following diagram will make the arrangement quite clear: [illustration: specimen stamps imperforated stamp a perforated stamp a rouletted stamp a line-engraved stamp a lithographed stamp a surface-printed stamp an embossed stamp } } three of the best known rarities }] row . aa, ab, ac, ad, ae, af, ... al. " . ba, bb, bc, bd, be, bf, ... bl. " . ca, cb, cc, cd, ce, cf, ... cl. " . da, db, dc, dd, de, df, ... dl. " . ea, eb, ec, ed, ee, ef, ... el. . . . . . " . ta, tb, tc, td, te, tf, ... tl. the work of plate reconstructing consists in obtaining one stamp of each of the combinations of letters, placing them in their correct positions as given above, and so remaking a whole sheet of stamps. such is the way in which a specialist's collection should be managed. our remarks have been directed more particularly to the stamps of great britain, but the suggestions apply equally well to any country which the philatelist may select for particular study. chapter iv the stamps of great britain so far these talks have dealt almost entirely with ways and means of stamp-collecting, but now our attention must be centred on the stamps themselves. we naturally turn to the issues of great britain, the first specimen to be considered being the "penny black," bearing a portrait in profile of victoria the good. not only was this stamp the first to be issued within our kingdom, but it was also the pioneer stamp, of the whole world. it is thus one of the most interesting labels which can figure among the treasures of any collection. to sir rowland hill, the promoter of the penny postage and other postal reforms, belongs the credit of first suggesting that the postage on a letter should be prepared by means of an adhesive label. not only may he be called the inventor of postage stamps, but he also sketched in rough the design which was used for the first stamp. to him, also, was entrusted the work of arranging for the issue of this novel label. on august , , parliament sanctioned the use of adhesive stamps, and immediately afterwards the lords of the treasury asked the public to suggest suitable designs. nearly , drawings were submitted, but none were considered satisfactory. it was then that hill made the rough sketch mentioned above. many were the difficulties which hill had to overcome, but probably the most perplexing was how to get the stamps printed. we must remember that in those early days colour-printing was a slow and tedious process, and there were very few firms who could be entrusted with the work. after much consideration, sir rowland went to a fleet street house of printers named perkins, bacon and co., and asked them whether they could undertake the task of producing the proposed adhesive stamps. their reply is sufficiently interesting to be given in full. " , fleet street, "london, "_december , _. "sir, "we have given the subject you mentioned yesterday afternoon all the attention the time would allow, and beg to say as the result that we would engrave steel dies of the size you gave us, containing work of any conceivable value as to cost and quality, transfer them to any number of plates that could possibly be wanted, and print them in any numbers per day, at a charge of eightpence per thousand stamps, exclusive of paper, which, we understand, would be supplied us; and, assuming that the numbers wanted would be very large, we have only named a fair price for the printing, and have considered the plates and dies, which ought to be very costly in the first instance, as given in without charge. you are probably aware that, having prepared the original die, we could insure perfect 'facsimiles' of it for a century. "our charge would not exceed what we have named above, nor be less than sixpence per thousand; but what relative position it would take between these two extremes would depend upon the exact size of the stamp, and the number which the paper would allow us to put upon one plate. "we could prepare everything so as to commence printing in a month. our present belief is that we could print , labels per day, or double that number in a day and night, from each press employed upon the work. "we are, sir, very respectfully, "your humble servants, "perkins, bacon, and petch." the perkins' firm was entrusted with the printing; instructions were also given them to elaborate the rough sketch made by hill. they called upon a then noted engraver, frederick heath, to complete the design which has since become world-famous. he engraved the head and the lettering, but the beautiful curves forming the background of the stamp were "engine-turned" by means of a rose engine, a contrivance consisting of a series of moving wheels which produced curved lines in geometric pattern. the stamp proved a great success, thanks to the energies of hill and the assistance of the printers; but it had one great fault--it was printed with a fast ink, which enabled dishonest people to wash out the obliterations and use the cleaned copies a second time. as a result, the black specimens were superseded in less than nine months by red ones printed with a fugitive ink. the short life of the first stamp has, of course, much to do with its present high price. the dies used for the black impressions were employed for the red pennies, so that the two stamps are identical in all respects but colour. gradually, as years passed along, slight changes were introduced. first, the small check letters in the lower angles were substituted by large letters, then perforated edges were provided, whilst in the whole of the dies were re-engraved. stamps printed from the old and the new plates may be distinguished fairly easily. in die i. the nose is straight, there is little shading around the eye, and the lobe of the ear terminates with an upward curl. in die ii the nose is slightly rounded, the eye is surrounded by much shading, and the lobe of the ear finishes without any upward curl. [illustration: some penny stamps of great britain issue issue issue issue issue issue issue issue issue envelope stamp letter-card stamp envelope stamp] the black and red penny stamps were line engraved (_cf_. previous chapter). the only other stamps printed in this style were the twopenny blue, issued concurrently with the penny black; the halfpenny rose; and the three-halfpenny red rose, both issued on october , . it seems somewhat remarkable, in these days when we have thirteen different stamps of values lower than a shilling, that in the early years the country was able to carry on its postal arrangements with but a penny and a twopenny stamp. that there was need for specimens of higher value seems certain, as the inland registration fee was a shilling, and the postal rates abroad were surprisingly high. in the letter rate for the united states was lowered to a shilling, and for france to tenpence; consequently, the time seemed appropriate for introducing three new stamps--a shilling, a tenpenny, and a sixpenny. though the line-engraved stamps had proved extremely satisfactory, there were certain high officials who claimed that these labels were by no means proof against dishonest practices. it was partly to please these dissentients that the three new values bore the familiar head of queen victoria in cameo relief. the innovation was almost if not a complete bar to forgery, also to the removal of obliterations by people of questionable character; but it made printing a slow and expensive process. hitherto a sheet of stamps had been printed by one movement of the machine, but every embossed stamp needed a separate pressing. there were twenty-four stamps of these three new values on a sheet, which meant that instead of one action completing the sheet, twenty-four actions were required. some of these old stamps are to be found with the impression of another partly overlapping; this is due to the fact that the machines were fed by hand, and unless the workman placed the paper in exact position one stamp was bound to fall partly on to its neighbour. one curious feature of the tenpenny and shilling stamps must be mentioned. into the paper on which these adhesives were printed was introduced a number of silk threads in such a way that each stamp bore two portions of the thread. the silken lines ran either horizontally or vertically across each specimen, and made counterfeiting an almost impossible task. the sixpenny value was provided with a watermark as a safeguard. the cameo stamps gained but little popularity, and were current less than ten years. of the sixpenny specimen, we know that , , copies were printed, and of them, , , were destroyed after their withdrawal, probably about as many copies as are sold of our current penny stamps on an ordinary weekday. on july , , a fourpenny stamp was introduced. it was produced neither by the line-engraved process nor by the embossing method. a system of typography, or surface-printing (see p. ), had long been used on the continent, and it was this process which was employed for the printing of the new fourpenny value. messrs. de la rue and co. were entrusted with the work. the fourpenny surface-printed stamp proved very successful, and was followed by other values--the shilling green, the threepenny rose, the sixpenny lilac, and the ninepenny straw colour. many of these early stamps bore minor distinguishing marks, and consequently command high prices. a very dark shade of the shilling green is worth £ in an unused condition, the threepenny rose, with a white dot on either side of the word "postage," has changed hands for £ , whilst the ninepenny straw colour, with a fine white line drawn across the exterior angles of the square spaces for the corner letters, is catalogued as high as £ . specimens of these values should be carefully examined to see if they happen to be the rare kinds. the surface-printed stamps issued between and bore angular check letters as well as plate numbers, and therefore prove of exceptional interest to those of us who wish to specialize in the stamps of our own kingdom. unused copies should be carefully preserved with the original gum on the backs, as their prices advance with every season. the used copies, also, prove a good investment. in (july ) the well-known penny lilac, with a large head of victoria, was issued, and continued in use until the accession of king edward. the stamps sold during the first five months had fourteen white dots in each corner, but afterwards the number, for some unaccountable reason, was increased to sixteen. the early variety, needless to say, commands a much greater price than the later one. the two stamps are easily confused, but a careful examination of our copies will soon tell us whether each used specimen is worth a fraction of a farthing or a sixpenny piece. some time after the accession of king edward the writer went into a post office and bought two dozen penny stamps. the clerk who served him half apologized for still selling the old specimens bearing the queen's head. on reaching home, however, the adhesives were carefully examined, and found to be the rare "fourteen dot" variety, worth, unused, about four shillings apiece. it is hardly necessary to add that the block, intact, has found a home in the writer's collection. the next stamps to attract attention are those of king edward. at first sight there appears to be one variety of each value, with the exception of the halfpenny and the fourpenny, which are both found in two obvious varieties. on closer examination, however, the edwardian stamps will be found to possess many minor but interesting differences. in the first case, most of the values were printed in turn by the firm of de la rue, by harrison and son, also by the government at somerset house, and each set of impressions shows marked variations in colour. the most interesting edwardian differences, however, are due to varieties of paper. in the authorities came to the conclusion that the then current stamps were not sufficiently protective against fraud. it was easy enough, they said, to compound an obliteration ink for use in the post offices which could not be cleaned away; but, as postage stamps were also used in increasing numbers for revenue purposes, it was also necessary to make the stamps of such colours that they could not be cleaned of even ordinary writing-ink. as a consequence, the labels on the usual paper were gradually superseded by specimens printed on a specially prepared "chalk-surface" paper. when this paper is wetted, the chalky glaze breaks up, and the coloured design is ruined. this innovation provides a complete check to the practices of fraudulent "stamp cleaners," but makes it almost impossible for collectors to remove the paper backing which disfigures many of their treasures. "the easiest way to find out whether a stamp is printed on ordinary unsurfaced or on chalk-surfaced paper," says mr. f. j. melville in "king edward vii. stamps," "is to draw a small silver coin across one of the perforations or a piece of the marginal paper adhering to the stamp. if a black line appears where the silver has touched the paper, it indicates a chalk surface." a third minor variety of the edwardian stamps must be recorded. in certain of the halfpenny and penny values the large crown watermark is found inverted. such specimens were not, as might be expected, the result of faulty printing, they were made especially for the stamp booklets, which have grown so popular since their introduction in . the plates from which the booklet stamps were printed were divided into four panes, each of sixty labels. each pane consisted of ten rows of six stamps surrounded by a fringe of blank paper. the panes were cut vertically down the centre and then along every second horizontal row. this gave ten blocks of six stamps, five coming from the left of the vertical cut and five from the right. now, it was necessary to have a strip of edging paper on the left of each block for the binding-pins of the booklet to pass through; consequently, the stamps placed on the right of the vertical cut were inverted. as the watermark was not similarly turned round, the specimens in per cent. of the booklets were provided with inverted crowns. the stamps of king george require but little mention. when first issued they caused considerable adverse comment, owing to their poor design and inferior gum. the earliest dies of the halfpenny and penny values were re-engraved at least twice, but not until the small head was replaced by the larger profile bust could they be considered even passable. as a whole, the georgian first issue may be now considered fairly attractive in pattern and colour; but the mother country has yet much to learn in the matter of stamp designing from her young dependencies, notably canada. chapter v stamps worth fortunes what a curious thing it is that some stamps--mere scraps of paper--cost over a sovereign apiece to buy! it is still more wonderful, however, that quite a number sell for over £ each, whilst a select few command prices running into four figures. probably the reader will never possess any of the more costly rarities, and as likely as not he will never see copies of them, unless he has access to the tapling or other public collections; but, none the less, it is interesting for him to know of them, of their prices, and their peculiarities. among the stamps of great britain there are a fair number which are worth between £ and £ each. in the previous chapter we spoke of the deep green shilling of , which sells at £ in an unused condition, and the ninepenny straw, catalogued at £ when used. to these we may add the famous £ orange of , worth about £ when unused, and the £ brown-lilac, also of , which varies between £ and £ . neither of these labels were in currency for more than two years. this fact, coupled with their high face value, readily explains why collectors are so eager to possess them. there have been three different brown-lilac £ stamps, all issued within a few years of each other, so the collector is advised to note their descriptions carefully. the valuable type referred to above measures - / by - / inches, and is watermarked with an anchor. of the remaining two types, one has a watermark consisting of three crowns (worth £ unused), and the other has the watermark known as the three orbs (worth £ unused). both these stamps have the top and bottom sides much longer than the vertical sides. other £ values, in various colours and designs, command good prices, and should be carefully preserved, if only for speculative purposes. were the question to be put, "which is the rarest stamp in the world?" probably the answer would be, more often than not, "the twopenny 'post office' mauritius." though it is not the rarest, it is probably the best-known philatelic treasure, and the one which collectors covet beyond all others. just how much it is worth would be difficult to say; we do know, however, that the copy which figures in king george's collection was sold at auction in for £ , . were it placed on the market to-day, it is safe to say that it would change hands at a higher figure--probably a much higher figure. the twopenny and the penny "post office" mauritius have an interesting history. the officials of this little island in the indian ocean decided in the year to follow the lead of the mother country and issue stamps. whilst waiting for supplies to come from england, they commissioned a local watchmaker to engrave two dies, one for a penny and one for a twopenny stamp. the watchmaker took a small piece of sheet copper and engraved upon it, side by side, the two dies, and a neighbouring printer took off impressions--that is to say, , stamps in all. instead of cutting into the copper the words "post paid," the engraver scratched the inscription "post office" by mistake, with the result that his dies were soon discarded. the stock of stamps was quickly used up, for just as the labels were issued, a ball was being arranged at the government house, and numerous invitations were sent out by post. about twenty-two copies only are known to exist, and most of these have been discovered on the communications which, nearly seventy years ago, summoned the governor's friends to the long-forgotten festivities. the rarest stamp in the world is usually considered to be the one cent ( ) of british guiana. a single specimen only of this variety is known, the owner being monsieur de la renotière, a celebrated collector of paris. to say that this treasure is worth its weight in gold is to understate its value by a great deal, for specialists claim that £ , would not buy it. one would suppose that so costly a square inch of paper would have a prepossessing appearance or claims to artistic merit, but the unique specimen is said to be ugly, of a dullish magenta colour, and not in the best of condition. the design is a ship, around which the motto "damus petimusque vicissim"[ ] is written, together with the words "british guiana, postage one cent." [ ] we give and we ask in turn. another very rare british guiana stamp is the sorry-looking two cents of . having more the appearance of an obliteration stamp than a postal adhesive, this specimen bears the name of the colony and the value, two cents, in a circle. it was printed at short notice by the proprietors of the _royal gazette_, and was intended to serve for a new rate of letter-carrying which applied to the town of georgetown alone. apparently the new charge failed to serve its purpose, and was withdrawn after a brief space of time. very few copies were made use of, and those which still exist are worth about £ each. from the hawaiian islands comes another valuable stamp, also of poor design: it is the two cents ( ), black on bluish paper. this adhesive was printed at honolulu, and served mainly for franking the letters which the american missionaries sent home to their relations in the states. the issue suffered an untimely fate, for no sooner had the stamps been put into circulation than a serious fire devastated the quarter of the town in which the post office was situated and destroyed almost all the stock in hand. a round dozen copies are known to exist. one reposes in the tapling collection at the british museum, but the authorities have removed it from the show-cases, where it used to lie, and placed it under lock and key in the cracherode room. it may be well to add that it can be inspected on request. its value is probably £ or more. if we turn to the united states, many rarities will be found, but none are so much sought after as the issues known as the "postmaster stamps." for the want of a better term these adhesives have been called "locals," but they must not be confused with the worthless labels spoken of in chapter ii. [illustration: portraits of some european monarchs king george v albert nicholas ii peter victor emanuel iii christian x gustav v manoel franz josef i alfonso xiii wilhelmina] each postmaster in the early years of the states designed and printed his own stamps, and some weird and curious effects were produced as a result of this arrangement. the master at milbury, then a tiny place in massachusetts, issued a two cents label ( ) which was no exception in the matter of design. milbury was such a small town that the demand for this two cents stamp was insignificant, and consequently to-day copies are worth quite £ . another local stamp--more highly priced on the continent than in england--is the ten centimes "double geneva." this curiosity was issued by the canton of geneva before switzerland possessed a regular supply of adhesives. the stamp is composed of two sections, each bearing the value five centimes, but a narrow strip of paper joins them together and bears the value ten centimes. the idea was that, in its entirety, the stamp would frank a letter anywhere within the canton of geneva, but if cut in halves, the postage was only sufficient for letters circulating within any individual commune. a complete "double geneva" is worth £ odd unused, but a halved copy may be procured for a £ note. before concluding this chapter on rarities, some mention must be made of the triangular "capes." curiously enough, everybody has heard of these stamps, whether they are collectors or not, and every non-collector who happens to possess a copy nourishes the idea that some day a huge fortune may be realized by selling the valued possession. granted that the specimen is not a forgery, which it very well may be, the stamp is perhaps worth no more than five shillings, for this is the market price of the fourpenny blue, --the stamp most frequently met. there are two valuable triangular "capes," however, namely, the fourpenny red and the penny blue, both of . the origin of these stamps is as follows: in making up the dies for printing some penny and fourpenny stamps, a block of the penny stamp was accidentally placed in the plate of the fourpenny value, whilst a fourpenny block found its way into the penny plate. as a result of this mistake, one stamp on each sheet which was printed bore the wrong colour for its value. gibbons catalogues the blue penny at £ , and the vermilion fourpenny at £ . chapter vi common stamps probably the twelve commonest stamps which have ever been issued are the following: . great britain, queen, d. lilac, . . great britain, king edward, d. scarlet, . . germany, , pfennig (without the final "e") rose. . germany, , pfennig rose. . austria, kr., francis joseph, , red. . austria, kr. rose, , double-headed eagle. . austria, kr., francis joseph, , red. . belgium, c., leopold ii., , rose. . belgium, c., arms, , green. . france, c., mercury and commerce, blue, . . france, c., mercury, etc., green, . . hungary, kr., numeral on envelope, rose, . from the above list it will be seen that all but three of the adhesives are of the penny value, or its foreign equivalent. the presence of the french three-halfpenny ( c.) stamp is due to the fact that, for many years, this was the rate charged for letters circulating within the republic. of these stamps the queen's head of great britain enjoyed the longest life, whilst the two french specimens took second and third place, they having a prosperous run of sixteen years to their credit. whilst speaking of the length of currency enjoyed by stamps, it may be well to say that, of all the adhesive specimens issued throughout the world, the large fivepenny green, new south wales, remained unchanged for a longer period than any other; whilst the queen victoria penny embossed envelope, with a light pink stamp--not, of course, an adhesive--was current still longer, being on sale from to . neither of these labels, it should be added, may be reckoned among the commonest varieties. of each of the twelve stamps mentioned in the list above prodigious numbers must have been issued. just how many copies of each were used for franking letters cannot be gauged, but by turning to the postal records published annually by great britain some idea may be obtained of their colossal totals. during the year the general post office dealt with-- , , , letters. , , postcards. , , , halfpenny packets. , , newspapers. , , parcels. of the letters, postcards, and halfpenny packets, it seems fair to assume that three-quarters were franked by halfpenny and penny stamps in the proportion, probably, of two of the former to one of the latter. in other words, roughly , , , penny stamps and , , , halfpenny stamps were used in great britain during the year alone. as the life of our british stamps averages a trifle over ten years, we must multiply the huge figures by ten to obtain a rough estimate of the individual copies which are likely to be printed of these two stamps. looked at from the point of view of use, the dozen adhesives mentioned above have undoubtedly scored heavily; but if they be examined from the artistic point of view, little can be said in their favour. the lilac head of victoria, it is true, is a fine dignified stamp; whilst the two french specimens, depicting mercury and commerce, are pleasing. the remainder, however, can claim but little respect, either on the score of design or workmanship. truly the commonest labels seem to be the least beautiful! what can we do with our accumulations of valueless stamps? is a question often asked by the young philatelist. a good plan is to collect the various shades of colour and minute variations of design, which are sure to creep into issues that extend over a lengthy period. in this way an interesting assembly of stamps may be secured which might, in time, prove extremely valuable to a collector who specialized. the georgian stamps of great britain, for instance, though they have only been in use a few years, already show numerous variations in design and colour, and thus lend themselves to such work. the halfpenny is known in two or three shades of green; there are at least two different engravings of the penny; the twopenny varies in shade from dark to light orange; whilst the threepenny may be found in dull purple and also vivid purple. another good plan is to make what might be called a type collection, with the aid of the accumulations of common stamps. such a collection should comprise (_a_) specimens of all known perforations from eight to sixteen; (_b_) cases of varied perforations--_i.e._, one gauge for the vertical, another for the horizontal sides; (_c_) stamps separated by other means than perforations; (_d_) stamps of every shade of the spectrum, arranged in a line and gradually merging from red through orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo to violet; (_e_) labels printed by different processes; (_f_) labels printed on all the commoner forms of paper; (_g_) stamps mounted face downwards to reveal the watermarks, etc. a third form of collection, which helps to use up the valueless stamps, is a historical collection. in such a gathering as we have here in mind, it becomes possible to trace out, by means of postage labels, such interesting matters as the genealogical tables of royal families, the changes which certain governments have undergone, lists of succession, etc. chapter vii stamps of special interest most stamps as they repose in their rows on the pages of the album look very sober, matter-of-fact, little squares of paper. some appear travel-stained, others are in the pink of condition, but all have undergone an experience--we are speaking of the used copies--which, could it be related, would make reading matter of a highly interesting nature. one specimen which lies in the album did duty, say, in the backwoods of the united states; another carried a letter across the snowfields of siberia; a third franked correspondence in the unsettled land of mexico; and a fourth brought a message from the battlefields of belgium and northern france. viewed in this light, every obliterated specimen which figures in our collection is a curiosity. there are, however, other kinds of curious stamps which are worth discussing. who, for instance, would ever dream that a stamp could cause serious disturbance among a whole race of some millions of people? yet this is what happened quite recently in india. the offending stamp was the two annas, bearing a profile portrait of king george. the trouble can be related briefly. the label showed the king attractively arrayed, and bearing a number of decorations, one of them being the elephant which denotes an indian order. unfortunately, the engraving was a trifle indistinct, and instead of the creature appearing as an elephant, as it should have done, it seemed to be an exact representation of a pig. now, the latter animal is considered a most unclean thing by all faithful mohammedans, and the people of this religious creed were not slow to suppose that somebody in power had placed the animal on the king's breast merely to insult them. had it not been for the tactful assurances made by the authorities, and the early substitution of another stamp more carefully engraved, the results would probably have been of a serious character. another curious stamp is the connell label, emanating from the colony of new brunswick. connell was the postmaster-in-chief of this british dependency. on one occasion he was requested to journey to new york to place a contract with a firm of stamp printers. what possessed him nobody knows. instead of directing that queen victoria's portrait should appear on all the stamps to be engraved, he ordered that the five cents value should bear his features, which, to be candid, were not at all attractive. in due course the stamps arrived, but the authorities, on discovering connell's audacity, issued a proclamation declaring the label to be worthless. the postmaster, so history tells us, became angry, and rather than appear before a prosecuting council retired hastily to the states. the connell stamp, needless to say, is a rare curiosity, and few copies are known to exist. it is perhaps a little doubtful, however, whether the label can be reckoned as an authentic postage stamp, seeing that its use never received official sanction. vanity seems to play an important part in the lives of people--at least, this is the testimony which many of our stamps bear out. some men like connell crave for such notoriety as a postage stamp can afford them, but there are others--crowned heads--who will not allow their features to be portrayed upon the labels of their country, lest the obliteration marks may render them grotesque. among conceited kings of recent times, king ferdinand of sicily stands out pre-eminently in the minds of philatelists. he possessed something of the connell weakness, for he evinced a keen desire to have his head portrayed upon the stamps of his little kingdom; but running counter with this desire was a strong fear lest the marks of the postal obliterator should disfigure his none too prepossessing countenance. in the end, he thought of a kind of compromise. he called in one of the best engravers of the day and commanded him to execute a fine series of adhesives bearing his profile. when the issue was ready, ferdinand provided the postal authorities with obliterating stamps, each of which consisted of a circular framework of lines, surrounding an empty space. the idea was that the lines should deface the edges of the stamp, but that the empty space should save his profile from disfigurement. what happened to his overworked officials who chanced to bring their obliterators down upon the royal countenance by mistake is too awful to contemplate! [illustration: curious stamps belgium (brussels) st. michael encountering satan stamp holding record for length of currency belgian stamp with two dominical labels stamp of king edward issued at the time of his death spanish stamps with face value of - th of a penny orange free state stamp indicating british occupation austrian stamp overprinted for use in constantinople king manoel's stamps overprinted for republican use local stamp indian stamp showing king george wearing the elephant (order of india)] not only do some stamps betray the weaknesses of individuals, but others reveal the characters of nations. let us look for a moment at the stamps of belgium. each is provided with a small label which bears the words, "not to be delivered on sunday." this label is very insignificant, and stamp collectors have seen it so often that they are apt to pass it by unnoticed. but this tiny strip of paper has a deep underlying purpose. the belgians, as a nation, are sharply divided on matters of religion into two great bodies. the roman catholic section objects to having its letters delivered on sundays, whilst the section of freethinkers can see no harm in a postal delivery on the day which we in england set apart for rest. the belgians are a tolerant race, however, and the matter has been settled by providing each stamp with what has been called a dominical label. the catholics use the label with the stamps they buy, but the freethinkers detach them. the postmen are instructed to deliver letters on sundays only when the footnote is missing from the stamps. another curious stamp is the twopenny plum colour king edward issue of great britain. who has ever heard of this adhesive? who has ever seen it? the chances are that few collectors know that such a stamp ever existed, yet a used copy figures in the collection of king george. the story relating to this stamp is as follows: in the early months of the year it was decided to change both the pattern and colour of the twopenny green and carmine. a rather attractive design was selected instead, and eventually printed in a hue which the authorities called "tyrian plum." some thousands of these labels were printed and held ready for issue, but just as they were to be placed on sale, the sad and unexpected death of king edward took place. rather than issue a new stamp after the king's demise, the whole stock was gathered together and burned. a few copies, however, were preserved for record purposes, and one at least was stuck to an envelope addressed to our present sovereign, and posted at the east strand post office. the v.r. penny black is another stamp of the home country which every philatelist should know about. it is a famous label, not because it has ever made history or fulfilled any important mission, but because people have grown to look upon it as a rare form of the ordinary penny black. in reality the v.r. stamps never attained to the dignity of a postal label, for, although intended for official use, the authorities decided at the last moment not to make the issue, and destroyed the stock. a certain number of copies leaked out, and found their way into collectors' albums, and these command a fair price. of late there has been a great increase all over the world in the picturesque type of stamp, and these have provided a fairly large crop of pictorial "inexactitudes." as an example, two adhesives of the well-known united states columbian issue may be mentioned, seeing that they have evoked many a smile among philatelists. the stamps in question are the one and the two cents values. the former portrays columbus sighting land, whilst the latter reveals the famous traveller in the act of landing. as is well known, an interval of but twenty-four hours separated the two events, yet in the first picture columbus appears clean-shaven, whilst in the latter he possesses a beard of ample and stately proportions! another interesting picture stamp of the united states is the one dollar value of the omaha issue. the stamp bears the title of "western cattle in storm," but those of us who know the canvasses of macwhirter will recognize it as a reproduction of his painting, "the vanguard." mr. f. j. melville, a noted philatelist, says in "chats on postage stamps" that the united states post office "literally cribbed" macwhirter's picture, apparently without permission or any sort of payment. many stamps possess particular interest owing to some speciality in manner of production. just now a semi-perforated adhesive is becoming popular. its upright sides are imperforated, but top and bottom the usual perforation marks are present. such specimens are manufactured in rolls--not in sheets--for special use in automatic machines. they come largely from the united states and the union of south africa, and are, of course, only available in the penny and halfpenny, or equivalent, values. these semi-perforated stamps are of undoubted interest to-day, though the time may not be far distant when they will completely oust the usual perforated type. chapter viii forged stamps stamps are forged for two purposes, first to cheat philatelists, and second to cheat the postal authorities. the former kind of trade is fairly lucrative, but in england, at any rate, the production of fictitious stamps for postal uses seldom enjoys more than a short-lived success. the forger hardly ever takes up his abode in the home country, for the pains and penalties awaiting him, when apprehended, are severe. he far prefers a continental existence, where he can work his printing-press in obscurity. his unsavoury wares, however, are made to circulate in england just as much as abroad, and the novice must be ever on his guard in consequence. some forgers possess elaborate and costly plant, and have the means of turning out labels printed quite as well as the originals. but most people in this dishonest trade are handicapped for capital, and have to rely on the cheaper processes--usually lithography--in the production of their forgeries. it is here that a knowledge of the various means of printing stamps proves so valuable to the collector. a specimen, say, of a line-engraved stamp produced by lithography immediately excites suspicion, and a close examination shows it to be an undoubted counterfeit. the watermark is another stumbling-block with the stamp faker of small means. he has no opportunity of procuring paper impressed with all the various watermarks, and so he often prints on ordinary paper, and trusts to the philatelist's ignorance or lack of examining powers. of course, the beginner is often caught by such practices, but it is really wonderful how soon a serious collector grows to know at sight the real and the unreal. an ingenious trick of the forger in a small way of business consists in transforming a common stamp into a valuable one. his work is not very arduous, and his apparatus costs but a few pence. all he needs is an aptitude for drawing, a few paints, brushes, and some chemicals. he selects, first of all, an issue where the stamps all bear an identical design and are printed in the same colour, the value, and perhaps an additional word or two, only being printed in a distinctive colour. his choice of stamp is by no means limited, for in queen victoria's time it was a favourite arrangement with many colonies for the head and ornamentation to be printed in a shade of purple and the name of the colony and the price to vary on each value. the forger takes a nice copy of the halfpenny, and cleans out the price and any features which make the stamp distinctive, by means of chemicals; then he fills in the blank areas with the particular lettering--using, of course, the correct colour--of a high-priced stamp. his work takes but a few minutes, and in this time he can transform a label worth, say, a penny into one catalogued at, perhaps, ten shillings. this form of faking is particularly dangerous, because such distinguishing marks as perforations, watermark, and quality of paper, are correct in every detail. the length to which some forgers will go is positively amazing. a few years back a case came to light where one of these rogues regularly used real stamp-paper on which to print his worthless imitations. his plan was to buy a whole sheet of low-priced unused stamps, to remove all the printing by chemical means, and then to print on the blank paper so obtained a complete sheet of high-priced stamps. of course, he had to select his paper and his stamps with care, but this was a matter simple enough. it is interesting to point out that the home authorities, seeing the possibility of such practices, have made it a rule to use one watermark for adhesives of low value and another for those of high value. what is the best way to tell whether a specimen is a forgery? this is a question often asked. the first test is the watermark, but sufficient has been said already to show that too much faith must not be placed on this detail, especially as we may add that a very respectable imitation may be produced by painting the back of the label with oil. the next point to note is the perforation. these marks must be shaped in a business-like way, and be of the correct number as indicated by the catalogues. the third point is the printing, and the fourth the colour of the ink used. lastly, the design should be compared with an identical stamp known to be genuine. beyond such simple tests as these the collector needs to exercise ordinary common sense in arriving at a conclusion. if, say, a specimen is nice and fresh, and the catalogue tells us that it is at least fifty years old, a certain amount of suspicion might not be out of place. it is not always a simple matter to know whether a stamp is a forgery or not. cases are on record where the postal authorities themselves have been unable to distinguish between the real and the unreal. some years ago the shilling value of great britain was counterfeited and used for postal purposes not once or twice, but some thousands of times, and never an atom of suspicion was excited. the case is recorded by mr. f. j. melville in his work, "chats on postage stamps," in the following words: "a romantic forgery, and one of almost colossal magnitude, was discovered in . about that time a large quantity of british one shilling stamps--those of the type in green, with large uncoloured letters in the corners--came on the market, though, as they had been used on telegram forms, they ought to have been destroyed; probably the guilty parties relied on this official practice, not always honoured in observance, as offering a security against not merely the tracing of the offence, but the discovering of the fraud itself. "anyhow, after a lapse of twenty-six years, it was found that amongst these one shilling stamps there was a large proportion of forgeries (purporting to be from plate v.), all used on july , , at the stock exchange telegraph office, london, e.c. more recent discoveries show that the fraud was continued over twelve months, and, as an indication of the precautions taken by the forgers, plate vi. (which came into use in march, ) was duly imitated, although the change of the small figures was a detail probably never noticed by members of the general public. [illustration: stamps bearing national emblems new south wales sweden switzerland belgium russia turkey mauritius italy brazil japan bosnia] "according to calculations based on the average numbers used on several days, the post office must have lost about £ a day during the period mentioned above. who were the originators and perpetrators of the fraud will probably never be known; possibly a stockbroker's clerk (or a small 'syndicate' of these gentlemen), or, more probably, a clerk in the post office itself. it was an ingenious fraud, well planned, and cleverly carried out at a minimum of risk, and but for the market for old stamps it would never have been discovered." for purposes of reference, we give below a list of the stamps which have been most frequently copied, together with hints on how to detect the forgeries. (g. = genuine; f. = forgery.) alsace and lorraine.--g., the points of the network in the background turned up; f. has them turned down. the "p" of word "postes" farther from margin in g. than f. used copies more likely to be g. than unused. belgium.--one centime, leopold, . f., yellowish paper instead of white. the word "postes" has no outline round each letter in f. obliterated specimens often f. brazil.--the early issues, with numerals in centre of filigree work often imitated. paper too thick in f. germany.--nearly all the rarer stamps have been copied; specimens should be accepted with caution. cape of good hope.--triangular issues, - . g. has knee of "hope" rounded; f., angular. if top line of knee produced to border, it cuts through the centre of the letter "s." in "postage," in g. but through letter "o" in f. cyprus.--the line-engraved great britain issue with overprint. in this case forged overprints have been added to genuine stamps. forgeries have the "c" in "cyprus" thicker than the other letters, also the "y" set higher than other letters. the extreme length from "c" to "s" is seldom accurate, as given in catalogues, in f. france.--the five francs, . f. perforated ; g. perforated - / . also f. has dots in corner of frame, not rounded as in g. mauritius.--many of the earlier issues f. nevis.--the shilling green, . in g. ink seems to stand up from paper, but flat in f. the lines on woman's arm are straight in g., but in dots in f. new south wales.--the stamps known as "sydney views" have been largely copied. the large fivepenny, sixpenny, eightpenny, and shilling often had unusually wide margins when perforated. the faker has trimmed off the tooth edges, and called the stamps the rare imperforated specimens. nova scotia.--some of the fine early issues have been lithographed in f., while the g. were engraved. states of the church.--these stamps have been largely reprinted from original dies. only stamps on original envelopes should be accepted by the novice. portugal.--many of the surcharged issues have been forged; the overprinted words being imitations. sedan.--no genuine stamps ever existed; all were spurious. sierra leone, - .--a type of stamp that is representative of many others. f. lithographed, with the delicate lines on the face as heavy as those constituting the background. united states.--early issues often had a grille--_i.e._, an embossed series of lines to prevent removal of obliteration without being noticed. f. seldom have grille. chapter ix pioneers of postage in a previous chapter we spoke of the penny black of as the first postage label to be given to the world. the reader must not suppose from this remark that the appearance of the stamp coincided with the commencement of an organized postal system in great britain. such a thing as a post was known to exist in this country as far back as the year , but not until some thirty years later were its operations extended to the public in general. across the sea, in france, the idea of letter-carrying was also developing in this period of stress and struggle. in the year when cromwell was installed as "protector," a comte de villayer was permitted to place pillar-boxes in the thoroughfares of paris and provide the inhabitants with a local postal service. villayer seems to have been greatly concerned as to the best method of collecting the postage on the letters placed in his charge until the idea of issuing a wrapper bearing some distinctive design occurred to him. these paper bands were placed on sale in a number of shops, and cost two sous apiece. each letter had to be wrapped in one of them, which villayer's men tore off prior to effecting delivery. the system is of unusual interest to philatelists, because the ornamental wrapper devised by this frenchman supplies us with the origin from which postage stamps sprang. at home the business of letter-carrying was growing with considerable rapidity, considering how troublous were these times. villayer's counterpart in london was a man named dockwra. he organized a system of depots throughout the city for receiving correspondence. people took their letters to these depots, paid the postage in actual coin, and an attendant franked the communications by means of a hand stamp. this was a device exactly similar to the obliterating stamps seen to-day on the counters of our post offices. dockwra's hand stamp bore a triangular design bearing the curious legend, "post payd, peny." we now know the history of the first stamped wrapper, the first franking stamp, and the first adhesive stamp. at this point we will speak of the first stamped envelope. the "mulready," as this pioneer envelope was called, owed its origin to sir rowland hill and his co-workers. the penny black adhesive label was considered to be too great an innovation by sir rowland's followers, and, as a sort of compromise, it was decided to issue a stamped envelope as an alternative to the penny adhesive. the two were placed on sale at the same moment, and, curiously enough, the adhesive immediately proved a tremendous success, whilst the mulready only received slight favours. this happened in spite of the fact that the authorities were confident that the stamped envelope would prove the more popular of the two. the mulready was a curious, if not weird, production. the design covered half of the face of the envelope, and consisted of britannia surrounded by people and animals treated symbolically. the paper used for the envelope bore the silk threads spoken of in an earlier chapter. the mulready deserved a better fate. all the comic papers at the time reproduced grotesque imitations of it; every wit used it disparagingly, and in all ways it became a butt for humour. perhaps the best-known caricatures of this unfortunate envelope were those produced by doyle, a boy of fifteen. though his drawings never received postal sanction, they are often sold by stamp dealers and treasured by collectors as curiosities. before leaving the mulready, we must admit that two other envelopes claim to be older than this production of sir rowland hill. the first is the special-letter cover, which was issued to members of parliament in january, , and the second, the new south wales embossed envelope of . of the former we need only say that its use was merely of a private nature, whilst of the latter our knowledge is very imperfect and hardly trustworthy. the first postcard was issued by germany in comparatively recent times; its use was suggested by dr. von stephan, a high authority in postal matters. the pioneer letter-card emanated from the kingdom of belgium, and bore a red ten centimes stamp with the head of leopold ii. having discussed the earliest forms of postal stationery, it will be interesting to examine certain of the adhesive stamps which claim notoriety on account of their positions as pioneers. the first stamp of all, as we have said before, was the penny black of great britain, but the earliest issue of foreign stamps (_i.e._, omitting those of great britain) dates from the year , and came from brazil. the labels are not attractive in appearance; they are large, and bear large numerals surrounded by a circular background of filigree work. they have been nicknamed, not inappropriately, the bull's eye stamps of brazil. the stamps remained in currency but one year, and are, therefore, rare. it is rather curious to think that brazil--a republic not usually associated with progressive measures--should have been, with great britain, the only country to issue stamps for nine whole years after their introduction. in short, no other government issued adhesives until the january of . on the first of that month, however, both belgium and france provided stamps for the convenience of their people. the belgian stamp consisted of two varieties--the ten centimes, dark brown, and the twenty centimes, blue, both bearing a head and shoulder engraving of leopold i. in france one label was issued; it bore the value of ten centimes, in dark brown, and was ornamented with the head of ceres. these three specimens were, therefore, the first adhesives to receive recognition on the continent. it is pleasing to note how brazil, belgium, and france, all imitated great britain in the colour and values of their first issues; it is also an interesting coincidence that the earliest labels of all these countries, great britain included, were extremely short-lived. the first colonial stamps were the two mauritius "line-engravings," which were described at length in the chapter dealing with rare specimens. the first picture stamp is often taken to be the large congo adhesive bearing a view of the port of matadi, whilst sometimes pride of place is awarded to the columbus ship stamp of the argentine republic. in reality neither of these can claim the honour of being the forerunner of our picture issues, an honour which rightly belongs to the early "sydney views" of new south wales. these latter stamps are extremely scarce, and change ownership for from £ to £ a copy. turning now to the stamps of our mother country, the penny black may be again mentioned as being the first adhesive to bear the head of queen victoria. king edward was first revealed to us philatelically by the halfpenny, penny, twopence-halfpenny, and sixpenny values of great britain--these four stamps being issued on the same day, january , . king george's earliest stamp was the twopence-halfpenny label issued by the union of south africa. chapter x commemorative stamps in recent times it has become fashionable, in certain countries, to celebrate national events by means of special issues of stamps. the idea is a very acceptable one so long as it is not abused. unfortunately, however, we must say that many countries do abuse this interesting way of commemorating their historic achievements. the consolidation of an empire, the discovery of a continent, the centenary of a great victory, are all matters of history which we are glad to see recorded in the pages of the stamp album; but when a series of labels is issued to acquaint the world of the death of an unheard-of poet, or the erection of an obscure post office, then we can only surmise that the stamps were printed more for philatelic than postal purposes. [illustration: noted statesmen of u.s.a. washington franklin zachary taylor franklin grant jackson lincoln washington jefferson webster washington] commemorative stamps coming from most european countries, also the british colonies, may usually be accepted for collecting purposes, but those which hail from one or other of the south american republics should be purchased with caution. some of these governments simply cast around for events to celebrate, hoping that each new issue will help to swell the national exchequer in no little measure. probably the first celebration issue of any country was the penny envelope of great britain, bearing a blue stamp, which appeared on july , . the occasion was the jubilee of the "uniform penny postage," an event which was celebrated by a festival held in the south kensington museum. the envelope is undoubtedly attractive. beyond the familiar profile portrait of queen victoria, and an artistic rendering of her coat of arms, it bears a picture of the north mail coach making for highgate in at eight miles an hour. in contrast to this antiquated method of locomotion we are also shown the north mail railway express approaching carlisle at forty-eight miles an hour. two other figures, one a letter-carrier of , and the other a postman of , complete the ornamentation. this envelope, and a correspondence-card enclosed within it, which appropriately bears a portrait of sir rowland hill, was sold by post offices on the one day only for sixpence. though it is a curiosity worth obtaining, there is little demand for it, and dealers are glad to supply copies even now at the original price. among the stamps of our colonies, those of newfoundland have always been attractive; but probably the set which was issued to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of the discovery of the island by jean cabot is the most interesting of all. cabot, it will be remembered, though born in genoa, settled in bristol as a merchant. in he was commissioned by henry vii. to search for undiscovered lands. he set out with two small ships, and sighted first newfoundland, then cape breton isle, and afterwards nova scotia. in he died. from newfoundland to canada is not a great distance. to this british dominion we are indebted for two fine commemorative sets. the first, that of , was issued in honour of queen victoria's diamond jubilee, and the second to celebrate the tercentenary of the founding of quebec. this town, on the st. lawrence river, owes its origin to jacques cartier, a frenchman born at st. malo. cartier sailed from his native port in accompanied by two small vessels of twenty tons apiece. he landed on the gaspé shores and claimed the territory for french sovereignty. his stay was of short duration, for we read that in he again set out from st. malo, and this time sailed up the mouth of the st. lawrence and landed at a little native settlement, which afterwards received the name of quebec. (_kebek_ is the indian for "the rock.") we are bound to state that little came of cartier's exploits, for not until champlain visited the district many years later, with the dual purpose of spreading christianity and opening up commerce, did the french settlement prosper. the pictures on the stamps are of interest. the cent portrays both cartier and champlain; the cents gives a picture of the latter's house; the cents introduces montcalm and wolfe; the cents reveals quebec in ; the cents depicts champlain's departure for the interior, then an almost unknown world; whilst the cents is inscribed "cartier's arrival before quebec." another set of commemorative stamps comes from barbados, its object being to celebrate the heroic exploits of nelson--the battle of trafalgar in particular. the tragedy which was enacted on board the _victory_, almost, if we may so express it, at the moment of victory, the mournful journey to england, the lying-in-state at greenwich, and the funeral in st. paul's cathedral, are all too well known to need description; but it is less well known that horatio nelson spent many of his early years of seamanship in the west indies, and particularly in and around the barbados. it is on this account that a fine monument has been erected to his memory in this colony, and a set of stamps was issued to mark the unveiling. australasia has not given us many celebration stamps, but those which have come from the antipodes are extremely interesting. what could be more stirring than the design on the three-halfpenny khaki stamp of new zealand? it was issued to mark the departure of troops on their way to the fighting-line in south africa. another interesting set of stamps was provided some twenty years ago by new south wales to remind the world that it had been a colony for just over a century. one of the values bears a portrait of captain cook, who discovered the colony in ; whilst another reveals, appropriately enough, the features of captain arthur phillips, the founder of the first convict settlement on these australian shores. up till the time of phillips our prisoners had been banished to america, but after the war, which gained for the new england states their independence, this outlet was closed to our exiles, and fresh fields were found in new south wales. probably no event in history has received more attention on the part of stamp producers than the discoveries of columbus. the argentine republic was, we believe, the first country to honour the memory of this intrepid explorer by the issue of postal labels, but to the united states must be awarded the credit of issuing the finest set of columbian stamps. this series of postal adhesives is probably one of the grandest collections of historical stamps that has ever been produced, and, fortunately, the lower values are cheap, and easily obtained. other commemorative stamps of the united states have been issued--namely, the omaha, the pan-american, the buffalo, and the panama exhibition stamps; but though some of them are exceedingly attractive in design, none of them can compare with the columbus issue in point of interest. another intrepid explorer to receive recognition by means of an issue of stamps was vasco da gama. to mention his name recalls to mind the wonderful and perilous journey which he was the first to make around the southern point of africa, and thence to india. vasco was fortunate in living in portugal at a time when this kingdom was at the height of its fame and prosperity. financed by the then king, manoel, he left lisbon on july , , with four vessels manned by men. he took four long months to reach the island of st. helena, and whilst rounding the cape the trials of this brave band of men were terrible in the extreme. calicut, in india, was reached on may , , and after a short and none too pleasant stay among the unfriendly natives, a start for home was made. on returning to portugal vasco da gama received a tremendous ovation from the king and the people. the portuguese stamps issued in to celebrate the fourth centenary of the discovery of the route to india bear very attractive pictures. three events of interest have given rise to special stamps in italy: (_a_) the fiftieth anniversary of the freedom of sicily; (_b_) the jubilee of the kingdom of italy; and (_c_) the festivities to commemorate the completion of the venice campanile. to appreciate the meaning of the first two events, we must remember that the present kingdom of italy was, less than sixty years ago, a number of little states, each contending against its neighbour. sicily, one of the conflicting areas, was ruled by ferdinand ii. of spain, a man noted for the harsh and tyrannical rule which he inflicted on his subjects. in answer to an appeal from the men of sicily, garibaldi sailed from genoa with , followers, landed at marsala on may , , and took palermo soon afterwards. the people were jubilant at his success, and ferdinand was quickly deposed. sicily joined sardinia, and victor emmanuel reigned over the two territories. in the same year, central italy, southern italy, the papal states, and naples, all joined the kingdom of emmanuel and, in february, , the first parliament of all the italian states was held at turin. it was this event that was celebrated by the italian jubilee stamps. the third event which the italian stamps commemorated was the completion of the new campanile in venice. the old monument collapsed on the square of st. mark's some ten years ago, and a new erection of similar design to the original one has been built in its place. a very attractive series of stamps was placed on sale throughout austria in to commemorate the sixtieth year of the reign of franz joseph i. the labels are particularly interesting, as they reveal to us many austrian rulers about whom our history books have much to say. they are as follows: heller: karl vi. best known, perhaps, as the father of maria theresa. heller: maria theresa. heller: joseph ii. a great reformer, but a very harsh ruler. , , , , and heller: franz joseph i. heller: leopold ii. brother and successor to joseph ii. pacified the netherlands and hungary which his elder brother had inflamed. heller: franz i. assisted napoléon in his campaign against russia, and later joined with other countries to break napoleon's power. heller: ferdinand. was persuaded to abdicate in favour of franz joseph, as he was too weak to rule in such troublous times. the last commemorative stamps of which we shall speak were issued in by russia to honour the house of romanoff. the adhesives are printed in attractive colours, with bold designs, indicative of russian art. the heads revealed to us in this striking portrait-gallery are those of nicholas ii., peter i., alexander ii., alexander iii., peter ii., katherine ii., nicholas i., alexander i., alexei michaelovitch, paul i., elizabeth and michael feodorovitch. many other celebration stamps have appeared from time to time in various countries; notice of them may be found in any postage stamp catalogue. chapter xi interesting picture stamps that the picture stamps reposing in our collections are highly instructive as well as interesting needs little argument. we can sit in an armchair and learn the geography of half the world by means of the stamps bearing maps; we may wander, mentally, as far as the antipodes, thanks to the stamps bearing views; we may learn about the birds of the air and the beasts of the forests from the stamps bearing animals. matters of architecture, heraldry, local customs, mythology, and history, are other subjects which we may become acquainted with from our postage adhesives. perhaps the most interesting labels are those which portray the natural wonders of the wide-world. let us turn first of all to the specimens from new zealand. what delightful views the stamps give of mount cook, lake wakatipu, mount ruapehu, lake taupo, the pink terrace of rotomahana and milford sound--names which to many of us are mere places mentioned in dry geography manuals, but here revealed in all their glory! from new zealand let us wander to tasmania. on these pages of our album we find interesting pictures of lake marion, mount wellington, the town of hobart, russell falls, lake st. clair, and the waterfalls of dilston. [illustration: some view stamps lake taupo and mount ruapehu mount wellington llandovery falls table bay and mountains sydney harbour view of deboj a view in costa rica pass of narenta a turkish view] curious though it may seem, waterfalls are favourite subjects for stamp ornamentation. we have niagara on the cents united states value of ; the llandovery falls on the d. , jamaica; the kaieteur falls on the cents of british guiana; the stanley falls and the inkissi falls on the congo issue; also the victoria falls on the issue of british south africa. were we to place these picture stamps and others representing similar subjects side by side on a page by themselves in our collection, we should have quite a fine array of the world's most noted waterfalls. perhaps next to waterfalls, mountain views claim most popularity on postage labels. besides those mentioned already, we have mount kini balou on the cents , north borneo; table mountain on the d. , cape of good hope; the leon mountains on various nicaraguan issues; popocatepetl on the peso , mexico; mount konaluanui on the cent , hawaii, and others. historic buildings are, as one would expect, frequently represented in our collections. a most interesting stamp is the chinese label bearing a view of the temple of heaven, a sacred edifice erected to the memory of confucius, to which the emperor repairs periodically and prays for the favour of heaven. the kremlin and winter palace, both well-known russian buildings, figure on the stamps of the tsar. the grecian adhesives reveal pictures of the acropolis, including the parthenon and stadium; the egyptian adhesives show a sphinx and the pyramids; a dominican adhesive bears a picture representing the mausoleum of columbus; whilst a recent issue from turkey, celebrating the recapture of adrianople, bears a fine view of the mosque of selim. of curious things our stamps provide us in plenty. a newfoundland adhesive shows an iceberg; a toga stamp, a breadfruit-tree; a tasmanian stamp, tasman's arch; a kedah stamp, a sheaf of rice; a north borneo stamp, a sago palm; a columbian stamp, an american execution; a bahamas stamp, a staircase; another toga stamp, a prehistoric trilith; a canadian stamp, a map of the british possessions; a roumanian stamp, a picture of the queen nursing a wounded soldier; a portuguese stamp, the vision of st. anthony; a liberian stamp, a coffee plantation; a united states stamp, an aeroplane; and a peruvian stamp, a suspension bridge. the toga trilith, it may be well to explain, is an erection composed of three large blocks of stone placed together like door-posts and a lintel, and standing by themselves. it may be compared with the monuments at stonehenge, or the druidical monoliths to be seen at carnac, in brittany. if mythology be of interest, the stamps of greece will prove attractive. this country offers some capital pictures of gladiators, disc-throwers, wrestlers; of hermes, apollo, atlas, iris, pallas athene; of ancient chariots, vases; as well as tableaux representing such incidents as "atlas offering the apples of hesperides to hercules," and "the struggle between hercules and antæus." ships, some noted and others merely curious, figure on many labels. we have an atlantic schooner on a newfoundland stamp; a native canoe on a papuan stamp; a nile steamboat on an egyptian stamp; a dhow on a borneo stamp; the flagship of columbus on a grenada stamp; cabot's ship, the _matthew_, leaving the avon, and guy's ship, the _endeavour_, on newfoundland stamps; and the _hohenzollern_, the german emperor's yacht, on the unattractive stamps of the german colonies. of animals there are far too many for individual mention, but the following are some of those depicted in our "philatelic zoo": a kangaroo, zebra, dromedary, camel, platypus, elephant, hippopotamus, lizard, giraffe, dog, gnu, codfish, springbok, seal, egret, parrot, wryneck, emu, lyre bird, ptarmigan, chimpanzee, boar, rhinoceros, honey bear, ourang-outang, stag, argus pheasant, panther, crocodile, and kiwi. some entire issues of stamps are particularly interesting if they be considered solely from the pictorial standpoint. probably the bosnian issue of is the finest in this matter. the scenes represented in this attractive collection are-- heller: view of deboj. heller: view of mostar. heller: plima tower at jaice. heller: pass of narenta, with view of the prenj. heller: ramatae. heller: road in the valley of vrba. heller: old bridge at mostar. heller: sarajevo. heller: animal carrying letters on passes. heller: pavilion at jezero. heller: mail waggon with horses. heller: market at sarajevo. heller: mail motor-waggon. kreutzer: the carsija at sarajevo. kreutzer: the lucas tower at jaice. sarajevo, it will be remembered, was the scene of the assassination of the austrian archduke, in , whilst other places shown in the above pictures have come to our notice through the despatches bearing on the great european war. how can we make the most of all these interesting and beautiful picture stamps? quite a good plan is to build up a collection devoted to these attractive labels alone, arranging them not according to their countries, but according to the subject represented by them. for instance, there are sufficient stamps portraying animals to permit of a zoological section, arranged in scientific groups--mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. of course, a good deal of written explanations should be provided with each adhesive. the greek stamp representing atlas might be followed by a brief account of the arduous duties imposed upon this unfortunate hero; the toga stamp with the trilith might be accompanied by the short note given a few paragraphs above; whilst the stamps bearing geographical features might have little sketch-maps placed underneath them so that their exact positions may be learnt. if this plan be followed, the picture stamps will become extremely fascinating, and our store of general knowledge enhanced considerably. chapter xii stamps and history what a wealth of history is recalled by a glance through the pages of our stamp albums! the romantic changes which france has undergone, the efforts made by germany for securing a wider empire, the ups and downs of spain, the gradual growth of italy, and a hundred other indications of progress and decay are all reflected therein. let us take, first of all, the case of germany. in the earliest years we find stamps issued by a multitude of little states--_i.e._, baden, bavaria, bergedorf, brunswick, hanover, mecklenburg-schwerin, odenburg, prussia, saxony, etc.--whilst the towns of hamburg, bremen, and lubeck also had individual postal rights of their own. the first step of consolidation came on january , , when most of the above authorities joined what was called the north german confederation, and nearly all of the separate units ceased to issue stamps. the confederation adhesives were current from to --that is, until the german empire sprang into being. when the franco-german war of - placed the provinces of alsace and lorraine under prussian rule, special german stamps were sold in the captured territory. as they bore values in centimes, they were withdrawn as soon as "groschens" and "kreuzers" became generally current. a less important instance of prussian absorption occurred on august , , when the labels of heligoland bearing a portrait of queen victoria were replaced by the regular german stamps. further teutonic progress is made evident by the numerous colonial issues which this kingdom has placed on sale since . lastly, may be mentioned the adhesives bearing the familiar effigy of "germania," overprinted for use in belgium. the stamps of spain are also interesting. the first issue (january , ) bore very crude portraits of the unscrupulous queen isabella ii. various sets, all of them highly inartistic, were issued between and . in the latter year a revolution occurred, and the queen was deposed, a republic being instituted instead of the monarchy. isabella's stamps were temporarily overprinted with the words "habilitado por la nacion," and when the stock was exhausted, a new design, bearing an allegorical head typifying liberty and spain, became current. the republic did not last long, for the claims to the throne of the duke of aosta were considered well founded, and he was crowned king in . amadeus, as he was called, figured on the stamps for a brief twelve months. these were stormy times. unable to cope with them, he abdicated, and the republic was reinstated, the new stamps bearing first an allegorical figure of peace and then of justice. but even the representative government was short-lived. the people once more turned to the house of bourbon, and alfonso xii. became king. he reigned ten years, and was then succeeded by his son, alfonso xiii., the present ruling sovereign. the italian adhesives are no less interesting. we have already indicated the manner in which modena, naples, parma, romagna, the roman states, sicily, tuscany, and sardinia joined together to form the kingdom of italy, and elected the king of sardinia to be the new sovereign. this latter was victor emmanuel ii. he was succeeded by his son, humbert i., who fell by the assassin's hand whilst riding on the outskirts of milan in . the present king, a fine example of soldier and statesman, is victor emmanuel iii. probably no stamps reveal greater matters of historical importance than those of our neighbour, france. when adhesives were first issued by this country a republic was in power, and so an allegorical head, that of ceres, embellished the new labels. in louis napoléon became president of the republic, and, being a man who loved notoriety, he placed his bust upon the ten and twenty-five centimes values. later on, as is known to all, he became napoléon iii.,[ ] emperor of the french, and the wording on the adhesives was changed from repub. franc. to empire franc. later on, in , to mark the successes which the french won over the austrians, the head of napoléon was encircled in a laurel crown. the final stage was reached in october, , when the germans gained an almost crushing victory over the french. as a result, the empire fell, and a republic once more ruled over the country. the head of the emperor was removed from the stamps, and ceres again appeared upon them. thus the adhesives of france plainly indicate the changing course taken by the government of our neighbour across the channel. [ ] as there was no napoléon ii., readers may wonder why the above monarch received the title of napoléon iii. the reason is a highly amusing one. the draft of the proclamation issued by the government announcing his ascendancy to the throne commenced with the following words: "vive napolÃ�on!!!" the printer took the three exclamation marks to be the figures iii, and his press accordingly reproduced the mistake some thousands of times over. before the error was discovered, paris and the other great towns had been placarded with the incorrect imprints. there was no time to lose, so the emperor, much to the amusement of his courtiers, agreed to take the title of napoléon iii. [illustration: zoological stamps dromedary quetzal springbok and gnu kangaroo tiger emu giraffe panther malay stag anteater swan] if we turn to the stamps of portugal, a most interesting array of monarchs will be revealed. queen maria figures upon the earliest stamps, but after two years of currency her portrait gave place to that of king pedro v., which in turn was followed by a representation of king luiz. in king carlos ascended the throne, and his effigy was given on the issues of and . the assassination of carlos and his elder son, which shocked the whole world, resulted in the appearance of king manoel's features upon the stamps printed between and . the events which marred his short and stormy reign are known to all, and in he took up his abode in england. afterwards a republic sprang up, and the present adhesives bear the imprint of liberty. if we leave europe and examine the stamps of the remaining four continents, many other events of great historical bearing will be revealed. the labels of the transvaal, for instance, tell of two british occupations and two republics; the egyptian labels show turkish influence followed by a british protectorate; the early united states labels hint at the war which was waged to put down slavery; whilst the cuban labels indicate spanish occupation, followed first by the protection of the united states, and then by the creation of an independent republic. the adhesives of the central and south american republics are worthy of special note, as they point to insurrections, wars, provisional governments, and troublous times in general. but no matter where we turn in our albums, interesting landmarks of the world's history will be revealed by our treasured labels. chapter xiii war stamps among the most interesting stamps which figure in our collections are those which owe their origin to the stern necessities of war. stamps which fall into this division are of two main classes: those needed for the use of troops fighting outside their own territory, and those called into being by the subjugation of the enemy's country. the great war of europe, as the conflict of - has been called, has naturally provided many additions to the list of war stamps. . germany has overprinted its own labels with the word "belgien," and these are of some rarity when in a used condition. . many of the german colonial issues have been overprinted with words suggesting british or french occupation. we have, for instance, the togo yacht stamps bearing the inscription "anglo-french occupation," and the samoa yacht labels stamped with the letters "g.r.i." [illustration: some hapsburg portraits karl vi franz josef i in ferdinand maria theresa leopold ii franz josef in joseph ii franz i franz josef in ] . in cases where the german colonial issues have run short in the conquered settlements we find that labels of british or french origin have been pressed into service--for instance, new zealand stamps have been overprinted for use in samoa. all these classes of war labels permit of many interesting varieties, but, whenever possible, used specimens should be preferred to those which have not passed through the post. we make this statement because certain belligerent countries endeavoured to replenish their exchequers by the sale, to philatelists, of uncancelled copies. the stamps used by troops who are fighting outside their own territory are probably the most valuable of war labels. the british expeditionary force in france and belgium was at the outset provided with ordinary english postal adhesives. these adhesives, when bearing such postmarks as "army base post office, france," or the ordinary cancel marks of ostend, boulogne, paris, etc., are extremely valuable. when the british stamps ran short, letters were franked by postmarks alone, and these are well worth collecting. the circular and rectangular marks bearing the word "passed by censor" are also interesting. communications coming from the fleet bear cancel marks formed by a number of concentric rings. the varieties of this postal mark should be prized. in all cases the complete envelope or card must be placed in the collection intact, and not just the cut-out postmark. probably the most carefully planned army postal service is that possessed by our indian troops. adhesive stamps are generally used on correspondence, the ordinary indian issues, overprinted with the letters i.e.f. being employed. from a field service manual[ ] on "posts and telegraphs," we have been able to glean a few details respecting the organization and establishment of the indian military post offices. in times of peace a stock of tents and equipment, sufficient for the supply of three base post offices, fifty first-class field post offices, ten second-class field post offices, and for the supervising staff, is kept in store at lahore in the charge of the postal department of the punjab. [ ] quoted from _stamp collecting_, december , . on the outbreak of war the military postal service is organized by the director-general of posts and telegraphs in india according to the requirements of the army authorities. the supervising staff is selected by him from a roll of european volunteers for such service maintained in his office, the full war establishment consisting of six directors or deputy directors, eighteen assistant directors, twenty-four inspectors, and fifty postmasters. the rest of the establishment is selected by the postmaster-general of the punjab. one director or deputy director, two assistant directors, and four inspectors constitute the normal postal personnel of an expeditionary force. they wear the ordinary field service uniform of the indian army according to their respective ranks, distinguished by the word "post" on the shoulder straps. [illustration: stamps from the "great war" zone russia union of south africa prussia belgium france bavaria montenegro luxembourg austria great britain portugal turkey egypt servia] the following extracts from the indian army order, no. , dated november , , are of interest: " . the director or deputy director, or, in his absence, the postmaster-general under whose orders he is to work, should, on receipt of the first intimation that a force is to be mobilized, take the earliest opportunity to consult the general officer appointed to command the force as to the postal requirements of the force in respect of the number of field post offices, the classes of postal business to be undertaken, the establishment to be provided, etc. as far as possible, the wishes of the general officer commanding should be carried out. " . the director-general will arrange that the treasury nearest to the base office is supplied with about ten times its normal supply of ordinary postage stamps (including postcards and envelopes), and that a sufficient stock is maintained throughout the campaign. the base post office should thus be in a position to supply at once the postage stamps required in field post offices. if there is no treasury at hand, a sufficient supply of postage stamps of all descriptions must be kept at the base post office. the base post office will be supplied with an iron safe, or two, if necessary. " . the requisite stamps, scales, bags, and other articles of stock sufficient for six months' requirements, will be furnished to the base post office for its own use, and for distribution, under the orders of the director or deputy director, to field post offices. section b shows the books, forms, stamps, etc., required for field post offices. all books, forms, and articles of stock should be packed in the prescribed mule trunks, each of which, when packed, should not exceed one maund in weight. the books, forms, and stamps required by the base post office will be the same as those used by a head office in india performing the same classes of business; but in addition to the ordinary stamps it will be supplied with a special 'postage cancelled' stamp." another form of war stamp is the charity stamps; these have been issued by various countries in order to collect money for red cross and other funds. the labels serve for ordinary postal work, but as a rule cost a halfpenny or penny above face value. a charge of three-halfpence, for instance, is made for a penny stamp, a penny of the sum being appropriated by the postal authorities, and a halfpenny being remitted to the red cross fund. so far, france, monaco, belgium, russia, austria, and hungary have printed charity labels, and other countries have such issues in contemplation. it may be mentioned that various bogus charity stamps appearing to emanate from belgium have reached this country from holland and elsewhere; all such labels, therefore, should be accepted with caution. war stamps date back, at least, to the time of the crimea. in this campaign the british forces instituted a military post office at constantinople with branch offices at balaclava and scutari. no special stamps were given to the soldiers, the current british penny reds being used. the postmarks, however, were distinctive, and it is therefore possible to distinguish between the red labels used in the ordinary way at home and those used by the expeditionary force. the distinctive postmarks were: . a crown placed between two stars, with straight bars above and below, the whole forming an oval. . a star placed between two noughts; then as no. . as few people know of this rare and interesting form of obliteration, it is quite possible to come across specimens when buying the penny reds in quantities for reconstructing plates. other war stamps are--( ) the alsace and lorraine issue, which was printed primarily for military use during the franco-german campaign; ( ) the overprinted issues of peru, used during the occupation of this republic by chilian forces; ( ) the egyptian issue overprinted with the word "soudan," at the time when lord kitchener was carrying on the soudan campaign; ( ) the v.r.i. issues of the transvaal; ( ) the italian issues bearing the overprint "lybia," current during the italian-turkish war; and ( ) the many issues which resulted from the balkan war of . before concluding this chapter, it may be well to speak of the spanish stamps of - , and - , which bear the inscription, "impuesto de guerra." these labels were not war stamps in the ordinary sense, but stamps issued to collect a war-tax. after the carlist war, the insurrection of cartagena, the civil war in cuba, and the spanish-american war, the government decided to impose a war-tax upon a number of articles, such as letters, telegrams, theatre tickets and railway tickets. the stamps bearing the above inscription were therefore issued to facilitate the collection of these taxes. when the used copies have done postal duty they may be looked upon as postage stamps, but collectors should avoid purchasing specimens which served for theatre, railway, and the various other uses. chapter xiv some famous collections the ardent philatelist is not only interested in his own collection, but is ever keen on inspecting those of other people. a great treat, therefore, for the reader who lives in london, or who is staying in the great metropolis, is a visit to the british museum, where the famous tapling collection is stored. to find one's way about the vast treasure-house in bloomsbury is no easy matter, but the stamp exhibits will be quickly located if the visitor, on entering, takes the first public turning to the right and then the first on the left. the cases are placed about half-way down the king's library, on the right-hand side. [illustration: stamps coming from countries which no longer have separate issues victoria cape of good hope heligoland states of the church natal new south wales south australia south african republic queensland] the collection is housed in three separate cupboards, and the stamps are arranged under glass in frames. it may be well to add that the position is not a very good one from the point of view of lighting, and, unless the visitor goes during the brightest part of the day, he will lose much of the enjoyment on this account. it is difficult to say which are the most interesting specimens in the collection, for nearly all the great rarities are present. the issues of great britain, however, are very complete, and should, therefore, be examined with care. not only are there copies of the "penny blacks" and "twopenny blues," sufficient to delight the heart of any very advanced collector, but there are also copies of the most valuable early surface-printed specimens. some of the essays--_i.e._, stamps made for purposes of trial--are extremely interesting. these issues, naturally, do not fall into the ordinary collector's possession, but here they are to be inspected in hundreds. there are, for instance, about twenty-five essays, in different colours, of the penny with queen victoria's head, which was issued in lilac. there are also countless specimens of the complete issue in various shades from crimson to blue, whilst the tenpenny value of is shown in half a dozen different combinations of colour. a very curious essay to be seen here is a penny line-engraved stamp bearing a profile of prince consort. apparently, this tentative label never received official sanction, as the people of great britain might have considered the innovation a slight to the queen they loved. among the entires of great britain there are many long-forgotten treasures, such as the penny-farthing postcard, the twopenny card, and the south kensington jubilee cards. of colonial stamps there are some particularly complete sets of early issues. the "sydney views" of new south wales are shown in whole panes of twenty-five, the triangular capes are given in numbers, whilst the array of early mauritius adhesives is not to be surpassed. the postcards of ceylon are also worthy of mention. it should be pointed out that some of the greatest rarities have been removed from the ordinary cases and placed in the cracherode room, where, however, they can still be viewed at leisure. the whole collection is said to be worth £ , , was bequeathed to the trustees of the museum by the late mr. t. k. tapling, m.p., and has been in their hands since . no stamps have been added to the collection since it came into the trustees' possession, so that specimens of a later date are conspicuous by their absence. another fine collection of stamps is possessed by the postal authorities in newgate street, but, unfortunately, no facilities are given for public inspection. the labels in this collection are in an unused condition, and consist largely of the specimens which are sent out by every country belonging to the universal postal union. this collection also contains a number of trial and "imprimatur" sheets of british stamps. [illustration: commemorative stamps u.s.a.: columbus issue u.s.a.: columbus issue canada: queen victoria's diamond jubilee canada: penny postage to colonies roumania: twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the kingdom portuguese india: vasco da gama celebration switzerland: jubilee of postal union u.s.a.: jamestown exhibition issue italy: fiftieth year of kingdom] king george's collection is probably one of the most interesting in the world. it is a private collection, and therefore not on view; but sections of it, however, have been exhibited from time to time. mr. f. j. melville, who is well acquainted with its contents, tells us in "chats on postage stamps" (p. ) that-- "the collection contains the original sketch of w. mulready, r.a., for the famous envelopes and letter-sheets of , to which reference has been made. then there is the historic pair of sketches in water-colours, roughly executed by sir rowland hill to show the approximate appearance of the penny stamp in black and the twopenny stamp in blue. "all the victorian surface-printed series are shown imperforate, including the d., with reticulated background; d., plate ("dot"); d., in lake, watermarked "small garter"; d., plate on safety paper, and plate with hair-lines; d., plate , with hair-lines, and plate ; d., plate ; s., plate on safety paper; plate with hair-lines, in an unissued colour--lilac; s., plate ; s., £ , and £ , on blue paper. "of the ordinary stamps of king edward's reign, the royal collection contains several essays and proofs of great interest. a photograph of a stamp made up from herr füchs's original sketch of king edward's head, enclosed in the newly designed frame and border, deservedly comes first, and bears the late king's written approval: from this, temporary copper-plates were engraved so that the effect might be noted, and three proofs therefrom are included. unfortunately, the final result did not come up to the anticipated standard, and there was some talk about having a fresh design prepared after the style of the then new transvaal stamps, but this fell through on the ground of expense; proofs of this also are in the collection, together with various colour-trials of the penny value, as adopted." the king's collection also contains specimens of--(_a_) the unissued tyrian-plum twopenny, great britain; (_b_) mauritius penny red, post office; (_c_) british guiana, many of the - issues; (_d_) some very fine stamps of nevis, hongkong, grenada, trinidad, and bermuda. other famous collectors. monsieur la rénotière, of paris. the late lord crawford. mr. henry duveen. king manoel of portugal. the late judge philbrick. earl of kintore. mr. henry j. crocker, of san francisco. billing and sons, ltd., printers, guildford, england beautiful books for young people many with full-page illustrations in colour others fully illustrated in black and white price / each black's "pictures of many lands" series and other similar books crown to., paper boards, cloth back, with picture in colour on the cover, each containing illustrations, of which are in colour. =the children's world= =the world in pictures= =the british isles in pictures= =the british empire in pictures= =europe in pictures= =how other people live= =beasts and birds= =gardens in their seasons= =pictures of british history= =more pictures of british history= =pictures of famous travel.= _note.--these volumes are also to be had in cloth at = s.= each._ large crown vo., cloth, with frontispiece. =eric; or, little by little= =st. winifred's; or, the world of school= =julian home: a tale of college life= =scott's waverley novels.= _see also list at the end of this catalogue._ price / net each red cap tales from scott large crown vo., cloth, each containing full page illustrations in colour. =waverley= =guy mannering= =rob roy= =the pirate, and a legend of montrose= =the antiquary= =ivanhoe= =fortunes of nigel= =quentin durward= =how to use the microscope.= a guide for the novice. containing full-page illustrations from photo-micrographs, etc. =life and legends of other lands: norse and lapp= containing full-page illustrations in colour. published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price / net each (_continued_) large crown vo., cloth, with picture in colour on the cover. peeps at many lands and cities each containing full-page illustrations in colour. =australia= =belgium= =berlin= =british north borneo= =burma= =canada= =ceylon= *=china= =corsica= =cuba= =delhi and the durbar= =denmark= =edinburgh= *=egypt= =egypt, ancient= =england= =finland= =florence= =france= =germany= =greece= =holland= =holy land= =hungary= =iceland= *=india= =ireland= =italy= =jamaica= *=japan= =java= =kashmir= =korea= =london= =montenegro= *=morocco= =newfoundland= =new york= =new zealand= =norway= =panama= =paris= =portugal= =rome= *=russia= *=scotland= *=siam= =south africa= =south seas= *=spain= =sweden= *=switzerland= =turkey= =wales= *_also to be had in french at _= s.= _net each. see "les beaux voyages" series. for larger series of "peeps at many lands and cities," see list of _= s. d. net= _books._ peeps at nature each containing full-page illustrations, of them in colour. =bird life of the seasons= =british butterflies= =british ferns, club-mosses, and horsetails= =british land mammals= =common british moths= =natural history of the garden= =the naturalist at the sea-shore= =pond life= =british reptiles and amphibians= =romance of the rocks= =wild flowers and their wonderful ways= =common british beetles= peeps at history each containing full-page illustrations in colour, and line drawings in the text. =america= =the barbary rovers= =canada= =france= =germany= =holland= =india= =japan= =scotland= peeps at great railways =great western railway= =london and north-western railway= =north-eastern and great northern railways= (in volume) =south-eastern and chatham and london, brighton and south coast railways= (in volume) peeps at industries each containing full-page illustrations from photographs. =rubber= =sugar= =tea= other "peeps" volumes =peeps at the heavens= =peeps at architecture= =peeps at heraldry= =peeps at great men: sir walter scott= =peeps at royal palaces of great britain= =peeps at the royal navy= =peeps at great steamship lines: the p. and o.= "homes of many lands" series =india.= containing full-page illustrations in colour. published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price / net each (_continued_) beautiful britain large square demy vo., bound in cloth, each containing full-page illustrations in colour. =abbotsford= =cambridge= =canterbury= =channel islands= =english lakes= =firth of clyde= =girton college= =isle of arran= =isle of man= =isle of wight= =killarney= =london= =oxford= =peak country= =stratford-on-avon= leamington & warwick =thames= =trossachs= =north wales= =wessex= =westminster abbey= =windsor and eton= price /= net each les beaux voyages (a series of "peeps at many lands" in french) large crown vo., cloth, each containing full-page illustrations colour and a sketch-map. =algerie= =alsace= =chine= =ecosse= =egypte= =espagne= =indes= =indo-chine= =japon= =maroc= =russie= =tunisie= price /= each =scott's waverley novels.= _see also list at the end of this catalogue._ ="pictures of many lands" series.= _see list on page of this catalogue._ price / net each containing full-page illustrations from photographs. =what the other children do= bibliothÃ�que rouge en couleurs beautiful books in french for young people large crown vo., cloth, each containing full-page illustrations in colour. =les contes de ma grand'mère= =Ã�ric= published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price / each large crown vo., illustrated. =stories of old.= (_small crown to._) =eric; or, little by little= =st. winifred's; or, the world of school= =julian home: a tale of college life= =stories from waverley.= _ nd series._ =scott's waverley novels.= _see also list at the end of this catalogue._ price / net each peeps at many lands and cities _larger volumes in the style of the popular one shilling and sixpenny net "peeps at many lands and cities" series._ each containing full-page illustrations in colour. =the world= =the british empire= =the gorgeous east (india, burma, ceylon, and siam)= =the far east (china, japan, and korea)= =oceania (australia, new zealand, and south seas)= large crown vo., cloth. =the open book of nature: a book of nature study for young people.= full-page illustrations in colour and reproductions from photographs, etc. =the alps.= full-page illustrations from photographs =the holy land.= (_not illustrated_) contes et nouvelles beautiful books in french for young people. large square crown vo., cloth, each containing full-page illustrations in colour. =les petits aventuriers en amérique= =la guerre aux fauves= =un tour en mélanesie= =la case de l'oncle tom= ( pictures in colour and in black and white) =voyages de gulliver= published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price / net each (_continued_) great buildings and how to enjoy them a series of handbooks for the amateur lover of architecture square demy vo., cloth, each containing full-page illustrations from photographs. =early christian and byzantine architecture= =gothic architecture= =greek architecture= =norman architecture= =romanesque architecture= price / each life stories of animals large crown vo., cloth, each containing full-page illustrations in colour =the black bear= =the cat= =the dog= =the fowl= =the fox= =the lion= =the rat= =the squirrel= =the tiger= large crown vo., cloth, illustrated. *=in the grip of the wild wa= =tales of st. austin's= =the head of kay's= =mike: a public school story= =the gold bat= =psmith in the city= =the pothunters= =a prefect's uncle= =the white feather= *=the first voyages of glorious memory= (_hakluyt_) *=nipping bear= *=the adventures of don quixote= *=park's travels in the interior of africa= *=by a schoolboy's hand= *=exiled from school= *=from fag to monitor= =the sea monarch= *=the scouts of seal island= *=cook's voyages and discoveries= =dana's two years before the mast= *=the divers= =stories from waverley= *=the life of st. paul= *=the book of celtic stories= *=the book of london= *=the book of stars= *=bunyan's pilgrim's progress= *=children's book of gardening= =the feats of foozle= =now and then= =the right sort= =god's lantern-bearers= *=the kinsfolk and friends of jesus= * with illustrations in colour. _continued on next page._ published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price / each (_continued_) large crown vo., cloth, illustrated. =the story of stories: a life of christ for the young= *=tales from scottish ballads= =the story of a scout= =two boys in war-time= *=the story of robin hood and his merry men= *=the wolf patrol= *=jack haydon's quest= =red men of the dusk= =the saints in story= *=the vicar of wakefield= =the mystery of markham= =black evans= =j. o. jones, and how he earned his living= =jim mortimer= =green at greyhouse= =tales of greyhouse= *=robinson crusoe= *=eric; or, little by little= *=st. winifred's; or, the world of school= *=julian home: a tale of college life= *=beasts of business= =hero and heroine= *=stories.= (_ascott r. hope_) =half-text history.= (_no illustrations_) =black and blue= =cap and gown comedy= (_no illustrations_) =all astray= *=the king who never died= *=the bull of the kraal= *=a tale of the time of the cave men= =tangerine: a child's letters from morocco= *=willy wind, and jock and the cheeses= *=life of sir walter scott= =scott's poetical works= =scott's waverley novels.= _see also list at the end of this catalogue._ * with illustrations in colour. price /= net each large crown vo., cloth. =through the telescope= =the life and love of the insect= =the ramparts of empire= =the moose= =highways and byways of the zoological gardens= =wild life on the wing= demy to. (oblong), cloth gilt. =our old nursery rhymes= =little songs of long ago= (_more old nursery rhymes_) price /= each crown vo., cloth. =here and there.= (_illustrated_) =the schoolboy abroad= =ready-made romance= =dramas in duodecimo= =half-and-half tragedy.= published by a. and c. black, , , and soho square, london, w. price /= each small square demy vo., cloth, with illustrations in colour. =grimm's fairy tales= =Ã�sop's fables= =the arabian nights= =hans andersen's fairy tales= =swiss family robinson= =the fairchild family= =uncle tom's cabin= =adventurers in america= =the children's book of edinburgh= =the children's book of art= =children's tales of english minsters= =greek wonder tales= =russian wonder tales= =tales from "the earthly paradise"= =gulliver's travels into several remote nations of the world= =talks about birds= =red cap tales= =red cap adventures= =the tales of a grandfather= =the book of the railway= cheaper books suitable for young people published at s. od., d., and d. each price /= each =eric; or, little by little= =st. winifred's; or, the world of school= =julian home: a tale of college life= =rab and his friends.= price /= net each tales of english minsters large crown vo., each containing full-page illustrations. =canterbury= =durham= =ely= =hereford= =lincoln= =st. albans= =st. paul's= =york= =scott's waverley novels.= portrait edition. crown vo., cloth, each volume containing a frontispiece in colour. _see also list at the end of this catalogue._ price d. =black's painting book for children.= by agnes nightingale. containing page outline pictures for colouring. small crown to., bound in attractive cover. published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. price d. each demy vo., picture paper covers. *=eric; or, little by little= *=st. winifred's; or, the world of school= *=julian home a tale of college life= =scott's waverley novels.= _see also list following_ *_these may be had bound together in cloth cover for_ = s. d.= the waverley novels by sir walter scott the authentic editions of scott are published solely by a. and c. black, who purchased along with the copyright the interleaved set of the waverley novels in which sir walter scott noted corrections and improvements almost to the day of his death. the under-noted editions have been collated word for word with this set, and many inaccuracies, some of them ludicrous, corrected. list of the novels =waverley= =guy mannering= =the antiquary= =rob roy= =old mortality= =montrose, and black dwarf= =the heart of midlothian= =the bride of lammermoor= =ivanhoe= =the monastery= =the abbot= =kenilworth= =the pirate= =the fortunes of nigel= =peveril of the peak= =quentin durward= =st. ronan's well= =redgauntlet= =the betrothed, etc.= =the talisman= =woodstock= =the fair maid of perth= =anne of geierstein= =count robert of paris= =the surgeon's daughter, etc.= _for details regarding editions and prices see below._ list of editions of the waverley novels =new popular edition.= volumes. price = d.= per volume. =the portrait edition.= volumes. price = /-= net per volume. =victoria edition.= volumes. price = / = per volume. =two shilling edition.= volumes. price = /-= per volume. =standard edition.= volumes. price = / = per volume. =dryburgh edition.= volumes. price = / = per volume. published by a. and c. black, , and soho square, london, w. transcriber's notes: hyphenation has been standardized, e.g., "watermarks." typographical errors have been corrected as follows: page - "separtaion" replaced with "separation" figure after page , missing parenthesis added page - accent on napoléon for consistency. note: some books are listed twice in the back with different prices, e.g. "eric; or, little by little". note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. the carat character (^) indicates that the following letter is superscripted (example: y^e). if two or more letters are superscripted they are enclosed in curly brackets (example: hon^{able.}). archaic spelling and punctuation have been retained. the history of the post office from its establishment down to by herbert joyce, c.b. of the post office [illustration: publisher logo] london richard bentley & son, new burlington street publishers in ordinary to her majesty the queen contents chapter i introduction--master of the posts--posts centred in the sovereign-- instructions for their regulation--travelling post--object of the post office monopoly page chapter ii the post through the county of kent--this post put under the care of de quester--stanhope of harrington, as master of the posts, asserts his rights--vacillating decisions of the privy council--sir john coke--thomas witherings chapter iii decadence of the posts--witherings's plan--introduction of postage-- concessions to the common carrier--post-haste--witherings appointed master of the inland as well as the foreign posts--his dismissal--philip burlamachi--dissensions between the lords and commons--edmund prideaux appointed witherings's successor chapter iv prideaux's activity--unauthorised post set up to scotland--system of farming--prideaux ceases to be master of the posts--secretary thurloe-- the posts become the subject of parliamentary enactment--rates of postage--letters circulate through london--the travelling post not a source of revenue--clement oxenbridge chapter v frequent change of farmers--tediousness of the course of post--existence of the posts not a matter of common knowledge--dockwra's penny post--introduction of postmarks--penny post incorporated into the general post--dockwra's dismissal chapter vi posts regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason--wildman-- cotton and frankland--post office establishment--revenue--building in lombard street--dispersion of letters--salaries and wages--newspapers-- drink and feast money--post-horses--quartering of soldiers-- postmasters' emoluments--scotland--ireland--bye-letters--illicit traffic--treasury control--post offices grouped together and let out to farm--stephen bigg--expresses--flying packets--state of the roads-- progress of the penny post--appointment of secretary and solicitor-- purchase of premises in lombard street chapter vii state of the packet service--ship letters--special boats built for the harwich station--m. pajot, director of the french posts--establishment of west india packets--edmund dummer, surveyor of the navy--regulations for the management of the packet stations--conditions of employment-- smart and bounty money--passes required for passengers--and for goods-- regulations habitually infringed--smuggling--packets forbidden to give chase--practice on capture of a prize--packet stations at falmouth and at harwich conducted on different principles--packets employed to carry recruits--letters not to be carried in foreign bottoms--court-post-- restoration of packet service with flanders--john macky, packet agent at dover--the postmasters-general act as purveyors of news to the court-- their interview with godolphin--posts set up for the army in flanders-- packet establishment placed on a peace footing--dummer's bankruptcy and death chapter viii american posts--thomas neale--andrew hamilton--ocean penny postage--posts transferred to the crown--become self-supporting chapter ix condition of the post office in scotland at the time of the union-- inaction of the english post office--charles povey--william lowndes-- diversion of postage from the crown to the public--postage rates increased--electoral disabilities--restrictions on the common carrier-- modification of the penny post--post-horses--franking--illicit traffic in letters--treasury inconsistency--post office farmers converted into managers--treaty with france--matthew prior--single and double letters-- change of postmasters-general--disagreements with merchants--twopenny post--comparative statement of revenue--gross and net revenue confounded chapter x allen's contract--general review--the secretary's dismissal--earl of abercorn's complaint--sketch of allen's plan--his qualifications for carrying it into effect--his local knowledge--his difficulties with postmasters--post-boys--illegal conveyance of letters--contrast between allen's mode of procedure and that of the post office--posts increased in frequency--opening of letters--falmouth packets--late delivery of foreign letters--erection of milestones--letters containing patterns and writs--apertures to letter-boxes--expresses--highwaymen--bank notes-- decadence--allen's chapter xi penny post--franking--newspapers--clerks of the roads--numbering of houses--scotch and irish posts--receiving offices--gratuities on delivery--appeal to the courts--appointment of letter-carriers--attempt to curtail the limits of the penny post frustrated--benjamin franklin-- post office monopoly in matter of horses abolished--disfranchising act-- causes of disquietude chapter xii palmer's plan--objections--first mail-coach--post-coach--increase in rates of postage--restrictions upon franking--obstruction alleged-- anthony todd--transitional period--stages--earlier closing of the general post office--emoluments from bell ringing--internal dissensions-- tankerville's dismissal--corruption--surveyors--conditions of palmer's appointment--abuses--fees and perquisites--expresses--registration-- palmer's improvements--packet service--smuggling--flagitious expenditure--todd's emoluments--pitt's indisposition to expose abuses-- lord walsingham--daniel braithwaite--essays in cause of economy--milford haven and waterford packets--pitiable condition of the clerks of the roads--the king's coach--his illness and prayer for his recovery-- strange treatment of official papers--george chalmers--palmer's jealousy--mail guards--creation of a newspaper office--walsingham attempts to check irregularities--his inveterate habit of scribbling-- exposes an attempt at imposition--curious practice as regards the delivery of foreign letters--earl of chesterfield--insubordination on palmer's part--appeal to pitt--charles bonnor--palmer's suspension-- chesterfield's letter--interview with pitt--a second interview--palmer's dismissal--bonnor's promotion chapter xiii model of mail coach--patent coaches--thomas hasker--his pithy instructions--roof-loading--the king's interest in his coach--general result of palmer's plan--condition of the country post offices--francis freeling--enlargement of the general post office--communication with france--bank notes cut in half--letter-carriers put into uniform--grant to post office servants--development of the penny post--edward johnson--excessive absence among the letter-carriers--by the penny post prepayment ceases to be compulsory--the ten-mile limit--origin of the twopenny post--dead letter office--american and west indian correspondence--correspondence for the india house--post with the channel islands--further restrictions on franking--bankers' franks-- patterns and samples--metropolitan cart service--horse and cross posts--rates of postage increased--mysterious doings of the packets-- brilliant engagements--post office usage--counsels' fees--new years' gifts--todd's indifference to censure--his death chapter xiv ship-letter office--increase in rates of postage--abolition of the penny post--invoices and bills of lading--convention posts--prosecutions-- auckland's pleasantries--repressive powers--guarding the horse-mails-- recovery of stolen mail bag--troubles with contractors--surveyors deprived of their post offices--rates of postage again increased-- threepenny post--post office revenue--william cobbett--early or preferential delivery--treatment of foreign newspapers--newspaper summaries--the _times_--olney post---death-blow to convention posts-- turnpike trusts--exemption from toll--roads discoached--yet further increase in rates of postage--bewildering complications--want of publicity--exemption from toll abolished in scotland--returned-letter office--new ship-letter act--mail service to india and the cape-- generosity of the east india company--eulogistic letter chapter xv the irish post office--british mail office--earl of clancarty--edward smith lees--abuses--express clerks and clerks of the roads--alphabet-- provision for soldiers' wives--thomas whinnery, postmaster of belfast-- charles bianconi--holyhead packets--opposition packets started by lees--steam packets--competition--land communication with ireland--london and holyhead coach--sir arthur wellesley--state of the roads--road between holyhead and shrewsbury--thomas telford--john london macadam--road between shrewsbury and london--postage over the conway and menai bridges chapter xvi appointment of second postmaster-general abolished--other economies-- transfer of the falmouth packets to the admiralty--speed of mail-coaches--mail-coaches the disseminators of news--newspapers--sir henry parnell--royal commission--general review--gerrard street-- headquarters of the general post office removed to st. martin's-le-grand--branch offices--morning delivery expedited--first mail sent by railway--duke of richmond--incorporation of the irish post office with the post office of great britain--lord althorp-- limits of the general post delivery--packet service put up to public competition--abolition of the newspaper privilege--dissatisfaction with the post office--money order office--unsatisfactory returns to the house of commons--indisposition to carry out reforms--more unsatisfactory returns--new contract for mail-coaches--freeling's despondency--and death appendix index errata [see transcriber's note at the end of the book.] page , sixth line from bottom, _for_ _read_ . " , first line, _for_ _read_ . history of the post office chapter i early posts - the early history of the posts is involved in some obscurity. what little is known on the subject is touched upon in the first annual report of the post office, the report for ; but the historical summary there given is, as it purports to be, a summary only. the object of the following pages is nothing more than to fill up the gaps and to supply some particulars for which, though not perhaps without interest, an official report would be no fitting place. the origin and progress of an institution which has so interwoven itself with the social life of the people as to have become one of the most remarkable developments of modern civilisation can hardly, we think, be considered a subject unworthy of study. it seems almost certain that until the reign of henry the eighth, or perhaps a little earlier, no regular system of posts existed in england, and that then and for some considerable time afterwards the few posts that were established were for the exclusive use of the sovereign. "sir," writes sir brian tuke to thomas cromwell in , "it may like you to understonde the kinges grace hathe no moo ordinary postes, ne of many days hathe had, but bitwene london and calais ... and sens october last, the postes northewarde.... for, sir, ye knowe well that, except the hakney horses bitwene gravesende and dovour, there is no suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as is in the accustumed places of france and other parties." sir brian tuke held the appointment of master of the posts, and he had received the king's commands to set up posts "in al places most expedient." before henry's reign the only letters of which any record exists, letters to or from the court and on affairs of state, were sent by couriers employed for the particular occasion. these couriers, styled "nuncii" and "cursores," appear to have answered to the queen's messengers of our own time, and, as is evident from records still extant and dating back to the reign of henry the third, must have formed an important branch of the royal establishment. to establish posts and to control them when established was not all or nearly all that brian tuke had to do. he had also to see, even where no posts existed, that the royal couriers were not kept waiting for horses; and this probably was his original function. the horses were provided by the townships, and the townships were kept up to their duty by the master of the posts. in some cases, indeed, special provision appears to have been made. at leicester,[ ] for instance, the members of the corporation bound themselves under penalty to keep four post-horses in constant readiness for their sovereign's use; but this can hardly have been a common practice. where horses were not provided voluntarily, the magistrates and constables had orders to seize them wherever they could be found. [ ] april, elizabeth.--further att the same common hall [of the town of leicester] it was for dyuers cawses thought good and mete for the service of the prince to have at the chargies of the towne certen poste horses kepte, whearevppon theare was appoynted foure to be kepte, which, thees persouns vnderwritten have vndertaken to kepe, and to serve from tyme to tyme so oft as nede shalle requier, for and dureinge the space of one wholle yeare nexte after the date hereof, viz. mr. roberte eyricke, one; fraunces norris, chamberlayn, twoe; thomas tyars, one. for the which theyre is allowed vnto them of the towne for euerie horse thurtie-three shillinges and foure pence, that is to say for foure horses vili. xiiis. iiiid. provyded always that if theye the said robert eyricke, frauncis norrys, and thomas tyars doe not kepe good and able horses for that purpose and to be readie vppon one half howres warnynge to forfitt, lose, and paye for euerie tyme to the chamber of the towne of leycester the somme of fyve shillinges. for the payement of the said xxli. nobles it is further agreed vppon, in the manner and forme followinge, that is to saye, the mayor and euerie of his bretherene called the xxiiii. to paye iis. a pece, and euerie of the xlviii. xiid. a pece, and the resydue that shalbe then lackinge to be levied of the commonaltie and inhabitantes of the said towne and the liberties thereof.--appendix to the eighth report of the royal commission on historical manuscripts, p. . the close connection between the posts and the sovereign continued long after the reign of henry the eighth. in thomas randolph, master of the posts to queen elizabeth, rendered an account of the charges to which he had been put in the execution of his trust during the preceding five years; and in this account, which is given in considerable detail, not a single post is mentioned without some qualification identifying it with the person of the sovereign--a post daily serving her majesty, a post for her majesty's service and affairs, a post during the time of her majesty's progress, a post for the conveyance of her majesty's letters and those of her council. as late as all the posts of the kingdom, which even then were only four in number, started from the court. i. "the courte to barwicke," _i.e._ the post to scotland. ii. "the courte to beaumoris," _i.e._ the post to ireland. iii. "the courte to dover," _i.e._ the post to the continent. iv. "the courte to plymouth," _i.e._ the post to the royal dockyard. the setting up of a post for a particular purpose and letting it drop as soon as the purpose had been answered was another peculiarity of these early times. the post to plymouth, ordained in to be one of the standing posts of the kingdom, had been dropped since , having then been declared to be unnecessary except in time of war. even the post to ireland had at one time been dropped and was not revived until . in the same year a second post to ireland, irish affairs being then considered to require "oftner dispatches and more expedition," was set up by way of bristol, and this in its turn disappeared. indeed, it would probably not be too much to say that at the beginning of the seventeenth century no post set up in england during a war had lasted longer than the war itself. this practice of dropping a post as soon as it had served its purpose, a practice which must almost necessarily have existed from the earliest times, would seem to explain brian tuke's meaning when, after stating that in except those he mentioned "the kinges grace hathe no moo ordinary postes," he adds, "ne of many days hathe had." for the regulation of the posts the earliest instructions of which we have any record were issued by queen elizabeth. every "post" was to keep and have constantly ready two horses at least, with suitable "furniture." he was to have at least two bags of leather well lined with baize or cotton, and a horn to blow "as oft as he meets company" or four times in every mile. he was, after receiving a packet, to start within fifteen minutes, and to run in summer at the rate of seven miles an hour and in winter at the rate of five. the address of the packet and the day and the hour at which he received it were to be carefully entered in a book to be kept for the purpose. but the packets which were thus to be treated were only such as should be on the queen's affairs or the affairs of state. "all others" are dismissed in a word. these, the instructions state, are "to passe as by-letters." to pass as by-letters probably means that the letters were to go when and as best they might, but that the post was not to go for the purpose of taking them. this view is confirmed by an order of the subsequent reign, that "no pacquets or letters," except such as were on the king's affairs, should "binde any poste to ride therewith in post." but be the meaning what it may, the expression seems to shew that even in the reign of elizabeth letters other than state letters had begun to be sent to the post-houses, and that such letters, if barely recognised, were yet not excluded. but the conveyance of the sovereign's letters was not the only purpose which the posts as originally established were designed to serve. another and hardly less important purpose was that there should be stationed and in constant readiness, at given distances along the chief roads of the kingdom, a relay of horses by which persons travelling on their sovereign's concerns, even though not the bearers of letters, might pass between one part of the country and another. of this second purpose a few words implanted in the english language, such as post-horse, post-boy, and travelling-post, are all that we have now left to remind us. but long after the public had been admitted to the free use of the post, the two objects of providing for letters and providing for travellers continued to be treated as inseparable. hence the history of the posts during the seventeenth century and far into the eighteenth becomes complicated with the history of travelling.[ ] [ ] the two posts were, at first, distinguished by different names. the travellers' post was called "the thorough poste," and the letter post was called "the poste for the pacquet." indeed, there can be little doubt that it was as a means of travelling and not as a means of correspondence that the post first came to be used by others than those employed on affairs of state. writing, during the sixteenth century, was an accomplishment possessed by comparatively few, whereas any one might have occasion to travel; and the resources of travelling, so far as these partook of an organised system, were in the hands of the sovereign. wherever there were posts, it was at the sovereign's charge and for the sovereign's use that horses were maintained; and where there were no posts, it was only for the use of the sovereign that the townships were under obligation to supply horses. the natural consequence followed. people pretended to be travelling on their sovereign's affairs who were really travelling on affairs of their own, and so procured the use of horses which would otherwise have been denied them. the horses, moreover, were overridden and overloaded, and the persons by whom they were hired not rarely forgot to pay for them.[ ] [ ] austria, in the infancy of her post office, appears to have had much the same experience. "the postmasters," writes m. læper, director of posts at markirch, "were in no way protected from the most outrageous behaviour on the part of travellers, and were unable to prevent them from overloading the horses and vehicles with unreasonably heavy things, chests, boxes, and similar articles, by which the conveyance of the same was delayed. they could not hinder many travellers from riding heavily-laden horses at full speed over hill and dale without drawing rein, so that the animals were crippled, disabled, or even ridden to death, and in consequence the postmasters were frequently unable to carry out the service for want of horses. the worst treatment, however, which the postmasters experienced was at the hands of cavaliers and couriers, who often demanded more horses than they needed, took them by force, overloaded the coaches with two or three servants, and with an immoderate quantity of luggage, and paid an arbitrary sum, just whatever they pleased, often not half what was due."--l'union postale of october , . no sooner had james the first come to the throne than he issued a proclamation having for its object to check these abuses. only those were to be deemed to be travelling on public affairs who held a special commission signed by one or more of the principal officers of state. no horse was to be ridden, in summer, above seven miles an hour, and in winter above six; nor yet, without the knowledge and consent of the owner, beyond the next stage. the load, besides the rider, was not to exceed thirty pounds in weight. persons riding with special commission were to pay for each horse - / d. a mile, besides the guide's groats, and "others riding poste with horse and guide about their private businesses" were to make their own terms. in all cases payment was to be made in advance. the proclamation contained another and most important provision, the effects of which were felt far into the next century. this was that, wherever posts existed, those who had the horsing of the posts were also to have the exclusive letting of horses to travellers. if the post-houses could not supply horses enough, the local constables with the assistance of the magistrates were to make good the deficiency. the proclamation of was soon followed by another, prohibiting all persons not being duly authorised by the master of the posts from being concerned in the collecting, carrying, or delivering of letters. the effect, therefore, of the two proclamations together was that, except by private hand, no letter and, except along the bye-roads where posts did not exist, no traveller could pass between one part of the kingdom and another without coming under the observation of the government. it has been suggested that the state monopoly of letters had its origin in a desire on the part of the sovereign to reserve to himself the revenue which the letters brought; but in , when the monopoly was created, the posts were maintained at a clear loss to the crown of £ a year, and this loss, as matters then stood, the erection of every fresh post would serve to increase. however it may have been in after years, the original object of the monopoly, the object avowed indeed and proclaimed, was that the state might possess the means of detecting and defeating conspiracies against itself. a system such as this object implies is absolutely abhorrent to our present notions; and yet it is a fact beyond all question that the posts in their infancy were regarded and largely employed as an instrument of police. it was not until the reign of william the third that they began to assume their present shape of a mere channel for the transmission of letters. but we are anticipating. in the cloud which obscures the earlier history of the posts begins to break, and from that year it is possible to present a tolerably connected narrative of their progress. chapter ii the battle of the patents - at the beginning of the seventeenth century the established posts were only four in number,--the post to scotland, the post to ireland, the post to plymouth, and the post to dover; and of these the most important by far, because the most used, was the last, the post through the county of kent. it was through this county that the high-road to the continent lay, and, while commercial relations as between one town and another within the kingdom were yet a thing of the future, the foreign trade of the country had already reached very considerable proportions. the persecutions in france and the low countries had driven a large number of foreigners to london, and here the flemings introduced the manufacture of wool into cloth. in this commodity alone the exports from england to the netherlands in the time of philip the second amounted to five millions of crowns annually.[ ] in education no less than manufactures the flemings were far in advance of our own countrymen. there was scarcely a peasant among them that could not both read and write. while, therefore, the other three posts of the kingdom were still being little used except for letters on affairs of state, the post to the continent had already become matter of public concern. [ ] an amusing illustration of the value which, at the end of the sixteenth century, was set upon cloth made in london is afforded by a letter from frederick the second of denmark to queen elizabeth. this letter, dated the th of june , is thus summarised in the th annual report of the deputy-keeper of the public records, appendix ii., page : "has for some years past had cloth prepared in london of different colours and after a particular pattern, for his use in hunting both in summer and winter. hears now that certain german merchants, having found this out, have had similar cloth manufactured, which they sell everywhere, outside his court and family, to many inquisitive and foolish imitators, at a very dear rate. it is no concern of his what anybody may wear, but still, as this cloth was made of a special kind and colour for himself, he takes it ill that it should be sold to others, and begs her therefore (on the application of his agent, thomas thenneker) strictly to prohibit the sale." this post had long been jealously watched, the foreign merchants in london claiming to send their letters by their own agents, and the crown insisting that they should be sent only through the established channel. it was an old feud, extending far back into the sixteenth century. in a proclamation on the subject had been issued. this, in respect to the post through the county of kent, established that state monopoly of letters which was not made general until eighteen years afterwards. it was to the protection of the same post that the proclamation of had been directed, the proclamation reserving to those who horsed the posts the exclusive right of letting horses to travellers. but these measures had been of little avail. the foreign merchants still employed their own agents to carry their letters, and these agents, instead of resorting to the post-houses, still procured horses where and as best they could. once more recourse was had to a proclamation, which differed little from others that had gone before except in one important particular. this was the open avowal that among the chief cares of the state it had been and continued to be by no means the least "to meete with the dangerous and secret intelligences of ill-affected persons, both at home and abroad, by the overgreat liberty taken both in writing and riding in poste, specially in and through our countie of kent." the magistrates were enjoined to take care that horses were procured at the post-houses alone. no letters were to be sent except through the post, and notice to this effect was to be served upon all the merchants of the city of london, "both strangers and others." unauthorised persons suspected of having letters upon them were, before entering or leaving the kingdom, to be searched. and any packets or letters found to be illicitly conveyed were to be sent up to the privy council, and the bearers of them to be apprehended and kept in safe custody pending the council's orders. at this time the office of master of the posts was held by lord stanhope of harrington, and under lord stanhope, to superintend the foreign post, was employed a foreigner of the name of de quester. this man, with the assistance of his son, appears to have discharged his duties efficiently. he made communication with the continent both cheaper and more expeditious. his promptitude in forwarding the public despatches had attracted the attention of his sovereign. in , in recognition of these services, the king created the control of the foreign post into a separate appointment, independent of lord stanhope, and conferred it upon de quester and his son, under the title of "postmaster of england for foreign parts out of the king's dominions." it is possible that de quester's appointment, though ostensibly a reward for good service, was dictated in part by policy. but if designed to appease the foreign merchants, it signally failed of its object. the truth seems to be that they were animated by feelings of profound distrust. many years later, when de quester had retired, the english merchants, in a petition to the king, protested against the choice of a successor being left to the "strangers." this, they said, would be to their own great prejudice. even the letters patent by which that successor was appointed give as a reason for not letting the strangers have a post of their own that thus the secrets of the realm would be disclosed to foreign nations. such being the feelings on one side, it would be strange indeed if they had not also existed on the other. de quester's appointment, while displeasing to the foreign merchants, gave dire offence to lord stanhope. the letters patent by which this peer held his office had expressly declared that not only the internal posts of the kingdom were to be under his direction, but also those "beyond the seas within the king's dominions." this expression, repeated from former patents, applied, no doubt, to calais. and yet, could it in reason be contended that his rights were not being infringed if the post through which all letters between london and the continent passed were transferred to other hands? except for the practice of granting offices in remainder, stanhope's death at this time would have settled the difficulty. as a matter of fact, however, the difficulty had only begun. by a deed granted thirteen years before, his son and successor in the title succeeded also to the office of master of the posts, and it soon became evident that the younger stanhope had no intention, without a struggle, of letting the grant to himself be whittled away by a subsequent grant to another. the council, not composed of laymen alone, but comprising among its members coventry, soon to become lord keeper, and heath, the solicitor-general, advised the king that "both grants might well stand together, being of distinct places." stanhope rejoined that his was "an ancient office tyme out of minde," and that by prescription it carried with it the control of letters passing between england and the continent as well as others. again the council reported against his claim. in support of it, they said, no patent or proofs had been adduced before them more ancient than the time of henry the eighth. stanhope, who remained unconvinced, now proceeded to assert his rights, or what he conceived to be his rights, with remarkable vigour. he caused de quester to be molested in the discharge of his duties; he placarded the city of london, cautioning all persons against sending letters except by his own agents; he instituted proceedings in the court of king's bench; and he even stirred up the foreign merchants to make common cause with himself against the intruder. the probable explanation of stanhope's conduct is that de quester's appointment touched him in that most sensitive part, the pocket. his salary as master of the posts was £ : : a year, and this he would of course receive in any case; but on letters to the continent there were certain fees to be paid, a fee of d. on each letter to or from amsterdam, and a like sum between london and antwerp or london and hamburgh, and these, as seems to have been admitted in the suit at law, were the motive cause. in vain the king proclaimed against stanhope's proceedings. the privy council met to consider the question as between him and de quester, and separated without coming to a conclusion. four more meetings were held, and with an equally unsatisfactory result. clearly there was a conflict of opinion at the council board. meanwhile the decisions as regards the merchants were marked by extraordinary vacillation. first, the merchant adventurers were "to have a post of their owne choice" to the city of hamburgh and town of delph, "where the staples of cloth are now fetched or to such other place or places whither the same shall happen to be removed"; then they were summoned before the council to shew cause why they also should not send their letters by de quester; then the concession was not only confirmed in the case of the merchant adventurers, but extended to all other "companies of merchants"; and then in the case of these other companies the concession was withdrawn, but only, in the course of a few weeks, to be restored. only few restrictions were imposed. no one carrying the merchants' letters was to "keepe any publick office," to "hange up any tables," or to "weare any badge"; nor was he to be employed until his name had been submitted to the secretary of state for approval. it was also provided that in times of war or danger the secretary of state, if he required it, was to be "made acquainted" with the letters and despatches which the messenger carried. the final decision of the council, which left the merchants in possession of a post of their own, practically superseded de quester's appointment, and this drew forth an indignant protest from sir john coke. the two secretaries of state, of whom coke was one, had been specially charged with the protection of de quester's office, and the decision had been arrived at in their absence. meanwhile a broker, of the name of billingsley, was carrying the merchants' letters, and the same man was being employed by stanhope. coke's indignation knew no bounds. "i confess," he said, "it troubleth me to see the audacity of men in these times, and that billingsley, a broker by trade, should dare to attempt thus often to question the king's service, and to derive that power of foreign letters unto merchants which in all states is a branch of regal authority." can any place in christendom be named where merchants are allowed to send their letters except through the authorised post? it is true that, as an act of grace, the merchant adventurers here have been suffered to send and receive their letters by private hand; but such letters have been only to and from their own mart towns and concerning their private business. that this man of theirs should be suffered to carry any letters he please--letters from merchants in general, and even from ambassadors, is a thing that has never been heard of nor durst any attempt it before. "indeed the merchants' purse hath swayed very much in other matters in former times, but i never heard that it encroached upon the king's prerogative until now." a pretty account will those who are charged with the peace of the realm be able to give in their places "of that which passeth by letters in or out of the land if every man may convey letters, under the covers of merchants', to whom and what place he pleaseth." coke went so far as to suggest that advantage had been taken of a small attendance at the council table to extort the concession from the king upon wrong or imperfect information. surely his majesty cannot have been informed "how unfit a time this is to give liberty to every man to write and send what he list." nor did coke's indignation confine itself to words, for it is impossible not to conclude that he was at the bottom of the high-handed proceeding that followed. stanhope had gained his suit at law; yet the council, far from revoking de quester's patent, granted him an order consigning billingsley to prison. it was not until he had been there for three months that parliament, which had recently passed a vote against arbitrary imprisonments, petitioned the king for his release. of the final issue of the contest nothing is known. but it seems probable that the foreign merchants were not deterred by the treatment which billingsley had received from keeping up a post of their own. other and more serious matters were beginning to occupy the attention of the court, and it may well be believed that irregularities which had been challenged before might now be allowed to pass unnoticed. be that as it may, in de quester, who had lost his son, and had become old and infirm, associated with himself in the execution of his office two men named frizell and witherings, and to these persons he shortly afterwards assigned his patent. frizell appears to have been little more than a sleeping partner; but witherings soon established a high character for ability and powers of organisation. the foreign post had not been under his charge for more than three years before the king commissioned him to examine also into the inland posts, and to put them on another and better footing. chapter iii thomas witherings -- armed with the king's commission, witherings lost no time in applying himself to his task. and, indeed, the state of things which he found existing afforded ample scope for his energies. except to plymouth and through the county of kent, posts existed rather in name than in reality. nominally there was a post to scotland, and this post james had busied himself in improving, in anticipation of his progress to london; but since then it had languished and died, or nearly died, of inanition. between the kingdoms of england and scotland there had, up to the date of witherings's commission, as expressed in the commission itself, been no certain or constant intercourse. the only remaining post, the post to ireland, was in an equally forlorn condition. this decadence can only be attributed to two causes, the paucity of travellers and the necessities of the king. had travellers been numerous, the posts would have been kept up for the sake of the profit to be derived from the letting of horses. in the absence of travellers, the keepers of the post-houses were dependent upon their established wages, and these had long remained unpaid. as far back as a petition on the subject had been presented to the council. the " poore men," as the petitioners styled themselves, had received no wages for nearly seven years; the arrears then due to them amounted to £ , ; some of them were already in prison, and many more were threatened with arrest. in , as a consequence, doubtless, of their necessitous condition, they had ceased to keep horses, and letters were being carried on foot. in this manner a distance of only sixteen to eighteen miles was accomplished in a day, and to obtain from scotland or from ireland a reply to a letter written in london took "full two monthes." witherings was not long in producing his plan. within the city of london was to be appointed an office or counting-house for the receipt and despatch of letters, and thence were to be established trunk lines of post to the principal towns of the kingdom, with corresponding branch posts, either foot posts or horse posts, according to distance, to the smaller towns. the branch posts were to be so fitted to the main posts that there was to be no waiting on the part of either; and these latter were to start and return at stated times, and to run night and day so as to cover miles in twenty-four hours. from london to edinburgh the course of post which had been full two months was to be only six days; and to holyhead or plymouth and back the distance was to be accomplished in the same time. even witherings himself appears to have been carried away by the brilliancy of the prospect. "anie fight at sea," he says, "anie distress of his majestie's ships (which god forbid), anie wrong offered by anie other nation to anie of ye coastes of england or anie of his majestie's forts ... the newes will come sooner than thought." an example has been left us of the process to be followed. the letters for scotland were to be put into a "portmantle" directed to edinburgh, into which were also to be put small bags containing letters for towns on the same line of road. at cambridge, for instance, as soon as the portmantle arrived, the bag for that town was to be taken out, and a foot-post, "with a known badge of his majestie's arms," was upon the market days to go to all towns within six, eight or ten miles, and there deliver the letters, at the same time receiving any that might be handed to him. these he was to bring back to cambridge in time for the return-post from scotland. the return was to be on a particular day, and at a particular hour, and the letters were to be ready without fail, "upon the verie instant comeing back of the portmantle." the same process was to be adopted at huntingdon and all other towns on the road. it was an essential part of witherings's plan that the posts should be not only regular and certain but also self-supporting. during the earlier part of the century they had been maintained at a cost to the crown of £ a year, and this was a burden which the crown was no longer in a position to bear. that they should be made to pay their own way was, therefore, an indispensable condition. but how was this to be accomplished? witherings's sagacity left him at no loss for a reply. he discerned that to carry a letter is to perform a service for which a payment may fairly be demanded in return; and that the demand would meet with a ready response must have been plain to him from what he saw going on in the west of england. in , or two years before he produced his plan, the mayor and aldermen of barnstaple had set up a post between their town and exeter. this post was to leave barnstaple every tuesday at o'clock in the morning, and to be in exeter early on the following day, in time to catch the king's post on its way from plymouth to london. the king's post was maintained at the expense of the king; but for the local service, as a means of defraying the cost, the corporation imposed a small charge, a charge of d. for a single letter and of d. for a double one. other towns in devonshire had adopted a similar course. that witherings was aware of the existence of these posts is evident from the special allusion that is made to them in the proclamation which he prevailed upon the king to issue;[ ] and it was their success, probably, which suggested his own undertaking. concluding that what private enterprise was effecting on a small scale the state would be able to effect on a large one, he proposed--and the proposal received the royal sanction--that for every letter sent by post a "port" or charge for carriage should be levied after the following rates:-- +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | |single letter.|double letter.|"if bigger."| +------------------------------+--------------+--------------+------------+ |under miles | d. | d. | d. an oz. | | miles and not exceeding | d. | d. | d. " | |above miles | d. | d. | d. " | |to or from scotland | d. | ? | ? | |to or from ireland | d. | after two ounces, d. the | | | | ounce. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ [ ] the proclamation enjoined that on letters "to plymouth, exeter, and with the two other places in that road," witherings should "take the like port that now is paid, as near as possibly he can." this was the introduction of postage. the object of the exceptional rate in the case of ireland was to avoid interference with a proclamation which had been recently issued by the lord deputy and council there. henceforth the posts were to be equally open to all; all would be at liberty to use them; all would be welcome. important as this provision was, it followed as a natural consequence from the imposition of postage. the carriage of the subjects' letters was now to be a matter of purchase, and, unless the purchasers were sufficiently numerous, the posts would not be self-supporting. the custom of the public, therefore, was a necessity of their very existence. in other respects the regulations remained much as they had been, except that now there would be the means of enforcing them. every postmaster was to have ready in his stable one or two horses, according as witherings might direct, the charge to be for one horse - / d. a mile and for two horses d. this d., however, was to include the cost of a guide who was always to accompany the horses when two were taken. on the day the post was expected, the horses were not to be let out on any pretext whatever, this being the first indication on record of letters enjoying precedence over travellers. and finally, with certain specified exceptions, no letters were to be carried or delivered in any part where posts should be established except by such persons as witherings might appoint. the letters excepted were those sent by a friend, by a particular messenger employed for the particular occasion, and by common known carrier. on the common carrier, however, restrictions were imposed. he was to confine himself to his ordinary known journey, and was not, for the sake of collecting or delivering letters, to lag behind or outstrip his cart or horse by more than eight hours. the reason for this last exception is not far to seek. the established posts were few in number, and even where they existed in name they had fallen into disuse. the common carriers had thus become the chief carriers of letters, and witherings, in the furtherance of his project, was anxious to disarm their opposition. this he had already attempted to effect by argument; and now, as a practical step in the same direction, he procured their exemption from the state monopoly. but what may have appeared and was probably intended to appear as a valuable concession was really no concession at all. the carrier took eight days to go miles. by the posts the same distance was to be accomplished in a day and a night. the carrier's charge for a letter from cambridge to london, a distance of about sixty miles, was d. a postage of d., according to witherings's plan, was to a carry a letter for eighty miles. if the posts were to be both faster and cheaper than the common known carrier, it might safely be predicted that as a carrier of letters he could not long survive. in october witherings, having completed the necessary arrangements, proceeded to carry his plan into effect. the results he anticipated from it, as shewn in a memorandum which he delivered to the secretary of state, were promotion of trade and intercourse and the cultivation of better relations with scotland and ireland. that the posts might one day be more than self-supporting, that they would become a source of revenue, does not appear to have entered into his calculations; or, if it did, his silence on the point would seem to shew that, as compared with the other advantages, he deemed it too insignificant to mention. it was probably about this time that the practice of writing "haste, post, haste" on the outside of letters began to be discontinued. the term "post," as here used, meant nothing more than the carrier or bearer of the letter; and an injunction to make the best speed he could, properly as it might be given to a messenger who had a particular letter to carry, would be altogether out of place if addressed to a general letter-carrier who was bound by his instructions not to exceed a given distance within a given time. "for thy life, for thy life" had sometimes been added, as in the case of protector somerset's letter to lord dacre. "to our very good lord, the lord dacre, warden of the west marches, in haste; haste, post, haste, for thy life, for thy life, for thy life";[ ] and it seems probable, if the barbarity of the punishments in those days is considered, that this was no empty threat. it was "on payn of lyfe" that, according to sir brian tuke, all townships were to have horses ready for their sovereign's service. among the ashburnham manuscripts is a letter from sir edward nicholas to sir john hippisley, lieutenant of dover castle, written in or eight years before the introduction of postage. this letter is endorsed by george villiers, duke of buckingham, and the cover is inscribed "for his majesty's special affairs; hast, hast, hast, post, hast, hast, hast, hast, with all possible speede." the absence of any threat in this instance may of course have been due to the individual character of the writer, but it is more agreeable to think of it as a sign of the advance of civilisation. [ ] _her majesty's mails_, by william lewins, p. . in , lord stanhope having surrendered his patent, witherings was appointed in his room, and thus became centred in one person the offices of postmaster for inland and for foreign letters. in the same year a letter office, the erection of which had formed an important part of witherings's plan, was opened in the city of london, and nothing remained to hinder him from carrying his project into full effect. but, fair as everything promised, hardly three years had elapsed before witherings met with the fate which has overtaken so many of his distinguished successors. in , on a charge of divers abuses and misdemeanours in the execution of his office, this eminent man was deprived of his appointment. whether the charge was well or ill founded we have no means of judging. only the fact has come down to us that after this miserable fashion ended the career of one who had the sagacity to project and the energy to carry out a system, the main features of which endure to the present day. among those who had lent money to the king was philip burlamachi, a naturalised british subject, and one of the principal merchants of the city of london. he had advanced, on the security of the sugar duties, no less than £ , , an immense sum in those days; and it was probably this fact rather than any special qualification on his part that pointed him out as witherings's successor. be that as it may, into burlamachi's hands the office of master of the posts was sequestered, subject to the condition that he was to discharge the duties under the control of the secretary of state. the sequestration was announced to the public by means of placards fixed up on the old exchange, and witherings lost no time in fixing up counter-placards by way of protest. and now began an unseemly contention which, arising ostensibly out of the rights of individuals, went far to bring the two houses of parliament into collision. in , after struggling for the best part of two years to maintain his position, witherings assigned his patent to the earl of warwick, and, under the influence of this peer, both houses declared the sequestration to be illegal and void. meanwhile burlamachi had fallen into the power of one in whose hands he was the merest puppet. this was edmund prideaux, afterwards one of the commissioners of the great seal and attorney-general under the commonwealth. at his instigation burlamachi still kept possession of the letter office. in vain the lords ordered him to give it up to lord warwick, and summoned him before them to explain his contumacy. it was true, he replied, that the office was still kept at his house, but this house and his servants had been hired by mr. prideaux, and it was he that disposed of the letters. incensed at such contempt of their orders, the lords authorised warwick to seize the mails. after one or two half-hearted attempts to carry this authority into effect, arrangements were made for a more strenuous effort. on the th of december two of warwick's agents lay in wait at barnet and there surprised the mail as it came from chester. seizing the letters and the man that carried them, they made the best of their way towards london, but had not proceeded further than the foot of the hill beyond highgate when they were themselves surprised by five troopers "on great horses with pistols," who barred the road, and, in the name of the house of commons, captured the captors. meanwhile a still more exciting scene was enacting before warwick's office near the royal exchange. there two of his men kept watch for the mail from plymouth, and, as it passed on its way to burlamachi's house hard by, they dashed into the street and seized the letters. their success was but for the moment. before they could regain the office, prideaux had swooped down upon them at the head of some half-dozen adherents, and with his own hands had torn the letters away. "an order of the house of commons," cried one of the bystanders, "ought to be obeyed before an order of the house of lords." on these occurrences being reported to the lords, burlamachi and all others who had been concerned in them, prideaux alone excepted, were ordered to prison. among these was the man who had been captured at barnet and afterwards rescued, one hickes by name; and this fellow proved to be prideaux's own servant. on the part of that wily politician one looks in vain for any effort to procure burlamachi's release, or even for the slightest indication of concern that he had been arrested; but the arrest of his own servant, the servant of a member of the house of commons, excited his keenest resentment. this, in prideaux's view, was a clear breach of privilege, and the house was pleased to agree with him. no sooner, therefore, had hickes been imprisoned by the lords than he was released by the commons, and no sooner had he been released by the commons than the lords ordered him to be imprisoned again. matters having come to this pass, the two houses held a conference. the result might easily have been foreseen. the lords yielded to the commons, and burlamachi, on rendering an account which had long been called for, was released from custody together with the others who had been imprisoned at the same time. concerning the next two years little is known; but it seems probable that burlamachi, who in his petition praying for release had pleaded old age and infirmities, did not long survive the indignity to which he had been exposed. at all events, in , either by death or resignation, the office of master of the posts had become vacant, and, as burlamachi's successor, the house of commons appointed prideaux. thus ended the battle of the patents, which had raged more or less fiercely for more than twenty years. it was long indeed before lords warwick and stanhope ceased urging their claims, warwick as witherings's assignee, and stanhope on the allegation that at the council table the lord keeper coventry had cajoled him into surrendering his patent; but after prideaux's appointment there was no farther appeal to force. chapter iv edmund prideaux and clement oxenbridge -- hardly had prideaux assumed the direction of the letter office before he gave public notice that there would be a weekly conveyance of letters into all parts of the kingdom. there is reason to doubt, however, whether under his rule as much or nearly as much as this was accomplished. next to norwich, yarmouth was then, as it is now, the chief town in the eastern counties; and yet it is certain that a post to yarmouth was not established until after prideaux's rule had ceased; and more than fifty years later we find his successors lamenting that, while lincolnshire generally was ill provided with posts, there were several towns in that county which had no post at all. but to whatever extent prideaux's professions exceeded his performance, it is beyond question that he spared no effort to extend the posts, and that he is justly entitled to the credit, not indeed of improving upon witherings's scheme, but of carrying that scheme into more general effect. despite his exertions, however, he failed to keep pace with the wants of the time. indeed, what facilities for intercourse had been given already seem to have created a demand for more. in the common council of the city of london, not content with a post only once a week to scotland, established a post of their own. along the whole line of road between london and edinburgh they appointed their own postmasters and settled their own postage, and the same plan they proceeded to adopt in other parts. prideaux, who to his office of master of the posts had recently added that of attorney-general, was highly incensed. only a few years before, the state monopoly of letters, when the state was represented by the crown, had been the object of his fiercest denunciation, and now this same monopoly was a cherished possession to be defended at all hazards. first he remonstrated. then he threatened. and neither threats nor remonstrances having any effect upon the city authorities, he reported their proceedings to the council of state, and the council of state reported them to parliament. parliament was in no mood for concession. the city posts were promptly suppressed, and more than thirty years elapsed before private enterprise again embarked upon a similar venture. the report which prideaux made to the council of state had another result, which probably he little contemplated. in that report he had taken credit to himself that, although the charges of management had risen to £ a year, or about twice the amount they had been in witherings's time, he had relieved the state from the whole of this burden. in other words, the posts had become self-supporting, but, so far as appeared from the report, were nothing more. the house of commons was not satisfied. accordingly the council was instructed to examine and report whether the terms on which the letter office was held were the best that could be obtained. the investigation was soon made. heretofore, in consideration of his defraying the charges, prideaux had been allowed to receive the postage and make what he could out of it. for the future, besides defraying the charges, he was to pay to the state a fixed rent of £ a year. this was the introduction of the system of farming, a system which, as regards the posts generally, continued to nearly the end of the seventeenth and, as regards the by-posts, beyond the middle of the eighteenth century. in prideaux ceased to be master of the posts. two years before he had been elected a member of the council of state, and shortly after his election, and probably as a consequence of it, the arrangements for communicating with the army had reached a high state of perfection. between the council and the forces in scotland messengers, we are told, were passing almost every hour. but, useful as he may have made himself, prideaux seems to have been altogether wanting in those qualities which are calculated to inspire confidence. at the treaty of uxbridge, where he was one of the commissioners, even his own colleagues had regarded him as a spy. this feeling of distrust may possibly explain how it happened that, after the expulsion of the long parliament, he was forced to content himself with his appointment as attorney-general. the council of state, as then reconstructed, did not include him among its members, and one of the first acts of the new council was to relieve him from the responsibilities of the letter office. grasping as he was, it is impossible to suppose that this can have been done by his own wish, for the appointment of master of the posts, though weighted with a rent of £ a year, was still a very lucrative one. his successor paid a rent of double that amount, and is reputed to have derived from his farm an enormous profit. after prideaux's death in august , it transpired that his interest in the letter office had not ceased when he ceased to administer it. what was the interest he retained we do not know; but the matter seems to have been considered sufficiently serious to call for parliamentary inquiry. in the following february the house of commons ordered "that the whole business concerning the post office, and what has been received by mr. prideaux, late attorney-general, out of the same, and what account hath been made thereof he referred to a committee to examine, and to state matter of fact and report it to the parliament and their opinion therein." to this order, however, no return appears to have been made. it is probable that at the restoration the committee had not concluded its labours. oldmixon speaks of prideaux as "a very fierce republican, who got a great estate by his zeal against the church and churchmen"; and it is certain that to that estate his zeal for the post office brought him no inconsiderable addition. of the destination of a part of his wealth we are not left uninformed. towards the close of the century a judge, before whose ferocity even prideaux's pales, set out on a circuit, the infamy of which will endure to the end of time. arrived in somersetshire, he found residing at ford abbey, in the neighbourhood of axminster, an inoffensive country squire, son of the former master of the posts, and named after him, edmund prideaux. from this gentleman, apparently because he was his father's son, and for no better reason, jeffreys under threat of the gallows extorted £ , , and he bought with the money an estate "to which," lord macaulay tells us, "the people gave the name of aceldama, from that accursed field which was purchased with the price of innocent blood." in the posts were farmed to captain manley at a rent of £ , a year; and in , manley's contract having expired, cromwell on the advice of his council placed them in the hands of mr. secretary thurloe, on his giving security to the same amount. the change of management was followed two years later by an important step in advance. this was the passing of an act of parliament intituled an act for settling the postage of england, scotland, and ireland. legislative sanction was now given to what had hitherto rested on no better authority than proclamation or order in council. a general office, to be called the post office of england, was to be established for the receipt and despatch of letters; and under the title of postmaster-general and comptroller of the post office an officer was to be appointed who was to have the exclusive right of carrying letters and of furnishing post-horses. at the restoration the act of , the "pretended" act as it was now called, could not of course be recognised as possessing any legal validity, and so it was replaced by another; but the later act was little more than a re-enactment of the earlier one. virtually, it is to the act of that the general post office owes its origin, although the act of , as being unimpeachable, has been commonly called its charter. similar as the two acts are in the main, there is one important difference between them. the act of gives as a reason for making the posts the subject of parliamentary enactment that they are and have been "the best means of discovering and preventing many dangerous and wicked designs which have been and are daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of escript." to the odious practice here implied no countenance is given in the act of . but, indeed, it needed not this evidence to prove that during the commonwealth the post office was largely used as an instrument of police. thurloe's "intercepted" letters are matter of history; and the journals of the two houses of parliament shew that the foreign mails, both inward and outward, were stopped for whole weeks together, and committees appointed to open and read the letters. on one occasion the venetian ambassador, whose letters had shared the same fate as the rest, entered an indignant protest. "he could not persuade himself," he said, "that the government of england, so noble and generous, should have so inferior a mind as to open the letters of an ambassador, and by this means to violate the laws, and to give an example to the world so damnable, and of so little respect towards the minister of the serenissima respublica." nor was his indignation appeased until four peers had waited upon him in the name of the house of lords, and tendered an ample apology. the rates of postage prescribed by the act of were only slightly varied by the act of . as finally adjusted, they were as follows:-- +--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+ | | on | on | | | |single letter.|double letter.|per ounce.| +--------------------------------+--------------+--------------+----------+ | miles and under | d. | d. | d. | |above miles | d. | d. | d. | |to or from berwick | d. | d. | d. | | from berwick within scotland--| | | | | miles and under | d. | d. | d. | | above miles | d. | d. | d. | |to or from dublin | d. | d. | d. | | from dublin within ireland-- | | | | | miles and under | d. | d. | d. | | above miles | d. | d. | d. | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ how these rates compare with those which had gone before we have no means of judging. we only know that during prideaux's management the postage on a single letter was d.; that at some time between and it was reduced to d.; and that the credit of this reduction was due to clement oxenbridge. oxenbridge, after acting as deputy first to prideaux and then to manley, appears to have taken a farm under thurloe; and, rightly or wrongly, he affirmed that, as soon as he had improved the posts at a cost to himself of more than £ , and had made his farm profitable, he was turned adrift by cromwell. if the comparison be carried forward instead of backward, and the rates of be contrasted with those of later years, there is an important consideration which cannot be too carefully borne in mind. it is this, that in cross posts did not exist. between two towns not being on the same post road, however near the towns might be, letters could circulate only through london; and the moment london was reached an additional rate was imposed. hence the apparent charges, the charges as deduced from the table of rates, might be very different from the actual charges. bristol and exeter, for instance, are less than eighty miles apart; but in and for nearly forty years afterwards letters from one to the other passed through london, and would be charged, if single, not d. but d., and if double, not d. but s. that is to say, the postage[ ] or portage, as it was then called, would consist of two rates, and each of these rates would be for a distance in excess of eighty miles. david hume, writing more than a hundred years later, observes that before letters paid only about half as much postage as they did in his own time. this, no doubt, is true if rate be compared with rate according to the distance; but the fact we have mentioned very materially qualifies the force of the remark. [ ] the term "postage," in the sense of a charge upon a letter, is comparatively modern. the act of is the first so to use it. the term is indeed used in the act of , but there it signifies the hire of a horse for travelling. "each horse's hire or postage." on foreign letters the rates ranged from d., the lowest rate for a single letter, to s., the highest rate for a double letter, and from s. d. to s. an ounce for letters of greater bulk. no provision was made for any charge except on letters from europe. letters came indeed from other parts; but as the post office did not bring them and paid nothing for their carriage, no postage was demanded. from india, for instance, a letter brought to england and posted there would pay only the home postage. for post-horses the charge was fixed at d. a mile for each horse, besides d. to the guide of every stage. two concessions were made to the public. horses were no longer to be seized without the consent of the owners; and a traveller if kept waiting half an hour without being supplied might hire a horse wherever he could. that the seizure of horses had been a source of intense annoyance seems beyond question. in a proclamation of , as a reason for helping the postmasters to keep horses in sufficient number for the service of the posts, the townships are reminded of "the ease and quiet they reape thereby"; and long after the immunity from seizure had been granted, the allusions to the former practice leave no room for doubt that, though the sore was healed, the recollection of it still rankled. according to lord macaulay, a part of the post office revenue was derived from post-horses.[ ] with all deference to that eminent authority, and with all modesty we venture to think that such was not the case. the proclamation of , which was the origin of the monopoly, while giving to those who horsed the posts "the benefit and preheminence of letting horses" to all comers, expressly provided that, except for the service of the posts or for the use of persons travelling on affairs of state, no postmaster need keep horses unless he pleased, and that, if he did so, he should be at liberty to make his own terms. on this last point the words are, "but of all others riding poste with horne and guide about their private businesses, the hire and prices are left to the parties discretions to agree and compound within themselves." again, an account is still extant, dated , or twenty years after the monopoly had been established, and giving in minute detail the particulars of the expenses of the posts as they then were; records also exist extending in almost unbroken succession over more than eighty years of the period during which the monopoly lasted, and dealing with every variety of post office question; and neither in the records nor the account is there the remotest allusion to the receipt of any sums on account of post-horses. yet one reason more for the opinion we hold. about the middle of the eighteenth century, as the result of legislation which then took place, the roads were measured, and the measured mile proved to be shorter than the computed mile. as a consequence of this discovery the charge for post-horses was raised. a distance which had hitherto been reckoned as eight miles proved to be ten miles, and a charge as for ten instead of eight miles was made. travellers were up in arms, and complained that the post office had raised its charges. the answer was that the post office had nothing to do with the matter; that the postmasters were entitled by law to so much a mile; and that the whole of the charge went into their own pockets. for these reasons we think that no part of the post office revenue was derived from the letting of post-horses. indirectly, no doubt, the monopoly was a source of profit because, except for it, those who horsed the posts would not have been content with the wages they received. these, according to the account of , ranged from s. a day to d. a day. to supplement the postmasters' pay without expense to the crown was, we make bold to suggest, the object with which the monopoly was granted. and, of course, the better the object was secured, the more carefully would the monopoly be guarded. [ ] lord macaulay's words are:--"the revenue of this establishment was not derived solely from the charge for the transmission of letters. the post office alone was entitled to furnish post-horses; and, from the care with which this monopoly was guarded, we may infer that it was found profitable." in may clement oxenbridge, to whose exertions the act of would seem to have been largely due, petitioned the council of state to reimburse him the expenses to which he had been put in improving the posts, and the council of state, after investigating the claim, reported the particulars to the house of commons for directions. it was not, however, until after william and mary had ascended the throne that any further step was taken. oxenbridge, whose necessities had become greater as his age advanced, was then by the king's direction given an appointment under the post office of the annual value of £ ; and this salary he continued to draw, although too old to discharge the duties for which it was paid, until his death in . chapter v william dockwra - at the restoration the post office was leased to henry bishopp of henfield in sussex, for the term of seven years at a rent of £ , a year, or more than double the amount which had been paid by the previous farmer. before three years had elapsed, however, bishopp surrendered his lease, and was succeeded for the remainder of his term and at the same rent by daniel o'neile, groom of the king's bedchamber. o'neile had loyally adhered to charles during his exile, had attended his sovereign on his visit to scotland, had been banished that kingdom, and in connection with his banishment had achieved a singular distinction. he had given a written undertaking consenting to his own death if he ever returned. even at a rent of £ , , as the court had doubtless by this time learned, the post office was not a bad investment. o'neile, like bishopp, was to enjoy a monopoly of the carrying of letters, and to make what he could out of it; but he was rigidly to adhere to the rates of postage prescribed by the act, charging neither more nor less. old posts were not to be altered nor new posts erected, without the sanction of the secretary of state; and the secretary of state was to possess a veto on appointments and, as occasion might require, to "have the survey and inspection of all letters." to these conditions was afterwards added another. this was that no postmaster or other officer was to remain in the service who should not within six months obtain and forward to the postmaster-general a certificate, under the hand and seal of the bishop of the diocese, to the effect that he was "conformable to the discipline of the church of england." in , o'neile's lease having expired, lord arlington, secretary of state in the cabinet known as the cabal, was appointed postmaster-general; and, after a while, the office was again let out to farm, this time at a rent of £ , a year. rapidly as the rent had grown, the public demands had grown more rapidly still, and little, if any, effort had been made to satisfy them. how inadequate the posts were, about this time, to meet the public requirements may be judged from a circumstance connected with bishopp's appointment. the letters patent appointing him were to take effect from the th of june , but their validity was to depend on an act of parliament, the act reconstituting the general post office, which did not pass until some months afterwards. meanwhile a whole crop of posts had sprung up between london and the country, which could not be suppressed until the act was passed. as compensation for the loss he sustained by this encroachment on his monopoly between the th of june and the th of september bishopp claimed and received no less than £ . there is preserved in the guildhall library a letter from the duke of buckingham, to which the following note is appended:--"the great fire of london broke out on the nd of september . it is seen by the date of this letter that the duke of buckingham, at that time in the highest position at court and in the zenith of his power, was at worthing, and did not receive intelligence of the awful calamity until after the city had been burning for five days." we do not know by what means the duke was informed of the calamity, nor is it material to our present purpose that we should do so. all we desire now to observe is that if, as is not improbable, he was informed of it by letter, the letter--as we proceed to shew--reached him in due course of post. the fire broke out at midnight on the nd of september, and the nd of september was a saturday, after which, except to the downs and to places abroad, there was no post out of london until tuesday the th, or rather, as the mails started after midnight, until early in the morning of wednesday the th. arundel was then the post-town for worthing, and for the first part of the distance the course of post was, as it continued to be until the day of railways, through tooting, ewell, epsom or ebbesham as it was still called, leatherhead, and dorking. continuing thence, not, as in later times, through horsham, but through the hamlet of coldharbour, the post-road skirted the foot of leith hill and passed through stone street, billinghurst, and amberley to arundel, which would be reached late in the afternoon of wednesday. between arundel and worthing the distance is ten miles, and the postmaster would not, at the earliest, take out the letter for delivery until the morning of thursday the th, or five days after the fire had broken out. indeed, it may be permitted to us to doubt whether the letter, if letter there was, would have been delivered as early as the th, had it been for a less important personage. meagre as the means of communication were in those days, even such means as existed were not matter of common knowledge. the post office did not advertise its wares; and no newspapers then existed to do for the post office what the post office omitted to do for itself. what towns possessed post-houses of their own, and how these towns stood in relation to other towns which did not enjoy the same advantage, might well be considered essential information; yet even of this no public announcement was given. blome, in his _britannia_, printed in , remarks upon this defect, and for the benefit of his readers proceeds to supply it. after commenting upon the convenience which the post office affords, and lamenting that this convenience is not more generally known, he gives a list of the post towns which each county possesses, and supplements it with a series of county maps, so that, as he explains, persons desirous of writing to any particular place may be able to find out for themselves where the nearest post-house stands. as late as the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries separate maps appear to have been published with the same object, as a matter of private enterprise. in these maps the post towns are indicated by a castle surmounted by the royal standard. but it was within the metropolis itself that the public need was greatest. between london and the country posts went at unequal intervals indeed, and at intervals in some cases unduly long, and yet with regularity. to kent and the downs there was a post daily; to other parts of england and to scotland a post every other day; and to wales and to ireland a post twice a week. but between one part of london and another there was no post at all. a resident in london having a letter for delivery within the metropolitan area had only one choice, to take the letter himself or to send it by another. and let the bearer of a letter be who he might, there was an inconvenience to which he was constantly exposed. the houses were not numbered, and were mainly to be recognised by the signs they bore. later on, men who delivered letters over the same ground day after day complained that it was not always easy to find the address. without local knowledge it must have been sometimes impossible. happily, in england the spirit of enterprise is such that an acknowledged want affecting any considerable section of the public is seldom suffered to endure very long. and so it proved in the present instance. the man who now undertook to relieve the capital from the intolerable inconvenience under which it laboured was william dockwra, a merchant of the city of london. dockwra had been a sub-searcher in the custom house, and through some little interest he possessed at court had been allowed to dispose of his place. the idea of the penny post is said indeed to have originated with robert murray, an upholsterer in paternoster row; but, be that as it may, to dockwra belongs the credit of giving it practical shape. a man of less resolution or less convinced of the inherent merits of his undertaking might well have been daunted by the difficulties he had to encounter. the undertaking had been conceived in so bold a spirit that to carry it out would involve an expense which dockwra's unaided resources were altogether unable to bear. a difficulty still greater than the want of funds was the determined opposition of the duke of york. in the profits of the post office had been settled on the duke for his support and maintenance, and, with an eye ever intent on his own interests, he discerned or thought he discerned in the new project an infringement of his rights. undeterred by these difficulties, dockwra persevered in the task he had taken in hand. at length the appointed day arrived. on the st of april ,[ ] london, which had hitherto had no post at all, suddenly found itself in possession of one in comparison with which even the post of our own time is cast into the shade. for the purposes of the undertaking london and its suburbs were divided into seven districts with a sorting office in each. from hackney in the north to lambeth in the south, from blackwall in the east to westminster in the west, there was not a point within the bills of mortality which the new post did not reach. between four and five hundred receiving offices were opened in a single morning. placards were distributed and advertisements inserted in the public intelligences announcing where these offices were. messengers called there for letters every hour. these, if for the country, were carried to the general post office, and if for the town, to the respective sorting offices. from the sorting offices, after being sorted and entered in books kept for the purpose, they were sent out for delivery, to the inns of court or places of business ten or twelve times a day, and to other places according to distance from four to eight times. nor was the service confined to letters. it extended also to parcels, the only condition being that neither parcel nor letter should exceed one pound in weight,[ ] or ten pounds in value. subject to these limitations the charge between one part of london and another was one penny. an exception indeed was made in the case of hackney, islington, newington butts, and lambeth, which were then separate towns. there one penny carried only to the receiving office, and for delivery at a private house the charge was one penny more. delivery in the street was not allowed. [ ] curiously enough, the post office report for gives the year as ; but this is an error. [ ] here also the post office report for is in error. it says that at first there was no limit to the weight of a packet. but it was not only in the matter of weight and frequency of delivery that the new undertaking was conceived in the most liberal spirit. provided a letter or parcel was securely tied and sealed and its contents endorsed on the outside, the charge of one penny covered not only cost of conveyance but insurance as well, up to a limit of ten pounds. that is to say, subject to this limit, if a parcel or a letter or its contents were lost, dockwra would, the conditions being observed, make the value good. there is yet another novelty which dockwra introduced. as a check upon his messengers he supplied the seven sorting offices with stamps bearing their own initial letters and denoting the several hours of the day. with one of these stamps all letters and parcels were impressed as they passed through the post, and if in the busy parts of the capital they were not delivered within little more than an hour from the time denoted by the impression, the public were encouraged to complain. the following are specimens of the stamps which dockwra used:-- [illustration: three stamps] this was the introduction of postmarks. in the first and last impressions mor. signifies of course o'clock in the morning, and af. , o'clock in the afternoon. in the second or middle impression the initial letter l signifies lyme street, where the principal office of the penny post was held at dockwra's private dwelling-house, formerly the dwelling-house of sir robert abdy. the general post office, until lately in bishopsgate street, stood at this time in lombard street, where it occupied a site on part of which the branch office now stands. there the persons employed, all told, numbered . in the country and dependent on the chief office were postmasters, viz. in england and scotland and in ireland. twelve persons were also employed in the office in dublin. altogether and throughout the whole of the kingdom the general post office, in , gave employment to persons, a number very much less than that which dockwra employed in london alone. on saturday nights the penny post closed, in winter at six, and in summer at seven. on other nights of the week, sundays excepted, it must have remained open to at least o'clock, for at that hour the country letters were collected from the receiving offices and carried to the general post office. besides sundays, there were eight days in the year on which the post did not go, viz. three days at christmas, two days at easter, two days at whitsuntide, and also the th of january, the anniversary of the death of king charles the first. in spite of the enormous advantages it conferred, the penny post was not at first received with unqualified satisfaction. some fanatics denounced it as a popish contrivance; and lord macaulay tells us how the porters complained that their interests were attacked, and tore down the placards on which the scheme was announced to the public. even unprejudiced persons and persons who had no interests to protect complained that a large number of things were posted and not delivered. this dockwra himself admitted, explaining that it was due to the illegible writing of the address or to the omission of some important particular by which the persons addressed might be identified, the omission of their trade, or of the signs which their houses bore, or of some well-known place or object in their vicinity. the manifest utility of the enterprise, however, soon bore down all opposition; and in little more than a year from its introduction the penny post, though weighted with a scheme of insurance, was very nearly paying its own expenses. the establishment of the penny post had one effect which had probably not been contemplated. it increased largely the number of letters for the country. every man had now a post office at his own door. it is true that dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices were intended primarily for town letters; but country letters might be posted there, and, as we have seen, were collected at a stated hour every evening. hitherto the case had been very different. up to the st of april , incredible as it may appear, the general post office in lombard street was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of london. there and nowhere else could letters be posted. little wonder if, before , persons whom the cost of postage might not deter from writing were yet deterred by their distance from the post office. dockwra might reasonably now expect to reap some of the rewards of success. a small band of citizens who had joined in the original venture had afterwards deserted him, and for six months he had carried it on at his sole charge. others had then come to his aid, and a fresh partnership had been formed. the undertaking prospered, became self-supporting, and at length gave promise of large returns. this very promise excited the greed of the duke of york. so long as the outgoings exceeded the receipts dockwra remained unmolested; but no sooner had the balance turned than the duke complained of his monopoly being infringed, and the courts of law decided in his favour. not only was dockwra cast in damages, but the undertaking which he had impoverished himself to establish was wrested out of his hands, and the penny post, in less than five years from its introduction, was incorporated into the general post office.[ ] [ ] the exact date of incorporation is uncertain. the decision in the court of king's bench was given in michaelmas term ; but the first public advertisement of the penny post does not appear to have been issued by the postmaster-general until the th of march / . generosity formed no part of james's character, and, so long as he sat on the throne, dockwra's services remained without the slightest recognition. in , however, upon an address from the house of commons, william and mary granted him a pension of £ for seven years, and in the grant was renewed for three years longer. in the same year as the renewal of the grant, but a little earlier, he was appointed comptroller of the penny post at a salary of £ , and this appointment he retained until . then, both appointment and grant came to an abrupt termination together, for, on charges brought against him by his own subordinates, dockwra, like witherings, was dismissed. such was the tribute paid to the man who had conferred on his country benefits which he never tired of predicting would endure to all posterity. of the charges against dockwra two deserve special notice, as shewing that the penny post, after its acquisition by the state, continued to be conducted on the same principles as before. these two charges were-- st, that, contrary to his duty, he "forbids the taking in any band-boxes (except very small) and all parcels above a pound"; and nd, that he takes money out of letters and "makes the office pay for it," thereby clearly indicating that at that time the state carried on a parcel post and continued the practice of making losses good. a third charge, the truth of which it is more easy to credit, imputed to dockwra that he spoke and acted as if his object were to get the penny post into his own hands again. it is worthy of remark, as characteristic of the times in which he lived, and may perhaps be regarded as affording some presumption of his innocence, that dockwra appears to have been at less pains to refute the charges than to prove that he had taken the oath of supremacy, or the oath which had been recently substituted for it, and that he had received the holy sacrament. we have said that to us who live at the end of the nineteenth century it may appear incredible that up to april the general post office in lombard street was the only receptacle for letters in the whole of london. but it is by no means certain that our descendants may not think it more incredible still that london, with all its boasted progress, has only now recovered a post which, in point of convenience and cheapness, at all approaches that which an enterprising citizen established more than two hundred years ago. when and under what circumstances this post lost its original features will have to be considered hereafter. chapter vi cotton and frankland _inland service_ - in , on the death of charles the second, the revenue of the post office was settled on james, his heirs and successors. rochester, the high treasurer, became postmaster-general; and for the actual discharge of the duties a deputy was appointed under the title of governor. two years before, the panic caused by the discovery of the rye-house plot had led to the issue of a proclamation which, if differing little from others that had gone before, acquires importance from the circumstances under which it appeared. unauthorised posts had again sprung up in all directions, simply, no doubt, because there was a demand for the accommodation they afforded; but the government, no less than the persons who denounced dockwra's undertaking as a popish contrivance, seem to have been possessed with the idea that these posts were mere vehicles for the propagation of treason. to prevent treasonable correspondence was the avowed object of the present proclamation, and the means by which the object was sought to be attained was the suppression of private and irregular posts, for by these, the proclamation went on to declare, the conspirators had been materially assisted in their designs. mayors, sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables and others were enjoined to make diligent search for letters passing otherwise than through the regular post. special officers were to be appointed for the same purpose. all such letters, wherever discovered, were to be deemed to be "of dangerous consequence"; and not only were they to be seized and carried to the secretary of state or the privy council for the purpose of being opened and inspected, but both the bearers and senders of them were to be proceeded against at law. on james's accession to the throne the proclamation of was succeeded by another in almost identical terms; and it is certain that during his reign the liberties taken with post letters were hardly less than they had been in the worst days of the commonwealth. only a few months before rochester's dismissal, for no better reason than to gratify curiosity, orders were given that the bags from scotland should be transmitted to whitehall, and during a whole week not a single private letter from beyond the tweed was delivered in london. happily, however, this state of things was soon to cease. after the revolution the appointment of postmaster-general was conferred upon persons who were otherwise unconnected with affairs of state, and the effect of this change was, as william no doubt intended, at once to lift the post office out of the region of politics. in the eyes of the rochesters, the arlingtons, and the thurloes, busied as they were in the detection of conspiracies against the state, the post office had been little else than an instrument which might be usefully employed as a means to that end. with plain citizens unversed in the ways of government, the only consideration was how best they could accomplish the object for which they had been appointed; and this object was so to manage and improve the posts of the country as to secure to their sovereign the highest possible revenue. but, before william could give effect to his views, there was an adherent to be provided for. this was colonel john wildman, who was appointed postmaster-general in july . of wildman's career at the post office little is known, except that he was profuse in making promises which he never performed. he might, perhaps, himself have pleaded that he was not given time to perform them, for after eight months' tenure of the appointment he was dismissed for some reason which is, and will probably continue to be, a mystery. far different is the record left behind them by wildman's immediate successors. these were sir robert cotton and mr.--afterwards sir thomas--frankland, who became joint postmasters-general in march , and served in that capacity for nearly twenty years. they had sat in james's parliament, the one for cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of thirsk, and these seats they retained under william. from the writings they have left behind them we are able to see these two men not as a biographer might dress them up, but as they really were. everything about them, their virtues, their foibles, their habits, their ailments, their devotion to duty, their unwillingness to believe evil of any one, their hatred of injustice or oppression, their unbounded credulity, their anxiety about their re-election, their gratitude for any little scrap of news which they might carry to court, their fondness for a glass of port wine, their attacks of gout, their habit of taking snuff, even the hour of their going to bed--all this and more is there revealed, and makes up a record of simplicity and benevolence which it is a delight to read. the establishment over which these two simple gentlemen were called upon to preside had recently received a considerable addition. out of london, the post office servants remained much as they had been ten years before, at about in number, of whom all but twelve were postmasters; but in london the force employed at the general post office had been raised from to . the penny post office, which had now been wrested out of dockwra's hands, accounts for the greater part of the difference. this gave employment, exclusive of receivers, to persons--a comptroller, an accomptant, and a collector, sorters and messengers--at a total charge for salaries of £ a year. another part of the establishment, and by no means the least important or the least difficult to manage, consisted of the packet boats. these, in , were eleven in number, viz.--two for france, two for flanders, two for holland, two for the downs, and three for ireland. owing to the war, however, the boat-service to france was now in abeyance. little more than half a century had elapsed since the introduction of postage, and meanwhile the revenue had risen by strides which were for those times prodigious. in the posts were maintained at a cost to the crown of £ a year. within fifteen years not only had they become self-supporting, but a rent was paid for the privilege of farming them. this rent was, in , £ a year; in , £ , ; in , £ , ; and some time before , £ , . in the net revenue was probably about £ , . in , according to a return made to the house of commons two years later, it was £ , . the headquarters of the post office were at this time in lombard street. here the postmasters-general resided; and here, far from shutting themselves up, they were to be found at all hours by any one who might wish to consult them on business connected with their office. freedom of communication with those among whom they lived, and not inaccessibility, appears indeed to have been a part of their policy. with the foreign merchants especially they maintained the most friendly intercourse, and were wont to defer to their wishes and suggestions in the arrangement of the packets. besides giving constant attendance during the day, the postmasters-general sat as a board every morning and night. to these board-meetings they attached the highest importance, especially on the nights of tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays, when mails were despatched into all parts of the country. these were known as the "grand post nights," and the others as "bye-nights." the post office building appears to have been not ill adapted to its purpose. a massive gate opened into a court of oblong shape. this court was paved from end to end for the merchants to walk in while waiting to receive their letters. on the right was the board-room with the residence of the postmasters-general attached; on the left the office for foreign letters; and in front, immediately facing the entrance, was the sorting office. the office for the letter-carriers was in the basement. the rest of the building was devoted to the use of the post office servants, who, owing to their unseasonable hours of attendance, were required to live in the office itself or else in its immediate vicinity. the machinery for the dispersion of letters was very simple. for post office purposes the kingdom was divided into six roads--the north road, the chester or holyhead road, the western road, the kent road, and the roads to bristol and to yarmouth; and these roads were presided over by a corresponding number of clerks in london whose duty it was to sort the letters and to tax them with the proper amount of postage. at the present time, when, owing to the system of prepayment, there is comparatively little taxing to be done, no less than clerks and sorters are engaged every evening in despatching the letters into the country. two hundred years ago the whole operation was performed, both sorting and taxing together, by the six clerks of the roads, and they had not even a sorter to assist them until . the letters, as soon as they had been sorted, were despatched into the country, the usual hour of despatch being shortly after midnight; but, of course, with a force to prepare them of only six persons, a rigid punctuality such as that which now distinguishes the operations of the post office could hardly be observed. an instance remains on record of the disturbance caused by any unusual pressure. the th of february , we are told, was a foreign post night, and it happened that the letters for the country as well as abroad were more than ordinarily numerous. on this occasion the mails which should have gone out before three o'clock in the morning could not be despatched until between six and seven. once clear of london, the letters passed into the hands of the postmasters, who were alone concerned in their transmission and distribution. at the present time, multifarious as the duties of a postmaster are, it is not one of them to transport the mails from town to town. but such was not the case in . the post roads were then divided into sections or, as they were commonly called, stages; and these stages were presided over by a corresponding number of postmasters, whose duty it was to carry the mails each over his own stage. this had been the original object of their appointment, the object for which they had been granted the monopoly of letting post-horses, and it still remained their primary duty, to which every other was subordinate. and yet traces of this original function were already beginning to disappear. the posts settled on the six main roads of the kingdom had not been long in extending themselves to other roads; and on these branch roads one postmaster would be charged with the carrying of the mails over two or more stages, leaving another without any transport duty at all. kendal, for instance, lay on a branch road leaving the holyhead road at chester; and from wigan the letters for kendal were fetched by the postmaster of preston, who passed not only his own town but the town of lancaster on his way. in no provincial town had a letter-carrier of its own, as that term is now understood. even at bristol and at norwich, which ranked next to the capital in size and importance, there was for all post office purposes one single agent, and that was the postmaster. upon him and him alone devolved all the duties which now, at all but the smallest towns, a body of sorters and letter-carriers is maintained to perform. whether out of london there was any settled mode of delivery is uncertain; but there seems little doubt that, soon after the establishment of the post office, to deliver letters in his own town had come to be a part, though a secondary part, of a postmaster's duty. at maidstone, indeed, the delivery appears to have reached a high state of perfection. the postmaster there fetched the mails from rochester and carried them to ashford, dropping the letters for his own town as he passed through. these were at once taken out by two men of his own and delivered, so that, as he took pride in relating, a letter from london arriving by the morning post at noon could he answered by the return post, which left maidstone at six o'clock in the evening. but this must have been an exceptional case. except perhaps at the largest towns, letters were yet too few to make such an arrangement necessary; and it seems probable that the hour at which the delivery was made and the area over which it extended were very much in the postmaster's discretion. one check there was, and, so far as appears, one only. this was the letter bill which accompanied the letters, and in which was inserted the postage which a postmaster had to collect and bring to account; but it frequently happened that he advanced the amount himself, and of course, where this was so, there was nothing to shew that any particular letter had been delivered, still less that it had been delivered within a particular time. far more effective, it may well be believed, than any official check was the desire, the natural desire, to stand well with his neighbours; and the substantial marks of kindness which they seldom failed to bestow upon him whenever he was so unfortunate as to get into trouble, preclude the idea that, in the matter of delivery or otherwise, remissness or inattention can have been at all general. in london, owing to recent malpractices there, attention had been directed to the salaries, and these had been improved. the six clerks of the roads received four of them £ a year, one £ , and one as much as £ . the sorters received £ a year, and the general post letter-carriers s. a week. the wages of the penny post letter-carriers or messengers, as for distinction's sake they were called, were s. in addition to their salaries the clerks of the roads enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers or, as they were then called, gazettes. this privilege, which dated from the first establishment of the post office, had arrested the attention of james when duke of york, and he had desired to take it away; but, on learning that compensation would have to be given, he decided to let it continue. by post the gazettes would have cost from d. to d. apiece. the clerks of the roads supplied them for d. the emoluments from this source kept steadily growing during william's reign. at first the longer and more frequent sessions of parliament, and, later on, the war in which england was engaged, excited an appetite for news to which the two previous reigns afford no parallel. a statement which the postmasters-general made to the treasury about this time, while evincing perhaps some little credulity, evinces also how keen, in the judgment of two shrewd and intelligent men, was the hunger after early intelligence. "in england," they say, "there are many postmasters, who some of them serve without salary, others for less than they would otherwise do, in consideration of their being allowed gazets by the office ffrank." another curious custom prevailed in , and continued indeed for nearly a century afterwards. this was the distribution among the post office servants in london of a certain sum annually as "drink and feast money." the sum so distributed in had been no less than £ ; and this was in addition to two "feasts" which were given them at the expense of the crown, one at midsummer and the other at christmas. in the country, where there was no one to watch over the postmasters' interests, the salaries were merely nominal. the postmaster of sudbury in suffolk received a salary of £ a year; and for this he had, three times a week, to carry the letters to braintree and back, a distance of thirty-two miles, over a road that was barely passable. at maidstone, in order to keep the delivery up to his own standard of excellence, the postmaster expended s. a day in what he called "horse-meate and man's-meate," yet his salary was only £ . many postmasters received no salary at all. even at bristol, which stood next to london in population and wealth, the salary was only £ , having been recently raised to that amount from £ . nor was it only in the matter of salary that the postmasters were objects of compassion. the disturbed state of the country during the last few years had brought back old abuses. officers of the army and others who had not the officers' excuse of urgency would override the post-horses, and when, as frequently happened, these were lamed or killed, no compensation appears to have been given. another class of persons infested the roads, persons who, taking advantage of the general confusion, would hire post-horses and not return them. during the last twelve or thirteen years of the seventeenth century many postmasters were languishing in prison through inability to pay what they owed for postage; and among these there were few who did not trace their misfortunes to the fact that immediately before and after william's accession to the throne their horses had been killed or spoiled through reckless riding or else run away with. but neither the loss of their horses nor the inadequacy of their remuneration was so galling to the postmasters as the liability to which they now became subject, of having soldiers quartered upon them. a standing army had been recently authorised, and there was little or no barrack accommodation. hence a liability, which in our own time might be little more than nominal, was, in , tantamount to a heavy tax. under charles and james[ ] the postmasters had been exempt from this annoyance; but the exemption had been granted by virtue of the royal prerogative, and william could not be induced to continue it. in vain it was urged that, if a burden were cast upon them as novel as it was oppressive, justice demanded that their salaries should be increased. the king resolutely refused to make a distinction which the law did not recognise, and, except in a few isolated cases, the salaries remained unchanged. [ ] in the reigns of charles ii. and james ii. the practice of billeting, illegal as it then was, was necessarily resorted to in order to provide quarters for the troops they maintained in time of peace; and even billeting in private houses was not unknown. an act of , the second mutiny act, as it is called, while forbidding billeting in private houses, authorised it at "inns, livery stables, ale houses, victualling houses, and all houses selling brandy, strong waters, cyder or metheglin, by retaile, to be dranke in their houses." despite these drawbacks, there is no reason to think that the appointment of postmaster was not eagerly sought for, or that when obtained there was any general disposition to throw it up. the explanation is obvious. in the first place the appointment carried with it the exclusive right of letting post-horses. this monopoly, at all events on the more frequented roads, must have been remunerative; and it must have been especially remunerative where, as appears to have been generally the case, the postmaster was also innkeeper. travellers were drawn to his house, for it was only there that they could procure horses to pursue their journey. he was, in a word, assured of custom. other sources of emolument were-- st, gratuities, varying according to distance, from d. to d., on every letter he collected or delivered; and nd, what were technically called "bye-letters." this term, whatever may have been the case a century before, had now a distinctive meaning. it meant letters which stopped short of london,[ ] letters upon which at that time there was no check. in the postage on these letters was probably not large; but, large or small, the whole or all but the whole of it found its way into the pockets of the postmasters, and it was one of the first cares of the new postmasters-general to consider how the diversion might be stopped. [ ] in the agreement with ralph allen, dated thirty years later, bye-letters are defined to be "letters not going or coming from, to, or through london." such, in england, was the condition of the post office when cotton and frankland assumed the direction of it in the month of march . in scotland the posts were under separate direction, the direction of the secretary of state for that part of the kingdom, and subject to the control of the scotch parliament. for purposes of convenience, however, an arrangement had been made between the two post offices. on letters between london and edinburgh in both directions the english post office took not only its own share of the postage but the whole; and, in return, it paid the salaries of all the postmasters and defrayed the cost of all expresses between the border town of berwick-on-tweed and edinburgh. the correspondence at this time passing between the two capitals was of the slightest. it is true that for the three years ending march the amount due to the london office for postage on letters to edinburgh was £ , or at the rate of £ a year; but the correspondence of the secretary of state for scotland, or "black-box" as it was called, from the colour of the box in which it was carried, would probably account for nearly the whole. in , which no doubt was a busy year in consequence of the act of union, the cost of carrying this box to and fro averaged £ a month. in ireland the post office was managed by a deputy-postmaster, who was directly responsible to the postmasters-general in london. the method of business was the same as in england. instead, however, of six "roads," there were only three--the munster road, the ulster road, and the connaught road. the dublin establishment, clerks and letter-carriers included, consisted of twelve persons, of whom five received £ a year, and no one, the deputy-postmaster excepted, more than £ . the deputy-postmaster himself received £ . such at least was the normal establishment; but all was now confusion. the battle of the boyne had not yet been fought, and tyrconnel was still lord deputy. by his direction the post office servants in dublin, down to the youngest letter-carrier, had been turned out of their appointments; and the mails from england, instead of being opened at the post office, were being carried to the castle and opened there. the new postmasters-general had not long taken up their quarters in lombard street before they began to feel serious alarm for the revenue committed to their charge. it was in the matter of bye-letters that their apprehensions were first aroused. london, as the metropolis, sent and received more letters than any other town, more probably than all the other towns of the kingdom put together. through london, too, as the centre of the post office system, many letters passed in those days which would not so pass now, because there were no cross-posts. still there was a residue, a residue considerable in the aggregate, consisting of letters which did not touch london in any part of their course; and of these comparatively few were accounted for. some thirty years later, after a check had been established, the revenue derived from bye-letters was only a little over £ a year. at the end of the seventeenth century it probably did not amount to as many hundreds. it was, however, not the letters that fell into the post, but those that were kept out of it, the illicit traffic in fact, that caused the greatest concern. this traffic was assuming larger proportions every day. under charles and james searchers had been appointed, men who searched for letters as baggage is searched at the custom house. no suspected person, no suspected vehicle, was safe from inspection. but there was no legal sanction for the practice, and it had ceased on william's accession. early in the present reign it had been mooted whether a prosecution should not be undertaken, at all events against the principal offenders; but the king refused to consent to a step which he regarded as impolitic and calculated to excite discontent. license waxed bolder with impunity. along the road from bristol to worcester and from worcester to shrewsbury men might be seen openly collecting and delivering letters in defiance of the law. openly or clandestinely the same thing was being done in other parts. "wherever," wrote the postmasters-general, "there are any townes which have commerce one with another so as to occasion a constant intercourse by carryer or tradesman, there we do find it a general practice to convey at the same time a considerable number of letters." but the illicit traffic between one part of the country and another, large as were the dimensions it had assumed, was insignificant as compared with that which was taking place between the country and london. this was the natural result of the establishment of the penny post. at the first introduction of postage care had been taken so to fix the rates that for single letters the post should be cheaper than the common carrier. but the common carrier, in competition with the state, had one enormous advantage. he could reduce his terms at will. so long, therefore, as there was a profit to be made, the relative cheapness of the post had proved only an imperfect check. a far more efficient check, in the case of the metropolis at least, had been the difficulty of dispersion. it was one thing to bring letters to london and another to deliver them. in a maze of streets consisting of houses which bore no numbers, a comparative stranger to the town attempting anything in the shape of a general delivery would have been simply bewildered. but all this was now altered. the penny post supplied the very machinery, the want of which had hitherto kept the illicit traffic within bounds. once within the orbit of that post, a letter consigned to any one of dockwra's four or five hundred receiving offices would be delivered in any part of what was then known as london for d., and in the suburbs for d. and these charges would carry up to one pound in weight; whereas a quarter of one pound by the general post, even from places no further distant from london than croydon or kingston, would be charged s. d. of course, under such conditions, to carry letters across the border-line, the line which separated the general post from the penny post, had soon become a regular traffic; and this traffic, in consequence of the impunity it enjoyed, was now being carried on with little concealment. no stage-coach entered london without the driver's pockets being stuffed with letters and packets, and he was moderate indeed if he had not a bagful besides. the waggoner outstripped his waggon and the carrier his pack-horse; and each brought his contribution. the higgler's wares were the merest pretext. it was to the letters and packets he carried that he looked for profit. so notorious had the abuse become that two private persons, unconnected with the post office, offered their services with a view to its correction. these persons were gentlemen by birth, and yet it is difficult to conceive an office more odious than the one which they were prepared to assume. they proposed to erect stands or barriers in westminster, southwark, and other places in the outskirts of london, and there to demand of suspected persons as they passed any letters they might have about them which did not concern their private business. they further proposed to deliver these letters by messengers of their own, and to collect the postage, and to proceed against the bearers of them for the recovery of the penalties. it is significant of the extent to which the traffic had grown, that in return for their services they asked no more than two-thirds of the postage they should collect, and even pleaded the heavy expenses to which they would be put as an apology for asking so much. the remaining third they would undertake to make over to the postmasters-general. they did not explain, however, how it was proposed to distinguish letters which concerned the private business of the bearers from those which did not, or how, while checking others, they were to be checked themselves. nor indeed was any such explanation needed, for the postmasters-general very clearly discerned that the proposed remedy would be worse, far worse, than the disease. cotton and frankland were sorely perplexed. they knew perfectly well that the true policy was to supplant and not to suppress; and experience had taught them that to facilitate correspondence was to increase it. these views they never ceased to inculcate; but their power of giving effect to them was extremely limited. they could not lower the rates of postage, for these were fixed by act of parliament. they could not set up a new post nor alter an old one without the king's permission. neither was this permission so easy to obtain as it had been. the post office revenue was settled upon william just as it had been settled upon james; but while james kept the control in his own hands william left it to his ministers.[ ] constitutionally sound as the change of practice was, it had its drawback. james might care little for the convenience of trade and commerce; but self-interest would prompt him not to withhold facilities where these might be given at small cost and with the prospect of comparatively large returns. ministers, on the contrary, even the most enlightened, concerned themselves mainly with the balance-sheet of the year, and no promise of future and remote profit would easily reconcile them to a diminution of present receipts. that the post office must sow before it can reap is a truism which those who hold the purse-strings have, at all times, found it hard to accept. [ ] occasionally, even after william's accession, the postmasters-general addressed the king direct. the remonstrance against quartering soldiers upon postmasters was so addressed. this document is dated the st of february / . the ministers charged with the control of the post office were the lords of the treasury. how little the postmasters-general were left to act on their own responsibility will best be shewn by examples. warwick, according to the computation of those days, was sixty-seven miles from london; but letters for that town passed through coventry, thus traversing a distance of eighty miles. and not only was the route a circuitous one but it involved an additional charge for postage, the rates for a single letter being, for eighty miles, d., and for less than eighty, d. the postmasters-general desired to send the letters direct; but even so simple a matter as this they were not competent to decide for themselves. a change of route involved a reduction of charge; and a reduction of charge might affect the king's receipts. before, therefore, the route could be altered, the king's assent had to be signified through his appointed ministers. in a post was established between exeter and bristol. this was the first cross-post set up by authority in the british isles. it ran twice a week, leaving exeter on wednesdays and saturdays at four in the afternoon, and arriving at bristol at the same hour on the following days. from bristol the return post, which went on mondays and fridays, started at ten in the morning. but in this case as in the other, the postmasters-general had not the power to act of their own motion. hitherto letters between the two towns had passed through london, and so had been liable to a double rate of postage, to one rate of d. from exeter to london, and to another rate of equal amount from london to bristol, or d. altogether. for the future, the towns being less than eighty miles apart, the charge would be d. large as this reduction was, the postmasters-general strongly advocated it. the existing post, they said, was both tedious and costly, and had been little used in consequence. a direct post, it was true, would require a small outlay to start it; but, this outlay notwithstanding, the post was certain to prove remunerative. increase facilities for correspondence, and correspondence would assuredly follow. besides, it would promote trade and be an inestimable boon to the public generally. to these representations the treasury yielded; and before three years were over, the postmasters-general had the satisfaction of reporting that the new post was producing a clear profit of more than £ a year. but complaisant as the treasury had been on this occasion, their co-operation was fitful and uncertain. the post office could not advance a step without incurring some trifling expense; and the treasury only too often acted as if to save expense, however trifling, were the highest proof of statesmanship. the postmasters-general were indeed heavily handicapped. even with a free hand their position would have been one of great embarrassment. but bound hand and foot as they were, what could they do? they did what was perhaps the very best thing that could have been done in the circumstances. they grouped large numbers of post offices together and let them out to farm. these groups, or branches as they were called, spread over a wide area. the buckingham branch, for instance, not only included the county of bucks but extended as far as warwick. the hungerford branch comprised sixteen post offices in the counties of berks, wilts, and somerset. the chichester branch covered a large part of surrey as well as sussex; and the six remaining branches, for eventually there were nine altogether, were equally extensive. this, though by no means a perfect remedy for the existing evils, went far to mitigate them. the farmer, of course, could not alter the rates of postage; but with this single exception he was free from the restraints which hampered the postmasters-general. within the area over which his farm extended he had only to consult his own interests; and, happily, his own interests and the interests of the public were identical. he improved and extended the posts, because to improve and extend the posts added to the number of letters and made his farm more profitable. he stopped the practice of levying gratuities on the delivery of letters, because this practice, by adding to the cost of the post, and so deterring persons from using it, diminished his own receipts. for the same reason he took good care that no agent of his own should omit to account for bye-letters, and, if other than his own agents continued to send letters by irregular means, that it should not be for want of facilities which he could himself supply. to this community of interest as between himself and the public may be ascribed the exceptional feelings with which, at the close of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, the post office farmer was regarded. the very name of farmer in connection with other branches of the revenue had become a by-word for all that was rapacious and extortionate. only recently the farmer of the customs and the farmer of the hearth money had been stamped out as moral pests. the post office farmer, on the contrary, was welcomed wherever he came as a public benefactor. in his case outrages and exactions such as had disgraced the others were impossible. before he could collect a single penny he had a service to perform; and according as this service was performed well or ill, he repelled or attracted custom. the real secret of his welcome, however, was that he supplied an urgent demand; and how urgent this demand was may best be judged by the conditions on which he was glad to accept his farm. these conditions were a lease of no more than three years, and a rent equivalent to the highest amount which the post offices included in his farm had in any one year produced. for his profits he had nothing to look to but the increase of revenue resulting from his own management; and even of this he received the whole only in the first year, when he would, presumably, be establishing his plant. in subsequent years he received two-thirds, the remaining third going to the post office. if under such conditions as these it were possible to toil and grow rich, great indeed must have been the field of operation. among those who were commissioned to supply the accommodation which the postmasters-general were precluded from supplying themselves was one who deserves to be specially mentioned. this was stephen bigg of winslow, in buckinghamshire. bigg farmed the buckingham branch. he appears to have possessed and to have deserved the confidence of the postmasters-general. of ample means, and endowed with no ordinary powers of organisation, he had probably embarked on his undertaking less with a view to profit than from a desire to improve the posts. be that as itmay, the same means which conduced to the one end conduced also to the other; and when the time arrived for him to render an account of his proceedings, he not only made over to the post office a handsome sum as one-third share of the profits, but had earned for himself the gratitude of the large district over which his farm extended. his success in his own county encouraged him to enlarge the sphere of his operations. passing through lancashire in the last year of the century, he was struck with the wretched accommodation which the posts afforded. as compared with those under his own control, they were slow, irregular, and, owing to the system of gratuities, costly. on his return to london he offered to take in farm the post offices of the whole county. the offer was accepted, and a lease was signed fixing the rent, as ascertained in the usual manner, at £ . the history of this farm is curious. bigg had not long been engaged in his new undertaking before the cross-post which had some few years before been set up between exeter and bristol was extended to chester. it is not very clear how this interfered with bigg's proceedings; but, as a matter of fact, it appears to have tapped an important source of supply. on this being pointed out to the postmasters-general, they at once, with that high sense of justice which distinguished all their proceedings, released him from his engagement and cancelled the lease. the next county to which bigg turned his attention was lincolnshire. if lancashire had bad posts, lincolnshire had next to none. five post towns were all of which lincolnshire could boast--stamford and witham and grantham, lincoln and boston; and of these only two were off the great north road which ran through the extreme west of the county. it is true that other towns received letters; but they received them only by virtue of a private arrangement, and heavily had they to pay for the luxury. from lincoln, for instance, the postmaster went twice a week to gainsborough and to brigg, to horncastle, louth, and grimsby, charging as his own perquisite on each letter he collected or delivered the sum of d. over and above the postage; but, so far as depended on any official post, these and all the intervening towns were absolutely cut off from the rest of the world.[ ] bigg procured a farm of the district in favour of his son, and the lease was signed on the th of august . on the st of october in the same year posts began to run, and gratuities on the delivery of letters had become a thing of the past. one penny on each letter collected was the only charge that remained over and above the postage. [ ] in the case of grimsby it is the more surprising that this should have been so, because out of the only five towns in the kingdom which the act of mentions by name grimsby is one. according to this act the post was to go there once a week. it would be less than justice not to recognise the important part which about this period the farmer played in the history of the post office; nor is it possible not to admire the sagacity of those who, when they found the posts to be slipping through their fingers, summoned this extraneous agency to their aid. it was no mere venture which by a happy accident happened to turn out well. the postmasters-general had foreseen and foretold exactly what would be the result--that under a system of farming the public would be better served, letters would become more numerous, and the revenue, when it should revert to the crown at the termination of the lease, would be higher than when the lease began. next to lincolnshire in poverty of the means of correspondence stood cornwall. until the post to falmouth, after leaving exeter, ran through ashburton to plymouth and thence along the south coast. of the towns in mid cornwall launceston alone possessed a post office. at others, indeed, letters were delivered, but only by virtue of a private arrangement and on payment of a gratuity of d. apiece. no farmer, unfortunately, offered his services here. but, what was perhaps the next best thing, the gentry of the county, headed by lord granville, took the matter up. thus supported, the postmasters-general proceeded to concert their arrangements. they desired the postmasters of exeter, plymouth, and launceston to meet together and prepare some scheme for facilitating the correspondence of the midland towns. such a scheme was soon submitted, and, although it involved a cost of £ a year, authority for its adoption was not withheld. henceforth the post for the extreme west of england was to go, not by way of plymouth, but direct from exeter to st. columb, and thence through truro to falmouth. a single post through a wide extent of country might ill accord with our present views of what the public convenience requires; and yet at the beginning of the eighteenth century mid cornwall, by the mere alteration of the route for the falmouth mails, obtained facilities for correspondence not inferior to those enjoyed by other parts of the country. the speed at which the post travelled at the end of the seventeenth century only slightly exceeded four miles an hour. this slow rate of progress, added to the fact that, except to the downs, the post left london only on alternate days, gave occasion for the not infrequent use of expresses. these were mounted messengers sent specially for the occasion. whether for expresses there was any prescribed rate of speed is not known; but it seems probable that their instructions were to go as fast as they could. the charge for an express was d. a mile and d. a stage, a stage being on the average about twelve miles. the total sum which the post office received on this account during the half-year which ended the th of september was £ . occasionally several expresses would be required at one time. in , on the discovery of barclay's plot to assassinate the king, orders were given to close the ports; and these orders the postmasters-general sent, as they were instructed to do, by express. some twenty years afterwards similar orders were given, and an account is still extant shewing how on the later, and probably the earlier, occasion they were carried into effect. the english ports were sixty-two in number; and to only ten of these were expresses sent direct from lombard street, the others being either taken by the way or reached by branch expresses furnished by the towns through which the expresses from london passed. altogether the distance traversed was miles, the number of stages , and the sum which the post office received for the service from the commissioners of customs £ : : . from expresses it seems almost natural to pass to flying packets, although between the two there is, so far as we are aware, no necessary connection. what was a flying packet? the term "flying," at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, was, no doubt, used in the sense of running. for this season, writes lord compton's private tutor to lady northampton, under date september , "the coach has done flying." in like manner "flying post," a term as old as the post office itself,[ ] meant nothing more than what in scotland was called a runner. possibly because the idea of expedition was conveyed by the term "flying," flying packet came to be regarded as synonymous with express. "i despatch this by a flying pacquett," writes lord townshend to the duke of argyll in ; and again, "my lord, after writing what is above, a flying packet brings letters from edinburgh of the th." "by the flying pacquett which arrived last night," writes secretary stanhope about the same date, "i received the honour of your grace's of the st inst." here, by flying packet is obviously meant express. and yet, curiously enough, this is a sense in which the postmasters-general never employed the term. by them it was always designed to signify the thing transmitted, and not the means of transmission. what they called a flying packet might be sent by ordinary post no less than by express; and when sending one by express they never failed to state that it was being so sent. "you are therefore," they write in , "on the receipt of the bag so delivered to your care [_i.e._ a small bag containing letters for the court], to dispatch the same imediately by a flying packet from harwich to this office, and to send a labil therewith expressing the precise time of the arrival and your having dispatched the same per express." on receipt of the holland mail, they write again in the following year, "you are to take out the court letters, and to forward the same express by a flying packet directed to mr. frankland at the post office at newmarket." "the inclosed box being recommended to our care by his grace the duke of queensberry, one of her majesty's principall secretarys of state, we do send the same by a flying pacquet.... you are to send us advice by the first post of the safe comeing of this pacquet to your hands." in short, flying packet, in its original sense, appears to have meant simply a packet of which the enclosures were designed for some other person than the one whose address the packet bore. within the post office it is occasionally necessary to employ technical terms which would not be intelligible to persons without; but this, so far as we are aware, is the only instance of the same term being used within and without in two totally different senses. [ ] . feb. rd. robert reade to charles spellman. "att the right honourable my lord townshend's in the old palace yard, westminster." the writer says that he has as yet received no command from mr. spellman or from lord townshend, "nor do i wonder at it, because the flying post lay drunke last friday at fakenham (being the day that he should have binn at thetford to take those letters then there which he should bring hether on saterday), and had not changed his quarter yesterday as i am informed by one of scott's men who saw him pittyfully drunke. the cuntry complaines of him."--historical manuscripts commission, eleventh report, appendix, part iv. p. . of the state of the roads about this period the highway act affords, perhaps, not the least trustworthy evidence. to incidents which have resulted in nothing more than temporary inconvenience travellers are apt to give a touch of humorous exaggeration. an act of parliament, on the contrary, deals with facts as they are, and concerns itself not with imaginary ills. what, then, is to be thought of the condition of the roads when provisions such as these were necessary?--no causeway for horses was to be less than three feet in breadth, nor was the breadth of any cartway leading to a market town to be less than eight feet. in highways of less breadth than twenty feet no tree was to be permitted to grow, or stone, timber, or manure to be heaped up so as to obstruct progress; and hedges were to be kept trimmed, and boughs to be lopped off, so as to allow a free passage to travellers, and not to intercept the action of the sun and wind. of any breach of these and other provisions the road-surveyor was, on the sunday next after it became known to him, to give public notice in the parish church immediately after the conclusion of the sermon. long after the passing of the act of , and perhaps in consequence of it, the causeway formed an important feature of the roads. this causeway, or bridle-track, ran down the middle; while the margin on either side was little better than a ditch, and being lower than the adjoining soil, and at the same time soft and unmade, received and retained the sludge. but, in truth, the state of the roads concerned the post office far less at the close of the seventeenth century than it did at the close of the eighteenth. the mails were carried on horseback; and, even so, they were carried mainly over the six great roads of the kingdom. these roads, as compared with others, were good; and execrably bad as we might now think them, they were probably not altogether ill adapted to riding. the disasters which history refers to this period, as illustrating the difficulties of travelling, occurred generally on the cross-roads, and always with wheel traffic. for both wheel traffic and horse traffic the six great roads had, probably from the earliest times, been kept in some sort of repair. on the great kent road, nearly a hundred years before, a young dane, with his attendants, had on horseback accomplished the distance between dover and london in a single day.[ ] in couriers had ridden from london to york and back, a distance of about miles, in thirty-four hours,[ ] a feat barely possible except on the assumption that the road was in tolerable order. now and again, indeed, some postmaster, pleading for the remission of his debt to the crown, would urge the losses he had sustained in horse-flesh by reason of the badness of the roads; but these roads were always cross-roads--roads along which, if he had delivered letters, he had delivered them on his own account. of the six great roads as a means of transit for the mails there were no complaints. [ ] the forty-sixth annual report of the deputy-keeper of the public records, appendix ii. p. . [ ] _clarendon's life_, vol. i. p. . it was when the post office required something to be done which involved transmission from place to place otherwise than on horseback that its troubles began. such an event occurred in . sir isaac newton was then busy at the mint, devoting to the coinage those powers of intellect which were soon to astonish the world. the clipping of the coin had gone to such lengths that within the space of one year no less than four acts of parliament were passed with a view to abate the evil. milled money was to take the place of hammered money. the clipped pieces had already been withdrawn from circulation, and now a date was fixed after which no broad pieces were to be received in payment of taxes except by weight. this date was the th of november, and collectors of the public revenue were allowed until the th of the following month to pay them over to the exchequer. if not paid over by the th of december they were to be taken by weight and not by tale, and the collectors were to lose the difference. here was a clear month's grace, and the postmasters were under a strong inducement to see that the period was not exceeded. from oxford the hammered money was sent by barge. no sooner had it started than a severe frost set in, and lasted for six weeks, the consequence being to delay the arrival in london until the th of january. to take the money by weight and not by tale would have been equivalent to a fine of about £ . from this, however, the postmaster was excused on the ground that the barge was the safest means of conveyance he could have employed. as a "flying coach"--a coach which travelled at the speed of about four miles an hour--had for many years been running between oxford and london, it must be assumed either that it had stopped for the winter or else that for some cause or other, possibly on account of highwaymen, it was not considered safe. from sandwich, in kent, the hammered money was sent by hoy, which did not reach the thames until the th of january. again the postmasters-general urged that the delay might be overlooked on the ground that no earlier means of conveyance would have been safe. altogether, when the th of december arrived, more than £ of hammered money was still outstanding in the postmasters' hands; and in every case the want of conveyance or the badness of the roads was assigned as the cause. the penny post office, since it had passed into the hands of the government, had undergone but little change. its headquarters had been removed from dockwra's house to seven rooms prepared for the purpose, not, indeed, at the post office in lombard street, where want of space was already beginning to be felt, but probably in the immediate neighbourhood. it had also, in the language of the time, been eased from a multitude of desperate debts. but the conditions on which it was conducted remained as they had been,--the same limit of weight, the same frequency of delivery, and the same rule as to compensation in case of loss. dockwra, with the view, no doubt, of propitiating the authorities, had provided for the conveyance to lombard street of all general post letters left at his receiving offices; and this duty, when he was dispossessed, passed to the persons by whom those offices were kept. the result was not satisfactory. the receivers, in their desire to get the work done as cheaply as possible, employed to do it the most needy and most worthless persons, persons who could not get employment elsewhere. at length the miscarriages and losses became so frequent that the post office appointed its own messengers to go round and collect the letters. nor is it by any means certain that the character of the receivers themselves was above suspicion. the plain truth is that they were, with few exceptions, keepers of public-houses. the collector who called there periodically to adjust accounts complained that often four and even five visits were necessary before he could obtain payment, and that the opportunity was taken to pass upon him bad money. times have changed indeed. with public-houses for receiving offices, with inn-keepers for postmasters, and with a considerable sum expended annually on drink and feast money, it can hardly be denied that the post office at the end of the seventeenth century was a good friend to the licensed victualler. at the present time no postmaster may keep an inn; no receiving office may be at a public-house; and not many years ago, when a hotel with its stock-in-trade was purchased with a view to the extension of the post office buildings in st. martin's-le-grand, some excellent persons were shocked because, under the sanction of the postmaster-general, were exposed for sale by auction some few dozen bottles of port. of the extent to which the penny post was used at this period we are not, so far as the suburbs are concerned, without some means of judging. according to the original plan, which had been adhered to in its integrity, one penny was to carry a letter within such parts of london as lay within the bills of mortality. beyond these limits one penny more was charged; and this penny, which was technically called the second or deliver penny, constituted the messengers' remuneration. as this soon proved to be more than enough for its purpose, the messengers were put on fixed wages, and the second pennies were carried to the credit of the post office. of the amounts derived from this source during the sixteen years from to a record is still extant. the lowest amount for any one year was £ , and the highest £ , the average being £ . it would hence appear that for such parts of london as lay outside the bills of mortality, for what in fact were at that time the suburbs, the number of letters at the end of the seventeenth century was about , a year, or, counting working days to the year, about a day. on one point the postmasters-general were determined, that the penny post office should not be let out to farm. all overtures to this effect they resolutely declined. the penny post and the general post had become so interwoven, and, outside london, so short a distance separated the limits within which the one ceased and the other began to operate, that it was considered of the highest importance, both on the score of convenience and as a protection against fraud, that the two posts should not be under different management. the same considerations were not held to apply to dublin. in dublin, rapidly as that city was now growing in size[ ] and population, a penny post, it was thought, could not possibly answer. yet in a spirited lady sought permission to set one up. this was elizabeth, countess-dowager of thanet. a desire to supplement a jointure, originally slender and now reduced by the taxation consequent on the war, was the simple reason assigned for the enterprise, and yet with the highest professions of public spirit it might have been difficult to render to the community a more signal service. the duke of ormonde, who was then lord lieutenant, approved the proposal, and the postmasters-general had made preparations for carrying it into effect. the new post was to extend for ten or twelve miles in and around dublin; no receiving office was to be within two miles of the first stage of the general post; the lease was to be for fourteen years; and one-tenth part of the clear profits was to go to the crown. at the last moment, however, the treasury withheld their assent, and for no less than seventy years from this time dublin remained without a penny post. [ ] writing in , mr. manley, the postmaster-general's deputy in dublin, says, "there are not less than a thousand more houses now than there were at my first coming here [_i.e._ in ]. besides, there are many new streets now laid out and buildings erecting every day." of the internal affairs of the post office during the first fifteen years of cotton and frankland's administration of it little need be said. at first their only assistant was a clerk at £ a year to copy their letters. in they procured a new appointment to be created, the appointment of secretary to the post office. the secretary to the post office at the present time has duties to discharge, of the variety and importance of which his mere title gives a very inadequate idea. in he was little more than a private secretary. one thing indeed he had to do, to which a private secretary of our own time might perhaps demur. during the night, if an express were wanted, he had to rise from his bed and prepare the necessary instructions. the salary of the appointment, originally £ , was raised to £ in . in this year a solicitor was appointed, also at a salary of £ . two years later a transaction was completed on which the postmasters-general had long set their hearts. this was the purchase of a part of the post office premises in lombard street. as far back as sir robert viner, the owner, had offered the freehold for sale, but the revolution had put a stop to further proceedings. in , after sir robert's death, his nephew and executor again proposed to sell, and sir christopher wren, on behalf of the crown, surveyed the property with a view to its purchase. on examination, however, the title proved to be defective, and it was not until , after the defect had been remedied by act of parliament, that the crown secured the freehold for the sum of £ . at the present time it matters not where post office servants reside, so long as they attend punctually. at the beginning of the eighteenth century it was considered important on account of the unseasonable hours of attendance that they should reside "in and about" the post office. the post office was, in effect, a barrack, and, except the premises in lombard street, there were none in the immediate neighbourhood that would well answer the purpose. hence the anxiety to purchase the freehold; and the anxiety was all the greater because it had been threatened that if not purchased by the crown the property would be sold to the speculative builder or, as he was then called, the projector. chapter vii cotton and frankland _packet service_ - of the packet service prior to we have no particulars; but that some such service had long existed, though probably on a very limited scale, hardly admits of a doubt. to ireland, as to other parts of the kingdom, a regular post had been established in ; and it is difficult to suppose that a mail on arriving at holyhead would be left to a chance vessel to carry it across the channel. the probability of some organised means of transport is still stronger in the case of dover. dover was the town through which all letters for the continent passed; and our trade with the continent had for a century and more been considerable. hence it was that the post through the county of kent had been carefully nursed while as yet no other part of the country had any post at all. but if, as seems certain, both dover and holyhead were packet stations long prior to , it is almost equally certain that these were the only two in the kingdom. in that year the arrangements, whatever they were, for carrying the mails between england and france came to an end, and a new service was established between dover and calais and between dover and ostend or nieuport. this was succeeded in the following year by a similar service between england and holland. both services were to be carried on by contract. in the one case the contractor was to receive £ a year, and also to have the management of the letter office at dover. in the other the payment was to be £ a year, for which sum three hoys were to be maintained, two of sixty and one of forty tons, and carrying six men each. for the service to holland the packet stations were, on this side of the water, harwich, and, on the other, the brill. to the letters which came to this country by regular packet must be added those that were technically termed ship letters--letters which were brought by ships arriving at uncertain times from any part of the world. these letters, according to the provisions of the act of , were to be given up to the postmaster at the port of arrival, so that they might be forwarded to london, and thence despatched to their destination after being charged with the proper amount of postage. in this particular, however, the act proved of little effect. masters of ships were offered no inducement to deliver the letters to the postmaster, and incurred no penalty for omitting to do so. the post office was then in farm; and desirous as the farmers were to make what they could out of their undertaking, they soon found that it would be well worth their while to incur some expense which should secure obedience to the law. accordingly they undertook that for every letter which a shipmaster should bring to this country, and deliver to the postmaster at the port of arrival, he should receive the sum of one penny. this was the origin of ship letter money--a form of payment which has since received legal sanction, and exists at the present day. it was into the port of london that ship letters chiefly came, and here the number which found their way to the post office in lombard street was seriously affected by the establishment of the penny post. that this was only natural will appear from a simple illustration. from marseilles to london the postage was s. for a single letter. on one hundred such letters, therefore, the charge would be £ . but if, instead of taking these hundred letters to the general post office, a shipmaster on his arrival in the pool dropped them into the penny post, they would all be delivered for s. d. it is true that he would thus lose his gratuity of one penny a letter; but the difference between the two rates of postage was such as to leave an ample margin of profit, even after making him full--and more than full--compensation for his loss. indeed, if he had been bent on cheating his employer as well as the post office, he might with very little risk of detection have put the whole of the difference into his own pocket. in the number of ship letters accounted for to the post office was , ,[ ] a number which, forming as it did the basis of a payment, may be taken as absolutely correct, because the post office would take good care not to pay more, and shipmasters not to receive less, than was absolutely due. it is to be regretted that no similar account is forthcoming for previous years, so that it might be seen what was the extent of the influence which the penny post exercised; but that this influence was considerable is certain from the continual references made to it by successive postmasters-general during a long series of years. it is to be observed, however, that they always speak of it as a thing that was past and gone, a thing baneful enough while it lasted, but as having been of only short duration. the explanation is no doubt to be found in the fact that in two officers were appointed, whose duty it was to collect letters from all vessels arriving in the port of london. the boat employed in this service had assigned to it special colours of its own, on which was depicted a man on horseback blowing a post horn.[ ] [ ] "to divers masters of shipps for letters by them brought from forreigne parts this year at one penny each according to the usage--£ : : ."--extract from writ of privy seal for passing the accounts of "our right trusty and right well-beloved couzen and councellor lawrence earle of rochester, late our high treasurer of england." [ ] "this is to give notice that lancellot plumer and william barret are appointed by the postmaster-general of england to receive all such letters and pacquets from masters of ships and vessels, mariners and passengers as shall be by them hereafter brought in any ships or vessels into the port of london, to the end the same may be delivered with speed and safety according to their respective directions and the laws of this kingdom; and that all masters of ships or vessels and all mariners and passengers may the better take notice thereof, the right honourable the lords of the admiralty have directed that the boat employed in this service do carry colours, in which there is to be represented a man on horseback blowing a post horn."--_london gazette_, no. , from monday st december to thursday th december . in , on the breaking out of the war with france, the dover boats ceased to run, and, in order to provide for the letters to spain which had hitherto passed through that country, a service was established between falmouth and the groyne. on this service two boats were employed of two or three hundred tons each. they carried from eighty to ninety men besides twenty guns, and ran once a fortnight. the harwich boats were at the same time increased both in number and in strength. the three hoys were replaced by four boats--boats of force as they were called, carrying fifty men each. it may well be believed that, with so large a crew under his command, the captain of a well-armed vessel was loth to confine himself to the monotonous task of carrying the mails to and fro, and went in quest of adventure. but be that as it may, william, who since his accession to the throne had taken an extraordinary interest in the harwich service, was not satisfied with the performances of these boats. it was his opinion that the first requisite in a mail packet was speed and not strength. strength might indeed enable it to engage an enemy, but speed would enable it to avoid one. accordingly, by the king's direction, the post office with the assistance of edmund dummer, the surveyor of the navy, built four small boats of its own--boats "of no force," but remarkable for their speed. the change was not carried out without much grumbling. the boats were low built, and, except in the calmest weather, shipped a good deal of water. the sailors complained that they seldom, from one end of the voyage to the other, had a dry coat to their backs. the absence of any armament was still more unpalatable to them. they dared not leave the harbour, at least so they said, when the enemy was to windward; and, as though to confirm their words, they sometimes after leaving returned. we shall probably do them no wrong if we distrust these excuses. no british sailor, or soldier either, cares to turn his back on the foe, and that this was expected of them, that they were required to run and not to fight, we suspect to have been the real grievance. eventually, but not until some had refused to serve and others had deserted, matters quieted down. an increase of wages was given all round, raising the pay above that given in the royal navy, and, in order to compensate for the additional cost, the complement of the crew was reduced from thirty to twenty-one. it is a striking confirmation of the soundness of william's view that during the next twenty-four years, although no less than nineteen of them were years of war, only two of these boats were taken. until the harwich packets had been self-supporting, the receipts from freight and passengers being enough to cover the cost. in that year, as a consequence of the war, the fares were raised. passengers to holland who had hitherto paid s. were now to pay s., and those who had paid s. were to pay s. recruits and indigent persons passed free. in the carriage of goods and merchandise was prohibited. this prohibition afterwards became common in times of war, but in the present instance it was imposed in the vain hope of stopping the exportation of silver. in exchange for silver, gold had long been pouring into the country, as much as ounces coming by a single packet; and advices had been received from amsterdam and rotterdam that future consignments would not be restricted even to that quantity. the reform of the currency, which alone could check this movement of the precious metals, was expeditiously accomplished; but the prohibition against the carriage of merchandise remained. on the conclusion of peace in the service between dover and calais and between dover and ostend recommenced, but only to be discontinued again on the resumption of hostilities in . during these five years the relations between the english and french post offices had at no time been friendly, and latterly had become very highly strained. under the terms of a treaty concluded with france in , the mails, as soon as they arrived on this side at dover and on the other at calais, were to be forwarded to the respective capitals by express. england faithfully fulfilled her part of the engagement. by france the engagement was treated as a dead letter. the mails from england, on their arrival at calais, instead of being forwarded to paris by express, were kept back for the ordinary post; and this post went only once a day, leaving at three in the afternoon. if, therefore, the packet arrived at four or five o'clock, the letters were detained for the best part of twenty-four hours. at lyons the letters between england and italy were being treated after much the same fashion. on arrival in that town--such at least was the complaint in the city--instead of being forwarded with all despatch, they were forwarded seldom in due course and sometimes not at all. m. pajot was then director of the french posts; and in this capacity he had signed the treaty. in vain cotton and frankland called his attention to the breach of its provisions. their letter was not even acknowledged. for the transit of british mails across french territory england had agreed to pay to france the sum of , livres[ ] a year, and a remittance in payment of the instalment due was sent to paris; but not even of this could an acknowledgment be obtained. let the nature of the communication to him be what it would, pajot maintained an obstinate silence. when war broke out afresh, all intercourse between the two post offices had ceased for nearly three years, and the debt due to france had accumulated to the amount of , livres. [ ] equal, at the then rate of exchange, to £ : s. the cessation of the dover packets in was soon followed by that of the packets between falmouth and the groyne, but the want of any regular means of communication with the peninsular proved so inconvenient that, before many months had passed, the service was re-established in a slightly altered form. the boats, instead of stopping short at the groyne, were to run on to lisbon; and two years later their number was increased from two to five. this increase was due to political rather than commercial reasons. it is true that an important commercial treaty was about this time concluded with portugal; but, what was considered of far greater moment, the archduke charles after passing through london had recently proceeded to that country in furtherance of his pretensions to the throne of spain. it was at once resolved that communication with lisbon should henceforth be weekly instead of only once a fortnight, and for this purpose less than five boats were deemed insufficient. but of all the packet services in existence at the beginning of the eighteenth century none perhaps possesses more features of interest than the service to the west indies. in james the second's reign a post office had been established in jamaica, and rates of postage had been settled not only within the island itself but between the island and the mother country. this was a new departure. in the original scheme of postage as propounded by witherings no charge had been imposed except in return for some service. the same principle had been scrupulously adhered to in the acts of and . under these acts, except where a service was rendered or where payment for a service was made to another country, no charge was provided for. yet between england and jamaica, although the crown was not at the cost of maintaining means of transport, postage rates were fixed of d. a single letter, s. a double letter, and s. an ounce. this was a pure tax, and the precedent, bad as it was and of questionable legality, was soon extended to the case of letters to america. the war of , while deranging other services, called the service to the west indies into being. the west india merchants, a designation even then in vogue, were a large and important body, and, as opportunities of intercourse by private ship became rare and uncertain, a demand arose for some established means of communication. with the assistance of dummer, surveyor of the navy, sloops were provided to carry mails to the plantation islands, and by way of helping to defray the cost, the postage rates were increased by about one-half. the vessels sailed at uncertain intervals, but otherwise the service was performed with regularity, the voyage out and home occupying from to days. dummer was so well satisfied with the result of his management that, rather than continue as mere agent for the postmasters-general, he desired to perform the service on his own account. for the sum of £ , a year he undertook to provide a monthly communication, and for this purpose to build and equip five boats of tons each, and carrying twenty-six men and ten guns. these boats were to have two decks, and any of them that should be lost or taken by the enemy were to be replaced at his own cost. of the £ , no more than £ was to be paid down. freight, which was limited to five tons out and ten tons home, passenger fares, and postage were to go in part payment, and from these dummer expected to make up the difference. postage alone he set down at £ ; and that it might produce this sum he made it an express stipulation that the rates to the west indies should be raised to the same level as those to portugal, namely s. d. a single letter, s. d. a double letter, and s. an ounce. to double the postage, he took for granted, was to double the returns. abler men than he and men living nearer to our own times have fallen into the same error; but seldom, probably, has it been sooner or more strikingly exposed. the new rates came into operation in england in march, and in the west indies in april. the effect of the alteration, as would now be predicted with confidence, was only slightly to increase the amount of postage and largely to reduce the number of letters. it is so seldom that in matters of this kind cause and effect are brought into such close approximation, that we offer no apology for giving the postage which the correspondence produced immediately before and immediately after the change:-- _to the west indies._ date on which the packet sailed from england. amount of postage. jan. , £ feb. " mar. " (new rates) apr. " may " june " july " _from the west indies._ date on which the packet arrived in england. amount of postage. feb. , £ apr. " (new rates) aug. " sept. " oct. " of course, the mails immediately after the change would carry what may be called surprised letters, letters which had been posted before the issue of the new regulations or before these regulations had become generally known; and the mail arriving in august would bring also the letters which had accumulated since the preceding april. what at the present time is calculated to excite surprise is not that the aggregate amounts of postage should not have increased in proportion to the rates, but that these amounts should have been as high as they were. trade with the west indies was, no doubt, considerable. and yet, after making ample allowance on that score, of what sort can the correspondence have been to produce postage of between £ and £ by a single mail; and why should the amount in one direction have been nearly five times as heavy as the amount in the other? the answer, we think, is to be found in a letter which the postmasters-general wrote about this time. a small box for the commissioners for the sick and wounded had come from lisbon charged with postage of £ : s. from this charge the commissioners sought to be relieved on the ground that the box contained nothing but office accounts, which, besides being of no intrinsic value, were on her majesty's business. to such arguments, however, the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. with the contents of the box they were not concerned. all they knew or cared to know was that it weighed eighty-seven ounces, and this weight, at the rate of s. an ounce, gave £ : s. forego the charge in the present instance, and how, they asked, could charges be any longer maintained on other packets not less on her majesty's business than this box, packets from the prize office, the salt office, the customs and the navy, and also, they added, on the large bundles of muster-rolls from the regiments stationed in the west indies? in short, we entertain little doubt that the postage by the homeward mails was largely derived from official correspondence, correspondence which at the present time bears no postage at all. the good fortune which had attended dummer while acting as manager for the postmasters-general entirely deserted him as soon as the service came into his own hands. during the first twelve months the postage fell short of his expectations by about one-third; and freight and passengers, which he had estimated to produce £ , produced little more than one-sixth of that amount. nor was this the worst. the very first packet that sailed under his contract was taken by the enemy. another, not many months later, was cast away on the rocks off the island of inagua; and a third fell into the hands of a privateer in the channel. a series of disasters which would have daunted most men seems only to have inspired dummer with fresh energy. of the ultimate success of his undertaking he entertained no doubt. he held as strongly as we can hold at the present day, that trade and correspondence act and react upon each other; and that these should thrive he considered nothing more to be necessary than speed and regularity of communication.[ ] with good heart, therefore, he applied himself to replace the boats which had been lost, fully determined that on his part no efforts should be wanting to supply the conditions on which alone he conceived success to depend. [ ] "it being a certain maxim," he wrote to the postmasters-general on the th of february , "that as trade is the producer of correspondence, so trade is governed and influenced by the certainty and quickness of correspondence." the packet stations at this time were four in number. dover was closed. harwich and falmouth were in full activity. holyhead was a mere home station for the transmission of the irish correspondence; and, the service being under contract, suffice it to say that the mails to dublin went twice a week and were transported with marked regularity. of the harwich and falmouth stations, managed as they were by the postmasters-general, we propose to give some account. each station was presided over by an agent, whose province it was to see that the packets were properly equipped and victualled, to arrange the order of sailing, to keep the captains to their duty, and generally to maintain order and regularity among the unruly spirits of which the establishment was composed. the outward mails, on their arrival from london, were to be despatched, if for holland or for portugal, immediately, and if for the west indies, within two days; and, as soon as they were put on board, weights were to be attached to them so that they might be sunk at once if in danger of being taken by the enemy. so important was this precaution held to be that, although enjoined in the general instructions, it was continually insisted upon in particular cases. "be sure," write the postmasters-general to one of their agents, "that before the captain sails, he prepares everything to sink the mail in case he shall be attacked by the enemy that he can't avoid being taken"; and to another, "we would have you take care to affix a sufficient weight to the mail so soon as 'tis on board"; and to a third, "we do not doubt but the mails will be ready slung with weights sufficient to sink them in case of danger of falling into the enemy's hands." another rule to which the postmasters-general attached great importance was that more than two mails were not to go by the same boat. this rule, however, could not always be observed, for the boats had an awkward habit of finding themselves on the wrong side, and, by the time one had arrived, there was an accumulation of mails to be disposed of. the inward mails, as soon as they reached the port of arrival, were forwarded to london by express. from harwich the letters for the court, or state letters,[ ] as they were now beginning to be called, were sent in advance of the ordinary mail, arrangements having been made at the brill to put these letters into a special bag by themselves. from falmouth, where no provision had been made for distinguishing one class of correspondence from another, the same express carried the whole. when, as was sometimes the case, packets of documents reached the port unenclosed with the rest of the letters, these were to be chained to the "grand mail"; and on the label was always to be inserted the number of passengers that had arrived by the boat, so that the postmasters along the line of road might know for how many persons they had to provide horses. between falmouth and london the mails when sent express travelled at the rate of about five miles an hour; and this speed appears to have been regularly maintained. expresses to carry a single letter or a message, or to overtake the lisbon mail, were continually passing to and fro, and these of course went faster. from harwich the mails would sometimes reach london in eleven hours, being at the rate of six and a half miles an hour; but on this line of road there was so much irregularity that the time ordinarily occupied in the journey cannot be stated with certainty.[ ] [ ] in , court or state letters, for at this time the terms were used indiscriminately, were defined to be letters directed to "the queen, his royal highness the prince, the lord high treasurer, and the two principal secretarys of state and their clarks." sometimes, but more rarely, they were called "queen's letters." [ ] here is one among many similar complaints addressed by the postmasters-general to the packet agent at harwich: "we admire to find the two bags with the states letters brought over by the prince and dispatch which arrived at harwich june st at in the morning should not be dispatcht till the same day; as also at the comeing in of the mayls, one of which being dispatcht at arrived here at at night, yet the other came not till next morning." the seamen on board the packets were paid in no case more than s. a month and generally less; but the employment carried with it one great advantage. this was exemption from impressment. even the carpenters hired to do odd jobs when the boats were in harbour were furnished with protection orders.[ ] partly on this ground, and partly, no doubt, on account of the gains to be derived from contraband traffic, admission to the packet service appears to have been eagerly sought. at one time, indeed, it threatened to become a matter of patronage; but the consequences of a first step in that direction effectually prevented another. the _godolphin_ packet had been taken and carried by the enemy into st. malo. her captain, a brave and experienced officer, did not hesitate to attribute the loss of his vessel to sheer cowardice on the part of the crew. one, at the first shot that was fired, had run down to the doctor and declared that he was wounded, whereas no sign of a wound was to be found upon him; another had taken shelter behind the mainmast; a third had been heard to declare that he would not hazard the loss of his little finger to save the packet. this conduct, as unprecedented as it was scandalous, led to a searching investigation, when it transpired that the so-called sailors were, many of them, no sailors at all, but mere landlubbers who had been taken on out of complaisance to the local gentry. [ ] the following is a specimen of the protection order given:-- to all commanders and officers of our shipps, pressmasters and others whome it may concerne. james r. you are not to imprest into our service any of the six persons hereunder named belonging to the jane of dover, whereof richard moone is master, the said vessell being employed in our service as a pacquett boate at dover. given at our court at whitehall the th of october . by his majesty's command. pepys . anth. deleau. . jasper moore. . david williams. . pet. foster. . dennis matthew. . wm. ambross. each packet boat carried its own surgeon. a surgeon was also provided for the care of the sick on shore. this medical supervision was remunerated by means of a capitation allowance, an allowance of so much per head; but whereas it would now be in respect to all persons under the surgeon's charge, whether well or ill, it was then only in respect to those that were ill-- s. a day for each sick person and s. d. for each cure--a mode of payment which did not perhaps conduce to a speedy recovery. to provide for casualties, a fund was established, towards the support of which each seaman contributed d. a month out of his pay. if he were killed in action, provision was made for his widow, and, if he were wounded, he received a small annuity or, as it was called, smart and bounty money, the amount of which was nicely apportioned to the nature of his injury. thus-- for each arm or leg amputated above the elbow or knee he would receive £ a year. for each arm or leg amputated below the elbow or knee " for the loss of the sight of one eye " for the loss of the pupil of the eye " for the loss of the sight of both eyes " for the loss of the pupils of both eyes " it is a ghastly bill of fare; and yet the sailors laid great store by it. on one occasion, indeed, until assured that the transfer of a boat to dummer's management would not affect their claim to these annuities, they absolutely refused to go to sea. with few exceptions, no passenger was allowed on board a packet boat without a pass from the secretary of state. the exceptions were shipwrecked seamen, recruits, and officers in charge of recruits. shipwrecked seamen went free, free from any charge for passage-money or for maintenance. recruits and officers in charge of recruits not being above the rank of lieutenant were charged for maintenance but not for passage-money. all others, though furnished with a passport, paid or were expected to pay for both. of these rules, however, there would seem to have been no public announcement, and this led to constant dispute and bickerings. an interesting event was expected in one of the many english families which at this time flocked to the court of portugal, and dr. crichton was despatched to lisbon with a cow. furnished with a pass by the secretary of state he stoutly maintained his right to a free passage; and this right the postmaster-general as stoutly disputed. nor, assuming the right to exist, could they conceal their surprise that under the circumstances it should have been claimed. to demur to a paltry charge of £ indeed! was it not notorious that for his mission to portugal he was to receive £ ? lord charlemont with a number of attendants had crossed from lisbon to falmouth. the passage-money had been paid, and, pleased with his entertainment, he desired to gratify the captain. the captain's answer was to present a bill shewing what the entertainment had cost, and, on payment being refused, he detained some valuable silks which lord charlemont had consigned to his care. lord charlemont, on his arrival in london, at once proceeded to lombard street and complained of this treatment, when he learned for the first time that the passage-money, which he had supposed to cover everything, was simply the queen's due, and that his entertainment had been provided at the captain's own cost. even the packet agents themselves appear to have been insufficiently instructed. on one occasion the queen's domestic servants on their return from lisbon, whither they had been despatched in attendance on the archduke charles, were allowed to pass free. on another, passage-money was omitted to be collected from some workmen who had been sent to portugal by the board of ordnance. in both cases the act of their subordinate was repudiated by the postmasters-general. proper as it might be that the queen's domestic servants should have their passage provided--was this to be done at the expense of the post office? forego payment in this instance, and where were they to stop? they must press their demand; and the demand was eventually satisfied. from the board of ordnance they did not even attempt to recover, aware probably of the futility of any such step; but the act of their agent in letting the workmen pass free evoked an earnest remonstrance. does not the board of ordnance, they asked, charge us for the very powder we use; and yet, forsooth, you take upon yourself to give to their workmen a free passage. "every office," they added--and the maxim might still, perhaps, be observed with advantage--"ought to keep its own accompt distinct." but it was with officers of the army who were continually passing to and fro that the most frequent disputes arose. they apparently did not understand, and possibly the post office might have had some difficulty in explaining, why lieutenants in charge of recruits should be exempt from payment of fare and not officers of higher rank when employed on similar business; or why indeed officers engaged in fighting their country's battles should not have a free passage on board her majesty's packets. it had been the custom not to collect the fares until the end of the voyage; but it was found that, the voyage once accomplished, payment of the fares was not uncommonly refused. accordingly it was determined that they should be collected beforehand, and that no officer not being a recruiting officer and producing a certificate to that effect should be received on board on trust. recourse was thereupon had to every sort of artifice in order to evade payment. officers above the rank of lieutenant would represent themselves as being of that rank, and they would even enrol their own servants as recruits to make it appear that they were engaged in recruiting business. through harwich, now that dover was closed, lay the only route to the continent; and among the passengers frequenting this route were some to whom, for one reason or another, special attention was given. baron hompesch and brigadier-general cadogan are on their way to holland. the packet is to be detained "till thursday noon, at which time they think to reach harwich." m. rosenerantz, the danish envoy, is returning to his own country. no passengers are to be admitted on board until he and his suite have been accommodated. a queen's messenger is coming with "one castello," who is in custody. this person is to be made over to the captain of the packet that sails next, and on arrival at the brill is to be set on shore. dirick wolters is expected from holland, if indeed he be not already arrived and secreted in harwich. no pains are to be spared to discover and apprehend him, and to secure the sealed box he carries "directed to a person of note in london." goods, like passengers, were not allowed to be carried by the packets without the express permission of the secretary of state; and this permission was seldom given except in the case of presents to royal personages and of articles for the use of persons of note residing abroad. hence, such things as the following were being continually consigned to the care of the postmasters-general, with a request that they might be forwarded by the next boat:-- fifteen couple of dogs for the king of the romans. necessaries for her majesty the queen-dowager's service at lisbon. three pounds of tea from lady arlington for the use of her majesty the queen-dowager of england. two cases of trimming for the king of spain's liveries. two bales of stockings for the use of the portuguese ambassador. three suits of clothes for some nobleman's ladies at the court of portugal. a box of medicines for the use of the earl of galway. as the packets and everything on board of them were exempt from examination by the customs authorities, there are no means of knowing how far a pass, where a pass had been obtained, was confined to its ostensible object. but it is impossible not to entertain suspicions on the subject. on one occasion the portuguese envoy obtained permission to send by the packet six cases, which he certified to contain arms for the use of his sovereign. the lightness of the packages when brought to the scale excited suspicion, and on examination they were found to contain not arms but dutiable goods. to a tradesman at truro, in exception to rule, a pass had been granted which authorised him to send by the lisbon packet ten tons of hats. ten tons weight of hats, or what purported to be hats, had long been exported, and yet more and more hats were being regularly despatched by every packet. but although without passes goods and passengers were prohibited on board the packets, it is certain that the prohibition was habitually infringed. the packet agents' instructions were to keep a record of the names and quality of all passengers, and to transmit a copy to london. even if this were a complete and faithful record, the postmasters-general could not know that each passenger had produced his pass. the secretaries of state, however, appear to have possessed some means of information unknown to the post office, and, in the matter of passengers, they were continually complaining of the regulations being broken. at one time it is mr. joseph percival, a merchant of lisbon, who comes over without a passport--which, from the tenor of lord sunderland's letter, the postmasters-general apprehend to be "an affair of moment." at another it is a mr. jackson who, also without a passport, crosses from harwich to holland. in this case mr. secretary boyle affirms that the packet agent received a bribe of two guineas. to let passengers come by the harwich packets without passports, he declares later on, has become a common practice. in the matter of goods the evidence of irregularity is still stronger. captain culverden of the _queen_ packet boat brings into falmouth thirty-six bags and seven baskets of salt, and there lands it clandestinely. captain rogers smuggles over twenty bags and one cask of the same material. captain urin from the west indies makes plymouth instead of falmouth. stress of weather is pleaded in excuse; but the postmasters-general feel sure that he might have made falmouth, had he not "had private instructions otherwise." "we are uneasie," they say, "thus to find the west india boats for the most part driven to plymouth, or to liverpool or some port contrary to what is prescribed by our instructions." but of all the captains there was none who in the audacity of his proceedings equalled francis clies. clies had recently succeeded his father in the command of the _expedition_ packet boat. on his very first voyage home from lisbon he was much behind time, having according to his own account been driven upon the coast of ireland. on his second voyage he was later still. the time of his arrival at falmouth had long passed, and serious apprehensions began to be entertained for his safety. at length a letter came from him dated at kinsale, explaining that want of provisions had obliged him to put in there. "we have," wrote the postmasters-general, "very impatiently expected the arrival of the _expedition_, which has been very long wanting, and are much concerned to find the second voyage even more tedious than the first; but are glad to find her at last safe arrived." "we would know," they added, "for how many days provisions had been put on board, and whether the _expedition_ sails not as well as formerly." before a reply could be received to this pertinent inquiry, the commissioners of customs had lodged at the post office a formal complaint, in which captain clies was charged with bringing over from ireland several bales of friezes and other woollen manufactures. the postmasters-general were deeply shocked. not only was this a breach of the packet boat regulations, but to transport goods from what would now be one part of the united kingdom to another was at that time prohibited by law under heavy penalties. if this charge be proved, they wrote to their packet agent at falmouth, "we shall not be much to seek why the captain should be two succeeding voyages forced upon the coast of ireland, when we have not had above one instance of that kind besides himself during this war." narrow as was clies's escape on this occasion, not four months elapsed before the postmasters-general were again condoling with him on another "very tedious voyage." it may here be mentioned, as an instance of the inconsistency of human nature, that, although the packets were not provided with chaplains, there were two boats on board of which prayers were regularly said every morning and evening, and that of these two boats the _expedition_ was one. outwards as well as inwards the packet boats were, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, carrying goods in defiance of regulation and of law. sir paul methuen, the author of the famous commercial treaty which bears his name, was at that time our ambassador to portugal. his attention had been arrested by the large quantities of merchandise which the packet boats were continually bringing over from england, and in he made to the postmasters-general a formal representation on the subject. "in lisbon," he stated, "there is a public market for english goods as often as the boats come in." nor was the allegation denied by the persons implicated. they must, they said, live somehow. and this plea, generally the refuge of the idle and worthless, had in it in the present instance more force than might at first be supposed. the crews of the packets were paid only once in six months, and, as a check upon their conduct, six months' pay was always kept in arrear. thus, before receiving any pay at all they had to work twelve months, and even at the expiration of twelve months there was not always money at hand with which to pay them. at harwich, there can be no doubt, the same malpractices were going on as at falmouth; but, owing to the almost unequalled facilities which the east coast affords for clandestine traffic, detection less speedily followed. in the movements of the packet boats there was much that was mysterious. their frequent disappearance for long periods together when the wind was blowing from the quarter most favourable to their return, and their occasional punctuality when the wind was contrary and they were least expected, involved a contradiction which the postmasters-general found it hard to reconcile. "in our whole experience," they wrote to the packet agent on the rd of october , "the passage of the mails was never so unconstant as it has been this last year." "you must be very sensible what reproach we have been brought under" in consequence. the ink was hardly dry on their pen before information reached them that on the nd of the month two packet boats had returned to harwich, of which one had been gone since the th and the other since the th of september. meanwhile the winds had been fair, and had carried out the men-of-war and transports from spithead. "we have writ you so often," wrote the postmasters-general to the laggard captains, "upon these neglects of yours," and you have paid so little regard to our admonitions, that "you may expect to find when too late that we are not to be trifled with." the effect of this caution, if effect it had, was of short duration. "we are," they wrote only a few months later, "under a perpetual uneasiness and distrust," on account of the irregularity of the harwich boats. "our reputation has very much suffered in consequence, and we are looked upon at court as remiss in our duty." hitherto we have ever been ready to "take any appearance of reason or probability to excuse the commanders, but do now, having had these frequent provocations so often repeated, resolve to do justice to ourselves, and to have no other regard than the merit of the service." "pray make inquiries," they say on another occasion, when no less than three boats are unaccountably behind time. it is of no use writing to mr. vanderpoel, "for he always favours the captains' pretences." mr. vanderpoel was packet agent at the brill. he had stood high in william's favour, and was still drawing an allowance of £ a year which, as an act of grace, that king had bestowed upon him in addition to his salary. "when we last waited on the lord high treasurer and secretary of state," wrote the postmasters-general again on the th of june , "we found them in their former opinion that there must be some secret more than ordinary that the boats should so frequently when least expected make their passage, and when the winds have in all appearance been most favourable, the mails then most delayed." a secret no doubt there was; but, profoundly dissatisfied as the postmasters-general were, no suspicion appears to have crossed their minds that the packet boats were engaged in other and more exciting pursuits than the transport of mails. the captains of the packet boats were strictly forbidden to give chase. their instructions were to fight, if fight they must, to avoid fighting wherever possible, and in no case to go in quest of adventure. in the case of the falmouth boats, carrying as they did a considerable number of men and of guns, there can be little doubt that the prohibition was habitually infringed. even cotton and frankland, with all their credulity, would seem to have entertained suspicions on the point; and yet when notice was given them that a fat prize had been captured, their instincts as englishmen prevailed, and with a chuckle of satisfaction they would accept the result of their servants' prowess without too minutely inquiring into the circumstances under which that result had been achieved. "well done," they would say in effect. "we heartily congratulate you. it has indeed been a tedious voyage; but of course you did not pursue. this, as you are aware, would be contrary to our instructions, which are to do nothing that might retard or endanger her majesty's mails. we shall make known your gallantry to the lord high treasurer, and move his royal highness the prince to bestow on you some signal mark of favour." the prince was at this time lord high admiral, and the captains of the packet boats having only sailing commissions, were not, like the captains in the royal navy and the commanders of letters of marque, entitled as of right to the prizes they took. these were the perquisites of the lord high admiral, and were by him resigned to the queen. when a prize was captured, it was seldom taken in tow. this would have retarded the progress of the mails. the practice was for the two captains, the victor and the vanquished, to agree upon the amount of ransom, and to give and receive bills for the amount, one or more hostages being taken as security for payment. the agreement was reduced to writing and made out in duplicate, so that each captain might have a copy, and it set forth where and to whom the money was to be paid. as a rule, the conditions appear to have been honourably observed. some few exceptions, no doubt, there were. in the _james_ packet was captured, and, after the amount of ransom had been inserted in the agreement, the french captain fraudulently altered the figures. a still worse case occurred on the english side. the _prince_ packet boat captured a vessel which was ransomed for pieces of eight.[ ] this vessel, as it afterwards transpired, was plundered both before and after the ransom was agreed upon; and, more than this, the english captain refused or neglected to give her a protection order, the consequence being that, subsequently falling in with some merchant ships, she was taken and plundered again. but these were exceptions, and it is some satisfaction to know that the last-mentioned captain was soon driven out of the service.[ ] [ ] equal to £ : s. [ ] this captain had long been noted for his truculent conduct. here is a letter which the postmasters-general had written to him two or three years before:-- general post office, _may , _. captain chenal--we received the mail from portugal brought over by you in the _mansbridge_ packet boat which arriv'd here on wednesday last. we yesterday received your letter and journal of the said voyage, with the certificate from the sailors who remained in the service the last voyage. we are concern'd to find such differences among persons imploy'd under us, but do think the best way to compose them is to advise every one to mind their proper business and duty. we do think you may keep all your officers and sailors to strict duty without so rugged a treatment as is complain'd of. as we are desirous of good discipline, so are we of good agreement, to which we would have our agent and yourself to contribute your endeavours. we herewith send you a specimen of a method to keep an abstract of your journal by which you would save yourself and us much trouble by observing.--we are, your loving friends, r. cotton. t. frankland. pending payment of the ransom, the hostages were kept in prison. ordinarily, their confinement was not of long duration; and if we cite an instance to the contrary, it is because it aptly illustrates the rough-and-ready sort of justice which was administered in those days. clies, the captain of the _expedition_, after many desperate engagements in which he had come off victorious, had been forced at last to strike his colours. four french men-of-war had surrounded him, and having lost his masts, he had no choice but to yield. the ransom agreed upon was £ , and as security for payment of this amount the master of the _expedition_ and clies's son, who was a midshipman on board the same vessel, were taken as hostages. this was in february, and they did not return to england until november. meanwhile they had been imprisoned at cadiz, where they endured the severest privations. cold and damp and the want of the common necessaries of life, while affecting the health of both, had permanently disabled the master and brought him to the point of death. this appeared to the postmasters-general to be a case for compensation. and yet whence was compensation to come? they were not long in solving the question. it was a mere accident, they argued, that these particular hostages had been selected. the selection might have fallen upon any others of the ship's company. yet these others had been receiving their pay and enjoying their liberty. surely it was for them to compensate those at whose cost they had themselves escaped captivity and its attendant horrors. accordingly the ship's company were mulcted in a whole month's pay, amounting to £ , of which sum the midshipman received £ and the master £ ; and the decision appears to have evoked neither murmur nor remonstrance. in one respect the two packet stations were conducted on different principles. at falmouth the agent was also victualler. at harwich victuals and all other necessaries were provided by the post office. neither plan was entirely free from objection. where the agent was victualler, he naturally desired to make what he could out of his contract; and hence arose frequent complaints from the seamen as to both the quantity and quality of their food. nor were such undertakings well adapted to those days of violent fluctuations of prices. the years and were years of scarcity, during which the cost of all provisions was nearly doubled. fortunately, when the first of these years arrived, the packet agent's contract to victual for a daily allowance of d. a head had just expired, or the consequences to him or to the seamen must have been disastrous. but, from a public point of view, the chief drawback to the union of the offices of agent and victualler was that the victualling arrangements were apt to interfere with the movements of the boats. the _prince_ packet boat was due to start on a particular day, and to an inquiry whether she would not be ready, the answer which the postmasters-general received was, "no; our beer is not yet brewed." at harwich the inconvenience of a contrary system, a system under which the post office undertook its own victualling, was illustrated in a striking manner. there no bill for provisions represented what the provisions had really cost. to the actual cost was habitually added a further sum, which, under the name of percentages, went into the pockets of those by whom the order had been given. of the extent to which these overcharges were carried we are not informed in the particular case of victuals; but other cases in which information is given will perhaps serve as a guide. holland-duck for the use of the packet boats was brought over from holland freight-free. yet in harwich the post office was charged for it s. d. a yard. in london a yard of the same material, freight included, cost s. in london the price of cwt. of cordage was s.; in harwich it was s. for piloting a packet boat from harwich to the downs the post office was charged £ . inquiry at the admiralty elicited that for ships of the same size belonging to the royal navy the charge never exceeded £ : s. the plain truth seems to be that both at harwich and at falmouth the packet agents were in the power of the captains, and the captains in the power of the packet agents, and that they all combined to impose upon the postmasters-general. of the number of letters which the harwich and falmouth packets carried we know little or nothing. in the one case we have absolutely no information. in the other there remains on record a single letter-bill applicable to a particular voyage. of this letter-bill we will only observe that, for reasons immaterial to the present purpose, it became the subject of a good deal of correspondence, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that, had the number of letters entered in it been much above or much below the average, the point could hardly have escaped remark. the document is as follows:-- april . received on board the _prince_ packet boat the following packets and letters. zech: rogers ... commander. from my lord ambassador ... a bag of letters directed to mr. jones.[ ] sixteen packetts and letters for her majestie's service. from the king of spain ... a very large packett. for london and holland ... double and single letters ... two hundred and ninety six. thirteen packetts do. devonshire letters ... double and single ... twenty nine ... and three packetts. for falmouth ... double and single letters ... six. two mails for london. outward-bound. no passengers. homeward-bound. one english merchant. three dutch gentlemen. four poor sailors discharged from her majestie's ship _antelope_ being incapable for the service. [ ] the packet agent at falmouth. there were persons who thought that the packet boats might well be employed to do something more than carry to and fro a mere handful of letters. among those who held this opinion was colonel stanwix. he contended that the lisbon packets should be required to carry not only the mails, but recruits for the english forces in portugal. by transport the fixed charge for each recruit was £ . this expense would be saved to the public, and the regiments would receive additions to their strength not fitfully, but at regular intervals. subject to certain conditions, the postmasters-general resolved to give the plan a trial. the conditions were that not more than fifty recruits should go in one boat, and that, instead of passing free, as colonel stanwix had proposed, they should be charged £ apiece--that is, s. for victualling, and s. for freight. the experiment was attended with deplorable results. it was midwinter. the recruits had been huddled together in pendennis castle, under a strong guard, to prevent desertion. half-naked and only half-fed they were led or driven to the boat, and hardly were they on board before the distemper broke out among them. many fell victims to it; many others, on arrival at lisbon, were carried to the hospital, and even the strongest among them were barely able to stagger ashore. the return voyage was hardly less disastrous. the crew now took the disease, and as they lay dying and dead upon the deck, a vessel of french build was to be seen bearing down upon them. resistance in the circumstances was out of the question, and nothing remained but to save the guns. these, ten in number, were with difficulty thrown overboard, and no sooner was the task accomplished than the vessel, which had by this time come within speaking distance, proved to be her majesty's ship _assurance_. the liberty allowed to the royal navy to employ for its own purposes prizes taken at sea did not extend to the packet service. the post office was forbidden, under severe penalties, to use foreign bottoms. often had convenience and economy to yield to the stern dictates of the law. now it is a french shallop, admirably adapted for a packet boat, which has to be discarded simply because it is french; and now an express to lisbon is on the point of being delayed because the regular packets are on the wrong side, and the only boat to be hired in falmouth is not english built. on the th of september the queen, attended by her court, set out for newmarket. in this visit there was nothing unusual, but it will serve as well as any other to demonstrate that the close connection which had once subsisted between the posts and the crown was not yet completely severed. in attendance upon his royal mistress was court-post. this office, to which appointment was made by patent, had until lately been held by sir thomas dereham. court-post's duty was to carry letters between the court and the nearest stage or post-town, a duty deemed so arduous that his stipend had been recently doubled, and now stood at £ a year. at newmarket and at windsor, indeed, he had no long distance to traverse, these towns being post-towns; but when the court was in london or at hampton his journey was longer. in london he had to carry the letters between kensington or whitehall and lombard street; and when at hampton, hampton not being a post-town, he had to carry them to and from kingston. besides court-post there was now in the royal train the comptroller of the london sorting office, william frankland, son of one of the postmasters-general. what frankland's precise functions were we are not informed, but he was, in the language of the time, "in attendance on her majesty in the care of her letters." at harwich, as soon as the mail arrived from holland, the seals of the bags were to be broken, and the letters for the court to be picked out and sent to newmarket by express. this was, in effect, to establish a cross-post at a time when cross-posts did not exist. moments, which would now be judged precious, appear to have been then of little account. of the letters before they left harwich the addresses were to be copied; and on arrival at newmarket the express was to take them, not to the palace, but to the post office, whither they were to be addressed under cover to frankland. the post office once reached, how frankland and court-post were to adjust their respective duties is a point as obscure as it is, perhaps, unimportant. at the present day, when the palace possesses no postal facilities which are not enjoyed by the cottage, a single provision in the statute-book is all that is left to remind us that at one time the posts were centred in the sovereign. this provision, in exception to the practice which jealously excludes the sovereign's name from all parts of an act of parliament except, indeed, the preamble, prescribes that the posts shall be settled, not as the secretary of state or the lords commissioners of the treasury may direct, but according to the directions of her majesty. to her majesty alone the law still leaves the supreme control over the posts, although it may well be believed that the ministers would claim to act on her behalf.[ ] [ ] the provision is as follows: "and for the better management of the post office, be it enacted that the postmaster-general shall observe such orders and instructions concerning the settlement of posts and stages upon the several roads, cross roads, and byeways within the united kingdom and other her majesty's dominions, as her majesty shall from time to time give in that behalf."-- vic. cap. xxxiii. sec. . after the battle of ramillies, which put the confederates in possession of ostend, the packet service between england and flanders, which had been suspended four years before, was re-established. the result disappointed expectations. the government appear to have thought that it was only necessary to revive the service and the correspondence would at once resume its old proportions. but meanwhile the letters from flanders to england had found a new channel. no sooner had ostend been closed than they were diverted through holland. to reverse this arrangement, involving as it would a readjustment of the internal posts, must, in any case, have been a work of time; and it was a work on which the flemish authorities were little likely to embark so long as the neighbourhood of ostend or any considerable portion of it remained in the enemy's hands. of all this the postmasters-general were perfectly well aware, and they can have felt no disappointment that, on the first reopening of the ostend route, the letters passing that way were extremely few; but the ministers, who had not the postmaster-generals' experience to guide them, grew impatient with a service which was maintained at heavy cost, and produced little or no return. accordingly, having restored the service in june, they discontinued it in august; and no sooner were the boats dispersed than orders were given to restore it again. this sudden change of purpose, we think there can be little doubt, was due to the influence of the duke of marlborough, who began about this time to take a lively interest in the postal communication with flanders. though not surprised at the meagreness of the correspondence, the postmasters-general were little prepared to find that, after the confederates became masters of ostend, the passage between that port and dover would be even less safe than it had been before. yet such was the case. the flemish seamen, no longer able to obtain employment at home, flocked across the french border and joined with their foes of yesterday in preying upon the english shipping. as a consequence the channel now swarmed with privateers. on the th of january a dover packet, named _ostend_ after the port to which she ran, was taken by a nieuport privateer of ten guns and eighty men. the captain who brought this intelligence had himself had a narrow escape. five privateers had extended themselves from nieuport to ostend in order to intercept him, and, after a sharp engagement, in which he was nearly captured, had forced him to make harwich. in this conjuncture the postmasters-general acted with remarkable energy, but with little regard to what would now be considered official propriety. not content with making representations to the secretary of state, they wrote direct to the english ambassador at the hague, desiring him to urge upon the states of flanders and brabant the necessity of at once fitting out three or four ships of the ostend squadron, with the twofold object of recalling the seamen to their duty and of clearing the coast. they at the same time waited upon m. van vrybergh, the envoy extraordinary from the states-general to the court of st. james', and exacted from him a promise that he would exercise his influence in the same direction. but relief was soon to come, and from an unexpected quarter. lewis the fourteenth, by way of creating a diversion in the netherlands, resolved to assist the pretender in making a descent upon scotland, and with this view he assembled a squadron before dunkirk. england had no choice but to follow suit. within an incredibly short space of time she equipped a fleet, and this fleet, under the command of sir george byng, left deal for dunkirk in the spring of . how the pretender evaded byng, and how byng pursued the pretender and frustrated his object, are matters of history; but what concerns us at the present moment is that, before starting in pursuit, byng detached a squadron for the purpose of bringing over some of the english troops which were about to be embarked at ostend. it is probable that this squadron, after its immediate object had been accomplished, remained in or about the channel, for after this time we hear no more of depredations on the post office packets. experience shews that there is a class, and not an inconsiderable class, of persons who, in time of war, find it hard to reconcile themselves to the pursuits of peace. john macky, the packet agent at dover, was one of these. the proximity of the battle-field, its easy access from dover, and the stirring accounts arriving by every packet fired his imagination and filled him with martial ardour. under the influence of this excitement he addressed a memorial to the postmasters-general, praying that he might be commissioned to go over to flanders and settle posts for the army. this application he appears to have supported by the most unfortunate arguments. he urged not that it was a thing in itself reasonable and proper that the army should have posts of its own, and that his experience might be useful in establishing them, but that at dover, though his salary was comparatively high, he had little or nothing to do, and that the commission for which he asked would give him employment more congenial to his tastes. the postmasters-general could not conceal their astonishment at the audacity of the proposal and the grounds on which it was based. "we were never before made sensible," they wrote, "that the business of the agent to the packet boats at dover was so very inconsiderable as you have represented it to be, nor do we think that for so inconsiderable a business so high a salary can be needed." "we can only say," they added, "that if the present allowance be too much for the work, or if the employ be too mean for your expectations, we doubt not but that we shall be able to find those who will thankfully accept the post with an allowance that is much less." but macky's restlessness was not to be subdued by a mere admonition. as he could not prevail on the postmasters-general to send him to flanders on official business, he asked to be allowed to go on his own account. this permission they readily gave, accompanying it, however, with a remarkable caution. "we must expect," they said, "that you do not intermeddle in any ways upon the business of the flanders correspondence, or enter into any sort of treaty for the port of letters or jobbing of places which may bring us under any inconveniencys or our authority under any disreputation. we expect you take particular caution of these matters and wish you a good journey." within four months from the date of this caution macky's relations to the post office had greatly altered. to the position of packet agent he now added that of contractor, having undertaken himself to provide for the dover and ostend service. for the sum of £ a year he was to supply four boats between twenty and thirty tons each, and to be at all risks from sea and enemy. one effect of this arrangement, by which macky the contractor was to be controlled by macky the packet agent, was to prolong his visit to flanders. under the pretext of keeping the captains to their duty he remained there until march or april , when he returned to england, after an absence of eight or nine months. meanwhile the packets to ostend, like those to holland and to portugal, had been engaged in illicit practices. according to a complaint received from the commissioners of customs immediately before macky's return, clandestine traffic was being systematically carried on, and the very last boat that had arrived had brought parcels of lace concealed in the flap of the mail. the postmasters-general were deeply annoyed. "let this go on," they exclaimed, "and the mails themselves will be searched, to the great scandal of the office and of our management." we have been thus particular in recording macky's movements, because in connection with the service under his control an incident now occurred which brought the post office into serious discredit. the postmasters-general, in virtue of their office, which gave them control over the communications of the country, were in the habit of receiving priority of intelligence; and this at a time when intelligence travelled slowly and the means of disseminating it did not exist or existed only in the rudest form. hence they acquired an importance which the mere office of postmaster-general, as that office is now understood, would not have conferred. an interest attached to them as to men who were reputed to possess exclusive information. they were welcome at court, and not only welcome but often anxiously expected. indeed, to act as purveyor of news to the court had come to be regarded as one and by no means the least important of their duties; and with a view to its more effectual discharge their agents throughout the country had standing orders to send to headquarters the earliest intimation of any remarkable event that might happen in their locality. when any one of these persons was venturesome enough to send to his chiefs a present, the thanks he received were of the coldest,--"we thank you for the snuff," or, "we thank you for the port wine," and then was pretty sure to follow a sharp rebuke for some trifling irregularity, which, except for the present, would probably have passed unnoticed. but when a piece of news was sent, the thanks were warm and hearty; and woe betide the unfortunate agent who had news to send and omitted to send it. "we observe you give us no advice of the fleet under sir george byng being seen off falmouth the th, tho' we saw letters from falmouth which advised thereof. we are desirous to have the first advice of any remarkable news." "we received two flanders mails on sunday morning, and therewith your letter of the th advising of the duke of marlborough's being arrived at flushing, for which account we thank you." "we do heartily congratulate your safe return, and do thank you for being so full and particular in the advices you have given us of what occurrences have come to your knowledge." "we are obliged to you for the news of the nassau and burford's prizes of which we had received advice before by some galleys from gibraltar, and for your kind promise of communicating to us any considerable occurrences that may happen in your parts." "we thank you for sending us an account of all news and remarkable occurrences in your letters which we desire may be sent in the mails or annext to the labels." "we cannot but take very ill the captain's conduct on this occasion, for mr. bowen's intentions in sending his son over to bring so great a piece of news as that of the victory[ ] to us ought to be esteemed as a great piece of civility, and, if the captain had not refused to sail when mr. bowen pressed him, we might have had the satisfaction of carrying the first account of that victory." [ ] the victory at oudenarde. who mr. bowen was we are not informed. it was in the early summer of , when this greed after news was at its height, that intelligence of vast import to the country was expected to arrive in london. preliminaries of peace, after being arranged in flanders, had been forwarded to paris for confirmation. would the king sign them? or must the war which had already lasted more than six years be continued? a period of anxious suspense followed. the exhaustion of france, and the humiliating terms which were sought to be imposed upon her, made it certain that there would be neither ready acceptance nor ready rejection; and yet the latest date had passed on which a decision was expected and none had arrived. london was in a fever of expectation. each mail from ostend, as it reached the post office in lombard street, was eagerly seized and opened. the month of may was drawing to a close. on saturday the th there was not only no news but no mail. sunday came and, to the consternation of the postmasters-general, there was still no mail. the wind was in the right quarter. at harwich the packets from holland were arriving regularly. what could hinder the passage from ostend? at length on monday the th a mail arrived, and with it the news. the king had refused to sign the preliminaries of peace. frankland and evelyn[ ] hurried off to the lord treasurer. little were they prepared for the reception that awaited them. godolphin's words have unfortunately not been preserved, but we know the substance of them. the news, he said, had reached the city the day before, having been conveyed there clandestinely. the packet agent or sub-agent at ostend had sent it. of this he held in his hand conclusive evidence. what means had been employed, and whether others were concerned in the nefarious transaction, it was for his hearers to ascertain; and the sooner they addressed themselves to the task the better. in short, the power of the purse had again prevailed, and the post office had been outwitted by the stock exchange. [ ] mr. (afterwards sir john) evelyn had recently succeeded sir robert cotton as postmaster-general. it is difficult to suppose that the intelligence can have been conveyed from ostend to london without macky's connivance. and yet frankland and evelyn believed or affected to believe that he had had no hand in the business. their position was, no doubt, one of embarrassment. organised as the post office then was, they possessed no means of making an independent investigation. they contented themselves, therefore, with calling upon macky to ascertain and report how it was that a letter from ostend had reached london on sunday, although on that day there had been no mail. the result might easily have been foreseen. brown, the sub-agent at ostend, whose letter it was, stood self-condemned, and macky was required to dismiss him. and here the scandal ended. macky's own character, with himself as reporter, may be presumed to have been cleared. at all events he appears to have been taken back into confidence, and, before many weeks were over, the postmasters-general had despatched him on an important mission. this mission was no other than to lay down posts for the army in flanders. the tardiness with which intelligence arrived from the seat of war had long been matter of complaint. in the city especially the dissatisfaction had been intense, and the recent scandal had not been calculated to allay it. with a view to remedy this state of things, godolphin called upon the postmasters-general to devise some means for securing more rapid communication. the army was now in the neighbourhood of lisle, and operations were about to begin anew. there was, therefore, no time to be lost. the postmasters-general had recourse to macky, and in a few days he produced a plan with which godolphin expressed himself highly pleased. between lisle and ostend, and between ostend and other places where the army might be, stages were to be settled; at each stage were to be relays of horses with postilions ready to start at any moment; responsible persons were to be appointed to collect and deliver the letters and to receive the postage; and the postage was to be regulated by distance and to be at the same rates as in england, and to go to the english post office. macky, to his extreme gratification, was commissioned to carry out his own plan. he was to repair at once to flanders, to report himself to the duke of marlborough, and, having obtained his sanction, to proceed with the arrangement of details. above all, he was to keep a close watch upon the sailing of the packets from ostend, and to insist upon a rigid punctuality. from this time no more complaints were heard of the tardy arrival of intelligence from the seat of war. as postilions were employed on one side of the water, so expresses were employed on the other; and these, with punctual sailings between port and port, constituted a service which for those days might be considered excellent. at first, indeed, the employment of expresses from dover to london appears to have been a little overdone, and the postmasters-general, eager as they were to obtain early intelligence, found it necessary to regulate the practice. an express had arrived bringing a letter from macky in flanders. "altho' we should be very well satisfied," they wrote to his deputy at dover, "to receive an extraordinary piece of good news by a messenger hired for greater dispatch' sake, yet on ordinary occasions it might be more warrantable and make less noise and expectation to have the same sent by a flying pacquet under cover to us annext to the labell." this was written in august , within six weeks of macky's arrival in flanders; and we know of no passage in the whole of the post office records which more forcibly brings home to us the difference between the london of to-day and the london of years ago. crowds no longer congregate at the doors of the post office eagerly waiting for news; nor is the neighbourhood of st. martin's-le-grand transported with excitement at the approach of a man on horseback. on the cessation of hostilities at sea, which took place in the summer of , although the treaty of utrecht was not signed until the following year, the postmasters-general proceeded to put the packets on a peace footing. the boats from harwich to the brill and from dover to ostend were reduced in number. the routes between dover and calais and between dover and dunkirk were reopened. the service between falmouth and lisbon, which during the war had been once a week, was now to be only once a fortnight; and the five boats engaged on this service, as carrying more hands than would any longer be necessary, were to be disposed of by public sale and their place to be taken by three of the largest from harwich. the result of these several changes was to reduce the establishment, in point of numbers, by rather more than men, and, in point of cost, from £ , to £ , . as affecting the cost, hardly less important than the reduction of numbers was the permission now given to the packet boats to resume the carriage of merchandise. this was a source of profit to which the postmasters-general had long been looking as some set-off against the heavy expense. meanwhile dummer's contract for the west india service had come to an abrupt termination. that contract had not been long in force before he began to realise how onerous was the condition that, out of a total sum of £ , , he should receive only £ in money, and depend, for the difference on fares, freight, and postage. the postage, which from the first had fallen short of his expectations, did not increase; and the fact of his having, within a few months from the commencement of his undertaking, lost three of his boats, procured for him--what in the world of commerce is almost incompatible with success--the reputation of an unlucky man. the west india merchants enjoined their correspondents on no account to send goods by dummer's boats. thus the profits which he had expected to derive from freight had no more existence in fact than the profits from postage. hoping against hope, dummer struggled on; but ill-luck continued to pursue him. in little more than five years he lost no less than nine boats. in order to replace them he mortgaged his property to the full extent of its value and obtained advances on his quarterly allowance. this, of course, could not go on, and at length the crash came. the day had arrived for the west india mail to be despatched, and there was no boat to carry it. the whole of dummer's property, boats included, had been seized for debt. the rest is soon told. the mortgagees, believing that they had the postmasters-general in a corner, refused to continue the service except at a preposterous charge, which frankland and evelyn declined to pay. fortunately three private ships with consignments for the west indies were then loading at teignmouth and other ports in the south-west of england, and these relieved the post office from what might otherwise have been a serious dilemma. bankrupt and broken-hearted, edmund dummer died in april , within eighteen months of the termination of his contract. it is his honourable distinction that he succeeded in all that he undertook for others, and that it was only in what he undertook for himself that he failed. chapter viii american posts - american progress has long been the wonder of the world, and in nothing perhaps has it displayed itself more remarkably than in the matter of the posts. the figures which the united states post office presents to us year after year--figures as compared with which even those of the post office of great britain fall into insignificance--make it difficult to believe that only two hundred years ago an enterprising englishman was struggling to erect a post between new york and boston. an order in council dated the nd of july , after prescribing the rates of postage to be charged not only between england and the island of jamaica, but within the island itself, ended with these words: "and his majesty is also pleased to order that letter offices be settled in such other of his majesty's plantations in america as shall by the said earle of rochester be found convenient for his majesty's service, and the ease and benefitt of his subjects, according to the method and rates herein settled for his majesty's island of jamaica." nearly four years later, namely, in february , thomas neale obtained a grant from the crown authorising him to set up posts in north america. the grant was secured by letters patent, which were to hold good for twenty-one years. neale, who appears never to have set foot out of england, appointed as his representative in america andrew hamilton; or rather, as the patent required, neale nominated and the postmasters-general appointed him. the patent also required that at the expiration of three years neale should render an account showing his receipts and expenditure; but it was not until the year that this condition was fulfilled, and in the same year hamilton came to england to report progress. by this time a post, to run once a week, had been established along seven hundred miles of road, from boston to new york, and from new york to newcastle in pennsylvania. what the postage rates were we do not know, except indeed that the charge on a letter between new york and boston was s. on other points the account which hamilton furnished on neale's behalf gives full information. a salary of £ a year is paid to "mr. sharpus that keeps the letter office at new york." mr. sharpus also receives two allowances, one of £ a year "for carrying the mail half-way to boston," and another of £ "for carrying the mail from new york to philadelphia." of the former allowance, hamilton states that after the th of november he "retrenched" it from £ to £ . there is also a salary of £ "allowed to him that keeps the letter office at philadelphia"; and "an allowance of £ sterling per annum given by mr. neale himself to peter hayman, deputy-postmaster of virginia and maryland." hamilton's own salary was £ , and his travelling expenses are thus stated in his account:-- to my expense of a journey from new york to road island, boston, and eastward of it and back again, when i settled the post office there £ to my expense of a journey from new york to maryland and virginia and back again to settle the office there to several other journeys and incident charges relating to the post office in america as in england, from the first erection of the posts, the correspondence went on steadily increasing year after year. thus, in the first year beginning the st of may the "new york post" produced £ ; in the second, £ ; in the third, £ ; and in the fourth year, ending the st of may , it produced £ . the same progress is to be seen in what were called the "boston, road island, connecticut and piscataway posts." in the first two years beginning also in may these produced £ or at the rate of £ a year; in the third year they produced £ ; and in the fourth, £ . the returns of the philadelphia post also kept improving; but here hamilton encountered difficulties of management, as will be seen by his own entries:-- by the produce of the philadelphia post from the nd of august to the rd of april , at which time i was forced to change the postmaster £ by the produce of the same post from the rd of april to the th of february , at which time i was forced to change the postmaster again the virginia and maryland posts were the single exception. of these hamilton records "the virginia and maryland posts never yielded anything, but cost mr. neale near £ ." however much these posts might be improved, he dared not reckon upon the correspondence exceeding one hundred letters a year. there is only one more entry which we will quote from hamilton's account. it is this:-- by cash which the postmaster of new york gathered up upon the road in connecticut for letters £ promising as the prospect was on the whole, neale's receipts from the posts fell far short of his expenses in erecting and maintaining them. his expenses up to may were £ , and his receipts £ , leaving him not only out of pocket to the amount of £ , but with his means and his credit exhausted. it was admitted on all hands that the posts must before long become self-supporting, even if they should not prove remunerative. but meanwhile how were they to be carried on? hamilton had his own plan to propose. this was first that within america the postage rates should be raised, and "that the post and his horse should go fferry-free"; and second, that between england and america rates should be settled, and that shipmasters should be required on the other as on this side of the atlantic to take their letters at once to the post office of the port at which they first touched, and hand them to the postmaster, receiving as remuneration one penny a letter. for inland letters the increased rates which hamilton proposed were as follows, all but the first two entries being in his own words:-- pence. where the distance from new york does not exceed miles where it exceeds , and does not exceed miles to and from boston and new york, miles to and from boston and jersey, miles to and from boston and philadelphia, miles to and from boston and annapolis in maryland, miles to and from boston and james towne in virginia, miles to and from new york and annapolis, miles to and from new york and james towne, miles, and many broad and dangerous bays and rivers to be ferryed over it may surprise our readers to learn that between england and america there actually existed, years ago, what now is little more than the dream of the postal reformer,--an ocean penny postage. yet such is the fact. in it was the custom of the masters of ships bound for america to hang up bags in coffee-houses, and any letters that might be dropped into these bags they carried, and were glad to carry, over for one penny or twopence a letter, according as it was a single or a double one. this custom, as hamilton pointed out, was liable to abuse. in the first place, any one who had put a letter into a coffee-house bag might, under pretence of wanting his own letter back, possess himself of the letter of somebody else. and secondly, on arrival in america, the shipmasters being under no obligation to make a prompt delivery, were apt to deliver the letters, not when they reached a port, but when they were on the point of leaving it, and after they had disposed of their lading. all this would be remedied if rates of postage were settled between england and america. the letters would then be in the custody of the post office until delivered to the shipmaster, and the shipmaster would be bound to restore them to the same custody as soon as he arrived at his destination. but hamilton's main argument in favour of establishing sea-rates of postage was the impossibility of things remaining as they were. neale was without resources, and the posts were not self-supporting. unless, therefore, some means should be devised for increasing the receipts, the posts must be given up. let sea-rates be imposed, and the receipts would be increased at once, for all letters from europe, which on arrival in america were now being delivered by private hand, would then fall into the post, and be forced to pay american postage. it was true that between the mother country and her colonies a packet service did not exist, and that to impose a charge where no service was rendered in return would be contrary to post office usage; but the object to be gained was too important to allow this consideration to prevail. such were the arguments by which hamilton supported his proposal that on letters between england and america postage should be charged--of d. for a single letter, s. for a double letter, and s. d. for "a packet." there were one or two points on which cotton and frankland did not agree with hamilton. experience had taught them, as they stated on another occasion, that the way to improve the post office revenue was to "make the intercourse of letters easy to people." so now, in their representation to the treasury, they condemned the inland rates which hamilton proposed as altogether too high. they had been long enough at the post office, they said, to know that "the easy and cheap corresponding doth encourage people to write letters, and that this revenue was but little in proportion to what it is now till the postage of letters was reduced from d.[ ] to d." [ ] this is an allusion to the period antecedent to . hamilton had contemplated the passing of a fresh act of parliament in order to impose sea-rates and to oblige shipmasters to give up their letters as soon as they reached port. cotton and frankland were not satisfied that a fresh act of parliament was necessary; nor did they express any opinion as to the particular rates which should be imposed. they recommended, however, the appointment of an officer whose duty it should be "to take care of" all letters for america, and to put them into a special bag to be sealed with the office seal. public notice should at the same time be given prohibiting the collection of such letters by other persons. to the shipmaster to whom the bag might be delivered the inducement to take it without delay to the post office of the port at which he should first arrive would be that he would there receive one penny for each letter the bag might contain. hitherto, under the coffee-house arrangement, the penny had been paid in england; for the future, it would be paid in america. in other words, the shipmaster, instead of receiving his recompense in advance, would receive it after his work was done and only provided it was done properly. on one point the postmasters-general held a decided opinion. towards the support of the posts the government of new york had made an annual contribution of £ , in consideration of which the government letters appear to have been carried free; but otherwise neale's undertaking had not received from the authorities that countenance and support which, in cotton and frankland's opinion, were essential to its success. they expressed themselves convinced that, for want of due encouragement, the posts would never prosper in private hands, and recommended that they should be transferred to the crown. whether any, and if so, what action was taken upon the postmaster-general's representation we do not know. there is some reason to think that between england and america sea-rates of postage were settled, as had been done a few years before in the case of jamaica; but we possess no certain information on the point. all we know is that, upon neale being informed of the postmaster-general's opinion that the inland posts should be transferred to the crown, he immediately offered to surrender his patent, and that the offer was not accepted. the payment he demanded was either a capital sum of £ or else £ a year for life or for the unexpired term of his grant. hamilton returned to america. the next we hear of him is in . neale was then dead, having shortly before his death assigned his interest in the posts as security for his debts. to hamilton he owed £ , and to an englishman of the name of west he owed for money advanced £ ; and into the hands of these two persons, in default of any one willing to act as neale's executor or administrator, the posts now came. in april hamilton also died; and for three or four years his widow carried on the posts at her own charge. in mrs. hamilton and west urged that their patent, which had seven and a half years yet to run, might be enlarged for a further term of twenty-one years, and that they might have permission to set up packet boats between england and america. to this cotton and frankland were opposed, being still of opinion that the posts should not remain in private hands; and they recommended, as a more politic measure, that the patent should be purchased for £ , a sum which the patentees had expressed themselves willing to accept. whether this was the sum actually given we know not; but in the following year the patent was surrendered and the posts of america became vested in the crown. in connection with the transfer john hamilton, andrew's son, was appointed to his father's place of deputy postmaster-general, and this appointment he retained until , when he resigned. it was then and not until then that the posts became self-supporting. "we have now," write the postmasters-general on the th of august in that year, "put the post office in north america and the west indies upon such a foot that for the future, if it produce no profit to the revenue, it will no longer be a charge to it, but we have good reason to hope there will be some return rather from thence." such, hardly years ago, were the humble beginnings of a post office with which, in the magnitude and diversity of its operations, no other in the world can now compare. chapter ix the post office act of in , on the passing of the act of union between england and scotland, the first step taken by the postmasters-general was to alter the colours of the packets. the cross of st. andrew, with its blue ground, united with the red cross of st. george, now became the national ensign; and the packets no less than the ships of the royal navy were under obligation to carry it. the post office in scotland was at this time held in farm at a rent of £ a year. the lease expired on the th of november, and from that date the postmasters-general held themselves responsible for the scotch no less than the english posts. they at once proceeded to frame an establishment. george main, the farmer, was appointed deputy-postmaster of edinburgh at a salary of £ , this being the amount which one year with another he had made out of his contract. three persons were appointed to assist him, an accomptant and two clerks. these, with three letter-carriers at a crown a week each, and a postmaster at the foot of the canongate, constituted the edinburgh establishment. in the country there were thirty-four postmasters, of whom only twelve were paid by salary, the remaining twenty-two receiving as their remuneration a certain proportion of the postage on inland letters. thus, three had one-half of this postage, one had one-third, and eighteen had one-fourth. the highest salaries were given to the postmasters of haddington and cockburnspath, who received £ apiece, the reason being no doubt that these two towns were on the direct line of road between edinburgh and london. at aberdeen, the postmaster's salary was £ ; at glasgow, £ ; at dundee, montrose, and inverness, £ ; and at dumfries and ayr, £ . runners[ ] at a fixed charge were maintained between town and town--as, for instance, between edinburgh and aberdeen at £ a year, between aberdeen and inverness at £ a year, and between inverness and thurso at £ a year: but except at edinburgh there was no letter-carrier, and except between edinburgh and berwick there was no horse-post north of the tweed. the establishment charges for the whole of scotland, edinburgh included, were less than £ a year. [ ] these runners or post-boys carried the mail through the whole journey, resting by the way. it was not, according to common repute, until about the year that the mail began to be carried from stage to stage by different post-boys. but something more was necessary than to frame an establishment and to alter the colours of the packets. serious doubts had arisen whether, as the law stood, the postmasters-general of england were competent to deal with the posts of scotland; and, this vital consideration apart, between the two divisions of the kingdom certain inequalities existed which only fresh legislation could redress. under the scotch act of the postage on a single letter between edinburgh and berwick was d. under the english act of , d. would carry a single letter from berwick northwards for only forty miles, and considerably more than forty miles separated berwick from edinburgh. this difference arose no doubt from mere inaccuracy of reckoning on the english side; and yet it was one which nothing less than a new act, an act by the united parliament, would adjust. it is the more singular that at this time the postmasters-general should not have taken steps to promote legislation, because, in connection with the english no less than the scotch post office, there were several matters on which fresh legislation had become necessary. the statute on which the very existence of the post office itself depended had been found difficult to deal with, on account of its loose and ambiguous wording. the postage to america and the west indies rested on no legal sanction. for the pence paid upon ship-letters the postmasters-general had no authority to produce, and the auditors had threatened to disallow, the payment. even the penny post was of doubtful legality. the courts had indeed decided that dockwra's undertaking was an infraction of the rights of the crown; but they had not decided, nor had they been called upon to decide, whether in the hands of the crown the same undertaking would be legal. the law, as it stood, prescribed no postage lower than twopence. by the penny post the postage was one half of that amount. with these and other matters requiring adjustment, it might well be supposed that the postmasters-general would have been glad of the opportunity which the act of union afforded to set their house in order. yet, so far from taking any steps in that direction, they now remained perfectly passive. of the reason for this inaction we are not informed; but we venture to suggest an explanation. cotton and frankland were advocates of cheap postage. should fresh legislation be entered upon, what guarantee had they that postage would not be made dearer? so far, indeed, as they could judge, such was much more likely than not to be the case. as early as william's reign they had been asked to estimate how much an additional penny of postage would produce; and the necessities of the civil list which had prompted the inquiry had since become more and more pressing. it is not impossible that there was another, though subordinate, reason. between whitehall and lombard street communications had been passing from time to time, which might fairly raise the presumption that advantage would be taken of any fresh act to insert a clause under which all post office servants, the postmasters-general included, would be disfranchised. cotton and frankland, who still retained their seats, the one for cambridgeshire, and the other for the borough of thirsk, were not the men to be deterred by personal considerations from doing what they conceived to be their duty; but if on principle they objected to an increase in the rates of postage, it was little calculated to reconcile them to a measure which they regarded as mischievous that, as a probable consequence of its introduction, they would lose their seats. but be the reason what it might, the fact remains that, whereas at one time they were continually suggesting the propriety of fresh legislation in order to clear up ambiguities in the existing statute, no such suggestion had been recently made, and they now remained perfectly silent. thus matters stood when, in october , or a year and a half after the act of union had passed, an incident occurred which made silence no longer possible. letters of privy seal had been issued granting salaries payable out of the revenue of the scotch post office to certain professors of the universities of edinburgh and glasgow, and warrants for payment of these salaries were sent to lombard street to be signed. the postmasters-general, being in doubt whether their signature would be valid, took the precaution of consulting the law officers. the law officers' opinion, which was not given until the end of december, must have struck dismay into the hearts of those who sought it. it was to the effect that the postmasters-general of england could not act as postmasters-general of scotland until they had been to edinburgh and taken the oaths prescribed by the scotch law. a journey to edinburgh in those days, especially in the depth of winter, was no light undertaking. but this was not all. and as soon--the opinion proceeded--as they have taken the oaths and qualified as postmasters-general of scotland, they will cease to be postmasters-general of england. the warrants were returned to the treasury unsigned. and now that silence had once been broken, the postmasters-general offered suggestion after suggestion, each having for its object to remove the difficulty. might not a clause be inserted in some bill now before parliament, a clause under which they should be constituted postmasters-general of great britain, and be given jurisdiction over the scotch as over the english post office? would not the scotch bill for drawbacks answer the purpose, or if that were likely to be displeasing to the north british members, some one of the many money-bills that were then pending? would not the requirements of the law be satisfied if for the management of the scotch post office some one were appointed by letters patent under the privy seal of scotland, and placed under the orders of the postmasters-general of england? or in view of a recent act passed by the united parliament, might not the english postmasters-general themselves be so appointed? to these suggestions, of which the first was made in december , and the last in april , the lord treasurer returned no reply. it was clear that godolphin had other intentions. meanwhile events had taken place in london which must have gone far to convince the postmasters-general that, impolitic as an increase in the rates of postage might be, the need for fresh legislation was urgent. charles povey had set up a halfpenny post or, as he called it himself, a "half-penny carriage." for the sum of one halfpenny he undertook to do what dockwra had done, and what the postmasters-general were now doing, for the sum of one penny. there were indeed points of difference. the penny post extended not only over the whole of london proper, but to the remote suburbs; the halfpenny post was confined to the busy parts of the metropolis, to the cities of london and westminster and to the borough of southwark. for the halfpenny post, again, letters were collected by the sound of bell. that is to say, povey's men carried bells, which they rang as they passed along the streets, and so gave notice of their approach. this, though no doubt intended merely as an advertisement, possessed the merit of convenience. people had only to await the coming of one of these bell-ringers, and letters and parcels which they must otherwise have carried to the post themselves were carried for them. povey fancied himself a second dockwra; but the two men were as unlike as the circumstances under which their undertakings were launched. dockwra was gentle and conciliatory. povey was violent and aggressive. dockwra disclaimed all intention of transgressing the law. it was only necessary that his undertaking should become better known, and his royal highness, he felt sure, would withdraw his opposition. povey expressed the utmost indifference whether his undertaking was legal or illegal, and defied the law to do its worst. dockwra was a pioneer. when he established his penny post, there was nothing in existence at all resembling it, nothing with which it competed, and by supplying an acknowledged want he conferred an inestimable boon upon the community. povey, on the contrary, was a mere adventurer. his halfpenny carriage was in direct opposition to an institution already existing and in full activity, an institution which supplied every reasonable want, and which it was the sole purpose of his enterprise to supplant for his own advantage. so impudent an infringement of the rights of the crown could not, of course, be tolerated, and the postmasters-general called upon povey to desist from his undertaking. povey's reply must have extinguished any hope they may have entertained of avoiding an appeal to the courts. he should certainly not, he said, be so unjust to himself as to lay down his undertaking at their demand. if they were resolved on trying the matter at law, he was quite content. and happily, he added, we live not under such a constitution as dockwra lived, a constitution made up of an arbitrary government and bribed judges. thus defied, the postmasters-general had only one course to pursue, and that was to bring an action. as a preliminary step povey and the keepers of the shops at which he had opened offices were served with notices setting forth the illegality of their proceedings. the shopkeepers closed their offices at once, and povey was left alone with his bell-ringers. the man now revealed himself in his true character. when first informed that an information would be filed against him, he published a pamphlet in which, after loading the postmasters-general with ridicule and abuse, he dared them to proceed to trial, declaring that a trial in the court of exchequer was the very thing he desired; but as time drew on and he found them to be in earnest, he became alarmed and desired to effect a compromise. with this object he attended at the post office and pleaded his cause in person. if only his bell-ringers might continue to collect letters for the general post and "such as pass between man and man," he would pay to the crown one-tenth more than had yet been received from the penny post. or let him take the penny post to farm, and he would pay double what that post had ever produced. or was it to his bells that exception was taken? if so, and if only proceedings were stayed, his bells should cease to-morrow. but even if at one time such overtures could have been listened to, it was now too late, and the postmasters-general so informed him. at this announcement, and while they were still speaking, povey bounced from his chair and flung himself out of the room. the case came on for hearing in easter term , and povey was fined £ . it may here be mentioned that the practice of collecting letters by the sound of bell did not cease with the halfpenny carriage. it was adopted by the post office, became general throughout the kingdom, and continued down to a time well within the recollection of persons still living.[ ] [ ] in london the practice continued until the end of ; and in dublin, which was the last town in the united kingdom to give it up, until september . although the postmasters-general had won their suit, they were not altogether satisfied. what povey had done might be done by others, and his proceedings, they did not attempt to conceal, had caused them great annoyance. as soon as he found them bent on suppressing his undertaking, he had had recourse to artifice. in order that his bell-ringers might escape molestation, he had changed them about from place to place and made them assume fictitious names, so that the man who appeared in holborn to-day under one name might appear in westminster to-morrow under another. the task of fixing evidence had thus been made extremely difficult, and the postmasters-general had at one time almost given it up in despair. they also bitterly complained of the law's delays. for no less than seven months--from the th of october to the th of may --the halfpenny post had been in full activity, to the serious injury of the penny post. must the institution which had been committed to their charge remain, for periods of longer or shorter duration, at the mercy of any unscrupulous person who might choose to follow povey's example? or against future assaults of the same kind was it not possible to provide themselves with some less cumbrous weapon than they had now to their hands? whether the act which subsequently passed conferred upon the postmasters-general all the powers they desired may be open to question, but there can be no doubt that, after the experience of the past few months, the prospect of fresh legislation, if not actually welcome, had lost half its terrors. for fresh legislation, however, the time had not even yet arrived. it is true that povey's case, pending the consideration of which nothing of course could be done, had been heard and determined; but now political difficulties arose. godolphin, the lord treasurer, gave way to harley; and harley's advent to power was followed by a general election. it was not until the beginning of november, or three weeks before the houses met, that a decision was at last announced. subject to the consent of parliament, the rates of postage were to be increased, and a bill to carry out the object was to be prepared at once. the office of secretary to the treasury was at this time held by william lowndes, member of parliament for the borough of seaford. lowndes had written a silly book on the currency, a book in which he endeavoured to prove that an act of parliament, by calling a sixpence a shilling, can double its purchasing power. he had seriously believed, when the postmasters-general recommended that the course of post to warwick should be direct instead of by way of coventry, that the recommendation was due to a bribe. when the postmasters-general were at their wits' end to put a stop to the illicit traffic in letters, he had suggested--and it was the only consolation which he had had to offer them--that in order to defray the expenses of the civil list every letter passing through the post should be charged with an additional rate of d. such was the man to whom was now entrusted the oversight of the post office bill. if confidence in the merits of the measure which the bill was designed to promote were any recommendation, a better selection could not have been made. lowndes had long advocated an increase in the rates of postage. he had, there can be little doubt, brought godolphin over to his views, and now, under godolphin's successor, he obtained permission to carry them into effect. at the post office, unfortunately, there was at this time no one to sound a note of alarm. cotton was no more. evelyn, cotton's successor, was new to his duties. frankland was old and gouty. between frankland and lowndes, moreover, relations we suspect were somewhat strained. at all events, the fact remains that the postmasters-general, who never tired of inculcating as the result of experience that low postage attracts correspondence and high postage repels it, received notice of the intention to raise the rates without even an attempt to avert the mischief. by the middle of december, or little more than six weeks from the time of the post office receiving notice to prepare for fresh legislation, the bill was in lowndes's hands. containing as it did some fifty clauses, and dealing with a matter of no little complexity, such despatch might do no discredit even to our own days of high pressure. at the beginning of the eighteenth century it was out of the common. but the explanation is simple. swift, the solicitor to the post office, who was profoundly dissatisfied with the law as it stood, had for years past employed his leisure moments in framing clauses founded upon his conception of what the law ought to be, less probably in the hope of seeing them passed than with the view of giving relief to his feelings. these clauses he now collected, arranged, and added to, producing what he conceived to be a model measure. but while the bill had taken only six weeks to prepare, nearly double that period was occupied in revising it. whatever may be thought of lowndes's understanding, there can be no question about his industry. day after day during the next three months he devoted to the task he had undertaken every moment he could snatch from his numerous other engagements. in conjunction with swift, who now passed most of his time at whitehall, he went through the bill clause by clause, discussing and arguing every point, and not seldom making alterations. swift, as the representative of the post office, knew well what the post office wanted; but lowndes knew, or thought that he knew, better, and in this as in other instances superior authority passed current for superior knowledge. it was not, however, to what for distinction's sake may be called the post office clauses of the bill that the chief interest attached. to these lowndes added others, of which one, while dealing with a matter of the most delicate character, revealed an intention of which the post office had had no previous notice. the preparation of this clause severely taxed the abilities of its framers. as the post office revenue was at this time vested in the crown, the crown would, of course, in the absence of express provision to the contrary, reap the benefit of any increase which additions to the rates of postage might produce. to divert the increase, or part of the increase, from the crown to the public was the object of the clause on which lowndes and swift were now engaged. this clause having at length been settled to their satisfaction, the bill came before parliament, and was with some modifications passed. the new rates as compared with the old were as follows:-- +------------------+--------------------------+------------------------+ | | . | . | |from london. +---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+ | | single. |double. |ounce. |single. |double. |ounce.| +------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+ | miles and under| d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | |above miles | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | |to edinburgh | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | |to dublin | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | d. | +------------------+---------+--------+-------+--------+--------+------+ +-----------------------------------+--------------------------+ | | . | |from edinburgh, within scotland. +---------+--------+-------+ | | single. |double. |ounce. | +-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+ | miles and under | d. | d. | d. | |above and not exceeding miles| d. | d. | d. | |above miles | d. | d. | d. | | | | | | | from dublin, within ireland. | | | | | miles and under | d. | d. | d. | |above miles | d. | d. | d. | +-----------------------------------+---------+--------+-------+ the old rates during the year ending the th of september had produced £ , , and the new rates were estimated to produce £ , more. of this increase the whole was to be paid into the exchequer by weekly instalments of £ , so that a fund might be established for the purpose of carrying on the war; and of the surplus, if any, over and above £ , , one-third was to be reserved to the disposal of parliament for the use of the public. these provisions were to hold good for thirty-two years, after which the old rates were to be reverted to. we have already seen how difficult the postmasters-general had found it, even with the lower rates of postage, to prevent the smuggling of letters; and of course, in exact proportion as the rates should be increased, the temptation to smuggle would become greater. this consequence had been foreseen and provided for. after declaring in the preamble that, as a condition of the new rates, provision must be made "for preventing the undue collecting and delivering of letters by private posts, carriers, higglers, watermen, drivers of stage-coaches, and other persons," the bill went on to give to the postmasters-general large powers of search. this clause was regarded as of the highest importance. without it, indeed, even lowndes would hardly have ventured to suggest that the rates should be increased. to his dismay, however, and, truth compels us to add, to the dismay also of the post office, the house of commons, while passing the rates, rejected the searching clause. only the declaration in the preamble remained, an enduring monument of a foolish intention. another clause must also be regarded as peculiarly lowndes's own. this clause--which, unlike the foregoing, was not rejected--prohibited the postmasters-general and all persons serving under them from intermeddling in elections. they were forbidden under heavy penalties "to persuade any one to give or to dissuade any one from giving his vote for the choice" of a member of parliament. lowndes can hardly have believed it possible thus to padlock men's mouths. it is still more difficult to suppose that the clause can have been aimed at frankland; and yet assuredly frankland was the only person whom it affected. postmasters and others, it may well be believed, continued to talk and to argue exactly as they had argued and talked before; but frankland had to give up his seat. at the general election in october he had, there can be little doubt, received a hint of what was coming, for after sitting for his pocket borough of thirsk for more than twelve years he retired from the representation. so much of the new act as originated with the post office was mainly directed to clearing up doubts, to supplying omissions, and to making that legal for which the law had not yet provided. thus, legal sanction was given to the penny post, and competition with it was forbidden under severe penalties. pence upon ship-letters were not only authorised but directed to be paid. the rates of postage to america and to the west indies were confirmed; and power was given to impose rates upon letters to other places with which communication might be opened. the act of had conferred upon the postmasters-general the exclusive right of "receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching, sending post or with speed, and delivering of all letters and packets whatsoever"; but it was silent on the subject of carrying. this omission the act of supplied. the later act also imposed restrictions on the common carrier. hitherto it had been left in doubt what letters he might carry. these were now defined to be letters which concerned the goods in his waggon or cart; and they were to be delivered at the same time as the goods and without hire or reward. it was not enough that the penny post should receive legal sanction. by this post, from its first establishment, a single penny had carried only within london proper. for delivery in the outskirts--as, for instance, at islington, lambeth, newington, and hackney, all of which were at this time separate towns--the post office received one penny more. so long, therefore, as the charge by the general post for a distance not exceeding eighty miles stood at d., it was a mere question of convenience whether towns in the neighbourhood of london should be served by that post or by the penny post. in either case the postage on a single letter was the same, namely d. but now that the initial charge by the general post was raised from d. to d., it became necessary to assign a limit beyond which the penny post should not extend; and this limit was fixed at ten miles, measured from the general post office in lombard street. how little the post office had at this time entered into the inner life of the people may be judged by the fact that such restriction was possible. in there were towns distant nearly twenty miles from london--for instance, walton-on-thames, cheshunt in hertfordshire, and tilbury in essex--which had long been served by the penny post; and the penny post carried up to one pound of weight for the same charge for which the general post carried a single letter. yet these towns were now deprived of the facilities which the penny post afforded without, so far as appears, exciting a murmur.[ ] [ ] even the notice to the public announcing the change was as unapologetic as it well could be:--"these are to give notice that by the act of parliament for establishing a general post office all letters and packets directed to and sent from places distant ten miles or above from the said office in london, which before the second of this instant june were received and delivered by the officers of the penny post, are now subjected to the same rates of postage as general post letters; and that for the accommodation of the inhabitants of such places their letters will be conveyed with the same regularity and dispatch as formerly, being first taxed with the rates and stamped with the mark of the general post office; and that all parcels will likewise be taxed at the rate of s. per ounce, as the said act directs." under the new act the post office retained the monopoly of furnishing post-horses. it is to be observed, however, that the charge for each horse, although remaining the same as before--namely, d. a mile, with d. a stage for the guide--was now re-enacted apologetically, as though some compunction had begun to be felt at the interference with the freedom of contract. the explanation is perhaps to be found in the recent introduction of stage-coaches and the low prices at which these vehicles carried passengers. "there is of late," writes an author of the period, "an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women of better quality, to travel from london to almost any town of england and to almost all the villages near this great city, and that is by stage-coaches, wherein one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul ways; and this is not only at a low price, as about s. for every five miles, but with such speed, as that the posts in some foreign countries make not more miles in a day."[ ] if a mode of travelling so luxurious as this appears to have been thought could be secured for less than - / d. a mile, a charge of d. a mile for a horse besides a guerdon to the guide may well have appeared to require justification. [ ] chamberlayne's _state of england_, . it may here be noticed that, although the postmasters-general were under obligation to supply horses on demand, and, failing to do so, became liable to a penalty, the control which they exercised over the travelling post appears to have been of the slightest. it is true that they would now and again complain of a postmaster for keeping bad horses; but the badness would always be with reference to the horses' capacity to carry the mails. whether they were fit or unfit for the use of travellers appears never to have troubled headquarters. except, indeed, for some little exertion of authority on rare occasions and in circumstances out of the common,[ ] it would almost seem that the postmasters-general had ceased to regard the travelling post as a matter in which they had any concern. it is not very clear why this should have been so. but perhaps the explanation is that in the case of the travelling post, unlike that of the letter post, a postmaster's interest and duty were identical; if horses were wanted, he was under the strongest inducement to supply them; and the danger to be apprehended was not that travellers would be neglected, but that they might be accommodated at the expense of the mails. [ ] the following letter affords an instance of the exertion of authority referred to in the text:-- to the deputies between london and tinmouth. general post office, _april , _. gentlemen--the bearer hereof, mr. john farra, being directed by order of the lord high treasurer to proceed to tinmouth on the publick affairs of the government, i am ordered by the postmasters-general to require you to furnish the said gentleman with a single horse [_i.e._ a horse without a guide] if required through your several stages, he being well acquainted with the roads and coming recommended by such authority, which by their order is signified by, gentlemen, your most humble servant, b. waterhouse, _secretary_. on one point, no doubt because it involved a question of prerogative rather than law, the new act was silent; and yet it was a point of high importance and, as it afterwards became the subject of legal enactment, this may be a convenient time to mention it. we refer to the privilege conceded to certain persons to send and receive their letters free of postage, or, to use the term by which it was commonly known, the franking system. the persons who enjoyed this privilege were the chief officers of state and the members of the two houses of parliament. the chief officers of state, or ministers as they had now begun to be called, were entitled to send and receive their letters free at all times and without limit in point of weight. the members of the two houses were so entitled only during the session of parliament and for forty days before and after, and in their case the weight was limited to two ounces. the privilege had already been greatly abused. secretaries of state would not scruple to send under their frank the letters of their friends and their friends' friends as well as their own. in blaithwaite, who was then secretary of war, carried the practice to such an extent as to evoke from the postmasters-general a vigorous remonstrance. "we cannot deny," they said, "but this has been too much a practice in all tymes, and we are sure you will not blame us for wishing itt were amended, being soe very prejudicial to his majestye's revenue under our management." the practice extended, and in a warrant under the sign-manual, after enumerating afresh the officers of state who were entitled to frank, expressly charged them not "to cover any man's letters whatsoever other than their own," and, as regards any letters which might come addressed to their care for private persons, to send them to the post office to be taxed and delivered. the abuses identified with the letters of members of parliament were of wider scope. lavishly as members might use their names as a means of franking, the use was not confined to themselves and their friends. on the part of the london booksellers and other persons who might hesitate to incur the risk of imitating another man's signature it had become a common practice to assume the name of some member of parliament, and under that name to have their letters addressed to them at particular coffee-houses; and as their correspondents in the country adopted a similar device, the letters passing to and fro escaped postage. cotton and frankland had not been long at the post office before this practice arrested their attention, and in the warrant which granted to the members of the new parliament the usual exemption from postage was expressly designed to check the abuse. "to prevent abuses," thus the warrant ran, "that were formerly practised[ ] to the prejudice of our revenue by divers persons who, though they were not members, yet presumed to indorse the names of members of parliament on their letters and direct their letters to members of parliament which really did not belong to them," our will and pleasure is that members "will constantly with their owne hands indorse their names upon their owne letters, and not suffer any other letters to pass under their ffrank, cover, or direction but such as shall concerne themselves." successive warrants issued between and were expressed in the same or nearly the same terms, what little variations there were only serving to shew that the practice against which the warrants were directed had become more general. [ ] in documents intended for the public eye it was the practice of the postmasters-general--and it was by them that these warrants were prepared--to speak of an existing abuse as an abuse that was past. this was, of course, to avoid giving offence. but now the postmasters-general could no longer conceal from themselves that, unwarrantable as might be the liberties taken with members' names, the members themselves were by no means blameless. that they were scattering their franks with boundless profusion was beyond doubt; and the question which the postmasters-general set themselves to solve was, how was this profusion to be checked? as the best expedient they could devise, they prepared for the queen's signature a fresh warrant which, as a hint to members for the regulation of their own conduct, referred to her majesty's condescension in allocating a portion of the post office revenue towards defraying the expenses of the war. of previous warrants copies had been posted up in the lobby of the house and in the speaker's chamber. of the present warrant copies were to be distributed with the votes so as to secure that every member should have a copy. the immediate effect of the act of was, as might have been foreseen, enormously to stimulate clandestine traffic. the post office could do little to check it. in london officers were appointed whose duty it was to frequent the roads leading into the capital and keep a watch on all higglers and drivers of coaches who were notoriously carrying letters in defiance of the law. in the country the postmasters-general could get nothing done. in vain they urged upon the treasury the paramount importance of appointing officers who should travel about the country and be authorised to open the mail bags at odd times and unexpectedly. by no other means, they declared, was it possible to keep any check upon either the london or the country letters. the london letters might not be charged correctly by the clerks of the roads; and of the country letters, it was perfectly well known, only a very small proportion was charged at all. but all to no purpose. the officers whom the postmasters-general proposed to appoint were to receive for remuneration and travelling expenses together £ a day, and the treasury declined to sanction the expense. this, even for the treasury, has always appeared to us a masterpiece of perversity. that large sums were being diverted into the pockets of the postmasters had been admitted in the act itself;[ ] nor could it be denied that the tendency of the act was to make these sums larger. and yet the abuse was to be allowed to go on unchecked because its correction would involve a small outlay. for four years this penny-wise and pound-foolish policy continued, and it was not until , as the consequence of a strong representation from frankland and evelyn's successors, that the officers whose appointment these two postmasters-general had consistently advocated were added to the establishment under the title of surveyors. to surprise the mail bags in course of transit and to check their contents--such was the humble function originally assigned to officers who have since become as indispensable to the post office as the mainspring is to a watch or the driving wheel to a steam engine. [ ] "and whereas divers deputy postmasters do collect great quantities of post letters called by or way letters and, by clandestine and private agreements amongst themselves, do convey the same post in their respective mails, or by bags, according to their several directions, without accounting for the same or endorsing the same on their bills, to the great detriment of her majesty's revenues."-- anne, cap. x. sec. . it may here be noticed that the decisions which the postmasters-general received were not all of them conceived in the same spirit. so different indeed was the treatment of questions relating to home communications and communications with foreign parts as almost to suggest that they had been referred to different tribunals. was the packet service which had come to an end through dummer's misfortunes to be re-established or not? the cost was far, very far, in excess of the receipts; and yet the direction to the post office was to consult the west india merchants, and to be guided by their wishes. the two packets between falmouth and the groyne, which had been left running at the close of the war, were after a time discontinued. they cost £ a year to maintain, and the annual receipts from the letters and passengers they carried were less than £ . yet upon a representation from the merchants trading with spain pointing out the inconvenience which the stoppage had caused them, the boats were restored at once. but all such questions were decided by the lord treasurer himself, and his decisions were communicated under his own signature, or else under the sign-manual. very different was it with questions affecting intercourse within the kingdom. these, urgently as the postmasters-general might press them, received little or no attention. they would seem indeed to have been relegated to subordinates, who having been instructed to keep down expense proceeded to obey their orders without discrimination. whether the packet agent at dover had in his cups refused to drink to the health of the ministers, or whether the postmaster of chester had said that queen anne, had she pursued the same course as was pursued by charles the first, would have met with the same fate--these were questions of vital importance which must be investigated with all convenient speed; but when the question was merely one of improving the internal posts of the country, it was treated at leisure, and no considerations of public convenience, or even of prospective gain, were allowed to weigh against the bugbear of present expense. in , for instance, the lord provost and magistrates of glasgow had petitioned that the foot-post to edinburgh might be converted into a horse-post. the mail would thus arrive sooner and leave later, and, as the petitioners pointed out, letters would fall into it which had heretofore been sent by private hand. between a horse-post and a foot-post the difference in point of cost was £ a year; and for the sake of this small sum the treasury had refused the request, just as they now refused to sanction the appointment of surveyors, although the postmasters-general clearly demonstrated that by no other means could the misappropriation of postage be checked, and that within a few months the cost would be covered many times over. but the addition to the establishment of a few appointments more or less was not the most serious charge which the act of entailed. the post offices over a great part of england were then in farm. how, within the area over which these post offices extended, was the state to derive any benefit from the higher postage? the postage, whatever it might be, was under their leases secured to the farmers; and the farmers were under no obligation to pay any higher rent than that for which they had stipulated. this difficulty, which had without doubt been overlooked, took a most unexpected turn. the farmers had had only a short experience of the new rates before they found that these rates, far from bringing them a golden harvest, were fast contributing to their ruin; that they were in effect prohibitive rates; that the letters passing to and fro were getting fewer and fewer; and that the increase of charge by no means made up for the decrease in number. in short, the crown or those who represented the crown had taken for granted that under the new rates the returns would be relatively higher than under the old, whereas the farmers found to their cost that the returns were actually lower. never, perhaps, has there been a more striking demonstration of the unwisdom of high rates of postage. in this dilemma the postmasters-general had recourse to an expedient which appears to have been considered satisfactory on both sides. they cancelled all the leases, nine in number,[ ] and under the title of managers, appointed the farmers to superintend the post offices embraced within the area over which their farms extended. the managers who had heretofore been at the cost of the postmasters' salaries were to be relieved from this and all other payments; and as remuneration for their services they were to receive one-tenth part of the net produce derived from the postage. [ ] the leases of seven out of the nine branches were cancelled in ; and those of the other two the postmasters-general expressed their intention of cancelling with as little delay as possible. and yet as regards one of the number, viz. the chichester branch, there is reason to doubt whether it did not survive until the year . two questions may here be asked, to neither of which is it easy to give even a plausible reply. of these the first is, how did it happen that the postmasters-general, who without authority from whitehall could not even convert a foot-post into a horse-post, were able on their own motion to sanction an arrangement, the practical effect of which was to add to the establishment not only a large number of small salaries, amounting in the aggregate to a formidable total, but also a dead-weight annuity of nearly £ a year? this is an obscurity which we confess ourselves unable to penetrate. we can only record the fact, a fact the more surprising because only recently godolphin had laid it down under his own hand that in the post office "all extraordinary payments or allowances are to be vouched by warrant from her majesty or myself, or from the lord high treasurer or the commissioners of the treasury for the time being." the second question is hardly less perplexing. how, except in name, did managers differ from surveyors, whose appointment the postmasters-general were urging, and urging in vain? or what could surveyors have done which it was not equally competent to managers to do? this question also we cannot answer. we only know that the very men who as farmers had rendered signal service to the post office, and earned the gratitude of the districts over which their farms extended, were found as managers to be of little use, even if they did not league themselves with the postmasters to intercept the postage. difficulties from an unexpected quarter added to the confusion into which, as the result of the act of , the post office was drifting. as soon as peace was declared, it became necessary to arrive at an agreement with france as to the conditions on which the british mails should pass through french territory. m. pajot was still comptroller of the posts in paris; and he proved to be hardly less untractable than before the war. frankland and evelyn committed their case to the care of matthew prior, who was at that time minister plenipotentiary to the court of france. prior, who had hated his commissionership of customs because, as swift tells us, he was ever dreaming of cockets and dockets and other jargon, could hardly be expected to give his mind to anything so prosaic as postage and letter bills. the matter, moreover, was one of a highly technical character, and, without fuller information than could be contained in the most precise instructions, a far abler negotiator than prior could claim to be might easily have found himself overmatched. pajot, presuming on his superior knowledge, put forward the most extravagant demands; and it was not until an expert had been sent from london, upon whom it would have been useless to attempt to impose, that he abated his pretensions. extravagant demands were now followed by frivolous objections, and at the last moment, when the conditions were practically settled, he actually refused to proceed further unless "her britannic majesty," an expression employed in the post office treaty, were altered to "the queen of great britain." vexatious as these proceedings were, the result was more vexatious still. before the war a lump sum of , livres a year had been paid for the transit of the british mails across french territory. pajot now refused to accept any lump sum at all. he insisted that each letter passing through france should be charged for separately, according to the french postage; and high as the english postage was, the french postage was higher still. in vain the postmasters-general pointed out that by virtue of such an arrangement they would on many letters have to pay more than act of parliament permitted them to receive. pajot replied in effect that this was their affair and not his; and no better terms could they get. the treaty was eventually signed, and its onerous provisions will best be shewn by an example. on a single letter from italy the postage prescribed by the act of was fifteenpence, and on a letter weighing one ounce sixty pence. this was all which the act permitted the postmasters-general to collect; and yet, under the terms of the treaty, the postage for which they had to account to the french post office was in the one case twenty-one sous and in the other eighty-four. to this treaty we are indeed indebted for one piece of information. it gives us--what is not to be found elsewhere--a definition of the terms single and double as applied to letters. it is strange that the acts of and , while imposing distinctive rates on single and double letters, nowhere define what single and double letters are. this omission the treaty of supplies. "that piece," the treaty provides, "is to be esteemed a single letter which hath no sealed letter inclosed, and that to be esteemed a double letter which hath inclosures and is under the weight of an ounce." it will be interesting to note how far the post office adhered to its own definition. on the accession of george the first, when almost every place of honour and profit under the crown changed hands, the post office did not escape; and frankland and evelyn were succeeded by cornwallis and craggs. the natural tendency of the provision which had made members of the house of commons ineligible for the office of postmasters-general was to throw the office into the hands of peers; and although this tendency did not fully develop itself until later in the century, the appointment of lord cornwallis was a first move in that direction. peers have in our own time been among the ablest of the many able administrators who have presided over the post office; but at the beginning of the eighteenth century the conditions attaching to the appointment were in some respects different from what they are to-day. the postmasters-general had to write their own letters; their attendance was both early and late and during fixed hours; and they were expected to reside at the post office. whether from a disinclination to satisfy these conditions, or on the score of health, which he was constantly pleading, cornwallis had not been long in lombard street before he retired into the country, and left the conduct of affairs pretty much to his colleague. craggs--or craggs senior as he was commonly called, to distinguish him from his son, the secretary of state--was an industrious, plain-spoken man; and deeply as he afterwards became implicated in the south sea scheme, there is no reason to suppose that his proceedings as postmaster-general would not bear inspection. cornwallis and craggs had been only a short time at the post office before they became profoundly impressed with what they found there. the managers withholding the postmasters' salaries, the postmasters recouping and a good deal more than recouping themselves out of the postage, the post-boys--for so they had begun to be called--clandestinely carrying letters for what they could get, the inordinate number of franked letters--these were among the abuses which arrested the new postmaster-generals' attention; but what excited their most lively surprise was that there should exist a branch of the king's revenue upon the subordinate agents of which there was absolutely no check. at length, on a representation from them as to the scandal of allowing such a state of things to continue, consent was obtained to the appointment of surveyors; and the dismissal of the managers speedily followed. these remedial measures, though good as far as they went, affected only the internal administration of the post office. of its troubles from without, and how they had been increased by recent legislation, cornwallis and craggs were no less sensible than their predecessors; but here they had no remedy to apply. "the additional penny," they wrote in march , within eighteen months of their appointment, "has never answered in proportion, and we find by every day's experience that it occasions the people to endeavour to find out other conveyances for their letters." "the additional tax," they wrote again two years later, "has never answered in proportion to the produce of the revenue at the time it took place, the people having found private conveyances for their letters, which they are daily endeavouring to increase, notwithstanding all the endeavours that can be used to prevent them." as with the clandestine traffic, so with the abuse of the franking privilege. in isolated cases, where the abuse was more than usually glaring, the postmasters-general would write to the erring member a letter of mild expostulation, affecting to believe him more sinned against than sinning;[ ] but even if this had any effect in the particular instance, to stem the torrent was beyond their power. in great britain alone the postage represented by the franked letters, excluding those which were or which purported to be on his majesty's service, amounted in to what was for that time, relatively to the total post office revenue, the enormous sum of £ , a year. in ireland the members followed the example of their english colleagues, if indeed they did not improve upon it. in the irish parliament sat for three months, and in it sat for nine months; and it was only during the session, and for forty days before and after, that letters could be franked. cornwallis and craggs had now been some years at the post office; and yet, with all their experience of the extent to which the abuse of franking was carried, they were startled to see the effect which the duration of parliament had upon the receipts. in the gross revenue of the irish post office--and in the gross revenue was reckoned the postage on members' letters, the postage which these letters would have paid if they had not been franked--amounted to £ , , and the net revenue to £ . in , although the gross revenue rose to £ , , an amount higher by £ than in the preceding year, the net revenue fell from £ to £ . such was the effect upon the revenue of a difference of six months in the duration of the two parliaments. [ ] here are two letters they wrote:-- to mr. culvert. _nov. , ._ sir--as the three inclosed letters are directed to you in several places we have reason to think that some persons have presumed to take the liberty of your name. this practice is so great an abuse upon this office, and so very prejudicial to his majesty's revenue, that we must desire you'll be pleased to send such letters inclosed that don't belong to you to the office to be charged; and we are very well assured you'll discourage the like practice for the future. --we are, sir, your most humble servants, t. frankland j. evelyn. to sir richard grosvenor, bart. _april , ._ sir--having observed a letter directed to the rev. mr. harwood at billingsgate that arrived here yesterday in an irish mail frank't with your name in ireland, and knowing that you are in england, we have reason to think that somebody in that kingdom has taken the liberty of signing your name to the prejudice of his majesty's revenue, which is a practice that we are convinced you will discourage, and it is in order thereunto that you have this trouble from your most humble servants, cornwallis. james craggs. to add to the postmaster-generals' troubles, the merchants of london, groaning under the onerous rates of postage, had recourse to an expedient in order to evade them. they associated themselves together, and all those who had occasion to write to a particular place, though to different persons, would write on the same piece of paper and under the same cover. the postmasters-general contended that these several writings should be charged as separate letters; the merchants contended that there was but one letter, and that it should pass for a single rate of postage. their next step was to dispute the postmaster-generals' reading of the statute. under the law as passed in , and re-enacted in , merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, and all bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading, were "to be allowed without rate in the price of letters"; in other words, the weight of these documents was not to be reckoned in the weight of a letter for the purpose of charging it with postage. this exemption, however, had hitherto been allowed only in the case of foreign letters; and the postmasters-general held that such was the intention of the statute. the merchants retorted that no such intention was expressed, and that to act as though it had been brought about this anomaly--that on a letter containing any one of the documents in question the charge from constantinople was actually less than from bristol. was it possible that the legislature could ever have enacted such an absurdity? it was an old contention, as old as the post office itself,[ ] and the merchants took the present opportunity to revive it. on both questions northey, the attorney-general, advised that the post office should adhere to its ancient practice as the best expositor of the meaning of the new law; but excellent as this advice may have been, its adoption failed to satisfy the merchants and it was not until a declaratory act had been passed that they ceased to contest the points. [ ] a strongly-worded petition on the subject was presented to parliament only a year or two after the restoration. this petition, after calling the charge an "abuse and extortion," goes on to say that "it cannot be imagined the parliament should either so far forget themselves, or the countrey for which they served, or the necessary and convenient correspondence, as well as the trade of his majesties dominions, as to put them upon worse and harder tearms than foreigners, or foreign trade, to the prejudice of the kingdom...." much the same sort of thing occurred a few years later in connection with the penny post. from the first establishment of this undertaking d. had carried only within the bills of mortality; for delivery beyond those limits had been charged d. more. some persons now refused to pay the additional penny, on the ground that it was not prescribed by law. this was perfectly true. the penny post owed its legal sanction to the act of ; and this act merely provided that "for the post of all and every the letters and packets passing or repassing by the carriage called the penny post, established and settled within the cities of london and westminster and borough of southwark and parts adjacent, and to be received and delivered within ten english miles distant from the general letter office in london [shall be demanded and received the sum of] d." again an act of parliament had to be passed in order to assimilate law and practice. this act, which was not obtained until , made legal the twopenny post, just as the penny post was made legal by the act of ; although, as a matter of fact, both posts had been in existence since april . in lowndes, who was still at the treasury, called for a return of the post office income and expenditure. ten years had now elapsed since the imposition of the new rates. of these ten years eight, as compared with the eight which preceded them, had been years of prosperity and peace; the population had increased, and the reductions in the packet service had effected a saving of many thousand pounds a year. certainly the circumstances had not on the whole been unfavourable for testing the results of the new policy. the return was rendered. during the year ending the th of september the gross post office revenue was, in , £ , , and in , £ , , being an increase of £ , ; in the cost of management was £ , , as against £ , in ; and the net revenue, which in had been £ , , was in £ , , an increase of £ , . but the case does not end here. under the terms of the act the sum of £ a week, or £ , a year, was to be allocated to a specific object. this sum had been regularly paid into the exchequer, and, after deducting it from the net revenue, there remained for the use of the sovereign a balance of £ , , or less than in by £ . while the contingency of a loss to the civil list had not been either foreseen or provided against, elaborate precautions had been taken for the disposal of a surplus. if the gross post office revenue should exceed the sum of £ , , the excess was to be divided between the sovereign and the public in the proportion of one-third to the public and two-thirds to the sovereign. as a matter of fact, the gross post office revenue in had exceeded, and exceeded by a considerable amount, the sum of £ , ; and yet there was no excess to divide. the plain truth is that, in preparing the act of , lowndes had forgotten the cost of management. it must have sounded strange in the ears of an assistant chancellor of the exchequer to be told, as cornwallis and craggs did not scruple to tell him, that he had confounded gross and net revenue, and that by this blunder parliament had been misled. the act of , disastrous as it proved in its effects on the wellbeing and morality of the nation, is only one more instance of the mischief which may be done with the best intentions; and it was perhaps meet that its author should have remained long enough at his post to witness the results of his own handiwork. chapter x ralph allen - there was one who realised not less fully than the postmasters-general themselves the difficulties by which they were beset. he knew well, even better than they, how letters were being kept out of the post and transmitted clandestinely, and how even on letters which fell into the post the postage was being intercepted. but while the postmasters-general regarded the evil as incurable, he thought that it might at all events be mitigated. this was ralph allen, the postmaster of bath. allen's experience in postal matters was probably unrivalled. he had, it might almost be said, been cradled and nursed in the post office. the son of an innkeeper at st. blaise, he had, at eleven years of age, been placed under the care of his grandmother, who, on the post road being diverted from south to mid-cornwall, was appointed postmistress of st. columb. here the regularity and neatness with which the lad kept the accounts gained for him the approval of the district surveyor when on a tour of inspection; and shortly afterwards, probably through the surveyor's influence, he obtained a situation in the post office at bath. it is said that while in this situation, intelligence having reached him that a waggon-load of arms was on its way from the west for the use of the disaffected, he placed himself in communication with general wade, who was then quartered at bath with his troops, and that it was by this service that he first brought himself into notice; but be that as it may, it is certain that when quash the old postmaster died, allen was appointed in quash's room. in allen offered to take in farm the bye and cross-post letters, giving as rent half as much again as these letters had ever produced. it was a bold offer, and, coming as it did from a young man only twenty-six years of age, and presumably without capital, not one to be accepted precipitately. allen proceeded to london and had frequent interviews with the postmasters-general. the earnestness of his convictions and the modest assurance with which he expressed them invited confidence, and on the th of april a contract was signed, the conditions of which were to come into operation on the midsummer day following. much as we desire to avoid the employment of technical terms, it is necessary here to explain that letters, exclusive of those passing through the penny post, were technically divided into four classes--london letters, country letters, bye or way letters, and cross-post letters. for purposes of illustration we will take bath, the city in which allen resided. a letter between bath and london would be a london letter, and a letter from one part of the country to another which in course of transit passed through london would be a country letter. a bye or way letter would be a letter passing between any two towns on the bath road and stopping short of london--as, for instance, between bath and hungerford, between hungerford and newbury, between newbury and reading, and so on; while a cross-post letter would be a letter crossing from the bath road to some other--as, for instance, a letter between bath and oxford. it was only with the last two classes of letters that allen had to do. the london and country letters were outside the sphere of his operations. on the bye and cross-post letters the postage for the year had amounted to £ . allen was to give £ a year; and in consideration of this rent he was for a period of seven years to receive the whole of the revenue which these letters should produce. some letters indeed were excepted, namely scotch letters, irish letters, packet letters, "all parliament men's letters during the privilege of parliament," and such letters as "usually goe free," that is, letters for the high officers of state or, as we should now say, letters on his majesty's service. no post under allen's control, whether a new or an old one, was to go less than three times a week; and the mails were to be carried at a speed of not less than five miles an hour. he was also to keep in readiness "a sufficient number of good and able horses with convenient furniture," not only for the mails but for expresses and for the use of travellers. one condition of the contract may seem a little hard. allen's own officers were to be appointed and their salaries to be fixed by the postmasters-general, and to these officers he was to give no instructions which had not first been submitted for the postmaster-generals' approval. allen by his sterling qualities had won the confidence of his fellow-townsmen at bath, and there can be little doubt that they now gave him practical proof of the estimation in which he was held. it is difficult to understand how else he can have raised the funds necessary for the purposes of his undertaking. in the very first quarter, between the th of june and the th of september , he expended in what may be called his plant as much as £ , and made himself responsible for salaries to the amount of £ a year. but heavy as the expenses were, the receipts bore a most gratifying proportion. from the bye and cross-post letters the postmasters-general had received, at the highest, £ a year. allen in his first quarter received £ . these first-fruits, while viewed by allen with equanimity, threw the postmasters-general into transports of delight, such delight as men feel when they find themselves to have been true prophets. "see," they said in a letter to the treasury dated the th of november, "how right we were. we told you that the greater part of the postage on these letters was going into the pockets of the postmasters, and that to accept mr. allen's proposal was the only way to check the malversation." but the promise of the first quarter was not fulfilled. the system of check and countercheck on which allen relied for the success of his plan depended largely, as the postmasters were not slow to discover, on their own co-operation; and this they refused to give. nor can we feel surprise that it should have been so. of the postmasters some received no salary at all, while others received the merest pittance. it could not in reason be expected that they would give their services gratuitously or, as the postmasters-general were pleased to think, in return for the copy of a newspaper once a week. postmasters, like other men, must live, and they no doubt reasoned that, as the state did not pay them, they were forced to pay themselves. it must also be remembered that the offence of intercepting postage, heinous as it would now be considered, may in those days have been regarded in a somewhat different light. some postmasters, as remuneration for their services, were authorised to withhold a certain proportion of the postage; and numerous were the complaints that in this particular the liberty accorded to some was not extended to others. it is probable, therefore, that many a postmaster, when accounting for less postage than he had actually received, excused himself on the plea that he was only doing without authority that for which authority had been given to others, and which should not in his judgment have been denied to himself. but whatever apologies they may have found for their conduct, the fact remains that allen's contract had been only a few months in operation before the postmasters resumed their old practices, and, seeing clearly enough that his plan when once fairly floated would deprive them of a profitable source of income, they not only withheld all co-operation but obstructed him by every means in their power. to such an extent indeed was this obstruction carried that at the end of three years allen, far from realising the promise of the first quarter, found himself a loser to the amount of £ . although things now began to improve, the improvement was slow, and in june , when the contract expired, allen had established his plan completely on only four out of the six main roads of the kingdom. on the yarmouth road he had established it only partially, and on the kent road not at all. circumstances so far favoured allen that the demise of the crown, which must in any case have terminated his contract, took place within a fortnight of the date on which the contract would have expired in the ordinary course. the period of seven years for which it was made expired on the th of june , and the king died on the th. a renewal of the contract could not in justice be refused. not only had allen been obstructed in the execution of his plan and put to heavy expenses which, except for such obstruction, would not have been necessary, but in fixing the amount of his rent a mistake had been made to his prejudice. he had agreed to pay half as much again as the bye and cross-road letters had ever produced, and it is true that the postage represented by these letters had amounted to £ a year; but it had been overlooked that the whole of this amount had not been collected, and that for the purpose of fixing the rent the sum of £ should have been deducted on account of letters which could not be delivered, and on which, therefore, no postage had been received. allen, while making no claim for the return of the amount overpaid, pleaded the fact of overpayment as an additional reason for enlarging his term. the postmasters-general were not less solicitous than allen himself that his services should be continued. they had, during the last seven years, received on account of bye and cross-post letters £ a year, where before they had received only £ , or, allowing for the sum not collected, £ ; and during the same period the country letters, far from falling off as had been predicted, had improved to the extent of £ a year, a result which was attributed to the vigilance of allen's surveyors. these reasons were regarded as conclusive, and, subject to the condition that he should appoint an additional surveyor and lose no time in completing his plan, allen's contract was extended for a further period of seven years. while allen is perfecting his arrangements, it may not be amiss to glance at the condition of affairs as he found them. houses were still unnumbered. on letters even to persons of position the addresses could be indicated only by their proximity to some shop or place of public resort. "for the r^{t.} hon^{able.} the lady compton next door to mr. massy's wachmaker in charles street near s^{t.} james's square, london." "to the right hon^{ble.} lady compton next door to the dyall in charles street near s^{t.} james squir--london." "pray derickt for me att my lady norrise near the theater in oxford."[ ] to the court and the downs the post went every day; but to no town, however large, did it go more than thrice a week. of cross-posts there were only two in the kingdom, the post from exeter to chester and the post from bath to oxford. outside london, chester was the only town in england which could boast of two post offices; and these two post offices were not for letters in the same direction. one was for general post letters, and the other for letters by the exeter cross-road, an arrangement which presupposed a knowledge of topography not probably possessed even in the present day. the cathedral town of ripon had no post office at all. not many years before, the inhabitants had asked for one and the request had been regarded as little less than audacious. "we could not think it reasonable," wrote the postmasters-general, "to put her majesty to the expense of a salary to a deputy att ripon." the utmost concession that could be obtained was that the letters for that town should be made up into a packet by themselves and put into the mouth of the boroughbridge bag, and, on arrival at boroughbridge, be despatched to ripon at once by a messenger on horseback. this messenger was to deliver them with all expedition, and to remain at ripon for replies, leaving only in time to catch the return-mail from the north. charges on letters over and above the legal postage were general. not a single letter passed between yarmouth and the great north road without a charge of d. as the postmaster's perquisite. at gosport a perquisite of similar amount was claimed on every bye-letter. in the neighbourhood of chesterfield the inhabitants paid for every letter they received in no case less than d. in addition to the postage, and in some cases as much as d.; and so it was, with variations as to the amount, in every part of the kingdom. only the wealthy could afford to use the post, and even they, on account of the want of facilities, used it sparingly. how far the post was at this time removed from being a matter of common concern might, if other evidence were wanting, be inferred from one solitary fact. in a book was published,[ ] one chapter of which professed to give a detailed account of the posts of the period, and assuredly the account it gave was detailed enough; but of the posts as we understand them, that is to say, as a vehicle for the transmission of letters, there was from the beginning to the end of the chapter not a single word. by the term posts nothing more was meant than the post for travellers, and, for anything that appeared to the contrary, the letter post might have had no existence. [ ] historical manuscripts commission, appendix to eleventh report, part iv. pp. , . [ ] _british curiosities in art and nature, likewise an account of the posts, markets, and fair-towns_, . and perhaps this may be a convenient place to say a few words about those who had presided over the post office during the first five or six years of allen's connection with it. edward carteret and galfridus walpole, who had succeeded cornwallis and craggs in , possessed in a high degree the qualities which endear men to their subordinates,--a sense of justice, consideration for others, and a rooted dislike to high-handed proceedings. in these respects they bore a striking contrast to their immediate predecessors. we will give instances. when cornwallis and craggs assumed the direction of the post office, their first step was to dismiss the secretary, henry weston. the circumstances were peculiarly hard. weston's father had been receiver-general for the county of surrey, and in this capacity he had contracted a heavy debt to the crown. it was the son's ambition to pay off this debt and to provide a home for his mother and sisters. by force of industry and self-denial he had just succeeded in securing both objects when a change of postmasters-general resulted in his summary dismissal. weston naturally appealed against so arbitrary an act. cornwallis and craggs, to whom his antecedents were well known, while commending the young man as an object worthy of the royal benevolence, resented as unreasonable and little short of impertinent his reluctance to give up a situation which they desired for a nominee of their own. far different was the treatment accorded by carteret and walpole to those who were committed to their charge. mary lovell had for more than thirty years kept the receiving office in st. james's street. on the th of march the earl of abercorn entered this office, holding in his hand a letter addressed to his son at cambray, and inquired what postage had to be paid upon it. the woman replied that there was only d. to pay, this being the charge by the penny post, and that the remaining postage of s. would be payable on delivery. abercorn questioned the accuracy of this information, and insisted on paying the entire sum at once. lovell, feeling sure that a mistake had been committed, and anxious about the consequences, hurried to the post office, and having there ascertained that she should have received only d., called at abercorn's residence, and with a humble apology refunded the difference. nothing more was heard of the matter until the following july, when a second very similar mistake appears to have revived the recollection of the first. abercorn, who was then at tunbridge wells, took to the post office there a letter addressed to his son at luneville and handed it to comer, the postmaster, impressing upon him the importance of its prompt despatch, and desiring him to pay whatever postage might be required. it should be explained that at that time letters for germany had to be prepaid, or else they were returned to the writers, whereas letters for france could not be paid except on delivery. comer, jumping to the conclusion that luneville was in france, paid no more than the inland postage of d., the consequence being that three or four days afterwards the letter, after being opened in london, was returned as insufficiently paid. abercorn, naturally enough, was very angry, and, as is apt to be the case with angry persons, was not altogether reasonable. luneville, without the addition of lorraine or germany, was an incomplete address. for this he would make no allowance; neither would he admit that it was necessary to open the letter in order to return it, and that the impression on the seal, a coronet and coat of arms, was not sufficient indication of the writer. all this was natural enough; but it was strange that he should have reverted to the earlier of the two mistakes, and directed his resentment less against comer than against mary lovell. he now charged her with insolence and an attempt at imposition, and declared that nothing would satisfy him except her dismissal. in pursuance of this object abercorn proceeded to the post office, where he was received by carteret and walpole. walpole said little, and what little he said was said courteously. carteret spoke in both their names. he expressed surprise that the return of the amount overcharged on the letter to cambray, accompanied as it had been by lovell's humble apology, had not been considered satisfactory, and inquired what further satisfaction could be expected. abercorn replied that he expected her to be turned out of her office as a person unfit to retain it. carteret expostulated. such a step, he said, would not be in accordance with post office usage; she was a poor and unprotected woman, no previous complaint had been made against her during the thirty years she had held the office; he had seen her himself, and felt sure that her professions of regret that she had given offence to his lordship were sincere. impatient of what he afterwards described as an irksome expostulation, abercorn rose to leave. carteret and walpole rose also, and accompanied him to the door. "i owe it to the north british peers," said abercorn, turning on the threshold, "to acquaint some of their representatives with the treatment that i, their peer, have met with." "and i," haughtily retorted carteret, "should care not if all the sixteen north british representing peers were present at this moment." allen's plan consisted in a system of vouchers and what he called post-bills, by means of which the postmasters might act as a check upon each other. the post-bill which accompanied the letters throughout their course was designed to distinguish the bye-letters from others, and to shew the total amount of postage to be collected; the voucher appears to have been nothing more than the acknowledgment which each postmaster gave of the amount to be collected by himself; and these two documents were sent periodically, once a month or once a quarter, to allen's office in bath, where they underwent a rigid scrutiny. simple as this check was, it was only by ceaseless vigilance on allen's part that he could get it carried out. to make in the post-bills entries which should have been made in the vouchers, to omit to send the vouchers to headquarters, to confound the bye-letters with the london and country letters--these were only some of the devices to which recourse was had in order to defeat the check. allen was better qualified probably than any other man living for the task he had set himself to perform. of a temper which nothing could ruffle, with ample means at his command, and accountable to no one but himself for their disposal, and possessed of an amount of local knowledge which even at the present day is perhaps unrivalled, he enjoyed a combination of advantages which might have been sought elsewhere in vain. his patience indeed was inexhaustible. no subterfuge, not even a transparent attempt at imposition, would call forth more than a passing rebuke. "'tis faulty," he would write, "'tis blameable"; and then, perhaps, from the following words would peep out, in spite of himself, a gleam of merriment at the clumsiness of the contrivance. to a man of less easy temperament even the conditions under which he worked would have been intolerable. under the terms of his contract allen's surveyors were to be the officers of the postmasters-general, and to do as the postmasters-general bid them. this was no mere nominal condition. when allen wanted something done, it may be in the extreme north or the extreme west of england, he might find that the surveyor whose business it would have been to do it had been summoned to london to wait upon the postmasters-general in lombard street. hardly less provoking must have been the condition that the surveyors, though allen's servants, were not to receive from him any instructions which the postmasters-general had not first approved. ordinarily allen was at bath, and it was there that the instructions were prepared; yet they had to be sent to london for approval, and were seldom despatched thence to their destination until seven or eight days after the dates they bore. but to any one of less modest and retiring disposition the severest trial would have been the manner in which the postmasters-general took credit to themselves for improvements which were exclusively his own. it was always "our" surveyors who had been instructed to do this, that, and the other, without the slightest acknowledgment that the instruction had come from allen, and that it was he who supplied the money to pay and the wit to direct them. only when the cost of some new arrangement had to be stated to the treasury did his name appear, and then it was put prominently forward. "your lordships," the postmasters-general would write, with a confidence which must have possessed all the pleasure of a new sensation, "will of course approve our proposals. it is true that the cost they involve is considerable, but the whole of this will fall upon mr. allen, the farmer." but so placid was allen's temper that these petty annoyances, irritating as they might have been to some men, passed unheeded. as a qualification for the task he had undertaken, hardly less important than placidity of temper was the possession of ample means and his unaccountability to others for their disposal. with no one to please but himself, he enjoyed facilities in dealing with postmasters which the post office, under the most favourable circumstances, could never hope to possess. to one he would give what he called a complimentary salary; to another he would give, over and above his salary, a certain proportion of the postage; and a third would receive a substantial increase, not for what he had done or was doing, but for what he might do in the future. all, in short, who could control the actions of others allen bound to himself by a community of interest. but it was the extent of his local knowledge that constituted allen's chief qualification for the task he had set himself to perform. this knowledge, acquired probably during the struggle to introduce his plan, may appear almost marvellous. there was hardly a town in england, and certainly no town of importance, with the trade and manufactures of which, and even with the character and disposition of its postmaster, he was not acquainted. at the present day it is the district surveyor who in post office matters affecting the provinces takes the initiative. in allen's time the initiative came from bath. in a single letter he would treat of some thirty or forty towns, and not only prescribe the order in which they were to be taken and the roads by which they were to be reached, but give the minutest instructions as to what was to be said and done on arrival there. in respect to only one town, a town without a post office, does allen appear to have been uninformed, and that was stowmarket. "when in that neighbourhood," he wrote to one of his surveyors, as though half ashamed of his own ignorance, "go over to stowmarket and ascertain and let me know the distance of that town from ipswich and from eye, and also the nature and extent of its trade." lest we should be thought to exaggerate the difficulties with which allen had to contend, allen himself shall be our witness. the postmasters were strictly enjoined to stamp the bye and cross-post letters. this was their first duty, for without stamping no check was possible. "i need not tell you," allen writes to one of his surveyors, "the mischief which has already attended the omission of this necessary part of their duty, nor the difficulty which i have hitherto met with to get this order observed; but when they find that their neglect will for the future hurt themselves, this evil will be stopped." hardly less difficult did he find it to make the postmasters send in their vouchers with even decent regularity. we will give a few instances out of many. of bodmin and st. columb he writes, "both these deputies are exceeding backward in transmitting their vouchers. order them strictly to send them hither for the future within a week after every quarter." richmond, yorkshire, "instead of sending me his vouchers at the end of every month sends them considerably over the quarter and then in so great disorder as to be of little use to me in fixing my cheque account." gosport, again, "persistently neglects to send his vouchers, without which, as you know, it is not in my power to state an exact account nor to fix the cheques which are necessary to prevent abuses." grantham is little better, and as for wolverhampton, allen writing in april says, "he has sent me no vouchers since last michaelmas, and by this obstinacy destroys my cheque and puts my affairs into great disorder." the dead and missent letters were a source of continual trouble. how to dispose of dead letters and how to get back into their proper channel letters that had been missent were questions which not seldom perplexed even allen himself. but it is not of this particular difficulty that we propose now to speak. our present concern is with these two classes of letters only so far as they affected the relations between allen and the postmasters. according to his instructions a postmaster who should find himself in possession of a dead or missent letter was to send it to bath in order that allowance might be made for the postage with which, otherwise, he would stand charged. hence arose various attempts at imposition, attempts to palm off, as though they were dead or missent, letters which were neither the one nor the other. but let allen again speak for himself. "from lancaster," he writes, "go through kendal and penrith to carlisle, where i believe you will meet with a very great abuse. 'tis thus: his dead letters for a good while since much exceed what can be rationally accounted for at that stage, and upon enquiry the greatest number of those letters appear to be sham letters all written by one hand and sent from different parts of the kingdom, which plainly shews it to be only a blameable contrivance by some people in that office to expect money from me for bits of paper never sent by the post but made by themselves. some instances you will receive with these instructions. be sure to suppress this dangerous abuse. cause me a redress for the injury i have received and leave with mr. pattison a copy of my letter relating to stamps, which is the only method i can think of for an effectual cure of this evil." the method to which allen here refers afterwards became a rule of the office. it was to the effect that no allowance would be made in respect to any dead or missent letters which should not bear on their covers the name of the office whence the postmaster by whom the allowance was claimed had received them. if at that office they had been stamped, that was enough; but if they had been forwarded unstamped--and the stamping was as often omitted as not--the postmaster who received the letters was to write the name upon them. allen's first experience of the working of this rule was a little singular. mrs. wainwright, the old postmistress of ferrybridge, had sent up for allowance a number of unstamped letters without shewing whence she had received them. allen returned the letters, explaining that as such information had not been given no allowance could be made. if mrs. wainwright felt any impatience at what she no doubt regarded as new-fangled ways, no evidence of it was allowed to appear. she simply sent the letters back with the name of the office whence they had reached her neatly written upon each. to allen's dismay, the letters had all been opened and the information obtained from the inside. the new rule, though good as far as it went, proved insufficient to check imposition; and allen felt constrained to add an additional safeguard. for the future no postmaster was to have his claim allowed unless he should verify it on oath. this obligation brought its own troubles. by one the oath was omitted, by another it was objected to on conscientious grounds, a third would treat it as of small account, and all this meant additional work for allen. "this officer," he writes of the postmaster of salisbury, "constantly makes large deductions for missent letters" and on other grounds "without sending me the particulars of his demand or the office oath to the truth of his claim." the postmaster of newark had conscientious scruples and objected to the oath in any form. "you have already," writes allen, "been fully acquainted how tender i am in this respect; but if he still refuses to claim his demand for allowances by an oath framed in any shape, 'tis directly necessary to appoint an officer in that place who will obey their honours' commands, for if his obstinacy should be suffered the rest of the kingdom who have readily complyed may raise new objections." no such scruples afflicted the postmaster of stone in staffordshire. until lately "the errors made to my injury considerably exceeded those made to the hurt of that deputy"; but now "the articles to my hurt are dwindled to a trifle and the others much augmented, which causes mr. barbor to make constant and large claims on me for the difference. only lately i received from him a statement of his demands on this head, with an oath at the bottom of it that the several articles to his prejudice were all true. but if it be the case, as i have always understood, that he never concerns himself with the bye-letters but leaves this business to his uncle, pray enquire of him how he came to send me such an oath." the postmasters had been allowed to receive their correspondence free of postage; but allen soon found that the privilege was being abused. the covers addressed to them would contain letters not for themselves alone but also for their neighbours in trade. indeed the neighbours' letters would predominate, and, ordinarily, the address was a mere subterfuge. to check this abuse allen established a rule that when addressed to postmasters none but single letters--letters without enclosures, were to pass free, and that all others were to be charged with full postage. the postage, however, was to be afterwards remitted in the case of any postmaster who should make oath that the letters in respect to which he claimed remission were on his private business. here again allen's belief in the efficacy of an oath was rudely shaken. the number and magnitude of the claims made upon him from lancaster had arrested his attention, and he had laid them aside to be examined at leisure. meanwhile the explanation came in a curious manner. he received a circular from a man of the name of bracken asking him to subscribe towards the publication of a book relating to the treatment of horses.[ ] this circular, as announced in the document itself, was being issued to all the postmasters in the kingdom; and it was in his capacity of postmaster of bath that allen received it. it further announced that answers should be sent under cover to the postmistress of lancaster, the reason given being that they would thus escape postage. [ ] the book was afterwards published--_the gentleman's pocket-farrier_, by doctor henry bracken of lancaster, . other malpractices were less easy of detection. all the claims, before they were passed, came under allen's personal inspection; and to determine whether these were fraudulent or not needed no special aptitude. but whether at some distant part of the country two or more postmasters were in collusion, or whether without collusion they were bringing to account less postage than they collected, were questions the solution of which demanded qualifications of a different order. as the result of reflection or observation, or more probably of both combined, allen laid down for his own guidance certain propositions as simple as they were no doubt sound. of these one was that the correspondence passing between two given places, far from being liable to violent fluctuations, might be relied on to maintain a nearly uniform level. it is certain that in our own days, when locomotion is easy and the movements of large parts of the population are influenced by the weather and other considerations, the principle which this proposition embodies would not hold good; but in the earlier half of the eighteenth century allen regarded it, and probably not without reason, as a safe guide. when, therefore, the correspondence passing between two places during a certain period had once been ascertained, he adopted this as a standard, and any variation of the amount immediately excited his suspicions. "at christchurch and ringwood," he writes, "fully inform yourself why the letters which formerly were sent between those places and salisbury are now almost entirely sunk." at york, during the quarter ending midsummer , the postage on bye-letters amounted to £ , as against £ during the corresponding quarter of the previous year. this he affirms must proceed, not from "deadness in trade," but from "some mismanagement in the office." between appleby and brough the letters passing in december were fifteen, whereas in the two preceding months they had been only three. "let me know at once," he writes, "the cause of the difference." another proposition which allen established as a rule of conduct was that between two trading towns in the same neighbourhood there must almost of necessity be correspondence. he noticed with surprise that between stone and coventry, according to the vouchers sent him, not a single letter had passed during a whole quarter. "i will not say it is impossible," he writes to the surveyor, "that no letters should during this time pass between such trading places, but during your stay at stone i must in a particular manner desire you will examine whether you receive none." a third proposition was that there could not be what, if it be not a contradiction in terms, we will call a one-sided correspondence. he regarded it as an absolute certainty, amounting almost to an axiom, that whatever number of letters a town might receive, it would send the same or nearly the same number in reply. if, therefore, as between two towns, he found from his vouchers that one was sending to the other more letters than the other sent in return, he immediately concluded that something was wrong. it is interesting to note how his views on this point were confirmed by experience. during the year the postage on letters sent from nottingham to newark amounted to £ , whereas on those sent from newark to nottingham it amounted to only £ . surely, writes allen, the amounts should be nearly equal. ascertain whether this comes "from faults, errors, or a real deadness in the correspondence," and to enable him to do this the surveyor was to take the newark office under his care for a week or a fortnight. here allen speaks with confidence indeed, and yet as though some doubt might exist; but a few years later there is no doubt at all. "in the chipping norton vouchers," he writes, "another remarkable oddness is that the letters received by that deputy appear to be double the number sent from that office, which is not only different from any other well-managed office, but 'tis out of all rules of proportion with respect to correspondence." and again, "the receipt of chipping norton's letters are still double the number of what mr. mackerness in his vouchers enters as sent from his stage. i can't conceive how 'tis possible for this difference to arise where an office is justly managed. fully examine into the cause of it." but there were other irregularities which, as being further removed from observation, were still more difficult to check. between worcester and bewdley there had been great delay. "the account sent me," writes allen, "is that, tho' both these deputys are paid for riding their whole stages, by a private arrangement between themselves they exchange the mails at an alehouse on the road, and neither of them will ride beyond that place, tho' one of them should happen to arrive there several hours before the other can reach it." the postmaster of lynn, in norfolk, who was paid by allen to keep a check upon other postmasters in the neighbourhood, calls his attention to their remissness in delivering letters. sometimes, he states, they keep letters several days. on this account letters that would otherwise go by post are sent by friend or carrier. "i am perfectly ashamed," he adds, and when i remonstrate and "set forth the complaints of our gentlemen," the postmasters plead that they are not paid for delivery, "and therefore think themselves not obliged to send out their letters even to persons inhabiting within their own towns." the post-boys were a constant source of trouble. "by the enclosed letter from mr. floyer of worcester," allen writes to his surveyor, "you will find that the post-boys on the cross-road convey letters between that city and bristol by exchanging them from one hand to another without ever suffering them to be put into the mayl or baggs. pray thank mr. floyer for his letter, diligently search the boys, and make whatever other inspection you find to be necessary. mr. lumley by the last post writ me that at exeter he had made another new and great discovery of this kind, having found nineteen letters on the oakhampton rider." "at plymouth," he writes on another occasion, "formerly there was a particular house where the post-boys frequently met to exchange their letters, which they collected throughout the country from exon to truro. inquire if this is still going on, and, if so, endeavour to detect them." on the cross-road between bristol and tiverton "several of the letters have been actually taken out of the baggs and delivered in some of the trading towns by the post-boys instead of the proper officers. this could not be if, according to instructions, these bags were always chained and sealed." at wells, in somersetshire, the postmaster has deprived the bristol riding-boys of their perquisite of d. a letter "for dropping of letters" at the towns and villages through which they pass; and as to his own boys, he allows them no wages. this "must drive those unhappy boys to almost a necessity to rob the mails for their subsistence." "then proceed to rawcliff, in yorkshire, where mr. carrack, the deputy of that place, will tell you that the riders of the branch between doncaster and hull embezzle great numbers of the bye-letters. take his assistance to detect and then punish those fellows." heretofore we have spoken only of the difficulties with which allen had to contend in dealing with persons more or less under his own control. but he had troubles from without as well as within. "everywhere," he writes, "endeavour to inform yourself of and suppress all illegal conveyance of letters." "at birmingham," he writes again, "endeavour to detect the carriers who, i am told, in the most open manner convey letters from that place to all the trading towns in that country." "use your utmost vigilance to suppress the illegal collection of letters which, i am informed, is now carried on by one twopotts and other persons, to the injury of the revenue, between derby and nottingham." between cowes and southampton the illegal conveyance of letters "is now such a custom that we have seldom any go in the bag." "at every stage which you pass through cause to be fixed to the most public places some of the printed advertizements against the carriers and wherrymen, and take every other reasonable methode to surprize all private, illegal, conveyances of letters, and always have a particular regard of the followers employed in the dispersing of news from the country presses." this last injunction is best explained by another given a year or two later. a printer at northampton was employing a large number of persons ostensibly to disperse newspapers, but really, as allen affirmed, to collect letters. these persons, he wrote, no longer confine their operations to short distances, but "by meeting at the extremity of their divisions the servants of other printers exchange their letters." "pray, therefore," he adds, "wherever country presses are erected, do your best to suppress this evil." allen when dealing with the posts displayed a degree of self-reliance which was hardly to be expected from one of his modest and retiring disposition. we will give an instance, and with the less hesitation because it will serve to shew his general way of transacting business. in the duke of devonshire, who had been spending the summer at chatsworth, was much struck with the length of time which letters took to pass between chesterfield and manchester, and he begged the postmasters-general to apply a remedy. these two towns are about forty-six miles apart, and in there was no post between them. not very long before, indeed, letters from one to the other would have had to pass through london, and even now they were taking a circuitous course by ferribridge, doncaster, and rotherham. the duke's application was referred to allen; and allen, without waiting to consult the local surveyor, proceeded at once to give his instructions. between manchester and chesterfield there should certainly be a post; but this would not be enough. derby must also share the benefit; and this could not be compassed without erecting a stage between that town and nottingham, nottingham being already in direct communication with chesterfield. lincolnshire must also be considered. true, there was a post from nottingham to newark; but between newark and lincoln, though only about seventeen miles apart, there was no communication except through grantham, nor between newark and horncastle and boston except through stilton. the letters, moreover, on reaching the great north road had to await the arrival of the london mail. not only did allen determine that all this must be altered, but he sketched out the particular alterations that were to be made, and merely referred to the district surveyor with a view to ascertain what their effect upon the correspondence was likely to be. the particulars which this officer furnished were curious. at chesterfield, he reported, not a letter was delivered except on payment of a fee of d. or d., and sometimes even of d., over and above the postage. on each letter sent to the post it was the custom to pay d. the entire district, including not chesterfield alone, but sheffield, nottingham, and mansfield, was doing a very considerable trade in manchester wares; but the letters which passed between these towns and manchester were chiefly sent with the goods by carrier. of post letters there were few, the postage for a whole year amounting to only £ . the correspondence might possibly increase by as much as one-third or £ : : a year, if a post were put on between manchester and chesterfield; but this was doubtful, and the annual cost, owing partly to the badness of the road, would be £ . between derby and nottingham a new stage could not be erected for less than £ . nor could the lincolnshire posts be improved as desired for less than £ , making altogether an increased annual charge of £ ; and there was no probability of this increase of cost being covered, or nearly covered, by increase of correspondence. allen was not to be deterred by any such consideration. the whole of the alterations were carried into effect; the postmasters-general received from the duke a warm expression of thanks for their admirable arrangements; and allen, who had devised them, and at whose expense they were made, did not so much as appear in the transaction. in striking contrast with allen's proceedings were those of the post office in the few instances in which it acted independently. allen's energy, far from communicating itself to lombard street, appears to have extinguished what little energy had existed there before. why should the postmasters-general exert themselves to do that which was done better and without expense to the crown by another? and yet there were some, though rare, occasions on which independent action was called for. one such occasion presented itself in , and it serves to shew how wanting the post office was in the local knowledge which allen possessed in so remarkable a degree. application had been made for a post to aylsham in norfolk. among those who had lent their influence in support of the application was lord lovell, who had just been appointed postmaster-general in conjunction with carteret, but who had not yet entered upon his duties; and carteret, to oblige his new colleague, sent an officer specially from london with a view to facilitate arrangements. this officer, john day by name, was furnished with written instructions. he was to proceed to norwich, and there ascertain certain facts, any one of which could have been supplied by allen at bath without rising from his chair in lilliput alley. these were--how far aylsham was from norwich; whether the road between the two towns was a good or a bad one; whether under existing arrangements aylsham ever received any letters, and, if so, how and whence; and particularly--an instruction which could hardly have been given except under the belief that aylsham was south and not north of norwich--whether the setting up of a post between the two towns would be a "hindrance to the grand mail betwixt norwich and london." day, having described the position of aylsham, appears to have considered it unnecessary to give this last piece of information; but he told as news, which perhaps it was, that the london mail left norwich on mondays and wednesdays at midnight, and on saturdays at four in the afternoon. even where local knowledge was not wanting, the lack of funds which they could dispense at discretion placed the postmasters-general as compared with allen at a serious disadvantage. we have seen how allen dealt with the application from chatsworth. not many years later it devolved upon the postmasters-general to deal with a somewhat similar one from kimbolton; and it is interesting to note the difference of procedure. from kimbolton and st. neots the course of post had been through biggleswade and hitchin, and in the inhabitants of the counties of huntingdon and cambridgeshire petitioned that it should be through caxton. the effect of the alteration would be that letters for the two first-mentioned towns coming from the north or from norfolk and suffolk would, regularly three times a week, be brought to the towns themselves, and not, as had hitherto been the case, be left at huntingdon, to be forwarded thence as opportunity offered by carriers and market people. st. neots had a further interest in the matter. a considerable corn-market was held there on thursdays; and the dealers complained that, leaving as the post did at twelve mid-day, they had no time to write their letters, whereas, by way of caxton, it need not leave until five in the afternoon. on the score of convenience the change had everything to recommend it; but there was one drawback. to carry it into effect would involve a cost of £ ; and this, the postmasters-general expressed their apprehension, the treasury would not feel justified in incurring, as the increase of expense might be only partially covered by the increase of correspondence. whether the treasury consent was given or withheld we know not; but the mere fact that such an apprehension should have been expressed, and that the convenience of towns and extensive districts should have been made to depend upon the paltry consideration of a few pounds, goes far to shew that the post office, without the aid of private enterprise, would have made but little progress. allen's contract expired every seven years. in order to obtain a renewal of it he did not, according to a practice not uncommon with reformers, stoop to the pretence that he was on the point of introducing some important measure, which would be lost to the country unless his services were retained. on the contrary, he treated it as a pure business matter, and each time offered higher terms. thus, in , which was the first year of a new septennial period, he guaranteed the country letters to produce £ , ; in he guaranteed them to produce £ , ; and in , £ , . this being the class of letters of which it had been and continued to be predicted that with the extension of cross-posts the number must diminish, the postmasters-general regarded the advance as not unhandsome. but, in consideration of his contract being renewed, there was another and far more important condition, which allen undertook to perform. this was to convert tri-weekly posts into posts six days a week, and to take the whole expense upon himself. accordingly, in , the post began to run every day of the week except sunday between london and bristol, between london and norwich, and between london and yarmouth; and of course all the intervening towns participated in the benefit. in a further instalment followed. this time it was the midlands and the west of england that were to be benefited; and on and after monday the th of december the post went on the three days on which it had not gone hitherto to birmingham, through oxford, and to exeter through bristol. in , the beginning of another septennial period, the six-day service was widely extended. leicester, derby, and nottingham, shrewsbury and chester, warrington, liverpool, and manchester were among the towns which were now to receive letters from london on every day of the week except sunday. from liverpool and manchester the cross-post service to almost every part of the kingdom was at the same time improved. at the close of the nineteenth century, postridden as some of us think ourselves to be, we may find it sometimes difficult to believe that less than years ago there was not a town in the kingdom which received a post from london on more than alternate days. and yet allen's activity, untiring as it was, went only a short way to regain for the post office the popularity it had lost. various causes had contributed to this result. the chief of them, however, as it was the earliest in point of time, was of itself enough and more than enough to account for the distrust and hostility with which the post office appears to have been regarded towards the middle of the last century. as early as members of parliament had begun to complain that their letters bore evident signs of having been opened at the post office, alleging that such opening had been frequent and was become matter of common notoriety; but it was not until six years later, in the course of inquiries which were being made into the conduct of sir robert walpole during the last ten years of his administration, that the state of the case became fully known. it then transpired that in the post office there was a private office, an office independent of the postmasters-general and under the immediate direction of the secretary of state, which was expressly maintained for the purpose of opening and inspecting letters. it was pretended, indeed, that these operations were confined to foreign letters, but, as a matter of fact, there was no such restriction. the office appears to have been established in , and its cost, which was defrayed out of the secret service money, had since increased more than tenfold, and now reached the prodigious sum of £ a year. the establishment, exclusive of a door-keeper, consisted of nine persons, with salaries ranging from £ to £ ; the head of the office or "chief decypherer," as he was called, being dr. willes, dean of lincoln. it was in june that these shameful facts became known, through the report of a committee of the house of commons; and, in the august following, willes was gazetted bishop of st. davids. to ourselves it may seem strange that the state monopoly of letters should have survived so terrible a revelation. it must be remembered, however, that in the middle of the last century the post office, owing mainly to the heavy charges it levied, had hardly become matter of general concern; that public opinion, as we now understand it, was only beginning to exist; and, above all, that the very conditions under which post office work was done precluded the idea of privacy. these conditions were absolutely inconsistent with the sanctity which now surrounds a letter. letters were divided into two classes,--single and double; and to determine whether a letter was the one or the other demanded a close scrutiny, a scrutiny such as could not be exercised except by the strongest light that candles could give. in it had been laid down that a letter, however small, was to be charged as a double one if two or more persons joined in writing it. how could it be ascertained that the whole of a letter was in one and the same handwriting except by prying? even the law itself, by the meagre protection it vouchsafed to letters, discouraged the idea of sanctity. for an offence of the pettiest kind, as for instance for stealing a pocket-handkerchief in a dwelling-house, the penalty was death. for opening or embezzling a letter the highest penalty which the law allowed was a fine of £ . it is significant of the change which has since taken place in the public sentiment that while in the case of almost every other description of offence the penalty has been enormously reduced, in the case of opening and embezzling letters it has been enormously increased. horace walpole, writing more than twenty-five years later, never tired of mentioning the elaborate precautions he had taken to secure his correspondence against inspection. "i shall send this letter by the coach," he says, "as it is rather free-spoken and sandwich[ ] may be prying." "i always say less than i could, because i consider how many post-house ordeals a letter must pass"; and similar observations occur in a hundred different places. all this was sheer nonsense. it tickled the exquisite vanity of the man to affect to believe that his correspondence was of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the state. and yet truth compels us to admit that the infamous practice which the committee exposed did not cease with the exposure. the treasury, while grudging every d. expended on the posts, continued regularly to remit more than £ a year for the maintenance of their inquisitors in lombard street; and it was not until george the third had sat some years on the throne, probably under the rockingham administration, that the corps was finally disbanded. [ ] lord sandwich was postmaster-general in . apart from the grave cause of offence we have mentioned, it is a curious fact that during the last eighteen or twenty years of george the second's reign hardly anything occurred in which the post office was concerned that did not in one way or another cause dissatisfaction to some section of the community. the post office, no doubt, was often to blame, sometimes deeply so; but even where this was not the case, where no blame attached either to itself or to any other office or person, it in no single instance, so far as we are aware, escaped a certain amount of obloquy. this unfortunate result first shews itself in the case of the falmouth and lisbon packets. during the war with spain it had only been necessary, as a defence against some spanish privateers which infested the channel, to provide the dover and harwich packets with arms and to make a small addition to their complement of men; but in , when spain was joined by france, a good deal more had to be done. the dover and calais packets, after the six months' grace allowed by the treaty of utrecht, were taken off; the packets to the west indies which had been discontinued since were revived; and the falmouth and lisbon packets were put on the same footing as during the last war. this the merchants trading with portugal, an important body representing forty-eight firms, protested was not enough. the packets, they argued, afforded the only available means for remitting gold to lisbon in exchange for commodities, and should, therefore, be of at least tons and carry men. it was true that this would be in excess by about seventy tons and forty men of what was provided during the last war; but the fact that during the last war some of the packets fell into the hands of privateers was of itself a proof that they were not of force and burthen sufficient. besides, we had then an army in spain, and the number of soldiers and passengers passing to and fro made fewer sailors necessary. moved by these arguments, the duke of newcastle decided to comply with the merchants' request; but pelham, on learning that the building and equipment alone would cost £ , , revoked the duke's decision. his majesty's opinion he declared to be that the main object of a packet was to carry letters, and that for the carriage of letters light and swift vessels were the fittest. this, it will be remembered, was the opinion which had been expressed by william the third more than fifty years before, and events had proved its soundness. nevertheless, the merchants were highly displeased; and, of course, at that time they were no more able than they are now to distinguish between a refusal which originated with the post office and one that was imposed upon it by superior authority. but the merchants--and here we speak not of those alone who traded with portugal--had other and more serious cause of complaint. their foreign letters were not delivered until twelve o'clock in the day, and, if a mail arrived by as much as a few minutes after twelve, it was not at the earliest delivered until the same hour on the following day. and if on this day a second mail chanced to arrive shortly before noon, the letters by the first mail were kept back so as to be delivered with those of the second in the evening. thus, foreign letters received at the post office in lombard street a few minutes after mid-day on saturday might not be delivered even in lombard street itself until the evening of monday. to make matters worse, the foreign ministers residing in london had their letters delivered soon after the mail arrived, so that any persons whom these ministers might please to favour enjoyed an undue advantage. the merchants now urged that this might be altered. did not sir harry furness, they asked, during the last war obtain permission to have his letters delivered immediately after the arrival of a mail? and was not this permission afterwards revoked on the ground that it had led to abuse? matters were better managed abroad. at amsterdam, for instance, if a mail arrived as late as nine o'clock in the evening, the letters were delivered to those who might call for them at any time before midnight, or else sent out for delivery early the next morning. at rotterdam--this also was urged as an instance of better management--the english letters were never delivered till twelve hours after the mail had arrived, about which time those which had come by the same mail would be in course of delivery at amsterdam. equality of treatment was thus secured, and neither city had priority of intelligence. at hamburg, again, as soon as a mail arrived--if in the day, a notice to that effect was fixed up at the post office and at the exchange, the letters being delivered about three hours later; and if at night, the clerks were called out of bed, so that the letters might be sorted and ready for delivery the first thing in the morning. sundays, moreover, were not excepted. as regards foreign gazettes, too, these all over europe were delivered within a quarter of an hour after their arrival; yet in london the merchants had to wait for them many hours. and this was all the more hard to bear because the clerks in the post office, to whom gazettes were addressed, received them at once and communicated the contents to their friends. what could be more calculated to promote fraudulent insurance, one-sided bargains, and a system of overreaching generally? such was the representation made by the merchants; and they concluded by asking that henceforth, except on sundays, no longer interval should be allowed to elapse between the arrival and delivery of a foreign mail than was absolutely necessary for the purpose of sorting. the postmasters-general had no choice but to refuse the request. to have granted it would have defeated the object with which the treasury were maintaining an office of their own within the post office building. about this time, three or four years short of the middle of the century, the post office got into disgrace with travellers. under the provisions of the numerous turnpike acts which had recently passed, the trustees of the roads were to measure distances and to erect milestones; and on these provisions being carried into effect the statute mile proved to be shorter, much shorter, than the reputed or post office mile.[ ] so great indeed was the difference that the post office may be said to have been almost ridiculously out of its reckoning. thus, from london to berwick-upon-tweed the distance, according to post office computation, was miles; according to measurement, it proved to be miles. to holyhead the actual distance proved to be miles; the post office had computed it at miles. to manchester the distance, according to the post office, was miles; the actual distance was . bristol, which proved to be miles from london, had been reckoned as ; birmingham as instead of ; warwick as instead of ; and so it had been throughout the kingdom. in every case the post office mile proved to be an unduly long one; and of course, as soon as milestones were erected authoritatively recording the statute miles, the postmasters charged accordingly. this change excited many murmurs. the traveller to warwick who, at the rate of d. a mile, exclusive of a guide, had hitherto paid for the use of a horse s. d., had now to pay s. to birmingham he had now to pay s. instead of s. d.; to bristol, s. d. instead of s. d.; and so on. [ ] this, although unknown probably to the postmasters until now, was no new discovery. as far back as john ogilby had called attention to the erroneous reckonings in vogue. ogilby had been commissioned by charles the second to survey and measure the principal roads of england, and having performed his task he published the result of his labours in a large folio volume. in the preface to an abridgment of this work, published in , he thus wrote: "the distances are all along reckoned in measur'd miles and furlongs, beginning from the standard in cornhil, so that the reader must not be surprized when he finds the number of miles set down here exceed the common computation. for example, from london to york are computed but miles, whereas by measure the distance is miles. and computation being very uncertain, it must be granted that no exactness could be observed but [by] adhering constantly to the standard-mile of yards, which contains eight furlongs." the king's messengers fought hardest against the innovation, but without success. finding the expense of their journeys to berwick and holyhead appreciably increased, they appealed to the treasury for redress, and the treasury invited the postmasters-general to explain under what authority they had raised their charges. the postmasters-general replied, as they had replied scores of times before on occasions of complaint from the public, that they had really nothing to do with the matter; that it was the postmasters who made the charges; and that in the opinion of the attorney-general these officers were clearly entitled to be paid according to the new measurements. it had been expressly provided by act of parliament that all persons riding post should pay after the rate of d. for every british mile, and the british mile was a known statute measure common to all his majesty's dominions. the treasury were not satisfied, and insisted that the king's messengers should be charged according to the old scale. but this, as the postmasters-general pointed out, was not feasible, the act of parliament by which they were governed making no exception in favour of particular persons, but on the contrary enacting that all persons without distinction should pay at the rate of d. a mile. at the headquarters in lombard street it was long feared that, on finding that the reputed mile exceeded the statute mile, those postmasters whose remuneration had been fixed according to the distance over which they carried the mails would claim an increased mileage allowance; but this, to their credit be it said, they never did. such forbearance, however, had one ill effect. it tended to perpetuate error. for many years afterwards two sets of distances remained in vogue, the one right and the other wrong; the new set applicable to travellers, and the old set to mails and to expresses sent on the service of the state.[ ] [ ] this explains why in the road books of the time the distance between two places is stated differently in two parallel columns under the initials c and m, the one being the computed and the other the measured distance. the feeling against the post office, which had long been gathering force, now displayed itself in a remarkable manner. it had been the constant and uniform practice ever since the post office was established to charge letters containing patterns or samples with double postage. to this the merchants now demurred. they did not deny that such letters if weighing as much as an ounce should be charged as for an ounce weight; but they contended that if weighing less than an ounce they should be charged as single and not double letters. this contention was founded on the wording of the act of anne, which, after prescribing the postage which "every single letter or piece of paper" not being of the weight of one ounce was to pay, enacted that "a double letter" should pay twice that amount. was a letter to be charged double because it had in it any enclosure--a sample of grain, for instance, or a pattern of cloth or of silk? or to constitute a double letter must not the enclosure be of paper? this question the merchants now resolved to try; and accordingly at bristol, at manchester, and at cirencester proceedings were commenced against the local postmasters for demanding and receiving more than the legal postage. it affords striking evidence of the widespread dissatisfaction then existing that in a practice as old as the post office itself should have been challenged for the first time, still more that it should have been challenged at three separate places, distant from one another, simultaneously. the action against the postmaster of cirencester came on first. it was tried at the gloucester assizes before a special jury, when a special verdict was found upon the words of the statute, whether a letter containing a pattern or sample and not being of the weight of one ounce ought to pay double or single postage. the postmasters-general, anxious to avoid a multiplicity of suits, now opened communications with the merchants of bristol and manchester. would it not be well that their suits should be abandoned? one special verdict would serve as well as a hundred such verdicts would do to settle the point of law between the crown and the subject. having succeeded in one county, what more could they expect in another? or what advantage would follow that had not been already secured? these overtures came too late. the merchants were determined to fight to the bitter end. the suits came on both at bristol and at manchester; and at each of those places a special verdict was given in almost identical terms with that which had been returned at gloucester. meanwhile the attorneys both in london and the country had passed resolutions to the effect that, if the point of law were decided in the merchants' favour, they would refuse to pay double postage on letters containing writs. the postmasters-general became alarmed. single instead of double postage on letters containing writs as well as patterns and samples meant, according to the most moderate computation, a reduction of the post office revenue by £ , or £ , a year. this was a serious reduction, and how to prevent it was the question to which the postmasters-general now addressed themselves. it is characteristic of the time that the first expedient they devised with this object was simply to refuse to carry any more letters containing patterns and samples unless the senders of them should agree beforehand to pay double postage. they argued that, in view of the importance to the merchant to have his letters carried, any unwillingness on his part to enter into such an agreement would be easily overcome. a notice to give effect to their intention was already prepared; but before issuing it they took the precaution to consult the attorney-general. his advice to them was that, admirable as the expedient might be, it was distinctly illegal. should they, then, bring one of the special verdicts on to be argued in westminster hall and abide by the judicial decision? to this the attorney-general could raise no objection, but he warned them that the decision was pretty sure to be against the crown. driven thus into a corner, the postmasters-general adopted a most questionable course. they advocated the passing of an act which should declare a letter containing any enclosure, even though not of paper and not weighing as much as an ounce, to be a double letter; and this advice was followed. in a bill then before parliament, having for its object to prevent the fraudulent removal of tobacco, a clause was inserted which effectually prevented the merchants from sending their patterns or samples and the lawyers their writs for single postage.[ ] [ ] geo. ii. cap. xiii. sec. . it would be difficult to conceive a more irritating course. no doubt there was precedent for it. early in the reign of george the first an act had been passed enacting that bills of exchange written on the same piece of paper as a letter, and also letters written on the same piece of paper and addressed to different persons, should be charged as distinct letters: and, possibly enough, it might have been difficult to explain why a bill of exchange should pay double postage and not a pattern or a writ. it is also true that the fact of three several judges and three several juries in distant parts of the kingdom having been unable to agree as to the intent and meaning of a statute implied a real doubt. and yet it can hardly be denied that to solve that doubt by the brute force of an act of parliament, instead of bringing one of the special verdicts before the courts to be argued, was a most provoking step. nor would it have been calculated to appease the merchants if they had known, as the postmasters-general knew, that the entire rates of postage, as they then existed, rested on no legal sanction. the existing rates were imposed by the act of anne; and that act imposed them for a period of thirty-two years, a period which had now expired, and after which it was expressly provided that the former and lower rates were to revive. it is true that early in the reign of george the first a further act had passed, making perpetual the post office contribution of £ a week to the exchequer; but by a clumsiness of legislation, which is not unknown even in our own day, the latter act, while making perpetual both the contribution and the power to levy it, had omitted to re-enact the rates out of which the contribution was to be paid. virtually, therefore, these rates had lapsed through effluxion of time. and what during the last forty or fifty years had the post office done--done, that is, independently of allen--to promote the public convenience or to make amends for so much that had given offence? it had done four things, and, so far as we are aware, four things only. it had introduced the contrivance, with which we are all familiar, of external apertures in post offices, so that letters could be posted from the outside. it had brought the system of expresses up to a standard which, compared with what it was at the beginning of the century, might perhaps be considered high. it had, indirectly, been the means of eliciting from the courts of law an important decision. and it had accelerated the course of post between london and edinburgh. in the time which the mail took to accomplish the distance was, at the instance of the royal boroughs, reduced between london and edinburgh from hours to , and between edinburgh and london from hours to . the date at which apertures on the outside of post offices were first introduced is unknown to us even approximately. all we can do is to fix two distant dates at one of which the contrivance existed, and at the other it existed not. on the rd of november oxford, the lord treasurer, received an anonymous letter, and, being anxious to discover the writer, he invoked the assistance of the postmasters-general with a view to ascertain where and by whom it had been posted. any such inquiry at the present time would be absolutely futile. one hundred and eighty years ago the postmasters-general, after an interval of twenty-four hours, were able to reply not only that the letter had been posted "at the receiving office of mrs. sandys, a threadshop two doors within blackfryars gateway," but that it had been posted "by a youth of about seventeen years old, in a whitish suit of cloathes, who was without a hat." it is difficult to believe that apertures can have existed then, and that the letter was not posted inside the office. that in the contrivance had come into existence, though possibly in a rude form, is beyond question. in that year an unfortunate woman was put on her trial for stealing a letter, and the sender was called upon to prove the posting. "on tuesday the th of december ," he said, "i put this letter into the post office at the house of mrs. jeffreys at bloomsbury, at about nine o'clock at night.... there is a window and a slip to put it into a little box from out of the street. i was not in the house. it is a very narrow box, and i was afraid my letter was gone down to the ground.[ ] i asked mrs. jeffreys if my letter was safe after i had dropped it into the slip. she said your letter is safe and gone into the box." if the value of a contrivance depended upon the amount of ingenuity displayed in devising it, these apertures would be hardly deserving of mention; but in view of the convenience they afford, this short notice of them may not perhaps be considered out of place. [ ] the box into which the letters fell was at this time an open one, _i.e._ without a cover and movable. it was not until that the letter-box was closed, fixed, and locked. the rebellion of , while disarranging the posts, brought into vogue the system of expresses; and this system once established was not long in extending itself. an express cost d. a mile, and, no doubt, travelled faster than at the beginning of the century. the roads had since been improved; and it may well be believed that the postmasters, as their custom increased, kept better horses. it was probably the speed of the express as compared with the tardiness of the post which induced the wealthy, about the middle of the last century, largely to employ this mode of conveyance for their letters. it had indeed one drawback, a drawback such as in our own time has attended the use of telegrams. it was apt to excite alarm. "let me," writes the good-natured charles townshend to his sister-in-law, lady ferrers, under date september --"let me now desire you to conclude whenever you receive an express that it brings you good news, for otherwise i shall be obliged to defer one day sending you any such account if it should not come to me on a post day, least the express should alarm you. i should not chuse to detain you one minute from the news i know your heart beats for, and yet i should not chuse to frighten you by the sudden manner of its arrival, for which reason i desire you will remember to receive whatsoever express i send with confidence and as a friend." but the purpose for which an express might be employed was jealously restricted. a man might employ an express to carry a letter; but woe betide him if he employed the same agency for the purpose of disseminating news. the licensed carriers at cambridge had recently been prosecuted and the postmasters on the great west road taken severely to task for doing this very thing. what are we to think of the intolerable state of bondage in which men were content to live when even the gentle allen could give the following instruction? "at every stage," he writes to one of his surveyors, "you must forbid the deputies to send any express except to the general post office in london, unless it be for his majesty's immediate service; and all other intelligence must be conveyed either by the common post or particular messenger." in the middle of the last century, and for about thirty years before and after, the mails were being continually stopped and robbed by highwaymen. the reward which the post office offered on these occasions for the apprehension of the robber was invariably £ , this being in addition to the reward of £ prescribed by act of parliament; and if the robbery took place within five miles of london, there was a third reward of £ by proclamation. numerous and diverse as the robberies[ ] were, there is only one of which we propose to speak; and in this case an exception may well be made on account of the important decision which it was the means of evoking from the courts. a highwayman had stopped the worcester mail at shepherd's bush and rifled it of its contents. finding himself in possession of a large number of bank of england notes he adopted a novel expedient for disposing of them. he hired a chaise and four and proceeded along the great north road as far as caxton, passing the notes as he went; and in order to give himself a wider field of operations he took the precaution of going one way and returning another. to caxton he went through barnet, hatfield, stevenage, and bugden, and he returned by way of royston, ware, and enfield. except at barnet, which was probably thought to be dangerously near to london, there was hardly a postmaster along the whole line of road who had not one or more of the notes passed upon him. the question now arose who was to bear the loss,--the person by whom the notes had been sent by post or the postmasters who had changed them into cash. at the present time the law on the subject is so well ascertained that no doubt could exist as to the answer; but such was not then the case. in order to try the point, it was arranged that the notes should be stopped, and that the sender of them should bring an action against the bank of england to recover their value. the trial came on before the king's bench in , and, after learned pleadings on both sides, the lord chief justice pronounced the decision of the court. this was that any person paying a valuable consideration for a bank note to bearer in a fair course of business is unquestionably entitled to recover the money from the bank. [ ] among these robberies there was, so far as we are aware, only one which possessed any feature of interest; and in this case the interest was of a psychological nature. gardner, a postman, was stopped by three highwaymen on winchmore hill, and, on his refusing to give up his letters, they murdered him. atrocities of this kind had been frequent, and executions had failed to check them. but the resources of civilisation were not exhausted. lord lovell--or the earl of leicester, as he had now become--waited upon the king and procured his majesty's assent that, after execution, the highwaymen's bodies should be hung in chains. to be hanged was one thing; after hanging, to have one's body suspended in chains was another. this was an indignity to which no respectable criminal should be called upon to submit. such would seem to be the idea conveyed in the following letter which leicester received:-- to the right hon. the earl of leicester, at holkham, norfolk. thursday, _oct. _. my lord--i find that it was by your orders that mr. stockdale was hung in chains. now, if you don't order him to be taken down, i will set fire to your house and blow your brains out the first opportunity. stockdale was clerk to a proctor in doctors commons. an important legal decision, with which the post office had only the remotest concern, an improved system of expresses following as a natural consequence from circumstances over which the post office had no control, a simple contrivance to facilitate the posting of letters, and an acceleration of the mail between london and edinburgh--this as the record of forty or fifty years' progress is assuredly meagre enough; and yet we are not aware of any omission. the plain truth is that during these years, except in the matter of bye and cross-post letters, the post office had retrograded rather than advanced. the rates of postage were higher now than at the beginning of the century. more, probably, than one-half of the public acts of parliament which passed during the reigns of the first two georges were acts for repairing and widening the roads. the roads had kept steadily improving; and the posts had failed to keep pace with them. while travellers travelled faster than in the reign of queen anne, letters were still being conveyed at a speed not exceeding five miles an hour. the friendly relations which had existed between the postmasters-general and the merchants existed no longer. these had been replaced by feelings of estrangement and animosity. under cotton and frankland and under frankland and evelyn the post office enjoyed a reputation for personal integrity; but even this claim to distinction had now disappeared. barbutt, the secretary, had recently retired under a cloud. bell, the comptroller of the inland office, had been arrested on a charge of fraud.[ ] denzil onslow, the receiver-general, had been declared a defaulter to the amount of £ , ; and stone, onslow's successor, after two or three years' tenure of the appointment, had died in debt to the crown. the post office, when george the third ascended the throne, was thoroughly discredited, and, despite allen's exertions, men were beginning to ask themselves, why cumbereth it the ground? [ ] elsewhere we have expressed a desire to avoid, as far as possible, the use of technical terms, and the propriety of this course will probably not be disputed when we state that the charge against bell was that having "crowned the advanced letters" he failed to account for the proceeds. an "advanced" letter was one on which the postage had been advanced, a letter which, having been undercharged in the country, was surcharged in london. to "crown" a letter was to impress it with the stamp of the crown, denoting that the surcharge had been made. virtually, therefore, the charge against bell was that he had embezzled the surcharges. allen died in , leaving behind him a name which is still venerated, and justly venerated, in the city of bath. for many years before his death he is reputed to have made out of his contract with the post office not less than £ , a year; and the greater part of this noble fortune he spent in acts of benevolence. as early as riches must have come pouring in upon him, for in that year he built for himself the stately house of prior park, not indeed for ostentation's sake, but in order to prove that the stone dug from his quarries on combe down was not the sorry stuff which interested persons in london had represented it to be. that house still stands; but, as was said at the time--and the statement holds good to this day--"his charity is seen further than his house, though it stands on a hill, aye, and brings him more honour too." in allen served as mayor of bath; and in , the year of the rebellion, he raised a company of volunteers, which he clothed at his own cost. at prior park he dispensed a more than decent hospitality, numbering among his guests pitt, pope, and fielding, charles yorke, and warburton. fielding has immortalised allen's character but not his name in the person of squire allworthy; and pope has immortalised both his name and his character in the lines-- let humble allen, with an awkward shame, do good by stealth and blush to find it fame. among post office reformers allen stands absolutely alone in one particular. his connection with the post office, long as it endured, was not abruptly terminated. this we attribute partly to a natural sweetness of disposition, which provoked no enemies, and still more to that which on the part of reformers is the rarest of virtues, an entire abnegation of self. so long as a thing which he thought desirable was done, he cared not that others received the credit.[ ] [ ] of allen's personal appearance the only account, so far as we are aware, is to be found in the correspondence of samuel derrick, master of the ceremonies at bath. derrick writes, under date may , : "i have had an opportunity of visiting mr. allen in the train of the french ambassador. he is a very grave, well-looking old man, plain in his dress, resembling that of a quaker, and courteous in his behaviour. i suppose he cannot be much under seventy."--vol. ii. p. . chapter xi legislation and litigation - brighter days were in store for the post office, but not yet. meanwhile the clouds grew darker and darker. during the twenty years that followed allen's death, partly as the result of ill-considered legislation and still more through the incompetence and helplessness of its rulers, the post office sank to a depth which, in england, probably no other public institution, or at all events none that still exists, has ever reached. in and two acts of parliament were passed, one having for its object to prevent the abuses of franking, and the other to improve the posts. it would be hardly too much to say that both of these acts had an exactly opposite effect to that which was intended. the first, far from preventing the abuses of franking, largely extended them; and the second imposed a deplorable restriction, a restriction for which any little advantages conferred at the same time afforded very inadequate compensation. under the act of , to take the later one first, the postage rates were reduced for short distances. since the charge for carrying a single letter had been d. for eighty miles or under. now it was to be d. for one stage and d. for two stages. for longer distances the charge was to remain unaltered. the speed of the post was raised from five to six miles an hour. power was given to the postmasters-general to erect penny post offices in country towns; and--a provision which we have pronounced deplorable--the weight to be carried by the penny post was restricted to four ounces. compensation for losses by the penny post had long ceased to be given.[ ] [ ] _the present state of great britain and ireland_, published in , states that at that time compensation was still given for losses sustained in the penny post. the words are: "if a parcel happen to miscarry, the value thereof is to be made good by the office, provided the things were securely inclosed and fast sealed up under the impression of some remarkable seal." this is an error; and that an error should be made on the point serves to confirm the view that little was known of the post office and its doings even years ago. that compensation was not at that time given for losses is beyond all question. it happens that in that very year, , a mr. vavasour appealed to whitehall to grant him compensation for the loss of bank notes to the amount of £ which had been stolen from a letter in its transit through the post; and the postmasters-general, after stating that no precedent existed for granting compensation, implored the treasury not to create one. "all persons," they write under date the th of august , "that for their own convenience send notes or bills of value by the post inclosed in letters do so at their own risque without any foundation that we know of for recovery of this office in case they should be stolen or lost by robbery or other accidents. and this we take to be not only reasonable but just in all construction of law." again, in an action for compensation was brought against the post office, and lord mansfield, after delivering the unanimous opinion of the court of king's bench that the postmasters-general were not responsible for losses sustained in their department, proceeded to observe that no similar action had been brought since the year . giles jacob, in his _law dictionary_, published in the last century, gives this account of the matter: "it was determined so long ago as will. iii., in the case of _lane_ v. _cotton_, by three judges of the court of king's bench, though contrary to lord chief justice holt's opinion, that no action could be maintained against the postmasters-general for the loss of bills or articles sent in letters by the post." such was the end of dockwra's post as dockwra had established it. with that eminent man it had been an object of the first importance that the penny post should carry up to one pound in weight; and now the weight was to be reduced to four ounces. and why? because the penny post was little used for packets and parcels above four ounces? exactly the contrary. it was because packets and parcels above four ounces were being largely sent by the penny post that the limit of weight was to be reduced.[ ] these missives had been found a little inconvenient to manipulate and it was resolved, therefore, to exclude them. such was the wretched policy of the time. even in matters vitally affecting their own interests the public had as yet no voice and their wishes were not considered. on account of some trifling inconvenience, which a very little amount of ingenuity would have sufficed to overcome, the inhabitants of london and its suburbs were now deprived of accommodation which they had enjoyed uninterruptedly for eighty-five years. [ ] the reason for the provision was thus given in the preamble: "whereas many heavy and bulky packets and parcels are now sent and conveyed by such carriage which by their bulk and weight greatly retard the speedy delivery thereof...."-- geo. iii. cap. xxv. sec. . in franking became for the first time the subject of parliamentary enactment. to send and receive letters free of postage had been a privilege enjoyed by members of the two houses of parliament from the first establishment of the post office; but whereas it had hitherto been a concession granted by the crown, it was now to be a right conferred by statute. the reason will be obvious. the revenue of the post office had recently been surrendered to the public during the life of the sovereign, in exchange for a civil list charged upon the consolidated, or, as it was then called, the aggregate fund; and the crown, having dispossessed itself of all property in the post office, was no longer competent to remit postage without the authority of parliament. the act which was now passed was designed to correct the abuses which experience had shewn to exist. the limits of weight and of time remained as before; that is to say, only letters not exceeding the weight of two ounces were to be franked, and these only during the session of parliament and for forty days before and after. in other respects the conditions were slightly altered. hitherto it had been enough, in the case of letters sent by a member, that he should sign his name on the outside; for the future not only was the outside to bear his signature, but the whole of the address was to be in his own handwriting. in the case of letters addressed to a member, none were to be exempt from postage unless directed to the place of his usual residence or to the place where he was actually residing, or, of course, to the house of parliament. it had been hoped that these alterations of practice would check the abuses of franking. vain expectation! no sooner had the concession been converted into a right than what little scruples existed before appear to have vanished, and franks were scattered broadcast over the country. before eight years were over, the number of franks passing through the london office alone had nearly doubled, the postage from which they carried exemption being in , the first year after the change, £ , , and in , £ , ; and this, be it observed, was no mere estimate, but the actual result as ascertained by the careful examination of each letter. another effect of the change of practice was to embroil the post office. the post office, in its efforts to protect itself against imposition, would charge letters when addressed to a member at a place where he was supposed not to be; and hence constant disputes and altercations. members, again, who were bankers or were engaged in trade insisted that letters addressed to them at their counting-houses, even though they did not reside there, should pass free. on these the post office claimed postage, and the members refused to pay it. but it was in ireland that the rage for franking broke out into the wildest excesses. in an inspector of franks was sent to several towns on the cross and bye roads, in order that he might ascertain and report to the postmasters-general the extent to which the abuse had grown. this officer visited nine towns altogether, and was absent from dublin for sixty-three days, being at the rate of seven days at each town. at waterford, during his stay there, letters passed through the local post office purporting to be franked. the franks on only of these were genuine; the rest were counterfeit. at kilkenny there were counterfeit franks to that were genuine. at clonmel, counterfeit and genuine. at gowran, counterfeit and genuine; and so with the remaining towns. altogether the number of letters with counterfeit franks was nearly as large as the number with genuine franks, and far exceeded all the other letters combined. however clear might be the evidence of fraud, and however conclusively it might be brought home to particular persons, it was of no use attempting to prosecute. hear what mr. lees says on this point. mr. lees was secretary to the post office in ireland, and he had, under direction from lord north, received instructions to take proceedings against a firm of solicitors in londonderry who had been sending letters under forged franks. "a prosecution," wrote mr. lees, "will not be of the slightest avail. it has been tried over and over again, and, in the face of the clearest evidence, without success." "there is scarcely a magistrate to be found in ireland who will take examinations on the post office laws; and certainly in no instance has this office prevailed in getting the bills of indictment found by a grand jury. this being so universally known, counterfeiting franks is drawn into such general practice that i believe there are very few merchants or attorneys' clerks throughout the kingdom who do not counterfeit in the name of one member or other. nay, if i classed with them almost every little pretty miss capable of joining her letters, i should not exaggerate the abuse." "as i have observed," he wrote further on in the same letter, "in every town of consequence throughout the kingdom the members resident, under their address, cover the correspondence of the principal merchants.... the postage arising on counterfeit covers alone amounts to more than a third of the revenue of this office." under the terms of the franking act newspapers were to go free which should bear a member's signature on the outside or which should be directed to a member at any place of which he had given notice in writing to the postmasters-general. this provision seriously affected the post office, though in a different way from the liberties which were being taken with letters. from the first establishment of the post office the six clerks of the roads had enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers, and the emoluments derived from this source, originally insignificant, had been continually increasing. in they were certainly not less than £ a year, and may have been more. the franking act sapped this source of emolument. no sooner had that act passed than the members served the post office with notice of the places to which they wished newspapers to be directed. these places did not in the first instance extend beyond the member's own residence and the residences of his constituents and friends; but after a while no such moderation was observed. the booksellers and printers, or news-agents as they would now be called, soon recognised the advantage it would be to them if they could get their customers' addresses put on the post office register, and they experienced little difficulty in finding members who were ready to do them this service. there were four who were noted for their complaisance. these were sir robert bernard, member for westminster; brass crosby, member for honiton and alderman for the city of london; richard whitworth, member for stafford; and richard hiver.[ ] these four members in little more than eighteen months served upon the post office no less than separate notices. altogether, at the close of the year , there were such notices registered in lombard street, of which were on behalf of constituents and friends, and on behalf of printers and booksellers. [ ] for what constituency richard hiver sat we have been unable to discover. his name does not appear in the return of members of parliament presented to the house of commons in . as the natural result the clerks of the roads found their emoluments rapidly dwindling. heretofore they had been, virtually, the great news-agents of the kingdom. enjoying, in common with a few clerks at whitehall, the exclusive privilege of sending newspapers through the post free, they had been exposed to little, if any, competition; but now that in the matter of postage the terms were equal, the advantage was all on the side of the private dealer. the private dealer procured his newspapers in the open market, whereas the clerks of the roads were required to procure them from a particular officer designated by the postmasters-general; and this officer was authorised not only to charge for the newspapers he supplied - / d. a dozen more than he gave for them, but to retain as his own perquisite one out of every twenty-five copies. it may seem of little moment that, as the result of legislation, six persons more or less should find themselves in reduced circumstances. such an event, unhappily, is not so rare as to call for special remark. but there was a good deal more than this in the present case. the profits which the clerks of the roads derived from the sale of newspapers had never been devoted to the exclusive use of the recipients. on the contrary, they were to a large extent common property. out of these profits pensions were provided for post office servants who were past work; and from the same source inadequate salaries were raised to something like a decent maintenance. in additional salaries to brother officers and in pensions to officers who had retired, the clerks of the roads had in contributed as much as £ ; and even now, reduced as their profits were, they were contributing a little over £ . they were, in effect, the mainstay of the establishment, and the falling off of their emoluments was being watched by the postmasters-general, hardly less than by those who were more immediately interested, with the gravest concern. nor was it calculated to reconcile the post office servants to the deprivations which they were already beginning to suffer that the members of other public offices, who had lost from the same cause as the clerks of the roads, but to a much less extent, had received compensation in full. the clerks in the offices of the principal secretaries of state, like the clerks of the roads, had been privileged to frank both letters and newspapers. by the act of the privilege had, as regards letters, been taken away in both cases; and in both cases, as regards newspapers, it remained. yet to the clerks in the offices of the principal secretaries of state was secured, by special act of parliament, compensation to the amount of £ a year, while the clerks of the roads received nothing; and, as though to add to the aggravation, this sum of £ a year was to be paid by the post office. in dublin the same difficulties were being experienced as in london and from the same cause. emoluments were falling off and obligations could not be met. among these obligations, however, there was one which was peculiar to dublin. before the clerks at the castle, like the clerks of the roads, had enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers, and the exercise of this privilege by the two bodies simultaneously had been attended with so much friction that advantage had been taken of the passing of the franking act to effect a compromise. in consideration of the sum of £ a year to be paid by the clerks of the roads the clerks at the castle undertook to abandon their privilege absolutely. a deed to this effect was prepared, and, in order that nothing might be wanting to give it formality, it was signed by the earl of northumberland, the lord lieutenant, on behalf of the castle, and by lord clermont, the deputy postmaster-general of ireland, on behalf of the post office. whence was the sum of £ to come when the emoluments should be gone? was a price to continue to be paid for the surrender of a privilege which had ceased to be of value? the attorney-general for ireland advised that the clerks of the roads were still liable to the last farthing of their salaries; and the clerks at the castle refused to abate one jot of their claim. but we are anticipating. in the statute-book received an addition which, though differing widely both in intention and effect from the franking act and the postage act, cannot be allowed to pass unnoticed. this was an act for the better paving, lighting, and regulating the streets of london, a first step in fact towards converting the london of hogarth into the london of to-day. the mere preamble[ ] of the act brings home to us, hardly less vividly than hogarth's pencil, the intolerable inconveniences under which our forefathers were content to live; but what concerns us at the present moment is that one section provided not only that the names of the streets should be put up but that the houses should be numbered. this numbering of houses quickly spread, and, although unnoticed by the post office at the time, was destined very materially to assist its future operations. as a consequence, too, and at no long interval, arose a new industry, namely the compilation of directories--a thing that was impossible before--and hence the post office derived still further assistance. [ ] "whereas the several streets, lanes, squares, yards, courts, alleys, passages and places within the city of london and the liberties thereof are in general ill-paved and cleansed and not duly enlightened, and are also greatly obstructed by posts and annoyed by signs, spouts, and gutters projecting into and over the same, whereby and by sundry other encroachments and annoyances they are rendered incommodious and in some parts dangerous not only to the inhabitants but to all others passing through the same or resorting thereto...." about this time considerable improvements took place both in the scotch and irish posts. between london and edinburgh communication had been only thrice a week. in it was increased in frequency to five days a week, and posts on six days a week were at the same time established between edinburgh and the chief towns of scotland. the result was an immediate increase of revenue which much more than covered the increase of expense. two or three years later the course of post between london and dublin came under review. by virtue of an arrangement, which the fact of the communication being only thrice a week goes but a short way to explain, letters from england to ireland were kept lying two whole days in the london office and, similarly, letters from ireland to england were kept lying two whole days in the dublin office. the packet which was due in dublin on saturday night rarely arrived before sunday, and, unless it did so, the letters from england for the interior of ireland did not leave dublin until wednesday morning. nor was this all. the number of packets was extremely limited, and, owing to their constant employment by government as express boats, it frequently happened that two and sometimes three and even four mails were sent by the same packet. in this was altered. additional packet boats were placed on the station, and the post between london and dublin and between dublin and belfast in one direction and cork in another was increased in frequency from three to six days a week. between london and the chief provincial towns in england allen had, as we have seen, established posts six days a week instead of three; but it was not until , or nearly five years after allen's death, that within the metropolis arrangements were made to correspond. meanwhile the offices for the receipt of general post letters were kept open and the bellmen went about ringing their bells on only three nights of the week, namely tuesdays, thursdays, and saturdays, and on the other three nights, except at the general post office, letters could not be posted gratuitously. on the nights of monday, wednesday, and friday a receiver if called upon to take in letters was entitled to charge a fee of d. apiece, and this fee he retained as his own perquisite. beginning with the receiving offices were kept open and the bellmen rang their bells on every night of the week, sundays excepted. an event or rather a series of events now took place, the result of which was largely to alter the character of the post office and to extend its usefulness. recent legislation had done little for the public convenience. it had indeed provided that penny post offices might be established out of london, and advantage had been taken of the provision in one single instance. in dublin a penny post office had been opened on the th of october , or seventy years after the countess of thanet desired to open one and was refused permission at the last moment. but in other respects legislation had accomplished little beyond promoting the very abuses it was designed to prevent, and impairing the utility of dockwra's post. litigation was now to have its turn; and it is interesting to note the result. the machinery for the dispersion of letters remained much as it had been since the first establishment of the post office. in london, in edinburgh, and in dublin there was, as there is now, a body of men whose duty it was to deliver from house to house; but with these three exceptions there was not, years ago, a single town in the kingdom which could boast of its own letter-carrier. the postmaster was the sole post office agent in the place; it was he who delivered the letters if they were delivered at all; and for this service he was left to charge pretty much as he pleased. the public had grown tired of this state of things and strenuous efforts were now made to alter it. the crusade began in the little town of sandwich in kent. it had been the practice of the postmaster there, at some former time, to deliver free the letters arriving by the bye and cross posts, and on the delivery of the london letters to charge a fee as his own perquisite. in a fee was being charged on the delivery of all letters. this charge the inhabitants now determined to contest. the case came on for trial in the court of king's bench and was decided against the postmaster, the court being of opinion that wherever the usage had been to deliver free, there the usage should be adhered to. the postmasters-general were very uneasy. out of the post towns of the kingdom there were known to be not less than seventy-six which were in the same case as sandwich and to which the decision of the court must apply, towns where letters had at one time been delivered free and where they were so no longer; and not a day passed without bringing fresh and unexpected additions to the list. at birmingham and at ipswich, for instance, where a charge was now being made for delivery, old inhabitants could remember how forty or fifty years before letters had been delivered free. was the crown to be at the expense of letter-carriers at all of these towns, or were the postmasters, who were already complaining of the inadequacy of their remuneration, to forego their perquisites and make a house-to-house delivery as part of their duty? the question was still under consideration when the town of ipswich commenced an action. the point raised in this case was whether on the delivery of letters addressed to the inhabitants of the town the postmaster could legally demand any sum over and above the postage, and, if so, whether in the event of the demand being refused he could oblige the inhabitants to fetch their letters. again the decision, this time by the court of common pleas, was in favour of the public and against the post office. the postmasters-general were more than uneasy now. no sooner had the decision in the ipswich case become known than town after town where letters had never yet been delivered free demanded a free delivery and threatened the postmasters-general with actions in the event of their demand being refused. bath and gloucester did more than threaten. they, like ipswich, proceeded to trial; and again, for the third and fourth time, the decision was against the post office. thurlow was at this time attorney-general. he held a strong opinion that in order to comply with the statute it was enough to deliver letters at the post office of the town to which they were addressed, and that there was no obligation to deliver them at the houses of the inhabitants. still clinging to the belief that the decisions of the courts must have proceeded more or less on the usage of delivery, he now determined to try the question in the case of a town where the usage had been for no delivery to be made without payment. the town of hungerford in berkshire was selected for the purpose. there, it could be proved, ever since the beginning of the century, letters had not been delivered except on payment of a fee of d. apiece. the case came on before the court of king's bench in michaelmas term . lord mansfield, the lord chief justice, was the first to deliver judgment. he was surprised, he said, the several acts being so ambiguous and the usage so contradictory, that the post office had not applied to parliament to explain the matter. that was the view of the court when, in the other cases, it avoided the general question. he never liked to avoid general questions, for to decide them tended to prevent further litigation; but an important question of this kind, arising out of acts that had "not yet spoke," and, whichever way it might be decided, involving more or less inconvenience, was essentially one for parliament. and in the bath case there were grounds on which the general question could, without impropriety, be avoided. there the postmaster when delivering a letter had demanded a certain sum as a duty. now, a duty it certainly was not. if on the delivery of a letter parliament had intended to impose a duty, it would have fixed the amount and made it part of the post office revenue; and not have left every postmaster free to fix what amount he pleased or might prevail upon people to give. and what a monstrous inconvenience it would be if every one had to go to the post office to fetch his own letters! how could the court have laid down such a proposition as that? the thing was impossible. and it must be remembered that there could be no middlemen--men between the inhabitants and the postmaster--who for gain could set up an office to distribute the letters, because by law the postmaster could not deliver them except to the persons to whom they were addressed. these were the considerations which in the bath ease induced him to avoid the general question, and he had been glad to feel able to do so, never doubting that the postmasters-general would apply to parliament for a determination; but this, unfortunately, they had not done. then there was the gloucester case. he remembered it well. there the question was not whether there should be a free delivery, for at gloucester letters had always been delivered free, but whether certain houses should fall within the limits of that delivery. all that the court then decided was that in the case of these houses, forming as they unquestionably did a part of what was known as the town of gloucester, the post office could not depart from its own practice. but the present case was different. here the contention was that in the town of hungerford there was not a single house at which the post office was required to deliver letters without being paid for it. practically, no doubt, it was the bath case over again; but the court could not well avoid the general question a second time. the post office, in effect, sought to impose a duty; and this, he said it emphatically, the post office had not the power to do without the authority of parliament, which authority had not been given. his mind was perfectly clear that within the limits of a post-town the post office was bound to deliver free; but how far these limits should extend was a question upon which he did not feel called upon to express an opinion. the other judges were equally emphatic. the post office had urged in support of its contention that it sometimes happened--as, for instance, at hartford bridge---that the stage or post-house was a single house with no other houses near. there, at all events, as soon as it had deposited the letters at the post house, the post office had discharged its duty. and if there, it was asked, why not elsewhere? if, said mr. justice aston, the post house was a single house with no other houses near, the question did not arise; but, in the case, of towns, surely it would not be contended that each individual inhabitant was to resort to the post house every day in order to inquire whether there was a letter for him or not. to demand this penny within the limits of a post town, said mr. justice willes, was contrary to the whole tenor and spirit of the acts of parliament; and where the post town was a small one like hungerford, the demand was far more unreasonable than it would be in the case of london and westminster. yet in london and westminster letters were delivered free. he should pay more regard to the usage of the city of london than to that of fifty such towns as hungerford. mr. justice ashurst was of opinion that even to usage too much importance might be attached. if it were really the case that at hungerford, ever since the passing of the act of anne, a man living next door to the post office had had to pay over and above the postage d. for every letter he received, this in his opinion was a bad usage, an usage for which the act afforded no justification, and the sooner it was laid aside the better. the decision of the court burst upon the postmasters-general like a thunderbolt. they had been assured that it would certainly be in the opposite direction; and now, to their dismay, they found themselves face to face with the prospect of, what they called, an universal delivery. what was to be done? the post office would be ruined. of course the attorney-general would advise an appeal to the house of lords. as a matter of fact the attorney-general advised nothing of the sort. thurlow's private opinion continued to be what it had always been, that the post office was not bound to deliver letters beyond the stage or post house. he even went so far as to admit that, if once the act were construed to require more than that, he knew of no manner of construction that would entitle the postmasters-general to refuse to carry letters into every hole and corner of the kingdom. still, as two courts had decided against the post office, he regarded it as useless to appeal to the house of lords, where, no doubt, the opinion of the same judges would be taken and acted on. then, inquired the postmasters-general, might not a writ of error be brought with a view to hang up the judgment of the court of king's bench until the matter should be settled by parliament. "no," replied thurlow, "i do not approve a writ of error being brought by an office of revenue avowedly to suspend a question." thus ended a controversy which in one form or another had extended over a period of more than two years. the postmasters-general urged indeed that parliament should be asked to avert what they regarded as little short of a catastrophe; but the recommendation was not adopted, and the decision of the court was left to take effect. we have dwelt upon this matter at some length, because it was, in effect, a turning-point in the history of the post office. the enterprising spirit of the small towns, the independence of the judges, and the conspicuous fairness of the attorney-general, make up no doubt a combination which it is pleasing to contemplate; and yet, if this were all, a shorter notice would have sufficed. it is because the post office was now to assume a new character, the character in which it is known to us at the present time, that we have thought it best not to omit any important particular. and how great the change was to be a moment's consideration will shew. cotton and frankland had, early in the century, done what little they could to make the post office popular. they had lost no opportunity of advocating cheap postage; they had lived among the merchants, and, as far as duty would allow, had consulted their wishes; and within the limits assigned to them had spared no efforts to promote the public convenience. but since then a different spirit had prevailed. by cotton and frankland's successors much had been done in restraint of correspondence and nothing, or next to nothing, in promotion of it. the post office had become, insensibly perhaps, but none the less surely, a mere tax-gatherer, and, like other tax-gatherers, its policy had been to exact as much and to give as little as possible. all this was now to be altered. an appeal had been made to the courts; and the courts in the most deliberate and solemn manner had affirmed this principle--a principle now so universally recognised and acted on as to excite our wonder that it should ever have been otherwise--that the post office was to wait upon the people, and not the people upon the post office. it might be supposed that the decision of the courts would have been immediately followed by the appointment of letter-carriers throughout the country, or else by additions to the salaries of the postmasters in consideration of their undertaking to make a house-to-house delivery gratuitously. such, however, was not the case. at the towns which had taken a foremost part in the fray--at hungerford and sandwich, at bath, ipswich, and birmingham--as well indeed as at other towns which were spirited enough to assert their rights, letter-carriers were no doubt appointed; but there was no sudden and general alteration of practice. on the contrary, the obedience which the post office yielded to the law as laid down by the courts was a tardy and grudging obedience. as much as ten or eleven years later we find the postmasters-general acknowledging indeed the obligation under which they lay to appoint letter-carriers at any towns that might demand it, and yet taking credit to themselves that, as a matter of fact, no such appointments had been made except where the inhabitants had refused to continue the accustomed recompense for delivery. the courts of law were at this time the best friends of the people. no sooner had they decided that every town which possessed a post office of its own was entitled to a gratuitous delivery at the door than a somewhat similar question came before them in connection with the penny post. for every letter delivered by the penny post the inhabitants of old street, st. luke's, of st. leonard's, shoreditch, of bethnal green, and spitalfields were required to pay an additional penny, that is a penny over and above the one which had been paid on posting; and this they had long regarded as an imposition. according to dockwra's plan the second or delivery penny was to be confined to islington, hackney, newington butts, and south lambeth, which in his day formed separate towns; but in course of time, as buildings extended, the post office appears to have exacted the same charge at intermediate places. jones, a wealthy distiller of old street, now determined to try the question. again the decision of the courts was against the post office, and not only in old street, but in shoreditch, bethnal green, and spitalfields the additional penny had to be abandoned. while these proceedings were taking place before the courts, the post office had forced upon it a step which, even in those days of indifference, cannot have been taken without a pang. this was the dismissal of its most distinguished servant or rather of its only servant with any claim to distinction, and that of the highest. we refer to benjamin franklin. this eminent man had been appointed postmaster of philadelphia in , and after being employed in several positions of trust, had been promoted to be one of the joint postmasters-general of america in . he had recently been sent to england with the object of averting war between the mother country and her transatlantic colonies, and, his mission having failed, he was now dismissed. the letter in which the decision was announced was as follows:-- to doctor franklin. general post office, _jan. , _. sir--i have received the commands of his majesty's postmasters-general to signify to you that they find it necessary to dismiss you from being any longer their deputy for america. you will therefore cause your accounts to be made up as soon as you can conveniently.--i am, sir, your most humble servant, anthony todd, _secretary_. curt as this communication was, it was perhaps the best of which the circumstances admitted. indeed, we are by no means sure that the terms of it were not arranged with franklin himself. he was in london at the time. his relations with the post office had always been of the most cordial character. he did not, after receiving the letter, cease to visit lombard street; and before his return to america he wrote to the post office intimating that he would cheerfully become security for his colleague, who, as a consequence of his own dismissal, had to enter into fresh bond. at all events, whether franklin had any hand in the preparation of the letter or not, the less said the better would seem to have been the opinion of the writer; just as a desire to let bygones be bygones is plainly shewn in the first letter which passed after correspondence was resumed. this letter is a curiosity in its way. it is dated the th of june , and, ignoring all that had happened during the preceding seven years, begins as follows:-- to doctor franklin at paris. general post office, _june , _. dear sir--i must confess i have taken a long time to acknowledge the last letter you were pleased to write me the th of march from new york. i am happy, however, to learn from my nephew, mr. george maddison, that you enjoy good health, and that as the french were about to establish five packet boats at l'orient, port louis, for the purpose of a monthly correspondence between that port and new york, you were desirous of knowing the intentions of england on that subject....--i am, dear sir, with the greatest truth and respect, your most obedient and most humble servant, anthony todd. in , as part of a licensing act, the monopoly of letting post-horses which the post office had enjoyed uninterruptedly since was taken away. it is curious to note that a measure which years before had been deemed essential to the maintenance of the posts was now withdrawn without, so far as we are aware, exciting a murmur; and, by a strange coincidence, at the very time the measure was being withdrawn in the united kingdom, the deputy postmaster-general of canada, who had recently arrived in london, was urging upon the government a similar expedient as an indispensable condition without which the "maîtres de poste" between quebec and montreal would be constrained to throw up their appointments. such is the difference between a new institution and an institution that is well established. it should here be remarked that with the extinction of this monopoly passed away one of the original functions of the postmasters-general. hitherto, lightly as the responsibility had rested upon them for the last hundred years or more, they had been masters of the travelling-post as well as the letter-post. for the future they were to be masters of the letter-post alone. little remains to be told of the eighteen years of which this chapter treats. in , in consequence of a hint dropped by the lord chief justice in the course of a trial, the post office did an eminently useful thing. it issued an advertisement counselling the public when sending bank notes by post to cut them into two parts and to send one part by one post and another by another. the counsel was adopted, and in an incredibly short space of time the practice became general. in the same year the post office servants were disfranchised. by an act passed in the reign of queen anne they were forbidden either to persuade or to dissuade others in the matter of voting; and now they were forbidden to vote themselves. the only point of interest connected with the two acts is perhaps their termination. while the later act was repealed in , the earlier one was not repealed until ; and meanwhile the postmaster-general sat in the house of commons and offered himself for election. little, probably, did he think that for every vote he solicited he rendered himself not only liable to a penalty of £ but "incapable of ever bearing or executing any office or place of trust whatsoever under her majesty, her heirs, or successors." the internal condition of the post office during the last few years of lord north's administration was simply deplorable. the profits from the sale of newspapers kept growing less and less. the clerks of the roads, after paying the salaries and pensions which formed the first charge on their receipts, had left for themselves the merest pittance. these men, to whom an appeal for help had never been made in vain, were now in sore need of help themselves. the prospect was alarming, for if the clerks of the roads should fail to meet their engagements they would drag down with them a not inconsiderable part of the establishment. it was in , when apprehension was highest, that the commissioners of land tax for the city of london made a new assessment, and suddenly, without a note of warning, every post office servant in the metropolis found himself assessed to the land tax to the amount of s. in the pound. not even the letter-carriers or maid-servants were excepted. at this time and during the two or three following years a general bankruptcy was imminent. eventually the abatements were remitted and the salaries and pensions which had been charged to the clerks of the roads were in part transferred to the state; but not before many of the post office servants had compounded with their creditors and all had endured the severest privations. meanwhile the postmasters from america, ejected from their offices, had been flocking to this country and pleading for pensions on the english establishment. the packets were meeting with a series of disasters so far beyond the experience of former wars as to excite the most hostile comment. during the seven years ending august no less than thirty-seven were captured by the enemy. of these four belonged to the post office, and sums for that time prodigious were expended to replace them. the others were owned by the captains who commanded them, and the owners received as compensation for their loss the sum of £ , . even the fabric of the buildings partook of the general decay. in edinburgh the post office had had to be abandoned at a moment's notice, the arch which supported the main part of the structure having given way. in dublin the roof had fallen in. in both dublin and edinburgh new post offices were being erected at heavy expense; while in london search was being made for new premises on the plea that those in lombard street were insufficient for present requirements. to crown all, ugly rumours were afloat, rumours imputing corruption in the highest quarters. the postmasters-general were indeed to be pitied. the post office in more senses than one was falling about their ears. chapter xii john palmer - the apathy of the post office about this time is incomprehensible. more than twenty years before, the general convention of the royal boroughs of scotland had called the attention of the postmasters-general to the intolerable slowness of the post on the great north road. "every common traveller," they wrote, "passes the king's mail on the first road in the kingdom." at the present time the clerks of the roads were giving as one of the reasons why they were undersold in the matter of newspapers that, whereas they sent their wares by post, the booksellers and printers availed themselves of the more expeditious conveyance by stage-coach. yet it seems never to have occurred to the postmasters-general that what was being done by others they might do themselves. the lesson that was lost upon the postmasters-general was to be learnt and applied by john palmer, proprietor of the theatre at bath. palmer had, while yet at school, been distinguished for a love of enterprise, an indomitable perseverance, and an activity of body which knew no fatigue and set distance at defiance. he had, through sheer persistency, obtained a patent for his theatre at bath, which thus became the first theatre-royal out of the metropolis. at a time when the mail leaving london on monday night did not arrive at bath until wednesday afternoon, he had been in the habit of accomplishing the distance between the two cities in a single day. he had made journeys equally long and equally rapid in other directions; and, as the result of observation, he had come to the conclusion that of the horses kept at the post-houses it was always the worst that were set aside to carry the mail, and that the post was the slowest mode of conveyance in the kingdom. he had also observed that, where security or despatch was required, his neighbours at bath who might desire to correspond with london would make a letter up into a parcel and send it by stage-coach,[ ] although the cost by stage-coach was, porterage included, s. and by post d. not seldom, indeed, the difference would be more than s. d., for to prevent delay on the part of the porters in london one of these clandestine letters would as often as not have written on the back, "an extra sum will be given the porter if he delivers this letter immediately." [ ] thus, mrs. thrale to doctor johnson. writing from bath on the th of july , she says: "i write by the coach the more speedily and effectually to prevent your coming hither."--hayward's _autobiography of mrs. piozzi_, vol. i. p. . starting from these premises palmer, with characteristic energy, set himself to devise a plan for the reform of the post office. this plan was simply that the mails--which, to use his own words, had heretofore been trusted to some idle boy without character, mounted on a worn-out hack, who, so far from being able to defend himself against a robber, was more likely to be in league with one--should for the future be carried by coach. the coach should be guarded, and should carry no outside passenger. for guard no one could be better than a soldier, who would be skilled in the use of firearms. he should carry two short guns or blunderbusses, and sit on the top of the coach with the mail behind him. from this position he could command the road and observe suspicious persons. the coachman also should carry arms; but in his case they should be pistols. a speed should be maintained of eight or nine miles an hour. thus, the distance between london and bath would, stoppages included, be accomplished in sixteen hours instead of thirty-eight; and these stoppages should, in point of time, be largely reduced. as the coach arrived at the end of each stage there would be little more for the postmaster to do than to put into the mail bag the outgoing letters and to take out of the bag the letters that were coming in. surely a quarter of an hour would be ample for the purpose. he must indeed be an inexpert postmaster who could not change his letters as soon as the ostler changes his horses. strict punctuality should be observed. each postmaster should be on the spot and to the moment to receive the mail when it arrived; and if it did not arrive to time, a man on horseback should be despatched to ascertain the cause of delay. this, in the event of the coach having been stopped by highwaymen, would secure immediate pursuit. and how little would be the cost of the proposed reform. it was doubtful indeed whether there would be any additional cost at all. the mails were now being conveyed at a charge for boy and horse of d. a mile. it was certain that men might be found who for this rate of payment would be glad to convey them by coach. especially would this be the case if the coaches which carried the mails were exempt, as they ought to be, from toll. between london and bath, for instance, the toll was, for a carriage and pair, s., and for a carriage and four, s. exemption from this impost would of itself be no inconsiderable boon to the contractors. besides, the speed and security of a mail coach would attract passengers. at all events something, it was clear, must be done. as matters stood it was an intolerable hardship that persons sending letters by coach should be subject to penalties. a coach might go at a time when there was no post; and a letter might require immediate despatch. yet, rather than make use of the coach and pay half a crown, one was obliged to hire an express, which was less expeditious, at a cost of two or three guineas. surely, if no other change were made, this at least should be conceded--that any one taking a letter to the post office and paying the proper amount of postage upon it according to its address should, after the letter had been impressed with the postmark and signed by the postmaster, be at liberty to send it by what channel he pleased. such were the main features of palmer's plan. as a subsidiary, though by no means a necessary, part of it he made two suggestions which it may be well to mention, if only because they were afterwards adopted. these were-- st, that the mails, which from the first establishment of the post office had not left london until between midnight and three o'clock in the morning, should start at eight in the evening; and nd, that they should not be kept waiting for the government letters when these happened to be late. this keeping the mails waiting for the government letters had, at the beginning of the century, been a constant source of complaint. "we take this occasion of representing to your lordship," wrote the postmasters-general to lord dartmouth on the th of march , "the great inconvenience which happened to the business of this office on tuesday's night's post by the inland mails having all been detained here till the receipt of the court letters, which were not brought by the messenger from whitehall before half-past six on wednesday morning." a similar letter of remonstrance was at the same time addressed to mr. secretary st. john. but, of late years, so profound had been the supineness which reigned at the post office that it may, probably enough, have been considered of little consequence whether the mails were delayed or not. palmer was unable to take this view. to him it appeared in the highest degree improper that, for the sake of a few letters which after all might be of no great importance, the post office business of the whole country should be thrown out of gear. far better, he urged, that the mail should leave at the proper hour, and that these letters, if behind time, should be sent after it by express. a third suggestion he made, a suggestion admirable in itself, and yet one that at that time was little likely to be adopted. this was that the post office should take the public into its confidence, and invite them to make known their wants and suggest how best these wants might be supplied. in october , through the intervention of his friend john pratt, afterwards lord camden, palmer's plan was brought under the notice of pitt; and pitt, who was then chancellor of the exchequer in the administration of lord shelburne, at once discerned its merits. nothing, however, could be done until the post office had had an opportunity of offering its opinion on the matter, and when this opinion was given--which was not until july --pitt was out of office; and, although he returned to power as minister in the following december, the struggle in which he then became engaged with an unruly parliament, and afterwards a general election, effectually precluded him from giving attention to the posts until the summer of . meanwhile palmer devoted himself to the perfection of his plan. he traversed the whole of the kingdom by stage-coaches, noting down the time they occupied in accomplishing their journeys, the time they unnecessarily lost, and how they might be better regulated and made serviceable for the transport of the mails. he took the same opportunity of acquainting himself with the course of the post and carefully observed its defects and delays. nor did he trust to his own exertions alone. in order to test the extent of clandestine traffic, he employed persons to watch the bath and bristol coaches as they started for london, and to count the number of parcels which appeared to contain letters. these persons assured him that the number was never less than several hundreds in the week, and in some weeks was as high as . the office of postmaster-general was at this time held by lords carteret and tankerville. carteret had only recently been raised to the peerage. appointed thirteen years before as henry frederick thynne in conjunction with lord le despencer, he had, amid the conflict of parties and the fall of successive ministries, contrived to retain his post. tankerville, on the contrary, had come in and gone out with a change of government. called upon to preside over the post office in , he had left it in and had returned in january of the following year. the part which these two peers took in connection with palmer's plan appears to have been not injudicious. without expressing any opinion of their own as to its feasibility or otherwise, they contented themselves with collecting and forwarding to pitt the opinions of such of their subordinates as were presumably qualified to judge. these were the district surveyors, and their verdict was unanimously against the plan. of the reasons for this judgment a specimen or two will suffice. by one it was objected that there could be no need for the post to be the swiftest conveyance in the kingdom; by another, that to employ firearms for the protection of the mail would encourage their use on the other side, and thus murder might be added to robbery; by a third, that not only did the posts as they stood afford all reasonable accommodation, but it was beyond the power of human ingenuity to devise a better system. of these and other objections pitt made short work. he summoned a conference at the treasury, at which were present the postmasters-general, palmer, and the objectors; and having patiently listened to all that could be urged against the plan, he desired that it should be tried on what was commonly called the bath road, the road between bristol and london. this conference was held on the st of june . on saturday the st of july an agreement was signed under which, in consideration of a payment of d. a mile, five innholders--one belonging to london, one to thatcham, one to marlborough, and two to bath--undertook to provide the horses; and on monday the nd of august the first mail-coach began to run. it is unfortunate that of the early performances of this coach no record remains. we only know that on the first journey it started from bristol and not from london, and that palmer was present to see it off; that, ordinarily, the distance was accomplished in seventeen hours, being at the rate of about seven miles an hour; and that, as a result, the expresses to bristol, which before had been as many as in the year, ceased altogether. ten or twelve years later, indeed, the expresses for the whole of the kingdom were not one-fifth of what, before , was the number for the city of bristol alone. palmer's plan, once introduced, made rapid progress. mail-coaches began to run through norfolk and suffolk in march ; and on the cross-road between bristol and portsmouth in the following may. on the th of july the plan was extended to leeds, manchester, and liverpool, and during the next two months to gloucester and swansea; to hereford, carmarthen, and milford haven; to worcester and ludlow; to birmingham and shrewsbury; to chester and holyhead; to exeter; to portsmouth; to dover and other places. the great north road was reserved to the last, and here the plan was carried into effect in the summer of . it may be convenient here to say a few words on the subject of nomenclature. post-coach, a term in vogue about this time,[ ] might not unnaturally be supposed to denote a coach in use by the post office. such, however, was not the case. the term post-coach, like the kindred term post-chaise, was introduced probably early in the last century, and, so far as we are aware, was never employed in the sense of mail-coach. it should further be noticed that the term mail-coach, although we have employed it to make our meaning clear, did not come into use until after . in that year, and for some little time afterwards, coaches which carried the mails were called diligences or machines, and the coachmen were called machine-drivers. [ ] thus, the act geo. iii. cap. li. sec. --an act passed four years before the mails were carried by coach:-- "that every person who shall keep any four-wheeled chaise or other machine commonly called a diligence or post-coach, or by what name soever such carriages now are or hereafter shall be called or known...." that the term post-coach, as distinguished from mail-coach, was in vogue as late as appears from evidence taken in that year before the commissioners of revenue inquiry--"(q.) are you acquainted with the post-coaches? (a.) not any very great deal. (q.) comparing them with mail-coaches, which do you think are the best formed? (a.) decidedly the mail-coaches, i think."--appendix to eighteenth report, p. . the plan of carrying letters by mail-coach was, on its introduction, sadly marred by a simultaneous or almost simultaneous increase in the rates of postage. pitt had brought forward his budget on the th of june; and among the measures he proposed with a view to replenish an exhausted exchequer was a tax upon coals. the proposal was not well received by the house, and it was afterwards withdrawn in favour of an increase of postage. palmer took credit to himself that he had proposed the substitution. if, as would appear to be the case, the claim is well founded, one can only regret that he should thus wantonly have handicapped his own proceedings. it is true, no doubt, that he was about to make the post both quicker and more secure; that he would have a better article to dispose of, an article that would fetch a higher price. it is also true that his plan, weighted as it was, proved an unqualified success. and yet it is impossible to deny that his reputation as a post office reformer, high as it stands, would have stood still higher if his counsel had been on the side of reduction. the rates prescribed by the act of , as compared with those of , were as follows:-- +-----------------------------+-------------------++-------------------+ | | . || . | | +----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+ | distance. | s | d | t | o || s | d | t | o | | | i | o | r | u || i | o | r | u | | | n | u | e | n || n | u | e | n | | | g | b | b | c || g | b | b | c | | | l | l | l | e || l | l | l | e | | | e | e | e | . || e | e | e | . | | | . | . | . | || . | . | . | | +-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+ | |_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._||_d._|_d._|_d._|_d._| |not exceeding one post stage | | | | || | | | | |exceeding one and not | | | | || | | | | | exceeding two post stages | | | | || | | | | |exceeding two post stages | | | | || | | | | | and not exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |exceeding and not | | | | || | | | | | exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |to and from edinburgh | | | | || | | | | | | | | | || | | | | | | | { the irish post office had only | | { recently been placed under the | | { authority of the irish parliament; | |to and from dublin { and the rates of postage, not only | | { within ireland, but between ireland | | { and great britain, were awaiting | | { revision. | | | | within scotland. | | | | || | | | | | (measured from edinburgh.) | | | | || | | | | |not exceeding one post stage | | | | || | | | | |exceeding one post stage and | | | | || | | | | | not exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |exceeding miles and not | | | | || | | | | | exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |exceeding and not | | | | || | | | | | exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | |exceeding miles | | | | || | | | | +-----------------------------+----+----+----+----++----+----+----+----+ the same act which increased the rates of postage imposed, or sought to impose, additional restrictions upon franking. some concessions indeed were made. letters from members of parliament, in order to secure exemption, need no longer be limited, in point of weight, to two ounces and, in point of time, to the session of parliament and forty days before and after. as part of the superscription, however, were now to be given the full date of the letter, the day, the month, and the year, all in the member's handwriting; and the letter was to be posted on the date which the superscription bore. these restrictions, it was confidently expected, would correct the worst abuses and render the concessions harmless. but, curiously enough, like the restrictions of , they had an exactly contrary effect to that which was intended. the members sent to their constituents and friends, for use as occasion should serve, franks that were post-dated. these the post office charged, as coming from places where the members were known not to be. the members remonstrated, demanding to be informed in what respects the conditions of the act had not been satisfied. the dispute waxing warm, the matter was referred to pitt; and pitt, after testing the opinion of the house, decided that pending fresh legislation the charges should be abandoned. practically, therefore, the abuses which the act was designed to prevent were not only not prevented but were given wider scope. palmer maintained to the end of his life that during the two years which followed the starting of the first mail-coach he was thwarted and opposed by the post office. this charge, so far as it refers to those by whom the post office was managed and controlled, we believe to be groundless. that he had difficulties with contractors and postmasters is beyond question. contractors were at all times troublesome persons to deal with, but they were not post office servants; and postmasters might well be excused if they looked askance at the new plan. their salaries, low as they were, had long been shamefully reduced by exactions at headquarters under the name of fees; and what little they had been able to make out of their allowances for riding-work was now threatened by a system under which that work was to be done by contract. but the charge was not confined to contractors and postmasters. it extended to those who controlled and directed the post office, to carteret and tankerville and to their confidential adviser, the secretary; and, as we believe, with very insufficient reason. carteret was indifferent. tankerville was sincerely desirous of a reform of the posts, from whatever quarter it might come. anthony todd, the secretary, was eminently a man of peace. appointed to the post office in , he had arrived at a time of life when to most men ease and quiet are essential; and not only was he well advanced in years but it was not in his nature to thwart or oppose any one. all he wanted was to be left alone; and he was shrewd enough to know that the best way to secure this object was not to molest others. between todd and palmer, indeed, there was little in common. palmer, in everything he undertook, was intensely in earnest. todd, on the contrary, could with difficulty get up even an appearance of earnestness about anything which did not concern himself. even of his duty todd took a view which must have been absolutely repugnant to palmer. lloyds's coffee-house was supplied by the post office with the arrivals and sailings of british ships, and it paid for the information no less than £ a year. one-half of this amount went into todd's own pocket; and yet, according to him, the giving of the information was a concession, an indulgence. "the merchants," he would write, "are indulged with ship news." to the mayor of shrewsbury, who had asked on behalf of the inhabitants for an earlier post, he deliberately wrote, "the arrival of the mail a few hours sooner or later can be of no great consequence." not many years before, a despatch sent by express from lord north to the duke of newcastle had been lost. even to the minister todd was not ashamed to write, "i dare to say there is no roguery in the case, but [that the letter has been] lost and trampled under foot in the dirty roads." between a man who could take this view of his duty and palmer, who was burning to perfect his plan, there could be little sympathy; but there was certainly no active antagonism. that, as palmer extended his plan, doubts as to its merits arose at headquarters is perfectly true; but they were honest doubts, doubts which might excusably be entertained and which, if entertained, the post office was bound to express. palmer, who regarded every one who was not for him as being against him, construed the expression of a doubt into an act of hostility. let us see what some of these doubts were, and whence they originated. in london, before the introduction of palmer's plan, it had been the practice to wait for the arrival of all the mails before any one of them was delivered, so that in the event of a single mail being behind time, no delivery at all might take place until three or four o'clock in the afternoon or even later. palmer, of course, altered this. but now his interest in the bristol coach led him to an opposite extreme. the bristol mail was delivered the moment it arrived; and all other mails, by how little soever they might be later, were kept waiting. again, before the post was frequently diverted from the high road in order that adjacent villages might be served. on the bath road, for instance, although on this road there were fewer diversions than on any other in the kingdom, the post left the turnpike road between hungerford and marlborough in order to go through ramsbury. under the new arrangement it would have defeated palmer's object to leave the direct track, if indeed the state of the roads would have admitted of it; and as the coaches could not go to the villages, the villages had to send to the coaches. not in these cases alone was there, at first, a very general failure to effect a junction. along every road on which a mail-coach was started the bye and cross posts were deranged and thrown into confusion; and, as a consequence, the post office was swamped with complaints from those whose letters had been delayed. had this been all, it would have been little more than might be expected in the course of transition from one system to another; but other causes of dissatisfaction arose. the act of parliament regulated the rates of postage according to stages-- d. in the case of a single letter, for one stage, d. for two stages, and beyond two stages and not exceeding eighty miles d.; but what was meant by the term stage the act nowhere defined. virtually it was in the power of one man, by the simple expedient of reducing the length of the stages and so increasing their number, to raise the rate of postage between any two towns in the kingdom that were not more than a certain number of miles apart. and this is exactly what palmer did. from rochester to dartford, for instance, had been one stage. the single stage was replaced by two stages; and the postage, which had been d., became d. from newbury to devizes had been two stages. the two stages were increased to three; and the postage was raised from d. to d. and so it was throughout the kingdom. well might the postmasters-general write, as they wrote under date the th of december , "we are now at a loss in many instances how to rate letters and what to call by the name of a stage." but not even the increase of postage which resulted from shortening the stages gave so much offence as the earlier closing of the post office in lombard street. the post office had from the earliest times been kept open to at least twelve o'clock at night, and probably a little later. it now closed at seven o'clock in the evening, so as to admit of the mails starting at eight o'clock. palmer had foreseen that objections might be raised to the change; but he was little prepared for the storm of indignation that followed. the first merchants in london, some of them bearing names still honoured in the city,--thellusson, lubbock and bosanquet, herries, quentin dick and hoare,--protested in writing and afterwards waited on the postmasters-general in a body to support their protest. the leather-dealers followed suit, a body representing more than sixty firms. some held that the post office should be kept open till nine o'clock, and others till ten or even eleven o'clock; but all were of opinion that seven was too early an hour to close. at a meeting held at the london tavern, and presided over by one of the sheriffs, resolutions were passed, copies of which were afterwards presented to pitt in person, not only condemning the early hour of closing but calling for the adoption of measures with a view "to remove the inconveniences which had hitherto been experienced from the establishment of mail-coaches." no wonder if the postmasters-general doubted the merits of a plan which exposed them to these complaints. nor was it only from without that troubles came. the letter-carriers were grumbling and more than grumbling; and not without reason. for more than seventy years they had been ringing bells in the streets after the receiving houses were shut--until on the three nights of the week called grand post nights, and since that date on the bye-nights as well--receiving as their own perquisite d. on each letter they collected. hence the men had made a comfortable addition to their wages of s. a week; and now, owing to the closing of the post office at seven, the emoluments derived from this source were rapidly dwindling and promised soon to disappear altogether. between carteret and tankerville differences now arose which, in view of subsequent events, it is impossible to pass unnoticed. on the break-up of the shelburne administration in , when tankerville left the post office and carteret remained, the two postmasters-general had parted with mutual expressions of regard and goodwill. a questionable transaction in which carteret had been concerned, a transaction partaking of the nature of a corrupt bargain, had indeed come under tankerville's notice; but he willingly attributed it to the malign influence exercised by his predecessor, lord le despencer. this favourable construction his later experience had induced him to modify. one case in particular which occurred soon after his return to the post office had aroused the most painful suspicions. on monday the nd of august , the same day as that on which the first mail-coach started, the post office of ireland was separated from the post office of england. into the reasons of this separation, being as they were political, we do not propose to enter. suffice it to say that the government of ireland took advantage of the occasion to displace armit, the secretary to the irish post office, and to reappoint john lees, who had been secretary from to , when he was promoted to the war office. on his reappointment lees wrote to the postmasters-general in london recapitulating the conditions on which he had been appointed ten years before, and stating that to those conditions, onerous as they were, he proposed in the main to adhere. he was indeed under no obligation in the matter, for he owed his reappointment to the irish government; but of this circumstance he had no desire to avail himself. armit had taken over the conditions from lees; and lees would now resume them from armit. let us see what the conditions were. in barham, the packet agent at dover, being compelled by ill-health to retire, was succeeded by walcot, the secretary to the post office in ireland, and walcot was succeeded by lees, who was new to the service. barham, though superannuated, was during his life to receive from walcot the full salary and emoluments of the packet agency, and walcot was during the same period to receive from lees the full salary and emoluments of the secretaryship. lees was meanwhile to receive from walcot a small allowance for acting as secretary. thus far there was nothing unusual in the arrangement. on the contrary, it was an arrangement which in those days was very commonly made. that which was unusual, and which nowhere appeared in the official records, was an undertaking into which lees had entered to the effect that, after barham's death, he would make to a fourth person during that person's life an annual payment of £ . this engagement lees, when reappointed in , expressed himself unwilling to renew. he was quite prepared to resume the payment to walcot, reduced only to the same extent as by recent legislation the secretary's emoluments had been reduced; but the reversionary payment to the gentleman whom he would designate by the initials a. b. rested on different grounds. from this he must beg to be released. now, who was a. b.? this was the question which tankerville asked; and asked in vain. he could obtain no information on the subject. meanwhile carteret, who was extremely displeased and disquieted at the disclosure, caused an expression of his severe displeasure to be conveyed to lees that he should have presumed to make public a transaction which was obviously designed to be private. lees replied that, as he would be unable to keep the engagement, he was bound in honour to state so; that he had made known nothing more than was absolutely necessary in order to obtain an acquittance, namely, that after barham's death an annuity of £ had been agreed to be paid to some one; but who this some one was had been, and would continue to be, a profound secret. in london it had been whispered, and more than whispered, that a. b. was carteret himself. on this point lees was emphatic. the transaction, he said, concerns no postmaster-general, either living or dead. "with lord carteret it has personally no more to do than with the king of france." tankerville, though profoundly dissatisfied, resolved to let the matter drop; and during the next eighteen months the feeling of distrust with which he regarded carteret did not prevent the two postmasters-general from working together harmoniously. it was not until june that an open rupture occurred. some furniture had been ordered for the housekeeper's apartments, and tankerville, regarding it as of too luxurious a nature, refused to countersign the bill unless the secretary could produce a precedent for the expense. this todd might have had some difficulty in doing, as no housekeeper had resided on the post office premises since the year ; but instead of offering an explanation to that effect he waited for the next board meeting, and, having already procured carteret's signature to the bill, put it before tankerville without remark. tankerville, who never signed a document without examining its contents, inquired whether this was not the housekeeper's bill to which he had taken exception, and, on being answered in the affirmative, told todd that he had been guilty of a gross impropriety. carteret, who had made no secret of his opinion that it was no part of a postmaster-general's duty to check tradesmen's accounts, took todd's part; whereupon tankerville, whose temper was always running away with him, observed that he would do no jobs, and that if a good understanding between himself and carteret were only to be procured by such means he would rather that they should continue on their present terms. the next business set down for discussion had a termination still more unfortunate. the office of comptroller of the bye and cross roads had become vacant, and carteret, whose turn it was to appoint, had appointed staunton, the postmaster of isleworth. in addition to a salary of £ a year, the appointment carried a residence in the post office building; and as the residence occupied by the late comptroller had by pitt's desire been given to palmer, carteret proposed that staunton should be recommended to the treasury for an allowance of £ a year as compensation. tankerville, who had been in personal communication with pitt and ascertained that he would object to an allowance for such a purpose, declined to join in the recommendation, explaining the reason. carteret's remarks implied, or seemed to imply, a doubt whether pitt had really been seen on the subject, as alleged. tankerville again lost his temper. high words ensued, and the board broke up, carteret declaring that it was impossible they should continue to act as joint postmasters-general, and that he should at once wait upon pitt and inform him to that effect. carteret was as good as his word. in three days from the date of the board meeting at which the altercation had taken place he waited upon pitt; and pitt, after labouring in vain to effect a reconciliation, at length dismissed tankerville. tankerville, who had been in constant communication with the minister on the subject of the abuses at the post office, and had sedulously applied himself to their correction, was hardly less surprised than he was indignant; and restating the origin of the disagreement between himself and his colleague, he demanded to be informed in what respects he had been to blame. pitt replied that he could not enter into the merits of the question; that all it concerned him to know was that carteret was necessary to him in the house of lords; and that, as carteret had expressed himself unable to act any longer with tankerville, it had become essential to make another arrangement. this decision as between two colleagues, of whom one was as clearly actuated by honesty of purpose as the other was not, a decision given too by a minister who had already established a character for purity of administration, seems so extraordinary that we must look for some further explanation. the truth we believe to be that owing to an ungovernable temper tankerville was simply intractable, and had shewn himself to pitt to be so. even todd, who with all his faults was essentially a man of peace, was unable to get on with him. "i am sorry to say," he wrote on one occasion, "your lordship is the only postmaster-general i have not had the happiness to serve under with his perfect approbation." on another occasion he wrote to carteret: "i have had a very unpleasant day of it. his lordship is so completely jealous and wrong-headed, so that without entering into unpleasing particulars i had better leave him to his own thoughts." tankerville's own letters afford evidence to the same effect. "i shall not be disposed to talk coolly on the subject of mr. dashwood, or hear anything you may have to say, unless you can prove him guilty of fraud, which i do not admit, but now tell you distinctly that i believe lord carteret has been indebted to you for that forced construction." again, "i do not find that i cool very fast," tankerville wrote from brighton a week or so after the incident which had excited his ire. ever his own worst enemy, he now spoiled a good ease, so far as it was possible to spoil it, by intemperate writing. instead of keeping to the main question, he rambled off into side-issues which were all but irrelevant. carteret had spoken of one interview with pitt. pitt had expressed himself as though there had been more than one. the point was absolutely unimportant. yet tankerville fastened upon it, and, declaring that one or the other must have been guilty of untruth, called upon them as men of honour to reconcile the discrepancy. intemperate as tankerville's language had been, it was impossible that things should remain as they were. nothing but a public inquiry would satisfy the justice of the case; and on this he was resolved. it was a matter of regret to him to impeach carteret's conduct; but there was no other method of vindicating his own. "the causes of my removal," he wrote, "shall be made as public as the injury; and, however gratified your lordship and those in concert with you may at present feel by the success of your measures, i will take upon me to foretell that the triumph will soon be at an end. i have been removed; others will be disgraced." "when your lordship," replied carteret, "shall think proper to bring this matter before the public, i flatter myself my conduct will be unimpeached." a parliamentary committee of inquiry was granted, and met for the first time on the th of may . the session terminated on the th of the same month. short as the interval was, evidence enough was taken to substantiate all and more than all that tankerville had alleged. the committee reported that a payment of £ a year had been exacted from lees as a condition of his appointment as secretary to the post office in ireland; that a payment of £ a year had been similarly exacted from dashwood, the postmaster-general of jamaica; that, while lees had engaged to pay only in a future event, the payment in dashwood's case had begun from the date of his appointment; that both payments were in favour of the person who had been designated by the initials a. b.; that the transactions, though protested against at the time, had been insisted upon by lords carteret and le despencer; and that not only had no record of them been made in the official books, but they had been kept carefully concealed. the committee further reported that scandalous abuses had been found to exist at the post office, abuses which should be examined into and corrected forthwith; and that of many of these the first lord of the treasury had been specifically informed by lord tankerville before the latter was dismissed. the chief interest of the inquiry, however, centred in the question--who was a. b.? a. b. proved to be one peregrine treves, a so-called friend of carteret's, who had never performed any public service either in the post office or elsewhere. "are you not a jew and a foreigner?" asked the inexorable committee. "yes," was the reply. "in consideration of what services," the committee continued, "did you receive these grants?" "from friendship entirely," answered treves. tankerville's prediction had been amply fulfilled. it was not he that was disgraced. yet, curiously enough, carteret made no sign. and even pitt did nothing more than expedite the proceedings of a royal commission which was already sitting. this commission had been appointed at his instigation some years before to inquire into the duties and the pay of certain public departments, of which the post office was one. it was now arranged that the post office was to be the next to come under review. during these dissensions at headquarters palmer's plan had made steady progress. many of the irregularities inseparable from the introduction of a new system had been corrected. the cross-posts had been fitted to the mail-coaches, so that failures of connection were daily becoming fewer; and when the merchants found that answers to their letters were being received in less than half the usual time, and with a degree of punctuality never experienced before, their complaints respecting the early closing of the post office appear to have died away. the post office revenue bore evidence to the improved state of things, the net receipt during the quarter ending the th of january being £ , , as against £ , during the corresponding quarter of . according to all experience, the increase in the rates of postage should have had the effect of reducing the number of letters; but so far was this from being the case that the number of letters had increased in spite of the increase of rates. the truth is that clandestine correspondence had to a large extent ceased. there was no longer any temptation to send by irregular means, at a cost of two or three shillings, and at the risk of detection, a letter which would be conveyed at least as expeditiously and for one-third of that amount by mail-coach. palmer, who had to this time been assisted by persons selected by himself and not belonging to the post office, now bestirred himself to procure for them an established position. public and private interests were for once identical. hitherto there had been only three surveyors for the whole of england; and of these one had resided in london. at palmer's instigation, england was now divided into six postal districts, and a surveyor allotted to each. a seventh or spare surveyor was held in readiness to be detached to any part of the kingdom where his services might be required. each surveyor was to reside in the centre of his district, and his functions, shortly stated, were to keep an accurate record of the posts and of the persons under his charge, to see that these persons did their duty, to facilitate correspondence and to remedy complaints. the resident surveyorship, an appointment which had been created in , was abolished as no longer necessary, palmer himself being at hand to give what advice the postmasters-general might require. the mode of remuneration was also altered. hitherto the surveyors had received a salary of £ a year without any allowance for travelling, the consequence being of course that they had travelled as little as possible. for the future the salary was to be only £ ; but as an inducement to them to move about within their own districts, they were to have one guinea a day when absent from their headquarters. the whole of the additional appointments were conferred upon palmer's nominees, and for the seventh or spare surveyorship he selected francis freeling, a young man of promise, who during the last two years had been actively engaged in regulating the mail-coaches throughout the country. it was about this time or a little earlier that the conditions of palmer's own employment were, at length, definitely settled, but not by any means to his own satisfaction. his first stipulation was that, besides being absolutely free from the control of the postmasters-general, he should have a commission of - / per cent upon all increase in the net post office revenue, which should follow as the result of his own plan. thus, the net post office revenue before august being estimated at £ , , he stipulated for one-fortieth part of the excess over that amount. to this pitt agreed; but freedom from the control of the postmasters-general was a point which it was out of his power to concede. the act of parliament constituting the post office would not admit of it. even nominal subjection to the postmasters-general was so irksome to palmer that he was constantly pressing that a special act might be passed to give him perfect freedom. nor was this all. the increase in the rates of postage which came into operation one month after the starting of the first mail-coach was estimated to produce £ , a year, and pitt deemed it only reasonable that this amount should be added to the previous revenue of £ , , making £ , altogether, before palmer could be allowed to draw his percentage. of this variation of the original understanding palmer bitterly complained, not seeing apparently that, as the increase of rates had been recommended by himself, the complaint reflected on his own singleness of purpose in making the recommendation. eventually it was decided that, in addition to a commission of - / per cent upon the net revenue in excess of £ , , palmer should receive a salary of £ ; but even this settlement was not arrived at without grumbling on palmer's part, and without serious misgiving on the part of the post office. pitt highly approved the percentage, holding that it would serve as a constant incentive to exertion. tankerville, while not denying the expediency of such a mode of remuneration, questioned its legality. under the act of anne, which a subsequent act had made perpetual, the post office revenue was appropriated to certain specific purposes; and he doubted the propriety of diverting any part of it as a reward for services, however meritorious. clarendon, tankerville's successor, entertained the same scruples; and except by the postmasters-general no appointment within the post office could be made. palmer's objection, on the contrary, was to the amount of salary, on the ground that £ did not represent the fortieth part of £ , . pitt declined, however, to give way; and on the th of october palmer was appointed comptroller-general of the post office on the terms prescribed by the minister. there can be no question that palmer bargaining for terms is palmer seen in his least pleasing aspect. the best that can be said is that he was candid enough not to disguise his object, which was to amass a fortune. at bath he had in his boyhood seen ralph allen living in a large house and dispensing hospitality on an extensive scale, and he could not bring himself to understand why the difference between his own and allen's remuneration should be in the inverse ratio to the value of their improvements. and not only did palmer exhibit an unworthy jealousy of allen, but he did that good man, as we think, an injustice. when urging his own claims on the minister, he constantly insisted that allen, on the introduction of his plan, had no difficulties to contend with, and that he kept that plan a secret. never was there a more untenable position. that allen had difficulties to contend with and how he overcame them we have seen in a preceding chapter; and the charge of keeping his plan a secret is refuted by the conditions of his contract, which prevented him from giving an instruction even to his own servants until it had been submitted to headquarters. no doubt it was not known until after his death that allen had derived from the post office an income of £ , a year. his wealth had been supposed to come from the stone-quarries he possessed on combe down. but this was not the contention. what palmer insisted upon was that, while he had disclosed his plan, allen had kept his plan secret, and that, if only on that ground, the balance of merit was on his own side. in december the commission of inquiry commenced its labours. exactly a century had elapsed since the post office had undergone a similar ordeal, a period too long for any public department to be left to itself; and meanwhile abuses had taken root and flourished. one hundred years before there had been no sinecures. now the principal officers attended, some of them only occasionally and others not at all; and attendance, when attendance was given, often extended no later than to one or two o'clock in the afternoon. the receiver-general, for instance, attended on three days a week; and the accountant-general attended once or twice in three months, when the quarterly balance had to be made up. court-post employed a deputy, to whom, out of a salary of £ , he made an annual allowance of £ . the solicitor, like court-post, was an absentee, but, unlike him, was careful not to part with even a fraction of his salary. in this case the deputy received as remuneration one-third part of the law charges incurred--a form of payment calculated more perhaps than any other to promote litigation. in the penny post office were three principal officers--a comptroller, an accountant, and a collector. of these the first two gave no attendance, and the third attended only occasionally, their duties being imposed upon the chief sorter, who, in all but salary, was practically the head of the department. meagre salaries were bolstered up by fees and perquisites, many of them of an outrageous character. while the senior letter-carrier was rigidly restricted to candles in the year, a number not perhaps in excess of his actual requirements, there was hardly an officer reputed to be of any position in the post office, whether an absentee or otherwise, who was not provided with coals and candles for his private use. although to some the supply of these articles was greater than to others, the usual annual allowance was, in the case of a subordinate, four, and, in the case of the head of a department, ten chaldron of coals, and in both cases thirty-two dozen pounds of candles. as the holder of two appointments, although he discharged the duties of only one of them, the comptroller of the bye and cross roads received a double allowance. many commuted with the tradesmen whose duty it was to supply the articles for a money payment. altogether the allowance to post office servants for their private use in town and country, and irrespective of what was consumed in the official apartments, exceeded in a single year chaldron of coals and , pounds of candles. the postmasters-general had long ceased to reside in the post office building; and yet to them was supplied, besides coals and candles, what was euphoniously termed tinware, by which is to be understood kitchen utensils. the expenditure on their account under the three heads during two years and a half was, for coals £ , for candles £ , and for pots and pans £ . of stationery there was also a gratuitous supply for private as well as official use. one fee was a peculiarly cruel one, exacted as it was from a class of public servants who were unable to protect themselves. all postmasters whose salaries amounted to as much as £ were forced to renew their deputations every three years, with no other object than to enrich the harpies at headquarters. on each renewal the same fee had to be paid as on appointment, namely £ : s.; and of this amount s. went to each of the postmasters-general, s. to the secretary, s. to the solicitor, and s. to the door-keeper. the remainder was for stamp duty. postmasters were also required to pay a fee of half a guinea before receiving a warrant to exempt them from serving in public offices. christmas-boxes given by the merchants, and designed for the letter-carriers and other subordinates, were to a large extent appropriated by their superiors. from this source the comptroller of the foreign office, with an official income of £ , was not ashamed to derive £ a year. others from the same source derived smaller amounts. newspapers for reading were supplied in profligate profusion. one head of department was allowed for his own use two morning and five evening papers; another was paid £ : s. a year to supply himself with what papers he pleased. all, whether absentees or not, received an annual payment under the title of drink and feast money, the lowest amount being £ : s. and the highest £ : s., and this was in addition to three or four so-called feasts given annually at the cost of the department. these with percentages on tradesmen's bills were some of the fees and perquisites which were now dragged to the light. out of the whole number there was only one which, besides being moderate and unobjectionable, possessed a certain interest as denoting the connection which had at one time subsisted between the post office and the crown. this was a fee of s. received by the chief sorter at the general post office on the occasion of a birthday in the royal family; and as the royal family now consisted of twenty-one members, his emoluments from this source amounted to one guinea in the year. there were two points on which the royal commissioners appear to have received less than full information. these were expresses and registered letters. expresses, according to the old custom of the post, were still going at the rate of only six miles an hour, while the mail-coaches were going at the rate of eight. to this difference the commissioners called attention; but they were silent as to the fees which some expresses paid, being apparently under the impression that all were treated alike. as a matter of fact, however, expresses had by this time been divided into two kinds--the public express and the private express. the public express, that is the express on public affairs, was allowed to pass without a fee, no doubt because the post office dared not impose one; but on every private express, in addition to the authorised mileage, was charged, if from london, a fee of s. d., and if from the country, a fee of s. d.; and of course in this, as in every other case, the fees were for the benefit of individuals. on the subject of registered letters addressed to places abroad the commissioners merely expressed the opinion that the registration fee, instead of being any longer treated as a perquisite, should be applied to the use of the public; but they nowhere stated, and perhaps had not been informed, what this fee was. it may be interesting if we supply the omission. the fee for registering a packet of value was, outwards[ ] s., and inwards s. it seems incredible, and yet such is the unquestionable fact. for every letter registered for abroad the comptroller of the foreign office received s. d., the deputy-comptroller s. d., and six clerks s. apiece. one guinea for registration! and it was all the more monstrous because there can be little doubt that at one time letters had been practically registered without any fee at all. an order in council dated as far back as july had ordained "that the poste between this and the northe should eche of them keepe a booke and make entrye of every letter that he shall receive, the tyme of the deliverie thereof unto his hands with the parties names that shall bring it unto him, whose handes he shall also take to his booke, witnessing the same note to be trewe." in another order in council passed, requiring that "every post shall keepe a large and faire leger paper booke, to enter our packets in as they shalbe brought unto him, with the day of the moneth, houre of the day or night, that they came first to his handes, together with the name of him or them, by whom or unto whom they were subscribed and directed." in dockwra, when establishing his penny post, was careful to provide that letters on reaching any one of his seven sorting offices should be "entered"; and in a mere detail of treatment, it may well be believed, he followed the practice of the general post. in letters from abroad arriving at harwich were not to be forwarded to the court at newmarket until the addresses had been copied. and more than this. in two letters between london and ostend had been delayed, and it became important to discover where the delay had occurred. "we find them," wrote the postmasters-general, "both duly entered in mr. frowde's books, and are satisfy'd they were regularly dispatched from this office." now mr. frowde was comptroller of the foreign office. it may be added that, small as was the force employed at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth centuries, it is difficult to account for the length of time which was then occupied in dealing with a mere handful of letters except on the hypothesis that there was a good deal more to be done than to sort and to tax them. and now the post office, upon no better authority than its own will, was exacting a fee of s. and s., according as the letter was outwards or inwards, for doing what some eighty years before had been done for nothing. the sums extorted from the public under this head were in £ , and in the following year £ . [ ] a foreign registered letter _outwards_ would be a letter registered as far as dover or harwich or falmouth for transmission abroad, and possibly on board ship. a foreign registered letter _inwards_ would not be the exact converse, for there would be no registration from the port of arrival to london. the fee of s. covered the registration of a letter only from london to its destination. as regards the working arrangements, palmer, in virtue of the power he possessed as comptroller-general, had already corrected those that were most faulty. until lately, the letter-carriers' walks had been so extensive that many of the deliveries could not be accomplished within five or six hours. palmer had arranged that no delivery should occupy more than two hours or two hours and a half at the utmost, counting from the time of despatch from the general post office. it had been the practice for the junior clerks, the clerks with the least experience, to sort the letters for delivery, the consequence being that they reached the letter-carriers' hands in so confused a state that they had to be sorted again. hence it had been by no means unusual for an interval of four or five hours to elapse between the arrival of the last mail and the going out of the letter-carriers. by appointing some of the most intelligent letter-carriers to sort the letters in the first instance, palmer had reduced the interval to one hour on ordinary, and to one hour and a half on extraordinary occasions. as many as postmasters had returned their letter-bills in one week, and on the plea of having been overcharged had claimed and been allowed deductions. palmer had checked this abuse by arranging that in the case of those postmasters who were in the habit of returning their letter-bills the charges should be twice told. he had also reduced the amount expended on extra duty by £ a year. heretofore, if a man had chosen to absent himself, the post office had provided a substitute. for the future the substitute was to be provided at the absentee's own expense. but although palmer had already corrected the most faulty of the arrangements, some still existed which could not be pronounced good. the accountant-general was intended to be a check upon the receiver-general; yet, instead of keeping an independent record of the sums received, he merely transcribed or caused to be transcribed the entries from the receiver-general's books. the accountant-general, again, was required to certify every bill before the postmasters-general passed it for payment; but as he was not empowered to call for vouchers or for the authority under which the expenditure had been incurred, his certificate conveyed nothing more than that the bill had been rightly cast. the accounts themselves appear to have been rendered in the strangest manner. the article "dead letters," for instance, was made to serve a variety of purposes. under this article postmasters were accustomed to claim chaise-hire, law charges, and even pensions to private persons. the packet service was a part of the post office which the commissioners would fain have avoided if they could; but the public voice was too strong for them. the enormous expenditure which this service involved had long excited murmurs, and the opportunity which now offered of investigating the causes of it was one which could not with any regard to propriety be missed. accordingly the inquiry was entered upon; but with a desire to restrict it as far as possible the commissioners did not extend their investigations beyond the packet station at falmouth, where more than three-fourths of the expenditure was incurred. to ourselves, who are under no obligation to observe a similar limit, perhaps a little more latitude may be allowed. the continental mails by way of dover and harwich went at this time only twice a week; and by a curious arrangement these mails started from the general post office at midnight, although the inland mails for the same towns and going by the same route started at eight o'clock in the evening. at harwich the packet station had abandoned itself to smuggling. in two packets, the _bessborough_ and the _prince of wales_, were seized for having contraband goods on board. not a single voyage had these packets made during the last two years without committing a similar infringement of the law. the commissioners of customs, whose patience was exhausted, now commenced proceedings in the court of exchequer, and were prevailed upon to abandon them only upon the captains, who were also owners of the vessels, paying by way of fine two-third parts of their appraised value--amounting to £ in one case and to £ in the other--of which sums one-half was to go to the crown and one-half to the officer by whom the goods had been discovered. this high reward was not long in reproducing the occasion on account of which it had been given. in november another seizure took place, this time of three packets simultaneously, two of them being the same as had been seized in . the third was the _dolphin_. on this occasion the commissioners of customs determined that the vessels should be prosecuted to condemnation. in vain the postmasters-general urged that the law was a hard one which made the captains responsible for offences which, it was alleged, they had done their best to check. the customs authorities were inexorable. it was not long, however, before the post office became possessed of certain facts which, when investigated, proved beyond a doubt that there had for years past been collusion of the grossest character. on every voyage contraband goods--chiefly tea, coffee, and gin--had, with the connivance of the local officers of customs, been imported in large quantities; and of these only a part, a comparatively small part, had been seized. thus, the post office servants received from the goods that were left to them ample, and more than ample, compensation for those that were taken away; and the servants of the customs received from their board in london both credit and reward for their vigilance. nor was it by any means certain that the seizure of the packets in and again in was not another phase of the same collusive arrangement. at falmouth the case was somewhat different. smuggling, indeed, was going on there just as it was at harwich. as far back as the customs had issued process against the captains of two of the falmouth packets for having contraband goods on board. the case is only worthy of mention as shewing the loose notions which at that time prevailed even in high quarters on the subject of clandestine traffic. the postmasters-general of the day, lord lovell and sir john eyles, told the board of customs in so many words that their conduct was unhandsome. it was vain, they urged, to endeavour to prevent "these little clandestine importations and exportations" on board the packets; and if violent measures were to be resorted to, as in the present instance, no captain "of real worth and character" would be found to command, and "no fit and able" seamen to serve. again, in the _greyhound_ packet was seized at the port of kingston in jamaica for attempting to smuggle spirits. early in the _queen charlotte_ packet was condemned and sold at the same port and for the same cause. in a special agent sent down to falmouth by tankerville reported that, according to common repute, no packet either proceeded on a voyage or returned from one without hovering about the coast for the purpose of shipping or unshipping goods. but, rife as smuggling was, it was something more than an infringement of the customs laws that now brought the packet station at falmouth into notoriety. during the seventeen years ending the th of april , the cost of the packets had exceeded £ , , ; and of this amount about £ , had been expended at falmouth. at the present day, when a single mail steamer costs perhaps as much as £ , , the sum of £ , , sterling would not go far to create and maintain a fleet; but a century ago it was considered, even when spread over a period of seventeen years, an enormous expenditure, an expenditure such as, in the language of the royal commissioners, almost to surpass credibility. and certainly there seems to have been good ground for this opinion. the packets altogether were only thirty-six in number, of which twenty-one were stationed at falmouth. these were of no more than tons burthen, and were navigated with thirty men, five of them being the property of the post office and fifteen being hired. for each of the hired boats was paid the annual sum of £ , and for each of the others the annual sum of £ , these sums including the charge of manning and victualling. the sixteen packets stationed elsewhere than at falmouth were hired at ridiculously low prices, at dover for £ a year each, at harwich for £ , and at holyhead for £ . to expend upon the packets under such conditions as these more than £ , , sterling in the course of seventeen years required no small amount of ingenuity. how was it managed? this was the question which the royal commissioners now set themselves to solve. the grossest abuses were found to exist. the hire of the packets had been paid when they were under seizure for smuggling, and under repair, and even when they were building. in the case of packets that were building and under repair the victualling allowance paid when there were no men to victual had amounted in twelve years and a half to £ , . when packets had been taken by the enemy the hire of them had been paid for months beyond the date of their capture; and this was in addition to compensation to the owners, which, however old and rotten the packet might be, was fixed at her original value when taken into the service. compensation to the captains had also been given for the loss of their private property and of provisions. for provisions the compensation had always been as for six months' supply, although the supply that was actually on board might not be enough for one month; and for their private property the captains had been compensated at their own valuation. whatever they had asked they had received without examination and without question. this astounding prodigality indulged in at the expense of the state is easily explained. the post office servants in london, down even to the chamber-keeper, had shares in the packets; and of these servants the one who possessed by far the largest number of shares was anthony todd, the secretary. todd also received a commission of - / per cent upon the entire sum expended on the packet establishment of the kingdom. thus, the very man whose duty it was to check the expenditure had a direct personal interest in making the expenditure as high as possible. the salary of the secretary to the post office remained, as it was fixed in , at £ a year; and whatever todd received over and above that amount, he received without authority. let us see what his actual receipts were. in addition to his proper salary of £ , he had what was called a bye salary of £ . bye had at one time meant out of course or clandestine; and this meaning would perhaps not be inappropriate here. he had for coach hire £ a year. he had another £ a year from lloyds's coffee-house. he had from fees on commissions and deputations £ a year. he had every year twenty chaldron of coal and twelve dozen of wax and sixty-four dozen of tallow candles, valued by himself at £ . he had an unfurnished residence with stables in the post office building; and he received annually from the east india company eight pounds of tea and two dozen of arrack. but this was by no means all. as former clerk in the foreign branch, an appointment which he still retained, he had a salary of £ and an allowance of £ a year for so-called disbursements, which he never made. he had also, in his capacity of clerk, £ a year for coach-hire and ten chaldron of coal and thirty-two dozen of candles, valued at £ . besides all this, he had his commission of - / per cent upon the entire packet expenditure of the country, from which source he derived in the year no less than £ . altogether, todd's modest salary of £ a year had, by his own unaided exertions, been converted into an annual income of more than £ . the extent of todd's emoluments, his commission on the packet expenditure, the outrageous character of some of the fees and perquisites which he and others were receiving, the absenteeism, the abuses generally--all this had long been known to pitt. much he had heard from tankerville, and still more, probably, from palmer. but before either palmer or tankerville became connected with the post office, pitt had been aware of many, if not most, of the abuses which prevailed there. as early as one of his first acts after becoming chancellor of the exchequer in the shelburne administration was to give peremptory orders that no more packets were to be either built or purchased without treasury authority. for such authority it had hitherto been the practice to ask before setting up new packets, but not before replacing old ones--packets that were worn out or alleged to be worn out, or that had been lost or captured. this was a distinction which had existed since packets were first established, and to which, nearly a hundred years before, cotton and frankland had attached great importance. it was now to exist no longer. in pitt called for a return of the fees and perquisites received at the post office, and it was not until after this return had been furnished and possibly in consequence of it that the commission of inquiry was appointed. "did you ever communicate this transaction to mr. pitt," inquired the parliamentary committee in . "i did," replied tankerville, "but found him not ill-informed on the subject in general." it may seem strange that with the knowledge which he unquestionably possessed respecting the prevalent abuses pitt should have allowed them to go on so long uncorrected. the explanation we believe to be twofold. in the first place he was unwilling to do or suffer to be done anything which might interfere with the introduction of palmer's improvements. this was a point on which pitt never ceased to betray the utmost anxiety. to embark on any general system of reform might conflict with the new plan. let the plan be established first and the abuses could be corrected afterwards. hence it was, no doubt, that of all the public offices to be inquired into, the post office, in spite of the notoriety which its abuses had acquired, was taken last. but this, although the primary explanation, was not, we suspect, the only one. incorrupt himself, pitt was extraordinarily tolerant of corruption in others. witness his defence of melville. even of carteret's transaction with peregrine treves he could never be brought to admit more than that it was not a proper one. this tolerance in others of what he would have scorned to do himself we attribute to a conviction on his part that abuses were less to be charged against individuals than as the result of a bad system which made the abuses possible; and what, if we mistake not, pitt had proposed to himself was to bring to bear upon this system the force of public opinion. a ruthless exposure, we have little doubt, had been in contemplation; and yet when the time for exposure came, pitt held back. whether it was that the abuses proved too flagrant to be published with safety or that their correction would involve more time or more money than could then be spared, the fact remains that, after receiving the report of the commission, pitt locked it up in his despatch box and kept it there for the space of four years; and not even the postmasters-general could procure a copy. but secret as the report of the commission was kept, the procedure at the post office was about to undergo a radical change. a change indeed had already begun. tankerville, on his dismissal in august , had been succeeded by lord clarendon; and clarendon died in the following december. then followed an interval of eight months, during which carteret alone administered the post office and, as was usual on such occasions, drew the double salary. at length, as carteret's colleague, pitt appointed lord walsingham; and from that moment irregularity and disorder were at an end. nothing escaped walsingham's vigilant eye. to neglect or evasion of work he shewed no mercy. the man honestly striving to do his duty had no better friend. his industry and power of work were simply amazing. all instructions were prepared by him. not a single letter of any importance was received at the post office without the answer to it being drafted in his own hand. generous to a fault with his own money, he regarded the money of the public as a sacred trust, a trust which could not be discharged too scrupulously. carteret's opinion was well known, that it was no part of a postmaster-general's duty to check accounts. walsingham, on the contrary, would allow no account to be passed until he had checked it; and his checking went a good deal beyond the casting. unless the articles were necessary and the charges reasonable, and unless they were proved to be so to his satisfaction, the account had a sorry chance of being passed. the official hours of attendance had hitherto been pretty much what each man chose to make them. to walsingham all hours were alike; and at all hours he exacted attendance from others. "it is utterly impossible," wrote the head of one department, "for the accounts to be ready for your inspection to-morrow evening." "i will not fail," wrote the head of another, "to do myself the honour of waiting upon your lordship to-morrow morning at eight precisely." walsingham, on entering upon his duties at the post office, was concerned to find that to documents requiring to be signed by the two postmasters-general carteret attached his signature first. carteret's peerage dated from , and walsingham's from . surely the peer of older creation should sign first; and such, walsingham found on inquiry, had been the practice hitherto. pitt, though overwhelmed with business, was called upon to decide the momentous question. he was sorry, he said, that in the preparation of the patent the practice of the post office had been overlooked. it was a strange practice, a practice different from that of all other public offices. there the senior, the one who was first to enter the office, took precedence of the junior whatever his rank; and carteret having been mentioned first in the patent must unquestionably sign first. but this, he added, need not be drawn into a precedent, and, on a new patent passing, the old practice of the office might be reverted to. we may here mention that a few years later the earl of chesterfield became walsingham's colleague; but on that occasion walsingham does not appear to have raised the question again or to have been unwilling to conform to the new practice. and, indeed, whether walsingham signed before or after carteret must to every one except himself have appeared of the least possible importance. sign in what order he might, walsingham's influence soon became paramount. carteret might give what instruction he pleased, but unless endorsed by walsingham a post office servant obeyed it at his peril. walsingham, on the contrary, gave instructions without reference to his colleague, and exacted prompt and implicit obedience. with many of the qualities of a great man, walsingham was strangely wanting in one particular. he had no sense of proportion. a trivial point hardly deserving of a moment's consideration he would elaborate as carefully as a measure involving large and important issues; and a clerical error or a slight indiscretion he would visit as severely as misconduct of the gravest character. nor must we omit to mention a habit in which he indulged to an extent that has probably never been surpassed. this was a habit of annotating. nothing came officially before him, whether a letter or a report or a book, without being covered in the margin and every available space with notes and queries; and, to add to the distraction which this mode of criticism seldom fails to cause, they were in so small and crabbed a hand as to be always difficult, and sometimes even with the aid of a magnifying-glass impossible, to decipher. there was only one person that had the slightest influence with walsingham. this was daniel braithwaite, who, holding nominally the situation of clerk to the postmasters-general, was really their private secretary. braithwaite was a fellow of the royal society. of consummate tact and judgment, and endowed with a peculiar sweetness of disposition, he contrived during difficult times to tone down asperities and to accommodate many a dissension which promised to become acute. passing through his hands a harsh admonition was turned into a gentle reproof, and an imperious command into a courteous message. but under this softness of manner and a deference of language so profound that even walsingham quizzed him on the number of "lordships" he would introduce into a single letter, there lay concealed a solidity of character which few would have suspected. honest braithwaite he was called, and well he deserved the epithet. by a simple inquiry, a request for information or the expression of a doubt, he would nip some wild project in the bud, and, where occasion required, he would not hesitate to speak his mind freely. a young man, stokes by name, who had been appointed to assist braithwaite, had miscopied a date in one of walsingham's numerous drafts, or rather, feeling sure that the date as it stood was wrong, had altered it to what he believed to be the right one. walsingham, who was absent from london at the time, wrote back that stokes was to be suspended. braithwaite's sense of justice was shocked, and he refused to carry the order into effect. "if a mistake in copying," he wrote, "deserves so severe a punishment as suspension, what am i not to fear for disobedience, and yet i really cannot execute the task your lordship has imposed upon me. for god's sake, my dear lord," he proceeded, "let me most earnestly entreat you to mitigate the severity of this sentence, and, if a reprimand at the board is not sufficient, give poor stokes a holiday and impose the fine for a substitute upon me. at any rate," he added, "pray leave the case to be decided at a board or refer it to mr. todd." walsingham did refer the case to todd, but not before he had sternly demanded of his refractory henchman whether he had never read beccaria on crimes and punishments. "no," replied braithwaite, "i have not read beccaria on crimes and punishments; but beccaria, say what he may, will never convince me that it can be right to punish a mistake as though it were a crime." honest braithwaite! he prevailed in the end, and stood in walsingham's confidence even higher than before. at a board meeting on the th of july , less than a fortnight after taking up his appointment, walsingham in the presence of the captains who were ashore, and who had been summoned to london for the occasion, gave notice of his intention to reduce the packet establishment at falmouth. that establishment consisted of twenty-one boats of tons each, and manned by thirty men. it was proposed that for the future there should be twenty boats of tons each, and with a complement of eighteen men. these boats would cost about £ apiece to build, and would not be the property of the government. the government would simply hire them, giving as the price of hire £ a year, which was to cover everything, wages and victualling included. the owners would also have the passage money, estimated at £ , for each boat. large as this reduction was, the treasury desired that it should be carried further, that only the boats to america should be of as much as tons, and that those for the west indies and for lisbon should be of . the captains, who had not relished the proposed reduction even to tons, were half-amused and half-indignant. why, they asked, should the boats for america be the largest? were hurricanes unknown in the west indies? and could not the bay of biscay boast of tremendous seas? boats of tons would be positively dangerous. no passenger would go by them; nor would any merchant trust them with bullion, from the freight of which the post office derived a considerable income. the postmasters-general had also on their side the result of experience. in , when the packet service to the west indies, which had ceased in , was re-established, boats of tons had been tried and had proved to be altogether insufficient. moreover, it was in the highest degree important, as a means of checking smuggling, that the boats should not be restricted to one route. the intention was that they should be interchangeable, so that their port of destination should be uncertain; and to this end the tonnage of one should be the tonnage of all. the treasury appear to have remained unmoved by these representations. at all events no decision was received; and walsingham, after waiting for what he no doubt considered an unreasonable time, took silence for assent and proceeded to carry his recommendations into effect. the economical results which had been looked for were not immediately realised. the boats hitherto in use may not perhaps have been built with the view of facilitating smuggling; and yet, crowded as they were between decks with cupboards, they could hardly have been better adapted to the purpose. in the new boats no receptacles were to be allowed in which clandestine goods could be concealed; the holds were to be only large enough to contain the stores and provisions for the voyage; the seamen were no longer to remain unrestricted as to the size and number of their boxes; and in other respects stringent regulations were laid down to prevent illicit traffic. finding what they called their ventures stopped, the crews of the packets refused to go to sea without an increase of pay all round. these ventures, they contended, had been recognised from time immemorial and went in place of so much wages. how else would it have been possible for them, many of them men with wives and families, to subsist on a pittance of s. a month? the post office was forced to yield to the demand; and as the immediate result of his first essay in the cause of economy, walsingham had the mortification of seeing the cost of the packet establishment increased by more than £ a year. from falmouth walsingham turned his attention to other ports where packets were stationed. at dover and at harwich the establishments were too small to admit of any reduction. at the latter port, indeed, what little change took place was on the side of increase, the victualling allowance being raised from - / d. a day for each man to d., so as to be uniform with that given at falmouth; and for the same reason the seamen's wages were raised from s. a month to s. with holyhead the case was different. here walsingham had resolved upon making a reduction, and it was only on an earnest remonstrance from the marquis of buckingham, the lord-lieutenant of ireland, that he abandoned his intention. the holyhead packets were at this time five in number, and they were of seventy tons each and carried twelve hands. walsingham held that this tonnage and complement of men were more than enough; and buckingham maintained a directly contrary opinion. between england and ireland, he urged, the number of passengers was increasing every year, and surely this was not a time to lessen the confidence of the public in the security of the packets. the danger of navigation in those seas could not, he felt sure, be appreciated. he had himself crossed the channel in all weathers. once he had been nearly lost, and not on that occasion alone he had seen the crews, though at their full complement, absolutely prostrate with their exertions. could it be known that, for purposes of passenger traffic, the captains of the holyhead packets had recently built and fitted out at their own expense a sloop named the _duchess of rutland_; and that for this sloop, which, although vastly superior in point of accommodation to any one of the packets, was of no higher tonnage, the complement had been fixed at twelve hands? this would shew what was the opinion on the point of those who were most competent to judge. the fact, moreover, that ireland had undertaken to pay to great britain the sum of d. on every letter passing to and fro placed the english post office under a sort of moral obligation not to reduce the amount of accommodation and security existing at the time the undertaking was given. such were the arguments by which buckingham prevailed upon walsingham to abandon his intention. he at the same time hinted that there were other objects to which walsingham's energies might more properly be directed. "does your lordship know," he asked, "that an immense communication of letters is kept up by the liverpool packets[ ] which sail weekly to dublin?" [ ] _i.e._ boats. at liverpool packets, in the sense of boats commissioned by government to carry letters, did not at this time exist. one line of packets remains, the line between milford haven and waterford. here five boats were employed, of which three were of eighty tons and the others somewhat less; and the service was six days a week. this, though the youngest of the packet stations, was by no means the least interesting. it had been opened in april ; and in the first year the proceeds from passengers alone amounted to more than £ . no doubt had been entertained that in the matter of letters there would be an equally satisfactory account to render; but it soon became evident that all hopes on this score must be given up. the irish post office was no longer subject to the post office of england; and in the supposed interests of dublin, which regarded with jealousy the postal facilities enjoyed by the southern towns, advantage was taken of this freedom from control to checkmate the new service. from waterford the post for cork had been used to start at two o'clock in the afternoon, an hour most convenient for the packets. under orders from dublin it was now to start at twelve; and, as shewing the vexatiousness of the proceeding, an express leaving waterford as late as four o'clock would overtake the mail at carrick, a distance of no more than fifteen miles. under the same orders limerick was forbidden to send letters by way of waterford; and the post between this town and clonmel was reduced from six days a week to three. this was a state of things which, under the system of home rule then existing, walsingham was powerless to remedy. he could only lift his hands in amazement that such perversity should be possible. but it was not exclusively or even mainly to the packet establishment that walsingham's attention was directed. there was no part of the post office with which he did not make himself thoroughly acquainted; and in the course of his investigations nothing struck him more than the pitiable condition of the clerks of the roads. the case of these men had been gradually getting worse and worse. it is true that ten years before a part of the salaries and pensions for which they were responsible had been transferred to the state; but the relief thus afforded had been neutralised and more than neutralised by the decrease which had since taken place in their emoluments from the franking of newspapers. of these emoluments, indeed, little now remained. in the seventeen years from to the notices served upon the post office by members of parliament to send newspapers into the country free had risen from a little more than to , and the number of newspapers which these notices covered amounted to no less than , a week. in the face of such competition the special privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads was practically valueless, and walsingham and carteret clearly discerned that to compensate them for the loss of their emoluments by an increase of salary was an act dictated no less by justice than policy. the case indeed was urgent if a catastrophe were to be averted; and carteret, whose experience led him to believe that the salaries would not be increased with the consent of the treasury, proposed to increase them without. walsingham was shocked at the audacity of the proposal, and read his colleague a homily on the constitutional proprieties. "i know," replied carteret, "we shall have the power of increasing salaries with the consent of the treasury, but many may starve before that consent comes." even walsingham admitted the gravity of the occasion; and with the full knowledge that at this time no representation from the post office reached the treasury which did not come under pitt's own observation, the two peers, after recommending a substantial measure of relief, concluded their letter thus: "we shall find ourselves compelled, if the present weight of parliamentary and official duties shall make it impossible for your lordships to give us the authority we request in the course of a week, to take it upon ourselves to issue the money at our own risk, or the persons who are the object of this relief will be unable to attend their duty, and the business of the office will be literally at a stand." whatever pitt may have thought of the somewhat unusual terms of this address, he allowed no sign of dissatisfaction to escape him, and the authority sought was given. as long as walsingham confined his attention to the packets and the clerks of the roads, there was no danger of a collision with palmer. palmer, on the contrary, offered his congratulations to walsingham on the improvement which he had been instrumental in making in these officers' condition. it was when walsingham gave an instruction which even indirectly affected the inland posts that palmer's jealousy was aroused. this he regarded as his own peculiar domain, a domain upon which even the postmasters-general themselves were trespassers; and a trespass or what he considered as such he never lost an opportunity of resenting. the earliest and not the least curious illustration of these pretensions appears in the case of the king's coach. in the summer of the king repaired to cheltenham for the purpose of drinking the waters, and walsingham, who was above all things a courtier, had arranged that during the royal visit a mail-coach should be stationed at that town for the exclusive use of his majesty. the coach was to be a new one, sent down from london for the occasion, and the leading contractor on the cheltenham road, one wilson by name, was to provide the horses. the royal visit at an end, the contractor's bill was sent in, and palmer, in forwarding it to walsingham, professed to be extremely dissatisfied with the magnitude of the charge. on the sale of the horses and harness alone, after only a month's use, there had been a loss of £ . "nothing," he said, "could have been more absurdly or extravagantly conducted." but the thing was done. it would be useless to dispute the payment. besides, it would "soil the compliment" designed to his majesty. "we must," he added, "take more care next time, for, had it been properly settled, the loss at most could not have exceeded £ ." the actual arrangement for the coach had been made not through palmer but through bonnor, palmer's lieutenant; and to him walsingham now applied for further information. bonnor's reply was a strange compound of candour and insolence. it was indeed not to be wondered at, he said, that his lordship's indignation should be roused by the magnitude of the bill. had the matter been left as originally settled under mr. palmer's orders, wilson could never have made so monstrous a claim. by those orders he had been given to understand that, the coach being designed as a mere compliment to the king, not more than d. a mile would be allowed at the outside. and "so the undertaking stood 'till your lordship ordered the circular letter to the horse-keepers respecting sir george baker's[ ] being accommodated with the mail horses if he had occasion. your lordship will recollect that i remonstrated against it, and urged the impossibility of wilson ever allowing his mail horses to be taken out of his stables for posting, and the regularity of the work destroyed, and the cattle drove along by people he knew nothing of; to which your lordship was pleased to say that wilson had no business to trouble his head about that; that, whatever his expenses were, he should be paid; and that no feelings of his about his horses or anything else should prevent the thing being done in the best possible style."... "thinking as little in the delivery of the message as your lordship did in sending it that such an advantage would be taken, i of course obeyed the directions, and it seems that this is the ground upon which the charge is made out as it is." [ ] the king's physician. walsingham was not satisfied, and resolved to contest the bill. palmer now took alarm, and urged every consideration he could think of to dissuade walsingham from his purpose. to have recourse to a court of law might seriously damage his infant undertaking. a legal dispute had been avoided hitherto, and, with a cunning and refractory set of persons such as the contractors were, might have the effect of raising the present terms of conveyance. these terms were low, lower than the post office was likely to obtain again; and the mail-coaches were running smoothly. it would be a thousand pities to introduce an element of disturbance. besides, how unpleasant it would be to his lordship to be subpoenaed as a witness; and, in the hands of an expert counsel, how supremely ridiculous the whole business might be made to appear! the king's jaunt with a mail-coach in attendance! for his own part, when he had been unfortunate enough to be imposed upon, he generally found it best to put up with the imposition and to take more care another time. nor should it be forgotten that the matter might have been much worse. when first he had heard of the arrangement, he had rebuked bonnor for his extravagance; and bonnor had produced two letters from his lordship in justification. these letters shewed not only that no expense was to be spared, but that it had originally been in contemplation to have two coaches, and that it was only owing to bonnor's earnest expostulation that the idea of a second coach had been given up. surely it was cause for congratulation that the bill was no higher. had two coaches been established instead of one, wilson might have clapped on another £ . as the bill stood, it was a gross imposition, an imposition which must condemn him in the eyes of all honest men; and yet it would be pure madness to go to law. these arguments prevailed, and walsingham abandoned his intention of contesting the bill. he did not at this time see, what he saw clearly enough some years later, that in retaliation upon himself for presuming to interfere wilson had been cajoled or coerced into making an exorbitant demand, and that of the several persons who were concerned in the transaction wilson himself was the least to blame. this may be a convenient place to notice a point in which the practice of differed from that of the present time. it was only a few months after his return from cheltenham that the king was taken with the serious illness which so nearly proved fatal. on the th of november the accounts from windsor were such as to leave little room for hope. on the th intelligence reached the post office at three o'clock in the afternoon that, contrary to all expectation, the king was still living; and on the th a form of prayer was issued, to be used in all churches, for his majesty's recovery. at the present time a circular of this kind would reach the post office already addressed to the persons for whom it was intended, and the post office would do nothing more than carry and deliver it like an ordinary letter. but such was not the case in . the form of prayer, as it was issued by the printer, was sent to the post office in bulk, and the post office despatched fifty copies to the postmaster of each town with instructions to distribute them "with all possible expedition to the rectors, vicars, or resident ministers of your town and all places in your delivery." the point is hardly deserving of mention, for, of course, it would make little difference to the postmaster whether the copies were sent in bulk or as single letters. he would be bound to deliver them in either case. it is more worthy of note that, as the number of post offices in england was at this time only , and the area subordinate to each of correspondingly wide extent, to go over the whole of his delivery at one time as these instructions obliged the postmaster to do was no slight undertaking, and one which, owing to the paucity of letters, he had probably not been required to perform on any previous occasion. in this instance, however, we may feel sure that a sense of loyalty alone precluded all disposition to murmur. with far other feelings, it may well be believed, was an order regarded which had been issued rather more than thirty years before. the year was a year of scarcity; and, under direction from whitehall, postmasters were to frequent the local markets and to ascertain and report the price of corn. this is the first instance on record of postmasters having been employed outside their own proper duties as such. it may be added that two years later the duke of newcastle sent down in hot haste to lombard street to inquire the latest prices, when it was explained to his grace that, despite the course which had been adopted in , the post office was not an office for the collection of agricultural returns. it is a common practice to laugh at public offices for their rigid adherence to routine. this, we think, is not quite reasonable. no doubt it is calculated to excite ridicule, and indeed to irritate beyond all endurance when a course obviously proper in itself is condemned because, forsooth, there is no precedent for it; and we are by no means sure that some public servants would not be all the better for taking to heart the maxim--wise men make precedents, only fools require them. but, without the order and regularity which a strict adherence to routine can alone produce, the business of a government department must inevitably drift into a state of hopeless confusion. this is a truth which persons outside the public service have always found it hard to accept; as well indeed as persons inside who have entered late in life or after their habits are formed. palmer was of the latter class; and a striking instance now occurred of his inability to adapt himself to the requirements of his new situation. walsingham had asked whether the surveyors were keeping their journals regularly. these officers, besides a small salary, were now receiving an allowance of one guinea a day when travelling; and not only was a journal indispensable in order to shew whether they had been travelling or not, but the keeping of one had been made an express condition of the allowance being given. no subordinate cared to pass on the inquiry to palmer, implying, as this might seem to do, a doubt. walsingham had no such scruple and wrote to palmer asking that the journals might be sent to him for examination. palmer's reply will explain how it is that the records which now exist respecting himself and his achievements are so surprisingly few. there were no journals, he said. the surveyors' own letters, with their bills of expenses attached, were sufficient evidence of the journeys they had made. and these bills and letters, he added, as soon as the charges which they represent have been paid, "are and must be useless paper, for if i did not constantly clear my office both of their as well as my own and the other officers' rubbish, i should be buried under it." the auditors of the imprests had recently made good progress, but, fortunately for the post office, they were still many years in arrear.[ ] [ ] the post office accounts for the year were not passed until ; and then only through the exertions of lord mountstuart, who had succeeded mr. aislabie as one of the auditors of his majesty's imprests. among walsingham's correspondents was george chalmers, a merchant of edinburgh. chalmers was no mere maker of crude and impracticable suggestions. he had thirty years before been instrumental in shortening the course of post between edinburgh and london. before the great north mail, as it was called, went three days a week and occupied eighty-seven hours in going from london to edinburgh, and hours in going from edinburgh to london. thus, a mail leaving edinburgh at twelve at night on saturday did not reach london until eleven o'clock on friday morning. chalmers, in a paper of singular ability, dwelt upon the absurdity of the various detentions, ranging from three hours at berwick to twenty-four hours at newcastle, which made the course of post longer by nearly two days in one direction than in the other, and shewed how, by avoiding these unnecessary delays and getting rid of a diversion of twelve miles to york, the distance might be accomplished between london and edinburgh in eighty-two hours, and between edinburgh and london in eighty-five. the plan was adopted, and some years later, in recognition of its merits, chalmers received from the government a gratuity of £ . more recently he had prevailed upon the post office to increase from three to six days a week the service between london and edinburgh, and from edinburgh to the principal towns in scotland; and in london, at his suggestion, the letter-carriers who collected letters by the sound of bell, or bellmen as they had begun to be called, were being employed after nine o'clock at night. it was not, therefore, as a novice in post office matters that chalmers now entered into correspondence with walsingham. his present representation was in the nature partly of a suggestion and partly of a complaint. he had been staying some time in london, and was surprised to find that at the capital of the first commercial nation in the world the post office closed as early as seven o'clock in the evening. he contended that it ought not to close before ten. but it was in respect to his own native city of edinburgh that he felt and expressed himself most warmly. edinburgh was without a penny post. he was himself an old man or he would undertake to farm one, although, in his judgment, the farming of such an institution, until at least it was well established, was not for the public interests. but surely, whether farmed or not, a penny post should be opened without delay, and on his return to edinburgh he would let walsingham know how this could best be done. nor was the want of such a convenience by any means the chief thing of which the inhabitants of edinburgh had to complain. since their post had not gone out until eight o'clock at night. now, to suit palmer's arrangements, it went out at half-past three in the afternoon; and, more than this, the diversion to york, which it had cost such pains to get rid of some thirty years before, had been revived. thus, between edinburgh and london the course of post was actually longer now than before the introduction of mail-coaches by as much as five hours. were a little more consideration to be given to the correspondence of the country and a little less to the convenience of passengers, more than these five hours might be saved. at all events the mails might start from edinburgh at eight o'clock as before, and from london at ten, and yet arrive at their destination no later than now. for himself, he thought it hardly decent that passengers should be allowed to travel by the same coaches as the mails, and predicted that a time would come when the mails would have coaches to themselves. much of this, chalmers added, he had pointed out to palmer some time before, and the only result was an angry letter which had terminated a friendship of years. even as he now wrote, another letter had come to hand in which palmer told him, almost in so many words, to mind his own business. walsingham was at this time at old windsor. hither it was his habit to repair whenever he had anything of more than ordinary interest to engage his attention; and such was the case at the present moment. he had recently had lent to him, under a pledge of the strictest secrecy, a copy of the report of the royal commission which had sat upon the post office in the preceding year; and this report he was now having copied under his own eye with a view to the preparation of an elaborate criticism upon it. but though absent from london he relaxed not his hold upon the post office for a single moment. each morning's post brought to lombard street its own budget of drafts, to be written out fair, of questions to be answered, of scoldings to be given, and of instructions to heads of departments in the minutest details of their duty. walsingham absent was a far more important personage than carteret present; and a mandate from old windsor superseded any that might be given on the spot. it was while walsingham was thus engaged that he received one morning from palmer a few hurried lines, of which the last were as follows: "you ought not, meaning as well as you do, to be unpopular anywhere. nor must you. you fret me now and then, tho' you don't intend it, and i am angry with myself for it." a visit from palmer on the following morning, especially as that morning was sunday, was little calculated to lessen the surprise with which walsingham must have read this letter. the truth is that palmer had repaired to windsor with the intention of resigning his appointment; but the courteous reception he met with from walsingham disconcerted his plan, and he returned to london as he had come, with the letter of resignation in his pocket. the reasons which palmer afterwards gave for his conduct on this occasion throw a flood of light upon his character. these reasons were: st, that walsingham was ready to listen to proposals for improving the post office, come from what quarter they might, thus leaving it to be inferred, as palmer put it, either that he was himself incompetent to effect improvements or else that there was a sinister design to detract from his reputation. nd, that from himself, though vitally interested in its contents, a report was being kept which clerks from his own office had been sent down to windsor to copy. rd, that the same feeling of distrust was evidenced in the constant pressure which was being put upon him to require the surveyors to keep journals. how hollow these reasons were, a very little consideration will shew. in the course of the correspondence with chalmers, on which the first of palmer's reasons was obviously founded, walsingham had been careful to state that, while ready to consider proposals for establishing a penny post in edinburgh, he must decline to interfere with any of palmer's arrangements. the second reason, though more plausible, was the merest pretext. not a month before, with the full knowledge of what was going on at windsor, palmer had offered to send down, if required, the whole of his office to assist. and more than this. although walsingham could not in honour disclose a document which had been lent to him under a pledge of secrecy, palmer must have been perfectly well acquainted with so much of the report of the royal commission as dealt with his own undertaking, for it is beyond all question that this part of the report had been written by himself. there was no other man living who was capable of writing it; and even if there had been, the opinions, the recommendations, the mode of expression, the disparagement of ralph allen, all of which are common to the report and palmer's private writings, unmistakably betray the author. the third reason requires little remark. walsingham would have neglected his obvious duty if he had not taken steps to establish some check upon the travelling expenses claimed by the surveyors; and the experience of the hundred years which have since elapsed has failed to devise any better check than the journal. the keeping of the journal, moreover, had been an express condition imposed by the treasury when the allowance of a guinea a day was authorised. walsingham treated palmer on this occasion with great kindness. rightly judging that jealousy was at the root of the whole matter, he followed up the conversation which had taken place at windsor by a letter, in which he exhorted palmer to speak out, to declare his sentiments freely, and to dismiss idle apprehensions. then came a full statement from palmer, written, as he expressly declared, "not as a justification but as an apology for my suspicions," and explaining the object and the motives of his visit on the preceding sunday. "your habits are not my habits," he concluded; "i would give a great deal for but a part of your correctness and inveterate attention to business and accounts." walsingham's reply, which came by return of post, was an invitation to dinner. palmer accepted it, and the courteous and hearty welcome he received called forth his warmest acknowledgments. the duty of the mail guards, as their title implies, was to guard and protect the mails. this body of men, as it existed during the first forty or fifty years of the present century, was one of which the post office might well be proud. the very nature of their employment engendered in them a habit of self-reliance and an independence of character which invested them with a peculiar interest. but it was not always so. when mail-coaches were first established, palmer had it in contemplation to employ retired soldiers as mail guards, on the ground that soldiers would be accustomed to firearms; but constitutional objections prevailed and the contractors who furnished the mail-coaches with horses were required also to furnish firearms arms and the men to use them. the result was not satisfactory. for economy's sake men were employed of little or no character, and the weapons with which they were supplied were of the most worthless description. more than worthless, they were dangerous. "cheap things;" they were declared to be, "that burst and often did mischief." accordingly, at palmer's suggestion, the post office undertook to appoint its own mail guards. honest and faithful as these men always were, it was only by degrees that they grew into the fine body they afterwards became. at first the novelty of their position led them into little excesses such as were never heard of in later years. thus, a statute passed in imposed a penalty of s. on any mail guard who should fire off the arms with which he was entrusted for any other cause than the protection of the mail; and even this enactment appears to have been insufficient to correct the abuse against which it was directed. "these guards," writes pennant two years later, "shoot at dogs, hogs, sheep, and poultry as they pass the road; and even in towns, to the great terror and danger of the inhabitants."[ ] [ ] a letter to a member of parliament on mail-coaches, by thomas pennant, esq., . it must not be supposed, because palmer's name is associated with the establishment of mail-coaches, that to these his attention was exclusively confined. in virtue of his appointment as comptroller-general he exercised control, subject of course to the postmasters-general, over the whole of the post office, the offices of account excepted; and he now took advantage of this position to create a newspaper office. newspapers had long been a source of trouble. by the clerks of the roads they were not only posted in good time but were tied up in bundles, covered with strong brown paper, and addressed to the postmasters of the respective towns, who took out the contents and had them delivered. so long as the newspapers were thus dealt with, no inconvenience resulted from their being mixed up with letters; but from the moment that the distribution passed into the hands of the printers and dealers the case was different. the newspapers were now posted at the last moment, and, being clumsily folded and still wet from the printing press, they damaged and defaced the addresses of the letters with which they came in contact in the mail bags. the inconvenience had been tolerated for years. as early as the postmasters-general had contemplated the creation of a newspaper office, an office in which newspapers might be dealt with separately from letters, but nothing had been done. palmer now took the matter in hand and carried it through with his usual vigour. having satisfied himself that a separate office was necessary, he forthwith established one, appointed to it eighteen sub-sorters and fixed their wages; and not even the postmasters-general were aware of what he was doing until it was done.[ ] [ ] at this time the number of newspapers passing through the london office averaged , a week, of which , were from london to the country and from the country to london. mixed, that is wet and dry together, they were computed to weigh sixteen to the pound. such an instance of energy, worthy as we may think it of imitation, would be impossible on the part of any one who had been brought up in the public service, because he would have learnt that no wages can be fixed or new offices created without the consent of the treasury. in the post office, too, the postmasters-general alone were legally competent to make appointments. but to palmer these were the merest trifles, if indeed he gave them a thought. to create a newspaper office was a right thing to do, and he had done it; and to haggle about the circumstances of the doing appeared to him sheer pedantry. not so thought walsingham. it ill accorded with his sense of propriety that a number of new places should have been created without the requisite authority which the treasury alone could give; but that to these places, whether authorised or not, a subordinate should have presumed to make appointments--a power which by the postmaster-generals' patent was vested in themselves alone--struck him as little short of an outrage. unfortunately for palmer, another irregularity on his part came to light at the same time. the mail guards' wages had been fixed at s. a week; but of this sum palmer paid only s., retaining the balance for the purpose of providing uniforms, pensions, and an allowance during sickness. again, the plan was excellent; but it was unauthorised, and had the effect of leaving in palmer's hands, without any means of checking it, a sum of liberated money amounting to about £ a year. walsingham now called upon palmer to give the details of his plan, with a view to its being properly authorised, and to submit the names of those whom he had appointed to the newspaper office, so that their appointments might be confirmed. palmer would do neither the one nor the other. walsingham persisted in his demand, and palmer persisted in his refusal. no course remained but to submit the matter for pitt's decision; and pitt decided in walsingham's favour. palmer, said the minister, had the power of suspending post office servants but not of appointing them, although the postmasters-general, it might well be believed, would consent as a matter of favour to accept his nominations. pitt also agreed that the mode of dealing with the mail guards' wages was highly irregular. the decision of the minister was communicated to palmer, but it had not the slightest effect upon his conduct. the mail guards' wages continued to be dealt with as before; and the appointments to the newspaper office remained unconfirmed. pitt's decision was not given until the autumn of ; and meanwhile other matters had occurred to strain the relations between walsingham and palmer. chief among these was walsingham's inveterate habit of scribbling. both men were endowed with an amount of energy which nothing could repress; but while palmer expended himself by rushing from one part of the country to another as fast as horses could carry him, walsingham's sphere of activity was restricted to writing. and well he exemplified the law that force asserts itself in proportion to the limits within which it is confined. his notes and questions were literally endless. at one time all the ingenuity of lombard street, with the assistance of erasers and acids, is being exercised to remove remarks he has written upon a document which, not being the property of the post office, had to be returned. at another, he has sent for a blank form of contract, of which only a single copy remains in the office. "i implore your lordship," writes the sender, "to let me have it back, and that the margin may not be written on." palmer, to whom pens, ink, and paper were an abomination, would think nothing of posting a hundred miles and more to avoid the necessity of writing a letter; and by bonnor, palmer's lieutenant, who always aped his master as far as he dared, answers to the questions put to him would be withheld altogether or reserved for the next board meeting. "i can perceive," wrote todd to walsingham about this time, "you are hurt that neither mr. palmer nor mr. bonnor pay a proper regard to your many observations." another matter occurred at this time which, while only indirectly affecting palmer, was not calculated to promote harmonious relations. bonnor, who had sent some accounts to windsor for walsingham's signature, wrote two or three days later, urging that they might be signed and returned at once, and giving as a reason the importunity of the letter-carriers. "what these poor oppressed creatures will do," he said, "i know not. they all came in a body this morning and gave a most affecting description of the distresses with which their wives and families laboured, their credit exhausted, not a shilling to buy bread, and each having between £ and £ of hard-earned wages due to them from a public office whose revenues are every day increasing." this struck walsingham as very strange. the letter-carriers were paid by weekly wages; and what, over and above their wages, they had earned for extra duty should also have been paid weekly. besides, the accounts had been in his hands for only two or three days, whereas for the last twelve months and more he had been pressing for their production, and had only now succeeded in getting them. there was a mystery somewhere, and, as the best means of solving it, walsingham called for the vouchers. bonnor now lost himself in excuses. the vouchers were essential to his reputation. he could not part with them. if once they left his hands, they might be lost. it could not but be known to his lordship how often this had happened with official papers passing to and fro. besides, to inspect the vouchers would be to pry into his private concerns. this was enough for walsingham, and he directed the accountant-general to look into the matter forthwith. the examination revealed a curious state of things. the amounts which the letter-carriers had earned for extra duty had not been paid for a whole year, and a part of the money which had been issued for that purpose had been applied to the payment of the persons irregularly appointed to the newspaper office. more than this. the accounts shewed, or professed to shew, that during the last eighteen months the mail-coach contractors had received in payment of their services the sum of £ , ; but the receipts for more than £ , of this amount bore no dates, and others were signed by bonnor himself. "signed," to use his own words, "by myself for money paid by myself to myself." in short, the so-called vouchers were no vouchers at all. bonnor now made an apology, which, in point of abjectness, has probably seldom been equalled; and walsingham, unwilling to force matters to extremities, let him off with a sound dressing. this disclosure did not tend to restore either harmony or confidence. palmer, it is true, gave no heed to accounts; but bonnor was under his protection, and palmer resented a censure upon his lieutenant and friend even more than a censure upon himself. we doubt whether in england a public department has often been in so singular a position as that which the post office occupied during the six months beginning with september . carteret had been dismissed;[ ] and westmorland, carteret's successor, whose patent had been delayed owing to the absence of the law officers from london, had not even entered upon his duties as postmaster-general before he wrote to announce his appointment as lord-lieutenant of ireland. meanwhile palmer resolutely withheld obedience from the orders of his chiefs, backed though those orders were by the minister; and walsingham was powerless to act. minutes indeed he prepared by the score, proposing the most drastic measures; but carteret refused to sign because he was on the point of going out, and westmorland refused to sign because he had only just come in, and had no intention of remaining. walsingham's signature alone carried no legal force. it was not until the following march, the march of , that the office of postmaster-general was again properly filled by the appointment of lord chesterfield as walsingham's colleague. [ ] how carteret managed to retain his appointment for more than eighteen years is not the least perplexing of post office problems. meanwhile the joint postmaster-generalship had undergone the following changes:-- lord le despencer } from jan. , , right hon. henry f. thynne (afterwards carteret)} to dec. , . right hon. henry f. carteret (sometime thynne) { from dec. , , { to jan. , . right hon. henry f. carteret } from jan. , , viscount barrington } to april , . right hon. henry f. carteret } from april , , earl of tankerville } to may , . right hon. henry f. carteret } from may , , lord foley } to jan. , . right hon. henry f. carteret, created lord } carteret jan. , } from jan. , , earl of tankerville (a second time) } to sept. , . lord carteret } from sept. , , earl of clarendon } to dec. , . lord carteret { from dec. , , { to july , . lord carteret } from july , , lord walsingham } to sept. , . at the risk of interrupting the course of our narrative we cannot refrain from mentioning here in its chronological order memorial which was at this time received from certain merchants of the city of london trading with foreign parts. this memorial, or rather the counter-memorial to which it gave rise, is interesting if only as serving to shew that the conservative instinct--an indisposition to change, is not confined to public offices. the delivery of inland letters had been recently expedited; but foreign letters continued to be delivered as of old. lest the practice in the case of these letters should seem to be overstated, we give it in the memorialists' own words. "it is the practice of the post office," they write under date the th of january , "if a mail does not arrive before one o'clock to withhold the delivery of the letters till the next day, and even to protract the delivery till after the same hour the succeeding day, provided any other mail be expected or due. this happening on a saturday (a case by no means uncommon), the letters are kept back till the monday, when three other mails being due, and they not arriving perhaps till the stipulated hour of one, the delivery of the mail which arrived on saturday is not made till between three and four o'clock on the monday and sometimes later. thus the advice of property shipt to a great amount on which insurances should immediately have been made, the receipt of remittances on which the credit of many persons may depend, and the general information so essential in commercial affairs are cruelly withheld for upwards of fifty hours without the least apparent necessity." the remedy which the memorialists proposed was moderate enough. they asked nothing more than that, in the case of mails arriving before four o'clock in the afternoon, letters might be given out to persons who should call at the post office for them in two or three hours after the mail had come in, such as were not called for being, at the expiration of that interval, sent out by letter-carrier; and that, in the case of mails arriving after four o'clock, the letters might be delivered at ten o'clock on the following morning. the unfortunate merchants who signed this memorial little bethought themselves of the storm they were raising. other merchants, also trading with foreign parts and more numerous than those who advocated an earlier delivery, put forward a counter-memorial strongly protesting against any change. the custom of postponing until the following day the delivery of all foreign letters arriving at the post office after one o'clock was, they said, a wise custom, a "custom recommended by our ancestors," and one that could not be altered save to their own great prejudice. the original memorial had been studiously kept from themselves, and "this most extraordinary proceeding" they could only ascribe to a well-founded apprehension on the part of the promoters that otherwise the impropriety of the "novelty" which they sought to introduce would be exposed. the remonstrants added that many and cogent reasons might be given in support of the existing usage; but, unhappily, they omitted to state what these reasons were. doubtless, however, jealousy lest others should obtain priority of information was at the bottom of the protest; although it is not very clear how, under a regulation that was to be common to all, any one in particular would enjoy an undue advantage. the post office, unassisted in this instance by palmer, declared the change to be, if only on account of want of space, impossible. the average number of letters arriving by each foreign mail were at this time--from france , from holland , and from flanders , or altogether. at the present day, when as many as sacks full of letters come by a single mail, and several mails may arrive simultaneously, letters more or less make little appreciable difference. one hour at most is enough for three men to sort them. but in the office in which the foreign letters were sorted possessed but a single table and a single alphabet or sorting rack. although want of space was the ostensible reason for refusing an earlier delivery, there was another, not avowed indeed, and yet which, there can be no doubt, materially influenced the decision. this will be best explained in the words of the comptroller of the foreign letter department. "the delivery of foreign letters," writes this officer to walsingham, "is so complicated with _the secret office_[ ] that any alteration will deserve the most serious consideration when you come to the board." [ ] sir rowland hill, in his _autobiography_ (vol. ii. p. ), does not hesitate to write as follows: "incredible as it may appear to my readers, it is nevertheless true that so late as a system, dating from some far distant time, was in full operation, under which clerks from the foreign office used to attend on the arrival of mails from abroad, to open the letters addressed to certain ministers resident in england, and make from them such extracts as they deemed useful for the service of government." it would hardly excite surprise if chesterfield, on entering upon his duties in lombard street, had fallen under the influence of a colleague who, besides being possessed of a strong will, had had some years' experience in post office administration; but, as a matter of fact, he does not appear to have surrendered his private judgment. on one point, indeed, he took a view somewhat different from walsingham. walsingham regarded palmer, in so far as he withheld obedience from the postmaster-generals' orders, as simply an insubordinate servant. to chesterfield, on the contrary, palmer was an object of no common interest. that two peers of large social influence, deriving their authority direct from the crown, and to some extent supported by the minister, should be held in check by one man, and that man a subordinate, was an incongruity which struck chesterfield's imagination. it amused him. it interested him. he could not withhold his meed of admiration from the masterful spirit which fought single-handed against long odds, and not always without success. the very terms chesterfield employed, while implying a consciousness of defeat, implied also a certain amount of homage to the victor. it was always as "our master," "our dictator," "our tyrant" that he referred to palmer; and it is difficult to believe that a man who could thus playfully express himself would have proved implacable. for ourselves, we have little doubt that, if at this time palmer had demeaned himself with only moderate reserve, all might yet have been well; but it must be admitted that, from now till the end of his official career, his conduct was strangely aggressive. we have already seen how he made appointments to the newspaper office without reference to the postmasters-general, and how, in their despite, he retained in his own hands a considerable balance arising out of deductions from the mail guards' wages. he now went further. he declined to attend the board meetings: he not only omitted but refused to answer inquiries which the postmasters-general addressed to him; he persistently withheld the surveyors' journals, if, indeed, he had required journals to be kept; he claimed to make contracts and to introduce what measures he pleased without the postmasters-general being so much as consulted; and because walsingham and chesterfield would not admit the claim, he suffered the contracts to expire, and the mail-coaches were run on mere verbal agreements. "except the warrants we have signed," wrote the postmasters-general in october , "there is no record whatever in our possession of any of mr. palmer's proceedings since his appointment." from disobedience palmer proceeded to defiance. we will give instances. the proprietors of the mail-coach between carlisle and portpatrick had demanded payment at the rate of d. a mile, and palmer had agreed to the demand. this was just double the usual rate, and the postmasters-general, fearing that if given on one road it could not be refused on another, determined, before signing the warrant presented for payment, to obtain treasury authority. palmer, knowing that delay would thus be caused, protested that no such authority was necessary, and, in order to enforce his protest, stopped four mail-coaches, for which was being paid more than the usual allowance of d. a mile, namely, the coach to falmouth, the coach to bristol, the coach to plymouth, and the coach to portsmouth--coolly informing the postmasters-general that he had done so "under the idea that appears to influence their lordships, that paying a higher rate to the proprietors on one road might induce others to make a similar demand." he next inquired whether the postmasters-general were to be understood as preferring a cart to the mail-coach, even though a cart should be the more expensive of the two. as nothing had been said about a cart, the postmasters-general remarked that this could only be meant for insult. insult! rejoined palmer, he was as little capable of offering an insult as he was of putting up with one; and then he proceeded to charge the postmasters-general with the grossest partiality. the postmasters-general had increased the salary of the postmaster of tewkesbury beyond what palmer conceived to be necessary. he denounced the transaction as extraordinary and ill advised, and, while himself professing to believe that it proceeded only from motives of benevolence, expressed his conviction that others would regard it as "a job." smuggled goods had been found in the mail-box of the dover coach; and coach, horses, and harness had, in consequence, been seized by the commissioners of customs. the same man who, in order to force a decision, had stopped four mail-coaches in a single morning, now rated the postmasters-general soundly because they did not at once and without inquiry take steps to get the commissioners' proceedings reversed. "the comptroller-general," wrote palmer on another occasion, "has informed their lordships of his motives for not answering several of the postmaster-generals' minutes, which he trusts cannot but be satisfactory to them. the same reasons will prevent him from answering any others their lordships may send but such as appear to him absolutely necessary." but the particular case which brought matters to a climax was connected with scotland. palmer had sent two officers to edinburgh, not to promote the conveyance of mails by coach, but to reform the internal management of the scotch post office; and these officers had given orders for various changes to be made. robert oliphant was at this time deputy postmaster-general for scotland, and from him alone, according to the terms of his commission, were post office servants in scotland to receive instructions. it was by mere accident that the postmasters-general heard of the proceedings of palmer's agents in edinburgh, and, as soon as they did so, they wrote to oliphant desiring that the proposed changes might be suspended until he had reported his opinion upon them and received authority from london for carrying them into effect. they at the same time wrote to palmer, sending him a copy of their letter to oliphant, and giving him to understand that he had exceeded his powers. palmer now threw off all restraint. he charged the postmasters-general with superseding his commission; he cautioned them against further interference with his regulations, and he appealed to the minister, to whom alone he declared himself to be responsible. it was true, he said, that he was nominally responsible to the postmasters-general, but, except for a legal difficulty connected with the constitution of the post office, he would have received an independent appointment. his commission had been made out as it stood merely as a matter of present necessity; and that in such circumstances they should venture to supersede it appeared to him a hasty and ill-advised measure--a measure not consistent with the judgment and temper which usually guided their proceedings. he had a profound veneration for the nobility of the country, and he could give no stronger proof of it than by stating that he still retained his respect and esteem for them in spite of their unhandsome conduct. the more he reflected on this conduct, the more he was struck at the haste and violence of it. was it reasonable to suppose that he would consent to carry out his plan in trammels and fetters, and, liable as the postmasters-general were to change, to submit his regulations to them to be checked and controlled? the considerations for which he had received his appointment were twofold--for the good he had done in the past, and for the good he might do in the future. "when, therefore," he continued, "your lordships from mistake or ill-advice shall send me any commands that i think may go to mischief instead of good, i shall most certainly not observe them; and if i apprehend ill consequences from any you may think proper to send to any of the officers under me, i shall take the liberty, for your lordships' sake as well as my own and the public's, to contradict them." it was impossible that this state of things should continue. palmer had appealed to cæsar; and to cæsar he should go. such at least was the postmaster-generals' intention, and they so far carried it into effect as to state their case in writing; but an interview with the minister, though solicited over and over again, the minister always found some excuse for declining. "we shall wait with the utmost impatience to hear from you that you have found a leisure moment when we may wait upon you to explain the nature of the question between mr. palmer and us." "the postmasters-general," they wrote again after a long interval, "present their compliments to mr. pitt. he will see by the enclosed copy of a minute from mr. palmer how totally the business of this office must stand still, as far as respects the comptroller-general's department, till they can have the honour of seeing mr. pitt." and again, a fortnight later, "the postmasters-general present their compliments to mr. pitt, and take the liberty to remind him of the comptroller-general's two last minutes, and desire to have the honour of waiting upon him on wednesday next at any hour he may be pleased to appoint previous to their holding their usual board." but all to no purpose. the truth is that pitt was heartily tired of these unhappy dissensions. palmer was doing, and doing admirably, the task which he had set himself to do. he might not indeed be all that could be desired. his conduct might be masterful and his pretensions absurd. yet much allowance was to be made for a man who had undertaken a difficult business, and whose efforts had been crowned with success. and lamentable as the dissensions might be, there was no certainty that interference would effect a reconciliation. on the contrary, it might serve only to widen the breach, and, to judge from the past, this was the more likely result. and should the breach prove irreparable and a decision have to be given against the reformer who had done so much for his country, and from whom yet more was expected, it would be little short of a disaster. better that matters should remain as they were than incur such a risk. we can well believe that some such considerations as these influenced pitt in avoiding an interview; and doubtless he was confirmed in his decision by what he learned from another quarter. palmer was a friend of camden's, and camden was a friend of pitt's. to this common friend palmer gave his own version of the differences between himself and his chiefs; and this version, which was altogether different from the one which the postmasters-general gave, was studiously impressed upon pitt to their prejudice. thus matters stood when, early in , in consequence of some discrepancies in the accounts, the postmasters-general determined that letters for the city by the first or morning delivery should be checked. care had been taken that the check should not be of a nature to retard the delivery; and yet, strangely enough, the delivery became later and later every day. at length a public advertisement appeared inviting the merchants and traders to meet at the london tavern on wednesday the th february in order to consider the subject. the meeting was held under the presidency of alderman curtis, one of the members of parliament for the city; and strong resolutions were passed directing the postmaster-generals' attention to the delay, and calling upon them to explain and remove the cause. charles bonnor, the deputy comptroller-general, owed all he possessed to palmer. it was by palmer that he had been brought into the post office in july , and the same influence procured for him shortly afterwards a salary of £ and an allowance of £ a year for a house. warm in his attachments as he was fierce in his animosities, the great reformer extended to bonnor a confidence which probably no other man possessed, and during his frequent absences from london kept up with him a correspondence in which he poured out his inmost thoughts. this person, stung with jealousy at some fancied coolness on palmer's part, now published a pamphlet in which he charged his friend and benefactor with wilfully delaying the delivery of the morning letters, and then promoting the meeting at the london tavern in order to protest against a mischief of his own making. according to bonnor, palmer had spared no effort to induce persons to attend the meeting, and had furnished alderman curtis, the chairman, with materials for denouncing the post office. all this, it was alleged, had been done in order to bring the postmasters-general into discredit, and to create a demand that palmer might have larger powers given him and be left to deal with post office matters according to his unfettered judgment. the postmasters-general were overwhelmed with astonishment. at first they could not bring themselves to believe that the pamphlet was authentic, and it was not until they had been reassured on this point that they began to make inquiries. palmer, of course, denied the charge, and bonnor reaffirmed it. meanwhile the resolutions passed at the london tavern had been sent to the post office; and the postmasters-general, not knowing what to believe, simply referred them to palmer, with a request that he would explain the cause of the late delivery. palmer's reply shews the frame of mind he was in. "the cause of the late delivery," he answered, "as well as every other existing abuse in the post office, arises from the comptroller-general not having sufficient authority to correct it." the postmasters-general naturally inquired in what respects his authority was insufficient to prevent the late delivery, and to what other abuses he referred. palmer, without specifying what these abuses were, replied that among the causes which had produced them were "an unfortunate difference in opinion, and an equally unfortunate interference in his office"; and then he proceeded to ask for larger powers, which the postmasters-general, consistently with the terms of their patent, were unable to give. a few days later palmer did that which should perhaps have been done before. he suspended bonnor. the postmasters-general also took action, but at the very moment when it might have been better if they had remained passive. they inquired the reason of bonnor's suspension, and palmer returned no reply. after waiting a week, the postmasters-general decided that, as no reason had been given, the suspension must be taken off; and bonnor was directed to resume duty. on presenting himself for this purpose, however, palmer refused to give up the key of his room, and sent him word that, if he dared to come to the office again, the constables would have orders to turn him off the premises. the postmasters-general had put themselves in a false position. if their intention was to try conclusions with palmer, they had selected the worst possible ground. their only choice now was between submitting to defiance of their authority and supporting a worthless subordinate against his illustrious chief. they elected the latter alternative; and the suspension which had been imposed upon bonnor was transferred to palmer. an interview with the minister had now become indispensable; and at length, but not without a great deal of pressure, pitt fixed the nd of may for the purpose. chesterfield was at bath, slowly recovering from an attack of the gout. he was reluctant to leave his colleague unsupported on the occasion; and yet for a man who was still far from well it was a long and tedious journey to london. should he go or should he not? a decision could not be longer delayed, as the st of may had already arrived. he ordered horses to be put to his carriage, then he countermanded them, then he changed his mind again, and finally, in response to a sudden twinge of the gout, he finally abandoned his journey, and determined to write to walsingham a letter such as he might shew. chesterfield, unlike walsingham, wrote a beautiful hand, a hand that was clear and easy to read; but on this particular occasion, in order that pitt might have no excuse for not reading the letter, he wrote more clearly and legibly than usual. he had--thus the letter ran--been in fifty minds whether he should not repair to london and take part in the interview with pitt; but he was still so lame that he durst not venture on so long a journey. his desire to be present had not indeed been prompted by the slightest doubt as to what walsingham would do or say. on the contrary, he had the fullest confidence that his colleague would strictly adhere to the resolution which they had adopted, that on no consideration could palmer remain with them at the post office. this resolution the experience which they had gained since his suspension had served to strengthen, for how much better and with how much greater regularity had they gone on since they had in fact as well as in name been postmasters-general. all this would doubtless be pressed upon pitt, and, should he waver in the least, he must be informed of their ultimatum, which nothing could make them change. if, contrary to expectation, they should be driven to that option, they must be satisfied to retire from an office where they had done their duty and could do it no longer. to the full extent of the resolution they went hand in hand to pitt, and this point could not be pressed upon him too strongly. should he begin to propose any middle measures, walsingham should stop him at once. it would be disgraceful to listen to them. "our resolution once taken, no power, no persuasion, no influence ought to shake it, and i am confident nothing will." walsingham waited upon the minister at the appointed time. pitt received him courteously indeed, but coldly. walsingham stated his case. pitt said little, but that little clearly shewed that his leanings were in palmer's favour. palmer had done good service to the public. was it impossible that he should be restored to duty? or, much having been alleged and nothing proved, might not a court of inquiry be held by which the questions at issue between him and his chiefs should undergo a thorough and impartial investigation? after these and other questions had been put and answered, walsingham produced chesterfield's letter. pitt read it from beginning to end, folded it up, and returned it. formal civilities followed, and the interview was at an end. that night a letter from walsingham informed chesterfield that assuredly two persons would be dismissed from the post office, and that of these two persons palmer would not be one. the postmasters-general were in a state of sore perplexity. of pitt's intentions they entertained not the slightest doubt. "the post office chair," wrote chesterfield, "totters under us"; and again, "i see that can the ingenuity of man detect a flaw in our proceedings, we are to be the victims." the doubt which the postmasters-general felt concerned their own conduct. rightly or wrongly, they believed that they were powerful enough to depose the minister, and the question which now agitated their minds was whether they should have recourse to so violent a measure, or whether they should simply resign. bonnor saved them from the necessity of coming to a conclusion on the point. this person had hoarded up the private correspondence which, during years of close intimacy and friendship, had passed between himself and palmer; and among the correspondence were many compromising letters. such of these as he could readily lay his hands upon bonnor, with incredible baseness, now carried to walsingham, and walsingham in an evil moment accepted them. the temptation was no doubt strong. even in the eyes of the postmasters-general themselves it was a comparatively small matter that they were on the point of losing their places. but it was by no means immaterial to them that they should appear to pitt, as they were conscious of appearing at the present time, in the light of false accusers, persons who had brought false charges, or at all events charges which they could not substantiate; and these letters would prove all, and more than all, that had been alleged or even suspected. they laid bare the story of the king's coach. they shewed how on that occasion the contractor had been cajoled into making an exorbitant charge in order that walsingham might be deterred from again interfering in what palmer regarded as his own peculiar province. they shewed also how, from that time to the present, a deliberate plot had existed at headquarters to hinder and thwart walsingham in everything he undertook. and yet they were private letters, letters which had passed under the seal of confidence. it is by no means the least strange part of a strange and painful business that it appears never to have crossed the mind of either walsingham or chesterfield that this was a class of evidence which could not with propriety be used. bonnor, not content with the letters he had already produced, searched his correspondence through from the time that he and palmer became connected with the post office, and hailed any additional testimony he was able to collect against his former friend and benefactor with fiendish delight. he literally revelled in the shameless task he had set himself to perform. evidence-hunting he called it. "we shall not only prove all that has been asserted," he wrote, "but a great deal more; and on the grand point of his premeditating a thorough and complete confusion in the business of the inland office, for the declared purpose of thereby disgracing the postmasters-general, i have proof that for strength and conviction no holy writ can exceed. but," he added, "i have a great deal to work up yet." as soon as the unholy brief was completed, a second interview took place with the minister. pitt appears again to have said little, even less than on the previous occasion. he had been deceived. the postmasters-general must take their own course. the rest is soon told. two official minutes were prepared, the one in lombard street and the other at whitehall. by the postmaster-generals' minute palmer, the insubordinate post office servant, was dismissed.[ ] by the minister's minute palmer, the distinguished post office reformer, was granted a pension equal to double the amount of his salary. his salary was £ , and he derived another £ a year from his percentage. the pension which pitt conferred upon him was £ . to this was added later on, after an interval of many years, a parliamentary grant of £ , . [ ] even in such a detail as the manner of dismissal, pitt shewed his usual consideration for palmer. by the minister's direction palmer was not to be dismissed in so many words. the postmasters-general were simply to make out another nominal list of the establishment, and from this list palmer's name was to be excluded. bonnor--we blush to record it--received as the reward of his infamy the place of comptroller of the inland department. his promotion brought him little pleasure. the post office servants, with all their faults, were loyal to the backbone, and they could ill understand being presided over by one who was branded with the foulest of all private vices, with treachery to a friend and ingratitude to a benefactor. his subordinates would hold no communication with him beyond what their strict duty required. his equals shunned him. outside the post office, go where he would, he received the cold shoulder. never was man left more severely alone. at the end of two years fresh postmasters-general came who, under the plea of abolishing his appointment, dismissed him with a small pension. then he became insolvent, and was thrown into prison. released from confinement at the end of the century, he published pamphlet after pamphlet, having for their object to vindicate what he was pleased to call his good name; but these vindications, though replete with professions of honour, proved nothing more than that the writer was a poltroon as well as a traitor. chapter xiii the nineties: or, one hundred years ago the spirit of activity which palmer had infused into the post office did not cease with the cessation of his official career. those who served under him had been selected by himself; and they had been selected on account of qualities which the withdrawal of his dominating influence was calculated rather to stimulate than to check. these men now came to the fore, and not only ably sustained their late master's work but inaugurated important measures of their own. but before proceeding to chronicle the acts of palmer's successors, we propose to give a few particulars which will serve better perhaps than a mere record of leading events to shew the state of the post office at the time that palmer left it; and in this relation the project with which his name is mainly identified shall have precedence. in sixteen mail-coaches left london every day, and as many returned. these were in addition to the cross country mail-coaches, of which there were fifteen--as, for instance, the coach between bristol and oxford or, as it was commonly called, mr. pickwick's coach.[ ] those leaving london started from the general post office in lombard street at eight o'clock in the evening, and they travelled every day, sundays included. [ ] later on, mr. pickwick would seem to have extended his operations. "(q.) are you in the habit of working coaches to any great distance from london? (a.) i work them half-way to bristol. with mr. pickwick of bath i work to newbury."--evidence of mr. william home, taken on the nd of march before the select committee on the highways of the kingdom. there is still extant at the post office in st. martin's-le-grand the model of an old mail-coach, as fresh and as perfect as the day it was painted. this model bears upon its panels four devices--one a cross with the motto, _honi soit qui mal y pense_; another a thistle with the motto, _nemo me impune lacessit_; a third a shamrock under a star, with the motto, _quis separabit?_ (ah! who indeed?); and a fourth, three crowns with the motto, _tria juncta in uno_. it is commonly reputed to be the model of the first mail-coach, and as such we have seen it represented in foreign publications. we feel constrained in the interests of truth to expose this fiction. the first mail-coach ran between bristol and london. the model bears upon it the words, "royal mail from london to liverpool." the first mail-coach carried no outside passengers. the model has places for several passengers outside. the first mail-coach began to run on monday the nd of august . on the model, below one of the devices, appears in small yet legible figures the date . but although certainly not the model of the first mail-coach, we are by no means sure that it is not still more interesting. we have little doubt that it is a model which, before mail-coaches began to run, was prepared for pitt's inspection. in , owing to the faulty construction of the original mail-coach and the wretched materials of which it was made, hardly a day passed without one or more accidents. occasionally, indeed, the post office would receive notice of as many as three and even four upsets or breakdowns in a single morning. palmer at once discerned the origin of the disease and the remedy; and the latter he proceeded to apply with his usual resolution. having satisfied himself that a patent coach which was being constructed at this time fulfilled the necessary conditions more completely than any other, he agreed with the patentee, one besant by name, to supply whatever number of coaches might be required. it was a mere verbal agreement, an agreement confirmed by no writing of any kind; yet no sooner was it made than palmer addressed a circular to all the contractors of the kingdom, reproaching them with the shameful condition of their coaches. this, he told them, was due to the miserable sums they gave to the coach-maker, sums so low as to oblige him to use the most worthless materials; and as to repairs, even if they made him an allowance for these, it was so inadequate to the continual mending which vehicles constructed of such materials required that he merely put in a clip or a bolt where the fracture might happen to be, and then returned them in as dangerous a condition as before. such a state of things, palmer continued, would no longer be tolerated, and, as fast as besant could turn them out, the new patent coaches would be sent down to replace those that were now in use. for providing them and keeping them in thorough repair, for which of course the contractors had to pay, the patentee's terms would be five farthings a mile or - / d. a mile out and in. after this summary fashion did palmer clear the country of the mail-coaches of original construction. in the only mail-coaches on the road were those supplied by besant. they were constructed to carry five passengers, four inside and one out. the coachman was not a post office servant; yet he, like the mail guard, was provided with uniform. the mail guard carried firearms. he carried also a timepiece; and this timepiece was regulated to gain about fifteen minutes in twenty-four hours, so that, when travelling eastwards, it might accord with real time. of course, in the opposite direction, a corresponding allowance was made. the mail guard's position was one of no little responsibility. not only were the mails under his personal charge, but he had to see that the coach kept time, that there was no undue delay for the purpose of obtaining refreshments, that the harness was in serviceable condition, and, generally, that matters along the road were conducted with order and propriety. if in any one or more of these respects there were any defect, it was the mail guard's duty to report the circumstance. should the harness be reported as in had condition, and the contractors fail to replace it on demand, a new set was sent down from london at their expense; and should a coach persistently keep bad time, a superintendent from headquarters was deputed to travel by it until proper time was kept. this was equivalent to a heavy fine, as the superintendent travelled free, and for the seat he occupied a passenger would have been charged at the rate of d. a mile. the fees which at this time it was usual to pay to the mail guard and coachman were moderate enough, only s. apiece at the end of the "ground"; and if the "ground" was less than thirty miles, only d. even at this rate the gentlemen of devonshire bitterly complained that between exeter and taunton they had to pay two coachmen. the chief superintendent of mail-coaches at this time was thomas hasker, a man whose heart and soul were in his duties. hasker has left behind him copies of letters written by himself or by his instructions; and these letters, though expressed in homely language, throw such a flood of light upon the ways of the road a century ago that we make no apology for quoting from them. "the bristol coach," he writes to the postmaster of marlborough, "is the fastest in the kingdom, and you must not detain it for the coach from bath." again, to the postmaster of ipswich he writes, "tell mr. foster to get fresh horses immediately, and that i must see him in town next monday. shameful work--three hours and twenty-two minutes coming over his eighteen miles." the dover coach had long been keeping bad time. "i must beg you to attend to this directly," writes hasker to the contractors, "or we shall be obliged to put three fresh guards on the coach, and keep a superintendent constantly up and down till time is kept." the contractors for another coach had failed to replace their harness when desired, and a set had been sent down from london. "the harness," writes the indefatigable superintendent, "cost fourteen guineas, but as it had been used a few times with the king's royal weymouth [coach], you will be charged only twelve, which sum please to remit to me." thanks to the widening of the roads, it is only in thoroughfares more or less crowded that the device can now be practised to which the following refers: "your coachman, pickard, lost thirty-seven minutes last night coming up, and by so doing he always hinders the manchester coach; he leaving leicester first keeps on before, and prevents the other coach from passing. this is the case every night that pickard comes up." but it is the instructions to the mail guards which bring home to us most vividly the ways of the road a hundred years ago. thus, to the mail guards on the exeter coach: "you are not to stop at any place whatever to leave any letters at, but to blow your horn to give the people notice that you have got letters for them; therefore, if they do not choose to come out to receive them, don't you get down from your dicky, but take them on to exeter and bring them back with you on your next journey." and again to the mail guards on another coach: "if the coachman go into a public-house to drink, don't you go with him and make the stop longer, but hurry him out." this hurrying out had sometimes to be applied to passengers, and not always with success. "sir," writes hasker to a mail guard who had complained of the futility of his efforts in this direction, "stick to your bill, and never mind what passengers say respecting waiting overtime. is it not the fault of the landlord to keep them so long? some day when you have waited a considerable time (suppose five or eight minutes longer than is allowed by the bill), drive away and leave them behind. only take care that you have witness that you called them out two or three times. then let them get forward how they can. let the innkeeper [of the house] where they dine know that you have received this letter." while thus urged to correct others, the mail guards had sometimes to be corrected themselves. fines ranging from s. d. to s. were imposed for omitting to date the timetable or for dating it wrongly; and on one occasion an unfortunate guard was fined as much as one guinea because some bags for which he should have called at the stafford post office were left behind. also to delegate one's duties was strictly prohibited. "it has been reported to mr. hasker," writes hasker's lieutenant, "that you send your mail to the post office by the person called boots, and do not go with it yourself. you have been wrote to two or three times before on this subject. therefore, if the irregularity be repeated, you will certainly be discharged." occasionally advantage would be taken of a complaint to read a lesson to the complainant. a mail guard had been reported for impertinence by certain contractors who were notorious for the indifferent lights with which they supplied their coach. after replying that he had been severely rebuked for his conduct, hasker slily adds, "but perhaps something may be said for the feelings of a guard that hears the continual complaints of passengers against bad lights and the disagreeable smell of stinking oil, especially when through such things the passengers withhold the gratuity which the guards expect." on the part of the mail guards, however, the commonest irregularity, and the irregularity most difficult to check, was the carrying of parcels and of passengers in excess of the prescribed number. "in consequence"--so runs a general order which was issued about this time--"of several of the mail guards having been detected in carrying meat and vegetables in their mail-box to the amount of pounds weight at a time, the superintendents are desired to take opportunities to meet the coaches in their district at places where they are least expected, and to search the boxes to remedy this evil, which is carried to too great a length. the superintendents," the order proceeds, "will please to observe that mr. hasker does not wish to be too hard on the guards. such a thing as a joint of meat or a couple of fowls or any other article for their own family in moderation he does not wish to debar them from the privilege of carrying." truth compels us to add that at the time to which we refer it was not only meat and vegetables that the mail guards carried. they carried also game. in later years the country gentleman was probably the mail guards' best friend, but at the end of the last century he did not hesitate to charge them with being in league with poachers, and not infrequently threatened prosecution. the mail-box indeed was admirably adapted to purposes of secretion. occupying a part of the space which even in these early days was known as the boot, it opened not, as the boot opened, from behind but from the top, immediately under the mail guard's feet; and no one but himself had access to it. constant were the injunctions to the superintendents to meet the coaches at unexpected places for the purpose of search. "search," writes hasker, "as many mail-boxes as you can, and take away all game not directed and anything else beyond a joint for the guard's family, and send it to the chief magistrate to be disposed of for the benefit of the poor of the parish." the temptation to carry an extra passenger or two was even greater than to carry parcels. what degree of indulgence was shewn to this form of irregularity appears to have depended upon the part of the coach in which the extra seat was provided. to be detected in carrying a passenger on the mail-box was certain dismissal. although it is not our intention to treat of mail-coaches otherwise than as vehicles for the transmission of letters, it may perhaps be permitted to us to pause here a moment and inquire where, at the end of the last century, the passengers' luggage can have been stowed. of the boot a part, as we have seen, was given up to the mail-box; and the roof, upon which, within our own recollection, the luggage would be piled to nearly half the height of the coach itself, was forbidden, or almost forbidden, ground. "to load the roof of the coach," writes hasker, "with large heavy baskets would not only be setting a bad example to other coaches, but in a very short time no passenger would travel with it." "such a thing," he adds, "as a turtle tied on the roof directed to any gentleman once or twice a year might pass unnoticed, but for a constancy cannot be suffered." this objection to a load on the roof appears to have been common to the sovereign and the subject. in the court proceeded to weymouth; and, as usual, a royal mail was in attendance. the king, who took the liveliest interest in the performances of this coach, and examined the way-bill daily, discountenanced roof-loads. the royal injunctions on this head hasker, who was a plain-spoken man and no courtier, conveyed to, his subordinates thus: "take care not to load the royal mail too high, and when any of his majesty's servants travel by it do not load the roof upward, as you know he ordered that no luggage should be put on the top when his servants rode, and, indeed, at all times. now upwards [_i.e._ on return from weymouth to windsor] there can be no occasion, for there are waggons and other conveyances to bring the luggage up." the possible use of waggons and other conveyances notwithstanding, we cannot help thinking that the traveller by coach of a hundred years ago must have been content with a far smaller quantity of luggage than would satisfy the traveller of to-day. that the roof of the coach, whether loaded or not, had its drawbacks for travellers is sufficiently evident from hasker's correspondence. "the york coachman and guard," he writes after a spell of bad weather which had rotted the roads, "were both chucked from their seats going down to huntingdon last journey, and coming up the guard is lost this morning, supposed from the same cause, as the passengers say he was blowing his horn just before they missed him." the king's interest in his mail-coach was not confined to the inspection of the way-bill. it was usual, before the court repaired to weymouth, for the coach to make a certain number of trial trips, and the king would go to the castle gates to see it pass. "his majesty," writes hasker, under date the th of august , "came down to the park gate to see the mail-coach the first and second day, and told me he was much pleased to see it so well done and regular, and that he was glad mr. white did not work it." mr. white had worked it on a previous occasion, and had not given satisfaction. at the end of each season the king gave still more practical proof of the interest he took in his coach by sending thirty guineas for distribution among the mail guards and coachmen. but, gratified as hasker must have been by these marks of royal condescension, there was one thing which, with his concurrence, even the king should not do, and that was, detain the mail. owing to the letters from the court being late, the coach, on several successive days, had not started from weymouth until after the appointed hour. chesterfield was the minister in attendance, and hasker addressed to him a letter of respectful remonstrance. of course he did not know, he said, whether the mail had been detained by his majesty or by his majesty's postmaster-general; but in either case he prayed it might be considered how bad an example it was, and what disorder was being introduced into the service. according to present arrangements, the coach should leave weymouth at four in the afternoon. it might be appointed to leave at five or even six if desired, and yet reach london on the following day in time for the last delivery; but whatever hour might be fixed, he adjured his lordship that it might be observed. how completely the mail-coach had by this time extinguished the express may be judged from the following instruction to the packet agent at yarmouth:[ ] "you will observe the reason why you keep the mail to send by the mail-coach is that, tho' you detain it four or five hours, it arrives as soon at the general post office as if sent by express, for the coach travels in sixteen or seventeen hours, and the express in not less than twenty or twenty-one, sometimes more." nor is it less interesting to note the change of sentiment which had recently taken place as to the importance of despatch. only a few years before, as we have seen, the inhabitants of shrewsbury had been informed that it could be of no consequence whether their letters arrived four or five hours sooner or later. now, in order to accelerate the letters contained in a single bag, no expense is to be spared. "if," the same instruction continues, "any mail arrives within an hour after the mail-coach is gone, perhaps a post-chaise and four might catch it at ipswich." [ ] the packet agency had been removed from harwich to yarmouth during the war. yarmouth, by road, is miles from london. but, to quit details, the broad results were these. palmer, when introducing his plan, had promised security and despatch; but not economy. on the contrary, he had made no secret of his opinion that the use of mail-coaches would involve a considerable increase of expense. the result was a surprise even to himself. before the annual allowance for carrying the mails ranged from £ to £ a mile, £ being paid where the mails were heavy--as, for instance, on the great north road from london as far as tuxford. in the terms on which the mails were carried were exemption from tolls and d. a mile each way, or an annual allowance of a little more than £ a mile. palmer had estimated the total cost of his plan at £ , a year. the actual cost only slightly exceeded £ , . hardly less reason had he to congratulate himself on the score of security and despatch. before scarcely a week passed without the mails on one road or another being robbed. so great had the scandal become that the post office built a model cart--a cart wholly constructed of iron and reputed to be robber-proof. this cart had not long begun to run before it was stopped by highwaymen and rifled of its contents. in eight years had passed since the introduction of palmer's plan; and during this period not a single mail-coach had been either stopped or robbed. this immunity from robbery was in more ways than one equivalent to a further saving. before heavy expenses were incurred annually for prosecutions. one trial alone, a trial which made no little noise at the time, namely that of the brothers weston, cost no less than £ . this source of expense had now, of course, disappeared. as regards despatch, before the post travelled between five and six miles an hour. in the mail-coaches were travelling about seven miles an hour. telford had not yet levelled the hills nor macadam paved the roads; and rollers were unknown. a speed of seven miles an hour at the end of the last century was probably far more trying to horses than a speed of ten miles an hour later on. it would be beyond our province to inquire--interesting as the inquiry would be--to what extent the exchange of commodities between town and town dates from the introduction of mail-coaches; and whether it was not at this period that, with some noted exceptions, the local repute which certain towns enjoyed for the manufacture of particular articles began to spread. ours is a humbler purpose; or we might be tempted even to contend that palmer's plan, by the facilities it afforded for intercourse, exercised an influence--slow it may be, but none the less sure--upon the habits and condition of the people. we will illustrate our meaning. before the introduction of mail-coaches in the town of penzance in cornwall was not indeed without a post; but the post it possessed was hardly worthy of the name. in letters were conveyed there by cart from falmouth regularly six days a week. now, of the condition of penzance not many years before the earlier of these two dates we are informed on unimpeachable authority. "i have heard my mother relate," writes sir humphry davy's brother and biographer, "that when she was a girl[ ] there was only one cart in the town of penzance, and that if a carriage occasionally appeared in the streets it attracted universal attention. pack-horses were then in general use for conveying merchandise, and the prevailing manner of travelling was on horseback. at that period the luxuries of furniture and living enjoyed by people of the middle class at the present time were confined almost entirely to the great and wealthy; in the same town, where the population was about persons, there was only one carpet, the floors of rooms were sprinkled with sea-sand, and there was not a single silver fork. the only newspaper which then circulated in the west of england was the _sherborne mercury_, and it was carried through the country not by the post but by a man on horseback specially employed in distributing it." penzance can never be otherwise than a most interesting town; but one finds it difficult to believe that, after being brought into communication with the outside world on six days of the week, it can long have retained its pristine charm and simplicity. [ ] mrs. davy was born in . let us now see what, at the time of palmer's retirement, was the condition of the country post offices. bristol, after long ranking next to london in wealth and population, had yielded place to other towns. foremost among these stood manchester. manchester, following suit to the capital, had recently numbered its streets; it was publishing local directories; and it enjoyed the reputation of being, the capital itself not excepted, the dearest town in the kingdom. at the present time the post office at manchester gives employment to about persons. in , with the exception of a single letter-carrier, the whole of the post office business there was conducted by an aged widow assisted by her daughter. dame willatt had recently achieved some little local notoriety. she had, as an inducement to persons to post early, imposed a late-letter fee. for this proceeding, not at that time uncommon and not disapproved at headquarters, she had been summoned to the court of the lord of the manor, and had been cast in damages. bath enjoyed a double distinction, a distinction due less probably to its population as compared with that of other towns than to the fact that, being palmer's native place, it was constantly under his eye as it had been under the eye of ralph allen before. this highly-favoured town was, outside london, the only one in the kingdom which could boast of what, with any regard to the meaning of words, could be dignified by the name of a post office establishment; and the postmaster's salary was in excess of that which any other postmaster received. this salary was £ a year, and the establishment, over which ralph allen's successor presided, consisted of one clerk and three letter-carriers. no other town had more than one letter-carrier; and many towns had not even this. whether the accommodation was provided or not appears to have depended less upon the necessities of the place than upon the disposition of the inhabitants. thus, the little towns of sandwich in kent and hungerford in berkshire, in recognition of the gallant conflict they had waged with the authorities, had each a letter-carrier of its own, while norwich, york, derby, newcastle, and plymouth had none. besides bath only four towns received an allowance for a clerk or assistant, namely manchester, norwich, york, and leeds. elsewhere the postmaster and a letter-carrier, if letter-carrier there was, were the sole post office representatives. at bristol the postmaster's salary was £ ,--the next highest after that given at bath. at liverpool, manchester, birmingham, and chester the salary was £ ; at exeter, york, newcastle, leeds, and plymouth £ ; at sheffield £ , to which amount it had been recently raised from £ ; at derby, carlisle, and gloucester £ ; at brighton and nottingham £ ; at leicester £ ; and at southampton £ . at tunbridge the postmaster, in addition to a salary of £ , received an allowance of equal amount for keeping an office at tunbridge wells. ripon, despite the rebuke it had received in for its audacity in asking for a post office, had now been accommodated with one. at chepstow pence were still being paid on the delivery of letters, not because the inhabitants had not discovered their rights but out of consideration to the aged postmistress, whose emoluments they were unwilling to diminish. birkenhead, torquay, and bournemouth,[ ] of course, did not exist. eastbourne existed indeed, but not as we know it now. hither the letters were carried three times a week from lewes. at ramsgate, then a village served from the neighbouring post-town of sandwich, an office for the receipt of letters was kept at a cost of £ a year. the whole of the isle of wight had but one postmaster and one letter-carrier. to the channel islands there was no post. [ ] as late as bournemouth received its letters from poole by donkey and cart. on palmer's retirement the office of chief adviser to the postmasters-general devolved almost naturally upon francis freeling, the surveyor located at headquarters. todd still held the appointment of secretary, but after a service of more than fifty years he was unequal to the exertion which the exigencies of the time required. between todd and walsingham, moreover, there was little in common. their relations, indeed, had always been most friendly; but the views they entertained on post office questions were more often than not at variance. "it is a matter of great entertainment to me," wrote walsingham, as early as october , "to see how totally we differ in all our official opinions." from this time todd took less and less part in the duties of his office, and confined himself almost exclusively to its social amenities. this was a sphere in which he excelled. at his table in lombard street the postmasters-general themselves and such as they might choose to meet them were frequent guests, and "his old hock in his old parlour" passed into a by-word. freeling, on the contrary, possessed advantages which not only pointed him out as todd's successor when todd should be pleased to retire, but peculiarly fitted him to deal with the circumstances of the moment. in the prime of life, of good address and prepossessing appearance, and with a knowledge of every detail of post office organisation such as only constant visits to different parts of the kingdom could give, he soon contrived to make himself not only useful but indispensable; and before any long period had expired the postmasters-general appointed him joint secretary with todd, an arrangement by virtue of which one was to be the acting and the other the sleeping partner; one was to do the work and the other to draw the pay. it was new to the postmasters-general to have about them some one who was not only able but willing and anxious to impart information on every official question as it arose, and they could ill conceal their glee at the altered state of affairs. "one of the complaints made by us of mr. palmer," they wrote about this time, "was that he did what he thought fit without making the least communication to the board, or without there being a single record of anything which he did or objected to either before or after it was done"; ... but "mr. freeling reports distinctly to us upon every application that we refer to him, or that is made to the board, amounting to above two hundred reports every quarter for the current business." freeling was now exposed to a serious danger, a danger to which many a reputation has succumbed, namely, that of being transformed from a man of action into a mere scribe; but this was a temptation which he stoutly resisted. without relaxing his efforts to maintain and improve upon palmer's plan, he was careful not only to keep the postmasters-general informed of what he was doing, but to do nothing which had not first been duly authorised. the period immediately following palmer's retirement was one rather of honest endeavour than of solid achievement. the first and most pressing question to arise was that of insufficiency of accommodation at headquarters. the inland office, this being the office in which the mails were made up for despatch, was not only close and ill-ventilated, but altogether too small for its purpose. more post-towns were required in various parts of the kingdom; but it was impossible to add to the number of towns for which bags would have to be made up until more space should be provided. some persons thought it would be best at once to take a step which in any case would probably have to be taken in the not remote future, and to build a new post office on other and more extensive premises. such, however, was not the opinion of the postmasters-general. they were naturally unwilling to advocate the heavy expenditure which such a measure would involve except upon proof of its absolute necessity. mainly on this ground, but also partly because premises in so central and convenient a position as those which the present post office occupied were not to be had, authority was sought and obtained for nothing more than the erection of a new inland office. but, as the postmasters-general found to their cost, it is one thing to obtain an authority and another thing to carry it into effect. on part of the ground on which the office was to be erected stood two houses, the lease of which had not long to run; and the drapers' company, to whom the property belonged, declined to extend the term. this difficulty was at length overcome, and the houses were in course of demolition, when projecting into the very centre of the space designed for the new office was found the wall of an old house belonging to sir charles watson, and this house he refused to let the post office have unless it would also take seven other houses which he possessed in the immediate neighbourhood. at the present time houses in and about abchurch lane would probably fetch twenty-five years' purchase. fifteen years' purchase was the sum then demanded, and it was considered a hard bargain. eventually watson consented to grant a ninety-nine years' lease; but it was a lease not only of the single house that the post office wanted, but of all eight houses, seven of which it did not want. what they called their mortifications and disappointments at an end, the postmasters-general proceeded to build. still more unsatisfactory was the result of an attempt that was made or intended to be made about this time to improve the post with the continent. communication with france was only twice a week, and walsingham desired to treble it. in france, as in england, the post went to the water's edge on six days of the week, and he could see no reason why, except on two days, it should stop there. he entertained a strong opinion that between the two countries communication should be daily. there was also another matter to be settled with our neighbours. during a period of sixty-six years, namely, from to , the postage on a single letter between london and paris had been d.; and, to avoid the keeping of accounts, this sum had been collected and retained by the post office of the country in which the letter was delivered. in , when owing to the war communication between dover and calais was stopped, letters from paris reached england through flanders, and on these letters when put into the post in paris a charge of d. was made in addition to the d. to be paid on delivery in london. it had been thought that in , on the termination of the war, this charge would be abandoned, and that the old postage of d. would be resumed. such, however, was not the case. the post office authorities in france adhered to the d. charge and defended it. the old postage of d., they argued, was all very well when they had no packets of their own and england performed the sea service. but now france had her own packets, and the distance between paris and calais being far greater than between london and dover, it could not in reason be expected that on a letter between the two capitals she would be content with no higher postage than that which england received. the charge of d. upon letters for london when put into the post in paris must be maintained, even though they no longer went through flanders. it was a matter of internal regulation with which england had no concern. without contesting this view of the case, the home authorities regarded the d. charge as a most vexatious impost. not only had it the effect of diminishing the correspondence, but many of the letters which still passed were carried by private hand from paris to dover and there posted, so that the british post office received upon them only d. apiece, this being the postage from dover to london, instead of d., the postage from paris. in palmer had, by pitt's direction, gone over to france in order to adjust the matter and to promote a six days' post between the two countries; but he returned without effecting either object. circumstances now appearing more favourable, walsingham determined to make fresh overtures. an emissary had already been selected for the purpose, and was on the eve of departure when a new and unexpected difficulty arose; the merchants of london, to whom the intention to increase the frequency of communication with france had become known, met to protest against the project. a hundred years before they would have gone to the post office, talked the matter over with the postmasters-general, and, after an exchange of opinions, an agreement would have been come to as to what was best to be done. now they assembled in their numbers at the london tavern and resolved "that any addition to the present number of post days to france or to any other part of the continent is unnecessary, and would be highly inconvenient and injurious to the merchants of london." the resolution was unanimous, and copies were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. for the merchants of london walsingham entertained a sincere respect; but in this particular matter, convinced that they did not know what was for their own good, he determined to proceed in their despite. unhappily, however, at this conjuncture the resumption of hostilities with france extinguished for the time all hopes of improved communication with the continent. another project, in which the post office and the merchants possessed a common interest and a common desire, was also doomed to failure. the practice of cutting bank notes into two parts and sending one part by one post and another by another had now become general. the expedient, though efficacious, was a costly one. a letter with an enclosure, however light, paid double postage; and double postage between two places no farther apart than london and birmingham was d. to send two halves of a bank note each in a separate letter would, of course, cost twice that amount. this was a heavy insurance to pay. the post office, in its desire not to discourage a practice which diminished temptation to dishonesty, was hardly less anxious than the merchants themselves that the amount should be reduced. accordingly walsingham proposed that in all cases where a bank note was sent by two separate posts the second letter, that is to say, the letter containing the second half, should, on proof being given of its contents, be charged with only single postage. a notice to the public announcing the change had already been prepared when he learnt to his chagrin that the proposed regulation would be illegal. in the case of a letter with an enclosure the law prescribed double postage, and it was no more in the power of the post office to reduce the amount than to forego it altogether. but these were failures which it is only interesting to record as evidence that at the post office, after palmer had left it, there was no want of directing energy or of a desire to study the interests of the public. it is pleasant to turn to matters in respect to which good intentions were not unattended with results. but before leaving , the year in which these disappointments occurred, we must not omit to notice that it was at the end of this year that the letter-carriers were for the first time put into uniform. palmer, who was now playing the part of the outside critic, condemned the innovation as a piece of unnecessary extravagance. but palmer did not know the reasons for it. the letter-carriers when in private clothes were exposed to temptation from which the wearing of uniform would protect them; and more than one recent case had brought the fact into painful prominence. nor can it be denied that, so long as there was no distinctive dress, letter-carriers in want of a holiday were a little apt to take one without permission, supplying their place by persons of whose character they knew little or nothing. it was in order to check irregularity of this kind and as a means of protection to themselves and the public that uniform was now introduced. the uniform consisted of a scarlet cloth coat with blue lapels and blue linings of padua; a blue cloth waistcoat, and a hat with gold band. it should also be noticed that about this time the post office servants in london were in some measure relieved from the pecuniary cares by which they had long been oppressed. the commissioners of inquiry in their report of had recommended for the post office a new establishment; and now, after an interval of nearly five years, this establishment was approved by the king in council. the new salaries were not high. at the present time they would be considered low; but such as they were, they were higher than the salaries they replaced. jamineau's recent death, moreover, by relieving the clerks of the roads from payment of the commission[ ] which this officer received on all newspapers with which they dealt, enabled them to reduce their price for franking, the result being an immediate extension of sale. on the whole, the post office servants in london were, at this time, in comparatively comfortable circumstances, or at all events above the reach of actual want. the starvation and bankruptcy with which they had at one time been threatened had been staved off by a grant, which pitt renewed year after year while the commissioners' report was under consideration. this grant amounted to £ , of which £ were for distribution in the sorting office, and £ in the other offices. [ ] this was a commission of three halfpence on every dozen newspapers, besides one newspaper in every quire. the year was signalised by a remarkable development of the penny post. this institution, which had as yet been established nowhere but in london and in dublin, was now to be extended to edinburgh, to manchester, to bristol, and to birmingham. in edinburgh the ground had been to some extent preoccupied. the keeper of a coffee-house in the hall of the parliament house had sixteen years before set up an office from which letters were delivered throughout the city at d. apiece; and this office still remained open and prospered. to compare williamson's undertaking with dockwra's would be to compare a mouse with an elephant; and yet it may not be uninteresting to note the different treatment which the two men received. dockwra was prosecuted, fined, and his undertaking confiscated. williamson was granted a pension. "we have also," write the postmasters-general under date the th of july , "to beg your lordship's permission to authorise us to allow to mr. williamson of edinburgh £ per annum, he having long had the profits of d. a letter on certain letters forwarded through his receiving house at edinburgh, which he will lose by our having established a penny post there. we have made it a rule," they add, "always to propose that those who suffer in their incomes from regulations which are certainly beneficial to the public should receive compensation for the loss they sustain." at manchester the establishment of the penny post followed upon other and important alterations. the inhabitants of that town had long complained of the inadequacy of their postal arrangements; and measures had recently been taken, the very extent of which serves to shew how serious must have been the defects which they were designed to supply. the aged postmistress was granted a pension of £ , with the reversion of one-third of that amount to her daughter; and in her room an active postmaster was appointed at a salary of £ . four clerks were at the same time appointed, at salaries ranging from £ to £ , and five additional letter-carriers, making six altogether, at wages of s. a week. thus, manchester suddenly found itself in possession of a post office establishment with which, outside london, that of no other town in the kingdom could compare. as a sequel to this important extension of force a penny post was opened in july ; and no sooner had the boon been conferred upon manchester than it was extended to bristol and to birmingham. it is interesting to note what at these three towns was the financial effect of giving postal facilities. during the year - the penny post brought a clear gain to the revenue--in manchester, of £ ; in bristol, of £ ; and in birmingham, of £ . it is a curious fact that, with this experience to guide them and with an anxious desire to extend the system, the post office authorities, after sparing no pains to inform themselves on the subject, came to the conclusion that neither at liverpool nor at leeds nor at any other town in england would a penny post defray its own expenses. but it was in london that the penny post attained its highest development. this branch of post office business had long been shamefully neglected. of the officers concerned in it those above the rank of sorter were only three in number--a comptroller, an accountant, and a collector. of these the collector attended only occasionally, and the accountant and comptroller not at all. this neglect had its natural effect upon the receipts. during the last twenty years and more, notwithstanding the increase which had during this period taken place in the population and trade of the metropolis, the revenue of the penny post had remained almost stationary. up to the highest sum it had ever produced in one year was £ net. this was in , and for the five following years the receipts went on decreasing until, attention having been called to the decline, there was a sudden rebound. in the revenue was--gross £ , , and net £ . palmer, who was well aware of the discreditable condition into which the penny post office had fallen, proposed to take it in farm, and offered as a consideration to forego his salary and percentage; but this was a proposal the acceptance of which was strongly deprecated by the commissioners of inquiry who sat in no less than by the postmasters-general. it was their unanimous opinion that the penny post should be retained in the hands of the state. palmer, still clinging to the hope that other counsels might prevail, put off effecting improvements which would afford the strongest arguments against the adoption of his own proposal; and in , in spite of the changes which had been going on all around, the penny post office remained much as it had been during the last twenty years. the man who now took the reform of the penny post in hand was edward johnson. johnson was a letter-carrier. he had been appointed by palmer or on palmer's recommendation; and he soon gave proof of more than ordinary ability. palmer not infrequently exposed him to a severe ordeal. when unable or unwilling to attend the postmasters-general himself, he would send johnson in his stead, a substitution which they resented as unseemly; and thus some little prejudice had been excited against him. this prejudice, however, had disappeared with the cause of it, and johnson now stood high, deservedly high, in the postmaster-generals' favour. in , in addition to the numerous receiving houses where letters for the penny post might be taken in, there were in london five principal offices--one known as the chief penny post office, and situated in throgmorton street, opposite bartholomew lane; another called the westminster penny post office, and situated in coventry street, haymarket; a third, the hermitage office in queen street, little tower hill; a fourth, the southwark office in st. saviour's churchyard, borough; and a fifth, the st. clement's office, in blackmore street. between these five offices there was little or no connection; at no two of them were the number of collections or deliveries the same or the hours at which they were made; the letter-carriers were altogether too few for the ground which they had to cover, so that punctuality and despatch were impossible; and even those whose walks lay near the ten-mile limit, before proceeding to deliver their letters, had to come to london to fetch them. johnson proposed to change all this. he proposed to reduce the number of principal offices from five to two, retaining only the chief office and the office in coventry street; to increase the number of collections and deliveries; to give the same number to all parts served by the penny post, namely, six in the town and three in the suburbs, or, as the suburbs were then called, "the country," and everywhere, as far as possible, to observe the same hours; to post these hours up in every receiving house, so that the public might be made acquainted with them and act as a check upon their being observed; and, instead of requiring the letter-carriers in the remoter parts to come to london for their letters, to send their letters to them by mounted messengers. johnson's last proposal, though following almost naturally from what had gone before, well-nigh staggered the postmasters-general. it was that, in order to carry his plan into effect, the number of penny post letter-carriers should be more than doubled. the existing number was eighty-two, and the number which johnson proposed was . this, even at the present time--large as are the numbers with which the post office has been accustomed to deal--would be considered a heavy, an exceptionally heavy, increase. in it was regarded as portentous, and the postmasters-general anxiously sought means to reduce it; but johnson, besides being perfect master of his subject, possessed two faculties which by no means always go together. he possessed the faculty of devising a good scheme and the faculty of explaining it; and the lucid explanation he now gave convinced the postmasters-general that they could not do better than adopt his plan in its entirety. contrasting the time which a letter took to pass between various parts of london with the time which it would take if his suggestions were adopted, johnson had no difficulty in shewing that from his plan the public would derive facilities for intercourse to which they had hitherto been strangers. there were, perhaps, no two places between which the course of post was more difficult to manage than marylebone and limehouse. under the existing plan a letter from one of these two places, however early it might be posted, might not reach the other on the same day, and, even if it did so, an answer could not be received before the afternoon of the following day. under johnson's plan a letter might be received, an answer returned, and the answer answered, all on the same day. places less inconveniently situated in relation to each other were to receive a still larger measure of benefit. between persons residing in lombard street and the haymarket, for instance, five letters might pass to and fro between the hours of eight in the morning and seven in the evening. this was within the town limits. within the country limits the general effect of johnson's plan may be stated thus: that to letters from london answers might be returned sooner by two posts if the letters were for places not more than five miles distant, and, if for places distant between five and ten miles, sooner by a period ranging from one to three days. the last-mentioned places, moreover, were to have three posts a day instead of one post. pitt was no less favourably impressed with johnson's plan than the postmasters-general were; but before sanctioning it he resolved to await the passing of an act for the redress of certain anomalies, or what were considered to be anomalies, in the practice of the penny post. this act was passed in ; and immediate steps were taken for carrying the plan into effect. a proud day for johnson must have been the th of september. on that day a public notice appeared announcing the changes that were about to take place; and this notice bore his signature. only the other day he had been a letter-carrier, and now, by reason of a promotion which did hardly more honour to himself than to the postmasters-general who made it, he signed as deputy-comptroller of the penny post office. the financial results of johnson's plan exceeded all expectation. for the last year of the old system the gross revenue of the penny post was £ , . for the first year of the new system it was £ , ; and for the second year £ , . johnson had proceeded on the principle--a principle which from the first establishment of the post office has never yet been known to fail--increase facilities for correspondence and correspondence itself increases. johnson had made one mistake, a mistake which he frankly acknowledged and did his best to repair. he had fixed the wages of the letter-carriers too low. it was not that he had been indifferent to the interests of the class from which he had recently emerged, but that he had feared to overweight a measure which, even as it stood, he had almost despaired of carrying. the wages, as fixed on his recommendation, ranged from s. to s. a week. then came that terrible winter--the winter of - . we have ourselves been witness to an excessive absence from duty on the part of post office servants during the epidemic of influenza in . but the number that were absent then, relatively to the whole force, were not to be compared to the number that were absent in the spring of ; neither was their absence due to so grievous a cause. in the spring of the penny post letter-carriers, unlike the letter-carriers of the general post, had not yet been supplied with uniform, and, through sheer inability to supply themselves with such articles of clothing and of food as the severity of the weather required, nearly one-half of the whole number were unable to follow their employment. johnson took great blame to himself for what he had done; nor did he rest until he had procured for the letter-carriers a substantial increase all round. this increase ranged from about s. to s. a week for each man, and involved a total cost of £ a year. also in matters of detail johnson effected several improvements, of which we will mention only one. the receptacle for letters at the receiving houses in london had hitherto been an open and movable box. the box was now, on his recommendation, to be fixed and provided with a key. the key was to be kept by the receiver, and he alone was to have access to the letters. the act of contained provisions which it is impossible to pass unnoticed. the penny post from its first establishment in had differed from the general post in this--that letters sent by it had to be prepaid. by the general post prepayment had not indeed been prohibited, but it had been discouraged; by the penny post it had been compulsory. this was now altered, and it was left to the option of persons using the penny post whether they would prepay their letters or not. it is difficult to repress a pang at the disappearance of a provision to which dockwra, the founder of the penny post, attached the highest importance; and yet it must be admitted that the change was not made without a reason. messengers and servants entrusted with letters to post would destroy the letters for the sake of the pence which had been given them to pay the postage; and to such an extent had the abuse been carried that some persons made it a rule not to use the penny post at all unless they could post their own letters. another provision of the act of was to relax a restriction imposed by the act of anne. before the penny post had been so extended as to include many places distant from london as much as eighteen and twenty miles. then came the act of anne, restricting the penny post to a circuit of ten miles. and now the ten-mile limit was abolished, and the postmasters-general were empowered, not in london alone but also in country towns wherever the penny post might be established, to extend it at their discretion. a third provision of the act of was designed to correct what was considered a flaw in a previous act. it is interesting to note what this flaw was. when dockwra established his post, he insisted that on letters going by it the postage should be d. and no more. this penny, however, in the case of letters for places situated beyond the bills of mortality, was to carry only to the receiving house; for delivery at a private house was to be paid a second penny, commonly called the delivery-penny. the act of anne merely provided that letters by the penny post should be charged d., and was silent on the subject of the second or delivery-penny; and a subsequent act, passed in , made the delivery-penny legal. now what was the consequence of all this? the consequence was that as between two letters, the one passing from london to a place outside the bills of mortality and the other passing from a place outside the bills of mortality to london, there was a difference of postage. in the one direction the postage was d. and in the other d. the act of imposed a postage of d. in both directions; and here we see not indeed the origin of the twopenny post but the twopenny post fully established. the reform of the penny post was soon followed by that of the dead letter office. this office was established in . how, before that year, dead letters were treated is perhaps one of the obscurest points of post office practice. we know that letters which could not be delivered and letters which had been missent were always treated together. we know that in these letters had become so numerous that an officer was specially appointed to check them. we know that to ralph allen, fertile as he was in resources, how to deal with this class of letters was a constant source of perplexity. we know that todd, writing to foxcroft, the deputy postmaster-general of america, in february , says: "amongst other regulations made here of late the dead, refused, and unknown letters returned to this office have been opened by the proper officers, and returned to the writers"; but without adding who "the proper officers" were. and we know that as late as there was in london a letter-carrier whose special duty it was to "take care of the unknown and uncertain letters." but when we have stated this, we have stated all. whether there was any recognised mode of dealing with dead letters, or whether any one into whose hands these letters came dealt with them as he judged best, according to circumstances, are questions upon which we have absolutely no information. in only a part of the dead letters and letters that had been missent went to the newly-created dead letter office. another and larger part, consisting of bye-letters or letters that in the ordinary course would not reach london, were dealt with in the bye-letter office. no letter was returned to the writer until after the expiration of six months, and on its return no postage was charged. in palmer reduced from six months to two the period before which letters were returned, and on his own motion, without reference to the postmasters-general, charged them with postage. grave doubts were entertained as to the legality of this charge, and pitt, as soon as he heard of it, ordered it to be discontinued. in barlow, a clerk in the secretary's office, who had charge of the dead letter office, introduced two changes of practice which, obvious as they may now appear, were then regarded as evidence of no little merit. he arranged that missent letters, instead of being sent to london to be dealt with in the dead letter office, should be forwarded to their destination from the place where the missending was discovered; and also--a change which gave great satisfaction in naval and military circles--that letters for the army and navy should be sent where the army and navy were known to be, and not to stations and quarters which they were known to have left simply because the letters were addressed there. about the same time the dead letter office received most valuable help in the discharge of its duties from the publication of what was, virtually, the first county directory. for some years past three post office servants had been engaged in compiling a list of all the names and addresses they could collect throughout the different counties of england. this list, though still far from complete, now filled six large folio volumes. the venture which had been undertaken with a view to profit was financially a failure; but as a means of helping to forward letters with imperfect addresses it proved an unqualified success. thus matters stood in , when barlow proposed a further reform. the inspector of the "bye, dead, and missent letters," as they were called, had neglected his duties. these letters were not sent to london until they had lain for three months in the country offices, and after their arrival he had suffered a still longer period to elapse before proceeding to dispose of them. barlow now proposed that these letters also should be placed under his control, and the proposal being approved, the dead letter office began to assume the shape in which, though under another name, we know it to-day. to the general practice one exception was made. on the first opening of penny post offices in country towns many letters could not be delivered on account of their imperfect addresses. the novelty and cheapness of the post, it may well be believed, induced persons to use it who possessed little skill in writing, and no knowledge of the mode in which superscriptions should be prepared. it was a duty imposed on the surveyor who was engaged in establishing the post to open these letters and return them to the writers on the spot. another office was established about this time, an office for dealing with the american and west indian letters. the merchants had recently complained that these letters were continually missent, letters for one of the west india islands being sent to another, and letters for places served from halifax being sent to quebec and _vice versâ_. the truth is that until lately some profit had been derived from the sorting of these letters; and the most experienced officers, who knew the circulation abroad almost as well as they knew the circulation at home, had been glad to sort them. the comptroller of the inland department--for, curiously enough, it was there and not in the foreign department that the letters were dealt with--had received one guinea a night and the clerks s. a night for dealing with them; but these unauthorised additions to salaries had now been stopped, and the west indian and american mails were left to be sorted, just as any other mails were sorted, by seniors and juniors in common. it was impossible that mistakes should not occur. to assist in the disposal of inland mails there were what were called circulation lists, lists shewing to what towns letters for particular places were to be sent; but in the case of the american and west indian mails there were no such aids to inexperience, and the letters were to a large extent sent haphazard. freeling now altered this. he procured from abroad circulation lists corrected to the latest date. four experienced officers were selected, who were made specially responsible for the west indian and american correspondence; they were to devote to it two hours a night over and above their ordinary hours; and for this extra attendance they were each to receive a special allowance of £ a year. freeling's last safeguard is interesting as shewing what may be done with a limited correspondence. two books were to be kept, of which one was to be reserved for government letters. in this book were to be entered the date on which each individual letter was posted, the date on which it was forwarded to falmouth, and the name of the packet by which it was despatched. the second book was, in freeling's own words, "to contain observations of different kinds to enable the clerks the better to satisfy the merchants applying for information" respecting the letters they had posted. it would perhaps be hardly an exaggeration to say that between england on the one hand and america and the west indies on the other there are at the present time more sackfuls of letters passing than there were single letters one hundred years ago. about the same time, but a little later, an important change took place in the treatment of letters arriving from the east indies in the ships of the east india company. these letters came to the india house in boxes addressed to the directors, and so escaped all but the inland postage. some of them indeed did not pay even that, for if addressed to persons in or near london they were delivered by the company's servants, who charged and retained as their own perquisite a fee varying from s. d. to s. d. on each letter. the practice was of old date, as old probably as the east india company itself, and was held to be not illegal. it is true that a vessel was forbidden under a penalty of £ to break bulk or to make entry into port until all letters brought by the master or his company should be delivered to some agent of the postmasters-general; but both the captain and the directors were held to be exempt from liability under this provision, the captain because he was presumably ignorant of what the boxes contained, and the directors because the penalty attached to the captain and not to them. the legality of the practice not being contested, nothing remained but to make overtures to the directors; and, on this being done, they readily consented that for the future all letters arriving by their ships, except such as were for themselves and their friends, should be forthwith sent to the post office to be dealt with as ship letters. the public derived no little advantage from the change. the postage from india was actually less than what the company's servants had been accustomed to exact as fees; and the letters were now delivered at once, whereas the company's servants would seldom deliver them under three or four days after their arrival at the india house, and sometimes not for a whole month. contemporaneously with the act of parliament regulating the penny post was passed another establishing a post to the channel islands. this was essentially a war post, a post which, except for the war between england and france, might have been postponed far into the present century. hitherto letters for the channel islands had been charged with postage only as far as southampton, and from southampton they had been carried to their destination by private boat. again and again had the post office been urged by those who wanted employment for their vessels to establish a line of packets to the islands; but to all such overtures the postmasters-general turned a deaf ear. boats were passing to and fro regularly four or five times a week, and the owners of these boats were ready and glad to carry the letters for the ship-letter postage of d. a letter. why then, it was asked, should the post office be at the expense of maintaining a line of packets which, unless it were put on a footing out of all proportion to the importance of the service, would give absolutely less accommodation than that which existed already? thus matters stood when war broke out and all communication with the islands was stopped. even now the postmasters-general had grave doubts as to the propriety of establishing a line of packets. it was true that the correspondence with the channel islands was considerable. during the year the number of letters on which ship-letter postage had been paid was , , namely, , at southampton and at dartmouth and other ports on the south coast--making, on the assumption that the letters were as many in the opposite direction, a total correspondence for the year of about , letters. and yet there were serious considerations on the other side. unless an act of parliament were passed providing a packet rate of postage between the mainland and the islands, the post office would have no exclusive right of carrying the letters, and the moment the war ceased the packets might be deserted in favour of the private boats. if, on the other hand, such an act were passed, popular as the measure might be while the war lasted, it could not fail to be unpopular as soon as the war ceased. private boats would then be an illegal means of conveyance, and correspondence would be restricted to the packets, however few these might be in number, and however wide the intervals between the despatches. another expedient remained, but this was one which had been tried during the last war, and the postmasters-general were not prepared to repeat it. the _express_ packet, captain sampson, belonging to the dover station, had been temporarily detached to southampton to keep communication with the channel islands open. as some set-off against the cost, the post office had counted upon saving the ship-letter pence; but here again the want of an authorised packet postage made itself felt. sampson, though in receipt of a salary and at no expense for the boat he commanded, claimed and received the ship-letter pence, the postmasters-general regarding themselves apparently as legally incompetent to resist the demand. without denying that a line of packets might be necessary for purposes of state, the postmasters-general now declined to promote one on post office grounds. of the necessities of the state they were not the judges, and, if the state required the adoption of such a measure, it was for others to take the initiative. the decision at which the government arrived appears in the act of , which established a line of packets between england and the channel islands. the packet station was to be at weymouth, the passage from weymouth being shorter than from southampton, and southampton water being difficult to leave when the wind was contrary. for a single letter the postage, over and above all other rates, was fixed at d., and for a double and treble letter in proportion. thus the cost of a single letter from london to the channel islands would remain the same as before. hitherto there had been paid d. for postage from london to southampton, d. to a factor at southampton, d. for conveyance across, and d. to the island post office--for the islands had a post office, although it was a private one, and not under the control of the postmasters-general--making d. altogether. now the charge would be the same, namely, postage to weymouth d., and d. for the packet postage. by the same act of parliament rates of postage were imposed within the islands similar to those which existed in england. the abuses of franking now came under notice again. ten years had elapsed since the passing of the act which provided that a letter, to be exempt from postage, must bear on the outside, as part of its superscription, its full date written in the member's own handwriting, and be posted on the date which the superscription bore. of course, the object of the provision was to confine the privilege to members themselves, and to prevent them from obliging their friends at a distance with franks; but this object was almost universally defeated by the simple expedient of sending to their friends franks that were post-dated. it was a common occurrence for franks dated on the same day and by the same member to be sent from places three or four hundred miles apart. the bankers who sat in parliament were the chief offenders. little did they think that an exact account was being kept of every frank that passed through the london post office, or assuredly they would hardly have ventured to keep their friends and customers supplied, as it was their practice to do, with the means of evading postage. how many bankers sat in parliament in we are not informed; but whatever the number was, we know that during the three months ending the th of october in that year there passed through the london post office no less than , letters franked by them, a number larger by one-fifth than the letters of the court and all the public offices of the state combined.[ ] during the same period those members of parliament who were merchants and not bankers contented themselves with the comparatively modest number of , . two or three years before it had leaked out that the government were considering whether a strenuous effort should not be made to abolish the franking privilege altogether, and it was no secret to the post office that in anticipation of such an event the banking houses which had a partner in parliament had concerted arrangements for sending their letters by the coaches in boxes. [ ] from this time the expression "banker's frank" passed into a by-word, and was used to denote any frank, whether given by a banker or not, which was in excess of the prescribed number. the government were now resolved that, if the abuses of franking could not be stopped, they should at all events be restricted, and with this object a bill was brought in which passed into law in . under this statute the weight which a member could frank was reduced from two ounces to one ounce; no letter was to be considered as franked unless the member whose name and superscription it bore was within twenty miles of the town at which it was posted either on the day of posting or on the day before; and in the course of one day no member was to send free more than ten letters or to receive free more than fifteen. the same statute which restrained the abuses of franking made a not unimportant concession. in an act passed in a clause had been inserted providing that a letter containing patterns or samples, if it did not weigh as much as one ounce, was to be charged as a double letter and no more. this was now improved upon. under the act of a packet of patterns or samples might, on certain conditions, pass as a single letter. these conditions were that it did not exceed one ounce in weight, that it was open at the sides, and that it contained no writing other than the name and address of the sender and the prices of the articles of which he sent specimens. a few months later another advance was made. at lombard street great inconvenience had been caused by the late arrival of the letters from the west end. the sorting began at five o'clock in the evening, and the mails were despatched at eight; but it was not until nearly seven that the bulk of the letters from the west end were brought in by the runners. thus, while the first two hours of the evening were hours of comparative idleness, the last hour was one of extreme pressure. occasionally, we are told, there would at a quarter before seven o'clock be lying on the sorting table as many as , letters, all of which had to be disposed of by eight. at the present day , letters would be regarded as a mere handful. in it was a number which it taxed the utmost resources of the post office to dispose of within the allotted time. how to relieve the pressure between the hours of seven and eight was now the question to be solved; and the presidents who had succeeded to bonnor's place when this person was got rid of suggested that the object might be attained if, instead of the letters from the west end being brought to the general post office by runners, light carts were employed to bring them. two carts would be enough for the purpose. one might start from charing cross and the other from duke street, oxford street, picking up bags at the different offices on their way. thus the letters would reach lombard street earlier by some thirty minutes than heretofore, and there would be more time to sort and charge them. the drivers should, of course, be armed. the plan was adopted, and answered well; and this was the origin of what is called the london mail-cart and van service, a service in which are now employed daily as many as vehicles. since the introduction of mail-coaches the robbery of mails on the main roads of the kingdom had entirely ceased. now and then, but very rarely, there had been pilfering from a mail-coach as, through the default of those in charge, it stood at an inn door unguarded; and there had, no doubt, been one serious case of theft. on the th of october a man, giving the name of thomas thomas, went down by the mail-coach from london to bristol, and returned on the following day. this journey he repeated on the nd, rd, and th of november, and on the last-mentioned date, when the guard's back was turned, he took advantage of the mail-box being left unlocked to steal the mails. but this was a case of theft, and not of robbery. during the twelve years which had elapsed since palmer's plan was established there had not been one single instance in which a mail-coach had been molested by highwaymen. far otherwise was it with the horse and cross-post mails. in the distance over which these mails travelled was, in england, about miles, and hardly a week passed without intelligence reaching headquarters that in some part or other of their course they had been stopped and robbed. some roads enjoyed an unenviable notoriety in this respect, as, for instance, the road between barton mills and lynn in norfolk, the road between bristol and portsmouth, and, above all, the road between chester and warrington. between these two places, indeed, the mail had only recently been robbed on four different occasions. manchester and other towns now took the matter up, and urged that mail-coaches might be established on the roads where the robberies took place, not because coaches were necessary to carry the letters, but on account of the security which they afforded. freeling proposed as an alternative that the horse and cross-post mails should be guarded. to supply the existing post-boys, or riders, as they were then termed, with firearms would have been worse than useless. they were mere boys--many of them not yet fourteen years of age--and with firearms in their possession they would have been more likely to shoot themselves than their assailants. accordingly, freeling proposed that no riders should be employed who, besides being of approved character, were not between the ages of eighteen and forty-five; that they should each be furnished with a brace of pistols, a cutlass, and a strong cap for the defence of the head; and that, in consideration of an increased allowance to be made by the post office, the postmasters whose servants the riders were should be required to provide them with better horses than those hitherto in use. of all the plans which, through a long course of years, were submitted to pitt for the improvement of the posts this was the only one to which he demurred. he did not, indeed, deny its efficacy; but it would involve a cost of at least £ a year, and, pressed as he was for money, he declined to say more than that the plan might be carried out if the persons interested were willing to bear the additional expense, but not otherwise. for us with our present knowledge it is easy enough to see that the surest and most popular way of transferring the expense to the public would have been to cheapen the postage. in no other way appeared feasible than to make the postage dearer. to this object the postmasters-general now devoted themselves, and before many months were over they had prepared a bill which, with some modifications, was adopted by the government and passed into law. in the new act, which came into operation on the th of january , the ambiguous term "stage" was dropped, and the whole of the rates were fixed according to distance, thus-- +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | on and after the th of january . | +-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+ | | single | double | treble | | | | letter.| letter.| letter.| ounce.| | +--------+--------+--------+-------+ | | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | |not exceeding miles | | | | | |exceeding and not exceeding | | | | | | miles | | | | | |exceeding and not exceeding | | | | | | miles | | | | | |exceeding and not exceeding | | | | | | miles | | | | | |exceeding and not exceeding| | | | | | miles | | | | | |exceeding miles | | | | | |to and from edinburgh | | | | | +-------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+-------+ within scotland the rates were raised by d. for a single letter, by d. for a double letter, and so on. another important change was made. hitherto, in the case of letters from portugal and america, the packet postage had carried them to their destination. for the future these letters were to be subject to the inland rates as well as the packet rates. thus the packet rate from lisbon had been, on a single letter, s. d. it was now to be s.; but if for london the letter would be charged with the inland rate of d.--this being the postage from falmouth--and if for edinburgh with d. more, or s. d. altogether. as the packet postage from america remained unchanged, namely, s. for a single letter, the inland rate was in this case a pure addition. the postmasters-general were now doomed to a serious disappointment. their proposal to raise the rates of postage was, there can be no doubt, dictated, at all events in part, by a desire to carry out the project of guarding the horse and cross-post mails. pitt had stated that he would approve this project if the persons interested would bear the expense of it; and unquestionably the expense, and much more than the expense, was thrown upon the persons interested by the higher sums which they had now to pay for their letters. the postmaster-generals' object, however, had not been avowed, and no understanding had been arrived at. their proposal to raise the rates of postage had met with ready acceptance. their proposal to guard the horse and cross-post mails, though repeated again and again, continued to be rejected. although much had been done during the last few years to introduce order and regularity among the packets, some little mystery still surrounded their proceedings. in march , out of twenty packets on the falmouth station there was not one in port to carry the mails to jamaica and the leeward islands; and this was the second time within twelve months that the same thing had occurred. the west india merchants waited on the postmasters-general to complain. on this occasion an armed cutter was borrowed from the admiralty to take out the mails; but the fact remained that between the th of april and january no less than nineteen packets, all of them belonging to the falmouth station, had been captured by the enemy, and that the post office had had to replace them at a cost of close upon £ , . the merchants demanded, as they had done a year before, that the packets should be armed. armed indeed in some sort they were already, but only with six four-pounders apiece, and with small arms so as to be able to resist row-boats and small privateers. the merchants urged that this was not enough. the postmasters-general replied that they could do no more, that the true policy was not to arm the packets with a view to their engaging the enemy, but so to construct them that they might outsail him. the merchants met to consider the reply which had been given, and, as the result of their deliberations, they prepared a memorial, copies of which were sent to the postmasters-general and the minister. in this memorial misgivings were expressed which, even at this distance of time, it is impossible not to share. during the last three years the average duration of voyage had been, from falmouth to jamaica, forty-five days, and from jamaica to falmouth, fifty-two days. these, as the memorialists pointed out, were not quick voyages; still less were they quick voyages for vessels which had been specially constructed with a view to expedition. it was extraordinary, too, built and equipped as the packets were, that out of nine that had been recently captured eight should have fallen a prey to private ships of war, which presumably enjoyed far less advantages in point of sailing. the conclusion at which the merchants felt constrained to arrive was that "in the mode of loading or navigating the packets some abuses exist sufficient to counteract the advantages of their construction." and yet, mysterious as their proceedings were, ample evidence is at hand that the packets were both willing and able to fight as occasion required. indeed, to this period belong some of their smartest engagements. we will give one or two instances. on the evening of the th of october the _portland_ packet, captain taylor, was lying becalmed off the island of guadeloupe when a french privateer, the _temeraire_, bore down upon her. the privateer carried sixty-eight men and the packet thirty-two. a light breeze springing up, the _portland's_ head was got off shore, and for the time she contrived to elude her antagonist, who followed her all night under easy sail. at daybreak the same distance separated the two ships as on the preceding evening; but as the _temeraire_ began to overtake the _portland_, taylor fired the first shot. the shot was returned, and the privateer hoisting the bloody flag grappled the _portland_ and boarded her on the lee quarter. laying hold of the jib-stay taylor ordered it to be lashed to the packet, and called upon the passengers and crew to open their musketry. a fierce engagement ensued, which ended in favour of the _portland_. out of sixty-eight men on board the privateer no less than forty-one were either killed or wounded. a treacherous shot fired after she had struck her colours carried off the captain of the packet in the moment of victory, and as he was endeavouring to allay the carnage. among the passengers on board the _portland_ were four military officers, captains in the english army. that these officers in no small measure contributed to the result may be taken for granted; but silent as to their own deeds they extolled in the highest terms the prowess of the captain and crew, and it was from the independent testimony which they and the other passengers bore that the gallant action became known to the postmasters-general. another and still more brilliant engagement had taken place a few years before. on the th of november the _antelope_ packet, captain curtis, sailed from port royal in jamaica with twenty-nine men. she, like the _portland_, had on board a few passengers, among whom were colonel loppinott, an independent witness to the events that followed, and a young man of the name of nodin. nodin had been a midshipman in the royal navy, and, having resigned his commission, was on his way home to england to seek for other employment. on the morning of the st of december, when the _antelope_ was about five leagues off cumberland harbour in the island of cuba, the _atalanta_, a french privateer, hove in sight and immediately gave chase. the privateer carried eight carriage-guns and sixty-five men. the packet carried the usual six four-pounders, and out of her crew of twenty-nine men four had died of fever and two others were prostrate from the same cause, so that her complement was practically reduced to twenty-three. the pursuit continued until the morning of the rd, when, the _atalanta_ coming within gunshot and hoisting french colours and the bloody flag, broadsides were exchanged. the two ships now grappled, and on the part of the privateer an attempt was made to board both fore and aft. fore, the assailing party, fifteen in number, were swept away by the guns; aft, where there were no guns, the assault was also repulsed but at a cost of life which made the disproportion between the numbers on the two sides even greater than before. among those that were killed in this sally was the captain of the packet; and the mate having been severely wounded, the command devolved upon john pascoe, the boatswain. another attempt was now made to board, and, like the first, was successfully resisted. this result was largely due to nodin's intrepidity. standing by the helm and armed with a pike and a musket he alternately used these weapons with deadly effect. as the men climbed the sides, he sprang forward and cut them down with his pike; then he returned to the helm and righted the ship; then seizing his musket he loaded it and flew to quarters; and as he was cool and collected and a sure marksman every shot told. on the repulse of the second attempt to board, the privateer's grappling-rope was cut and she tried to sheer off; but this pascoe prevented by lashing her square sail-yard to the fore-shrouds of the packet. the privateer's fire now began to slacken, which was only a signal to the others to renew their energies. the _antelope_ poured in volley after volley of small-arms; and at length the marauders cried out for mercy and, expecting none, some of them jumped into the sea and were drowned. altogether, when the bloody flag was torn down from the mast-head of the _atalanta_, only thirty men remained out of the sixty-five with which she had begun the combat; and of these thirty one-half were wounded. the troubles of the packet were not yet at an end. as the smoke cleared away she was found to be on fire; and it was not until the mainsail, quarter cloths, and hammocks had been cut away that she was able to carry her prize into anotta bay. the officers and crew of the _antelope_ did not go unrewarded. for distribution among the survivors and the families of those who had been killed the house of assembly in jamaica voted the sum of guineas; guineas were afterwards presented for the same purpose by the society for encouraging the capture of french privateers; the postmasters-general showered small pensions and gratuities; and--what was the highest compliment of all--the _atalanta_, though a droit of admiralty, was given up to the captors. it was always when passengers were on board that the post office heard of these brilliant achievements on the part of the packets. we are not sure that this fact may not help us to unravel the mystery which perplexed the merchants. may it not be that, when the check exercised by the presence of passengers was removed, the packets at the end of the last century, like those of a hundred years before, went in quest of adventure and matched themselves against superior force or otherwise engaged in illicit operations? the series of captures which the merchants could not understand, and, where there were no captures, the dilatoriness of the voyages, would thus be explained. the usage of the post office one hundred years ago differed in not a few particulars from the usage of to-day. at the present time no postmaster-general would think of calling for a daily return of the number of letters passing through the london office with the amount of postage paid or to be paid upon them. yet such a return was, a century ago, sent to the postmasters-general regularly every morning, and it was esteemed the most important paper of the day. at the present time any instruction which may have to be given to the sorting office is entered in what is called the order book; and this book is signed by all whom it concerns. one hundred years ago, all instructions were made known by the presidents reading them aloud in the sorting office on mondays and saturdays, when the men were assembled for the purpose. it was thus that appointments, promotions, and punishments were also announced. one hundred years ago, when a letter-carrier's walk became vacant, a bell was rung, and, the letter-carriers being collected together, the vacancy was offered to the senior, and if the senior declined it, to the next in rotation, and so on. when a post office servant died, his salary was paid not only to the date of death but to the end of the current quarter. another practice then existed, a practice dictated, as some may think, by convenience and common sense. it was that counsel engaged in post office cases gave receipts for their fees. in connection with this practice a curious incident occurred. walsingham had ordered an independent inquiry to be made into the solicitor's accounts, and, in the course of the investigation, the inspector came across a heap of receipts signed, or purporting to be signed, by some of the most eminent lawyers of the day. walsingham had suspected imposition before, and now he was sure of it. the solicitor, had he been asked, would no doubt have explained, as indeed was the case, that the practice dated from , and originated with godolphin, who, failing to see why counsel engaged by public offices should be exempt from doing what all other persons were required to do, issued peremptory injunctions that in legal cases no more fees should be paid by the post office for which receipts were not given.[ ] instead, however, of addressing himself to the solicitor, walsingham referred to kenyon, the lord chief justice; and kenyon's reply, as walsingham himself admitted, filled him with astonishment. it was simply that when attorney-general he had always given receipts for fees from public offices, understanding when he was appointed that such was the practice, and that it had long been so. [ ] this is godolphin's letter:-- treasury chambers, _june , _. gentlemen--my lord treasurer hath commanded me to signify to you his lordship's direction that whenever your sollicitor shall pay any fees to any serjeant or councellor at law, or give any sum or sums of money for coppys to any clerk or clerks or officers in any court or courts of record at westminster, he shall take a ticket subscribed with the hand and name of the same serjeant or councellor or from the clerk or officer testifying how much he hath received for his fee or hath been paid by him for coppys, and at what time and how often, according to the statute in the third year of the reign of king james the first, made and provided in that behalf, and his lordship directs you to take care that what money shall be hereafter expended for law charges relating to the revenue under your management, the same be so expressed in the bill of incidents, that it may appear to his lordship that the above-mentioned directions have been duly comply'd with.--i am, gentlemen, your most humble servant, william lowndes. sir robert cotton, knight, and sir thomas frankland, bart. one more custom we may mention as existing a century ago, a custom which was then abandoned, but not without manifest reluctance on the part of those whose interest it was to keep it alive. at the present time our friends at the treasury are credited with taking advantage of the accident of their position to get themselves appointed to the best situations in all the public offices of the state. one hundred years ago the blackmail which these gentlemen levied upon the public offices took another form, a form a little coarser perhaps but less provoking. at the beginning of each year they exacted tribute which, disguised under the name of new year's gifts, were really new year's extortions. the correspondence which passed between the treasury and the post office, when these extortions ceased, unlike official correspondence generally, is so short and to the point that we cannot do better than give it in full:-- the treasury to the post office. treasury chambers, _oct. , _. my lords--the lords commissioners of his majesty's treasury having had under their consideration a report of the select committee of the house of commons on finance in the last session of parliament respecting this office, i am commanded by their lordships to acquaint you that they have determined that the practice of receiving new year's gifts by any person in this department shall be discontinued, and that your lordships may not send them as heretofore.--i am, my lords, etc., george rose. the post office to the treasury. general post office, _jan. , _. my lords--we beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of mr. rose's letter of the th of october acquainting us of your lordships' determination that the practice of receiving new year's gifts by any person in your department must be discontinued, to which we shall pay proper attention. it is necessary to state to your lordships that mr. rose's letter, although dated the th of october , was not brought to this office until the st of january ; but it was received in due time to enable us to attend to the purport of it.--we are, my lords, etc., chesterfield. leicester. it is needless to add that hitherto these new year's gifts had been despatched from the post office on the evening of the st of december. nine years had now passed since the royal commissioners had reported upon the condition of the public offices; and four years had passed since the report had seen the light. pitt had been deliberate enough in approving the recommendations; but having done so, he had no intention that they should remain inoperative. and yet he had little confidence that such would not be the case unless some external influence were brought to bear. accordingly recourse was had to an expedient which might perhaps with advantage be sometimes adopted at the present day. at pitt's instigation a special committee of the house of commons was appointed to ascertain and report how far the recommendations of the royal commissioners had been carried into effect. the post office, on the whole, came well out of the ordeal. abuses had been corrected; useless offices had been abolished; and men were no longer drawing salaries for duties which they did not perform. there was, however, one notable exception. todd, the secretary, had during many years ceased to do any work; yet he had not ceased to draw his full salary; neither had he ceased to retain his shares in at least one of the post office packets. the committee denounced his conduct in terms which far exceeded the ordinary bounds of parliamentary usage. their language indeed, as applied to a man of more than eighty years of age, might even be pronounced to be cruel. and yet scathing as the censure was, it fell upon callous ears. with a tenacity worthy of a better cause the old man still clung to his place and his shares. the postmasters-general now brought pressure to bear. as regards the shares, which todd had held unknown to his masters, they insisted upon his selling them; but his place of secretary they were either unwilling or unable to wrest from his grasp. death at length put an end to the scandal. in june todd yielded up at once his life and his office; and francis freeling, according to a long-standing promise, became secretary to the post office in his stead. chapter xiv francis freeling - the name of francis freeling has been placed at the head of this chapter, not because, in devising new means of correspondence or extending means that already existed, he is to be classed with the distinguished men who preceded him--with palmer and allen, with dockwra and witherings--but because for more than a generation he exercised a paramount influence in post office matters, and during this long period whatever was done affecting the communications of the country was done upon his advice. the first act of importance in which freeling was concerned after his appointment as secretary was the establishment of the ship letter office, an office which owed its origin to the suggestion of frederick bourne, a clerk in the foreign department. hitherto the packet boats, where packet boats existed, had been the only means by which correspondence could be legally sent out of the kingdom; and yet in the neighbourhood of the exchange there was hardly a place of public resort at which letters for america and the west indies, as well as other places abroad, were not collected for despatch by private ship. there was no concealment about the matter. at lloyds, and the jamaica, the maryland, the virginia and other coffee-houses, bags were openly hung up, and all letters dropped into these bags, including those for places to which there was communication by packet, were taken on board ship, and, without the intervention of the post office, despatched to their destination, the captains receiving for their transport a gratuity of d. apiece. illegal as the practice was, pitt was unwilling to suppress it. the act which made it illegal to send by private ship letters which might be sent by packet had been passed in the time of queen anne, and he could not reconcile it to himself to enforce a law some ninety years old which had never yet been set in motion. bourne's idea was to sweep all ship-letters into the post, and to charge them inwards with a fixed sum of d. and outwards with half the packet rate of postage. if with the place to which a letter was addressed there was no communication by packet, the rate was to be fixed at what presumably it would be if such communication existed. pitt favoured the idea and adopted it--subject, however, to one important qualification. instead of being compulsory the act, should an act be passed, was to be permissive. on this point pitt was determined. it was only in return for some service that the post office was entitled to make a charge. and what was the service here? to seal the bags? this he could not regard as a substantial service--a service for which a charge should be made. the ship was a private ship, her commander was not a servant of the post office, and the bag of letters he carried might be, and not infrequently was, for countries in which neither the post office nor any other branch of the british government had an accredited agent. surely in such circumstances anything in the shape of compulsion was out of the question, and all that should be done was to invite the merchants to bring their letters to the post office, when the post office would undertake to find a private ship that would carry them. a bill on these lines was brought in and passed; and on the th of september the ship letter office was opened, bourne being appointed to superintend it under the title of inspector. the new measure failed of its object. on letters entering the kingdom fourpences were no doubt collected, because, until these letters had been deposited at the local post office, no vessel was allowed to make entry or to break bulk. but letters leaving the kingdom left it just as they had been used to leave it before the ship letter office was established. it was in vain that the post office tempted the keepers of coffee-houses by the offer of high salaries to become its own agents. all overtures to this end were resolutely declined; and during many years the letters by private ship that were sent through the post stood to those that were received through the same agency in no higher proportion than one to eighteen. in the post office was called upon to make to the exchequer a further contribution to the amount of £ , . what would have struck consternation to the hearts of most men was to freeling a source of unmixed pleasure. not only had he a perfect craze for high rates of postage, but it had long been with him a subject of lament that under the law as it stood no higher charge was made for a distance of miles than for a distance of . this in his view was a glaring defect, and he now set himself to remedy it. the new rates--which, as he lost no opportunity of making known, were exclusively of his own devising--were adopted by the government, and having passed the houses of parliament came into operation on the th of april. as compared with the old rates, they were as follows:-- +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | before the th of april . | +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ | |single.|double.|treble.|ounce.| | +-------+-------+-------+------+ | | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | |not exceeding miles | | | | | |above and not exceeding miles| | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | |exceeding miles | | | | | +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | on and after the th of april . | +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ | |single.|double.|treble.|ounce.| | +-------+-------+-------+------+ | | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | |not exceeding miles | | | | | |above and not exceeding miles| | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | |exceeding miles | | | | | +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ thus the postage on a single letter was--from london to brighton, d.; from london to liverpool, d.; and from london to edinburgh, s. a letter weighing one ounce is now carried from london to thurso for d. in the charge was s. on letters to or from places abroad, "not being within his majesty's dominions," the postage was at the same time raised by d., d., s., and s. d., according as the letter was single, double, treble, or of the weight of one ounce. but there was worse to come. by the act of the london penny post--that post which had been established years before, and which, its founder had predicted, would endure to all posterity--was swept out of existence. for us who are now living it is difficult to conceive that such an enormity should have been possible. yet there is the fact. after the passing of the act of the london penny post had ceased to be. where d. had been charged before, the sum of d. was to be charged now. the same act contained another provision, which it is impossible to regard otherwise than as a wanton interference with trade. the legislature, from the earliest days of the post office, had shewn indulgence to merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, to bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading. all these, in the language of the act establishing the post office--the act of --were to be "without rate in the price of the letters"; and a similar provision was contained in the act of anne. owing, however, to a faulty construction of the clause it was doubtful whether the exemption was confined to foreign letters or whether it applied to inland letters as well. the merchants contended that inland letters were included; otherwise, as they pointed out, a letter might "go cheaper to constantinople than to bristol." the postmasters-general, on the other hand, insisted that the exemption applied only to foreign letters, and, in order to set doubts at rest, they early in the reign of george the second procured an act to be passed declaring their interpretation to be the right one. as regards foreign letters, therefore, there had never been the slightest doubt as to either the intention or the practice. when enclosed in letters going or coming from abroad, merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills of exchange, invoices, and bills of lading had from the first establishment of the post office been exempt from postage; and now after an interval of more than years this exemption, like the penny post, was swept away. henceforth these documents were to be charged as so many several letters. yet one more provision in the act of it is necessary to notice as introducing a novel principle. this act gave power to the postmasters-general to grant postal facilities to towns and villages where no post offices existed, provided the inhabitants were prepared to pay such sums as might be mutually agreed upon. as the postmasters-general were already authorised to establish penny post offices wherever they might see fit out of london, the object of this fresh power may not be very clear. it was not that the post office might be able to charge for the local service more than d. a letter, for in no single instance, so far as we are aware, was more than d. charged, but that in arranging the local service the post office might have a freedom of action which it did not possess under the statute empowering it to establish penny posts. in short, the object of the power was to enable the post office, in concert with the inhabitants of the towns and villages concerned, to try experiments. as a natural consequence of the high rates of postage, the illegal conveyance of letters now became general. this was an offence to which freeling gave no quarter. wherever information could be obtained that letters were being conveyed otherwise than by post, there a prosecution was instituted. the extent to which the policy of repression was carried less than a century ago may seem incredible. in scotland, for instance, every carrier and every master of a stage-coach as well as many others were served with notice of prosecution. in that part of the kingdom alone no less than prosecutions were instituted simultaneously. even parkin, the solicitor to the post office in england, was absolutely aghast at the zeal of his colleague over the border, and counselled moderation. freeling, on the other hand, expressed entire approval, declaring that the scotch solicitor was to be encouraged and not restrained. nor were the prosecutions merely nominal. an unfortunate post office servant, or rider as he was called, had been detected in carrying forty unposted letters. this man, whose wages did not exceed a few shillings a week, was sued upon each letter, and adjudged to pay forty separate penalties of s. apiece. lord auckland and lord charles spencer were at this time postmasters-general. spencer had been only recently appointed. auckland had held his appointment for a couple of years, and by virtue of his seniority took the lead. seldom, perhaps, has there been a more kindly postmaster-general, or one who to an equal extent enlivened by sprightly sallies the dull monotony of official work. the postmaster of tring had opened a letter from freeling to sir john sebright. the postmaster pleaded that the opening was accidental; freeling maintained that it was wilful, and recommended the man's dismissal. auckland ordered him to be reprimanded for culpable negligence. it may, no doubt, he said, have been a wilful act; but it may also have been an act of inadvertence. and then, in order to remove any feeling of soreness which freeling may have entertained at his recommendation being set aside, he good-naturedly added, "_multi alii hoc fecerunt etiam et boni_." "i have," he continued, "a fellow-feeling on the occasion. my appetite for reading is as much sickened as that of any man-cook for the tasting of high sauces; and yet so lately as last night i tore the envelope of a letter which a little attention would have shewn was not for me." on another occasion two postmistresses--the postmistress of faversham and the postmistress of croydon--simultaneously announced their intention of marrying, each for the third time, and asked that their offices, which as married women they would be incompetent to continue to hold, might be transferred to their future husbands. auckland gave the permission sought, adding, in the case of the postmistress of faversham, "i meet the repeated applications of this active deputy with great complacency, and in the words of lady castlemaine's answer to our mutton-eating monarch-- 'again and again, my liege, said she, and as oft as shall please your majesty.'" bennett, the man to whom the postmistress of croydon was engaged, had been known to her for some time, and she bore testimony to his qualifications for the post to which he aspired. "the croydon lady, who is also laudably prone to a reiteration of nuptials," wrote auckland, "rests her case on grounds less solid. i have no doubt of her judgment and testimony respecting the ability of mr. robert thomas bennett; but for the sake of the precedent the sufficiency should be certified either by the surveyor of the district, or by the vicar or some principal inhabitant." with such pleasantries as these auckland beguiled the tediousness of official work; but in serious matters, matters affecting the interests of the public, he appears to have exerted little will of his own. once, indeed, he expressed some misgiving as to the propriety of the course pursued. it was in the case of the scotch prosecutions. "i own," he said, "that i was a little surprised to find that so large a measure as that of commencing prosecutions has been undertaken without our special cognisance; but this circumstance," he added, "is in some degree explained." the reproof, if reproof it can be called, could hardly have been milder; and yet as coming from auckland it was a severe one. it had not the effect, however--nor probably was it designed to have the effect--of checking the general policy on which freeling had embarked. that policy was one of repression, and in england hardly less than in scotland prosecutions went merrily on. indeed, the repressive powers of the post office, large as they were already, were yet not large enough to satisfy headquarters. freeling discerned clearly enough that, if only a sufficiently high consideration were offered, persons would always be found to carry letters clandestinely. might it not be possible to strike at the source of the mischief, and make it penal for persons clandestinely to send them? the tempters would thus be reached as well as the tempted. at all events the experiment should be tried. with this object freeling now devoted himself to the preparation of a bill, one clause of which rendered liable to penalties persons sending letters otherwise than by the post. the bill, which was throughout of a highly penal character, eventually passed into law,[ ] but not without grave misgivings on the part of eldon, the lord chancellor, and ellenborough, the chief justice. it was only in deference to the urgent representations of the post office that these two eminent men consented to the introduction of the measure, and, while waiving their objections to it, they strongly recommended that "great lenity should be used in its execution." it will be interesting to note how far this recommendation was acted on. [ ] george iii. cap. lxxxi. (june , ). having settled the postage rates to his satisfaction, freeling obtained permission to carry out his favourite project of guarding the horse-mails. the arguments in favour of this measure were overwhelming. during the five years which had elapsed since the treasury had refused their assent, these mails had been stopped and rifled of their contents on fifteen different occasions; and on the last of these--when the lewes mail was robbed in the neighbourhood of east grinstead--bills had been stolen to the amount of nearly £ , . during the same period seven persons had been executed for participation in these felonies; three were awaiting trial; and the cost of prosecutions amounted to £ or £ a year. the annual cost of freeling's plan, as he now proposed to modify it, would not exceed £ . moved by these considerations, the treasury gave at length the necessary authority, and the horse-posts throughout the country, except on the less important roads, were provided with a strong cap for the protection of the head, a jacket, a brace of pistols, and a hanger. we have said that during the last five years--the five years ending in august --the horse-mails had been robbed on fifteen different occasions. one of these robberies occurred between the towns of selby and york. it was a commonplace robbery enough, with little or nothing to distinguish it from any other; and yet for a reason which will presently appear we give a copy of the letter in which the particulars were reported to headquarters:-- to francis freeling, esq. post office, york, _feb. , _. sir--i am sorry to acquaint you the post-boy coming from selby to this city was robbed of his mail between six and seven o'clock this evening. about three miles on this side of selby he was accosted by a man on foot with a gun in his hand, who asked him if he was the post-boy, and at the same time seized hold of the bridle. without waiting for any answer he told the boy he must immediately unstrap the mail and give it him, pointing the muzzle of the gun at him whilst he did it. when he had given up the mail, the boy begged he would not hurt him, to which the man replied he need not be afraid, and at the same time pulled the bridle from the horse's head. the horse immediately galloped off with the boy, who had never dismounted. he was a stout man dressed in a drab jacket, and had the appearance of being a hicklar. the boy was too much frightened to make any other remark on his person, and says he was totally unknown to him. the mail contained the bags for howden and london, howden and york, and selby and york. i have informed the surveyor of the robbery, and have forwarded hand-bills this night to be distributed in the country, and will take care to insert it in the first papers published here.--waiting your further instructions, i remain with respect, sir, your obliged and obedient humble servant, thomas oldfield. let us now go forward to the year . in that year this identical bag, for which a reward had been offered at the time without result, was placed in our hands, having been found concealed in the roof of an old wayside public-house situated not far from the scene of the robbery, and then in course of demolition. the original documents were called for and produced; and thus, after an interval of nearly eighty years, the bag and the official papers in which its loss was reported have come together and found one common resting-place. of the identity of the bag there is no question. not only do the form and texture proclaim it to be of the last century, but it bears upon it the word "selby," and a medallion with the letters "g. r."[ ] [ ] this experience is not to be compared with that of inspector dicker, who in wrote to the secretary of the post office as follows:-- "honoured sir ... on arriving at caxton, in the course of conversation with the landlord of the crown public-house respecting the loss of the above-mentioned bag, he informed me he had found a mail bag secreted under an oak floor between the joists that supported the floor in one of the upper rooms of his house, and that the letters it contained were of very ancient date, as far back as the year . i requested to be allowed to see them, and, on his producing them, discovered it to be a london bag labelled tuxford. i desired to be allowed to take two of the letters with me and a bit of the bag, which i gave to mr. peacock the solicitor. the only intelligence i could gain as to the probable cause of the bag being found there was that a post-rider was robbed and murdered about the date of the above-mentioned letters." the two letters are still with the official papers. one of them is undecipherable. the other is nearly as legible as on the day it was written. in it the writer announces to his uncle the death of his mother from "the small pox and purples," and states that this disease is devastating the town of kirtlington. the troubles which had long been brewing with the mail-coach contractors now came to a climax. in an act of parliament had been passed imposing a duty of d. a mile upon all public carriages. the mail-coach contractors bitterly complained of this impost, and not without reason. a penny a mile was all they received for carrying the mails, and the new statute virtually took this d. away, leaving them without any payment at all for their services. it had been overlooked that the mail-coach was not as other coaches were. the ordinary stage-coach was at liberty to carry as many passengers as its proprietor pleased, and it was no unusual thing for eight or nine and even ten to be carried inside, the number outside being limited only by considerations of safety. the mail-coach, on the contrary, was rigidly restricted to five passengers--four inside and one out--and the post office rejected all proposals for so altering the construction of the coach as to admit of its carrying more. then came the year , a year of scarcity, during which all kinds of horse provender reached unprecedented prices. the government refused to bring in a bill exempting the mail-coaches from the new duty; and it only remained for the post office to raise the allowance which the contractors received from d. to d. a mile, a measure involving an additional payment of £ , a year. the second penny, however, was granted only as a temporary allowance, terminable at the end of one year and three-quarters, and, unlike most allowances given under a similar condition, it actually ceased at the appointed time. the clamour of two years before now broke out afresh and with redoubled force. the tax on public carriages remained; and horse provender had become no cheaper. did not justice demand that the additional penny should continue to be paid? the post office was disinclined to contest the claim; but acting under orders from above--orders which assuredly would not have been given had pitt remained minister--it proceeded to bargain, and at length, after much haggling, the contractors were prevailed upon to accept one-half of the temporary allowance or an additional / d. a mile for a further period of eighteen months, viz. from the th of october to the th of april , when the question was to be again considered. a temporary expedient of this nature seldom answers; and the present was no exception to the rule. eventually the post office had to give rather more than need have been given in the first instance, and after the mails were carried at an average rate of - / d. the single or - / d. the double mile. other alterations followed. to the postmasters' salaries an increase was made all round, an increase small indeed individually but large in the aggregate. what had been done for manchester eight years before was now done for liverpool. the post office there was remodelled and a penny post established. an end was, about the same time, put to a most objectionable arrangement. as a reward for their services in promoting palmer's plan, three of the surveyors had been appointed to postmasterships, and these appointments they held in addition to their own proper appointments as surveyor. thus, one of their number was postmaster of gloucester, another postmaster of honiton, and a third postmaster of portsmouth. these appointments were now taken away, but under circumstances calculated to leave the least possible soreness among those from whom they were taken. not only were the salaries of all three raised from £ to £ a year, but the son of the surveyor who was postmaster of gloucester was appointed to gloucester, and the daughter of the one who was postmaster of honiton was appointed to honiton. the postmaster of portsmouth, who had neither son nor daughter to succeed him, was, in accordance with a practice then very common, assigned the sum of £ a year out of his successor's salary. this sum he received in addition to his own salary of £ as surveyor. in , for the third time within eight years, the post office was called upon to make a further contribution to the exchequer; and again freeling devoted himself to the congenial task of revising and increasing the postage rates. unwilling to destroy the symmetry of his own handiwork, he simply suggested that to the rates as prescribed by the act of should be added-- d. for a single letter, d. for a double letter, d. for a treble letter, and d. for a letter weighing as much as one ounce. the suggestion was adopted, and after the th of march, the date on which the new act was passed, the postage on a single letter was--from london to brighton, d. instead of d.; from london to liverpool, d. instead of d.; and from london to edinburgh, s. d. instead of s. but this was by no means all. in london, as we have seen, the penny post had, four years before, been converted into a twopenny post; and now the twopenny post, in respect to letters for places beyond the general post limits, was converted into a threepenny one. thus, abingdon street, westminster, was within the limits of the general post delivery, but millbank was beyond them. accordingly, a letter for millbank, even though posted no farther off than charing cross, was to be charged d., while the charge on a letter to abingdon street remained at d. as before. the act of introduced a still further complication. letters from the country addressed to any part of london that was outside the limits of the general post were to be consigned to the twopenny post, and, in addition to all other postage, to be charged with the sum of d. thus, of two letters of the same weight delivered at the same time and by the same person, one, originating in the country, would have to pay d., and the other, originating in london, would have to pay d. to record, therefore, that in the postage on a single letter--as, for instance, between london and plymouth--was d., although in one sense correct, would give an imperfect idea of the real state of the case. plymouth was one of the towns which possessed village or convention posts. suppose a letter from one of the villages to which these posts extended to have been addressed to knightsbridge or any other part of london situated outside the general post boundary. the postage would have been not d. but d. + d. + whatever might have been agreed upon for the village accommodation. but more than this. there were certain towns through which, though lying off the direct road, the mail-coaches passed for a consideration. such towns were hinckley in leicestershire, atherstone in warwickshire, and tamworth in staffordshire. here, in consideration of the accommodation afforded by the mail-coach passing through, the inhabitants undertook to pay in addition to all other postage d. on each letter. a day came when they sought to be relieved from this impost. vain aspiration! had they not agreed for a penny a letter? and, for any relief that the post office would give, a penny a letter they should pay to the end of time. it may safely be affirmed that at the present day no increase of postage would produce a corresponding increase of revenue. such, unhappily, was not the case at the beginning of the century. people did not then write unless they had something to say which could not be left unsaid without loss or inconvenience. trade, moreover, was rapidly expanding, and, as a consequence of the war, the ports were closed. thus, correspondence was driven inland; and upon inland correspondence, unlike correspondence with foreign parts, the government received the whole of the postage. but be the cause what it might, it must be owned that, in respect to the returns which they brought to the exchequer, the three increases of postage made in , , and answered expectation. this, though not a justification, is perhaps their best excuse. in , the year before the first of the three increases was made, the net post office revenue was £ , ; in , the year after the last of them, it was £ , , . the same result is apparent in the case of what, for distinction's sake, we will still call the london penny post, although the london penny post had become a twopenny and threepenny one. in the net revenue derived from this source was £ ; in it was £ , . among those who about this time criticised the doings of the post office was william cobbett. cobbett was regarded by freeling as a base calumniator with whom no terms were to be kept; and yet on a dispassionate retrospect it is impossible to deny that on the whole his criticisms were just, and that such of them as appeared in print[ ] were expressed in not intemperate language. at the present time far stronger language is used every day under far less provocation. of cobbett's numerous subjects of complaint we will mention only two--the so-called "early delivery" of letters and the treatment of foreign newspapers; and these have been selected because they serve to illustrate, better perhaps than any others, the practice of the post office eighty or ninety years ago. the latter of the two subjects serves also to explain much that would otherwise be inexplicable. [ ] _weekly political register_, nos. and , st and th dec. . the "early delivery"--a species of accommodation confined to london--was not what its name would seem to imply, because no letters were even begun to be delivered before nine o'clock in the morning. it was really a preferential delivery, a delivery restricted to those who chose to pay for it. for a fee or, as the post office preferred to call it, a subscription of s. a quarter or £ a year, any one residing within certain limits, including the whole of the city and extending westward as far as hamilton place, could get his letters in advance of the general delivery. it was managed thus. at nine o'clock or a little after the letter-carriers started from lombard street; and those for the remoter districts, in addition to their own letters, took letters for the districts through which they passed in proceeding to their own and, without waiting for the postage, dropped them at the houses of subscribers. the postage was collected in the course of the week by the regular letter-carrier of the district. against this preferential delivery, a delivery purchased by individuals at the expense of the general public, cobbett very justly inveighed. freeling, on the other hand, defended it as a priceless boon to merchants and traders who desired to receive their letters before the appointed hour. he omitted to explain, however, why a boon which could be bought by some could not be given gratuitously to all. it is a curious fact that this early delivery, essentially unfair as it was, continued to exist for more than thirty years after the period of which we are now writing. as late as and it was still in vogue, and not only the merchants and traders of london but the denizens of the squares were largely availing themselves of it. but it was chiefly in the city that the practice flourished. thus, on the morning of the th of may , out of a total of letters for the lombard street district no less than were "delivered early." the second of cobbett's complaints, or rather the second which we propose to notice, had reference to the treatment of foreign newspapers. what this treatment was at the beginning of the present century may appear hardly credible to us who live at the end of it. except at the letter rate of postage, no newspapers could either enter or leave the kingdom unless they were franked;[ ] and the power of franking them was restricted to post office servants. this power was as old as the post office itself; and so was the practice of exercising it for a consideration. what was new was an arrangement or understanding between freeling and arthur stanhope, the head of the foreign department, by virtue of which stanhope in conjunction with his subordinates franked newspapers for the continent, and freeling franked those for america and the british possessions abroad. [ ] what we have here called "franked" newspapers went free in both directions; but of course it was only newspapers outwards that bore a signature on the superscription. on those inwards a signature was immaterial, as they would in any case go, without being charged, direct from the port of arrival to lombard street. abroad, special arrangements for their transit and delivery were made from london. thus, the london office by means of its private agency could get an english newspaper delivered in paris for d. by post, the charge between calais and paris would have been from s. to s. here was a mine of wealth. newspapers were rapidly increasing in number and postage was rapidly rising. of course, so long as the price charged for franking was kept well below the cost of postage, the demand for franks would be brisk. before the century was sixteen years old freeling and stanhope were drawing from this source more than £ a year each. cobbett had had personal experience of the system. he had paid a visit to america, and having while there been supplied with a newspaper from england, he had on his return been presented with a bill for nine guineas as the price of franking. not only did he refuse to pay the bill, and persist in his refusal in spite of repeated applications, but he inveighed in his paper against the practice which made such a charge possible. this was in . he now, in december , renewed his attack upon the post office; but this time it was in respect to the manner in which newspapers were treated on their arrival in england, a treatment still more extraordinary than that which they received on despatch. the matter is somewhat complicated, and in order to explain it we must go back a few years. till the breaking out of the french revolution and the continental wars which succeeded it, foreign intelligence had long been uninteresting and was little sought after. the few newspapers that were published in london had confined themselves almost exclusively to domestic matters. then came a sudden change. domestic matters fell into the background. the whole country was eager to learn what was taking place on the other side of the channel. newspapers multiplied apace. where there was one before, there were now half a dozen, all hungering for foreign intelligence. here was an opportunity for the clerks in the foreign department of the post office. these clerks, in conjunction with their comptroller, had the exclusive right of franking newspapers for the continent, just as newspapers circulating within great britain were franked by the clerks of the roads. they had also, by virtue of their position, unequalled facilities for getting newspapers from abroad, and of these facilities they now availed themselves to the utmost. it would not be correct to state that at this time they established a foreign news-agency, for this they had done long ago; but what had hitherto been an insignificant business now became a large and important one. it may be interesting to trace its progress. at the time of which we are writing--from onwards--the foreign correspondence was seldom in course of distribution in london till the afternoon, owing to the then established custom of waiting till two o'clock for any mail that might be due. thus, a foreign mail arriving at three o'clock in the afternoon of one day might not be delivered until the same hour in the afternoon of the following day. another curious custom prevailed at this time. it was considered right, as a matter of international courtesy, that no foreign newspapers should be delivered until the foreign ministers had received their correspondence; and this correspondence, though delivered separately from the general correspondence, was seldom delivered earlier. meanwhile the newspapers were held in reserve by the clerks, ready to be delivered to their customers as soon as delivery was permissible by the rule of the office. this was a state of things which readily lent itself to malpractices. the person whom the comptroller appointed to distribute the foreign newspapers was an old woman of the name of cooper, and in her custody they remained during the close time, the time during which the foreign ministers' correspondence was preparing for delivery. this woman had a son who assisted her in the distribution, a young man of some ability and of no principle. he was not slow to take advantage of his position. from the foreign newspapers, while in his mother's custody, he jotted down the points of interest and sold his jottings to the london newspapers. the profits he derived from this source assumed such proportions that in the course of a few years he was reputed to have amassed a not inconsiderable fortune. from one newspaper alone, the _courier_, he received no less than £ in a single year. thus matters went on, save only that owing to the establishment of a second delivery of foreign correspondence the interval during which newspapers lay at the post office was shortened, until the year , when stanhope's appointment as comptroller put an end to one scandal merely to establish another. no sooner had stanhope taken up his appointment than the clerks, who had long protested in vain against cooper's conduct, broke out into fresh complaints; and the arrangement was then made which called forth cobbett's invective. why, argued stanhope, should not that which cooper has been doing clandestinely be done openly and under official sanction? it is true a rule exists that foreign newspapers must not be delivered in advance of the foreign ministers' correspondence; but a carefully-compiled summary of the contents of a newspaper is a very different thing from the newspaper itself. this, surely, might be delivered to the london editors without a breach either of the rule itself or of the considerations on which it was founded. such were stanhope's arguments, and he proceeded to put them into practice. with few if any exceptions, the editors of the london newspapers, both morning and evening, fell into the plan. french and dutch translators were engaged, and into their hands the foreign newspapers were placed as soon as they arrived at the post office. for each summary the charge was one guinea, and as there were generally two summaries a week, the sum which each editor paid was a little over £ a year. the entire proceeds, after payment of expenses, were divided in certain proportions between stanhope and his subordinates. in and again in cobbett had inveighed against a practice which thus amerced the editors of the london newspapers; but he might as well have preached to the winds. the practice was far too remunerative to be abandoned without a struggle. it is true that no one need take a summary unless he liked; but if he omitted to take one, it was at the cost of having only stale news to publish. at the close of circumstances were somewhat altered, and cobbett renewed his attack. communication by dover was closed, and correspondence from the continent could reach england only by holland and gravesend. the best arrangements of which the circumstances admitted were made for keeping up the supply of foreign newspapers and summaries; but after a while they broke down, and the post office was forced to seek the assistance of the alien office. this office had agents at gravesend, and undertook during the emergency to do what had hitherto been done by the post office. cobbett saw his opportunity, and was not slow to take advantage of it. it had been dinned into his ears that it was through the post office alone that foreign newspapers could be legally obtained, and that the department could make what arrangements it pleased for their distribution. but arrangements which in the hands of the post office were tolerated only because they had, or were supposed to have, legal sanction had now been transferred to the alien office. what, then, asked cobbett, had become of the law? to this inquiry the post office did not find it convenient to vouchsafe a reply. but a still more formidable antagonist than cobbett was about to deliver an assault. this was the _times_ newspaper. the _times_, although among what cobbett called "the guinea-giving papers," seldom made use of the summaries which the guineas purchased, regarding them as meagre and unsatisfactory. drawing from other and more fertile sources, it contrived in the matter of priority of intelligence to distance all competitors. on one occasion, indeed--a remarkable feat for those days--it even forestalled the "court," or, as they were now called, the "state" letters, which, unlike the ordinary letters, were delivered the moment the mail arrived. it was in , when george canning was foreign secretary. canning had not yet opened his despatches, and was amazed to find in his morning's paper information of which he had received no previous notice, and which, as he afterwards found, the despatches contained. indignant that his intelligence should have been thus anticipated, he instantly wrote to the post office demanding an explanation. angry as canning was, the reply he received can hardly have failed to evoke a smile. this reply was that the continental newspapers from which the _times_ had derived its information had been obtained not from the post office but from the foreign office, and that they had reached this office in canning's own bag under a cover addressed to himself. the _times_ had long protested against the intolerable delay which foreign newspapers sustained at the post office. especially had it protested against the absurdity of a system which, while withholding the newspapers themselves, yet permitted a summary of their contents to be published. but it had still more personal grounds of complaint. letters for the _times_, sealed letters addressed by permission to the under-secretaries of state, were excluded from the foreign office bag and kept back for the general delivery because, forsooth, the clerks at the post office were pleased to feel sure that these letters contained foreign newspapers, and feared that by forwarding them they would damage their own interests. such were the amazing liberties taken with correspondence in those days. no wonder that the _times_ proceeded to resent the outrage. in its issue of the th of may appeared an article which, after charging the post office with extortions and with sacrificing public convenience to the avarice of individuals, proceeded to declare that its administration was a disgrace to the government. freeling's indignation knew no bounds. that the charge was just never seems to have occurred to him. in his view it was nothing less than a libel--a libel of the most malignant character. never had man been more cruelly wronged than himself. the postmasters-general, lords sandwich and chichester, had been only four days in office, and their chief-officer was as yet unknown to them. obviously the intention was to damage this officer's reputation in the eyes of his new masters. but this intention should be frustrated. a criminal information should be filed. no; not a criminal information, for thus the aggressor's mouth would be closed. it should be a civil suit or action at law; and then the aggressor would be at liberty to tell his own tale, and all the world should see how little justification there was for his aspersions. at this time it was not known to freeling that letters for the _times_ sent under cover to the under-secretaries of state were being diverted from the ordinary course; and when, a little later on, the fact of diversion became known to him, the terms in which he expressed his sense of the impropriety were such as even the aggrieved newspaper would probably have held to leave nothing to be desired. but to apologise and arrest proceedings--these were things which would appear not to have come within the sphere of contemplation. an action had been begun, and it must proceed to the bitter end. a righteous cause is not necessarily one that can be defended at law. such would seem to have been the case in the present instance, for when the action came on for trial, the _times_ failed to appear, and judgment went by default. freeling was jubilant over the result. here was a triumphant vindication of his own and stanhope's proceedings. a charge had been brought--a charge as serious as any that could be levelled against a public department, and not even an attempt had been made to substantiate it. this was a happy termination of an unhappy business. so, at least, thought freeling; but, as a matter of fact, the business was far from being terminated yet. on the th of july, within three weeks of his reporting to the postmasters-general the result of the action at law, appeared a second article headed "post office," in which the iniquities of the system were ruthlessly exposed. strong language, indeed--language such as two months before had brought the _times_ within the meshes of the law--was carefully avoided, and the article confined itself to a bare narrative of facts. but the case against the post office lost nothing on this account. the facts spoke for themselves, and these, stated in their naked simplicity, constituted an indictment, to the weight of which no words could add. we can well believe that from this period the _times_ received its foreign newspapers in due course; but in other respects the only effect which the appearance of the second article had upon the post office was to spoil the triumph which it was celebrating over the result of the first. as to changing their practice and setting their house in order, this appears not to have occurred to either freeling or stanhope. on the contrary, they regarded themselves as deeply-injured persons, and, by dint of sheer importunity, induced the postmasters-general to consent to a second prosecution. wiser counsels, however, prevailed. the attorney-general, to whom the official papers were sent, took care not to return them, and to the present day the post office is without these interesting records. it is time we inquired what measure of success had attended the experimental posts--the posts by which, under mutual agreement between the post office and the inhabitants, small towns and villages were to be connected with post towns. village posts, they were sometimes called; but more commonly fifth-clause posts, from the clause of the act under which they were established. at first they answered well, but in an authoritative decision to the effect that franked letters and newspapers conveyed by a fifth-clause post were exempt from charge tended materially to disconcert arrangements. franked letters, though exempt from charge by the general post, were not exempt either by the penny posts in the country or by the twopenny post in london; and it had been taken for granted that they, as well as newspapers, would not be exempt by the fifth-clause posts. but it had now been decided otherwise, and this made all the difference. in arranging these posts nothing more had been aimed at than to make them self-supporting, and in adjusting the receipts and expenditure franks and newspapers had been counted as so many letters; but if these were to be eliminated, the balance would be on the wrong side. a service that was not self-supporting was, at the beginning of the century, regarded by the post office authorities as an abomination; and saddled as they were with a number of fifth-clause posts which had ceased to pay their own expenses, it became a serious question what was best to be done. a decision was precipitated by the action of the little town of olney in buckinghamshire. olney had at one time received from headquarters in lombard street what was called "an allowance in aid of its post"; but when fifth-clause posts were introduced this allowance ceased, and the inhabitants, in consideration of their being supplied with an official messenger from newport pagnel, agreed to pay over and above all other postage the sum of d. on each letter delivered. this agreement had now existed for several years, and the inhabitants had grown a little tired of it, being of opinion that a private messenger of their own could be procured on easier terms. accordingly they petitioned headquarters to reduce the rate they were paying from d. to / d. a letter, and, the request being refused, they proceeded to consider whether their agreement should not be terminated. this having come to freeling's ears, he stopped the post at once, and the inhabitants were left to get their letters as best they could. not even notice of his intention had been given. nor was this all. these capricious and discontented people, he said, should have imposed upon them a penny post. under a penny post they would still have their pence to pay; and the pence would be payable, not, as under the fifth-clause post, only on the letters delivered, but on those collected as well. this, while operating as a punitive measure, would have the incidental advantage of adding to the revenue. freeling was a bold man, and yet, bold as he was, his courage deserted him in this instance. at the last moment, after arrangements had been made for converting the fifth-clause post into a penny post, the order for conversion was revoked. to impose a penny post, he argued, would be no injustice; it would not even be a hardship, and yet these unreasonable people would be sure to represent it as such. they would urge that at one time their town had received an allowance in aid of its post; that then a foot-messenger had been established, and they paid d. on each letter delivered; and that now because they proposed to replace this messenger, as the act of parliament gave them power to do, by a messenger of their own, who would perform the service at a cheaper rate, an older act was brought to bear upon them which, while obliging them to pay d. on each letter collected as well as delivered, made the employment of their own messenger illegal. such were the arguments by which freeling excused himself to the postmasters-general, as though an excuse were necessary, for not going on with the high-handed proceeding he had originally contemplated. in the result, olney was given a post office of its own, being made in technical language a sub-office under newport pagnel, the post town. a rule was at the same time laid down to the effect that fifth-clause posts should no longer be maintained except in the case of small towns. to connect these with post towns fifth-clause posts might still be continued; but, in the case of villages and hamlets, they were to be replaced by penny posts. from this rule the fifth-clause posts received their death-blow. such of them as were village posts were promptly converted into penny posts; and such as were town posts, as the small towns acquired post offices of their own, became gradually merged in the general posts of the kingdom. the post office, which during the last ten or fifteen years had done much to impair its own utility, was now to receive a check from without; and this in respect to a branch of its service which was perhaps least open to criticism. the mail-coach system had continued to prosper. in the number of mail-coaches constantly running in great britain was about , and the extent of road over which they travelled was between , and , miles a day. the country gentry and the commercial classes vied with each other in demanding an extension of the system. towns lying off the main road were glad to pay d. a letter in addition to the postage on condition of the mail-coach passing through them on its way. the mail-coach, moreover, apart from the facilities it afforded for communication, brought traffic in its train. it gave, in the language of the time, publicity to the roads. palmer had, more than twenty years before, noticed this result and commented upon it. he found as a matter of experience that wherever a mail-coach was set up other traffic followed, and the post-chaises along the road were furbished up and better conducted. but popular as the new system was on the whole, there was one class of persons with whom it was distinctly the reverse. these were the trustees of the roads. with them the exemption from toll which the mail-coaches enjoyed was a constant source of complaint. nor was it calculated to abate their discontent that the post office, in whose favour the exemption was granted, possessed the power, a power which it constantly exercised, of indicting the roads if they were not kept in proper repair. the state of the trusts was at this time far from flourishing. in the neighbourhood of london and other large towns where traffic was considerable the tolls were low and the receipts high; but in the remoter and less populous parts of the kingdom the exact converse held good. there the tolls were high and the receipts low. to take the kingdom as a whole, the case stood thus: in very few instances indeed had any part of the debt on the turnpike trusts been discharged, and in fewer instances still had a sinking fund been established with a view to extinction of debt by process of time. with these rare exceptions, nothing more had been done than to keep up payment of the interest agreed upon, while in many instances no interest at all was being paid or interest at a reduced rate. in some instances indeed, the receipts from the tolls were not enough to defray even the cost of maintenance and repairs. it is not to be wondered at if in these circumstances the trustees of the roads looked with longing eyes to the £ , a year which was the estimated value of the tolls that, except for their exemption, the mail-coaches would have had to pay. of course the postmasters-general were strongly opposed to the surrender of this large amount; and yet there was one consideration which told heavily against them. it was this, that in ireland the mails were not exempt from toll. under an act passed by the irish legislature in , an act which still remained in force, an account was kept of all tolls leviable at the turnpike gates through which the mail passed, and this account was paid quarterly by the post office authorities in dublin. why, it was asked, could not a similar system be adopted in great britain? it was also urged, and not without force, that in the matter of weight the mail bore to the coach which carried it a very small proportion. the coach with its loading complete weighed from thirty-three to forty cwts., while the mail seldom weighed more than one cwt. for the sake of so small a proportion was it equitable that exemption should extend to the whole? a strenuous and united effort was now made to force the mail-coaches to pay toll. the question came before parliament, and a committee was appointed to inquire and report. the result could hardly have been in doubt. it was by the landed proprietors, the men who had seats in parliament, that the turnpike roads had been made, and they were generally the creditors on the turnpike funds. the committee was unanimous in recommending that the exemption from toll which the mail-coaches enjoyed should absolutely cease and determine. on the committee's report no action was taken in the session of ; but if the post office supposed that the matter would be allowed to drop, it was doomed to disappointment. early in the following year spencer perceval forwarded to lombard street for any observations the postmasters-general might have to offer upon it a bill having for its object to repeal the exemption. the postmasters-general suggested certain alterations, but upon the subject-matter of the bill, coming as it did from the prime minister, and their views being already well known, they confined themselves to once more expressing a doubt whether such a measure could be necessary. in may perceval was assassinated; and now the postmasters-general fondly hoped that the matter was at an end. what then was their dismay at learning a month or two later that the government was resolved to proceed with the bill. the same letter that conveyed this intelligence contained a suggestion as strange as it was original. this was that, in order to meet complaints, the mail-coaches on certain roads should be withdrawn. the postmasters-general, little supposing that such a suggestion could take practical shape, simply replied that not a whisper had yet reached them to the effect that mail-coaches were considered in excess; that, on the contrary, they were being constantly urged to increase the number. the bill was finally withdrawn; but heavy was the price which had to be paid. with those who were advocating the measure vansittart, the new chancellor of the exchequer, effected a compromise behind the back of the post office. there was indeed ample room for a satisfactory adjustment. for the conveyance of the mails the mail-coach proprietors received from the post office £ , a year; they paid to the government for stamp duty £ , a year; and the exemption which they enjoyed from toll was estimated to represent £ , a year. these figures seem almost to suggest a feasible arrangement; yet the compromise actually effected took another form. it was that, in accordance with the suggestion of a few months before, mail-coaches should be withdrawn. nor was this mere empty talk; vansittart had pledged himself to specific performance. and now began a general dis-coaching of the roads. the mail-coaches running between warwick and coventry, between shrewsbury and aberystwith, between aberystwith and ludlow, between edinburgh and dalkeith, between edinburgh and musselburgh, between chichester and godalming, between dorchester and stroudwater--all were discontinued at once. notice to quit was served upon the mail-coaches between worcester and hereford, between hereford and gloucester, between hereford and brecon, between alton and gosport, and between plymouth and tavistock. and, what was hardly less important, numerous applications for mail-coaches which, except for treasury interference, would have been granted, were refused. by pitt the mail-coach had been regarded as a pioneer of civilisation; in the eyes of pitt's successors it was a mischievous encumbrance. vansittart, having dealt one deadly blow at the post office, now proceeded to deal another. the war with france had exhausted the exchequer, and, as part of the ways and means, he called upon the post office for a further contribution of £ , a year. once more the screw was turned; and, oppressive as the postage rates were already, they were as from the th of july increased as follows:-- +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ | |single.|double.|treble.|ounce.| | +-------+-------+-------+------+ | | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | _d._ | | +-------+-------+-------+------+ |not exceeding miles | | | | | |above and not exceeding miles| | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | | " " " | | | | | |above miles | | | | | +-----------------------------------+-------+-------+-------+------+ this is the highest point to which the rates of postage have ever attained in this country. freeling would have resented so much as a suggestion that the institution which had now for some years been under his exclusive management was not in the most perfect order to which human foresight and ingenuity could raise it; and yet to the dispassionate observer it may be permitted to doubt whether eighty years ago the post office was not in some important particulars more open to criticism than at any time since its first establishment. let us compare for a moment the beginning of the nineteenth with the end of the seventeenth century. in the postage from london to liverpool or to york or to plymouth was, for a single letter, d.; in it was d. in , wherever letters were being carried clandestinely, the policy was to supplant; in the policy was to repress. in the king would not consent to a single prosecution even for the sake of example; in , when the post office revenue had passed from the king to the people, prosecutions were being conducted wholesale. in a circuitous post would be converted into a direct one, even though the shorter distance carried less postage; in a direct post in place of a circuitous one was being constantly refused on the plea that a loss of postage would result. in london enjoyed the advantage of a penny post, and this post carried up to one pound in weight; in the penny post had been replaced by a twopenny and threepenny one, and, except in the case of a packet passing through the general post, the weight was limited to four ounces. in , moreover, the complications were bewildering. in some places there were fifth-clause posts, and in others penny posts; and the charge by these posts was in addition to the charge by the general post. some towns, over and above all other charges, paid an additional d. on each letter for the privilege of the mail-coach passing through them. of two adjoining houses one might receive its letters free of any charge for delivery and not the other. this difference was to be found in towns where building was going on--as, for instance, at brighton--old houses being considered within, and new houses without, what was called the usage of delivery. in london itself the complications, if possible, were more bewildering still. the threepenny post began where the twopenny post ended. thus far the practice was simple enough. but the general post limits did not coincide with the limits of the twopenny post: and the limits of both the twopenny post and the general post differed from those of the foreign post. indeed, it is probably not too much to say that in there was not a single town in the kingdom at the post office of which absolutely certain information could have been obtained as to the charge to which a letter addressed to any other town would be subject. more than ten years later post office experts examined before a committee of the house of commons were unable to state what, even on letters delivered in london, would in certain cases be the proper postage. it may here be asked how it was that with rates so oppressive and so vexatiously levied the public were induced to tolerate them. the mail-coaches were popular except with the road trustees; and there is reason to think that even these, or at all events the principal persons among them, only professed a dislike which they did not really feel. the post office packets were also popular, and well they deserved to be, distinguishing themselves as they were about this time by deeds of even more than usual daring. but these considerations, added to the personal popularity which freeling himself enjoyed, are altogether insufficient to account for the extraordinary patience of the public under the treatment which eighty or ninety years ago they endured at the hands of the post office. the explanation we believe to be that the heavy rates of postage, and not a few of the vexations incidental to the levying of them, were tacitly accepted as a part, a necessary part, of the load of taxation which the people were called upon to bear as a consequence of the war in which england was engaged. we further believe that, in respect to its acts of aggression, the post office escaped criticism mainly because its proceedings, irritating as they were to individuals, were not generally known. this want of publicity is specially noticeable in the matter of prosecutions. at the present day a single prosecution undertaken by the post office would be the subject of comment in every newspaper in the kingdom. eighty or ninety years ago, numerous as the post office prosecutions were, there was not a newspaper in the kingdom that gratuitously published particulars or even announced the fact. often did the postmasters-general lament this reticence, believing as they did that to make known their repressive measures, and the amount of penalties inflicted, must have a deterrent effect upon the illicit traffic; and at length, for want of any better means of securing publicity, they gave directions that, wherever a prosecution took place, hand-bills giving full particulars were to be struck off and affixed to the doors of the local inns. the question which two years before had agitated the minds of the road trustees was now revived in scotland. among those who pressed for the establishment of mail-coaches none were more persistent than the large landed proprietors north of the tweed; and as soon as their demands were acceded to, none were louder in their denunciations of the injustice which exempted mail-coaches from toll. the government yielded at length to the pressure that was brought to bear, and in an act was passed repealing, so far as scotland was concerned, exemption from toll in the case of mail-carriages with more than two wheels. the same act, in order to indemnify the post office for the loss it would thus sustain, imposed an additional postage of / d. upon every letter conveyed by mail-coach in scotland. the post office was not quite fairly treated in this matter. no sooner had the act passed than the trustees of the roads raised the tolls. at the old rates the mail-coaches, had they not been exempt, would have had to pay £ a year; at the new rates, now that they were exempt no longer, they had to pay £ , a year, or more by nearly £ than the additional / d. of postage had been estimated to yield. nor was this all. some of the road acts contained a clause empowering the trustees to demand the sum of d. for every outside passenger. this power had never yet been exercised; but now the demand was rigorously enforced in the case of passengers by the mail-coaches, and by these coaches only. thus unhandsomely dealt with, the post office proceeded to do in scotland what under other circumstances it had done two years before in england. it reduced the number of its coaches. this excited many murmurs. from glasgow, for instance, a mail-coach had been running through paisley to greenock. this was now replaced by a horse post, and the district was not only relieved from the payment of the additional postage of / d. a letter, but--a boon which had long been earnestly sought--was given three posts a day instead of two. yet all three towns refused to be comforted, and bitterly reproached the postmasters-general for depriving them of their mail-coach. the convenience of travellers, however, was not a matter of which the post office took any account. the post office was concerned with the transmission of letters; and wherever these could be transmitted with the same or nearly the same expedition and at less expense by other means, the mail-coaches were discarded. about this time two measures were introduced which shew a strange forgetfulness of what had gone before. of these one was a reorganisation of the returned letter office, and the other the passing of a fresh ship letter act. hitherto, of the letters which could not be delivered only those had been returned to the writers which contained property or enclosures of apparent importance. the others had been torn up and sold as waste paper. now all were to be presumed to be of importance to the writers and to be returned accordingly. the propriety and even the legality of charging such letters had been questioned in palmer's time, and pitt had decided that they were not to be charged. this was now forgotten, and the post office proceeded not only to return every letter that could not be delivered, but to charge it with postage. to freeling, who regarded the post office as a mere engine of taxation, the temptation was no doubt a strong one. the measure, before being definitively adopted, had been tried experimentally for one year; and it was found that out of , letters returned to the writers more than , were accepted, producing a clear revenue of £ . by the new ship letter act the charge on a single letter arriving by private ship was raised from d. to d., and, what was far more important, no letters were to be sent by private ship except such as had been brought to the post office to be charged. the directors of the east india company, who would seem to have strangely overlooked the bill during its passage through the house, implored the government to get the act repealed. it was true, they urged, that their official correspondence was exempted from the operation of the act; but dependent on them in the east was a small army of servants whose private letters had hitherto gone free, and, under the provisions of the act, would go free no longer. with the east indies there was no communication by packet, and surely it was introducing a new principle for the post office to make a charge where it did not perform a service. did not the charge in such a case become a mere tax upon letter-writing? freeling, on the other hand, maintained that no new principle was involved, inasmuch as the previous act, the act of , recognised the sending of letters by ships other than packet boats and charging them with postage. this was perfectly true; but he forgot to add that, whereas the act of was permissive, the act of was compulsory, that under the one act it was optional with the senders of letters whether they would take them to the post office or not; and under the other, if they did not take them to the post office, they rendered themselves liable to severe penalties. he might indeed have gone further, and said that in pitt and the whole of the administration of which pitt was the head scouted the very idea of anything in the shape of compulsion being employed in the matter. the ship letter act of proved a complete failure. it contained no provision obliging private ships to carry letters, and the private ships between england and india were almost entirely in the hands of the east india company. no wonder, therefore, that the company, when asked whether it might be announced to the public that bags would be made up at the post office to be conveyed by their ships, replied in the negative. the court of directors, their letter said, are not without hopes that parliament will consent to revise the act, and meanwhile they "do not see fit to authorise the commanders or owners of any of their ships to take charge of any bag of letters from the post office subjected to a rate of postage for sea conveyance." freeling was filled with dismay. "a vital impediment," he exclaimed, "to the execution of the act." the expectations of the india house were not disappointed. in the next session of parliament the act of was replaced by another which granted larger exemptions to the company and disarmed its opposition. the later act gave power to the post office to establish a line of packets to india and the cape of good hope, and, until a line should be established, to employ as packets any ships it pleased, including ships of war. the mails were to go once a month. by packet--in which term is included the ship which the post office might be pleased to designate as packet for the occasion--the postage on a single letter was fixed at s. d.; by private ship it varied according to direction, outwards s. d. and inwards d. such were the main provisions of the act of ; but there were others which introduced new principles. as a result of the action of the east india company in the preceding year, it was now for the first time made compulsory upon private ships to carry letters when required to do so by the post office,[ ] and the post office was empowered to pay for their carriage a reasonable sum. this sum was to go by way of remuneration to the owners of the vessels, and to be in addition to a gratuity of d. a letter which the commander was to receive as his own perquisite. a still more important provision, a provision which assuredly could not have emanated from the post office, was one in favour of newspapers. by packet the postage on a letter to india or the cape weighing as much as one ounce was to be s.; on a newspaper of no greater weight, if stamped and in a cover open at the side or end, it was to be d. this was the first enactment that provided for newspapers going outside the limits of the united kingdom for less than the letter rate of postage. [ ] one of the first, if not the very first, against whom proceedings were taken under this provision of the statute was robert wetherall, master of the ship _albinia_, from gravesend to the cape of good hope. wetherall had at the last moment refused to take the mails on board, consisting of letters. on the advice of the law officers the post office contemplated proceeding against him by indictment; but the government decided to proceed by information, with a view apparently to give to the case greater importance and notoriety. what was virtually a most interesting experiment was now about to be tried. to india and the cape the post office had no packets of its own; and before private ships could be employed as packets, the consent of the owners had to be obtained and the amount of payment to be agreed upon. practically, the post office was at the mercy of others. mails had to be sent once every month; ships of war could not always be employed; and should the shipping interest combine, the postmasters-general would have to pay pretty much what owners chose to demand. to the credit of that interest nothing in the shape of combination took place. during the first sixteen months the mails were despatched five times by his majesty's ships, four times by ships of the east india company, and seven times by ships belonging to private owners. his majesty's ships carried the mails, of course, without charge. the east india company, with admirable generosity, placed their ships at the disposal of the post office and refused to receive any payment. and the ships belonging to private owners were engaged, the first of them for £ and the other six for sums ranging from £ to £ . altogether, the sum expended during more than a year and a quarter in transporting the mails to india and the cape of good hope did not exceed £ ; and the postage during the same period amounted to £ , . in the following year, the year , even better terms were obtained, the owners of private ships engaged as packets receiving in no case more than £ , and in one case as little as £ . the east india company's generosity was not reciprocated by the post office. his majesty's ship _iphigenia_, which was lying at portsmouth, had been appointed to carry out the mails, and the india house had sent down its despatches to be put on board. in strictness these despatches should have been sent through the post office, inasmuch as the _iphigenia_ had been appointed a packet for the occasion; but as the india house paid no postage on its correspondence, whether sent by packet or by ships of its own, it was a mere technical irregularity. freeling maintained, however, that there was an important distinction which ought to be observed. it was true that no question of postage was involved. it was also true that the india house would have been at liberty to put its despatches on board the _iphigenia_ had she been sailing for india without being appointed a packet boat; but as she had been so appointed, the intervention of the post office was necessary, and without that intervention the commander ought not to have received them. accordingly, freeling urged upon the government, though happily without success, that orders should be sent to portsmouth to have the despatches removed from the ship to the local post office, to be there kept until instructions should be received from lombard street that they might be again taken on board. on the close of hostilities in domestic matters began once more to occupy a place in men's thoughts; and it was next to impossible that the post office should escape attention. its heavy and capricious charges, its high-handed proceedings, its disregard of the public requirements, its prosecutions, its constant indictment of roads which it largely used and yet contributed nothing to maintain, and, above all, the fact that its administration was virtually in the hands of one man, and that man not the nominal head, who could be reached by constitutional means--signs were not wanting that these and other matters had created an amount of dissatisfaction which must sooner or later find expression. yet freeling either could not or would not see. were not his immediate superiors, the postmasters-general, satisfied with his management, so satisfied indeed that they seldom, if ever, found it necessary to pay a visit to lombard street? and had not the contributions which, under his guidance, the post office kept pouring into the exchequer raised him high in the chancellor's favour? if so, what more could a loyal and industrious public servant desire? that freeling was elated with what he considered his unbounded success is clear from a letter which about this time was written to the treasury, enclosing a return of the post office revenue, and shewing how it had responded to the successive increases of rate which had been imposed during his tenure of the office of secretary. this letter, drafted by himself, as all the official letters were, though signed by the postmasters-general, concluded thus: "we flatter ourselves that we shall not be considered as exceeding the limits of our duty in drawing your lordships' attention to a circumstance which has made a strong impression on ourselves in the course of our inquiry, namely, that the office of secretary during the whole of this flourishing period has been executed by the same faithful and meritorious servant of the crown." the return, with a copy of this letter appended, was afterwards presented to parliament. there is no more tolerant assembly in the world than the house of commons; and yet even the house of commons is intolerant of egotism. it may have been, and probably was, a mere coincidence, but the fact remains that from the date of the presentation of this return freeling's influence began to wane. chapter xv ireland - at the union with ireland the irish post office was not merged into the post office of england as the scotch post office was merged at the union with scotland. the existence of two separate establishments, presided over by different heads, who had not always the same objects in view, and were influenced by different considerations, was not unattended with inconvenience. between the post offices of the two parts of the kingdom, moreover, there were differences not only of practice but of law, the statutes passed during the seventeen years that the post offices were separate not having been repealed at the time of the union. thus, the law which regulated franking was stricter in ireland than in england, although, it must be confessed, the practice was looser. the law prohibiting the illicit conveyance of letters was also stricter. in england the post office was not empowered to search for letters; in ireland the post office might search both vehicles and houses from sunrise to sunset. in england the mail-coaches were exempt from toll; in ireland no such exemption was allowed. in ireland, again, the post office was legally bound not, as in england, to deliver letters but only to carry them; and except in dublin there was not a single letter-carrier in the kingdom. even the constitution of the two post offices, though apparently similar, was really different. in ireland, as in england, there were two heads commonly called joint postmasters-general; but whereas in england the assent of both was necessary to make a decision operative, in ireland the assent of one was sufficient. this, while probably designed to facilitate the despatch of public business, was, as will be seen later on, attended with a curious result, a result which the framers of the statute can have little contemplated. of such differences of practice as were not rendered necessary by any difference of law it may be sufficient to mention a few. in england the mail-coach contractors supplied horses only; in ireland they supplied coaches as well. in england the contract was for short periods and for short distances, seldom for more than one or two stages; in ireland, where there was little or no competition, the contract was for the whole of the road over which the coach travelled, and for as much as twenty and even thirty years. meanwhile no alteration was possible except with the contractors' assent. in england the horse-posts were provided upon the most advantageous terms of which each particular case would admit; in ireland the obligation to provide them was imposed upon the local postmasters, who received for the service, cost what it might, one uniform rate of d. a mile. in london there was no despatch on sundays; in dublin the mails were despatched on sundays as on other days. in dublin, again, the men who collected letters by the sound of bell, bellmen as they were now called, received not as in london d. a letter but d. a house, a difference of which the inhabitants were wont to shew their appreciation by sending to a single house for delivery to the letter-carrier the letters of an entire street. in dublin there was one institution to which there was no counterpart in london. this was the british mail office, an office set apart for the management of the mails passing between england and ireland. other mails were dealt with in the inland office; but those to and from england were considered of such paramount importance as to deserve exceptional treatment. at the present day the term "office" as applied to the public service conveys the notion possibly of a palace and certainly of a building or part of a building consisting of several rooms. the british mail office, though destined to play a not unimportant part in the history of the irish post office at the beginning of the present century, consisted of one room only, and this room was exactly six feet square. the establishment of this office was one of many measures which owed their origin to lord clancarty, who was joint postmaster-general with lord o'neill from to . clancarty enjoyed an honourable distinction. other postmasters-general were habitual absentees, their visits to the post office, if visits they made, being confined to the rare occasions on which they passed through dublin on their way to london and back. clancarty, on the contrary, devoted to his official duties all the powers of a keen intellect and a singularly energetic nature. shortly after his appointment he proceeded to london, and having made himself master of the system pursued in the inland office in lombard street, returned to dublin, resolved that, as far as circumstances would permit, a similar system should be established there. a formidable difficulty, however, presented itself in the different hours of attendance in the london and dublin offices. in london the attendance was daily, on every night and every morning; in dublin it was only on alternate days, on every other night and every other morning. how to get rid of this difference was the question which clancarty now set himself to solve. there was at this time in the inland office a clerk of the name of donlevy, whose parts pointed him out as qualified to take the lead among his fellows. clancarty sent for this young man, and told him that under the plan which was about to be introduced he would have to attend daily. donlevy objected that a plan which would involve such attendance was an unreasonable, an oppressive plan, and that no man's constitution, strong as he might be, would stand it. "but," said clancarty, "i will make you vice-president." "my lord," replied donlevy, "i am very much obliged to you; but under the conditions proposed i would not accept even the office of president." "very well," rejoined clancarty, laying his watch on the table, "i will give you three hours to consider of it." long before the three hours had expired, donlevy, who knew the character of the man with whom he had to do, and what would be the penalty of refusal, had accepted the vice-presidentship, and opposition to the introduction of daily attendance was at an end.[ ] [ ] clancarty was afterwards appointed joint postmaster-general of england. this appointment he held from th september to th april , but he never took it up. between the dates mentioned he was employed on missions abroad. but clancarty was an exception to the general rule. lord rosse, who succeeded him and remained postmaster-general in conjunction with o'neill for more than twenty years, was, like his colleague, an habitual absentee; and the consequence was to place large power in the hands of the chief permanent officer on the spot. this was edward smith lees, who had been appointed joint secretary with his father in , and who on his father's death some years afterwards became sole secretary. the power which lees must in any case have possessed as chief resident officer was enormously increased by the fact to which we have already referred, that the signature of either of the two postmasters-general was sufficient. of this fact lees took advantage to an extent which may seem incredible. if the particular postmaster-general to whom the case was referred agreed to the course recommended, no reference to the other appears to have been considered necessary; but if he did not agree, a reference to the other took place without the fact of disagreement being made known, or even an intimation that his colleague had been consulted. by thus playing off one postmaster-general against the other, lees generally contrived to secure approval of his own recommendations; but when, as occasionally happened, such approval could not be obtained from either, he claimed and exercised the right, as chief officer on the spot, to take his own course. thus lees, like freeling, was an autocrat within his own domain; but the means by which the two men attained this result were essentially different. freeling kept the postmasters-general informed of every incident, however trivial. lees gave no information which could with decency be withheld. freeling supported his views by a perfect wealth of explanation. lees explained no more than enough to carry his point. freeling's candour, like his loyalty, knew no bounds. it is to his candour, indeed, that we owe our materials for criticising his own proceedings. lees's candour and loyalty, on the contrary, so far as these can be said to have had any existence, were held in rigid subjection to considerations of expediency and personal advantage. the circumstances attending the appointment of lees's brother, a searcher in the customs at wexford, to a position in the secretary's office only inferior in point of rank and emolument to his own, well exemplify the mode in which the business of the irish post office was conducted during the first two or three decades of the present century. the minute appointing him was signed, not by o'neill and rosse, nor by either of them, but by one of lees's own subordinates, and purported to embody a decision come to at a board at which the two postmasters-general were present. "at the board"--so ran the minute--"present the earls." the whole thing was a fiction from beginning to end. the earls had not been present, and there had been no board. indeed, as lees was afterwards forced to admit before a committee of the house of commons, during a period of twenty years that o'neill and rosse had been joint postmasters-general and he their secretary, he had seen them only once together in the same room, and that was in the drawing-room at parsonstown. the example set in high quarters was not without its effect below. every one seems to have been left to do pretty much as he liked. the force was maintained at a level very far in excess of the actual requirements, and it was no uncommon thing for one-half of the entire number to absent themselves without notice in a single morning. some of the clerks never attended at all, while others gave to their post office duties only such fragments of their time as they could snatch from other and more lucrative employments. thus, one was a clerk in a private bank, another a clerk in a merchant's office, a third was a surgeon, several held appointments under the customs or the imprest office, and many were practising attorneys. to most of these the object of holding an appointment in the post office appears to have been not so much the salary attaching to it as the privilege which they enjoyed, or rather which they assumed to themselves, of sending and receiving their letters free. the attorneys, indeed, were credited with a still less respectable motive. all, as soon as a mail arrived, helped themselves to their own letters and the letters of the firms in which they were interested. the president of the inland office held a valuable appointment in the bank of ireland, and was not in a position to check on the part of his subordinates a license which he allowed to himself. the receiver-general, the highest financial officer on the establishment, was a private banker and money-lender, and, beyond signing the balance-sheet at stated periods, the only post office function he performed was to frank his own correspondence. that in ireland the post office arrangements were made subservient to private interests does not admit of a doubt. a suspicion will indeed now and again cross the mind that even in england the readiness to raise the rates of postage, and the hostility shewn to newspapers except when supplied by the clerks of the roads, were not unconnected with personal considerations; but what in the case of england is at best only a matter of suspicion becomes in the case of ireland an absolute certainty. in ireland, as in england, the clerks of the roads had from the first establishment of the post office enjoyed the privilege of franking newspapers; but soon after the british mail office had been established by clancarty, two other clerks, styling themselves express clerks, undertook to supply newspapers express. their plan was very simple. in london the newspapers were made up in a parcel addressed to the express clerks; and these clerks had in readiness messengers of their own, who proceeded to deliver the newspapers as soon as they arrived in dublin and without waiting, as others had to do, for the sorting of the mail. this alone would have given to the express clerks a considerable advantage over the ordinary news-vendor. but, more than this, the british mail was irregular in its arrival, and the latest hour in the evening at which a delivery by letter-carrier took place in dublin was seven o'clock. the express clerks delivered the english newspapers by their own messengers as late as eleven o'clock. in the case of the country the advantage which the express clerks enjoyed was still greater. the mails for the interior of ireland left the inland office in dublin at seven o'clock in the evening; but under a rule, on the observance of which the authorities rigidly insisted, no mails from the british mail office were to be received in the inland office for despatch the same evening unless they were brought there ready sorted full twenty minutes before that hour. practically, therefore, as the sorting occupied about twenty-five minutes, mails from england arriving later than a quarter past six were detained until the following evening. no such detention, however, was sustained by the express newspapers, which, addressed as they were to the express clerks, could be forwarded up to the last moment. it may readily be supposed that, with such advantages in their favour, the express clerks and the clerks of the roads, for the two bodies had amalgamated and formed one common purse, found many customers. that they realised and fully appreciated their position will be seen from the following advertisement which was issued no longer ago than april :-- british newspaper office, general post office. the clerks of roads and clerks of express newspapers having, under the authority of the postmasters-general, reformed their establishment in this department for the transmission of british and foreign newspapers, lottery, commercial, army and navy lists, periodical and other publications, the nobility and gentry of dublin are respectfully informed that they can be supplied with those articles either by an express delivery (which is made by special messengers immediately on the arrival of the packets) or by the regular course of post. country correspondents will have a peculiar advantage, as upon all occasions when a packet arrives before the despatch of the inland mails but too late for general transmission, their newspapers will be forwarded at the last possible moment. newspapers exchanged at pleasure any time during the period of subscription. subscriptions to be paid in advance. further particulars known by application to messrs. leet and de joncourt, general post office, who will receive subscriptions. daily attendance from twelve till four o'clock. london daily newspapers to dublin by general delivery, £ : : per annum. leet and de joncourt were the two express clerks; but among the clerks of the roads, on whose behalf they wrote as well as their own, was lees, the secretary, who participated in the profits derived from the sale of newspapers, and received the lion's share. the news-vendors bitterly complained. that the newspapers supplied by the express clerks and clerks of the roads should be exempt from postage[ ] was bad enough; but that they should also enjoy priority of transmission and delivery was past all endurance. how was it possible to compete under such conditions as these? the booksellers also complained, for the express service, though originally confined to newspapers, had now extended to periodicals as well. on a _quarterly_ or _edinburgh review_, for instance, when sent by coach from dublin into the country, the bookseller's customers had to pay for carriage from s. d. to s. d., whereas the express clerks and clerks of the roads sent it, through the medium of the post, carriage free. a heavier indictment remains. the law permitted the examination of newspapers passing through the post with a view to ascertain whether they contained unauthorised enclosures; and it was confidently alleged that of this power the post office servants took advantage in order to retard the transmission and delivery of newspapers that were not supplied by themselves. a ring, the news-vendors maintained, had been formed at the post office, and they were the victims. [ ] at one time the express newspapers went all the way from london to dublin post free; but this, at the date of the advertisement, had been stopped, and as far as holyhead their carriage was now being provided for under an arrangement with the london agents. from holyhead to dublin, however, they still went in the mail free of postage, and on arrival in dublin such of them as were destined for the country were franked by the clerks of the roads. the management of what was technically termed the alphabet appears to have been influenced by similar considerations. this was nothing more than a rack with divisions corresponding to the letters of the alphabet, into which might be sorted ready for delivery all correspondence addressed to the post office to be called for. such was its primary object; but in course of time the bankers and merchants, finding that through the alphabet they could get their letters sooner than if delivered by letter-carrier--as soon indeed as the mail arrived--made use of this expedient for their ordinary correspondence, readily paying for the accommodation a fee ranging from three to five guineas a year. this had gone on for a considerable period, when lees appears to have been suddenly seized with compunction at the unfairness of a practice which, in the matter of delivery, gave to one man an advantage over another; and he issued instructions that henceforth, after the arrival of each mail, there should be a certain interval during which letters should not be delivered from the alphabet. the pretence imposed upon no one. men readily discerned that in proportion as the advantages of the alphabet were restricted the express service was rendered more valuable. it would be unjust to the memory of the irish post office of seventy years ago not to mention here one good practice and, as far as we know, the only good one that then existed. by virtue of an arrangement with, the war office, soldiers' wives, on presentation of a formal document with which the military authorities provided them, could draw from any post office in the kingdom a certain sum of small amount until the entire sum mentioned in the document was exhausted. thus, a soldier's wife desirous of joining her husband could pass from one end of the country to another, and, without carrying anything in her pocket, could be supplied with money on her way. of this practice, curiously enough, not a vestige now remains. it is also pleasant, amid so much indifference as was at that time exhibited to the convenience of the public, to be able to record one instance to the contrary. thomas whinnery, the postmaster of belfast, had read an account of the alphabet at liverpool--how the letters were sorted into a rack according to the initials of the merchants to whom they were addressed, so as to be ready to be delivered when they should be called for--and he resolved to introduce something of the same kind into his own office. instead, however, of adopting the alphabetical order he assigned to each merchant a particular number, letting him know what his number was, and instead of a fixed rack as at liverpool he contrived a revolving one; and this, with the numbers conspicuously exhibited over each division, he placed in full view of a window opening to the street. thus, any one looking through the window could see for himself whether there were any letters for him, and was saved the trouble of inquiring. equality of treatment as between man and man had not yet become one of the canons of the post office, and even whinnery, well-meaning as he was, made a distinction as remarkable as it was invidious. belfast not being supplied with an official letter-carrier, he employed a man of his own to deliver the letters, and charged on their delivery d. apiece. the letters, however, instead of all being delivered at one time, were arbitrarily divided into two classes, termed particular letters and ordinary letters; and the delivery of the ordinary letters was not begun until that of the particular letters was finished, a difference in point of time of two and a half hours. in order to maintain the distinction, the man had actually to go over the same ground twice. particular letters were defined to be letters for merchants and other busy men, letters to which it was presumably of importance that replies should be given promptly. we have said that in ireland the mail-coach contracts were not, as in england, for short distances but for the whole of the road over which the coach travelled. the explanation is that, while in england the local inn-keepers were eager to horse the mail for one or two stages, in ireland, where the coach had to be provided as well as the horses, the venture was too serious to be undertaken lightly, and the contracts fell into the hands of a few persons of means who dictated pretty much their own terms. thus, in ireland the cost of conveying the mails by coach was considerably higher than in england, though forage and labour were cheaper.[ ] [ ] in the irish mail-coaches travelled daily a distance of miles at a cost to the post office of more than £ , a year, while in england the cost over the same number of miles would have been only £ . from this, however, it is not to be understood that in one country the cost was four times as heavy as in the other, because the irish mile was longer than the english one by about two furlongs, and in england the contractors did not, as they did in ireland, provide the coaches. all this was soon to be changed. in one of the early years of the century a young lad had arrived in dublin, a lad without means and without friends, a foreigner who was unable to speak one word of english, and yet who, despite these drawbacks, did for the country of his adoption more probably than was accomplished by all the legislation that took place during the fourscore years and more over which his life extended. this was charles bianconi, a man to whom the post office owes a debt of gratitude which, as it seems to us, has never been sufficiently recognised. after serving an eighteen months' apprenticeship to a foreign print-seller in a small way of business, bianconi passed the next two or three years of his life in hawking prints about the country on his own account, and in , at the age of twenty, he turned carver and gilder and opened a shop at carrick-on-suir. from carrick he removed shortly afterwards to waterford, and finally settled down at clonmel. the experience of these few years determined bianconi's future career. while roaming over the country with his prints for sale, he had had forcibly impressed upon him the difference between a pedlar like himself who was doomed to tramp on foot and his more fortunate fellow who could post or ride on horseback. at carrick the want of facilities for travelling had been brought home to him in a hardly less cogent manner. gold-leaf for the supply of his shop he had to fetch from waterford, and waterford is distant from carrick twelve or thirteen miles. between the two towns, however, the only means of communication was by water, and by water, owing to the windings of the river, the distance is twenty-four miles. a single boat, moreover, was then the only public conveyance, and, besides being obliged to wait for the tide, it took from four to five hours to accomplish the journey. from this time bianconi appears to have become possessed with the idea that his mission in life was to devise some cheap and easy means of communication between town and town. imbued with this notion, he gave up his shop in the summer of , and started a single-horse car for the conveyance of passengers from clonmel to cahir, a distance of about eight miles. at the end of the same year he started similar cars from clonmel to cashel and thurles, and from clonmel to carrick and waterford. from such humble beginnings sprang that splendid service of cars which, extending from sligo and enniskillen in the north to bandon and skibbereen in the south, and from waterford and wexford in the east to galway and belmullet in the west, carried passengers daily over more than miles of road at an average cost to each passenger of - / d. a mile. but we are anticipating. the post office, largely as it availed itself in later years of the means of communication which bianconi placed at its disposal, was slow to perceive the advantage which his enterprise offered. the country postmasters were wiser in their generation. located on the spot, and with their perception quickened by the motive of self-interest, they made use of the cars as fast as these were put on the roads. no sooner had a car been started from clonmel than the postmaster sent by it the mails which he had been used to send by horse-post. for this service he received an allowance of d. a mile. bianconi performed the service for him for an allowance of - / d. a mile. the same thing took place elsewhere. it was not until the year , when the post office of ireland was amalgamated with that of england, that bianconi was brought into direct relations with headquarters. meanwhile, through a strange lack of vigilance on the part of the irish authorities, his very existence was ignored, and the postmasters continued to receive d. a mile for a service which, wherever bianconi's cars extended, they were getting done for one-half of that amount. but it is not only with the irish post office in relation to its internal affairs that this chapter proposes to deal. the communication between england and ireland or rather between the capitals of the two countries had, since the act of union, been under constant review, and it becomes important to see how, during the first two or three decades of the present century, this communication stood both by sea and by land. by the act of , which made the irish post office independent of that of great britain--an act not repealed by the union--great britain and ireland were to receive, in respect to letters passing between the two countries, each its own proportion of the postage. the channel service remained; and with this ireland was to have nothing to do, at all events in the first instance. great britain was to provide the packets and to receive the packet postage. ireland, on the other hand, until she should have established packets of her own, was to receive from great britain the sum of £ a year "in lieu as well of the profits of the said packets as in compensation for other purposes." this arrangement appears to have worked smoothly enough until after , when, owing to the increase of correspondence as a consequence of the union, the irish post office began to complain that the conditions were hard, and that great britain had the best of the bargain. surely, under the very terms of the statute, ireland was entitled to have packets of her own; and if this were denied her, did not justice demand that the conditions should be reconsidered? the question had come before successive governments and always with the same result--that the existing arrangement was not to be disturbed. what pitt and portland and perceval had decided was not to be done lees now proceeded to do on his own account. we doubt whether travellers of the present day who cross from holyhead to dublin in the magnificent boats which modern science has provided have any idea of the misery to which our grandfathers were exposed in making the passage. his majesty's packets afforded the best, if not the only means of transit; and these were six in number, and ranged from to tons in burthen. customs duties were at this time levied on goods passing between the two countries, and passengers' luggage was subjected to strict examination. thus, to the discomforts of a sea-passage made in vessels of light tonnage were added the vexations incidental to a rigorous search of personal baggage; and these vexations were rendered all the greater by faulty arrangements. passengers were unnecessarily detained, and often, even after detention, had to proceed on their journey leaving their luggage behind. in course of time, indeed, an exception was made in the case of peers and members of parliament. after december , as the result of incessant complaints, the luggage of these privileged persons was allowed to pass unexamined on their giving a certificate on honour that it contained no articles liable to duty; but at the time of which we are writing, the year , all travellers, whether of high or low degree, were treated alike. despite conditions which at the present day would be considered intolerable, the number of passengers carried to and fro by the holyhead packets was between , and , a year;[ ] and there can be no doubt that the advantage which the british post office derived from this traffic was considerable. it is true that the fares went to the captains; but of course, except for the fares, the post office would have had to pay more for its packets. these were supplied at an annual cost of £ apiece, or £ altogether; and such being the terms on which boats could be hired, lees was confirmed in his opinion that ireland would do better if, instead of receiving from great britain a compensation allowance of £ a year, she were to provide her own packets and share the packet postage. [ ] the exact number of passengers in the year was , , made up as follows: cabin passengers, , ; passengers' servants, ; hold passengers, . freeling took a different view. the better the bargain was for the british post office, the more determined he was that with his consent the terms should not be altered. and, more than this, he little relished the prospect of competition between english and irish packets. indeed, so long had he been accustomed to deal with a monopoly that the very name of competition was hateful to him. at this very time he tried, and tried in vain, to repress a boat which had been set up between weymouth and the channel islands in opposition to the packets. another similar attempt which he made a little later was hardly more successful. the war office had chartered vessels to convey troops between bristol and waterford, and these vessels had assumed the title of "government packets," a title which, according to freeling, induced persons to go by them who would otherwise have gone by the post office packets from milford. lord palmerston was then secretary at war, and we think we see the twinkle in his eye as he replied to freeling's letter of remonstrance. freeling's objection was of course to the bristol boats being styled packets, but he had spoken of them by the title by which they were known of "government packets." the contractors, wrote lord palmerston, had been directed to drop the word government forthwith, and the boats would henceforth be called war office packets, to distinguish them from the packets employed by the post office. attached to the irish post office, by virtue of a contract which had yet some years to run, were boats called wherries. originally designed to carry between the two countries special messengers and despatches during the period immediately succeeding the union, they had long lost their original character, and were now being employed in picking up what goods and passengers they could, and transporting them across the channel in opposition to the packets. these boats were not ill adapted to the purpose which lees had in hand. on the th of july he despatched a letter to freeling, incidentally mentioning that "as the intended packet station at howth had sufficient depth of water for the vessels belonging to the irish post office, it was in contemplation, until such time as the regular packets should be stationed there, that the mails from ireland should be despatched in its own vessels, and that, as soon as the arrangements now in progress should be completed, the measure would take effect." this letter was received in london on the rd of july, and on the next day intelligence reached lombard street that the mail from ireland had been refused to the british packet and had been given to the irish wherry. and now might be witnessed a most unedifying spectacle--in dublin lees placarding the walls of the city with advertisements,[ ] vaunting the merits of his own packets; at holyhead the authorised packets arriving without the mails, and the mails being brought by boats which did not arrive until after the mail-coach for london had started; and in london freeling wringing his hands and invoking the aid of the government to check the vagaries of his brother-secretary on the other side of the channel. "for the first time," he wrote, "the postmasters-general of great britain have not the means of redressing grievances connected with their own department, and the most serious remonstrances may be expected from the merchants and traders of london on this alarming and unnecessary evil." [ ] the following are copies of the advertisements referred to:-- "the howth royal mail-coach sets out every evening at seven o'clock from the cork coach office, dawson street, where passengers and luggage will be booked, and arrives at howth at a quarter after eight, when the packet will immediately sail (independently of the tide) with the irish mails and passengers for holyhead. from the admirable construction of these vessels for fast sailing and excellent accommodation the passage from the pier at howth to holyhead will on the average be performed in one-third less time than by the _pigeon house_. besides, as no more than eight or ten passengers will be admitted into any one of these packets, the public, on the score of expedition and comfort, will soon experience the advantage of going to holyhead by howth. "passengers by the mail-coach have a preference as to berths in the packets. "_july , ._" "howth royal mail-coach, well guarded, sets out from the cork coach office, no. dawson street, at seven o'clock every evening with mails and passengers to his majesty's express packets at howth, from whence one of these excellent vessels sails at half after eight o'clock every night for holyhead. "_july , ._" the prediction was a safe one. not only were the mails often one day behindhand in arriving in london, but the letters they brought were charged with an additional rate of postage in respect of the distance between dublin and howth. the merchants flocked to the post office to inquire the reason. no reason could be given them, and they were invited to let their applications for a return of the charge stand over until the postmasters-general should have informed themselves on the subject. some assented; others accused the postmasters-general of trifling, and demanded instant redress. matters had thus gone on for a fortnight when lord liverpool, to whom an appeal had been made, directed that the wherries should be withdrawn. one is left to suppose that this direction cannot have been communicated in the proper quarter, for as a matter of fact it had no result. in vain the captains of the packets applied at the dublin post office for the british mails. all such applications met with a flat refusal, and the mails continued to be sent by the wherries as before. at length an end was put to the scandal, but not until it had lasted for more than six weeks. the question now arose whether for the forty-four days during which the wherries had acted as packets the compensation of £ a year which ireland received from great britain should not be withheld. freeling had not only taken it for granted that such would be the case, but had been unable to conceal his regret that this was the only penalty of which the circumstances would admit. liverpool, however, decided otherwise. lees might have been wrong-headed and even perverse, but there could be no doubt that law was on his side. accordingly, the compensation was paid for the period during which the packets had not carried the mails, and not long afterwards the government brought in a bill raising the amount which ireland was to receive from £ a year to £ . we now pass over six years. in july a curious invention, which had for some little time been in practical operation on the thames between london and margate, was brought into use between holyhead and dublin. this was no other than a vessel propelled by steam. two vessels of this class were now set up by private individuals styling themselves the dublin steam packet company; and of this company, to the amazement of the authorities in lombard street, lees had become a director. the quality which the new vessels possessed of being able to go against wind and tide, and the comparative speed with which they accomplished the passage, soon commended them to the favour of the public; and the consequence was a reduction to the extent of nearly one-half in the number of passengers by the post office packets.[ ] the matter was serious, for it was in consequence of the fares which the captains received that they let their boats to the post office at little more than a nominal sum: and of course this sum would have to be increased according as the fares diminished. [ ] by the post office packets the number of passengers between holyhead and dublin during the years - was as follows:-- year. number of passengers. , , , private steam packets began to ply in july . we now see the post office at its best. not possessing in the case of passengers a monopoly such as influenced and often perverted its action in the case of letters, the department proceeded to do much as private persons with sufficient capital at command would have done in similar circumstances, namely to build better boats than those already employed, and endeavour by the superior excellence of its service to recover the custom it had lost. orders were given for two steam packets, the best that boulton and watt could build; and on the st of may the _royal sovereign_, of tons burthen, with engines of horse-power, and the _meteor_, of somewhat smaller dimensions, began to ply. "hitherto," wrote the postmasters-general eight days later, "they have answered the most sanguine expectations that had been formed of them; the letters have been delivered in dublin earlier than was ever yet known, and ireland has expressed herself grateful for the attention that has been shewn to her interests." the post office behaved in this matter with a moderation which was altogether wanting where its monopoly was concerned. to be outdone by a private company, to employ inferior boats, boats of an obsolete type and of a low rate of speed--this would not be creditable to a public department, still less to a department whose special function it was to carry the correspondence of the country at the highest speed attainable; and properly enough the post office might take steps to establish its pre-eminence. but it would be quite another thing for a public department to undersell a private company, and, by charging lower fares, to run its boats off the line. this, it appeared to the authorities in lombard street, would exceed the bounds of fair competition. accordingly the fares by the post office steam packets were fixed at the same amounts as those charged by the company; and these fares were somewhat higher than those which had been charged by the sailing packets. by sailing packet, for instance, the charge for a cabin passenger had been one guinea, by steam packet it was £ : s.; for a horse the steam packet charge was £ : s. as against one guinea by sailing packet, and for a coach £ : s. as against three guineas. these charges, which were fixed with the express object of not exposing the company to undue competition, had not been long in force before parliament intervened. the select committee on irish communication protested in the interests of the public against the raising of the fares, and the post office was constrained to submit. the substitution of steam packets for sailing packets bore immediate fruit. the number of passengers carried by the post office between holyhead and dublin, which in had sunk to , rose in to , and in to more than , ; and for some years the holyhead packets were not only self-supporting but produced a clear gain to the revenue of more than £ a year. the change which had been made at holyhead was not long in extending itself to other packet stations from which there was communication with ireland. between milford and waterford sailing packets were replaced by steam packets in april , and between portpatrick and donaghadee in may . by sailing packet the average duration of voyage between the last-mentioned stations had been seven hours and forty-eight minutes. during the winter of - , a winter unexampled for the derangement of sea-communication, the average time which the little post office steamers _arrow_ and _dasher_ took to perform the voyage was less than three hours and a half. and yet, despite these exertions to maintain its superiority, the post office was not to remain in undisputed possession of the irish traffic. private steamers had begun to ply between liverpool and dublin, and the fares by these steamers were lower than by the post office packets from holyhead. as a natural consequence, the passenger traffic to which the post office looked to recoup itself for the heavy expense to which it had been put in replacing sailing packets by steam packets was diverted to liverpool. nor was it only in the matter of passengers that the post office lost by the competition. its reputation also suffered. the mails for ireland left liverpool at three o'clock in the afternoon, before the exchange was closed, and reaching holyhead by way of chester and llangollen at six o'clock on the following morning, did not arrive in dublin until the afternoon. the private steamers, on the contrary, did not leave liverpool until the business of the day was over, and arrived in dublin on the following morning. hence comparisons were drawn not favourable to the post office; and it by no means tended to allay dissatisfaction that the owners of the private steamers were refused permission to carry the mails. this they had offered to do, in one case for nothing more than exemption from harbour and light dues; but at that time, strange as it may appear to us with our present experience, it was a fixed principle with the post office that private firms even of the highest eminence were not to be entrusted with the carriage of the public correspondence. accordingly it was decided that between liverpool and dublin the post office should run its own packets, and the new service began on the th of august . the opening was marred by a lamentable disaster. early in september the _francis freeling_ packet, a recently-built cutter named after the secretary, and reputed to be the finest vessel of its kind afloat, foundered during a heavy gale and all the passengers and crew were lost. the new service, while an unquestionable convenience to the public, did not altogether satisfy the post office. it is true that, as a consequence of the increased accommodation, the letters for ireland passing through liverpool nearly doubled in number; but this satisfactory result was not without alloy. during the past few years the art of building as applied to steamboats had made rapid progress; and not only were the packets on the liverpool station larger than those stationed at holyhead, the horse-power of the engines being in the one case as against in the other, but they were altogether better equipped. the fares by the liverpool route as fixed by the post office were also relatively lower, and to any one proceeding from london or the large manufacturing towns of the north the distance to be travelled by road was shorter. as a consequence, the diversion of traffic from holyhead to liverpool, notwithstanding the longer sea voyage, proceeded still more rapidly than when the steamers from the latter port were in private hands; and the holyhead service, which had for some years produced a clear profit of many thousand pounds a year, was now carried on at a loss. to the post office authorities, indeed, there was in connection with the four packet stations in communication with ireland only one thing which gave them unqualified satisfaction. it was this--that to the post office belonged the credit of being first to demonstrate by practical experience that, to use freeling's words, "steam vessels could force their way at all seasons of the year and in weather in which no sailing vessel, be her qualities what they might, would attempt to put to sea." whether the claim is well founded or not we have no means of judging; we only know that it was made. by land, at the beginning of the present century, communication with ireland was in a more backward state than it was by water; and since the union a very general opinion had prevailed that this communication should be improved. it would perhaps be too much to say that the british post office proved obstructive in the matter; but there can be no doubt that it did not lend the assistance it might have done, and the reasons are obvious. in the first place, a little soreness existed. no sooner had the act of union passed than the government decided that between london and dublin there must be an express in both directions daily. this, as the postmasters-general pointed out, would cost more than £ a year, and, as it was not required for post office purposes, the post office should not bear the cost. accordingly the question as to the source from which the cost should be defrayed was reserved for future consideration; but after the express was well established, the post office received notice that it must defray the cost itself, and it continued to do so for twenty years and more. this was always a sore point with freeling, and he constantly adduced it as an instance of unremunerative work. another reason which kept lombard street back from assisting to improve the communication with ireland was that the british and irish post offices approached the subject from different points of view. with the british post office the main object, an object which in its judgment was sufficiently well attained already, was the transmission of letters; with the irish post office, as indeed with that section of the public which could best make its voice heard, the main object was the transport of passengers. yet a third reason, we can well believe, was the conviction that for any improvement that might be made, though primarily for the sake of ireland, the british and not the irish post office would have to pay. these three reasons, we cannot doubt, were at the root of the manifest indisposition displayed by the british post office to meet what had gradually become a very general demand. the first strenuous effort to induce the authorities in lombard street to improve the communication with ireland was made in , the prime mover in the matter being john foster, the chancellor of the irish exchequer. at this time the mail-coach between london and holyhead went by a circuitous route through chester. foster maintained that it should go direct through coventry and shrewsbury. by coventry the distance was miles, and by chester miles--a difference, in point of time, of more than two hours. it was alleged that by the shorter route other delays which now took place might be avoided; but how important was a saving of even two hours may be judged from the fact that the time of the mail-coach leaving holyhead was fixed with reference, not to the arrival of the packet from dublin, but to the arrival of the coach in london. all the mail-coaches were timed to reach london early in the morning, so that the letters they brought might go out by the morning delivery. to effect this object, the mail-coach by the chester route had to leave holyhead at seven o'clock in the morning, an hour by which it was barely possible for the packet from dublin to have arrived. during the whole of the year , for instance, the dublin mails arrived at holyhead in time to catch the coach to london on only twelve occasions; and, of course, when the mails did not catch the coach, they had to remain idle at holyhead until the following morning. if, argued foster, the route be by shrewsbury and coventry, the coach can leave holyhead so much later that the occasions on which the dublin mail does not arrive in time to catch it will be not as now the rule but the exception. freeling set the suggestion aside as impracticable. the coach, he maintained, must go through chester. at chester centred all the correspondence from the great manufacturing towns of the north, from liverpool and manchester, from hull, halifax, and leeds, indeed from all parts of yorkshire and many other counties besides. was this correspondence of no account? or was it suggested that a second mail-coach should be established? already the post office was paying many thousand pounds a year for an express service between london and holyhead which it did not require. could it in reason be expected to incur the further expense which a second mail-coach would involve? the thing was impossible, and the project could not be entertained. foster, though silenced for the time, was not convinced. in the subject was mooted again. clancarty, who had recently been appointed joint postmaster-general with o'neill, had arrived in london, prepared to argue the point with all the energy of his energetic nature. foster was unable to come; but he had sent a memorandum which no one who was not thorough master of the subject could have produced. a meeting was appointed at lord hawksbury's office. freeling poured out all the old objections, and proceeded to contend, as he had contended three years before, that the project was impracticable. but one was present there who did not believe in impracticabilities. this was the new chief secretary for ireland, sir arthur wellesley. wellesley's opinion was emphatic--that all other considerations must be made subordinate to the one grand purpose of facilitating communication between the two capitals of london and dublin. freeling had encountered a stronger will than his own. what had been impossible before was possible now, and that very evening arrangements were begun to be devised for accelerating the irish mails. even now, what little was done was done grudgingly. the mail-coach from london which ran through oxford and birmingham to shrewsbury was extended from shrewsbury to holyhead, and was met at llangollen by an express from chester bringing the cross-post correspondence. thus matters remained for nine years, when, under pressure which the post office could no longer resist, the coventry route was adopted. the post office opposed the change to the last, even though a parliamentary committee had recommended it, and an address in its favour had been presented to the prince regent. at length vansittart, the chancellor of the exchequer, brought his authority to bear, and in july a mail-coach by way of coventry began to run, accomplishing the distance between london and holyhead in thirty-eight hours. but in order to facilitate communication between england and ireland a good deal more was required than to set up an additional coach or to send an existing coach by another and shorter route. the roads of the country were still in a state to make rapid travelling impossible. much, no doubt, had been done to improve them. between the years and no less than turnpike acts had been passed, and under the turnpike system the roads were better than before. still the making of them had been entrusted to incompetent hands, and they were constructed on false principles. for the bed or foundation of the roads improper or insufficient materials had been used. little or no attention had been paid to drainage. few roads were provided with side channels. not seldom, indeed, the sides were encumbered with huge banks of mud which had accumulated to the height of six, seven, and even eight feet. not only had convexity of surface, as a means of carrying off the water, been disregarded, but the road was frequently hollow in the middle and everywhere cut into deep ruts. high hedges and trees were still allowed to intercept the action of the sun and wind, the importance of a rapid evaporation of moisture being as yet unrecognised. even the roads themselves had been laid out on no fixed principle. their lines of direction were, almost without exception, identical with the footpaths of the aboriginal inhabitants of the country; and these, doubtless to avoid the bogs and marsh lands, and possibly also for purposes of observation, had invariably followed the hills. hence it came to pass that almost every road of any importance was both steep and crooked. where there were no hills and the roads passed across wet and flat land, they were almost always below the level of the adjacent fields, the mud having been carried away by constant use. while such was the general state of the roads during the first twenty years of the present century, the road between shrewsbury and holyhead, over which a mail-coach had been travelling since the summer of , was notoriously one of the worst in the kingdom. "to kenneage,[ ] six miles of narrow road; scarcely room for two carriages to pass, and much out of repair; in winter, the drivers say, the ruts are up to the bed of the coach." "from kenneage to capel curig, road narrow and wants walling to prevent carriages falling down precipices or yards perpendicular." "from capel curig to bangor, side of the road unguarded, and many accidents may happen to passengers by the coach running off the road as the mail passes here in the dark." thus wrote the assistant superintendent of mail-coaches in , and nothing had since been done to remedy defects. [ ] _i.e._ kinniogga, the old name for cernioge. the mail along this line, of road was now to be carried at a higher rate of speed than before, and, if only on this ground, it would have been necessary at least to remove actual causes of danger. even before , however, parliamentary commissioners had been appointed for the improvement of the holyhead road; and these commissioners had summoned to their aid the first of that line of illustrious men who, during the last eighty years, have transformed the face of england. this was thomas telford, who had already achieved distinction by the roads he had made in the highlands of scotland. telford commenced operations in the autumn of ; and now for the first time in england, or at all events for the first time since the ancient ways were laid down by the romans, a road was to be constructed on scientific principles. "every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." this--we say it without irreverence--is what literally came to pass. easy inclinations, ample breadth, perfect drainings, complete protection, and a smooth and hard surface--these were the distinguishing characteristics of the road which telford now made between holyhead and shrewsbury. a road that had been one of the worst in the kingdom was now the very best. in summer it was not even dusty, and in winter was free from dirt. frost and rain produced upon it but trifling and superficial effects. to crown all, the menai straits were spanned by a noble bridge, where before there had been only an inconvenient ferry. while telford was thus raising the business of road-making to the level of an art, john loudon macadam was demonstrating of what materials the surface of a road should be made. macadam had travelled about the kingdom much as john palmer had travelled about some thirty years before in pursuit of a different object, and, as the result of long observation, he had come to the conclusion that the surface of roads should be made of broken stones; and having in been appointed general surveyor of roads in the british district he proceeded to put his views into practice. with success to recommend it, the new system spread like wildfire, and "a macadamised road" soon became a household word. nor was it to the business of road-making alone that science now lent her aid. what force of traction or power is required to draw carriages over different kinds of road, in what line of direction the power can be best applied--what, in other words, is the proper angle for the traces, and what in the case of hills is the highest inclination up which horses can go at a trot and down which they can with safety be driven at full speed--these were some of the questions which now engaged the attention of the scientific world. some thirty years before, walsingham and chesterfield when postmasters-general had dabbled in matters of the kind;[ ] but now they were reduced to the form of mathematical problems and received a mathematical solution. [ ] "god knows whether we are to remain postmen or not, or whether all the lights which philosophy is now throwing upon coach-making are not to be left by us as an official legacy to some more pliant successors."--chesterfield to walsingham, nd april . the excellence of the road constructed between holyhead and shrewsbury brought into bold relief the imperfections of the road between shrewsbury and london. to this road, which, in comparison with the other, had at one time been pronounced good and was now pronounced execrable, telford proceeded to apply the same principles as before. he raised the valleys, lowered or avoided the hills, and corrected deviations. to give only one instance--an instance taken from the second stage out of london--the old road from barnet to south minims ascended three steep and long hills; the new road avoided two of these hills altogether, and at the same time was shorter than the old one by more than yards. and so it was in a greater or less degree all the way from london through st. albans to coventry, and thence through birmingham and wolverhampton to shrewsbury. it should also be mentioned that at this time, while the country roads were hollow in the centre instead of convex, the roads in and about london within a radius of about ten miles were the exact contrary. here convexity, as a means of carrying off water, had been pushed to so absurd an extent that the road was in the form of a slanting roof, and a carriage, unless kept in the centre, was on a dangerous slope. this, which had been a prolific source of accidents, telford now altered. the effect of his operations upon the first stage out of london, the highgate archway road as it was called, is perhaps best described in the words of one of the principal mail-coach contractors. before telford took this road in hand, he wrote, "it was all we could do to walk up both sides of the archway with six horses, and now we can trot up with our heaviest loads with four." the road from london to shrewsbury, in continuation of the one from shrewsbury to holyhead, was completed in , and, corresponding alterations having been made in the eight miles of road which connect howth and dublin, a line of communication was established between the capitals of england and ireland such as, until the days of railways, could hardly have been improved. some few years before, when the post office had received orders to accomplish the distance between london and holyhead in thirty-eight hours, hasker, the experienced superintendent of mail-coaches, while zealously applying himself to carry the orders into effect, had felt it incumbent upon him as a loyal servant to make a protest in writing against the "extraordinary expedition projected." it would, he urged--and no doubt rightly so as the road then was--be inhuman to horses and dangerous to life. this extraordinary expedition was at the rate of seven miles an hour. along the parliamentary road the distance was accomplished, without hurt to horses and with perfect safety, at the rate of ten miles an hour, and the london and holyhead coach soon became one of what were known as the "crack" coaches of the kingdom. meanwhile the post office had shewn its appreciation of telford's achievement in a remarkable manner. it had imposed an additional charge of d. upon every letter carried over conway bridge, and a second penny for carriage over the menai straits.[ ] [ ] the postage between liverpool and dublin by way of holyhead was d., as thus made up:-- inland postage to holyhead d. for the conway bridge d. for the menai bridge d. sea postage d. ---- d. ---- chapter xvi the beginning of the end - we must now go back a few years. on the cessation of hostilities with france the state of the finances occupied a large share of men's thoughts, and among the plans for relieving the burden upon the taxpayer none perhaps was more obvious than to abolish sinecures and useless offices. on the th of february mr. lambton, member for the county of durham, gave notice of motion for a return shewing the number of boards which had been held by the postmasters-general during the last twenty years, and distinguishing the names of the places where such boards had been held and the persons by whom they were attended. the post office was in a flutter. just twenty years before, the commissioners of inquiry into public offices had recommended, and the recommendation had been approved by the house, that a board should be held by the postmasters-general at least once a week; and from that date to the present not a single board had been held. the position was no doubt embarrassing, and not the less so because the postmasters-general, lords chichester and salisbury, were the one at stanmer and the other at hatfield. nothing could be done without the concurrence of both, and at such distances, little as would be thought of them now, it was a tedious process eighty years ago to arrive at a common understanding. freeling, who regarded it as little short of an outrage that the two noble peers, his masters, should be thus called to account, appealed to the chancellor of the exchequer to have the terms of the motion altered; but vansittart refused, and the return was granted and ordered to be laid on the table of the house. of course it was necessary to admit that no boards had been held; but the work of the post office, the return went on to state, did not lend itself to boards. boards could be held only at intervals, and the work of the post office was so continuous and pressing that, without detriment to the public interests, it could not be kept waiting for a single day. a daily transmission of papers to the postmasters-general was, therefore, necessary; and by such means the business was better conducted than it would be by any system of boards. such was the substance of the return which was now laid before the house. eventually the matter was referred to a friendly committee, and the appointment of second postmaster-general escaped for a time. but it was for a time only. in may , on the motion of lord normanby, an address to the throne was adopted in the following terms: "his majesty's faithful commons, relying upon his majesty's gracious disposition expressed in answer to former addresses of that house to concur in all such measures of economy as the exigencies of the time require, and in such reductions in the civil department of the state as may be consistent with due consideration for the public service, humbly pray that his majesty will be graciously pleased to give directions that the office of one of the postmasters-general may be abolished and the salary thereby saved to the revenue." it was lord salisbury, as the junior of the two postmasters-general, that was affected by the resolution of the house. many men, incensed by such treatment, would have thrown up their appointments in disgust. lord salisbury did nothing of the kind. the very day he received official intimation that the address had been acceded to by the king he gave directions that his salary should be stopped;[ ] but the appointment of postmaster-general he retained, and to the duties of it he gave at least as much attention as before. it was not until his death a year later that lord chichester was appointed sole postmaster-general, and the post office received the constitution under which it still remains. [ ] the official intimation was received at the post office on the th of may. on the same day lord salisbury wrote to the receiver-general as follows:-- general post office, _may , _. sir--i have received instructions from the lords commissioners of his majesty's treasury to acquaint you that on the th of july next you are to retain in your hands the salary of £ hitherto paid to me as joint postmaster-general.--i am, etc., salisbury. r. willimott, esq., receiver-general. other economies followed. all periodical increases of salary were suspended and salaries were for the first time made subject to abatement in order to provide a superannuation fund.[ ] the effect of these two measures was to reduce the post office servants to a state of destitution not very far short of that from which pitt had rescued them some thirty years before. it must not be thought, however, that ministers imposed upon others conditions to which they were unwilling to submit themselves. on the contrary, they procured an order in council to be passed reducing their own salaries and those of all the great officers of state by per cent, and the reduction was to continue for five years. the desire to be just and equal was present; the one thing wanting was a due sense of the difference between superfluity and need. [ ] the sums abated were afterwards returned. it was not until that abatements towards superannuation were imposed by statute. and now a blow which had long been impending fell. this was the transfer from the post office to the admiralty of the packets stationed at falmouth. the question had been discussed again and again during the war; but how it came to be revived at this particular time is not very clear. there had indeed been a mutiny among the seamen at falmouth, and the packets had been temporarily removed to plymouth; but many years had since elapsed, and now, so far as appeared, matters were perfectly quiet. we only know that at the instance of lord liverpool a memorandum was prepared by lord melville, the first lord of the admiralty, and that after a sharp paper-warfare between him and freeling the arguments in favour of the change prevailed. at falmouth thirty packets were employed, nearly double the number at all the other stations put together; and these thirty packets with their crews of seamen, whose deeds of daring had often shed lustre on the post office, were now made over to another department. freeling was in despair. this little fleet had, next perhaps to the mail-coaches, been the object of his keenest solicitude; and it gave him little consolation that the packets at the other stations--at dover and harwich, at weymouth, milford, holyhead, and portpatrick, were to remain under the charge of the post office. some little comfort, however, was at hand. steam packets being beyond the means of the captains to purchase, the government provided them and purchased the sailing packets, which they replaced, at a valuation. thus the post office became once more absolute owner of its own boats. this, though by no means reconciling freeling to the loss of the falmouth packets, was at all events some compensation. "the steam flotilla belonging to the post office," he was able to write in , "consists of no less than nineteen vessels complete, to the aggregate amount of tons, with machinery equal on the whole to the power of horses." exaggerated opinions have been expressed as to the speed of the mail-coaches during the first two decades of the present century. in few mail-coaches travelled as much as eight miles an hour, and only one mail-coach attained to a speed of nine miles, and that for only part of the journey. the exact rates of travelling are shewn in the following table:-- . +---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+ | | number| hour | hour | rate of | | | mail coach | of | of | of |travelling| remarks. | |from london to | miles.|despatch.| arrival. | per hour.| | +---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+ | | m. f.| | | m. | | |berwick | | . p.m.| . p.m.| - / | the rates of| |berwick to | | | | |travelling | | edinburgh | | -- | . a.m.| - / |include | |birmingham | | . p.m.| . a.m.| - / |stoppages for| |bristol | | " | " | - / |change of | |carlisle by | | | | |horses, but | | manchester | | " | . p.m.| - / |not stoppages| |carlisle by | | | | |for refresh- | | boroughbridge| | " | . p.m.| - / |ment and for | |carlisle to | | | | |post office | | glasgow | | -- | . a.m.| - / |business. | |chester | | . p.m.| . p.m.| - / | | |chester to | | | | | | | holyhead | | -- | . a.m.| - / | | |dover | | . p.m.| . a.m.| | for a | |exeter | | " | . p.m.| - / |considerable | |exeter by bath | | " | . p.m.| - / |part of the | |gloucester | | " | . a.m.| - / |distance the | |holyhead | | " | . a.m.| - / |london and | |leeds | | " | . p.m.| - / |bristol | |liverpool | | " | . a.m.| - / |coach | |norwich by | | | | |travelled at | | ipswich | | " | . a.m.| - / |the rate of | |ipswich to | | | | |nine miles an| | yarmouth | | -- | . a.m.| - / |hour. | |poole | | . p.m.| . a.m.| - / | | |portsmouth | | " | . a.m.| - / | | |worcester | | " | . a.m.| - / | | +---------------+-------+---------+----------+----------+-------------+ it was not until some fourteen or fifteen years later, when the main roads of the kingdom had passed under telford's hands and vehicles of lighter build had been introduced, that mail-coaches attained the speed which is very commonly ascribed to an earlier period. in there were in england mail-coaches, all drawn by four horses. of these the fastest was the liverpool and preston coach, which travelled at the rate of ten miles and five furlongs an hour; and the slowest was the coach between canterbury and deal, which travelled at the rate of only six miles an hour. the average speed of all the mail-coaches in , namely eight miles and seven furlongs an hour, was actually higher than the highest speed attained by any one mail-coach in . it should be added that in , as in , the number of passengers by a mail-coach was limited to four inside and four out. on some mail-coaches, indeed, no more than three outside passengers were allowed. but the mail-coach at the beginning of the present century did something more than carry mails and passengers. it was the great disseminator of news. in times of excitement men would stand waiting along the mail roads and learn the latest intelligence as shouted to them from the tops of the coaches. it may well be believed that this mode of communication did not tend to either accuracy or completeness of statement. we cannot, therefore, be surprised that on important occasions or occasions on which false or inexact intelligence might lead to mischief recourse should have been had to the expedient of printing hand-bills, and sending them to the postmasters with instructions to distribute them in their respective towns. the following are specimens of hand-bills which were so distributed:-- london, _february , _. the statement in the morning papers that several persons have been arrested by warrants from the secretary of state is true. the meeting was held this morning at spa fields; but the arrests which have taken place and the precautions adopted by government caused everything to end peaceably and the town is perfectly quiet. * * * * * _ th november ._ her majesty the queen expired at one o'clock this day. * * * * * the following hand-bill sent to the different ports where vessels from jamaica were likely to arrive is interesting in so far as it shews the exceptional facilities which, even seventy or eighty years ago, the post office possessed for making inquiries:-- general post office, _february th, _. mr. freeling requests the postmaster to make inquiries of the master of any ship arriving from jamaica into the state of the duke of manchester's health, and inform him of the result by the first post. of the reason of this solicitude we are not aware. police notices, notices giving particulars of crimes which had been committed and offering rewards for the apprehension of the criminals, were similarly dealt with. these, like the hand-bills of which specimens have been given, were sent from lombard street under cover to the postmasters with instructions to circulate them in their respective towns. the propriety of this proceeding is not free from doubt. of course, every department of the state is interested in the detection and punishment of crime; and yet it may be a question whether by taking an active part in the distribution of these documents the post office was not to some extent identifying itself with a class of business from which, for obvious reasons, it had better hold itself aloof. while changes were taking place in other directions, the regulations for the transmission of newspapers through the post remained as they had been at the beginning of the century. within the united kingdom newspapers could not pass free except under the frank of either members of parliament or of the clerks of the roads. to the continent of europe and to the colonies they could pass only at the letter rate of postage unless they were franked, in the case of the continent, by the comptroller or clerks of the foreign department, and, in the case of the colonies, by freeling. this privilege of franking was to the post office servants who possessed it a source of considerable profit. freeling's share alone amounted to nearly £ a year; but he, unlike his subordinates, claimed to frank not newspapers alone but the _edinburgh_ and _quarterly reviews_ and other publications of a like nature. the west india merchants had long writhed under this exaction, and now at their instance joseph hume, the member for montrose, brought the matter under the notice of the house of commons. the practice had only to be made known in order to secure condemnation. a bill was brought in and passed extinguishing the privilege so far as the colonies were concerned, empowering the treasury to grant compensation for the loss of it, and providing for the transmission of newspapers at easy rates. these rates were, from the united kingdom to the colonies, - / d. and, from the colonies to the united kingdom, d. for each newspaper, the reason for the difference of charge being that the paper would bear a stamp-duty in one direction and not in the other. in the case of newspapers for the continent the franking privilege remained untouched. it may seem strange that this should have been so; indeed, not more than two or three years had elapsed before members of parliament were expressing surprise that the act which had taken away the privilege in respect to one class of newspapers had not taken it away also in respect to the other. but the explanation, we think, is simple. some nine or ten years before it had been rumoured that in the case of all post office servants the franking privilege was to be abolished, and those who would have been injured by its abolition proceeded to shew cause why in their own case an exception should be made. only by those who franked to the continent were even plausible reasons given; and there can be little doubt that, at all events to some extent, the same reasons operated now. these were that over a great part of the continent, except for the arrangements made by the post office servants in lombard street, english newspapers could not circulate at all or could circulate only under most onerous conditions. in france their circulation was prohibited. to holland they could not be sent unless ordered by some postmaster there. in germany and sweden, unless so ordered, they could not pass through the post except at the letter rate of postage. in portugal the letter rate of postage was always charged. in russia, besides being charged s. d. apiece, they were generally delayed and not seldom suppressed altogether. these obstacles had been overcome by the private arrangements made from lombard street, and, if these should be disallowed, the transmission of newspapers to the continent, instead of being facilitated, would be rendered more difficult and costly. thus in argued those who were interested in the maintenance of the privilege, and we can well understand that in much the same considerations prevailed. the same act of parliament which imposed upon newspapers to the colonies a postage of - / d. allowed newspapers within the united kingdom to pass through the post free from any postage at all. this was the effect of the act, but it was accomplished in a roundabout manner. by a statute passed early in the century[ ] a member of parliament was required, in order to send his newspapers free, to sign his name on the outside in his own handwriting, and, in order to receive them free, to have them addressed to some place of which he had given previous notice in writing at the post office. by the present statute these provisions were repealed. a newspaper, to be exempt from postage, need no longer bear the signature of a member of parliament and need no longer be addressed to a place of which previous notice had been given. in other words, newspapers might pass through the post free; and as a consequence the franking privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads was at an end. [ ] george iii. cap. lxiii. sec. . this, it might naturally be supposed, was a signal epoch in the history of the post office. as a matter of fact, it was nothing of the kind. for many years past the law had been disregarded. it had indeed been insisted upon that a newspaper, in order to pass free, must bear a member's name, without which the full letter rate of postage would be charged; but by whom the name was written, whether it was written at all or only printed, and whether the use of it had been authorised, had long ceased to be considered material. so well was this understood that some of the largest news-vendors in the kingdom adopted a member's name without the slightest reference to the member himself, and had it printed on their newspaper-covers. this laxity in the case of newspapers may appear all the more extraordinary in view of the stringency which was observed in other matters. the chelsea pensioners had by statute enjoyed the privilege of sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage. freeling never rested until the statute was repealed. at the close of hostilities with france letters which had been detained in paris since the war broke out in were forwarded to london, and the merchants urged that they might be delivered free. the treasury were in favour of granting the request; but freeling energetically opposed it. the delivery of such letters free, he insisted, would be a plain breach of the law. on a dissolution of parliament those who had been members lost their privilege in the matter of franking; and yet it might be supposed that a short period of grace would have been allowed, a period sufficient to admit of letters which were already in the post being delivered free. nothing of the kind. these letters were surprised in course of transit and charged with postage.[ ] [ ] this is the circular which was issued to postmasters on the occasion of a dissolution:-- "the parliament is dissolved. the franks of this evening are necessarily charged with postage, and you will immediately charge all letters and packets excepting the letters franked by such public officers as are by law at all times exempted from postage. full instructions will be sent to-morrow." lord salisbury when at the post office contrasted the stringency of later years with the laxity which prevailed in his early manhood. "in the year ," he wrote, "and in many succeeding ones while i took the field with the militia it was the constant practice to write on all regimental papers the words, 'on his majesty's service,' which insured a free delivery; but in process of time the post office became rather stricter and more attentive, and then such a superscription was charged except when addressed to peers and members of parliament, and i have frequently paid for such letters overweight without getting any redress." when such strictness was observed in other matters, one can only wonder at the liberties which were allowed to be taken with newspapers, and it appears all the more strange because the very act which in the case of newspapers was countenanced and encouraged was in the case of letters a highly penal offence. was it not for forging a single frank, the frank of sir william garrow, that the clerical impostor, halloran, was in sentenced to seven years' transportation? the plain truth would seem to be that vested interests were so deeply involved in the matter of newspapers that there was on the part of the post office the utmost indisposition to make them the subject of legislative enactment; and yet, without some concessions to the news-vendors, it would have been impossible to resist the pressure which would have been brought to bear. this, we doubt not, is the true explanation; and it will account for much that is otherwise dark and obscure. it will explain why that which was regarded as a heinous offence in the case of letters was sanctioned and encouraged in the case of newspapers; why, enormously as the circulation of newspapers within the united kingdom increased during the first quarter of the present century, we look in vain for any legislative enactment regulating the conditions under which, except when sent or received by members of parliament, they might pass through the post; and why in , when at length they had conceded to them the right to pass free, the concession was enacted in an indirect and circuitous manner. so far, therefore, as inland newspapers were concerned, the practical effect of the statute which now passed was little more than to make law correspond with usage. during many years newspapers had been passing through the post, as they were to pass for the future, free. the only difference was that, in order to secure exemption, it was no longer necessary to go through the farce of either writing or printing the name of some member of parliament on the outside of the cover. the clerks of the roads were unaffected by the statute. the advantage which these officers had at one time derived from their franking privilege had already been lost to them through the action of the post office in evading the law; and we can well believe that even so they considered themselves fortunate in being permitted to escape with their newspaper-business. this business, long after they had begun to compete with the news-vendors on equal terms, was of large dimensions. during the year , out of , , newspapers despatched from london into the country, , , or more than one-tenth of the whole number were despatched by the clerks of the roads. but it was not only in respect to newspapers that the house of commons began about this time to manifest in the proceedings of the post office an interest such as it had never taken before. committee after committee was appointed to report upon the communications of the country, upon roads, mail-coaches, and steam packets; but without any definite result. obviously the house was not satisfied with things as they were, and yet did not well see how to improve them. only one man appears to have had a clear perception of what he wanted, and to have been possessed of the requisite ability to carry his object. this was sir henry parnell, chairman of the select committee on the holyhead road, a committee the title of which only inadequately denotes either its scope or importance. parnell, presuming on the authority which this position gave him, and convinced no doubt of the feasibility of his scheme of improvement, adopted towards the post office an air of superiority which was peculiarly galling to freeling, who for the first time in his life found himself dictated to in respect to matters in which he had hitherto been regarded as supreme. the effect of this committee was not only to keep the post office busily employed in the preparation of returns but to put it on the defensive. another inquiry which was going on contemporaneously contributed to the same result. early in the reign of george the fourth a commission had been appointed to inquire into the state of the revenue, and this commission, which began with the post office in , did not report the result of its labours until . meanwhile the post office, which was practically on its trial, put forward as few proposals as possible; and even from those that were put forward the treasury withheld assent on the pretext that the commission had not yet reported. hence followed the somewhat curious result that the very period during which the house of commons began to manifest an interest in the post office was on the part of the post office itself a period of more than ordinary inaction. and yet the period in question, though not remarkable for post office progress, is by no means an uninteresting one if only because within its limits the old and the new are brought together in striking contrast. in the express office in the haymarket is closed, an office which had been established in for the purpose of facilitating the receipt and despatch of government expresses. in gas, or oil-gas as it was then called, is introduced into the post office, and at once asserts its superiority over oil in point not only of illuminating power but of cheapness as well. in the post office, by virtue of a warrant under the royal sign-manual, is cleared of its irrecoverable debts. these have been accumulating during a period of years--since , when the post office was first taken out of farm, and now amount to £ , . about the same time thomas gray, writing from brussels, advocates the introduction of steam engines on iron railways and predicts that, once established, they will absorb the carrying trade of the kingdom and displace mail-coaches. in brunel, who has already achieved distinction, offers his services in the construction of a steam engine which shall prove as efficient and as safe at sea as when employed on land. the brilliant engineer receives no encouragement, and gray receives not even the courtesy of an answer. in the same year passes away at tunbridge wells, james sprange, the courtly old postmaster, who up to the date of his last illness might be seen pacing the pantiles scrupulously dressed in the costume of the reign of george the second, even to the long ruffles. in glasgow is pleading, and pleading in vain, for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop. in the roman catholic peers are once more protesting against the outrage which precludes them, on the score of their religion, from exercising the privilege of franking. in waghorn is vainly striving to induce the post office to co-operate in facilitating communication with the east. the inferiority of sailing vessels to vessels propelled by steam has now been conclusively established, and steam packets are being placed on every station. not the holyhead road alone but all the great roads of the kingdom have passed under telford's hands and are beginning to assume the condition in which we see them to-day. and all this while postage remains at the ridiculously high level at which it was fixed in . to windsor the charge on a single letter is still d., to birmingham d., and to liverpool d. letters are still held up to a strong light to see whether they contain an enclosure or not, and are to be charged as single or as double. the first general delivery in st. james' square is not begun before twelve o'clock in the day or finished much before one. offices for the receipt of general post letters are still kept separate and distinct from those for the receipt of letters for the twopenny post. by the twopenny post the postage is not necessarily d., but, according as it is a twopenny post letter, a general post letter, or a foreign letter, may be d., d., or nothing. on a letter for abroad the fee for registration is still one guinea.[ ] an additional penny is still charged upon every letter that crosses the conway or the menai bridge. two hundred and seventy-five post towns still remain without a free delivery, and--what proves a constant source of contention between the post office and the inhabitants--even in those towns in which the letters are delivered free, the limits of the free delivery are not defined. [ ] since receipts had been given for registered letters. in that year mr. h. m. raikes, of portman square, represented that he frequently sent valuable parcels of diamonds between this country and holland, and that these parcels he insured, but that, to be certain of recovering his insurance should any casualty happen, "the london merchant ought to have some proof in his possession of his having delivered such a packet into the charge of the post office." if, he added, the clerks would give a receipt, the merchant would gladly give them for their trouble an additional guinea. the suggestion to charge a second guinea was not adopted; but from that time a receipt had been given for a registered letter in the following form:-- foreign post office. london it is hereby certified that ......... has registered at this office a sealed packet said to contain .......... addressed to ............... which will be forwarded to ............. by the mail of this evening; but for its safe conveyance this office is not responsible. (_signature_) .................... twenty years before, the office in gerrard street, the headquarters of the twopenny post in westminster, had been enlarged. of this office, which ranked next in importance to the general post office in lombard street, the postmasters-general wrote in --not, surely, without a touch of exaggeration: "the sorting office, where fourteen persons are generally employed at a time and nearly one-half of which is occupied by tables, is only seventeen feet long by thirteen wide"; and, again, "the letter-carriers' office, in which fifty persons are employed at a time and one-fourth of which is occupied by tables, is but eighteen feet by sixteen." such were the conditions under which, until lately, the post office servants had been accustomed to work; and now on a site rich in historical associations is rapidly approaching completion a stately edifice which not only provides ample and even lavish accommodation for the present, but will, it is confidently predicted, suffice for all time. the new post office in st. martin's-le-grand was opened on the rd of september . little more than sixty years have since elapsed, and the building has been shorn of its chief attraction, the central hall, and has otherwise been so altered internally that even the accomplished architect, were he to revisit us, would probably fail to recognise his own handiwork. of the old post office in lombard street, with its courts and its alleys and its interesting associations, not a fragment remains. part of the site was retained for post office purposes, and is now occupied by what is known as the lombard street branch office; part was thrown into the street then forming, and to be called after the king, king william street; and the remainder was sold, and has long been covered with banks and counting-houses. it were much to be wished, if only for his own reputation and peace of mind, that freeling had now retired. full of years, recently created a baronet, of ample means, and enjoying the confidence of the government as probably civil servant had never enjoyed it before, he could not have selected a better moment for relinquishing the duties of his arduous post. but a man who has been accustomed to exercise power is seldom willing to give it up. and in freeling's case we suspect there was an additional reason. of the large income which he derived from the post office, exceeding £ a year, considerably more than two-thirds was compensation for the loss of the franking privilege; and this compensation, according to a well-understood rule, was not to count for pension. as the fees which had been received for the exercise of the privilege must have ceased on retirement, so the compensation was to cease also. that freeling would have received a special pension is beyond doubt; but even a special pension, with the utmost goodwill on the part of the government, could not have approached the amount of his official income. and of this freeling must have been well aware, for grumblings were already to be heard. the commissioners of revenue inquiry, indeed, had gone so far as to question his right to receive any fees at all, and, even assuming such right to exist, had impugned the conduct of the government in fixing the amount of his compensation at close upon £ a year. the removal into the new building was celebrated by two important steps in advance. two branch offices were opened, one at charing cross and the other in oxford street, where letters were received without a fee until half-past six o'clock in the evening. up to this time, except in lombard street, no office for the receipt of letters had been kept open later than five o'clock. a still more important step was the earlier delivery of letters in the morning. this was accomplished within the city by the employment of additional letter-carriers, and in the more distant parts by conveying the men to their walks in vehicles. a whole hour was thus gained. in the west end of london the delivery had not been completed until between twelve and one o'clock. it was now to be completed, except on mondays, when the greater number of letters caused delay, between eleven and twelve. it will be convenient here to notice, though not strictly in chronological order, a third step in advance which took place about a year later, a step regarded as of little moment at the time, and yet one which, in view of subsequent events, was of the highest importance. on the th of november the first mail was sent by railway, this being the mail between liverpool and manchester. except as the opening of a new era, the fact would hardly deserve to be recorded, for many years had yet to pass before railways became sufficiently general to afford to the post office any sensible relief. meanwhile the roofs of the mail-coaches groaned under the weight of the mails. time had been when no mail was allowed to be put on the roof or elsewhere than in the mail-box; but, as the correspondence increased, the post office was forced to countenance a practice of which it highly disapproved. what, except for the railways, would have happened on the introduction of penny postage is a question into which, happily, we need not inquire. the new post office had not been long occupied before the government changed hands, and earl grey came into power with the duke of richmond as postmaster-general. it is not often that a change of government affects the proceedings of the post office. one postmaster-general may be more active than another, or he may take a more lively and personal interest in the questions with which he has to deal; but there must, from the nature of the case, be a continuity of policy which can seldom be broken. nor was there in this respect any exception to rule in the present instance. and yet the peer who now assumed the direction of the post office adopted a mode of procedure so different from that of his immediate predecessors that it is impossible to pass over the occasion in silence. richmond on his appointment as postmaster-general declined to receive any salary; and having formed this determination on the ground that the office was notoriously a sinecure, he straightway proceeded to shew that a sinecure was the very thing which in his hands the office was not to be. he devoted himself heart and soul to his new duties. early and late, at his private residence as well as the post office, he was in constant and personal communication with officers of all classes from the highest to the lowest. nothing like it had been seen since the days of walsingham. he frequented the sorting office, saw for himself how the work was done, and with many a kindly word encouraged the men to do their best. with his own hands he on one occasion opened a bag for the colonial office, and, in confirmation of the suspicion which had prompted the act, found it full of letters for bankers, army agents, and others, representing postage to the amount of £ . yet hard as he laboured, the duke's repugnance to receive remuneration for his services could not be overcome. learning that his salary remained undrawn, the treasury addressed to him a letter of gentle remonstrance. to this letter he returned no reply. fourteen months later the treasury wrote again. to gratuitous service there were, in their lordships' opinion, serious objections. the lord privy seal had declined to receive the salary annexed to his office, and a select committee of the house of commons had expressed disapproval of the step as being inconsistent with the wishes and the dignity of the country. could that be right on the part of the postmaster-general which had been held to be wrong in the case of the lord privy seal? richmond now yielded, feeling that it would be indelicate, if not disrespectful to the house, to force gratuitous service where he was authoritatively informed gratuitous service would not be welcome; but while yielding he managed to draw as little of the arrears of salary as possible. his appointment as postmaster-general bore date the th of december , and the views of the committee were for the first time made known to him at the end of april. the end of april, he was pleased to say, was an inconvenient time to begin. it was a broken quarter. he would, in deference to the opinion of the committee, draw salary from the th of july but not before. richmond had been only a short time at the post office when he had a most invidious task to perform. this was the carrying out of the arrangements consequent upon the consolidation of the irish post office with the post office of great britain. the state of things arising from the maintenance within the united kingdom of two independent post offices had long been felt to be intolerable. until four or five years before, not only had the rates of postage in ireland been different from those in england, but on a letter passing from one part of the kingdom to another both the english and the irish rates had been charged. this had now been altered,[ ] but the inconvenience of the dual control remained. a letter from ireland might have miscarried or been delayed. the postmaster-general of england could not answer for its course except on this side of the channel, and for further particulars the complainant had to be referred to dublin. the english packets were timed to arrive in ireland at a particular hour; but on the goodwill of the authorities in dublin it depended whether the irish posts corresponded or whether, as had not been unknown to be the case, their times were perversely fixed so as to keep the english mails waiting. [ ] and george iv. cap. xxi. nor was this all. the revenue inquiry commissioners had recently reported upon the irish post office, and the evidence, on which their report was based, revealed the existence of scandalous abuses such as no government could suffer to continue. for nearly fifty years the irish post office had been independent of the post office of great britain, and it was now determined that this independence should cease. in an act was passed incorporating the two post offices into one, and richmond's patent as postmaster-general of great britain had hardly been completed before another passed constituting him postmaster-general of the united kingdom. upon richmond as postmaster-general of ireland as well as england and scotland it now devolved to sweep out the augean stable; and his stern sense of duty peculiarly qualified him for the task. rosse and o'neill had ceased to be postmasters-general of ireland upon the act of incorporation passing. lees, their secretary, was removed from dublin to edinburgh. only those who had performed their duties in person were retained. all others were summarily dismissed and pensions were refused to them. in the result the irish establishment was reduced in point of numbers by one-half, and in point of cost by nearly £ , a year; and this after the salaries of those who were retained had been increased all round. one important function had yet to be performed. this was to audit the irish accounts, which had not been audited for fourteen years, and were known to be in a state of the utmost confusion. the receiver-general, who carried on the private business of banker and money-lender, had recently died, and speculation was high as to what further scandals the audit would reveal. all preparations had been made, and the persons selected for the task were on the point of starting for dublin when intelligence reached london that the receiver-general's bond was not forthcoming. it had, shortly after his death, been surrendered under an instruction from lees which, like the instruction which conferred upon his brother a valuable appointment, purported to have been given at a board at which were present "the earls." the earls, as a matter of fact, had not been present and had never been consulted on the point. as it was felt that in the absence of the bond an audit would be of little use, the government abandoned their intention, and the irish post office accounts from to remain unaudited to the present day. lord althorp was at this time chancellor of the exchequer, and the position which he assumed towards the post office was probably unique. ordinarily, between the treasury and the post office there is a certain amount of antagonism which, deplorable as it may be, is not difficult to understand. the post office wants to spend money; the treasury wants to save it. the post office knows by experience that it must sow before it can reap; the treasury, while ready enough to reap, has a rooted aversion to sowing, and resolutely shuts its eyes to the fact that between the two processes there is a direct and necessary connection. all this was reversed in althorp's time. often, during his tenure of office, might be witnessed the strange spectacle of a chancellor of the exchequer urging the post office to adopt some improvement, and the post office attempting to frighten him with the bogey of cost. the first matter on which althorp brought his authority to bear was the boundary of the general post delivery. the limits of this delivery were irregular and capricious in the extreme. of two streets, possibly adjoining streets, one might receive its general post letters for the general post rate alone, while the other, though at no greater distance from st. martin's-le-grand, had to pay the twopenny rate as well. the question now forced itself into prominence. belgrave square had been laid out, and the houses were being occupied as fast as they could be built. those of the occupiers who were members of parliament found to their chagrin that every letter they received cost them d., for the franking privilege did not clear the twopenny post; and, of course, by those who were not members of parliament, d. had to be paid in addition to any other postage to which their letters might be liable. althorp insisted that the general post limits should be not only extended but fixed on some definite principle. but what was the principle to be? contiguity of building? this was held to be impracticable. a line drawn on such a basis would extend beyond brentford on the west to hampstead and highgate on the north, and beyond clapham on the south. a line drawn according to parishes would be little better. the parish of st. pancras, which nearly touched holborn in its southern extremity, extended as far as finchley in the north, and the parish of lambeth reached nearly to croydon. another course would be to draw a circle of which the post office should be the centre, and let all letters within this circle be delivered free; but even with a radius of no more than three miles, the additional cost would be £ , a year. this was an outlay which the post office could not recommend, and, if it were incurred, the government must take the responsibility. althorp was not to be daunted, and after april the general post limits extended for a distance of three miles from st. martin's-le-grand. a little later, the threepenny post was extended to a radius of twelve miles. this, boon as it was considered to be sixty years ago, was shorter by some miles than the radius of the penny post when queen anne ascended the throne. althorp was hardly less determined on the subject of the packets. it had been a matter of principle with freeling, that to all places beyond the sea to which there was regular communication the post office should carry its own mails. that they should be carried in vessels belonging to private persons, however respectable these persons might be, appeared to him to be unworthy of the english government, and on this ground many an advantageous offer had been refused. althorp held a different opinion, and an opportunity soon offered of carrying his own view into effect. from harwich the mails to holland and to hamburg were still carried by sailing packet, and the merchants of london, regarding this as an anachronism, urged that the sailing packets might be replaced by steam packets. the request was not unreasonable, but, unwilling that the government should be at the cost of substituting one description of packet for the other, althorp directed that the service should be put up to public competition. here we see the first application of a principle which in the result has furnished us with a fleet of packets such as no other country in the world can produce. the tender of the general steam navigation company was accepted, though saddled with the condition that its vessels should start from the thames. this was a death-blow to harwich. the sailing packets for sweden were, indeed, still retained there; but in little more than eighteen months the swedish government contracted for the mails to be forwarded from hull, and harwich as a packet station was closed. but of all the changes which althorp introduced perhaps the most important, and certainly the one which excited most opposition at the post office, was the abolition of the newspaper privilege. the number of newspapers sent by post from london into the country had, within the last fifty or sixty years, increased enormously. in they averaged a day, in the daily average was , , and in it had risen to , . the rate of increase, moreover, was advancing. in the total number of such newspapers was , , , and in , , ; and more than one-tenth part of the whole number was supplied by the clerks of the roads. the news-vendors now took the matter up in earnest. a general meeting was held to protest against the post office servants being any longer allowed to compete with the private dealers, and a petition to the same effect was presented to parliament. this called forth a vigorous rejoinder from freeling, and it is interesting to note by what arguments he defended his position. so far, he said, from the news-vendors having any ground of complaint against the post office servants, it is the post office servants who have reason to complain of the news-vendors. for their own interest and advantage a few persons engaged in a trade of modern creation are endeavouring by clamour to deprive others of the remains of an old and long-established privilege, which they exercise not only under the sanction of immemorial usage, but by the direct authority of acts of parliament. it is not as though the public were interested in the question. the public have absolutely no interest in it, except indeed to this extent--that, if what remains of the privilege be withdrawn, they will be asked to compensate those whose incomes are reduced in consequence, and to provide higher salaries for their successors; and this "for the sole purpose of transferring their authorised official remuneration to the pockets of a few individuals who, having been admitted to a participation in what was originally an exclusive privilege, have now thought proper to set up a claim to the whole." such were freeling's arguments, but althorp was not convinced by them. by his direction the privilege was withdrawn as from the th of april , and those whose incomes suffered were handsomely compensated. thus ended a practice which had existed from the first establishment of the post office, and which, while the post office was still in its infancy, may perhaps have had this to justify it--that except for the franking privilege possessed by the clerks of the roads the provinces would probably have had to go without even the few copies of newspapers which at that time found their way there. it may appear strange that, while althorp was thus applying his sturdy common sense to the affairs of the post office, no steps were taken to correct what most needed correction--the exorbitant rates of postage. our own belief is that in a very short time, had the government of which he was a member remained in office, a reduction would have been made, and that it was to this result that he and richmond, who worked hand in hand together, were preparing the way. as to richmond's views on the matter there can be little doubt. under previous governments the post office had been accustomed in exceptional cases to appeal to the chancellor of the exchequer to mitigate the severity of its own rates by the exercise of a dispensing power; but richmond set his face against the practice, insisting that the law should be obeyed until it was altered; and, after being released from the trammels of office, he was one of the first to propose an alteration. but if such were indeed althorp and richmond's intention, we cannot regret that it was not carried into effect. the illustrious man who gave us penny postage had not yet directed his attention to the subject; and, as he tells us himself, it was with him a matter of long and careful consideration whether he should devote his energies to the reform of the post office or to the improvement of the printing machine. if in only a moderate reduction had been made in the extortionate rates of postage which were then in force, rowland hill might not have embarked upon his plan, and, even if he had done so, that plan might have failed to evoke from the public sufficient support to overcome opposition in high quarters. in proportion to the extent of the evil did men welcome the remedy. meanwhile, although the demand for cheap postage had not yet taken shape, profound dissatisfaction existed with the conduct of the post office. this, under the reformed parliament, was perhaps to be expected in any case; but there were special circumstances which contributed to the result. nearly five years had elapsed since the royal commission of inquiry had reported upon the post office, and nothing had since been done to carry its recommendations into effect. it is not difficult to understand this inaction. in freeling's view the post office had been brought to a pitch of perfection such as it had never reached before, and he regarded it as little short of sacrilege that a body of outside novices should presume to lay its hands upon the sacred ark which he had now for more than a generation been moulding into form. of the change of opinion which the labours of the commission had wrought he appears to have been utterly unconscious. hitherto the post office had been regarded as a marvellous mystery, which none but experts could understand. this mystery had now been invaded, and men were beginning to wonder, not, as in the past, at the things which the post office was able to do, but how it was that these things were not done better. the commission had also brought to light the existence of abuses, and these on one pretext or another had remained uncorrected. we will give a single instance. the money order office had been established in with the object of facilitating the transmission of small sums from one part of the country to the other by means of orders drawn on the different postmasters. the plan was excellent and deserved success. the only objection to it was that the enterprise was a private one, undertaken by a few post office servants for their own benefit, and that to make it remunerative to the projectors required from the authorities an amount of favour which they had no right to bestow. originally there had been no limit to the amount for which a money order might be drawn;[ ] but long before , in order to prevent interference with the banking interest, the limit had been fixed at £ : s.; and the commission chargeable was at the rate of d. in the £ on the sum remitted. of this amount d. went to the postmaster who issued the order, d. to the postmaster who paid it, and the residue to the proprietors.[ ] [ ] at the outset in the limit had indeed been fixed at £ : s.; but even in the first year this limit was largely exceeded. during the three months ending the th of october , money orders were issued, viz. in london and in the country, representing an aggregate amount of £ , or at the rate of more than £ apiece. [ ] among the records of the post office is still preserved a money order drawn by one postmaster upon another at the beginning of the century. a facsimile of it is given in the appendix. seeing that the postage on a single letter between two towns no farther apart than london and bristol was at this time d., it will be obvious that in respect to orders for small sums the enterprise would have been conducted at a loss unless the correspondence on money order business had been exempt from postage. and such indeed was the case. all letters passing from london to the country were impressed with the official stamp, and those passing from the country to london were enclosed in printed covers addressed to the secretary, and bearing, immediately below the secretary's name, that of the proprietors, "stow and company." for correspondence between themselves on money order business the postmasters were supplied with franks sent down from london in blank. strongly as the commission of inquiry had animadverted on this abuse, nothing had been done to correct it, and the franking privilege was, for money order purposes, being as freely used as ever. the returns which the house of commons called for about this time, and the returns which the post office furnished, shew, more forcibly perhaps than anything else, in what direction men's minds were tending, and how hollow was the foundation on which a part of the post office system rested. more than sixty years had elapsed since the law courts decided that inhabitants of post towns were entitled to a gratuitous delivery of their letters. the house now inquired at how many post towns a charge on delivery was still being made, and by what authority. the return furnished by the post office shewed the number of towns to be eighty-nine, and after giving as the authority for the charge "immemorial usage," went on to state that "the payment is not compulsory if the parties choose to object." it was still the practice to hold up to a strong lamplight every letter that passed through the post in order to see whether it was a single or a double one; and the house called upon the post office to state by what authority this was done. the post office, having no authority to adduce, returned an evasive reply. the house next called for the number of persons who had been prosecuted in the course of the year for the illegal conveyance of letters. the post office return shewed that on this ground, during the last twelve months, as many as prosecutions had taken place, many of them involving a large, and some of them a very large, number of persons, and that the cases were still more numerous in which, in order to avoid prosecution, the transgressors had submitted to fines. and how had the revenue been prospering meanwhile? a return called for by the house in april answers the question. during the last ten years, despite the increase of population, the net post office revenue had actually declined. in the receipts were £ , , gross and £ , , net, as against £ , , net and £ , , gross in . in earl grey was succeeded by viscount melbourne; and one of the first acts of the new government was to appoint another commission of inquiry into the post office, with directions to ascertain and report how it was that the recommendations of the former commission had not been carried out. these recommendations were now set down one by one, and the post office was called upon to explain, opposite to each, whether any and, if so, what steps had been taken to give effect to it. one or two of them had indeed been adopted--such, for instance, as the recommendation that post office servants should cease to deal in newspapers--but only under compulsion. others affecting the internal administration of the post office were certainly not feasible. but there remained not a few which, while excellent in themselves, had been discarded on the merest pretext. the commissioners had recommended that the "early," that is the preferential, delivery of letters should be discontinued. the post office replied that it was impossible. the commissioners had recommended that, instead of the receiving houses for general post letters being separate and distinct from those for the letters of the twopenny post, every receiving house should take in letters of both kinds. the post office replied that the existing arrangement was the best adapted not only to the convenience of the public but to the business of the department. the commissioners had recommended that the letter-carriers, instead of being separated into general post, twopenny post, and foreign letter-carriers, should all form one corps and deliver letters of every description. the post office replied--a reply all the more extraordinary inasmuch as the very arrangement which the commissioners recommended was already in force both in edinburgh and dublin--that "it would be productive of the greatest confusion and delay." the last of the recommendations to which we shall refer was that "the total charge upon all letters should be expressed in one taxation." the post office replied that it was "not possible for country postmasters to know the precise line of demarcation between the general post and twopenny post deliveries." in other words, no postmaster could know what, in the case of letters for london--and, it might have been added, for any other town than his own--the proper charge should be. this was no pretext. it was, on the contrary, perfectly true; and perhaps no more striking testimony could be afforded to the unsoundness of the system then in vogue. it is impossible to conceive that on freeling's part there can have been anything in the shape of contumacy, still less of defiance; but we are by no means sure that the house of commons did not incline to that view. be that as it may, however, the post office was in bad odour, and an unfortunate series of incidents which occurred about this time little tended to remove the unfavourable impression which the unwillingness to carry out the commissioners' recommendations had created. the house, at the instance of the select committee on steam navigation, had called for a return of the casualties which within a given period had happened to the irish packets. the return furnished by the post office omitted two accidents in which one of the members of the committee had himself assisted; and the committee forthwith ordered the attendance of a witness from the post office to explain the omission. another return contained obvious errors, and was sent back to the post office to be corrected. but the two returns which excited most comment referred to the mileage allowance received by the mail-coach contractors, and to the money order office. as regards the mileage allowance the only reply vouchsafed by the post office was that it "has not the means of furnishing any account of the amount paid." the return as regards the money order office was still more unfortunate. the ground on which this office had been condemned by the revenue inquiry commissioners was that it was carried on for the benefit of individuals, and yet in so far as its correspondence was exempt from postage, at the expense of the revenue. several years had since passed, and the house, not doubting that the abuse had been corrected, called for a return shewing the amount of postage derived from letters containing money orders, and to what purpose it was applied. "the money order office"--thus ran the return which the post office furnished--" is a private establishment, and the business is carried on by private capital under the sanction of the postmaster-general; but as no accounts connected in any degree with it are kept at the post office, no return can be made by the postmaster-general to the order of the house of commons." the house was highly incensed, and ordered that, both as regards the money order office and the mileage allowance, proper returns should be rendered at once. the energy of the new commission had now nearly brought the post office into trouble. the contract for the supply of mail-coaches was in the hands of mr. vidler of millbank, who had held it for more than forty years, and little had been done during this period to improve the construction of the vehicles he supplied. designed after the pattern in vogue at the end of the last century, they were, as compared with the stage-coaches, not only heavy and unsightly but inferior both in point of speed and accommodation. moreover, the charge made for them, namely, - / d. a mile in england and d. a mile in scotland, was considered to be high; and the commissioners, altogether dissatisfied with the manner in which the contract had been performed, arranged with the government not only that the service should be put up to public tender, but that vidler should be excluded from the competition. this decision was arrived at in july , and the contract expired on the th of january following. to invite tenders would occupy time, and, after that mail-coaches would have to be built sufficient in number to supply the whole of england and scotland. a period of five or six months was obviously not enough for the purpose, and overtures were made to vidler to continue his contract for half a year longer. vidler, incensed at the treatment he had received, flatly refused. not a day, not an hour, beyond the stipulated time would he extend his contract, and on the th of january all the mail-coaches in great britain would be withdrawn from the roads. a man less loyal than freeling or endued with less generous instincts might have felt a twinge of satisfaction at this result of interference with what he considered his own domain. but such emotion, if indeed he felt it, was not suffered to appear. with a difficulty to overcome, some of his old energy returned, and when the th of january arrived there was not a road in the kingdom from wick to penzance on which a new mail-coach was not running. it was now that the mail-coaches reached their prime. eight or nine miles an hour had hitherto been their highest speed, and now, with vehicles of lighter build, the speed was advanced to ten miles an hour and even more. truth compels us to add that while the fastest mail-coach on the road, the coach between liverpool and preston, travelled at the rate of ten miles and five furlongs an hour, a private coach accomplished within the hour rather more than eleven miles. this was the coach between edinburgh and aberdeen, of which captain barclay of ury was the proprietor. besides coachman and guard it carried fifteen passengers, namely, four inside and eleven outside, while a mail-coach carried four in and four out or eight altogether. nor would captain barclay admit that, in order to attain this high rate of speed, recourse need be had to anything like furious driving. nothing more, he maintained, was necessary than to keep the horses at a "swinging trot." freeling's success in averting a breakdown with the mail-coaches did little or nothing to arrest the tide which had set in against him. after exercising an influence such as probably no civil servant had exercised before, he found himself discredited and the object of vehement and not over-scrupulous attack. of the ministers under whose orders he had acted not a few had passed away, and none were in a position to share his responsibility, while their successors only knew him as identified with a system which had become unpopular. owing to an unusually rapid succession of postmasters-general,[ ] he was without even the solace and support which a chief of some years' standing might have given him. single-handed, the old man had maintained a gallant defence; but his spirit was now broken. in the midst of his exertions to prevent any interruption of travelling facilities the house of commons had called for a return which was calculated to wound him deeply. this return implied not only that he had been guilty of gross mismanagement, but that his salary was higher than he was entitled to receive, that he was drawing unauthorised emoluments, and that the post office was made subordinate to his personal interests. [ ] five within a single year. the duke of richmond ceased to be postmaster-general in july ; and he was followed by lord conyngham, lord maryborough, lord conyngham a second time, and lord lichfield, the last of whom was appointed in may . to the outside world freeling maintained much the same demeanour as before, and few would have suspected the weight that pressed at his heart; but in the solitude of his study he was an altered man. there he brooded over the past and contrasted it with the present. notes jotted down haphazard on official papers that chanced to be on his table reveal the inner workings of his mind. we know few sadder records. he recalls the time when governments consulted him and he stood high in favour with the public. he cannot forget how, in the course of debate in the house of commons, his own proficiency and devotion to duty were urged as reasons for not retaining the second appointment of postmaster. in the recollection of those happy days he endeavours to find consolation for the calumny and detraction of the present. he repudiates as unfounded the charge that he has long ceased to consult the interests of the public, and affirms that in this cause he has of late years laboured even more abundantly than he did of old. then there is a break, after which he takes up his pen again. "cheap postage,"--to this effect he writes. "what is this men are talking about? can it be that all my life i have been in error? if i, then others--others whose behests i have been bound to obey. to make the post office revenue as productive as possible was long ago impressed upon me by successive ministers as a duty which i was under a solemn obligation to discharge. and not only long ago. is it not within the last six months that the present chancellor of the exchequer[ ] has charged me not to let the revenue go down? what! you, freeling, brought up and educated as you have been, are you going to lend yourself to these extravagant schemes? you, with your four-horse mail-coaches too. where else in the world does the merchant or manufacturer have the materials of his trade carried for him gratuitously or at so low a rate as to leave no margin of profit?" [ ] the right hon. thomas spring rice. here the manuscript abruptly ends. it is dated the th of june . within sixteen days from that date francis freeling was no more. * * * * * we have done. from downwards the story of the post office is told, far better than we could tell it, in the autobiography of sir rowland hill and the reports which, since , the department has issued annually. the story of the preceding period is less well known, if indeed it be known at all. to tell the earlier story--to trace the post office from its humble beginnings down to the time when the illustrious reformer took it in hand--this has been the extent of our object, and no one perhaps is more conscious than ourselves how imperfectly it has been accomplished. appendix succession of postmasters-general from to from to the post office was in farm, the farmers being-- to . henry bishopp. rent, £ , . bishopp surrendered his patent, which was for seven years, in . to . (being residue of bishopp's term.) daniel o'neile. rent, £ , . to . henry, earl of arlington. rent for later part of the term, £ , . office managed, at first, by sir john bennet, lord arlington's brother, and afterwards by colonel roger whitley. to . lawrence hyde, earl of rochester. (for part of the time lord treasurer.)[ ] office managed by philip frowde, esq., under the title of governor. [ ] the concentration of the offices of lord treasurer and postmaster-general in one person served to facilitate the transaction of post office business in a manner which those who have had experience of the present system will not be slow to understand. take, for instance, the question of increasing a post office servant's salary. at the present time the postmaster-general may be thoroughly convinced himself that an increase is called for, but--what is a very different matter--he has also to convince the treasury. in the postmaster-general's own conviction was enough. the following will serve as an illustration. thomas cale, postmaster of bristol, applies for an increase of salary, and frowde, the governor, satisfies rochester that an increase will be proper. forthwith issues a document, of which the operative part is as follows:--"you are therefore of opinion that the said salary (£ ) is very small considering the expense the petitioner is att, and his extraordinary trouble, bristoll being a greate citty, but you say that you doe not think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for (as you informe me) you doe not allow either candles, packthread, wax, ink, penns or paper to any of the postmasters, nor office-rent, nor returnes of mony, you are therefore of opinion that tenn pounds per annum to his former salary of £ will be a reasonable allowance, and the petitioner will be therewith satisfied, these are therefore to pray and require you" to raise his salary from £ to £ accordingly. rochester. whitehall treasury chambers, _dec. , _. july to march . colonel john wildman. to . sir robert cotton, knight, and sir thomas frankland, bart. to . sir thomas frankland, bart., and sir john evelyn, bart. to . charles, lord cornwallis, and james craggs, esq. to . edward carteret, esq., and galfridus walpole, esq. to . edward carteret, esq., and edward harrison, esq. christmas . edward carteret alone to midsummer . to . edward carteret, esq., and thomas, lord lovell, afterwards earl of leicester. to . thomas, lord lovell, and sir john eyles, bart. to . thomas, earl of leicester (sometime lord lovell) alone. to . thomas, earl of leicester, and sir everard fawkener, knight. to . thomas, earl of leicester, alone. june , to november , . william, earl of bessborough, and hon. robert hampden. november , to september , . john, earl of egmont, and hon. robert hampden. september , to july , . thomas, lord hyde, and hon. robert hampden. july , to december , . william, earl of bessborough, and thomas, lord grantham. december , to april , . wills, earl of hillsborough, and francis, lord le despencer. april , to january , . john, earl of sandwich, and francis, lord le despencer. january , to december , . francis, lord le despencer, and right hon. henry frederick thynne, afterwards carteret. december , to january , . right hon. henry frederick carteret (sometime thynne) alone. january to april , . william, viscount barrington, and right hon. henry frederick carteret. april , to may , . charles, earl of tankerville, and right hon. henry frederick carteret. may , to january , . thomas, lord foley, and right hon. henry frederick carteret. january , to september , . charles, earl of tankerville, and right hon. henry frederick carteret. (created baron carteret, january , .) september to december , . thomas, earl of clarendon, and henry frederick, lord carteret. december , to july , . henry frederick, lord carteret, alone. july , to september , . henry frederick, lord carteret, and thomas, lord walsingham. september , to march , . thomas, lord walsingham, and john, earl of westmorland. march , to july , . thomas, lord walsingham, and philip, earl of chesterfield. july , to march , . philip, earl of chesterfield, and george, earl of leicester. march , to february , . george, earl of leicester, and william, lord auckland. february , to march , . william, lord auckland, and george, lord gower. march , to july , . william, lord auckland, and lord charles spencer. july , to february , . lord charles spencer and james, duke of montrose. february , to may , . robert, earl of buckinghamshire, and john joshua, earl of carysfort. may , to june , . john, earl of sandwich, and thomas, earl of chichester. june to september , . thomas, earl of chichester, alone. september , to april , . thomas, earl of chichester, and richard, earl of clancarty. april , to june , . thomas, earl of chichester, and james, marquess of salisbury. since lord salisbury's death on the th of june , no second postmaster-general has been appointed. june , to july , . thomas, earl of chichester. july , to september , . lord frederick montague. september , to december , . william, duke of manchester. december , to july , . charles, duke of richmond. by his first patent, dated the th of december , the duke was appointed postmaster-general of great britain; and by a second patent, dated the th of april , he was appointed postmaster-general of great britain and ireland. july to december , . francis nathaniel, marquess conyngham. december , to may , . william, lord maryborough. may to may , . francis nathaniel, marquess conyngham. may , , to september , . thomas william, earl of lichfield. succession of secretaries to the post office down to . the appointment of secretary was created by treasury warrant dated the th of june . to . name uncertain; but probably willboyl. [in the postmasters-general urge the creation of the appointment of secretary; in they speak of "having sent our secretary down to worcester"; and in october , when reporting on a paper which had been referred to them as far back as june , they explain that "by the death of our late secretary y^e paper has been mislaid and but very lately recovered." that there was a secretary during this period is, therefore, beyond doubt. during the same period the post office letter books are written in a handwriting as peculiar as it is good; and in the same handwriting, of the identity of which there can be no question, there is in the frankland-blaithwaite correspondence, until lately in the possession of sir thomas phillipps, a letter from the general post office dated the th of may , and docketed thus, the docket having obviously been written at the time of receipt:--"from mr. willboyl, commissioner of the post office." now, commissioner of the post office he certainly was not, there being at that time no such appointment; but it is probable that he was secretary, and that with this official title, which had been only recently given, blaithwaite was not acquainted.] to . benjamin waterhouse. to . henry weston. to . james craggs. to (about) . joseph godman. (about) to . w. rouse. to . thomas robinson. september to july . john david barbutt. july to december . george shelvocke. december to july . anthony todd. july to january . henry potts. january to june . anthony todd (again). june to july . francis freeling. [illustration: facsimiles of franks written before and after , when the obligation to date was imposed. _before._ the duke of grafton, first lord of the treasury from to , commonly called junius grafton from the attacks made upon him by junius.] [illustration: _after._ the earl of sandwich, nicknamed by the satirists of the period jemmy twitcher. "see jemmy twitcher shambles--stop, stop, thief"--an allusion to his shambling gait. lord sandwich was postmaster-general from to , and afterwards first lord of the admiralty.] [illustration: facsimile of a paid money order of the year .] index abdy, sir robert, abercorn, james, earl of, his unreasonable complaint, absenteeism, in england, ; in ireland, alien office, assists the post office in procuring foreign newspapers, allen, ralph, postmaster of bath, takes in farm the bye and cross-post letters, ; conditions of his contract, ; success of his enterprise, ; is thwarted by the postmasters, ; his contract renewed, ; nature of his plan and his special qualifications for carrying it into effect, ; his local knowledge, ; his difficulties with the postmasters, _seq._; as a means of check lays down certain propositions, ; instances of imposition practised by postmasters, ; by post-boys, ; by carriers and others concerned in the illegal conveyance of letters, ; the liberality of his arrangements, ; his course of procedure contrasted with that of the postmasters-general, ; pays higher rent and increases the frequency of the post every seven years when his contract is renewed, ; his injunction about the use of expresses, ; his death, ; his character, ; is an object of jealousy to palmer, alphabet, ; ingenious one in use at belfast, althorp, john charles, viscount, urges on post office improvements, ; fixes the limits of the general post delivery, ; throws the packet service open to public competition, ; abolishes the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, ; contemplates apparently a reduction of postage, america, posts set up in, ; first postmaster of new york, ; and of virginia and maryland, ; establishment of what was virtually a penny post between england and america, ; american posts become self-supporting, ; postmasters ejected from their offices, amsterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, anne, queen, treatment of letters for, when in residence at newmarket, _antelope_ packet, captain curtis, gallant action with privateer, apertures, introduction of, on the outside of post offices, argyll, john, duke of, arlington, henry bennet, earl of, appointed postmaster-general, armit, secretary to the post office in ireland, displaced by lees, ashburnham manuscripts, ashurst, mr. justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, aston, mr. justice, his judgment touching the free delivery of letters, attorneys, their provisional resolution to withhold postage on writs, ; hold appointments in the dublin post office, auckland, william lord, postmaster-general, his pleasantries, auditors of the imprests, _note_ austria, liberties taken with post-horses by travellers in, _note_ aylsham, norfolk, post established to in , baker, sir george, physician to george the third, bank of england notes, robbery of, from mail evokes important legal decision, ; origin of cutting bank notes when sent by post, ; contemplated reduction of postage on letters containing second halves of bank notes, bankers' franks, meaning of term, _note_ barbutt, john david, secretary to the post office, barclay, captain, of ury, high speed of his coach, barclay's plot, expresses sent on discovery of, barham, edmund, packet agent at dover, terms of his agreement with walcot, secretary to the post office in ireland, barlow, clerk in the secretary's office, modifies the practice of the dead letter office, barnstaple, private post set up to exeter in , bath asserts its right to a free delivery, ; right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, ; slowness of post between bath and london, ; amount of toll between the same towns, ; post office establishment at bath and amount of the postmaster's salary in , beccaria, bonesana, his essay on crimes and punishments, belfast, ingenious "alphabet" in use at, ; peculiar usage of delivery, belgrave square, included in the limits of the general post delivery, bell, colonel, comptroller of the inland office, particulars of charge against, _note_ bells, letters collected by ringing of, introduction of system, ; and its termination, _note_; bellmen in england and in ireland paid on different principle, ( , , ) bernard, sir robert, besant's patent coaches, bethnal green, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, bianconi, charles, his enterprise, bigg, stephen, his enterprise as a farmer of the posts, billingsley, henry, a broker, carries letters of foreign merchants, ; and is consigned to prison, bills of exchange and of lading to and from foreign parts exempt from postage until , exemption then withdrawn, birmingham, one of many towns in which a free delivery of letters had ceased, ; free delivery restored and letter-carrier appointed, ; salary of postmaster in , ; penny post opened at, bishopp, henry, farmer of the posts, , "black-box"; the box in which the correspondence of the secretary of state for scotland was carried, blaithwaite, william, secretary of war, remonstrated with on his abuse of the franking privilege, blome's _britannia_, bonnor, charles, deputy comptroller-general of the post office, his conduct in the matter of the king's coach, ; delays replies to the postmaster-general's inquiries, ; practises deception, ; his base ingratitude, ; is suspended by palmer, ; suspension removed by the postmasters-general, ; his treachery, , ; receives the reward of infamy, boulton and watt build the first steamboats used by the post office, bourne, frederick, clerk in the foreign department of the post office; suggests the establishment of a ship letter office, bournemouth, mode of receiving its letters in , _note_ bowen, passenger by packet; brings news of the victory at oudenarde, boyle, henry, secretary of state, charges the packet agent at harwich with receiving a bribe, bracken, henry, author of _the gentleman's pocket farrier_, his device to obtain exemption from postage, braithwaite, daniel, clerk to the postmasters-general, his honesty of purpose, brighton, salary of the postmaster of, in , brill, the, , , bristol, course of post between bristol and exeter in , ; and in , ; salary of the postmaster of, in , ; and in , ; first mail-coach starts from bristol, ; penny post opened there, ; revision of postmaster's salary in , appendix, _note_ brown, sub-agent of packets at ostend, his clandestine letter, brunel, sir marc isambard, offers to construct a steam engine for the post office packets, buckingham, george villiers, duke of, letter endorsed by, in , buckingham, george villiers, duke of, son of the preceding, tedious course of letter addressed to, in , . buckingham, george grenville nugent temple, marquis of, lord lieutenant of ireland, deprecates reduction of packet establishment at holyhead, burlamachi, philip, is appointed master of the posts, ; his title contested, ; is consigned to prison, bye-letters, probable meaning of the term in queen elizabeth's reign, ; its certain meaning in and after, , ; postage upon bye-letters intercepted, , , _note_; bye-letter office, bye-nights, byng, sir george, , cadogan, brigadier-general, packet detained for, camden, john jeffreys, earl, promotes palmer's plan, ; gives to pitt palmer's version of his differences with the postmasters-general, candles, inordinate supply of, to post office servants, canning, george, charges the post office with forestalling his intelligence, carlisle, salary of postmaster of, in , carriers allowed to carry letters under restrictions, ; restrictions more clearly defined, carteret, edward, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part iv. carteret, henry frederick, lord, postmaster-general from january to september . _see_ postmasters-general, parts v. and vi. carts, first employment of, in london for bringing letters to the general post office, castello, a prisoner on board packet, chalmers, george, his suggestions, ; excites palmer's jealousy, channel islands without an official post in , ; official post provided, ; rates of postage, charing cross, opening of branch office at, charlemont, lord, his misunderstanding as to packet charges, charles, archduke, , chelsea pensioners, their privilege of sending and receiving letters at low rates of postage withdrawn, chenal, captain of packet, rebuked by the postmasters-general, _note_ chepstow, the inhabitants of, though under no obligation, continue to pay pence on the delivery of their letters, chester, in the only town outside london with two post offices, ; salary of postmaster in , chesterfield, philip, earl of, postmaster-general from march to march . _see_ postmasters-general, part vii. chichester, thomas, earl of, postmaster-general from may to july . _see_ postmasters-general, part viii. christmas boxes, intercepted, clancarty, richard, earl of, postmaster-general of ireland from to ; and of england from september to april . [this latter appointment he did not take up.] his decision of character, instance of, ; advocates facilities of communication between england and ireland, clarendon, thomas, earl of, postmaster-general from september to december , , clerks of the roads, their duties, ; their salaries, ; are allowed to frank newspapers, ; their franking privilege invaded, ; mischief resulting from a reduction of their emoluments, ; their financial troubles, , ; extent of their newspaper business after newspapers become exempt from postage, clermont, william henry, earl of, deputy postmaster-general of ireland, clies, francis, captain of packet, his audacious smuggling, ; his attention to religious observances, ; strikes his colours, coals supplied to post office servants in profligate profusion, cobbett, william, inveighs against the early or preferential delivery, ; and against the treatment of foreign newspapers, coke, sir john, his indignant protest against the claim of the foreign merchants to have a post of their own, colours, special colours assigned to the post office boat employed in the pool, ; the colours of the packets altered at the union with scotland, comer, postmaster of tunbridge wells in , common council of london, the, sets up a post of their own to scotland, compensation for losses by the penny post, ; when ceased to be given, conspiracies against the state, to check these the original object of the post office monopoly, ; danger chiefly apprehended from the continent, ; coke's opinion on the subject, ; the same opinion expressed in the act of , constables, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, , convention posts, establishment of, ; their failure and the reason, ; are gradually absorbed, conway bridge, additional rate of postage on letters passing over, conyngham, francis nathaniel, marquess of, postmaster-general from july to january , and again from may to may , , _note_ cornwall, its posts improved in , cornwallis, charles, lord, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part iii. cotton, sir robert, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part i. counsel in post office cases required to give receipts for their fees, country letter, meaning of term, _courier_ newspaper, sum paid by the, for early intelligence from the post office, couriers originally employed to carry letters on affairs of state, court, the, at one time the centre of all the posts, ; a trace of the old state of things to be found in an existing statute, court letters, definition of, in , _note_; mails detained for the court letters, ; these letters, unlike others, delivered the moment they arrived, court-post, his duties, ; duties performed by deputy, coventry, sir thomas, attorney-general, afterwards lord keeper, holds de quester's appointment to be valid, ; cajoles stanhope into surrendering his patent, craggs, james, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part iii. crichton, doctor, refuses to pay his fare by packet, cromwell, thomas, brian tuke's letter to, on the paucity of the posts, crosby, brass, cross-posts, first post of the kind set up, ; cross-post letters, definition of the term, croydon, postmistress of, auckland's pleasantry on her marriage for the third time, culverden, captain of packet boat, engages in smuggling, culvert, member of parliament, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, _note_ curtis, alderman, , customs, commissioners of, lodge a complaint against the captain of the _expedition_ packet, ; represent that smuggling is carried on by packet from ostend, ; take proceedings against some of the harwich packets, ; are charged by the postmasters-general with unhandsome conduct, ; seize the dover mail-coach, dacre, lord, superscription on protector somerset's letter addressed to, dartmouth, william, lord, his attention called to the late arrival at the post office of the court letters, dashwood, francis, postmaster-general of jamaica, exaction from, as a condition of his appointment, davy, mrs., her account of the condition of penzance before , day, john, sent from london in to establish a post at aylsham in norfolk, his instructions, dead letters, treatment of, a source of perplexity to allen, ; irregular payments claimed under cover of, ; dead letter office, ; returned letters charged with postage, decypherer, the chief, de joncourt, express clerk, delivery, claim made by several towns to have their letters delivered free resisted by the post office and question tried at law, ; claim allowed by the courts, ; decision carried out grudgingly, ; hour of delivery of foreign letters in , ; early, that is preferential, delivery, ; hour of delivery in st. james's square between and , ; in the country, limits of free delivery not defined, ; morning delivery in london accelerated, ; limits of general post delivery fixed at three miles, ; recommendation of royal commission to abolish early or preferential delivery not carried out, delivery penny, meaning of term, denmark, frederick the second, king of, his letter of complaint to queen elizabeth, _note_ de quester, matthew, appointed postmaster for foreign parts out of the king's dominions, ; his appointment offends lord stanhope, ; is superseded by the privy council, ; is restored at the instance of sir john coke, ; assigns his patent, derby, salary of the postmaster of, in , dereham, sir thomas, court-post, his duties, derrick, samuel, master of the ceremonies at bath, his account of ralph allen, _note_ despatch of mails, hour of, in , ; and until , ; indignation caused by the change then made, devonshire, william, duke of, course of post between chesterfield and manchester altered in at the instance of, directories, , distances, inaccuracy of, as computed by the post office, dockwra, william, establishes a penny post in london, ; his right contested and case decided against him, ; is granted a pension and, on the penny post being absorbed into the post office, is appointed comptroller, ; is dismissed, ; provision made by, for the care of general post letters, ; contrast between dockwra and povey, donlevy, william, double letter, definition of, dover, a packet station, ; packets to flanders provided by the packet agent, ; engage in smuggling, ; and bring news clandestinely, ; the dover mail-coach seized by the customs, drink and feast money, , dublin, post office establishment at, in , ; penny post proposed at, in , ; and opened in , ; the clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, ; the roof of the dublin post office falls in, ; office in dublin styled british mail office, account of, ; abuses, dummer, edmund, surveyor of the navy, builds packets for the harwich station, ; also for the west india service, ; undertakes this service himself, ; his miscalculations, ; ill-fortune attends him, ; his bankruptcy and death, early, _i.e._ preferential, delivery, , eastbourne, mode of receiving its letters in , east india company, send to the post office letters received at the india house, ; object to the provisions of the ship letter act, ; procure its alteration, ; their generosity, ; unhandsome return contemplated by the post office, east indies, rates of postage to the, in , edinburgh, post to, set up by the city of london, ; post office establishment at, in , ; horse-post between edinburgh and glasgow refused by the treasury, ; course of post between london and edinburgh accelerated in , ; and increased in frequency in , ; edinburgh post office falls into decay, ; penny post established at, eldon, john, lord, reluctantly assents to the giving of repressive powers, elections, parliamentary, post office servants prohibited from intermeddling in, ; and from voting at, ellenborough, edward, lord, evelyn, sir john, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part ii. exeter, private post set up between, and barnstaple in , ; course of post between exeter and bristol in , ; in , ; salary of postmaster in , expresses, , ; when to be sent from dover, ; employment of, becomes more general about the middle of the eighteenth century, ; is jealously restricted, ; their number reduced on the establishment of mail-coaches, ; fees on expresses, ; express sent daily to and from ireland after the union, express clerks, express office, haymarket, eyles, sir john, postmaster-general from to , falmouth, packet station opened at, in , ; closed and reopened, ; packet regulations, ; systematic smuggling, , ; packet agent also victualler, fares, by packet to holland before and after , ; by steam packet and by sailing packet, comparative statement, farmers of the post office, their popularity and the reason of it, ; are ruined by increase of postage and converted into managers, ; as managers prove useless, farra, john, is supplied with a special travelling order, _note_ faversham, marriage of the postmistress, fees, exacted from postmasters, ; received by the chief sorter on the occasion of royal birthdays, ; on expresses, ; on the registration of foreign letters, ferrers, countess, fielding, henry, his tribute to ralph allen, "fifth-clause" posts, - firearms, worthless quality of those originally supplied to mail guards, fire of london, intelligence of, takes five days to reach worthing, flemings, resort to london, where they introduce the manufacture of wool into cloth, ; instance of value set upon cloth made in london, _note_ flying coach, , flying packet, meaning of the term, ( ) flying-post, _note_ foreign bottoms, employment of, by the post office illegal, foreign merchants claim to set up a post of their own to the continent, ; claim conceded by the privy council, ; and repudiated by coke, foster, john, chancellor of the irish exchequer, his efforts to improve communication with ireland, france, post office treaty with, imperfectly observed, ; a new one made and its onerous conditions, ; postage on letters from, increased, ; improvement of communication with, deprecated by merchants of london, franking, abuses of, in , and means taken to check them, ; effect of franking upon the post office revenue, ; becomes the subject of parliamentary enactment, ; conditions altered, ; franking in ireland, ; of newspapers inland, ; franking privilege possessed by the clerks at dublin castle surrendered, ; franks to be dated and are otherwise restricted, ; further restrictions imposed, ; franks do not clear either the penny, the twopenny, or the convention posts, ; franking privilege withdrawn in the case of newspapers to and from the colonies, ; privilege remains in the case of newspapers to and from the continent, ; and in the case of newspapers circulating within the united kingdom gradually disappears, ; franked letters charged immediately on dissolution of parliament, ; franking privilege withheld from roman catholic peers, ; abuse of franking in the case of the money order office, ; specimens of franks, appendix frankland, sir thomas, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part i. frankland, william, son of the preceding, comptroller of the inland office, in attendance upon the queen at newmarket, franklin, benjamin, his dismissal, ; amicable relations with, not suspended, free delivery. _see_ delivery freeling, sir francis, appointed surveyor, ; appointed joint secretary with todd, ; devises new arrangements for the sorting of the american and west indian mails, ; his project for guarding the horse and cross-posts, , ; becomes sole secretary, ; his craze for high rates of postage, ; his zeal in repressing illicit correspondence, ; is checked by auckland, ; procures additional measures of repression, ; recommends increase of postage rates, ; his estimate of cobbett, ; his emoluments from franking newspapers, ; his indignation at criticisms in the _times_ newspaper, ; brings an action, ; contemplates a high-handed proceeding towards the town of olney in buckinghamshire, ; procures a charge to be made on returned letters, ; his contention with the india house in the matter of ship letters, ; urges a technical adherence to the provisions of the statute, ; his elation at the increase of the post office revenue, ; contrast between freeling and lees, ; his difference with lees, ; his claim for the post office in the matter of steam vessels, ; opposes improvement of communication with ireland, ; his interview with sir arthur wellesley, ; attempts to get terms of a hostile motion altered, ; his dismay at the transfer of the falmouth packets from the post office to the admiralty, ; his strictness in post office matters, ; is irritated by sir henry parnell's assumption of superiority, ; the probable reason for not resigning on the opening of the new post office in st. martin's-le-grand, ; his view that the packet service should not be thrown open to public competition opposed by althorp, ; defends the newspaper privilege enjoyed by the clerks of the roads, ; his attitude towards the royal commission, ; averts a breakdown with the mail-coaches, ; becomes the object of vehement attack, ; broods over the past, ; his death, frizell, william, frowde, ashburnham, comptroller of foreign office, furness, sir harry, gardner, penny postman, murder of, _note_ garrow, sir william, his frank forged, gas, introduction of, into the post office, general steam navigation company undertakes first packet contract, george the third, when at cheltenham or at weymouth is attended by a mail-coach, ; his illness and distribution of a prayer for his recovery, ; his interest in his coach, ; objects to roof-loading, ; attends trial trip, ; distributes largesse among mail guards and coachmen, gerrard street, crowded condition of post office in, glasgow petitions for a horse-post to edinburgh, ; and for a post office which shall not be kept at a shop, gloucester protests against certain houses being excluded from the free delivery, ; salary of postmaster in , godolphin, sidney godolphin, earl of, his rebuke to the postmaster-general, ; insists upon communication with the army in flanders being improved, ; his instruction about extraordinary payments, ; directs that in post office cases counsel shall give receipts for their fees, ( , , ) grafton, augustus henry, duke of, specimen of his frank, appendix grand mail, grand post nights, , granville, lord, urges improvement of the cornish posts, gratuities, on delivery of letters, , , , , ; legality of, questioned in the case of towns, ; question decided in favour of the public, ; still being charged, gray, thomas, his prediction that mail-coaches would be displaced by railways, grey, charles, earl, , grosvenor, sir richard, member for chester, expostulated with as to the irregular use of his frank, groyne, the, , guide to accompany post-horses when two are taken, guildhall library, letter preserved in, showing tardy course of post in , halfpenny carriage set up by povey, halloran, a clerical impostor, hamburg, practice at, on arrival of the mails, hamilton, andrew, acts as neale's agent for setting up posts in north america, ; his suggestions for improving the posts, ; acquires neale's patent, ; dies and the patent is surrendered to the crown, hamilton, john, son of the preceding, appointed deputy postmaster-general of america, harley, robert, afterwards earl of oxford, raises the rates of postage, ; attempts to trace the writer of an anonymous letter, harwich, a packet station, ; number and strength of its packets, ; packet regulations, ; a hot-bed of smuggling, , ; its exorbitant charges, ; is closed as a packet station, hasker, thomas, chief superintendent of mail-coaches, his pithy instructions, ; is complimented by the king, ; will not suffer even the king to detain the mail-coach, ; enters a protest against the speed of the holyhead mail, hayman, peter, first postmaster of virginia and maryland, heath, sir robert, solicitor-general, hickes, prideaux's servant, imprisonment of, highwaymen, rewards for apprehension of, ; refrain from attacks upon mail-coaches, ; confine their attention to horse and cross-posts, ; instances of the recovery of mail bags stolen by, hill, sir rowland, _note_, , hippisley, sir john, hiver, richard, holt, sir john, chief justice, his opinion respecting compensation for losses by post, _note_ holyhead, packet service at beginning of eighteenth century performed with regularity, ; contemplated reduction of the packet establishment deprecated by the lord lieutenant of ireland, ; conditions of passage between holyhead and dublin in , hompesch, baron, packet detained for, horn, when to be blown, ; a man on horseback blowing a post-horn assigned as a device for post office colours, _note_ horses, to be kept in readiness for affairs of state, ; two to be kept at every post-house, ; use of, obtained under false pretences, ; overridden, overladen, and not always paid for, , ; charge for post-horses in , ; in , ; in , ; not to be supplied except at post-houses, ; to be attended by a guide when two are hired, ; not to be let when the post is expected, ; not to be taken without the consent of the owners, ; only indirectly a source of revenue, ; monopoly of letting horses continued to the post office by the act of , ; control exercised by the post office over horses for travellers merely nominal, exception given, ; charges for post-horses increased by the erection of milestones, ; monopoly of letting post-horses withdrawn, horse and cross-posts, project for checking robberies of, ; authority withheld, ; eventually given, hostages taken on capture of a packet, ; instance of inhuman treatment of, houses numbered, ; their not being so a hindrance to the post office, , hume, david, hume, joseph, hungerford selected to try the question of free delivery, ; question decided in favour of the public and a letter-carrier appointed, , illicit conveyance of letters, between town and town and between the country and london, ; is stimulated by increase in the rates of postage, , ; becomes less after the introduction of mail-coaches, ; prosecutions for, ; return to the house of commons, impressment, persons employed on the packets exempt from, ; specimen of protection order, _note_ instructions to the sorting office communicated by word of mouth, insurance an essential condition of dockwra's penny post, ; this condition abandoned, invoices to and from abroad exempt from postage until , exemption then withdrawn, ipswich asserts its right to a free delivery, ; right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, ireland, tardiness of post to, before , ; postage to, ; method of post office business in , ; abuse of franking in , ; clerks at the castle surrender their franking privilege, ; posts to and within ireland improved, ; penny post office opened in dublin, ; the roof of the dublin post office falls in, ; the irish post office separated from that of england, ; effects of the separation in the case of correspondence by the milford haven and waterford route, ; between the irish and english post offices differences in point of law, ; and of practice, ; office in dublin styled british mail office, account of, ; and improper use made of it, ; clancarty's energy and decision of character, ; lees, secretary to the post office in ireland, his mode of conducting business, ; lees contrasted with freeling, ; the postmasters-general absentees, ; absence also of the subordinates and other abuses, ; the express clerks and clerks of the roads deal in newspapers and are given undue advantages, ; account of the alphabet, ; ingenious one in use at belfast, ; arrangement in favour of soldiers' wives, ; peculiar mode of delivery at belfast, ; mail-coach contracts in ireland different from those in england, ; charles bianconi, ; arrangement between ireland and great britain in the matter of the packets, ; lees is dissatisfied with it, ; and sets it aside, ; freeling's indignation, ; sailing packets replaced by steam packets, ; effect upon the number of passengers carried by the post office, ; irish traffic diverted from holyhead to liverpool, ; and liverpool made a packet station, ; except in the matter of the packets, indisposition of the british post office to improve communication with ireland, ; such improvement urged by foster, chancellor of the irish exchequer, ; and resisted by freeling, ; freeling forced to give way, ; the irish post office consolidated with the post office of great britain, ; and the dublin establishment reformed, ; the auditing of the irish accounts rendered futile, iron mail-cart stopped and rifled of its contents, isle of wight, its post office establishment in , jackson, a passenger by packet without a pass, jacob, giles, _note_ jamaica, post office establishment in, and sea rates fixed, ; duration of voyage to and fro in , ; house of assembly vote sum of money in recognition of the gallant defence of the _antelope_ packet, james, duke of york, afterwards james ii., opposes introduction of the penny post, ; wrests it out of dockwra's hands, ; suffers the clerks of the roads to retain their newspaper privilege, jamineau, isaac, purveyor of newspapers to the clerks of the roads, jeffreys, sir george, afterwards lord, inflicts exorbitant fine upon edmund prideaux, son of the master of the posts, johnson, edward, letter-carrier, improves the penny post, ; is appointed deputy comptroller, johnson, dr. samuel, _note_ jones, distiller of old street, st. luke's, his action against the post office, kent, post through the county of, more carefully nursed than any other, kenyon, lloyd, lord, when attorney-general, gives receipts for fees in post office cases, king's coach, deception practised on walsingham in the matter of the, king's messengers, their complaint against the post office on the erection of milestones, lambton, john george, moves for a return of the number of post office boards, lancashire, the badness of its posts in , le despencer, francis, lord, postmaster-general from to , , leeds, salary of postmaster in , lees, sir john, secretary to the post office in ireland, his testimony to the abuse of franking, ; having been transferred to the war office, recapitulates conditions on which he accepts reappointment to the post office, ; recapitulation gives offence to carteret, ; and leads to carteret's exposure, lees, sir edward smith, son of the preceding, also secretary to the post office in ireland, his method of conducting business, ; deals in newspapers, ; his instruction respecting the alphabet, ; his difference with freeling, ; becomes a director of the dublin steam packet company, ; is transferred to edinburgh, ; his unauthorised surrender of the receiver-general's bond, leet, express clerk, leicester, the corporation of, binds itself to keep post-horses for the use of the sovereign, ; salary of postmaster at, in , leicester, george, earl of, postmaster-general from to , letter-carriers, their pay in , ; as late as , none employed except in london, edinburgh, and dublin, ; are appointed at certain other towns, ; in london their interests suffer from the earlier closing of the post office, ; are put into uniform, ; the sufferings of some of their number during the winter of - , ; select their walks according to seniority, ; deliver letters according to classes, one class for general post letters, another for penny or twopenny letters, and a third for foreign letters, letters, on affairs of state originally sent by courier, ; particulars of, when sent by post, to be carefully recorded, ; letters on other than the affairs of state received at the post-houses, ; not, without the authority of the master of the posts, to be collected, carried, or delivered, ; notice that none are to be sent except through the post served on the merchants of london, ; letters detected in being illicitly conveyed to be sent to the privy council, and their bearers apprehended, ; what letters excepted from monopoly, ; are given precedence over travellers, ; circulate mainly through london, ; their mode of distribution, ; clandestine conveyance of, ; number of penny post letters for the suburbs of london at the end of the seventeenth century, ; letters for america and jamaica charged with postage, although there was no packet service, ; clandestine conveyance of, stimulated by increase of postage, ; definition of single and double letter, ; allen's injunction to check illegal conveyance of, ; are examined by means of a strong light, , , ; penalty for opening letters, ; letters containing patterns or samples, whether to be charged as single or double letters, ; right to make, on the delivery of letters, any charge beyond the postage contested, ; memorials for and against the earlier delivery of foreign letters in london, ; average number of letters for each foreign mail in , ; treatment of dead and missent letters before and after , ; return of the number of letters passing through the london post office submitted to the postmasters-general daily, ; made penal not only to carry letters, but to send them otherwise than through the post, ; on the delivery of letters, despite the decision of the courts, a charge beyond the postage continues to be made, ; owing to the complication of rates, not possible to express the total charge upon a letter in one taxation, lewis xiv. assembles a squadron before dunkirk, ; his delay in refusing to sign the preliminaries of peace, lichfield, thomas william, earl of, appointed postmaster-general may , _note_ lincolnshire, the paucity of its posts before , liverpool, salary of postmaster in , ; penny post established at, ; is opened as a packet station, liverpool, robert, earl of, mediates between freeling and lees, ; transfers the falmouth packets from the post office to the admiralty, lloyds supplied by the post office with ship news, loppinott, colonel, losses by post, compensation for, ; when ceased to be given, lovell, mary, receiver in st. james's street, lord abercorn's complaint against, lovell, thomas, lord, afterwards earl of leicester, postmaster-general from to , ; receives a threatening letter, _note_; his loose notions about smuggling, lowndes, william, secretary to the treasury, takes charge of the post office bill of , ; overbears swift, the solicitor to the post office, ; confounds gross and net revenue, ( _note_) macadam, john loudon, introduces new method of road-making, macaulay, lord, his account of the fine inflicted upon edmund prideaux, son of the master of the posts, ; his statement that a part of the post office revenue was derived from post-horses questioned, ( ) mackerness, thomas, postmaster of chipping norton, macky, john, packet agent at dover, proceeds to flanders, ; receives a remarkable caution, ; having become contractor for the dover and ostend packet service, his boats engage in illicit operations, ; and bring news clandestinely, ; is commissioned to settle posts for the army, his excellent arrangements, maddison, george, magistrates, the duty of, in certain cases, to seize horses for the service of the posts, , ; are enjoined to see that horses are procured at the post-houses alone, maidstone, excellency of the delivery at, in the seventeenth century, ; amount of the postmaster's salary, mails, hour of despatch of the, from the general post office in , ; after , ; cost of conveyance of, before and after the introduction of mail-coaches, ; are exempt from toll in great britain but not in ireland, ; exemption withdrawn in scotland, mail bags, curious instances of recovery of, mail-carts, mail-cart made of iron rifled of its contents, ; first used in london to bring letters to the general post office, mail-coaches, begin to run, ; rapid extension of the system, ; system deprecated by some of the leading merchants, ; their effect upon expresses, ; upon the illicit conveyance of letters, ; a mail-coach in attendance upon the king when at cheltenham, ; are put off the road by palmer, ; number of, in , ; model of mail-coach preserved at the post office, ; mail-coaches of new pattern supplied, ; number of passengers by, restricted, , ; roof-loading, and objections to it, , ; roof not always safe, ; mileage allowance in the case of mail-coaches, ; their freedom from attacks by highwaymen, ; become liable to a duty of one penny a mile, ; are diverted from the direct route for a consideration, ; number of, in , ; their unpopularity with road trustees, ; question considered of withdrawing their exemption from toll, ; mail-coaches withdrawn instead, ; in scotland, are made liable to toll, ; and their number is reduced, ; speed of mail-coaches, , ; the mail-coach the great disseminator of news, ; supply of mail-coaches thrown open to public competition, immediate result, mail guards, not originally post office servants, ; their little excesses, ; their wages, ; treatment of their wages a cause of difference between walsingham and palmer, ; their position one of responsibility, ; their fees, ; specimens of instructions to, ; carry parcels and game, and suffer to be carried excess-passengers, , main, george, deputy-postmaster of edinburgh, maîtres de poste in canada, managers, sometime farmers, of the post office, manchester, its post office establishment in , ; establishment increased and penny post office opened, manley, captain john, post office farmed by, manley, isaac, deputy-postmaster of dublin, _note_ mansfield, william, earl of, his opinion upon compensation for losses by the post, _note_; his judgment as to the duty of the post office in the matter of delivering letters, marlborough, john churchill, duke of, interests himself in the post with flanders, ( , ) maryborough, william, lord, postmaster-general from december , to may , , _note_ master of the posts, his duties, ; no one not authorised by, allowed to collect, carry, or deliver letters, ; his salary and emoluments, melbourne, william, viscount, melville, robert, viscount, advocates transfer of the falmouth packets to the admiralty, menai straits, additional rate of postage imposed on letters crossing the, merchants' accounts to and from abroad exempt from postage until , exemption then withdrawn, merchant adventurers. _see_ foreign merchants methuen, sir paul, ambassador to portugal, calls attention to the irregular proceedings of the packets, mileage allowance, in case of mail-coaches, ; higher in ireland than in england, ; flippant return to the house of commons on the subject of, miles, difference between measured and computed miles, milestones, erection of, ; their effect upon the charge for post-horses, milford haven and waterford, packet service between, missent letters, treatment of, before and after , money order office, ; the subject of a flippant return to the house of commons, ; facsimile of a money order issued in , appendix monopoly of the post office, origin of, in the matter of letters and of post-horses, ; confined in the first instance to the county of kent, ; confirmed by act of parliament, ; withdrawn as regards post-horses, mountstuart, john, viscount, _note_ murray, robert, reputed to have been the first to suggest the penny post, neale, thomas, obtains grants for setting up posts in north america, ; his pecuniary difficulties, ; offers to surrender his patent, ; patent passes on his death to andrew hamilton, newcastle, thomas holles pelham, duke of, his orders about the packets countermanded by pelham, ; sends to the post office to inquire the price of corn, newcastle, salary of the postmaster in , news, hunger after, ; the postmasters-general the great purveyors of, ; news disseminated by the mail-coaches, newspapers, franking of, by the clerks of the roads, ; are received from abroad by post office servants in advance of the general public, ; conditions of franking newspapers altered, effect of alteration, , ; copies of, supplied to post office servants, ; newspaper office established, ; number and weight of newspapers passing through the post office in , _note_; treatment of foreign newspapers, ; newspaper agency at the post office largely developed, ; london newspapers supplied by the post office with early intelligence from abroad, ; newspapers, though franked, not exempt from postage by the penny, twopenny, and convention posts, ; postage on newspapers for the east indies reduced below the letter rate, ; improper dealing with newspapers in ireland, ; on newspapers to and from the colonies special rates established and franking privilege withdrawn, ; this privilege retained in the case of newspapers for the continent, ; newspapers circulating within the united kingdom exempted from postage, ; extent of newspaper business conducted by the clerks of the roads in , ; in , ; newspaper business finally withdrawn, newton, sir isaac, new year's gifts, extortion of, nicholas, sir edward, nodin, passenger on board the _antelope_ packet, his gallantry, normanby, henry constantine, viscount, proposes abolition of the office of second postmaster-general, north, frederick, lord, ; receives singular reply from the post office, northampton, countess of, northey, sir edward, northumberland, hugh, earl of, lord lieutenant of ireland, nottingham, salary of postmaster in , ogilby, john, calls attention to the difference between measured and computed miles, _note_ oldfield, thomas, postmaster of york, oldmixon, old street, st luke's, a second penny charged on penny post letters addressed to, oliphant, robert, deputy postmaster-general for scotland, olney, buckinghamshire, attempts to improve its post and the consequence, o'neile, daniel, farmer of the posts, , o'neill, charles henry st. john, earl, postmaster-general of ireland from to , _seq._, onslow, denzil, opening of letters, during the commonwealth, ; under james ii., ; practice systematically carried on under walpole's administration, ; continued, as regards foreign letters, until , _note_ ordnance, board of, ormonde, james, duke of, oxenbridge, clement, reduces postage, ; receives an appointment under the post office, oxford street, branch post office opened in, packets (sailing), packet establishment in , ; are forbidden to carry merchandise in times of war, ; regulations for control of, ; carry their own surgeon, ; are not, without a pass, to carry passengers, ; or goods, ; fares are not sufficiently made known and inconvenience arises, instances given, ; curious assortment of goods sent free by packet, ; packets bring both passengers and goods without passes, ; engage in smuggling, ; are forbidden to give chase, ; are not entitled to the prizes they take, ; agreement with prizes honourably observed as a rule, exceptions given, ; are victualled at falmouth and at harwich on different principles, objections to both systems, ; copy of letter-bill by the _prince_ packet, ; transport recruits with disastrous results, ; must be of english build, ; engage with privateers, ; are placed on a peace footing, ; colours altered on union with scotland, ; sufficiency of the burthen and crew of the falmouth packets questioned by the merchants, ; the packets generally meet with a series of disasters, ; wholesale smuggling on the part of the harwich packets, ; inordinate growth of the packet expenditure, ; and the reason, ; packets established between milford haven and waterford, ; representation by the merchants as to the number of packets captured, ; their gallant actions with privateers, ; probable explanation of these actions occurring only when passengers were on board, ; mode of procuring packets for the east indies and the cape in , and their cost, ; arrangement in the matter of packets between great britain and ireland, ; steps taken by the dublin post office to set the arrangement aside, ; sailing packets replaced by steam packets between holyhead and dublin, ; between milford haven and waterford, ; between portpatrick and donaghadee, ; the falmouth packets transferred to the admiralty, packets (steam), between holyhe ad and dublin, charges by, as compared with sailing packets, ; number of passengers before the introduction of steam, _note_; and after, ; number of steam packets possessed by the post office in , ; packet service thrown open to public competition, ; irish steam packets, defective return to the house of commons in the matter of, pajot, director of the french posts, his obstinacy, ; his unreasonableness, palmer, john, his activity, ; general sketch of his plan, ; his plan is brought to the notice of pitt, ; and is tried on the bath road, ; extends his plan, ; induces pitt to raise the rates of postage, ; alleges obstruction, ; alters the length of the stages, ; his plan is opposed by the merchants, ; opposition dies away, ; procures appointment of his nominees, ; conditions of his own appointment, ; his jealousy of allen, ; expedites the morning delivery in london, and introduces an improved method of business, ; imposes upon walsingham in the matter of the king's coach, ; his treatment of official papers, ; pays an unexpected visit to walsingham at old windsor, ; betrays his jealousy, ; establishes, but without the necessary authority, a newspaper office, ; and a mail guards' fund, ; is called to account by walsingham, ; takes umbrage at a rebuke administered to his deputy, bonnor, ; disobeys orders, ; becomes aggressive and defiant, ; and appeals to pitt, ; is charged by bonnor with promoting a public meeting antagonistic to the postmasters-general, ; suspends bonnor, ; is suspended himself, ; is dismissed, ; receives a pension and, later on, a parliamentary grant, ; general result of his plan, ( , , ) palmerston, henry john, viscount, his humorous reply to freeling, parkin, anthony, solicitor to the post office, parnell, sir henry, pascoe, john, boatswain of the _antelope_ packet, his gallant resistance to the attack of a privateer, patterns and samples, letters containing, and being less than one ounce in weight, whether to be charged single or double, ; question tried at law, ; settled by act of parliament, ; concessions in favour of, pay. _see_ wages pelham, henry, countermands newcastle's orders about the packets, pennant, thomas, penny post, its introduction by dockwra, ; general plan of, ; carries up to one pound in weight, ; includes a system of insurance, ; days on which it does not go, ; increases number of country letters, ; is absorbed into the general post office, ; establishment of, in , ; stimulates the clandestine conveyance of letters into london, ; on its acquisition by the state its general conditions remain unchanged, ; number of penny post letters for the suburbs at the end of the seventeenth century, ; its contemplated extension to dublin in , ; affects the number of ship letters, ; is without legal sanction, ; legal sanction given, ; its limits restricted to ten miles, ; the charge of a second penny on all letters delivered outside the bills of mortality made legal, ; weight carried by the penny post reduced from one pound to four ounces, ; compensation for losses by the, when ceased to be given, _note_; attempts made by the post office to charge a second penny within the bills of mortality, ; principal officers of the penny post absentees, ; stagnation of the penny post, ; the post is improved by johnson, a letter-carrier, ; financial result, ; prepayment, hitherto optional, made compulsory, ; restriction on limits withdrawn, ; the charge of a second penny, heretofore confined to letters delivered at places outside the bills of mortality, imposed upon letters coming therefrom, ; the penny post converted into a twopenny post, ; and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, . _see_ twopenny and threepenny posts penzance, its post before and after , pepys, samuel, _note_ perceval spencer, , percival, joseph, a passenger by packet without a pass, pickwick, "mr. pickwick's coach," pitt, william, his attention is called to palmer's plan, ; sweeps away frivolous objections and desires that it may be tried, ; raises the postage rates, ; relaxes the restrictions upon franking, ; dismisses tankerville, ; settles conditions of palmer's appointment, ; his knowledge of abuses at the post office and his unwillingness to expose them, ; suppresses report of royal commission, ; authorises increase of salary to the clerks of the roads, ; declares palmer's proceedings to be irregular, ; turns a deaf ear to the postmaster-general's request for an interview, ; interview at length granted, ; a second interview, ; acquiesces in palmer's dismissal and grants him a pension, ; makes to post office servants a periodical grant pending a revision of the establishment, ; promotes plan for improving the penny post, ; disallows practice of charging returned letters, ; modifies arrangements for dealing with ship letters, ; his precepts in this matter afterwards disregarded, plymouth, salary of the postmaster in , _political register_, its criticisms on post office practice, pope, alexander, his lines on ralph allen, portage, portland, william henry, duke of, portland packet, captain taylor, its gallant action with privateer, postage, introduction of, ; settled by act of parliament, ; original meaning of term, _note_; rates of postage in , ; in and , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; device resorted to in order to evade high rates of, ; rates lapse through effluxion of time, ; rates of postage between london and the channel islands and within the islands themselves, ; from portugal and america, ; financial result of increase of rates, ; bewildering complications, ; extraordinary toleration of the public, explanation suggested, ; an additional rate imposed in scotland on withdrawal of exemption from toll, ; and on letters passing over the menai straits or conway bridge, ; rates of postage to the east indies in , ; instances of exorbitant rates, "poste for the pacquet," _note_ post-boys, post-coaches, post-haste, post-horn. _see_ horn post-horses. _see_ horses post-houses, to have horses in readiness, ; horses not to be let except at, ; pay of keepers of, in arrear, postilions, postmarks, introduction of, postmasters, their duties in , ; their salaries, ; their grievances, ; their contingent advantages, ; intercept postage on bye-letters, , ; their correspondence exempt from postage, ; their moderation on the erection of milestones, ; are enjoined to frequent the local markets and report the price of corn, ; salaries of certain postmasters in scotland in , ; in england in , postmasters-general (i.) [cotton and frankland, to ], their simple-mindedness, ; their accessibility, ; their concern about the illicit correspondence, ; their powerlessness to check it, ; let the posts out to farm, ; refuse to sublet the penny post, ; their difference with pajot, minister of the french posts, ; remonstrate with captains of packets at falmouth, ; and at harwich, ; chuckle over the capture of a prize, ; their rebuke to the captain of a falmouth packet, _note_; instance of their rough-and-ready justice, ; take vigorous measures to protect the packets from flemish privateers, ; their admonition to the packet agent at dover, ; act as purveyors of news to the court, instances given, ; advocate cheap postage to america, ; become, at the union with scotland, responsible for the scotch posts, ; their inaction, explanation suggested, ; action forced upon them, ; are contrasted with their successors, , postmasters-general (ii.) [frankland and evelyn, to ], their interview with godolphin, ; their instruction about expresses from dover, ; treat personally with povey, ; frankland ceases to be a member of parliament, ; concern themselves only slightly about travellers, ; take measures to check the abuse of franking, ; in vain urge the appointment of surveyors, ; negotiate new treaty with france, ; quit office on accession of george the first, postmasters-general (iii.) [cornwallis and craggs, to ], are amazed at the absence of check in the post office, ; note how little the increase in the rates of postage has added to the revenue, ; and how largely it has stimulated the abuse of franking, ; their dispute with the merchants, ; convict lowndes of a ludicrous error, ; their harsh treatment of their secretary, postmasters-general (iv.) [edward carteret and walpole, to ], their kindness to subordinates, ; their interview with abercorn, . [from to carteret had for his colleague edward harrison, and from to lord lovell.] carteret establishes a post to aylsham, postmasters-general (v.) [henry frederick, lord carteret and, for the second time, tankerville, to ], collect opinions on palmer's plan and submit them to pitt, ; entertain doubts as to its feasibility, ; their differences between themselves, ; their open rupture, ; tankerville is dismissed by pitt, ; his ungovernable temper, postmasters-general (vi.) [carteret and walsingham, to ], walsingham's industry and thoroughness, ; questions carteret's right to sign first, ; his preponderating influence, ; his habit of annotating and execrable handwriting, , ; reduces packet establishment at falmouth, ; is dissuaded from carrying out a similar reduction at holyhead, ; is powerless to control the correspondence by the milford packets, ; in conjunction with carteret procures increase of salary for the clerks of the roads, ; is imposed upon in the matter of the king's coach, ; calls for the surveyors' journals, ; his correspondence with chalmers, ; receives an unexpected visit from palmer, ; detects palmer's jealousy and endeavours to allay it, ; calls palmer to account for acting without authority, ; exposes bonnor's attempt at deception, ; carteret's dismissal, ; walsingham inquires into the solicitor's accounts, postmasters-general (vii.) [walsingham and chesterfield, to ], chesterfield's playful allusions to palmer, ; palmer sets the postmasters-general at defiance, ; they seek in vain an interview with pitt, ; receive assurances from bonnor of palmer's disloyalty, ; remove bonnor's suspension and suspend palmer, ; chesterfield's letter, ; walsingham's interview with pitt, ; feel confident of their own dismissal, ; are furnished with evidence by bonnor, ; have a second interview with pitt and dismiss palmer, ; contrast palmer's reticence in official matters with freeling's wealth of explanation, ; walsingham attempts to improve communication with france, ; and to reduce postage on letters containing the second halves of bank notes, ; give attention to coach-building, postmasters-general (viii.) [chichester and salisbury, to ], are called upon for a return of the number of post office boards, ; address to the throne praying that one of the two offices of postmaster-general be abolished, ; salisbury stops his own salary, and on his death chichester becomes postmaster-general sole, ; salisbury's testimony to increase of stringency in post office matters, post office, origin of its monopoly, ; monopoly confined in the first instance to the county of kent, ; a post office opened in the city of london, ; dispute for its possession, ; becomes the subject of parliamentary enactment, ; its position in , ; is the only receptacle for letters in london, ; description of it, ; relations between the post office and the treasury, ; the post office becomes unpopular and the reasons, _seq._; its retrogression, ; assumes a new character, ; loses monopoly of letting post-horses, ; post office buildings in edinburgh and dublin fall into decay, ; indignation caused by the earlier closing of the post office in london, ; this office enlarged, ; state of the post office as between the years and compared, ; the post office disseminates news, ; and police notices, ; becomes object of interest to the house of commons, ; is cleared of more than a century of debt, ; a new post office opened in st. martin's-le-grand, post-runners, posts, paucity of, in time of henry the eighth, ; their close connection with the sovereign, ; instructions for the regulation of, ; designed not only to carry the letters of the sovereign, but for the use of persons travelling on the sovereign's concerns, ; posts originally maintained at loss to the crown, ; at the beginning of the seventeenth century only four in number, ; of these the post to dover the most important, precautions taken lest this post should be used for designs against the state, ; decadence of the posts, ; improved by witherings, ; to be self-supporting, ; thrown open to the public, ; let out to farm, ; rent paid in , ; in , ; in , ; in , ; in become the subject of parliamentary enactment, ; their inadequacy to meet public demands, ; even where they existed, their existence not generally known, ; at what intervals they left london in , ; regarded as vehicles for the propagation of treason, ; again let out to farm, ; resumed by the state, ; as late as , not of general concern, povey, charles, sets up a halfpenny post, ; contrast between him and dockwra, ; his insolence, ; is proceeded against and cast in damages, prideaux, edmund, takes part with burlamachi against warwick, ; rescues the mail from warwick's servants, ; brings the imprisonment of his own servant before the house of commons, ; becomes master of the posts, ; his activity, ; suppresses unauthorised post to scotland, ; makes profit out of the posts and is called upon to pay rent, ; is dismissed, ; retains an interest in the posts, ; oldmixon's estimate of his character, ; destination of a part of his wealth, prideaux, edmund, son of the preceding, prior, matthew, negotiates post office treaty with france, prior park, prizes, practice observed on capture of, prosecutions, for the illicit conveyance of letters, ; measures taken to secure their publicity, ; return to the house of commons on the subject of, protection order, specimen of, _note_ quartering of soldiers, a grievance to postmasters, quash, ralph allen's predecessor as postmaster of bath, queen's letters, meaning of term in , _note_ queen's servants not exempt from fare by packet, queensberry, james, duke of, raikes, a diamond merchant, suggests the giving of receipts for registered letters, _note_ railways, prediction concerning, ; first mail sent by railway, ramsgate, cost of post office at, in , randolph, thomas, master of the posts to queen elizabeth, receiving offices, first opened in london, ; generally kept at public-houses, ; to remain open on six nights a week instead of three, ; letter-boxes at, to be closed and fixed, ; receiving offices for twopenny post letters separate and distinct from offices for letters by the general post, , recruits, exemption of, from fare by packet, ; disputes with officers in charge of, ; packets employed for transport of, registration, exorbitant fees for, of foreign letters, ; amount of these fees in and , ; receipts for foreign registered letters begin to be given, _note_ returned letters. _see_ dead letters revenue of the post office, surrendered by the crown to the public, in part, in , ; and wholly, in exchange for a civil list, in , ; amount of, from to , ; in and , ; in as compared with , ; in and , ; in and , richmond, charles, duke of, postmaster-general from december to july , declines to receive salary, ; his industry, ; becomes postmaster-general of ireland as well as great britain, and reforms the dublin establishment, ; contemplates, apparently, a reduction of postage, ripon, post office at, refused in , ; in possession of one in , roads, condition of, in , ; during the first two decades of the nineteenth century, ; begin to be constructed on scientific principles, ; macadam's plan for dealing with the surface of, ; difference between roads in the country and roads in the neighbourhood of london, rochester, lawrence hyde, earl of, postmaster-general from to , , _note_, , appendix _note_ rogers, captain of packet, engages in smuggling, roof-loading of mail-coaches, , rosencrantz, the danish envoy, to be specially accommodated on board harwich packet, rosse, laurence, earl of, postmaster-general of ireland from to , , rotterdam, practice at, on arrival of the mails, royal boroughs of scotland, royal commission of inquiry into the post office in , , ; in , ; recommendations of this last commission not carried into effect, ; another commission appointed to ascertain the reason, ; this commission procures the contract for mail-coaches to be thrown open to public competition, runners, rye-house plot, the cause of a post office proclamation, sailors on board the packets, their conditions of service, ; receive pensions for wounds, ; their wages withheld, ; their wages increased, st. john, henry, afterwards viscount bolingbroke, st. leonards, shoreditch, a second penny on penny post letters improperly charged at, st. martin's-le-grand, opening of post office at, salaries. _see_ wages salisbury, james, marquess of, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part viii. samples. _see_ patterns sampson, captain of packet, sandwich, john, earl of, postmaster-general from to , ; specimen of his frank, appendix sandwich, john, earl of, son of the preceding, postmaster-general from to , sandwich, kent, asserts its right to a free delivery, ; right admitted and letter-carrier appointed, , scotland, tardiness of communication with, before , ; communication expedited by witherings, ; postage to scotland, ; post to edinburgh set up by the city of london, ; extent of correspondence with scotland in , ; scotch posts placed under the postmasters-general of england, ; salaries of scotch postmasters, ; course of post between london and edinburgh accelerated in , , ; in posts to and within scotland increased in frequency, ; post office in edinburgh no longer habitable, ; internal administration of scotch post office revised by palmer, ; penny post established in edinburgh, ; postage rates within scotland raised, ; wholesale prosecutions for illicit correspondence, ; exemption from toll withdrawn and an additional postage rate imposed, ; unhandsome conduct of the road trustees, ; roads discoached, search, powers of, refused by the house of commons, sebright, sir john, his letter accidentally opened, secretary of state, clerks in the office of, compensated for the loss of the newspaper privilege, secretary of the post office, appointment of, created in , secret office, , sharpus, postmaster of new york, sheffield, salary of postmaster in , shelburne, william, earl of, ship letters, origin of ship letter money, ; by means of the penny post evade full postage, ; number of, in , ; pence paid upon, without legal sanction, ; legal sanction given, ; ship letter office established, ; rates on, increased and restrictions imposed, ; restrictions modified, ; made compulsory upon private ships to carry mails, ship news supplied by the post office to lloyds, shipwrecked seamen pass free by packet, shrewsbury, curious reply to petition from, for earlier post, single letter, definition of, smart and bounty money, smuggling, on board the packets at falmouth, , ; at harwich, , ; at dover, ; in the dover mail-coach, soldiers' wives, when travelling supplied with money through the medium of the post office, solicitor to the post office, appointment of, created in , ; an absentee and his duties performed by deputy, ; his accounts inspected by walsingham's direction, somerset, protector, superscription of his letter to lord dacre, sorters, pay of, in , southampton, salary of postmaster in , speed of post in queen elizabeth's time, ; in time of james the first, ; at the end of the seventeenth century, ; between london and falmouth and london and harwich, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, ; under allen's contract, ; in , ; after , ; speed of holyhead mail-coach before and after telford's improvement of the road, ; of mail-coaches generally in and , , spencer, lord charles, postmaster-general from to , spitalfields, a second penny improperly charged on penny post letters addressed to, sprange, james, postmaster of tunbridge wells, spring rice, thomas, chancellor of the exchequer, stage, inconvenience resulting from term not being defined, ; term dropped as unit of charge, stanhope of harrington, john, lord, master of the posts, ; resents what he conceives to be an invasion of his patent, ; dies and is succeeded as master of the posts by his son, stanhope of harrington, charles, lord, master of the posts, son of the preceding, vigorously asserts his rights, ; vacillating decisions of the privy council, ; surrenders his patent, ; alleges cajolery, stanhope, arthur, comptroller of the foreign department, his emoluments from franking, ; supplies newspapers with summaries of foreign intelligence, stanhope, james, secretary of state, stanwix, colonel, state letters, _note_ staunton, john, postmaster of isleworth; appointed comptroller of the bye and cross-roads, steam packets, first employment of, by the post office, stock exchange, the, outwits the post office, stockdale, a highwayman, execution of, _note_ stokes, william, stone, george, receiver-general, a defaulter, stowmarket, its position and its trade unknown to allen, strangers' post. _see_ foreign merchants sudbury, duties and salary of postmaster in , sunderland, charles, earl of, surveyors, appointment of, refused by the treasury, ; afterwards sanctioned, ; their original functions, ; their functions and emoluments after , ; their journals, , ; cease to hold postmasterships in addition to their appointments as surveyors, swift, richard, solicitor to the post office, prepares post office bill of , ; is overborne by lowndes, secretary to the treasury, tankerville, charles, earl of, postmaster-general from april to may , and again from january to september . _see_ postmasters-general, part v. telford, thomas, takes in hand the road between holyhead and shrewsbury, ; between shrewsbury and london, ; other roads, thanet, elizabeth, countess dowager of, undertakes to establish a penny post in dublin, "thorough poste," _note_ thrale, mrs., _note_ threepenny post, , thurloe, john, secretary, assumes direction of the post office in , ; intercepts letters, thurlow, edward, attorney-general, afterwards lord chancellor; his opinion as to the duty of the post office in the matter of delivering letters, , thynne, henry frederick, afterwards carteret. _see_ postmasters-general, parts v. and vi. timepieces, mode of regulating mail-guards', _times_ newspaper, its priority of intelligence, ; its criticisms on post office procedure, ; proceedings against, taken by freeling, tinware, supply of, to the postmasters-general, todd, anthony, secretary to the post office; his correspondence with benjamin franklin, ; his indifference, ; comments upon tankerville's temper, ; his compromising position in respect to the packets, ; his emoluments, ; his remark upon bonnor's dilatory replies, ; devotes himself to social amenities, ; unknown to the postmasters-general, retains his shares in the packets, ; his death, toll, mail-coaches exempt from, in england and scotland but not in ireland, ; exemption withdrawn in scotland, townshend, horatio, lord, townshend, charles, deprecates alarm because a letter is sent by express, travellers, obtain use of post-horses under false pretences, ; are not to be supplied with horses except at the post-houses, ; paucity of travellers, ; are not to be supplied with horses when the post is expected, ; have to pay more for horses after the erection of milestones, ; their restriction to post-houses for a supply of horses withdrawn, treasury, its relations to the post office, , ; refuses the appointment of surveyors, ; refuses a horse-post between edinburgh and glasgow, ; experience of its ways a bar to the suggestion of improvements, ; extorts blackmail, treves, peregrine, the recipient of carteret's bounty, tring, the postmaster of, opens a letter addressed to sir john sebright, tuke, sir brian, master of the posts to henry the eighth, his letter to thomas cromwell, ; his duties, ; explanation suggested of statement in his letter, tunbridge, salary of postmaster in , tunbridge wells, old-fashioned postmaster of, in , turnpikes, condition of the trusts at the beginning of the nineteenth century, ; number of turnpike acts passed between and , twopenny post, a second penny charged by dockwra on delivery of letters in the outskirts of london, ; this second penny not legally sanctioned until , ; the twopenny post thus established in one direction established also in the other, ; the penny post converted into a twopenny post, ; and the twopenny post into a threepenny one, ; the revenue of the twopenny post as compared with that of the penny post, ; the crowded condition of the twopenny post office in westminster, tyrconnel, richard talbot, earl of, opens the mails at dublin castle, uniform, letter-carriers put into, urin, captain of packet, makes wrong port, vanderpoel, packet agent at the brill, vansittart, nicholas, chancellor of the exchequer, insists upon mail-coaches being withdrawn from the roads, ; raises the rates of postage, ; changes the route of the holyhead coach, ; refuses to get the terms of a hostile motion altered, van vrybergh, envoy extraordinary from the states-general, venetian ambassador, the, protests against the opening of his letters, vidler, his contract for the supply of mail-coaches terminated, village posts. _see_ convention posts viner, sir robert, wade, general, wages and salaries, of post office servants in , ; of seamen on board the packets, ; of certain postmasters in england, , , and in scotland, ; of mail-guards, waghorn, thomas, wainwright, postmistress of ferrybridge, her original mode of supplying an omission, walcot, john, secretary to the post office in ireland, terms of his agreement with barham, packet agent at dover, walpole, sir robert, maintains an office for the opening of letters, walpole, galfridus, postmaster-general from to . _see_ postmasters-general, part iv. walpole, horace, precautions taken by, to secure his correspondence against inspection, walsingham, thomas, lord, postmaster-general from july to july . _see_ postmasters-general, parts vi. and vii. warwick, robert, earl of, acquires witherings's patent and claims possession of the letter office, ; attempts to obtain it by force, ; continues to assert his claim, warwick, course of post to, altered in , waterhouse, benjamin, secretary to the post office, _note_ watson, sir charles, way letter, meaning of term, weights to be attached to sea-borne mails, wellesley, sir arthur, sets aside objections to improving communication with ireland, west indies, packets to the, established, ; amount of correspondence in , ; service discontinued in , ; resumed in , ; improved arrangements for disposing of the west indian mails, westmorland, john, earl of, postmaster-general from september to march , weston, henry, secretary to the post office, harsh treatment of, weston brothers, trial of, wetherall, robert, master of ship _albinia_, proceedings against, for refusing to take mails on board, _note_ weymouth, constituted a packet station, whinnery, thomas, postmaster of belfast, his revolving "alphabet," ; his mode of delivery, whitworth, richard, wildman, colonel john, postmaster-general from july to march , willatt, dame, postmistress of manchester in , ; granted a pension, willes, doctor, dean of lincoln, afterwards bishop of st. davids; the "chief decypherer," willes, mr. justice, his judgment upon the question of free delivery, william iii., confers a pension upon dockwra, ; refuses to exempt postmasters from the quartering of soldiers, ; is unwilling to prosecute for the illegal conveyance of letters, ; his opinion as to the requirements of a mail packet, ; the soundness of that opinion confirmed, williamson, peter, sets up an office for the delivery of letters in edinburgh, willimott, receiver-general, _note_ wilson, mail-coach contractor, his exorbitant bill for horsing the king's coach, witherings, thomas, succeeds de quester as foreign postmaster, ; is commissioned to examine into the inland posts, ; suggests a scheme of reorganisation, ; introduces postage, ; contemplates posts being self-supporting, ; but not, apparently, a source of revenue, ; becomes postmaster for both inland and foreign letters, ; his appointment is sequestered, ; assigns his patent, wolters, dirick, a suspected person, to be searched for at harwich, worthing, course of post from london to, in , wren, sir christopher, surveys the post office premises in lombard street, york, salary of postmaster in , [illustration: bugler on galloping horse] _j. d. & co._ _printed by r. & r. clark, edinburgh._ * * * * * transcriber's note: page "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the th of october to the th of april " changed to october according to context. two changes were made according to the errata: page "that the practice dated from " changed to . page "further period of eighteen months, viz. from the th of october to the th of april " changed to october according to context. generously made available by the internet archive/canadian libraries) the history of the post office in british north america cambridge university press c. f. clay, manager london: fetter lane, e.c. [illustration] new york: the macmillan co. bombay } calcutta } macmillan and co., ltd. madras } toronto: the macmillan co. of canada, ltd. tokyo: maruzen-kabushiki-kaisha all rights reserved the history of the post office in british north america - by william smith sometime secretary of the post office department of canada cambridge at the university press printed in great britain by richard clay & sons, limited, brunswick st., stamford st., s.e. , and bungay, suffolk. preface my purpose, in the searches for material which led to the present volume, has been to give as complete an account as it lay in my power to do, of the beginnings and growth of the canadian post office, with which i was associated for thirty-six years. as my studies progressed, however, i found it would be necessary to widen my field. the canadian post office did not come into being as an independent organization. it was but the extension into newly-acquired territories, of a system which had been in operation for nearly three-quarters of a century, with well-established modes of administration. obviously, either reference should be made to well-known works on the older colonial postal system, or an account of it must be attempted in this volume. although careful studies of some aspects of this history have been made, this part of colonial history has, on the whole, received less of the attention of students than has been devoted to throwing light upon other phases of that history; and, what was important for my purpose, little has been done in the way of describing the relations between the colonial postal system and the general post office in london, to which it was subordinate. the materials for this portion of the history are to be found in the records of the general post office, london, the british museum, and in the journals of the colonial legislatures. a very interesting document is franklin's account book, which is in the boston public library. the materials for the history of the post office in the provinces now composing the dominion of canada, are in the records of the general post office, the larger portion of which have been transcribed for the public archives of canada; in the correspondence between the colonial governors and the colonial office, which can be found either in the original or in transcripts in the public archives, and in the journals of the provincial legislatures. in the preparation of the chapter on the postal service of newfoundland, i had the advantage of a rather close acquaintance with that service, due to my having had charge of it some years ago for a period of several months. the material on which the chapter is founded has been gathered from the records of the general post office, and the legislative papers of the colony. in collecting my material, i have received ready assistance from all to whom i have applied. to all these my hearty gratitude is tendered. a word of special acknowledgment is due to mr. edward porritt, author of _the unreformed parliament of great britain_, who kindly read the manuscript, and to whose experience i am indebted for many valuable suggestions. william smith. _august ._ contents page chapter i beginnings of postal service in former american colonies. chapter ii colonial post office under queen anne's act--early packet service. chapter iii communications in canada prior to the conquest--extension of colonial postal service to canada--effects of colonial discontents on post office. chapter iv the post office during the revolution--its suppression. chapter v beginnings of exclusively canadian postal service-- administration of hugh finlay--opening of communication with england by way of halifax--postal convention with united states. chapter vi administration of george heriot--extension of postal service in upper canada--irritating restrictions imposed by general post office--disputes with the administrator of the colony. chapter vii administration of daniel sutherland--postal service on the ottawa river, and to eastern townships--ocean mails. chapter viii postal conditions in upper canada--serious abuses--agitation for provincial control. chapter ix thomas allen stayner deputy postmaster general--restrictions of general post office relaxed--grievances of newspaper publishers--opinion of law officers of the crown that postmaster general's stand is untenable--consequences. chapter x the beginnings of the postal service in the maritime provinces--complaints of newspaper publishers--reception given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances. chapter xi continuance of agitation in the canadas for control of the post office--much information obtained by committees of legislatures--difficulty in giving effect to reforms. chapter xii durham's report on the post office--effects of rebellion of on the service--ocean steamships to carry the mails--the cunard contract--reduction of transatlantic postage. chapter xiii diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--commission on post office appointed--its report--efforts to secure reduction of postal charges. chapter xiv continuation of account of post office in maritime provinces-- departmental inquiry into conditions--agitation for reduced postage. chapter xv reversal of attitude of british government on post office control--instructions to lord elgin--provincial postal conference--control of post office relinquished to colonies. chapter xvi provincial administration of the post office--reduced postage-- railway mail service--arrangements with united states. chapter xvii canadian ocean mail service--want of sympathy of british government therewith. chapter xviii canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--series of disasters to allan line steamers. chapter xix postal service of manitoba, the north-west provinces and british columbia--summary of progress since confederation. chapter xx the post office in newfoundland. index portraits william henry griffin, c.m.g. _to face page_ william white, c.m.g. " robert millar coulter, m.d., c.m.g. " history of the post office in british north america chapter i beginnings of postal service in former american colonies. benjamin franklin relates that when the news reached america in that peace had been concluded between england and france, he made preparations to visit canada, for the purpose of extending to it the postal service of the north american colonies, and that the joy bells were still ringing when he left philadelphia on his journey northward. franklin has universal fame as a philosopher and statesman, but is perhaps less widely known as one of the deputies of the postmaster general of england. he had, however, a long and useful connection with the post office a quarter of a century before this time. he was appointed postmaster of philadelphia in ,[ ] and for many years combined the duties of this office with that of newspaper publisher. he became deputy postmaster general in .[ ] canada had been in the hands of the british since , and until a regular system of government was established in , its affairs were administered by a military council, which among other matters provided a rudimentary postal service. the merchants of quebec were desirous of a regular post office; and, owing to franklin's promptness, the post office was the first of the institutions of government which was placed on a settled footing after canada became a british province. on arriving at quebec, franklin opened a post office there with subordinate offices at three rivers and montreal,[ ] and established a monthly service between the canadian post offices and new york, arranging the trips so that the courier should make as close connection as possible with the packet boats which sailed monthly each way between new york and falmouth, england. the postal system into which canada was thus incorporated was of vast extent. it stretched from the river st. lawrence to florida. new york was its pivotal point, the mail couriers running north and south connecting there with one another, and with the packets from england. the system was under the control of two deputies, of equal authority, one of whom was franklin, and the other john foxcroft. as this system had a long history when canada came to be comprised in it, it seems essential to a proper presentation of the subject that a sketch of that history should be furnished. the first notice of a post office in north america appears in the records of the general court of massachusetts bay for the year . the colony was just ten years old. letters from home, always eagerly looked for, were then awaited with double anxiety in view of the distracted state of england. king charles was at this time midway in the course of his great experiment in absolute government, which ten years before had driven these people from their homes, and ten years later was to carry him to the block. some effective arrangement for the exchange of correspondence between new and old england was a necessity. until there was none. on the english side, it was the practice for sea captains, who intended making a trip to america, to give public notice of the fact, and to place a bag for the reception of letters in one of the coffee houses. on the day of sailing, the bag was closed and taken on board the vessel to america. it was at this point that the scheme failed. there was no one in america charged with the duty of receiving and distributing the letters; and consequently, many letters were misdelivered, and many not delivered at all. it was to provide a remedy for this state of things that an ordinance[ ] was passed on the th of november, . by this ordinance public notice was given that all letters from beyond the seas were to be taken to the tavern kept by richard fairbank, in boston, who engaged that they should be delivered according to their addresses. he was to receive a penny for every letter he delivered, and was to answer for all miscarriages due to his neglect. the fairbank's tavern was a resort of some prominence. through the correspondence of the time, it appears as the meeting place for various committees of the colony, and returns to the surveyor general were ordered to be made at fairbank's in . the ordinance of , besides giving directions for the receipt and delivery of letters coming to boston from beyond the sea, also authorized fairbank to provide for the despatch of letters posted at his house, and addressed to places abroad. he was licensed to receive letters from the citizens of boston for transmission across the sea; but the ordinance laid it down carefully that "no man shall be compelled to bring his letters thither unless he please." this proviso is quite in keeping with the spirit of the time. at present and for more than two centuries past, the exclusive right of the post office to engage in the conveyance of letters is conceded without question. but at that time, its claims to a monopoly in letter carrying were contested on all sides. indeed anything presenting the appearance of a monopoly found small favour. the natural jealousy with which every claim to exclusive privilege is viewed, was heightened to the point of hatred during the struggle for constitutional government, by the fact that trading monopolies which were granted to courtiers, not only enhanced unreasonably the price of many of the necessities of life, but also furnished the means, which enabled the king to pursue his illegal and arbitrary courses in defiance of parliament. the privy council in england had adopted in a scheme for the administration of the post office, one of the features of which was the bestowal upon it of the sole right to carry on the business of conveying and delivering letters in england. this was contested in the courts, and in was pronounced illegal. the claim had received an earlier blow at the hands of the long parliament, which in condemned the post office monopoly. the arguments for monopoly, however, were not long to be gainsaid; and when cromwell took up the question of the post office, and passed a comprehensive act on the subject in , the monopoly as regards the conveyance of letters was conferred on the post office in express terms. this act was confirmed after the restoration in ; and the post office has remained undisturbed in the enjoyment of its monopoly since that date. in the north american colonies, the post office monopoly was never popular, though, owing to the ease with which it was evaded, it was regarded with indifference until close upon the war of the revolution. in , the english government began to see the necessity for a postal service between england and its colonies in america. on the st of june of that year, the king wrote to the governor of barbados[ ] that it had become a matter of daily complaint that there was no safe means of communication with virginia, new england, jamaica, barbados and other colonies in america; and he directed the governor to establish a post office within barbados and the caribbee islands. the post office was to be under the control of the postmaster general of england, to whom the accounts should be sent; and the rates of postage were to be the same as those fixed for england by the act of . nothing seems to have been done at this time towards establishing a post office in either virginia or new england. so far as the interests and convenience of the people of new england were concerned, these in no way suffered from the lack of attention on the part of the home government. the coffee house on the one side, and the tavern on the other, with the vessels passing between as often as business warranted, answered every reasonable demand. in virginia it would not appear that the legislature at this period took any steps towards providing a place of deposit and delivery, such as fairbank's, for letters passing between the colonists and their correspondents beyond the sea. but the want of this convenience caused little restriction on the exchange of letters by means of the trading vessels which visited jamestown. new york contained the only other considerable group of settlers at this time. it was a recent acquisition, having passed into the hands of the english in . the dutch, the former possessors, had arrangements for the exchange of letters with amsterdam, not dissimilar from those in force in new england. in the dutch west india company informed their director general in new amsterdam, that having observed that "private parties give their letters to this or that sailor or free merchant, which letters to their great disadvantage are often lost through neglect, remaining forgotten in the boxes or because one or the other removes to another place," they had a box hung up at their place of meeting in which letters might be deposited for despatch by the first vessel sailing; and they directed that the same step might be taken in new netherland.[ ] seven years later, finding that the people of new netherland persisted in disregarding the measures taken for the safety of their letters, the company repeated their order, and reinforced it by a fine of one hundred carolus guilders for each infraction.[ ] for some years after , the trade between england and its new possession was of small proportions, and the opportunities for sending letters from one to the other, few. lord cornbury, as late as ,[ ] informed the lords of trade that there were so few vessels running between new york and ports in england that he had to depend for his correspondence on boston or philadelphia, which places had regular communication with the mother country. nor was the case of new york materially improved in . cornbury, in that year, pleaded with the board of trade for a regular packet service to some part of the american continent. sometimes many months elapsed, without his hearing in any way from home. before he received his last letters in may, he had heard nothing from england for fifteen months. there were but two safe ways of sending letters to england, which were the virginia fleet, and the mast fleet of new england. from virginia there was no post, and it was very hard to know when that fleet would sail. from boston there was a post by which cornbury could hear once a week in summer, and once a fortnight in winter, so that they had a sure conveyance by the mast fleet. advantage had to be taken, as opportunity offered, cornbury informed the board of trade, of the packets running from the west indies to england, but as several of the packet boats had been captured, this was a very uncertain mode of communication. but, although the three groups of colonies had each its own connection with england, until there was no connection whatever between these groups. nor was any thought to be necessary. the groups were separated from one another not only by space, but by social and political differences. the puritans of new england and the cavaliers of virginia, had little in common but the memories of a quarrel, which was still warm; and new york was still largely dutch, though even at that date it was taking on the cosmopolitan character, which has since distinguished it. as for the trade of the colonies, mr. woodrow wilson stated--"the main lines of trade run straight to the mother country, and were protected when there was need by english fleets. both the laws of parliament and their own interest bound the trade of the colonies to england. the navigation act of forbade all trade with the colonies except in english bottoms; forbade also, the shipment of tobacco any whither but to england itself; and an act of forbade the importation of anything at all except out of england, which it was then once for all determined must be the entrepôt and place of staple for all foreign trade. it was the dutch against whom these acts were aimed."[ ] as has happened so often, however, that which could not be accomplished by reason of the feebleness of the common interest was brought about by the presence of impending danger. in , war broke out between the english and the dutch, the object of which was maritime supremacy and colonial expansion. the stakes were the colonies in africa, the east indies, the west indies and america. the english having ousted their rivals from new york presented a strong front on the north american continent; and the only thing lacking was cohesion among the several colonies. at the outbreak of the war, the king directed governor lovelace, of new york, to see what could be done towards establishing a regular postal communication between the colonies. lovelace arranged for a monthly service by courier between new york and boston.[ ] there was no road between the two places; and governor winthrop was asked to provide an expert woodman, who would guide the courier by the easiest road. the courier was directed to blaze the route, and it was hoped that a good road might be made along the route pursued. the courier made his trips for a few months only, when new york was captured by a dutch fleet which came suddenly upon it. the town was restored to the english at the conclusion of the war in , and with the disappearance of the danger, the communication also was dropped. a few years later danger of a more serious character threatened from another quarter, and again the colonies were compelled to recognize the necessity of yielding something from the attitude of jealous independence, which characterized them. between the english colonies and the french in canada there was a steady rivalry for the possession of the fur trade of the western country. each had indian allies, whose methods of warfare carried terror among their opponents. the english were in numbers very much superior to the french; and if united and determined could have overwhelmed them. the unwillingness of the english to take any action in common was costing them dearly, as the outlying parts of all the colonies were being constantly harassed by the indian tribes in league with the french. in a conference took place at albany between the representatives of the several colonies and of the iroquois nations. this conference was important in several respects, but particularly in the fact that it was the first in which all the colonies took part. even remote virginia sent a delegate. while the colonies were in this mind, colonel dongan, governor of new york, determined to make an effort to establish a permanent postal service among them. his plan was to establish a line of post houses along the coast from the french boundaries to virginia. the king, who was much pleased with the proposition, directed dongan to farm out the undertaking to some enterprising contractor, for a period of three or five years, and to turn over at least one-tenth of the profits to the duke of york.[ ] the duke appears to have had a claim on the revenues of the post office on two grounds. he was proprietor of the colony of new york; and under the post office act of , he was recognized as entitled to a share in the profits from the english post office. how far dongan succeeded with this extensive scheme does not appear. he planned to visit connecticut, boston, and, if possible, pemaquid. in march , he had an ordinance adopted in the council of new york for a post office throughout the colonies, and fixed the charges for the conveyance of letters at threepence for each hundred miles they were carried, and for the hire of horses for riding post, threepence a mile. dongan's jurisdiction did not, however, extend beyond the colony of new york; and the records of the other colonies are silent as to their acquiescence in this arrangement. the only evidence that has appeared as to the operation of the service, and it establishes the fact that the service was performed for a time at least, is that leisler, an insurrectionary leader, who seized the government of the colony in , arrested the mail carrier on his way from new york to boston, and confiscated his letters.[ ] in july , a weekly post was established in pennsylvania. letters were carried from philadelphia to the falls of delaware for threepence; to chester for twopence; to new castle for fourpence; and to maryland for sixpence.[ ] as part of the scheme of james ii for the confederation of the new england states under a royal governor, a postmaster was appointed for the united colonies. the choice fell upon edward randolph, who had just previously been made secretary and registrar of the new province. the appointment was dated rd of november, .[ ] he seems to have discharged the duties of postmaster[ ] until the fall of the andros government, which followed closely the deposition of james ii in . until this time, then, the post office would be classed generally among the merely temporary conveniences of the state, and not among its permanent institutions. when william iii was settled on his throne, he managed, amid his cares at home and abroad, to give some attention to the affairs of the colonies. those in north america had been growing rapidly, and at the end of the period of the revolution in england, the population is believed to have been about , . the greater part of the increase was in the middle states of new york, new jersey and pennsylvania; though in the south, the colonies of maryland and virginia showed considerable gain, and a beginning was made in the settlement of the carolinas. the question of providing the american colonies with a postal system was submitted to the king by thomas neale, master of the mint, who coupled his representations on the subject with a petition for authority to establish such a system in america at his own charges. he pointed out in his memorial that there had never been a post for the conveying of letters within or between virginia, maryland, delaware, new york, new england, east and west jersey, pennsylvania, and northward as far as the king's dominions reach in america; and that the want thereof had been a great hindrance to the trade of those parts. the king thereupon, on the th of february, , granted a patent to neale, conferring upon him authority to set up one or more post offices in each of the chief ports of the several islands, plantations and colonies in america, and to carry on all the functions of postmaster, either in person or by deputy. he might collect as his own, the postage accruing from the business, the rates being fixed by the english post office act of ; or he was at liberty to charge such other rates "as the planters and others will freely agree to give for their letters or packets upon the first settlement of such office or offices." in order to secure to neale a monopoly of the postal business, the patent imposed a prohibition on any person except neale from setting up post offices during the term of the patent, which was twenty-one years. neale was held bound to provide an efficient service; in case of dissatisfaction, or of his failure to put the service in operation within two years, the patent was to become invalid. the consideration that neale was to give for the patent was merely nominal; he was to remit six shillings and eightpence to the exchequer each year at the feast of st. michael the archangel. having secured his patent, neale sought a suitable person to act as his deputy. his choice fell upon andrew hamilton, an edinburgh merchant, who after seven years' residence in new jersey, was made governor of that province in . hamilton was a man of energy and ability; and in the difficult task of conciliating sensitive legislatures, and bringing them into agreement with his views, he had much success. it was to him that the colonies were indebted for their first effective postal system. neale's patent did not give him power to set up a postal service, and fix his charges without regard to the will of the people. he might either apply the rates fixed by the act of ; or come to terms with the people or their representatives as to the rates they would agree to pay. the latter was the alternative chosen. accordingly, during the year , hamilton addressed himself to the several colonial governments, setting forth his plan, and begging that they might "ascertain and establish such rates and terms as should tend to quicker maintenance of mutual correspondence among the neighbouring colonies and plantations, and that trade and commerce might be better preserved." the colonies having responded favourably to his overtures, hamilton prepared a draft bill, which he submitted to the legislatures for their acceptance. this bill provided for a general post office or chief letter office in the principal town of each colony, the postmaster of which was to be appointed by hamilton. the monopoly conferred on neale by his patent was enforced in the proposed bill by considerable penalties for infringements. the postal charges, as well as the privileges and appurtenances to be granted to post masters and mail couriers, were discussed between hamilton and the several legislatures. there was some variety in the privileges allowed to postmasters and couriers. in massachusetts, pennsylvania, and connecticut, the mail couriers were granted free ferriage over the rivers and other water courses which lay along their routes. in the acts passed by new york and new hampshire, there was no mention of free ferries, but in each of these acts a rather peculiar exemption is made in favour of the postmasters, that they should not be subject to excise charges on the ale and other liquors which formed the stock in trade of their business as innkeepers. the postmasters in all the colonies were made exempt from all public services, such as keeping watch and ward, and sitting on juries. shipmasters on arriving at a port with letters in their care were enjoined to deliver them to the nearest post office, where they would receive one halfpenny for each letter.[ ] the principal postal rates, as settled between hamilton and the legislatures concerned were as follows: on letters from europe or from any country beyond sea, if for massachusetts, new hampshire and pennsylvania twopence; if for new york ninepence. in the interchange among the colonies themselves, the charge on a letter passing between boston and philadelphia was fifteen pence, and between new york and philadelphia fourpence-halfpenny. there was a peculiarity in the postage on letters passing between boston and new york. it differed according to the direction the letter was conveyed. a letter from new york to boston cost twelvepence; while ninepence was the charge from boston to new york. this is one of the consequences of the separate negotiations carried on by hamilton with the different legislatures. the massachusetts act fixed the charge on the letters for delivery in boston; and the new york act on the letters for new york. from virginia, to philadelphia, new york and boston, the charges were ninepence, twelvepence and two shillings respectively. all the acts concurred in the stipulation that letters on public business should be carried free of charge. the foregoing contains the substance of the acts passed by new york and pennsylvania. massachusetts went a step further. to that legislature it appeared desirable to put a binding clause requiring hamilton to give a satisfactory service. massachusetts was as willing as the others to grant a monopoly of letter carrying to hamilton, but it was of opinion that the exclusive privilege should carry an obligation with it. the postal service was being established as a public convenience; and if hamilton was to have the power to prevent any person else from providing the convenience, he should be bound to meet the public requirements himself. the massachusetts legislature, after authorizing hamilton to settle a post office in boston, fixing the postal charges, and conferring a monopoly on him, accordingly added a clause binding hamilton to maintain constant posts for the carriage of letters to the several places mentioned in the act; to deliver the letters faithfully and seasonably; and it imposed a fine of £ for each omission. in order that the public might be in a position to detect any delays in the delivery of letters after they reached a post office, the postmaster was required to mark on each letter the date on which it was received at his office. new hampshire followed massachusetts in adding this clause to its post office acts. the four acts were sent to london, and laid before the king in council, as all colonial acts were. the acts of new york, pennsylvania and new hampshire passed council and became law. on the advice of the governors of the post office, the massachusetts act was disallowed.[ ] the grounds for the discrimination against massachusetts are difficult to understand. the massachusetts act undoubtedly contained departures from the terms of the patent. but they were such departures as might be expected when an act is drawn up, by a person unlearned in the law, who, having the patent before him, aims at substantial rather than at literal conformity therewith. there can be no question that the drafts presented to the several assemblies were prepared by one person. their practical identity establishes the fact. there can be equally little doubt that the draftsman was hamilton himself. the governors of the post office, who framed the objections,[ ] noted first that the patent provided that the appointment of neale's deputy should, at his request, be made by the postmaster general; whereas the massachusetts act appeared to appoint andrew hamilton postmaster general of the colonies, independently of the postmaster general of england, and not subject to the patent. the patent required neale to furnish accounts at stated intervals to enable the treasury to establish the profits from the enterprize. it also stipulated for the cancellation of the patent in certain eventualities. both these terms are omitted from the act. insufficient care was taken in safeguarding the post office revenue, and no provision was made for a successor in case of the removal of hamilton from his position. the points to which the post office drew attention were, as will be seen, far from wanting weight; and if they had not been pressed against the massachusetts bill alone, would have excited little comment. but the massachusetts general court noted and resented the discrimination. when neale was informed of the disallowance, he begged the governors of the post office to prepare a bill which they would regard as free from objections, and to lend their efforts to have it accepted by massachusetts.[ ] a bill was drawn up; and lord bellomont, the governor of new england, was instructed to invite the favourable consideration of the massachusetts legislature to it.[ ] the bill was laid before the general court on june , , and it was ordered to be transcribed and read.[ ] five days later it came up for consideration, but it was resolved that the committee on the bill should "sit this afternoon,"[ ] and it appeared in the assembly no more. the rejection of the bill, however, was of little or no practical consequence. the post office was too great a convenience to be refused; and so it was established and conducted as if the bill were in operation, except that it had no monopoly in that colony. but the legislature, which was evidently desirous of extending in its own way all reasonable aid to hamilton, passed an order in [ ] requiring shipmasters to deliver all letters they brought with them from oversea at the post office of the place of their arrival, for which they were to receive a halfpenny each from the postmaster. massachusetts equally with the other colonies made an annual grant to the post office for the conveyance of its public letters. so far the narrative deals only with the northern colonies. the proposition for a post office, however, was submitted to virginia and maryland as well. it would seem, however, that the mode of approaching these governments differed from that taken in laying the proposition before the northern colonies. in case of the northern colonies hamilton dealt with the legislatures in person. the draft bill which he prepared was submitted as a basis for discussion. so far as it went it was accepted, and hamilton agreed to such additions as the legislatures considered necessary in view of local circumstances. virginia and maryland were approached quite differently. they were advised of the scheme not by hamilton, but by the english court. in the minutes of council of both governments,[ ] it is recorded that the proposition was laid before them in a letter from the queen. this fact will account for the very different consideration the proposition received from these colonies. maryland rejected it outright. on the th of may, , the scheme was laid before the house of burgesses. it was set aside,[ ] and nothing more was heard of it. virginia gave attentive consideration to the proposition to establish a post office, though the ultimate results were no greater than in maryland. there had been since an arrangement for the transmission of letters concerning the public affairs of the colony.[ ] an order was issued by the council that all letters superscribed for the public service should be immediately conveyed from plantation to plantation to the place and person directed, and that any delay should subject the person at fault to a fine of one hogshead of tobacco. no arrangements of a systematic nature were made for the conveyance of private letters. when information of the patent granted to neale reached virginia, the colony showed immediate interest. the council on the th of january, , appointed peter heyman deputy postmaster,[ ] and proceeded to draw up a post office bill. this bill, which became law on the rd of april ,[ ] authorized neale to establish a postal system in the colony, at his own expense. the conditions were that he was to set up a general post office at some convenient place, and settle one or more sub-post offices in each county. as letters were posted in the colony or reached it from abroad, they were to be forthwith dispersed, carried and delivered in accordance with the directions they bore, and all letters for england were to be despatched by the first ship bound for any part of that country. the rates of postage were to be threepence a single letter within an eighty mile radius; fourpence-half penny for single letters outside the eighty mile radius; and eighteen pence for each ounce weight. public letters were to pass free of postage. no provision was made for postage on letters addressed to places beyond the boundaries of the colony; and it was expressly stipulated that the act did not confer a monopoly on neale. merchants were not restrained by this act from employing the services of shipmasters and others, to carry their letters abroad. the virginia act of was local in its scope and provincial in its character. there is a certain simplicity in the extent of its demands as compared with the paucity of its concessions. neale, at his own cost, was to establish a postal system, comprising a general post office at a place agreed upon, and one or more subordinate offices in each county. couriers were to be available to take letters anywhere within the colony--without postage if on public business, at rates fixed by the colony if they were private letters. but no person need employ the post office, should any other more convenient or cheaper mode of conveyance offer itself. a post office, like other kindred accommodations, creates business for itself; but virginia did not intend that neale should have any assurance of the business he had brought into existence. as soon as it reached a point at which it was worth struggling for, a competitor might step in and deprive neale of the fruits of his enterprise. the act of seems to have been adopted before the colonies were made aware of hamilton's connection with the american post office. when the council of virginia were advised of hamilton's appointment, they opened communication with him. the notes of the correspondence as they appear in the minutes of council[ ] do not give much information, but they show that hamilton's proposition when submitted to council was not found acceptable; and as subsequent communications failed to remove the difficulties, matters remained as they were until after the neale patent had expired. in , the subject was reopened, and the governor reported to the board of trade, that for two months past he had been expecting hamilton to visit virginia, for the purpose of opening a post office, and connecting it with the other colonies. the governor believed that the scheme was feasible, and would do his utmost to encourage it. he foresaw a difficulty in the lack of small currency, tobacco which was the only specie, being in the governor's words "very incommodious to receive small payments in, and of very uncertain value."[ ] the line of posts established by hamilton extended from portsmouth, new hampshire, to philadelphia. over this long line, couriers travelled with the mails weekly each way.[ ] the volume of correspondence carried cannot be ascertained, as the great mass of it, being on public business, would be free of postage. but the postage collected throughout north america during the first four years, from to , was only £ _s._ _d._, an average receipt of considerably less than £ a year. by way of comparison it may be noted that, in , the revenue between london and edinburgh was £ ; and it was explained that nearly the whole of that amount was for government despatches. the expenses of the portsmouth-philadelphia service during those years were £ _s._ _d._[ ] the deficit of £ _s._ _d._ fell upon neale. results such as these would be sufficiently discouraging. but neale and his deputy, hamilton, were hopeful, and drew comfort from the fact that the revenue of new york which was quite insignificant the first year had doubled itself in the third year. at the end of the sixth year, the revenue had increased to the point at which all the expenses were met, except hamilton's salary.[ ] in , hamilton went to england, and joined neale in an appeal to the treasury.[ ] after pointing out the benefits accruing to the colonies from the post office--the increase in the transatlantic and intercolonial trade, the rapid diffusion of intelligence in time of war, and the facilities afforded for the delivery of public letters--they declared that unless steps were taken to secure to them the transmission of the whole, and not a mere portion of the oversea correspondence, they might be compelled to abandon the undertaking. the plan neale and hamilton proposed to this end, was to put a stop to the collection of letters at the english coffee houses, and to compel the shipmasters to take all their letters from the local post office, where they would be made up in sealed bags. besides ensuring to neale, by this means, the postage on all the correspondence passing between the mother country and the colonies, the measure proposed would prevent certain abuses which were incident to the existing arrangement. where the bag hung open in a coffee house, any person might examine its contents on the pretext that he wanted to get his own letter back, and when the ship had reached its destination it was the practice of some captains to delay the delivery of the letters in their hands until they are ready to sail again, and then they got rid of their letters in any way they could. if the mails were made up in post offices, and the captains were compelled by law to deliver them to the post office at the port of destination before they broke bulk, these evils would be corrected, and a large revenue now lost to the post office would be saved. neale and hamilton also submitted a revised tariff of postal charges, in which there was a general increase. the postmasters general in england rather deprecated the increased postal rates, stating that experience had taught them that low rates were found to be more productive of revenue than those which placed the post office beyond the reach of the mass of the people. they approved of the suggestion that post offices should be established in england for the handling of oversea mails, and hoped that a few years of good management would make the service a remunerative one. at this point the postmasters general in london threw out a suggestion, which was worth discussion. they doubted whether a post office in private hands would ever commend itself to the colonies in the same way as if it were directly in the hands of the king. the post office depended for its prosperity on the maintenance of its monopoly, a thing naturally distasteful. the monopoly was easily evaded, even if the colonial governments supported it heartily, but any lack of inclination on their part would leave it valueless. they were of opinion that it would require all the authority possessed by the king to induce the colonial governments to co-operate with the heads of the post office in the efforts of the latter to put the service on a sound footing. neale, who was sinking deeper and deeper into debt, seized on this expression of opinion, and offered to surrender his patent at any time, on such consideration as seemed just. the treasury, however, were not yet ready to take over the american posts, but they directed the postmasters general to give hamilton every assistance in their power, and requested the governors of the colonies to do the same, adding that when the value of the post office could be ascertained, they would give the question of the resumption of the patent, further consideration. neale's indebtedness to hamilton for salary now amounting to £ , he assigned his patent to hamilton, and to one robert west, who had made some advances to neale some years before. the new patentees besought the government to extend their term, which in ordinary course would expire in . their confidence in the eventual success of the scheme, however, suggested to the postmasters general that the time was now ripe for the crown to take back the patent, and manage the postal service through the general post office in england. the transfer was made; and john hamilton,[ ] son of the founder of the american post office, who died in , was entrusted with the management of the service, as the deputy of the postmaster general. the results were no better than when the service was privately administered. in , there was a yearly deficit of £ ; and as the queen would not allow her losses on this head to be augmented, the postmasters were not being paid.[ ] the postmaster of new england made a strong representation to the government of massachusetts, pointing out that he had received nothing from the government since , although he had saved the colony £ a year by the delivery of the public letters. the remonstrance was fruitless, and he renewed his application in . the legislative council on each occasion was prepared to pay what was due to the postmaster, but the assembly could not be brought to authorize it. footnotes: [ ] parton, _life and times of benjamin franklin_, i. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury letter-book_, - , p. . [ ] _coll. mass. hist. soc._, third series, vii. . [ ] _calendar of state papers, america and west indies_, - , no. . [ ] _new york colonial documents_, xiv. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _n. y. col. docs._, iv. . [ ] _a history of the american people_, ii. . [ ] _coll. mass. hist. soc._, fifth series, ix. - . [ ] _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , no. . [ ] _n. y. col. docs._, iii. . [ ] winsor, _narr. and crit. hist of am._, iii. . [ ] _edward randolph_, i. (publications of the prince society). [ ] samuel sewall to thomas glover, july , (_sewall letter-books_, i. ). [ ] the several colonial acts were as follows: new york, passed november , (_laws of colony of n. y._, i. ); massachusetts, june , (ch. , sess. _province laws_, i. ); pennsylvania, may , june , (_duke of york's laws_, p. ); new hampshire, june , (_n. h. prov. laws_, p. ); connecticut, may , (_pub. rec. of conn._, - p. ). [ ] note to this effect attached to the act (ch. , sess. , _province laws_, i. ). [ ] _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , no. . [ ] _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , no. . [ ] _ibid._, no. . [ ] _prov. laws of mass._, i. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _coll. mass. hist. soc._, third series, vii. . [ ] minutes of council, virginia, january , , _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , no. ; minutes of council, maryland, september , , _ibid._, no. . [ ] minutes of council, maryland, _ibid._, no. . [ ] hening's _statutes at large_, i. . [ ] minutes of council, virginia, _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , no. . [ ] hening's _statutes at large_, iii. ; _journals of the house of burgesses_, / -- , pp. - . [ ] minutes of council, virginia, may , november , ; october , , ; may , july , ; _cal. s. p. col. am. and w. i._, - , nos. , , , , , . [ ] _spottswood letters_ (published by virginia hist. soc.), i. . [ ] minutes of council, new hampshire (_n. h. prov. papers_, -- ), p. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, ii. . [ ] _cal. treasury papers_, - , p. [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, ii. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, vi. . john hamilton was appointed deputy postmaster general by the queen in . [ ] _coll. mass. hist. soc._, third series, vii. . chapter ii colonial post office under queen anne's act--early packet service. for some years various circumstances had been arising which made it necessary that the post office in great britain and the colonies should be established on a footing different from that on which it then stood. the legislative union between england and scotland in called for a uniform postal service throughout britain; but without additional legislation the postmaster general of england could not dispose of the revenues of the post office in scotland. the colonies were in their infancy when the english law of was enacted, and they were not mentioned in it at all. the only clause in that act which affected the colonies in any way was that which required all masters of ships who brought letters with them from beyond the seas, to deposit them at the nearest post office. there was no penalty attached to the disregard of this clause, and the attempt to induce the shipmasters to obey the law by paying them a penny for every letter they delivered in the english post office was pronounced by the auditors to be illegal, and there was a threat made that these payments would be disallowed in the accounts. there were a number of other circumstances arising out of the growth of the kingdom and its colonial expansion, which compelled the postmaster general to take action in advance of legal authority. when the treasury, after the union of england and scotland, learned that a new post office law was necessary, they determined to take advantage of the fact to serve their own purposes. the war of the spanish succession, which began in , while ruinous to france, also seriously crippled england; and the treasury saw that the enactment of a new post office act might be utilized to increase the postal charges, and additional sums raised for carrying on and finishing the war. in , accordingly, a post office bill was presented to parliament.[ ] it was passed by parliament; and this act was the first measure which dealt in a comprehensive way with the british post office. substantially it was the law of the post office for more than a century afterwards. the effect of the new law on the colonial post office was profound. until the terms and conditions under which the post office in the colonies was operated, were matters of arrangement between hamilton and the several legislatures. while the neale patent enabled hamilton to set up post offices in the colonies, the postal charges were fixed by the colonial legislatures at such rates as "the planters shall agree to give." the neale patent had been resumed by the crown in , but not abrogated. hence, until the new act came into force, the crown simply stood in the place of the patentees, and operated under the legislation agreed upon between hamilton and the colonial governments. new york and pennsylvania, as their short term acts expired, renewed them with the crown; and new jersey, which established a postal system in , fixed the rates of postage by act of the legislature, but placed the management of the service in the hands of the postmaster general. the post office act of made it no longer necessary to consult the colonial legislatures as to the charges to be made for the conveyance and delivery of letters in north america. the supreme control of the postal system throughout the british dominions, beyond the sea, as well as at home, was vested in the postmaster general of england. the rates of payment were fixed by the act, and the mode in which the surplus revenues were to be disposed of was set forth in the same enactment. in america, the general post offices at boston, new york and philadelphia, which stood quite independent of one another, were reduced to the rank of ordinary offices, and made parts of the system, the headquarters of which were placed by the act in new york.[ ] the administration of the system, as reconstructed, was continued in the hands of john hamilton. as in all other parts of the british dominions, the rates of postage were sensibly increased.[ ] under the neale patent, a letter from new york for philadelphia cost fourpence-halfpenny. the act of queen anne raised the charge to ninepence, just double the former rate. a letter posted in boston, and addressed to philadelphia, which under the neale patent cost for postage fifteen pence, cost twenty-one pence under the act of . but these figures give no adequate idea of the magnitude of the postal charges as fixed by the act of queen anne. an explanation of the system to which these rates applied will make the matter clearer. at the present time the postage on a letter passing anywhere within the british empire, or from canada to any part of the united states or mexico, is two cents per ounce weight, whether the letter is addressed to the next town or to the farthermost post office in the yukon. in , and indeed in canada until , the distance a letter was carried was an element which entered into the cost. it would have been thought no more proper to ignore the element of distance in fixing the postage on a letter than in fixing the charge for the conveyance of a parcel of goods. by the act of the postage on a single letter passing between two places sixty miles apart or less was fourpence; where the places were from sixty miles to one hundred miles apart the charge was sixpence. besides the distance, however, there was another factor which helped to determine the amount of the postage. this factor will appear from a description of the classes into which letters were divided. letters were single, double, and treble, and ounce. a single letter was one consisting of one sheet or piece of paper, weighing less than one ounce. if with this single sheet letter, a piece of paper was enclosed, no matter how small, the letter was called a double letter. the treble letter was a letter consisting of more than two sheets or pieces of paper, under the weight of an ounce. whatever the postage of a single letter might be, the postage on a double letter was equal to that of two such single letters; and that on a treble letter was three times that on a single letter. there were no envelopes in use at this period, and the sheet on which the letter was written was so folded that an unwritten portion came on the outside, and on this space the address was written. the question will occur as to how the presence of enclosures could be detected among the folds of the larger single sheet. there were several means of detection born of ingenuity and experience. the approved method and the one long in service, was to hold every letter up to a lighted candle, and by some skilful manipulating, the taxable enclosures could be seen. but it was not only enclosures to which the attention of the officials was directed. the postal charges were found so oppressive that several merchants who had letters to send to the same town used to write their several communications on the same sheet, which on reaching the person addressed was by him passed on to the others, whose letters were on the same sheet. in the post office the practice was much condemned. as it was not specifically provided against in the act, it had to be tolerated until the act was amended; and thereafter when several letters were written on one paper, each was to be charged as a distinct letter. the letter inspectors then had to satisfy themselves that there was no more than one person's handwriting in the sheet, which was, of course, carefully sealed with wax. the ounce letter needs no explanation. at present the ounce is the unit of weight for letters sent from canada to every part of the civilized world. in this aspect it corresponds with the single letter of the pre-penny postage days. but the ounce letter of and of over a century afterwards was far removed from the single letter in the matter of postage. in that respect the ounce letter was equal to four single letters, and was charged four times the rate of the single letter. thus, while a single sheet weighing less than an ounce could pass between two neighbouring towns not over sixty miles apart for fourpence, if it tipped the ounce weight it was chargeable with sixteen pence. the act of offered a problem to the paper makers. a sheet of paper had to be made stout enough to stand the handling of the post office without the protection of an envelope, and be yet so light as to allow the largest space possible within the ounce weight. under this system, in which distance, number of enclosures and weight were all factors, the charges for letters, such as are posted by thousands in our larger offices every day, were very high. an ounce letter, which at the present time costs but two cents to convey to the remotest post office in the north west of canada, or to southern mexico, in cost three shillings to carry from new york to philadelphia. from new york to boston, the postage on the same letter was four shillings. between the outermost points of the north american postal system in --portsmouth, n.h., and charlestown, n.c.--the postage for an ounce letter was ten shillings. the act of queen anne's reign, so long the charter of the british postal system, also greatly increased the charges on letters passing between the mother country and the colonies. in place of the penny or twopence which satisfied the captains for the delivery in america of the letters which had been placed in the letter bags hung up in the london coffee houses, the postage on a single letter passing from london to new york became one shilling. if the letter weighed an ounce, the charge was four shillings. captains of vessels, moreover, were no longer at liberty to disregard the requirements of the post office that they should deliver their letters at the post office of the port of arrival. if they failed, they laid themselves open to a ruinous fine. remembering the resentment with which half a century later the americans greeted every scheme, which could be construed into imposing a tax without their consent, one wonders how the post office act of was regarded in the colonies. the question is interesting enough to warrant some inquiry. the legislative records have been searched carefully, and also, so far as they were available, the newspapers of the period. with one exception about to be mentioned, the only reference to the post office act which has been discovered is in the new hampshire records. there it is stated that the act was read before the council on the th of september, , and afterwards proclaimed by beat of drum in the presence of the council and of some members of the house of representatives. the case in which the act came into question occurred in virginia. this colony had no post office in , nor for a considerable period afterwards; and it was the attempt to put the post office in operation in which led to the protest and the countervailing action. virginia seems to have had no desire to be included in the american postal system. in hamilton reported on the proposition of extending the system southward to virginia.[ ] the extension would cost £ ; and hamilton declared that the desire for communicating with the northern colonies was so slight that he did not believe there would be one hundred letters a year exchanged between virginia and maryland and the other colonies. practically all the correspondence of the two colonies was with great britain and other countries in europe. in the autumn of , steps were taken to establish a post office in the two colonies, and to connect them with the other colonies. postmasters were appointed in each colony. couriers carried the mails into several of the more populous counties; and a fortnightly service was established between williamsburg and philadelphia. this was quite satisfactory, until the people began to read the placards which they observed affixed to every post office wall, directing that all letters, not expressly excepted by the act of parliament, should be delivered to the local postmasters. here was matter for thought. a glance at the tariff showed that the charge made by the post office on a letter from england was one shilling for a single letter. the letters from england were the only letters the people of virginia cared anything about, and they were accustomed to pay only a penny as postage for them. there was some little trouble, and perhaps a slight risk attending the safe delivery of letters by the existing arrangement. virginians were, however, used to it, and had no great fault to find. it might be that if they could have received their letters at the post office for the same charge as they paid for receiving them direct from the ship captains, they would have preferred going to the post office. but the difference in convenience between the two places of receipt was not worth the difference between one penny and one shilling; and indeed it looked uncommonly as if the government were using this means to tax them elevenpence on every letter they received. the people, on realizing the condition of things, made a great clamour.[ ] parliament, they declared, could levy no tax on them but with the consent of the assembly; and besides that, their letters were all exempted from the monopoly of the postmaster general because they nearly all, in some way or other, related to trade. the virginians were putting an unwarrantably broad interpretation on an exemption, which appears in all post office acts, in favour of letters relating to goods which the letters accompany on the vessel. it has always been the practice to allow shipmasters, carrying a consignment of goods, to deliver the invoice to the consignee with the goods, in order that the transaction might be completed with convenience. it would not be practicable, however, to confine this exemption to invoices accompanying goods, as this would require a knowledge of the contents of letters, which could not be obtained without an intolerable inquisition. consequently, it has been customary to allow all letters accompanying consignments of goods to be delivered with the goods, without asking whether they relate to the goods or not. but the scope of the exemption is clearly defined, and has never been allowed to include ordinary business letters, not accompanied by goods. the virginians, however, were not content to leave their case to the precarious chances of a legal or constitutional argument. they set about neutralizing the post office act by an effective counter measure. a bill was submitted to the legislature which, while it acknowledged the authority of the post office act, imposed on postmasters giving effect to it certain conditions which it was impossible to fulfil, and attached extravagant penalties for the infraction of those conditions. the postmasters were to be fined £ for every letter which they demanded from aboard a ship--letters of a character which the british statute exempted from the postmaster general's exclusive privilege. now every ship's letter bag would contain probably many letters relating to goods aboard the ship, as well as many which were in no way so related. but how was the postmaster to tell the letters accompanying goods from those which did not? even if the ship's captain assisted to the best of his ability, which was more than doubtful, there would be many letters about which the postmaster could not be certain, and with a £ penalty for every mistake, his position was not an enviable one. another clause in the bill of the legislature of virginia contained a schedule of hours for every courier. the terms of the schedule were so exacting that compliance with it was impossible. the penalty attached to every failure to observe the hours set forth, was twenty shillings for each letter delayed.[ ] as the governor pointed out, the difficulties of travel during the winter season, owing to the number of great rivers to be passed, would subject the postmasters to the risk of a fine for every letter they accepted for transmission at that period of the year. the bill of , when sent up for the governor's assent, was promptly vetoed; but on the other hand, the intention of the deputy postmaster general to establish a post office in virginia was not pressed. it was not until , when the governor had relinquished his office, and had himself been appointed deputy postmaster general, that virginia was included in the postal system of north america. even after that date the post office in virginia was on a somewhat irregular footing, at least in regard to the conveyance of the mails. in a gazetteer published in ,[ ] it is stated that while regular trips are made by mail courier from portsmouth to philadelphia, southward to williamsburg the courier's movements were uncertain, as he did not set out until there were sufficient letters posted for the south, to guarantee his wages from the postage on them. there was a post office at this period as far south as charlestown, but the post carriage for that office was still more uncertain. with the exception of the virginian contretemps, the period from until after the middle of the eighteenth century was one of quiescence. deputy postmaster general succeeded deputy postmaster general; and the annals of their administrations carry little that is interesting. after the retirement of hamilton in , a change was made in the relations between the deputy postmaster general and the general post office, by which the post office in london was relieved of all expense in connection with the maintenance of the north american postal system. hamilton had a salary of £ a year. but the profits from the post office did not quite cover that amount, as on his withdrawal, there was due to him £ arrears of salary. in recommending the claim to the treasury, the postmaster general stated that the post office in america had been put on such a footing that if it produced no profit, it would no longer be a charge on the revenue.[ ] the facilities given to the public were not increased during that period. indeed, in , they were diminished, as the courier's trips between boston and philadelphia, which in were performed weekly throughout the year, were reduced to fortnightly during the winter months, and they remained at that frequency until . it is obvious that the post office was not used by the public any more than was absolutely necessary, and that every means was taken to evade the regulations designed to preserve the postmaster general's monopoly. thomas hancock, in a letter written in , to governor talcott of connecticut, told him that he saved the colony from forty shillings to three pounds every year, through the interest he had with the captains of the london ships, who delivered the letters to him instead of handing them over to the post office.[ ] the line of undistinguished representatives of the british post office in america came to an end in , when benjamin franklin was made deputy postmaster general, jointly with william hunter of virginia. franklin, besides being a man of eminent practical ability, brought to his task a large experience in post office affairs. he had been postmaster of philadelphia for fifteen years prior to his appointment to the deputyship; and for some time before had acted as post office controller, his duty being to visit and instruct the postmasters throughout the country. at the time franklin and hunter entered upon their office they found little to encourage them. the couriers who conveyed the mails were much slower than most other travellers on the same roads. it took six weeks to make the trip from philadelphia to boston and back, and during the three winter months, the trips were made only once a fortnight. the new deputies so reorganized the service that the trips were made weekly throughout the year, and they shortened the time by one-half; and many other improvements were made.[ ] for a time the expenditure of the post office largely outran the revenue. but the usual rewards of additional facilities to the public followed. in , when the outlay had reached its highest point, and the public response to the increased facilities was still but feeble, the post office was over £ in debt to the deputy postmasters general. three years later this debt was entirely cleared off, and the operations showed a surplus of £ . in the surplus reached the amount of £ , and this sum was transmitted to the general post office in london. the receipt of this first remittance was the occasion of much satisfaction to the postmasters general. for a generation the post office in america had been nearly forgotten. since , it had cost the home office nothing for its maintenance, and for long before that time it had yielded nothing to the treasury, and so it had been allowed to plod along unregarded. a remittance from this source was quite unexpected, and one can imagine the pleasure with which the entry was made in the treasury book, and the words added "this is the first remittance ever made of its kind."[ ] but though the first, it was by no means the last; for until franklin's dismissal in , a remittance from the american post office was an annual occurrence. franklin declared that, at the time of his dismissal, the american office yielded a revenue three times that from ireland.[ ] the success of the post office under franklin's regime suggests the question, as to the share franklin had in that success. during the whole course of his administration, he had with him an associate deputy postmaster general, william hunter, from until , and john foxcroft, from until his connection with the post office ceased. little is known of the capacity of either of these officials; of hunter, practically nothing. foxcroft was certainly a man of intelligence, but nothing is known to warrant the belief that he possessed unusual qualities. that the routine of post office management was left in the hands of the associates, may be inferred not so much from the multifarious character of franklin's activities, for he seems to have been equal to any demands made upon him, as from the fact that out of the twenty-one years of his administration, fifteen years were spent in england as the representative of the province of pennsylvania in its negotiations with the home government. that franklin's occupations in england did not absorb all his time is amply proven by his voluminous correspondence which shows him to have been engaged in abstruse speculations in science, and in economic and philosophic studies. but to administer an institution like the post office one must be on the spot, and the atlantic ocean lay between him and his work from may , until november , and from november , until his dismissal in . franklin was in america while the measures were taken which put the post office on an efficient footing, and again in , when the treaty of paris confirmed england in her possession of canada. franklin's contribution to the north american post office consisted mainly, it would seem, in certain important ideas, the application of which turned a half century of failure into an immediate success. it is a commonplace that money spent in increased facilities to the public is sure of a speedy return with interest, and in private enterprises competition keeps this principle in fairly active employment. this is not the case with an institution like the post office, until, at least, each new application of the principle had been justified by success. a post office is a monopoly, and at certain stages of its history that fact has been its bane. to-day when the demands of social and commercial intercourse make an efficient vehicle for the transmission of correspondence a necessity, the evils inherent in monopolies sink out of sight so far as the post office is concerned. a peremptory public takes the place of competitors as a motive for alertness. the faults of the institution are freely exposed, and correction insisted upon; and, what is as much to the point, the public contributes of its ingenuity for the improvement of the service. when, towards the end of the eighteenth century, the british public was disgusted with the slowness of its mail carts, and dismayed at the number of robberies, palmer, a bath theatre manager, came forward with his scheme for the employment of fast passenger coaches for the conveyance of the mails. a half century later the public united in a demand for lower postage rates; and rowland hill, a schoolmaster, produced a scheme, which for originality and efficacy, has given him a high place among the inventors of the world. to-day the universal postal union affords a medium by means of which the results achieved by every postal administration are brought into a common stock for the benefit of all. but when franklin took hold of the north american post office, he had none of these aids to improvement. the measure of the public interest in the post office may be taken from the fact that its total revenue during the first three years of his administration, from to , was £ _s._ _d._--but little more than £ a year. as for encouragement or stimulus from the outside, there was none. the only connection the american post office had was with the home office; and it is doubtful whether, even if it had been disposed, the british post office could have lent any helpful advice in those days. the british post office was at that time passing through one of its unprogressive periods. it had come to know by long years of observation what was the volume of correspondence which would be offered for exchange, and it provided the means of transmission, taking care that these should not cost more than the receipts. franklin's merit lay in his rising above an indolent reliance on his monopoly, and in his generous outlay for additional facilities, by means of which he not only drew to the post office a large amount of business, which was falling into other hands, but called into existence another class of correspondence altogether. it is tolerably certain that had franklin's work lay in england instead of america, he would have anticipated palmer's suggestion that the stage coaches be used for the conveyance of the mails, instead of the wretched mail carts which came to be regarded as the natural prey of the highwayman. at the beginning of the post riders between new york and philadelphia made three trips a week each way; and at such a rate of speed that a letter could be sent from one place to the other and the answer received the day following.[ ] in reporting this achievement to the general post office, franklin states that the mails travel by night as well as by day, which had never been done before in america. franklin planned to have trips of equal speed made between new york and boston in the spring of , and the time for letter and reply between the two places reduced from a fortnight to four days. when his arrangements were completed a letter and its reply might pass between boston and philadelphia in six days, instead of three weeks. as a result of these arrangements franklin anticipated that there would be a large increase in the number of letters passing between boston and philadelphia and great britain by the packets from new york. that the fruits of his outlay answered his expectations is clear from the fact that the revenues, which up to the year had scarcely exceeded £ a year, mounted up to £ [ ] in , and that became the normal revenue for some time after. it was during this period that the british government began to employ packet boats for the conveyance of the mails to the american colonies. until this time there had been no regular arrangements for the conveyance of the mails between great britain and the colonies. there were no vessels under specific engagement to leave either great britain or america at any fixed time. this is not, of course, to say that there were no means of exchanging correspondence between england and america, or even that the post office had no control over the vessels by which letters were carried. vessels were continually passing between falmouth or bristol and new york or boston in the course of trade; and these were employed for the conveyance of mails. sometimes the letters were made up in sealed bags by the post office before being handed to the shipmasters; and sometimes they were handed loose to the captains, or picked up from the coffee houses. the captains were under heavy penalties to hand over to the post office all letters in their possession, when they reached their port of destination, and they were entitled to one penny for each letter so delivered to the local postmasters. by this arrangement, the cost of carrying the letters across the atlantic fell in no degree upon the post office. indeed, after the act of , the post office made a very good bargain of the business. the postmasters paid the shipmasters a penny a letter, and the act of authorized them to collect a shilling for each letter delivered to the public. a service so irregular had its disadvantages, however. captains were of all degrees of trustworthiness. some could be depended upon to deliver the letters at the post office as the law directed; others were careless or unfaithful. these either did not deposit their letters with the postmasters promptly as they should have done, or they had private understandings with friends by which the letters did not go into the post office at all, but were delivered by the captains directly to the persons to whom they were directed. in the board of trade called attention to the great "delays, miscarriages and other accidents which have always attended the correspondence between this kingdom and his majesty's colonies in america, from the very precarious and uncertain method in which it has been usually carried on by merchant ships." the remedy sought was a line of sailing vessels devoted entirely to the conveyance of correspondence. services of this class were not uncommon, although they were usually confined to a time of war. during the war of spanish succession, packet ships ran regularly to holland and to france. it was during this war when french and spanish privateers held the southern seas, that the first line of mail packets was established, which ran to north america. in , the british government contracted for five vessels of one hundred and forty tons each, to carry the mails to and from the west indies.[ ] each vessel was to carry twenty-six men and ten guns. the contractor was paid £ , a year. a curious feature of the contract was that the contractor was required to enter into a warranty that the receipts from the vessels for mails and passengers would not be less than £ . if they did not come up to this amount, the contractor had to make up the shortage, up to the sum of £ a year. the contract was for three years certain, with an additional two years if the war should last so long. the postal business of the west indies was comparatively large at the beginning of the eighteenth century. the receipts for the two years ending january --£ , [ ]--make the american continental business, even under franklin's capable management, very small by comparison. in the receipts from the colonial post office of north america were only £ . this packet service to the west indies was maintained until the peace of utrecht in . during the same period, repeated efforts were made by english merchants, to have a packet service to the north american colonies. in a petition was presented to the government for a mail service between england and new york.[ ] the petitioners asked that the vessels be employed for letters only, in order that by their greater speed they might outrun the merchant vessels on their homeward trips and by giving timely notice, make it possible to send out cruisers to meet the merchant vessels and escort them home in safety. they observed that, in the year before, eighteen of the virginia fleet were captured because they had set out later than was expected. the treasury were unimpressionable. they read the memorial, and after adding to it the curt query "whether the merchants intend to be at the charge," they dismissed it from further consideration. in , the question was again brought to the attention of the treasury, and they asked blathwayt, a commissioner of trade, to give them a report upon it. blathwayt was hearty in support of the proposition.[ ] he declared that "her majesty's plantations in america are at present the chief support of the kingdom without impairing their own proper strength and yet capable of very great improvements by their trade and other means." he pressed for the establishment of a service with trips six or eight times a year. in view of the war, however, blathwayt considered it inadvisable to fix upon a certain rendezvous on either side of the atlantic, as this would enhance the opportunities for interception by the enemy. the treasury were willing to have one or two experimental trips made to ascertain what revenue might be expected from the service, if these could be secured without expense; and they accepted a proposition, made about this time, by sir jeffry jeffrys, who was preparing to make two trips to new york.[ ] jeffrys asked that his vessel might be commissioned as a packet boat, and that he might be allowed to retain the postage on all the correspondence which he carried between england and america. there is no record of the result, but from what is known of the postal business in america, it cannot be supposed that it would be of a magnitude to encourage the establishment of a packet service. other offers were made to the government, but they were not seriously considered until the outbreak of the war in america between england and france in . orders were at once given for the restoration of the packet service to the west indies; and in armed packets again carried the mails on this route.[ ] the service was very expensive; for though the revenue reached the respectable figure of £ in the first year, this amount was far from covering the outlay; and as soon as the treaty of aix-la-chapelle was signed in , the packets were discontinued. the peace, which followed the treaty of aix-la-chapelle, was of short duration. so far as america was concerned, the treaty did little more than to impose upon the combatants a momentary suspension of arms. it did nothing to remove the causes of war, and while these remained a permanent peace was impossible. the grounds of dispute were almost entirely territorial. the french claimed the whole vast stretch of country to the west of the alleghanies, and set up a line of forts along the valley of the alleghany and ohio rivers. the english disregarded these claims, and their traders pushed over the mountains into the disputed territory. the french displayed so much energy in dispossessing the encroaching english, that the border country was kept in a state of alarm, and the governors of the english colonies appealed to have a regular means of communication established between the mother country and the colonies, so that help might be obtained if required. the representations of governors shirley of massachusetts, delancey of new york, and dinwiddie of virginia, were vigorously supported by governor lawrence of nova scotia.[ ] the situation of nova scotia was one of peculiar danger. the province was hemmed in between cape breton, with its powerful fortress at louisburg, on the one side, and canada on the other. the control which the french exercised over the valley of the st. john, and over the isthmus of baie verte, gave them a safe and easy passage from canada to cape breton, by way of the st. john river, the bay of fundy, the isthmus of baie verte, and the straits of northumberland. the acadians who were scattered over nova scotia were naturally in hearty sympathy with their own people in cape breton; and in order to send supplies of cattle to the fortress, they made a small settlement at tatamagouche, on the straits of northumberland, which served as an entrepôt.[ ] the first result of the appeal of the governors was the establishment of a post office at halifax, in the spring of ,[ ] and the opening up of communication with new england by the vessels which plied to and from boston. it required a ruder prompting before the government could be induced to spend the money necessary for a packet service, and this was not long in coming. in the early spring of , general braddock, with two regiments, was sent to america to oppose the large claims made by the french. in concert with the governors of massachusetts and virginia, a plan of attack was arranged which involved movements against four different points as widely separated as fort duquesne on the ohio river, and beausejour on the bay of fundy. braddock undertook the expedition against fort duquesne, which if successful would break down the barrier which was confining the english colonies to the atlantic seaboard, and relieve the more westerly settlements of virginia and pennsylvania from the harassing attacks which were making life on the frontiers unendurable. the execution of his part of the campaign was beset by difficulties, arising partly from the mountainous and woody character of the country through which he had to pass, and partly from his ignorance of the methods of forest warfare, in which his enemies excelled. whatever could be accomplished by dogged energy was done successfully. braddock managed to get his army within sight of his destination. but here his good fortune left him. while still in the thick woods he was attacked by the french and their indian allies. employing methods to which braddock was a stranger, methods which would have seemed to him to be unworthy of soldiers, the french and their allies managed to keep themselves in perfect cover, while the british army stood exposed, the easiest of marks. there could be but one outcome. the british were overwhelmed and braddock slain; and the only result of the campaign was to redouble the fury of the enemy against the unfortunate border settlements. the disaster and its consequences were brought home to the government with a directness that put an end to all hesitation about establishing the closest possible communication between the mother country and the colonies. on the th of september, the board of trade, which administered the affairs of the colonies, approached the treasury on the subject. after emphasizing the inconveniences of the existing arrangements, the board insisted that it was of the highest importance that the king should have "early and frequent intelligence of what is in agitation" in the colonies, and recommended that packet boats be established to new york.[ ] the treasury approved, and directed the postmasters general to arrange for regular monthly trips to new york, and to restore the west indian service, which was discontinued in . four vessels of tons each were provided for the latter route.[ ] they were to carry twenty-six men each, and be fully armed for war. for the new york route, larger vessels were thought necessary, owing to the roughness of the winter seas; the vessels placed on this line were each of tons, and carried thirty men. the carrying of any merchandise was forbidden, so that the vessels were devoted entirely to the service of the post office. in the elaborate instructions which the commanders received, they were directed, when they had a mail for a place at which a postmaster had not been appointed, to open the bags themselves, and deliver the letters for that place to a magistrate or other careful man, who would undertake to have the letters handed to the persons to whom they were addressed. in case the vessel was attacked, and could not avoid being taken, the commander must, before striking, throw the mails overboard, with such a weight attached as would immediately sink them, and so prevent them from falling into the enemy's hands. the new service was a most expensive one, and when peace was concluded in , the question of continuing it came up for immediate consideration. during the seven years of its course, the new york service cost £ , ; while the produce in postage was only £ , . the service was popular, however; and the revenue had been increasing latterly, and an effort was made to reduce the cost.[ ] in this the postmasters general were successful, and as the treasury saw reasons for indulging the hope that before long the service would be self-sustaining, they sanctioned the amended terms. so far as the district in the neighbourhood of new york was concerned, the service was very satisfactory. but the people in the more remote southern colonies had ground for complaint in the length of time it took for their letters to reach them after arriving at new york. no time was lost in despatching the couriers to the south; but, at the best, between bad roads and no roads at all, there were great delays in delivering the mails to charlestown. in the fall of , a proposition was made to extend the west indies service to the mainland, and to require the mail packet to visit pensacola, fort st. augustine and charlestown, before returning to falmouth. the extended scheme, which was accepted in , involved an entire reorganization of the postal service of the southern colonies. the colonies to the south of virginia were separated from the colonies to the north and, with the bahama islands, were erected into a distinct postal division, with headquarters at charlestown.[ ] a sufficient number of vessels were added to make a regular monthly service,[ ] but in spite of this, the arrangements did not give satisfaction. the route was too long to make it possible to deliver the mails at charlestown within a reasonable time. the postmasters general reported that letters for those parts often lay forty or fifty days in london before starting on their way. it was then resolved to break up the connection between the mainland and the west indies, and have a separate monthly service between falmouth and charlestown. to secure the greatest measure of advantage from this service a courier was sent off with the mails for savannah and st. augustine as soon as they arrived at charlestown from england.[ ] there were thus, from , three lines of sailing packets running between england and the north american colonies--one to new york, another to charlestown, and a third to the west indies. there was but one defect in these arrangements. they did not provide connections between the several systems except through the mother country. a letter sent from new york to charlestown or to the west indies had to travel across to london and back again by the first outward packet to its destination. to connect the two systems on the mainland, a courier travelled from charlestown northward to suffolk, virginia, where he met with the courier from new york. in dealing with the means for establishing communication between the mainland and the west indies, the treasury were called upon to consider a petition from the merchants who traded to florida. the termination of the war was followed by the withdrawal of the troops which were stationed at pensacola, the principal trading settlement in florida, and the merchants feared the savages would plunder their goods, if succour could not be easily obtained from the sister provinces. the first step taken to meet the difficulty was to run a small forty-five ton vessel from jamaica to pensacola and on to charlestown. this was satisfactory as far as it went, but as it took eighty-three days to cover this route and return to jamaica, this service had to be doubled before the people concerned were content. footnotes: [ ] statutes of the united kingdom, anne, c. . [ ] new york did not become the headquarters of the postal system until the reconstruction of . [ ] the postal rates as fixed by the act of queen anne were as follows: london to jamaica, barbadoes, _s._ _d._; to new york, _s._ new york, to west indies, _d._; to new london or philadelphia, _d._; to boston or portsmouth, _s._; to williamsburg, va., or piscataway, _s._ _d._; to charlestown, _s._ _d._; to within miles, _d._; to within miles, _d._ these charges were for single letters. [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, ii. . [ ] governor spottswood to the board of trade, june , (_va. hist. coll._, new series, ii. ) [ ] _journal of the house of burgesses_, may , _passim_. [ ] douglas' _historical and political summary_. [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, vi. - . [ ] _talcott papers_, vol. . [ ] "the ledger-book of benjamin franklin," in the boston public library. [ ] g.p.o., _treasury letter-book_, - , p. . [ ] _works of benjamin franklin_ (federal ed.), i. . [ ] franklin to todd, january , , smyth, _life and writings of benjamin franklin_, xii. . [ ] g.p.o., _general accounts_, - . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, iii. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_ volume. [ ] cal. treasury papers, - , p. . [ ] _treasury papers_, cii. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, iii. . [ ] _cal. treasury books and papers_, - , p. . [ ] _c. o._ . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _boston evening post_, april , . (this note was furnished by mr. c. w. ernst of boston.) [ ] _c. o._ , bundle . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, vii. - . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, vol. . [ ] the first deputy postmaster general for the southern division was benjamin barons, who was appointed december , (g.p.o., _orders of the board_, ii. ). he resigned on august , , and was succeeded by peter delancy, who was killed in a duel with dr. john hale, in august . his successor was george roupell, who held office until displaced by the revolution (g.p.o., _orders of the board_, - , ii. _b_). [ ] g.p.o., _instructions_, pp. - . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, june , . chapter iii communications in canada prior to the conquest--extension of colonial postal service to canada--effects of colonial discontents on post office. having described the several arrangements, which were made to enable the older british colonists to correspond with the mother country and with one another, we shall now turn to canada. in the first place an account must be given of the route pursued by the courier, who was shortly to begin regular trips between new york and montreal. the route is the oldest in north america and the best known. before either frenchman or englishman came to america, the indian tribes, dwelling on the stretch of land which lies between the waters running south and those running north, passed and repassed over this natural highway in the prosecution of their perpetual wars; and in the long struggle between france and england for mastery of the continent, many of the most decisive battles were fought at different places on the route. the forts erected by each nation at the several strategic points on the route within its territory indicate their conviction that this was the ordinary course of passage from one country to the other. a glance at the map confirms this view. from new york to the boundaries of canada, the few miles of watershed between the hudson and the lake champlain systems are the only part of this long route, which could not be easily travelled by vessel. the first long stretch on the journey from new york to montreal was that between new york and albany. this part of the trip was made in one of the sloops, which were employed by the merchants of albany to carry furs, lumber and grain to new york, and which usually returned to albany empty or with a cargo of brandy, which was considered necessary in their dealings with the indians. the trip up the river occupied about three days. from albany northward, there was a good road on the west side of the hudson as far as fort edward, which stood at the bend of the river, where it made a sharp turn to the west. at fort edward there was a choice of routes, one leading directly north to lake george, and the other to the north-east to wood creek, from which there was a navigable course into lake champlain. the lake george route also led into lake champlain, though the difficulties of the passage from one lake to the other subjected the traveller to the inconvenience of a portage. lake champlain offered an uninterrupted course to st. john's in canada, from which point there was a pleasant trip by carriage to laprairie, followed by a sail across the st. lawrence to montreal. the time taken by travellers over this route was from nine to ten days. the population of canada at the period when it became a british province was about seventy thousand, all of whom dwelt on the shores of the st. lawrence and its tributaries. travellers between montreal and quebec taking the river passage were wont to declare that they seemed to be passing through one long village, so closely were the settlements on each side of the river drawn to one another. below quebec, the country on the north shore in the _seigneuries_ of beauport and beaupré, as far east as cap tourmente, was as thickly populated as any part of canada. beyond that point settlement rather straggled on to murray bay. on the south shore from levis eastward, the census of showed a population of over ten thousand. a gentleman travelling from rivière du loup to quebec a few years later stated that there were from twelve to sixteen families to every mile of road. although people travelling in canada preferred making their journey by boat, there was a good road from montreal to quebec and, what was unique in america at the time, there was a regular line of post houses over the whole road, where _calèches_ or carrioles were always kept in readiness for travellers. each _maître de poste_ had the exclusive privilege of carrying passengers from his post house to the next, which was usually about nine miles distant, his obligation being to have the horse and carriage ready on fifteen minutes' notice during the day, and in half an hour, if he were called during the night. this facility for travel, the advantages of which are obvious, was a gift from france, where it had been in operation since the fifteenth century. when the road between montreal and quebec was completed in ,[ ] the post road system was at once established upon it. it was a convenience which cost the government nothing, the habitant who was appointed _maître de poste_ receiving his pay from the persons whom he conveyed within his limits. the government confined its attention to seeing that the _maître de poste_ furnished the horses and vehicles promptly. in september , when the english became masters of canada by the capitulation of montreal, sir jeffery amherst, commander-in-chief of the british forces, issued new commissions to the _maîtres de poste_, and fixed the rate at which they should be paid for their services, but gave directions that they should let their horses to no person, who was not provided with a written order from the governor.[ ] a question of much interest is suggested by the fact that the post road between montreal and quebec had its origin during the french regime. in france the post roads were part of the postal system of the country, and the question occurs, by what means were letters conveyed within canada during the period of french rule? it is probable that there was a considerable correspondence between canada and france, and the lines on which the business of the country was conducted would seem to call for a fairly large interchange of letters within the colony itself. though the great mass of the people were unable either to read or to write, they differed but little in this respect from the same class of people in other countries. it was not the custom of the time to look to the working classes for patronage for the post office, though even here it is to be observed that the girls of canada had many opportunities for securing the elements of education, which did not fall in the way of the young men, and with the instinct for graceful expression, which is nature's endowment to french women, it is probable that many letters came from this class. from the towns, however, there would be a relatively large correspondence. although the populations of quebec and montreal were less than that of many of our country towns, and three rivers would not bear comparison in that respect with many villages, the social life in these towns was on a high plane. from charlevoix to montcalm, every visitor to canada expressed his astonishment at the refinement and even elegance which he found in the towns. this society, with its _seigneurs_, military officers, clergy and civil service, would beyond doubt have an extensive correspondence with friends at home. indeed, mention of the clergy brings up that remarkable series of letters written by jesuit missionaries from the wilds of canada, known as the jesuit relations, which forms so large a part of the foundation on which the history of the country in the seventeenth century rests. the commercial correspondence was, also, considerable. all the trade between canada and france was carried on through the merchants of quebec. montreal from its situation at the junction of the st. lawrence and ottawa rivers had been the chief town for the indian trade in furs for over a century, but it did not send its furs directly to france. the quebec merchants had been the intermediaries for this trade, and they held jealously to the profitable privilege. the imports from france which included a large part of the necessities and conveniences of life, were also handled by the quebec merchants, who acted as wholesalers to the merchants in montreal and the other parts of the colony. it will be obvious from a view of all these circumstances that there must have been a large volume of correspondence to and from as well as within canada during the french regime. the greater part of it would be between quebec and the ports of france and the means by which this was carried on, are known. in the _royal almanach_ for , it is announced that on letters to canada there would be a charge of seven sols (about seven cents) which would pay for the conveyance from paris to rochelle, while between rochelle and canada, letters were carried free of all charge. between old and new france, therefore, there was little restriction on correspondence. if a letter going to france were destined for paris, it would be carried there for seven cents; if for other parts of france, local and personal arrangements would have to be made for their delivery. the case was the same with letters coming to canada, but addressed to other places than quebec. persons living in montreal, three rivers or any other place, who had correspondence with france would arrange with friends in quebec to take their letters from the captain of the incoming ship, and send the letters to them by the first opportunity. kalm, the swedish naturalist, who was travelling through canada as the guest of the governor, states that, on the way up to montreal on the governor's _bateau_, they put in at three rivers in order that the officer in charge might deliver some letters, which had been entrusted to him. the question of establishing such a postal system as existed in france was laid before the governor as early as . in that year nicholas lanoullier, a clerk in the treasury, made application for the exclusive privilege of carrying on a postal system between montreal and quebec. he pointed out that the only means for the conveyance of letters between quebec, three rivers and montreal was the canoe, and as there was no regular canoe service, a person desiring to send a letter had either to hire a canoe, or wait until some person would be found willing to take the letter in the course of his journey. either mode was obviously unsatisfactory. lanoullier proposed to open post offices at the three towns, for letters and couriers, and to maintain _messageries_ or an express service, and a line of post houses. there was no road between montreal and quebec at this time, and as lanoullier's scheme involved the construction of a road, the governor granted the application, and in addition gave lanoullier the exclusive privilege of establishing ferries over the rivers, which would cross the road he undertook to build. as the total population of canada in did not exceed , , and the towns of quebec, three rivers and montreal contained no more than , and people respectively, an enterprise of that magnitude could not possibly be profitable. lanoullier no doubt realized this, for he did nothing in pursuance of the scheme. it was ten years after this period before any serious effort was made to construct a continuous road from quebec to montreal, and by that time nicholas lanoullier's connection with the work had ceased entirely. by a somewhat curious coincidence, when the governor and intendant resolved that the road should be constructed, the duty of superintending the work fell upon a brother of lanoullier, who was appointed grand voyer or general overseer of the roads of the colony. the office of grand voyer had existed in the colony since , but until lanoullier's time, it seems to have been neglected, and when the habitants along the road were called upon to work upon it, they obeyed with much reluctance. lanoullier's difficulties were increased by the hostility of the _seigneurs_ through whose estates the road was to pass, and who resented his making his surveys without deference to their wishes and opinions. he pushed forward the work with much energy, however, and by the road was opened. the intendant, hocquart, who had followed the road building with much interest, reported to the king that he himself had made the journey in a carriage from quebec to montreal in four days. as soon as the road was declared fit for travel post houses were placed upon it at intervals of about nine miles, and ferries were established for transportation across the broader rivers which crossed the road. but although no regular postal system was in operation during the french regime, an arrangement existed from an early period, by which the letters of the governor and intendant were carried by an appointed messenger, who was permitted to take with him, in addition to the official letters, any that might be entrusted to him by private persons. the fee allowed the messenger by the intendant's commission was ten sous for a letter carried from quebec to montreal and five sous to three rivers, with proportionate charges for greater or shorter distances. the commission which was issued in by raudot, the intendant, to pierre dasilva dit portugais, made no provision for regular conveyance, but as the messenger conveyed all the governor's despatches within the colony, it is probable that he made his trips with fair frequency. another messenger, jean morau, received a commission in , though he had been performing the duties of the service for ten years before that date.[ ] a curious fact is disclosed in a memorandum prepared during the period between the capitulation of canada in and the treaty of paris, which settled definitively the possession of the country. the writer, who had hopes that the country would be restored to france, was discussing several measures for improving the administration, when the french returned to the government. among these was the establishment of a royal post office. in submitting his suggestion he pointed out that the system of royal messengers was expensive to the country, as the letters of private persons were carried and delivered free of charge. by the establishment of a post office, the charges of maintaining it would fall on the persons whose letters were carried, and the treasury would be relieved of the expense.[ ] as has been already stated, when franklin learned that canada was to remain a british possession, he came to quebec to arrange for the establishment of a postal service between quebec, three rivers and montreal, and for a regular exchange of mails between those places and new york. at quebec he met with hugh finlay, a young scotchman who had been in the country for three years and who had been performing the very important duties of justice of the peace. in , finlay was made a member of the governor's council, and until his death, thirty-six years later, took a leading part in the affairs of the colony. franklin opened a post office in quebec with finlay as postmaster and put under his charge subordinate offices at three rivers and montreal. a monthly service by courier was established between montreal and new york, whose duty it was to have the canadian mails in new york in time to place those for great britain on board the outgoing packet. in making his arrangements for the exchange of mails between the canadian offices themselves, finlay sought and obtained the co-operation of the governor, who directed the _maîtres de poste_ to provide saddle horses for the mail couriers at sixpence a league, which was just half the charge made to the public for the same service, and who issued orders to the ferrymen along the route to pass the couriers over their rivers promptly and without charge.[ ] the captains of boats running on the river were instructed in their duty to deliver the letters in their hands to the nearest postmasters who would pay them one cent for each letter. the courier's trips between montreal and quebec were made weekly each way, and each trip took about thirty hours. as the distance is one hundred and eighty miles, the advantages of the post house system in facilitating the movements of the couriers are manifest. a difficulty for which provision had to be made was the extreme magnitude of the postage charges. in the american post office was still working under the act of , which was enacted at a time when canada as an english colony was not in contemplation. the system for which provision was made by the act extended from piscataway (now portsmouth, new hampshire) to charlestown; and if letters were sent beyond the range of this system, the charge for single letters conveyed up to sixty miles was fourpence; and when the conveyance was from sixty to one hundred miles the charge was sixpence. at the rate of sixpence for one hundred miles, it cost two shillings to send a single letter from new york to montreal and three shillings from new york to quebec. this rate was quite prohibitive. governors murray of quebec, and gage of montreal, in , represented to the home government[ ] that the people of canada were almost destitute of cash, and that they would not write to their friends in england until they found private occasions to send their letters to new york. the governors suggested that every interest would be better served if the rates could be made so that the charge on letters between any two places in america might not exceed one shilling and sixpence for a single letter. in , the act of was amended to meet the governor's views.[ ] the scale of fourpence for sixty miles and sixpence for one hundred miles was not changed, but an addition was made to it by providing that for each one hundred miles or less beyond the first hundred miles, the additional charge was to be twopence. the reduction for the longer distances was very considerable. between new york and montreal, the act of lowered the charge for a single letter from two shillings to one shilling, and between new york and quebec from three shillings to one shilling and fourpence. halifax, which had had a post office since , had until this time but little benefit from it owing to the excessive charges. but the amendment of provided a rate of fourpence on single letters passing between any two seaports in america, and thus put halifax in comparatively easy communication with boston and new york. here then in its entirety is the postal system of north america as it was completed by the inclusion within it of the new province of canada. the most important communications were those between america and great britain. of these there were three: with new york, charlestown and the west indies. between each of these places and great britain, packet boats carried the mails once a month. these several divisions were united with one another by a small packet from jamaica to charlestown, and by a courier from charlestown to suffolk, virginia, where he met with a courier from new york. within the northern district, the centre of which was at new york, there was a well-organized mail service, in which all existing travelling facilities were employed to the limit of their usefulness.[ ] mails were transported regularly as far south as virginia and as far north and east as quebec and halifax. within the better settled parts of the country, the service was excellent. before the revolution, two trips were made weekly between new york and boston, and three between new york and philadelphia. from quebec to montreal, there were two trips every week. the courier service at this time was quite equal, if not superior, to the service in england. the financial affairs of the american post office flourished. for the three years ending july , there was a surplus revenue of £ .[ ] the succeeding years, though satisfactory, were not equal to those up to .[ ] but the political troubles were rendering the post office an object of unpopularity, and making it a duty on the part of the patriots to employ agencies other than the post office for the transmission of their letters. as these unofficial agencies were usually satisfied with a much lower compensation than the post office demanded, the pleasant circumstance arose for the patriot that the line of interest coincided with the line of duty. during the period between the establishment of the post office in canada in , and the outbreak of the war of the revolution in , the post office pursued on the whole an even, uneventful course. canada did not entirely escape the influence of the sentiments which in the older colonies were leading to the revolution; and, as the war approached, the post office was made to feel the effects. there were, at the time of the peace of , along with the seventy thousand canadians which made up nearly the whole of the population, a number of the older british subjects, most of whom had come from the british american colonies. at this time they numbered about two hundred, and when the war broke out in , the number had doubled. these new-comers to canada were not without the usual practical ability of americans, and they very soon gathered into their hands the greater part of the business of the colony. they were, however, a source of much trouble and offence to the governor, and to their canadian fellow subjects. the governor reported that their arrogance, and repugnance to the social and religious customs of the new subjects--the former subjects of france--as well as the factious opposition they displayed to the mode of government then existing, retarded seriously the progress of the efforts which were made towards conciliating the canadians to the new regime. nothing short of the complete domination of these few hundred english-speaking people over the french canadians would have satisfied them. the spirit of rebellion grew no faster in the older british colonies than among the few of english extraction in canada, and the mutual distrust between these people and the government hampered the work of the post office a few years later. in finlay was called upon to remove a certain friction which had arisen between the _maîtres de poste_ and the travelling public. the regulations, which confined travelling by post to persons having special permits from the governor, were no longer insisted upon. any person desiring to do so was at liberty to hire horses and carriages at any of the post houses for travel to the next post house. the easing of restrictions enlarged the business of the _maîtres de poste_. but it evidently did not give unmixed satisfaction, as complaints were made that many persons riding post imposed upon the postmen, "threatening and abusing them contrary at all law." finlay had no actual warrant for interfering on behalf of the _maîtres de poste_, but as postmaster of the province, he had a strong motive for picking up the reins of authority where he found them lying in slack hands. he required the services of the _maîtres de poste_ to help him with the conveyance of the mails, and as those services were rendered for half the charge which was made to the travelling public, he kept the _maîtres de poste_ under his influence by constituting himself their champion. finlay pointed to the fact that in england the postmaster general was also general master of the post houses, and declared that as deputy of the postmaster general he would take the same position in canada. there was the essential difference between the situation in england and in canada that the postmaster general had statutory authority for exercising control over the post houses in england, whereas there was no such authority for control over the post houses in canada. however, finlay was a member of the legislative council, and he assumed, without opposition or question, the charge of the _maîtres de poste_, and in issued public notice that the post house system was to be under the same regulations as were in force in england.[ ] the _maîtres de poste_ were confirmed in their monopoly, and protected against imposition on the part of the public. finlay's energetic management of the affairs of the canadian post office attracted the attention of his superiors, and as franklin had resided continuously in england since as agent for pennsylvania and other of the american colonies, the expanding scope of the american post office demanded a greater degree of supervision than franklin's associate, foxcroft, was able to give. it was resolved to create another office, until then unknown in america, called a surveyorship. the duties of the surveyor in england are the same as those of the inspector in the canadian or united states services, and call for a general control over the postal service within certain defined limits. the office of surveyor was established in , and finlay was appointed to the position. he was allowed to retain his charge of the post office in canada, though his salary here underwent an abatement. the first duty assigned to finlay as post office surveyor was to explore the uninhabited country beyond the last settlements on the river chaudiere extending over the height of land into new england.[ ] the purpose of the trip was to ascertain the practicability of a direct road between quebec and new england. the merchants of quebec had made much complaint of the slowness and irregularity of the ordinary communication with new york, which was by way of montreal, and they hoped that the proposed road would materially shorten the journey to the principal places in the northern colonies. the road which the merchants of quebec desired to see built was a project which had occupied public attention at various times for over a century before this time. when louis xiv, colbert his minister, and talon the intendant, were devising schemes for the creation of a new france in north america, they observed that the long canadian winters, which shut up the port of quebec, made it desirable that there should be free access to an ocean port. the treaty of breda confirmed england in in its possession of new york and new jersey, and also established the right of france to acadia, which in the french view comprised not only nova scotia and new brunswick, but also that section of the state of maine which lies east of the kennebec river. in [ ] the king directed talon to see what could be done towards constructing a road between the mouth of the chaudiere and fort pentegoet at the mouth of the penobscot, which was the headquarters of the french governor in acadia. the purposes of the king were not unlike those of the fathers of the present confederation. canada was french and so was acadia, and the association of the inland with the maritime settlements could not but be productive of good. the populations were small: canada had six thousand seven hundred, and acadia four hundred and forty-one,[ ] but, for a short period, imperial ideas prevailed. talon in despatched two explorers to pentegoet. they took different routes, although following the watercourses, and their reports confirmed talon as to the desirability of establishing permanent communication between the two provinces. his plans embraced a line of settlements on the penobscot and kennebec rivers with a view to imposing a barrier to the advances of the english. but talon's health gave way, and he returned to france in the fall of , and as the king's ardour towards canada was cooling off, owing to his absorption in his european wars, the road was abandoned. the project was revived eleven years afterwards by de meulles, a later intendant. he was persuaded that if communication were opened, the merchants of quebec might secure the trade of the acadians which went entirely to new england, and the acadians would become attached to canada. the road would have to be settled upon, and de meulles' plan was to place old soldiers upon it, as he did not think the canadians could be induced to give up their comfortable lives, to enter upon a venture of that kind. de meulles' proposition, however, fell upon deaf ears, as did all others calling for the outlay of money, and the scheme was allowed to lie until finlay took it up. from the new england side a movement towards the height of land separating canada from the english colonies was made in .[ ] governor shirley of massachusetts in the early part of that year, set out from falmouth (now portland) with eight hundred men on an expedition up the kennebec river. his purpose was to dislodge any frenchman who might be settled on the height of land, and to establish a fort to secure the country against attack. fort halifax was erected at the junction of a stream called the sebastoocook with the kennebec, and the plymouth company built a storehouse at the head of navigation on the kennebec. a carriage road was laid between the fort and the storehouse. the governor anticipated that with fort halifax as base he might secure the mastery of the chaudiere and even threaten quebec. as talon in , and shirley in , so finlay in was persuaded that a direct road from quebec to new england was altogether desirable, and that it might be made without unusual difficulty. it was not, however, in the scheme of things that finlay should succeed any more than his predecessors. his preparations were soon made. he explained his views to lieutenant governor cramahe, who headed a subscription to pay finlay's expenses, and inside of twenty-four hours he had ample means at his disposal for his purpose.[ ] finlay set out in september with a party of indians, and reached falmouth after seventeen days of canoeing and following trails. having become satisfied as to the practicability of the road, he addressed himself to the task of securing the co-operation of those who might be supposed to benefit by the enterprise. at portsmouth, new hampshire, he discussed the subject with governor wentworth. the governor was eager to help with the scheme of establishing a further connection between canada and the colonies to the south, but was of opinion that the best route would be over the tract of country between the connecticut river and the st. francis river in canada. this route had several advantages. it avoided the watercourses which made the road from montreal to new york, and the proposed kennebec road, useless for so long a period every year; the passage over the height of land was easy, and the country along the line of the route between the height of land and the st. francis was favourable for settlement. as finlay was prepossessed with the governor's plans, the governor set about putting them into execution. he laid a carriageable road along the connecticut to the boundary of his province, and by april had a line of settlements along the road so that the post rider would always have a stage at which to pass the night, and generally have one within four hours' travel from any point on the road. governor wentworth lent to finlay the services of his own surveyor to explore the country on the canadian side of the route, but before anything could be accomplished in this way, the discontents in the south had broken out in acts of rebellion, and the post office was the first of the institutions of government to be suspended. at boston, finlay laid his plans before governor hutchinson.[ ] the interview was not encouraging. the governor declared that, in the existing temper of the people, it would be enough for the legislature to know that the governor favoured a scheme, to ensure its defeat. the new englanders had, besides this, but moderate grounds for assisting in establishing further communication with canada. the proposed road would be beneficial to massachusetts in so far as it aided colonization in the northern parts of the province, but as the tract through which the proposed kennebec road would run lay largely in the grants of the plymouth company, it would be this company which would be the chief beneficiary of the enterprise, and the legislature considered that the company should bear the burden of the expense. the company were not averse from assisting, but they indulged the hope that with their interest in the legislature the government might be induced to bear the cost. another circumstance that tended to cool the interest of the legislature was the belief that in a short time this northern country was to be detached from massachusetts, and erected into a separate government. altogether finlay concluded that unless the british government undertook the scheme on the new england side, it would not be accomplished at all. finlay's tour of exploration was ended by his arrival in falmouth at the beginning of october. he then entered upon the more extensive duty of inspecting the whole postal service from maine to georgia.[ ] he travelled southward from falmouth, inspected every post office, studied the conditions under which the mails were carried, and made a full report of his investigations to the postmaster general. it is plain from his report that the service had deteriorated seriously since franklin and foxcroft had made their last inspection ten years before. franklin, it will be remembered, had resided in england since , and foxcroft undoubtedly found it impossible to give proper attention to the post offices throughout the country, and at the same time to keep abreast of the official routine at the head office. the postmasters on the whole impressed finlay favourably. they understood their duties and seemed to be making a commendable struggle against the demoralization which confronted them however they turned. only a small proportion of the letters which circulated within the colonies passed through the post office, although their conveyance by any other means was illegal. the consequence was that the revenues of the post office were small. at falmouth the greater part of the letters from boston were delivered by the masters of sailing vessels. the postmaster on one occasion attempted to enforce the law against illegal conveyance by seizing the letter bag on one of the incoming ships; but the populace made so marked a manifestation of its displeasure that he did not venture on that course a second time. it was not so much, however, by direct defiance of the postal law, although instances of this were not wanting, as by evasions of it, that the monopoly of the post office was broken down. but in many cases the evasions were so palpable that they could deceive nobody. a popular mode of escape from the penalties attaching to the breach of the monopoly was to seek shelter under one of the exceptions which the post office act allowed. in none of the acts, for instance, is objection made to a person sending a letter to a correspondent by his own servant, or by a friend who happened to be journeying to the place where the letter should be delivered. another exception to the monopoly was made in favour of letters which accompanied merchandise to which letters related. thus a merchant in filling an order for goods has always been at liberty to send with them the invoice, or any other communication, having presumable reference to them. this was the excepted article, which served the turn of those eluding the monopoly. what finlay saw at new haven illustrates fairly what was going on throughout the colonies. riders came in from other towns, their carts laden with bundles, packages, boxes and canisters, and every package had a letter attached. some of the parcels consisted of no more than little bundles of chips, straw, or old paper, but they served their purpose. if the postmaster made objection to the number of letters they carried, the riders asserted their right to carry letters accompanying goods, and the public saw to it that neither postmaster or magistrate took too narrow a view of what constituted goods. on the route between boston and newport the mail carrier was a certain peter mumford, who did a much larger business in the illegal conveyance of letters than as the servant of the post office. at newport the postmaster declared that there were two post offices--the king's and mumford's--and the latter did the larger business. there was no remedy, as the postmaster declared that whoever should attempt to check the illegal practice would be denounced as the friend of slavery and oppression and the declared enemy of america. many of the couriers did so large a carrying business that the conveyance of the mails became a mere incident with them. as he approached new haven, finlay was accosted with the inquiry whether he had overtaken the post bringing in a drove of oxen, which the courier had engaged to do, when he came in with the mail. in all respects but one, the situation described by finlay presented no unexpected features. there had been no general inspection since franklin made his tour in , at the time he opened the post office in quebec. this fact fully explains the shortcomings of the postmasters and couriers. that the postmasters were chargeable with so few irregularities in their accounts, or were open to so little censure for faults in management, is high testimony to their intelligence and fidelity to duty. mail couriers have always been less completely identified with the postal service than postmasters. they are held by contract, not by appointment, and their engagements are for short terms. there is nothing irregular in their practice of combining the conveyance of the mails with other means of gaining a livelihood, but in the absence of supervision there was a constant tendency to give undue attention to what should have been merely auxiliary employments of carrying passengers and parcels. people employing the couriers demanded prompt service, while there was no person to insist on the prior claims of the post office, and indeed there were probably few people in any community at that time to whom an hour more or less was of any consequence in the receipt of their letters. the evasion of the postmaster general's monopoly also was too common to excite particular remark. it was beyond doubt a breach of the law, but that it was wrong was a proposition to which few even good citizens gave assent, at least by their practice. thomas hancock made a merit of his saving the colony of connecticut from thirty to forty shillings a year through the interest he had with certain captains, which enabled him to secure the colonial letters, as they came over in the ships, and thus prevent their passing through the post office. in england, also, the practice was wellnigh universal. the increased rates imposed by the act of gave an immense impetus to clandestine traffic. every pedlar and driver of public coaches lent himself to the profitable business of carrying letters for a few halfpence a letter. in london an effort was made to stop the practice by having officials of the post office frequent the roads leading into the city, for the purpose of searching the vehicles of those who had made themselves objects of suspicion. it is interesting to note that the work for which the post office surveyors or inspectors were first appointed was to detain the mail couriers in the course of travel, and check the contents of the mail bags, and thus prevent postmasters from becoming parties, as they too frequently were, to frauds on the revenue, to their own great advantage. as late as , when rowland hill[ ] laid his penny postage scheme before a public which was impatient for its adoption, richard cobden declared to a committee appointed to report on the scheme, that five-sixths of the letters passing between manchester and london were conveyed by private hand. this state of things continued until the postage rates were brought down to a point, at which the service offered by the post office was cheaper as well as better than any other. the only certain means by which a government monopoly in a free country can maintain its position is to outbid its rivals. there is no safe dependence to be placed in legal process. in ordinary times, then, the evasion of the exclusive privilege of the postmaster general by any community would deserve no more than passing mention. it is as part of a general boycott of the government that the action of the americans is worthy of note. from the time of the passage of the stamp act in , the attitude of the colonies towards all schemes in which taxation by parliament could be detected was one of resistance active or passive. when this act went into operation, the americans bound themselves to import nothing from england, a self-imposed obligation which in the undeveloped state of their manufactures entailed much inconvenience and even distress. there was an essential difference between the english and the american methods of avoiding the penalties for infractions of the post office law. in england, and to some extent doubtless in america as well, men engaged in the illegal conveyance of letters did their best to conceal their operations from the authorities. the efforts of a public coach driver were directed to rendering the search made by the post office inspectors fruitless. if letters were found in his possession, he suffered the legal penalties as the smuggler does to-day. it was one of the chances of his trade. in the colonies men who were bent on circumventing the post office pursued another course. they indulged their taste for legal technicalities by carrying their letters openly, and maintaining that the packages which accompanied them took them outside the monopoly, and they gave scope to their humour by making the packages as ridiculous as possible. they incurred no great risk, for the active spirits in every community threatened a prosecutor with a coat of tar and feathers. the stamp act was repealed in the year following its enactment, and for the moment trade resumed its wonted course. but it was not for long. the british government was determined that the legislative supremacy of parliament should be recognized in america, and the colonies were equally persistent in their denial of this supremacy; and in the conflict which ensued the principle weapons employed by the americans until the outbreak of the war were non-importation and non-exportation agreements. as the british merchant exercised a preponderating influence with the government, the stoppage of trade with america, as the result of a constitutional dispute, was an effective instrument in making the government consider the situation seriously. the difficulty with the government was to understand the attitude of mind which prevailed among the americans. the government had no quarrel with the principle that representation should be a condition of taxation. it would have asserted the principle on any occasion, but it could not see that the course it was pursuing was a violation of that principle. parliament, it declared, was the great council of the nation, representing those parts beyond the sea as well as those at home, and its measures bound the whole nation. it was still, it must be remembered, half a century before the time when the agitations which preceded the great reform bill of had familiarized the country with the distinction between virtual and actual representation. the british parliament was far from being, and indeed made no pretence of being a representative assembly in the sense in which the phrase is now used. the right to send members to parliament had for centuries been exercised by the electors of counties and certain ancient boroughs, and no enlargement of the representation was made from until ,[ ] in spite of the great changes in population and industrial importance which had taken place in the course of time. great manufacturing towns such as manchester and leeds sent no members to represent them in parliament, while old sarum which did not contain a single house elected two members. to a people, who saw nothing in this state of things inconsistent with the theory of representative government, the colonial view would be quite incomprehensible. the colonist on the other hand with his strict representation in town meetings and colonial assemblies, and without the historical aids to an understanding of the point of view of the home government, saw little of a truly representative character in the british system. but he did see, what the home government did not, that a body of distinct and separate interests had grown up in america of which parliament had a very inaccurate conception, and with which it was in no way qualified to deal. the attitude of the colonists did not appear to the government to be quite free from insincerity. for half a century and more, the government declared, the colonists had been subject to taxes in the shape of post office charges imposed by the act of , and they had never raised a question. in the newcastle correspondence, there is a paper, dated , containing a discussion on the legality of a tax on the trade with the spanish west indies. in the course of the paper it is asserted that parliament, by the post office act of queen anne, imposed an internal tax on the colonies without their presuming to dispute the jurisdiction of parliament over them. the disturbances in america which followed upon the attempts to enforce the stamp act surprised and alarmed the government, and a committee of parliament was appointed to consider what their future course would be. franklin who, as the representative of several of the colonies, had been in london for a considerable time, was among the witnesses examined by the committee. his examination took a wide range, but the point of interest was the question as to what ground in principle the americans stood upon in objecting to the stamp act, since they had accepted the post office act of . for franklin this was a crucial question, as he had been not only administering the post office in america for twelve years past, but he did not conceal his satisfaction that by his management he had been able for several years to send substantial sums to great britain as profits from the institution. franklin answered the questions with much ingenuity. the money paid for the postage of a letter was not in the nature of a tax; it was merely a _quantum meruit_ for a service done; no person was compellable to pay the money if he did not choose to receive the service. a man might still, as before the act, send his letter by a servant, a special messenger, or a friend, if he thought it safer and cheaper. the answer would have been quite just, if the postmaster general of england had not held a monopoly of letter carrying in america. while a person is free to use or not to use a certain service, the charge for the service is not in the nature of a tax. if a person does not like the price demanded by the post office for its services, he may seek other means of having his letters carried. but the post office act does not leave a person free to employ other agencies for the conveyance of his letters. the monopoly has attached to it heavy penalties for its infringement. it is true, as franklin said, that the post office act leaves it open to a man to employ a servant, special messenger, or friend in the course of his travel, to carry his letters. but the mention of these agencies shows the absurdity of franklin's contention. a merchant in new york having business to transact by letter with a customer in boston or philadelphia could not afford to pay the expenses of his messenger or servant unless the transaction were one of considerable magnitude. nor could he await the chance of a friend's making a visit to either of these places. he might, if he were free to do so, have entrusted his letters to a coach driver who made a business of passing between new york and the other two towns, but the monopoly of the post office stood in his way, and the coachman would have made himself liable to a heavy fine. in short, if the merchant had to correspond with neighbouring places he was compelled to employ the post office. with a country so extended and so highly civilized as the american colonies were at that day, a postal system was an absolute necessity; and if the system maintained by the government were protected by a monopoly, its charges were a tax on the users of the system in so far as those charges exceeded the strict cost of carrying on the service. furthermore, since the post office act of was imposed on the colonies without their consent, and since franklin's good management had enabled him to pay all the expenses of the service and send a considerable surplus to england for some years past, it is plain that to the extent of the yearly surplus the colonies had been subject to a tax laid on them without their consent, and that franklin himself was the tax gatherer. this was undoubtedly where the point lay in the question which was asked of franklin. franklin's views on the constitutionality of the post office charges were part and parcel of his views on taxation generally. for instance, he drew a clear line of distinction between a tax on imported goods and an internal tax such as the stamp act. a duty on imported goods it was permissible for parliament to impose on the colonies, while an internal tax could not properly be levied without consent. the stamp act required that all commercial and legal documents and newspapers should be written or printed upon stamped paper which was sold by agents of the government at varying prices prescribed by the law. as this was a tax which could not be avoided so long as men carried on their business in the ordinary way and by the ordinary means, it was one for which the consent of the colonies was necessary. an import tax stood on a different footing. it was simply one of the elements entering into the price of the goods imported. if people objected to the price as enhanced by the tax, it was open to them to decline to buy the goods. a tax of this sort was in franklin's view quite within the powers of the sovereign state. the ultimate test applied by franklin to determine whether a tax could in a given case be constitutionally imposed, was whether or not there was a legal mode of escape from the tax. if the tax were an avoidable one, it was constitutional, since submission to it implied consent. if, on the other hand, the tax were one which from the necessities of the case could not be avoided, it ought not to be imposed until it had been assented to by the people. opinions may differ as to which of the two classes the application of the test would place postal charges in. they constituted a tax beyond any question since they turned into the government a surplus of revenue after all expenses had been met. whether they were to be regarded as an avoidable tax to be paid or not as one cared to employ the services of a post office or not, or whether as a tax which the circumstances of the community made it necessary to accept, will depend on one's views as to whether a post office is indispensable to the community. it is difficult to see how franklin, who of all men of his generation knew best the requirements of a highly developed industrial community, could believe that the necessities for the interchange of correspondence on the part of a people like the american colonists could be satisfied by private messengers, or travelling friends, or indeed by any agency less comprehensive than a national postal system. footnotes: [ ] _can. arch._. c. , lxiv. (report of progress by grand voyer). [ ] _mémoires de la société historique de montréal_, , pt. . i. . [ ] _ordonnances des intendants_, i. , and ix. . [ ] _public archives of can._, c. , x. . [ ] order of lieutenant governor burton, to the _maîtres de poste_ (_mémoires de la société historique de montréal_, , pt. . i. ). [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, - , p. . [ ] _imperial statutes_, , geo. iii. c. . [ ] journal kept by hugh finlay, surveyor of the post roads on the continent of north america, - (published by frank h. norton, brooklyn, ). [ ] g.p.o., _general account book_, account april , . [ ] _ibid._, account april , . the net revenue for the four years ending was £ . [ ] _quebec gazette_, february , . [ ] finlay's _journal_. [ ] _lettres, instructions et mémoires de colbert_, tome iii. pp. and . [ ] _census of canada_, - , p. xvi. [ ] _c. o._ , xiv. (_can. arch._). [ ] _can. arch._, b. , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, b. , p. . [ ] finlay's _journal_, brooklyn, . [ ] _life of sir rowland hill and hist. of penny postage_, by g. birkbeck hill, , i. . [ ] cf. porritt, _the unreformed house of commons_, i. - . chapter iv the post office during the revolution--its suppression. but the time was well past when the question as to what was or what was not an allowable tax possessed any but an academic interest. though the stamp act was repealed a few months after it went into operation, the trouble it aroused was not allayed. the gratitude of the colonists which followed upon the repeal gave way to renewed irritation when it was found that the ministry in london had only postponed, not definitely abandoned, its schemes of taxation, and the late triumph gave vigour to the determination of the colonists to continue their resistance. step followed step. all went to widen the breach, and diminish the chances of a peaceful settlement. the post office soon became involved. as we have seen, the ministry endeavoured to convict the colonists of, at least, inconsistency when they objected to the stamp act, while tolerating the post office. franklin explained what seemed to him the points of difference between the two things, without convincing the ministry. the colonists had fully shared franklin's opinions, but the attitude of the ministry caused them to look more thoughtfully into the matter. they finally agreed that the ministry might be right in insisting that the post office charges were a tax, and refused to use the institution any longer. finlay found that everywhere the view prevailed that the post office was unconstitutional, and it was becoming hazardous to patronize it. while finlay was in the southern states the boston tea riots took place, and before he reached new york on his return home, franklin had been dismissed, and he had been appointed to replace franklin. the reasons which led to franklin's removal have been frequently stated. they must be related again in order to complete the narrative. franklin had become possessed, by means still unrevealed, of a number of private letters written by hutchinson, governor of massachusetts, and oliver, the lieutenant governor, to a friend in england. the letters dealt with the condition of affairs in the colony, and discussed the situation with the full freedom which a confidential correspondence is apt to encourage. hutchinson and oliver dwelt upon the turbulent disposition of boston, expressed grave doubts as to the possibility of allowing the full measure of english liberty in the colonies, and asserted the necessity of a military force to support the government. when these letters were brought to franklin, he saw the advantage that a knowledge of them would give the colonists in the struggle then going on, and as the agent for massachusetts, he asked for permission to send the letters to the colony for perusal by a few of the leading men. permission was granted on franklin's express undertaking, that the letters should not be printed or copied. in boston, the letters were passed from hand to hand among the popular leaders, and were finally discussed at a secret sitting of the assembly. the assembly adopted resolutions strongly condemnatory of hutchinson and oliver, as sowers of discord between the mother country and the colonies, declared the letters to be incitements to oppression on the part of the ministry, and petitioned the king to remove hutchinson and oliver from their government. the publication of the letters gave rise to great astonishment in england, and one of the consequences, before franklin confessed his part in the transaction, was a duel between a brother of the person to whom the letters were written, and a gentleman whom he accused of disclosing them to the public. in england franklin met with universal condemnation, and he was at once dismissed from his position as deputy postmaster general in america. it is noteworthy as illustrating, partly franklin's good nature, and partly the apparent inability of the officials of the post office to understand the state of mind of the ministry, that in spite of his dismissal or of the reasons for it, franklin remained on good terms with the heads of the post office. there was some delay in settling the accounts of franklin with the post office, but that was due to a lack of promptness on the part of foxcroft, franklin's official associate, in rendering the accounts. when the balance due by franklin was paid, his relations with the post office did not entirely cease; for he offered himself, and was accepted, as one of the sureties for foxcroft on the re-appointment of the latter as joint deputy postmaster general with hugh finlay. for some time previous to the events which led to franklin's removal from the service, plans were being considered for putting the administration of the post office on a better footing. although new york was, by the terms of the act of , made the official headquarters of the service, it had not been so up till this time. there seems to have been no fixed official residence. in , the deputy postmaster general resided in virginia, and his predecessor in north carolina. franklin and foxcroft both happened to live in philadelphia, and that city accordingly became the headquarters of the postal system. it was determined in england that, after the th of october, , new york should be the permanent administrative centre. a central office was to be established, a general secretary appointed, and suitable clerical assistance provided for the carrying on of the work of administration. when finlay was made joint deputy postmaster general in franklin's place, he continued to act as travelling surveyor. but the plans under contemplation did not come to maturity. already measures were on foot which in a short time deprived the post office of its business in america. in march , the colonists began a movement to establish a postal system, which would be independent of the regular post office. the committee of correspondence in boston, which was the organ through which the opponents of government carried on their work, wrote to the committee in salem introducing william goddard, and suggesting the advisability of establishing a post office in america.[ ] the present post office, it was stated, was founded on an act of the british parliament for raising a revenue from the colonies without their consent, and for that reason was as obnoxious as any other revenue act. the post office was being used as a precedent against the colonies when they contested the right of parliament to tax them, and furthermore, was now being employed to prevent the dissemination of popular intelligence. goddard, for whom the boston committee bespoke good will, would explain to their associates in salem by what means certain newspapers identified with the people's cause were prevented from circulating. goddard was not ill-fitted to take the lead in the agitation against the post office. he was the son of the postmaster of new london, and had been himself for two years postmaster of providence, and in this way was quite familiar with the details of work in a post office. moreover, during his residence in providence, and afterwards in philadelphia and baltimore, he was constantly engaged in newspaper enterprises. as goddard's schemes were, for the most part, unsuccessful, his wits never lost the edge that adversity usually gives. his grievance was that the post office charged rates so excessive on the newspapers he wished to circulate that he was unable to send them to his readers throughout the colonies. what measure of truth there was in goddard's statements we have no means of ascertaining. but there was no doubt that the charge might be true, without the post office exceeding its legal rights. the fact was that newspapers had no special legal standing under the post office act. that act was passed in , when newsletters in manuscript were in service and newspapers were too few and unimportant to engage the attention of the post office or of parliament at the time the law was being framed. consequently no express provision was made for them in the act. if newspapers were to be carried by the post office under the authority of the act, it could only be by treating them as letters, and a glance at the scale of charges will show the impossibility of newspapers bearing so burdensome a tax. the newspapers of that day were inconsiderable in size compared with those that are now published, but few even at that time would weigh less than an ounce, and an ounce letter passing between new york and philadelphia called for a postal charge of three shillings or seventy-two cents. this sum was the lowest charge in the scale for ounce letters passing between any two places of importance in america. clearly newspapers could not circulate by means of the post office if they were to be regarded as letters. but as they were not mentioned in the act, newspapers had at least the advantage of not being subject to the postmaster general's monopoly. publishers were free to turn to account any means of conveyance that happened to be available, for the distribution of their newspapers. unfortunately, however, this freedom was of little benefit at that period, as there were no courier services regularly operating between the towns in america. there was nothing for it but for publishers to take advantage of the postal system if this were at all possible, and the possibility appeared through one of those curious devices, which are the derision of logical foreigners, but which afford a means of escape from the inconveniences of a law, which it is not desired to alter at the time. in england, where the situation of newspaper publishers was the same as it was in america, the privilege of franking newspapers for transmission through the mails was conferred upon certain officials of the post office, called clerks of the road. clothed with this privilege the clerks of the road bargained with publishers for the conveyance of their newspapers in the ordinary mails, and put the proceeds into their own pockets. it was a practice that was not regarded as in any way irregular. the post office was quite aware that its vehicles were being used for the conveyance of newspapers, from which it received no revenue, and it congratulated itself that it had hit upon a contrivance for serving the public without having to tamper with the act under which it operated. the privilege of franking newspapers, which was enjoyed by the clerks of the road in england, was also conferred upon the deputy postmasters general in america, and colonial newspapers were distributed by the post office under arrangements similar to those described. while the act itself made no provision for the conveyance and delivery of newspapers, this peculiar plan offered great advantages to the publisher. there was, however, one serious objection to it. not resting on the law, but on the good will of those in authority, it could be terminated at any time, and the post office might legally charge sums as high as the postage on letters for the conveyance of newspapers. with this power in its hands the post office had complete control over the fortunes of newspaper publishers. if for any reason it desired to suppress a newspaper, all that was necessary was to cancel the special arrangement between the deputy postmaster general and the publisher, and leave to the latter the option of paying letter rates or of finding some other means of conveyance. whether this power was exercised in goddard's case, is not known; that it would be, if considered necessary, is beyond doubt. in , the clerks of the road in england were directed to take particular care that no newspapers were sent by the post office which contained reflections on the government,[ ] and to assure themselves on the point, they were to send no newspapers into the country at all, except such as were purchased from a single dealer named in the order, whose loyalty and judgment were not open to question. the possession of this power by the government was quite sufficient to arouse reasonable apprehensions. goddard appears to have succeeded in his mission to salem, as a few days later the committee of that town, responding to the letter from boston, declared that the act of the british parliament establishing the post office in america, was dangerous in principle and demanded peremptory opposition.[ ] a considerable sum was raised for the fund to set up a colonial post office, although salem was in financial straits at the time. having succeeded in the first part of his campaign, goddard went a step forward, and drew up a plan for an independent american post office, and laid it before the committees of correspondence in all the colonies.[ ] his proposition was that the colonial post office should be established and maintained by subscription, and that its control should be vested in a committee to be appointed annually by the subscribers. this committee would appoint postmasters and post riders, and fix the rates of postage. the immediate management of the service was to be under the direction of a postmaster general to be selected by ballot, and who should hold his office by a yearly tenure. goddard set about procuring subscribers for his scheme, and, it would seem, with much success. in the meantime, however, events were taking place which brought into being a body of more authority than the committees of correspondence, and this body took over the establishment of an american post office. the punitive measures of the ministry which followed upon the boston riots had the unexpected result of uniting all the colonies into common cause with boston. in september , the delegates of the colonies assembled in congress at philadelphia, and by degrees took upon themselves all the functions of government. on the th of may, , the question of providing for the speedy and secure conveyance of intelligence was submitted to the congress, and a committee, of which benjamin franklin was the leading member, was directed to make a report.[ ] with the report before it, on july , the congress resolved[ ] to appoint a postmaster general for the united colonies, whose office would be at philadelphia, and who was empowered to appoint a secretary and as many postmasters as seemed to him proper and necessary. a line of posts should be established from falmouth to savannah, with as many cross posts as the postmaster general saw fit. goddard was a candidate for the position of postmaster general, but benjamin franklin was chosen. goddard's friends then made an effort to secure to him the secretaryship. in this, also, he was disappointed, as franklin selected his son-in-law, bache, for the place, an appointment which brought down upon franklin a charge of nepotism. it seems certain, however, that in no case would he have entrusted the secretaryship to goddard. goddard had been postmaster of providence, and when he relinquished the office, he was a defaulter for a considerable amount.[ ] as the loss from goddard's defalcation fell partly upon franklin, as joint deputy postmaster general, the latter would be reluctant to place him a second time in a position of responsibility. notwithstanding the claims he would seem to have created for himself by his work in organizing the colonial post office, goddard had to be contented with the surveyorship of the posts.[ ] shortly after the service had been put in operation, the continental congress discussed whether it would not be advisable to suppress the king's post office.[ ] those in favour of the measure argued that the ministerial posts were no longer necessary to the people; that they merely subserved the interests of the enemy, and that the postmasters held their offices by an illegal tenure. on the other hand, it was urged that, closely watched as they were, the ministerial posts could not lend themselves to harm, and that they furnished the people with so many more means of communication. the argument which finally prevailed, however, was presented by the opponents of the proposition. they pointed out that this would be an extreme and irretrievable measure, an act of hostility, which would not be warranted by the position in which they stood. all that the colonies desired, they declared, was a return to the conditions which prevailed in , when the conquest of canada removed the last of the obstacles which impeded their progress, and the relations of the colonies with the mother country seemed permanently and satisfactorily established. late advices from england indicated that parliament was showing a renewed spirit of conciliation, and any course was to be deprecated which would prevent an easy return to the old conditions. the matter was laid over, but it was settling itself in another way. great britain was recognizing the futility of persisting in its efforts to maintain the post office in the colonies. as early as march , the home office advised its deputies in america that all that was to be expected from the postmasters in the colonies was that they should act with discretion to the best of their abilities and judgment.[ ] it ceased for the time to give positive directions. finlay, who, at some personal risk, had gone to new york to make up his accounts, reported that the post office was doing but little business, as the rebels were opening and rifling the mails, and were notifying the loyally disposed that it was unconstitutional to use the king's post office. there was swift punishment visited upon erroneous constitutional views at that time. finlay foresaw that the post office could not long continue, and he proposed that the work of distributing the mails should be done on one of the war vessels in new york harbour.[ ] at last, on christmas day , the secretary of the post office at new york gave public notice that on account of the interruptions to the couriers in several parts of the country the inland service would cease from that date, and thus was closed an important chapter in the history of the british post office in north america.[ ] with the outbreak of the war, the postal connection between new york and montreal instantly ceased. when this event took place the service to and from canada was in a very efficient state. two couriers travelled each week between montreal and new york, one passing by way of lake george, and the other pursuing the route through skenesborough (now whitehall); and post offices were opened at crown point and fort edward. it was far, however, from the wishes of the provincial congress of new york to allow the communication with canada to be broken. this body, after a conference with price, a gentleman from montreal, despatched a letter to the merchants of that place, expressing their strong desire that the intercourse existing between new york and canada should be maintained.[ ] they disclaimed any intention of aiming at independence, protested their loyalty to the king, and their attachment to the house of hanover, which they ranked "among our most singular blessings." all congress desired was the rights belonging to them as british subjects. they proposed to establish a postal courier between new york and either ticonderoga or crown point, leaving it to canadians to open a communication between montreal and such of these two places as might be decided upon. when the american troops, continuing their advance northward, captured montreal, franklin established a post office there, appointing as postmaster george measam, who afterwards entered the american service.[ ] in the ledger kept by franklin, as postmaster general of the united colonies, the account of the postmaster of montreal appears in its place among the colonial post offices. the postage on letters from new york to montreal was fixed at four pennyweight, and to quebec at five pennyweight.[ ] until relief arrived, finlay was confined within the walls of quebec, and foxcroft's usefulness was equally curtailed by the fact that he and dashwood, the departmental secretary, were held prisoners at new york.[ ] while the british were being thus deprived of all the usual means of communication, the american service was being put in a high state of efficiency. in this, as in other respects, the colonists were fortunate in having the services of franklin. in august, following upon the proclamation of independence, franklin was directed to arrange a system of communications whereby post riders were placed at intervals of twenty-five or thirty miles over the whole stretch from falmouth (now portland) to georgia, the mails being carried from post to post from one end of the country to the other, three times a week.[ ] the riders were to travel night as well as day, and there was to be no more delay at the changing posts than was necessary to pass the mails from one rider to the other. three advice boats, also, were employed to run from north carolina, south carolina and georgia to the place of assembly of the continental congress. after the royal post office was driven off the mainland, it took refuge on one of the war vessels, which lay in new york harbour. the postmaster of new york received and opened the mails on board the ship, and all letters were advertised, so that they might be obtained either directly or through friends. the americans, however, had a keen sense of the importance of communications, and from the beginning of the struggle, made every effort to intercept the packets. early in may , while the more cautious americans were opposing any step that would lead to extremities, finlay reported that he was on board the ship "king fisher," and that a vessel manned by sixty resolute fellows was cruising about sandy hook, in the hope of intercepting the packet "mercury," which was due to arrive.[ ] in consequence of the burning of falmouth by a british naval expedition, letters of marque and reprisal were issued in november by the province of massachusetts bay; and in the following march, the continental congress sanctioned the fitting out of private armed vessels to prey upon british commerce.[ ] seaport towns were enjoined that on no account should they furnish provisions to war vessels coming to them. the ministry were under no delusions as to the situation. at the end of september, the packets were withdrawn from general post office duty, armed as for war, and placed at the orders of the war office. the movements of the packets were clothed with secrecy, and it was only when the vessels were bound for halifax that the public were notified that a mail was being despatched. from halifax, the mails were taken by the first opportunity to boston or new york. the attitude of the post office to all these preparations for war was very curious. it seemed incapable of understanding why exceptional measures were necessary at that time. a steady murmur of discontent was kept up against the war office. remonstrance after remonstrance was directed against the commander-in-chief for the detention of the packets beyond what seemed a reasonable delay, and there was continual complaint against the restrictions placed upon the post office. until the middle of the year , although the service had been on a complete war footing for some months past, there had been no actual clash between the british and american vessels. the correspondence, however, reveals a state of great anxiety for the safety of the despatches, and as the vessels put out, the masters were placed under strict injunctions to sink the mails if there was any likelihood of capture. the first recorded engagement in which the packets on any of the north american stations were concerned, took place on the th of july. the master of the "lord hyde" reported[ ] that on his passage from falmouth to new york, he saw at four o'clock in the morning of that day a ship and a brig three or four leagues distant. they spoke to one another, and then gave chase to the packet. the ship fell out of sight, but the brig followed hard, and at four in the afternoon came up with the packet and began to fire, at the same time running a red english ensign to the topmast head. the master of the packet, seeing no chance for escape, shortened sail and prepared for action. the brig came up alongside, replacing the english ensign by a flag of thirteen stripes with a small union in it, and without more ado poured into the packet a broadside from eight carriage guns, and a number of swivels and small arms. the packet returning the fire, a warm engagement followed for an hour and a half at a distance of fifty or sixty yards. the brig then bore away. the packet was much shattered in her sails and rigging, but wonderful to relate, the only casualties were the slight wounding of five persons. the "sandwich" packet, which left new york on the th of august, reported[ ] an encounter with a fast schooner bearing the new england colours, a white field with a pine tree in the middle. after some manoeuvring, in which it appeared that the plan of the schooner was to keep in the wake of the packet outside the range of the latter's guns, but near enough to take advantage of the superior weight of her own guns, the packet managed to bring the schooner into an action which lasted for nearly two hours. the rigging, sails and masts of both vessels were much damaged, but the packet came out of the encounter without any person being even wounded. the third engagement was a more serious affair. the packet "harriott," on the new york station, was attacked on the th of september by a privateer of twelve guns and over one hundred men. the packet, which was armed and equipped in the same manner as the other packets on this station, had twelve guns, but only forty-five men. of these five were killed, including the captain, and nine were wounded. through the gallantry of the mate, spargo, the packet managed to avoid capture. for his good conduct on this occasion, spargo was made master of the "harriott." on the st of march, , the "harriott," in violation, it would seem, of the instructions given to all the masters of packets to avoid a fight, if possible, captured the american vessel "sea nymph," of one hundred and twenty tons burden, laden with gunpowder, saltpetre, gun flints and other wares, and brought it into new york.[ ] while the packet boats were thus occupied in foiling the enemy's attempts upon them, the course of events had restored to the post office a footing on land in america. the arrival of assistance from england in may enabled carleton to attack the american force which had held quebec in siege since the november previous, and the retreat of the americans which ensued was not stayed until they had been driven entirely out of canada. finlay, who had spent the winter in quebec, and who has been credited with one of the best anonymous accounts which have come down to us of the conditions of the city during the siege, at once prepared to resume his duties as deputy postmaster general. new york, also, fell again into the hands of the british, owing to the withdrawal of washington's army in september, before the superior forces of howe. here foxcroft, the deputy postmaster general, and dashwood, the departmental secretary, were prisoners of war; and antill, the postmaster of new york, had taken up quarters in one of the war vessels in the harbour. antill lost no time in returning to the city; and foxcroft and dashwood were set free by an exchange for two american officers which took place shortly after.[ ] like finlay, foxcroft made preparations for the resumption of business; but for both finlay and foxcroft an unexpected thing happened. vessels with mails began to arrive at quebec and new york, but the mails were not taken to the post office, although the statute laid it upon shipmasters as their duty to deliver the mails at the post office before they broke bulk.[ ] on the arrival of the vessels, the commanders-in-chief directed the masters to send the letters up to their headquarters, where they were gone over by confidential officers, on whom were imposed the duties of handling the incoming mails. the reason of this step will be sufficiently obvious, although the post office professed that they had never seen any good purpose served by it. even where there was no suggestion of disloyalty among the citizens, there were infinite possibilities of harm in the unguarded utterances, which are constantly occurring in familiar letters. matters, which it is of the highest importance to keep concealed from the enemy, may be within the knowledge of every citizen, and it becomes necessary either to induce or to compel citizens not to write of such matters. but it was not only against the undesigned harm which loyal people might do, that it was necessary to guard. there was good reason to suspect that in quebec, as well as in new york, there was a considerable proportion of english speaking people who were by no means well affected towards the government, and who would not hesitate to impart to the enemy any information which they thought might be of assistance. the king, in his instructions to carleton[ ] as governor, enjoined him to signify to the loyal merchants and planters the necessity for caution against allowing their letters to become the means of conveying information to the enemy, and directed him to use every possible effort to frustrate the schemes of the disloyal carried on through the medium of correspondence. the method employed by the governor to forestall danger from this source was the simple one of standing guard over the channel through which correspondence must ordinarily pass. in this way, he would discover many of the disaffected, and at the same time show such people the danger to them of being implicated in matters of that kind. to merchants, however, the governor's course was a great inconvenience. all their letters were delayed, and many not delivered at all, for the governor's staff had neither the training in post office work, nor the sense of the importance of mercantile correspondence necessary to assure the merchants of the safety of their letters, when these passed out of the accustomed courses. the merchants remonstrated against the governor's action, and called upon finlay to assert the determination of the post office to secure respect for the act, which was being violated by the governor. finlay was a man of tact, and a member of the governor's executive council as well, and he counselled patience to the merchants. they acquiesced for a time, hoping that the governor's surveillance over their correspondence would be relaxed, but the governor continued firm. each season as the vessels began to come up the river, orders were issued for the renewal of the unpopular practice. what took place at quebec was repeated at new york; and during the short period of the british occupation of philadelphia, in that city, also. the postmaster of philadelphia, who had retired to england when the british office was closed in , returned on hearing that the city was again in the king's hands, but only to find that the letters were delivered to the commander-in-chief, who distributed them not only to the army and navy, but also to the merchants, and no steps were taken to collect the postage.[ ] at that time, and indeed until a quite recent date, the postage on letters was not paid until the delivery of them was effected, and when, as during the war of the revolution, the mails were diverted from their usual channel, the post office was unable to collect anything to meet the expenses it was incurring. to-day, owing to the greater cohesiveness among the departments of government, the post office would rest content in the fact that the loss of revenue was due to the action of the government as a whole, and could not be imputed to any failure on its own part, but, at that time, it viewed the situation as a private institution would. the loss of revenue seemed to affect it alone, and again and again the post office declared to the war office that, unless the revenue was maintained, it would be obliged to cut off the internal services between montreal and quebec. there was another matter arising out of the governor's lack of confidence in the english-speaking people in canada which was a source of much inconvenience to the deputy postmaster general. it has been the practice in canada to grant exemption to postmasters from the billeting of the troops upon them. the barracks which had been erected in montreal were destroyed by fire, and it was necessary that the soldiers should be provided for by the citizens. but the duty was grudgingly undertaken, and indeed the disfavour with which the soldiers were regarded in montreal was one of the chief grounds of complaint on the part of the governors. exemption from billeting was an ancient privilege of postmasters. in several of the colonies it was expressly granted, and the continental congress relieved its postmasters from all military duties. in canada the advantages the post office was able to offer to its postmasters were small and insignificant, and one of the most valued privileges was the assurance of relief from billeting. the postmaster of montreal complained to finlay that, in disregard of the understanding on which he had accepted the postmastership, an officer and his servant had been quartered upon him and he demanded their removal. finlay, nothing doubting, laid the postmaster's letter before the governor, who, to finlay's surprise, took exception to what he termed the extraordinary and peremptory tone of the letter, and commanded finlay to dismiss the postmaster.[ ] to finlay this order was a great embarrassment, as suitable postmasters were difficult to find, and, besides, the postmaster had accepted the office merely to oblige finlay. finlay laid these facts before the governor and pleaded for a reconsideration, but the governor was inexorable. carleton relinquished the governorship at this time, and finlay appealed to haldimand, who succeeded carleton, but with no better success. the post office encountered the same kind of ill-will here as elsewhere from the military authorities. with the greatest vigilance on their part, much correspondence was passing backward and forward of which they could know nothing, and the suspicions natural under the circumstances were heightened by what they knew of the opinions of many of the people. the regularity of the trips between quebec and montreal, which were resumed soon after the americans had withdrawn from the country, seemed to haldimand a source of danger. although there was no large hostile force in the province, affairs were still unsettled, and a mail courier whose movements were known in every detail could easily be waylaid by the marauding parties which infested the long route on the banks of the st. lawrence. haldimand would have preferred holding the regular service in suspense until peace was obtained, depending on occasional expresses to maintain necessary communications. during the year there was no material change in the situation. when the british occupied new york in the autumn of , the monthly trips between england and new york were resumed. but the activity of the privateers was greatly increased; and while none of the packets on the new york station were taken, the "swallow" on its way to lisbon in february was captured by the war vessel which had carried franklin to france,[ ] and the "weymouth," which was taking the mails from the west indies was obliged to strike to the "oliver cromwell" of new london, a privateer carrying twenty guns and one hundred and fifty-three men.[ ] france, though not at war with england, saw in the revolt of the colonies an opportunity for revenge for late humiliations, and she strained the laws of neutrality to the utmost in her effort to assist the americans. cruisers bearing american names, but armed with french guns, and manned by french sailors ranging the channel, wrought havoc with british merchant shipping, and carried their prizes into the harbours of normandy and brittany. some regard, however, had to be paid to appearances so long as france had not actually broken with england; and it was not until the alliance between the americans and the french was consummated in february , that the hands of the french were quite free. from that time england's position on the sea was changed greatly for the worse, and the record of the packet service was one of almost unbroken disaster. on the th of june the packet "le despencer" on her way from falmouth to new york, was set upon by two privateers, the "nancy" with sixteen guns and one hundred and twenty men, and another having fourteen guns and one hundred and fifteen men. after an hour's fighting, in which his vessel was disabled, the captain of the "le despencer" was obliged to yield to superior force.[ ] in september, the "duke of york," on one of the north american stations, was taken by a french frigate of thirty-six guns;[ ] and in the same month, the "harriott" and the "eagle," the one bound for new york, and the other for carolina, both fell as prizes to the "vengeance," a privateer of twenty guns and one hundred and ten men, belonging to paul jones' fleet and commanded by a frenchman, captain ricot.[ ] from the year until , nine packets on the several north american stations were captured, and seven were more or less seriously damaged. some idea of the extent to which the packet service was crippled during the war of the revolution may be gathered from the fact that of the five vessels on the new york station in , four were taken and one damaged. of the six on the west indian station, four were taken and one damaged, and of the three on the carolina station two were taken.[ ] the importance of these facts in their influence on the outcome of the war has not so far received the attention the subject merits. footnotes: [ ] _pickering papers_, vol. (_mass. hist. soc._). [ ] g.p.o., _document in record room_. [ ] _pickering papers_, vol. . [ ] _ibid._, vol. . [ ] _journals, continental congress_, ii. . [ ] _ibid._, ii. . [ ] foxcroft to todd, _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _am. arch._, fourth series, vi. . [ ] _journals, continental congress_, iii. . [ ] g.p.o., _american letter-book_, - , p. . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _am. arch._, fourth series, iv. . [ ] _ibid._, ii. . [ ] _am. arch._, fifth series, i. . [ ] placard signed by franklin, _papers cont. cong._, no. , p. . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _journals, continental congress_, v. . [ ] finlay to todd, _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _the american revolution_, by c. h. van tyne, p. . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, ix. - . [ ] _hist. mss. com._, , amer., i. . [ ] _c. o._ , vols. and ; also _can. arch._, b. , p. and g.p.o., _treasury_, x. . [ ] _can. arch._, m. , p. , art. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, x. - . [ ] _can. arch._, b. series, cc. [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _ibid._, . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] g.p.o., _treasury_, ix. . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _ibid._, x. . chapter v beginnings of exclusively canadian postal service-- administration of hugh finlay--opening of communication with england by way of halifax--postal convention with united states. a point has now been reached, beyond which the sequence of events in the american post office no longer forms an integral part of the narrative. there had, indeed, been no actual postal connection between canada and the revolted colonies since the beginning of war. communication between quebec, montreal and new york had been interrupted in may by the capture of ticonderoga. the abandonment of the colonial post office by the home authorities at the end of the same year, left the four post offices on the banks of the st. lawrence the sole remnants of the system which had extended from quebec to georgia. though finlay was nominally the associate deputy postmaster general for the district between canada and the southern boundary of virginia, his real authority was confined to the service of quebec, three rivers, berthier and montreal. finlay occupied important positions in the government of the country, from his arrival in the year when canada fell into the hands of the british, until his death in . his knowledge of the french language procured for him a nomination as justice of the peace, the duties of which office were, owing to the circumstances of the time, delicate and responsible. two years after a regular government was established, finlay was nominated to the legislative council, and a glance over the proceedings of that body will show that he always took an important, and often a leading part in its transactions. he was clerk of the crown in chancery and provincial auditor, and, for a number of years, chairman of the land committee, the duties of which were to superintend the distribution of the crown lands to the settlers, who came into the country in large numbers. finlay was much attached to the french canadians. he became their advocate in council, and incurred some displeasure on the part of the governor for his pertinacity on their behalf. the _maîtres de poste_ were the objects of his special attention. he endeavoured, though unsuccessfully, to assimilate their position to that of the masters of the post houses in england. as their standing and rights were but roughly defined, they had to endure much hardship and oppression from the ill-nature and rapacity of travellers, and finlay's championship was of substantial service to them.[ ] when canada was invaded by the americans in , finlay drew up a form of pledge for the _maîtres de poste_ to sign, in which they bound themselves to defend the country from the king's enemies, to give to the government all useful information they might become possessed of, and to render faithful service in the conveyance of the mail couriers. all the _maîtres de poste_ except three signed the engagement.[ ] to finlay, in truth, the maintenance of the organization of _maîtres de poste_ was indispensable. without them the mails could not be carried, except at an outlay which the revenues were not able to bear. it has always been the practice of the post office in this country to take advantage of any carrying agencies which might be operating on a route, to secure the transportation of the mails on approximately the same terms as those at which ordinary freight of the same bulk would be conveyed. thus, by utilizing a stage coach, the cost of conveyance between two towns was a mere fraction of what it would be, if the same conditions of speed and security were required in a conveyance used exclusively for the mails. in the _maîtres de poste_ finlay had a transportation agency, which was unexcelled at that period, and by protecting them and confirming to them the exclusive right to provide for passenger travel along the road from montreal to quebec, he obtained not only all the ordinary advantages accruing to the public from the operation of this agency, but secured the conveyance of his couriers from stage to stage at half the charge paid by travellers. finlay's efforts on behalf of the _maîtres de poste_ were first exerted in the legislative council.[ ] he desired to obtain an ordinance defining their duties, and declaring their right to the exclusive privilege of providing horses and vehicles to travellers. having succeeded in this, he endeavoured to have himself appointed superintendent of the _maîtres de poste_. in this he had to encounter the opposition of the governor who, though personally friendly to finlay, was unwilling to allow himself to be occupied with the matter, while he was engaged with the more important duty of providing for the defence of the country. finlay was a man of much persistence, and when he found the governor indisposed to give him the appointment, he sought the aid of the postmaster general, to whom he represented that on his control over the _maîtres de poste_ depended his ability to secure the conveyance of the mails at a reasonable charge.[ ] governor haldimand resented the pressure thus brought on him, declaring that the postal service of canada was quite equal, if not superior, to the service in england. not long afterwards, however, the governor relented so far as to give finlay a temporary holding of the position he coveted, and when conditions became settled, his appointment was made permanent.[ ] the stoppage of the service to new york made it necessary to provide otherwise for the maintenance of the connection with great britain. while navigation was open on the st. lawrence occasional visits were made to quebec by war vessels and merchantmen, and all such opportunities to send mails to england were taken advantage of. with halifax, also, communication was opened by means of a vessel which ran from quebec to tatamagouche, on the straits of northumberland, from which point the journey to halifax was an easy overland trip.[ ] during the summer, therefore, communication with great britain was maintained without special difficulty. when navigation on the st. lawrence closed, however, and vessels could no longer reach quebec, the situation was entirely changed. haldimand, in a letter to a friend, written in november , bemoans his isolation. he will receive no news whatever, unless the rebels should manage to get into the province, an eventuality he has done his best to prevent by destroying their supplies on lake champlain. the only possible means of establishing a winter communication with great britain was to send couriers by the inland route to halifax. at this period and for a long time afterwards, this route presented many difficulties. it was very long, and at certain seasons the natural obstacles in the way of travel were nearly insuperable. the connecting links between the maritime provinces and quebec were the portages between the waters running into the st. lawrence and those running into the st. john river. of those there were several, but the one which was adopted ran from notre dame du portage, a few miles west of river du loup, in south-easterly direction until it reached lake temiscouata. during the french regime, despatches were not infrequently carried between the governor of quebec and the governor of louisburg. the courier, who had despatches from the governor of quebec for halifax, would travel on foot over a fair road on the south shore of the st. lawrence, to the portage between kamouraska and river du loup. from this point his course ran over the portage between the st. lawrence and the st. john river systems. after a toilsome journey of thirty-seven miles over a country alternating between mountains and swamps, the courier reached lake temiscouata. having crossed this lake, he came to the entrance of the madawaska river, which runs due south until it empties into the st. john river. from this point to fort howe, the site of the present city of st. john, there was a long river journey of two hundred and twenty-eight miles. the trip from st. john to halifax took the courier across the bay of fundy to annapolis, thence along the annapolis valley to windsor, and so on to halifax. the distance from quebec to halifax by this route was six hundred and twenty-seven miles. this route was followed frequently by couriers during the winters of the years of the war of the revolution. in , finlay proposed to introduce some system into the arrangements by having couriers from quebec and halifax meet at fort howe for the exchange of despatches. while the war lasted, the arrangement was to be kept secret. in , the merchants in london who traded to quebec urged the adoption of this route for a regular winter service, but the danger of having the couriers intercepted by prowling parties of americans on the long unprotected stretches made it impossible to have more than an occasional trip. the trips, also, cost at least £ each, a not unimportant consideration in those days. finlay's activity as deputy postmaster general was confined to the inland service in canada, and he gave his attention to improving the conditions under which the service was performed. the state of the roads was a matter which occupied him considerably. they were probably, as finlay reported, as bad as they could be. for many years before canada passed into the possession of the british, the habitants were fully occupied with the war, and when peace was restored, the roads remained as the war had left them. work on the roads was never willingly undertaken by the habitants. when lanoullier constructed the great highway between montreal and quebec, it was only by his personal superintendence that he was able to keep the habitant to his task. as soon as his eye was withdrawn the work lagged. lanoullier lived until , and during the last few years of his service he failed to maintain the energy that had been an earlier characteristic; and after his death, the country was in a constant state of war, so that even if there had been an efficient grand voyer to succeed him, the general neglect into which the domestic affairs fell must have affected the condition of the roads. the procedure employed in calling upon the habitants to work upon the roads was that the grand voyer issued an order to the local captains of militia, who published the order to the habitants by notice at the church doors. the grand voyer complained to finlay that it was impossible to induce the habitants to work upon the roads. when the order was read at the church, the habitants would dismiss the matter with a shrug, and the remark "c'est un ordre anglais." the consequence of this neglect was seen in the details of finlay's reports[ ] as he travelled from quebec to montreal. as he passes from post house to post house, his journals are a monotonous, though indignant, recital of ruts, bogs and rocks. the roads were unditched, and the bridges dangerous trap holes. the bridges were no more than rows of poles lying crosswise, and scarcely longer than the width of a _calèche_. when the water rose, the poles were set afloat. the post houses should have been three leagues apart, but the difficulty of inducing the habitants to undertake the irksome and thankless duties of _maître de poste_, often compelled finlay to choose persons whose houses were at a considerable distance from where they should have been, and consequently post houses were found quite close together. there were places where the post houses were no more than one league apart. as a _maître de poste_ could not carry passengers beyond the next adjoining post house, the inconvenience of the frequent changes of horses was very great. the mail couriers were bound to travel by night as well as by day; and it is not difficult to believe finlay when he says that the courier travels by night at the risk of his neck. when other means of obtaining help with the road work failed, finlay offered to put the road in good condition and keep it so if given the services of twelve soldiers of the german legion, and a grant of £ . an application was made to finlay in for a postal service to the settlements and forts along the richelieu river. this was one of the most prosperous sections of the country. when catalogne made his report on the state of canada in , he was particularly struck with the evidences of comfort in some of the parishes bordering on the richelieu. it was not on this account, however, that it was thought necessary to extend to this district the benefits of the postal service. the valley of the richelieu was the pathway along which travel from lake champlain pursued its course into the heart of canada. settlements were established along the river at different times by french and english to oppose a barrier to incursions from the south. british forces were stationed in at st. johns, chambly and sorel; and it was to keep up a communication with these forces that a postal service was desired. the detachments at st. johns and chambly received their letters and despatches from montreal, but as the most important communications were with the governor, whose headquarters were at quebec, the commandant of the forces in this district, colonel st. leger, wished to have a regular exchange with sorel at the mouth of the river. although sorel was on the south side of the st. lawrence, it had maintained connection with the couriers on the grand route between quebec and montreal, by means of a courier who crossed the river to berthier, where a post office had been established since . the postmaster general was disinclined to open a route between sorel and st. johns, and the military authorities took the matter into their own hands. the conclusion of peace in and the recognition of the independence of the united states was immediately followed by the dissolution of the old establishment which administered the postal system of the northern district of north america. the services of finlay, as deputy postmaster general of that system, ceased forthwith; and in july , he was appointed to the much humbler position of deputy postmaster general of canada. foxcroft, finlay's associate in the deputyship was made british agent at new york for the packet boat service, which was resumed between great britain and the united states. dashwood, the departmental secretary of the old establishment, was appointed postmaster general of jamaica in .[ ] the first question of importance to occupy finlay under the new order of things was the means by which communication between great britain and canada was thereafter to be carried on. the merchants of quebec and montreal hearing that a line of sailing packets was to be re-established between falmouth and new york,[ ] at once demanded that the service between canada and new york should be restored. conditions were not favourable to its resumption. the rancours of the war were not yet abated, and one or two messengers, who were sent down to new york by finlay, were insulted and maltreated by the americans. the postmaster general of the united states, hazzard, also set up difficulties.[ ] finlay's plan was to have the canadian mails taken down as far as albany by his courier, and to pay the american postage on them from albany to new york. but at this time there were no regular couriers between albany and new york; and consequently the canadian mails, having to depend on chance conveyance, would often miss the packet boats for which they were intended. finlay thought to overcome this difficulty by having his courier take the mails past albany and on to new york. hazzard, however, objected to this plan, and informed finlay that he would have the courier prosecuted if he attempted to go farther south than albany. finlay met this objection, but at a ruinous cost. he arranged with the postmaster at albany that the canadian courier should go on to new york, and that at the same time finlay would pay for this privilege at the rate of three shillings sterling per ounce for the mail, the bag being included in the weight. thus, if the mail bag weighed twenty pounds--no very great weight--finlay had to pay £ , the cost of wayleave for his courier to travel from albany to new york. he had, of course, to pay his courier's expenses as well. nor did the situation show a prospect of improvement. the united states perceived that the toll which the canadian post office would have to pay for leave to pass over their territory might be greatly increased by the simple expedient of establishing a post office near the canadian boundary, and compelling the canadian post office to pay a wayleave equal to the ordinary postage for the distance between that post office and new york, as well as the courier's wages and necessary expenses, for the americans did not propose to be at any expense in the matter. this scheme would net the americans four shillings an ounce. but as has happened so often since in the relations of canada with her neighbour to the south, the canadian post office was driven by these oppressive charges to the development of the alternative, though naturally much less favourable, opening to the sea. the distance from quebec to halifax by the temiscouata route was six hundred and twenty-seven miles as against rather less than four hundred miles, which is the distance from montreal to new york. the route to new york was the natural highway, which for a century and more had been pursued by indians, soldiers and travellers on their way from the british american colonies to canada. on the journey southward from montreal to new york, there was a good road from laprairie, opposite montreal to fort st. john, which was connected by the river richelieu with lake champlain. the trip down the lake from fort st. john to crown point (or fort frederic) was easily and pleasantly made by canoe or _bateau_. from crown point, the traveller had a choice of routes to the hudson river, which bore him to new york. kalm, the swedish naturalist who visited canada in , entered the country by the route described, and his account of the trip suggests no unusual difficulties.[ ] before the war the mail couriers from montreal to new york made the journey in from nine to ten days. the journey to halifax was of a very different character. at the best it could not be made in less than a month, and during a considerable period at the beginning and the end of each winter season the trip was very arduous and dangerous. there has been preserved the journal of a courier, durand, who carried a mail from quebec to halifax and back in the early winter months of .[ ] his trip downwards, starting on the th of january, offered no features unusual in a winter journey, most of which must be made on foot through a country a large part of which was unsettled. he reached halifax on the th of february, seven weeks from starting. the journey homeward was exceedingly toilsome and dangerous, and as conditions remained unchanged for many years, at this season when winter was relaxing its hold, it may be worth while to note some of the incidents on the route. at the bay du portage, on the lower st. john, durand and his three companions broke through the ice, and they with their mails were rescued with difficulty. they managed to get as far as presqu' isle, partly on the honeycombed ice, and partly in the woods, when they found themselves face to face with an ice jam. as it was impossible for durand to land his dogs on the shore, he clambered up the hill of ice, and he and the dogs had to make their way as best they could over the broken heaped-up pieces for twenty miles, when they came upon a stretch of water as clear as in summer. durand's guide had abandoned him and taken to the woods, but finding the snow too soft for his snow-shoes, after a league's trudging, he rejoined durand on the ice. the swift and swollen waters, which they now reached, compelled them to wait till they could build a canoe. embarking they poled their way for a couple of miles, as the speed of the current prevented rowing, when the ice began again to come down upon them in great masses. harnessing their dogs to an indian cart, they hauled their canoe another stretch, and on the th of april they reached grand falls. above the falls the ice, though bad, was firm enough; and having constructed a sled, they carried their canoe and baggage on it for fifteen leagues. from this point onward, although their difficulties were by no means at an end, they struggled on to the st. lawrence, and reached quebec on the th of april. the trip was a great disappointment to finlay. he had no intention of having it made at this time; but sir john johnston, superintendent general of indian affairs, had informed him that he was about to make a trip to halifax, and would be prepared to take a mail with him. finlay lost no time in advertising the fact throughout the colony, and had gathered a large number of letters when johnston changed his plans and did not go to halifax. there was nothing for finlay to do but to send a special courier. durand whom he engaged could not tell him what the cost would be, but from the figures furnished by another courier who had frequently carried despatches, he thought that £ would be about the expense. imagine his dismay when the account was shown to be £ , and he had collected less than £ as postage on the letters contained in the mail. there was no choice open to the colony. at whatever cost, an easy road must be made between quebec and halifax. dependence on a foreign, and, at the time, hostile nation, for communication with the mother country was not to be thought of, still less endured. indeed, in january , before the peace was signed, haldimand had taken steps to establish a road between canada and nova scotia. he sent a surveyor with two hundred men down to work on the temiscouata portage, and at the same time urged governor parr of nova scotia to do what was necessary to facilitate travel in his province. haldimand had observed that a considerable part of the expense of a mail service by this route arose from the extortionate charges for guides and forwarding, which were made by the acadians settled at aupaque, a few miles above fredericton.[ ] his plan, therefore, was to gather into his own hands all the agencies for transportation on the route; and with that end in view, he proposed to establish some experienced men at the head of lake temiscouata, with canoes and other facilities for travel, whose business it should be to convey passengers and mail couriers across the lake, down the madawaska river, and on down the st. john river as far as grand falls, where he intended to settle another post. from an acadian courier, named mercure, whom haldimand frequently employed to convey despatches to halifax, he learned that a number of acadians desired to take up land on the upper st. john, in order that they might be nearer ministers of religion, in the parishes on the st. lawrence. the plan was to place these acadians on the lands along the river from grand falls up to lake temiscouata, and it was hoped that the settlement thus formed would extend eventually to the st. lawrence. the governor of nova scotia responded heartily to haldimand's proposals, and the settlement, once begun under their united efforts, made rapid progress. when finlay travelled by this route to halifax in july , he found no settlers at all on the madawaska, and only some twenty acadians huddled together on the south bank of the st. john, opposite the mouth of the madawaska.[ ] from this point downwards to the grand falls, a distance of forty miles, the country was entirely unoccupied. in , a gentleman from scotland, who was making a tour through canada remarked with satisfaction on the regularity of the settlement over an extent of fifty miles of very rich country, and on the evidences of material well-being observable on every side.[ ] the people carried the modes of life of a self-dependent community with them, as the traveller says that the settlement was entirely isolated and self-contained, electing its own magistrates, and that a high degree of comfort prevailed. governor carleton, of new brunswick, who had assisted materially in the formation of the settlement, obtained a troop of soldiers from lord dorchester, and by manning the posts at presqu' isle, fredericton and st. john, he provided the means for keeping the road in good order. the section of the long route between quebec and halifax, which commenced at the northern end of the temiscouata portage, and ended at the mouth of the st. john river, was the one presenting most difficulties. but the other parts of the route, that is, the section between quebec and the temiscouata portage, which was entirely within the jurisdiction of the governor of quebec, and the section from st. john to halifax, which was partly in new brunswick, and partly in nova scotia, remain to be mentioned. the courier had a comparatively easy journey from quebec down the south shore of the st. lawrence to the entrance of the portage. there had been a fair road for some years through that part of the country, and in finlay, by the governor's orders, settled post houses on the route in order to facilitate the travel of mail couriers and others. the gentleman whose travels through canada have been mentioned, observed that it was a comfortable trip through these parts, and that the country was thickly settled, there being from twelve to sixteen families to the mile. the eastern end of the long route, that is, the part from st. john to halifax, consisted of a trip across the bay of fundy from st. john to annapolis, and a journey by land through the annapolis valley from annapolis to windsor, thence to halifax. the road from annapolis to halifax is described by finlay as very rough, but it was covered in three days in a one-horse carriage, and in two days on horseback. the maintenance of a continuous communication between quebec and halifax was effected in the following manner.[ ] canada controlled the section from quebec to fredericton, and provided couriers who made fortnightly trips over this part of the route. the section down the st. john river from fredericton to st. john, and thence by the bay to annapolis, was under the supervision of the government of new brunswick; while the eastern part, which lay entirely in nova scotia, was naturally managed by that government. in the summer of , the governor, lord dorchester, sent finlay over the route to halifax, to see what improvements would be required in order to enable this service to compete with the service over the shorter route from montreal to new york. dorchester at the same time submitted the whole scheme to the colonial office, intimating that if the home government saw fit to establish a packet service between england and halifax, the arrangements for the inland conveyance through the provinces would be found satisfactory. lord sydney, the colonial secretary, expressed the king's approval of the measures taken,[ ] and stated that the postmasters general had directed finlay to carry the plans into execution in a manner correspondent to lord dorchester's wishes. the lack of sufficient packet boats would prevent the establishment of a regular service from england for the moment, but it was hoped that vessels enough might be spared for the route, to make the service though not exactly regular yet of substantial benefit to the colonies. finlay in the course of his visit to st. john and halifax found much to encourage the hope that, with the improvement of the route, a satisfactory outlet from canada to the sea would be obtained at halifax. the chief trouble, he foresaw, lay in the divided responsibility for the maintenance of an efficient service, owing to the fact that post office authorities in the several provinces were entirely independent of one another. indeed, at that very time, the deputy postmasters general of new brunswick and nova scotia were at strife with one another, and were carrying on an active newspaper war as to which of the two was accountable for certain defects in the service.[ ] the distribution of the expense of the part of the service they had undertaken to maintain was another cause of complaint. finlay came back to canada after his trip to halifax bringing with him two strong convictions. one was that the service to be successful must be in the hands of one person. the other was that the correspondence between the provinces themselves was not of sufficient volume to cover the outlay, and that unless there were frequent english mails exchanged at halifax, the service would have to be dropped for lack of revenue to meet the large expense. he considered that if six mails a year could be exchanged between england and halifax, the postage arising would more than pay the expenses of the service. dorchester lost no time in transmitting to england the substance of finlay's recommendations, adding his own opinion that as soon as a continuous road to st. john had been constructed, and a sufficient number of people had been settled upon it to keep it open in winter, the foot couriers would be replaced by horsemen, and then the mails would be carried more speedily and securely than by way of new york. the governor, also, suggested that the postal service in all the provinces be put under the direction of finlay, who was a man of much experience, zeal, and practical ability, and who was entitled to this consideration from having lost a similar appointment by the late war.[ ] the home government approved of dorchester's recommendation as to finlay, whose commission as deputy postmaster general was extended to comprise the whole of the colonies in british north america. at the same time dorchester received the gratifying news that the post office had managed so to arrange matters that commencing with march the packet boats which ran between falmouth and new york would pass by way of halifax, stopping there two days on both the inward and the outward voyages. the service to halifax was to be limited, however, to eight monthly trips between march and october, as the admiralty had been informed that the prevailing winds off the nova scotia coast during the winter months were so contrary as to make it impracticable for the packets to call there during those months.[ ] in winter, therefore, it was still necessary to send the mails from canada for england by way of new york. the mails between nova scotia and england during the winter months were exchanged by means of a schooner, which the governor of nova scotia put on the course between halifax and new york. in the winter of , the conditions were made somewhat easier for the nova scotians, by the british post office directing that the packet agent at new york should send the nova scotia mails from new york to boston, so that the governor's schooner was not required to go further south than boston. to canada, the calling of the packet at halifax, was a great boon. it settled the seaport problem, which had many perplexing aspects. canada could never dispense with the new york route, unless the charges for transmission through the united states were made quite extortionate, and the success which had attended the efforts of canada to make an outlet through british territory would not be lost upon the americans when it became necessary to re-arrange the terms for transit through the united states. to merchants and others in quebec who depended exclusively on the halifax post office for their correspondence with england, the service of the packet boats, curiously enough, developed a grievance, which had a real foundation, as will be seen from the following case. the postmaster of halifax reported to the postmaster general that the admiral of the "leander," which was on the point of sailing for england, expressed much dissatisfaction because a mail was not sent by his ship.[ ] in explanation of his refusal to do this the postmaster stated that before the packet boats began to call at halifax, he made up and despatched a mail by every ship of war and merchantman that sailed from halifax for england, but since the commencement of the packet service, he despatched no mails by any other vessels than the packets. the understanding of the arrangement by the postmaster was that the packet boats would not have been sent to halifax if they were not to be employed exclusively, and he would no more think of sending a mail by any other steamer than he would send the letters to annapolis by the first traveller who happened to be going in that direction. the explanation was acceptable to both the post office and the admiralty, but there can be no question that the employment of the packet boats curtailed the opportunities which the nova scotians had enjoyed of corresponding with england. before leaving the quebec-halifax service, it seems proper to mention a remarkable scheme which was submitted to the postmaster general by william knox, late under secretary of state, for a packet service between england and north america, and between the several parts of the latter.[ ] knox was under secretary of state during the war, and had in a large measure directed the operations of the packet service on behalf of the army in america. the proposition, which was the result of a request by lord walsingham, the postmaster general, for an expression of knox's views, was based on the sound principle that, until the post office provided facilities adequate to the requirements of the correspondence which passed between england and north america, it could never compete successfully with the number of private ships continually crossing the atlantic. knox pointed out that there was only a monthly service between england, halifax and new york, and that, at the very best, five months must elapse before an answer could be returned to a letter written in england and addressed to any of the interior parts of british north america. the plan knox unfolded to walsingham was to have a fleet of fast sailing vessels ply between england and caplin bay, newfoundland. at caplin bay there would be other vessels awaiting the british packets, and, on their arrival, one of these would set off with the mails for halifax and rhode island, and another for bermuda and virginia, each vessel returning by its own route, to caplin bay. these services were to be looped together by auxiliary services, and connected with other lines further south, until great britain, newfoundland, canada, the united states and the west indies were all bound together by an elaborate system of intercommunication, which would give an exchange of mails, between all the parts three times a month. this scheme, it is needless to say, was never carried into execution. the results of the war had other important consequences for canada, besides that of forcing upon quebec and the maritime provinces the first of the series of steps in the direction of common action, which led eventually to confederation. when peace was concluded in , the disbanded soldiers and other adherents of the british cause came and settled in canada, and there was an early demand for postal accommodation in the newly peopled districts. the first settlement in upper canada was at niagara, where four or five families took up land in . these were reinforced in , by a number of the men of butler's rangers, and at the end of that year, the settlement was increased to over six hundred. americans came over in large numbers, and between them and the steady stream inwards of loyalists, the district from niagara to the head of the lake at hamilton was rapidly settled. a gentleman travelling through that part of the province in remarked that it was all under settlement.[ ] at the other end of the province, settlement was going forward with much rapidity. from the eastern boundary westward as far as the township of elizabethtown, near the present site of brockville, there was a continuous line of settlers. the extreme east was taken up by highland scotch as far as dundas county, and the western part of this county was occupied by germans. both highlanders and germans came from the same district on the mohawk river in new york state. westward from dundas county the settlers were more largely of british-american origin. at elizabethtown there was a break in the settlement until frontenac county was reached, as the land in that intermediate district did not appear so favourable. at kingston, settlement was recommended, and from that point to the western end of the bay of quinte, farms were taken up with an alacrity that was unsurpassed in any part of the province. the incomers were all from the states to the south, and in their old homes had enjoyed many of the conveniences of civilized life. in , as soon as they had become fairly established, they petitioned the government for the extension of the post office into the new districts, and two years later post offices were opened at lachine, cedars, coteau du lac, charlottenburg, cornwall, new johnston, lancaster, osnabruck, augusta, elizabethtown and kingston.[ ] this was as far as the regular mail couriers ran. trips were made once a year during the winter, and in summer, every opportunity afforded by vessels going up to lake ontario, was taken advantage of for the despatch of mails. in the first advertisement of the service of the new districts, it was stated that the mails would be despatched every four weeks, but this regularity could not be attained without a considerable outlay, and it was found better to utilize such means of conveyance as happened to be offering, for the carriage of the mails. though the line of post offices along the st. lawrence terminated at kingston, reasonable provision was made for communication with the remote settlements of niagara, detroit and michillimackinac. detroit and michillimackinac are in the territory of the united states, but the forts at these places were detained in the hands of the british until as security, until the obligations imposed on the americans by the treaty of paris were fulfilled. offices were established in each of the three settlements mentioned, and the post office undertook to send the mails forward from kingston as opportunities occurred of doing so with safety.[ ] in the first postal convention to which canada was a party, was concluded with the united states. under its terms[ ] the united states post office engaged to act as intermediary for the conveyance of mails passing between canada and great britain. when a mail for canada reached new york by the british packet, it was taken in hand by the british packet boat agent, who after assorting it, placed it in a sealed bag, which he delivered to the new york post office. the postmaster of new york sent this bag forward by messenger as far as burlington, vermont, from whence it was taken to montreal by a canadian courier, who travelled between montreal and burlington every two weeks. in these trips were made weekly. for this service the canadian post office agreed to pay the united states department the sum which the latter would have been entitled to collect on the same number of united states letters passing between burlington and new york. as the mails were contained in a sealed bag, the united states post office had no means of arriving at the amount due to them for this service, and they agreed to accept the sworn statement of the british and canadian officials on this point. the convention, also, provided for the interchange of correspondence between canada and the united states. according to the practice of the period, a letter from montreal for new york, for instance, was chargeable with the postage due for conveyance from montreal to the united states boundary. this was collected by the canadian post office. in addition to this, the united states post office charged the postage due to it for the conveyance from the boundary to new york. the arrangements for the collection of the postage due to each administration were somewhat peculiar. on a letter from canada to the united states, the canadian postage as far as burlington had to be paid at the time the letter was posted. the united states postage was collected from the person to whom the letter was delivered. on letters passing the other way, that is, from the united states to canada, another arrangement was possible. the sender could, of course, if he chose, pay the united states postage to burlington, and the canadian post office would collect its own postage from the addressed. but besides this arrangement, which was common to letters passing in either direction, a person in the united states could post a letter for canada entirely unpaid, and the total amount due would be collected on the delivery of the letter to the person addressed in canada. in this case, the postage due to the united states was collected by the postmaster at montreal, who assumed the duties of agent, in this respect, for the united states post office. the united states did not allow any of their postmasters to act as agents for the collection of canadian postage in the united states, alleging that there were too many post offices in that country for burlington to look after them properly. the convention of contained a feature which was at that time novel in post office arrangements. it provided for the conveyance of periodical magazines between canada and great britain, charging for its services the unusually low figure of eight cents a magazine. the convention was signed by the deputy postmaster general of canada and the postmaster general of the united states. under this convention the arrangements for the exchange of correspondence between canada and great britain were very satisfactory. during the eight months when the packet boats called at halifax, the mails passed by the route through the maritime provinces. in the winter, while the packet boats did not visit halifax, the mails were sent by way of new york. the improvements in the roads on the route through the united states, reduced greatly the time of conveyance between montreal and new york. travellers from montreal to new york in noted that there was a rough road as far as burlington, and a rather better one to skenesborough (whitehall), while from this place to new york, the journey was made by coach.[ ] in upper canada, postal affairs were brought into some prominence when that part of the country was erected into a separate province by the constitutional act of . as will be recalled, the service beyond kingston was conducted in rather haphazard fashion. it was maintained largely in the interest of the little garrisons at niagara, detroit and michillimackinac. the first governor of the new province, general simcoe, was a man of great energy, and zealous in the discharge of any duty laid upon him. the total population in upper canada at the time did not exceed ten thousand. but though these were not neglected, it was in preparation for the thousands whom simcoe foresaw thronging into the province, that his attention was chiefly occupied. before he left london for canada, simcoe had written to the government several letters, some of them of great length, discussing every conceivable topic of colonial policy. in submitting the list of officials which he considered necessary for the government of the province, the newly appointed governor stated that he had in mind a proper person who would go to canada as printer, if he had a salary, and the governor thought that by making this person provincial postmaster[ ] as well as government printer, a salary might be raised from the two offices, sufficient to induce him to go. when simcoe reached quebec in november , he consulted with finlay on the subject, and was confirmed in his opinion as to the desirability of a post office establishment in upper canada. there was, however, a preliminary question of great importance which it appeared to him necessary to have settled. the question was akin to that which formed the subject of a later controversy between the home government and the colonies, as to whether sums collected from the public as postage were to be regarded as a tax, and as such would require the consent of the colonies before they could be appropriated to the use of the postmaster general in great britain. franklin, it will be remembered, contended that these sums were not a tax, but simply compensation for services rendered by the post office. the government, which founded an argument for the legality of its course in laying taxes in america, on the fact that the colonies had hitherto contentedly paid postage on the letters conveyed by the post office, and made no objection that the profits of the american post office should be sent to england, insisted that the postage collected was a tax. simcoe had no doubt on the subject himself. he fully shared the earlier view of the british government, and proceeded to a further discussion of the subject. in , in a belated attempt to stay the progress of the rebellion in the colonies by a course of conciliation, the government, by an act of parliament,[ ] renounced the right it had hitherto claimed of taxing the colonies except so far as might be necessary for the regulation of commerce; and in the case of such regulative duties, the proceeds from them were to ensure to the benefit, not of the home government, but of the colony from which the duties were collected. whether a post office tax was to be classed among duties for the regulation of commerce was a point on which simcoe could not quite make up his mind. but if it were to be so regarded, then by the act of , which was embodied in the constitutional act of , the net produce from the upper canadian post office should be appropriated to the use of the province, and the question simcoe asked was whether it did not lie with the general assembly of the province, rather than with the parliament of great britain, to superintend the public accounts of duties so levied and collected.[ ] in order that the whole matter might be placed beyond doubt, simcoe suggested that when a post office bill for the new province came to be drawn up, it should contain a preamble describing its connection with duties for the regulation of commerce, and vesting the collection of the tax in the deputy postmaster general of lower canada, who should be made accountable for the revenue so raised, to the legislature of upper canada. dundas,[ ] the home secretary, to whom the matter was submitted, expressed no decided opinion upon it, but suggested that bills of that nature ought not to be passed upon by the governor, but should be reserved in order that the king's pleasure might be signified regarding them. the question of a separate establishment for upper canada, as will be seen hereafter, occupied the attention both of the local government and of the general post office in england, but though several propositions were submitted by both sides, the objections to it were found insuperable. the only other event of importance occurring in upper canada at this period which affected the history of the post office was the founding of the city of toronto. until , when the lines of the present city were laid out under the direction of governor simcoe, and for some years later, the future capital of ontario[ ] was in a state of the most complete isolation. on the way up lake ontario, settlement reached no further than the western end of the bay of quinte. an official sent from york, as toronto was named in , to kingston, to meet and accompany immigrants to york, found very few desirous of going so great a distance from all settlements. the country to the west of toronto was equally unsettled. the line of farm holdings from niagara westward, came to an end at the head of the lake about the site of the present city of hamilton. from that point to york, the country was occupied by the mississauga indians. when it was determined to remove the seat of government to york in , the chief justice complained that the lack of accommodation of any kind was so great that the larger part of those whom business or duty called to york must remain during their stay there, either in the open air, or crowded together in huts or tents, in a manner equally offensive to their feelings and injurious to their health.[ ] the exact date on which the post office was established at york, and the name of the first postmaster are unfortunately not disclosed by the records, which are far from complete. there is a probability, however, which amounts to practical certainty, that the post office was opened in either or , and that the first postmaster was william willcocks. lieutenant governor hunter states that in , excepting the single trip made annually from montreal to niagara, there was no service beyond kingston, the mails for the posts west of that point being taken by the king's vessels, and their distribution effected by the commandants at the posts.[ ] in , there was certainly a regular postmaster at york, as the legislative council in that year directed the surveyor general to give wilcox, the postmaster, such information as would enable finlay to answer certain questions asked by the governor general respecting the establishment of regular couriers between quebec and york.[ ] besides the inhabitants of the rapidly growing town of york, the post office at that place served to accommodate for many years the german settlement in markham township, which was begun in under the leadership of berczy, an enterprising promoter. in october , finlay's connection with the post office in canada ceased, and it is unpleasant to add that he was dismissed as a defaulter. he admitted an indebtedness to the postmaster general, amounting to £ . to the lieutenant governor finlay explained[ ] that a large part of the debt arose in from the disallowance for a number of years past, of certain items of credit, which had been accepted and passed at the general post office. the death in bankruptcy of the postmaster at three rivers increased considerably the amount of finlay's obligations to the postmaster general. finlay pointed out, with truth, that he had not only successfully maintained the post office in canada under very trying circumstances, but that through the relations he had established with the _maîtres de poste_, he had saved to the postmaster general not less than £ , . he pleaded, therefore, that as large an allowance as possible be made, on account of these considerations, and that he might be given time to pay any balance which might thereafter be found due. finlay's plea was strongly supported by the leading merchants in the colony, and by the lieutenant governor, who represented that he was the oldest servant of the crown in canada, being senior executive and legislative councillor. when the land committee was formed he was made chairman, and on him fell practically all the onerous duties devolving on the committee during that period. he was seventy years of age, forty of which had been spent in the service of the colony, and was suffering from an incurable disease, from which he died not long after his dismissal. notwithstanding these pleas, judgment was obtained for the amount of the debt, and some land which had been granted to him in stanstead county as a special recognition of his services, was attached by the orders of the postmaster general. either the claim was not pressed rigorously, or the land did not suffice to cover the debt, for after standing on the departmental books as uncollectable for many years, finlay's debt was finally wiped off in . footnotes: [ ] notice in _quebec gazette_, february , . [ ] _can. arch._, b. series, cc. . [ ] finlay "papers," _can. arch._, m. . [ ] _c. o._ , vol. . [ ] _can. arch._, b., cc. . [ ] _ibid._, lxii. . [ ] _can. arch._, b., cc. _passim_. [ ] g.p.o., _commission book_, - . [ ] _quebec gazette_, november , . [ ] finlay's _report to legislative council_, july , . [ ] peter kalm, _travels into north america_, , vols. and . [ ] _can. arch._, b., lxxi . [ ] _can. arch._, b., cl. and . [ ] finlay papers, _can. arch._, m. . [ ] p. campbell, _travels in north america_ (edinburgh, ). [ ] finlay's "report," _can. arch._, m. . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] finlay's "report," _can. arch._, m. . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] record office, _admiralty-secretary in letters_, bundle . [ ] record office, _admiralty-secretary in letters_, bundle . [ ] _extra official state papers_ (knox), london and dublin, . [ ] _freer papers_, i. . [ ] _quebec gazette_, may , . [ ] _quebec gazette_, may , . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, i. [ ] _freer papers_, i. . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] , geo. iii. c. . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] the affairs of the colonies were at this period managed by the home secretary. [ ] the province of upper canada became known in political geography as ontario in . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, c. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, q. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , pp. - . chapter vi administration of george heriot--extension of postal service in upper canada--irritating restrictions imposed by general post office--disputes with the administrator of the colony. george heriot, who succeeded finlay, had been a clerk in the board of ordinance for many years before his appointment as deputy postmaster general. he was a man of some literary ability, his history of canada which was published in being a high-priced item in catalogues of americana. of heriot's zeal and intelligence the general post office had no reason to complain, but he had a sensitive self-esteem, which was a most unfortunate possession as matters then stood. ordinarily, personal characteristics such as these would call for no mention, but the relations between the post office and the provincial authorities at this time were so difficult that the utmost tact on the part of the deputy postmaster general would scarcely gain more than a tolerable success. the position of the deputy postmaster general towards the governor and the legislatures was peculiar. as an official of the general post office in london, he was subject to the orders of the postmaster general and to no other authority whatever. neither the governors nor the legislatures had the least right to give him instructions. although the postal service was indispensable to the conduct of the official and commercial transactions of the colony, and its maintenance in a state of efficiency a matter of first importance to the colony, the power of the colonial authorities went no further than the submission of their views and desires to the postmaster general or to his deputy in canada. to a community jealous of its rights of self-government, the situation was irritating enough, but the natural annoyance might have been largely relieved by an appreciative regard, on the part of the post office, for the wants of the rapidly increasing settlements. this, however, was the last trait the post office was likely to show at this period. the post office was subordinate to the treasury, a relationship it never permitted itself to disregard. the deputy postmaster general was under strict injunctions not to enter upon any scheme for the extension or improvement of the postal service, unless he was fully satisfied that the resulting expense would be covered by the augmented revenue. each application for improvement in the service was dealt with from this standpoint. the fact that the service in any part of the country was very profitable to the post office was held to be no justification for applying any portion of the profits to make up the deficiencies of revenue in districts less favourably situated. on one occasion, where the needs in some new districts in course of settlement appeared to heriot to demand special consideration, he directed that for a time the whole of the surplus revenue from upper canada should be applied to extensions and improvements. when his action was reported to the postmaster general, it was promptly disavowed, and he was compelled to cancel the arrangements he had made.[ ] a policy of this kind was ill-adapted to colonies, which were steadily expanding by the implanting of small, widely-separated communities, and the man on whom devolved the duty of carrying on a postal service under these conditions had no easy task. finlay had certain advantages as a member of the legislative council which heriot did not enjoy, and moreover his difficulties were not so great. it was only after finlay had ceased to be deputy postmaster general that the settlements in upper canada began to insist on a regular postal service; and in cases where demands were made upon him which his instructions forbade him to grant, he could always depend on the good will of his associates in the council to relieve him from unreasonable pressure. as superintendent of post houses, his influence with the _maîtres de poste_ enabled him to keep the cost of their services on the main routes at a low figure. although finlay's connection with the post office was terminated under disagreeable circumstances, no attempt was made to deprive him of his provincial appointments, which he held until his death at the end of . heriot then lost no time in applying to be appointed to the vacancy in the legislative council, and to the superintendency of post houses. he was successful in neither case. heriot was uniformly unfortunate in his relations with the governors of the colony. his self-assertiveness irritated those who were accustomed to look for nothing but deference from the persons about them. heriot seems to have accepted the decision as respects the council as final. but he made a strong effort to force the hand of lieutenant governor milnes with regard to the post houses. he appealed to the postmaster general in england, who made representations to the colonial office in the matter. the post office had already begun to feel the inconvenience of separating the control of the _maîtres de poste_ from the office of the deputy postmaster general, as these officials declined to continue to carry the mail couriers on terms more favourable than those granted to the ordinary travelling public. the colonial office was inclined to the post office view on the subject, but the lieutenant governor was firm in maintaining the position he had taken. the _maîtres de poste_, he stated, were habitants who possessed, each of them, a small property which rendered them quite independent. their service, which was to carry passengers on the king's road, was an onerous one, and the advances in the price of the articles of life, coupled with the fact that their exclusive privilege was systematically disregarded, made them reluctant to take the appointments. men of this kind, milnes declared, required management as they would not submit to coercion. finlay through his personal influence with the _maîtres de poste_ had managed to obtain the conveyance of the mails at sixpence a league, which was only half the charge made to the public for the same service. for some time before his death, finlay had difficulty in inducing the _maîtres de poste_ to continue this favourable arrangement, and on his death they refused to work under it any longer. the _maîtres de poste_ had the full sympathy of the lieutenant governor who saw no reason for the discrimination in favour of the post office. although he endeavoured to obtain a favourable arrangement for the mail couriers, he considered it would be most impolitic on the part of the post office to insist on continuing to occupy their position of advantage. but valuable as the post house system was in the early period of the country's growth, it soon had to yield to a higher class of travelling facility. as travel in the colony increased the two-wheeled _calèches_ drawn by a single horse and barely holding two persons would no longer do. the changes at the post houses, every hour or little more, with the long delays while the horses were secured and harnessed, were very wearisome. before heriot's term expired, stage coaches had been placed on the principal roads. in leaving the old system and its ways, it will be interesting to record the impressions of hugh gray, an english gentleman, who travelled from quebec to montreal in .[ ] the mode of travel, he said, would not bear comparison with that in england, and the inns were very far from clean, but he found many things to lighten the hardships of travel in canada. if, leaving england aside, he compared the accommodations in canada with those in spain, portugal, or even in parts of france, he found the balance in favour of canada. the politeness and consideration gray received at the inns in canada offset many inconveniences. often on the continent, after a day of fatiguing travel, sometimes wet and hungry, he was obliged to carry his own luggage into the inn at which he had arrived and see, himself, that it was put in a place of safety. but in canada he was charmed with the politeness and urbanity with which he was welcomed at every inn: "voulez-vous bien, monsieur, avoir la complaisance d'entrer; voilà une chaise, monsieur, asseyez vous, s'il vous plait." "if they had the thing you wanted," continued gray, "it was given to you with a good grace; if they had not they would tell you so in such a tone and manner as to show they were sorry for it." "je n'en ai point. j'en suis mortifié." "you saw it was their poverty that refused you, not their will. then if there was no inn to be had, you were never at a loss for shelter. there was not a farmer, shopkeeper, nay, nor even a _seigneur_ or country gentleman who, on being civilly applied to for accommodation, would not give you the best in the house and every accommodation in his power." the determination of the lieutenant governor to hold heriot at arm's length, and allow him no part in the local government was unfortunate, as it prevented the mutual understanding between the colonial authorities and the post office which must have been beneficial to both. heriot made several later efforts to secure the control of the _maîtres de poste_, but always without success. the principal feature of heriot's administration was the establishment of a regular mail service to the settlements in upper canada. the single opportunity for the exchange of correspondence afforded by the post office authorities during the many months when navigation was closed was absurdly inadequate to the needs of the rapidly increasing province. the courier set out from montreal in january of each year, travelling on foot or snow-shoes with his mail bag slung over his shoulder. he did very well when he covered eighteen miles a day. the journey to niagara, with the return to montreal, was not accomplished until spring was approaching, three months later. the lieutenant governor of upper canada, general hunter, was anxious to improve the communication in that province, and opened correspondence with heriot on the subject.[ ] heriot laid the lieutenant governor's proposition before the postmaster general with his warm commendation. he pointed out that the rapid increase in the population, the salubrity of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, all encouraged the belief that upper canada would soon become one of the first of the british settlements in north america. general hunter, heriot also reminded the postmaster general, had in course of construction a road from the bay of quinte to york, which in a few months would allow of easy travel by any of the common conveyances of the country. more, his excellency when informed of the views held by the post office on proposals involving expenditure, readily undertook that the province should make up any deficiency arising from the carrying of his schemes into execution. this was the first considerable proposition submitted by heriot since his appointment, and the postmaster general made it the occasion of an admonition as to the considerations heriot should have in mind in dealing with a proposition of that kind. he sent extracts of letters addressed to finlay on the question of establishing new posts, pointing out that they served to show that unless any new proposition had for its object both the public convenience and the interests of the revenue, it was not to be encouraged. the system of posts, the postmaster general went on to say, might be made, comparatively speaking, as perfect in canada as in great britain, but the question was, would the board as a board of revenue be justified in so doing when the amount of the revenue was so trifling. however, he directed heriot to report fully on the several aspects of the lieutenant governor's proposition, not overlooking the general's offer of indemnification in the event of the postage not amounting to sufficient to defray the expense. the lieutenant governor having repeated his assurance that any insufficiency in the revenue to meet the additional expense would be made up from the provincial treasury, heriot set about improving the service--but cautiously. at that time he contented himself with providing monthly instead of yearly trips to upper canada during the winter. in summer he continued to depend on the occasional trips of the _bateaux_ on the river and the king's ships on the lake. in order to assist heriot, who had some difficulty in procuring the services of suitable couriers for the winter trips, the lieutenant governor directed the commandants at kingston and york to place trusty soldiers at the disposal of the post office. there were few letters carried during this period except for the public departments, and they found it less expensive to employ a messenger of their own to visit the several posts and take the bulky accounts and vouchers which constituted the greater part of their correspondence, than to utilize the services of the post office. when it was pointed out to the lieutenant governor that by his failure to employ the post office, he was setting a bad example to the inhabitants who used every means to evade the postmaster general's monopoly, the lieutenant governor agreed to have the correspondence from the outposts carried by the mail couriers. the territory served by the regular post office did not extend beyond niagara. but at amherstburg, the western end of lake erie, and over two hundred miles beyond niagara, there were a military post and the beginnings of a settlement, which it was desirable to provide with the means of communication. during his visit to niagara in , heriot devised a plan[ ] for this purpose, which appears to have contained all the advantages of a regular postal service, with the charges so much less than the ordinary postage rates as to give the people of the district cause to regret the advent of the regular postmaster and mail courier. heriot proposed that the postmaster of amherstburg should receive letters for despatch, and, from time to time as one of the vessels on the lake happened to be going to fort erie, at the eastern end of the lake, make up a bag, seal it with the official seal, and deliver it to the captain of the vessel. at fort erie the bag was to be placed on one of the flat-bottomed _bateaux_, which traded between that village and chippewa and the niagara river. between chippewa, queenstown and niagara, on the niagara portage, there were stage coaches running, and the bag was taken to niagara by this means. if the letters were intended for places beyond niagara, they were put into the regular post office at that point. this arrangement was quite as safe and expeditious as the postal service between niagara and kingston, and yet the charges were very much less than if the letters had been carried the same distance within the authorized system. the ordinary postage on a letter from amherstburg to fort erie by land would be tenpence. heriot did not consider that he could properly charge more than twopence a letter. from fort erie to niagara the postage would have been fourpence, which was the rate heriot proposed to charge. the question will arise, in what regard this scheme differed from the ordinary postal arrangements, the charges for which were fixed by statute. the point of difference lay simply in this, that heriot did not propose to administer the oath of office to the courier, who effected the transportation of the mails from amherstburg to niagara. there would be none but trustworthy men employed to look after the mails, and the couriers were under effective supervision in the fact that the postmaster in making up the mail enclosed with it a certificate as to the number of letters in it, which the receiving postmaster verified before the courier was paid for his services. heriot's scheme, then, was identical with the ordinary arrangements in all respects but one, and that one was purely formal. heriot's scruples would lead one to suspect a desire to show how excessive the ordinary charges were. there was no change in the arrangements for the postal service in upper canada until , though before that date there had been some agitation for improvements. in , the legislative assembly requested that a regular service be established through the year, instead of monthly trips during the winter merely. further representations were made on the insufficiency of the existing service, and in heriot provided fortnightly trips throughout the year between montreal and kingston, but owing to the badness of the road beyond kingston, he was unable to give a regular service to york except in the winter. during this period, however, the trips between kingston and york were made fortnightly. efficient roadmaking throughout canada was attended with many difficulties, owing to the great stretches of land which were in the hands either of the crown or held as clergy reserves or which were held by speculators. these absentee holders were not bound by the obligation which lay on the residents to make and maintain good roads through their property, and consequently, even where roads were made by the government through the province, they soon fell into disrepair in those districts, where there were no resident owners to keep them up. general hunter in and had a road made from kingston to york, and then on to ancaster, near hamilton, where it connected with the road to niagara, but at their best such roads were little more than bridle paths through the woods. in the autumn of heriot yielded another step and placed couriers fortnightly on the road from kingston to niagara by way of york. he also arranged for a courier to go to amherstburg or sandwich as often as commercial requirements demanded it. heriot at this time took a step which drew upon him the sharp attention of the home authorities. he directed the postmaster at york to hold the surplus revenue from the western part of the province instead of sending it to quebec for transmission to england, and to apply it to improving the arrangements in that section of the province. the secretary of the general post office expressed a doubt as to whether the whole of the revenue should have been applied towards improving the service, and intimated that approval of his action should be held for the postmaster general. shortly after, heriot was informed that his action had not been approved, and that it would be necessary to cancel his instructions to the postmaster of york.[ ] this incident fairly illustrates how far heriot's hands were tied by orders from home, and how little he deserved the censures so freely meted out to him for his unwillingness to provide the country with a system of communication adequate to its requirements. in yielding to any extent to the reasonable demands of the provincial authorities, he was courting disapproval and even reprimand from his superiors. but in spite of the determination of the postmaster general that no expenditure should be made for postal service, which did not promise an immediate return equal to or greater than the outlay, the country was growing too rapidly to permit of any great delay in providing increased facilities for correspondence. while the post office held on to the monopoly in letter carrying, it had to make some sort of provision for doing the work itself. in , when peace had been concluded with the united states, sir gordon drummond, the commander of the forces, and administrator of canada, directed heriot to arrange for two trips a week between montreal and kingston, heriot invited tenders for this service, and was dismayed to find that the lowest offer was for £ , an amount double the anticipated revenues. with his instructions from the postmaster general before him, an outlay of that magnitude was not to be thought of, but heriot did go the length of authorizing weekly trips over the whole route between montreal and niagara and arranged for fortnightly trips to amherstburg from dundas, a village on the grand route between york and niagara.[ ] the mails were carried between montreal and kingston by coach; between kingston and niagara on horseback or by sleigh; and between dundas and the settlements at the western end of lake erie on foot. in reporting these arrangements to the postmaster general, heriot explained that, with the close of the war, military expresses had been discontinued, and it became necessary to provide additional accommodation to the commissariat and other military departments, but the increased postage more than covered the expense incurred. in march the lieutenant governor of upper canada pressed for further improvements in order to facilitate communication between the several courts of justice and every part of the province, so that notices might be sent to jurors and others having business with the courts.[ ] in concluding his letter to the general post office recommending the application of the lieutenant governor, heriot added that there was a strong desire on the part of influential people in upper canada that there should be a deputy postmaster general for that province, as well as one for lower canada. heriot favoured the idea and recommended william allan, postmaster of york for the position. the postmaster general, however, disapproved of the proposal of an independent deputy for upper canada. he agreed with heriot that there would be advantages in having an official residing in upper canada with a wider authority than that ordinarily exercised by a mere postmaster, but thought that the postmaster of york might without change of title be made to answer all the requirements of an assistant to the deputy postmaster general. before leaving the service in upper canada, an incident should be mentioned, showing the difficulties military men stationed far from a post office had in corresponding with great britain. at the end of the campaign of in the niagara peninsula, the officers of the right division, which was quartered at stoney creek, presented a memorial to the governor general laying before him their hard case, and praying for relief.[ ] they desired to write to their friends and relatives at home, but could not do so, owing to the post office regulation which required that all letters sent to great britain should have the postage paid on them as far as halifax. the sea postage did not require to be paid, as that could be collected from the person receiving the letter, but unless the letter was fully paid to halifax, it was detained and returned to the writer. as the nearest post office in operation was york, nearly fifty miles away, and as they had no acquaintance there or at montreal or quebec, who might pay the postage for them, they were without the means of relieving the anxiety of their parents, wives and others who could not learn whether they were alive or not. they asked that a bag be made up monthly, as lord wellington did from portugal, and sent free of expense to the horseguards in london, from which place the letters might be carried to the post office for delivery. the postal service in lower canada and eastward underwent no change from the time of heriot's accession to office until the war of . as in , the couriers between montreal and quebec still left each place on monday and thursday mornings, and meeting at three rivers, exchanged their mails, and returned, reaching their points of departure two days later. the mails between quebec and fredericton continued to be exchanged fortnightly in summer, and monthly in winter, and between fredericton and st. john, and st. john and halifax, there were weekly exchanges as in finlay's time. lower canada still found its principal outlet to great britain in the weekly mail carried between montreal and one of the towns of the united states near the canadian boundary. in , the place of exchange of mails between lower canada and boston and new york was swanton, a small town in vermont. but, though the service arrangements remained unchanged, they by no means escaped criticism. in , sir james craig, the governor general, complained of the slowness of the communication with the united states and with the maritime provinces.[ ] letters from new york seldom reached quebec in less than fifteen or sixteen days, and it usually took a month for the courier to travel from halifax to quebec. for the course of the post from new york, the governor was not disposed to blame heriot entirely, as he knew the connections from new york to swanton to be faulty, but he thought that, by a little exertion, heriot could do much to remedy the defects. as for the movement of the couriers between quebec and halifax, the governor had been informed by certain london merchants that the journey could be made in six days. he would not insist on a speed equal to that, but sixteen or seventeen days ought to be easily within the capacity of the couriers. dealing with the quebec-halifax complaint first, heriot was aware that the journey from halifax to quebec had been made in six days, but as the distance was six hundred and thirty-three miles, three hundred and sixty-eight of which could not be travelled by horse and carriage, he regarded the trip as an extraordinary performance. the circumstances, however, were unusually favourable. the weather was at its best, and no expense was spared to make the journey as rapidly as possible. but it was useless, heriot insisted, to compare speed of that kind with that which was within the power of a courier who had to carry a load sometimes weighing two hundred pounds on his back, for a distance of forty miles, after having rowed and poled up rivers and across lakes for two hundred miles. if the contractor was able to disregard considerations of expense, and employ as many couriers as could be done with advantage, much time might doubtless be saved. heriot was sure there were no grounds for believing that there would be any material increase in the revenue as the result of such expenditure. the commerce between the canadas and the maritime provinces was so trifling that it was all carried on by three or four small coasting vessels. indeed, were it not for the correspondence between the military establishments, it would be better to drop regular trips between quebec and halifax, as the british mails could be carried much more cheaply and with greater celerity by expresses. the connection with new york offered matter for criticism, but heriot could not be reproached for remissness in this regard. he had proposed to the authorities at washington that his couriers should carry the mails all the way between montreal and new york, offering to pay the united states just as if their couriers had done the service within their territory, but the united states department would not entertain the proposition. he had also endeavoured, without success, to have the british mails landed at boston during the winter months, instead of at new york. if this could have been accomplished, there would have been a considerable saving in the time required for the delivery of the british mails at montreal and quebec. the war of had noticeable effects on the postal service. the mails passing between quebec and halifax had to be safeguarded against attack on the part of hostile parties from across the border and against privateers, who infested the lower waters of the st. john river and the bay of fundy. from the time the courier on his way eastward left the shores of the st. lawrence, he was in danger of surprise. the portage between the st. lawrence and lake temiscouata was wild and uninhabited, and it would have been an easy matter for the enemy to waylay the courier if he travelled unprotected. when he reached the st. john river his course lay along the united states border. indeed a considerable part of his route lay in territory which was afterwards adjudged by the ashburton treaty to belong to the united states. heriot facilitated the couriers' journey over the portage by placing twenty-two old soldiers with their families at intervals on the route. they were supplied with arms, ammunition and rations, as the country was so mountainous, sterile and inhospitable, that no man could derive a subsistence from the soil. the couriers on entering the portage were, also, accompanied by an escort of two soldiers, who travelled with them as far as the madawaska settlement. from that point downwards, the local captains of militia had orders to render all needful assistance and protection to the couriers. at fredericton an entire change was made in the route. the route had till then followed the course of the st. john river to the city of st. john, from which place the couriers were taken across the bay of fundy to annapolis, in a small sloop. in order to avoid the chances of capture on the water stretches or in the bay, the couriers were sent across the country through the centre of the province to cumberland, as amherst was then called, and thence on to halifax. this arrangement left st. john unprovided with connection with either quebec or halifax, but it was brought into the scheme by a separate courier who met the couriers on the main route at sussexvale. the travel on the new route was at first very bad, but the lieutenant governors of the two maritime provinces, who were interested in the success of the scheme, promised to do their best to induce their assemblies to put the roads in good condition. in changing the route from fredericton to halifax, and requiring the couriers to travel inland, instead of along the waterways, the deputy postmaster general was taking a measure in the direction of safety, but those who had a particular interest in the transmission of their correspondence intact could not look without concern at the exposure of the mails on the long stretch between the foot of lake temiscouata and fredericton. the lieutenant governor of nova scotia and the admiral of the halifax station were both uneasy at the possibility of their despatches being intercepted by the americans, and grasped eagerly at a suggestion thrown out that the courier from halifax should not go to fredericton at all, but on leaving amherst should pursue a north-westerly course till he reached the matapedia river at the western end of the bay of chaleurs. from this point, the route would lie across the bottom of the gaspe peninsula to the st. lawrence near metis. the suggested route encountered the strong opposition of heriot.[ ] "the heights of the interior," he declared, "are more elevated than those towards the sea, and some of them with snow on their summits which remain undissolved from one year to the other. the land between the mountains is probably intersected by rugged defiles, by swamps and by deep and impracticable gullies. a region so inhospitable and desolate as from its interior aspect, and its latitude as this may without exaggeration be conceived to be, can scarcely be visited by savages. suppose a road were cut through this rugged desert, it would not be possible to find any person who would settle there, and no courier could proceed on foot for a journey of some hundred miles, through a difficult and dreary waste alike destitute of shelter and of the prospect of assistance." heriot's conviction was that the present route was the only possible one, and if the enemy threatened to cut off communications, it might be necessary to establish two additional military posts, one at the head of the madawaska settlement, the other between grand falls and presqu' isle. a blockhouse at each point, with a non-commissioned officer, a few privates and two savages attached, would in heriot's opinion afford sufficient protection. the enemy would scarcely incur the trouble and expense of marching one or two hundred men from an immense distance to take or destroy these forts with the precarious and doubtful prospect of interrupting a courier, to whom the nature of the country presented a variety of means of eluding their utmost vigilance. the idea of establishing a route between nova scotia and the st. lawrence, which would follow the northern shore of new brunswick, was not carried into effect at once, but as will be seen it occupied attention from time to time and was eventually realized. the war affected the postal service in lower canada to the extent of causing the conveyance of the mails between montreal and quebec to be increased from twice a week to daily.[ ] sir george prevost having pointed out to heriot the necessity for more frequent communication on account of the war, the latter expressed his willingness to increase the trips, but stipulated that the men employed in the service should not be subject to enlistment as it was very difficult to secure trustworthy men. the governor agreed, and directed the colonels of militia that they were to impose no military duties on post office employees. on the conclusion of the war, the couriers' trips were reduced from six to five weekly, at which frequency they remained for many years. the last year of heriot's administration was marked by a disagreeable quarrel with sir gordon drummond,[ ] who was administrator of canada on prevost's retirement. in the beginning of , the legislature of upper canada adopted an address pointing out that the postal arrangements were very defective, and expressing the opinion that the revenue from upper canada was ample to meet the additional expense necessary to put the service on a satisfactory footing. if an efficient service were provided, and it turned out that they were wrong in their anticipation of increased revenues, they were prepared to pay higher rates of postage. herein lay a difficulty for the postmaster general. the postal charges in canada were the same as those in great britain, and were collected by the authority of the same act of parliament. the postmaster general was not free from doubts as to the legality of the proceedings of the post office in taking postage in canada, and he did not wish to raise the question by the enactment of a special act for canada. he intimated to heriot his disinclination to bring the question into prominence in canada, and asked heriot to give his mind to the proposition for an improvement in the service. about the time the letter from the postmaster general containing this instruction reached heriot, drummond himself wrote to heriot, drawing attention to the shortcomings in the service, expressing his conviction that the necessary improvements would lead to enhanced revenues, and concluding with an intimation that unless he were provided with adequate facilities for communicating with that part of his command which was in upper canada, he would be obliged to restore military expresses. sir gordon drummond's services to canada during the war were such as to entitle him to an honourable place in the memory of canadians, but he did not appear at his best in his controversy with heriot. he exhibited too much of that arbitrariness and impatience with other people's views which is commonly observed among military chiefs. heriot replied promptly to the governor's letter, stating that he had invited tenders for a semi-weekly service between montreal and kingston, and that the offers he received were quite beyond any possible revenue to be derived from the service. he had, however, accelerated the existing service by having the couriers travel on horseback, the horses being changed at convenient distances along the route. as regards the service beyond york, heriot directed the postmaster of york to arrange for a regular weekly courier to niagara, and to set about securing a postmaster at amherstburg to replace the former incumbent, who had resigned. heriot wound up his letter by stating that he would have been particularly gratified if he had the power to meet his excellency's wishes in every point, but expressed his regret that his instructions obliged him to act on principles of economy. the letter was courteously expressed, and showed an evident desire to go as far as his instructions would allow, in meeting the governor's wishes. but drummond was not satisfied. his wrath rose at the appearance of opposition. in repeating his views that increased revenue would follow upon improvements in the service, he declared that the existing arrangements were slovenly and uncertain, and, in the opinion of merchants, insecure. moreover, he did not believe that heriot's instructions were intended to be injurious to the interests of upper canada. drummond then most unreasonably found fault with heriot for leaving to allan the duty of attending to the requirements of niagara and amherstburg, when his excellency had ordered heriot to give the matter his personal attention. heriot's time was very fully occupied at quebec with the ordinary duties of his office, a fact of which drummond could not have been ignorant; and to order him to leave these duties, and make a journey to the western end of the province, involving a travel of scarcely less than twelve hundred miles, to do a piece of work which any subordinate in the district could do equally well, argued either an indifference as regards the daily calls upon heriot's time, or a determination to annoy him, either of which was discreditable to the governor general. heriot was steadily respectful, however, but maintained that with the powers entrusted to him it was impossible to meet drummond's views. he cited the incident of , when his recommendation that the whole of the revenue from upper canada should be expended on extensions and improvements had been disapproved, and the arrangements founded upon these suggestions had to be cancelled. as for his employment of allan to secure a postmaster at amherstburg, allan knew the district while he himself did not, and in his circumstances he was compelled to rely upon his officials as he did in the west and at halifax. the whole of the case was laid by heriot before the postmaster general. his situation, he declared, was very disagreeable, as people seemed to imagine that he had carte blanche as to the disposal of the post office revenue. every governor on coming to canada assailed heriot with his particular scheme for improvement. prevost, who had come from the governorship of nova scotia, insisted on a large expenditure on the service in that province. drummond, whose interests lay in upper canada, was peremptory in regard to the claims of that part of the country. the consequence of all this was correspondence always lengthy and frequently unpleasant. what heriot desired to know was whether his conduct was approved or condemned by his superiors. the official silence left him in uncertainty and suspense. heriot concluded by asking to be relieved of the office and to be allowed some remuneration for past services. after a short lull, trouble broke out afresh, and this time drummond managed to put heriot clearly in the wrong. a very sharp letter from the governor drew from heriot the reply that the deputy postmaster general in canada was governed by several acts of parliament, and by instructions from the general post office, and he was not subject to any orders, but through the secretary of the post office. he would, however, afford every necessary information when applied to in the mode of solicitation or request. this was not the tone to take in addressing the chief executive in the colony; and the governor promptly laid the whole matter before the colonial secretary, condemning heriot for his incapacity, insubordination and insolence, and declaring that nothing but the fear of embarrassing the accounts prevented him from instantly suspending heriot. he urged his dismissal. a fortnight later drummond reported further grievances. indeed, heriot seems now to have cast prudence as well as respect for the governor's office to the winds. the governor had demanded to see the postmaster general's instructions to heriot, and it was not until the demand had been twice repeated that heriot saw fit to obey. among those instructions was one directing the deputy postmaster general to keep the orders of the postmaster general and the table of rates in his office, for his own guidance, and for the satisfaction of all persons desiring to see them. this drummond insisted on reading as a direction to the deputy postmaster general to make all his communications from the postmaster general public, and he dilates on the disrespect of heriot in withholding from the governor what he is under orders to disclose to the first comer. all this is, of course, manifestly disingenuous, and does not impose on heriot's superiors in the general post office. the secretary of the general post office in discussing drummond's complaints, has words of commendation for heriot's zeal and alacrity. he always considered heriot a judicious, active and efficient officer. governors, he affirmed, too commonly entertain the idea that the whole revenue of the post office should be devoted to extending the communications. whatever view might be held as to the principle, heriot at all events was precluded by his instructions from acting upon it without the express authority of the postmaster general. while heriot had, beyond question, given ample grounds for irritation on drummond's part, it should be remembered, in dealing with the demand for heriot's dismissal, drummond was told that he had been sixteen years in the service, and had on many occasions received the thanks of the board. it might be sufficient to enjoin upon heriot a more respectful attitude towards the governor, and consult with him as to the extension of communications, and the interests of the revenue. the postmaster general concurred in the secretary's views. but the quarrel was now past mending, and when after repeated requests to be relieved, heriot declared that no motive of interest or advantage could induce him to stay in the service longer than was necessary to appoint his successor, the postmaster general decided to accept his resignation. footnotes: [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. . [ ] hugh gray, _letters from canada_, london, . [ ] _can. arch._, c. , pp. - . [ ] _can. arch._, c. , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. . [ ] _can. arch._, c. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, c. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, q. , pp. , and . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, c. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. chapter vii administration of daniel sutherland--postal service on the ottawa river, and to eastern townships--ocean mails. on heriot's retirement, a number of london merchants who traded to canada, recommended that the postmaster of montreal, daniel sutherland, be appointed as his successor, and the appointment was made in april .[ ] sutherland entered upon his duties with full knowledge of the postal service in canada, as he had been postmaster of montreal since . an effort was made at this time to remove the headquarters of the department from quebec to montreal, but it was not encouraged. the postmaster general was of opinion that, although there were no direct official relations between the governor general and the head of the postal service, it would be inadvisable to diminish in any way the opportunities that then existed of enlisting the good will of the governor towards the post office by the pursuit of a more tactful course than had been taken by sutherland's predecessor. if, while relations between the chief executive and the deputy postmaster general were thus strained, the office of the latter had been removed to montreal, the chances of establishing a more cordial feeling on the part of the governor towards the post office would have greatly lessened. the wisdom of the postmaster general in this matter was soon shown. it was not long before the post office incurred the hostility of the legislatures in both upper and lower canada and its case would have been hard indeed, if it had not obtained the steady support of the governors and the executive councils in the two provinces. a notable feature of sutherland's administration was the extension of the service into settlements, which lay far off the beaten lines. the first of these to be provided with a post office was the settlement of perth. in the summer of , a number of scotch artisans and peasants sailed from greenock, attracted by the inducements held out to settlers in british north america, and of these about sixty families spent the winter in brockville on the st. lawrence. when spring opened, they proceeded inland till they reached the rideau river, and took up homes about the site of the present town of perth. the new settlement was almost immediately joined by a large number of disbanded troops, who were set free on the conclusion of peace with the united states. by october , there were over sixteen hundred settlers in the district. they were fortunate in securing the interest of sir john sherbrooke, the governor general, at whose instance a post office was opened, and fortnightly trips were made with the mails from brockville.[ ] a road was broken between the two places, but little could be said for it for some time. dr. mountain, the son of the first anglican bishop of quebec, and himself afterwards third bishop of quebec, accompanied his father on an episcopal trip into upper canada in . among the places he visited was perth. of the road he said: "all the roads i have described before were turnpike and bowling green to this."[ ] the road was divided into three stages of seven miles each, and the best the party could do was three hours for each stage. in , another settlement was formed in the same part of the country about thirty miles north of perth. it was a military settlement, being made up of officers and men of the th and th regiments. this group did not enter upon its lands by way of the st. lawrence, but is notable as the first considerable body to come into upper canada by way of the ottawa river. they landed on the site of the present city of ottawa, but did not stop there longer than was necessary to break a road through to their lands, which were situated about twenty miles to the westward. the settlement was called richmond, in honour of the duke of richmond, the governor general, and this circumstance gave ottawa its first name--richmond landing. it was at richmond that the duke came to his melancholy end that same summer, as the result of the bite of a fox. the duke had shown his interest in the settlement which bore his name in a number of ways, and shortly before his death he induced the deputy postmaster general to open a post office there. in order to provide it with mails, a blazed trail was made between the new settlement and perth.[ ] the settlement at richmond was not the first, however, in the upper ottawa district. in , philemon wright, a new englander, who had made one or two exploratory tours into the country, determined to form a settlement at hull, on the lower canadian side of the river, and in that year he brought with him a group of his neighbours from malden, massachusetts. these settlers were thrifty and intelligent, and by , they had brought their settlement to a pitch of prosperity, which won special mention from bouchette, the surveyor general. at that time there were about thirty families in the district, whose farms were in a respectable state of cultivation; and a large trade in timber, pot and pearl ashes was carried on. the little settlement was so far from montreal--one hundred and twenty miles--that it was at first impracticable to give it the benefit of the postal service. the isolation did not last long. little bodies of settlers were taking up land at different points, both above and below the long sault rapids; and for some time before , there had been a steamer running between lachine and carillon, at the foot of the long sault.[ ] in , a steamer was put on the upper ottawa, running between the head of the long sault and hull, and the duke of richmond appealed to sutherland to open post offices on the river route. the deputy postmaster general at first demurred on the ground of expense, but he withdrew his objections on a guarantee being given by a number of gentlemen interested in the district, that the post office should be saved against any loss which might ensue. offices were accordingly opened at st. eustache and st. andrews on the lower ottawa, and at grenville, hawkesbury and hull on the upper part of the river.[ ] another part of the country to which the postal system was extended during this period was the eastern townships in lower canada. these townships lie along the northern border of eastern new york, vermont and new hampshire. owing to their contiguity to the united states, the settlement of these townships gave the british government much concern. lord north, at the close of the war of the revolution, desired to settle this border country with old soldiers. haldimand, the governor general, was of another opinion, believing that the interests of peace would be best served by keeping the country uncultivated, that it might serve as a barrier to the restless spirits from the south. some effort was made to give effect to this view but without much success. indeed the governors who followed haldimand made grants in the townships freely; and in , it was estimated that there were not less than , people settled there. lord bathurst, the colonial secretary, on learning in the state of affairs, was highly displeased that the policy of the government had been disregarded in this manner, and directed the governor to do what he could to discourage further settlement, and wherever possible to restore the cultivated country to a state of nature. mentioning particularly the townships at the western end of the province, the colonial secretary directed that no new roads were to be run into them, and advantage was to be taken of any circumstances that presented themselves of letting the roads already made fall into disuse. for five years this desolating policy was carried into execution. in , lord dalhousie, the governor general reported that the result was an utter failure. "these townships," he says "are the resort of all the felons escaping from justice within his majesty's province or from the united states. forgery, coining, and every crime is committed there with impunity. american lumbermen are cutting everywhere the best timber, and sit down where they please, and move about where they find it convenient." a reversal of the mistaken policy resulted from the dalhousie report. the first post office opened in the townships was at stanstead,[ ] the centre of a comfortable, well-settled population of about . the village lay on the main stage route from quebec into the state of vermont. the post office at stanstead was opened in , and with three other offices opened at the same time had a weekly exchange of mails with quebec by way of three rivers. during sutherland's administration, there were a considerable number of post offices opened, and many of them established at this period afterwards attained great importance. in , when he became deputy postmaster general, there were only ten offices in lower canada and nine in upper canada. when he retired in , there were forty-nine in lower canada and sixty-five in upper canada. in , belleville post office was opened under the name of bay of quinte: in , hamilton, london, brantford, and st. thomas were provided with post offices. in lower canada, besides those already mentioned, a post office was opened at sherbrooke in , replacing an office established in aston township in . a curious fact appears in the post office list of . at this date toronto was still called york, and hamilton was without a post office altogether. nevertheless a post office called toronto was on the list of as having been opened in , with charles fothergill as postmaster, and another called hamilton was opened in with james bethune as postmaster. there was nothing to indicate where these post offices were situated until changes were made in the names, and toronto was converted into port hope and hamilton into cobourg. fothergill, who had the post office established at port hope, appears more than once in the course of post office history. he was member of the house of assembly and king's printer, as well as postmaster. about this time the house began to express dissatisfaction with the service provided by the post office, and to demand information as to its affairs, which the deputy postmaster general was not prepared to furnish. among the critics was fothergill, who was speedily punished for his independence. he was dismissed from the office of king's printer by the governor.[ ] * * * * * the conveyance of the mails between canada and great britain occupied much attention during sutherland's term. the packets, that is the vessels employed expressly for the conveyance of the mails, had at this date almost ceased to be employed for the transmission of any but official correspondence. the interests of the governors and other officials in british north america and bermuda, and of the british minister at washington and consuls in the united states, were the only interests considered in the arrangements for this service. speedy transmission was sacrificed without a thought, to provide against imagined dangers to safe transmission. when the packet service was established, the vessels made monthly trips during the summer from falmouth, in england, to halifax and thence to new york, returning by the same route. the mails for bermuda were landed at halifax, and taken to their destination in a war vessel. during the winter, the vessels from falmouth did not run to halifax, but proceeded directly to new york. in , at the instance of the admiralty, orders were given that, whenever possible during the winter, the packets should touch at bermuda on their way to new york.[ ] on the eve of the war of , prevost, the governor general, who was fearful for the safety of the mails, begged that this course might be adopted as the regular winter course, and that mails for canada and other parts of british north america should be put off at bermuda, and conveyed from there to halifax. to make the mails for canada go as far south as bermuda seems outrageous, but prevost was willing to put up with any slowness in transmission rather than have his despatches touch united states soil. this course was pursued until the war ended in , and continued for many winters after that time. but it was too bad to escape criticism from officials themselves. at the end of the summer of , when the packets were about to be taken off the halifax route, the rear-admiral on the north american station asked that the packets should continue to call at halifax during the winter, and, by way of satisfying the post office of the feasibility of his suggestion, furnished a list of some seventy vessels which had entered halifax during the previous winter, which was allowed to be the severest for many years, and found no more trouble in making this port than the port of new york.[ ] the suggestion aroused great opposition--an opposition which would be quite incomprehensible to-day. the agent of the packet service at falmouth assembled all commanders who happened to be in port, and asked them their opinion. they were unanimous in the belief that the only safe course to halifax would be to go first to bermuda, thence to new york, and finally to halifax.[ ] the prevalence of north-westerly winds during the winter would make a direct sailing from falmouth to halifax impracticable. the commanders did not consider it advisable, however, to adopt this course, as it would lengthen the trip by from two to three weeks, and as the voyages would be much rougher, there would be few passengers. the wear and tear on the packets would be greater, and besides the men would require great coats and spirits. during the late war each packet took sixty gallons of rum each way. lord dalhousie became governor general in and he made bitter complaint of the length of time taken in the delivery of his winter despatches.[ ] the despatches leaving england in november and , did not reach him until the following february, and his february despatches arrived in quebec in may. he asked that the mails containing his correspondence should not be put off the packet at bermuda, but that they be carried to new york, where he would have his messenger on hand to receive them. it is difficult to see why this should not have been done. ever since the establishment of peace in , there had been a british packet agent at new york, whose sole duty it was to act as intermediary for the despatch by the outgoing british packet boat, of all correspondence reaching him from the governors or other officials in british north america, or from the ambassadors or consuls in the united states.[ ] dalhousie's messenger took his outgoing despatches to the packet agent, and the governor could not understand the objections to allowing the same messenger to carry the incoming despatches back with him. the packet agent at new york strongly supported the governor's request, and pointed out how his own office might be made of much greater utility, if he were employed freely, not only for the transmission of official correspondence, but for the interchange of general correspondence between canada and great britain. he declared that the united states government had shown the utmost courtesy to the governor's messengers. they had not been molested in any way, and for some time past, the earlier practice of requiring the couriers to be provided with passports had been allowed to drop.[ ] the agent proposed that during the winter the english exchange office should make up separate bags for upper and lower canada, which on arrival at new york would be delivered to his office. he would then see that the bags were forwarded by special messenger without delay. his plan, however, was open to strong objection, and the british post office, which was averse to making any change in the direction proposed, was quick to seize upon it. while acknowledging the good will of the united states government regarding the conveyance of official despatches through their territory by british messengers, the secretary stated that the conveyance of ordinary mails by the same means was a very different matter, which would give rise to a justifiable claim on the part of the united states department, and if the charges which would have to be paid to the united states department were added to the other postage rates, the total postage to be collected from the recipients of the letters would be very large. but the argument of the secretary was based on the supposition that the mails would be carried as the despatches were, by canadian messengers from new york, and that the letters they carried would be subject to a double charge, viz:--the expenses of the messenger, and the sum which the united states might exact for the mere transit over its territory. if the british mails arriving at new york by the packet were handed over to the united states post office for transmission, as had been the case before the war of , there would have been no such excessive charge. this was what was desired on all sides in canada. the service would have been much faster, and for montreal and all places in upper canada the postage would have been lower. since the spring of , steamboats were employed to carry the mails between new york and albany twice a week, and with other improvements on the route, the time between new york and montreal was shortened to three days in summer and five in winter. from new york to york took from nine to eleven days by way of montreal, and a day less if the mails were carried from new york along the mohawk valley route to queenston on the niagara river, and thence to york. compare this with the time occupied between halifax and quebec. a month was the average, and to that had to be added two days to montreal and eight days to york. no advantage enjoyed by halifax over new york on the sea trip could compensate for the disparity from which the land route between halifax and montreal suffered in comparison with the route from new york to montreal, and as montreal was the gateway to upper canada, the whole of the new province suffered in equal measure with that city. the gain in time by the new york route was submitted to the general post office, but the proposition to land the mails at that port was opposed by the secretary. he found that there would be eightpence less postage on each letter to quebec, if it were sent through the united states instead of through the maritime provinces, and, besides, he was doubtful as to the propriety of sanctioning any scheme which would permit private and mercantile letters to reach quebec before the government despatches, which in any case must come by way of halifax. but though the comings and the goings of the packets were a matter of much concern to lord dalhousie and to others, whose correspondence had to be carried by this means, they were of little moment to the general public, who had found a very satisfactory means for the conveyance of their correspondence. in , the treasury set on foot inquiries as to the arrangements for the conveyance of correspondence across the atlantic, and the information they obtained must have surprised them.[ ] there were three modes of sending letters to canada from great britain. the first was by the official sailing packets. the usefulness of the packets, however, was limited to the conveyance of official despatches. the high charges and the slowness of the service abundantly account for the failure of the public to employ this means of transmission. the postage on a single letter, that is a single sheet of paper weighing less than an ounce, was two shillings and twopence sterling from london to halifax by way of falmouth. to this must be added the postage from halifax to points in canada, which was one shilling and eightpence to quebec; one shilling and tenpence to montreal; two shillings and twopence to kingston; two shillings and sixpence to york; and three shillings to amherstburg. thus, employing the more familiar decimal currency, the postage on a single sheet, weighing less than one ounce, posted in london and sent by packet to halifax and thence to its destination in canada was, to quebec ninety-two cents; to montreal ninety-six cents; to kingston one dollar and four cents; to york one dollar and twelve cents; and to amherstburg one dollar and twenty-four cents. remembering dalhousie's complaint that it took upwards of seventy days for one of these precious letters to reach him, the unpopularity of the packet service can be appreciated. the second agency for conveying letters from england to canada, was by private ship, but through the medium of the post office. a person desiring to send a letter from london to a post office in canada would write on the cover a direction that the letter was to be sent by a ship which he would name, and post it in the ordinary way. the post office would accept the direction, and would charge just one half the packet postage for the conveyance to halifax or quebec, that is, instead of two shillings and twopence for the sea conveyance, the letter would only be charged one shilling and one penny. but the high charges between the port of arrival in british north america and the offices in inland canada prevented the extensive use of this means of conveyance. the third mode of conveyance was irregular, but it was universally employed. there were lines of sailing vessels, called american packets, running between liverpool and new york, which were fast sailers, and which would carry letters from england to the united states for twopence a letter, without regard to its weight or the number of enclosures it contained. the agents of these lines kept bags in their offices in london and liverpool, and when the vessels were due to sail, the bags were sealed and placed on board. the conveyance of the letter bags from london to liverpool by the messengers of the sailing lines was illegal, as the postmaster general had the exclusive right to convey letters within the united kingdom. there could have been no possibility of carrying on the traffic in a clandestine manner, as it was wholesale in character, and comprised the correspondence of the most eminent merchants in london. on inquiry it was learned that one merchant alone sent one thousand letters by this means, and not one by the official packets, and the practice was universal.[ ] on the arrival of the american packets at new york, the letters for canada were deposited in the new york post office, and forwarded to the canadian border office in the united states mails, and thence to their destination. the postage by this course was very much less than by either of the other routes. it was made up of three factors: the ocean postage of four cents, the united states postage of nineteen or twenty-five cents--according to the point at which the canadian border was reached--and the inland canadian postage. the charge on a single letter to quebec was forty-seven cents instead of ninety-two cents, which would be due if sent by the packet route. to montreal, kingston, york and amherstburg, the postage on a letter from london or liverpool was thirty-one cents, forty-seven cents, forty-one cents and sixty-one cents, as against ninety-six cents, one dollar and four cents, one dollar and twelve cents and one dollar and twenty-four cents respectively. letters to york coming from new york had the advantage of a daily conveyance to lewiston, where the transfer to the canadian border office at queenstown was made, and of the lower charges which the united states post office imposed for long distances. these figures, the lowest then attainable, inevitably suggest comparisons. it is only a few years since good citizens were rejoicing that the postage rate between the mother country and canada was brought down from five cents to two cents a letter. here was a link of empire of daily utility. communication could be kept up between the british immigrant and his friends at home without too heavy a draft on slender purses. his heart would remain british, and as he prospered he would induce others of his friends and neighbours to come over and settle. a glance backward will show how little these agencies of empire were able to effect in our grandfather's time. the lowest possible postage charge from london to york fifty years ago was forty-one cents, and that would carry no more than one sheet of paper weighing less than an ounce. if within the folds of this sheet were found another piece of paper no larger than a postage stamp, the charge of conveyance from new york to york was doubled, and with the ocean postage of four cents, the poor immigrant would have to pay seventy-eight cents for his letter. if the letter weighed an ounce, that is, if it were such a letter as would pass anywhere within the british empire for four cents, the charge for it coming from london to york would be one dollar and fifty-two cents. finally, if this ounce letter were sent by the all-red route, that is by the british packet to halifax and thence over british soil to york, the postage charge would be four dollars and forty-eight cents. imperial sentiment must have rivalled wit in economy of expression in those days. while the british post office was unwilling to encourage the use of the united states mails for the conveyance of letters between canada and great britain, it was anxious to put the british packet service on a better footing. but the service had been going from bad to worse, and it had reached a stage where it satisfied nobody. of the three points to which mails were carried--halifax, new york and bermuda--the last named always held the position of advantage during the winter. until the winter of the packet called first at bermuda, leaving canadian mails there, and continuing on to new york. at the beginning of the winter of a change was made.[ ] the packet sailed to bermuda, put off the united states mails there, and sailed northward to halifax, omitting new york. the united states mails were conveyed by mail boat from bermuda to annapolis, maryland. this scheme remedied none of the defects of its predecessor, and brought with it the additional disadvantage that it cut off all direct connection between the british minister at washington, and the governors of the british colonies. the secretary of the post office in explaining the arrangements to the postmaster general washed his hands of all responsibility for them. he declared that the plan originated with the admiralty, and was sanctioned by the foreign and colonial secretaries as a practical measure. the postmaster general on reviewing the correspondence was not surprised at the general dissatisfaction, and was glad that the arrangements could not be laid at the door of the post office. the ocean mail service was beyond the control of the deputy postmaster general of canada. the postal relations with the united states were not, and he exerted himself to improve these. a hardship under which canadian merchants doing business with the united states laboured was that they had to pay the postage on all their letters as far as the united states border. it will be difficult to-day to see wherein the grievance of the early canadian merchants lay. but at that time the postage was a considerable item in every transaction, and the merchant could not afford to disregard it. when he sold a bill of goods to a customer in the united states, he was obliged to throw on the customer the burden of the postage on the correspondence relating to the goods, and the only sure way of doing this was to post the letters unpaid, and leave the customer to pay the postage on the delivery of the letters. if he had to pay from eight to twenty cents which were required to take each single letter as far as the border, he was apt to lose this sum. to protect themselves the canadian merchants used to employ private messengers to carry their letters as far as the nearest post office in the united states, and post them there. from this united states office the letters would go to their destination without pre-payment. sutherland informed the postmaster general that some of the leading mercantile houses in canada sent hundreds of letters into the united states by private hand.[ ] the united states merchant selling goods in canada stood in a better position as regards his correspondence. he was able to post his letters for canada unpaid, and the letter came into canada and went to its destination, where the person addressed paid the postage on delivery of the letter. this was made possible by an arrangement between the deputy postmaster general of canada, and the post office department at washington, by which the former undertook to collect and pay over to the latter the share of the postage which was due to the united states department, receiving twenty per cent. for his trouble. the arrangement was a purely private one, for which sutherland did not feel called upon to account to the general post office. what he desired was that there should be some postmaster in the united states who would act as agent for the collection of canadian postage on letters entering the united states from canada, and he found the postmaster of swanton, vermont, quite willing to act in this capacity. as swanton was the united states post office through which all correspondence passed from lower canada into the united states, the postmaster was well situated for this duty. the only difficulty was about the commission of twenty per cent., which would have to be paid to the postmaster as compensation. it was necessary to obtain the consent of the british post office to this arrangement, as the deputy postmaster general had no power to make abatements in the postage due to canada, without the authority of the postmaster general. but this consent the postmaster general was not disposed to give.[ ] besides the objection that the canadian post office would receive only eighty per cent. of the postage due on letters going to the united states, the secretary suggested to the postmaster general that it would seem inadvisable, politically, to encourage unlimited correspondence between all sorts of persons in the two countries, without possibility of restriction or of learning (should it be necessary) with whom any particular person was in correspondence. indeed, the secretary had his doubts as to the legality of the arrangement by which sutherland acted as agent for the collection of the united states postage on letters coming from that country into canada. the rates of postage, said he, are distinctly specified in various acts of parliament, and the canadian post office had no power to demand more than the sum required by the statutes. if it were thought advisable to have canadian postmasters collect united states postage, a new legislative provision would have to be made, which would lead to similar applications from other countries, and the result would be confusion and loss of revenue. whatever might have been the consequence of a strict interpretation of the law, as intimated by the postmaster general, the deputy postmaster general did not discontinue the convenient, and, to him, profitable practice of providing for the transmission of unpaid letters from the united states addressed to canada. so far from that, sutherland improved on this arrangement. at the solicitation of canadian merchants, he obtained the consent of the united states department to having british mails, landed at new york, passed on to canada without being held for the united states postage. the postage due for the conveyance of the letters through the united states was collected by the deputy postmaster general, and transmitted by him to washington, and the delays incident to having this work done in the united states were avoided.[ ] on the th of february, , a memorial[ ] was addressed to the british government by the marquess of ormonde, the knight of kerry and simon mcgillivray, proposing to establish communication between great britain and the british north american colonies by steam vessels, and asking for the exclusive privilege of providing such a service for fourteen years. at this time steamboats were in pretty general use in the inland and coastal waters of great britain, united states and canada, but nothing had up to this time been done to demonstrate that it would be practicable to cross the atlantic by a steamboat. in , a sailing vessel, the "savannah," fitted up with a boiler and engine and provided with a pair of paddles which could be hauled on deck at will, started from savannah, georgia, for liverpool. the voyage occupied twenty-seven days. only for three days and eight hours was the "savannah" under steam. there was nothing in this experiment to induce the conviction that steam could be successfully employed as a means of propulsion on the transatlantic service, and as a matter of fact the machinery was removed from the "savannah" on her return to her american port, and she spent the rest of a short existence as an ordinary sailing vessel between new york and savannah. lord ormonde and his associates were convinced of the practicability of steam navigation across the atlantic, but to make an enterprise of that kind a success, they would have to satisfy the public on the point, and this would involve a large outlay. in asking for a fourteen years' monopoly, they argued that their proposition would not produce the ordinary ill-effects of a monopoly, as any tendency they might exhibit towards excessive charges would be held in check by sailing vessels, and by steamships, which would inevitably be run between the united states and ports on the continent of europe. the proposed line was to consist of six vessels, three of tons, and three of tons, which would make their way across the atlantic in pairs, one large and one small steamer. the vessels would sail together between valentia, ireland, and halifax, nova scotia. on arrival at halifax, the vessels would separate, one going to new york and the other to quebec. when the two vessels reached valentia on the voyage home, one would proceed to glasgow, and the other to bristol. the memorial was not entertained, and the project dropped. sutherland, in his personal relations, showed much more tact than heriot; and in the controversies which arose between him and the colonial legislatures, sutherland contrived to range himself on the side of the governors, thus making the post office one of the matters of which the ultra-british parties undertook the defence against the attacks of the radicals. but the situation of the deputy postmaster general was too difficult for him to secure unalloyed success. the various interests he had to serve, and, as far as possible, to reconcile, were too antagonistic for complete success. on the one side was a country being settled rapidly and clamouring for postal service in all directions. on the other stood the general post office fixed in its determination that its profits should not be diminished, and scanning anxiously every fresh item of expenditure. any serious inclination in one direction was sure to arouse resentment in the other. a curious instance of this occurred in , three years after sutherland had taken office. a number of merchants and others in montreal appointed a committee to wait on the deputy postmaster general with a memorial containing an expression of their opinions and desires respecting the postal service in canada. the post office in montreal it was urged had become unsuitable as regards site and space for the accommodation of the public, and the assistance employed by the postmaster was unequal to the requirements of an efficient service. the communications with the united states, upper canada and within the province, should be increased in frequency, and an interchange of mails should be opened with the genesee and other settlements in new york state by way of prescott and ogdensburg. the memorialists also desired that letters might be sent to the united states without prepayment of postage. sutherland, in his reply to the memorial, dealt with the committee with an engaging frankness.[ ] he was well aware, he said, that the accommodation in montreal post office was inadequate, but what was to be done? the postmaster had only £ a year salary, and out of that he had to pay office rent and stationery. it was not to be wondered at, that the postmaster endeavoured to economize in every way possible. he, himself, had on more than one occasion advised the postmaster general of the necessity for greater clerical help, but so far without the desired effect. only the year before, sutherland told the memorialists, he had submitted to the postmaster general with his strongest recommendation, a petition from the postmaster of montreal for increased salary and assistance, but the petition was refused. as for the increase in the frequency of the communications it was beyond his power to authorize such an expenditure. he had done his best on two recent occasions to induce the postmaster general to allow letters to go into the united states without the prepayment of postage, but was told that british postage must be paid on letters going into foreign states. the memorial and sutherland's reply were transmitted to the general post office. there they excited much indignation. freeling, the secretary, in a minute to the postmaster general, professed his inability to understand whether this unreserved disclosure of sutherland's proceeded merely from indiscretion or from some other motive. the postmaster general was, in effect, accused of inattention and supineness in the discharge of his duties. his decisions were placed in the most invidious light before the inhabitants of montreal. indeed the whole circumstance had to freeling the air of an understanding between sutherland and the committee. the postmaster general was equally indignant, and ordered sutherland's dismissal. but, as so often happened, freeling changed his attitude, urging a number of countervailing circumstances against this extreme measure, and the postmaster general, who appeared to do little more than to convert the opinions and suggestions which freeling so humbly submitted into departmental decisions, concurred in this recommendation.[ ] in , sutherland met with a serious financial loss. the postmaster at montreal became a defaulter to the extent of £ . sutherland took action against the postmaster's sureties, but owing to informalities his suit was thrown out. he appealed to the general post office, alleging that the reason of his non-suit was its failure to answer certain questions which he had put to the postmaster general. the appeal was not allowed. in , sutherland retired owing to ill-health, and was succeeded by his son-in-law, thomas allen stayner, the last and, in some respects, the most distinguished of the representatives of the british post office in canada. footnotes: [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, c. , p. . [ ] _memoir of g. j. mountain, d.d._, montreal, , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] c. f. grece, _facts and observations respecting canada_, london, , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _quebec almanac_, , and _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii. [ ] _quebec gazette_, july , . [ ] record office, _admiralty-secretary in letters_, bundle . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, c. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _memorandum of w.b. felton_, october (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii.). [ ] at the inquiry respecting hill's proposition for penny postage, the assistant secretary of the general post office stated that the american packet, which sailed from england every ten days, carried letters each voyage, which did not pass through the post office (_life of sir rowland hill_, by george birkbeck hill, i. ). [ ] _can. arch._, g.p.o., br. p.o. transcripts, ii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _ibid._, q. , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _ibid._, ii. chapter viii postal conditions in upper canada--serious abuses--agitation for provincial control. to those who have followed the course of events thus far, noting the uncompromising attitude of the general post office towards all propositions for the extension of the postal system in canada, it will be obvious that a struggle for the means of communication impended, which the rapid growth of the country was fast precipitating. the general post office claimed that it, and it alone, had power to establish a postal service in any part of the country, and it used its arrogated powers in the same manner as any commercial monopoly would be exercised. post offices were opened in all the better settled parts of the country, where they could be operated profitably. they were refused in the newer districts, unless satisfactory guarantees were given that there would be no loss in working them. a population was coming into the country rapidly, and was tending towards the inland parts of the province far from the line of post offices which skirted the shores of the st. lawrence and lake ontario, and the situation was becoming embarrassing, as well as humiliating to the sensitive pride of the people. it was easy enough to open post offices on the route pursued by the mail courier from the eastern boundary of the province to niagara. but it was frequently expensive to open new routes, and the provincial government of upper canada was disinclined to give guarantees against loss on particular routes, while it had evidence that considerable profits were being taken from the older routes, and sent to the general post office in london. just how acute the position of matters was becoming will be clear from a survey of the distribution of population in upper canada at this time, with a view of the post offices provided for the accommodation of the several parts. we are able to throw out our sketch of the state of settlement in upper canada, by employing the results of the census of . the total population of the province in was , , of whom , were in the western district, that is, west of york. between the eastern boundary of the province and york, there were twenty-six post offices. four of these--perth, lanark, richmond and hawkesbury--served inland settlements, the nearest of which was over twenty-five miles from the st. lawrence. the line of settlements which these four offices served was scattered over a territory over one hundred miles in length, and from twenty to thirty in width. it comprised a population of , . the remaining twenty-two offices, east of york, were, with one exception, situated on the shores of the river st. lawrence and lake ontario. each afforded accommodation to a district about fourteen miles in length, and between twenty and thirty miles in depth. the mails were carried twice a week over this route. these arrangements gave a fair service to the settlements through which the couriers passed, but they compared meanly with the daily service from new york to buffalo, on the other side of lake ontario. but it was the inland settlements west of york that had most reason to complain of the lack of facilities for communication. the niagara peninsula, embracing the territory between lake ontario and lake erie, and lying west of a line dropped perpendicularly from hamilton to lake erie, contained a population of , , distributed with fair evenness over a stretch of country forty-five miles in length, and from twenty-five to thirty in breadth. the people of this district were served by four offices on its northern border--dundas, grimsby, st. catherines and niagara--and one office--queenstown--on its eastern border. although there were settlements in every part of the district, there was not a single post office within it on the lake erie shore, or, indeed, anywhere farther inland than three miles from the shore of lake ontario, or of the niagara river. poorly provided as the niagara district was, the people living in it had less ground for grievance in respect of post office facilities than the settlers in the london district. this district was an immense irregular block made up of the counties of middlesex, oxford, brant, norfolk and elgin. it measured eighty miles in length, and from forty to fifty miles in depth. it contained in a population of , , which, as in the other districts, was distributed through every part. this great district had but five post offices in it, one in each county. the two offices on the lake erie shore--vittoria and port talbot--were sixty miles apart; while the three offices--burford, woodstock and delaware--were twenty miles from lake erie. as illustrating the difficulty of moving the general post office to recognize the responsibility, which its claims of a monopoly seemed to impose on it, dr. rolph, who represented the county of middlesex in the house of assembly, stated[ ] that before the post office was opened at delaware, he had made application to the deputy postmaster general for a post office in middlesex county, and was told that the office would be established in the county if he would guarantee the expenses of the conveyance of the mails, but that his application could not be considered on any other terms. as individual effort was plainly hopeless, the subject was taken up by the house of assembly of upper canada. the house dealt with the question vigorously, but not on the lines suggested by the foregoing review of the state of the postal service. more serious aspects of the case engaged their attention. men on the streets and in farm houses believed that they were victims of imposition on the part of the deputy postmaster general, and that he was charging them more for the conveyance of their letters than the imperial statutes warranted, high as the legitimate charges were. discussion on these grievances brought the people forward to another point, and they asked themselves by what right the british government imposed on a self-governing community an institution like the post office, which not only fixed its charges without reference to the people of upper canada, but which insisted on preventing the people from establishing an institution of the same sort under their own authority. it was to these questions that the house of assembly addressed itself. the rates of postage which were charged in canada, were collected under the authority of an act of the imperial parliament passed in . this act amended the act of queen anne's reign, which was regarded as the charter of the post office in british america. the rates, as fixed by the act of , were, for a single sheet of paper weighing less than an ounce, fourpence-halfpenny currency, if the distance the letter was carried did not exceed sixty miles; if the distance were from sixty to one hundred miles, the charge was sevenpence; from one hundred to two hundred miles, ninepence, and for every one hundred miles beyond two hundred miles, twopence. the first inquiry of the house was as to whether these rates, and no more, were charged for conveyance in upper canada. on february , , william allan, postmaster of york, was called to the bar of the house, and questioned as to the rates charged by him for letters to the several post offices in upper canada. allan did not know the distance to the post offices, but he furnished the table of rates which had been given to him. the house asked one of its members, mahlon burwell, a land surveyor, to state the several distances, when it appeared that every rate charged by the postmaster of york, was higher than the imperial act warranted.[ ] thus the legal charge on a letter to dundas was fourpence-halfpenny. the charge made by the postmaster of york was sevenpence. on letters to grimsby, st. catharines, niagara and queenston, the legal charge was sevenpence--allan charged tenpence. amherstburg, which was at the western limit of the province, was between two hundred and three hundred miles from york, and the charge should have been elevenpence. instead of this sixteen pence was charged. so far the house had made out its case, and on the following day it adopted a resolution that for several years past the rates of postage charged in upper canada had exceeded the charges authorized by law, and that the lieutenant governor should be requested to submit the question to the imperial authorities for a remedy. peregrine maitland, the lieutenant governor, did as he was requested, and, when the resolution came before the postmaster general in england, freeling, the secretary of the general post office, admitted, in reply[ ] to the postmaster general's request for information, that the rates in british north america were regulated by the imperial act of , but he held that there were other circumstances to be considered. freeling did not know whether the ordinary rates would produce sufficient revenue to cover the expenses of the service. if not, then he would refer the postmaster general to a letter written by general hunter, the lieutenant governor in , which contained an undertaking on the part of the lieutenant governor that, in case there was a deficit, the amount of the shortage would be made good either from the contingencies of the province, or by a vote of the legislature. freeling would call upon the deputy postmaster general in canada to report whether the legal postage would be equal to the expense. if so, there was no reason to require the province to grant any aid. this explanation, like so many which had to be made at that period, lacked the essential element of sincerity. hunter's engagement was to make good deficits, not by allowing illegal postal charges to be made, but by withdrawing the amount of the deficit from the provincial treasury. this was a point on which freeling himself insisted on several occasions. in sir gordon drummond's time, there was an application from the military authorities for a more frequent service between kingston and montreal, which was coupled with an offer to pay such extra postage as would be necessary to cover the cost of the service desired. freeling declared that such an offer could not be accepted, unless the additional charges were sanctioned by the british parliament.[ ] another case, involving the same principle, arose about this time. sutherland, the deputy postmaster general, desired to facilitate the interchange of correspondence with the united states, and reported to the postmaster general that he had arranged to have the american postage on letters coming from the united states to canada collected by postmasters in canada, at the same time as they collected the canadian postage. freeling objected to this arrangement as of doubtful legality, on the ground that the act of prescribed the amount which postmasters should take on every letter, and it might be necessary to amend the act to permit this scheme.[ ] the house of assembly, however, did not wait for the answer to their remonstrance. in the following session they gave themselves up to the consideration of the more vital questions, as to "how far the present system is sanctioned by law, and whether and in what manner the same can be beneficially altered." this was not the first occasion on which the right of the british post office to collect postage in canada was called in question. governor simcoe, in ,[ ] assumed it as indisputable that, when a postal system was established in upper canada, it would be under the control of the legislature, unless the british government by express enactment, retained the management of it in the hands of the british post office, paying over to the local government all surplus revenues arising therefrom. the question was not decided at that time, and it was only when the course pursued by the general post office was so unsatisfactory to canadians that it was again raised. a committee was appointed in , to investigate the subject with dr. w. w. baldwin as chairman. on december the report was laid before the assembly.[ ] the committee had little help from the post office in pursuit of its inquiries. the only official available, the postmaster of york, was examined, but whether from unwillingness or want of knowledge, he contributed little information to the inquiry. allan stated that he was appointed by the deputy postmaster general under his hand and seal. he occasionally received instructions from the deputy postmaster general, but had no idea as to the authority under which the latter acted. he had never been referred to any particular statute for his guidance, and, indeed, the postage on letters within the province had been charged at arbitrary rates, which were fixed by the deputy postmaster general. some valuable information respecting the revenue of his office was submitted by allan, which completely disproved the intimation of the secretary of the general post office, that the offices in that part of the country were conducted at a loss. the post office at york yielded an annual revenue of between £ and £ , which was remitted to the deputy postmaster general at quebec. the committee found it impracticable to call the postmasters of the more distant offices, but having regard to all the circumstances, they were satisfied that there was remitted each year to the deputy postmaster general at quebec an amount exceeding £ , of which perhaps ten per cent. or eleven per cent. was foreign postage collected in canada, and, therefore, due to great britain or the united states. next the committee addressed themselves to the question as to how this surplus was disposed of, which, after deducting the amount owing to the other postal administrations was probably more than £ . allan believed, though he was unable to give it as a fact, that the money was passed over to london. what was beyond doubt, however, was that this revenue in no way inured to the benefit of upper canada. assuming, as the committee felt they might safely do, that the surplus from canada was made part of the revenue of the general post office in london, the committee then sought to ascertain how the revenue of the general post office was dealt with, and whether any part of it was employed for the benefit of the colonies. the post office acts of [ ] and [ ] made this point clear. it appeared that after certain deductions had been made for pensions, the revenue of the post office was applied in various specified ways to the service of great britain, the postal rates being avowedly levied for raising the necessary supplies, and for making a permanent addition to the public revenue. the committee could find no instance in which any part of the post office revenues was devoted to the use of the colonies. taking it, then, as established that a sum exceeding £ was raised each year in upper canada as profit from its post office, and that this sum was applied, not for the benefit of upper canada, but for the purposes of the public service in great britain, the committee next turned its attention to the laws bearing on the situation. there was an act passed in [ ] in the hope of staying the rising rebellion in the american colonies entitled "an act for removing all doubts and apprehensions concerning taxation by the parliament of great britain in any of the colonies and plantations in north america and the west indies." it declared that the king and parliament would not impose any duty, tax or assessment whatever, payable in any of the colonies in north america or the west indies, except any such duties as it might be expedient to impose for the regulation of commerce. but although the collection of such duties should be made by officials of the british government, it was not intended that the proceeds should go into the british treasury; for it was provided that the net produce from them should be paid over to the colony in which they were levied, to form part of the general revenue of such colony. this seems sufficiently explicit, but that there might be no doubt as to the applicability of the provisions of this act to the provinces of canada, they were expressly incorporated in the constitutional act of , which was the charter under which the provinces of upper and lower canada were established. as in the act of , there was reserved to the british parliament, in the general interest of the empire, the power to make laws for the regulation of commerce, but there was also the same stipulation that the proceeds from such laws should be applied to the use of the province in which the taxes were levied, and in any manner the legislature of the province might think fit. applying the acts of and to the circumstances of the case in hand, the committee were of opinion that the collection of postage could not be regarded as a regulation of commerce, and as such within the scope of imperial legislation. but even if it should appear that they were wrong in this opinion, and that the british government had the power to set up a post office in upper canada with the exclusive right to carry letters within the province, there was one thing the british government could not properly do. while the constitutional act of remained unrepealed, the british government could not take the net produce from the post office in upper canada, and use it as part of the general revenue of great britain. having satisfied themselves that, however strong the grounds might be on which the postmaster general of england had proceeded in establishing a post office in canada, they could not prevail against the acts which have been considered, the committee next gave their attention to inquiring what those grounds might be, and how far they would bear out the pretensions of the postmaster general. the two acts, which it seemed to the committee the postmaster general would most likely depend upon, were the acts of and of . the act of , which was the charter for the post office in british america, was dismissed from consideration as not even by its own provisions applying to the colony of canada, and as annulled so far as concerned any of the colonies by the act of , and as regards canada by the constitutional act of . the second of the two acts--that of --repealed all the rates of postage enacted by the act of , and fixed new rates for great britain, but made no mention of new colonial rates. hence, since , there had been no colonial postage rates having the sanction of law, and the committee concluded that the colonies were designedly omitted, when the rates for great britain were fixed by the act of , for the reason that the act of supervened, which made it illegal for the british parliament to impose a tax on a colony for the financial benefit of great britain. the committee admitted that it was a matter for argument whether the unrepealed parts of the act of might not be held applicable to canada, but conceding the whole argument on this point, the utmost power remaining in the act was to authorize the establishment of a postal system in canada. all power to fix the postal charges was taken away by the act of . as for the act of , which established a scale of rates, by no liberality of construction could it be made to apply to canada, because the act of was against it, and the constitutional act of was against it, and the fact that the revenues to be raised by the act were to be appropriated to the purposes of the united kingdom made it illegal for the postmaster general to enforce it in the province. there were other acts passed by the imperial parliament affecting the postage rates, but an examination of these disclosed no intention to make the acts operative in the colonies. rates were fixed for conveyance in the united kingdom, and to and from the colonies in america, but nothing was said as to the rates within the colonies. it was quite clear to the committee, therefore, that the only acts, which by any possibility could be made applicable to the colonies, were inoperative in the canadas. the committee clinched the argument by a survey of the laws passed by the british parliament, levying taxes on the colonies. they showed that whenever such taxes were imposed, the proceeds were never applied to the purposes of the united kingdom, but always to the use of the colony concerned. there was an act passed in imposing duties on the sugar plantations. the revenue was devoted to the protection of their trade. the quebec revenue act of [ ] was the other case. this act imposed duties on rum, brandy, and other liquors coming into the province, and employed the proceeds for the establishment of a fund to aid in defraying the charges of the administration of justice and of the civil government in the province of quebec. it was clear, then, that the acts of and contained no new principle, but were simply declaratory of the steady policy of the british government as disclosed by a review of its earlier practice; and everything combined to satisfy the committee that the legislature of the mother country never contemplated the raising of a tax by inland postage in the colony of upper canada. the committee concluded by submitting for the acceptance of the house a resolution to the effect that the present system of public posts for the conveyance of letters within the province had grown into use without the sanction of law, and that a bill should be introduced establishing public posts and fixing the rates of postage on letters and packets for the purpose of raising a permanent revenue, applicable solely to the improvement of the roads throughout the province. the proposition of the assembly was thoroughly conservative. it was simply that the profits from the post office should be devoted to improving the means by which the post office was carried on. settlements were springing up in all parts of the province which reason and policy made it necessary to connect with the more central districts, and it was only proper that the profits arising from the system should be used for improving and extending it. at this period and for a long time afterwards the roads throughout the province were in a wretched condition. one of the principal mail contractors informed a committee of the house in , that all the main roads in the province were very bad, and that those in the neighbourhood of york were bringing discredit on the inhabitants. the deputy postmaster general informed the same committee that he had just been advised that the contractors on the road from montreal to niagara had to swim their horses over some of the rivers on the route, the bridges having been carried away. peregrine maitland, the lieutenant governor of upper canada, forwarded the report of the committee of to the colonial office, with a letter in which he explained that what the legislature desired was to have the control of the provincial posts vested in them, or at least to have a deputy postmaster general for upper canada. with the latter request he fully sympathised, as he was convinced that a deputy postmaster general residing in quebec could not possibly appreciate the requirements of the rapidly rising communities, situated so far from his headquarters. the lieutenant governor shared the opinion of the legislature that it was contrary to the acts of and to send remittances from canada to england, but he did not believe that the legislature would have concerned themselves with the subject, if the post office authorities had provided a satisfactory service. at the general post office in london the report was turned over to the solicitor with directions to prepare a case for submission to the law officers of the crown. the law officers were requested to give their opinion as to whether the postmaster general of the united kingdom had the right to control and manage the internal posts in the provinces of north america, and, if so, whether the proceeds derived from the inland conveyance of letters in north america ought to be paid into the exchequer of the united kingdom or whether they ought to be applied to the use of the province from which they were taken. but the case as prepared did not reach the law officers. the postmaster general had the good sense to see that his case was precarious, and he did not care to risk an adverse decision. freeling, accordingly, wrote to maitland,[ ] admitting that the postal transactions of upper and lower canada together showed a small surplus, but he inclined to the view that the share of upper canada in the surplus must be very small. a number of post offices had been opened in upper canada and the impression in the general post office was that they were unprofitable. if, as maitland had intimated, the wishes of upper canada would be satisfied by the appointment of a separate deputy postmaster general for upper canada, the postmaster general, freeling informed the governor, would make no difficulty on the point, but would naturally select for the position one of the more experienced officers such as the postmaster of york or of kingston. in the meantime, while the report of was being discussed by the secretary of the post office and the lieutenant governor, the members of the assembly were endeavouring to procure further information to strengthen the position they had taken. they desired to learn definitely the amount which was sent to london as postal revenue. the postmaster of york could tell them little beyond the transactions of his own office, but the contribution from that office made it clear that the revenue from the whole province must be considerable. no information could be obtained by direct inquiry of the deputy postmaster general, but it was thought that the post office would not refuse to answer a question on the subject asked by a member of parliament. a question was accordingly put in the house of commons in , but freeling informed the representative of the post office[ ] in the house of commons that the information should not be given, as the provinces were manifesting a disposition to interfere with the internal posts, and to appropriate their revenues to their own purposes, instead of allowing them to flow into the exchequer of the united kingdom. the maintenance of the packet service, he declared to be of the greatest political importance, as ensuring despatches against passing through foreign hands. the course pursued by the post office under the influence of freeling was in no way creditable to it. at a time when it was making grudging admissions that there was a small profit from the canadian post offices, there was being sent over to london from the two provinces a sum exceeding £ a year, an amount which, wisely spent, would have been a considerable contribution to the road fund of the provinces. the packet, the importance of which freeling emphasized, was scarcely of any utility to the people of the canadas. the service by the packets was so slow and expensive that it was not employed at all for commercial or social correspondence, the merchants in london and liverpool using exclusively the lines of sailing vessels running between liverpool and new york. but freeling was obstinate and often disingenuous in maintaining his view that it was proper that the surplus revenues from the provincial post offices should be turned into the british exchequer. the disinclination of the general post office to discuss the question of the colonial post office was not likely to suppress the subject for long. the assembly of upper canada had too strong a case. the political grievances from which the province was suffering were bringing into the political life of upper canada a group of men to voice the general dissatisfaction with the state of affairs, and so undeniable an abuse could not remain unexploited. the house, which adopted the resolution of , was on the whole favourable to the lieutenant governor and his advisers. the succeeding house, which was elected in , contained a majority opposed to the government. this fact did not, however, lead to the overthrow of the lieutenant governor's advisers. they were his own choice and were in no sense responsible to the house. it was not until sixteen years later that responsible government, as now understood, was established in canada. the turn of affairs in , which placed the control of the house in the hands of the opponents of the government had its effect on the attitude of the parties towards the provincial post office. in , the lieutenant governor cordially supported the views of the house, and did what he could to make them prevail with the postmaster general. in , when the post office grievance was brought up for discussion, the lieutenant governor's party upheld the position taken by the postmaster general in england. the consequence was that, for the opposition, the post office was but one more of the many matters calling for redress, while for the government party it was another element in the burden which they had to sustain in their resistance to reform. in the beginning of , william lyon mackenzie presented a petition to the house of assembly to have the affairs of the post office investigated. mackenzie, who had come to upper canada in , was engaged in business until , when, impressed with the various political abuses from which the country was suffering, he abandoned what had every appearance of a successful career, and gave himself to agitation. he established a newspaper--_the colonial advocate_--in , and in secured a seat in the house of assembly. these vehicles of publicity he employed in ceaseless attacks on the governing clique, which from the intimacy of the ties binding its members together was known as the family compact, and became the principal actor in the abortive rebellion of . the post office as then managed incurred his unremitting hostility. a committee was appointed having as chairman captain john matthews, who represented the county of middlesex along with dr. rolph, subsequently one of the leaders of rebellion in . matthews was a retired army officer, who entertained advanced political views, which were irritating to the lieutenant governor. he was later on made to feel the lieutenant governor's resentment for his opposition. as chairman of the committee matthews reported on the th of march, ,[ ] that it was in evidence that there were abuses which would be remedied, if the post offices in the province were, as they should be, under the control and supervision of the legislature. the committee found that there were many populous districts, in which post offices were much required; that many postmasters performed their duties indifferently, letters and newspapers being opened and read before being delivered; and that complaints to the deputy postmaster general had no appreciable effect. the mail bags, the committee also discovered, were often filled with goods, having nothing to do with the post office, to the injury of contractors as well as of the post office revenues. editors of newspapers, it was also ascertained, suffered from the hardship of having to pay the postage on their newspapers in advance, and the committee recommended that the postage on newspapers should be collected as the postage on letters was, from those who received the newspapers. letters on public business should, in the opinion of the committee, be carried free of postage; and the surplus revenue should be expended on the public roads and bridges which were in a deplorable state. the final conclusion of the committee was that the provincial legislature should take on itself the entire management of the post office, even though this should involve some temporary expense. it was not anticipated that such would be the case, but in any event the deficits would be of short duration. in the following session-- --the post office was again discussed. this time the discussion was on a motion of charles fothergill to take into consideration the state of the province. fothergill was king's printer, and had been postmaster of port hope. he was dismissed from the post office for his criticism of the administration, and was soon to be deprived of the office of king's printer, on account of his advocacy of measures distasteful to the lieutenant governor. fothergill in his attack on the post office,[ ] had the advantages of experience, and of some inside knowledge. arguing from the revenue of port hope, he declared his belief that the sum remitted to london each year could not be less than £ , , and that the business was increasing so rapidly that in a few years the surplus revenue from the post office would pay the whole expenses of civil government in the province. some of the postmasters, fothergill complained, acted with much insolence towards those not in favour with the government. their newspapers were thrown about. their letters were handed to them open. the mails were often opened in public bar rooms. sutherland, the deputy postmaster general, had admitted to fothergill that he was ignorant of the geography of the province, which was a strong reason for the appointment of a resident deputy postmaster general. fothergill's great objection to the existing arrangements was that they were unconstitutional, and that the tax on newspapers was so oppressive as to check their circulation. to test the feeling of the house fothergill offered a resolution declaring that the acts of and were part of the constitution of the province. john beverly robinson, the attorney general, traversed fothergill's statements, and desired the house to take satisfaction from the fact that all the other colonies sent their surplus post office revenues to the general post office, without remonstrance. he did not believe that any large sum was sent from canada. indeed, freeling told him (what was quite untrue) that the canadian post office was a burden on the home department. fothergill was supported by rolph, and also by bidwell, one of the leaders of the opposition, and afterwards speaker of the house. rolph recalled that the postmasters who had appeared before the committee testified that the provincial post office was a remunerative institution. he was satisfied that it could not be otherwise, as he had learned by experience that a post office, however much required, would not be opened until the deputy postmaster general was guaranteed against any loss which might arise. but even if the post office could be shown to be unproductive, he would propose to take it off the hands of the mother country while it was a burden to her, and not to wait until it began to be profitable. rolph moved an address to the king affirming that the present system was being carried on contrary to the act of , an act which was held by the house to be a fundamental part of the constitution of the province; that a well-regulated post office, responsible to the constituted authorities of the province, and extended in the number of its establishments would tend to correct and prevent abuses which were found to exist under the present system, would facilitate commercial intercourse, promote the diffusion of knowledge and would eventually become an important branch of the provincial revenue. the assembly therefore begged, with many expressions of loyalty and gratitude, that the control and emoluments of the post office so far as they concerned the province might be conceded to them. there was some opposition to rolph's motion. eventually the address was adopted by a vote of nineteen to five. the address, which it will be recalled had originated with the opposition, was laid before the colonial office under very different circumstances from those attending the report of . on that occasion, the memorial was brought to the foot of the throne with the good wishes of both the government and the legislature. it was accompanied by a letter from the lieutenant governor, commending it to the favourable consideration of the home authorities. the address of was also accompanied by a letter[ ] from the lieutenant governor, but so far from commending it, the purpose of the letter was to suggest an answer confuting the arguments of the assembly. dealing first with the allegation of the assembly that the postage charges were a tax, and as such repugnant to the act of , maitland recalled franklin's contention before the british house of commons in , that postage duty was not a tax, but rather a consideration for a service performed, and exacted only from those who chose to avail themselves of that service. assuming, as the governor did, that the revolted colonies generally acquiesced in the justice of franklin's view, while objecting to other duties as unconstitutional, he could not see on what valid grounds the legislature rested its case. this reasoning is directly the opposite of the view expressed by the lieutenant governor in . he then gave it as his opinion that the acts of and made it illegal for the canadian post office to make remittances to london of surplus revenue, but that the matter would not have been noticed in the province, if a satisfactory service had been given by the deputy postmaster general. indeed, maitland left no doubt that his real opinion was unchanged, for he went on to intimate that he would not depend upon franklin's argument, if it could be shown that there was any considerable surplus from the postal operations in upper canada. the lieutenant governor enjoyed his little excursions among the statutes, however, and although the postmaster general had the benefit of the advice of the law officers of the crown, sir peregrine did not scruple to take on himself the rôle of legal adviser of the general post office. even if the duties were declared to be a tax within the meaning of the act of , since the duties were collected under the amendment of to the act of which was anterior to the act of , maitland argued that it was questionable whether their collection could be regarded as a violation of the act of . but there was one person to whom this gratuitous argument carried no conviction, and that was the propounder of it himself. he would still hark back to his underlying idea, and intimated his persuasion that the british government had no desire to raise a revenue from the colonies through the post office, and suggested that if it could be shown that the post office yielded a large revenue after paying the charges, the government would be prepared to reduce the rates or to place the surplus at the disposal of the colony. although the assembly stated that it would be desirable in the interests of the province to have the post office under the control of its legislature, the lieutenant governor believed that the preponderance of the better opinion, whether in or out of the assembly, would be found opposed to that proposition. it would be impossible to carry on an independent system in an inland province, and the attempt to do so would involve the colony in heavy expenditure. the lieutenant governor discredited entirely the allegations that there were abuses in the service, and he had much reason for thinking that sutherland, the deputy postmaster general, discharged his duties to the general satisfaction of the public. maitland's letter, which bears all the marks of having been written by the attorney general, beverly robinson, is a capital illustration of the vicious circle of deception sometimes practised by persons having a common purpose with reference to a scheme. the official class in york, as well as the secretary of the general post office, desired to defeat the wishes of the house of assembly respecting the post office, the family compact group, because any victory gained by the house threatened the privileges enjoyed by that class; freeling, secretary of the post office, because it would diminish the revenues of which he was a most zealous guardian. freeling told the attorney general that the canadian post office was a burden on the revenues of the general post office, and the attorney general, accepting this statement, told the secretary that such being the case, the statutes on which the house of assembly relied were not applicable. the secretary's statement was demonstrably incorrect, but it furnished the foundation for the opinion which he desired, that the law did not require, nor did expediency suggest, the transfer to the upper canadian legislature of the control of the post office in that province. robinson wrote to freeling supporting the views of the lieutenant governor; and at the same time freeling received a letter from markland, a member of the executive and legislative council of upper canada, protesting against the attempt on the part of the assembly to interfere with the post office as the assumption of a right to which they had not the least pretension. the best-intentioned and the best-informed people in the province were against such interference. by way of parrying the demand of the assembly for control over the post office, markland suggested that it would be well to appoint a post office superintendent for the upper province. upper canada was entirely distinct from lower canada in all matters of government. the post office alone was subject to the control of a person, outside of the province, who never visited it. the people of upper canada were, he declared, energetic and enterprising, and immigration was coming in on a full tide. freeling considered this an important letter, and laid it before the postmaster general. the agitation in upper canada aroused a flutter of interest in london. when newspaper reports of the discussions in the house of assembly in december , reached st. martins-le-grand, they fell under the notice of the postmaster general, who was moved to ask freeling what it all meant. freeling replied that the accounts related to great disputes in canada as to the application of the rates of postage levied in that country, whether the rates should not be devoted to local purposes. at that time, freeling stated, the rates formed part of the consolidated fund. the colonial office and the treasury also made inquiries. the colonial office was informed that the revenues of upper and lower canada were blended, and that for seven years previous there had been a surplus from the two provinces which amounted on the average to £ a year.[ ] it was also pointed out that the estimated cost of the packet service was £ , a year. robinson,[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer, with whom freeling had an interview in october ,[ ] did not fall in with freeling's views quite as readily as the others had done. he expressed the opinion that canada's contention was in the main sound. the net revenue from the canadian post office ought in fairness to be applied to colonial purposes, not in the mode or on the principle put forward by the assembly, but under the direction of the home government. it should be in the nature of a civil list. freeling was alarmed at the chancellor's utterances, and reminded him that what was granted to canada could not be withheld from jamaica. the chancellor admitted this to be the case. freeling insisted that there could be no doubt as to the legality of the present practice, though he confessed that the law officers gave no opinion on the case prepared in . indeed, it had not been submitted to them, as lord chichester, the postmaster general, had an invincible reluctance to taking their opinion, and would not do so unless positively instructed by the government. then there were the packets. freeling could not let the opportunity pass of mentioning canada's obligations with respect to the packet service. he did not, however, endeavour to impose on the chancellor of the exchequer his view that the cost of this service should be set against canada's post office surplus. in his memorandum of the interview, freeling merely notes that the opinion between them inclined to the view that as the packets were maintained for the benefit of canada as well as of nova scotia, some part of the expense should be borne by canada. up to this point, the agitation against the post office was confined to upper canada, which indeed was the more aggressive province during the whole course of the dispute. in , however, the legislative assembly of lower canada took a hand in the controversy, contributing a strictly legal and even technical memorandum embodying an argument in favour of its contention that the colonies should participate with the united kingdom in the profits of the general post office.[ ] the memorandum pointed out that the act of queen anne established a general post office for, and throughout great britain and ireland, the colonies and plantations in north america and the west indies, and all other of her majesty's dominions and territories; and that of the duties arising by virtue of this act, £ a week were to be paid into the exchequer for public purposes in great britain. certain annuities and encumbrances charged on the postal revenues by earlier acts, were continued by the act of queen anne. when these charges amounting to £ , _s._ _d._, and the £ a week already mentioned were satisfied, one-third of the remaining surplus was reserved to the disposal of parliament "for the use of the public." the house of assembly argued that this act, which by later acts was declared to be in force in canada, applied to the people of england, ireland and colonies of north america and in the west indies. the word "public," therefore, being used without limitation, or qualification, could not signify exclusively the people of great britain and ireland, or of the colonies. on the contrary, being equally applicable to all who were within the purview of the act, it designated the people of all the dominions of the crown in which the postal revenue was to be levied. the statute thus carried on the face of it a parliamentary declaration that the colonies were entitled to a share of the post office revenues, and it enacted, by implication, that the amount of the share should be determined by parliament at some future period. here followed a novel and ingenious application of the statute of , which was enacted for the purpose of conciliating the colonies by conceding the point at issue between them and the mother country. the assembly stated that by this act it was declared that, for the peace and welfare of his majesty's dominions, the net produce of all duties, which after the passing of that act were imposed by parliament upon the colonies, should be applied to the use of the colony in which it is levied. unlike the assembly of upper canada, the assembly of lower canada did not maintain that the act of queen anne was annulled by the act of . it will be remembered that the british post office rested its claim to collect the colonial postages on queen anne's act with its amendments, while the upper canada assembly asserted that the act of , which was made part of the constitutional act of , deprived the british government of any right it formerly had to impose a tax on the colonies. the lower canadian house of assembly made another use of the act of . it submitted that, so far as postal revenues were concerned, it was the complement of the act of queen anne. the earlier act, in the view of the assembly, left the amounts of the shares of the postal revenues to which the colonies were entitled, to be determined by a future act of parliament, and the act of had this effect, if not in the letter, at least in its spirit; and consequently lower canada, as one of the colonies had a fair and equitable claim to the net produce of the post office revenue levied within the province, after deducting the expenses of the post office established therein. shortly before the house of assembly at york took into its consideration the question of the legality of the postal system in operation in upper canada, the home authorities were discussing a matter, which was a source of much embarrassment to the deputy postmaster general. the steamboats, which had been running since , between montreal and quebec, had so far improved that they outdistanced the mail couriers, who travelled on the shore of the river, and a great many letters were carried between the two towns by the steamers. the deputy postmaster general made provision for the conveyance of letters by steamers, by placing official letter boxes on the boats. he allowed the captains twopence for each letter they carried, and charged the public the regular postage rates. but the public paid little attention to the letter boxes. they simply threw their letters on a table in the cabin, and when the steamer reached its destination, those expecting letters sent down to the landing and got them, paying a small gratuity to the captain. moreover, in cases where the letters had been deposited in the letter boxes on the steamer, and were delivered by the captain at the post office, many of the people to whom the letters were addressed refused to pay the same charges as if the letters were conveyed by land, alleging that such charges were illegal. the deputy postmaster general laid the facts before his superiors in england in , asking for some document of an authoritative character, which, when published, would put a stop to the illegal practices. the solicitor of the post office to whom the matter was referred had no doubt that the acts complained of were illegal, and would render the offenders liable to penalties, if the practice were carried on in england, but he could not be sure that penalties for the infraction of the post office act could be recovered in canada. freeling, the secretary, thereupon made a suggestion[ ] which must have caused him some pain. the right of the post office to protect its monopoly was quite clear, and the natural course of the postmaster general would be to direct his deputy in canada to enforce the law. but as the legislatures had in several instances manifested an inclination to interfere with the internal posts, he recommended that, instead of taking proceedings to protect his majesty's revenues, and, as he says, to enable them to continue to flow into the exchequer of the united kingdom, the postmaster general should state the circumstances to the colonial secretary, and request his opinion before instructions were sent out to the deputy postmaster general. bathurst, the colonial secretary, fully concurred in the view of the postmaster general that the subject was one of great delicacy, and wrote to the governor general, lord dalhousie, setting forth the facts and stating that under ordinary circumstances he would have had no difficulty in recommending a prosecution. in view of the attention which the house of assembly had been giving to the revenues of the colonial post office, and of the doubt which had been suggested as to the right of great britain to receive those revenues, the colonial secretary thought it possible that the enforcement of those rights at that time might embarrass the governor general by giving the assembly an additional ground for contention with the mother country. he, therefore, had given directions that the deputy postmaster general should communicate with the governor general on the subject, and should not institute proceedings without the full concurrence of the latter. the deputy postmaster general was instructed in this sense in september , and matters remained in abeyance until , when the deputy postmaster general, presumably with the concurrence of the governor general requested the opinion of the attorney general of lower canada on the subject. the attorney general, james stuart (afterwards sir james) advised that the right of the post office was clear, and he conceived that there should be no difficulty in recovering pecuniary penalties for the infringement of the postmaster general's privilege. but no action was taken on this opinion. the relations between the provincial governors and the assemblies were becoming more strained as time went on, and the governor general had no desire to augment the grievances of the assemblies by introducing irritating matters, in which the right of the home government might with reason be held to be disputable. footnotes: [ ] in course of debate in assembly, december , (report in _colonial advocate_). [ ] _journals, house of assembly_, march , . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] _journals of assembly_, u.c., . [ ] _imperial statutes_, , anne, c. . [ ] _ibid._, , geo. iii. c. . [ ] _ibid._, , geo. iii. c. . [ ] _imperial statutes_, , geo. iii. c. . [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] freeling to s. r. lushington, june , _(can. arch._, q. , p. ). [ ] _journals of assembly_, u.c. [ ] _house of assembly_, december , (report of the _colonial advocate_). [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. [ ] freeling to horton, july , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii.). [ ] afterwards earl of ripon: well remembered in canada as viscount goderich. [ ] october , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii.). [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] freeling to goulborn, december , . chapter ix thomas allen stayner deputy postmaster general--restrictions of general post office relaxed--grievances of newspaper publishers--opinion of law officers of the crown that postmaster general's stand is untenable--consequences. owing to failing health, sutherland retired from the service in . he was succeeded by his son-in-law, thomas allen stayner, the last of the deputies of the postmaster general of england, and in many respects the most notable. stayner was brought up in the post office, and at the time of his appointment to the position of deputy postmaster general he was in charge of the quebec post office. a man of unusual ability, stayner gained the confidence of his superiors in england, to a degree at no time enjoyed by his predecessors. what was equally important, he managed to keep on good terms with the governments of the two provinces. when the houses of assembly in upper and lower canada denounced the post office as inefficient and unconstitutional, and proposed to take the management of it into their own hands, the governors and legislative councils in the two provinces took the side of stayner, and while they urged upon him and the postmaster general the expediency of meeting the reasonable demands of the assemblies, they set their faces steadily against any revolutionary propositions respecting the control of the department. this attitude was in a measure due to a change in the policy of the postmaster general and his advisers in england. the earlier deputies were held by so tight a rein, and their suggestions and recommendations so little regarded, that they occupied a rôle scarcely more important than that of being the hands and voice of a department, which, unpopular at home on account of its illiberality, aroused general discontent in canada by adding to its administrative vices, an entire ignorance of the situation with which it had to deal. at the outset of his administration stayner's powers were as much restricted as were those of the deputies who preceded him. a few months after his appointment, he opened a post office at guelph. he assured the postmaster general that he had not done so until he had satisfied himself that the prospective revenue would more than meet the expense. but he did not escape a warning and an intimation that the departmental approval would depend on the financial results. shortly afterwards, stayner established an additional courier on the route between st. john and st. andrews in new brunswick, the point at which the mails between the maritime provinces and the united states were exchanged. this action, though most desirable in the public interest, brought down upon him a rebuke, and a reminder that the postmaster general's sanction must be obtained in all possible cases, before lines of communication were opened which were attended with expense. the circumstances of the country were making a continuance of this repressive course impossible. settlements were springing up too rapidly, and the demands for postal facilities were becoming too insistent to leave it possible to delay these demands until formal sanction was obtained from england. in november , stayner informed the postmaster general that, in upper canada, the lieutenant governor, the legislature, the merchants, and indeed the whole population, were calling for increased postal accommodation. in the united states, stayner pointed out, almost every town and village had a daily mail, and this excited discontent with the comparative infrequency of the canadian service. he suggested that he be allowed to expand the service, and to increase the frequency of the courier's trips, wherever he was convinced that the ensuing augmentation of correspondence would more than meet the additional expense. stayner had been so fortunate as to impress the postmaster general with the fact that a very considerable discretion might safely be left with him. besides this, the postmaster general was under a growing sense of the insecurity of the legal foundations of the post office in the colonies. to stayner's gratification he received a letter from the postmaster general[ ] enjoining him to make it his study to extend the system of communication in all directions where the increase of population and the formation of new towns and settlements seemed to justify it. this was a wise step. it gave the department a representative, zealous in its interests, as intimately acquainted with local conditions as the assemblies themselves, and thoroughly competent to undertake the responsibility devolving upon him. stayner's commission placed new brunswick as well as upper and lower canada, under his charge. but before the close of the service in new brunswick was transferred to the control of the deputy postmaster general for nova scotia.[ ] this change was made at the instance of the deputy of nova scotia, who, being in england at the time, explained to the postmaster general how much more closely new brunswick was associated with nova scotia than with quebec, and pointed out that orders from home affecting new brunswick and requiring immediate attention were delayed in that they had to pass from halifax through new brunswick, and then return to new brunswick. all the other branches of the imperial service in new brunswick had their local headquarters in halifax. at the time stayner was placed in charge of the postal service in the canadas, the system of communication was still simple enough to be described in a few lines. there was a trunk line from halifax, nova scotia, to niagara and amherstburg on the western boundaries of upper canada. the distances were to niagara, one thousand three hundred and fifty-six miles, and to amherstburg, one thousand five hundred and sixteen miles. the frequency of the trips made by the mail couriers over the several stretches of this long route varied considerably. between halifax and quebec, a courier travelled each way weekly. the section between quebec and montreal, the most populous in the country, was covered by couriers, who passed five times each way weekly between the two cities. from montreal westward along the shores of the st. lawrence and lake ontario to niagara and amherstburg, there were semi-weekly trips. running out from this trunk line there were six cross routes, four in lower canada, and two in upper canada. two of these left the trunk line at three rivers--one running to sorel, by way of nicolet, with semi-weekly mails; and the other to sherbrooke, stanstead and other places in the eastern townships. there was a weekly service over this route. mails were carried up the ottawa river from montreal as far as hull, and southward to st. johns; in both cases twice weekly. in upper canada, the only cross routes were one from cornwall to hawkesbury, with weekly mails, and another from brockville to perth, with mails twice a week. from perth there was a weekly courier to richmond. the two principal points of connection with the united states were at st. johns, south of montreal, and queenston on the niagara river. as early as , the united states post office had a daily service by steamer on lake champlain, which ran as far northward as st. johns. in , stayner made a notable improvement in the mail service from montreal to niagara, increasing the frequency of the trips to five each week, and reducing the time of conveyance between the two points to six days. the appointment of stayner in no way diminished the energy with which the houses of assembly pursued their campaign against the administration of the post office. in march , the assembly in upper canada named a committee consisting of fothergill, ingersoll, matthews and beardsley, to inquire into the state of the post office. their report, which was made in , did not disclose any new facts. indeed, it would not seem that the assemblies, in the series of inquiries, which were ordered from year to year, thought so much of obtaining new light on the question as of keeping the public alive to the grievances, which they were made to appear to suffer. the committee of , after affirming the illegality of the existing system and declaring that the surplus revenue which was sent annually to great britain, was the result of starving the service, recommended the establishment of a provincial post office, subject to the legislatures. post routes should be opened to every court house, and the charges on letters and newspapers conveyed by steamboats should not exceed twopence and one farthing each respectively. the lieutenant governor, sir john colborne, though friendly to stayner, and appreciative of his efforts to meet the demands of the public in upper canada, was not altogether satisfied with the system. he maintained that it was impossible for stayner from his headquarters in quebec to follow the rapid changes in the conditions of settlement in upper canada, and was of opinion that the remedy for the existing shortcomings of the post office in that province was to appoint an official of a rank equal, or nearly so, to that held by stayner, and station him in toronto. colborne, in communicating the view to the colonial office,[ ] also requested that arrangements should be made for a regular interchange of correspondence between upper canada and great britain, by way of new york. freeling, the secretary of the post office, was quite willing to meet the views of the lieutenant governor, but was inclined to the view that the people on both sides of the atlantic had already settled the question their own way. he explained that there was a plan in full operation by which the correspondence between liverpool and upper canada was conveyed across the ocean independently of the post office at twopence a letter, and that there was little likelihood that the public would seek the aid of the post office to have this conveyance done for them, and thereby become subject to charges four times as great. the people of liverpool, who had the largest correspondence with the united states, freeling reminded colborne, scarcely sent one letter per week by post, though thousands were sent outside the post office, by the same vessels as carried the mails for the post office. as for the appointment of a resident deputy in upper canada, freeling thought there would be no objection to such an arrangement. in this opinion stayner by no means concurred. he could see no good reason for such an appointment. the postmaster general was more impressed with the representations on behalf of the province than freeling thought desirable. freeling reminded the postmaster general that his powers might not be equal to his desires. he observed that in the lieutenant governor's letter, a question was involved as to whether, and if so, to what extent, the revenues of the post office could be devoted to the general improvement of communications for the public advantage, and he conceived that this was a point of view from which the postmaster general was not empowered to regard the subject. but the forces were gathering for an attack on the post office, which promised to be much more formidable than any which had preceded it. until that time, the assailants of the system had been confined to what the official clique regarded as the radicals and republicans and grievance-mongers. in the houses of assembly the grievances of which they complained became the motive of highly effective speeches and resolutions, but the injuries they alleged really hurt nobody. the rates of postage on letters were, according to present day standards, exorbitant. but they were no higher than those charged in england; and after all the post office was but little used by the masses of the people. it is doubtful if the post office were employed in any more freely than the telegraph is to-day. in their contention that it was a violation of constitutional guarantees to send the surplus post office revenue to england, the assemblies were undoubtedly correct, but loyal people bear many things of that kind easily. at this time, however, the question was taken up by a body to whom the postage rates were a personal grievance, and who at the same time possessed the means of successful agitation. in the beginning of , a number of newspaper publishers in lower canada approached the governor general, sir james kempt, with a request that they might be relieved of the payment of postage on the newspapers which they sent to subscribers.[ ] they did not ask that the postage be remitted altogether. all they desired was that the postage should be collected from the subscribers and not from themselves. they also suggested that the charge might be fixed at one penny per copy. stayner declared that he had no power to enter into such an arrangement. the publishers thereupon changed their request, and asked that they might be put on the same footing as the newspaper publishers in england stood, and be thus entirely exempt from postage on their newspapers. british publishers had enjoyed this concession since , but as they still had to pay a heavy excise duty on the paper they used, they could not be regarded as free from public charges. in canada there was no stamp duty on paper. this difference between their situation and that of their brethren in england was pointed out to the publishers, but the explanation failed to satisfy. one of the publishers, who had some inkling of the fact that the newspaper postage did not go into the public revenue, but formed part of the emoluments of the deputy postmaster general, observed that with as much consistency a toll keeper might insist on farmers paying high charges to him, because they paid no tithes. with the publishers awake to the fact that they had something to complain of, they made the most of their grievance. they were experts in this line of exploitation. they found that the newspaper charges, which they were convinced had no legal sanction, had been steadily advancing for forty years past. in , a shilling a year was all that was charged as postage for each copy of a weekly newspaper. this rate was increased by degrees to one shilling and threepence, one shilling and eightpence, two shillings, two shillings and sixpence, until, in , it had risen to four shillings a year on weekly papers, and to five shillings for papers published twice a week. the discontent of the publishers was not lessened by the knowledge that in the maritime provinces, the yearly rate for weekly papers was two shillings and sixpence for each copy. the agitation against the newspaper charges was set in motion by robert armour, proprietor of the _montreal gazette_. it had come to his knowledge that the sums collected from the publishers did not appear in the accounts of the postmasters with the department, and he suspected that in some way they were retained by stayner, though on this point he had no certain information. after armour learned that the rates had been subjected to a continuous process of enhancement, he made diligent search for any warrant that might exist for the successive advances or indeed for the original charge. finding none, he turned to the authorities for information. it was he who led the deputation to the governor general for relief in some form. when this step failed, armour demanded of the deputy postmaster general his authority for the newspaper charges. getting no answer from that quarter, armour endeavoured to bring matters to an issue by refusing to pay the postage on the copies of his paper which he posted in montreal. the postmaster declined to accept the papers without the postage, and armour appealed to the postmaster general in london. in due time the reply from the department was received, and while it offered no immediate relief, it put armour in possession of some exclusive information, which, as a newspaper man, he must have considered valuable. freeling, the secretary, informed armour that the postmaster of montreal had failed in his duty, in refusing to transmit the newspapers simply because the postage was not paid. the postmaster should have sent the newspapers forward, and since the postage demanded by stayner was not paid, it fell upon the postmasters of the offices to which the papers were directed to collect the postage, at the same rates as were charged on letters. as each paper was under this ruling chargeable with the rate which was due on four letters, it may well be imagined that no publisher would offer to pay the post office for the distribution of his papers by that means. on these conditions, the postage on each copy sent from montreal to any of the post offices on the island of montreal, to st. johns or to the nearer settlements in upper canada would be thirty-two cents. each copy sent to three rivers or to any points between sixty and one hundred miles from montreal would cost the subscribers forty-eight cents. it is needless to pursue the charges into districts where the copies were sent over one hundred miles. freeling went on to explain that, as the post office act had no provision for the conveyance of newspapers, the postmaster general, in order to accommodate the publishers permitted the deputy postmaster general to make private arrangements with them for the transmission of their newspapers. by ancient and authorized custom, the deputy postmaster general was allowed to treat the receipts from this source as his own perquisite. this information with the comments thereon greatly enlivened many issues of the _gazette_. freeling was denounced as a sinecurist, who permitted impositions in the colonies which he dared not make at home. armour announced that he would carry the matter into the legislature, and, if necessary, into the courts. he had no desire to escape the payment of postage. all he demanded was the establishment of an equitable rate, placed on a legal basis. his idea was that the postmasters who handled the newspapers should be paid from five to ten per cent. of their cost. the rates charged by stayner amounted to from twenty to twenty-five per cent. of the subscription price. armour would resist stayner's claim to be a sleeping partner in his business, who, contributing neither capital nor talent, dictated what his share of the revenue should be. armour could write well, and his onslaught caused stayner much uneasiness. in a letter to the postmaster general[ ] he attributed it to some neglect or indignity, which armour fancied he suffered at the hands of a former deputy postmaster general, while, he stated, other newspapers were recognizing with gratitude stayner's efforts to satisfy the reasonable demands of the public. every side of stayner's work was vigorously attacked in the _gazette_. complaints were made of a lack of necessary mail routes, and of an insufficiency of service on existing routes. it was charged also that stayner's attention was confined to the older and more thickly settled districts, which yielded the largest revenues. but, according to stayner, armour's silence could have been purchased by a share of the official printing which stayner declined to give him. whatever grounds stayner had for making the insinuation, there can be no question as to the energy with which armour bent himself to the task of exposing the methods of the post office. when his papers were held in the montreal post office on account of his refusal to prepay the postage, he entered actions for large amounts against stayner. these failed, as the courts declined to deal with the cases. he then addressed himself to the legislature. in the beginning of , armour and a number of other publishers presented a petition to the house of assembly of lower canada, setting forth the high rates they had to pay as postage for the transmission of their newspapers, and the impropriety of stayner's practice in appropriating the proceeds; and asking that they might be put on an equal footing with the publishers in great britain. the petition was handed over to a committee of the house, who proceeded to investigate the facts. in this they were only moderately successful, as the only person who was in a position to give them the information they desired, declined to answer the interrogatories put to him.[ ] stayner, in reply to inquiries as to the financial condition of the post office and the disposition of the surplus revenues, pleaded that he was employed by a branch of the imperial government, which in none of its instructions had recognized the right of the assembly to institute the inquiries being made. to answer the questions put to him by the committee might lead to disclosures, which would involve him with his superior officers until he had received specific instructions from them on the point. but though little was learned from stayner, the committee had obtained some useful information from inquiries made in the british house of commons by joseph hume. it appeared that the large sum of £ , had been received by the british treasury as surplus revenue for the years and . stayner endeavoured to lessen the importance of this fact by declaring that more than half the amount was postage paid by the army, which was not properly chargeable with postage at all. the committee declined to accept this view; and while perfectly friendly to stayner, and admitting that he had effected some considerable improvements, they were persuaded that the service was far from being what the people had a right to expect. looking outwards from quebec, the committee observed that there was no postal service whatever in the counties of montmorency and saguenay, which embraced the earliest settlements in the country. on the south shore of the st. lawrence, and along the etchemin and chaudiere rivers, there was a wide stretch of well-settled country entirely lacking the means of communication with the capital, though but a short distance from it. from quebec eastward to the new brunswick boundary there were over , people, and the only postal accommodation for this great extent of territory was afforded by seven post offices lying along the line of the post route between quebec and halifax. the peninsula of gaspe, with a line of fishing settlements all along the coast, had but two mails each year. the committee regretted particularly the situation as regards the conveyance of newspapers. the post office was under no legal obligation to carry them except as letters, and yet there was no other means available for their circulation. if the law had not conferred on the post office a monopoly of carrying letters, the publishers would have a resource. they might establish a transportation system, and meet their expenses by carrying letters as well as newspapers. the secrecy with which the affairs of the post office were surrounded was much deprecated by the committee, as giving ground for speculation and suspicion that could not fail to do harm to the institution. if, under the present system of imperial control, an adequate service were rendered, there would have been no just grounds for complaint. but if the interests of the province were not regarded, the people were entitled to object to their being limited to a means of conveyance which did not meet their requirements, and to assume that the revenue arising from the service was not properly applied. the committee in conclusion expressed their confidence in the good will of both the postmaster general and his deputy in canada, and their belief that their complaint had only to be laid before the governor general to secure favourable consideration. before concluding to withhold from the house of assembly, the information it sought, stayner with characteristic prudence had enlisted the support of the governor general, who coincided with him in his view as to the impropriety of his submitting to the questioning of the house regarding the affairs of a branch of the imperial service. when he laid the course he had pursued before the postmaster general, stayner also gained his approval for the zeal and sagacity he had shown. but armour persisted in his attacks in the _gazette_, and in the two sessions which followed managed to alienate from stayner a large measure of the good will of the house of assembly. stayner's determination to withhold information from the assembly was a source of irritation. the facts which had come to their knowledge through questions in the house of commons at westminster, the ungracious admissions which the possession of these facts enabled the house to extort from stayner, and his specious and unconvincing defence of his perquisites, all combined to change the house from an attitude of friendliness to one of criticism and even hostility. the house no longer rested in the belief that, to obtain satisfaction, all that was necessary was to lay their grievances before the department. in , it denounced the methods of the department, and presented an address to the governor general praying that the home government might place the post office under the control of the legislature.[ ] in the session of , the pertinacious armour again appeared before the assembly. he had no new facts to present, but managed to sustain the interest of the house in the facts already before it. the assembly on this occasion set forth its views at greater length. in an address to the king,[ ] it represented that the post office should not be a means of raising a revenue greater than was needed to enable it to establish offices wherever they might be required; that if the rates were higher than was necessary for that purpose they should be lowered; and that any surplus revenue should be at the disposition of the legislature for the improvement of communications by post throughout the country; also, that newspapers should pass through the post office in lower canada, free of postage. in the assembly in upper canada the post office was also vigorously assailed. there was general agreement on the proposition that the existing arrangements were not satisfactory, but on the point of remedy opinions differed sharply. the reformers, of whom dr. duncombe was the spokesman, adopting the argument of the baldwin committee of , insisted that the post office had no legal basis in upper canada. duncombe and his associates held that it was a violation of the constitution to send any surplus revenue to great britain, and that it was the obvious duty of the legislature to pass an act, taking to itself the control of the provincial post office. they believed that the revenues from the service would amply suffice to cover all its expenses, but if it should turn out that such was not the case, they were prepared to meet the deficiency from the general revenues of the province. the government party, on the other hand, always ready to fight for things as they were, did not accept the argument of the baldwin committee. they held that the post office was an institution necessary to commerce, and, as such, it was not placed by the acts of and under the jurisdiction of the provincial legislature. they did not believe that the provincial post office furnished a revenue sufficient to cover the expenses, but if it should be shown that they were wrong, and that the post office yielded a surplus, they were convinced that the imperial government had no desire to retain the surplus for its own purposes. colborne, the lieutenant governor, was in general agreement with the government party. but he believed that, having regard to the great distances between quebec, and the rapidly rising settlements in the remoter parts of upper canada, an administrator, having his headquarters at quebec could never understand the necessities of the new districts, and that it was indispensable that there should be stationed at toronto an officer with powers nearly, if not quite, equal to those of the deputy postmaster general at quebec. in the sessions of and , the subject was warmly debated.[ ] the views of the reformers were presented by duncombe and bidwell. they were opposed by the attorney general (henry john boulton), the solicitor general (christopher hagerman), and burwell, who was postmaster at port burwell. it was one of the complaints of the reformers that there were in the house of assembly a number of postmasters who voted not according to their own convictions, but according to the orders of stayner. as the result of the discussion, it was resolved to present an address to the king, asking that an annual statement of the revenue and expenditure of the department be laid before the legislature; that newspapers should be distributed throughout the province free of postage; that the correspondence of the members of the legislature should pass free during sessions; and finally, that in the event of a surplus being obtained, the postage rates should be reduced, or that the surplus should be devoted to the improvement of the roads. stayner, in sending to the postmaster general, copies of the addresses from upper and lower canada, expressed his gratification that the assemblies in both provinces appeared to have dropped the idea of independent provincial establishments, and gave it as his opinion that the legislatures would look for nothing further than such reasonable modifications of existing laws and regulations as the imperial government might determine. that some changes were necessary stayner was quite convinced. the postage on newspapers, for instance, could not long remain in its present position, as regards either the amount of the charges or the mode in which the revenue therefrom was disposed of. as for the request of the legislatures that newspapers should be distributed by the post office free of charge, there seemed no sound reason why this should be done. a moderate rate should be fixed, and some arrangement made for the disposal of the revenue from this source. the present plan aroused dissatisfaction, and indeed the amount collected was fast becoming too large to be appropriated in the existing manner. the postmaster general expressed his satisfaction with stayner's report, and indeed it appeared at that moment to be of more than usual consequence to him that the colonies should be well affected towards the post office. it will be remembered that when the baldwin report reached england in , the postmaster general was sufficiently impressed with the cogency of the argument against the legal standing of the british post office in the colonies, to call for the opinion of the law officers upon it. when the case was prepared by the solicitor for the post office, it was still more impressive, and the postmaster general thought better of his desire to have a definite opinion upon it, as it appeared more than probable that the opinion might be against the post office. he accordingly directed that the papers should be put away, and they lay undisturbed for eleven years. but the repeated remonstrances of the colonial assemblies, joined to the rising dissatisfaction with the general political conditions in upper and lower canada, made it desirable to remove any real grievances which might be found to exist in the control and management of the postal system. the first step taken in this direction was to ascertain whether there was any foundation for the contention of the assemblies that the whole system rested on an illegal basis, and that the revenues collected by the post office in the colonies were taken in violation of the fundamental principle governing the relations between the mother country and the colonies. the case was accordingly submitted to the attorney general and the solicitor general in ; and on the th of november of that year a decision was given, upholding the colonial contentions on all points.[ ] the questions upon which the opinions of the law officers were required were (first) whether the power to establish posts, and the exclusive right to the conveyance of letters given by the acts of and , had the force of law in the canadas, and (second) whether the postage received for the inland conveyance of letters within those provinces ought to be paid into the exchequer and applied as part of the revenue of the united kingdom, or whether it ought to be devoted to the use of the province in which it is raised. the law officers gave the case the attention its importance called for. it appeared, they stated, to involve practical considerations of the highest political importance, bringing directly into question the principle of the declaratory act of , respecting internal taxation of the colonies by the mother country. their opinion was that the rates of internal postage could not be considered as within the exception of duties imposed for the regulation of commerce, but that if they could be so considered, they would by the terms of that act be at the disposal of the province, instead of constituting a part of the revenues appropriated for the general purposes of the empire. it had been contended, as a question of law, that since the act of , by which the colonial rates were finally determined, was in operation at the time of the declaratory act of , it had not been annulled by the latter act, the language of which was, not that rates then existing should be no longer levied, but that after the passing of the act of , no tax or duty should be levied. but the law officers had no great confidence in the argument. in their own words they were of opinion that "it would not be safe to agitate the question as a question of law with the colony, and if it could be so discussed, it would not succeed, and that it could not be enforced." the opinion of the law officers could not have been unexpected, but it gave the postmaster general much concern. in a note appended to the decision, he accepted the opinion of the law officers as conclusive. the department, he said, was beaten off its first position, and his view was that a plan should be drawn up by which the post office should relinquish to the provinces any surplus revenue after the expenses were paid, and permit an account of the receipts and expenditures to be laid on the tables of the legislatures. while forced to concede this much the postmaster general was convinced that the appointment of the officers of the department should remain with the crown. otherwise he foresaw the ruin of the colonies, so far as correspondence was concerned; for the postmaster general and legislature of upper canada would be at perpetual strife with the postmaster general and legislature of lower canada. however, he concluded that before taking any step in the matter he would consult goderich, the colonial secretary. it was not until the following march that the postmaster general saw goderich respecting the post office. the interview was quite satisfactory. the colonial secretary agreed to the propositions. legislation would be necessary, and to that end stayner was called to london to give his assistance. at this time the government received assurances from an unexpected source that the plan settled upon would be satisfactory to the canadian people. william lyon mackenzie, and denis benjamin viger, representing as they maintained, the body of the public in the two provinces, visited england for the purpose of laying before the government the grievances of the canadian people. on reaching london, mackenzie and viger wrote to the secretary of the post office, requesting an interview with the postmaster general. the request was refused on the ground that the postmaster general did not feel authorized to communicate with any person but the colonial secretary on colonial matters. the delegates then addressed themselves to goderich, who cordially invited them to lay their case before him. mackenzie, thus encouraged, prepared a statement, which, though long and detailed, was studiously moderate in tone.[ ] on all other points of colonial policy, mackenzie declared, people would be found to differ, but as regards the post office there was absolute unanimity. there must be a change. stayner himself admitted that the arrangements were imperfect. the colonial governments were in favour of separate establishments, but mackenzie was of stayner's opinion that such would be impracticable. his own belief was that the only feasible scheme would be to bring all the colonies of british north america under one deputy postmaster general, who should be responsible to the postmaster general of england. mackenzie apparently would be quite satisfied to see the office of deputy postmaster general vested in stayner, whom he described as a persevering, active officer. the other suggestions of mackenzie were in line with the more conservative recommendations of the colonial assemblies. on one subject, however, he expressed himself strongly. he said the packet service between the canadian provinces and the mother country was so indifferent that it went far to convince canadians that great britain desired as little correspondence with canada as possible. as an instance of the inferiority of the packet service, mackenzie told goderich that he had shortly before received a letter by the halifax packet, which was sixty-five days on the way, and which cost five shillings and fourpence-halfpenny for postage, and another by way of new york, which was only thirty-four days in coming, and cost only one shilling and fourpence-halfpenny. the announcement of the arrival of the english mail by the halifax packet was scarcely heeded, whereas no sooner was it known that the liverpool mail had arrived from new york than the montreal post office was crowded. mackenzie's statement on this point was fully confirmed by stayner on his arrival in london in june. stayner, when informed of the opinion of the law officers, was not disposed to acquiesce in it as readily as the postmaster general had done. colonial lawyers, always more imperial and more conservative than the eldons and lyndhursts in london, had assured him that the necessity of imperial control of the colonial post office was the strongest reason for believing that parliament never intended to divest itself of the power by the act of . the conviction of the necessity of imperial control was held by all persons qualified to have an opinion, and, stayner declared, by the legislatures themselves. the firm belief of stayner was that, if the imperial parliament failed to legislate on the present critical situation then they must give up all idea of ever having the question settled. the several colonies could never be brought to concur in their views on this or any other subject. they knew this, and did not ask to have the matter submitted to their own legislation. stayner certainly overstated the reluctance of the legislatures to deal with the question of the provincial post office. but, as his opinion had the support of so ultra a radical as mackenzie, the postmaster general could not be blamed for accepting, and, as far as possible, acting upon it. there was, however, a difficulty. indeed, the way back into right courses seemed beset with difficulties. the postmaster general was quite willing to furnish the legislatures with annual statements of the revenue and expenditure, to leave with the colonies all surplus revenues, and to satisfy all the reasonable desires of the provinces. but by what steps should he proceed, to legalize the course he proposed? if the necessary legislation could be enacted by the imperial parliament, all would be well. with a free hand, he would have no trouble in satisfying all the interests concerned. but if the bills had to originate with the provincial legislatures, the postmaster general would despair of bringing the matter to a successful conclusion, as he was convinced that the requisite action on the part of the several provincial legislatures would never be taken. the postmaster general again turned to the law officers. it was essential that they be consulted on the question. the points on which opinion was desired were two. the first was whether, without any further authority of parliament, the surplus of any postal revenue raised within the colonies under the act of , could be appropriated and applied under the direction of the respective legislatures for the use of the province in which such surplus might arise. the second was whether it would be competent for the british parliament to fix a new set of rates for the colonies, or whether the acts of and made it necessary that the authority for such rates should proceed from the respective colonial legislatures. both of these questions were answered adversely to the hopes of the postmaster general.[ ] the law officers had no doubt that the act of was applicable to the canadas, and that, if objections were raised in the provinces to the payment of postages fixed by the british parliament, whether by the act of or by an act to be thereafter passed, the legality of the charges could not be maintained, nor could payment of them be enforced in the absence of authority from the legislature of the province concerned. the proper procedure to be followed, in the opinion of the law officers, was for the british parliament to repeal the act of , and leave it to the provinces to establish a new set of rates. the law officers were aware of the difficulties which would arise, if after the act of had been repealed, the colonial legislatures failed to agree on a scheme of rates or on the necessary arrangements for a uniform postal system throughout the provinces. in such a case, there would be a period in which there would be not even the semblance of legal authority for the postal service within the colonies. after a further interchange of correspondence between the postmaster general and the law officers, it was decided to introduce into the imperial parliament a bill repealing the act of , but making the operation of the bill contingent upon suitable legislation being adopted by the legislatures of the several provinces. in order to facilitate the passage of identical legislation by each of the legislatures, a draft act was prepared by the solicitor of the general post office, and a copy was sent to the lieutenant governor in each of the provinces for submission to his legislature. the act of the imperial parliament was passed and received the king's assent on the th of march, .[ ] it contained but two clauses. the first provided for the repeal of the imperial act of , so far as that act authorized the collection of postage in the colonies, but stipulated that it should not become operative until acceptable legislation had been adopted in the several provinces, authorizing the collection of postage and making suitable arrangements for a postal service throughout the provinces. the second clause stipulated that, in the event of the revenues from the colonial post offices exceeding the expenditures, the surplus should no longer be sent to london to form part of the revenues of the united kingdom, but should be divided among the several colonies in the proportion of their gross revenues. the draft bill, prepared by the solicitor of the general post office, provided for a complete postal system in each of the provinces.[ ] under this bill, the postmaster general at st. martin's-le-grand was to be the head of each provincial system, and the appointment of a deputy postmaster general in each province, who should reside in the province and manage the system therein, was to be in his hands. the postage rates were to be the same in the several provinces; and in the case of correspondence between the provinces, the charge for postage was to be fixed in accordance with the entire distance the articles were carried, without regard to provincial boundary lines. it will be seen that if the provincial legislatures adopted the bills framed in london for them, there would be no change whatever in the practical working of the colonial system. the postmaster general in london would, as theretofore, control the arrangements, and the charges were fixed, regardless of provincial boundaries. as the imperial act stipulated that any surplus which should arise from the system should be distributed among the colonies, so the proposed provincial bills provided for the contingency of a deficit in its operations. each provincial bill empowered the postmaster general to demand from the legislature the amount, which it was agreed that the province should be held responsible for, to make up the deficit. upper and lower canada were to bind themselves to pay in such a case up to £ from each province. nova scotia was to pay up to £ ; new brunswick up to £ ; and prince edward island up to £ . in anticipation of the adoption of the bills by the several legislatures, the postmaster general appointed an accountant, who should have general charge of the financial transactions of all the colonies. he was to be established at quebec. his position in relation to the deputy postmaster general of lower canada was somewhat peculiar. while, in general, he was subordinate to the deputy postmaster general, in all matters touching the accounts, he was independent of the deputy, and responsible only to the postmaster general in london. there were also appointed two travelling surveyors or inspectors in the canadas, one of whom was stationed at quebec, and the other at toronto. nothing could have been more necessary for the proper administration of the service, and for the expansion of the system to meet the requirements of the new settlements. it was impossible for stayner to give personal attention to the duty of supervising postmasters, or to inquiries into the merits of the numerous applications from all parts of the country for new post offices. the necessity for assistance in this direction was impressed on stayner by a number of robberies which took place on the grand route between montreal and toronto--episodes in post office economy which he was helpless to investigate. two of these robberies have incidents connected with them, which are deserving of mention. in february , on a stormy night, the mail bag dropped off the courier's sleigh somewhere in the neighbourhood of prescott, and it could not be found. as the contents of the bag included banknotes to the value of from £ , to £ , , a reward of £ was offered for the conviction of the thief and the recovery of the money. within half an hour after the placard was on view in prescott, a man who heard it read, exclaimed excitedly: "i know all about it, i have the bag at home." it turned out that this man had found the bag, rifled it, and used part of the money, and, carried away with the prospect of the large reward, had actually informed on himself. the other case is noteworthy on account of the energy displayed by the loser of a valuable letter, in pursuing and securing the conviction of the thief. the letter, which contained £ , was posted in toronto, and addressed to a gentleman living near l'original. as the department, owing to the lack of effective aid, was limited in its efforts to advertising the loss in the newspapers and by placards, the loser of the letter took the inquiries into his own hands. he spent nearly a year in his investigations, travelling up and down the country between montreal and toronto, and in the state of new york, covering a distance of upwards of two thousand one hundred miles. it is satisfactory to be able to say that he managed to locate and secure the arrest and conviction of the thief. so well had he done his work, that the deputy postmaster general adjudged him to be entitled to the £ reward offered by the department. footnotes: [ ] freeling to stayner, august , . [ ] freeling to stayner, september , . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _journals of assembly_, l.c., , app. f.f. [ ] _journals of assembly_, l.c., - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _report, journals of assembly_, - , app. . address to king, _journals_, - , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iv. [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] november , , _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iv. [ ] _imperial statutes_, , william iv. c. . [ ] the bill for upper canada is printed in app. to the _journals of the assembly_ for . those submitted to the other provinces were identical except as to the maximum to be contributed by the province in the event of a financial deficit. chapter x the beginnings of the postal service in the maritime provinces--complaints of newspaper publishers--reception given to imperial act to remedy colonial grievances. up to this point the narrative since the american revolution has been confined to upper and lower canada. the maritime provinces have been mentioned only in so far as it was necessary to describe the means by which the canadas maintained communication with great britain. it is now time to relate the events connected with the beginnings of the inland posts in the maritime provinces. the post office in halifax was the first opened in the provinces now of the dominion of canada. it was established as part of the general scheme for closer and more regular communications between the colonies and the mother country which was set on foot as a consequence of the general alarm which seized the british colonies after the annihilation of braddock's army by the french and indians at fort duquesne. with the placing of a direct line of packets on the route between falmouth and new york for the conveyance of mails and despatches a post office was demanded at halifax, in order that nova scotia might participate with the other colonies in the benefits of the new service. when in the post office was opened at halifax, the english settlements in the maritime provinces were very recent and very few. the city was founded but six years before, for the purpose of providing a military and naval station; and in the year following, the capital of the province was transferred thither from annapolis. in the only other settlement attached to the british interest at this time was commenced. a number of germans, attracted by the advertising of the british government, arrived at halifax. after a short stay most of them re-embarked, and sailing along the southern shore reached malagash harbour, where they laid the foundation of the town of lunenburg. the settlement was augmented by further arrivals in the two following years, and in its population numbered slightly over . in the total population in the two settlements of halifax and lunenburg was about , and these comprehended all that could be regarded as british subjects. few additions were made to the population within the next few years, though the government made a strong effort to re-people the districts from which the acadians had just been expelled. the only other new settlement founded in the maritime provinces until the french power in america was broken by the capture of louisburg and of quebec, was at windsor, where a group from new england entered upon the lands from which their former possessors had been removed. with the passing of the danger of molestation by the french, there was an active movement into the provinces for a few years. the beginnings of settlements were laid all along the annapolis valley from windsor to annapolis; also at several points on the south shore between halifax and liverpool, and at the western extremity of the province in the present county of yarmouth. little groups established themselves at truro and amherst, and on the adjacent lands of new brunswick, at sackville and hopewell. on the st. john river, a trading village was laid out in at portland, now part of the city of st. john; and in an important agricultural community was formed farther up the river, at maugerville, a few miles below fredericton. in a census was taken of the province, and the total population was found to be over , . of these were in the territory afterwards forming part of the province of new brunswick, and there were in prince edward island. the remaining number were in nova scotia proper. the first movement of immigration had now spent itself, and it was not until after the revolting colonies had gained their independence that any great accession was made to the population. the incoming of the loyalists was an event of the first magnitude for the maritime provinces. during the years and , the population increased to threefold what it was when the migration from the revolted american colonies began. they took up lands in all parts of the provinces. eighteen hundred householders made homes for themselves in and about annapolis, while digby, which until that time was quite unsettled, leaped into the position of a village with a population of . nearly all the settlements formed at this period had within them the elements of permanence, and they became the foundations of the towns, villages and farming communities which cover the maritime provinces. until the arrival of the loyalists, there were practically no inhabitants east of halifax and colchester counties. pictou was not entirely unoccupied, as a small group from pennsylvania and maryland had come into the district in , who were joined by a few highland scotch families in . but the total number was insignificant, and the two counties to the eastward, antigonishe and guysboro, were still practically in a state of nature. they were settled later by scotchmen who came to pictou and prince edward island. new brunswick benefited to a relatively greater extent than nova scotia by the loyalist movement. at the close of the war, the number of english colonists in this province did not exceed . these were scattered in small groups on passamaquoddy bay, on the st. john river, and on the chignecto bay and petitcodiac river at the eastern end of the province. by , when the loyalists had settled themselves, there was a continuous line of settlements along the bay of fundy from the united states boundary at the st. croix river to st. john harbour, and with longer intervals onward to the eastern limits of the province. on the st. john river and tributaries over people were settled. the cities of st. john and fredericton, and the towns of st. stephen and st. andrews sprang into existence during this period. on the north and east coasts of new brunswick permanent settlement had begun, the people being mostly acadians. there were small scotch fishing settlements on the miramichi and the restigouche rivers. communication among these settlements was carried on mostly by water. fishing vessels ran constantly between halifax and the harbours and coves on the seaboard. the settlements on the bay of fundy and the st. john river were brought into connection with halifax by way of windsor, which lies near the mouth of the avon, one of the tributaries of the bay of fundy. between windsor and halifax a road had been built by the acadians shortly after halifax was founded, to enable them to carry their cattle and produce to the new and promising market. the inland settlements along the annapolis valley had the advantage of an ancient road, made by the acadians running from pisiquid, as windsor was first called, to the annapolis basin. the loyalists and disbanded soldiers settled in the provinces found themselves not ill-supplied with facilities for communicating with one another, but the means of corresponding with the mother country left much to be desired. on the establishment of the packet service between falmouth and new york in , the mails for halifax brought out by the packets were sent from new york to boston, the postmaster of which town was instructed to send them to halifax by the first suitable war or merchant vessel that offered. until the war broke out, there were numerous opportunities for sending the mails to halifax. the trade returns for show that during six months of that year one hundred and forty-eight vessels entered halifax harbour, much the greater proportion of which were from new york or boston. but with the outbreak of the war, communication with the revolted colonies was carried on at great risks, and the naval and military authorities at halifax made bitter complaint of the delays to their correspondence with the home government. with the restoration of peace, an immediate demand was made for a direct packet line to halifax, and there seemed every likelihood at the time that the line would be established. lord north wrote to the lieutenant governor of nova scotia in august [ ] that halifax would doubtless increase in importance in becoming the rendezvous of the fleet, and that he was asking the postmaster general to put on a monthly packet to halifax. but other views prevailed. in november, the postmaster general re-established the packet service to new york, and as there were not sufficient vessels available for a separate line to halifax, the settlements in the maritime provinces had to depend on the new york service for their correspondence with the mother country. the british post office maintained a packet agent at new york, whose duty it was to take over the despatches and mails brought by the packets for the british colonies, and send them forward by the first opportunity. the difficulties finlay found in maintaining correspondence between canada and great britain by way of the new york packets have been related. the nova scotia post office had no less difficulty. there were few british vessels running between halifax and the ports of the united states, and consequently the delays to the correspondence were often intolerable. the complaints of the officials and of the merchants in halifax were incessant. a memorial was presented to the government in by the merchants of halifax, pointing out the great injury to their trade from the faulty arrangements. lieutenant governor parr, in forwarding the memorial, expressed his entire concurrence in its terms, and added that the mails which left england by the november packet did not reach halifax until the th of april following. but fortunately canada was now adding an insistent voice in support of the demand of the maritime provinces. before peace was declared, the governors of canada and nova scotia were canvassing the possibilities of facilitating communication between their provinces. despatch couriers passed between quebec, fort howe and halifax, and efforts were made to overcome the obstacles to travel, particularly on the portage between the st. lawrence and lake temiscouata. the results had not been specially encouraging, but the determination of the americans to exact the last farthing that could be got out of the exchanges between canada and great britain, which passed over their territory, and their unwillingness to assist in expediting the exchanges in any way, compelled the canadian government to keep before it the question of the connections by way of halifax. in the legislative council of quebec discussed the question. finlay, who besides being deputy postmaster general, was a member of the legislative council, impressed on his colleagues the necessity of liberating canada from its dependence on the united states in its correspondence with the mother country. the refusal of the postmaster general of the united states to allow canadian couriers to travel to new york, although there was no regular exchange between new york and any united states post office on the road to canada, led to delays and exorbitant charges, which were unendurable. finlay urged as a first step that canada should make a passable road as far as the new brunswick border, believing that the home government would see that the governments of new brunswick and nova scotia would provide the facilities for travel within those provinces. dorchester, the governor general, who had taken much interest in the question, sent finlay in to make a survey of a route from quebec to halifax, and to arrange for couriers to pass monthly between the two places. the british government gave its approval to his efforts to establish a connection between the british provinces, and on its part, arranged that, commencing in march , the packets which ran between falmouth and new york should call at halifax during the eight months from march to november of each year.[ ] the call of the packets at halifax, and the exchange of the mails between great britain and canada at that port marked the commencement of the inland services in the maritime provinces. post offices were opened at the important points on the route between halifax and quebec. the couriers passed through fredericton and st. john in new brunswick, and digby, annapolis, horton (now wolfville) and windsor in nova scotia.[ ] st. john post office was opened in , the office of postmaster and king's printer being combined. the courier between st. john and fredericton travelled over his route fortnightly, and a service of the same frequency was maintained on the route in nova scotia. in order that the post office should have the advantage of conveying the military despatches between the posts on the route, the expresses which had been employed in this duty were suppressed, much to the distaste of the military authorities, who would henceforward have to pay the very high postal charges on their letters. these charges were prohibitive for all but very urgent letters. a letter consisting of a single sheet cost twelve cents to carry it from st. john to fredericton if it weighed less than an ounce. if it weighed over an ounce the charge was quadrupled. the following are the rates charged by the postmaster at halifax to the several post offices in nova scotia: to windsor fourpence; to horton sevenpence, and to annapolis and digby ninepence. at the risk of repetition, the reader is reminded that these charges are for letters consisting each of a single sheet, weighing less than one ounce, and that in case the letters should weigh above an ounce, the rates given were multiplied by four, as a letter weighing over an ounce was regarded as equal to four letters. the postage from fredericton to london, england, was sixty-four cents for a single letter. as one glances over the long newsy letters in the published correspondence of the time, he is persuaded that those letters did not pass through the post office. the lately published winslow correspondence[ ] is full of such letters, but they let us into the secret of how they came to be sent. leading loyalists, men who had given up their comforts and taken on themselves the severest hardships for the sake of the old connections, thought no more than the merest rebels of evading the postal laws, and sending their letters by any convenient means that presented themselves. ward chipman, the solicitor general of new brunswick, in writing to edward winslow in london, tells him that he would write more freely if it were not for the enormous expense, but he would tax the good will of every person he could hear of, who was going to england. no person was allowed to go on a journey, long or short, without a pocketful of letters entrusted to him by his friends, unless he were unusually disobliging. when he reached his destination, he either delivered the letters in person, or posted them in the local post office, whence they were delivered at a penny apiece. the service as established in was carried on unchanged until the war of made certain alterations in the routes necessary to secure the safe conveyance of the mails. the presence of american privateers in the bay of fundy rendered the passage of the packets between st. john and digby hazardous. the course down the st. john river and across the bay to digby was, therefore, temporarily abandoned.[ ] the courier with the mails from quebec did not continue the river route farther south than fredericton. at that point he turned inland, taking a road which led to the juncture with the old westmoreland road which ran from st. john to fort cumberland, on the eastern boundary of new brunswick. the road from fort cumberland was continued on through truro to halifax. for a short period before the war and during its course, the deputy postmaster general was under steady pressure on the part of the provincial governors to extend the means of communication throughout the province of nova scotia.[ ] population was increasing rapidly--the census of gave it as , --and settlement was well distributed over all parts of the province. the governors for their part were anxious to have the means of corresponding easily with the militia, who were organized in every county. the deputy postmaster general was in a position of considerable embarrassment. his orders from the home office as respects the expenditure of the postal revenue were as explicit as those under which heriot was struggling in canada. he won through his difficulties, however, with more success than attended heriot's efforts, although he did nothing that heriot did not do, to meet the two incompatible demands of the post office, on the one side, that he should establish no routes which did not pay expenses, and of the local administration on the other, that he should extend the service wherever it seemed desirable to the governor. howe brought a little more tact than heriot seemed capable of, in dealing with the provincial authorities. he laid the commands which had been impressed on him by the secretary of the general post office before the legislature, and obtained the assistance of that body in maintaining routes, which did not provide sufficient postage to cover their expenses. on his part he engaged, in disregard of the injunctions of the secretary, to allow all the sums which were collected on a route to be applied to paying the postmasters and mail couriers as far as these sums would go, the legislature undertaking to make up the deficiencies. in april ,[ ] howe made a comprehensive report of the mail services in operation at that date, together with the arrangements for their maintenance. there were two principal routes in the province. the first in local importance was that through the western counties from halifax to digby and thence by packet to st. john. the section between halifax and digby cost £ a year, of which the legislature paid £ . the packet service across the bay was maintained by the legislatures of the two provinces. the settlements beyond digby as far as yarmouth and on to shelburne, were served by a courier who received £ from the legislature, and all the postage on letters going to the settlements, which amounted to £ a year. the second leading route was that between halifax and fredericton by way of truro. this route, which was begun in , was discontinued at the close of the war. it had been found so advantageous, however, that it was re-established in the beginning of , as the permanent route between quebec and halifax. from truro, a courier travelled through the eastern counties to pictou and antigonishe. this was a district which howe regarded with much satisfaction. he wrote that the large immigration from scotland and other parts of great britain had increased the number of settlements and thrown open the resources of this part of the province to that extent, that the revenue of the eastern districts would soon surpass that from those in the west. antigonishe collected the letters from all the eastern harbours and settlements, and although the post office had been open for only about nine months, the results, as howe conceived them, were very encouraging. the expenses of the courier at this period far outran the revenues, and accordingly the legislature made a contribution of £ . the remainder of the shortage was made up partly by postages and partly by private subscriptions. howe, the deputy postmaster general, set forth the favourable aspects of the service with an eagerness that betokened nervousness, and indeed there was some reason for this feeling. when his statement reached england, the secretary at once drew the attention of the postmaster general to the fact that, while howe had done extremely well, his actions in appropriating the revenue to any specific object and in establishing new routes and making new contracts without first receiving departmental sanction were inconsistent with the principles which governed the post office. but it was something that, while heriot's official zeal was embroiling him with the governor general of canada, howe was managing to secure the good will of the lieutenant governor of his province, and his compromises with post office principles were passed over with a slight warning. howe retired in on account of old age, and was succeeded by his son, john howe, junior. the postal service of new brunswick did not advance with equal step with that of nova scotia. until there was no progress made in improving the system, except that the conveyance between st. john and fredericton had been increased from fortnightly to weekly. the first district off the established lines to manifest a desire for postal accommodation was that on the miramichi river.[ ] there were two flourishing settlements on the river--chatham and newcastle--largely engaged in lumbering and fishing, and some means for the exchange of letters was a necessity. for some years before a courier travelled between these settlements and fredericton along the course of the nashwaak river. he was paid partly by a subsidy from the legislature of new brunswick, and partly by private subscription. those who did not subscribe to the courier, might or might not receive their letters. it depended on the caprice of the courier. if he chose to deliver them, he exacted a payment of eleven or twelve pence for each letter. this arrangement was far from satisfactory, as the following illustration will show. in february , a brig from aberdeen reached halifax, bringing a mail, which contained sixty letters for the miramichi settlements. these letters were forwarded to fredericton by the first courier. it happened that among the persons to whom the letters were addressed were a number who were not subscribers, and the courier refused to take the letters for these persons with him. the consequence was that the letters had to be returned to halifax, to take the chance of the first vessel that might happen to be sailing in that direction. to guard against any similar mishap in future, howe left the letters for the miramichi districts with the captains who had brought them over, and allowed them to arrange for their onward transmission. the lieutenant governor of new brunswick urged the establishment of a regular post office on the miramichi. the trade of the district was of considerable proportions. in , four hundred and eight square-rigged vessels from the united kingdom loaded on the miramichi. there was some bargaining between the deputy postmaster general and the lieutenant governor. the expense of the courier would be heavy, and the revenue from it would not be large. howe proposed that the postages from the route be devoted to its maintenance, and the balance be made up by the legislature. howe does not seem to have had his usual success in these negotiations, for the governor declined to deal with him, insisting on corresponding directly with the postmaster general in england. this caused some delay, and it was not until that the post office was sanctioned. the year was a notable one in the history of the new brunswick post office. in that year several important offices were opened. howe, in his report to the postmaster general, gives an interesting account of his trip in establishing these offices.[ ] he took a vessel from st. john to dorchester, where he opened an office; thence to baie verte, from which point he sailed to miramichi and to richibucto. returning to dorchester he travelled to sussexvale. howe appointed postmasters at all these places. on arriving at st. john, he was met by the request of the lieutenant governor to open an office at st. stephen. he finished up his tour by visiting gagetown and kingston where offices were opened. the very considerable enlargement of the system in new brunswick gave much satisfaction to the lieutenant governor. but as usual the deputy postmaster general received a douche of criticism from the secretary of the post office, who could not bear to sanction an extension of the service which did not turn in something to the treasury. howe had, indeed, been careful that the post office should not be even a temporary loser by his arrangements. he had gone no further than to apply the postages collected at the new offices to pay the postmasters and couriers, as far as these sums would go. the postmaster general took a larger view of howe's activities, and expressed his gratification at what had been accomplished. it was during this period that cape breton was brought within the postal system of the maritime provinces. this island, which had been the scene of great exploits during the french and english wars, had not begun to come under permanent settlement until after the close of the american revolution. after the fall of louisburg, in , the island was attached to nova scotia, and remained a part of that province until , when it was erected into a separate government. the first lieutenant governor of cape breton, major desbarres, in casting about for a suitable site for his capital, had the advantage of an intimate knowledge of the coast line of the island, acquired during a series of surveys of the coasts and harbours of the maritime provinces. contrary to what might have been expected, he turned away from louisburg, and placed his capital in a town which he established at the head of the southern arm of spanish river. desbarres called the town sydney, in honour of lord sydney, the secretary of state for the colonies. after an inglorious career of thirty-six years, notable only for the perpetual strife which reigned among the administrative officials, during which the domestic affairs of the colony were almost entirely neglected, the colony of cape breton was re-annexed to nova scotia in . the growth of population during this period was slow. in there were people on the island, including some roving bands of indians. on the west coast, about arichat and petit de grat, there were persons, all french. about st. peters there was a mixed english and french population numbering ; and on the east coast in a line running north and south of louisburg there were tiny settlements containing in all persons, nearly all english. so little progress had been made during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, that at the end of the population was only , of whom were in the sydney district, and in and about louisburg. the remainder were strung along the west coast from arichat to margaree harbour. the increase on the west coast was due to a number of highland scotch immigrants, who reached cape breton by way of pictou, and took up land between the gut of canso and margaree harbour. in , the scotch movement into cape breton began to assume considerable proportions. a ship bringing settlers into sydney, was followed by others year after year, until, at the date when cape breton again became part of nova scotia, the population had reached between eight and nine thousand, most of whom were highland scotch. the district about arichat remained french. there was a post office in cape breton as early as . it was at sydney, with a. c. dodd as postmaster.[ ] dodd was a man of prominence on the island, being a member of the legislative council and afterwards chief justice. he held the postmastership until , when he was succeeded by philip eley, who was in office in , when the lieutenant governor, general ainslie, pointed out to the home government the necessity of improving the communications between the island and great britain. the exchange of correspondence was slow and uncertain. the cape breton mails were exchanged by the halifax packet, but it was usual for two months to elapse between the arrival of the letters from england and the first opportunity of replying to them. half the delay, ainslie thought, might be avoided, if the packets on their homeward voyages would lie off the harbour of louisburg for an hour or two to enable a small boat to reach the packet. the commanders in port at falmouth were consulted, and gave it as their opinion that the fogs and currents, which prevailed about louisburg would make it inadvisable to attempt to land the mails there, and the proposition was rejected. in the winter of , an overland communication was opened between sydney and halifax, an indian carrying the mails between the two places once a month during the winter.[ ] when the annexation of cape breton to nova scotia took place in , the lieutenant governor of nova scotia, sir james kempt, managed to obtain a weekly mail between sydney and halifax.[ ] the earliest period in which we find a postal service in operation in prince edward island is .[ ] john ross is mentioned as postmaster of the island in that year. he was succeeded by benjamin chappell, in whose hands and in those of his family, the postmastership remained for over forty years. the connections with the mainland and the mother country were maintained for some years by such vessels as happened to visit the island. the postal service of the island was within the jurisdiction of nova scotia. it was not, however, until , that the deputy postmaster general made any mention of the island service in his reports to the general post office in london. howe then informed the postmaster general[ ] that when lord selkirk was in nova scotia some years before, that nobleman urged upon him the necessity of a courier service to pictou, and thence to prince edward island by packet. this service was established in , and an arrangement was made with the island government, by which the postage was to be applied as far as it would go to maintain the packet and pay the postmaster's salary, and the government would make up the balance. there were no accounts between the island post office and the general post office. the postmaster simply presented to the deputy postmaster general periodical statements of the postages collected, and his expenses, together with a receipt for the deficiency which was paid by the government. this arrangement had the immense advantage that from the very first the island service was in the hands of the local government, which carried on the post office with no more than a formal reference to the general post office. the postage on a single letter from charlottetown to halifax was eightpence. the communication between the maritime provinces and the mother country was the subject of some discussion. halifax was determined to retain, and extend the utility of the packet service at all costs. owing to the greatness of the charges, and the long delays, the canadian merchants made but little use of the halifax packets, but had their letters sent by way of new york. the merchants of new brunswick insisted on the same privilege. the provincial government established two courier services between st. john and fredericton, and st. andrews on the united states boundary, and the united states post office arranged to have the british mails for new brunswick conveyed by its couriers to robbinstown, a point in maine a short distance from st. andrews. against this nova scotia protested. john howe, the elder, came out of his retirement in , and made a strong plea for an exclusive packet service between england and halifax, the vessel to remain at halifax for one week before returning. he would have the public despatches for new york and bermuda brought to halifax, and from that place forwarded to their destination by one of the war vessels in the harbour or by a packet kept for the purpose. buchanan, the british consul at new york, urged the opposite view, that all the british mails for the colonies should be sent by way of new york. dalhousie, who was lieutenant governor in nova scotia, at the time supported howe's view, and matters remained as they were. the question of newspaper postage was agitated in the maritime provinces, as well as in the provinces of canada. indeed it would be inconceivable that publishers anywhere could be satisfied with the arrangements then in operation. but, most curiously, when the question came before the house of assembly in nova scotia, the sympathies of that body ran, not with the publishers, but with the deputy postmaster general. in , edmund ward, a printer, who published a newspaper in fredericton, petitioned the legislature to be relieved of the charges for the conveyance of his paper. the post office committee of the house of assembly in nova scotia took the application into their consideration. the committee reported[ ] to the house that, having examined the imperial acts, they were of opinion that it was no part of the duty of the deputy postmaster general to receive, or transmit by post, newspapers printed in the colonies, or coming from abroad except from great britain. they found, moreover, that the secretary of the general post office in london, under this view of the case, had for a long time made a charge for each paper sent to the colonies by packet, the proceeds from which he retained to his own use. it also appeared that about sixty years before that date (that is about ), the deputy postmaster general made a charge of two shillings and sixpence per annum on each newspaper forwarded to country subscribers by post, which was acquiesced in by all the publishers at that time. the committee believed, therefore, that the deputy postmaster general was fully justified in the charges he made, but they were much in favour of having newspapers transmitted free. in accordance with this idea, the committee suggested that the assembly should take on itself the charges due for the conveyance of newspapers. they found that there were seventeen hundred newspapers of local origin distributed by post each week, and three hundred british or foreign newspapers. the assembly did not act on this suggestion. though the deputy postmaster general was fortunate enough to have the support of the legislature in his contention with the publishers, his position was by no means free from criticism. indeed, there were certain features in his case, which were peculiarly exasperating to the publishers. howe was not only deputy postmaster general, but was king's printer, and had in his hands the whole of the provincial printing. he was also interested either directly or through his family in most of the newspapers published in nova scotia. _the nova scotian_, _the journal_, _the acadian_ and _the royal gazette_, were all controlled by the howe family, and it appeared in the examination that all these newspapers were distributed by the post office free of postage. there were two other newspapers published in halifax--_the acadian recorder_ and _the free press_--and the publishers felt, not unnaturally, that in being compelled to pay two shillings and sixpence for each copy transmitted by post, while their rivals had the benefit of distribution by the post office free of charge, they were being subjected to an unjust and injurious discrimination. the publishers of _the recorder_ and of _the free press_ presented a petition to the king, asking that they, also, might be relieved from the burden of paying postage on their newspapers.[ ] just as their claim appeared to be, it had no support from the authorities in the colony. the lieutenant governor in sending the petition to the colonial office, took occasion to speak of the high character of howe and of his father, the preceding deputy postmaster general, and to express his opinion that the small fee collected on newspapers could not be regarded as an extravagant compensation for the trouble the deputy postmaster general had in the matter. the case of the publishers came before the postmaster general in . freeling, the secretary, then reminded him that there was no urgency in the matter, as they were engaged at the time in adjusting the relations between the colonial governments and the post office, and if the provincial legislatures accepted the settlement proposed by the home government, the question of newspaper postage would be satisfactorily disposed of. in the meantime, the petition was easily answered. the practice, argued the secretary, was not illegal as it was founded on an act of parliament empowering the postmaster general to give to certain of his officers the right to distribute newspapers by post. this right had been in existence since the first establishment of a post office and of a newspaper in the colony. consequently the petitioners, in entering upon the business of publishing a newspaper, must have been aware of the charges to which the publishers would be liable. the imperial bill of , together with the draft bill prepared by the post office for the acceptance of the provinces reached the lieutenant governors of the provinces in january . the object of the plans, it will be remembered, was in effect to have the stamp of legality placed on the existing arrangements, by obtaining for them the sanction of the several provincial legislatures. on the adoption by the legislatures of the several bills, which were identical in form, the postmaster general would relinquish the powers he had until that time exercised over the revenues of the provincial system, and allow the surplus, if any should arise, to be distributed among the provinces, leaving it also with them to make up the deficit in case the expenditure exceeded the revenue. the proposals of the postmaster general were received characteristically by the different provinces. nova scotia and new brunswick had no fault to find with the existing arrangements. so far from objecting to the irregular emoluments of the deputy postmaster general for the maritime provinces, they recommended, when the question arose, that his emoluments be increased. whenever the lieutenant governor or the legislature of either of the provinces desired the extension of the postal system into sparsely settled and unremunerative districts, the local governments without demur took the deficiencies on themselves, and did not ask why the profits from the more populous districts were not devoted to meeting these shortages. when the imperial scheme for settling the difficulties of the colonial postal system was laid before the legislatures of the maritime provinces, it found them quite unprepared to discuss it. until then, they had apparently not realized that any such difficulties existed. the thirteen years controversy between the british post office and the assemblies in upper and lower canada appears to have excited no attention in the lower provinces. when the proposition from the british post office was submitted to the assembly in new brunswick, it was put aside until the following session, and then, as it appeared not to suit the views of the assembly, it was dropped. in nova scotia, the subject received more consideration. the draft bill was referred to a committee of the legislature, which went thoroughly into its merits. the committee were of opinion[ ] that, if modified in certain respects, the bill would be well adapted to accomplish the object in view. in their view the bill should not be a permanent one, but should be renewable every three years, in order that any defects, which experience might disclose, could be remedied. it also seemed advisable to the committee that the chief administrative officer in the province should be selected, not by the postmaster general, but by the governor of the province, who would be more conversant with the character and abilities of persons qualified to discharge the duties of the office. as the legislatures of canada and new brunswick had declined to adopt the bill, the committee would not recommend that any bill should be adopted that session. the only point to which they invited the attention of his majesty's government was the salary of the deputy postmaster general, which was not only inadequate, but would not bear comparison with the emoluments of the deputy in the other provinces. the nova scotian assembly did not, however, rest at this point. though they had acquiesced quite contentedly in the arrangements made by howe, the deputy postmaster general, and had shown no disposition to join the canadas in their agitation, the implied admission of the home government that the surplus post office revenues belonged of right to the colonies, put a different face on the subject. the post office committee called the deputy postmaster general before them, and on going over the accounts with his assistance, they discovered that there was a considerable amount remitted annually to england, as profit from their inland posts, and satisfied themselves that if this amount were retained by the deputy postmaster general, and devoted to paying for the unremunerative services, the sum contributed by the province for the maintenance of these services would be much reduced, if not wiped out altogether. the legislature, thereupon, with a boldness which seemed to betoken ignorance of the course of events in canada, resolved to take over the control of the provincial post office. a bill for that purpose was adopted in ,[ ] and received the assent of the lieutenant governor. by it, the deputy postmaster general was directed to pay into the provincial treasury any surplus revenue, and the legislature on its part undertook to make good any deficiency, if such should arise. the position of matters as regards the inland service of nova scotia was complicated by the geographical situation of the province with reference to the other provinces. the british packets, by which mails were exchanged between great britain and the north american colonies, landed at halifax, and it was essential that the conveyance of the mails across nova scotia between halifax and the inland provinces should be maintained unimpeded. the legislature recognized this fact, and agreed to provide for this through service at its own cost, on condition that the british post office should pay the salaries of the deputy postmaster general and his staff at halifax, from the revenues of the packet service. the home government disallowed the nova scotia bill as being inconsistent with the objects sought to be accomplished by the imperial act of . the aim of that act was to secure a uniform code of laws for the regulation of the posts in british north america. any partial legislation would be unacceptable, and this was particularly the case with legislation on the part of nova scotia, the key to british north america. by obtaining control over the expenditure for the mail service through the province, the legislature of nova scotia would have the entire power over the postal communications with the interior, and they might not only object to defray the expense of particular services, but might interdict them altogether, as, in their opinion, unnecessary. the colonial secretary added another consideration to this argument of the postmaster general. one of the chief advantages which the government hoped to derive from the mission of lord durham, who was then in canada, was that of devising some plan for the regulation of questions, which, like that of post office communications, was the subject of common interest to the colonies collectively. the assembly showed some resentment at the rejection of their bill. the despatch informing the governor that the measure had been disallowed, also contained notice of the refusal of the home government to sanction several other acts adopted by the nova scotia legislature. in the resolution expressing regret that the measures in question had not been allowed to go into operation, the assembly were careful to intimate their confidence in the disposition of her majesty to meet the reasonable expectations of the assembly, and attributed the several disallowances to a want of correct information on the part of the home government due to its not going to the proper sources therefor. in order to remove the misunderstanding which the assembly conceived to exist between themselves and the home government, william young and herbert huntingdon were sent as delegates to confer with the colonial secretary on this and other subjects lying open. in london the delegates were brought into communication with the treasury.[ ] as the chief objection to the nova scotia bill for the regulation of the post office was that it would give the government of that province control over the posts to the provinces in the interior, the delegates lost no time in disclaiming any desire to exercise control over any but their own inland service. they were willing that the great through lines should remain within the jurisdiction of the postmaster general of great britain, and that the provincial authority should be confined to the management of the side or cross posts. this proposed dual control was, of course, obviously impracticable, as the whole provincial service, with its main lines and cross lines, was so blended together, that any attempt to treat them as under two different administrations could not fail to lead to unfortunate results. the mission of the delegates was, however, far from fruitless. the fact that the legislature had without complaint paid out considerable sums each year for the maintenance of the service, appeared to the british government to entitle nova scotia to liberal treatment, as these payments would not have been demanded if the post office had understood the matter. the treasury, therefore, decided that so long as the revenue from the inland post office was sufficient to meet the expenditure for the inland communications, no demand for that purpose should be made upon the provincial funds. should, however, the legislature deem it advisable to add to the lines of communication, the treasury would rely upon the legislature to defray the expenses of such additional communications, so far as these were not covered by the augmented postage receipts. there was no more than justice in this decision, but the concessions of the treasury did not stop at this point. it also intimated its willingness to allow all the packet or ocean postage collected in the colonies to remain at the disposal of the local government, whenever the imperial act of should come into operation. the british government did not desire to force the imperial act upon the colonies, if, as appeared to be the case, there were valid objections to it. it was prepared to consider any amendments which might be proposed to meet those objections. the packet postage, it should be explained, belonged entirely to the british government which provided and paid all the expenses of the packet service, so that the offer to allow the local governments to retain for their own use the packet postage they collected, was a real concession. footnotes: [ ] _c. o. rec._ (_can. arch._), n.s., a. , p. . [ ] see p. . [ ] _quebec gazette_, december , . [ ] _winslow papers_, - (printed under the auspices of the new brunswick historical society, ). [ ] heriot to howe, august , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii.). [ ] howe to freeling, june , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii.). [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, april , iii. [ ] freeling to postmaster general, august , , with enclosures (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii.). [ ] howe to freeling, october , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, ii.). [ ] _quebec almanac_, , p. . [ ] capt. im thurm to freeling, april , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii.). [ ] kempt to colonial office, march , . [ ] _quebec almanac_, , p. . [ ] _can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iii. [ ] _journals of assembly_, nova scotia, , p. . [ ] hay to freeling, january , , and accompanying papers (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, iv.). [ ] _journals of assembly_, nova scotia, , app. . [ ] _journals of assembly_, nova scotia, , app. . [ ] letters from young and huntingdon to baring, june , , and accompanying papers (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, viii.) chapter xi continuance of agitation in the canadas for control of the post office--much information obtained by committees of legislatures--difficulty in giving effect to reforms. the proposals of the british post office for removing the objections to the existing arrangements without endangering the efficiency of the colonial postal system had a very different reception in the assemblies of upper and lower canada from that which they met with in the maritime provinces. owing to a general indisposition on the part of the legislatures of nova scotia and new brunswick to push their contentions to extremes, and doubtless also, to the fortunate relationship between the deputy postmaster general of the maritime provinces and joseph howe, the leader of the reform party in nova scotia, the post office had been subject to no authoritative criticism in those provinces up to the time when the plans of the british post office were laid before the legislatures. in the canadas the situation was exactly the reverse, as regards both the state of public feeling and the claims of the deputy postmaster general upon the forbearance of the assemblies. the discussion of political grievances was arousing in the popular party a bitterness which was fast carrying the agitation for remedies beyond constitutional bounds; and as for stayner, he had quite alienated from himself the good will of the assemblies in upper and lower canada, by his open identification of himself with the government party. when, therefore, the british proposals were laid before the assembly of upper canada by the lieutenant governor in , they were rejected with the contemptuous observation that the provisions of the proposed bill were so absurd and inapplicable that no benefit could be expected from any attempt to amend them.[ ] the legislatures were not aware of the circumstances which had led to the british proposals. the fact that the views for which they had contended had been upheld by authorities so eminent as the law officers of the crown was withheld from them. the changed attitude of the postmaster general was therefore regarded by the assemblies as a proof of the success of their agitation, and they girded themselves up for renewed efforts. as a preliminary to fresh attacks the assemblies in both provinces demanded from stayner a mass of information, the extent of which filled him with dismay. but no further refusals on his part were possible. the colonial office was scarcely more pleased with stayner and his methods than the provincial assemblies were, and the postmaster general was requested to see there were no more concealments. the work which fell upon stayner in the preparation of the returns called for was enormous. as printed by the legislature of lower canada, the documents produced filled two hundred and sixty-eight quarto pages. stayner appears to have withheld nothing. he became as effusive as he had formerly been reticent. he published letters written by himself to his official superiors, which must have proved embarrassing to them. in the correspondence stayner disclosed was a letter from the postmaster of montreal, pleading for a more suitable room for his post office.[ ] from this letter it appears that in , the post office in montreal was in the upper storey of a building standing between the _gazette_ printing establishment and a boarding house, and underneath it was a tailoring and dry goods shop. to get to the post office the public had to grope up an unlighted flight of stairs at the risk of their limbs, and when they reached the top they had to make their way across a small lobby half-filled with firewood. as an inducement to the department to provide more suitable quarters, the postmaster stated that the merchants were so sensible of the inconvenience and danger from fire, that the postmaster thought they would help with the erection of a proper building, if applied to. stayner also produced the copy of a letter he had written a short time before, to the secretary of the general post office protesting his inability to meet the wants of the provinces with the means which the postmaster general had placed at his disposal. the letter deals chiefly with the conditions in upper canada, and as a description of the situation in that province it could not be bettered. the occasion of the letter was a complaint made by a gentleman in england that it had taken from the th of june until the th of october for a letter, addressed by him to his son in barrie, to reach its destination. stayner in reporting on the subject, admitted that this was quite likely the case, but insisted that no blame was imputable to him. the nearest post office to barrie was from thirty to forty miles distant, and it was probable that the letter had lain a couple of months at that office before being called for. the case of the barrie settlers was typical of that of thousands of well-educated people inhabiting the back parts of upper canada, where they had formed thriving towns and villages from twenty to fifty miles from the existing posts. these people with whom postal accommodation was almost a necessity of life were entirely without the means of corresponding with their distant friends, unless they sent and received their letters by private agency. stayner declared that he was well within bounds in saying that at that moment there were between two hundred and three hundred distinct societies of people spread over the country in upper canada alone, who, like the settlers in barrie, were suffering from want of that accommodation which he would fain give them, if he had the power to do it. the case was to be the more lamented from the fact that the reasonable wants of these people could be supplied without burdening the post office revenue. so active was the spirit of enterprise amongst the class of persons crowding into the new settlements throughout the whole extent of upper canada, as well as in many parts of the lower province, and so great was their disposition for letter writing, that stayner was sure in a short time the increased revenue would amply repay the outlay required. but with the assistance allowed him, it was impossible to meet those demands. it was indispensable that he should have at least two travelling officers, whose duty it should be to examine into the merits of applications, to settle questions of site, and arrange for mail carriers. as for mail carriers, stayner believed that the surveyors would save their salaries by that item alone, as in the absence of officials who would make arrangements on the spot, the post office was being constantly exposed to imposition by carriers, against which it was impossible to provide. during the first five years he had been in office, stayner had increased the number of offices under his control from ninety to two hundred and seventy, but beyond that it was impossible for him, with his present assistance, to go. the parts of the country where new offices were called for were so remote, and the means of information so unsatisfactory that it would be improper for him to open offices and make contracts for serving them, without the advice of persons acting under his orders, upon whose judgment he could rely. at that moment, stayner further told the committee, the provinces of upper and lower canada required not less than five hundred offices, that is, practically double the number then in operation, and in ten years, at least one thousand offices would be necessary to provide the requisite accommodation. with proper assistance he could establish and put into successful operation all that were wanted at the rate of one hundred a year. less than that scale of advancement would fail to satisfy the public. the complaints of the people had become so loud and threatening that, unless they were speedily met, stayner was apprehensive they would be engrafted upon the catalogue of provincial grievances. before he left england, stayner had the postmaster general's promise that two surveyors would be at once appointed. he had waited as long as he felt that he dared, but the situation had become so alarming, that he had taken it upon himself to appoint two surveyors who would act under his directions, until regular appointments could be made. after stayner laid before the houses of assembly in the two provinces the various returns they had called for, committees were struck in each house to consider the information contained in the statements. the committee in lower canada took the evidence of stayner and of william lyon mackenzie who happened to be in quebec at the time, conferring with the reform leaders in lower canada. mackenzie's statement was a general arraignment of the administration of the post office. he declared that, as then constituted, the post office in the opinion of the assembly of upper canada, was an illegal institution, monopolizing the conveyance of epistolary correspondence which it taxes heavily, and appropriating the proceeds in england, without the knowledge and consent of the assembly. it arbitrarily and often capriciously, the reformer from upper canada complained, fixed the sites of post offices, and dismissed and appointed the incumbents. it resolved that one section of the country, though thickly settled, should have no post offices, while another part which was almost destitute of inhabitants had regular mails. newspapers were taxed at such a rate as the post office thought fit, and the proceeds were held by the deputy postmaster general as his perquisite. in short, mackenzie was emphatic in his declaration that the establishment was a poor substitute for a provincial post office, which would be regulated by law, and its revenues disposed of by the authority of the legislature. he gave some curious illustrations of the inequalities which marked the operation of the newspaper regulations. while mackenzie was in england, joseph hume secured the production of a number of documents relating to the canadian post office, which the legislatures in canada had tried in vain to obtain from stayner. among these was a statement showing the amount paid by the several newspaper publishers for the distribution of their papers by the post office. on looking over the list mackenzie was surprised at the very moderate amounts paid by publishers of some of the most widely-circulated papers. _the montreal gazette_, for instance, distributed nearly two thousand copies by post, but paid postage on only two hundred and fifty copies. mackenzie made some further inquiries, and found that all sorts of irregularities prevailed, which stayner in the weakness of his position was fain to connive at. the publisher of one paper in kingston told mackenzie that he entered seventy-five copies as sent by post, while mailing four hundred copies; another reported sixty copies and sent three hundred. a third publisher, who objected to paying the usual charge of four shillings per copy per annum, was let off with two shillings and sixpence per copy; while a fourth publisher paid no postage at all for several years. until that time mackenzie had been paying the regular charges for all copies of his newspaper--_the colonial advocate_--which he sent by mail. but he determined to be no longer the victim of such barefaced discrimination, and he accordingly began to enter for postage only a part of the total issue distributed through the mails. in order that he might not be open to a charge of dishonesty, and perhaps also to help in the exposure of a vicious system, mackenzie told the postmaster at toronto what he was doing, and at the same time published the facts in his newspaper. this, of course, could not be tolerated by stayner, and he demanded from mackenzie the full postage on all his papers sent through the mails. mackenzie refused to pay, but declared that if stayner would allow the case to go before a jury in toronto, stayner might employ all the counsel in the colony to support his demand, and if the jury could be persuaded to render a verdict against him, he pledged himself to pay the demand and all expenses. the offer was, of course, declined and the claim was dropped. in the course of a long examination, stayner was taken over all the points in controversy between the postmaster general and the canadian provinces. dr. o'callaghan,[ ] who soon afterwards acquired notoriety as a leader in the rebellion, was chairman of the committee. he and his associates in the inquiry had sat on several earlier committees and were well versed in the points at issue. with the aid of the documents produced, the o'callaghan committee managed to elicit from stayner a fairly complete statement of the position of the post office in the canadas in - . asked as to his authority for appropriating to his own use the proceeds of the newspaper postage, he was unable to point to it. but he stated that he knew it had been repeatedly recognized by the head of the department in london, and he had never considered it incumbent upon him or even proper to inquire into the date or form of the authority. to a committee convinced that everything appertaining to the post office bore the marks of illegality, this answer could not be satisfactory. stayner was consequently next asked whether he considered that any usage, precedent or custom could give him a right to tax any portion of his majesty's subjects without the express consent of parliament. to this he replied in the negative, but added that he never doubted that the postmaster general, in permitting his deputy in canada to send newspapers through the post for a compensation to himself, was borne out by law. what the statute was which the postmaster general held to be his authority, stayner could not, with confidence, say. but it occurred to him that it might be an act passed in ,[ ] which confirmed certain officers attached to the principal secretaries of state and to the postmaster general, in the privilege which they long enjoyed of franking newspapers and other printed matter. as a matter of fact, this was the statute cited by the postmaster general when required to produce his authority for allowing stayner and other deputies to treat the proceeds from newspapers as their perquisites, and as we consider this act, we may admire the prudence with which stayner declined an argument as to its sufficiency as authority for the practice. stayner was on firmer ground when he pointed out that the post office act had made no provision for the conveyance of newspapers, and that, as things stood, the only alternatives before the publishers were to pay the prohibitive letter rates on their newspapers, or to come to terms with him, under the permission of the postmaster general. the committee were loath to leave this controversial advantage with stayner and asked him whether, since the newspapers were carried in the mail bags, he paid from the newspaper postage any part of the mail couriers' wages. he said he did not, and then committed himself to the extraordinary proposition that it cost nothing to carry newspapers because they were in the same bags with the letters. the committee did not waste any time arguing such a point as that, but called the contractor for the conveyance of the mails between montreal and quebec, who testified that if he were relieved of the newspapers, he could carry the mails on horseback, at a saving of £ a year. the o'callaghan committee in their report to the assembly--a report which was made on the th of march, , invited attention in the first place to the large sums which were sent by the deputy postmaster general to england from the revenues of the canadian post office. during the thirteen years ended in , the large amount of £ , sterling had been remitted to the british treasury on this account, and the remittances for the last four years averaged annually £ , sterling. these remittances, and the usage under which they were made, the committee denounced as a violation of the fundamental rights of the people of the colony, and as an instance of the disregard of the declaratory act of , which had cost great britain her american colonies, "now the flourishing and happy united states of america." regarding the imperial act of as an admission that the british government had acted illegally in appropriating to its own use the surplus canadian postal revenues, the committee assumed that the deputy postmaster general would cease to make remittances of canadian revenues to england. on discovering that this was not the case, the committee gave stayner notice that the assembly would probably hold him personally responsible for any further remittances thus improperly made. stayner, however, paid no attention to this warning, as he had but a short time before deposited $ , in the commissariat office for transmission to london. stayner's course in treating the newspaper postage as his perquisite came in for the strongest reprobation. the statutory authority which he ventured to put forward was easily shown to be no authority at all, and the committee declared it to be a monstrous absurdity that the head of the department should, in defiance of all law, presume to fix the charges on newspapers, and put the proceeds in his pocket. from the statement furnished by stayner, it appeared that no less than £ currency had been appropriated by him from this source during the six years he had held the office of deputy postmaster general, and the committee suggested that, as he had no shadow of right to any part of this large sum, legal proceedings should be taken by the province to recover the amount from him. the total income which stayner acknowledged having received was beyond belief. in each of the three years ending with and including , his emoluments amounted on the average to £ currency. these emoluments were described graphically by the committee as nearly equal to the salary of the governor general, three times more than the salary of any of the puisne judges in the province, almost equal to the whole amount paid as compensation to the one hundred and thirty-seven postmasters in upper canada, and one-third more than the total amount received by the one hundred and seventeen postmasters in lower canada. the committee endeavoured to convict stayner of having misled the postmaster general as to the magnitude of his income. they were unsuccessful in this attempt, as the postmaster general was quite aware of the amount stayner was receiving, and had expressed no disapproval. the committee as a conclusion to its report urged that the provincial government should take over the control of the provincial post office, and they submitted the draft of a bill which they had prepared for the purpose of sanctioning the action recommended. the house of assembly adopted the report of the committee, and having passed the bill, sent it up to the legislative council for approval. in the legislative council the bill was rejected. the majority of the council were stayner's friends, and they saw that he had a full chance to express his views before a committee appointed by the council. he set the draft bill prepared by the postmaster general beside the assembly bill, and effectively contrasted the strong points of the former with the weakness of the latter. the imperial bill, stayner emphasised before the committee of the council, dealt with british north america as one territory as regards regulations and charges, and in his opinion, unless the several provinces were to be so regarded, an efficient service among the provinces themselves, and between the provinces and other countries, would be impossible. in order to encourage correspondence between the distant parts of the colonies, the imperial bill fixed the comparatively low rate of eighteen pence for all distances beyond five hundred miles. thus a letter could be sent from amherstburg to halifax or charlottetown for that sum. if each colony had its own separate postal administration the charge on letters passing between those places would, in the most favourable circumstances, cost two or three times as much. stayner was far from agreeing that, in all its details, the imperial bill was perfect, but he was convinced that the principle on which it was based was the only practicable one. the great objection stayner saw in the bill of the assembly was that it was a local bill operative only within the province. intercourse between lower canada and the other provinces had to be provided for, since where there are several states under one supreme head, the free exchange of correspondence between them is indispensable. the british government, whose interests in the different provinces required that communication between them and the mother country should be uninterrupted, could never consent, stayner was sure, to any local arrangements by which those communications might be jeopardized. the cost of communication between province and province would be prohibitive, and the consequence would be moral isolation. the separate states of the american union, jealous as they were of any impairment of their rights, recognized the necessity of a common postal service. stayner dwelt convincingly on the technical difficulties of accounting and distributing the charges on inter-provincial correspondence, and on correspondence between canada and great britain. as it happened at the time, most of the letters sent between canada and england passed by way of the united states. but that was a courtesy on the part of the united states government which might be terminated at any time, and then the canadian provinces would be entirely dependent on the province by the sea. if each province charged its full local rates on correspondence passing through it, and stayner could see no reason why any of the provinces should favour its neighbours at the expense of its own people, the charge on a letter sent from upper canada to england would not be less than six or seven shillings, while under the british draft bill, the charge would scarcely ever exceed two shillings. the legislative council adopted stayner's reasoning entirely. it admitted that if the post office were an institution of merely local utility, there would be little to amend in the bill sent up by the assembly. since, however, there were several provinces concerned, whose concurrent action was essential, the conflict of interest which must inevitably arise would make the harmonious working of the separate parts of the system difficult, if not impossible. as an instance of the difficulties springing out of the divergence of interest among the provinces, the council recalled the fact that it became necessary to invite the intervention of the mother country to settle the apportionment of the customs revenues between the provinces of upper and lower canada. the council suggested to the governor general that if this line of reasoning were found acceptable, a satisfactory settlement of the whole question would be reached by requiring the deputy postmaster general to furnish annually full information as to the conditions, financial and other, of the post office. the free transmission of the correspondence of members of the legislature, the council urged, should be provided for. the deputy postmaster general should be removable on the joint address of the two houses of the legislature; the salaries of all officials should be fixed, and perquisites of every kind withdrawn. finally such alterations should be made in the rates of postage, such post offices established and such arrangements adopted for the regulation and management of the service, as were called for by the joint address of the two houses. the plans elaborated by the british post office for the settlement of the colonial difficulties found no more favour in upper canada than in the other provinces. the assembly condemned the draft bill as unworthy of consideration. the terms in which the scheme was dismissed by the assembly were sufficiently slighting, but the colonial secretary was not in the mood to be resentful. lord glenelg was impressed with the substantial justice of the claims of the assemblies in the two provinces, and would not make a stand on a point of manners. as sir francis bond head was about to come to upper canada to take up the lieutenant governorship in succession to colbome, glenelg, in his letter of instructions[ ] directed head to make every effort to bring the post office question to a satisfactory conclusion. noticing the opinion given by the assembly on the postmaster general's scheme of settlement, glenelg thought it right to say that the bill had the very careful consideration of the postmaster general before being sent to the several provinces. the government, however, had no desire to urge the adoption of any measure to which well-founded objections existed. they were content that the bill should be withdrawn, to make way for any better bill that might be proposed by the house. the assembly might find, on approaching the subject more closely, continued glenelg, that unexpected difficulties would crop up, particularly with regard to intercourse by post with places beyond the limits of the province. the lieutenant governor was authorized to assent to any judicious and practicable measure which the house might incorporate in a bill, and to regard as of no importance, when opposed to the general convenience of the public, any considerations of patronage or revenue derivable from this source. notwithstanding this conciliatory statement, the house proceeded along the same lines as those followed by the assembly in lower canada. they drew up a series of resolutions[ ] providing for the establishment of a post office department with headquarters in toronto. specified sums were allotted for the maintenance of a head office, and for the salaries of the postmaster general and his staff. the rates were fixed on letters and newspapers, and the percentage of revenue to be allowed postmasters as salaries was defined. the house was unsparing in its condemnation of stayner. they estimated that during the ten years preceding, the large sum of £ , had been withdrawn from the province through the exactions of the post office, an amount which they said would have sufficed to establish five district banks, suited to the wants of as many different sections of the country. the advantages of a provincial establishment appeared to the house to be very great. a large amount of wealth would be kept in the province, which was sent to quebec, either for transmission to england, or to make up the perquisites of officials; post offices could be opened wherever they were required, and no distant part of the province would be without the means of cheap and convenient accommodation; postmasters would be better paid, and the postage on letters and newspapers would be reduced; and extravagance could be checked and abuses corrected. the house was fully aware of the objections to a local post office system, but in their opinion those objections were not to be mentioned beside the numerous advantages the provincial post office would provide. it would be far easier for the department to open accounts with the present or any other post office department that might be organized, than it was to arrange with the united states for the interchange of correspondence with that country, and yet there was a very extensive exchange between canada and the united states without the aid of any law whatever. in considering the terms of a post office bill, the house had before it a list of conditions--thirty-one in number--which a committee recommended for consideration. many of these were obvious. others concerned matters of detail. some were trivial. one peculiar condition was that £ a year should be allotted for the purchase of books and instruments, which might be useful in helping to keep the roads in a proper state of repair. the plans for the establishment of a post office department in upper canada did not reach completion, as the assembly was dissolved a month after the resolutions were adopted, in consequence of its refusal to vote supplies. the termination of these agitations in the assemblies of upper and lower canada, mark the close of a period in the relations between the provincial legislatures and the post office. the resolutions which were directed against the constitutional status of the post office, and the demands for separate provincial establishments ceased at this point. this was due rather to the disappearance of the opponents of the existing system than to the removal of the causes for complaint. the lower canadian assembly held a session of less than a fortnight at the end of september and the beginning of october , and another of a week in august , when it was dissolved, not to be resumed. during those sessions the affairs of the post office were not mentioned. in upper canada the election, which followed upon the dissolution of may , resulted in a great victory for the government party. before resuming the narrative of events in the british north american provinces, it will be convenient to see how the late proceedings were regarded by the home government. lord gosford, the governor general, in transmitting to the colonial secretary the bill framed by the assembly of lower canada, observed that it was intended as a substitute for the imperial bill of , which did not suit the ideas of the house. one of the reasons adduced against the post office was that the money which the deputy postmaster general sent to england was the produce of an illegal tax levied in violation of the act of . in december , some of the members of the assembly waited on gosford, and requested him to stop the remittance of about £ which was being made by stayner to the department in england. gosford declined to take such a step for reasons which he set forth. the members, also, asked that the governor should take measures to recover from stayner the sums which he was shown to have taken as newspaper postage. gosford replied that as this allowance was permitted by the imperial department, and had been sanctioned by the duke of richmond as late as , he could not assume to do what they asked, but he would bring the subject to the attention of the home government. the whole arrangement regarding newspapers appeared to gosford to be improper. he was of opinion that the emoluments received by stayner were unreasonably large, and that the practice of allowing the deputy postmaster general to draw a considerable private income from the public business was wrong in principle. but the post office in london was already in possession of the lower canadian bill. stayner had sent a copy to the secretary immediately on its adoption by the assembly, and before the legislative council had had time to consider and reject it. at the post office the receipt of the bill with the notice that it would go into operation on the st of may, , gave rise to great perturbation among the officials. freeling, in passing the bill on to the postmaster general, declared it to be perhaps the most important document he had ever received.[ ] it was neither more nor less than an entire suppression of the postmaster general's patent, and of the powers of an act of parliament, authorizing the levying of certain rates of postage and the payment of the amount of all such postages into his majesty's exchequer. freeling was a very old man--he was born in --on the point of retiring from the charge, which he had held for forty-five years, and it may be that he had forgotten that four years before, the law officers had given it as their opinion that there was no act of parliament giving the postmaster general authority over the colonial post office and postages. at freeling's instance the postmaster general hastened to put the matter into the hands of glenelg, the colonial secretary. having taken time to consider the situation, the colonial office drew up a statement of the subject for the attention of the postmaster general.[ ] observing that the assembly of lower canada, not being satisfied with the imperial bill of , had drawn up a bill of their own, and that the legislative council, in declining to approve of this bill, had asked the intervention of the home government with the british parliament, the colonial secretary stated that the british government was not prepared to accede to this proposition. by the act of , the regulation of the post office in the several colonies was referred to the local legislatures, and his majesty's government, the colonial office concluded, could not call in the authority of the imperial parliament for the solution of any difficulties that may arise until it could be shown conclusively that there were no other means of settling them; and then it would be only with the concurrence of the legislatures to whom the matter had been submitted. but while determined that, in matters involving legislation, the colonies should be left to work out their own salvation, the colonial secretary observed that there were certain matters within the competence of the postmaster general which, if given effect to, would ameliorate the situation. the legislative council had among their requests asked ( ) that all information required by the legislature should be furnished; ( ) that the accounts of receipts and expenditures should be laid before the legislature annually; ( ) that the officers of the department should be placed on moderate fixed salaries, in lieu of all perquisites and fees. these objects, glenelg pointed out, would have been to a certain degree attained by the bill of . but as it had not become law, no time should be lost in putting these changes into effect, as they did not require legislative sanction. the colonial secretary also animadverted on the emoluments of stayner. these he considered entirely excessive, and besides they were levied on an objectionable principle. the postmaster general was requested to put an end forthwith to the receipt by the deputy postmaster general of any fees on account of the transmission of newspapers. his salary should not be excessive. as a guide to the postmaster general in fixing it, the colonial secretary gave a list of the salaries of the principal officers in the colony. omitting that of the governor general, the highest salary in canada was that of the receiver general which was £ a year. no other salary exceeded £ a year. as against these, stayner's emoluments of £ for each of the three preceding years were out of all proportion. glenelg further impressed upon the postmaster general the anxiety of his majesty's government that no time should be lost in removing any real grievances which might be shown to exist. the postmaster general concurred with glenelg as to the necessity of removing all reasonable grounds of complaint, and stated that steps had been, or were about to be, taken to that end. to the postmaster general the newspaper postage question was one of real difficulty, in view of the absence of necessary legislation. as matters stood, newspapers could only be sent as letters or under the deputy postmaster general's privilege. if the law officers could see any way out of the difficulty, the postmaster general would be glad to adopt it. as the law officers' ingenuity was not equal to the difficulty, the situation remained essentially unchanged for some years. meantime stayner was enjoying to the full the peace and quiet which followed upon the altered conditions in the two provincial assemblies. it was some years since he had heard a complimentary reference to himself in either house, though no man could have shown more zeal for the improvement of the service he administered. but an agreeable change was at hand. on february , , the legislative council of upper canada had before it the report of a committee it had appointed to inquire into the post office. the chairman of the committee was john macaulay, formerly postmaster of kingston, and stayner's chief support in upper canada. when there was a question of appointing an assistant deputy postmaster general for upper canada, it was macaulay that stayner desired for the position. the burden of the report of the committee of the council of was that the interests of the several provinces could be maintained only by preserving to the post office its character as an imperial institution. in stayner's hands the service would be carried on efficiently, now that he had been furnished with the assistance he had applied for. indeed the magnitude of his labour could be understood only by those connected with the service. the committee drew up a series of conditions which they considered would place the institution on an efficient footing. the conditions were very similar to those suggested by the legislative council of lower canada in . the bill of the lower canadian assembly appeared to the committee to illustrate the impracticability of any scheme such as that proposed by the imperial government in . if the acceptance of a post office bill was left to the provincial legislatures, they would almost certainly insist upon a scheme of low rates, based entirely on local considerations. the excessively reduced scale of rates proposed by the lower canadian assembly could not fail to leave a large deficit. hence the wisdom of leaving the rates as they stood until their effects could be seen. ten days after the committee of the legislative council made its report, the house of assembly adopted an address to the king, in which the same ideas were embodied, and in the following month a joint address was prepared by the assembly and the legislative council.[ ] the address began with a recital of the facts making up the existing situation, and then proceeded to an effective criticism of the imperial scheme of . it pointed out that the colonial secretary had stated that, in order to conform to the imperial plans, a uniformity of views should pervade the bills passed by the several provinces; that a careful consideration of the bill prepared for the acceptance of the provinces, and of the action taken upon it in the province discloses no reasonable grounds for the hope that the legislatures would soon (if indeed ever) arrive at such uniformity as would ensure the establishment of a practicable system. even if such unanimity on the terms of a bill were reached, it would doubtless happen frequently, the committee conceived, that amendments in this bill would be necessary, but as all the legislatures would have to be convinced of the necessity of the amendments which seemed desirable or even indispensable to any one of them, the difficulties in the way of making needful alterations to meet the changing conditions in progressive communities would be insuperable. these conditions led inevitably to the conclusion on the part of the committee that the only means of securing a practicable system in which all interests, provincial and imperial, would be considered, was to maintain the supremacy of the british post office, and to continue to entrust to it the supreme power of making laws and regulations for the management of the post office in the several provinces. the interests of the provincial legislatures would be amply safeguarded, the committee was confident, if their demands for information respecting the post office were acceded to, and if it were understood that complaints against the deputy postmaster general, preferred by petition to the legislature and supported by the joint address of the two houses, would have the attention of the postmaster general in london. the turn which affairs had taken was naturally gratifying to stayner, who urged the postmaster general to give careful heed to the terms of the joint address, which, if carried into effect, would, in his opinion, provide a remedy for all warranted dissatisfaction. the secretary of the post office did not share stayner's hopefulness. he observed to the postmaster general that, however desirable uniformity of system might be in the post offices of british north america, the success of any act of the imperial parliament would be jeopardized, if it involved the imposition of a tax upon the colonies. the secretary was prepared, however, to listen to any suggestion stayner might have to make in the way of improving the existing system. although stayner's friends were in control of both legislative chambers in upper canada, his peace of mind on that account was not of long duration. in april , both houses passed a franking act, under which the members were authorized to send their letters free, during the sittings of the legislature. this act, as stayner pointed out to the postmaster general, subverted the imperial acts, upon which the existence of the post office depended, and he was placed in a very awkward situation. stayner, according to his letter to the postmaster general, had either to violate the instructions from st. martins-le-grand or to bring himself into collision with both the legislature and the executive. this act appeared to stayner to be a fresh illustration of the unfitness of local legislatures to deal with an institution like the post office. if part of the revenues could be withheld, as would be the case where members did not pay their postage, any of the legislatures might, by passing an act for the purpose, oblige him to pay into the local treasury the whole of the revenue which came into his hands, or it might in any other way supersede the laws of the british parliament. the bill had received the assent of the governor. constitutionally it had thereby become an act. but on stayner's remonstrance the governor admitted to the colonial office that he should not have given his sanction to it. the act was disallowed by the home government. the question of franking the correspondence of the provincial governments and of the members of the legislatures was one upon which the legislatures in the several provinces had particularly strong convictions. for a considerable period before , the legislatures of upper and lower canada had not paid their accounts for postage. the account against upper canada, which amounted to £ , was paid in the beginning of ; while the account against lower canada was not paid until after the dissolution of the last assembly at the time of the rebellion. it amounted to £ . the governor general, gosford, in reporting the payment of the account of lower canada, suggested to the colonial secretary that the sum might be remitted as an act of grace on the part of the imperial government, and he urged that if the home government should not feel warranted in making this concession in its entirety, the correspondence of the governor general and his civil secretary, which embraced all the executive business of the province, might be exempt from postage charges. gosford's suggestions were in harmony with the whole character of his administration. indeed his persistence in his policy of conciliation brought down upon him the distrust of the ultra-loyalists. stayner, to whom gosford's suggestion was referred, opposed it vigorously. if, he argued, this concession were made to lower canada, immediate demands of the same character would be made by the other provinces. this would be followed by requests for the free transmission of members' correspondence, and the post office would speedily find itself in a deficit. it would be specially inadvisable to grant this privilege to lower canada, stayner averred, as the postage received from that province, after deducting the british packet postage, which was the admitted due of the british post office, barely sufficed to pay the expenses of the service in the province. the revenues from upper canada exceeded the expenses by a considerable sum, and any extension of the advantages now enjoyed by lower canada, would be at the expense of the upper province. the first of the annual statements of revenue and expenditure for which the legislatures had been contending for many years was presented to the legislatures on the th of january, . the statement contained an undivided account of the operations in upper and lower canada. this was not quite satisfactory to the house in upper canada, but as the services for the conveyance of the mails ran from one province into the other, it was impossible to assign accurately to each province its share of the expense for their maintenance. as the statement showed a surplus of £ , for the years - , the legislature of upper canada saw no reason for hesitating to press its demand that the franking privilege be granted to its members. they went, indeed, much further, and asked that the whole amount of the surplus revenue, which arose from the post office business in upper canada, be transferred to them. in support of their request, the legislature pointed out that, in the imperial act of , it was provided that as soon as the consent of his majesty should be signified to the bills of the several colonial legislatures, the net revenue from the post office in british north america should be distributed among the several provinces in the proportion indicated by their gross revenues; that the suspension of the legislature in lower canada, in consequence of the rebellion, made it impossible to procure joint legislative enactments; and the financial condition of upper canada made it necessary that the province should have at its disposal all the means to which it was legally entitled. the terms of this memorial were entirely in accord with stayner's views as to the proper settlement of this long standing difficulty, and he urged the postmaster general to do what was possible to give effect to the petition. he pointed out that, with mackenzie and papineau out of the country, and fugitives from justice, there was no further disposition on the part of the legislatures to wrest from the imperial post office the control of the postal systems in the provinces, and that the appropriation of the surplus revenues to provincial purposes removed the only valid argument against existing arrangements. the postmaster general, however, was not to be moved from the position he had taken. he replied to the address stating that no disposition could be made of the surplus post office revenues, until the several colonial governments had come to an agreement on the subject. footnotes: [ ] seventh report of the committee on grievances (_journals of assembly_, , app. ). [ ] second report of a committee of the house of assembly of lower canada, - . [ ] this gentleman was afterwards the editor of the monumental _documentary history of new york_. [ ] , geo. iii. c. . [ ] glenelg to head, december , . [ ] _journals of assembly_, upper canada, , p. , and appendix, no. , to these _journals_. [ ] freeling to postmaster general, march , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, vii.). [ ] june , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts, vi.). [ ] _journals of assembly_, , p. . chapter xii durham's report on the post office--effects of rebellion of on the service--ocean steamships to carry the mails--the cunard contract--reduction of transatlantic postage. the long controversy which had agitated the legislatures of the provinces was approaching its end. the decision on the constitutional point was given in their favour, though they did not know it; but the specific thing for which they had contended, they were constrained to relinquish. the upper canada legislature which had commenced the agitation, and elaborated the argument against the constitutional standing of the british post office in the colonies, had become convinced that the provincial system, which they demanded, was not in the interest of either the mother country or the colonies. they therefore asked the british government to put the stamp of legality on the existing system, by suitable legislation in the imperial parliament. but the argument of upper canada had done its work too well, and it became the turn of the british government to employ it, to show the impossibility of meeting the desires of upper canada. the difficulty now, however, was not one of principle, but of ways and means. the british government were quite willing that the colonial legislatures should have full information as to the financial operations of their post offices, and that the surplus revenue, if any, should be divided among them. all they required was that the colonial legislatures should by concurrent action devise the means by which the ends in view might be effected. the british parliament was, in the opinion of the law officers, precluded from interposing its authority in the settlement of the difficulty. durham, who was sent out to canada as high commissioner to inquire into, and, if possible, remedy the defects in the system of government, which kept the colonies in a chronic state of dissatisfaction, was directed to give his attention to the condition of affairs in the post office. in his general report, he dealt briefly with this topic, expressing full sympathy with the colonial view, and giving it as his opinion that if his proposition for a union of the provinces should be adopted the control of the post office should be given up to the colonies.[ ] but he added the recommendation that, whatever arrangements of a political nature might be made, the management of the post office throughout the whole of british north america should be conducted by one general establishment. this suggestion was not realized until the confederation of the provinces in . the rebellion in upper and lower canada in and the following year was productive of much embarrassment to the post office. many of the postmasters, particularly in lower canada, were open sympathisers with the rebels, and, through the opportunities afforded by their post office duties, assisted largely in the carrying out of their leaders' schemes. stayner had realized the impolicy of many of the appointments to post offices in lower canada. but as the local government was continually appointing to the highest offices men who were conspicuous in the support they lent to the views of papineau, he did not conceive himself warranted in noticing facts which were ignored by the governor. there were at least from thirty to forty postmasters besides several mail couriers in lower canada implicated in the rebellion. the governor general in lower canada, and the lieutenant governor in upper canada gave their attention to the conditions, each after his manner. gosford, the governor general, having been informed of the disloyalty of the postmasters at stanstead and lacolle, suggested that these officials should be dismissed as soon as it could be done without prejudice to the service.[ ] bond head, the lieutenant governor of upper canada, directed the local surveyor to dismiss the postmaster at lloydtown instantly, for having, as he said, sent to mackenzie a series of traitorous resolutions to which the postmaster had attached his name as corresponding secretary of the west king and tecumseth political union. head explained to stayner that he was aware that the usual course was to have the dismissal made by the deputy postmaster general, but as he desired to produce a certain moral effect by instant punishment, he was compelled to act through stayner's agent. furthermore, bond head asked that stayner should delegate to berezy, the surveyor, the power to dismiss peremptorily any person connected with the post office whom the lieutenant governor should judge to have failed in loyalty. head was an arbitrary personage, who never gladly suffered the execution of his wishes to linger after their utterance. a painful instance of the hardships inflicted upon innocent men in times of political turmoil was the dismissal of howard, the postmaster of toronto.[ ] his offence was not disloyalty. even bond head would not venture to say that he was disloyal--but merely that his friendships were so far inclusive as to embrace men of widely differing political opinions. james howard had been connected with the post office in toronto for eighteen years, during eight of which he had been postmaster. testimony abounded as to his zeal and efficiency as a public official. stayner reported to the postmaster general that howard was a man of excellent character, and one of the best officers in the service. an aspect of howard's conduct, which won stayner's warm commendation, was his withholding himself from all forms of political activity. "people in our department," wrote stayner to howard, some years before, "cannot too carefully abstain from identifying themselves with factions or parties of any kind." secure in the approbation of his chief, howard, following his natural inclination, moved quietly through the troubled times, which were heading for an outbreak, and delivered the letters to loyalist and reformer, to tory and radical, with even-handed indifference. it would seem, too, that in the choice of his friends, he exhibited a like insensibility to the explosive possibilities of some of their opinions. a few days after the public disturbances began, it was intimated to howard that his general attitude towards affairs was not quite satisfactory, and he at once demanded an investigation. there was nothing to investigate. but a hint was conveyed to him that he was too intimate with "those people." it was decided to have the correspondence of suspects placed under surveillance. but the duty was not confided to howard. letters supposed to contain information of the rebels were sent to the bank of upper canada, where they were subjected to scrutiny. on december , , eight days after the rebellion broke out, at montgomery's tavern, toronto, howard was removed from his office by the orders of the lieutenant governor. he was replaced by berezy, the post office inspector, who throughout the rebellion was active as the confidential agent of bond head. howard appealed to the lieutenant governor, protesting his perfect loyalty, and declaring that so far from concerning himself with politics, he had never voted in his life. no statement could have been more unfortunate. head, always a partisan, was unable to understand how a man could suppose himself to be loyal, and confess to such a degree of indifference, when the safety of the country was at stake. the admonition of the deputy postmaster general was pleaded. bond head would not listen. friends of the government, of the tried qualities of fitzgibbon, vouched for howard's loyalty. it was to no purpose. the lieutenant governor declared that he had his reasons for believing, not only that howard favoured the disaffected party, but that he had actually become "subservient to the execution of the treasonable plans." no evidence has ever been produced to support these accusations. but head, in his flamboyant style, prated about the struggle being waged between monarchy and democracy, and contrasted howard's indifference with the zealous devotion of the chief justice and one of the judges, who, shedding the ermine, took up their muskets in the defence of the country--and their jobs and perquisites. head indulged himself in several similar excesses of authority, always justifying himself on the ground that he was a protagonist in a death struggle with the arch-enemy democracy. when quiet was restored, howard renewed his appeals for redress, but the clique surrounding the governor contrived to frustrate all his efforts in that direction. in the spring of , a robbery of the mails took place on the grand route, at a point between kingston and gananoque, under circumstances of peculiar aggravation.[ ] the robbers, who lived on an island in the st. lawrence, within the territory of the state of new york, made no attempt at concealment. they openly declared that this was only the first of a series of similar interferences with the courier passing between upper and lower canada. the new york state authorities, who were appealed to, were powerless to act, but the secretary of state at albany intimated that it would not be regarded as a breach of amity if the canadian officials arrested the robbers on the island. in view, however, of the excitement which prevailed at that period on both sides of the border, it was thought prudent to refrain from so provocative a proceeding. while durham was occupied with his preparations for his mission to canada, events occurred which were not only of unsurpassed importance to communication between europe and america, but which seemed to promise a strengthening of the relations between the mother country and her colonies. in april , two steamships sailed from the united kingdom for new york--the "great western" from bristol, and the "sirius" from cork--and reached their destination safely, the former in fifteen days, and the latter in seventeen days.[ ] as the voyages were made in the face of stiff, westerly winds, the speed of the "great western" and the "sirius" gave much satisfaction, and it was accepted as settled that thereafter steam would be the motive power in the faster vessels employed in the transatlantic trade. the rapidity with which this conviction established itself was remarkable. there is nothing surprising in the immediate recognition of this new achievement of steam by speculative publicists, who saw in the events only the realization of their visions, but the british treasury, the arcanum of conservative caution, yielded with almost equal readiness to the argument provided by the two vessels. the british consul at new york was the first to bring to official attention the importance of this advance in the art of navigation. by the return of one of the vessels, he suggested to the colonial office that all official despatches and commercial letters for the canadas should be directed to the consulate at new york. he undertook to assort the correspondence, and forward it to montreal and toronto by queen's messengers. by avoiding the delays to which the regular couriers were subject, and taking advantage, wherever possible, of the steamboats running on the inland waters and of the railroads, which were beginning to be constructed throughout the eastern states, the messengers would be able to provide a greatly accelerated service. the answers to letters sent from london or liverpool to canada should be back in those cities in from thirty to thirty-five days--approximately the time taken by the halifax packets on a single trip. the british post office saw reasons for declining the proposal, so far as it regarded commercial correspondence. it was, however, prepared to transmit official despatches by this means, and to arrange for their conveyance from new york in the manner indicated by the consul. the people of halifax--who had always regarded with a jealous eye the disposition of the inland british colonies, to use the port of new york in preference to their own--managed, at this juncture in the history of ocean transport, by an appeal to imperial considerations to make a strong case for their port. by a happy chance, the "sirius" on its first homeward voyage, overtook the mail packet from halifax, and the captain of the packet, impressed by the higher speed of the steam vessel, induced the captain of the "sirius" to take the mails, with the result that their arrival was advanced by several days. joseph howe and some other gentlemen from the maritime provinces who happened to be passengers on the sailing packet when this incident occurred, were struck with this demonstration of the superiority of steam, and discussed among themselves whether this fact might not indicate the means of overcoming, in favour of halifax, the advantage enjoyed by the port of new york. on the arrival of howe in london, a meeting was called of men interested in the subject, and it was resolved to press their views on the attention of the government. several of the gentlemen wrote to the colonial secretary, and a memorial of a more formal character was submitted, bearing the signatures of howe, as representative of nova scotia, and of william crane, a member of the legislature of new brunswick, as representative of that province.[ ] the views and arguments were of a character similar to those employed by imperial federation leagues since that period--the shorter sea voyage, the fostering of common interests among the provinces, and the desirability of an interchange within the empire of news and correspondence, uncontaminated by passage through a foreign channel. at that period, the last of these points had a peculiar timeliness. the rebellion in upper canada had just been subdued, but the embers were ready to blaze up afresh with the first favouring breeze; while in lower canada the outbreak was still unchecked. the fast sailing packets on the new york-liverpool route so far outsailed the post office packets which ran to halifax, that the news carried by way of new york was sometimes weeks in advance of that which arrived by the halifax packets. as american popular sympathies, as distinct from official sympathy at washington and albany, lay mainly with the rebels, and as newspaper publishers were in general less scrupulous as to the veracity of their news than they are to-day, it often happened that the british public, and even the government in downing street, were grossly misled as to the movement of events in the canadas. the truth reached england eventually, but it had the proverbial difficulty in catching up with the nimble fiction, which had earlier circulation. in september the treasury made its decision.[ ] in the early part of that month, the great western steamship company, which was organized in for the purpose of providing a steam service between great britain and america, and which had been for some months past demonstrating the entire feasibility of this class of service, applied to the government for a contract for the conveyance of the mails to new york. but the plea of howe and crane for a direct service prevailed. on september the treasury announced the substitution of steam vessels for the sailing packets on the halifax route, and directed that tenders should be invited for such a service as the admiralty and post office considered most suitable. the treasury deprecated the haste with which the plans were being pushed forward, suggesting that a winter's experience would be valuable in dealing with so important a matter. but there were strong reasons for avoiding unnecessary delay. relations with the united states were causing some anxiety, and as regards transatlantic correspondence, that country stood in a position of advantage, which it seemed the business of great britain to equalize as far as possible. tenders were invited for a steam packet service between liverpool and halifax in november. but none of those submitted satisfied the conditions prescribed by the government. samuel cunard, of halifax, who had had a large experience as a contractor for packet services, visited england, and as the result of negotiations, entered into a contract with the admiralty. the contract called for two trips monthly each way between liverpool and halifax, and for trips of the same frequency between halifax and boston, and between pictou on the gulf of st. lawrence and quebec: the vessels to be employed to be of three hundred horse power for the transatlantic service, and of one hundred and fifty horse power for the other two routes. the contract was signed on may , , the rate of payment being £ , a year. this rate underwent a rapid series of augmentations. two months after the contract was made £ a year was added to the rate on consideration that the vessels should leave the american ports, as well as liverpool, on fixed dates. on september , , the decision was reached that vessels of a larger size than in the service should be employed, and to secure these the rate was raised to £ , . two years later, in consequence of representations by the contractors that the amount of payment was insufficient to enable them to carry on the service, £ , was added to the subsidy; and further additions were made as the result of changes in the arrangements, which will be detailed in their proper place. in addition to the provision for the exchange of mails by the cunard steamers, between great britain and canada and the united states, arrangements were made for subsidiary services to newfoundland and bermuda. halifax, indeed, was being made the pivotal point of the most extensive scheme ever attempted for the distribution of mails. all the communications between great britain and the north american continent were comprised in the plans. the first trip by steamer between liverpool and halifax was made by the "britannia," which left liverpool on july , . the vessel reached halifax after a passage of twelve and a half days. the mails for canada were carried overland from halifax to pictou, from which point they were delivered at quebec five and a half days after their landing at halifax. as the vessel conveying the mails up the st. lawrence from pictou to quebec was delayed a day in the gulf by fog, there was reason for hope that the passage from liverpool to quebec would not materially exceed fifteen days. the post office authorities at halifax bent every effort to make the enterprise a success. as an instance of their zealous energy, the "britannia," on its september sailing, reached halifax on a morning at seven o'clock. at a quarter to nine the mails for canada were on their way to pictou; at ten the "britannia" set out for boston; and by noon the vessels for newfoundland and bermuda had left for their destinations. prince edward island did not at once enjoy the full benefits of these efficient operations, but by a slight improvement in the arrangements, the island was put on an equal footing with the other colonies. the scheme, however, admirable as it was in conception, and successful as it appeared to be in operation, had weaknesses, which were revealed by time--weaknesses which before many years led to its abandonment. the test of the success of such a scheme lay in its capability to provide adequately for the exchanges with canada. the mails to and from upper and lower canada were not only much greater in volume than those exchanged with the other provinces, but owing to the existing political conditions in the canadas, were at the time of greater importance; and, if, owing to any lack of co-operation on the part of the provinces participating in the transmission of the mails between halifax and quebec, or through other causes, these mails required a notably greater length of time in their passage by the halifax route than they would have taken if landed at a port in the united states, the halifax route must be considered a failure. this is exactly what happened. when the british government decided to give the scheme a trial, it reminded the provinces concerned that there were several months in every year when the mails must be carried between halifax and quebec overland, and that this could be done successfully only if the roads in nova scotia, new brunswick, and quebec, over which the mails must pass, were put in a condition to permit of fast travel by carriage, night as well as day. at the time-- --the steamships began to run to halifax, the situation as regards the land routes was as follows: the distance from halifax to quebec--seven hundred miles--was rarely covered by the mail couriers in less than ten days. in the depth of winter, when the sleighing was good, and advantage could be taken of the ice road on the st. john river between fredericton and the mouth of the madawaska river, the journey was made in some hours less than six days. but it was seldom that conditions combined to make so fast a journey possible, and it was not considered prudent to reckon on an average of less than ten days. in the spring and autumn this length of time was often greatly exceeded. stayner, who went over the route in the autumn of , after calculating the effect of all practicable ameliorations, did not believe that the time could be reduced to less than seven days. as against this possible time, there was the fact that the journey from new york to quebec occupied only six and a half days in winter. the farther west the point of comparison was carried, moreover, the greater the disadvantage at which halifax stood. the shortest time to be anticipated in conveying the mails from halifax to montreal, after all improvements had been made, was nine days. the courier from new york, who had but half the distance to travel, delivered his mails in montreal in five days. toronto, the capital of upper canada, and the entrepôt for the thriving and rapidly-spreading settlements in the west, was still more easily reached from new york than from halifax. the journey from halifax to toronto covered a distance of one thousand two hundred and twelve miles, and occupied more than two weeks. new york was only five hundred and forty miles from toronto, and the mails were carried between the two places in seven days in winter. halifax is five hundred and fifty miles nearer liverpool than is new york, and consequently gained two days on the ocean voyage. but, in point of time, the odds were hopelessly against halifax, as the landing port for the canadian mails. the obvious political reasons, however, for maintaining halifax as the port of exchange between the north american provinces, as a whole, and the mother country, provoked a determined effort to remove, as far as possible, the natural obstacles which seemed to prevent the achievement of that end. inquiry was directed first to the question of the best route. from halifax to fredericton, the first important point at which the courier arrived on his western journey, there were alternative routes, both of which had been used in the conveyance of the mails to canada. since the war of , the courier had travelled along the northern shore of the bay of fundy, passing truro, dorchester and the bend of the petitcodiac, now moncton. this route was adopted first to avoid the necessity of the mails crossing the bay of fundy from annapolis to st. john, with the risks of falling in with american privateers, but after the termination of the war, it was continued from choice. the earlier route, from halifax to windsor and along the annapolis valley to annapolis, still had its advocates, however; and inquiry was made as to the advisability of returning to it. under certain ideal conditions, a better journey could be made by this route, but as these involved heavy additional expense, and a nicety of connection between the couriers and the packet boat at annapolis, which was frequently unattainable, the proposition was rejected. the real difficulties for the courier began when he left fredericton on his journey to quebec. the route lay along the shore of the st. john river to the point where the madawaska empties into it; thence in a generally northern direction until the st. lawrence is reached at the head of the portage. at this period-- --there was no road whatever over any part of this section of the route, though in , a road called the royal road was in course of construction between fredericton and grand falls. the schemes for the building of a road were embarrassed by the fact that for nearly one hundred miles, the proposed road lay in the territory claimed by the state of maine, with the resulting risk that the expenditure upon it might be lost. the only mode of travel from fredericton northward to the mouth of the madawaska was by canoe in summer. in the winter, when the ice was well set, travel was very easy. but during the early spring and late autumn, the floating ice made the journey in this part of the country one of great hardship. on a trip made in april , it required three men and twelve horses to carry over this section a mail weighing not more than seven or eight hundred pounds. the special council of quebec, which was in existence in - , owing to the suppression of the legislature due to suspension of the constitution of in lower canada, at the urgent instance of sydenham, appropriated £ for a road over the portage between the st. lawrence and the st. john rivers. the legislature of new brunswick also made a liberal grant for the section lying in that province. it is evident, therefore, that halifax stood at an insurmountable disadvantage as compared with the new york route during the winter season. but, at least so far as concerned eastern canada, the provincial route was not greatly inferior to that through the united states, during the period of open navigation on the st. lawrence. the passage from liverpool to quebec did not usually exceed sixteen days, and to montreal eighteen days. an essential link in this conveyance was the overland route from halifax to pictou. as this service furnished the connection between the steamers on the atlantic and those on the st. lawrence, it was of the first importance that the route should be traversed at a high rate of speed. the route had been in use for many years for the exchange of local mails, but the means of conveyance, which were sufficient for that purpose, were entirely inadequate to the requirements of the ocean mail service. cunard--who had every motive for expediting not only the mails, but the passengers and freight passing to and from the canadas--drew attention to the necessity for ample provision for the new conditions. unless he were able to afford a fast and comfortable conveyance at a moderate charge to his canadian passengers, he could not hope to hold the business. as it was desirable that he should be able to exercise control over this part of the passage, he offered to provide the service between halifax and pictou on terms, which were accepted by the deputy postmaster general of nova scotia. the service afforded left little to be desired in point of efficiency. four horse stages ran over the route three times each way weekly in summer, and twice weekly in winter; the trip was to be made within seventeen hours, and the charge to passengers was not to exceed £ _s_. the charge for each person had been, until the contract was made, £ . but accommodation such as this necessarily entailed considerable expense, and the compensation to cunard under the contract was so great as seriously to embarrass the financial position of the post office in nova scotia. this amount--£ per annum--was £ in excess of what had been paid for this route before the british mails were carried over it. the revenues of the provincial post office were quite unequal to this demand upon, them, and relief was sought from the legislature. that body agreed to contribute £ , and canada was asked to add £ to that sum. when howe reported the facts to the postmaster general, the latter was disposed to tax him with having acted without consideration, and sydenham was asked to give his opinion of the bargain. the governor general laid the subject before the post office commission, which was then sitting, and they denounced the whole arrangement. the rate was extravagant, and the service provided for was entirely beyond the necessities of the ocean mails. as the steamers were to sail only twice a month, an express conveyance of that frequency was all that was required. as for canada's being at any expense for this service, the commission scouted the idea. the cunard contract called for the transportation of mails between great britain and canada, which was to be effected by two steamers, one running between liverpool and halifax, and the other between pictou and quebec. any expense there might be for overland conveyance should fall upon the packet postage, that is, it should be a charge upon the postage collected by the british post office for the transmission of letters between great britain and canada. the british post office took a somewhat curious course in the difficulty. it resented the criticism of the commissioners, and sanctioned the agreement made by the deputy in halifax, for a term of eight years. it made no effort to convince the canadian authorities of the error in their views, which would indeed have been impossible; and, on the other hand, it refused to allow the additional expense to be thrown upon the packet postage. there was but one alternative--nova scotia must bear the whole charge. and that was the decision of the postmaster general. the resentment throughout nova scotia at the injustice of this decision, and the manifest inability of the provincial post office to carry the added burden determined the postmaster general to make an effort to put an end to the situation. in he sent an officer of the department to halifax to inquire into the whole provincial system, instructing him to give his special attention to the question of the expediency of continuing the use of the port of halifax as the entrepôt for the canadian mails. the thing to be avoided was the long carriage by land, and the agent was directed to consider the ports of st. john, new brunswick and boston with this end in view. boston was regarded with particular favour on account of the railway lines, which were being extended inland from that port. st. john was dismissed from consideration on a report from the admiralty that until some progress had been made in the survey of the bay of fundy, especially of its tides and soundings, it would be very hazardous to send the mails by that route. on the question of the comparative advantages of the halifax and boston routes there was practical unanimity in canada. all classes of the mail-using public were agreed as to the superiority of the boston route. the editors of newspapers complained that the british newspapers on which they depended for their foreign news--newspapers which were transmitted by way of halifax--were useless by the time they reached canada, as the news they contained had been received from new york or boston several days earlier. as for the objection to having the exchange of mails between great britain and canada carried on through a foreign country, the publishers made light of it. the mails from england for india, were carried across the continent through france and italy; and there was no reason why the mails from england for canada should not be carried through the united states. these views were strongly presented by stayner, and reinforced by the secretary of the post office, who laid them before the postmaster general. the cunards also rendered assistance to the same end. they represented to the postmaster general that the service proved to be much more expensive than they had anticipated when they undertook the contract, and that the steamer on the st. lawrence was a very heavy burden. in discussing the question of an increased subsidy, the company expressed their willingness to regard relief from the river service as equivalent to £ , a year. these concurrent appeals, together with the fact that the change in the seat of government from kingston to montreal, established the governor in the city which would derive the maximum of benefit from the boston connection, decided the government to make boston the landing port for the canadian mails; and the british minister at washington was instructed to open negotiations for an arrangement by which the british mails would be permitted to cross the territory of the united states.[ ] it had long been an object of desire with the united states government to retain the hold its geographical situation has given it upon the correspondence between great britain and canada. before steam service was a practicable scheme, the president in a message to congress suggested that, to that end, the sailing packets should be put under post office regulations, and a greater degree of security to the mails thereby effected. the united states government consequently were prepared to accept very moderate terms. they based their offer on the terms of the contract between the british and french governments for the conveyance of the indian mails from calais on the channel to marseilles on the mediterranean. the british government paid the french government two francs per ounce of letters and ten centimes for each newspaper transmitted across french territory, and as the distance from boston to st. johns in lower canada was rather less than half that from calais to marseilles, they proposed that the british government should pay them half the rates paid to the french government. these rates were regarded by the postmaster general of england as unusually favourable, and the proposal of the united states government was at once accepted. under this arrangement, the postmaster general calculated that, besides the great saving in time that would be effected, there would be a reduction in the charges for the inland conveyance of the mails to and from canada of £ per annum. the course of conveyance across the territory of the united states was to be, in summer, from boston to burlington, vermont, towards which a railway line was approaching completion, and from burlington to st. johns by steamer on lake champlain. in the winter, the mails were to be carried from boston to highgate, vermont, where they would be taken over by couriers attached to the canadian post office. the time occupied would, under usual conditions, be forty-eight hours between boston and st. johns, and fifty-three hours between boston and highgate. thus was the great experiment brought to its appointed end. it had its origin in one of those imperial impulses, which seem to come most frequently from the colonies, and which now and then carry the briton off his feet. but, as conditions stood, the scheme was foredoomed to failure. it was not until the construction of the canadian pacific railway in , across the state of maine between montreal and st. john, that a canadian ocean port was able to enter into successful competition with a united states port, as the point of exchange for mails passing between great britain and canada. while the plans for substituting steam for sailing vessels were being brought to maturity, the question of a substantial reduction in the postage between great britain and the colonies in north america were being discussed.[ ] stayner pointed out that it would be useless to enter upon an expensive scheme for reducing the time occupied in conveying the mails between great britain and canada, unless the postage were brought down to a figure that would place the steamship service within reach of the farmers in western canada. as sydenham observed, the new settlers, while living in great material comfort, had little money at their disposal. to them it was an impossibility to pay the postage--four shillings or more--which had accumulated on a letter on its way from the inland parts of the united kingdom to the backwoods in which they were making homes for themselves. they were served, and far from inefficiently, by the american ocean sailing packets, which left liverpool weekly for new york; and unless the steam line were able to provide for the exchange of their letters at rates as low as they were paying, they would no more patronize the new line than they had the ten-gun sailing brigs, by which the british packet service was then carried on. stayner, with full knowledge of the conditions he had to meet, was convinced that the first step towards an effective reform was to sweep away the cumulative rates made up of the inland charges in the united kingdom, the ocean postage and the inland colonial charge; and replace them by one fixed rate which would carry the letter from any post office in the united kingdom to any post office in the colonies. when he first laid the proposition before the postmaster general, the duke of richmond, he recommended that this uniform rate should be two shillings a single letter. but after some years' opportunity for reflection, aided beyond doubt by the argument of rowland hill for penny postage in great britain, stayner concluded that his proposed rate was too high, and that, at one shilling and sixpence, or even one shilling and threepence, the increased patronage of the line by the public in the motherland and the colonies, would bring about an actual augmentation of the revenue. how great the reduction in the charges would be, if stayner's proposition were carried into effect, may be gathered from the fact that one of the elements making up the total postage was much in excess of the whole sum suggested by stayner. on the supposition that the steamships landed the canadian mails at halifax, every letter brought by that means to toronto would be subject to a charge of two shillings and ninepence for the conveyance from halifax to toronto, to say nothing of the shilling charge for its passage from liverpool to halifax, and the postage from the office of posting in the united kingdom to liverpool. while negotiations with cunard were still in progress, and the colonies waited expectantly for what was to be achieved by the new service, stayner was much surprised and gratified to receive from the general post office in london a circular addressed to the postmasters in the united kingdom stating that the postmaster general had decided to do away altogether with the inland rate or rather to incorporate it with the ocean rate which thenceforward would be one shilling. this was beyond any anticipations stayner had formed, and he lost no time in apprizing the public in canada of the boon conferred upon them. there was rejoicing in canada over the prospect of easy communication with the mother country, and the postmaster general received many commendations on his statesmanlike measure.[ ] but the rejoicing was not of long continuance. with the first intimation at the general post office of the announcement made in canada there was despatched a letter from the secretary informing stayner that he had quite mistaken the purport of the circular. though sent to stayner for his information, it was not intended to apply to canada. the intention was merely to take off the british inland postage, and to leave the colonial inland postage to be collected as before. the reduction, in reality, amounted to very little, as the bulk of the postage on letters from great britain to canada passing by way of halifax had been that part levied for the conveyance from halifax to the office of delivery in canada. stayner was in no way to blame for the interpretation he placed on the circular, and he had the satisfaction of knowing that his misconception made the continuance of the high postage impossible. the public on both sides of the ocean had tasted the blessings of communication with their relatives on the other side, at an expense not considered beyond their means, and they were determined not to have the benefit withdrawn. accordingly when poulett thomson, afterwards earl of sydenham, came out as governor general with special instructions to remove all legitimate causes of dissatisfaction, he addressed himself to this question, and after a conference with stayner, wrote to the colonial secretary urging the adoption of the shilling rate. the colonial secretary submitted the governor general's views to the postmaster general, and in practical coincidence with the sailing of the first steamer under the cunard contract, instructions were issued to make the total charge on letters to the british north american colonies one shilling, if the letter was addressed to halifax, and one shilling and twopence, if its destination was inland, however distant.[ ] at the same time, a change of great importance was made in the principle on which the postage was based. it had been the practice to charge postage, according to the number of enclosures the letter contained. when penny postage was introduced in england a few months previously, one of the features of the new plan was the establishment of the weight principle in determining the charge on a letter, in substitution of the principle under which letters were taxed according to the number of their contents. the operation of the new plan in great britain caused much confusion and loss in the correspondence with the colonies. the british or irish people, who had become accustomed to having their postage fixed by the application of the rate of one penny for each half ounce, could not in many cases be made to understand why the same principle did not apply to their letters to their friends and relatives beyond the seas. hence many letters weighing less than half an ounce were sent to canada, which on examination were found to contain enclosures, and the postage was, in accordance with the regulations, doubled or even trebled, though their weight would not call for a charge of more than one shilling and twopence. poulett thomson drew attention to the obvious embarrassment occasioned by the application of the two different principles, and he had the satisfaction of finding a ready acquiescence in his views on the part of the postal authorities at home. accordingly, by the treasury minute of july th, , the rate on letters conveyed by direct packet from any post office in the united kingdom to halifax was made one shilling the half ounce. if, for any other post office, the rate was one shilling and twopence. footnotes: [ ] _report on the affairs of british north america_ (oxford, ), p. . [ ] stayner to governor general's secretary, december , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] maberly to postmaster general, march , , and accompanying papers (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts), and q. - _passim_. [ ] _can. arch._, q. , p. . [ ] colonial office to post office, may , (_can. arch._, br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _speeches and public letters of joseph howe_, , i. . [ ] the succession of measures taken regarding the cunard service may be followed in the br. p.o. transcripts for - - . [ ] maberly to postmaster general, april and september , , with accompanying papers (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] the papers on the reduction of the ocean postage rates are gathered together as accompaniments to a letter from mr. poulett thomson, the governor general, to lord russell, of april , . see q. , p. . [ ] stayner to maberly, may , , and accompanying documents (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] treasury minute, july , (br. p.o. transcripts). chapter xiii diminution of powers of deputy postmaster general--commission on post office appointed--its report--efforts to secure reduction of postal charges. the arrival of poulett thomson as governor general marks the passing of the uncontrolled authority of stayner as administrator of the post office in the canadas. by the terms of their commissions, the deputies of the postmaster general in the colonies, were responsible to the postmaster general alone for the conduct of the affairs of the post offices within their jurisdiction. subject to the approval of the postmaster general, the deputies opened all post offices, appointed all postmasters and other officers of the department, and made all contracts for the conveyance of the mails. until stayner's time, the department at home exercised a watchful oversight in one particular. it insisted that the deputy postmaster general should not extend the system, or increase the accommodation within it, unless he could satisfy st. martins-le-grand that the additional outlay required should be met by a corresponding increase in the revenue. assured on this point, the department gave the deputies a practically free hand. insistence on the point of finances brought the general post office into sharp collision with the colonial legislatures for a number of years. but shortly after stayner's assumption of office, the department in london loosened the reins, and directed him to study the wants of the rising communities, and extend postal accommodation to whatever districts seemed to him to require it. the confidence bestowed by the postmaster general on his young deputy in the canadas was not misplaced. stayner was a man of energy and authority, who had grown up in the service under the administration of his father-in-law, who was his predecessor in office, and his loyalty to the interests of both the postmaster general and the community he served stood unquestioned. with his appointment to his high office, he fell heir to a dispute which had been waged for a number of years between the general post office and the legislatures of upper and lower canada, involving the legal right of the post office to do business in the colonies under existing conditions. stayner was fortunate in finding in each province differences between the administration and the houses of assembly, which gave little promise of settlement, and he promptly attached himself to the side of the administration. this, indeed, was the only course open to him, in view of his accountability to a department, which, in according him a certain freedom of action, took jealous heed that he should not abuse it. but stayner had important interests of his own, which called for protection by the government. his extra-official emoluments--from the postage on newspapers, and from his agency for the collection of united states postage, due in canada--now far exceeding his official salary, began to excite public attention, and he required all the support he could gather to himself, to enable him to brave it out with the assemblies, when they insisted on his showing by what right he took these emoluments. his position, however repugnant to popular notions, was officially unassailable, and as he managed to identify his interests with those of the administrations, the governors of the two provinces remained steadily his friends and protectors. he had even the gratification of being commended for his great services by the assembly of upper canada in . but a change was coming for stayner, and indeed had come. ever since the amount and the sources of his income became known to the home government, there had been disapprobation. the secretary of the post office, a large part of whose income had been derived from similar extra-official sources, deprecated the criticism which began to spring up, and the postmaster general weakly and reluctantly agreed that stayner's exceptional services entitled him to exceptional emoluments. the colonial secretary, lord glenelg, however, was of another mind. the two provinces were seething with dissatisfaction, and it was not clear to him in what the grievances of the colonials consisted. a committee of the house of commons had sat in , heard evidence, and reported, and the leaders of the assembly in lower canada had declared that if the recommendations of the committee were carried into effect, the province would be content. guiding his policy by that report, and seeking every opportunity to make good its findings, the colonial secretary observed that the political dissatisfaction and unrest, so far from disappearing, was spreading year by year. his bewilderment sharpened his eyes, and as they rested on stayner's case, he saw a condition which offended his sense of justice, and he at once demanded of the postmaster general that he should remove this obvious wrong. for a time stayner's tactics, or his luck, held him scatheless. the postmaster general and the colonial secretary had agreed that the remedy for all the ills that afflicted the post office was to be provided by the bill adopted by the imperial parliament in . this bill, however, could not become operative until the acceptance by the several colonial legislatures of a common measure for the regulation of the post office in the several provinces by the postmaster general of england. as all the colonies had rejected this measure, the situation remained unchanged. stayner continued to take his exorbitant emoluments, and the government was helpless. the postmaster general asked the colonial secretary to furnish him with an expedient for settling the matter, but the colonial secretary could think of nothing, to which overriding legal or political objections could not be made. while, however, stayner enjoyed immunity from attacks by the government, he was a marked man, and when poulett thomson came to canada, he lost no time in making stayner realize that the period of his exceptional fortunes was at an end. poulett thomson's special mission to canada was to lay the foundations of responsible government in the country, and he began by taking things into his own hands. in dealing with the post office he sent for stayner, and, instead of treating him as an officer of independent authority, thomson informed stayner that it was his intention to reform the post office in its construction and duties. all the governor general required of stayner was that the latter should furnish him with any information he considered necessary. although thomson had never had any actual experience in the workings of a post office he had opportunities of acquiring a sound theoretical knowledge on the subject. he was a member of the committee of the house of commons which was appointed in to examine the proposition of rowland hill for penny postage. as hill's scheme involved an entire change in post office methods, the _modus operandi_ at that time pursued was thoroughly set out to the committee, its weaknesses exposed, and the merits of the new proposition fully discussed. no observant man could attend the work of that committee without gaining definite views as to the principles upon which a post office should be conducted. in june , stayner reported to the secretary of the general post office a state of affairs that indicated that thomson had taken the direction of post office affairs into his own hands. he had ordered stayner to enter into negotiations for the conveyance of mails by steamer between quebec and montreal, and upon lake ontario, and when the negotiations failed, he expressed a determination to obtain authority to build vessels for post office purposes. he also directed stayner to draw up a bill for the administration of the post office in british north america upon principles to be determined by the governor. the colonial secretary, in july, instructed the governor to appoint a commission to investigate and report upon the post office in the colonies in all its bearings. the committee as appointed consisted of dowling, legal adviser to the governor, davidson, senior commissioner of crown lands, and stayner. in point of ability the committee was a competent one. its members all had that sort of experience in public affairs, which would enable them to apprize fairly the mass of information laid before them--evidence which would satisfy the public as to the justice of their conclusions. but having in mind the aims of the committee, its composition was not such as to give hope for harmonious co-operation among its members. the colonial secretary in instructing the governor general to appoint the committee, directed that it should investigate and report on the state of the british north american post office, including its administration. the work of the committee was necessarily a scrutiny into the methods of the administration of stayner, and involved an attitude of defence on his part. and the other members of the committee did not fail to make him feel the difficulty of his dual position. although he signed the report as a commissioner, he appended a note to it stating that he did so, merely because he conceived it to be his duty as a commissioner. but he also intimated that he was far from agreeing with all the conclusions of his associates; and a few months later he presented a statement to the governor general, pointing out the respects in which he differed from the other commissioners, and defending himself against charges which were set forth in the report. the committee entered upon their work by calling upon the deputy postmasters general of canada and the maritime provinces for a body of statistics and other matter, which, when furnished, provided them with a survey of the whole colonial system, and its methods of operation. detailed information was given in tabular form of every post office in the colonies--the name and date of appointment of its postmaster, the revenue of the office, and the several items that composed the postmaster's income; and of every mail route, with its cost of maintenance. all regulations for the guidance of postmasters in the management of their offices were submitted to the commission. the commissioners addressed circular letters to all the postmasters, and to prominent people in every section of the colonies, inviting them to give their views on the post offices in their locality, and asking particularly as to the extent letters were carried by agencies other than the post office, and their opinions as to why these other agencies were employed in preference to the post office. the information obtained was most voluminous, and the report of the commission based upon it was comprehensive.[ ] it began with a historical sketch of the post office in the colonies, from its origin down to the time of the commission; passed on to a survey of the institution as it then stood; pointed out the defects they discovered in its arrangements; and concluded by a number of recommendations for the removal of the defects, and the improvement of the system. the defects which most impressed the commissioners were the want of uniformity within the system, and the uncontrolled power of the representatives of the postmaster general in the colonies. as illustrating the lack of uniformity, they pointed out that though the colonies were in postal theory an undivided whole, they were under the control of two deputies of the postmaster general, who were entirely independent of one another, and that no effort seemed to have been made to co-ordinate the practice in the two jurisdictions. the absence of organization was more noticeable in the maritime provinces, a condition which the commissioners attributed to the failure of the deputy at halifax to establish general regulations, and to the want of travelling surveyors or inspectors, who might have introduced uniformity of practice among the postmasters. a striking instance of unauthorized variation from usual post office practice was the existence of way offices. these were, to all intents and purposes, post offices, and yet they had no official recognition as such. these way offices were set up at any convenient place along the line of the post roads. they were put in operation, sometimes by local magistrates, or other people of importance in the districts; sometimes by neighbouring postmasters, and sometimes by the deputy postmaster general. they had no accounting relations with the head of the department, but carried on their work under the control of an adjacent postmaster who was held responsible for the postage collected by them. in spite of their anomalous character, these way offices had a usefulness of their own; for they were not abolished until after the nova scotia post office was absorbed in the post office department of the dominion in . the commission in support of their second conclusion, that the power of the deputies of the postmaster general were subject to no practical control, and that the abuses usually associated with irresponsibility were not absent from the administration of the colonial post office, submitted two cases which had come under their notice, and which seemed to show that in these cases at least stayner was chargeable with maladministration and nepotism. stayner in his rejoinder defended himself with vigour and success against the imputations of his colleagues, and retorted upon dowling, the chairman, with charges of unfairness and studied discourtesy towards himself. the bearing of dowling was so offensive that stayner was with difficulty restrained from severing his relations with the commission. the remedies proposed by the commission for the two cardinal defects to which they had drawn attention, were simple and efficacious. they would place the whole colonial postal system in the hands of a single deputy postmaster general, who should own responsibility, not only to his official superior in england, but also, in all points which did not conflict with his primary duty, to the executive heads of the several provinces, so far as related to the parts of the system within their respective jurisdictions. the headquarters of the deputy postmaster general, the commission urged, should be at the capital of the province of canada, and he should be under the orders of the governor general. the authority of the deputy postmaster general in the other provinces should be vested in local inspectors, whose relations with the lieutenant governors were to be identical with those which should subsist between the deputy postmaster general and the governor general. in cases occurring in the other provinces, which appeared to transcend the powers of the local inspectors, the lieutenant governors might correspond with the governor general, and the inspectors with the deputy. stayner objected to the plan proposed, in so far as it took the appointments to postmasterships and other offices out of the hands of the representative of the postmaster general, and made them the subject of political patronage. having disposed of the questions relating to the organization and administration of the department, the commissioners proceeded to discuss matters bearing upon its operations. the first of these was the rates of postage. in dealing with this subject the commission had before them a mass of evidence from all parts of the colonies, which convinced them that the great bulk of the letters exchanged, did not pass through the post office. it was asserted by responsible persons that, in some parts of the country, scarcely ten per cent. of the letters written were conveyed by the post office, and in few cases was the estimate of letters carried by private means less than fifty per cent. though various other reasons were given for this systematic evasion of the only lawful means of conveying letters--the infrequency of the couriers' services, and the public distrust in the security of the mails--there was practical unanimity in the declaration that the chief obstacle in the way of the public's using the post office was the excessive rates of postage. the commission found that there was a strong sentiment among their correspondents, favouring the adoption of the system then recently introduced into england by the genius of rowland hill. until , the postal rates in england were substantially the same as those which hampered the post office in the colonies; and the general avoidance of the post office by the merchants and other writers of letters in that country was as marked as it was in canada. richard cobden declared that not one-sixth of the letters exchanged in england were transmitted through the post office, and other observers of equal authority bore similar emphatic testimony. the displacement of the complicated system of charges based on the number of enclosures and the distance the letters were carried, and the adoption of a penny rate carrying letters to all parts of the united kingdom, immediately turned all the streams of correspondence into the channels of the post office. not only were the private letter-carrying agencies put out of business, but the low, easily comprehended rate called into existence a vast body of new correspondence. few people in canada believed in the possibility of a rate as low as a penny for the canadian post office, but many were attracted by the fascination of a uniform charge even though it should be higher than that, which was so vastly augmenting correspondence in england. to all such, whether the uniform rate they advocated were a penny or higher, the commission addressed themselves, pointing out that the geographical, social and industrial differences between england and the colonies, made it impracticable to base an argument for the one upon the experience of the other. uniform penny postage was an immediate success in the united kingdom because in the united kingdom there were three thickly-populated countries, with highly developed social and industrial systems. hill discovered, by a study of the postal statistics laid before the house of commons, that in consequence of the great volume of correspondence exchanged, the comparatively short distances letters were as a rule carried, and the highly developed system of transportation, the average cost of carrying a letter in the united kingdom did not exceed one farthing. a sum equally small covered the expenses of administration and the maintenance of post offices. a further discovery of equal importance, which surprised hill as much as it did anybody, was that the difference in expense between carrying a letter the shortest and the longest possible distances in the kingdom was so small that it could not be expressed in the least valuable coin in use. in these facts lay the whole case for uniform penny postage. at a penny a letter, there was a clear profit to the post office, and the augmentation in the number of letters as a result of this inducement to correspondence made almost any imaginable profits possible; and the insignificant difference in cost between carrying letters long and short distances, led inevitably to the ideal uniform rate. the conditions in the british north american colonies were in all respects the reverse of those existing in england. the vast extent of their territories, the sparseness of their populations, and their undeveloped state, socially and industrially, all combined to make the postal system very costly, and the returns meagre; and the great, almost unsettled, stretches between the centres of population made the difference in the cost of conveyance between long and short distances very considerable. the commission, with such statistics as were available before them, estimated that the average expense of delivering a letter was threepence for conveyance, and twopence-halfpenny for overhead and maintenance charges. these figures showed the impracticability of either low or uniform postage rates, unless the legislatures were willing to take on themselves the yearly deficits, which were certain to occur. the commission, however, were prepared to recommend considerable reductions in the charges, even though these should result in a noticeable shrinkage in the revenue. indeed, it seemed to them a distinct advantage that the revenue should be brought down to a point, at which it would no more than meet the expenses. they took it as settled that the british government would adhere to the principle of the imperial bill of , under which the surplus revenues were to be divided among the colonies; and they foresaw serious difficulties among the provinces in dealing with the problem of distributing the surplus. the rates they recommended--ranging from twopence a letter when the conveyance did not exceed thirty miles up to one shilling for a distance over three hundred miles--were much lower than those charged at that time by the post office. dealing with the question of newspaper postage, the commission condemned the impropriety of allowing the sums accruing under this head to pass into the pockets of the deputies of the postmaster general, and recommended that newspapers should be charged at the rate of one-halfpenny each, and that the proceeds should go with the other postage into the treasury. a point, interesting as illustrating one of the differences of view between ourselves and our grandfathers, was that the commissioners strongly recommended that the prepayment of postage on newspapers should not continue to be compulsory, but that it should be optional whether the sum should be paid by the sender or recipient of the newspaper. it had never been held that the sender of a letter should pay the postage; and to the public it appeared a hardship that there should be a different practice as regards newspapers. indeed the committee saw very good reasons from the standpoint of the post office why the payment of postage on newspapers should be deferred. if postmasters could add to their revenues, and consequently to their salaries, by collecting the postage when delivering newspapers, they would have a strong motive for seeing that the papers were delivered. the commission closed their report by noting a number of the details of post office practice: the demand for more post offices throughout the provinces, which they endorsed; complaints of the inconvenience of sites of post offices; the hours post offices should be open to the public, and the time for closing the mails; special handling of money letters, and the enforcement of the terms of mail contracts, and the salaries of postmasters. on all these matters they commented at length, and made a number of helpful suggestions. the report was presented to the governor general on december , . while it was in course of preparation--on november , --the post office building in quebec was destroyed by fire. for stayner this was a serious misfortune. not only was he compelled to withdraw his attention from the affairs of the commission, in order to make provision for carrying on the departmental work, but he was crippled in drawing up his rejoinder by the fact that all his papers were consumed with the building, and material upon which he had depended for explanation and justification of transactions called in question was no longer available. his statement was not laid before the governor general until the april following. in it, besides confuting the conclusions of the other commissioners on the matters affecting his administration of the post office, stayner discussed a number of questions, in which he differed in opinion from his colleagues. he expressed a qualified approval of the scale of postage rates recommended in the report, and agreed entirely with them in their proposals respecting the postage on newspapers. but stayner was convinced that his colleagues took entirely too favourable a view as to the effect of the postage reductions on the revenue of the department, and he strongly recommended that, before the proposed changes should be approved, the whole scheme should be submitted to the provincial legislatures, with its probable financial consequences, in order that an assurance might be obtained from them that the deficits which he foresaw should be made good by the provinces. the first of the measures taken by the government on the report of the commissioners was to deprive stayner of a portion of his power. the proposal to place him under the direction of the governor general was not entertained in its entirety. but in august , the appointment of his postmasters was taken out of his hands, and transferred to the governor general.[ ] stayner protested that it would be out of his power satisfactorily to discharge his responsibility as resident head of the post office if he were deprived of the selection of his officials. the postmaster general may have agreed with stayner, but the decision of the matter was not allowed to rest with him. consequently, he had no choice, but to inform stayner that the question was closed, and that he would have to conform to the new conditions. so much freedom of action, however, was still left with stayner that he was not expected to retain the services of any official who failed to satisfy his requirements. but he could no longer dismiss peremptorily. the official under condemnation was to be afforded an opportunity for defence before his case was finally disposed of. thereafter, and until the post office was transferred to the control of the canadian government, whenever a vacancy occurred among the postmasters, the nomination was made by the governor, and the official appointment of the person selected, was made by the postmaster general. in august , lord stanley, the colonial secretary, notified the governor that on assuming office, he found awaiting him the report of the commission, but owing to the complexity of the matters involved, and to the fact that further representations on the same subject had been received from the colonies, the government was unable to arrive at a conclusion until that time.[ ] the decisions arrived at by the government and imparted to the governor were of far-reaching importance. the practice which had prevailed ever since the post office was established, of fixing the postage on letters, according to the number of enclosures they contained was to be abolished, and the weight system to be introduced to replace it. a single letter thereafter was to be one which weighed less than half an ounce, and the postage determined by the number of half ounces it weighed. the rates themselves were not changed, nor was the principle of regarding the distance a letter was carried any factor in the postage, in any way affected. but though the effect of the substitution of the weight system for that based on enclosures was not great, so far as concerned the amount of postage required on a letter, much was gained in the direction of simplicity and propriety, when there was no longer the constant appeal to the postmaster's curiosity, and, at times, cupidity, which was made by the regulation requiring him to hold up every letter between him and a lighted candle, in order to satisfy himself as to the number of its contents. another reform, no less welcome to the public, was the abolition of the privilege conceded to the deputy postmaster general of putting into his own pocket the proceeds of the postage on newspapers. the recommendation of the commission that newspapers should be charged one-halfpenny each, the proceeds to form part of the post office revenue, was adopted by the government. these changes went into operation on the th of january, . by way of compensation to the deputy postmaster general for the loss of his newspaper and other perquisites, he was given the not unhandsome salary of £ sterling a year. this was an amount much beyond what the treasury considered should be paid as salary for this office, in the absence of the special circumstances of stayner's case, and the salary of his successor was fixed at £ a year.[ ] the merchants and other large users of the post office, while perhaps not unmindful of what had been gained, still had little cause for satisfaction with the results of the labours of the commission. substantial reductions in the postage were still unattained. the movement in the colonies was greatly stimulated by the course of events in england as regards penny postage. post office officials had, from various motives, decried the great reform, and ministers of the crown, with their eyes on the diminished revenue, doubted whether the public benefits had been commensurate with the cost. opposition to the continuance of the experiment had reached a point when it became a question whether modifications in the direction of higher charges should not be made. in the government appointed a committee of the house of commons to inquire as to the measure of public benefit that could fairly be attributed to penny postage. the committee made no report, but they submitted a mass of evidence taken from every quarter of the kingdom, and from every walk in life, that effectually silenced objectors, and aroused a desire in all civilized countries for the enjoyment of a similar boon, to the extent that their circumstances would permit. the united states, in , after a period of agitation, reduced its charges to five cents a letter, where the conveyance did not exceed a distance of three thousand miles, doubling the charge for greater distances. the british north american colonies shared to the full in the general desire for the abatement of the impediments to the freer circulation of correspondence. the canadian legislature, in , was called upon to deal with a number of memorials on this subject, and asked stayner for his advice. stayner was prepared to welcome any reductions that the legislature might be able to obtain, but he warned them that whatever might be the ultimate effect of lowered postage rates on the augmentation of correspondence, there would be an intermediate period, in which the shrinkage of revenue would be considerable, and it was for the legislature to determine whether the general financial condition of the province would warrant their incurring even a temporary deficit in the post office. the legislature having in view the fact that the surplus revenue of the post office was only £ at the time, decided that it would be unwise to embark on any undertaking that threatened them with additional financial burdens.[ ] but the public in canada were of a different opinion. the boards of trade of montreal, toronto and quebec petitioned the postmaster general for a rate of twopence-halfpenny a letter, and, in , the legislature casting caution aside presented a strong address to the queen. in it they pointed out the hardship endured by british subjects in one portion of the empire, in being compelled to pay extravagant charges for that which is enjoyed by others at merely nominal cost; and begged to be put on an equal footing in this regard with the citizens of the united states. the legislatures of the maritime provinces were pressing on the home government demands of a similar character with equal vigour, and as the policy adopted by the home government was the result of the combined pressure, and affected all the colonies identically, it is desirable, before dealing with that policy, to bring the narrative of events in the maritime provinces forward to this point. footnotes: [ ] this report, with the data obtained by the commissioners, is printed as appendix f to the _sessional papers of canada for_ . [ ] circular letter of instructions, august (_journals of assembly_, n.b., , p. ). [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, , p. . [ ] maberly to stayner, july , (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, - , app. p.p.p. chapter xiv continuation of account of post office in maritime provinces-- departmental inquiry into conditions--agitation for reduced postage. the information elicited from howe by the general post office in london, and the house of assembly of nova scotia, in the course of the inquiry as to the financial position of the post office in that province, disclosed matter for considerable surprise to both of them. the general post office learned for the first time that for some years the provincial post office was carried on partly with the assistance of the legislature. the assembly on its side was equally unaware of the fact that, while they were making annual grants in aid of the provincial establishment, a very considerable sum was being remitted each year by the deputy postmaster general to the british treasury as surplus postal revenue. this anomalous state of affairs was corrected, and a more satisfactory footing was established as the result of the mission of the nova scotia delegates to england in . but one is inclined to wonder how this condition of ignorance could continue with howe, a perfectly honest man, in constant communication with his official superiors in england on the one hand, and with the legislature on the other. it would seem to have arisen from the fact that the post office in nova scotia was a much more intimate institution than the post office was in canada. circumstances, as has been seen, maintained a gulf between the post office in canada and the provincial legislatures. the antagonism of the legislatures in the two canadas towards the post office, arising from their belief in the illegality of its foundation, and the steady struggle on their part to bring the institution within the sphere of their authority, operated to prevent the establishment of intimate relations between the legislatures and the deputy postmasters general. all these separative factors were absent in nova scotia. the howes, father and son, had administered the post office for nearly forty years. they were constantly occupied with the public life of the province. they published the principal newspapers, and joseph howe, son of the one, and brother of the other, was one of the leaders in the legislature. the younger howe was also a commissioner for the summary trial of actions, and for the poor, both of which appointments he held without salary. the interests of the howes were as much engaged to the affairs of the province, as to those of the general post office, and this fact was recognized by the legislature. when, therefore, there was a question of extending the postal lines into new districts, howe was fully sympathetic, and it was felt, by the assembly, when he informed them that they must be prepared to make up any deficiencies in the cost of the new services, that he spoke as one of themselves, but with authority, and there was no more question. as a consequence, new routes sprang up gradually in different parts of the province, under the simple arrangement that the postage collected on the route would be applied as far as it would go to meet the expenses of the postmasters and mail couriers, and that the legislature would make up what was lacking. thus, on the western line, from halifax to yarmouth, and around the shore to lunenburg, the revenue collected was in only £ , whereas the expenditure was rather more than £ beyond this sum. on the eastern line, the shortage to be made up by the legislature was over £ . the northern line, that is, through londonderry, amherst, wallace, dorchester and parrsboro nearly paid its expenses. the province had to contribute no more than £ , to cover the deficiency.[ ] all that the general post office had been informed regarding these routes was that the revenues from them were being held to pay expenses. they had no idea that there were heavy deficiencies, which the legislatures provided for by annual votes, arranged between howe and the post office committee of the legislative assembly. howe held, when brought to account for his remissness, that as these routes were under the authority of the province, and not of the postmaster general, there was no object in embodying them in his accounts. the general post office did not know of the existence of the post offices of yarmouth, shelburne, liverpool and lunenburg on the west and south coasts; antigonishe, wallace and parrsboro on the north; and arichat and sydney in cape breton, all of which had been in operation for a number of years. the only route in the province that yielded a revenue sufficient to meet expenses was the grand route leading to canada, with its branch to pictou. as the grand route was employed for the conveyance through the provinces of the valuable mails exchanged between canada and great britain, it was naturally very remunerative. the agreement with the treasury, satisfactory as it was in appearance, had in it the seeds of misunderstanding. the treasury announced its willingness that, so long as the revenue from the internal post office was sufficient to meet the expense of the internal communications, no demand for this object should be made upon the provincial funds. the terms of the minute seem to lack nothing in clearness, unless some of the words employed were held to have a significance other than that usually accepted. that is what was the case in this minute. the treasury, in selecting the words it used, meant nothing more or less than that, if the revenue collected on letters passing within the territories of nova scotia were sufficient to cover the expense of maintaining the post offices and mail couriers within the province, the provincial authorities would be exempt from all liability. the legislature accepted this view of the case on all but one point. they maintained that halifax post office existed mainly for imperial purposes,[ ] in that its chief function was to provide for the interchange of the mails between canada and great britain, and that its value as a provincial institution was fully offset by the advantages extended by nova scotia to great britain and canada in providing for the transmission of their mails across its territory. holding this view, the assembly examined the accounts laid before them by howe, and satisfied themselves that, omitting the expenses of halifax post office from consideration, the internal postage practically covered the expenses of the internal service. they therefore resolved that no vote would be required during that session. they pledged themselves, however, in case the revenue of that year should prove inadequate, to provide for the deficiency, so that the services should not be interrupted or diminished. in the following year, , there was an unquestionable surplus of revenue over expenditure; consequently no demand was made upon the legislature. in , the friction, which was certain to develop when howe's loose methods were subjected to any strain, began to make itself felt. in april of that year, howe advised the lieutenant governor, lord falkland, that the funds available for the payment of the post office expenditure were deficient to the extent of £ .[ ] he, at the same time, submitted to the lieutenant governor his correspondence with the general post office in london, from which it appeared that the general post office, fearing that the omission of the legislature to make any provision for the service would lead to a deficiency, intimated that it might be necessary to make some curtailments, and asked whether some of the less productive routes might not be discontinued. howe, following his usual practice, had consulted with several members of the legislature, and being satisfied that the legislature would make up any shortage that arose, concluded that there would be no necessity of abandoning any of the lines. it was only when the legislature was prorogued without making provision for a possible shortage, that howe submitted the question to the governor. falkland was rather embarrassed by the responsibility thus unnecessarily thrust upon him. but as he was of opinion that it would cause much inconvenience to stop any of the mail routes, he directed the amount of the shortage to be paid. the lieutenant governor, however, in relating the circumstances to the colonial secretary, took occasion to complain of howe's methods. the communications respecting the post office passed him by entirely, unless some trouble arose which made an appeal necessary. in the present case, if he had been made acquainted with the circumstances in time, he would have laid them before the legislature, and left them to decide whether any of the services were to be dropped, or the deficit made up. as a result, howe was admonished that his irregular practice must cease, and that when recourse to the legislature was necessary, he should approach them through the lieutenant governor alone. in , the situation became more acute. the assembly had before them the accounts of , in which figured the additional expenses due to the ambitious transatlantic steamship scheme. at the best, the revenues from the inland services were no more than sufficient to meet its expenses, and the increase in the cost of the conveyance between halifax and pictou from £ a year to £ (£ sterling), and the additional expense in the halifax post office from £ a year to £ due to a large augmentation in the staff, involved the legislature in a situation, to which they were disinclined to submit. the trouble was precipitated by a letter from howe to the lieutenant governor, informing him that, as the sum of £ had been advanced by him from the packet postage, which belonged to the british treasury, and as the legislature had appropriated only £ to meet this advance, there was still the sum of £ due to his majesty. the assembly to whom howe's communication was referred, took the opportunity of reviewing the whole situation. it was beyond doubt that, in , the internal postal service was self-supporting. this condition was disturbed to the detriment of the financial position of the post office by burdening it with the total expense of the pictou service, which was maintained principally for the benefit of new brunswick and canada, and of the halifax post office, which since the establishment of the ocean steam service for all the colonies was in reality much more an imperial than a provincial institution. as, in justice, the inland colonies were chargeable with the major part of the outlay for the pictou service, and the maintenance of halifax post office should properly be defrayed from the packet postage, the legislature declined to meet the demand made upon it by the post office. the lieutenant governor was in full sympathy with the legislature, and after fortifying himself with the opinions of his law officers as to the legal aspects of the case, appealed to the governor general to induce the canadian government to take on themselves the proper share of the charge. the canadian government for the reasons given could not see the propriety of their taking on themselves any part of the expense of conveying mails to their outport at quebec, and the british government were powerless to bring pressure on the canadians, since the treasury was in receipt annually of large remittances from stayner as surplus post office revenues, which the british government, by their act of , admitted to belong to the colonies, and which only awaited colonial legislation to be handed over to the several legislatures. the treasury was willing also as a measure of grace to allow the colonial legislatures to retain the part of the packet postage collected in the colonies, if they would only adopt the scheme involved in the act of . but it was not prepared to admit that any part of the packet was, as a matter of right, chargeable with the maintenance of the post office at halifax or of the pictou coach service, and as it was becoming plain that the scheme of making halifax the distributing centre for the canadas, was not proving the success they hoped for, they determined to inquire as to the feasibility of having a port in the united states utilized in the exchange between canada and great britain. to that end, an official of the british post office, w. j. page, was sent to nova scotia to investigate this subject, and at the same time to make a thorough inquiry into the condition of the nova scotia post office, which had been animadverted upon rather severely by the royal commission, in its report of . by means of page's reports and of the report of this commission, we are enabled to give a clear account of the nova scotia post office in the beginning of the forties. there were eighteen post offices in the province at this period, and fifty-one sub-offices. the mails were carried on the route from halifax to pictou and st. john three times a week in summer and twice a week in winter. from pictou the mails were carried to antigonishe twice a week, and with the same frequency from halifax to annapolis. mails were carried in all directions throughout the province, but, with the exceptions mentioned, only once a week. the management of this considerable system was in the hands of the deputy postmaster general and his assistant. it was impossible with the work demanding their attention in halifax, and the deficiency of facilities for travel, that these two could give any attention to the offices which were not under their immediate eye, and consequently all attempts to exercise control over the operation of the system came by degrees to be abandoned. when postmasters were appointed, all the instructions they received were a few short directions from the deputy postmaster general, or from an outgoing predecessor, whose knowledge was a combination made up of the official instructions and the interpretations placed upon them, when occasion arose that required some action or decision on his part. the way offices--those peculiar products of the maritime provinces--excited the ridicule of english and canadian trained officials. page, in a letter to the secretary of the general post office, expressed his despair of comprehending the varieties of origin or practice of these offices. not one in ten of the keepers of these offices were appointed by howe; nor did he or any one in his office know the names of many of them, though howe considered the offices to have been sanctioned by him. what happened was like this: a postmaster would write to howe telling him that there ought to be a house for leaving letters at, in such or such a village or settlement. if any person were mentioned as willing to take charge of the letters, howe generally agreed to his being appointed, and considered the matter settled. if no particular person was mentioned, howe agreed to the suggestion that there should be a receiving house in the place indicated, and left the selection to the postmaster. the whole affair was considered as a private matter between postmaster and way office keeper; no letter bills or forms of any description were ever supplied to the way office keepers, and so long as they paid to the postmasters the amount of postage due on letters sent to them for delivery, the very existence of these offices was ignored. these way offices were known locally as twopenny offices, that is, the keepers charged twopence on every letter passing through their hands. an instance will explain the mode of operation in these offices. a gentleman living in port hood, on the west coast of cape breton, stated that he had sent a double letter weighing less than half an ounce a distance of fifty miles; and as it had to pass through five way offices, the charge was one shilling and eightpence (thirty-three cents). he received letters from england, which cost one shilling and fourpence (twenty-seven cents) from england to the straits of canso; but the conveyance from that point to his home, a distance of twenty-six miles, cost one shilling and fourpence more. the anomalies were due partly to the mixed character of the control of the system in the province, and partly to the inability of the deputy postmaster general, owing to his lack of efficient help, to supervise the system. howe was under the authority both of the postmaster general in england, and of the provincial government, which provided for the maintenance of a number of offices, which would not have been sanctioned by the postmaster general on account of the expense. illegal conveyance of letters was the rule in this province, as well as in all the others. the great proportion of the correspondence between the towns and villages on the long coast was carried by trading vessels. on some of the main routes, notably from halifax to pictou and to annapolis, there were fast four-horse coaches. they travelled eight miles an hour in summer and five in winter. they were employed to carry the mails, but it never happened that the mail bags contained as many letters as the pockets of the passengers. in cape breton there was not a single carriage road in the island. most of the roads were mere bridle paths, and in many parts there were no roads of any kind. it took five days to carry the mail bag from halifax to sydney during the summer, and from eleven to eighteen in the winter. the deputy postmaster general had a salary of £ a year, which was supplemented by the amounts collected as newspaper postage. in , the amount of this perquisite was £ a year. it was a cause of complaint on the part of rival publishers that the _nova scotian_, the leading newspaper in the province, paid no postage. as the circulation of this paper-- copies a week--was more than double that of any other paper in the province, the grievance was a real one. in explanation of the exemption, howe stated that for ten years before he purchased the _nova scotian_, the proprietor, joseph howe, had assisted him in the management of the office for eleven months while the deputy postmaster general was in england, taking full management of the provincial system. for these services joseph howe had asked no compensation, and the deputy postmaster general had therefore taken no remuneration for mailing the newspapers.[ ] there were only two towns in the province where letters were delivered by carriers--halifax and yarmouth. in halifax, the city was divided between two carriers, whose pay consisted of the fees they were entitled to take from the recipients of the letters they delivered, at a penny a letter. they attempted to charge the same sum for the delivery of each newspaper, but many persons would not pay the fee. the carriers received £ _s._ and £ a week respectively. yarmouth also had two carriers, whose penny fees gave them each about £ _s._ a year. the relations between the deputy postmaster general and the provincial government were the subject of much critical comment on the part of page. the fact that the government contributed to the maintenance of the less remunerative routes and post offices gave the executive and the assembly a colour of title to interfere in the management of the post office, which was exercised, in page's opinion, beyond all due bounds. the governor's secretary was in the habit of giving howe orders, and if howe showed any hesitation in complying with them, he became offensively peremptory. investigations into complaints against postmasters were taken into the hands of a committee of the assembly, in disregard of howe's authority. as it appeared to page, there was a determined effort to set aside the authority of the postmaster general and to take over the management of the system by the government. howe at page's instance, took a firm stand and informed the governor that, in case of conflict between the directions he received from england, and those given by the governor, it was the directions from st. martins-le-grand he was bound to obey. the disappointment in the general post office over the failure of the plan to remove the difficulties with the government of nova scotia, which was largely due to the hopeless complication of the accounts, changed the attitude of the officials at home towards howe from one of good will to one of censure, which reached the point that nearly determined them to dismiss howe. page pointed out the injustice of such a step. howe's position was one in which it was impossible to escape criticism from either the provincial authorities or his official superiors, whose views were frequently in sharp antagonism to one another. the part of the provincial system under howe as deputy of the postmaster general in england had its accounting scheme, and the part, which was maintained by the legislature, had another, separate and distinct. but the passing of letters between the recognized post offices and those established by the legislature, gave rise to accounts between the two systems under howe's management, which it was practically impossible to adjust satisfactorily, unless by the adoption of a give-and-take system, to which neither the general post office nor the legislature showed any disposition. howe's death in january closed the question as to whether or not his administration was deserving of censure. it also brought to an end an era, within which the postal service had expanded from the single route extending from halifax to annapolis and digby, over which the mail courier travelled but once a month, to the network of routes whose ramifications covered every part of the province. judged by the only possible test, the administration of the canadian service under heriot, sutherland and stayner, the administration of the two howes must be pronounced a conspicuous success. the deputies in canada were faithful to their superiors in london, but they were so at the expense of the popularity of the postal service in the provinces. the howes managed to extend their service equally with their canadian colleagues, and at the same time held the good will of the authorities in the province. howe was a man who left no enemies. the governor, in discussing the postal difficulties of the province with page, expressed the utmost good will for howe himself, the only ground of complaint against him being an embarrassing intimacy with the members of the legislature. page, who visited nova scotia for the purpose of inspecting howe's administration, bore testimony, before howe's death, to his kindly disposition and to the high respect in which he was held, officially and in private life. his rectitude in all his relations was never in question.[ ] howe's successor was arthur woodgate, who had served in the post office in jersey. woodgate administered the post office in nova scotia until the provincial system was absorbed in that of the dominion, when the confederation of the several provinces took place; until , he was, as were his predecessors, deputy of the postmaster general in england; after that date he was postmaster general for the province of nova scotia. an immediate consequence of the death of howe was the removal of the post office in halifax from the site it had occupied to the dalhousie college building. the merchants objected to the continuance of the post office in its former situation, and in the search of a more convenient location, it was observed that the ground floor of the college building, which was occupied as a tavern, offered advantages, which satisfied the mercantile community. a lease was effected for the new quarters on the th of july, , and the post office surveyor reported to the secretary that there was at the disposal of the department, a large and capacious room solely for the purposes of the inland sorting office; a delivery office, and a large room for sorting papers, all on the ground floor; while in the second storey there was ample accommodation for the deputy postmaster general and his staff.[ ] the question of a reduction in the postage rates engaged the attention of the legislature every session, after the beneficial results of penny postage in great britain became known. in march , the assembly, which was at this time under the speakership of joseph howe, petitioned to have the charges taken entirely off newspapers and pamphlets. as newspapers were almost the only vehicles of information in the province, and the postal charges were collected entirely from the rural parts, they were a heavy burden on people who could least bear it. the postmaster general in reply stated that the proposition to relieve newspapers altogether from postage could not be considered, but a reduction in the charge was at that time being considered by the treasury. newspapers were increasing so rapidly, at the existing rates, that it was becoming a question, with the bad state of the roads, as to how to provide for their transmission. pamphlets were being charged as letters in england, and it would be impossible to sanction their free conveyance in the colonies. at the same time the assembly requested the lieutenant governor to have inquiries made as to the feasibility and effect on the revenue of a uniform rate on letters of fourpence per half ounce within the province. the deputy postmaster general, to whom the question was referred, was strongly opposed to the proposition. he was convinced that the increase in the correspondence would be slight, and that, at the rate mentioned, the revenue would not be sufficient to pay the cost of any one of the principal routes in the province. at the beginning of , the changes, already mentioned, of charging letters by weight instead of number of enclosures, and of charging newspapers a halfpenny per sheet, came into operation in the maritime provinces. these ameliorations went as far as the officials of the post office were prepared to recommend, in the existing state of the finances of the provincial post office. the assembly in nova scotia were persistent in their demand for a reduction in the charges on letters. they had before them the evidence taken that year in england as to the effect of penny postage, which had then been in operation three years. the resolutions the assembly adopted were fully borne out by that evidence. they resolved that the experience of the parent state had clearly established that "the introduction of a uniform rate of penny postage has had a beneficial effect upon the social and commercial classes of the united kingdom; has largely increased the number of letters passing through the post office and prevented the illicit transmission of letters by private opportunities, and that its effect has been fully counterbalanced by the other important consequences resulting from it."[ ] the assembly were therefore satisfied that a fourpenny rate established under the same regulations as to the use of postage stamps, would promote the public interests, not add materially to the labour of management, and ultimately increase the public revenue. coupled with this resolution was another to the effect that it would be desirable to have the provincial post office under the control and management of the legislature. with this point, the secretary of the post office dealt at length in a memorandum to the postmaster general. in his opinion very great advantage resulted from the present system, by which the control of the post offices in the greater part of the british colonies was vested in the postmaster general. to abandon it would be extremely prejudicial, and would have the effect of breaking up the existing organization (which he was at that time endeavouring to make as uniform as possible for the whole empire) into various conflicting systems framed according to the views and feelings of each separate colony, to the great detriment of the general interests of the empire. loud complaints, the postmaster general was reminded by the secretary, were being made respecting the post offices in australia, where four different scales of rates of postage were in operation, resulting in inconveniences which a recently appointed commission of inquiry were authorized to obviate. he regarded it as a great advantage that one uniform system of management and one uniform scale of rates of postage should prevail in the north american provinces, in newfoundland and in the west indies. the reply of the postmaster general, which was based on the secretary's report,[ ] received the cordial assent of the legislature. after reviewing the condition of the colonial post offices in their relation to the imperial system, the postal committee of the legislature declared that "the promptness and celerity of intercourse is unrivalled in the world, and has greatly contributed to the commercial advancement of the nation. so complicated is the british postal system that, without the details, it is not possible to obtain a conception of its present perfection. nowhere is inviolability of letters more respected than in england and the united states, and by the constitution of the latter, adopted in , exclusive power is given to congress to establish post offices and post roads, thus preventing the difficulties which would have resulted from leaving this department to the several states." on this point, then, the committee advised that the house should yield to the wisdom of the imperial parliament. they returned, however, to the question of a uniform fourpenny rate for letters, which in their opinion would facilitate intercourse, and ultimately carry the revenue far beyond the amount expended for the maintenance of the service. since hill made the use of postage stamps an integral and important part of his scheme for penny postage, the legislature, in again expressing its faith in the benefits and feasibility of the uniform fourpenny rate, directed attention to the merits of postage stamps. the postmaster general was of opinion that this suggestion should not be entertained. any proposal for allowing postage stamps to be used in the colonies had hitherto been resisted from a fear, amongst other objections, that forged stamps would find their way into circulation with little fear of detection. the solicitor of the post office was of opinion that if forgery were committed in the united kingdom it could not be punished in the colonies, whilst on the other hand, if committed in any of the colonies, it could be visited with no penalty on parties in the united kingdom. with the acquiescence of the nova scotia legislature in the view of the general post office as to the desirability of maintaining a centralized imperial postal system, and the only outstanding question on which there was disagreement that of a reduction of postage rates, it will be expedient to bring forward the narrative of events with respect to the post office in new brunswick. the information amassed by the royal commission makes this an easy task. what strikes one at first glance is the little progress that had been made since , when howe made his official tour through the province. in , the population stood at , , and in it had risen to nearly , . the increase was distributed with considerable evenness over every part of the province, though the preponderance found its way to the outlying districts. the numerous settlements thus established would seem to call for a wide extension of the postal service. but little was done to meet the requirements. there were nine post offices in the province in : in , when the population had more than doubled and was scarcely less than half what it is to-day, there were no more than twenty-three. between fredericton and woodstock, a stretch of sixty-two miles of well-settled country, there were no post offices. the districts lying between fredericton and sussexvale, eighty-eight miles, and between fredericton and chatham, one hundred and fifteen miles, embracing many farming communities, were equally unprovided for, which is the more inexplicable since couriers travelled through all these districts to the several points mentioned, and the expense for post offices would have been more than covered by the revenues of the offices. the system of mail routes can be described shortly. from halifax there was a main post road, which entered new brunswick a few miles west of amherst, and following in its general lines the course of the inter-colonial railway passed the bend at moncton, and continued its way on to st. john. at a point near the present norton station, called the fingerboard, there was a route to fredericton. over these routes the courier travelled twice each way weekly. between fredericton and chatham, there was a service of the same frequency. chatham was the distributing point for the line of settlements, skirting the shore, northward to campbellton, and southward to dorchester. on the former route, the trips were made weekly, and on the latter, twice a week. mails were carried daily between fredericton and woodstock, fredericton and st. john and st. john and st. andrews. though, in comparison with the other provinces, the mail conveyance in new brunswick was not greatly open to criticism in point of frequency, the post office was no more popular there than elsewhere. steamers, which ran daily between st. john and fredericton, were employed by the post office to carry the mails, but though the steamer carried many every trip, there were few of which the post office got the benefit. there was a practice of taking letters to the steamer and tossing them on to the table in the cabin. on the arrival of the steamer in port, a crowd of messenger boys who were awaiting it picked up the letters from the table and delivered them through the town at one penny or twopence each. the stage coaches were laid under contribution in the same irregular manner. every passenger between st. john and fredericton was expected to take with him all his friends' letters, which he either delivered to the persons to whom they were addressed, or deposited in the post office, the postmaster receiving a penny each for delivering them. a stratagem sometimes employed was to place letters in the midst of a bundle of paper and sticks of wood, the freight of the bundle being less than the postage on the letters it contained. it was at this time that the legislature of new brunswick began to manifest an interest in the management of the post office. in , a special committee of the assembly reviewed the operation of the system, and among the questions discussed was the authority. the committee expressed the opinion that no arrangement could be satisfactory which did not combine provincial control of the local post office with a general imperial oversight over the whole system; and they recommended that a deputy postmaster general should be appointed whose duty it should be to prescribe mail routes, open post offices, appoint postmasters, and generally to manage the business of the post office in the province.[ ] the question of local management the general post office proposed to solve, not in the manner desired by the assembly, but by separating new brunswick from the jurisdiction of the deputy postmaster general at halifax, and establishing a department in the province, under a deputy postmaster general who should be stationed at st. john, and who should be, as the deputies in the other provinces were, subject to the postmaster general of england. local control was partially effected, as in the other provinces, by vesting the appointment of all officials, except the deputy postmaster general and the inspector, in the lieutenant governor. on the th of july, , a separate establishment was set up in new brunswick with john howe, the son of the late deputy postmaster general for nova scotia, in charge as deputy postmaster general. the arrangement had, at first, only a qualified success. it was criticized by the legislature as having nearly doubled the expense of the establishment, and by the post office officials on the ground that it introduced the local politician into the system. as illustration of the introduction of local political mechanics, page reported to the secretary of the post office that the deputy postmaster general, having had to dismiss a postmaster for very gross mismanagement, applied to the lieutenant governor for a nomination for the vacant office.[ ] the lieutenant governor nominated the dismissed man, and when the nomination was refused, he proposed to appoint the late postmaster's son. the explanation was that the postmaster was a leading politician, and his re-nomination had been insisted upon by the political manager, whom the governor consulted. the lieutenant governor viewed with no favour the independent powers of the deputy postmaster general. in the course of a dispute over the dismissal by the deputy postmaster general of a person whom he had appointed, the lieutenant governor laid his opinions and desires energetically before the colonial secretary. he requested that the general post office should be removed from st. john to fredericton in order that the latter might be more effectually under the control of the lieutenant governor; and that the post office surveyor or inspector should make his reports to himself and not to the deputy postmaster general. his views were held to be quite untenable, the postmaster general pointing out that if carried into effect, they would make the governor the deputy postmaster general. st. john and fredericton were the only towns in new brunswick in which correspondence was delivered by letter carrier. in st. john there were two carriers, who covered the city together, one delivering letters, the other newspapers. they were paid a penny for each letter or newspaper. in fredericton there was only one carrier, who was in the employ of the postmaster, who retained the sums collected as his own perquisite. new brunswick was in no respect behind the sister provinces in its demand for the essential thing--a reduced rate of postage. the chamber of commerce of st. john, in , petitioned the postmaster general to reduce the rate on letters exchanged between any of the post offices on the route between st. john and halifax to threepence, arguing that british letters for places anywhere in the colonies were carried from halifax inward for one penny (the rate was really twopence), and that letters were exchanged between the remotest places in the united states for one shilling and threepence. to the point respecting the conveyance of british letters, the postmaster general replied that this part of the service was carried on at a heavy loss, which was only to be justified as an imperial measure. a legislative committee sitting in the same year went beyond the chamber of commerce in its recommendations.[ ] it was of opinion that there should be a uniform rate on letters circulating within the province, and that that rate should not exceed twopence. they, also, recommended that newspapers, legislative papers and small pamphlets, being for the political education of the people, should be exempt from postage altogether. they foresaw a temporary loss if their recommendations were carried into effect, but considered that any such loss should be made good by the legislature. in the legislature took up the subject again, repeating their desire for free newspapers, and requesting that the rate on letters exchanged within the province be fixed at threepence a single letter.[ ] the assembly, in , addressed the king on the whole question of the post office.[ ] after remonstrating on the large increase in the cost of the provincial service, as the result of erecting a separate establishment, they complained that, in order to bring the expenditure within the revenue, the department had cut off several routes and reduced the frequency of the couriers' trips on others. the charges on letters and newspapers were so high as to impede correspondence. the assembly in this address gave it as their opinion that if the charges on letters were reduced by one-half, and were abolished altogether as regards newspapers, the receipts would soon be greater than they were. the legislature had expended £ , on the main roads during the preceding ten years, and it was disheartening that the postal accommodation was less than it had formerly been. in their requests in for reduction of charges, the legislature were more conservative than they had been in earlier sessions. still maintaining that newspapers should circulate free of postage, they were content to ask that the charges on letters should range from sixpence to twopence, according to the distance they were carried. they asked that the deputy postmaster general be required to establish such additional service as the legislature might see fit to demand; that the accounts of the provincial system be laid annually, in full detail, before the legislature, and that any surplus revenue be devoted to extending the facilities for inter-provincial communication. in consideration of the foregoing requests being granted, the legislature pledged themselves to provide such additional sums as might from time to time be required to defray the current charges. the colonial office replied to this address in october of the same year.[ ] the principal points dealt with were the petition for free newspapers, and the complaint that the accommodation to the public had been diminished. on the latter point, the colonial secretary stated that no services had been affected, except where they were unnecessary. as for the question of free newspapers, if new brunswick could be dealt with separately from the other provinces, there could be no objection to meeting their wishes, but in view of the fact that the effect on the other provinces had to be considered, the request of new brunswick could not be granted. the legislature in the following session took issue with the colonial secretary on this point. it was quite open to nova scotia or any of the other provinces to adopt the same policy as new brunswick considered advisable. the legislature took a course, which had not hitherto been pursued by the other provinces. they besought the co-operation of a sister province in an effort to have their desires carried into effect. they sent a copy of the address of the previous session to canada and suggested a joint effort to secure reduced rates for the north american colonies, by guaranteeing a sufficient sum in proportion to the business of the respective provinces to make up any deficiency of a temporary nature that might be caused by such reduction. the post office in prince edward island was involved in none of the controversies, which agitated the people of the other provinces. it owed its immunity to its low estate. its revenues were never equal to the cost of its maintenance, and consequently it was not a subject for exploitation. a post office was opened at charlottetown in the beginning of the nineteenth century, and until it was the only institution of the kind in the island. letters addressed to persons dwelling outside of charlottetown, no matter how far, remained in the post office in that town until called for. this state of things led to many inconveniences, but it was not until that it received official attention. lieutenant governor ready, in the course of his speech at the opening of the legislature in that year, pointed out the necessity of establishing a postal system in the island, "as affording the means of a speedy and safe communication with our distant population, and of conveying to them a knowledge of the laws and proceedings of the government, which, while it contributes to the security of the people, serves also to guard them against the effects of misrepresentation and misconception."[ ] the legislature having expressed their concurrence in these views, the postmaster of charlottetown was directed to open a number of post offices, and establish the necessary courier routes. the system began operations on the st of july following. there were three routes established. the western courier exchanged mails at new london, malpeque, traveller's rest and tryon river, his route being nearly ninety miles in length. the eastern courier served st. peter's road, st. peters, bay fortune and grand river. this route was upwards of one hundred miles. the south-east courier travelled fifty-three miles, and exchanged mails at seal river and three rivers. the couriers performed their services weekly in summer and fortnightly in winter. the rates of postage were fixed by the legislature without regard to the postmaster general of england, and were twopence a letter and one-halfpenny a newspaper. the report of these proceedings rather disturbed the deputy postmaster general at halifax, whose jurisdiction included prince edward island and who expressed his disapproval of the course pursued by the authorities. he notified the postmaster of charlottetown that there was no power possessed by the government of any colony of great britain to establish post offices and set up couriers, and demanded to be furnished with the orders under which the postmaster had acted. the secretary of the general post office, in a letter to the postmaster general, pointed out that the measures taken by the legislature of prince edward island were entirely illegal, but that it was a question how far it might be expedient or politic to interfere in a settlement where the deputy postmaster general had not thought it necessary to establish internal communications; particularly when the communications, if established, would probably not produce revenue sufficient to cover the expenses. he therefore suggested no interference be made for the present with the arrangements in the island, and that howe, the deputy postmaster general, should watch the financial results of the system. if it should appear that a revenue should arise, then the local authorities might be advised that the postmaster general would take the arrangements into his own hands, under the powers given by his patent, and by various acts of parliament. the postmaster general concurred, and howe was duly instructed. as it appeared at the end of the first year's operations, that the revenue derived from the posts set up by the legislature amounted to £ , while the expenses were £ , the postmaster general decided to leave the service in the charge of the legislature, with instructions to howe to keep his attention alive to the subject in case a change in the financial results might make it desirable for the postmaster general to assert his authority. the outcome of the negotiations was that the revenue collected by the post office in its internal system was passed over to the provincial treasury, which defrayed the cost of maintaining the couriers. the situation remained unchanged until , when the control of the post office was formally transferred to the colonial legislature. the financial results of the system were at no time of any considerable magnitude, and the expenses constantly outran the revenue, though not sufficiently to make the post office a serious burden on the provincial revenues. in the year , the total net receipts were £ , and the expenditure was £ . footnotes: [ ] howe to lawrence, september , (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _report of committee of assembly_, february , (enclosure in howe to maberly, april , , br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] falkland to colonial office, april , (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, , app. f. (e). [ ] howe's death took place on january , . [ ] watson to secretary, g.p.o., july , (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _journals of assembly_, . [ ] _journals of assembly_, , and br. p.o. transcripts for and . [ ] _journals of assembly_, n.b., , p. . [ ] page's _inquiry_, ii. (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _journals of assembly_, n.b., , p. . [ ] _journals of assembly_, n.b., , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] howe to freeling, june and september , (br. p.o. transcripts). chapter xv reversal of attitude of british government on post office control--instructions to lord elgin--provincial postal conference--control of post office relinquished to colonies. the ministry formed by lord john russell, which took office on july , , gave its immediate attention to the condition of the post office in the north american colonies, and a few weeks after taking office, lord clanricarde, the postmaster general, laid a proposition before the treasury[ ] which had for its object the severance of the relations between the colonial system and the general post office and the withdrawal of the latter from all responsibility respecting the service in the provinces. the reversal of policy in this case was as remarkable for suddenness as that which, in the same year, had brought about the abolition of the corn laws. as late as june , the secretary of the post office submitted a proposition from stayner for a substantial reduction in the rates, with many doubts as to the propriety of accepting it. he pointed out that it would involve, at least temporarily, so great a shrinkage in the revenues, that the treasury would be faced with alternatives almost equally distasteful, but one of which it would be obliged to adopt. the treasury must be prepared either to take on itself the deficits certain to arise, or must call upon the colonial legislatures to meet them. while the treasury was deliberating, a new postmaster general supervened, who was quite prepared to face the idea of colonial postal systems over which he ceased to have control. with the insistent petitions from canada and new brunswick before him, he came to the conclusion that the time had arrived when it was no longer expedient for the general post office to continue responsibility for postal systems, which had to subserve interests understood only by those whom they concerned. with certain safeguards, he had no fear for the impairment of imperial interests. the course of reasoning by which clanricarde reached the conclusions he communicated to the treasury were as follows: the unanimity of the demands of the colonial legislatures left no doubt that the postage rates must undergo a very considerable reduction; and there was equally little doubt that the consequences of this reduction would be a diminution of revenue so considerable that a large deficit would be inevitable. new brunswick, the new postmaster general recalled, had undertaken to make good its portion of the deficiency, and there was every probability that the other provinces would assume the same obligation. in these deficiencies, however, in spite of the utmost good will on the part of the provinces, lay the seeds of certain trouble. the principle governing the establishment of a postal system, and its expansion to meet local requirements, was fundamentally different in a new country from the principle by which they were guided at home. in a new country a postal system was expected to afford the means of extending civilization, and to advance with equal step with settlement, whereas in a long settled country, the postal system followed in the train of civilization. the consequence of this difference is naturally a frequent clashing of opinion between the authorities at home and the public in the colonies. disputes were constantly arising as to the extent of the accommodation to be given to new settlements, the amount of the salaries to be paid to officials, and above all as to the principle upon which new and expensive posts should be established. as to this last point, the general post office had just disposed of an application, which threw a strong light on the different elements, which had sometimes to be taken into consideration in dealing with questions of extensions of the system in a country like canada.[ ] sir george simpson, the deputy governor of the hudson bay company, represented that the company had a post at sault ste. marie, for which postal accommodation was desirable. the post office having but one test to apply was disposed to reject the application on account of the insufficiency of the prospective revenue to cover the cost of the service. gladstone, at that time colonial secretary, sought information from lord cathcart, administrator of the government, as to the merits of the application and learned that, besides the hudson bay interest, there were prospects of large mining developments in the district, and that a body of troops was about to be sent to fort garry, which would certainly require regular communication with headquarters. these were considerations which post office officials in great britain would seldom have to take into account, and while the accommodation was authorized in this case, owing to the standing of its advocates, there would be many cases, where the necessity would appear equally great to local authorities, which would not impress the authorities at home sufficiently to cause them to disregard their customary regulations. parenthetically it may be stated, as instances, that when the north-west territories were taken over by canada in , it became necessary to establish a mail service over a stretch of nine hundred miles between winnipeg and edmonton, at a cost of $ , a year, while the revenue from the route would scarcely exceed as many hundreds; and for many years after the canadian pacific railway was carried to vancouver in , the expenditure of the post office for the conveyance of mails into that country exceeded the revenue by some hundreds of thousands of dollars. on this point the postmaster general says: "there is no more fertile source of contention in the north american colonies than the establishment of new posts; and if the means of extending such posts throughout the colonies were provided by funds not of the post office, but granted from the general colonial revenue, however well administered a department might be, i fear it would constantly be subjected to accusations of favouritism and of undue influences." clanricarde conceded that it would only be reasonable to expect that the legislative assemblies would endeavour to ascertain whether by rearrangements, or other alterations in the administration, the deficiency would not be diminished, and whether economy could not be introduced with respect to salaries. the struggle of members for local advantages would heighten the feeling with which the department administered from england would be regarded. the postmaster general summed the situation up by declaring his conviction that any measure producing a large deficiency in the post office revenue would be tantamount to a surrender of the administration by the postmaster general; and as he was of opinion that the general colonial interests called for a large reduction in the postage rates, he considered that it would be better that the postmaster general should resign his control over the post offices at once. the imperial interests, which had determined the department in the past to retain its control over the arrangements remained in undiminished strength; and in order to safeguard these, it would be necessary to stipulate for certain conditions to which the colonies would be required to agree, before the colonial post offices were relinquished to the colonial legislatures. the first was that correspondence passing between two colonies through the territory of a third, should not be subject to a charge on the part of the latter for transportation. this stipulation ensured that an intermediate colony should not have the power to compel the colonies on either side of it to raise their charges to meet exorbitant rates for transportation. the second condition was that, in the case of correspondence passing between great britain and the colonies, the postage on which was one shilling and twopence, the part of this amount, which was for the inland conveyance, viz. twopence, should remain in operation, unless the ordinary inland rate should be less than twopence. in this case the correspondence to and from great britain should have the benefit of the lower rate. the third condition was that prepayment or payment on delivery should be optional with respect to correspondence passing from one province to another, and, in order to avoid complicated accounts between the provinces, the practice should be for each province to treat as its own all the postage it collected whether it were on letters paid at the time of posting, or on letters from other provinces, the postage of which, being unpaid at the office of posting was collected at the office of delivery. the postmaster general also suggested, as highly desirable, that a uniform system and rate of postage should be maintained throughout the provinces. as the proposition of the postmaster general provided for the reservation to the treasury of the full amount of the packet postage, part of which had until that time been used in the colonies to defray the expenses of their services, there could be no objection in point of finances to leaving to the colonies the control of their post offices. lord elgin, who came out as governor general in the beginning of , brought with him instructions to convey this information to the several legislatures. in these instructions lord grey, the colonial secretary, after alluding to the great change in the economic policy of the united kingdom towards the colonies as a consequence of the adoption of the principle of free trade--the abolition of the preferential tariff which the colonies had hitherto enjoyed, and the concomitant removals of the restrictions, which had existed on their trade with foreign countries--pointed out that in order that they might reap the largest measure of benefit from the greater freedom of trade, it was necessary that they should be united for customs purposes, on lines perhaps similar to those of the german zollverein. grey further intimated that it was also desired, in order to complete the commercial association of the colonies, that some arrangement should be come to for settling the affairs of the post office. he suggested that a conference of the representatives of the colonies should be held in montreal, to discuss these important subjects, and to endeavour to arrive at some agreement as to the principles to be adopted in giving effect to united colonial action. elgin delivered his message to the canadian legislature in opening the session of , on the th of june. he stated that he was enabled to inform the legislature that his majesty's ministers were prepared to surrender to the provincial authorities, the control of the department in the colonies as soon as, by consent between the several legislatures, arrangements should be matured for securing to british north america the advantage of an efficient and uniform postal system. but before this official intimation reached the colonies, action had been taken in one of them, on lines so closely parallel to those defined in the letter of the postmaster general to the treasury, as to suggest that elgin, on his arrival in boston on the th of january, had at once despatched a message to halifax, since, on the th of january, the question of the post office was brought up for discussion in the legislature of nova scotia. a committee was appointed to inquire generally into the conditions of the post office, and, particularly, into the advantage of one general system being adopted for the colonies, and the best means of accomplishing such an object.[ ] their task was to submit such a scheme as should be likely to command the approval of the other colonies and of the imperial authorities. this scheme should be founded upon some principle of central supervision and management of the various colonial post offices that would ensure uniformity in their operations, security against conflict with the general post office of the empire, and a proper degree of responsibility of the local heads to their legislatures. addressing themselves first to the question of postage rates, the committee at halifax decided, though with some misgivings, to recommend for adoption the rates proposed by the commission approved by sydenham to investigate the affairs of the post office. these rates were based on the principle of charging according to the distance letters were carried. the preference of the committee was for a single uniform rate. but they were prepared to waive it, and adopt the rates proposed by the commission, "because those suggestions had already received the sanction of able men well acquainted with the subject, because they believed their adoption would involve very great benefits to the people of this colony, and because they believed those suggestions were more likely to be concurred in by the authorities in england, and by the other colonies, than would be any that proceeded directly from themselves." the concurrence of the legislatures of the other provinces should be obtained in the recognition of common principles, and of the necessity for an independent authority placed in one of the colonies, whose function it should be to organize and centralize the department within certain limits to be prescribed and defined. the report of the committee was submitted to the assembly of nova scotia on the th of march, and was adopted on all points, except the important one of the rates of postage. the house was not disposed to concur in the continuation of a system of postal charges, which had been definitely abandoned in great britain and the united states, and which had been condemned by every public body in the colonies, which had considered the subject. the assembly substituted for the rates proposed by the committee the uniform rate of threepence, and were prepared to face such deficits as should result. the lieutenant governor was requested to send the resolutions to the other colonies, with the earnest desire that they would be pleased to give them consideration. on the th of june, the nova scotia resolutions were laid before the canadian legislature, and no time was lost in carrying into effect the suggestion of a conference between representatives of the colonies on the mainland. wm. cayley, the inspector general of canada (in practice the minister of finance), j. w. johnston, the solicitor general of nova scotia and r. l. hazen, of the executive council of new brunswick, were appointed representatives of their respective provinces. these representatives of three of the four provinces met in montreal, on the invitation of elgin; and in october, the result of their deliberations was presented to the governor general.[ ] in considering the question of the establishment of an independent management within the provinces, thus taking over the functions of the general post office so far as they related to the colonies, the delegates discussed the relative advantages of a scheme of a central department for the four provinces with united revenue and management such as then existed, or of one that would place the management of the postal arrangements in the hands of the local governments of each province, with no greater central control than should be necessary for securing imperial and inter-colonial interests. the former of the two alternatives was rejected, as open to practically all the objections that had arisen from the control being continued in england. there was the further consideration that the most practical security against an imprudent excess in postal accommodation would be found in the consideration that undue encroachments on the general revenue for the benefit of the postal service would diminish the means required for other and not less valuable purposes. this motive, powerful when confined within the limits of a single province, might lose much of its force, were the postal revenues of the four provinces gathered into one fund. the other alternative appeared free from the objections mentioned. the delegates, therefore, recommended that the post office departments in the several provinces should be separate and distinct from one another, and under the control, each, of its own provincial government, which should appoint all officers, make arrangements for mail service, pay all expenses, and retain all collections, except the balances due to great britain on packet postage. for expenditures common to all the provinces, there should be an office of central audit in canada of which the postmaster general of canada should be the head. the duties of the office were to audit the accounts of the several provinces, returns of which should be presented annually to the different legislatures; to collect and transmit to england the balances due from the four provinces on the packet service; and, in concert with the postmaster general in each province, to make all necessary arrangements for the transmission of the mails along the chief or central route from canada to halifax and between nova scotia and prince edward island. this office was anomalous in character, implying the inability of the several independent provincial departments to make all necessary business arrangements among themselves, and when the provinces assumed control of their post offices, it was not established. in dealing with the question of the rates of postage, the delegates had before them the various representations from the several provinces as to the desirability of establishing, if possible, a low uniform rate of postage; and the success of penny postage in great britain and of the rates adopted in the united states in encouraged the belief that a low uniform postage would not only confer immeasurable commercial and social benefits, but would within a reasonable time be productive of a revenue ample for all the needs of the service. it was, therefore, agreed to recommend to their respective governments the adoption of the threepenny or five-cent rate for each half-ounce letter. lest, however, any of the provinces should fear for the financial results of conveying letters over the greater distances for this sum, they confined their recommendation to letters carried less than three hundred miles, leaving it optional to charge a double rate for letters carried beyond that distance. for the purpose of fixing the charge the provinces were to be regarded as one territory. no change was recommended in the charges on newspapers, parliamentary documents, or other printed papers, but the several legislatures were left free to exempt these from postage, if they thought fit to do so. prepayment or payment on delivery of letters should be optional, and franking abolished. the treasury to whom this report was submitted, approved of the arrangements proposed, except that relating to the payment for the british mails to and from the port of destination in america. but they contented themselves with observing that this remained a matter of negotiation between the home and the colonial departments; and stated that as soon as the arrangements had been sufficiently matured, the requisite steps would be taken for the transfer of the postal communications to the provincial authorities. nova scotia, which had taken the leading part in the negotiations which had brought matters to the point they had reached, again took up the leadership. on the st of march, , the legislature adopted the report of the commissioners, and directed the attorney general to prepare a bill based on the view of grey and clanricarde, pledging themselves to make good any deficiency which might take place in the post office revenue of that province. the bill to effect this arrangement was adopted by the legislature on april .[ ] thus all necessary action on the part of that province was complete, and the measure was ready to be put into operation, as soon as the british government and the other colonies had taken the necessary action on their part. following up the enactment of this measure, the nova scotia legislature appointed james b. uniacke, the chairman of the post office committee, to visit canada, and lay before the governor general the views of nova scotia on the subject of the provincial post office and to endeavour to settle with canada the questions necessary to be disposed of before the post office could be established. uniacke arrived in montreal on the th of june, and had interviews with elgin and the executive council. two days later the council adopted a report drawn up in terms differing but slightly from those of the commission of , and recommending the adoption of a uniform rate of threepence (five cents) throughout british north america. the other recommendations were the same as those submitted by the committee, with the addition that postage stamps should be issued for the use of the public. the council were of opinion that the provisions recommended should be introduced in a bill, to be laid before parliament, and expressed the hope that the postmaster general might be given full discretionary powers in matters referring to the colonial post office, and that her majesty's government might be persuaded to adopt the above rates and regulations without further delay, the council pledging the administration to make good any excess of expenditure over revenue which may possibly arise in carrying out such arrangement.[ ] the government of nova scotia then approached that of new brunswick, the lieutenant governor at fredericton being informed of the result of uniacke's visit to canada and that all that was now required was the assent of the government of new brunswick and the approval of the imperial authorities. the governor general added a word to the intimation of the lieutenant governor of nova scotia, and it was settled that legislation would be introduced into the new brunswick legislature in accordance with the terms agreed upon.[ ] all requisite measures for establishing the colonial post offices on an independent footing were matured, so far as could be done, by the legislatures themselves, and nothing now remained but the imperial sanction. this the law officers were of opinion would require an act of the imperial parliament, and on the th of july, ,[ ] an act was passed empowering the legislative authorities in any of the colonies to establish and maintain a system of posts, to charge rates of postage for the conveyance of correspondence, and to appropriate to their own uses the revenue to be derived therefrom. with this action taken, the control of the imperial government over the colonial posts should cease and determine. the government of prince edward island, though invited by elgin to participate in the conference at montreal in october , took no part in it. in november , johnston, one of the representatives from nova scotia, sent to the lieutenant governor a copy of the report of the montreal commission, requesting an expression of his sentiments, and inquiring as to the prospect of the legislature concurring in the opinions contained in the report. the deputy postmaster general in the course of an examination of the report pointed out that the only valid objection the government of prince edward island could have to the adoption of its conclusions, was that the uniform charge of threepence on inter-colonial correspondence would make a serious inroad in the receipts of the prince edward island post office. the island post office had been in the practice of adding to the postage charged on inter-colonial letters, the inland rate of twopence a letter. if the terms of the report were adopted in their entirety, and a uniform rate were charged throughout the provinces of threepence a letter, the island would have to relinquish its inland charge. the deputy postmaster general took a serious view of the effect of the proposed relinquishment of the inland postage. the revenue for was £ . applying his estimates of the proportions by which the receipts from the several classes of correspondence would be reduced, he concluded that, under the scheme submitted, the revenue would probably not exceed £ .[ ] notwithstanding this unfavourable anticipation, the government gave its assent to the scheme agreed upon by the other colonies, and the rate of postage on letters exchanged with other colonies became threepence per half ounce, while the charge on letters exchanged within the island remained twopence per half ounce. footnotes: [ ] _can. arch._, g. series v. (august , ). [ ] cardwell to postmaster general, june , , and accompanying papers (br. p.o. transcripts). [ ] _journals of assembly_, n.s., . [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, , app. b.b.b. [ ] _journals of assembly_, n.s., . [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, , app. b.b.b. [ ] _ibid._, n.s., [ ] _imperial statutes_, and vict., c. . [ ] _journals of assembly_, p.e.i., , app. h. [illustration: william henry griffin, c.m.g. (_deputy postmaster general_ - )] chapter xvi provincial administration of the post office--reduced postage--railway mail service--arrangements with united states. the several provinces took over the post offices within their territories in , canada on the th of april, and nova scotia and new brunswick three months later. the postmaster general of canada was made a member of the executive council--the provincial cabinet--from the beginning. the postmaster general of nova scotia was never a member of the council, but administered the department as a subordinate official. in new brunswick, the department was administered on the same plan until , when the postmaster general was made a member of the government. during the period of separate provincial administrations, which continued until , when they were merged in the post office department of the dominion of canada, the record is on the whole one of steady uneventful progress. postal accommodations were extended, always as occasion demanded, and seldom as immediate prospective revenues warranted, with the result that the expenses generally outran the revenues. this condition, however, caused little or no discontent, as the provincial governments realized, as the british government could not, that on the efficiency of the postal service depended in no small measure the welfare of their people. stayner, in his valedictory to the postmasters of canada, took credit for the thriving and effective state in which he left the post office. he believed that the improvements had fully kept pace with the growth of the country during the period of his administration. in that period, he pointed out, the increase in the number of post offices, amount of revenue, and in the number of miles annually travelled with the mails was more than six hundred per cent., a measure of progress not exceeded by any public institution within the province. stayner's words contained no more than the truth. when he entered on the office of deputy postmaster general he brought with him considerable experience as a subordinate in the service. he gained early, and retained to the end, the esteem and confidence of his superiors in england, and if he lost popularity for a period in this country, it was because he saw the folly of trying to serve two masters. no one perceived more keenly than stayner the inadequacy of the accommodation he was permitted to extend to the rapidly expanding settlements of the country; and no one could be more persevering in bringing the facts to the attention of the postmaster general. the contrast between the mail service on the north and south side of lake ontario affected him, as it did the people of kingston and toronto, and he risked the regard of st. martins-le-grand by expressing sympathy with the general feeling. the postal accommodation, which did not hold out the prospect of, at least, self-maintenance, the authorities there did not desire to have brought to their notice. while sharing the general sense of the necessity of postal communication in many parts of the country, stayner took on himself the blame that they were not provided. fortunately for him, he was abundantly able to take care of himself. by attaching himself to the government party he earned a measure of the odium, which fell on them. but he entrenched himself against too violent attack, and secured champions whom the british government would willingly listen to. he managed to secure a very large income from obnoxious perquisites, but it would seem from later developments that this was rather a matter of good fortune, than of any deliberate effort on his part. the postmaster general and the colonial secretary had the strongest objections to these perquisites, but when they sought the means to get rid of them, they tried for some years in vain. the perquisites would fall to somebody, since they were of the appurtenances of that position. that stayner served the country, as well as his relations with the department in england would permit, admits of no doubt. william lyon mackenzie, who abhorred the post office and all its ways, was fain to concede that stayner was the man, whom, of all he knew, he would most readily support for the position of deputy postmaster general. with how vigorous a hand the postmaster general of canada set about his task of providing adequate postal accommodation for the country, may be judged from the fact that the number of post offices which in was six hundred and one, was increased to eight hundred and forty-four during the first twelve months.[ ] the system was extended in canada as far west as kincardine. the courier services to sarnia and goderich on lake huron were made daily, as was that to bytown (afterwards ottawa). within five years the number of post offices had risen to one thousand three hundred and seventy-five; and in , ten years after the postal service was taken over by the canadian government, the number had been augmented to one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five offices, practically threefold the number in operation in . when canada entered confederation it took into the postal system of the dominion two thousand three hundred and thirty-three post offices. the people of canada responded with great readiness to the invitation to use the post office, which was offered through the reduction in the charges. when the canadian post office was taken over, the rates varied according to the distance letters were carried. the postmaster general estimated that they yielded on the average ninepence a letter. the reduction to threepence was, therefore, a diminution of two-thirds. it is noteworthy how completely fulfilled was the prediction that the low rates would so increase the number of letters carried that, in a short time, the revenue, which was certain to fall for the moment, would recover itself and return to the figures of . for the year ending april , the last year of the high rates, the revenue was $ , . in the following year, with the reduction of the rate to one-third of what it had been, the revenue fell to $ , . but it was observed that the number of letters posted had increased by over fifty per cent. in the effect of the reduction, coupled with the extension of the facilities to the public, was to produce a revenue of $ , . ten years after the great reduction in the rates the revenue had risen to $ , , and at the time of entering confederation it was $ , . among the most important of the facilities introduced in were postage stamps, the values being threepence, sixpence, and one shilling. curiously enough, the obvious advantages of postage stamps did not strike the people at the time. this is in large measure accounted for by the fact that the use of stamps involved a change in attitude on the question--who should pay the postage. the old theory was that the service rendered to an individual by the post office should not be paid for until the letter was actually delivered. there was always a certain proportion of letters the postage of which was paid at the time they were handed in at the post offices, but the proportion was small. the regular practice was to allow the recipient of the letter to pay for it. this attitude had to be overcome, and natural conservatism delayed the change for some time. indeed, it was not until a fine in the shape of additional postage was imposed in cases where letters were not prepaid, that the practice was entirely changed. the charges on the transmission of newspapers in canada were among the matters that received early attention. there was a strong feeling throughout the colonies, that, in the absence of libraries, the high price of books precluded their general diffusion in the several communities, and it was therefore necessary that newspapers, the only remaining means for extending public information should be distributed at the cost of the government. in the agreement on the conditions, under which the several colonies should assume the administration of their post offices, it was stipulated that, while threepence should be the charge on letters, and one-halfpenny on newspapers, the several legislatures should have the power to provide for the free circulation of newspapers through the post offices. nova scotia abolished the charges altogether when she took over control; and new brunswick took the same measure with the restriction that the newspapers to which the free conveyance would apply should not exceed two ounces in weight. in canada the same end was reached but with more deliberation. the rate charged at the close of the old regime--one-halfpenny per sheet--was continued until . in that year this rate was reduced on general newspapers, and was abolished altogether on periodicals devoted exclusively to the furtherance of the special objects of agriculture, education, science and temperance. the postmaster general calculated that this measure would reduce the revenue by $ , . in the year following, the final step was taken, and the charges on provincial newspapers circulating within the british north american colonies were removed altogether. the money order system was established in canada in , on the plan of that in operation in the united kingdom. the amount which might be sent by a single order was limited to $ , and there was a uniform charge of twenty-five cents for each order. in , the amount transmissible by single order was raised to $ , but after a short experience, it was reduced to $ , and the charges were fixed at one-half of one per cent. for the smaller amounts, and at three-quarters of one per cent. for amounts above $ . on the st of june, , a money order exchange was established between canada and the united kingdom, the limit of a single order being fixed at $ . this was an accommodation which had been called for for a number of years. the colonial secretary, as early as , wrote to the postmaster general of england, pointing out the large increasing emigration to the colonies, and the desire of persons prospering there to assist their relatives to follow them. he estimated that over £ , , was sent yearly through the agency of private firms for this purpose. this the colonial secretary declared to be worthy of encouragement, and he asked the postmaster general to consider the question of extending to the colonies the system of money orders which had proved so successful in great britain. this appeal produced no immediate result. in , a registration system was introduced. long previous to this time, there had been a practice of entering money letters on letter bills accompanying the mails, but as receipts were not given to those posting such letters, nor taken from those to whom they were delivered, the practice was defective as a measure of safety. under the regulation of receipts were given and taken, the charge being two cents. the greatest advantage the post office was enabled to extend to the public during this period was due to the opening of railway lines. for some years progress in this respect was tardy. the first line built ran from laprairie, opposite montreal to st. john's. it was constructed in , and its purpose was to improve the communications between the canadian metropolis and the cities of new england and of the state of new york. no further steps were taken in this direction until , when another link was laid in the connections between montreal and the eastern states by the building of a line between montreal and lachine. these two short lines, with one opened the same year between montreal and st. hyacinthe, were all the railway lines in operation in canada until . during this and the following year, additional lines were laid, but their object was still the same, to improve the facilities for transportation between montreal and the cities of the united states. the line from montreal to st. johns was extended to rouse's point, new york, on lake champlain, and that to st. hyacinthe was carried on to sherbrooke and the international boundary, where it joined with the atlantic and st. lawrence railway (an american line), and opened a connection by railway between montreal and the atlantic seaboard at portland. this city became the winter port of the canadian steamship line, the operations of which began in the winter of . until , no part of what could be described as the canadian railway system had been built. the lines then under operation were all for the purpose of bringing montreal within the benefits of the american system. but this year-- --three extensive schemes of communication were begun: the grand trunk company started building the line running from quebec to the western limits of the province at sarnia; the great western company built a line across the niagara peninsula from the niagara river to detroit river; and the northern company, a line from toronto northward to georgian bay at collingwood. these lines brought the advantages of railway communication to every rising settlement in upper and lower canada. as construction progressed the new lines were utilized by the post office department until the completion, in october , of the grand trunk from brockville and toronto brought quebec into direct communication by means of the great western railway with windsor at the western end of the province. the reduction in time, which the railways had made it possible to effect in the delivery of the mails between quebec and the leading points in the western part of the province was great. in the ordinary time for the winter mails to travel from quebec to kingston was four days; in , they were carried between the two places in thirty-one hours; to toronto the saving in time was the difference between seven days and forty hours. before the era of railways ten and a half days were occupied in the journey from quebec to windsor. the railway carried the mails regularly in forty-nine hours. the use of travelling post offices, with mail clerks assorting and distributing the mails from the railways in the course of their trips, was an early feature of the postal service in canada. this mode of utilizing the railways had been in operation in england since , and before the leading railways in canada were completed, an officer of the post office department was sent to england to study the system. thus, by , this system, which is the leading feature of mail conveyance and distribution, was in full course in this country seven years earlier than in the united states. but gratifying as were the results from the use of railways in the conveyance of mails, through the sparsely-settled districts over the immense stretches of our territory, the substitution of steam for horse conveyance introduced a perplexing financial problem. the postmaster general noted the peculiar fact that while passengers and merchandise reaped the benefit of improved speed with an accompanying reduction in the expense, the change threatened to burden the public with a vastly augmented charge for the mail service. comparing the service by railway with that by stage, it was noted that, while the stage driver waited at each office he visited, until the mail he brought was assorted, and arranged for his farther conveyance, it was impossible owing to the brevity of the stops at the stations, to do this in the case of the mails carried by railway. the post office consequently was compelled to train and employ a distinct class of clerks to travel on the trains, and perform that duty while the train was in movement. a portion of a car--generally about one-third--was partitioned off and fitted up exclusively for postal service. the salaries of these clerks constituted what the postmaster general regarded as the enormous expenditure of $ , a year; and the necessity created by the nature of the railway service for the provision of an office on the trains, formed the principal ground on which a comparatively high rate of compensation was claimed by the companies. but that was not all. the railways not being able, like the stage coach, to exchange the mails directly with the post offices of the towns along the line, side services of an expensive character were required to maintain the connection between the post offices and the stations. the expenditure for this class of service, coupled with that for the employment of the clerks who travel on the railway, exceeded, in most cases, the whole of the previous expenditure for the superseded service by stage; and then there were the demands of the railways to be satisfied. the rate of compensation for the conveyance of the mails was a subject of dispute between the postmaster general and the railway companies. the claims of the latter, however legitimate, were considered by the postmaster general as out of the power of the department to meet from its revenues. several tentative settlements were made, but the final adjustments were not reached until the appointment of a royal commission in , which, after hearing the statements of both sides, decided the terms on a basis which lasted practically unchanged for nearly half a century. nova scotia entered on the administration of the postal service of the province with much energy.[ ] there were one hundred and forty-three offices in the province in . these were rapidly augmented and on the more important routes, that is, those radiating from halifax to the eastern and western ends of the province, and to new brunswick, were given a frequency, conformable to the importance of the communications. the number of post offices was in nova scotia doubled in four years; trebled in ten years; more than quadrupled in fifteen years; and had reached a total of six hundred and thirty when the provincial office was absorbed into the postal service of the dominion. communication with canada was confined to the land route, seven hundred miles in length, over which it took ten days travel to reach the nearest point of importance. by , two other modes of communication had presented themselves. the cunard steamers, which called at halifax on their way to boston and new york, were laid under contribution to carry mails between halifax and canada; and the completion of the railway between montreal and portland, maine, afforded an opportunity of a connection which was made by a steamer running between portland and st. john, new brunswick. the value of this service was not as great as it afterwards became when there was a complete railway connection between halifax and st. john, but it nevertheless effected a considerable reduction in time. thus, in november , mails were carried between quebec and halifax by way of st. john and portland in four days, though the average, through the winter, was about a day more. the steamer carried the mails between st. john and portland three times a week in summer, and twice a week during the balance of the year. the postage on letters circulating throughout the north american provinces was threepence a half ounce, and newspapers were transmitted free of all postage. the registration of letters was introduced in , the fee being sixpence; and a money order system established in . the limit on the amount of a single order was fixed at the low sum of $ and the charge on each order was the rather high one of tenpence an order. by a fully equipped postal system was in operation in nova scotia. the revenue of the department responded with fair readiness to the accommodation afforded to the public. for the last year under the old system, when rates were excessively high, and the accommodation limited, the revenue was $ , . the immediate consequence of the great reduction was a shrinkage in the revenue by $ in the following year. five years after the low rates were established, the revenue for the year was surpassed, and in thirteen years it was practically doubled. in , the last complete year under the provincial regime the revenue had reached the respectable sum of $ , . the steady expansion of the service entailed an outlay which considerably surpassed the revenue. in , the first complete year under the provincial administration, the deficit was $ , . this deficiency steadily mounted until for the years to , it averaged $ , . thereafter it descended as steadily as it had risen, and during the last three years before the provincial system was absorbed by the post office department at ottawa the shortage was $ , a year. neither nova scotia nor new brunswick had the advantage of an extended railway mail service until some years after canada had been in enjoyment of it. the service by railway began at the commencement of , the mails being carried between halifax and grand lake, a distance of twenty-two miles. in the following year it was extended to truro and windsor, which was the total extent of the railway mail service at the time of confederation. it was resolved at the time new brunswick assumed the administration of its postal system, to make the postmaster general a member of the provincial cabinet. but the legislature did not act on its resolution until , the postmaster general in the interim being, as in nova scotia, merely an officer of the government. in , the post office in new brunswick had, in regular post offices and way offices, exactly one hundred offices.[ ] these were increased with much rapidity. after five years, the number had increased to two hundred and forty-six offices; and at the period of confederation, there were four hundred and thirty-eight post offices in new brunswick. the conditions under which letters and newspapers were carried in new brunswick were the same as those which prevailed in the other provinces. the postage was threepence per half ounce for letters, and newspapers were carried without charge. the effect on the revenue was the same as in the other provinces. in the first year after the low charges were introduced, the reduction in the revenue was considerable. on comparing the revenue for the first six months under the reduced rates with the revenue for the corresponding period of the preceding year, there was found to be a diminution of $ . but the rebound was as rapid as it was in canada. in , the revenue had nearly attained the figures of - . thereafter the progress of the revenue was steady, reaching the sum of $ , in . as in nova scotia, the cost of maintaining the service at its existing efficiency outran considerably the revenue produced. the deficiency of revenue to meet expenses amounted in to $ , . this shortage increased to nearly $ , in the years and . there were variations during the years that followed, but in the last three years the average annual deficit was rather more than $ , . the department at fredericton took a philosophical view of these deficits which the government were called upon annually to make good. the large expenditure, it was maintained, might be fairly viewed in the same light as the amounts annually granted by the legislature for roads and bridges and for the support of common schools. "the mail carriage to all parts of the province secures to the travelling public conveyances which would not otherwise exist, and the very large amount of newspapers, etc., which passes through the post office affords strong evidence that the department may be considered a branch of our educational system." some friction existed between the three provinces, arising from their geographical relations to one another. the british government made an arrangement in for the conveyance of the canadian mails through the united states to and from the port of boston, paying the united states on the basis of the weight of mails carried. the letters were carried under this arrangement. but, as the newspapers were not regarded as so important, the government decided that they should not be carried on to boston, but landed them at halifax, leaving them to be carried by the couriers who conveyed the mails overland from that city to quebec. it was an arrangement which gave no satisfaction to any of the provinces. nova scotia complained that it had to bear the expense of conveying this mail matter for canada and new brunswick across its territory without any sort of compensation. new brunswick declared its case was no better than nova scotia's, as it had to forward the canadian matter through that province, while canada protested that the matter complained of was due to no action or desire on its part, as the arrangements delayed the delivery of the newspapers until they were useless. a combined representation to the british government removed the grievance, by the newspapers as well as the letters being thereafter sent by way of boston. the relations between canada and the united states were, as was to have been expected, cordial. a convention was made in between great britain and the united states, providing for the conveyance of the mails exchanged between canada and great britain, and in this convention it was stipulated that the letters and newspapers exchanged between canada and the united states should be subject to the combined postage of the two countries. thus the postage on any letter weighing not more than half an ounce, and sent from canada to any part of the united states was ten cents. an exception was made in the case of letters passing between canada and california and oregon. the charge in these cases was fifteen cents. the construction of the great western railway between niagara falls and windsor afforded an opportunity to the united states to improve its postal communications between the eastern and the western states, while, on the other hand before the grand trunk railway was built, canada took advantage of the lines in the united states running along the south shore of lake ontario to accelerate the mails exchanged between toronto and montreal. footnotes: [ ] the facts respecting the growth of the post office in canada are to be found in the reports of the postmaster general, which began in . [ ] the facts respecting the post office in nova scotia are to be found in the reports of the department, in the appendices to the _journals of the assembly_ from onwards. [ ] the facts respecting the post office in new brunswick are to be found in the reports of the department, in the appendices to the _journals of the assembly_ from onwards. chapter xvii canadian ocean mail service--want of sympathy of british government therewith. the progress of the cunard line had a consequence which was neither anticipated nor welcomed by the british government. the plan of the government to concentrate its transatlantic communications on halifax had been given a thorough trial and had proven a failure, and as the expressed wish of the canadians to have their correspondence with the mother country exchanged at either boston or new york coincided with the interests of the owners of the steamers, the principal port of call on this side of the atlantic shifted through a series of arrangements from halifax to new york. in , the contract between the british government and the cunards provided for a direct service of weekly frequency between liverpool and new york, with a subordinate service by slower steamers to halifax and boston. the subsidy had also undergone successive augmentations until, in , it reached the immense sum of £ , a year.[ ] but although the service was now to all appearances anglo-american in character the british government assumed to regard it as anglo-colonial, as imperial, because it provided the means for exchanging the mails between great britain and canada. in , the british government set on foot one of those large colonial schemes which ought to have excited mistrust both as to its practicability and its expediency. it proposed to establish a low and uniform rate between great britain and all her dependencies excepting india, cape of good hope, mauritius and van diemen's land. the postage was to be reduced from one shilling to sixpence per half ounce letter.[ ] coupled with the reduction in rate was a proposal that arrangements should be made by which the maintenance of the services, which had hitherto fallen entirely upon the mother country, should be shared by the colonies having the benefit of them. [illustration: william white, c.m.g (_deputy postmaster general_ - )] canada's participation in the scheme was invited, and the arrangement made by the british government with the australian colonies was submitted to the canadian government.[ ] under this arrangement the british government was to make the contract for the service, and the colonies should pay half the expense involved. the proposal found no favour in canada. the cunard service, the expense of which canada was expected to share, was far from being an unmixed advantage to the british north american provinces. it was indeed a most serious obstacle to the realization of plans, which canada conceived essential to its expansion on the lines marked out by nature. for many years the thought of upper canadians had turned to the advantages which were to be derived from the utilizing of the great water system extending through lake and river, from the head waters of the lake superior to the ocean, and measures had been carried forward to overcome the obstacles caused by the falls and rapids on the course of the passage. by , the canal system was completed, which permitted the free passage of inland vessels from the upper lakes to montreal, and it was anticipated that the greater part of the movement of immigration and freight to and from upper canada and the western states, would be upon canadian waterways. merchandise could be carried from lake erie to quebec at less cost than from buffalo by the erie canal to new york. but in spite of these facts, trade on the erie canal increased largely and steadily, while the trade on the canadian water routes increased but slowly. the principal reason for the apparent disregard of the economic law that trade will follow the superior route was found in the fact that for a large proportion of the traffic the destination was europe, and that the charges to the out-ports of new york and quebec were only a part of the total charge to which the traffic were subject. if, for any reason, the conveyance across the atlantic from new york to europe was so much cheaper than the conveyance from quebec, that the total charge from lake erie to europe was lower by way of new york than by way of quebec, then it is obvious that the trade would not be attracted to the route which seemed to be naturally the superior one. this was the case at that time. owing to the large subsidies given by the british government to the steamers sailing to and from new york, vessels running to and from quebec could not compete with those from the rival port. the assistance to the cunard line, therefore, which the british government desired canada to give in part, was a positive detriment to the development of the transport business of upper and lower canada. the question of establishing a steamship line from a st. lawrence port had engaged the attention of the legislature of the united provinces as early as . in that year a resolution was offered to the house of assembly, setting forth the advantages of the canadian route, and the fact that these advantages were offset by the aid given by the british government to the cunard and collins lines (the latter was owned by an american company), and asking that the british government be approached with a request that they grant assistance to a canadian line similar to that given to the lines running in and out of new york.[ ] a committee of the assembly took the subject into consideration, and in the following year a contract was made with a british firm,[ ] which was shortly afterwards converted into the canadian steam navigation company, for a service from liverpool to quebec and montreal during the season of open navigation in the st. lawrence, and to portland, maine, during the five months when the river route was not practicable. the trips were to be fortnightly to the canadian ports and monthly to portland; and the steamers to be employed were to be of at least tons burthen. twenty-four thousand pounds a year were to be paid to the company by way of subsidy--£ , by the government of canada, £ by the atlantic and st. lawrence railway (later a section of the grand trunk railway) and £ by the city of portland. trips were made during the winter of , and throughout the summer of , but there was so general a disregard of the terms of the contract, that it was terminated, and a contract was made with hugh allan in september .[ ] the new contractor entered upon his engagement with laudable energy; and at the end of the first season the postmaster general of canada was able to make a comparison between the canadian service and that to the port of new york.[ ] on the westbound voyages the canadian steamers were practically a day slower than the cunard steamers--the allan steamers taking twelve days, twenty and a half hours, to eleven days and twenty-two hours occupied by vessels of the cunard line. the canadian steamers were also slower than the collins line on these trips by four hours. but on the voyage to great britain, the canadian line made the speediest trips of the three. these steamers took but eleven days two hours, while the cunard steamers were eleven hours and the collins thirty hours longer in reaching liverpool. it was with the successful inauguration of the canadian service that the friction with the british government began. there developed immediately a clash of interests. the first note of dissatisfaction came from great britain. the postmaster general communicated to the colonial secretary[ ] the information that the earnings of the packet service were much reduced by the fact that the canadian post office was sending its correspondence by the first steamer that sailed whether it was british or american, and not confining its despatches to the steamers of the cunard line. to the british post office, the canadian line was an american line, and in spite of all protests and remonstrances, it insisted on treating the allan line steamers as foreign. ordinarily there would be no practical consequence of this wilful misunderstanding, but as letters conveyed by the cunard line were charged eightpence the half ounce, while those carried by the american lines were made to pay fourteen pence, the hostility to the canadian enterprise was marked. the postmaster general did not stop at this point, and leave the public on both sides of the atlantic to consult their own interests as to whether they would send their letters by the canadian or british subsidized lines. taking up the case of interests adversely affected by the discriminatory rates, he pointed out that, as many unpaid letters were sent by the american lines, recipients of these letters had to pay sixpence more than if the letters were sent by the cunard line. that the remedy lay in the hands of the postmaster general, of reducing the rates on letters carried by the canadian (or american line as he persisted in calling the allan line) was not to the point. he called upon the colonial secretary, if the secretary concurred in his views, to remonstrate with the canadian government as to the course it has chosen without reference to the home government. these views do not seem to have been communicated to canada. but shortly afterwards the british government submitted for the consideration of the canadian government, the australian scheme for a postal service to practically all the self-governing colonies of this period. the postmaster general of canada had doubts as to the applicability of the australian arrangement to the canadian service.[ ] he presumed the proposition was limited to the cunard line, and would not be extended to the equally british line running directly from canadian ports to liverpool. special interests, similar to those which had induced the british government to subsidize the cunard line, had led the canadian government to extend assistance to the allan line, and it seemed scarcely expedient for the canadian government to lend aid to the british government in the maintenance of the cunard line in the absence of any evidence of intention on the part of the british government to reciprocate with regard to the canadian line. it was further observed by the postmaster general of canada that even if the canadian government should concede the equity of the british proposition it would be impossible to determine satisfactorily the proportion of the cost which should be borne by the north american provinces, since much the larger part of the mails carried by the cunard line was exchanged between great britain and the united states. the position taken by the canadian government gave rise to great irritation in great britain. fortunately the expression of this feeling was not communicated to the canadian government until some years later, when the question, though by no means settled, had passed out of the irritation and friction phase. it is fortunate, also, that the intermediaries between the two governments were men of good sense, with an appreciative understanding of the view of the colonial government. the duke of argyle, postmaster general, in the palmerston government of - , declared that the measures taken by the canadian government afforded no relief whatever to the british government. they had, indeed, withdrawn from the british government part of the postage it was entitled to expect when it embarked on the cunard contract. if on the expiration of the contract existing, which had still five or six years to run, the canadian government should undertake to perform half of the effective service, it might fairly claim exemption from all share in the other half of the service, and furthermore might claim a right to apply the amount received by way of sea postage, towards defraying the cost of the canadian packets. but, argyle affirmed, the british government could hardly admit the propriety of a demand made upon it for assistance to a line of steamers, which was established by the colony--a line which had no other effect than to diminish the postal revenue upon which the british government relied to meet the outlay occasioned by the contract with the cunard company. labouchere, the colonial secretary, to whom the duke's views were communicated, declined to submit them in their existing shape to the colonial government. if the british government had been in no way parties to the agreement made by the canadian government with allan, the canadian government were equally unconsulted when the british government entered into the contract with the cunard company; and labouchere pointed out that the british government were without the means of enforcing its views on the canadian government. if the postmaster general or the treasury, which coincided in his views, were of a different opinion, labouchere desired to know what steps they proposed to take in the highly probable case that the province declined the responsibility it was sought to impose upon it. on the whole, the colonial secretary thought the preferable course would be to allow the present arrangements to subsist until the cunard contract had expired, and then enter upon negotiations with the canadian government for sharing with it upon equitable terms in the general expense of the transatlantic service. the correspondence between the departments of government in london--the tenor of which has been described--was submitted, confidentially, to the governor general of canada for his opinion on the th of july, . sir edmund walker head replied, confidentially, to labouchere, and set out canada's position with gratifying clearness. a canadian, he observed, looked at the circumstances from a point of view rather different from that in which they had presented themselves to the postmaster general at st. martins-le-grand. the canadian asked: "why are we canadians obliged to pay a subsidy at all for a line of steamers running into the st. lawrence to a british port, by a route which we hold to be the most advantageous route? the merits of the route itself might make our bounty unnecessary, were it not that her majesty's government gives a large bounty to a line running into foreign ports." "it might be admitted," continued the governor general, "that canada was benefited by the rapid transmission of mails through the united states; but she was no party to an arrangement as one that could never be revoked. canada, then, thought that she could arrange for the conveyance of her own mails to and fro by way of quebec in summer and portland in winter, more rapidly and advantageously than by boston and new york. why should her majesty's government discourage this new enterprise on behalf of her majesty's subjects and by a large subsidy drive the business to the united states ports? "canadians entertained the hope," the governor general further observed, "that no course would be pursued by the british government adverse to the principles of free trade, by the continuance of a large bounty to the boston and new york lines. leave the natural resources of the canadian route to find their own level, and in the meantime do not use all the influence of the british post office so as to bear as hardly as possible on the first effort of the colony to open the st. lawrence to a regular line of british steamers." head disclaimed the idea of giving these arguments as his own, but stated that, they expressed the opinion of many canadians, among whom were some of the members of his council. in december, labouchere informed the governor general that his view had prevailed, and that it was decided to leave the matter as it stood, until the cunard contract expired, when it was hoped that an arrangement might be made more in conformity with what was regarded as an equitable consideration for the finances of the united kingdom. the lack of cordiality displayed by the government of the mother country towards the ocean transport enterprise of her colony in its initial stages yielded to no warmer feeling with the progress of the scheme. the allan service was performed during and , as the postmaster general stated, with meritorious punctuality.[ ] in the beginning of the quebec-portland service attracted the attention of the british post office, which intimated a desire to utilize it for the conveyance of mails between great britain and the united states during the period of the year when the allan steamers made portland their port of arrival and departure.[ ] sidney smith, the postmaster general of canada, was of the opinion that the canadian line would be found the preferable one during all seasons, particularly for those parts of the united states bordering on the great lakes, as they were brought into direct connection with the ocean at quebec by means of the grand trunk railway. as an additional attraction to use the canadian line, smith offered to reduce the charge for sea postage, that is, the portion of the total postage between great britain and north america, which was allocated to the ocean conveyance, from eightpence to fourpence a letter. this would enable the public on both sides of the atlantic to send their letters for eightpence instead of twelvepence. on consideration of this proposition by the governments of great britain and the united states, it was found open to the objection that the postage of letters carried by the cunard line must remain at one shilling, owing to the sea postage claimed by the british government on letters carried by that line. until arrangements could be made between the british government and that of the united states by which the charge on letters passing between the two countries by the cunard line could be reduced from one shilling to eightpence, it was deemed inadmissible to accept the canadian proposition. that seemed a reasonable decision, and it would have been supposed that until the canadian proposition could be accepted the amount of sea postage paid for the cunard service would be applied to the canadian service. the british post office took no such view. it maintained that the canadian post office was entitled to no more than the rate which it offered to accept, viz., fourpence, and as this rate added to the land postage in great britain and the united states, would only call for an eightpenny postage, it proposed that the difference between the eightpence and the shilling, which the public were actually charged, should be divided equally between the post offices of great britain, the united states and canada. smith protested that his proposition was part of the scheme to reduce the postage from a shilling to eightpence sea postage, and that until the reduction of the postage between canada and great britain to eightpence was affected, the canadian government were entitled to eightpence sea postage as much as the british government were for the letters carried by the cunards. alexander tulloch galt, inspector general of canada, who was in london at the time, laid the whole case before the colonial secretary, pointing out that the attitude of great britain, in attempting to make the united states a party to the scheme to force canada to take one-half the amount for sea postage that was claimed by and conceded to the united states and great britain in respect to their subsidized lines, was the more objectionable, as there was no reason for believing that the united states had attached any such stipulation to their consent to use the canadian line. galt's remonstrance had the effect of inducing the british government to withdraw from its untenable position in this instance. in the course of his communication galt mentioned the disappointment with which it was learned in canada that the cunard contract, which would not have expired until january, , had been renewed in june . this action on the part of the british government, galt insisted, did not seem consistent with the assurance given by the colonial secretary to the governor general in december , when he wrote that the lords of the treasury had apprised him "that the existing arrangements with respect to the canadian mail service will continue until the expiration of the cunard contract, when they hope arrangements may be affected more in conformity with what they would regard as an equitable consideration for the finances of this country." the canadian legislature on the first opportunity, voted an address to the queen, expostulating strongly against the course of proceedings so injurious to the interests of canada. the action of the british government in prolonging the arrangements with the cunards was set in a strong light by a review of several circumstances connected with it.[ ] the application of the cunard company, for an extension of their contract, was made in october , only nine months after the discussion with the canadian government. it was referred by the treasury to the admiralty and to the postmaster general. the treasury recommended that it be granted, while the postmaster general deprecated an extension, for reasons not connected with the canadian representations. on march , the treasury decided that it was premature to discuss either an extension or a renewal of the contract, though they expressed their readiness to consider favourably, any application that cunard might make when the contract had advanced nearer to its termination. on the th of the same month, cunard made another application on the same general grounds; and this time the treasury, without further light on the subject, yielded, and directed the extension, requesting the postmaster general to communicate his views as to any modifications that might be introduced into the contract, without materially affecting the basis of the existing agreement. the postmaster general, in reply, pointed out that the rate of payment made to cunard was considerably higher than that for any other packet service, also that he had before him another offer for the conveyance of the transatlantic mails for an amount much less than was paid to cunard. the new offer was from inman, agent for the liverpool, new york and philadelphia line, whose vessels made their voyages at a speed not much inferior to cunard's, and who agreed to convey the mails for the amount of the sea postage. the offer had been received on the st of march, nineteen days before the application of cunard; and as the postmaster general had had occasion to correspond with the postmaster general of the united states respecting inman's offer, he had not thought it necessary to communicate this proposal to the treasury, nor did the treasury consider that their duty required them to make any further investigation before awarding the contract for £ , a year. these facts are taken from the report of a select committee appointed by the house of commons in , to inquire into the manner in which contracts have been made for the conveyance of mails by sea. the committee found that, in the making of these contracts, there was an extraordinary division of duty and consequent responsibility, between several departments of government. the parties by whom these contracts were actually entered into, were the lords of the admiralty, but the authority for making them rested with the treasury, who prescribed their terms and conditions. the treasury before coming to the decisions which they communicated to the admiralty, consulted with the postmaster general, the colonial secretary, and with the admiralty themselves, in reference to the postal, colonial and nautical questions involved. theoretically, the arrangements were scarcely open to criticism. it was proper that the information necessary for a decision, respecting, in the first place, whether a service was required at all, and, in the next place, what the terms and conditions should be, on which the service should be performed, should be concentrated somewhere, and there seemed no place more fitting as a focal point than the lords of the treasury, who were responsible for obtaining and spending the money required for the maintenance of all the services called for by the government. but the fault lay not in the organization. it was to be found in the lack of co-ordination among the contributory departments. several instances are given of the results of the failure of the departments to co-operate with one another. one which has a certain piquancy is the provision for the mail service to australia. it will be remembered that the first jarring note in the relations between great britain and canada concerning mail services arose when canada declined to fall in with the proposition that the british government should arrange for the conveyance of the mails across the atlantic, and that canada should pay its share of the resulting outlay. the colonial secretary submitted, as the model arrangement, one which had been made between the governments of great britain and the australian colonies, under which each government should pay half the cost of the service. the contract was to be arranged for entirely by great britain, and the colonies were assured that such care should be exercised in the arrangements that they could depend on their interests being safeguarded. how the government acquitted itself of the trust it assumed on the behalf of australia, the parliamentary report shall relate. "that contract involved a yearly subsidy of £ , , of which one-half was to be paid by the australian colonies, who had no opportunities of being consulted in the framing of the contract; so that special circumspection was required. the tender accepted was that of a new company without experience, and who had no ships fit for the work. "one of their vessels," continues the report of the committee, "the 'oneida' which was reported against, by the professional officer of the admiralty, and had not the horse power or tonnage required by the contract, broke down on her first voyage. time was not kept, and though the colonies complained, it appears that no steps were taken to ensure the fulfilment of the contract with suitable vessels." "the company," added the report of , "in one year lost their capital, £ , ; the service proved a complete failure, and great risk of an interruption in postal communication was incurred. this contract had been entirely arranged by the then financial secretary, whose acts in these matters do not appear to have received confirmation by any other authority." it is not perhaps surprising, with the australian venture in mind, that an explanation involving the same sort of incompetence on the part of the departments of government should be made regarding the cunard contract. the explanation of the cunard contract was that when the decision of the treasury granting the renewal was made, the then financial secretary, who had only entered office with the change of ministry in the month of march immediately preceding, was not aware of the existence of the correspondence between the home government and that of canada in ; nor, though that correspondence was among the records of the treasury, and the authority on which the colonial secretary had written his despatch of december , , was a minute of the treasury, did the proceedings appear to have been known to any of the officers of the department charged with this branch of the business. the committee observed that they had not received any satisfactory explanation of the circumstance that a matter so recent, and of such importance, should have been lost sight of. but the painful story of the relations between the government of the mother country and that of her north american colony with respect to the ocean transport enterprise set on foot by canada, does not end here. in the autumn of , an irish company known as the lever or galway company, which had a contract with the newfoundland government for a mail service between galway and st. johns, proposed to the british government to establish a service with fortnightly frequency between galway and america. this scheme excited considerable interest, particularly in ireland; and several representations were made to the government, by deputations and by memorials from chambers of commerce, setting forth their sense of the advantages which it would confer on the trade of that country. the publicity given this project brought into the field the two applicants who had been disappointed when the cunard contract had been extended in . inman on october protested against the granting of a subsidy to a new line, and expressed the hope that, if it should be decided to give assistance to a line from galway, the proposed service should be put up to public competition. the treasury replied to inman, informing him that when a new service was about to be established by the government it was their practice to invite tenders by public advertisement, thereby affording to all parties the opportunity of tendering therefor. inman heard no more from the government on the subject before the contract with lever was concluded. the canadian government, also, advanced its claims for consideration. galt wrote to the colonial secretary on november , , and the london agent of the canadian line on january , , submitted an application to the treasury. he pointed out that the effects of this subsidized line would be disastrous to the prospects of his company, and expressed the trust of his principals "that before interfering to crush a provincial company of such magnitude, your lordships will at least afford the company we represent an opportunity of being heard." this appeal was so far successful, that it obtained for the company the honour of an interview at the treasury. they were promised that their representations would be considered; but no further notice was taken of their application. on the same day on which the canadian company's letter was dated, viz., january , the lever company submitted an offer for the conveyance of the mails from galway to portland, boston and new york, calling at newfoundland for £ a voyage. the treasury, following the practice laid down for their guidance, asked the postmaster general for his opinion on the proposal. the postmaster general reported adversely, observing that it was not expedient to enter into any contract for the service, which would bind the government to a heavy annual payment. he was also of the opinion that the vast mercantile traffic between the two countries afforded abundant opportunities to secure additional service that might be desired on favourable terms. here then were three strong reasons to call for the government staying their hands from entering into a contract with lever: the remonstrance of inman, coupled with the intimation from the treasury that in the event of their deciding to establish the service, they would put it to public tender; the expostulation of galt on november , , and the appeal of the canadian company for an opportunity to be heard on january ; and the unfavourable report of the selected adviser of the treasury. yet, in the face of all these circumstances, the treasury on february , authorized a contract to be made for a fortnightly service to galway and new york, and galway and boston, alternately, at the rate of £ a voyage. the parliamentary committee in seeking an explanation for this extraordinary course, examined lord derby, the chancellor of the exchequer, as to the reasons which moved him to authorize this service. derby stated that he was influenced mainly by the consideration of the social and commercial advantages which this service would confer on ireland, and of the preference due to the lever company on account of its enterprize, in first establishing a line of steamers from galway. derby stated, however, that when he authorized the service he had not before him some materials, nor had he in view some considerations, which, the committee believed, should have been held essential elements in the determination of the question. he had no knowledge of the correspondence which had passed between the home government and that of canada, and between the treasury and inman. consequently then, in the words of the committee of the house of commons, derby's decision was given "in ignorance of the strong feeling in canada as to the injury done to their interests by the system of subsidizing what they deemed rival lines; of the assurance given in , on which the canadian government relied, as a pledge that they would have an opportunity of being heard before that system was renewed or extended; and of the surprise and dissatisfaction already occasioned by the renewal, without hearing them, of the cunard contract; and in ignorance, also, of the implied pledge given to mr. inman, that the new service would be thrown open to public competition. "it was likewise given," the committee added, "without any consideration of the question, whether, assuming the interests of ireland warranted the establishment of the service from galway, that object might not have been secured by an arrangement which would, at the same time, have provided for the wants, and satisfied the just claims of canada." the round condemnation by a committee of the house of commons, of the course pursued by the government, gave smith, the postmaster general of canada, a handle of which he was not slow to make full use. the report of the committee was laid before the house of commons on may , and on the th of the same month, smith again approached the government on the subject, setting forth the grounds of his appeal to the british government, and concluding by asking that the government should aid the canadian line by a subsidy of £ , a year. he pledged the canadian government to give a like amount for the same purpose. the application was refused, and smith, whose resources seemed endless, approached the subject from another angle.[ ] the contract which was made with the lever company called for a fortnightly service, the consideration being £ a trip, or £ , a year. the lever company was in no position to fulfil the terms of its contract, and smith opened negotiations with the company to take over their contract, stipulating to allow the company £ , of the £ , which the contract would bring, as the consideration for the assignment. an agreement was concluded on these terms, and the deeds were signed on july , . the only condition now was the consent of the british government to the arrangement, which was required by the contract, but which under the circumstances was regarded as purely formal. the terms being laid before the secretary of the treasury and the postmaster general, secured the approval of both those authorities; and on the th of july, the sailing arrangements under the contract were settled between smith and the official in charge of the post office packet service. success seemed now assured, but before the day was over, the situation had undergone an entire change, for the british government had refused its assent to the assignment of the contract. no reason was given for the refusal of the british government to sanction the transfer of the lever contract to the canadian line. smith wrote to the secretary of the treasury for an explanation. he pointed out that the negotiations were made with the assent of lord palmerston and the treasury, that the arrangements had all been made on the secretary's assurance, and that in view of the strong feeling already existing in canada on account of the treatment meted out to canada in regard to its ocean mail service, he would be wanting in respect to the imperial authorities if he accepted the secretary's intimation literally, and in its full significance. the secretary in his reply, gave away the whole case of the government. he admitted that for himself he had never concealed his opinion that the arrangement proposed by the canadian government would have been a desirable one, but insisted that he had not used palmerston's name beyond that. he had ascertained palmerston's views as to the importance of meeting the wishes of canada, sufficiently to warrant him, not in concluding negotiations, but in advancing them to the point where a definite proposal might be made to the government. the ground on which the treasury based refusal of assent to the agreement made between the lever company and the canadian government, was that the contract contemplated the grant of £ , a year for a fortnightly service from galway, in addition to the other ocean services which were then in operation, while the transfer of the lever contract to the allan's would have the effect of merely substituting one contract for another, leaving the service just where it stood before--with an additional charge of £ , a year against the government. there was another consideration and an extraordinary one. the government had suffered severe condemnation at the hands of the committee of the house of commons for their disregard of the pledge given, that, before a contract was awarded it would be put up for public competition. their action in awarding the contract to the lever company without tender was an undeniable injury to the interests of canada, and now this censure was made the cover for another blow at those same interests. the secretary of the treasury observed that the pledge formerly given and unfortunately overlooked had acquired much notoriety and must in any contingency afterwards arising be treated with rigour. "if the galway contract be considered binding," he concluded, "the government cannot be accused of breaking this pledge as long as they simply continue to pay the subsidy for the same services and to the same parties." but the case became different if they sanctioned a new arrangement involving material modifications, particularly when the arrangement transferred the contract to a party of undoubted, from one of questioned, solvency. smith next addressed palmerston, and his letter shows clearly the incomprehensible and provoking course pursued by that statesman. at every step in the negotiations the treasury was consulted, and its approval gained. the solicitor of the galway company was also in frequent communication with the treasury, and he actually altered the form of the deed of transfer upon the suggestion of the secretary. the resolution of the galway company, accepting the proposal of the canadian government, was adopted, and on the same day the treasury was informed of the fact. a week later--on july , --smith and galt, the canadian minister of finance, waited on the secretary of the treasury, who informed them that palmerston was much gratified that the arrangements had been made, and on the strength of these assurances smith executed the assignment of the contract, and provided securities for the purchase money, of all of which palmerston expressed his high approval. the matter was regarded as so far concluded that on july a meeting took place between the canadian representatives and the officials of the treasury and post office, the details of the scheme were reduced to writing, and the secretary of the post office received the approval of a communication to the postmaster general of the united states informing him of the arrangement, and that thereafter the canadian ships would be considered as british and not as united states packets. considering the arrangements as completed, smith and galt decided to return to canada, and on the th they called on palmerston for the purpose of taking their leave, when, to their utter stupefaction, they were informed that the government peremptorily refused to sanction the transfer. the reasons put forward for this unusual action on the part of the government lacked even the merit of plausibility. it was first argued that the lever contract contemplated the grant of £ , a year for a fortnightly service from galway, in addition to all the ocean service which might be existing, while the transfer would have the effect of substituting the galway service for one of the existing services, and thus continuing the charge of £ , a year with a positive diminution of public accommodation. smith had a conclusive reply to this argument. he pointed out that at the time the galway contract was entered into, that is on may , , the canadian service was only fortnightly; and the arrangement for which the sanction of the government was sought would have given exactly the accommodation contemplated when the contract was given--a weekly service between ireland and america. as for the modifications in the contract, which formed part of the ground of the government's refusal to sanction it, the first was that "the arrangement transferred the contract to a party of undoubted, from one of questioned, solvency." smith's only comment on this was to complete the sentence by adding "or in other words would ensure its performance efficiently." the only other important modification sought by canada in the terms of the contract was the substitution of canadian for united states terminal ports in america. apart from the slight to canadian interests involved in putting forward such a reason, it must be clear that the cunard line, in which the british government did not conceal its interest, would have been benefited and not injured by the withdrawal of a line running to united states ports. smith concluded his protest by pointing out the distinction which the canadian people could not fail to draw in comparing palmerston's refusal, with that of previous governments. the grants to the cunard and galway lines were stated to have been made in ignorance of the canadian interests, and the inability of the government to remedy these and other evils was deplored. in the case under consideration the british government, smith pointed out, deliberately opposed themselves to that which would have benefited canada, and had determined that the competition of which they complained should be maintained. the protest was quite without avail. the galway company entered on the performance of its contract, but its service was marked with so much irregularity, that the postmaster general was compelled to cancel it. footnotes: [ ] first report of select committee on packet and telegraphic contracts, may (_br. parl. papers_, no. ). [ ] report of p.m.g. of united kingdom, . [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. . [ ] _journals of assembly_, , p. . [ ] report of commissioner of public works, - . [ ] report of p.m.g. to council, december , (_sess. papers_, , no. ). [ ] annual report of p.m.g., . [ ] _br. parl. pap._, , xxii. [ ] _br. parl. pap._, , xxii. [ ] report of p.m.g., . [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. [ ] first report of the select committee on packet and telegraphic contracts may (_br. parl. papers_, no. ). [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. . chapter xviii canadian ocean mail service (_cont._)--series of disasters to allan line steamers. the year was a notable one in the history of transportation in canada. in may, the steamers of the allan line commenced their weekly trips between liverpool and quebec. in november, the completion of the victoria bridge over the st. lawrence carried the lines of the eastern division of the grand trunk into montreal, thus connecting by uninterrupted railway communication the cities of quebec and portland with the metropolis, and establishing a continuous line of railway from the atlantic seaboard to the western boundary of the provinces. in the same month, also, the grand trunk extended its line across the border as far as detroit, bringing, by means of allied systems in the united states, the cities of chicago and new orleans into communication with the eastern states and with europe by the railway system along the shores of the great lakes and the st. lawrence. the system of land transportation between the ports of the atlantic and the cities on the mississippi being thus perfected, and available for the conveyance of mails between europe and the heart of north america by practically continuous conveyance, the postmaster general of canada, sidney smith, proceeded to europe to improve, as far as possible, the communication between the important cities of great britain and the sailing ports of the canadian vessels, and to arrange for the exploitation of this transportation system, in the interests of canada. before leaving for england smith paid a visit to washington, and laid before the postmaster general there the advantages offered by the system under his control. he pointed out that, by the grand trunk railway, the journey between portland and chicago was made in forty-nine hours, and between quebec and chicago in forty-five hours, and, by making cork a port of call for the mails, the voyage between land and land would be several hundred miles shorter than by any other route. smith's proposition was to convey the united states mails to and from europe for the sea postage only, and to allow these mails to be carried across canada without charge on the understanding that the canadian mails to and from great britain should be carried free across the united states territory during the period of winter when the steamers called at portland. the proposition was accepted by the postmaster general of the united states. in london, where he arrived at the end of november, smith submitted his scheme to the postmaster general,[ ] who made the objection that the sailing arrangements interfered with the plans made for the other transatlantic mail steamers. fortunately smith had the support of the postmaster general at washington, who was much impressed with the merits of the canadian scheme, and who, in his annual report expressed the opinion that it would afford the most direct and probably the most expeditious communication between chicago and liverpool. at the instance of the department at washington, the general post office agreed to send by the canadian steamers the correspondence for both the eastern and western states, and also agreed to smith's request for special trains for the mail service from london to cork. this special railway service, with its connecting mail boat service across the irish channel gave the british public a full business day more to prepare their correspondence for the states. the mails had, in ordinary course, to be prepared in london early wednesday morning to catch the outgoing steamer which left liverpool the same evening, but the special train from dublin to cork enabled correspondents to hold over their urgent letters until wednesday evening and send them by the evening mail to ireland, where connection was made on thursday morning with the steamer which had left liverpool on the previous evening. but this was not the only, or perhaps the greatest, of the advantages of the scheme. transatlantic cables were still in the future, but the telegraphic systems on both sides of the atlantic were fully developed, and messages for new york or montreal could be addressed to the steamer, which would deliver them at father point, on its way up the st. lawrence, from there they were sent by telegraph to their destination. one of the leading london papers declared that the plan would save two full days for telegrams, and permit transactions on the stock exchange in london up to thursday afternoon to be communicated to the stock exchanges in the united states on the saturday of the following week, and the action taken in these centres transmitted to london by the canadian steamers leaving quebec the same day. having completed these arrangements in london, smith next addressed himself to the postal administrations of france, belgium and prussia. in the month that had elapsed since the negotiations with london had been concluded, the steamers had crossed the atlantic both ways, and the canadian postmaster general was able to inform the continental administrations that on the first voyage the mails from chicago had reached london in twelve days, and that the conveyance from new orleans, in which france had a special interest, ought to be effected in less than fifteen days. the french government, to whom smith offered the same terms for conveyance by steamer and railway in canada as had been accepted in the united states, immediately closed with smith on these terms, subject to the consent of great britain. in a few days belgium took similar action, while prussia deferred acceptance until the postmaster general of canada could confer with the united states. entirely satisfied with the success of his mission to the continent, smith returned to london to conclude the transaction by obtaining the permission of the british post office to act as intermediary for the payments which would be made by the french and other continental governments to canada for the conveyance of their mails to america. the necessity for having great britain as the intermediary for the settlement of these accounts arose from the following considerations. great britain had open accounts with all these countries. the mails from these countries were carried to the united states by british steamers, for which they became indebted to the british government; while on the other hand mails from great britain for the countries of eastern europe and for india, passed over one or other of these countries through their postal systems, which gave rise to an indebtedness on the part of great britain. under conventions with each of them, settlements were made from time to time. none of this accounting machinery existed between canada and any of these countries. the only country in europe with which canada had an open account was great britain. in consequence of canada's isolation in this respect the only way these countries could settle their debts to canada was by direct payments. this, however, would involve legislation, at least in the case of france, which would have delayed the beginning of the plans for many months. canada, therefore, had but one way open, which was to ask the british post office to receive from france the amounts due by that country to canada, and apply these sums to the account between great britain and canada. the favour to canada appeared slight enough but the british post office refused to grant it. first, it objected that the arrangements would involve a great deal of trouble; and afterwards, when driven from that ground, it took an extraordinary position. the british post office declared that the british mails exchanged with the united states were treated in that office as mails carried by packets under contract with the united states, and that it would be inconvenient and objectionable to treat french mails, carried by the same canadian vessels, as mails conveyed by british packets. it maintained, furthermore, that the postmaster general of the united states, having entered into an agreement with the canadian post office for the transmission of united states mails by the canadian vessels, might very naturally object to any arrangement between the british and french post offices under which the french mails were paid for as mails conveyed by great britain's packets. the pettifogging of disobliging illwill could go no further. in no single respect did the service rendered to the united states by the british government, in conveying the mails of that country to great britain, differ from the services rendered to the united states by the canadian government in the conveyance of the united states mails to great britain by the steamers of the canadian line. both were paid by the united states for the service, and the fact that the british took pay from the united states no more rendered the cunard an american line, than a similar fact regarding the canadian government made the canadian an american line. smith, in dwelling upon this point, affected to discover that the ground of the british official objection, was that the cunard company received a subsidy from the british government, while the canadian company did not. if this were indeed the difficulty at which the british office stumbled, and the canadian line could be made british by granting a subsidy for its maintenance, it was important that it should have impressed upon it this distinctive mark of british nationality. but these arguments fell upon deaf ears. the french office tried to make the british officials see reason, but their success was no better. the situation became one of real difficulty. the french could have invoked the assistance of the united states and asked that country to act as intermediary in the settlement of the account between france and canada, but there would have been much delay, as the united states would almost certainly seek an explanation of the attitude of great britain toward her colony, and that would not have been easy to give. the british post office, however, suggested a way out of the difficulty. taking its stand on the ground that the canadian steamers were part of the united states packet service, the british post office held that the proper course for france was to arrange the matter of payment with the united states post office. but as the negotiations between the united states and france might delay the start of the service, the british expressed its willingness as a temporary measure to take from the french government the sums due to canada, and pay them over to whom? to the canadian government to whom alone they belonged? not at all. it would pay these sums to the postmaster general of the united states. smith, the postmaster general of canada, contended no further. he thanked the postmaster general of england for his consideration, and addressed himself to the director of the french posts, and to the postmaster general in washington. but the director was completely puzzled, and sought an explanation of the british post office. disclaiming the right to interfere in any agreement between the british and canadian offices, he declared himself unable to understand why this payment should be made to the united states, or how it could possibly happen that the united states should have any right to claim any sea rate. he set out all the facts of the case, and after looking them over carefully, he repeated that he did not understand why the amount paid by the french government to the british office for conveyance under the british flag by canadian packets should be paid over to the united states office.[ ] by the middle of february , smith was back in the united states, and at washington. within a day he concluded arrangements by which, among the other matters, the united states post office agreed to accept the sums due to canada by france and the other continental countries. provision was also made for the exceptional handling of correspondence for new orleans and other southern cities by the officials of the canadian service. the matter of accounting having been arranged on this basis the canadian line began to be employed extensively on both sides of the atlantic. two changes were made in , which augmented its efficiency. as it was found that cork was out of the way of steamers from quebec to liverpool, in may, londonderry, at the north of ireland was substituted as the last port of call. this change had the additional advantage that it enabled the steamers to take a later mail from scotland, and it avoided the rivalry with the cunard and inman lines, which made cork their port of call in ireland. the other amelioration in this arrangement was the taking on and the disembarkation of mails at riviere du loup, a point on the st. lawrence one hundred and twenty miles below quebec. the extension of the grand trunk railway to this point shortened the sea-voyage by some hours, as the stretch of water between quebec and riviere du loup present difficulties, and not infrequently dangers, which prevent rapid travel. with the arrangements thus complete, the st. lawrence route was much superior to any other as far as the canadian mails were concerned. in , four-fifths of the mail carried between canada and britain were carried by the canadian steamers, the remainder being taken by the cunards. in order to participate in the exchange between great britain and the united states, it was necessary to make its arrangements conform with the arrangements made by those countries. under this scheme, the week was divided into two parts, great britain providing for the total conveyance for one of the parts and the united states the other. thus the united states took upon itself the accumulated mails for the first three days of the week from england, and the cunard steamers, which left england on saturday, took those of the last part. there was an american steamer which sailed from southampton on wednesday, which took all the mails for the united states that could be gathered at that point until the time of its departure, and the canadian steamer, which was adopted by the american post office, took those which could be gathered at liverpool for the sailing from that point on thursday and at londonderry on the following day. the canadian steamers offered great advantages to northern england and to ireland and scotland. in the conveyance from this side of the atlantic, the arrangements were reversed, the british steamers sailing from new york on wednesday, and the american later in the week. the allan company were fortunate in securing saturday as their sailing day from quebec, as their steamers were able to take a large american mail as well as nearly all that from canadian offices. most of the foreign correspondence of michigan, wisconsin, iowa, illinois, minnesota and indiana were carried by the canadian route, while, during the winter months, half the mail from new england and a large volume from new york were despatched by this line. by the arrangements with the post offices of france, belgium and prussia, a considerable quantity of mails were exchanged by this line between the united states and nearly every country in europe. the achievement of the canadian steamship line, in the face of unusual difficulties, was a matter of pride to the people of canada, and the postmaster general, who had exhibited noteworthy energy in exploiting the possibilities of the service, dwelt with much satisfaction, in his several reports to the legislature, on the measure of success attained in competition with the lines running to the ports of the united states. but these successes were bought at a heavy price. in the weekly race across the atlantic, much was sacrificed to speed. risks were taken which, with the imperfect knowledge then existing of the sailing route, could lead to but one result. vessel after vessel was lost under circumstances that excited a growing horror and resentment among all classes of the people. during the seven years between june , , and february , , no less than eight of the finest vessels in the service went down, carrying with them many hundreds of human beings. the first mishap took place within six months of the commencement of the service by the allan line. in november , the "canadian," in her course up the st. lawrence, ran ashore, owing to either the negligence or the ignorance of the pilot. she was got off without injury. but the "canadian" was less fortunate in june , when, from the same cause, she again ran ashore. this time it was impossible to free her, and she had to be abandoned, a total loss. the year passed without trouble of any kind, and as the voyages were increased from fortnightly to weekly, confidence was high that the superiority of the canadian line was to be demonstrated, and the supremacy of the atlantic wrested from the cunards. but with the inauguration of the weekly service, and of the declared competition with the steamers sailing in and out of new york, a series of disasters commenced, which threw a shadow over the whole enterprise. in the five years following the establishment of weekly service, the canadian line lost more first class vessels than all the other companies engaged in transatlantic conveyance, and during the same period, as if to remove any doubt as to the locality to which these disasters were attributed, every vessel lost went down on this side of the atlantic.[ ] in the winter of , two of the finest vessels of the line were lost, and with them a great number of lives. the winter route of the allan steamers between liverpool and portland ran westward from ireland to cape race, the south-eastern extremity of newfoundland, thence to the waters between sable island and nova scotia, the coast of which the steamers skirted for its whole length. after getting clear of cape sable, the southerly point of nova scotia, vessels had a deep water passage for the rest of the voyage. the nova scotia coast was a source of much anxiety to navigators. the "columbia," the only vessel of the cunard line which was lost until this time, was wrecked on this coast, as were also the "humboldt" of the american line and the "city of manchester" of the inman line. it was on this coast also that the two allan ships were wrecked. on the th of november, the "indian," on her way out from liverpool, ran ashore on the "deal ledges" near the fishing hamlet of marie joseph. parting amidships, some sixty of her passengers were lost. it was made clear that the captain had taken every precaution after leaving cape race, but he had been misled by defective charts. three months later, on the th of february, , the "hungarian" went down among the rocks off cape sable, and not a soul on board was saved. this steamer was the pride of the fleet. she was a new vessel, and had a record of three consecutive passages in twenty-seven days and twenty-three hours. the facts disclosed by the investigation were few. but it did transpire that the captain was noted for a certain dash rather than for seamanly prudence. it was said that by his skill in shaving sharp corners and scudding over shoals, and by his recklessness in keeping up a head of steam, he had converted the slowest of the canadian steamers into the fastest. news of the disaster to the "hungarian" soon reached montreal. it was melancholy news for the city, and public grief was soon followed by popular anger with the allan company and with the postmaster general. smith was denounced by the legislature as _particeps criminis_ in the destruction of the lives which had been lost on the "hungarian." a parliamentary investigation was ordered into the circumstances, and the report[ ] of the committee is instructive in the information it gives on the coast lights, and on the problems, which the substitution of iron for wood in the construction of steam vessels raised for those dealing with questions of navigation. neither sable island nor cape sable, on the winter route, were provided with lighthouses; and the lower st. lawrence was most inadequately furnished with the indispensable guides for sailing by night. from forteau bay on the straits of belle isle, a vessel ran four hundred and fifty miles before it passed a lighthouse, and it then entered a stretch of one hundred and twenty miles which it was obliged to make without the assistance of lights. on the comparative merits of iron and wooden vessels, expert opinion was unanimous in favour of wooden vessels. it was considered that, in the event of a vessel being wrecked or stranded, there was less liability of loss of life in the wooden vessel. there was also the effect of the material of which the vessels were built on the working of the compass. in iron vessels, the compasses were a source of great and continued anxiety. before the vessels proceeded to sea, the local attraction from the ship was neutralized by magnets and, thus adjusted, the compasses acted with tolerable accuracy while the vessel was at sea and beyond the influence of land attraction. but when approaching the land the compasses were not to be depended upon. there was, it was asserted, an attraction from the land, but whether the mass of iron in the vessel was first acted upon by the land attraction, was a problem of which the existing state of science did not afford a solution. the cunard line at this time-- --consisted of ten vessels. only two were of iron; and it was noted that the irregular action of the compass on the iron vessel "persia," after it left cape race, led the vessel into danger which was only averted by unusual care with the soundings. the committee of the legislature concluded by expressing a fear that, until new light had been thrown on the susceptibilities and workings of the mysterious magnetic forces, it might be necessary to abandon the construction of iron vessels. misfortune continued to dog the course of the canadian steamers. in two more vessels were lost--both on the st. lawrence route. the "canadian," the second of the name, launched in , set out from quebec for liverpool on the st of june. reaching the straits of belle isle two days later she encountered a heavy gale and great masses of ice. about eight miles from cape bauld, the northernmost point of newfoundland, the vessel was struck by a sunken floe, which tore a hole in her side under the water-line, and she sank in two hours. twenty-nine of the passengers and crew were drowned, including james panton, the mail officer, who neglected the means of safety in his endeavours to save the mail. the only criticism made by the board of trade court was that the straits route being a perilous one except at the height of the season, the sailing instructions which gave masters a discretion of taking this route after the th of may ought to be amended by fixing the earliest date at a month later. at the end of the season--on the th of november--the "north briton" ran ashore in an attempt to make the passage between the island of anticosti and the mingan islands. the circumstances that the vessel entered the passage an hour after midnight, with a heavy sea running, were noted by the marine court. but they confined themselves to a censure on the captain for some lack of vigilance, not considering it necessary to deprive him of his certificate. again there was a burst of public indignation, and a demand that the government should dissociate themselves from the contract. the postmaster general pleaded that such action would, in the eyes of the foreign governments, be tantamount to a confession that canadians had lost faith in their route. he assured the legislature that he was bringing effective pressure on the allan company to compel them to perform their contract satisfactorily. the complete immunity from accident during seemed to indicate that the measures forced upon the company by the postmaster general were successful. but the faith of the canadian in the superior advantages of their route was soon to be put to further trials. between the th of april, , and the nd of february, --a scant ten months--three vessels of the line were lost. the first of these, the "anglo-saxon," which crashed into the rocky coast of newfoundland, a few miles above cape race, gave some point to the observations of the commission as to the disturbing influences operating upon the compasses of vessels as they approached land. the "anglo-saxon" left liverpool on the th of april, and for the first nine days made an uneventful voyage. a clear, bright day on the th gave the captain an opportunity to make observations, and ascertain the ship's position; and as the weather was steady, he was able to run under full steam and sail. next morning it was foggy; and john young--a former commissioner of public works, and one of the chief advocates of the canadian ocean service--asked the captain if it was his intention to make cape race. the captain said it was not, as by noon they would be twenty miles south of the cape. about eleven o'clock young's attention was directed to what appeared to be a huge iceberg close at hand. he ran towards the deck, but before he could reach it the ship struck, and he found himself facing a precipitous mass of rock so lofty that in the fog he could not see the top of it. instead of being sixteen or seventeen miles south of cape race, the vessel was four miles above it. though they were so close to land that many passengers saved themselves by creeping along the mast to the shore, passengers were drowned, including the captain, whose faulty seamanship had brought about the calamity. this shore is the most dangerous on the north atlantic. besides the magnetic influences, there is an underplay of powerful currents, which makes navigation in these waters difficult and dangerous. the newfoundland government published a list in showing that seventy-seven vessels, great and small, had been lost on the cape or within a few miles to the north or west of it. not quite two months later than the disaster of april , , while excitement in canada was still running high, the public were dumbfounded by the news of another disaster. the "norwegian," a vessel built only two years, left liverpool on the th of june. on the th she entered a dense fog which continued at short intervals until the th. at noon that day the fog lifted and the steamer put on full steam. at two o'clock in the morning land was sighted, which the captain took to be newfoundland. the ship's course was altered in accordance with that view, and although the fog fell densely, speed was not reduced. at seven o'clock there was a cry of breakers, and before the steamer could be checked or turned, she struck heavily upon the rocks of st. paul's island, a point in the gulf of st. lawrence, a few miles north of cape breton. the ship's position was so dangerous that the passengers were landed on the island. afterwards the cargo and mails were secured. the public were bewildered by the accumulation of disasters. the captain of the "norwegian" was especially known as a careful and skilful navigator, and there was a persistent and vigorously expressed demand on the allan company for an explanation. to their plea of the danger of the route, the answer was that the "hungarian," "indian," and "anglo-saxon" were wrecked on a route over which the cunard steamers had been passing in safety for years. iron vessels accordingly came in for condemnation. except two, all the cunard steamers were of wood, and these iron vessels were run only between liverpool and new york, over a route all the way on the broad ocean. the wreck of the "african" of the cunard line on the coast of newfoundland, which took place about this time, under circumstances similar to those attending the loss of the "anglo-saxon," showed, it was claimed, the superiority of the wooden vessels, when overtaken by accident. she was pierced in several places, but was not smashed as an iron hull would have been. consequently, when the vessel got free of the rocks it was able to reach st. johns where it put in for repairs. the remainder of the summer of passed without incident, and a considerable part of the winter, when on the nd of february, , the "bohemian" in her passage to portland, struck on alden's rock, close to her destination, and overturned, sinking within an hour and a half. the passengers and crew numbered persons, and of these forty-three were drowned by the capsizing of one of the lifeboats. the court of inquiry attributed the catastrophe to the neglect of the captain to take the ordinary precautions, when confronted with a perilous situation, and he was deprived of his certificate for twelve months. during the period between the wreck of the "canadian" the first, in , and the sinking of the "bohemian" in , there were thirteen vessels lost, of all lines engaged in the transatlantic trade, and of these eight were of the canadian line. the canadian government and the allan company were subjected to a pitiless condemnation; and, with a change of administration in , the new government lost no time in taking steps to end the contract. oliver mowat, the new postmaster general, on the th of august, , presented a report to the executive council recounting the attempts of the canadian government to establish a canadian line of steamers from , when the first contract was made with the liverpool firm of mackeen, mclarty and company. the contract with this firm called for a fortnightly service in summer and monthly in winter, with screw steamers of not less than tons, the subsidy from which was to be £ , a year. in consequence of the default of the contractors, a new contract was made with hugh allan. the frequency of the service, and the amount of the subsidy remained unchanged, but allan engaged to employ vessels of tons, instead of . on the th of october, , a new contract was entered into with allan for weekly service to commence on the st of may, . the size of the vessels required was again increased, and the new steamers had to be built to tons. the subsidy was to be £ , . by , three vessels had been lost, and allan, having found that the loss in carrying on the weekly service was far beyond his calculations, notified the government of his intention to terminate. the government, believing that it was essential to hold public confidence in the route, and that this could be best done by enabling the contractor to provide larger and more powerful vessels to replace those which had been lost, determined to offer a much larger subsidy, and to stipulate for vessels of tons. a new contract embodying these conditions was made, and the compensation was fixed at £ , . in brief this was the situation when mowat became postmaster general, though there had been negotiations between smith and the allan company for a reduction of the subsidy. with the sanction of the government, mowat cancelled the contract on april , , and began negotiations for a new contract. mowat perceived that, unless there was to be a lapse in the service on the st of april, he must make his arrangements with allan, since there was no other vessel owner in a position to take up the service on the termination of the contract. mowat was the less reluctant to renew an engagement with allan, as he recognized the courage, energy and perseverance of the latter, and was convinced that allan's experience would give him a great advantage over any other contractor. the new contract contained provisions which were a confession that the government had been far from blameless for the losses of the several vessels of the allan line. the mail steamers were expressly forbidden to approach cape race when the weather was so foggy or tempestuous as to make it dangerous to do so; when the presence of fog or ice should render it perilous to run at full speed the captain was to be impressed with the duty of slackening speed or of stopping the vessel as the occasion dictated, and the time so lost was to be allowed to the contractor in addition to the time specified for the length of the voyage. other precautions were taken by the contractor. the first vessel lost--the "canadian" in june --was cast on shore by the incompetency of the pilot, and the contractor made it his business to secure the best pilots, instead of taking the first that presented himself, as the practice had been. another vessel was wrecked on a dangerous shore of the island of anticosti. this channel was thereafter abandoned by the vessels of the line. as a consequence of these provisions and precautions, aided, doubtless, by greater care on the part of the sailing masters, accidents to the vessels ceased altogether. during the twenty-five years that ensued there was but one vessel lost. the outstanding feature of the whole business was the dogged resolution of allan to justify his faith in the possibility of the canadian route, and in his ultimate success he rendered an incalculable service to canada. footnotes: [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. , contain all the papers bearing on the continental negotiations narrated. [ ] a lengthy review of the papers included in the _sess. papers_, no. , of , appears in the _toronto leader_, the leading government organ of march , . the writer notes that "lord elgin and rowland hill seem to have been firmly convinced, in their own minds, that a canadian steamer is an american steamer," and observes that "the english officials shifted the grounds of their objections several times, till finally, as rheumatism is said to do after shifting from one part of the body to the other, they vanished altogether before the force of mr. smith's arguments, till nothing but naked obstinacy remained." [ ] p.m.g.'s report to council, december , (_sess. papers_, canada, , no. ). [ ] _journals of assembly_, canada, , app. . chapter xix postal service of manitoba, the north-west provinces and british columbia--summary of progress since confederation. when sir adams archibald, the first lieutenant governor of the newly-formed province of manitoba, reached winnipeg in the summer of for the purpose of taking over his government, he made a survey of the administrative system which he found there. the postal arrangements were very simple.[ ] there were but four post offices in the province, and three mail routes. the principal route, that upon which the settlement depended for its communication with the outer world, ran down the red river from pembina, on the border, to winnipeg. the second followed the river down as far as st. andrew's; and the third connected the town of portage la prairie with winnipeg, by a weekly-courier service along the assiniboine river. the mails on the other two routes were carried twice each week. the carriage of the mails between pembina and winnipeg was originally a private enterprise, but was afterwards assumed by the government of assiniboia. there was a postage charge of one penny on all letters and of one-halfpenny on all newspapers, passing in and out of the territory, in addition to the postage due for conveyance between pembina and the place of origin or destination. the system in the settlement was not recognized by the united states government, and letters were not considered as regularly posted until they were deposited in pembina post office. consequently the only postage stamps were those of the united states, which were sold in the post offices of the settlement. the letters and newspapers passing between winnipeg and pembina during the month of august were counted, and it was found that within that period, there were letters and newspapers sent from winnipeg to pembina, and letters and newspapers passed into the settlement. the opportunity afforded by the extension of the united states postal service into the northern parts of minnesota was a great boon to the inhabitants of the isolated settlement. until that time, the only communication between the red river and the world outside was by means of the semi-annual packets, by which the hudson's bay company maintained its communication with its posts, which were scattered over its vast territories.[ ] once in each year a vessel sailed from the thames for york factory on the western shore of hudson's bay bringing the goods used for barter with the indians, and carrying back to london the peltries which were the produce of the previous year's trade. to meet this vessel, a brigade of dog-sleighs set out from fort garry about december , when, the ice having formed and the snow fallen, travelling was easy. the first stopping place was at norway house, at the northern end of lake winnipeg. the distance, about miles, was travelled in eight days. here the contents of the packet were separated, one portion being detained for the posts in the west, and the other for york factory. the couriers with the mails from the ship in hudson's bay connected at norway house with those from red river, and after mails had been exchanged, each returned to his point of departure. the mail from england reached fort garry in february. the other means of communication was by the packet which was despatched overland in the winter to montreal. the courier returned to the settlement in the spring, travelling by canoes from lachine up the ottawa river and along the mattawin to lake nipissing, thence down the french river to georgian bay. crossing the bay and lakes huron and superior, the travellers entered the kaministiquia at fort william, and passing by alternate water stretches and portages into the winnipeg river, they made their way by canoe to lake winnipeg, and landed at the outlet of the red river, eighteen miles north of fort garry. this journey occupied about six weeks. the extent of the isolation of the settlement during the early period is thus vividly described:--[ ] "thus matters went on during the first forty years of our existence as a settlement. we were kept in blissful ignorance of all that transpired abroad until about eight months after actual occurrence. our easy-going and self-satisfied gentry received their yearly fyles of newspapers about a twelvemonth after the date of the last publication, and read them with avidity, patiently wading through the whole in a manner which did no violence to chronology. wars were undertaken and completed--protocolling was at an end and peace signed, long before we could hear that a musket had been shouldered or a cannon fired." the hudson's bay packets were placed at the service of the settlers, but not quite without reserve. the company, which employed the packets primarily for the conduct of their business, did not intend that they should be used against their interests. they had a monopoly of the fur-trade, which they proposed to hold, as far as possible, intact. there were a number of traders in the settlement, who bought on their own account, and made use of such means of transport as they were able to discover, to get their furs out of the country. to prevent the operations of these interlopers, the company had recourse to a measure which was vastly unpopular in the settlement. the governor of assiniboia, in a proclamation, dated december , , directed that all letters intended to be despatched by the winter express, must be left at his office on or before the st of january. every letter must bear the writer's name, and if the writer was not one of those who had lodged a declaration against trafficking in furs, he was obliged to deposit the letter open, to be closed at the governor's office.[ ] this obnoxious order remained in force until . this arbitrary measure on the part of the company excited intense feelings among the settlers, and disposed them to hail with satisfaction the approach of the lines of the american postal service towards the company's southern borders. in , when the american government established a post office at fort ripley, a number of the settlers in the red river settlement formed a post office at fort garry, and opened a monthly communication with the post office in minnesota.[ ] at the same time a post office was also opened in the settlement of st. andrews, fourteen miles further down the red river. in , the united states postal service was extended to the company's border, at pembina, and the infant system in the settlement was connected with this office. the relation of dependence, which the red river settlement was beginning to assume towards the united states, attracted attention in canada, and fears were expressed as to the political future of the great hinterland. in , the toronto board of trade addressed a memorial to the government,[ ] pointing out the situation in the north-west, and urged the expediency of establishing a post route and telegraph line between canada and british columbia, over canadian and hudson's bay territory. the government acted upon the suggestion without loss of time. a mail service was opened in the summer of to the red river settlement.[ ] mails were carried twice a month between collingwood and fort william by steamer, and from the latter point to the red river by canoe. when winter closed the water routes, a monthly packet by dog-sleigh carried the mails, the carrier travelling along the north shore of lakes huron and superior. but this effort to establish a direct connection between canada and the north-west was not a success. the difficulties of travel placed this route at a hopeless disadvantage with that through the united states, which gave the people of the settlement a direct communication with but seventy miles of transportation on their part. the service was abandoned after two years, and shortly afterwards the improvements in the service of pembina in the united states system, enabled the settlers on the red river to exchange mails with the outer world twice each week. but the failure of this scheme was merely the prelude to the greater scheme, advocated by the toronto board of trade. the canadian government opened a correspondence with the hudson's bay company on the questions of a post road and telegraph across the continent.[ ] on its part, the government was prepared to adopt any measure which would facilitate travel over the stretch which lay between the settled parts of canada and the hudson's bay territory. appropriations were made for roads through to red river, and it was hoped that free grants of land would induce people to settle along the route. the discovery of gold on the saskatchewan, with the anticipated influx of gold-seekers from the united states made the question one of great urgency. the only access to the territories was through the state of minnesota, and it was feared that the settlement at red river would inevitably imbibe principles inimical to the british interests. unless canada could offer a passage into the territories, equal in accommodation to that afforded by the united states, the territories would in no long time be occupied by foreigners, british rule would virtually have passed away, and the key to the trade to british columbia and ultimately to china surrendered to rivals. dallas, the resident governor of the hudson's bay company, looked at the question from the standpoint of the company's interests. he pointed out that the establishment of a line of communication across the territories of the company would be seriously prejudicial to those interests. the red river and saskatchewan valleys, though not in themselves fur-bearing districts, were the sources from which the main supply of winter food were procured for the northern posts, from the produce of the buffalo hunts. a chain of settlements through these valleys would not only deprive the company of these vital resources, but would indirectly, in other ways, so interfere with their northern trade as to render it no longer worth prosecuting on an extended scale. it would necessarily be diverted into various channels, possibly to the public benefit, but the company could no longer exist on its present footing. the canadian government was far from satisfied with this answer. as they saw it, the question resolved itself into simply this: should these magnificent territories continue to be merely the source of supply for a few hundreds of the employees of a fur-trading company, or be the means of affording new and boundless contributions to civilization and commerce? should they remain closed to the enterprise and industry of millions, in order that a few might monopolize all their treasures and keep them for all time to come, as the habitation of wild beasts and the trappers engaged in their pursuit? the postmaster general in making his report to the council estimated that the cost of a road and water connections with red river would cost £ , , and from that settlement to the passes of the rocky mountains, £ , , and recommended that the canadian parliament should appropriate $ , a year for a number of years for this project. the red river settlement approached the canadian government on the subject, undertaking to build a road to the head of the lake of the woods, if the canadian or british government would construct a practical passage from lake superior to meet this road. the british government, to whom a copy of this memorial was sent by sandford fleming, replied that plans were almost matured for establishing a postal and telegraphic communication with british columbia, and it was expected that with the aid of the two colonies, the scheme would be entered upon at no distant date. an obstacle to the settlement of the plans lay in the indeterminate nature of the claims of the hudson's bay company to the territory over which the means of communication should pass, and the canadian government declined to participate in the project while these claims remained unsettled. they opened correspondence with the british government with the view to determine the questions in dispute, maintaining at the same time the right of canada to take over all that portion of central british america which was in the possession of the french at the period of the session in .[ ] the question of postal communication was as a consequence postponed to the larger question of canada's acquiring these territories, and this was not settled until . in , the hudson's bay company sent dr. john rae, the arctic explorer, to ascertain the practicability of establishing communication by telegraph across the continent. his report was favourable, and the company went so far into the scheme as to send a quantity of telegraph wire into the territory. but as their continued ownership and monopoly of the territory became increasingly uncertain, the company suspended operations, and these were not resumed. in april the governor and council of assiniboia by an ordinance established a postal system in the settlement. james ross was appointed postmaster in the middle section of the settlement, with a salary of £ per annum; and thomas sinclair, postmaster of the lower section, with a salary of £ per annum. a mail was to be carried between the settlement and pembina at the public expense, in connection with the united states mail to pembina. the postal charges between the settlement and pembina were fixed at a penny per half ounce for letters, twopence for each magazine or review, and one-halfpenny for each newspaper. for books, the charges were fivepence for half a pound or under, one shilling for one and a half pounds, and twopence for each additional half pound.[ ] this embryo system was in operation when sir adams archibald arrived in the new province as lieutenant governor. he lost no time in putting the system on as efficient a footing as the circumstances permitted, and in incorporating it into the postal system of the dominion. the postmaster general arranged with the post office department of the united states for the transmission across its territory by way of chicago and st. paul, of mails between windsor, ontario and winnipeg. the postal rates in force in the dominion were applied to the new province; and in november the post offices were provided with canadian postage stamps, to replace those of the united states, which had been used until that time. the means of transportation through the united states was gradually improved, and advantage was taken of these ameliorations to improve the communication of manitoba. in the completion of the railway between the pembina and winnipeg left little to be desired in the facilities enjoyed by the province for the exchange of correspondence. but it was still dependent on the good will of the united states for these facilities. it was not until that the completion of the canadian pacific railway between winnipeg and eastern canada provided a connection across canadian territory. * * * * * the need for a regular postal service in british columbia did not arise until , the year in which the gold discoveries in the mainland brought large numbers of miners to seek their fortunes in that country. the colony of vancouver island had been in the process of settlement by the hudson's bay company since , but the success of the company had been but moderate. the whole population in --scarcely equal to that of a small town--was gathered together in victoria and its environs, and their requirements as regards correspondence were limited to a communication with great britain. the home government gave early attention to the question of providing these means. on august , , the day after the act providing for the government of the new colony had been adopted, the colonial secretary wrote to the treasury, pointing out that the establishment of the new colony, and the large influx of immigrants thereto, made it desirable that some safe and regular communication should be formed between the colony and the kingdom, and asking that the lords commissioners should consider the possibility of such a suggestion.[ ] the treasury consulted the admiralty and the post office. neither department could suggest a scheme which would not involve an outlay much beyond the ideas of the treasury as to the importance of the objects to be attained. the post office proposed sending mails to colon, at the entrance to the panama railway by the steamers of the royal mail packet company, thence to panama by railway. the voyage occupied from sixteen to twenty days and the passage across the isthmus about five hours. the conveyance from panama to victoria offered greater difficulties. the connection between british mail steamers arriving at colon and the united states steamers running from panama to san francisco, was so faulty, that the mails would have to lie at panama as long as two weeks before they were taken forward. the passage to san francisco occupied two weeks, and from this point to victoria from four to five days. the delay at the isthmus was usually avoided by taking the steamer from england to new york, from whence a line of steamers ran to colon in close connection with the pacific steamers from panama. by the latter route the journey from london to victoria was made in about forty-five days. but the important consideration with the treasury was the very considerable cost. the preference of the government was for an all-british conveyance. this could be arranged by having a steamer, subsidized by the government, take the mails from the cunard vessels at either halifax or new york, and carry them to colon, and by providing other vessels under its control to make the conveyance from panama to victoria. the enormous cost of these services precluded the adoption of this scheme, until the colony had grown to an extent that it could bear, at least, part of the cost. it was estimated that the steamer on the atlantic coast would call for an outlay of £ , a year, while the pacific line would cost not less than £ , a year. a solution of the difficulty was found through the good offices of the united states government. there was a service carried on twice a week between st. louis, missouri and san francisco. the route was , miles in length, and it was covered by four-horse coaches with great regularity in twenty-two days. this service, the united states government placed at the disposal of the british post office for the exchange of its correspondence with its distant colony. the mails on their arrival at san francisco were delivered to the british consul, who arranged for their transmission to their destination. at the best, the isolation of the new settlement was extreme. there had been a newspaper in victoria since june . it was published weekly, and for two weeks out of three, its columns were confined to purely local news. the third issue presented the appearance of a modern newspaper. the steamer "eliza anderson" had arrived from olympia, bringing with it the despatches from san francisco, containing news from all parts of the world. how belated the news was may be gathered from a glance over one of the issues. the issue of march contained news from san francisco, not later than february , and from st. louis, the latest date was february . as st. louis was within the eastern telegraph system, the papers from the city contained despatches from all parts of the united states and canada. it was observed that among the items of news was the arrival of the steamer "bohemia" at new york, with the liverpool newspapers of january . so that under ordinary circumstances, news from england was fifty days old before it reached the public in victoria. the construction of a telegraph line to the pacific in the autumn of , and the extension of the lines of the california state telegraphic company to portland, oregon, in , did much to relieve the situation, so far as concerned news important enough to be sent by telegraph to the newspapers in san francisco. but the ordinary news from canada did not reach victoria by telegraph, and the length of the delay in the transmission of news from canada by letter may be seen from the fact that the _british colonist_ of november , , contained a newsletter from canada, dated september --six weeks earlier. governor kennedy in his annual report to the colonial secretary on the state of the colony in observed that "expensive and defective postal and other communications are the great bar to progress, and reflect but little credit on the two great nations--england and america. a _times_ newspaper costs fourpence postage, and that for a book is entirely prohibitory." arrangements of a simple character were made for the conveyance of letters into the sections occupied by the miners. in november , governor douglas reported that the men at the mines--nearly all of whom were on the course of the fraser river--numbered , . he also stated that he had arranged a postal system on a small scale, which provided for the wants of the country, at an expenditure which was fully covered by the receipts. the earliest letter delivery in this region was carried on by the express companies, whose operations were extended from california to british columbia, with the migration of the miners to the newly-discovered gold districts. this mode of delivery is described by a british naval officer, who spent four years in the country, as one of the safest imaginable. he states that "so great is his faith in them that he would trust anything in even that most insecure country (california) in an envelope bearing the stamp of the wells fargo and company's express."[ ] in may the colonial administration arranged with the private expresses for conveyance of letters anywhere within the colonies of british columbia and vancouver island on condition of the prepayment of five cents per letter, as colonial postage.[ ] this rudimentary arrangement was replaced in by a regular departmental postal service with headquarters at new westminster.[ ] the charges on letters and newspapers sent by post were fixed as follows: for every letter to and from british columbia and vancouver island, delivered at victoria or new westminster, threepence per half ounce; on every newspaper posted under the same circumstances, one penny; on every letter from a post office at any one place in the colony to a post office at any other place in the colony, sixpence per half ounce; for a newspaper posted for delivery under the same circumstances, sixpence; on letters from any other place than vancouver island, threepence in addition to the foreign postage. the year following the union of the two governments of british columbia and vancouver island, an ordinance was passed by the government, dated april , , in which a new set of rates were established. on a letter passing between any two post offices in vancouver island or between any of these offices and new westminster or any port in the colony, the rate was five cents; between vancouver island or new westminster on the one side and clinton or savona's ferry, the rate was twelve and a half cents; where letters pass beyond those distances the charge was twenty-five cents. for letters exchanged between any two post offices above yale, hope or douglas, the rate was twelve and a half cents. in each case the unit of weight was an ounce. the charge on newspapers passing between any two post offices in the colony was two cents each. at this period there were eighteen post offices on the mainland and eight on the island. the situation of the post office in british columbia stood thus when the colony became one of the provinces of the dominion. by the act of confederation the postal service was incorporated into the federal system which was administered by the post office department at ottawa. the rates of postage in british columbia were made uniform with the charges in the other provinces, viz., three cents per half ounce for letters, and one cent for newspapers. communication between british columbia and canada east of the rocky mountains was far from satisfactory. until the completion of the canadian pacific railway in , the eastern provinces had to depend entirely upon the united states postal system for the means of communication with british columbia. at the time of the entrance of the province into the confederation, the opportunities for an exchange of correspondence were limited to twice a week. the mails were conveyed from san francisco by railway and stage to olympia, between which point and victoria, semi-weekly trips were made by steamer. there was also a service twice a month, between victoria and san francisco. the maintenance of these connections between san francisco and vancouver island was stipulated for among the conditions of union of british columbia with the dominion of canada. within the province, the mails were carried by the steamer "sir james douglas" along the east coast of vancouver island and comox. the mainland was supplied with mails by a steamer which ran twice a week between vancouver and new westminster. in the interior of the province, the mails were carried by steamer up the fraser river to yale, thence northward to barkerville. the distance between new westminster and barkerville was miles. the service from yale to barkerville was by means of stages, drawn by four or six horses. this service was carried on weekly during summer, and fortnightly during the winter. striking off westward from this route at quesnelle, there was another to omenica, miles, over which the mails were carried monthly.[ ] * * * * * in bringing the narrative to a point where the several provincial systems were incorporated into one system controlled by the post office department at ottawa, i have completed the task i undertook. it remains only to note in a summary manner the progress that was made by the post office from confederation to the great war. [illustration: robert millar coulter. m.d., c.m.g. (_deputy postmaster general since _)] on the formation of the present department, there were post offices in the system. in this number had been increased to , . the expansion of the lines of the service in the four older provinces, though considerable, is not comparable with that in the provinces comprehended in the territories west of the great lakes. in nova scotia, new brunswick, and the better settled parts of quebec and ontario, the characteristic of the increase is the greater frequency of travel on already established roads, and, particularly, the acceleration of correspondence by the introduction of railways into the parts of the provinces. in there were but miles of railway in canada. in the forty-seven years which followed this mileage was augmented to , . the narrow line of settlement in ontario from the quebec boundary to toronto had expanded to a breadth, covering the extent of country from lake ontario to the watershed, dividing the waters flowing south from those running into hudson's bay. but the great expansion has taken place in the provinces on the plains between the great lakes and the rocky mountains--in the new canada beyond the great lakes. on entering confederation, the postal arrangements in this vast territory comprised but six post offices, with a system of mail service of no more than miles. since a system has been created in these western provinces containing in over , miles, of which , miles are of railroad. the number of post offices in this year was . the expansion in british columbia if not equal in magnitude to that in the prairie and grain-growing provinces, keeps full pace with the requirements of that province. there were thirty post offices in the province in when the colony entered confederation. these had increased to in . the system in the earlier period comprised miles. this had increased to over , miles in ; of these were by railroad, and by steam or sailing vessel. the outstanding feature of the interchange of correspondence between the several provinces at the time they entered confederation is the dependence on the postal service of the united states for the means by which it was carried on. as between the old province of canada and the maritime provinces, there was indeed a mail service by coach between truro, sixty miles west of halifax, and riviere du loup, miles east of quebec. but, apart from the fact that the trips were made no more frequently than three times a week, the utter inadequacy of such a mode of conveyance over a route miles in length was obvious to those who could use the railways of the united states for the same purpose. the provinces had been united politically for nine years before the completion of the inter-colonial railway provided the means of direct communication between them. until the usual course for the mails between the maritime provinces and the old province of canada was by railway from st. john, new brunswick to bangor, maine, thence to portland, where connection was made with the grand trunk system. as the western provinces came into the confederation they exhibited in an even more marked degree the dependence on the good will of the united states for communication with the older provinces. the construction of the canadian pacific railway westward around the head of lake superior and the continuance of its course across the plains of the north-west territories, and over the rocky mountains to the pacific ocean, gradually relaxed that dependence. but manitoba had been a province of the dominion for fourteen years before the first train ran over an all-canadian route between that province and ontario, and it was two years later before british columbia was linked up with its sister provinces by this means. during these periods the mails for manitoba were despatched from windsor by way of chicago, st. paul's and pembina, dakota: those for british columbia, by way of san francisco. fortunately, the geographical position of canada with reference to the western and north-western states, enabled the post office of this country to reciprocate, more or less adequately, the services rendered in the maintenance of communication between the several provinces. concurrently with the expansion of the postal system has gone a steady reduction in the postal rates. the charge of five cents per half ounce on letters was lowered to three cents per half ounce in the first session of parliament after confederation. the effect of the reduction on the volume of correspondence exchanged was manifested in the fact that, although the reduction was the very considerable one of forty per cent., the revenue in was greater by $ , than the amount collected three years before. the rate of three cents per half ounce, which was fixed in , remained unchanged for twenty-one years, when the unit of weight was changed from half an ounce to one ounce, the rate becoming in three cents per ounce. the final reduction in the rate was made on january , , two cents being substituted for three cents as the rate of postage for an ounce letter. in canada became a member of the universal postal union, an organization whose purpose it was to make in effect a single postal territory of the whole world. the obstacles to the interchange of correspondence between the various countries owing to differences in charges and regulations, had long been felt as a serious impediment to the cultivation of social and commercial relations which there was a general desire to foster, and some tentative efforts had been made, notably by the united states, to ameliorate the conditions governing international correspondence by the establishment of uniform regulations for this class of correspondence. twenty-two states, comprising the leading countries in europe, the united states, and egypt sent delegates to a conference that assembled at berne in , and the result of their deliberations was a convention which established a code of regulations and fixed uniform postage rates respecting correspondence passing anywhere within the union. the benefits conferred by the union on those, who, for any reason, had to carry on correspondence with foreign countries were inestimable. some illustrations drawn from the case of canada will be enlightening. in letters sent to india were subject to two different rates, according to the route by which they were directed. if sent by canadian steamers to great britain, and thence on to their destination, the charge was twenty-two cents; if sent by the united states, the charge was thirteen cents. to chili, peru, and ecuador, there were two routes and two rates; by way of england, the charge was forty cents, by way of the united states, twenty-five cents. the extreme instance of variation in the charges according to the route chosen was in the case of letters from the united states to australia. there were six different routes, and the postal guide set out the different charges: five cents, thirty-three cents, forty-five cents, fifty-five cents, sixty cents, and one dollar, according to the route by which the letters were sent. difficulties of an accounting nature arising from different standards of weights hampered the operations of the officials in preparing the mails. thus a letter from great britain to germany, passing through france was taxed at a certain rate per half ounce in england, another rate per ten grams in france, and, finally, a third rate per loth[ ] in germany. many of these trammels to correspondence were removed by special conventions before the postal union came into being. but how many remained may be judged from the fact that the canadian postal guide, issued shortly before canada was admitted to the postal union, contained a list of rates to different countries, which must be consulted by correspondents and postal officials before the charge on a letter going abroad could be ascertained. the immediate effect of coming into the union was the removal of these extensive and complicated lists from the postal guide, and their replacement by a single sentence, in which the charge on letters for all the countries in the union was stated to be five cents per half ounce. the postal union did not at that time comprehend all countries, though it did all the most important, but since then adhesions have been made from year to year until to-day there is scarcely a country to which letters are written, which does not come within its scope. in , at canada's instance, a closer union was formed for penny postage within the british empire. it went into effect on christmas day of that year. it did not include all parts of the empire at the time it was formed, australia being deterred from associating itself with the scheme, by financial considerations. a few years ago australia found itself able to adjust the difficulties with which it was confronted when the union was formed, and the imperial penny postage scheme is operative in all parts of the empire. in the postmaster general of canada opened negotiations with the administrations of the various parts of the empire for a reduction of the postal rates on newspapers. his proposition was to allow newspapers to circulate throughout the empire at the same rates as were charged for their transmission within the countries from which they were sent. the proposition encountered much opposition at the outset, but it made gradual progress, and to-day a newspaper may be sent from canada to great britain and several other portions of the empire at the same rate as would carry it from one place to another in canada. the auxiliary postal services--the money order and the savings bank--have expanded in their operations enormously between the period of confederation and the present time. in there were money order offices in the provinces comprising the dominion, and the amount of the orders issued by them was $ , , . the corresponding figures for were offices, which issued orders to the amount of $ , , . the post office savings bank was not in operation prior to confederation. it was established in april , and at the end of the first year post offices were charged with the duty of receiving and paying out savings deposits. the deposits at the end of the first year amounted to $ , . in there were post offices doing savings bank business, and the deposits amounted to $ , , , and the balance standing at the credit of depositors was $ , , . the financial operations of the canadian post office have undergone a great expansion. the revenues which at the end of the first year of confederation were $ , , , have, in spite of the steady reduction in the charges, been multiplied sixteen-fold within the forty-eight years since that period. in the amount collected for its services reached $ , , . it is interesting, as illustrating the much greater use made of the post office by the public in canada, to note that while the revenue has increased sixteen times, the population has not much more than doubled within the same period. in , when the population of the four original provinces was given as , , , the amount paid to the post office was $ , , ; in , when the population was , , the revenue was $ , , . thus, notwithstanding the fact that for every letter posted during the first year of confederation five cents was exacted by the post office, while in two cents only was demanded, the average expenditure for each member of the population was in , rather less than twenty-seven cents, while in it was a small fraction over two dollars. the canadian post office has been on a sound footing as a business institution for a number of years past. this fact is more notable than would perhaps appear. the postal system of this country embraces a territory more extended than that served by any other system on earth, except the united states and russia; and the population to utilize its services, and thereby furnish its revenues, is very much less than that of either of these countries. circumstances, incident to the expansion of settlement or the providing of new facilities, are constantly arising, which compel the department to embark on expenditures from which adequate returns can be expected only in the distant future. as instances, when manitoba and the north-west territories were added to the dominion, one of the early measures of the department was to establish a line of mail route from winnipeg to edmonton, at a cost of $ , , while the receipts from the whole north-west territories was considerably less than $ . the completion of the canadian pacific railway to vancouver in involved the department in outlays, which exceeded the revenues by over $ , a year. nor has it been only by the weight of unavoidable expenditure that the department has been impeded in its efforts to make ends meet. the policy of the government has also operated to deprive it of what in all other countries is regarded as a source of legitimate revenue. newspapers have always been circulated through canada by the post office on terms most advantageous to the public. in publishers were permitted to send their papers to subscribers at the rate of one cent per pound. even this small charge was removed in , and for the following seventeen years newspapers addressed to subscribers were exempt from all charges. in a small charge was imposed, which, after some variations, was fixed at a quarter cent per pound. as the cost to the post office of handling and transmitting newspapers is estimated as from four cents to six cents per pound, it is clear that the loss to the department on this head reaches a large amount each year. in spite of these facts, however, the revenues of the department have steadily increased, and since , when they first surpassed the outlay, they have maintained an ascendancy which it is improbable will be overcome. footnotes: [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. . [ ] hargrave's _red river_, p. . [ ] _the nor'-wester_, january , . [ ] minutes of evidence taken before the select committee on the hudson's bay company, ques. (_house of commons papers_, ). [ ] hargrave's _red river_, p. . [ ] _journals, leg. assy._, canada, , p. . [ ] report of p.m.g. of canada, . [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , nos. and . [ ] _sess. papers_, canada, , no. . [ ] _ibid._, , no. , p. . [ ] _house of commons (british) papers_, . [ ] mayne's _four years in british columbia and vancouver island_ ( ), p. . [ ] begg's _history of british columbia_, p. . [ ] postal act of british columbia, may , . [ ] report of the p.m.g. of canada, . [ ] varying from to grains troy. chapter xx the post office in newfoundland. the position of newfoundland, as regards postal requirements, was very similar to that of the other colonies situated on the atlantic seaboard. the social and commercial relations of the island were almost exclusively with the mother country, and the trade was from an early period very considerable. a number of vessels sailed each year from the ports of great britain to those of the colony, which provided the means for the interchange of correspondence. on this side but one thing was needed--a fixed place in st. johns at which letters for despatch by outgoing vessels could be deposited, and at which captains on their arrival could deliver the letters with which they had been entrusted in great britain. the first post office was established in by sir erasmus gower, who appointed simon solomon postmaster. the governor communicated with the secretary of the general post office, who though not prepared to include newfoundland in the british postal system, promised to forward all letters addressed to the island, by the first outgoing vessels. three years later, the number of merchants settled at brigus, harbour grace and carbonear on conception bay made necessary an arrangement, by which the letters reaching st. john for any of those places were forwarded to their destination by any vessels which might be going thither. the charge on letters passing through the london post office to newfoundland was one shilling and threepence, if conveyed to halifax by packet, and eightpence, if sent by private vessel, to which sums was added the postage from the place in great britain at which the letter was deposited, to london. there can be little doubt that but a small proportion of the correspondence passing between newfoundland and great britain was exchanged by these expensive means. advantage would be taken of the departure of any vessel, to place the letters in charge of the captain, who would collect the sum of a penny or twopence for each letter from the person to whom he delivered them at the port of arrival. the course of post within the island was also very expensive. the owners of sailing vessels running between st. john's and ports on conception bay collected a shilling for each single letter they delivered. governor cochrane, in , appealed to the postmaster general in london to establish a regular post office in st. john's, in order that his despatches from the colonial office might reach him with security. failing that, he asked that the despatches might be sent, to a company in london, which was in constant communication with newfoundland. the chamber of commerce of st. john's, in , presented a memorial to the colonial office, asking that the sailing packets running between falmouth and halifax might call at st. john's on their voyages. but the governor, in forwarding the memorial, deprecated the application, on account of the fogs and gales which prevail on those coasts, and the ignorance of the sailing masters regarding the localities. the admiralty refused to entertain the application. with the establishment in of the cunard steamship line to run between halifax and liverpool, and the inauguration of the scheme to make the nova scotia port the distributing centre for the mails for all parts of north america, provision was made for a sailing vessel of not less than tons to leave halifax for st. john's in connection with the steamer arriving at halifax, and the post office at st. john's was incorporated into the imperial system. the postmaster, simon solomon, who had died in december , was succeeded by his son, william lemon solomon, and the latter was placed on the pay-roll of the general post office with a salary of £ per annum. governor prescott gave his attention to the inland post office and endeavoured to have established a regular colonial system, but the assembly to which he directed his recommendation did not act upon it. the governor had, however, managed to secure to the postmaster some regular compensation for his services in attending to the exchanges on the island. there was at this period a communication every second day with the ports of brigus, harbour grace and carbonear, by a sailing vessel, which carried passengers and letters. the postmaster received a payment of sixpence each upon all letters, and twopence on all newspapers received from other places, and twopence each upon letters despatched from his office. this brought him an income of between £ and £ a year. the establishment of the post office and its peremptory intervention in the exchange of communications between the merchants of st. john's and their correspondents abroad was a novelty, which was not wholly welcomed in that city. although the post office had been at their service for thirty-five years, it was without official authority to claim exclusive right to the transmission of correspondence. the merchants could use it or not as suited their convenience. there were few communities that could dispense with the benefits of a post office more easily than st. john's. the merchants all did business on water street, and their warehouses looked out on the harbour; consequently the arrival or departure of a vessel was known to every person interested, and letters could be placed in the hands of an outgoing captain or received from one who had just arrived, with the least possible inconvenience. they could be delivered up to the last moment before the vessel left the harbour, and received as soon as it had been made fast at the docks. the necessary formalities of a post office proved inexpressibly irksome to the merchants of st. john's, and solomon was made to feel the irritations of their impatience. he seems to have been one of those officials who make much of the functions of their offices. he delighted in the parti-coloured pencils, which his regulations prescribed. he was indignant with the merchants, who could not be made to understand why he used a red pencil to indicate that a letter had been prepaid, and a blue one to show the receiving postmaster in england that the postage had not been paid. all the trappings dear to the accountant's soul, were to them merely hindrances to the prompt posting and receiving of their letters. then there were difficulties of another sort. one of the merchants was notified that there was a packet in the post office for him, on which postage to the amount of five shillings and threepence was due. he, at first, refused to accept the packet, declaring that it could only contain newspapers, but, yielding to curiosity, he took it, and finding his surmise to be correct, endeavoured to return the packet to the postmaster, declining to pay the postage. the postmaster reported the case to england for instructions. he was told that the acceptance of the parcel carried with it the necessity on the part of the merchant of paying the postage, but whether the postmaster succeeded in bringing the recalcitrant merchant to a sense of his obligation is not recorded. the postal situation in newfoundland remained unchanged until , when elgin, the governor general, of the british north american provinces announced to the government of the island, that the british government had decided to grant autonomy to the several administrations in the colony, and called a conference in montreal to settle the questions arising from this concession. newfoundland was not represented at the conference, but the decisions adopted and the course taken by the other colonies stimulated the newfoundland government to establish a postal system within the island. on april , , a committee of the assembly was appointed to inquire into the subject. that the question had been fully discussed before this action was taken by the assembly is evident from the fact that three days later the report of the committee was presented to the house. the interval between the time of its appointment and the date on which it made its report precluded the committee from making anything like exhaustive inquiries. they were satisfied, however, from the information they had obtained as to the volume of correspondence passing to and from the ports of conception bay, that a scheme would be practicable for establishing a system, which should carry postal facilities to the principal settlements as far north as twillingate and as far as gaultois on the south-west coast. they were encouraged to make the proposition by the rapid progress made by the post office at st. john's during the eight years of its operation. the revenue of this office had increased from £ in to £ in . the committee proposed as an interim measure that the stipendiary magistrates in the ports at which post offices should be established, might be called upon to act as postmasters in those places. the foundation of the service to the north would be a conveyance by messenger from st. john's to portugal cove. from this point, a sailing vessel would carry the mails to brigus, harbour grace and carbonear; from carbonear, a messenger would cross the peninsula to heart's content on trinity bay; a sailing vessel would serve trinity and catalina on the other side of the bay, and from the latter point a messenger would continue the transmission to bonavista. from bonavista, the mails would be carried to the outermost points of the system, greenspond, king's cove, cat harbour, fogo and twillingate, by vessel and messenger. it was estimated that the several services within this part of the system would cost £ a year. to the south, there would be couriers down the coast to trepassey, serving ferryland on the way; and to placentia, by way of salmonier and st. mary's; thence on to gaultois with stopping places at burin and garnish. the southern route should be covered for £ a year. these routes would displace services by vessel to placentia, bonavista and fogo, as well as couriers to ferryland and st. mary's, which with expenses for the incidentals were a charge of £ upon the colony. it was expected that the improved services proposed would provide travelling accommodation for the judges, school inspectors and other officials, and by the savings thus effected, the increased outlay for the postal system would be largely made up. in the following year ( ) an act was passed by the legislature providing £ for the establishment and maintenance of the inland post office proposed by the committee. the appointment of all postmasters was vested in the governor, and the management of the system was to be placed in the hands of the postmaster of st. john's. his salary was to be £ a year (doubtless in addition to the £ sterling, which he held under his imperial appointment), the postmasters of harbour grace and carbonear were to receive, each, £ a year, and the other postmasters £ . the postage on letters passing anywhere within the island was fixed at threepence per half ounce; and on books, twopence where the weight did not exceed six ounces, and threepence on greater weights up to sixteen ounces. the scheme outlined came into operation on october , . the first report of the postmaster general was a serious disappointment. the total receipts for the year amounted to no more than £ _s._ _d._, and this amount was received entirely from st. john's and the three offices on conception bay. letters, on which postage somewhat under £ was due, were sent to other offices, but not one penny was collected upon them. the committee of the assembly which examined the accounts inclined to the opinion that the postal system might, for the time, be restricted to the offices on conception bay. solomon was rather alarmed by these expressions of the committee, and in his next report he dealt, in some fulness, with the peculiar difficulties that attended the establishment of a postal system in the colony. no very great regularity, he declared, could be anticipated while the couriers were retarded by the marshy and swampy nature of the roads on the most important lines. under the most favourable circumstances, their journeys were made over mere tracks or footpaths, while the less frequented routes lay through wilds where neither roads nor paths had been formed and where unbridged rivers and streams had to be crossed, the couriers being often obliged to wade to a considerable depth, exposed to strong, rapid currents. the postmaster general acknowledged that it was on his advocacy of the system that delaney, the chairman of the committee, introduced the subject into the assembly. he was under no illusions as to the rapid growth of the revenue; his object was to secure to the inhabitants, who were excluded for the greater part of every year from the advantage of communication with the capital, a ready means of maintaining intercourse with the centre of the social and commercial life of the island. he was encouraged by the increasing revenue to believe that his efforts were being crowned with success. the step the committee feared might be forced upon them was not taken. on the contrary, the postal system was extended liberally in every direction in which it seemed to be required, in adherence to the principle which guided the postmaster general in advocating the inland service. in , the colony, having decided on the desirability of direct communication with the mother country, sent to england two delegates--little, the attorney general and lawrence o'brien--to confer with the government and leading shipowners on the subject of a steam service from a british port to st. john's. when the delegates made their first report, they had not succeeded in their objects, but they were encouraged by the recognition accorded to the scheme by the british government and by the promise of a subsidy of £ a year to any satisfactory service the government of newfoundland might arrange for. it was not long before plans were submitted for their consideration. in the same year, the north atlantic royal mail steam navigation company laid before little a proposition for a regular service between liverpool, st. john's and a port in the united states. the company were prepared to undertake a contract for trips of a frequency of not less than one every four weeks, with additional trips during april, july and august, for £ , a year. a contract was made on this basis, the understanding being that the british government would contribute £ of this amount. but the british government, being satisfied from earlier experiences with the personnel of this company that they could not be depended upon to fulfil their arrangement, declined to sanction the contract, and the arrangement fell through. in intimating to the newfoundland government their refusal to endorse the contract, the british government expressed their willingness to assist in procuring a competent contractor; and in october of the same year, an agreement was made with the atlantic royal mail steam navigation company, known more generally as the lever or galway company, for a service of virtually the same frequency as that provided for in the earlier contract, between galway, st. john's and a united states port. the rate of compensation was to be £ , a year, of which the british government was to contribute £ a year. though for political reasons, this company enjoyed an unusual degree of favour on the part of the british government, it failed entirely to satisfy the conditions of the contract, and after a short period of futile effort, it ceased altogether. it was not until that an arrangement with the allan line provided the first direct communication with great britain. in , on the death of solomon, john delaney, who had made the postal service his special care while a member of the assembly, was appointed postmaster general. his first measure was to provide for st. john's what he described as a penny delivery service. after consultation with the chief post office inspector in canada, he submitted his scheme to the legislature. he proposed to divide the city into two sections, to each of which he proposed to appoint a letter carrier to deliver the letters from door to door, not gratuitously as at present, but for a compensation of a penny for each letter delivered. the plan was put into operation on september , , but it had little success at the time. steps were also taken in to improve the accommodation to the outports by substituting a steam vessel for the sailing boats, by which the exchange of mails was effected. in november , a contract was made with aaron degraw, of new york, for a service north and south from st. john's. the steamer "victoria" was to run twice in each month to twillingate on the north, and to la poile on the south-west coast, calling at all the post offices _en route_. the consideration was £ a year. the contract provided for the service for five years. but a few months after it went into operation, the contractor represented that he was unable to continue, unless the terms were modified. he asked that the trips on the northern section might be reduced from fortnightly to monthly during the winter, and that he might omit certain of the ports of call; or, if the legislature were unwilling to lower their requirements, that he might have his compensation increased by £ a year. the application of degraw was not entertained by the legislature, and the contractor dropped his service shortly after. recourse was had to the sailing vessels until , when a more satisfactory arrangement was concluded with robert grieve on june , . the contract stipulated for fortnightly trips in each direction, and the compensation was fixed at £ . the "ariel" was the steamer employed by grieve for the service. the coastal service, thus satisfactorily established from st. john's down the east and along the south coasts as far as la poile, was extended to port aux basques on the south-west corner of the island by a sailing vessel. this completed the postal communications on the southern shore of the island. the west coast was still to be comprised in the system. in , arrangements of an experimental nature were made to send mails from port aux basques (or channel as the post office was called) to st. george's bay, bay of islands and bonne bay on this coast. a courier service was also set in operation to provide communications to those settlements during the winter, but many difficulties were encountered owing to the inacquaintance with the country on the part of the couriers, who had to pass on their way between channel and these bays. the arrangement thus experimentally entered upon continued until , when the sailing craft, which carried the mails to bonne bay was withdrawn, and the steamer "curlew," by which channel post office received its mails from st. john's, extended its trips up the north-west coast as far as bonne bay. the conveyance of the mails up this coast was carried on to the top of the island in the following year. two trips were made by couriers from bonne bay to flower cove at the gulf entrance to the straits of belle isle. from flower cove, the journey of the courier ran along the shore of the straits to pistolet bay at the northernmost point of the island, and thence on the griquet which looked from the north of the island on the atlantic, and down the atlantic coast to st. anthony. another courier set out from flower cove and travelling due east across the island carried the mail to conche, which served the settlements on hare bay. at the same time that the process of encirclement was proceeding from the western side, the settlements of western cove, mings and coachman's cove on white bay, the northernmost of the series of great bays by which the atlantic coast is indented, were having the benefits of communication extended to them from bett's cove, in notre dame bay. the benefits of these trips were so greatly appreciated by the fishermen in the northern parts of the island that the department arranged for regular fortnightly services during the winter from bonne bay along the west coast to the top of the island, and thence down the east coast as far as canada bay. on the other side the steamers which carried the mails northward from st. john's to the settlements on notre dame bay, also conveyed bags for the settled districts in white bay. these were sent forward monthly from bett's cove. thus was completed the system of coastal service by which every part of the island was brought into communication with the capital of the colony. on the larger and more thickly settled bays, it was obviously impossible for the steamers which sailed from st. john's to stop at any but the more populous villages, and within each of these bays smaller craft plied to the less important settlements. in , there were eight such sailing vessels in the service of the post office: one each in bonavista and trinity bays, three in placentia bay, two in fortune bay, and one which effected the exchange of mails at harbour breton. in conception bay, where there were two towns and several villages a steamer was employed. but though the settlements in newfoundland were at this period practically all on the coasts, and depended mainly on seacraft for the means of communication, the conveyance of mails to the northern settlements was in the winter one of great danger and difficulty. as early as , it was determined to make the experiment of serving these settlements by couriers who should travel over an overland route. in february of that year, smith mckay undertook the delivery by land, so far as that was possible, to greenspond, on the stretch of coast between bonavista and notre dame bay, and to fogo and twillingate, islands in notre dame bay. the success attending this trip induced the postmaster general to make a contract for three trips each winter. the government also planned the construction of a road, which would make communication easier between the northern outports and st. john's. the work was entered upon with vigour, the reports of progress making an interesting feature of the annual papers of the legislature. in , a serviceable road was constructed to gander bay, an inlet of notre dame bay, whence the mails were conveyed to the important villages of twillingate and fogo by sailing vessel. in the road was complete. it was estimated to be miles in length. there were six relay stations on the route, and ten men employed in the conveyance. the course pursued by the courier took him from harbour grace, his starting point, down the shore of conception bay; thence along the isthmus separating trinity from placentia bay, serving the settlements on each side of the isthmus. from the top of the isthmus, the road maintained a northerly direction, running generally parallel with the atlantic coast, as far as greenspond, from which point it turned westward across the country to gander bay. the postal accommodation on the peninsula of avalon was greatly augmented by the completion of the railway between st. john's and harbour grace in . on january , , all the principal offices at the bottom of conception bay were supplied with mails daily, and heart's content and other offices on trinity bay had their mails three times a week. the extension of the branch to placentia in october gave that village the benefit of an expeditious service three times a week. the northern settlements were given the benefit of the more speedy service afforded by the railway. the winter arrangements were expedited and extended. in , when this service was put on a settled footing, ten couriers were employed. in , their number was increased to fifty-four. the mails for the northern districts were despatched from st. john's by railway to broad cove station, where they were taken over by the couriers. their greater number enabled the couriers, not only to shorten their relays, but to establish a trunk line to the settlements of hall's bay and little bay on notre dame bay, with branch lines running to the more important settlements to the east and west. the overlapping of the western and northern courier systems at white bay gave the dwellers in those remote regions the opportunity of replying to their letters without loss of time. communication was established with the settlers on the labrador coast in . previous to that time, mails were sent as the opportunity was afforded by sailing vessels visiting that coast. in that year, a regular fortnightly service was put in operation, the steamer by which the mails were carried connecting with the steamer on the northern route. the "ariel," which was first employed on this route having been lost in september of the same year, its place was taken by the "walrus," whose work gave much satisfaction to the department. in , an arrangement was made by which the steamer running on the northern route from st. john's extended its trip to battle harbour, where it was met by the labrador vessel, which served all the settlements as far north as nain. a money order system was an early adjunct to the primary functions of the post office. in the postmaster general of prince edward island proposed on exchange with newfoundland, on the basis of the arrangement between that colony and canada. the postmaster general, delaney, was eager to accept the proposition, but there were delays, and it was not until that an exchange was adopted. this exchange was not with prince edward island, however, but with great britain. at the beginning of exchanges were established with canada, nova scotia and prince edward island, and in with new brunswick. in a domestic exchange was set on foot, the system embracing the twelve leading post offices besides st. john's. delaney endeavoured to come to an arrangement of the same character with the united states, but the department at washington was unable to adopt the proposition at the time, and it was only in that arrangements were completed for an exchange through the intermediation of the canadian service. the comparative lack of banking facilities in the island gave the money order system an unusual utility. at the end of , the amount of the money orders exchanged was $ , . in the first ten years the business expended to $ , ; in twenty years, its volume had increased thirteen-fold, being $ , . though a steam vessel could make the voyage from the shores of cape breton to the south-west coast of newfoundland in a few hours, the course of communication between the island and canada and the united states was lamentably infrequent. as late as , mails were exchanged with these countries no more frequently than once a week. the completion, however, of the railway across the island in the autumn of , changed the aspect of affairs. trains travelled from st. john's to port aux basques, three times a week, touching in their course the bottoms of the great bays, which mark the coast lines on either side of the island. on each of the bays, steamers plied in close connection with the trains, thus giving all the settlements of the island the maximum of benefit to be obtained from a single line of railway. a steamer ran from the western end of the line at port aux basques to north sydney in cape breton, and by a night's voyage, newfoundland was brought into connection with the system of communications on the continent of north america. the exchange of mails between canada and newfoundland remained at a frequency of three times a week until when it was increased to a daily service each way; and the inland service has been so improved that there is no district in the island, however remote, has not at least a weekly communication with the capital, while nearly all the towns and villages of any importance exchange mails with st. john's every day. in the sphere of telegraphy the progress has not been less marked. unlike canada and the united states, but as in the mother country and most other countries, the telegraphs are under the control of the government, and administered by the postmaster general. until , this was not the case. by a concession granted by the legislature in , the anglo-american telegraph company obtained the exclusive privilege of communicating abroad by telegraphy, and of erecting and operating lines within the colony. the system established under this privilege was naturally confined to the more populous districts, and indeed, it covered little beyond the peninsula of avalon. the outlying parts of the island, embracing all the settlements on bays north of trinity, and west of placentia bays were, in general, without the means of communicating with the capital by telegraph. the company turned a deaf ear to all appeals which did not promise an augmentation of their profits. they had no objection to the government running lines to the remoter regions, as such messages as would be sent to st. john's from those parts must pass over the company's lines when they came within the system marked out by the company for themselves in virtue of their monopoly. the government would, in that case, bear the loss entailed by the maintenance of these lines, and the company would absorb the additional revenue arising from the transmission of these extra-territorial messages over their lines. with the development of the fishing, mining and lumbering industries in all parts of the island, the extension of the means of telegraphic communication beyond the peninsula of avalon became a necessity, and the government had no option but to provide these means, wherever the importance of the districts seemed to demand it. thus there grew up two systems, an inner and an outer one, the latter depending on the former for the means of access to the capital of the island. all messages to and from the outer system were subject to a double charge, for transmission over both systems. while messages circulating within the peninsula of avalon had the advantage of the moderate charge of twenty-five cents for ten words, messages from outside the peninsula were subject to double that rate. the government were helpless in the matter. they endeavoured vainly to come to terms with the company by which they might erect a line of their own from st. john's to whitbourne, a village about sixty miles from st. john's, at which the lines of the outer system connected with those belonging to the company. the company, however, stood firmly on the letter of the bond, and it was not until the approach of the time when the monopoly, which was for a period of fifty years, would expire, that they became at all unbending. an event of far-reaching importance took place in november in the arrival of marconi to experiment as to the possibility of opening communication across the atlantic by his wireless system of telegraphy. early in december, he caught at his station on signal hill near st. john's some signals sent out from the lizards in cornwall, thereby establishing a new agency for conducting communication between europe and america. when he had assured himself of the success of his experiments, he set about obtaining a site for a permanent station on cape spear. but no sooner had the anglo-american company become aware of his intentions than they notified him that his proposed measures would be an infringement of their monopoly. thus blocked, marconi resolved to return to england, but an opportune invitation from the canadian government led him to turn his attention to the advantages that might be obtained on the eastern coast of cape breton. he was not long in selecting a site at table head, near glace bay, where he erected a station, and has demonstrated the feasibility of wireless communication across the atlantic for commercial purposes. _index_ allan, william, postmaster of york, recommended to be deputy postmaster general of upper canada, amherstburg, post office opened at, "anglo-saxon" steamship of allan line wrecked, annapolis, post office opened in, antigonishe, distributing office for all settlements to eastward, antill, (john), postmaster of new york, augusta, post office opened at, bache, richard, appointed secretary of the revolutionary post office, baie verte, post office opened at, barbadoes, postal arrangements for, barons, benjamin, deputy postmaster general for southern division, , note belleville, post office opened at, under name of bay of quinte, bermuda, canadian mails from great britain, sent to, berthier, post office opened at, "bohemian" steamship of allan line wrecked, boston, post office opened in, ; communication with new york, ; postage between philadelphia and, ; postage from virginia, ; cunard steamers land canadian mails at, brantford, post office opened at, "britannia," cunard steamer, makes first trip to halifax, british columbia, beginnings of postal service to, ; inland service, , ; rates of postage, ; incorporation into dominion postal service, ; completion of canadian pacific railway, ; expansion of service between confederation and, , british north america, royal commission recommends postal systems in, be put under one superior, buchanan, james, british consul at new york, advocates communication between colonies and great britain by way of new york, canada, post office in-- _pre-revolutionary period._ post office established by franklin, ; connected by mail service with new york, ; arrangements under french régime, ; postage rates as fixed by act of , _revolutionary period._ connection with new york discontinued, ; americans make proposals for its continuance, ; service between montreal and quebec resumed after expulsion of americans, ; haldimand's objections to resumption of regular service, _post-revolutionary period._ united states forbid canadian couriers to carry mails over its territory, ; canadian post office obliged to send mails for england by halifax route, ; its disadvantages, ; sketch of postal system in , ; financial statements to be submitted to legislatures, ; fixed salaries to be paid, with exclusion of all perquisites, ; difficulties in way of satisfactory arrangements for administration, ; first financial statement laid before legislature, ; legislature of upper canada demands surplus revenues, ; lord durham's recommendations regarding post office, ; defects of postal administration disclosed by royal commission, ; legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal conference, ; provincial governments assume control of post office, ; great expansion of, ; reduction in postage rates, ; revenue from to , _post-office of dominion of canada._ number of post offices in and , ; railway mail service expansion, ; reductions in postage, ; canada becomes a member of the universal postal union, ; imperial penny postage introduced, ; imperial scheme of newspaper postage proposed by postmaster general of canada, ; expansion of money order and savings bank system, "canadian" (the first) steamship of allan line wrecked in st. lawrence, "canadian" (the second) steamship of allan line, wrecked, cape breton, establishment of postal service in, cayley, william, inspector general of canada, representative at postal conference in montreal, cedars, post office opened at, chambly, arrangements for delivery of mails at, charlestown, delays in postal service of, ; included in packet system, charlottenburg, post office opened at, chester, pa., postal rate from philadelphia to, "city of manchester" steamship of inman line lost off nova scotia coast, colonial postal systems, in their relations to great britain, policy regarding extensions of service, , , ; remonstrance of upper canada against excessive and illegal postage, ; reply to these remonstrances, ; legality of control of colonial systems by great britain, , ; great britain refuses information as to revenues, ; considerable profit on colonial service, ; reception given to address from upper canada, ; attack on administration of canadian post office, ; contentions against imperial absorption of surplus revenue from, sustained by law officers, ; acceptance of decision by postmaster general, ; course of procedure to establish proper relations, ; act of imperial parliament, , william iv. c. , ; draft act for adoption of legislatures, ; accountant appointed, ; how the british proposals were viewed in maritime provinces, , in upper canada, , , in lower canada, ; stayner on british proposals, ; stayner's views accepted by legislative council of lower canada, ; british government willing to amend proposals, ; royal commission appointed to investigate conditions in colonial service, ; commission recommends that postal system in british north america be put under one resident deputy postmaster general, ; proposition of postmaster general to withdraw from control of, ; conditions of withdrawal, ; lord elgin instructed by colonial secretary on subject, ; his message to canadian legislature, ; legislative committee in nova scotia consider the subject, ; conference of provincial representatives in montreal, ; their report, as laid before governor general, ; british treasury approves generally conclusions of report, ; nova scotia legislature adopts terms of report in act, ; canada and new brunswick concur, ; act sanctioning arrangement passed by imperial parliament, ; prince edward island enters arrangement, "columbia" steamship of cunard line lost off nova scotia coast, committees of correspondence take measures to establish colonial post office, connecticut, terms of first post office bill in, cornwall, post office opened at, coteau du lac, post office opened at, crane, william, urges direct steamship service between great britain and halifax, crown point, post office opened at, cunard, samuel, awarded contract for transatlantic steam service, dashwood, secretary of colonial post office prisoner of war, ; liberated by exchange, ; appointed postmaster general of jamaica, delancy, peter, deputy postmaster general for southern division, note delaware, falls of, postal rate from philadelphia to, deputy postmaster general, relations to governor, ; limitations on his freedom of administration, ; agent for collection of united states postage, ; newspaper postage, perquisite of, ; nomination of postmasters withdrawn from, detroit, postal communication opened with, digby, post office opened in, dongan, thomas, governor of new york, endeavoured to establish postal service in colonies, dorchester, new brunswick, post office opened at, durand, details of his journey between quebec and halifax with mails, durham, lord, recommendations respecting canadian post office, eastern townships, mail communication opened between three rivers and, elizabethtown, post office opened at, fairbank, richard, first postmaster in boston, falmouth, maine, defiance of post office monopoly at, finlay, hugh, appointed postmaster of quebec, ; interferes on behalf of _maîtres de poste_, ; appointed post-office surveyor, ; explores country between quebec and new england, ; inspects postal service from maine to georgia, ; appointed joint deputy postmaster general of northern division of north america, ; reputed author of account of siege of quebec, ; his activities outside post office, ; appointed superintendent of _maîtres de poste_, ; loses position of deputy postmaster general of northern division of north america, and becomes deputy postmaster general of canada, ; report on route between quebec and halifax, ; appointed deputy postmaster general of british north america, ; removal from this position, ; death, fort edward, post office opened at, fothergill, charles, postmaster of port hope, ; attacks post office management, foxcroft, john, joint deputy postmaster general, , ; prisoner of war, ; liberated by exchange, ; appointed british packet boat agent at new york, franking act, passed by legislature of upper canada, ; on stayner's objections it was disallowed, franklin, benjamin, postmaster of philadelphia, ; deputy postmaster general, , , ; established post office in canada, ; increases postal facilities, ; nature of his influence in administration of post office, ; his views on post office revenues as taxes, ; his dismissal as joint deputy postmaster general, ; his continued good relations with officials of general post office, ; appointed postmaster general of revolutionary post office, ; his views on nature of postage quoted in support of imperial control, fredericton, post office opened in, gagetown, post office opened at, gaspé, slender postal accommodation in, goddard, william, labours for establishment of revolutionary post office, ; his career, ; draws up scheme, ; unsuccessful candidate for postmaster generalship, ; appointed surveyor, grand trunk railway, construction of, great western railway, construction of, grenville, post office opened at, guelph, post office opened at, halifax, post office established at, , ; postage rates to, by sea, in , ; petition that halifax be terminal port of transatlantic steamers, ; british government agrees, ; contract awarded to samuel cunard, ; scheme for concentrating all mails from great britain for north america at, ; its failure, ; nova scotia asks that the post office at, should be maintained by imperial post office, ; removal of post office to dalhousie college building, hamilton, post office opened at, hamilton, andrew, deputy of patentee for american post office, ; his plans for establishment of postal service, ; his death, hamilton, john, succeeds his father, andrew hamilton, as deputy postmaster general, hawkesbury, post office opened at, hazen, r. l. of executive council of new brunswick, representative at postal conference in montreal, head, sir francis bond, orders dismissal of postmaster of lloydtown, ; demands authority to dismiss postmasters whom he deemed guilty of disloyalty, ; orders removal of postmaster of toronto, heriot, george, succeeds finlay as deputy postmaster general, ; personal characteristics, ; unsuccessful aspirant to seat in legislative council, and to superintendency of _maîtres de poste_, ; in disfavour with governor, ; altercation with sir gordon drummond, ; retirement, heyman, peter, appointed postmaster of virginia, horton, post office opened in, howard, james, dismissed from postmastership of toronto, on charge of disloyalty, howe, john, the elder, deputy postmaster general of maritime provinces, ; his capable management, ; his retirement, howe, john, the younger, succeeds his father, ; controlled majority of newspapers in halifax, ; criticism of, ; his death, howe, joseph, urges direct steamship service between great britain and halifax, hudson's bay company, conveys the mails to and from manitoba and north-west territories, ; limitations on correspondence, hull, post office opened at, "humboldt" steamship of the american line lost off nova scotia coast, hume, joseph, m.p., obtains information respecting canadian postal service, "hungarian" steamship of allan line wrecked, hunter, peter, lieutenant governor, had road constructed from bay of quinte to york, ; endeavours to secure mail service to upper canada, hunter, william, joint deputy postmaster general, huntingdon, herbert, confers with general post office respecting nova scotia post office, illegal conveyance of letters in canada, ; in nova scotia, ; in new brunswick, "indian" steamship of allan line wrecked, johnston, j. w., solicitor general of nova scotia, representative at postal conference in montreal, kennebec route, finlay explores, kingston, upper canada, post office opened at, kingston, new brunswick, post office opened at, knox, william, scheme of communications between england and north america, labrador, mail service opened between newfoundland and, lachine, post office opened at, lancaster, post office opened at, lanoullier, nicholas, obtained privilege to establish post office in canada, ; his plans, ; failure, lanoullier de boisclair, his difficulties in maintaining roads, owing to popular indifference, ; his death, letters, mode of calculating postage on, lloydtown, postmaster of, dismissed for part in affairs of , london, post office opened at, lovelace, francis, governor of new york, arranged for postal service between new york and boston, lower canada, condition of route between montreal and quebec, in , ; mode of communication with great britain, ; frequency of service between quebec and montreal, , ; report of assembly on surplus postal revenues, , ; stayner declines to give information to committee of assembly, ; lack of postal accommodation in, , ; address of assembly to king respecting post office, ; report of legislative committee on postal affairs, , ; stayner admonished to cease sending surplus revenue to england, ; agitation caused in general post office over post office bill of lower canada, macaulay, john, former postmaster of kingston, chairman of committee of legislative council on postal affairs, mackenzie, william lyon, presented petition for investigation of post office, ; interviewed colonial secretary respecting postal affairs, ; his views on administration of post office, ; evidence of, before lower canada committee on newspaper postage, ; challenges action on underpayment, _maîtres de poste_, lack of regulations for, ; finlay's interference on behalf of, ; unsuccessful efforts to assimilate their position to that of masters of post houses in england, ; indispensable for the carrying of mails, ; character of their service, ; amenities on post road, manitoba, and north-west provinces, early postal arrangements in, - ; proposition for direct overland service with canada, ; manitoba incorporated into canadian postal system, ; united states postal service utilized for communication with other provinces, ; direct railway communication with eastern canada, ; expansion of service between confederation and, , marconi, guglielmo, proved success of transatlantic wireless system of telegraphy in newfoundland, maritime provinces, early means of communication between places in, ; with great britain, maryland, postal rate from philadelphia to, ; proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post office, massachusetts, terms of first post office act in, , ; postal rates to, ; post office act of, disallowed, ; rejects draft of new bill, matthews, captain john, chairman of post office committee of assembly of upper canada, michillimackinac, postal communication opened with, miramichi, arrangements for delivery of mails at, ; post office opened at, money order system, establishment of, in canada, ; in nova scotia, ; in newfoundland, ; expansion of operations between and , montreal, post office opened at, , ; description of route between new york and, ; post road between quebec and, ; mail service opened between new york and, ; mail service opened between quebec and, ; frequency of service between new york and montreal at outbreak of revolutionary war, ; embraced in revolutionary postal system, ; postmaster resents having soldiers billeted on him, ; governor orders his dismissal, ; daniel sutherland postmaster of, ; conditions in post office at, ; mean situation of post office, _montreal gazette_, proprietor of, begins attack on stayner respecting newspaper postage, neale, thomas, given patent for american post office, ; assigns his patent, new brunswick, postal system of, transferred to control of deputy postmaster general of nova scotia, ; establishment of inland service in, ; postal charges in, ; changes in routes as result of war of , ; no additions to service until , ; communication with great britain by way of united states, ; objections of nova scotia to arrangement, ; condition of, in , ; report of legislature, ; erected into separate department, ; demands for reduced postage, ; legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal conference, ; provincial government assumes control of, ; expansion of postal service, ; rates of postage, ; revenue and expenditure, ; attitude of government towards deficits, new castle, pa., postal rate from philadelphia to, new england, confederation of, postmaster appointed for, ; direct route from quebec to, surveyed, ; governor wentworth of new hampshire assists in establishment of another route to canada, ; governor hutchinson of massachusetts not encouraging as to route, newfoundland, post office in, early mode of communication with england, ; postage rates to, ; connection with england by cunard steamers at halifax, ; inland postal system established, ; efforts to secure direct service to england, ; improvements and extensions of inland service, - ; railway available between st. john's and harbour grace, ; communication with labrador, ; money order system established, ; government telegraphs, new hampshire, terms of first post office act in, , ; postage rates to, ; act allowed by privy council, new haven, modes of evading post office monopoly at, new johnston, post office opened at, newspapers, transmission of, not provided for in imperial postal act, ; arrangements for distribution of, by post, ; defects in scheme, ; agitation for change in method of collecting postage, ; rates charged, ; postage is perquisite of deputy postmaster general, ; attack on this system, ; stayner advises change of system, ; question of postage in maritime provinces, ; w. l. mackenzie's evidence on evasions, ; stayner's defence of his practice in taking perquisites, ; abolition of postage, as perquisite, and establishment of fixed rate, ; postage after provinces take control of post office, ; imperial scheme of postage proposed, ; rates between and , new york, city of, earliest postal arrangements for, ; communication with boston, ; postage rates from philadelphia, boston and virginia, ; headquarters of colonial postal system, , ; john antill postmaster of, new york, colony of, terms of first post office act in, ; postage rates to, ; act allowed by privy council, niagara, postal communication opened with, north american colonies (now united states), extent of postal system, ; first post office, ; mode of communicating with england, , ; early attempts at postal service between, , ; patent for postal service granted to thomas neale, ; line of posts established in , ; revenue of postal system, - , ; proposed arrangement for exchange of mails with england, ; effect of imperial act of on status of colonial post office, ; deficient revenues from postal system, ; evasion of postmaster general's monopoly, , ; increase in facilities under franklin, , ; prosperous condition of postal system, ; sailing packets established between england and, , ; arrangements for service to southern colonies, ; establishment of southern division of the postal system, ; summary of packet service in , ; summary of whole postal system, ; surplus revenue in , ; unpopularity of the post office, ; inspection report of system from maine to georgia, ; new york, administrative centre, ; proposition to suppress colonial post office, ; post office ceases its function, ; foxcroft and dashwood, prisoners of war, "north briton" steamship of allan line wrecked, northern railway, construction of, "norwegian" steamship of allan line wrecked, nova scotia, establishment of inland postal service, ; postal charges in, ; changes in route as result of war of , ; difficulties of deputy postmaster general in complying with demands for increased service, ; his success, ; state of postal service in , ; legislature assisted in maintaining mail service, , ; legislature determines to take control of postal service, ; bill to that end disallowed, ; satisfactory arrangement arrived at, ; mail service between pictou and halifax improved at greatly augmented cost, ; friction with canada over maintenance of this service, ; defects in postal service disclosed by royal commission, ; characteristics of post office as compared with the canadian post office, ; demand of legislature that halifax should be maintained by imperial post office, ; deficit in revenue of, ; investigated by british post office official, ; findings of investigation, ; salary of deputy postmaster general, ; interference of local government with, ; arthur woodgate succeeds howe as deputy postmaster general on death of latter, ; agitation for reduced postage, ; legislative committee discuss question of provincial control, ; legislature adopts conclusions of interprovincial conference, ; provincial government assumes control of, ; expansion of service, ; mode of communication with canada, ; postage rates, ; registration, and money order system introduced, ; revenue and expenditure, ; railway mail service in, at confederation, o'callaghan, dr. e. b., chairman of legislative committee on postal affairs, ormonde, marquess of, makes proposals for ocean steamship service, osnabruck, post office opened at, ottawa, first known as richmond landing, ottawa river, steamer on river between long sault and hull, pennsylvania, beginnings of postal service in, ; terms of first post office act in, ; postage rates to, ; act allowed by privy council, pensacola, included in packet system, perth, opening of post office at, philadelphia, postal arrangements between, and outlying places, ; postage rates from boston, new york and virginia, postage rates, in former colonies (now united states), , , , , , , ; mode of calculating postal charges, , ; in canada under act of , , ; under revolutionary postal system, ; general practice to collect on delivery, , ; mode of collection between canada and united states, , ; governor simcoe's view as to disposal of surplus postage, ; between canada and great britain, under post office regulations, and by private ship, , ; postage rates in new brunswick, ; great reduction in rate between canada and great britain, - ; royal commission report on inland rates, ; weight system introduced, ; agitation for reduction, , , ; recommendations of nova scotia legislature, ; recommendations of interprovincial conference, ; reductions in canada, , in nova scotia, , in new brunswick, ; rates in british columbia, ; imperial penny postage, ; imperial newspaper rates, ; inland rates two cents per ounce, ; between st. john's, newfoundland, and england, ; inland postage in newfoundland, ; rates under colonial postal system, postage stamps, introduced in canada, postal revenues, from to , ; surplus in , ; surplus from canada in , ; average surplus from canada for seven years ending , ; average surplus from canada for and , ; imperial act of to transfer revenues to provinces, ; reception of act in maritime provinces, , in upper canada, ; surplus for period ending , ; governor general declines to stop remitting to england, ; legislature of upper canada petitions for surplus, ; surplus from canada, ; expansion of revenue, - , postmasters, exempt from billeting, ; postmaster at montreal represented that he had been excepted from regulation, ; nomination of, removed from deputy postmaster general to governor general, ; stayner's fruitless objections thereto, post office commission, personnel, and duties, ; report of, post office convention, between canada and united states, ; between great britain and united states, post office surveyorship, established, ; finlay appointed to, ; two appointed, post road, between montreal and quebec, account of, ; constructed by lanoullier de boisclair, post roads, arrangements with _maîtres de poste_ for conveyance of post office couriers, prince edward island, early arrangements for postal service, ; condition of postal service, - , ; post office managed by provincial government, ; legislature concurs in resolutions of interprovincial postal conference, quebec and halifax mail service, details of route, ; trip by durand in , ; measures to open communication by land, ; improving new brunswick section of route, ; proposition to follow bay of chaleurs route, ; conditions of service in , quebec, post office opened at, ; post road between montreal and, ; mail service opened between montreal and, ; route from, to new england surveyed, ; account of earlier explorations of this route, ; expense of journey met by subscription in quebec, ; post office building in, destroyed by fire, railways, beginnings and development in canada, ; economy of time effected by use of, ; postal cars employed on, ; augmentation of expenses through using, ; rates of payment for mail service on, fixed by royal commission, ; railways in nova scotia at confederation, ; uninterrupted line between atlantic seaboard and chicago and new orleans, randolph, edward, postmaster of confederation of new england, rebellion of , effects of, on post office, registration, introduced in canada, revolutionary post office, suggested, ; scheme for, ; franklin made postmaster general, bache, secretary, and goddard, surveyor, ; extended to montreal, ; postage rates to canada, ; arrangements for mail service, revolutionary war, mails taken possession of, by commanders-in-chief, who direct their distribution, richelieu river, efforts to obtain mail service to settlements on, richibucto, post office opened at, richmond, upper canada, post office opened at, roads, between montreal and quebec, , ; between bay of quinte and york, ; between york and kingston, and york and ancaster, (see quebec and halifax). robbery of mail, between montreal and toronto, ; curious disclosure by robber, ; by sympathizers with disaffected, robinson, john beverly, defends imperial control of canadian postal service, , rolph, dr. john, correspondence with deputy postmaster general about opening post office at delaware, ; advocates provincial control of postal system, roupell, george, deputy postmaster general for southern division, , note st. andrews, lower canada, post office opened at, st. augustine, fort, included in packet system, st. eustache, post office opened at, st. john, n.b., post office opened in, st. john's, newfoundland, post office opened at, ; embraced in imperial system, ; objections of merchants to regular post office, ; revenue from to , st. john's, quebec, arrangements for delivery of mails to, st. stephen, post office opened at, st. thomas, upper canada, post office opened at, sault ste marie, post office opened at, savings bank, post office, opening of, and expansion of operations, sherbrooke, post office opened at, sorel, arrangements for delivery of mails at, stanstead, post office opened at, stayner, thomas allen, succeeds sutherland as deputy postmaster general, ; gains confidence of superiors and a freer hand in administration, ; declines to give information to committee of lower canada assembly, ; sustained by governor general and postmaster general in his refusal to give information, ; convinced that arrangement by which newspaper postage became his perquisite should cease, ; compelled to disclose information regarding post office, ; disregards admonition of lower canada legislative committee to cease sending surplus revenue to england, ; his income from newspapers and other sources, ; powers curtailed by governor general, ; his character ; nomination of postmasters withdrawn from him, ; perquisites abolished, and fixed salary substituted, ; relinquishes control of post office in canada, ; his administration characterized, steamboats, illegal conveyance of letters by, ; no action taken upon, sussexvale, post office opened at, sutherland, daniel, succeeds heriot as deputy postmaster general, ; retires, , sydney, cape breton, post office in, telegraphs in newfoundland, sketch of system, three rivers, post office opened at, , toronto, postmaster of, dismissed by bond head for lack of loyalty, (see york). transatlantic mail service-- _old colonial period._ earliest arrangements for exchange of correspondence with england, ; regular packet service established, , ; service between england and west indies, ; re-arrangement, ; summary of system in , _revolutionary period._ packets withdrawn from regular routes, ; attacked by privateers, ; "lord hyde" attacked, ; "sandwich," ; "harriott," ; "swallow" captured, ; "weymouth" captured, ; "le despencer" captured, ; "duke of york" captured, ; "harriott" and "eagle" captured, ; number of packets captured or damaged, _post-revolutionary period._ packet service resumed between england and new york, ; merchants in canada demand re-opening of service to england by way of new york, ; established between england and halifax, , , ; winter arrangements for british mails to halifax, ; elaborate scheme proposed by william knox for communications between england and north america, ; conditions of service between and , ; proposition of marquess of ormonde for ocean steam service, ; communication between colonies and great britain almost entirely through united states, ; comments of w. l. mackenzie upon, _steamship service._ steamers "great western" and "sirius" carry mails from british ports to new york, ; petition that halifax be terminal port for steamers, in north america, ; british government agrees, and contract is awarded to samuel cunard, ; comprehensive scheme for concentrating all mails from great britain for north america at halifax, ; its failure, ; advantages of boston as terminal port for canadian mails, ; boston substituted for halifax, ; arrangements with united states post office for transit across its territory, ; cunard steamers make new york principal port of call, _canadian ocean mail service._ canada invited to join imperial scheme for colonial service, ; objections of canada, ; beginnings of, ; contract made with hugh allan, ; comparison in speed of canadian, cunard and collins lines, ; unfriendly attitude of british government towards canadian line, ; views of canadian government on this attitude, ; negotiations for employment of canadian steamers for conveyance of british and united states mails, ; favourable treatment accorded to cunard line, ; report of select committee of house of commons, on steamship service, ; partiality to galway line at expense of canadian and inman lines, ; condemnation of government of great britain by select committee of house of commons, ; disingenuous conduct of british government towards postmaster general of canada, ; weekly service of steamers between quebec and liverpool, ; postmaster general of canada negotiates with governments of great britain and france for use of improved facilities, ; and with governments of france, belgium and prussia, ; difficulties owing to hostility of general post office, ; great proportion of mails between canada and great britain carried by canadian line, ; series of disasters to steamships of canadian line, - ; parliamentary investigation, ; new contract with allans, united states post office, postal convention with, ; goodwill of, towards communication between canada and great britain, ; cordial relations with, ; convention of with, ; its services utilized for conveyance of mails to maritime provinces, , to manitoba, , to british columbia, ; dependence on, for interprovincial correspondence, universal postal union, canada becomes member of, ; beneficent results of, upper canada, opening of post offices in, ; simcoe's plan for separate post office department in, ; regular mail service established in, ; arrangement between amherstburg and niagara, ; increased service to, , ; deputy postmaster general recommended for, ; difficulties of correspondence in, ; postal conditions in, in , ; legislature begins agitation for improvements, ; exorbitant charges on letters circulating in, , ; protest of legislature, ; raises question of legality of imperial control of canadian postal system, ; report of assembly on subject, ; report of committee of assembly in , ; recommendation that postal system should be controlled by province, ; lieutenant governor opposes pretentions of legislature, ; report of assembly in , ; proposition for high administrative officer in, , ; continues agitation against postal administration, ; legislature rejects imperial act respecting disposition of surplus revenues, ; lack of postal facilities in, ; legislative assembly of, draw up scheme for provincial post office, ; report of legislative council on post office, ; address to king on post office, ; legislature passes franking act, ; legislature demands surplus revenue, ; time occupied in conveying british mails to, by halifax and by new york, victoria, british columbia, extreme isolation of, viger, denis benjamin, interviewed colonial secretary respecting postal affairs, virginia, proposition to establish post office in, ; rates of postage to philadelphia, new york, and boston, ; proceedings of legislature respecting establishment of post office, ; early arrangements, ; efforts to attach to colonial system, ; frustration of scheme to impose act of in, ; included in colonial system, way offices, a peculiarity of maritime provinces, ; explained, west indies, packet boats established between great britain and, ; large postal revenues of, ; packet service restored, windsor, nova scotia, post office opened in, wolfville, post office opened under name of horton, woodgate, arthur, succeeds howe as deputy postmaster general of nova scotia, york, first post office at, york, duke of, claim of, on american postal revenues, young, william, confers with general post office respecting nova scotia post office, * * * * * transcriber's notes . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . footnotes have been renumbered and moved from the middle of the text to the end of the chapters in which they appear. . obvious punctuation errors have been repaired. . the following misprints have been corrected: "temiscoueta" corrected to "temiscouata" (page ) "horten" corrected to "horton" (page ) "govenorship" corrected to "governorship" (page ) "inofrmation" corrected to "information" (page ) "be a hugh" corrected to "be a huge" (page ) "that that of either" corrected to "than that of either" (page ) . other than the corrections listed above, printer's inconsistencies in spelling, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained. produced from images generously made available by the internet archive.) the story of the rome, watertown and ogdensburgh railroad [illustration: the fleet locomotive antwerp when she dug her red heels into the track the railroad men reached for their watches.] the story of the rome, watertown and ogdensburgh railroad _by_ edward hungerford author of "the modern railroad," "our railroads--tomorrow," etc., etc. _illustrated_ new york robert m. mcbride & company copyright, , by edward hungerford _printed in the united states of america_ published, to those pioneers of our north country who _labored hard and labored well in order that it might enjoy the blessings of the railroad, this book is dedicated by its author_. contents chapter page i by way of introduction ii looking toward a railroad iii the coming of the watertown & rome iv the potsdam & watertown railroad v the formation of the r. w. & o. vi the r. w. & o. prospers--and expands vii into the slough of despond viii the utica & black river ix the brisk parsons' regime x in which railroads multiply xi the coming of the new york central xii the end of the story appendix a appendix b illustrations the fleet locomotive _antwerp_ _frontispiece_ facing page orville hungerford the cape vincent station early railroad tickets watertown in the birth of the u. & b. r. hiram m. britton snow fighters preface some railroads, like some men, experience many of the ups and downs of life. they have their seasons of high prosperity, as well as those of deep depression. such a road was the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. in its forty years of life it ran a full gamut of railroad existence. alternately it was one of the best railroads in creation; and one of the worst. the author within these pages has endeavored to put plain fact plainly. he has written without malice--if anything, he still feels within his heart a burst of warm sentiment for the old r. w. & o.--and with every effort toward absolute impartiality in setting down these events that now are history. he bespeaks for his little book, kindness, consideration, even forbearance. and looks forward to the day when again he may take up his pen in the scribbling of another narrative such as this. it has been a task. but it has been a task of real fascination. e. h. a list of those who have assisted materially in the preparation of this book richard c. ellsworth canton harold b. johnson watertown cornelius christie syracuse richard holden watertown j. f. maynard utica dr. charles h. leete potsdam w. d. hanchette watertown richard t. starsmeare kane, pa. w. d. carnes watertown arthur g. leonard chicago robert ward davis rochester george w. knowlton watertown l. s. hungerford chicago hon. chauncey m. depew new york elisha b. powell oswego p. e. crowley new york ira a. place new york f. e. mccormack corning edgar van etten los angeles d. c. moon cleveland james h. hustis boston f. w. thompson san francisco henry n. rockwell albany chas. h. hungerford arlington, vt. charles holcombe biloxi, miss. chapter i by way of introduction in the late summer of the locomotive first reached utica and a new era in the development of central and northern new york was begun. for forty years before that time, however--in fact ever since the close of the war of the revolution--there had been a steady and increasing trek of settlers into the heart of what was soon destined to become the richest as well as the most populous state of the union. but its development was constantly retarded by the lack of proper transportation facilities. for while the valley of the mohawk, the gradual portage just west of rome and the way down to oswego and lake ontario through oneida lake and its emptying waterways, formed the one natural passage in the whole united states of that day from the atlantic seaboard to the great lakes and the little-known country beyond, it was by no means an easy pathway. not even after the western inland lock navigation company had builded its first crude masonry locks in the narrow natural _impasse_ at little falls, so that the _bateaux_ of the early settlers, which made the rest of the route in comparative ease, might pass through its one very difficult bottle-neck. it was not until the coming of the erie canal, there in the second decade of the nineteenth century, that the route into the heart of new york from tidewater at albany, was rendered a reasonably safe and (for that day) comfortable affair. with the completion of the erie canal, in , there was immediately inaugurated a fleet of packet-boats; extremely swift in their day and generation and famed for many a day thereafter for their comfortable cabins and the excellence of their meals. but the comfort of these ancient craft should not be overrated. at the best they were but slow affairs indeed, taking three days to come from albany, where they connected with the early steamboats upon the hudson, up to utica. and at the best they might operate but seven or eight months out of the year. the rest of the twelvemonth, the unlucky wight of a traveler must needs have recourse to a horse-drawn coach. these selfsame coaches were not to be scoffed at, however. across the central portion of new york; by relays all the way from albany to black rock or buffalo, they made a swift passage of it. and up into the great and little known north country they sometimes made exceeding speed. that country had received its first artificial pathways at the time of the coming of the second war with england, when it was thrust into a sudden and great strategic importance. with the direct result that important permanent highroads were at once constructed; from utica north to the black river country, down the water-shed of that stream, and through watertown to sackett's harbor; and from sackett's harbor through brownville--the county seat and for a time the military headquarters of general jacob brown--north to ogdensburgh, thence east along the canada line to plattsburgh upon lake champlain. these military roads still remain. and beside them traces of their erstwhile glory. usually these last in the form of ancient taverns--most often built of limestone, the stone whitened to a marblelike color by the passing of a hundred years, save where loving vines and ivy have clambered over their surfaces. you may see them to-day all the way from utica to sackett's harbor; and, in turn, from sackett's harbor north and east to plattsburgh once again. but none more sad nor more melancholy than at martinsburgh; once in her pride the shire-town of the county of lewis, but now a mere hamlet of a few fine old homes and crumbling warehouses. a great fire in the early fifties ended the ambitions of martinsburgh--in a single short hour destroyed it almost totally. and made its hated rival lowville, two miles to its north, the county seat and chief village of the vicinage. there was much in this north road to remind one of its prototype, the great north road, which ran and still runs from london to york, far overseas. a something in its relative importance that helps to make the parallel. whilst even the famous four-in-hands of its english predecessor might hardly hope to do better than was done on this early road of our own north country. it is a matter of record that on february , , and with a level fall of thirty inches of snow upon the road, the mailstage went from utica to sackett's harbor, ninety-three miles, in nine hours and forty-five minutes, including thirty-nine minutes for stops, horse relays and the like. which would not be bad time with a motor car this day. chapter ii looking toward a railroad the locomotive having reached utica--upon the completion of the utica & schenectady railroad, august , --was not to be long content to make that his western stopping point. the fever of railroad building was upon central new york. railroads it must have; railroads it would have. but railroad building was not the quick and comparatively simple thing then that it is to-day. and it was not until nearly four years after he had first poked his head into utica that the iron horse first thrust his nose into syracuse, fifty-three miles further west. in fact the railroad from this last point to auburn already had been completed more than a twelvemonth and but fifteen months later trains would be running all the way from syracuse to rochester; with but a single change of cars, at auburn. upon the heels of this pioneer chain of railroads--a little later to achieve distinction as the new york central--came the building of a railroad to the highly prosperous lake ontario port of oswego--the earliest of all white settlements upon the great lakes. at first it was planned that this railroad to the shores of ontario should deflect from the utica & syracuse railroad--whose completion had followed so closely upon the heels of the line between schenectady and utica--near rome, and after crossing wood creek and fish creek, should follow the north shore of oneida lake and then down the valley of the oswego river. oswego is but miles from lewiston by water and it was then estimated that it could be reached in twenty-four or twenty-five hours from new york by this combined rail and water route. eventually however the pioneer line to oswego was built out of syracuse, known at first as the oswego and syracuse railroad; it afterwards became a part of the syracuse, binghamton and new york and as a part of that line eventually was merged, in , into the delaware, lackawanna & western railroad, which continues to operate it. this line of road led from the original syracuse station, between salina and warren streets straight to the waterside at oswego harbor. there it made several boat connections; the most important of these, the fleet of mail and passenger craft operated by the one-time ontario & st. lawrence steamboat company. the steamers of this once famous line played no small part in the development of the north country. they operated through six or seven months of the year, as a direct service between lewiston which had at that time highway and then later rail connection with niagara falls and buffalo, through ogdensburgh, toward which, as we shall see in good time, the northern railroad was being builded, close to the canada line from lake champlain and the central vermont railroad at st. albans as an outlet between northern new england and the water-borne traffic of the great lakes. the steamers of this line, whose names, as well as the names of their captains, were once household words in the north country were: _northerner_ captain r. f. child _ontario_ " h. n. throop _bay state_ " j. van cleve _new york_ " -------- _cataract_ " r. b. chapman _british queen_ " laflamme _british empire_ " moody the first four of these steamers, each flying the american flag, were deservedly the best known of the fleet. the _ontario_, the _bay state_ and the _new york_ were built at french creek upon the st lawrence (now clayton) by john oakes; the _northerner_ was oswego-built. they burned wood in the beginning, and averaged about feet in length and about tons burthen. there were in the fleet one or two other less consequential boats, among them the _rochester_, which plied between lewiston and hamilton, in the then canada west, as a connecting steamer with the main line. the steamer _niagara_, captain a. d. kilby, left oswego each monday, wednesday and friday evening at eight, passing rochester the next morning and arriving at toronto at four p. m. returning she would leave toronto on the alternating days at : p. m., pass rochester at : a. m. and arrive at oswego at : a. m., in full time to connect with the oswego & syracuse r. r. train for syracuse, and by connection, to albany and the hudson river steamers for new york. a little later captain john s. warner, of henderson harbor, was the master of the _niagara_. the "line boats," as the larger craft were known, also connected with these through trains. in the morning they did not depart until after the arrival of the train from syracuse. in detail their schedule by was as follows: lv. lewiston p.m. " rochester p.m. " oswego a.m. " sackett's harbor m. " ogdensburgh a.m. ar. montreal p.m. lv. montreal a.m. " ogdensburgh a.m. " kingston p.m. " sackett's harbor p.m. " oswego a.m. " rochester p.m. ar. lewiston a.m. here for many years, before the coming of the railroad, was an agreeable way of travel into northern new york. these steamers, even with thirty foot paddle-wheels, were not fast; on the contrary they were extremely slow. neither were they gaudy craft, as one might find in other parts of the land. but their rates of fare were very low and their meals, which like the berths, were included in the cost of the passage ticket, had a wide reputation for excellence. until the coming of the railroad into northern new york, the line prospered exceedingly. indeed, for a considerable time thereafter it endeavored to compete against the railroad--but with a sense of growing hopelessness. and eventually these once famous steamers having grown both old and obsolete, the line was abandoned. a rival line upon the north edge of lake ontario, the richelieu & ontario, continued to prosper for many years, however, after the coming of the railroad. its steamers--the _corsican_, the _caspian_, the _algerian_, the _spartan_, the _corinthian_ and the _passport_ best known, perhaps, amongst them--ran from hamilton, touching at toronto, kingston, clayton, alexandria bay, prescott and cornwall, through to montreal, where connections were made in turn for lower river ports. the last of these boats continued in operation upon the st. lawrence until within twenty years or thereabouts ago. it is worthy of note that the completion in of the first welland canal began to turn a really huge tide of traffic from lake erie into lake ontario, and for two decades this steadily increased. in ontario bore some , tons of freight upon its bosom, yet in the following year this had increased to nearly , tons, valued at more than thirty millions of dollars. in a tonnage mark of more than a million was passed and the lake then achieved an activity that it has not known since. in that year the watertown & rome railroad began its really active operations and the traffic of ontario to dwindle in consequence. whilst the cross-st. lawrence ferry at cape vincent, the first northern terminal of the rome road, began to assume an importance that it was not to lose for nearly forty years. * * * * * steamboat travel was hardly to be relied upon in a country which suffers so rigorous a winter climate as that of northern new york. and highway travel in the bitter months between november and april was hardly better. a railroad was the thing; and a railroad the north country must have. the agitation grew for a direct line at least between watertown, already coming into importance as a manufacturing center of much diversity of product, to the erie canal and the chain of separate growing railroads, that by the end of , stretched as a continuous line of rails all the way from albany--and by way of the western and the boston & worcester railroads (to-day the boston and albany) all the way from boston itself--to buffalo and niagara falls. prosperity already was upon the north country. it was laying the foundations of its future wealth. it was ordained that a railroad should be given it. the problem was just how and where that railroad should be built. after a brief but bitter fight between rome and utica for the honor of being the chief terminal of this railroad up into the north country, rome was chosen; as far back as . yet it was not until sixteen years later that the construction of the watertown & rome railroad, the pioneer road of northern new york, was actually begun. and had been preceded by a mighty and almost continuous legislative battle in the old capitol at albany ... of which more in another chapter. in the meantime other railroads had been projected into the north country. the real pioneer among all of these was the northern railroad, which was projected to run due west from rouse's point to ogdensburgh, just above the head of the highest of the rapids of the st. lawrence and so at that time at the foot of the easy navigation of ontario, and, by way of the welland canal, of the entire chain of great lakes. the preliminary discussions which finally led to the construction of this important early line also went as far back as . finally a meeting was called (at montpelier, vt., on february , ) to seriously consider the building of a railroad across the northern tier of new york counties, from rouse's point, upon lake champlain, to ogdensburgh, upon the st. lawrence. the promoters of the plan averred that trains might be operated over the proposed line at fifteen miles an hour, that the entire journey from boston to ogdensburgh might be accomplished in thirty-five hours. there were, of course, many wise men who shook their heads at the rashness of such prediction. but the idea fascinated them none the less; and twenty-eight days later a similar meeting to that at montpelier was held at ogdensburgh, to be followed a year later by one at malone. so was the idea born. it grew, although very slowly. communication itself in the north country was slow in those days, even though the fine military road from sackett's harbor through ogdensburgh to plattsburgh was a tolerable artery of travel most of the year. money also was slow. and men, over enterprises so extremely new and so untried as railroads, most diffident. for it must be remembered that when the promoters of the northern railroad first made that outrageous promise of going from boston to ogdensburgh in thirty-five hours, at fifteen miles an hour, the railroad in the united states was barely born. the first locomotive--the _stourbridge lion_, at honesdale, penn.--had been operated less than a twelvemonth before. in the entire united states there were less than twenty-three miles of railroad in operation. so wonder it not that the plan for the northern railroad grew very slowly indeed; that it did not reach incorporation until fourteen long years afterward, when the legislature of new york authorized david c. judson and joseph barnes, of st. lawrence county, s. c. wead, of franklin county and others as commissioners to receive and distribute stock of the northern railroad; $ , , all told, divided into shares of $ each. the date of the formal incorporation of the road was may , . its organization was not accomplished, however, until june, , when the first meeting was held in the then village of ogdensburgh, and the following officers elected: _president_, george parish, ogdensburgh _treasurer_, s. s. walley _secretary_, james g. hopkins _chief engineer_, col. charles l. schlatter _directors_ j. leslie russell, canton charles paine, northfield, vt. hiram horton, malone s. f. belknap, windsor, vt. j. wiley edmonds, boston benjamin reed, boston anthony c. brown, ogdensburgh isaac spalding, nashua, n. h. lawrence myers, plattsburgh abbot lawrence, boston t. p. chandler, boston s. s. lewis, boston soon after the organization of the company, t. p. chandler succeeded mr. parish (who was for many years easily the most prominent citizen of ogdensburgh) as president, and steps were taken toward the immediate construction of the line. after the inevitable preliminary contentions as to the exact route to be followed, james hayward made the complete surveys of the line as it exists at present, while colonel schlatter, its chief engineer and for a number of years its superintendent as well, prepared to build it. actual construction was begun in march, , in the deep cutting just east of ogdensburgh. at the same time grading and the laying of rail began at the east end of the road--at rouse's point at the foot of lake champlain--with the result that in the fall of trains were in regular operation between rouse's point and centreville. a year later the road had been extended to ellenburgh; in june, , to chateaugay. on october , , trains ran into malone. a month later it was finished and open for its entire length of miles. its cost, including its equipment and fixtures, was then placed at $ , , . . * * * * * it is not within the province of this little book to set down in detail the somewhat checkered career of the northern railroad. it started with large ambitions--even before its incorporation, james g. hopkins, who afterwards became its secretary, traveled through the northern tier and expatiated upon its future possibilities in a widely circulated little pamphlet. it was a road builded for a large traffic. so sure were its promoters of this forthcoming business that they placed its track upon the side of the right-of-way, rather than in the middle of it, in order that it would not have to be moved when it came time to double-track the road. the road was never double-tracked. for some years it prospered--very well. it made a direct connection between the large lake steamers at the foot of navigation at ogdensburgh--it will be remembered that ogdensburgh is just above the swift-running and always dangerous rapids of the st. lawrence--and the important port of boston. the completion of the line was followed almost immediately by the construction of a long bridge across the foot of lake champlain which brought it into direct connection with the rails of the central vermont at st. albans--and so in active touch with all of the new england lines. the ambitious hopes of the promoters of the northern took shape not only in the construction of the stone shops and the large covered depot at malone (built in by w. a. wheeler--afterwards not only president of the property, but vice-president of the united states--it still stands in active service) but in the building of feet of wharfage and elaborate warehouses and other terminal structures upon the river bank at ogdensburgh. the most of these also still stand--memorials of the large scale upon which the road originally was designed. gradually, however, its strength faded. other rail routes, more direct and otherwise more advantageous, came to combat it. fewer and still fewer steamers came to its ogdensburgh docks--at the best it was a seasonal business; the st. lawrence is thoroughly frozen and out of use for about five months out of each year. the steamers of the upper lakes outgrew in size the locks of the welland canal and so made for buffalo--in increasing numbers. the northern railroad entered upon difficulties, to put it mildly. it was reorganized and reorganized; it became the ogdensburgh railroad, then the ogdensburgh & lake champlain, then a branch of the central vermont and then upon the partial dismemberment of that historic property, a branch of the rutland railroad. as such it still continues with a moderate degree of success. in any narrative of the development of transport in the north country it must be forever regarded, however, as a genuine pioneer among its railroads. * * * * * one other route was seriously projected from the eastern end of the state into the north country--the sackett's harbor and saratoga railroad co. which was chartered april , . after desperate efforts to build a railroad through the vast fastnesses of the north woods--then a _terra incognito_, almost impenetrable--and the expenditure of very considerable sums of money, both in surveys and in actual construction, this enterprise was finally abandoned. yet one to-day can still see traces of it across the forest. in the neighborhood of beaver falls, they become most definite; a long cutting and an embankment reaching from it, a melancholy reminder of a mighty human endeavor of just seventy years ago. if this route had ever been completed, watertown to-day would enjoy direct rail communication with boston, although not reaching within a dozen miles of albany. the fitchburg, which always sought, but vainly, to make itself an effective competitor of the powerful boston & albany, built itself through to saratoga springs, largely in hopes that some day the line through the forest to sackett's harbor would be completed. it was a vain hope. the faintest chance of that line ever being built was quite gone. a quarter of a century later the fitchburg thrust another branch off from its saratoga line to reach the ambitious new west shore at rotterdam junction. that hope also faded. and the fitchburg, now an important division of the boston & maine, despite its direct route and short mileage through the hoosac tunnel, became forever a secondary route across the state of massachusetts. * * * * * the reports of the prospecting parties of the sackett's harbor & saratoga form a pleasing picture of the northern new york at the beginning of the fifties. the company had been definitely formed with its chief offices at wall street, new york, and the following officers and directors: _president_, william coventry h. waddell, new york _supt. of operations_, gen. s. p. lyman, new york _treasurer_, henry stanton, new york _secretary_, samuel ellis, boston _counsel_, samuel beardsley, utica _consulting engineer_, john b. mills, new york _directors_ charles e. clarke, great bend lyman r. lyon, lyons falls robert speir, west milton john r. thurman, chester zadock pratt, prattsville wm. coventry h. waddell, new york p. somerville stewart, carthage e. g. merrick, french creek james m. marvin, saratoga anson thomas, utica otis clapp, boston gen. s. p. lyman, utica henry stanton, new york mr. a. f. edwards received his appointment as chief engineer of the company on march , , and soon afterwards entered upon a detailed reconnoissance of the territory embraced within its charter. he examined closely into its mineral and timber resources and gave great attention to its future agricultural and industrial possibilities. in the early part of his report he says: "in the latter part of september, , i left saratoga for the racket (racquette) lake, via utica. on my way i noticed on the mohawk that there had been frost, and as i rode along in the stage from utica to boonville, i saw that the frost had bitten quite sharply the squash vines and the potatoes, the leaves having become quite black; but judge my surprise, when three days later on visiting the settlement of the racket, i found the beans, cucumber vines, potatoes, &c., as fresh as in midsummer." his examination of the territory completed, mr. edwards began the rough location of the line of the new railroad. from saratoga it passed westerly to the valley of the kayaderosseras, in the town of greenfield, thence north through greenfield center, south corinth and through the "antonio notch" in the town of corinth to the sacondaga valley, up which it proceeded to the village of conklingville, easterly through huntsville and northville, through the town of hope to "the forks." from there it went up the east branch of the sacondaga, through wells and gilman to the isolated town of lake pleasant. spruce lake and the headwaters of the canada creek were threaded to the summit of the line at the canada lakes. the middle and the western branches of the moose river were passed near old forge and the line descended the otter creek valley, crossing the independence river and down the crystal creek through and near dayansville and beaver falls to carthage where for the first time it would touch the black river. from carthage to watertown it was planned that it would closely follow the black river valley, crossing the river three times, and leaving it at watertown for a straight run across the flats to sackett's harbor; along the route of the already abandoned canal which elisha camp and a group of associates had builded in and had left to its fate in ; in fact almost precisely upon the line of the present sackett's harbor branch of the new york central. at the harbor great terminal developments were planned; an inner harbor in the village and an outer one of considerable magnitude at horse island. from carthage a branch line was projected to french creek, now the busy summer village of clayton. the route was to diverge from the main line about one mile west of great bend thence running in a tangent to the indian river, about a mile and one-half east of evan's mills, where after crossing that stream upon a bridge of two spans and at a height of sixty feet would recross it two miles further on and then run in an almost straight line to clayton. here a very elaborate harbor improvement was planned, with a loop track and almost continuous docks to encircle the compact peninsula upon which the village is built. "at french creek on a clear day," says mr. edwards, "the roofs of the buildings at kingston, across the st. lawrence, can be seen with the naked eye. all the steamers and sail vessels, up and down the river and lake, pass this place and when the grand trunk railroad is completed, it will be as convenient a point as can be found to connect with the same." all the while he waxes most enthusiastic about the future possibilities of northern new york, particularly the westerly counties of it. he calls attention to the thriving villages of turin, martinsburgh, lowville, denmark, lyonsdale (i am leaving the older names as he gives them in his report) and dayansville, in the black river valley. "in the wealthy county of jefferson," he adds, "are the towns of carthage, great bend, felt's mills, lockport (now black river), brownville and dexter, with watertown, its county seat, well located for a manufacturing city, having ample water power, at the same time surrounded by a country rich in its soil and highly cultivated to meet the wants of the operatives. watertown contains about , inhabitants and is the most modern, city-like built, inland town in the union, containing about stores, five banks, cotton and woolen factories, six large flouring mills, machine shops, furnaces, paper mills, and innumerable other branches of business, with many first class hotels, among which the 'woodruff house' may be justly called the metropolitan of western new york." in that early day, more than $ , had been invested in manufacturing enterprises along the black river, at watertown and below. the territory was a fine traffic plum for any railroad project. it seems a pity that after all the ambitious dreams of the sackett's harbor & saratoga and the very considerable expenditures that were made upon its right-of-way, that it was to be doomed to die without ever having operated a single through train. the nineteen or twenty miles of its line that were put down, north and west from saratoga springs, long since lost their separate identity as a branch of the delaware & hudson system. chapter iii the coming of the watertown & rome the first successful transportation venture of the north country was still ahead of it. the efforts of these patient souls, who struggled so hard to establish the northern railroad as an entrance to the six counties from the east, were being echoed by those who strove to gain a rail entrance into it from the south. long ago in this narrative we saw how as far back as the locomotive first entered utica. six or seven years later there was a continuous chain of railroads from albany to buffalo--precursors of the present new york central--and ambitious plans for building feeder lines to them from surrounding territory, both to the north and to the south. the early oswego & syracuse railroad was typical of these. of all these plans none was more ambitious, however, than that which sought to build a line from rome into the heart of the rich county of jefferson, the lower valley of the black river and the st. lawrence river at almost the very point where lake ontario debouches into it. the scheme for this road, in actuality, antedated the coming of the locomotive into utica by four years, for it was in --upon the th day of april in that year--that the watertown & rome railroad was first incorporated and henry h. coffeen, edmund kirby, orville hungerford and william smith of jefferson county, hiram hubbell, caleb carr, benjamin h. wright and elisha hart, of oswego, and jesse armstrong, alvah sheldon, artemas trowbridge and seth d. roberts, of oneida, named by the legislature as commissioners to promote the enterprise. later george c. sherman, of watertown, was added to these commissioners. the act provided that the road should be begun within three years and completed within five. its capital stock was fixed at $ , , , divided into shares of $ each. the commercial audacity, the business daring of these men of the north country in even seeking to establish so huge an enterprise in those early days of its settlement is hard to realize in this day, when our transport has come to be so facile and easily understood a thing. their courage was the courage of mental giants. the railroad was less than three years established in the united states; in the entire world less than five. yet they sought to bring into northern new york, there at the beginning of the third decade of the nineteenth century, hardly emerged from primeval forest, the highway of iron rail, that even so highly a developed civilization as that of england was receiving with great caution and uncertainty. these men of the north country had not alone courage, but vision; not alone vision, but perseverance. their railroad once born, even though as a trembling thing that for years existed upon paper only, was not permitted to die. it could not die. and that it should live the pioneers of jefferson and oswego rode long miles over unspeakably bad roads with determination in their hearts. * * * * * the act that established the watertown & rome railroad was never permitted to expire. it was revived; again and again and again--in , in , and again in . it is related how night after night william smith and clarke rice used to sit in an upper room of a house on factory street in watertown--then as now, the shire-town of jefferson--and exhibit to callers a model of a tiny train running upon a little track. factory street was then one of the most attractive residence streets of watertown. the irony of fate was yet to transfer it into a rather grimy artery of commerce--by the single process of the building of the main line of the potsdam & watertown railroad throughout its entire length. these men, and others, kept the project alive. william dewey was one of its most enthusiastic proponents. as the result of a meeting held at pulaski on june , , he had been chosen to survey a line from watertown to rome--through pulaski. with the aid of robert f. livingston and james roberts, this was accomplished in the fall of . soon after dewey issued two thousand copies of a small thirty-two page pamphlet, entitled _suggestions urging the construction of a railroad from rome to watertown_. it was a potent factor in advocating the new enterprise; so potent, in fact, that cape vincent, alarmed at not being included in all of these plans, held a mass-meeting which was followed by the incorporation of the watertown & cape vincent railroad, with a modest capitalization of but $ , . surveys followed, and the immediate result of this step was to include the present cape vincent branch in all the plans for the construction of the original watertown & rome railroad. these plans, as we have just seen, did not move rapidly. it is possible that the handicap of the great distances of the north country might have been overcome had it not been that was destined as the year of the first great financial crash that the united states had ever known. the northern counties of new york were by no means immune from the severe effects of that disaster. money was tight. the future looked dark. but the two gentlemen of watertown kept their little train going there in the small room on factory street. faith in any time or place is a superb thing. in business it is a very real asset indeed. and the faith of clarke rice and william smith was reflected in the courage of dewey, who would not let the new road die. to keep it alive he rode up and down the proposed route on horseback, summer and winter, urging its great necessity. * * * * * out of that faith came large action once again. railroad meetings began to multiply in the north country; the success of similar enterprises, not only in new york state, but elsewhere within the union, was related to them. finally there came one big meeting, on a very cold th of february in , in the old universalist church at watertown. all watertown came to it; out of it grew a definite railroad. yet it grew very slowly. in the files of the old _northern state journal_, of watertown, and under the date of march , , i find an irritated editorial reference to the continual delays in the building of the road. under the heading "our railroad," the _journal_ describes a railroad meeting held in the jefferson county court house a few days before and goes on to say: "... seldom has any meeting been held in this county where more unanimity and enthusiastic devotion to a great public object have been displayed, than was evidenced in the character and conduct of the assemblage that filled the court house.... _go ahead_, and that _immediately_, was the ruling motto in the speeches and resolutions and the whole meeting sympathized in the sentiment. and indeed, it is time to go _ahead_. it is now about sixteen years since a charter was first obtained and yet the first blow is not struck. no excuse for further delay will be received. none will be needed. we understand that measures have already been taken to expend in season the amount necessary to secure the charter--to call in the first installment of five per cent--to organize and put upon the line the requisite number of engineers and surveyors--and to hold an election for a new board of directors. "we trust that none but efficient men, firm friends of the railroad, will be put in the direction. the stockholders should look to this and vote for no man that they do not know to be warmly in favor of an active prosecution of the work to an early completion. this subject has been so long before the community that every man's sentiments are known, and it would be folly to expose the road to defeat now by not being careful in the selection. with a board of directors such as can be found, the autumn of should be signalized by the opening of the entire road from the cape to rome. it can be done and it should be done. the road being a great good the sooner we enjoy it the better." so it was that upon the sixth day of the following april the actual organization of the watertown & rome railroad was accomplished at the american hotel, in watertown, and an emissary despatched to albany, who succeeded on april th in having the original act for the construction of the line extended, for a final time. it also provided for the increase of the capitalization from $ , , to $ , , --in order that the new road, once built, could be properly equipped with iron rail, weighing at least fifty-six pounds to the yard. it was not difficult by that time to sell the additional stock in the company. the missionary work--to-day we would call it propaganda--of its first promoters really had been a most thorough job. [illustration: orville hungerford first president of the watertown & rome railroad.] the original officers of the watertown & rome railroad were: _president_, orville hungerford, watertown _secretary_, clarke rice, watertown _treasurer_, o. v. brainard, watertown _superintendent_, r. b. doxtater, watertown _directors_ s. n. dexter, new york william c. pierrepont, brooklyn john h. whipple, new york norris m. woodruff, watertown samuel buckley, watertown jerre carrier, cape vincent clarke rice, watertown robert b. doxtater, new york orville hungerford, watertown william smith, watertown edmund kirby, brownville theophilus peugnet, cape vincent the summer of was spent chiefly in perfecting the organization and financial plans of the new road, in eliminating a certain opposition to it within its own ranks and in strengthening its morale. at the initial meeting of the board of directors, william smith had been allowed two dollars a day for soliciting subscriptions while messrs. hungerford, pierrepont, doxtater and dexter were appointed a committee to go to new york and boston for the same purpose. a campaign fund of $ was allotted for this entire purpose. the question of finances was always a delicate and a difficult one. in the minutes of the board for may , , i find that the question of where the road should bank its funds had been a vexed one, indeed. it was then settled by dividing the amount into twentieths, of which the jefferson county bank should have eight, the black river, four, hungerford's, three, the bank of watertown, three, and wooster sherman's two. gradually these funds accumulated. the subscriptions had been solicited upon a partial payment basis and these initial payments of five and ten percent were providing the money for the expenses of organization and careful survey. this last was accomplished in the summer of , by isaac w. crane, who had been engaged as chief engineer of the property at $ a year. mr. crane made careful resurveys of the route--omitting pulaski this time; to the very great distress of that village--and estimated the complete cost of the road at about $ , , . it is interesting to note that its actual cost, when completed, was $ , , . * * * * * in that same summer, mr. brainard retired as treasurer of the company and was succeeded by daniel lee, of watertown, whose annual compensation was fixed at $ . later, mr. lee increased this, by taking upon his shoulders the similar post of the potsdam & watertown. the infant watertown & rome found need of offices for itself. it engaged quarters over tubbs' hat store, which modestly it named the railroad rooms and there it was burned out in the great fire of watertown, may , . all of these were indeed busy months of preparation. there were locomotives to be ordered. four second-hand engines, as we shall see in a moment, were bought at once in new england, but the old engine _cayuga_, which the schenectady & utica had offered the rome road at a bargain-counter price of $ finally was refused. negotiations were then begun with the taunton locomotive works for the construction of engines which would be quite the equal of any turned out in the land up to that time; and which were to be delivered to the company, at its terminal at rome--at a cost of $ apiece. horace w. woodruff, of watertown, was given the contract for building the cars for the new line; he was to be paid for them, one-third in the stock of the company and two-thirds in cash. his car-works were upon the north bank of the black river, upon the site now occupied by the wise machine company and it was necessary to haul the cars by oxen to the rails of the new road, then in the vicinity of watertown junction. yet despite the fact that his works in watertown never had a railroad siding woodruff later attained quite a fame as a builder of sleeping-cars. his cars at one time were used almost universally upon the railroads of the southwest. * * * * * construction began upon the new line at rome, obviously chosen because of the facility with which materials could be brought to that point, either by rail or by canal--although no small part of the iron for the road was finally brought across the atlantic and up the st. lawrence to cape vincent. nat hazeltine is credited with having turned the first bit of sod for the line. the gentle nature of the country to be traversed by the new railroad--the greater part of it upon the easy slopes at the easterly end of lake ontario--presented no large obstacles, either to the engineers or the contractors, these last, messrs. phelps, matoon and barnes, of springfield, massachusetts. the rails, as provided in the extension of the road's charter, were fifty-six pounds to the yard (to-day they are for the greater part in excess of ) and came from the rolling-mills of guest & company, in wales. the excellence of their material and their workmanship is evidenced by the fact that they continued in service for many years, without a single instance of breakage. when they finally were removed it was because they were worn out and quite unfit for further service. * * * * * construction once begun, went ahead very slowly, but unceasingly. by the fall of track was laid for about twenty-four miles north of rome and upon september th of that year, a passenger service was installed between rome and camden. fares were fixed at three cents a mile--later a so-called second-class, at one and one-half cents a mile was added--and a brisk business started at once. it was not until may of the following year that the iron horse first poked his nose into the county of jefferson. the (watertown) _reformer_ announced in its issue of may that year that the six miles of track already laid that spring would come into use that very week, bringing the completed line into the now forgotten hamlet of washingtonville in the north part of oswego county. two weeks later, it predicted it would be in jefferson. its prediction was accurately fulfilled. on the twenty-eighth day of the month, at pierrepont manor, this important event formally came to pass and was attended by a good-sized conclave of prominent citizens, who afterwards repaired to the home of mr. william c. pierrepont, not far from the depot, where refreshments were served. the rest your historian leaves to your imagination. at that day and hour it seemed as if pierrepont manor was destined to become an important town. the land office of its great squire was still doing a thriving business. for pierrepont manor then, and for ten years afterwards, was a railroad junction, with a famous eating-house as one of its appendages. it seems that sackett's harbor had decided that it was not going to permit itself to be outdone in this railroad business by cape vincent. if the harbor could not realize its dream of a railroad to saratoga it might at least build one to the new watertown & rome road there at pierrepont manor, and so gain for itself a direct route to both new york and boston. and as a fairly immediate extension, a line on to pulaski, which might eventually reach syracuse, was suggested. at any rate, on may , , the sackett's harbor & ellisburgh railroad was incorporated. funds were quickly raised for its construction, and it was builded almost coincidently with the watertown & rome. thomas stetson, of boston, had the contract for building the line; being paid $ , ; two-thirds in cash and one-third in its capital stock. it was completed and opened for business by the first day of january, . it was not destined, however, for a long existence. from the beginning it failed to bring adequate returns--the watertown & rome management quite naturally favoring its own water terminal at cape vincent. by it was in a fearful quagmire. in november of that year, w. t. searle, of belleville, its president and superintendent, wrote to the state engineer and surveyor at albany, saying that the road had reorganized itself as the sackett's harbor, rome & new york, and that it was going to take a new try at life. but it was a hard outlook. "the engine used by the company," mr. searle wrote, "belongs to persons, who purchased it for the purpose of the operation of the road when it was known by the corporate name of the sackett's harbor & ellisburgh, and has cost the corporation nothing up to the end of this year for its use. all the cars used on the road (there were only four) except the passenger-car, are in litigation, but in the possession of individuals, principally stockholders in this road, who have allowed the corporation the use of them free of expense...." yet despite this gloom, the little road was keeping up at least the pretense of its service. it had two trains a day; leaving pierrepont manor at : a. m. and : p. m. and after intermediate stops at belleville, henderson and smithville reaching sackett's harbor at : a. m. (a connection with the down boat for kingston and for ogdensburgh) and at : p. m. the trains returned from the harbor at : a. m. and : p. m. reorganization, the grace of a new name, failed to save this line. the civil war broke upon the country, with it times of surpassing hardness and in it was abandoned; the following year its rails torn up forever. yet to this day one who is even fairly acquainted with the topography of jefferson county may trace its path quite clearly. here ended then, rather ignominiously to be sure, a fairly ambitious little railroad project. and while sackett's harbor was eventually to have rail transport service restored to it, belleville was henceforth to be left nearly stranded--until the coming of the improved highway and the motor-propelled vehicle upon it. yet it was belleville that had furnished most of the inspiration and the capital for the sackett's harbor & ellisburgh. and even though in its old records i find mr. m. loomis, of the harbor, listed as its treasurer, secretary, general freight agent and general ticket agent--a regular pooh bah sort of a job--w. t. searle, of belleville, was its president and superintendent; and a. dickinson, of the same village, its vice-president; george clarke and a. j. barney among the directors. these men had dared much to bring the railroad to their village and failing eventually must finally have conceded much to the impotence of human endeavor. * * * * * in the summer of work upon the watertown & rome steadily went forward and at a swifter pace than ever before. all the way through to cape vincent the contractors were at work upon the new line. they were racing against time itself almost to complete the road. there were valuable mail contracts to be obtained and upon these hung much of the immediate financial success of the road. in the spring of , by a rare stroke of good fortune, the author of this book was enabled to obtain firsthand the story of the construction of the northern section of the line. at kane, pa., he found a venerable gentleman, mr. richard t. starsmeare, who at the extremely advanced age of ninety-five years was able to tell with a marvelous clearness of the part that he, himself, had played in the construction of the line between chaumont and cape vincent. with a single wave of his hand he rolled back seventy long years and told in simple fashion the story of his connection with the watertown & rome: young starsmeare, a native of london, at the age of twenty had run away to sea. he crossed on a lumber-ship to quebec and slowly made his way up the valley of the st. lawrence. the year, , had scarce been born, before he found himself in the stout, gray old city of kingston in what was then called upper canada. it was an extremely hard winter and the st. lawrence was solidly frozen. so that starsmeare had no difficulty whatsoever in crossing on the ice to cape vincent. that was on the sixteenth day of january. sleighing in the north country was good. the english lad had little difficulty in picking up a ride here and a ride there until he was come to henderson harbor to the farm of a man named leffingwell. here he found employment. but starsmeare had not come to america to be a farmer. and so, a year later, when the spring was well advanced, he borrowed a half-dollar from his employer and rode in the stage to sackett's harbor. that ancient port was a gay place there at the beginning of the fifties. its piers were so crowded that vessels lay in the offing, their white sails clearly outlined against the blue of the harbor and the sky, awaiting an opportunity to berth against them. but the vessels had no more than a passing interest for the young englishman who saw them in all the rush and bustle of the sackett's harbor of . for men in the lakeside village were whispering of the coming of the railroad, of the magic presence of the locomotive that so soon was to be visited upon them. at these rumors the pulse of young richard starsmeare quickened. he had seen the railroad already--back home. he had seen it in his home city of london, had seen it cutting in great slits through camden town and somers town, riding across lambeth upon seemingly unending brick viaducts. his desire formed itself. he would go to work upon this railroad.... the master of a small coasting ship sailing out from sackett's harbor that very afternoon offered him a lift as far as three mile bay. at three mile bay they were to have the railroad. yet when he arrived there were no signs whatsoever of the iron horse or his special pathway. "at chaumont you will find it," they told him there. off toward chaumont he trudged. and presently was awarded by the sight of bright yellow stakes set in the fields. he followed these for a little way and found teams and wagons at work. here was the railroad. the railroad needed men. specifically it needed young starsmeare. he found the boss contractor; and went to work for him. he helped get stone out of a nearby quarry for chaumont bridge. that winter he assisted in the building of chaumont bridge; a rather pretentious enterprise for those days. * * * * * steadily the watertown & rome went ahead. on the fourth of july, , it was completed to adams, which was made the occasion of a mighty independence day celebration in that brisk village. upon the arrival of the first train at its depot, a huge parade was formed which marched up into the center of the town, where levi h. brown, of watertown, read the declaration of independence, and william dewey, who had made the building of the watertown & rome his life work, delivered a smashing address. afterwards the procession reformed and returned to the depot where a big dinner was served and the drinking of toasts was in order. there were fireworks in the evening and the adams guards honored the occasion with a torchlight parade. for some weeks the line halted there at adams. a citizen of watertown wrote in his diary in august of that year that he had had a fearful time getting home from new york "... the cars only ran to adams, and i had to have my horse sent down there from watertown. i had a hard time for a young man...." he complains naïvely. the railroad was, however, opened to watertown, its headquarters, its chief town, and the inspiration that had brought it into being, on the evening of september , . at eleven o'clock that evening, up to the front of the passenger station, then located near the foot of stone street, the first locomotive came into watertown. i am not at all sure which one of the road's small fleet it was. it had started building operations with four tiny second-hand locomotives which it had garnered chiefly from new england--the _lion_, the _roxbury_, the _commodore_ and the _chicopee_. of these the _lion_ was probably the oldest, certainly the smallest. it had been builded by none other than the redoubtable george stephenson, himself, in england, some ten or fifteen years before it first came into northern new york. it was an eight-wheeled engine, of but fourteen tons in weight. so very small was it in fact that it was of very little practical use, that louis l. grant, of rome, who was one of the road's first repair-shop foreman, finally took off the light side-rods between the drivers--the _lion_ was inside connected, after the inevitable british fashion, and had a v-hook gear and a variable cut-off--and gained an appreciable tractive power for the little engine. but, at the best, she was hardly a practical locomotive, even for . and soon after the completion of the road to cape vincent she was relegated to the round-house there and stored against an emergency. that emergency came three or four years after the opening of the line. a horseman had ridden in great haste to the cape from rosiere--then known as labranche's crossing--with news of possible disaster. "the wood-pile's all afire at the crossing," he shouted. "ef the road is a goin' to have any fuel this winter you'd better be hustling down there." richard starsmeare was on duty at the round-house. he hurriedly summoned the renowned casey eldredge, then and for many years afterwards a famed engineer of the rome road and peter runk, the extra fireman there. together they got out the little _lion_ and made her fast to a flat-car upon which had been put four or five barrels filled with water to extinguish the conflagration. it would have been a serious matter indeed to the road to have had that wood-pile destroyed. it was one of the chief sources of fuel supply of the new railroad. the _lion_, with its tiny fire-fighting crew, went post-haste to labranche's. but when it had arrived the farmers roundabout already had managed to extinguish the flames.... casey eldredge reached for his watch. "gee," said he, "we shall have to be getting out of this. the steamboat express will be upon our heels. peter, get the fire up again." peter got the fire up. he opened the old fire-box door and thrust an armful of pine into it. the blaze started up with a roar. and then the men who were on the engine found themselves lying on their backs on the grass beside the railroad.... they plowed the _lion_ out of the fields around labranche's for the next two years. her safety-valve was turned out of the ground by a farmer's boy a good two miles from the railroad. starsmeare got it and carried it in his tool-box for years thereafter--he quickly rose to the post of engineer and in the days of the civil war ran a locomotive upon the united states military railroad from washington south through alexandria to orange court house. so perished the _lion_. the little _roxbury's_ fate was more prosaic. with the flanges upon her driving-wheels ground down and her frame set upon brick piers she became the first powerhouse of the rome shops. the _commodore_ and the _chicopee_ were larger engines. with their names changed they entered the road's permanent engine fleet. * * * * * in the meantime the watertown & rome was having its own new locomotives builded for it in a shop in the united states. four of the new engines were completed and ready for service about the time that the road was opened into watertown. the fifth engine, the _orville hungerford_, built like its four immediate predecessors, by william fairbanks, at taunton, mass., was not delivered until the th day of that same september, . the _hungerford_ was quite the best bit of the road's motive-power, then and for a number of years thereafter. she was inside connected--her cylinders and driving-rods being placed inside of the wheels; always the fashion of british locomotives--and it was not until a long time afterwards that she was rebuilt in the rome shops and the cylinders and rods placed outside, after the present-day american fashion. she was but twenty-one and a half tons in weight all-told, while her four predecessors, the _watertown_, the _rome_, the _adams_ and the _kingston_, each twenty-two tons and a half. * * * * * i have digressed. it still is the evening of the fifth of september, . a great crowd had congregated that evening in the neighborhood of that first, small temporary station at watertown. the iron horse was greeted with many salvos of applause, the waving of a thousand torches and, it is to be presumed, with the presence of a band. yet the real celebration over the arrival of the railroad was delayed for nineteen days, when there was a genuine _fête_. it was first announced by the _reformer_ on the th of september, saying: "... we are informed by r. b. doxtater, esq., the gentlemanly and efficient superintendent of the watertown & rome railroad, that the public celebration in connection with the opening of this road will take place on wednesday, the th september. this will be a proud day for jefferson county and we trust that she may wear the honor conferred upon her in a becoming manner. the known liberality of our citizens induces the belief that nothing will be left undone on their part to contribute to the general festivities and interest of the occasion...." nothing was left undone. the morning of the th of september was ushered in by a salute of guns; thirteen in all, one for each member of the board of directors. at o'clock a parade formed in the public square, under the direction of general abner baker, grand marshal of the day, and in the following formation: music watertown citizens' corps order of the sons of temperance fire companies of watertown and rome order of odd fellows committee of arrangements corporate authorities of watertown, kingston, rome and utica clergy and the press officers, directors, engineers and contractors of the watertown & rome railroad specially invited guests strangers from abroad and the stockholders citizens the procession marched down stone street to the passenger depot of the new railroad where the special train from rome arrived at a little after eleven o'clock and was greeted by a salvo of seventy-two guns--one for each mile of completed line. there it reformed, with its accessions from the train and returned to the public square where there was unbridled oratory for nearly an hour. after which a return to the depot in which a large collation was served, before the return to the special train for rome. so came the railroad to watertown. by an odd coincidence, the hudson river railroad from new york to albany was finished in almost that same month. it was with a good deal of pride that the resident of watertown contemplated the fact that he might leave his village by the morning train at five o'clock and be in the metropolis of the new world by six o'clock that same evening. such speed! such progress! * * * * * in the meantime the watertown & rome railroad had sustained a real loss; in the death, on the morning of sunday, april , , of its first president, the hon. orville hungerford. as the son of one of the earliest pioneers of watertown, mr. hungerford had played no small part in its development. merchant, banker, congressman, he had been to it. and to the struggling watertown & rome railroad he was not merely its president, but its financial adviser and friend. it was due to his personal endorsement of the project, as well as that of his bank, that hope in it was finally revived. then it was that foreign capitalists had their doubts as to its final success dispelled and gave evidence of their faith in the new road by substantial purchases of its securities. mr. hungerford was succeeded as president of the watertown & rome by mr. w. c. pierrepont, of brooklyn, who, while in one sense an alien to jefferson county, was in another and far larger one, not only one of her chief residents but one of her most loyal sons. he, too, had been a powerful friend and advocate of the new road, had worked tirelessly in its behalf. it was his rare opportunity to stand as its president when the locomotive first arrived at pierrepont manor, the center of his land holdings, and a very few months later in the same enviable post at watertown. it was his patient habit to go down to the depot at the manor evening after evening and with a spy-glass in hand watch the track toward mannsville for the coming of the evening train. there was no telegraph in those days, of course, and the locomotive's smoke was the only signal of its pending arrival. neither was there any standard time. finally it was pierrepont, himself, who fixed the official time for the road, ascertaining by a skillful use of his chronometer that the suntime at watertown was just seven minutes and forty-eight seconds slower than that of the city hall in new york. and so it was officially fixed for the railroad. under mr. pierrepont's oversight the watertown & rome railroad was finished; through to the village of chaumont in the fall of , and then in april of the following year to cape vincent, its original northern terminal. at this last point elaborate plans were made for a water terminal. even though the harbor there was not to be protected by a breakwater for many, many years to come, the town was recognized as an international gateway of a very considerable importance. a ferry steamer, _the lady of the lake_, which had attained a distinction from the fact that it was the first upon these northern waters to have staterooms upon its upper decks, was engaged for service between the cape and the city of kingston, in upper canada. extensive piers and an elevator were builded there upon the bank of the st. lawrence, and the large covered passenger station that was so long a familiar landmark of that port. [illustration: the cape vincent station a real landmark of the old rome road, built in and destroyed by a great storm in .] for forty years this station stood, even though the span of life of the large hotel that adjoined it was ended a decade earlier by a most devastating fire. but, upon the evening of september , , when conductor w. d. carnes--best known as "billy" carnes--brought his train into the shed to connect with the kingston boat, a violent storm thrust itself down upon the cape. in the rainburst that accompanied it, the folk upon the dock sought shelter in the trainshed, and there they were trapped. the wind swept through the open end of that ancient structure and lifted it clear from the ground, dropping it a moment later in a thousand different pieces. it was a real catastrophe. two persons were killed outright and a number were seriously injured. the event went into the annals of a quiet north country village, along with the fearful disaster of the steamer _wisconsin_, off nearby grenadier island, many years before. * * * * * with the cape vincent terminal completed, the regular operation of trains upon the watertown & rome began; formally upon the first day of may, . six days later the road suffered its first accident, a distressing affair in the neighborhood of pierrepont manor. a party of young men in that village had taken upon themselves to "borrow" a hand-car, left by the contractor beside the track and were whirling a group of young women of their acquaintance upon it when around the curve from adams came a "light" locomotive at high-speed, which crashed into them head-on and killed three of the women almost instantly; and seriously wounded a fourth. the first employe to lose his life in the service was brakeman george post, who, on october th, of that year, was going forward to lighten the brakes on the northbound freight, as it reached the long down-grade, north of adams centre, when he was struck by an overhead bridge and died before aid could reach him. these men of the north country were learning that railroading is not all prunes and preserves. they had their own troubles with their new property. for one thing, the engines kept running off the track. there were three locomotive derailments in a single day in and the directors asked the superintendent if he could not be a little more careful in the operation of the line. they also officially chided, quite mildly, one of their number who had contributed twenty-five dollars to the fourth-of-july celebration in watertown that summer without asking the consent of the full board. on the other hand, they quite genially voted annual passes for an indefinite number of years to the widows of orville hungerford and of edmund kirby as well as their daughters. it was only two years later than this that there was a change in the superintendent's office, job collamer, who had succeeded its original holder robert b. doxtater, being succeeded by carlos dutton who was paid the rather astonishing salary, for those days, of $ a year. a year later r. e. hungerford, of watertown, succeeded daniel lee, who was compelled to retire by serious illness as the company's treasurer and was paid $ a year, with an occasional five-hundred-dollar bond from the sinking fund as special compensation at christmas time. it was about this time also, that john s. coons, now of watertown, became station-agent at brownville, a post which he held for four or five years. these events were, perhaps, to be reckoned as fairly casual things in the life of a railroad which, to almost any community is life itself. from the beginning the watertown & rome played a most important part in the life of the steadily growing territory that it served. northern new york was finally beginning to come into its own. more than a hundred thousand folk already were residing in jefferson, st. lawrence and lewis counties. no longer was it regarded as a vast wilderness somewhere north of the erie canal. horace greeley had visited it in the fifties, had lectured in what was afterwards washington hall, watertown, and had been tremendously impressed by mr. bradford's portable steam engine. and in the eyes of the entire land were focused upon watertown and its immediate surroundings. that was the year of the big ballooning. john wise, of lancaster, pennsylvania, a well-famed aeronaut, together with three companions--john la mountain, of troy, and william hyde and o. a. geager, both of bennington, vermont--had set forth from st. louis in the evening in the mammoth balloon, _atlantic_, with the expressed intention of sailing to new york city in it. all night long they traveled and sometime before dawn la mountain fancied that they were over one of the great lakes--probably erie. he awakened his sleeping companions and pointing far over the basket-edge told them that they were passing over the surface of a large body of water. "you can see the stars below you now," he explained. and so they were, over erie. they continued to sail between the stars until dawn, and sometime just before noon they crossed the niagara river, well in sight of the falls. winging their flight at a rate that man had never before made and would not make again for many and many a year to come, the _atlantic_ traveled the whole length of ontario before four o'clock in the afternoon and finally made a forced landing not far from the village of henderson. the fame that arose from so vast an exploit literally swept around the world. hyde and geager had had enough of ballooning and returned to their vermont home. wise went back to lancaster, but la mountain found an intrepid and a fearless companion in john a. haddock, at that time editor of the _watertown reformer_, who once had been into the wilds of labrador and had returned safely from them. together these men rescued the _atlantic_ from the tangle of tree-tops into which it had fallen. on august th of that same year they announced an ascension from the fair grounds in watertown, accompanied by la mountain's young cousin, miss ellen moss. and on the twenty-second of the following september the two men made what was destined to be the final ascent of the great _atlantic_. the balloon rose high--from the public square, this time--and floated off toward the north in a strong wind. in a little less than three hours it traversed some four hundred miles. then a quick landing was made, in the vast and untrodden canadian forest, some miles due north of ottawa, a region even more desolate then than to-day. for four days the men were lost, hopelessly. their airship was abandoned in the trees and they made their way afoot as best they might until they came into the path of a party of lumbermen bound for ottawa. it was another seven days before they had reached the canadian capital and the outposts of the telegraph--in all eleven endless days before watertown knew the final result of the foolhardy ascension, and prepared a mighty welcome for them, whom they had given up as dead. * * * * * to these really tremendous events in the history of the north country the watertown & rome and the potsdam & watertown railroads--of this last, much more in a moment--ran excursions from all northern new york. vast throngs of people came upon them. the effect upon the passenger revenues of the two railroads was appreciable upon the occasion of the balloon ascension, just as it had been three summers before, when the first state fair had been held in watertown--in a pleasant grove very close to the site of the present jefferson county orphans home. at that time the rome road had taken in nearly $ , in excursion receipts and the potsdam road, although at that time only completed from watertown to gouverneur, more than $ , . this was used as an argument by the promoters of the second state fair at watertown--held on the present county fair grounds in the fall of , for a subscription of a thousand dollars from each of the roads--which was promptly granted. yet the watertown & rome railroad needed no excursions for its prosperity. it had prospered greatly; from the beginning. its four passenger trains a day--two up and two down--were well filled always. its freight train which ran over the entire length of the line from rome to cape vincent each day did an equally good business. already it had the third largest freight-car equipment of any railroad in the state. its success was a tremendous incentive to all other railroad projects in the north country. from it they all took hope. we have seen long ago the serious efforts that were being made to build a road direct from sackett's harbor up the valley of the black river to watertown and carthage and thence across the all-but-impenetrable north woods to saratoga. yet nowhere was it more obvious that a railroad should be builded than between watertown and some convenient point upon the northern railroad, which already was in complete operation between lake champlain and ogdensburgh. such a railroad presently was builded; taking upon itself the appellation of the potsdam & watertown railroad. and to the consideration of the beginnings of that railroad, a most vital part of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, that was as yet unborn, we are now fairly come. chapter iv the potsdam & watertown railroad a very early survey of the northern railroad which, as we have already seen, was the pioneer line of the north country, projected the road between malone and ogdensburgh through the prosperous villages of canton and potsdam. this survey was rejected. the sponsors of the northern--almost all of them boston and new england men and having little personal knowledge of northern new york and certainly none at all of its possibilities--thrust this preliminary survey away from them. they decided that the road should run between its terminals with as small a deviation from a straight line as possible. so, from rouse's point to ogdensburgh, through malone, the northern railroad ran with long tangents and few curves and both canton and potsdam were left aside. through traffic from the great lakes and the st. lawrence river was all that the early directors of the line could see. their vision was indeed limited. canton and potsdam began to feel their isolation from these earliest railroad enterprises. they were cut off apparently from railroad communication, either with the east or with the west. the watertown & rome railroad, as planned from cape vincent to rome, would, of course, pass through watertown, but no one seemed to think of building it east from that village. so, practically all of st. lawrence county and the northern end of jefferson was left without railroad hopes. dissatisfaction arose, even before the completion of the watertown & rome, that so large a territory had been so completely slighted. potsdam, in particular, felt the indignity that had been heaped upon it. and so it was, that, as far back as , fifty-eight of the public-spirited citizens of that village organized themselves into the potsdam railroad company and proceeded to name as their directors: joseph h. sanford, william w. goulding, samuel partridge, henry l. knowles, augustus fling, theodore clark, charles t. boswell, willard m. hitchcock, william a. dart, hiram e. peck, aaron t. hopkins, charles cox and nathan parmeter. among the stockholders of this early railroad company were horace allen and liberty knowles, whose advanced age debarred them from active participation in its work, but who responded liberally to frequent calls for aid in its construction. soon after the incorporation of the potsdam railroad, it was built, primarily as a branch of some five and one-half miles connecting potsdam with the northern railroad at a point, which, for lack of an immediate better name, was called potsdam junction. afterwards it was renamed norwood. an attractive village sprang up about the junction, which finally boasted one of the best of the small hotels of the whole north country; the famed whitney house, with which the name and fame of the late "sid" phelps was so closely connected for so many years. * * * * * the success of potsdam with her railroad and the consequent prosperity that it brought to her stirred the interest and the envy of the neighboring village of canton; the shire-town of st. lawrence. gouverneur spruced up also. the st. lawrence towns began to coöperate. to them came a great community of interest from the northerly townships and villages of jefferson as well--antwerp, philadelphia and evan's mills in particular. the demand for a railroad between watertown and potsdam began to take a definite form. it was not an easy task to which the towns and men of st. lawrence and of jefferson had set themselves. its financial aspects were portentous, to put it mildly. the money for the northern railroad had come from new england. that for the watertown & rome also had come with a comparative ease. watertown even then was a rich and promising industrial center and there seemed to be genuine financial opportunities for a railroad that would connect it with the outer world. but st. lawrence county, there at the beginning of the fifties, was poor and undeveloped. necessarily, the money for its railroad would have to come from its own territory. nevertheless, undaunted by difficulties, these men of that territory set about to build a railroad from potsdam to watertown. they dared much. theirs was the spirit of the true pioneer, the same spirit that was building a college at canton and had built academies at gouverneur and at potsdam, and that was planning in every way for the future development of the north country. these men knew more than a little of the resources of their townships. they whispered among themselves of the wealth of their minerals. along the county-line between st. lawrence and jefferson, in the neighborhood of keene's station, there stand to-day unused iron mines of a considerable magnitude. flooded and for the moment deserted, these mines house some of the greatest of the untouched treasures of northern new york; vast deposits of red hematite, exceeding in percentage value even the famous fields of the mesaba district of lake superior. in the course of this narrative i shall refer again to these keene mines. for the moment consider them as a monument--a somewhat neglected monument to be sure--to the vision and persistence of james sterling. it was largely due to the enterprise of this pioneer of jefferson county that mines and blast furnaces sprang up, not only at keene's but at sterlingville and lewisburgh as well. he built many of the highways and bridges both of antwerp and of rossie. yet, in the closing days of the fifties, he was doomed to bitter disappointments. the great panic of and the inrush of cheap iron that followed in its wake were quite too much for him, and the man who had been known through the entire state as the "iron king of northern new york" died in , from a general physical and mental breakdown, due in no small part to the collapse of his fortunes. * * * * * i anticipate, we were talking of railroads, not of men. yet, somehow, men must forever weave themselves into the web of a narrative such as this. and no fair understanding can ever be had of the difficulties under which the railroads of the north country were born without an understanding of the difficulties under which the men who helped give them birth labored. to return once again to the main thread of our story, the agitation for the building of a railroad between watertown and potsdam followed closely upon the heels of the completion of the northern railroad and the branch potsdam railroad, from it to the fine village of that name. stock in the northern railroad had been sold both there and in canton, even though the road when completed had passed each by. the men who held that stock wanted to come to the aid of the newer project. with their money tied up in the elder of the two, they were quite helpless. eventually their release was brought about, and the money that came to them from the sale of their securities of the northern was reinvested in those of the potsdam & watertown railroad, just coming into being. a meeting was held in watertown in july, (the year of the completion of the watertown & rome railroad) and e. n. brodhead employed to make a preliminary survey of the proposed line; which would be followed immediately with maps and estimates. he went to his task without delay, and rendered a full report on the possibilities of the road at a meeting held at gouverneur on january , . there were no dissenting voices in regard to the proposed line. so it was, that then and there, the potsdam & watertown railroad was organized permanently, with the following directors: edwin dodge, gouverneur zenas clark, potsdam samuel partridge, potsdam e. miner, canton a. m. adsit, colton o. v. brainard, watertown w. e. sterling, gouverneur joseph h. sanford, potsdam william w. goulding, potsdam barzillai hodskin, canton h. b. keene, antwerp howell cooper, watertown hiram holcomb, watertown * * * * * the old minute-book of the directors of this early railroad has been carefully preserved in the village of potsdam. it is a narrative of a really stupendous effort, of struggles against adversity, of undaunted courage, of optimism and of faith. it relates unemotionally what the directors did, but between the lines one also reads of the grave situations that confronted them; not once, but again and again. and there lies the real drama of the founding of the potsdam & watertown. the first meeting of the directors was held, as we have just seen, on january , . most of the men, who were that day elected as directors, had gone on that day to gouverneur--many others too. watertown, gouverneur, canton and potsdam were present in their citizens, men of worth and distinction in their home communities. their families are yet represented in northern new york, and succeeding generations owe to them a debt of gratitude for their unselfish work in that early day. for what could there be of selfishness in a task which promised so much of worry and responsibility, and so little of any immediate financial return? it was planned, that january day in gouverneur, that work should be begun at both ends of the line and carried forward simultaneously, until the construction crews should meet; somewhere between potsdam and watertown. at an adjourned meeting, held ten days later at the american hotel in watertown, it was formally resolved that; "all persons who have subscribed toward the expenses of the survey of the potsdam & watertown railroad company ... shall be entitled to a credit on the stock account for the amount so subscribed and paid." at the same meeting it was decided that a committee consisting of messrs. farwell, holcomb and dodge be appointed to confer with the officers of the watertown & rome in regard to the construction of a branch into the village of watertown. it will be remembered that in that early day the railroad did not approach the village nearer than what is now known as the junction, at the foot of stone street. * * * * * progress was beginning, in real earnest. a third meeting was held on february --again at gouverneur, at van buren's hotel--and the following officers chosen: _president_, edwin dodge, gouverneur _vice-president_, zenas clark, potsdam _secretary_, henry l. knowles, potsdam _treasurer_, daniel lee, watertown mr. lee was also treasurer of the watertown & rome. his potsdam & watertown compensation was fixed a little later at $ annually. four years later he was succeeded as treasurer by william w. goulding, of potsdam, who was engaged at a salary of a thousand dollars a year. at that same gouverneur meeting a memorial was prepared for the trustees of the village of watertown. it asked, as an important link of the pathway for the new railroad, the use of factory street for its entire length. factory street, as we have already seen, was one of the most aristocratic, as well as one of the prettiest streets of the town. so great was watertown's appreciation of the advantages that were to accrue to it by the completion of the line steel highway to the north that the permission was finally granted by the trustees, not, however, without a considerable opposition. * * * * * so was our potsdam & watertown fairly started upon its important career. a fund of something over $ , having been raised for its construction, offices were opened at washington street, watertown, and definite preparations made toward the actual building of the road. the breaking of ground was bound to be preceded by a stout financial campaign. money was tight. and remember all the while, if you will, the real paucity of it in the north country of those days. and yet early in , it was found necessary to increase the capital stock to $ , , , in itself, an act requiring some courage; yet after all, it might have required more courage not to take the step. for, of a truth, the company needed the money. gradually committees were appointed, not only to look after this and other vexing financial questions, but also to supervise the location of the line as well as to provide suitable station grounds and buildings. there were many meetings of the board before the road was definitely located; there must have been much bitterness of spirit and of discussion. hermon wanted the road, and so an alternative route between canton and gouverneur was surveyed to include it. in the chief engineer was directed "to cause the middle route (so designated in mr. brodhead's report) in the towns of canton and dekalb to be sufficiently surveyed for location as soon as practicable, unless upon examination, the engineer shall believe the railroad can be constructed upon the hermon route, so called, as cheaply and with as much advantage to the company, and that in such case he cause that route to be surveyed, instead of the middle route." but stock subscriptions were light in hermon and engineering difficult on its route, and finally the "middle" and present route by the way of dekalb and richville was selected. similarly local discouragements turned the line sharply toward the north, after crossing the racket river at potsdam, instead of toward the south, and, a more direct route originally surveyed, toward canton. the location of the station grounds was another source of fruitful discussion. in this regard, gouverneur seems to have given the greatest concern. many committees wrestled with the problem of its depot site. in the old minute-book, rival locations appear and, upon one occasion, the matter having simmered down to a choice between the present station grounds and prospective ones on the other side of the river, the chief engineer was directed to survey out both locations and set stakes, so that the whole board could visit the village and see the thing for itself. * * * * * by distinct progress had been made. at a meeting held on february th of that year, messrs. cooper, brainard and holcomb, of the directorate, were authorized as a committee to enter into negotiations for the purchase of iron rails for the road, and to complete the purchase of tons of these, by sale of the bonds of the company, "or otherwise." the financial end of the transaction was apt always to be the most difficult part of it. yet somehow these were almost always solved. the watertown & rome road guaranteed some of the bonds of the potsdam & watertown and erastus corning, of albany, and john h. wolfe, of new york, loaned it considerable sums of money. construction proceeded, and on may , , the directors decided to send tons of the new iron to the easterly terminus of the road; the remainder to the westerly building forces. in the fall of that year, a considerable amount of track having been laid down, the directors looked toward the purchase of rolling stock. at their november meeting they decided to buy the engine _montreal_, and its tender, from the watertown & rome, at a cost of $ , ; also two baggage and "post-office" cars, at $ each. which provided for the beginning of operation at the west end of the road. [illustration: early railroad tickets including an annual pass issued by president marcellus massey, of the r. w. & o.] but the east end needed rolling-stock as well--a considerable gap still intervened between the rail-heads of each incomplete section. so toward the east, the directors of the potsdam & watertown turned their attention. they found some rolling stock in the hands of a man in plattsburgh; "vilas, of plattsburgh" is his sole designation in their minutes. this vilas, it would appear, was a hard-headed clinton county business man who seemed to have but little confidence in the financial soundness of the potsdam & watertown. nothing of the gambler appears in vilas. he did not believe in taking chances. he had a locomotive and two cars that he would sell--for cash. eventually, he sold them--for cash. some of the directors of the p. & w. bought them, themselves, paying out their own hard-earned cash for them; and recouping themselves by accepting pay in installments from the company. yet the possible danger in a continuance of such practices was recognized even in that early day, and in order to avoid similar situations arising at some later time, i find in the old tome a resolution reading: "whereas in raising money and carrying on the operations of our company for the completion of the road, the unanimous coöperation of its directors is necessary, particularly in matters involving personal pecuniary liability, therefore: resolved; that each director now present pledge himself to endorse and guaranty all notes and bills of exchange required by the committee on finance to be used in accordance with the preceding resolution ... and that we hold it to be the duty of all directors of this company to do the same." * * * * * from time to time a note of pathos creeps into these old minutes and one catches a glimpse of the trials and struggles of the little company. for instance: "resolved: that in our struggles for the construction of the road of this company, we have not failed to appreciate the liberal spirit with which we have been met and the encouragement and aid often freely afforded us by hon. george v. hoyle, superintendent of the northern railroad, and we avail ourselves of this occasion to express to him, individually and as superintendent, and through him to those associated with him the management of that road, our sense of obligation, indulging the hope that we shall yet be able in the same spirit to reciprocate all his kindness, and that the interest of mr. hoyle and his road may be abundantly promoted by our success." * * * * * and then, finally, success! in the faded minutes secretary knowles triumphantly records that "on the morning of the fifth of february, , a passenger train left watertown at about nine o'clock a. m., with many of the officers of the company and invited friends, passed leisurely over the entire road to its junction with the northern railroad, thence with the superintendent of that road to ogdensburgh, arriving at ogdensburgh at about four o'clock and returned the next day to watertown." this is not to be interpreted, however, as meaning that the potsdam & watertown was immediately ready for business. there remained much work to be done in completing the track and the roadbed, station buildings, equipment, and the other appurtenances necessary for a going railroad. the contractors, phelps, mattoon and barnes, who also had builded the watertown & rome, had unpaid balances still remaining. there had been numerous and one or two rather serious disagreements between the company and its contractors. finally these were all settled by a final cash payment of $ , , in addition, of course, to what had been paid before. in order to make this large payment--for that day, at least--it became necessary to bond the property still again; this time by a second mortgage--which was made around $ , , so that the road might be made completely ready for business. details which indicate the rapidly approaching time of such completion soon begin to appear in the minutes. a committee is appointed to procure a superintendent--george b. phelps, of watertown, was appointed to this post. freight agents are directed to turn over their receipts to the treasurer weekly, ticket agents daily. the board took its business seriously and several meetings about this time were called for seven, half past seven and eight o'clock in the morning, although, of course, this might mean that the railroad business was gotten out of the way early, leaving the day free for regular occupations. the vexed question of the station grounds at gouverneur was settled definitely early in , and the executive committee was instructed to erect on the "station grounds at gouverneur a building similar to the one at antwerp in the speediest and most economical manner." to this day the antwerp building survives, but gouverneur, like potsdam, for more than a decade past has rejoiced in the possession of a new and ornate passenger station. it was not until june, , that a definite passenger service was established upon the line from watertown, where it connected with the trains of the w. & r., and thus to the present village of norwood, seventy-five miles distant. it is worth noting here that a few years after this was accomplished a branch line was constructed from a point two miles distant from the old village of dekalb, and destined to be known to future fame as dekalb junction, straight through to ogdensburgh, but eighteen miles distant. dekalb junction also had a famous hotel which for many years "fed" the trains and "fed" them well. in its earlier days this tavern was known as the goulding house; in more recent years, however, it has been the hurley house, so named from the late daniel hurley, one of the most popular and successful hotelmen in all the north country. * * * * * the passenger trains of the potsdam road were operated out of the new station in watertown, just back of the woodruff house--which we shall see in another chapter. for a time there was no train service for travelers between its station and that of the rome road at the foot of stone street, the transfer between them being made by stages. but soon this was rectified and the one o'clock train, north from watertown, allowed considerably more than an hour for connection after the arrival of the train from rome, which gave abundant time for the consumption of one of proprietor dorsey's fine meals at the woodruff. it was a good meal and not high-priced. the charge per day for three of them and a night's lodging thrown in was fixed at but $ . . the early train which left watertown at sharp six o'clock in the morning--afterwards it was fixed at a slightly later hour--made connection at potsdam junction with the through train on the northern for rouse's point and, going by that roundabout way, a traveler might hope to reach montreal in the evening of the day that he had left watertown--if he enjoyed good fortune. whilst upon the completion of the short line a few years later between dekalb junction and ogdensburgh, one could reach the canadian metropolis in an even more direct fashion, by the ferry steamer _transit_ to prescott, and then over the grand trunk railway, just coming into the heyday of its fame. watertown no longer was cut off from rail communication with the north. * * * * * the potsdam & watertown though now fairly launched, operating trains, and, from all external evidences at least, doing a fair business, nevertheless was grievously burdened with its grave financial difficulties. on may , , a special finance committee, consisting of messrs. phelps, cooper and goulding, was appointed with power to carry along the company's growing floating debt, and in october of that selfsame year the president joined with them in their appeals to the creditors to have a little more patience. in the following spring the directors discussed the propriety of asking the legislature for an act exempting from taxation all railroads in the state that were not paying their dividends. the potsdam road certainly was not paying _its_ dividends. not only this, but, on may , , interest on the second mortgage, being unpaid for six months, the trustees under the mortgage took possession of the property and the directors in meeting approved of the action. such a step quite naturally agitated the first mortgage holders, who began to protest. in august, , the p. & w. board disclaimed any purpose whatsoever to repudiate the payment of principal or interest upon its first mortgage bonds, or its contingent obligation to the watertown & rome railroad. it invited the directors of that larger and more prosperous road to attend a joint meeting wherein the earnings of the potsdam & watertown might be applied to the payment of the coupons upon its first mortgage bonds. there was a growing community of interest between the two roads, anyway. the one was the natural complement to the other. such a community of interest led, quite naturally, to a merger of the properties. in june, , it was announced that the watertown & rome had gained financial control of the potsdam & watertown. soon after the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh was officially born and a new chapter in the development of northern new york was begun. chapter v the formation of the r. w. & o. that the watertown & rome and the potsdam & watertown railroads would have merged in any event was, from the first, almost a foregone conclusion. their interests were too common to escape such inevitable consolidation. the actual union of the two properties was accomplished in the very early sixties (july , ) and for the merged properties--the new trunk-line of the north country, if you please--the rather euphonious and embracing title of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh railroad was chosen. it was at that time that the branch was built from dekalb to ogdensburgh. a combined directorate was chosen from the governing bodies of the two merged roads--i shall not take the trouble to set it down here and now--and mr. pierrepont was chosen as the president of the new property, with marcellus massey, of brooklyn, as its vice-president, r. e. hungerford as secretary and treasurer, h. t. frary as general ticket agent, c. c. case as general freight agent and addison day as general superintendent. whilst the general offices of the company were in watertown, its shops and general operating offices, at that time, were in rome. it was in this latter city that addison day was first located. day was a resident of rochester. he refused to remove his home from that city, but spent each week-end with his family there. he was a conspicuous figure upon the property, coming as the successor to a number of superintendents, each of whom had served a comparatively short time in office--robert b. doxtater, job collamer and carlos dutton, were addison day's predecessors as superintendents upon the property. these men had been local in their opportunity. to day was given a real job; that of successfully operating miles of a pretty well-built and essential railroad. yet his annual salary was fixed at but $ , as compared with the $ paid to dutton. later however day was raised to $ a year. the main shops of the company, as i have just said, were then situated in rome. they were well equipped for that day and employed about one hundred men, under william h. griggs, the road's first master mechanic. a smaller shop, of approximately one-half the capacity and used chiefly for engine repairs and freight-car construction, was located at watertown, just back of the old engine house on coffeen street. [illustration: watertown in showing the first passenger station of the potsdam & watertown. taken from the woodruff house tower.] but watertown's chief comfort was in its passenger station, which stood in the rear of the well-famed woodruff house. norris m. woodruff had completed his hotel at about the same time that the railroad first reached watertown. it was a huge structure--reputed to be at that time the largest hotel in the united states west of new york city; and even the far-famed astor house of that metropolis, had no dining-salon which in height and beauty quite equalled the dining-room of the woodruff house. mr. woodruff had given the railroad the site for its passenger station in the rear of his hotel, on condition that the chief passenger terminal of the company should forever be maintained there, which has been done ever since. yet the chief passenger station of the r. w. & o. of was a simple affair indeed. builded in brick it afterwards became the wing of the larger station that was torn down to be replaced by the present station a decade ago. it was not until that the three story "addition" to the original station was built and the first station restaurant at watertown opened, in charge of col. a. t. dunton, from bellows falls, vt. after the fashion of the time, its opening was signalized by a banquet. * * * * * in front of me there lies a very early time-table of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh railroad. it bears the date, april , , and apparently is the twelfth to be issued in the history of the road. it is signed by addison day, as superintendent. on this sheet, the chief northbound train, no. , express and mail, left rome at four o'clock each afternoon, reaching watertown at : p. m., and leaving there twenty minutes later, arrived at ogdensburgh at : p. m. the return movement of this train, was as no. , leaving ogdensburgh at : o'clock in the morning, passing watertown at : o'clock and reaching rome at : a. m. in addition to this double movement each day, there was a similar one of accommodation trains; no. , leaving rome at : o'clock each morning, arriving and leaving watertown at : and : a. m., respectively, and reaching ogdensburgh at : a. m. as no. , the accommodation returned, leaving ogdensburgh at : p. m., passing watertown at : p. m., and arriving at rome at : a. m. apparently folk who traveled in those days cared little about inconvenient hours of arrival or departure. there were connecting trains upon both the cape vincent and the potsdam junction branches--the branch from richland to oswego was just under construction--and a scheduled freight train over the entire line each day. yet there, still, was an almost entire absence of mid-day passenger service. gradually this condition of things must have improved; for in hamilton child's _jefferson county gazetteer and business directory_, for , i find the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh advertising three fast passenger trains a day in each direction over the entire main line, in addition to connections, not only for cape vincent and for potsdam junction, but also over the new branch from richland through pulaski to oswego. pulaski, humiliated in the beginning by the refusal of the watertown & rome to lay its rails within four miles of that county-seat village, finally had received the direct rail connection, that she had so long coveted. in that same advertisement there first appears announcement of through sleeping-cars, between watertown and new york, an arrangement which continued for a number of years thereafter, then was abandoned for many years, but, under the bitter protests of the citizens of watertown and other northern new york communities, was finally restored in as an all-the-year service. upon the ancient time table of there appear the names of the old stations, the most of which have come down unchanged until to-day. one of them has disappeared both in name and existence, centreville, two miles south of richland, while the adjacent station of albion long since became altmar. potsdam junction we have already seen as norwood, while nice dignified old sanford's corners long since suffered the unspeakable insult of being renamed, by some latter-day railroad official, calcium. a similar indignity at that time was heaped upon adams centre, being known officially for a time as edison! the centre rebelled. it had no quarrel with mr. edison. on the contrary, it held the highest esteem for that distinguished inventor. but for the life of it, it could not see why the name of a nice old-fashioned seventh-day-baptist town should be sacrificed for the mere convenience of a telegrapher's code. it was quite bad enough when union square, over on the syracuse line, was forced, willy-nilly, to become maple view, and holmesville, fernwood. neither were the marvels of the lexicographers of the postoffice department, under which all manner of strange changes were made in the spelling of old north country names (think of sackett's harbor, time-honored government military and naval station, reduced to a miserable "sacket!") germane to adams centre's problem. adams centre it was christened in the beginning, and adams centre it proposed to remain. and after a brief but brisk fight with railroad and postoffice officials, it succeeded in regaining its birthright. * * * * * early in june, , william c. pierrepont retired as president of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh and was succeeded by marcellus massey, the third holder of that important post of honor in the north country. mr. massey, although for the greater part of his life also a resident of brooklyn, was of jefferson county stock, a brother of hart and of solon massey. he gave his whole time and interest to the steady upbuilding of the road. gradually it was coming to a point where it was considered, without exception, the best operated railroad in the state of new york, if not in the entire land. sometimes it was called the nickel plate, although that name nowadays is generally reserved for the brisk trunk line--officially the new york, chicago & st. louis--that operates from buffalo, through cleveland to chicago. the r. w. & o. was in fact at that time an extremely high-grade railroad property; it was the pride of watertown, of the entire north country as well. mr. massey used to say that as a dividend payer--its annual ten per cent came as steadily as clock-striking--his road could not be beat; particularly in a day when many railroad investments were regarded as very shaky things indeed. the crash of the oswego midland, which was to come a few years later, was to add nothing to the confidence of investors in this form of investment. steadily mr. massey and his co-workers sought to perfect the property. the service was a very especial consideration in their minds. a moment ago we saw the time table of in brief, now consider how it had steadily been improved, in the course of another eight years. in the passenger service of the r. w. & o. consisted of two trains through from rome to ogdensburgh without change. the first left rome at : a. m., passed through watertown at : a. m., and arrived at ogdensburgh at : a. m. the second left rome at : p. m., passed through watertown at : p. m., and arrived at ogdensburgh at : p. m. returning the first of these trains left ogdensburgh at : a. m., passed through watertown at : a. m., and arrived at rome at : p. m.: the second left ogdensburgh at : p. m., passed through watertown at : p. m., and reached rome and the new york central at : p. m. the similarity between these trains and those upon the present time-card, the long established seven and one and four and eight, is astonishing. put an important train but once upon a time card, and seemingly it is hard to get it off again. in addition to these four important through trains there were others: the watertown express, leaving rome at : p. m. and "dying" at watertown at : p. m., was the precursor of the present number three. the return movement of this train was as the new york express, leaving watertown at : a. m. and reaching rome at : a. m. there were also three trains a day in each direction on the cape vincent, and oswego branches and two on the one between dekalb and potsdam junctions. * * * * * for a railroad to render real service it must have, not alone good track--in those early days the rome road, as it was known colloquially, gave great and constant attention to its right of way--but good engines. up to about these were exclusively wood-burners, many of them weighing not more than from twenty to twenty-five tons each. they were of a fairly wide variety of type. while the output of the rome locomotive works was always favored, there were numbers of engines from the rhode island, the taunton and the schenectady works. thirty-eight of these wood-burning engines formed the motive-power equipment of the rome road in the spring of . their names--locomotives in those days invariably were named--were as follows: . _watertown_ . _rome_ . _adams_ . _kingston_ . _o. hungerford_ . _col. edwin kirby_ . _norris woodruff_ . _camden_ . _j. l. grant_ . _job collamer_ . _jefferson_ . _r. b. doxtater_ . _o. v. brainard_ . _north star_ . _t. h. camp_ . _silas wright_ . _antwerp_ . _wm. c. pierrepont_ . _st. lawrence_ . _potsdam_ . _ontario_ . _montreal_ . _new york_ . _ogdensburgh_ . _oswego_ . _d. dewitt_ . _d. utley_ . _m. massey_ . _h. moore_ . _c. comstock_ . _s. f. phelps_ . _col. wm. lord_ . _h. alexander, jr._ . _roxbury_ . _com. perry_ . _c. e. bill_ . _gen. s. d. hungerford_ . _gardner colby_ of this considerable fleet the _antwerp_ was perhaps the best known. oddly enough she was the engine that the directors of the potsdam & watertown had purchased from "vilas, of plattsburgh." she was then called the _plattsburgh_, but upon her coming to the r. w. & o. she was already renamed _antwerp_. inside connected, like the _o. hungerford_, she also was a product of the old taunton works down in eastern massachusetts. her bright red driving wheels made her a conspicuous figure on the line. the _camden_ was also an inside connected engine. the _ontario_ and the _potsdam_ and the _montreal_ were other acquisitions from the potsdam & watertown. the _potsdam_ had a picture of a lion painted upon her front boiler door, the work of some gifted local artist, unknown to present fame. she came to the north country as the _chicopee_ from the springfield locomotive works, and with her came, as engineer and fireman, respectively, the famous haynes brothers, orville and rhett. henry batchelder, a brother of the renowned ben, who comes later into this narrative, and who is now a resident of potsdam, well recalls the first train that made the trip between that village and canton. made up of flat-cars with temporary plank seats atop of them, and hauled by the _potsdam_, it brought excursionists into canton to enjoy the st. lawrence county fair. that was in the year of , and the railroad was only completed to a point some two miles east of canton. from that point the travelers walked into town. mr. batchelder also remembers that the engineers and firemen of that early day invariably wore white shirts upon their locomotives. the old wood-burners were never so hard as the coal-burners on the apparel of their crews. they were wonderful little engines and, as we shall see in a moment, had a remarkable ability for speed with their trains. the _antwerp_ in particular had rare speed. those red drivers of hers were the largest upon the line. and when jeff wells was at her throttle and those red heels of hers were digging into the iron, men reached for their watches. * * * * * no true history of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh might ever be written without mention of jefferson b. wells. in truth he was the commodore of the old locomotive fleet. for skill and daring and precision in the handling of an engine he was never excelled. although bearing a certain uncanny reputation for being in accidents, he was blamed for none of them. whether at the lever of his two favorites, the _t. h. camp_ and the _antwerp_, or in later years as captain of the " " he was in his element in the engine-cab. the " " spent most of the later years of her life, and of wells', in service upon the cape vincent branch. i can remember it standing at watertown junction, sending an occasional soft ring of grayish smoke off into the blue skies above. and distinctly can i recall jeff wells himself, a large-eyed, tallish man, fond of a good joke, or a good story, a man with a keen zest in life itself. he was a good poker player. it is related of him, that one night, while engaged in a pleasant game at cape vincent, word came from watertown ordering him to his engine for a special run down to the county-seat and back. for a moment old jeff hesitated. he liked poker. but then the trained soul of the railroader triumphed. he threw his hand down upon the table--it was a good hand, too--and turning toward the call-boy said: "son, i'll be at the round house within ten minutes." * * * * * that was wells; best at home in the engine-cab, and, i think no engine-cab was ever quite the same to him as that of the speedy _antwerp_, with john leasure on the fireman's side of the cab--leasure was pretty sure to have previously bedecked the _antwerp_ with a vast variety of cedar boughs, flags and the like--and the president's car on behind. this, in later years, was sure to be the old parlor-car, _watertown_, gayly furbished for the occasion. this special was sure to be given the right-of-way over all other trains on the line that day; all the switch-points being ordered spiked, in order to avoid the possibility of accidents. yet, on at least one occasion--at dekalb junction--this practice nearly led to a serious mishap. mr. massey's train had swept past the little depot there and around the curve onto the ogdensburgh branch at seventy miles an hour. for once there had been a miscalculation. the little train veered terribly as it struck the branch-line rails; the directors were thrown from their comfortable seats in the parlor-car, and poor billy lanfear, of cape vincent, the fireman, was nearly carromed from his place in the cab. at the last fractional part of a second he succeeded in catching hold of the engineer's window as he started to shoot out. the wood-burners were not supposed to be fast engines--a great many of them in the early days of the r. w. & o. had small drivers and this was an added handicap to their speed. but sixty miles an hour was not out of the question for them. mr. richard holden, of watertown, who started his railroad career in the eating-house of the old station in that city, still recalls several trips that he made in the cab of the engines on the cape branch. it had a fairly close schedule at the best, connecting at watertown junction with number three up from rome in the afternoon, and turning and coming back in time to make connections with number six down the line. it frequently would happen that three would be fifteen or twenty minutes late, which would mean a good deal of hustling on the part of the cape train to make her fifty mile run and turn-around and still avoid delaying number six. but both casey eldredge and chris delaney, the engineers on the branch at that time, could do it: jeff wells was still on the main line and unwilling then to accept the easier cape branch run, which afterwards he was very glad to take. "the air-brake was unknown at that time," says mr. holden, "all trains being stopped by the brakeman, assisted by the fireman, a brake being upon the tender of all the engines. when some of these fast trains were running, i used to take a great delight in riding on the engine, and remember the running-time of the trip was thirty-five minutes, which included stops at brownville, limerick, chaumont and three mile bay, my recollection being that the station at rosiere was not open at that time. deducting the time used for stops the actual running time would average sixty miles an hour. all engines used on passenger trains had small driving-wheels and it will be remembered that all passenger trains, except one and six, consisted of but a baggage-car and two coaches, consequently an engine could get a train under good headway much faster than engines with the heavy equipment in use at the present time." * * * * * in all these statements in regard to the speed of the trains upon the early r. w. & o. it should not be forgotten that for the first twelve or thirteen years of the road's existence, it had to worry along without telegraphic or any other form of rapid interstation communication. it was not until or that its trains were despatched upon telegraphic orders; and even these were of the crudest possible form. the "nineteen" had not yet been evolved. a slip of paper torn from the handiest writing block and scribbled in fairly indecipherable hieroglyphics was the train order of those beginnings of modern railroading. the telegraph order, instead of being a real help to the locomotive engineer, was apt to be one of the puzzles and the banes of his existence. it was in that a railroad telegraph office was first established at watertown junction and d. n. bosworth engaged as despatcher there. according to the recollections of mr. w. d. hanchette, of that city, who is the nestor of all things telegraphic in northern new york, bosworth was soon followed by a mr. warner, who was not, himself, a telegraphic operator, but who had to be assisted by one. a canadian, named monk, was one of the first of these. warner was finally succeeded as despatcher at watertown junction by n. b. hine, a brother of omar a. hine and of a. c. hine--all of them much identified with the history of the rome road. n. b. hine remained with the road for a long season of years as its train despatcher, eventually moving his office from the junction to the enlarged passenger station back of the woodruff house in watertown. he learned his trade in the summer before fort sumter was fired upon; using a small, home-made, wooden key at his father's farm, somewhere back of dekalb. a year after he had obtained his railroad job, omar hine was appointed operator at richland, opening the first telegraph office at that place, and becoming its station agent as well. from richland he was promoted to the more important, similar post at norwood. when he left norwood, mr. hine became a conductor upon the main line. in that service he remained until the comparatively recent year of . about the time that he was assigned to richland, his brother, a. c. hine, was appointed operator and helper at the neighboring station of sandy creek. so from a single north country farm sprang three expert telegraphers and railroaders. when they began their career, but a single wire stretched all the way from watertown to ogdensburgh; and the movement of trains by telegraph was occasional, not regular nor standardized. a second wire was strung the entire length of the line in the fall of and in the following spring, mr. bosworth began the difficult task of trying to work a systematic method of telegraphic despatching, and gradually brought the engineers of the road into a real coöperation with his plan, a thing much more difficult to accomplish than might be at first imagined. those old-time engineers of the road were good men; but some of them were a trifle "sot" in their ways. their habits were not things easily changed. * * * * * the full list of these old-time engineers of the r. w. & o. would run to a considerable length. remember again orve haynes--something of an engine-runner was he--who afterwards went down to st. louis to become master mechanic upon the iron mountain road. the _j. l. grant_ was named after a master mechanic of the r. w. & o., who eventually became an assistant superintendent. the _grant_ was in steady use upon the cape branch prior to the coming of the " ." a good engineer in those days was a good mechanic--invariably. repair facilities were few and far between. the ingenuity and quick wit of the man in the engine-cab more than once was called into play. engine failures were no less frequent then than now. ben. f. batchelder first came to fame as a well-known engineer of that early decade; john skinner was another. there was d. l. van allen and louis bouran and john mortimer and casey eldredge and asa rowell and old "parse" hines, and george schell and jim cheney--that list does indeed run to lengths. in a later generation came nathaniel r. peterson ("than") and conrad shaler and frank w. smith and george h. hazleton, and frank taylor, and charles vogel--but again i must desist. this is a history, not a necrology. it is hardly fair to pick but a few names, out of so many deserving ones. the most of the engineers of that day have gone. a very few remain. one of these is frank w. smith, of watertown, who to-day ( ) has retired from his engine-cab, but remains one of the expert billiard players in the lincoln league of that city. mr. smith entered upon his railroad career on november , , at the rather tender age of seventeen, as a wiper in the old round house in coffeen street, watertown. in those days all the engines upon the line still were wood-burners. the most conspicuous thing about dekalb junction in those days, aside from the red brick goulding house, was the huge wood-shed and wood-pile beyond the small depot, which still stands there. it was customary for an engine to "wood up" at watertown--in those days as in these again, all trains changed engines at watertown--and again at dekalb junction before finishing her run into ogdensburgh. similarly upon the return trip, she would stop again at dekalb to fill her tender; which, in turn, would carry her back to watertown once again. wood went all too quickly. i remember, sometime in the mid-eighties, riding from prescott to ottawa, upon the old ottawa and st. lawrence railroad, and the wood-burner stopping somewhere between those towns to appease its seemingly insatiable appetite. the wood-burners upon the r. w. & o. began to disappear sometime about the beginnings of the seventies. apparently the first engine to have her fire-boxes changed to permit of the use of soft coal was the _c. comstock_, which was rapidly followed by the _phelps_, the _lord_ and the _alexander_. they then had the extension boilers and the straight "diamond" stacks. a red band ran around the under flare of the diamond. about that time the road began adding to its motive power; new engines, among them the _theodore irwin_ and the _c. zabriskie_, were being purchased, and these were all coal burners, bituminous, of course. when, as we shall see, in a following chapter, the syracuse northern was merged into the r. w. & o., eight new locomotives were added to the growing fleet of the parent road; four hinckleys and four bloods. even at that time the road was beginning, although in a modest and somewhat hesitant way, the construction of its own locomotives in its own shops. william jackson, the master mechanic there in , built the _j. w. moak_ and the _j. s. farlow_, both of them coal-burners for passenger service. he was succeeded by abraham close who built the _cataract_ and the _lewiston_, and the _moses taylor_, too, in . the following year the late george h. hazleton was to become the road's master mechanic and so to remain as long as it retained its corporate existence. in later years there were to come those famous mogul twins, the _samson_ and the _goliath_. there were, as i recall it, still two others of these moguls, the _energy_ and the _efficiency_. in a still later time the road, robbed of its pleasant personal way of locomotive nomenclature and adopting a strictly impersonal method of denoting its engines by serial numbers alone, was to take another forward step and bring in still larger moguls; the " ," " ," " ," and " ." but i anticipate. i cannot close this chapter without one more reference to my good friend, frank w. smith. he was an energetic little fellow; and after some twenty months of engine wiping there at coffeen street, and all the abuse and cuffing and chaffing that went with it, he won an honest promotion to the job of a locomotive fireman. it was a real job, real responsibility and real pay, thirty-nine dollars a month. yet this job faded when he became an engineer. job envied of all other jobs. how the boys would crowd around the _norris woodruff_ at adams depot, at gouverneur, and all the rest of the way along the line and feast their eyes upon frank smith up there in the neat cab, that so quickly came to look like home to him! fifty dollars a month pay! overtime? of course not. agreements? once more, no. this was nearly fifteen years ahead of that day when the engineers upon the central railroad of new jersey were to formulate the first of these perplexing things. but a good engine, a good job and good pay. they had the pleasant habit of assigning a crew to a definite engine in those days, and that piece of motive power invariably became their pet and pride. a good job was not only an honest one, but one of a considerable distinction. and fifty dollars a month was not bad pay, when cheese was eight cents a pound and butter seven, and a kind friend apt to give you all the eggs that you could take home in the top of your hat. remuneration, in its last analysis is forever a comparative thing--and nothing more. chapter vi the r. w. & o. prospers--and expands in the mid-seventies the young city of watertown was entering upon a rare era in which culture and great prosperity were to be blended. the men who walked its pleasant maple-shaded streets were real men, indeed: the flower brothers--george w., anson r. and roswell p.--george b. phelps, norris winslow, the knowlton brothers--john c. and george w.--talcott h. camp, george a. bagley, these were the men who were the town's captains of industry of that day. an earlier generation had passed away; norris woodruff, o. v. brainard, orville hungerford; these men had played their large parts in the upbuilding of watertown and were gone or else living in advanced years. a new generation of equal energy and ability had come to replace them. roswell p. flower was upon the threshold of that remarkable career in wall street that was to make him for a time its leader and give him the large political honor of becoming governor of the state of new york. his brother, george w., first mayor of watertown, was tremendously interested in each of the city's undertakings. george b. phelps had risen from the post of superintendent of the old potsdam & watertown to be one of the town's richest men. he had a city house in new york--a handsome "brownstone front" in one of the "forties"--and in his huge house in stone street, watertown, the luxury of a negro valet, john fletcher, for many years a familiar figure upon the streets of the town. from the pulpit of the dignified first presbyterian church in washington street, the venerable dr. isaac brayton had now retired; his place was being filled by dr. porter, long to be remembered in the annals of that society. dr. olin was about entering old trinity, still in court street. into the ancient structure of the watertown high school, in state street, the genial and accomplished william kerr wickes was coming as principal. the musical union was preparing for its record run of _pinafore_ in washington hall. and in the old stone cotton factory on beebee's island, fred eames was tinkering with his vacuum air brake, little dreaming of the tragic fate that was to await him but a few years later; more likely, perhaps, of the great air brake industry to which he was giving birth and which, three decades later, was to take its proper place among the town's chief industries. paper manufacturing, as it is known to-day in the north country, was then a comparatively small thing; there were few important mills outside of those of the knowltons or the taggarts--the clans of remington, of herring, of sherman and of anderson were yet to make their deep impress upon the community. carriage making was then a more important business than that of paper making. the very thought of the motor-car was as yet unborn and watertonians reckoned the completion of a new carriage in the town in minutes rather than in hours. it made steam engines and sewing machines. all in all it created a very considerable traffic for its railroad--in reality for its railroads, for in a rival line had come to contest the monopoly of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh; of which more in good time. * * * * * as went watertown, so went the rest of the north country. it was a brisk, prosperous land, where industry and culture shared their forces. there was a plenitude of manufacturing even outside of watertown, whilst the mines at keene and rossie had reopened and were shipping a modest five or six cars a day of really splendid red ore. people worked well, people thought well. the excellent seminaries at belleville, at adams, at antwerp and at gouverneur reflected a general demand for an education better than the public schools of that day might offer. the young st. lawrence university up at canton, after a hard beginning fight, was at last on its way to its present day strength and influence. northern new yorkers traveled. they traveled both far and near. even distant europe was no sealed book to them. there were dozens of fine homes, even well outside of the towns and villages, which boasted their steinway pianos and whose young folk, graduated from yale or mount holyoke, spoke intelligently with their elders of napoleon iii or of the charms of the boulevards of paris. * * * * * in the upbuilding of this prosperous era the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh had played its own large part. by it was nearly a quarter of a century old. it was indeed an extremely high grade and prosperous property, the pride, not only of watertown, which had been so largely responsible for its construction, but indeed of the entire north country. it had, as we have already seen, as far back as , succeeded in thrusting a line into oswego, thirty miles west of richland. after which it felt that it needed an entrance into syracuse, then as now, a most important railroad center. to accomplish this entrance it leased, in , the syracuse northern railroad, and then gained at last a firm two-footed stand upon the tremendous main line of the new york central & hudson river railroad. it continued to maintain, of course, its original connection at rome--its long stone depot there still stands to-day, although far removed from the railroad tracks. yet one, in memory at least, may see it as the brisk business place of yore, with the four tracks of the vanderbilt trail curving upon the one side of it and the brightly painted yellow cars of the r. w. & o. waiting upon the other. the rome connection gave the road direct access to boston, new york, and to the east generally; that at syracuse made the journey from northern new york to western points much easier and more direct, than it had been through the rome gateway. it was logical and it was strategic. and it is possible that had the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh been content to remain satisfied with its system as it then existed, a good deal of railroad history that followed after, would have remained unwritten. * * * * * the railroad scheme that finally led to the building of the syracuse northern had been under discussion since , the year of the completion of the watertown & rome railroad. yet, largely because of the paucity of good sized intermediate towns upon the lines of the proposed route, the plan for a long time had languished. in the late sixties it was successfully revived, however, and the syracuse northern railroad incorporated, early in , with a capital stock of $ , , and the following officers: _president_, allen munroe _secretary_, patrick h. agan _treasurer_, e. b. judson _engineer_, a. c. powell _directors_ allen munroe, syracuse e. w. leavenworth, syracuse e. b. judson, syracuse patrick lynch, syracuse frank h. hiscock, syracuse john a. green, syracuse jacob s. smith, syracuse horace k. white, syracuse elizur clark, syracuse garret doyle, syracuse william h. canter, brewerton james a. clark, pulaski orin r. earl, sandy creek the road once organized found a lively demand for its shares. its largest investor was the city of syracuse, which subscribed for $ , worth of its bonds. the first depot of the new line in the city that gave it its birth was in saxon street, up in the old town of salina. from there it was that denison, belden & company began the construction of the railroad. it was not a difficult road to build, easy grades and but three bridges--a small one at parish and two fairly sizable ones at brewerton and at pulaski--to go up, so it was finished and opened for traffic in the fall of --which was precisely the same year that the new york central opened its wonderful grand central depot down on forty-second street, new york. the line ran through from syracuse to sandy creek, now lacona. it started off in good style, operating two passenger express trains, an accommodation and two freights each day in each direction. at the beginning it made a brave showing for itself, and soon after it was open it built for itself a one-storied brick passenger station across from the new york central's, then new, depot in syracuse, and at right angles to it. that station still stands but is now used as the syracuse freight station of the american railway express. e. h. bancroft was the first superintendent of the syracuse northern, c. c. morse, the second, and j. w. brown, the third. j. dewitt mann was the accounting officer and paymaster. the road never attained to a long official roster of its own, however. within a twelvemonth after its opening the prosperous rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, having already seen the advantages of a two-footed connection with the new york central, planned its purchase. the syracuse road, having failed to become the financial success of which its promoters had hoped, this act was easily accomplished. the sheriff of onondaga county assisted. in there was a foreclosure sale and the syracuse northern ceased to live thereafter, save as a branch to pulaski. a few years later the six miles of track between that town and sandy creek were torn up and abandoned. the old road-bed is still in plain sight, however, for a considerable distance along the line of the state highway to watertown as it leads out of pulaski, while the abutments of the former high railroad bridge over the salmon river still show conspicuously in that village. * * * * * with its system fairly well rounded out, the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh began the intensive perfection of its service. it built, in , the first section of the long stone freight-house opposite the passenger station--so long a landmark of watertown--from stone furnished by lawrence gage, of chaumont. mr. moak, the superintendent of the road at that time, was criticized for this expenditure. as a matter of fact it was necessary not only to twice enlarge it quite radically, but to build a relief transfer station at the junction before the stone freight-house was finally torn down to make room for the present passenger station at watertown. between the old freight-shed and the old passenger station there ran for many years but a single passenger track, curving all the way, and beside it the long platform, which was protected from the elements by a canopy, which in turn, had a canopied connection with the waiting-room; at that time still in the wing or original portion of the station; the main or newer portion, being occupied by the restaurant, which had passed from the hands of col. dunton into those of silas snell, watertown's most famous cornet player of that generation. at watertown the cape vincent train would lay in at the end of the freight-house siding, and, because the coffeen street crossover had not then been constructed, would back in and out between the passenger station and the watertown junction, a little over a mile distant. watertown junction was still a point of considerable passenger importance. long platforms were placed between the tracks there and passengers destined through to the st. lawrence never went up into the main passenger station at all, but changed at that point to the cape train. the thousand islands were beginning to be known as a summer resort of surpassing excellence. the famous crossmon house at alexandria bay was already more than two decades old. o. g. staples had just finished that nine-days-wonder, the thousand island house, and plans were in the making for the building of the round island hotel (afterwards the frontenac) and other huge hostelries that were to make social history at the st. lawrence, even before the coming of the cottage and club-house era. * * * * * it will be recalled that from the first the r. w. & o. developed excellent docking facilities at cape vincent. at the outset it had builded the large covered passenger station upon the wharf there, whose tragic destruction we have already witnessed. beyond this were the freight-sheds and the grain elevator. for cape vincent's importance in those days was by no means limited to the passenger travel, which there debouched from the trains to take the steamers to the lower river points, or even that which all the year around made its tedious way across the broad river to kingston, twenty-two miles away. the _lady of the lake_ passed out of existence some six or seven years after the inauguration of the kingston ferry in connection with the trains into the cape. she was replaced by the steamer _pierrepont_--the first of this name--which was built on wolfe island in the summer of and went into service in the following spring. in that same summer of the canal was dug through the waistline girth of wolfe island, and a short and convenient route established through it, between cape vincent and kingston--some twelve or thirteen miles all told, as against nearly twice that distance around either the head or the foot of the island. it was a pleasant ride through the old wolfe island canal. i can easily remember it, myself, the slow and steady progress of the steamboat through the rich farmlands and truck-gardens, the neatly whitewashed highway bridges, swinging leisurely open from time to time to permit of our progress. it is a great pity that the ditch was ever abandoned. the first _pierrepont_ was not a particularly successful craft and it was supplemented in by the _watertown_, which gradually took the brunt of the steadily increasing traffic across the st. lawrence at this point. the ferry grew steadily to huge proportions and for many years a great volume of both passengers and freight was handled upon it. it is a fact worth noting here, perhaps, that the first through shipment of silk from the orient over the newly completed transcontinental route of the canadian pacific railway was made into new york, by way of the cape vincent ferry and the r. w. & o. in the late fall of . * * * * * with the business of this international crossing steadily increasing, it became necessary to keep two efficient steamers upon the route and so the second _pierrepont_ was builded, going into service in . at about that time the _watertown_ ceased her active days upon the river and the lake and was succeeded by the staunch steamer _maud_. here was a staunch craft indeed, built upon the clyde somewhere in the late fifties or the early sixties, and shipped in sections from glasgow to montreal, where she was set up for st. lawrence service, in which she still is engaged, under the name of the _america_. her engines for many years were of a peculiar scotch pattern, by no means usual in this part of the world, and apparently understood by no one other than billy derry, for many years her engineer. occasionally derry would quarrel with the owners of the _maud_ and quit his job. they always sent their apologies after him, however. no one else could run the boat, and they were faced with the alternative of bowing to his whims or laying up the steamer. yet, as i have already intimated, the passenger traffic was but a small part of cape vincent's importance through three or four great decades. the ferry carried mail, freight and express as well--the place was ever an important ferry crossing, a seat of a custom house of the first rank. in summer the steamer acted as ferry, for many years crossing the wolfe island barrier four times daily, through three or four miles of canal, which some time along in the early nineties was suffered to fill up and was abandoned in . in midwinter mail and freight and passengers alike crossed in speed and a real degree of fine comfort in great four-horse sleighs upon a hard roadway of thick, thick ice. it was between seasons, when the ice was either forming or breaking and sleighs as utter an impossibility as steamboats that the real problem arose. in those times of the year a strange craft, which was neither sled nor boat, but a combination of both, was used. it went through the water and over the ice. yet the result was not as easy as it sounds. more than one passenger paid his dollar to go from cape vincent to kingston, for the privilege of pushing the heavy hand sled-boat over the ice, getting his feet wet in the bargain. * * * * * into the many vagaries of north country weather, i shall not enter at this time. in a later chapter we shall give some brief attention to them. it is enough here to say that a man who could fight a blizzard, coming in from off ontario, and keep the line open could run a railroad anywhere else in the world. in after years i was to see, myself, some of these rare old fights; russell plows getting into the drifts over their necks around-about pulaski and richland and sandy creek, seemingly half the motive power off the track. yet these were no more than the road has had since almost the very day of its inception. once, in the midwinter of , we had a noble old wind--the north country has a way of having noble old winds, even to-day--and the huge spire of the first presbyterian church in washington street, watertown, came tumbling down into the road, smashed into a thousand bits, and seemingly with no more noise than the sharp slamming of a blind. that night--it was the evening of the fifteenth of january--the railroad in and about watertown nearly collapsed. trains were hugely delayed and many of them abandoned. the _watertown times_ of the next day, na�vely announced: "conductor sandiforth didn't come home last night and missed a good deal by not coming. he spent the evening with a party of shovelers working his way from richland to pierrepont manor. conductor aiken followed him up with the night train but he couldn't pass him, and so both trains arrived here at : this (thursday) morning." here conductor lew sandiforth first comes into our picture and for a moment i shall interrupt my narrative to give a bit of attention to him. he is well worth the interruption of any narrative. we had many pretty well-known conductors on the old r. w. & o.--but none half so well-known as lew sandiforth. he was the wit of the old line, and its pet beau. it was said of him, that if there was a good looking woman on the afternoon train up to watertown, lew would quit taking tickets somewhere north of sandy creek. the train then could go to the old harry for all he cared. he had his social duties to perform. he was not one to shirk such responsibilities. in those days a railroad conductor was something of an uncrowned king, anyway. his pay was meager, but ofttimes his profits were large. one of these famous old ticket punchers upon the rome road lived at the woodruff house, in watertown, throughout the seventies. his wage was seventy-five dollars a month, but he paid ninety dollars a month board for his wife and himself and kept a driver and a carriage in addition. no questions were asked. the road, on the whole, was glad to get its freight and its ticket office revenues. even these last were nothing to brag about. it was a poor sort of a public man in those days who could not have his wallet lined with railroad annual passes. a large proportion of the passengers upon the average train rode free of any charge. sometimes this attained a scandalous volume. away back in , i find the directors of the potsdam & watertown resolving that no officer of their company "shall give a free pass for _more_ than one trip over the road to any one person, except officers of other railroad companies; and that an account of all free passes taken up shall be entered by the conductors in their daily returns with the name of the person passed and the name of the person who gave the pass, and the superintendent shall submit statement thereof to each meeting of the board." moreover, he was requested to notify the conductors not to pass any persons without a pass except the directors and secretary of the company, and their families, the roadmaster, paymaster, station agents, and "persons who the conductors think are entitled to charity." * * * * * despite obstacles to its full earning power such as this, the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh prospered ... and progressed. forever it was planning new frills to add to its operation. in it had placed a through wagner sleeping-car in service between watertown and new york. in this was an established function, leaving watertown on the : train each evening and arriving in new york at : the next morning; returning it left new york each evening at six, and albany at : , and was in watertown at : the next morning. a later management of the r. w. & o. in a fit of economy discontinued this service, and for more than twenty years the north country stood in line for sleeping-car berths at utica station, while it fought for the restoration of its sleeping-cars. these cars eventually came back, but not regularly until , when the new york central took over the property and put its up-to-date traffic methods upon it once again. the local management of the mid-seventies--composed almost entirely of watertown men--was not content to stop with the through sleeping cars between their chief town and new york. they finally instructed h. h. sessions, their master mechanic, down in the old shops at rome, to build two wonderful new cars for their line, "the likes of which had never been seen before." mr. sessions approached his new task with avidity. he was a born car-builder, in after years destined to take charge of the motive power department of the international & great northern railway, at palestine, texas, and then, in january, , to become manager of the great pullman car works at pullman, ill., just outside of chicago. for six years he held this position, afterwards resigning it to enter into business for himself. the first vestibuled trains in which the platforms were enclosed, were built under his supervision under what are known to-day as the "sessions patents." he was indeed an inventive genius, and also designed the first steel platforms and other very modern devices in progressive car construction. sessions produced two sleeping-cars for the old rome road. the "likes of them" had never been seen before, and never will be seen again. they were named the _st. lawrence_ and the _ontario_, and, despite the fact that they depended upon candle-light as their sole means of illumination, they were wonderfully finished in the rarest of hard-woods. alternately they were sleeping-cars and parlor-cars. at the first they were distinguished by the fact that they possessed no upper-berths, their mattresses, pillows and linen being carried in closets at either end of the car. * * * * * these cars at one time were placed in service between syracuse, watertown and fabyan's, n. h., passing enroute through norwood, rouse's point and montpelier. one of them was in charge of ed. frary, the son of the general ticket agent of the r. w. & o. at that time, and the other in charge of l. s. hungerford, who originally came from evan's mills. this was the hungerford, who to-day is vice-president and general manager of the pullman company, at chicago. a third or "spare" car was afterwards purchased from the pullman company and renamed the _dekalb_. because of the limited carrying capacity of these r. w. & o. sleeping-cars they were never profitable. they did a little better when they were in day service as parlor-cars. one of mr. richard holden's most vivid memories is of one of these cars coming into watertown from the south on the afternoon train, which would halt somewhere near the pine street cutting to slip it off, preparatory to placing it on the cape train at the junction. "i remember," he says, "how proud the late frank cornish was in riding down the straight on the first drawing-room car, with his hands on the brakewheel. he was a brakeman at that time. afterwards he was promoted to baggageman and then to conductor, having the run on number one and number seven for many years, afterwards conducting a cigar-stand in the yates hotel at syracuse until he died." when hard times came upon the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh these cars were laid up. once in later years, under the parsons management, they were renamed the _cataract_ and the _niagara_, and operated in the niagara falls night trains. but again, they proved too much of a financial drag, and they were finally converted into day-coaches. there was another parlor-car, the _watertown_. eventually this became the private-car of mr. h. m. britton, general manager of the r. w. & o., while the others remained day coaches; still retaining, however, their wide plate-glass windows and their general appearance of comfortable ease. * * * * * here indeed was the golden age of the rome road. its bright, neat, yellow cars, its smartly painted and trimmed engines all bespoke the existence of a prosperous little rail carrier, that might have left well enough alone. but, seemingly it could not. there is a man living in the western part of this state, who recalls one fine day there in the mid-seventies, when mr. massey--the president of the road, came walking out of the watertown station, talking all the time to mr. moak, its general superintendent--came over to him: "we're going to be a real railroad at last, john," said he. "we're going through to niagara falls upon our own rails and get into the trunk-line class." he was giving expression to a dream of years. a moment ago and we were speaking of the operation through two or three summers of sleeping-cars between watertown and the white mountains over the r. w. & o., the northern (at that time, already become the ogdensburgh & lake champlain), the central vermont, the montpelier and wells river, and the portland and ogdensburgh. the officers of the rome road felt that, if they could bridge the gap existing between the terminals of their line at oswego, and go through to suspension bridge or buffalo, where there were plenty of competing lines through to chicago and the west, that they could both enter upon the competitive business of carrying western freight to the atlantic seaboard, and at the same time stand independent of the new york central. eventually their idea was to take a concrete form, but again i anticipate. * * * * * in that brisk day there was, in the slow and laborious process of building a railroad, leading due west from oswego. it was called the lake ontario shore railroad, and its construction was indeed a laborious process. for many years it came to an end just eighteen miles beyond oswego. finally it reached the little village of ontario, fifty-one miles beyond. and there stopped dead. if it had forever been halted there, it would have been a good thing. its promoters were both industrious and persistent, however. they chose to overlook the fact that the narrow territory, that they sought to thread, promised small local traffic returns for many years to come; a thin strip it was between the main line of the new york central and the south shore of lake ontario, and although nearly miles in length, never more than twelve or fifteen in width, and without any sizable communities. the prospect of a profitable traffic, originating in so thin a strip, was small indeed. the prospectors of the lake ontario shore railroad did not see it that way. they stressed the fact that at sterling they would intersect the southern central (now the lehigh valley), at sodus the northern central (now the pennsylvania), at charlotte; the port of rochester, the rochester & state line (now the buffalo, rochester & pittsburgh) all in addition to the many valuable connections to be made at the niagara river. yet for a considerable time after the road had been pushed through western new york, it came to a dead stop at lewiston. its original terminal can still be seen in that small village. it was then thought possible and feasible to build a railroad bridge across the niagara and the international boundary between lewiston and queenstown, in competition with the suspension bridge, which from the very moment of its opening in had been an overwhelming success. the energetic group of oswego men who had promoted the building of the lake ontario shore, hoped to duplicate the success of the suspension bridge there at lewiston. they saw that small frontier new york town transformed into a real railroad metropolis. "and what a line we shall have, running right up to it!" they argued. "seventy-three out of our seventy-six miles, west of the genesee river, as straight as the proverbial ruler-edge; and a maximum gradient of but twenty-six feet to the mile! what opportunities for fast--and efficient operation!" they had capitalized their line at $ , , and in october, , when i first find official mention of it, they had expended $ , upon it. its officers at that time were: _president_, gilbert mollison, oswego _treasurer_, luther wright, oswego _secretary_, henry l. davis, oswego _engineer_, isaac s. doane, oswego _directors_ luther wright, oswego alanson s. page, oswego fred'k t. carrington, oswego gilbert mollison, oswego reuben f. wilson, wilson joseph l. fowler, ransonville oliver p. scovell, lewiston george i. post, fairhaven william o. wood, red creek burt van horne, lockport james brackett, rochester d. f. worcester, rochester * * * * * it is needless to say that the railroad bridge was never thrust across the niagara at lewiston. that project died "a'borning." and so, almost, did the lake ontario shore railroad. as i have just said, the building of the road finally was halted at ontario, fifty-one miles west of oswego. finally, by tremendous effort and the injection of some capital from the wealthy city of rochester into the project it was brought through in as far as kendall, a miserable little railroad, wretched and woe-begone with its sole rolling stock consisting of two second-hand locomotives, two passenger-cars and some fifty or sixty freight-cars. in the long run, just as most folk had anticipated from the beginning, it was the wealthy and prosperous rome, watertown & ogdensburgh that took over the lake ontario shore and completed it; in as far as lewiston, and a year or two later up the face of the niagara escarpment to suspension bridge and the immensely valuable connections there. the merger, itself, was consummated in the midsummer of . to reach the tracks of the new connecting link, from those of the old road, it was necessary not only to build an exceedingly difficult little tunnel under the hill, upon which the oswego court house stands, but to bridge the wide expanse of the river just beyond, a tedious and expensive process, which occupied considerably more than a twelvemonth. all of this was not done until and by that time disaster threatened. the rome road had gone quite too far. times were growing very hard once again. a tight money market threatened; the storm of ' had been passed but that of ' was still ahead. it began to be a question whether the r. w. & o. could weather the large obligations that it had assumed when it had absorbed the lake ontario shore. traffic did not come off the new line; not, at least, in any considerable or profitable quantities. it defaulted on the interest payments of its bonds. there was the beginning of disaster. the rome road management realized this. they cut their dividends a little, and then to nothing. watertown was staggered. for a long term of years up to the road had paid its ten per cent annual dividend with astonishing regularity. in that year it dropped a little--to eight per cent--the next year, to seven, and then in the panic year of to but three and one-half. the following year it had returned, with increasing good times, to seven. in the fiscal year of - the directors of the property had voted six and one-half. that was the end. the cancer of the lake ontario shore was upon the parent property. the strong old r. w. & o. had permitted the default of the interest payments upon the bonds of their leased property. confusion ruled among the men in the depot at watertown. they were dazed with impending disaster. chapter vii into the slough of despond the enthusiasm which mr. marcellus massey showed over the extension of his railroad into suspension bridge was surface enthusiasm, indeed. in his heart he felt that it had taken a very dangerous step. his mind was full of forebodings. some of these he confessed to his intimates in watertown. he felt that a mistake--if you please, an irrevocable mistake--had been made. and there was no turning back. these forebodings were realized. as we have just seen, the lake ontario shore defaulted upon its bonds in and again in . the reflection of this disastrous step came directly upon the r. w. & o. it ceased paying dividends. the north country folk, who had come to regard its securities as something hardly inferior to government bonds, were depressed and then alarmed. yet worse was to come. on august , , the r. w. & o. defaulted in its interest on its great mass of consolidated bonds. the blow had fallen! failure impended! and receivership! yet, in the long run, both were avoided. into the directorate of the railroad, up to that time a fairly close northern new york affair, a new man had come. he was a smallish man, with a reputation for keenness and sagacity in railroad affairs, second only to that of jay gould or daniel drew. there were more ways than one in which samuel sloan, known far and wide as plain "sam sloan," resembled both of these men. his touch with the r. w. & o. came physically, by way of the contact of the delaware, lackawanna and western with it at three points; at oswego, at syracuse, and at rome--this last, at that time through its leased operation of the rome & clinton railroad, which ceased july , . he had looked upon the development and the despair of the rome road with increasing interest. his careful and conservative mind must have stood aghast at the foolhardiness of the lake ontario shore venture. sam sloan would have done nothing of that sort. the railroad that he dominated so forcefully for many years--lackawanna--would have taken no step of that sort. trust sam sloan for that. and yet, despite his evident dislike for the property, the r. w. & o. had its fascinations for him. he must have seen certain opportunities in it. the fact that it touched his own road at so many points, and, therefore, was capable of becoming so large a potential feeder for it--despite the malign influence of those vanderbilts with their important new york central--must have appealed to the old man's heart. at any rate he took direct steps to gain control of the rome road. * * * * * the precise motives that impelled samuel sloan to gain a control of the r. w. & o., and having once gained a control of it, to conduct it in the remarkable manner that he did, in all probability, never will be known. one may only indulge in surmises. but just why he should seek, apparently with deliberateness and carefully preconceived plan, to wreck what had been so recently the finest of all railroads in the state of new york is not clearly apparent even to-day. sloan was a man of many moods. receptive and interested to-day, he was cold and bitter to-morrow. one might never count upon him. he flattered marcellus massey, raised his salary as the president of the rome road from $ to $ , a year, and then induced him to purchase large holdings of lackawanna stock, putting up as collateral his large holdings of the shares of the r. w. & o., just beginning their long drop towards a pitifully low figure--all the time holding the bait to the old president of the amazing property that he was about to upbuild in northern new york. so, eventually sloan ruined massey, financially and physically, and a broken hearted man went out from the old president's office of the r. w. & o. in watertown. in , the year before the rome road all but created financial disaster in northern new york, sloan had bought enough of its bargain-sale stock to have himself elected as its president. the official roster of the road then became: _president_, samuel sloan, new york _vice-president_, marcellus massey, watertown _treasurer_, j. a. lawyer, watertown _general freight agent_, e. m. moore, watertown _general ticket agent_, h. t. frary, watertown _supt. r. w. & o. division_, j. w. moak, watertown _supt. l. o. & s. n. division_, e. a. van horne, oswego _directors_ marcellus massey, watertown samuel sloan, new york william e. dodge, new york john s. farlow, boston percy r. pyne, new york talcott h. camp, watertown moses taylor, scranton c. zabriskie, new york john s. barnes, new york s. d. hungerford, adams gardner r. colby, new york william m. white, utica theodore irwin, oswego the north country complexion of the directorate had all but disappeared. as far back as , addison day had ceased to be superintendent of the road, and had become superintendent of the utica & black river. he had been succeeded by j. w. moak, a former roadmaster of the rome road. moak was not only equally as efficient as day, but he was much more popular, both with the road's employees and its patrons. yet one of sloan's first acts was to relieve him of a portion of his territory and responsibility. he made the point, and it was not without force, that it was all but impossible for an operating officer at watertown to supervise properly the western end of the now far-flung system. so, he took the former syracuse northern, the lake ontario shore and the branch from richland to oswego--all the lines west of richland, in fact--and made them into a new division, with headquarters at oswego. for this division he brought one of his few favored officers from the lackawanna, e. a. van horne, who had been a superintendent upon that property. van horne was a forceful man, who, as he went upward, made a distinct impress upon the railroad history of the north country. he was quick tempered, decisive, yet possessing certain very likable qualities that were of tremendous help to him there. another of sloan's early acts--more easily understood than some others--was to tear out the soft-coal grates of the fire boxes of the r. w. & o. locomotives, and substitute for them hard-coal grates. anthracite then, as now, was a great specialty of the lackawanna. and in the road to the north of him sloan possessed a customer of no mean dimensions. * * * * * for the next four or five years the r. w. & o. grubbed along--and barely dodged receivership. its service steadily went from bad to worse. it now took the best passenger trains upon the line four hours to go from watertown to rome, seventy-two miles (in the very beginnings of the road, they had done it in an even three hours). no one knew when a freight car would reach new york from watertown. confusion reigned. chaos was at hand. and when watertown merchants and manufacturers would go to oswego to protest to mr. van horne (mr. moak finally had been demoted, and watertown suffered the humiliation of having the operating headquarters of the system moved away from it) they would hear from the general superintendent of the property his utter helplessness in the matter; the threats from sloan were that he might close down the road altogether, and van horne was beside himself for explanations: "gentlemen, i cannot do better," he said, over and over again, "our track is in deplorable condition. i dare not send a train over the road without sending a man afoot, station to station, ahead of it to make sure that the rails will hold." so it was. the track inspectors' jobs were cut out for them these days. they made some long-distance walking records. yet, despite their vigilance, train wrecks came with increasing frequency. morale was gone. the fine old r. w. & o. was at the bottom of the slough of despond. added to all this were the rigors of a north country winter, which we are to see in some detail in another chapter. according to the veracious diary of moses eames, on january nd, , the first train came into watertown since christmas day. the following day it snowed again, and fiercely and the r. w. & o. went out of business for another ten days. that storm was almost a record-breaker: more than a fortnight of continuous snow and extreme low temperature. * * * * * in those days samuel sloan was busy occupying himself with an extension of his beloved lackawanna into buffalo. that, in itself, was a real job. for years the d. l. & w. had terminated at great bend, a few miles east of binghamton, and had used trackage rights upon the erie from there west, not only into the buffalo gateway, but also to reach its branch-line properties into utica, rome, syracuse and ithaca. sloan finally had quarreled with the erie--it was a way he ofttimes had. and, for once at least, had made a bold strategic move through to the far end of the empire state. to build so many miles of railroad one must have rail. and rail costs much money, unless one may borrow it from a friendly property. so sloan went up into the north country and "borrowed" rail. he "borrowed" so much that travel upon the r. w. & o. became fraught with many real dangers--and the life of his general superintendent at oswego, van horne, a nightmare. some of the rails were, in his own words, not more than six feet long. finally in desperation he appealed to his chief competitor in the north country, the utica & black river, which rapidly was substituting steel for iron upon its main line. in sheer pity, j. f. maynard, general superintendent of the utica & black river, sent his discarded iron to his paralyzed competitor. there was little steel upon the rome road in --less than sixty miles of its miles of main line track was so equipped. neither were there sufficient locomotives; but fifty-two of them all-told, in addition to two or three that the lackawanna had had the extreme kindness to "loan" the property--upon a perfectly adequate rental basis. long since it had ceased to operate such frills as sleeping-cars or parlor-cars. it had only fifty-four passenger-coaches; not nearly enough to meet the needs of so far-flung a line. and many of these were in extreme disrepair. an elderly citizen of ogdensburgh says that it was a nightly occasion for the r. w. & o. train to come in from dekalb with more than half of its journals ablaze. * * * * * yet, despite these bitter years, the road had managed to avoid receivership and in it succeeded in effecting a reorganization; under which it dropped the interest on its bonds to five per cent and assessed its stockholders ten dollars a share for a cash working fund to keep it alive. they were given income bonds for the amount so contributed by them. there were a few grumbles at this arrangement, but not many. the huge potential possibilities of the property--or rather of the rich and still undeveloped territory that it served--were too generally recognized. it began to be rumored that new outside interests were buying into the stock in wall street. these rumors were brought to sloan's attention. "look out," he was warned, "some one will get that old heap of junk away from you yet." he laughed. at the best you could tell samuel sloan but little. gradually, he proceeded with his reorganization, and in we find the official roster of the reorganized r. w. & o. reading in this fashion: _president_, samuel sloan, new york _secretary and treasurer_, j. a. lawyer, watertown _general superintendent_, e. a. van horne, oswego _master mechanic_, g. h. haselton, oswego _general ticket agent_, h. t. frary, watertown _general freight agent_, e. m. moore, oswego _directors_ talcott h. camp, watertown s. d. hungerford, adams william m. white, utica theodore irwin, oswego william e. dodge, new york roswell g. ralston, new york charles parsons, new york clarence s. day, new york percy r. pyne, new york john s. barnes, new york john s. farlow, boston gardner r. colby, new york the rumor-mongers were not without fact to support them, for a new name will be noticed upon this list; that of charles parsons, of new york, who had been carefully garnering in r. w. & o. stock, at from ten to fifteen cents on the dollar. two names had disappeared, those of marcellus massey and of j. w. moak. but we focus our attention upon the name of parsons, and then step forward in our narrative until the sixth day of june, , when the directors of the r. w. & o. held a meeting in the back room of the jefferson county bank in watertown. there was an unusually full attendance of the board. mr. sloan, as was his prerogative through his office as president of the road, sat at the head of the long table. near its foot sat mr. parsons, a cadaverous man, with prematurely white hair, given to much thought but little speech. the business of the meeting, the election of officers for the ensuing year, was perfunctory and quickly accomplished. the secretary arose and announced that mr. parsons had been elected president of the r. w. & o. sloan flushed, and then prepared to spring a _coup d'etat_. he brought a packet of papers from out of an inside pocket. "what do you propose to do with these?" he snarled. "what are they?" asked parsons. "notes of the road for $ , that i've advanced it, to keep it out of bankruptcy," was the reply. "let me see them," said its new president.... he glanced at the papers for a moment, then reached for his check-book and wrote his check to sloan for a clean $ , . he handed it across the table. the retiring president scrutinized it sharply, placed it within his wallet and left the room. his connection with the road was terminated. at the best it was a sinister connection. there were few to regret his going. * * * * * with his hand firmly fixed upon its wheel, parsons began the complete reorganization of his newly acquired property. he had his long-time associate, clarence s. day, elected as its vice-president, and within a very few weeks had brought to the operating headquarters in oswego a fine upstanding man, the late h. m. britton, as general manager of the road, a newly created title and office. mr. britton at once chose two operating lieutenants for himself; w. h. chauncey, as assistant superintendent of the western division (west of richland) at oswego, and the famous "jud" remington, as assistant superintendent of the eastern division, at watertown. watertown had hoped that with the new management of the road--that railroad which it had been prone to call "its road"--would reëstablish the operating headquarters of the property there, also new and enlarged shops. in these hopes it was to be doomed to great disappointment. for not only was a sloan policy to consolidate shop facilities at oswego continued and enlarged--the shops both at rome and at watertown were reduced to facilities for emergency repairs only--but the corporate executive offices were removed from it to new york city, while the chief operating headquarters of the company remained at oswego. yet watertown might easily enough take hope. the service upon the road was improved--at once. in front of me i have a copy of the shortlived _daily republican_, which once was printed there. it is dated, july , , and its rules are turned to black borders of mourning in tribute to general grant, who died upon the preceding day. in the lower corner of one of its pages is an advertisement of the summer service upon the r. w. & o. it was a real service, indeed--five trains a day over the main line in each direction, and adequate schedules upon the branches. in that season of the year there was through sleeping-car service between watertown and new york, upon the sleeping-cars that were operated in and out of cape vincent to serve the steadily, increasing, tourist trade upon the st. lawrence. the parsons' management, however, like the sloan, steadfastly refused to operate this sleeping-car service through the autumn, winter and spring months of the year. there was a through sleeping-car service, also, to the white mountains, the car coming through from niagara falls, passing watertown at four o'clock in the morning and reaching fabyan's, n. h., at twenty-eight minutes after four in the afternoon; portland, me., by direct connection, at : p. m. this advertisement is signed by w. f. parsons, as general passenger agent, and by mr. britton, as general manager of the line. * * * * * britton was alert to suggestion and to complaint. to favored persons he was apt to make an occasional suggestion upon the company's stock. "buy it now," he urged. "buy it--and hold it." most folk shook their heads negatively at that suggestion. watertown had been burned once in a railroad experience. it now emulated the traditional wise child. "buy the stock," whispered britton to a watertown manufacturer. it then was at twenty-five. the watertownian demurred. a year later it was forty. "buy it now," britton still whispered to him. and still our cautious soul of the north country hesitated. it touched fifty. britton still urged. of course, the watertown man would not buy it _then_. he prided himself that he never bought anything at the top of the market. sixty, seventy, then r. w. & o. in the great market of wall street touched seventy-five. "how about it now?" said britton over the wire. the watertown man laughed. he had made a mistake--one of the few financial errors that he ever made--and he could afford to laugh at this one. buy r. w. & o. at seventy-five? not he. let the other man do it. afterwards he did not laugh as hard. he lived long enough to see r. w. & o. reach par once again--and then cross it and keep upwards all the while. he saw it reach , then and then on a certain memorable march day in , . but this anticipates. we are riding too rapidly with our narrative. if old "jud" remington were traveling with us upon this special he would do, as sometimes was his wont, reach up and pull the bell-cord to slow the train. he took no risks, did "jud"--bless his fine, old heart. we have anticipated--and perhaps we have neglected. all these years, of which we have been writing, the r. w. & o. had a competitor--a very live competitor, we must have you understand. so live, that to gain a permanent position for itself, that competitor must needs be completely eliminated. to that competitor--the utica & black river railroad--we must now turn our attention. chapter viii the utica & black river the beginnings of the utica & black river railroad go away back to --the year of the real completion and opening of the watertown & rome. the fact that not only could that line be built successfully, but that there would come to it immediately a fine flow of traffic was not without its effect upon the staunch old city of utica, which had felt rather bitterly about the loss, to its smaller neighbor, rome, of the prestige of being the gateway city to the north country. from the beginning utica had been that gateway. long ago we read of the fine records that were made on the old post-road from utica through martinsburgh and watertown to sackett's harbor. the black river valley was the logical pathway to the northern tier. the people who dwelt there felt that god had made it so. and now the infamy had come to pass that a new man-built highway had ignored it completely; had passed far to the west of it. spurred by such feelings, stung by a new-found feeling of isolation, the people of lewis county held a mass meeting on a december evening in , at lowville, to which their county-seat had already been moved from martinsburgh, but two miles distant. they set the fire to a popular feeling that already demanded a railroad through the natural easy gradients of the valley of the black river. the blaze of indignation spread. within a fortnight similar meetings were held at boonville and at theresa. and within a few months the black river railroad company was organized at the first of these towns with a capital of $ , , and herkimer, in the valley of the mohawk, was designated as its probably southern terminal. once again utica writhed in civic anguish. but in three days gave answer to this proposed, second blow to her prestige by the organization of the black river & utica railroad, with a capital of $ , , --a tentative figure of course. as an evidence of her good faith she raised a cash fund for the employment of daniel c. jenney to survey a route for her own railroad, north and straight through to french creek (about to become the present village of clayton) one hundred miles distant. to this move rome replied. having acquired a new and exclusive prestige, she was quite unwilling that it should be lost, or even dimmed. she called attention to the fact that she was, in her own eyes, of course, the logical gateway to the black river country, as well as to the eastern shore of lake ontario, to which the watertown & rome already led. there was a natural pass that rested just behind her that led to boonville and the upper waters of the black river. had not this natural route been recognized some years before by the builders of the black river canal, who readily had chosen it for the waterway, which to this day remains in operation through it? rome felt that her argument was quite irrefutable. to support it, however, she pledged herself to furnish terminal grounds for the new line at $ an acre, in addition to subscribing $ , to the stock and bonds of the company. money talks. utica came back with an offer of terminal lands at $ an acre and proffered a subscription of $ , to the securities of the black river & utica. a meeting was held. the mooted question of a southern terminal was put to vote. rome and utica tied with twenty-two votes each; herkimer, despite her suggestion of the valley of canada creek as a natural pathway for the new line north to the watershed of the black river, had but two votes. she promptly withdrew from the contest. money does talk. eventually utica had the terminal of the black river road, even though the noble romans, retiring to their camp in a blue funk for a time threatened a rival line straight north from their town to boonville and beyond. they went so far as to incorporate this company; as the ogdensburgh, clayton & rome. the promoters of the black river & utica having planned to locate their line in the low levels of the flats of the river, the rome group said that they would build _their_ road upon the higher level, rather closely paralleling the ancient state highway and so making especial appeal to the towns along it, which felt miffed at the indifference of the utica group to them. in the long run, as we all know, the road was built along the low level of the black river valley, and many of the once thriving towns along the state road left stranded high and dry. the road from rome became a memory. from time to time the suggestion has been revived, however--in my boyhood days we had the fine classical suggestion of the rome & carthage railroad all ready for incorporation--but there is little prospect now that such a road will ever be built. the times are not propitious now for that sort of enterprise. * * * * * ground was broken at utica for the new black river line on august , . there was a deal of ceremony to the occasion; no less a personage than the distinguished governor horatio seymour, being designated to make remarks appropriate to it. and, as was the custom in those days for such an event, there was a parade, music by the bands and other appropriate festivities. construction, in the hands of contractor j. s. t. stranahan, of brooklyn, went ahead with great briskness. within two years the line had been builded over the hard rolling country of the upper canada creek--it included the crossing of a deep gully near trenton falls by a high trestle (subsequently replaced by a huge embankment)--to boonville, thirty-five miles distant from utica. this much done, the black river & utica subsided and became apparently a semi-dormant enterprise--for a number of long years. the promises which its promoters had made to have the line completed to clayton by the first of july, , apparently were forgotten. these had been made at a mass meeting of the enthusiastic proponents of the ogdensburgh, clayton & rome, held at constableville on the evening of monday, august , . they were definite, and the rome crowd under them badly worsted. but promises were as easily made in those days as in these. as easily accepted ... and as easily broken. * * * * * in , the black river & utica railroad was operating a single passenger train a day, between utica and boonville. it left boonville at eight o'clock in the morning and arrived at utica at : a. m. the return run left utica at : p. m. and arrived at boonville at : p. m. seventy-five cents was charged to ride from utica to trenton and $ . from utica to boonville. the little road then had four locomotives, the _t. s. faxton_, the _j. butterfield_, the _boonville_ and the _d. c. jenney_. the _faxton_ hauled the passenger train, and a young man from boonville, who also owned a coal-yard there, was its conductor. his name was richard marcy and afterwards he was to come to prominent position, not only as exclusive holder of its coal-selling franchise for a number of years, but also as a politician of real parts. in , the little road doubled its passenger service. now there were two passenger trains a day in each direction. and each was at least fairly well-filled, for the black river & utica held as its supreme attraction trenton falls. indeed, if it had not been for the prominence of trenton falls as a resort in those years, it is quite probable that a good many folk in the state of new york would never have even heard of it. [illustration: the birth of the u. & b. r. the boonville passenger train standing in the utica station, away back in .] but trenton falls--trenton falls of the sixties, of the fifties--all the way back to the late twenties, if you please--here was a place to be reckoned! all the great travelers of the early half of the last century--european as well as american--made a point of visiting it. the most of them wrote of it in their memoirs. that indefatigable tourist, n. p. willis, could not miss this exquisitely beautiful place--alas, in these late days, the exquisitely beautiful place has fallen under the vandal hands of power engineers, and the exquisite beauty no longer is. trenton falls is but a memory. yet the record of its one-time magnificence still remains. "... the company of strangers at trenton is made somewhat select by the expense and difficulty of access," wrote willis, late in the fifties. the black river & utica had then barely been opened through to the falls. "most who come stay two or three days, but there are usually boarders here who stay for a longer time.... nothing could be more agreeable than the footing upon which these chance-met residents and their daily accessions of newcomers pass their evenings and take strolls up the ravine together; and for those who love country air and romantic rambles without 'dressing for dinner' or waltzing by a band, this is 'a place to stay.' these are not the most numerous frequenters of trenton, however. it is a very popular place of resort from every village within thirty miles; and from ten in the morning until four in the afternoon there is gay work with the country girls and their beaux--swinging under trees, strolling about in the woods near the house, bowling, singing, and dancing--at all of which (owing, perhaps to a certain gypsy-ish promiscuosity of my nature that i never could aristocrify by the keeping of better company) i am delighted to be, at least, a looker-on. the average number of these visitors from the neighborhood is forty or fifty a day, so that breakfast and tea are the nearest approach to 'dress meals'--the dinner, though profuse and dainty in its fare, being eaten in what is commonly thought to be rather 'mixed society.' i am inclined to think that, from french intermixture, or some other cause, the inhabitants of this region are a little peculiar in their manners. there is an unconsciousness or carelessness of others' observation and presence that i have hitherto seen only abroad. we have songs, duets and choruses, sung here by village girls, within the last few days, in a style that drew all in the house to listen very admiringly; and even the ladies all agree that there have been very pretty girls day after day among them. i find they are fourierites to the extent of common hair-brush and other personal furniture--walking into anybody's room for the temporary repairs which belles require on their travels, and availing themselves of whatever was therein, with a simplicity, perhaps, a little transcendental. i had obtained the extra privilege for myself of a small dressing room apart, for which i presumed the various trousers and other merely masculine belongings would be protective scarecrows sufficient to keep out these daily female invaders, but, walking in yesterday, i found my combs and brushes in active employ, and two very tidy looking girls making themselves at home without shutting the door and no more disturbed by my _entrée_ than if i had been a large male fly. as friends were waiting i apologized for intruding long enough to take a pair of boots from under their protection, but my presence was evidently no interruption. one of the girls (a tall figure, like a woman in two syllables connected by a hyphen at the waist) continued to look at the back of her dress in the glass, and the other went on threading her most prodigal chevelure with my doubtless very embarrassed though unresisting hair-brush, and so i abandoned the field, as of course i was expected to do ... i do not know that they would go to the length of 'fraternizing' one's tooth-brush, but with the exception of locking up that rather confidential article, i give in to the customs of the country, and have ever since left open door to the ladies...." we have drifted away for the moment from the railroad. i wanted to show, through mr. willis's observant eyes, the northern new york of the day that the black river & utica was first being builded. one other excerpt has observed the various sentiments, sacred and profane, penciled about the place and its excellent hotel and concludes: "... farther off ... a man records the arrival of himself 'and servant,' below which is the following inscription: "'g. squires, wife and two babies. no servant, owing to the hardness of the times.' "and under this again; "'g. w. douglas, and servant. no wife and babies, owing to the hardness of the times.'" * * * * * the tremendous popularity of trenton falls in those early days was a vast aid to the slender passenger possibilities of the early black river & utica. there was not much else for it south of boonville. true it was that at that thriving village it tapped the fairly busy black river canal which led down to the navigable upper waters of that river. yet this was hardly satisfactory to the progressive folk of the black river valley. they kept the project alive. and once when the old company's continued existence became quite hopeless they helped effect a complete reorganization of it, under the title of the utica & black river. this was formally accomplished, march , . as the utica & black river, the new railroad came, upon its completion into the north country, into a season of continued prosperity. it did not share the vast reversals of fortune of its larger competitor, the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. through all the years of its complete operation as a separate railroad it never missed its six per cent dividends. it was a delight, both to its owners and to the communities it served. * * * * * the black river road thrust itself into lowville in the fall of . four years later it had reached carthage. the next year it was at the bank of the st. lawrence, at clayton. and before the end of the following year it again touched with its rails the shore of that great river; at both morristown and ogdensburgh. as railroads went, in those days, it was at last a through-route; with important connections at both of its terminals. at utica it had fine shop and yard facilities adjoining the tracks of the new york central & hudson river railroad, whose venerable passenger station it shared. and, when at one time, it sought a close personal connection for itself with the ontario & western there, it builded an expensive bridge connection over the new york central tracks. this bridge is now gone, but the piers remain. at both clayton and ogdensburgh the black river road possessed fine waterside terminals. its station in the latter city still stands; for many years it has been the local storage warehouse of armour & co., of chicago. * * * * * in the busy months that the utica & black river was building its line up through jefferson and st. lawrence counties, a railroad was being builded from it at carthage down the lower valley of the black river to watertown and to sackett's harbor. this was distinctly a local enterprise; the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor, financed and built almost entirely by watertownians and retaining its separate corporate existence until but a few years ago. it was inspired not only by the great success of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh at that time, but by the quite natural desire of the one really industrial city of the north country to have competitive railroad service. there have been few times when there were not in watertown a generous plenty of men who stood ready to put their hands deep into their pockets in order to promote an enterprise whose value seemed so obvious and so genuinely important to the town. so it was then that the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor first came into its existence, there at the extreme end of the sixties; in the very year that watertown itself was first becoming a city. its officers and directors as it was first organized were as follows: _president_, george b. phelps, watertown _secretary and treasurer_, lotus ingalls, watertown _engineer_, f. a. hinds, watertown _directors_ george p. phelps, watertown lotus ingalls, watertown norris winslow, watertown pearson mundy, watertown l. d. doolittle, watertown george h. sherman, watertown george a. bagley, watertown hiram converse, watertown theodore canfield, sackett's harbor walter b. camp, sackett's harbor david dexter, black river william n. coburn, carthage alexander brown, carthage a little later mr. hinds was succeeded as the road's engineer, by l. b. cook also of watertown. and eventually mr. bagley succeeded mr. phelps, as its president, george w. knowlton, becoming its vice-president. * * * * * to encourage the new line, which it prepared itself to operate, the utica & black river made quite a remarkable contract. shorn of its verbiage it agreed to give the c. w. & s. h. forty per cent of the gross revenue that should arise upon the line. this contract in a very few years arose to bedevil the railroad situation in the north country. as the paper industry began to expand there, and huge mills to multiply along the lower reaches of the black river, this contract grew irksome indeed to the u. & b. r. r. finally it sought to modify its terms, very greatly. the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor, quite naturally refused. "after all," it said, through its president, the late george a. bagley, "what is a contract but--a contract?" the utica road pressed its point. it finally went down to new york and gained a promise from roswell p. flower that the agreement would be greatly mollified, if not abrogated. it did seem absurd that a carload of paper moving eighteen miles from watertown to carthage and seventy-five from carthage to utica should pay forty per cent of its charges to the road upon which it had moved but eighteen miles. yet, a contract is a contract. governor flower went up to watertown and put the matter before the officers and directors of the c. w. & s. h. but, led by the stout-hearted bagley, they refused to move, a single inch. "i've given my promise," stormed roswell p. flower, "that you would do the right thing in this matter. and in new york i am known as a man who always keeps his word." bagley said nothing. the meeting ended abruptly--in all the bitterness of disagreement. the utica & black river decided upon a master stroke; it would terminate paying its rental, based chiefly on this forty per cent division to its leased road. that would cause trouble. the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor was, itself, liable to its bondholders, for the mortgage that they held against it. it would have to pay their interest. without receiving its rental money from the black river road it would be hard pressed indeed to meet these coupons. it looked as if it might have to go into receivership, even though at that moment its stock had reached well above par. the situation was saved for it by a new york banking house, vermilye & company, who sent a lawyer up to watertown who examined the famous contract and pronounced it perfectly valid. the vermilye's then announced their willingness to advance the c. w. & s. h. the money to meet its interest charges--for an indefinite period. after which the black river people came down a peg or two and bought the stock and bonds of their leased road, at par. while the city of watertown and some of its adjoining communities possessed of a sudden and unexpected wealth refunded a portion of their taxes for a year or two. mr. bagley had won his point. he had the reward of a good deed well performed. he had another reward. his salary as president of the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor had remained unpaid; for a number of years. he collected back pay from the black river settlement; for several years at the rate of $ , a year. * * * * * i have anticipated. we are building the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor, not, as yet, operating it. the construction of the line began late in the year of , westward from carthage, its base of supplies. the road from watertown to the harbor--eleven miles--was constructed in the following summer. after a disagreeable fight with the r. w. & o., its main line finally was crossed at grade at mill street, closely adjacent to the passenger stations of the two rival roads and, after following the embankment for a mile, once again at watertown junction. its entrance into the harbor was accomplished over the right-of-way of the former sackett's harbor & ellisburgh, which had been abandoned a decade before. it utilized the old depot there. george w. flower, the first mayor of watertown, who we have already seen in these pages, had the contract for the building of this section of the line. he rented a locomotive from his competitor and obtained the loan of engineer, frank w. smith. for himself, he kept oversight over the progress from the saddle seat of a fine horse that he possessed. this section of the road was completed and ready for operation early in ' . but because of certain legal complications the utica & black river refused to accept it at once. a large celebration had been planned at the harbor for the fourth of july that year and rather than disappoint the folk who wanted to go down to it, mr. flower took his leased locomotive and hitched behind it a long line of flat contractor's cars, equipped with temporary wooden benches. his improvised excursion train did a good business and he realized a comfortable sum from the haulage of both passengers and freight before the line was turned over to the utica & black river for operation. the first passenger station of that line in watertown was in a former brick residence in factory street, just beyond the junction with mill. it was small, not overclean and most inconvenient. but a few years later, the u. & b. r. built the handsome passenger station at the northeast corner of public square which for many years now has been the office and headquarters of the marcy, buck & riley company. its original brick freight-house nearby--afterwards relieved by the construction of a most substantial stone freight-house at the foot of court street--still stands. back of it a block or so was the round-house. i remember that round-house well. it was a favorite resort of mine through some extremely tender years of youth. * * * * * i have not set down the earliest lists of officers of the utica road. they are not particularly germane to this record. it is, perhaps, enough for it to know that, with the exception of the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor--which, as we have just seen, was financed chiefly by the flowers, the knowltons, george a. bagley and george b. phelps, of watertown--the u. & b. r. as reorganized, was constructed and managed almost exclusively by uticans--john thorn, isaac maynard, theodore faxon and john butterfield--and new yorkers--robert lenox kennedy, john j. kennedy (who afterwards had a prominent rôle in the early financing of the canadian pacific) and others. charles millar was the first superintendent of the road. he was succeeded, along about , by hugh crocker, who a couple of years later was killed while in the cab of a locomotive running between lyons falls and glendale. it was in the season of high water and the black river was following its usual springtime custom of overflowing the flats of the upper valley. the railroad was fresh and green and young. the water undermined its embankments and sent crocker's locomotive tumbling over upon its side; and crocker to his death. j. d. schultz, who still is residing in glendale and who is one of the best-known of the pioneers of the old r. w. & o. in his own arms carried young crocker's body out of the wreck. it was a most pathetic incident. yet it is a remarkable fact, and one well worth recording here, that in its entire thirty-one years of operation not one passenger was killed while riding upon the utica & black river. the unfortunate crocker was succeeded by addison day, who we already have seen upon the r. w. & o. as an early and distinguished superintendent. a little later thomas w. spencer, who had been the construction engineer of the road, replaced day, and in , j. fred maynard, son of isaac maynard of utica, assumed the operating management of the road, first with the title of superintendent and eventually as its vice-president and general manager. he remained in that post through the remainder of the operating existence of the road. * * * * * steadily the black river sought to improve its service. as it succeeded in so doing it became more and more of a thorn in the side of the r. w. & o. it touched that system at three points only--but they were important points. it was a slightly longer route into watertown from the new york central's main stem, but considerably shorter to both philadelphia--where it crossed the r. w. & o. at a precise right-angle--and ogdensburgh. at the first of these two last towns it developed an irritating habit of holding its trains until the rome road train had come, in hopes of luring ogdensburgh passengers away from it and getting them in to their destination at an earlier hour than they had hoped. several times it was suggested that the roads pool their interests and work in harmony. for one reason or another this was accomplished but once--the r. w. & o. management almost always opposed such plans. it apparently preferred to play the lone hand. the utica & black river had a very considerable tourist advantage in reaching the st. lawrence river at clayton, in the very heart of the thousand island district, instead of at cape vincent, which was rather remote from the large hotel and cottage sections. it established its own boat connections with the _john thorn_, as the flagship of its fleet. john thorn's name and personality were again reflected in a fine coal-burning, schenectady-built locomotive, which also bore his name (the u. & b. r. in those days had a decided penchant for the engines that the ellises were building at schenectady). its motive-power was almost always in the pink of condition, brightly painted like its cars, which bore the same shade of yellow upon their sides that had been borrowed from the lake shore & michigan southern. like the r. w. & o., the locomotives were all named. in addition to the _john thorn_, there were the _isaac maynard_, the _dewitt c. west_ (named after a resident of lowville, who was an early president of the road), the _theodore faxton_, the _fred s. easton_, the _charles millar_, the _john butterfield_, the _j. f. maynard_, the _ludlow patton_, the _a. g. brower_, the _lewis lawrence_, the _d. b. goodwin_, and others too. the road at the end of the seventies had a fleet of about twenty locomotives. there was one time, at least, when the upkeep of the motive power suffered a real shock. i am referring to the noisy way in which the road entered watertown, by the explosion of the locomotive _charles millar_, no. , near the mill street crossing there on may , . it was one of the few accidents, however, in the entire history of the utica & black river. augustus unser, better known as "gus" unser, of watertown was at that time engineer of the _millar_, which was one of the earliest wood-burners that the road ever possessed--it did not begin the installation of coal grates until . unser was standing in the cab at the moment of the explosion, talking to jacob h. herman--better known as "jake" herman--who was at that time conductor on the rome road. without the slightest warning came the explosion. there was a terrific roar and a crash, followed by a rain of small engine parts over a goodly portion of watertown. fortunately neither unser nor herman were seriously injured. an investigation into the cause of the wreck, which tore the _millar_ into an unrecognizable mass of metal, failed to develop the cause of the accident. it was generally supposed, however, that the engine-crew had permitted the water in the boiler to fall below the level of the crown-sheet. * * * * * back of the highly developed and independent utica & black river of a decade later there stood a pretty well developed human organization. john thorn was its president; the head and front of its aggressive and alert policy. the full official roster was, in : _president_, john thorn, utica _vice-pres. and gen'l man'g'r_, j. f. maynard, utica _treasurer_, isaac maynard, utica _secretary_, w. e. hopkins, utica _gen'l supt._, e. a. van horne, utica _asst. supt._, h. w. hammond, utica _gen. pass. and fgt. agent_, theo. butterfield, utica _directors_ robt. l. kennedy, new york john thorn, utica abijah j. williams, utica isaac maynard, utica lewis lawrence, utica william j. bacon, utica edmund a. graham, utica theodore s. sayre, utica abram g. brower, utica russell wheeler, utica j. f. maynard, utica daniel b. goodwin, waterville fred s. easton, lowville * * * * * the final thrust of the utica & black river into the sides of its older competitor, whilst that competitor was still in the anguish of the sloan administration of its affairs, came in the ferry row up at ogdensburgh. by the once-brisk lake trade of that port had fallen to low levels. the fourteen-foot locks of the welland canal, between lakes ontario and erie had failed utterly to keep pace with the development of carriers upon the upper lakes. the steamers that still came to the elaborate piers of the old northern railroad at ogdensburgh--for many years now, the ogdensburgh & lake champlain--were comparatively small and infrequent. buffalo was a more popular and a more accessible port. and yet the time had been when the northern railroad had had a daily service between chicago and ogdensburgh; some fifteen staunch steamers in its fleet. one most important form of water-borne traffic has always remained at ogdensburgh, however; the ferry route across the st. lawrence to prescott upon the canadian shore just opposite. prescott is not only upon the old main line of the grand trunk railway but also has a direct railroad connection with ottawa by a branch of the canadian pacific (formerly the ottawa and st. lawrence). the original boat upon this route was a small three-car craft, the _transit_, which was owned in prescott. in the mid-seventies this steamer was supplanted by the staunch steam car-ferry, _william armstrong_, whose whistle was reputed to be the loudest and the most awful thing ever heard on inland waters anywhere. the _armstrong_ speedily became one of the fixtures of ogdensburgh. twice she sank, under excessive loading, and twice she was again raised and replaced in service. in she was sold to a firm of contractors at trenton, ont., and she is still in use as a drill-boat in the vicinity of that village. the important ferry at ogdensburgh still continues, however, under the direction of edward dillingham, for many years the rome road's agent in that city. to compete with the service that the _armstrong_ rendered the r. w. & o. at ogdensburgh, the utica & black river along about put a car-float and tug into a hastily contrived ferry between its station grounds at morristown, eleven miles up the river from ogdensburgh and the small canadian city of brockville just opposite. into brockville came the canadian pacific, beginning to feel its oats and pushing its rails rapidly westward each month. that was a better connection than the somewhat longer one of the st. lawrence & ottawa, and gradually freight began deserting the old ferry for this new one; with the result that within a year the _armstrong_ was moved up the river to the morristown-brockville crossing, and ogdensburgh gnashed its teeth in its despair. it appealed to the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh for relief in the situation. that road was in its most important change of management--the succession of the parsons' administration to that of samuel sloan. charles parsons had had his eye upon the utica & black river for some time. it was a potential factor of danger within his territory. suppose that the vanderbilts should come along and purchase it? that nearly happened twice in the early eighties. there was strong new york central sympathy and interest in the u. & b. r. it showed itself in an increase of traffic agreements and coöperative working arrangements. the rome road tried to offset this strengthening alliance of the utica & black river by making closer working agreements with the new york, ontario & western, which it touched at rome, at central square and at oswego. but the o. & w. with its wobbly line down over the hills to new york was a far different proposition than the straight main line and the easy grades of the new york central. it is possible that had the west shore, which was completed through from new york to buffalo in the summer of , been successful, it might eventually have succeeded in absorbing the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh; in which case the new york central certainly would have taken the utica & black river, and the competitive system of railroading been assured to the north country for many years to come. but that possibility was a slight one. the disastrous collapse of the west shore soon ended it. yet the utica road was a constant menace to charles parsons. no one knew it better than he. and because he knew, he reached out and absorbed it; within three years of the day that he had first acquired the r. w. & o. he not only guaranteed the $ , , of outstanding u. & b. r. bonds and seven per cent annually upon a $ , , capitalization, but, in order to make assurance doubly sure, he purchased a majority interest of $ , , of utica & black river shares and turned them into the steadily strengthening treasury of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. the utica road formally passed into the hands of the rome road on april , . the mere announcement of the transfer was a stunning blow to the north country. now parsons had a real railroad indeed; more than six hundred miles of line--the utica road had brought him miles of main line track. now he had over eighty locomotives and an adequate supply of other rolling stock. from the u. & b. r. he received twenty-four locomotives, of a size and type excellent for that day, twenty-six passenger-cars, fourteen baggage-cars and freight cars. but, best of all, he was now kingpin in northern new york. there was none to dispute his authority, unless you were to regard the tottering ogdensburgh & lake champlain as a real competitor. he was king in a real kingdom. the only prospect that even threatened his monopoly was that the vanderbilts might sometime take it into their heads to build north into the valleys of the black river and the st. lawrence. but that was not likely--not for the moment at any rate. they were too occupied just then in counting the costs of the terrific, even though successful, battle in which they had smashed the west shore into pulp, to be ready for immediate further adventures. if they should come to war seven or eight years later, parsons would be ready for them. in the meantime he set out to reorganize and perfect his merged property. he wanted once again to make the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh the best run railroad in the state of new york. and in this he all but completely succeeded. chapter ix the brisk parsons' regime with the black river thoroughly merged into his rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, parsons began the extremely difficult job of the merging of the personnel of the two lines. britton, quite naturally, was not to be disturbed. on the contrary, his authority was to be very greatly increased. the u. & b. r. operating forces gave way to his domination. on the other hand, theodore butterfield, who was recognized as a traffic man of unusual astuteness and experience, was brought from utica to oswego and made general passenger agent of the combined property. the shops were merged. most of the sixty-five workers of the utica shop were also moved to oswego; it was retained only for the very lightest sort of repairs. as soon as the arrangements could be made, the u. & b. r. passenger trains were brought into the r. w. & o. stations at both watertown and ogdensburgh; while the time-tables of the combined road were readjusted so as to make philadelphia, where the two former competing, main lines crossed one another at right angles, a general point of traffic interchange, similar to richland. cape vincent lost, almost in a single hour, the large railroad prestige that it had held for thirty-three long years. to bind it more closely with the thousand island resorts, the swift, new steamer, _st. lawrence_, had been built at clayton in the summer of , and at once crowned queen of the river. now the _st. lawrence_ was used in the clayton-alexandria bay service exclusively. for a number of years service was maintained intermittently between the cape and alexandria bay by a small steamer--generally the _j. f. maynard_--but after a time even this was abandoned. until the coming of the motor-car and improved state highways, cape vincent was all but marooned from the busier portions of the river. clayton gradually was developed into a river gateway of importance. the golden age of the thousand islands, during the season of huge summer traffic--which lasted for nearly two decades--did not really begin until about . yet by the mid-eighties it was beginning to blossom forth. the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh of that decade knew the value of advertising. it adopted the four-leaved clover as its emblem--the long stem served very well to carry the attenuated line that ran west from oswego to rochester and to niagara falls--and made it a famous trade-mark over the entire face of the land. it was emblazoned upon the sides of all its freight-cars. theodore e. butterfield, the general passenger agent, devised this interesting emblem for it. it was he who also chose the french word, _bonheur_, for the clover stem. it was, as subsequent events proved, a most fortuitous choice. * * * * * charles parsons, having merged the two important railroads of northern new york, was now engaged in rounding out his system as a complete and well-contained unit. for more than a decade the lake ontario shore extension of the r. w. & o. had passed close to the city of rochester through the then village of charlotte (now a ward of an enlarged rochester), and had touched that city only through indifferent connections from charlotte. parsons, at britton's suggestion, decided that the road must have a direct entrance into rochester; which already was beginning its abounding and wonderful growth. the two men found their opportunity in a small and sickly suburban railroad which ran down the east bank of the genesee from the northern limits of the city and over which there ran from time to time a small train, propelled by an extremely small locomotive. they easily acquired that road and gradually pushed it well into the heart of the city; to a passenger and freight terminal in state street, not far from the famed four corners. to reach this terminal--upon the west side of the town--it was necessary to build a very high and tenuous bridge over the deep gorge of the genesee. this took nearly a year to construct. injunction proceedings had been brought against the construction of the r. w. & o. into the heart of the city of rochester. yet, under the laws of that time, these were ineffective upon the sabbath day. parsons took advantage of this technical defect in the statutes, and on a sabbath day he successfully brought his railroad into its largest city. in the meantime a fine, old-fashioned, brick residence in state street had been acquired for a rochester passenger terminal. to make this building serve as a passenger-station, and be in proper relation to the tracks, it was necessary to change its position upon the tract of land that it occupied. this was successfully done, and, i believe, was the record feat at that time for the moving of a large, brick building. the bridge was completed and the station opened for the regular use of passenger trains in the fall of . * * * * * at the same time that the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh was slipping so stealthily into rochester, it was building two other extensions; neither of them of great length, but each of them of a considerable importance. away back in it had leased the syracuse, phoenix & new york--a proposed competing line against the lackawanna between oswego and syracuse, which had been organized two or three years before--but the project had been permitted to lie dormant. first it lacked the necessary funds and then samuel sloan, quite naturally, could have no enthusiasm over it. parsons had no compunctions of that sort. the more he could dig into sloan the better he seemed to like it. moreover the syracuse, phoenix & new york involved very little actual track construction; only some seventeen miles of track from woodward's to fulton, which was very little for a thirty-seven mile line. from woodward's into syracuse it would use the r. w. & o.'s own rails, put in long before, as the syracuse northern, whilst from fulton into oswego the ontario & western was most glad to sell trackage rights. the seventeen-mile link was easily laid down; a sort of local summer resort was created at three river point upon it, and five passenger trains a day, in each direction, began service over it, between syracuse and oswego in the early spring of . in that same summer another extension was also being builded; at the extreme northeastern corner of the property. the grand trunk railway had built a line with very direct and short-distance montreal connections, down across the international boundary to massena springs, in st. lawrence county--then a spa of considerable repute, but destined to become a few years later, with the development of the st. lawrence water-power, an industrial community of great standing in the north country, second only to watertown in size and importance. to reach this new line, the r. w. & o. put down thirteen miles of track from its long established terminus at norwood, and moved that terminal to massena springs. the right-of-way for the line was entirely donated by the adjoining property-holders. for a time it was thought that an important through route would be created through this new gateway, which was opened in march, , but somehow the traffic failed to materialize. and to this day a rail journey from watertown to montreal remains a portentous and a fearful thing. yet the two cities are only about miles apart. * * * * * parsons was, in heart and essence, a master of the strategy of railroad traffic, as well as of railroad construction. whilst he was making the important link between norwood and the grand trunk terminus at massena springs, but thirteen miles distant, he was coquetting with the central vermont--in one of its repeated stages of reorganization--for the better development of its lines in connection with the boston & maine and the maine central through to the atlantic at portland. in all of this he was assisted by his two most capable assistants, e. m. moore, general freight agent, and mr. butterfield, the general passenger agent. mr. butterfield we have already seen. he took very good care of the travel necessities of the property. mr. moore had been with it for many years. he, too, was a seasoned traffic man. more than this he was a maker of traffic men; from his office came at least two experts in this specialty of railroad salesmanship--h. d. carter, who rose eventually to be freight traffic manager of the new york central lines, and frank l. wilson, who is to-day their division freight and passenger agent at watertown. mr. wilson bears the distinction of being the only officer on the property in the north country who also was an officer of the old rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. he started his service in watertown as a messenger-boy for the dominion telegraph company when its office was located in the old hanford store at the entrance of the paddock arcade. later he began his railroad service with the r. w. & o. as operator at limerick station. from that time forward his rise was steady and constant. * * * * * i have digressed once again. we left parsons strengthening a through line from suspension bridge to portland, maine, through northern new york and across the white mountains. as an earnest of his interest in this route he established, almost as soon as he had acquired control of the rome road, the once-famous white mountain express. in an earlier chapter we have seen how the local watertown management of the road had, some years before, set up a through sleeping-car service in the summers between watertown and fabyan's; using its fine old cars, the _ontario_ and the _st. lawrence_ for this service. the white mountain express of the parsons' régime was a far different thing from a mere sleeping-car service. it was a genuine through-train, with wagner sleeping-cars all the way from chicago to portland. it passed over the rails of the r. w. & o. almost entirely by night; and because of the high speed set for it over so many miles of congested single-track, the older engineers refused to run it. the younger men took the gambling chance with it. and while they expected to run off the miserable track that samuel sloan had left for parsons, and which could not be rebuilded in a day or a week or a month or a year, they managed fairly well, although there were one or two times when the accidents to this train were serious affairs indeed. there comes to my mind even now the dim memories of that nasty wreck at the very beginning of the parsons' overlordship, when the east-bound white mountain, traveling at fifty miles an hour, came a terrible cropper at carlyon (now known as ashwood), thirty miles west of charlotte. it was on the evening of the th of july, , barely six weeks after parsons and britton had taken the management of the road into their hands. the white mountain, in charge of conductor e. garrison, had left niagara falls, very heavily laden, and twenty minutes late, at : p. m., hauled by two of the road's best locomotives. it consisted of a baggage-car, a day-coach and nine sleepers; six of these wagners, and the other three the company's own cars, the _ontario_, the _st. lawrence_ and the _dekalb_. a fearful wind blowing off the lake had dislodged a recreant box-car from the facing-point siding there at carlyon and had sent it trundling down toward the oncoming express. in the driving rain the train thrust its nose right into the clumsy thing. derailment followed. the leading engine, upon which train despatcher and assistant superintendent w. h. chauncey was riding, was thrown into the ditch at one side of the track, and the trailing engine into the ditch at the other. its engineer and fireman were killed instantly. the wreckage piled high. it caught fire and it was with extreme difficulty that the flames were extinguished. in that memorable calamity seventeen lives were lost and forty persons seriously injured. yet out of it came a definite blessing. up to that time the air-brake had never been used upon the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. the carlyon accident forced its adoption. * * * * * i have no mind to linger on the details of disasters such as this; or of the one at forest lawn a little later when a suburban passenger-train bound into rochester was in a fearful rear-end collision with the delayed west-bound white mountain and more lives were sacrificed. the rome road, as a rule, had a fairly clean record on wrecks, on disastrous ones at any rate. there was in a wretched rear-end collision just opposite the passenger depot at canton, which cost two or three lives and made conductor omar a. hine decide that he had had quite enough of active railroading. and shortly before this there had been a more fortunate, yet decidedly embarrassing affair down on the old black river near glenfield; the breaking of a side-rod upon a locomotive which killed the engineer and seriously delayed a distinguished passenger on his way to the thousand islands--grover cleveland, then president of the united states, was taking his bride for a little outing upon the shores of the st. lawrence river. a few years later theodore roosevelt, in the same post, was to ride up over that nice picturesque stretch of line. yet was to see far less of it than his predecessor had seen. at utica he had accepted with avidity the superintendent's invitation to ride in the engine-cab of his special. he swung himself quickly up into it. then reached into his pocket, produced a small leather-bound book and had a bully time--reading all the way to watertown. one more wreck invites our attention, and then we are done with this forever grewsome side of railroading: this last a spectacular affair, if you please, more so even than that dire business back to carlyon. the barnum & bailey circus was a pretty regular annual visitor to northern new york in those days. it began coming in and for more than a quarter of a century thereafter it hardly missed a season--generally playing oswego (where once the tent blew down, during the afternoon performance, and there was a genuine panic), watertown and ogdensburgh. in this particular summer week, the show had gone from watertown to gouverneur, where it violated its tradition and abandoned the evening performance in order that it might promptly entrain for the long haul to montreal where it was due to play upon the morrow. going down the steep grade at clark's crossing, two miles east of potsdam, the axle of one of the elephant cars, in one of the sections, broke and the train piled up behind it--a fearful and a curious mass of wreckage. fortunately the sacrifice of human life was not a feature of this accident. but the loss of animal life was very heavy. valuable riding horses, trained beasts and many rare and curious animals were killed. into the annals of northern new york it all went as a wonderful night. in the glare of great bonfires men and women from many climes and in curious garb stalked solemnly around and whispered alarmedly in tongues strange indeed to potsdam and its vicinage. giraffes and elephants and sacred cows found refuge in mr. clark's barn. outside long trenches were dug for the burial of the wreck victims. john o'sullivan, for forty years station agent at potsdam, and now resting honorably from his labors, says that it was the worst day that he ever put in. it was at this wreck that ben batchelder, whose name brings many memories to every old r. w. & o. man, finding that his wrecking equipment was entirely inadequate for clearing the miniature mountain range of débris that ran along the track, put the barnum & bailey elephants at work clearing it. under the charge of their keepers these alien animals pulled on huge chains and long ropes and slowly cleared the iron. yet it was not until late in the afternoon of the following day that the track was fully restored and usable. by that time the children of montreal had been robbed of that which was their right. and charles parsons, in new york, was remarking to his son, that perhaps, a fleet of well-trained elephants would make a good addition to a wrecking crew. * * * * * once again i have digressed. yet offer no apologies. parsons did not let the wrecks of the white mountain discourage him in the operation of the train. on the contrary, he ordered mr. britton to proceed with haste to the complete installation of the air-brake--then still a considerable novelty--upon every corner of the road. he steadily bettered the bridges and the track, tore out the old, stub-switches and substituted for them the newest, split-switches, with signal lights. the white mountain remained; all through his day, and many a day thereafter--even though in the years after mr. britton and he were gone from the road, it was to be operated between buffalo and syracuse over the main line of the new york central. and, inasmuch as he was steadily increasing his affiliations with the ontario & western, he installed in connection with it and the wabash, a through train from chicago to weehawken (opposite new york); going over the rails of the r. w. & o. from suspension bridge to oswego. this train, running the year round, and also put at a pretty swift schedule, had little reputation for adhering to it. upon one occasion a commercial traveler bound to charlotte approaching the old station at "the bridge" to find out how late "the o. & w." was reported, was astounded when the agent replied "on time." such a thing had not been known before that winter, or for many winters. and the fact that for a week past it had stormed almost continuously, only compounded the drummer's perplexity. "how is it--on time?" he stammered. "this is yesterday's train," was the prompt response. "she's just twenty-four hours late." eventually and in the close campaign for railroad economy that came across the land a few years ago, this train, too, was sacrificed. for a time the experiment was tried of sending its through sleeping-car over the main line of the central from suspension bridge to syracuse on a through train; passing it on from the latter town to the ontario & western by way of the old chenango valley branch of the west shore. the experiment lingered for a time and then expired. it is not likely that it will ever be renewed. * * * * * by parsons had begun to develop a very real railroad, indeed. the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh once again was a power in the land. it had ninety-one locomotives, ninety-one passenger-cars, forty-eight baggage, mail and express cars, and freight-cars, of one type or another. parsons, as its president, was assisted by two vice-presidents, clarence s. day, and his son, charles parsons, jr. mr. lawyer still remained secretary and treasurer of the road, even though his offices had been moved two years before from watertown to new york city. at watertown, the veteran local agent, r. r. smiley, remained in charge of affairs, with the title of assistant secretary of the company. and mr. britton was, of course, still its general manager, at oswego. he was really a tremendous man, hiram m. britton, in appearance, a big upstanding citizen, red of beard and clear of eye. i have not, as yet, given anything like the proper amount of consideration to his dominating personality. he made a position for himself in north country railroading that would fairly entitle him to a whole chapter in a book such as this. mr. britton was born in concord, mass., november , . at that time that little town was almost at the height of its high fame as a literary center. as a boy he claimed ralph waldo emerson as a friend. the influence that emerson had upon britton remained with him all the years of his life. at seventeen, owing to financial reverses that his father had sustained, young britton was compelled to leave school and go to work. he found a job on the old fitchburg as fireman; from that he quickly rose to be engineer and then master mechanic. he made his way down into new jersey and became superintendent of the new jersey and north eastern railway; after that general manager of the new jersey midland, the portion of the old oswego midland to-day embraced by a considerable part of the new york, susquehanna & western.... from that last post, in the summer of to the management of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. that position he retained until , when increasing ill-health forced him to relinquish it and travel throughout europe in a vain effort to regain his strength. the presidencies, both of the rome road and of one of the pennsylvania system lines were offered him. he was compelled to refuse both. his strength gradually failed, and in he died. [illustration: hiram m. britton the first general manager of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh and a railroad genius.] the old r. w. & o. was compelled in its day and generation to assume some pretty hard, human handicaps. but britton was a mighty asset to it. he loved his work. it was a real and an eternal delight to him to achieve the things that he had set out to do. he was always approachable, obliging and ready to meet all reasonable requests that came within his power; he had the faculty of making friends of those who came in contact with him, and of retaining their friendship. a man's man was hiram m. britton, a railroad captain of great alertness, and possessed not only of vast enthusiasm, but also of a wondrous ability for hard work. the hard problems of his job never feazed him. even the winter snows--forever its _bete noire_--did not discourage him, not for long, at any rate. he came, as came so many men from outside the borders of the north country, with something like a contempt for its midwinter storms. before britton had been long on the job, however, the line from potsdam to watertown was completely blocked for four long days, and he learned that it was all in a day's work when the ticking wires reported two engines and a plow derailed at pulaski, two more off at kasoag, and not a train in or out of watertown for more than thirty hours. at all of which he would relight his pipe and send a few telegrams of real encouragement up and down the line. that is, he sent the telegrams when the wires remained up above the tops of the snow-drifts and the men were using them to hang their coats upon as they shoveled the heavy snow. ofttimes the wires went down, and once in a while they were deliberately cut--by some harassed and nerve-racked, snow-fighting boss. that was before the days of the famous dewey episode at manila, but the emergency at the moment must have seemed quite as great. at any rate the gordian knot, translated into a thin thread of copper wire, was cut--not once, but frequently. i myself, in later years, have seen a superintendent go into our lower yard at watertown late at night when congestion piled upon congestion, when the zero wind whistled up through the flats from down sackett's harbor way, and the evening train up the line nestled somewhere near massey street crossing in a hopelessly inert and frozen fashion, and clean up the mess there. once one of these inbound trains from down the line coming down the long grade into the yard crashed into a snowbound freight there, and split the caboose asunder, as clean a job as if it had been done with a sharp ax. there were six men asleep in the caboose--to say nothing of two in the cab of the oncoming train, and yet no lives were lost. even though the watertown fire department spent most of the rest of the night putting out the fearful blaze that arose from the wreckage. corn meal was spread bountifully about atop of the snow, and no one on the flats lacked for pudding the rest of that winter. * * * * * once, in the britton régime, there had been nearly a week when watertown was entirely cut off from richland and the towns to the south of it. a show-troupe, marooned at that junction for seven fearful days, had rigged up a theater in the old depot and there had played _ten nights in a barroom_, in order to pay its hotel bill. at least so runs the tradition. the rome road felt that it owed some obligation to its old, chief town and all the while it kept steadily at its all but hopeless task, although every night the fresh wind blowing down from canada and across the icy surface of ontario filled the long miles of railroad cuts and completely erased the sight of the rails. parsons had bought plows for the road such as it had never seen before--huge russells and giant rotaries that would cut the snow as with a giant gimlet, and then send it shooting a quarter of a mile off over the country, so that it would not blow back at once into the cuttings. there is a good deal of real technique in this practical science of fighting snow--and a deal of variance as to the proper technique. for instance, in the rome road they used to place its old-fashioned "wing-plows" ahead of its pushing locomotives, while the black river line invariably had its plows follow the engine. it claimed for itself the proof of the pudding, in the fact that whereas in blizzard weather the rome road almost invariably was blocked, the black river line rarely was. it is but fair to add, however, that the original construction of the r. w. & o. north of richland was very bad for snow-fighting; there were many miles of shallow cuttings into which the prevailing winds off lake ontario could easily pack the soft wet snow. in after years and under new york central management this primary defect was corrected. and the large expense of the track elevation was quite offset by the great economies in snow-fighting costs that immediately ensued. yet try as h. m. britton might and did try he seemed fated there in the eighties to buck against the worst storms that the north country had known in more than half a century. that same storm that tied up his main line roundabout richland--always a snow trouble center--completely paralyzed the cape vincent branch. it came as the grand finale to a sequence of particularly severe snowfalls and hard blows. the deficit upon the cape vincent branch that winter--i think it was the spring of --rose to an appalling figure. finally the r. w. & o. gave up the cape branch as a hopeless proposition and hired a liveryman to carry the mails between watertown and cape vincent, in order that it might not violate its contract with the postoffice department. after the branch had been abandoned a full fortnight, a delegation of citizens from the cape drove to watertown and there confronted britton, who had made an appointment to meet them. they made their little speeches and they were pretty hot little speeches--hot enough to have melted away more than one good-sized drift. "when are you going to cart that snow off our line?" finally demanded the spokesman of the cape vincent folk. britton looked at the delegation coolly, and lighted a fresh cigar. "i am going to let the man that put it there," he said slowly, "take it away." and he did. it was thirty-two days before a railroad engine entered cape vincent from the time that the last one had left it. * * * * * the days of that final decade of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh were, most of them, however, good days indeed. fondly do the men of that era, getting, alas, fewer each year, speak of the time when the rome road had its corporate identity and, what meant far more to them, a corporate personality. for the r. w. & o. did have in those last days those elusive qualities, that even the so-called inanimate corporation can sometimes have--a heart and a soul. yet, in every case, attributes such as these must come from above, from the men in real charge of a property. the courtesy of the ticket-agent, the friendliness of the conductor are the reflection of the courtesy and the friendliness of the men above him. it is enough to say that h. m. britton was at all times both courteous and friendly. he was a tremendous inspiration to the men with, and below him. in the doleful days of the sloan administration the r. w. & o. began to deteriorate in its morale, with a tremendous rapidity. in the days after the coming of parsons and of britton it began slowly, but very surely, to regain this quality so precious and so essential to the successful operation of any railroad. the property began to pick up amazingly. at first it was, indeed, a heartbreaking task. as we have seen, at the end of the sloan régime little but a shell remained of a once proud and prosperous railroad. the road needed ties and rails, bridges, shops, power, rolling-stock--everything. more than these even it needed the future confidence of its employes. it needed men with ideas and men with vision. from its new owners gradually came all of these things. yet, before the things material, came the things spiritual, if you will let me put it that way. britton gained the confidence of his men. he played the game and he played it fairly. and no one knows better when it's being played fairly by the big bosses at headquarters, than does your keen-witted railroader of the rank and file. perhaps, the best testimony to the bigness of h. m. britton came not long ago, from one of the men who had worked under him--a veteran engineer, to-day retired and living at his home in st. lawrence county. "we didn't get much money, i'll grant you," says this man, "but somehow we didn't seem to need much. and yet, i don't know but what we had as much to live on as we do now. but that didn't make any difference. we were interested in the road and we were all helping to put it in the position that we felt it ought to be in. in those earliest days, you know, our engines used to have a lot of brasswork. we used to spend hours over them, keeping them in shape, polishing them and scrubbing them. and when we had no polishing or scrubbing to do, we'd go down to the yard and just sit in them. they belonged to us. the company may have paid for them, but we owned them." so was it. "charley" vogel running the local freight from watertown to norwood, down one day and back the next, in "opposition" to "than" peterson used to boast that he could eat his lunch from the running-board of his cleanly engine; which had started her career years before as the _moses taylor_, no. . ed. geer, his fireman, was as hard a worker as the skipper. this frame of mind was characteristic of all ranks and of all classes. indeed, the company may have paid for the road, but the men did own it. and they owned it in a sense that cannot easily be understood to-day--in the confusion of national agreements and decisions by the labor board out at chicago and a vast and pathetic multiplicity of red-tape between the railroad worker and his boss. take ben batchelder: we saw him a moment ago with john o'sullivan working a thirty-six hour day to clean up a circus wreck just outside of potsdam. that was ben batchelder's way always. incidentally, it was just one of his days. one time, in midwinter, during a fortnight of constant and heavy snow, when ben had become master mechanic at watertown, the despatcher called him on the 'phone and asked for a locomotive to operate a snow-plow. ben replied that all the locomotives were frozen and that it would be slow work thawing them out, and making them ready for service. "then why don't you take them into the house and thaw them out?" shouted the despatcher. "there's no roof on the house, and i'm too busy to-day to put one on," was the quick retort. faith and loyalty--we did not call it morale in those days, but it was, just the same. here was conductor william schram with a brisk little job, handling the way freight on the old cape branch: he had just spent three days bringing a big russell plow through from the cape to watertown. on getting into watertown it was needed to open up the road between that city and philadelphia. schram had been on duty three days without rest. another conductor was called to relieve him. william schram protested. he said that he did not feel that he could desert the road when it was in a fix. three other conductors, well famed in the days of the parsons' régime of the rome road, were andrew dixon, tom cooper and daniel eggleston--and a fourth was the well-known jacob herman, of watertown. jake was a warm personal friend of both parsons and britton. finally, it came to a point where the president would have no other man in charge of his train when he made his inspection trips over the property, and he advanced and protected him in every conceivable way. he insisted even upon jake accompanying him back and forth from new york on the occasion of his frequent visits into the north country. in an earlier chapter i referred to the easy traditions of the long-agos in regard to the passenger receipts from the average american railroad. the r. w. & o. had been no exception to this general rule. along about or parsons decided that he would make it an exception henceforth. he violated the old traditions and sent "spotters" out upon the passenger trains. as a direct result of their observations some thirteen or fourteen of the oldest men on the line were dropped from its service. not only this, but several months' pay was withheld from the envelopes of each of them as they were discharged. just prior to this volcano-like eruption on the part of "the old man" parsons sent herman up to watertown as station master--a position which he has continued to hold until comparatively recent months. the "stove committees" "joshed" jake pretty well over his boss's strategy, knowing full well all the while, that if there was one honest conductor on the whole line, it was that selfsame jacob herman. not only honest, but courageous. it was in a slightly earlier era that the road had a good deal of trouble on the rome branch with what they called "bark peelers"--woodsmen, who would come down out of the forest and in their boisterous fashion make a deal of trouble for the train-crew. jake herman was told off to end that nuisance. it was a regular honest-to-goodness-carry-the-message-to-garcia sort of a job. well, jake got the message through to garcia. he picked out six brakemen as assistant messengers, any one of whom would have made a real cornell center-rush. they were the "flower of the flock." at richland the gang boarded the evening train down from watertown. somewhere between that station and kasoag they detrained--as a military man might put it. but not in a military fashion. along the right-of-way captain jake and his lieutenants distributed "bark-peelers," with a fair degree of regularity of interval. up to that time it had been no sinecure, being a conductor or a trainman on the old rome road. after that it became as easy as running an infant class in a sunday school. john d. tapley was another well known conductor of those days, and so was w. s. hammond, who afterwards became division superintendent at carthage. these men were u. & b. r. graduates, and it was but logical that when hammond came to his promotion reward, it should be upon the corner of the property on which he had been schooled and with which he was most familiar. he was a man of tremendous popularity among his men. * * * * * sometimes these men of the rank and file had their reward. more often they did not. john o'sullivan's came when in , after a few years of unsuccessful experimentation, general passenger agent butterfield handed him the annual northern new york sunday excursion to ontario beach (in the outskirts of rochester) and asked him what he could do with it. o'sullivan replied that he could make it go. he had watched the success of the road's annual long-distance excursions; to washington in the spring and to new york in october--this last for a fixed fare of six dollars, for a six or seven hundred mile journey. the excursions ran coaches, parlor-cars, dining-cars and sleeping-cars, and did a land-office business. northern new york had acquired a taste for railroad travel. o'sullivan knew this. "i'll take you on," said he to mr. butterfield. and so he did. for seventeen successive years thereafter he handled the annual ontario beach excursion from potsdam and all its adjoining stations--all the way from norwood to watertown--on a one-day trip over some four hundred miles of single-track railroad. the excursion had a vast business--invariably running in several sections, each drawn by two locomotives, and having from fifteen to sixteen cars each. it carried passengers for $ . for the round trip. few northern new york folk along the road went to bed until it returned, which was always well into the wee small hours of monday morning. and yet, it was withal, a reasonably orderly crowd. o'sullivan kept it so. on the handbills which announced it each year appeared these conspicuous words: "behave yourself. if you can't behave yourself, don't go." * * * * * yet a practical reward such as this could in truth be handed to but a very few of the road's workers indeed. yet it continued until the end to command their loyalty. not even the cruel handling of the property by the predecessors of parsons could dampen that loyalty. to even attempt to make a list of the hard-working and energetic workers of that day and generation of the eighties would mean a catalogue far larger than this little book. there comes to mind a brilliant list--names some of them to-day still with us, and some of them but affectionate traditions: george snell, who began by running the _doxtater_; patsy tobin, who had the old _gardner colby_ on the day that she exploded on harrison hill, just outside of canton; ed. mcniff; william bavis; butler (who had started his career toward an engine-cab as blacksmith at dekalb junction, trimming for relaying the old iron rails that the section-gangs brought to him); and superintendent w. s. (billy) jones. jones was a much-loved officer of the old r. w. & o. he started his railroad career at sandy creek, as an operator, receiving his messages with one of the old-fashioned printing-telegraphs. one day richard holden, of watertown, dropped into the sandy creek depot and suggested to jones that he throw the old contraption out of the window--it was forever getting out of order. jones demurred for a time; then accepted the suggestion. and in a few weeks was one of the best operators on the line, which led presently to his appointment as agent at ogdensburgh, where he remained until the days of the parsons' control. both britton and parsons were constantly on the alert to discover the best available material on their property and jones was appointed in the mid-eighties to be superintendent of the line east of watertown, with headquarters at dekalb. later he was moved to watertown and there became one of the fixtures of the town. * * * * * i cannot close this chapter of the second golden age of the rome road without a passing reference to george h. haselton, who died but a year or two ago. mr. haselton was the successor of griggs of jackson and of close, becoming master mechanic of the road in , or at about the time its shops were moved from rome to oswego. he builded in the latter city the engines that were the precursors of the mighty power of to-day. he used great facility in building and rebuilding the early locomotives of the r. w. & o.--in keeping them in service, seemingly forever and a day. in the north country a locomotive goes in for long service and, in its difficult climate, hard service, too. there still is, or was until very recently at least, a locomotive in service at the plant of the hannawa pulp company at potsdam, which although ordered by the union pacific railroad from the taunton locomotive works was delivered to the central vermont in may, . first named the _st. albans_ and then the _shelbourne_, she was inherited by the rutland railroad and then, after many rebuildings turned over by its ogdensburgh branch (the former northern railroad) to the norwood & st. lawrence railroad. fifty years of service through a stern northland seemed to work little damage to this staunch old settler. she was typical of her kind--old-fashioned built, and with old-fashioned standards of the service to be rendered. chapter x in which railroads multiply the all but defunct rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, of , was not a property to attract any considerable amount of attention from the financiers and big railroaders, who had located themselves in the city of new york. a local and feeding line of but some four hundred miles of trackage--and most of that in an utterly wretched and deplorable condition--it commanded neither the attention nor the respect of the metropolis. the vanderbilts in their comfortable offices in the still-new grand central depot, snapped their fingers contemptuously at it. they would have but little of it. they did not need it. it fed their prosperous main line anyway. as we have already seen, william h. vanderbilt had at one time acquired a considerable interest in the utica & black river railroad. twice he had actually moved toward securing control of that snug little property. it seemed to be a far more logical feeder to the new york central than the rome road might ever become. yet, eventually mr. vanderbilt sold his black river stock. "i am not going to dissipate my energies in sundries," he then told one of his cronies. "i am going to stick by the main line hereafter." as i have already intimated if he had succeeded in acquiring the utica & black river, there at the beginning of the eighties the entire railroad history of the north country might have been changed, down to this very day. it was in that uncertain hour that the elaborate but ill-fated west shore was being builded through from new york to buffalo--a route ten miles shorter than the main line of the new york central. the west shore needed feeders, very greatly needed them, and it was having a hard time getting them. remember too, if you will, that if the utica & black river had become the sole northern new york feeding line of the new york central, it is entirely probable and consistent that the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh would have been an extremely valuable and essential factor of the west shore. the greater part of the state of new york would then have been placed upon a competitive railroad basis. instead of being, as it is to-day, largely upon the monopolistic basis. * * * * * the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh of was an extremely different railroad from the woe-begone and utterly wretched property that had borne that name but a decade earlier. reorganized, to a large extent rebuilded, it was a reincarnation of the excellent rail highway which the citizens of watertown and other communities of the north country had built for themselves away back there at the beginning of the fifties. charles parsons was never a popular figure in northern new york. he made no efforts toward popularity. yet simple justice compels the recognition of the fact, that in the rebuilding of the r. w. & o. he accomplished a very large constructive work. he had relaid and reballasted hundreds of miles of main line track and put down not only many miles of sidings but also a considerable quantity of new main line; between norwood and massena springs, between oswego and syracuse, between windsor beach and rochester, chief among these extensions. he had built new bridges by the dozens; purchased and rebuilded cars and locomotives by the hundreds. it was almost as if he had built a brand new railroad. now--in --he had main line miles of as good a railroad, generally speaking, as one might find in the entire land. the rome road owned an even hundred locomotives, ninety-eight passenger-cars, thirty-five baggage-cars, and freight-cars of one type or another. it was a monopoly within its territory. its busy main-stem stretched all the way from suspension bridge (with excellent western connections) to norwood and massena springs (each with excellent eastern connections). it was in a superb strategic position as a competitor for through freight from the interior of the land to the atlantic seaboard ports--either boston, or portland, or montreal. parsons was unusually expert in his traffic strategy. frequently he went so far and dared so much that the line of the four-leaved clover gradually became something of a thorn in the side of some of its larger competitors. parsons in competitive territory was a rate-smasher. he did not hesitate to put the screws upon the territory wherein his road was a purely monopolistic carrier. there are citizens dwelling in the northern portions of jefferson county who still remember--and with bitterness in their memories--how he helped put the keene mines out of business. in an earlier chapter of this book i referred to the large part that james sterling had played in the upbuilding of this iron industry. after several successive failures the mines had, sometime in the seventies, been put upon a basis, seemingly permanent. their ore was good--and popular. at the time that parsons first assumed control of the rome road, the keene mines were shipping out from six to eight carloads of hematite daily--to connecting lines at syracuse, at sterling and at charlotte--at an average rate of $ . a ton. parsons advanced the rate to $ . a ton, and they quit. they have remained idle ever since; their abandoned shaft-houses melancholy reminders of a vanished enterprise. yet the ore is still there, in vast quantities; richer than the messaba and in the opinion of many experts, extending up to and under the st. lawrence, and into the province of ontario. * * * * * oddly enough, as keene quit other mine districts of northern new york began to open up. it had been known for many years that in the neighborhood of the small village of harrisville in the north part of lewis county there were valuable deposits of black, magnetic iron ore. to reach these beds, to open and to develop them had long been the dream of certain north country men, notably george gilbert, of carthage and joseph pahud, of harrisville. as far back as , a line had been surveyed from carthage to harrisville, twenty-one miles. yet, it was not until twenty years later that a standard railroad was put down between these two villages. in the meantime--to be exact, in the summer of --the so-called "wooden railroad" was built for the ten miles between carthage and natural bridge. literally this line--its corporate name was the black river & st. lawrence railway company--had rails hewn and smoothed from maple. it was so very crude that it was doomed to failure from the beginning. yet its right-of-way served a similar purpose for the carthage & adirondack railroad which was organized in , and which opened its line through to jayville, thirty miles distant three years later; and on to bensons mines in the fall of . a little later it was completed to newton falls, its present terminus. one other small railroad was built out from carthage a few years later. it deserves at least a paragraph of reference. the quiet old-fashioned north country village of copenhagen, situated upon the historic state road from utica to sackett's harbor, between lowville and watertown, had not ceased to regret how the building of the black river road--which quite naturally had followed the water-level of the river valley--had completely passed it by. copenhagen also wanted a railroad. it waited for forty years after the completion of the utica & black river before its desire was fulfilled. then, by almost superhuman effort on the part of its citizens, as well as those of carthage, it built its railroad to that village, eleven miles distant. a former citizen of the town, one jimmy march, who had won fame and success as a contractor in new york city, bought a second-hand passenger-coach from the erie railroad and presented it to the carthage & copenhagen. a locomotive was purchased with a few work-cars and a brave but almost hopeless transportation effort begun. the carthage & copenhagen already has ceased to exist. the recent development of the state highways and with them, of the motor-truck and the motor omnibus sealed its fate. in it was abandoned and its track torn up, for its wartime value in scrap iron: its little yellow depot at copenhagen still stands. and upon it, but two or three years ago, there still was affixed the blue and white signs of the telegraph company and the express company. yet no longer a track led to it; only a half-hidden and weed-grown row of rotting ties, stretching away off in the distance toward carthage. in truth it has become but a mere mockery of a railroad depot. the day of the small railroad apparently is gone; its fate sealed. true it is that the little railroad from norwood to waddington and the one that the lewis family built from lowville to croghan and beaver falls are both still in operation, but these have large local industries to serve--they are, in fact, hardly more than independently operating industrial sidings. so, too, has continued the branch road from gouverneur to edwards, which engineer bockus helped open in and upon which he has run ever since. * * * * * charles parsons had but little use for the small railroad. he thought of railroads in large units indeed. his thought of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh was, forever and a day, as a trunk-line, nothing less. sometimes he talked, rather airily to be sure, of buying the ogdensburgh & lake champlain or even the wabash. yet, in reality, he would have had nothing of either of these somewhat moribund properties. he did not need them. they were not germane to a single one of his plans. for one, and the most important thing, neither of them could stand alone. the r. w. & o. could. in the largest sense, it was a self-contained property; with its monopolistic control of a huge territory, rich in basic wealth and still in a period of healthy and continued growth. once, there at the beginning of the nineties, grand trunk made tentative offers for the control of the rebuilded property. it hinted at a willingness to pay par for such an interest. parsons paid no attention to the offer. some people said that he was waiting for the canadian pacific to come along and buy his road; there have always been plans for international bridges across the st. lawrence; all the way from cape vincent to morristown. but even canadian pacific was not the big thing in parsons' mind. i think it may be safely said that from the middle of the eighties he had realized the necessity that would yet confront the vanderbilts of owning the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. at that earlier time they were having their hands full with the aftermath of their victorious but terribly costly battle with the west shore. it would be some years before they would be in a position to go further afield than their own main line territory. but parsons could wait--wait and upbuild his property. and show his constant independence of the new york central. in a hundred different ways he showed this. more than ever he became a thorn in the side of the bigger road. he slashed more through rates--and raised more of the local ones to make good the loss to his treasury. northern new york groaned, and yet was helpless. parsons laughed at it. as far as possible he kept out of it. he cut the wires. his right-hand man, hiram m. britton, began breaking physically under the pressure and the criticism, finally was forced to leave his desk altogether to seek, vainly, the restoration of his health in europe. mr. e. s. bowen succeeded mr. britton as general manager of the road. a quiet, gentle sort of a man--a native of lock haven, pa., and a former general superintendent of the erie--of far less dominant personality than his predecessor. he came quite too late upon the property to make a large personal impress upon it. the memories that he left of himself are mostly negative. he was thorough, conscientious, apparently seeking to please, in an all but impossible situation. he was the last general manager of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh railroad. * * * * * the steadily increasing clamor of the north country against the road and its management brought a man up from the south with a definite scheme for building a competitive relief line into it. his name was austin corbin, and while primarily he was always promoter rather than railroader, he did have one or two railroad successes distinctly to his credit. in control of the long island, his had been the vision that planned the creation of a great ocean terminal at fort pond bay, near montauk point. from here corbin saw four-day steamers plying that would connect america and europe. a day would be saved in not bringing these fast super-craft in and out of the crowded harbor of new york. it was a fascinating plan and one which still is revived every few years. corbin did some distinctly creative work upon the long island; and yet forever was promoter, rather than railroader. he had associated with himself, a. a. mcleod, who a little later was to achieve a spectacular notoriety by successfully uniting--for a short time--such conservative properties as reading, lehigh valley and boston & maine into a single, sprawling, top-heavy railroad. together these men had picked up for a song an unhappy railroad, which stretched more than halfway across new york state and which was known as the utica, ithaca & elmira. corbin acquired this road in . it was a wonder. it reached neither utica nor ithaca nor elmira. starting at horseheads, four or five miles north of elmira, it twisted and turned itself through the hills of the southern tier and of central new york, narrowly missing ithaca--which steadily and consistently refused to build itself up the hill to meet it--threading cortland and finally terminating at canastota. this road came almost as a gift to corbin and his associates. its sole value was that in its brief course it intersected nearly all of the important railroads in new york state; the pennsylvania, erie, lehigh valley, lackawanna, and the new york central. corbin renamed the road, elmira, cortland & northern, and in , extended it north from canastota to camden, intersecting the ontario & western and the rome road. he was then within about fifty miles of watertown. at about the same time he gave his property its own entrance well within the heart of elmira. vainly corbin tried to peddle this road either to the pennsylvania or to the vanderbilts. he finally offered it to them at the assumption of its mortgage-bonds and its fixed charges. even then it fell dead. as a last resource he determined upon watertown. word of that small but growing city's traffic plight had come to him. he jumped aboard a train and went up to the rich county-seat of jefferson, cultivated the friendship of its men of affairs. alluringly he spoke to them of the road he owned, of its rare connections, its peculiar value as a coal-carrier, his ambition to thrust it still further across the state. so there was formed, in may, , the camden, watertown & northern railroad to fill at least the fifty mile gap between camden, which was nothing as a railroad terminus, and watertown, which even then had a heavy originating traffic. watertown even in , was employing workers in its factories which alone burned more than , tons of coal annually. it was receiving , tons of freight a year and sending out about , . it was a fair fling under any conditions for a competing railroad; under the peculiar conditions that then prevailed seemingly a double opportunity. corbin, himself, became president of the camden, watertown & northern. as its secretary and treasurer, james l. newton was chosen. around these men a most representative directorate was grouped; s. f. bagg, b. b. taggart, h. f. inglehart, george w. knowlton, george a. bagley and a. d. remington. whatever might have been corbin's motive in the entire undertaking, there was no mistaking the motives of the watertown men, who had gathered about him. they were determined to give their town a competing line; to undo, if possible, the fiasco of a few years before when the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor had passed from their hands to hands unfriendly and alien. * * * * * all these preparations parsons watched with a great equanimity. he realized the potential weaknesses of the connecting link of the proposed new line; the terrific curves and the heavy grades of the e. c. & n. perhaps, he realized these fundamental weaknesses all the more because of the steadily growing alliance between his road and the ontario & western. the r. w. & o. sought to dig more deeply than ever into the sides of the vanderbilts by taking more and more traffic away from them; in the five years from to , the business delivered by the rome road to the new york central at utica, at rome and at syracuse had dwindled from two million dollars a year to a little less than a million, and that of the ontario & western had practically doubled. the vanderbilts have never taken punishment easily. but they are good waiters. and apparently they did not propose in this instance to be hurried into reprisals. william h. vanderbilt hated to do business with charles parsons. he detested going down to the rome road's offices in wall street, and there facing his new rival, a tall, cadaverous man, whose hair in his rome road years had changed from part-white to snow-white, and who persisted in an inordinate habit of sitting at his desk in his stocking feet; sometimes parsons flaunted his feet upon the radiator. if the pedal extremities of the fastidious vanderbilt ever hurt him, he succeeded at least in keeping his shoes on. decency compels many things. across from parsons sat his son, another charles, who held the post of vice-president of the road of which his father was president. together they smoked cigarettes, incessantly. it was not usual for elderly men in those days to smoke cigarettes and because the elder parsons did it in his office, mr. vanderbilt distrusted him all the more. and yet, there were about parsons certain distinct qualities of charm and interest. a state of maine man--he came from kennebunkport--he was a born horse-trader, as his operations in the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh steadily showed. he was not a man to pay for that which he might possibly get for nothing. on one memorable occasion he came to the office of william buchanan, the veteran motive power superintendent of the new york central, who designed and built the famous no. , in order to get some free advice on locomotive equipment. the rome road then had a rather fair supply of antiquated motive-power--it still was using some of the converted wood-burners of its earliest days--and parsons wanted to buy, second-hand, some of the older engines of the n. y. c. & h. r. he argued that his bridges would not permit the purchase of heavy modern locomotives. but the central folk argued back that they had scrapped all their light engines, save those that they still needed for certain local and branch-line services. in the long run they drew up plans for locomotives suited to the special necessities of the rome road and presented parsons with them. from that time on he came frequently to consult the technical authorities in the grand central depot. "i have a first-class staff working for me and i don't have to pay it a blessed cent," he would chuckle as he went out of its doors. the funny part of it all being that the vanderbilts apparently were perfectly willing that he should make such use of their staff. * * * * * here was charles parsons steadily proposing the most disagreeable things to the vanderbilts. the lehigh valley which, like the lackawanna of a decade before, had begun to tire of the erie as a sole entrance into the buffalo gateway, and was building its own line into that important city, was making eyes at the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. parsons, still smoking his cigarettes, made eyes back at the lehigh valley and its owners, the enormously wealthy packer family of south bethlehem, pennsylvania. together they slipped into an alliance. for ten years charles parsons had coveted an entrance of his own into buffalo. the packers wanted to get from buffalo into the traffic hub of suspension bridge. on a competitive basis, neither the existing lines of the new york central nor of the erie between those two places were open to them. the interests of the r. w. & o. and the lehigh valley in this situation were identical. it was quite logical therefore that they should get together and form the buffalo, thousand islands & portland; quite a grand sounding appellation for twenty-four miles of railroad, which was to run from buffalo to niagara falls and suspension bridge. once formed, there in the eventful midsummer of , no time was lost in acquiring the right-of-way for this important railroad link. as a separate corporation it expended something over a million dollars for land and for preliminary grading. to complete its line it was necessary that it should cross the lines of the then new york central & hudson river--not once, but several times. up to that time the new york central had generally pursued a pretty broad-gauge policy in permitting other railroads to cross its lines. even in this instance it granted the necessary permissions, but this time mr. parsons went north to the grand central depot and not mr. vanderbilt south to wall street. mr. vanderbilt was quite willing that mr. parsons should cross his tracks, when and where it was absolutely necessary, but, of course, mr. parsons would reciprocate, if ever the occasion should arise and permit the new york central to cross the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh tracks, if ever it should become necessary? what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. what could mr. parsons do? mr. parsons acceded. of course. reciprocal contracts covering all future grade-crossing matters were signed; and duplicate copies of the peace treaty, signed, sealed and delivered. after which work on the buffalo, thousand islands & portland went ahead quite merrily once more. * * * * * it was in december of that same year, , hardly more than six months after mr. austin corbin had made the first of his queen-of-sheba visits to watertown that that brisk community found that it was to have a very special gift in its christmas stocking. watertown was not only going to have one new railroad. it was going to have two. intimations reached it--in that strange but sure way that big business always has of sending out its intimations--that watertown within the twelvemonth was to be upon the lines of the new york central. that seemed to be too good to be true. but it was true. telegraphic confirmation followed upon the heels of mere rumor. the vanderbilts, tired of shilly-shallying with parsons and his railroad and of playing second fiddle to ontario & western, were going to build their own feeder line into northern new york. already, it was organized and named--the mohawk & st. lawrence--preliminary surveying parties were already struggling through the deep december drifts. all the oldtime rage and rivalry between utica and rome as to which should be the recognized gateway broke out anew. the jealousies of thirty and forty years before were renewed. even herkimer joined the squabble, pushing forward the narrow-gauge line that had been built from her limits north to the little village of newport and poland some years before. finally talk led to promises. subscription papers were passed. rome trotted out the terminal grounds and the right-of-way for the black river & utica railroad that had passed her by there before the beginnings of the sixties. utica met her offers. yet it seemed as if rome was to be chosen. the congestion of the new york central yards in utica--it was, of course, well before the days of the barge canal and the straightening of the mohawk--made rome the most practical terminal. railroad meetings were again the order of the day throughout the north country. carthage vied with gouverneur and even cape vincent, stung to the quick by the neglect of her port by the parsons' management, joined in the clamor. and watertown? watertown was beside herself with enthusiasm. she saw herself as the future railroad capital of the state. corbin and his local backers were not slow to take advantage of the situation. adroitly they urged that while the mohawk & st. lawrence would approach the city from the southeast and the upper black river valley, the camden, watertown & northern would reach it from the southwest. they even hinted at the possibilities of a union station. perhaps, the union station would be big enough to take in a recreant but reformed r. w. & o. and some one hinted that the canadian pacific by a series of wondrous bridges was to build into the town from kingston and the northwest. in the union station of watertown of a decade hence one was to be able to go in through limited trains-de-luxe to almost any quarter of the land. and this in a town which up to that day, at least, had never seen a dining-car come into its ancient station. all that winter watertown ate railroads, slept railroads, dreamed railroads. surveyors went across back lots and put funny little yellow wooden stakes in the snow drifts, where there had been potato rows the previous summer and the next might see the beginnings of a great railroad yard. soft-voiced and persuasive young men went before the common council and had all manner of permissive ordinances passed without a single word of protest. plans and routes by the dozen were filed with the county clerk. a local poetess burst into song in the _times_ in commemoration of the spirit of the hour. * * * * * as i look back upon the printed records of these proceedings, after thirty years, quite dispassionately, it seems to me that there was, after all, an extraordinary vagueness in the plans of these railroad promoters of that strenuous time. the railroad lines ran here and there and everywhere upon the map. but very little real money was expended, either in land or in construction. the promoters, of both of the proposed new railroads, who suddenly had become wondrously accessible to the dear public and its advance agents, the newspaper reporters, were taking very few real steps toward the real construction of a railroad. mr. parsons, stung to the quick apparently by the newfound energy of his friend, mr. vanderbilt, retaliated at once by threats of building a line from his southeastern terminal at utica through the mohawk valley--even through the narrow _impasse_ of little falls--to rotterdam junction and the fitchburg some seventy miles distant. to link utica with rome and (by a more direct line, than by the way of richland), with oswego and his straight through route to suspension bridge would be the next and a comparatively easy step. that done he would at least have a powerful, competitive route, as against the new york central's, east to troy and boston--and for ten months of the year by water down the hudson to new york. yet i cannot find any record of mr. parsons buying any real estate in the mohawk valley. finally the camden, watertown & northern did buy two plats of land somewhere in the outskirts of watertown, a fact which was promptly recorded and spread to the four winds. it did more. it began laying track. it laid nearly a hundred feet of unballasted track in the yards of taggart brothers' paper mill and all watertown went down in the chilly days at the beginning of march and venerated that little piece of track. it was a precious symbol. to offset land-buying and track-laying the vanderbilts sent the flower of their railroad flocks up to see watertown, to see and be seen, to ask questions and to be interviewed. more maps were filed. one only had to squint one's eyes half closed and see the new york central feeder following the north side of the river through the town, and the camden, watertown & northern squeezing its way, somehow, along the south side of it. the enthusiasm quickened. a despatch from utica said that the contractors, their men and their horses were setting up their quarters upon the old oneida county fair grounds. actual construction of the mohawk & st. lawrence was to begin within the fortnight. watertown braced up and finished the subscription for the purchase of the right-of-way and depot site for the new road through its heart. * * * * * and then? then-- on the fourteenth day of march, , at one o'clock in the afternoon, a quiet little telegraphic message--unemotional and uninspired, flashed its monotonous way over the railroad wires into the gray old watertown passenger station back of the woodruff house. it read, as follows: oswego, march , . _to all division superintendents_: the entire road and property of this company has been leased to the new york central & hudson river railroad, and by direction of the president, i have delivered possession to h. walter webb, third vice-president of that company. each superintendent please acknowledge and advise all agents on your division by wire. (signed) e. s. bowen, _general manager_. and watertown? poor watertown! it was as if a man had touched the tip of a lighted cigar to a tiny, but much distended gas-balloon. chapter xi the coming of the new york central out of the vast wreckage of great hopes and broken ambitions there slowly arose the smoke of a great wrath. watertown, in particular, smoldered in her anger. her position was a most uncomfortable one. her pride had not only been touched but sorely tried. she felt, and truly, that she had helped to shake the bushes while the new york central got all the plums. it hurt. her traditional rivals pointed their fingers of fine scorn toward her. ogdensburgh chuckled with glee. oswego chortled. yet out of her uncomfortable position she was yet to gain much. she was in a position not only to demand but to receive. and because of the inherent power of that position the ranking officers of the new york central made every effort to placate her. for one of the very few times, if not indeed the only time in his life, cornelius vanderbilt--then the ranking head of the family--made public appearance upon the stage of her opera house, before a great throng of her citizens, who crowded that ample place and sat and stood there with anger in their hearts, but with justice in their minds. they had not appreciated being made dupes. and yet they stood there willing to give the newcomers the square deal. which spoke whole volumes for their upbringing. that was a memorable night in the history of watertown; the evening of march , . the meeting at the city opera house had been hastily arranged. the telegraph wires only that morning had announced the coming of mr. vanderbilt, accompanied by mr. chauncey m. depew, his personal friend and adviser and at that time president of the new york central & hudson river, as well as a small group of other railroad officers. the party had left new york the preceding evening. all that day it held meetings in the north country--at carthage, at gouverneur, at potsdam and at ogdensburgh. to a large extent these meetings were, however, somewhat perfunctory. the real event of that memorable day was the evening meeting at watertown. in announcing the affair, but a few hours before, the editor of the _times_ (we suspect mr. william d. mckinstry's own brilliant hand in the penning of these paragraphs) had said: "of course mr. depew will be the spokesman of the party. having had his dinner, which will be at his own expense, he will be in a good mood to meet our citizens, and will, of course, have many pleasant things to say. but we hope he will come no joke on our citizens. with us, this railroad business is no joking matter. it affects us closely; it comes right into our homes, affects our comfort of living and the prosperity of our business enterprises. it puts more or less coal in our fires to warm our homes, according to the price we have to pay for it, and it makes a difference with how we are to be fed and clothed. this new railroad monopoly has the power, if it chooses, to make us the most happy, contented and prosperous people, or the most dejected and discontented.... it is a great power to have and it calls for the utmost consideration in its use...." so was laid the platform for the evening meeting; fairly and squarely. to it the new york central officers responded, fairly and squarely. even the genial doctor depew, to whom a speech without a funny story was as a circus without an elephant, respected the real seriousness of the issue. at the beginning he told some funny stories--of course. he alluded playfully to the fact that the citizens of watertown had met them without a band--referring inferentially to the first official visit of charles parsons as president of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, upon which occasion the city band had been engaged and the whole affair given the appearance of a _fête_. mr. depew alluded half jestingly to the demise of the mohawk & st. lawrence and then turned seriously to the real kernel of the situation--the inevitable tendency of american railroads toward consolidation into larger single operating units. the merger of the utica & black river into the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh five years before had been in obedience to such a natural law. the r. w. & o. system, reaching only northern new york, disconnected and not united to the great railroad properties of the country which spread all over the face of the united states, had, partly by reason of its isolation, failed to properly develop the territory that it had set out to serve. it had been hedged in by barriers that it could not surmount. it was a good speech, filled not only with good intention, but with a deal of economic hard sense. the crowded opera house listened to it with courtesy, with attention and with applause. but always with a feeling that the deeds of the new management and not their mere words or promises would be the atonement for the indignity that had been heaped upon the town. and the next evening the _times_ again said editorially: [illustration: snow fighters a scene in the richland yard on almost any zero day in the dead of a north country winter.] "... mr. depew appeared last evening and made the apology which is reported in full in our local columns. he did it nicely. he called it frescoing. whitewashing is the common name for it when the job is done by less artistic hands. but, by whatever name, it was pleasantly received by an audience which packed the opera house and a good feeling was created. mr. depew ... did not go into any detailed statement of what the new management of the r. w. & o. proposed to do except to make the general statement that they had come to stay; that our interests were mutual; that in building up the prosperity of this section they would be adding to their own prosperity and that they would be one with us in every way. in carrying out this assurance everything else must follow, and therefore it is sufficient and satisfactory to our citizens. they will give the management a good, fair chance to carry out this assurance and wait confidently for acts to take the place of words ..." * * * * * that the new management had some real desire to assuage the extremely irritated local situation became evident within the next few days. the members of the vanderbilt party had had many quiet consultations with the leading men of watertown and the north country generally; had noted with great patience and care the many, many transport grievances of the entire territory. and proceeded wherever it was possible to remedy these, at once. as a first earnest of its desires it tore down the high, unpainted, hemlock fence around the watertown passenger station. that high-board fence had been an eyesore. it had been far worse than that however. it had been a slap in the face to the average watertownian who for years past had regarded it as part of his inherent right and privilege to go down to the depot whenever and as often as he pleased, not alone to greet friends or to see them off, but also for the sheer joy of seeing the cars come in and depart. upon the occasion of the state firemen's convention in the preceding august, the r. w. & o. management caused the ugly fence to be builded--as a temporary measure. but the firemen's convention gone and a matter of joyous memory, the fence remained. one might only enter within upon showing one's ticket. now, no matter how common and sensible a practice that might be elsewhere, in this broad world, watertown resented it, as an invasion of personal privilege. it protested to the r. w. & o. management over at oswego. its protests were laughed at. the fence remained. the new york central tore it down ... within a fortnight after it had acquired the road. * * * * * i have mentioned this episode in some detail because it is so typical of the fashion that so many railroad managements, and with so much to gain, go blindly ahead neglecting utterly the one great thing essential toward the gaining of their larger ends--public sympathy and public support. charles parsons, with everything to gain from northern new york, scoffed at these great aids, so easily purchased. vastly bigger than sloan in most ways, he, nevertheless, shared the contempt of the old genius of the lackawanna for public opinion. the vanderbilts rarely have made this mistake with their railroads. i think that it can be put down as one of the great open secrets of their success. similarly parsons had offended watertown by his treatment of its newly born street railway. it had been planned to extend in a single straight line from the northeastern corner of the city, just beyond sewall's island through high, and state, and court, and main streets to the westerly limits of the town, and thence down the populous valley of the black river through brownville to the little manufacturing village of dexter, eight miles distant. in this course it needed to cross the steam railroad tracks four times at grade--all of these within the city limits. the old r. w. & o had stoutly fought these crossings; using one specious argument after another. the new management of the property said that the crossings could go down as soon as the street railway company could have them manufactured. it kept its word. the street railway went ahead--and thrived; and the steam railroad lost little by its slight competition between watertown and brownville. one other very popular form of grievance still remained--i shall take up the question of the freight and passenger rates at another time--the persistent refusal of the parsons' administration to install through all-the-year sleeping-car service between watertown and new york. the vanderbilts installed that service, also one between oswego and new york within three weeks of their acquisition of the road. these have remained ever since with the single exception of a short period during the chicago world's fair, when the extreme shortage of sleeping-cars induced the headquarters of the new york central temporarily to withdraw the watertown cars. a protest from the northern new york metropolis brought them back--within seven days' time. the new management did more. it instituted sunday trains upon the line; also as an all-the-year feature, a travel necessity for which the north country had cried for years, vainly. it placed parlor-cars upon the principal trains. it shortened the running-time of all of these. it showed in almost every conceivable fashion a real desire to propitiate its public. and for that desire much of the mohawk & st. lawrence fiasco was eventually forgiven it. * * * * * one other problem--and a passing large one--confronted it; the question of taking proper care of the official personnel of the rome road. that is always a difficult and delicate question in a merger of large properties.... the parsons family was taken care of--although in the entire transaction it had taken pretty good care of itself. arrangements were made to carry its members upon the new york central pay-rolls for a season, even though they were quickly off and into new enterprises--the new york & new england and south carolina railroad--but never again was there to be such a killing as they had had in the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. such an opportunity does not arise once in a lifetime; not once in a thousand lifetimes. the rest of the official roster was to be continued, for the next two or three months at any rate. with great astuteness the vanderbilts planned to upset the operation of the road, to the least possible degree. it was to keep its name and its individuality as far as was possible. as a matter of operating convenience it was arranged to abolish the auditing offices at oswego and to have the r. w. & o. agents and conductors make their reports direct to the new york central headquarters in the grand central station, in new york city. similarly orders went forth from those headquarters to drop the old name, "rome, watertown & ogdensburgh" from the locomotive tenders and the sides of the passenger-cars. a rather bitter blow that was. with all of its hatred against the property at one time and another, the north country cherished a real affection for the name. in deference, to which sentiment, the vanderbilts still clung to it for a number of years; in their advertising and printed matter of every sort. it was necessary, in their opinion, to emblazon "new york central" upon their newly acquired rolling-stock in order to permit a greater flexibility in its interchange with that they already held. they had not owned the r. w. & o. a fortnight before its eternal shortage of motive-power had been relieved, by the assignment to it of engines no. and no. of the n. y. c. & h. r. r. and it should not be forgotten that one large reason for all of these orders was the large affection of the vanderbilt family for the name and the fame of the new york central. both have loomed large in their eyes. * * * * * the old rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, quickly reorganized in that march-time of , had then as its chief officers the following men: _president_, charles parsons, new york _first vice-president_, clarence s. day, new york _second vice-president_, charles parsons, jr., new york _third vice-president_, h. walter webb, new york _secretary and treasurer_, j. a. lawyer, new york _freight traffic manager_, l. a. emerson, new york _gen. pass. agent_, theodore e. butterfield, oswego _general manager_, e. s. bowen, oswego _supt. of transportation_, w. w. currier, oswego _master mechanic_, george h. haselton, oswego _superintendents_ w. s. jones, watertown h. w. hammond, carthage i. h. mcewen, oswego mr. webb, who also was the third vice-president of the new york central & hudson river, was now, of course, the real guiding head of the property. well schooled in the vanderbilt methods of railroad operation, it was his task to begin their introduction into the newly acquired railroad. how well he succeeded can easily be adjudged by the results that were attained. they need no comment by the historian. to this group of men was given the operation of miles of busy single-track railroad. prior to the acquisition of the r. w. & o., the new york central & hudson river, itself, had only contained some miles of line, including those which it held on leasehold. the rome road then had given it upwards of two thousand miles of route line--not to be confused with mere miles of trackage, which would run to a far greater total. the capital stock of the r. w. & o. as shown on its balance-sheet for the year ending june , , was $ , , , of which $ , was still in the company's treasury. its funded debt came to $ , , (this latter included income bonds, also in the company's treasury). in addition to which there was a profit and loss account of $ , . parsons had builded up a real railroad. always himself short of ready cash he had acquired a habit of dealing in millions--in a day when a million dollars still represented a good deal of money. * * * * * the real problem of the new management of the rome road lay, however, in an immediate readjustment of its rates; particularly its freight rates. the hemlock fence around the watertown depot, the persecution of the little street railway system of that community, the irritating defects of the passenger service, were in the eyes of the commercial factors of the north country as nothing compared with the railroad freight tariffs that it was called upon to pay. charles parsons, as i have said already, had had no hesitation whatsoever in putting the burden of his income necessities upon his non-competitive territory in order that he might be in a position to slash rates right and left wherever and whenever he was forced to compete. new york central control promised a modification of this situation. to a certain extent it accomplished it. some of the rates were slashed from twenty-five to fifty per cent, and mr. parsons lived long enough to see more equitable systems of freight-carrying charges established on the old line. it was only a short time after the new york central had acquired the rome road before the huge solvay process company had located themselves on the western limits of syracuse. their location there was due primarily to the salt-beds but they also needed great quantities of limestone daily for their products. this the r. w. & o. furnished by means of an attractive low rate. and, after a little time, there was a solid train each day from chaumont on the old cape branch to syracuse, laden exclusively with limestone rock. at other times there would be solid trains of paper, and in the season, of such rare specialties as strawberries from the richland section and turkeys from st. lawrence county for the new york city markets. and despite the well-famed superiority of the north country in cheese making, its rich dairy areas were invaded by the milk-supply companies of the swift-growing metropolis. all made business--and lots of it--for the new owners of the north country's old road. they could afford to forget parsons' dream of a through route along the northerly border of the country--single-track and filled with hard curvature and grades--to the seaboard docks of portland, maine. the intensive development of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh was their opportunity; and this opportunity they promptly seized. and accomplished. even the once despised lake ontario shore railroad came at last into its own. along its rails upgrew the greatest orchard industry in the united states. and even as powerful and as resourceful a railroad as the new york central, at times, is hard put to find sufficient equipment for the proper handling of the vast quantities of apples, pears and peaches that to-day are grown upon the gentle south shore of ontario. the vanderbilts paid a high price for the r. w. & o. and then it was a bargain. not only was competition practically forestalled forever in one of the richest industrial and agricultural areas in the entire united states--by an odd coincidence the actual acquisition of the r. w. & o. was followed a few months later by the enactment of a state law forbidding one railroad acquiring a parallel or competing line--but the menace of the powerful and strategic canadian pacific ever reaching the city of new york was practically removed. a high price, and yet a low one. which marks the beginning and the end of railroad strategy. * * * * * for some time now we have lost track of mr. austin corbin and his ambitious plan of the camden, watertown & northern. upon the explosion of the mohawk & st. lawrence bubble a good many keen watertown men who were bent, heart and soul, upon providing their community with competitive railroad service turned earnestly toward the corbin scheme. the most of the $ , that had been hastily subscribed in the town toward providing the mohawk & st. lawrence with a free right-of-way and depot grounds through it, was turned over to mr. corbin. edward m. gates, who was very active in the matter, went further. he wired mr. h. walter webb, who, as third vice-president of the new york central, and personal representative of the vanderbilts, had made a personal subscription of $ , to the watertown fund, if he, too, would agree to turning his subscription to the camden, watertown & northern. there is no record of a reply from mr. webb on this proposition. gradually corbin grew lukewarm upon his camden, watertown & northern plan. truth to tell, he had lost his largest opportunity on the day that charles parsons had landed the vanderbilts with the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. they had needed that road. they had never thought that they needed the elmira, cortland & northern, not even at the time that corbin offered it to them at the assumption of its mortgage-bonds and its fixed charges. eventually he succeeded in getting the lehigh valley, which at just that time was cherishing a fond idea that it might succeed in seriously cutting into the new york central's traffic between the seaboard and central and northern new york, to buy the e. c. & n. thereafter the corbin project disappeared. from time to time it has been revived, as a possible extension of the lehigh valley, north from its present unsatisfactory terminal at camden to watertown or even beyond. it is hardly likely now that that extension will ever be builded. for one thing, the day of building competing railroads is over, and for another, the e. c. & n. is far too unsatisfactory a railroad dog to which to tie an efficient tail. the ontario & western would have been a far more advantageous opportunity. * * * * * out of all the tumult and excitement of that strenuous winter of - the net result then to northern new york was no new railroads. no, permit me to correct that statement. one new railroad was builded, and an important enterprise it was. a brother of h. walter webb's, dr. seward webb, who had married into the vanderbilt family, was instrumental in acquiring from henry s. ives, of new york, and some of his associates, the little narrow-gauge herkimer, newport & poland railroad, stretching some twenty miles northward from herkimer in the mohawk valley and upon the main line of the new york central. with the road renamed, the mohawk & malone, dr. webb conceived the idea of building it through the north woods to the canada line. where the long ago promoters of the sackett's harbor & saratoga had failed, he succeeded after a fashion. he moved the contractors' duffle from the terminal of the nascent mohawk & st. lawrence, at utica, down to herkimer, and began by first changing the h. n. & p. into a standard-gauge railroad. this done he proceeded with its extension, up the valley of the canada creek to remsen, where it touched the utica line of the r. w. & o. (the main line of the former utica & black river). this done, and arrangements made for handling the through trains of the mohawk & malone over the r. w. & o. for the twenty-two miles between utica and remsen, dr. webb struck his new road off through the depths of the untrodden forests for nearly miles. at first it was said that it was his aim to meet and terminate his line at tupper lake, which had been reached by the one-time northern adirondack from moira, on the ogdensburgh & lake champlain. dr. webb did meet this line, also the tenuous branch of the delaware & hudson, extending westward from plattsburg, and then down to saranac lake and lake placid. but he passed by all of these. his scheme was a far more ambitious one. he had determined to build a railroad from utica to montreal, and build a railroad from utica to montreal he did. before he was done the new york central had its own rails from its main line almost into the very heart of the canadian metropolis. and while this route was a little longer in mileage between new york city and montreal than the direct routes along both shores of lake champlain, it possessed large strategic value for the western end of the new york central & hudson river. and it was entirely a vanderbilt line. as such it probably was worth all it cost; and it was not a cheap road to build. this line was then the one tangible result of the most agitated railroad experience that the people of new york state ever faced--with the possible exception of the west shore fiasco. the other plans--you still can find them by the dozens carefully filed in the clerk's office of the northern new york counties--all came to nought. the folk of the north country ceased their dreamings; settled down to the intensive development of their rarely rich territory. and sought to make its existing transport facilities equal to their every need. chapter xii the end of the story for six or seven years after it had secured possession of the property, the new york central continued the operation of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh as a separate railroad, to a very large degree, at least. gradually, however, the individual executive officers of the leased road ceased to exist; in some cases berths with the parent road were found for them; in others, they were glad to retire to a life of comfortable ease. the separate corporate existence of the r. w. & o. as well as that of the utica & black river and the carthage, watertown & sackett's harbor, was continued, however, until , when the vanderbilts made a single corporation under the title of the new york central railroad of some of their most important properties; the new york central & hudson river, the lake shore & michigan southern and the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh, chief amongst them. that step taken, the r. w. & o. had ceased to exist--legally as well as technically. yet the work that it had done in the development of a huge community of communities could never die. it was to live after it; for many years to come. * * * * * on the th of may, , within three months after the leasing of the rome road, its headquarters were moved back to the place where originally they had been located, and from which they never should have been removed--watertown. the entire property was then consolidated into a single division, and mr. mcewen brought over from oswego to become its superintendent, with mr. jones his assistant at oswego and mr. hammond in a similar capacity at watertown. mr. p. e. crowley was, also, promoted at this time to the position of chief despatcher of the division. this arrangement did not long continue, however. charles parsons already was interesting himself in the new york & new england, and presently he called to that property, as superintendents, mr. bowen and mr. jones, who established their offices at hartford, conn. soon afterwards mr. hammond followed them. there had come a real change in _régime_. the r. w. & o. division of the new york central & hudson river, as the old property then became known, stretched all the way from suspension bridge to massena springs and was, i believe, with its miles of route mileage, the longest single railroad division in the united states at that time. to run that division was a man's job, and only a real man could survive it. yet into that grimy old station at watertown there came, one by one, a succession of as brilliant railroaders as this country has ever known--van etten, russell, moon, hustis, christie. these were men tested and tried before they were sent up into the north country--it was no place for novices up there. once there they made good, by both their wits and their energies. success on that division called for almost superhuman energy. and when once it had been won; when down in the grand central they could say that "x--had been to watertown and made good there," it meant that x--had taken, successfully, the thirty-third degree in modern railroading. there were a few men between these five, who did not make good--but somehow that was never charged against them. other jobs were found for them; headquarters felt that perhaps the mistake in some way should rightly be charged against it. after seventeen years of operation of the r. w. & o. as a single division it was recognized at headquarters that the test was not a fair one; and the famous old road was divided into two divisions, with watertown junction as the dividing point and the divisions named, the st. lawrence and ontario, with watertown and oswego as their respective division headquarters. just why the system was divided in that way no one seems to know. it would have been more logical to have made the former rome road, east of oswego, a single division with headquarters at watertown, and have split the old lake ontario shore into the main line divisions of the western part of the state. yet this is history, and not a criticism. the men who have run the new york central have generally known their business pretty well. * * * * * edgar van etten came to the railroad game by way of the historic erie. he is a native of port jervis, new york, a famous old erie town, and it was just as natural as buttering bread for him to go to work upon that road, rising in quick successive steps, freight conductor, to-day, trainmaster to-morrow--oddly enough there was a little time when he was superintendent of the ontario division of the r. w. & o., in the days of the parsons' control. then we see him as superintendent of the erie at buffalo, finally general manager of the western new york car association, in that same busy railroad center. from that task the vanderbilts picked him for an even greater one--taking that newly merged, single-track -mile-division of the r. w. & o., and putting it upon their operating methods and discipline. only an edgar van etten could have done the trick. a lion of a man he was in those watertown days, relentless, indomitable, fearless--yet possessing in his varied nature keen qualities of humor and of human understanding that were tremendous factors in the winning of his success. it was but natural that so keen a talent should have been recognized in his promotion from watertown to the vastly responsible post of general superintendent of the new york central at the grand central station. in those days the position of operating vice-president of the property had not been created. nor was there even a general manager. the general superintendent was the big boss who moved the trains and moved them well. if he could not, the vanderbilts discovered it before they ever made him a big boss. mr. van etten's final promotion came in his advancement to the post of vice-president and general manager of their important boston & albany property; a position on that road corresponding to the presidency of almost any other one. here he remained until , when ill-health caused his retirement from railroading. he moved across the continent to california, where he is to-day an enthusiastic resident of los angeles. * * * * * e. g. russell was cast in a somewhat gentler mold than van etten. thorough railroader he was at that, a man of large vision and seeking every opportunity for the advancement of the property that he headed. for remember that in all these years at watertown these men were virtual general managers of a goodly property, in everything but actual title. upon their initiative, upon their ability to make quick decisions--and accurate--in crises, to handle even matters of a goodly size the huge division rose or fell. theirs was no job for the weakling or the hesitant. mr. russell was neither a weakling nor hesitant. on the contrary he risked much--even the friendship of the organized labor of the road--when he felt that he was right and must go ahead upon the right path. eventually his policies in regard to labor forced his retirement from the r. w. & o. division. he went, capable railroader that he always was, to scranton where he became general superintendent of the lackawanna. from there he went to one of the roads in lower canada, and finally to michigan, where he met his tragic death late at night on a lonely railroad pier in the dead of winter. * * * * * after russell, dewitt c. moon; a man with an unusual genius for placating labor and getting the very best results out of it. mr. moon succeeded mr. russell as superintendent at watertown, april , , leaving that post september , , to become general manager of the lake erie & western, a vanderbilt property of the mid-west. he had been schooled in that family of railroads, starting in as telegraph operator on the old dunkirk, allegheny valley & pittsburgh, which was gradually merged, first into the lake shore and then into the parent reorganized new york central of to-day. before that reorganization, he had become general manager of the former lake shore in some respects the very finest of the old vanderbilt properties--at cleveland. at cleveland he still remains, as assistant to the vice-president of the new york central in that important city. he is a railroader of the old school, trained in exquisite thoroughness and with a capacity for detail, not less than marvelous. moon's great forte, however, was and still is, coöperation. men like him. he likes men. a big and genial nature, a quick sympathy and understanding have proved great assets to a railroad executive. these assets moon has possessed from the beginning. upon them he had builded--and upgrown. * * * * * still another of this famous quintette to whom the running of a mile railroad division was as but part of a day's work--james h. hustis. more than any of the three who preceded him hustis is in every sense a thorough graduate of the vanderbilt school of railroading. he was born to it. his father, too, was a veteran new york central man. "jim" hustis entered that school in , as office-boy to the late john m. toucey, then general superintendent of the new york central in the old grand central depot. he rose rapidly in the ranks, filling several superintendencies in the old parent property before he went to watertown, in the late summer of . he left there on october , , to assume executive charge of the boston & albany. and it was soon after he left that the old division was broken into two parts and the r. w. & o. ceased to exist, even as a division name. mr. hustis is to-day president of the boston & maine railroad. he holds the unique distinction of having headed the three most important railroads of new england. after leaving the office of vice-president and general manager of the boston & albany--as we have already seen the ranking position of that property--he was for a time president of the new york, new haven & hartford, before going to his present post with the boston & maine. that he is a thorough railroader, hardly needs to be said here--if nothing else said that, the fact that he spent four successful years in full control at watertown, of itself would tell it. * * * * * after hustis, cornelius christie, the last of the executive superintendents that were to supervise the operation of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh as a single unit--why the folks down in the grand central did not create a general superintendency at watertown, i never could understand. christie, a huge six-foot-three man, big both physically and mentally, also was trained in the wondrous vanderbilt school of railroading. long service both upon the main line of the central and the west shore, equipped him most adequately for the arduous task at watertown. it was in christie's day--in the summer of --that the famous old division was divided into two large parts, as we have already seen; the ontario and the st. lawrence. for three years more, mr. christie remained at watertown, as superintendent of the st. lawrence, being promoted from that post to a similar one on the busy hudson river division between albany and new york. he was succeeded at watertown by f. e. williamson, the present general superintendent of the new york central at albany. at the time christie became superintendent of the st. lawrence division at watertown, frank e. mccormack was set up in a similar job, heading the ontario division at oswego. the genial frank was r. w. & o. trained and bred. as far back as april , , he was working for the property as night operator and pumper, at a salary of $ a month. some one must have recognized the real railroader in him, however, for but a year later his "salary" was raised to $ and the following year he was transferred to the superintendent's office at watertown as confidential clerk and operator. from that time on his progress was steady and uninterrupted; despatcher, chief despatcher, trainmaster, and with one or two more intermediate steps, superintendent. * * * * * to attempt even a listing of the able railroad crowd that hovered around the old watertown depot, in the years that measured the beginnings of the vanderbilt operation of the old rome road again, would be quite beyond the province of this little book. h. d. carter, frank e. wilson, george c. gridley, w. h. northrop, clare hartigan, how the names come trippingly to mind! and how many, many more there are of them. yet i cannot close these paragraphs without singling out two of them--wilgus and crowley. here are two more graduates of its hard, hard school, in which the rome road may hold exceeding pride. colonel w. j. wilgus was with the old division for but four years--from to --but they were years of exceeding activity in the rebuilding of the property; particularly its "double-tracking" and the extremely important job of raising the track-levels for many miles north of richland so that the eternal enemy of the road--snow--would have a much harder time henceforth in endeavoring to fight it. from that job he went to far bigger ones; such as building the new grand central terminal and installing electric operation on the lines that entered it, digging the michigan central tunnel under the river at detroit and building the new station in that city. these and others. but none more interesting to him, i dare say, than the task that he laid out overseas in the great war, building and arranging the rail lines of communication for the american army in france. a job to which he brought all his experience, his great energy and his rare tact. and finally, patrick e. crowley. mr. crowley's connection with the rome road goes back to the parsons' régime--even though before that day he had had eleven hard years of experience with the old erie; in about every conceivable job from station agent to train despatcher. he was with the r. w. & o., however, almost an even year before its acquisition by the new york central--as train despatcher at oswego. in may, , he was transferred to watertown as chief train despatcher and later as train master. his stepping upward has been continuous and earned. to-day as vice-president, in charge of operation, of the entire new york central system he is recognized as one of the king-pins of railroad operators of all creation and is the same simple and unassuming gentleman that one found him in the old days at oswego and watertown. that seems to be the mark of the real railroader, always. ostentation does not get a man very far in the game. in the north country it got him nowhere, whatsoever. in our land of the great snows and the hard years a very real and simple democracy plus energy and some real knowledge of the problems in hand were the only qualities that put a big boss ahead. forever--no matter what the name or how long the division--the job up there was the survival of the fittest. the fit man might be here, there, anywhere. he might be a greaser in the round-house, a news-butcher upon the train, an office boy upstairs in the depot headquarters, an operator in a lonely country station. if he was fit he got ahead and got ahead quickly. merit won its own promotion and generally won it pretty quickly. not that everything was always plain sailing. there is one pretty keen railroad executive in the land who remembers his joy at being promoted to despatcher on the old rome road. the pay was eighty dollars a month, which was good in those days. he walked into the new job with a plenty of cocksure enthusiasm. the "super" did not like young men with cocksure enthusiasms. he said so, frankly. and in order to drive his ideas home paid the young man the despatcher's rate for thirty days; then, for the next five or six months at the old-time operator's rate. the young man caught on. he understood. a job's a job and a boss is a boss. and all the jobs in the world are not worth the paper that they are written on, unless the boss wants to make them so. which may be put down as an unscientific maxim; yet a very true one nevertheless. * * * * * back of these men who sought with all their energy and vigor, of mind and of body alike, steadily to upbuild the old rome road, was the great wealth, organization and _esprit de corps_ of one of the leading railroad organizations of the world. the vanderbilts were always thorough sportsmen. they showed it in their reincarnation of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh. parsons had been handicapped, forever and a day, by the constant lack of ready cash--there have been few times when the new york central has been so handicapped. i bear no brief for the vanderbilts. they have made their mistakes and they have been grievous ones. but they have not often made the mistake of being miserly with their properties. that mistake was not made in northern new york. into the r. w. & o., once they had clinched their title to it, they poured money like water--whenever they could be shown the necessity of such a procedure. new track went down and then new bridges went up--superb structures every one of them--until there no longer were any limitations upon the motive-power for the north country's rail transport system. a locomotive that could run upon the main line could run practically anywhere upon the rome road divisions. and when watertown complained that the traffic was rising to a volume that no longer could be handled upon a single-track basis, the vanderbilts double-tracked the road--in all of its essential stretches, many, many miles of it all told. they built and rebuilt the round-houses and the shops. "property improvement" became their slogan. in such property improvement watertown has always shared, most liberally. the double-tracking of the old main-stem of the r. w. & o. brought with it as a corollary the construction of a much needed freight cut-off outside the crowded heart of that city. that done the local freight facilities were removed from the old stone freight-house opposite the passenger-station and that staunch old landmark torn down. to replace it a huge freight terminal of the most modern type and worthy of a city of sixty thousand population was erected on a convenient site upon the north side of the river. as a final step in this program of progress the old depot was torn away--without many expressions of regret on the part of the townsfolk--and the present magnificent passenger terminal erected, at a cost of close to a quarter of a million dollars. the management of what watertown will always know as the "old rome road" has not been niggardly with its chief town. nor has it been niggardly with any other parts of northern new york territory. oswego has rejoiced in a new station--the blessed old lake shore hotel, which for many years housed tavern and railroad offices and passenger depot, combined, is now a thing of memory. ogdensburgh has a fine new station, and so has massena springs. norwood still worries along with its old depot, but richland rejoices in a neat but excellent structure, in which the wright brothers still serve the coffee, the rolls, the sausage and the buckwheat cakes that cannot be excelled. the north country has never taken to the dining-car habit; perhaps, because it never has had the chance. but it actually likes its old-fashioned way of living; the innate democracy of the american plan hotel and dinner-in-the-middle-of-the-day. * * * * * never can i ride up through it in these fine basking days of peace and of prosperity over its well-maintained railroad without thinking of the days when journeying into the north country was not a comfortable matter of pullman cars and swift trains by day and by night; of the days when one came to utica by stage or by canal and immediately reëmbarked upon another stage for an even hundred miles of rackingly hard riding over an uneven plank-road into watertown. if one went further toward the north, travel conditions became still worse. such expeditions were not for tender folk. and sometimes to-day when i ride north from watertown upon the railroad--and the cars toil laboriously through factory street, as they have been toiling for sixty-five long years past--i press my face against the window and look for a little house upon that appian way; the little, old, stone house in which clarke rice and william smith were wont, so long ago, to operate their toy train upon the table and so try to induce the folk of the village to invest their money in a scheme which then seemed so utter chimerical. a house in which a real idea was born forever fascinates me. for it i hold naught by sympathy--and understanding. so many of us are dreamers.... and so few of us may ever live to see the full fruition of our dreams. appendix a (being taken bodily from a poster issued at watertown in the summer of .) watertown, rome, and cape-vincent rail-road according to notice in the jefferson county papers, the inhabitants of this town will be speedily called on to complete subscriptions towards the above named road, sufficient to warrant a commencement. by the charter we have till the th of may, , to complete subscriptions, and make an expenditure towards the road. the time is short in which to do this business; therefore it is highly important that every citizen, from the st. lawrence on the north to the erie canal on the south--from the highlands on the east to the lake on the west, come forward and spread himself to his full extent for the road. to stimulate us to action let it be borne in mind that the sun never shone on so glorious a land as lies within the bounds above described. to one who for the first time visits our towns, the scene is enchanting in the extreme. our climate is bland and salubrious; winters more mild than in any part of new england or southern new york--the atmosphere being softened by the prevalence of southwesterly winds coursing up the valley of the mississippi and along the waters of erie and ontario, to such degree that for salubrity and comfort we stand almost unrivalled. wheat, corn, barley, oats, pease, beans, buckwheat, fruit, butter, cheese, pork, beef, horses, sheep, cattle, minerals, lumber, etc., are produced here with a facility that warrants the hand of labor a bountiful return. we have water power enough to turn every spindle in great britain and america. in fact we have every thing man could desire on this globe, except a cheap and expeditious method of getting rid of our surplus products and holding communication with the exterior world. the want of this, places us _thirty years_ behind almost every other portion of the state. when we might be _first_, we suffer ourselves to be last. citizens! how long is this state of things to endure? after having lain dormant until we have acquired the dimensions of a young giant, will we, like the brute beast, ignorant of his powers, be still led captive in the train of our country's prosperity--affording, by our supineness, a foil to set off the triumphs of our more enterprising brethren of the east, the south, and the west? no,--from this moment forward, let us resolve to cut a passage to the marts of the new world, and, by the abundance of our resources, strike their "merchant princes" with admiration and astonishment. this can easily be done if unanimity, perseverance, and, above all, liberality, be exhibited. if every farmer owning acres of land, and he not much in debt, will take five shares in the road, _and others in proportion_, the decree will go forth that the work is done. _without this_, it is feared the whole must be a failure. viewed in an enlightened manner, there need be no hesitation on the part of the owners of the soil. they are the ones to be most essentially benefited. there is no reason why their lands, from having a market and increased price of products, would not be worth fifty to eighty dollars per acre, as is the case in less favored sections, where rail roads have been constructed. the very fact that a road was to be made would add _half_ to the value of land--its completion would more than _double_ the present prices. a tax on the land ten miles each side of the road, to build it, would in three years repay itself, and leave to the present population and their posterity an enduring source of wealth and importance. we lose one hundred thousand dollars annually in the price of butter and cheese alone, when compared with the prices obtained by lewis and the northerly part of oneida, simply because they are nearer the canal and the rail road. but taking stock is _not a tax_, in any sense of the phrase. it is only resolving to purchase a certain amount of property in the road, which, taking similar investments elsewhere as a sample, will pay interest, or can be at all times sold at par, or at an advance, like other property or evidence of value. the owner of shares can at any time sell out, and have the satisfaction of knowing that he has greatly added to his wealth merely by affording countenance to the project while in embryo. the directors are powerless unless the people rally to their aid. they have made efforts abroad for capital to build the road, by adding to the subscriptions on hand at the time they were chosen. owing to causes not prejudicial to the character of our enterprise, they have not for the present succeeded. aid they have been promised, but they are enjoined first to show a larger figure at home. the ability and disposition of our population must be more thoroughly evinced than has yet been the case. agents are at work, or speedily will be, on the whole length and breadth of the line from cape vincent to rome. a searching operation is to be had. if the road is a failure, the directors are determined that it shall not be laid at their door. let this be remembered, and every one hereafter hold his peace. clarke rice, secretary w. & r. r. r. co. watertown, aug. , . appendix b a list of the officers and agents of the rome, watertown & ogdensburgh railroad (march , ) _president_, charles parsons, new york _vice-president_, clarence s. day, new york _secretary and treasurer_, j. a. lawyer, new york _general manager_, h. m. britton, oswego _supt. of transportation_, w. w. currier, oswego _gen'l freight agent_, e. m. moore, oswego _gen'l pass. agt._ (acting), g. c. gridley, oswego _gen'l baggage agent_, t. m. petty, oswego _gen'l road master_, h. a. smith, oswego _supt. of motive power_, geo. h. haselton, oswego _assistant superintendents_ w. h. chauncey, oswego j. d. remington, watertown w. s. jones, dekalb junction _agents_ suspension bridge, g. g. chauncey river view, j. b. s. colt lewiston, samuel barton ransonville, d. c. hitchcock wilson, g. wadsworth newfane, f. s. coates hess road, c. sheehan somerset, thomas malloy county line, g. resseguie lyndonville, b. a. barry carlyon, t. a. newnham waterport, a. j. joslin carlton, o. wiltse east carlton, j. c. wilson kendall, j. w. simkins east kendall, george l. lovejoy hamlin, c. s. snook east hamlin, d. w. dorgan parma, l. v. byer greece, w. e. vrooman charlotte, h. n. woods pierces, chas. ten broeck webster, f. e. sadler union hill, c. b. hart lakeside, i. h. middleton ontario, george m. sabin williamson, j. e. tufts sodus, j. p. canfield wallington, e. t. boyd alton, h. s. mcintyre rose, a. a. stearns wolcott, w. v. bidwell red creek, s. g. murray sterling, w. a. spear sterling valley, w. r. crockett hannibal, a. d. cowles furniss, g. hollenbeck oswego, f. w. parsons " ticket agent, t. m. petty east oswego, f. w. parsons scriba, r. m. russell new haven, e. w. robinson mexico, r. e. barron sand hill, w. k. mathewson pulaski, w. h. austin richland, t. higham holmesville, c. l. goodrich union square, f. a. nicholson parish, c. j. lawton mallory, r. e. brown central square, j. p. tracey brewerton, c. r. rogers clay, wilber hatch woodard, a. j. eaton liverpool, f. wyker syracuse, m. breen " ticket agent, jennie kellar fulton, f. e. sutherland phoenix, o. c. breed rome, j. graves " ticket agent, a. g. roof taberg, s. a. cutler mcconnellsville, g. gibbons camden, h. a. case west camden, d. d. spear williamstown, e. b. acker kasoag, j. a. frost albion, j. buckley sandy creek, w. j. stevens mannsville, j. g. clark pierrepont manor, l. v. evans, jr. adams, d. fish adams centre, w. h. mcintyre rices, miss l. a. ayers watertown, r. e. smiley " ticket agent, pitt adams sanfords corners, m. h. matty evans mills, f. e. croissant philadelphia, c. t. barr antwerp, geo. h. haywood keenes, w. e. giffin gouverneur, a. f. coates richville, w. d. hurley dekalb junction, e. g. webb canton, j. h. bixby potsdam, j. o'sullivan norwood, m. r. stanton rensselaer falls, a. walker heuvelton, h. b. whittemore ogdensburgh, e. dillingham brownville, g. c. whittemore limerick, f. e. rundell chaumont, w. a. casler three mile bay, a. h. dewey rosiere, joseph burgess cape vincent, i. a. whittemore _superintendent of motive power_, geo. h. haselton, oswego _in charge of repairs_ syracuse, john knapp watertown, b. f. batchelder rome, w. d. watson _general road master_, h. a. smith, oswego _division road masters_ suspension bridge, geo. keith oswego, s. bishop syracuse, s. littlefield rome, a. m. hollenbeck e. dennison, dekalb junction the express companies of the united states a study of a public utility by bert benedict price cents published by the intercollegiate socialist society fifth avenue, new york city _foreword_ the intercollegiate socialist society takes pleasure in presenting to the public this careful monograph of mr. bertram benedict on the important subject of "the express companies of the united states." the pamphlet is particularly timely in these days when the nation is endeavoring to formulate its policy regarding the future control of the express business. it is, moreover, the first concise and scholarly analysis of the express service in america that has appeared in recent years and is a distinct contribution to the literature on the subject. the author herein presents a vivid, bird's-eye view of the development of the express companies from the days of the stage-driver up to the present time. he portrays the rapid consolidation of express systems, their integration with the great railroads, their remarkable enlargement of activities, the growing competition of the parcel post with the private express systems and the increasing governmental regulation over this utility. this survey is followed by an analysis of the present status of the express companies, and a discussion of express profits. the relative service rendered by express and parcel-post is then dealt with, and the reader is treated to an illuminating discussion of the probable savings accruing from government ownership and management of the express industry, particularly as a result of consolidation of equipment, agencies, offices, etc. in conclusion, mr. benedict deals with various methods whereby the government may take over the express companies, tells of the present status of the companies as a result of the war, and gives us a glimpse into future developments. the author reaches the conclusion that the express service should be a public agency and that it should be closely connected with the post office department rather than with the railroad administration. the pamphlet as well explains the manner in which european countries have handled this problem and presents a complete bibliography on the general topic. the author throughout gives a wealth of accurate information concerning the express system in all of its manifold relationships. the pamphlet is one of a series planned by the intercollegiate socialist society on various phases of public ownership and democratic management. harry w. laidler. _introduction_[a] _the character of express service_ the express companies of the united states are unique organisms, and have no counterparts in any country outside of north america. in europe, their services are performed by the parcel-posts or by the railroads themselves, often in conjunction with collecting and delivering companies. the express company in the united states collects from the shipper the matter to be sent by express and delivers it to the consignee. the charge for expressage may be either paid by shipper or collected from the consignee. the transportation between different points is generally furnished by the railroads, although steamship and stage lines are also used to a slight extent; and the charge for this transportation, as well as the charges for collection and delivery, are included within the one fee levied by the express company. this one fee also automatically includes insurance up to fifty dollars, there being additional fees for additional insurance, to the amount of which there is practically no limit. the goods shipped are sent in express cars attached to passenger trains or on special express trains maintaining the speed of passenger trains. because of the speedy transportation thus afforded, merchandise large enough to be sent as freight, such as machinery and live stock, is often forwarded by express; but by far the greater part of express traffic in normal times is composed of articles weighing less than one hundred pounds. the larger companies conduct their activities in foreign lands as well as in the united states; and in addition perform a number of subsidiary activities not connected directly with the transportation of merchandise. [footnote a: the author wishes to acknowledge his indebtedness to the studies of mr. davied j. lewis, the one man in official public life in the united states during the last decade adequately to realize the need for investigation and agitation in the field of a government express service. b. b. january , .] _origin and development_ the development of the express business in the united states serves perhaps as admirably as the development of any other single public utility to hold up the mirror to the economic ideology which prevailed among the american people up to august , . the origin of the express business in this country is usually assigned to , but the davenport and mason company claims to trace its beginnings back to . in july of that year, a railroad was opened between boston and taunton, massachusetts, a distance of miles; and with its opening charles davenport and n. s. mason delivered valuables and small packages to customers at those two towns. even before this time, however, the picturesque and half-legendary stage-driver had often called for, transported and delivered articles entrusted to him for persons living along or near his route. similar service had been frequently rendered also by steamboat captains and even by the conductors on the first railroads, often, if not usually, as an unremunerated personal favor. a. l. stimson, one of the early expressmen and the author of the most comprehensive history of the express business in the united states, states that the need for some form of transportation by express was so intense before that a person could hardly make a trip between two cities without being deluged with requests to deliver parcels, and that these requests would come not only from friends and acquaintances, but even from total strangers. the ventures of harnden, adams, wells and fargo the first reliable and extensive express service, however, does date from . in that year, william f. harnden grasped the need for, and chance of profit in, the delivery of valuable parcels between boston and new york and to that end made a contract for his personal transportation on the boston and providence railroad--the first express contract in the united states. harnden made four trips weekly, by rail to providence and thence to new york by boat; and carried the expressed articles in a hand satchel. but within several months the business outgrew that humble forerunner of the modern express car, and he was compelled to hire additional express messengers, to set up offices, and to arrange for special space on trains. so successful was harnden's venture and so serviceable that he soon found himself confronted by many imitators and competitors. in , alvin adams entered the new england-new york field, thus becoming the founder of the present adams express company; and later in the same year harnden extended his business to philadelphia. in the following year, henry wells and a partner established an express service between albany and buffalo. by express companies had sprung up on every hand. in the latter year wells and william g. fargo developed a company to cover territory, much of it railroadless, west of buffalo; and very soon this service reached chicago. early in the fifties wells and fargo were delivering in california by the stage coach and pony express of song and story and motion picture, although it was not until that the first transcontinental railroad was completed. (the pre-occupation of the present wells-fargo express company with the western field is thus not fortuitous.) and by the early fifties also adams and company was beginning to tap the south. express combinations in , wells and company, livingston and company, and butterfield, wasson and company so far violated the contemporaneously sacrosanct belief in the greater efficiency of the competitive system and the contemporaneously pseudo-religious authority of the whole principle of competition as to combine into one large corporation, the american express company. later, wells, fargo and company organized as a joint stock company with a capital of $ , . the year saw the consolidation of adams and company, harnden and company, thompson and company, and kingsley and company into the adams express company, and in the same year the united states express company was organized. the origin of the southern express company dates from --it is controlled by and is recognized as a part of the adams express company. these four express companies continued through the nineteenth century and into the twentieth as the four great branches of the express service system of the united states. it is true that there existed by their side a number of other companies, but the latter were subsidiary, local and comparatively unimportant. the fields of activities of these four great national systems were as follows: _adams-southern_--the east, middle west, and several western routes, and the south; _american_--the east, middle west and trans-mississippi; _united states_--the east outside of new england and the middle west, with several western routes; and _wells-fargo_--the far west and the southwest, with several eastern routes. but there have long been complete understanding and gentlemen's agreements among the separate companies; and for practical purposes they formed, not four units of competition for the express business of the country, but four branches of one organization. several canadian companies also do business in the united states. lack of regulation during the sixty years from the inception of these private express companies in the united states to the dawn of the twentieth century, the rendering of this express service, of vital significance to the economic needs of the united states and of vital potential significance to the social needs of the people of the united states, was relegated without whimper to unchecked private agencies. although the last thirty years of the nineteenth century saw the development of the united states into a complex and extensively specialized industrial mechanism--with a growing dependence of each geographical division of the country upon every other geographical division and of each economic unit upon every other economic unit--the country seems never to have suspected that it might well claim authority over so important a link in its industrial integration as the transportation and delivery of all merchandise too small or too valuable to be transferred and delivered as freight. there sprang into being during this period only some futile and spasmodic attempts at state regulation. by , germany had developed its remarkable government express service, which later was classified into passenger and fast freight divisions, with corresponding variation in costs. in great britain, agitation for developing the express business as a part of the postal system had resulted in the establishment of a government parcel-post as early as . by , the french government was conducting an express business, selling the transportation of parcels both large and small to the french people without yielding profit to any owners of stocks and bonds, but imposing charges just high enough to meet the cost of the system; and developed, like our own rural free delivery, with an eye primarily to the service of the people, not to the profit-and-loss balance-sheet. but who were these countries that the united states could learn anything from them? the united states was the land of opportunity, and if gentlemen of affairs had been skilful enough to corral under their control the express business of the land, we most emphatically refused to thwart their opportunity for making the most of their foresight. we suggested jail for the agitator who insisted that the country owed the poor man a living, but the keystone of our economic creed was a faith that we owed the rich man a living. we weren't interested in what was serviceable as such to the people as a whole--we believed in the divine right of private enterprise of the economically capable. were the express companies enforcing exorbitant rates? _private enterprise._ did they discriminate against certain shippers? _private enterprise._ did express profits represent a small amount of traffic at a high profit instead of a large amount of traffic at a low profit? _the freedom of private enterprise._ was the cost of expressing a package unduly high because of the costliness of frequently transferring it into the hands of five separate companies? _private enterprise._ could the government do the business more satisfactorily, more cheaply and more extensively, and thus reduce the cost of many commodities to their consumers? _the holiness of and the necessity for the untramelled right of private enterprise._ accordingly, it was not until that even any accurate and reliable figures of the quantity and quality of the express service of the country were available for purposes of mere study and investigation. within the census of that year, the express companies happened to be included--a survey being made of their operations for the fiscal year ending june , ; and thus for the first time and after fifty years the american people were able to get some information on the operations of the private agencies to whom the express service of the land had been entrusted. it is true that the act of congress authorizing the census of had contained a provision for the collection of statistics of the express companies, and that a schedule of inquiry directed toward that end had been formulated and distributed. only two of the eighteen companies in existence, however, replied to it. the others maintained that the census law had no authority over their vested interests, and declined to make a report. the census office in actually reacted to this attitude by courteously abandoning its legally-authorized investigation, and contenting itself with publishing merely some information on the contracts between the express companies and the railroads. and, although the census went so far as to publish the expenditures of the express companies, it very naively declined to report upon their receipts. auxiliary functions of express companies by , moreover, the express companies had developed and at the present time are performing certain functions which are secondary to or even independent of the express business proper. these functions for the greater part parallel at the present time similar functions performed by the national government or by other agencies. these adjunct and independent functions are: --the issue of money orders, letters of credit, travelers' checks, etc., payable through express company agents and correspondents over well-nigh the entire civilized world. --the purchase for customers of goods in any locality in which an express office is located. --the sale for their customers of goods in any locality in which an express is located. --miscellaneous services, such as filing legal documents, redeeming pawned articles, selling exchange, entering and clearing articles of import and export at customs houses, paying bills, and, in short, attending to any business which can be readily performed by an agent for a customer. the census remembering, then, these secondary as well as the primary aspects of the express business, the students of the census on express companies would have learned the following facts: number of companies total mileage operated , total on railroads , total on water lines , total on stage lines , value of equipment and fixtures $ , , expenditures $ , , receipts not reported number of employees , number of money orders issued , , number of packages carried by express , , paid to railroads, steamboats, and stage lines for transportation $ , , of the total mileage operated, as shown below, . % was operated by the five leading companies listed above and the pacific express company. the latter, organized in , was owned and directed by the gould group of railroads (the union pacific, missouri pacific and wabash lines); its business was taken over in by the wells-fargo company. total mileage operated , adams express company , american express company , pacific express company , southern express company , united states express company , wells-fargo express company , these six companies also carried % of the parcels carried by express, as follows: total number of packages , , adams express company , , american express company , , pacific express company , , southern express company , , united states express company , , wells-fargo express company , , the unquestioning devotion of the american public of to the principles of private enterprise is attested by the fact that there was no further census, and hence no further reliable information about the express companies, until . it is true that the express companies were included in a census report on transportation in , but this survey could hardly be considered comprehensive. the express companies and the railroads until the twentieth century, then, the express companies remained unchallenged and even uninvestigated in their control of the service of transporting packages and parcels weighing more than four pounds. (packages and parcels up to four pounds in weight could be sent by mail.) in ownership and control as well as in the nature of their activities, they were linked with the great railroad systems; and there was in addition an extensive amount of interownership between the various express companies. when the (the second) census report on express companies was published, it was found that of the $ , , capitalization of the seventeen important express companies, $ , , , or %, was in the hands of the railroads as such. [the express companies as such had reciprocated by buying and holding the stock of railroad companies to the amount of $ , , and railroad bonds to the amount of $ , , .] moreover, of the $ , , capitalization of the express companies, $ , , , or %, was held among the various express companies as such. how much of the remaining % of the capitalization of the express companies was held by individuals interested in the railroad holdings and control cannot be told, but may certainly be surmised. it is therefore not surprising to find that in of the seven directors of the adams express company, four were directors of railroad companies; of the nine directors of the american express company, three; of the seven of the pacific express company, six; of the seven of the united states express company, two; and of the thirteen of the wells-fargo company, ten. in , more than half of the directors of the four large express companies were also directors of railroads. the explanation of the willingness of the railroad companies not to disturb the express companies in their exclusive exploitation of the express service field is hence not difficult to find. even those few of the directors who were not directors in railway systems were nevertheless also of that group of controllers of industry which was responsible for the sinister connection between american politics and american big business which for so many years had prostituted the promise of american life. furthermore, whatever few regulations could be applied generally to corporations as such had little effect upon the express companies; for the wells-fargo and the southern were, and up to the present time are, the only large companies which have the corporation structure. the other three maintain their early status as limited partnerships of a fixed number of shares without fixed par value, although the adams express company, on december , , assigned a par value of $ to each of its , shares outstanding, giving it a capitalization of $ , , . of no less wisdom than cynicism accordingly was the remark of a prominent american statesman when propaganda for the establishment of a parcel-post had finally begun to rear its defiant head: "there are four reasons why the parcel-post cannot be established in the united states," with the explanation, when pressed for details: "the four reasons are: ( ) the adams express company; ( ) the wells-fargo express company; ( ) the american express company; and ( ) the united states express company." regulation by the twentieth century, however, the hypnotic spell of the private enterprise creed over at least the middle and lower economic classes was beginning to weaken. the american public was developing a sullen and by no means silent antipathy--in some sections seemingly congenital--to the great national corporations. the storm had burst first upon the railroads; and when in the hepburn act gave the interstate commerce commission definitely increased powers over the railroads, with commendable logic the express companies were coupled with the railroads in the scope of the law. all express tariffs had to be filed with the commission. no change could be made in a tariff except after thirty days' notice. a uniform system of accounts could be and soon was ordered by the commission. the commission was given access to all the books and records of the companies. and, of especial significance, upon complaint express rates could be fixed by the commission, subject to review by federal courts. the mann-elkins act of went even further. among its other provisions, the burden of proof on rates was shifted to the express companies and the commission was given power to initiate, of its own volition, express rate rulings which not much later became subject to review only by the supreme court of the united states. power over the classification of express traffic was also specifically given to the commission. the commission immediately utilized its new powers to inaugurate a searching investigation of every aspect of the express business, with the result that on february , , there went into effect a reduction in rates amounting to an average decrease of about %, together with a new system for calculating such rates, the country being divided for that purpose into five zones. the newly prescribed rates were stated and arranged after a fashion simple enough to be readily understood by any tyro. all direct and indirect rebates were abolished. articles of food were to go at three-fourths the new rates. the classification of merchandise was radically simplified. (already in , a further act of congress had made discrimination against shippers a criminal offense punishable by fine or imprisonment.) parcel-post but the hardest blow to the express companies had been delivered on august , . on that day, after years of agitation, a bill providing for a parcel-post in the united states became the law of the land; and the parcel-post system went into effect on january , . congressman david j. lewis conducted a staunch campaign to have a postal express provision included in the new law, but unsuccessfully; and the weight limit of the parcels which could be sent through the post office was fixed at eleven pounds. nevertheless, the united states express company saw the handwriting on the wall, and in that year decided to wind up its business, ceasing operations on june , . the detailed history of the development of the parcel-post in the united states, closely related as are the parcel-post and express problems, is not pertinent to this study. it is sufficient to point out that more and more the parcel-post has been broadened so as to include much of what was the express companies' field. at the present time, the weight limit is lbs. for a distance up to miles and lbs. for greater distances. packages may be sent collect on delivery up to $ , and they may be insured up to $ . there are separate fees for those two latter services up to ten cents, which amount covers both a collection on delivery of $ and insurance of $ . a receipt is given for the uninsured pre-paid parcel for a fee of one cent. so that by january , , the business of transporting goods too small or too valuable to be transported as freight was divided between two agencies in competition with each other--one of them governmental, one of them private. _the present activities of express companies_ before considering the problem thus presented to the mind--nor would it be inexact to add, to the conscience of every keenly-scrutinizing student of political and industrial phenomena in the united states--a resumé of the practically contemporaneous activities of the private express companies will be helpful. in the twelve months preceding january , , the statistics of the eight express companies doing interstate business in the united states--the adams, american, canadian, great northern, northern, southern, wells-fargo and western--were as follows: total mileage , railroad , electric line , steamboat , stage line , total mileage , adams express company , american express company , southern express company , wells-fargo and company , all others , cost of land, buildings and equipment on january , $ , , land and buildings , , equipment , , inventory value of equipment owned on january , $ , , total express charges $ , , other operating revenue , , ------------ total $ , , operating and other expenses $ , , _deficit from operating_ , other income , , gross income , , deductions from gross income , , ------------ net income $ , , dividends , , profit and loss balance $ , , total investment, including real property and equipment $ , , capital stock $ , , funded debt unmatured , , money orders issued: number , , amount $ , , c. o. d. checks issued: number , , amount $ , , limited and unlimited checks issued: number , amount $ , , telegraph and cable transfers: number , amount $ , , travelers' checks issued: number , , amount $ , , letters of credit issued:[ ] number , amount $ , , revenue from the above six items and other sources, other than express charges $ , , maintenance expenses $ , , traffic expenses , transportation expenses $ , , (employees' wages) ( , , ) general expenses , , (salaries and personal expenses) ( , , ) [footnote : including postal remittances to the amount of $ , , issued by the canadian express company.] note:--of the above figures the adams, american, southern and wells-fargo companies accounted for % of the mileage and for % of the total operating revenues. one feature of the above figures stands out pre-eminent. with a capital stock of $ , , and a funded debt of $ , , , the express companies performed express operations bringing in an annual revenue of $ , , . (of this latter sum, one-half went to the railroad, steamship and stage lines for transporting the packages entrusted to their care by the express companies.) on january , , the cost of the land and buildings owned by the express companies was slightly more than $ , , and of the equipment slightly more than $ , , . it is therefore immediately evident that the most valuable asset of the express companies is to be found, not in their tangible property, but in their contracts with the various railroad companies giving them the exclusive right to have their packages transported by the railroads on passenger trains--in a sense, their charters. profits of express companies previously to the regulation of express rates by the interstate commerce commission and to the beginning of the parcel-post in this country, the profits of the express companies were undeniably swollen. by just how much they were unreasonably large, it is practically impossible to determine; although the interstate commerce commission did on several occasions officially assert unduly large profits in the case of the wells-fargo company. as described above, three of the five leading companies had issued no stock at a fixed par value, but had distributed a certain number of shares of ownership. they had started in business with a limited equipment (franklin k. lane declares that it had not exceeded $ , , in value) and had purchased new equipment mostly from current profits. some companies have capitalized their profits. others have carried them along from year to year in a profit and loss account. by their contracts with the railroad companies, they have become practically a part of the railroad system, and hence whatever equipment and property they themselves possess have served up to the present time as little basis for determining their just profits. for instance, as the decision of the interstate commerce commission's report of pointed out, some one company may invest money in certain equipment which another company hires. they both may make the same percentage of profit on the same amount of business, but in the first case the profit would loom small in comparison with the property of the company, whereas in the second case, it would loom unnaturally large. in other words, a charge on capital in the first case would be classified as an item of operating expense in the second. and yet, despite all these considerations, the fact that from to the net profits of the companies were from % to % of the value of their properties, coupled with the common sense knowledge that in those years there was no inward or outward compulsion upon the directors of the companies to charge one cent less than the traffic would bear, makes it certain enough for practical purposes that the express companies' profits were unethically swollen. whatever the profits before , however, they have sadly dwindled since, as the following figures of the interstate commerce commission will indicate: fiscal operating operating net operating year revenues expenses revenue $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % calendar year $ , , $ , , $ , , or % $ , , $ , , $ , , or % ... ... $ , , _deficit_ (first five months) note:--in studying the above figures, it must be remembered that approximately one-half of the operating revenues are paid to the railroads for transportation, so that for practical purposes the ratio of the total operating revenue to the net operating revenue with respect to the direct business of the express companies--the collection of packages for the railroads and the delivery from the railroads--would be approximately twice the percentages in the above table. _government postal express vs. private express companies_ at certain periods of each year, the post office department takes a count of the packages mailed in the parcel-post, the postage collected on them, and their total weight. these periods of count are the first two weeks in april and the first two weeks in october. by multiplying their sum by , we can thus obtain a fairly accurate figure for the total number of parcels mailed within the year in --roughly , , , . on the other hand, the number of parcels carried in that year by the express companies may be put at , , . (note .) accordingly in the number of parcels expressed in the united states was roughly as follows: by parcel-post , , , by express companies , , but in , if the average express charge was the same as in , and no reason is known why it should not have been, the number of parcels carried by the express companies was about , , . in that same year the number of parcels carried by the post office, under the four-pound limit, was , , . in other words, the effect of the entrance of the government into what had been a field of private enterprise resulted within five years in an increase of more than % in the extent of the service rendered by the government, whereas the express company's services to the public in that time actually decreased - / %, although the extent of the total services rendered by the two combined agencies increased %. nor can the increase in the parcel-post business be explained by the assertion that the government performs this business at a great loss. the balance sheet of the post office department since has been as follows: $ , , _deficit_ , , surplus , , surplus , , _deficit_ , , surplus , , surplus now, it is obvious that the financial account of the entire post office department is composed of too many divergent elements for the financial account of the parcel-post alone to have any conclusive bearing upon it. but it is equally obvious that if so extensive and particularly so expensive a function of the postal system as the parcel-post had been conducted at a considerable loss, the fact would be reflected, to some extent, at least, in a growing deficit of the department as the parcels conveyed grew in number from , , in to , , , in . nor have the railroads made good before the courts or before the interstate commerce commission their contention that their recompense for carrying parcels is unfairly low. comparison with other countries similar findings on the comparative value of the government service and the private companies' service in the express fields may be obtained from another source. up to january , , outside of parcels weighing less than four pounds, the private express companies had unchallenged exploitation of the express service of the united states. how did the extent of our service in compare with the extent of the service in other lands in which our private express companies found no counterparts? obviously, there is no absolute basis for fruitful comparison. greater distances, more sparsely settled territory, greater wealth, greater geographical specialization of function and hence greater need for integration between different sections, higher standards of living, more diversified demands--these are some of the features of the problem here as compared with the problem abroad which make an absolute comparison of express services valueless. but practically every feature of the express situation would affect also the freight traffic of the united states as compared with the freight traffic abroad. in other words, the express traffic of the united states before should have had the same ratio to the freight traffic of the united states as the express traffic of other lands to the freight traffic of other lands, in case the united states express companies were as efficient in comparison with foreign express agencies as the railroads of the united states in comparison with railroads. in a hearing before a committee of congress in , mr. david j. lewis, then a congressman from maryland, presented the evidence, which he had obtained from the original reports of the railways of the countries concerned: _pounds_ _pounds_ _ratio_ _freight_ _express_ _express_ _shipped_ _shipped_ _shipped to_ _country_ _date_ _per capita_ _per capita_ _freight_ argentina , . to austria , . to belgium , to germany , . to france , . to hungary , . to united states , to in other words, the express facilities of the united states were used % less than in the country above showing the lowest development of express service and about % less than in the country showing the highest development of express service. when it is remembered that express is much quicker and more convenient than freight, although more expensive, and that the industrial processes of the united states have long been and still are characterized by a keener demand for speed and convenience, irrespective of cost, than the industrial processes of other countries, the above table becomes eloquent with significance. with respect to the costs of the express service, the same basis for comparison may be used. _ratio_ _average_ _average_ _freight_ _freight_ _express_ _charges_ _charge_ _charge_ _to express_ _country_ _date_ _per ton_ _per ton_ _charges_ argentina $ . $ . to . austria . . to belgium . . to . france . . to . germany . . to hungary . . to . united states . . to . and yet the statesmen at washington have disposed and doubtless will still endeavor to dispose of the proposal to have the government own and manage the express service of the land by speeches on texts to the effect that the spirit of america demands individual freedom; that that is the best government which governs the least; that incentive to productive endeavor is possible only in private establishments and completely disappears in the public service; to which will now doubtless be added the charge that such a proposal smacks of socialism and that every red-blooded american understands that anything and everything socialistic is undeniably un-american! the implication of the above figures, however, is undeniable for the man who trusts thought as well as emotions. the postal system has gone into the express field and, in competition with the express companies, by their respective showings, has in five years rendered to the american public far more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies. the opponents of government ownership and management have been ruthlessly confuted. they predicted graft--there has been none. they prophesized inefficiency--the figures give them the lie. they foretold unwholesome political intrusions--whatever may be the unwholesome features of the present operations of our postal system, those operations are less unwholesomely attached to political influences than ever before. there is accordingly every reason _a priori_ to assume that the government would render more valuable service than that rendered by the express companies in the remaining section of the express field unoccupied by it and still occupied only by the express companies. but there is no necessity for relying upon _a priori_ reasoning. the results to be achieved by the consolidation of the express service of the land into the postal system of the land are definite and demonstrable. express service vs. parcel-post before defining and demonstrating the advantages of a government postal express, however, it may be necessary to discuss more fully the features which differentiate at present the parcel-post from the express service. they fall into two classes, (a) special forms of service, and (b) rates. under (a): _express company_ _parcel post_ . collects the parcel free of . ---- charge. . the fee includes insurance . special fees for all up to $ without charge; insurance--insurance limit, additional insurance up to $ . any amount may be contracted for by special fees. . all sizes and weights are . weight limit-- lbs. ( accepted. miles), lbs. (above miles). size limit-- inches, length and girth combined. . collects fee from consignee . collects fee from consignee at destination free at destination at a fee. of charge. . collects cost of article itself . collects cost of article up to any amount. to $ . . buys articles for customers . ---- at a fee. . sells articles for customers . ---- at a fee. it will be immediately realized that some of the features of the express service which are not rendered at present by the parcel-post could be and should be rendered by the parcel-post for one fee without separate charges. on the other hand, it will be realized that some of these features should be rendered by the parcel-post only as separate privileges for which separate fees should be charged, as, for instance, the service of collecting parcels from the shipper. (note .) for instance, there seems to be no good reason for limits upon the size and weight of the packages in the parcel-post. these limits have steadily been expanded in the parcel-post system from its inception, and the process has so strikingly demolished whatever arguments for size and weight limits may have previously been considered that they no longer seem valid. in austria, belgium, denmark, germany, hungary, norway, rumania, the old russia and switzerland, packages weighing up to pounds may be sent by parcel-post (and after pounds the freight service of the railroads is readily available in the united states as elsewhere). in france and italy imposed weight limits of pounds. in belgium, germany, hungary, norway, rumania and sweden there is no size limit, except that in certain cases special fees are charged for unusually large sizes. in italy, the limit is inches in any one dimension, although in certain cases packages inches long are accepted. the limit in denmark is inches in any dimension. in france, the limit is inches in any direction. with no limits upon weight and size, the parcel-post might handle the problem of especially cumbersome articles whose size is disproportionately large for their weight by following the example of the express companies, charging a special rate twice as large as the normal rate. and as to shipments so bulky that especial transportation facilities are needed for them another page might be taken from the books of the express companies, and special preliminary arrangements stipulated before such shipments are accepted. moreover, the experience of other countries proves that there is no insurmountable obstacle to removing the limit upon the amount for which a package may be insured. merely, special provisions might be necessary, and perhaps an additional fee above the normal insurance fee charged, for articles such as jewelry, for which space in safes would have to be reserved, and for bullion, etc. the following countries seem to have no insurance limit: austria, denmark, germany, hungary, portugal, rumania, the old russia, sweden, switzerland. the limit in france is $ , ; in italy, $ . in addition, some countries give automatic indemnity without separate insurance fee, up to a small amount. similarly, now that the parcel-post experiments for small amounts have proved successful, the limit upon the amount collected from the consignee for the expressed article itself could be and should be either removed or greatly advanced, the fee for this service advancing with the amount collected. nor does any cogent barrier present itself against a separate division in the parcel-post system to sell articles consigned to it, or even to buy them, the fee again synchronizing with the amount of the principal involved. the features inherent in the express service and not now in the parcel-post, as the express service and the parcel-post now function, might be preserved by either of two methods. they might be added to the present parcel-post as separate features to be utilized only when especially desired and for which separate fees would be levied. or else the government postal express might be organized into two separate divisions--one for the services now rendered by the parcel-post, with possibly certain additional fees for certain secondary features, to be determined by experience in administration; and the other for the services now rendered by the express companies, except those proved by experience in administration to be homogeneous with the parcel post service proper, and hence properly adhering to the first division. either the method of complete consolidation or the method of two divisions would meet the exigencies of the service--only the results of experience and experiment could award greater merit to one or the other. the fact that these separate functions of the express service are of too great value and in too great demand to be eliminated is seen by a study of the relation of the express shipments and the parcel-post shipments to the express and the parcel-post rates, this constituting the second point of departure (b) between the public method and the private method of transporting parcels. the differences between the express rates and the parcel-post rates may be graphically realized from a comparative table. as will be seen, the differences between the two sets of rates may be roughly summarized in one sentence--as a rule, the parcel-post rates are lower than the express rates for the shorter distances and the smaller parcels. accordingly, if the value of the service rendered by the two systems were nearly identical, the express company's shipments would be almost entirely of larger parcels and for the greater distances. but as a matter of fact it is generally known that a large proportion, a very large proportion, of the shipments sent by express are at weights and for distances at which the parcel-post rates are lower than the express rates, often decidedly lower. only the need to a shipper of all, some, or any one of the above-discussed features of express service not duplicated at present in the parcel-post system can explain this situation. it is therefore imperative that the government make provision for all these features in establishing a government postal express. _cost of living_ a moment's reflection is sufficient to show that a government postal express would make express facilities available to a far greater number of persons than are served at present by the express companies. for the government postman and the government post office cover the country as a whole--the express companies operate only along railroad, electric, steamboat and stage-lines. moreover, of these four media, . % of the mileage is by railroad and only . % by electric line, % by steamboat line, and / of % by stage-line. all in all, the mileage covered by the express companies totals , . on the other hand, the mileage covered by the postal system is , , . of this amount, , , represents the mileage of the rural routes alone, and the number of persons served by the rural routes in was more than , , . of course, it is certain that not all of the persons along these more than one and a quarter million miles were deprived of the benefits of an express service, but it is equally certain that many of them were, and it is probable that the majority of them were. but it is the extension of the express facilities to just that element of the population living off the railroads and on the rural post routes in which lie the greatest potential benefits that an express service can render to the nation. for, speaking by and large, most of this population is engaged in farming; and, conversely, possibly the majority of the producers of foodstuffs in the country live off the railroads and on the rural post routes. now, it is stated on reliable authority that of each dollar expended by the consumer for food in new york city, for instance, the farmer gets only from thirty-five to fifty cents. in other words, at least % of the cost of food is represented by the cost of getting the products of the farm to the ultimate purchaser. the rôle thus played in the drama of the high cost of foodstuffs and the high cost of living generally is apparent. equally apparent is the rôle which a simplification of or a reduction in the processes of getting food from the farm directly to the dinner table could play in lowering the cost of living. but such a simplification and reduction are possible only to a government postal express. at present the rural free delivery does make provision for sending farm products directly from the farmer to the consumer, but its efforts in this direction are still largely embryonic. for the machinery of the process must be constructed anew and the task of construction is one of those tasks which cannot be hurried. on the other hand, the express companies have built up through the years an extensive and efficient machinery for "farm to table" transactions, but their services in this direction are hampered by the fact that the companies are limited on the whole to the territory adjacent to the railroad lines. the fertilization of the vast farming territory tapped by the post office by the express company facilities should give birth not many months after its consummation to the one most potent factor at present available to lower the retail cost of foodstuffs to an appreciable extent. under such an arrangement, a separate bureau would be established in the postal system, covering both the parcel-post and the postal express. this bureau would collect names of farmers--both those voluntarily resorting to it and those reached in its own canvasses--who would send their products collect on delivery to consumers. similarly, lists of consumers desiring thus to be served would be collected. it would be no difficult matter for individuals on the two lists to get into touch with one another, and to deal directly through either the parcel-post or the postal express. where they could not by their own arrangements get into touch with one another, the bureau's task would be to get them into touch. and where a farmer and a consumer could not even thus be brought into direct contact, the bureau would act as the agent for each--maintaining warehouses, if necessary, to which farmers would send goods to be sold at a stated minimum price and to which consumers would resort for their purchases. since these functions are already performed to a slight extent by the express companies, there should be little question of the legality of such procedure by the government. if necessary, additional legislation might be sought; nor after the activities of the government during the great war would there be much likelihood of such legislation being declared unconstitutional. _economy in operation_ it has been seen that about % of the charges collected by the express companies for the transportation of packages go to the railroads, % remaining to the express companies. to be exact, in the sum of $ , , represented the collection charges by the express companies, of which $ , , , or %, went to the railroads, leaving to the express companies from transportation, $ , , . revenues of the express companies from operations other than transportation brought their total revenues up to $ , , . their operating expenses were $ , , . in other words, for every % by which government operation of the express service might decrease the operating expenses of the express service, even if the present contracts with the railroads are assumed by the government, there should be a saving in the amount of express rates assessed the public of no less than %. such savings seem inevitable under a government postal express. vast as is the extent of the parcel-post operations, there is no evidence that all or even most of its ramifications have yet reached that point of magnitude where the addition of new business means an increasing instead of a decreasing cost per unit. let it be remembered that the parcel-post carried in some , , , parcels and the express companies some , , ; so that, taking into account the secondary features of the express service not performed at present by the post office, the inclusion of the express service in the parcel post would increase the latter's activities not much more than %. certainly, it may be fairly assumed that any such services in which the law of increasing costs per unit might hold would be at least counter-balanced by services in which the law of diminishing costs per unit would hold; so that we may consider the economies of a government postal express absolutely instead of relatively. consolidation of equipment in the first place, the express companies require for their operations much the same kind of equipment as is required by the post office department. express cars and railway postal cars; horse-drawn express delivery wagons and horse-drawn post office delivery wagons; motor express trucks and motor post office trucks; express company horses and post office department horses--all do similar work, along similar routes, in similar sections of similar cities at similar times of the day and under similar conditions. the economies possible by consolidation are lessened only slightly by the fact that on the main railroad trunk routes express traffic is often carried by trains composed entirely of express cars, in which there can obviously be little saving by consolidation of the express system and the parcel-post. in passing, it should be noted that the railway mail cars are furnished by the railroads, and in most cases the trucks and wagons and automobiles used in transporting mail through a city render that service by contracts of the post office department with their owners; so that the savings in consolidation would accrue indirectly by lower contract rates rather than directly. especially in smaller communities and in the thinly settled outskirts of larger communities can one wagon or one motor truck often render the service now requiring one express wagon or motor truck and one post office wagon or motor truck. on less crowded routes and on less crowded trips, one railroad car can often render the service now requiring an express car and a railway post office car. and on the crowded routes and in the thickly-populated cities, if one vehicle of transportation cannot render the service now requiring two, at least in many cases four such vehicles can render the service now requiring five. (note .) consolidation of agencies in the second place, it has been seen that each of the express companies of the united states concentrates its activities upon a certain section of the country. that is to say, on many occasions a package traveling a long distance may be handled by two or three, or sometimes even four express companies before it reaches its destination. the wastes and superfluous costs therein are evident. there is not only the direct cost of unloading, transferring, and re-loading parcels from one express company to another--and at many points express offices and yards are the width of an entire city apart. there is also the cost of the complicated bookkeeping necessary to determine for what part of the journey of a package each express company has been responsible and accordingly to what share of the express charge each is entitled. that this cost is no mere creature of a brain hell-bent upon government ownership is proved by the fact that of a total operating expense of $ , , in , exactly $ , , or % was paid to office employees. as it stands, this is the largest single item of expense in the express business, nor does this sum include the salaries of the officers and general superintendents and minor managers, nor the salaries of their clerks and subordinates directly engaged in the managing and superintending aspects of the express business. a consolidation of the express companies of the country into one agency would end that large proportion of office work attendant upon the calculation of the pro rata returns to separate express companies, and upon the issue of separate receipts, waybills, etc., and would hence result in still further reduction of express rates. consolidation of personnel but, in the third place, there are also to be considered the expenses represented by the employees not in the offices--those on the vehicles, around the stables and garages, and on the trains. consolidation of the express service with the postal service would result in a consolidation, not only of equipment, but also of personnel. if one truck does the work of two trucks, or four trucks of five, two truck employees can do the work of four, or eight of ten. where one railway car does the work of two, one railway car crew can do the work of two crews. that such saving would have a not altogether inconsiderable effect upon the operating expenses and hence upon the rates of the express companies is evident from the fact that the wages of vehicle, stable, garage and train employees amounted in to $ , , , or % of the operating expenses of the express companies. consolidation of offices in the fourth place, there were in the united states in some , post offices. the number of express offices is not definitely known, but it is probably in the neighborhood of , . the possibilities of saving by coöperation and consolidation here are again obvious, particularly when it is remembered that a large section of the activities of practically every post office is given over to handling packages mailed under the parcel-post. especially in many smaller cities and towns, post offices could handle with little increased cost the business now requiring separate express offices in those localities. where post office facilities are inadequate to handle the demand now being made upon them, the present express company offices might readily serve to save the cost of additional construction and facilities in the future. the amount of rental saved merely by the consolidation of many different express offices may be indicated by reference to the recent experience of the railroad administration in a parallel situation. similarly, there is possible an extensive consolidation and economizing in stables and garages, office furniture and supplies. the postage stamp in the fifth place, there is the saving represented in the very nature of the postage stamp itself, which can be sold and accepted for payment of charges only by the post office department. much of the expense of the express companies in issuing receipts, making statements, checking upon money received, etc., could be saved if the express parcels could proceed under a postage stamp. miscellaneous savings finally, there are the hosts of miscellaneous items of operating expenses in which we must be led to expect saving by all other experience in consolidating similar agencies performing similar services. some of these expenses might even be eliminated entirely under government ownership and control. such are the cost of superintendence and auditing, insurance, the cost of securing traffic commissions, advertising and law expenses, to say nothing of the profits paid stockholders in normal years. the amount of these savings can only be roughly surmised; but in , mr. david j. lewis estimated that they would amount to at least % of the total operating expenses. in this connection, it may be remarked in passing that mr. lewis's qualifications for throwing light upon the express service problem include not only theoretical knowledge gained by years of study of the problem, both here and abroad; but also practical knowledge of ways and means, as attested by general belief that the establishment of a parcel-post in the united states was due to his analyses more than to the efforts of any other one man; and also by the fact that when the government in assumed responsibility for the management of the telephone and telegraph systems of the land, mr. lewis was made, and at the time of writing is, the general manager in charge of those systems while under government control. certainly, in view of the economies enumerated above as inherent in government ownership and control of the express companies, on the face of it mr. lewis's statement seems extremely reasonable. the consequent reduction in rates so that, if mr. lewis's estimate were accurate, and remembering that the operating expenses of the express companies in represented one-half of the total charges made by the express companies for transportation, a reduction of % in the express rates should accompany the acquisition of the express companies by the government, other things being equal. but other things are not equal. lower rates mean increased business; and in an agency which has developed the field at its disposal so inadequately as have the express companies, each additional unit of business can be handled at a lower cost and hence at a greater profit than each previous unit. this consideration was the primary one advanced by the interstate commerce commission in ordering % reduction in the express rates in . so that, the lower amount of profit per parcel being counterbalanced by a greater number of parcels, the economy in a government postal express should be represented by a lowering of express rates anywhere from % to % of the present rates. but up to this point our calculations have assumed that under a government postal express the railroads would continue to obtain their % of the charges on each package transported by express. this method of calculating the return due to the railroad is certainly ingenious in its simplicity and lack of scientific basis, but it is just as certainly unfair to the shipper of parcels by express. let us consider, for example, two shipments of similar articles under similar conditions--one from new york city to yonkers, new york, a distance of some miles; the other from new york city to san francisco, a distance of more than , miles. in each case, the express companies collect the parcel and deliver it to the railroad in new york city; and collect the parcel from the railroad and deliver it to the consignee, in the first case in yonkers; and in the second case in san francisco. in both cases, the services rendered by the express companies are about identical, aside from the different lengths of time during which space and protection in express cars must be afforded. but the services rendered by the railroad companies are far different in the two cases. in the first case, the parcel is carried for less than an hour; in the second place, for some days. obviously, the share of the railroad in the entire service rendered in transporting the parcels is less in the first case than in the second, but in each case it gets the same share of the total express charge--namely, %. such a system in its very nature must thwart any attempt to make express rates reflect the value of express service. for, of course, the rates actually fixed endeavor to do justice to both the express companies and the railroads in each case considered above. in the first case, the rate must be high enough so that % of it will not be too glaringly little for the express companies to retain for their _relatively_ more important and more costly service of collecting a parcel in new york and delivering it in yonkers. in the second case, the rate must be high enough so that % of it will not be too glaringly little to turn over to the railroad for their _relatively_ more important and more costly service of carrying the parcel across the continent. the railroad directors and express company directors cannot be expected to have reached a fair compromise after fighting for their own interests when the contracts were originally made, for, as has been seen, their interests are largely identical. it would seem, then, that only the shipper sending a parcel several hundred miles is charged a fee commensurate with the value of the service rendered him. it would seem that shippers sending parcels shorter distances must be charged too much and that shippers sending parcels longer distances must be charged too little. a glance at parcel post rates proves the validity of this surmise, for parcel post rates are lower than express rates for shorter distances and higher for longer distances. under the present system of competition between the parcel post and the express companies, the nature of the contracts between the express companies and the railroads compels express rates which unfairly discriminate against the express companies at the shorter distances and unfairly discriminate against the parcel-post at the longer distances. * * * * * however, there is no evidence in all this that the express rates as actually levied may not strike a just and equitable average between the rates too low and the rates too high. let us therefore compare for a moment the railroad costs of the express traffic with the railroad costs of the postal system. it has been seen that in the express companies paid the railroads for transporting some , , parcels the sum of $ , , . in the fiscal year ending june , , the post office department paid railroads and other transportation lines for services in transporting _all postal matter_, including almost , , , parcels, the sum of $ , , . (the basis for remuneration to the railroads for transporting postal matter is the size and the weight of the matter transported.) of course, it must be remembered that for the postal service the railroads furnished the cars. it must be remembered also that the parcels of the express companies averaged heavier weights and travelled longer average distances than the parcels of the parcel-post. nevertheless, the enormous discrepancy between the two figures cannot be thus entirely explained away. some of the discrepancy, and obviously a considerable part of it, can be traced only to an unjustifiably high return paid the railroads by the express companies. (note .) moreover, the amount thus obtained by the railroads in from its express traffic was equivalent to about - / % of the total railroad revenues, although it represented % of the total express revenue. accordingly, even a radical slashing of express rates, with its resulting beneficial stimulation to the express service of the country, could hardly disturb the well-being of the railroads to any serious extent. again, the various functions performed by the express companies as subsidiary to the express business proper are on the whole paralleled by similar functions of the government or other agencies. money orders, both domestic and international, are issued by the post office department, and in were issued to the extent of $ , , as against $ , , of the express companies. telegraph and cable transfers are readily issuable by the telegraph companies themselves. similarly, the travelers' cheques issued by the express companies could without difficulty and with no less convenience be issued by our large banking institutions performing that service. * * * * * it is therefore respectfully submitted that any comprehensive consideration of the express service field in the united states can point only in one direction--toward the consolidation of the express service of the united states with the postal system of the united states, under the control and management of the post office department. _methods of establishing a government postal express_ many studies advocating government ownership and management of public utilities find it necessary to hitch their program to one definite mode of procedure. in the case of the express service, however, no such necessity exists. several modes of procedure are open, and if one of them seems preferable, none of them is impossible, inadequate or inefficient. the most desirable method now available of substituting a government postal express for our express companies would seem to be a legal and constitutional confiscation of their property and rights, with adequate compensation. the adequacy of the compensation would naturally entail much discussion--on the one side would stand those insisting that the government pay for only the contemporaneous value of the physical property taken over; and on the other side would stand those insisting that the contracts with the railroads, good will, and other intangible assets of the express companies possess true value despite their intangible nature and should accordingly be purchased. supporting the first group would be the policy of the present government which, as we shall see, has placed the capital of the express combination temporarily handling the express business of the country at $ , , , or approximately the value of the actual physical property represented by that combination. supporting the second group is the interstate commerce commission, through its representative, franklin k. lane, in its decision in the matter of the express rates. a third method presents itself, but its adoption could be considered only as deplorable, even as reprehensible--namely, purchase of the express companies at their paper valuation. as we have seen, the capitalization of the express companies bears no relation to the value of their property, and chiefly represents, not money invested, but profits accumulated. as a matter of fact, the supreme court of the united states some years ago decided that capitalized excess profits may not be used as a basis of computing fair rates of dividends upon capital as against the state. possibly congress might find it wise to settle the whole problem in any bill providing for government acquisition by abiding in the judgment of the interstate commerce commission, leaving the government or the express companies, or both, the right to appeal to the supreme court if dissatisfied. the express service would represent too unimportant and too different an activity from railroad freight service to be efficiently handled now by the railroads. and mere regulation, as has been seen, affords no solution, for the profits and the equipment represent but an infinitesimal part of the operating expenses. at this point, the socialist or the socialist or the person who falls loosely into the category of "radical" or perhaps even the merely "liberal" advocate of the public ownership of public utilities will doubtless exclaim: "but why compensate at all? isn't it bad enough to have so long permitted a group of entrepreneurs to grow rich by exploiting for their own gain a field which all experience outside the confines of north america proves a field of public endeavor? why add insult to injury by actually paying them for rendering unto the people the things which belong to the people? why shall not the government establish its own express service, as it established the parcel-post, and leave the express companies, so long unchallenged in their activities, to meet government competition as best they may? if they can meet it, well and good--if they can't, the essentially parasitic nature of their business is proved beyond cavil." very good, gentlemen; and if he may be permitted a personal reference, the writer of these lines is in perfect accord with you. the rates of the private express companies under your plan would still be under the control of the interstate commerce commission, and accordingly these private agencies would be unable to compete unfairly with the new government service by establishing along any of the more popular routes rates far below the cost of the service, in order to cripple the government service along these routes and hence in its entirety. moreover, there is every probability that the legislative grant to the government of a monopoly of the express service of the united states would be upheld by the courts, for a good case could be made out for the essential nature of the express business as a part of the mail business in which the government has been granted a monopoly. indeed, monopoly was originally granted the government mail service to prevent the competition which the wells-fargo company soon after its organization was conducting in the business of carrying letters. but, gentlemen, what are the chances that a sufficient number of your fellow-countrymen can be brought into accord with you--not merely in their intellectual convictions, but in convictions, intellectual and emotional, so strong that they can be transmuted into a sufficient number of votes in the ballot box to make our lawmakers at washington give heed--at least in the immediate future? for the problem of the express companies will come up for adjudication, temporary or long-enduring, within some months, or at least within a year or two. obviously, the present status of the express companies, as described below, will end soon after the war. and government ownership of the express service, as has been indicated, is so infinitely more advantageous than private ownership, that if government ownership can be obtained only by your (and my) method, and if we divide our ranks by refusing to support any other method short of one vicious in both principle and practice, the country may return once more to the private express company method. as has been indicated, the whole problem concerns scarcely ten or twenty millions of dollars in a business whose operations amount to more than two hundred millions; and whatever method be adopted, it can hardly effect a difference of % one way or another in express rates. if the question were one similar to the government ownership of railroads, it would indeed be worth delay to obtain a comprehensively adequate method of taking them over by the government, for marked differences in rates would then result. but the differences in express rates involved in different methods of purchasing the companies would hardly recompense for the delay involved in the postal service's mastery of a new technique, in its assimilation of details which can be mastered only through experience, in tedious litigation, in political wirepulling and manipulation, and in determination of constitutionality, all of which features will accompany the establishment of a new government postal express independent of the present express companies. for, by the time that the dissolution of the american railway express company (see below) will come up for final decision, new equipment and the materials for new equipment will still be scarce, very scarce, and very costly in the united states. it would be unfairly prejudicial to an infant government postal express service if it were hampered by scarcity or high cost of equipment. indeed, in the long run, in an industrial situation which for many months after peace will be unsettled as a result of the war, it might even be more economical to purchase the express companies outright. and if once the express service is released to its former owners, the difficulty of prying it loose again will involve far greater loss than the loss in adopting even the least justifiable method of consolidating it in the postal service. _the present status of express companies_ as the united states more and more radically altered its industrial processes to correlate them with the needs impressed upon the national life by the great war, the express companies more and more plainly gave evidence of membership in that group of public utilities which could not unaided weather the storm. not so soon as in the case of the railways, but not any considerable length of time afterwards, government intervention became the _sine qua non_ of a continuation of the express business of the united states on an efficient plane. on may , , the united states railroad administration made public an arrangement with the express companies by which the express service of the country has since been conducted up to the time of writing. of that arrangement, the salient features follow: . a new express company, known as the american railway express company, was organized by the adams, american, southern and wells-fargo express companies. . the new company is capitalized only to the extent of the actual property and cash represented in its formation and activities--namely, $ , , , and capital stock has been issued for that amount and further stock will be sold at par. . with the american railway express company the railroad administration made a contract for conducting the express business on all carriers included in the railroad administration. . under that contract, the railroad administration receives - / % of the operating revenues. . the - / % remaining to the express companies must cover the operating expenses, taxes, profits and a dividend of % on the stock of the american railway express company. . in any profits remaining, the first % is divided equally between the railroad administration and the american railway express company; of the next %, the former receives two-thirds and the latter one-third; of all further profits, the former receives three-fourths and the latter one-fourth. . the amount of the express rates charged and control over the character of service supplied are vested in the director-general of railroads. subsequent changes in the arrangement of may , , have been as follows: . in july, , the interstate commerce commission approved an increase of % in express rates, all of which was absorbed, however, according to both the interstate commerce commission and the director general of railroads, in wage increases effective july , . . on september , , the director general of railroads requested of the interstate commerce commission an opinion concerning a contemplated absolute increase in the express rates on each package, irrespective of weight and distance travelled. the proposed increase would be equivalent to possibly % on all traffic; but again, according to the director general of railroads, it would cover only increased wages. the commission was asked only if the proposed increase would net the sum needed, and replied on october , , in the affirmative. however, the commission significantly called attention to the possibility of increasing express revenues by lowering the percentage on all express charges received by the railroads. . on november , , president wilson issued a proclamation specifically taking, through secretary of war baker, possession, control, operation and utilization of the american railway express company, in order to make the government's control over that agency indisputably clear. the powers assumed by the government were delegated to the director general of railroads to be utilized according to the prior contract made between him and the american railway express company. . on january , , an increase of about % in express rates went into effect, making a total increase since the united states entered the european war of about %, this representing the only increase in express rates since the reduction of % ordered in and effective in , and representing also a smaller increase in rates than was found necessary by the railroads in their freight traffic. advantages the advantages of this arrangement over its predecessor are undeniable. the consolidation of effort, the reduction in the number of separate express agencies, the minimizing of accounting, the simplification of management, the pooling of equipment and facilities,--these administrative reforms should result in a marked decrease in relative operating expenses. the transfer of control from a moneyed group--or rather from three moneyed groups--interested primarily in private profits to a public official seeking only service to the public, this similarly is a definite achievement. the limitation of the capital stock to the actual cash value of the property and the fixing of the dividends on that stock at a nominal rate, these again are as notable gains in the realm of the express service as the profit-sharing arrangement between the government and the private companies. wage increases as has been seen, the increases in express rates since the birth of the american railway express have been absorbed in wage increases. now, in a statistical study, the phrase "wage increases" will connote a mere item of expense, but to the wage-worker it will connote happiness. it means more nourishing food; it means more wholesome dwelling conditions; it means more schooling for the children; it means more recreation; it means more medical care and less illness; it means especially less gnawing fear of what the morrow may hold. the example of the railroad administration indicates the widespread services in lessening want or even in increasing comforts which government control brings in its wake--the raising of all wages to that level below which a decent standard of living cannot be maintained and the abolition of artificial and undemocratic special wage privileges of sex or color in favor of equal pay for equal work. a country which hitches its wagon to a world made safe for democracy can ill afford in any of its industrial activities underpaid workers, and least of all in any of its public utilities. if a government postal express should be compelled to devote all its savings over the private express system only to wage increases among the thousands of men and women express employees, instead of being able to devote some or most of them to lowering the rates, the inauguration of a governmental postal express would be still more than justified. inadequacies nevertheless, the advantages of the present system over the old are not sufficient. a large majority of the , , persons served by the rural postal delivery are still without express service. there is still little opportunity for the direct transmission of foodstuffs from the producer to the consumer which at the present time presents the most hopeful method of attacking the soaring cost of food. there is still much potential and helpful express business which has not been called into being, and there is accordingly a considerable lowering in the rates which has not yet been effected. there is still no possibility of coordinating postal facilities with express facilities. there is still no change in the method of remunerating the railroads, and hence in the unscientific and discriminating methods of fixing rates. in a word, if this study may be said to have proved anything, it has proved that the express service belongs to the post office department, not to the railroad administration; indeed, one can hardly avoid the deduction that the present war-time express system could have been adopted only from considerations of either temporary political expediency or of transient personal efficiency; or else of inattention to the true nature of the problem presented. the larger issue but material gains may not be the summum bonum of the express business. the express service is much more than an important business undertaking, and it is much more even than a valuable agent in quickening the industrial activities of the united states--it is, or rather it can be, one of the most serviceable media for the development of an american culture as that culture expresses itself in the economic processes of the nation. the future of the nation's express service is basically a problem of national morale. in the decades before april , , there was no united states esprit, no united states national life, no united states unity. there were only separatist esprits; there was only class life; there was only geographical unity. the war found us an unintegrated miscellany, and our government a creature strangely and even desirably aloof from the thoughts and aspirations of our daily lives. and now, almost overnight, sacrifice in france and at home has welded us into one people. shall we remain one, or shall we revert to factions, to factions either at loggerheads with one another, or else indifferent one to the other? assuredly we shall soon re-degenerate into warring factions unless our still largely inchoate strivings for national unity can discover vehicles to carry them forward. a government which has become truly a people's government will long continue in the united states only as it draws unto itself and maintains both the material and the immaterial agencies which dive down to the depths of our national daily existence and bind us together. more powerfully than any other of these forces, our vast public utilities can, as an integral part of the government, retain our government as the hub of our universe. and although of all the public utilities the railroads undoubtedly present the most hopeful source of this re-vitalization of our national life, yet a government express service can also help in no small degree, both in itself and as a sharer in the entire general urge towards a democratically-socialized state, to preserve and even to invigorate the national morale. and the future of the express service concerns not only national morale, but also individual morale. aside from a few serviceable and hitherto usually unappreciated social servants, whether in private or in public bodies, success in america has lain along the lines of private enterprise for private gain. for the first time, a widespread summons for service to the people has been able during the nineteen months of war to supplant in the hearts of our most capable administrators the summons to exploitation of the people. for nineteen months they have subordinated self and enthroned society. shall we send them back to the limbo of self-aggrandizement or shall we carve out new paths for the development of character in our american citizens? for obviously the decades immediately at hand are to witness also a direct growth of the control of the workers over their industry, whether it be private or public industry. who can hope to measure the gain in individual morale when a man realizes that his own advancement depends upon the extent to which he can serve others, not upon the extent to which he can serve himself; when such a public utility as the express companies is in the hands of administrators who have turned their attention away from endeavors to derive as high rates as possible from the public to endeavors to charge the public as low a rate as possible? if we hope to keep unnarrowed, and even to broaden, the present fields in which opportunity is given our fellow-citizens to devote their lives primarily to their fellows' service rather than primarily to their own gain, any national activity as socially-necessary and as nationally-significant as the express companies must inevitably revert in ownership to the nation to whose needs it ministers, and the men and women within the machinery of its operation must serve owners who are not a handful of individuals, but the people, all the people who make up america. appendix express contracts the contracts made by express companies with railroads usually provide that the railroad must: --furnish facilities for the prompt transportation of express matter, accompanied by express messengers, on passenger and mail trains; in baggage and combination cars; or on special trains made up of express cars only. --turn over to the express company, i. e., give it a monopoly of, all merchandise offered for transportation on passenger trains, except personal baggage, dogs, corpses, etc. --refuse any other express company facilities for the transportation of express matter. --grant the express company, wherever possible, space in railroad stations, without charge where such grant causes no extra expense to the railroad. --grant free transportation to officers and employees of the express company, and for its personal property and supplies. --permit its employees at stations, etc., wherever possible, to be agents also of the express company. on its side, the express company must: --pay the railroad an agreed percentage (usually about %) of the charges levied and collected by the express company for its service of sending matter by express. --throw open its books and tariffs to the scrutiny of the railroad and furnish the railroad whatever additional documents and records may be necessary to determine the correctness of the sums assigned the railroad by the express company. --carry free of charge money and other matter concerned with the business of the railroad. --be responsible for any damage to the expressed goods. --make its charges at least % of the freight charge of the railroads for similar merchandise. (the present charges average about % of the freight charges.) --furnish, heat, light and man the cars necessary for the transportation of express matter. notes note --this estimate is based on the following considerations. for the fiscal year ending june , , the official report of the interstate commerce commission gives the average charge per shipment of the adams and the united states express companies on august , , and december , , respectively--namely, $. and $. , or an average of $. - / per shipment in . (many shipments contain more than one parcel.) by dividing this sum into the known total amount of money collected by the express companies for the express services, we can obtain the total number of shipments for that year. but with the establishment of the parcel post in the character of the express business underwent a radical change. the fact that the parcel-post limits its shipments to parcels under a certain weight and under a certain size is one factor of the situation tending to transfer to the parcel-post from the express companies a larger number of smaller packages than of larger packages, and hence to make the average charge per package of the express company in higher than in . a second factor tending in the same direction is the fact that the parcel-post limits the amount of insurance which may be placed on a valuable package, while the express company has no such limit, thereby keeping with the express company most of the valuable packages on which the high insurance makes a high rate. a third factor tending similarly is the fact that for shorter distances the parcel-post rate is lower on the whole than the express rate, whereas for longer distances the express rate is lower on the whole than the parcel-post rate; and accordingly the express companies' average haul was longer and hence at a higher rate in than in , although not so much longer as might be expected, as has been shown above. a fourth factor of similar effect is the railroad congestion in , causing the expressage of many heavy shipments which had formerly been dispatched as freight, especially in the latter part of the year. the chief factor moving in the opposite direction is that of the reduction of % in express rates effective in ; but there is every evidence that the effect of the first four factors outweighs to a considerable extent the effect of the last. so that we should not go far wrong if we assume that the average charge _per parcel_ of the express companies in was $. . this estimate is supported by an investigation of the interstate commerce commission for april, , in which the average charge _per shipment_ (often including more than one parcel) was found to be $. . by dividing $. into the total transportation revenues of the express companies in , we get , , as the number of parcels carried by them in that year. the accuracy of this estimate of the number of express parcels may be gauged from an investigation of the interstate commerce commission for the number of parcels carried by express companies during the month of april, . in that month, some , , shipments were carried, from which a total of some , , _shipments_ for the whole year may be deduced. remembering, however, that the freight congestion of last winter increased toward the end of the year the normal acceleration of the number of shipments dispatched, and remembering also that many _shipments_ contain more than one _parcel_, there would seem to be little variation required from our first estimate of , , parcels carried by the express companies in . note --many, if not most, shippers, especially in the smaller cities and towns, are able to transport their parcels to the parcel-post station without additional cost to themselves. the fee collected from them should therefore not cover also the cost of collecting packages from other shippers. this statement holds especially for the person who ships parcels only occasionally, not primarily as a business transaction, and who has little difficulty in taking or sending them to the dispatching station. on the other hand, without the pick-up feature of the express service, vehicles would be necessary to convey larger packages or a great number of smaller packages from other shippers; so that this feature of express service is as necessary for certain shippers as it is unnecessary for others and should hence not be included in the charges levied on the latter. again, in theory there would seem to be little reason why the cost of collecting the express fee from the consignee on delivery should be distributed among the express fees on packages which are prepaid. this situation obtains in the present practice of the express companies, where the one fee includes all services except those of an especial nature. but in practice the present parcel-post method of charging a separate fee for collecting on delivery will have to be radically simplified and cheapened if a government postal express is to follow this separate fee arrangement. for in less than % of the parcels sent by the parcel-post were dispatched c. o. d. the question is one of administrative efficiency, and in practice the present one-fee-for-normal services system of the express companies might prove more desirable than the theoretically more desirable separate c. o. d. fee of the present parcel-post. in other countries, practises in this respect vary. in austria, italy, rumania and switzerland, a special fee is charged for collecting on delivery. belgium renders this service free for packages upon which the postage is above ten cents and denmark, when the weight of the package is above ten pounds. germany collects free upon packages above ten pounds and renders the service at a fee upon packages under that amount. note --the possibility of economy in a postal express as contrasted with the express companies may be readily understood by a glance at the following table of the equipment required and utilized in by the express companies of the united states: cars horses , automobiles , wagons , sleighs and buggies , trucks , in there were about , railway postal cars in operation. these are furnished the post office department by the railroads. as has been said, other corresponding equipment used by the post office department is usually owned by private contractors who furnish transportation by wagon and by automobiles on contract, so that it is impossible to get accurate figures concerning it. some idea of the equipment needed, however, may be gleaned from the postal operations within the cities of chicago, pittsburgh, philadelphia, detroit, washington, st. louis, indianapolis and nashville. in these cities all the transportation of mail between the railroad stations and the post offices as well as in the collection and delivery services is performed by automobiles owned by the post office department itself. the number of automobiles required for the service in these cities and operated in them in was . this method of conveying postal matter within the cities mentioned represents a departure from the contract system which the postmaster-general asserts should be and will be extended. accordingly, more and more the economies under this head in consolidating the express service in the postal system would accrue to the post office department directly rather than indirectly. note --the example of the united kingdom substantiates the last surmise. for in the united kingdom the railroads, all privately owned, are given % of the total charges on all _parcel-post parcels_ carried by them, irrespective of distance. (and there is evidence that this remuneration is expressly considered too generous in the united kingdom.) now, the parcel-post charges in the united kingdom are considerably lower than the express charges in the united states not only absolutely, but also relatively to the different values of money in the two countries. but the railroads' service in carrying a parcel-post package, aside from furnishing mail cars, is no more expensive than their service of carrying an express package of the same weight. if the railroads of the united states were to carry parcels at % of the _parcel-post charges_ or at that percentage of the parcel-post charges in this country which, considering the difference of conditions in the two countries, would correspond to % of the parcel-post charges in the united states, they obviously would be receiving much less than % of the _total express charges_. nor should the fact that express packages on the whole may travel farther and weigh more than parcel-post packages invalidate the argument, for the present contracts with the railroads have not been altered to any extent so as to meet any such condition due to the advent of the parcel-post--in the year before the parcel-post was established the railroads got % of the net express charges and in , %. so that the question as to whether the railroads of the united states obtain on the whole too high a proportion of the express rates because of unduly high percentage clauses in the express company-railroad company contracts is, if not thus answered, at least illumined. bibliography adams express company, et al--response in interstate commerce commission docket no. , opposing decrease in express rates ( ). census bureau-- census of : transportation in the united states. census of , bulletin: transportation business in the united states (part ii), transportation by express companies ( ). express business in the united states ( ). chandler, william h.--the express service and rates ( ). congressional record, and --speeches, bills, etc., concerning the parcel-post and express service. department of agriculture-- annual reports, secretary of agriculture, and . farmers' bulletins nos. , , , , and others relating to marketing by parcel-post. field, arthur s.--rates and practises of express companies; and the express charges prescribed by the interstate commerce commission, american economic review, , volume , pages and . interstate commerce commission-- annual reports, statistics of express companies, - . bulletin : interpretations of accounting classifications ... in accordance with ... the act to regulate commerce ( ). classification of expenditures for real property and equipment of express companies ( ). classification of operating revenues of express companies, etc. ( ). dockets no. , , , , , , , . (in re express rates, practises, accounts and revenues.) . brief on behalf of shippers (fairchild). see also adams express company, above. report no. : hearing and supplemental order no. ( ). docket no. (proposed increase in express rates). june, . equity no. (in re express rates, practises, accounts and revenues): released rates ( ). ex parte : in re increase in express rates (october, ). uniform system of accounts ... in accordance with ... act to regulate commerce ( ). johnson, e. r., and huebner, g. g.--railroad traffic and rates, volume ii ( ). kirkman, m. m.--the science of railways: baggage, express and mail business ( ). lewis, david j.-- a bill to take over the express companies of the united states ( ). a brief for a general parcel post ( ). postal express as a solution of the parcel post and high cost of living problems ( ). study in some proposed improvements to the parcel-post ( ). post office department-- annual reports, postmaster general. comparative statements (blue prints) on operations of parcel-post. president of the united states--a proclamation (no. ) taking possession and control of the american railway express company (november , ). stimson, a. l.-- history of the express companies ( ). history of the express business ( ). thompson, slason--postal express vs. parcel-post, a review of congressman david j. lewis's bill proposing that the government take over the express business ( ). tucker, t. w.--waifs from the way-bills of an old expressman ( ). united states official bulletin, _october , _--statement of contract between the railroad administration and the express companies concerning the american railway express company. united states senate committee on post office and post roads-- hearings before sub-committee on parcel-post, november , -january , . parcel post in foreign countries ( ). table showing data concerning parcel-post systems of ... world ( ). wells, henry--sketch of the rise, progress and present condition of the express system ( ). * * * * * transcriber's note minor punctuation errors have been changed without notice. printer errors have been changed and are listed below. all other inconsistencies are as in the original. characters that could not be displayed directly in latin- are transcribed as follows: _ - italics the following changes have been made to the text: page : "davied j." changed to "david j". page : "first class the profit" changed to "first case the profit". page : "employes not in" changed to "employees not in". page : "governmnt ownership" changed to "government ownership". available by internet archive (http://www.archive.org) note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the numerous original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see http://www.archive.org/details/cu transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). small caps typeface is shown as all upper case. footnotes are presented after the paragraph in which the anchor appears. the ordinal superscript symbol is represented by ^o. the extensive block quotations within this book feature rows of closely spaced asterisks (* * * * *) which function as an ellipsis (unquoted or missing material). this is distinct from the "thought break", indicating a change of subject. changes to the text have been limited to correction of typographical errors which have been listed at the end. canada its postage stamps and postal stationery by clifton a. howes, b. sc., f. r. p. s. l. published by the new england stamp co. boston, u. s. a. [illustration: - thick hard wove paper. dull purple. imperf. thick soft wove paper red-violet. specimen page from the collection of charles lathrop pack esq.] canada its postage stamps and postal stationery by clifton a. howes, b. sc., f. r. p. s. l. published by the new england stamp co. boston, u. s. a. copyright by the new england stamp co. boston, mass. press of newcomb & gauss salem, mass. contents page key to plates foreword introduction chapter i. preliminary matters " ii. the issue of " iii. the remaining pence issues " iv. the perforated pence issues " v. the cancellations of the early issues " vi. the issue of " vii. the dominion of canada--preliminary " viii. the issue of " ix. the small "cents" issue, - " x. the supplementary values of " xi. the jubilee issue of " xii. the "maple leaf" issue of " xiii. the "numerals" issue of - " xiv. the "christmas" stamp of " xv. the "king's head" issue of - " xvi. the "tercentenary" issue of " xvii. the "registration" stamps " xviii. the postage due stamps " xix. the special delivery stamp " xx. the officially sealed labels " xxi. the stamped envelopes " xxii. the wrappers " xxiii. the post cards " xxiv. the letter cards " xxv. official stationery " xxvi. precancellation and permits reference list key to plates plate i. no. . pence, . . " " . " . . / penny, . . - / pence, . . " . . / penny, . . pence, " . " " . cent, " . cents, " . " " . - / " " . " " . " " . cent, . . / " " . cents, " . " , variety. . " . . " . . " . . - / " " . " " plate ii. no. . cent, . . cents, . . / cent, . . cents, . . " . . " . . " . . cents, . . " . . / cent, , "jubilee." . cents, . . / cent, , "maple leaf." . cents on cents, "port hood provisional." . cents, , "map." . cent on cents (pair), "port hood provisional." . / cent, , "numeral." . cents on cents, , "maple leaf." . " " " " "numeral." . cent, , "king's head." . cents on cents, , inverted, "numeral." . " " " " " "maple leaf." plate iii. no. . / cent, , "tercentenary." . " " " . cents, " " . " " " . " " " . " " " . " " " . " " " . " , registration. . " " " . " " " . " , special delivery. . cent, , postage due. . cents, " " " . " " " " plate iv. no. . pence, , pair. . " " pair from pack collection. . pence, , pair. . " " " . " " from worthington collection. . pence, , thick soft paper, from pack collection. . - / pence, , wide oval. . - / " " narrow oval. . - / " " pair. . " , pair, wide oval. . " " " narrow oval. . " , from pack collection. . " , strip of on very thick soft paper, from worthington collection. . cents, , black brown, from pack collection. plate v. no. . pence, . . " " . " " pair. . " " . " " . " " strip of on very thick hard paper, from pack collection. . - / pence, , strip of three. . " , pair from pack collection. . " " " " " " . " " from pack collection. . " " pair from worthington collection. . " , wove paper, from pack collection. . pence, , split, used on piece, from pack collection. . pence, , ribbed paper, from pack collection. . - / cents, small, from worthington collection. plate vi. no. . pence, , on cover, from worthington collection. . pence, , on cover, from pack collection (originally in seybold collection.) plate vii. no. . pence, , very thick soft paper, split, used on cover, from pack collection. . pence, , pair, narrow oval. . " " block of , wide oval. . " " strip of , narrow oval. . cents, , block of , upper right corner stamp is variety. from pack collection. . cents, , pair and split, used on piece, from worthington collection. plate viii. no. . cents, , split, used on cover, from worthington collection. . cents, , black brown, split, used on cover, from worthington collection. plate ix. no. . cent, , block of imperforate. . cents, " " " " . " " " " " . - / " " " " " . " " " " " . " " " " " . " , " " " . " , " " " . " , " " " the above blocks were selected from the pack and worthington collections and some in the possession of the new england stamp co. plate x. no. . cents, , block of imperforate. . " , " " " . " , " " " . " , "maple leaf," block of , imperforate. . " , "map," " " " . " , block of imperforate. . " registered, pair imperforate. . "officially sealed" label, . . " " " . the above blocks of imperforates were from the same sources as noted for plate ix. plate xi. no. . cents, , strip of , marginal imprints. . / cent, , " " , " " . cents, , " " , " " . cent, , block of , " " . cents, , strip of , " " the above are all from the worthington collection. plate xii. no. . cent, , block of imperforate. . cents, , " " " . " , " " " . " , " " " . / cent, , " " " nos. and are from the worthington collection and the other three from the pack collection. plate xiii. no. . pence, (?) perforated , pair used on cover, from pack collection. . cents, , pair imperforate used on cover, in possession of new england stamp co. plate xiv. no. . stamped envelope, cents, . . " " " " both the above were in the seybold collection. plate xv. (frontispiece). a page of six pennies from the collection of charles lathrop pack. foreword twenty years ago the philatelic society, london, brought out their work on "the postage stamps, envelopes, wrappers and post cards of the north american colonies of great britain." this, of course, included canada, but since that time no special work, treating exhaustively of the postal emissions of this important colony, has been placed before the philatelic public. it seems opportune, therefore, particularly in view of the general popularity of the stamps of the dominion, to present this volume for the favor of the stamp collecting fraternity and especially of that considerable portion which is interested to the extent of specializing in the beautiful issues that canada has given us. this work had its inception in the now popular handbook idea, but in looking over the ground it was soon realized by the author that there was need of and material enough for a much more extended treatment of the subject than could be encompassed in the limits of the usual brochure. plans were therefore laid for a thorough study of all available material, and in furtherance of this it was found necessary to make a special trip to ottawa, where, in the library of the house of commons, is to be found the only complete set available of the reports of the postmasters general of canada. these naturally proved a mine of first hand information which was availed of to its full extent; and in this connection must be expressed the deep appreciation of the assistance rendered the author by his friend m. henri r. landry, through whose influence and untiring interest the way was made easy for convenient and rapid examination of these invaluable files. thanks are also due mr. edward y. parker of toronto, for notes and specimens furnished, as well as mr. a. mckechnie of ottawa. but documents and descriptions are not enough for the thorough study of any subject which concerns tangible objects, and three famous collections were inspected for first hand information upon the stamps themselves. to mr. charles lathrop pack of lakewood, n. j., mr. george h. worthington of cleveland, ohio, and the lamented mr. john f. seybold, late of syracuse, n. y., are due not only the author's fullest thanks for opportunities freely given to examine their magnificent collections of canada, but the debt extends to philatelists in general for thus being enabled to share, through study, description, listing and pictorial reproduction, in the results of their specializing. mr. pack's wonderful array of rarities, beautiful copies and remarkable series of shades has been largely used in the compilation of the stamp lists. this collection though since much enlarged and improved, obtained the gold medal at the international philatelic exhibition in london, . mr. worthington's fine collection has also been used in the same way and has furnished much information concerning plate numbers and marginal imprints. mr. seybold's covers were particularly interesting in showing the actual use of the stamps, the cancellations employed, and various other features to be gleaned from the study of original covers, particularly of early date. selections for illustrative purposes were made from all three collections, as will be noted. mr. john n. morse and mr. edwin f. sawyer, both of boston, have very kindly placed their collections of post cards and envelopes, respectively, at our disposal for purposes of study. again, the philatelic press has been diligently searched for articles, stray notes, etc., which would illumine the pathway, particularly by throwing side lights on various phases of the subject. prominent among these were the articles on canada by messrs. c. b. corwin, d. a. king and j. r. hooper in the _metropolitan philatelist_ for - , and by mr. donald a. king in stanley gibbons' _monthly journal_ for - . it can readily be seen from the foregoing that the limits of a handbook were soon passed, and the question really became one of a pretentious volume which should be all that thorough research could offer and ample means produce. a glance at the present work shows that this was no small proposition, and to any one with experience in philatelic publishing it was apparent that the desired production would mean a heavy balance on the wrong side of the ledger. the author does not pose as a philanthropist, but he feels he has discovered such in the publishers of this volume. with the broad-minded policy that whatever helps philately benefits all, even indirectly, the new england stamp company of boston, having become greatly interested in the monograph, accepted the burden and became responsible for the publication of the work. the advantages of the co-operation of such a well-known firm are manifest, and the author takes great pleasure in acknowledging his indebtedness to this company, through whose munificence it has been possible to produce this volume in its present form. c. a. howes, b. sc., f. r. p. s. l. boston, u. s. a. december, . introduction the dominion of canada, as we know it to-day, is a confederation of the former british colonies and unorganized territories of north america which lie to the northward of the united states. the single exception is the colony of newfoundland, which so far has resisted all overtures looking to its absorption. the dominion was formed in by the union of the then colonies of canada, new brunswick and nova scotia, to which the others were added subsequently. at that time the colony of canada consisted of two provinces, ontario and quebec, known also as upper and lower canada respectively. it is with these two provinces that our philatelic story of canada begins. but first let us delve a bit into earlier times and trace the development of the territory we are going to consider, as it may prove interesting for its historical value. passing by the claims of the norsemen in the tenth century to a somewhat vague exploration of the eastern american coast, we come to the discovery of newfoundland by john cabot in , and it is upon this fact, in part, that england subsequently based her claim to the whole of north america. but for the most part the territory included within the well populated portion of the present dominion was explored and settled by the french. in jacques cartier entered the st. lawrence river and took possession of the country in the name of france, and in the first permanent settlement was made at quebec by samuel de champlain. the name of the colony was apparently furnished by the indians, for in the manuscript narrative of cartier's second voyage,[ ] under "vocabulary of the natives," is found: "they call a town--canada." baxter says: "there can be no doubt that the word canada is derived from _kannata_, which in iroquois signifies a collection of dwellings, in other words a settlement."[ ] french control continued until the middle of the eighteenth century when, in the war with england, the decisive victory of wolfe over montcalm at quebec, in , practically brought it to a close, and by the treaty of paris in canada was permanently ceded to great britain. [ ] in the bibliotheque nationale, paris. [ ] =a memoir of jacques cartier=, by j. p. baxter, p. . tracing the development of the colony under english rule, we find that by the so-called "quebec act" of it was placed under the administration of a governor and legislative council appointed by the crown. following the american revolution, however, there was a large immigration of former colonists into ontario, and because of their english stock, while quebec was french, a separation was deemed advisable. by the "constitutional act" of this was effected and two colonies, upper canada (or canada west) and lower canada (or canada east) were constituted, each with its own separate government. just fifty years later, in , they were reunited under the single name of canada. this brings us near the opening of our philatelic history. the united provinces had an area of about , square miles and a population, in , of some , , people. the governor was appointed by the crown and chose his own executive council; a legislative council of life members was also appointed by the crown; and a legislative assembly was elected consisting of an equal number of representatives for each province. the governor was made governor-general of british north america. the advantages of the union of upper and lower canada gradually became so manifest, that a convention was held at quebec in for the purpose of considering the advisability of uniting all the provinces. the result bore fruit in the passage of an act of union by the british parliament on march , , under which ontario, quebec, new brunswick and nova scotia were formally united as the dominion of canada, the actual event being consummated on july , . subsequently, on july , , the colony of british columbia, and on july , , the colony of prince edward island, were added to the dominion. in the vast territories of the hudson's bay company were acquired by purchase, and out of them the province of manitoba was formed and admitted to full privileges in the dominion on july , . the absorption of the company's territories is interesting for, as we all know, this was a trading concern whose sole commodity was fur. the arctic and sub-arctic regions of the continent were the mecca of hunters and trappers, and their chief prey from the time the first french explorers began to search the canadian lakes, and later when the hudson's bay company succeeded to the french domain, was the beaver. in fact the early history of canada was largely bound up with beaver catching and the sale of the skins, and for nearly a century the northern territories, both under french and english rule, were organized with a view to this traffic. in the early days of the company the "standard of trade" of the northwest was a beaver skin. thus the beaver naturally became emblematic, which resulted later in its use as the "crest" of the canadian coat-of-arms, a place that it retains to the present day over those of the dominion. in this connection it would be unjust to omit a mention of that other symbol dear to the canadian heart--the maple leaf. like the rose, the thistle and the shamrock of the mother land, the beautiful tree of the colony, so widespread, so useful, and so gorgeous in its autumn coloring of red and gold--the blazon of the english arms--became a favorite emblem of the people. the particular variety that is so used is of course the rock or sugar maple (_acer saccharinum_). turning now to early postal history, it is necessary to go back to the reign of queen anne, although canada was not then under british dominion. in the year an act was passed by the british parliament "for establishing a general post-office in all her majesty's dominions," which not only repealed all previous enactments but placed the postoffice establishment on a new basis. a "general post and letter-office" was established in london "from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the kingdom of great britain and ireland, to north america and the west indies, or any other of her majesty's dominions, or any country or kingdom beyond the seas," and "at which office all returns and answers may be likewise received." for the better "managing, ordering, collecting, and improving the revenue," and also for the better "computing and settling the rates of letters according to distance, a chief office is established in edinburgh, one in dublin, one at new york, and other chief offices in convenient places in her majesty's colonies of america, and one in the islands of the west indies, called the leeward islands." "the whole of these chief offices shall be under the control of an officer who shall be appointed by the queen's majesty, her heirs and successors, to be made and constituted by letters patent under the great seal, by the name and stile of her majesty's _postmaster-general_." "the postmaster-general shall appoint deputies for the chief offices in the places named above." the rates to new york under this act were fixed at shilling per single letter. other rates were charged to other parts of the american continent according to the distance from new york. in benjamin franklin received the royal commission as deputy postmaster-general for the american colonies. no man in america had been so identified with the interests of the colonial postoffice as he, and from he had been postmaster of philadelphia. all his energies were devoted to his new work and when canada passed by treaty to great britain in , as already mentioned, his jurisdiction was extended to cover the new territory. it is thus curious to record that the (afterwards) first postmaster-general of the united states was also the first postmaster-general of canada. in the evidence given by franklin before the house of commons in the year , in regard to the extent of the post-office accommodation in north america, he made the following statement:-- the posts generally travel along the sea coasts, and only in a few cases do they go back into the country. between quebec and montreal there is only one post per month. the inhabitants live so scattered and remote from each other in that vast country, that the posts cannot be supported amongst them. the english colonies, too, along the frontier, are very thinly settled. by , however, franklin, then in england as the representative of the colonies, had become obnoxious to the british government, and on january st of that year was removed from his office. after the declaration of independence, mr. hugh finlay, who had previously been postmaster at quebec, received the appointment of "deputy postmaster-general of his majesty's province of canada." he had in eleven post-offices under his management, one as far west as mackinaw and one as far east as the baie des chaleurs. there was a weekly mail between quebec and montreal and a monthly mail for the western country. from a quebec almanac of it appears that there were seven post-offices in upper canada and five in lower canada. at that time mails were despatched monthly to england, and semi-weekly between quebec and montreal, or halifax. at the baie des chaleurs the visits of the postman must have been few and far between, as they were only favored with a mail "as occasion offered." in mr. george heriot succeeded mr. finlay. at this time new brunswick, nova scotia and prince edward island were all under the authority of the canadian administration. the number of post-offices was increased to twenty-six. the following is taken from the advertising column of the _upper canada gazette_ in :-- the mail for upper canada will be despatched from the post-office at montreal, on the following days, to wit: monday, th january. monday, th february. monday, th march. monday, th april--the last trip. a courier from kingston may be looked for here in or days from the above periods, where he will remain or days, and then return to kingston. another courier will proceed from this with the niagara mail, via messrs. hatts', where the sandwich [so. essex] letters will be left, both from niagara and this, 'till the courier comes from there to return with them. letters put into the post-office will be forwarded any time by w. allan, acting deputy-postmaster. mr. heriot resigned in and was succeeded by mr. daniel sutherland who, on his accession to office found nova scotia and prince edward island withdrawn from canadian charge. new brunswick, however, continued to be included, but appears to have been withdrawn in , so that from that year until the federation of the provinces in the postmaster-general was concerned only with canada proper. mr. sutherland established a daily mail between quebec and montreal and a weekly mail between montreal and toronto. in there were post-offices and , miles of established post-route, the number of miles of mail-travel being , per annum. the letters that year were estimated at , and the newspapers at , . the following extract from the _quebec mercury_, published on july , , conveys some idea of the postal communication with england at that period:-- no later advices have been received from europe since our last. some further extracts from the london papers, to st may, inclusive, brought to new york by the _corinthian_, will be found in another part of this number. in the _montreal courant_, dated september nd, , was the following paragraph, showing the improvement which had been effected in the communication between prescott and that city:-- expeditious travelling:--on saturday last, the upper canada line of stages performed the journey from prescott to this city in about hours, leaving the former place at a little before a. m., and arriving here a few minutes before in the evening. not many years ago this journey occupied two, and sometimes three days, but owing to the great improvements made by mr. dickinson, the enterprising proprietor, by putting steam-boats on the lakes st. francis and st. louis, and keeping his horses in excellent condition, it is now performed in little more than one-third of the time. even so late as , newspaper proprietors found it (particularly in the upper province) better to employ their own couriers. as a proof of this we transcribe from the _queenstown_ (niagara) _colonial advocate_ of that year, the following advertisement:-- post-rider wanted immediately. the proprietor of this newspaper wishes to contract with a steady man (who can find and uphold his own horse) to deliver it to the subscribers once a week during the winter, on the route between york and niagara, viâ ancaster. mr. thos. a. stayner succeeded mr. sutherland in , at which time there were post-offices. through mr. stayner's recommendation a uniform rate of s. d. sterling, per half ounce, was adopted in between any place in canada and the mother country. this resulted from the establishment of regular steam communication across the atlantic in , by means of the cunard line between liverpool and halifax. during all this period the carrying of letters was a profitable business. there was, for example, a profit of $ , in and of $ , in , all which sums were duly remitted to england to swell the imperial revenue. the rates, however, were exceedingly high. it cost eighteen cents to send a letter from toronto to kingston, and thirty cents to send one to montreal. the charge for sending a weekly paper through the mails was a dollar a year, as much as the paper now costs, and the postage on a daily was over two dollars a year.[ ] [ ] most of the foregoing information is taken from extracts from the canadian postal guide, published in the =stamp collector's magazine= for aug. , , and the halifax philatelist, ii: . the net revenues of the post-office given for must have dropped considerably, for we find that in the surplus of the canadian post-office was but £ ($ , ) against the $ , given above for fourteen years earlier. this amount rose to £ , ($ , ) in , fell to £ , ($ , ) the next year, and had risen again to a basis of £ , ($ , ) in the year previous to the introduction of postage stamps and the reduction of rates. the inland postage rates then in force, as charged under the imperial laws, were, for a letter not exceeding / ounce in weight: for any distance not exceeding miles, d. for any distance exceeding miles and not exceeding miles d. for any distance exceeding miles and not exceeding miles d. and for every additional miles or fraction an additional d. for one hundred and forty years great britain had managed her colonial posts, or at least directed them, when on th july, , the british parliament passed an "act for enabling colonial legislatures to establish inland posts."[ ] this was the signal for the voluntary withdrawal of most of the colonial postal systems then under imperial direction, and for the establishment of local systems where none had previously existed. because of its historical interest we quote from the provisions of the act as follows:-- whereas under or by virtue of [_various acts_] her majesty's post master general has, by himself or his deputies, the exclusive privilege of establishing posts, collecting, conveying, and delivering letters, and collecting postage, within her majesty's colonies, and the commissioners of her majesty's treasury have authority from time to time to fix the rates of postage to be charged within such colonies: and whereas the said postmaster general and commissioners of her majesty's treasury respectively have, in exercise of such privilege and authority, established posts and fixed rates of postage in certain of such colonies: and whereas it is expedient to authorize the establishment of posts and postage rates in her majesty's colonies by the legislatures of such colonies: be it enacted, therefore.... that it shall be lawful for the legislatures or proper legislative authorities of her majesty's colonies, or any of them, by acts, laws, or ordinances to be from time to time for that purpose made and enacted in the manner and subject to the conditions by law required in respect of acts, laws, or ordinances of such legislatures or legislative authorities, to make such provisions as such legislatures or legislative authorities may think fit for and concerning the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of posts or post communications within such colonies respectively, and for charging rates of postage for the conveyance of letters by such posts or post communications, and for appropriating the revenue to be derived therefrom. ii. [_where the postmaster general has actually established posts and his power has not "determined," such colonial acts, etc., shall not take effect until approved by her majesty and privy council, nor until such time as the assent may be proclaimed in the colony, or such subsequent time as may be signified._] iii. [_after the establishment of posts by colonial legislatures the powers of the postmaster general shall cease._] iv. [_the acts of colonial legislatures are to apply only to posts within the limits of the colony and to rates of postage within such limits._] [ ] ^o & ^o vict. cap. lxvi. canada lost no time in taking advantage of the above act, and in the next year ( ) passed the required ordinances for the transfer of its domestic postal system to the control of its own government. the next chapter will therefore start the canadian postal history proper. chapter i preliminary matters the most important of the british north american colonies in were canada, new brunswick, and nova scotia. though not united politically, they yet had the common bonds of fatherland, of race, of mercantile interest, and the mutual dependence that comes, or should come, from propinquity under these conditions. it is not surprising, therefore, that all three should make provision for assuming control of their domestic postal systems in the same year, nor that they should adopt practically identical ordinances for this purpose, and should make common postal rates for their internal and inter-colonial mail matter. still less surprising is it when we recall that it was but the breaking up into sections of what had previously been a homogeneous postal system for the whole of british north america, operated under the imperial laws as detailed in the last chapter. while the project of turning over local postal systems to the colonies was taking shape in the british parliament, canada "took time by the forelock" and made preparations for obtaining its own postage stamps. "in the journal of may , , there is a message to the legislative assembly of canada relating to the establishing of a general post-office for the province, when handed over by the imperial government. a resolution was brought up in the assembly on may , , 'that postage stamps for prepayment be allowed and that colonial stamps be engraved.' this finally passed the assembly on may , , and received the assent of the legislative council on the th."[ ] [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, i: . a year later, after the passage of the enabling act by the british parliament, which has been already quoted, the canadian parliament took up the consideration of the main subject and on the th august, , passed what is known briefly as _the post office act_, the provisions of which that are of most interest to us being such as follow:-- ^o & ^o victoriae., cap. xvii. an act to provide for the transfer of the management of the inland posts to the provincial government, and for the regulation of the said department. whereas by the act of the parliament of the united kingdom, passed in the session held in the twelfth and thirteenth years of her majesty's reign, and intituled, _an act for enabling colonial legislatures to establish inland posts_, the legislatures or proper legislative authorities of her majesty's colonies are empowered ... to make such provisions as [they] may think fit for and concerning the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of posts and post communications within such colonies respectively, and for charging rates of postage for the conveyance of letters by such posts and post communications, and for appropriating the revenue to be derived therefrom: ... and whereas it is expedient that a uniform and cheap rate of postage should be established throughout the several colonies of british north america, and with a view to the establishment thereof, the local governments of the said colonies have agreed upon certain conditions hereinafter mentioned and forming a part of the provisions of this act, and it is therefore expedient to exercise the powers so vested as aforesaid in the legislature of this province: ... ii. and be it enacted, that the inland posts and post communications in the province shall, so far as may be consistent with the acts of the parliament of the united kingdom in force in this province, be exclusively under provincial management and control; the revenue arising from the duties of postage and other dues receivable by the officers employed in managing such posts and post communications shall form part of the provincial revenue, unless such moneys belong of right to the united kingdom or to some other colony, or to some foreign state; and the expenses of management shall be defrayed out of provincial funds.... * * * * * v. and be it enacted, that the provincial post master general shall be appointed by commission under the great seal of the province, and to hold his office during pleasure, but the post masters and other officers of the department shall be appointed and may be removed by letter from the proper officer communicating the governor's pleasure. vi. [_all privileges, powers and authority of her majesty's deputy post master general are transferred to and vested in the provincial post master general._] * * * * * viii. and in conformity to the agreement made as aforesaid between the local governments of the several colonies of british north america, be it enacted, that the provincial postage on letters and packets not being of newspapers or printed pamphlets, magazines or books, entitled to pass at lower rate, shall not exceed the rate of three pence currency, per half ounce, for any distance whatsoever within this province, any fraction of a half ounce being chargeable as a half ounce: that no transit postage shall be charged on any letter or packet passing through this province or any part thereof to any other colony in british north america, unless it be posted in this province and the sender choose to pre-pay it; nor on any letter or packet from any such colony if pre-paid there: that two pence sterling the half ounce shall remain as the rate in operation as regards letters by british mails, to be extended to countries having postal conventions with the united kingdom, unless her majesty's government in the united kingdom shall see fit to allow this rate to be changed to three pence currency: that the pre-payment of provincial postage shall be optional: that all provincial postage received within the province shall be retained as belonging to it, and that all provincial postage received within any other of the british north american colonies, may be retained as belonging to such colony: that the british packet postage and other british postage collected in this province shall be accounted for and paid over to the proper authorities in the united kingdom; but the colonial postage on the same letters or packets shall belong to the colony collecting it, or if pre-paid to the british post office, it may be credited to the colony to which such letters or packets are addressed: that no privilege of franking shall be allowed as regards provincial postage: that provincial stamps for the pre-payment of postage may be prepared under the orders of the governor in council, which stamps shall be evidence of the pre-payment of provincial postage to the amount mentioned on such stamp, and that such stamps prepared under the direction of the proper authorities in the other british north american colonies, shall be allowed in this province as evidence of the pre-payment of provincial postage in such other colonies respectively, on the letters or packets to which they are affixed, and which have been mailed there: that the provincial postage on newspapers, pamphlets, magazines and printed books, shall remain such as it now is until it be altered by regulation under this act.... provided always, that one copy of each newspaper published in this province may be sent free from postage to any publisher of another newspaper in this province, that all printed documents addressed to the publisher of any newspaper in this province shall be delivered to him free, and that all newspapers published in this province and addressed to subscribers in the united states, shall pass free to the provincial line, under such regulations as the governor in council shall make to prevent the abuse of the privileges hereby granted: and, subject to the foregoing provisions of this section and to the other express provisions of this act, the governor in council shall have full power and authority ... for establishing the rates of postage on newspapers and printed pamphlets, magazines and books, and for declaring what shall be deemed such, or directing that in any case or class of cases they be free of postage, either in the first instance or the case of their being re-mailed, ... for the preparing and distributing of provincial stamps for pre-payment, for limiting the weight and dimensions of letters or packets to be sent by post ... for prescribing the conditions and circumstances under which letters, accounts and papers relating solely to the business of the post office, and addressed to or sent by some officer thereof, shall be free from provincial postage, ... for providing, when he shall think it expedient, means for avoiding the risk of transmitting small sums of money through the post, by establishing a system of money orders to be granted by one post master or officer of the department on another, and fixing the terms on which such orders may be obtained, for establishing a system for the registering of letters and the charge[ ] be made for such registration, ... for the delivery of letters and packets in the larger and more populous cities and towns, at the residences of parties to whom they are addressed, and fixing the limits within which such delivery shall take place, and the rates to be paid by the parties who shall prefer to have their letters and packets so delivered, rather than apply for them at the post office: ... and generally to make such regulations as may be deemed necessary for the due and effective working of the post and postal business and arrangements, and for carrying this act fully into effect: ix. and be it enacted, that subject always to the provisions and regulations aforesaid, the provincial post master general shall have the sole and exclusive privilege of conveying, receiving, collecting, sending and delivering letters within this province; and that any person or party who shall (except in the cases hereinafter excepted) collect, send, convey or deliver, or undertake to convey or deliver any letter within this province, or who shall receive or have in his possession any letter for the purpose of conveying or delivering it, otherwise than in conformity with this act, shall for each and every letter so unlawfully conveyed or undertaken to be conveyed, received, delivered or found in his possession, incur a penalty not exceeding five pounds currency: [_exceptions are letters taken by friends journeying, by special messengers, court commissions, etc._] * * * * * xi. and be it enacted, that as well the colonial, british or foreign as the provincial postage on any letter or packet shall (if not pre-paid) be payable to the provincial post master general by the party to whom the same shall be addressed, or who may lawfully receive such a letter or packet, which may be detained until the same be paid: ... and if any letter or packet be refused, or if the party to whom it is addressed cannot be found, then such postage shall be recoverable by the provincial post master general from the sender of such letter or packet: ... and that all postage may be recovered with costs, by civil action in any court having jurisdiction to the amount, or in any way in which duties are recoverable. xii. and for avoiding doubts, and preventing inconvenient delay in the delivery of letters, be it declared and enacted, that no post master shall be bound to give change, but the exact amount of the postage on any letter or packet shall be tendered or paid to him in current coin or in provincial postage stamps. * * * * * xiv. [_letters of soldiers, seamen, etc., shall be charged a certain fixed sum in place of all british or provincial postage._] xv. [_posted letters to be property of party addressed._] xvi.... to forge, counterfeit or imitate any postage stamp issued or used under the authority of this act, or by or under the authority of the government or proper authority of the united kingdom, or of any british north american province, or of any foreign country, or knowingly to use any such forged, counterfeit or imitated stamp, or to engrave, cut, sink or make any plate, die or other thing whereby to forge, counterfeit or imitate such stamp or any part or portion thereof, except by the permission in writing of the provincial post master general, or of some officer or person who under the regulations to be made in that behalf, may lawfully grant such permission, or to have possession of any such plate, die or other thing as aforesaid, without such permission as aforesaid, or to forge, counterfeit or unlawfully imitate, use or affix to or upon any letter or packet, any stamp, signature, initials, or other mark or sign purporting that such letter or packet ought to pass free of postage, or at a lower rate of postage, or that the postage thereon or any part thereof hath been pre-paid or ought to be paid by or charged to any person, department or party whomsoever, shall be felony, punishable by imprisonment in the provincial penitentiary for life. [ ] sic. the passage of the above act and its approval by the queen in council gave opportunity for preparations to be made to carry out its provisions, the date being set for the th april, . three weeks previous to the appointed time the following notice was sent out to postmasters in anticipation of the transfer. notice to postmasters. general post office, montreal, th march, . sir:-- i am commanded by his excellency the governor general, to communicate to you the following instructions, for your guidance in the performance of your duties, under the new post office law of the th and th vict., chap. , passed at the last session of the provincial parliament, which will take effect, and supersede the imperial post office acts, hitherto in force in canada, on and from the th day of april next: . from the above date, all letters transmitted by the post in canada, with the exception of packet letters to and from the united kingdom, will be liable to a uniform rate of _three_ pence, currency, per half-ounce, for whatever distance conveyed: pre-payment will be optional: the charge increasing according to the weight of the letter, one single rate for every additional half-ounce, counting the fraction of a half-ounce as a full rate, thus: a letter, weighing not exceeding / ounce, will be liable to d. postage. a letter, weighing more than / ounce, and not exceeding ounce, will be liable to d. postage. a letter, weighing more than ounce, and not exceeding - / ounces, will be liable to d. postage. a letter, weighing more than - / ounces, and not exceeding ounces, will be liable to s. postage. a letter, weighing more than ounces, and not exceeding - / ounces, will be liable to s., d. postage, and so on. it will be observed that the above scale differs from that now followed, in advancing one rate for each half-ounce after the first ounce. . the single packet rate for letters by the atlantic steam packet mails to and from england, viâ the united states, of s. d. sterling, if _un-paid_, and s. d. currency if _pre-paid_, as also the rate on letters by those mails, viâ halifax, of s. [missing value] sterling, if _un-paid_, and s. - / d. currency, if _pre-paid_, remain unaltered, and the present scale of weights is to remain in force as regards such letters. post masters must be very careful to observe this distinction when taxing letters, weighing over one ounce, intended for the english mails. . the regulations now in force with regard to letters to and from soldiers and sailors in her majesty's service, by which under certain conditions such letters pass through the post on pre-payment of a penny only, will remain unaltered. * * * * * . letters addressed to new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward's island, or newfoundland, are to be rated with the uniform rate of d. per half-ounce. . letters to and from the united states will be liable to the uniform rate of d. per half-ounce, between the frontier line and the place of posting or place of destination in canada; and until further arrangements can be made, this charge on letters from canada to the united states must be pre-paid at the time of posting. . [_rates and regulations for newspapers, pamphlets, etc., to remain as at present._] . [_printed matter addressed to editors is free._] . the charge on letters posted at an office for delivery in the same city, town, or place, and any additional charge made on letters delivered at the residences of parties to whom they are addressed, are to remain as at present, until further instructions. . no franking privilege is allowed under the new act except with regard to letters and packets on the business of the post office, addressed to or transmitted by the post master general. * * * * * . stamps for the pre-payment of postage are being prepared, and will be distributed for the use of the public at an early date. * * * * * . [_letters, etc., to deputy post master general to pass free._] t. a. stayner. _deputy post master general._ [*] [transcriber's note: or characters here are unreadable.] meanwhile, under the authority given the governor in council by _the post office act_, an agreement had been drawn up between the post office departments of canada and the united states for the purpose of establishing and regulating the interchange of mails between the two countries. this was signed on the th march, , and was communicated to the canadian post-masters by the first department order, as follows:-- department order [no. .] letters, etc., between canada and the united states, including california and oregon. post office department, toronto, _ nd april_, . commencing on and from the th instant, letters, newspapers, &c., will pass through the mails between canada and the united states, including california and oregon, at the rates of postage and under the regulations herein mentioned. . letters posted at any office in canada, addressed to any place in the united states, except california and oregon, are to be rated with a uniform rate of six-pence, currency, per half-ounce. . letters posted in any part of the united states, except california and oregon, addressed to canada, will be rated there with a uniform charge of ten cents, equal to six-pence, currency, per half-ounce. . the postage rate on letters passing between canada and california and oregon, will be a uniform charge of nine-pence, currency, equal to fifteen cents per half-ounce. . it is to be understood that the above rates include the whole charge for the transmission of a letter between any place in canada and any place within the united states, including california and oregon. . the scale for computing the charge upon letters weighing more than / ounce, will be the same as that for letters passing within the province. . pre-payment of letters passing between canada and any place within the united states, including california and oregon, will, in all cases, be optional. . newspapers, pamphlets, &c., posted in canada, addressed to the united states, including california and oregon, are, ... to be forwarded through the post at the same rates of charge as if addressed to a place within the province; the said rates must, however, be _pre-paid_--as, if the ordinary canada rate is not paid at the time of posting a newspaper or pamphlet, &c., it cannot be forwarded to the united states. . united states newspapers, pamphlets, &c., addressed to places in canada, will be received in the province with the american postage thereon pre-paid--leaving the ordinary canada rate of charge from the frontier line to the place of destination, to be ... collected by the post master who may deliver the same in canada. .- .- . [_copies of newspapers or printed documents sent by or to publishers or editors are free of canadian postage._] . the canada postage stamps, when used, will be taken in the united states as evidence of pre-payment of postage on letters going from canada to the united states, and in like manner the united states postage stamps on letters coming into canada, are to be taken by post masters in this province as evidence of pre-payment having been made in the united states. . the following are appointed to be the offices in canada through which the post communication with the united states will be maintained, and to which post masters are to forward their mail matter for the united states, according to the relative position of their several offices: port sarnia, | windsor, | kingston, fort erie, | | brockville, queenston, { intended in the mean time to | { be the channel of communication | prescott, { with the united states for the | { country west of toronto. | montreal, | niagara, | st. john's, toronto, | | dundee, cobourg, { a communication during summer | { only, by steamer to rochester. | stanstead, by command, w. h. griffin. both the _post office act_ and the above department order treat of the disposition of periodicals and other printed matter without giving the rates of postage required thereon. a subsequent order gives us these rates:-- department order, [no. .] post office department, toronto. _ th april_, . _printed circulars, price currents, handbills, pamphlets, periodicals, books, and other printed matter transmitted by post in canada._ . upon each printed circular, price current or handbill, and other printed matter of a like description, when unconnected with any manuscript or written communication and of no greater weight than one ounce, there shall be charged one penny; and for each additional ounce or fraction of an ounce, one penny additional. . upon each periodical or magazine, pamphlet and book, bound or unbound, there shall be charged a rate of one half-penny per ounce. . pre-payment of the foregoing rates will be optional, except when the printed matter is addressed to the united states, and in that case the charge must invariably be pre-paid. . on such printed matter received into canada by mail from the united states, the above canada rates will always remain to be collected on delivery in this province. .[_exchange of one copy between publishers is free._] . [_must be unsealed; if writing is enclosed will be treated as a letter._] . no book or packet of periodicals, magazines, &c., can be forwarded through the post, if exceeding the weight of forty-eight ounces. james morris. _post master general._ it is of course understood that the above does not apply to newspapers, which were charged to a nominal rate of / d. each, the term _newspaper_ being considered to aply to periodicals issued not less often than once a week. a supplementary order was issued, a couple of days later than the preceding, which announces a book post with england. it is a bit curious as prohibiting the use of postage stamps in prepayment of the charges, at a time when their introduction was supposed to be an improvement in the postal service. supplementary order. post office department. toronto, _th april_, . _book post with england._ under the authority of her majesty's government, an arrangement will take effect on the fifteenth day of may next, under which printed books, magazines, reviews, or pamphlets, whether british, colonial, or foreign, may be sent through the post, between canada and the united kingdom, at the following rates of postage: [s] = sterling | [s] | currency for a single volume, | | _i.e._, book, magazine, review, or pamphlet, | | not exceeding half lb. in weight | d. | equal to - / d. | | for a single volume, &c., | | exceeding half lb. and not exceeding one lb. | s. | " to s. d. | | for a single volume, &c., | | exceeding one lb. and not exceeding two lbs. | s. | " " s. d. | | for a single volume, &c., | | exceeding two lbs. and not exceeding three lbs. | s. | " " s. d. the above charge must always be pre-paid, on printed books, &c., &c., sent to the united kingdom under this regulation, at the time of posting in canada; and the pre-payment must be made in money, and cannot be taken in canada postage stamps. postmasters, as with pre-paid letters for england must rate the books, &c., posted under this regulation, in _red ink_, with both the sterling rate and its equivalent in currency, ...--thus, a book, &c., weighing - / pounds, will be rated:-- "paid s. sterling--equal to s. currency." * * * * * james morris, _post master general._ the department circular no. , published from toronto on th june, , contains but one paragraph of interest to us. post masters are informed that the transfer of the post office in the provinces of new brunswick and nova scotia to provincial control, will take place on the th july next, and that from that date the uniform rate of d. per / ounce will form the sole charge on a letter transmitted between any place in canada and any place in new brunswick, or nova scotia. pre-payment will be optional. on the th august, , the canadian parliament passed an _act to amend the post office act_. the only section of any particular interest to us is the following:-- ^o & ^o vict. cap. lxxi. * * * * * xv. and be it enacted, that the post master general shall be authorized, whenever the same may be proper for the accommodation of the public in any city, to employ letter carriers for the delivery of letters received at the post office in such city, excepting such as the persons to whom they are addressed may have requested, in writing addressed to the postmaster, to be retained in the post office, and for the receipt of letters at such places in the said city as the postmaster general may direct, and for the deposit of the same in the post office; and for the delivery by carrier of each letter received from the post office, the person to whom the same is delivered shall pay not exceeding one penny, and for the delivery of each newspaper and pamphlet one halfpenny, and for every letter received by a carrier to be deposited in the post office, there shall be paid to him, at the time of the receipt, not exceeding one half-penny:--all of which receipts, by the carriers in any city, shall, if the postmaster general so direct, be accounted for to the postmaster of the said city, to constitute a fund for the compensation of the said carriers, and to be paid to them in such proportions and manner as the postmaster general may direct. but in the meantime the postage stamps, which will now be our main study, were issued to the public, and we will therefore turn back to the period of their birth and trace their history, together with the development of the post that accompanies it, through the nearly sixty years that have since elapsed. chapter ii the issue of according to all good catalogues, the date of the first issue of stamps for canada is the year . if we find some more precise statement put forth in a special article on the subject, the date is apt to be given as the th april, . if we go back into the dusty archives of the canadian post office department, we find the circular announcing the forthcoming stamps is dated a fortnight later than the hitherto supposed correct date for their issue. we reproduce it here in its entirety:-- department order [no. .] post office department, toronto, _ st april_, . _stamps for the pre-payment of postage on letters._ postage stamps are about to be issued, one representing the beaver, of the denomination of three pence; the second representing the head of prince albert, of the denomination of six pence; and the third, representing the head of her majesty, of the denomination of one shilling; which will shortly be transmitted to the post masters at important points, for sale. any post master receiving stamps from this department will, by the next mail, acknowledge the receipt of the amount. at the expiration of each quarter, and with his quarterly postage accounts, he will render an account of stamps on a form which will be hereafter supplied, charging himself therein with any amount which remained on hand at the close of the preceding quarter, and with the amounts received during the quarter just ended, and crediting himself with the amount then remaining on hand. the balance of the account so stated, representing the amount of stamps he has sold or disposed of, the post master will add to the balance due on his return for the same quarter of postages. any letter or packet, with one or more stamps affixed, equal in amount to the postage properly chargeable thereon, may be mailed and forwarded from any office as a pre-paid letter or packet; but if the stamps affixed be not adequate to the proper postage, the post master receiving the letter or packet for transmission will rate it with the amount deficient in addition.--this regulation concerning letters short paid has reference only to letters passing within the province. stamps so affixed are to be immediately _cancelled_ in the office in which the letter or packet may be deposited, with an instrument to be furnished for that purpose. in post offices not so furnished, the stamps must be cancelled by making a cross [x] on each with a pen. if the cancelling has been omitted on the mailing of the letter, the post master delivering it will cancel the stamp in the manner directed, and immediately report the post master who may have been delinquent, to the department. bear in mind that stamps must invariably be cancelled before mailing the letters to which they are affixed. letters and packets pre-paid by stamps must be entered in the letter-bill separately from other pre-paid letters,--and in like manner in the monthly sheets. j. morris, _post master general_. from the above it is plainly evident that the new stamps were _not_ placed in use on april th, the day of the transfer of the post office to provincial control, as is usually stated. furthermore, as this order announcing them states that the stamps are "about to be issued," it is evident that they did not appear concurrently with the order, which is dated april st.[ ] as a matter of fact the first supply of the pence stamps was only received by the department from the manufacturers on april th, the day before the transfer, and the second supply on april th, the day before the above circular was issued; while the pence and pence stamps did not arrive until may nd and may th, respectively.[ ] in a letter to mr. donald a. king,[ ] dated d march, , from mr. william smith, secretary of the department at ottawa, the latter states "that postage stamps were issued to the public for the first time on rd april, ." this agrees with the other known facts, and can doubtless be taken as the correct date for the d. stamp. the d. stamp we have no further details for, but it was doubtless in use by the middle of may. for the d. stamp we have, fortunately, all the details, as will appear subsequently, and can give the exact date of issue as june , . [ ] this correction of the date must be noted, for in mr. king's article in the monthly journal, vii: , it is wrongly given as st april, which might lead to erroneous conclusions. in the article by messrs. corwin and king, (metropolitan philatelist, i: ), the date is correctly given. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, xvii: . [ ] london philatelist, xiii: . at the time of the transfer, the postmaster general issued a lengthy set of _regulations and instructions for the government of the post office department in canada_, and it is perhaps best to reproduce here such sections as may prove of interest in connection with the use of the stamps, various rates of postage, etc., etc. * * * * * . letters posted to be sent by mail are to be carefully postmarked on the face or address side, with the name of the post office, the month and the day of the month in which they are posted, and, except when they are prepaid by postage stamps, with the rate of postage in plain figures. in performing these operations great care must be used to avoid interference with the address. * * * * * . if the postage is paid in money when the letter is posted, stamp or write the word "_paid_" against the postage rate, and mark the rate in _red ink_; but if the letter is "_unpaid_" the rate is to be marked in _black ink_. * * * * * . should the receiving postmaster find that any of the letters have been under-rated, that is, not charged with sufficient postage,--if for example, a letter weighing an ounce has only been charged with one rate, he will mark the additional postage with the words "_more to pay_," and his initials on the letter. * * * * * .... letters are to be postmarked on the back or seal side with the date of the day on which they arrive.... * * * * * . on letters not exceeding / oz. in weight between any place in canada and any other place in british north america, including canada, new brunswick, nova scotia, prince edward island, and cape breton, the rate is a uniform charge of d. for every additional weight of half an oz., or any fractional excess of half an oz., there shall be charged an additional rate of d. . on letters deposited at an office for delivery in the same place, called drop or box letters, the rate is one half-penny each, to be brought to account by postmasters. . on letters between any place in canada and any part of great britain or ireland, if conveyed in the weekly closed mails through the united states, the rate is a uniform charge of s. d. sterling, equal to s. d. currency, on a letter not exceeding / oz., in weight. * * * * * . on letters between canada and the united kingdom, conveyed by the semi-monthly mails by way of quebec, new brunswick and halifax, the rate is: on letters not exceeding / oz., s. d. sterling equal to s. - / d. currency. on letters not exceeding oz., s. d. sterling equal to s. d. currency. on letters not exceeding oz., s. d. sterling equal to s. d. currency. . on letters between any place in canada and any part of the united states, except california and oregon, the rate is a uniform charge of d., equal to c. per / oz. weight. . on letters to california and oregon, the rate is d., equal to c. per / oz. * * * * * . letters to newfoundland may be sent via quebec and halifax at a postage rate of - / d. per / oz. . letters to british west indies via quebec, halifax and bermuda will be charged the canada rate of d. and in addition the packet rate for sea conveyance between halifax and bermuda of - / d. currency, making on a letter not weighing more than / oz. a rate of - / d. . letters may also be sent from canada to the british west indies and havanah by the ordinary united states mails to new york, and from thence by british steam packet to destination, on prepayment in canada of d. equal to c. per / oz. . mails are made up at montreal every fortnight for halifax, nova scotia, and despatched for conveyance to halifax with the mails by the royal mail steamers from boston to halifax and liverpool by which letters may be sent to the following places at the rates mentioned: letters to halifax and nova scotia - / d. currency. letters to newfoundland s. currency. letters to bermuda and british west indies s. currency. * * * * * -- -- . [_almost identical with first three paragraphs of_ department order no. . _describing and prescribing use of postage stamps_. vide supra.] . if the stamps affixed to a letter addressed to any place in british north america or to the united kingdom be not adequate to the proper postage, the post master receiving the letter for transmission will rate it with the amount deficient in addition. . on letters for the united states when stamps are affixed representing less than the amount of postage to which the letters are liable, the stamps are to be cancelled and the letters rated with the full rate as unpaid. -- -- . [_identical with last two paragraphs of_ department order no. . _concerning cancelling, omission of same, and accounts of stamped letters_.] . stamps affixed to letters coming from either of the british north american provinces, the united kingdom or the united states, and recognized as equivalent to pre-payment at the office where the letter has been posted--are to be allowed in canada as evidence of pre-payment accordingly, on the letters to which they have been affixed. * * * * * . [_postage stamps must be taken when offered in payment of postage on delivery of unpaid letters._] * * * * * . [_non-commissioned officers, embodied pensioners, seamen and soldiers, while employed in her majesty's service, can send and receive letters at a rate of d. each, which must be paid at time of posting, and letter must not exceed / oz. in weight._] * * * * * . [_rate on circulars, price currents, hand bills, etc., d. per ounce or fraction._] . [_rate on pamphlets, periodicals, magazines and books, / d. per ounce._] * * * * * . [_limit of weight for periodicals, etc., (§ ) is oz._] * * * * * . [_book post to england is d. sterling ( - / d. currency) for / lb., s. sterling ( s. d. currency) for lb., and at s. per lb., rate thereafter._] * * * * * . [_postage on newspapers in canada is / d. except on exchange copies, which are free._] it strikes one as curious, in glancing over the above, to note the several half penny and one penny rates, as well as two at - / pence, and to realize that no stamp of the lowest value, at least, should have been arranged for whereby these amounts could have been prepaid by means of stamps. to be sure, the - / d. rate could be obtained by halving a three penny stamp in conjunction with a d. stamp as was the common practice in nova scotia, but no such combination is known on a canada cover. of the three stamps issued, the first and most typical of canada was the d. which was designed, so mr. c. n. robertson of ottawa tells us, by sir sanford fleming, a civil engineer and draughtsman. the central feature is a representation of the beaver in its native haunts, above which is the royal crown of england resting on a rose, thistle and shamrock, with the letters v and r (_victoria regina_) at either side. a reference to figure on plate i makes further description unnecessary. the normal color was a bright red. a quite marked variety of this stamp occurs in what is generally known as a "double strike" or "shifted transfer." it is _not_ due to accidental light contact of the sheet in printing, previous to the heavier impression in a slightly changed position, as is often suggested, but is a true plate variety, caused by a slight impression of the transfer roller in the wrong position on the plate previous to the heavy impression sunk in the proper position. this fact is shown by its being found in pairs and blocks with the normal stamp. it is recognized by the letters ee pen being "doubled" at the top, making it appear as if a line had been drawn through the words and giving it the name, occasionally used of the "line through threepence" variety. the figure also appears doubled at the bottom. its position in the sheet has not been determined, but it occurs on all papers. the d. stamp is in the usual upright form, containing a portrait of albert, the prince consort. it has been impossible to trace the original of the picture, though diligent search has been made. the rose, thistle and shamrock again appear on the stamp, at either side of the oval frame and separating the inscriptions. figure of plate i gives an excellent reproduction of this value. the normal color may be said to have been a slate violet. the d. stamp is very similar in design to the d. stamp, but contains a portrait of queen victoria. this beautiful head, so often seen upon the early british colonial stamps, was taken from the full length painting by alfred edward chalon, r. a., which was ordered by the queen for her mother, the duchess of kent, as a souvenir of her majesty's first visit to the house of lords. the occasion was the prorogation of parliament, on july , , and the queen is portrayed in her robes of state, because of which fact the painting is sometimes described as "in coronation robes," but this is erroneous.[ ] the stamp is illustrated as figure on plate i, and it will be noticed that the inscriptions in the oval frame are this time separated on either side by the royal crown. the color is black. [ ] london philatelist, vi: . the peculiarity in the expression of the value of this stamp as "twelve pence" instead of "one shilling," which would seem to be the natural form for such an amount in english money, was long a moot question amongst collectors. it was even suggested as an "error" of the american manufacturers of the stamp! but the controversy has been practically settled by reference to the monetary conditions of the period. a glance back at the rates of postage we have already quoted will show that it was generally necessary to give them in two forms, "currency" and "sterling." the somewhat depreciated canadian currency required fifteen pence, as will be noted, to equal the shilling sterling--a point that is brought out on the two stamps issued subsequently for the british packet rates. add to this the fact that in new england the "shilling" was a current expression for - / cents ( pence currency), while in new york it represented - / cents ( - / pence currency) and we can readily see that in canadian territory contiguous to these sections the number of pence to a "shilling" might often be a debatable quantity. as a matter of fact the french canadians of lower canada made general use of the "shilling" as reckoned at pence ( cents) in the old currency, while the "york shilling" was extensively used in upper canada.[ ] "twelve pence" was without doubt wholly intentional, therefore, as the designation of the stamp, and was a happy solution of any ambiguity in its use, even if it has proved a stumbling block to the understanding of latter day collectors. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . an interesting essay for this stamp is in existence, being a companion for the pence "beaver," inasmuch as the shape of the stamp and the central design are the same, though on a larger scale; the inscriptions, however, are on an octagonal frame around the picture instead of an elliptical one, and the value is expressed as "one shilling," with " s" in each spandrel. it was doubtless also a conception of sir sanford fleming, the designer of the pence, and it would be interesting to know what the companion pence may have been. the three issued stamps were ordered from and engraved on steel by messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch and edson of new york, who, it will be interesting to note, were the engravers of the issue of united states stamps--a fact which very likely may have had its influence on the canadian authorities. the stamps were printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten, and had eight marginal imprints, two on each side. the imprint reads, "rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york.", in minute letters of the size known as "diamond" in the printing office, and it is placed opposite the third and eighth stamps of the horizontal or vertical row, as the case may be, but always with the bottom of the imprint next the stamps. this causes the imprints to read up on the left, down on the right, and upside down on the bottom margins of the sheets. we have found but one item in the departmental accounts for the fiscal year - referring to the stamps. this reads:-- rawdon, wright & co., for engraving postage stamps, £ . . this was doubtless simply a bill for printing, as it is altogether too small an amount to account for the engraving of three stamp dies and the making of three printing plates. the first delivery of the stamps from the manufacturers took place on april , , according to a valuable summary from official records, published in the _metropolitan philatelist_,[ ] when , of the pence value were received by the canadian government. a second lot, numbering , of the pence, arrived on april th. the pence value followed on may nd, to the number of , ; and the pence two days later, on may th, when the only consignment ever received from the printers, numbering , , was delivered. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist, xvii=: . the paper on which the stamps were printed was a thin, tough, grayish white variety which we should probably call bond paper, but which at that time is said to have been known as bank note paper. it was doubtless handmade, and therefore varies considerably in thickness, the two extremes being usually listed as _medium_ or _ordinary_, and _very thin_ or _almost pelure_. it has been the custom to assume that the first deliveries of the stamps were probably all upon _laid_ paper, which was borne out by dates on covers or postmarked specimens of the stamps used during the first year of issue. but by june of , at least, according to messrs. corwin and king,[ ] the stamps were beginning to appear on paper which was simply _wove_, without any trace of the laid lines, though in all other respects similar to the first supplies. of course a minor detail of manufacture like this would have no official cognizance, so there is nothing for us to go by in determining the quantities printed on one or the other kind of paper, or the dates of issue, save for what can be gleaned from dated covers and deductions to be drawn from them. the two varieties of paper, however, have been as productive of controversy in the case of the pence stamp as the peculiar expression of its value proved. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist, i=: . but before discussing this question, let us see what we have to work on. the first annual report of the postmaster general, for the year ending th april, , contains the following information concerning the new stamps:-- postage stamps for the pre-payment of letters of the respective values of d., d. and s. were procured and issued immediately after the transfer, and have been kept for sale to the public at all the principal post offices in the province; the demand, however, has not been great, as will be seen by the following statement, and the sales of the last quarter of the year would seem to demonstrate that the use of these stamps in pre-payment of letters, is rather diminishing than gaining ground in the community. there were procured from the manufacturers, messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch & co., of new york, during the year ended th april : value. , d. stamps £ , d. stamps , s. stamps _______ __________ , £ of these have been issued to postmasters for sale, to the same date: value. , d. stamps £ , d. stamps s. stamps _______ ________ , £ the succeeding annual reports of the postmaster general, for the years ending st march, - , give the following table of postage stamp statistics:-- postage stamps issued for sale as follows:-- report of st. march, . d. stamps d. stamps s. stamps on hand th april, , , , since received from manufacturers , _________________________________ , , , issued for sale during year , , _________________________________ on hand st march, , , , report of st. march, . received from manufacturers , ... ... _________________________________ , , , issued for sale during year , , _________________________________ on hand st march, , , , report of st. march, . received from manufacturers , , ... _________________________________ , , , issued for sale during year , , on hand st. march, , , , report of st. march, . received from manufacturers , ... ... _________________________________ , , , issued for sale during year , , ... _________________________________ on hand st. march, , , , in this annual report of st march, , is the last account of the d. stamp, from which it appears that none were issued to postmasters during the fiscal year. it does not mean that none were sold or used during that period, however, for with the increasing use of stamps this was quite probable. but it is evident from the tables given that the stamp was disbursed from headquarters in very limited quantities during the four years from to only; and we are quite fortunate in being able to give the exact details of this distribution. an anonymous article was published in the _metropolitan philatelist_ in ,[ ] from which we have already quoted, that contained a "_valuable summary of the first issue of postage stamps used in this colony._" the statement is made that "it is taken from official records and is absolutely accurate." we quote here the information concerning the canada one shilling postage stamp. total number rec'd. from contractors , total number issued to postmasters , ------ balance (destroyed) , note.--on may , , the first and only consignment of the canada shilling postage stamp, to the number of , (value £ , ), was received by the post office department, canada, from the contractors, messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york. the issue of this stamp began on june , , and concluded on december , , when the stamp was discontinued. during its issue stamps of that denomination were sent out to postmasters, leaving a balance on hand of , , which, on may st. , were, in accordance with the practice of the department in cases of the discontinuance of stamps, destroyed. as has already been observed, there was only the one lot of this stamp received from the contractors. details of issue. date of issue. name of office. name of p. m. no. june , hamilton e. ritchie oct. , chippewa w. hepburn nov. , thorold j. keefer nov. , toronto c. berchy mar. , montreal j. porteous sept. , ingersoll d. phelan apr. , [ ]bytown g. w. baker oct. , sherbrooke wm. brooks jan. , smith's falls jas. shaw jan. , bytown g. w. baker feb. , l'islet ballantyne feb. , ingersoll chadwick mar. , sault s. marie jos. wilson may , port. du fort mclaren oct. , rowan mills de blaquiere oct. , melbourne thos. tait oct. , montreal a. la rocque dec. , smith's falls jas. shaw ----- total number issued, , [ ] =metropolitan philatelist, xvii=: . [ ] now ottawa, capital of dominion of canada. from the above it is seen that hamilton and montreal each received a total of copies, toronto and bytown each , ingersoll , chippewa and smith's falls each , and so on down. so much for the d. stamp. the tables of the post office reports tell us also that the issues of the d. stamp to postmasters for these same four years totalled , , or only more than the original number delivered, the second delivery of the d. not having taken place until march , ,[ ] at the end of the last fiscal year of the four. if, then, the entire first printings of the d. and d. stamps were on laid paper, as is usually claimed, there would be no such thing as a d. on wove paper, and the d. stamp in the same state would not be found _used_ (provided proper postmark evidence were forthcoming) before the end of march, . during the same period there were at least five deliveries of the d. stamp, so that several things may have happened to that value. but, curiously enough, it is the other two stamps that furnish us with our best evidence. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, xvii: . we now come literally to the "nigger in the wood-pile." the d. stamp _does_ exist on the _wove_ paper! mr. worthington and mr. pack each possess an unused copy, and careful examination by the writer has failed to disclose any appreciable difference in the color, quality or appearance of the paper, save for the impossibility of discovering the laid lines, between these copies and those possessing proper credentials as the regular laid paper d. of . the color of the stamp and its general appearance give no hint of the supposed irregularity, and a letter to mr. worthington from the well known expert, mr. john n. luff, gives his approval to the specimen in mr. worthington's collection. it was formerly considered that the supposed d. on wove paper was merely a proof, and in the "_catalogue for advanced collectors_" we find the following note concerning it under canada.[ ] [ ] american journal of philately, d. series, iii: . although the p is catalogued by some as existing on thin wove paper, we do not believe in it as in every copy on wove paper sent to us for examination some traces of the word _specimen_ were to be discovered thus showing them all to be merely proofs. as far as the writer has seen them, specimen copies have been on india paper, which is quite distinct from the regular paper of the issue, and they have been overprinted with the word "specimen" in carmine ink, either diagonally or vertically upward. the copies referred to in the paragraph just quoted probably had been treated with chemicals to remove the red ink overprint. of course the desideratum for the settlement of the whole question is to find a copy of the stamp used on cover; but inasmuch as up to the present time but three copies of the d. on laid paper are known in this condition, it seems a hopeless quest. nevertheless there appear to be several _used_ copies of the wove paper d. known, the first mention we find of one being in the report of the proceedings of the philatelic society of london for th may, ,[ ] which reads: "the business of the evening consisted in the revision of the society's reference list of the stamps of canada, which was concluded, mr. f. ransom showing an undoubted postmarked specimen of the d. first issue, printed upon stout wove paper." mr. w. h. brouse, the eminent canadian philatelist, also possessed a cancelled copy of this stamp, which later adorned the ayer collection, it is understood. an editorial in the _dominion philatelist_ thus speaks of it:[ ]--"we have received from w. h. brouse, of toronto, a photograph of ... pence canada on _wove paper_ [which] appears to be a beautiful specimen with fine margin and light cancellation." two fine copies, one unused and one used, were sold in the auction of the mirabaud collection at paris, in april, . [ ] philatelic record, x: . [ ] dominion philatelist, no. , p. . from the above it is plainly evident that the d. on wove paper properly exists, in spite of the "first [and only] printing on laid paper" theory, which is usually laid down as an _a priori_ consideration. also it appears that it is found in a used condition, though this cannot be taken as an absolute test, because of the uncertainty that may lurk in a cancellation on a detached specimen of a stamp. only the discovery of a copy properly used on the original cover, as already intimated, can effectually settle the question of its actual issue and use. but there is a fact which doubtless furnishes the clue to the seeming mystery of its being. we have already noted that the laid paper first used varied considerably in thickness, and also that the wove paper next used was in all respects similar to the former, but of course without the laid lines. now it happens sometimes that it is quite difficult to distinguish the laid paper, a very careful scrutiny or even the extreme resort to the benzine cup being necessary to bring out the watermarked lines, and perhaps then only in a half suspicious way. if such be the case, it is only a step further to the entire disappearance of these "laid lines," and lo, the wove paper! writing to mr. f. c. young concerning the d. stamp, mr. john n. luff says:[ ]--"it is my opinion that both the wove and laid papers are quite genuine and i think it is possible that both varieties might occur though there was only one lot sent out by the printers. it does not, of course, follow that the entire batch was printed on the same day or that two varieties of paper might not have been used. the early printers were not always very particular about their paper, provided it was somewhat alike in a general way. some collectors claim that laid paper is often of such nature that the lines do not show in some parts of the sheet, and i believe there is evidence to support this theory." finally mr. charles lathrop pack, in some notes sent the _london philatelist_, sums matters up in these words:[ ]--"after a very careful investigation i believe that the d., on wove paper, was issued, and that the stamp was on sale at the post office, in hamilton, canada west." mr. pack writes us further:--"when i was a boy i went to school at st. catherines, ontario. there were keen stamp collectors in st. catherines at that time, not only among boys, but among grown people. that was about or . i was told that part of the d. canada which had been on sale at the hamilton post office were on wove paper and i was convinced that that was the case." [ ] canada stamp sheet, iv: . [ ] london philatelist, xvi: . concerning the laid and wove papers of this issue mr. king writes as follows:[ ]--"the texture of these papers is virtually the same, and it is indeed often difficult, particularly in the case of the d., to distinguish between the _laid_ and _wove_ papers. the lines in the _laid_ paper are of a most peculiar character, and cannot, as a rule, be brought fairly out by holding the stamp between one's eyes and the light. the best way to test these two papers is to lay the stamps, face down, on a black surface, and let the light strike them at about an angle of fifteen degrees, when the _laid_ lines are brought most plainly into view. it is necessary, however, to place the specimens so that the light will strike them parallel to their length, as the _laid_ lines run horizontally in the d., and vertically in the d. and d." [ ] monthly journal, vii: . we now come to the most interesting and confirmatory part of our evidence. we have already referred to the fact that messrs. corwin & king give june, , as the date when the wove paper appeared, and is given in all catalogues and lists as the year of issue for all three stamps on this paper. in their article on british north america, the above gentlemen, in discussing early dates established by entire covers for the varieties of paper that they describe, remark under the caption "_series iv_." (the _thin wove_ paper): "we took a six-pence from a letter dated june th, ."[ ] this statement can hardly be questioned, after the careful and minute study that they gave to the papers of this issue, and it therefore means just one thing: _the d. on wove paper came in the first lot delivered_, for we have seen that the second supply did not arrive until . the fact is therefore established that the first deliveries of stamps in april and may, , included the wove paper, and we therefore have here what amounts to the proper credentials for the appearance and even use of the d. on wove paper. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . as the d., having been delivered first, was undoubtedly printed first, this value may have been entirely upon the laid paper, particularly as it seems to be not especially rare on this paper and has not been recorded on wove paper used earlier than the receipt of the supplies. but this of course is negative evidence, and this value may yet be found to have been printed upon the wove paper along with the other two values in . * * * * * we have remarked that there were but three covers known bearing copies of the d. stamp. it is with great satisfaction, therefore, that we are able to present reproductions of two of them for the benefit of our readers. the earliest date is on the cover numbered on plate vi, which is in the worthington collection. this bears the postmark of "montreal, l. c. jy , " in red. the stamp is a little heavily cancelled by the concentric rings type of obliteration in black. the word canada within the curved frame and the word paid are stamped in red on the cover. this was a requirement of the first postal convention between canada and the united states, signed on march , . section reads:-- "the offices designated for the despatch and receipt of canadian mails on the side of the united states will stamp 'u. states' upon all letters sent into canada for delivery; and the offices designated for the despatch and receipt of united states mails on the side of canada will stamp 'canada' upon all letters sent into the united states for delivery." the other two covers were both the property of the late john f. seybold, but the one upon which the stamp appears in finest condition now ornaments the collection of mr. charles lathrop pack. this is illustrated as no. on plate vi and bears the postmark of "hamilton, c. w. no , ." the stamp is cancelled with the concentric rings in blue, and an additional handstamp appears in red reading "canada--paid cts" in two lines. the " " is made over from " " by the use of a pen in changing the first figure. in this connection it will be remembered that d. currency, equal to cents, was the single rate for / oz. letters between canada and the united states.[ ] [ ] see on page . the third cover is in all respects a companion piece of the second, bearing the same marks and (probably) the same address originally, but dated from hamilton on "de , ." all three of these covers show the particular use of the d. stamp--simply as a multiple of the d. and d. in currency rates. that it was _not_ issued with any intention of being especially used for the british packet rate must be evident, as we have seen that this was s. d. currency if prepaid and sent via the united states, or s. - / d. currency if prepaid and sent via halifax[ ]--rates that could not be made up by means of the three stamps first issued. [ ] see secs. and on page . on the other hand the stamp was quadruple the domestic rate, double the rate to the united states, and the single rate for the fortnightly mails from montreal viâ boston to newfoundland, bermuda and the british west indies.[ ] probably letters in the first category were not common, and, as it happens, all our specimens fall in the second. the third category doubtless did not entail a large correspondence, particularly as the more direct route to the places mentioned, viâ quebec and halifax, was at the lesser rate of - / d.[ ] for the above reasons, then, the covers as we find them evidently exemplify the usual use to which the d. stamp was put, and explain why more were not used, as surely would have been the case had the stamp been convenient for prepaying the packet rate to england, with which there was a large correspondence. [ ] see sec. on page . [ ] see secs. and on page . * * * * * having now described the two main varieties of paper common to the three values of this issue, let us look at some further varieties of the stock used for the d. and d. values, which, because of their long term of use, were subject to quite a number of printings and therefore gave opportunity for the variation in paper which is a characteristic of this issue. we have already given the statistics of the receipt and issue of d. and d. stamps for the five years from to ,[ ] and find they total , , for the d. and , for the d. from succeeding reports of the postmaster general we cull the following:-- [ ] see pages - . report of th sept., , [including year months, by statute.][ ] d. stamps d. stamps balance on hand st march, , , received from mfrs. in half-year to th. sept. , --------- --------- total , , issued for sale during half-year , , --------- --------- balance st october, , , received from mfrs. year ending th sept., , , --------- --------- total , , issued for sale during yr. ending th sept., , , --------- --------- balance on hand , , report of th. sept., . received from mfrs. year ending th sept., , , --------- --------- total , , issued for sale during year , , --------- --------- balance on hand th sept., , , report of th. sept., . rec'd from mfrs. during mos. to th june, , , --------- --------- total , , issued for sale during above months , , --------- --------- balance on hand th june, , , [ ] ^o vict. cap. xxv. sec. vii; see page . on july , the stamps in decimal currency were issued, so the above remainders represent the last of the d. and d. stamps. adding the receipts from the manufacturers in the above tables, therefore, to the totals already given for the years - , and then deducting the remainders (which were later destroyed), we have for the total issue of the d. stamp , , , and of the d. stamp , . in these figures are of course included the perforated stamps, which we will consider later. it will be seen from the tables that there were at least eight deliveries of the d. stamps and at least six deliveries of the d. stamps, but inasmuch as these are totalled by years, and as some of the amounts are quite large (_e. g._ , of the d. in ), it seems certain that there were even more deliveries and consequently more printings of the stamps than is indicated. in no other way can we account for the variety in the paper used, and also the variety in the color of the d. stamp. the d. does not vary so much, probably because its shade of red did not require much mixing of inks and the ingredients were such that slight variations in the proportions did not greatly affect the tone. the normal color being a bright red, we find it running to a deeper, almost brick red in one direction, and to a vermilion in the other. as to the normal color of the d. it would be almost impossible to hazard a guess, if we had simply a series of one stamp of each distinct variation in color or shade in which it is found. the common run of shades is from a slate violet to a slate or "near black" with a "cast" of violet, of brown, or even green. what can one do in trying to describe the "color" of such a chameleon stamp with such an uncertain basis to work upon? the check list gives the nearest approximation to the various shades that we have been able to translate into color names, but it is almost impossible to so describe some of them as to convey the proper idea of the exact shade to the reader. for papers used, mr. king describes no less than fourteen.[ ] four of these are the two grades of the laid and wove "bank-note" paper already mentioned. a third variety of laid paper is described by him as entirely different, being a stout white paper in which "the _laid_ lines are most distinct, while the paper is of a different texture and color from the regular grey shade." mr. pack states: "this paper is very rare, and i have never seen but very few copies."[ ] mr. king's sixth variety is described as "hard, stout, grayish wove," but we have included it with the ordinary wove paper in the check list, of which it is but a little heavier manifestation. the same may be said of his varieties xii and xiii, described as "medium" and "thick, hard, white wove paper, very slightly ribbed," respectively, which we have classed under "stout, hard, white wove paper." there is an extreme case in the d. stamp, which comes on a _very_ thick hard paper, concerning which mr. pack says:--"the unused d. on very thick, hard paper is one of the greatest rarities of canada. it is as rare as the d. unused. curiously enough, this stamp in used condition is very rare in a pair or strip. so far as i know there are only two or three strips or pairs in existence. it is my understanding that the very thick _hard_ paper stamps were printed previous to those on the _soft_ paper." the last remark refers to the very thick, soft paper, almost a card board (mr. king's variety xiv) which is now well known as an exceedingly rare variety. it is distinct, both in paper and color, from any other variety of the d. stamp, the shade being a dull purple. the same may be said of the thick _hard_ paper stamp, which appears to be in a very even shade of slate violet. [ ] monthly journal, vii: . [ ] london philatelist, xvi: . mr. king's varieties x and xi are both peculiar, the former being a "very soft, thin, cream wove which is quite fragile and will not bear much handling," and the latter a "soft, thick, coarse white wove paper; the surface presents a sort of hairy appearance, and the quality is better than series x." the d. is the only value occurring in these two varieties, which we have placed under "soft white wove paper" in the check list. lastly comes the ribbed paper. the first variety is a very soft, thin paper on which the d. appears. this is mr. king's variety vii, and he makes a variety viii of the same paper in a "cream" tone. the same value comes on a thicker, hard paper, mr. king's variety ix, and he lists a d. in violet black as well. from the foregoing it will be seen that the first issue of canadian stamps furnishes plenty of material for study, and is an extremely difficult series to work out and put into proper form for a reference list. mr. king truly says:--"if the papers and shades of this series of stamps are thoroughly studied, there are more varieties than in all the other british north american stamps put together; in many cases they are minute, in others more decided, but in every case distinct." some criticism may be made of our not using _in extenso_, the excellent "reference list"[ ] prepared by messrs. king and corwin, but it has seemed wise, in working with the specialized collections already alluded to, to condense this list to some extent; nor do we think its correctness and usefulness have been impaired thereby. [ ] monthly journal, vii: . we have spoken of the three values of stamps already treated as the "first issue" of canada. some may cavil at this, for there are three more values belonging to the pence series which may be regarded as part of the "first issue," inasmuch as they were complementary as well as supplementary to the original three. but they did not appear until nearly four or more years later, and therefore escaped the laid paper varieties. for this reason, and because there appears another important question to solve in connection with two of them, we have reserved a separate chapter for these three. we may also say that as one of them appears in the perforated series of pence values we have left the consideration of these latter stamps until the next following chapter. chapter iii the remaining pence issues a resume of the chief happenings of the year and other items of interest is given in the annual reports of the postmasters general, and a brief summary of these first few years will not be without its importance here. it will be recalled that the provincial government took over the control of its posts on the th april, , and by the _act to amend the post office act_, passed th august, ,[ ] the postmaster general was required by statute to "report to the governor general of the province annually, for the purpose of being laid before parliament at each session, _first_. a report of finances, receipts and expenditure of the post office department for the year ending on the fifth day of april previous," etc., etc. accordingly the first annual report of the postmaster general was rendered on the th april, . in it we find the following information:-- [ ] ^o & ^o vict., cap. lxxi, sec. . upon the transfer of the control of the post office department in this province, by the imperial post office authorities to the provincial government, on the th april, , the number of post offices in operation was found to be --the number of miles of established post route, --over which the annual transportation of the mails was , , miles--and the gross revenue raised under the authority of the imperial post office, at the high tariff of rates then prevailing, had been for the year preceding the transfer £ , currency, including in that sum the collections in canada of british packet postage, estimated to have amounted to £ , sterling. the provincial act of the th and th vic. cap. , providing for the management of the department after the transfer, reduced the postage charges in canada upon all letters passing between places within the province, or within british north america generally, to a uniform rate of d. per / oz.; whereas under the tariff in force previous to the transfer, the average charge on each letter was computed to have been as nearly as possible d. per / oz.; the reduction therefore consequent upon the introduction of the uniform d. rate was equivalent to / , or - / per cent, on the former average letter postage charge. the postage charge on box or drop letters, and the additional charge on letters delivered in the cities by letter carriers, have in each case been reduced to one half penny, being one half the former rates. with regard to newspapers, the postage charge has been altogether taken off upon several important branches of newspaper circulation, and papers to and from the other british north american provinces, papers sent to the united states, and editors' exchange papers, pass free of all postage charge whatever. the rates on printed papers, circulars, pamphlets, books, &c., have also been modified and reduced. the gross receipts of the department for the year under review are given as £ , s. d. currency, a drop of over £ , from the previous year; but this is a good showing after all, for when it is remembered that the new uniform rate of postage was but one third the former average rate, it is readily figured out that correspondence nearly doubled under the new tariffs. this is confirmed by the following comparative statement of pieces mailed:-- one week preceding th april, , no. of letters, , ; papers, , . one week preceding th april, , no. of letters, , [ ]; papers, , . [ ] this is explained in the report for as being "a clerical error for , ." there were new post offices added during the year and miles of post routes. "an agreement was concluded with the post master general of the united states, which has continued in satisfactory operation since april, , under which letters pass between any place in canada, and any place in the united states, at a postage rate of d. currency, per half oz., except to and from california and oregon, when, the distance being over , miles, the rate is d. per half oz. letters are posted on either side, paid or unpaid, at the option of the sender." the total correspondence passing between the two countries is given as having a postage rating of $ , . . the second annual report of the postmaster general is dated the st march, , and contains little of interest but statistics. new post offices were established and miles of new post routes added. the gross revenue of the department for the fiscal year is given as £ , . . - / . and the total postage on the correspondence passing between canada and the united states was $ , . . the third report, of st march, , speaks of a large reduction in the postal charges upon newspapers circulating within the province and on certain classes of periodical prints, which took place on feb. , , but gives no further details. concerning the british packet postage, however, the report says:-- in march, , the charge on packet letters passing between canada and the united kingdom and most foreign countries was reduced by the imperial government from s. d. sterling to d. sterling per / oz. when sent in closed mails through the united states, and from s. to d. when sent direct from a provincial port, quebec or halifax. further on are the following recommendations:-- should no further change be likely soon to take place in the charges on the correspondence with england, it would promote the public convenience to procure postage stamps of the value of d. and - / d. respectively to correspond with the present packet letter charges. and again:-- much unnecessary labor and waste of time is occasioned to this department by the practice now followed of rating and collecting postage on all government and legislative correspondence, and it would be an improvement, in my belief, very worthy of adoption, to authorize by enactment the transmission of all such matter through the mails, under proper regulations, free of postage charge, and that in lieu thereof, a certain fixed annual sum estimated to be equivalent to the aggregate of the postage arising upon such correspondence, should be paid by the receiver general to the post office, to be accounted for as post office revenue. perhaps the most pregnant remark is one short statement:--"the use of stamps has materially increased"; for it will be remembered that the first annual report of the postmaster general was pessimistic with regard to the employment of stamps, fearing that their use was diminishing. the accounts accompanying the report contain but one item concerning stamps:-- rawdon, wright & co., postage stamps furnished post office department £ . . this amount was of course only for printing supplies, evidently for the , d. stamps received during the fiscal year. in the fourth report, of st march, , there are several items of interest. the lowering of the british packet rates proved a popular step, naturally, and the report states that "notwithstanding the important reduction granted by the imperial government in the postage rate between this country and the united kingdom in march, ," the results were as follows:-- british packet postage collected in canada in year ending march, (postage rate d. sterling) £ , . . - / . british packet postage collected in canada in year ending march, (postage rate s. d. sterling) £ , . . - / . which was a drop of but six per cent. in receipts upon a reduction of over forty per cent. in the postal charge. again:-- in march, the imperial post office authorized a reduction in the charge on letters passing through the english posts between canada and france, from s. - / d. currency to s. d. currency per / oz. letter. the suggestions contained in the report for concerning the franking of official mail matter, and the payment of a fixed annual sum to the post office department on this account, were acted upon, and the report states:-- in july last the act of last session came into effect, removing altogether the postage charge on the circulation of provincial newspapers and according a franking privilege to the correspondence of the legislature and of the public departments of the government. the act referred to was doubtless the following:-- ^o vict. cap. lxxix. an act to abolish postage on newspapers published within the province of canada, and for other purposes connected with the post office department of this province. [_assented to_ th may, .] whereas papers devoted to the advancement of education, temperance, science, agriculture and other special objects, are now exempt from postage; and whereas it would further materially aid the diffusion of useful knowledge to remove all postal restrictions on the transmission of newspapers in general, published within this province, and of all documents printed by order of either house of parliament: be it therefore enacted by the queen's most excellent majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council and the legislative assembly of the province of canada, * * * * and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same, as follows: i. all newspapers published within the province of canada, shall be transmitted by mail free of postage. * * * * * iv. all letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the governor of this province, or sent to or by any public department at the seat of government, shall be free of provincial postage under such regulations as may be directed by the governor in council. v. all letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the speaker or chief clerk of the legislative council or of the legislative assembly, or by or to any member of either of said branches of the legislature during any session of the legislature, shall be free of provincial postage. vi. all public documents and printed papers may be sent by the speaker or chief clerk of the legislative council or of the legislative assembly, to any member of either of the said branches of the legislature of canada, during the recess of parliament, free of postage. vii. members of either branch of the legislature of canada may send during the recess of parliament by mail, free of postage, all papers printed by order of either branch of the legislature of canada. * * * * * ix. this act shall come into effect on and after the first day of july, eighteen hundred and fifty-five. there is a bit of conflict here. the "enactment clause" of the above act makes it operative unequivocally on july , . yet the postmaster general's report, just quoted, which is supposed to be for the fiscal year ending st march, , distinctly states that the provisions of the above act came into effect "in july last," which would seem to be july, . the act itself is not in error, so the discrepancy must lie in the postmaster general's report. probably the report was written much later in the year than march st, as it was not presented to parliament until the fall session, and therefore gave opportunity to refer back to happenings in july. the growth of the department during the first four years under provincial control is illustrated by the following table:-- post miles letters correspondence date offices of mailed gross revenue with in routes. per the u. s. operation. week th april, , , £ , th april, , , £ , . . $ , . st mar., , , , £ , . . - / $ , . st mar., , , , £ , . . $ , . st mar., , , , £ , . . - / $ , . the number of post offices had more than doubled; the length of the post routes had increased by fifty per cent; and although the revenue had dropped one quarter during the first year, owing to the reduction in postage rates, it had increased by half in the next three years; while the total correspondence between canada and the united states had increased by two thirds in the same three years. but the item that interests us particularly in this report reads:-- to promote the general convenience in prepaying letters to the united kingdom at the new rate, postage stamps of the value of d. currency, equal to d. sterling, were procured and issued for sale to the public. thus part of the recommendation contained in the report for the preceding year was carried out. in the accounts for the fiscal year we find the following entries:-- st. quarter, rawdon, wright & co., postage stamps for p. o. dept. £ . . rd. quarter, rawdon, wright & co., making stamps . . th. quarter, rawdon, wright & co., postage stamps for p. o. dept. . . from this it would appear that the bill for engraving ("making") the new d. stamp was paid in the third quarter of the fiscal year, corresponding to the last quarter of . according to the table of receipts from manufacturers in the "summary" already quoted,[ ] the d. stamp was first received by the post office department on jan. , . in mr. king's "reference list,"[ ] however, the date "dec. , " is given as being "taken from used stamps on the original covers," but this must certainly be a mistake. the "summary" also gives the quantities issued to postmasters by quarters, and there were none issued (naturally) in the quarter ending dec. , . in the next quarter, ending mar. , , there were , issued to postmasters, so that the first issue probably took place soon after receipt, that is, in january, . the total number received from the manufacturers in this first delivery was , . [ ] metropolitan philatelist, xvii: . [ ] monthly journal, vii: . the plate for this stamp is stated to have been made up for printing sheets of impressions in ten rows of ten, like the three values of , and also to have had the eight marginal imprints. but there are reasons for thinking it may have been made to print impressions, ten rows of twelve each, concerning which more will be said later. suffice it to remark here that the number delivered ( , ) is exactly divisible by , making full sheets, which is not the case if is used. the normal color of the stamp is a very deep blue. the design of the new d., illustrated as no. on plate i, corresponds in general style to the d. and d. of , but the portrait in the central oval is of jacques cartier, the explorer and founder of canada. there has been some discussion over the identity of the original, it having been claimed that the subject was sebastian cabot, the discoverer, just as the portrait on the d. stamp has been assigned to lord elgin, governor-general of canada from to .[ ] unfortunately no circular announcing the issue of the stamp has come to hand, and, as seen from the quotation already given, the report of the postmaster general does not give us the information. it is nevertheless a fact that the portrait represents cartier, the original being a three-quarter length painting in the hotel de ville at st. malo, france, the birthplace of cartier. the inscriptions in the oval frame are in this case separated by a small picture of the beaver at the right, and three maple leaves at the left. the value is expressed as ten pence, with the numerals " " in the lower spandrels, followed by the letters "cy" for "currency." in the upper spandrels is the corresponding value in sterling money, expressed as " d stg". the relation between sterling and currency values and their equivalents in the decimal coinage of the united states was fixed by law, and the matter seems important enough to reproduce the statute here. [ ] philatelic record, x: . ^o vict. cap. clviii. an act to regulate the currency. [assented to th june, .] * * * * * ii. and be it enacted, that the denominations of money in the currency of this province, shall be pounds, dollars, shillings, pence, cents and mills: the pound, shilling and penny shall have, respectively, the same proportionate values as they now have, the dollar shall be one-fourth of a pound, the cent shall be one-hundredth of a dollar, and the mill one-tenth of a cent.... iii. and be it enacted, that the pound currency shall be held to be equivalent to and to represent one hundred and one grains and three hundred and twenty-one thousandths of a grain troy weight of gold of the standard of fineness now prescribed by law for the gold coins of the united kingdom; and the dollar currency shall be held to be equivalent to and to represent one fourth part of the weight aforesaid of gold of the said standard.... iv. and be it enacted, that the pound sterling shall be held to be equal to one pound, four shillings and four pence, or four dollars, eighty-six cents and two-thirds of a cent, currency.... * * * * * ix. and be it enacted, that ... the gold eagle of the united states, coined after [ st. july, ], ... and weighing ten penny weights, eighteen grains, troy weight, shall pass current and be a legal tender in this province for ten dollars or two pounds ten shillings currency.... further supplies of the d. stamp were not needed for three years, the next lot, numbering , , having been delivered during the year ending th sept., , according to the table of stamp statistics. these two lots were the only ones delivered, and the balance on hand when the decimal stamps appeared being , , we find a total issue for the d. stamp of , . puzzling questions seem to be the rule with this first series of canadian stamps, and the d. is no exception. the stamp occurs, to all appearances, in at least _two sizes_, one of which has been termed the "wide oval" and the other the "narrow oval." these are well brought out by illustrations nos. (wide) and (narrow) on plate iv. very likely the peculiarity was noticed much earlier, but it seems to have been brought to the attention of collectors generally for the first time by mr. w. h. brouse, in a paper read before the london philatelic society on feb. , .[ ] we quote this entire:-- [ ] london philatelist, iii: . "i have carefully read such philatelic articles or publications relating to british north american stamps as have come under my notice, but have as yet not come across anything relating to the difference in canadians that is to be found in the - / d. canadian currency ( d. sterling), green, and the d., blue, and so concluded that it may have passed my observation, or, if not, has not yet been 'written up.' will you therefore pardon a short note on the subject? "of the d., blue, there are three distinct varieties in design, viz., first (_a_) the long and narrow; second (_b_) the long and broad: and third (_c_) the short and broad. "the outside edges or ornaments are in all three cases the same, but the difference lies in the fact of the oval or frame around the head having been, as the case may be, elongated or contracted, or sometimes widened out. "the extreme variation in length is about one-sixteenth of an inch, which is considerable in a postage stamp. i doubt very much if this happened through intention, but rather think that it is the result of what might be termed 'engravers' license.' however, whatever it may be, the result is that there are three distinct varieties. "it will, i think, be found that the earlier one of these is the long and narrow, on thinnish paper; then the long and broad (which is the most common), on thicker paper; and lastly, the short and broad, on medium paper. the latter is the scarcer, and consequently the most valuable. "i have for a long time known of the above differences, and at first thought it only an optical delusion, owing to some of the copies having had their sides closely trimmed, but on closer observation the distinct differences, as i have mentioned, were manifest. what is said of the d. may also be said of the - / d. (but to a lesser degree of variation), only the latter are generally found in the long and broad frame or oval. a slight difference also occurs in the d., violet; no variation appears in the length of the stamp, though i have two specimens in which the oval or frame shows a contraction in width to the extent of about one-forty-eighth of an inch, and is quite noticeable. "this may be 'piper's news' to some of the members of the philatelic society, london, but to others it may be of interest, and for that reason i beg your indulgence." mr. castle, in reading the foregoing paper at the meeting of the london philatelic society, shewed specimens of the stamps described by mr. brouse, and added a few remarks as under. "i venture to think the modest disclaimer on the part of mr. brouse, in his closing sentence, is hardly borne out in view of the interesting communication he has made. to me the information was certainly novel, and i could hardly credit that there should exist such differences in size until i had verified the fact by examination of specimens. owing to the kindness of messrs. stanley gibbons, limited, and mr. w. h. peckitt, i was enabled to inspect a number of these pence issues, and i have tabulated the measurements as nearly as i can:-- halfpenny. size. paper. (_a_) � - / mm. medium thick (_b_) - / � mm. medium thick threepence. (_a_) (full) � mm. very thin wove (_a_) � mm. very thin laid (_b_) - / � - / mm. thin (_c_) - / � - / mm. thick sixpence. (_a_) � mm. thin wove (_a_) � mm. thin laid (_b_) - / � - / mm. thick sevenpence-halfpenny. (_a_) - / � - / mm. (bare) med. thick (_a_) - / � - / mm. medium thick (_a_) - / � mm. medium thick (_a_) - / � - / mm. medium thick tenpence. (_a_) - / � - / mm. thin to very thin (_b_) - / � mm. (full) thick (_b_) - / � - / mm. (bare) thick (_c_) � mm. thin "the varieties of the tenpence are those described by mr. brouse as (_a_) long and narrow, (_b_) long and broad, and (_c_) short and broad. i may add that in the case of this value i have examined and measured some forty copies, including a strip of three, as also a proof on very thin india paper, which corresponds exactly in measurement with variety (_b_) on the thick paper ( - / � - / mm.). it is obvious that to be absolutely accurate beyond a half mm. with an ordinary gauge is hardly possible, but in several of the given cases i have averaged the sizes of several that very closely approximated. "as will be seen, i have gone somewhat beyond the lines of mr. brouse's paper in including the / d., the d., and d., the variation in the former being slight, but in the two latter noteworthy. the question how these varieties have arisen is an interesting one, nor can i see that they can be accounted for by shrinkage of the paper, as in the case of the d. proof above cited, which is on all fours with the ordinary stamp on thick paper. in the case of the strip of this value i found all three stamps measured the same, and the fact remains that variety (_c_) is short _and_ broad. in any case the existence of these varieties is palpable, the question of their origin a genuine philatelic problem, and i think that the thanks of us all are therefore due to mr. brouse for his interesting paper." this may have been the first record of the peculiarity in the case of the canadian stamps, but it was at least not the first time that variation in the dimensions of certain line engraved stamps, supposed to have been produced from the same original die, had been noted and discussed. we refer to the case of the early ceylon stamps, which furnished food for contention in the philatelic press for many years. the first mention of a difference in the length of these seems to have been in december, .[ ] ten years later the reference list of ceylon prepared by the london philatelic society[ ] noted the fact that the stamps of on unwatermarked paper were in general about a millimeter shorter in the vertical dimension than the succeeding issue on paper watermarked crown c c, although the engraved designs were otherwise absolutely identical. major edw. b. evans, in his catalogue,[ ] appends a note on the unwatermarked stamps of as follows:-- these stamps are apparently (indeed, we may say certainly) from the same plates as the other issues, but at the same time the impressions on this paper are about - inch shorter than those on other papers. this can only have been occasioned by the paper having shrunk to some extent since the stamps were printed.... [ ] the stamp collectors' magazine, ii: . [ ] the philatelist, ix: . [ ] a catalogue for collectors, page . later, in , mr. t. k. tapling, writing in _le timbre-poste_,[ ] claims the difference cannot be due to shrinkage of paper because the stamps have all shrunk evenly, and attributes it to some defect in the process of making the plates. he reasons thus:-- les timbres sur les feuilles de n'importe quelle valeur étaient tous identiques comme type. ils furent gravés sur acier, je pense par mm. perkins bacon et co., chaque timbre par un procédé de réduplication, étant reproduit d'une matrice; la planche étant ensuite durcie pour l'impression. il n'y a par conséquent pas de variété de types, les lignes des gravures sur les timbres courts étant les mêmes que celles sur les timbres longs, excepté qu'elles sont un tant soit peu contractées.... il me semble plus que probable que la différence en longeur des exemplaires puisse être attribuée à un léger défaut dans le procédé de réduplication des planches de la matrice originale. [ ] =le timbre-poste=, numéro jubilaire, page xxxv. as a matter of fact the stamps did not shrink evenly, but very unevenly. mr. w. b. thornhill, writing on these same stamps in ,[ ] says:--"you can hardly find two stamps of exactly the same measurements in the same value, though the difference in many cases is too small to signify"; and he proceeds to show the extreme variations in a carefully prepared table including every value on every variety of paper for issues from to . the greatest variation in the vertical dimension seems to be about mm. in mm., or roughly %, and in the horizontal dimension about / to / mm. in mm. or roughly - / to - / %. these dimensional differences being so palpably existent, therefore, what factors are we to consider in looking for their cause? there seem to be but three: first, an original die or matrix for each different size; second, one original die only, whose impressions on the printing plate show variations resulting from the process of transferring them; third, a printing plate with all the impressions exact duplicates of the one original die, but whose reproductions in ink on dampened paper are varied by the shrinkage of the paper in drying. [ ] =philatelic record=, xi: . mr. thornhill convinces himself by inspection that the first proposition is untenable; in fact its absurdity is at once apparent on a little thought, for the engraving of the original die is a laborious and costly piece of work, and that very fact, coupled with the comparative ease of exact reduplication by mechanical processes on the printing plate, furnishes the chief reason for the employment of this method of producing stamps. since there is such a variety in the size of the stamps, therefore, the first theory would indicate many original dies, and this we know was not the case. its refutation indeed is seen in the stamps themselves; for each original die, if differing in size from its fellows, meant a separate engraving, and it is humanly impossible to make these separate engravings exact duplicates, whereas, on the other hand, no appreciable variation in line or dot can be detected on the same stamp in its different sizes save the general expansion or contraction of the design, which is proportionate in all its parts. the different die or matrix theory is therefore thrown out on grounds of impracticability and absurdity. accepting the one original die proposition, then, mr. thornhill agrees with mr. tapling in turning down the shrinkage of paper theory and favoring the second supposition, that the variation comes on the plates and is due to the process of transference. let us glance at this a moment. the original die is engraved on a block of soft steel of very fine and even quality. when finished it is tempered to a very great degree of hardness. next the engraving is transferred by tremendous pressure to a transferring roller of similar soft steel, which is in turn hardened. in this process there might be an opportunity for a slight variation in the size of the transferred impression, due to the expansion and contraction of the steel in the tempering process. next, this hardened transfer roller is impressed upon the printing plate of soft steel as many times as there are copies desired. these naturally all agree among themselves and with the transfer roller impression in size. now when the printing plate in turn receives its hardening, there may again be a chance for a slight difference between the transfer roller and the plate impressions; _but_ it is wholly unlikely that the plate impressions will vary much among themselves, otherwise the perfection of mr. jacob perkins' invention, the chief merit of which was exact reduplication, would be impaired. as a matter of fact, the high grade and even quality of the steel necessarily employed, and the care naturally taken in hardening the plate, preclude any other than an even variation, if any, due to the tempering process. this means that such variations would be practically constant over the printing surface of the plate, and that therefore the impressions would still remain practically identical in size. where, then, does this bring us? with such numerous and well defined variations in dimensions in the printed stamps, we should look for the cause in the simplest and most natural method by which they could readily be produced, which is furnished by the third theory presented. concerning this we quote from the london philatelic society's work on ceylon:[ ]-- in reference to the variations in the size of the stamps of issues iii and v [no watermark and crown cc], major evans, who was the first to propound the theory that these variations were due to differences in the nature of the paper employed, writes as follows:-- "the theory of the expansion and contraction of the paper being now pretty generally accepted, as accounting for the variations observed in the size of the stamps of the early issues of ceylon, it seems necessary to explain exactly what that theory is, and how these differences are supposed to arise. previous to printing from plates engraved in _taille-douce_ the paper is wetted, which, as is well known, causes it to expand; the amount of expansion varies, no doubt, considerably in different kinds of paper, and it must also vary with the amount of moisture in the same kind of paper, for as the paper dries it returns to its original dimensions, and, therefore, up to a certain point, the wetter it is the greater will be the expansion. in any case the paper is in a state of expansion at the time of printing, both from being wetted and from being stretched out flat and pressed, and the impression when first printed is then, and then only, in all cases the size of the engraving upon the plate. it then dries, and in so doing contracts, and the greater the amount of expansion the greater will be the amount of the subsequent contraction, so that the smallest stamps are those printed on the paper which expanded most, and the largest those on the paper which expanded least. the minor variations of size may be due to the paper being more or less damp when used, but probably a very slight difference in the thickness or density of the paper would cause some variation in its expansion. the marked difference in size of the stamps on thin, unwatermarked paper, which were the first to attract the attention of philatelists, is no doubt due to that particular variety of paper, which is very tough and elastic, and which has been found to expand very greatly on being wetted and stretched." [ ] =postage stamps, &c., of british india and ceylon=, page . so much for the ceylon stamps, which we have discussed _in extenso_; but we have only to substitute in every case a reference to the first canadian issues, particularly the d. which we started out with, to make the discussion apply with equal force in this case as in the other. the question is the same--the variations occur in the same way, the method of engraving and reproduction is the same, and the varieties in the paper are very similar. major evans, in a reply to mr. thornhill's paper,[ ] states that he tried some experiments in wetting a thin, tough note paper, and found an expansion of three per cent., while by stretching it he increased the expansion to eight per cent, without difficulty! yet the greatest variation in mr. thornhill's table was only four per cent. major evans then tried some of the newfoundland stamps, which he judged were on paper of almost the same nature as that of the unwatermarked ceylons of the same year, and they gave precisely similar results. [ ] =philatelic record=, xi: . mr. frank c. young, who was in the printing business, also tells of similar experiments which he carried still further.[ ] having provided some twenty-five sheets of paper of different qualities and thicknesses, each was cut into sixteen pieces. selecting a common half tone cut which measured exactly � mm. and dampening the sheets of paper to different degrees of wetness i proceeded to impress the cut on each sheet, using a common roller proof press. after the printed sheets had been allowed to dry it became a matter of a good millimeter gauge and careful measurements of the printed impressions, not the paper. ... hardly two sheets of the whole lot were identical in size, nor was i able to formulate any table as to how much or how little or which way of the paper shrinkage would occur. the only general rule which seemed to come out clearly was that thin paper would invariably shrink more than thick. in many of the sheets the difference was barely noticeable, while, on the other hand, such measurements as � , � - / , � - / , � mm. were fairly common, and one sheet, after several very careful measurements, was undeniably - / � mm., thus showing a shrinkage of - / per cent, one way and none at all the other. this was very thin laid linen paper. contrary to all expectations, more than one impression measured more than either the cut or those printed on dry paper, one on thin wove paper being fully mm. long. [ ] =canada stamp sheet=, iv: . looking back now at mr. castle's tables,[ ] we find his greatest variations in length amount to / mm. in mm., or roughly - / %, and in width mm. in mm., or roughly - / %--results entirely within bounds according to major evans' and mr. young's experiments, and doubtless settling once and for all the reason of the "three distinct varieties in design" of mr. brouse. [ ] see page . as for the paper actually used for the printing of the d. stamp, we find it a hard, white wove variety varying very much in thickness from a very thin, almost pelure quality, through which the design is quite plainly evident, to a medium and finally a considerably thicker quality. the pelure paper seems naturally to be the one on which the greatest variation in dimensions occurs, the _long_ and _broad_ size of the stamp coming principally on the thicker paper,[ ] which is supposed to shrink the least upon drying and therefore keeps the printed impression nearest the size of the plate impression. the _long_ and _narrow_ impression, being the commoner variation, was probably due to the paper being fed to the press the same way of the "grain" as a rule, while the _short_ and _broad_ variation, which is much scarcer, occurred by an occasional sheet of paper being fed the other way of the "grain." that paper has a "grain" is readily proved by tearing a piece in one direction and then tearing it at right angles to the first tear; one will be found much easier of accomplishment generally than the other, and this "grain" doubtless has its due effect in the amount of shrinkage in one way or the other upon drying a dampened sheet. [ ] see page . * * * * * one further variety we have to record in the d. stamp, this being a "shifted transfer" variety similar to that occurring in the d. value. in this case we find the letters a d a and s of "canada postage," and p e n of "pence" showing a distinct doubling at the bottom, the transfer roller evidently having been set a little too high at first and a very slight impression made on the plate. the stamp has not been seen in a pair to prove its character absolutely, but it bears all the ear-marks of being a proper plate variety and not due to a careless impression when printing. * * * * * to continue again with the postmaster general's reports. we find in that for st march, , a note to the effect that the postage on letters to france had been once more reduced, this time to d. currency per / oz., which gave further employment to the new d. stamp. there is also some information concerning the registry system, but this will be treated later under that head. one item is found in the accounts to interest us:-- rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, for printing , postage stamps for post office department £ . . . as only d. stamps were received during the year, this of course refers to that value, and the price charged is found to be practically one shilling, currency, per thousand, or twenty cents american money. in june of the canadian parliament made further changes in the newspaper rates, etc., according to the following act:-- ^o vict. cap. xxv. an act to amend the post-office laws of this province. [assented to th june .] whereas it is expedient to amend the post-office laws, in the manner hereafter provided: therefore, her majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council and assembly of canada enacts as follows:-- i. [repeals sections i and v of ^o vict. cap. .][ ] ii. newspapers printed and published within this province and addressed from the office of publication, shall be transmitted from the post-office where mailed to any other post-office in canada, or to the united kingdom, or to any british colony or possession, or to france, free of canadian postage. iii. newspapers printed and published in the united kingdom, or in any british colony or possession, or in france, when received in mails addressed to this province, and directed to any place in canada, shall pass through the post and be delivered at the post-office addressed, free of canadian postage. iv. for the purposes of this act, the word "newspapers" shall be held to mean periodicals published not less frequently than once in each week, and containing notices of passing events, or any such newspaper published fortnightly or monthly at the time of the passage of this act. v. periodicals printed and published in this province other than newspapers, when specially devoted to religious and to general education, to agriculture or temperance, or to any branch of science, and addressed directly from the office of publication, shall be transmitted from the post-office where mailed to any other post-office in this province free of postage. vi. letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the speaker or chief clerk of the legislative council or of the legislative assembly, or to or by any member of the legislature at the seat of government, during any session of the legislature, or addressed to any of the members or officers in this section mentioned, at the seat of government as aforesaid, during the ten days next before the meeting of parliament, shall be free of postage. vii. so much of the twelfth section of the post-office act, passed in the session held in the th and th years of her majesty's reign and chaptered , as requires the postmaster general to make to the governor general of this province, annually, certain reports for the purpose of being laid before the provincial parliament at each session thereof, for the year ending the fifth day of april previous to such session, is hereby repealed; and it shall, hereafter, be the duty of the postmaster general to furnish such reports annually so that they may be laid before the provincial parliament within ten days after the assembling thereof, and such annual reports shall be made up to the thirtieth day of september previous to each session. * * * * * x. this act shall take effect on and from the first day of august next. [ ] see page . although the enactment clause made the above act operative on st august, , because of which we should not expect it to affect the postmaster general's report for the year ending st march, , yet we find this report dated th september, , thus including the year and a half from st april, . among other items of interest in this report we find the following:-- there is very material economy of labor to the department in dealing with letters pre-paid by stamp as compared with letters on which the postage is collected in money, as well as a manifest gain to the public, in the increased facilities which pre-payment by stamp enables the post office to afford for posting and delivering letters so pre-paid. it is gratifying, therefore, to observe that the use of stamps is gradually gaining ground, encouraging as it does the hope that it may be found practicable and expedient ere long to make prepayment by stamp the prevailing rule in canada, as it has for some time been in the united kingdom, in france, and in the united states. a reduction in the charge of book post packets, when not exceeding oz., in weight between canada and the united kingdom, of one half the former rate has been made. to facilitate the pre-payment of letters passing from canada to england by the canadian steamers, a new stamp bearing value at pence sterling, or - / pence currency, being the canadian packet rate, has been secured and put in circulation. a new stamp has also been introduced of the value of one halfpenny to serve as the medium for prepaying transient newspapers. the above is the only reference we have to the issue of the - / d. stamp. the accounts for the fiscal year ending th september, , contain the following item:-- "rawdon, wright and co., postage stamps, £ . . " which must include the cost of dies and plates for the two new values. there is no record of the date of issue of the - / d. stamp, as far as our research has gone. the london society's work[ ] gives it as june , , but upon what authority is not stated. it will be recalled that a stamp of this value was suggested, in company with the d., in the postmaster general's report for st march, , as being the reduced rate granted in that same month on letters sent "direct from a provincial port, quebec or halifax," to england. the _halifax philatelist_ states:[ ]--"this stamp was rendered necessary on account of the contract between the canadian government and the allan line of steamers in regard to carrying the mails, and by which contract the postage was reduced." it hardly seems to have been very "necessary" when it took three years at least to bring the postmaster general's suggestion to a realization. besides, the allan line steamers began their service over a year before the appearance of the stamp, and the rate it represented had even then been in force for two years, nor was it reduced for many years thereafter. [ ] the postage stamps, etc., of the north american colonies of great britain, page . [ ] halifax philatelist, ii: . the postmaster general's report for says:-- the month of may, , was marked by the first voyage to the st. lawrence of the line of canadian mail steamers, under the contract between mr. hugh allan of montreal, and the provincial government. these vessels have performed the service for which they were bound, with laudable punctuality, and have crossed the atlantic at an average speed which compares successfully with the performances of the steamers of the cunard and collins lines from new york and boston. the average time of passage is given as--westward, days, - / hours; eastward, days, hours. the design of the stamp was simply adapted from that of the discarded d. stamp, as will readily be seen from the illustration (no. on plate i). the inscriptions were changed to canada packet postage, which of course referred to the fast mail steamers then known as "packets," and not to any "parcel post" as is sometimes erroneously stated; and six pence sterling, a new departure in labeling a canadian stamp. like the d. that preceded it, however, the corresponding values were inserted in the spandrels, " d. stg." in the left hand pair and " - / d. cy." in the right hand pair. the stamp is generally listed under its "currency" value to conform with the rest of the set and avoid confusion with the regular "six pence" stamp. the normal color of the stamp is a dark green. the - / d. stamp is known to have been arranged on the plate for printing sheets of stamps, ten rows of twelve stamps each, this being to facilitate the reckoning in english money. the eight marginal imprints appeared as on the other values. there was but one supply received, on the first order, of , stamps which, if we divide by , gives an even sheets. now, if we but glance back at the first supply received of the d. stamp[ ] we find exactly the same number, evenly divisible by but not by . the second supply of the d. stamp works out in exactly the same way,-- , makes an even sheets at per sheet. is it not probable to suppose, therefore, in the absence of entire sheets or horizontal rows of the d. stamp, that the latter was also printed in sheets of , as previously suggested, instead of sheets of as stated in mr. king's article?[ ] [ ] see page . [ ] =monthly journal=, vii: . when the issue of the decimal stamps took place, on july , , there were , of the - / d. stamps on hand, so that the total issue of this value was , copies. as will be gathered from mr. brouse's paper, which we quoted in connection with the d. stamp, a similar variation in the width of the oval is to be found in the case of the - / d. stamp, but the extremes are not so great and it is therefore not so noticeable. a glance at the table of measurements[ ] will show that the variation in width is confined to a half millimeter and that in height to practically the same amount. of course the discussion and conclusions detailed at length under the d. stamp apply with equal force in the present instance, and the fact that the - / d. stamp is not found on the very thin paper probably accounts for the lack of extreme variations. it was printed upon paper of the same kind as used for the d., but only on the medium and thicker qualities. a pair of the stamps in juxtaposition, showing the wide oval and the narrow oval, will be found as numbers and respectively on plate iv. [ ] see page . * * * * * the last--and also least--of the pence issues was the half-penny stamp. there had been a need for this value since the introduction of stamps, for there were several rates that were impossible to make up with the denominations that were issued and which therefore had to be paid in money. among these were the / d. charge on newspapers from to , the same charge per ounce on magazines and books during the entire period, the / d. and d. carrier's fees, the d. rate on circulars and on soldier's letters, and the several - / d. rates for letters and for the book post with england. but the act last quoted,[ ] which restored a charge on transient newspapers, seems to have been the direct cause of the belated issue of the half-penny stamp. the circular announcing its issue is as follows:[ ]-- postage on newspapers and periodicals. post office department, toronto, th july, . under the post office law of last session, taking effect from st. august, , newspapers printed and published in canada, and mailed direct from office of publication, will pass free of canadian postage. periodicals so printed, published, and mailed when specially devoted to religious and to general education, to agriculture, or temperance, or to any branch of science, will pass free from any one post-office to another within the province. transient and re-mailed papers and periodicals will pass by post if pre-paid by postage stamp--one halfpenny on each newspaper, and on each periodical, one halfpenny, if not exceeding oz., in weight, and d. if over oz. postage stamps of the value of one halfpenny each will be sold to the public at all the principal post offices (including all money order offices), with a discount of per cent upon purchases of not less than twenty stamps, and will be available in prepayment of newspapers and periodicals, and of drop and town letters. r. spence, _postmaster-general_. [ ] see pages - . [ ] =canada stamp sheet=, iv: . the london society's work gives the date of issue of the / d. value as th july, , and it is clearly seen from the preceding notice where the date was obtained. but it is more likely that the stamp was issued on st. august, the day the new rates took effect. the new stamp was very plain, as will be seen from the illustration, no. on plate i. the profile head of queen victoria was quite evidently taken from the head on the british penny stamp. the usual inscription, canada postage, occupies the upper part of the oval frame, and one half penny the lower part, but the value is not expressed by numerals in the corners, as on all the other stamps of the issue, the spandrels being merely filled in with a reticulated pattern. the stamp was printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten, with the eight marginal imprints as described for the series of . the tables of statistics in the postmaster general's reports give the number of / d. stamps received previous to st. october, , as , , ; during the next fiscal year , , were received; and between st. october, and th june, , when they were superseded, , more arrived, making a total stock of , , . the balance on hand when the decimal series was issued was , , which makes the total issue of the / d. stamp , , . the normal color of the stamp is a deep rose. it is found printed on a soft ribbed paper, with the ribbing both horizontal and vertical, as well as on the ordinary hard white wove paper of this issue in both the thin and thicker qualities. the london society's work has the following remarks:[ ]-- two _soi-disant_ provisionals have been chronicled; viz., the halfpenny surcharged in black--one with an arabic numeral " ," and the other with " d. stg." the society can furnish no information concerning these two stamps; but supposing the surcharges to be genuine, they are probably only notifications of insufficient postage applied after the letters were posted. [ ] =the stamps, etc., of the north american colonies of great britain=, page . we find that the original chronicle of these varieties was in _le timbre-poste_ in . concerning them m. moens writes as follows:-- un de nos correspondants nous annonce qu'il possède un timbre rose / penny, surchargé de la marque: _d. stg._ cette émission, provisoire sans doute, doit être le résultat de la penurie momentanée de timbres pence, dans un ou plusieurs bureaux secondaires.[ ] [ ] =le timbre-poste=, vii: . and in the next issue of the paper:-- on nous a montré le / p. rose, non dentélé, surchargé en noir, du chiffre , de mm. environ et placé dans le sens horizontal. c'est probablement encore un timbre émis provisoirement, pour une raison qui nous échappe, le penny n'ayant jamais existé. quant au timbre dont nous avons parlé le mois dernier, le chiffre et la lettre s ont pour dimension mm.[ ] [ ] =ibid.= vii: . we think all idea of a "surcharge" can be at once dismissed, as the raising of the value, particularly to d., would be a very foolish and doubtless wholly unnecessary proceeding, and certainly some record of such procedure would have been found ere this. the impressions were probably from rating stamps that were accidentally struck on the postage stamps, or possibly used purposely as cancellations. * * * * * the report of the postmaster general for the th sept. , notes the fact that previous to all newspapers were rated at / d. each, but in that year were granted free transmission. concerning the new regulations it continues:-- in pursuance of the act of , limiting free transmission to such as are posted directly from the office of publication, a halfpenny rate, pre-payable by postage stamps, has been taken since st. august, on all transient newspapers--that is, papers posted by individuals other than the publishers. the same report states:--"the department has, from st. january, , put in operation an arrangement for the conveyance of parcel packets between any two post offices in canada with the ordinary mails." the charge was fixed at s. d. per pound with a maximum weight of two pounds, and prepayment was enforced. in the department accounts we find the following:-- rawdon, wright, hatch & co., supply of letter and newspaper stamps £ . . which was simply a printing bill. the last payment for the pence issue of stamps appears in the report for th sept., , and is for the deliveries during the nine months from th. sept. to th june, , when the pence stamps were retired. the charge is given in decimal currency:-- rawdon, wright & co., supply of letter and newspaper stamps $ . the report for gives an interesting table showing the growth of the postal business by decades for the thirty years previous. the remarkable increase during the last period, within which the province assumed control and the use of stamps was introduced, is to be noted:-- number of miles of gross letters newspapers year p. offices p. routes postage annually annually , £ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , the year brings us to the end of the pence issues, but before leaving them there is still one more question to consider, that of the perforated varieties, which will form the subject of the next chapter. chapter iv the perforated pence issues the perforated series of the pence issues of canada furnishes another one of those knotty problems for which these stamps are noted. the first intimation of the improvement that was announced officially appears in the report of the postmaster general for th september, , in these words:-- moreover, the department has been led, by the increasing use of postage stamps, to take measures for obtaining the canadian postage stamps on sheets perforated in the dividing lines, in the manner adopted in england, to facilitate the separation of a single stamp from the others on a sheet when required for use. one would naturally suppose that the stamps would be ordered in this condition from the manufacturers, and we think they were; but no further light is thrown upon the matter by the reports, and other facts that persist in intruding themselves have given rise to a theory that the department either bought perforating machines of its own and operated upon the stock on hand, or engaged some local concern to perforate the stock in question. this _might_ have been done, but if so why were the - / and pence stamps omitted? again, had such been the case, it is passing strange that the / penny, issued unperforated but two months before the date of the report, should be approximately twice as common in that state as perforated. in the case of the d., taking stock on hand the th september, , and subsequent deliveries, two-fifths of the entire issue should have been perforated, which would make the latter stamps almost as common as the earlier issues; while in the case of the d., under similar conditions, almost the same ratio holds, the figures being a trifle more in favor of the perforated series. this does not conform with facts at all, and it can hardly be explained by supposing that a relatively small stock of but three values was operated upon in and the improvement then dropped for a couple of years. for further proof of the incorrectness of this theory we think the following fact speaks for itself. appended to each postmaster general's report are various tables of expenditures. one of these statements is headed:-- "sums paid in discharge of tradesmen's bills," and in it are found the amounts paid to various parties named for all kinds of supplies furnished the department. this is where the payments to the engravers of the stamps appear, as well as items for cancelling stamps, post-marks, etc. now a careful examination of all items for the years , and fails to disclose any payment either for purchase of a perforating machine or for having the stamps perforated by outside parties. this may be "negative evidence" but we feel that it has its due weight. nevertheless, we find at least two other perforations on stamps of this issue besides the regulation gauge , which has made it appear to some that the department might have experimented with means of separation before settling definitely on the type adopted. the stamp operated upon was the d., probably as being the most commonly employed value, which would naturally be the case were the perforations the efforts of private parties. the first "irregular" perforation was listed by major evans[ ] as gauging , and the london society's work lists it as well, probably following the earlier catalog. but messrs. corwin and king state:[ ]--"this perforation is totally unknown in america, and we doubt its existence." neither the pack nor the worthington collection contains a copy and we think it can be passed by. [ ] a catalogue for collectors, page . [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . the next perforation is of gauge , and this is well known though of extreme rarity. messrs. corwin and king did not know of over twenty specimens in . we are fortunate in being able to illustrate a fine used pair on piece of cover from the pack collection as no. on plate xiii. most unfortunately, however, as will be noted, some vandal cut the cover, though perhaps unwittingly, just so as to destroy most of the postmark and thus lose forever the date and place of mailing. messrs. corwin and king state:[ ]-- [ ] ibid. i: . we have lately seen a pair of d. perf. , upon the original cover, but which, unfortunately, presents a most indistinct dating stamp, and, although endorsed by the recipient with date of writing, may , date of receipt and date of reply, all three year dates are so indistinctly written that one is unable to tell whether it is or , although we think the former was the date. should this be the case it would seem as though the perf. and another curious perforation just discovered ... were experimental, or provisional, pending the receipt from the makers of those perf. . most of the few stamps perf. which we have seen, appear cut on one or more sides with the shears, as though the users were not familiar with the advantages of perforation as a means of separating the stamps, and adhering in a measure to the old methods. this is one of the reasons which lead us to believe that these stamps, perf. , were issued before those perf. , because the latter are almost invariably separated by tearing apart as is proper.... the writer has in his collection seven copies of the d. perf. , and of these four specimens show double perforation on one or more sides. it is a rare occurrence when a double perforation is found upon any of the stamps so treated by the american bank note co. or their predecessors, and when we find four out of seven specimens in that condition, we are justified in stating that these stamps, gauging , were never perforated by the makers. in another part of the article just quoted is the following:[ ]-- the american bank note co. and rawdon, wright, hatch and edson, their predecessors, have never, according to official information from them, employed any other gauge than , in fact they call their standard and only perforation. allowing that they did perforate the ones found perf. (which are the rule, while those perf. are the exception), then those perf. must have been certainly operated upon elsewhere than in the shops of the bank note co., where this perforation is unknown. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . from all the foregoing we can seem to make but one deduction for the d. perforated and that is--unofficial. the dated cover, if , would be but a month before the issue of the decimal stamps, and the regular "perf. " stamps were plentifully supplied at that time. it would therefore seem that the date must have been , as suggested, which would have been well ahead of the appearance of the "perf. " issues as we shall see later. then the fact that the manufacturers cannot be held responsible for this perforation, and the department accounts furnish no item of expenditure directly traceable to such work, make it seem wholly probable that it was done by private parties for their own or customers' convenience. the "curious perforation" alluded to as just discovered was announced by the scott stamp & coin co. as follows:[ ]-- canada.--in a large lot of pence issues purchased by us lately, we have found two copies of pence on grayish wove paper perforated with oblique parallel cuts. this seems to confirm the theory that the pence issues of canada were not perforated by the manufacturers, but either by the canadian government or by some persons authorized by them, who most likely experimented with different perforating machines, finally selecting the one perforating . [ ] american journal of philately, d. series, iv: . with regard to the deductions given, we think that what we have already presented concerning the unofficial character of the gauge perforation applies with even more force in the present instance, and we unhesitatingly put these two curios in the "privately perforated" class. messrs. corwin and king give further details as follows:[ ]-- as one of them has passed into the possession of the writer, we are able to particularize somewhat with reference to this particular perforation.... our specimen is from the bottom of the sheet, or else the shears have been used, so that we find the perforation as it originally existed between each stamp, before separation. this perforation consists of oblique _curved_ parallel cuts; they are not straight, but show a very decided curve from right to left, looking at the face of the stamp. the other sides of our specimen present, having been torn from the stamp on either side, a very well defined saw-tooth perforation, very much like that found on the bremen stamps, but much coarser, clearly gauging . it occurs to us that, perhaps, this is the perforation listed by the london society, although, had a specimen been before the society when the reference list was compiled, the peculiarity of this style of perforation would surely have been noted by them. [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . to return to the general subject, mr. donald a. king in his own article says:[ ]-- it is an open question whether these stamps were delivered to the canadian post office department in a perforated condition or not. the manufacturers are wholly unable to throw any light on the subject; and while there is much to be said in favor of their having perforated the stamps, there are points against it almost as strong. in favor of it there is the fact that, at the date that these stamps were issued, it was more than probable that a firm like the manufacturers would have perforating machines. the normal gauge of the perforated set is , that being the only size of perforation ever used by the manufacturers, or their successors, the american bank note company; indeed, they call their standard and only gauge. [ ] monthly journal, vii: . the stamps in issue from the time of the announcement of perforation in the report of , to the appearance of the decimal stamps in , were the / d., d., d., - / d., and d. values, but only the first three appeared with perforations. the first supply of the d. stamp, as we know, was received in january , and was naturally unperforated. the first and only supply of the - / d. stamp was received probably in the second quarter of , and these were all unperforated. the first supply of the / d. stamp was doubtless delivered about midsummer of , and these were evidently all unperforated. the other supplies received in the fiscal year of were , of the d. in september , and the same number again in march , together with the , of the d.[ ] evidently these were still in the unperforated class, as they were delivered before either the - / d. or / d. supplies. we must therefore look to the supplies delivered _after_ the th september, , as a basis for reckoning up the perforated series. the values and quantities given in the stamp accounts (already quoted) are as follows:-- / d. d. d. d. rec'd, yr. ending th sept. , , , , , rec'd. half-yr. end'g th june, , , , --------- --------- ------- ------ total, , , , , , , balance on hand th june, , , , , (destroyed) --------- --------- ------- ------ issued , , , , , , the first thing that confronts us here is a second supply of the d. stamp in this supposed "perforated period," over half of which was issued for sale, and yet the d. stamp is practically unknown in a perforated condition! we say practically, because the london society's work[ ] remarks:--"the seven pence halfpenny, green, and ten pence, blue, perforated, exist in the collection of a well known parisian collector. the authenticity, however, of the perforations appears to be doubtful." we think it is more than doubtful, as it is practically certain that neither value was ever issued in this condition. messrs. corwin and king state:[ ]--"we agree with the society in doubting the authenticity of the - / d. and pence, perforated, as these stamps, thus treated, have never been seen in america, nor can anything be ascertained from the makers of the stamps or the canadian post office department concerning them." the last statement is hardly convincing, for neither party referred to can give any more information concerning the other three values that we know _were_ issued. we can heartily subscribe to the next remark, however:--"we have no hesitation in pronouncing them impostors." [ ] metropolitan philatelist, xvii: . [ ] north american colonies of great britain, page . [ ] metropolitan philatelist, i: . the date usually assigned to the appearance of the perforated stamps is january . the london society gave simply " ," which is apparently set down merely because they have just quoted the announcement from the postmaster general's report for that year. evans and moens, in their catalogs, both name the date as november . unfortunately no more authoritative statement has been found, except that in messrs. corwin and king's article[ ] they say "mr. hooper positively states that it took place in january, ." mr. john r. hooper was at that time [ ] connected with the canadian post office department at ottawa and took pains to look up much information for the above-mentioned gentlemen. his reasons for the "positive statement" are not given, and inasmuch as he is quoted elsewhere as saying that "the records of the post office department are silent as to where this perforation was performed and by whom,"[ ] and also seems a little uncertain in some other details, we feel that further confirmation is needed. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist, i=: . [ ] =ibid. i=: . in our table above we have given the supplies received after the th september, , and deducted the remainders so as to have the actual number issued. the d. has already proved a stumbling block, for it was not perforated at all! next we find the d. to the number of , , when the total issue, including the laid paper, was but , ; yet the catalog value of the imperforates is some $ for each variety, and of the perforated stamp at least $ ! can anyone doubt that all these , d. stamps were _not_ perforated? in the case of the d. we have one and a third millions to compare with a total issue of three and a half millions--about a third in the supposed perforated class. yet the catalog value of the latter is $ . against cents for the wove paper imperforate alone. with the / d. stamp there are two millions against a total of three and a third millions, or about two to one in favor of the supposed perforated stamps, yet the latter are double the catalog price of the former! the only conclusion to be drawn from these regularly appearing inconsistencies in each value is that all the supplies after th september, were _not_ perforated, as the d. stamp very glaringly intimates! if this be so, is it not possible that the order to perforate new supplies was given to the manufacturers much later than has hitherto been thought to be the case? it hardly seems likely that this improvement would be ordered for a few supplies and then dropped, only to reappear a year and a half later as a permanent feature of the new set. once adopted it was more than likely to be retained. let us see, then, just for curiosity's sake, what the supplies of the last six months of issue yield us for data. for the / d. we find , , roughly, with , remainders. call it , issued which, if perforated, would be a quarter of the total issue of / d. stamps, or a ratio to the imperforates of one to three. this is not so far away from the catalog ratio of two to one (inversely, of course) in the value of the perforated stamps. with the d. stamp we have , , roughly, with , remainders, say , issued. of a total issue of , , this represents one-eighth, or a ratio of one to seven. the inverse ratio of seven to one for catalog value comes pretty close when we compare $ . with cents! in the case of the d. there are , less , remainders, or , . this is approximately one-eighth the total issue of , , or again a ratio of one to seven. the inverse ratio of seven to one for a catalog value would make the perforated stamp list $ with the imperforate at $ . but both laid and wove paper d. stamps list at approximately $ , whereas if all had been issued on but one variety of paper we might find perhaps a single list price of say $ . with this as a basis, the catalog value of $ for the perforated d. is in as close agreement with our supposition as are the others. and, best of all, the second supply of the d. stamp is disposed of without any difficulty whatever under this hypothesis! it may be argued that reasoning thus from catalog prices is too uncertain to prove of value. granted in many cases. but here is an issue from fifty to sixty years old; the stamps were regularly used in increasing numbers during their years of issue; they have always been popular and eagerly collected, so that the stock in existence has been pretty well handled and pretty well distributed. under these conditions the catalog prices should by this time reflect fairly accurately the _relative_ rarity of the main varieties of each stamp at least; and it is this relative rarity that we are after in order to approximate the original supplies of the main varieties. the result is certainly of more than mere interest, the agreement being such that we are tempted to lay down the following propositions in regard to the perforated stamps for further proof or disproof:-- _first._ the regular perforation (gauge ) was done by the manufacturers and applied to the last requisitions previous to the change to decimal stamps. _second._ the date of the supposed issue of the perforated stamps should be changed from january , to november or january . _third._ the quantities of perforated stamps issued are placed approximately at:-- / d., , ; d., , ; d., , . in further support of the above postulates, we must say that every cover bearing any one of the three perforated stamps which we have been able to get a satisfactory date from has been postmarked in _ _! not one has yet been seen which bore a date in even, and one d. from the seybold collection, which was dated at brantford, dec. , , turned out to be bad. of course perforated pence stamps are hard to find on original covers, but it is curious that so far not one has upset the theory we have laid down. there is one point left which perhaps needs some attention. the london society's work lists a d. on _laid_ paper, perforated , and mr. king has followed by including it in his reference list. this would imply that the canadian government had perforated its stock on hand, in which might be a few remainders of the early laid paper issue, and naturally would go far toward confirming that view of the origin of the perforated series. but this stamp seems to be an unknown quantity, almost as much so as the d. "perforated " of major evans' catalogue. mr. pack says:[ ]--"i have never heard of the d. perforated, on laid paper. it is catalogued in the society's publication, but a copy, so far as i can learn, has never been seen in canada or in the united states." [ ] =london philatelist, xvi=: . we have been interested to track this stamp, and have apparently found the original located in the tapling collection, now housed at the british museum. in a catalog of the canadian portion of this collection by gordon smith,[ ] we find two unused copies listed on _laid_ paper, one marked "perf. " and the other "forged perf." the sequel is found in the _american journal of philately_ for [ ] in the following note:-- there is no longer any mystery in regard to the origin of that _great rarity_! the perforated pence on laid paper, these stamps having been perforated for four or five years in the shops of messrs. benjamin sarpy & co., cullum street, london, who openly boast of having manufactured and sold those in the collection of the late hon. t. k. tapling and other prominent collectors. [ ] =the stamp news, x=: . [ ] =american journal of philately=, d. series, iv: . the paper upon which the perforated pence series is found seems to give further confirmation to the theory that they came from but one or possibly two printings. outside of the two lower values on ribbed paper, which are rare, the series seems to be entirely on a hard, white wove paper, varying in thickness from a medium to a thicker quality, which is in every way similar to the paper employed for the succeeding cents issue. on the thin ribbed paper the london society ( ) and messrs. corwin and king ( ) list the / d. stamp, but this is not found in the catalog of the tapling collection already referred to, nor in the pack or worthington collections; we have therefore listed it with a query. the d. stamp we have seen, however, and mr. pack says it "is a scarce stamp even in used condition, but in unused condition i find it one of the great rarities of canada."[ ] [ ] =london philatelist, xvi=: . as noted under chapter ii,[ ] the use of split stamps was not usual, as in nova scotia, but mr. king chronicles the d. perforated, in dark violet, split diagonally and used as a d. in like manner to its unperforated predecessor. [ ] see page . chapter v the cancellations of the early issues a rather interesting study, particularly for the collector of entires, is that of postmarks and cancellations, and sometimes much assistance in the solution of knotty questions is rendered by these often despised and neglected adjuncts to the proper use of postage stamps. the early cancellations of canada have been the subject of some attention, more so, in fact, than the postmarks, as they were required to be used on the stamps while the postmark was struck on the cover, where the date and place of mailing would be plainly visible. in one of the early volumes of reports it is stated that "office stamps and seals were supplied from england on st july, ." it is presumed that this included postmarks and cancellations. it will be remembered, perhaps, that in the circular announcing the issue of stamps in [ ] it was ordered that "stamps so affixed are to be immediately _cancelled_ ... with an instrument to be furnished for that purpose." the first one so supplied was the "concentric rings" cancellation, consisting of seven concentric circles and having an outer diameter of mm. this is the most common of all, being found from the very earliest dates down to , at least, as it occurs on the early shades of the "small" cents issue. it was generally struck in black ink, but may occasionally be found in a dull blue. a good illustration of this cancellation is seen on the cover numbered on plate vi. [ ] see page . by , at least, a modified form of the concentric ring cancellation was introduced. this had a number in the center in large figures, some mm. high, with four concentric circles enclosing it, the outside diameter being about mm. this type was generally struck in black, but is sometimes found in a dull blue also. it can be seen on the strip of stamps numbered on plate v. the numbers, of course, were placed in the cancellations with a definite purpose, and a little study of entire covers shows that certain numbers were assigned to certain post offices, as might be suspected. number , for instance, is the most common one and will be found to be connected with montreal. further study will reveal the fact that the names of the post offices were taken in alphabetical order, and the numbers assigned to them consecutively in that way. still further inspection develops the fact that most of the post offices were those in upper canada (or canada west), while but a few of the most important ones were included from lower canada (or canada east.) mr. edgar nelton seems first to have made a study of these numbers in an attempt to identify their corresponding post offices, and he published a list of some twenty-two as the result of his examination of many original covers.[ ] the numbers run up to at least, and using the facts that we have deduced concerning the arrangement of the names, we have endeavored to fill out his skeleton list with such offices as it seems possible may yet be identified with the corresponding numbers. we have done this with some assurance for the following reasons:-- [ ] =chicago collectors' monthly, ii=: . we were fortunately able to examine a canada directory for - , and on looking up the postal information given therein, found a list of the money order offices then existing. this was in two sections, the first containing the names, alphabetically arranged, of offices in "class no. ," which included most of the principal cities and towns; and the second a lengthy alphabetical list of offices in "class no. ." the first section had a somewhat familiar appearance, and inspection showed that a majority of the names on mr. nelton's list of numbered cancellations were there in proper order! but more names were needed, according to the cancellation numbers, to fill out the latter series. the second section was therefore examined for such towns as had the largest populations and were presumably most important. the result enabled more than one name, already on mr. nelton's list, to be fitted in its proper place! here, then, was apparently the solution of the first series of numbered cancellations, and we hazard a guess that the names are the original list of money order offices, arranged when the money order system was instituted in february, . the subjoined table gives the list of post offices and their corresponding numbers, which has been worked out along the lines above mentioned. it is offered in the hope that more will be done to determine positively the correspondence between the two. the names in ordinary type are those that have been identified without any reasonable doubt; those that have been fitted in tentatively are in italics. the roman numeral following indicates the class to which the money order office belongs. list of numbered cancellations. . _barrie, u. c._ i . belleville, u. c. i . _berlin, u. c._ i . bowmanville, u. c. i . brantford, u. c. i . _brighton, u. c._ ii . _brockville, u. c._ i . chatham, u. c. i . _clinton, u. c._ ii . _cobourg, u. c._ i . _cornwall, u. c._ i . _dundas, u. c._ i . galt, u. c. i . _goderich, u. c._ i . _guelph, u. c._ i . hamilton, u. c. i . _ingersoll, u. c._ ii . kingston, u. c. i . london, u. c. i . melbourne, l. c. ii . montreal, l. c. i . napanee, u. c. ii . _napierville, l. c._ ii . _newcastle, u. c._ ii . _niagara, u. c._ i . _oakville, u. c._ ii . ottawa, u. c. i . _paris, u. c._ i . perth, u. c. ii . peterborough, u. c. i . picton, u. c. ii . _port dover, u. c._ ii . _port hope, u. c._ i . port sarnia, u. c. ii . prescott, u. c. i . _preston, u. c._ ii . quebec, l. c. i . st. catherines, u. c. i . _st. hyacinthe, l. c._ ii . _st. johns, l. c._ ii . _st. thomas, u. c._ i . _sherbrooke, l. c._ ii . simcoe, u. c. ii . _smith's falls, u. c._ ii . stanstead, l. c. ii . stratford, u. c. i . three rivers, l. c. i . _toronto, u. c._ i . whitby, u. c. ii . _windsor, u. c._ i . _woodstock, u. c._ i . _york, u. c._ ii it will be noticed, if mr. helton's list is compared with the above, that there are a few discrepancies. he assigns toronto to no. , which is manifestly out of place. owen sound is given to no. , while should be its location; the latter must be reserved for paris, however, which is a first class office where owen sound is but second class. richmond is given as no. , but as st. catherines, a first class office, has been identified as no. , there seems no place for the second class office of richmond, which should precede it alphabetically. niagara has been assigned to no. , but in such case it would necessitate two blanks preceding ottawa, so it seems that the proper number should be . with these few exceptions no further trouble was experienced in working out the list, and since it was drawn up numbers , , , and have been identified and tallied exactly with it! such proof has gone far toward confirming our propositions in regard to it, and we hope for more. a third cancellation, which was apparently used mainly for newspapers and packages, consisted of nine somewhat thick diagonal bars, the whole impression having a square outline. this was generally struck in black, but occasionally in dull blue. postmarks were supposed to be used only on the cover, where they would plainly exhibit the story they were to tell, while the cancellation marks were intended to deface the stamp. but sometimes the postmarks are found used for the latter purpose. they seem to be mostly of two varieties, both circular in outline, a larger one having the town name in a curve above, with u. c., l. c., c. w., or c. e., at the bottom, and arcs of two concentric circles filling in the outline between; a second being smaller with a single arc of a circle filling in the outline. the first variety is plainly shown on the cover numbered on plate vi, and the second on the cover numbered on plate xiv. the date in the center seems always to be given in full--month, day and year. the postmarks are generally in black, as usual, but sometimes in dull blue. penmarked specimens are sometimes met with, but not often. with the issue of the duplex mark seems to have been adopted, with the postmark (the ordinary complete circle with the usual arrangement of name, abbreviation of province and date) and the cancellation mark (a series of parallel lines with a circular outline) on the same instrument so as to be struck on the letter together. with the issue for the dominion we of course find the cancellations of new brunswick and nova scotia, then british columbia and finally prince edward island, all of which introduce complications. a new cancellation, which seems to have been for the dominion as a whole, consisted of two heavy concentric circles containing a number. it is one of this kind that mr. nelton refers to in his article as having the number . a notable cancellation is one in the shape of a large maple leaf. an interesting and rare postmark which was found on the cent of the issue, is thus written up by mr. f. g. bing[ ]:-- [ ] =the postage stamp, vii=: . the stamp had been obliterated with a small thick lined circle in which appear the words "way letter" in large type. eventually a full account of the matter was obtained from the canadian postal authorities. * * * * * post office department, canada. office of the superintendent of the postage stamp branch. ottawa, th march, . dear sir:--replying to your enquiry on the subject, as to the object of the post office mark consisting of a rather thick circle in which are the words "way letter" only, impressed upon a canada postage stamp ( c.) similar to the one you enclosed, and which i herewith return, i find on enquiry that previous to the confederation of the dominion of canada in , there was in nova scotia and new brunswick a regulation requiring mail couriers on the coach roads to accept letters for mailing, when these were offered them at a distance of not less than one or two miles from the nearest post office, to place them in a locked leather pouch provided for the purpose, and to post them at the first post office, the postmaster of which was instructed to stamp these with the words "way letter." after confederation this postmark lingered at some of the offices in the provinces named, when it was used for general cancellation purposes, if not for its primary purpose. it has now, however, wholly disappeared. some think it lasted up to or , but i am sorry i cannot furnish you with a more definite date as to its extinction. very truly yours, e. p. stanton, _superintendent_. it will be seen from this interesting letter that the postmark was in the first instance applied to the postage stamps of nova scotia and new brunswick, and it is quite possible that only upon the stamps of these two provinces does it possess its full original significance. at the same time it does not follow that the regulations under which this cancellation was in use were immediately withdrawn with the confederation of the dominion of canada; and it is more than probable that the custom based upon these regulations of accepting letters from the public at a distance from a post office, and applying the special obliteration, would continue long after that date, as it is evident that the use of the "way letter" postmark was never definitely prohibited by the canadian postal authorities, or the date of its extinction would not have been in doubt. it is, however, quite certain that only a comparatively small number of letters would be entitled to receive this special mark, and its rarity is therefore indisputable. various new varieties came with the "small" cents issue and later, concerning which there is not so much of interest as in the earlier years of the postal service; we therefore pass them by, remarking only on the special "jubilee" machine cancellation which was used at montreal in . this was of the "flag" form and somewhat ornate, bearing the name "victoria" and the dates " " and " ." chapter vi the issue of with two valuations placed upon the cumbrous english monetary system inherited by canada from the mother country--"sterling" and "currency"--and with the practical illustration of the advantages of the decimal system manifest in all the transactions with its great southern neighbor, whose currency was already legalized in the province,[ ] it was only a question of time when canada would adopt a decimal system of its own. this was done, but all that interests us is the decimal postage law resulting, which is as follows:-- [ ] see page . ^o vict. cap. xvii. an act to amend the post office laws. [_assented to th may, ._] whereas it is expedient to amend the post office laws, in the manner hereinafter provided: therefore, her majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the legislative council and assembly of canada, enacts as follows: . there shall be payable on all newspapers sent by post in canada, except "exchange papers" addressed to editors and publishers of newspapers, such rate of postage, not exceeding one cent on each such newspaper, as the governor in council shall from time to time direct by regulation, and such rate shall be payable on all such newspapers posted on or after the first day of july next. . so much of any act as provides that newspapers posted within this province shall pass free of postage, in cases other than those in which they will be free under this act, is hereby repealed. . in order to adapt the operations of the post office to the decimal currency, the internal letter postage rate shall be changed from three pence to its equivalent of five cents, per half ounce--the charge for advertising a dead letter from three farthings to two cents--the charge for returning a dead letter to the writer, from one penny to three cents; and in all cases where a one half-penny or penny rate of postage is chargeable, these rates shall be changed to one cent and two cents respectively. . to promote simplicity and economy in the business of the post office, all letters posted in canada for any place within the province, and not prepaid, shall be charged seven instead of five cents per half ounce on delivery; and on letters posted for the british mails, for the other british north american provinces, or for the united states, when not prepaid, there shall be charged such addition to the ordinary rate, not in any case exceeding a double rate, as the post master general may agree upon with the post office authorities of those countries, for the purpose of enforcing prepayment. . the post master general may establish a parcel post and parcels other than letters and not containing letters, may be sent by such parcel post, and when so sent shall be liable to such charges for conveyance and to such regulations as the governor in council shall from time to time see fit to make. * * * * * . [_to inclose a letter in a parcel or a newspaper, posted as such, is a misdemeanor._] from the above act we see that the transmission of newspapers has again been subjected to revision looking toward an increase of revenue, all free transmission by post being now limited to exchange copies between editors or publishers. the making of prepayment by stamps obligatory was another step which had been quite strongly recommended in the last postmaster general's report in these terms:-- no single improvement would be so valuable to the post office service as the introduction of the system of the pre-payment of letters by stamp. it is not recommended that pre-payment of letters should be made absolutely compulsory, but where stamps are readily procurable, pre-payment in that form should be insisted on, and the principle of pre-payment should be enforced by imposing an additional charge on letters posted unpaid. by referring to the act subsequently passed we see that these recommendations were carried out to the letter. in regard to the fifth section of the act, concerning the parcel post, we come across another example of the curious shuffling of dates and apparent _ex post facto_ law making which we have previously noted. in quoting the postmaster general's report for _ th sept., _,[ ] we found it stated that the parcel post had been in operation "from _ st january, _," and now we have the legislative act providing for it passed under date of _ th may, _! this is going it one better on "reading history backward" by actually making it backward! the reports at least, as we previously deduced, were evidently written some time after the dates given them and did not confine their record to happenings previous to those fictitious dates. confirmation of this is furnished by the postmaster general's report that we have to consider, that of the hon. sydney smith for the year ending th september, , the report being actually dated th february, . [ ] see page . * * * * * further details concerning the parcel post are not given until the report for th june, , where we read:-- by means of the parcel post a parcel may be sent within the province to or from any place, however remote from the ordinary lines of traffic conveyance, on prepayment of a postage rate of cents per lb., provided that the weight or size of the parcel does not exceed the carrying capacity of an ordinary mail bag; and provided that the contents of the parcel are not of a character to injure the rest of the mail. the rate is given in decimal currency, then in use, but at the time of the establishment of the parcel post the equivalent rate would have been s. d. currency. in the report for it is stated that:-- the provisions of the parcel post have been extended to parcels passing between canada and new brunswick and nova scotia, and parcels not containing letters may now be forwarded by post from one end of british north america to the other, on prepayment of a uniform rate of cents per lb. in the report for , mentioned above, we find the following:-- the law of last session directing the conversion of all postage rates into decimals, and the collection of postage in the new decimal currency, was put in operation on the st july.... decimal stamps of the value of cent, cents, and cents for ordinary correspondence, and of - / cents for canadian, and of cents for british packet postage rates were obtained in readiness for the commencement of the decimal postage law in july, , and have from that date been issued in lieu of the stamps previously in use. the cents issue of canadian stamps therefore dates from july , . the stamps themselves were merely an adaptation of the designs of the pence series to the corresponding values of the decimal currency. the one cent stamp was unchanged from the half-penny except for the substitution of the new for the former value. the five cents stamp had these words in place of the old denomination, with a quarterfoil ornament separating them at each side from canada and postage. oblique figures were placed in the spandrels on a cross-hatched ground instead of the upright figures on foliations. a similar change was made in the ten cents, roman numerals x being placed obliquely in the spandrels on a cross-hatched ground where upright figures were previously on foliations; while the new denomination was substituted for the old. the sole change in the - / cent stamp was to substitute " - / c." in the spandrels for the former values in sterling and currency. the cent stamp had the value in words replacing ten pence, but the new value was so much longer that the emblems between the old value and canada postage were removed and replaced by two small elliptic ornaments. " d. stg." still occupies the upper spandrels, but figures are placed in each of the lower ones. the central designs in each of the above stamps are absolutely identical with those of the pence stamps that preceded them--indeed the portrait and surrounding oval with inscriptions on the - / c. are all unchanged. from this it is evident that the new dies were "built up" from the old ones, the central portions being transferred and the required changes in surrounding inscriptions, etc., being newly engraved. this was easy enough of accomplishment since the american bank note co., who furnished the new stamps, were the successors of messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch and edson, the firm name having been changed on may , , and the dies of the pence issue were of course in their possession. illustrations of the five values will be found as nos. , , , and , respectively, on plate i. there was one addition to the list of values in this set during its period of use--a cent stamp. in the postmaster general's report for th june, , it is noted:--"a new postage stamp, of the value of two cents, was added to the other denominations supplied, from the st. august last [ ]." the report for the succeeding year has this further to say:--"a provision has been made for the transmission and delivery of canadian periodicals, addressed to the united kingdom, at the reduced rate of two cents each," and it was evidently largely on account of this that the new stamp was ordered. its design was unmistakably "built up" as with the rest of the set, the cent stamp serving as the model, figures being placed in ovals in the spandrels and the wording of the value being changed to correspond. (illustration no. on plate i). the stamp was issued as stated on the st august, . all the stamps of this issue were, as before, line engraved and printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten. the same style of marginal inscriptions as in the first issue is found--"american bank note co. new-york" in minute letters of the type known as "diamond," repeated twice in each margin, reading up on the left, down on the right, and inverted at the bottom of the sheet. in the , , and - / c. stamps the imprint is placed against the third and eighth stamps of each marginal row of ten, but from a block of c. at hand the inscriptions in the case of this value are apparently "centered" over the space between the third and fourth and the seventh and eighth stamps of each marginal row, thus bringing them over two stamps instead of one. curiously enough, the c. value has no marginal inscriptions at all. the same plate variety that occurs in the d. stamp--the "shifted transfer" or "double strike"--is repeated in its successor, the c. stamp. that it is a true plate variety is abundantly proved by the fine block of seven stamps illustrated as no. on plate vii. the variety will be found in the upper right corner stamp, and the doubling of the frame lines at the left and of the oval frame line above canada will be readily apparent. a single copy is illustrated as no. on plate i. it seems to have been first noted by mr. r. wuesthoff in the _american journal of philately_ for june, . a minor variety of the c. stamp printed from a worn plate is also to be noted, in which the fine lines of the groundwork have almost disappeared. the entire series comes regularly perforated , the identical normal perforation of the pence stamps that immediately preceded it, and which we have endeavored to trace to the same source. the abnormal varieties in this series are of course the imperforate ones, and of these we present cuts of a full set in blocks of four, numbered to on plate ix. that the stamps were actually issued and used in this condition is proved by copies of several with the proper postmarks of the period in the pack collection. mr. pack writes of them[ ]:-- i have the c. and c. postmarked in and at toronto and prescott, canada west. i also believe that these varieties were on sale at kingston, canada west, at about that time. i have also the c. and c. in undoubtedly early used condition. [ ] =london philatelist, xvi=: . further varieties are formed by "split" stamps, as before, though these were never authorized and seldom used. we are fortunate in being able to illustrate two five cent stamps used with half of a third to make up the - / c. packet rate. this is no. on plate vii. the postmark is unfortunately mostly torn away, but is evidently "montreal," and the last numeral in the year figures seems to be an " ," which would mean " ." a c. stamp also split and used for a c. is shown on the entire as no. on plate viii. the postmark is "bowmanville, u.c., feb. , ." the normal colors for the stamps of this series may be given as cent deep rose, cents dull rose, cents deep red, - / cents deep green, and cents prussian blue. it will be noticed that we have omitted the cents--and with reason. if the pence stamp of the preceding issue was difficult to select a normal color for, how shall we find one for its successor? messrs. corwin and king say[ ]:--"the most surprising fact about this issue is the vast number of colors and shades to be found in the cents. we have several hundreds of them in our collection, and are continually adding new color varieties." they run all the way from a bright red lilac through shades of violet and brown to a black brown, which is so dark and distinct that it has for years been catalogued separately. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist, ii=: . the paper on which these stamps were printed does not show as much variation as in the previous issue. mr. king[ ] gives a list of five varieties, all of which vary considerably in thickness. it seems sufficient for our purposes, however, to list them under three heads as ordinary wove paper, a thick, hard wove paper, and ribbed paper. [ ] =monthly journal, vii=: . these stamps were in issue from the st july , until the series issued for the new dominion of canada appeared on st april, . the stamp accounts in the various postmaster general's reports give the quantities received and issued, and we present here a summary of these tables as their reproduction entire would serve no useful purpose unless to show the increase in the consumption of stamps from year to year as the postal business increased. _received from_ _manufacturers_: c. c. c. - / c. c. quarter ending th sept. , , , , , , , year ending th sept. , , , , , , , year ending th sept. , , , , , , , year ending th sept. , , , , , , , year ending th sept. , , , , , , , mos. ending th june , , , , , , , year ending th june , , , , , , , year ending th june , , , , , , , year ending th june , , , , , , , year ending th june (?) , , , , ? ...... ---------- --------- ------- --------- ------- totals , , , , , , , , , the yearly supplies of the cent stamps, first appearing in the accounts, were as follows:-- , , , , (?) ------- total , unfortunately the stamp accounts for do not separate the supplies received in the old and new designs, so that in the case of the , and - / cent stamps, which appear in both issues, the quantity delivered by the manufacturers is a total which we cannot divide with certainty. an approximation may perhaps be made, particularly with the cent stamp. the balance of this value on hand th june, , was , , and the deliveries in the year ending th june, , were , , . inasmuch as the yearly issue of this value had been some , , the probability is that the odd , delivered belonged to the series, as this would make , for the nine month's supply to st april; the even two millions were doubtless the order for the new series. the yearly issue of the cent had been some - / to millions; if from the , , received, according to the report, we take the odd , , we find it makes , , when combined with the balance on hand in . this gives a sufficient supply for the nine months of the old issue and leaves an even two millions again for the new series. the - / cent presents a slightly different aspect. the yearly issue had been some , , and the amount on hand in was , --without doubt a plentiful supply for the nine months preceding the issue of the new stamps. it must be remembered, also, in all these cases, that the "amount on hand" was that of the department's stock, and that the postmasters were of course in possession of local stocks. it therefore seems probable that the , - / cent stamps received in were of the new series alone. the and cent stamps, however, which are lacking in the new set, can at once be added to their preceding deliveries, and it will be noted that no further supplies of the c. stamp were required during the year. we find in the department accounts that the american bank note co. was paid $ . for "engraving postage stamps" during the fiscal year, which was the final settlement with that company. what became of the remainder of the old issue does not appear, but it seems probable that they were largely used up in the course of regular business, as no object would be gained by turning in the relatively small quantities remaining, for accounting and destruction, unless it be the cent value, which had become rather useless. curiously enough, the stamp accounts _do_ separate the old and new issues in the "balance on hand, th june, ," which was three months after the appearance of the new set. these figures are as follows:-- cent , cents cents , cents , - / cents , cents , glancing now over the postmaster general's reports for the years - , during which the above issue was in use, and which were the last years of the strictly provincial control, we find many items of interest. in the report for it is noted that "the issue and use by the public of postage stamps has increased with great rapidity since last return," and the issue of stamped envelopes "for the promotion of public convenience" is announced. these will be treated of by themselves in a later chapter. we find the experiment was made of placing street letter boxes in toronto, and "with very encouraging results as to the extent to which the number of letters posted in these boxes would appear to demonstrate their usefulness. these pillar boxes are visited, at least twice each day, at suitable hours, by post office messengers, in order to convey the letters deposited in them to the post office." preparations were also being made to install letter boxes in montreal and quebec. the department accounts have the following entries:-- rawdon, wright & co., supply of letter and newspaper stamps $ . american bank note co., engraving letter and newspaper stamps . of course the amounts all went to the same concern, as the firm name had been changed on may , , as already noted. the report for contains interesting statistical information concerning the growth of the department, which it may be well to put on record:-- year no. of miles of no. of letters postal revenue remarks offices. post by post (deducting route. per annum. dead letters.) , , , , , , $ , . {first year of { account under { provincial control. , , , , . {charge on { newspapers { reduced one-half. , , , , . , , , , . {newspapers conveyed { without charge. , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . {additional c. rate { on unpaid letters { and charge { made on newspapers. the report continues:-- from the experience of the past, the confident hope may be entertained that, by a wise and judicious economy, (and without withholding from newly settled portions of the country, the postal accommodations without which the settlement of the country cannot advance), in a comparatively short space of time the postage upon letters may be reduced from the present five cent to a _three cent rate_, as near an approach to the penny sterling postage system of the mother country as the relative value of our currency will conveniently permit. it was eight years before these hopes were realized, however. the "epistolary intercourse with the united states" is given for the same period, but we need only note that the postal value of the total correspondence exchanged was $ , . in , had increased to $ , . in , and then dropped gradually to $ , . in . the report says:-- the prepayment of letters passing between the two countries continues optional on either side, at the combined rate of cents per / oz. from any place in canada to any place in the united states and _vice versa_, except to or from the states on the pacific, california and oregon, when the rate is cents per / oz. the accounts present a charge in favor of the american bank note co. of $ . "for engraving letter and newspaper stamps and stamped envelopes." of the latter we shall have more to say in their proper place. the reports of and contain nothing special, and the accounts show payments of $ . and $ . respectively to the american bank note co. the report of states that in november of that year an agreement was entered into with the united states for the transmission between the two countries of seeds, bulbs, etc., at cent per ounce, and also book manuscripts, printers' proof sheets, maps, prints, etc., at the same rate. in january , the imperial post office extended to the mails between canada and the united kingdom regulations conceding patterns of merchandise and trade samples at the same rates as books and printed matter. the american bank note co. was paid $ . . the next report is dated th june, , instead of the usual th september, and is therefore for nine months only. this was done to bring the fiscal year of the post office department to correspond with the financial year of the general government. the enactment which was the cause of the change follows:-- ^o-- ^o vict. cap. vi. an act to amend the law respecting the public accounts, and the board of audit. (_assented to th june, _) . it shall be the duty of the board of audit to prepare and submit to the minister of finance the public accounts to be annually laid before parliament. . the said public accounts shall include the period from the thirtieth of june in one year to the thirtieth of june in the next year, which period shall constitute the financial year.... there is nothing particular in the report for these nine months to quote here, except the payment of the relatively small sum of $ . to the american bank note co. the report for states that "regulations have been adopted establishing a sample and pattern post in canada, and packets of trade samples, or patterns of merchandise, may be sent by post between any places within this province, on prepayment of one cent per ounce, under certain conditions to prevent an abuse of the privilege." it further announces that "street letter boxes are being placed in all the principal streets of montreal." the reports of and were published together, but contain little of interest beyond the statistics we have already used. payments to the american bank note co. were $ . in and $ . in . the final payment to the american co., which we have already quoted from the report, was $ . . we read that "the street letter boxes put up in the city of montreal have worked satisfactorily. the number of letters and papers posted therein weekly, appeared from returns taken to be, letters , papers , or at the rate of , letters and papers per annum." authority to establish letter boxes was given by an act of parliament which contains several other matters of interest and which we therefore quote. ^o-- ^o vict. cap. xi. an act to amend the post office act. [_assented to th august, ._] whereas the more effectually to prevent frauds upon the post office revenue, it is expedient to amend the post office act: therefore, her majesty, by and with the consent of the legislative council and assembly of canada, enacts as follows: . if any person uses or attempts to use in payment of postage on any letter or mailable thing posted in this province, any postage stamp which has been before used for a like purpose, such person shall be subjected to a penalty of not less than ten and not exceeding forty dollars for every such offense, and the letter or other mailable thing on which such stamp has been so improperly used may be detained, or in the discretion of the postmaster general forwarded to its destination charged with double the postage to which it would have been liable if posted unpaid. . [_to enclose a letter in a parcel, packet of samples or newspaper, posted an such, shall be an offense punishable by a fine of not less than ten or more than forty dollars in each case._] . the postmaster general may grant licenses, revocable at pleasure, to agents, other than postmasters, for the sale to the public, of postage stamps and stamped envelopes, and may allow to such agents a commission not exceeding five per cent, on the amount of their sales;--and it shall not be lawful for any person to exercise the business of selling postage stamps or stamped envelopes to the public unless duly licensed to do so by the postmaster general and under such conditions as he may prescribe: and any person who shall violate this provision by selling postage stamps or stamped envelopes to the public without a license from the postmaster general, shall on conviction before a justice of the peace, incur a penalty of not exceeding forty dollars for each offence. * * * * * . the postmaster general may, when in his judgment the public convenience requires it, establish street letter boxes or pillar boxes for the reception of letters and other mailable matter in the streets of any city or town in this province, and from the time that a letter is deposited in any such street letter box or pillar box it shall be deemed to be a post letter within the meaning of the post office act. . [_wilfully injuring such letter boxes is a misdemeanor._] * * * * * . the governor in council may, by regulations to be from time to time made, provide for the transmission through the mails of this province, of patterns and samples of merchandise and goods for sale, and of packages of seeds, cuttings, bulbs, roots and scions or grafts, on such terms and conditions as may be set forth in such regulations. . [_wilfully destroying, damaging or detaining any of above articles is a misdemeanor._] the only other item to quote from the report of is the following:--"on st july, the union act came into operation, and brought under one central administration the postal service throughout the dominion." with this statement we close the account of the postal history of the province of canada, and in the next chapter open up the larger one of the dominion of canada, whose later issues, though not without interest, still lack the charm that time can never tear from the simple, yet dignified and beautiful stamps of the province. chapter vii the dominion of canada preliminary. as outlined in our introductory chapter, the union of upper and lower canada into the single province of canada had been so manifestly advantageous that it started an agitation for the union of all the british north american provinces. the result was a convention, held at quebec in , which drafted a proposed constitution that was later embodied by the british parliament in "an act for the union of canada, nova scotia and new brunswick, and the government thereof,"[ ] which was passed on the th march, . the preamble recites that "the provinces of canada, nova scotia, and new brunswick have expressed their desire to be federally united into one dominion under the crown of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland, with a constitution similar in principle to that of the united kingdom." the act is cited in brief as "the british north america act ," and provides that the dominion of canada shall be divided into four provinces named ontario, quebec, nova scotia and new brunswick; that there shall be a governor general who may select his own privy council; that there shall be a parliament consisting of a senate, with members appointed by the governor general for life, and a house of commons of elected representatives; that the seat of government shall be at ottawa; that each province shall have a lieutenant governor appointed by the governor general and a local legislature similar to the dominion parliament; and making provision for the admission of newfoundland, prince edward island, british columbia and rupert's land and the north-western territory. the act took effect on the st july, , which day is annually observed as "dominion day." [ ] ^o-- ^o vict. cap. iii. the first parliament of canada, which convened at ottawa on november , , was naturally largely concerned in revising and consolidating the laws of the various provinces, and among these of course appeared the post office laws. a number of changes were introduced, but many of the provisions of former acts were embodied almost as they stood in the new statute. we reproduce its most important features in our line of inquiry. ^o vict. cap. x. an act for the regulation of the postal service. [_assented to st. december_, .] her majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the senate and house of commons of canada, enacts as follows: preliminary--interpretation. . this act shall be known and may be cited as _the post office act_ ; and the following terms and expressions therein shall be held to have the meaning hereinafter assigned to them.... the term "letter" includes packets of letters; the term "postage" means the duty or sum chargeable for the conveyance of post letters, packets and other things by post; the term "foreign country" means any country not included in the dominions of her majesty; the term "foreign postage" means the postage on the conveyance of letters, packets or other things, within any foreign country or payable to any foreign government; the term "canada postage" means the postage on the conveyance of letters, packets and other things by post within the dominion of canada or by canada mail packet; the term "mail" includes every conveyance by which post letters are carried, whether it be by land or by water; the term "british packet postage" means the postage due on the conveyance of letters by british packet boats, between the united kingdom and british north america;--and the term "british postage" includes all postage not being foreign, colonial or canadian; * * * * * the term "post letter" means any letter transmitted or deposited in any post office to be transmitted by the post;--and a letter shall be deemed a post letter from the time of its being so deposited or delivered at a post office, to the time of its being delivered to the party to whom it is addressed.... . all laws in force in the provinces of canada, nova scotia or new brunswick, at the union thereof on the first of july, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in respect to the postal service, and continued in force by the "british north america act ," shall be and the same are hereby repealed. * * * * * organization and general provisions. . there shall be at the seat of government of canada a post office department for the superintendence and management of the postal service of canada, under the direction of a postmaster general. . the postmaster general shall be appointed by commission under the great seal of canada, and shall hold his office during pleasure. * * * * * . the postmaster general may, subject to the provisions of this act: . establish and close post offices and post routes; * * * * * . enter into and enforce all contracts relating to the conveyance of the mails or other business of the post office; . [_make regulations concerning mailable matter and limits of weight and dimensions of such._] . [_establish rates of postage and conditions on matter not already provided for._] . cause to be prepared and distributed postage stamps, necessary for the prepayment of postages under this act, also stamped envelopes for the like purpose; . [_make arrangements concerning posts and postal business with postal authorities outside of canada._] * * * * * . prescribe and enforce such regulations as to letters directed to be registered as to him may seem necessary, in respect to the registration of letters and other matter passing by mail, as well between places in canada, as between canada and the united kingdom, any british possession, the united states or any other foreign country, and to the charge to be made for the same; and also in respect to the registration by the officers of the post office of letters unquestionably containing money or other valuable enclosure when posted without registration by the senders of the same, and to imposing a rate of two cents registration charge upon such letters; * * * * * . establish and provide street letter boxes or pillar boxes or boxes of any other description for the receipt of letters and such other mailable matter as he may deem expedient, in the streets of any city or town in canada, or at any railway station or other public place where he may consider such letter boxes to be necessary; . grant licenses revocable at pleasure, to agents other than postmasters, for the sale to the public of postage stamps and stamped envelopes, and allow to such agents a commission of not exceeding five per cent, on the amount of their sales. rates of postage. . on all letters transmitted by post for any distance within canada, except in cases herein otherwise specially provided for, there shall be charged and paid one uniform rate of three cents per half ounce in weight, any fraction of an ounce being chargeable as a half ounce, provided that such three cents postage rate be prepaid by postage stamps or in current coin at the time of posting such letters; and when such letters are posted without prepayment being made thereon, then and in such case it shall be lawful to charge upon letters so posted unpaid a rate of five cents per half ounce. . on letters not transmitted through the mails, but posted and delivered at the same post office, commonly known as local or drop letters, the rate shall be one cent, to be in all cases prepaid by postage stamp affixed to such letters. . [_seamen and soldiers, etc. in her majesty's service, entitled to receive and send letters on payment of a certain special sum in lieu of all british postage, shall be freed likewise from canadian postage._] . the rate of postage upon newspapers printed and published in canada, and issued not less frequently than once a week, from a known office of publication, and sent to regular subscribers in canada by mail, shall be as follows: upon each such newspaper, when issued once a week, the rate for each quarter of a year, commencing on the first of january, first of april, first of july, or first of october of each year, shall be five cents, when issued twice a week, ten cents, when issued three times a week, fifteen cents, when issued six times a week, thirty cents, and in that proportion, adding one rate of five cents for each issue more frequent than once a week; and such postage must be pre-paid in advance from the first day of the quarter from which the payment commences, for a term of not less than a quarter of a year: ... provided, nevertheless, that _exchange papers_, addressed by one editor or publisher of a newspaper to another editor or publisher, may be sent by post free of charge. . on all newspapers sent by post in canada, except in the cases hereinbefore expressly provided for, there shall be payable a rate not exceeding two cents each, and when such newspapers are posted in canada this rate shall in all cases be prepaid by postage stamp affixed to the same. . for the purposes of this act, the word "newspapers" shall be held to mean periodicals published not less frequently than once in each week, and containing notices of passing events. . the rate of postage upon periodical publications, other than newspapers, shall be one cent per four ounces, or half a cent per number, when such periodicals weigh less than one ounce and are posted singly, and when such periodical publications are posted in canada, these rates shall in all cases be prepaid by postage stamps affixed to the same. . on books, pamphlets, occasional publications, printed circulars, prices current, handbills, book and newspaper manuscript, printer's proof sheets whether corrected or not, maps, prints, drawings, engravings, photographs when not on glass, in cases containing glass, sheet music whether printed or written, packages of seeds, cuttings, bulbous roots, scions or grafts, patterns or samples of merchandize or goods, the rate of postage shall be one cent per ounce; provided that no letter or other communication intended to serve the purpose of a letter be sent or enclosed therein, and that the same be sent in covers open at the ends or sides or otherwise so put up as to admit of inspection by the officers of the post office to ensure compliance with this provision--and this postage rate shall be prepaid by postage stamps in all cases when such articles are posted in canada. . [_foregoing rates subject to such conditions as may be agreed upon between canada and any other country._] . [_postage on unpaid letters is due from addressee, or if refused may be recovered with costs by civil action from sender._ (see ^o-- ^o vict. cap. , sec. .)] . in all cases where letters and other mailable matter are posted for places without the limits of canada, on which stamps for pre-payment are affixed of less value than the true rate of postage to which such letters are liable,--or when stamps for prepayment are affixed to letters addressed to any place as aforesaid for which prepayment cannot be taken in canada,--the postmaster general may forward such letters, charged with postage, as if no stamp had been affixed. . and for avoiding doubts, and preventing inconvenient delay in the posting and delivery of letters,--no postmaster shall be bound to give change, but the exact amount of the postage on any letter or other mailable matter shall be tendered or paid to him in current coin as respects letters or other things delivered, and in current coin or postage stamps as the case may require in respect to the letters or other things posted. . [_the postmaster general may make reasonable compensation to masters of vessels not post office packets for conveyance of ship letters from foreign ports to canada._] . [_postmaster general has exclusive privilege of collecting, conveying and delivering letters, etc._; $ _penalty for infraction_. (see ^o-- ^o vict. cap. xvii. sec. .)] * * * * * . [_the postmaster general may employ letter carriers, and charge two cents for delivery of a letter and one cent for a newspaper or pamphlet._ (see ^o-- ^o vict. cap. lxxi. sec. .)] . it shall be lawful for the postmaster general, with the consent of the governor in council, to establish in any city, when he shall deem it expedient, a system of free delivery by letter carrier of letters brought by mail and he may direct that from the time that such system is established, no charge shall be made for the delivery of such letters by letter carriers in such city, and further that on drop or local letters when delivered by letter carrier in such city, one cent only per half ounce shall be charged in addition to the ordinary local or drop letter rate. . [_postmaster general may establish a parcel post._ (see ^o vict. cap. xvii. sec. .)] . [_usual franking of official matter._ (see ^o vict. cap. lxxix. secs. , , , and ^o vict. cap. xxv. sec. ), _but limited to transmission in canada_.] * * * * * . letters, or other articles, which from any cause remain undelivered in any post office, or which having been posted, cannot be forwarded by post, shall under such regulations as the postmaster general may make, be transmitted by postmasters to the post office department as dead letters, there to be opened and returned to the writers on payment of any postage due thereon, with five cents additional on each dead letter to defray the costs of returning the same, or such dead letters may in any case or class of cases be otherwise disposed of as the postmaster general may direct. * * * * * . [_stealing mail matter or forging stamps, etc._, (see ^o-- ^o vict. cap. xvii. sec. ) _is a felony. stealing or damaging printed matter, package of merchandise, etc., or enclosing a letter in other mail matter, or obstructing mails is a misdemeanor_.] sub. sec. . to remove with fraudulent intent from any letter, newspaper or other mailable matter, sent by post, any postage stamp which shall have been affixed thereon, or wilfully, with intent aforesaid remove from any postage stamp which shall have been previously used, any mark which shall have been made thereon at any post office, shall be a misdemeanor. * * * * * . if any person uses or attempts to use in prepayment of postage on any letter or other mailable matter posted in this province, any postage stamp which has been before used for a like purpose, such person shall be subject to a penalty of not less than ten and not exceeding forty dollars for every such offense, and the letter or other mailable matter on which such stamp has been so improperly used may be detained, or in the discretion of the postmaster general forwarded to its destination charged with double postage. * * * * * . this act shall come into operation on the first day of april, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight. although the above act gives most of the groundwork upon which the post office department of canada has since been operated, save of course the changes in detail that will be noted in their proper places, yet it seems advisable, in spite of some possible repetition, to quote the larger part of the instructions sent out to postmasters in preparation for the impending changes, because of additional details to be found therein. to all postmasters, and other persons employed in the postal service of canada: department order no. . post office department, ottawa, st march, . the post office act, passed on the st december, , for the regulation of the postal service, will come into operation throughout the dominion on and from the st april, . a copy of the statute, and of the general regulations founded thereon, will be forwarded to every postmaster, whether in charge of a regular post-office, way office or sub-office, and to every railway mail clerk; meanwhile the following summary of the principal provisions of the act, as affecting the organization of the department, in relation to the several provinces of the dominion, the postage rates to be charged from and after the st. april, etc., etc., is supplied for the information of postmasters and other persons employed in the post office service of canada. organization of the department. . the superintendence and management of the postal service of canada is vested in the post office department, at the seat of government, ottawa, under the direction of the postmaster general of canada. . subject to the directions of the postmaster general, the general management of the business of the department will be with the deputy postmaster general of canada. . the local superintendence of post office business, and performance of such duties as are assigned to them by the statute, or entrusted to them from time to time by the postmaster general, will be confided to the post office inspectors, of whom there are seven, stationed and exercising their powers and functions in the undermentioned postal divisions. _postal division._ _post office address._ nova scotia halifax, n. s. new brunswick and the bay chaleurs, coast of gaspé frederickton, for the present province of quebec, as far west as three rivers quebec province of quebec, from three rivers westward montreal province of ontario, as far as cobourg kingston province of ontario, from cobourg to hamilton toronto province of ontario, from hamilton westward london */ /# . all postmasters, including way office and sub-office keepers, are continued in office, and all bonds and mail contracts continued in force, subject to the ordinary conditions of such appointments and engagements, and to the future action of the department. principal rates of postage. letters. . on letters passing between any two places within the dominion of canada, a uniform rate, (irrespective of distance) of three cents per / oz., if prepaid; and five cents per / oz., if posted unpaid. . on letters between any place in the dominion and any place in the united states, cents per / oz., if prepaid; and cents per / oz., if posted unpaid. . on letters to or from the united kingdom, in mails by canada packets, to or from quebec in summer, or portland in winter; or by mail packet to or from halifax, - / cents per / oz. #/ on do. in mails via new york packet cents per / oz. on letters to prince edward island, if prepaid, " " do if posted unpaid, " " do on letters to newfoundland, to be in all cases prepaid, - / " " do on letters to british columbia and vancouver island, in all cases to be prepaid, " " do on letters to red river, to be in all cases prepaid, " " do on letters to red river, to be in all cases prepaid, " " do newspaper rates. . newspapers printed and published in canada may be sent by post from the office of publication to any place in canada at the following rates, if paid quarterly in advance, either by the publisher, at the post office where the papers are posted or by the subscriber, at the post office where the papers are delivered:-- for a paper published once a week cents per quarter of a year. do twice a week do do three times do do six times do if the above rates are prepaid by the publisher, the postmaster receiving payment must be careful to have the papers so prepaid separately put up, and marked, distinctly, as prepaid. when the above rates are not prepaid in advance, by either the publisher at the office of posting or by the subscriber at the office of delivery, the papers are to be charged one cent each on delivery. . canadian newspapers, addressed from the office of publication to subscribers in the united kingdom, the united states, prince edward island and newfoundland, may be forwarded, on prepayment at the office in canada where posted, at the above commuted rates, applicable to such papers within the dominion. . exchange papers passing between publishers in canada, and between publishers in canada and publishers in the united states, prince edward island and newfoundland, are to pass free--one copy of each paper to each publisher. . transient newspapers include all newspapers posted in canada, other than canada newspapers sent from the office of publication, and when addressed to any place within the dominion, to the united kingdom, to the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland, must be prepaid two cents each by postage stamp. . newspapers coming into canada will be subject to the following charges on delivery: if from the united kingdom, by mail packet to quebec, halifax or portland--free on delivery. by mails viâ the united states (new york), two cents each. if from the united states, two cents each, to be rated at the canada frontier, or exchange office receiving mails from the united states. if from prince edward island or newfoundland, when received by regular subscribers in canada from the office of publication, the ordinary commuted rates applicable to canada newspapers. transient papers--two cents each. . the canada postage rates on newspapers coming or going to the united kingdom and the united states, will thus be the same as those charged in the united kingdom and the united states on newspapers there received from or sent to canada. . canada news agents may post to regular subscribers in canada, british newspapers free, and united states newspapers unpaid, such papers in the latter case, must be duly rated two cents each for collection on delivery. printed papers, circulars, prices current, hand bills, books, pamphlets. . the rate on printed matter of this description posted in canada, and addressed to any place in canada, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states, will be one cent per ounce, to be prepaid by postage stamp; and a like rate will be payable on delivery, when received from the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland. periodical publications. . when posted in canada for any place in canada, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states, the rate will be one cent per four ounces. . a like rate will be payable on delivery in canada, when received from the united states, prince edward island or newfoundland. . periodicals weighing less than one ounce per number, when posted in canada for any place within the dominion, prince edward island, newfoundland or the united states may, when put up singly, pass for one half cent per number, to be prepaid by postage stamp. . as the postage rates on periodicals, other than newspapers, will be payable in advance, and as certain classes of such periodicals, printed and published in canada, and sent from the office of publication to regular subscribers, have for some time past been exempted from postage where exclusively devoted to the education of youth, to temperance, agriculture and science, or for other reasons, it is ordered, that with respect to periodicals which do now enjoy this privilege or exemption, the exemption shall continue until the expiration of the current year--that is until the st december, , and that from the st. january, , all such special exemptions and privileges shall cease. parcel post. . the rate on parcels, by parcel post, will be - / cents per ounces, that is to say:-- on a parcel not exceeding oz - / cents over oz., and not exceeding lb cents over lb., and not exceeding oz - / cents and so on, to the limit of three lbs. book and newspaper manuscript, and other miscellaneous matter. . on book and newspaper manuscript (meaning written articles intended for insertion in a newspaper or periodical, and addressed to the editor or publisher thereof, for insertion), printers' proof sheets, whether corrected or not, maps, prints, drawings, engravings, music, whether printed or written, packages of seeds, cuttings, roots, scions or grafts, and botanical specimens, the rate will be cent per ounce, when posted for any place in canada or the united states, and prepaid by postage stamp. postage stamps. . to enable the public to prepay conveniently by postage stamp the foregoing rates, the following denominations of postage stamps for use throughout the dominion, have been prepared, and will be supplied to postmasters for sale:--#/ half cent stamps } one cent do } two cent do } three cent do } all bearing, as a device, the effigy six cent do } of her majesty. twelve and a half cent do } fifteen cent do } . the postage stamps now in use in the several provinces may be accepted, as at present, in prepayment of letters, etc., for a reasonable time after the st of april; but from and after that date all issues and sales to the public will be of the new denomination. franking and free matter. the following matter is exempt from canadian postage:-- . all letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the governor of canada. . all letters or other mailable matter addressed to or sent by any department of the government, at the seat of government at ottawa, under such regulations as may from time to time be made by the governor in council. . all letters and other mailable matter addressed to or sent by the speaker or chief clerk of the senate or of the house of commons, or to or by any member of either house, at the seat of government, during any session of parliament--or addressed to any of the members or officers in this section mentioned at the seat of government as aforesaid, during the ten days next before the meeting of parliament. . all public documents and printed papers sent by the speaker or chief clerk of the senate or of the house of commons to any member of either house during the recess of parliament. . all papers printed by order of either house sent by members of either house during the recess of parliament. . petitions and addresses to either of the provincial legislatures of ontario, quebec, new brunswick and nova scotia, or to any branch thereof; and votes, proceedings and other papers, printed by order of any such legislature, or any branch thereof, during any session thereof,--provided such petitions and addresses, votes, proceedings and other papers, are sent without covers, or in covers open at the ends or sides, and contain no letter or written communication to serve the purpose of a letter. . letters and other mailable matter (except that provided for as above) addressed to or sent by the provincial governments or legislatures of ontario, quebec, new brunswick and nova scotia, will be liable to the ordinary rates of postage. . public documents and printed papers sent under the foregoing clauses should bear, as part of the address, the bona fide superscription of the speaker, chief clerk, or officer specially deputed for this purpose to act for those functionaries, or of the member sending the same. . the privilege of free transmission, as above described, has effect only as respects canada postage rates. . all letters and other mailable matter to and from the postmaster general and the deputy postmaster general, and all official communications to and from the post office department, and to and from the post office inspectors, are to pass free of canadian postage. . all letters and communications on the business of the post office department, intended for the post office department at ottawa, should be invariably addressed to "the postmaster general." the branch of the department for which the letter or communication is intended should be written on the left hand upper corner of the letter, thus:-- "for accountant" "for secretary" [etc.] as the case may be, but the main direction must be to the postmaster general, or deputy postmaster general. . all letters containing a remittance on account of the public revenue sent by any postmaster in canada to a bank or bank agency; and all remittances or acknowledgements sent by a bank or bank agency, on account of public revenue, to any postmaster in canada, are to pass free through the post, as respects both postage and registration charge. . no change is made in the way or sub-office system of nova scotia and new brunswick, quebec or ontario. . no change is made in the money order system. . a system of post office savings banks will be instituted on the st. april, and will be extended as quickly as practicable to all the principal cities, towns and places throughout the dominion. a. campbell, _postmaster general_. chapter viii the issue of a glance at the new regulations quoted in the last chapter will show that there is no five or seventeen cent prepaid rate, and but one at ten cents--to british columbia and vancouver island; as a result these three denominations are not found in the new set of dominion postage stamps. on the other hand the half cent transient newspaper rate, the three cent letter rate, with its double at six cents, and the new british packet rate via new york of fifteen instead of seventeen cents, necessitated these four additional denominations in the new series. the stamps themselves are as usual line engraved on steel, and present more "continuity of design" throughout the set than before. the main feature of this design is a circular medallion bearing a diademed profile portrait of queen victoria to right, on a horizontally lined ground. arched above this medallion are the words canada postage, and beneath it the value, both in words and arabic numerals, a slightly different arrangement occurring on each denomination. foliations of acanthus pattern fill in the remainder of the design, making the outline somewhat irregular. the stamps are fairly large, averaging � mm. in size, except the half cent, which is considerably smaller, being only � mm. they will be found illustrated as nos. , , , , , and on plate i. the stamps were printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten, and by the imprint we find they were the product of a new concern. this imprint appears in colorless capitals on a narrow strip of color with bossed ends, and reads british american bank note co. montreal & ottawa. this strip is framed by a very thin parallel line, its entire width being but one millimeter, while its length is about mm. it occurs but once on a side, being placed against the middle two stamps (numbers and ) of each row at a distance of about mm. (see illustration on plate ix.) the inscription reads up on the left and down on the right, as before, but the bottom one is now upright, instead of being reversed. in the case of the half cent stamp at least, we find an additional marginal imprint over the second and third stamps of the top row. this consists of the words half cent, in shaded roman capitals mm. high, the whole being about mm. long, (illustration on plate xi). presumably the same thing, varied for each denomination, occurs on other values of the series, as we find it does on the succeeding issue; but a strip from the top of a sheet of the cent stamps proves that it was lacking on that value at least. the normal colors of the stamps of this series are approximately:-- / cent, black; cent, brown red; cents, green; cents, deep red; cents, dark brown; - / cents, deep blue; cents, mauve. we say approximately, since there is considerable variation as may be noted by a glance at the reference list. particularly is this the case with the cent stamp. the earliest tint is the one we have noted--mauve; but the stamp was in practically continuous use down to , and the gamut of shades and colors through which it passed in that time is almost equal to the cent stamp of the preceding issue. of the approximate dates of issue of some of the more pronounced shades of the cent stamp it is possible to give an idea through the chronicles of various contemporary magazines which noted them. the original stamp we know was in a mauve tint, and was so chronicled in the _stamp collector's magazine_ for may (vi: ). the _american journal of philately_ for april , , (i: ) describes it as "lilac". the _stamp collector's magazine_ in december, (xii: ) says it has "just appeared in a dull deep mauve." next m. moens notes that it has become gray lilac, in _le timbre-poste_ for march, . again in the issue for june, , he records it in bright violet, while in may, , it is described as a dark slate color (_ardoise foncé_). in the july, , issue of the _halifax philatelist_ the color is said to have reverted to the mauve tint of the first printings except that it was "more bluish", and once more in may, , the _dominion philatelist_ states that "the canada c. has again changed color. it is now bright violet." finally, in _mekeel's weekly_ for march , , under "canadian notes", we read that "quite a large stock is still on hand in the p.o. department, but no more are being printed. what are going out now are the remainders of various batches. they are coming in all shades; some being almost the first issue colors." it remains to note two additions to this series. the first was a change in color:--the cent and cent stamps were quite naturally found to be too nearly alike in shade to properly differentiate them in the rush of post office business. hence the cent was changed to an orange yellow, appearing in its new dress in . the exact date seems not to be available, but we find it first noted in _the philatelist_ for april , , in these words:--"the cent and c. of this colony have been hitherto almost identical in hue; that anomaly is now rectified by the recent emission of the former value in bright orange." in the "summary for the year ", the same paper credits the issue to january, .[ ] [ ] =the philatelist=. iv: . the second addition was a cent stamp, which is a bit of an anomaly inasmuch as it is a companion in size and design to the series, but was issued on october , , after the series in reduced size, begun in , had been practically completed. the explanation is simple: the die of this large cent stamp had been engraved in with the other values of the first dominion series,[ ] but as there were no rates requiring such a denomination in the set, it was not issued. when in the need for a cent value arose, the unused die was employed to make a plate for temporary use, until a new die conforming in size and design with the small stamps could be prepared. the large cent stamp is thus really in the nature of a provisional, for its smaller and permanent successor followed it in about four months. [ ] in the first series of the =american journal of philately= for june , (i: ) we read: "the canadian government have had a cent stamp prepared, engraved of the same type as the present set, the most noticeable difference being the circle round the head which is corded. the specimen sent us is printed in brown on india paper, bearing the company's imprint underneath." the statement is often made that the cent denomination was required because of canada's entry into the universal postal union, which was instituted on july , . the statement has elements of truth in it, inasmuch as the indirect results of canada's application produced the cent rate which required the new stamp; but the statement is not exact because canada was not actually admitted to the postal union until three years later. the postmaster general's reports tell the story. the report for th june, says:-- a treaty for the formation of a general postal union, and for the adoption of uniform postage rates and regulations for international correspondence, was arranged and signed at berne, switzerland, in october, , by the representatives of the post offices of the chief nations of the world. this agreement took effect between all the countries which were directly parties to the treaty, in july last. the treaty did not include the british possessions beyond the sea, but canada has, with the concurrence of the imperial government, applied for admission as a member of this postal union. meanwhile the letter rate of postage between canada and the united kingdom has, by arrangement with the imperial post office, been reduced to the international rate of - / pence sterling-- cents currency, established by the union regulations; and this reduction has also been made applicable to correspondence passing by way of new york, making the rate between canada and the united kingdom uniform at cents by whatever route conveyed. from the report of th june, we find that the application of canada for admission to the universal postal union was not successful owing to the opposition of france. because of differences with great britain in regard to admitting colonies beyond the seas at the same rates as european countries, british india and the french colonies had been admitted with a reduced rate of pence per half ounce letter, so as to include cost of sea transit. france contended that canada should be kept to the same terms. from the report of th june, we learn that canada by treaty had obtained the postal union rate of cents with germany, including prussia, saxony, hanover, bavaria, baden and wurtemberg. the letter rate with newfoundland had also been reduced from cents to cents per half ounce. the report for th june, brings matters to fruition:-- at the meeting of the international postal congress, which, under the provisions of the postal treaty of berne, concluded in october, , took place at paris in may, , canada was admitted to be a member of the general postal union from the st july, , and in consequence the rate of letter postage between canada and all europe became one uniform charge of cents per half ounce. newspapers and other printed matter, and samples and patterns of merchandise also became subject to uniform postage rates and regulations for all destinations in europe. existing postal arrangements between the united states and canada were, by mutual agreement, allowed to remain undisturbed by the entry of canada into the union, under a provision of the general postal union treaty applicable to such a case. the last remark refers to the treaty which took effect on st february, , by which letters posted in canada or the united states could be sent to the other country at the single domestic rate of three cents--of which more later. this large cent stamp was of course line engraved like the rest of the series, and issued in sheets of , ten rows of ten. the sheet bore four marginal imprints, arranged as before, but of a slightly different type from the issue. this new imprint is in capitals and lower case letters on a colored strip mm. long and - / mm. wide, with a border of pearls, and reads: "british american bank note co. montreal." doubtless the words "five cents" in shaded roman capitals would be found over the second and third stamps of the top row if one were fortunate enough to possess this portion of a sheet. the stamp is illustrated as no. on plate i, and the marginal imprint is of the type shown in illustration no. on plate xi. the normal color of this cent stamp is an olive gray, and it is perforated , as are all the other values of the set. the paper upon which the series of was printed was in general an ordinary white wove variety which varied considerably from a very thin, almost pelure quality to a quite hard and thick variety. laid paper also makes its appearance again in this set. in messrs. corwin and king's article[ ] we read:--"the cents on laid paper was first brought to attention in the _philatelic record_ for march, ,[ ] wherein it was stated that mr. tapling had a copy in his collection. the cent was first mentioned in the _national philatelist_ for january, , by mr. corwin, its discoverer, in these words: 'some time since i saw noted in the _philatelic record_ the existence of a cent canada stamp, emission of , on laid paper. in looking through my canadian varieties, after reading this note, i discovered also a copy of the one cent red, same emission, on laid paper'". the cent yellow is likewise catalogued by the london society,[ ] but the following remark is added: "the one cent, yellow, on laid paper, is not known to the society. it is taken from _the halifax philatelist_ for july, , page ." concerning this messrs. corwin and king state:[ ] "this was inserted in the _halifax philatelist_ in error; so far as we know this stamp does not exist. the original sin of chronicling this stamp, however, rests with m. moens, for in the _philatelic record_ for january, , the fact is stated that m. moens states that he knows of the existence of the c. orange on laid paper." mr. charles lathrop pack adds his testimony against this quondam stamp:[ ] "i do not believe that the c, yellow, exists on laid paper, none of the large collectors of canada or of this country have seen it, and i believe there is no real authority for listing it." there was none: and now that we have tracked it down, the laugh seems to be on the _philatelic record_, and m. moens is absolved from his "original sin." in _le timbre-poste_ for january, , under the heading canada we read: "semblable au cents, , sur papier _vergé_ blanc, il existe: cent, brun-orange." this was the information quoted in the _philatelic record_,[ ] but the translator evidently mistook the proper rendering of the french color name as _orange-brown_, and translated it simply _orange_, whence the error spread. we can therefore dispose quite effectually of the question and of the phantom stamp in the same breath. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, ii: . [ ] this is an error, for in =le timbre-poste= for november, (xv: ). m. moens says: "m. fouré nous fait remarquer que le cents [ ] a été imprimé exceptionnellement sur papier vergé." [ ] =north american colonies of great britain=, page . [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, ii: . [ ] =london philatelist=, xvi: . [ ] =philatelic record=. iv: . concerning the laid paper stamps messrs. corwin and king say they "must have been among the first issued, as we have seen a copy of the cent, red-brown, postmarked november , ."[ ] that this must have been the case is proved by the existence of the cent in brown-red and not in yellow, as would have been the case if the paper were used in or thereafter. _mekeel's weekly_[ ] also records the cent on a cover bearing date of august , . [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, ii: . [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, ix: . the cent stamp was reported in the _american journal of philately_ for october, , in these words: "mr. f. de coppet has shown us a c. of the issue on thin paper, horizontally laid," and the stamp is described as "violet". we have not seen a copy, but if it was in the early "mauve" tint it probably was a companion of the cent and cents, the latter being found on both thick and thin horizontally laid paper according to messrs. corwin and king's lists. if the "violet" was of the gray shades, it belonged to a later printing and not with the early stamps. mr. pack lists another variety still[ ]: "i also have a copy of the c. on distinctly soft ribbed paper." this stamp is in the lilac gray shade and therefore belongs to later printings as we shall see, for this ribbed paper is found in all values of the small stamps of the succeeding issue. [ ] =london philatelist=, xvi: . one other variety of paper needs our attention, and that is the watermarked paper. the fact of its use was early known to collectors, for in _the philatelist_ for february, , in an article on "british north america" by w. dudley atlee, after the "issue for confederation" is the following "note.--there is also in the last series of adhesives a three cent printed on paper _watermarked_ with maker's name; these were most probably issued after the thin paper and before the usual stout paper emissions." mr. h. f. ketcheson, commenting on the above in ,[ ] remarks: "the one cent red also appears on same paper, as i have two specimens of each in my possession." the _halifax philatelist,_[ ] in its contemporary issue, also happened to note the discovery of two more values: "mr. f. c. kaye has shown us the cent and cent of the issue, with large watermarked letters of the same type as those in the cent and cent." the - / and cent were later found, but the / cent and cent yellow have never been discovered. this latter fact doubtless determines the period when the paper was used, for, like the laid paper, if employed in or later we should find the cent yellow instead of brown red printed on it. on the other hand, it could not have been used when the first consignments were being printed, probably early in , or the / cent would be included in the series. this is determined by the fact that the first supply of the / cent lasted until the fiscal year of - , before any further printings were made. the watermarked paper must therefore have been used sometime during the course of the year , probably the middle, when supplies of all values except the / cent were printed. [ ] =dominion philatelist=, i: . [ ] =halifax philatelist=, iii: . for the determination of the character of the watermark we are indebted to mr. john n. luff, whose thoroughness and acumen when delving into a philatelic problem are proverbial. the result of his study was published in [ ] and we take the following extracts from his interesting paper:-- [ ] =american journal of philately=, viii: . most philatelic writers, when treating of the canadian issue of - , give small space to the series watermarked with large letters. most of them make a few speculative remarks as to the probable watermark and then drop the subject. so far as i am aware, no one has taken the trouble to ascertain what the watermark actually is. the london society in the _north american colonies of great britain_ says: "some of the stamps on wove paper have been catalogued with a watermark, consisting of various letters. it is probable that these letters are portions of the name of the papermaker, which most likely exists in the margin of the sheets." other writers are equally superficial. the _catalogue for advanced collectors_ says: "although we catalogue as varieties the stamps on watermarked paper, it is very possible that these form a separate issue. it may have happened that the printers, having-run short of the regular paper, replaced it by some similar paper that they had in stock, bearing this watermark".... in the _stamps of british north america_, by messrs. c. b. corwin and donald a. king (_metropolitan philatelist_, june ), this watermark is given more attention. the possibility that it is the words "canada postage" or "canada post office department" is discussed and rejected, because the authors have found certain letters and pairs of letters which do not occur in these words. it has seemed to me that it would be of interest, probably of value, to know exactly what this watermark is. i have therefore given the matter considerable study, and now have the pleasure of presenting the result to your readers. the extensive stock of the scott stamp & coin co., being placed at my disposal, together with a quantity of stamps from private sources ... i believe i have correctly reconstructed the watermark. as the broadest letter measures only mm., and the stamps are about mm. from center to center of perforations, there are usually parts of two or three letters on each stamp. i have found a large number of single letters, pairs, portions of three letters, and in one instance, a pair and parts of two letters. of many combinations i have found several examples. i have also found quite a number of stamps showing parts of two rows of letters, one above the other. taking these in sequence we reconstruct the watermark [illustration: e. & g. bothwell clutha mills] the reader will please bear in mind, that when the stamps are viewed from the back, the letters read from right to left (at least when the sheets were placed normally in the press) as is usual with the crown and cc, ca and other watermarks. the letters are plain double lined capitals, except the third in the first line, c, which is more fancy, having a decided hook at the end of the lower curve and the upper curve ending in a point, instead of being cut off squarely, as in the case of the other letters. the e and c are followed by periods - / mm. square. the initial capitals e, c and b are mm. high, the other letters - / mm. the upper row is about mm. long, the lower about mm., and the distance between the rows - / mm. the watermark will thus fall on twelve stamps in each sheet of one hundred. but it cannot be argued from this that the stamps with watermark are only eight times as rare as those without, as we must take into consideration the proportionately large number of sheets on ordinary unwatermarked paper. the sheets were apparently placed on the press without much care, as the letters are frequently found reversed and inverted. i have not however found any placed vertically, nor have i found any other letters than the above.... as to the position of the watermark in the sheets, i believe it to be central. its height, mm., is great for a marginal watermark, and the fact that none of the letters have been found vertically, as is so frequently the case with marginal watermarks, is also in favor of a central location. we might also expect to find stamps on watermarked paper showing, as is not uncommon, the imprint of the contractors above or below, if the watermark were marginal. i, at least, have found none. mr. luff considers that the watermarked stamps "are on an unofficial paper used temporarily," which is without doubt the case, at least as far as the temporary nature goes. he says further: "compared with the large number without watermark, they are sufficiently scarce to indicate a provisional use of the paper and at the same time there are enough of them to show that a considerable number of sheets were printed." for other varieties in this series we have the / cent on "bluish-white wove paper", listed by m. moens in the sixth edition of his catalogue. messrs. corwin and king say this "corresponds to our grayish paper, the shade sometimes being quite intense." but they list the entire series on "thin, soft, grayish wove paper", as well as the / cent and cent brown-red on "pelure grayish paper". it may be that imperfect wiping of the plates had left an extra grayish tint upon the paper of the specimen that moens singled out for cataloguing, just as occurred in the case of most values of the post office department stamps of the united states. messrs. corwin and king[ ] give an extremely lengthy reference list of this issue on no less than _seventeen_ varieties of paper, with the remark that, "every variety we mention is distinct from any other", but, with major evans, we must remark that "we confess we are unable to follow our friend mr. king through all the intricacies of these varieties of paper ... but the differences are, perhaps, more real than is indicted in the descriptions." on inspection the "seventeen varieties" seem to combine themselves into i: laid paper, of thick and thin qualities; ii: watermarked paper; iii: yellowish wove paper, very thin to very thick; and iv: grayish wove paper, from pelure to very thick. in both of the wove papers are found the differences due to the process of manufacture, the even texture of the plain wove variety and the mottled texture of the so-called "wire-wove" variety. [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, ii: and =monthly journal=, viii: . the paper used for this issue is responsible for variations in the size of the stamps similar in character and origin to those we have already thoroughly discussed in connection with the - / and pence stamps of - . the design of the series is not calculated to render these variations so apparent as in the former case, but the extreme variations we have found have been carefully noted and are presented in the following list. it will be seen that the variation is confined to a half millimeter in each dimension. / cent, - / � - / mm. � mm. cent, - / � - / mm. � mm. cents, - / � - / mm. � mm. cents, - / � - / mm. � mm. cents, � - / mm. ? ? cents, � - / mm. - / � mm. - / cents, - / � - / mm. � mm. cents, - / � - / mm. � mm. it is also stated that these stamps exist perforated - / � ,[ ] as well as the usual all around. as the perforation was done by guillotine machines, this would apparently indicate a machine of - / gauge used for the vertical perforations, and we should expect to find some stamps at least perforated � - / , if not - / all around. such do not seem to have been reported and we have no further information concerning the variety mentioned. [ ] =monthly journal=, ix: . for imperforate stamps in this series we find the cent, yellow, and the cents in a peculiar shade of brown violet. the former is known only in cancelled condition, we believe, but we are able to illustrate an unused block of four of the latter as no. on plate ix. the only case of the use of a split stamp in this issue that we have to record is of the cent, cut diagonally and used for the ordinary cent rate on a letter posted at "annapolis, n. s. jy , ." while having no more authorization than any other of the occasional canadian "splits," yet this cover is particularly interesting because of its hailing from nova scotia, where split stamps had been used and recognized for their fractional values when the local issue was employed. an illustration of this cover will be found as no. on plate viii. concerning the quantities issued of the various denominations in this series we cannot be quite as exact as in some of the previous cases. no distinction was made between the various issues in the tables of amounts received from the manufacturers, provided the denomination was the same. in the case of the / , , and cent stamps, which were new values, the quantities given in the report for can be used, but with the , and - / cent stamps the last deliveries of the series and the first of the series are lumped together. we have already made a tentative division of the receipts for these latter values,[ ] however, which we think is safe enough to use for our purposes. it must be recognized that we are approaching conditions in the business of the post office where the quantity of stamps used, particularly if they be of low value and are in service for a number of years, mounts to such an enormous total that the actual figures representing the numbers issued have practically no philatelic value. while interesting, therefore, the totals shown below may be "out" by several per cent without appreciably altering their usefulness--or lack of it. [ ] see page . with these considerations as a basis, we can lay out the series up to certain limits as follows:-- received from manufacturers. / c. c. c. c. th june, , , , , (?) , , (?) , , " " ... , , , , , , " " ... , , , , , , " " ... ... , , ... " " , ... , , ... " " - , , ... ... ... " " - ... ... ... ... --------- ---------- ---------- ---------- totals , , , , , , , , c. - / c. c. th june, , , , (?) , " " , , , , , " " , , , ... " " , , , ... " " , , ... ... " " - ... ... ... " " - ... ... , , ---------- --------- --------- totals , , , , , , the above table shows that the first deliveries of the / cent were sufficient to last until ; from that time there were yearly deliveries approximating a half million up to the issue of the miniature / cent in . the figures for that year doubtless included a large quantity of this latter stamp, so we can safely approximate the quantity of the / cent of issued as - / millions. the large cent stamp was superseded about march , so the above figures may very likely be reduced by say two millions in , leaving - / millions of the large stamps, but in both brown-red and yellow. a large part of the - deliveries must have been of the brown-red stamp, however, as the yellow one did not appear until january , and from the catalog prices the former would seem to be twice as common as the latter. the large cent was also superseded about january , so that a considerable portion of the deliveries of - were doubtless due its successor. some millions or more can without doubt be credited to the stamp, nevertheless. the cent and cent were both superseded early in , so their totals can be reduced probably to approximately - millions for the former and perhaps millions of the latter. with the - / and cent stamps we find no successors, but we do find that none of the former was delivered after , so that our total of - / millions is correct, barring our first approximation. from the lists of "issues to postmasters" it is evident that the stamp was regularly used, but in decreasing quantities, down to , when the last figures " " appear. a summing up of these issues to postmasters (again allowing for the first approximation) gives us a total of , , issued; but of these there were , returned by the postmasters as unfit for use, the last return ( copies) being received in . the result for the - / cent stamp is therefore approximately , , issued and used, and some , probably destroyed. the cent stamp, after the amount received in the account, needed no further supplies until the account, although it was issued to postmasters each year. the changes in rates in made it again useful as a multiple of the cent stamp and in connection with registration. from that time until it was regularly printed and delivered, but this was evidently the end of its usefulness, as the only receipt thereafter was of in --undoubtedly a small remainder which the engravers wanted to get rid of. it was regularly issued to postmasters, however, up to , the last amount, , appearing in that year's accounts, though copies were turned in for destruction in . some , all told were returned as unfit for use, but the rest were probably all used in the course of business. of the large cent stamp we can only judge as with the preceding. the report for includes the deliveries of both large and small stamps, the total being millions. as succeeding deliveries of the small stamp averaged a million or more for several years thereafter, it is highly probable that the above total was evenly divided and that the large cent was at least printed to the number of a million copies. * * * * * turning now to the postmaster general's reports for the several years during which the large sized stamps were the general issue, we find in the _first report of the dominion of canada, for the year ending th june, ,_ the following remarks concerning the new order:-- the post office laws and regulations of the several provinces of the dominion, in force at the date of the union, remained in operation under the authority of the union act until superseded by the statute known as "_the post office act _", passed in the first session of the dominion parliament, for the regulation of the postal service, and which general act took effect from the st. april, . by this act a uniform system of post office organization was provided for, the ordinary rate of domestic letter postage was reduced from five cents to three cents per half ounce, and the charge on letters sent to and received from the united states was at the same time lowered from ten to six cents per half ounce weight (the latter being the combination of the three cent letter rates of both countries), and lastly, low rates of postage charge were established for the conveyance of newspapers, periodicals, printed papers, parcels and other miscellaneous matter by post. in nova scotia and new brunswick the additional newspaper postage collected under the new statute, applying equal charges on newspaper matter throughout the dominion, approximately balanced the loss in the reduction of the letter rates, in fact the collections in nova scotia in the first fiscal year after the change in the postage rates, shew a marked improvement on the revenue of the previous year, and there has been a material increase in the number of letters passing by post in the maritime provinces, as well as in ontario and quebec. * * * * * postage stamps of denominations corresponding to the reduced rates of postage authorized by the post office act of , were prepared by the british american bank note co. at ottawa, and distributed by the department throughout the dominion for use on the st. april. , from which date the new rates of postage came into operation. some statistics are also given which it will not be out of place to quote here for future comparison. there were new post offices established in ontario and quebec during the [fiscal] year and post offices and way offices in new brunswick and nova scotia. on the st january, , there were post offices and way offices in the dominion, and also:-- _miles of_ _letters_ _revenue_ _post route_ _annually_ (_fiscal year_) ontario & quebec , , , $ , . new brunswick , , , , . nova scotia , , , , . ------ ---------- ------------ totals , , , , , . the total correspondence passing between the united states and canada is given as $ , . , but with no returns from the maritime provinces. the next year's report, dated th june, , gives the revenue as $ , , a drop of fifty thousand dollars, due to its being the first complete year since the reduction of the postage rates. the total correspondence with the united states is also given as $ , . , the drop having come through the reduction to a cent rate, although the maritime provinces were included this time. the report also notes that "from st january, , the postal rate to the united kingdom was reduced from - / to cents per / ounce letter." the report for states that the postal packet rate was reduced on the st january, , but does not give the new rate. it is also said that "measures will be taken to organize the whole postal system of the new province of manitoba on the same footing as the rest of canada, from an early date." the province of manitoba, as we have already noted, was admitted to full privileges in the dominion on july , , and the former colony of british columbia came in on july , . the postmaster general's report for th june, says of these:-- the rates of postage have been made uniform in both newly confederated provinces with those prevailing in the older sections, as well in respect to correspondence passing between british columbia and manitoba, and the rest of the dominion, as in regard to the transmissions within each of the said provinces. arrangements have been made with the post office of the united states, under which mails to and from british columbia pass in closed bags (through the united states mails) between windsor (ontario) and victoria (british columbia), via san francisco, for the conveyance of which through the united states, a transit rate is paid by the dominion to the united states post office, as in the case of similar closed mails passing to and from manitoba. the report for th june states that:-- arrangements between canada and newfoundland came into effect from st. november, , establishing a uniform prepaid rate of cents per / ounce on letters passing between any post office in the dominion and any post office in newfoundland, instead of - / cents as before, and providing that newspapers, books, printed matter and post cards shall be prepaid at ordinary canadian rates and vice versâ. the postal revenue for the year was $ , , , it being the first year that the postal business of british columbia and manitoba was included. the former was credited with post offices and the latter with post offices. it will be remembered that prince edward island joined the dominion on july , , and the report of that year credits the former colony with post offices. the report of th june, , states that "the system of free-delivery by letter-carriers in the principal cities, of letters and papers coming by mail has been commenced at montreal and toronto." this was under the authority of section of _the post office act_ which we have already quoted.[ ] the text of a new postal treaty between canada and the united states is given from which we make the following excerpts:-- [ ] see page . postal arrangement between the dominion of canada and the united states. art. i. correspondence of every kind, written and printed, ... [_mailed in each country and addressed to the other_], shall be fully prepaid at the domestic postage rates of the country of origin, and the country of destination will receive, forward and deliver the same free of charge. art. ii. each country will transport the domestic mails of the other by its ordinary mail routes in closed pouches through its territory, free of charge. art. iii. [_patterns and samples, weighing not over oz., unsealed, cents each, prepayment obligatory._] art. iv. [_no further accounts to be kept between the two countries._] art. viii. the existing arrangements for the exchange of registered letters between the two countries shall continue in full force; but the registration fee on registered letters sent from the united states to canada shall be the same as the registration fee charged in the united states for domestic registered letters. art. ix. this arrangement, except so far as it relates to letter postage, shall take effect from the first of january, . the reduced letter rate will come into operation on the first of february, .... done in duplicate and signed at ottawa the th day of january, . from the above it is seen that the double domestic postage rate on letters between the two countries, and the keeping of accounts of the total correspondence passing through the exchange offices, were done away with on the st february, , and since that date all such mail matter has passed freely between the two countries at the ordinary domestic rates of each. the figures given in this report were the last for the total correspondence between canada and the united states, and were presumably for the seven months from st july, , to st february, : they were $ , . , which would represent some eight million letters were that the only class included, and all of them single letters; this would be at the rate of some thirteen million letters per year, a very respectable figure for the intercommunication of the two countries. because of further postal changes which came in and also the fact that a new type of stamp had gradually been replacing the large sized first issue of the dominion during the last few years, we will close this chapter with the report. chapter ix the small "cents" issue, - in the _american journal of philately_ for august , we find the following: "canada is shortly to have a new set of stamps. taking lessons in economy from our own country, it seems they are about altering their stamps to make them smaller, so as to save paper. the head will still remain exactly the same as now, but the frame and margin around the head will be considerably less." the set of the united states was then in use, and it may well be that the smaller sized stamps appealed to the authorities in comparison with their own rather large sized productions, even though their suggested parsimony had nothing to do with it. the current / cent stamp was taken as the model, and the other values reduced in size to correspond with it, while keeping their former colors. the main features of the designs were therefore retained. no special announcement of the new series was made that we have been able to discover, and they were only introduced, apparently, as stocks of the large sized stamps on hand were used up. we find the first record of the change in the _american journal of philately_ for february , : "the stamps of the new dominion have now made their appearance, altered as described by us last august." though not specified, this referred to the cent stamp, and its actual issue probably took place in january. _the philatelist_ chronicles it in the issue of march , , as being of "the same colour and general description as before". [illustration no. on plate ii.] the next value to appear was the cent, which was noted in the _stamp collector's magazine_ for april , ; it was probably issued, therefore, some time in march, for the _american journal of philately_ records it in its issue of april , . [illustration no. on plate ii.] two years then elapsed before further additions were made, and lent some color to the report in several european journals that the cause of the new issue was the destruction by fire in montreal of the plates of the cent and cent of , and that the other values of the set would remain as before. the _american journal of philately_ learned, however, that only the press room of the bank note co. was damaged, and that the plates were intact. at last the cent in reduced size made its appearance and was chronicled in the _american journal of philately_ for february, , to be followed in the march issue by the announcement of the cent. the former value must therefore have been issued in january and the latter in february. [illustrations nos. and on plate ii.] again in the _american journal of philately_ for november , , we find it "reported" that canada "has issued a c. rose", and the next issue says it "is printed in a peculiar pale rose, we can not call to mind any other stamp of this particular tint." the actual issue therefore, was probably about november , . just what called forth this new value in the dominion series does not appear, unless it be the section in the postal treaty between canada and the united states which fixed the rate on patterns and samples at cents for not over oz., with prepayment obligatory.[ ] this rate did not go into effect, however, until january , . of course as a multiple of the cent rates which came into force on october , , the new cent stamp was very useful, but that was nearly a year subsequent to its issue. the new stamp is illustrated as no. on plate ii. [ ] see page . the next of the series to make its appearance was the cent, which was noted in the _american journal of philately_ for february , as having "just been issued." [illustration no. on plate ii.] this doubtless means about the st february, so that its large sized predecessor had only about four months of life. there were now left in the large sized stamps only the - / and cents. in its issue for may, , the _stamp collector's magazine_ quoted from the _canadian philatelist_ as follows:--"it is unlikely that the - / c. small size will be issued, as the large ones are very little used, and can now be bought at the post-office at cents." this last statement is rather surprising. nevertheless, it was announced in the _american journal of philately_ for october, that "canada will shortly issue the - / and c. values of postals in small size, to correspond with the others of the series." this paper seemed to have been usually well informed concerning canadian postal matters, but the expected new stamps did not materialize. the dies and plates were undoubtedly prepared, for the - / cent stamp at least exists in a finished state, but is very scarce. proofs of both values were illustrated in _le timbre-poste_ for november, , with the following remarks: "on nous envoie les essais des futurs timbres - / et centavos qui doivent compléter un peu tardivement, la série des timbres à ce format. nos exemplaires sont imprimés, le premier en lilas, le second en vert sur papier de la chine." commenting on this in the _american philatelist_ for december, , mr. w. c. stone says: "we heard of these some ten or twelve years ago and saw them both last summer in new york." we have been fortunate enough to be able to illustrate the - / cent (see no. on plate v) from the worthington collection, and this finished copy, with full gum, is in a bright blue as we should expect. we regret that it was impossible to locate a copy of the reduced cent to illustrate as a companion piece. the reasons that the plates of these two stamps were never actually brought into use, though evidently prepared with the other values in smaller size, were probably these: the - / cent of , as we have seen, though issued to postmasters for several subsequent years, was not printed after , nor was the old stock exhausted when its use was discontinued. there was therefore no call for any supply to be printed from the new plate. the cent was not printed between and , and after that in such relatively small quantities each year until , that, unless we are greatly mistaken, the original plate never wore out, but was used without change to the end. the old adage that "history repeats itself" was again exemplified in canadian stamps when in july, , the / cent stamp, for fourteen years unaltered, was once more reduced to a smaller size than the regular series. the general effect of the design remained the same, but the foliate ornamentation gave place to angular outlines. the illustration will be found as no. on plate ii. all of the above mentioned stamps, except the / cent as will be explained, were line engraved on steel and printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten. the marginal imprints turn out to be of three varieties in this series, and we have pieced together what information we can concerning them, for strips with marginal imprints are extremely hard to find now. the first plates made, including at least the , , , , and cent stamps, and probably the cent as well, since that was engraved before the cent, had the denomination in shaded roman capitals, mm. high, [illustration no. on plate xi], over stamps and of the top row. sometimes the shading is hardly apparent, as in our illustration, but it can be detected. beginning over stamp , extending over stamps and , and ending over stamp , is the inscription we found on the series of (see illustration on plate ix), "british american bank note co. montreal & ottawa" in colorless roman capitals in the little strip of color mm. wide and mm. long. this imprint is also beneath the bottom row of stamps and at each side, reading up at the left and down at the right [illustration no. on plate x]. we have so far not seen this inscription on the cent and cent sheets, and doubt if it exists on the former at least. about the engraving company seem to have dropped their ottawa branch, for on the large cent stamp, whose plate was made in that year, we find the new imprint "british american bank note co. montreal" in capitals and lower case letters on a colored strip mm. long and - / mm. wide, having a pearled border. this imprint is found on all four sides of the sheet, as before, as reference to plates x, xi and xii will show, and on the plates of all values. in the case of the and cent stamps, and perhaps some others as well, the value six, ten, etc. is now found in the shaded roman capitals over stamp number of the top row, but lacking the word cents. over stamp number of the top row is the figure of value, mm. high, [illustration no. , plate xi]. a sheet of the small cent stamps which we have seen, however, does not follow this arrangement but reverts to the first style with five cents in the shaded roman capitals over the first three stamps of the top row only, though having the four "montreal" imprints. again, a sheet of cent that we have examined has the word three alone in the shaded roman capitals over the first two stamps of the top row, and the "montreal" imprint at the center of the top and bottom rows only, there being nothing at the sides. a sheet of cent presents still another style, having the "montreal" imprint at top and bottom alone, and no other marginal inscriptions. we have seen no sheet or margin of the cent stamp bearing the "montreal" imprint, but it doubtless exists. whether the arrangement of these marginal inscriptions is a special one for each value, or whether each style described exists in all values there does not seem to be material enough at hand to determine. probably neither statement is wholly in accordance with facts, as there must have been a great many plates of the cent and cent stamps, with proportionately fewer for the less used values. there seems to have been no system of plate numbering, as far as we can discover, though some margins show reversed letters or figures about to mm. high in various positions; they do not appear to have any special significance, however. in regard to the / cent of , which we excepted from the above statements, there is a special arrangement to consider. the stamp was of course line engraved on steel, as before, but the plate printed two panes of impressions each, side by side. these panes were the usual � arrangement, and were separated by a space of mm. through which they were cut into two "post office sheets". the marginal inscriptions were simply the "montreal" imprint [illustration no. on plate xii] which appeared six times--at the top and bottom of each pane, in the right margin of the right hand pane and the left margin of the left hand pane, there being no imprint in the space between the two panes. over the top inscription of the right pane is the reversed figure , mm. high, and in the same position on the left pane the corresponding figure , evidently to designate the panes. once again, and this time the fact was noted in some of the philatelic journals, the imprint was changed. the engraving company had been required by the government to do its printing at ottawa,[ ] and under "canada notes" in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ for december , , "canadensis" reports: "the new plates of the canada stamps now bear this imprint: 'british american bank note co. ottawa', instead of montreal. the matrix being made from the old die are exactly like the previous issues." the new imprint is a copy of the first one we described, with "montreal &" omitted. it is mm. long and - / mm. wide and is well shown in illustration no. on plate xii. these new plates were doubtless the ones heralded in the _dominion philatelist_ for september, , wherein it is stated that "the present issue of canada c. stamps are being printed and issued in sheets of instead of as formerly." and again in the same paper for may, : "the canada c., c., and c. stamps are now being printed in sheets of ." this new sheet arrangement consisted of ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps each. the "ottawa" imprint appears three times, once in the middle of the top margin, over stamps and , and twice in the bottom margin, beneath stamps and , and again beneath stamps and . there are no imprints at the sides. the denomination appears in the top margin at both right and left and in a new style of lettering on these larger plates. thus we find one cent or two cent over stamps and as well as and , or three cent over the first four and last four stamps in plain egyptian capitals, (see illustration no. on plate xi). [ ] see page . one other imprint was used on the cent value at least, but we have so far seen it on no other. it was mm. long and nearly mm. wide, but otherwise is a duplicate of the smaller "ottawa" imprint. a portion of it is seen in illustration no. on plate xiii. the sheet was in the � form, and the imprint appeared at top and bottom only, there being no other marginal inscriptions. from the sheet form it would seem probable that it preceded the use of the sheets of stamps. the colors of these small stamps were intended to be the same as those of the larger stamps they superseded, and in the main they were so. the orange and orange yellow shades of the cent stamp appear to have been the earlier ones, while the yellow tints came in the later printings. the cent follows the green of its predecessor very closely. the cent, as might be expected, is more prolific in the variety of shades presented. the _philatelist_ chronicled it (march, ) in the "same colour as before," while moens, in _le timbre-poste_, was more specific and gave it as red-brown. in may, , the _stamp collector's magazine_ lists it in orange-vermilion, while _the philatelist_ says vermilion and _le timbre-poste_ bright orange. the cent stamp did not vary a great deal except in tone, though _le timbre-poste_ notes it as "black-gray" in july, . the cent was also fairly constant in its brown shade. the cent appeared at first in what, for want of a better name, may be called a rose-lilac. the _stamp collector's magazine_ called it pale rose, and the _american journal, of philately_ said it was a "peculiar pale rose" which was a new tint. the latter paper notes it again in a "bright carnation" in march, , while _le timbre-poste_ in august of the same year chronicles it in "pale red instead of lilac." we have been thus particular in listing the record of early shades because of the changes which come later. in the january, , issue of the _halifax philatelist_ we find the following note under "canada":--"the plate of the c. stamp has been re-engraved. color is now dark green". no details of such re-engraving were forthcoming, but in the june, , number of the _philatelic record_ is a paragraph which evidently refers to the same stamp:--"a correspondent has sent us a specimen of the cents, green, which he calls a _new die_. we fail to see it; but what we do see is, that the stamp is printed from a lithographed transfer." this surprising statement seemed to excite no special comment save from the sagacious m. moens, who remarks:[ ] "nous avons également reçu ce timbre qui parait lithographié, par suite d'usure de la planche, croyons-nous, car la feuille entière que nous avons annonce que l'impression a été faite, comme antérieurement, par la british american bank note co. de montreal et ottawa, qui ne s'occupe pas d'impression lithographique que nous sachions." [ ] =le timbre-poste=, xxvi: . without doubt m. moens gave the correct explanation, for the imprint that he mentions will be recognized as the one to be found on the earliest plates of the small stamps, and was thirteen years at least after the second type of imprint with "montreal" only had been introduced. hence the stamp in question was probably a late print from a worn plate, which gave a rather flat and indistinct impression that might suggest lithography, though it is certain that canada has never yet stooped to such a cheap means of postage stamp production. a similar case may be recalled with the / penny stamp of st. helena which was issued in , and which presented a like appearance. whether the above incident had anything to do with the change of the printing company from montreal to ottawa, which we have already noted in describing the imprints, we cannot say, but it is certain that it was the beginning of changes, in shade at least, which affected the whole series of stamps. we have the authority of the postmaster general's report for that the "removal of the british american bank note co. from montreal to ottawa" had taken place--evidently early in , as will be seen later--so that the use of an old worn-out plate might have been a case of temporary necessity. further details are given by the canadian correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_[ ] as follows: "about six years ago the government insisted on their contractors doing their printing at the capital, and the british american bank note co. erected a handsome establishment on wellington street, where all postage stamps have since been printed. it may be remembered that the ottawa printings were signalized by distinct varieties in shade from the earlier montreal issues, varieties that have never been sufficiently distinguished in the standard catalogues." [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xii: . these changes in the stamp shades were soon noted. in march, , the _philatelic record_ described the cent stamp as "now in carmine-red", while two months later it chronicled the cent as changed "from bronze-green to greenish-grey." we have already noted the change in the cent to a color approximating its original mauve, "only more of a bluish tinge," which the _halifax philatelist_ recorded in july, . the following october the same paper listed the cent in a "bright carmine", and in july, , announced the cent in "blue green". the cent lagged behind the others and did not manifest itself until the _american journal of philately_ announced it in october, , in a "rich brown." once again, _le timbre-poste_ for april, , stated that the cent had "since the th march, appeared in gray black". the cent doubtless had its special hue of yellow along with the other changes, but it was not recorded, probably because not distinct enough from the usual run of variations in which it had been appearing. that the above changes were hardly of a character to warrant dignifying them as a "new issue," which is frequently done, is shown by a moment's consideration. the / cent and cent stamps showed no appreciable difference in coloring and therefore caused no comment. the cent did not maintain its blue green shade unaltered, and the cent soon reverted to its former brilliant red hue, as the _philatelic journal of america_ for may, , says that "the carmine color recently adopted has been dropped, and the stamps are printed in colors similar to the ones in use before the change was made." the , and cent stamps, however, made permanent changes, but only such as might readily be traceable to a new mixing of the inks in the case of the first two. the cent can hardly be so easily disposed of, as lake and brown-red are of quite different composition from a rose-lilac. but there can have been no official intention of altering the shades or colors or more definite and permanent changes would certainly have been made throughout the set. it remains, therefore, to classify them simply as shade varieties of the original set. mr. king gives a list of eight varieties of paper[ ] for the "small cents issues", but we have deemed it sufficient to note a thick and a thin white wove paper, and a closely ribbed paper. all values are reported as existing with the compound perforation ( - / � ) spoken of under the issue. we also find all values occurring in an imperforate condition. the cent was first noted in the _philatelic record_ for december, ; the cent we have already spoken of under the issue; and the , and cent at least, from the shades of the specimens we have seen, belong to the printings subsequent to the color modifications of - . concerning these imperforates, we find in a paper on canada, read before the royal philatelic society by mr. m. h. horsley,[ ] the following note:-- in my opinion, which i have had confirmed by several most competent authorities, the various imperforated copies which i show you, some used and some unused, are absolutely genuine varieties. imperforated copies of various values were sold over the post-office counter in montreal about the years - , at their face value, and have been good for postage whenever people cared to use them. the quantities in this condition are, i believe, extremely small. [ ] =monthly journal=, viii: . [ ] =london philatelist=, xvi: . supplementing this mr. pack writes:[ ]-- i quite agree with mr. horsley in regard to the various imperforate copies of the issues of to . there are a good many specimens of these stamps imperforate, and they were on sale at a canadian post office. [ ] =london philatelist=, xvi: . the above statements are correct, and we can vouch for them by documentary evidence. not only were the various values of the series we are considering on sale in imperforate condition, but also the , and cent stamps which we are next to consider, and the shade of the cent stamp shows it to have been among the earlier printings--probably in . we are fortunate in being able to present illustrations of all these imperforates in blocks of four or more, which will be found on plates ix, x and xii. that these imperforates are perfectly good for postage and are recognized by the canadian post office to this day, equally with their perforated prototypes, has been proved to our satisfaction because we have employed some on registered matter addressed to the united states. as this class of mail requires to be fully prepaid, any irregularity would at once be detected and the covers would tell the story. we illustrate a pair of the cent imperforate on a registered cover mailed at como, quebec, on march , . [plate xiii, no. .] as before, we find that a few stamps have been "split" and used for half their value, copies of the cent and cent having been cut vertically and doing unquestioned duty as cent and cent stamps respectively. as this practise is unauthorized they can be regarded mearly as freaks that have slipped through by carelessness--or favor. turning once more to the postmaster general's reports, we begin with that of the th june, . this notes that:-- the act passed in the last session of parliament for the regulation of the postal service of canada, came wholly into force on the st october, . . letters passing by mail at cents per / oz. . local or drop letters at cent per / oz. . post cards cent each. . canadian newspapers and periodicals, from office of publication at cent per pound of bulk weight. . transient newspapers and periodicals, circulars, books, pamphlets, etc., open, cent per oz. . newspapers or periodicals weighing less than oz. each, when posted singly, / cent each. . closed parcels not containing letters, - / cents per oz. the act referred to was "an act to amend and consolidate the statute law for the regulation of the postal service. [_assented to th april, ._]"[ ] and was mainly a repetition of _the post office act, _,[ ] with certain amendments incorporated. the principal changes which interest us are as follows:-- [ ] ^o vict. chap. . [ ] ^o vict. cap. x. see page . . this act shall be known and may be cited as "the post office act, ," etc., etc. .-- . cause to be prepared and distributed postage and registration stamps necessary for the prepayment of postages and registration charges, under this act; also stamped envelopes for the like purpose and post-cards and stamped post bands or wrappers for newspapers or other mailable articles not being post letters. . [_letter rate of cents per / oz._]: and such postage rate of three cents shall be pre-paid by postage stamp or stamps at the time of posting the letter, otherwise such letter shall not be forwarded by post, except that letters addressed to any place in canada and on which one full rate of three cents has been so pre-paid, shall be forwarded to their destination charged with double the amount of the postage thereon not so prepaid, which amount shall be collected on delivery. . [_drop letter rate restricted to_ "one cent per half ounce weight."] . the rate of postage on newspaper and periodical publications printed and published in canada, and issued not less frequently than once a month from a known office of publication or news agency, and addressed and posted by and from the same to regular subscribers or news agents, shall be one cent for each pound weight, or any fraction of a pound weight, to be prepaid by postage stamps or otherwise as the postmaster general may, from time to time, direct; and such newspapers and periodicals shall be put into packages and delivered into the post office, and the postage rate thereon prepaid by the sender thereof, under such regulations as the postmaster general may, from time to time, direct. . newspapers and periodicals weighing less than one ounce each may be posted singly at a postage rate of half a cent each, which must be in all cases prepaid by postage stamp affixed to each. . on all newspapers and periodicals posted in canada, except in the cases hereinbefore expressly provided for, and on books, etc., etc., [_repeats sec. of act of _], the rate of postage shall be one cent for each four ounces or fraction of four ounces, ... and this postage rate shall be prepaid by postage stamps or stamped post bands or wrappers.... . [_repeats sec. of act of _] and when any letter or other mailable matter is posted in canada without prepayment, or insufficiently prepaid, in any case in which prepayment is by this act made obligatory, the postmaster general may detain the same, and cause it to be returned, when practicable, to the sender. . [_replaces sec. of act of _] and for avoiding doubts, and preventing inconvenient delay in the posting and delivery of letters,--no postmaster shall be bound to give change, but the exact amount of the postage on any letter or other mailable matter shall be tendered or paid to him in current coin as respects letters or other things delivered, bearing unpaid postage, as shall also the exact value in current coin as respects postage stamps, registration stamps, stamped envelopes or post cards, post bands or wrappers, purchased from any postmaster and the exact amount of postage payable to any letter-carrier on any letter or mailable matter delivered by him. . [_repeats sec. of act of concerning dead letters, but lowers the charge for returning to three cents and allows for deduction of postage prepaid in the case of insufficiently prepaid matter._] . the foregoing sections of this act shall come into force and effect on the first day of october, in the present year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, except only in so far as they relate to the rates of postage on newspapers and periodicals sent to the united states, as to which they shall come into force on the first day of may now next.... from the above quotations we see that the new act made prepayment of letters by stamps obligatory, and imposed a fine of double the deficiency if insufficiently prepaid; that the unlimited weight of drop letters was restricted to / oz. per rate; that newspapers and periodicals were classed together and publishers given the low rate of cent per pound; that the rate of cents on transient newspapers was reduced to / cent per ounce, and cent up to four ounces; etc. the report of further informs us that the free delivery of letters by carrier had been commenced in the following cities on the dates given:-- montreal st october, . toronto st march, . quebec st april, " ottawa st may, " hamilton st " " st. john, n.b. st " " halifax, n.s. st july, " previous to the above dates a charge (in addition to the ordinary postage) of two cents on each letter received by mail, of one cent on each letter posted in the city, and of one cent on each newspaper, was collected by the letter-carrier on delivery of the same. halifax was an exception, as letters and papers sent out for delivery by letter-carrier had been delivered without extra charge since . the british american bank note co. was paid for engraving and printing postage stamps for post office department, $ , . . the report of contains no special items not already noted, but that of states that the letter rate of postage with newfoundland had been reduced from cents to cents per / oz., and the same rate had been obtained with germany from st april, . the report of announces the admission of canada into the universal postal union from the st july, as we have already detailed.[ ] the report of says: "a reduction has been made, from the st september last, in the postage rate on closed parcels sent by post within the dominion, from - / cents per oz. of weight to cents per oz. under this change small parcels not exceeding ounces in weight are admitted to pass for cents instead of - / cents as before." this sounded the death knell of the - / cent stamp, which dropped in the number issued to postmasters from , in to , in and in . it was issued in decreasing numbers down to , when it disappears from the accounts. [ ] see page . nothing further of importance transpired until , when a supplementary agreement touching certain points was signed with the united states post office department:-- additional articles of agreement between the dominion of canada and the united states of america. for the purpose of affording to the public increased facilities for the exchange of written correspondence, and also of preventing evasions by publishers, of the postal laws and regulations of the united states, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective governments, have agreed upon the following additional articles to the postal agreement of th january and st february, : article i. insufficiently paid letters mailed in the united states and addressed to canada, or _vice versâ_, mailed in canada and addressed to the united states, on which a single rate of postage or more has been prepaid, shall be forwarded charged with the amount of the deficient postage, to be collected on delivery and retained by the post department of the country of destination. the amount of such deficient postage shall be indicated in figures, by the despatching exchange office, on the upper left-hand corner of the address. article ii. when newspapers, periodicals and other printed matter, published or originating in the united states, are brought into canada and posted there for destinations in the united states, apparently to evade the postage rates or regulations applicable to such matter in the united states, the canada post office may require prepayment of the same to be made at a rate equivalent to double the canada domestic rates. * * * * * article iv. the present articles shall be considered additional to those agreed upon between the two offices on the th january and st february, , and shall come into operation on the st of may, . * * * * * the report of june , states that newspapers and periodicals published in canada (under certain conditions as to form and manner of posting) are transmitted free by post within the dominion when posted from the office of publication to regular subscribers, from st june, . this must have been due to a department order, as the statutes of canada reveal no such enactment at this time. the same report announces the issue of reply post cards, but those will be dealt with later. statistics make up most of the reports until that of , when an item of interest in connection with the completion of the canadian pacific railway is found: "the first through train left montreal on monday the th june, , and arrived at port moody, the pacific terminus of the road on the th july. mails for british columbia commenced to pass over the canadian pacific railway by this first train." this marked the independence of canada from the united states in the matter of transcontinental transportation of mails. the distance from montreal to port moody is given as miles. in connection with this event the following note may be of interest:[ ]-- up to the time the canadian pacific railway was built, nearly all letters from the northwest bore united states stamps. the northwest mounted police took their mail to bismarck, dak., and others were sent to fargo, from whence they were sent around to detroit and thence into canada. the pony express was used in the canadian northwest, but no system, no stamps and probably no stipulated charges were made to get a letter to the frontier of the united states. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, ii: : . the report of says that:-- provision has been made for the transmission by mail between all places in canada, from st february, , of small articles of ordinary goods and manufactures in packages, open to inspection, on payment of a postage charge of cent per oz. also a new convention with the united states post office providing that from the st march, , the same class of matter will be admitted to pass between canada and the united states, subject to customs inspection. the report of announces the extension of free delivery by letter carriers to victoria, b. c. since the list of free delivery offices given on page , there are to be added as well:-- london, ontario th april, . winnipeg, manitoba, st april, . kingston, ontario, st july, . the report of states that "the post office act of increased the limit of weight of a single rate letter from / ounce to ounce. the rate on drop letters at the same time was fixed at cents per ounce." the act[ ] referred to was an amendment to the post office act, (assented to on the nd may, ), and the notice of the changes issued to the public was as follows:-- notice to the public. * * * * * changes in postage rates under authority of post office act . the rate of postage upon letters posted in canada, addressed to places within the dominion or in the united states, will be cents per ounce instead of cents per half ounce as heretofore. upon drop letters posted at an office from which letters are delivered by letter carrier, the postage rate will be cents per ounce, instead of cent per half ounce. the rate of postage upon drop letters, except in the cities where free delivery by letter carrier has been established, will be cent per ounce. the fee for the registration of a letter or other article of mail matter, will be five cents upon all classes of correspondence passing within the dominion. for the present and until further instructed, the registration fee may be prepaid by using the cent registration stamps and postage stamps to make up the amount. letters insufficiently prepaid will be charged double the deficiency as heretofore, provided at least a partial prepayment has been made. letters posted wholly unpaid will be sent to the dead letter office for return to the writer. post office department, john g. haggart. ottawa, th may, _postmaster general_ [ ] ^o vict. chap. . the act also made another change, not noted in the circular, by which section of _the post office act_, , which provided a rate of cent per ounces on printed matter, seeds, etc., and samples of merchandise, was amended so as to limit the weight of printed matter to ounces for the cent rate. the report also chronicles the "removal of the british american bank note co. from montreal to ottawa," a fact which we have already commented upon at length in its results upon the stamps issued after the transfer.[ ] [ ] see page . in we find that "the complaints which were so prevalent some time since, of the want of adhesiveness in the postage stamps have almost entirely ceased. it is hoped, therefore, that the efforts of the manufacturer to remove the cause of complaint have been successful." and again in : "complaints of defective mucilage would be far less frequent if the public would kindly bear in mind that it is the _envelope_ of a letter, or the _cover_ of a packet, and _not the postage stamp_, which should be moistened when stamps are affixed in prepayment of postage. when a stamp is passed over the tongue the mucilage is frequently almost wholly removed." they should have had these instructions engraved on the margins of the plates, as did the british authorities with the old one penny black! the report for announces the preparation of letter cards, which will be treated of later, and also says: "postage stamps of the value of cents and cents are about to be issued. these will be useful in prepayment of parcel post." and this brings us to our next chapter. chapter x the supplementary values of before proceeding with the subject matter of this chapter in detail, it may be well to reproduce here a synopsis of the canadian postal rates and regulations as set forth in the _dominion philatelist_ in december, , and taken from the then current _canada postal guide_. this will give a comprehensive review of the results of the various acts and amendments and department orders that we have quoted--and of some of the last that we have been unable to obtain. _ st. class matter._--includes letters, post cards, legal and commercial papers wholly or partially written, with the exception of those specially exempted, and all matter of the nature of a letter or written correspondence. the letter rate for canada, newfoundland and the united states is cents per oz., and for all other destinations cents per / oz. insufficiently paid letters posted in and addressed to canada are charged with double the amount of the postage due thereon. when posted wholly unpaid they will be sent to the dead letter office. insufficiently paid letters for or from the united states, are charged with the deficient postage on delivery. letters for the united states must be prepaid at least one full rate, cents. wholly unpaid letters for and from the united kingdom and other countries, are charged double postage on delivery, and insufficiently prepaid letters double the deficiency. letters addressed to mere initials, or to fictitious names, will not be delivered, unless a street address, the number of a box, or some other definite direction is added. letters bearing mutilated stamps, or stamps so soiled and defaced as to make it impossible for the sorting clerks to decide whether they have been used before or not, will be sent to the dead letter office. _post cards._ nothing whatever may be attached to a post card, nor may it be cut or altered in any way. a previously used post card, bearing a cent stamp, will not be accepted as a post card. _ nd class matter.--for canada, newfoundland and the united states._--newspapers and periodicals posted from the office of publication, for regular subscribers in other places in canada, newfoundland and the united states, pass free of postage. newspapers and periodicals issued less frequently than once a month, and addressed to regular subscribers or news agents, and on all specimen newspapers, one cent per pound or fraction of a pound. british newspapers and periodicals brought by mail to canadian booksellers, or news agents, for regular subscribers in canada are liable to cent per lb. or fraction of a lb. newspapers from offices of publication for city delivery are subject to ordinary transient newspaper rates. _ rd class matter.--addressed to canada._-- . transient newspapers and periodicals. rate, cent per oz.; prepayment compulsory; limit of weight, lbs. a single paper weighing not more than oz. may pass for / cent. . book packets. rate, cent per oz.; limit of weight, lbs., except for a single book, in which case the limit is lbs. . miscellaneous matter. (_a_) printed pamphlets, printed circulars, etc., and also seeds, cuttings, bulbs, etc.; rate, cent per oz. (_b_) maps, lithographs, photographs, circulars produced by a multiplying process easy to recognize, deeds, mortgages, insurance policies, militia, school and municipal returns, printed stationery, etc.; rate, cent per oz. circulars, prices current, etc., to pass at c. rate must be entirely printed. any insertion in ink is not permissible, except the name and address of the addressee, the name of the sender and the date of the circular itself. circulars type-written, or in such form as to resemble type-written, are liable to letter rate. all miscellaneous matter must be put up so as to admit of easy inspection. the limit of weight is lbs. . patterns and samples. rate, cent per oz.; limit of weight oz.; must be securely put up and open to inspection, and boxes or linen bags should be used for flour and similar matter. _miscellaneous matter for the united states._--(_a_) newspapers and periodicals; rate cent per oz. (_b_) other miscellaneous matter, including books; rate, cent per oz., but a minimum prepayment of cents is required for legal and commercial papers. the limit of weight for patterns and samples is oz., and for other matter under this head lbs. _ th class matter.--parcel post for canada._--parcels must not exceed five lbs. in weight nor two feet in length by one foot in breadth or thickness. the postage is cents per oz., and the parcel should be marked "by parcel post." parcels may be registered by affixing a cent registration stamp thereto, in addition to the postage. insufficiently paid parcels may be forwarded charged with simply the deficient postage, provided one full rate is paid and the deficiency does not exceed one rate. _ th class matter._--comprises such articles of general merchandise as are not entitled to any lower rate of postage. postage cent per oz., or fraction of an ounce. limit of weight, lbs.; of size, two feet in length by one foot in width or depth. matter claiming to be th class _must be open to inspection_ and there must be no correspondence enclosed. packages of th class matter, including seeds, bulbs, cuttings, roots, may be sent to the united states for the same prepayment as required within the dominion, but the contents will be liable to customs inspection and collection of duty in the united states. sealed tins containing fish, lobster, vegetables, meats, &c., if put up in a solid manner and labelled in such a way as to fully indicate the nature of their contents may be sent as th class matter within the dominion, but no sealed matter can be forwarded to the united states under this head. liquids, oils and fatty substances may be sent to places in canada and the united states as th class matter, if put up in accordance with the ruling referring to such articles in the canada postal guide. electrotype blocks are included in this class. an insufficiently prepaid packet of th class matter may be forwarded charged with double the deficient postage, provided the deficiency does not exceed cents. _parcel post.--for the united kingdom and the countries and colonies with which the united kingdom maintains parcel post relations, and for newfoundland, barbados, british guiana, grenada, st. lucia, st. vincent, jamaica, turks island, curacoa and japan._--parcels securely and substantially packed and closed for the united kingdom, and other countries and colonies to which parcels may be sent via england, and for newfoundland, limited in size to feet in length by one foot in width or depth. the postage for the united kingdom, which must be prepaid, is c. for the first lb. and c. for each additional lb. or fraction of a pound; the limit of weight is lbs. for japan the postage is c., the limit of weight is lbs. for newfoundland, c. per lb., or fraction of a pound. for barbados, british guiana, jamaica, grenada, st. lucia and st. vincent, c. per lb. parcels for newfoundland are daily forwarded on to halifax, n.s. for japan, on to vancouver, b. c. for barbados, british guiana, grenada, st. lucia and st. vincent, on to st. john, n.b., and for the united kingdom and other countries and colonies by the weekly mail and conveyed by the steamers of the canadian lines. parcels posted without the formalities required are sent to the dead letter office, ottawa. _registration._--all classes of matter may be registered to places in canada, the united states and postal union countries, and the sender may entitle himself to an acknowledgement of delivery from the party addressed by the payment of a fee of cents in addition to the registration fee. (a) _commercial papers_, (b) _books and_ (c) _samples, for postal union countries_. "commercial papers" comprise all papers or documents, written or drawn, wholly or partly by hand, (except letters or communications in the nature of letters, or other documents having the character of an actual and personal correspondence), documents of legal procedure, deeds drawn up by public functionaries, copies of, or extracts from deeds under private seal, way-bills, bills of lading, invoices and other documents of a mercantile character, documents of insurance and other public companies, all kinds of manuscript music, the manuscript of books and other literary works, and other papers of a similar description. "printed papers" include periodical works, books, stitched or bound, sheets of printed music, visiting cards, address cards, proofs of printing with or without the manuscript relating thereto, engravings, photographs, when not on glass or in frames containing glass, drawings, plans, maps, catalogues, prospectuses, announcements and notices of various kinds, printed, engraved, lithographed, printed circulars. (a) limits of weight and size: lbs. for the united kingdom, and lbs. for other countries, inches in length and inches in width or depth. (b) lbs. for the united kingdom, and lbs. to other countries, feet long and foot wide or deep. (c) united kingdom, lbs. in weight, feet in length by foot in breadth or depth. (d) limits of weight to austria-hungary, belgium, egypt, france, hawaii, italy, portugal, roumania and switzerland, is ozs., limit of size foot in length by inches in width and inches in depth. if in form of a roll it may be inches in length and inches in diameter. the limit of weight to other postal union countries is ozs., limit of size same as to austria-hungary, &c., &c. _matter which cannot be forwarded through the post._--liquids, oils, etc., not properly put up. explosive substances and other matter likely to entail risk or injury to the ordinary contents of the mail, cannot be sent by post. letters containing gold or silver money, jewels, or precious articles, or anything liable to customs duties, cannot be forwarded by post to any of the postal union countries except the united states. we see from the above postal packet rates where the use of a cent stamp would be convenient, which accounts for the announcement of the new value in the postmaster general's report last quoted in the preceding chapter. the cent stamp of course would serve a useful purpose in making up relatively large amounts of postage. the above rates also show that there was still use for the cent stamp in payment of parcels to newfoundland. we find notice of the issue of the new values in the _dominion philatelist_[ ] as follows:-- as foreshadowed in the postmaster general's report, there have appeared canada postage stamps of the value of c. and c.; the c. is a bright deep orange and the c. is indigo blue, they are of similar design and resemble very much the third issue bill stamp and may be described as follows: head and shoulders of queen to left, with widow's cap and chin resting on right hand, enclosed in a circle; above the circle the words "canada postage", below the circle at either side the value in figures and across the bottom the value in words.... the above were all placed on sale feb. nd. the c. and c. stamps were intended for parcel post. [ ] =dominion philatelist=, v: . the somewhat ambiguous description will be more readily understood by reference to the illustrations, numbers and on plate ii. the stamps, as stated, are very evidently copied from the design of the dollar values of the bill stamps issued in . the portrait of the queen in her widow's weeds, in fact, is doubtless reproduced directly from the original die engraved twenty-five years previously. the stamps were of course line engraved on steel, and printed in the usual sheet arrangement of , ten rows of ten. the plates of course emanated from ottawa, but bear a new imprint, similar to the second one used in montreal. the colored strip is now mm. long and - / mm. high with square ends, and bears the legend: "british american bank note co. ottawa." within a pearled border. it appears only twice, in the center of the top and of the bottom margins, and can be seen in illustrations nos. and on plate ix. the colors are not exactly as described in our quotation, the cent being a vermilion or bright red, similar to the colors of the cent, and the cent a deep blue, but not indigo. according to the advices of the _american journal of philately_ (vi: ) the stamps were issued on the th february--five days earlier than the above quotation states. both values were printed on a medium white wove paper and perforated . both were ordered to the number of half a million copies in , and in , more of the cent and , more of the cent were delivered, with a final copies of each in . these quantities were sufficient to last until the cent was superseded by the newer type in , and the cent by the king's head stamp in . some of the cent were returned for destruction and about , of the cent! both these stamps are found imperforate and in this condition are to be classed in the same category as the imperforates of the "small cents issue," which we have already considered.[ ] illustrations of blocks of four of each will be found as numbers and on plate ix. the cent is in a peculiar black blue shade. [ ] see page . * * * * * in the preceding chapter we quoted a circular from the postmaster general which called attention to the changes made by _the post office act, _. a uniform registration fee of cents was one of these, and to enable the cent registration stamps to be used up permission was given to make up the difference by postage stamps when registering mail matter. four years later it was decided to discontinue the use of the special stamp for the registration fee, and to permit its prepayment by ordinary postage stamps. as the combined letter and registration rate was eight cents, a stamp of this value for use on registered letters was deemed advisable. we read under "canadian notes" in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ for august , :-- the following orders were posted up in all the canadian post-offices on august st: "a new postage stamp of the value of c. is now being put into circulation. this stamp will be available for the prepayment either of registration fee and postage combined, or of postage only. the c. registration stamp, when the present supply is exhausted, will be withdrawn." the new stamp reverted to the small size and general design of the "small cents issue", but with the important difference that the head was turned to the _left_ instead of the right, as with all the others of that series. it was line engraved on steel, as usual, and the only entire sheet we have seen was of , in ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps, but without a sign of any marginal imprints. the perforation variety - / � is reported as occurring in this value also, as well as the regular gauge . the color was at first a bluish gray, which soon darkened and ran through a series of shades as if in emulation of the old pence stamp. mr. horsley states[ ] that it appeared in slate-blue in october of , and slate in . _alfred smith's monthly circular_ for december, , records it in a "dark slate-black," and the _weekly philatelic era_ for november , , says that "a peculiar feature in connection with the new shade of the current eight cent canada postage stamp is that upon being put in water and left there for a few minutes the paper becomes of a pinkish tint which after the stamp becomes dry still remains." this "new shade" was doubtless the dark slate color referred to, which must have been issued, therefore, in october or november of . in december, , the _monthly journal_ notes it in a "deep purple", similar in shade to the cent jubilee stamp, and very likely printed from the same mixing of ink. [ ] =london philatelist=, xvi: . the stamp was printed upon a medium white wove paper, and is found in imperforate condition like the other values of the then current stamps, which we have already described.[ ] the imperforates are in the early bluish gray color, so that it is fair to suppose they were from the first printings in . a block of four is illustrated as number on plate x. [ ] see page . the first delivery of these stamps--and of course the first printing--was of , , as recorded in the stamp accounts for . as these accounts were made up to th june, and there is no record of any "issue to postmasters," the stamps were doubtless delivered just before the accounts were closed, so that opportunity had not been given to distribute the new value. for the next few fiscal years the amount received from the manufacturers averaged over a million and a half annually, so that by the time it was superseded it had been printed to the number of at least - / millions. there is nothing of special importance concerning postage stamps in the postmaster general's reports from to , but we glean an item of interest from _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ of december , :-- a new regulation has been put in force by the canadian post-office department. until a few days ago it was unlawful for any person to sell unused current canadian stamps without a government license [as a stamp vendor]. merchants and others who received a great many unused stamps as remittances, have heretofore been compelled to send them to the department at a discount of five per cent, or dispose of them by illegitimate means, running the risk of being prosecuted for selling without license. a great deal of complaint was made to the department concerning this matter, and last week hon. mr. mulock announced that thenceforth, all unused canadian stamps would be cashed at one per cent. discount in amounts of over $ . . the stamps may be pasted on paper, as they will not be put in circulation again. chapter xi the jubilee issue of the so-called "diamond jubilee" of the accession of queen victoria, who had then been on the throne of the united kingdom for sixty years, occurred on the th june, , and several of the british colonies, as on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary, considered it fitting to celebrate the event with a commemorative issue of postage stamps. probably no proprieties would be violated were it observed, sub rosa, that the pecuniary gains connected with such issues were probably more of a factor in determining their birth than the superabundance of jubilation over the auspicious occurrence. such a suspicion is quite readily aroused when considering all the facts in connection with the special set of stamps that canada felt it necessary to put forth at this time. but the story runs a little farther back and hinges on other changes. what proved a prophetic utterance appeared under "canadian notes" in the _weekly philatelic era_ of august , , as follows:-- for the first time in years a liberal, or reform government has full control of the dominion.... mr. william mulock, j. c., of toronto, is the new postmaster general and i am informed that considerable pressure is being brought to bear upon him to have an entirely new set of stamps issued to replace those which have been in use in canada for something over a quarter of a century. under the same "notes" in the issue of the above paper for january , , we find the result of the "pressure":-- the british american bank note company, which for so many years have had the contract for printing canada's paper currency and postage stamps, have been notified that their services will no longer be required. the shareholders in that company were not of the right political stripe for the new government. the contract has now been given to the american bank note company of new york. this company will have to establish a branch office at ottawa and all the work will have to be done in canada. _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ gives further details in a clipping from the _montreal herald_, dated "ottawa, jan. ," [ ]:[ ]-- the contract for the government engraving, for which tenders were called two months ago, has been awarded to the american bank note company, of new york, for a period of five and a quarter years. the contract is worth $ , , and may be renewed for a similar period. the work consists of engraving dominion bank notes, revenue and postage stamps, postal cards, etc. at present the british american bank note company, better known as burland and company, formerly of montreal, have the contract. they tendered this time, but the new york company was the lowest. the new york company is one of the largest and best known in the world. the firm engraves notes for some of the banks in canada, including the canadian bank of commerce. under the terms of the new contract, the company will require to establish a place in ottawa to do the work, where the government can have supervision of it. as compared with the prices paid under the burland contract, the government will effect a saving of $ , by the new contract. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, ix: . the next step appears in the _weekly philatelic era_ of january , , where we read under "canadian notes":-- many suggestions are being made and many plans laid for the fitting celebration of the sixtieth year of her majesty's reign. in canada this celebration is being coupled with that of the four hundredth anniversary of cabot's discovery of america. tn this connection a proposal has been made and an agitation started for the issue of a commemorative set of postage stamps by the dominion government.... it has been suggested that the new stamps be made a trifle larger than the present ones, that a somewhat recent picture of her majesty replace the present one, and that the figures and colors be made more pronounced. if possible some reference to the combined celebrations will likely be made. the agitation for a new issue is quite pronounced and is by no means confined to philatelists. there appears to be general desire on the part of the people to have a change. a step further is recorded in the _era_ for march th, as follows:-- the _toronto world_ in its edition of march th. contained the following as one of its leaders: "here is good news for postage stamp collectors. the postmaster-general proposes, as far as his department is concerned, to commemorate her majesty's diamond jubilee by the issue of a new -cent postage stamp appropriate to the occasion. it will have a limited circulation only, probably for a period of months covering the jubilee celebrations during the coming summer. when the sale is stopped the present -cent stamp will be put in circulation again.... so far the design of the new stamp has not been made public although the hon. mr. mulock, the postmaster-general, has sent a sketch of it to the british-american [_sic_] bank note company to be engraved. it it said to be oblong and nearly as large as the columbian issue". if only this original intention had been adhered to! more precise information finally appeared in the _era_ for may th:-- during the last week the canadian papers have been full of canada's jubilee issue, which has now been definitely decided upon. _the toronto evening telegram_ of a few days ago has perhaps the most to say concerning the stamps, and it is to that paper that your correspondent is indebted for the following. the new jubilee stamp will be issued in another month. the design represents her majesty at two important eras in her life, namely at her accession on the th of june, , and within a few weeks of her jubilee in . the first vignette, showing her on her coronation day, is from a well known portrait of that period. it is a full faced portrait and her majesty wears the crown. looking at the stamp this vignette is at the left side. to the right is a picture of her majesty as she appears today; the face is profile looking toward the vignette of . the latter picture represents her majesty wearing the empress crown. between and above the two vignettes is a beautifully executed copy of the imperial crown of england and under it the letter "v" with the letters "r. i." in the fork of the "v". the three letters meaning victoria regina (queen), imperatrix (empress). in the semi-circle or upper part of the vignette are the words "canada postage" and underneath these are respectively the dates - and between the vignettes are ornamentation of maple leaves, while in the lower corners of the stamps are also maple leaves, and between these and at the base of the stamp is its denomination in black letters on a white ground. there will be sixteen varieties of the new stamp and a post card. * * * * * the first set of stamps printed will be sent to h. r. h. the prince of york [_sic_], who is an enthusiastic stamp collector. the second set will be presented to her excellency lady aberdeen (wife of the canadian governor general). the same paper credits the suggestion of the general idea of the jubilee design to mr. pareira, an official of the interior department. a few days later the matter of the proposed issue came up in parliament, and the postmaster general was interpellated in the house of commons. his reply was published in the _canadian hansard_, the official record, of th may, , as follows:-- the postmaster-general (mr. mulock): it is the intention of the government to issue a set of jubilee postage stamps. such stamps will be put into public use by being delivered to postmasters throughout canada for sale to the public in the same manner as ordinary postage stamps are sold. there will be a limit to the quantity to be issued. the denominations of jubilee stamps, and the total number of such jubilee stamps to be issued, are set forth in the following schedule:-- schedule showing the denominations and total number of jubilee stamps to be issued: number to be issued. denomination. , / c. stamps , , c. " , , c. " , , c. " , c. " , c. " , c. " , c. " , c. " , c. " , c. " , $ " , $ " , $ " , $ " , $ " , , c. post cards. total value of one stamp of each kind, $ . - / . as soon as the total number of stamps mentioned in said schedule is issued the plates from which they will have been engraved will be destroyed in the presence of the head and two officers of the department. on the th june the post office department will proceed to supply jubilee postage stamps to the principal post offices in canada, and through them the minor post offices will obtain their supply until the issue is exhausted. if this jubilee issue were to wholly displace the ordinary postage stamps it would supply the ordinary wants of the country for between two and three months, but as the use of the ordinary postage stamps will proceed concurrently with that of the jubilee stamps, it is expected that the jubilee stamp will last beyond the three months. inasmuch as the department is already receiving applications for the purchase of jubilee stamps, it may be stated that the department will adhere to the established practice of supplying them only to postmasters, and through them to the public, who may purchase them on and after the th june, . promptly, "as advertised", the stamps were placed on sale throughout the dominion on the morning of saturday, the th of june. the natural result followed: an expectant populace, for various reasons but with one main object, literally besieged the post offices for the coveted treasures. the advance publication of the quantities of the various denominations to be issued gave speculators the hint as to the most desirable values to "corner", and as a result the / cent and cent stamps were a special mark in all quarters. this action seems to have been more or less anticipated, for these values were doled out in very small quantities, if at all, in spite of the large orders that were everywhere given for them. this was doubtless largely due to the following circular, sent out with the initial supply of the stamps to all postmasters:[ ]-- n. b.--requisitions for _full sets_ of the jubilee stamps will be filled until the issue is exhausted.--e. p. s. post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, _june_, . sir,--i am directed by the postmaster-general to send you herewith a supply of the jubilee stamps and c. post card, equal to one month's ordinary requirements of your office. should this quantity prove insufficient it will, on your requisition addressed to this branch, be supplemented; but as the jubilee issue is limited, it would be necessary for you to apply early in order to secure further supplies of the same. i am also to instruct you not to sell any of the accompanying stamps or post cards before the opening of your office at the regular office hours on the th june instant--the eve of the anniversary they are intended to commemorate. these stamps and cards are, of course, like the ordinary issues, to be sold at face value. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent_. the postmaster. p. s.--as there appears to be a somewhat general desire on the part of many persons to purchase, for souvenir purposes, complete sets of the jubilee stamps, it is hoped that you will so manage the sale of such stamps that persons applying to purchase full sets may be able to get them. e. p. s. [ ] =monthly journal=, viii. . the conditions that developed when the stamps were actually issued seem to have surprised the department, and caused additional measures to be taken for an equable distribution. we quote mr. f. w. wurtele:[ ]-- the experience of the first day's sale convinced our government that halves and sixes would very soon be bought up by speculators unless some action was taken to further restrict their sale; they therefore came to the conclusion that those persons who were willing to contribute to the revenues of the canadian government to the extent of $ . for a complete set of jubilee stamps were entitled to protection, and decided that they at least should not pay more than face value for their / and . in consequence the following circular was issued by the post-office department, and no more of these values could be obtained from any licensed vendor. post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, th june, . sir,--with reference to the numerous demands upon this office for the / c. and c. jubilee stamps, i am directed to explain that the respective quantities of jubilee stamps ordered bear, relatively, the same proportions to the actual requirements of the postal service, but the tendency to exhaust the halves and sixes has increased to such a degree, that it has become necessary to restrict their sale to the purchasers of full sets. hence i am to express the postmaster-general's regret that he is unable, having regard to the limited character of the jubilee issue, to comply with any requests for the / c or c denomination, apart from those for full sets. these sets may be obtained as long as the series of jubilee stamps lasts, but as the demands upon it are unusually heavy, it would be advisable to apply for full sets at the earliest possible moment. when postmasters obtain such sets to fill orders actual or prospective at their respective offices, they must not, in any case, break the sets. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent_. p. s.--under no circumstances will there be any issue of jubilee stamps, beyond the limits mentioned in the accompanying extract from hansard, containing the postmaster-general's statement on the subject. * * * * * it was necessary to print , copies of the foregoing circular in order to reply to all the demands on the department at ottawa for / c. and c. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, x: . not only were the sales of the / and cent stamps thus restricted, but notices were posted in the offices that none of the / c., c., c., $ . , $ . , $ . , $ . , or $ . stamps would be sold unless the whole set were taken. this proceeding naturally resulted in considerably more protest on the part of stamp collectors and the public (?). rumor had it just after the issue was placed on sale that the cent stamp had been withdrawn, which probably accounts for the "run" upon that value and its inclusion in the above restrictions. in fact a correspondent of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_, writing from winnipeg, man., on th june, stated that "a sensation was caused amongst those interested by the government on tuesday [ nd june] recalling, by wire, all the c. stamps of the new issue on hand at this office." this was later explained by a letter published in the _weekly philatelic era_:[ ]-- post office department, canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, th july, . sir,--in reply to your letter of the th inst., i am directed to say that the question of issuing partial sets of jubilee stamps is now under the consideration of the department. in respect to the recall of the c. jubilee stamps, i may say that it was but a partial one, and intended to render possible a re-distribution of that stamp on a basis more in accordance with the actual demand therefor. * * * * * i am, sir, your obdt. servant, e. p. stanton, superintendent. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xi: . under date of st july it was announced from ottawa that "the demand for complete sets has been very large, about nine thousand sets having already been issued".[ ] the "partial sets" referred to in the above letter were the next step in the unbending process, the decision to put them on sale having been reached on st july, and their issue to the public beginning on th august. concerning this concession mr. donald a. king says:[ ]-- so soon as the demand for these [complete] sets was, to some extent satisfied, the department yielding to another class of enquiries and requests for sets up to and including the cents and $ . respectively, made a distribution of such sets, the numbers being apportioned upon a basis of the revenue of each money order office throughout the dominion. between , and , sets were thus distributed, and rapidly sold, as a very large number of requests for further supplies came in from the different offices. the following is the circular sent to postmasters regulating the sale of these partial sets: post office department. canada, postage stamp branch, ottawa, [august] . sir.--i am directed to transmit to you the accompanying partial sets of jubilee stamps. these sets consist of two kinds: one from a / c. to $ . (value $ . - / ), the other from / c. to c. (value $ . - / ). you are instructed to sell these stamps as sets, and as sets only, representations having been made to the department that in various parts of the dominion there is a desire to obtain such sets for souvenir purposes. you must not, under any circumstances, break a set; for, besides the disappointment that such a course would cause, you would render yourself liable to loss, the department having decided not to allow credit for any broken sets returned to it by a postmaster who, notwithstanding the instructions herein given, sells any denominations of the stamps making up a set apart from the rest. i am also to ask you to use your best judgment in the sale of these sets, checking, as far as possible, any attempt on the part of speculators to monopolize them, and thus securing as general a distribution of such sets in your vicinity as the circumstances may permit. to enable you to make change in connection with the sale of the enclosed sets i include a sufficient quantity of ordinary / c. postage stamps. i may add that the accompanying supply has been based strictly upon the annual revenue of your office, and, having regard to the total number of sets available and the extent of their distribution, represents that proportion to which you are entitled. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent_. the postmaster. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xi: . [ ] =monthly journal=, viii: . for disingenuousness, for pathetic regard for the public and the postmaster, and yet withal a keen eye for the "interests" of the department, this circular is a model which should be preserved for posterity--and "businesslike" post office departments. mr. king continues:-- the demand for the small sets was so great that the supply was exhausted almost all at once, and in reply to repeated requests for more sets the department issued the following circular:--#/ post office department, canada. (_office of the superintendent of the postage stamp branch_). ottawa,... . sir,--the partial sets of jubilee stamps already issued to your office constituted its share of these sets, having regard to their limited number and the area of their distribution, which comprised all the money order offices in the dominion. except a reserve for complete sets (from / c. to $ . inclusive, cost $ . - / ) there is not a jubilee stamp left in the department--all having been issued to postmasters. the plates, i may add, were destroyed on the th september instant. i am, sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, _superintendent_. the postmaster. such is the history of the diamond jubilee set of canadian stamps. we make no comment on it--it seems as if none were necessary and that the presentation is amply sufficient for each to judge for himself concerning it. we will only add major evans sapient remark[ ]: "all the trouble was the natural result of pretending to treat a commemorative and limited issue as if it had been an ordinary and permanent one. ordinary common sense should have suggested the issue of large supplies of the lowest value, and a certain number of all values to every office." [ ] =monthly journal=, viii: . to revert to the stamps themselves. we have already given a description of the design in one of our previous quotations, but it needs to be amended in one or two particulars. the portrait of queen victoria labelled " " on the stamp will be recognized as identical with that on the old pence and later - / pence values. in fact mr. wurtele tells us[ ] that a prominent montreal collector, whose advice was asked when the issue was under consideration, gave the government a magnificent unused copy of the - / d. green, to be used in engraving the picture. it does not, as stated, show her majesty on her coronation day, but is from the painting representing her on the occasion of the prorogation of parliament, on th july, , as already described.[ ] the portrait labelled " " is from a full length painting executed by command in by prof. von angelo of vienna. it represents her majesty as she appeared on the assumption of the title "empress of india", and the curious may find the entire figure copied on the pence post card of great britain issued in , and also on the penny card of . this state portrait of the queen is now in buckingham palace. the crown at the top center of the stamp is not the imperial state crown of great britain but the so-called tudor crown. the imperial crown is well illustrated on the pence and cent "beaver" stamps, and a comparison with the jubilee issue will plainly show the difference in the "style" of these two crowns. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, x: . [ ] see page . our illustration (no. on plate ii) shows a sample of the whole set, the only variation, outside of the color, being the denomination in the label at the bottom. this is in each case expressed in words. the stamps are beautifully engraved on steel as usual, and are printed on stout wove paper and perforated . the values from / cent through cents were printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten. above the cent, that is from cents through dollars, they were printed in sheets of , ten horizontal rows of five stamps each. the marginal inscriptions are very meagre, consisting merely of "ottawa--no-- " (or some other plate number) in hair-line roman capitals - / mm. high, at the top of the sheet only. the inscription is mm. long, being centered over stamps and of the top row in the sheets of , and over stamp number in the sheets of . this is the first time that plate numbers appear on the sheets of canadian postage stamps, and it is well to record them. taking them serially we find the plates of the various values were made as follows:-- plate cents " " " " " " " / " " " " " " " " cents " " " " dollars cents dollars " " " cents " " " the colors, which will be found in the reference list, are quite constant, as would be expected. the principal variation is only one of tone in a few values. a newspaper despatch from ottawa tells us that "a return brought down to-day shows that the cost of printing the jubilee stamp was cents per thousand."[ ] [ ] =post office=, ix: . considerable criticism was naturally aroused by the inclusion of the values from one to five dollars, and outside of the palpable attempt to "make capital" from stamp collectors and others, it was claimed that the four and five dollar values were useless, as the "highest amount that can _possibly_ be required on a parcel sent by mail from canada is $ . (including registration). this owing to limitations of weight, etc., and the highest amount that can be required on a letter is $ . ".[ ] an "official" replied[ ] that "very frequently parcels leave the toronto post office with $ and $ postage on them, and in some cases the postage has reached the amount of $ . there is another way in which the $ and $ stamps may be used, viz.:--in second class rate books. canada does not issue newspaper or periodical stamps so these two high values can be used in this way." [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xi: . [ ] =ibid.=, xi: . someone wrote the postmaster general, quoting the above letter and asking further particulars. the reply stated[ ] that "the regulations do not fix any limit to the weight of letters.... according to the regulations of this department 'second class matter' comprises newspapers and periodicals addressed to regular subscribers, (including sample copies) and that, postage being payable upon such matter at a bulk rate of c. per lb., the stamps required for prepayment are not affixed to the packages, but are placed in small books and cancelled. the books for this purpose are supplied by the department to all post offices where they are required." this was analogous to the practice in the united states, only regular postage stamps were employed instead of special newspaper and periodical stamps. as a matter of fact the high value jubilee stamps, which later became a drug on the market, were largely used for this purpose. mr. king confirms the fact of large postage payments:[ ] "i have seen packages originating at and passing through the post office here [halifax] that had from $ . to $ . postage on them ... and the case can be recalled of a letter on which $ was prepaid." [ ] =ibid.=, xi: . [ ] =monthly journal=, viii: . the question of the unlimited validity of the jubilee stamps for postage was also brought up, doubtless because of the temporary nature of their issue, and a special circular was issued touching this point, of which the following is a copy:[ ]-- post office department, canada. postage stamp branch. ottawa, th june, . sir--i am directed to send you for your information and guidance, the following statement, which has just been given to the press: "enquiry having been made at the post office department as to whether the canadian jubilee postage stamps would continue good as postage for a limited period only, it has been officially stated that the jubilee stamp will remain valid for postage purposes so long as they may continue in circulation. _they will not, however, be redeemed by the department, a distinction being drawn in this respect between them and the ordinary postage stamps._" i am sir, your obedient servant, e. p. stanton, superintendent. [ ] =weekly philatelic era= xii: . a curious case of splits is recorded from the _sussex, n. b., news_:[ ]-- the _railway news_ last week on account of not receiving permission from the post-master general to allow papers to go through the mails free, was compelled to pay postage. no half cent stamps being available, the post office department allowed one cent stamps to be cut in halves for postage. this is the first time on record we believe where such was allowed and the stamps have been eagerly sought after, one dollar being paid for a single stamp with the post office stamp on it. the _news_ will pay twenty-five cents each for the one cent jubilee stamps cut in halves bearing the post office stamp of november th, th, or th, which was allowed to pass through the mails on that date owing to there being no regular half cent stamps obtainable. [ ] =ibid.=, xii: . the cent ordinary also did duty at some offices for like reasons, but the practice was not approved from headquarters, as postmasters were officially instructed in such cases to use whole cent stamps and get a refund on the difference in value. * * * * * it may be recalled that one of our quotations stated that the first set of jubilee stamps printed would be presented to the "prince of york"--a slip for the "duke of york," afterwards prince of wales, and now his most gracious majesty king george v. an account of this presentation set may not be without interest here:[ ]-- a very unique and handsome piece of work is the postal portfolio which is to be presented to his royal highness, the duke of york, by the dominion government, and which is on exhibition in the window of kyrie brothers, jewelers, toronto. the portfolio is in the form of an album, the cover of which is of royal blue morocco leather, handsomely decorated in gold. in the center of the front cover is a raised shield in white on which are the words in gold letters, "dominion of canada, diamond jubilee postage stamps, nd june, ." the corners of the portfolio are decorated with guards of canadian gold made from british columbia and ramey district ore. the right hand upper corner decoration is a design of maple leaves, and the lower corner of english oak leaves and acorns. the portfolio is fastened with a clasp of canadian gold in the form of oak leaves, while the bracket on the front holding the clasps in position is entwined with maple leaves with the monogram of h. r. h. the duke of york--g. f. e. a.--george frederick ernest albert. on the third page is the inscription, "this collection of postage stamps issued at ottawa by the dominion of canada in commemoration of the diamond jubilee of her most gracious majesty queen victoria is presented to h. r. h. the duke of york, k. g., by the government of canada, ." the last page of this unique stamp album will contain the certificate of the destruction of the dies and plates in the presence of hon. wm. mulock, postmaster-general of canada.... this is probably the dearest stamp album in the world, and contains only a single specimen of each denomination of the jubilee issue. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, x: it will be noted that the superintendent's last circular concerning the exhaustion of the jubilee stamps stated that the plates had been destroyed. an eye witness sent _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ (x: ) an account of the process which is interesting enough to reproduce. on friday afternoon, sept. th, ... i presented myself at the post-office department and joined a party who were just leaving the building to go over to the american bank note co's. building, a couple of blocks away.... arriving, we were conducted to the top floor by the manager. the plates, dies, etc., were brought out by those in charge, and the seventeen original dies after inspection by those present were placed one by one under a press and an obliterating roller passed over them several times: proofs were then pulled which faintly showed the outline of the ovals, etc., but the words showing the value could not even be made out. next the rolls for transferring the impression from the dies to the plates came in for their share of attention. there were nineteen of them, and a few burns from an emery wheel quickly put each one "out of sight". the plates, in number, were subjected to the same treatment as the dies and the total time occupied in the destruction of the various parts occupied almost two hours. the postmaster general's report for the th june, , reprints the extract from the _canadian hansard_ of th may, which we have already given.[ ] the stamp accounts show a few curious things. in the first place the announcement of the issue gave the quantity of cent stamps as , . the accounts for give the number received from the manufacturers as , , and we find in the column headed "returned by postmasters as unfit for use," , copies, and in the column headed "stamps destroyed as unfit for use", a like amount! when the post office department estimates for the ensuing year were being discussed in parliament in may, , the following interpellation occurred and was replied to by the postmaster general:[ ]-- _mr. ingram._ i notice that , eight cent stamps were returned by the postmasters as unfit for use, and that , were destroyed as unfit for use. _the postmaster-general._ the explanation of that is this: the total number issued was limited to the schedule mentioned in the answer that i gave to parliament. by a mistake a larger quantity was delivered to the department, and before it was discovered the department had distributed a larger quantity than was mentioned in the schedule.[ ] they discovered it when the mail had gone out, and at once recalled the over-issue. of course they were at once destroyed, so as to keep the amount within the figure named by parliament. _mr. ingram._ then it was not through stamps being unfit? _the postmaster-general._ i do not know how it is worded there; "unfit for use" is not a proper description. there was not one stamp in excess of the limit stated in parliament that got into the hands of the public. there was that little error i speak of, but it was detected at once and corrected, and of course the extra amount was at once destroyed--i suppose by the auditor-general and by mr. stanton of the stamp department. [ ] see page . [ ] =monthly journal=, viii: . [ ] the stamp accounts show that , cent stamps had been "issued to postmasters" previous to th june, . well, perhaps the excess did not reach the public, but the stamp accounts exhibit a peculiar coincidence in connection therewith. the tables of receipt and issue of stamp supplies for , as already stated, contain the memos of the return of , cent stamps, by postmasters, and their destruction. the tables for contain two columns, one of stamps returned by postmasters, "unfit for use", and the other "fit for use". the former were supposed to be destroyed, the latter placed in stock again. now note: the values from / cent to cents inclusive, "fit for use", were returned in quantities varying from to copies, with two exceptions; the dollar values in quantities from to . the two exceptions were the cent at , copies, _and the cent at , copies_!! this last figure looks so familiar that we cannot help wondering whether a second call had been sent out for the return of , _more_ of the cent, subsequent to the closing of the accounts, or if (which seems more probable) the first return had not been slipped into stock instead of being actually destroyed, and reappeared thus in the accounts! _quien sabe?_ all the other values to and including the dollars, were received in their proper amounts and were all issued to postmasters, the last record of the series from / cent to dollar, inclusive, appearing in the report. the figures for the dollar values prove rather interesting so we give them here:-- ret'd and . . . . . total. on hand. destroyed. $ . received , , , ... , ... issued , , , ... , $ . received , , ... , , , ... issued , , , , , $ . received , , ... , , , , issued , , , , , $ . received , , ... , , , , issued , , , , , $ . received , , ... , , , , issued , , , , , comment:--the three highest dollar values were apparently never delivered to their full requisition-- , each. all but the dollar were issued in goodly numbers in ,--four years after their first appearance! the and dollar stamps were both issued to an amount of about , more than were received from the manufacturers, but this excess is easily explained by the reissue of stamps returned by postmasters and placed again in stock. the entire issue drops out of sight with the report, but the report suddenly presents the figures given for the three high values still on hand, and records of the dollar stamps turned in for destruction. once more, in the report, we find , of the dollar, , of the dollar and , of the dollar stamps returned for destruction, so that allowing for the total number destroyed and the amount on hand (which may be) we have for the actual issue of the three high values, instead of , each, but , of the dollar, , of the dollar and , of the dollar stamps. chapter xii the "maple leaf" issue of rumors of a new issue, as we know, had been "in the air" ever since the change in the contractors for supplying stamps had been announced. of course the jubilee issue was a special affair, and for a time sidetracked other considerations. a new permanent series was not forgotten, however, and under "ottawa notes" in the _weekly philatelic era_ for october , , we find the following advance information concerning it:-- a new general issue of canadian postage stamps is imminent, being necessitated by the fact that the present liberal government has entered into a new contract for engraving and printing dominion treasury notes, postage and revenue stamps, and in short, all government matter. the previous contractors were the british american bank note co. of montreal.... when the bids for a renewal of the engraving contract were opened last winter, it was found that the american bank note company of new york were the lowest bidders, and that they bound themselves in the event of the acceptance of their tender to build and equip a printing establishment in ottawa, in compliance with the conditions of the bids. their tender was accepted and they have carried out their undertaking by building a commodious and fully equipped establishment near that of their rivals on wellington street. of the new presses the jubilee issue of postage stamps were the first fruits. the impending general issue will be required as soon as the existing stock of the current issue is exhausted, and it is rumored that the supply of some values is running low. this much is announced,--that the design for the new issue has been decided upon; that the center of the stamp will contain a portrait of the queen taken at the time of the jubilee, approved and signed by the queen as the best existing likeness of her, and that our national emblem, the maple leaf, will appear in the corners--not the unnatural and misshapen leaf that appears on the jubilee issue, but the real article, copied from actual leaves gathered on parliament hill. this would indicate that there will be only one die for all the values, but i have as yet no information as to size, colours, or details. a couple of weeks later a circular was sent to postmasters announcing the new stamps, etc., of which the following is a copy:[ ]-- circular to postmaster. new issue of postage stamps, etc. the postmaster-general has made arrangements for a new issue of postage stamps, letter cards, stamped envelopes, post cards and post bands. these will be supplied to postmasters in the usual way. postmasters are, however, instructed not to sell the stamps of any denomination of the new issue until the stamps of the corresponding denomination of the present issue are disposed of. the filling of requisitions by the postage stamp branch will be regulated by the same principle--that is to say, no item of the proposed issue will be sent out until the corresponding item of the present issue has been exhausted. to conform to the requirements of the international postal union, the color of the new c. stamp will be green and that of the c. stamp a deep blue. r. m. coulter, deputy postmaster-general. post-office department, canada. ottawa, th october, . [ ] =american journal of philately=, nd series, x: . these instructions were followed out, and the issue of the new series was thus stretched over a considerable length of time. the first to appear was the / cent, two weeks after the date of the above circular. the circumstances of its début are told under "ottawa notes" in the _weekly philatelic era_:[ ]-- the half cent stamp of the new issue was placed on sale today [ th november, ], its appearance having been precipitated by events over which the postal authorities had no control.... the philatelists, anticipating an early exhaustion of the old half cent stamp, helped the thing along by quietly but assiduously buying in every copy in sight. as a consequence the stock ran down much faster than that of other values, and a few weeks ago orders were issued that no more were to be sold to the public, but that publishers entitled to the half cent rate should take their papers to the post-offices and there have the stamps affixed by the staff. even that did not save the distance [_sic_]. i hear that in montreal it was found necessary to use cent stamps to prepay the half cent rate.[ ] fortunately for the reputation of canadian stamps, these stamps were not over-printed with new value, and we have been spared a surcharge. however, the postal authorities hurried forward the printing and circulation of the new issue, in that value at least, and it is an accomplished fact. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xii: . [ ] see page . the next value to appear was the cent, which was announced in the _weekly philatelic era_ under date of th december, as having been put in circulation. following closely upon this came the , , and cent stamps, and in january, the and cent. the new stamps were very simple in design, the central oval containing a portrait of queen victoria copied from a photograph by w. & d. downey of london, taken at the time of the diamond jubilee celebrations. canada postage and the value in words only appear in egyptian capitals on the oval frame to the portrait, and each spandrel is occupied by a maple leaf. much criticism was engendered by the fact that the portrait was too large for its frame, making the design appear cramped and thus giving a disappointing effect to what otherwise might have proved a most neat and effective stamp. [illustration no. on plate ii]. the stamps were as usual line engraved on steel, and printed on the same stout white wove paper that was employed for the jubilee issue, as well as on a thinner and more brittle quality. the cent, for the first time in canadian philatelic history, appeared on a colored paper, the stock having a decidedly bluish tint. the perforation was the regulation gauge . but one irregularity seems to be known, and that is the cents imperforate, a block of four of which we are able to illustrate as no. on plate x. the sheet arrangement was intended to be the usual block of impressions, ten by ten, but the ottawa correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_ tells us that in the case of the / cent stamp the first plate was twice this size. by some misunderstanding the contractors, the american bank note co., set the sheet up with stamps, and the first five hundred sheets were so printed. the sheets were afterwards cut in two through the imprint, and we have these half sheets with a close imperforated margin on either the left or right edge. afterwards sheets of stamps were issued, all the stamps perforated on all four sides. plate number collectors will find the earliest sheets difficult to obtain. both sheets bear the plate number .[ ] [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xii: . the imprint on the sheets was the same as that on the jubilee sheets, ottawa--no-- , etc., but instead of numbering the plates all consecutively, each denomination began its own series with "no ." the imprint is placed in the top margin only, over the middle two stamps ( and ) of the top row. in the case of the cent stamps each style of the first two plates was numbered " ". the plate of impressions was arranged in ten horizontal rows of twenty stamps each, thus bringing the imprint over stamps and of the top row, and as it was between these that the large sheets were severed, the imprint was cut in two in the process. all the other values were made up in sheets of only. for the information of plate number collectors we give a list of such numbers as we have been able to ascertain. / cent, no. ( plates). " nos. , . " nos. , , . " nos. , , , , , . " no. ,. " no. . " no. . " no. . the quantity of each value issued before they were replaced by the stamps with numerals is stated to have been as follows:[ ]-- / cent , , " , , " , , " , , " , , " , " , , " , [ ] =metropolitan philatelist=, x: . a similar variation is found in the dimensions of these stamps to that occurring in the - / d. and d. stamps and the issue of , and has caused quite a little comment from those unfamiliar with this phenomenon. as much as / mm. in the vertical measurements can be found between many stamps. the cause is of course the uneven shrinking of the dampened paper when drying after being printed upon. this was fully discussed in an earlier chapter.[ ] as the paper in the present instance is very similar in quality to that used for printing the united states stamps, in which the same peculiarity occurs, we will quote mr. melville's comment on the subject:[ ]-- as we have said, the paper is impressed when damp.... this wetting-down business has another effect which has always puzzled philatelists. the wet paper is taken into a hot room to dry, and in drying it contracts. the contraction is not uniform and the philatelist in trying to prove the existence of more than one original die will pin his faith to the idea that if the varieties noticeable were due to contraction of the paper the contraction would be proportionate on all sides of the stamp. this is not the case however. paper, when absorbing moisture, expands more in one direction than the other. the direction of greater expansion is what is technically known as the "cross direction", and is the direction _across_ the flow of pulp in the paper making machine. during the flow of the pulp the bulk of the fibres lie parallel with the movement of the wire gauze, and it is a scientific fact that the diameter of a fibre is increased by absorption of water much more than is the length. the subsequent shrinking on drying also is uneven. [ ] see page =et seq.= [ ] =united states postage stamps=, - , page . * * * * * the postmaster general's report for says:-- the contract with the british american bank note company expired on the nd april, , and a contract was entered into with the american bank note company for the manufacture and supply of postage stamps &c. an estimate of the probable ordinary requirements for the next fiscal year and the comparison based thereon between the old and the present rates show that, under the new contract, stamp supplies will cost the department, say, $ , per annum less than under the old contract, a reduction in outlay of about %. it is also noted that during - electric cancelling ("mail marking") machines were introduced, six of which were rented and installed in the montreal post office and one at ottawa. the reduction in the domestic letter rate from cents to cents per ounce is forecasted, as well as a proposed reduction from cents to cents per / ounce on letters between great britain and many of her colonial possessions. this will be more thoroughly discussed later. concerning the postal changes we have been considering the report says:-- owing to the change of contract for the manufacture and supply of postage stamps, a new series of stamps became necessary at the beginning of the present fiscal year. new stamps ranging in value from the / cent to the cent denomination (inclusive) were printed, and the first supplies thereof sent out to postmasters as the corresponding denominations of the old stamps became exhausted. a considerable quantity of the higher values of that series ( cents, cents and cents) remaining over from the late contract, these three stamps continued to be issued, so that the department, previous to the introduction of the same denominations in the new series, might, in accordance with the universal practice, dispose of the old stamps in each case before issuing any of the new. the design of the new stamps is of a uniform character, and consists of an engraved copy (reduced) of an authorized photograph of her majesty taken during the diamond jubilee year. this, placed within an oval bearing the usual inscriptions, is enclosed in a rectangular frame, a maple leaf on a lined ground occupying each of the triangular spaces between the two frames. to conform to the regulations of the universal postal union, the colour of the new cent stamp is green, and that of the cents a deep blue. this necessitated corresponding changes in the colours of the other stamps of the new series; for example, purple, instead of green, being selected for the cent denomination, and orange instead of slate for the cent. the special delivery system was also introduced, and will be treated of later. chapter xiii the "numerals" issue, - hardly had the "maple leaf" issue gotten generally into use before complaints began to be heard about the difficulty of distinguishing the different values. the _weekly philatelic era_ for june , , quotes a plaint of this character as follows:-- the toronto _world_ says: "we take the liberty of suggesting to the postmaster-general that we have a large figure indicating the value in cents of the various issues of canadian stamps. it is hard to make them out at present." this is only one of the numerous complaints made daily against our new issue. some changes ought to be made. but the _metropolitan philatelist_ in its issue for april , , had already given information of an impending change which in the main proved correct. it says:-- much dissatisfaction is expressed by the french speaking inhabitants of the rural parts at the lack of figures of value on the stamps, the denomination in all cases being printed in english which they are unable to understand. it has, therefore, been decided to alter the new stamps by removing the maple leaves from the lower corners and inserting large numerals of value in their place. the space occupied by the head will also be somewhat enlarged and the value will be placed on a straight band below. all of which transpired save the placing of the value on the "straight band". in the issue of the _american journal of philately_ for june , , a canadian correspondent reported: "i saw yesterday the proof of the new canadian stamps. the frame is slightly changed and the value in figures is at the bottom on each side of the stamp, in place of the maple leaves." no date is given, but it was doubtless early in may. finally _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ reported the actual issue of the cent and cent stamps, stating that a montreal correspondent had purchased them at the post office on june st, which was doubtless their approximate date of issue. no further news of the numeral set is recorded until the issue of the _weekly philatelic era_ for september th, wherein its toronto correspondent says that "last week the c. purple with numerals in lower corners made its debut, a few days later the / c arrived similarly altered, followed closely by the c." this evidently puts the issue of these three values within the first ten days of september. the cent was recorded in the same paper for october th, so that it must have been issued about the first of the month. the cent did not make its appearance until november, being noticed under the "toronto letter" in the _weekly philatelic era_ for november th, so that again it was doubtless the early part of the month that saw its advent. for six months nothing further was heard of new "numeral" stamps, when finally the cent, which was the one value lacking to complete the set in its altered form, made its appearance on july , , according to a correspondent of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_.[ ] [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . the new type of stamp, as already stated, was merely an alteration of the preceding "maple leaf" design, due to two criticisms--that no numerals were shown, making it often difficult without a close look to tell the denomination, and bothersome to the large population of french origin who did not speak english; and that the portrait was too large for its oval frame, giving a somewhat cramped effect. in the new design, illustrated as number on plate ii, the first objection was met by placing the proper numerals in small squares in the lower corners, which necessitated the removal of the maple leaves from the lower spandrels; and the second objection was met by enlarging the oval frame containing the portrait, thus giving a much better effect. to do this the oval was extended to the outside of the stamp, cutting the rectangular border lines instead of lying wholly within them, as in the design it superseded. the stamps were of course line engraved on steel and printed in the usual sheets of , ten rows of ten. the imprint was the same as on the last issue, and the plates again began with no. for each denomination. as far as we have been able to ascertain, the plate numbers are as follows:-- / cent no. . " " , , , , , . " " , , , . " " , , , . " " , , . " " . " " . " " . there were of course many more plates of the cent stamp, at least, which remained in use for five years, and probably several more of the , , and cent, but there seems to have been very little interest in canada in keeping track of these. but during the life of this series there were important changes taking place which were reflected in the stamp issues, and we must keep track of them. in the first place, the hon. william mulock, the canadian postmaster-general, was a firm believer in and an active agitator for imperial penny postage. at the imperial conference on postal rates in london, in july, , the project was carried through, and a rate of one penny ( cents) per half ounce established by certain colonies in connection with the mother country, to take effect on christmas day of . concerning this we shall have more to say in the next chapter; but meanwhile canada's domestic rate stood at cents per ounce or fraction, in spite of attempts to reduce it, particularly since the united states had lowered its internal rate in . the anomaly would be presented under such conditions of a letter mailed from one town to another in canada costing three cents, even if weighing a half ounce or less, while the same letter could cross to great britain and travel to cape colony, for instance, on payment of but two cents postage. the agitation and the london conference evidently had their effect, for on the th june, , a bill[ ] in amendment of the post office act was assented to in parliament which substituted cents for cents as the domestic postage rate per ounce weight. it also provided that the new rate should not take effect until a date to be named by the governor general. after the date for the inauguration of imperial penny postage was fixed, the governor general named new year's day following as the date for the change in canada's domestic rate. the following notice was published in the _canada gazette_:[ ]-- order in council, post office department. by proclamation dated the th day of december, , in virtue of the act further to amend the post office act ( victoria, chapter ) and of an order in council in accordance therewith, it was declared that the postage rate payable on all letters originating in and transmitted by post for any distance in canada for delivery in canada, should be one uniform rate of two cents per ounce weight, from the st january, . [ ] vict. chap. . [ ] =canada gazette=, xxxii: . this of course had the immediate effect of vastly increasing the consumption of cent stamps and also of rendering the cent stamps practically useless. another point would be that whereas the postal union requirements named red as the color for the stamp used for domestic postage, and the cent had been in its proper hue, the stamp for the new internal rate was printed in purple and would therefore have to be changed. this change was not forced, however, the post office department as usual preferring to use up the stock on hand of the current cent stamp before issuing the new one. it took considerable time to do this, so that the cent carmine did not make its appearance until the th august, according to a correspondent of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_.[ ] it was of course the same stamp as before but printed in the color of the cent value, and we have to record plate numbers , , , and , though there were doubtless many more. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . but the cent stamp still remained on hand in large quantities, and in order to use them up more quickly and perhaps save confusion between them and the new cent stamps, the post office department decided upon surcharging the stock on hand down to cents, thus making canada's first offence in this line. the notice concerning this change and some others that were decided upon was as follows:-- _department circular_. post office department, canada, ottawa, st july, . owing to the reduction in the domestic letter rate of postage, the issue of the c. letter-card, the c. stamped envelope and the cent postage stamp from the department has ceased. any unused c. letter-cards, c. stamped envelopes or c. stamps, still extant, will, however, continue available for postage purposes, or may be exchanged at any post office, at their full face value, for postage stamps of other denominations. the color of the domestic-rate postage stamp, as prescribed by the universal postal union, is red, and it is intended to discontinue the issue of the ordinary two cents purple colored stamps as soon as the present supply on hand is exhausted. this will be about the th july, . thereafter the department will issue two cents stamps in red, first, however, surcharging down to two cents the unissued remnant of the three cents stamps in red, now in the possession of the department, and as soon as the supply of such surcharged _threes_ is exhausted, the issue of two cents stamps in red will begin. the surcharged stamps will be issued to postmasters as c. postage stamps and be recognized as postage stamps of that denomination. postmasters are requested to exchange, as above mentioned, all unused c. letter-cards, c. stamped envelopes and c. stamps which may be offered them to be exchanged for other postage stamps of an equal value. postmasters, who as a result of such exchange, may find the c. stamps, etc., unsaleable, are at liberty, in the case of an _accounting post office_, to send them direct to the department for credit; and in the case of a _non-accounting post office_, to send them to the city post office from which it obtains its supplies, asking in lieu of those returned other stamps to an equal value. it is especially requested that, in the case of stamps sent direct to the department, under this authority, that is to say, _by accounting post offices_,--postmasters will be so good as to carry out the following instructions:-- ( ) each transmission should be registered, and accompanied with a brief memorandum, plainly stamped with the date stamp of the post office, and indicating the number and value of the c. stamps, etc., claimed to be enclosed. if other stamps are required to replace those returned, a separate requisition therefor (not enclosed in the package) should be sent direct to the department in the usual way. ( ) single stamps, and stamps that are not in complete sheets, should be pasted on alternate pages of separate sheets of paper, with _not more than one hundred stamps on each page_. any stamps that have stuck together whilst in the possession of the postmaster, must be taken apart (which can easily be done by immersing them for a few minutes in water) and then pasted on sheets of paper as above directed. postmasters of _non-accounting_ offices are particularly asked to bear in mind that any c. letter-cards, c. stamped envelopes or c. postage stamps which conformably to this instruction, they may receive from the public in exchange for other stamps and find unsaleable, _must be returned, as above directed, to the city post offices from which they respectively obtain their supplies_, and not to the department. _as only the unused remnant of c. stamps now in the department will be surcharged_, postmasters must not send in, with a view to their surcharge, any c. stamps in their possession nor accept c. stamps from the public for that purpose. postmasters must distinctly understand that the exchange of stamps herein permitted applies _only_ to the c. letter-card, the c. stamped envelope and c postage stamp. r. m. coulter, _deputy postmaster general_. as a matter of fact the cent purple seems to have lasted about a week longer than was anticipated in the above circular, so that the surcharged cent stamps were not issued until the th july.[ ] a correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_, in its issue for nd july, said: "i learn that the c numeral and some c with the four maple leaves will be surcharged," which proved correct; those first issued on the date mentioned above were of the numeral type, while on the th august[ ] the "maple leaf" cent made its appearance with the same surcharge. [ ] =monthly journal=, x: . [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . illustrations of the two stamps will be found as numbers and on plate ii. it is stated that the surcharge was made up in its peculiar form so as to prevent counterfeiting by the use of ordinary type. at any rate the graded height of the numeral and letters, giving the concave effect to the top of the surcharge, shows it to have been specially prepared. there is some variation in the thickness of the surcharge, due perhaps to inking and to wearing of the plates. the overprinting was done in full sheets of one hundred from a special plate, in black ink, and should normally be horizontally across the bottom of the stamps. poor registering of the sheets in printing caused the position to vary even up to about the middle of the stamp in some cases, and of course there had to be some inverted surcharges in both varieties. the number of these has not been published. illustrations of the inverts will be found as numbers and on plate ii. the quantity of cent stamps surcharged was reported by the ottawa correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_[ ] as "variously stated to be , , to , , ," while _stanley gibbons monthly journal_ is more definite[ ] in saying that "there are some , , of c. stamps in stock, of which about , , are of the four leaves type, and the rest have the numerals in the lower corners." just where these figures were obtained does not appear, but the postmaster general's report for th june, , makes the following statement:--"included in the stamp output of the year was $ , worth of cent stamps, which constituted the unissued remnant of cent stamps in the possession of the department; on the occasion of the reduction of the domestic letter rate of postage they were surcharged and issued as cent stamps." the figures quoted account for only , , of the cent stamps, and this quantity is confirmed in the report for , which says:--"in - cent stamps to the number of , , were included in the output solely with a view to surcharging them down to cents and transference to that column." the two varieties, however, are not separated in the accounts, but inasmuch as the catalogue prices are now, after ten years, at the same figure for each, it is reasonable to suppose that one is as common as the other and that therefore they must have been issued in approximately equal amounts. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xiii: . [ ] =monthly journal=, x: . plate numbers for the surcharges seem to be again recorded in only a half hearted way. but one reference has been found to those of the numeral type, plates and [ ], and none for the "maple leaf" type. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xiii: , . the reduction in the domestic rate of postage was also the cause of another provisional, but of quite a different character. _stanley gibbons monthly journal_ for january , , says:-- in some offices c. and c. stamps ran short, and their places were supplied by one-third and two-thirds portions of c. stamps divided vertically. in some places, our correspondent says, these divided stamps were employed without further alteration, but in others we regret to hear that they were surcharged with a figure " ", in _purple_, upon the figure " " of the larger portion, or the word "one" in _green_, upon the smaller part; or, to further complicate matters, when thirds of two adjoining stamps were used for c. each part was impressed with a figure " ". our informant's letter is franked in part by / of a c. stamp surcharged " " so we fear that this horrible tale is founded on fact. in the _journal_ for march , , is further light:-- the surcharged fractions appear to have been used only at the office at port hood, n. s., where the postmaster apparently did not consider it safe to use divided stamps without some distinguishing mark. we have seen other copies since, and find that a figure " " was struck upon the smaller portion; not the word "one" as previously stated. again in the _journal_ for april , , we find:-- in reference to the cut and surcharged c. stamps, a correspondent sends us the following extract from a letter from the postmaster of port hood:-- "when the change in canadian postage was made--of which we got notice by wire--i had only very few two cent stamps in stock, so that before i got my supply from ottawa i ran completely out of them, and, to keep my account straight, i was compelled to cut threes. this was for one day only, and not over stamps were cut. i would say about ' ' and ' ' were used. those stamps i put on letters for delivery within the county as much as possible. about ' ' and probably nearly as many ' ' were marked with the figures and as you describe, and were placed on letters for delivery in towns throughout the dominion. those were the only provisional stamps used by this office." mr. horsley reports having a copy on the original cover with the postmark of port hood dated january, , which is doubtless the "one day" that they were employed. a canada correspondent, writing in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_[ ] concerning these "splits", says that "the dominion government has announced that they were not authorized and letters having them on for postage should have been charged double rate when delivered." they may be interesting as curiosities, but they are assuredly not worthy of any great attention from collectors. illustrations of the " " cent and a pair of the " " cent will be found as nos. and respectively on plate ii. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . nothing further in the line of novelties is to be reported until the th december, , when a new cent stamp suddenly made its appearance as a companion in design to the rest of the "numeral" series. the large cent stamp of had finally been exhausted, and the new comer in its neat olive green was a welcome addition to the current set. it of course conformed to the others in engraving, sheet arrangement, etc., and had the plate number . an examination of the stamp accounts during its term of life make it appear probable that approximately , were issued. finally the long heralded cent stamp, which was supposed to take the place of the cent stamp after the reduction of domestic postage, made its appearance nearly four years late! it was announced in a despatch to the _toronto mail and empire_ as follows:-- ottawa, dec. th, [ ].--the post office department announces that on the th instant it will be in a position to supply a seven-cent postage stamp to accounting post offices throughout canada. this stamp, which is of a yellow color, will be especially convenient for postage and registration fee on single rate letters, while it may also be used for other postage purposes to the extent of its face value. non-accounting offices can obtain their supply through the city post offices. this new stamp will bear the queen's head, the department not having yet decided on the design for the king's head issue. the postmaster general's report for , however, gives the issue of cent stamps as occurring on the rd december, . the stamp, as was the case with the cent, conformed in all respects to the others of the numeral issue, but was printed in a hideous shade of olive yellow. there was but one plate number, no. . it seems probable that about one million copies constituted its total issue. * * * * * the above completes the issues of the numeral type stamps with the queen's head. glancing over the reports of the postmaster general, as usual, for the period during which they were in issue, we find the following items of interest. in the report for th june, , the introduction of "domestic penny postage" is thus recorded:-- on the st january, , the letter rate within canada was reduced from to cents per ounce. this change has been accompanied by such a marked and continuous increase in the number of domestic letters being transmitted through the mails, as to warrant the conclusion that the loss of revenue consequent on such reduction will soon be overcome. as a result of the reduction in the domestic letter rate of postage, the issue of the c. letter card, c. stamped envelope and c. postage stamp has been discontinued, unused quantities of these, however, continuing available for postage purposes or exchangeable at any post office for their equivalent in postage stamps of other denominations. on the st january, , also, the provisions of the act which reimposed postage payment on newspapers and periodicals went into effect. this was _an act further to amend the post office act_ (assented to th june, )[ ] which we have already quoted as being the act authorizing the reduction in the domestic postage rate to cents per ounce. the third section of this act repealed section of the _post office act_ and substituted the following therefor:-- = .= on and after the first day of january, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-nine, newspapers and periodicals, printed and published in canada, mailed by the publisher in the post office at the place where they are published and addressed to regular subscribers or newsdealers in canada, resident elsewhere than in the place of publication, shall be transmitted by mail to their respective addresses as follows:-- if they are required to be transmitted by mail a distance within twenty miles from the place of publication or within a circular area of a diameter not exceeding forty miles, and if their publication is of no greater frequency than once a week, they shall be so transmitted free of postage within one or other of such areas to be selected by the publisher in accordance with regulations in that behalf to be established by the postmaster general; if they are required to be transmitted a greater distance, or if their publication is of greater frequency than once a week, then in either of such cases postage thereon shall be paid on and after the said first day of january, and until and inclusive of the thirtieth day of june next following, at the rate of one-quarter of one cent, and thereafter at the rate of one-half of one cent, for each pound weight or any fraction of a pound weight, which shall be prepaid by postage stamps or otherwise, as the postmaster general from time to time directs; provided that-- (_a_) such newspaper or periodical is known and recognized as a newspaper or periodical in the generally received sense of the word, and consists wholly or in great part of political or other news or of articles relative thereto or to other current topics, and is published regularly at intervals of not more than one month; (_b_) the full title, place and date of publication, and the distinguishing number of the issue are printed at the top of the first page, and every subsequent page, and also on any paper, print, lithograph or engraving purporting to be a supplement to it and sent with it; (_c_) it is addressed to a _bonâ fide_ subscriber, or to a known news-dealer in canada; and-- (_d_) it is delivered into the post office under such regulations as the postmaster general, from time to time, makes for that purpose. . for the purpose of determining the weights of such newspapers or periodicals, each newspaper or periodical transmitted separately through the mails shall be held to weight not less than one-half of one ounce. . [_the postmaster general to decide whether any publication comes under this section, and whether the requirements have been complied with in any case._] . [_books for the blind transmitted free of canadian postage._] [ ] vict. chap. . one other item, not strictly philatelic perhaps, but interesting to record here, is the announcement of the issue of postal notes, the system having been inaugurated throughout canada on the th august, . it was intended mainly to obviate the need of remitting small sums by mail in postage stamps, with the consequent difficulty to the recipient of disposing of any quantity. the notes were for certain fixed values, odd amounts between values being made up by affixing postage stamps. their denominations and dates of issue are recorded as follows:-- th august issued notes of , and cents. rd " " " " $ , $ . and $ . st october " " " cents, $ . and $ . th november " " " , , and cents. rd january, " " " cents, $ . and $ . in the report for we find mention of the issue of stamp books. in the month of june, , the department commenced the issue to postmasters, of a small book of cent postage stamps, containing stamps, disposed on two sheets of stamps each, and interleaved with wax paper to prevent adhesion of the sheets. the size of the book is such as to make it convenient to be carried in the pocket or pocket-book. printed on the cover is postal information calculated to be of interest to the public. the price at which the book is issued is cents, one cent over the face value of the stamps being charged to cover the cost of binding, etc. the stamp accounts give the date of issue of the stamp books as th june, . that they have proved popular is evidenced by the increase in the number issued to postmasters from some , in to about , , in . the books are about two by three inches in size, with stiff cardboard covers which are bound together by red cloth. the coat-of-arms of canada with the words canada postage beneath are engraved in red on the front cover, while inside are four pages of postal information and the two sheets of six stamps each--three horizontal pairs--backed by leaves of paraffined tissue paper. notice is also given of the discontinuance of two denominations of postage stamps, the old cent of passing quietly away at the age of years, month and day--or on the nd november, , to be exact. the cent stamp, for which there was but little call since the reduction of the letter postage to cents, was discontinued on the th february, . from the report of we learn that the last issue of the $ jubilee stamps took place on th june , but nothing is said of dates for the cents values, all of which appear for the last time in the "issued to postmasters" column in amounts of or , and even in the case of the / cent. the report of notes the last issue of the cent stamp in march, , and of the cent stamp, which had been of but little use since the reduction of postage, on the th december, . the report of announces the issue of the new king edward stamps, and of the prepayment of printed matter in cash, instead of by stamps, under the "permit" system. both of these subjects will be considered in their proper chapters. though the report for takes us into the period of the king edward stamps, yet we find it noted therein that the last issue of cent and cent stamps (queen's head) took place on the th september, . both these values had already been disposed of apparently, but it seems that , of the cent and , of the cent were "received from manufacturers" and "issued to postmasters", according to the stamp accounts of - , and rumor has it that some large concern ordered them for the mailing of catalogues. the date, th september, was probably that of delivery to the purchasers. chapter xiv the "christmas" stamp of ocean penny postage, which became the dream of postal reformers almost from the date of the adoption of the plan of rowland hill, is at length within measurable distance of becoming an accomplished fact. it is true that it is not yet to be the universal penny postage, or even the imperial penny postage so perseveringly advocated by mr. henniker-heaton; but these will come in time, and an immense step in the desired direction has been taken by the adoption of the partial scheme, which is to come into force within a few months." so wrote major evans in july, ,[ ] upon the conclusion of the imperial conference on postal rates which took place in london during that month. [ ] =monthly journal, ix=: . many of our readers may have seen the illustrated envelopes, in various designs, which were issued some fifty or sixty years ago in advocacy of an "ocean penny postage." great britain, having committed herself to domestic penny postage in , after the herculean labors of sir rowland hill in that behalf, seems to have been looked to by succeeding postal reformers to furnish over-sea transportation along the same lines. chief among these advocates was elihu burritt, the "learned blacksmith" of new britain, conn., who not only published documents on the subject but went to england and delivered addresses in support of the idea. major evans says:[ ]--"what appears to have been the first pamphlet on 'ocean penny postage', issued by elihu burritt, was probably published quite at the end of , or early in . it contains a poem dated christmas, , which may give us approximately the date of publication." this proves extremely interesting, inasmuch as imperial penny postage was put into effect on christmas, , just a half century later to a day. [ ] =stamp lover, i=: . but burritt's proposal was not that which was accomplished so long afterward. in his own words:[ ]-- by the term "_ocean penny postage_" we mean simply this:--that the single service of transporting a letter, weighing under half-an-ounce, from any port of the united kingdom to any port beyond the sea, at which the british mail-packets may touch, shall be performed by the british government for _one penny_; or one penny for its mere conveyance from folkestone to boulogne, liverpool to boston, &c., and _vice versa_. thus the entire charge upon a letter transmitted from any town in the united kingdom to any port beyond the sea, would be two pence;--one penny for the inland rate, and the other for the ocean rate. [ ] =a penny all the way=, melville, p. . of course this does not reckon in what might be added for an inland rate at the "port beyond the sea", but the main point was the transportation on the ocean part of the journey at a uniform rate of one penny. this was practically accomplished--and even bettered--by the establishment of the universal postal union in ; for where burritt wrote:[ ]--"it would meet the terms of our proposition if every letter under half an ounce, from any town in great britain to any town in the colonies, should pay _three pence_; one penny for the home inland rate, another penny for the ocean, and the third for the colonial inland rate, and _vice versa_" the postal union fixed a charge of but twopence halfpenny as the standard rate between _all_ countries that subscribed to its provisions. [ ] =ibid.=, page . to quote further:[ ]-- the later discussion in england on the extension of penny postage across the seas has alternated between the proposals for universal penny postage and imperial penny postage. mr. henry fawcett, who was postmaster-general in , was keenly interested in endeavouring to get the colonies to accept a lower postal rate to and from the mother country, but the colonies were afraid to lower their rates.... mr. henniker-heaton brought up the subject in the house of commons in by moving for the opening of negotiations with other governments, with a view to establishing universal penny postage.... in the jubilee of the introduction of uniform penny postage was celebrated in london and throughout the united kingdom, and public interest in postal matters received a new stimulus.... the long sustained agitation for imperial penny postage was at last brought to a definite issue at the imperial conference on postal rates in . the london _standard_ of th july, , stated:-- "we are authorized by the postmaster-general to state that, as the result of the imperial conference on postal rates, it has been agreed, on the proposal of the representative of the dominion of canada, that letter postage of one penny per half-ounce should be established between the united kingdom, canada, newfoundland, the cape colony, natal, and such of the crown colonies as may, after communication with, and approval of, her majesty's government, be willing to adopt it. the date on which the reduction will come into effect will be announced later on. the question of a uniform reduced rate for the whole empire was carefully considered; but it was not found possible to fix upon a rate acceptable to all the governments concerned. a resolution was therefore adopted, leaving it to those parts of the empire which were prepared for penny postage to make the necessary arrangements among themselves". the postmaster-general who had the distinction of issuing this important communication was the duke of norfolk, and the representative of canada was the hon. (now sir) william mulock, ll. d., q. c., postmaster-general of canada, who gave the chief credit for the reform to the british empire league. [ ] =ibid.=, page . nevertheless, mr. mulock had been interested not only in the scheme of imperial penny postage but also in endeavoring to obtain a reduction of the canadian domestic postage to the penny ( cents) basis. the inland letter rate, it may be remembered, was made cents per half ounce throughout the new dominion on the st april, . not until the nd may, , did legislative enactment raise the limit of weight to one ounce. meanwhile the united states, on the st october, , had lowered its inland rate, which also applied to letters for canada, to cents per ounce. agitation for the same reduction had naturally taken place in canada, but instead of this it was proposed late in [ ] to reduce the postal union rate of cents per half ounce to the domestic rate of cents per ounce on letters to great britain and the colonies. an order in council was actually passed announcing a rate of cents per half ounce to any place in the british empire, to take effect on st january, , but the imperial authorities objected to it as exceeding canada's powers as a member of the postal union, and it was necessarily abandoned. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xii: . finally legislative enactment was passed on the th june, , making the long desired reduction in the domestic rate to cents, but not to come into operation until the date named by the governor-general[ ]. within a month, as we have already detailed, the imperial conference in london decided on a penny ( cent) rate for the british empire and in november it was decided to put this in operation on christmas day of . thus the anomaly was created of a cent rate from canada to england or africa, but a cent rate from one town to another in canada. this was remedied a week later, as we have seen, by the proclamation putting the domestic cent rate into force from st january, . [ ] see page . as a leader in the final adoption of imperial penny postage, canada could look with pride upon its accomplishment and may be pardoned for its mild celebration of the event in the guise of a _single_ commemorative stamp. it was unnecessary, of course, and no other colony attempted it, but mr. mulock recognized the opportunity and rose to the occasion. the following clipping from the _ottawa evening journal_[ ] gives some interesting details:-- the new imperial penny postage stamp, to be used between great britain and a number of her colonies after christmas day next, has been designed by the postmaster-general and is ready to be issued. it is not to be a special issue, but will take its place among the regular issues. when mr. mulock was in britain he was surprised to notice that the great mass of the people did not appreciate the value of the greatness of the british possessions abroad. this was especially true of canada. the idea therefore suggested itself to him, when he was considering a new stamp, to prepare something that would show the dimensions of great britain compared with all other countries. mr. mulock asked for some designs from a few artists when he came back to canada, but they did not meet with his views, and he roughly sketched out something himself and passed it over to an artist to have it touched up. the feature of the new stamp is a neatly executed map in miniature of the world, showing the british possessions as compared with all other countries. the empire is distinguished from the possessions of the other powers by being in red. surmounting this map is a representation of the crown, underneath which is a bunch of oak and maple leaves, symbolizing the unity of the mother country and canada. at the upper edge of the stamp are the words "canada postage" in a neat letter. underneath the map is placed "xmas, ", so that the date of the inauguration of imperial penny postage shall be a matter of record. on the lower corners are the figures " ", indicating the denomination of the stamp, and at the lower edge is this suggestive passage taken from the works of one of our patriotic poets: "we hold a vaster empire than has been". mr. mulock will be able to claim the credit of giving the public the cheapest map of the world ever issued. the size of the stamp is about the same as the jubilee issue. [ ] =monthly journal, ix=: . a reproduction of this _multum in parvo_ composition is shown as no. on plate ii. this remarkable stamp caused no end of criticism, at home and abroad, not only because of its novel and startling design, but also because of the bombastic legend which appeared upon it. the following clipping from the _chicago tribune_[ ] explains the origin of the motto:-- the motto chosen by mr. mulock, "we hold a vaster empire than has been," is from the jubilee ode of sir lewis morris, entitled a "song of empire", with the date, june , , as a subtitle, indicating its tone and purpose. an excerpt from the last stanza, from which the motto was taken, is as follows: "we love not war, but only peace, yet never shall our england's power decrease! whoever guides our helm of state, let all men know it, england shall be great! we hold a vaster empire than has been! nigh half the race of man is subject to our queen! nigh half the wide, wide earth is ours in fee! and where her rule comes all are free. and therefore 'tis, o queen, that we, knit fast in bonds of temperate liberty, rejoice to-day, and make our solemn jubilee!" [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . in consequence of the peculiar legend, the stamp has been dubbed, not ineptly, the "has been" stamp. we learn from a despatch to the _toronto telegram_ that the printing of the stamp began on the st december:-- ottawa, dec. , .--(special)--the governor-general and hon. william mulock, postmaster-general, presided yesterday at the printing of the first copies of the new imperial penny postage stamp. the design is mr. mulock's own[ ]. [ ] =ibid.=, xii: . it was thus brought into the world under distinguished patronage--that of its official father and god-father, so to speak. its baptism came on the th december, rather earlier than expected, but explained by the following newspaper clipping[ ]: ottawa, ont., dec. --it having been stated in some newspapers that the new two-cent imperial stamp would not become available until christmas day, inquiry made at the post office department today to ascertain the truth of this statement elicits the fact that, although it was the original intention of the department that the new stamp should not come into use until the th inst., the demand from the public for it has become so pressing that the department has decided to issue it at once, and permit its immediate use to the extent of its face value for all postage purposes. in other words, as soon as it reaches the public it may, if preferred by the purchaser, be used instead of the ordinary two-cent stamp. the two-cent inter-imperial rate does not, of course, come into effect until christmas day. [ ] =ibid.=, xii. . in the _weekly philatelic era_, the canadian correspondent discourses upon its advent as follows, under date of th december[ ]:-- the new imperial stamps referred to in past numbers of the _era_ were issued this morning, and although the new imperial rate does not come into effect until xmas-day, and they bear that inscription, they are receivable for ordinary postage now. the general design has already been described, but it may be well to say that the stamps are printed in three colours. the frame is in black with white letters, the seas are in a pale blue, or rather a lavender, and the british possessions are in a bright red. the map of the world is on mercator's projection, which magnifies high latitudes; consequently the dominion of canada, which occupies the middle of the upper part of the stamp, looks bigger than all the other british possessions put together. the border of the stamp is of cable pattern and measures mm. in width by - / in height. the stamp is printed on medium, machine-wove, white paper, similar to that used for the jubilee and subsequent canadian issues, and is perforated . [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xiii: . the above quotation settles the fact that the first color in which the "seas" were printed was lavender. there has been some discussion on this point. again, a correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_ wrote under date of "dec. th" that "a government official of canada states that the c imperial postage stamp is to be changed in color from a lavender to a blue. one of your contemporaries states that the color is to be green[ ]." under date of "ottawa, dec. ," another correspondent of the same paper writes[ ]:--"the first issue of these geographical stamps, on the th instant, had the sea coloured a light lavender. about the th, i cannot fix the exact day, a second supply had the sea coloured a light blue, as nearly as i can judge prussian blue. and now i am told the third lot are to have the seas much darker in colour, but that is only a rumour." a clipping from the _winnipeg free press_, however, states that "the second shipment, which arrived on dec. th, were of an entirely different print, although the fact passed unnoticed for some days. the sea on these stamps--and on all the thousands received since--is printed in pale green!" the first shipment is noted as "lavender or pale blue" as usual. evidently the change in color took place within the first week or ten days after printing began. a dark shade of green is apparently as common as the pale green, and a cancelled copy dated january , , is noted in _ewen's weekly stamp news_. doubtless it was issued much earlier. the lavender shade seems to have been reverted to in the later issues of the stamp, for it is noted in chronicles as having been received from canada in february and march, , and the stamp was considered obsolete in april. we venture to think, however, that it was not a reversion to lavender in the printing of the stamp, but rather the remainder of the first printings--for it is well known that when bundles of stamp sheets are placed in stock some of the first packages received may remain at the bottom of the pile for years, while the later ones, placed on top, are used to fill orders. [ ] =ibid.=, xiii: . [ ] =ibid.=, xiii: . the stamps were printed in the usual sheet arrangement of , ten rows of ten. the black portion was from line engraved plates, but the red and lavender (or green) portions were doubtless printed on the sheets by lithography previous to the impression of the main design of the stamp in black. there are four marginal imprints reading american bank note co. ottawa in roman capitals / mm. high, the inscription being about mm. long, (see illustration number on plate x). they are placed above the third and eighth stamps of the top row and beneath the corresponding stamps of the bottom row. a plate number, in hair line figures about mm. high, is placed over the division between the fifth and sixth stamps of the top row, and higher up than the imprints. plates , , and are known, but we have been unable to find plate recorded, though it would be presumed to exist. all four known plates come with the lavender sea, and probably all four were used with the light green and dark green seas, although we have only been able to find record of plate with the former and plate with the latter.[ ] [ ] =ewen's weekly stamp news=, ii: . mr. ewen, in his exhaustive article on these stamps,[ ] notes an apparent retouching of one of the plates. he says:--"readers will have noted that the stamps are each surrounded by what appears to be a rope. on the sheet of plate before us, the outer edge of this rope on the stamps at the end of each row (right hand side of each sheet) has worn away and has been replaced by a straight line engraved on the plate, except on stamp no. , which still shows the very defective nature of the rope." much space is also given to a description of minor varieties in the red portions of the stamp--omission of islands, extra islands, peninsulas instead of islands, etc., etc. the chief variety, however, occurs in the two dots representing two islands in mid-pacific: in the normal stamps these two lie one above and one below the "equator", if properly placed; in the variety, which is the sixth stamp in the fifth row (no. in the sheet) both islands lie horizontally just below the equator. [ ] =ewen's weekly stamp news=, ii: . a further variety is the stamp in imperforate condition, of which we are able to illustrate a block of four from the worthington collection as number on plate x. this occurs with the bluish, the pale green and the deep green oceans. it would be interesting to know the number of stamps printed in each of the distinct shades, but we do not know even the total issue of the map stamps. the only reference is in the _london philatelist_,[ ] where it is remarked that "we understand [it] has been issued to the number of sixteen millions." they were not separated in the stamp accounts, but were reckoned in with the ordinary cent stamps, and the above figure may very likely be the correct one as the number must have been large. we find from a newspaper clipping that the cost of manufacture of these stamps was cents per thousand.[ ] [ ] =london philatelist=, viii: . [ ] =post office=, ix: . in closing this account of the christmas stamp it may be interesting to record the story of the first letter sent from canada at the new rate and bearing the commemorative stamp in prepayment. it is taken from a toronto newspaper. penny ocean postage came into force at midnight on saturday. the first letter to be posted was one by mr. j. ross robertson, written to mr. edward letchworth, the grand secretary, at freemason's hall, great queen-street, london.... the letter was received at the general post-office, adelaide-street, toronto, at one second past o'clock on the morning of sunday, dec. th, by mr. john carruthers, the assistant postmaster, who certified to the posting with his signature on the envelope. at five seconds past it was handed to mr. h. s. allen, chief of the night staff, who, at twelve seconds past the hour, dropped it into one of the electric stamping machines, and at fifteen seconds past midnight it came out in due and proper form, bearing the toronto postmark of dec. , and the new two-cent stamp in the right-hand corner, duly cancelled, so that it was all ready for the london mail bag, waiting for it and succeeding letters going by the next british mail. on the envelope was the name of the sender in the upper left-hand corner and the following endorsation in the lower left-hand corner. "this is to certify that this letter was mailed at the toronto post-office at one-quarter of a minute past o'clock on the morning of dec. , , and is the first letter to be posted and cancelled at the toronto postoffice, bearing the new imperial penny postage stamp, addressed to great britain, (signed) john carruthers, assistant postmaster." and under this: "received at freemason's hall, london, eng., at ... o'clock, ... day of january, . ... "grand secretary." this is probably the first time in philatelic history that race-track timing has been employed on the passage of mail matter through the post! chapter xv the "king's head" issue of - the death of the beloved queen victoria on january , , portended momentous changes in the multitude of stamps bearing her effigy throughout the empire. canada of course was expected to make the proper substitution of the portrait of the new ruler, king edward the seventh, but as time went on seemed in no hurry to do so. in fact it was nearly two years and a half after the queen's death before the king edward stamps appeared, and in the meantime but little could be learned concerning canada's intentions in the matter. * * * * * about the first of january, , it was reported in the newspapers that postmaster-general mulock had announced "that designs had been submitted, and it has been decided to select one bearing an excellent likeness of his majesty." in its issue for th april, , the _metropolitan philatelist_ again gave advance information concerning canadian stamp matters in the following detailed account:-- the king's head series of canadian stamps will probably shortly make its appearance. the die has been received by the post office department and approved of. the stamp will be very similar to the present stamp except that the maple leaf in each of the upper corners will be replaced by a crown. the figures of value will appear in the lower corner as at present and the value will be spelled out as at present in the oval frame which surrounds the portrait. this frame will be as in the present stamp. the portrait of the king shows him three-quarters to the right--head and shoulders, as the queen is in the present stamp, but there is no crown on his head. the portrait is an exceptionally nice one and it is understood that royalty has had something to do with its selection. the die was made in england, although the american bank note co. are contractors for the government work. the details given proved correct. the official announcement of the forthcoming issue was given in a circular to postmasters dated th june and signed by the deputy postmaster-general:[ ]-- postmasters are hereby informed that a new issue of postage stamps, bearing the portrait of his majesty king edward vii., and comprising five denominations ( c., c., c., c., and c.), is about to be supplied to postmasters for sale in the usual way, but none of these stamps are to be sold until the first of july, . the colours of the forthcoming series will be the same respectively, as those now used for the denominations specified, except that the shade of the c. will be slightly deeper. postmasters will please bear in mind that, notwithstanding the new issue, they are not to return to the department any of the old stamps on hand, but will sell them in the ordinary way. at first, the public may prefer getting new stamps, and if so, there is no objection to this wish being acceded to, but it is also desirable to work off in due course all remnants of old stamps. a change in the design of the stamp of the present series of post-cards, post-bands and stamped envelopes, to correspond with that above referred to, will be made as soon as the present stock of these items shall have been exhausted. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xvii: . the new stamps were accordingly issued on "dominion day" (july st) of . their actual appearance brought forth the following interesting account of their preparation in the _london philatelist_:[ ]-- although for a long time past we have been aware of the circumstances attending the preparation of the new postage stamps for canada, and in a position to illustrate the approved design, we have refrained from publishing the facts in compliance with the desire of the authorities that no details should be made public until the stamps had been completed and were ready to be put into circulation. we believe that the delay which has taken place in bringing out the new issue has been due to questions arising out of the existing contract under which the postage stamps of the dominion are produced, and that even after the approval of the design and the receipt of the die some difficulties were experienced in connection with the preparation of the plates by the contractors. these have happily been surmounted, and now that the issue is an accomplished fact it is with much gratification that we illustrate the design of the new stamp, our illustration, prepared some time back, being taken from a proof from the steel die engraved by messrs. perkins, bacon and co., of london, and used in the manufacture of the plates of the several values issued by the canadian postal authorities on the st. instant. by comparing our illustration with the stamp as issued it will be seen that the contractors or the postal authorities have made some alterations in the design, which, in our judgement, are by no means improvements. the leaves in the lower corners have been redrawn on a smaller scale, and hardly impinge upon the frame; their drawing is vastly inferior, and the graceful effect of the broken circle is lost. the numerals of value are in colour on a white ground, reversing the original design, the labels being larger and the figures taller and thinner; this also detracting materially from the charming homogeneity of the stamp as first proposed. the greatest alteration, and the worst, is the substitution of heavy diagonal lines for horizontal ones in the background. the latter were finely drawn and delicately shaded, leaving the king's head in clear outline, and _framed_ by the dark oval band containing the inscriptions. the background and frame no longer present this artistic effect, and the whole design materially suffers thereby. [illustration] the circumstances connected with the inception of the issue are as gratifying as they are novel, and will be hailed with acclamation by the philatelists of the british empire. the postmaster of canada, sir william mulock, being one of the many distinguished visitors to this country during the coronation festivities, took the opportunity afforded by his visit of approaching the prince of wales, and of meeting his royal highness's suggestions and advice in the preparation of a new die for the canadian stamps. the prince, with his characteristic energy and courtesy, cheerfully undertook the task, and it will be seen from our illustration with absolute and conspicuous success. h. r. h. wisely decided, in the first instance, that it is advisable to have some continuity of design in succeeding issues, and therefore adopted the frame and groundwork of the then current stamps as a basis. in selecting a portrait of his majesty the prince decided to rely upon a photograph giving a true likeness of the king as we know him, in lieu of an idealised representation by an artist. the photograph eventually chosen, with the full approval of his majesty, was one taken shortly before the coronation. the likeness is undoubtedly what is termed a speaking one, and with the addition of the coronation robes represents as faithful and as pleasing a picture of the king, at the time of his accession to the throne, as it is possible to find. the introduction of the tudor crowns in the upper angles, which was another of the prince's innovations, obviates the difficulty that has so often made "the head that wears a crown" lie "uneasy" on a postage stamp. these emblems of sovereignty, taken in conjunction with the canadian maple leaves in the lower angles, complete a design that for harmony, boldness, and simplicity has assuredly not been excelled by any hitherto issued stamps of the british empire. it is palpable, on analyzing the stamp, ( ) that the attractiveness of the design has in no way been allowed to militate against its utility, for its country of origin and denomination are clearly expressed; ( ) that the boldness of the design has not been detracted from (as is so often the case) by superfluous ornamentation, and that the design has been artistically balanced by the introduction of the _right-sized portrait_ and the proper treatment of light and shade. [ ] =london philatelist=, xii: . we think it will be obvious, on comparing the illustration of the original design above with the issued stamps, that the modifications introduced into the lower corners by the american bank note co. did not improve the appearance of the design. [illustration no. on plate ii.] as stated in the post office circular, the colors followed those of the queen's head stamps, except that the cent value was given a darker shade, more of an olive than before and an improvement on its predecessor. the stamps were of course line engraved and printed in the usual sheet arrangement of ten rows of ten. the imprint was the same as on the queen's head plates, being placed only over stamps and of the top row. the plate numbers began as before at no. for each stamp, and up to the present writing, (dec. ) there have been recorded the following:-- cent-- - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , cent-- - , - , , - , , , - , cent-- , cent-- cent-- , over a year elapsed before any additions were made to the above set. finally _mekeel's weekly stamp news_[ ] published in its chronicle the following note from a correspondent:--"on tuesday, th september, [ ] the last sheets of the c numerals were issued to the distributing offices, and the first issue of the c king's head was made on the same day." the stamp of course corresponds in all particulars with the others of the set and continues the fine olive green color of its predecessor. but one plate number, , has so far appeared. the amount delivered by the manufacturers since its appearance has averaged about , per year. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xviii: . the remaining value of the regular canadian series, the cent, because of its limited use and the stock of the issue still on hand, had escaped being included in either of the queen's head issues. but the old stock at last ran out in and on the th november, according to _mekeel's weekly stamp news_,[ ] this value appeared in the king's head type, printed in a rich violet and making a very handsome addition to the series. it conforms in all respects to the other values, and bears the plate number . the supply of the stamp received up to st march, , was , copies. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xxii: . it may have been noticed, however, that no / cent stamp has appeared in the king's head design. trouble over this value seems to have begun to brew with the jubilee stamps. we have already detailed the story as far as that issue is concerned, and also the manner in which the / cent "maple leaf" was forced to appear before the authorities reckoned. primarily intended for prepaying the rate on transient newspapers, this value was supposed to be employed only in that way, though its use had never been so restricted. its yearly issue to postmasters had gradually increased from some , in to , in . in the latter number had doubled, and by had only fallen to about , , . the trouble seemed to be partly due, at least, to the fact that stamp collectors were buying them up, and using them largely on their letter mail. this came to the attention of the post office department, and resulted in the following department circular, published in the _montreal star_ for the th december, :[ ]-- the attention of postmasters is drawn to the fact that the postal necessity for the / cent stamp, as such, is now confined to one purpose--prepayment of newspapers and periodicals posted singly, and weighing not more than one ounce each (see postal guide, page xii, section ). as publications of the kind referred to must, in the nature of things, be few, and as in the case of their being mailed to subscribers by the office of publication, the bulk rate of postage would be far cheaper and more convenient for the publisher, the demand for the / cent stamp throughout the dominion must be appreciably diminished as a result of this restriction of its use. while, of course, any number of / cent stamps on an article of correspondence will be recognized to the full extent of their aggregate face value, it is not the wish of the department to supply them except for the sole specific purpose above mentioned, and an intimation to that effect should be given by postmasters to patrons of their office who are in the habit of buying / cent stamps for other postal purposes. [ ] =ibid.=, xvi: . this circular seems to have had the desired effect, at least in good measure, for the stamp accounts in the reports for succeeding years showed an average issue to postmasters of approximately , / cent stamps, being a reduction of two-thirds. finally, on the th may, , an amendment[ ] to the post office act was passed which repealed the provision granting the / cent rate to newspapers and periodicals weighing less than one ounce, when posted singly. this placed them in the one cent per ounce class and sounded the death knell of the / cent stamp. the stamp accounts in the report show , / cent stamps on hand april , , and , more received from the manufacturers. these were all issued to postmasters and a foot-note finishes the story: "discontinued june , ." [ ] - edward vii, chap. . just why the / cent stamp never was issued in the king's head type cannot be stated. all the other values then in use in canada had made their appearance in this design, the cent and cent even having delayed their advent until the stock of previous types had been exhausted; but the / cent queen's head with numerals was regularly received from the printers and distributed to postmasters down to the middle of , six years after the king's heads first made their appearance. with the end of its usefulness at that time, of course, disappeared all hope of ever seeing it in the king's head set. in the issue for october , , _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ published the following editorial:-- we are enabled to report the existence of the two-cent canada, current issue, imperforate, a reader having-shown us a sheet of one hundred of these varieties bearing the plate number . this is a discovery of momentous interest which must attract much attention not alone from specialists but from collectors, as we may say for the sake of distinction, as well. the fact that the pane bears so early a plate number removes it from any inclusion in the theory that the canadian authorities propose to issue stamps in imperforate sheets in the manner that has been employed by the united states. without doubt, the sheet under notice was regularly prepared for issue in the accepted way and it is the belief from information at hand that a sheet of four hundred of the stamps was printed and reached the public. this announcement created some comment and was made the subject of enquiry of the post office department at ottawa. the officials repudiated the idea that any such irregularity could have happened, but finally took steps to authenticate the report. in the issue of february , , of the paper already quoted, is the full story of the "find", which has a peculiar interest, as will be seen later. the sheet as found was not of stamps but of over stamps, as the right hand half of the sheet on which our report was based and which was not before us when we wrote, contained a pane of stamps, plate number and an irregularly torn part of plate number , showing about fifteen whole stamps and parts of others. assuming that the lower pane in the left half was torn approximately in the manner of the right lower pane, or plate number , the find consisted originally of stamps, more or less. this reckoning agrees, we believe, with the recollection of the person who rescued the imperforates from oblivion, in a philatelic sense. the plate numbers on the sheet that gave authority for the chronicling of the stamps by the _weekly_ are and , respectively, and not as first printed. a. n. lemieux of chicago is the man who found the stamps. while in ottawa five years ago or so[ ], when he was in business in that city, he saw the stamps just within the iron fence that has been described as surrounding the establishment of the bank note company that prints the canadian stamps. the day was a rainy one and the sheet had evidently been blown out of the window. mr. lemieux apparently attached no value to the sheet of over two hundred stamps which was in a wet, crumpled condition and without gum. mr. lemieux was under the impression, no doubt, that, gum had been on the sheet but had been washed off by the rain.... before he showed the stamps to the _weekly_, mr. lemieux had disposed of the left half of the sheet or about whole stamps to a collector ... on an exchange basis.... mr. lemieux was informed that the stamps still in his possession had no little philatelic interest as curiosities and he sold the specimens to mr. severn. [ ] this was later corrected to june, . mr. severn subsequently submitted the stamps to the officials at ottawa, who pronounced them "printer's waste" and stated that "they seemingly had been trampled upon and subjected to the usage that would be given such cast off material. further, it was said that they had been blown or thrown out of a window, no doubt. it was suggested that the stamps be returned to ottawa and that there were moral grounds for such a course on the part of the holders. the description of 'printer's waste' seems to be correct and the inference is that the stamps never had been gummed. they belong to that class of curiosities that appeals strongly to the specialist but which the ordinary collector regards as something apart from his collecting policy."[ ] [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xxiii: . but now mark the result. the stamps very naturally did not go back to ottawa, so ottawa took pains to "get back" at the stamps! in the _weekly_ of may , , a correspondent writes:-- it may be of interest to know that the last supplement to the canadian post office guide contains the following: "in view of representations which have been made to the department, it has been decided to permit the sale of the -cent denomination of canadian postage stamps of the current issue, in sheets of , _without the usual perforation_." i at once asked for a sheet of -cent and incidentally said i would take a sheet of the other denominations if available. a reply came today informing me that only the -cent would be available, and then, not for some time, as the department intends to make a separate printing of these stamps, to supply whatever demand may occur. the quotation from the _guide_ appeared in the supplement for april, , and concluded with the sentence:--"applications for the same should be made to the postmaster at ottawa." it might be inferred, perhaps, from the announcement in the _guide_, that the activities of the mailing machine companies had induced the canadian post office department to cater to their convenience, as had been done in the united states, by issuing sheets of stamps, only purchaseable as such, in imperforate form. but no! the department gave itself away! note the following points:--mr. severn sent the original imperforates to ottawa for examination. they had the plate numbers and on them. they were returned with the intimation that "it would be safer not to dispose of the sheet in view of the circumstances under which it reached the public. it was suggested that mr. severn might be 'recouped' the amount that he paid for the stamps if he relinquished them."[ ] naturally the stamps did not again see ottawa. six months later the department placed on sale the cent stamp in imperforate sheets of , but--it was announced that they could only be procured from the postmaster at ottawa; that only the cent would be available; that the department intended to make a _separate printing_ of the stamps; and when collectors obtained them they were found to be from the identical plates and of the "irregular" imperforates that mr. severn held, although the regular issues of cent stamps at that time were being printed from plates numbered at least up to . we said "identical plates," but in view of the early plate numbers and the delay in issuing the imperforates, the suspicion is strong that new plates may have been made and given the old numbers. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xxiii: . as no other values have since been issued imperforate, and as no other plate numbers have appeared in the cent imperforate except the original and , there is but one explanation for this "special printing" on these early plates, and that is an attempt to checkmate the holder of the originals and "to destroy what may be called an accidental monopoly of a stamp, the issue of which was not intended previously." as a clincher we make one more quotation:--"now that mr. lemieux, the finder of the imperforates, has received the quarterly supplement alluded to, containing the order creating the imperforates neatly blue-pencilled, it is assumed that the issue of the stamps in this form has been made with the idea of rendering the sheet that escaped the department of no value. thus philately plainly has its influence in this new emission ... and an interesting variety has been added to the philatelic supply by reason of the refusal to return the sheet that accidentally escaped some years ago." * * * * * the postmaster general's reports for the several years of the king's head issue ( to date) have but little of special interest. the report of th june, , says:--"towards the end of the fiscal year a new series of postage stamps, bearing the portrait of his majesty king edward vii, and comprising five denominations was supplied to post masters so as to be on sale throughout the dominion on the st july, ." the report of states that a postal convention between canada and mexico came into operation on st july, by which first, second and third class matter can be sent from either country to the other at the domestic rates of the country of origin. the fiscal year was once more changed from the st july to the st april of each year, so that the reports of the postmaster general have been made up to the st march since . the report of states that "for some time past the provisions of the postal convention between canada and the united states relative to the postage on newspapers and periodicals passing between the two countries were felt to be unsatisfactory, and an amendment was made to the convention (taking effect on th may, ) by which the rate was fixed at cent for each ounces, calculated on the weight of each package of newspapers or periodicals, and prepaid by means of postage stamps affixed. the amendment was subsequently modified: and copies of legitimate daily newspapers posted from the office of publication addressed to regular subscribers and newsdealers, can now be sent from canada to the united states and from the united states to canada at the rate of cent per pound. newspapers and periodicals published less frequently than daily are still subject to the rate of cent per ounces." the issue of the " c. international reply coupon" is recorded as having taken place on the th october, . a supply of , was received from berne, and of these , were distributed. the report for gives but , issued from headquarters, and the report , . the report also notes the extension of free delivery of letters by carrier to the following places: in ontario:--peterboro, guelph, berlin, stratford, windsor, st. catherines; in quebec:--sherbrooke, st. hyacinthe, trois rivières; in prince edward island:--charlottetown; in manitoba:--brandon; in alberta:--calgary, edmonton. the report for states that "a greatly desired reduction was made in august , in the rate of postage on letters posted for local delivery in cities and other places having free letter carrier delivery service. the former rate was two cents per ounce; the present rate is one cent per ounce." further changes in newspaper regulations are noted as follows:-- some changes have been made in the regulations respecting newspapers and periodicals posted from the office of publication addressed to regular subscribers and newsdealers. ( ) the former rate of / cent per pound applicable to newspapers and periodicals which required to be transmitted a distance in canada exceeding three hundred miles, or which were addressed for delivery in a place having free letter carrier delivery service has been abolished; and now all newspapers and periodicals published not less frequently than once a month can be posted from the place of publication to any place in canada at the bulk rate of a quarter of a cent per pound. ( ) the extent of the circular area in canada within which newspapers and periodicals published no more frequently than weekly and no less frequently than monthly can be sent free of postage to regular subscribers has been increased from an area having a radius of miles to an area having a radius of miles, the center of which may either be the place of publication or some place not more than miles distant therefrom, according to the wish of the publisher. the following places are given as having had the system of free delivery of letters by carrier extended to them: in ontario:--chatham, fort william, port arthur, sarnia, st. thomas; in new brunswick:--moncton; in saskatchewan:--regina; in british columbia:--new westminster. the report for contains nothing special. new parcels post regulations are noted with the united kingdom, british west indies, british guiana and mexico, by which the rate is made cents per pound or fraction, with a limit of pounds. in closing the chapter on the king edward stamps, doubtless ere long to be superseded by "king george" stamps, it may be well to record the following statistics in order to note the progress made in the post office department for the period we have been considering. _ st. mar. ' ._ _ st. mar. ' ._ number of post offices, , , " " letters and post cards annually, , , , , " " registered letters annually, , , , , " " pieces of rd class matter annually, , , , , " " packets and parcels annually, , , , , mileage travelled on mail routes annually, , , , , net revenue, $ , , . $ , , . a very important fact is also to be found on examining the financial reports of the department--that from a deficit (as usual for many years) of $ , . in , and a wee surplus of $ , . in , there has grown to be a surplus of $ , . in . evidently canada's post office department is at least run efficiently and economically! chapter xvi the "tercentenary" issue of it may be remembered, perhaps, that in our introductory chapter we noted the fact that the first permanent settlement in canada was made by champlain at quebec in . as the year approached, the idea of celebrating in proper manner the three hundredth anniversary of this event was strongly agitated, particularly by the french population of the province of quebec. plans were formed and materialized in the shape of fetes, historical pageants, etc., which took place at quebec in july, , and to be present at which the prince and princess of wales made a special trip across the atlantic in one of britain's most powerful warships. in view of former precedents it was to be expected that the canadian post office department would also celebrate in a fitting way, and although a new postmaster general had taken the place of sir william mulock, he nevertheless arose to the occasion as the following newspaper despatch shows:-- quebec, march .--hon. rudolphe lemieux, postmaster gen. of canada, announces that a series of postage stamps commemorative of the champlain tercentenary will be issued at ottawa on the third of july, which marks the exact anniversary of the foundation of quebec by champlain. no sooner was this fact made known than the postmaster general was showered with suggestions of all kinds as to the designs of stamps appropriate to the occasion. but after the first announcement the post office department was very reticent in regard to the matter, and letters of enquiry concerning the proposed issue were answered as evasively as possible. at last the veil was lifted and the following despatch to the _toronto globe_[ ] gave definite information concerning the proposed issue:-- ottawa, july , (special).--postmaster-general lemieux has given instructions to issue a series of postage stamps commemorating the tercentenary. they are eight in number. four of them bear portraits of persons dear to canada, or whose names recall great events. the first represents the prince and princess of wales; the second the king and queen. next come cartier and champlain, and then, in connection with the battlefields park scheme, wolfe and montcalm. the second part of the issue represents cartier's arrival before quebec. on the calm waters of the mighty st. lawrence stand in bold relief three ships of the discoverer of canada, flying the fleur-de-lys. as a sequel to the above is a very picturesque tableau. in champlain's narrative of his third voyage to canada is found the following passage: "with our canoes laden with provisions, our arms and some merchandise to be given as presents to the indians, i started on monday, may , from the isle of saincte hélaine, accompanied by four frenchmen and one indian. a salute was given in my honor from some small pieces of artillery." the artist, under the inspiration of these few lines, has depicted champlain's departure for the west. there stand two canoes. in one champlain's companions have already taken their places, paddle in hand, whilst the great explorer is still on shore, bidding good-bye to a few friends. the picture is full of life. the legend underneath reads as follows: "partement de champlain pour l'ouest." the word "partement", now obsolete, is the one used by champlain for the modern one "départ." the same note of old france is used in connection with a view of the first house in quebec, indeed in canada, champlain's habitation, which is called in his narrative "l'abitation de québecq." this stamp is a clear reproduction of a cut from champlain's work. quebec as it was in is the next view, copied from bacqueville de la potherie's "histoire de la nouvelle france." it is a quaint picture of the old city, showing steeples here and there, the fort on the river front and in faint lines the laurentide mountains in the background. all stamps bear with the words "canada postage" the line "iiie centenaire de québec." the postmaster-general has given special attention to the selection of portraits and historical scenes to be represented. his choice has been an excellent one. the carrying out of the engraving part of the plan has been entrusted to mr. machado, of the american bank note co., who, with keen artistic sense, has performed his part of the work with great success. [ ] =ewen's weekly stamp news=, no. . excellent reproductions of this attractive series will be found as nos. - on plate iii. the stamps were placed on sale at ottawa on the th july. they are of the same shape as the jubilee issue, though the dimensions are mm. higher and nearly mm. longer. the designs are as already described, except that the legend "partement pour l'ouest" does not have champlain's name in it, and the dates and are placed in the upper corners. the colors do not wholly correspond with the regular set; the , and cent naturally conform, but the / cent is in a black-brown and the cent in the fine olive green of the regular cent. the cent is also changed to a handsome violet, while the cent is in orange and the cent in a dark brown. the stamps are beautifully engraved, as usual, and printed in sheets of , ten rows of ten. above the th and th stamps of the top row is the regular marginal imprint: "ottawa--no.--" and the figure representing the plate number. a peculiar variety has been recorded, however, in the sheets of the cent value, some of those with plate numbers and having the imprint _inverted_ in the _bottom_ margin of the sheet.[ ] as it occurs both ways, the only explanation seems to be that the plates may have printed _two panes_, which were afterwards separated into post office sheets of stamps each, and that by error, perhaps, the imprint was inverted on one of these panes. [ ] =ewen's weekly stamp news=, nos. , . the plate numbers of the several values are as follows:-- plate no. . / c., c., c., c., c. " nos. , . c. " nos. , , , . c., c. the stamps are on stout white wove paper and perforated . it may not be out of place to further describe some of the designs of these stamps because of their historical interest. of course the portraits of the british royal family are familiar, that of the princess of wales being the one used on the handsome cent stamp of newfoundland, and that of the prince of wales being from a photograph taken by w. and d. downey of london, just before the prince's journey to india in . the portrait of cartier will also be recognized as the one that appeared on the early d. stamp of the province of canada. concerning the picture on the cent stamp, "arrivée de cartier, québec ," we find some interesting details given by m. th. lemaire:[ ]-- in jacques cartier obtained from philippe de chabot, admiral of france, authority to arm ships "to voyage, discover and conquer in new france, as well as to find, by the north-west, the passage to cathay." on his first voyage he touched newfoundland, but the advanced season obliged him to return to france. king francis i thereupon ordered him, as a "royal pilot", to arm three vessels for a second voyage. on the th of may, , the flotilla set out from st. malo. it was composed of two ships, the _grande-hermine_ of tons and the _petit-hermine_ of tons, and a galley, the _hémerillon_, of tons. these are the ones shown on the stamp. the ships were built with the high bows and sterns of those days, and were armed with "falconets" (small cannon) along the sides and "culverins" (long cannon) in a battery on the bridge. the galley was long and narrow, low in the water, and was propelled both by sails and oars; it was armed with two small cannon forward and a dozen large arquebuses. the complement of the three ships comprised in all--officers, gentlemen, volunteers, chaplains, sailors, workmen, servants--a hundred and ten men. on the th september, cartier arrived at an indian village, stadaconé, called also by the natives canada (or _the town_), the residence of the chief donnacona. this village was built on the bay which the river st. charles forms where it flows into the st. lawrence, against the steep flank of a mountain, on the spot where now is built the south-eastern section of quebec. the -cent stamp represents this arrival of cartier at stadaconé, the future quebec. samuel de champlain, whose effigy figures on the cent stamp beside that of cartier, was sent by henri iv in to found a settlement in canada. on his first voyage he sailed up the st. lawrence river and established friendly relations with the native chiefs. on the second expedition, in , he disembarked on the d july at the foot of the promontory of stadaconé, accompanied by only thirty men. his first care was to find a favorable place to built a "habitation" with a view to wintering there. "i could find nothing more convenient or better situated, said he, than the point of québecq, so called by the savages, which was filled with walnut trees." it was on the same spot where, seventy-three years before, cartier had constructed a fort of tree trunks. thanks to the activity displayed by all, the "habitation" was quickly finished. it was composed of three main houses of two stories, each measuring fifteen by eighteen feet. the magazine was thirty-six by eighteen feet, with a six foot cellar. champlain lodged in the same building with part of the workmen, but on the first story. the other buildings served for the workmen and for storing the arms and munitions. in an ell back of champlain's quarters, several artisans slept beside their forge. all around the buildings a gallery six feet wide served as a promenade. a ditch fifteen feet wide and six feet deep served to protect the colonists from the aggressions of the savages. champlain had several breastworks thrown up outside the ditch where he placed his cannon. there remained, between the habitation and the river, only a strip of land about twenty-five feet wide, and behind, on the side of the cape, a plot of cultivated ground about to paces by paces. there champlain had wheat and rye planted and also set out vines. [ ] =journal des philatélistes=, th series, page . as with the jubilee stamps, some special sets were made up for presentation purposes. the following press clipping gives the details:[ ]-- as the prince of wales is an enthusiastic collector of stamps, his royal highness will no doubt be very pleased to receive the set of the special tercentenary stamps which will be presented to him at quebec. the stamps will be held in small gold boxes, enclosed in a handsome large box of morocco leather. a second set accompanies the gift in a special gold box. on the cover of the large box is the prince's crest and a gold plate inscribed as follows: "set of canadian postage stamps issued upon the occasion of the quebec tercentenary, . presented to his royal highness the prince of wales by hon rodolphe lemieux, postmaster-general of canada." sets of these stamps, in boxes with appropriate crests and monograms, will be presented to earl grey, sir wilfred laurier and hon. rodolphe lemieux. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xxii: . unlike the jubilee issue, no advance information concerning quantities printed was given out. many attempts were made to get this interesting detail, but without result. even an interpellation of the postmaster-general in the house of commons was unproductive, as witness the following excerpt:[ ]-- mr. mckechnie sends us information regarding the issue, indicating that there is to be no such vexatious limits set upon the number to be printed as was the case with the jubilee / c. postmaster-general lemieux is reported, in the _canadian hansard_, to have said in answer to a query as to the number printed of each denomination: "since the arrangements as to the respective quantities comprising the series are thus far of a necessarily tentative character, being largely dependent upon the demand therefor that may arise, no final estimate has been made of the number to be issued in each denomination." [ ] =canadian hansard=, st march, , page . all of which was simply a parliamentary way of saying "mind your own business", as the full quota of stamps was doubtless printed and delivered at that time. at any rate, a _memorandum for the postmaster_, issued from headquarters under date of th september, , states that "with the exception of the c, c and c stamps, all of the tercentenary postage stamps are now exhausted." however, the question of the quantity issued was again brought up in the house of commons, after some time, and the following two questions propounded by a member:[ ]-- . what was the total amount received by the post office department from the sale of the special tercentenary stamps? . what part of this sum would probably have been received as ordinary revenue if there had been no special issue of stamps? to these questions the hon. rodolphe lemieux, postmaster-general, responded: the following was the issue to postmasters of the tercentenary postage stamps: denominations. quantities. value. / cent , , $ , " , , , " , , , " , , , " , , " , , " , , " , , ---------- --------- totals, , , $ , , the department has no knowledge whether the stamps in question have all been sold, as during their issue the ordinary postage stamps were also on sale, both issues being in use as preferred by the public. the proceeds derived from the sale of stamps of the two issues were not kept separately, but treated as arising from a common source. it is, therefore, impossible to state to what extent the issue of the tercentenary postage stamps may have affected the ordinary revenue. [ ] =ibid.=, xxii: . the report of , in referring to this issue, had the following remarks:-- to meet what appeared to be a general wish a special series of postage stamps, which has come to be known as the tercentenary series, was introduced as a feature of the celebration in july, , of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding of quebec by champlain. the first supply of these stamps was sent out to postmasters about the middle of that month, and was on sale to the public by the time his royal highness the prince of wales reached quebec for the celebration. the demand for the new stamps was extraordinary, and for the better part of a month was steadily kept up. the interest taken in them was, in no small measure, due to the historic associations with which in design they were so happily linked, the subjects depicted in the several denominations of the series being in variety and appropriateness admirably adapted to the end in view,--popular recognition of an epoch-making event. the report of notes that the last issue of the tercentenary stamps was on oct. , ,--apparently the cent denomination. the whole issue was thus exhausted in three months' time. chapter xvii the registration stamps the first mention that we find concerning the registration system in canada is in the postmaster general's report for the year ending st march, , in the following words:--"the number of letters passing through the post under the registration system commenced in may , is very great, and is rapidly increasing." the number of letters is given in even figures as , during the first year. the report states further:--"in october , an agreement with the post office department of the united states took effect for a system of registration to be applied to letters passing between the two countries. under this arrangement a person posting a letter on either side can, by the pre-payment of a fee of d. in addition to the ordinary postage, secure a continuous record of its transmission from the place of posting to the place of destination, where a receipt will be taken and preserved of the due delivery of the letter so registered." further details are found in the postal section of the canadian directory for - , as follows:-- persons transmitting letters, which they desire should pass through the post as "registered letters," must observe that no record is taken of any letter unless specially handed in for registration at the time of posting. upon all such letters, with the exception of those addressed to the united states, one penny must be prepaid as a registration charge. if addressed to the united states, the ordinary postage rate on the letters to that country _must be prepaid_, and in addition a registration charge of d. per letter. the registry thus effected in canada will be carried on by the united states post office until the letter arrives at its destination. in like manner, letters addressed to canada may be registered at the place of posting in the united states, and the registry made there will accompany the letter to the place of delivery in canada. a certificate of registration will be given by the postmaster if required. the registration system can be applied to the letter portion of the mail only.... _[the postal department is not liable for the loss of any registered letters._] the next year's report gives the number of registered letters posted annually as computed at , . the report of th september, also says: "about , letters were registered last year", and goes on to state:--"it is also considered that it would be an improvement on the system if the charge for registration were made pre-payable by a stamp, instead of by money as at present." from this it is evident that the postage stamps were not then used for indicating the payment of the registration fee. just when they were permitted to be so employed does not appear, but it was doubtless within a comparatively short time thereafter, as we have seen a cover with stamp so used which was dated in ; in fact it seems probable that arrangements for using stamps to indicate the payment for registration may have accompanied the introduction of the decimal stamps in . further remarks upon the registration system are found in the report for , as follows:-- a rate of charge for registration so low as, in no probable degree, to operate as a motive, with persons posting letters of value, to deny themselves the advantage of securing from the post office an acknowledgement of the receipt of the specific letter, has always been considered to be a cardinal point in the canadian registration system. the registration fee, or charge, has, therefore, under the influence of this consideration, been maintained at cents, though it is doubtful whether such a rate of charge covers the actual cost of the process; the address of the registered letter having, in the course of transmission, to be entered on an average not less than six times, and forms of certificate or receipt, and books in which to preserve permanent records at each post office, to to supplied. from the above it is evident that the domestic rate of registration was cents in , the equivalent of the penny rate already noted as being in force in , and doubtless the original rate when the system was inaugurated in --certainly a remarkably cheap fee for the service. of course the rate for letters to the united states, which had been fixed at pence in , was held at the equivalent of cents upon the change to decimal currency in . nothing further of special interest is found until the report of , in which the following dissertation occurs:-- when a letter is _registered_, that is to say marked and recorded in the post office so as to individualize it from the bulk of ordinary letter correspondence, its presence in the post office can be identified and its course of transmission traced, and a registered letter is thus secured from the chance of abstraction by an unfaithful messenger employed to post it (as it is always open to proof whether the letter was posted for registration or not), from risk of loss by accidental misdirection on the part of the sender, and from mistakes in the post office--such as mis-sending or delivery to a wrong party. against actual dishonesty on the part of the post office employés, a registered letter is incomparably more secure than an unregistered one, for an unregistered money-letter leaves no trace behind it whilst passing in the great stream of ordinary correspondence, though its presence as a money-letter and the nature of its contents are, to any person accustomed to handle letters, as manifest as though the letter had been singled out and marked by the registered stamp. moreover, the safety of an unregistered letter in dependent on the integrity of a post office clerk during the whole time that it remains in his custody, frequently for hours or even days; whilst a registered letter will almost invariably have to be acknowledged at the moment of its passing into an officer's hands, and cannot thereafter be suppressed without leaving him individually accountable for its disposal. in the report for it is stated that "there has been a reduction in the charge on registered letters" between canada and the united kingdom, but we are left in the dark as to the amount of the reduction or the new rate, as far as the report goes, but in a _post office directory for _ (dated october , ) we find the following table which gives us the information desired:-- registration of letters. the charge for registration, in addition to the postage, is as follows, viz.: on letters to any other place in canada, or british north america cents on letters for the united states " on letters for the united kingdom - / " on letters for british colonies or possessions, sent _via_ england " on letters for france and other foreign countries, _via_ england, an amount equal to the postage rate. both the postage charge and registration fee must in all cases be prepaid. the _post office act_ made the domestic registration of letters containing valuables compulsory, the postmaster general being empowered to prescribe and enforce regulations "in respect to the registration by the officers of the post office of letters unquestionably containing money or other valuable enclosure when posted without registration by the senders of the same, and to imposing a rate of two cents registration charge upon such letters."[ ] [ ] ^o vict. cap. x. sec. , par. . see page . the report for , which was the first of the dominion of canada, gave the statistics of registered letters as , for ontario and quebec (the former province of canada), , for new brunswick, and , for nova scotia, a total registered correspondence of , . the next year's report especially notes the increase in the use of the registration system, the total having advanced to , pieces, while the report for records an even million. finally in the report for , we find the first hint of special stamps for registration purposes, as follows:-- it seems expedient to adopt some distinctive postage stamp to be used only in prepayment of the registration charge, both to make it clear that this charge has been duly paid and accounted for in every case, and to diminish the risk which is occasionally felt at points of distribution of omitting to carry on the registration in cases where the ordinary registration postmark is not as distinct and calculated to arrest attention as it should be. it has always been the policy of the canadian post office to admit letters to registration at a low rate of charge for the additional security thus given, so as to leave no adequate motive, on the score of cost, for sending valuable letters through the mails unregistered; and, doubtless, the very large proportion of such letters offered for registration demonstrates a gratifying measure of success in attaining the desired object. we have here the reason for the extremely cheap domestic registry fee of cents--a reason which might, possibly with profit, even, enter more deeply into the calculations and published rates of even larger countries than canada. the above recommendation did not bear immediate fruit, but after a delay of three years the suggested special stamps made their appearance on november , . the report of that year says of them:-- registration stamps have been issued, to be used by the public in prepaying the registration charges on letters passing within the dominion, or to the united kingdom or united states, each destination being distinguished by a different colour in the stamp, as well as by a variation in the amount of registration charge and corresponding value of the stamp. there is a red stamp of the value of two cents for prepayment of the registration charges on letters within the dominion. there is a green stamp of five cents value for registered letters addressed to the united states. there is a blue stamp of eight cents value for registered letters addressed to the united kingdom. these stamps are to apply exclusively to the registration charges, and the postage rates on registered letters are to be prepaid by the ordinary postage stamps. it is believed that the use of these distinctive stamps for the registration charges, will tend to give registered letters additional security against the risk which is sometimes felt of the registration escaping observation, when such letters are dealt with hurriedly or handled at night, whilst passing through the post. the special registration stamps are too well known to need any particular description, especially as they are excellently illustrated as numbers , and on plate iii. like the ordinary postage stamps, they are engraved on steel and were originally printed in sheets of , ten horizontal rows of five stamps each, which made a sheet of nearly the same size, only turned through an angle of °, as the ordinary sheet of postage stamps. the imprint was the same as the second type employed for the "small" cents issue--"british american bank note co. montreal" in a pearled frame--and likewise appeared four times on the sheet, as already fully described in the chapter dealing with that issue.[ ] the denomination of the stamp was also expressed as two cents, in the shaded roman capitals which we found in the case of the postage stamps, over the first stamp in the top row of that value, but with the cent the word five alone appears. the cent we have not seen. on the cent there is also a large numeral , - / mm. high, over the last stamp in the top row (number ) but the cent has none. [ ] see page . the normal colors for the stamps were:-- cents, orange varying through orange red to vermilion. cents, a slightly yellow green varying from pale to dark. cents, both bright and dull blue. the stamps were printed upon the same ordinary white wove paper as was used for the contemporary postage stamps. the variation from thin to thick quality is found in the case of the cent and cent stamps, but very little variation in the cent stamp. this is explained by the fact that there were probably but two printings of the latter stamp, , having been delivered by the manufacturers according to the postmaster general's report for th june, , and , more according to the next year's report. the stamps were normally perforated , but the cents in orange and the cents in dark green are both known in imperforate condition, the latter having been chronicled in the _halifax philatelist_ for november, . a vertical pair of the cent is shown as illustration no. on plate x. in the report for we find the following:--"the registration charge on registered letters between the united kingdom and canada has been reduced from cents to cents by the post offices of the united kingdom." this naturally dealt a heavy blow at the use of the cent stamp. the _stamp journal_ for february, , said:--"mr. e. burpee states that the cent 'registered' stamps have been called in, and that hereafter the fee to great britain and foreign countries will be the same as to the united states-- cents." the next issue, however, corrected this:--"after january, , the cost of registering letters to great britain has been fixed at c, the same as to the united states.... to foreign countries the rate is as before, cents, and therefore there is no suppression of the cent registered stamps." nevertheless, the rate to foreign countries must have been reduced not long after, as the statistics for stamps issued to postmasters between the st july, and the st july, give but of the cent registered stamp, which must therefore have been sent out early in the fiscal year. the total issues to postmasters, according to the reports, were as under:-- , , , ------ total , the number returned as "unfit for use" and presumably destroyed during the several years was , . this gives a total issue of , for the cent stamp, according to the reports; but the canadian correspondent of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ stated:[ ]--"in a little over , of these [original , ] were destroyed by order of the postmaster-general." this probably means that the stamps were called in after their usefulness ceased, and allowing for the amount destroyed during the period of issue gives us perhaps , as the number actually issued to the public from post offices. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, ii: : . the cent and cent stamps remained in use, but when the general revision of rates took place in the domestic rate was raised to cents, and the cent stamp lost its usefulness, the cent alone remaining. we have already reproduced the circular announcing these changes,[ ] and will only repeat here the paragraph relating to the registration fee:-- the fee for the registration of a letter or other article of mail matter will be five cents upon all classes of correspondence passing within the dominion. for the present, and until further instructed, the registration fee may be prepaid by using the _ cent registration stamps and postage stamps to make up the amount_. [ ] see page . this notice was dated th may, , and the report of th june following remarks further:-- the charge for the registration of a letter, parcel, book or other articles of mail matter was also made uniform, and fixed at cents for all classes of matter. the frequent delay consequent upon the prepayment of a wrong registration fee will no longer take place. the removal of the british american bank note co. from montreal to ottawa, which we have already noted as resulting in some marked changes in the shades of the regular postage stamps,[ ] was not without its effect upon the registration stamps. apparently the same ink used for printing the ordinary cent stamp was used for the cent registration, for we find both stamps chronicled in the _halifax philatelist_ for october, , as having appeared in a "bright carmine." the usual catalog designation for this cent registration stamp is "scarlet vermilion", but we think that "brick red" best describes the ordinary shade in which these ottawa printings are found, though the _halifax philatelist_ recorded a "dull rose" tint in march, . [ ] see page . the cent stamp was also noted in blue green in the november, , issue of the _philatelic record_, a few months after the regular cent postage stamp appeared in the same shade, again apparently showing the use of the same ink in printing both stamps. during its regular currency the cent stamp had risen from an issue to postmasters of , in to , , in , but the change in rates caused a drop to , in , , in , and in , while a straggling lot of appeared in . the cent stamp was distributed to the amount of about , in , but ran up gradually from , in the next year to half a million in . the increase in rates jumped it to nearly three times this amount in , and by , when the regular cent stamp was issued for combined postage and registration, the annual output of the cent registration stamp was , , . it may be remembered that after the removal of the engraving company from montreal to ottawa certain of the low value postage stamps appeared printed from plates of two hundred impressions instead of the ordinary one hundred. in like manner we find that new plates of double size were made for the cent registration stamp also, these being in one hundred impressions, ten rows of ten, but without the "ottawa" imprint which appeared on the enlarged plates of the regular postage stamps, according to the _dominion philatelist_, which noted the new sheet arrangement in october, . on the st august, , the regular cent stamp was issued to prepay the combined postage and registration fee, and the notice we have already quoted in that connection stated[ ] that when the supply of the cent registration stamp on hand was exhausted no more would be issued. the report for states that , were issued to postmasters for the year ending th june, and as over two and a half millions had been issued in the previous twelve-month, the probability is that the supply was exhausted about the time of the appearance of the cent postage stamp, and therefore the stock in the hands of postmasters must have been pretty well used up by . [ ] see page . there is one point left in connection with the registration stamps that deserves mention, as it has so frequently been a bone of contention. the cent stamp was formerly listed in _brown_, and quantities of printer's ink and valuable space have been wasted in discussing its merits. mr. donald a. king seems to have been the discoverer of the variety, according to the _halifax philatelist_,[ ] where it was exploited in an article which is worth quoting here for its historical value. [ ] =halifax philatelist=, ii: . the canadian error. the canada c. brown registration is at this time mentioned frequently in the _figaro_ and several other philatelic publications. as there seems to be considerable doubt as to the origin, and as i was in the main instrumental in introducing them to the philatelic public, i have decided to give the information i possess on this subject to them. about the beginning of january, , i was shown a registered letter received from miscou light house post office in new brunswick. it had a brown c. registration stamp on it--a clear unmistakable dark brown. i immediately wrote the postmaster there for information relative to them. he answered and said that he had on hand. that he had originally received from the p. o. dept. at ottawa, and that they were brown when he received them. this he stated positively. i then sent to him for them, but before my letter reached him he had used two of them so that i received only . those stamps i showed to several philatelists, and could not get two to agree as to their origin. some said the change in color was due to the gum, others to chemical changes, others again said it was due to the atmosphere from the salt water. very few would allow a misprint. in the meantime mr. f. c. kaye also came across another registered letter with brown registration stamp. this time it was from the p. o. of new ross in lunenberg co., n. s. from this office about were obtained. the postmaster at this office was also positive as to having received them from the dept. at ottawa in brown. the same objections were raised to those as to the others, as to whether they were a genuine misprint or not. in this case the atmosphere of salt water was not the cause as new ross is in the interior. if the gum was the cause of their changing color, it is peculiar that we do not get more of them. changes by chemical means were also tried. the only thing which would turn the red of the genuine color to brown, was sulphuric acid mixed with water, and this did not give a good clear color, having a somewhat greyish shade in it. those experiments have, in my opinion, confirmed their genuineness. and now as if to make assurances in regard to their genuineness more sure, we find a third post office with them. this was beauly, in antigonish co., n. s. there were, however, only received from there, the postmaster had the same story as the others, he had received them from the dept. at ottawa in a brown color. the department at ottawa was written to in regard to them, but as was to be expected, knew nothing of them whatsoever. no doubt if they had been seen they would not have been allowed to be issued to the public. again we find some details given in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_[ ] under "canadian notes" which evidently refer to another lot:-- in this color the stamps were first issued in , and were distributed to a number of small towns in ontario. some months later the attention of the postmaster at toronto was called to this stamp, and as he had received no official notification of an emission in this color, he caused inquiry to be made as to the authenticity of these stamps. a number of offices that had them on hand were communicated with, and all the answers were positive in the statement that the color of the stamps when received had been a decided brown, and had not undergone the slightest change by the action of either time or chemicals. a number of these letters are in the hands of a collector here, and are proof positive that this stamp was issued in a brown color. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, vi: . in spite of this brave showing, however, it is practically certain that the stamps are not a misprint but color changelings caused by oxidation, or rather "sulphuretting" to be more exact, an effect peculiarly liable to take place with stamps printed in red or orange. the same thing is found to occur in other canadian stamps, the pence and cent of the beaver type, the first issues of newfoundland and the cent, , of the united states, as well as some of the red and orange colored revenue stamps of the civil war period. in fact the change is carried almost to a black, at times, but can be restored to the original color by the application of hydrogen peroxide. chapter xviii the postage due stamps canada managed for years, like many other countries, to collect the postage due on insufficiently prepaid mail matter by merely marking the amount on the cover. the use of stamps as checks on those responsible for making the collections seems not to have been appreciated, or more probably was not deemed necessary. at last the advantages of such a system seem to have become manifest, and in the postmaster general's report for the th june, , we find the following:-- a system of accounting for short paid postage collected by postmasters, by means of special stamps known as "postage due" stamps, has been adopted by the department. these stamps are to be affixed to short paid mail matter and cancelled by postmasters when such matter is delivered to the addressee, and are not to be used for any other purpose. they cannot be used for the payment of ordinary postage, nor are they to be sold to the public. the denominations of these stamps are , and cents. the first issue of the stamps to postmasters was on the st june, , but the system did not come into operation until a month later. the following is the official notice with the technical portions omitted:-- post office department, canada. ottawa, st june, . _circular to postmasters of accounting offices._ commencing on the st july, , the present system of collecting unpaid postage will be discontinued and thereafter the following arrangements will supersede the regulations now in force:-- ( ) the department will issue a special stamp which will be known as the "postage due" stamp and on delivery of any article of mail matter on which unpaid or additional postage is to be collected the postmaster will affix and cancel as ordinary stamps are cancelled, postage due stamps to the amount of extra postage charged on such article. ( ) the short paid postage must be collected from the addressee before postage due stamps are affixed; otherwise the postmaster is liable to lose the amount of such postage. ( ) postmasters will obtain postage due stamps on requisition to the department but the initial supply will be furnished without requisition, so that the new system may go into operation on the date above mentioned. when a new form is ordered "postage due" stamps will be included in the printed list, but it is proposed to use the stock on hand at present which would otherwise have to be destroyed. the denominations of the new stamps will be , and cents. the new stamps were of the same size as the regular postage stamps, but with the longer dimension horizontal. a large numeral in a central tablet flanked by an acanthus scroll at each side, canada above, cents below, and postage due in block letters along the bottom, all on an engine-turned groundwork, make a very neat and effective design for the purpose intended. [illustrations nos. , and on plate iii.] the engraving is of course in the usual steel plate process, and the sheets are of stamps in ten rows of ten. the marginal imprint is at the center of the top of the sheet and is the same as for the later postage issues, "ottawa--no-- " or " ". so far there have appeared the following plate numbers:-- cent no. " " and " " the numbers printed, according to the reports, have been as follows:-- cent , , , , " , , , , , , , " , , , , , all three values were printed in the same shade of dark violet, but in the cent was reported in a red violet. chapter xix the special delivery stamp the postmaster general's report for th june, , contained the following announcements:-- the calendar year has witnessed the introduction of the special delivery stamp, whereby on the payment of a delivery fee of cents in addition to the ordinary postage, a letter immediately upon its arrival at the office of destination is sent by special messenger for delivery to the addressee. a special-delivery stamp of the face-value of cents was prepared, and the first supplies thereof were sent out sufficiently early to postmasters to permit of the inauguration of the special delivery service on the st july, . the object of this service is to secure special and prompt delivery of a letter on which a special-delivery stamp, in addition to the ordinary postage, has been affixed. the following circular gives the details of the new system:-- post office department, canada. ottawa, th june, . _circular to postmasters._ the postmaster general has approved of arrangements whereby, on and from the first of july proximo, the senders of letters posted at any post office in canada and addressed to a city post office now having free delivery by letter carriers shall, on prepayment by special delivery stamps of the face-value of ten cents, affixed one to each letter, in addition to the ordinary postage to which the same are liable, secure their special delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed within the limits of letter carrier delivery at any one of the following post offices in cities, viz:--halifax, st. john, n. b., fredericton, quebec, montreal, ottawa, kingston, toronto, brantford, hamilton, london, winnipeg, victoria and vancouver. the hours of delivery to be within a. m. and p. m. daily, except sunday. these hours are subject to change as dictated by local circumstances. drop-letters posted for local delivery, and bearing special-delivery stamps, in addition to the postage, will also be entitled to special delivery in the same manner as letters received at the post office by mail. registered letters may likewise come under the operations of this scheme of special delivery, in the same way as ordinary letters, provided they bear special-delivery stamps, in addition to the full postage and the registration fee fixed by law, and the regulations respecting the record and receipting of registered matter are observed. in despatching registered letters that bear special-delivery stamps, the postmaster should write prominently across the registered-package envelope the words "for special delivery". when special-delivery letters (unregistered) number five or more for any one office the postmaster should make a separate package of them, marking it "for special delivery"; if such letters are fewer than five, he should place them immediately under the "facing-slip" of the letter-package which he makes up, either directly or indirectly, for the special-delivery office for which they are intended, so that the most prompt attention may be secured therefor. special-delivery stamps will be sold at all money order post offices in canada, (which may secure a supply of such stamps in the same way as ordinary stamps are obtained,) for which the postmasters will have to account as they do for ordinary stamps, and on the sales of which a total commission of per cent, shall be allowed to postmasters, except to postmasters having fixed salaries. for the present postmasters will use the existing forms of requisition in applying for special-delivery stamps. (the usual discount may be allowed to a licensed stamp vendor at the time that he purchases special-delivery stamps from the postmaster). special-delivery stamps are to be cancelled as postage stamps are cancelled. stamps intended for special delivery are not available for any other purpose, and the article upon which one is affixed must have, besides, the ordinary postage prepaid by postage stamps. under no circumstances will special-delivery stamps be recognized in payment of postage or of registration fee, nor can any other stamp be used to secure special delivery, except the special-delivery stamp. special-delivery stamps are not redeemable. letters intended for special delivery at any one of the city post offices above mentioned, and prepaid as directed, may be mailed at any post office in canada. the regulations relating to first class matter (inland post) apply also and equally to special-delivery letters, the only difference being the special treatment which the latter receive with a view to accelerating their delivery. the object sought by the establishment of special delivery,--namely, the special delivery of letters transmitted thereunder,--will be much promoted if the senders of all such letters are careful to address them plainly and fully, giving, if possible, the street and number in every case. such care will serve not only to prevent mistakes, but also to facilitate delivery. all employees of the post office are enjoined to expedite, in every way in their power, the posting, transmission and delivery of letters intended for special delivery. * * * * * r. m. coulter, _deputy postmaster general_. for a description of the stamp itself we cannot do better than quote the _montreal witness_:-- the special delivery stamp differs materially in design and size from the ordinary series, the dimensions of the engraved work being - / inches long by / of an inch wide [ Ã� mm.]. the advantage of such a contrast is obvious. the letter to which a special delivery stamp is affixed can thus be at once picked out by those handling the mails including it, and its delivery greatly hastened. the design of the special delivery stamp is without any vignette, and consists substantially of a panel across the top containing the words "canada post office", with a lathe-work border round the other three sides of the stamp. the center of the stamp is occupied by an oval containing lathe-work, with the word "ten" in the center, and the phrase "special delivery within city limits" in a white letter, on a solid panel encircling the word "ten". on each side of the stamp, connecting the oval with the border, is a circle with the numeral " "; the space between the oval and the border is occupied by ornamental work. at the bottom of the stamp, in the lathe-work border, appears a white panel with the words "ten cents". the stamp is illustrated as number on plate iii. it is line engraved and printed in sheets of , ten rows of five. the usual imprint, ottawa--no.-- , is found in the margin at the top of the sheet, over the third stamp. but one plate number has yet appeared. the color was at first a deep green which in took on a bluish cast. the paper used is the thick white wove ordinarily employed for the regular postage series, and the stamp has also appeared on the toned paper on which the cent postage is known. the annual requisitions from the manufacturers have increased from , in to , in . * * * * * to return to the postmaster general's reports. that of the th june, , states:--"the cent special-delivery stamp, to which reference was made in the last report, came into use at the beginning of the current fiscal year, simultaneously with the commencement of the special-delivery service, and of this stamp , were issued to meet the demands, which would go to show that the service is being availed of to a considerable extent throughout the country." the date of the first issue of the special delivery stamp to postmasters is given as the th june, . no further mention is made of the service until the report dated st march, , which says that the special delivery service had been extended to thirteen places where free carrier service had been installed,[ ] and further that "the regulations respecting special delivery have been so modified that it is no longer necessary for a person despatching a letter, which he desires to have delivered immediately, to provide himself with the 'special delivery' stamp issued by the department. he may now place upon his letter ordinary postage stamps to the value of ten cents in addition to the stamps required for prepayment of postage and write across the corner of the envelope the words 'special delivery'. this will ensure the special delivery of the letter as provided for in the regulations." [ ] see page . the report for states that the service has been extended to the eight places where free letter delivery by carrier had been installed during the year.[ ] [ ] =ibid.= chapter xx the "officially sealed" labels strictly speaking, the so-called "officially sealed stamps" are not stamps, as that term is technically employed in philately. to the uninitiated any design impressed upon a label, whether gummed and perforated or not, may be termed a stamp; but the ordinarily accepted use of the term has been restricted, at least in philatelic lore, to the label that represents a value, collected or chargeable, in the service in which it is employed. there may therefore be postal, telegraph or fiscal stamps, and because of the identity in use--to show that _no_ fee is required,--we can stretch our definition to include franking labels, such as are often used officially. but the "officially sealed" label performs no such function, and is, as its name implies, simply a _seal_ which fulfils that purpose alone and therefore does not properly belong in the company of postage stamps. our only reason for touching upon these labels here is that they have been included in some of the catalogs for years and many collectors possess them; consequently it seems desirable to give their history along with that of their more worthy prototypes. the label figured as number on plate x, seems to have been first reported in _le timbre-poste_ for october, , and its date of issue is usually given as that year. but little seems to have been known about it for some time, which perhaps was partly due to its scarcity and partly because it did not attract the notice that a regular postage stamp issue would have. the london society's book quoted a somewhat ambiguous explanation of the use to which the label was put, which had appeared in the _halifax philatelist_;[ ] but it remained for major evans to clear up the matter in the columns of the _philatelic record_.[ ] we cannot do better than quote this in full:-- with reference to what is said about the canadian _officially-sealed_ label in the london society's new book, i am glad to be able to throw some light upon the question as to the manner of its employment. when i was in canada last july [ ] i made special enquiries about these labels, as there appeared to be some mystery about their use. everyone agreed that they were not placed upon _all_ letters opened at the dead letter office and returned to their senders, and no two persons seemed to have quite the same theory as to the rules for their employment or non-employment in any particular case. even gentlemen connected with the post-office at halifax, such as mr. king and others, could give me no definite information. i therefore determined to see what i could do at the head-quarters at ottawa. fortunately, i was able, through a collector in an official position, to obtain an introduction to the deputy postmaster-general, who most kindly gave me the following particulars, which show that the employment of the _officially sealed_ labels is very restricted, thus accounting for their rarity. letters in canada, as in the united states, very frequently have on the outside the well-known notice containing the address of the sender, and a request that the letter may be returned if not delivered within a certain time. these of course are not opened at the dead letter office, and in fact, i think, are ordered not to be sent there, but are returned direct from the office to which they were originally addressed or from the head office of the district. on the other hand, those that have no indication of the address of the sender on the outside are sent to the dead letter office, and there necessarily opened; but neither of these classes thus properly dealt with is considered to require the _officially-sealed_ label. it is only if one of the former class, having the sender's name and address on the outside, is sent to the dead letter office and there opened in _error_ that the _officially-sealed_ label is applied, to show that such letter has been opened officially, and not by any unauthorized person. whether these pieces of gummed paper ever had a more extended use or not i cannot say, but i was assured that the above was the substance of the regulations as to their employment. the deputy postmaster-general further stated that there had been so many requests for specimens of these labels that the department had been obliged to make it a rule to turn a deaf ear to all of them. in any case they are not _postage stamps_, properly speaking, at all. they indicate neither postage paid nor postage due, but simply that the letters to which they are attached have been opened by proper authority, and they at the same time afford a means for reclosing them. [ ] =north american colonies of great britain=, page ; =halifax philatelist=, i: . [ ] =philatelic record=, xi: . the labels are of relatively large size, being - / by mm. the design is mostly engine-turned work, with the words officially sealed on a label across the center; above this appears, in a curve, post office canada, and beneath likewise dead letter office. the label is a fine piece of line engraving, but we have been unable to ascertain the size of the sheets in which it was printed. doubtless the usual four marginal imprints were employed, being the "montreal" type in pearled border. it seems to be the general idea that the first printing of the labels, which were in a dark red-brown, was the only one, but no information is at hand concerning the quantity delivered. at any rate in the canadian notes in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ for november , we read that:--"from a reliable source it is learned that the old die of the canada official seal stamp has been spoiled or rather destroyed for further use by the bank note company, who have possession of it." we suggest that the words "spoiled" and "destroyed" have been transposed in the original, the meaning evidently being that the die had been defaced as of no further use. the labels were normally perforated the usual , but the same journal for april , reports that a whole sheet had been seen in an imperforate condition. though various rumors that the use of these labels was to be discontinued are to be found in the late " 's" and early " 's", and though the defacing of the die would perhaps indicate such intention, yet a new issue in changed design made its appearance about , which was of course engraved by the american bank note co., who then held the contract for furnishing stamps. this handsome label, figured as number on plate x, was adapted from the magnificent "law stamps" of the "series of ", which stand as some of the finest fiscal stamps ever issued. the central vignette, with its portrait of queen victoria at the time of the diamond jubilee, the word canada arched above, and the engine-turned border, are reproduced in their entirety from the fiscal stamp; dead letter office and more engine-turned work replace the law stamp inscription of the prototype beneath the vignette, and officially sealed is filled in in block letters of varying heights at the top. the labels are of course line engraved and perforated , but the sheet arrangement or details of quantity printed cannot be given. they were issued at first on a pale blue paper, but subsequently, about , appeared on plain white paper. chapter xxi the stamped envelopes in its issue for june, , the _london philatelist_[ ] illustrated a cover, submitted by mr. e. b. greenshields of montreal, which had the appearance of a provisional d. envelope. concerning it mr. greenshields said:--"this letter was posted in new carlisle, gaspé, lower canada, on april th, , and was stamped 'three pence' in two lines, inside a square, with a black border of neat design round the sides. across this was written 'letter r. w. kelly apl. '. the letter was addressed to toronto, c. w., and on the other side was stamped the date the letter was received, 'apl. , .'" the design was printed on the right upper corner of the envelope, "three pence" being in script type of a style then in vogue, and the border being a common type of loops. no stamp appeared on the cover nor the word paid. [ ] =london philatelist=, xiii: . on enquiry of the post office department at ottawa the following reply was sent:-- ottawa, _ nd. march_, . sir,--i am directed to acknowledge receipt of your communication of the th ultimo, inquiring whether r. w. kelly was postmaster of new carlisle, co. gaspé, quebec, in , and in reply am directed to inform you that r. w. kelly, doubtless the same man, was postmaster of new carlisle in .... as regards your inquiry as to whether postage stamps were used on the th april, , and your statement that you have an envelope sent on that date from new carlisle to toronto with "three pence" printed on it, inside a fancy border, i have to say that postage stamps were issued to the public for the first time on the d april, , and that stamped envelopes were not issued until some years later. the stamped envelope to which you refer may have been an envelope so stamped on the prepayment in the new carlisle post office of three pence, the required charge for postage. i am, sir, your obedient servant, william smith, _secretary_. inasmuch as the impression is type-set and printed, it was doubtless a scheme of the postmaster to prepare the envelopes and save stamping them with the office seals afterwards, as would be necessary if no adhesive stamp were attached. the cover in question was evidently used for his own convenience, but its use as a stamped envelope would depend upon whether it was sold to the public for their convenience as a prepaid cover. under such conditions it would assume a character akin to the postmaster's provisionals of the united states, but no such evidence has been forthcoming, nor are other copies known. it is an interesting cover, particularly because of the lack of the word paid, which should have been stamped upon it as well as the indication of the amount, according to the rules in force before adhesive stamps were used to indicate prepayment in themselves; but it had no government sanction, and has not yet been shown to have even the rank of a "semi-official issue." although following closely upon the heels of the united states in issuing postage stamps, less than four years having intervened, canada was not so eager to introduce the stamped envelope, for she waited over six years before following the example of her big neighbor. the first reference to the innovation is found in the postmaster general's report for th september, (although the report is actually dated th february, ), and reads as follows:-- for the promotion of public convenience by facilitating the prepayment of letters, stamped envelopes bearing medallion stamps of the postage value of c. and of c. respectively have been procured and issued for sale to the public, at an advance of / a cent on the value of each stamp, to cover the cost of the envelope, and of engraving the stamp, &c. the precise date of issue does not seem to be on record, but the year is always given. from the stamp accounts, quoted below, we find the quantity issued for sale is qualified by the remark "during months to sept. ", which would indicate that the envelopes were issued about the st february, ; and we have therefore assigned this date to them until a more authoritative one is produced. the next reference to the envelopes, including the accounts, appears in the report for the year ending th september, , as follows:-- stamped envelopes. c. c. value received from mfrs. , , , . issued for sale during months to sept. , , , , . ------- ------- --------- remaining, , , , . the number of stamped envelopes, actually used by the public, has been but small, as a considerable proportion of those issued remain in the hands of postmasters. the cost of manufacture of the stamped envelopes was included, as we have already seen,[ ] in the payments made to the american bank note co. for stamps, etc., in , so that they were obtained from that firm. they were not manufactured by them, however, but by george f. nesbitt & co. of new york, who at that time held the contract for supplying the united states government with stamped envelopes. the similarity of the stamped impression, both in size and general arrangement, to the united states envelope dies of will be noted, and the paper used for the envelopes will be found to be similar, even to the watermark, while the two "knives" used for cutting the envelope blanks will be found to agree with numbers and of the tiffany, bogert and rechert catalog. it was evidently a case of the bank note co. subletting the contract to nesbitt, who was regularly in the business. [ ] see page . nothing further appears in the reports in regard to the stamped envelopes, except the tables of statistics, until the report of th june, , which says:--"in order to promote the use of the stamped envelopes a reduction in the price to the public was made from st october, , from $ . per for the five cent and $ . per for the ten cent envelopes, to $ . and $ . per respectively." but even this bait did not attract, for the next year's report remarks:--"the recent reduction in the price of stamped envelopes has not led to any material increase in the demand." for two years longer the accounts are given, but with the first report of the dominion of canada, for the year ending th june, , they disappear, the envelopes evidently having been given up as a bad investment at the close of the accounts of the province of canada, when it was merged into the dominion. we have already quoted the figures for the first supplies received and the quantities first issued to postmasters. it may be well to give the entire record for its historical value:-- cent. cent. balance on hand, th sept. , , , returned by post masters, unsold, , , ------ ------ , , issued for sale during year, , ------ ------ balance on hand, th sept. , , , returned by post masters, unsold, ------ ------ , , issued for sale during year, , ------ ------ balance on hand, th sept. , , , returned by post masters, unsold, ------ ------ , , issued for sale during year, , ------ ------ balance on hand, th sept. , , , returned by post masters, unsold, , , ------ ------ , , issued during months, , ------ ------ balance on hand, th june, , , , returned by post masters, unsold, , , received from manufacturers, , ------ ------ , , issued for sale during year, , , balance on hand th june, , , , returned by post masters, unsold, ------ ------ , , issued to th june, , , ------ ------ balance th june, , , , returned by post masters, unsold, ------ ------ , , deduct envelopes short received, ------ ------ , , issued to th. june, , , ------ ------ balance th. june, , , these figures are the last that appear concerning the first issue of envelopes, the next report, as already stated, having no mention of them at all. it was very probably because there were not enough to supply the added provinces of the dominion, in the case of the cent envelopes, and principally because they did not seem to be popular enough to warrant continuing their use that the envelopes did not remain in issue under the dominion government. an inspection of the above table shows that the cent envelopes were apparently issued at an average rate of perhaps , a year, while only of the cent were ordinarily put forth. this might indicate a fair consumption of the lower value by the public, particularly as the total receipt from the manufacturers was , and but remainders are given at the close of the account. but it must be remembered that the table gives the quantities "issued to postmasters" and not the sales to the public by the postmasters. we know the public did not take particularly to the use of the envelopes, so that there were doubtless large quantities of them in postmaster's hands when their sale was discontinued. these would naturally be returned to the department and destroyed, which would of course materially reduce the quantity issued as taken from the tables. unfortunately these latter figures have not been obtainable; but it is certain from the rarity of used copies that nothing like , of the cent and , of the cent envelopes could have been sold to the public. we are able to illustrate an entire used copy of each value as numbers and on plate xiv. [illustration] as already stated, the envelope stamps were very similar in size and style to the united states envelope dies of . the inscription canada postage is in the frame above the head and the value below, reversing the united states arrangement, and there are no stars separating the legends. the embossed head of queen victoria was evidently copied from the profile used on the cent stamp of . the cent stamp is printed in vermilion and the cent in dark brown. there was but one size of envelope, - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.), and but one quality of paper for the first order--a white laid paper with a slightly yellowish tone, watermarked with the letters ca over pod (canada post office department) which appears about twice in each envelope. the paper was cut so that the laid lines run diagonally, and the knife used was that numbered in the tiffany, bogert and rechert catalog of united states envelopes, with rounded flap and yellowish gum, extending nearly the length of the flap. in the table given it will be noticed that , more cent envelopes were received from the manufacturers in . these latter were on a white paper of similar quality with a slightly bluish tone, and a slightly different knife had been used in cutting the blanks, which corresponds to that numbered in the catalog quoted. the difference consists mainly in a more pointed flap than the first knife. the _london philatelist_ for december, , contained the following startling announcement under the head of canada:[ ]-- mr. l. gibb, of montreal, kindly submitted to his fellow members of the london philatelic society, at a recent meeting, a curious variety among the stamps of the colony he resides in. the specimen in question was the c. envelope of impressed in vermilion, instead of its normal colour--brown, and being presumably printed in error in the color of the c. the stamp was unfortunately cut round, but was on the diagonally laid paper usual to the issue, duly postmarked, and, in the opinion of the members present, had every appearance of authenticity, although surprise was expressed that so marked a variety should never have been noted before. [ ] =london philatelist=, v: . nothing further has apparently been learned about it since, but in the face of the above statements and opinions it seems necessary to record it. both values were reprinted[ ] by the nesbitt company in on pieces of white wove paper and also vertically laid buff paper, the cent copying the color of the original, but the cent being in a dark red brown instead of black brown. they were also printed in the same colors on entire envelopes of white and buff laid paper with the pod over us watermark of the regular united states stationery. these were a size smaller than the regular canadian envelopes, being Ã� mm. a further variety is noted in the _catalogue for advanced collectors_,[ ] as follows:--"there is also a second type of the c to be found on the same papers as above reprints which was probably struck off in the same year. the stamp is a trifle larger and the head smaller than on the accepted die; this is probably a die prepared by nesbitt but refused by the canadian government." [ ] =american journal of philately=, nd series, iii: . [ ] =ibid.= the dominion government, which discarded the provincial stamped envelopes from the beginning, did not essay anything in that line for nearly ten years. finally the following notice was sent out:-- post office department, canada ottawa, th october, . stamped envelopes. . letter envelopes bearing an impressed postage stamp of one cent, and three cents respectively, are ready for issue to postmasters and through their agency to stamp vendors for sale to the public. . these envelopes when issued to postmasters will be charged to them, and will have to be accounted for by them at the following rates: one cent envelopes, $ . three cent do no. size, . do do no. size, . . the three-cent envelopes are of two sizes, no. being larger than no. and postmasters, when asking at any time for a supply, will be careful to state how many of each size they want. . postmasters and stamp vendors will be required to sell these envelopes at the above rates per hundred to the public, and when a request is made for a single envelope, or for any number less than a hundred, the charge for the same must be made by the postmaster or stamp vendor, as near the exact proportionate value, as compared with the above rates per hundred, as the fraction will permit without loss to the postmaster or stamp vendor, thus ten of the three-cent envelopes, no. size, should be sold for thirty-three cents, five for seventeen cents, and two for seven cents. . when used these envelopes will represent the pre-payment of postage to the amount of the stamp impressed thereon, and when used for letters weighing more than / an oz., or on which the pre-payment is required of more than is represented by the impressed stamp, the difference may be affixed by ordinary postage stamps. . the impressed stamp must be carefully cancelled by postmasters when the envelopes are posted. . an impressed stamp cut from an envelope cannot be used for pre-payment of postage in any shape, and when detached from the envelope on which it was impressed, it loses all value as a postage stamp. . in the accounts rendered by postmasters, the amounts of stamped envelopes received from the department and sold to the public or to vendors, are to be added to the postage stamp items. * * * * * l. s. huntington, _postmaster general._ */ /# _memo._--stamped envelopes are to be sold to the public at the following prices by postmasters and stamp vendors:-- #/ per hundred. per ten. for single envelopes. cent envelopes $ . cents cents, or cents for do do no. size $ . cents cents, or cents for do do no. size $ . cents cents, or cents for curiously enough no mention is made in the postmaster general's report of either the issue of the stamped envelopes or their reception by the public, such as was the case with their predecessors in . we find from the stamp accounts, however, that the first supplies received from the manufactures were , of the cent; , , of the cent size ; and , of the cent size . further supplies of the cent were not needed until two years later, of the cent size until three years later, and of the cent size until four years later, so it is evident that no great popular demand sprang up for them. the cent envelope, which was intended for the local or "drop letter" rate, was issued in numbers averaging about , a year up to , when the post office act of that year, which increased the limit of weight of the single rate letter from / to ounce and fixed the drop letter rate at cents per ounce for cities having a free delivery service,[ ] caused a falling off in the issue to , in the report, and this gradually diminished to about , per annum in the report for , when the stamp under discussion was superseded by a new design. [ ] see page . the cent envelopes, being the regular letter rate, had a larger use; nevertheless the issue of the no. size fell gradually from some , in to about , in . the no. size proved more popular, though the demand was somewhat erratic. the issue went from , in to , in ; then averaged about , for three years; next averaged about , for four years; and finally returned to the , mark for the next six years, when a new issue took its place. the design of these envelope stamps is in all respects similar to the early type, but they are about half again as large. the embossed head of the queen is copied from the profile on the "large" cent stamps of and is tilted forward rather awkwardly in the frame. the cent is printed in bright red varying to rose, but the cent instead of following the yellow color of the adhesive is printed in blue, which varies from quite pale to very dark. the envelopes were manufactured by the british american bank note co. from white laid unwatermarked paper, and have a pointed flap with gum extending nearly the whole length. the smaller sized envelope was also issued with the flap rounded into a tongue, but the larger sized envelope is not known in this form. these "tongued flap" envelopes were apparently an early variety, as the _philatelic monthly_ records the cent in its issue for april, . the cent, however, does not seem to have been noted until the june, issue of _le timbre-poste_. [illustration] the earlier printings of the envelopes were upon a laid paper that had the "cross vergures", or single laid lines that regularly cross the general run, at a spacing of mm. from each other. about another paper came into use which had these "cross vergures" spaced mm. apart, and in some cases mm. the two papers can be told at a glance as they varied in tone, the latter variety having a slight cream tint and the former being a pure white. these two varieties are of course more noticeable in the entire envelope than in cut squares, and have been listed as "rosy white" and "bluish white" papers, but we feel unable to distinguish them thus as the terms seem wholly inapplicable. the cent envelope was chronicled in ultramarine in april, , of course on the small sized envelope and the cream toned laid paper.[ ] [ ] =monthly journal=, vii: . in may, , the _philatelic record_ stated[ ] that "our publishers have the envelope of the cents red value with stamp roughly lithographed instead of being embossed. mr. j. b. lewis, of ottawa, says only were printed." this was a somewhat startling statement, and major evans thus comments on it:[ ]-- there have been reports of late, in various quarters, of a certain number of the c. envelopes, of the current type, having had the stamp impressed upon them by lithography instead of in the usual manner. the story goes that the embossing die was lost, or mislaid, that a small supply of envelopes was wanted immediately by a business firm, and that a few hundreds were lithographed to fill this demand. the whole story sounds somewhat doubtful, to any one who knows how stamped envelopes are produced, but until quite recently we had not seen a specimen of the supposed lithographed envelopes, and therefore would not express any opinion upon them. a copy has lately been sent to our publishers, and we find it to be practically identical, as far as _almost_ entire absence of embossing is concerned, with some specimens which we obtained in canada a few years ago; the embossing, in the copy shown us, is not absolutely invisible, there being slight traces of it about the head, and especially the chignon; and if any envelopes have been lithographed, which we greatly doubt, this is not one of them. [ ] =philatelic record=, xviii: . [ ] =monthly journal=, vi: . the lithographing of a comparatively few envelopes by a country like canada appears somewhat incredulous on the face of it, and even more so does the "loss" or "misplacing" of the embossing die; the true explanation of the occurrence is doubtless found in the use of a much worn die, or more likely a defective "counter-die" or "bed-plate" which backs the paper. in the issue for january , the _american journal of philately_ had this statement:--"mr. g. a. lowe informs us that the c envelope exists on wove paper and was issued in , probably in error." referring to this, the _monthly journal_ for may , states:-- mr. king tells us that he found some packets of this variety in the post-office at halifax, and that he thinks that they may be a new edition, on a better paper than the last. he is not certain yet about this, as the great majority of the stock consisted of the _laid_ paper envelopes, and therefore the use of the wove may have been unintentional or temporary. again in the august issue, the last quoted paper says:-- in further reference to the c envelopes on _wove_ paper, mr. king sends us replies which he received from the p. o. department to his enquiries on the subject. the replies are vague, if not evasive, but show plainly that no intentional change was made in the paper used; they seemed to indicate, however, that the contractors are not restricted to a particular nature of paper, so long as the envelopes supplied are of sufficiently good quality. the references to mr. king in seem to show that he discovered the envelopes at about that time, so if the first statement about their appearing in is correct there must have been two lots issued at two different periods. that they were errors seems to admit of no doubt, as the usual paper for these envelopes was of the laid variety. they were only found in the large size envelope, known officially as no. . in the issue for september , the _american journal of philately_ noted two unusual varieties:-- mr. charles a. benedict of brantford has sent us samples of two envelopes with stamp of the type, which have not as yet been chronicled and which should probably be classed as printed-to-order envelopes. they are said to be used by a certain firm in brantford for circulars and letters, and are printed on large manila amber envelopes. the size of the envelopes is given as Ã� mm., and both the cent and cent stamps were impressed upon them. no further information seems to have been obtained concerning these curiosities, which must have been issued previous to the termination of the contract with the british american bank note co. in . although the rate on "drop letters" at free delivery offices was fixed at cents per ounce by the post office act of , in place of the previous cent per half ounce, it did not occur that a cent envelope might be desirable until about five years later. in the postmaster general's report of th june, , we read:--"it is proposed to issue for use for drop letters, that is for letters passing within the limits of a free delivery in cities, a cent envelope which will no doubt be found a convenience to the public." in the next year's report we find:--"the cent envelopes, used mainly for drop letters, that is, for letters passing within the limits of a free delivery in cities, and referred to in the report for last year, have been issued during the year. judging from the demand made for these envelopes already, they are likely to prove a convenience to the public." the new denomination was issued on the th june, ,[ ] on the larger sized envelope, the paper being the cream toned laid. it is a rather bizarre production, being circular in form with a medallion of the queen's head in the center, and a beaver perched outside the design at the top, while the sides are broken by maple leaves. the inscriptions are in colored letters, and the numeral of value appears for the only time on a canadian envelope stamp. in spite of the "demand" for these envelopes, a total supply of , received from the manufacturers was found sufficient to last until the new type was issued from the government printing bureau in , after the contract with the british american bank note co. had expired. [ ] =american journal of philately=, nd series, viii: . [illustration] the postmaster general's report for th june, , says:-- new stamped envelopes also came into use, and the price thereof _above the face value_ as compared with the old envelopes of the same size, was reduced by cents per , a reduction of - / %. a further concession given the public was that a blank form of request (to return letter if not delivered within the specified time) is printed without extra charge on the envelope, so that at the option of the purchaser stamped envelopes with or without this form of request may be obtained. whilst the three denominations of stamped envelopes ( cent, cents and cents) are retained, it was deemed advisable to have only one size instead of two as was the case with the old envelopes,--the small size of the latter (known as no. ) being discontinued because of the tendency on the part of the mercantile community to use envelopes of the larger size (known officially as no. ) or what in the commercial world is classed as no. . the latter is now the uniform size of the new stamped envelopes. the stamped envelopes referred to at the beginning of the above quotation were the cent envelopes, the first value to appear in a new design, and the price, as stated, was reduced from the former rate of $ . per hundred to $ . per hundred. but this apparently applied only to the new style, for the old style envelopes returned to the department as "unfit for use" in , and were credited at the old rates, while the new style envelopes in the same condition were credited at the new rates in these same years. the report for states that the old style envelopes in their two sizes were discontinued on st march, . the new stamp, while perhaps not as bizarre as the cent of , was yet a conspicuously ugly production by reason of the profile portrait of queen victoria that was employed. the die was engraved by messrs. de la rue & co., of london, and outside of the embossed head is a very neat design of engine turned work, with postage in small white letters above the inner oval and three cents beneath. the word canada was added, apparently as an afterthought, in colored letters _outside_ the design at the top of the stamp, where it breaks the colored line surrounding the oval! the impression is in a bright red on a white wove paper of a slightly cream tone, and the flap is rounded, with gum extending its full length. the return request referred to in the report is printed in black in the upper left hand corner and reads:-- [illustration] if not called for in ten days return to.... it seems that the american bank note co., upon taking the contract for supplying the canadian stamps in , asked to be excused from printing the stamped envelopes as well, because such a small number were used. this work was therefore given to the government printing bureau at ottawa,[ ] which accounts for the dies having been furnished by messrs. de la rue & co. the stamp accounts give the number of cent envelopes furnished in the new type as , in and , in , a total of , ; but the reduction of the domestic letter rate from cents to cents on the st january, , made the cent envelope useless, and large quantities were surcharged with the new rate, so that it is impossible to tell what proportion of the amount given is now represented by each variety. if catalog pricing is any criterion, the unsurcharged issue of the envelope should be perhaps , . [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xi: . the report for states:-- as a result of the reduction in the domestic letter rate of postage, the issue of the c. letter card, c. stamped envelope and c. postage stamp has been discontinued, unused quantities of these, however, continuing available for postage purposes, or exchangeable at any post office for their equivalent in postage stamps of other denominations. the report does not give the date of issue of the cent stamped envelope, but it was chronicled in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ for may , , and therefore was probably issued sometime in april. the date of discontinuance is given, however, as december, , so that it had a life, unsurcharged, of only about nine months. [illustration] but meanwhile the cent envelope was being prepared, and evidently because of the dissatisfaction expressed over the embossed head of the queen on the cent value, the new envelope appeared with the familiar youthful profile similar to that used on the british envelope dies for so many years. this improved the appearance of the stamp, which otherwise corresponded in design with the cent and was likewise engraved by messrs. de la rue & co. it was printed in a dark green on paper like that of the cent value, and in the same size and cut of envelope. the new type was issued on july , , according to the report, and was sold at $ . per hundred. the distribution of the old style cent envelopes was discontinued in the same month, according to the stamp accounts. following the cent envelope came the cent, being identical in every respect save the expressed value and color, and emanating from the same source as its two predecessors. the report of gives the date of issue of this envelope as the nd january, , and, as the corresponding value in the adhesive set was a deep violet, we should expect the envelope stamp to follow suit. this it did, but was almost immediately followed by an issue in bright red, because of the reduction of the domestic letter rate from cents to cents. it will be remembered that when imperial penny postage was inaugurated on december , , it was almost immediately announced that the internal postage in canada would be reduced to the cent rate on and from the st january, . as the postal union requirements called for carmine as the color of the stamp for the domestic letter rate, the change from violet was necessary in the canadian cent stamp, but owing to the large stock of the violet stamps on hand and the surcharging of the cent stamps down to cent value, the change in color from violet to carmine did not take place in the adhesives for some eight months. not so with the envelopes; the new cent ones were about to be issued and had been printed to the amount of , in dark violet. but with the change in rates and therefore in color requirements, orders were given to print further supplies of the cent envelope in red, and the latter color therefore appeared about a week after the violet stamp. we have gone thus into detail in the matter in order to make it evident why the violet stamp was so short lived, and why the change was made. this seems necessary because such a furor was created at the time, when it became known that the issue of violet envelopes was small, and speculation ran high; the government was accused of speculating in them and of putting them in the hands of favored ones, and finally, as in the case of the alleged speculation in the jubilee stamps, the matter came up in parliament. the following is an extract from the official report of the debates in the house of commons at ottawa:[ ]-- issue of stamped envelopes. mr. hughes asked: . when will the present cent purple stamped envelope cease to be issued, and the red issued in its place? . how many cent purple envelopes were issued, and how many distributed? at what offices were they distributed, how many at each office? are there any more to be distributed, and if so, where will they be distributed? . is it the intention of the government to issue an entire new set of stamped envelopes to replace those at present in use? if so, when? * * * the postmaster-general (mr. mulock): the issue of cent purple-stamp envelopes ceased when the supply thereof in the department became exhausted, the last issue having been made on the th january, . the subsequent issue of -cent stamped envelopes was in red, in accordance with the recommendation of the postal convention. * * * the schedule hereto annexed shows the names of the post offices supplied with such purple-stamp envelopes and the respective quantities so supplied them. list of post offices to which c. purple envelopes were issued, and the quantity in each case. post office. quantity. belleville, ont. st. catherine's, ont. toronto, ont. corinth, ont. haliburton, ont. mount albert, ont. tamworth, ont. hagersville, ont. hamilton, ont. loring, ont. newton, ont. ottawa, ont. st. casimir, que. sherbrooke, que. montreal, que. rigaud, que. maitland, n. s. truro, n. s. yarmouth, n. s. andover, n. b. centreville, n. b. shoal lake, man. winnipeg, man. new westminster, b. c. greenwood, b. c. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xiii: . further questioning by the same gentleman, in an effort to show that "inside" information had been given concerning the remainder of the cent green envelopes at toronto and the limited issue of the so-called "purple" ones, in order that favored parties might "corner" them, resulted in nothing definite except that in replying to the question "was the issue of the c. purple stamped envelopes done by mistake?" the postmaster-general said: "there was no mistake whatever made in the issue of said envelopes, but, on the contrary, the issue took place in the ordinary course of business, and was made on requisitions in the usual way, coming from postmasters." considering the date of their issue, the cause of the change in color and the above reply of the postmaster-general, in connection with an examination of the table of distribution of the c. violet envelopes, we must say that it seems clear that the whole business, as far as the department was concerned, was legitimate and straightforward, and the aspersions cast upon the issue of this envelope were only animated by a spirit of jealousy or revenge on the part of those who unfortunately did not happen to get any, whether "tipped off" by friends in or out of the post-office, or not. the cent envelope in red may have been issued on the th january, , or within a day or two of that date, and corresponds of course with the one in violet and the cent envelope in all respects. it was sold at $ . per hundred. we have already spoken of the cent envelope, issued in april, , as having been surcharged. this was due, of course, to the same reduction in the domestic rate of postage that operated to change the cent envelope from violet to red, and which also rendered the cent envelope practically useless. in order to utilize the stock of the latter envelopes, therefore, the department decided on surcharging them down to a cent value. this was done sometime during the week of - february, , and we can do no better than quote the letter of a canadian correspondent in the _weekly philatelic era_[ ] for details concerning it. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xiii: . ottawa, th feb'y, . our weekly sensation was duly on tap last week, in the shape of surcharges, canada's first offence, but an aggravated case. the post office department announced that any holders of c. envelopes or letter cards might send them in to the postage stamp branch, and have them surcharged, and re-issued as c. emissions, the difference in value being made good by an additional supply of surcharged stationery or in some other equivalent stamps. it was not anticipated that a very large supply of c. stationery was on hand, and consequently the arrangements for surcharging are of the most primitive description. stamps of soft rubber bearing the figures c. are provided, and the surcharge is put on by hand, the stamps being inked on black pads. the consequence is that the work is ill done, and we have as many varieties of surcharge as there are impressions, with quantities[ ] of ink varying from a black blue to a light grey. i have seen one envelope with the surcharge on sidewise reading from bottom to top. independently of the variations in printing, there are two types of surcharge. in the first, which i shall christen the "capital surcharge", the figure is - / mm. high by wide, the heavy parts of the figure being mm. thick, the thin parts / mm. the c is a capital letter - / Ã� - / mm. there was only one stamp of this type, and when it had been in use for two or three days the difference in type was noticed and the stamp was destroyed. any stationery surcharged with it will be exceedingly rare. the other type, which i suggest should be called the "lower case surcharge", has a similar figure but the c is a heavy face lower case letter Ã� - / mm. it is possible that there may be varieties of this type, as there are several stamps in use, but the printing is so badly done, and the stamps so subject to distortion by pressure, that one cannot depend on either inspection or measurement, a change in pressure in printing altering the appearance of the surcharge very materially. [ ] query: "qualities"? [illustration] in the same issue of the _era_ appeared further notes from another correspondent. in regard to the then current cent envelopes (the so-called "bureau print") he says:--"the p. o. department has surcharged the stock on hand, a few thousand. * * * some of the old british american bank note c envelopes were also surcharged, but it is understood that there were very few of them on hand,--less than a thousand." the opportunity given the public, however, to have cent envelopes in their possession surcharged, as well as the stock held by postmasters, which was returned to a considerable extent ( , of the c. returned - ; , of the c. no. , , returned - ; and , of the c. no. , , returned ) and doubtless reissued in surcharged condition, has made these provisional envelopes fairly common. no details of the numbers so treated are available, but if the catalogue value is any criterion the cent of surcharged is half again as common as the unsurcharged variety, or, as before remarked, the numbers issued may be divided up roughly as perhaps , of the former to , of the latter. of the old envelopes of , both sizes of which are found surcharged, it is impossible to hazard any guesses, save that a considerable number--several thousands of each size at least--must have been operated upon to render them as reasonable in catalogue price as we find them. the surcharge in its first type, as described in the quotation given, with the capital c, has only been found on the cent envelope of , which was the one in the reserve stock of the department when the reduction in postage took effect; but the second type, with the "lower case" c is found not only on this envelope but also on both sizes of the old "burland & co." envelopes of the issue. it will be remembered that it took considerably more than two years after the death of queen victoria before the change to king's head adhesives was made in canada. it took even longer for the change in the envelope dies, as the first one to appear, the cent, was not issued until the beginning of . it was thus described in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_:[ ]-- mr. wm. p. anderson writes that the c canada envelope, queen's head, is now obsolete, and that a new issue bearing the king's head was first sent out jan. . it is very similar to the existing type--same colour, shape and size and same description of paper and size of envelope. the bust of the king, a profile to the left, is larger, filling more of the central oval than did that of the young queen. it is a very beautifully cut piece of embossing, the work of wyon, the celebrated london die sinker. the engine turned border is not, mr. anderson thinks, so neat as that on the old stamp, from which it differs in detail. the word canada has been removed from outside the frame to the upper label, which now reads canada postage. this and the value, two cents, on a label below the bust, are in white letters on a ground of solid colour. the lettering is very thin, which is the only blemish in a very neat and effective design. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xix: . [illustration] the size of the envelope was not exactly the same as the previous issue, for it measures Ã� mm., about mm. longer than before and mm. wider, the rough measurements being Ã� - / inches. the paper is a very white wove variety, and the color of the impression is in carmine. the cent envelope did not appear until about two months later, the exact date not being available, but being very close to the st march, . it is in all respects the same as the cent envelope except that it is printed in a deep green. the use of stamped envelopes in canada, though never so popular as in the united states, yet seems to be largely on the increase in the last twelve years, the cent having risen in number from , in to , , in , and the cent from , to , , during the same period. chapter xxii the newspaper wrappers in the postmaster general's report for the th june, , we find the following:--"post bands bearing an impressed stamp of one cent each have been issued for sale to the public, at the rate of four for five cents, to be used in putting up newspapers and such other transmissions requiring to be prepaid one cent, for which they may be found convenient." [illustration] the issue took place in may, , and consisted of a wrapper of light buff wove paper measuring - / inches in height by inches in width ( Ã� mm.), with the stamp impressed at the right side, about - / inches from the top. the sheet is cut square and gummed along the top on the back side. the stamp is typographed, and consists of an upright oval containing the head of queen victoria copied from that on the adhesive stamps, canada postage above, one cent below, and the figure in a circle at each side. in this first type of the wrapper stamp these circles containing the numerals are surrounded by foliations of acanthus pattern, and each has a little quatrefoil ornament in the label beneath it. there is also a thin, colored, wavy line which follows the border of the inner oval, giving a scalloped effect, and serves as the distinguishing feature of the first type. the impression is in dark blue. the stamp accounts give the receipts from the manufacturers as , during , and , during . no further supplies were received until so these figures doubtless represent the total supply printed on the buff paper, as the small supply received in is probably otherwise accounted for.[ ] [ ] see page . in its issue for june , , the _philatelic monthly_ states that "we have received specimens of the newspaper wrappers with the stamp on the left and half way from the top." m. moens lists it in his catalogue, where he gives the dimensions as Ã� mm., or about - / Ã� - / inches. this is somewhat larger than the previous size and we have been unable to confirm it by a specimen, but the accuracy of m. moens' observations is seldom to be questioned. the london society's work states that this wrapper is unknown to the members of the society, but a cancelled copy, used by a business firm, is recorded in the _monthly journal_ in .[ ] evidently this variety was an error in the cutting of the sheet. [ ] =monthly journal=, iii: . in the _philatelic record_ for december, ,[ ] a change is noted in the wrapper itself, the paper being described as white instead of buff; but in moens' catalogue it is listed as "very pale buff" and in fact is what we might call "cream toned", being more correctly described later in the _philatelic record_ as "almost white".[ ] the wrapper was also cut to a new size, Ã� inches or Ã� mm. it is very probable that this wrapper comes from the lot of , received according to the stamp accounts for --the first since , barring the small lot in .[ ] [ ] =philatelic record=, iii: ; corrected, iii: . [ ] =ibid=., iv: . [ ] see page . [illustration] again, in its issue for june , , the _philatelic monthly_ illustrates a new variety in the stamp for the wrapper, stating that the color is light blue. the distinguishing features of the new die are the removal of the wavy line from the inner border of the oval, the removal of the foliations from around the circles enclosing the numerals, and the replacing of the little quatrefoil ornament beneath these circles by an inverted triangular ornament. this wrapper was presumably of the usual light buff tint as no mention is made of its color; but in the issue of the same paper for october , , it is recorded that "we have received specimens of the newspaper wrapper, stamp of latest type, on yellow-buff paper." the same wrapper is chronicled in the _philatelic record_ which was issued the latter part of september as upon "straw-colored wove paper," so it had doubtless appeared as early as august, . the size was the same as the last wrapper, Ã� inches. from on the wrappers have been issued in numbers approaching half a million per year, and as no note is made in the stamp accounts even of changes in design, it is of course impossible to estimate the quantities printed or issued of any one variety. in an article in the _dominion philatelist_ upon the postal stationery of canada,[ ] the "yellow paper" wrapper is given as the first issued, in , and the date is given the ordinary "pale buff" paper. the chronicles we have quoted, however, show that both were doubtless issued in and that the straw colored paper was not the first. the wrapper also appears on a cream paper, and the year of issue in the article quoted is given as , but we have been unable to find any contemporary chronicle to confirm this. [ ] =dominion philatelist=, v: . [illustration] once again, in , we find a change in the impressed stamp. this time the first design is reverted to, but with slight modifications which readily distinguished the new type; these are the absence of the wavy line running around the border of the inner oval, and the coarser shading on the face and neck--dotted in the first type and composed of lines in this third type. the new variety seems to have been chronicled first in the _philatelic monthly_ for june , , but nothing is said about the color of the wrapper. the article in the _dominion philatelist_, however, gives it as thin white paper with a variety in "very thin tough white paper, fine quality." the same article under date of gives this wrapper in cream toned paper of both thick and thin quality, and in manila paper. the size of all these wrappers was the usual one of Ã� inches. [illustration] five years of the third type seemed to be sufficient, for in a fourth variety made its appearance. this, curiously enough, reverts to the second type in similarity, for the foliations around the numerals again disappear and the only distinguishing feature is the ornaments beneath the numerals--now little quatrefoils instead of the triangular ornaments found on the second type. this fourth type seems to have been first noted in the _canadian philatelist_ for march, , and is more fully described in the _monthly journal_ for th april, , as being upon "thin, surfaced, straw coloured paper." this wrapper was cut to a slightly smaller size, - / Ã� inches. the article in the _dominion philatelist_ lists it upon "cream colored paper" alone, but both varieties exist, though it would seem that the straw colored one was perhaps the first issued. there is one variety analogous to the "stamp at left" wrapper of the first type, and which is also doubtless due to faulty cutting of the sheets; this has the stamp at the usual distance from the top of the wrapper, but nearly in the middle as far as the spacing from the sides goes. the impression is in dark blue on the straw colored paper. in its issue for march, , the _monthly journal_ chronicles a change in the color of the wrapper stamp (fourth type) from blue to "grey-black", the wrapper itself remaining a "straw" color as before. we find the impression to be a plain black, though if lightly inked it might show as gray black. besides the pale straw colored wrapper there exists a cream toned one and also one of stouter paper in a very light brown tone. all these are cut to the last size noted, viz., - / Ã� inches. all the preceding wrappers were the product of the british american bank note co., but when their contract for supplying stamps ceased in a new issue was naturally looked for. this did not materialize until june or july, , when a new wrapper of the usual size and of light manila paper made its appearance with an impression of the cent adhesive stamp (maple leaves in the four corners) in dark green. unlike the stamped envelopes, it was manufactured by the american bank note co., but the die for stamping it, instead of being a reproduction of the adhesive, was newly engraved for typographic work and is therefore much coarser in appearance than the adhesive stamps. no change was made in the wrapper die to include the numeral of value until the new issue with head of king edward took place. as before, the design of the adhesive was copied but the die was engraved for surface printing and is coarser in its lines. the new wrapper probably appeared early in october, , as we find it recorded in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ for the th october of that year. the size was as before and the paper a light manila. as a result of the changes in newspaper rates, due to the amending of the postal convention with the united states in ,[ ] we find a set of special wrappers issued in that year, concerning which the postmaster general's report for says:-- to facilitate the mailing of second class matter sent by publishers to their subscribers in the united states, special newspaper wrappers of the cent, cents and cents denominations were introduced. as a result of the reduction in rate of this class of matter, made in february, so far as daily editions of newspapers were concerned, the demand for c. and c. wrappers ceased, and their issue was, accordingly, discontinued. [ ] see page . the first issue of these wrappers is given as the th july, , and a reference to the report of , already quoted,[ ] shows the reason for their appearance. the rate on periodicals had been raised to cent per ounces when sent to the united states, which in turn had made provision for a like rate on periodicals addressed to canada, at the latter's behest. this move on canada's part was aimed principally to prevent the flooding of canadian mails with cheap american monthlies. but such a protest went up against this heavy increase, that the rates were lowered, in february , to cent per pound on newspapers only, which of course rendered any wrappers save the cent of but little use. with becoming thrift, however, the unissued remainder of the two discarded values was surcharged " c." in large block type in black and used up in that way. [ ] see page . [illustration] the quantities of these special wrappers delivered to the department are given in the stamp accounts as:-- _ ._ _ ._ _ ._ cent , , , , " , ... ... " , ... ... of the cent wrapper the accounts give , as issued in and of the cent wrapper , . but during and , of the former and , of the latter were returned "fit for use" by postmasters, and , cent and cent "unfit for use" were destroyed. it would appear from this that the actual issue to the public of these two wrappers was , of the cent and but , of the cent! the tables, however, record the issue to postmasters of the total quantity of these wrappers then on hand, and the tables explain this by the statement:--"withdrawn from issue and surcharged one cent, june , ." the quantities of the surcharged wrappers are therefore , of the c. on cents, and , of the c. on cents. as these wrappers were not on sale to the general public but only to publishers, who were obliged to purchase in quantity, their use was considerably restricted; and as the wrappers often enclosed papers in quantity, addressed to any one post office, they were removed in the united states post offices before distributing the papers, and very many probably lost sight of there as waste paper. while the usual newspaper wrappers are designated officially as "post bands," these we have been describing are called "special wrappers." they were of stout manila paper, cut to Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) in size for the cent and cent, and Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.) for the cent, and ungummed. the stamp occupied the usual position, but at its left was the following two line legend in block letters, printed in the same color as the stamp, and occupying a length of mm:-- =this wrapper to be used only by publishers and for the sole purpose of mailing second class matter to the united states.= the cent value was printed in dark green, the cent in carmine, and the cent in a slate violet. the surcharges were first noted in _mekeel's weekly stamp news of_ th september, , though they were probably issued soon after the date quoted above. the overprint in each case is in shiny black ink, the figure being mm. high and the "c" mm. high, with a period after it. one curious circumstance has been noted in connection with the use of these wrappers--large numbers have been used without the post office authorities taking the trouble to cancel them, while in other cases they have been cancelled in the usual manner. chapter xxiii the post cards we have already remarked that canada lagged behind the united states in adopting adhesive stamps and also stamped envelopes, but when we come to post cards we find the united states to be the laggard by nearly two years. in the postmaster general's report for th june, , we find the following:-- the introduction of what are known as "post cards" in the united kingdom, and the convenience which is stated to have attended their use, have induced the department to make arrangements for the manufacture of similar post cards for the use of the public in canada. these post cards will be sold at one cent each, and may be posted for any address within the dominion--and will be conveyed to destination, and be delivered in like manner with letters--the one cent covering the cost both of the card and of postage. they may be used for any communication, which can advantageously be written and sent by such a medium; and, it would seem unquestionable, must, in canada as in england, prove to be extremely convenient for many objects and purposes. the next year's report states:--"post cards have been issued to the public from june, , and it is believed have been found to be of material convenience. the number issued up to the st december was , , ." [illustration] these cards were cut to a size approximately - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). the design consists of an engine turned border set about / of an inch in from the edge, with the stamp in the upper right corner of the enclosed space. this stamp shows a medallion bearing the head of queen victoria that appears on the "large" cents issue of , surrounded by a frame that makes a roughly rectangular outline. the arrangement and style of the inscriptions on the card are shown by the illustration. at the bottom, just above the frame, is the imprint in letters of "diamond" size, "british american bank note co. montreal & ottawa." the card is not of particularly heavy stock, has a somewhat rough surface, and is of a light buff tint that varies some in tone. the printing was done in sheets of several impressions and the engravings were separated by thin colored lines running the whole length between them. the color of the impression is a deep blue, though specimens in a lighter tone are not uncommon. in the postmaster general's report for we learn that on the st november of that year, amongst other changes in connection with rates to newfoundland, the exchange of post cards at the ordinary domestic rate was provided for. in the report for we read:--"by arrangement with the united states post office, the post cards of canada and of the united states have, from the st july , passed freely to destination between the two countries on prepayment of cents each, by affixing a cent postage stamp to the card in addition to the one cent stamp printed thereon." the postal arrangement concluded between canada and the united states in ,[ ] however, by which mail matter was to be exchanged between the two countries at the domestic rates of each, obviated the necessity of the extra cent on the post cards from the st january, . [ ] see page . it may be remembered that the marginal imprints on the sheets of adhesive stamps began to be changed in and that the word "ottawa" was dropped. the same change took place in the post card some time during , it being first noted in _le timbre-poste_ for january, . the new card had the imprint at the bottom reading "british american bank note co. montreal" in letters slightly larger than on the first type. the frame of the card also seems to have been re-engraved as slight differences can be detected, and the outside or "over all" measurements are found to be about - / mm. greater each way. otherwise the appearance of the card is the same, but it is cut a little larger, measuring - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.), and the stock is a little heavier than the first card and of a slightly paler buff. the engravings on the plate were this time separated by short lines of color at the center of the sides of the cards. the color of the impression was the same as before and at times the front of the card was tinted bluish because of imperfectly wiped plates during printing. [illustration] although canada failed to obtain entrance into the universal postal union on its establishment in , as already detailed,[ ] yet she was granted the new rates in her correspondence with the mother country. this included a cent rate for post cards, and on the st january, , a cent post card made its appearance which was intended particularly for british correspondence as is shown by the sub-heading "to united kingdom." it was quite similar in design to the cent card, with the same medallion portrait of queen victoria on the stamp. the frame of the card is of engine-turned work but of different pattern from the cent card, and has corner pieces. the arrangement of the inscriptions is shown by the illustration. the card is cut to the same size as the cent ( - / Ã� inches) and is of medium thickness and of a very light yellowish buff. the impression is in a deep yellow green. [ ] see page . of these cent cards the stamp accounts give , as having been delivered in and more in . but the issues to postmasters are given as , in , in , and , in , a total of , ; and as there is a record of the return of but , it seems fair to assume that the remaining , were destroyed. [illustration] canada was finally admitted to the postal union on the st july, , and consequently the cent rate on post cards became applicable to all the other postal union countries. we therefore find the "united kingdom" card altered to conform to the new conditions, the words "union postale universelle" now appearing at the top as shown in the illustration. the stamp has also been re-engraved, the frame being changed and the words canada and postcard added in small capitals above and below the medallion. the card is of the same size as before, on good stock of a very pale yellowish tone and with a smooth surface, and the impression is in a strong yellow green. this card appeared early in and continued in use until . its issue to postmasters increased from , in , to , in , though it dropped to , in . [illustration] all the previous cards had been line engraved on steel plates and of artistic appearance and fine workmanship. beginning with , however, a cheaper form of production began to be employed, the impression being typographed probably from electrotypes. the frame of the card is now omitted, the design consisting simply of a curved banderole bearing the words canada post card with the instructions beneath, and at the right the oval stamp which, from now on, corresponds to the contemporary stamp of the newspaper wrapper. the _philatelic monthly_ for st may, , chronicled a new one cent card as having just appeared, but did not describe it. it doubtless appeared early in april and was of the design detailed in the last paragraph, the stamp being that of the second type of the newspaper wrapper, which lacked the foliations around the numerals and had the inverted triangular ornaments beneath the circles containing the figures " ". the impression was in blue or in ultramarine on a very light buff card of stout quality and cut to - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.) about the end of the same year a reply card made its appearance concerning which the following notice was issued:-- post office department. ottawa, th december, . departmental order no. * * * * * _reply post cards._ . for the convenience of correspondence by post card within the dominion, a double post card has been prepared and is now ready for issue, which will afford to the original sender of this form of card the means of sending with his communication, a blank prepaid post card to be used in reply. each half of the double card will bear a one-cent postage stamp impressed thereon in prepayment. the ordinary post card regulations will apply to these reply cards, both when originally posted, and with respect to the reply half when re-posted. the reply or double post cards, will be issued at two cents each, and are to be sold to the public at that rate by postmasters and stamp vendors. canada reply post cards, to be used in correspondence with the united kingdom, will also be supplied at an early date, and when post cards of this description originating in the united kingdom and bearing the impressed postage stamp thereof on both halves, have been received here by mail, the reply half may be re-posted in canada, for return _to an address in the united kingdom_, as a prepaid post card, and may be forwarded to destination without requiring the addition of any canada postage stamp or other postage prepayment in canada. john carling, _postmaster general._ judging by the date of the circular the reply card was probably issued the middle of december, , although it was not reported in the stamp journals until the next february. the stock used was the same as that for the single cards and cut so as to be the same size as the latter when folded. the design was the same as the single cards but printed in a gray black on the first and third faces of the folded card. the reply half is only distinguished by the word "(reply.)" placed between the banderole and the line of instructions. considerable interest was aroused among philatelists in - by a controversy that sprung up over a reported "error" in this reply card, which occurred with the stamp at the left side and the inscriptions to the right. curiously enough, this card had been chronicled as a new issue in the _philatelic monthly_ for march, , where we read:--"we are indebted to mr. de wolf for the first specimen of a new double cent card we have seen. it is slightly smaller than those first issued and the stamp is placed on the left side instead of the right." the fact of its existence had apparently lain dormant, except among post card specialists, until the canadian correspondent of _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ rose to remark[ ] that they could be produced by manipulating an uncut sheet of the regular cards. this called forth a rejoinder from mr. a. lohmeyer[ ] who wrote:-- in the first place, the _error cards_, for such they are, do not exist among the cent cards, but only among the - cent of , or reply-paid cards. of this issue a comparatively small quantity were printed with the stamp in the upper left corner, and the _error_ was not discovered until after a number of post-offices had been supplied with them, whereupon they were recalled, withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. this accounts for the great scarcity of these error cards, which have, in reality, been in circulation, for i have several used specimens (halves) in my collection. i will now proceed to prove the absurdity of the manipulation described in the article referred to by facts and figures: the space between the stamp and the points of the ribbon bearing the inscription "canada post card" on the correct issue, where the cards would have to be cut to manufacture canadensis' error (?) cards, is millimeters. if this space is equally divided in cutting the sheet, it would leave a margin to the left of the stamp and to the right of the ribbon, after being cut, of millimeters, while the space between the right side of the stamp and the ribbon would be millimeters. now take an error card, and you will find the latter space to measure only millimeters, and the outer margin to the left of the stamp and the right of the ribbon to be respectively millimeters. "figures do not lie". a. lohmeyer. baltimore, oct. , . [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, i: : . [ ] =ibid.=, i: : . this would seem conclusive proof, and also serve as a means of detecting any false error cards which might possibly be made from an uncut sheet as printed--but which have never been found. yet six months later we find the _monthly journal_ making inquiries along practically the same lines. this brought out the following reply in _the postal card_:-- by referring to our paper no. , issued on the th of may, , you will find there a copy of a letter received by us, from the secretary of the post office department at ottawa regarding this very card as follows: "i am directed to acknowledge your letter stating that you have in your possession a canadian reply post card, upon which the stamp appears in the upper left-hand corner, and inquiring whether this stamp was officially issued by the department, or whether the position of the stamps was due to a mistake in cutting the sheets. "in reply, i am to say that the position of the stamp on the card to which you refer (a certain number of specimens of which were inadvertently issued by this department) was due to a mistake in printing." we have never seen one of these cards which could have been produced by wrong cutting. if any error cards _have_ been made by such a manipulation, either by accident or design, we do not know it. however, the difference between a wrongly cut card and a genuine error is so apparent that it can be detected even without the use of a millimetre scale. the distance of the stamp from the end of the scroll on the error card is mm., while if produced by wrong cutting of a sheet of the correct issue (stamp at right), the distance will be mm. to prove this we take two of the latter cards (in the absence of an uncut sheet which we have never seen), place them end against end, measure the distance from the left end of the scroll on one card to the outer circle enclosing the figure " " on the other card, and the result will be as stated above. this fact and the letter from the canadian p. o. department, quoted above, removes all doubts as to the true character of this rarity, known as the "canada error card". we have several used specimens in our collection. the _monthly journal_[ ] later received a copy of the error card which was postmarked in september, , and which is the earliest date that has been recorded for it. [ ] =monthly journal=, iv: . direct evidence is given in a letter from h. f. ketcheson to _mekeel's weekly stamp news_; he writes as follows:[ ]-- regarding the canadian reply card (error with stamp on upper left hand corner) issued in (not ) would say that i purchased a quantity of them from various post-offices. i was at that time an employe of the canada post-office department and saw a number of these passing through the mails and writing to the offices at which they were posted found that they had received a supply from ottawa, and one office informed me at the same time that they had re-received instructions to forward all they had on hand to ottawa as they had been issued in error. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, vi: . the cards were identical in every respect with the regular ones, except for the peculiarity, and therefore call for no further description than has already been given them. [illustration] in the _philatelic monthly_ for march, , is noted a change in the stamp on the single post card, which otherwise remained as before. the new stamp has the foliations around the numerals and is identical with type of the wrapper stamps, already described, and which it preceded, in fact, by two or three months. as was to be expected, the reply card followed with the same change in the stamps, but no particular notice seems to have been taken of it in the contemporary magazines. the article in the _dominion philatelist_ records it as having appeared in in "black" and in in "dark green", but the only chronicles that seem to have noted it were the _philatelic world_ for january, , which says merely that "the stamp on the reply paid card has been slightly altered," and the _american journal of philately_ for february, , which says a new reply card in "gray on buff" has just been issued. the information is added that the inscription "postage" had been changed to "postcard", but inasmuch as this was a hoax which apparently started with _le timbre-poste_ in the fall of [ ] and went the rounds of the philatelic press, the value of the rest of the information is considerably lessened in consequence and we shall therefore take the dates as given in the _dominion philatelist_, which seem in the main to be correct. the wrapper stamp of , with wavy line inside the oval, illustrated by _le timbre-poste_ as appearing on the cards in may, , was never employed. it was probably confounded with the third type. [ ] =le timbre-poste=, xxv: . [illustration] the next change in the cards was likewise due to a new variety in the stamp, which once more lost its foliations and had only a quatrefoil ornament beneath the numerals, as described for type of the wrappers, which it again preceded by a couple of months. the new card was apparently first noted in the _canadian philatelist_[ ] as having been issued at london, ont., on the th december, . this of course may not have been its earliest date of issue but is doubtless not far from it. the normal color of the impression is a dull ultramarine, but the _dominion philatelist_ chronicled it in january, , in a "very light skim milk shade of blue", which may be listed as a very pale ultramarine. [ ] =canadian philatelist=, i: . the reply card in the new type is again an uncertainty. _le timbre-poste_ for june, , chronicled it in _blue_, which it never appeared in. _the philatelic monthly_ for july, , noted that the reply card had appeared in the latest type, but gave no color; probably the item was borrowed from the french journal without credit. meanwhile the _dominion philatelist_ for june, , merely mentions that "the reply cards of canada are now appearing on a glazed thin card; design same as before," which would indicate no change from the current type . in december, , however, the _philatelic journal of america_ reported that it had received from toronto "one of the new canadian reply cards. the message card bears a stamp the same type as that of the current cent postal card, but on the reply card the stamp is of the old type. perhaps this is an error as the former double card had the same die on both." it may have been an error but it troubled no one but the philatelist. the _monthly journal_ for st january, , also notes the receipt of a similar copy from mr. d. a. king. the account says:--"the specimen was found in a packet of reply-paid cards, the remainder of which had the stamp of the now obsolete type upon both halves." it would seem that the end of was therefore about the time of the "semi-appearance" of the stamp of type upon the reply cards; nor does it appear that the double card with stamp of type on both halves was issued _before_ the "half-breed" card, as the latter continued to be used for nearly two years, the card with type alone not being definitely chronicled until the issue of th november, , of the _monthly journal_. the next change recorded was the issue of a large sized card for business purposes, which took place, according to the _american journal of philately,_[ ] on the th february, , in company with the two high value postage stamps and the letter card. the new card was of the usual light buff stock and measured Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). the design was the same as for the ordinary card, the stamp being of the wrapper type but at a slightly greater distance from the end of the banderole-- mm. in the small card and mm. in the large card. the impression was in black. this new card was designated as no. , and the ordinary small card became known as no. . the small sized card, Ã� inches, soon followed the large one in the color of its impression, appearing in a very dark slate that was almost a black and being first chronicled in the _monthly journal_ for st july, . [ ] =american journal of philately=, nd series, vi: . in the postmaster general's report for we find the following:--"the introduction of the large size post card has not met with the success which was anticipated, and it has been found expedient in canada, as in the united states, where the experiment has also been tried, to return to the former practice, and for the future to have only one size which will be somewhat smaller than the large card and a little larger than that first issued." as the stamp accounts kept the number of large sized cards separate from the small sized, we are able to give the amount received from the manufacturer, which was , , . the number issued is given as , , , but nothing is said about the disposition of the remaining , . the new medium sized card, which took the place of both the large and the small sized cards, was apparently issued about february, , as it was chronicled in the _monthly journal_ for st march, . the new card measured - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) and the stock was of a lighter tone than before--almost a cream. the impression was in black and the distance between the banderole and the stamp was changed to mm. whether issued especially for advertising purposes or not, this new card appeared on a heavier stock of rough surface and straw color early in , being chronicled in _meheel's weekly stamp news_ for th april, , as on a "thin card board." in its issue for th may, , the _monthly journal_ chronicles the receipt of the reply card in black on a very smooth buff card. this indicates that the better grade of stock first used for the medium sized single card was being employed for the reply card, and that the latter was being printed in the dead black ink used for the medium card instead of the dark slate color previously employed. it may be of interest to note here that on the st january, , regulations went into force in canada providing for the admission to the mails of advertising cards with a cent stamp attached. this was very likely due to the failure of the department's large sized card which was intended to fill such a want. as a sort of "rider" upon the circular dealing with the special delivery service and stamps, issued by the department on th june, , there is a paragraph headed:-- private post cards. postmasters are informed that, as regards private post cards posted in canada addressed to places in canada, the words "private post card" may either be placed thereon or omitted according to the option of the sender. private post cards addressed to other countries must, however, in every case bear on the address side the words "private post card." it is understood, however, that only in the domestic mails were private cards allowed to pass at the usual post card rate. if addressed to a foreign country a private card, if in writing, would be taxed at letter rates. in the _weekly philatelic era_ for th november, , however, it is announced that the postmaster general had issued an order admitting private mailing cards into the foreign mails provided the size conformed to that of the official post cards. [illustration] the next official card that we have to consider is a new postal union card which made its appearance suddenly in the latter part of . this is one of the most striking cards that canada has produced, being beautifully engraved on steel and printed in a brilliant orange red. there is no frame, such as bordered the previous cent card, and the stamp in the upper right corner much resembles in size and design the large cent adhesive of the issue, except that the head of the queen is turned to the left. the inscriptions follow out, in a way, the general style of british colonial postal union cards, a small reproduction of the british arms with supporters occupying the center at the top. the arrangement will be seen from the illustration. the card is approximately - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) in size and printed on a very light buff stock. a variety in shade occurs, of some degree of rarity, printed in carmine. the card was first chronicled in the _american journal of philately_ for st november, , and was the last "new issue" put forth by the british american bank note co. before its long contract was closed. the card was noted in the postmaster general's report for as follows:--"during the year a universal postal union card, conforming more closely to the regulations of the union was introduced, thus superseding the old card." the new dimensions of the card, the removal of the frame, and the completing of the inscriptions in both english and french were among these requirements. the american bank note co., as we all know, began its work for the canadian government by the production of the jubilee issue. as will be seen by reference to the prospectus of this series already given,[ ] there was included a special post card of cent to the number of millions. these were delivered and all issued with the exception of on hand as shown by the stamp accounts in . they do not appear in the accounts, so it is not known what became of them. [ ] see page . [illustration] the cards were issued with the jubilee stamps on the th june, .[ ] they were the size of the ordinary cent cards and on the same quality of stock. the stamp is a reproduction of the cent adhesive of the jubilee issue, but engraved for typographic printing. "canada post card" is enclosed in a fancy frame at the left and the usual instructions are found beneath it. [ ] =ibid.= a curious variety of this card was noted in the _metropolitan philatelist_ for august, , as follows:--"we have seen the new jubilee card bearing the stamp only. this is an error caused by the design being in two pieces and in this case the inscription has dropped out." the regular post cards produced by the new contractors did not make their appearance until several months after the first adhesives of the new type were out. the two cent card was the first issued, having been reported by the canadian correspondent of the _weekly philatelic era_ under date of th december, , as just out. it was a copy of the cent card of in every respect except the stamp, which was naturally of the new maple leaf type, and the color was a deeper shade of orange red. the cent card does not appear to have been chronicled until the number for st february, , of the _american journal of philately_, so that it doubtless appeared early in january or possibly the latter part of december, , following closely the cent card. it was also of the usual size and same stock as before and, like the jubilee card, had a copy of the cent adhesive printed in the corner. this was of the maple leaf type, engraved for typographic printing and therefore of rather coarser appearance than its prototype. the inscriptions were simply canada post card in plain gothic letters, with the usual line of instructions beneath, all printed in black; while the stamp was printed in dark green. early in december, , the following news item appeared in the canadian daily press:-- postmaster-general mulock has formulated a scheme with respect to postal cards which he has been thinking over for some time and which he has now got so far into shape as to be ready for publication. it is to remove the restriction which has hitherto existed with respect to using the address side of the card for any purpose other than the address. it is intended to allow pictures, ads., etc., on the face of the card so long as there is room for the address. this will enable a business man to advertise his business and will no doubt be appreciated by both the advertiser and the public. it is intended the cards shall be printed in sheets instead of singly for the benefit of printers and lithographers. the following was the official announcement:-- notice to the public. regulations under which designs, illustrations, portraits, sketches, or other forms of advertisement may be engraved, lithographed, printed, etc., on the "address" side of the one-cent post-card. . a clear space of, at least, a quarter of an inch shall be left along each of the four sides of the postage stamp. . there shall be reserved for the address a clear space at the lower right hand corner on the "address" side of the card immediately below the words "the space below is reserved for address only," such space so reserved for the address being, at least, - / inches long by - / inches wide. n. b. it is in the interest of both the department and those availing themselves of the privilege hereby, granted that the spaces in question should be unconditionally reserved for the purposes intended. if any printing, engraving, or other matter appears on the spaces thus reserved, the post-cards cannot be permitted to pass through the mails. post-cards may be ordered in sheets of sixteen or less, as desired, or singly; orders therefor, specifying quantity of cards required and number to the sheet, to be given in writing to the nearest postmaster. post-office department, canada. ottawa, th december, . these "advertisement" cards were issued by the post office department singly, or printed in sheets of eight or sixteen. the single cards came in packages of like the ordinary cards; the eight card sheets were made up in packages of sheets, or cards all told; and the sixteen card sheets also in packages of sheets, or cards all told. the reason for this is seen in the requirement that orders for these cards should be for not less than . it is seen from the stamp accounts that the eight card sheets have proven the most popular, about six times as many sheets of this size as of the larger size having been issued in , while the number of cards represented was five times the number of single cards issued. the stock is the same as used for the ordinary cards and the size of the single card is the same, while the arrangement on the sheets and the regulations require that they be cut up into cards of the proper size. the stamp is impressed in the right hand upper corner and is the same as for the ordinary card but printed in carmine. the only other thing on the card as issued is the directions, printed in small black gothic capitals:--the space below is reserved for address only. this is placed about midway between the top and bottom of the card and about as far to the right as it will go. the last of the queen's head cards were chronicled in the _monthly journal_ for th july, . these were the reply card and the postal union card in a change of color. the reply card was of the usual size, Ã� inches, and had printed inscriptions in black like the single card, save that the word reply is placed between the two lines on the card for answer. the stamp is from the same die as the single card but printed in black instead of green. the stock is the usual pale buff. the same paper for st march, , notes an error of impression in this card, the reply portion being printed on the back of the message card, so that the second card has no impression at all upon it. the postal union card was identical with the one it superseded, except that it was printed in deep blue, and the card is of a cream tint rather than a buff. the cause of the sudden change in color is not known. the king's head cards soon followed the adhesives. _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ reported the cent in its issue for th september, . it needs no further description than to say it is a counterpart of the preceding queen's head card, the stamp as before being a copy of the adhesive engraved for typographic work. the impression is in green for the stamp and black for the inscriptions. the advertising card or "business post-card" was the next to appear, having been issued early in december, . again it is in every way similar to its predecessor save that the impression of the stamp is lighter--rather a pink than a carmine. finally, in its issue for th february, , _mekeel's weekly stamp news_ reports the issue of the reply card in its usual form and the postal union card, identical with the former save for the stamp, which is of course line engraved on this card. the issue of cards in comprised over millions of the cent, , of the reply cards and , of the postal union cards. chapter xxiv the letter cards [illustration: canada letter card] the postmaster general's report for contained the following announcement:--"letter cards, similar to those in use in great britain, austria, and other european countries, are being prepared, and will be issued to the public in a short time." only one value was issued, the cents, and it appeared in company with the and cent adhesives and large sized post card on the th february, . artistically it is a pretty poor production, the stamp being apparently a rough wood-cut imitation of the stock type used by messrs. de la rue & co. at that time for british colonial stamps. the profile of the queen is on a solid ground within an octagonal frame, and the labels at top and bottom contain the words postage and three cents respectively. at the left of the stamp, in two lines, is canada--letter card, the first being in gothic, the second in roman capitals. the entire impression is in carmine. the size of the card, opened out, is - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.), the longer dimension being reduced one half by folding of course. the perforation gauges and is in form a of senf's catalogue (both lines crossing at the corner intersections). the margin outside the perforations measures / inch ( mm.) and is gummed only around the third face of the folded card. the stock is of fair quality and of a light greenish-blue tint. the postmaster general's report for says that "so far the demand for these letter cards has not equalled the expectations of the department." on looking at the stamp accounts we find that from their date of issue to the th june, , , of the letter cards were distributed; but during the whole of the next fiscal year but , were issued and for the third year the amount had dropped to , . the postmaster general's plaint was therefore justified. it is perhaps best to record here a curious semi-official issue of what might be termed a "letter sheet" for the use of the canadian pacific railway. it was first noted in the _monthly journal_ for st january, , as "a sheet stamped with the current cent wrapper die, upon which is printed the monthly statement of receipts and expenditure for transmission to shareholders." perhaps for the reason that the wrapper stamp was impressed upon it, this variety has been listed under the newspaper wrappers, but such it is not. the circular was printed upon a stout gray-blue paper, and had the wrapper stamp of type impressed upon the back in black. above the stamp appears the inscription "printed matter only," while in the lower left corner of the address side of the folded sheet are two lines reading:-- canadian pacific ry. monthly statement of earnings and expenses. three guide lines are printed for the address, as upon the old post cards. the sheet must have been issued in subsequent to the appearance of the large post card with the stamp of type in black. it is stated to have been issued as an experiment and was in use but a short time. a second variety is known, however, on white laid paper, which was probably issued subsequently to the blue variety, but at what date is not known. both sheets are rare so the experiment evidently was not carried on for long. returning to the regular letter cards we find again in the postmaster general's report for that "arrangements have been made for the issue of letter cards of the denominations of , and c. for the use of banks in transmitting certain notices to their customers, as well as for ordinary letters within those postal limits to which their denominations respectively apply." the next year's report explains their use a little more fully:-- during the year the and cent letter cards were introduced--the former to serve the purpose of the "drop letter" (_i. e._, a letter posted at, and delivered from, the same office) in places where there is no free delivery by letter carrier; the latter to meet a similar object in cities where there is such a delivery. already this extension of postal facilities appears to be appreciated--more especially by banks, which largely use these cards in transmitting notices to their customers. the cent letter card is chronicled in the _monthly journal_ for st october, , and the cent in the same paper for the th november, . both were doubtless issued the early part of october. they conformed in all respects to the cent letter card issued two years and a half previously, except for the stamp. if the cent was wretched, the two new ones were hideous. they were not only more poorly engraved, which was needless, but the label at the bottom was enlarged by extending it at either side. the cent was printed in black and the cent in green--inscription and stamp in the same color in each case. in the _weekly philatelic era_ published the following:[ ]-- a correspondent in vermont sends mr. lohmeyer a c. letter card of the first issue, which he discovered in a canadian post office recently, it being the only copy there and damaged at that, the perforated margin on the right hand side being torn off. in the lower left corner the bottom perforation runs to the left side perforation only, instead of crossing it, as on all canadian letter cards previously seen. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xvii: . this is the style of perforation designated as c in senf's catalogue--in which the horizontal line does not project beyond the vertical lines at either side. we have seen a perfect copy of the above described cent letter card, which seems to be unlisted; but the cent card with this perforation, listed and priced in senf, we have not ourselves seen. it is possible that if two of these cards exist with perforation c, the third one--the cent--will some day come to light. the change in the stamp contractors in and the use of a new design naturally brought changes in the letter cards as well as the other postal requisites. the new cent letter card was chronicled in the _monthly journal_ for st january, , so it is safe to assume that it appeared in december, . the cent and cents are chronicled in the same paper for th february, , and must therefore have been issued as early as january, . the new letter cards were in all respects the counterparts of the previous ones save the stamp, which was now the same as that used for the new post cards and wrappers, viz., a copy of the "maple leaf" queen's head type engraved for typographic work. these three letter cards are known only with the perforation a. the reduction in domestic postage to the cent rate on the st january, , rendered the cent letter cards useless as well as the envelopes of like denomination. we have already recounted the story of the surcharged envelopes and the two types of the handstamp which were used in doing the work.[ ] suffice it to say, therefore, that we have but to add the letter cards to the same story to make it complete. both the cent letter cards of and were turned in for surcharging purposes, and the former not only received both types of the rubber hand-stamped surcharge in the usual blue-black or gray-black color, but is found also with the second and common type in a violet color.[ ] the surcharging was begun and the letter cards so treated were issued as early as february, . the perforation, so far as known, is always a. [ ] see page . [ ] =monthly journal=, ix: . in its issue for th january, , the _weekly philatelic era_ notes the receipt of the cent and cent letter cards of the maple leaf type in new colors, conforming with the requirements of the postal union, the one cent in green instead of black and the cent in carmine instead of green. in all other respects these letter cards conformed to their predecessors. they were doubtless issued early in january, . the letter cards had been used in considerable quantities each year, particularly after , when the cent and cent values were added to the previous cent; but in they were withdrawn without any particular reason having been given that we have been able to discover. the stamp accounts for the report of give the numbers issued in that fiscal year as , for the cent and , for the cent. the only item of information we have to quote concerning their demise is confined to the dates: the last issue of the cent letter card is recorded as the th april, , and of the cent letter card as the th june, . chapter xxv official stationery outside of the dead letter office seals the canadian government has issued no official adhesive stamps. an attempt, however, to foist a series of official stationery upon an unsuspecting philatelic public was made by one henry hechler, a stamp collector and dealer, who thought he saw his opportunity in the indian troubles which broke out in the canadian northwest in - . mr. hechler belonged to the militia and accompanied the troops that were sent to quell the disturbance. he took it upon himself to have a quantity of envelopes, post cards and wrappers surcharged official or service and evidently expected they would be accepted without question. the first news of these surcharges seems to have come, very strangely, from germany. the _philatelic record_ for december, ,[ ] says:-- _der philatelist_ chronicles, on the faith of a correspondent, herr von jerzabek, of temesvar, a set of the adhesives with queen's head ..., two envelopes, and the cent post card, all surcharged in black, with the word official. it is alleged that they were prepared and issued in , but after a short time were called in again. the surcharges are in some cases oblique, and in others perpendicular. it is at least strange that, considering our intercourse with canada, our first knowledge of the issue of official stamps so far back as should reach us from temesvar, wherever that may be. [ ] =philatelic record=, vi: . the secretary of the philatelic society, london, whose official journal the _philatelic record_ then was, wrote direct to the canadian government to inquire into the authenticity of these so-called official issues, and received the following reply:[ ]-- post office department, canada. ottawa, _ th may_, . sir:--i am directed by the postmaster-general to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the th ult., inquiring whether postage stamps bearing the word "_official_" on their face are in circulation in the dominion of canada, and beg, in reply, to say that no such stamp, card, newspaper wrapper, or envelope has _ever_ been issued by this department. i am, sir, your obedient servant, (_signed_) wm. white, _secretary_. [ ] =ibid.=, vii: . this would ordinarily seem to have been enough of a disclaimer, but like banquo's ghost the official stationery would not down, though the stamps seem to have been lost sight of. not only were the envelopes of cent and cents of the issue, but the newspaper wrappers of and , and the post card of , surcharged across the stamp with the word "official" or "service" in black, blue or red ink, but sometimes the arms of great britain were added at the left of the stamp, and also, in the lower left corner, the words " rd. rifles" or headquarters, } rd. rifles. } the lack of uniformity, or rather attempt at variety, was enough in itself to condemn the articles. yet in the _american philatelist_ for june, , we find an attempted defence of them. we quote:[ ]-- henry hechler writes us as follows: "when the indian outbreak in the northwest occurred in , and some of the militia of the various provinces were hurriedly ordered out for active service, stringent measures for notifying the men calling for prompt attention had to be adopted. to distinguish them from ordinary mail matter by showing their official character they were stamped across the "adhesive" with the word _service_ and at the lower left corner _o. [h.] m. s. only_. some were thus printed in black, others in blue, and yet others in red. they served for that purpose only, until an act of parliament was passed to carry all military mail matter on active service free." mr. hechler was captain of one of the companies of the halifax battalion, and, therefore, in a position to obtain definite information. [ ] =american philatelist=, ii: . in other words mr. hechler knew all about these "official" stamps and the postmaster-general and his secretary, as we have seen, knew absolutely nothing about them! this seems to tell its own story. in fact another letter from the post office department, dated th april, , and published in this same volume of the _american philatelist_,[ ] reiterates the denials of the previous letter which we have already quoted. the _philatelic record_ received later,[ ] from the postmaster of halifax, the information that mr. hechler had had this stationery surcharged and that it was neither issued nor recognized by the government of canada. the _record_ says:--"it was a smart notion of mr. hechler to turn his military duties into the direction of his business as a stamp dealer." mr. hechler "came back" at this in the columns of the _philatelic journal of america_[ ] with the statement that "the post office inspector here referred the question to headquarters, and, in reply, was instructed to allow such matter to pass through the mails without question or delay." the communication was enclosed in one of the envelopes in question, but the editor's remarks on this are conclusive:-- the surcharging has not impaired the postal value of the envelope and they are permitted to pass through the canadian mails, but as to their value from a philatelic standpoint it is quite another thing. the printing in this case is of no more importance than any notice or inscription that might be placed on an envelope bearing a regular government stamp that in itself is sufficient to pay the postage. in fact the above writer admits that the surcharge had no other value than to enable the recipient to distinguish the letter from his other mail. they are of no philatelic value whatever. [ ] =ibid.=, ii: . [ ] =philatelic record=, xi: . [ ] =philatelic journal of america=, v: . it was a private speculation, pure and simple, in spite of any claims of "recognition", and of the fact that copies passed the post. the only other quotation to make in the case is from shakespeare--_exeunt_. we now come to an actual official issue in the shape of a newspaper wrapper. it seems to have been first noted in _le timbre-poste_ for february, , but is stated to have been issued in . the stamp is of the issue (type ) and at its left is printed in blue the following:-- [illustration: inland revenue, canada. weights & measures service. _official circular._ _to_ this band is to be used =on her majesty's service= only and must have no writing thereon but the name and address. ] above the english inscription is its counterpart in french. the wrapper itself is of a cream tone and measures Ã� mm. the history of this wrapper does not seem to be known, save that it is accredited to be what it purports to be. it is quite rare, and as far as we have been able to find out is not known used. no mention is made of it in the department reports, but it happens that the stamp accounts for , the year of its supposed issue, give only , wrappers as received from the manufacturers. none had been received the two years previously, as there were plenty on hand, and , were received the next year. it would thus appear, on the face of it, that this small lot of , was quite probably the order of the inland revenue wrappers. if so, it was probably the only lot ever received and though they may have been used, the chances seem somewhat against any such number having actually been issued. one other official issue comes in the form of a customs' post card notice. it was first chronicled in the _american philatelist_ for th may, , as having been issued in connection with the parcel post system just then inaugurated with the united states. postmasters received instructions to forward these cards free through the mails, although there was no stamp or notice on the address side. it is of manila card, Ã� mm., blank on one side and having printed on the other:-- customs postal package office. ........................... _there has arrived at this office by mail from the united states, addressed to you as over, the following dutiable package, which will be delivered or forwarded to you on the receipt of the duty payable and the return of this card._ ============================================================== no. of | no. of | description. | duty manifest. | package. | | payable. ----------+-------------+---------------------+-------+------- | | | $ | cts. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------- e. . ................_collector_. in its september, , number the _halifax philatelist_ notes that the blank address side has been supplied with three dotted lines for the address, and inscriptions reading, in the upper left corner, "_advice note_", and in the upper right corner, "_free, by order of the post master general_." one further official variety is somewhat unusual. the _american philatelist_ for september, ,[ ] says:-- "we are indebted to donald a. king ... for information concerning what is certainly a novelty in the postal line, namely, an unpaid letter stamped envelope. when a letter is returned from the dead-letter office the sender is required to pay the regular postage and these envelopes have been prepared of various values. the only one we have seen is the cent value. it is about Ã� mm., and is made of manila paper. in the place for the stamp is a figure about mm. high. in the left hand upper corner returned dead letter; in the lower corner-- post office department, canada, dead letter office. on the reverse, _the enclosed dead letter is returned by order of the postmaster-general for the reasons thereon assigned_. the following values are said to exist: cents, black on manila. " " " ? " " " ? " " " ? " " " ? we have no further information concerning them. [ ] =american philatelist=, iii: . chapter xxvi precancellations and permits as a matter of record and without any attempt at lists of varieties, which would prove futile, we deem it interesting and important to give such information as is at hand concerning the precancellation of stamps for use on large quantities of identical mail matter, and of the more recent substitute for the precancelled stamp which is known as the "permit". both ideas were of course borrowed from the united states, which was the originator of this form of labor saving expedient. the _london philatelist_ for april, , quoted a letter from mr. l. gibb of montreal which enclosed "a specimen used on the letter, but with the obliteration on the stamp only, and also portions of sheets gummed and unsevered, but neatly postmarked with horizontal wavy lines." mr. gibb wrote:[ ]-- sometime back i received the enclosed stamp paying the postage on an open envelope containing a circular from toronto; it has not been moved from its original place, and one could see it had not been obliterated on the envelope. after some little trouble i found the p. o. would, upon receiving whole sheets of stamps, cancel them, and then hand them back to any known firm to be placed on letters in quantity, these letters are then taken to a private part of the office in bulk, and are allowed to pass through the post without further marking. [ ] =london philatelist=. i: . the system in the united states made use of a cancellation giving the town and state name, printed on the sheets by a press; but the canadian precancellation was of simpler form, being of two fairly heavy horizontal lines with a wavy line between. no name occurs in the cancellation and it was applied with a roller, thus making a universal style which is more convenient in application than the type set form, varying for every post office. further information in regard to this cancellation is found in _mekeel's weekly stamp news_[ ] where we read:--"the canadian one-cent stamp cancelled on circulars is obliterated by a revolving self-inking canceler and is issued for use on the th class matter, i. e. parcels, etc., to post offices with an annual revenue of $ and over." [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xiii: . in precancelled stamps began to appear with the town name and that of the province, separated by two horizontal bars. in answer to an inquiry concerning them the department replied as follows:[ ]-- the main conditions governing the case are the quantities required for a given mailing and the limitation of the use of precancelled stamps to the particular kind or class of mail matter for which they have been issued. the minimum quantity in each such case is , pieces.... as requisitions for precancelled stamps necessarily take longer to fill than the ordinary, postmasters are expected to send requisitions for them to the department a few days in advance of actual needs. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xviii: . it is evident that the latter form of printed precancellation was the only one intended to be employed by the department, and that the earlier form of impression from the roller canceller was unauthorized, for the following circular was issued to make matters plain for postmasters:[ ]-- post office department, canada. ottawa, th september, . pre-cancellation of postage stamps. the use of pre-cancelled stamps (or stamps cancelled before actually used for payment of postage) is permitted in some of the larger cities under very stringent regulations and only when required for any one mailing in quantities of not less than , stamps, but postage stamps cancelled with the small roller canceller have been observed on letters and other matter passing in the mails, and postmasters are accordingly instructed that under no circumstances are they permitted to precancel postage stamps. the roller canceller is reserved for the cancellation of postage stamps on second, third and fourth class matter and must be used only on stamps after being actually affixed to such matter. any postmaster found to be precancelling stamps in any way or selling stamps pre-cancelled without authority will be held responsible for the full value of such cancelled stamps. it is proper to explain that the authorized pre-cancelled stamps are struck with a special die bearing the name of the mailing office and are sold only to the largest mailing concerns under conditions which it is considered preclude any danger of such stamps being used a second time for postage. such conditions would not attend the use of stamps pre-cancelled with the ordinary roller stamp, and in consequence the use of the roller stamps for such a purpose is strictly forbidden, under the penalty above mentioned. requisitions for pre-cancelled stamps must be made direct to the department (stamp branch). no request for pre-cancelled stamps can be considered where the number of pieces to be prepaid thereby is less than , . r. m. coulter, deputy postmaster general. [ ] =ibid.=, xviii: . not long afterward the bars were lowered somewhat on the size of the mailing required for the use of precancelled stamps, as the following circular shows:[ ]-- post office department, canada. ottawa, th october, . precancelled stamps. (amending departmental circulars of th march and th september.) it is desired that the use of precancelled stamps should be attended with every possible degree of precaution and security and for that purpose only requisitions for precancelled stamps to cover mailings of _ , pieces at a time_ have been allowed. it is considered, however, in the light of experience, that this limit is somewhat high, and in future, therefore, postmasters will be allowed to make requisition for precancelled stamps for mailings of _ , pieces at a time_. r. m. coulter, deputy postmaster general. [ ] =mekeel's weekly stamp news=, xviii: . the style of cancellation which is employed by the department at ottawa, where all the pre-cancelling is evidently done, is a three line one--the town name above and the province name below, separated by two parallel lines. it is applied in black ink. evidently considerable mail is sent out under this method for the precancelled stamps are fairly common. one other variety comes from montreal with "for-third-class-matter-only", (a line for a word) beneath montreal and separated from it by two thin parallel lines. the issuing of "permits" was an outgrowth of the precancelled stamp system, it being in effect a _stamped cover_ fulfilling the same purpose as a cover with a precancelled adhesive affixed to it. the idea was again borrowed from the united states. the circular issued to postmasters will fully explain the methods adopted under this new plan:[ ]-- post office department, canada. ottawa, nd february, . prepayment of third-class (printed) matter in cash. the postmaster general in order to facilitate the posting of printed matter mailed in considerable quantities addressed for delivery at post-offices within the dominion of canada, has decided that prepayment of postage on same may be effected in cash (instead of postage stamps) in conformity with the following regulations. . each lot of mail matter which is posted under this arrangement must be accompanied by a permit, which has been obtained from the postmaster of the office at which it is posted. the application must be made in writing on one of the forms provided for the purpose, in which shall be stated approximately the number of pieces it is intended to mail, and the postage on each piece at the rate of one cent per two ounces or fraction thereof. . the articles posted must be of an uniform weight, and must be put up in such a way as to admit of their being readily counted. the weight and number must be verified beyond doubt. circulars to be put up in packages of , or , with addressed sides faced all one way. catalogues must be tied up in neat bundles. . each article must have printed upon its wrapper or cover an impression of an official stamp, a fac-simile of which is here given, which shall be furnished by the postmaster of the office of posting, mentioning the name of the office at which posted, and stating that the postage was prepaid in cash. [illustration: postage paid in cash at ottawa, canada authorized under permit no. anybody using this stamp without authority will render himself liable to prosecution ] . the lowest amount which may be received in payment for matter mailed under these regulations is $ . . . under these regulations payment may be made only by marked cheque drawn in favour of the postmaster of the office of posting for deposit to the credit of the receiver general. the cheque must accompany the mail matter at the time it is posted. the cheque is to be drawn as follows: "pay to the postmaster of ... for deposit to credit of receiver general." r. m. coulter. deputy postmaster general. [ ] =weekly philatelic era=, xviii: . electrotypes of the "stamp" shown were furnished to all offices where there was a large output of the class of matter described, and the permit number was printed in with the impression when the order under which it was issued was being struck off. the "stamp" is usually printed in black, but has been seen in dark blue. in the stamp account for the year ending th june, , no returns were given for mailings under these "permits", but in we find that "postage paid in cash on d class (printed) matter" is given as $ , . , while in it had risen to $ , . --a quite respectable amount for the use of the "permits". reference list province of canada st. series. engraved and printed by messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch & edson, new york. unperforated. . =thin grayish laid paper.= april . pence, deep red, red, vermilion. _double strike_, deep red, red, vermilion. may (?) pence, black violet, deep brown violet, slate. _diagonal half_ used as d. june . pence, black. =stout white laid paper.= pence, red. pence, dull purple. - . =grayish wove paper, thin to stout.= pence, deep red, red, vermilion. _double strike_, deep red, red, vermilion. pence, black brown, brownish black, greenish black, slate, slate violet, deep violet. pence, black. =soft white wove paper.= pence, deep red, red. _double strike_, deep red, red. =stout hard white wove paper.= pence, deep red, red, vermilion. pence, deep violet, slate violet, brown violet. =very thick hard paper.= pence, slate violet. =very thick soft paper.= pence, dull purple. _diagonal half_ used as d. =thin soft ribbed paper.= pence, red. _double strike_, red. =stout hard ribbed paper.= pence, red. _double strike_, red. pence, black violet. , jan. =thin wove paper.= pence, deep blue, prussian blue. _wide impression._ _narrow impression._ _double strike._ =stout hard wove paper.= pence, deep blue, prussian blue. _wide impression._ , june (?) =thin wove paper.= - / pence, dark yellow green. _wide impression._ _narrow impression._ =stout hard wove paper.= - / pence, dark yellow green. _wide impression_. , aug. . =thin wove paper.= / penny, deep rose. =stout hard wove paper.= / penny, deep rose. =thin soft ribbed paper.= / penny, deep rose. _horizontal ribbing._ _vertical ribbing._ same as before, but perforated by the american bank note co. (?) , jan. (?) =stout wove paper.= / penny, deep rose. pence, red. _double strike._ _percé en scie _, (unofficial). _perforated _, (unofficial). pence, black violet, slate violet, deep brown violet, black brown. =thin ribbed paper= / penny, deep rose (?) pence, red. _double strike._ nd. series. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., new york. perforated . wove paper. , july . cent, dull red, rose red, rose carmine. _imperforate_, rose red. _thick hard paper_, rose red. _ribbed paper_, dull red. cents, bright red, brick red, deep red. _double strike_, bright red, red, deep red. _worn plate_, red. _imperforate_, red. _worn plate imperforate_, red. _ribbed paper_, red, deep red. _diagonal half_ used as - / c., red. cents, bright red violet, dull red violet, deep red violet, deep violet, slate violet, brown violet, yellowish brown, brown, dark brown, black brown, gray brown. _imperforate_, red violet, violet. _ribbed paper_, deep red violet, brown violet, brown (light to dark). _diagonal half_ used as c., red violet, black brown. - / cents, light yellow green, deep yellow green, green, blue green. _imperforate_, blue green. _ribbed paper_, light yellow green. cents, deep blue, prussian blue. _imperforate_, prussian blue. _ribbed paper_, prussian blue. , aug. . cents, rose red, dull red. _imperforate_, rose red, dull red. _ribbed paper_, rose red. dominion of canada rd. series. large stamps. engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., montreal & ottawa. perforated , wove paper. , april . / cent, gray black, black. _horizontal pair, imperforate between._ _very thin paper._ cent, brown red, deep brown red. _watermarked_, brown red. _laid paper_, brown red, deep brown red. _very thin paper_, deep brown red. cents, pale yellow green, pale green, green, deep yellow green, deep blue green. _watermarked_, green. _very thin paper_, deep yellow green. cents, vermilion, bright red, deep red, brown red. _watermarked_, brown red, red. _laid paper_, vermilion, bright red. _very thin paper_, deep red. _very thick paper_, brown red. cents, pale brown, brown, deep brown, gray brown, pale yellow brown, deep yellow brown. _watermarked_, deep brown. _very thin paper_, deep brown. _diagonal half_ used for c., deep brown. - / cents, dull blue, deep blue, pale blue. _watermarked_, deep blue. _very thin paper_, dull blue. cents, mauve, deep mauve, lilac gray, gray violet, deep gray violet, blue gray, slate blue, greenish blue. _watermarked_, lilac gray, gray violet. _thin laid paper_, mauve. _ribbed paper_, lilac gray. _very thick paper_, mauve, slate blue, purple. _imperforate_, brown violet. , jan. cent, yellow, pale orange, orange yellow, orange. _imperforate_, yellow. , oct. . cents, light olive gray, dark olive gray. th series. small stamps. engraved and printed by the british american bank note company, montreal & ottawa. perforated . thin to thick wove paper. , jan. (?) cents, dull rose red, deep rose red, rose carmine ( ), brown red, red, bright red, vermilion, orange red. _imperforate_, dull red, vermilion. _ribbed paper_, red. , mar. (?) cent, orange, orange yellow, deep yellow, bright yellow, pale yellow, olive yellow. _imperforate_, bright yellow. _ribbed paper_, yellow. _vertical half_, used for / c. , jan. (?) cents, pale yellow brown, brown, dark yellow brown; ( ) pale chestnut, deep chestnut. _imperforate_, deep chestnut. _ribbed paper_, deep chestnut. _vertical half_, used for c. , feb. (?) cents, pale green, green, deep green; ( ) blue green, deep blue green. _imperforate_, green. _ribbed paper_, green. _vertical half_, used for c. . nov. . (?) cents, pale lilac, lilac, mauve, red violet, violet; ( ) dull rose red, dull rose, salmon red, brown red, indian red. _imperforate_, brown red, indian red. _ribbed paper_, dull rose red, dull rose. , feb. . (?) cents, pale olive gray, olive gray, dark olive gray; ( ) gray, brownish gray, brownish black. _imperforate_, brownish gray. _ribbed paper_, brownish black. , july. / cent, gray black, black. _imperforate._ _horizontal pair, imperforate between._ _vertical pair, imperforate between._ _ribbed paper._ th series. engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , feb. . cents, bright red, vermilion. _imperforate_, vermilion. cents, deep blue. _imperforate_, black blue. , aug. . cents, bluish gray, bluish slate, slate violet, dark slate, black violet, gray black. _imperforate_, bluish gray. th series. jubilee issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , june . / cent, gray black, black. " yellow orange, orange, deep orange. _vertical half_, used for / c. cents, green, deep green. " carmine. " deep blue. " deep brown, deep yellow brown. " slate violet. " brown lilac. " bluish slate. " vermilion, bright scarlet. " ultramarine. dollar, carmine lake. dollars deep violet. " orange brown. " violet. " olive green. th series. "maple leaf" issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note company, ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , nov. . / cent, gray black, black. dec. . (?) cents, deep brown. dec. cent, dark blue green. cents, red violet, violet, deep violet. cents, dark blue on _bluish_ (_pale_ and _strong_). _imperforate_, dark blue on _pale bluish_. cents, yellow orange, deep orange. , jan. " deep carmine. " brown lilac. th series. "numerals" issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , june. cent, blue green, deep blue green. _toned paper_, deep green. cents, carmine, deep carmine. sept. / cent, gray black, black. cents, purple, pale violet, violet, deep violet. " deep yellow brown, dark brown. oct. " yellow orange, orange, deep orange. nov. " brown violet, deep brown violet. , july, . " dark blue on _bluish (pale_ and _strong)._ aug. . " rose carmine, carmine. , dec. . " olive green. , dec. . " olive yellow. th series. imperial penny postage issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , dec. {black, red and lavender. { " " " bluish. cents, { " " " greenish blue. { " " " green. _imperforate._ {black, red and bluish. cents, { " " " greenish blue. { " " " green. _unofficial provisional._ used at port hood only. , jan. . cent, greenish surcharge on vertical third of c. . cents, purple surcharge on vertical two-thirds of c. . (these two occur as both "lefts" and "rights") th series. provisionals. surcharge typographed in black. , july . cents on cents, , _carmine_. _inverted surcharge_, carmine. aug. . cents on cents, , carmine. _inverted surcharge_, carmine. th series. king's head issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. (portrait engraved by perkins, bacon & co., london). perforated . wove paper. , july . cent, blue green, deep blue green. _toned paper_, deep yellow green. cents, rose carmine, carmine. _imperforate_, rose carmine. cents deep blue on _bluish_ (_pale_ and _strong_). indigo on _bluish_ (_pale_ and _strong_). cents, deep olive yellow. cents, brown lilac, brown violet, deep brown violet. , sept. . cents, deep olive green. , nov. . cents, violet. th series. quebec tercentenary issue. engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. , july . / cent, black brown, brown. " deep blue green. cents, carmine. " deep blue. " olive green. " deep violet. " red orange. " deep brown. =stamp books.= manufactured by american bank note co., ottawa. - cent stamps. , june . cents, issue of . , (?) " " " . =registration stamps=. , nov. . engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., montreal and ottawa. perforated . thin to thick wove paper. cents, orange, orange red, vermilion; ( ) brick red. _imperforate_, orange. cents, yellow green, green, dark green; ( ) deep blue green. _imperforate_, dark green. cents, bright blue, dull blue. =postage due stamps=. , july . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. cent, deep violet. cents, deep violet. " deep violet, red violet. =special delivery stamp=. , july . engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. cents, deep green, deep blue green. _toned paper_, deep green. =officially sealed labels=. engraved and printed by the british american bank note co., montreal. perforated . wove paper. (?) (_no value_), dark brown. _imperforate_ (?) engraved and printed by the american bank note co., ottawa. perforated . wove paper. (?) (_no value_), black on _light green._ (?) (_no value_), black. =stamped envelopes.= province of canada. ca laid paper, watermarked pod size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) , feb. .(?) _cream toned paper_, flap rounded. cents, bright red. cents, black brown. _error_(?) cents, bright red. (?) _very white paper_, flap more pointed. cents, bright red. =unofficial reprints, .= _on pieces of white wove or vertically laid buff paper._ _ cents, bright red._ _ cents, dark red brown_. _on diagonally laid white or buff envelopes, watermarked_ pod us _size - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm)._ _ cents, bright red._ _ cents, dark red brown_. * * * * * dominion of canada. sizes: a-- - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) b-- Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) c-- - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) d-- - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) e-- Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.) laid paper, cross vergures mm. apart. pointed flap. , oct. . white paper. size a: cent, pale blue, deep blue. cents, red, rose. size b: cents, " " same paper, tongued flap. size a: cent, blue. cents, red. laid paper, cross vergures mm. apart. pointed flap. (?) cream toned paper. size a: cent, blue, deep blue. cents, red, carmine. size b: cents, " " same paper, cross vergures mm. apart. size a: cent, deep blue. white wove paper. (?) size b: cents, carmine. laid paper, cream toned. , june . size b: cents, blue green. (?) size a: cent, ultramarine. manila amber paper. (?) size c: cent, ultramarine. cents, red. wove paper, cream toned. , apr. (?) size d: cents, bright red. , july . size d: cent, dark green. , jan. . size d: cents, deep violet. , jan. (?) size d: cents, bright red, vermilion. , feb. . (?) surcharged c in blue-black. type . size d: c. on cents, red, of . type . size a: c. on cents, red, of ; white paper, pointed flap. c. on " " " (?) cream toned paper. size b: c. on " " " " " " " size d: c. on " " " . (?) size d: cent, dark green. cents, bright red. very white wove paper. , jan. . size e: cents, bright red. mar. (?) size e: cent, deep blue green. =wrappers.= type . size - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). , may cent, dark blue, _light buff paper_. " _variety_, stamp at left. [size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.)] size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , nov. (?) cent, dark blue, blue, _cream paper_. type . size as last. , may (?) cent, pale blue, _light buff paper_. aug.(?) " blue, _straw paper_. , " ultramarine, _cream paper_. type . size as last. , may (?) cent, ultramarine, _thin white paper_. , " " _cream paper_. " " _light manila paper_. type . size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , feb. (?) cent, dark blue, _thin straw paper_. " _variety_, stamp half way across wrapper. " blue, _cream paper_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). cent, dark blue, _straw paper_. , feb. (?) " black, _light buff paper_. " " _light brown paper_. , june (?) " dark green, _manila paper_. , oct. (?) " " " " " size Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). inscription. , july . cent, dark green, _manila paper_. " carmine, _manila paper_. size Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). inscription. cents, slate violet, _manila paper_. , june (?) last two wrappers, surcharged. c. on cents, carmine. c. " " slate violet. =post cards.= size - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). imprint "montreal & ottawa." . june cent, dull blue, deep blue, _light buff and pale buff card_. size - / Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). imprint "montreal" only. . (end) cent, dull blue, deep blue, _pale buff card_. inscribed "to united kingdom." . jan. . cents, deep yellow green, _pale buff card_. inscribed "union postale universelle." , cents, yellow green, _pale yellowish card_. size Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). no frame. type of wrapper stamp. , apr. (?) cent, light blue, _pale buff card_. dec. (?) plus cent, slate, _pale buff card_. _error_, stamps at left. , sept. (?) plus cent, slate, _pale buff card_. type of wrapper stamp. , feb. (?) cent, dull blue, _pale buff card_. (?) plus cent, slate, _pale buff card_. , (?) plus " slate green, _pale buff card_. type of wrapper stamp. , dec. (?) cent, dull ultramarine, pale ultramarine, _pale buff card_. , dec. (?) plus cent, slate green, (type on reply card), _pale buff card_. , oct. (?) plus " gray black, (type on each card), _pale buff card_. size Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , feb. . cent, black, _pale buff card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , feb. (?) cent, black, _pale yellowish card_. , apr. (?) " " _rough straw card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , oct. (?) cents, orange red, carmine, _pale buff card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , june . cent, black, _pale buff card_. " _variety_, inscriptions lacking. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , dec. (?) cents, deep orange red, _pale buff card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , jan. (?) cent, green, dark green, _pale buff card_. " carmine, _pale buff card_. size Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). , june (?) plus cent, black, _pale buff card_. " " _variety_, reply printed on back of message card. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , june (?) cents, deep blue, _cream card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , aug. (?) cent, green, _pale buff card_. dec. (?) " rose, " " " size Ã� inches ( Ã� mm.). , feb. (?) plus cent, black, _pale buff card_. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). , feb. (?) cents, deep blue, _pale buff card_. =letter cards.= . feb. . cents, carmine, _blue-green card_. perf. a. and c. , oct. (?) " black, " " " perf. a and c. " green, " " " perf. a. , dec. (?) " " " " " perf. a. , jan. (?) " black, " " " perf. a. " carmine, " " " perf. a. surcharged " c." in blue-black. , feb. (?) cents on c. card of , type . " " c. " " " " . " " c. " " , " . surcharged in violet. cents on c. card of , type . , jan. (?) cent, green, _blue-green card_. perf. a. " carmine, " " " perf. a. =letter sheet.= (?) cent, black, _gray blue laid paper_. " " _white laid paper_. =official stationery.= inland revenue wrapper, size Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). (?) cent, dark blue, _cream paper_. customs post card, size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). (?) [plain front], _manila card_. [inscriptions on front], _manila card._ returned dead letter envelopes. size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.). (?) cents, black, _manila paper_. ? ? ? [illustration: plate i] [illustration: plate ii] [illustration: plate iii] [illustration: plate iv] [illustration: plate v] [illustration: plate vi] [illustration: plate vii] [illustration: plate viii] [illustration: plate ix] [illustration: plate x] [illustration: plate xi] [illustration: plate xii] [illustration: plate xiii] [illustration: plate xiv] * * * * * transcriber's note: page : changed "or" to "of" ( ... from the sender of such letter or packet ...) page : missing or unreadable value in the original ( ... the rate on letters by those mails, viâ halifax, of s. [missing value] sterling, if _un-paid_, ...) page : changed "setttled" to "settled" ( ... newly settled portions of the country ...) page : changed "fradulent" to "fraudulent" (to remove with fraudulent intent from any letter, newspaper or other mailable matter ...) page : changed "(c)" to "(d)" ((d) limits of weight to austria-hungary, ...) page : changed "beseiged" to "besieged" ( ... literally besieged the post offices for the coveted treasures.) page : changed "neceessary" to "necessary" ( ... it would be necessary for you to apply early ...) page : duplicate word "in" deleted (the principal variation is only one of tone in a few values.) page : changed "monoply" to "monopoly" ( ... an accidental monopoly of a stamp, ...) page : changed "promotory" to "promontory" ( ... he disembarked on the d july at the foot of the promontory of stadaconé, ...) page : changed "qneen" (with inverted "u") to "queen" (the embossed head of queen victoria was evidently copied ...) page : changed "suppy" to "supply" ( ... when the supply thereof in the department became exhausted, ...) page : changed "uncertainity" to "uncertainty" (the reply card in the new type is again an uncertainty.) page : corrected " Ã� " to " Ã� " (size - / Ã� - / inches ( Ã� mm.).) produced from images generously made available by the internet archive.) our railroads to-morrow our railroads to-morrow by edward hungerford new york the century co. copyright, , by the century co. copyright, , , , by curtis publishing co. printed in u. s. a. contents chapter page i in introduction ii the united states railroad administration iii the united states railroad administration (continued) iv the return of private operation v the present-day situation vi the man factor of the problem vii solving the railroads' human problem viii the possibilities of electrification ix more about electric motive-power x a case for the steam locomotive xi the gasoline-motor unit and its possibilities xii speeding up the freight terminals xiii the twilight of competition xiv the regional railroad overseas xv the regional railroad at home xvi the united states railroad our railroads to-morrow chapter i in introduction do you chance to recall the story of frankenstein, of the man-made monster, who, having been created, arose to slay the man who had created him? the railroad to-day is in much the position of the man who created the frankenstein. having in no small sense created the modern world, having riveted its very sinews of commerce together, it now stands in apparent danger of collapse. the world over, it is at least in peril of bankruptcy. everywhere it is in trouble. one of the greatest if not indeed the greatest of factors in our social and commercial structure to-day is flying the signals of distress. its perplexities are upon all tongues. their solution seemingly has become the problem of all men. the railroad is almost the single great unsolved economic problem of the entire world to-day. the sweep of a great war, the débris of men and of human understanding that followed in its wake, the new and independent position of labor everywhere, the vast increases in fuel and in raw material costs--all have contributed to the serious embarrassment of our railroads. but never to their breakdown. please remember this. it is a common phrase these days to allude to "the breakdown of the railroads." but it is an incorrect phrase, decidedly incorrect. even in russia, where transport conditions to-day are the worst anywhere in the world, there has not been a complete railroad breakdown. the russian railroads after nearly a decade of overburden are to-day functioning--after a miserable fashion, to be sure, but functioning none the less. for, truth to tell, a necessary railroad structure may never break down completely. it may descend into the valley of deep woes, it may crawl on its stomach in the despair of seemingly hopeless disease, but it may never quite die. that is out of the possibilities of the thing. dying, a railroad dying? it must never die. a factory, a merchandising establishment, even a whole town may struggle along fitfully for a number of years and then decide to quit, leaving but a forlorn group of ruins as a memento of vanished enterprise. but a necessary railroad may never quit. when a rail highway of any real importance ceases to operate, civilization itself, begins to crumble. for a railroad is a not alone life but also a life-giver. upon it depends virtually all the life of the community it serves, not merely commercial life but political and social as well. which means that the mere suggestion that the railroad structure should cease to function is unthinkable. and here thrusts to the front the vexing problem of how not only to enable it merely to live but to enable it to live in the fullest strength, to grow apace withal, to more than keep pace with the growth of the community that it is designed to serve. * * * * * for nearly a hundred years now we have been upbuilding the railroad structure of the world. america pioneered in its creation. our fathers and our fathers' fathers cannot now remember the day when the call of the iron horse was not heard across the land. the railroad train has become part and parcel of our lives. and even though in these days with our motor cars at the curb we may have come to scorn the railroad train for our own short travels, we know full well that it brings the milk to our doorstep, the coal to our bins, the provender to our larders. it helps weave the fabric upon our backs, build the shoes upon our feet, form the hats upon our heads. at every corner, every turn, we are dependent upon the railroad. therefore there is not a man or a woman in the entire united states to whom its present plight should not be of the keenest interest and importance. * * * * * we were promised a complete solution of our transport troubles with the hurried passage two years ago of the esch-cummins bill, now known officially as the transportation act. have we reached that solution, or anything like unto a solution? you do not have to ask the average man twice for an answer to that question. he knows. if he is a business man he knows doubly well. he knows that for the last ten years our american railroad system has been in something of a decline. a decade ago it was at the zenith of its efficiency. for eighty years it had been climbing upward; for the last ten it has been slipping backward. oh, yes, i do know its war record. it _was_ a fine record and one of which every american should be duly proud. there is hardly a physician, however, who has not seen a patient, terribly sick, under the stress of great emergency rise magnificently to a definite situation of supreme importance. so four years ago rose our sick man of american business. and now he has gone to bed more ill than ever before while many doctors quarrel about his case. and still he functions. the sick-abed man of our american business still renders the all-necessary service that none but him really can render. fortunately perhaps american business itself at this moment is not in the very best of health. one shudders to think what would happen if industry all the way across the land were again in its top notches of production. it is not the least of the perplexing phases of this all-perplexing railroad problem of ours--the question, when traffic shall again rise (as it certainly will) to normal volume, to say nothing of any abnormal volume, of how our weakened railroad structure will meet it. that it recently withstood severe tests is of course no indication that it could again withstand such strains. all the way across the land our railroad functioned in the recent ordeals through which it has passed--which of course is not saying that it could do this again. it quite naturally worked at its best in the western sections of the land, where there are both less congestion and comparatively larger rail transport facilities. yet as one came east he found the american railroad still meeting its responsibilities bravely and with a real degree of efficiency. one crossed the missouri, the mississippi, the maumee, and still found the railroad functioning--the stout, pliable rod of its energy bending but never breaking. he came further east still, crossed the susquehanna and then the delaware, and still the rail carrier functioned. he came to the hudson and found the battered and overburdened railroad machine still meeting its obligations, after a fashion at least. our railroad machine did not break even in new england, where conditions are and for a long time past have been almost at their worst; where for nearly two decades a high-grade community has been forced to pay penalty, and pay generously, for a grave accumulation of railroad errors. it was in new england that american railroading really began, with the construction in of a crude wooden railed line at quincy, massachusetts, whose horse-drawn cars brought granite from the quarries down to the water's edge, whence it might go by sloop to charlestown, where the tall shaft of the bunker hill monument was beginning to arise. it was in new england too that the first real railroad enterprise and development were shown; by the middle of the forties a group of energetic and profitable small companies rapidly expanded and offered genuine transport to six of the busiest and most rapidly growing states of the union. it is in that same new england that when one comes to-day he finds the picture of our national railroad machine almost at its very darkest--the stations dirty, unpainted, neglected; the passenger-cars and the locomotives in similar or even worse condition; the morale of the rank and file of railroad labor low in many different ways. remember that it is not like this everywhere else within the land. it is particularly different out in the west. take california; out there the stations almost invariably are clean and brightly painted, the broad lawns that surround them are in the pink of perfection, while the trains that enter and leave the stations are in full keeping with them. engines, and the passenger-cars behind, are alike clean, fresh-painted, efficient in every detail of their appearance. paint certainly does wonders. the cherry-red electric trains of the southern pacific never seemed brighter or more immaculate. i rode a little more than a year ago on a huge steam locomotive of the el paso and southwestern railroad. the brightness of her appearance, the efficiency of her performance, seemed to belie the fact that it was eleven years since she had left the big shop in philadelphia where she had been born. always it is as one comes further east that the american railroad machine grows more and more shabby, until in new england we see it at its worst. our entire railroad structure, speaking nationally and subject only to a few exceptions, is worn down a bit. it is a shoe outgrown. it pinches. it pinches hard. yet nowhere does it pinch harder than in new england. i hinted but a moment ago of the transportation machine there, twisted and bended and torn and all but completely broken. i spoke of the desolate appearance of many of the trains and of the stations. the boston and albany, it is true, has been something of an exception to this rule. the present condition of the springfield station does not prove the exception however. always a wealthy road, the b. & a. is compelled by its state charter to return to the commonwealth of massachusetts all of its earnings in excess of an annual per cent. it is hardly necessary to add that even in its most prosperous years the excess earnings went into the property. and in consequence the patrons of the road benefited. but that was yesterday. it was yesterday too that boston possessed a suburban service in which she could at least display some slight evidences of satisfaction. that yesterday is now quite gone. to-day the service is unquestionably the very worst in all this land. it is doubtful if any other large american city would tolerate for a month the sort of suburban service which to-day is doled out to the boston metropolitan district. ancient and dilapidated cars, pulled by equally ancient and dilapidated locomotives, are the sad lot of the boston commuter. the records of the railroad companies themselves show that some of these ancient coaches date from as far back as the early eighties; many of them go back into the nineties. nightly the trains are crowded, not only to the extent of their seating capacities, but well beyond them. nightly the abominable overcrowdings of the new york subways are repeated throughout the boston suburban zone, and with far less excuse. in its appropriate time i shall discuss the large possibilities of electrification as it applies in particular to the boston suburban zone. for the moment consider this new england corner as the darkest corner of a transportation picture which to-day has but few patches of brilliancy. as one goes from east to west however the picture brightens perceptibly. do not forget that it is at its very worst in new england and perhaps at its best in california. * * * * * for the moment the freight service, nationally speaking at least, is not subject to the same criticisms as the passenger. (to the depleted passenger service we shall come in good time.) this for the simple reason that the traffic is not being produced across the land. a sadly depleted transportation structure easily can take good care of a sadly lessened freight traffic. but let our wheels of industry begin really to hum again and contemplating the present condition of our carriers, i shall fear a reversion to the conditions of the winter months of the early part of , when one box-car took forty days to go from boston to chicago, a trip that easily should have been made in a fortnight, while another car but a few days later took fifty days for the same journey! yet, to be entirely fair, these runs were made in a winter which, by the official records of the weather bureau, was the worst that the country had known in thirty-six years. all right. let us be fair. we shall go back three years to before government control and the really big labor problems had been wished upon the railroads. the new england roads even then were already having a fearful time of it. the boston chamber of commerce sent out questionnaires to the big shippers of the district asking for specific reports on _all_ of the car-load shipments that they were making. when the questionnaires came back to it, all filled in neatly on the dotted lines and in the blank spaces, they showed the definite record of cars, quite enough to be fully representative of the entire situation. one new england land shipper reported that the fifty-nine cars which he had had in chicago movement had ranged from thirteen to eighty-seven days in transit. (remember, if you will, that a fair average for that journey is fourteen days.) one hundred and sixty cars bound to his siding from various western points had together consumed days in transit. a reasonable time for their journeys would have totaled days. detentions due solely to railroad delays had in his one case come to the considerable figure of days. for the entire cars--in almost every case from the primary grain-markets of the west--the total transit time came to , car-days. again the law of fair average time comes into play. let me explain briefly how it is made. to the shortest time in transit between two given points an arbitrary of per cent. is added. this makes the fair average. in practice it results that the average time to boston from points east of a line drawn through buffalo and pittsburg is fixed at seven days. two weeks are allowed from points west of that line and east of the mississippi, three weeks from those east of the missouri and thirty days from places as far distant as montana. with this rule as a measure and taking the individual routings of each of these box-cars, the fair average time of all of them came to a total of , car-days. subtracting this time from the total transit time as you have just had it, we get in a few months at the beginning of a railroad detention of , car-days, or an average waste of . days for each car. if this waste could have been avoided there would have been an additional use of cars for one week each, or cars for a three weeks' period. the hard-headed railroad executives who continue to argue against a too elaborate car-building program must understand these figures and their full import. nor can their brethren in the field be entirely blind to the success of the car service commission of the american railway association in making an extensive and vastly bettered use of the freight equipment immediately at hand at that time and available all the way across the country. it takes a lot of time and money to build any considerable quantity of new freight-cars. it does not take much of either to make a better use of the cars already in operation. and this is the very thing that had been done to a certain extent, up to the beginning of the present business slump. it would not be just or fair to assert or even to imply that all of the car delays which we have just seen occurred within the boundaries of new england. it is just as fair to assume that many of them came to pass in montreal, or in toronto, or west albany, or east buffalo, or altoona, or brunswick, as in west springfield, or cedar hill, or mechanicville. but when this point has been stated the fact still remains that the new england roads to-day are and have been for a number of years past fairly typical--certainly not exceptional--of the condition that prevails in certain other sections of the land, particularly upon the so-called "weaker lines." the great trouble is that in new england there are virtually no strong roads. they are all down in the doldrums. even the last series of rate advances by the interstate commerce commission, which gradually are proving very profitable to many of the already strong railroads in the southwestern corner of the united states, have failed to bring relief to the already weakened properties in its northeastern corner. in the course of this book i shall refer more than once to the deplorable new england situation. i have referred just now to the fearful delays to freight originating there in the last fairly normal period of private operation, giving full heed to the fact that many if not most of these delays occurred outside of the actual new england territory, in order to emphasize the absolute unpreparedness to-day of our national railroad structure should great freight traffic demands be made upon it once again. in a merely introductory chapter i cannot expatiate at length upon the reasons that have led to this bad condition nor attempt to give the methods by which it may possibly be corrected. i merely am trying to paint in brief a picture that has all too few high lights. in the course of this book i shall attempt gradually to fill in some of the details. all these things, and many others too, are upon the face of our present railroad situation in this country. when one goes beneath the surface matters are even worse. if one is a security-holder in rails he does not have to study wall street reports to see the saddening decline in dividend payments--either average or cumulative. it is he who long ago began to smell the rat. and the news that in the railroad the employer and the employee have been slipping further and further apart until a seemingly unbridgeable gulf has come to exist between them, that the executive personnel of our railroads of to-day is growing on in years with little or none to replace it, that no steps whatsoever are being taken to bring our railroad structure up to the necessities of to-day--to say nothing of to-morrow--is not news to him. perhaps the most pathetic of all these declines is that of the fine tradition of american railroading--the thing which in war days we learned to call morale. it was that tradition that used to make the farmer's boy, as he stood in the field and watched the express sweep by, yearn to become a railroad president. in a less romantic and far more concrete form it enabled the old-time railroaders to fight against fearful conditions at times--against the blizzards of midwinter in the north, the blazing midsummer of southern deserts, flood, pestilence--come what might, that old-time railroader was ready for it. it was the survival of that tradition, the fine fiber of its long-created morale, that enabled our railroads to make such a fine war-time performance. and it is its lessening, the gradual passing of the old-time railroader with none of his caliber to replace him, that is one of the tragedies of our railroad situation of to-day. to americans these things still will come as more or less of a surprise. they may have felt themselves fairly remote from actual railroad responsibility. they may have been depositors in the saving-banks downtown or holders of policies in the insurance companies, and yet have quite forgotten the millions of dollars of railroad securities in the strong-boxes of these great fiscal institutions. the financial ramifications of the railroad as well as its social and commercial ones are far-reaching indeed. once again, it is because of this intertwining of the railroad with the every-day life of the american community in its every phase and relation that the growing seriousness of its present predicament becomes a matter of so large national import. our transport problem is no academic matter. it is very real, very human, very close to every one of us. i did not overstate when i said that the railroad to-day was life itself to us. and because it is life, our life if you please, its present serious problem is very much our business. if we should go back and begin at the beginning we should find our american railroads in their beginnings small individual units, in many cases personal properties, like a store or a bank or a factory, and seldom correlated. even the gages of our pioneer roads did not always agree, and in at least one case purposely so. the early builders of the erie felt that by laying down a six-foot gage for their enterprise they would succeed in keeping their freight-cars and other equipment on their own property and under their own eyes. in this purpose they succeeded admirably. they also succeeded in keeping the freight-cars of other railroads, bringing valuable interchange merchandise, off their rails, with the eventual result that that railroad, twenty years after it was first laid down, was forced at great trouble and expense to bring its track to the standard width. there was much that was crude and experimental about those early roads--a condition that was of course bound to exist. the traveler who went abroad upon them quickly became aware of all this. in the beginning he would change cars four or five times between albany and buffalo; and when fifteen or sixteen years later the railroad had extended itself all the way out to chicago there were three or four more changes to be made. to-day a solid train from new york or boston to chicago or st. louis is so much a part of our regular order of things as to cause no comment whatever. yet even to-day one cannot ride across the north american continent from the atlantic ocean to the pacific without a change of cars--that is, not in the united states. in canada he can do it quickly, easily, comfortably. of which much more in good time. the lack of convenience in the handling of freight was equal to if not greater than that in the handling of passengers. of through routes there were none. freight bound from five hundred to a thousand miles or more was repeatedly transferred and retransferred. the fact that until the late seventies two such important links of the important new york-chicago routes as the former lake shore and the new york central and hudson river railroads had gages varying a little more than an inch, and so necessitating an elaborate mechanism at buffalo for the transfer of the trucks beneath the freight-car bodies, shows the fearful lack of rail correlation everywhere across the land. indeed it was hardly a decade before, that a state of near civil war had been precipitated at erie, pennsylvania, by the efforts of the lake shore railroad to standardize its gage through that town. the townsfolk, urged and led forward by local hotel-keepers and bus-drivers, had stoutly resisted the change. in railroad rate-making and accounting of every sort conditions were even more chaotic. there were no standards. you could hardly expect a group of several hundred widely separated and highly individualistic railroads to have uniform bookkeeping practices when in many instances there were not enough standards in the building of their cars to enable them to be coupled together into a single train. and yet with all of this wretched system, or lack of any system whatsoever, those little railroads of yesterday had many, many things in their favor. their very individuality was an asset. the fact that they were owned and operated by men who lived upon their lines or very close to them was a still greater asset. the railroad executive of those days understood from first-hand knowledge and intimate personal contact the problems as well as the opportunities of the communities that he was trying to serve. and a third and still greater asset was the close personal relationship that he might enjoy with his employees. on a railroad owning from twelve to twenty locomotives he might know, and almost invariably did know, not only each of those engines individually but the men who ran them. in fact in those days it was customary for a locomotive to be named and to be assigned to a permanent crew of engineer and fireman, who immediately began to take a surpassing pride in the upkeep of their craft--in keeping her boiler black and shiny and her brasses and her nickel-work gleaming like new. in these days the brass and the nickel and all the rest of the former gay trimmings have departed from the locomotive. its boiler is no longer shiny. on the average american railroad, locomotive upkeep has become an all but forgotten art. the names and the individuality have gone from its engines. they are assigned to crews out of the roundhouses in a very systematic and utterly unsentimental way. yet something very definite has been lost. you could scarce expect a modern railroad president whose system may own three or four thousand locomotives to know any considerable number of the men who operate them. yet here is the loss. on that little road of yester-year the president not only knew his engine crews by name--generally calling them by their first names--but his conductors, his station-agents, his telegraphers too. and knowing them, understanding them, working with them in almost every case, there was no labor-union problem to confront him. there were no unions then for the simple reason that there was no necessity for them. the labor-union upon the railroad with all of its problems for the management came definitely as an effect of its super-consolidation. and the railroad tradition began to fall. even after the first steps in the inevitable consolidation of our various lines had begun, when for instance the six railroads in the three-hundred-mile stretch between albany and buffalo had been merged into the first new york central, this intimate sense of personal relationship remained for a long time. the statue of william bliss, president of the boston and albany railroad, which stood for many years in the lobby of the old kneeland street station in boston, typified it. when the boston and albany was the boston and albany it was the pride not only of its employees but of all new england. but when, in accordance with the general railroad practice of the moment, the vanderbilts took it over upon a long lease and painted out the old name, placing "new york central" upon the cars and locomotives, new england rose in its anger, and it was not appeased until a shrewd executive, going to boston from new york, reversed the new order of things and painted the beloved old name back again upon the equipment. after which serenity ruled once again along the lines of the "albany," as the boston people to this day love to call it. what's in a name? more than you can imagine. i asked a shrewd brotherhood man once what the new york central had sacrificed in operating efficiency when it had chosen to paint the names "lake shore," "michigan central," and "big four" from its western constituent lines, and he said that he guessed--it really is anybody's guess--that per cent. would be about right. the pennsylvania system, with a great deal of real wisdom and long vision, not many months ago decided to divide itself into four large regional operating divisions, all to be known however under the general title of pennsylvania system. yet an old passenger conductor with whom i have ridden these great many years between new york and philadelphia confessed to me his great personal regret at the passing of the fine old name, "pennsylvania railroad." "i feel as if i had buried an old friend," said he. so felt others, and a little later the pennsylvania dropped the "system" from its official name and came back as the good old pennsylvania railroad once again. a few miles further south the people are still grieving over the loss of the "cumberland valley," one of the earliest railroads of the land--incidentally a pennsylvania constituency and one which until the recent change had held its name and its individuality. across the land the thing repeats itself again and again. away up in the northwestern corner you will find people to-day lamenting the renaming of their chief railroad system into the union pacific. "we were proud of the name 'oregon-washington railway,'" said one of the really big men of that community not long ago. "it was a good railroad and we felt that in no small sense its goodness reflected that of this particular corner of the u. s. a." if this feeling comes to the patrons of these railroads how much more distinctly must it come to their workers? in subsequent chapters in a pleading for a division of our national railroad structure into shorter operating units, despite the ponderous suggestions of the transportation act, i am going to refer to the fact that in this country a half-dozen or so of the small railroads ("small" at least in a comparative sense) are the best operated and hence the most profitable lines in the land. and incidentally, despite the great tangle of red tape that the government system of railroad control has spun about them, they still enjoy comparatively friendly relations with their labor. with the fundamental idea of railroad consolidation one can have no quarrel whatsoever. it was inevitable. it came logically and sequentially--in some ways before many folk were really aware of it. when a very few years after the close of the civil war the merger of the grand trunk railroad was accomplished--a single system of nearly four thousand miles, stretching all the way from portland, maine, by way of montreal and toronto to detroit (a little later, on to chicago)--america stood aghast. and yet what were four thousand miles to be compared with a single system of twelve thousand miles of main-line track--nearly one-twentieth of the total mileage in the united states, upon which moves one-seventh of the traffic of the nation? and yet here is but one of three or four big twelve-thousand-mile systems that our land holds. in our yankee version of the english language we dearly love that word "big." yet is it not now a fair time to ask what that bigness has really cost us? granted that with a certain amount of real aid from the state it has given us through rail and through car routes of an amazing multiplicity--even though one cannot cross the united states from the atlantic to the pacific in a through car, unless it be a freight-car--that it has simplified vastly our tariffs, our ticketing and our way-bill systems, it certainly is failing to-day in many, many instances to give us the high degree of service which our railroads themselves have educated us to expect. as i said at the beginning our transport service to-day is appreciably poorer and the rates a great deal higher than they were a decade ago, while the personnel problem of our railroads, in their executive ranks as well as in the ranks of the great mass of their labor, has become a matter of real alarm. in this book i am going to give scant attention, if any, either to the scandals or to the triumphs of railroad finance for a half-century past in this country. neither am i going to hark back to the evils of multiple and ofttimes conflicting regulation of our carriers by the federal and the forty-eight state governments. both have been pretty thoroughly treated over and over again. and so we shall assume, first that the railroads must be properly financed in order to function at all, and second that the principle of regulation by the state is so thoroughly established by this time as to be removed from the field of controversial argument; while the perplexing factor of many and ofttimes annoying conflicts between the state regulatory bodies, or between them and the federal interstate commerce commission, is being solved automatically by the steadily increasing usurpation of the individual rights of the various states by the centralized government at washington. the problems upon which i shall prefer to linger in this book are those that concern the physical side of our national railroad structure, future as well as present, its operating problems as well as its purely human ones, in these last including not merely the very human problem of the men and women who work upon the railroad but those who ride upon it or otherwise become its patrons. granting the great importance of its questions of finance and of state regulation, i still feel that these last are of still greater portent to its future. with these properly solved, finance and regulation, to a large extent at least, will solve themselves. a national railroad structure well operated, with efficiency, with economy, with vision, with a broad human relationship, will not have to worry very much about the sale of its securities or about interference from fussy regulatory bodies. i think that this may be fairly set down as a fundamental fact in our argument. as to what constitutes good operation, efficiency, economy, vision, broad human relationship, there will of course come more than one opportunity for an honest difference of opinion. it is in the sincere effort to gain the real current of forward-looking opinion upon these great questions of our national transportation problem that the writer for the last sixteen years has traveled many thousands of miles across the united states and canada and has interviewed hundreds of people in railroad circles and out. for more than a dozen years past he has foreseen the present crisis. the coming of the world war hastened it a bit perhaps but the crisis was inevitable. a drifting policy, which ofttimes was no policy at all, followed by both the railroad and the various groups of persons that assumed to control it, has brought us almost to the edge of supreme catastrophe. * * * * * go back with me once again to the beginning. remember if you will that the railroad in the united states to-day is a little more than ninety years old. for eighty of those years it was in a state of steady and healthy development and progress. for the last ten or twelve of them it has not only been in a state of arrested development but narrowly approaching entrance into a state of decadence. for eighty years the american railroad grew, and grew heartily. it financed its own growth and, consisting very largely of independent units, financed itself quite readily and as a rule locally. it kept its physical facilities, track and rolling-stock and all the rest of it, abreast if not ahead of actual traffic requirements. about the beginning of the present century, as presently we shall see, it began to feel the burden of greatly increased material costs, and of taxation also. it met these added costs, without any very visible addition to its revenues, by holding rather tightly down on its pay-roll and by adopting large operating efficiencies and economies. for a while these sufficed. they had to suffice. appeals to the state and federal regulatory commissions for increased rates were generally vetoed pretty promptly. since the establishment of the interstate commerce commission in these regulatory boards had increased steadily in strength and in prestige. they felt their oats. and many did not hesitate to deny the applications of the roads for rate increases. in something happened which in later years was to loom large in american railroad history. congress, under a considerable pressure from president theodore roosevelt, passed the so-called hepburn bill, radically amending the interstate commerce act and giving the i. c. c. an almost unbridled authority over railroad rates. the interstate commerce commission could not itself authorize changes in the tariffs of the carriers but it could, and frequently did, veto any changes that the roads themselves saw fit to make. parenthetically it may be stated that even though this increase of power granted to the big federal commission stirred up something of a competitive energy on the part of the state regulatory commissions to supervise more carefully than ever before the operation of the railroads through their respective bailiwicks, it also marked the long beginning of the end for the state boards; as far at least as our steam railroads are concerned. as i have said already, it is still another of our difficult national question-marks in which the old, old problem of states' rights again shows its disagreeable face. eventually it probably will be ended by shearing these state boards of virtually if not absolutely all of their supervision over interstate railroads; and the i. c. c. long since has shown marvelous ways in which this phrase may be extended to cover even the tiniest of apparent intra-state lines. the passage of the hepburn bill put the first quietus upon the development of the carriers. soon after, they began to cease large additions to their plants, even though the nation that they served went steadily ahead in its development, by leaps and by bounds. yet for full ten years after the net earnings of the carriers continued to increase, in pace with the great growth of the nation and its industries in those selfsame years, until under the war stress of and they had come to the astounding total of almost a billion dollars a year "net operating income," which under the rigorous accounting systems of the interstate commerce commission signifies the amounts available for paying interest and dividends and making permanent improvements. in other words the deterioration of the national railroad structure had begun well before the maximum of net earnings had been reached, and by the end of had reached so serious a stage as to threaten a possible breakdown--i am using this last word advisedly--or at best a fearsome congestion and uselessness, in the face of one of the gravest national crises that the united states has ever had to meet. confronted with such a possibility president wilson did not hesitate. he took no chances. with the supreme powers which were his as the war leader of the nation he reached out and took over the railroads and made them a direct agency of the national conduct of the war, under the name of the united states railroad administration, placing them under the direct and autocratic control of william g. mcadoo, secretary of the treasury and a man with not only a large knowledge of railroad finance but with a degree of success as an actual railroad operator--of the short but busy hudson and manhattan rapid transit lines connecting new york, jersey city, hoboken, and newark. there has perhaps been no single activity of the wilson administration and its conduct of the war more seriously discussed and criticized than its control of the railroads. even the gigantic expenditures and manifest blunders of the shipping board have been passed quickly by, to linger upon those of mr. mcadoo and his fellows in the railroad administration. yet when all has been fairly considered the railroad administration in its brief twenty-six months of life accomplished some very creditable things, and some not so creditable--some of these obvious, some others most unexpected and strangely outré. it was obvious for instance that a highly centralized, automatic, and supreme control could obtain large operating economies by completely obliterating competition and could by appealing to the traveler and the shipper in the role of a sadly harassed government, obtain a coöperation that no private agency might ever obtain. because the brief history of the railroad administration enters so very vitally into any consideration of the railroad situation in the united states both to-day and to-morrow, i shall come to it for the next chapter of this book. for the final paragraphs of this, consider once again the present lowered efficiency of our rail transport in this country. that it has been bettered in some of its phases since its relinquishment by the government i shall not deny; that it has been bettered in some of the most vital of them i shall dispute until the end. the proofs are too easily at hand. and so the reading of them may lead us into a really intelligent understanding of the situation. * * * * * what's the matter with our railroads? that question is being asked hundreds of times each day by business men all the way across the land--from portland, maine, to portland, oregon, from north to south and back again. these men, keen in their perception of many of the great and perplexing problems assailing the united states at this moment, frankly admit their lack of an understanding of the railroad one. they are torn by a vast conflict of statements and of opinions. skilled propagandists succeed only in adding to the confusion. apparently nowhere is an independent voice raised in the interest of the common citizen of america, the man who perhaps is not a wholesale user of our overland transport but who realizes from personal contact each time he makes a shipment of his goods or goes himself abroad into the land that our national railroad has suffered a vast deterioration within the last decade, that it no longer functions with anything like the high efficiency that it had attained say twelve or fifteen years ago. what's the matter with our railroads? it is a fair question, and one that demands a fair answer. why should not our railroad structure in the united states to-day be rendering service at least as good as that which it rendered but ten or twelve years ago? is it man failure, either in the lists of the rank and file or in those of the executives? is it, as has been charged frequently, interference by the federal and state governments or, to put it in a gentler fashion, over-regulation by these same agencies? is there lack of intelligence or vision or human understanding? if so, just where are these lacks? it is to the answering of these questions that the writer puts his sixteen years of intimate and personal study of the american railroad and, as he has just promised, takes up that problem on april , , the day that the united states of america officially entered the world war overseas. chapter ii the united states railroad administration long before the clear washington morning had broken which succeeded that stormy april evening of when the united states first entered the world war, the railroad executives themselves had been feeling that there would need to be correlated and coöperative effort to make the rail transport system of the country adequate to meet the new and added burden to be laid upon its already sadly bended back. not many weeks after that terrible august, , the united states was feeling the reflection of the world disturbance, although feeling it in some unexpected ways. in august, , few people in this country if any dreamed of the tidal wave of industrial production that was soon to all but overwhelm us, when bridgeport turned (almost overnight, it seemed) from a sleepy connecticut manufacturing town into an overcrowded metropolis wherein people by the hundreds slept nightly in the railroad station, and the new county almshouse was transformed into an overflow hotel; when akron, ohio, ran wild with prosperity, growth, and overcrowding; when drowsy old bethlehem, pennsylvania, became a bedlam of industry and chester, pennsylvania, the same; when detroit, well used to rapid growth, now leaped ahead toward the million mark; and when so also in a large degree did wilmington, delaware, and youngstown, ohio, and trenton, new jersey, and rochester and schenectady, new york--dozens of other communities like them. manufacturing plants worked night and day and doubled and trebled and quadrupled themselves in a matter of mere months; half-abandoned shipyards sprang into life and extension; mines were dug with a furious speed into the rich subsurfaces of mother earth--production everywhere. and everywhere the chief burden of all this was coming upon the back of the american railroad, and coming at a time when it could ill afford any overload. as even a casual student of the situation easily understands, for the six or eight years before the advent of most if not all of the railroads of the united states had been in a period of serious retrenchment. soon afterwards the beginning of the present and national increases in the cost of living had become an appreciable burden to them, not so much (as we shall see before we are done with this book) in their wages as in their cost of coal and other materials. they had endeavored to meet this increase in one expense in the conduct of their business by cutting down in other expenses. "economy" and "efficiency" had become real catchwords to them. in both of these they accomplished much. at least so it seemed in . their economies up to that time, compared with the ones that have been achieved since then, were almost as nothing. so the railroads were none too well equipped to meet the strain of greatly increased business that the war overseas thrust upon them. their supply of locomotives and cars was inadequate. the track equipment upon which they ran their terminals and yards and their shop facilities were, if in good repair, at any rate in most cases no longer generous. and that prized possession of the american railroad of yesterday, the morale of its men, the thing that i shall call "the fine tradition of our american railroading" again and again and again before i am done with this book, was already on the wane. so to an economic agent already sadly overburdened if not actually crippled was to be given also the serious and the urgent business of transporting soldiers and sailors and their munitions, a united states army of a size never before conceived, supplies in a vastness heretofore deemed incredible. long before woodrow wilson's signature was dry upon the dreaded declaration of war the war department experts were making detailed plans for the enlistment, the training, the supply, and the transport of the new army that was to go overseas. they involved many things, most important among them the creation of thirty or forty great concentration and training camps and huge ports of embarkation. to meet these needs the already swollen manufacturing industry of the land was spurred into fresh efforts of production. more factory buildings went up, more shipyards were established--we were talking about the "bridge of ships across the atlantic" those days--more abandoned mines were put into activity once again. all these things were a fearful burden upon a national railroad structure that was from the beginning inadequately equipped for a proper handling of them. yet how did the national railroad structure meet this added burden set upon its badly bended shoulders? the answer is--like a good american citizen. up to that april night, without a really efficient or concrete central body, it already had sought to create one. it took the ancient and somewhat archaic american railway association, shook new life into it, and on april , --six days after the war declaration--established at washington what was known as the railroad war board. for the personnel of this board the national railroad structure sought out some of the very best of its executives: fairfax harrison of the southern railway, hale holden of the burlington, julius kruttschnitt of the southern pacific, howard elliott of the northern pacific, samuel rea of the pennsylvania, and daniel willard of the baltimore and ohio. the first five of these men were made into the active war board and immediately moved themselves to washington where they set up a permanent headquarters. mr. willard already was prominently identified with the business of the organization of this country's part in the world war as chairman of the council of national defense, which was then doing a very great work of hurried preparation for the conflict, but which president wilson afterward saw fit to relieve of most of its power and responsibility. at the request of the american railway association mr. willard became an ex officio member of the railroad war board and was in constant consultation with it. so did edgar e. clark, a valued member of the all-powerful interstate commerce commission at that time and a veteran railroader of wide experience, having risen to the rank of conductor and in time become the head of the great brotherhood of that branch of railroading. the railroad war board came into being committed to the idea of a single continental railroad in the united states as a war-time measure; please mark this fact for future reference. indeed that efficient and economical idea had been in the heads of some of our practical railroaders for a good many years before the coming of the world war. but any steps that they might take toward it then seemed to bring them afoul of the federal statutes--particularly the so-called sherman law--and in imminent danger of the penitentiary. now, however, there seemed to be the faint ghost of an opportunity to gain some of the obvious practical advantages that naturally would inure from a centralized control of our national railroad structure. three great things, however, the war board lacked. the first was the financial backing of the government. no matter what broad plans for efficiency it might and did adopt--and that they were effective plans the statistics of their results most clearly show--the railroads lacked the financial resources to go into a market where rising labor and raw material costs were being reflected directly in tremendously increased prices for locomotives and cars and rails and every other what-not that goes to the making and maintaining of a railroad. on the contrary they watched the value of their securities drop as they listened to the demands of their employees for higher wages. beyond the war board's local authority, it had no real centralized control, no genuine supreme power. after all, it was but a group of men--big men, powerful individualists, each of them. they had been reared in powerful roads, roads of great traditions. they had been competitors, powerful competitors. coöperation, at the best, was no easy pathway for them. remember always that the railroad war board lacked authority. it could not even compel its own member roads to fall in line and stay in line toward the formation of the single national railroad system. and as for the shipper, it could only go to him on bended knee and beg his coöperation. and of all the shippers the government was perhaps the worst of all. it is our own beloved uncle samuel who is a most obdurate and unreasonable old fellow when he takes it into his head to become a patron of the railroad. if he is a passenger and in gold lace and khaki he may come into the train and demand that it be stopped and started to suit his own convenience. that frequently is done. and as a shipper he was forever letting his boys--food and fuel and ships and a lot of others too--place priority orders upon their shipments, to the immense complication of the entire railroad situation. the railroad war board began slipping in november, . the hard early winter of that year finished the job. the inspectors of the interstate commerce commission at various terminals and division points (themselves none too friendly to the war board) began filing by telegraph their reports of delayed cars and trains, and the members of that commission, at the suggestion of the president, began framing a bill supplementing the measure of august, , which had permitted him to take over the lines in case of a national emergency, and outlining the plans for the step as well as for the protection of the security-holders of the properties. the plan was in mr. wilson's hands early in december and he decided that mcadoo--who seemed to stand in an impartial and aloof position from all the properties and who had not only a rapid transit electric railroad experience at least, but remarkable acumen in financial matters--ought to have the job. mcadoo sought to decline it. i honestly believe that he never wanted it. the president insisted. the weather grew more inclement, the railroad rod bent further than ever before. then on the eve of christmas something happened. a great american railroad stood in the shadow of bankruptcy. other receiverships were to follow upon its heels. such a calamity was unthinkable. the die was cast. the white house moved, and moved quickly. mcadoo accepted his new responsibility and on december , , became director-general of more miles of railroad than any one man--even the late e. h. harriman--had ever even dreamed of controlling. william gibbs mcadoo took hold of his new job with a pretty firm grasp. he said that he was going to "do things" and apparently he meant to keep his word. with one stroke of the pen he abolished the abominable priority orders and with another he doubled the demurrage charges upon freight-cars--two vastly important executive steps toward a bettering of the entire railroad situation. the rapidly retiring railroad war board, confronted by the increasing conditions of congestion upon the roads, at the eleventh hour sent an urgent request to the various lines that they at once reduce their passenger services at least (it had been suggested that their entire public service be suspended for several days)--suggestion which in some cases was acted upon with more enthusiasm than judgment. there was many a division superintendent who saw a chance to take a death-crack at that unprofitable, unhealthy, money-eating : --or was it the : ? in other days a stern state commission probably had stood to forbid him, in the public interest, removing a train which might have had an average of seventeen passengers a day. now the authority of the state commissions, even to a large extent of the all-powerful interstate commerce commission, had largely been superseded. the pennsylvania, which for many years past has had the major share of traffic between new york and washington, had asked a little time before to have its fastest express between the two cities, the almost internationally famous congressional limited, made an excess-fare train, like the merchants' limited from new york to boston or the twentieth century from new york to chicago. the commission, on the very eve of mcadoo's accession, refused. the road withdrew the world-famous train despite the fact that it was running to capacity and announced that thereafter all trains between new york and washington would carry but one parlor-car each. now it happens that this route was and still is of tremendous commercial importance, not alone for the movement of freight but for the movement of men, big and little, in government service as well as in essential private business, back and forth between washington, baltimore, philadelphia, and new york, and the great territory that lies behind all of these cities. mcadoo's quick judgment saw the need of clean, comfortable, quick transit for these men and ordered the famous train back again, even though it did not then regain its historic name nor quite all of its parlor-cars, nor run at quite as brisk a pace as heretofore. mcadoo is no fool. even his bitterest enemies--and he has plenty of them--will admit that. his moves from the very beginning of his overlordship of the railroads were generally marked with extreme shrewdness. and although he does not coöperate well he showed himself possessed of a genius for organization as well as for coördination. yet almost as soon as he stepped into the office on the ninth floor of the new interstate commerce commission building that had been hurriedly set aside for the use of the director-general of the railroads, he impressed into service the various working subcommittees of the railroad war board, but courteously and promptly dismissed that board itself. with the railroad war board out of the way the director-general moved quickly toward finding a substitute for it. at the beginning he said that he was going to try to surround himself with the ablest and most experienced railroaders in the land--an advisory board, which would be in effect a railroad cabinet, divided so as to include a man from each of the great interests already concerned in national rail transport, one representing operation, another maintenance and equipment, another finance, another traffic, another public service and accounts, another law, still another labor. yes, labor. labor at last was to sit in the high council of railroad transportation. that had a new sound in the game. yet mcadoo was quick to include it in his plans. and at that time he added: "i am putting in men of no partisan views--partisan neither to capital nor to labor. in every case i have tried to select men who will inspire confidence. i want men of broad vision." the man who dug the great tunnels under the hudson river when every one else had pronounced the project as chimerical could hardly stand accused himself of any lack of vision. moreover mcadoo's selections in nearly every case justified his words. he began by choosing as his right-hand assistant and general adviser walker d. hines, an extremely able new york lawyer, who in the forty-seventh year of his life was chairman of the board of the santa fé. on the average road the chairmanship of the board of directors is likely to be a sort of sanitarium for retired executives. not so with the santa fé. its late president, e. p. ripley, the man who was instrumental in bringing it out of bankruptcy and up to its place as one of the greatest single systems in the united states, ten or twelve years ago was seeking a young man who could represent the road in new york, and represent it with the proper authority. he found such a man in hines, then barely turned forty, and he never regretted his choice. moreover hines, in a brilliant legal connection with the louisville and nashville before going to the santa fé, had begun to acquire his remarkable knowledge of railroad conditions in virtually every section of the land. the santa fé has always had much good motive-power, human and mechanical. mcadoo chose two of this first class, hines and edward chambers, its former vice-president in charge of traffic. these men formed the beginning of his advisory cabinet. to them he added gradually several others--henry walters of baltimore, chairman of the board of the extremely sound and conservative atlantic coast line; john skelton williams, controller of the currency, who had been not only the president but really the creator of the seaboard air line; carl r. gray, at that time president of the western maryland railroad and now occupying a similar post upon the union pacific; and judge john barton payne, who also had served as chairman of the shipping board and as secretary of the interior. offhand these looked like good appointments; in reality too they _were_ good appointments--able men in every instance; men of the broadest experience. but the men on the inside--those who have a thorough understanding of the wheels within wheels in the working of the big national railroad machine--saw more in these appointments than a mere search for transport ability. "walters and williams," they said, "atlantic coast line and seaboard air line. it's a hard dig at fairfax harrison." they were referring of course to the brilliant young president of the southern railway, who was the chairman of the railroad war board, constituted, you will remember, as a war measure by the railroads themselves. in that job, and against no small odds, harrison had won a fair measure of success. he felt keenly the slap at him in the mcadoo selections; he felt another when he was virtually deposed from the control of the railroad which had been his great pride and ambition, and young mr. markham brought down from chicago to be the mcadoo generalissimo of all the roads in the southeastern corner of the land at atlanta. yet that last thrust was hardly greater than the first, when the ranking heads of the two railroads which had been the hottest enemies of the southern in that which it regarded peculiarly as its own territory were lifted to eminence, while the president of the southern was permitted to retire to richmond as merely its corporate head, without one atom of authority over the operation of his road. those who know fairfax harrison know how these two blows must have cut. he is a man of intense pride as well as patriotism, a railroader who almost plays the lone hand but plays it very well indeed. a gentleman to the core, born of the gentlest of virginia blood and lineage--his father private secretary to jefferson davis, his mother a gifted american novelist, his brother one-time governor-general of the philippines--his pride in his family has for years past been exceeded by his pride in the railroad which, as a logical successor to the late samuel spencer, he had been upbuilding. fairfax harrison himself is a _literateur_ of no small merit. he has made translations of the classics, while to him has long been ascribed the composition of an essay in latin on the proper carving of virginia ham. yet i dare say that in none of his literary excursions has he ever reached greater charm than in the booklet which he wrote eight or nine years ago on the tragic sacrifices made by the men of the southern who strove to keep their road open and in operation during the terrific floods of . yet harrison was not the only man to be reduced menially as well as physically by the director-general of railroads. carl r. gray, himself one of the most lovable men in the business, was then president of the western maryland. he came to it from a high office with the 'frisco. that railroad, originally a small local affair largely financed by the city of baltimore and for many years terminating at hagerstown in the cumberland valley, had been built, largely by rockefeller capital, through to cumberland and connellsville (by connection to pittsburg), paralleling the main stem of the baltimore and ohio for virtually the entire distance. it was a real thorn in the side of the b. & o. mr gray was quickly elevated to a high post in the railroad administration. this was a distinct thrust at daniel willard. it will be recalled that the distinguished figure of daniel willard, president of the baltimore and ohio, loomed large in the railroad war board. mr. willard was doomed to feel the displeasure of official washington. just why, i never have been able to understand. he went to the service at the very outbreak of the war and gave himself unreservedly to mr. wilson and his associates. and at the very hour of the armistice he was in army khaki, prepared to sail overseas to undertake the operation of the entire system of french railways, which were beginning to go down under their terrific burden of more than four years. yet mr. willard's reward for all of this was removal from the actual operation of his road. samuel rea, the president of the pennsylvania, suffered a similar fate. yet this was not all. an official order was sent out from washington to the effect that these presidents were to be deprived of the use of their official cars--the phrase "private-car" long since has come into disrepute; it smacks too much of junketing. a fairly circumlocutious method was offered by which these gentlemen could occasionally avail themselves of their cars. they declined to avail themselves of so patronizing an offer. mr. rea's car finally was assigned to an operating officer of the railroad administration; mr. willard's gathered dust for two long years in a corner of the train-shed of camden station, baltimore. mr. mcadoo's answer to the quiet but strenuous protests that went to the supreme authority at washington against his treatment of mr. willard and mr. rea was extremely disingenuous. he disclaimed personal feeling and said that his act was the following out of an established policy. officially that policy was thus stated in his own words: inasmuch as "no man can serve two masters," and the efficient operation of the railroads for winning the war and the service to the public is the purpose of federal control, it was manifestly wise to release the presidents and other officers of the railroad companies, with whose corporate interest they are properly concerned, from all responsibility for the operation of their properties.... all ambiguity of obligation is thus avoided. officers of the corporation are left free to protect the interests of their owners, stockholders, and creditors, and the regional and operating managers have a direct and undivided responsibility and allegiance to the united states railroad administration. he then went ahead in accordance with this announced policy and appointed federal managers for the larger roads, incorporating into their direction smaller lines, closely affiliated or connected with them. but in almost every case the president of the railroad became its federal manager, invariably at a lower salary than the private corporations had paid. mr. harrison, mr. willard, mr. rea, mr. kruttschnitt, and mr. underwood (of the erie) were extremely conspicuous exceptions to this rule. * * * * * i am setting down these intensely personal episodes in the conduct of the railroad administration under its first director-general solely for one purpose--they have had a very large bearing on the present-day plight of our railroads of the united states. the bitternesses that were then engendered have not ceased. i do not feel that mr. harrison or mr. willard or mr. rea, to-day restored to their old positions and influence, now harbors a single grievance against mr. mcadoo because of them. the damage that he did has all been done, in the thrust against the morale of the rank and file of our american railroad organization. mcadoo talking to the men from the rear end of his own private-car at pueblo and at el paso and telling them that at last they were come into their own rights did not begin to do the damage that the whispered rumors, running here and there and everywhere, of what the director-general was doing to the former big bosses of great railways did to our old-time traditions of railroad respect and discipline. in giving labor a seat in his cabinet mcadoo did a big thing. in making speeches such as those at pueblo and at el paso he did a far smaller thing, to put the matter very lightly indeed. in the innuendo of his attitude toward a group of important railroad presidents a very great wrong was done unquestionably. the functions of the director-general's cabinet were national. in addition to its members the steersman of the craft chose regional directors, at first (and with but a few changes thereafter) as follows: for the extremely congested lines north of the ohio and east of the mississippi, a. h. smith, president of the new york central; for the lines of the southeast, as we have just seen, c. h. markham, president of the illinois central; and for those of the rest of the country, r. h. aishton, president of the chicago and northwestern. later mr. aishton's huge territory was subdivided and three sub-regions made of it. in a similar fashion new england also was made a sub-region, and james h. hustis, the very popular president of the boston and maine, placed in charge of it, after him came percy r. todd of the bangor and aroostook, an executive equally experienced in new england railroading. mr. smith was the very first of these men to be chosen. he received a telephone request to come to washington one day late in december, . boarding a midnight train, he was in mcadoo's office the next day. the director-general of the railroads notified him that he had been drafted to work out the fearfully congested situation in the northeast. without a word of comment smith turned on his heel, walked to a desk in the corner of the room, and, picking up a block of paper, began inditing detailed telegraphic instructions to the presidents of the roads in his new jurisdiction as to their part in the great drama of national control whose opening scene was so close at hand. a little later he returned to new york. and at noon on december , , the exact time set by president wilson for the curtain to rise on government operation of the continental railroad system, mr. smith stood in his window on an upper floor of the grand central terminal, and, looking down at the maze of tracks below him, trains coming, trains going, began the dictation of a short statement as to the history, the size, and the strength of the property he headed. "i want it to go into the record," said smith. "the opportunity might not come again." he turned immediately to the work in hand. there was plenty of it to be done. the great city around about the terminal was on the edge of panic. there was a fuel famine and no promise of relief. new york at last was paying the penalty of her medieval, not to say archaic, system of distribution. at last the war was very real and very close at hand. they were saying that many of the schools would have to close, that there was a possibility the theaters would have to shut down each monday night. poor new york! she did not then know that the worst was yet to come! all this occurred with , tons of coal upon the jersey side of the hudson river opposite the city, while in the midst of a winter of almost unprecedented bitterness an ancient lighterage system struggled with ice hardly less thick than that which once sufficed for a footpath for henry ward beecher from new york to brooklyn, and could bring less than , tons of coal a day across the river. nor was this all--no, not even a reference now to the freight upon the jersey meadows. know now that the greater part of that accumulated , tons of coal was in cars and that production at the mines actually was being slowed down by the delay in the return of these cars. "open the pennsylvania tubes to the coal trains!" shrieked the radicals of manhattan. "give us fuel trains and food trains instead of florida limiteds! put them through at the rate of fifty, one hundred, one hundred and fifty a day, if needful!" some of these lost their heads. smith did not lose his. neither did he impose any more humiliation upon the head of his great competitor. he does not do business that way. instead he gave careful heed to the terminal possibilities of the pennsylvania, the traditional and very real rival of the road he himself headed. "we may possibly make a freight use of the tubes," he said quietly, "but it will be a moderate use. i shall limit the length of the trains to thirty-six or thirty-seven cars, which really is no train at all. for i do not want to see one of those fifty-ton battle-ship coal gondolas jumping the track in a tube which was not designed for it, and so completely blocking the line. i am going to be in a position to hand the terminal back to the pennsylvania in quite as good condition as i found it." then he made further explanations. after all the pennsylvania tubes, thrusting themselves across the island of manhattan, are even in an emergency of little or no freight use to it. they are too deep to be of freight service to the heart of metropolitan new york. to brooklyn, with a population almost equal to that of manhattan, to queens, and to the bronx they eventually were made of some slight service. this was not the big part of smith's job, however. he made a quick survey of the entire situation in his big district; trains and cars cluttered here and there and everywhere. for the final thirty days of private operation the situation steadily had been growing worse. in the districts roundabout pittsburg and philadelphia and new york it had become intolerable. take, if you will, the industries in those vast manufacturing districts and consider them multiplied tenfold, their influx of fuel and of raw material increased in like proportion, and so with their output. add these industries one to another and see them in units of tens of dozens of trains, of hundreds and thousands of coal-cars and flat-cars and box-cars. and on the other hand, see all of these poured upon railroads that had been steadily growing weaker for eight or ten years--more rapidly weakened, however, in the last four months than in the entire three years that preceded them. bear in mind their tremendous loss of man-power through the draft, consider the gradual wearing down of engines and cars and tracks and terminals toward the breaking point, and wonder not then that we had congestion and much worse east of the mississippi and north of the ohio. throughout that autumn of we watched the bending of the rod of the railroad just as we had watched it bend and then recover again through the two hard winter seasons that have preceded this one. it bent further this winter than ever before--the traffic was so much greater, and the facilities with which to meet it so much weaker. no wonder that freight moved slowly, more slowly, most slowly, and in many cases finally ceased to move at all; that upon the jersey meadows outside of new york were , car-loads of merchandise that could not be moved up to that port and to the ships waiting to carry it overseas. at one time ships stood waiting for coal alone in new york harbor. and overseas was a great war in its critical stages. no wonder, though, that coal began coming in dribblings to hearthstones that were whining for tons of it, that finally it ceased coming at all for whole days, while great and ordinarily comfortable american cities shivered and watched their death rates mount higher than they had mounted in many a year. it was a man-sized job that confronted a. h. smith. like a real railroad man he handled it. he went in at once upon it. he began to do things. he issued immediate embargoes against shipment into the new york district of anything save food, news-print paper, live stock, perishable freight, and freight consigned to the government. he did more. with a great map of metropolitan new york and its railroad terminals spread before him he began ordering freight concentrated west of buffalo and pittsburg and south of washington into the trunk-lines which variously best serve the great group of cities that constitute the metropolitan district of new york. the baltimore and ohio for instance has exclusive terminal facilities upon staten island, which with its many shipyards and wharves is an important freight consignment point. in ordinary times, when the situation was dominated by competitive conditions, a car-load of freight offered the new york central at toledo or detroit would be carried on its lines to new york and then floated to staten island by car-ferry. in this non-competitive war situation, in this hour when the temporary continental railroad system of the united states was being born, such a car would be taken by the new york central from toledo or detroit to the baltimore and ohio at some point west of pittsburg, and then over it to staten island by the shortest possible route. what smith was doing in new york his fellow regional directors in atlanta and in chicago also were doing. order was being worked out of chaos. the great railroads of the united states, even temporarily and very hastily welded into a single national system, showed good results of efficiency and economy, just as some of their far-sighted private operators had predicted more than two decades ago. released from the shackles of the sherman anti-trust law--congress had refused such a release to the railroad war board but quickly granted it to mcadoo--and from the conflicting regulatory commissions all the way across the land, they were able to simplify and unify their facilities--even though many times at public cost and inconvenience--in a way that enabled them not only to handle the pressure of war traffic and in an admirable fashion but also to show great economies upon their cost-sheets. to come to actual cases: it was good railroading when the centralized washington administration began assembling various sections of various lines so as to gain not only more direct routes between important traffic centers but lines of lowest possible gradients as well. in the west particularly, great progress was made in this direction. for instance in the old days of competitive railroading the southern pacific quite naturally operated its through route from dallas or fort worth to los angeles and san francisco over its own tracks through san antonio or el paso. of course the old-time and somewhat unfortunate texas and pacific had a far shorter route from dallas and fort worth direct to el paso, but the competitive situation, the fact that it was the texas and pacific and not the southern pacific, prevented it from getting much volume of traffic for its short line. under government unification the t. & p. line came into its own, with the result that miles were taken off the through route between the important north texas cities and southern california--with great resultant time and operating economies. similarly, there arose a war-time assembled through line from the oil-fields at casper, wyoming, to montana and puget sound points, miles shorter than the route which the competitive situation formerly forced. freight from southern california to ogden was hauled miles less than by the pathway formerly used; while the railroad administration route between chicago and sioux city was miles shorter than the old, and miles were saved in the through traffic between kansas city and galveston and houston. multiply these examples and it is easy to see how in a period of sixty days in the summer of nine thousand freight-cars were so rerouted as to effect a saving in mileage traveled by each car of about miles, or a total saving of about , , car-miles. to be ranked with this sort of operating economy was the work undertaken by regional director r. h. aishton at chicago when early in the spring of he began consolidating train movements so that instead of the several competing trunk-lines coming down from out of the northwest, each operating competing through freight-trains each day into the great terminal and interchange yards at st. paul, and there shifting and resorting their cars incredibly for distribution between the six trunk-lines leading for another five hundred miles down into chicago, through trains were operated solidly from the puget sound points through to lake michigan. for through freight the great railroad yards upon the line between st. paul and minneapolis represented no more of a stop than was necessary for changing engines, cabooses, and crews. moreover these through trains were distributed in alternation between the northern pacific and great northern lines from the pacific coast down to the twin cities, but because of its superior mileage and gradient conditions they were handled on to chicago almost exclusively by the northwestern. nor was chicago--with almost inevitable traffic congestion, despite the fact that it now bears upon its western rim the largest interchange and clearing-house yard for freight-cars in the entire world--a railroad point big enough to break this simple scheme of through service. take the export corn specials out of the missouri valley. one of these trains, let us say, consisted of thirty-one cars from omaha and five cars from sioux city, all moving under special government permits, and was routed intact from omaha to philadelphia. it came east over the northwestern to a point well outside of the chicago congested district. there it was turned to the tracks of the elgin, joliet, and eastern, one of the outermost of the belt-line railroads which encircle chicago. the elgin, joliet, and eastern in turn delivered the train--intact and unchanged, you will remember--to the nickel plate, which at buffalo handed it to the lackawanna, which in turn carried it as far as scranton, giving it there to the central railroad of new jersey and the connecting philadelphia and reading for prompt handling through to tide-water and a waiting ship at philadelphia. there was no switching and but little delay en route, and the train generally went through from the missouri to the delaware in considerably less than a week. such a prompt through movement, with its saving of time and money, was quite unheard of in the days of competitive railroad management. all the reroutings and consolidations of this sort by no means had been confined to the western portions of the land. in the east many others were made, particularly in the congested sections of war-munitions manufacture, where, in addition to great numbers of war brides and shipyards and camps and cantonments, requiring not merely outbound shipping facilities but large quantities of raw materials and fuel, there had been a vast movement of coal for both domestic use and export. in the handling of this coal ingenious savings were made, both in the routings and in the details of train operation. roads and portions of roads, formerly in bitter competition, were joined together in a way only possible under absolutely unified and autocratic control. and in some cases the routings were so made as to divert the great streams of through freight traffic, in order to avoid areas already badly congested. thus atlantic-bound freight coming up into st. louis from the southwest was sent far to the north and even through canada before it reached the seaboard. a glance at the map and a fair understanding of the present traffic situation will show the necessity of this. the lines that reach into the coal-fields of eastern kentucky and west virginia and western pennsylvania were much burdened these months. it hardly was fair to ask them to carry much through freight upon their already heavily laden shoulders. and the pittsburg district, with its various narrow _impasses_ made by broad rivers and sharp-sided mountains, is a railroad abomination--a fearfully congested traffic gateway which, by reason of those selfsame rivers and mountains, is hardly capable of radical enlargement, even at great cost. the railroads that run along the south shore of lake erie, ample as are their facilities, already had a full load of traffic from chicago, the west, and the northwest. so the traffic from st. louis and the rich country back of it must needs cross the chicago currents and go to the north of lake erie. the wabash--one of the least understood and most abused railroads in america--in those days first began really to justify the fine strategy of its position. it became the main factor in bringing st. louis freight up to detroit, where it no longer crossed into canada by ferry but through the great tunnel which the michigan central completed about twelve or fourteen years ago; and by sweeping easily along through the gradeless tangents of the province of ontario that freight re-entered the united states at the niagara frontier, and so on to new york or boston by any one of a half a dozen uncongested traffic routes. these things apparently could not have been done under private management; at any rate they were not done under private management, although it is but fair to say that some of the far-sighted railroaders who sat at the table of the former railroad war board--which had attempted at the eleventh hour to consolidate the lines and so save the obvious perils of government operation, even as a temporary war measure--had the vision of these very consolidation economies. they had the vision but not the power. too many powerful considerations bore in upon them and bore them down. regulation, which was not fair regulation, the inability to finance the lines with rates fixed and expenses increasing by leaps and by bounds, competition refusing to bury itself even in emergency, even traditional jealousy--all these things prevented the railroad war board, constituted by the roads themselves to have a sort of supreme authority, from accomplishing its real purpose. these things were accomplished by the united states railroad administration and william g. mcadoo, as director-general of railroads, almost at the very beginning. * * * * * i have set down these operating details of the united states railroad administration under its first director-general at some length, not because of any desire to glorify mr. mcadoo but because i may want to refer to them again in the final chapters of this book when i am endeavoring to show the folly and the waste of many of the phases of our competitive system of railroading in the united states. failure as it was in many ways, the mcadoo episode was perhaps valuable after all as a laboratory experiment in rail transport. i am not sure but that as such it was worth every cent that it cost; and its cost was not small. for some years past, before the coming of the war, a certain proportion of our railroaders had been getting into something of a rut, to put it lightly. mcadoo came along and, if he did nothing else, succeeded in shaking them well out of that rut. yet it is but fair to recall again that the railroad war board might have done the same thing had it possessed two great powers that the united states railroad administration possessed--absolute authority and virtually unlimited financial resources. mcadoo, on the one hand, might order new locomotives by the hundreds and box-cars by the thousands--no matter what the price, we were at war--and upon the other, he could--and did--raise the railroad tariffs, both freight and passenger, to a point hitherto deemed virtually prohibitive. he raised the rates all the way from to per cent., and the railroads but two or three years before had found the interstate commerce commission deaf to their appeals for mere and per cent. advances. chapter iii the united states railroad administration (continued) i bear no brief for mr. mcadoo. on the contrary i have been one of his most persistent, although, i trust, consistent, critics. in the columns of the "saturday evening post" and other widely circulated publications i have tried to set down fairly, impartially, and thoroughly both the accomplishment and the shortcomings of that remarkable organization, the united states railroad administration. and with this final chapter written i shall close for myself, i hope forever, the recital of its history. it is but fair to say that even though mcadoo's great economies of operation through radical consolidation and reroutings were obvious, it took courage, none the less, to put many of them into effect. tradition, the sentiment built up through long years of hot competitive practice, local pride and local spirit here and there and everywhere, had to be met and overcome successfully, even though the war-time issue was to come into the reckoning. mcadoo has never been known for lack of courage. he reached out here and he reached out there and generally he attained his desires. "you talk about fairfax harrison. of all the men in authority in washington, it was mcadoo who really played the lone hand." so speaks a man who from the very beginning of the war overseas made a careful study of the administration and its human components. he speaks the truth--and does not. "the trouble with mcadoo," says a radical who is immensely interested in the entire railroad situation, "was that he was in the hands of the old railroad gang and controlled body and soul by them." he also speaks the truth, and does not. i presume that we may translate the "old railroad gang" into the group of experienced and very able and honest railroad executives that the first director-general gathered about him, and who without exception rendered him efficient service. mr. mcadoo himself says this. and he ought to know. in the preceding chapter we saw some of the sweeping changes and economies that were wrought in the freight operation of the railroads under governmental control; the passenger ones were even more dramatic. we have already seen how at a fell swoop the excellent service between new york and washington was smashed almost into smithereens, and how the good horse-sense of the first director-general came to the rescue then and there and restored a service that would enable men to travel back and forth between these cities on their war-time errands in a degree of comfort sufficient at least to render them best able to carry on their press of unusual duties. other services were not so restored. the broadway limited, the crack twenty-hour train of mr. rea's pennsylvania railroad, was an early sacrifice. in may, , mr. mcadoo approved of a sweeping economy in the western portion of the country, the territory west of chicago and st. louis. in this great slash alone estimated yearly savings of , , passenger train-miles were made. these savings were accomplished chiefly by abandoning duplicate and expensive fast train services (please also note this for future reference) between chicago and the pacific coast cities and assigning, supposedly to the shortest and most direct route in each case, the fastest through service. under this scheme the santa fé became the preferred route between chicago and los angeles; the quite logical grouping of chicago and northwestern, union pacific, and the former central pacific division of the southern pacific, from chicago to san francisco; the burlington and the northern pacific to portland, and the milwaukee to seattle. these selections were made arbitrarily. they cost many heartaches, however. the rock island--the shortest route between chicago and the important railroad gateway of el paso, and but thirty-five miles longer between chicago and los angeles--watched the decapitation of the golden state limited, which it had worked so hard to upbuild, with feelings of great bitterness and regret. it felt down in the bottom of its heart that it had been discriminated against. when peace came again--if ever it should come again--and the railroads were restored to their private operators--if they ever were to be restored again--the golden state limited would have to start once again at the very bottom of the ladder. the most notable consolidations of passenger service under the government administration came, however, in the central portions of the land. in the district about chicago under private and competitive control there was (and to-day is once again) a great waste of through passenger-train service. with six competing railroads from chicago to the twin cities, six to omaha, six to kansas city, four to st. louis, and three to cincinnati, and with almost every one of these roads trying to maintain a service as good as its competitors, if not better, there was and is a vast preponderance of through passenger-trains, many times to the cost of weaker or branch lines, even of well-to-do-systems. it is not at all uncommon for a branch line, particularly if it passes through a non-competitive district, to be paying with its all-too-few and overcrowded local trains for the extravagances of the underfilled through ones upon the main line. the little wheezy locomotive and the two forty-year-old battered day-coaches of the down local to willettsburg or sand corners was and still is the upkeep of the lordly limited all-pullman and aristocratic from the point of its crack new locomotive to the far tip of its brass-railed observation-platform. do not forget that. and also do not forget that a good proportion of the voting population of any state lives upon the branch lines, which may have accounted in the past for some pretty radical railroad legislation and regulation. here is a point that the average railroad operator, with his nose close down to freight ton-miles, may overlook. he may have and frankly express a contempt for the passenger service but it is at all times the chief point of actual contact between the railroad and its patrons. * * * * * moreover from chicago to the group of cities a night's ride distant from it in several directions the plethora of superb trains moved in competitive squadrons. by that i mean, even though there were on four railroads between that city and st. louis before the coming of the war fifteen fast through trains in each direction, there were to all practical purposes but three or four. for competition so bunched the trains that there was an important group of through expresses leaving chicago at noon and another important group at midnight, with two or three less important slower expresses at nine in the morning and again at nine in the evening. an intelligent centralized management would seemingly have found it possible so to distribute fifteen through trains that there would have been a through train from chicago to st. louis--or the reverse--almost each workaday hour. the through service between new york and washington and between new york and boston is so distributed. even under centralized control, however, such an even distribution of passenger-trains between midland cities of the united states is not entirely possible. for even in the case which we have before us, there are important connections to be reckoned with, both at chicago and at st. louis. these trains must be met, and if the best through passenger-trains for the southwest leave the st. louis union station at about nine o'clock in the evening, the resident of decatur, which is on the main line of the wabash, and of springfield, which is on the main line of the chicago and alton, should in all fairness have an equal chance at them. yet, despite this hindering factor, the mcadoo centralized authority succeeded in cutting the fifteen through trains in each direction down to nine and in slightly spreading the leaving times. the result apparently worked little hardship to the through traveler of war-time days between chicago and st. louis. the train on which he rode might be a little longer and a little better filled than usual, but its running-time and its equipment, save for the probable elimination of the observation-car, were virtually unchanged. and , train-miles and , tons of coal were being saved in chicago-st. louis passenger service each month. but how about monticello? monticello, illinois, is not a big town, as big towns go. yet it is an enterprising county-seat of some , people situated on the chicago-st. louis main line of the wabash just a few miles north of decatur. and it has definite rights. do not forget that. in the old days of ante-bellum private control--sin-filled and really wasteful competitive control--there were four through trains and two locals through monticello in each direction each day. and the monticello banker or merchant who wanted to run down to st. louis and come back at night had an easy affair of it. but with the government train consolidation he could get up in the middle of the night and catch the : train south or else wait for the next express at : in the afternoon. the government was not particularly worried about him. let me repeat. monticello has definite rights to adequate railroad transportation. and this holds true whether that transportation comes from the government or the individual. monticello--ten thousand monticellos, if you please--has a considerable voting population. and once the real war emergency was passed and the armistice safely signed, ten thousand monticellos began asking if government operation was going to offer them no better relief from the ills of private operation. it was as nothing to them that there had been a saving of trains and of train mileage between chicago and st. louis with no apparent diminution of the service between those two metropolitan cities; they simply knew that there had been a great lessening of their own service. and while they were willing to accept such a lessening as a part of their war sacrifice they did not intend to accept it as a permanent transportation condition, either from the government or from private capital. this general plan held, however. there are some pretty big and powerful monticellos between chicago and the coast. denver is one of them, omaha is another, kansas city a third. and because, to make a single instance, any one of these cities demands a fairly quick and efficient service to portland and the puget sound points, it was necessary after a time to modify to some extent the simplified route plan and to give these intermediate points through train service, or at least through pullman service. these changes and others like them have brought great savings in passenger mileage. that cannot be denied, even though one is tempted to add a doubting corollary as to the shattering of the finest passenger service that any land ever has received. the war crisis demanded curtailments. the railroads themselves had recognized that, even before the coming of the mcadoo administration. from may , , up to the end of that year their war board succeeded in reducing the passenger service by , , train-miles. yet this was not a circumstance to the slashing done by the federal administration. in september, , mcadoo reported to president wilson that he had succeeded in eliminating passenger-trains to the extent of , , additional miles a year, a really astounding total. but in all probability the most popular economy of this sort that mcadoo succeeded in bringing about was in the consolidation of passenger terminals across the land, all the way from the biggest towns down to the very smallest. he began at the top in the city of new york. the pennsylvania railroad since the opening of its wonderful new station in seventh avenue in that city in november, , quite naturally had held it exclusively for itself and for its subsidiary, the long island railroad. in that tight stand it was right from every competitive point of view. it had taken the great engineering problem and its financial risk entirely upon its own shoulders; shrewd railroaders had shaken their heads dubiously as they contemplated the daring move; and there was no reason why it should share the fruits of its enterprise with its competitors. but the competitive situation had been eliminated. therefore mcadoo did not hesitate in personally ordering that the highly competitive baltimore and ohio, as well as the non-competitive lehigh valley (which up to that time had been using the old pennsylvania station in jersey city), should bring its through trains into the pennsylvania terminal on manhattan island. (incidentally, at the eleventh hour of the existence of the railroad war board the pennsylvania had proffered the use of its station for this purpose.) the tickets of the b. & o. and the pennsylvania between new york and washington and intermediate points were moreover made completely interchangeable. the pennsylvania people did not enjoy these orders, even though they had proffered the station at new york. but they were good soldiers. the country was at war, and they complied readily with war-time orders, no matter how unreasonable they may have seemed to them. in a similar fashion the southern pacific people made wry faces over the order that admitted the santa fé into their ancient train-shed and "mole" at oakland, opposite san francisco. their position was not so well taken however. even in the competitive era the fast ferry-boats of the santa fé, coming from its rail terminal at richmond, had entered the same terminal with the s. p. at san francisco--the great union ferry-house at the foot of market street. and had not the santa fé, as the longer route, been compelled as a war measure to sacrifice its two pet trains between san francisco and los angeles and san diego, the precious saint and the angel? these consolidations--there were many similar ones in the freight terminals as well--went on all the way across the land. where there were two or more engine-houses in a place fairly close together, and it was humanly possible so to do, they were consolidated. trackage at terminals was simplified; for instance at chicago the trains of the baltimore and ohio and pere marquette systems, which formerly had entered their passenger stations by a rather circuitous route, were now sent in to them over the tracks of the pennsylvania, and a saving of approximately seven miles and forty minutes of running time made. certain captious critics of mr. mcadoo's constructive policies have seen in these terminal and other physical consolidations of the several carriers a deep-laid plot to "scramble the railroad eggs," which means so to weld the properties together that they could not be easily separated again. despite the fact that the "unscrambling" has indeed been no particularly easy task, i do not see in mcadoo the deep-dyed villain that so many others perceive. i think that he consolidated these terminals and other operating devices in the interest of real war-time efficiency and economy, and for no other reason. that would seem at this time to be an impartial verdict upon his actions. i am also setting these things down in some detail because they too are essential to a proper understanding of the final results of the nation's first sweeping experiment in centralized and governmental railroad control. the most of these operating economies were the accomplishments of the railroad administration of the sort which some time ago i characterized as obvious. now consider a few of them that were strange--marvelously strange, you may prefer to put it: the railroad administration sought as one of the first of its economies the consolidation of the various city ticket-offices that competition long ago had set out in the larger cities of the land, as well as the complete abolition of the so-called "off the line" offices--agencies in cities more or less remote from the actual territory of any given railroad. so far, so good. so far was obvious and sensible economy. if an office here and an office there had been retained for the essential travel needs of the roads and their office forces and furniture had been brought together wherever it was necessary, the others being either abandoned or temporarily closed, there would have been no complaint. but the "winning of the war" took the strange effect in most of the large cities of the land that the railroad administration hired new office space--in chicago it took virtually the entire ground-floor of a huge new sky-scraper on a ten-year lease at $ , a year--and installed elaborate and expensive new mahogany office equipment. in new york alone four of these great new offices were fitted out, and many of the smaller and cheaper offices, abandoned, stood idle for months, while the rent went merrily forward. these things were inexcusable. so were many others. apparently the ordinarily astute first director-general made a great mistake at the outset. he did not realize perhaps that he was attempting to do two things at once--trying to solve an acute war problem as well as a great economic one that had been gathering urgency for nearly a decade before the coming of the world war. that at least is a kind construction to place upon his policy. and if it was indeed his policy it was not so very different from that which was followed those days by many other large activities down at washington. apparently we have not yet learned that almost any war problem is separate and distinct from those of our great social economic questions that are forever showing themselves in one form or another. for instance a good many of us confused the problems of the capitalization and labor of the railroads with that of taking them over as an emergency war measure, just as we repeatedly mixed up all sorts of social and economic problems with the making of an emergency war revenue tax. such apparently is also a fair construction to place upon mr. mcadoo's remarkable activities in setting great forces of designers and draftsmen at work to create new "standardized" locomotives and cars for our temporarily nationalized railroad system. he made a widely circulated statement that he had found " different styles of freight-cars and almost as many different descriptions of locomotives" and that these presently would be reduced by his experts to twelve standard types of freight-cars, and to six standard types of locomotives of two weights each. unquestionably our railroad freight equipment has stood and still stands greatly in need of much standardization, although the roads themselves long ago established enough of this to permit common operation of their cars. but i doubt if such a standardization program had any real part in an emergency war plan. i never have been able to reason that out to my own satisfaction. nevertheless mcadoo was satisfied with his own idea and in alone ordered of his standard locomotives and about , of the freight-cars, at prices enormously above those of peace days. the engines and the cars eventually were delivered. that they were good engines and good cars i do not doubt. but they have never enjoyed any marked popularity with the railroad operating people. they are a conservative lot, these old hard-shell railroad executives who still hang on to a remarkable degree all the way across the land. you cannot lead them easily to new ways of thought. all these fine frills, introduced in the midst of one of the most acute national crises ever visited upon this country, cost the railroad administration much time and much money--much useless time and much money that might have been used to better advantage in other directions. digress for a moment with me and compare the great and bulky operations of the railroad administration with those of its prototype across the atlantic, the war-created railway executive committee of england. the war wreaked no ravages elsewhere in england more striking than those that were wreaked upon her railways. she was quick to realize the supreme importance of her rail carriers to her in her crisis. and so she reached out within a fortnight after the outrage of louvain and, with the authority that had been given her long years before by parliament, took over the rail lines and began operating them for the national weal. there was no policy of vacillation on her part. it was a situation that she had anticipated and solved several years before the coming of the war. even before there was in existence an english body known as the war council of the engineer and railway staff corps. this council consisted of the general managers (in england the post of general manager compares with that of the president of an american railroad) of the railways that in the event of war with a continental power would have the most to do with military traffic. the council made elaborate and definite war plans. the possible invasion of the east coast was anticipated and detailed plans--even to the working out of actual train and engine schedules--were made for the evacuation if necessary of the population of east coast towns and cities and the movement of troops and heavy guns up to them. this council by had developed into the railway executive committee, which was composed of the general managers of the twelve most important railway systems of great britain. it in turn formed an integral part of a board of communications, which included representatives of the war office, the admiralty, the board of trade, and the home office. among these representatives was sir eric geddes, then first lord of the admiralty, a young englishman of great promise and energy and to-day the british minister of transport. the railway executive committee went to its job quickly and without ostentation. while it sought to unify the operation of john bull's railways so that he might help win the war most efficiently and most promptly, it had no false or grandiloquent ideas of creating a single national rail system overnight. it did not seek to tear down in a day what had taken the patient labor of years to upbuild. it sought not to standardize either baggage-cars or locomotives or dining-car meals. it even escaped having a director-general. its printed forms were few and modest. it had no press-agent, no propaganda. few people outside of railway and army circles even knew of its existence. at the height of its endeavors it employed in its joint efforts a total force of not more than eighteen officers and clerks, who occupied two floors of a very small office-building directly across the way from the houses of parliament. it was an extremely simple enterprise. but it functioned and functioned extremely well. eighteen employees, as against more than twelve hundred at the very beginning of the united states railroad administration. even to-day, two years after it has ceased to function, there are still several hundred retainers faithfully hanging on to their official jobs. mr. mcadoo might find some shrewd lawyer's way of proving his "standardized" locomotives and freight-cars a necessity for the winning of the war, even though the elaborate consolidated ticket-offices would not be so easy to explain. but just why orders should have emanated from his offices to place his name as well as his title upon every piece of printed matter issued by the united states railroad administration--even to the dining-car menus and even to each third mile upon the scrip-books issued for passenger travel--is particularly difficult to understand. particularly so, as a war measure in a war for democracy, at any rate. the hub of the troubles with mr. mcadoo seems to have been that he regarded a war crisis as a fit moment for an experiment in the details of a centralized railroad operation for the united states. * * * * * the chief criticism launched against the first director-general of the railroad administration is in regard to his handling of railroad labor. the more conservative the mind that you scratch upon this extremely delicate topic the more violent the immediate reaction. "barron's weekly," published by the "wall street journal," regards mr. mcadoo's attitude toward railroad labor as that of an arch-tyrant. but that is merely typical wall street attitude and to be dismissed as such. i had, as i have already said, very little sympathy with the director-general's addresses to the men at pueblo and at el paso, where he assured them that at last they had come into the rights which had been denied them and that hereafter they were to receive the square deal. that was unnecessary. more than unnecessary, it was unfair. and more than that, it was an extremely dangerous doctrine to be preaching, particularly at that time. i cannot see how it possibly could do one single thing toward upbuilding railroad morale, the thing needed at that moment more than anything else. it could scarcely do else than lower that shattered morale still further. and it is possible that mr. mcadoo regrets at this moment that he ever gave utterance to those two speeches, patting railroad labor on the back when railroad labor should have been congratulating itself that it was not conscripted and sent into the trenches. this is said with all deference and with a high regard for railroad labor in the united states. on the other hand mcadoo did a most commendable and forward-looking thing when he gave labor a fair place in his official cabinet. then and there he played a trump card that private ownership and operation of our railroads forever and a day had failed to play. he played another when at the very beginning of his term of office he put the entire question of wages in the hands of a competent commission headed by the late franklin k. lane, of whose fairness and ability there could be no question whatsoever. mr. lane knew men; he also knew railroads. he was perhaps the one man in the united states who might have taken the railroad administration and made an unqualified success of it. the ablest member of the wilson cabinet, he was compelled to take a back seat in the big war drama. his capabilities and his experience were virtually ignored. the lane commission went more carefully into the question of railroad wages than any one had ever before gone. it did what no individual railroad or group of railroads ever had the intelligence or the courage or the fairness to do--attempted to make some sort of impartial analysis of living costs to the railroader, and to use these as a basis for the fixing of his wage. the question of compensation never has been placed upon a scientific basis. the whole question was so big and so vital that even despite war-time pressure the lane commission took until may, , to render its decision in favor of considerable increases to almost every type and rank of railroad worker. it unquestionably was a fair decision. some that followed may not have been so fair; mcadoo unquestionably was led far afield himself by some of his advisers in elaborate and almost absurd attempts at standardized wage and working agreements. yet at the time he took over the railroads for the government the rank and file of railroaders unquestionably were underpaid--in certain cases grossly underpaid, and with their living costs rising by leaps and by bounds. this entire question of railroad labor, its rights and its wage, is so involved and so complicated in detail that i am going to leave it for another portion of this book. it is enough to say here in review of the mcadoo administration that on december , , thirteen days before he assumed control, the total number of employees upon the class i roads of the land ( per cent. of the railroad mileage of the country; all save the lines with gross revenues of less than a million dollars a year) was , , ; on january , , four days after he had relinquished control, it had grown to , , --an increase of , , or . per cent. yet the pay-roll expense, which had been . per cent. of all operating costs in , had only risen to . per cent. it was not until the following year that an average increase of nearly per cent. in railroad wages was granted, in the face of a still generally increasing cost of living. but by the next year mcadoo was out of the job. the armistice had been signed on november , , and immediately thereafter mr. wilson gave heed to mr. mcadoo's protestations that, the war-time emergency having passed, he was no longer needed and that he must go out into the world to recoup his shattered personal fortune. accordingly he ceased to be director-general of the united states railroad administration on january , , and was immediately succeeded by his right-hand assistant, walker d. hines, whom we have seen already as the one-time chairman of the board of the immensely important santa fé railway system. hines is in many ways the very antithesis of mcadoo. there is nothing dramatic or spectacular about him whatever. on the contrary he is what he began to be, a typical corporation lawyer, cool-headed, judicial, shrewd, and honest. he probably would tell you himself that he broadened a good deal down in the offices of the railroad administration. i could see the changes. he became vastly more human; his washington experience seemed to quicken his sympathies and to broaden his understanding of men. his job was vastly different from that of mcadoo. the job, like the man, now lacked fireworks. there were no longer troops and their munitions to be moved double-quick to the seaboard; instead there was the rather leisurely return of the boys in khaki to their homes. industrial production across the land was slackening, not quickly but appreciably. oddly enough, however, railroad revenues still were increasing; they were not to reach their peak until near the end of . total operating revenues of the class i roads, which were $ , , , in , and which had increased to $ , , , in , came to $ , , , in . in they reached, under the stimulus of tariff increases ranging from to per cent., the enormous summit total of $ , , , . in the first ten months of , the most recent figures at hand, they were but $ , , , , as compared with $ , , , for the same ten months of . it was under the hines administration that most of the national working agreements were made, to which the private railroad operators were to take such extreme exception after the return of the properties to their control. but again i must ask you to defer comment or criticism until we have taken up the entire question of railroad labor as a sizable problem by itself. it is enough to say here that hines encountered a very considerable opposition when he raised wages generously, and raised rates not at all. the fact remains, nevertheless, that mr. hines had in his stewardship a very thankless job at the best; it is always hard to follow a prima donna upon the stage. and mcadoo was some prima donna! yet in loyalty and in energy hines gave place to no one. he took the thankless job and made the best of it. he undermined his health by his devotion to it and received no praise from any quarter. his best reward must come in his own knowledge that, all in all, he did a good job, with difficult timber--the best of the subordinates of the railroad administration already were leaving it for future peace-time jobs of permanency--and with no encouragement whatsoever. and when the united states railroad administration ceased its active career upon march , , and handed the railroads back to their owners for operation, i fancy that none was more rejoiced than walker d. hines. what then was the net result of our first--and possibly our last--national experiment in the government operation of our huge railroad plant? even to-day, fully twenty-four months removed from the experiment itself, that is a difficult question to answer quickly and fairly. it is even difficult to say that, regarded merely as an experiment, it was a fair test. certainly no laboratory expert deliberately would choose the critical final hours of a great war as an ideal time for dispassionate experimentation. it was in such hours that mcadoo, who was the head and front of the entire experiment, worked. when his successor came to high office the entire country was in the "let-down" that swept across the land as the very natural sequence of great national tension and endeavor. the distinguished writer upon railroad economies, william j. cunningham, james j. hill professor of transportation at harvard and himself for a time a subordinate executive of the railroad administration, does not believe that the experiment was a success. in a recent issue of the "quarterly journal of economics" he says: finally we ask ourselves whether our recent experiment in federal control affords an adequate test of the desirability of a permanent policy of public ownership and management. the answer is plainly in the negative. the results in were favorable. in they were unfavorable. they were favorable in because at that time we were actively engaged in war, every influence of patriotism supported the railroad administration, and the organization was held at concert pitch by the critical military needs. the unfavorable results in may be attributed in greater part to the pronounced reaction from war-time strain, to the serious decline in traffic, and to the disintegration of the organization in a too prolonged closing period. no one should question the expediency of the government's action in taking the railroads in the emergency. the centralization of power and the more effective coördination with other branches of the government in the crisis made possible effective results in the utilization of equipment and facilities, which would have been much more difficult under private management. but it is not proper to treat that period as the test of what might be expected under normal conditions. as regards the unfavorable year, , it would be as unfair to make that a test of government operation as it would be to take the present period of subnormal traffic and disturbed economic conditions as the final test of private management. those who advocate nationalization and look upon the results of both years as favorable to government operation must concede that they are to be credited to railroad men who rose to the emergency. the proponents of nationalization who are disappointed in the results of the two years attribute the failures to the fact that the real management during the greater part of federal control was in the hands of men who were brought up under private management and who therefore could not or would not avail themselves of the advantages of unification. it is plain therefore that nothing definite can be proved from the results of - . a real test of government operation is possible only if carried on over a longer period--one in which business conditions are normal and in which political expediency would have normal play. the period under review was so abnormal that the results are valueless as guides to what might be expected from similar control or complete government ownership when normal conditions return. i do not agree entirely with professor cunningham. i am not a "government ownership (or operation) man," but i feel that the experiment of the united states railroad administration, despite the tremendously difficult conditions under which it was operated, and also despite the fact that it was made at a very inopportune and inappropriate time, did have much real value. unquestionably the time set for the experiment was far too short. both mr. mcadoo and mr. hines went on public record as saying that there be at least five years of peace to show their plan at its full worth. but even in twenty-six brief and hectic months many things were developed that should be, that must be eventually, of great value to the present private operators of our railroads. of many of these things as well as the possibilities for their development, this book will have to tell. the railroad administration at least pointed the way to them. in view of that, shall we not be broad enough to overlook its errors and its mistakes, and yet call it a real advance toward the solution of a national problem that advances sluggishly to that end? chapter iv the return of private operation before the roads could be actually handed back to their owners for operation once more, it was highly necessary of course that a definite plan be formulated, not only for the method of transfer but for the protection of the roads against the deficit that was piling up steadily against them. congress, which hates to be definite about anything, wrestled with the problem through dreary and seemingly endless weeks, and then in the last few days--nay, even hours--before the date set for the return of the properties--march , --passed the hastily constructed and far from satisfactory transportation act, which speedily went to president wilson at the white house and there was signed by him. there has been so much discussion, so much argument pro and con, about this measure that i am going to present a carefully made resumé of it, originally prepared for a group of business men who sought to make a most impartial study of the measure. the act itself provides that the railroads of the united states shall be operated by private corporations under a comprehensive system of government regulation. one of the very best things about the act is that in its very essence it represents a fair interpretation of the feeling of the majority of the american people after two years of government operation. that that majority did not take into account the great difficulties under which both mcadoo and hines worked is not germane to the present point. it saw their mistakes--the waste as well as the many efficiencies of the railroad administration--and it demanded a prompt return to private operation. under the pressure of this public opinion--some of it very skilfully aided, to be sure, by inspired propagandists--the members of congress who framed the transportation act were almost unanimous in their honest belief that in the hands of private corporations the railroads could be operated more economically and more efficiently and would give better service than would be possible under government operation. the transportation act came as a very natural sequence to such a belief. * * * * * the most important provisions of the act are: ( ) that on march , , federal operation shall cease and the railroads shall be returned to private operation. ( ) that under a new rule of rate-making the railroads shall be assured adequate revenues; and adequacy shall be defined in the first two years as a net return of - / or per cent. on the fair value of the property as determined by governmental authority. ( ) that during the transition period the government shall aid in restoring the financial stability and the credit of the railroads: (a) by continuing the government guaranty of a standard return for six months after the roads are returned to their owners; (b) by creating a revolving fund of $ , , from which the roads may obtain under certain conditions short-term loans to meet their most pressing needs; (c) by extending the carrier indebtedness for capital expenditures made by the government during federal control for a period of ten years with interest at per cent.; and (d) by the creation of a reserve fund containing one-half of the excess earnings of those railroads whose net earnings exceed the per cent. specified in the rule of rate-making. ( ) that the rates and services of interstate carriers shall continue to be regulated by the interstate commerce commission; that the commission shall be enlarged by the addition of two new members, making eleven in all; and that the commission shall have authority: (a) to make inquiry continuously concerning the transportation facilities and services of the whole country, and when and how they should be improved; the state of the credit of all common carriers; and the new capital which the public interest may require any carrier to secure; (b) to permit the consolidation of two or more carriers provided that such consolidation is in harmony with a comprehensive plan (previously adopted by the commission) for consolidating all of the railroads of the country in a limited number of strong competing systems, and also provided that, in the opinion of the commission, the proposed consolidation is in the public interest; (c) to fix interstate rates that shall be just, reasonable, and adequate; (d) to determine the valuation of railroad property; (e) to prescribe a uniform accounting system for all carriers; (f) to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over capital expenditures and the issuance of securities by carriers; (g) to prohibit the extension of present lines or the construction or acquisition of new lines by any carrier until it has obtained from the commission a certificate of public necessity and convenience; (h) to require the construction of docks and rail connections between rail and water carriers; (i) to provide when necessary for the redistribution of traffic and for joint use of terminals; (j) to exercise jurisdiction over the use, control, and supply as well as the movement, distribution, and interchange of locomotives and cars and also over the supply, movement, and operation of trains; and (k) to order a carrier to install automatic train-stop or train-control devices. ( ) that the wages and working conditions of railroad employees shall be regulated by a railroad labor board composed of three representatives of the carriers, three representatives of the employees, and three representatives of the public; and that disputes between the carriers and their employees in regard to rules or working conditions may be referred to railroad boards of labor adjustment--local, regional, or national--voluntarily organized between the roads and their employees, or if such boards are not voluntarily formed, such disputes shall be decided by the railroad labor board. like almost all hastily constructed and compromise measures the transportation act falls considerably short of being an entirely satisfactory solution of a difficult problem. perhaps the best that can be said of it is that it is probably the best that could be expected out of congress. it is not fair as yet to assume that it is a failure. but on the other hand how can it be to-day accounted a real success? it has not returned to the carriers its promised per cent. upon their capital. please notice that i say "promised," not "guaranteed." the last word is incorrectly used in too many instances. the transportation act endeavors to fix rates that will bring in - / or per cent. to the railroads; at no time does it _guarantee_ them. and even this set figure of - / to per cent. expired march , , two years after the enactment of the statute. thereafter the adequacy of the return is left to the judgment of the interstate commerce commission. quite a difference from a per cent. guarantee! to-day railroad stocks lie virtually inert within the market. gun-shy investors in wall street, and elsewhere too, will have nothing of them. they know the facts. despite the radical advances made in both passenger and freight-rates since the adoption of the much-heralded transportation act, earnings have not measurably increased. the slight net return earned in the last ten months of --but . per cent., as against the expected per cent.--was wiped out by the poor business of the first two months of ; with the result that the net result of the first twelvemonth of private operation was an actual slight deficit. as a year, was absolutely the worst in the history of american railroading. the total net return for the twelve months ending november , , was less than . per cent.--considerably less than the promised , or even - / . the situation to-day is hardly improved, despite desperate efforts on the part of the roads to reduce their operating expenses. what they have accomplished along these lines, aside from a further lowering of the reduced service that they are rendering these days, is shown in the fact that by june, , they had brought their wages and transportation costs to eighty-two cents out of each dollar that they earn, and by october it was seventy-four cents. less than a year before this was slightly over ninety-five cents. by the present time it is just above seventy. the roads themselves are now inclined to attribute much of their financial depression to two things; to the vast industrial slump with its obvious effect upon their revenues, and to their huge pay-rolls. ingeniously they argued this last point before the railroad labor board out at chicago in the early summer of and succeeded in getting a cut of some $ , , in their huge annual wage-bill. but the average railroader of the rank and file still is paid considerably over per cent. more than in . (in exact figures his average pay to-day--on an eight-hour day basis--is $ for the twelvemonth, as compared with $ nine years ago.) this is the figure, along with the figures representing his increased fuel and tax and material costs, that he uses when he justifies the increase of his carrying charges. yet the potent fact remains that the high rates are not only not attracting business but actually are driving it away. the long-haul use of the motor-truck, to which i shall refer in more detail in due time, is not due in these days of industrial depression to a lack of box-cars or to yard congestion, but is a protest against the existing rates. and that the railroads themselves are not deaf to these protests is shown by the fact that under the guise of "revising" their freight charges they are actually beginning to lower them. i am inclined to the belief that the partial failure at least of the transportation act must have taught all the wise men at washington, and also a goodly number of our fairly wise railroaders, one distinct thing: you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. which, being freely translated, means that you can raise railroad rates to a point where traffic begins to fade away, to find other pathways for itself, or to cease altogether. this is particularly true of passenger rates. a nation-wide rate of more than three and one-half cents a mile, with a heavy increase in the pullman rates to keep pace, is not a particular inducement to travelers. moreover the persistent refusal of our railroads to create a lower class of fares than the standard, with a slightly lowered quality of service, give the would-be traveler of modest means no alternative whatever, except possibly to ride in a small motor-car, or to stay at home. a good many of them are riding in motor-cars these days; and a good many more are staying at home. the passenger revenue of our railroads in was per cent. less than in the preceding year. which is commended to the attention of official washington. consider now the railroads handed back on march , , to their old-time owners--fairfax harrison returning from his temporary habitat at richmond to his familiar offices in the southern railway building in the city of washington, mr. rea, mr. willard, mr. underwood, and others who were temporarily deposed from power triumphantly returning to it. triumph is the word. the southern signalized its return to its own by having its new time-tables, fashioned with their familiar yellow covers and with the odious words, "united states railroad administration," glaringly missing, ready upon that memorable first day of march. it did more. upon its lines it terminated instanter the use of the railroad's administration passes which had been given rather freely to the henchmen of that branch of federal service. other roads quickly ended the life of those passes; but generally gave their holders time to get home with them. not so with the southern. for it the u. s. r. a. cardboards ended their value at midnight on february , . after that they were good as souvenirs, and as nothing else. the unlucky wight who chanced to hold one, and no other pass, paid his fare from midnight on. personal feelings again came into play. one federal manager of an eastern railroad, who had had the audacity to move his former chief, the corporation's president, out of an office that the old man loved, lost his job for his temerity. he was not the only executive who lost his job. r. h. aishton, who had been president of the chicago and northwestern railway at the time of the creation of the united states railroad administration, and whose rare ability as an operating executive had been recognized by mcadoo in his appointment to the post of the regional director at chicago, did not return to his old position. it is understood that he incurred the disfavor of marvin hughitt. mr. hughitt is the last of the old guard of american railroad executives. he was born near auburn, new york, in , has lived in illinois since , and at eighty-five years of age is still the active controlling influence in the great northwestern property. he has, to my knowledge, but one senior in the whole business, chauncey m. depew, chairman of the board of the new york central railroad, who is eighty-nine years old; but mr. depew long since was very glad to relinquish the reins of operating detail of that great vanderbilt property to younger and more energetic men. not so with mr. hughitt. his grip upon the northwestern has been a firm one indeed. he has held his road to many old-time traditions. the lemon-yellow color of its passenger-coaches; the english fashion that it has of running its trains to the left upon double-track and not to the right, as is the ordinary american fashion; its generous, not to say profuse, local and suburban service--all of these are hughitt. since the death of the late henry clay frick of pittsburg and new york some years ago, there has been no one to oppose him. frick could and frequently did. it is hard to conceive of any one successfully opposing mr. frick. with mr. hughitt absolute dictator of chicago and northwestern there was none to oppose his arbitrary dictum in regard to mr. aishton. the fact that aishton had been reared upon the property, that his record upon it was not only good but great, apparently counted for nothing. he was dropped. he had offended "the old man." that was a heinous offense for which there was no possible excuse. aishton's powerful friends in the railroad world rallied to his defense. they elected him president of the american railway association at a salary reputed to be equal to that paid him by the northwestern. apparently it is not only mcadoo who can afford to indulge his whim in personalities. before the railroad administration ceased its actual operation of the roads it began the restoration of much of the pre-war service, particularly of the passenger service. soon after the signing of the armistice and the removal of military pressure upon the carriers the important through trains that had been removed--the broadway limited and the congressional chief among them--were returned to their former schedules, although not in every case with the same high degree of service as before. it was not, for instance, until the return of private control that the fastest trains between chicago and the pacific coast brought to their pre-war standard of approximately sixty-nine hours. the mcadoo administration as a war measure had lengthened this schedule to seventy-two hours. yet it was mcadoo who, once the war emergency was passed, removed the half-cent-a-mile extra charge that he had established against people who rode in pullmans or other forms of sleeping and parlor-cars and left the fare at a flat three cents a mile--where it should have been suffered to remain in the interest of the railroads themselves. the interstate commerce commission raised it to . cents a mile, upon hints from the private operators of the roads. it is but fair to add, however, that there are certain members of the commission who long ago had conceived the idea that the passenger-rates were not bearing their proper burden of the costs of railroad operation. it is these men who have to-day steeled their hearts against any lowering of passenger-rates to a point where the service might at least have some competitive attraction against that of the automobile, publicly or privately owned or operated. in all this discussion at the moment of the possible lowering of freight-rates nothing whatever is being breathed of a readjustment of passenger-fares, with the single exception of a recent bill passed in the united states senate for the enactment of a federal statute compelling the roads to sell mileage-books at a low wholesale rate. this neglect of itself is, i think, a most unhealthy sign. while the per cent. lowering of passenger revenues in as against is a fairly definite expression of that unhealthiness. to my mind this is not entirely a question of the proper equalization of operating costs to revenues; the question of setting the tariffs of charges to a point where business shall again be attracted to the railroads, to my way of thought, is the real kernel of the problem. that is the way that the average merchant or manufacturer would look at the similar problems that confront him. to get the business the rates must be made attractive. if it then becomes necessary to reduce operating costs so as to exist at the lowered revenues, then the business man will move heaven and earth to reduce his costs. apparently the interstate commerce commission does not see the question in this light. one understanding the complexion of its membership would hardly expect it so to see it. the commission is absolutely honest and, to a large extent, able; but it is generally dull. it has no traffic sense; no sense of salesmanship. it has no vision. it always looks backward, rarely forward. being composed almost exclusively of lawyers,--long ago it was recognized apparently that it would be a fearful thing to place an honest, far-sighted, energetic railroad executive in its personnel,--it spends a great deal of time seeking for precedent. therefore it hardly can be expected to look forward. "what _is_ the precedent?" it keeps asking. "how has it always been done in the past?" this is one of the very great reasons why our railroads to-day are not marching forward in step with the progress of the other great businesses of america, why so often they are called, and with such a deadly truth, "the sick man of american business," why they have lost so much of public confidence and of public support, why the morale not only of the rank and file but of many of the executives as well has come to so low a pass. the railroads of the united states to-day, deprived of so much of their initiative by the government, should at least be able to look to that government for some real qualities of inspiration and of leadership. such qualities they need. such qualities are not being given to them. the sick man needs medicine, physical and mental, not abuse. the interstate commerce commission should be made into a doctor who can cure as most good doctors do cure these days, not by nostrums alone, but by good cheer and inspiration. * * * * * one or two things more, if you please, before we are done with this chapter. the railroads generally wormed themselves out of the joint terminal arrangements which mcadoo had made for them, and made in almost every instance to the great comfort of the traveling public. the southern pacific expelled the offensive big santa fé and the almost equally offensive little western pacific from its ancient station and "mole" at oakland opposite san francisco. the pennsylvania prepared to do the same thing with the baltimore and ohio and the lehigh valley at its station in new york. this last move was not carried out. i had something to do myself with preventing it. the question arose in my mind at the termination of federal operation: what will the pennsylvania do with its chief competitor there in its fine station upon manhattan island? will it do the obviously competitive thing and thrust the baltimore and ohio out, along with the lehigh valley into the bargain? a little questioning developed the fact that that was its precise plan. the question of rental charges did not enter into the situation. the pennsylvania was not direct in its explanation; it did not say, as it might honestly have said: "we built this big, expensive station as a competitive move, and we do not purpose to share the fruits of our enterprise with a competitor who did not share the great risk of the undertaking." it merely said that there was not room in the station for the fourteen daily trains of the baltimore and ohio and the eight of the little lehigh valley. it was handling of its own trains there, and about of the long island in addition, but it could not find room for twenty-two other trains. here was railroad competition showing its most disagreeable side to the public weal. the man who lived at martinsburg, west virginia, or cumberland, maryland, or virtually any of the other non-competitive points of the baltimore and ohio was to be penalized henceforth in the name of competition. having enjoyed great comfort and facility under the non-competitive plan of the united states railroad administration in the use of the pennsylvania station in the heart of manhattan, he was now to be shoved back into the old station at communipaw, just below jersey city, with its slow and cumbersome ferry connections across the hudson river. it was not likely that he would henceforth become an enthusiast over the competitive system of railroading. the whole thing seemed so absurd that i took it upon myself to mention it in the public prints. that apparently did the trick. publicity ofttimes does. the pennsylvania changed its position; in a big and graceful and generous way it waived what apparently were its obvious competitive rights in the situation, and invited both the baltimore and ohio and the lehigh valley to remain at least for some years to come in its great new york passenger terminal. the invitation was accepted with alacrity. most of the consolidated ticket-offices still remain, although there is a constant disposition among the more independent of our separate railroads to break away from them. theoretically offering far better facilities to the traveler than the separate city offices, practically they rarely do this. for one thing, despite their brave show of mahogany and other fine forms of office fittings, they frequently are under-manned, particularly in seasons of heavy travel. and a man in a hurry going to one of them frequently is compelled to wait an outrageously long time. the fact also remains that the so-called weaker lines that use them seem so submerged as hardly to have a fair chance at the competitive traffic. a small railroad can make a large showing with an attractive office in the heart of a big city. relatively it outshadows its neighbor. where the individual roads have remained in the consolidated offices up to the present time, it has been largely the result of a laudable desire to stand by their fellows. the railroad administration forced some one line in each large city to assume the rental of the consolidated offices. in chicago, for instance, the ten-year lease (at $ , a year) of the consolidated ticket-office fell upon the broad shoulders of the burlington. with the exception of the northwestern system, which showed a particular antipathy to the late railroad administration, virtually all the large roads have remained with the burlington. there is moreover an economy argument in the consolidated office that is not without its appeal to the railroad executive. the only question in the mind of his traffic expert is whether the economy argument is not completely overcome by the additional business to be gained by a red-hot competitive little separate office. of course if all the lines coming into any large city should maintain red-hot competitive little separate offices the gain would be theoretical rather than real. there might be some passenger traffic actually created by the brave showing of the separate offices, but i think that it would be negligible. the convenient universally interchangeable mileage-book that mcadoo installed (with his name printed upon each third tiny coupon) has been retained with all of its universal privileges, up to the present time at least. but no longer with the name of mcadoo brightly displayed. it still represents no saving to the purchaser over the price of individual separate tickets, though offering a certain convenience in the checking of through baggage, in making pullman reservations and the like. yet the putting through of the senate bill authorizing the interstate commerce commission to reduce its price bids fair at last to lead toward a correction of this precise phase of the situation. gradually a pretty well-defined feeling is being developed that railroad passenger-fares in the united states to-day are entirely too high. "not more fares but more riders" is a slogan which a young man who is developing traffic for street railways is using, with telling results. his slogan is quite as applicable to the steam railroads. they apparently have brought their passenger-rates to a point where the riding, always a variable and uncertain quantity, no longer is attracted to their trains. and this is an hour when the motor-car is steadily gaining strength as a competitor of the railroad. the flat abolition of the stop-over privilege which some enthusiastic railroad traffic expert urged upon mcadoo is now being slowly worn down again, at least to the point where most of the stop-over privileges that were in existence in pre-war days have now been restored. the traffic departments of our various railroads all the way across the land at last are beginning to unbend. the traveler is beginning to regain his old-time privileges. we do progress. chapter v the present-day situation yet our progress is by no means rapid; it easily may be described in the one word "halting." in the opening chapter of this book i directed attention to the ravages in the service of our national railroad structure that any man can readily find for himself. to discover, specifically, how the passenger train service across much of the land has been depleted he has but to turn over the pages of that ponderous tome, the "official guide of the railways of the united states." the many, many trains of yesterday that are missing to-day even after the partial reparations to this important branch of the railroad's social obligation to the nation that the railroad administration made after the war crisis show the deletions that have been made. there too he might find how the speed of most of the trains that remain is slackened. i have no argument to present for the excessively fast train in the united states; it is a risk and an extravagance that we can well afford to do without. one of the shrewdest moves that the new york central and the pennsylvania systems made was, some seven or eight years ago, when they lengthened the running time of their fastest new york-chicago trains from eighteen to twenty hours. there is little doubt that the new york central, at least, could operate a train between these two cities in sixteen hours or in a very few minutes in excess of that time by the use of the long straight tangents of its michigan central subsidiary across the southerly portions of ontario and michigan. but at what strain upon the men back of the enormously efficient machine, at what great risk to life and property! despite the proverbial reputation of the american for great haste in everything, we have had but little desire in this country for extreme high-speed trains such as our friends overseas take such keen delight in boasting about. a few years ago the world was running riot on train speed. we had our two rival eighteen-hour expresses between new york and chicago, to say nothing of the once famous empire state doing the miles between new york and buffalo in exactly eight hours. it was that train which a short distance west of rochester once reached the unofficial speed of - / miles an hour, and held it for several minutes. there were a dozen mile-a-minute expresses between camden, opposite philadelphia, and atlantic city, divided between the pennsylvania and reading systems. the latter road, in connection with the central railroad of new jersey, ran fast expresses each hour of the day between jersey city, communipaw station, and the market street terminal in philadelphia, a distance of ninety miles, in an hour and fifty minutes. and the management of the new haven was purposing to establish a four-hour train between new york and boston-- miles. in those days our british cousins were maintaining our pace, or possibly going it a little better. competing roads on each side of great britain all the way from london up to aberdeen, its northernmost large city, were at each other's throats. the london and northwestern and the caledonian railways, working together, operated a train from london to perth which on the greater part of its run was scheduled for actual operation at - / miles an hour and which was given but two hours and five minutes for the - / miles between carlisle and stirling. finally the competition reached a point where these roads--the so-called "west coast route"--had a regularly scheduled train from london to aberdeen, miles, in eight hours and thirty-two minutes. this was considerably better than the east coast route--chiefly the great northern, the northeastern, and the north british railways--ever succeeded in doing. their best regular schedule, even though their route was seventeen miles shorter, was eight hours and forty-two minutes. the best regular trains on the crack chicago and alton, the shortest route between chicago and st. louis, take to-day seven hours and forty-five minutes to traverse the miles intervening between those two important cities. it is miles across level country from chicago to kansas city by the double-tracked santa fé--a distance ninety miles less than by the west coast route from london to aberdeen--yet the santa fé's best train between chicago to kansas city takes eleven hours and twenty-five minutes for the run. and even then it is not permitted to carry passengers; the best passenger time is five or ten minutes longer. i do not think that we americans can be called speed crazy. great britain also has now slowed her trains down. she progressed that way before the beginning of the war. a nasty accident or two close to the beginning of the century was responsible for the change; while the war itself, as in this country, slowed the fast train schedules to a vast extent. now her service is back to its old general standard of reasonable (but no longer excessive) high speeds in almost every direction out of london. there are abundant service expresses running in an even four hours between that city and both manchester, miles, and liverpool, miles. competition is supposed to have forced this service. competition is forever supposed to be forcing service. yet on the non-competitive great western railway i rode, but a few months ago, from london to bath, miles, in an even two hours, while across the channel, i had ridden, but a few weeks before that, over the war-struck eastern railway of france ninety miles from paris to rheims in just sixty seconds less than an even two hours. we have slackened our running time appreciably in the united states these days; very wisely, i think, in the case of the twenty-hour trains between new york and chicago. as a matter of fact the twentieth century limited, doing the miles of the longer high-speed route between those two cities, from : o'clock one afternoon (eastern time) to : o'clock the next morning (central time), still makes a remarkable train performance. the pennsylvania still has two or three of the mile-a-minute flyers in service between camden and atlantic city-- . miles in fifty-seven or fifty-eight minutes. the reading has one or two of its flyers left, not only between those points, but between philadelphia and jersey city. yet this is about all of the mile-a-minute work. from here the slackening in time is appreciable until we come to the comparatively slow performances of the high-grades between chicago and the cities that lie back of it. the new haven no longer talks about a four-hour train from new york to boston; it has lengthened its schedule between those cities. there also has been a slight lengthening of the one-time high-speed schedules between new york and washington. there has been a let-down. the once proud empire state express now takes nine hours instead of eight to go from new york to buffalo, while out upon the pacific coast the tremendously high-speed expresses of the santa fé between san francisco and los angeles, the saint and the angel, which we saw but a little time ago being summarily dropped by the mcadoo administration, have never been restored. they are not likely to be restored. the southern pacific takes thirteen hours and one-half for its best express between san francisco and los angeles, a run of miles. but a moment ago we saw the west coast system of england doing miles in eight hours and thirty-two minutes, and keeping it up month in and month out. similarly the s. p. takes twenty-nine hours and ten minutes for its best train between portland and san francisco, a distance of miles. it is miles from paris to marseilles; the best regular express train between those two cities makes the run in twelve hours and thirty-three minutes. it is miles from paris to nice; a regularly scheduled passenger train does it to-day in seventeen hours. and yet the french railway executives promise that they will do much better. in these things we are not progressing. take once again the worst of our national transport picture, the vexed new england situation. i have just referred to the slight lengthening of the time of the fast trains between new york and boston, rather than any expected possible shortening of their schedules. the new york-boston services of both the new haven and the boston and albany roads are not typical, however, of the service that is being given new england these days; if it were there would be no large cause for complaint. it represents in fact the very top notch of the passenger service of the six most congested states in the union, the very states which by all right and sense should to-day be enjoying the best passenger service, not the worst. we have seen already the deplorable state into which the suburban service in and out of boston has long since fallen. boston is not all of new england, even though some bostonians may so believe. take the case of the fitchburg. the fitchburg started off as a railroad with good prospects. for it was bored the spectacular hoosac tunnel ( - / miles in length), upon the completion of which the fitchburg became the short-line between boston and both troy and albany. the lordly boston and albany meanders magnificently through the high hills of the berkshires, and takes much longer for the process. unfortunately the little fitchburg road never had much of a chance for its money. the close traffic alliances between the boston and albany and the new york central, which preceded the actual leasing of the one road by the other, gave it little or no chance for through freight between new england and the west. its short mileage and well-built line availed it nothing. eventually it fell into the hand of the boston and maine and became, in large part at least, a local line, taking from the new york central and the delaware and hudson such freight as the boston and albany would not or could not take. yet for years it kept up a brave show. it ran between boston and buffalo and chicago and detroit and st. louis sleeping-cars a-plenty. it had an excellent dining-car service too. the dining-cars are gone from the fitchburg these days. it has become indeed a very secondary stem of the boston and maine. two parlor-cars ply their way daily on slow trains between boston and troy; recently a boston-buffalo sleeper was added to the service. the road has lost not only its name but its personality and its service too. what is true of the fitchburg is equally true of the erstwhile housatonic. equally true also is the fact that twenty-five years ago the best train between pittsfield and new york made the run in an hour's time less than the best train on that line consumes to-day. there were more trains too, just as there were more trains then on the new haven and northampton line, the connecticut river, the new england, the boston and providence, and a dozen other little individual roads that long since lost their name, their prestige, their individuality, and, what is far more important, their intimate personal touch with their patrons and their employees. the main line express trains of the new haven between boston and new york, either by the way of springfield or by providence, have not lost their excellence to-day, neither have the main line express trains of the boston and albany nor the boston and maine's trains to portland and points far beyond, although there are none too many of them and they are none too generous in their accommodations. it is in the branch line trains, just as in the branch line stations, that the new england passenger service has not progressed but has distinctly retrograded. descend beneath the obvious. ignore even the sickening decline in railroad dividends, whether average or cumulative--the records of wall street will give you all that you want of these--and come to the deterioration of the roads as shown in hard and unsentimental figures. the condition of the locomotives and cars of almost all of our railroads had begun to decline seriously even before the days of the railroad administration. when that supreme governmental organization came into being it pledged itself to return to the carriers their properties at least as well and as fully equipped as upon the day it took them over. it did not quite succeed in doing this. the extent to which it failed, by the statistics referring to freight-cars alone, was as follows: in , the year of private railroad operation immediately preceding those of government control, our national transport structure had , , freight-cars, which was much less than it should have had. the roads had failed to build enough equipment to keep pace with the overwhelming increase of traffic, which almost at the very beginning of the world war had been thrust upon them. under almost all circumstances they found it necessary to "scrap" or otherwise remove from service approximately , worn-out cars each year. for several years before their construction of new cars had barely more than kept pace with this annual loss. yet under governmental operation things went from bad to worse; despite its orders for , box-cars the railroad administration did not buy enough cars to keep pace with those that were being scrapped. in the total freight-car equipment of our carriers had declined to , , , in to , , , in to , , --in other words a total decline since of , --while the normal increase of our transport plant called for an increase of at least twice this number of cars and certainly admitted no decrease whatever. in this connection, i think that it is at least worth a paragraph in passing to notice that in the seven years ending with our railroads increased their freight traffic per cent. in those same years they added , freight-cars and , freight locomotives to their existing equipment. in the seven years that ended with the traffic increased again--virtually in the same ratio, per cent.--but only , freight-cars and freight-locomotives were added to the total rolling-stock. in but , new freight-cars were purchased and but locomotives of all types. it is no wonder that many of our railroaders now view with real apprehension any return of heavy traffic. moreover not only the number but the condition of the individual cars has declined. a small eastern city which i know very well indeed is a brisk point in interchange freight. it is also a water port of fair importance, to which a large number of coal-cars come in the average summer and autumn. last autumn i noticed that many of these cars were in a pathetic state of disrepair. the yardmaster explained it to me. "the first time they come through from the mines," he said, "they will have their hoppers braced with a bit of timber so as to keep all the coal from spilling out upon the tracks before they even reach here. somehow that timber will get lost before the car gets back to the mines again. the mine-bosses will put in a flooring this time. fine business, that! the hoppers won't work at all then, and thirty tons of coal have to be shoveled out by hand--at the present price of labor!" think of this single all-too-typical instance many times multiplied; combine this fact with that of the great decrease of freight-cars of any sort upon our rails to-day and you begin to get the measure of the true condition of our sick man of american business. to-day approximately , of the freight-cars of the united states are reported as being in bad order. and while a "bad-order" car may be, and frequently is, used for some forms of rail traffic (as for instance a leaky grain-car utilized for the shipment of automobiles) the fact remains that nearly per cent. of our total freight-car equipment stands in great need of large repairs or of replacement, while per cent. of our locomotives are so far gone that they have been thrust upon the sidings virtually abandoned. in another chapter we shall see how these locomotives might be rejuvenated and put to work again, more efficient than ever before. for this one however consider them nil and valueless to the american railroad. it was partly to remedy conditions such as these as well as to provide for the return of the roads to private operation that the transportation act was passed. for there is not only a great rolling-stock shortage but virtually little or no extension of our railroad structure. as recently as in the decade from to , , miles of brand-new line--a larger route mileage than that of almost any other nation in the world--were laid down. since there have been virtually no new railroads in the united states. the comparatively small san diego and arizona railroad was completed but a year ago, but this was more than offset by the abandonment and removal of such lines as the buffalo and susquehanna and the colorado midland, to take two instances out of several. in only miles of new railroad line were built in the united states, while miles were abandoned. in service was discontinued on more miles of railroad. for six years past our total rail mileage has been going backwards, not rapidly but steadily and perceptibly; the small amount being constructed each year is being rapidly overbalanced by that which is being torn up. our sick man of american business is a very sick man indeed. up to a decade ago our railroads were still busy increasing and enlarging their terminals, double-tracking their single-track lines, and three-tracking and four-tracking their double-track ones. the union pacific was achieving the distinction of being the first long-distance double-track line in the great west; in the east the erie, the lackawanna, and the baltimore and ohio were completing their remarkable series of cut-offs. all this has ceased, even though the necessity for its continuation has not ceased. for if the country does not absolutely stand in need of new trunk-lines to-day there still is a vast and unanswered demand for feeder branches in many, many corners of it, for duplication of tracks upon existing and badly overcrowded single-track and double-track lines. new york, buffalo, cleveland, cincinnati, pittsburg--other important cities as well--fairly cry aloud for a revision and extension of their terminal facilities, and cry in vain. * * * * * rates have been increased, comparatively recently, to a point, as we have seen, not only higher than the most imaginative of our rail traffic experts might have dreamed five years ago but, as i have remarked already, to one where the traffic instead of being attracted to our carriers is actually being driven away from them; and some of the wiser executives have come to the point of asking the interstate commerce commission for a modification of rates. from a niggardly policy of former years toward the railroads in regard to rates, this body, in professed obedience to the transportation act, raised them to the prohibitive point. now it is beginning to see the error of its ways and, as we have seen at the behest of actual railroaders, is lowering certain of the freight charges, although not in any general or particularly scientific fashion. recently the commission responded to a large public pressure by permitting the roads to reduce their freight rates on farm products per cent. for a test period of six months, with the possibility that further freight rate reductions will be made. and finally, as we all know, wages are now being reduced. already they have been brought down half a billion dollars a year, and in all likelihood they will be even further lowered. as to the justice or wisdom of all this we shall talk presently. the fact remains here and now that a generous step has been taken in bringing down the greatest single item of the cost of conducting railroad transportation, while some of the other costs, chiefly materials, to-day are being reduced automatically by the steady fall in market quotations of supplies of every sort. the situation slowly but surely is working itself through. * * * * * on the other hand, what does the public demand in this railroad situation? what is the opinion of the man on the station platform? surely he has a voice in the matter. he rides on the train, if not daily as a commuter, then perhaps as often as every week or every fortnight. he talks. he observes. he forms conclusions. and some of these last might be accepted as fairly indicative of his needs as a constant patron of the railroad in both its freight and its passenger services. the man on the station platform believes first and foremost that transportation in this country, as well as in all others, is not merely railroads or motor-trucks or canal barges--not even aëroplanes, if you please--but a scientific correlation of all of these agents of transport. he believes that each must have its own field in which it reigns supreme because in that field it is the cheapest and the most efficient form of transport. and therefore in that field should be recognized as supreme and so developed. i share these beliefs of my friend who stands on the shady platform awaiting his up-local. i cannot see these agencies in the long run and in the fullest understanding as competitors but as correlators, if such a word may safely be coined. each should supplement the other. in the full understanding of modern business competition has little real value; in the conduct of public utilities it has none whatsoever. we learned long ago that in gas-works or in water-works, in telephone service, even in the traction facilities of our largest metropolitan cities, it was no lasting help in the long run but merely an added expense burden upon the community, and so should be eliminated or at least brought down to its lowest possible level. here then is perhaps the greatest of the burdens that the man outside of the railroad can wish to see removed from it. there are others: the neglect of the fine intensive salesmanship of transportation, which should have been brought to the fore years and years ago; the opportunity for the development of electric traction, of the container system of handling goods, which oddly enough brings us back again to the correlation of the several agents of american transport and the elimination of our absurd competitive plan. all of these things will have had our attention before i am done. the question is one that demands a great deal of attention. the condition of our rails, instead of growing stronger each day, daily grows more precarious. it is obvious that this condition cannot long continue--the service greatly reduced and impaired, the men sullen and ofttimes working at direct cross-purposes to the management, the rates raised to the point where traffic begins to refuse to come to the stations, the financial condition so depressed that railroad securities will not sell under the absurdly uneconomic prevailing conditions, no thought whatsoever being given to the morrow. out of this miserable mass we must raise a program, definite and distinct and statesmanlike, as sound as the program under which we changed our money situation from periodic chaos to vast and proved stability. it must be a program of progress, not a continuation of the absurd artifice of competition years after every other business has found that its economic strength comes in correlation and not in competition, but a genuine progress--progress in the physical fiber of our railroad structure, using the electric motor, the gasolene motor, the industrial terminal, the package container, a dozen other steps as well; progress in the really fine science of selling transportation; progress in human relationship. in such progress there is nothing chimerical, nothing even remotely approaching the fantastic. and in such progress, and nowhere else, can one hope to find a solution of our railroad problem of to-day that even approaches permanency. chapter vi the man factor of the problem progress in human relationship may be, i think, safely permitted at least the consideration of priority in any understanding of our surpassing railroad problem. for it may also be set down as fairly axiomatic that unless we progress in this phase of transport we cannot expect to go ahead in any other department of it. in its tense importance to the larger question this very human problem can be regarded as foundation-like. upon it the railroad structure may yet build. without it, it certainly must fall. for more than two decades past, imagination, virility, foresight have been upon the wane in our railroads of the united states until to-day with these qualities quite gone upon many of them, the debacle of our national transport machine becomes a doubly depressing picture. the man with an idea may be needed upon our carriers but, as we shall see gradually, he is not often wanted there. they are ruled by conservatism; conservatism carried to the last degree. yet only yesterday the man with an idea was at a premium in our railroading; our roads themselves were known for their daring, their strength, their progress. to-day too many of the men who operate them are the abject slaves of a system; the only ideas that they safely may advance are those leading to immediate economies. immediate expenses, even with great and far-reaching economies as their ultimate result, are quite taboo. the railroader no longer may think. apparently he may only execute. what is the reason for this--for the human debacle of our carriers following so closely upon the physical, and in many cases responsible for it? has the american railroader lost his ability to think and to act upon original lines? has he sunk, with the debris of much of his once proud transport system, almost to the limits of degradation? a hundred answers will be made to these questions. some of them will come from banking interests--shrewd men, in banking. these will bear upon the degree of regulation to which our rail carriers are subjected to-day. "these government sharks have killed railroad initiative," it will be said time and time again. there is some truth in that answer, yet i think myself there is greater truth in the statement that absentee ownership of the carriers--if i may be permitted to speak frankly, long-distance banker control--has done far more than regulation, either state or federal, to kill initiative and progress in our transport machine. wall street is likely to think too exclusively in terms of dividends; wall street does not think enough in terms of men. people in wall street, and a good many others outside of that famous thoroughfare as well, think of the difficulties of our railroad problem as things merely of dollars and cents. they feel that the questions of rates and wages, of income and outgo, are the sole factors to decide the future weal or woe of the railroads. if the rates are put high enough and the wages and other items of expenditure are kept low enough the roads will prosper again. these people feel that the problem is solely an economic one. i believe that they are wrong. granted that dollars and cents _do_ enter largely into the problem and its solution, that unless our national system of railroads becomes a real "going concern" it can hope for no continued success, i still feel that the prime point of the entire question is contained in three words, the human factor. this factor comes first, not last. that wall street and other cocksure people have in the past placed it behind the problem of finance, is one of the very large reasons why our american railroads are having such extremely hard sledding at the present moment. the human problem of the railroad may be fairly said to be divided into two classes, that of the patron and that of the employee. before i am done the necessities of the first of these classes will have had attention; for the moment those of the second claim our full interest. there is always that meaningful phrase, "the fine tradition of our american railroading," that we are using again and again because it stands for something very definite, the thing which was largely responsible for the first upgrowth and strength of our railroads and whose loss within recent years has been chiefly responsible for their downfall. it was that tradition, that old-fashioned affection for railroading and loyalty to it, that made men work, not eight hours, but ten or twelve at a single stretch, and under the stress of a great emergency, such as a flood or a blizzard, sometimes sixteen or twenty-four or even forty-eight hours at a stretch. to-day they will not do this. why? it is not a story quickly told. to understand why the railroader of to-day will not work long hours, even in reasonable emergencies, save under the spur of fearfully high overtime pay, why he goes about with indifference in his manner and a lurking grudge in his heart, one must dive beneath the surface of the situation. there he may find the solution of the loss of our railroad tradition. the beginnings of that tradition are in the beginnings of the american railroad itself. they root back to the days when the overland carriers were in that same flash stage of development that in our day we have seen come to the motor-car and the motor-truck--the days when romance rode the steel highway, when it was thrusting its stout tendrils here and there and everywhere, when earnings and enterprise and initiative were all alike unlimited, when, in a word, the railroad called in an all but irresistible way to the rich man's son and the poor man's too, when the banker's clerk a president would be and the farmer's boy had as his supreme ambition the driving of a fast passenger-locomotive. what has become of that farmer's boy who used to stand in a field for a single idle moment to watch the fast express go sweeping by and dream wistfully of future possibilities, or who stood for a fascinated minute beside the iron horse as it paused at the country depot, studying the intricacies of thrust and gear and bearing? alas, he no longer covets railroading. it has ceased to enthrall or even interest him, despite the fact that the swing of the pendulum is to-day all in favor of the rank and file of men who work with their hands upon the railroad. yesterday, in those same golden days of which i have just spoken, the swing was at the other end of the arc. the railroad employee was down; his employer was up. two years ago this giant pendulum had completed its course. the employer was down, the employee up; and something approaching a social revolution in our railroading had been accomplished. the railroad employee--succinctly the two million and a half of the rank and file of railroad workers--had become a political asset. two million and a half direct votes are a bait that few shrewd politicians can ignore. that it was not ignored has in recent years been shown repeatedly, in the passage, by this state legislature and that, of various protective statutes for the railroaders, some of them good and some of them absurd; in the thrusting through congress of the adamson eight-hour law; and in the extreme deference shown by the first federal director-general of railroads to the big brotherhoods and other unions of transport employees, with the final result that those groups of railroad labor which had remained unorganized up to the period of federal control proceeded to organize themselves. the stake was too good. incidentally it may be stated that in past years the average railroad executive was himself the largest single force toward the propagation of trade-unionism within his industry. while decrying its steady growth he placed a premium upon its advantages. let me explain. a few years ago, say ten or fifteen, at the most, there were but four important unions of railroad employees--the four great brotherhoods of train workers: engineers, firemen, conductors, and trainmen. these were and still are high-grade organizations, extremely independent, refusing for many years even to affiliate with the american federation of labor. the men who conducted them were high-grade men of great principle and considerable vision. they fought for the rights of their fellows and fought well, with the result that there were few times when train employees were not adequately paid. at that time the rest of railroad labor, with the very few exceptions, had no national organization; its individual loyalty was given instead to the properties for which it worked. with what result? here is one glowing instance. conductors, then and now, belonged almost without exception to their strong trade organization, the brotherhood of railroad conductors. it took good care of its own. a conductor on a fairly good run might easily earn from $ to $ a month, even in those prosaic days of butter at twenty-five cents a pound. it was a good pay, yet one could hardly say that the average conductor was overpaid. for he was far more than a mere train employee, particularly if he had a passenger run. he was a great point of personal contact between a railroad and its patrons. upon his tact and diplomacy and understanding, or lack of these qualities, his road might rise or fall. true at all times, this was intensified in hotly competitive territory. a good conductor might easily bring or hold patrons for his road, a poor one drive them away to the other line. yet i think you will agree with me that at least an equal point of contact between the railroad and its patron is the man with whom he comes in contact before he boards the train--the station-agent. _his_ tact and diplomacy and understanding have a good deal to do with attracting patronage to the road. yet it was not more than a decade ago that i found in a certain small brisk eastern city of some twenty-five thousand people the chief representative of an important railroad working seven days a week, twelve or fourteen hours a day, and paid $ a month. he knew what the conductors who ran the trains past his station were receiving and it rankled. this was not an unusual case, this high-grade man, working long hours in his office at the passenger station and between trains scurrying out through the town to sell tickets to possible travelers over his line--it was in a genuinely competitive territory. it was all too typical. more than one railroad in past years paid its dividends out of the exploitation of its labor, and to-day is reaping the benefit of its short-sightedness. one can imagine the ease with which the former united states railroad administration was able to help bring about a strong union organization of railroad station-agents and employees! mr. mcadoo was not asleep to the possibilities of this situation. we already have seen how from the outset he extended to labor a place in his cabinet and placed the entire vexed wage situation in the hands of a special commission headed by the late franklin k. lane. now in all fairness and in simple justice to the railroad administration it should be set down that no matter what its motive it did seek to place railroad labor on a more scientific and more human basis with relation to its employer than any private corporation had ever succeeded in giving it. it tried to place the railroad wage on a basis more directly in accord with living costs, and less with mere supply and demand. similarly it endeavored to better the working conditions of the rank and file of the railroaders. that in some of these last cases, particularly those of certain of the so-called national agreements, eventually it went entirely too far, is not to be denied. that is now proved by the willingness of the new federal tribunal, the railroad labor board out at chicago, to abrogate these agreements as soon as the individual carriers shall have succeeded in making new ones with their workers. this last, however, seems to be much easier planned than actually accomplished. months are slipping by and some of the outrageous and expensive agreements still stand, along with some others which are neither outrageous nor expensive. the very worst of the lot, the meticulous arrangements under which a small job on a locomotive headlight (to make a single possible but rather typical instance) required six or eight men because each was a specialist and no man could infringe upon another's specialty, are going now and going rather rapidly. there is an apocryphal story around one eastern railroad town to the effect that the changing of an air-hose connection on a pullman sleeping-car one day more than a year ago cost the railroad forty dollars--a small job which two ordinary capable mechanics would have been glad to perform for but two or three at the most. instances such as these have been multiplied. a farmer's boy who lived close to a railroad in the middle west and who received five dollars a month and an occasional trip-pass to chicago and back for oiling and watching an automatic electric pump at an obscure siding saw himself rated as an electrician and in receipt of $ a month (standardized wage) without having lifted one finger toward the bonanza. it was heyday for the rank and file. the lane commission, which really did much scientific work on this wage question despite the exceedingly great time pressure and the war crisis under which it worked, started the ball rolling, yet in what seemingly was a very fair and reasonable fashion. it was after that, even after mr. mcadoo's actual term of office as director-general, that the real damage was done. the pendulum swung then, and swung far. from a point where the wage-scale was unfair to the railroad employee it came toward a point where it was unfair to the railroad investor. this was particularly true in the case of the shop-craft men. they seem to have been the real offenders in the situation. with the position of the men in the train service, the members of the brotherhoods, i can have little else than great sympathy. their plight at this moment is deplorable. at the best, they catch the hard end of railroading, the long, unconscionable hours, the stress of bad weather, the nights away from home, all the other difficult conditions of life upon the road. i do not believe that there have been many times when these men have been seriously overpaid. the score is far more apt to lie upon the other side of the table. true it is that even in these branches of railroad service the unreasoning form of national agreement has crept in. i can remember not so many years ago up in northern new york when if a switch-crew was sent down to one of the paper-mills to get a box-car it was paid two hours' pay for two hours' work. that was fair pay--and it was not. a switch-crew even in dull times could hardly exist on the prospect of getting no more than two hours' pay out of twenty-four. gradually the pay for such a job--any job at all--was set at a minimum of half a day. that seemed fair. a little later this minimum, no matter how small the job, was set at a full day's pay. even that might have been fair were it never abused. let me illustrate. here is a yard-crew kicking around in watertown yard. the first thing that happens in a brisk day is that an engine derails somewhere south of the junction. it is not a serious mishap, and the yard-crew, acting as a wrecker, cleans it up in ninety minutes or thereabouts and gets a full day's pay. an hour later that same crew has to take a box-car two miles down the cape branch to a paper-mill, another ninety minutes perhaps, and another full day's pay for every man jack of the crew. they sit around for three hours in the yardmaster's cabin and settle all the affairs of the new york central railroad. in two or three more hours a careless switcher sends two flat-cars off the end of the siding up at sewall's island. our little crew is again a wrecker. it goes up to the island, puts the derailed cars on the track again,--another ninety minutes of actual work,--and draws a third full day's pay. three days' pay in eight or nine hours is not bad. i should like to be able myself to turn the trick. this is an exceptional case, of course--and it is not. some strange things are possible in the national agreements which were foisted upon the railroad administration during the control of walker d. hines. i do not believe that hines himself ever realized how strange they might become--his own large railroad experience would have guarded him against them. * * * * * when the versatile henry ford embarked not so many months ago on the difficult and time-honored business of running a railroad he was not greeted with any warm-hearted reception dinner by the american railway association. he probably was not even asked to join the association. its members had heard of mr. ford as a shatterer of traditions. and traditions, as you already know, to the heart of the old-time railroader are like unto the ten commandments themselves. i have no brief for mr. ford, any more than for mr. mcadoo. he is not an economist, although he would like to think himself one. he is a mechanic, a super-mechanic if you please. and he has a glorious knowledge of men, their strength and their weaknesses. yet this is not criticism. these last qualities are much needed in our american railroad situation to-day. by this time there is almost a superfluity of economists in it. mr. ford at the outset sought to solve the railroad labor question by straddling it--by tearing up all the cumbersome and complicated standardized national agreements between the men of the small railroad that he now owns and substituting for them a generous minimum wage and the right of the road to utilize a man at whatever work it pleases, within his established eight hours of labor. on mr. ford's railroad an employee may possibly drive a locomotive for ninety minutes and then spend five hours and a half washing car windows, or trucking cases upon a freight-house platform. and the astonishing thing is that in this one instance at least the plan apparently is working. it may be that mr. ford has reached the solution of the problem. i am not at all sure that he has not. but i feel that if he has, a large number of railroad executives and sub-executives will forget their annoyances at the detroit gentleman's publicity methods in connection with his personal railroad and begin to call him blessed. they have had little good fortune as yet in handling the standardized national agreements with their men, which were their unwilling inheritance from uncle sam, railroader sublime. the agreements still stand despite the professed entire willingness of the railroad labor board to abrogate them, for the simple reason that no acceptable substitute for them has yet been brought forward. the labor board has made some rather sweeping rulings in cutting down overtime payments and the like, however--all to the cost of the rank and file of the railroaders. their position steadily becomes less and less enviable. in october last they took the per cent. cut in their wages--roughly speaking, half a billion dollars. they did not want to take that; the hot-heads in the organization talked "strike" and a national tie-up of our rail transport machine. if it could have been achieved it would have been a real national calamity. as it was, the country had a very bad state of nerves over the mere possibility of the thing. the strike was an impossibility. many of the railroad executives in their hearts wanted it. with labor conditions as they were across the country, with the unwillingness (to put it mildly) of the average man to have his comfort and necessities interfered with no matter how much right or justice might be involved in the situation, the executives held all the cards. the leaders of the men knew that. therefore there was no strike. strikes are rarely popular when times are dull. perhaps it is knowing this that a certain group of railroad executives--there is no great unanimity in the matter--is steadily pressing toward a further wage reduction of another per cent. i shall refrain from comment upon the wisdom or unwisdom of such a further step at this time. that the very executives who are urging it are, i think, none too sure of their position is indicated by the fact that they are coupling the proposed reduction with vague suggestions that if it is granted they will reduce their freight-rates, at least, correspondingly. the idea of reducing rates to build up traffic apparently does not even come into the reckoning. * * * * * would you understand this situation better? then come back with me for a moment to those humming summer days of when the railroads of the united states were still in record-breaking traffic. it is june, ; a sluggish hot evening in the city of chicago. eight railroad engineers, members in good standing of their brotherhood, are set upon by a gang of organized thugs--in the picturesque phraseology of the railroaders, a "wrecking crew"--in the shadows of the great northwestern terminal, and so badly beaten up that they have to be sent to the nearest hospitals for treatment. yet the chicago newspapers of the very next morning announced with a sort of smug optimism that "satisfactory progress" was being made with the switchmen's strike. they predicted an early break-up of the entire "outlaw" walk-out (which had been in progress since the preceding april), and apparently without a definite knowledge that each ensuing twenty-four hours were seeing the whole outrageous business gain in its vicious strength. up to that time we had had almost every thing difficult and disagreeable in our railroad debacle except physical violence. it then seemed to have embarked upon this final phase of badly disordered industrialism. the chicago imbroglio was not particularly exceptional. brotherhood men all over the country, members of the most powerful unions that this land has ever known, literally went to their work nightly in fear and in trembling. in few of our big cities is police protection to-day at its highest point of efficiency--for a variety of reasons, which need no particular explanation here and now. this means, in turn, that rowdyism and thugism are at high-water marks. when these are organized by brains and financed with plenty of real money they seem to go all unchecked. and loyal railroaders of every sort suffer the penalty, in the first instance at least, with the dear old public as usual in the rôle of the greatest sufferer and the final judge. outrageous as it really was, the outlaw strike was one of the most human that this country has ever seen. it came as the logical result of official stupidity and procrastination. in january, , the various groups of railroad employees, appalled, as was every other form of worker, by not only the steady but the extremely rapid increase in living costs, made applications for wage raises beyond those that the labor commission originally had granted--the so-called billion-dollar increase. so did other forms of labor ask for wage raises--and got them. the applications of the railroad workers remained under consideration after eighteen months. the railroad administration, even though it continued in full control of our carriers for fourteen months after the wage applications had been filed, passed the buck--and permitted the national agreements. that was politics. the recently created railroad labor board sitting out at chicago was going over all the testimony again, making solemn and voluminous proceedings of a business that might be decided, tentatively at least, in a week of real work. that was politics again. in the meantime, in those slowly moving eighteen months, what came to pass? in san francisco, in portland, in seattle, in half a dozen other west coast cities where the wages of unskilled labor had reached an abnormally high figure, the railroad switching-crews had the exquisite pleasure of shunting cars at $ . for an eight-hour day into shipyards and other industries where the commonest and most unskilled forms of labor were receiving six and seven and eight dollars a day for the same amount of labor. i do not maintain that shifting box-cars is a particularly expert form of labor. yet at the least it is a fairly hazardous one. the actuaries of the insurance companies will assure you as to that. and it is a fairly responsible one too. the claim agents of the railroads themselves will bear full witness as to that. they know to their own great sorrow that a box-car filled with breakables cannot be batted back and forth like a gondola of coal or a flat filled with steel angle-iron. "responsible, did you say?" snorted the brotherhood engineer of a switcher to me one day, a year or two ago out in the mid-west. he shouted across his cab as he poked into a siding and pulled out one of john ringling's long circus trains. "you'd think it was responsible if you'd see the amount of signing off i have to do for this trick before i can cart her out of the roundhouse. they're right too. she may be eleven years old--you can see by the maker's plate there over the steam-chest--but she's still worth a good fifteen thousand dollars in the open market to-day. and i'm responsible for her. for five dollars. while the fat-heads that are up on the main streets of this town manicuring the cobblestones for the city fathers are getting six dollars--and no responsibility whatsoever." here are two of the reasons why i have just called the walk-out of the railroad switchmen one of the simplest and the most logical of all the strikes in the country. the eighteen months of inexcusable procrastination in coming to a decision in this railroad wage matter was a third and a far greater one. yet remember that the switchmen were not the only aggrieved parties to this situation--this seemingly impossible situation that has quickly become an actuality. other forms of railroad labor suffered quite as much if not more from official procrastination and official indifference. a passenger trainman rode with me a year or two ago across northern idaho. "don't you go putting any pieces in your paper," said he, "saying that all of the train-crews are making the big money. a few are. but they are mighty few." he swung quickly to his own case. he was on his run, across three states from spokane, washington, to paradise, montana, seven days a week, days out of the year. for this he was pulling down $ a month--$ for his straight time and the other $ as overtime. around him in spokane carpenters were getting $ . an hour and plumbers $ . --and working five and one half days a week or, at the most six. they all owned cars, and saturday afternoons and sundays they went fishing. the brakeman had not been fishing in more than two years. he told me so and i believed him. if you interview enough men in the course of a twelvemonth you will come quite quickly to know the kind that you can believe. it is written in their faces. "seven days a week and with two gardens, one at each end of the run; and i make out--nothing more," he continued. "last night my wife and i went down to the market and we bought pork-chops. there were six of them--none too many for the three mouths to be fed at home--and the measly things cost me sixty cents, at the rate of forty-five cents a pound. we allow ourselves meat three times a week, not oftener." somehow even though it might have the fervent approval of some of our really high-brow hygienists, i do not like that idea of an american workingman being able to have meat but three times a week. it doesn't seem quite american. it doesn't seem quite fair. i do not believe that the average executive, or even the average stockholder of the american railroad, wants such a condition. he assuredly would not want it for any member of his household, or for himself. if he did want such a condition, i should like then to contrast his attitude with a british one that came to me not long ago. "we of great britain feel that every british workman is entitled first to a minimum wage that will insure him decent conditions of living--housing, food, clothing, education for his children, insurance against death and old age--and to a maximum wage that will include these things plus a little share in the profits of the railway business. otherwise we can never be sure of the coming generation. and a decent coming generation is our one national assurance of continued national strength and security." so spake the general manager of a british railway to me one day last year. he sounded a real truth. in their prosperous days our american railroads were decidedly loath to share their profits; some of their more captious critics were not slow to say that they had capitalized their underpaid helpers and were paying dividends on the remainder. a few roads, notably the prosperous santa fé and the southern pacific, in the golden days before the war had made a beginning toward bonus and profit-sharing systems but these were in the vast minority. i should like to see those extremely prosperous railroads, the burlington and the lackawanna, resurrect the experiment. it should not be left to henry ford to accomplish all the railroad experimentation in this country. offhand the job of a passenger trainman, such as my friend up on the northern pacific, may not seem to be a particularly strenuous one even though it is long-houred. here is a harder one. on a test running across wyoming not long ago the husky boy with the shovel in the engine-cab tossed six thousand pounds of coal an hour from the tender into the fire-box. the run was six hours long. if you do not even yet get the measure of his job, go down into your cellar, find that there are eighteen tons of coal there and then shovel it from one side of the cellar to the other--in six hours. repeat the entire process three or four times in the course of a week and then write and tell me which you had rather fire on--a coal-burner without a mechanical stoker, an oil-burner, or one of those big electric locomotives up on the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul, where the fireman's chief job is to keep awake against the lazy droning of the motors to be prepared in the always-possible emergency that he may have to take control of the craft. here is a final instance or two of what i mean. from one point in california to another miles distant is a typical operating division of one of the biggest roads in our southwest--a little longer than typical eastern operating divisions in fact. it is provided that freights moving from the one to the other shall do so at the average rate of twelve and one-half miles an hour; which means thirteen hours and thirty-six minutes for the division. that therefore becomes its official running-time. anything beyond that fairly good lapse of continuous labor was paid for as overtime "pro-rata." in other words, the train-crew was paid the same figure for its sixteenth hour of continuous service as for its first one, and the incentive for the railroad to cut down its overtime is gone. that is why the rank and file of railroaders were fighting so strenuously three years ago to gain time-and-one-half pay for their overtime, beyond a basic eight-hour day. it is the only way that they could see for bettering their actual conditions of labor--for getting in that occasional fishing-trip or the journey with the wife over the hills in the long-distance jitney. let us translate this more definitely and more intimately, and come to the exact testimony of a great northern fireman operating out of havre up in northern montana. he speaks, under the promise of no revelation whatever as to his identity, with great frankness. it is not easy for a railroader to speak frankly, particularly to a stranger. it is not encouraged in railroad circles, to put it frankly. but this man--he is a keen, upstanding american of the best type--speaks to you through me with absolute frankness. he begins with one or two observations as to the rank and file of railroaders in general to-day. "when i started in this game," he says, "the men i worked with were mostly single and had neither dependents nor home ties. their conversation consisted mainly in stories of the road, whose location wanders from portland, maine, to seattle or to winnipeg--'the peg'--to pocatello, to new orleans, or to san francisco. conductors in charge of a train were very rarely men who had been 'made' upon that road; seniority did not mean much; men went from job to job as their fancy dictated. they tell a story up this country about a conductor and an engineer that will illustrate my point. "you will begin by understanding that the rules of this road, as well as of all the others, provide for a standard watch--a watch that has been passed upon by a qualified and registered watch-inspector. there is also a rule that the conductor compare time with the engineer before starting out upon any trip. in each division-office there is a 'watch register,' and every watch must be compared with the 'standard clock' and any difference between them noted upon the register. the rule states specifically that no watch can be called correct that is even thirty seconds away from the 'standard clock.' now then. "this freight conductor over in the eastern end of the state came to the engineer with his orders and handed them up into the cab. after the engineman had finished reading them, the conductor asked: 'what time have you got?' the engineer grinned and replied: 'what time have _you_ got?' this time the conductor grinned. he reached down into his overcoat pocket and pulled out one of the small tin watches that are advertised across the land as having made the dollar famous. 'seven forty-five,' said he, with great gravity. his friend, the engineer, also assumed solemnity, then pulled a nickel-plated alarm-clock out from under his seat. 'you're right, tim,' said he, 'right to the minute.' "those days are passed. it takes longer to-day to get a regular run on most roads than it takes for a lawyer or a doctor to complete his college course. seven years is about the quickest time to a run that amounts to anything. the railroader of to-day takes his work seriously, settles down and tries to be a good citizen instead of the old-time 'boomer' [the slang phrase for the former itinerants] that once filled up the business, and not in any way to its credit. but it's pretty hard being a good citizen under the sixteen-hour law and the adamson law which was supposed to provide a real eight-hour day and really never did anything of the sort. if we get in at four o'clock in the afternoon we don't know whether we are going out again at eight o'clock the next morning or eight o'clock the same evening. the one thing is just as likely to happen as the other. and how can friend-wife count upon her evenings with us at the movies? "let me be still more specific. "let's stretch that sixteen-hour day of which i was just speaking into a good practical work-day. let us say that we will call you on the first day of the month for first no. bound west out of havre here. we will slip you tons and mallet articulated compound no. , and make the start at sharp four in the afternoon. our lad at the fire-box gets sick over at gilford and we tie you up there, 'on credit.' in other words you were four hours and thirty minutes getting to gilford and yet your time didn't count after getting your 'tie-up' message; not until you are called once again. if by that time you are hungry or sleepy it is not the great northern's fault. it is following the rules of the game, just as every other road across the land is following them. "five hours later a train comes along and a relief fireman gets off. you make a fresh start at your trip. you still have eleven hours and thirty minutes to go, out of your sixteen hours of actual on-duty trick. now see how you go it. while doing some switching at chester you get a car off the track. after that your engine bursts a flue and dies. they release you once more, again on credit, and until four o'clock in the morning. at nine along comes another engine and you are called once again. you still have eight hours to work. everything goes all right until you get to shelby. you get a message there at two in the afternoon to do some switching. the conductor tells the despatcher that if he stops to do this work the sixteen-hour law will get him before he gets in. the division superintendent butts in and says: 'we will give you credit for being off the track two hours at chester, and that will give you plenty of time.' "you cannot beat out the old d. s. he was born to the game. you arrive at cut bank at seven o'clock on the evening of the second, having complied with the law, technically at least, and are ordered to deadhead back to havre on no. leaving in fifteen minutes. you probably have a chance to get just a bite to eat before slipping on no. . it is snowing hard, in the dead of the northern winter in fact, and two has a time of getting to havre. it is six hours at least before you swing down in front of the depot there. before you ever have a chance to get into the depot the call-boy meets you and as you have had your federal rest--eight hours curled up on a seat in a day-coach--he wants you for first no. to go right back to cut bank again. if you don't want to go you are a bolshevist. exaggeration? not one bit of it. i have been myself four days making the trip that i have just described to you, so you see that i could have made my illustration both longer and broader and thicker. if you think that i have exaggerated, stay in your office some day sixteen hours at a stretch, then get on the day-coach of a local train, ride eight hours, and cut in for another sixteen hours of office work again--preferably at writing a railroad book." i have let this man close the case for the train service men. he puts it in its full strength and i think that he puts it well. no fair-minded american wants american labor poorly paid, and american railroad labor--upon which so much of our life and property is absolutely dependent--least of all. it has been a sort of tradition in this country that railroad labor should be paid less than similar labor in other industry--just why i never could quite understand, unless it be for the fact that railroad labor until a comparatively recent time has been a little more loyal to its calling than the labor of some other industries that might easily be mentioned specifically. the variety of the business, the opportunities for travel and experience that it gave, have been real factors in holding its wages very slightly yet very perceptibly under normal levels. and in the same way they have been factors in holding it back against normal industrial progress. when one comes to the question of the shop-craft unions (i shall speak of still other branches of railroad endeavor before i am done) the problem becomes infinitely more perplexing. it is indeed with these newer union affiliations that the railroads are to-day having their greatest difficulties. for the old-time brotherhoods, in which there is a fine flavor of reasonable conservatism, the average working railroad executive has a deal of real respect. perhaps he realizes how much worse off he and his fellows would be if he had to substitute for them in train operation unions of the sort that are driving him mad in his shop-work. but the shops represent a real perplexity. some of the roads, beginning with the erie, have gone so far as to rent their repair-shops at division points for operation by privately organized corporations. in fact the erie has gone so far as to follow this practice for its track maintenance in certain instances. a private corporation is bound neither by the national agreements of the railroad administration or by the rulings of the railroad labor board out at chicago. it can buy its labor in the open market and at the prevailing market prices--and at the present moment at obvious savings. but the effect upon the morale of a railroad of this remarkable practice of "farming out" inherent parts of its operation i shall leave to your imagination. that the outside shop can and does work cheaply is shown by the experience of a plant in buffalo which upon an actual invested capital of $ , cleaned up more than $ , actual profits in and expected to double this figure in . yet it was able to repair freight-cars for the railroads entering that important railroad point for about $ each, which was about $ less than the roads could do it for themselves. * * * * * there is a railroad executives' side to this situation, and it is a big side indeed. a certain large road in the central portion of the country decided to put the matter squarely up to its shop forces before proceeding toward the leasing of its repair facilities to outside companies, as we have just seen. it called in the heads of its shop-crafts unions and put the cards squarely on the table before them. it wanted to go back to piece-work, the method by which each and every man was paid for what he actually accomplished, a good old-fashioned american way of running a shop or any other sort of business. the mcadoo administration abolished piece-work in the railroad shops across the land, and the output fell off greatly both in quality and in quantity. the railroads to-day are having a fearful time getting it installed again. the general manager of this road of which i am speaking--he is himself a real red-blooded little man who came up through every phase of railroading through his ability and his sheer energy--told the shop-crafts unions just what he would do and what he would not do and when he would do it. if they would accept piece-work on a schedule per cent. higher than that of and turn out the same good volume of work that they turned out in , they would be making considerably more than the per-hour basis gave them in . if they would not accept piece-work by a certain specified day he would then proceed to lease these facilities to outside corporations, much as it would hurt the road's pride to do so. the men did not accept the piece-work system. and the general manager of the big road went from one end to the other of it leasing its shops just as he said he would do. when he came to the last of them he hesitated. it was the road's oldest shop. in it there had been made no little railroad history. sentiment halted him. he thought of tradition. remember, if you will, that there are as many times in railroading where tradition is a good thing as where it is an exceedingly bad thing. while he halted a request came to his ear from a personal friend, one of the oldest mechanics in that ancient shop. his old friend wanted to see the big boss--he still called him "billy." he came and brought a friend or two with him. he wanted to know why the big shop, with its six thousand workers, had been shut down for so long. the g. m. answered promptly. he told of his proffered plan for piece-work. the old mechanic made him repeat his statement. "we never heard one word of it, billy," he said. "billy" stayed two more days in that town. on the second afternoon he called a mass-meeting of the shop-workers in the biggest hall in the city. they came, enough of them at least to fill the place to its very rafters. he put the piece-work proposition to those men. they ratified it overwhelmingly. the next day the shop reopened and from that day to this has been a humming center of revivified railroad industry. * * * * * there also is still another side to this vexed shop situation, and it too is a big side. i should not be fair if i did not give it at least passing attention. with their insistence that their shops return to the piece-work system--and it seems to be a perfectly fair demand--the railroads are using every endeavor to bring back their shopmen to the high quality of workmanship that they attained before the days of the world war, and which has not come back since then--not until very recently at least and under the spur of widespread unemployment across the land. yet, our railroads as a rule--there are a very few exceptions--have been most lax in employing modern or scientific methods of spurring up the production of their shopmen, in quality as well as in quantity. a year and a half ago i made an extensive tour of some of the most forward-looking manufacturing plants in america and found there for myself many ingenious plans for stimulating the interest, the enthusiasm, and the productive ability of the men. shop committees, education, bonus systems--all these and many other well-tried devices at work, and successfully at work. i was appalled when mentally i compared these factory plans with those of the average railroad shop, which rarely has any at all. one other thing of even greater importance. in these days no more than those, there still is no assurance to the shop-worker of continued employment. the great haunting fear of being "laid off" forever is just ahead of him. i recognize clearly the difficulties that would await any systematic attempt to insure continuous employment to the worker in the railroad or any other sort of shop. yet the fact remains that the railroad shops have not always been as fair as those in outside industries in keeping a well-filled pay-roll, even in seasons of great depression and stress. that such a neglect of human obligation reacted against them in the war-time days is not to be doubted. no really permanent solution of the railroad shop problem--it would be pathetic to regard the process of leasing out the shops to outside corporations as any long-time solution--can afford to ignore this factor. i have known a railroad under orders from the men away up at the top--the president or the board of directors--to make sweeping and senseless reductions in shop and maintenance forces in order to make a quick showing of apparent savings in operating costs, for financial purposes known best to those same men, higher up. the futility of such moves needs no discussion; what is saved to-day on necessary maintenance of rolling-stock or other physical plant of the railroad must be expended to-morrow, and generally in larger measure. they would be laughable were it not for one thing, the human misery that almost invariably follows in their trail. how very much greater the wisdom that now and then and again tempts a railroad to use a dull season for the repair or even the reconstruction of its equipment, for the rebuilding of lines or even the construction of new trackage! therefore i am repeating--and adding--that no permanent solution of our railroad problem can be reached that ignores the right of the faithful and loyal employee to continuous service. it may be necessary to cut his wage. that is a situation that may confront any man in any business or profession. but save for fair cause he has an inherent right to continuous employment. this should be put down as a real fundamental of the railroad industry. railroad industry! railroad tradition! railroad morale! give them a chance. let us have a scientific way of developing them once again; let us have a scientific yet a simple and humane way of studying out these surpassingly great problems of the human factor in our railroad operation; in the hours and conditions of his working, the cost of his living, the reckoning of his compensation. to such a problem--a problem within a problem--we now have arrived. and we shall begin its consideration. chapter vii solving the railroads' human problem in some of the real wisdom that wrote certain portions of the present transportation act it was decided that the newly created railroad labor board should be kept entirely separate and distinct from the interstate commerce commission. the one had neither authority nor jurisdiction over the other. they were even apart geographically; the one at chicago, the other at the national capital. there was a definite and convincing reason advanced for this segregation. it was argued, with genuine good sense, that the business of wage-making should be kept entirely separate and apart from that of rate-making. in other words, wage-making was to be based upon living-costs--the sort of thing that the lane commission tried to do, even though hurriedly, and that the railroads themselves had failed to do. that the railroad labor board, once appointed, took its new task seriously, i do not for a moment doubt. i think that it tried and still is trying to solve the entire question in a really scientific and human fashion. it is a political board, to be sure. it could hardly escape being a political board. but i believe that it is rather better than the majority of its kind. it is a common experience here in america that these newly created boards are likely to rank higher in their personnel at their outset than after they have become old stories and pliable in the hands of the professional politicians. yet i am not at all sure that the railroad labor board was a necessity, not at any rate as a permanent organization. we americans are all too prone to create boards and commissions for almost every sort of conceivable situation. we dote upon chairmen and upon directors. we adore secretaries and under-secretaries and under-secretaries to under-secretaries and all the rest of it. it is a national weakness, and an organization like our railroad labor board is after all but a single expression of that weakness. contrast that cumbersome method of ours with one which was adopted in great britain but a year or two ago and which so far has apparently given absolute satisfaction to both the rail workers and their employers over there. under the wage agreements between the railway workers of the united kingdom and their executives the wage-scales have been fixed upon a basis which permits them to rise or fall as the cost of living rises or falls. these agreements were signed more than a year ago. the official charts issued by the british board of trade, and held by all save a few of the most radical of labor leaders to be both accurate and impartial, are taken as the basis of the railway wage. the charts come as the result of repeated and regular investigations by the board of trade agents into house-rentals, clothing, foodstuffs, and all the other essential factors that enter into living costs. upon them an arbitrary reckoning of points was fixed as the maximum that these should reach after the period of after-the-war readjustment was fixed. but despite this fixing of a purely arbitrary figure the cost of living refused to stay put. it steadily rose until two years after the signing of the armistice the board of trade figures had reached points. and british railway wages had risen even more than ours. a station-porter, who in the pleasant english days before the coming of armageddon had been content to receive fifteen shillings a week, found himself in january, , receiving sixty-six, an increase of considerably more than per cent. to-day he is getting a little less pay. at the time that these paragraphs were being written the board of trade's entirely arbitrary but very scientific reckoning of living-costs had already dropped to points and was going down further yet. the station-porter's weekly wage had dropped three shillings, and sir eric geddes, the british minister of transport, was beginning to predict that a continuation of this lowering of wage-costs would be reflected in the not distant future in lowered passenger-fares and freight-rates. for definitely it is fixed that for each five points that the board of trade's cost of living report drops or rises the railway employees' wages shall drop or rise a shilling a week. but they shall never drop to the depths of the former pay-envelope; minima have been fixed ranging all the way from per cent. of the pre-war wages upward. in the case of our station-porter the minimum of the future is to be forty shillings a week, which is considerably better than fifteen. yet fifteen was in truth an outrageously low figure, even eight or ten years ago. british railway wages were then decidedly too low. now they are nearer a fair figure, and so are likely to remain. why the american railroad wage could not have been fixed upon some basis as this is difficult to understand. the fairest, the broadest-minded, the most human of our railroad executives across the land say that per cent. of their difficulties with their men would be wiped out entirely if only they could have direct dealings with them. witness the example which i showed in the preceding chapter; the big and representative road which sought to install a piece-work scheme and, working through the leaders of the shop-crafts unions, found that its actual shopmen had not been consulted at all in the entire transaction. the pennsylvania railroad has fought desperately for the privilege of direct dealings with its employees. three years ago its operating vice-president, general w. w. atterbury, upon his return from france where he had had charge of the movement of our american troops and munitions, went on record as saying that the time had come for the rank and file of our railroaders to have a distinct voice in the operation of the properties. this does not mean in this instance that the pennsylvania would become enthusiastic over the admission of direct labor representatives to its board of directors; such a genuinely progressive step still is quite beyond its imagination. but it has sought--and, i believe, honestly sought--to establish some sort of direct relationship between the great body of its workers and its executive officers. in accordance with such a plan the pennsylvania started more than a year ago toward the election of employee representatives from its various shops. it turned its back upon the national officers of the shop-crafts union and said frankly that it preferred to deal separately with its various shops and their men as distinct and separate entities. one of the sharpest quarrels that the railroad managements have had with the national agreements has arisen from the fact that these contracts take no pay-roll cognizance of whether a worker is living in a big city, such as philadelphia, or a very small one, such as bradford--either pennsylvania or ohio. under the national agreements the southern pacific would have to give the same pay to a station-agent at orange, california (which is almost heaven), as to the agent at winnemucca, in the nevada desert (which is something less than heaven). in other days the winnemucca man was given what corresponded to a bonus salary, in order to compensate him in part for the bleakness of his surroundings. under the national agreements it was a little difficult to get a good man to go to winnemucca--to put the matter mildly. the pennsylvania in accordance with its expressed home-rule principle held that the employees elected as shop-craft representatives must be bona fide workers upon the pay-rolls of the pennsylvania railroad. the shop-crafts union leaders claimed the right to have the names of the local organization officers appear upon the ballots. the national headquarters of the shop-crafts union also made loud protest. it appealed to the railroad labor board, which deliberated ponderously upon the crisis and then ordered the pennsylvania to proceed toward a new election, this time along national and not along individual shop lines. the pennsylvania protested against the labor board's ruling. its protest was not heeded. the board after a rehearsing stood by its decision. then the pennsylvania appealed to the courts, where the entire matter is at present ensnarled. the railroad is loud in its protestations that it is not attacking the railroad labor board as an organization; that it merely is seeking to keep it within the bounds laid down by the intent and purpose of the remarkable transportation act, which, in the long run, may come merely to a fine use of words. the other railroads have not as a rule joined with the pennsylvania in this protest. on the contrary they have proceeded rather rapidly in conforming to the labor board scheme, by joining in groups to set up local courts of arbitration with their men in various large centers of the land. is this because they have loved the labor board idea? i hardly think so. i think that the real reason is because they have realized that in the difficult hour of transition from governmental to private operation--and, consequently the almost inevitable lowering of wages--the railroad labor board, and the railroad labor board almost alone, stood between the nation and a general and calamitous strike of transportation workers. this of course was before the coming of the industrial slump and the release of several million workers into the labor market. it was a real factor in helping to prevent the strike in october, , which so many of the railroad executives really wanted and which the railroad workers, knowing from the outset that they would be beaten, did not want. for these things alone the railroad labor board probably has been worth all this cost--and the cost has not been small. yet that there could not be a more direct pathway to them than the creation of a brand-new expensive political commission i shall always deny. i have shown the direct short cut that great britain took in railway wage adjustment. is it inconceivable that the united states might not occasionally take a short cut of her own in these labor situations? was the creation of another political board an absolute necessity? these are political questions, not primarily those of transport, and therefore i shall not answer them here further than to suggest that if the railroad labor board makes at least one thorough, scientific, and impartial study of living-costs in this country--in big towns as well as in small, in north, in south, in east, in west--it may perhaps justify its existence and pave the way toward the adoption of some such simple method as we saw adopted overseas more than a year ago. it is however a transportation question to know what the railroads themselves purpose to do about bettering the situation between the workers and themselves. we have hinted at the expressed intentions of a high officer of the pennsylvania. so far so good; but not very far. if the foolish national agreements are to be completely abrogated--and apparently they are to be--what improvement in the relationship between the carrier and its employees is to be substituted for them? we have seen the move toward the establishment of local boards of arbitration by individual groups of the carriers. so far so good again; but again, not so very far. the per-hour wage has frequently been set down as the gold standard of railroad pay. yet to-day in the eyes of the operating heads, at least, it is no standard whatsoever, save in shop-work where they reckon it as but a very base alloy and where they would regard piece-work as platinum--set with diamonds, at that. all of which of course is from the point of view of the executives, and not at all from that of their workers. but what are the railroads going to do about the recognition of real merit and real industry in the individual worker? i do not mean the brilliant fellow who forces his way to the top. frequently it is the plodder, the man unseen, unknown, who is the most valuable human cog of the transport machine. will the railroad, huge machine that it is, find him out and give his loyalty, his industry, his energy--in many cases, his initiative too--the recognition that they demand? can it do this even if it will? i have known many a railroad manager to complain to me that the reason he could not gain a greater efficiency out of his workers was because of the very scattered and attenuated location of his job. real supervision, like that of a factory or a large office, was out of the question. men might and did loaf on their jobs. conversely it is of course equally difficult to discover real merit along the line, particularly the modest and conservative type of merit. what too is the railroad going to do about adjusting hours of labor for its workers so that, whenever it is possible, the worker shall sleep at home? we have seen already in the pages of this book how often this is not possible for the employees engaged in the operation of the trains. in a little while we shall come to the vast possibilities of the use of the gasolene-motor unit in local passenger transportation upon our standard railroads, and i shall be urging as a corollary to its introduction a much increased service as well. it ought, by a little skillful planning, to be possible to use the eight hours of a railroader's time to extremely good advantage, both to himself and to his employer, by an ingenious dovetailing of runs. up this line, across that, back on a third--the possibilities are as infinite and as fascinating as those of a game of chess, and all giving the maximum of eight hours' service to the railroad, as well as the square deal to its worker. could more be asked? and then, for a final question, what is our american railroad going to do about the assurance of continuous employment to its workers? we have touched upon this question already. it is a particularly serious one, not alone in shop-work but in every other department of the railroad. the fear of losing one's job becomes at all times a decided factor both in the statistics of labor turnover and in the individual morale of the worker. in a single instance of a typical large trunk-line railroad a total force of , workers in june, , had been reduced by june, , to but , and has been dropping ever since, which means quite naturally that the men who remain are spurred to the best of endeavors. the road tested this the other day. it asked all of its employees to go out in their spare hours and see if they could solicit some freight for it. in ninety days these men, entirely apart from the regular solicitation forces of the line, had brought in more than car-loads of freight which otherwise would have gone to its competitors. a good percentage showing was made by the mechanics and other workers of one of its smaller shops. yet in the early part of the men at this shop had all gone out on strike because a train accident had delayed the arrival of their pay-envelopes for two brief hours! here then is morale brought back in a perfectly human fashion, yet i doubt if in a good one. in the long run fear cannot make loyalty or initiative or ambition. the day will come when abounding prosperity will return to the carriers, when the labor markets across the land will be empty of possible material. then labor may remember. memory is quite as human a trait as fear. and the pendulum will be set high again at the workers' end of its arc. i feel that we shall be compelled to find far better ways of bringing loyalty and initiative and ambition into the hearts of our workers of to-morrow--the other qualities that go into the making of that highly modern term "morale"--and so bring back a genuine revival of our american railroad tradition. we shall start of course with a good wage. we already have that. the average annual wage of the american railroader is now $ for eight hours of daily work. in he worked ten hours a day and received but $ on an average. his hourly wage is now about per cent. more than it was eight years ago. remember all the while, if you will, that i am not urging that the railroader is overpaid to-day. i do not believe that upon the average he is any more than well paid--in all cases not even that. and i do believe that these entire pay arrangements are still far from being upon an entirely just and equitable basis; the conditions of his working arrangements, so very vital to the return of our american railroad morale and tradition, are still in the infancy of a really scientific and human adjustment. here again the situation is open to further explanation. there are, roughly speaking, three classes of railroad employees. the railroad president and the small group of high-priced executives closely about him constitute the first of these classes. this is small in number. it contrasts with the two millions and a half of the rank and file of railroad employees in the united states. here then are the right and the left wings of our railroading. between them is a third class, not often in the public eye, but in many ways the keystone of the arch of operation. this third class, not large in numbers, consists of the minor officers of the various active departments of the railroad. it is an immensely valuable factor in successful operation; in fact the great driving force behind it. yet its position is not a happy one. at all times it is a buffer; it is caught between the upper and the lower stones of a mill which attempts to grind finely. from below comes the natural and unending pressure to increase expenses; from the high executive offices above comes another, to hold down expenditure. from somewhere between these grindings the division superintendent or engineer or mechanical superintendent must produce results. of necessity, his is a driving job. ofttimes it has been a thankless job as well. for there has been little outside protection for this valuable central class of railroad labor. numerically it is not large enough nor important enough to command the favor of influential politicians. as we have just seen, the rank and file does. this is at least well paid. and as the railroad man at the bottom has received attention, so has the railroader at the top. the executives have always succeeded in taking good care of themselves. they know that the large financiers and banks and other institutions which to-day are the heavy stockholders of our railroads are utterly dependent upon them. without them their securities would fall even flatter than already they have fallen, which means that the railroad president and his important vice-presidents can command salaries that are at least commensurate with those paid in other industries. their worries are those that come from their responsibilities, not from their pocketbooks. but the middle class of the railroad personnel--like the middle class of the world outside--is caught to-day, not only with responsibility for its job, but with a deal of worry too for its wallet. salaries between the upper and lowest classes of railroad workers take a fearful fall. in theory they should form a gentle curve, a sloping sort of descent. in practice, too, they should curve. in truth they do not. they drop. i have known of repeated cases where the superintendents of railroad divisions--a railroad superintendent is supposedly the prince of a transportation principality--have actually received less than some of the locomotive-engineers who are working for them. in any such scheme of affairs the incentive or desire for promotion cannot be very great. as a matter of fact very much of that desire or opportunity for promotion passed away long ago, which is one of the significant reasons for the sad decline of our american railroad tradition, and which is also one of the most alarming symptoms of the serious illness of our sick man of american business. he is making no provision for the future--in this serious necessity of providing good new railroading blood for oncoming years. there should be fresh generations of material for future railroad executives tramping forward, and there are none. "over-regulation," says one transportation executive at once, and leaves us in the belief that here is the sole cause of this sad deficiency. he is right--partly right. for more than twenty years the railroad business in the united states has been under constant attack--rightly or wrongly, and generally both. a business under constant attack is not one that makes a large appeal to a young man just seeking about for a future career. one of the very ablest of our railroaders, daniel willard, president of the baltimore and ohio railroad, recently went on record as saying that at the present time he could not recommend the business in which he has spent a lifetime as a proper opening for his son. add to these things the fact that the business itself has taken very little thought as to the morrow in this vital question of renewing personnel--has not only failed to establish courses in various phases of railroading in the technical schools across the land, or made any concerted effort to bring the best of their graduates to their ranks, but for years has ridiculed and humiliated these highly trained young men when they have sought to enter its doors--and one may easily perceive why the best of our young men in recent years have not gone into railroading. the automobile industry, mining, electrical work, manufacturing of nearly every sort, the professions, even retailing, have called to them, and not in vain. each has received its fair proportion of them. but railroading has been left aside. here is a most serious phase of our railroad debacle. it is not one that can be quickly mended. take the nearest "who's who" and note the birth dates of the railroad men that you find there. with a few exceptions they are not young men. they are getting on in years, while those who know them personally know that their tremendously increased anxieties and responsibilities have grayed them even beyond their years. a young man whose heart and soul alike thirsted for a better knowledge of the rail transport business recently asked a veteran railroader of my acquaintance how he could get into it. he had been offered a job in the local interchange yard, firing a switch-engine. that job had a good deal of appeal to him. he was perfectly willing to don overalls and get down to hard manual work with a shovel. but the old railroader shook his head. "no, no, harry, that is not the way that it is being done nowadays," said he. "let me advise you." then he explained. harry might and probably would develop into a good fireman, like president w----. eventually he would probably have a fine passenger run and get as much money perhaps as his division superintendent, probably more than his trainmaster or his road foreman of engines. but that would end it. he would be a working man, albeit a well-paid working man, but nothing else--never an officer. the new caste in our railroading would hold him tightly down. far better that he should pocket his pride as a graduate of a pretty good eastern university and become an office-boy in some railroad office and study all the phases of the business at every opportunity that presented itself. there was chance there of his getting ahead in railroading, perhaps to the very head of it. the taint or stigma of unionism would not be upon his shoulder to draw him down in the estimation of the big men who won and control our carriers. that was frank talk, but accurate. at last we _have_ achieved an industrial caste. the barrier is there. the railroads suffer from it greatly, but the men who to-day control them are not going to remove it. here and there across the face of the land you will find a few minute exceptions, a trainmaster here, a master mechanic there, perhaps all the way across the land as many as ten or a dozen superintendents who have risen from the brotherhoods. but in our big national organization these few are as nothing. the barrier is being well maintained. and as long as our railroads are owned and operated as at present, it is likely to stay put. granted then that this great wall is to be kept, and assuming that the railroads can tide over their present personal deficiencies, how can this distressing situation be avoided in the future? easily enough. it comes down in final analysis to a wage question. our railroads can and should establish courses in the various phases of their business in many of the large colleges and training-schools across the land; they should have methods of systematically scanning the output of these schools and of securing for themselves at least their fair share of it for proper training toward executive possibilities. other industries in america long since have shown the possibilities of such methods. yet even such a program will fail if the salary inducement is not made both fair and attractive. i spoke but a moment ago of the lack of curvature, the tendency toward right-angledness of the salary line between the top class of railroad personnel and the bottom. it too has arisen in other businesses, and they have had to solve it. here is one case in particular. it is a nation-wide utility company, not transportation, but in a large sense akin to it. it divides itself between the atlantic and pacific into various subsidiary companies, each fairly autonomous. these companies, working in coöperation, have evolved a salary plan that is attractive to their personnel. the company heads each receive as an average from $ , to $ , a year. immediately beneath them are their vice-presidents, three or four at from $ , to $ , ; beneath these in turn a group of ten to a dozen sub-executives at $ , to $ , , and then a large group (thirty-five or forty men) at from $ , to $ , annually. the curve irons out to a comfortable rotundity. the salary appeal stands strongly; the opportunity of getting into that third sizable executive group of good wage standard is large enough to bring young men out of college to these companies in a larger number than they can accept, which gives them a most excellent opportunity to pick and choose. a plan such as this would be easily applicable to almost any one of our american railroads of to-day, which almost invariably are under-staffed rather than over-staffed. and the first objection to it, the cost, is discounted by the fact that even to a comparatively small line it would not add more than or per cent, to the pay-roll--perhaps not more than a fraction of per cent, to the total operating cost. the utility company which i have just quoted boasts that it could cut its entire pay-roll down to a maximum of $ a year for all of its officers and still reduce its total pay-roll cost less than a mere per cent., which speaks volumes for the even distribution of its official salaries. given a broad-minded fairly planned salary scheme such as this--and having provided always that the scheme was well advertised--and the average railroad ought to begin to pull itself through on this difficult question of supplying a fresh quantity of proper officer personnel for itself. to this might well be added, as has already been suggested, a systematic plan for teaching the various phases of transport in many of our schools and colleges and then closely scanning the output of these classes for future executive material. that such a plan would work and would be worth far more than its comparatively modest cost, is the opinion of far-seeing men within the railroad industry as well as outside of it. that more attention is needed to this vital phase of our transport problem is clearly indicated by the action of the pennsylvania railroad immediately after coming out from government control, in appointing a high personnel officer with a title and prestige none the less than vice-president. the problem of personnel and its continuous and permanent supply, long since recognized by other of our industries than that of railroading by the appointment of well-paid specialists with staffs trained to handle it at best efficiency, is not in itself a particularly perplexing one. a fair degree of study and thought will solve it almost invariably. one reason perhaps that so many of our railroads have not met it properly up to the present moment is because only yesterday it became apparent as a really vital matter, not merely to their success, but to their very continuance. it was but yesterday that trades-unionism became a dominating and fairly autocratic force in their operation, that the traditional stairways of progress from the engine-cab or the caboose or the little yellow depot became so firmly closed and abandoned, and that the railroads were really forced to look out into the broad world beyond for future personnel. * * * * * our railroaders as a rule have not lacked technical ability. they have not lacked honesty. they are not lacking in these qualities to-day. taken man for man i doubt if their high average for both of them could be exceeded by any other american industry or profession, or even equaled throughout the rest of the civilized world. that many of them have lacked both vision and imagination, i am going to contend at other times. for the present it is enough to say that theirs is indeed a difficult job, that, leaving aside the question of securing future executives, the task of the existing ones is very far from a sinecure. the relationship of the human factors in the operating phases alone of our railroads, from the top executives down through the mid-executives to the rank and file, is this very day and minute one of the vastly serious phases of our whole railroad muddle. for just as the problem of new personnel is to an extent a future one, so is the deplorable loss of the old tradition to an extent a past one. there is not much use in crying over spilled milk. the thing to do is to find just what can be saved from the spilling. jinks who reads this, and in his more serious moments conducts a cotton-factory, and blinks, who has the biggest retailing business in his town, may both laugh at the thought that their railroading may be a supremely difficult business. each of them _knows_ that _his_ is the most difficult business in all the world and has a thousand convincing ways of proving it. but jinks may summon all his operatives into a hall at five minutes' notice--he has them all at work inside of a brick wall--and put the fear of the lord (and of their boss) into their hearts in another five. while blinks, as a matter of principle, reads the riot act to his clerks every morning as soon as he has unlocked the doors of the store. a railroad's employees may be outstretched a thousand miles or more. remember again that the railroad itself is in truth a narrow ribbon, ofttimes no wider than the right-of-way of a single track, far-reaching and tremendously attenuated. a thousand employees here, and then twenty, thirty, forty miles to the next group of more than a dozen! what a small opportunity for any sort of close superintendency or inspection! how hard the problem of attaining a real morale! with the irregular demands of energy that a railroad makes upon a man's time--two trains perhaps within the hour, and then perhaps not another for three or four--it can rarely utilize a man's eight hours at best advantage. while if an employee is at all inclined to idle upon the job how rare the opportunities for loafing--or if not for actual loafing, the failure to work in his allotted hour to the top notch of his ability! these opportunities exist, and unless mr. ford's plan should become a howling success, must continue to exist, in a tremendous variety. our station-agent no longer has to work twelve hours a day. under government control his hours began to approach those of an easy-going banker. he ceased to worry about the prospective passenger who may be thinking of going to california and who by proper persuasion may be induced to go by the s. a.'s line. all of which is another of the many evidences of the decline of our fine old-time railroad tradition. not that any fair-minded man would wish a return to the outrageously long hours, low pay, and difficult working conditions of say twenty years ago that it tolerated and condoned. but there ought to have been a happy medium between those conditions and the ones of to-day. it should not have been so very difficult after all to figure out a fair compensation and fair hours and keep a reasonable amount of affection and loyalty in the heart and mind of the employee for the property that he serves. without these perfectly human qualities working for it within its personnel no railroad, limited as we have just seen by overwhelmingly difficult conditions of superintendency and inspection, can operate at anything like efficiency. it suffers and suffers greatly. and its patrons suffer in consequence. for here again, blinks and jinks, does the railroad business differ from yours. if you cannot inspire your workers to affection and loyalty, and through these to efficiency, you fail. your factory or your store closes. but the community that you served may not suffer greatly--not for any length of time. it readjusts itself; it buys its cotton at another mill, its dress-shirts at the store across the street. but if your railroad should shut down, unless it should happen to be a sort of fifth wheel in an unusually competitive territory, the whole community would suffer tremendously, immediately and permanently, while any perceptible lowering of the quality of its railroad service brings instant trouble and discomfort to it. when, as a war measure, the old-time station-agent, reared in loyalty and tradition to render a real service to his public, became even for a time the government bureaucrat, the traveling public quickly realized the difference. and no other one thing perhaps has done more to render the phrase "government railroad" more obnoxious to the average american to-day than the conduct toward them of many railroad employees during the twenty-six months of federal control. that the men in control of the railroad administration took steps, well-planned but fairly impotent, to bring about better politeness and courtesy among the railroad servants is not to be denied. but the problem was quite beyond them, the distances between the administration offices at washington and the men themselves much too far to be efficiently traversed. letters and bulletins urging courtesy were puerile. the railroad rank and file laughed at them. why courtesy? they were autocrats. did not the first director-general himself proclaim that in the earliest days of his regency at pueblo and again at el paso? after such proclamation these courtesy bulletins were to be regarded as just so much waste paper. blinks and jinks both know that in their business courtesy comes through contact. blinks in his big retail store knows that courtesy is one of the invaluable and irreplaceable assets of his business. so he not only preaches it but inspires it through contact, through knowing his sales-people as well as the rest of his working force personally, and through trying to help them work out the many little problems that perplex their lives. comparatively few--a mere nothing--of jinks's employees ever come in personal contact with his customers. yet he too has found long since that courtesy pays dividends, plain dollars-and-cents dividends. and so he too is preaching it, has well-salaried experts, under the title of social workers, who give their days toward bettering the lot of his factory family, with the courtesy idea well in the forefront of their endeavors. through personal contact the thing is accomplished, and with it enthusiasm and efficiency--all together the sort of thing that we have learned to call morale. that this morale, the old-fashioned tradition of american railroading, can be returned to us i do not doubt. it cannot be easily accomplished. it will require a deal of study, and the exercise of great tact and diplomacy. it will have to be preceded by an end of union-baiting and of the more subtle but nevertheless bitter attacks upon government regulatory bodies. that there will have to be less governmental regulation or else the private operation of our railroads will collapse, is the handwriting that already is written upon the wall. that a lessening of such regulation will of itself bring the best blood of the land once again to american railroading or a better spirit of loyalty and energy and initiative to the present personnel, i do not for one minute believe. if that were so, the solution of our vexing problem would be easy. we simply would have to put the hands of the clock backward again, return to or thereabouts, and, presto! our troubles would be over. unfortunately no such quick cure awaits the sick man of american business. the restoration of his health, putting him soundly upon his feet once again, requires a great deal of study and of thought. already i have hinted at two possible embrocations in this very sore spot of his labor relationships--the readjustment of wages (it is hardly going to be possible to lower them far again unless possibly under some adaptation of the very sane british method which we have just seen) and the beginning of an organized movement to recruit and direct the best of our young men into a business which normally should have great fascination for them. there is another ointment which i have saved for the last. coöperation beats regulation. it always has and it always will. already we have quoted vice-president atterbury of the pennsylvania as saying that in the future the employees should have direct representation in the management of the carriers. that is one of the few -per-cent.-right statements. carried to the final degree of actuality it would mean employee representation upon a railroad's directorate. that such a representation would be a benefit to labor i shall not deny. but i am thinking of quite another thing, of the vast benefit that it would be to the railroad itself. there is the real kernel of the nut. some day we shall progress to the point where the directorates of our railroads will be very real directorates indeed, not groups of busy and harried bankers dropping in once a week for an hour or two for their twenty-dollar gold-pieces. the farce that such a representation is necessary to a proper protection of the underwritings will then be completely exploded. possibly the most successful single private business in america, standard oil, is to-day operated upon the continuous directorate principle. its directors give their entire time to the company upon whose board they sit. they are paid generous salaries for their entire time. they are experts in the refining and the selling of oil. and the board which sits each business day at eleven fritters away no time whatsoever in listening to the fads and whimsicalities of inexpert representation. some day some one of our railroads may have the vision and the enterprise to adapt that plan to itself. if so it does it will at one time have solved many of the most vexatious present-time problems of its operation. the curse of absentee landlordism will then disappear almost automatically. and if that railroad has the future vision and enterprise, and the courage, to place at least one or two genuine labor representatives upon its board, per cent. of its labor troubles will also disappear, also automatically. already it has been suggested that future railroad legislation insist that such representation be made. i should hate to see such a step taken, by law. it would be worthless. it would be merely multiplying the evil of over-regulation from which our roads already are suffering. but i should dearly love to see the step taken in the only way it should be taken--from the heart of an american railroad itself, as a matter of good sentiment, good tradition, good business sense. then and then only would it bring its great reward--a revival of loyalty, energy, ambition--the reincarnation of the spirit of our fine american railroader of yesterday. chapter viii the possibilities of electrification the immediate needs of our railroads of the united states divide themselves into three great classes: human, physical, financial. i shall not assume to say which of these three classes is most vital or most important. in my own mind i frankly do not know. already we have dipped into the human phases. now for mere convenience in the telling, we shall give consideration to their physical needs. here again there is further division. a railroad in its physical aspect consists of the track that things run upon and the things that run upon the track. the track, in the broad sense in which we are now considering it, consists of far more than two steel rails set upon wooden ties or sleepers which, in turn, are set in a graded roadway. it means bridges, tunnels, switches, signals, terminal and intermediate stations, buildings, passenger and freight-houses, engine-houses, shops, and all the rest of it. and upon track, in this and every other sense the things that run, are to be translated as locomotives, of a variety of forms, and cars, of an infinite number. and because cars are, as a rule, quite helpless without locomotives to push or to pull them here and there, let us begin with the locomotive. for the moment, we are going to pass by the steam locomotive, and the large possibilities of its development far beyond the present point, and come direct to the form of tractive power which has at least the most popular appeal to the modern imagination--electricity. the use of electricity as a motive-power upon this country's so-called standard railroads (the electrical engineers like to call these heavy traction railroads) is no novelty. it began nearly thirty years ago when the baltimore and ohio railroad completed the electrification of its then new tunnels under the city of baltimore. the move was made primarily to remove offensive smoke conditions, particularly in the main tunnel connecting mount royal and camden stations, nearly two miles apart. in fact to-day trains going from mount royal toward camden, a steady down-grade, are operated without the trouble of attaching electric locomotives to them; it is an easy gravity run for the two miles. for the up-trip the electric locomotive is attached at camden station in front of the through steam locomotive of the train and finally detached about two miles east of mount royal, by the simple process of running ahead and upon a facing-point switch--an adaptation of the old-time "flying switch." the obvious success of this early installation slowly led to its imitation elsewhere among the railroads of the land--a third-rail suburban plan on the new haven from bristol through new britain to hartford, connecticut, and a branch of the same system down to nantasket beach, massachusetts. yet the process was slow indeed. your typical railroader is particularly averse to novelties. it was not until about fifteen years ago that electric installation of any considerable size came into being: the large suburban services that were created by the new york central, the new haven, and the pennsylvania, coincident with the similar suburban services in oakland, california, and in portland, oregon, and in some of the longer tunnels of the land; the hoosac tunnel of the old fitchburg, the tunnel of the michigan central under the detroit river, and that of the great northern through the cascades in washington being notable instances of this last sort of installation. after these came the large installations of the norfolk and western through the alleghanies and of the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul--of which much more in a moment. and after this a great hiatus, the huge rise in material and construction costs of every sort, the war, and the present paralysis of our railroad development. recently there has come a demand, from the laity of the railroad world at least, that there be a revival of progress in this extension of electrical power upon our standard railroads. mcadoo sensed this well before he left his high office and said that at least one-fifth of the railroad mileage should be operated electrically at the earliest possible opportunity. and more recently there has come a larger realization to the land of its wholesale waste in potential water-power, as well as a gradual closing and increasing expense of its coal-supply. the big builders and designers of our steam locomotives have not been asleep to this movement. they have met it in very recent years by a real improvement in the quality of that machine. for many years the steam locomotive grew in quantity--in mere size and bulk, if you please--rather than in quality. once again we were captivated by the use of the word "big." when we read not many years ago of the coming of the first -ton locomotive we drew in our breath a little. four hundred thousand pounds! and without its great load of coal and water at that. what a monster! here, indeed, was frankenstein. but what old frank could do in smashing down bridges and rail levels we wotted not of. yet what was the -ton locomotive compared with the -ton and the -ton monsters that the santa fé and the delaware and hudson began installing about a dozen years ago? it seemed as if no limit could be reached. yet the fact that a size limit could be reached and apparently was reached, was still no sign that the limits of steam locomotive efficiency had even been approached. because the methods by which these limits may be extended, apparently almost indefinitely, are so complex and withal so fascinating, i am taking them up in a separate chapter of this book. this chapter and the one that follows it are the record of the achievements and the possibilities of the electric locomotive, whether as a separate unit or merely as a compact bundle of energy stowed away in the trucks of a passenger or freight-car. that locomotive shall receive our first consideration. now despite all the improvements that we shall see have been made upon him, the american steam locomotive of to-day seemingly remains a laggard. in the days when his fuel was both plentiful and comparatively cheap one might merely say that he was extravagant and let it go at that. but now when coal if not scarcer is far more expensive his extravagance has become totally unwarranted. in , the most recent year for which the figures are available, our steam locomotive consumed , , tons of coal in addition to , , barrels of oil. reducing these last to their coal equivalent, we have a total fuel consumption expressed in terms of coal of , , . and when we measure that consumption alongside the freight carried-- was one of the record years of our american railroads--it will be seen that for every thousand tons of freight that they moved one mile they burned pounds of coal. through any modern steam-generating electric station--the figures taken from the modern power-houses of the few steam railroads that already have been progressive enough to install electric motive-power--an even hundred pounds of coal may easily move more than tons of freight one mile--in the accurate phrasing of the railroaders themselves, ton-miles. in other words the same freight traffic moved by electricity through steam power houses would have required but a little over fifty million tons of coal. from , , to , , tons of coal would have been saved--a saving roughly expressed in money at between three-quarters of a billion and a billion dollars, which of itself would be a or per cent. dividend upon the total capitalization of our american railroads. in the saving that we have just shown we have presupposed an absolutely universal substitution of electric for steam power all the way across the land. this however is not practical to-day; nor is it likely to be practical in any day to come, for every mile of our , miles of american railroad system. on the other hand this huge estimate of national saving is based entirely upon the coal-consumption basis. the most impressive savings that you shall see before you are finished with this chapter are those accomplished by our lines which have bended water-power, hitherto wasted, to the movement of their trains. i have stood upon the brink of niagara falls and there seen train after train arrive and depart, each hauled by a steam locomotive. and all the while i knew that the force and power of that mighty cataract was lighting the homes and driving the street-cars of toronto and of syracuse--by land, respectively one hundred and miles distant. what a travesty upon efficiency! for the moment however we are seeing the question, not in fine, but in large. it is terribly large, terribly wasteful, if you please. for not only is our steam locomotive a laggard in his over-greed for food but he is lazy into the bargain. a fearful proportion of his time he spends in resting or in being refitted for his work. for each hour that he spends out upon the line he spends another hour in the roundhouse--and this of course quite outside of the yearly visit to the shops for complete overhauling and repair. the traffic of fifth avenue, new york, or michigan avenue, chicago, would never move if motor-cars were permitted to park alongside their busy curbs. one reason why the traffic upon our railroads has not moved better in times of stress is because there has been too much parking both of locomotives and of cars, particularly of the first. an eastern trunk-line railroad which a dozen years ago was having a fearful time moving its freight brought in a consulting engineer for an opinion as to the increase of its facilities. like most engineers the outside expert saw the problem as a field-day possibility for contracting concerns--and engineers. a new classification-yard here, great additions and rearrangements to others there, at other places a long stretch of additional main-line trackage--the trick might be done anywhere from sixty to one hundred millions of dollars there in yester-year. these figures staggered the president of the road. he was not satisfied and so turned again for outside consultation, this time with the hard-headed general manager of a western line. "tell me what you can make of it?" he asked. the westerner took a hurried trip over the line and had his report ready within sixty minutes thereafter; it was short, concise, verbal. "give me a couple of million dollars' worth of more locomotives and in a week i'll have your problem solved. you don't want more yards, to be clogged up in turn. you want yard shortage--and line movement. if you have a sufficiency of motive-power you won't need many yards, not as many as you have to-day. your stuff will keep moving, not hanging around on side-tracks." * * * * * the problem of that eastern road of a dozen years ago is to-day that of virtually every trunk-line of the northeast. remember, if you will, that for more than a decade there has been no main line trackage laid down east of pittsburg or cleveland. previous to that time a considerable amount of relief work had been done by a half-dozen or so of the larger roads in that territory. but the relief that these changes gave has long since been swallowed up until to-day it is hardly apparent. and the steadily growing traffic demands fresh relief. how it can be given is not as easy a problem to the big engineers. the pennsylvania can and has planned still more low-grade relief-lines across and through the alleghany mountains, but pittsburg still remains its bottle-neck--in there between the high hills and all but defying the railroad engineers. the new york central needs more main-line trackage, but far more does it need relief of its own bottle-necks--at albany and again at buffalo. it is the problem of the cities that counts--not merely albany or buffalo or pittsburg, but new york and boston and philadelphia and baltimore and cleveland and cincinnati and st. louis and chicago. there is no use in laying down additional main tracks when the terminals in the hearts of these great cities are so sadly congested as to take a freight-car as long to move through a single one of them as from three hundred to five hundred miles on open line. the smooth and shiny steel rails that slip through each of these congested traffic-hubs are their fifth avenues and their michigan avenues too. we do not permit the gasolene locomotive to park and obstruct these highways of asphaltum. but the laggard steam locomotive is permitted to loaf in great roundhouses along the steel highway. he is to-day not merely a laggard but an actual obstructionist. i hinted but a moment ago at the time he must spend between runs resting and being more or less overhauled--fires cleaned, machinery overhauled, flues calked and the like, twelve hours out of each twenty-four. moreover he requires water each seventy-five miles and a fresh supply of coal each . on the other hand, take the electric locomotive. not only does he save weight by carrying no coal or water and so put that weight into motive machinery--his strength to-day is horse-power as against but about of our largest steam locomotives--but he actually goes miles without having to receive the inspection attention that his old-fashioned steam brother apparently has to have at the end of . which means that for days at a time--and even a week or a fortnight, if the necessity arises--he can remain in steady service, going from one train to another, and only changing crews. the locomotive is always ready. and what is true in this comparison of the "front shop" light repairs and overhauling, which the steam locomotive must undergo at the end of each division, is still more true of that fortnight in the "back shop"--the heavier repairs and more thorough overhauling that it must have each twelvemonth, if it is to be kept in anything like a decent condition of efficiency. the steam locomotive must go to the "back shop" at the end of , miles. barring accidents the electric locomotive need never go there. its only ordinary repairs are the removing of worn bearings or the occasional rewinding of an armature, which can be easily accomplished in any small shop of a division-point. the elaborate plants of roundhouses, coal and water stations, turntables, cinder-pits, and sizable shops required every hundred or hundred and fifty miles along the lines of a steam railroad disappear, while with the facility of the electric locomotive for long-continued running the division-points themselves may well disappear. the new york central railroad in its miles between new york and buffalo, using steam locomotives for miles of this distance, for many years made three engine-changes upon the one-way run; recently it has done somewhat better than this. the erie and the lackawanna between these same cities make the same number of engine-changes. so do the baltimore and ohio and the pennsylvania between new york and pittsburg, only a slightly longer distance. this is standard steam railroad practice. it is only recently being changed. if these lines used electric locomotives the engines could easily make this entire stretch--with a possible change or two of engine-crews but not of locomotives--and at a vast saving of time, trouble, and money. these statements are not made idly. this particular one is made upon the authority of the president of the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul railway, which has successfully undertaken the longest and most scientific electrification yet introduced in the united states. his name is h. e. byram, and the main line of his road is to-day completely equipped for electric operation for miles--from harlowton, montana, to avery, idaho, miles (or about the same mileage as the new york central's between new york and buffalo or the pennsylvania's between new york and pittsburg) and again from othello to tacoma, washington, miles. "we regularly run our electric locomotive the entire miles between harlowton and avery on the same passenger-train," says mr. byram, "and if the track were electrified for that distance could just as well run it four thousand miles. in fact, counting in attendance, wear and tear, shop capacity, and the like, we figure that one of our electric locomotives is equal to three of the heaviest steam type." the forty-five electric locomotives now in service on the harlowton-avery section--the first to be installed--actually have replaced the steam locomotives that formerly were needed for it. the power for this section, crossing the high ranges of the rockies, as well as for the newer section further to the west, which crosses the cascades, is supplied entirely by water. the fuel saving in miles of just an ordinary busy single-tracked main-line railroad in a twelvemonth-- , tons of coal and , , gallons of fuel-oil, according to its careful estimates for a single typical year--is considerable. when you come to project these to the busy double-tracked and triple-tracked and four-tracked railroads of our eastern territory you begin to have the great savings which i outlined toward the beginning of this chapter. and these were only predicated upon the use of coal in the power-houses which becomes quite naturally part and parcel of any scheme of electrification. consider the milwaukee's important experiment in somewhat greater detail. it has been loath to give out exact figures as to its savings in dollars and cents by its electric installation until a number of years of operation should determine these beyond a point of quibbling or of argument. some of its economies are quite obvious however. i am not going into the remarkable system of "regenerative braking" under which in the course of a year some per cent. of the current taken from the overhead trolley-wire by the road's electric locomotives is returned to that thread of copper by the seemingly simple expedient of turning the locomotive's motor into a dynamo momentarily and so utilizing the ancient force of gravity upon a descending mountain grade as to actually turn out electric current and return it to the unseen treasury through that connecting medium of a copper wire. it is enough to say that a per cent. return of current is an appreciable amount. if you do not believe this, ask the next trolleyman that you meet what it would mean to his road if per cent. of the coal which his power-houses have reduced to ashes could be returned to good coal again--and an infinite saving made upon brake-shoes into the bargain. these things have been told. but there has not been told publicly before this time a comparison of operating costs between the missoula division--half of the harlowton-avery electrified section of the milwaukee--and an adjacent mountain division which in and was not electrified, and which moreover is not subjected to the extremely hard winters of the missoula range. the cost of locomotive repairs for and on this steam division was two and one-third times as great as upon the electric, owing in no small degree to the fact that the electric locomotive handles heavier trains and at higher speed than the steam, yet, notwithstanding this increased capacity, has a much lower maintenance cost per mile run. the cost of train crews was nearly two and one-half times greater on the steam division than upon the electric--this also because of the greater train tonnage and speed under electric operation. the expense for enginemen for similar reasons was to per cent. greater on the steam operation. it is easy enough to talk in generalities, much harder sometimes to come to the brass tacks of a situation. it is a sort of brass tack, isn't it, when on this steam division of the milwaukee, the engine-house expense was two and one-half times greater than upon the electric--and for reasons that we have already seen? we do not need the exact dollars and cents of saving, when these comparisons are placed before us. neither do we need exact dollars and cents when we come east to the important electrification of the coal-carrying norfolk and western through the blue ridge mountains of west virginia--a tremendously busy thirty-mile stretch of line over which there constantly moves a vast tonnage of bituminous coal. conditions here are considerably different from those upon the milwaukee yet the results that are being attained are largely the same. upon the n. & w. huge trains of one-hundred-ton steel cars ( tons to the train), which formerly required three big steam mallets, are now being hauled by two articulated electric locomotives, and at twice the speed. focus your attention upon this last statement and then remember what we were saying about the necessity of keeping the motor-cars moving constantly and uniformly through the busiest streets of our metropolitan cities. it is not any more necessary to the understanding of the real economics of railroad electrification to know that the norfolk and western has made twelve double electric locomotives do the work of thirty-three steam mallets than it is to know that those great mountain-climbing trains are moving at the rate of fourteen miles an hour instead of but seven as formerly. here is speed; but speed expressed in a double dimension--speed compounded if you choose to put it that way. while there also arises the interesting further proposition that in any railroad of high traffic density it is intensely important that its trains be kept moving at a uniform speed. in other days the freight movement at seven miles an hour through the thirty-mile heavy grade mountain section of the norfolk and western tended to "drag the line" and hold back the trains behind it, despite the fact that upon these more level sections their steam power could easily draw them at fourteen miles an hour. but never without a free clearance. that thirty-mile summit section was indeed a clog to the efficient operation of the line. electricity removed the clog. and, quite incidentally, the soft-coal smoke in a very dirty tunnel through the crest of the blue ridge. take such speed, such even traffic flow, and apply it to our overburdened trunk-lines of the northeast; to make the most definite instance and the greatest necessity. suppose that no more main-line tracks need be laid upon the railroads east from chicago and st. louis, north from washington and cincinnati, no more expensive notchings in the mountains that hem in pittsburg or fresh expenditures in buffalo, if but a far quickened movement of freight can be obtained over existing rails. here then is a double economy effected not alone in the use of fuel (still leaving the water-power solution in abeyance) but in a greatly bettered use of existing terminals and trackage. if our railroads can save three quarters of a billion dollars a year by burning their coal and oil in central power-stations instead of in locomotive fire-boxes, it may be fair to say that the terminal economies that might be effected by increasing the existing facilities from to per cent. without physical enlargement would equal the first saving. when the shoe begins to pinch there is many and many a way of relieving the foot. * * * * * there are railroaders, and shrewd railroaders too, who will not chime in rapidly. here is one of them--in the far west, a mighty operating executive schooled years ago by one of the half-dozen of the real captains of the industry. he feels the need of great relief to the traffic pressure upon his own great system--the greater need of a smoother movement of the traffic upon its rails. "the game," he says, "is simplicity itself. it is to take the friction out of the pipe and at the same time increase the pressure." which in his case means a combination of more freight-cars--or better loading of the existing equipment--and more second or double tracks across the long reaches of the west. yet when i suggest electrification as a method for the removal of pipe friction, he shakes his head sadly. "my old chief," he begins, his loyalty showing in his very phrasing, "once thought as you now think. he was anxious to install electric motive-power upon the stiff grades of our mountain division. he had reports made upon the possibility of the thing from three separate sources, the two big electrical equipment companies and our own fairly expert corp of engineers. there was little variance between the reports of these different interests. almost uniformly they figured the cost of the job at a little more than ten million dollars, or at that time about $ , annual interest. a fuel bill on the volume of traffic that we then had of about $ , would be saved. that sort of saving did not appeal to me. i told the chief so." i asked this big railroader how about that mountain division of his to-day, with its traffic greatly increased and its fuel bill more than doubled. he replied by saying that not only had the cost of electrical equipment--locomotives, dynamos, copper wire, all the rest of it--doubled or more than doubled, but the interest cost of getting money has increased all the way from to per cent. and so the wide margin of more than a decade ago has not narrowed perceptibly. i have introduced this point here because it is most fair and most germane. unquestionably that paper saving of all the way from a billion and a half to two billion dollars a year that we have just seen would be greatly cut down by the increase in the cost of electrical equipment and of the interest on the money that would go to buy it, but to-day the margin upon the electrification side of the argument is growing wider day by day, while as we go east and the congestion problem upon our railroads increases the margin in favor of electrical operation also increases. granted that the costs of electrification are indeed vast, with dynamo units running all the way from one million to five million dollars, with locomotives at $ , and upwards apiece, all the other accessories in proportion, the game _is_ indeed worth the candle. nor is it always necessary to buy locomotives at the rate of four or even five for a million dollars, with interest rates at per cent. or thereabouts, when a railroad can borrow at all. there is many and many a short cut toward electrification. take new england, for instance. up in that extreme northeastern corner of this land, as we have seen already at some length, the railroad shoe already has begun to pinch very hard indeed. with a few exceptions the railroads there are bankrupt, or virtually so. and yet their economic need and opportunity in electrical installation was never greater than it is at this very moment. if you don't believe this bald statement, imagine yourself the president of that formerly prosperous little railroad down in maine and your purchasing-agent coming in and telling you that he just paid twenty-seven dollars a ton for tender coal for your locomotives--with maine richer in undeveloped water-power than almost any other state in the union! new england needs electrification of her steam railroads, and needs it at once. it is no new story to her. she began her experimentation with this sort of development more than two decades ago, when the new haven laid that third rail alongside its busy bristol-new britain-hartford line and installed a frequent electric suburban service. it was a beginning; a beginning that led slowly but surely to overhead wire installations upon several other branch lines of the new haven system and eventually to the elaborate work in connection with the new york central's electrification of the grand central station in new york. this last embraced the entire main line from forty-second street through to new haven. it now ends there. and when you talk electrification to one of the high officers of the road he will point to this particularly elaborate installation and say: "not on your life. we had your vision fifteen years ago, and we put in this pretty job. where did it get us? into debt. it is one of the finest installations in the world, and one of the most expensive. while the increased capacity of the grand central station from the operation of a two-level plan--a scheme utterly impossible under the use of steam as a motive-power--undoubtedly justified the expenditure, the fact remains that, considered independently, our electric zone to-day does not return interest on its investment. of two locomotives of equal capacity, the steam one will cost $ , , the electric $ , . in addition to all of this investment in overhead there is also the cost of its maintenance, and that is not small. wire-trains for immediate repairs as well as for maintenance must be in readiness day and night with a variety of expert, and expensive, workers. it all costs." i know that it costs, mr. new haven. but i also know that it takes but one half the amount of coal to pull a train with an electric locomotive as compared with a steam locomotive of the same capacity. remember that the steam locomotive's voracious appetite for coal apparently is unceasing. he may stand idle and upon sidings for half or a third of a working day, yet the fireman's task at the fire-box door is steady. while if that fireman be lacking in every-day efficiency, the coal waste is increased, not lessened. the president of a large eastern railroad has estimated that even a little better handling of the coal-shovels by his firemen would save the road , tons of coal annually. for even if coal must drive a railroad, if that railroad is driven from a central power-station there is almost no inefficiency in firing there; the central station operates on hourly coal-record sheets and waste is quickly detected. i have not had in mind, however, for immediate use in new england the sort of elaborate installation which the new haven has upon the western end of its main stem. what i meant for that road, as well as for sections of other lines up there, was the same sort of comparatively simple electric construction that the new haven itself has operated for years on some of its isolated suburban lines in connecticut and massachusetts. i mean, instead of heavy steel passenger-coaches of main-line standards of size and weight and propelled by expensive electric locomotives, electric motor-cars of comparatively small size and weight, self-propelled and self-contained and operated in trains of from one to twelve cars in accordance with the immediate necessities of the traffic at hand. the new haven's field south of boston, where its suburban service is at its very worst to-day, is particularly ripe for installation of that sort. there the once competitive interurban tradition has come to its final slough of despond. the traction systems throughout all new england have not been immune from the difficulties that have beset their brethren in other sections of the land. in fact i should not hesitate to say that their troubles have been greater rather than less than their brethren's. more traction mileage has probably been abandoned in new england than in any other distinctive single locality. from plymouth to sagamore, massachusetts, there stretch twenty miles of track and trolley-wire which, like the hampden railroad (once built by one charles s. mellen for a dozen miles east of springfield), never has been used and probably never will be. two years ago the bay state's lines in and around gloucester and the cape ann district were all abandoned, while the connecticut co. (a new haven property) constantly threatened to do the same thing in some of its larger cities if jitney competition were not withdrawn. a prompt compliance by the local authorities with this mandate saved these towns their trolley service, temporarily at least. it is a grave question whether fifteen years hence we shall have any trolley service in most of our american towns of less than , population. but the most important abandonment of long-distance trolley service which has come to my attention has been that of the shore line electric, along the north shore of long island sound, for sixty miles between new haven and new london. there have been serious deletions in the passenger transportation machine of new england. the causes that have led to them are many and too involved to be discussed here. the main fact is that virtually none of this trolley mileage, outside of the city systems, is ever likely to come back into use again. a good deal of it should not have been built but, having been built, has become both a convenience and a necessity to the territory which it served and its abandonment a distinct social and commercial blow to that territory. it so happens too that there is a vast amount of surplus mileage in the form of branch lines and even of some of the secondary main lines upon the steam railroads of new england. and some of this in turn became unprofitable only when it was paralleled by a trolley-line, which quickly changed the situation from one wherein a territory sustained a single thriftily operated line to one where two hotly competing lines could hardly fail both to lose. now the opportunity is beginning to show itself for a change toward old conditions. it ought to be and is possible for the new haven, the boston and maine, and some of the other railroads of new england to transform some of their secondary lines into inexpensive combined freight and passenger roads, using steam, if need be, for their freight service and electricity for their passenger. what i meant for the new haven, as well as the other new england roads, was the same sort of simple installation that was operated for many years, and apparently operated successfully, on some of the suburban lines east of hartford, between middletown and berlin junction, connecticut, between providence, warren, and fall river, and in the summer months out to nantasket beach beyond boston. i meant cars of comparatively small size and weight and self-propelled, depending upon no locomotive whatever. this field south of boston, where the new haven's suburban service is at its very worst, is ripe for installation of that sort, through as far as plymouth at least, and possibly to new bedford, newport, and providence as well. to the boston and maine the zone of suburban lines of the one-time eastern railroad from north station out to salem, gloucester, and up to newburyport and portsmouth offers similar immediate opportunity. here are lines on which a minimum of through traffic is being routed to-day and most of that could, if necessary, be taken off and placed on the more direct main lines of the original boston and maine, just to the west, and leading direct through to portland and the north. they thread the territory where the interurban lines are dying most rapidly and being totally abandoned, and where a great public inconvenience is arising as a result. a further result, and one not to be underestimated, would be the vast saving in the capacity of the north station, just as the new haven and the boston and albany can make a similar vast saving in south station. a regular interval service, increased during rush-hours, of multiple-unit cars means no switching service whatsoever. an incoming train discharges its passengers upon one side and receives others for the outgoing run on the other side, while it stands upon a single pair of rails and without an unnecessary movement of any sort, which means, in effect, the virtual doubling of a station's capacity. the new england lines are this very day short--wofully short--of steam locomotives. yet the immediate installation of electric overhead wires upon some of their congested branches would within a short space of time release dozens of locomotives which, if not efficient for the movement of long or heavy freights, could move shorter ones; after which could come the heavier installations. "all right say for berkshire county, massachusetts," you interrupt, "but how about the southeastern corner of new england? haven't the rivers down there in rhode island all the load they can carry?" granted. i indulge in no such wild day-dreams as that of all the railroad trackage of southern new england being operated by water-generated electric power. there is a better plan in view. before me lies the rough prospectus of the super-power plan of the northeast atlantic seaboard, for the surveys of which congress has already made generous appropriations. in a word this plan provides that in a great congested industrial area consisting of massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island, southeastern new york, eastern pennsylvania, and portions of new jersey and of maryland a present consumption of , , horse-power--divided into , , for industrial purposes and , , for railroad--shall be fully met by the consolidation and connection, through high-voltage transmission lines, of existing steam-electric stations as well as by the establishment of central power-plants at the mine-heads of pennsylvania and west virginia, these last with a capacity of but , , horse-power and yet helping to meet the present need for , , . these are but the coal sources of electrical energy; and i have just stressed the importance of the steadily decreasing coal supply and a consequent steady increase in the price of coal itself. even the vast and sweeping economies to be gained by the consolidation of steam power-stations as well as by the burning of coal at the mine-head are almost as nothing compared with those to be gained by a scientific grouping and use of the available and little used water-powers of the territory. it is upon this very phase of the situation that the super-power plan gains its greatest value. do you recall how but a moment ago we saw that the operating economies of the milwaukee out in the rocky mountains were based largely upon the use of water-power rather than upon the consumption of coal in its electric power-houses? the hydro-electric resources of the super-power territory that have not been developed to their full capacity, if at all, comprise power-sites in the adirondacks; along the hudson, the raquette, and the black rivers; along the upper reaches of the delaware and the lower ones of the susquehanna and last--and greatest--that of the st. lawrence river itself, taken just below ogdensburg, new york. this last part of the project ties up very closely with the st. lawrence ship canal project, an international scheme in which the united states and canada shall share the cost and the benefits, both in power and in enlarged water traffic possibilities. it is estimated that more than , , horse-power can be generated in this plan, of which one-half would be available for the use of this country. at present the whole st. lawrence river canal scheme is under bitter political attack, which renders it unlikely that it will come quickly into effect. that it will not come eventually is hard to believe. when all is said and done, however, this super-power plan, so sweeping as to be all but staggering to the imagination, and yet sponsored by the shrewdest and most far-seeing of american engineers, is based primarily upon the consumption of coal at the mines rather than in distant factory engine-rooms, central power-stations, or locomotive boilers. it is estimated that it can be operated at a saving of at least , , tons of coal each year to the industries and railroads of the district which it embraces, or, at a modest average of eight dollars a ton of coal, $ , , a year to commercial america. shimmery copper wires will carry silently and continuously what will amount to at least one half of the coal tonnage not carried by the railroads for power and lighting purposes. a copper wire knows neither snow, blockade, nor traffic congestion. and railroad experts estimate the super-power plan as a saving of another $ , , annually in coal freights. a total of more than a million dollars a day saved in just one corner of american industry is not to be sneezed at, even in these days when we talk so easily and carelessly in billions. in this great single super-economy the railroads of eastern new york, pennsylvania, maryland, southern new england, and northern new jersey may easily share. in fact it is definitely planned that they shall share in it. the list of feasible users of this concentrated power includes the fitchburg division of the boston and maine, all the way from boston to rotterdam junction, new york (oddly enough the western half of this division, from greenfield to rotterdam, through the hoosac tunnel, miles, has for some time since been marked for electrification by the road's own engineers); the connecting delaware and hudson from mechanicsville, new york, to wilkes-barre, pennsylvania; the new york, new haven, and hartford from the present terminal of the electric zone at new haven through to boston, both by the shore line and the springfield line (this predicates of course the electrical operation of the boston and albany all the way east of springfield--and why not west of that point also is not easily discovered); the main line of the erie, from jersey city to susquehanna, pennsylvania; the lackawanna, from hoboken to elmira; the lehigh valley from new york to wilkes-barre; the central railroad of new jersey-reading-baltimore and ohio group to washington, to hagerstown, maryland, and to gettysburg, pennsylvania; the pennsylvania, from new york to a point just beyond harrisburg--all of these main lines and a host of their branches. such is the railroad portion of this embracing scheme. the only important road in its territory that is omitted from the electric program is the new york central, which has such low grades and hence such economical use of power that the economy of electricity is least necessary to it. if ever it should desire to coöperate in the plan, it probably can gain the power for its main line--west of albany, at least--from niagara falls, and for its network of busy lines in northern new york from the abundant water-powers of the adirondack preserve or the huge st. lawrence river international power project. this all seems most logical. in the case of new england it so happens that the super-power plan--which is now seemingly certain of eventual execution--embraces just that section of the territory where there is the least surplus of water-power. the rough, wild rivers of the north of maine, of new hampshire, and of vermont can and yet will operate almost all of the mileage of the railroads of those states; the distant mines in the pennsylvania and the west virginia hills will run the lines in the rest of new england. power--power to move railroads--will cease to move across the most congested strip of north atlantic seaboard in noisy and overcrowded and inefficient car-loads of coal. power will come on the copper wire and will move the silent trains around boston, new york, and philadelphia--and many of them--some of them with big and efficient locomotives and others by sturdy small individual motors set within the car-trucks. the steam locomotive in this northeastern territory is nearly doomed. i think that eventually it will be doomed everywhere within the united states (our disappearing coal supply will be the chief factor in this), but first and foremost of all in the great congested areas which, having no coal of their own, live in constant and deadly fear that an overworked and overgrown railroad structure may yet fail to bring to them all that they need for their imminent necessities. that such a step will bring eventual economies, vast economies, one can have no doubt. the new haven for the nonce may be failing to make a profit on its elaborately electrified main line between new york and new haven, to the power-station of which it must haul coal a long way and over congested rail routes. but with that unseen power stretched further and further upon its lines i have no doubt that adequate transportation service, freight and passenger, can again be given to the communities which it serves. what is true of the new haven is equally true of the albany, the boston and maine, and the other railroads of the new england area--after all, railroads of real inherent strength despite the great abuses which they have suffered. and what is true of all these railroads of new england is of course true of the railroads elsewhere within the nation, and true even if the economy be but the one of coal or oil consumption in a central power-station; far more true of course if water-developed electricity be found available. for notwithstanding the great developments of our water-powers that have been made in the last fifteen or twenty years, the experts of the geological survey down at washington say that the undeveloped water-power of the united states is still approximately , , horse-power. much of this is of course in the west and the far west where there is as yet but little traffic congestion upon the railroads. in such cases the gasolene-unit cars are ofttimes the best solution of the problem of the local passenger service. there are instances too in the northeast where single units are still the best solution of this most perplexing transport problem. and in the northeast there is a considerable proportion of undeveloped water-power still remaining. but whether this be drawn upon chiefly, or the coal at the mine-head, the engineers of the super-power zone plan eventually will decide; the fact remains that here in a strip beginning at washington and ending at portland, maine, and stretching from one hundred to one hundred and fifty miles inland, is the scene of our greatest railroad congestion, and the scene where in any traffic crisis the possibility of breakdown becomes most imminent. yet across this strip and through it the laggard steam locomotive still continues to draw long trains of coal--with per cent. of it destined for his fire-box and the fire-boxes of his fellows. and this in an era which we have been pleased to call the age of electricity! no matter from what angle one may view them, the possibilities of a far wider extension of electric motive-power on our railroads are fascinating indeed. nor are they in this day and age to be regarded as particularly radical or revolutionary, or new and untried. remember all the while, if you will, that the first important electrification of a section of standard steam railroad in this country--the mount royal tunnel section of the baltimore and ohio railroad through the heart of baltimore--was nearly thirty years ago. since that day a good many other like experiments, large and small, have followed in its wake. other lands have both followed and preceded us. these other lands are not asleep to-day. despite the terribly crippled condition of europe to-day, elaborate plans are being made over there--particularly in france, in switzerland, and in great britain, and even in spain and in italy. the british plans are still quite vague. the french are more definite. it is now planned to electrify at least miles of the , miles of french railway; a single system, the paris-orleans, has made definite preparations for bringing this power, the most of it water-generated, to more than half of its mileage, about miles all-told. in switzerland work is already rapidly under way for transforming the entire federal system of railways, approximately miles, from steam to electric power. it is to be a huge job, the cost of which is roughly estimated at $ , , . little switzerland shows great pluck in even tackling it. but when you ask the managers of their railways why they are undertaking it they shrug their shoulders and smile and reply: "think of the economies that it will bring us." think of the economies it will bring us, us americans. if a thing is good for a little republic overseas with but miles of rail trackage all told, how much better must it be for the big republic with , miles of line? have the french or the swiss railroaders more vision than we americans have? i should hate to say that, particularly in the face of such a development as that of the milwaukee, to say nothing of our great terminals in new york, in philadelphia, and elsewhere. have they more funds with which to tinker and to experiment? of course not. we have the vision. we have the money. we simply need the correlating force that shall join the two in the immediate relief of our sadly wobbling railroad situation. such a force would be big business in the truest and the finest sense of the word. it would be something more; it would be statesmanship, railroad statesmanship if you please, railroad statesmanship of the sort that we stand so sorely in need of to-day. chapter ix more about electric motive-power we have the courage. we have the money. and we have the opportunity. and lest any reader of this book should begin to fancy that i have studied the problem of the northeast alone and neglected the equally fascinating ones of the rest of the land, the many, many places where electric power can and should be brought to the aid of the heavy-traction railroad, permit me in turn to direct attention to the possibilities of several typically congested american communities, in other portions of the land. yet before we come to these to tarry a moment in metropolitan new york, where the largest installation of electric traction for suburban services in the world has been in use for so many years now that new yorkers have long since ceased even to comment upon it. it is now considerably more than a decade since the huge grand central and pennsylvania terminals were virtually completed and the steam locomotives absolutely abolished from their stately apartments. upon the near-by lines of the four chief railroads running into these two stations, the new york central, the new york, new haven, and hartford, the pennsylvania, and the long island, electric traction for passenger trains has been universally installed for a radius of about thirty miles outside of the heart of manhattan island. freight trains of these roads hauled by steam locomotives still penetrate into new york city, but never into these two passenger terminals; while the through passenger-trains of these four roads, as well as of the baltimore and ohio and the lehigh valley, which use the pennsylvania station, interchange their steam locomotives at the edge of the electric zone with electric motive-power. the suburban trains are, of course, made up of multiple-unit cars, like those of the subways or the elevated railroads, and dispense altogether with locomotives of any sort. to the terminals of the erie and the lackawanna railroads, which are situated upon the west bank of the hudson river directly across from the lower portions of manhattan island, the hudson and manhattan tubes, built by the vision and daring of one william g. mcadoo, whom already we have encountered in these pages, give access. the tubes also reach the old passenger-station of the pennsylvania in jersey city, which is still used to a moderate extent, and continue west to the main line of the pennsylvania at manhattan transfer and into the heart of newark, eight miles distant. already they are overcrowded, particularly in rush hours; and it does not take a very great deal of vision to perceive that eventually they will have to be extended at least two miles as a subway under broad street, newark, from the present rather unsatisfactory terminal at the military park, in that city. the facilities are not good for reaching the trains of the erie and the lackawanna from those of the tubes; particularly is this true in the case of the ancient erie terminal, where there is a long and, at times, overcrowded passageway to be traversed afoot between the platforms of the two railroads. in the concluding chapters of this book i am to indicate the regrouping of the railroads that eventually must come about, in one form or another. i may anticipate by saying that in almost any regrouping the financially strong lackawanna will be linked to the financially weak erie. therefore i may be permitted to assume that the lines of these two systems, with an elaborate network of suburban branches in northeastern new jersey, may yet be joined together somewhere just west of the bergen tunnels in hoboken where they now cross at an acute angle. this being done, the rest is easy. one set of tunnels would be assigned for east-bound movement, the other for west-bound; which arrangement gives four tracks in _each_ direction--enough for a really vast passenger traffic movement. somewhere close to their eastern portals these tunnels would be depressed and continued under the hudson river to manhattan island. here they would be far apart, perhaps as much as a mile apart. between them and running north and south upon manhattan would be a connecting tunnel link ten or twelve or fourteen tracks in width and with long continuous platforms between these tracks. it is easy to surmise that two or three trains could easily lie back of one another at any one of these tenuous underground platforms in the manhattan terminal. this great sub-service passenger-station would lie somewhere just west of the seventh avenue extension and barely north of canal street, in manhattan. it is a district that has not gone ahead with the rest of new york. a huge passenger terminal within it would be of tremendous help in raising its depressed realty values, while the proximity of the station to the main trunk of the west side subway of the interborough and the extended canal street line of the brooklyn rapid transit would render it wonderfully accessible to every portion of the incorporated city of new york. one would hardly have expected the virtually bankrupt erie to accomplish much with the electrification of its lines. as a matter of actual fact, some years ago it accomplished a very successful feat of this sort from rochester to mount morris, new york, a distance of thirty-four miles. the enormously wealthy lackawanna has done absolutely nothing at all. it has spent money lavishly--and with extreme good sense, as well--in the improvement of its property, nowhere more so than in the new jersey suburban section close to new york. it has raised or lowered its lines, it has doubled and tripled its main-line trackage, it has built superb passenger and freight-stations at every corner. but it has not tinkered with electric motive-power. very recently it has moved so far as to plan an electrification of its main line through a mountainous district for about forty miles east and west of scranton, pennsylvania. but apparently it has made no plans whatever for its new york suburban territory. it is hardly likely, with the present management of the road, to say nothing of its interests, direct or indirect, in the large anthracite coal mining properties in northwestern pennsylvania, to act in anticipation of the coming of the super-power plan and its probable compulsory mandates upon the railroads of its territory. * * * * * the super-power plan as we have seen also embraces baltimore. and washington, as well. between these two cities, as well as between baltimore and philadelphia, there are two parallel double-tracked railroads. one would serve all real needs, with the possible addition of some stretches of third or even fourth tracks. the other road is quite superfluous. years ago there was but one railroad from philadelphia to washington--a combination of the philadelphia, wilmington, and baltimore and the baltimore and ohio which the civil war made historic. these two roads connected at baltimore. the only track connection between them was through light street in the commercial heart of that city. trains arriving at baltimore on the p. w. & b. had their locomotives detached at canton station at the east side of the city, while their cars were drawn one by one by horses across the town to camden station upon the west side, where they were reassembled into trains drawn by b. & o. locomotives, and went scurrying off to washington, the west, and the south generally. such a clumsy arrangement could not last forever. about fifty years ago it ended in a first-class row between the two chief parties to it. the p. w. & b. had passed into the hands of the pennsylvania, which also acquired control of the northern central, leading from baltimore straight north through york and harrisburg and williamsport, pennsylvania, to elmira, new york, and so on to the south shore of lake ontario. the northern central and the p. w. & b. began picking quarrels with the baltimore & ohio, which had some very obdurate habits of its own. things went from bad to worse. for a time the trains of the former connecting roads took a keen delight in missing their connections at baltimore city (to use the old name of the town), and it all finally came to pass that the roads ceased issuing through tickets over each other's rails--a method of reprisal wherein the traveler paid the bill. out of this mêlée there grew a phase of competition which developed rapidly into the construction of parallel railroads. the pennsylvania cut an enormously expensive series of tunnels under baltimore and built the union station out on charles street in the newer portion of the town--recently superseded by the present station of that name. from that station it built the baltimore and potomac on to its own new terminal in washington city (also old-style) where it enjoyed valuable exclusive connections with the important railroads leading south from the potomac. after which it was free and independent of the baltimore and ohio for its all-important new york-philadelphia-washington business, while the link of the northern central between baltimore and its main line at harrisburg gave it a chance to get competitive business between both washington and baltimore and the west. to this sharp blow the baltimore and ohio retaliated, though slowly. it never was able to finance itself quite as readily as its larger adversary. gradually it too tunneled under baltimore--went far ahead of the pennsylvania, in fact, in that premier electric installation to which i already have referred--and opened its handsome mount royal station within a few blocks of the union station. it extended its line on from mount royal for ninety-five miles to philadelphia, paralleling and in sharp competition with the p. w. & b. property of the pennsylvania. it obtained an advantageous terminal site in philadelphia and would have put down its own rails all the way to jersey city had it not been for a most tragic incident--which has no place in this book. it is enough here to say that eventually it obtained trackage rights from philadelphia to jersey city over a combination of certain lines of the reading and the central railroad of new jersey. recently, as we have seen, these were so extended as to bring it into the pennsylvania station. railroad competition to-day in a good many parts of the land is not a very serious thing--save, possibly, for publicity purposes. i have broken my rule and delved into railroad history in this instance for a single purpose, to show how admirably a certain portion of this parallel and largely superfluous railroad construction could be brought to a rapid transit electric installation. for some years past there has been a plan to rid baltimore of the pressure of through freight traffic through her heart by the construction of a freight cut-off just north of the city, to be used jointly by both the pennsylvania and the baltimore and ohio. oddly enough the city itself has opposed this plan. baltimore has a particularly delightful suburban section extending for many miles north of her actual civic limits. it would be quite impossible to build the proposed freight cut-off without intersecting this section. baltimore is a conservative town. that a bit of her comfort or beauty should be sacrificed to commercial necessity is, in her eyes, unthinkable. yet some day that cut-off will be built, if for no other reason than simply because it is a commercial necessity, and the traffic upon the twin sets of tunnels in her heart will be lessened very appreciably. now consider those tunnels consolidated--conducted in coöperation and not in rivalry. if the baltimore and ohio can use the pennsylvania passenger-station in new york there is no moral reason why it cannot use the pennsylvania passenger-station in baltimore and make a real operating saving. baltimore, far more than new york, presents opportunities for the physical connection of the railroads at each side of the city. as a matter of fact there is a connection already at the eastern edge, and none is needed at the western edge. for the scheme that i contemplate would continue the baltimore and ohio's through trains over the pennsylvania tracks to the union station in washington, which already they use jointly. now we have a first-class pair of rails left nearly free all the way from mount royal station, baltimore, to the union station, washington, forty miles distant. the third-rail electric installation of this line which to-day extends for three or four miles of its length through baltimore could easily be extended to washington--not only into the union station but well beyond it. it would take a lower level of the station, on the side opposite from that occupied by the depressed tracks of the railroads that lead out from and under the station toward the south, and continue as a subway through the heart of washington to georgetown and chevy chase. similarly in baltimore it probably would continue north from mount royal, through to roland park or even beyond, while between the two cities there has been for many years upon the line of the baltimore and ohio an almost unbroken succession of villages, suburban and semi-suburban. here then is an ideal opportunity for a dual-city rapid transit development--and, aside from the suggested subway under washington, to be built at a minimum of cost. an installation such as this awaits only the abandonment of the rather silly show of competition between the railroads, which as we shall see in our own good time in this book is no competition at all, while the opportunities offered for the development of both washington and baltimore are too multifold to be set down within many pages. * * * * * a similar opportunity is offered through and between the bustling great lake cities of toledo and detroit, where the passenger service of the steam railroads that connect them has not been changed or improved in more than forty years. forty years ago these were small cities; their total population hardly exceeded , persons. to-day toledo alone has , people and detroit very close to a million. to a population of , , people the same steam railroad passenger service is given as was given to but , . true it is that since then the country has passed through the age of the interurban trolley as well as that of the automobile. the traffic by both of these agents of transport between toledo and detroit is vast. yet each is subject to great delays in the streets of these huge and steadily growing cities. the railroads that render the most direct passenger service between toledo and detroit--sixty miles apart--are the single-tracked branches of the michigan central and the new york central running for the most of the way almost side by side. yet until a very few years ago, no one came along with the sagacity to operate these two single-tracked roads as one double-tracked one, by the simple process of using one line in one direction and the other in the reverse one. the michigan central was always a conservative property, and so was the lake shore, which preceded the new york central in this territory. yet conservatism, valuable as it is in many ways, should never be permitted to impede progress. and real progress long ago would have dictated the electrification of this intensive stretch of railroad; particularly so in view of the fact that the michigan central, a new york central property, was going ahead with a rather extensive electric installation in connection with the new tunnel that it was boring under the detroit river and with its elaborate new passenger terminal in that city. for many years the michigan central, like the other railroads that essayed to cross into canada at detroit, was compelled to ferry its cars and trains across a swift and rather narrow river. at the best this was a tedious time-taking process. at the worst it was a battle against floating ice and zero weather and all that follows in their trails. the tunnel obviated this. that much was in its favor. it also obviated the michigan central's long-established passenger-station at the river-front in downtown detroit and--in order to avoid a reverse movement of fast through trains--made it necessary to build the handsome new station in a rather inaccessible part of the town. that much was against the new tunnel. yet if the michigan central had been possessed of a real vision it might easily have made a complete triumph of the change. let me show you how it could have been done. suppose, if you will, a loop created by the taking over of the brush street passenger terminal and approach tracks of the grand trunk--so long used by the detroit branch of the new york central--and then the grand trunk, along with the canadian pacific and the wabash, invited and urged to use the michigan central tunnel and passenger-station, at a fair compensation, of course. then suppose a short length of rapid transit railroad--it probably would be an elevated structure--built along the water-front from the old michigan station to the brush street station. ergo! a complete standard railroad loop has been created threading upon its way the new passenger-station, now transformed into a real union station for all the standard railroads entering detroit. now turn your atlas quickly to the map of toledo. a similar possibility exists there. the parallel railroads of the vanderbilts coming in from detroit sweep around two sides of the town. there is abundant trackage upon the other two sides. a loop has been created, a double-tracked loop, if you please, with an excellent double-tracked link (easily capable of further multiple-tracking) connecting them. the old new york central station at toledo is nearly as badly located in reference to the town as the new michigan central one in detroit. yet with this double loop that i have so roughly indicated there could be a constant and high-speed operation of electric multiple-unit rapid transit trains, free from all street traffic interruptions. a man coming into the main passenger terminal of either town from new york or chicago or any other outlying city, by a swift and easy platform change of cars, could be set down in a few more minutes in virtually any section that he wished to reach. * * * * * electrification! intensive passenger operation! we have not as yet even scratched the surface of their possibilities. all the way across the country lie development opportunities such as these. there is a rare one in st. louis--the transformation of the ancient and dirty eads bridge over the mississippi, with the far more dirty tunnel that threads the very heart of the city on the way to the huge union station, by changing from the steam locomotive to the electric one, or the multiple-unit train. this done, a rapid transit railroad is established automatically, into two states, from the easternmost part of east st. louis, across the eads bridge, as we have just seen, and through the heart of the town in the tunnel that has threaded it for more than fifty years--what a splendid chance for a big downtown station at broadway and another under the old post-office!--then out from the tunnel again transversely through the train-shed of the union station, out mill creek valley along the wabash right-of-way to the smart west end of st. louis, through forest park and delmar and branching perhaps off to university city and even far st. charles. it all is almost as easy and as simple as the nose on your face. while the result on the street traffic of congested downtown st. louis would be appreciable from the beginning. * * * * * the rapid multiplication of the motor-car in the large american city seemingly has brought no larger problem in its wake than this very one of street traffic. in truth the streets of new yorks, our st. louises, our chicagos, our philadelphias, and our bostons were never designed for the operations of fleets of vehicles, each bringing but one or two or three or four persons through them. two or three years ago i rode through the streets of detroit with a motor-car manufacturer of international reputation. we were speaking of the grave difficulties, political and economic, with which the local traction company was then laboring. "we won't see these yellow cars in our detroit streets eighteen or twenty years hence," he proclaimed quite grandly, with a wave of his hand at them. i disagreed with him. "in no city that two decades hence proclaims itself as truly metropolitan," i argued, "can people come to and go from their work in its business heart in their own automobiles--none save the comparative few who can afford the luxury of a chauffeur. adequate downtown garage facilities for an american city of a million people or more are almost out of the question. for these cities transportation must continue in mass rather than singly. it is not only possible but probable that in many of them the building of subways or the extension of existing ones will yet render possible the cleaning of the surfaces of downtown streets for motor-car traffic exclusively. in which case the trolley merely becomes a sub-surface unit, and continues purely as a civic necessity." if there were no other argument at all for the development of electric rapid transit installation in the metropolitan areas of our largest cities, this alone would be one well worthy of the considerate ear. the huge interurban trolley-car, so very valuable at one stage of our national progress and development, to-day is an interloper in the streets of even our good-sized towns. nowhere has this been recognized more keenly than in two important up-state cities of new york--rochester and syracuse--where the completion of the new barge canal has left the pathway of the abandoned erie canal a desolate streak of muck and mud through their very hearts. each of these york state towns is to-day a real hub of interurban trolley traffic, to an extent that adds greatly to their existing street congestion. it is now proposed that the old bed of the erie be adapted and used as a sub-surface terminal and approaches for these heavy interurban cars--a suggestion that now seems quite certain of being put into effect. both rochester and syracuse for a considerable time past have been fretted and perplexed by the amount of room these cars have taken in their streets. their problem is one that is shared by many and many another ambitious city across the land. * * * * * there is a phase of american railroad operation that already i have touched upon and to which i shall again refer--the problem of the small branch line. in a following chapter when we shall discuss at some length the possibilities of the gasolene motor-car as applied to this small but always intensive transport problem, we shall go into the possibilities of this arm of the railroad--to-day its most neglected arm and, in consequence, shriveling terribly. there are many places where the withered arm can be made healthy and strong once more by electric treatment. let me illustrate. here in one of our northeastern states (yet out of the super-power area) is a line that runs from s---- through w----, a small city of considerable importance as a local metropolis, on to c----, a railroad center, and then up to b----, in the heart of the mountainous forest. for the first twenty-eight miles of its distance, from s---- to c----, this road runs through a fairly closely built industrial territory, where the intermediate towns all but touch one another. forty years ago this line had four passenger-trains a day in each direction; to-day it has but four once again. there was a little time when it had five or six. the motor-car, privately operated, and the motor-bus, publicly operated, brought it back to four. and even these four are not well filled. the people in its territory do not particularly like the motor-bus. they use it chiefly because of its frequency of service and the fact that it makes frequent intermediate stops along the line. both of these factors are possible to that railroad with the installation of a light unit, traveling at frequent intervals. from one end to the other of this sixty-mile line there is abundant water-power. a good engineer of my acquaintance tells me that the whole route could easily be operated on , horse-power. ergo, once again. the big and generally well-operated railroad system that owns and operates that little half-hidden branch is missing a good bet--for one reason for being so far removed in real headquarters from the line itself, of which much more in good time. the point is, here and now, the bet is being missed and a fair income opportunity lost. an aggregate of these small fair income opportunities would make a considerable dividend upon the stock even of a , -mile railroad. across the land there are hundreds of lines such as this, hundreds of such fair income opportunities. we are coming presently to the possibilities of the gasolene motor-car unit in regard to them; yet here and now may i not suggest that if ever we as a nation should come to a serious shortage of our crude-oil supply, upon which such super-demands are being made these days, we shall retain our water-power? this is a point in favor of the electric unit, as opposed to the gasolene or kerosene one, that we hardly can afford to overlook. chapter x a case for the steam locomotive but a moment ago we were calling the steam locomotive upon the american railroad a "laggard." yet we were reserving a rebuttal to place his case upon the minutes of this record. in all this wild to-do about the possibilities of electricity in heavy rail transport he is forgotten. such ever must be the fate of a laggard. yet truth to tell, the steam locomotive does have a case. he can make a real rebuttal. he may be a laggard to-day; but to-morrow--did you ever chance to know of a boy or a girl in school who was a laggard, and a brilliant success in after life? i myself have known of several. moreover it is hardly conceivable even now that all of the mileage of all our railroads ever will be run by electricity. even the remarkable vision of mcadoo, which viewed the thing with marked friendliness, only predicated its use upon about one fifth of the railroad mileage in the united states. the great inland sections of the country, the plains and the prairies and the broad valleys of the mississippi and the missouri and the most of their tributaries, are comparatively limited in available water-power facilities. and this despite such great works as the keokuk dam and others of the same sort, while the huge distances there militate against the economies of central steam-power stations for the generation of electric current. so let us temper the wildest fancies with the thought that we probably shall have the steam locomotive with us for some time yet, say for one or two hundred years more. we shall have to put up with him. and having to put up with him, what shall we do with him? how shall we make him most effective for the future necessities of our american railroad structure? there are more than , of him upon our railroads to-day. he is a factor in their progress that cannot be ignored. they can ill afford to have him remain a laggard, no matter how brisk may be the inroads of his competitor, the electric locomotive. * * * * * the steam railroad of the united states seemingly came to the pinnacle of its efficiency about twelve years ago. the steam locomotive about twelve years ago also reached its apparent ultimate size for any sort of practical operation-- feet in length and a little over , pounds in weight. the width and height for many years past have been held by tunnel and other clearances pretty rigidly at ten and fifteen feet respectively. finally at about feet the practical limit of length also was reached; even then there had been created an engine that not only could not be handled upon the longest of turntables at the terminals, but even upon curves of fairly easy radius. also the limit of the human fireman, the shoveling of from fifteen to eighteen tons of coal in from four to six continuous hours, had been reached. these -foot locomotives were available only for long and almost straight stretches of track and for use without being turned, while a weight of tons not only represented a real strain upon the bridges but a constant and a fearful pounding upon the very best of track. so here then in was the seeming height of the development of the american locomotive; a pinnacle scaled in a long endeavor to cut down operating costs to the utmost. a seeming height it was. was it in fact the real height of efficiency? i doubt it. the -ton locomotive was in the main the same locomotive that george stephenson had first built and operated away back in ; it was but an enlargement of the _stourbridge lion_ that first had dug his heels into the iron at honesdale, pennsylvania, in , and so proclaimed a new era in american civilization. a few things had been added, but they were very few. an engineer out in sandusky, ohio, put a bell upon the boiler, george westinghouse came along about half a century ago with the air-brake, some one else devised the injector, there were some other very minor improvements--and that was all. aside from these and a few very slight rearrangements of its working parts the american locomotive of was very much the same, even in appearance, as its ancestor, let us say, of about . eighty years is a long time. it ought to afford a large opportunity for development. apparently it has not. about thirty years ago some clever german engineers first devised a plan for bringing steam from the boiler into the cylinders at such an intense heat that its full energy would not be immediately dissipated upon entering them and the steam partly turned into water. technically this last is known as "saturated steam." the superheated steam idea was a good scheme and an apparent economy. yet it was ten or a dozen years before it penetrated to this side of the atlantic--to be exact, it was just twenty years ago. i sometimes wonder that it got across even so quickly as that. our american railroad executives are not as a rule particularly alert to what is being done in transport in other lands. europe has , applications of another locomotive improvement which is just coming to be used in our dear old u. s. a. so it goes. if a successful monorail installation were to be made in patagonia, for instance, your average yankee railroader would read of it in the columns of his beloved "railway age" and then smile patronizingly as he said: "very interesting, that. but of course it wouldn't do for us." our railroads, which long ago failed to work out any scientific scheme for the compensation of their employees, also failed to make an intelligent or organized study of the mechanical or scientific progress in their field. the united states army has long possessed its "staff"--the extremely competent group of men who, detached from the grind and drill of daily operation or detail, make constant and exhaustive study of every sort of military possibility from the complex mechanism of the newest guns from krupp or schneider or armstrong overseas to the right kind of shoe for the marching soldier. the railroads of this country should have such a "staff." very few of them have ever even attempted such a forward-looking device. they have been utterly hidebound by their traditions, and in consequence they have suffered. contrast this attitude with that of the automobile manufacturers of the country. in a situation that is nothing if not competitive, they have coöperated, almost from the beginning, and almost universally for the betterment of the machine itself. this plant or that, devising and perfecting a new kink for the improvement of the internal combustion or gasolene-engine, has thrown it into the common pot for the benefit of its competitors. i have known an automobile manufacturer to spend months on the perfection of a cylinder-block and then to drive it in mad haste over the indianapolis speedway, hour after hour, at more than a hundred miles an hour. "why was that necessary?" was the inquiry made of him. "you do not expect your cars to be put through any such grueling test as that?" he laughed, as he replied: "no, but some user of this car some day is going to get all but stuck in second speed on some stiff, muddy hill and if the valves act gummy he is going to have it in for this car." eventually this manufacturer had the valve working to his taste. when he had perfected it, in keeping with his agreement, he threw the new cylinder-block open for the use of his fellows. there was no secret about it, no patent; they were quite welcome to use it. and some of them did use it. more than this, the automotive industry, as it now likes to call itself, is not content to let the individual manufacturer do all the work upon the development of the machine. it has centralized bureaus, technical experts, and engineers who are working all the time for the interests of the industry in general. the development of the marvelous liberty motor of war days would not have been possible without such a centralized organization. such a plan never has been attempted in the history of steam locomotive development. there the individual manufacturers have gone it alone. and they are quite frank when they tell you that there is not the slightest financial inducement for them to carry forward a scientific work of development. their output is sold generally in quantity lots--like potatoes, by the peck. and in the present-day poverty of many of their customers--comparative poverty at least--they assert that the margin of profit is held to a figure that permits of little or no "staff" work upon their part. now remember, if you will, that for eighty years the steam locomotive of the united states grew in size alone. aside from the air-brake (which, in reality, was not a distinctly _locomotive_ improvement) hardly a single fundamental improvement had been made since the days of stephenson to make a pound of iron and a pound of coal and a pound of water do more work. yet with our super-sized locomotive reached, the operating geniuses of our american railroads demanded more power, and still more power. the longer train-load, and the heavier, apparently was their only way out of the demands that came down upon them from "higher up" for still more operating economics. then slowly and after a very great delay the railroad executives began casting about through their mechanical departments to inquire what, if any, progress was being made in intensive locomotive improvements, either overseas or else right here in america. the mechanical departments reported quickly. there really were several possibilities. listed, these ran about as follows: the superheater: that german device that we have just seen for bringing the steam into the cylinders at such an intense heat as not to permit it quickly to waste itself in water vaporization; a purpose accomplished chiefly by the use of special flues in the boiler through the entire length of which steam is twice passed. that done, it comes into the cylinders superheated, and not saturated as in the old-time engine. the brick arch in the fire-box: a sort of second cousin to the superheater. its name to a large degree indicates its nature. an arch thrown across the forward end of the fire-box has a very marked tendency to insure complete combustion of the fuel before the heat reaches the flue-tubes of the boiler and hence achieves a great economy in coal or oil consumption. its use came with the development of the maximum width of the fire-box in the newest types of american locomotives, which in turn was accomplished when the locomotive had been lengthened and a pair of trailing-wheels placed just back of its drivers. the feed-water heater: an allied device for quickening the production of boiler steam and so effecting a further economy in coal consumption. perhaps the least tried and so the least established of all these devices. the booster: in reality a miniature locomotive, attached to those two trailer-wheels just back of the drivers and giving to the biggest locomotive at its starting-point or other points of real stress the accelerating power equal to that which , more pounds of additional locomotive would be able to give. yet the booster is as ingeniously geared from its cylinders to its driving power as the engine of a high-grade automobile and weighs but pounds all told--a mere nothing in comparison with the energy that it gives off. its application and disconnection are almost automatic. the engineer, when he is in need of its assistance either at starting or upon a steep grade, puts its additional power into play by a quick twist of a tiny lever at his side. "humph," interrupted my friend the old railroader out in the west, "i suppose you think that we are going to get engineers of the caliber to handle all these fancy claptraps that you would put upon the engines?" no, old railroader. not for a minute. we have those engineers already in america; nine out of ten of the men who are handling our locomotives in the united states are quite capable of handling all these devices, and a considerable number in addition. even overseas where, broadly speaking, the type of individual railroad employee is not supposed to be as high as in this country, the enginemen are to-day used to all these modern devices, the hall-marks of the really modern steam locomotive. a keen-minded american who has known and loved locomotives all his life went over to france not many months ago and rode in the cab of one of those high-speed engines that haul the heavy expresses of the northern railway from paris to calais, miles in three hours and thirty-five minutes--a remarkable daily performance,--and he had his eyes opened. in the first place the cab was immaculate. i might almost add "of course." i rode myself in the cabs of british locomotives after the armistice. had there been a war just ended over there across the narrow english channel? the rolling-stock of the british railways certainly belied that fact. their locomotives were clean, bright, freshly painted; they were not rusty, dirty, or leaky. they had upkeep, continuous upkeep even through the fifty-one heart-breaking, man-shortage months of the world war. that showed for itself. the cab of the engine in which my friend rode from the gare du nord to the calais pier was more than immaculate; it was intricate. there were levers here and levers there, gages high and gages low. it looked more like the control-board of a fair-sized steamship than that of a locomotive. there was a variable exhaust nozzle, a control here, a control there; the locomotive was itself a four-cylinder compound engine with all the improvements that we have just seen (and then some more)--and with miles to be made in minutes, which is faster than almost any american train goes to-day--faster by twenty-five minutes than the fastest train between new york and baltimore ( miles); faster by thirty-one minutes than the fastest express between new york and providence (also miles). somewhere between paris and amiens the fireman was taken slightly ill. with hardly a word between the two railroaders in the cab they changed places. the fireman stood his intelligent trick at the throttle; for more than an hour the engineer fed the fire-box partly coal and partly briquettes. there was per cent. of briquettes in the tender and a bonus to the engine-crew for any fuel saving that they made upon the run. moreover the names of the engineer and the fireman, printed upon neat, small, brass plates, were inserted in an especially showy place on each side of the engine-cab--a good deal as mr. underwood of the erie once began naming his best engines after the men who habitually ran them, painting their names in large, conspicuous letters upon the engine-cabs, where in other days locomotives bore the names of presidents, governors, railroad directors, and others who sought a brief temporal glory. the french plan is best in that it permits flexibility in the assignment of the locomotives; the american plan best in that it confers an even greater and more permanent distinction upon the engine-driver. i wish you could see old harvey springstead as i saw him about ten years ago on the first day he drove the _harvey springstead_ into the battered old erie terminal in jersey city. warren g. harding accepting a lovely sprig of flowers from the prettiest ten-year-old girl in marion, ohio, could not have been a prouder man. when that fleet engine of the chemin de fer du nord (french for the northern railway) came to its first and final stop out of paris upon the calais pier, sixteen men attacked her with brushes and cloths and hammers and wrenches and what else i know not. yes, sixteen. my friend counted them. and he later found that before the war-times there had been thirty-two. the fleet locomotive had a real inspection, while the little engineer and his fireman repaired to the near-by café de la gare and enjoyed their _dejeuner_ and their small bottle of wine. sixteen men went to that engine! four would have been a goodly force for the average american roundhouse or terminal shed; and the engine probably would have waited two or three hours for its inspection. one of the crimes against the american locomotive is the lack of care and attention that is given it. think, if you will, of an engine on one of our first-class railroads being discovered so badly out of order in regard to the setting of its valves that a very few hours of repair work upon them brought an immediate saving of per cent. in its fuel consumption! is not that being penny-wise and pound-foolish? * * * * * i have digressed. and without apology. we were recounting the actual devices for the improvement of the steam locomotive: the superheater, the brick arch, the feed-water heater, the booster. none of these--in their essentials, at least--are patented devices. any good locomotive builder can use them freely. he only waits the word of the purchaser of the locomotive. neither is there any patented monopoly in the mechanical stoker. two or three very good types already are on the market and if you wonder at their efficacy may i again suggest that some good warm summer's day you go down into your own cellar and shovel seventeen tons of coal across it--from one side to the other--in four or five hours. sleep overnight--if you wish to complete the illusion, preferably on a rough, hard bed--and the next day shovel all the coal back again, in four or five hours. then ask yourself, if you were a locomotive fireman would you feel that there was any real need for a mechanical stoker. there is no monopoly, either, in the plans for substituting more and more light reciprocating locomotive parts of alloy-steel in place of the old-fashioned heavy cumbersome ones that hold their places, almost through tradition alone. our american locomotive to-day is far too heavy. the automotive industry--the group of men who in real coöperation have perfected almost every detail of the american motor-car--again has pointed the way. if a balanced crank-shaft is valuable to a rubber-tired locomotive upon a concrete highway, should a device of similar ingenuity and value be accounted an impossibility upon the flange-wheeled one of the steel highway? the possibilities of intensive development of the steam locomotive upon these lines alone seemingly are almost infinite. if henry ford, with not only the skill and experience of his own marvelously ingenious mechanical mind, but the expert staff that he has always at his elbow, can succeed in bettering the american steam locomotive radically, i think that the american public will be tempted to call him blessed indeed. if mr. ford can only succeed in putting better bearings under our railroad-cars his name should be accounted as blessed in our railroad tradition. the axle-bearing of the average railroad-car in this country--particularly the freight rolling-stock--has neither been improved nor changed in more than half a century. it is virtually the same now as it was in --a swabbing of cotton-waste and grease set in a box upon the axle-end, a device forever becoming dry and hot and blazing forth into flame. contrast such an archaic thing with the axle-bearing of the modern motor-car or motor-truck. ball-bearings, or, in the case of heavier vehicles, roller-bearings. a detroit specialty concern installed these on a big michigan central box-car not many months ago, and two men pushed the car down a siding with no vast effort. if these things can be done and have been done, why are they not being done to-day? the answer is simple: tradition--hide-bound tradition--and cost. if i were to let my friend, the old railroad operator out there in the west, interrupt he would tell me that this last alone renders them quite out of the question. to which i should reply: "if you were buying an automobile, would you rather have an automobile or a wheelbarrow?" * * * * * a few minutes ago we were discussing the electric locomotive in these pages. without going into detail into its mechanical niceties we said that the average cost of one of these big units to-day is $ , to say nothing of proportionate cost of power-house and wires, without which, of course, it is quite useless. the average cost of the largest-sized steam locomotives to-day is anywhere from $ , to $ , , which represents a real drop since the peak prices of the days of the war. but this is not the point. the point is that the average railroad executive buys the electric locomotive upon the "say-so" of the manufacturer. if it cost $ , and he was convinced in his own mind that it was a necessity to him he would not stagger at the price or attempt petty economies by trying to buy it stripped of every efficiency device. the average railroad executive does not buy steam locomotives that way. oh, no. he says: "give us ten million dollars' worth of new engines. i want them good engines, the best engines that you have ever built." and then adds: "how many do we get to the peck, anyway?" quantity, not quality. it is one of our besetting american sins. how much? not how good. how much? how big a number to be added to the next annual report in order to impress the stockholders? nothing about refinements. nothing about quality. the builder takes down his blue-prints--the same old engine that he has been building for ten, twenty, thirty years past. no staff has worked to perfect that old-fashioned machine. he figures rapidly. his opponents are figuring against him. and finally he shoots in his bid. the railroad can buy a lot of locomotives for ten million dollars; a goodly quantity for one tenth of that figure if it is not too fussy about the details. after which will you wonder when i say that no steam locomotive in the united states to-day represents anything like the ultimate possibilities of the machine itself? that is not true of the electric locomotive, where the last unit turned out from the shops is almost sure to be the best ever built. let me illustrate. it is now a good ten years since a most efficient passenger-locomotive was finished in this country--to turn out one cylinder-horse-power per hour from . pounds of water and . pounds of coal and weighing but pounds per cylinder-horse-power. a few years later an equally efficient freight-puller was made, creating one cylinder-horse-power per hour from . pounds of water and . pounds of coal and yet weighing but . pounds per cylinder-horse-power. this was several years ago, please remember. since then many, many locomotives have been built that were not nearly so good. some of these have been retired to light service already. why? why are not these engines of not only being equaled but bettered by the engines of ? why does it ever become necessary to scrap locomotives, within half a century of their construction at any rate? there is not one of their bearing parts that is not capable of infinite replacements, after which, it is a question of mere lubrication. i saw not many months ago under the train-shed of the passenger-station at tours, france, a copper-boilered locomotive of the paris-orleans railway which bore the date of her construction, , proudly upon her neat sides. she still was an efficient little locomotive, handling a small job fit for her small size and handling it very well indeed. the oldest locomotive that i personally have known to be in constant service in the united states was an engine belonging to a paper company near potsdam, new york, which had been built by the taunton locomotive works for the union pacific railroad in , and sold to the central vermont in the following year. rebuilt several times, it still was in service in . this engine is very much of an exception. a twenty-year-old engine in this country to-day is a veteran. the famous " " of the new york central, which in was exhibited at the chicago fair as the fastest locomotive in the world, in was handling a "plug" milk-train up in northern new york. it now has been retired as a sort of museum-piece. why are our steam locomotives scrapped in this way? why are they not built universally for their highest possibilities of development? why are they not given the mechanical refinements that experience has shown well worth while? once again: tradition and cost. the first of these some day is to be eliminated. and as for the second; listen to my friend, the dear old practical railroader out there in the west. i much doubt if he will ever be able to finish reading the preceding paragraphs. but should he succeed in completing them, i anticipate receiving a telegram--a letter never would be prompt or emphatic enough--which will read something after this fashion: "now, what are you doing again? don't you know that to put in all these darn phool [softened to calm the feelings of the telegraph operators] contraptions in our railroading would cost a national debt or two--of the old days? how can the railroads, strapped, without money to-day, go into these things?" i shall not respond by telegraph. i have no western union frank. but i shall sit down and write my good old tempestuous friend that in my own humble and uneconomic opinion the best way to economize is to introduce methods that lead toward economy. when the lackawanna system spent about $ , , a few years ago in rebuilding and perfecting about forty miles of its main line between scranton and binghamton, it was said by some clever people that only a road as extremely wealthy as it was could go into such frills. well, last year the operating economies effected to that company by this improvement, and by this improvement alone, came to about per cent. of the expenditure, while the money itself, was obtained at per cent. i should like to ask mr. underwood, of the always almost-bankrupt erie, if that carefully managed property would not have been in receivership and helpless a full decade ago, if it had not been for his great grade revisions on his main line east of youngstown, ohio? and mr. daniel willard, of the baltimore and ohio if it is not true that the superheaters on but of that railroad's locomotives are not already saving it more than , tons of coal a year? to save money upon our american railroads it frequently becomes necessary to spend it, and to spend it generously, but always wisely of course. we measure expenditures properly by the results. an improvement to a locomotive costing as much as $ , to buy and even as much as that to maintain each year is a good investment, is it not, if it saves $ , a year? the superheater, the arch, the booster, and the feed-water heater together vastly increase the power of the steam locomotive. to gain their equivalent in the locomotive itself, the average mikado-type freight-puller of eight big drivers and with extra length boiler-tubes--nineteen or twenty feet--would have to have not less than fourteen driving-wheels and boiler-tubes of the almost incredible and impracticable length of thirty-six feet. is that graphic enough for the layman to understand? can you understand this about the booster alone? take a reasonable stretch of level railroad division, say to miles. it is good low-grade line and an engine of even moderate capacity ought to handle a -ton freight-train over it easily, if it were not for that nasty little hill half-way down the line. a chain is no better than its weakest link. a railroad division is no easier than its stiffest hill. this particular one means that the maximum train-load on that division may never exceed tons. now we put the booster on--that little miniature locomotive for the trailing-wheels that we saw a few minutes ago, built like an automobile engine and having the same gritty driving power. when the engineer comes to that nasty hill, in goes the booster and up goes the -ton train over the hill, just as easily apparently as if it were coasting on a down-grade. the most famous passenger-train to-day in america, if not indeed in the whole world, is the twentieth century limited, running between new york and chicago, miles in a flat twenty hours. it began twenty years ago as a single train of moderate length--about seven or eight pullman cars and a diner. to-day it almost always consists of at least two sections, each of ten to twelve heavy steel diners and pullman sleepers. in figures, the weight increase is close to per cent. the train easily might make the run through to chicago in eighteen hours as it did at the outset if safety and other conditions permitted. the energy of the locomotive is not the limiting factor. now how has this been done? how has the typical locomotive of the twentieth century been so improved as to keep the train that it hauls up in the top notch of american passenger carriers? the answer is easy: by the constant application of every proved device for the improvement of that machine. the new york central, which operates this train, does not often stand convicted of a lack of mechanical progress. come to figures, once again: a certain well-known railroad, which is thoroughly sold on the idea of the improved locomotive, in the last twenty-five years has steadily increased its average tonnage per train by from to tons over the old-time figures. its maximum is now close to revenue tons. in this same quarter of a century this railroad shows per cent. increase in the weight of the train and per cent. increase in the average speed. to-day it thinks nothing of hauling a -ton train at a steady rate, uphill and down dale, of twenty-five miles an hour. our steam locomotive is a laggard? only when you do not give it a fair opportunity to show its real worth. * * * * * if all our other railroads were as progressive in this as the two that i have just instanced, there would be no reason for this detailed attention to the problem. unfortunately they are not. a moment ago i said that two things had held back the development of our steam locomotive--tradition and cost. have i not now settled the question of cost, as far at least as it may be settled in these pages, by showing the great economies to be effected in the use of an efficient engine--economies, roughly speaking, averaging per cent. in the operation of the locomotive? now come to the problem of tradition. the extreme easterly forty-five miles of the main new york-boston line of the new york, new haven, and hartford railroad was, up to thirty-four years ago, a separate railroad, the boston and providence, extending between those two cities. from the old park station in boston down to the station in providence and back again--ninety miles--was a day's work for one of its locomotives. on some of its suburban runs the engines did even less. they were pampered bits of mechanism. * * * * * last year i rode from new york to cherbourg in the giant steamer _olympic_ and spent many hours in what is the finest engine-room upon all the seven seas. the tireless engines, the racing shafts, never ceased their impetuous speed for six days and for six nights. if necessary, and if the fuel had been available, they might just as easily run on for twenty-six days and twenty-six nights or even longer. it all comes to proper lubrication and attention, and nothing else. a twenty-four hour continuous test of an automobile is as nothing; a five hundred or a thousand-mile test of its engine without resting, these days, a mere child's sport. you do not think after you have driven your own car ninety miles that you must rest it before you set it in service once more. if you could not drive it upon necessity twice or three times that distance without resting it you probably would feel like selling it. yet there are many ninety-mile engine-runs left in the united states to this day; some of them, like those between new york and philadelphia, are matters of operating convenience that cannot easily be changed. tradition holds others. one hundred and fifty miles still remains a typical division in the minds of many conservative railroaders. and a real boast upon the part of the progressive manufacturers of the electric locomotive is that their machines can easily cover two such typical divisions without either rest or inspection. but it should be borne in mind that when the inspection finally is made it must be like that at calais, of the most thorough sort. very recently the new york central instituted the experiment of combining as a single engine-run the former two runs between albany and buffalo, miles. the santa fé has cut its separate runs from chicago to the pacific coast from twelve to six. there seems to be no very good reason why the new york central should not run the locomotive from harmon, at the outer limit of the new york electric zone, right through to chicago, miles--or two engine-runs on the santa fé between chicago and los angeles, miles. down in the southwest the missouri, kansas, and texas railway already has a -mile run, and is preparing to install a -mile one. it is simply a question of proper rewatering and refueling facilities. obviously the crews could not make runs such as this. i have known an engineer to take a special through from new york to buffalo on the lackawanna or the erie--a little more than miles in either case--and not relinquish the throttle for the entire distance. but that was a stunt. i am talking of regular performance day in and day out. it is easy enough to change the crews however at distances of approximately to miles. but there is no reason why the engine should be changed. if an , -horse-power ship racing two -foot shafts can keep it up continuously for six days and miles there is no reason on earth why a well-equipped locomotive should falter at the same performance. the steam locomotive a laggard? there is no inherent reason whatever why he should be a laggard unless men themselves so desire. the paths for his possible development have not been followed to their ends. men this very day are engaged in plans for the placing of a third cylinder in his mechanism; the possibilities of the brick arch, the superheater, and the hot-water feed now have brought his steam production up ahead of the mechanism that consumes it. the opportunity is rife for the further perfection of this mechanism. in england, right up to the present time, and for many of his earlier years in this country, the steam locomotive in builders' phrasing was "inside-connected," the cylinders and driving-rods being placed within the frame and under the boiler. gradually this type of engine was abandoned upon this continent. despite the trimness of its appearance--your foreigner always lays great stress upon the appearance of his locomotive--the important driving mechanism was so hidden as to render it comparatively inaccessible for repairs. and so we came here to placing the entire driving mechanism upon the outside of the locomotive, where it could be easily reached and taken down. there is a movement to-day toward the creation of a locomotive which shall be both inside and outside-connected. there is hardly room for two cylinders within the frame. there certainly is room for one. and with the retention of the two outer cylinders there presently will be created a locomotive which, with all its improved steam-creating powers to boot, will quickly take highest place both in speed and energy. more operating economies will be effected, new records established. the steam locomotive a laggard? is not the question now fairly answered? chapter xi the gasolene-motor unit and its possibilities in the twelve months of service was abandoned upon miles of standard steam railroad in the united states--much of it permanently abandoned. of this, miles, or very slightly less than that of , was not only abandoned, but the track was taken up and the equipment sold. in addition to all of this the various regulatory commissions had authorized the abandonment of more miles of line, and applications were pending for the scrapping of still another miles. once fairly important roads, such as the colorado midland and the colorado springs and cripple creek (one fourth of the abandoned mileage was within the state of colorado) and the missouri and north arkansas, are included within these totals, while to them are added a host of small railroads, lines twenty-five to forty miles in length or less. unimportant? yes, to you and me, when we go hurrying across the country in the limited, but not infrequently of very large importance to the communities that they aim to serve. the position of the short-line railroad in our rail transport debacle is even worse than that of his bigger brothers. even in the prosperous days before our entrance into the world war he was constantly involved in difficulties. even then the motor-truck was beginning to make serious inroads into his earnings. so wonder not that he hailed the advent of mcadoo and government control as a possibility of real salvation. yet how false a hope that was was quickly shown when the director-general of the united states railroad administration refused bluntly to bother with these roads--there are close to a thousand of them--in his unified rail transport structure. he said that they were not necessary to the successful prosecution of the war. and that settled it. nor was this all. the last blow came when, with the reroutings of freight that came as an inevitable result of federal control, the small railroads across the land began to lose the little hauls that frequently were given them by friendly freight traffic officers. at that many of them quit. more and more of them have been quitting ever since. in a few cases local pride has served to keep them alive; i can think of the kanona and prattsburg, a little eleven-mile line up in western new york which to-day is being operated by a group of farmers and village people who already are wondering if it would not be wiser to sell their locomotive and scrap the thin iron link that holds them to the outer world. where these little roads are alive they are breathing heavily. the little locomotive, purchased second-hand from the big railroad, which had used it almost up to the point of worthlessness, the battered cars, the bridges and trestles so long suffering from a lack of proper maintenance as to render it positively unsafe to run heavy cars over them, all are gasping for their very breath. in truth the short-line railroad is sinking into a state of coma. and so is the rather typical branch line of its bigger brothers. in the abandoned mileage reports of the interstate commerce commission for the last few years are included the feelers and the feeders of some pretty important railroad systems across this land. in these cases the track and the equipment have been maintained, to a fair degree of safety at least. and a fair degree of traffic also has been doled out to them. yet they are as vulnerable to the short-haul competition of the motor-truck upon the highroad as the separate and highly individual short-line roads. it is but fair to add that it probably is well that many of these short-line roads and little branches of the bigger roads should be abandoned. a considerable number of them never should have been built in the first place. but others that have gone and are going are essential to their communities. and these should be saved. they can be saved. they can be made profitable, even against the inroads of the motor-truck. there grew up in the later days of the world war--when, as we have seen, traffic congestion upon our railroads came close to the breaking point--a demand that the motor-truck, still an infant toy, come into the breach. it came and, i think, saved the day--gloriously, as the novelists always like to put it. we saw the day when the much-advertised lincoln highway, not only from new york to philadelphia but for several hundred miles further west, was crowded with emergency freight traffic, some of it fairly long-haul traffic. so were the other important highways not only of new jersey and pennsylvania, but of new york and connecticut and massachusetts and a half-dozen other states as well--as the pleasure motorist of to-day, picking his way around and past the holes and ruts made by the war-time motor-traffic, very well knows. in the flush of that traffic problem many wondrous new motor-freight routes were established. some of them were planned elaborately. a tire-maker in akron, finding it next to impossible to get any prompt service to his branches and his patrons in new england, instituted a motor-truck service for the -odd miles over to boston, laid down a schedule for the six-day trip, and then lived up to it, summer and winter, with a precision that few american freight or passenger-trains had made for many and many a month before. some enthusiasts, with this practical example as a text, let their fancies fly to the fullest extent. they shouted for the long-distance hauls. in fact it was said not more than two or three years ago that four or five years would see regular motor-truck fast freights established from new york or boston to points as far distant as chicago or st. louis or kansas city. to-day we know that these were flights of fancy. out of a dozen through motor-truck routes established for the ninety-mile run between new york and philadelphia, only a very few have survived until to-day. the same proportion holds true elsewhere in the more congested sections of the land, particularly those sections subject to the ravages of a hard wintertime. yet upon the other hand a very considerable portion of the business community still seems to be at the rather definite conclusion that the motor-truck is to replace the railroad for freight hauls up to a hundred miles or less, while old-time railroaders for years past have been frank in saying that a freight-car did not even begin to make money until it had hauled its goods at least forty miles, and to-day the modern generation of operators will put this figure at eighty miles. up to a distance somewhere between these figures--and undoubtedly far nearer eighty than forty--the vast city terminal charges of the american railroad nullify the profit of the haul itself. in due time i shall come to a detailed consideration of these questions of freight terminals in our large cities. consider now that the motor-truck, to a very large extent at least, is freed from this terminal problem. that is a long point in its favor. at the present time approximately , , ton-miles of freight are being transported in this country each year by motor-truck; and five years hence it is estimated that this figure will have risen to , , ton-miles. it is understood, of course, that the arbitrary and comparative figure of the ton-mile is reached by multiplying the number of tons actually handled by the number of miles that each shipment actually goes. these figures are taken from an admirable article in a recent issue of the "atlantic monthly," by philip cabot of boston. referring to the overuse of the highways of new england by the motor-truck, mr. cabot says: every abuse carries its penalty. the penalty for this abuse of our roads will be a heavy one, which the taxpayer must pay. the commonwealth of massachusetts has spent more than $ , , of the taxpayers' money in road construction, much of which has already been ground to powder under the wheels of the five-ton truck; and the damage must to-day be repaired at perhaps double the former cost. our state tax has mounted in recent years by leaps and bounds; the contribution of the truck-owner to road construction is so trivial that most of the burden will fall upon the taxpayer, on whose now overloaded back a huge additional levy is about to fall at the very moment when he is expecting relief. and make no mistake as to who must bear the burden. the old notion that a tax could be pinned upon one class has vanished into thin air. we now realize that it is not the capitalist who pays the tax, or the manufacturer. it is the man in the street who pays the tax, in the increased cost of everything he buys. he pays the bill for every waste of public money. this same situation is being repeated to-day in the state of new york, where more than $ , , already is being expended in the creation of some eight thousand miles of highway, which already is being ground to pieces under the heavy wheels of the motor-truck. against this highway improvement are issued bonds with an average life of fifty years. the road, used as a freight line, goes to pieces in seven or eight years. the result is a financial _impasse_ that even a schoolboy should be able to fathom. what is true of massachusetts and of new york is equally true of california or ohio or pennsylvania or new jersey or any other state that has gone to great trouble and expense to upbuild an elaborate system of improved highroads for itself. and the roads are not alone too lightly built, but in a majority of cases they are entirely too narrow for heavy motor-truck traffic. to this last almost any motorist can testify. he can contribute almost numberless personal experiences of trying to pass these bulky box-cars of the highway-box--cars which, in about nine cases out of ten, really have no business there. for do not forget that one of these biggest motor-trucks does not carry, or should not be permitted to carry, more than five tons of freight upon the public highroad, while a really good freight-train upon the railroad will carry all the way from three thousand tons upwards, and with a working crew of, at the most, six or seven men. to carry this minimum bulk of merchandise in five-ton trucks would entail the services of six hundred trucks and at least six hundred men. to this statement one of my friends, who is a real enthusiast in regard to motor-trucks, takes vigorous exception: "that isn't a fair comparison," he sputters. "how about the other men who work the railroad--the despatchers, the shop-forces, the gangs of trackmen--all of them?" to which i reply: "how about the gangs that keep up the highway?" the fact that the motor-truck operator does not directly pay the wages of these men does not mean that he, or some one else, does not pay them indirectly, through taxes. and garage and shop-costs are quite as much a part of the cost of upkeep of the motor-truck as of the locomotive. it seems to me, however, that we are beginning to miss the real point and pith of the thing. let us grant the motor-truck some of the obvious things that are in its favor: the vastly increased proportionate energy of the internal combustion engine over that of the steam locomotive, no matter what may be its fuel; the flexibility and economy of the unit over that of the electric motor in districts and upon lines of comparatively light volume of traffic. these advantages the motor-truck has already shown where it is given the opportunity of a well-paved highroad. upon a bad road there is little economy in its use. it thrives best upon the roads which were built, primarily at least, for the comfort of the passenger automobile. but suppose we improve upon that well-paved highroad. there is not a concrete nor an asphalt highway in the world that is comparable with the polished surface of the smooth steel rail. the tractive power of any unit increases vastly when it is used--often as high as twenty-five times. in other words, and to drop simile, we take off the expensive rubber tires of the motor-truck and substitute for them the steel, flanged wheels of the railroad-car or locomotive. presto! we have a completely self-contained locomotive far lighter than the lightest practicable steam locomotive and running at about a per cent. power economy, while with that locomotive we combine the freight-car or the passenger-car, or both. "if it were not for the gasolene-motor unit i should not be able to operate this little road to-day," says the general manager, superintendent, and all-around pooh-bah of a short-line up in the hills of northwestern pennsylvania. i know precisely what he means. his oil comes from near-by wells. he buys it at a great economy. his good-sized truck--it will carry seven or eight tons of freight or passengers--is enabled to make six round-trips a day over twelve miles of line at far less cost than a small locomotive and train would involve for but two round-trips a day. in other words he has tripled his service, with inevitable beneficial results to the passenger-traffic of the little road, and has made real savings in his operating costs. a road which otherwise would have been added to that appalling total of abandoned railroad mileage for has been saved, to the great benefit of the communities that it serves. * * * * * not long ago i rode from kane to mount jewett, twelve miles across the hills of that same northwestern corner of pennsylvania. i wanted to catch the northbound flyer of the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburg railroad out of the latter town. between kane and mount jewett there stretches a rather remote branch of one of america's largest and best operated railroads. it was in the dead of winter and i should have preferred to ride upon a railroad train. but one train a day and missing the important connections gave me no opportunity whatsoever. i was forced to ride in a motor-bus upon a slippery ice-coated highway. twenty-three other persons, the most of them also trying to catch the northbound flyer of the b. r. & p., were doing the same thing. the bus made four trips a day in each direction and the driver said that it was not only good business but steady. he charged seventy-five cents for the ride in each direction, which was something more than six cents a mile. a good many people complain at paying more than . cents a mile upon the rail, but they are not usually short-haul riders. here was a steam railroad losing its traffic by default. obviously it might not be able to put a steam train on that little run--in all probability a worn-out engine with two worn-out and dirty cars--and make a successful opposition to the motor-bus, but i think that with its own well-planned motor-unit operated on frequent headway and in connection with the trains at its terminals it would regain for the railroad a large portion of the lost traffic. unfortunately, as i have said, this was a remote branch line. yet the president of the railroad of which it is a branch has much pride in the thought that he loses nothing in the efficiency of the operation of his property because it is merely widespread. he honestly and sincerely is trying to build up its service, to repair the inroads made into it during the period of federal administration. he has done wonders in a few short months. but, largely because he is but a man and not a super-man, he cannot know everything about his remote branches of this sort. he cannot even build up an organization that will know it. no president of a , -mile railroad ever can. which is one of the large evils to be charged forever against the absentee landlordism method of operating our railroads. in a certain eastern state there is a small railroad of about miles in length which narrowly escapes being known as a real short-line railroad. the fact that the road's annual earnings barely exceed a million dollars just bring it within the interstate commerce commission's classification of class i railroads. it traverses a rough mountain region. its business is largely seasonal. in the summer it hardly can secure enough passenger-cars and locomotives to handle its tourist business. in the winter it can hardly find enough passengers to justify the operation of two small trains over the line, while at all times its freight traffic is inconsequential. when first i came to know this property a dozen years or more ago it operated three passenger-trains a day the year round over the entire system--the main line and two branches. but that was before the day of the competitive motor-buses and the improved highways that now parallel almost every mile of its trackage and for which, as a heavy taxpayer, it has contributed rather liberally. its local fare at that time was fixed at three cents a mile, although a state law compelled it to sell mileage books at the rate of two cents a mile. both the competitive motor-buses and the competitive privately owned and operated automobile have gradually decreased its passenger earnings, although the resort locality that it serves has grown steadily in prestige and patronage during this last dozen years. it met the competition of the gasolene locomotive upon the highroad, how? by cutting its all-the-year train service to two trains a day and gradually raising its fare to five cents a mile. people who have to go from one end of its main line to the other, about miles, are still likely to patronize it. the motor-bus is hardly more effective in the long haul than is the motor-truck. and in the really bleak days of winter its snug little passenger-cars, well lighted and warmed, have more appeal than the poorly lighted and heated motor-buses that traverse the state highway. yet that is about all. at all other times it is the motor-bus that has the prestige and the popularity. it reaches into the heart of the towns it serves; the little railroad's passenger-stations are not well located--not in every instance, at any rate. it stops to receive or discharge its passengers at virtually any point along its route. it is clean. and in summer it is not only cleaner but cooler than the steam train. but suppose that this little railroad should devise or find a good gasolene-unit passenger-bus and, fitting it with flanged wheels, operate it five or six times a day, over its main line at least. it might be compelled to retain one steam train a day in each direction because of the milk, the mail, and the express business along the route. the other four trips could easily be made with the gasolene-motor units. at the outset there would be real frequency of service, a very great point in attracting any volume of passenger business. a commercial traveler who goes up its main line to-day and who sought to do any business even in the fairly large towns along the route could hardly make the trip in one direction in less than a week. the result is that most of the drummers to-day have their own automobiles and make the round-trip in three or four days. with the two-trains-a-day service they frequently found that they could complete their business in a village within the hour, after which they would have to wait perhaps five or six hours before the train came along which would carry them to the next town. now they can clean up their business in a village, whether it takes fifteen minutes or an hour and fifteen, and be off to the next town as soon as they are done with all of it, while a real volume of traffic is lost to the railroad. a service of five or six trains a day, such as i have just suggested, would bring a great part of it back. the inconvenient location of this small railroad's passenger-station in its chief town easily could be overcome by having its gasolene-unit train stop at the principal street crossings through the community and a real flexibility of service rendered. the fact that the railroad's gasolene-car was a little heavier, a little warmer, a little better lighted than its competitor of the paved highway would be a talking point in its favor. added to that the facts that the gasolene motor-car of the steel highway is protected at all times by the flange of the rail--skidding is not an infrequent accident upon the paved road--and by the telegraphic order--collisions are not unheard-of things upon the state highways--and operated by a skilled and trained employee are other talking points that would have quick appeal to any man of advertising sense. we shall talk of these last possibilities again when we come to discuss those of selling transportation. in the meantime bear them in mind as strong arguments in favor of the possibilities of the individual small railroad or small branch of the big railroad. if these feelers wither and die to-day, it can only be the fault, in most instances, of the men who control them--at least of their lack of far-sighted vision. it could be put down fairly as a lack of far-sighted vision of our steam railroaders, who at last are beginning to see the economic possibilities of the gasolene-unit passenger-car these days, if only to supplement the present extravagant steam trains upon their local lines and turn no point nor part of their economy toward the benefit of their patrons. in other words the point that i have just made of the mountain railroad, which could bring back its traffic by using its gasolene-units to make six trips a day instead of the present widely-spaced two trips of the steam trains, applies with equal force elsewhere across the well-built portions of the country. such a method at first sight will not appeal to the average steam-railroad operating man, schooled as he is to bow deep before those twin gods of the train-mile and the car-mile. increased train-miles? impossible. not impossible. i will go further and say that it will be quite impossible for the average steam road to make any headway whatsoever against motor-bus competition until it increases its train-miles, at least, radically. frequency of trains is, as we have seen, the real test of passenger service. the gasolene-unit has made it possible to meet this test and still achieve real operating economies. it will be a vast pity if it is not installed generally, with this high service purpose in view. * * * * * for the moment we have been concerning ourselves with the passenger opportunities of the motor-truck mounted upon the steel rail. its freight opportunities are not less impressive. when with the inevitable correlation of the container (the huge steel packing-box for the prompt handling of package and other freight) the flange-wheeled motor-truck upon the branch-line is made a perfect supplement to the box-car upon the main line, we shall have something that begins to approach really efficient modern transport upon our american railroad. mr. cabot in his "atlantic" article upon the new england situation, from which i have already quoted, draws attention to the obvious and striking analogy between new england and old england, both in the congestion of population and in the character of industry and of traffic, and then asks why it is that new england should not be served with the same form of railroad transportation with which old england has been served these many years, and with great success. he draws attention to the futility of using huge box-cars, such as those that are used in the long-haul business of the central and western parts of the country, and criticizes sharply the employment of western railroad executives in the new england territory--men who have been schooled particularly in the movement of long-distance freight. certain it is that old england--every part of great britain--knows well the efficient handling of short-haul freight-traffic. the ten-ton goods-wagon (at the most, fifteen) of the british railway is a small unit, easily handled, if necessity arises, by a horse or two at a country station. it is an inexpensive unit too; and being inexpensive england is able to have over a million freight-cars for her , miles of line as against but a little more than two million for , miles of railroad in the united states, which makes much for the flexibility of her railway freight service. moreover the freight-traffic of great britain is virtually an overnight service. ordinary package-freight over there moves with much of the celerity and ease of the express in this country. goods despatched from london terminals in the late afternoon are at bristol or manchester or liverpool or even glasgow and edinburgh the next morning. while it is obvious that if the high-speed gasolene passenger-unit is introduced to any large extent in this country, we also shall have to speed up the freights that are interlarded between them, which will naturally mean the larger use of a high-speed and improved steam locomotive of comparatively moderate weight, and the use of comparatively small swift freight-trains, we shall have to abandon, for this sort of service at least, our american fetish of the excessively long and the excessively heavy freight-train. for the moment we have permitted ourselves to drift away from the gasolene-motor unit upon the railroad track. up to this point i have stressed the stripping of the rubber-tired wheels of the ordinary heavy motor-truck and the substitution of flanged steel wheels in their place. there is a compromise to this plan which is at least worth a passing paragraph of attention. down in the imperial valley of southern california there was built a dozen years or more ago a small steam railroad, eleven miles in length, connecting the somewhat isolated village of holtville with the southern pacific at el centro. it eked out a fair sort of existence until the coming of the automobile truck and the improved highway began to cut sadly into its earnings. its little passenger-train then found that it could not compete with the motor-bus. its earnings fell to nothing. the situation was most discouraging. it looked as if the little railroad, into which a considerable amount of capital had been poured, would have to be abandoned. it was not abandoned. some inventive genius over in los angeles devised a motor-truck with a different sort of wheel than had ever been seen before. inside there were the flanged wheels for the contact upon the steel rail, and, just outside of these, heavy rubber-tired wheels for use upon the highway. the problem of that little road, both for freight and passenger traffic was solved. no longer must it await the passengers and goods who found their way to its station at thriving and growing el centro. its combination trucks took the city streets very easily; they could go to any hotel or merchant's door, receive passengers or freight, and then, making their way to the railroad terminal, by a simple mechanical device mount the rail and go hurrying off to holtville, with the tractive advantage of the steel rails over even the well-paved dirt road that already i have shown you. moreover it became no longer necessary for the road to go to the expense of train-despatching. if two of its "trains" met midway on the line, by the use of this same ingenious mechanical device, one of them could remain on the rails and the other go to the earth surface alongside of it. this then became the ordinary operation of the line, that trains going east upon the track had the right to the rails, while those going west would take to the dirt. what could be simpler? the flexibility of the gasolene-motor unit is indeed astounding. it is not inconceivable that a device such as i have indicated should be so extended as to permit a motor-truck or passenger-car unit to go far beyond the limits of the rail terminals. in other words, why should holtville be the terminal of the holtville interurban? if there is a load of freight eight miles to the east of it, why not send the "train" on the highway for that eight miles to let it pick up the freight. the correlation of the highway with the steam railroad is a topic of almost unending fascinations. by it the branch lines of our big roads and the main stems of our small ones may be continued almost indefinitely. there undoubtedly are many cases where it would be both more practical and more profitable for the railroad to abandon the branch line entirely and use in its stead the nearest parallel highway. into this possibility there enters, of course, the question of the congestion of that parallel highway. one of the arguments that i have just used for the placing of the motor-truck upon the railroad track is to give a much needed relief to the highroad. yet here, as in so many other places, one cuts the cloth to meet the situation. in one instance it might be most advisable to use the highroad as a supplement to the railroad track; in another it would be a great mistake. this entire prospect has vast ramifications. in great britain the railways already are moving toward a use of the highroads in direct competition with the trucks and steam lorries of the independent traders. their moves are not being made without opposition. at this moment it is difficult to tell whether or not they are to be given permission to go to the highroads themselves and there fight it out with their newest competitors. but whether they gain this point or lose it, the fact will remain that they show a real vision in the very suggestion. to an impartial observer it seems as if a railroad which almost always, if not absolutely always, is the largest taxpayer in any community would have certain inherent rights in the public highway which it is taxed so heavily to support. but whether or not ideas such as these are practical things or merely the fancies of a dreamer, the fact remains that our american railroads, obsessed by the possibilities of through or long-haul freight traffic, have as a rule ignored the vast extensive possibilities of the short-haul, which may be set down as one of the damnable heritages of our competitive railroad system. they do this intensive cultivation of traffic far better in france, which long ago discarded the competitive principle as both foolish and extravagant. let me illustrate. not many months ago i found myself in the little, obsolete atlantic fishing-port of les sables d'olonne, in the vendée country almost half-way between st. nazaire and la rochelle. up to the stout stone quays of that picturesque enclosed harbor there ran three types of railway, each of them rather typically french. the first was the standard-gage (four feet, eight and one half inches) branch of the state railway system which connected les sables d'olonne with a main line, and so, with all the rail lines of the rest of france and of europe. there was a sixty-centimeter (twenty-four inches) narrow-gage also at the railway terminal and the quays; as well as a third at the harbor-side of but forty-centimeter gage. this last interested me tremendously. its tiny rails, spaced a bare eighteen inches apart, seemed so inefficient; and yet they told me that it had been in successful existence for many years past. "it is the _poisson_ line," they explained. "the what?" i asked. "the road that reaches out along the beaches and brings the fish into the big ten-ton cars that await it here at the railway terminal," was the further explanation. i understood. that was correlated rail transport--the tiny engine (it was hardly larger than those that are operated for the delectation of children at country fairs) and its little cars were an active and efficient feeder for the big main railroad system of the republic. intensified transport, in its largest sense. later that day, as we drove from les sables d'olonne, we rode for a long distance alongside the sixty-centimeter line. its rails were placed inconspicuously in the greensward beside the national highway. it followed that highway for many miles, dipped and rose when the highroad dipped and rose, and when the highway came to a culvert or a narrow bridge the little railroad, without hesitation, curved its way and shared the narrow bridge. at one town we met the train--there was only one upon the line, going up in the morning and back again at night--but it had a stout and immaculate twenty-five-ton locomotive which hauled three or four light passenger-cars and six or seven cars filled with local freight. do not laugh. i know myself what this idea would be in the united states--a copper wire above the center of the track, separate bridges at the little creeks and rivulets, rock-ballast perhaps, standard-gage, even private right-of-way and _big_ trolley cars--how we yanks do love the sound of that word "big"!--running every hour up and down the line. economy? nonsense. why speak of the thing? we are rather proud of our interurban trolleys in many parts of this land. but the average interurban stockholder is not very proud of his holdings in them. we have seen the disaster that has come to some of them in new england. few of them to-day are earning any money; in fact the greater part of them to-day are fighting bankruptcy, despite heavily increased rates and forced operating economies of a sizable nature. many of these roads should never have been built, particularly where they paralleled existing steam railroads. that was a grave economic mistake for which we are now paying. the lines that led out from the steam roads should have been correlated years ago. that they were not was due generally to a very stupid pride that veiled itself as conservatism. yet these little french narrow-gage lines, if they have not made "big" money, certainly have not lost. in the years before the coming of the world war they would generally average about per cent. annually upon the investment. but this was not the point. locally owned and managed they were not built primarily for profit but as a convenience to the communities that they served. please remember this. in paris i once found a man who had built many miles of these small railroads. "cheap?" said he, in reply to one of my questions. "of course they are cheap. that is the point of it. they rise and fall with the contour of the highroad because that saves expensive grading work. but you will notice that the highroads that they follow almost invariably are in the fairly level portions of france, and so the grades are not such that a well-designed locomotive, even if a fairly small one, cannot traverse them without difficulty. the lines curve sharply to make the highway bridges--but separate bridges would cost money and our narrow-gages primarily are cheap railroads. and our little locomotives are not bothered with the curves. they are extremely well-designed for their own purposes, and so when our line makes a right angle from one highroad to another, because a long easy curve would mean a separate right-of-way, possibly tearing down houses into the bargain, our well-designed locomotive brings ten or twelve or even thirteen loaded cars around that sharp turn in the highroad with little or no difficulty." the frenchman rose and came around his office table, pointing his finger in my face. "don't you see? can't you understand?" he went on. "we have saved that immensely costly thing that you americans call 'overhead.' the owners of one of these little roads of ours have not tied up a small fortune for every mile of them in grading and bridge-work and copper wire and power-houses. our locomotives are small--always well-designed, mind you, and so not so very expensive, yet only one or two or three are required for the entire service of our average narrow-gage. the best of these cost far less than the smallest dynamos, to say nothing of car-motors, while the poorest of them will haul our little cars." there is a big lesson for america in these little roads. all of our highways are not improved highways; only a very small proportion of them are, in fact. it will be many, many years before any large proportion of them are completed. one shrinks at the very contemplation of so vast a task, while, as i have said, there is a growing disinclination against the use of our new paved roads as railroad tracks, particularly for heavy freight service. the most of them are too narrow; and even the wider roads are gradually pounded to pieces by the all-year use of ponderous motor-trucks. remember that the average life of the best of the highways in the state of new york, where the manufacture of these roads has reached a high degree of perfection, is but seven or eight years at the most. suppose that we were to begin the business of laying down light narrow-gage lines along many of the important highroads of the united states--not parallel to our standard railroads but in every case feeding in or out of them. they would not have to be more than twenty-four or thirty inches in gage and they could be built in the same efficient and economical way as those in france. for passenger traffic roads these baby railroads would be as nothing. but for the handling of goods, particularly of farm produce, they would offer a rare opportunity. it is not every farmer that can afford to own a motor-truck; in fact if he were to do really sharp bookkeeping in regard to such a mechanism he would find that it is only the large farmer who really can afford its use, not alone from the point of view of the cost of its upkeep but also because of its "overhead." understand that for such farmers a small narrow-gage railroad as this--the feeder to a branch or main line of some standard steam railroad, running all the way from ten to twenty miles in length, inexpensively laid down alongside the highway and equipped with a single small locomotive (with perhaps one held in reserve against emergencies) and from one hundred to two hundred small four-wheeled flat-cars--would be a boon, and the capital outlay would be comparatively slight. it ought to be built and operated by the farmers that it would serve. with never more than a single train upon the line at one time, there would be no danger of collision, no necessity of a despatching system, while the method of operation would be simplicity itself. the train--the small locomotive and from ten to fifteen of the little cars--would start down the line from the main terminal, where it connected with the standard steam railroad. at each farm-house there would be a simple switch or siding. at each of these, one at least of the little cars would be set. such would be the early morning process of operation. toward night the train would come back, in as many trips as were found necessary, and gather up the little cars, now filled with the farmer's produce. they would be taken to the steam railroad and there unloaded into the railroad's big box-cars for shipment down into the cities. it would, of course, be possible to vary this plan by making the little railroad double-track, at a considerably increased expense--and using upon it gasolene motor-trucks, whose flanged wheels for track service could quickly be slipped into place. this strikes me, however, as being unnecessary costliness. under such a plan, for fifteen car-loads of merchandise there would be in reality fifteen locomotives, each requiring a separate engineer. how much better to have one locomotive with one engineer--and possibly a fireman, too--haul these fifteen car-loads of merchandise! the locomotive easily might be a gasolene or kerosene internal-combustion unit or it might be a steam locomotive burning either coal or oil. that is a matter for experimentation and careful decision. and that is not the point. the point is that the average little farmer cannot well afford to tie up money in a motor-truck which probably will stand idle all too many hours out of the twenty-four, or else tear itself to pieces upon the rough roads of his fields. even the tractor used in slow hauls to town and back is a doubtful economic benefit. but the type of car such as is suggested could have its flange wheels exchanged for regular iron-tired wheels in five minutes--probably the smart farmer's son could do the job in three--while either the tractor or the team of horses or mules could draw it down into the fields where it would receive its produce. such a railroad--how i should like to hear it called the bates county farmers' railroad or something of that sort!--would carry coal and merchandise out from the standard railroad to the farm-houses. its chief utility, however, would be the inward movement of produce. the relief to the highroad, in case the highroad happens to be the typical narrow, light pavement so often used in this country, would be obvious, while in the cases of the all but unspeakable dirt and sand roads the relief to the farmer's horses or trucks, to say nothing of his nerves, would be vast indeed. sometimes when i contemplate the vastness of the possibilities of rail transport in these united states i am staggered with their enormity. we sometimes say that we now have developed a complete railroad system in this country. such a statement is a joke. we have not even scotched the surface of transport possibilities here. we have tackled the obvious and neglected the possibilities not so obvious. but they do exist nevertheless and await the coming of the right intelligence and imagination to make the proper use of them. this brings us at once to the possibilities of the freight-container for the american railroad--not only for the railroad but for all those other forms of transport which we have said should be allied with it and which eventually, i believe, will be correlated and allied with it--the motor-truck, the canal-barge, the outbound steamship. for all of these forms of transportation the container is the veritable keystone of the arch. it is more. it links them together. it is not merely the keystone but the binding mortar itself of the transport arch. i spoke but a moment ago of the transfer of freight from this imaginary farmers' railroad--based upon the french models--to the steam railroad at the point of connection between the two. transfer, at the best, is expensive. at the worst, it is both cumbersome and filled with delay. the container reduces freight transfer to an absolute minimum. yet because it has so many varied and fascinating phases i shall not enter upon its discussion within the pages of this chapter but shall give it a chapter of its own. it really deserves a book. chapter xii speeding up the freight terminals for years past, old-time railroaders have emphasized the point that the ordinary freight-car did not make money until it had hauled its goods at least forty miles; the newer generation places this figure at nearer eighty miles. and when you ask the whys and the wherefores of this, the answer comes in but two words: "terminal expense." to reduce drastically this expense, particularly in freight haulage, is to accomplish to-day one of the largest single economies in the operation of the american railroad, while as we have seen, and as we shall again see, further operating economies are apparently its one salvation, no matter who may assume the difficult task of their direction. i have said already that the maximum profitable haul of the motor-truck upon the highway is from fifty to eighty miles. now put this figure against the minimum profitable haul of the freight-car and see if we are not driving toward a solution of the freight terminal problem. i think that we are. and a single practical and concrete illustration ought to show the reason for making this statement. here is jones, out near passaic, new jersey, tanning leather, and smith, who has a shoe-factory of modest size at lynn, massachusetts, using it. in other days the leather used to go through from new jersey to the bay state in car-load lots. but in the last few years this method has proved entirely too slow, even with the slowly returning strength and freight efficiency of our railroads. it takes at least three roads to accomplish the distance between passaic and lynn, with both new york and boston, through which the cars will probably pass, in any brisk season transfer points of fearful and constant congestion--and with both jones and smith then swearing and recriminating at one another. to-day the leather is leaving jones's tannery each afternoon at just : and is rolling up to the smith factory in lynn well before noon the next day with an almost clock-like precision. even in the days that the freight was moving in heavy volume this precision was steadily maintained. motor-haul all the way? oh, bless you, no! two hundred and fifty miles to be covered, and--as this is being written, in the dead of winter--not only to be covered promptly but at a cost considerably less than express, and not so far in advance of first-class freight charges. that eliminates the possibility of the motor-truck doing the job--all the way through at least. but it does not eliminate the fact that it is the motor-truck that has made the transformation possible. now see what really is done. each evening at a quarter after seven a fast-freight train of the new york, new haven, and hartford railroad leaves the mott haven terminal of that system, in the upper section of new york, for boston. with selected equipment, it makes good time on the -mile run to boston and pulls in there shortly before six o'clock in the morning. a hard-headed and long-visioned motor-truck concern in new york fills three to a dozen box-cars in that train each night. into that mott haven terminal it operates its own fleet of motor-trucks, not only from all freight-giving points in the manhattan, brooklyn, queensborough, and bronx districts of greater new york, but from the many industrial towns in the vicinage roundabout, up to a radius of from thirty to forty miles. out of the boston terminal of the new haven it operates a similar fleet, and so makes the journey of a package of hides from passaic to lynn but a single rail-haul, in addition to the pick-up and the delivery motor-run. simplicity and efficiency. and efficiency and economy. in theory there would seemingly be nothing to prevent the single big express company (into which all of the old-time companies were combined, as a war-time measure) from doing this same thing. in practice, however, their contracts with the railroads forbid this very simple and efficient method of working. those contracts compel the express company to load its freight into railroad baggage-cars, for no matter how short the haul. if the american railway express takes two rolls of carpet from fifth avenue and forty-seventh street, new york, to yonkers, on the very edge of the big town and hardly a dozen miles distant from the carpet-store, it must lug them to its big terminal on the west side of manhattan island and there put them in a baggage-car of the new york central for the haul to its station in yonkers, from which, of course, there is the second delivery run. there is nothing in the theory--or in its simple practice--to keep the express company's truck which picked up the rolls of carpets at the fifth avenue shop continuing north to the very door of the house in park hill or any other section of yonkers to which they are consigned. in a similar way express freight that is destined from manhattan island to a point as near as newark--seven or eight miles of rail-haul--must all go by baggage-car, which, in its way, is quite as absurd as sending stuff all the way from new york to chicago by motor-truck. * * * * * the big railroaders have not been quick to see the practical possibilities of the motor-truck. gradually however these are being forced upon their attention. take cincinnati. perhaps you are not a shipper and so are not familiar with the freight situation there. if so, let me tell you that in the days before uncle sam attempted consolidation of all his railroads and the old-time competing systems used points of individual attractiveness to gain traffic, the bright young men who sought out preference-freight for their individual lines used, as the strongest of their talking points, to promise the elimination of cincinnati for any shipment bound north or south or east or west through its vicinage. the late j. j. hill used to say that it took as long and cost as much for a box-car to go through the chicago terminals--about twenty-two miles--as from chicago to the twin cities--nearly five hundred miles. applying a similar test to the cincinnati terminals one might say that a journey on from the queen city by the ohio through to el paso would be an equally fair comparison. for while chicago lies upon a broad flat plain and presents no topographical problems whatsoever to the railroad engineer, cincinnati, crouched under fearful hills there along the river, has always been his despair. when collis p. huntington first conceived the idea of a real transcontinental railroad system forty or more years ago and sought to bring his chesapeake and ohio, as an integral unit of that plan, into cincinnati, he found the roads already there most hostile to his entrance. they held the town impregnable. yet huntington outwitted them by a superb coup d' état of engineering in which he thrust a marvelous great bridge over the ohio into the heart of the city and the upper levels of its central union station. to-day cincinnati stands as it stood then--seemingly impregnable. its railroad terminals forever are clotted and congested. and seemingly they are incapable of expansion, short of the expenditure of many millions of dollars. from one of these, the panhandle freight-house at the east end of the heart of the city, along the river edge to three or four others close together, the downtown stations of the big four, the baltimore and ohio, the chesapeake and ohio, and the queen and crescent, it is hardly more than a mile. a direct track along the levee connects all of them, yet the records show that the average time for a freight car to go from the first of these freight-houses to any one of the last four for years past has been two days and fourteen hours. it was because of practical conditions such as these that a great deal of the transfer work of less-than-car-load freight from one railroad to another through cincinnati was performed by a transfer company through the city streets. the huge wagons of this concern, each drawn by horses or mules, the driver seated athwart of the southwest horse or mule, used to be familiar sights in the narrow streets of the town close to the river. i say "used to be" advisedly. for these quaint and ancient vehicles have to-day disappeared from the downtown heart of cincinnati. in their place the motor-truck has shown its ubiquitous self. and in place of the horse-drawn open trucks--our english cousins would call them "lorries"--have come fifteen efficient, modern, five-ton gasolene trucks. the mules and the horses have been turned out to pasture. nor is this all. a good many of the little switching engines that used to haul the local transfer or "trap-cars" from one main freight-house to another, or from the sub-stations in various outlying industrial sections of the cincinnati district, have been released for service elsewhere, and a vast saving effected in men and in money. before we came to the detailed method in which these fifteen motor-truck chasses are being operated, consider for a longer moment the peculiar topographical layout of cincinnati: on that narrow shelf of flats or bottoms between the high hills and the river in which the older portion of the city is tightly built are situated the greater portion of its industries. there it is that its business life centers. there it is then that its railroad terminals have also been centered since first the locomotive poked his way down to the banks of the ohio. and since they have expanded to almost every square inch of available territory. to the east end of this long and narrow strip come the panhandle lines of the pennsylvania system, the louisville and nashville's main-stem and the norfolk and western railroad. at its western end are grouped the kentucky central division of the louisville and nashville, the queen and crescent lines of the southern system, the baltimore and ohio reaching east, north, and west on four important stems, the chesapeake and ohio, and the big four lines of the new york central. the volume of traffic which these lines bring into cincinnati and take out of her crowded heart is vast indeed, and growing rapidly year by year. not only is the local traffic a thing to reckoned in many thousands of tons, but the fact that there are three railroad bridges there across the ohio, each carrying at least one important through route to the south, means a vast amount of through freight to go through that gateway--and much of it there to be transferred, which further complicates the situation. and more than all these things the steady growth of the city has meant a constant demand for addition to her railroad facilities--addition that because of the recent difficulties in railroad finance, as well as the terrible topographical difficulties of the cincinnati situation, have not kept pace with the industrial growth of the city. fortunately a good deal of this recent growth has been away from her civic heart rather than close to it. new factories have sprung up in new industrial districts, well to the north and the northwest of the older portions of the town. and in order to accommodate the smaller concerns of these sections--brighton, ivorydale, and norwood chief amongst them--the competing railroads which threaded them opened up sub-station freight-houses in each of them. these served concerns not large enough to have their own private sidings, while in order to give these industries the benefits of the same through-car service for l. c. l. (less-than-car-load) business that downtown business houses enjoyed they were served by the downtown freight-houses. the distances from these sub-stations--three or four to eight or ten miles--were of course quite out of the question for the horse-drawn lorries. so it became the practice there, as in other widespread metropolitan cities, to load package-freight in local box-cars--in the parlance of the business, "trap-cars"--and send these in the convoy of a switch-engine to the downtown station where space was required for their spotting and unloading. and a confounded situation was thus doubly confounded. in regular practice these trap-cars with their outbound freight would leave the outlying sub-station each afternoon soon after their closing hour-- : --but they would not reach the downtown stations until early evening, some hours after the l. c. l. or through package-freight cars for that day had all been closed and sealed and sent merrily on their way toward their destinations. at the best the stuff they carried would make the through outbound cars of the second day. at the worst they might make the cars the fourth or fifth day, while impatient shippers began to burn the telegraph wires with all their woes. to-day the freight from those outlying sub-stations at brighton, ivorydale, norwood, oakley, and sixth street, storrs, covington, and newport is leaving them at their closing hours and going out from the main downtown freight-stations that same evening--almost without a miss. the shipper smiles. and, as in the case of the l. c. l. freight to be transferred from one railroad to another at cincinnati, great time, money, and temper are saved and efficiency gained. the reason why? let me hasten to answer. the motor-truck has come into railroad terminal service and has there found a field peculiarly if not exclusively its own. and because the cincinnati experiment has passed the stage of mere experimental trials and doubtings, because there in that fine old town at the double bend of the ohio a real progress step in transportation has been taken that is not only of actual value to it to-day but of potential value to every other big town in america to-morrow, let us go a little more closely into its workings. let us begin by calling to the witness-chair j. j. schultz, president and general manager of the cincinnati motor terminals and himself a railroad operating man of long experience. mr. schultz tells us quickly how a little more than four and a half years ago the experiment began in the badly overcrowded downtown freight-station of the big four, just south of and adjoining the equally badly crowded central union (passenger) station. it was a simple enough plant then--two motor-truck chasses, bought on credit from a cleveland concern, and twelve cage-bodies worked out through the ingenuity of a local blacksmith. these were placed in service between the main freight-house of the big four and one or two of the outlying sub-stations. the success of the plan was almost immediate. the two trucks went scurrying back and forth all day long, picking up and depositing the loaded bodies until the other railroad men of cincinnati began to realize that their vanderbilt competitors had scored a sort of a beat on them. then they began to look into the motor-truck proposition on their own, with the direct result that to-day every freight-house in cincinnati except one is equipped for handling standardized motor-truck bodies on and off standardized motor-trucks. in transfer freight the scheme, briefly stated, is this. a box-car, filled with less-than-car-load stuff, all bound for different roads south of the ohio, comes rolling down from pittsburg into the panhandle freight-house, there at the east end of the cincinnati congested district. the freight-house crews make quick work of unloading it. the package stuff which it held goes rolling across the deck of the "in-house" and without rehandling into one of two or three of a row of huge packing-boxes that stand awaiting it. these look like the small goods-wagons of the french or the english railways and are in reality the new type of standardized red and gray motor-bodies of the motor terminals co. one is destined for the freight-house of the main division of the l. & n., another for the kentucky central division of the same system, a third for the queen and crescent. an average of four and a half tons is stowed away in each of them, the way-bills are placed in an envelope for the driver, and the box is then fastened and sealed like the door of a regular box-car in service. the freight-house boss moves toward his telephone. presto! a motor-chassis pulls alongside the panhandle freight house. "ready for the queen & crescent," the driver shouts cheerily in. but before he receives his loaded box and the way-bills there is one to be delivered. an overhead crane running upon a track grabs the box, swings it clear of the chassis, and places it upon one side of the freight-house deck. from the other it picks up the loaded box for the queen & crescent and--almost as quickly as it can be told here--deposits it upon the emptied chassis. the driver yells a good-by and the truck is off, to be replaced almost instantly with another, with a transfer load to be delivered and one to be taken on for one of the other freight-houses. "our despatcher allows five minutes to unload a body and to load on another," says mr. schultz. "it's a lot more than sufficient time." "what despatcher?" we ask mr. schultz. he explains in some detail. the railroads, who keep a careful supervising oversight of the workings of the plan, have installed at their own expense a skilled train-despatcher who, at a desk and telephone switchboard in a quiet downtown corner, directs the exact operations of each of the terminal company's trucks. through his direct telephone lines to each freight-house and sub-station he keeps tab upon the comings and the goings of the drivers, as well as a complete and permanent record of their work and can quickly meet emergencies of every sort, instantly adjusting the service to the needs that are thrust upon it. time is money. and time counts. "we are handling this stuff across town to the queen and crescent in just fourteen minutes to the average," explains mr. schultz. "and here is where the average was two days and fourteen hours--the actual practice often from eight to ten days. some percentage of gain." a seemingly incredible percentage, mr. schultz. yet here are the records before our eyes that prove the statement. he seems to know exactly what he is talking about: "take that run from the brighton sub-station down to the main freight-house of the big four in the old days," he adds. "second night out from the main station in a through l. c. l. car--in theory only. do you know what it took them in average practice with that trap-car? an average of thirty-six hours; that's according to the records. and our motor-trucks make that run in thirty minutes. but because they haul an average load of but . tons, as against an average load of nine tons in the trap-car, we must, in order to be entirely fair, take that into consideration in a comparative reckoning and say that our average haul is one hour and four minutes, which still compares pretty well with thirty-six hours. or, to bring it still further, the average time to haul one ton of package-freight by motor-truck is seven minutes, as compared with three hours and fifty-four minutes by trap-car. our drivers are scheduled to make ten miles an hour through the city streets, and they make it easily and without danger or annoyance to any one. "there is another factor of saving in this service that you must not forget," continues mr. schultz. "by our use of the motor-truck we have saved the use of twenty-three trap-cars a day in this one freight-house alone. that not only releases those cars to the pennsylvania railroad for line service but, by saving the platform trackage which these cars demanded, increases in a really great measure the capacity and efficiency of this freight-house. and you can readily understand the effect upon the entire cincinnati terminal situation when i tell you that the motor-truck service which we already have in effect is releasing a total of , box-cars a year from cincinnati terminal service for the line movements of the various railroads that lead in here." i think i can understand. a little time ago the wisest and most conservative of the railroad operating executives who have cincinnati among their bailiwicks were wondering how in these days of abnormally low railroad credit they were going to escape vast and almost immediate extensions to their terminals there, both freight and passenger. now they know that these expenditures will not have to be made--for the freight terminals at least--for a number of years to come. the trap-car elimination has released anywhere from to per cent. of valuable floor-space in each of the present local freight-houses and so of course has added that much to their working capacity. count that, if you please, to the credit of the motor-truck in terminal service. nor is the service itself representative of any cost increase. the motor terminals company is hauling all the transfer and secondary freight at an average cost of eighty cents a ton, which certainly compares well with $ . which the former transfer service was compelled to charge for its haul by lorries, or the expense varying from $ . to $ . a ton which it costs the railroads to haul their own trap-cars by switch-engines. a saving this which goes well alongside of that of box-cars and switch-engines and freight-house space relieved, to say nothing of individual shipments, through and local, vastly expedited; all of which can be translated annually into money savings of real dimensions. already the motor terminals company is hauling about one thousand tons of freight through the streets of cincinnati in nine hours of each business day. its trucks, with maximum outside dimensions of seventeen feet six inches by eight feet, are both shorter and narrower than the lorries of the old transfer company and infinitely less subject to delays under conditions of inclement weather. moreover understand, if you will, that the transfer company, with all of its lorries, hauled but per cent. of the through l. c. l. freight between the various terminals of cincinnati. to handle all of it would have taken at least horse-drawn trucks, while if it had attempted the problem of handling the sub-stations another fleet of at least equal size would have been required. yet its motorized successor is now handling every pound of the thousand tons or more of transfer freight at cincinnati daily as well as all the sub-station work, with the slight increase of twenty-four bodies to the already in service and without the increase of a single chassis to its present operating fleet of fifteen. to perfect and quicken its service the overhead cranes for loading and unloading the box-bodies are being equipped with motor-trolleys, in place of the man-power chain arrangements, which in turn represents a speed of fifty feet a minute as against but seven under the old order of things. and this of course is still further efficiency. so much then for the situation as it stands to-day in cincinnati. it does not take very much of a vision to see in the proved success of a terminal plan, which already has ceased to be an experiment, a great enlargement of the freight gathering and distributing scheme for the entire city. no longer will it be necessary or even essential that a freight-house of a railroad be located either at or near rails. it can come far closer to its users. in other words railroad sub-stations for the collection and delivery of package-freight can be established in every industrial section of cincinnati, thus shortening the haul for individual patrons and so in turn perceptibly lessening the congestion in the city streets. do you see now where this is leading us? with sub-stations so established, the principle of standardized interchangeable motor-truck bodies and chasses working to so definite an end, there remains little or no use for downtown freight terminals in a city like cincinnati, save perhaps an occasional team-track yard for heavy car-load shipments. in the flats at the edge of the town the railroads can, and in my opinion eventually will, establish new and generous-sized freight-houses and other terminal appurtenances. the downtown stations, located in the heart of each industrial district, will do the rest. the expense of building these last will be as nothing. the value of their upper floors as lofts for light manufacturing will far more than offset the cost and upkeep of the ground-floor motor-freight terminal, while the facility of movement, with its multitude of resultant economies, will make the expenditure on outlying main terminals money well spent indeed. as goes cincinnati, so must go the land outside. it is from this point of view that its radically new terminal plan assumes a nation-wide interest and importance. as i lingered in its various railroad terminals beside the neat wood and iron motor-body boxes upon the freight-house decks--the original open cage design has long since been discarded in favor of the stronger and more permanent form of carrier--i could not help but be struck again with their resemblance to the small ten-ton goods-wagons of the french and english railways. and i recalled the tremendous efficiency of these same small wagons for the work for which they were best adapted, the hauling of package freight, the sort of things we know in this country as l. c. l. one of the great disagreeable sources of railroad outgo in america, and one that has a constant tendency toward increase, is the list of claims paid for freight damaged in transit. it makes a pretty big annual bill, of which an astoundingly large proportion is gained through breakage in the transfer-houses. remember that right here is where our french and english cousins can always show us a trick or two. with their little ten-ton cars there is always enough package-freight to "make" a full car even to the smallest communities, while once arrived at one of these, a switching-crew composed of a man and a horse handles the car-load shipment with great care and no little speed. then as i stood there upon the big and orderly decks of the cincinnati freight-houses--orderly upon the coming of the motor-truck into terminal service, and for the first time in many years--it kept coming to me, why could not these stoutly built boxes go through to dayton or to columbus or indianapolis, or for that matter anywhere within reach of the american freight-car? two of them would go quite easily upon the deck of a flat-car; it ought not to be difficult to find "flats" to accommodate three of the seventeen-foot motor-bodies upon their platforms. but even with but two, there would be nine tons of package-freight, which is fully as much if not more than the average package-freight box-car is carrying to-day across the land. while thirteen tons--three well filled motor-boxes-runs well ahead of that average. suppose that this long big four flat-car was to run up to columbus-- miles or more up the line--with three motor-boxes upon its deck. one might have been filled at the main freight-house of the big four, down in the shadow of the big passenger terminal, another at brighton, the third, let us say at norwood. the exact stations are immaterial. the point is that the freight would have but one transfer--at the in-house of the columbus terminals. there an overhead track-crane would pick the three boxes off the "flat" and place them upon the freight-house deck, where they could be quickly unloaded and their contents placed on trucks or lorries for columbus distribution. while in turn the motor-boxes would be reloaded for shipment back direct to cincinnati-downtown, cincinnati-brighton, and cincinnati-norwood. there is nothing impracticable or impossible about such a plan. on the contrary, it is most tremendously practical and tremendously efficient withal. its installation is neither difficult nor expensive, while the savings are vast. a conservative estimate would place these already at $ a day in the cincinnati district. carry that ratio all the way across the country and you have a possibility of railroad operating economy in the aggregate not to be sneezed at. * * * * * the whole broad national field of railroad operation awaits the coming of the motor-truck and its detachable body into terminal handling. it is to be a great factor in the railroad of to-morrow. come east, if you will, from cincinnati into new york. now we have a teaser of a problem. far worse, even, than that of the city by the bend of the ohio. the freight terminal problem of the island of manhattan alone is to-day the greatest single problem of transport in all this land, if not, indeed, in all the world. into it constantly is being injected idealism, engineering, politics, common-sense--all of these, apparently to but little avail. an elaborate plan has been formulated lately for the correction and revision of the entire terminal problem of the new york metropolitan district (including not only all the outlying boroughs such as brooklyn, richmond, and the bronx, but jersey city, bayonne, weehawken, hoboken, newark, paterson, passaic, and many other closely allied communities). this plan is being engineered by the newly created port of new york authority, modeled closely upon a similar body for the port of london. as this is being written, it is being resisted stoutly by the city administration of new york. i shall not go into this phase of the problem however. there are enough others to be considered, and this particular one sooner or later will come to an automatic solution. for no matter whether the city administration or the port authority (created by the states of new york and new jersey) comes atop, the island of manhattan will remain the crux and key of the whole problem. for its relief it may be necessary, as has been suggested, to build relief belt-line railroads no nearer than forty miles away from it. that is a matter for the future. for the present consider that disregarding political boundaries--traffic takes little or no thought of them--the commercial center of metropolitan new york (in the sense which i now mean, a well-grouped city of ten million people, even though in two separate states) is and must remain upon manhattan island. there is the commerce done. there the freight comes to a clearing-house. manufacturing may increase and probably will upon the outer rims of the district. but distribution will remain close to its heart. consider for a moment, if you will, with me the antiquated freight facilities of the heart of what long since became the second city of the world, and which to-day, commercially, at least, is its first. upon the long, slender island of manhattan but one steam railroad has direct rail freight facilities. that road is the new york central, which many years ago pre-empted most of the western edge of the island for itself and so gained a vast strategic advantage--also a choice assortment of political quarrels. however, the one thing probably more than offsets the other. there are nine other important freight railroads, however, entering the new york metropolitan district (not counting the west shore, which is a subsidiary of the new york central). these roads, together with the central and the west shore, occupy thirty-five vastly valuable piers in the congested sections of the island south of forty-second street and so hold the piers from coastwise and from outbound steamship lines which clamor constantly for them. to these piers the freight-cars of these eleven railroads come on long clumsy car-floats, each accommodating about ten cars. the floats are loaded at the direct water terminals of the railroads across the hudson and elsewhere and are poked by stout tugs into position alongside the freight-piers. in theory a single standard pier of manhattan should empty and load, even in this rather clumsy fashion, about eighty cars a day. this is based upon having four floats at each of them at a single time. in practice they do well if they clear forty cars a day. the berthings between the piers are narrow, there is much congestion in them and in the rivers about manhattan island, and delays are not only frequent but constant. yet the delays upon the water sides of these piers are as nothing compared with those upon their street sides. any new york merchant, retail or wholesale, will tell you of these--of trucks standing in line long, weary, expensive hours outside the pier-doors and then wasting more time after they once get inside, before they are loaded and out again. on an average per cent. of a truck's time is so wasted. the average downtown pier is but eighty feet wide, and after a thirty foot roadway has been left down its center there is not much room for the freight. there must be a vast amount of pulling and hauling over the accumulated merchandise. this all takes time and money. concretely, it costs about two dollars a ton for package-freight (known technically as the classified) to get itself unloaded upon a manhattan island pier. add to this fifty to sixty cents for the hand-work of unloading upon the pier and a hauling cost through the streets of downtown new york of from eight to ten cents a hundred; and you have a total terminal cost well in excess of four dollars a ton, which is entirely too much. one of the chief tasks before the engineers of the port of new york authority is to bring down this cost. they have proposed a fascinating and elaborate plan by which the freight-cars upon the eight railroads coming into new york from the south and west be unloaded well outside the rail terminal congestion--the essence of the fully-developed cincinnati plan which we have just seen. their freight would go into a form of container which would ride into manhattan upon a miniature underground electric railroad, not dissimilar to that in successful use in chicago for a number of years past. this road, connecting with the outlying freight interchange points, would dip under the hudson river at the battery and continue up under west street, at the extreme westerly rim of manhattan island, to about thirty-third street, where it would again tunnel beneath the river and return to new jersey--a simple and efficient belt-line. this scheme is most interesting, despite its weakness in ignoring the uptown growth of manhattan island by quitting it south of thirty-fourth street. unfortunately it is most expensive, as well. most such plans are. its estimated cost is $ , , . a keen and experienced railroader of my acquaintance, taking this into consideration for his overhead and making a sharp analysis of probable operating costs, has not hesitated to give it as his opinion that this underground electric railroad would impose a terminal cost of something over four dollars a ton for classified freight entering manhattan from the west bank of the hudson river. add to this your street haul costs of from eight to ten cents a hundred and you begin to get something too dangerously close to six dollars a ton to have much joy in it for the new york merchants. one of the most important of the eight railroads entering new york from the west, from a freight traffic point of view, at least, is the erie. despite a fearful heritage of financial obligations incurred during its maladministration of half a century ago, it is a remarkably progressive property in its operating methods. poverty and the consequent need for extreme economy have forced it into many ingenious and highly practical operating kinks. the vast expenditures involved in the elaborate plan of the port of new york authority can have little fascination for the energetic f. d. underwood and the rest of the erie officers, who know how very hard it is for them to meet their operating and their fixed charges--dividends are not in their hopes. with this in mind they have sought to meet the new york terminal situation, not with large expenditures but with an adaptation of the tolls close at hand. already they have entered into a contract with a trucking concern upon manhattan island to work out the details of a most ingenious plan which goes after this fashion. for many years past the erie has operated two ferry-lines from its historic terminal at pavonia avenue, jersey city, to new york--chambers and twenty-third streets respectively. to meet the large suburban passenger necessities of the road it is necessary to operate these upon fairly frequent headways. yet pavonia avenue is not an accepted route for through motoring, either freight or passenger which means that the erie ferry-boats have been more crowded in their cabins than upon their team decks. yet it is obvious that it costs little or no more to operate a well filled ferry-boat than one that is but half-filled. moreover in pavonia avenue, jersey city, the erie possesses not only ample freight-house facilities but room for a large future expansion of them. of course, it was quite out of the question to expect the average merchant of manhattan island to go to jersey city to get his freight, particularly when the erie's enterprising competitors were crying their willingness to set it down in the west street piers. mohammed would not go to the mountain, but in this instance the mountain would come to mohammed. the erie made arrangements with a large trucking concern in the city of new york to take classified freight in ten-ton units to the merchants' doors. these truck-bodies are four-wheeled, their forward wheels being rather light and rather small. there are three of these bodies to one tractor unit, which means of course that while one body is in transit attached to the tractor, the other two are at the respective termini being loaded and unloaded. so is time saved; and so is saved the expensive overhead upon the tractor-unit while the clock goes steadily ticking forward. eighteen of these truck and tractor combinations go upon a single ferry-boat. the ferry-boat headway is seven and one-half minutes, which means that working at full speed tons--a fair-sized train-load, for classified freight--can be handled each hour. and if you wish more figures still, please understand that the terminal cost of trucking to the merchant of manhattan has been lowered by this method from eight to ten cents a hundred to but five or six. economies? sometimes i think we of america do not know, even yet, the real meaning of the word. yet this is but the beginning of the erie's work at its new york terminals. its big job, upon which it is just now embarking, is bringing into play the container in its most real sense not merely as a detachable truck-body but as a steel-box which can be loaded and then handled in almost any conceivable form of transport. the idea is simplicity itself, nor is it a particularly new one. for many years past the express companies have used it for the transport of their comparatively small and valuable packages, placing these in large iron-bound wooden trunks for safety in carriage. it is more than a dozen years ago that a professor in one of the new england colleges--amherst, i think--wrote an article in which he advocated the scheme for all package-freight and sent the article to a technical publication, which promptly refused it, saying that it was entirely too visionary an idea. yet here we are, fairly come to it in these days. the erie plan in its last refinements proposes to unload the package-freight for new york at its yards at croxton, new jersey, just west of the bergen tunnels, and then after reassortment to reload it into steel container-boxes, seventeen and one-half feet by eight and one-half, and with a working capacity of five tons. two of these containers will fill the platform of an average flat-car. the reassortment or transfer work at croxton will be not only into containers for the erie's various sole and joint freight-stations in manhattan, the bronx, brooklyn, and queensborough, but also to individual business houses, where the volume of the freight justifies such a step. great retail stores, such as macy's or wanamaker's or altman's, easily would receive one or more of these containers each day. so would the important wholesalers, and all other considerable distributing concerns of the city of new york. the containers placed upon the flat-cars at croxton will quickly traverse the three or four brief miles to the water-side of weehawken, just across from west fortieth street, manhattan. here they will go upon the huge floats originally built for the terminal movement of loaded box-cars but each easily adapted for the carrying of sixty of the five-ton containers. all the elaborate plans that have been made for the extension and development of the port of new york predicate the scrapping of this great harbor fleet of car-floats--some eight million dollars' worth all told. in this book i am aiming to show possible railroad economies, not expenditures. it is easy enough to depict elaborate plans which involve vast capital expenditure. we have had rather too many of these in this country in recent years. it seems to me that by far the best plans are those that give large operating economies with a minimum of actual expense. these are the sort that i am trying to show within these pages. if the erie plans will bring to each of its water-side piers in lower manhattan some tons of assorted merchandise a day, against about tons as at present accomplished by the old-fashioned and rather awkward device of ferrying the loaded cars themselves across the hudson river, it would seem to be both a real efficiency, as well as a mere economy. carried out by other roads using the harbor-side of west street, manhattan, it would quickly become a vast efficiency--the storage of freight upon the crowded pier floors ended; motor-trucks coming in, receiving in a time always to be measured in seconds, rather than in minutes, the steel containers upon their stout chasses, and then departing in a quick and orderly fashion. j. j. mantell, the new york manager of the erie, who has created this new plan and now has its execution in charge, estimates that carried out upon the lines of his competitors it would mean that the railroads coming into new york from the west would need but seven piers instead of the thirty-five that they now occupy. twenty-eight piers would be released for steamship service and the necessity of extensive, and expensive, harbor improvements deferred, for a number of years at least. the container idea, having once come into the public eye here in the united states, has steadily and rather rapidly gained in favor. a gentleman in st. louis has apparently gone the cincinnati method one better by devising a steel container which is interchangeable not only between motor-trucks and railroad freight-cars, but from these chasses to barge or flat-cars, or into the hold of a steamboat. his scheme already is in actual use, although not in perfected form, in the federal barge service established three years ago upon the warrior river. twenty of the big steel boxes were purchased for use there, and there they are still in use. it so happens that the warrior river barges have no deck-houses, merely open holds into which the coal from the alabama hills can easily be poured or unloaded. to make "return load"--always that valuable factor in transportation, either water or rail-merchandise freight must be garnered in new orleans. and an open-hold barge is hardly comparable to a box-car; not at least in the mind of a shipper, who has some lurking desire to have his goods arrive in fair condition at the far end of the run. so the steel container, which h. w. kirchner of st. louis has designed, came into play. it carries merchandise not only from new orleans to birmingport (just below birmingham) but, atop of the coal, back to new orleans again. the inventor has had no joy whatever in this very informal trial of his device. he would prefer to have his containers handled and placed in a more orderly and systematic fashion. yet the fact remains that a beginning has been made in the actual use of the only practical binding force yet brought forward which looks to a physical linking of the several different arms of freight transport. any firm believer not only in the theory of correlated transportation but also in the high values to be achieved by its practical application in this country cannot help having a joy in this warrior river experiment, an experiment which sooner or later is to be extended to the similar barge service which the united states government has now succeeded in establishing upon the mississippi. it already has been shown on the warrior river line that the container can, and does, cut labor costs at terminals all the way from sixty-five cents to four cents a ton--the time for unloading from twelve to twenty-four hours down to but one or two, at the most. * * * * * there is coming to-day in this country--slowly, but very surely--a reversal of the old-time tradition that the inland waterway is _per se_ a competitor of the railroad. many years ago the railroads themselves showed how small a figure a river or canal, always more or less subject to seasonal or weather influences, was to the steel highway as a competitor, while the attempts that have been made since then--and generally at large capital expenditure--to bring about the resurrection of the inland waterway as a competitor of the railroad have so far proved abortive. but to regard the inland waterway as supplementary to the railroad, or the railroad as supplementary to the inland waterway--it is merely a choice of phrasings--is a very different story indeed. true it is that the statute laws to-day pronounce sternly against such a sensible, economic solution of a large phase of our american transport problem. true it is that a good many other keen business men still can see the waterway in no other light than as a club over the railroad. true it is that a good many otherwise sagacious railroad executives can see the waterway as nothing but an obsolete agent of transport or as a foolish dream of visionary idealists. yet the fact remains that the waterway does have its place in transport. the railroad has a place, and in intelligent analysis these places dovetail somehow, somewhere. they do not conflict. and the sooner realization is made of this, the better--for all of us. some day we shall have to change our statute laws and then, instead of barring our railroads from our waterways, we shall invite, urge, implore, and if necessary compel them to use these great natural arteries of inland transport, chiefly for the relief of their overcrowded rails, particularly the rail terminals. and how overcrowded these are yet to be, it is hard to realize in this present moment of industrial slump. in that day the container is to be, as i have said already, the binding agent between these different avenues of transport. its flexibility, its adaptability, its obvious economy are going to bring it into its own. * * * * * in the meantime great progress is being made in its development. a. h. smith, the big, energetic president of the new york central, with his usual verve and enthusiasm has taken hold of the idea and seems bound to put it over. already he has had built ten steel units of containers four for passenger service and holding ten boxes each, and six for freight service and holding but six boxes apiece. the passenger service units are being tried out in the united states mail service; the freight-service ones are in experimentation by the american railway express. just what will be the final development in operation of these units smith himself does not know. he believes that the possibilities are almost too great for instant grasp. that is why he has his road and himself back of the new idea. he has watched it carefully, almost apprehensively. because of a certain indefinite fear that one of the great steel boxes might some fine day be hurtled from the platform of a car running at high speed and into some group of waiting people by the side of the railroad, he has caused extraordinary care to be taken to have them firmly fastened not merely upon, but into, the platform-cars. a long steel girder-side of the car does the trick, while in these days of bandits and rumors of bandits along the line the fact that there is no possible process of opening the steel door of the container-box once it is set into its place upon the car gives an assurance of protection to the merchandise that no other form of carrier can offer. here again the motor-truck correlates. in the first experimental trials by the new york central of this forward-looking device, they have come into quick and easy terminal service; the big olive-green trucks of the united states mail service and the deep-blue ones of the american railway express. * * * * * i began this chapter with the motor-truck. with the motor-truck i shall close it. it is the object of great dreams of transport. yet these are not, after all, mere dreams. they are, as we have seen just now, the carefully developed plans of engineers long since become expert in transportation. i could have carried you much further into these plans--into their application for the relief of philadelphia, whose great water-front along the delaware is only reached by the box-car after miles of tedious switching through congested trackage, and where the motor-truck offers an almost immediate and a comparatively inexpensive solution of the freight terminal problem; into chicago where the situation is nearly as bad; and into boston, where it is considerably worse, and where again the motor-truck plus the container in terminal service is a veritable key to the problem. further still could i have carried you in this discursion--to baltimore, to pittsburg, to cleveland, to detroit, elsewhere still. i have hesitated to weary you with too much detail. you have had enough to prove my points, while only space prevents the discussion of the financial phases of this service, sometimes known as store-door delivery. i shall admit that store-door delivery has no attractive sound to the practical operating railroad executive. he is gun-shy, tremendously gun-shy of it. and yet i do not wonder at that. your railroader feels that sooner or later--and probably much sooner than later--the charges for this service would be tacked upon his shoulders flatly included within his transportation rate. aside from that i think that he would welcome it distinctly. it would greatly simplify the traffic problems in and around his freight-terminals to say nothing of making vast savings in the use of his equipment. moreover the day is coming when he will be compelled to welcome it willy-nilly. for, in my opinion, the motor-truck will occupy a place in the railroads' necessities to-morrow only second to that of the locomotive itself. it represents the railroad's newest field of development, by far its largest field of possibilities. remember that the pictures which you have just seen in some detail of the cincinnati and the new york terminal situations are but two out of many of these possibilities. the others are so vast and so many as to be termed limitless. they represent progress--progress in the field of american transport as definite and as distinct as that which marked the coming of the locomotive. the years pass by. in them we do move. we do progress. and transport enterprise consists in translating vision to practical operation, along lines such as we just have seen. so shall our railroad of to-morrow be upbuilt. chapter xiii the twilight of competition the distinguished boston jurist who not so many years ago astounded and startled the entire nation by saying that he could save a million dollars a day in the operation of its railroads was quite right, even though not exactly along the lines that he then suggested. mr. justice brandeis at that time proposed to accomplish his great savings--then roughly estimated at per cent. a year upon the property valuation of the railroads of the united states--by radical operating economies. that these might be accomplished and in a large measure, i do not now doubt. in fact for several chapters past i have been trying to show some of the larger opportunities to be accomplished along these lines; economies that to-day might be effected upon our carriers were they possessed at this moment with the proper imagination and vision, aided by an interstate commerce commission possessed of the same qualities. we have seen how, in a test long enough to be definite, the motorized terminals in the city of cincinnati have saved the railroads there something more than a thousand dollars a day. this was just one typical congested american city. i have tried also to show how that plan, in the main at least, could be extended to other congested american cities. it would not take very many such terminal savings to make a fair fraction of the national economy once proposed by our distinguished jurist of the supreme court bench. similarly i have tried to show the economies to be accomplished in the most neglected field of our rail transport system, the branch line and local service: the electrification of lines, the introduction of the gasolene-motor unit, both upon the rails and off, the steady refinement of the locomotive, the development of the all-important container. yet even these by no means represent the limits of operating economies yet to be attained upon the american railroad. there are many other operating savings that might be made and that are not being made to-day. for instance the field of a more scientific train movement through better signaling is of itself a most fascinating one. the second important function of a railroad signal--second only to its all-important one of safety to human life and to property--is to keep trains moving. it is a poor business man indeed who does not recognize the high value of keeping all of his moving equipment as nearly as possible in constant motion and in this way holding down the cost of his overhead. there are two ways to direct the movement of trains. the first is the one still most commonly in use upon the railroad of the united states, by the written instructions of the train-order; the other is by the indications of the fixed signal--upon the open line, generally the automatic block. for train-order instructions the moving train must either slow down or stop completely, but with signal indications it may keep moving ahead at a good pace. in the one case time is lost, in the other it is gained. this may seem in itself a small matter, but much multiplied it comes to a real saving indeed. on a single important division of a single important freight-carrying railroad--the susquehanna division of the erie railroad, miles of double-track--a careful test was made of the savings accomplished by the installation of electric block-signals within the first calendar twelvemonth after they had been put in service, supplanting old-fashioned manual block-signals. over that division in a typical year there move the huge traffic of , , , ton-miles. under the manual block the year before, the erie's train-despatching was by written train-orders sent by telegraph. the division was divided into two despatchers' districts, two men for each district, four men for the division, for each of the three eight-hour tricks, or twelve men for the twenty-four hours, in addition to two chief train-despatchers. moreover the susquehanna division had employed in the twelvemonth immediately preceding the installation of its automatic electric blocks signalmen at forty-six intermediate stations who had been paid $ , on the eight-hour day basis. even then it had sought to economize by closing down a number of its block stations at night to make a little saving on its pay-roll, even though the net result was to make its blocks excessively long in those hours and so slow up and greatly delay its train movement. contrast this with a despatchers' service of but six men--in addition, of course, to the two chief despatchers--for the entire division with no signalmen whatsoever (aside from the telegraph offices open at seventeen intermediate points instead of forty-six as of old, where the retention of an operator and the written train-order system was imperative), and we begin to see real savings. the erie people took that first year of their automatic block operation and compared it with the twelve months immediately preceding when they had moved , , , ton miles of freight traffic over the susquehanna division. with their new kink in scientific railroad operation they were able not only greatly to reduce their operating force but to increase their ton-miles per train from , to , , a very considerable efficiency increase. in other words they not alone made the valuable saving in time from having fewer trains upon the line--the actual saving in that first year came to trains--but an operating cost of $ , . at the rate at which money was then worth, this was the interest on a capital investment of $ , , . project this to the entire main line of that railroad, miles from new york to chicago; remember that we have been considering but one -mile division of that main line, and savings begin to multiply. if the proportion of savings could be maintained the erie would have been $ , ahead on its main line alone; if it could be carried to its branch lines too, the figure would run into a million dollars or more a year. yet the erie is less than a hundredth part of the route mileage of the railroads of the united states, of which a comparatively small part is yet equipped with automatic block-signals. to say that our carriers might save a hundred million dollars a year by the use of modern and scientific signaling alone would probably be a conservative guess. a million dollars a day, mr. justice brandeis! it begins to look as if you had understated, not overstated the savings to be accomplished by our national transport. * * * * * we have by no means reached our limits in operating economies. that our practical railroaders, under the fearful spur of a terrific demand for great retrenchments, have done much is not to be denied. in some things, notably the creation of the big car, the big locomotive, and the big train, they not only have accomplished marvels but to-day they have probably approached the extreme limits of efficiency, if indeed they have not already actually passed them. recently they have increased the loading of the average freight-car and have speeded up its movement. on march , , when the private operators took their roads back from the government, they announced that they were going to try to make a "thirty-thirty" record--an average daily mileage of thirty miles (instead of the . which the united states railroad administration was then accomplishing) and an average loading of thirty tons (instead of the . tons which the railroad administration by almost superhuman efforts, including appeals to the patriotism of the shippers, had finally succeeded in reaching). despite most unpropitious circumstances the railroad executives had virtually reached the mark that they had fixed for themselves when the industrial slump set in upon the land. and in a total movement of a million car-loads of freight a week (a fair standard for good business across the land) savings such as these are the equivalent of many new cars, particularly so at the times when our railroads find themselves short of freight rolling-stock. in an earlier chapter i showed how rapidly our total freight-car equipment has declined--in three years more than , cars. yet the saving of but a mile a day in the operation of each car of our existing equipment is equivalent to the addition of , cars to it. our railroaders are expert already in the efficient use of the somewhat antiquated tools which they already possess. i have said long ago that man for man they are not excelled anywhere in the world in the small technical details of rail transportation. their expertness was won in a hard school. since that day, fifteen or twenty years ago, when the running expenses of our carriers began their long uphill climb, these men have been forced to great operating economies merely to make both ends meet. they have gone the limit in these savings. now they must have more tools, bigger tools, finer tools. they must have electrification, better signaling, newer and larger terminals. remember all the while that if they do not have them, and have them soon, it will not be the railroaders who will suffer primarily. it will be the communities that they aim to serve. bigger and more modern tools will serve, it is true, to bring vast economies, but they will also help bring the united states a better railroad service, which is a point never to be forgotten. to many of these suggestions your typical banker would reply that they were fine on paper but that in reality they cost money, a commodity in which the average american railroad is sadly deficient these days. yet what better way to obtain the money to pay for them than to announce the decision to adopt them with the sweeping economies that would follow in their wake? if a. is the village grocer and b. the local capitalist, and a. wishes to borrow money of b., does he go to him and talk this way? "i'm sorry, b. but i've been up against it a good deal lately; they've put a lot of new and unjust rules upon me that tell me just how i must run every detail of my business. and things are going to get worse. i don't see just how i am going to pull through with my worn-out equipment and all." a. never talks that way, not if he has any real hope of getting money out of the financier. he is more likely to argue after this fashion: "times have been pretty bad with me, to be sure, but i feel confident that i see daylight ahead. i've got to get some equipment, expand my business along lines that seem pretty sure to win, and turn some new tricks in my trade. here's one or two of them." that is the sort of talk that generally brings confidence, and with confidence, hard-cash loans. our railroads might try a hand at it. if they should come with some pretty definite plans for the extension of electrification upon their properties, the modernization of their terminals, a better correlation between their service and those of the carriers upon the highways, the real development of the container system, better signaling, and all the rest of it, they might command better credit. such things have happened. it is not unlikely that they would happen again. there is one economy, however, that requires little or no plant expenditure--only vision for its introduction. all this while and i have not even touched upon it, the supreme economy which our national transport system may yet hope to accomplish. for more than three quarters of a century we have had a great god in our american railroad policy--when we have had an american railroad policy. that god has been labeled "competition." that he is a false god i should not be rash enough to say, for he is a very popular one, whose dignity is not rashly to be trifled with. but like some other forms of monarch, no matter how popular they may seem to be, he is a very expensive piece of property. heresy? not a bit of it! listen to me. on the outskirts of vancouver, british columbia, two great railroad passenger-stations stand cheek by jowl. each would easily serve a european city of half a million population. stated in railroad terms it would not be difficult to operate from thirty to fifty passenger-trains each day in and out of either of them. yet neither of these is the main passenger-station of vancouver--that is the canadian pacific terminal down on the water-front, at which arrive and depart more than half of the trains that enter and leave vancouver each weekday. at one of these two outer stations, that of the great northern, three trains enter and three leave each day: at its neighbor, that of the canadian national, but two are operated in each direction. one can only guess at the overhead and operating coast for each passenger who uses these architectural extravagances. at the union station, in washington, where monumental construction is a bit more justified, this cost for each through passenger is now thirty-four cents. the railroads that run in and out of our federal capital must carry their passenger a considerable distance before they equalize and overcome this high terminal charge and begin to make a profit upon him. it would be a matter of but slight cost and great economy to place a connecting track between those two vancouver passenger-stations, consolidate the business in one, and abandon the other, as a passenger terminal anyway. it would have been a far greater economy never to have built either, but from the beginning to have operated the great northern and canadian national trains in and out of the commodious and centrally located canadian pacific station. a great capital outlay would have been saved. why was not this done, you ask? the answer is easy. competition. but vancouver is in canada, you insist. very well; we shall hark to the vagaries of the canadian railway situation at another time. for this come back across the international boundary. spokane is not in canada. it is a handsome, well-built city across whose civic heart there lies the disagreeable barrier of three trunk-line railroads; parallel and from one to two blocks apart. the right-of-way and station of any one of them could easily have handled the business of the other two. and not only would a large capital outlay have been saved, but spokane would have been spared the existence of two chinese-wall embankments through her business center. competition--a great god, indeed! it is competition that keeps alive the farce of separate passenger terminals upon the harbor "moles" of oakland, despite the fact that the trans-harbor ferry-boats that serve them use the same common terminal at the foot of market street, san francisco. competition makes two elaborate passenger terminals in seattle do the work of one; keeps three stations alive and eating up overhead and operation in los angeles; runs to its nth degree of extravagance in the small city of tucson, arizona, where a magnificent edifice in a park--at first glance you would be sure to call it the town's carnegie library--serves as a competing passenger terminal for a railroad which runs but two passenger-trains a day in and out of it. west, you say? all right, come east. within the last two years there has been opened in the outskirts of the city of richmond, virginia, a very expensive and elaborate passenger-station development for which there was no call whatsoever. it is the so-called union station of the atlantic coast line and the richmond, fredericksburg, and potomac railroads and replaces the badly located and inadequate byrd street station which they had used almost since the days of the civil war. that byrd street station deserved to be abandoned does not come into the question. the point is that there was no need whatsoever to build the elaborate new station away out in the outskirts of the virginia city. for richmond also had upon her main street a comparatively modern station already used by the chesapeake and ohio, the seaboard air line, and the southern railroads which, with a slight adaptation and enlargement, could easily have been brought to meet the needs of the two other roads entering the town. why was this simple step not taken? why not the large capital outlay saved? competition. the atlantic coast line felt that it could not have its trains entering and leaving the same station as its competitor in richmond, even though it is doing that selfsame thing in charleston, in savannah, and in jacksonville. competition; competition and a little foolish pride. "pride; but not foolish," says the big railroad executive, who stands at my elbow and whose eyes fall upon these paragraphs. "it is this sort of pride, the pride built up from competition, that long ago brought our american railroads to their high standards of service perfection." a pretty theory that, but will it last? what is the actual competition to-day between, let us say, new york and chicago? they are two first-grade railroads of the highest type connecting these two chief cities of the united states and four more, of a second grade, yet in themselves quite excellent railroads. on each of the two first-grade roads there are five or six fine express-trains in each direction each day. long ago we have seen in the pages of this book how each has one train making the journey in precisely twenty hours, to the exact minute, and how formerly these trains did the trip in eighteen hours, also to the precise minute. after the wise step of the lengthening of the schedules, these two american "super-trains"--i think that i may safely call them such--remained exactly the same on the two supposedly competing roads, despite the fact that the distance between new york and chicago on the one is miles and on the other . why does not the pennsylvania with its shorter route beat the new york central on its schedules all the while? is it because its mountain ranges take so much longer to traverse than the much advertised "water-level route" of the vanderbilt system? possibly, but i doubt it. the real reason is that the schedules of all these so-called competing trains are regulated by agreement between the so-called competing roads. there is a multiplicity of these agreements. the pennsylvania has its own rails between new york and buffalo, the two chief terminals of the original new york central road, but it may not advertise to carry through passengers between these two cities, in exchange for which the new york central will not advertise to carry through passengers on its own rails between new york and pittsburg, the two chief terminals of the original pennsylvania. competition? it is a neat phrase. similar minimum passenger-schedule agreements rule the service between chicago and the twin cities (st. paul minneapolis), chicago and st. louis, chicago and kansas city, st. louis and kansas city, chicago and the pacific coast points--elsewhere across the land. when a few years ago the post-office department sought to establish a really fast mail-train service between chicago and st. louis--a train that would make the miles in six hours--it found no enthusiasm whatsoever for the project in the four so-called competing railroads that connect those cities and who long before had fixed their minimum running time between them at a rather leisurely eight hours in order to suit the necessities of the slowest and the most roundabout of the four. eventually the post-office department carried its point and the chicago and alton to-day carries a through mail train from chicago to st. louis in six hours and ten minutes. but the regular passenger-trains still remain at the old slow running-time. these instances might be multiplied. have i shown enough now to make my point? when you go between new york and chicago on either of the two highest-grade roads that connect those cities you ride on virtually the same trains--the pullman equipment that each carries is standardized down to the finest details--at the same rates of fare, in the same running time, and in and out of passenger terminals equally advantageously located. the only deciding points between the two roads are such minor ones as whether you prefer the excellent griddle-cakes of the pennsylvania's diners or the excellent ham and eggs of the new york central's; the scenery of the alleghanies or that in the valley of the mohawk. are these not rather fine distinctions to hold up as a real competition? competition did not bring the excellence of these trains, any more than it prevented the removal of their comfortable observation-cars a short time since, through agreement. competition did not force the santa fé into its wonderful equipment of overland _de luxe_ expresses with their whole fleets of solid compartment-cars. competition has never given the united states a through train from the atlantic to the pacific. we have to go up north into our rather thinly populated neighbor's country, canada, to find such travel boons. competition has never given a really creditable service between new york and montreal, the two metropolitan centers of the great sister nations of north america. the idea that competition is an essential to real railroad service is gradually dissipating. people are coming slowly but very surely to realize that no public utility is in its essentials competitive. and this despite the fact that congress through the expression of its transportation act has given a formal approval to the idea that the only thing that can save our sick man of america business is a retention if not an extension of our competitive system of railroading, through the adoption of a "competitive consolidation" plan. this is the scheme upon which the experts of the interstate commerce commission have been engaged these many months past and of which the first outlines have recently been issued. the very expression of this principle within the transportation statute shows that a huge extension of the size of our individual railroad units is now contemplated despite the fact, long since recognized, that many of them have already gone beyond the limits of efficient operating supervision and management. upon this point alone a whole book might be written. it is sufficient here and now to say that, with a few exceptions that prove nothing whatsoever, the only railroads that are to-day being successfully operated in the united states are the small railroads (small in comparative sense at least), properties like the boston and albany, the lackawanna, the bessemer and lake erie, the buffalo, rochester and pittsburg, the el paso and southwestern, to single out but a few--railroads operated as individual units and by men who are not only on their ground but in close and constant personal touch with every inch of it. that genius of american railroading, harriman, more than a decade ago recognized this point when he began the decentralization of his railroad properties, placing five presidents upon them west of the mississippi river, each with all but autonomous powers. the pennsylvania has more recently recognized it in the construction of four regional systems within its giant property, each in many essentials a separate railroad and to a large extent separately operated. it has made good beginning but has not yet gone nearly far enough. the principle stands recognized, however, that you can reach a point and pass it where your obvious economies and strengths of centralization are offset by the disadvantages of having created a top-heavy and almost unworkable machine. there comes a point in the growth of any railroad system toward mere bigness where, like the locomotive and the box-car, efficiency is passed and inefficiency comes in again. * * * * * in the middle west there is a manufacturing city which in recent years has grown remarkably, both in population and in industry. in ten years the first increased from , to , people. it is served by two railroads, one a main line of an important canadian property and the other the main line of a small and fairly local railroad. the lines of a very large american system are but fourteen miles away, cross level country. the first of the two railroads that actually enter x. is operated from montreal, when it is not actually operated from london, england. apparently it has not yet heard of the rapid growth of x., for it has done nothing whatever to increase its facilities to keep pace with that growth; even its officers rarely pay x. the honor of a passing visit. the second of these two roads gets the business. its headquarters are but sixty miles away. its president, its general manager, its superintendent, and its traffic manager are vigorous young men who are forever running up to x, and dining or lunching with its chamber of commerce and its manufacturers--they call half of them by their first names. they are alert to the necessities of the town and of its people. but they operate a small railroad. they are not burdened with the detail or the worry of five thousand miles of line, or ten thousand or even twelve. it takes super-men to run systems such as these last. and (unfortunately, perhaps) we have not as yet bred super-men in the united states. the road that is but fourteen miles away should have come into x. with its rails a full dozen years ago; it should, that is, if the competitive system is all that its friends proclaim it to be. but it, too, is managed from a city nine hundred miles distant. its president is as near a super-man as i shall ever hope to know, but nine hundred miles is nine hundred miles, and the line that runs so near to x. is but a minor branch of a vast system that seemingly at least has hundreds that are more important. and so it loses the freight. the mere statement that the large railroad cannot be operated intensively or otherwise successfully without personal contacts will be disputed bitterly. i shall be asked: how about napoleon? did he not succeed in inspiring a vast army with a morale that no other army before or since has ever had? personal contacts were almost out of the question for him. yet were there not men by the tens of thousands who had not even touched the hem of his garments or laid sight upon his countenance who gladly would have laid down their lives to save his? to these questions the answer is that we have not as yet succeeded in breeding napoleons very generally. we work with the clay that is within our hands. and our human clay works best at short range, and almost always the shorter the better. the president of a little railroad does not have to be a napoleon to inspire confidence and affection and enthusiasm among his workers. almost any real man will do, if the road is not too big. and he will merely need to know his men, to understand them, and to let them understand him. if this is true in the technical operation of a railroad it is even more true in another great phase of its management--its salesmanship. long-range transportation salesmanship is to-day a real fundamental weakness of our american railroad. let me illustrate. here is its competitor in the form of a local truckman coming along and, if you please, not keeping within his proper economic bounds, but soliciting business up to a hundred-mile or a -mile haul. he probably is "tom" to his fellow townsman, a personality, a real human being, and not a mere machine. a corporation is always at a handicap. and other things being equal, or even a little against him, he gets the business. in earlier chapters of this book i have set down what has seemed to be the real opportunity for the redemption of the branch-line and local services of our railroads, by the use either of small electric or of gasolene-motor units, but in all cases with such a frequency of headway as to render theirs a genuine service. yet i would not give a fig for such a step if it could not be handled for the railroad by a competent executive right on the spot--no matter now how small his rank or title as long as he has real authority to go ahead or act. a canny minor executive of my acquaintance suggests that the average division superintendent should be given large traffic salesmanship authority. there are some things against such a plan, and many things in its favor. but it seems to me that the installation of a motor-bus service on a branch or group of branches of any railroad is a local salesmanship and an advertising problem, as well as a merely operating one. the schedules should be carefully thought out in advance, and with some regard to the convenience of the people who are expected to make use of them. they cannot be properly made from a hundred miles away. in fact it would be a good idea to have a neighborhood referendum in regard to these schedules. as an advertising device alone it would be well worth while, while the trained soul of any good advertising man would suggest local "copy" for the newspapers of the vicinage calling attention to the safety features of the motor-bus upon the railroad as compared with that lack when the selfsame vehicle travels upon the highroad. without such intensified study and promotion methods i cannot believe that the mere introduction of the small passenger unit upon our standard railroads is going to meet with any pronounced success, either for the roads or for their patrons. * * * * * now we are dipping into the edges of a fascinating topic indeed and one that recently has sunk into a rut in the united states--transportation salesmanship. in these late years the traffic managers of our railroads have either become glorified rate-clerks or else trained special pleaders before the interstate commerce commission or the state regulatory bodies. there is no department of railroading in which initiative seemingly has died so dire a death as in the traffic department. there, too, precedent rules, and seemingly with an iron hand. no man dares defy it. the other day the british railways went back to their ingenious before-the-war plan of making very low rates for week-ends, but always upon trains that were not ordinarily crowded. if a man wanted to start out on a saturday and return say on a sunday evening or even early monday morning, a most attractive rate lured him into the adventure. it was obvious that the rate would not be taken advantage of by business men--to the real disadvantage of the regular commercial rates--as little or no regular business can be transacted over the week-end; while a certain disinclination to ride at the high regular rates--high to-day in britain, as everywhere else in the world--is overcome by the bargain-counter quality of the rate itself. and new riders are gained. this is good business. it is real business. it is more; it is traffic science upon a railroad. for it is the genuine creation of business. * * * * * a few weeks ago (january, ) the new haven announced another extensive slash in its passenger-train service. its service was already but a mere shell of what it was twenty, or even a dozen years ago. it gave decreased travel as a reason for the slash. but what was the new haven doing to gain new business? was it advertising? was it improving the intensive details of its service? was it trying to induce people to go in odd hours upon its trains? not a bit of any of these. it was reducing trains. it controls the night boats upon the sound--and operates these upon the same schedules upon which they were operated more than fifty years ago, save as they gradually are being permitted to die of dry-rot and so are eliminated. for at least a quarter of a century not one improvement has been made in the operation of the fall river line. and even when the press of midsummer traffic forces a double service in each direction each night no one in the management has the initiative to suggest "staggering" the schedules so as to give any diversity of service whatsoever. i should be the last to suggest that the new haven make a low rate from new york or boston for the yale-harvard or the yale-princeton games. it would be the height of absurdity to lower the rates when the traffic at full standard rates rises to a tidal wave which demands the full operating resources of the property for its handling; and that it always is well handled does credit to the new haven's potential powers of operation. yet there are times when it might well afford to make an attractive excursion-rate between new york and boston. some of its existing trains between these two cities move at awkward hours and with an incredible slowness. they naturally are not crowded trains. an occasional attractive rate upon these trains alone might, and probably would, result in filling them to their capacity, while the people that traveled upon them would not in any large measure be those that ordinarily travel at the regular rates. the success for many years past of the pennsylvania and the baltimore and ohio in operating week-end excursions between new york, philadelphia, baltimore, and washington ought to have been of some educational value to the new haven, but apparently it was not. i have no grudge against the new haven. on the contrary, i have naught but sympathy for a railroad which earns upwards of $ , , a year from its passenger traffic alone and yet shows so little knowledge of fundamental merchandising principles. yet it is all too typical of many of its fellows. in my boyhood days in northern new york the annual event of the autumn was the big excursion to new york city. it ran at half-price and in crowded passenger-cars--parlor-cars, sleeping-cars, and coaches by the dozens. it attracted people who never went to the big city on the regular trains and at regular prices. it has been a number of years now since the last of these excursions was operated. the people who used to ride on them do not go to new york any more, unless perhaps by automobile once in four or five years. their traffic is lost to the railroad to-day. when they contemplate the regular rates--twelve to fifteen dollars in each direction, in addition to $ . for a lower berth each way--and put them alongside of that famous old round-rate trip of but $ , they decide that it is easier to stay at home or wait until uncle john buys his new flivver and then run down with him. when the interstate commerce commission, yielding to certain influences both within and without it, put up the passenger-rates, it felt gleefully that it had done a very clever thing. never before had it shown so pathetically its lack of real vision in the railroad question. freight traffic--not always, but to a large extent--must move, no matter what the rate. but passenger traffic is a temperamental and a whimsical thing--never more so than in this golden age of the automobile. you may lead it to water but you cannot make it drink. you may put up the rates but you cannot make people ride. for a correct answer ask the executives of the new england roads who have been so steadily clamoring for passenger-rate advances. already i have referred to a per cent. loss in passenger traffic in , as compared with . it is impossible to debit this entirely to prevailing hard times. it comes in large measure from hard feelings. the national feeling of resentment against the present passenger advances recently has found expression in the measure introduced in the united states senate for the restoration of the mileage-book (also touched upon in an earlier chapter) as a low-priced inducer of travel at wholesale--a measure which at this writing seems certain of passage--with its rate to be fixed at three cents a mile or a trifle less. for once the interstate commerce commission missed its usual astuteness in trying to gage the public demand. why not sell the mileage-book at a little lower cost than the railroad mile at retail? can i not buy two dozen pairs of shoes for less than twenty-four times the cost of a single pair? and is it not good business anyway for a railroad to try to get its existing patrons to ride more miles as well as to gain brand-new patrons, along lines which i have already suggested? in belgium and in switzerland one may buy the equivalent of a card-pass upon an american railroad, good for a week or a fortnight or a month, according to the price paid. during the extent of its life it is good for unlimited travel by the person whose photograph it bears. the french have an even better system. for a matter of five or six hundred francs one purchases a similar card which for the ensuing twelvemonth gives the right, not for unlimited travel, but for the purchase of an unlimited number of tickets at one-half the regular prices; after which, for the holder of the card, the game inevitably becomes one of buying enough separate tickets to beat the first prices put down for the card. transportation salesmanship? properly played it is one of the most subtle games in the world, and one of the most fascinating--and for the railroad, one of the most profitable. * * * * * we have seen a good deal in the public prints in the last few years about the prime necessity of nationalizing the railroad in the united states in a far more thorough fashion than has ever before been even attempted. one of the potential dangers which forever faces a land as physically great as ours is the inherent possibility of its falling apart through its sheer size and weight. under certain circumstances it might not be particularly difficult for us to disintegrate as a nation into groups of separate states, in fact if not in name--groups of states not particularly sympathetic or coöperative. we have had in our history already one very tragic instance of this very sort. in order that this ever-present potential tendency may be overcome it is highly important that every possible measure be utilized toward binding the country more and more closely together. transportation--railroad transportation in particular--forms an ideal binder. utilized to its fullest degree it means that new england will know california better, and california new england. and each, knowing the other better, will understand better, sympathize better, coöperate better. if minnesota goes to louisiana and georgia to montana, each becomes more understanding, more tolerant, more closely bound, in almost every conceivable fashion. passenger traffic, brought to a high degree of development, will make such understanding possible. little else can do it even half so well. freight traffic will not do it--not at least to any particularly large degree. a better circulation of national periodicals will help; this ever-present problem of encompassing our perplexing problem of nationalization, of making a group of forty-eight separate states, separate in climate, in soil, and even to a perceptible degree in racial and language characteristics, into a more coherent and closely-knit state, was one of the most potent arguments advanced against the introduction of the postal zone system in this country. but even the national circulation of publications will not accomplish quite as much as travel. the easterners who journey to the west coast each winter are to-day full of understanding of the problems out there--what the japanese question really means to the californians and the whys and the wherefores of most of the lesser questions that perplex them. if there were as attractive rates from los angeles to boston and new york as there used to be from boston and new york to los angeles, the californians might in turn be a little more tolerant at times of the political situation in massachusetts or in new york. it is intimate knowledge that makes for real understanding. to make my point even clearer let me take you far overseas with me--to italy in the days before the coming of the world war. the italian government even then saw a most imminent necessity for far better national thought and understanding. how by practical planning could it best accomplish such a thing? a little study quickly enough showed how: by not only letting italians see every corner of their land but by urging them to do so. so a most attractive ticket plan was developed. in practice it worked somewhat after this fashion. a resident, let us say, of milan, in the great high plains of the north of italy, might have business which called him to florence. when he went to milan union station--or whatever it is that passes for a union station in milan--the ticket-agent, who was well schooled in the active art of selling transportation, attempted to beguile him into buying a little longer ticket--to rome, perhaps. his bait, his selling ammunition, if you will, was a rate per-mile from florence to rome much lower than that prevailing between milan and florence. very well, suppose that our resident of milan was prevailed upon to go down and spend that long-promised week-end in the city by the tiber. bargain-sales have always spelled attractiveness, to men as well as to women. "if only you would continue on to naples," suggested the ticket-seller, "you would find the supplemental fare so slight as to be a mere nothing to your purse." very well again. date the pasteboard up to naples. perhaps it would be a little warmer, a bit more balmy down there anyway than in old rome. "from naples to messina, it is a mere nothing, and the climate is still lovelier, and the supplemental fare much less per mile than even that from rome to naples." with the final result that the prospective traveler at milan would probably find the italian state railways about ready to make him a present of the island of sicily if only he would have the graciousness, and the very good sense, to extend his voyage to and around that fascinating place. now turn that rule back. henry blank finds his way into the grand central or the pennsylvania station in the city of new york. he has a business errand which will carry him six hundred miles west of the hudson river--for the first time in his life. he plans to go to cleveland, stay two days there in which he will do the work of six, and then come right back to broadway once more. but the ticket-seller--the expert seller of transportation--has studied the italian school of railroading. "make it toledo or detroit," he hints, "and we will make the mileage rate from cleveland to either one of those towns a flat three cents a mile, instead of the . cents which the interstate commerce commission made the law of the land in august of ." blank hesitates. the ticket-seller does not. "while if you can be tempted to go on from toledo or detroit to that smart young town, chicago," he urges, "we will bill you at the intervening distance between them at a mere . cents--a historic percentage, you will remember. from chicago to the missouri river, two and one half cents a mile. two cents a mile flat on the next big lap, down to el paso or albuquerque or over to cheyenne or denver; lower all the time you go further west--until that new york-cleveland ticket that you are buying of me now, mr. blank, will carry you all through california at a cent and a quarter a mile. you cannot afford to stay out of california at such a rate." and there is a strong probability that he will not. my friend, the old railroader, snorts at this suggestion: "what do you think that the california railroad commission is going to say about some fellow from boston riding all over their state at a cent and a quarter a mile, simply because he bought a ticket from south station down to providence, and had it extended once or twice?" he asks. then adds: "i don't _think_; i _know_. they will say, 'very good, mr. southern pacific, if you can afford to carry him at a cent and a quarter a mile, you carry the man in stockton, who wants to go up to sacramento or to marysville, at the same identical rate per mile. that's fair, and it's our business to make you be fair!'" at first glance it would seem as if the venerable traffic man is right; a second and third one however will show the possibilities of his being quite considerably wrong. if the railroad commission at sacramento has one half the advertising sense that the rest of the californians possess it is going to recognize that here is the way to popularize its states--in the best and broadest sense of the word, to nationalize it. moreover, it will know that the man who buys a ticket from san francisco or stockton to sacramento or marysville will have his own opportunity to extend it, in just the same way and upon exactly the same basis. he can go riding all over cape cod at a cent and a quarter a mile, while the people around about him will be paying their . cents. _quid pro quo_; turn about is fair play, and all the rest of the fine copy-book maxims of our boyhood days. in front of me lies the hand-book of the italian state railways in those blessed days of before-the-war. from it i find that i could have started from the milan union station and made a circular trip through bologna, florence, rome, pisa, genoa, and turin back to milan again for . lire, first-class or, at the then rate of exchange, a little more than thirty-two dollars. as a matter of fact the ticket sold at exactly the same rate from any other point upon this designated belt and from it was good in exactly the same way. we are using milan here merely as a convenient point from which to study the system. but suppose the ticket-agent in that brisk manufacturing city of the north sold us venice--a little side-trip off the main circular route, up the line from padua and back again to padua before we were ready to go on to florence and to rome. the inclusion of the side-trip added but . lire to our original pasteboard, or less than two dollars. suppose that we wanted not only venice but naples--this last, considerably more of a side-trip. we could retain venice and do naples as a side-trip from rome, and still have our first-class round-trip ticket, going one route to rome and returning by another and entirely different one, at . lire, or about $ . , as we were then wont to figure it; while the period of availability of the ticket was lengthened from thirty to forty-five days. here is another point, seemingly unimportant, but really filled with a good deal of importance, particularly when one comes to view it from the standard of transportation salesmanship. in the days before the war the various parlor-car services of our railroads, whether owned and operated by the pullman co. or by the railroads themselves, had a minimum seat-rate of twenty-five cents. war-time administration ended this and fixed the minimum at fifty cents, to which presently was added a per cent. surcharge for the benefit of the railroads, with the result that if a passenger is to ride but a mere fifteen or twenty miles in a parlor-car he is charged the outrageous figure of seventy-five cents for the privilege. these short-haul riders of other days came to a considerable total. they helped fill the parlor-cars and so not only to add an attractive revenue but to maintain a service which, in many portions of the country at least, is a necessity. yet apparently no one either in the railroad field or in the interstate commerce commission has enough vision or salesmanship to order the minimum rate reduced. it goes, like a good many other things in the railroad situation to-day, by default, and just so far lowers the service standard. * * * * * our railroads in recent years have faced a new and formidable competitor in the rapid development in the united states of the automobile and, in consequence, of the improved highroad upon which it is wont to travel. i have called attention to this point before and wish again to emphasize it. whether the privately owned and operated motor-car or the motor-bus operated for public patronage, it is a serious competitor to them. yet how have they faced its competition, its steadily increased lowering of their passenger business? have they met it with return competition? alas, no. the railroads either have railed against the new-comer in their pastures or else have merely reduced their service, with the immediate result that still more traffic is diverted from their trains. in some parts of the country this loss of traffic has come to a serious pass. in certain portions of the state of new york the local service of the railroads is now reduced to a point lower than it has been for the last sixty years. the british railways have also had to face the same sort of competition. it grew particularly acute in the three months of the great coal strike of , when they were compelled to reduce their services of every sort to an absolute minimum, and the motor-bus or char-à-bancs burning an entirely different sort of fuel jumped into the breach in every corner of the united kingdom and rapidly increased its services. but as soon as the strike was broken and the railways were enabled to return to their normal services they began to meet competition with competition. they underbid the char-à-bancs for traffic, in both rates offered and service rendered, and they have quite regained their own again. yet they did not wait for this crisis to calculate the passenger possibilities of the motor-car, particularly in regard to their own traffic. when the gasolene-propelled unit was still a strange new-comer upon the highways the english railways were beginning to adapt it to their uses and to correlate it with their services upon the steel highways, with the result that to-day in almost every corner of the british isles gasolene motor-cars and char-à-bancs are being operated in connection with and as feeders to steam lines. in a similar way two great french railroads, the paris-orleans and the paris, lyons, and mediterranean, have long since correlated the motor omnibus with their steam lines--in the one case in the district of the touraine and in the other in the fontainbleau, the alps, and the riviera territories. the opportunities for such correlated services are just as great to-day in the united states as in europe, if not greater. the railroads that serve the catskills, the adirondacks, the white and the green mountains, the rockies, and the sierras could well afford to develop motor-bus routes as auxiliaries to their routes that already reach into these charming fastnesses. the santa fé and the southern pacific complain of the competition of the motor-bus along their lines that parallel the pacific coast, yet have done nothing to meet such competition or to correlate with it. to-day the northwestern pacific terminates in the small city of eureka, in the beautiful humboldt county section of california, two hundred miles north of san francisco. by the creation of a motor-bus route almost due east to the line of the southern pacific near dunsmuir, a circular trip of unusual variety and beauty could readily be established. the southern pacific has already made beginnings along this line by the establishment of a highly successful rail and automobile route through the apache cañon. the success of this route, even though its beginnings are none too conveniently located, ought to encourage the establishment of others. the opportunities are real--there and all the way east of there, right to the atlantic ocean. * * * * * one of the most pathetic features about our american railroad situation is the almost entire submersion of the traffic manager and the things for which he is supposed to stand. upon most of our roads the selling of transportation rapidly is becoming a lost art. there are a few exceptions of course, roads which, like the santa fé, still show a genuine belief in passenger traffic and its possibilities by not only advanced advertising methods but by a careful attention to the infinite details of the service. but these roads are very greatly in the minority. the majority of the lines are seemingly quite content to sit supinely and indifferently take such traffic as may be forced upon them. in a recent issue of the "railway age" a railroad officer comments quite sharply upon this fact. he shows some of the difficulties that the average passenger meets when he is forced to ride upon trains that may be designated as "fairly second-class" in their accommodations, calls attention to the apparent indifference of the employees, and then proceeds to comment as follows: as a matter of choice, or because their work requires it, general officers, and even the more important division and subordinate officers on some roads, travel in business-cars isolated from contact with their roads' patrons, unable to learn, or indifferent to the opinion of the service their roads are rendering to the very people who furnish the revenue that makes the roads' operation possible. it should not be lost sight of that while the public judges the roads through its most intimate contact with them (as passengers), it is this same public that in the final analysis will determine whether the roads are to continue under the present form of management and control or whether some other method of operation shall be experimented with. it is also this same public which, as individuals, pays the country's freight bills as shippers, consignees, or consumers. assuming that it is a fact that almost all competitive tonnage is secured through "good-will," is there any better way in which to impress a prospective shipper with the road's efficiency than when he is a passenger? the things that were observed on this , -mile trip seem to indicate that at least some managers do not appreciate the value of comfortable, courteous passenger service as a feeder of freight tonnage, or that they are unfamiliar with the manner in which their passenger service is being handled. this extremely fair-minded critic of the railroads then goes on to call attention to the utter absurdity of the roads' attempting to operate on trains made up of perhaps but two pullman standard sleepers and the rest very largely tourist-cars, day-coaches, and dining-cars that are attempting in their service and prices to rival the best hotels across the land. there is indeed much meat in what he says. the dining-car service is in a great many cases absurd. it is apt in many cases to convey an impression of innate snobbishness, certainly not one of economy. it takes from ten to eleven men to operate an american dining-car of equal or less seating capacity than its fellow of continental europe, which rarely has more than four or five servants. the prices, to the average man traveling across the land and accustomed to stay in hotels of even a fair grade are not unreasonable. they merely are unflexible to the man or woman of limited means who is forced to ride long distances upon the cars and who is given little or no opportunity to alight at refreshment stations upon the way for the purchase of inexpensive foodstuffs. the _table d'hôte_, which is used so successfully and so economically (both from the point of view of the railroad as well as of its patrons) on the railways of france and other european countries, has been given few fair trials in the united states. the new haven once had a famous "fixed price" dinner; so did, and i think still has, the milwaukee. the baltimore and ohio to-day offers what it calls a "commercial traveler's club luncheon" for seventy-five cents, which i honestly think is the best meal in the country for that price. but these are the exceptions. the rule is a cumbersome dining-car arrangement, with the itinerant eating-place attempting to rival a city restaurant in the variety of its offerings, at a vast cost and annoyance to most of its patrons as well as to itself. i should be inclined to agree with the gentleman writing in the "railway age" as to the complete neglect of the executive officers of our railroads of a proper supervision of their train service had there not come to my eyes recently a confidential report made to the president of a large road from one of his secret agents. this secret agent was much different from the average one--hired usually to assist in the detection of some employee or employees suspected of pilfering or other malfeasance. she was a woman of good station in life, a fairly experienced traveler, and by temperament inclined to be both generous as well as honest. for weeks she rode up and down the lines of that railroad and its competitors--not upon a pass, oh, no--but with nothing whatsoever to distinguish her from other travelers. her comments upon the service, shrewdly feminine, went to her employer in the form of the confidential report which was brought to my attention. the mashed potatoes in dining-car were weak and watery. "... the chef should have known enough to have prepared them in milk or cream, not in water," her woman's judgment added. the head porter in the big new hyphenated hotel in p. advised her to go to a competing point by the x. line and not by the road that was employing her. there was a discourteous ticket-agent in the office at g. and so it went. here was a railroad taking a primary but a genuine step toward selling its transportation to its patrons. it is not enough that the railroads are making better "on time" records with their trains--their press-agents are putting out reams of propaganda these days to that effect: there is something more to real service than this. return once again to our friend of the "railway age." he says: do railroad managers expect their ticket-sellers to be salesmen in the generally accepted meaning of the term or do they reserve this function for passenger agents? a man who found that he must make a hurried trip to a destination several thousand miles distant called at a consolidated ticket-office to purchase his ticket. the purpose of his trip required that he visit certain cities en route but he found that the ticket seller was unable to tell him how to arrange his trip so as to include these cities. he consulted other ticket-sellers with no better success and then informed the writer of his predicament. the writer telephoned to the passenger agent of a road over which a portion of the trip must be made and a traveling agent was immediately despatched to the prospective passenger's office who furnished him with all the information he required. this prospective passenger was a man who had held important positions in the engineering department of railroads for years, but he did not know that railroads provided this service for prospective passengers. subsequent investigation disclosed the fact that travelers are entirely ignorant of the services that city, district, and traveling passenger agents are prepared to render them. the answer to most of these criticisms is again that some twenty years ago the traffic men ceased to be a really vital figure in the organization of most of our american railroads. for more than twenty years they have been forced willy-nilly into policies of the most stringent economy, with the very natural result that the operating man, the man who could be counted upon to make the largest economies in the operation of the railroad, came into his own. to-day there is hardly an important railroad in the united states which is not headed by an operating man. operating men do not as a rule have much traffic sense. it is a faculty that is born in some men, while others can never even understand it. it is a good railroad operating man indeed who can manage to acquire a real respect for transportation salesmanship and then give a real coöperation in attaining it. yet that is perhaps as vitally an important thing as our railroads need to-day. for despite large measures of criticism that may be leveled against it, the railroads of the united states are beginning more and more to tender a real degree of service once again to their patrons; not of course to be compared with that which they gave ten or twelve years ago. it may be many years before they attain that standard again, if indeed ever they do. but the service that they _are_ rendering they are failing utterly to sell to their public, all for a lack of real salesmanship. the average man in the street neither knows or believes that the roads have made large strides in the restoration of many of their services, both freight and passenger. in fact in his mind there has arisen a certain intangible but fairly fixed idea that our railroad structure, both in its plant and operation, has begun to become something dangerously near obsolete. the skillful propaganda of the advocates of the motor-bus and the motor-truck, the fanciful tales spread about the future commercial possibilities of the aëroplane, have begun to make him inwardly question whether the steam train is not about ready now to be classed with the stage-coach and the canal-barge. the railroads of the united states in a supreme--and possibly a final--opportunity for setting forth the many, many merits and strengths of their present position, with a few conspicuous exceptions, are failing to grasp that opportunity. they are neglecting transportation salesmanship. we have seen in this book, and we shall continue to see, how traffic has been created upon the railroads overseas. in the past we have built railroad traffic here in the united states. in our railroads of to-morrow it will be done again. something of the past can be repeated to-morrow. witness atlantic city; originally a lightly-built summer resort which did all of its business in about two months of the year and hibernated for the other ten. it was the railroad--railroad coöperation, if you please--with its advertising that made easter upon the boardwalk one of the great stated functions of the american social calendar. railroad advertising made glacier national park; to an appreciable extent the other great national parks across the land. railroad advertising made the northwest, the southwest, california, florida, the new orleans mardi gras. the most thoroughly advertised railroad upon the north american continent is probably the canadian pacific. the next is the santa fé. and it is estimated that of the round-trip tickets sold in an average year from chicago and points east to the pacific coast more than per cent. of them read santa fé one way and canadian pacific the other. the best advertised single train in the land is the twentieth century limited. and it is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the best patronized one. does transportation salesmanship pay? * * * * * let us return to our muttons. we were talking of competition. it has been said that it is competition--and competition alone--that has forced transport salesmanship. undoubtedly this is partly true. it is one of the best arguments that can be made for the retention of our extravagant competitive system of rail transport. but upon analysis it will be seen that the advertising examples that i have just shown have been directed almost exclusively to the promotion of through long-distance trains. i have not seen the santa fé or the new york central or the canadian pacific often stressing the advantages of travel in their short-haul, non-competitive territories. last spring, and again this, the hoardings of london town were setting forth the glories of the immediate vicinage in such color and beauty and appeal that one wished to close down one's desk and hie himself off into the open country--a ride on the train, and a ride on the train in again. the french railways are non-competitive, yet bow to no one in the thoroughness and the attractiveness of their advertising--the quality of their transportation salesmanship. it is a part of their intensive railway management. is it not about time that we heard a little more of intensive management of our railroads, both in their operation and in the solicitation of their traffic? here is a vital principle of transport in the united states--speaking generally now and not specifically of the railroads alone--that apparently has been considerably overlooked in recent years. in a large sense it is an economy as well. i think that i have shown by this time the economy and necessity of systematically developed transport applied evenly to the entire land, and not, through the efforts of that false god of competition, spread thick here and thin there. this vital principle was completely overlooked in the minds of the politicians who as a tentative american railroad policy gave us a "competitive consolidation" of our roads. seemingly competition was indeed their god. "how can such fine industrial cities as rochester or akron or dayton or grand rapids thrive and continue to thrive without railroad competition?" they asked, apparently forgetting that for many years such fine industrial cities as bridgeport, new haven, hartford, and providence have not alone lived but thriven and continued to grow greatly without railroad competition. in the old days before it had entered upon its financial skylarkings and was content to remain a well-ordered servant of its community, the new york, new haven, and hartford railroad showed that it could render in a non-competitive territory service quite as good as its fellows of the competitive territories. competition was not the thing that made or broke the new haven service; it was income, outgo, human morale, even regulation, if you please, but not competition. the vision of charles s. mellen that new england should one day become a great non-competitive railroad territory was a very real and a very far-sighted one. it is only with the method by which he sought to bring it into actual being that one may beg to differ. in no other land of the world is the competitive theory in transport being pushed forward to-day. in fact the tendency is decidedly in the other direction. it was to observe this tendency--the distinct effort to eliminate competition and bring coöperation and harmony between european railway properties--that i journeyed overseas not long since. and in the next of these chapters i shall set forth some of my observations on the regional railway situation in france (where it has long obtained) and in great britain (where it is just now being established), particularly as our future prospects here in the united states are affected. in the meantime, our competitive system continues to remain one of our pet railroad extravagances. remember that the mistakes that mr. mcadoo made in his direction of the federal railroad administration were quite overbalanced by the obvious economies that he was able to make the moment that he had eliminated the competitive factor in our national transportation machine. as he was able more and more to overcome the long established competitive feeling between the railroad executives--to no small extent, perfectly natural and human personal jealousies--the more he was able to effect and extend these economies. the railroad war board which the railways had appointed early in and which was in many ways an anticipation of the coming of federal control, despite its good intents and honest endeavors and real results, was constantly hampered by this competitive feeling even between its members. yet as we have seen it lacked the autocratic power of the government director-general, and so it failed and had to be replaced. and the obvious war-time economies--the direct routing of traffic, the pooling and interchange of equipment, the joint representations and the like--came into being. to accomplish these things nationally and permanently, to lessen competition rather than to increase it (no sane man imagines that we are ever to succeed entirely in removing the competitive element), may yet mean the complete reorganization of our national railroad system. yet even so radical a step need not be regarded as either fatal or impossible. it is entirely within the possibilities to-day that our privately owned and operated railroads, at least as they are at present constituted, may fall. there is but little in the present situation to make one optimistic as to their future success, along the present lines at least. the sole alternatives to private ownership and operation are government ownership and operation. to the majority of americans the very idea of a further governmental control is extremely distasteful, to put the matter mildly. to them railroad nationalization is a very real menace. yet the menace cannot be avoided by merely singing a song of hate about it. it can be overcome and finally prevented by some definite national plan or policy in regard to our roads--a simple thing in which for a number of years past we have been sadly lacking. if such a plan means their radical reorganization we must begin. and the sooner the better. chapter xiv the regional railroad overseas the beginnings of the railroad across the atlantic were so very slightly in advance of our own that they may be regarded as contemporaneous. in great britain, where the railroad as we know it to-day was born, the conditions of its infancy were much the same as in the united states. in continental europe they were considerably different. there military necessity quite overbalanced immediate commercial needs. there the first railroads were dictated by the international strategists. from that day to this their expansion has been directed by the same necessity. yet granting at the outset that the needs and opportunities of the european railways are in many ways different from those of ours, there remains the fact that to-day there is much over there that our railroaders of the united states might and should learn. there is also a good deal that the european railroad men might and should learn from some of our big operators and traffic experts--but that phase of the problem is not germane to this book. it was to study some of the features of european railway operation that might be applicable directly to our railroads of the united states that i journeyed not many months ago across the atlantic and down the westerly nations of europe. central and eastern europe still were in transport chaos and so could be expected to give little or nothing to one who wished to see their railways under anything even faintly approaching normal conditions. but in great britain, in france, in spain, and in italy, the railways were functioning well--extremely well, when one came to consider the very great burden so recently put upon them. the last two of these four nations may, however, be dismissed immediately from present consideration. neither the density of population nor the traffic conditions of either spain or italy makes their transport problems of great interest or value to the united states. but great britain or france may hold the key to a real solution of our most vexing transportation problem of the moment. in area these two closely built and industrial nations are not far apart. ireland is not included in the comparison; in this chapter, however, we are not going to give consideration to the irish railways. they too are not germane to the discussion, even if conditions in ireland were even approximately normal to-day, which decidedly they are not. the area of france is roughly speaking about equal to that of our five great industrial states reaching from new york to chicago--new york, pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, and illinois. this section of the united states contains but about thirty-five millions of people, as compared with forty millions of french, yet it has approximately twice the railway mileage. the french have buttered their area pretty evenly with their railway transport. we have not. in these five industrial states of ours there is not only in many cases gross duplication and excess of plant--in most cases due to the effects of overstimulated competition--but in other cases considerable territories even to-day inadequately provided with railroad facilities. our bread is by no means buttered evenly. neither is great britain's. like ourselves she built her transport plans to meet the exigencies of actual conditions from year to year. add to this her very irregularity of conformation; her chief city, and forever her traffic hub, situated nowhere near the center of the congested island, but almost in an extreme southeastern corner of it; her other great cities, seaport and inland industrial centers, scattered here and there and everywhere as the chance fortune of long centuries dictated and separated by high ridges of mountainous hills. take conditions such as these and you have the beginnings of a transport problem that even at the outset would bewilder the wisest of traffic experts, given the rare opportunity of devising an entire new railway system for the united kingdom. of course, no such wise or scientific scheme of planning her railways was ever possible. they grew, as i have just said, out of necessity. from the crude beginnings of the stockton and darlington and the liverpool and manchester, almost an even century ago, they advanced clumsily until nearly twenty years ago, when the last of the trunk-lines forced its way into london and the competitive development of the british railway system was virtually ended. the strategy of thrusting a new line here, of building a connection there, of piercing into this town or that so as to get the business away from the other road, then became history. thereafter the chief problem of the british railway manager, like that of his fellow executive in the united states, became that of supplying proper transport to a nation that refused to "stay put," but insisted upon growing, even to an unthinkable size. in the years of its railway development the population of great britain has increased from fifteen or sixteen millions to well over forty-two. in a single one of her cities more than seven million people are now resident. yet, as might have been expected the clumsy competitive system of building railroads has not given her a really adequate rail transport plant. her bread also is extremely badly buttered. great industrial sections as those around london or birmingham or liverpool or manchester or sheffield, her coal districts, are ofttimes much more than adequately provided with railways. and there still are sections of the small island--to traverse its extreme length one goes a distance roughly equal to that from new york to buffalo--which are not even to-day properly provided with rail transport. these are, it is true, rather thin pickings. the competitive system has wotted not of them. it never spreads the butter evenly. the butter goes where it is worth the most, and nowhere else. too much butter goes in certain localities. england has begun to learn that lesson. in france the development of the railroad proceeded far more slowly. such ever was the way of the french. from the beginning their government took a firm hand in the matter. it saw that french railways were planned, primarily from the military necessities of the country but also from its many peaceful ones. if all of this at first had the effect of retarding railroad construction it also has resulted in giving france the best national plan of rail transport in the entire world. in , sixteen years after the beginnings of railway development in great britain, it was still possible in france to determine in what definite direction her principal lines should be put down. in that year a statute was passed settling this vital question in so comprehensive and generally satisfactory a fashion that the uneconomical duplication of the rail systems of both the united states and great britain was almost entirely avoided; while within the next three or four years definite beginnings were made in the regional allotment of the land to the several railway systems, or _réseaux_, which have continued with but one or two important changes down to the present day. in contrast to england and scotland, france presents an almost ideal field to the primary planner of railroad lines. if paris, forever her chief commercial and social hub, is not in the precise center of the republic, it is at least near enough to permit the devising of a railway plan in which most of the chief lines form roughly the spokes of a great wheel radiating out from paris as a hub. five of the regional systems of france, her _réseaux_--the nord, the est, the paris, lyons, and mediterranean, the paris-orleans, and the etat--operate these great spokes. the nord takes the segment of the wheel which touches upon the english channel, from le tréport-mers all the way east to dunkirk and the belgian line. to the east of it lies the est, touching the nord at soissons and laon and after also touching the newly-acquired lines of alsace-lorraine reaching as far into the southeast as belfort. the paris, lyons, and mediterranean has but two spokes of the wheel into the paris hub but it is the largest of the privately owned french railways, reaching from belfort to cette upon the mediterranean shore and serving between the swiss and the italian gateways to say nothing of the rhone valley and the riviera. immediately next to it in turn is the paris-orleans, with toulouse and bordeaux as its chief southerly terminals. at these cities it joins the southerly midi system, which also meets the p.-l.-m. at cette. the etat or state railway with its lines from paris to the west and the southwest of france completes the great railway wheel. a little more than a decade ago it absorbed the fairly important but always unprofitable ouest system. up to that time the government railway had been the least important of all the french properties. its lines, reaching down chiefly into the rather poor districts of the vendée and the charente, were distinctly unprofitable. in a french gentleman by the name of georges clémenceau succeeded in extending the beneficent influence of the state to the almost equally unfortunate ouest system. since then the state railway of france has become distinctly important, geographically and politically, but not particularly so in any other way. its annual deficit has never been overcome. matters have now come to a point where it is proposed that system be leased to a private corporation for operation. the government can no longer carry on with it. its suburban service alone sustained a deficit of , , francs in . at the present moment, however, all the french railways are operating at a loss variously figured at from a million francs a day upward. since the beginning of the world war, a total deficit of something considerably more than a billion dollars has been achieved. yet the roads themselves are still paying their dividends--the privately owned and operated properties of course. these are guaranteed by the government under special legislation that goes as far back as . in the early days of the recent war, when even the formerly profitable nord, est, and p.-l.-m. began to run toward heavy deficits, special legislation was hurried through by the government to insure continued interest in the proper operation of the essential lines of rail transport by the simple and entirely human process of maintaining the dividends, even though the taxpayer paid the difference. the difference steadily grew greater. wages increased per cent. in six years, the staff--due chiefly to france's very literal interpretation of her new eight-hour law--from , to nearly , , about per cent. and despite an increase of per cent. in freight and passenger-rates--afterwards increased to a total of or per cent. for passenger and for freight--the operating ratio of her railways swung from per cent. in to the ridiculous and impossible figure of per cent. in . * * * * * important and vital as these things are, however, to the frenchman, they have no great concern with the phase of the international railroad situation that is under our immediate scrutiny--competition, and with it the inevitable and wasteful duplication of lines and other features of any national transport plant. if the french railway system had been burdened with these wastefulnesses, one shudders even to think of the consequences. the french railways would not then be close to bankruptcy, they would be entirely involved in it and so completely broken that all france would be prostrated--the bitter tragedy of russia repeated along the west coast of continental europe. in my opinion it is because of the simple and entirely economic placing of her railways that they have been enabled to withstand at all the terrible and multiplied burdens that have been placed upon them in the last seven years. the judgment of the men who first planned their general locations has been completely vindicated again and again in the really supurb way in which they bore their all but overwhelming war burdens, and more latterly in the way that they have handled the almost equally important and vexing problems of the after-the-war period. both speak volumes for the inherent morale of the french railways, to say nothing of the grit and the endurance of the frenchman himself. we started a moment ago to show how these regional and generally non-competitive railways of france were laid down upon her map. we likened the main lines of the nord, the est, the p.-l.-m., the paris-orleans, and the etat to the spokes of a great wheel with paris as their hub. outside of these five greatest regions there lie the two others--the midi and the recently acquired lines in alsace-lorraine. the first of these, as we have just seen, occupies important territory just north of the pyrenees; the second is indicated by its name. it has not yet been determined what shall be the ultimate operating plan of the lines in alsace and in lorraine. they may be parceled between the est and the p.-l.-m., but it is more than likely that they will continue to be operated as a separate system. france long ago saw the viciousness of bringing too large a railway property under a single operating direction. the plan is almost perfectly regional. the only important exceptions are where a long arm of the paris-orleans goes at right angles to the parent stem and up into the heart of the etat territory (to nantes and to brest), and where the etat in turn has a rather roundabout line from paris to bordeaux, the chief external point of the orleans system. (it is possible that in the contemplated return of the etat to private operation this line may be handed over to the paris-orleans. it would be a logical step in the french regional plan.) still one almost always goes to nantes upon the p.-o. and rarely ever to bordeaux upon the etat, while to marseilles or to lyons there is absolutely no alternative to the p.-l.-m. to go to rheims or to strasbourg one must use the est, to boulogne or to calais the nord. there is no choice other than the etat for reaching rouen or le havre from paris. here then is regional railway operation brought to almost perfect operation, with competition all but eliminated. for remember, if you please, that it never is completely eliminated. even if one were to go to the final degree of consolidation and centralization, competition would not be entirely gone. in france, even if the paris-orleans no longer reached nantes or the etat bordeaux, even if every mile of rail were brought under a single autocratic and absolute head, there would remain the competition of her unified railway with those outside the republic, and within it the natural competition, let us say, of towns north of paris with towns south for the traffic of that metropolis; east would forever be pitted against west. you can no more entirely remove competition in business than you can the risings and the settings of the great sun. but you can remove the absurd phases, the obvious extravagances of competition--particularly in transport. remember always, if you will--i purposely reiterate the point--that some fine day you can cease to regard the motor-truck, the inland waterway barge, the interurban trolley, and the steam railroad train as competitors, but rather in the proper sense, each as agents of that great function of life, transportation, and so in some time or place properly correlated. and you can begin by regarding the railroads together as at least a single efficient one of these agents, and not as a lot of quarreling small boys dissipating much of their energy through their trivial disputes. this is the lesson that the railways of france bring to the rest of the great world of transport. their division into seven great operating units--but always carefully correlated units--is only for the purposes of proper supervision. we have seen in a previous chapter how easily the efficiency of a single railroad may be thwarted by permitting it to grow to an untoward size. and before i am entirely done i shall hope to show you that even in a regional railway scheme, which applied to the united states might contemplate as many as forty different railroads--different in name and in operating organization--there must be a distinct effort toward a strong centralization of certain functions; notably financing, traffic solicitation and control, and the staff study of advanced operating methods of every sort. along the first two of these lines the _réseaux_ of france have as yet accomplished but little. there has been up to the present time but little centralization of their control, although steps now are being taken toward that end. in the opinion of some of the wisest of frenchmen to-day, such steps are not only the next in their railway development but certain to come to a successful head. only the confusing problem of a single state-owned and operated system has prevented their being accomplished this long while. but in the standardization of operating methods and practices much already has been done in france. four companies, the etat, the midi, the paris, lyons, and mediterranean, and the alsace-lorraine have formed an organization with the rather formidable title of _l'office central d'etudes du matériel de chemins de fer_ for this purpose. this extremely active organization is divided into four departments, one in charge of tests, one for locomotive design, a third for car design, and the fourth to handle railway electrification. progress already has been made too in drawing up plans for various types of standard locomotives. a study has also been made of standard designs for freight-cars of special types, such as tank-cars, steel-cars, and the like. some very interesting tests have been made of refrigerator-cars for the movement of fish and of fruits. incidentally it may be said that before the coming of the world war there was little or no refrigerator-car movement in france or anywhere else in europe, and this despite the remarkable advances made in the united states in this form of traffic for at least twelve or fifteen years before. to move safely certain low-test materials for the manufacturer of explosives across tropical seas it was necessary for two french manufacturers to produce ships equipped with elaborate refrigerating devices. the technical knowledge which these men so gained in the manufacture of ice-making machinery they are now prepared to turn to good account in the production of refrigerator-cars, while the rapid development of france's wonderful new territory south of the mediterranean promises a growing area sufficient to produce a plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables not only for her cities, but for those of a large part of the rest of western europe as well. perhaps the most interesting work, however, done up to the present time by the central study office of the french railways has been upon the development of electricity as a practical working power for their lines. (i made passing reference to this in an earlier chapter.) as yet they have lagged in this work. the etat operates a dozen miles of electric standard railway between paris and versailles. the comparatively new paris terminal of the p.-o. has electric operation for perhaps another dozen miles outside of the gare d'orsay. there are a very few isolated electric high-speed lines here and there across the face of the land. in these things the french do move slowly. but they generally move pretty thoroughly, and to-day they have developed a very marvelous plan for the electrification of at least one third of their entire railway mileage. as a beginning a bill was passed in may, , authorizing a company to develop the vast potentialities of the rhone water-power--so vast as to be estimated to save france six millions of tons of coal a year, which is quite a factor in a country that does not in the average year consume more than sixty million tons. this new scheme will mean the immediate construction of eighteen great power-houses along the upper reaches of the river, with a total development of , , horse-power. the chief users of this huge supply of clean and inexhaustible power will be the city of paris, and the paris, lyons, and mediterranean railway. it is proposed that all the rail-lines in the huge quadrilateral between bellegrade, lyons, marseilles, and vintimille shall be completely electrified. in the opinion of distinguished french engineers this single enterprise will be far the greatest, from an economic point of view, ever undertaken in france. yet this is but the beginning. the paris-orleans has also ambitious plans under which it expects to bring electric energy, water-generated, to more than one-half of its miles of line. the midi, running for miles along the base of the pyrenees, has abundant opportunities for this cheap motive-power. its management is unusually progressive and it may be expected to take advantage of these in the not distant future. the net result of this great national economy will be the annual saving of many millions of tons of coal in a land which has no fuel to spare, which is indeed dependent upon coal importations for her very existence, let alone the development of her industries. yet great as this huge economic step will yet prove itself for france, it still will remain secondary to her wisdom of the long-ago in the simplification of her entire operating system by means of the sensible and logical regional railway plan, with its consequent huge basic economies. france at the beginning started right. she is even to-day reaping the benefit of them. to-morrow when her other economic conditions shall have readjusted themselves she will reap a far greater benefit. the largest achievements of her regional plan are still in the future. * * * * * england has long since taken note of the situation in her neighbor just across the channel. she has seen her own salvation in the french solution of the extravagant luxury of railway duplication. and even a traditional british prejudice against borrowing an idea from another nation has finally been broken down--in this particular instance very much broken down. yet it is entirely probable that, had it not been for the coming of the world war, the briton still would be enjoying the wasteful luxury of the excess service which his extravagant competitive system--very much like our own--had given him for many years. for it was extravagance, nothing more, nothing less, that led each of the three railways binding the cities of liverpool and manchester, about thirty miles apart, to run an hourly service between those cities. the trains might run two thirds or three quarters empty, and frequently did, but the pride of the london and northwestern, the lancashire and yorkshire, and the cheshire lines was upheld. competition is a great upholder of pride. along came the world war, and england from the beginning very much in it. the burden placed upon her railways was huge. to meet it they were placed under governmental control at the very outset and their services, aside from the military ones, bared to the bone. such luxuries as three trains to the hour in each direction between liverpool and manchester were immediately abolished. under a coöperative plan the trains between those two great english cities were, to use the phrase of the engineer, "staggered"--placed in a triple alternation, which gave virtually the same headway between them but with an operation of a little less than one third the former number of trains. the passenger was merely asked to show enough ordinary intelligence to study the time-tables and find from which of three passenger terminals his train of a given hour would start. the astonishing feature of the entire thing was the lack of complaint from the traveling public which followed this wholesale reduction of train service. everywhere throughout great britain it was the same. competing trains between many of her busiest centers, arriving and departing at virtually the same hours but traversing separate routes, were consolidated, due regard being given to the necessities of intermediate towns which might happen to be served by but a single one of the road; and a war-time service was given for five years that was astonishingly good. not perfect, of course. the englishman traveling was forced to sit a little closer in his seat, sometimes compelled to wait in queues at the wickets to buy his ticket, occasionally, in the absence of porters, to handle at least some of his own luggage at the terminals. but there was very little hardship about all of this, and a tremendous resultant economy. great britain will never go back to her old extravagances of the days of unbridled transport competition. true it is that since the signing of the armistice her railway service, both passenger and freight, has been radically increased, but to nowhere near the point that it had reached in . fine frills, like the running of fast non-stop expresses between london and the ocean landing at fishguard, in south wales, to cite a single instance out of many, have been abandoned; never to be taken up again in your day or mine. the harsh necessities of vast economies born of a great war, the huge increases in labor and fuel and raw material costs that followed in its wake, do not encourage frills. out of them came the demand for permanent sweeping economies that resulted in the passage of the important railways bill by parliament in august, , after many hard weeks of exhaustive study. to bring fifty-four almost entirely competitive railways into four almost non-competitive ones and insure a governmental control of rates and other charges sufficient to bring the constituent roads a rate of return equal to that which they were receiving in --here in brief is the chief purpose of the extremely lengthy railways act, supplanting all transport legislation that had gone before. it is the most drastic business move that england has accomplished in many and many a day. upon it are pinned the hopes of a thinking people. and because, following in the steps of the long-established regional systems of france it has become a high hope for our extremely muddled rail transport situation in the united states, it is well worth at least a little detailed study. the south coast of england runs at a distance from london of from sixty miles upward, as it extends both east and west of brighton, the nearest point to that great city. three separate systems connect it with london: to the extreme east the affiliated southern and chatham railways, made familiar to thousands of americans who have used them as an essential link between victoria station and the beginning of the channel crossing at dover; the london, brighton, and south coast; and the london and southwestern, this last line reaching as far west as plymouth, down in cornwall. in a sense it may be said that these three railways are regional railways within a region. each has fairly definite and non-competitive territory. each serves its own principality, and serves it admirably. to make a region out of these three railways is no problem at all. it is solved, almost before it is begun. nor is the east coast of england to the north of london and right up to and beyond the old scottish border difficult to bring into a single region. three more or less parallel railways--the great central, the great northern, and the great eastern--occupy the eastern counties all the way up to york, miles north of london, where the northeastern has its real beginning and occupies the extreme northeastern corner of england as an absolute monopoly. this last line reaches within fifty-eight miles of edinburgh. as a matter of operating convenience, however, its locomotives run all the way through to that ancient scottish capital, traversing the final fifty-eight miles upon the rails of the north british company. perhaps no better instance may be shown of the absurdly small typical english railway of to-day than to realize that within the miles that lie between london and edinburgh--no distance at all upon our american railroad map--the through fast expresses run upon three separate railways. the only condition we have that parallels and exceeds this is the operation of the baltimore and ohio's through trains from new york to philadelphia, which traverse the rails of three roads--the pennsylvania, the lehigh valley, and the philadelphia and reading--in the short ninety miles that intervene between manhattan island and the entrance to the b. & o.'s own rails. the british railroaders have long recognized the absurdity of the railway that is too short just as they are able to point the finger of fine scorn at our many railroads that are entirely too long. more than a decade ago these four roads of the eastern counties of england sought to anticipate the present grouping principle of the railways act by an amalgamation of their properties into a single, succinct regional railway property. the proposal was bitterly fought in parliament and then defeated. great britain had not then become convinced of the extravagance of the competition principle in transportation. it was necessary to have a war to teach her that important economic lesson. * * * * * almost as the northeastern corner of england is the undisputed principality of a single system so does a single railway, the great western, stretch alone directly west from london and almost completely dominates its territory. to bring it into regional grouping with any of the other important british railway systems has been well-nigh impossible. after a number of futile attempts the professional and amateur railroaders who have been attempting the solution of the regional plan for great britain have given up the idea. they have found that they could only combine the great western with the cambrian and some other less important welsh roads, and now they have let it go at that--a single well-developed region of some miles, well contained and, with the exception of a single long arm thrust up into liverpool, fairly compact. * * * * * in the center of england rested the difficult part of the entire problem of working out a rational and economic regional plan. in the succeeding and final chapters of this book i shall show how in the two inner industrial centers of america, the one just east and the other just west of the mississippi river, we shall come to two territories where the working out of a pure regional plan is virtually impossible. so it is in central england. two great railways, possibly the two greatest in all britain, the london and northwestern and the midland--occupy that industrial area with a perfect interlacing of lines, and at every corner of it fight energetically for its traffic. other railways enter slightly upon it; as we have just seen, the great western with its line through birmingham up to liverpool, the great central and, in its northerly reaches, the cross-country lancashire and yorkshire. this last line has however recently been absorbed by the london and northwestern. it too anticipated the decisions of the railways act and comes into any grouping the largest single system in great britain, with considerably more than four thousand miles of line, a system roughly comparable in size and volume of traffic with our own baltimore and ohio, although in its history, as well as in the traditions of its personnel, more closely analogous to the pennsylvania railroad. to have attempted to separate the important london and northwestern and midland systems would have been to break down completely the whole spirit and plan of the british regional system. therefore they have been brought into a single grouping, and with them the lancashire and yorkshire of course, the north staffordshire, the furness, the caledonian, the glasgow and southwestern, and the highland companies--the last of these, as their names indicate, scottish lines. here then are four railways created out of fifty-four--some , miles of line as compared with the , miles of french railway. the groupings have followed the lines that i have just shown and take the names of the southern; the northeastern, the eastern, and the east scottish; the western; and the northwestern, midland, and west scottish groups respectively. the smaller and comparatively unimportant lines of the united kingdom fall easily into some one of these four great regions. for a time scotland itself represented a rather perplexing problem. the energetic young british minister of transport, sir eric geddes, stood stoutly for the retention of all the scottish railways in a separate, distinct, and strongly unified group. in this he was opposed. the old-time competitive idea that there should be at least two separate and rival routes from london up into scotland--the one on the east coast and the other on the west coast of britain--would not down. geddes gave up. then for a time he proposed a generous compromise in the form of two separate scotch groups, one upon each side of the island and connecting with the eastern (english) and the northwestern and midland groups at york and carlisle respectively. but even in this he was beaten. scotland lost her railway autonomy. her lines will be merged and as entities forever lost in the sweep of the two larger groups of the entire kingdom. geddes has stood in his position in regard to the scottish railways for the regional plan in its purest form. his theory was excellent. but it had to give way to hard-headed practice. it often so happens. remember always, if you will, that railroad competition has been a great god in britain as well as in the united states. yet competition is not to be too hardly judged, even by the loftiest of idealists. it has its good points, and they are many. most of the fine excellences of our railroad service in this country were built up in its hottest competitive period. that is irrefutable. it is entirely probable that if we had not had that competitive period we should not have had a service even comparable with the high standard of excellence that we reached a decade ago. the point is that within the last generation genuine competition has ceased to exist between our railroads; the sham of it that remains is a fearful drag upon any really economical operation of them to-day. only a few years ago lord monkswell, the distinguished british student of railway problems, said: "at sight it would appear that it [competition] has possessed certain advantages. it is found that in great britain, the only european country where different routes between the same important centers exist to any great extent under separate management, the train service is more complete than anywhere else _except france_ [the italics are my own] and the passenger-fares are by no means particularly high. but when we remember that great britain was the first country to develop railways and so got a long start of the rest of the world, and that the population of great britain for each unit of area is much greater than that of any other big country--more than twice as great as that of france, and half as great again as that of germany--we see that there are other causes to which these effects may be ascribed. "no conditions of this kind, however, tend in any way to show that competition, if attainable, is incapable of producing good results on railways at the present time. far from it; railways present so many possibilities of improvement that if any really effective means could be discovered of inducing their managers to make bold experiments, it is more than likely that the best results would ensue. as has just been remarked the facilities offered to passengers are certainly on the whole greater in great britain than elsewhere, and in conjunction with--probably in consequence of--this, it is found that the passenger receipts per head of the population are approximately twice as large as they are in france or germany. "on the face of it then there is a very good reason for supposing that the receipts increase with the facilities offered. now the two things above all others that passengers may be expected to care for are reduced third-class fares and increased speeds. if railway managers, animated by some real spirit of competition, were to offer these advantages, it is possible and even probable that travel would increase so much that the railways, besides conferring a great boon on their customers, would themselves secure large benefits. "as regards the goods traffic, the definite elimination of all competition would be likely to have the result of doing away with several unsatisfactory features of this traffic. even though there is ostensibly no competition in rates between the different companies serving the same points, there can be no doubt that the fear of losing traffic has frequently induced railways to make concessions of various kinds to traders, the results of which have been to give more or less secret rebates to the traders in whose favor the concessions were made." i have quoted lord monkswell in some detail because his remarks, made upon the british railway situation eight years ago, are so pertinent and applicable to our american railroad situation of this moment. he has seen the rise and the decline of competition upon his home island. and we too have seen its rise and its decline, upon the north american continent. * * * * * return for a final moment to the british regional grouping plan as it has finally been effected by parliament; some of the many details are vital to us because they are details that before long we shall be compelled to face in the remaking of our own national railroad structure. the railways act over there, after outlining rather precisely the geography of the regional grouping, sets up an amalgamation tribunal, consisting of three commissioners, who will approve and confirm the amalgamation schemes submitted to them. this tribunal is to be a court of record and is to have an official seal. its decisions are subject to a review by the court of appeal, whose decision is to be final, unless it gives leave to carry it up to the house of lords itself. it is expected that the work of this tribunal will be finished early in , so that the new groups may begin active operations upon july of that year. at one time it was suggested that the entire scheme be made operative upon july , ; the whole thing was suggested by the minister of transport as early as june, . but that was obviously far too short a time. the railway companies would have none of it. they wanted it to begin not before january , , and have nearly had their own way in the matter. for it need not be supposed that the bill was adopted without contentions. these were many and some of them were bitter. the scottish question was but one of several vexing sub-problems. a good many of the british railway men looked upon the rate return to come from the proper fixing of the tariff charges in each of the groupings as quite too low. the fact that it was the equal of has meant little or nothing to them. that year returned but . per cent. to the average british railway share, and some large holders of these securities felt that they should have a much bigger return upon their investments. yet to go further into this vexing point would involve an intricate study of british railway capitalization. it is enough for our point now to say that it is large, extremely large, per mile as compared with our american capitalization. those people who have made it their particular business to shout upon watered stock and bonds of our roads will have interesting food for thought if they will study the capitalization of railways overseas; particularly so if they will consider that the preliminary valuation reports of the interstate commerce commission show many of our carriers as possessing an actual property value well in excess of the combined securities issued against it. * * * * * the entire field of british railway operation offers many valuable and suggestive hints, even to a nation as supposedly expert in railroad operation as this. it is not possible in the limits of a single chapter to go into all of these. among them is the development of electrification upon the standard lines of great britain; despite a seemingly slow progress in this great work (but miles out of , being operated by electricity at the moment) it is known that a group of distinguished american electrical engineers has been engaged for some time past in devising a scheme for the operation of every mile of british railway by electric power. others are the exquisite simplification and economy of her terminal operation and the facility of her small goods-wagons for short-haul traffic. these are all interesting. yet, the single phase of her regional development so far outranks even these as to demand an almost exclusive attention. france has led the way, has proved almost beyond doubt the value of the regional system; great britain now falls in line. the united states will be next in turn. because the possibilities of the extension of this, the greatest of immediate railway economies, are so vast in this land of huge railroad development i shall leave their description until later. then i shall endeavor to show how as a nation we can all benefit--railroad patron, railroad shareholder, railroad employee alike--by the extension to our national transport machine of a plan which is so ingenious, so genuinely economic, and yet withal so simple as to make it a bewildering wonder that our biggest railroaders did not come to it long ago. that they did not is rather a sad commentary upon their vision--or lack of it. chapter xv the regional railroad at home nearly six years ago i began a careful study of the possibilities of a regional railroad development within the united states. at that time i had not visited europe. yet a fairly thorough knowledge of the general plan of her railway organization, acquired through a process of careful reading, had made me cognizant of the regional plan as it exists there; particularly of the french _réseaux_. it was then apparent--well before our entrance into the world war--that the scheme of organization upon which our roads had been upbuilt for eighty-five years was approaching the end of its usefulness. over-consolidation, the decline of real competition between the separate carriers, the increasing unintelligent interference of government with the minor details of railroad operation, the decline of morale--each of these things separately, all of them together, bespoke the slowly approaching end of our old order of railroad things. what was to replace it? government ownership? some of the people who in had a stray thought or two that the state ownership and operation of our railroads might not be such a bad thing after all, by the end of were pretty well disillusioned. at the beginning of this book i reviewed in some slight detail the achievements and the failures of the united states railroad administration. it proved that in the centralization of an entire railroad structure of this land certain great operating economies might be accomplished; it also proved quite as definitely the fact that our , miles of railroad consolidated into a single structure was far too clumsy and too unwieldy for any sort of efficient operation whatsoever. a paradoxical statement in sound, but one in fact quite accurate. three years ago i attempted the fabrication of alternative railroad centralization and decentralization schemes. in the one i bowed abjectly to our great american god of competition. to the limit of my ability and knowledge i recognized banking control, natural traffic routes and breaking points, and interlocking directorates and ownerships. on paper i laid down a number of "competitively consolidated" railroads--not more than twenty, or at the most twenty-five,--for the entire united states. i linked widely separated roads because they already had linked themselves by joint ownership; i split new england in twain, giving the new haven to the pennsylvania and the rest of her railroads to the already overburdened and somewhat unwieldy new york central. such moves followed the logic of wall street. the comfort and convenience of boston mattered not at all. did she not have competition? what mattered it that under such a plan the baltimore and ohio, the erie, the lackawanna, the lehigh valley, or the canadian roads would have no entrance either to her or to the fine industrial territory about her, save over the rails of competitors? that was a mere detail! and while boston might have the competition of two roads, little of the rest of new england would. as i have already said in this book, railroad competition may be the industrial necessity, nay even the very breath of commercial life, to such fine manufacturing towns as rochester or akron or dayton or grand rapids, but how about such fine manufacturing towns as bridgeport, new haven, hartford, and providence? are they not also entitled to the breath of commercial life? yet to give these four big typical new england towns railroad competition would mean the complete dismemberment of the compact new haven system--an almost utter impossibility. southern new england is already pretty tightly set as a simon-pure railroad region. it can be regarded as nothing else. so i tore up my "competitive consolidation" plan and began work trying to place the entire country on the simon-pure regional idea, beginning with new england, which can easily be considered as a single region even though boston shudders at the mere thought of such a thing. and in fact from the point of view of better operation new england would far better be divided into two regional railroads, each with its headquarters in boston. one of these roads would embrace the boston and albany and the roads south of it, the new york, new haven, and hartford and its controlled properties, the central new england, and the new york, ontario, and western. incidentally this last road is something of a teaser in any regional planning. from campbell hall, new york, where it connects with the central new england and the new haven (by way of the poughkeepsie bridge) down to scranton and the heart of the anthracite district, it is an essential part of new england's railroad system. from cadosia--where the scranton branch diverges from the present main line--north to oswego it decidedly is _not_ new england. there its value is very questionable, even for local traffic. from oxford to oswego, in any new order of things, it might either be given to a combination of the erie and lackawanna or else to the new york central--neither road probably would be bidding for the opportunity. return to new england. just as the present boston and albany would make a good east and west main-stem from boston through massachusetts to albany for our newly created southern new england lines so would the erstwhile fitchburg perform a similar office for the northern new england lines, which would include the boston and maine, maine central, rutland, central vermont--probably, as to-day, right through to new london--and the bangor and aroostook. there would be left when this was done but two separate or "foreign" roads in the new england territory. and these would be "foreign" in the fullest sense of the word--the grand trunk (just now being absorbed into the canadian national railroad system) and the canadian pacific, which reach across maine toward canada's winter ports upon the atlantic; portland, st. johns, and halifax. it is not conceivable that these lines would be disturbed, any more that we should wish canada to disturb the important links of the michigan central and the wabash across the southwest corner of the province of ontario. a good many people attempting this very difficult problem of regionalizing the railroads of new england have attempted to leave the boston and albany out of their calculations, which not only spoils the picture but makes the entire regional plan almost utterly senseless. others doing the same thing have attempted to balance matters by giving the new haven to the pennsylvania, which is perhaps a little worse. that distinguished student of american railroads, professor e. z. ripley of harvard, who undertook recently a regionalization scheme at the behest of the interstate commerce commission, fell into no such error. he gave new haven to the baltimore and ohio, and i suspect did it knowing full well that the pennsylvania, having been offered the new haven long ago and having refused it, would probably not have a change of heart in the near future. in its recent close new traffic alliance with the new haven--an alliance whose outward expression consists very largely of some new through trains and sleeping-car services from new england by way of the hell gate bridge and the pennsylvania station in new york city--the pennsylvania undoubtedly has all of the new haven that it can easily digest. broad street cannot be anxious to undertake the management of the litchfield branch in connecticut, or the chatham one down cape cod way. yet i hear you asking professor ripley, if the pennsylvania does not want to buy the new haven, how much more so would the baltimore and ohio, whose terminals in new york are weak and whose finances generally are in a far more precarious condition, want to attempt the thing? can the keen-minded mr. willard at baltimore be more anxious than the keen-minded mr. rea at philadelphia to undertake the management of jerk-water branches in connecticut or in rhode island or down on cape cod? in answer to all of which a harvard eye of deep wisdom would be winked. mr. ripley knows well that the new england railroad should be purely a regional railroad--or two regional railroads--and yet i think that he would be quite willing to embrace the suggestion of the boston banker that its ownership--not an enviable honor to-day or apparently for many days to come--should be divided between the three or four or five trunk-lines that it serves. this entire question of the probable ownership of the regional roads i have left until the succeeding and final chapter of this book. i do not agree in the opinion of many bankers that the regionalization of the roads should be attempted in a supine bowing to their financial results of recent years, and so should be based upon these showings. i believe that it should be based fundamentally upon the service needs of the communities that the regional roads of to-morrow will have to serve. the southern tier of the state of new york for too many years suffered set-backs from the fact that virtually its sole railroad servant was a historic line, which wholesale fraud had doomed to a lifetime of perpetual near-paralysis. * * * * * so much for new england. such planning is typical of that which might be expected of any non-competitive regional plan. along the entire outer or coastline rim of the united states the regional plan without compromise or variation works out pretty well indeed, all the way from the proposed northern new england lines that you have just seen out to the californian railroad, or the puget sound lines, which would immediately adjoin the californian upon the north. along the outer edges of the country it would be easy to devise. it is a pretty plan, and in its simplicity most beguiling. and yet when one comes to the center of the country this same simple non-competitive regional plan becomes almost utterly impossible. after all we are working with things as they are and not merely with things as we should like to have them. a careful study of the rival plans--non-competitive regional and highly competitive regional--has led me to a firm belief that the real solution of our problem of railroad organization in this country lies in a compromise between them. were we to start afresh to plan the railroads of the united states, supposing that not a mile of track had been laid down between the atlantic ocean and the pacific and that our vision was sufficiently aladdin-like to foresee the present growth of the land (really built up upon that very railroad development), we might well have adopted a purely regional plan, as did the french so long ago. but much as we may admire such a theory we cannot entirely ignore hard facts--the important properties already built and well developed, the recognized making and breaking points of traffic, the individual morale and tradition of the several roads--the sort of thing that we have shown, despite all of its recent labor troubles, still so existent upon the pennsylvania and some other roads. so in compromise we use the purely regional idea where the purely regional idea best serves high theory and the broad pathways of hard fact and established principle. we begin in new england and there we create an autonomous regional railroad--probably two, for reasons which we have already stated--each as we have seen with headquarters in new england's traditional capital, boston. next we cross the hudson river and tackle the great congested railroad district that lies between it and the thousand-distant cities of chicago and st. louis as a bloc. here begins our problem in dead earnest. shall we make two great regions of most if not all of it--the one to the north with the dark-green cars and the traditional name of new york central, and the one to the south occupying all the rest of the territory down to the potomac and the ohio river with the wine-red cars and the traditions of the pennsylvania? no, not unless we want to consider the operation of two great railroads of between twenty-five and thirty thousand miles of line each. if we are to have any sort of intensive or good operation this is out of the question. with twelve thousand miles to be operated, each of these roads at times already flounders. no, i think that we can do better than that. we can easily make four long narrow regions, stretching from new york about four and five hundred miles to the west, and to these give auxiliary regions, or rather regional railroads, further on, to detroit, chicago, st. louis, and cincinnati. the most northerly of these will be, of course, the new york central, the unit management of which will be terminated or broken at buffalo--as of other days--and to which will be handed the delaware and hudson, north of albany, possibly the northern portions of the ontario and western, and some lesser properties. it might be possible to go even further and give the generally efficient even though somewhat unwieldy new york central the lehigh valley, the lackawanna, the erie (east of jamestown), the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburg, and the rest of the delaware and hudson. but i hardly think that this would be practicable. we are trying, even in our theories, to keep our feet on the ground. it would be better by far to take this last group and make it the second of our long, narrow northeastern regions--call it, if you will, the erie-lackawanna and place its eastern terminals at albany, at new york, and, by means of the absorption of some sixty miles of the reading, at philadelphia too. this would make a well-balanced and compact group, fairly competitive and yet accomplishing great economies in the common use of trackage and terminals. the wastage in these things alone is hardly less than appalling, the opportunities for saving tremendous. the third of this particular grouping of regions would be quite naturally the pennsylvania. it too would be terminated as of other days, at pittsburg, although, as we shall presently see, with its own auxiliary regional railroad it would go into the chief cities east of mississippi. and finally the baltimore and ohio! in an earlier plan, and in an earnest seeking for the simon-pure regional grouping of our railroads, i sought to thrust this historic property--not only one of the very oldest of our american railroads but the only one which has existed eighty years without a change of name or important change in its organization--into the melting-pot with its traditional rival, the pennsylvania. but that would not go. tho two metals refuse to amalgamate. but suppose one takes the baltimore and ohio, chops it off at parkersburg, at wheeling, and at pittsburg--as one did with the pennsylvania--and adds to it the greater part of the reading, the central railroad of new jersey, the western maryland, and one or two much lesser properties. the result is a fairly compact property, sufficiently competitive in its reach to the larger terminal cities of its territory to appease those who must continue to bow the knee before that particular god of business, and yet enough unified to be easily handled from its traditional headquarters at baltimore. that would seem to be more generally satisfactory than the obliteration of the baltimore and ohio, with its fine traditions, its good morale, and its general record of excellent service. * * * * * so much then for our four regional railroads to lie north of the potomac, west of the hudson river and east of buffalo, pittsburg, and wheeling. how about the region that lies immediately west of these three last important gateway cities? shall we consider those great railroad states of ohio, indiana, michigan (the lower peninsula), and illinois as a great single non-competitive region, in full accord with the high theory of the regional plan? no, not if we have any real regard for the feelings of the residents of those four great states. a single railroad for those four states might be workable, but i doubt it. i even doubt if you could operate successfully either a single railroad for either ohio or indiana. illinois we shall leave out of consideration for the moment, while michigan would probably be pleased as punch to have her beloved michigan central returned to her as her own regional railroad, with its eastern terminals, as of yore, at buffalo and at suspension bridge and its chief western one at chicago--a single, independent, autonomous railroad property with a genuine presidential headquarters at the very important city of detroit. it is south of michigan that the problem complicates. and here it is that i can only see to-day, and for many many hundreds of days to come, the retention of a pretty generally competitive transport plan. regions, yes, if we still like the sound of the word. but regions which interlace so that in reality the word becomes a good deal of a misnomer. the new york central lines west (formerly the lake shore, the big four, and the pittsburg and lake erie and the lake erie and western), reaching from the terminal of the parent property at buffalo out to detroit, chicago, st. louis, cincinnati, and pittsburg, would have a president and real headquarters at cleveland; the erie-lackawanna west would consist of the wabash (east of the mississippi river), the nickel plate, the erie (west of jamestown), the wheeling and lake erie, the clover leaf and the bessemer and lake erie. the pennsylvania lines west would be virtually as they existed prior to the recent after-the-war reconsolidation, but with the addition of a needed feeder into detroit; and finally the baltimore and ohio west would consist of its present property plus the cincinnati, indianapolis, and western, the monon, and the hocking valley--all with headquarters at cincinnati. that interesting little cross-country road of the interesting henry ford, the detroit, toledo, and ironton, might easily fit into the westerly region of the pennsylvania, while the baltimore and ohio would be given at least a trackage entrance into detroit over the père marquette, so as to keep it on par with its three regional competitors. the rest of the père marquette would be merged into the embracing michigan central. just as this region, almost immediately east of the mississippi river, bids fair to remain competitive for an indefinite time, so is the territory immediately west of that great stream also bound to remain competitive. reserve the greater part of illinois central for future and separate consideration, and now come to that middle west territory. are we going to create simon-pure regions there and ignore the fine traditions of properties such as the burlington, the rock island, and the santa fé? no, not if we have any real sort of wisdom. north of them the problem is far easier of solution. the milwaukee will merge quite easily into the northwestern; although to operate the combined properties through to the pacific coast would require at least three separate regional organizations--the northwestern, between chicago and the missouri river, the montana lines from there to spokane, and the puget sound lines from there to the actual shore of the pacific. into these almost purely regional systems would also be merged the great northern and the northern pacific. the burlington's line into the twin cities (st. paul and minneapolis) would cease to be. and in fairness to that road the milwaukee's lines to omaha and kansas city would be withdrawn from the new northwestern combination and parceled out between santa fé, rock island, and burlington. into such parceling would also go the always perplexing chicago great western and the extraneous arm of the illinois central between chicago and omaha, running at right angles to the main-stem of that important system and to a larger extent disassociated from it. it might be found more practicable to bring union pacific directly into chicago over the rails of one or the other of these last two properties (union pacific's financial interest in illinois central already is a powerful one), although the union pacific's operating heads would probably prefer one of the routes between chicago and omaha discarded by the larger northwestern grouping; the present milwaukee between those two cities is better built and so more easily operated than illinois central or chicago great western. union pacific for a long time has felt that it has the same right as its chief transcontinental competitor, the santa fé, to a direct entrance into chicago. in a way such as this it would be brought to a parity with the direct, although longer, southern route. "but," you interrupt, "how about southern pacific in such a case? it is also a pretty warm competitor of the santa fé." to bring both santa fé and union pacific into the chicago gateway as transcontinental competitors and bar out southern pacific would be indeed grossly unfair. i have no intention of doing anything of the sort. cross quickly with me from the middle west territory to the lovely pacific coast. here again we think clearly in our own terms of purely regional railroads. two of them would occupy the extreme coastal district all the way from the mexican line to the canadian. the most southernly of this twain is the californian railroad, a fine, dignified name for a fine, dignified railroad extending well beyond the bounds of even the great golden state, north to medford, oregon, and east to el paso, to albuquerque, to salt lake, and to ogden. within this huge and rather sparse territory--sparse as compared in a rail traffic sense with the territories west of the mississippi river--we should have an absolutely non-competitive railroad, but under strict regulation operated for the greatest good of the greatest number. that has been done before in california; it is being done to-day and most successfully. the southern pacific is usually most responsive to its huge non-competitive territory. it gives to it in most cases an adequate service. new england lends itself to the non-competitive and highly economical regional railroad. so does the west coast too, but because of its giant sweep we give this last seaboard two regions, the one to the north of the californian railroad, the puget sound lines, extending, as we have seen, north from medford, and west from spokane as well as south from vancouver, british columbia, and northwest from ogden, utah. east of these two great railroads--and yet neither of them too intensive for successful management by a single executive head--are the colorado lines, embracing roughly the main mass of railroad trackage within the state and extending north to cheyenne and west to salt lake, by way of the present lines of the denver and rio grande as well as by the yet uncompleted denver and salt lake. it is a far smaller region than the two we have just considered, yet a territory of a considerable traffic and, because of its location, necessitating the most intensive sort of operation. now we begin to get these roads running down into the immediate southwest from chicago and into their proper relationship--the rock island, with its lines from chicago, st. louis, and memphis, coming together and reaching to el paso and out to the colorado lines near the eastern colorado border; the santa fé, taking the original missouri pacific between kansas city and st. louis for a much-needed entrance into the latter city and touching the colorado lines at la junta and the californian both at albuquerque and at el paso; the burlington shorn of its twin cities line, but given either the missouri pacific west of kansas city or the former kansas pacific (to-day a detached but well-built branch of the union pacific) or both and terminating both at the colorado state line and, by the acquisition of the kansas city, mexico, and orient and the building of a few hundred miles of railroad, with the californian somewhere in the general neighborhood of albuquerque. here is balance. here is a fair adjustment between logical competitors, the retention of competition where it is not practicable to eliminate it, and its abolishment where it is feasible to uproot it and establish great operating economies in the wake of the change. * * * * * we are not quite done. we have hardly considered the south. it is very much entitled to consideration, with its great growth in the last few years and its wonderful opportunities of the immediate future. but because, like california, it still has its intensive growth in the future rather than in the past, it is not too late to bend it into the economic regional plan. we left the californian railroad with an important eastern terminal at el paso. el paso is in texas, even though it is barely in it, and so becomes quite the logical western terminal of the texas lines, which would exclusively cover in our scheme virtually the entire state east from beaumont, shreveport and texarkana and south from dallas and fort worth. it might even be possible to give the texas regional system a direct entrance into kansas city by acquisition of the entire kansas city southern, but i would doubt the wisdom of this. it would have the effect of throwing the delicate competitive shading remaining about that very great railroad center considerably out of balance. for if kansas city by direct line, why not st. louis or even chicago? no, that would hardly do. the iron mountain reaching in a splendid strategic position from st. louis to texas, shorn of its wretched mésalliance with the missouri pacific and given instead the alton and certain portions of the 'frisco and missouri, kansas, and texas systems, would make an excellent feeder for the texas lines right through to kansas city, to st. louis, and chicago, and still avoid the operation of too many miles or too attenuated a single system under one executive head. meanwhile the competitive factor in the competitive territory which we have permitted to remain within the land would be appeased by the fact that the rock island, the santa fé, and the burlington would also bind the texas lines to kansas city, st. louis, and chicago. our plan continues to balance, and to balance extremely well. the texas lines would have still another competitive entrance into chicago. we will take the illinois central--deleted, if you will recall, of its rather superfluous line to omaha--and make it the main-stem and core of a far larger railroad which we may well give the more dignified and embracing title of mississippi valley railroad. from new orleans straight north to chicago, west to beaumont, northwest to shreveport and to little rock, possibly east to mobile, and northeast to birmingham--here is the making of a really dominating and yet very logical regional railroad. it also might and probably would be both practicable and possible to make it live more closely to its name and give to it the line along the eastern bank of the upper mississippi, between st. louis and st. paul, now operated by the burlington. * * * * * there still remains the southeastern corner of the united states--and right here our problem reaches its final and most perplexing phase. whether to rearrange it in two or three simon-pure regions or to have two or three competing systems within a comparatively large regional district is a question not easy of correct solution. i believe that the latter is the solution most likely to come, however. the inter-ownership of the atlantic coast line and the louisville and nashville railroads is a factor not easily to be ignored. ranged against this combined system--which in its final entity probably would include the nashville, chattanooga, and st. louis and the historic georgia railroad--is the huge southern railway, upon which much thought and money has been expended within the last ten or twelve years, and which would meet it at virtually every important competitive point. only two other important railroads occupy this southeastern territory, south of virginia--the central of georgia and the seaboard air line. the first of these is the property of the illinois central and yet could not logically be made a portion of the mississippi valley railroad which we were outlining but a minute ago. the economic thing probably would be to parcel out these two properties, and several smaller ones, between the new atlantic coast line and southern railway combinations and finally retain for each of these their present valuable entrances into the city of new orleans. a great portion of the seaboard air line lies in florida, but florida like new england and texas and california lends herself quite readily to the absolute non-competitive regional plan. a florida railroad would be touched by the atlantic coast line and the larger southern railway at jacksonville, at pensacola, and at intermediate points. and finally, virginia! she too lends herself to the regional plan, with the sole exception of the north and south lines of the southern and the enlarged atlantic coast, the first coming north toward washington through charlottesville and the second through richmond. the rest of the rails in both of the virginias might very logically be grouped into a single great efficient system which would stretch from tide-water in the neighborhood of norfolk back over the mountains to the ohio river, and even beyond it to columbus, to cincinnati, and to lexington. that the chief business of such a railroad would be the transport of coal goes without saying. with its vast combined water terminals in the neighborhood of hampton roads, it would be in a dominant position either for the export of its bituminous fuel or for its further shipment, both north and south, by the highly economical water lines along the coast. * * * * * economy is indeed a watchword for this plan. i shall not attempt to take your time or dull your interest in its details by giving you too many of them. a very few single but rather typical examples of the savings to be made, were it ever to be placed in effect, will be illustrative. here for instance is that so-called southern tier of new york--the long row of counties which lies for nearly two hundred miles against its pennsylvania line. many years ago the historic erie pushed its rails through the southern tier. from its main line--originally built from piermont-on-hudson to dunkirk, new york--it gradually shot branches north into the heart of the empire state to canandaigua, to rochester, and to buffalo. eventually it made an interlacing of these branches, and in those days--when men hardly dared dream of the motor-car or the improved highway--the branches generally were profitable. the rochester branch, about one hundred miles in length, was typical of many of its fellows. it diverged from the main line at painted post, just west of corning, and for the next forty miles threaded a very rich and prosperous valley situated between deep hills. it was a small railroad but essential, and for many years it prospered, to a moderate degree at least. then in the early eighties there came a competitor through that narrow valley. the rich delaware, lackawanna, and western, ambitious for a line of its own into the growing buffalo gateway, in and laid down its rails alongside the erie--along the main line all the way from great bend, pennsylvania, just a few miles east of binghamton, new york, to painted post, and along the rochester branch as far as wayland. the new railroad was a main-stem; double-tracked it gave frequent and swift service. the little rochester branch line of the erie shriveled up and all but died. in the regional organization that you have just seen me outline, i have brought together the rich lackawanna and the poverty-stricken erie, along with the lehigh valley, the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburg, the southerly divisions of the delaware and hudson, and the ulster and delaware railroads. it takes no large amount of imagination to forsee that such a combination--and most railroad executives and broad-visioned bankers will agree that it is a logical one--can greatly simplify operation in southern and western new york and abandon miles of railroad that should have been abandoned many years since. in effect, this erie-lackawanna system would have at least two separate main lines from its combined terminals at new york (how effectively these might be combined we discovered when we saw the possibilities of the electrification applied to the suburban traffic of the new york metropolitan district) all the way to binghamton, a little more than two hundred miles distant. from that point west to the brisk small city of corning the traffic could be consolidated upon one of these main lines, possibly three-tracked or four-tracked, and the other abandoned--a quick and easy solution of some perplexing grade-crossing problems in the communities that it would thread. similarly the old antiquated rochester branch of the erie could be abandoned all the way from painted post to wayland. the parallel double-track would render it of no further use. i could take the atlas maps of western new york and show you many, many more miles of railroad which could be abandoned profitably to-day, not to the hindrance but to the positive benefit of the communities which they are supposed to serve yet no longer serve, efficiently at least. but let us turn our attention from trackage to terminals and for the moment consider the chief city of western new york--the chief in size at any rate, buffalo. twelve steam railroads to-day enter buffalo and share four main passenger-stations there. the lackawanna has a handsome new terminal at the harbor-front, into which enter not only its trains but those of the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburg and the nickel plate lines. the lehigh valley has an almost equally new and handsome station, which it shares with the grand trunk. the erie plays the lone hand in a very ancient building, while the new york central, the pennsylvania, the michigan central, and one or two other roads are housed in the exchange street station, which is fairly antediluvian in its antiquity and its inefficiency. for some years buffalo dreamed her dreams of a real union station, which would rise majestically from the lake-front in the neighborhood of the historic court-house and jail where czolgosz, the assassin of william mckinley, met his trial and his just fate. travelers who have had to pass through buffalo and who have been compelled to change from one railroad to another there shared these dreams of a station into which all the trains should pass. but the city authorities and those of the railroads came to an absolute _impasse_ in the matter. the new york central, for instance, did not want to continue backing its through new york-chicago passenger trains into the buffalo station. it proposed as a compromise a union station somewhere east of clinton street. but "somewhere east of clinton street" is _déclassé_ to buffalo, and the big lake-front town would have nothing of that. so while mayors and general managers and high-priced engineers and all the other bigwigs stormed and argued the lackawanna people and the lehigh valley people went right ahead and built their own passenger stations. it is not conceivable that these large handsome stations would now be abandoned. in the creation of the regional plan it is not necessary. it becomes obvious from the beginning that the many trains of the erie-lackawanna would easily fill the lackawanna station to repletion and permit of the final abandonment of the ancient erie passenger-house with one of its most exasperating rail grade-crossing problems in the land as a perplexity always attendant upon its operation. the lehigh valley station, but slightly enlarged in its head-house accommodations, can easily be brought to meet the necessity of the other regional systems entering buffalo--those of the new york central, the michigan central, and the pennsylvania. for it so happens that the present train-shed of the new lehigh valley passenger terminal lies parallel with and immediately adjacent to the tracks and platforms of the old exchange street station of the new york central. to make the head-house (the passenger, baggage, mail, and other facilities) of the lehigh valley station accommodate the trains that now enter exchange street would hardly involve more than a rearrangement of these last groups of tracks and platforms, at an astonishingly low cost and with an astounding degree of operating saving--this last a factor which seemingly enters but little if at all into the calculations of the men who design our dazzling new american railroad stations. * * * * * economy enters into the operation of a passenger terminal as it does into that of a freight terminal--and what can be accomplished in this last direction we already have seen. the upkeep of the passenger, baggage, and mail facilities of a railroad station--even one upon a comparatively simple scale--will come to a large figure in the course of a twelvemonth. rochester is but seventy miles distant from buffalo. it is entered by six steam railroads, which occupy five separate and distinct passenger stations. mcadoo brought this down to but four, yet recently the pennsylvania decided that it could no longer share the occupancy of the handsome and commodious station of the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburg, so it reopened its former individual passenger station, for three trains in and three trains out each day. we do not have to go as far as vancouver to see the essential waste of the pride of the competitive system. rochester is a city of a little more than , persons. two stations, anyway--two of the existing stations--and possibly but one--the excellent new station of the new york central--would serve all the passenger needs of both her steam and her interurban electric railroads, and with no more than the slightest trackage rearrangement. and at an operating economy, as well as an economy to the purse and time of the average traveler who must cross the city from one road to another, that is not capable of quick estimate. cleveland has just embarked upon an extravagant union station project which, after all is said and done, is not to be a union station. for some of the more sensible of the railroads who come to her have refused to be beguiled by so obvious a real-estate scheme and one involving huge expenditures at the very time when the average american railroad is pleading poverty and reducing its expenditures because of that plea. the huge capital expenditure of that proposed new cleveland passenger-station might be saved in a large part, and still that enterprising city be given a fine passenger gateway that would express worthily her great pride and her great wealth. i have always had a feeling that with foresight--and _an abolition of foolish competitive pride_--the huge capital expenditure already made and yet to be made upon the new union station of chicago could have been very largely saved by an enlargement and an adaptation of the existing passenger terminals of that city. the northwestern for instance has a head-house out of all proportion to the train-house. a second train-house could easily have been built alongside of the present one without the real necessity of adding to the main frontage of the station upon madison street. unquestionably new and much larger stations were and still are needed both at dearborn street and upon the lake-front. but these new stations will be needed even after the completion of the so-called union station, at an expense now estimated at well in excess of $ , , . these other stations could have been built to a larger size without the expenditure of the $ , , , and the chicago union station permitted to become a matter of history. it is useless, it seems to me, to stress too heavily the wage of the american railroad employee when gross capital expenditures of this sort have been made and are continuing to be made; or the rate of the traffic return. our railroads have been far too greatly burdened by these gewgaws. once in a while, of course, a station comes along, like the new grand central terminal in new york, which is the fruition of a positive genius. if all of our passenger terminals had the economic strength of the new grand central it would not have been necessary to write these paragraphs. and i do not think either that it would have been necessary to raise the passenger-fares far from their before-the-war levels. but when one balances one grand central against a baker's dozen of washington terminals (with that overhead and operating cost of thirty-four cents a passenger) he sees at once the genuine value of that one grand central. i can have no quarrel with the fine civic spirit that demands that the railroad station of the modern american city shall be the full architectural expression of its progress and its growth--in truth a city gateway. the exquisite monumental concourses of the pennsylvania station, the new grand central terminal, and that at washington have not been lost upon me, while the somber but ecstatic beauty of the interior of the kansas city station--to say nothing of the wonderful toys in fred harvey's drug-store there--gives me a new thrill each time that i pass through it. but it does seem that we might sometimes use a little more sense and judgment in the planning of these stations. monuments are quite all right in their way, if they do not cost too much to build and to maintain. again let me illustrate. when we were considering the electrification of the standard steam railroad in the united states in general, and the boston suburban zone in particular, i called attention in a brief word to the fact that electrification would vastly increase the passenger capacity of the two great terminals of that city--south station and north station. i did not stop then to tell in detail of what it might mean to both of those two civic gateways, already badly crowded in the rush hours of the morning and the evening; of how it might avoid for twenty-five years or more the somewhat imminent present-day necessity of tearing them down and replacing them with far larger stations, at a huge capital expenditure. in south station the fact that its builders of a quarter of a century ago had the wisdom and the foresight to place underneath the train-shed and head-house loop terminal tracks for future electric operation (tracks and platforms which have never been used and whose very existence is not even suspected by the majority of the people who use the station daily) might defer this necessity. at north station the time for imperative and radical enlargement is close at hand, unless warded off by an electric installation upon most if not all of the many suburban lines that now enter that busy place. also in these chapters have i likened new england, in both its topography and its traffic problems, to old england. now may i go further and see in boston fairly accurate replica of london, not alone in appearance--and that it is, with its christopher wren churches, its medley of old-time streets, its little parks and squares, and its general appearance of staid sobriety--but in its own local problems of transport. into london come the tens of thousands each business day by surburban train, both steam and electric. yet london has no station in size comparing with the north or the south stations of boston. even liverpool street and waterloo, which come the nearest, fall far short in mere physical bulk, though not in train operation. yet i am thinking of victoria--that marvel of conciseness and terminal operation. victoria--both of the stations that rest side by side and share the name in common--seemingly is no larger than the broad street or market street station in philadelphia. the combined station certainly is not as large as broad street, barely larger than market street. yet in each business day more trains arrive and depart from its train-sheds than either at broad street or at market street. how is this done? in the beginning the british railway man does not feel that when he builds a railway terminal he has to provide a great congregation place for the people. there is of course at great interchange points in the heart of this country--such as kansas city or atlanta or cincinnati or omaha or st. paul--a real need for abundant waiting-room capacity where through travelers may be properly housed between their trains--for a number of hours, if need be. at more strictly terminal or near-terminal points such as philadelphia or new york or boston this necessity largely disappears, and the space that is taken by huge waiting-rooms can better be used by more essential station facilities. victoria station does not exceed ten platform-tracks in width. to handle more than trains a day within this limited capacity means the very highest efficiency in train handling. not only does it mean the maximum of promptitude in loading and unloading the trains but an adaptation of their schedules wherever possible so that an incoming train bringing passengers into the station is used for a regular run taking other passengers out again, and so the necessity of an "empty movement" into the storage-yards and back again is avoided. moreover the very arrangement of the tracks and platforms themselves leads to efficiency in these things. when but a few years ago it became necessary to enlarge radically the capacity of the side of victoria station belonging to the london, brighton, and south coast railway the engineers found that they would have to think twice before they accomplished their purpose. the station was but six tracks in width, divided into two groups of three tracks each--two of these alongside the platforms, with a middle one reserved for the switching of the locomotives backwards and forwards. it was not possible to increase this limited width. upon the one side stood an important through street of london--buckingham palace road--and upon the other the equally immovable twin-station of the southeastern and chatham railway. therefore the engineers did the one thing possible, short of the enormously expensive job of double-decking the station--they lengthened it, and at a comparatively low cost doubled its capacity. to-day two long trains, standing one behind the other upon the same track, may load and unload their passengers at the same time, and without the slightest confusion or difficulty. the high-level platform (the station-platform at the same height as the floor of the train), which parliament forced upon the british railways many years ago, is a tremendous help to quick entraining and detraining. why it has not been more universally adopted in this country it is hard to understand. it is in successful use both in the grand central and the pennsylvania stations in new york, but at very few other points. and this despite the fact that in order to serve these two highly important stations virtually all the pullman equipment in the country now has been adapted to high-level platform use. yet only the pennsylvania has had the courage and the vision to adapt this very sensible form of platform to its intermediate stations. it already has become a standard upon that great railroad. that the adoption of a regional railroad system for this country would bring this and a hundred other needed improvements--both greater as well as smaller than these of the economical passenger terminal--i am not attempting to argue. but i do believe that the regional railroad system, with its setting of the competitive phase in its proper position in relation to the conduct of our roads, would be a powerful factor in bettering present conditions, and in a way that would bring wholesale operating economies all the way across the land. this, in turn, should be translated most promptly to the public in two ways--lowered rates and bettered service. here then is always the nub of the situation; railroad efficiency accomplished through operating efficiency, not necessarily wage reduction but reduction in other costs as well, as long as they may be accomplished without detriment to the service. the service upon our american railroads has long since been reduced to a point where their actual efficiency and value as public servants have begun to be impaired. from this time forward we must begin to puzzle out how their service may be bettered, and there is no better way for this than that which lies within a real correlation of their activities. chapter xvi the united states railroad to assume infallibility or even great accuracy in sketching a regional railroad plan for the united states would be of course ridiculous. we have just had the mere suggestion of twenty-five or twenty-six railroads, some of them non-competitive monopolies and others quite completely competitive, in form at least, which is about all that our so-called competitive railroads are to-day. still the great transport god of our transport world apparently must continue to be appeased. form seems to please him. we shall grant him that. but in a national transportation plan which begins to assume any real form of high organization we shall not permit the component parts of it to indulge in internecine struggle. it is too expensive business. so probably we shall begin the operation of our regional plan, which you already have seen outlined geographically, by first taking our thousand or more separate railroads--nearly , miles of line--and thrusting them together into a great single organization. this we might easily call the united states railroad, even though it is to be in one sense not a railroad, from an operating point of view at any rate. for once we have centralized our great rail transport plant, we shall at once begin to decentralize it. we shall make many railroads of it. we shall follow in the main the scheme used by those vastly successful private organizations, standard oil and the bell telephone, and the equally successful government institution, the federal reserve bank, and set up regional and highly autonomous separate organizations. i began my planning of the regional railroad for this country with the number of separate units fixed at about the same as of these three organisms that i have just mentioned--approximately an even dozen. gradually i found, however, that in as intricate or as extensive a business as railroading in the united states twelve or fourteen or even sixteen regional companies would not be enough. perhaps twenty-six is not even enough. after all, that is but a detail. what we really are seeking now is the proper method of organization. our regional railroads, recentralized and each provided with a president and other directing and operating officers extremely local and sensitive to the territory which they would serve, would have left something behind them in the central organization which was created primarily for the business of rearrangement. for having transacted that immediate business the united states railroad still would continue to exist as a permanent body, with its headquarters either in new york or in washington. its modus operandi would be the virtually continuous sessions of vice-presidents designated from its constituent railroads--one vice-president for each road, especially chosen for this purpose--together with the occasional meetings of the presidents and other executive officers. these men would form a congress whose powers along almost all phases of our national railroad would be virtually supreme. its greatest power--its greatest responsibility, if you please--would be the proper financing of our railroad structure. that problem is far too big to-day to be handled locally, even in the locality which we know as wall street, new york. and wall street has shown itself capable of taking care of some pretty large financing problems. before we are done with our railroad financing, it may be necessary for no less a hand than uncle sam's to take hold of it, either by assuming the bonded indebtedness of the roads and against this issuing his own bonds at a slightly higher rate of interest, or else by direct and complete ownership of the carriers. i am not going into this vexing and highly controversial phase of the railroad question in america further than to say that i do not feel that this country is ready yet to accept government ownership and operation--particularly the latter. please note that i have differentiated between these two. it is not often done. and yet in that very shading of difference may yet rest the solution of our entire railroad problem. at the conclusion of this book i shall refer to this again. according to a man who has made a critical inspection of the outstanding securities of our american railroads and of whose ability and impartiality there can be no doubt whatsoever, these are represented chiefly in about ten billion dollars' worth of perfectly good bonds and about five billion dollars' worth of good stock, at least normally returning dividends. about $ , , might be written off in poor bonds, that either are fraudulent or else never should have been issued, while there are four or five billion dollars par value of stock certificates which to-day may be regarded as fairly hopeless. out of all these securities three quarters would assay, which after all does not compare so badly with the estimate of value of from $ , , , to $ , , , which the railroads themselves place upon their properties. these "good securities" in normal time average a return of from $ , , to $ , , each twelvemonth. suppose that our uncle samuel, heeding what seems to be a rather certain voice of his people at this time to avoid both government ownership and government operation, should arrange that the "good" stock of the present railroads be turned in for that of the united states railroad, which might either keep the stock issue in its own name or else at the proper moment divide it pro rata between its constituent regional roads? this certainly would not be either government ownership or government operation. upon the stock portion of this trade our good uncle samuel would arrange to guarantee a per cent. dividend annually (possibly - / per cent.) and try to standardize and pay a per cent. one. that sounds a little different from the transportation act, does it not? as a matter of fact, it is hardly conceivable that even a - / per cent. guarantee would ever become a serious drain upon the united states treasury, while the fact that the stock end of the capitalization of this railroad which is not a railroad would never be permitted to exceed more than or per cent. of the whole would be a real help in the situation. if the roads that belonged to the united states railroad found themselves earning more than per cent. upon the entire property a tripartite even division could be arranged of the excess between their stockholders, their employees, and the government. it is hardly conceivable, however, that such a condition would long continue without a demand arising for a downward revision of the rates. it is a question that would settle itself rather automatically most of the time. * * * * * the stock distribution of the new centralized company of the holders of the existing stock-certificates of the present companies would be in the ration of the new standard dividend of per cent. to be paid by the u. s. r. r. to the dividends maintained by the present companies for an average period of a certain number of years before the adoption of the scheme. thus the stockholders of the santa fé railroad who have been receiving per cent. would probably have a chance to make an exchange upon even terms; those of the northern pacific, who have been receiving per cent. would gain one and one sixth shares of the new stock for one share of the present. new york central stockholders would have five sixths as many shares of the new stock as of the old. "do you think that many stockholders would be willing to exchange their certificates upon this basis?" asks my querulous old railroad friend from out of the west. i do not _think_ anything of the sort. i believe that they would have to form many lines to the right of the security-holders who could not get to the places of transfer quickly enough. uncle sam holding the bag? uncle sam's credit back of our transportation system? let me ask you, old railroader, if you have any fondness for liberty bonds in your own strong-box? while the stock would be called in and reissued, the bonds of the american railroads--between ten and eleven billion dollars' worth and returning an average of . per cent. during the period of government control--would be called in, principal and interest, by the united states treasury, and, as we have just seen, new government bonds issued against them--at just enough lower interest to make the thing a profitable banking transaction for our uncle sam. the essentials of this plan are not my own. they are those of the hon. george w. anderson of massachusetts, a most hard-headed and far-seeing jurist, who has had a remarkable experience in transportation law, including some years as a member of the interstate commerce commission. i am putting it forward here for just what it is worth--nothing more. it is most interesting, and seemingly most workable. judge anderson and i differ, however, in one large essential. trained federal officer that he is, he sees centralization as the one panacea for the situation, which is a characteristic attitude of the federalist, from the days of alexander hamilton until these. i believe myself that the united states railroad, should it be found necessary to incorporate it, should be made a federal corporation and nothing else. the state charters of the present-day railroads would be made virtually null and void once the roads ceased to operate as separate concerns. it is possible, i will admit, that litigation might arise in regard to this delicate point. but in the steady decline of states' rights in all our political life i can have no great anxiety as to the final outcome of such litigation. apparently the federal government and not the separate state has the power to-day. i hold myself that once the centralized organization has been created--and i shall refer to its opportunities again in a moment--prompt decentralization is quite as essential to the situation. the boston and albanys, the lackawannas, the bessemers, all the other successful small railroads of our present-day situation arise to bid me go very easily indeed when i suggest any national centralization of actual operation or of the actual relationship between the carriers and their workers. and sentiment also crooks a warning finger. i know what she means by her glance. it would be pathetic, nay tragic, to remove an american railroad name like the pennsylvania or the northwestern, to try to paint out the red cars of the one line and the yellow ones of the other. new york central is too good a name to be scrapped. the same is true of baltimore and ohio. how can we prate of morale and then dare to take from under it the things that are its chief support? after all does sentiment count for nothing? and tradition? have we not possibly become a little too materialistic a nation? on the other hand southern pacific means but little to-day as the name of a railroad which reaches as far north as portland, oregon, and as deeply into the heart of the country as ogden. the californian railroad has a sense of dignity that ought to appeal to every man of that great state. such a sense too has the puget sound lines. what's in a name? everything. sentiment. tradition. morale. progress. dollars and cents, if you will force me to be materialistic. * * * * * but the far greater thing to be gained is the intimacy of contact resulting by the location of a railroad president with large authority within but a few hours reach of the people that he is endeavoring to serve. why should the man of concord, new hampshire, or he of lewiston, maine, have to go farther than boston for the adjudication of even his most serious differences with the railroad? or he of madison or racine further than chicago? and when it comes to the contacts with his fellow-workers, how can a railroad president in our federal capital city of washington be expected to know of living conditions in great falls, montana, or in wichita falls, texas? incidentally that is the chief issue upon which the pennsylvania is to-day fighting the railroad labor board in the courts. it wishes the right to meet its own workers, in its own way. this is real regional thought. the people in control of the standard oil and the bell telephone companies came long ago to bless the day when legislation embarrassing to them at the time, forced the regional system upon them. they now know its real advantages. the intimacy of labor control alone is worth all the trouble and all the expense. there is little or no dispute among those who really know the situation that nine tenths of the solution of the railroad labor problem as it exists in this country to-day rests in better contacts between the employers and the employed. a predicament such as we saw but a little time ago--the general manager of a great railroad unable to get his proposals to his shop-workers--would hardly be possible in a road whose limits were not too great. a certain high executive of my acquaintance is going to take extreme exception to my suggestion that the regional trunk-lines in the immediate district between new york and chicago be broken at buffalo, at pittsburg, and the ohio river. "i can sit in my office," he says, "and each morning within an hour talk with each of my subordinate executives--in pittsburg, in cleveland, in detroit, in chicago, in st. louis, in cincinnati." yet that is just the trouble. too many railroads in this country have been operated on the long-distance telephone principle. ten minutes' talk over a copper wire is hardly equivalent to a day of personal contact, once every ten or twelve or fourteen days. that the men who are at the very tops of our largest railroads have done wonders with the long-distance telephone i shall not deny. but i do not think that they have accomplished intensive railroad direction with it, or anything like intensive railroad direction. and i have not noticed them accomplishing any remarkable results in bettering their relationships with their workers, or with raising the morale of their roads. * * * * * yet just as regional operation and a pretty well divided regional operation, is essential to the best operating results in our american railroads, so on the other hand is centralization fairly vital to any large traffic or financial results. it will be argued always against any plan for the centralization of our railroads that it makes an easy first step toward government ownership. such argument is foolish. yet if it might be good business for the federal government in some distant day to take such a step, why is it not good business to undertake it to-day? particularly when it is in a position to command valuable governmental assistance in the taking of the step. here is the real nub of this question. for few practical railroaders will deny certain vast advantages to be gained by the complete centralization of our rail properties--not only in financing and in rate-making, but also in traffic solicitation and control, in expert staff study of mechanical and operating problems, and in the production of proper personnel, particularly for the filling of future executive positions. all of these functions and more too, the united states railroad could and would undertake. in contentions which might arise from time to time between the regional roads, its word of decision would be absolute, its authority supreme. and nowhere is this more necessary to-day than in the vexed question of rates--particularly of freight-rates. the expert traffic executives of this super-railroad would settle these rate questions, and be subject only to revisions, in the strict legal points involved, by the interstate commerce commission, which then would become almost exclusively a high court of railroad law, in turn subject only to revision in its decisions by the united states supreme court itself. the traffic experts of the united states railroad would control absolutely the routings of through business where it passed over the lines of two or more of the regional carriers. but as an immediate beginning the best construction step that they possibly could make would be the creation of a real scientific freight-rate structure for this country. up to the present time this has been deemed an impossibility, by traffic experts outside of the ranks of the railroads as well as those within them. but it has only been an impossibility because of the lack of proper central organization or authority among our railroads as they exist to-day. such a plan in the main--called the block-and-zone system--has now been in successful operation for a number of years in both our parcel-post and express services. i was in the express business myself when it first came into being there. up to the very hour of its arrival the tariff-sheets of the express companies were veritable chinese puzzles; they were nearly as complicated and as obsolete as the freight tariff-sheets of our american railroads of to-day. the extremely gifted and far-seeing mind of the late franklin k. lane devised the block-and-zone tariff system for the express. some of the older men of the express companies then felt that the blackest day in their history had come to hand. within a twelvemonth the most reactionary of these had been converted to the new scheme. they saw its simplicity, its fairness, its utility, its economy. what was done for the express nearly half a dozen years ago should be done for the railroad freight situation here immediately. at the time of his retirement from office director-general mcadoo already had begun to plan a national freight-rate structure. he had engaged to perfect its details edward chambers, vice-president of the santa fé, and one of the ablest traffic men that this country has ever known. the chambers plan was worked out quite fully but was never made public. it is known, however, that it follows very closely the general scheme of both the parcel-post and the express block-and-zone tariffs varying from them only in its intricacies of detail due to the vast range of commodities that a railroad finds itself obliged to carry upon its cars. for a centralized traffic bureau of our railroads there is also a huge international opportunity. the representation of our american roads overseas is to-day a woeful thing indeed. the southern pacific has an office of its own in paris. perhaps there are others. if so i have never seen them. but in my long months of residence in that old city the railways from all quarters of the world save the united states have called to me appealingly from their shop-windows along the boulevards. so it is in london; so in other great capitals of europe. it is only america--only that lovely great quarter of north america that we call the united states--that is deaf and blind alike to the possibilities of the traveler and the freight from overseas. in april, , i picked up the time-table of a prominent american railroad in the chief hotel in madrid; in its familiar colorings it seemed like an old friend, indeed. it was an _old_ friend. it was dated december, --and so were all of its fellows from the u. s. a. in the time-table rack of the man from cook's. the united states railroad would represent adequately every mile of railroad in the united states in every great city of the world. its offices would be the outposts of american commercial enterprise. they would be filled with adequate and up-to-date information for the tourist and shipper alike. it might be that they would sell through tickets and through bills of lading to the most humble and sequestered of american communities, while to-day the scarcity of information that the european may readily acquire upon even important towns of our u. s. a. is appalling. contrast such service, or lack of it, with that rendered, let us say, by the swiss federal railroads in the city of new york, where one may go and find the fullest and the most accurate information in regard to the smallest of swiss villages. already i have hinted upon the valuable work that this united states railroad might do in the technique of the business, both in studying of constant new inventions as well as in working out better operating methods from the tools already at hand. this last certainly would include the constant study of a far better correlation between our steam railroads, our highways, and our inland waterways. it probably would result in not only the complete study of the most efficient and economical container but the actual ownership of several millions of them. it might be well for the title of all our freight-cars as well as our present pullman sleepers to be vested in it. the advantages of a pooled ownership of these fleets of wheeled carriers, so extremely valuable in inter-railroad communication, have long been realized by our hard-headed railroad executives. the united states railroad could accomplish such point ownership, and with a minimum of fuss and feathers. in the long run it might even accomplish the tremendous feat of establishing a through fast passenger-train between new york and seattle. who knows? in other words the work of this centralized railroad organization would not only be analagous to the staff of any army but something considerably beyond. expert railroaders, removed for a season, short or long, from the details and the vexations of everyday problems and working with skilled technical experts and even recognized theorists, ought to and would accomplish wonders. i have hinted also at the possibility of a strong central organization in training and recruiting future executive personnel. those possibilities might be carried much further, in the super-relationship between the american railroad and the rank and file of its employees. with a proper scheme of representation upon our united states railroad--of which more in a moment--it might even be possible to have it supersede the present rather hapless railroad labor board out at chicago and so accomplish a real governmental economy. yet remember that the actual hiring and the immediate relationship and authority between the railroad and its employee--no matter what his rank--should always remain with the regional organization. for remember also that it is largely for this purpose that we brought it into being--to better the human relationship between the human officer of the railroad and its human patron and its human employees. contact alone does this. for this we have gone through to decentralization. we have tried to keep authority in these human relationships active and alert and acute upon the immediate ground. if we can accomplish that one great thing, if we can make our railroad of the united states as a huge mechanism of organization quickly responsive to the human being and his rights, it will be well worth the huge expense and trouble of decentralization. remember all the while, if you will, that the one very great sore spot of our railroad problem is that we have thought too much of it always in terms of dollars and not enough of it in terms of men. i bear no particular grief for the organized bodies of shippers or for those of the employees. they are all entitled to fair treatment--and nothing more. the one group may easily become a pest, the other an autocrat. yet a just consideration for the patron and for the employee is a rock upon which our railroads may stand secure, the lack of it a rock upon which they may inevitably crash. this may be poor epigram, but it is a solid fact. in fact i may go much further and state quite bluntly that no plan for the reorganization of our railroad system of the united states now has any real prospect of success that does not recognize in its fundamentals the need of a radically changed status for labor. it matters not that there are now five or six millions of workers temporarily out of employment, that the railroad strike of october, , was called off because organized labor saw naught but defeat in it; the fact remains that in the future labor must be given just and proper representation in the initial management and so must be forced to assume its own proper share of the responsibility for the uninterrupted and steady development of our rail transport facilities. that it must be given a fair wage is now beyond the point of controversial discussion. there may be, and probably will be, plenty of future discussion as to just what constitutes the fair wage and the fair working condition for the railroader, but the fact remains that if these both are not kept fair and just there will not be sufficient railroaders coming forward to maintain the human side of the machine. here is a self-evident fact of which our reformers sometimes quite lost all track. with this principle in mind i believe that the directorate of the united states railroad, divided into three groups, should have one of these composed of directors elected by the classified employees of the roads. assuming that fifteen or twenty-one would be the right size of directorate--in order to avoid too clumsy and unwieldy a body--from five to seven men would represent labor, a similar group the public (probably being appointed by the president of the united states and confirmed by the senate), while the third group would be elected by the stockholders of the company. it might be found more practicable to have a separate set of fifteen directors for each of the regional railroads and, by making these directorates almost exclusively local, so serve still further to keep the management of these regional roads alert to the service of their individual roads, right here and now. the point is that whether there is one board of directors or twenty-five or twenty-six for the future rail transport organization of the united states, labor must have its representation there. this, in addition to the possible sharing of one-third of the dividends over per cent. which already i have suggested, would form a generous gift to labor. for it labor must in return make a generous offering. for despite sentiment, i believe that is the usual economic principle in the making of gifts. the gift that labor must make in return in this instance is its recognition that any combination of employees in restraint of trade--no matter under what name--is illegal and against the public weal. strikes of any form unquestionably are combinations in restraint of trade. to-day they are legal. they must be made illegal, both in law and in universal public opinion. this, of course, cannot affect the right of the individual railroader to leave his job if he desires. that, of itself, also is fundamental. certain it is that no railroad should want a man who is disgruntled and dissatisfied for very many hours in its employ. of late it has rather become the fashion among many otherwise thinking people of a degree of mentality to ascribe the many troubles of our railroads in this country either to the "high" wages that they are paying their employees or to over-regulation on the part of various governmental commissions, both state and federal. of the wage question i have said my last words in this book. nor is the highly controversial question of regulation--or of so-called over-regulation--worth much discussion. from time to time some gifted (but uninformed) soul bursts into the public prints with the highly original suggestion that we should in some mysterious and occult fashion return to the days before when regulation of our rail carriers was an unknown art in these united states. it all has a rather fascinating sound, particularly to such people who may have been the witnesses or the victims, direct or indirect, of some of the ridiculous rulings that these commissions--particularly the state ones--occasionally hand down. unquestionably there have been many foolish decisions. unquestionably many of them have contradicted and offset one another. and the dabbling of the professional politician into the delicate centers of a transportation machine, of which he really knows nothing at all, has brought us a very great deal of trouble. but-- i do not believe that any thinking railroader or patron of the railroads--no matter what his job or what his degree or station in life--really would go back voluntarily to those uncouth, unregulated days of if he could possibly avoid it. in thirty-five years many things are forgotten. it once took our magazine muck-rakers nearly two decades to set down the great business evils that arose in those very days that now seem halcyon to us largely because thirty-five years have aided us so largely in the business of forgetting. then there is the chap who cries for the return of a hill or a harriman--i do it myself at times; i had and still have much admiration for each of them--a hill or a harriman who with the wave of some mystic, magic wand will make all transportation things right once again. we americans fairly worship a character of that sort, even though we may have largely created him within our own imaginations. we love to fall prone at his feet. yet even as one of those who from time to time cry aloud for a hill or a harriman, i am quite ready to admit that perhaps the slow but certain progress of our american civilization has now brought us beyond the necessity of bold, blunt captains of industry such as these two big and picturesque figures of our recent history. it is possible, please remember, that if either of them had been given the supreme control of all our railroads they might not have made such an overwhelming success of it. it is possible that even under their wizard hands there might have arisen distrust and discontent, both upon the part of the patrons of the railroads and of their workers. remember that we do move. and cannot be . or . or . or even . and perhaps it is just as well that it should never be any of these years. why turn the clock backward anyway? it is much better to be looking forward. looking forward may yet bring us government ownership and operation of our railroads. just now i do not see it. yet sometimes we move pretty rapidly here in the united states and charge about face, with an astounding swiftness. it is probable, however, that before we adopted both government ownership and operation, as a permanent policy, at least, we should swallow but one of the pills. it is not necessary in the present event to take both at once. if it did become necessary it probably would be that of ownership, and possibly somewhat along the lines that i have indicated for the formation of the united states railroad. in which case it would be necessary to contrive some plan for the leasing of the regional railroads to private corporations, for operation solely. this has been done already, notably in india, but never with a pronounced success. it is also the method used by the city of new york for the operation of its newer rapid transit lines, and again without success. it has many complications, many potential difficulties in its pathway. and it is hardly conceivable that it will come into use ahead of a scheme for a centralized, privately-owned and operated railroad. yet despite all these possible complications and difficulties, in the eyes of the average man who thinks, it still is to be preferred to the double-dose of government ownership plus government operation. that the first of these offers large opportunities for the proper financing for the steady growth and the future development of our rail transport i think that i have shown you already. it is the stronger of the twins. of the second it is hard, as yet, to speak with much enthusiasm. to say that he is untried is putting the thing both mildly and with extreme politeness. to say that the american public of to-day even wants to try him, would be making a large statement, a very large statement indeed. without joining in the shrieks for the coming of a second hill or a second harriman or the wholesale murder of all the regulatory commissions, i honestly believe that our american public to-day wishes a little safer, a little surer panacea for its transportation ills, than government operation. it is not the solution that it really desires for its railroads of to-morrow. historic highways of america volume [illustration: view of old erie canal basin at buffalo] historic highways of america volume the great american canals by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ volume ii the erie canal [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the mohawk and its improvement ii. early promoters and their dreams iii. clinton's memorial iv. planning, building, and opening v. local influences of the canal vi. the canal fund and enlargements appendixes illustrations i. view of old erie canal basin at buffalo _frontispiece_ ii. map and profile of the erie canal (from poussin's "travaux d'améliorations intérieures ... des États-unis d'amérique de à "--paris, ) iii. a canal lock at rome, new york, touching the site of fort stanwix iv. view of canal at little falls, new york, showing lock in the distance v. map of erie canal, showing improvements proposed (from report of february , ) preface this second monograph on the great american canals which played the part of important highways westward, is devoted to an outline of the erie canal. in the comparatively short space at our disposal for so great a theme, it has been possible only to sketch some of the leading features of our subject, namely, the early history of the mohawk valley route, the origin of the canal idea, its building, the celebration of its completion, a catalogue of its finances and enlargements, and its effect. our sources have been the state _reports_, sweet's _documentary history_, hawley's _origin of the erie canal_, and the various state and local histories which treat of the subject. a monograph, in the form of a thesis, by julius winden, has been of great advantage, as will be indicated, in presenting the influence of the erie canal upon the population along its course. the author is under a debt of gratitude to hon. a. r. spofford of the congressional library, hon. john s. billings of the new york public library, and t. m. ripley of marietta, ohio, for advice and assistance. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, march , . the great american canals volume ii the erie canal chapter i the mohawk and its improvement the "great western" route through new york state to the lakes has come under consideration in our study of highways in three places: as an indian trail, as a portage path, and as a pioneer road. the old iroquois trail, as we have called it, ran up the mohawk, which it crossed at nun-da-da-sis, "around the hill," (utica); thence it made for the genesee river and the niagara frontier; an important tributary pathway led down the genesee to swa-geh (oswego) on lake ontario. this was the landward route from the hudson to the great lakes. as a thoroughfare in its entirety, it meant much to the indians, but very little to the white men before the nineteenth century. though the lower mohawk valley was sparsely settled early in the eighteenth century, white men did not build their cabins along the iroquois trail to the westward until nearly a century later, when the old genesee road was opened. until then the country through which the iroquois trail ran had been a _terra incognita_ where only indian runners knew the way through the long house of the iroquois. yet it was a pleasant country for all the forest shades; from nun-da-da-sis the trail ran on, leaving the mohawk river and ole-hisk, "the place of nettles"--the famed battlefield of oriskany--to the north, passing ka-ne-go-dick (wood creek) and ga-no-a-lo-hole (lake oneida), the "lake of the head on a pole."[ ] to the southward, the path bore away toward na-ta-dunk (syracuse), the place of the "broken pine-tree," and ga-do-quat (fort brewerton). there were the silver lakes strung like white gems on wreaths of heaviest green. the low lands of the genesee country, soon to see the great advances heralded by the famous purchases of land speculators, intervened; and straight beyond, far away across the pine-tree tops, gleamed the great lakes and the plunging river between them; the deep growl of niagara seemed to warn voyageurs away to the forest trails on either side. those falls were the only interruption in a water highway which in many aspects is, today, the most stupendous in the world. had this winding trail been the only means of communication between the rapidly filling hudson river valley and the chain of lakes to the northwest, it is very probable that a braddock or a forbes would have built a military road even through that bloody long house; but the mohawk river, and the oswego, offered a waterway which, though difficult and uncertain, was the white man's route from the hudson to the lakes--the western war route of which the portage at rome was the key. a clear picture of the old mohawk would be a precious possession. the records, however, are so few and so general in character that one would be at a loss to supply an artist with his material. it is only in the staid reports of old navigation companies that we get any definite description of our old-time rivers. we know of the main obstructions to continuous navigation in the mohawk; first there was the ga-ha-oose falls, or cohoes falls as we know them today. these were impassable for any craft, and made schenectady the metropolis of the lower mohawk valley because it was the mohawk terminus of the difficult portage to albany through the pine barrens. thus the old-time river traffic began at schenectady. proceeding northward by te-hon-de-lo-ga, the famous lower castle of the mohawks, and ga-no-jo-hi-e, the middle castle, the traveler passed the present fonda, which was ga-na-wa-da, "over the rapids," and came to the rocky confines of ta-la-que-ga, the "place of small bushes"--the present little falls. here the roaring rapids interrupted all navigation, empty boats not even being able to pass over them. the early portage of one mile here in sleds over the swampy ground has been described as it was in , when enterprising teutons residing here transferred all boats in sleds over marshy ground which would "admit of no wheel carriage." in all of the military operations in the mohawk valley in the french and indian and revolutionary wars this portage played a part. as early as , governor sir henry moore suggested the improvement of the mohawk at the falls of canajoharie. a route for a canal around niagara falls was surveyed in . travelers to niagara with heavy baggage invariably went by way of the mohawk batteaus. we have seen that in two of the commissioners to the western indians, traveling light, went overland by horse to the genesee, while general lincoln went with the heavy baggage by way of the mohawk.[ ] from schenectady to the oneida portage at rome, little falls offered the only insurmountable obstruction; later on, about , we find that the germans' sleds were out of use and that boats were transferred on wheeled vehicles appropriately fashioned to carry them without damage to their hulls. no great boats could be transferred by such means; this fact had a tendency to limit the carrying capacity of mohawk batteaus to about one and a half tons. these boats were operated by three men, and a journey from rome to schenectady and return--one hundred and twelve miles--required, at the least estimate, nine days. such was the high rate of freight that, if no return freight was secured, the cost of sending a ton to schenectady equaled one man's wages for eighteen days, about fourteen dollars. the improvement of the mohawk before was, without doubt, of no real consequence. ascending boatmen and forwarding companies here and there of necessity made the river passable, otherwise there could have been no traffic at all. as one of our maps shows, as early as a neck of land, in one instance, was cut through.[ ] the batteaus which carried provisions and ammunition northward to fort stanwix or fort schuyler probably often broke a new way through the dams of forest driftwood which the flood tides left; and at high tide there was, we know, good downward navigation. elkanah watson must be remembered as one of the pioneers in the improvement of the central new york waterway. in he made a western journey by way of the mohawk, and his journal is full of observations which show him to have been a far-sighted man with correct ideas of the logical advance of commerce and the revolutions it would make.[ ] returning from his journey october, , he prepared all the facts in favor of improving new york's western waterway, in the form of a pamphlet which he presented to general schuyler, then a member of the state senate. he also contributed an anonymous article to one of the papers in january, , urging publicly the improvement of the mohawk and oswego rivers.[ ] public interest being awakened, in one way or another, as to the value of the river route westward, and the route up the hudson and across to lake george and lake champlain, a bill was presented to the new york legislature authorizing the formation of two companies to undertake the work of improving these strategic passageways between the country east of the state and the country west. accordingly, on the thirtieth day of march, , the following act was passed by the legislature: _an act for establishing and opening lock navigation within this state_.[ ] the legal name of the company which was to operate on the mohawk was the "president, directors, and company of the western inland lock navigation in the state of new-york." the word "northern" was inserted in the legal name of the hudson-lake champlain company, which was otherwise the same. the two companies were chartered by one and the same act, on exactly the same basis; we will consider, however, only the one under discussion. the western inland lock navigation company, to operate between the hudson, and lake seneca and lake ontario, was to be capitalized at $ , ; one thousand shares of twenty-five dollars each, no stockholder being allowed more than ten shares. the subscription books were ordered to be opened at new york and albany on the first tuesday of may, , and kept open until the last tuesday. if five hundred shares were taken the organization became effective. thirteen directors were to control its affairs and they were to be elected annually. article vii authorized "... each of the said corporations ... [to] enter into, and upon all and singular the land and lands covered with water, where they shall deem it proper to carry the canals and navigation hereinbefore particularly assigned to each...." the stipulations usually made in such cases, as to the company's right to enter land by paying damages, were nominated. the controlling officers were empowered to name the per cent of stock the stockholders were to be required to pay. they were also to decide upon the rates of toll to be charged to boats for the enjoyment of benefits of navigation; the one restriction was that the charge for one ton of freight from ontario or seneca lakes to the hudson should not exceed twenty-five dollars, and other tolls were to be pro rata. the directors were to be allowed to increase the capital stock at discretion, and were ordered to make semiannual reports to the public. after ten years an abstract record was to be published for the inspection of the legislature, and if the profits were found to exceed fifteen per cent, the excess above this amount they were to turn over to the state treasurer. the act of incorporation also stipulated that the company's charter became void if work was not undertaken in five years; if the work was not completed in fifteen years, all rights, so far as the residue was concerned, were to be forfeited. the state of new york promised to give, as a free gift, to both the western and the northern companies, $ , as soon as both had invested $ , in the work on which they were starting. on december , , the act was amended as the lessons of the season seemed to indicate that there was necessity. the principal amendments were that the locks built on the company's works should have a breadth of not less than ten feet at the base and should have a length of not less than seventy feet between gates. the company was to be allowed, in the future, to take up land without first having paid for it--settlement to be made afterward in proper legal form. the land under all locks was vested in the company owning the locks.[ ] it would seem from elkanah watson's account that, when these subscription books were opened for signatures of prospective stockholders, there were absolutely no subscribers forthcoming. "they had been opened three days by the committee," he wrote from new york where he happened to be in april (?), "at the old coffee-house, and not a share was subscribed. i considered the cause hopeless--called on my friend (i think it was) james watson, esq., and induced him, with much pursuasion, to subscribe twenty [?] shares; from that moment the subscriptions went on briskly. on my arrival in albany, the commissioners had kept the books open several days, at lewis's old tavern, in state street, and no mortal had yet signed to exceed _two shares_. i immediately subscribed seven in each company...." watson also wrote to schuyler of the low state of affairs; the latter ordered him to subscribe to ten shares in schuyler's name.[ ] a committee appointed by the directors of the western company, august , , consisting of philip schuyler, goldsbrow bangar, and elkanah watson, to examine the mohawk from fort schuyler (rome) to schenectady, reported in the following september. accompanied by the surveyor moses de witt, and mr. lightall, a carpenter, and a mr. nesbit, the committee left schenectady august in a batteau, and reached fort schuyler on the twenty-ninth. their itinerary gives us a picture of the old river, and preserves valuable facts for local historians.[ ] the first day's journey was six and one-half miles to john mabey's, half a mile above jacobus swart's. six rapids were passed, over which the water ran, on the average, a foot and a half deep--the river then having the least water running "within the memory of the eldest person." the night of the twenty-second was spent at john fonda's, seventeen and three-fourths miles up the river; in this distance were five sharp rapids and many small rapids with shallow water, as at sir william johnson's "first settlement," eight and one-half miles above mabey's. the night of the twenty-third was spent at mr. nellis's, nineteen and three-fourths miles on; one mile above fonda's was "caughnawaga rift, deep, incommoded with large rocks;" nine miles onward, lay kettar's rapid, and two and a half miles on was colonel john fry's. a journey of four miles the next day brought the examiners to fort hendrick, four and a half miles below little falls. "from the landing at the foot [of little falls], to the landing at the head of the falls, is about three-quarters of a mile, the height thirty-nine feet two inches, the ground stony, rocky and rough." it will be seen that this was not the old-time portage over which boats were drawn on sleds. two days were spent examining this strategic fall. proceeding on the twenty-seventh, fort schuyler, about fifty miles distant, was reached on the twenty-ninth. the navigation throughout this distance was good with but two rapids, orendorff's and wolf's. the recommendations of the committee affirm that the work at little falls will be the most important and expensive single work, and would consist of a canal by which river craft can overcome the fall of nearly forty feet; in addition to the canal "a strong work ... to prevent the canal and locks from being overflowed, and damaged in high freshes; at this point two guard gates at the distance of seventy feet from each other must be placed; the surface of the ground here is eight feet eight inches above the level of the water in the river above the falls, and, as three feet ought to be given for the depth of the water in the canal, the depth to be dug at this point will be nearly twelve feet.... many large stones and rocks, and probably much solid rock will be found in all the distance ... which is feet; the quantity of earth, stone, and rock to be removed in this space, if the canal has ten feet base, will be about , cubic feet. [for] feet the canal must be confined by a double dyke, or embankment, about four feet high; [for] feet the whole depth to be dug is about - / feet and contains , cubic feet; at various places to the water at the bottom of the falls about , cubic feet of earth must be removed, and about , feet of a dyke to be made. an estimate of the expense of this work with five locks ... amounts to £ , ." the improvement of the river from schenectady to the mouth of the schoharie would call for an expenditure of £ , in dykes, dams, and small canals. at rome a canal , feet long was proposed as a substitute for the ancient portage path; "apparently the mean depth of the earth to be removed for forming the canal would be about twelve feet at the greatest depth, hence about , cubic feet of earth must be removed. the ground though soft is so much interwoven with the roots of trees, and the work will also be so much retarded by the influx of water into the canal whilst digging, that it is supposed that one man could not remove above fifty cubic feet per day, hence , days for one man would be required; which at s. per day amounts to £ , . in very dry times, such as the present, the water in the mohawk is so little that none can be spared to increase the quantity in wood creek. a bulkhead must therefore be placed ... precisely of the height with the level of the water in the mohawk, a boat then in this low state of the river coming up wood creek ... must unlade, and be drawn across the bulkhead into the canal; there reloaded and proceed through the canal into the mohawk river; but when the mohawk river rises so much as that a quantity of water equal to carry an empty boat is added to the water in the river, the water on the bulkhead will rise to nearly that height, and the empty boat will pass. if the rise be equal to the water drawn by a loaded boat, the boat and its cargo will pass the bulkhead into the canal. it is evident by this arrangement the navigation of wood creek will be much mended whenever the water in the mohawk is higher than at present. the whole expence at this place will probably not exceed £ , ." many of the general observations of this committee are important in the history of water transportation across new york. "having premised thus much your committee beg leave to observe, that since (except in such an extraordinary dry season as the present) the river from schenectady to scohara creek is capable of considerable navigation--is still better from thence to the falls, and will be good to fort schuyler, especially if the trees and timber are removed, that therefore, except the removal of the trees and timber west of, and blowing a few rocks on, some of the rapids, east of the falls, nothing further should be speedily attempted in the parts mentioned; but that the primary exertions should be directed to the canal and locks at the falls; that when this is completed, the water in the river above, will probably be sufficiently low to clear away the timber which incommodes it, and to do the like by wood-creek down to the oneida lake, and to remove the most dangerous rocks below the falls. this accomplished, the next in degree of eligibility, appears to your committee, to extend the navigation from schenectady to the navigable waters of the hudson--because when with the improvements above suggested, the river shall be rendered navigable in the greater part of its extent from fort schuyler to schenectady, in all seasons not so dry as the present, for boats of considerable burthen; yet the portage from schenectady to albany, is not only a very heavy charge on the produce of the upper country, but attended with serious inconveniences to those who enter largely into the interior commerce. to prepare for the accomplishment of this apparently very necessary part of the navigation, your committee recommend, that accurate surveys should be made, as early in the ensuing spring as circumstances will permit, to enable the board to determine the direction in which canals are to run, to take the necessary preliminary measures for providing the materials; that, if the works at the falls, &c., should be completed before the whole of the next operating season is expired, the residue may be appropriated to this important part of the navigation, and completed in the succeeding year;--soon after this shall be accomplished, the company will be enabled to judge with precision, what farther is in their power, and if what they have done, should prove beneficial to the community at large, and the resources of the company be then found not competent to such a perfect completion of the whole internal navigation, as is contemplated by the act of incorporation, there can be little doubt but that an enlightened legislature will extend its aid, to objects promising such extensive benefits to every class of citizens. "it now remains for your committee to venture an opinion on the mode of conducting the contemplated improvements. the observations already made will evince the necessity of strict economy in every operation. it will certainly occur to the directors, that in a work so extensive, as that committed to them, much unnecessary expence, and much waste of time must be incurred, unless the executive part of the business be properly conferred; and your committee, to avoid this evil as much as possible, recommend that the executive of the business should be committed to a single directing head, to a man of known and acknowledged abilities, of a mind so comprehensive, as to combine and form all the arrangements, with a minute detail of each part.... "a person who has had practical experience in making canals and locks, would be a desirable and valuable acquisition, but such a person may not be attainable in this country; if so, it has occurred to your committee, that probably the defect might be supplied, if the person to whom the general direction shall be committed was to select two or three of our most ingenious and best informed carpenters, and repair with them to view the works in pennsylvania and virginia, with a critical and close attention. canals and locks are already formed there, and little doubt can be entertained but that every information which gentlemen are capable of communicating will be afforded with alacrity; and your committee have too good an opinion of their countrymen to apprehend, that if your superintendant is a man of genius, and the mechanics who accompany him men of approved reputation in their professions, they would not after such an inspection be able to fulfil the wishes of their employers with satisfaction and credit to both." work on the mohawk river improvements[ ] was begun in april, , by a force of three hundred men; the digging of the canal around the little falls was the most important item in the difficult undertaking. soon the company's funds gave out and work ceased. it was begun again feebly in january, , in hopes that the next legislature would assist by grants, loans, or money, or by subscribing to stock in the company. in this the company was not disappointed, for the state subscribed to two hundred shares of stock in each of the improvement schemes. in may, , work was again resumed, and in november of that year boats could go about little falls in the canal. it was opened november seventeenth and on that day nine boats passed through gratis. in the next thirty days "eight large boats, and one hundred and two small boats, passed the little falls on the mohawk, and paid toll in the aggregate of £ . ."[ ] this famous little canal, for in its day it was a very significant piece of work, was , feet long; it contained five locks, each having a lift of about nine feet; the total rise of boats ascending was forty-four feet and seven inches. the locks were located at the lower end of the canal; "the pits, in which they are placed, have been excavated out of solid rock, of the hardest kind. the area of the chambers was × feet, admitting boats drawing - / feet; the depth of water in the canal above the locks was three feet and would float boats carrying tons; the time of the passage was three quarters of an hour. nearly one-half of the canal ( feet) was cut through solid rock and its total original cost was about $ , ." at the same time, , work was begun at other points, principally on a canal from the mohawk to the hudson (to avoid cohoes falls), but the work soon ceased because of lack of funds. in that summer the preliminary work on the water route down wood creek and the onondaga to lake ontario was done. the little, winding creek was found to be almost incorrigible. it was so crooked that thirteen cuts were made across the points of land contained within its curving banks. the banks were lined with aged trees whose predecessors had fallen into the narrow waterway which they choked with their many huge, straggling branches. it was no less a task to remove the débris from the waterway than it was to remove from the banks the trees which would fall into the water during the next windstorm. many have written gaily of the swift canoes of the olden days, gliding peacefully on the limpid surface of the old-time rivers; a study of the condition of the old mohawk, susquehanna, or ohio would have corrected suggestions which are inherently misrepresentations. on such smaller streams as little river or wood creek, the havoc of the wind was even more noticeable. the company now at work on wood creek planned to clear the banks of timber for four rods back on each bank and, by the report of , the contracts were actually proposed to that effect. the company had trouble with settlers along the rivers, for felling trees which grew along the banks into the water, thereby saving themselves the labor of burning them or hauling them away. the company expected to cut a canal from the mohawk to wood creek near rome, new york, to take the place of the famous portage path. in the report of it was proposed even to mortgage the works at little falls in order to secure funds for this portage canal. the plan of the complete communication was outlined by the company's engineer, mr. weston, december , , and was embodied in the report of . it called for a canal from the hudson, above lansing's mill, to the mohawk above cohoes falls; these falls, seventy feet in height, had made necessary the portage path through the pine barrens from schenectady to albany. the surveyor spoke hopefully of the rapids between schenectady and utica (fort schuyler) since rapids always indicated pools above and below. the rapids were to be overcome by small, low dams with oblique walls "to collect a greater quantity of water in the channel and pond above." in the forty odd miles down wood creek and lake oneida to fort brewerton, the "chief impediment is occasioned by an old indian ell wear [weir]--a wing wall to confine the channel into a narrow compass."[ ] at oswego falls (rochester) a canal was proposed on the south side of the river, sixty-two chains in length, and with a fall of eighteen feet. thence to lake ontario, twelve miles, the rapidity of the river necessitated a series of dams and locks. "arrived at lake ontario, it is almost superfluous to remark (what is so obvious to every person the least acquainted with the geography of the state) on the immense expanse of internal navigation, that opens upon our view--the extent of these lakes (with one obstruction only, that doubtless will be surmounted in a few years) presents to the mind--a scene unequalled in any other part of the globe; offering to the enterprising and adventurous, sources of trade, rapidly advancing to an incalculable amount, ensuring a certain recompence to the individuals, who promote, and the state, that patronizes their important undertakings." thus mr. weston concluded his report. yet the projectors of this work were men ahead of their days; in a great measure public sympathy was not in favor of the undertaking, especially along the line of operation. here the strongest objections were raised, some of them of a curious nature. one petition to the legislature read that the operations on the hudson "will cause the fish to wit shad, herrin &c totally to abandon the north river, a circumstance which would be felt not only by your petitioners but by thousands residing between fort edward and as far southward as the river extends."[ ] it was found to be all the company could do to keep things going on the eastern division of their works; much less carry on the work in the west. in ten years the company spent $ , and, in the end, sank about $ , more. the greatest expense was in remedying faults and failures. "... hence the expenditures baffled all calculation," frankly writes watson; "--besides, we were all novices in this department.... indeed we were so extremely deficient in a knowledge of the science of constructing locks and canals, that we found it expedient to send a committee of respectable mechanics, to examine the imperfect works then constructing on the potowmac,[ ] for the purpose of gaining information--we had no other resource but from books."[ ] wooden locks were built at little falls, german flats, and rome at large expense, and these rotted in six years. it was wooden locks like these that the new yorkers had found the virginians building on the potomac. the locks at german flats and at rome were rebuilt with brick, but the mortar was poor and they fell to pieces. finally, at all points, the locks were built of stone. this experimenting was extremely expensive work and explains why, for a long time, no dividends could be paid. up to december, , the company had received $ , , which was paid on , shares of capital stock. it had received $ , on forfeited shares. the tolls at little falls since , when the works there were completed, amounted to $ , ; at rome, $ , had been taken in as tolls. the sum of $ , had been received as a gift from the state. of the total stock the state held $ , , and the private stockholders, $ , . in a dividend of per cent had been declared; in , a dividend of - / ; in , a dividend of ; - / per cent dividend was paid in , per cent in , per cent in , and - / per cent in . all receipts from to had been absorbed in improvements and repairs.[ ] chapter ii early promoters and their dreams the honor of originating the plan of a canal from the great lakes to the hudson will forever lie with the brilliant, visionary gouverneur morris. the idea must have suggested itself to other minds even if it occurred to morris originally; this cannot be disproved; but morris's shoulders were broad enough for an honor too great for many, and his persistent labors in behalf of the project are altogether consistent with this verdict of a century. in morris was known to have hinted of what we know as the erie canal. in that year he was sent to general schuyler's army at fort edward, then slowly retiring before burgoyne's advancing regiments. morgan lewis, then quartermaster, later governor of new york, leaves this testimony, in a letter dated may , : "one evening in particular, while describing in the most animated and glowing terms the rapid march of the useful arts through our country, when once freed from a foreign yoke; the spirit with which agriculture and commerce both external and internal would advance; the facilities which would be afforded them by the numerous water courses, intersecting the country, and the ease by which they might be made to communicate; he announced, in language highly poetic, and to which i cannot do justice, that at no very distant day the waters of the great western inland seas would, by the aid of man, break through their barriers and mingle with those of the hudson. i recollect asking him how they were to break through these barriers. to which he replied, that numerous streams passed them through natural channels, and that artificial ones might be conducted by the same routes."[ ] in his diary for october, , morris describes his feeling on viewing the caledonian canal in scotland; "when i see this," he writes, "my mind opens to a view of wealth for the interior of america, which hitherto i had rather conjectured than seen."[ ] in a letter to mr. parish in january, , he observes, after seeing a number of ships riding at anchor in lake erie, "hundreds of large ships will, at no distant period, bound on the billows of these inland seas. at this point begins a navigation of more than a thousand miles [to the extremity of lake superior]. shall i lead your astonishment up to the verge of incredulity? i will. know then that one-tenth of the expense, borne by britain in the last campaign, would enable ships to sail from london through hudson's river _into lake erie_."[ ] "the merit of first starting the idea of a direct communication by water, between lake erie and hudson's river," wrote simeon de witt to william darby, february , , "unquestionably belongs to mr. gouverneur morris. the first suggestion i had of it was from him. in , i accidentally met with him at schenectady. we put up for the night at the same inn and passed the evening together. among the numerous topics of conversation, to which his prolific mind, and excursive imagination, gave birth, was that of improving the means of intercourse with the interior of our state. he then mentioned the project of _tapping lake erie_, as he expressed it himself, and leading its waters, in an artificial river, directly across the country to hudson's river. to this i very naturally opposed the intervening hills and valleys as insuperable obstacles. his answer was in substance, _labor improbus omnia vincit_, and that the object would justify the labour and expense, whatever that might be. considering this a romantic thing, and characteristic of the man, i related it on several occasions."[ ] j. geddes wrote william darby, february , , as follows: "in the year of , i learnt for the _first time_, from the surveyor-general [simeon de witt] that mr gouverneur morris, in a conversation between them in the preceding autumn, mentioned the scheme of a canal from lake erie across the country to the hudson river. the idea of saving so much lockage by not descending to lake ontario made a very lively impression on my mind."[ ] with canal building going on in other portions of the country, it was inevitable that the suggestion made by morris could not down. the opportunity offered here in central new york was so favorable, that a people with only half the ambition and ability of new yorkers would have profited sooner or later by it. having studied the tremendous tasks undertaken by the marylanders and pennsylvanians, it can be understood why the erie canal was under consideration at a comparatively early date; the mohawk offered a gateway through the northern foothills of the alleghenies, and beyond lay lakes and rivers in the direct route to lake erie. there could be no question of water supply at the summit level; the waterways to be crossed, however, might cause the engineers no little trouble. "i have not been able to trace," mr. watson leaves record, "any measure, public or private, tending towards this great enterprize, till the th october, , when an anonymous publication, under the signature of hercules, appeared in the genesee messenger of canandaigua, which is attributed to jesse hawley, esq. now [ ] collector of the port of rochester."[ ] it is affirmed that these communications were not inspired by the prophetic words of morris;[ ] they were fourteen in number, and were contributed weekly from october, , to march, . hawley had thought out his problem with great seriousness and detail, and had splendidly planned a canal from buffalo to utica, where improved navigation on the mohawk was to be depended upon. the cost he estimated at five millions. it is not at all unlikely that hawley's attention was the more quickly attracted to this subject because of the celebrated message of president jefferson to congress in this fall of , just when hercules was writing his articles. it was probably the general discussion of this great theme, more than the result of any one influence, which led to the crystallization of the movement, when on february , , joshua forman, a member of the new york legislature, from onondaga county, offered the following bill: "whereas the president of the united states by his message to congress, delivered at their meeting in october last, did recommend that the surplus money in the treasury, over and above such sums as could be applied to the extinguishment of the national debt, be appropriated to the great national objects of opening canals and making turnpike roads. and whereas the state of new york, holding the first commercial rank in the united states, possesses within herself the best route of communication between the atlantic and western waters, by means of a canal, between the tide waters of the hudson river and lake erie,--through which the wealth and trade of that large portion of the united states, bordering on the upper lakes, would for ever flow to our great commercial emporium. and whereas the legislatures of several of our sister states, have made great exertions to secure to their own states the trade of that wide extended country, west of the alleganies, under natural advantages vastly inferior to those of this state. and whereas it is highly important that these advantages should as speedily as possible be improved, both to preserve and increase the commerce and national importance of this state:--resolved, (if the honourable the senate concur herein) that a joint committee be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of exploring, and causing an accurate survey to be made of the most eligible and direct route for a canal to open a communication between the tide waters of the hudson river and lake erie; to the end that congress may be enabled to appropriate such sums as may be necessary to the accomplishment of that great national object." in the general appropriation bill now passed the sum of $ was allotted to a survey of this proposed canal and the work was done by james geddes, whose report, at a later day, became important.[ ] mr. forman's motion passed, but amounted to nothing. in thomas eddy, the treasurer of the old western inland lock navigation company, called on general platt, a member of the new york senate, and the two conversed seriously about the great plan which was slowly coming more and more to the front. platt affirmed that he would offer a resolution in the legislature looking toward increasing public interest in the great dream of the farthest-seeing men of new york. perhaps the two drafted this resolution; at least, the very next day platt handed de witt clinton a draft of a resolution. clinton liked it. its author thereupon offered it in the senate and clinton supported it and it passed, march , . it began: "whereas, the agricultural and commercial interests of the state, require that the inland navigation from the hudson river to lake ontario and lake erie, be improved and completed on a scale commensurate to the great advantages derived from the accomplishment of that important object: and whereas, it is doubtful whether the resources of the western inland lock navigation company are adequate to such improvements: "_therefore resolved_, that if the honourable the assembly consent herein, that gouverneur morris, stephen van rensselaer, de witt clinton, simeon de witt, william north, thomas eddy and peter b. porter, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners for exploring the whole route, examining the present condition of the said navigation, and considering what further improvements ought to be made therein; and that they be authorized to direct and procure such surveys as to them shall appear necessary and proper in relation to these objects; and that they report thereon to the legislature, at their next session, presenting a full view of the subjects referred to them, with their estimates and opinion thereon."[ ] on april following $ , was appropriated for the expenses of the surveys called for in the above resolution.[ ] accordingly the commissioners named explored the country between the hudson and lake erie through which the prospective waterway would run, in the summer of with jesse hawley's contributions of - in their hands. at the next meeting of the legislature they presented an elaborate report. it would seem that the committee had passed over the route of the western inland lock navigation company from schenectady to lake ontario; james geddes, the experienced engineer who had given some little study to the region under survey, made a map and a few rough estimates. the report opens with the declaration that the idea of making small rivers navigable had long ago been exploded in europe; this was a polite way of saying that the days of the lock navigation company were fairly numbered. the report affirms that a canal parallel with the rivers improved by the navigation company (mohawk, wood creek, and oswego) is practicable as far as oswego falls (rochester). the twelve remaining miles to lake ontario might well be covered by a railway. however, the committee had another plan, that of building the canal straight west from the oswego to lake erie, avoiding lake ontario's winds and waves entirely. certain interesting commercial questions were here involved. even with the advantages offered by the western inland lock navigation company, new york and albany could not hold their own in competition with montreal. freight rates down the st. lawrence were marvelously cheap; fifty cents a hundredweight, only, was charged by descending boatmen from kingston to montreal--one-half the early rate from buffalo to new york on the erie canal when it was at last built. the rate of freight up the st. lawrence was only one dollar per hundredweight. if any point east of niagara falls was made the terminus of new york's canal, it was feared that montreal would profit by it more, perhaps, than the cities it was intended to build up and benefit. mr. geddes favored the direct route to lake erie by way of the "tanawanta" river. he advanced the following rough estimate of distances in the direct route: _miles_ _descent_ (_feet_) mouth of tanawanta genesee river (about) seneca lake cayuga lake rome (summit) little falls schoharie summit between schenectady and albany (about) hudson river --- --- totals the actual descent would be feet. mr. geddes's plan included aqueducts across the genesee river twenty-six feet high and one hundred and fifty yards long, across the mouth of seneca lake eighty-three feet high, and across the mouth of cayuga one hundred and thirty feet high. as a detailed survey had not been made, it was impossible to estimate accurately the expense. agitation of the great question was the only tangible result of this investigation. in robert livingston and robert fulton were added to the committee, and a report was made to the legislature, march, . this report showed that the friends of the great waterway had resolved to exhaust all resources before relinquishing the work. they applied to congress through morris and de witt clinton for "co-operation and aid in making a canal navigation between the great lakes and hudson's river, which, in the opinion of the legislature of new-york, will encourage agriculture, promote commerce and manufacture, ficilitate [_sic_] a free and general intercourse between different parts of the united states, tend to the aggrandizement and prosperity of the country, and consolidate and strengthen the union." the legislatures of the various states were likewise asked to lend sympathy and aid--to co-operate and aid new york in opening the communication between the great lakes and the hudson. "... the general advantage to the whole nation," it was urged, "is of such preponderating influence, as to render the present object of principal, if not exclusive, concern to the national legislature." the ways of help suggested were pecuniary assistance in the form of loans or gifts, and a friendly voice in favor of the project in congress. a letter to president madison expressed the hope that in his annual message to congress he would in every consistent way urge the plan of national assistance. accordingly in madison's message, dated december , , he enclosed the act of the new york legislature and said: "the particular undertaking contemplated by the state of new-york ... will recall the attention of congress to the signal advantages to be derived to the united states, from a general system of internal communication and conveyance.... as some of those advantages have an intimate connexion with arrangements and exertions for the general security, it is a period calling for these that the merits of such a system will be seen in the strongest lights." thomas eddy wrote simeon de witt january , "... accounts from washington this days post say that the expectations of our committee respecting aid from congress are very flattering--the project of a canal from erie to the hudson has many friends west of the allegany--we are full of the news that de witt clinton will be president and munro vice p------this is the united wish of all parties in this city except madisonians." a great, comprehensive plan of national aid to local improvements was proposed, by means of giving grants of land in michigan to a large number of improvement schemes in various states. article seven read: "_and be it further enacted_, that four million acres of land, part of the tracts above mentioned, shall vest in and belong to the said state of new-york, so soon as a canal shall be opened from lake erie to hudson's river, not less than sixty-three feet wide on the top, forty-five feet wide at the bottom, and five feet deep (and, if practicable, along an inclined plane, descending not more than six feet in a mile,) to hudson's river, or a bason within four miles thereof; on condition, nevertheless, that no tax, toll, or impost, shall be levied or taken for the passage of boats not exceeding sixty feet long, eighteen feet wide or drawing more than three feet of water on the same canal, other than such as may be needful to pay the annual expenses of superintending and keeping the same in repair."[ ] the war which now came on drove all plans of internal improvement from men's minds until the struggle for honor and independence was won. the bill quoted was never passed by congress; a law passed by the new york legislature in , authorizing the canal commissioners to borrow five million dollars on the credit of the state, was repealed in .[ ] these had been hard years for new york. in the autumn of , judge platt, while holding court in new york city, was in consultation with clinton and eddy concerning the canal project, which had temporarily dropped from public attention. though the outlook was gloomy and discouraging, these men determined to revive public interest in the project if it was in their power. an advertisement was placed in the papers calling for a public meeting at the city hotel to consider asking the new york legislature to attack the great problem anew. a similar call was issued at albany for a meeting to be held february , , at the tontine coffee house, signed by ten friends of the movement. william bayard was chosen chairman of the new york meeting, and the speakers were platt, clinton, and swartwout; clinton, swartwout, and thomas eddy were appointed a committee to prepare a memorial for the legislature. this document was drafted by de witt clinton and marks a brilliant crisis in the long, wearing struggle this brave coterie of men had made for their favorite project. new york was recovering from the devastation and prostration caused by the war. the awakening courage of a brave people was stirred by the appeal of clinton's; it was so "comprehensive a view of the immense advantages that would be produced to the state by the completion of the canal, that copies sent throughout the state were eagerly signed by thousands, and carried full conviction to every mind. the project immediately became popular, and it was the means of rousing the legislature, and produced several successive laws in prosecuting this great work. a system of finance was drawn up by de witt clinton which with some trifling alterations, was adopted by the legislature and is now [ ] in successful operation."[ ] this memorial, in which the erie canal was born, and which throws much light on the whole problem of early transportation, is given in its entirety in the following chapter. chapter iii clinton's memorial[ ] to the legislature of the state of new-york. the memorial of the subscribers, in favor of a canal navigation, between the great western lakes and the tidewaters of the hudson, most respectfully represents: that they approach the legislature with a solicitude proportionate to the importance of this great undertaking, and with a confidence founded on the enlightened public spirit of the constituted authorities. if, in presenting the various considerations which have induced them to make this appeal, they should occupy more time than is usual on common occasions, they must stand justified by the importance of the object. connected as it is with the essential interest of our country, and calculated in its commencement to reflect honor on the state, and its completion, to exalt it to an elevation of unparalleled prosperity; your memorialists are fully persuaded, that centuries may pass away before a subject is again presented so worthy of all your attention, and so deserving of all your patronage and support. the improvement of the means of intercourse between different parts of the same country, has always been considered the first duty and the most noble employment of government. if it be important that the inhabitants of the same country should be bound together by a community of interests, and a reciprocation of benefits; that agriculture should find a sale for its productions, manufacturers a vent for their fabrics; and commerce a market for its commodities; it is your incumbent duty, to open, facilitate, and improve internal navigation. the pre-eminent advantages of canals have been established by the unerring test of experience. they unite cheapness, celerity, certainty, and safety in the transportation of commodities. it is calculated that the expense of transporting on a canal, amounts to one cent a ton per mile, or one dollar a ton for one hundred miles; while the usual cost by land conveyance, is one dollar and sixty cents per hundredweight, or thirty-two dollars a ton for the same distance. the celerity and certainty of this mode of transportation are evident. a loaded boat can be towed by one or two horses, at the rate of thirty miles a day. hence, the seller or buyer can calculate with sufficient precision on his sales or purchases, the period of their arrival, the amount of their avails, and the extent of their value. a vessel on a canal is independent of winds, tides, and currents, and is not exposed to the delays attending conveyances by land: and with regard to safety, there can be no competition. the injuries to which commodities are exposed when transported by land, and the dangers to which they are liable when conveyed by natural waters, are rarely experienced on canals. in the latter way, comparatively speaking, no waste is incurred, no risk is encountered, and no insurance is required. hence, it follows, that canals operate upon the general interests of society, in the same way that machines for saving labor do in manufactures; they enable the farmer, the mechanic, and the merchant, to convey their commodities to market, and to receive a return, at least thirty times cheaper than by roads. as to all the purposes of beneficial communication, they diminish the distance between places, and therefore encourage the cultivation of the most extensive and remote parts of the country. they create new sources of internal trade, and augment the old channels, for, the cheaper the transportation, the more expanded will be its operation, and the greater the mass of the products of the country for sale, the greater will be the commercial exchange of returning merchandize, and the greater the encouragement to manufacturers, by the increased economy and comfort of living, together with the cheapness and abundance of raw materials; and canals are consequently advantageous to towns and villages, by destroying the monopoly of the adjacent country, and advantageous to the whole country; for though some rival commodities may be introduced into the old markets, yet many new markets will be opened by increasing population, enlarging old and erecting new towns, augmenting individual and aggregate wealth, and extending foreign commerce. the prosperity of ancient egypt, and china, may in a great degree be attributed to their inland navigation. with little foreign commerce, the former of those countries by these means attained and the latter possesses, a population and opulence in proportion to their extent, unequalled in any other. and england and holland, the most commercial nations of modern times, deprived of their canals, would lose the most prolific sources of their prosperity and greatness. inland navigation is in fact to the same community what exterior navigation is to the great family of mankind. as the ocean connects the nations of the earth, by the ties of commerce and the benefits of communication, so do lakes, rivers, and canals operate upon the inhabitants of the same country: and it has been well observed, that "were we to make the supposition of two states, the one having all its cities, towns, and villages upon navigable rivers and canals, and having an easy communication with each other; the other possessing the common conveyance of land carriage, and supposing both states to be equal as to soil, climate, and industry, commodities and manufactures in the former state, might be furnished thirty per cent. cheaper than in the latter: or in other words, the first state would be a third richer, and more affluent than the other." the general arguments in favor of inland navigation, apply with peculiar force to the united states, and most emphatically to this state. a geographical view of the country, will at once demonstrate the unexampled prosperity that will arise from our cultivating the advantages which nature has dispensed with so liberal a hand. a great chain of mountains passes through the united states, and divides them into eastern and western america. in various places, rivers break through those mountains, and are finally discharged into the ocean. to the west, there is a collection of inland lakes exceeding in its aggregate extent, some of the most celebrated seas of the old world. atlantic america, on account of the priority of its settlement, its vicinity to the ocean, and its favorable position for commerce, has many advantages. the western country, however, has a decided superiority in the fertility of its soil, the benignity of its climate, and the extent of its territory. to connect these great sections by inland navigation, to unite our mediterranean seas with the ocean, is evidently an object of the first importance to the general prosperity. nature has effected this in some measure; the st lawrence emanates from the lakes, and discharges itself into the ocean in a foreign territory. some of the streams which flow into the mississippi, originate near the great lakes and pass around the chain of mountains. some of the waters of this state which pass into lake ontario, approach the mohawk; but our hudson has decided advantages. it affords a tide navigation for vessels of tons to albany and troy, miles above new-york, and this peculiarity distinguishes it from all the other bays and rivers in the united states, viz: the tide in no other ascends higher than the granite ridge, or within thirty miles of the blue ridge, or eastern chain of mountains. in the hudson, it breaks through the blue ridge, and ascends above the eastern termination of the catskill, or great western chain; and there are no interrupting mountains to prevent a communication between it and the great western lakes. the importance of the hudson river to the old settled parts of the state, may be observed in the immense wealth which is daily borne on its waters, in the flourishing villages and cities on its banks, and in the opulence and prosperity of all the country connected with it, either remotely or immediately. it may also be readily conceived, if we only suppose that by some awful physical calamity, some overwhelming convulsion of nature, this great river was exhausted of its waters: where then would be the abundance of our markets, the prosperity of our farmers, the wealth of our merchants? our villages would become deserted; our flourishing cities would be converted into masses of mouldering ruins, and this state would be precipitated into poverty and insignificance. if a river or natural canal, navigable about miles, has been productive of such signal benefits, what blessings might not be expected, if it were extended miles through the most fertile country in the universe, and united with the great seas of the west! the contemplated canal would be this extension, and viewed in reference only to the productions and consumptions of this state, would perhaps convey more riches on its waters, than any other canal in the world. connected with the hudson, it might be considered as a navigable stream that extends miles through a fertile country, embracing a great population, and abounding with all the productions of industry. if we were to suppose all the rivers and canals in england and wales, combined into one, and discharged into the ocean at a great city, after passing through the heart of that country, then we can form a distinct idea of the importance of the projected canal; but it indeed comprehends within its influence a greater extent of territory, which will in time embrace a greater population. if this work be so important, when we confine our views to this state alone, how unspeakably beneficial must it appear, when we extend our contemplations to the great lakes, and the country affiliated with them! waters extending two thousand miles from the beginning of the canal, and a country containing more territory than all great britain and ireland, and at least as much as france. while we do not pretend that all the trade of our western world, will centre in any given place, (nor indeed would it be desirable if it were practicable, because we sincerely wish the prosperity of all the states,) yet we contend, that our natural advantages are so transcendant, that it is in our power to obtain the greater part, and put successful competition at defiance. as all the other communications are impeded by mountains, the only formidable rivals of new-york for this great prize, are new-orleans and montreal, the former relying on the mississippi, and the latter on the st lawrence. in considering this subject we will suppose the commencement of the canal somewhere near the out-let of lake erie. the inducements for preferring one market to another, involve a variety of considerations; the principal are the cheapness and facility of transportation, and the goodness of the market. if a cultivator or manufacturer can convey his commodities with the same ease and expedition to new-york, and obtain higher price for them than at montreal or new-orleans, and at the same time supply himself at a cheaper rate with such articles as he may want in return, he will undoubtedly prefer new-york. it ought also to be distinctly understood, that a difference in price may be equalized by a difference in the expense of conveyance, and that the vicinity of the market is at all times a consideration of great importance. from buffalo, at or near the supposed commencement of the canal, it is miles to the city of new-york, and from that city to the ocean, miles. from buffalo to montreal miles; from montreal to the chops of the st lawrence . from buffalo to new orleans by the great lakes, and the illinois river, , miles; from new-orleans to the gulf of mexico . hence, the distance from buffalo to the ocean by the way of new-york is miles; by montreal ; and by new-orleans , . as the upper lakes have no important outlet but into lake erie, we are warranted in saying, that all their trade must be auxiliary to its trade, and that a favorable communication by water from buffalo, will render new-york the great depot and warehouse of the western world. in order, however, to obviate all objections that may be raised against the place of comparison, let us take three other positions, _chicago_ near the southwest end of lake michigan, and a creek of that name, which sometimes communicates with the illinois, the nearest river from the lakes to the mississippi; _detroit_, on the river of that name, between lakes st clair and erie; and _pittsburgh_, at the confluence of the alleghany and monongahela rivers, forming the head of the ohio and communicating with le beuf by water, which is distant fifteen miles from lake erie. the distance from chicago to the ocean by new-york, is about miles. to the mouth of the mississippi, by new-orleans, near miles, and to the mouth of the st lawrence, by montreal, near miles. the distance from detroit to the ocean by new-york, is near miles. from detroit to the ocean by montreal, is miles. from detroit to the ocean, pursuing the nearest route by cleveland, and down the muskingum, miles. the distance from pittsburgh to the ocean, by le beuf, lake, buffalo, and new york, is miles. the same to the ocean by buffalo and montreal, miles. the same to the ocean by the ohio and mississippi, miles. these different comparative views show that new-york has, in every instance, a decided advantage over her great rivals. in other essential respects the scale preponderates equally in her favor. supposing a perfect equality of advantages as to the navigation of the lakes, yet from buffalo, as the point of departure, there is no comparison of benefits. from that place the voyager to montreal has to encounter the inconveniences of a portage at the cataract of niagara, to load and unload at least three times, to brave the tempests of lake ontario and the rapids of the st lawrence. in like manner the voyager to new-orleans, has a portage between the chicago and illinois, an inconvenient navigation in the latter stream, besides the well known obstacles and hazards of the mississippi. and until the invention of steamboats, an ascending navigation was considered almost impracticable. this inconvenience is, however, still forcibly experienced on that river, as well as on the st lawrence between montreal and lake ontario. the navigation from lake erie to albany, can be completed in ten days with perfect safety on the canal; and from albany to new-york, there is the best sloop navigation in the world. from buffalo to albany, a ton of commodities could be conveyed on the intended canal, for three dollars, and from albany to new-york, according to the present prices of sloop transportation, for $ . , and the return cargoes would be the same. we have not sufficient data upon which to predicate very accurate estimates with regard to montreal and new orleans; but we have no hesitation in saying, that the descending conveyance to the former, would be four times the expense, and to the latter, at least ten times, and that the cost of the ascending transportation would be greatly enhanced. it has been stated by several of the most respectable citizens of ohio, that the present expense of transportation by water from the city of new-york to sandusky, including the carrying places, is $ . per hundred, and allowing it to cost two dollars per hundred for transportation to clinton, the geographical centre of the state, the whole expense would be $ . , which is only fifty cents more than the transportation from philadelphia to pittsburgh, and at least $ . less than the transportation by land and water from these places, and that, in their opinion, new-york is the natural emporium of that trade, and that the whole commercial intercourse of the western country north of the ohio, will be secured to her by the contemplated canal. in addition to this, it may be stated that the st lawrence is generally locked up by ice seven months in the year, during which time produce lies a dead weight on the hands of the owner; that the navigation from new-york to the ocean, is at all times easy, and seldom obstructed by ice, and that the passage from the balize to new-orleans is tedious; that perhaps one out of five of the western boatmen who descend the mississippi, become victims to disease; and that many important articles of western production are injured or destroyed by the climate. new-york is, therefore, placed in a happy medium between the insalubrious heat of the mississippi, and the severe cold of the st lawrence. she has also pre-eminent advantages, as to the goodness and extensiveness of her market. all the productions of the soil, and the fabrics of art, can command an adequate price, and foreign commodities can generally be procured at a lower rate. the trade of the mississippi is already in the hands of her merchants, and although accidental and transient causes may have concurred to give montreal an ascendency in some points, yet the superiority of new-york is founded in nature, and if improved by the wisdom of government, must always soar above competition. granting, however, that the rivals of new-york will command a considerable portion of the western trade, yet it must be obvious, from these united considerations, that she will engross more than sufficient to render her the greatest commercial city in the world. the whole line of canal will exhibit boats loaded with flour, pork, beef, pot and pearl ashes, flaxseed, wheat, barley, corn, hemp, wool, flax, iron, lead, copper, salt, gypsum, coal, tar, fur, peltry, ginseng, bees-wax, cheese, butter, lard, staves, lumber, and the other valuable productions of our country; and also, with merchandise from all parts of the world. great manufacturing establishments will spring up; agriculture will establish its granaries, and commerce its warehouses in all directions. villages, towns, and cities, will line the banks of the canal, and the shore of the hudson from erie to new-york. "the wilderness and the solitary place will become glad, and the desert will rejoice and blossom as the rose." while it is universally admitted that there ought to be a water communication between the great lakes and the tide waters of the hudson, a contrariety of opinion (greatly to be deplored, as tending to injure the whole undertaking) has arisen with respect to the route that ought to be adopted. it is contended on the one side, that the canal should commence in the vicinity of the outlet of lake erie, and be carried in the most eligible direction across the country to the head waters of the mohawk river at rome: from whence it should be continued along the valley of the mohawk to the hudson. it is, on the other side, insisted, that it should be cut around the cataract of niagara; that lake ontario should be navigated to the mouth of the oswego river; that the navigation of that river, and wood creek, should be improved and pursued until the junction of the latter with the mohawk at rome. as to the expediency of a canal from rome to the hudson, there is no discrepance of opinion: the route from rome to the great lakes constitutes the subject of controversy. if both plans were presented to the legislature, as worthy of patronage, and if the advocates of the route by lake ontario did not insist that their schemes should be exclusive, and of course, that its adoption should prove fatal to the other project, this question would not exhibit so serious an aspect. if two roads are made, that which is most accommodating will be preferred; but if only one is established, whether convenient or inconvenient to individuals, beneficial or detrimental to the public, it must necessarily be used. we are so fully persuaded of the superiority of the erie canal, that although we should greatly regret so useless an expenditure of public money as making a canal round the cataract of niagara, yet we should not apprehend any danger from the competition of montreal, if the former were established. the invincible argument in favor of the erie canal is, that it would diffuse the blessings of internal navigation over the most fertile and populous parts of the state, and supply the whole community with salt, gypsum, and in all probability coal. whereas the ontario route would accommodate but an inconsiderable part of our territory, and instead of being a great highway, leading directly to the object, it would be a circuitous by-road, inconvenient in all essential respects. the most serious objection against the ontario route, is, that it will inevitably enrich the territory of a foreign power, at the expense of the united states. if a canal is cut around the falls of niagara, and no countervailing nor counteracting system is adopted in relation to lake erie, the commerce of the west is lost to us for ever. when a vessel once descends into ontario, she will pursue the course ordained by nature. the british government are fully aware of this, and are now taking the most active measures to facilitate the passage down the st lawrence. it is not to be concealed, that a great portion of the productions of our western country are now transported to montreal, even with all the inconveniences attending the navigation down the seneca and oswego rivers; but if this route is improved in the way proposed, and the other not opened, the consequences will be most prejudicial. a barrel of flour is now transported from cayuga lake to montreal for $ . , and it cannot be conveyed to albany for less than $ . . this simple fact speaks a volume of admonitory instruction. but taking it for granted, that the ontario route will bring the commerce of the west to new-york, yet the other ought to be preferred, on account of the superior facilities it affords. in the first place, it is nearer. the distance from buffalo to rome, is less than miles in the course of the intended canal: by lake ontario and oswego, it is . . a loaded boat could pass from buffalo to rome by the erie route, in less than seven days, and with entire safety. by the ontario route, it will be perfectly uncertain, and not a little hazardous. after leaving niagara river, it would have to pass an inland sea to the extent of miles, as boisterous and as dangerous as the atlantic. and besides a navigation of at least twenty miles over another lake, it would have to ascend two difficult streams for miles; no calculation could then be made, either on the certainty or safety of this complicated and inconvenient navigation. . when a lake vessel would arrive at buffalo, she would have to unload her cargo, and when this cargo arrived at albany by the erie canal, it would be shifted on board of a river-sloop, in order to be transported to new-york. from the time of the first loading on the great lakes, to the last unloading at the storehouses in new-york, there would be three loadings and three unloadings on this route. but when a lake vessel arrived with a view of passing the canal of niagara, she would be obliged to shift her lading for that purpose, for it would be almost impracticable to use lake vessels on the niagara river, on account of the difficulty of the ascending navigation. at lewistown, or some other place of the niagara, another change of the cargo on board of a lake vessel for ontario would be necessary: at oswego another, and at albany another; so that on this route there would be five loadings and five unloadings before the commodities were stored in new york. this difference is an object of great consequence, and presents the most powerful objections against the ontario route; for to the delay we must add the accumulated expense of these changes of the cargo, the storage, the waste and damage, especially by theft (where the chances of depredation are increased by the merchandise passing through a multitude of hands) and the additional lake vessels, boats and men that will be required, thereby increasing in this respect alone, the cost two thirds above that attending the other course. and in general it may be observed, that the difference between a single and double freight forms an immense saving. goods are brought from europe for twenty cents per cubic foot; whereas the price from philadelphia to baltimore, is equal to ten cents. this shews how far articles once embarked, are conveyed with a very small addition of freight, and if such is the difference between a single and a double freight, how much greater must it be in the case under consideration! if the fall from lake erie to lake ontario be feet, as stated in mr secretary gallatin's report on canals, it will require at least locks for a navigation around the cataract. whether it would be practicable to accommodate all the vessels which the population and opulence of future times will create in those waters, with a passage through so many locks accumulated within a short distance, is a question well worthy of serious consideration. at all events, the demurrage must be frequent, vexatious, and expensive. when we consider the immense expense which would attend the canal proposed on the niagara river; a canal requiring so many locks, and passing through such difficult ground; when we view the oswego river from its outlet at oswego to its origin in oneida lake, encumbered with dangerous rapids and falls, and flowing through a country almost impervious to canal operations; and when we contemplate the numerous embarrassments which are combined with the improvement of wood creek, we are prepared to believe that the expense of this route will not greatly fall short of the other. it is, however, alleged that it is not practicable to make this canal; and that if practicable, the expense will be enormous, and will far transcend the faculties of the state. lake erie is elevated feet above the tide waters at troy. the only higher ground between it and the hudson is but a few miles from the lake: and this difficulty can be easily surmounted by deep cutting; of course no tunnel will be required. the rivers which cross the line of the canal, can be easily passed by aqueducts; on every summit level, plenty of water can be obtained; whenever there is a great rise or descent, locks can be erected, and the whole line will not require more than sixty-two; perhaps there is not an equal extent of country in the world, which presents fewer obstacles to the establishment of a canal. the liberality of nature has created the great ducts and arteries, and the ingenuities of art can easily provide the connecting veins. the general physiognomy of the country is champaign, and exhibits abundance of water: a gentle rising from the hudson to the lake; a soil well adapted for such operations: no impassable hills, and no insurmountable waters. as to distance, it is not to be considered in relation to practicability. if a canal can be made for fifty miles, it can be made for three hundred, provided there is no essential variance in the face of the country; the only difference will be that in the latter case, it will take more time, and consume more money. but this opinion does not rest for its support upon mere speculation. canals have been successfully cut through more embarrassing ground, in various parts of the united states; and even in part of the intended route from schenectady to rome, locks have been erected at the little falls, and at other places; and short canals have been made, and all these operations have taken place in the most difficult parts of the whole course of the contemplated erie navigation. mr. william weston, one of the most celebrated civil engineers in europe, who has superintended canals in this state and pennsylvania, and who is perfectly well acquainted with the country has thus expressed his opinion on the subject: "should your noble but stupendous plan of uniting lake erie with the hudson, be carried into effect, you have to fear no rivalry. the commerce of the immense extent of country, bordering on the upper lakes, is yours for ever, and to such an incalculable amount as would baffle all conjecture to conceive. its execution would confer immortal honor on the projectors and supporters, and would in its eventual consequences, render new-york the greatest commercial emporium in the world, with perhaps the exception, at some distant day of new-orleans, or some other depot at the mouth of the majestic mississippi. from your perspicuous topographical description and neat plan and profile of the route of the contemplated canal, i entertain little doubt of the practicability of the measure." with regard to the expense of this work, different estimates will be formed. the commissioners appointed for that purpose were of opinion that it would not cost more than five millions of dollars. on this subject we must be guided by the light which experience affords in analogous cases. the canal of languedoc, or canal of the two seas in france, connects the mediterranean and the atlantic, and is miles in length: it has locks and sluices, and a tunnel feet long. the breadth of the canal is feet, and its depth six feet: it was begun in , and finished in , and cost £ , sterling, or £ , sterling a mile. the holstein canal, begun in , and finished in , extends about fifty miles: is feet wide at the top, and at the bottom, and not less than ten feet deep in any part. ships drawing nine feet four inches of water, pass through it from the german ocean, in the vicinity of tonningen, into the baltic. from two to three thousand ships have passed in one year. the expense of the whole work was a little more than a million and a half of dollars, which would be at the rate of , dollars a mile for this ship navigation. the extreme length of the canal from the forth to the clyde, in scotland, is miles. it rises and falls feet by means of locks. vessels pass drawing eight feet water, having feet beam, and feet length. the cost is calculated at £ , sterling, which is at the rate of about , dollars a mile. but this was a canal for ships drawing eight feet of water, with an extraordinary rise for its length, and having more than one lock for every mile. the following will give an idea of the money expended on such works in england:-- _cost_ _miles_ the rochdale canal £ , - / ellesmere , kennet and avon , grand junction , leeds and liverpool , the miles of canal are - / , and the cost is £ , , sterling, or about , dollars per mile. but in the estimation of the cost of these canals, unquestionably the price of the land over which they pass is included, and this is enormous. the land alone for one canal of miles, is said to have cost £ , sterling. with us this would be but small. if we look at the history of the english canals, we shall see how many objects of great expense are connected with them, with which we should have nothing to do, and that most of them have encountered and surmounted obstacles which we should not meet with. for instance, the grand junction canal passes more than once the great ridge which divides the waters of england; ours will pass over a country which in comparison is champaign. but it is said that the price of labor in our country is so much above what it is in england, that we must add greatly to the cost of her canals in estimating the expense of ours. but that is certainly a false conclusion, for not only must the price of the land and the adventitious objects which have been before referred to, be deducted from the cost of the foreign canals, but we must consider that there will be almost as great a difference in our favor in the cost of the material and brute labor, as there is in favor of england as to human labor, and it is well known that so much human labor is not now required on canals as formerly. machines for facilitating excavation have been invented and used with great success. mr. gallatin's report on canals contains several estimates of the cost of contemplated ones. from weymouth to taunton, in massachusetts, the expense of a canal of miles, with a lockage of feet, is set down at $ , , . from brunswick to trenton, miles, with a lockage of feet, , dollars. from christiana to elk, miles with a lockage of feet, , dollars. from elizabeth river to pasquotank, miles, with a lockage of feet, , dollars. these estimates thus vary from , to less than , dollars a mile, and furnish the medium of about , dollars a mile. but it must be observed that they are for small distances, are calculated to surmount particular obstacles, and contemplate an extraordinary number of locks, and that they do not therefore furnish proper data from which to form correct conclusions, with respect to the probable cost of an extensive canal, sometimes running over a great number of miles upon a level without any expense for lockage, or any other expense than the mere earthwork. mr. weston, before mentioned, estimated the expense of a canal from the tide waters at troy to lake ontario, a distance of miles, (exclusive of lake oneida,) going around the cohoes, and embracing locks of eight feet lift each, at , , dollars, a little more than , dollars a mile. fortunately, however, we have more accurate information than mere estimates. in the appendix to mr gallatin's report, it is stated by mr joshua gilpin, that "by actual measurement, and the sums paid on the feeder, it was found that one mile on the delaware and chesapeake canal, the most difficult of all others, from its being nearly altogether formed through hard rocky ground, cost , dollars, and one other mile perfectly level, and without particular impediments, cost , dollars; from hence, the general average would be reduced to , dollars per mile." the middlesex canal,[ ] in massachusetts, runs over twenty-eight miles of ground, presenting obstacles much greater than can be expected on the route we purpose. this canal cost , dollars, which is about , dollars a mile. it contains locks of solid masonry and excellent workmanship and to accomplish this work, it was necessary to dig in some places to the depth of feet, to cut through ledges of rocks, to fill some vallies and morasses, and to throw several aqueducts across the intervening rivers. one of these across the river shawshine is feet long, and feet above the river. from the tonewanta creek to the seneca river, is a fall of feet from thence to the rome summit, is a rise of " from thence to the hudson river, is a fall of " --- the whole rise and fall feet this will require locks of ten feet lift each. the expense of such locks as experimentally proved in several instances in this state would be about , dollars. we have seen that on the middlesex canal, there are locks for miles, which is a lock for somewhat less than every mile, whereas, locks for miles is but about one lock for every five miles; and the lockage of the middlesex canal, would alone cost , dollars. it would, therefore, appear to be an allowance perhaps too liberal, to consider the cost of it as a fair criterion of the expense of canals in general in this country, and of this in particular. reservoirs and tunnels, are the most expensive part of the operation, and none will be necessary in our whole route. the expense of the whole earth work of excavating a mile of canal on level ground fifty feet wide and five feet deep, at cents per cubic yard, and allowing for the cost of forming and trimming the banks, puddling, etc. will not exceed dollars per mile, and the only considerable aqueduct on the whole line, will be over the genesee river. from a deliberate consideration of these different estimates and actual expenditures, we are fully persuaded that this great work will not cost more than , dollars a mile, or six millions of dollars in the whole; but willing to make every possible allowance; and even conceding that it will cost double that sum, yet still we contend that there is nothing which ought to retard its execution. the canal cannot be made in a short time. it will be the work perhaps of or years. the money will not be wanted at once. the expenditure, in order to be beneficial ought not to exceed , dollars a year, and the work may be accomplished in two ways, either by companies, incorporated for particular sections of the route, or by the state. if the first is resorted to, pecuniary sacrifices will still be necessary on the part of the public, and great care ought to be taken to guard against the high tolls, which will certainly injure, if not ruin the whole enterprise. if the state shall see fit to achieve this great work, there can be no difficulty in providing funds. stock can be created and sold at an advanced price. the ways and means of paying the interest will be only required. after the first year, supposing an annual expenditure of , dollars, thirty thousand dollars must be raised to pay an interest of six per cent; after the second year , , and so on. at this rate of interest they will regularly increase with beneficial appropriation, and will be so little in amount that it may be raised in many shapes without being burdensome to the community. in all human probability, the augmented revenue proceeding from the public salt works, and the increased price of the state lands, in consequence of this undertaking, will more than extinguish the interest of the debt contracted for that purpose. we should also take into view, the land already subscribed by individuals for this work, amounting to , acres. these donations, together with those which may be confidently anticipated, will exceed in value a million of dollars, and it will be at all times in the power of the state to raise a revenue from the imposition of transit duties, which may be so light as scarcely to be felt, and yet the income may be so great, as in a short time to extinguish the debt, and this might take effect on the completion of every important section of the work. if the legislature shall consider this important project in the same point of view, and shall unite with us in opinion, that the general prosperity is intimately and essentially involved in its prosecution, we are fully persuaded that now is the proper time for its commencement. delays are the refuge of weak minds, and to procrastinate on this occasion is to show a culpable inattention to the bounties of nature; a total insensibility to the blessings of providence, and an inexcusable neglect of the interests of society. if it were intended to advance the views of individuals, or to foment the divisions of party; if it promoted the interests of a few, at the expense of the prosperity of many; if its benefits were limited as to place, or fugitive as to duration, then indeed it might be received with cold indifference, or treated with stern neglect; but the overflowing blessing from this great fountain of public good and national abundance, will be as extensive as our country, and as durable as time. the considerations which now demand an immediate, and an undivided attention to this great object, are so obvious, so various, and so weighty, that we shall only attempt to glance at some of the most prominent. in the first place, it must be evident, that no period could be adopted in which the work can be prosecuted with less expense. every day augments the value of the land through which the canal will pass; and when we consider the surplus hands which have been recently dismissed from the army into the walks of private industry, and the facility with which an addition can be procured to the mass of our active labour, in consequence of the convulsions of europe, it must be obvious that this is now the time to make those indispensable acquisitions. . the longer this work is delayed, the greater will be the difficulty in surmounting the interests that will rise up in opposition to it. expedients on a contracted scale have already been adopted for the facilitations of intercourse. turnpikes, locks, and short canals, have been resorted to, and in consequence of those establishments, villages have been laid out, and towns have been contemplated. to prevent injurious speculation, to avert violent opposition, and to exhibit dignified impartiality and fraternal affection to your fellow-citizens, it is proper that they should be notified at once of your intentions. . the experience of the late war has impressed every thinking man in the community, with the importance of this communication. the expenses of transportation frequently exceeded the original value of the article, and at all times operated with injurious pressure upon the finances of the nation. the money thus lost for the want of this communication, would have perhaps defrayed more than one half of its expense. . events which are daily occurring on our frontiers, demonstrate the necessity of this work. is it of importance that our honourable merchants should not be robbed of their legitimate profits; that the public revenues should not be seriously impaired by dishonest smuggling, and that the commerce of our cities should not be supplanted by the mercantile establishments of foreign countries? then it is essential that this sovereign remedy for maladies so destructive and ruinous should be applied. it is with inconceivable regret we record the well known fact, that merchandise from montreal has been sold to an alarming extent in our borders, for per cent below the new-york prices. . a measure of this kind will have a benign tendency in raising the value of the national domains, in expediting the sale, and enabling the payment. our national debt may thus, in a short time, be extinguished. our taxes of course will be diminished, and a considerable portion of revenue may then be expended in great public improvements; in encouraging the arts and sciences; in patronising the operations of industry; in fostering the inventions of genius, and in diffusing the blessings of knowledge. . however serious the fears which have been entertained of a dismemberment of the union by collisions between the north and the south, it is to be apprehended that the most imminent danger lies in another direction, and that a line of separation may be eventually drawn between the atlantic and the western states, unless they are cemented by a common, an ever acting and a powerful interest. the commerce of the ocean, and the trade of the lakes, passing through one channel, supplying the wants, increasing the wealth, and reciprocating the benefits of each great section of the empire, will form an imperishable cement of connexion, and an indissoluble bond of union. new-york is both atlantic and western, and the only state in which this union of interest can be formed and perpetuated, and in which this great centripetal power can be energetically applied. standing on this exalted eminence, with power to prevent a train of the most extensive and afflicting calamities that ever visited the world, (for such a train will inevitably follow a dissolution of the union,) she will justly be considered an enemy to the human race, if she does not exert for this purpose the high faculties which the almighty has put into her hands. lastly. it may be confidently asserted, that this canal, as to the extent of its route, as to the countries which it connects, and as to the consequences which it will produce, is without a parallel in the history of mankind. the union of the baltic and euxine; of the red sea and the mediterranean; of the euxine and the caspian; and of the mediterranean and the atlantic, has been projected or executed by the chiefs of powerful monarchies, and the splendor of the design has always attracted the admiration of the world. it remains for a free state to create a new era in history, and to erect a work, more stupendous, more magnificent, and more beneficial, than has hitherto been achieved by the human race. character is as important to nations as to individuals, and the glory of a republic, founded on the promotion of the general good, is the common property of all its citizens. we have thus discharged with frankness and plainness, and with every sentiment of respect, a great duty to ourselves, to our fellow-citizens, and to posterity, in presenting this subject to the fathers of the commonwealth. and may that almighty being, in whose hands are the destinies of states and nations, enlighten your councils and invigorate your exertions, in favour of the best interests of our beloved country. chapter iv planning, building, and opening by an act of the new york legislature of april , ,[ ] the canal commissioners were ordered to send to the legislature "a plain and comprehensive report of their proceedings;" their duty was to find a route for the projected canal, estimate the expense, ascertain on what terms the state of new york could secure loans, and to apply for donations of both land and money.[ ] the committee met at new york may , , and organized. the proposed line of the canal was divided into three sections and an engineer was appointed for each. the western section embraced the portion of the route between lake erie and the seneca river; the middle section was that between the seneca river and rome on the mohawk; the eastern section extended from rome to albany on the hudson. the only point at which there was serious question as to the best route of the canal was between lake erie and the genesee country; and the question was whether to pass south or north of the "mountain ridge" which lay south of the shore of lake ontario. four engineers were sent to make an examination. two commissioners and engineers were sent to inspect the middlesex canal in massachusetts, "the best artificial navigation in the united states." the commissioners met again july , after which three of them went to inspect the important portions of a canal route which was now being marked out by the corps of surveyors from lake erie to the mohawk. the size of the canal proposed was forty feet wide on water surface, twenty-eight feet wide at the base and four feet deep--capable of handling boats of one hundred tons. the locks were to be ninety feet long, twelve feet in width in the clear. these would accommodate any lumber that was then being shipped from the regions tapped by the canal. the route of the canal survey was being marked by "bench marks, level pegs, and other fixtures; ... shafts have been sunk into the earth in various places, to ascertain its nature, with a view to a just estimation of the labour required, and of the expense to be incurred." the point of junction with lake erie, forever a doubtful point until the very last, was now planned at the mouth of buffalo creek; the water was higher there, of course, than at any point in the niagara river, "and every inch gained in elevation will produce a large saving in the expense of excavation throughout the lake erie level." [illustration: map and profile of the erie canal [_from poussin's "travaux d'améliorations intérieures ... des États-unis d'amérique de à "_ (paris, )]] the western section, from buffalo to the eastern line of the holland purchase, was explored by engineer william peacock and joseph ellicott, commissioner. their estimate for the sixty-two miles from buffalo to the east end of the summit level west of the genesee river, east of the great tonawanda swamp, was $ , , and for the total distance to the genesee river, $ , . the absence of water on this route made reservoirs necessary, which formed a strong objection to pursuing that course. anticipating this, engineer james geddes was sent over another course from a point twelve miles up the tonawanda to the seneca river. the distance was one hundred and thirty-six miles; the rise of one hundred and ninety-four feet from seneca river to lake erie was to be overcome by twenty-five locks; the total expense was put at $ , , . the middle section extended from seneca river to rome, with a decline of forty-eight and one-half feet in seventy-seven miles. it was surveyed and laid out by benjamin wright; the estimate included $ , per mile for grubbing, so heavy were the forests, and reached a total of $ , , which was considered liberal. the eastern section from rome to albany was surveyed in part by engineer charles c. broadhead. the seventy odd miles to schoharie creek, with a descent of . feet, called for sixteen locks and forty-five bridges--a total expenditure of $ , , . the forty-two miles to albany were not now surveyed; the estimate for this distance was $ , , . the total descent of the canal from lake erie to the hudson was . feet and its length was about miles. the average estimated cost per mile was $ , --by the route north of the genesee river. the erie canal was born in the act of april , .[ ] after being passed by the legislature it went before the council of revision. "the ordeal this bill met with in the council of revision, came near being fatal to it; it could not have received a two-thirds vote after a veto. the council was composed of lieutenant-governor john tayler, acting governor, as president of the council, chief justice thompson, chancellor kent, and judges yates and platt. acting governor tayler was openly opposed to the whole scheme. the chief justice was also opposed to this bill. chancellor kent was in favor of the canal, but feared it was too early for the state to undertake this gigantic work. judges yates and platt were in favor of the bill; but it was likely to be lost by the casting vote of the acting governor. vice president tompkins (recently the governor) entered the room at this stage of the proceedings, and, in an informal way, joined in conversation upon the subject before the council, and in opposition to this bill. he said 'the late peace with great britain was a mere truce, and we will undoubtedly soon have a renewed war with that country; and instead of wasting the credit and resources of the state in this chimerical project, we ought to employ all our revenue and credit in preparing for war.' "'do you think so, sir?' said chancellor kent. "'yes, sir,' replied the vice president; 'england will never forgive us for our victories, and, my word for it, we shall have another war, with her within two years.' "the chancellor, then rising from his seat, with great animation declared, "'if we must have war ... i am in favor of the canal and i vote for the bill.' "with that vote the bill became a law."[ ] preliminary work was immediately begun in the early spring of at the strategic summit level at rome by conducting "a careful re-examination of the line of the canal, and of the levels of the preceding year." this reconsideration seemed to indicate that a longer summit level at rome than the one selected should be made, and utica was chosen as the eastern extremity of this level rather than rome. this decision was enforced by the fact that mohawk navigation above utica was always more uncertain than at any point below it; if the canal for instance should terminate at the mohawk because of lack of means, or other cause, it would be advantageous to have its terminus on the mohawk at a point where navigation was as uniformly reliable as possible. the western inland lock navigation company had often found it necessary to make a portage from utica to rome, such was the low stage of water in the mohawk. the summit level chosen, therefore, ran from utica to the salt-works at salina (syracuse). this was the eastern summit. the western was yet to be chosen between the genesee and the niagara tributaries in western new york. five lines of stakes were now driven into the ground from the eastern to the western boundaries of the state of new york--a circumstance which must be considered epoch-making in the history of america. for, look at it as you will, the beginning of the erie canal must be considered a greater marvel than the building of it. it would be difficult now to propose an engineering feat that is within the range of sanity that would provoke so much ridicule and debate as did the plan to build the erie canal through those hundreds of miles of dense forests and reeking swamps in . a bridge across the atlantic or a tunnel underneath it could scarcely provoke more sneers today. yet the summer of saw the rows of stakes driven into the ground--over hill and vale, through densest forest and sickliest swamp, from east to west; the outer rows were sixty feet apart and indicated the space to be grubbed; between these were two other rows forty feet apart which indicated the exact dimensions of the canal; a single row of stakes in the middle marked the exact center of the canal. those who laughed at the stakes grew sober when men came on over the route boring with four inch augers into the ground every few rods to a depth of twelve feet; by this means the nature of the soil was tested all along the route and estimates could be made of the cost of the digging; thereupon profiles could be drawn by the engineers. each of the three great sections of the canal was subdivided into very small sections which were to be let to contractors; each working section was bounded, when possible, by a brook or ravine, in order that each contractor might have the advantage of independent drainage. the plan of the state's furnishing the tools for the work of digging the canal was soon changed, the contractors being expected to furnish their own tools. an instance of the skill of the old erie canal engineers, in a day when "surveying" was as loose a word as the dictionary contained, is interesting: "while benjamin wright, esquire, was re-examining and laying off sections from rome, west along the canal line, it was deemed expedient, as a test to the accuracy of the work, that james geddes, esquire, should start, at a given point on the canal line at rome, and carry a level along the road to the east end of oneida lake, marking on permanent objects the height of the surface of the water while the lake was tranquil, at various places from the east to the west end, along its southern shore; that he should then connect by a level, the oneida with the onondaga lake; after which he was to carry a level from the last mentioned lake, at salina, south about one and a fourth miles to the canal line, and from thence to work to the east, laying off sections along the canal line. this was accomplished, and nine miles at the west end of the summit level were laid out into sections. and the commissioners have the satisfaction to state, that when the level of mr. wright had been carried along the canal line, to the place where mr. geddes had terminated his line, the levels of these engineers, which embraced a circuit ... of nearly one hundred miles, differed from each other less than one and an half inches." the first contract for work on the erie canal was signed june , . work was not begun until a formal inaugural celebration at rome, new york, july , . [illustration: a canal lock at rome, new york, touching the site of fort stanwix] the authorities of rome arranged with the canal commissioners to unite the celebrations of the opening of the canal with the annual fourth of july holiday. "at the appointed time and place, judge hathaway, president of the village, made a short address, adapted to the occasion, and then delivered the spade into the hands of the commissioners. after a short but graphic speech by the commissioner young, he handed the spade to judge richardson, the first contractor, who then thrust it into the ground and made the first excavation for the construction of the canal. the example was immediately followed by his own laborers, and by the assembled citizens, all ambitious of the honor of participating in the labors of that memorable occasion. thus amid the roar of artillery, and the acclamations of the people, was begun that great work which has spread civilization, wealth and refinement...."[ ] thousands were ready to jump at the chance of securing contracts on the great work; money was scarce along the countryside and means to make it proportionately few; as was the case in the building of the cumberland road, a great contemporary work to the south, so the erie canal was an immediate boon to hundreds in that long strip of country through which the lines of stakes were driven. most of the contractors were well-to-do new york farmers, and three-fourths of the army of laborers which now attacked the long task were native born; the foreign element which played so large a part in making the cumberland road did not figure in the building of the erie canal. angry gangs of mutinous foreign laborers did not menace the first travelers on the erie canal. the commissioners had the good sense to mark out the work to be done in such a way that worthy men of little capital could secure contracts; accordingly the distances to be contracted for were divided up and men of small or no means at all were enabled to secure contracts as well as great contractors with armies of workmen in their employ. money was frequently advanced to contractors in sums of from $ to $ , according to the size of the contract. good security was demanded. the commissioners, on the other hand, were warned to look out for rascally men who appear whenever any great work is to be undertaken. in building locks and embankments there was ample opportunity for deceit and dishonesty, which was an item to be reckoned with. during the first season of work fifty-eight miles on the summit level were placed under contract, but most of the contractors were compelled to cease work when the frosts came. in december, , from $ to $ , each was advanced to contractors with which to buy provisions for their men; beef, pork, and flour were cheaper at this season than in the spring, and the roads over which they were to be transported were likewise better in the winter season than at any other. this first year of work had brought its lessons; first and foremost it proved what a tremendous burden lay on the shoulders of the commissioners and engineers. contracts innumerable were to be made and signed, calling for the provision of a hundred necessities: principally for stone, lumber, and lime; the proper quantities were to be deposited at the proper places--here in a heavy forest, there beside a swamp, and yonder at the foot of a hill. the country was quite innocent of anything that approached such a road as was needed everywhere along the line of work. it is difficult even to hint at the multitude of perplexing questions that the builders of the erie canal faced and somehow solved. the year had proved the advisability of discarding the spade and wheelbarrow--the european implements for canal building--for the plough and scraper. with the latter tools the work was more quickly done and better; the feet of the horses drawing them tended to solidify the earth along the embankments. three irishmen finished three rods of the canal, four feet deep in five and one-half days. sixteen and one-half days work accomplished - / cubic yards of canal, which at twelve and one-half cents per yard made $ . for each man per day. as the year progressed it was found that the contracts were inside of the figures of the estimates originally made. when the season of was on, between two and three thousand men and half that number of horses and cattle were at work. indeed some of the contractors had worked all winter, and many had transported the necessary provisions and tools for the summer's campaign to the points of work on sleds during the winter. the genesee road between utica and syracuse, the most important of all, was useless for heavy loads in the summer season. during this season the entire middle section was put under contract; the only important change of route was at the marl meadows near camillus; this swamp without an outlet was avoided by running a new route through the salina plains, at an estimated saving of some $ , . in all the romantic story of the building of this great work nothing is so picturesque as the forest scenes; the digging and scraping, the hauling and cementing, is all commonplace beside throwing the canal across the tremendous forests which were now, in , to be met in that smiling country of which utica, syracuse and rochester are the jewels of today. nothing like this had been attempted in america before the erie canal; true the cumberland road was crawling away across the alleghenies and was now in calling distance of wheeling on the ohio; yet this road was built largely on the route of older thoroughfares, and much of its new bed ran through open lands which pioneer fires had partially cleared. moreover it was built on the surface of the ground. the erie canal forged straight on where no foot but the silent hunter's had stepped; its course was marked in forests so dark that the surveyor's stakes could hardly be distinguished in the gloom--where not even the smoke of a pioneer's fire had ever penetrated; it was not built on the ground, but dug through the ground, and the vast network above ground in those ancient woods was not less easily penetrated than was the straggling mass of root and fiber that was found for many feet below the surface. no work in america before its time began to compare in magnitude with grubbing that sixty-foot aisle from lake erie to the hudson and the digging of a forty-foot canal in its center. since necessity is the mother of invention, it is not strange that here in the new york woods should have been perfected some strange machinery--great tugging monsters which should bodily haul down immense trees with a crash and pluck out green stumps with single groan. it may be these engines of forestry were imported from europe; we know from the correspondence of that indefatigable promoter, washington, that great engines for clearing trees from forest land were known in europe and were probably imported to america not long after the revolutionary war.[ ] "machinery has hitherto been used," recorded the commissioners of the erie canal, "with most success, in the heavy business of grubbing and clearing. by means of an endless screw, connected with a cable, a wheel and a crank, one man is able to bring down a tree of the largest size, without any cutting about its roots. for this purpose these means are all, except the cable, combined in a small but very strong frame of wood and iron.--this frame is immovably fastened on the ground, at a distance of perhaps one hundred feet from the foot of the tree, around the trunk of which fifty or sixty feet up, one end of the cable is secured, the other being connected with the roller. when this is done, the man turns the crank, which successively moves the screw, the wheel and the roller, on which, as the cable winds up, the tree must gradually yield, until, at length, it is precipitated by the weight of its top. the force which may be exerted in this way, upon a tree, is irresistible, as with the principle of the wheel and the screw, by the application of the cable at a point so far from the ground, it unites also that of the lever." the machine for hauling stumps is thus described: "two strong wheels, sixteen feet in diameter, are made and connected together by a round axle-tree, twenty inches thick and thirty feet long; between these wheels, and with its spokes inseparably framed into their axle-tree, another wheel is placed, fourteen feet in diameter, round the rim of which a rope is several times passed, with one end fastened through the rim, and with the other end loose, but in such a condition as to produce a revolution of the wheel whenever it is pulled. this apparatus is so moved as to have the stump, on which it is intended to operate, midway between the largest wheels, and nearly under the axle-tree; and these wheels are so braced as to remain steady. a very strong chain is hooked, one end to the body of the stump, or its principal root, and the other to the axle-tree. the power of horses or oxen is then applied to the loose end of the rope above-mentioned, and as they draw, rotary motion is communicated, through the smallest wheel, to the axle-tree, on which, as the chain hooked to the stump winds up, the stump itself is gradually disengaged from the earth in which it grew. after this disengagement is complete, the braces are taken from the large wheels, which then afford the means of removing that stump out of the way, as well as of transporting the apparatus where it may be made to bear on another." a plough was invented for cutting the tangled meshes of roots below the turf "greatly superior to the one in common use. it is very narrow or thin, and consists of a piece of iron much heavier than a common plough, strongly connected, at its upper edge, with the beam, and in the rear, with the handle, both of which are of the usual construction. the front edge of the iron, where the cutting is to be done, is covered with steel, well sharpened and shaped like the front of a coulter, except that it retreats more as it rises to the beam. the lower edge is made smooth and gradually thickens as it extends back towards the handle, to about four inches. two yoke of oxen will draw this utensile through any roots not exceeding two inches in diameter; and by moving it, at short intervals, through the surface of the ground to be excavated, the small roots and fibres are so cut up as to be easily picked and harrowed out of the way of the shovel and scraper." during the season of , all but five of the ninety-four miles of middle section were grubbed and cleared with these powerful machines; little the wonder, however, for one of the stump machines, costing two hundred and fifty dollars, operated by seven men and two horses, could grub from thirty to forty large stumps a day. of the eighty-nine miles cleared, forty-eight miles of the line was dug, eight miles being completed and accepted. one ten-mile stretch was half done and one twenty-mile division was one-fourth done. the total estimated expense of the middle section was $ , , ; up to january , , $ , had been expended; the $ , remaining was considered sufficient to complete the section. this division of the canal was completed in ; for twenty-seven miles it was navigable and had not the frost intervened, large boats could have traversed its entire length before the close of the year. the expense proved to total up to $ , , , an excess over the estimate of $ , . the explanation of this excess brings out some interesting facts concerning the progress of the work. for instance, the aqueducts over oneida and onondaga creeks had been made of solid masonry instead of wood as stipulated in the estimate. lack of snow during the winter of - had prevented the hauling of much of the needed material. sickness among the army of workmen had produced costly delays; pioneer conditions prevailed--the fever and ague of those who first invaded the sluggish morasses of the interior of a new continent. special trouble had been experienced where the canal line approached the low-lying valley of the sluggish seneca. for thirty-five miles the works paralleled this stream, and pioneers here suffered heavily every fall; of course the laborers on the canal were, to say the least, not more fortified against the miasma and fever than the pioneers who came more or less prepared for such drawbacks. at one time a thousand men on the erie canal were stricken down in this region, and in some instances the work on certain "jobs" was entirely abandoned for several weeks. but the work of the year was not confined to the middle section. exploring parties had been sent to outline more specifically the canal line in the sections on either side. a portion of the western section, from the genesee river to palmyra, was put under contract, to be completed in september, . the portion of the eastern section between utica and little falls--a distance of twenty-six miles--was also put under contract. the expenses for the year amounted to over $ , ahead of the annual appropriation of $ , . and heavier expenses yet were in sight; among these the claims of the western inland lock navigation company had to be satisfied. this company had been carrying on its business and declaring greater dividends each year up to . in that year the erie canal works at wood creek interrupted the operation of their system and the state was compelled to satisfy the claim. there had been, ever since , a correspondence between the canal commissioners and the western company looking toward a purchase of the latter's rights. the price asked in , and again in , was $ , . the matter was at last settled in by the payment of $ , . .[ ] there was a moment just here when the canal came near pausing in its swift rush to completion. a recasting of the estimates was essayed, and the new york legislature demanded of the commissioner what portion of the canal was most important in case only a part could be completed. the reply was, of course, that the western section should be finished whether the eastern could be or not. the estimated expense of completing the canal miles from utica to lake erie was $ , , ; the eastern section, only ninety-eight miles long, would cost only $ , less, and for this distance the mohawk river could be made to answer the purpose of a canal if necessary. but as if pushed forward by the very momentum of its greatness, the canal went forward. the advances made in were rapid and important. in the western section the fifty odd miles between the genesee and montezuma were completed with the exception of nine. the route of was hardly changed except at irondequoit creek, and between palmyra and lyons. the middle section rapidly became a busy avenue. mile posts were erected throughout its length, the distance from genesee street in utica to the lock into the seneca river being a little more than ninety-six miles. navigation began in may. contracts were let for the eastern section that would insure the completion of the thirty miles from utica to minden within the year. the course of the canal through the mohawk valley was resurveyed, the experienced engineer canvass white pushing it forward to cohoes falls. the great rock wall at little falls was now completed. at the close of the year ninety-eight miles of the erie canal was completed, and the promise was that as much more would be done within a twelvemonth. the point of difficulty now was in the western section in gaining a route well supplied with water between lake erie and the middle section. during the present year mr. thomas had surveyed the northern route, running seventy-two miles from the tonawanda to the genesee. [illustration: view of canal at little falls, new york, showing lock in the distance] the contracts for this route were let in , eighty miles being let in contracts. the fifty miles between the genesee and seneca were completed this year. business was more brisk on the completed middle section than in the year previous, the tolls received amounting to $ , . . contracts were let for the entire completion of the eastern section, and boats were already running from utica to little falls. a large fraction of the excavating between little falls and schenectady had been completed by the last of the year, and the difficult problem of a route from cohoes falls to albany was now solved by canvass white by crossing the mohawk. by june, , the canal was open from rochester to schenectady, and when the season opened miles were navigable. during all but ten miles of the route along the niagara river had been put under contract and the great genesee aqueduct had been erected. toll to the extent of $ , was collected in this year on the eastern part of the western section--at lyons, palmyra, and rochester. by the middle of november water had been admitted into the eastern section and boats were afloat from little falls to schenectady. water was admitted into the stretch of canal between brockport and rochester, october , . the forty-five miles from brockport to the mountain ridge (lockport) was well along; the four great embankments in this distance were nearly complete; that at sandy creek was the highest on the entire canal, running up seventy-six feet. the tolls in between the genesee and seneca amounted to $ , . , showing the large amount of business done. as the last year before completion ( ) opened, all eyes were directed to two points in the west which were each difficult puzzles. one was the means of crossing the mountain ridge at lockport and the other was the best way to get into lake erie. finally the latter question was settled for better or for worse by letting the contracts for the black rock harbor. the work went slowly at the mountain ridge, but the contractors promised that the work there would be completed by may, . the tolls this year between mantz and utica amounted to $ , . , and the tolls on the eastern section totaled up to $ , . . water was admitted into the canal between schenectady and albany in october; the work here, which included twenty-nine locks, had been found unexpectedly difficult. on october , , the first boats passed from the west and the north (lake champlain canal) through the junction canal into the tide water of the hudson at albany. on september , , water was sent into the canal from brockport and lockport; the line to black rock and the black rock harbor was completed nearly on scheduled time. among improvements of the year must be named the hydrostatic locks built at utica and syracuse. the tolls of were $ , . . the grand canal was completed. the completion was a signal for a royal celebration throughout the state of new york which is, in many aspects, of great historic interest.[ ] its unique details, the non-participation of many, the violent rejoicings of others, the carrying out of symbolic ceremonies not unlike roman pageants, all these and many other features of the great show have a deep significance. the political element entered largely into the matter. learning that the canal would be completed about october , the corporation of new york city entered into correspondence with the chief cities and towns along the line concerning the proper celebration of the event. two aldermen, king and davis, were sent to buffalo from new york to participate in the festivities of the great occasion. buffalo was in gala dress on the day set for the pageant. the city was filled with yeomanry. at nine o'clock in the morning the grand procession formed before the court-house; the buffalo band, squads of riflemen, and the committees took the lead and the vast throng moved to the head of the erie canal where the canal-boat "seneca chief" lay at anchor. governor clinton, the lieutenant-governor, and the committees were received on board, and jesse hawley, who, nearly a generation before, had published in pittsburg the first broadside in favor of the canal, delivered an address in behalf of the citizens of rochester, "to mingle and reciprocate their mutual congratulations with the citizens of buffalo on this grand effort." the "seneca chief" was bravely equipped and manned for the occasion. two great paintings occupied conspicuous positions. one presented the scene which was at the moment being enacted, buffalo creek and harbor with the canal in the foreground and the "seneca chief" moving away. the other picture represented governor clinton as hercules, in roman costume resting from hard labor. among the articles of freight to be carried by this boat, which should first pass from buffalo to new york over the erie canal, were two kegs filled with lake erie water. in addition to the governor of the state and his staff, the buffalo committee embarked on the "seneca chief," comprising hon. judge wilkinson, captain joy, colonel potter, major burt, colonel dox, and doctor stagg. the flotilla, which was headed by the "seneca chief," consisted of the canal-boats "chief," "superior," "commodore perry" (a freight boat), and the "buffalo" (of erie, pennsylvania). "noah's ark" was the name of another craft which contained beasts, birds and creeping things--a bear, two eagles, two fawns, several fish, and two indian boys, all traveling under the title of "products of the west." when the flotilla set sail a signal gun was discharged at buffalo; the announcement was taken up by each gun in a long line from buffalo to new york and the signal was passed throughout the entire distance. as the pageant moved along through the state it was joined ever and anon by other craft and at almost every village exercises and illuminations were the order of the day and the much-feted governor and committees were hauled to the best hotel and feasted. the "niagara" joined the squadron at black rock and "fell in behind." at lockport guns captured by perry at the battle of lake erie were fired in salute to the guests and the occasion; a gunner who, it was said, had fought under napoleon, discharged them. at holley an address was given on the twenty-seventh. at brockport cannon welcomed the boats. there was a procession at newport, as everywhere else where the guests were feted. at rochester a _feu de joie_ was fired from the aqueduct on the arrival of the triumphal flotilla, and here a fine boat, the "young lion of the west," rode out to meet it. "who comes there?" cried the "young lion's" sentinel as the strangers drew near. "your brothers from the west, on the waters of the great lakes." "by what means have they been diverted so far from their natural course?" "by the channel of the grand erie canal." "by whose authority, and by whom, was a work of such magnitude accomplished?" "by the authority and by the enterprise of the patriotic people of the state of new york." the procession being formed, the vast throng marched to the presbyterian church where an address was delivered by timothy childs. general matthews, assisted by jesse hawley, presided at a banquet which followed at one of the hotels. grand illuminations and a ball concluded the day's entertainment. the rochester committee consisting of messrs. e. b. strong, ward, leavett, rochester, hulbert, reynolds, a. strong, r. beach, johnson, and e. s. beach, embarked on the "young lion" for new york. at palmyra an arch across the canal welcomed the pageant on the twenty-eighth; it read "clinton and the canal" from one side, and "internal improvements" on the reverse. another arch at montezuma, which was reached late that evening, was a transparency displaying the words "de witt clinton and internal improvements" on one side, and "union of the east and west" on the other. buckville was found brightly illuminated at midnight; port byron was reached on the twenty-ninth and weedsport was illuminated. a twenty-four pounder was discharged, resulting in the death of only two. syracuse was reached on the thirtieth; joshua forman, the early champion of the canal in , gave an address to which governor clinton made reply. at rome probably the first indication of ill-feeling was met; exercises had been held on the twenty-sixth to commemorate the opening of the canal, but dissatisfaction was felt over the fact that the erie canal did not follow the route of the old western inland lock navigation company canal upon which the village of rome had grown up. in consequence, at a. m. on the twenty-sixth, a procession was formed bearing a black barrel filled with water from the old canal. drums were muffled and the procession moved slowly out of town to the erie canal into which the barrel was emptied. the return march was made at quick step and at the hotel an appropriate celebration was held. the present flotilla arrived on sunday, the thirtieth, and remained only an hour. utica was reached at noon on this date; during the exercises held on the morrow, governor clinton took occasion to pay high tribute to utica's citizen, judge platt, who had long befriended the canal movement. little falls was reached monday evening; here, too, a change of route displeased some; the old lock company canal was on the north side of the mohawk, and the erie canal was on the south side; a banquet was served the guests at one of the hotels. at three o'clock tuesday afternoon, schenectady was reached--two hours ahead of scheduled time. here a grave reception awaited the enthusiastic voyageurs; a local paper had mentioned "a project of a funeral procession, or some other demonstration of mourning." no preparation for the reception of the visitors had been made. the canal would, it was believed, be the ruin of schenectady; as the terminus of the old overland portage of sixteen miles from albany, the town had grown in size and wealth; a large part of all the freight from the south that passed up the mohawk came by wagon to schenectady and was there loaded on boats. the village was, on one hand, a mecca for wagon lines and wagons, and on the other the terminus of mohawk shipping. the erie canal overturned everything. a waterway was now opened straight through to albany; cohoes falls, which had been the making of schenectady, was wiped out of existence by the erie canal and the schenectady of the old days was a thing of the past. the students of union college, however, were cosmopolitan, and the "college guards" did the honors of the rainy day; the guests took dinner at a hotel and were off at four o'clock. on the following morning, above the patroon mansion of general stephen van rensselaer, the flotilla was met by the aldermen of albany and the last lock in the long canal was entered at : a. m. twenty-four cannon announced the flotilla's arrival. the procession that soon formed moved slowly to the capital; after a prayer and an ode, the address of the day was delivered by philip hone. at nine o'clock on thursday morning, november , the flotilla set sail from albany on the broad hudson; the canal boats were in tow of strong steamers, the "chancellor livingston" leading the way. unfortunately "noah's ark" with its bears and indians had not kept up with the main procession and did not arrive in time to start for new york. the steamers swept the boats rapidly onward; they were saluted at catskill, west point and newburgh, and arrived at new york at daylight of november , anchoring near the state prison. the steamer "washington," magnificently decorated, came alongside the "chancellor livingston" bearing the committees of the corporation and the officers of the governor's guard. alderman cowdrey made an address to which clinton replied. at nine o'clock the fleet from albany accompanied by a fleet bearing the corporation set out for open sea. the spectacle was one to attract much attention. salutes were fired from the battery, from the forts on governor's island, and from forts lafayette and tompkins. the destination of the pageant was indicated by the u. s. schooner "porpoise" which preceded the other craft and moored within the hook, where the interesting ceremony of wedding the waters of the atlantic and the great lakes was to be held. "... never before," wrote an enraptured beholder, "was there such a fleet collected, and so superbly decorated; and it is very possible that a display so grand, so beautiful, and we may even add, sublime, will never again be witnessed. we know of nothing with which it can be compared.... the orb of day darted his genial rays upon the bosom of the waters, where they played as tranquilly as upon the natural mirror of a secluded lake. indeed the elements seemed to repose, as if to gaze upon each other, and participate in the beauty and grandeur of the sublime spectacle."[ ] at the auspicious moment the governor of new york permitted the water from lake erie to fall into the ocean, saying: "this solemnity, at this place, on the first arrival of vessels from lake erie, is intended to indicate and commemorate the navigable communication, which has been accomplished between our mediterranean seas and the atlantic ocean, in about eight years, to the extent of more than four hundred and twenty-five miles, by the wisdom, public spirit, and energy of the people of the state of new york; and may the god of the heavens and the earth smile most propitiously on this work, and render it subservient to the best interests of the human race."[ ] whereupon the "young lion of the west" gave a brave salute from "a pair of brazen lungs" which he had provided for himself at rochester, and a collation was served on the fleet. while these inspiriting scenes were being enacted, the greatest procession, it was said, that ever had been formed in america to date, was preparing in the city under the direction of major-general fleming; all classes were represented, the military and civil societies, educational institutions, the city departments, state artillery and benevolent and mechanical organizations, the whole enlivened by the playing of many bands. at : o'clock the line, one mile and a half in length, began its march. from greenwich street, the route was through canal to broadway, up broadway to broome, up broome to the bowery, down the bowery to pearl, down pearl to the battery, and thence to broadway and the city hall. at night the illuminations were beautiful, the commonest being the letter "c" and "grand canal;" the new york coffee house, the city hotel, peale's museum, scudder's museum, chatham and park theaters had elaborate displays. the illuminations of the city hall were "surpassingly beautiful." the exhibition of fireworks in new york was said to be the greatest in its history. on monday evening, november , the celebration was concluded by a grand ball at the lafayette amphitheatre in laurens street; in order to secure the necessary space required, the floor of the amphitheater was connected with the floors of an adjacent circus building on one side and the floor of a riding school on the other; as a result the largest ball room in america was temporarily formed, measuring two hundred feet in length and from sixty to one hundred feet in width. above the proscenium were emblazoned the names of the engineers of the "grand canal"--briggs, white, geddes, wright, and thomas; also the names of the past and present canal commissioners--hart, bouck, holly, de witt, livingston, fulton, clinton, van rensselaer, morris, eddy, young, seymour, porter, and ellicott. in the ladies' banquet room a boat made of maple sugar--the gift of colonel hinman of utica to governor clinton--floated proudly on lake erie water. at the conclusion of the great celebration the committee from the west departed for lake erie, carrying with them a keg of atlantic water, ornamented with the arms of the city of new york and the following words in letters of gold: "neptune's return to pan. new york, th nov. . water of the atlantic." and the last scene in this old pageant was enacted at buffalo on november ; at ten o'clock of the morning of that day the committee, accompanied by a band, were towed out into the basin of lake erie; the waters of the atlantic were poured into the lake, judge wilkinson delivering an appropriate address. in the evening a concluding celebration was held at the eagle tavern. the waters of the ocean and the great lakes were at last united; how largely the celebration was inspired by political interests it is impossible to say. the fact remains that the pageant was one of the most significant in american history and marked a new era in the commercial awakening of america. chapter v local influences of the canal a careful study of the influence of the erie canal upon the great commonwealth which built it has been made by mr. julius winden, and the results of his investigation, important and interesting, have been placed at the disposal of the present writer.[ ] the entire region affected by the canal, from new york city to buffalo, is divided by mr. winden into three sections; the first covers the hudson river valley from the mouth of the mohawk to the sea; the second includes the mohawk valley from the hudson to utica where the canal left the valley; the third extends from the mohawk to lake erie. the sections are designated, respectively, as section a, section b, and section c. again, each section is divided into three classes; class i includes the land within six miles of the canal route; class ii includes all land between six and twelve miles from the canal route; class iii includes all land within the counties tapped by the canal lying at a greater distance than twelve miles from its course. mr. winden first discusses the effect of the canal on the population of the counties through which it ran, and thus summarizes his results: "of the three sections considered, we have found one, section a, with a certain condition of the population due to the influence of an old waterway, the hudson river. population was concentrated along the banks of the river and decreased as the distance from the river increased. the extension of this waterway into new and broader fields resulted in a very great increase of the concentration of population on the banks of the stream, but had little or no influence on the population at a distance of six or more miles from it. "the second region, section b, presented conditions very similar to the one preceding. it was influenced by an old waterway, the mohawk river, but this waterway was not very serviceable. the population was concentrated along the course of the waterway, but not as markedly as in section a. an increase in the serviceability of the waterway and an extension into new fields had the effect of concentrating the population along the course of the waterway much greater than in section a. the region six or more miles from the waterway was little affected or none at all. "in the third region, section c, we found a new region, having no waterway and having less population per square mile where a waterway was to be made than the region a short distance from the future course of the waterway. the effect of the waterway was to increase the population very rapidly along its course and produce a great concentration of population there. in the remote region the population was also greatly increased. we also notice that this concentration of population in class i along this watercourse tended to mass into cities." the per capita valuation of property next engages attention and the result is thus outlined: "as before mentioned section a was an old well-settled region during this period, and although property had a tendency to mass along the banks of the hudson and gradually to diminish as the distance from the river increased, still this increase of the valuation of property advanced much more slowly than the increase in population. "section b was an old and well settled region, but it was not as old as section a. here valuation massed along the canal but it did not increase as rapidly as the population, still it increased more rapidly in proportion to the increase of population than did section a. "section c was a new region where the increase in valuation kept pace with the increasing population and even exceeded it. "a re-invigoration of an old region by increased commercial advantages such as the erie canal provided for in sections a and b results in an increase of property within about six miles of that commercial route, but it has little effect outside of that limit. this increase of property, however, does not keep pace with the increase in population, _i.e._ property in this case is more stable and unchangeable than population. on the other hand, in a new region never having felt the influence of a commercial route such as the erie canal, property within about six miles of the route increases as rapidly and even more rapidly than the population. this increase of property is not confined within the six mile limit, but extends much farther away from the route than it does in an old well-settled region having previously felt the influence of a commercial route. thus the extension of a waterway into new fields is beneficial to the region along the banks of the old waterway, but affects the territory a distance from the route little or none at all; while a waterway extended into a new region is of very great benefit to the region immediately along the route and it is also beneficial, to a less degree, to the remote regions. it must be remembered that a waterway is different from a railroad, in that material can be shipped at almost any point, while a railroad has certain stations were material can be shipped; thus a waterway's influence is continuous along the line, while the influence of the railroad is at points where there are stations. "in the distribution of real and personal property in very significant results are shown. in class i of section a the real property per capita was $ . and the personal property was $ . ; in class ii the real property was $ . and the personal $ . ; in class iii the real property was $ . and the personal was $ . . the least real property per capita and the least personal property per capita was in class ii, and class iii was second in both. in class i of section b the real property was $ . per capita and the personal $ . ; in class ii the real property was $ . and the personal $ . ; in class iii the real property was $ . and the personal $ . . valuation per capita, _real_ _personal_ section a class i $ . $ . class ii . . classes i and ii . . class iii . . section b class i $ . $ . class ii . . classes i and ii . . class iii . . section c class i . . class ii . . classes i and ii . . class iii . . "both real and personal property were greatest in class i, class ii was second in both, and class iii was third in both. class i of section c was first in both real and personal property; class ii was second and class iii was third in both real and personal property. this section shows the same relations that we find in section b. "the location of the real and personal property in the three sections considered indicates very clearly that the personal property was massed along the waterway; in class i and as the distance increased from the waterway the personal property diminished." of the improvement of land mr. winden remarks: "it may be stated that there was a slight tendency for the improvement of land to increase concomitantly with the increase in population; but the topography of the country and other elements entered in to such an extent as to nearly destroy this parallel growth. the improvement of land is much more stable and less likely to sudden and great changes than is the population. for this reason we would not expect to find as large a per cent of improved land in proportion to the population in section c as we would find in section b, nor as large a per cent in section b as in section a; because section a is the oldest in settlement, and section c the youngest. the per cent of improved land as a whole in the three sections supports this conclusion. but in comparing the various classes of each section with each other, however, we do not always find the greater per cent of improved land in the region of the most concentrated population. in section a, in and , a larger per cent of land was improved in class ii than in class i, while the population in class i was much greater than in class ii. in section b in class ii had a larger per cent of improved land than class i while the population was nearly twice as great per square mile in the latter as in the former. a somewhat similar condition also existed in section c. in and both the population and the per cent of improved land were greater in class ii than in class i; in the per cent of improved land was still greater in class ii but the population was much less than in class i. the above conditions indicate that the population and also the wealth increased with such remarkable rapidity in class i along the entire watercourse independently of the topographical conditions and in spite of natural disadvantages. they also indicate that the concentration of population in class i was much greater than the population per square mile taken alone would seem to indicate. this is especially true of class i in ." the effect of the canal on live stock is thus summed up: "during this entire period classes ii and iii raised more stock in proportion to their population than did class i. at the beginning of the period in , class ii in sections a and b and class iii in section c raised the greatest number of horses. class iii in sections b and c and class ii in section a raised the greatest number of cattle; class iii of sections a and c and class ii of section b raised the greatest number of sheep. at the close of the period in , class ii in all three sections raised the greatest number of horses, class iii in sections a and c and class ii in section b raised the greatest number of cattle. class iii in all the sections raised the greatest number of sheep. it is thus clearly seen that the area of the least concentration of population was the region in which stock-raising was most extensively carried on. by this it is not meant that there is a smaller amount of stock raised in a given area, where the population is dense than in a sparsely settled region, but that there is a smaller proportion raised to the population." mr. winden's summary in connection with the study of aliens and foreigners is most interesting: "it is thus clearly seen that if new york state received her just share of all the classes of emigrants arriving in the united states during this period, she would have added to her population, a strong, useful and able-bodied class of men who would aid her greatly in her development. "why this region of concentrated population, the towns along the erie canal, should contain such a large part of the foreign element is probably due to numerous causes. this was a region of great activity and growth; a place where there was room for unskilled as well as skilled labor of all kinds; it was along a direct route of transportation and travel to the great and growing west and a foreigner knowing nothing about the country and having no definite destination would stop along the route wherever he could make a living. although chance may have largely determined the location of the foreigners in this new country, his old environment was also an important factor in determining his place of settlement. he came from an old and well settled region in europe where the population was concentrated and the country often overcrowded and in coming to america he would tend to seek a region of somewhat similar characteristics. he found these conditions with the exception of an overcrowded population in the densely settled country immediately along the erie canal and the hudson. "in turning to the new englander in new york we find a people of an entirely different education and character from that of the foreigner. this is seen most strikingly in the choice of their location. they were shrewd, frugal, and hardworking farmers who left their new england homes because they failed to supply their wants. in seeking a new home in the west they naturally followed their old occupation and for this reason we find the larger part of them in the rural region. in class i of section a, . % was of new england birth; in class ii . %, and in class iii, . %; in class i of section b, . %, in class ii, . %, and in class iii, . %; in class i of section c, . %, in class ii, . % and in class iii, . %. the new englander also tended to shun the large cities. in albany . % was of new england birth, and in utica . %, while in class i of section b, in which these two cities were situated, . % was of new england birth. in buffalo . % was of this origin and in rochester . % while in class i of section c . % originated in new england. "the preceding discussion leads us to the conclusion that the foreigner was massed in the region of concentrated population and especially in the cities, and as the concentration of population diminished, the per cent of foreigners decreased. in other words, along the erie canal lay the larger part of the foreign population. of this foreign population in new york state, the larger per cent was born in great britain and her dependencies, and this class was chiefly found where the population was thickest. the new englander constituted a larger part of those born in other states of the union and they were found chiefly in the rural regions." in his study of politics as presented in the territory traversed by the erie canal mr. winden raises most interesting questions. we quote him in full, appending his notes: "turning now to the political aspect in new york state during this period we find a complicated problem. in the election of there were two important parties. summing up the principles for which these two important political parties of new york stood in this election, we find that the anti-masonic or national republican party opposed the masonic order;[ ] supported clay's american policy of protection and the extension of the internal improvement system;[ ] catered to the workingmen[ ] and opposed the administration of both the national and state government. in other words it was like all new parties, gathering to its fold all the radical elements by adopting some of their ideas.[ ] in the campaign which followed they made an aggressive canvass, making the most of the morgan outrage. the republican, or masonic party, as it was called by the anti-masons, tried to be indifferent to the masonic order and disavowed all support of it;[ ] opposed the american system and did not advocate an extensive local improvement system[ ] and supported the national and state administrations. they conducted a defensive campaign against the accusations of the anti-masons. "before considering the vote of the election it is necessary to take a hasty view of the social and economic conditions of the state at that time. morgan had disappeared in western new york four years before and this had caused a great local opposition to the masons which had spread throughout the state and even into neighboring states. the internal improvement movement had assumed stupendous proportions; the state had completed four canals within the last seven years; the champlain in , the erie in , the oswego in , and the cayuga and seneca in . and the people were clamoring for more. just after the completion of the erie canal in , petitions for other canals had poured in from almost every county in the west.[ ] thus it can be safely said that the entire western part of the state was in favor of internal improvements at public expense. "now considering the vote, we find that section a gave a large majority to mr. throop, the republican candidate. in section b he also received a majority but not as great as in section a. in this section an important fact is noticeable, classes ii and iii gave a smaller majority to mr. throop than class i. these two classes having no canals thus expressed their desire for some means of communication. section c cast a large majority in favor of mr. granger, the national republican candidate. the result in section c was just what we should expect. class iii of this section which was in most need of some means of communication voted a much larger majority in favor of mr. granger than classes i and ii. the cities, however, gave a majority to mr. throop, utica casting a larger and albany a smaller majority than the class in which they are situated. buffalo also cast a majority in favor of mr. throop, although the class in which it is situated cast a majority in favor of mr. granger. (see table.) "thus it is clearly shown that the people largely voted for the respective candidates because they stood for economic principles which were of direct interest to them.[ ] the most densely populated east determined the election and mr. throop, the republican candidate, was elected by a vote of , . mr. granger received , votes, mostly from the west and rural regions which were demanding internal improvements, while mr. williams, the candidate of the dissatisfied working men's party, received , votes.[ ] election of _throop_ _granger_ section a class i % % class ii classes i and ii class iii section b class i class ii classes i and ii class iii section c class i class ii classes i and ii class iii cities albany buffalo - + utica + - "in the presidential election of , strictly economic principles were not prominent. the whig national convention met at harrisburg, pennsylvania, december , , and nominated william h. harrison of ohio and john tyler of virginia for president and vice-president respectively. they conducted the campaign with unbounded enthusiasm, attacking van buren and his financial policy with great energy. although they adopted no platform, they favored loose construction, the american system of protective tariff, and internal improvement by the national government. "the democratic national convention met at baltimore, may , , and adopted a strict constructionist platform, denying the power of congress to carry on internal improvements,[ ] to protect manufactures, to charter a national bank, or to interfere with slavery in the states. it unanimously renominated president van buren, but left nominations for the vice-presidency to be made by the various states. the simultaneous appearance of the 'panic of ' and van buren in the presidential chair produced the belief in the popular mind that he was the cause of that unfortunate financial distress. the vote in new york is likely to indicate the two following facts: where the financial distress was greatest and the region most favorable to internal improvements. van buren carried section a, with the largest majority in class iii. recalling that this was a rural region, very stable in its population and valuation, we see that it would be least affected by financial distress. classes i and ii of section b were also carried by van buren, but the rural region, class iii, was carried by harrison. section c was also carried by harrison, with the largest majority in class iii. the large cities also gave a majority to harrison and although albany and utica are situated in a class which cast a larger vote for van buren they gave a majority to harrison; and even buffalo gave a greater per cent of its vote to harrison than the class in which it is situated. the large majority in class iii of section c may be accounted for by the enthusiasm for internal improvements in this region and the majority in the cities by their opposition to van buren because of the great distress they were subject to during the panic of . "we find the state issues and results of the election somewhat similar to those of the national election in the state. the whigs nominated governor w. h. seward and the democrats nominated mr. bouck. the whigs advocated internal improvements upon a large scale, while the democrats advocated retrenchment in this work. the albany _argus_ of september , , states of mr. seward, the whig nominee for governor: departing from the democratic policy of enlarging the erie canal by means of its revenues only, he has urged upon the legislature, its 'more speedy' enlargement, at all hazards, and the creation of a debt for that purpose--a debt which alone will absorb all our revenues, leaving the principal to be paid by direct taxation. he has recommended that state work be undertaken, the cost of which will involve the people in debt of at least $ , , . in addition he has urged upon the legislature loans to corporations--of the credit of the state to an indefinite amount--for almost every mad scheme speculators might suggest.[ ] "summing up the most important internal improvement works for which mr. seward advocated state aid, we have, the enlargement of the erie canal,[ ] the black river canal in the counties of oneida and lewis and joining the black river with the erie canal, the genesee valley canal in the counties of broome, chenango, madison, and oneida joining the chenango river with the erie canal (the two canals last mentioned would unite lake ontario with the susquehanna river), and the hudson and erie railroad previously mentioned. turning to the results of the election we find that section a gave a large majority to mr. bouck with the greatest per cent of the vote in class i, and the least in class iii; classes i and ii of section b also cast a majority for mr. bouck, but class iii and all of section c gave a majority to mr. seward. class iii of the last mentioned section gave the largest per cent and class ii the next to the largest per cent of the vote to mr. seward. recalling that the hudson and erie railroad was to pass through the entire length of the southern part of class iii of section c and also through class iii of section a, we see the cause of the increased vote above the neighboring classes for mr. seward. (see table.) the conclusion to be drawn from the above fact that the rural region which was most desirous of obtaining some means of communication had cast the larger per cent for mr. seward who supported an extensive system of internal improvement, is that economic conditions largely determined the vote. election of _for governor_ _for president_ _seward_ _bouck_ _harrison_ _van buren_ section a class i % % % % class ii classes i and ii class iii section b class i class ii classes i and ii class iii + - section c class i class ii classes i and ii class iii cities albany buffalo + - rochester utica "in conclusion it may be stated that the erie canal was a great stimulus to the growth of population and the increase in valuation of property along the entire waterway of the hudson and erie canal. the greatest activity, however, was felt west of the head waters of the mohawk along the canal proper. this concentration of population tended to turn the attention of the people away from rural pursuits and resulted in their congregation in cities where they developed a commercial life. along this line of dense population the immigrating foreign element gathered in large numbers while the new england settlers confined themselves to the rural regions. the political effect of the canal was to produce a great enthusiasm for internal improvements which was the main political issue in the state during the following years. the western part of the state and rural regions at a distance from the canal clamored for further improvements which would benefit them, and accordingly cast a majority of their votes for the candidates who stood for an extensive internal improvement system while the east opposed them. it should also be mentioned that in each section with the exception of section a in the election of and the presidential election of , the region with the largest number of foreigners cast a greater per cent of its vote for the conservative candidate than the region containing the greatest number of new englanders. thus it is clearly seen that political life is largely influenced by economic conditions and the character of the people." chapter vi the canal fund and enlargements no more important question was proposed to the commissioners in than the one which asked them to ascertain where the money that was to build the erie canal was coming from. of course a loan must be made and the commissioners at once began casting about for information. william bayard inquired for loans in europe, but no answer was now at hand. "the committee entertain no doubt," was the tentative reply in , "but that as much money can be obtained in this country, as may be required for the canal, on the credit of the state, at an interest of per cent by the creation of a funded debt, and that ample funds may be appropriated for the payment of the interest, and the gradual extinguishment of the debt without the imposition of taxes." the commissioners applied to those states which, it seemed, would be most benefited by the canal, vermont on one side and ohio and kentucky (!) on the other, and to the united states. "but if no extraneous aid should be afforded," the commissioners concluded with threatening menace, "it will at all times be in the power of this state to levy high transit on the articles transported to and from those states and the territory of the united states, and thereby secure eventually, a greater fund than can possibly arise from any present contribution from those quarters." in order to facilitate gifts in lands or money, the commissioners scattered blank forms of cession and bequest throughout the country; "one form relates to gratuitous grants of land for the ground through which the canal is to pass, and the other is a contribution to the fund for making it. agents have also been appointed in vermont and ohio for the same purpose." it was reported that nearly all the land necessary for the canal throughout its entire length would be ceded by the owners to the state for the purpose. in concluding their report for the year ending february , , the commissioners affirmed that "their investigations have shown the physical facility of this great internal communication, and a little attention to the resources of the state will demonstrate its financial practicability. and they may be permitted to remark, that unless it is established the greater part of the trade which does not descend the mississippi, from all those vast and fertile regions west of the seneca lake, will be lost to the united states." this report is signed by de witt clinton, s. van rensselaer, samuel young, and myron holley. the needs of the canal were of course outlined in the estimates of expense of building; the estimated cost of the western section, according to james geddes, was $ , , ; that of the middle section, by benjamin wright's figures, was $ , , and that of the eastern section, charles c. broadhead estimated at $ , , . the total amounted to $ , , or five millions in round numbers. the committee of the legislature advised the organization of the board of commissioners of a canal fund, to borrow $ , , at six per cent interest. the annual revenue of the canal was estimated at $ , and the expenditure $ , . william ford, chairman of the joint committee of the legislature, addressed de witt clinton on march , , asking him to outline a financial system for a canal fund. clinton's scheme, which became the basis of all new york's canal building, is thus sketched by mr. sweet:[ ] " . borrow $ , , on the credit of the state, by the creation of a funded debt, with interest at six per cent, principal reimbursable in twenty years. " . the said committee shall keep an account of all moneys received for the said fund, (which moneys shall be kept in the treasury), and shall pay over, from time to time, such moneys as shall be required for the execution of the powers committed to them. " . the said committee of the fund shall, as soon as the whole or a part of the said works be completed, have power to establish and receive reasonable tolls. " . the annual application of $ , of the moneys arising which the state may derive from the sale of unappropriated lands, shall be pledged for the payment of said debt and the interest thereof. and they shall have power to apply any unappropriated money in the treasury to make good any deficiency or suspension in the payment of said funds. " . the said committee shall, at the opening of the next session of the legislature, report a plan of finances for the execution of the whole of said canals, and also of a sinking fund for the extinguishment of the debt. "in this same communication it was stated that , tons of freight were carried annually on the hudson river. "thus de witt clinton laid the foundation of our canal financial system. he estimated that ten million tons annually would be carried upon the canals; that the cost of a ton for transportation from buffalo to albany would be $ . ." the expenses of the engineering department to april , , had been $ , , and the total for exploration and surveying $ , . the act to provide funds for the canal and also funds for the redemption of the funded debt of the state was passed april , . this law authorized the comptroller to sell certain three per cent united states bonds, and to apply the proceeds to the redemption of the funded debt; the comptroller was ordered to borrow one million dollars at six per cent after advertising for proposals for the same. the governor was empowered to appoint a cashier of a new york bank to issue certificates of stock, the principal to be redeemable until , taxed at one mill on the dollar; state deposits were to be made in any bank in new york that would loan one million dollars. the act of march, , authorized the borrowing of $ , yearly for the building of the canal; on march this was reduced to $ , ; an assessment of a tax upon all lands within twenty-five miles of the canal, formerly made, was at this time suspended. by a law of april , , the commissioners were again authorized to borrow a sum not exceeding (together with the net income of the canal fund) $ , . the board of commissioners of the canal fund was now reduced to three members (january , ) at a salary of $ , each. to meet the extraordinary expenses of , as previously detailed, the commissioners were empowered, april , , to borrow $ , at six per cent interest; three fourths of this was to be equally divided between the eastern and western sections; the remainder was for the champlain canal. the first tolls were levied on the erie canal july, ; in that year $ , was collected, $ of it from the old canal of the western inland lock navigation company at little falls. by a concurrent resolution in the legislature, the comptroller, a. mcintyre, was allowed to put into execution a plan for a sinking fund for the extinguishing of the canal debt, january , . he took, as a basis of his calculation, a debt of $ , , and a revenue of $ , ; the loan of $ , , with revenues, was to be continued as heretofore. by this plan the debt was to be extinguished in , at which time the revenue, it was estimated, would be about $ , , and the canal tolls, $ , beyond expenditures for repairs. "if these estimates of revenue and of the expense of making the canals, be correct, it results that the canals will be completed in , and that the canal loans will be discharged in ." an act dated february , , authorized the commissioners to borrow one million dollars in both and . nothing can be more interesting than the financial estimates, the fears and doubts and the staunch firmness of these directors of the erie canal. in almost every case the estimates of expenses fell far below the actual cost; often the expenses ran thirty per cent above estimates; on the other hand the most optimistic commissioner never, in his most enthusiastic moment, realized what a tremendous income was to be received from the erie canal when it should be completed. far as expenses ran ahead of estimates, they never exceeded them so far as the actual income of the canal exceeded the estimated income. this cannot be more clearly indicated than by a table showing estimated tolls and those actually received, from to : _year_ _estimated ( )_ _received_ $ , $ , . , , . , , . , , . , , . , , , . , , , . , , , . , , , . ---------- ------------- totals $ , , $ , , . in only these eight years, it will be seen, the receipts exceeded the estimates by nearly two and one-quarter millions. in many places these estimates had been laughed to scorn. it will be difficult to find in all the commercial history of america a more splendid success, and it will be quite as difficult to find an instance where success was more richly deserved. between june, , and october, , the sum of $ , , was borrowed for canal work, the lenders advancing $ , in premiums; the yearly interest was $ , . the tolls of amounted to $ , . it will be interesting to notice on what these tolls were levied; the list includes , barrels of flour, , barrels of salt, , bushels of wheat, , , feet of lumber, , bushels of lime, , pounds of maple sugar, tons of butter and lard, tons of gypsum, , tons of merchandise, wagons, and coaches. the rates of toll per mile in were as follows: _article_ _rate_ salt mills per ton. gypsum mills per ton. flour, meal, etc cent per ton. merchandise cents per ton. timber (square and round) mills per solid feet. boards (planks, and reduced to one inch) mills per solid feet. shingles mill per . bricks, sand, lime, iron ore, and stone mills per ton. fence rails and posts cents per . wood for fuel cent per cord. all fuel for manufacture of salt free. boats for transportation of property mill per ton of capacity. boats for carriage of persons cents per mile of their passage. staves and heading for pipes cent per . staves and heading for hogsheads mills per . staves and heading for barrels mills per . all articles not named cent per ton.[ ] the large amounts handled by the canal commissioners during the building of the canal will indicate the great responsibility that lay on their shoulders; between and the amount paid out by myron holley was $ , , . ; by h. seymour, $ , . ; by s. young, $ , . . by a law passed march , , the commissioners were authorized to borrow $ , , and also $ , to pay interest on the canal bonds. the tolls collected the year before amounted to $ , . ; in this year they ran up to $ , . ; $ , . was collected between the seneca and utica, and $ , . between little falls and albany. on april , , the commissioners were authorized to borrow one million dollars to complete the canals. in this year ten thousand boats passed the junction of the erie and champlain canals; , tons of freight were handled and $ , . was received from tolls. the following table will show the exact number of miles that was completed in the years from to and the tolls received from the canal alone: _year_ _miles completed_ _tolls_ $ , . , . , . , . , . the expense of building in these years was: _year_ _expense_ - $ , , . , , . , , . , , . ------------ total $ , , . the debt incurred, including the amount required for completion and payment of all claims at the close of the year , was $ , , . this estimate proved approximately correct, the total cost being $ , . per mile, a trifle over one-half of the cost per mile of the chesapeake and ohio canal. the success of the erie canal, shown by the tolls received from to ($ , , . ), was more than its promoters had expected; indeed it was so great that the enlargement of the canal was rendered imperative within a decade. this was first urged by the citizens of one of the jewel-cities made by the great waterway--utica. the memorial now reported to the legislature by e. f. johnson called for a steamboat canal from utica to oswego (lake ontario) which was to be extended to albany; the proposed depth was eight feet, width fifty-eight feet on the bottom and ninety feet on the surface, the locks one hundred and thirty feet long by thirty feet wide. "on the erie canal," the memorial urged, "the cost of animal power is per cent greater than steam power on the hudson for flour, and per cent greater for merchandize; agricultural products, including ashes, per cent greater on the canal than on the hudson river. the erie canal is small, and the traction of boats that navigate it is from to , and most usually per cent greater than would occur on a canal of the most favorable size for the boat used.... that a canal boat, feet long, feet wide, drawing feet water, would carry tons, and require a lock feet long by feet wide; the sectional area of boat below load water line feet. the gross load of a schooner, with its own weight, would be tons. canal boats, constructed with reference to freight merely, will generally weigh in the ratio of their cargo as to ."[ ] engineer n. s. roberts in a report dated january , , said: "the present canal admits boats - / feet wide, feet draught, feet long, displaces tons water, weight of boat to tons, cargo tons. size of canal, [ ?] feet bottom, feet surface, feet depth cross sec[tion] = [ ?] sq. feet. enlarged canal to reduce cost of transportation, - / per cent must be feet bottom, feet top, and feet deep, cross sec[tion]: . ; width and size of locks: × between gates, admitting a boat feet long, - / feet wide, and feet draught."[ ] after examination, the canal board determined to make the canal seventy feet wide on the surface, seven feet deep; the locks were to measure feet between quoins and be eighteen feet deep. it was estimated that a canal of these proportions would save fifty per cent of transportation charges exclusive of tolls.[ ] the enlargement construction law was passed may , ; the act called for the construction of "double locks thereon as soon as they should deem it for the public interest; the dimensions of the canals and locks to be fixed by the canal board."[ ] the new canal, seventy feet wide by seven feet deep, was divided into four sections. the first was from albany to the eastern end of the rome summit; the estimated cost of this section for enlargement was $ , , . . the second section ran from east end of rome summit to jordan; estimated cost, $ , , . . the third lay between jordan and rochester; estimated cost $ , , . . the portion from rochester to buffalo comprised the fourth section, its estimated cost being $ , , . . the total estimated cost, after adding ten per cent for contingencies, was $ , , . .[ ] twenty-one double and three single locks were planned between albany and schenectady; one double and three single at little falls; two double and one single at syracuse; one single lock at lyons; two single at lockville; one double and one single at macedon. on january , , these were all under contract, at a contract price of $ , , .[ ] one year later contracts to the amount of ten and one-half millions for the whole work of enlargement had been signed. the commissioners were authorized by an act passed april , , to borrow four millions.[ ] the work went on rapidly. by april , , the rochester aqueduct was completed, at a cost of half a million; the north tier of the locks at lockport was in use in april of the next year. the total cost of the works here was $ , . in twenty-nine out of forty-nine double set of locks between albany and syracuse were completed and ninety-eight miles of the new enlarged canal was open for use; the cost for this portion was $ , , . the total cost of enlargement contracted for prior to april , , was $ , , . by the cost had run up to fifteen millions, which was distributed by years as follows: _year_ _expense_ _year_ _expense_ $ , . $ , . , . , . , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , , . , , . , , . , , . ------------ , . total $ , , . [ ] this enlargement was completed in and is legally known as the "enlargement of ." when completed the canal was - / miles long; it had seventy-two locks, measuring × feet, of which fifty-seven were double and fifteen single. the building of double locks did not cease until . further enlargement of the erie canal has been almost constantly under discussion. in state engineer taylor suggested gunboat locks twenty-six feet wide and two hundred and twenty-five feet long, with a depth of seven feet. what was known as the "seymour plan" was brought forward by state engineer seymour in , which called for a deepening of the canal to eight feet by lowering the bottom in some places and raising the banks in others. state engineer sweet proposed a ship canal across new york, eighteen feet in depth, in . in the subject of enlarging the canal was considered by congress,[ ] but nothing was done until when the "nine million" act was passed by the new york legislature, granting about half the sum asked for by the state engineer for improvement. the work was begun in and consisted of deepening the canal to nine feet in the waterway and eight feet over structures. the work went on through when the appropriation gave out and it was suspended. but before the passage of this act an effort was being made to secure recognition at albany in order that the subject of enlargement might be more thoroughly studied before the state should be committed to any policy; and even after the general assembly had voted for the expenditure of nine millions of dollars, yet the men behind the scenes were not dismayed, but with greater determination their work was carried on. the story of initiative work, of the arousing of public sentiment, the obtaining of recognition of those in power at albany, the years of work expended and of thousands of dollars obtained by voluntary subscription for the carrying on of the work can never be told in detail and could only be told by such men as mr. george h. raymond of buffalo and his associates. but that their work was efficient time has already proved. the first official recognition of the necessity for radical enlargement or total abandonment (this latter being a natural deduction from the former) was the passage of an act by the general assembly of the state[ ] authorizing the governor to appoint a commission "to examine into the commerce of new york, the cause of its decline and the means for its revival." governor black appointed charles a. schieren, andrew h. green, c. c. shayne, hugh kelly, and alexander r. smith to constitute what was officially known as the new york commerce commission but was usually called the "black commission." this body of men submitted a preliminary report to the legislature of [ ] and continued its investigations under authority of an amendment[ ] making, in , a most exhaustive report thereon. long before the final report of the "black commission"[ ] was submitted theodore roosevelt was governor and taking active steps to assist in the solution of the "canal question." a "committee on canals of the state of new york" was appointed. the following quotations from governor roosevelt's letter of appointment written to francis v. greene on march , , are self-explanatory: "i am very desirous of seeing the canal policy of the state definitely formulated. as you know, the nine million dollars designated to deepen the canal to the depth of nine feet has been practically expended, and it is reported that sixteen millions additional will be needed to carry this scheme through, while at the same time, certain experts have said that the scheme, when carried through, will not be satisfactory.... "i desire the opinion of a body of experts, ... i have decided to ask five of the citizens of new york, whose reputation in these respects stands highest, to act with the superintendent of public works, col. partridge, and the state engineer and surveyor, mr. bond, to make the necessary investigations.... the other four gentlemen will be major t. w. symons, hon. john n. scatcherd, hon. george e. green and hon. frank s. witherbee.... "the broad question of the proper policy which the state should pursue in canal matters remains unsolved, and i ask you to help me reach the proper solution." this committee submitted a report to the governor, under date of january , , stating "that the canals connecting the hudson river with lake erie, ontario and champlain should not be abandoned, but should be maintained and enlarged." the report contained many maps, documents and tables, and offered convincing arguments. the consideration of the two reports, viz., the black commission and the roosevelt committee, by the next general assembly resulted in the passage of "an act directing the state engineer and surveyor to cause surveys, plans and estimates to be made for improving the erie canal, the champlain canal, and the oswego canal and making an appropriation therefor."[ ] the work thus authorized was carried out and a report, comprising a thousand pages of printed matter and thirty-four plates in atlas form, was submitted to the general assembly the following year. one of the clearest statements of the conditions which led new york to face the great work of enlarging her canal is contained in a letter written to governor odell by william f. king, president of the merchants' association of new york, as follows: "i wish to call your attention to what, to my mind, is one of the most important public improvements that can be made for the benefit of the people of this state, namely, the improvement of the erie canal. it must not be forgotten that formerly the minerals, the products of the farm, the production of cotton, lumber, coal; in fact, all raw materials, were brought eastward to be turned into manufactured goods, and shipped west. today what are the conditions? the goods are manufactured ready for market right in the states where the raw material is found. the consequence is that these self-same states have grown so rapidly and so much in wealth that it behooves our people to realize the importance of the erie canal to the manufacturing industries, and the farming element of the state. "the widening and deepening of the erie canal means continued prosperity to the manufacturing industries of this state. it means that the raw material will come to our different towns, villages, and cities at an extremely low cost, and that we will then be able to compete with the manufacturing industries of the great middle west. unless this is done, there is but one alternative, that this great state lose its commercial supremacy, which would also mean a great loss in population. people must be employed. if they cannot secure work they will go to that market where their services can be utilized at good wages. "the farmers of this state must remember that conditions have changed in regard to the products of the farm. eastern farmers cannot, because of natural conditions, produce grain and meat products as well as western farmers can. therefore, eastern farmers cannot profitably compete in these products. they think that cheap grain and provision freights from the west to the seaboard give western farm products a still greater advantage, and therefore are opposed to them. that may be true; but will choking the erie canal, so that the new york central railroad company can maintain high local freight rates on manufactured products and high-class traffic, keep western farm products from reaching the seaboard as cheaply as now? we can prevent western grain and provisions from passing across the state of new york, and the present railroad policy is rapidly doing it; but the only effect will be to send the traffic through canada and by rail routes to boston, philadelphia, baltimore, newport news, charleston, and especially new orleans and galveston. that will greatly harm this city, but what good will it do to the new york state farmer? "the true market for a large part of this state's farm products must be local and the demand must come from the creation, development, and prosperity of local industries throughout the state, and these, in turn, depend upon cheap freight rates such as the erie canal will insure. those cheap rates will enable the important cities of central new york to obtain iron ore, and coal as cheaply as the lake ports and the pennsylvania towns now obtain those raw materials, and will give the manufacturers of those cities a considerable advantage in freight charges upon products intended for export. factories in the midst of farms, with cheap freight outlets, is the ideal condition for industrial prosperity. this condition will reach its highest point by development of the erie canal. "it is the duty of the people of the state to avail themselves of that which nature has provided, the greatest waterway in this country, if not in the world, the great lakes. the connection of the erie canal with the hudson river also means a connection with the east river and turns long island sound into an outlet of the erie canal, by which freight from the great west can be transported to the eastern states. with the erie canal improved, new york would become the greatest harbor in the world. it would bring about a continuance of the enjoyment by this city of the import trade of the nation. it would also make new york the outlet for the export trade of the united states with other countries, making new york city not only the greatest financial center, but also the greatest commercial city. we have about miles of water front available for shipping. this water front should be made available for additional shipping, so that the export trade could be increased, making new york city the center for export trade the same as liverpool is in england. this can only be done by the improvement of the erie canal. "it is for you, if you are reëlected governor of the state, to advocate a referendum to allow the people to vote for the building of a , -ton barge canal. the party ignoring this issue is, to my belief, doomed to defeat. the people throughout the state are aroused to the importance of the question. they are determined to be allowed to vote on this question." [illustration: map of the erie canal, showing improvements proposed; from report of february , ] the referendum was discussed, the necessary laws passed, the project submitted to the people and by a majority of nearly a quarter of a million the state voted to expend $ , , for the rebuilding of its canals with a prism feet deep, feet wide on the bottom, and feet at the surface of water, capable of floating economically a barge of feet draft of , tons capacity; with locks feet long and feet broad, capable of passing two boats, feet long, feet wide and feet draft. thus, in brief, was inaugurated the largest work of its kind in our history, an artificial waterway to connect an inland lake and river, the entire expense to be borne by a single state. for the very boldness of its conception and the magnitude of its realization it demands our respect. as the old erie canal heralded a new epoch in the commercial history of america, is it not possible that the new grand canal will be the beginning of another new epoch in this new century? a study of the map of the new canal appended will show, for one thing, that new york is going back to the old idea of canalizing rivers. instead of building a canal beside the mohawk, for instance, her engineers will canalize that river. this is in direct opposition to the advice sent by benjamin franklin from england to the pennsylvania promoters of inland navigation at the close of the revolutionary war;[ ] it is an indication of the great advances in engineering science since the days of smeaton, and is made possible by the substitution of the screw propeller for the mule and tow-path. it is by this means that the ohio river is to be made a great artery of commerce.[ ] with steamers fitted out with low pressure engines it is estimated that freight can be transported profitably on the ohio at an astonishingly low rate with which no land method of transportation can ever dare hope to compete. the new project of new york, therefore, brings back all the old-time dreams of early american promoters--of washington's for the potomac, of morris's for the mohawk, and of robert morris's for the susquehanna. if modern engineering can make the canalization of one river a success, it can of hundreds of rivers. no sooner was the erie canal a success in than ohio, pennsylvania, maryland and other states began canal building. no sooner had new york voted in favor of her thousand-ton barge canal than ohio again followed by passing an act looking toward the improvement of her canal from the ohio to lake erie. does new york again lead the way to a new field of national development by means of canalization of rivers at the beginning of the twentieth century, as she did by means of canal-building at the beginning of the nineteenth? appendixes appendix a act of april , [ ] i _be it enacted by the people of the state of new-york, represented in senate and assembly_, that stephen van rensselaer, de witt clinton, samuel young, joseph ellicott and myron holley, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners, to consider, devise and adopt such measures as may or shall be requisite, to facilitate and effect the communication, by means of canals and locks, between the navigable waters of hudson's river and lake erie, and the said navigable waters and lake champlain; and in case of the resignation or death of any of the said commissioners, the vacancy thereby occasioned, shall be supplied by the legislature, in the manner in which senators of the united states, from this state, are directed to be chosen. ii _and be it further enacted_, that the said commissioners shall choose one of their number, to be president of their board, and shall appoint a fit person for their secretary, who shall be allowed and paid such salary as the said commissioners shall deem proper and reasonable: and the president of the said board of commissioners shall have power to call a meeting of the same whenever in his opinion, the public interests require it; and the said board may adjourn from time to time, to meet at any time and place they may deem most conducive to the public good: _and further_, the said commissioners shall have power to employ such and so many agents, engineers, surveyors, draftsmen and other persons, as in their opinion may be necessary to enable them to fulfil and discharge the duties imposed upon them by this act; and to allow and pay the said agents, engineers, surveyors, draftsmen and other persons, for their respective services, such sum or sums as may be adequate and reasonable. iii _and be it further enacted_, that it shall be the duty of the said commissioners, as soon as may be after the passing of this act, to cause those parts of the territory of this state which may lie upon or contiguous to the probable courses and ranges of the said canals, to be explored and examined for the purpose of fixing and determining the most eligible and proper routes for the same, and to cause all necessary surveys and levels to be taken, and accurate maps, field books and drafts thereof to be made, and further to adopt and recommend proper plans for the construction and formation of the said canals, and of the locks, dams, embankments, tunnels and aqueducts which may be necessary for the completion of the same, and to cause all necessary plans, drafts and models thereof, to be executed under their direction. iv _and be it further enacted_, that the said commissioners or a majority of them, shall be, and they are hereby authorized and required to make application in behalf of this state, to the government of the united states, and of such states and territories as may be benefited by the said canals or either of them, to the proprietors of lands through or near which the said canals or either of them, may, or may be proposed to, pass, to all bodies politic and corporate, public or private, and all citizens or inhabitants of this or any other of the united states, for cessions, grants or donations of land or money, for the purpose of aiding in the constructing or completing of both or either of the said canals, according to the discretion of the several grantors or donors, and to take to the people of this state, such grants and conveyances as may be proper and competent to vest a good and sufficient title in the said people to the lands so to be ceded or granted as aforesaid, and for the purposes above-mentioned, it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to open books of subscription in such and so many places as they may think necessary and expedient, and under such rules and regulations as they may from time to time establish: _and further_, it shall be their duty to ascertain whether to any and to what amount, and upon what terms loans of money may or can be procured on the credit of this state, for the purpose aforesaid. v _and be it further enacted_, that it shall be the duty of the said commissioners to make, or cause to be made, with as much accuracy and minuteness as may be, calculations and estimates of the sum or sums of money which may or will be necessary for completing each of the said canals, according to the plan or plans which may be adopted and recommended by them, for the construction or formation of the same, and to cause the said calculations and estimates, and all surveys, maps, field books, plans, drafts and models authorised and directed by this act, or so many thereof as may be completed, together with a plain and comprehensive report of all their proceedings under and by virtue of this act, to be presented to the legislature of this state within twenty days after the commencement of the next regular annual session thereof. vi _and be it further enacted_, that the treasurer shall, on the warrant of the comptroller, pay to the order of a majority of the said commissioners, out of any monies in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated, any sum or sums not exceeding twenty thousand dollars, and for which the said commissioners shall account to the comptroller of this state. vii _and be it further enacted_, that the act entitled "an act to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of this state," passed the th day of april, , and the act, entitled "an act further to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of this state," passed june th , be and the same are hereby repealed. appendix b act of april , [ ] _whereas_, navigable communications between lakes erie and champlain, and the atlantic ocean, by means of canals connected with the hudson river, will promote agriculture, manufactures and commerce, mitigate the calamities of war, and enhance the blessings of peace, consolidate the union, and advance the prosperity and elevate the character of the united states: _and whereas_, it is the incumbent duty of the people of this state, to avail themselves of the means which the almighty has placed in their hands for the production of such signal, extensive and lasting benefits to the human race: _now, therefore_, in full confidence that the congress of the united states, and the states equally interested with this state in the commencement, prosecution and completion of those important works, will contribute their full proportion of the expense; and in order that adequate funds may be provided, and properly arranged and managed, for the prosecution and completion of all the navigable communications contemplated by this act: i _be it enacted by the people of the state of new york, represented in senate and assembly_, that there shall be constituted a fund to be denominated the canal fund, which shall consist of all such appropriations, grants and donations, as may be made for that purpose by the legislature of this state, by the congress of the united states, by individual states, and by corporations, companies and individuals; which fund shall be superintended and managed by a board of commissioners, to be denominated "the commissioners of the canal fund," consisting of the lieutenant-governor, the comptroller, the attorney-general, the surveyor-general, secretary and treasurer, a majority of whom with the comptroller shall be a quorum for the transaction of business; and that it shall be the duty of the said board to receive, arrange and manage to the best advantage all things belonging to the same fund, to borrow, from time to time, monies on the credit of the people of this state at a rate of interest not exceeding six per centum per annum, and not exceeding in any one year a sum which, together with the net income of the said fund, shall amount to four hundred thousand dollars; for which monies, so to be borrowed, the comptroller shall issue transferable certificates of stock, payable at such time or times as may be determined by said board; out of the said fund to pay to the canal commissioners hereafter mentioned, the monies so to be borrowed and the income of the said fund, reserving at all times sufficient to pay the interest of all monies that shall have been borrowed by the said board; to recommend from time to time to the legislature, the adoption of such measures as may be thought proper by the said board for the improvement of the said fund, and to report to the legislature, at the opening of every session thereof, the state of said fund; and that the comptroller and treasurer shall open separate books, and keep the accounts of the said fund distinct from the other funds of the state. ii _and be it further enacted_, that the commissioners appointed by the act, entitled "an act to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of this state" passed april , , shall continue to possess the powers thereby conferred, and be denominated "the canal commissioners;" and they are hereby authorized and empowered, in behalf of this state, and on the credit of the fund herein pledged, to commence making the said canals, by opening communications by canals and locks between the mohawk and seneca rivers, and between lake champlain and the hudson river; to receive from time to time from the commissioners of the canal fund, such monies as may be necessary for and applicable to the objects hereby contemplated; to cause the same to be expended in the most prudent and economical manner, in all such works as may be proper to make the said canals; and on completing any part or parts of the works or canals contemplated by this act, to establish reasonable tolls and adopt all measures necessary for the collection and payment thereof to the commissioners of the canal fund; that a majority of the said commissioners shall be a board for the transaction of business, each of whom shall take an oath well and faithfully to execute the duties of his office, and shall report to the legislature at each session thereof, the state of said works and expenditures, and recommend such measures as they may think advisable for the accomplishment of the objects intended by this act; and in case of any vacancy in the office of commissioner, during the recess of the legislature, the person administering the government may appoint a person to fill such vacancy until the legislature shall act in the premises. iii _and be it further enacted_, that it shall and may be lawful for the said canal commissioners, and each of them, by themselves, and by every superintendent, agent, and engineer, employed by them, to enter upon, take possession of, and use all and singular any lands, waters, and streams necessary for the prosecution of the improvements intended by this act, and to make all such canals, feeders, dykes, locks, dams, and other works and devices as they may think proper for making said improvements, doing nevertheless no unnecessary damage; and that in case any lands, waters or streams taken and appropriated for any of the purposes aforesaid, shall not be given or granted to the people of this state, it shall be the duty of the canal commissioners from time to time, and as often as they think reasonable and proper, to cause application to be made to the justices of the supreme court, or any two of them, for the appointment of appraisers; and the said justices shall thereupon, by writing, appoint not less than three, nor more than five discreet disinterested persons as appraisers, who shall, before they enter upon the duties of their appointment, severally take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, before some person authorised to administer oaths, faithfully and impartially to perform the trust and duties required of them by this act, which oath or affirmation shall be filed with the secretary of the canal commissioners; and it shall be the duty of the said appraisers, or a majority of them, to make a just and equitable estimate and appraisal of the loss and damage, if any, over and above the benefit and advantage to the respective owners and proprietors or parties interested in the premises so required for the purposes aforesaid, by and in consequence of making and constructing any of the works aforesaid; and the said appraisers, or a majority of them, shall make regular entries of their determination and appraisal, with an apt and sufficient description of the several premises appropriated for the purposes aforesaid, in a book or books to be provided and kept by the canal commissioners, and certify and sign their names to such entries and appraisal, and in like manner certify their determination as to these several premises which will suffer no damages, or will be benefited more than injured by or in consequence of the works aforesaid; and the canal commissioners shall pay the damages so to be assessed and appraised, and the fee simple of the premises so appropriated shall be vested in the people of this state. iv _and be it further enacted_, that whenever, in the opinion of the canal commissioners, it shall be for the interest of this state, for the prosecution of the works contemplated by this act, that all the interest and title (if any) in law and equity of the western inland lock navigation company should be vested in the people of this state, it shall be lawful for the said canal commissioners to pass a resolution to that effect, and that it shall then be lawful for the president of the canal commissioners to cause a copy of such resolution, with a notice signed by himself and the secretary of the said commissioners, to be delivered to the president or other known officer of the said company, notifying the president and directors of the said company that an application will be made to the justices of the supreme court, at a term thereof to be held not less than thirty days from the time of giving such notice, for the appointment of appraisers to estimate the damages to be sustained by the same company, by investing in the people of this state all the lands, waters, canals, locks, feeders, and appurtenances thereto acquired, used and claimed by the said company, under its act of incorporation, and the several acts amending the same; and it shall be the duty of the justices aforesaid, at the term mentioned in the said notice, and on proof of the service thereof, to appoint, by writing under the seal of the said court, and the hands of at least three of the said justices, not less than three, nor more than five disinterested persons, being citizens of the united states, to estimate and appraise the damages aforesaid; and it shall be the duty of the said appraisers, or a majority of them, to estimate and appraise the damages aforesaid, and severally to certify the same under oath, before an officer authorised to take the acknowledgement of deeds, to be a just, equitable, and impartial appraisal to the best of their judgment and belief, and shall thereupon deliver the same to one of the canal commissioners, who shall report the same to the same court; and if the said court shall be of opinion that the said damages have been fairly and equitably assessed, the said justices, or any three of them, may certify the same on the same report, and the amount of the said damages and the expenses of the said appraisal shall be audited by the comptroller, and paid on his warrant by the treasurer out of the canal fund; and the people of this state shall thereupon be invested with, and the said canal commissioners may cause to be used, all the lands, waters, streams, canals, locks, feeders, and appurtenances aforesaid, for the purposes intended by this act. v _and be it further enacted_, that for the purposes contemplated by this act, and for the payment of the interest and final redemption of the principal of the sums to be borrowed by virtue hereof, there shall be, and hereby are appropriated and pledged, a duty or tax of twelve and a half cents per bushel upon all salt to be manufactured in the western district of this state; a tax of one dollar upon each steamboat passenger, for each and every trip or voyage such passenger may be conveyed upon the hudson river on board of any steamboat over one hundred miles, and half that sum for any distance less than one hundred miles and over thirty miles; the proceeds of all lotteries which shall be drawn in this state, after the sums now granted upon them shall be paid; all the net proceeds of this state from the western inland lock navigation company; all the net proceeds of the said canals and each part thereof when made; all grants and donations made or to be made for the purpose of making the said canals; all the duties upon sales at auction, after deducting thereout twenty-three thousand five hundred dollars, annually appropriated to the hospital, the economical school, and the orphan asylum society, and ten thousand dollars hereby appropriated annually for the support of foreign poor in the city of new york. vi _and be it further enacted_, that from and after the first tuesday of august next, there shall be paid and collected in the manner now directed by law, upon all salt to be manufactured in the county of onondaga, a duty of twelve and a half cents per bushel, instead of the present duties, and the like tax or duty of twelve and a half cents per bushel upon all other salt to be manufactured in the western district of this state, which shall be collected by the superintendent of the salt springs, until otherwise directed by the legislature; and for that purpose, he shall have a responsible deputy residing at each place where salt is or may be manufactured, with the like powers and subject to the like duties as his present deputies; and that all the provisions, forfeitures, penalties, and restrictions contained in the laws relative to the duties upon onondaga salt, so far as the same may be applicable, shall be in force for the purposes of enforcing the payment and collection of the tax or duties upon salt hereby levied and imposed. and further, that the said superintendent, instead of a yearly report to the legislature, shall make a quarter yearly report to the commissioners of the canal fund, and pay into the treasury of this state, on the first tuesday of february, may, august and november, in each year, all the monies collected by him during the quarter preceding each of those days, deducting in addition to what by law is now allowed to be deducted, five per cent of the duties collected at all other salt works, not situated in the county of onondaga, and two per cent of the duties upon onondaga salt, as a compensation for collecting and paying over the same. vii _and be it further enacted_, that it shall be the duty of the said canal commissioners, to raise the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, to be appropriated towards the making and completing of the said canals from the mohawk river to the seneca river, and from lake champlain to hudson's river, by causing to be assessed and levied in such manner as the said commissioners may determine and direct, the said sum of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, upon the lands and real estate, lying along the route of the said canals, and within twenty-five miles of the same, on each side thereof: which sum so to be assessed and levied, shall be assessed on the said lands and real estate adjacent to the said several canals, in such proportion for each, as the said commissioners shall determine. and the said commissioners shall have power to make such rules and regulations, and adopt such measures for the assessing, levying, and collecting the sum or sums of money, either by sale of the said lands or otherwise, as they shall deem meet, and the said assessment shall be made on said lands, according to the benefit which they shall be considered by the said commissioners, as deriving from the making of the said canals respectively: _provided_, that such rules, regulations and measures, shall before they are carried into effect, be sanctioned and approved by the chancellor and judges of the supreme court, or a majority of them: _and provided further_, that if any company or individual subject for such tax, shall subscribe any money or other property towards the completion of the said canals, the amount of such donation or voluntary subscription, shall, if the same is less than the amount of the tax, be deducted therefrom, and if more, he or they shall be entirely discharged from the said tax. _and be it further enacted_, that from and after the first day of may next, the aforesaid tax upon steamboat passengers, shall be demanded, taken and received, by each captain or master of every steamboat navigating the hudson river;[ ] and that during each month thereafter, in which such boat shall be employed for the conveyance of passengers, it shall be the duty of such captain or master, to cause to be delivered to the comptroller of this state, a return or account, sworn to, before some officer authorized to administer oaths, stating the name of the boat, the number of trips made by such boat during such month, and the whole number of passengers conveyed on board such boat, at each of the said trips, over one hundred miles, and the number conveyed less than one hundred miles, and over thirty miles, and pay into the treasury of this state the amount of such tax collected during the time mentioned in the said return, deducting three per cent thereof, as a compensation for making such return, and collecting and paying over the said tax: _and further_, that in case of any neglect or refusal in making such return, or collecting and paying over the tax as directed in and by this section, the captain or master so neglecting, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred dollars, besides the amount of the tax so directed to be collected and paid over, to be recovered in an action of debt in the name of the people of this state, and for the use of the aforesaid fund. footnotes: [ ] it is said that the strange name of the city on the ohio river, wheeling, is derived from a word _wheelen_, also meaning "a head on a pole" in another dialect. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. viii, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xii, p. . [ ] mr. watson's _journal_ is included in his _history of the ... western canals in the state of new york_ (albany, ). [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _laws of the state of new-york_ (new york, ), vol. ii, ch. xl. [ ] _laws of the state of new-york_ (new york, ), pp. - . [ ] _history of the ... western canals in the state of new york_, p. . it must be remembered that watson was writing from memory in ; in general his authority may be considered excellent. we have indicated inconsistencies by interrogation points. [ ] _the report of a committee appointed to explore the western waters ... for the purpose of prosecuting the inland lock navigation_ (albany, ). [ ] our source of information on these early mohawk improvements is _report of the directors of the western and northern inland lock navigation companies in the state of new york to the legislature_, . [ ] _id._, p. , _note_. [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] ms. _letters on canals_ by philip schuyler and simeon de witt, - , lenox library. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xiii, ch. . [ ] _history of the ... western canals in the state of new york_, pp. - . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] sparks, _life of gouverneur morris_ (boston, ), vol. i, pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_ (albany, ), pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _history of the ... western canals in the state of new york_, p. . [ ] m. s. hawley, _origin of the erie canal_, p. . clinton gave hawley great credit for his part in promoting the erie canal idea--p. . "he [hawley] was at colonel mynderse's office in , attending to the shipment of some flour to market, by the circuitous and uncertain route then in use. himself and colonel mynderse conversing upon the necessities for better facilities, mr. hawley said: 'why not have a canal extend direct into our country, and benefit all--merchants, millers, and farmers.'" hawley then pointed out on a map that lake erie could be made a head of water. "a change having occurred in mr. hawley's business, he spent the winter of and in pittsburg, pennsylvania, and not knowing when he would return to ontario county, he sketched the first essay, and to preserve it from oblivion, as he said, he procured it to be published there, on the fourteenth day of january, , in the newspaper called the _commonwealth_."--_origin of the erie canal_, pp. - . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _public documents relating to the new-york canals_ (new york, ), pp. xlix-l. [ ] _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _laws of new york_, . [ ] _public documents relating to canals_, pp. li-lii. [ ] "memorial of the citizens of new-york, in favor of a canal-navigation between the great western lakes and the tide-waters of the hudson, presented to the assembly february , , and ordered to be printed."--from _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_, p. . [ ] the middlesex canal was twenty-seven miles in length and joined boston harbor at charlestown with the merrimac river. it was incorporated in , begun in and opened in . its cost to was over half a million. it was thirty feet wide at the top, twenty feet wide at the base and three feet deep. the rise from boston to summit level was one hundred and four feet and the descent to the merrimac, thirty-two feet. it included twenty locks, seventy-five feet long, ten feet wide at the base and eleven feet wide at the top, capable of locking a boat of fourteen tons. the income from tolls beginning with $ , in had increased to $ , in ; land beside the canal had increased in value one-third, and new hampshire timber at once became worth from one to three dollars per ton standing, which before was worth nothing. the success of this canal must be considered as having something to do in the promotion of the erie canal. [ ] see appendix a. [ ] the material for the earlier portions of this chapter is largely from the annual reports of the canal commissioners from to contained in _public documents relating to the new-york canals_ (new york, ), pp. - , - , - , - , and _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_, vol. ii, pp. - , - , - . [ ] appendix b. [ ] m. s. hawley, _origin of the erie canal_, pp. - ; hawley's source of information was judge platt, one of the council. [ ] _id._, pp. - . cf. p. , referring to the change of route at rome and consequent dissatisfaction. [ ] sparks's _writings of washington_, vol. ii, pp. , . [ ]_public documents_ ( ), p. . [ ] for elaborate account of this celebration see w. l. stone's _narrative of the festivities observed in honor of the completion of the grand erie canal_ (new york, ), and local histories. [ ] w. l. stone, _narrative of the festivities observed in honor of the completion of the grand erie canal_, p. . this monograph has been used extensively in describing the celebration festivities. [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _the influence of the erie canal upon the population along its course_, bearing the imprint of the university of wisconsin, . [ ] hammond, _political history of new york_, vol. ii, pp. , . mcmaster, _history of u.s._, vol. v, p. . [ ] freeman's _journal_, cooperstown, otsego county, new york, september , , p. , c. . [ ] freeman's _journal_, august , , p. , c. . seward, _autobiography of w. h. seward from to _, p. . [ ] hammond, _political history of new york_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] hammond, _political history of new york_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] jenkins, _political history of new york_, p. . [ ] the following counties sent petitions to the legislature: tioga, steuben, yates, ontario, wayne, cayuga, seneca, tompkins, chenango, broome, madison, oneida, onondaga, herkimer, lewis, jefferson, and chautauqua. (_laws of the state of new york, relative to erie and champlain canals_, , i, pp. - .) [ ] this fact is supported by mr. jenkins in his _political history of new york_. he says: "mr. granger received a very heavy vote in the sixth and eighth districts; and it is probable his friends had confidently expected that the chenango canal interests would secure his election. "the sixth senatorial district to which the feeling in favor of the chenango canal was mainly confined, gave mr. granger more than , majority. notwithstanding it had given , the other way in ." the majority for mr. granger in the eighth district was nearly , . [ ] jenkins, _political history of new york_, p. . [ ] w. n. holland, _life and political opinions of van buren_: attitude toward internal improvements, pp. - . [ ] this is probably a reference to such loans as were authorized to be made to the new york and erie railroad. the new york and erie railroad was incorporated in and in the legislature authorized a loan of the credit of the state to the company for the amount of $ , , subject to certain restrictions, some of which were that the route of the road should be through the southern tier of counties in the state, one-fourth was to be completed in ten years, one-half in fifteen years, and the whole of it in twenty years. the road was to begin at tappan, rockland county, on the hudson, pass through goshen, oswego, elmira, and other towns and end at dunkirk on lake erie.--tanner, _canals and railroads of the united states_, , p. . [ ] lossing, _empire state_, p. . [ ] _documentary sketch of new york state canals_ by s. h. sweet (albany, ), p. . [ ] _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_ (albany, ), vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] sweet's _documentary history_, pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _house reports, no. , th cong., st sess., _, also, _no. , th cong., st sess._ [ ] _laws of _, ch. . [ ] _senate documents_, no. . [ ] _laws of _, ch. . [ ] _report of the new york commerce commission_, albany, . [ ] _laws of _, ch. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xiii, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ix, pp. - . [ ] "an act to provide for the improvement of the internal navigation of this state," passed april , . from _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] "an act respecting navigable communications between the great western and northern lakes and the atlantic ocean," passed april , . from _laws of the state of new-york relative to the canals_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] suspended. see act march , . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. historic highways of america volume [illustration: the old vincennes trace near xenia, illinois] historic highways of america volume military roads of the mississippi basin the conquest of the old northwest by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the clark routes through illinois ii. miami valley campaigns iii. st. clair's campaign iv. wayne and fallen timber appendixes illustrations i. the old vincennes trace near xenia, illinois _frontispiece_ ii. sketch map of part of illinois, showing clark's routes iii. hutchins's sketch of the wabash in (showing trace of the path to kaskaskia; from the original in the british museum) iv. the st. louis trace near lawrenceville, illinois v. a part of arrowsmith's map of the united states, (showing the region in which wilkinson, scott, harmar, st. clair, and wayne operated) vi. dr. belknap's map of wayne's route in the maumee valley, (from the original in the library of harvard university) preface this volume treats of five of the early campaigns in the portion of america known as the mississippi basin--clark's campaigns against kaskaskia and vincennes in and ; and harmar's, st. clair's, and wayne's campaigns against the northwestern indians in , , and - . much as has been written concerning clark's famous march through the "drowned lands of the wabash," the important question of his route has been untouched, and the story from that standpoint untold. the history of the campaign is here made subservient to a study of the route and to an attempted identification of the various places, and a determination of their present-day names. four volumes of the draper manuscripts in the library of the state historical society of wisconsin give a vast deal of information on this subject. they are referred to by the library press-mark. turning to the study of harmar's, st. clair's, and wayne's routes into the northwest, the author found a singular lack of detailed description of these campaigns, and determined to combine with the study of the military roadway a comparatively complete sketch of each campaign, making use, in this case as in that of clark's campaigns, of the draper manuscripts. a great debt of thanks is due to mr. reuben gold thwaites, secretary of the state historical society of wisconsin, for assistance and advice; to josiah morrow of lebanon, ohio, the author is indebted for help in determining portions of harmar's route; and to francis e. wilson, president of the greenville historical society, many thanks are due for help in questions concerning the pathway of the intrepid leader known to the east as "mad anthony" wayne, but remembered in the west as the "blacksnake" and the "whirlwind," because he doubled his track like a blacksnake and swept over his roads like a whirlwind. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, september , . military roads of the mississippi basin the conquest of the old northwest chapter i the clark routes through illinois on the twenty-fourth of june, , george rogers clark, with about one hundred and seventy-five patriot adventurers, left the little pioneer settlement on corn island, in the ohio river, opposite the present site of louisville, kentucky, for the conquest of the british posts of kaskaskia and vincennes in the "illinois country."[ ] the boats running day and night, the party reached clark's first stopping-place, an island in the ohio near the mouth of the tennessee river, in four days. just below this island was the site of old fort massac--now occupied by metropolis, massac county, illinois--built probably by a vanguard from fort duquesne, a generation before, when the french clearly foresaw the end of their reign on the upper ohio. here, almost a century before that, was the old trading-station of juchereau and the mission of mermet--the subsequent "soul of the mission of kaskaskia," as bancroft describes him. the situation was strategic on two accounts: it was a site well out of the reach of the ohio floods, and it was near the mouths of both the tennessee and cumberland rivers--valleys known of old to the shawanese and cherokees. as a coign of vantage for traders and missionaries, it had been of commanding importance. it was, likewise, near the ohio terminus of several old buffalo routes across illinois, roads which became connecting links between kaskaskia, on the river bearing that name near the mississippi, and the mission at fort massac. the old paths of the buffalo, long known as hunting traces, offered the traveler from the ohio to the old-time metropolis of illinois a short-cut by land, saving thrice the distance by water, and obviated stemming the swift tides of the mississippi. one of the principal backbones of illinois was threaded by these primeval routes, and high ground between the vast cypress swamps and mist-crowned drowned lands of illinois was a boon to any traveler, especially that first traveler, the bison. this high ground ran between kaskaskia and shawneetown, on the ohio river, the course becoming later a famous state highway. its earliest name was the "kaskaskia trace." clark's spies, sent out to illinois a year before, undoubtedly advised him to land at fort massac and, gaining from there this famous highway, to pursue it to kaskaskia. his plan of surprising the british post necessitated his pursuing unexpected courses. it was well known that the british watched the mississippi well; therefore he chose the land route. here, at the mouth of the tennessee, his men brought in a canoe full of white traders who had recently been in kaskaskia; certain of these were engaged to guide clark thither. the party dropped down to massac creek, which enters the ohio just above the site of the old fort, and in that inlet secreted their flat-boats ready to begin their intrepid march of one hundred and twenty miles across country.[ ] as this little company of eight or nine score adventurers drew around their fires on massac creek, they little dreamed, we may be sure, of the fame they were to gain from this plucky excursion into the prairies of illinois. it was impossible for them to lift their eyes above the commonplaces of the journey and the possibilities of the coming encounter, and see in true perspective what the capture of illinois meant to poor kentucky. it is not less difficult for us to turn our eyes from these general results, which were so brilliant, and get a clear insight into the commonplaces of this memorable little campaign--to hear the talk of the tired men about the fires as they cleaned the heavy clods of mud from shoes and moccasins, examined their guns, viewed the night, and then talked softly of the possibilities of the morrow, and dreamed, in the ruddy firelight, of those at home. of all companies of famous campaigners on the indian trails of america, this company was the smallest and the most picturesque. clark had but little over half the force which washington commanded at fort necessity in . little massac creek is eleven miles in length but drains seventy square miles of territory. this fact is a significant description of the nature of the northern and central portions of massac county. from the cache river a string of lakes extends in a southeast and then northeast direction to big bay river, varying in width from one to four miles; around the lakes lies a much greater area of cypress swamps and treacherous "sloughs" altogether impassable. the water of these lakes drains sometimes into the cache and at other times into the big bay--depending upon the stage of water in the ohio.[ ] there were three routes from fort massac toward kaskaskia; one, which may well be called the moccasin gap route, circled to the eastward to get around the lakes and swamps of massac county; it passed eastward into pope county, where it struck the kaskaskia-shawneetown highway. this route ran two and one-half miles west of golconda, pope county, and on to sulphur or round spring. from thence through moccasin gap, section , township , range e, johnson county; thence it ran directly for the prairie country to the northward. as noted, this route merged into the famous old kaskaskia and shawneetown route across illinois--what was known as the kaskaskia trace--in pope county. it was this course which in earliest times had been blazed by the french as the safest common highway between kaskaskia and the trading and mission station (and later fort) at massac. the trees along the course were marked with the proper number of miles by means of a hot iron, the figures then being painted red. "such i saw them," records governor reynolds, "in . this road made a great curve to the north to avoid the swamps and rough country on the sources of the cash [cache] river, and also to obtain the prairie country as soon as possible. this road ... was called the old massac road by the americans." [illustration: sketch map of part of illinois showing routes of george rogers clark] the second route circled the massac county lakes to the westward, cutting in between them and the canyons of the cache river, near what is familiarly known as indian point (section , township , range e, massac county), or one mile south of the northwest corner of massac county; thence, running north of northwest, it crossed the little cache (dutchman's creek) one and one-half miles north of forman. thence the route is up the east side of the cache and through buffalo gap, section , township , range e, johnson county, to the prairie land beyond. the third route follows the second through massac county. it is important to note here that the illinois of clark's day--as is partly true now--was composed of three kinds of land: swampy or "drowned" lands, prairie land, and timber land. being practically a level country, the forests became as prominent landmarks as mountains and hills are in rugged districts. routes of travel clung to the prairies; and camping-places, if water could be had in the neighborhood, were always chosen on the edge of a forest where wood could be obtained. between wood and water, of course the latter was the greater necessity. the prairie district in illinois does not extend below williamson county, and famous phelps prairie in that county is the most southern in the state.[ ] both routes from fort massac made straight, therefore, for phelps prairie, in which the town of bainbridge, williamson county, now stands. here the two routes joined again; or, rather, the buffalo gap route met, in phelps prairie, the kaskaskia trace, as the "old massac road" had met it in pope county. the former point of intersection was on the "brooks place," section , township , range e, williamson county.[ ] the buffalo gap route was known as the "middle trail;" the third route northwest from fort massac pursued this path to a point on the cache above indian point; thence it swung westward, keeping far south of the prairie land, passed near carbondale, williamson county, and crossed the big muddy river at murphysboro.[ ] it was known as the "western trail." not touching the prairie land, it is plain that the route could be used only in the driest of midsummer weather. the evidence that clark's guides took the middle trail is overwhelming; the western trail was too wet and did not touch any prairie--this utterly excludes that route from the list of possibilities. according to clark's _memoir_, on the third day out the party reached a prairie where the chief guide became confused; clark's command to him was to discover and take them into the hunter's road that led from the east into kaskaskia. there can be no doubt that this "hunter's road" which came from the east was the kaskaskia-shawneetown trace, which the old massac road joined in pope county, or that the middle trail was the one which the party had been following; the junction of the middle trail on the brooks place, above mentioned, is in phelps prairie and about a three days' march from fort massac. the junction of the trail passing from fort massac eastward of the massac county lakes with the kaskaskia and shawneetown trace is not more than a day's march from fort massac and is not in a prairie. there can be no doubt, therefore, that clark's brave band stole northward on the middle trace, the buffalo gap route. clark would not have commanded his guide, under pain of death, to find the kaskaskia trace if the party had been traversing that trace and had merely missed the way. every implication is that the kaskaskia trace was the goal sought and not yet found. the first day's march of about eighteen miles was a hard one, passing over the winding trail which skirted the southern side of the marshes that flanked the sloughs and lakes of massac county, but finally leading to the bluffs, near the cache river, where, probably on indian point, the first night's camp was pitched.[ ] the first taste of the swamps of illinois was not discouraging, and on the day after, june , the march was resumed. the route today was on the top of the watershed between the cache river on the left (west) and dutchman's creek on the right. buffalo gap was passed today, a mile south of the present goreville, johnson county. camp was pitched this night, after a twenty-mile march, probably at the spring two miles north of the present pulley's mill. the route all day was along the buffalo trail or hunter's road from which buffalo gap received its name.[ ] this gap, like moccasin gap to the eastward, was a famous portal to the prairie country for the bison, indian, and white man. two old-time state roads were built through these two gaps.[ ] pushing forward from the spring near pulley's mill on the morning of june , the virginians ere long came into the prairie lands lying in williamson county. phelps prairie was reached first, the path entering the southern portion of the prairie. here it was that "john saunders, our principal guide, appeared confused, and we soon discovered that he was totally lost." these illinois prairies are almost treeless, save near the water courses; the grass in the old days grew rank and high and one could tell his course only, perhaps, by the stars, if the pathways were obscured. the paths in these prairies are overgrown in the summer time,[ ] and it is probable that this is why clark's guide, attempting to find the kaskaskia trace, lost his bearings. the important landmarks in these prairies were the forests which often bounded them and in many instances extended into them. these extremities of the forests were and are still known as "points," and many of them are yet landmarks in illinois history. a spring beside a point in a prairie made an ideal camping-spot known to half a continent in the olden time. clark's campground in phelps prairie was, without doubt, at a spring just west of bainbridge. northward from phelps prairie two routes ran to kaskaskia: a wet and a dry route. the one which we may call the highland route led north through herrin's prairie and swung around to the mississippi by heading such streams as pipestone, rattlesnake, and galium, crossing the big muddy river at humphry's ford, section , township , range e.[ ] this was the dry route, the preferable one the year round. another shorter course ran northwest and crossed many of the streams which the highland route headed. there can be little doubt that clark's guides chose this latter course. by clark's _memoir_ we know it to have been a dry season, and the shortest, and probably the least traveled, course would best suit his plan of surprising kaskaskia. the shortness of the time (four days) in which the distance to kaskaskia was covered from phelps prairie almost precludes the possibility of his having used the longer watershed route. on the first day of july, then, the little army moved from near the present bainbridge along a well-known trail which crossed crab orchard creek at greathouse crossing[ ] (section , township , range w)[ ] and the big muddy at marshall's shoals, section , township , range w, southwest of de soto, jackson county.[ ] it is possible that camp, on the night of july , was pitched at greathouse crossing; if so the day's march was not a long one. from the big muddy the trail struck to the watershed between the beaucoup and its tributaries on the north and the tributaries of the big muddy on the south, running near the present lenan in jackson county. the course now was a watershed route from the big muddy to the st. mary river, and is marked today by the significant names of such high altitude towns as shiloh hill, teacup knob, and wine hill. through these places an ancient highway has coursed from times to which the memory of white men runneth not to the contrary. water was scarce on the highest grounds, but springs, here and there, were well known, and at one of these, probably near lenan (section , township , range ), the adventurers paused, on the night of september , and built their evening fires.[ ] the end was now almost in sight; two days more and the immediate basin of the mississippi river would be reached, and the success or failure of the daring raid be decided. it can be easily imagined that it was a silent and eager body of men which, on september , strode forward over the rolling hills of randolph county on the old trail. their excitement must have been intense. the old trail from lenan entered randolph county near the center of section , township , south of range w and passed over teacup knob in section and near the present wine hill p. o. pushing on over the hills, the st. mary river was reached at the site of what became the "old state ford," near welge station (formerly bremen station) on the wabash, chester and western railroad--section , township s., range w.[ ] here the last camp of the march was pitched on the night of july --the "glorious fourth" was to see the little invading army lying quietly on the outskirts of quaint old kaskaskia. from the state ford on the st. mary, the course was the highland route running near diamond cross.[ ] here, on the watershed between the tributaries of the st. mary and the kaskaskia, lay the worn vincennes trace running northeast from kaskaskia to the wabash. it is probable that clark entered this highway before the kaskaskia river was reached.[ ] and at the end of the journey awaited victory; governor rochblave was completely surprised, and kaskaskia was captured by the perilous feat of actually marching up to it and taking possession of it with the assumed arrogance of a powerful conqueror. from the moment kaskaskia was in clark's hands he turned his attention to vincennes, and in july, through the coöperation of the french priest gibault, the inhabitants were induced to proclaim themselves american subjects and to hoist an american flag. captain helm of clark's little army was posted at vincennes with a guard, and helm it was who was captured in the fall by the british lieutenant-governor hamilton of detroit. the latter had pushed his difficult way up the maumee and down the wabash to seize the revolted town.[ ] throughout the winter clark feared a swift advance from vincennes; and, to save himself from being captured by hamilton, clark desperately resolved to capture him. by february a new "grand army," of four companies, possibly one hundred and sixty strong, well-armed, but without tents and horse, save a few packhorses, departed from kaskaskia on the desperate journey across the swimming prairies and flooded rivers of illinois for vincennes.[ ] had one man dropped from the ranks each mile, not one of the one hundred and sixty would have reached the wabash. few expeditions in american history have been recounted more than this; it is strange that the route of this immortal little army has never been carefully considered--for the story of the route is almost the whole story of the campaign. [illustration: hutchins's sketch of the wabash in , showing trace of the path to kaskaskia [_from the original in the british museum_]] crossing the kaskaskia river february , , clark's army lay three miles from kaskaskia, for two days, "to tighten belts."[ ] it is impossible to determine how much was known of their path onward. to many it had been well known for nearly a century--an old watershed prairie route marked out by the buffalo and followed by missionaries--the appian way of illinois. the difficulty in studying this route, it should be stated at once, arises from the fact that while kaskaskia was formerly the metropolis of western illinois, the rise of st. louis across the mississippi had the effect of altering previously traveled routes. what has been ever known as the st. louis trace, coursing across illinois from vincennes to the mississippi, became in the nineteenth century what the old kaskaskia trace had been in the eighteenth century, just as what had been the "old massac road" became known as the st. louis-shawneetown road. as a result, the later kaskaskia travelers followed the st. louis trace--much-traveled, broad, and hard--as far westward as marion county, and then turned due southwest to kaskaskia. therefore it is necessary not to confound the ancient kaskaskia trace to vincennes with the later kaskaskia trace which was identical for some distance with the more northerly st. louis trace.[ ] at the same time it is easy to err in separating the older and newer routes too widely in the attempt not to confound them. the newer st. louis trace runs across from indiana (vincennes) to missouri (st. louis) through the illinois counties of lawrence, richland, clay, marion, clinton, and st. clair. the course is practically that of the old mississippi and ohio (now the baltimore and ohio southwestern) railway. the route passed over the best course between the points, as proved by the railway surveyors and engineers. but many rivers blocked the way; the first of these from vincennes was the embarras--so called, as in the case of many streams, because the great floods left deposits of driftwood which seriously impeded navigation. west of the embarras came the petulant little wabash and the big muddy, draining thousands of square miles of swamp and prairie, and, in rainy seasons, uniting and spreading out five miles in width. west of the tributaries of the little wabash come those of the kaskaskia. a few smaller wabash and mississippi tributaries, such as the bonpas and st. mary are headed by this trans-illinois route, but it was not, in one sense, a watershed route, crossing the embarras, little wabash, fox, beaucoup, and kaskaskia and their tributaries. these streams flow southward. kaskaskia lay some fifty miles south of st. louis and the later st. louis trace. the route of the more ancient kaskaskia trace to vincennes, therefore, ran some seventy-five miles in a northeast direction; then, turning due east, it ran about one hundred miles to the wabash. for the first seventy-five miles it was a watershed route, coursing along the highland prairies between three mile, plum, crooked, grand point, and raccoon creeks--all tributaries of the kaskaskia river--on the west and north, and the heads of the st. mary, beaucoup, and big muddy rivers on the east and south. this backbone line of prairie land runs straight northeast through randolph and washington counties, cutting into corners of perry, jefferson, and marion counties. but here in marion county the backbone, which had been accommodatingly trending eastward, turned quickly to the north to avoid the treacherous little wabash; at this point the old trace divided into two courses both of which ran to vincennes. one course, probably that known later as the eastern half of the st. louis trace, passed through the center of clay, richland, and lawrence counties, crossing both the little wabash and big muddy a short distance above their junction, the embarras near lawrence, and the wabash at vincennes. the other branch of the kaskaskia trace passed through the northern portion of wayne, edwards and wabash counties, crossing the little wabash and fox some two miles above their junction, the bonpas river, near bonpas, and the wabash, two miles above st. francisville. from this ford the route led up the eastern shore of the wabash about nine miles to vincennes. by any route, at any time of year, the journey across illinois was a hardship no thinking man would undergo, save only on the most important mission; in the winter season--with the wabash a surging sea, the little wabash a running lake, crooked creek treacherously straight, water frozen on the prairies, the "points" of timber swampy morasses--all communication landward was cut off, with the beavers and blue racers swimming for the high ground. in their right mind, clark's adventurers would probably not have faced the wilderness into which they strode on the morning of february on any private affair of life or death. two magnetic influences drew them on; these americans had brought to illinois the spirit of , a breath of a boasted freedom that was half license, in which the hot-headed french exulted. believing the americophobite british, the inhabitants of kaskaskia had feared the barbarian virginians more than any savages; clark made capital of this in securing kaskaskia, and later, by the kindness with which he treated the inhabitants and the freedom he gave them, accomplished a moral victory as sweeping and as picturesque as his military achievement. the proposed plan to carry to reconquered vincennes the blessings of liberty enjoyed at kaskaskia under virginian rule appealed strongly to the impressionable _habitants_; to clark's own patriot soldiers the vincennes campaign was the very acme of frontier adventure. again, the young, daring clark--quiet, resourceful, irrepressible--was a potent factor in pushing these men out on a journey of such unparalleled hardship. true, it is difficult to look beyond the later george rogers clark, of soiled reputation, to the cool, brave youth of twenty-seven years who led these men through the prairies of illinois in . to dim the brilliant lustre of such days as these was a heavy--if not the heaviest--price to pay for indiscretions of later years. yet, as the records of this handful of men are studied, and especially when the track of their memorable march is picked out and followed, one can fancy the clear, bright picture of the clark of and, happily, believe for the moment that there is no connection between him and the later clark whom the spaniards knew. it is plain that the french were charmed by the dashing virginian and his vincennes chimera. the record clark left of the expedition--written ere the grasshopper was a burden or those were darkened who stood at the windows--clearly implies that the expedition was launched with a levity that it is sure all did not feel, though it may have been perfectly assumed; and as the days passed we shall see that clark hurried on in order to get his men too far to turn back. his diplomatic endeavors, throughout those marvelous fifteen days, to lure his men on, to lift their thoughts from their sufferings and incite them to their almost superhuman tasks, are perhaps without parallel in the history of marching armies in america. departing from the two days' camping-place, three miles from kaskaskia, the course, for almost the entire first day, lay through thick forests, which have quite disappeared since that time, on the watershed between the kaskaskia tributaries on the northwest and those of the st. mary on the southeast.[ ] fortunately the journey at the outset was comparatively easy; the weather was warm for the season, though rainy. a good march was made on the seventh through the forests and out into lively prairie, half a mile northeast of salem, randolph county, where the course of the old trail is well known. beyond this, flat prairie opened the way toward the "great rib," as the french knew the ridge in grand cote prairie (_la prairie de la grande côte_) on which the present village of coultersville, randolph county, stands. the first night's camp was pitched probably in flat prairie, between salem and coultersville.[ ] the authoritative record for this day's march, as of all others, is the official bowman's _journal_:[ ] "made a good march for about nine hours; the road very bad, with mud and water. pitched our camp in a square, baggage in the middle, every company to guard their own squares." on the eighth the record continues: "marched early through the waters, which we now began to meet in those large and level plains, where, from the flatness of the country, [water] rests a considerable time before it drains off; notwithstanding which, our men were in great spirits, though much fatigued." by the eighth it would seem the little band had reached the lower plains in the northwest corner of perry county, two and a half miles northwest of swanwick, where the headwaters of the big muddy tributary of the kaskaskia were crossed, and the prairie south of oakdale, washington county, at which point elkhorn creek was crossed at the famous "meadow-in-the-hole" of old french days. this region was also known as _corne de cerf_, elkhorn prairie, elkhorn point and ayres point.[ ] prairie, forest, and bottom land were not far apart here. the "meadow-in-the-hole" was a singular little meadow, fifty or sixty yards wide, located on a "dry branch" of the elkhorn and thirty feet lower than the surrounding forests--at what is now oakdale on the elkhorn.[ ] from the present oakdale the pathway ran from elkhorn prairie through nashville prairie, circling half a mile to the north and northeast of nashville, washington county. turning to the east here, it coursed onward to a celebrated "point" of woods called grand point, near the present grand point creek, section , township , south range w, two miles and a half northwest of richview, washington county.[ ] from thence it circled northeast through section in grand prairie township, the extreme northwest township of jefferson county.[ ] the second night's camp may have been pitched on grand point creek, near richview; and that of the ninth on raccoon creek, near walnut point, one mile north of walnut hill, marion county. the old trail from grand prairie, jefferson county, entered marion county at section , centralia township, on the old israel jennings farm. walnut hill was two miles north of due east from the jennings farm, through which, it may be added in passing, ran the later famous st. louis-shawneetown road.[ ] bowman's record for the ninth and tenth reads: " th. made another day's march. fair part of the day. th. crossed the river of the petit fork upon trees that were felled for that purpose, the water being so high there was no fording it. still raining and no tents. encamped near the river. stormy weather." here we have the first definite mention of a camping-place; the petit fork was the adams or horse tributary of skillet creek--the first tributary of the little wabash and big wabash the army encountered.[ ] the crossing-place was near farrington, jefferson county[ ]--fifteen short miles from walnut point and known in early days as yellow bark.[ ] the feat of felling trees across this rushing stream being accomplished, the men crawled over and encamped on the eastern bank. a picture of the army splashing along through the watery prairies would be greatly prized today, but a picture of it creeping across petit fork on felled tree-trunks would be of extraordinary interest; it is one of the remarkable incidents of the heroic adventure. of these days the accounts of clark furnish us almost no information.[ ] the incident of the petit fork was not sufficiently notable to receive mention, for clark wrote mason: "the first obstruction of any consequence that i met with was on the th [the little wabash];" yet in his _memoir_--written, it must be remembered, as late as --he describes the march to the little wabash as made "through incredible difficulties, far surpassing anything that any of us had ever experienced." the _letter_ breathes the spirit of the youth, for it was written in ; the _memoir_ ever reads like an old man's reminiscences. clark's diplomacy in securing the loyalty of his men through great discouragements indicates a high order of the best qualities of a military commander. "my object now," he writes, "was to keep the men in spirits." he allowed the men to kill game and hold typical indian feasts after the hard day's wet march. before their rousing fires, with venison and bear meat savoring the air, little wonder the night brought partial forgetfulness of the day's fatigue. the four companies took turns at being hosts; the company on duty each day being supplied with horses on which to transport the game brought down. and throughout every day's march clark, and his equally courageous officers, made light of all difficulties, and "putting on the woodsman, shouting now and then and running as much through the mud and water as any of them. thus, insensibly, without a murmur, was those men led on to the banks of the little wabash which we reached on the th." the spectacle, here presented, of officers inveigling soldiers forward, is one of the most singular in the history of the west. we may well believe clark refers particularly to the two french companies which composed a most important arm of his force--the virginians, perhaps, not needing equal inspiration to endeavor. the climax in clark's diplomacy was reached as he now approached the flood-tides of the raging little wabash. it is necessary here to emphasize that the army, turning eastward just north of present nashville, abandoned the watershed to which their path had thus far held; the route now was nearly due east, across the tributaries of the little wabash. of these, petit fork (adams tributary of the skillet) was the first to be encountered; it was passed with great heroism on the tenth of february. on the eleventh the eastward route was followed and the saline river (skillet creek) was crossed. bowman's record reads: " th. crossed the saline river. nothing extraordinary this day." the route between the skillet and little wabash may have been either one of the two courses mentioned, not over five miles apart, and running parallel to each other. the northern passed through the southern portion of clay county, the southern through the northern portion of wayne. there were two encampments between the petit fork and the little wabash; if the northern route was pursued, these camps were near xenia and clay city in wayne county; if the southern route was followed, the camps were near blue point and mount erie in wayne county. bowman's record for the twelfth is: " th. marched across cot plains;[ ] saw and killed numbers of buffaloes. the road very bad from the immense quantity of rain that had fallen. the men much fatigued. encamped on the edge of the woods. this plain or meadow being fifteen or more miles across, it was late in the night before the baggage and troops got together. now twenty-[forty-] one miles from st. vincent. th. arrived early at the two wabashes. although a league asunder, they now made but one. we set to making a canoe." clark's records of the arrival at the little wabash read (from his _memoir_): "this place is called the two little wabashes; they are three miles apart and from the heights of the one to that of the other on the opposite shores is five miles the whole under water gen^{ly} about three feet deep never under two and frequently four;" (from _letter to mason_) "arriving at the two little wabashes, although three miles asunder--they now make but one--the flowed water between them being at least three feet deep and in many places four. being near five miles to the opposite hills, the shallowest place, except about one hundred yards, was three feet." so far as these records go, either the clay or the wayne county route might have been that pursued. the long prairie of which bowman speaks would have been, on the clay county route, "twelve mile prairie" situated between the present towns on the baltimore and ohio southwestern railway, xenia and clay city; on the wayne county route it would have been "long prairie" lying between blue point and mount erie. the "two wabashes" on the clay county route would have been the little wabash river and the big muddy creek. by the wayne county route the two wabashes would have been the little wabash and fox river. the indefatigable lyman c. draper, after a large correspondence with many of the best informed men in illinois on the subject of the crossing-place of the little wabash, came to the firm conclusion that the two wabashes were the little wabash and the fox; the present writer after studying that correspondence and visiting the ground in question--which mr. draper did not find time to do--quite as firmly believes that the crossing-place was above the junction of the little wabash and big muddy creek at the old mccauley's settlement--in the southeast corner of section of clay county, range e, two miles east of old maysville, which was three-fourths of a mile south of the present clay city station on the baltimore and ohio southwestern railway. by this upper route clark would have been on higher ground before and after crossing the little wabash. it is quite sure his party passed a salt spring (see p. ) and the only one in this region was on this upper route. and finally, bowman states that on the day after crossing the little wabash the party crossed the fox river. this could not have been possible if the little wabash and fox were crossed simultaneously. but even a slight discussion of the question may well be relegated to an appendix.[ ] at either crossing-place, and the two are but a few miles apart, a most desperate situation confronted the intrepid clark and his tired band of invaders. "... i viewed this sheet of water for some time with distrust," clark wrote in his _memoir_, "but accusing myself of doubting i amediately set to work without holding any consultation about it or suffering anybody else to do so in my presence ordered a perogue amediately built and acted as though crossing the water would be only a piece of diversion.... my aneziety [anxiety] to cross this place continually increased as i saw that it would at once fling us into a situation of folorn hope as all ideas of a retreat would in some measure be done away that if the men began after this was accomplished to think seriously of what they had really suffered that they prefer^d risking any seeming difficulty that might probably turn out favourable than to attempt to retreat when they would be certain of experiencing what they had already felt and if the weather should but freeze altogether impracticable, except the ice would bear them." the heroism of clark's crossing of the little wabash has been retold on a thousand pages but it has rarely been suggested that he hurried into these dangers eagerly because they would serve to thwart any hope of retreat. he not only "burned his bridges," but hastened impetuously across waters that could never be bridged, in the hope that they would freeze and cut off all dreams of retreat. this memoir, let it again be remarked, was written many years after the event--after clark saw his great feat somewhat in the light we see it today. his letter to mason, however, was written in the same year that the march was made; if not so self-laudatory, it is as interesting as the memoir, and perhaps more authentic. he thus described the crossing in that document: "this [flood] would have been enough to have stopped any set of men not in the same temper that we were. but in three days we contrived to cross by building a large canoe, ferried across the two channels; the rest of the way we waded, building scaffolds at each to lodge our baggage on until the horses crossed to take them." bowman's record is that of the soldier: " th. finished the canoe and put her into the river about o'clock in the afternoon. th. ferried across the two wabashes, it being then five miles in water to the opposite hills, where we encamped. still raining. orders not to fire any guns for the future, but in case of necessity." when, near olney, clark's men crossed the fox river on the th of february, it is probable that they camped on what is now the st. louis trace road on one of the northeastern tributaries of the fox. the day after, an early start was made in order that the famed embarras might be reached before nightfall. it can well be believed that an intense, hushed excitement prevailed. the success of the invasion must depend on a swift surprise; it was probable that all would be lost if the approach was discovered; for, the wabash being out of banks, the enemy, doubtless well supplied with boats, would have clark's band at their mercy. the provisions were fast giving out; surrender or starvation stared clark in the face if discovered. accordingly, commissary kennedy with three guides was sent forward "to cross the river embarrass," clark wrote in his _memoir_, "... and, if possible, to get some vessels in the vicinity of the town [vincennes], but principally if he could get some information." "about an hour, by sun, we got near the river embarras," bowman wrote in his _journal_; "found the country all overflowed with water." the embarras was reached near lawrenceville and the river was descended a few miles--"traveled till o'clock in mud and water," wrote bowman--before a camping-spot was found. on the morning of the eighteenth the morning gun at fort sackville (vincennes) was heard. the wabash was reached at two o'clock in the afternoon, but no boats could be found by the parties of searchers sent out on rafts and in a canoe. affairs were growing desperate, and the "very quiet but hungry" men set to work building canoes. messengers were sent to hurry on "the willing" but did not find her. "no provisions of any sort," writes bowman on the nineteenth, "now for two days. hard fortune!" on the twentieth, as work on the canoes advanced, a canoe containing five frenchmen from vincennes was captured, and clark learned that he was not yet discovered. on the twenty-first the army began to be ferried across the wabash, "to a small hill called [mammelle ?]." the crossing-place cannot be determined with precision. it was below the mouth of the embarras, and not lower on the wabash than a mile and a half above st. francisville. several _mammelles_ (bluffs) lie on the eastern bank of the wabash here. one lies four and one-half miles below the mouth of the embarras. as the current was swift, the river broad, and the point of embarkation somewhat below the mouth of the embarras, it is probable that the army landed further down the wabash than has usually been described.[ ] a march of three miles northward was made by the vanguard on the day it crossed, seemingly from the "lower" to the "upper" _mammelle_--the "next hill of the same name," according to bowman. on the twenty-second another league was covered by exhausting efforts, making in all six miles from the crossing-place. the camp this night is definitely known to be a high, twenty-acre sugar orchard still remembered as "sugar camp," three and one-half miles from vincennes. clark was now at the lower end of the "lower prairie," and there were two courses to vincennes which lay on the rising ground across the three miles of flooded prairie.[ ] one, by way of the grand marais or swamp in the middle of the prairie, was impassable; the other route, known as the "two buttes route," was the difficult alternative. the first butte was "warrior's island," a ten-acre hill heavily wooded, a mile and a half from sugar camp and two miles from vincennes. it could be and was reached by the strong men wading breast high, drawing or paddling their feebler comrades in the canoes. the second butte, "bunker hill," was not on the direct line to vincennes, but was a high point to the east on the same plateau on which vincennes stood. at one o'clock of the twenty-third, the floundering army, half numb with cold and weak from exposure, reached warrior's island. from here clark sent his first message, diplomatically directed to the inhabitants of vincennes: "gentlemen--being now within two miles of your village with my army, determined to take your fort this night, and not being willing to surprise you, i take this method to request such of you as are true citizens, and willing to enjoy the liberty i bring you, to remain still in your houses, and those, if any there be, who are friends to the king, will instantly repair to the fort[ ] and join the _hair-buyer general_,[ ] and fight like men. and if any such as do not go to the fort shall be discovered afterwards, they may depend on severe punishment. on the contrary, those who are true friends to liberty may depend on being well treated; and i once more request them to keep out of the streets, for every one i find in arms on my arrival i shall treat as an enemy."[ ] at eight o'clock that night the famished army waded to bunker hill, and soon the outskirts of the town were invested, under fire of the fort. on the twenty-fourth hamilton surrendered, and the campaign, prosecuted under difficulties which today cannot be justly described, ended in complete triumph. [illustration: the st. louis trace, near lawrenceville, illinois] nothing can impress one with the heroism of this march like a visit to these low lands which are now proving of great value to horse and cattle owners of northern illinois as grazing grounds. though my journey over clark's route was made at the driest and most favorable season of the year, the mists, heavy as clouds, lay along the bonpas, fox, little wabash, big muddy, and skillet and between them, and a thunderstorm made the modern road a veritable slough. from vincennes to xenia, the baltimore and ohio southwestern railway is parallel with the old st. louis trace which was clark's route here.[ ] but the student will find the journey by the old trace, throwing its curling lengths along the hills from lawrenceville to sumner, a most interesting though taxing experience. at sumner the trace drops into the bottom-lands where the mists seem to lie forever and where little villages are perched upon knolls of a few thousand feet in diameter, surrounded by swamps and prairies that are now being drained and cultivated widely. here the old trace--for the ancient name clings to it--is helped along by dint of corduroy bridges and stone and wooden culverts. between sumner and olney the corduroy bridges are frequent and exceedingly rough, particularly if you are hurrying along at nightfall to gain the portals of a comparatively comfortable inn at olney. westward the road ploughs its way through the marshes and the mist to the little big muddy and across to the little wabash about where the old trace ran. here the fogs lie heaviest, shutting off all view of the low-lying, bushy wastes. in midsummer the fog and marshes warn the explorer away; what of this land when the rivers are loosed by the winter floods and are streaming wildly along the vast stretch of the stunted bush and vine? the scene presented to clark's virginians and frenchmen in february cannot by any means be pictured by one to whom these swamps are unknown; to such as know them, the picture, though probably imperfect, is one of horror. to row a boat where the current is swift is fatiguing labor, and to walk in the water, when each step may find one in a sink-hole and where the rank grasses, growing from heavy tufts, hold one's feet as a cord, is all that the strongest man can endure for even a short period. the little spots of ground which here and there rise above the flood are covered with driftwood and infested with snakes. in midsummer the scene was more pleasant. "beyond ombra we enter a tartarian meadow," wrote volney in , "interspersed with clumps of trees, but in general flat and naked, and windy and cold in winter. in summer it is filled with tall and strong shrubs, which brush the legs of the rider in his narrow path so much, that a journey out [to kaskaskia] and back will wear out a pair of boots. water is scarce [for drinking], and there is danger of being bewildered, as happened to one of my fellow travellers, three years before, when, with two others, he roamed about for seventeen days. thunder, rain, gnats, and horse flies, are very troublesome in summer."[ ] of the journey from vincennes to kaskaskia in volney gives the following itinerary: "_road from fort vincennes to kaskaskias_ miles hours to ombra creek[ ] to elm in the meadow - / to cat river[ ] - / to the yoke[ ] to the salt spring[ ] - / to the slaves gibbet[ ] to great point[ ] - / to the coffee-pot[ ] to the yellow bark[ ] to walnut point[ ] - / beyond this is a beaver dam,[ ] destroyed. at a cross road you take the left, which is shortest. there is no water for eighteen miles, and you fall into the main road at pointe aux fesses.[ ] to the [beaver] dam - / to the three-thorned acacia[ ] to pointe aux fesses[ ] to the meadow of the hole[ ] to the great rib[ ] to lepronier[ ] to kas[kaskia] totals[ ] - / - / " the junction of the old kaskaskia trace with the modern st. louis trace was on the isaac elliott farm, one mile east of old xenia, half a mile north of the newer xenia.[ ] it was pointed out to the writer by sandy alexander nelms of salem, illinois, one of the very few remaining old-time stage-drivers on the st. louis trace of the thirties, who was born near this junction. he remembers portions of the old path very well, though it has not, within his lifetime, been used as a highway. within the borders of the present xenia the outline of the old trace is exceedingly plain. the frontispiece of this volume is from a recent photograph of this part of the road. mr. nelms informs the writer that the old trace could, in early years, be followed by the camping-spots, where blue-grass sprang up when the prairie-grass was killed out.[ ] blue-grass on the illinois routes, like the apple-trees on the old track from albany to the mohawk in new york, was the first sign of coming civilization. mr. nelms remembers with distinctness that in a corn-field near the present baltimore and ohio southwestern railway depot at xenia the route of the old trace could be followed by the color of the earth and heavier growth of corn. the general color of the field was black but a wide strip of yellowish clay was the course of the old kaskaskia trace--generations of travel over the narrow aisle in the old-time forests having changed the nature of the soil. here, it is said, the crop of corn was distinctly heavier and better than elsewhere on the prairie. wherever this old trace may be found it speaks of clark and clark only. all the story of its other days is forgotten for those hard fifteen during which that daring youth drew his comrades "insensibly" onward, amid jests and raillery, to the british stronghold from which thousands of savages had been urged to war upon the feeble kentucky stations. boone's wilderness road meant much, but if fort sackville and the other wabash valley centers had been a trifle more potent than they were, it would have become as overgrown as was braddock's road when forbes marched to fort duquesne three years after braddock. the two posts at the termini of the vincennes trace, and the dark councils of their commanders, were a more serious menace to kentucky's safety than all the redskins north of the ohio river. it was the british-fed, british-armed, and british-led indians that made possible the dream of a reconquest of kentucky. after george rogers clark led his men over that narrow, winding trace, through flooded grand cote prairie and over the raging little and great wabash, that danger of british conquest of kentucky was practically eliminated from the western situation. the capture of vincennes was the first chapter in the conquest of the old northwest. chapter ii miami valley campaigns the various campaigns directed from kentucky and western pennsylvania had, by , comparatively freed what is now eastern and central ohio of red-men. little by little they had been pushed in a northwesterly direction until the headwaters of the great and little miami and scioto were reached. here on the backbone of ohio, near the headwaters of the st. mary and auglaize rivers--a pleasant country which the indians always loved--the most heroic stand was yet to be made against the encroaching white men. the point of vantage was well chosen, as the bloody years of - proved. the forests were divided by large stretches of open land, which were easily cultivated and exceedingly rich. to the northward flowed the auglaize river affording a highway to the great maumee valley and lake erie. the st. mary offered a roundabout water route to the same goal--a goal fortified by the line of british forts on the lakes. here encouragement of every description was to be had at all times--at the price of steadily resisting and ravaging the advancing american frontier line. the three rivers, the scioto and the two miamis, offered thoroughfare from this vantage ground southward toward the kentucky stations. the important indian towns were located on the upper waters of the little miami, the auglaize, and maumee, with other villages on the portages between these streams and in the lower valleys of the auglaize and maumee. the largest indian villages were the settlements at the junctions of the maumee and auglaize and the st. mary and st. joseph. the key of the region was the junction of the st. mary with the st. joseph--four water avenues, leading east (maumee), west (wabash), south (st. mary), and north (st. joseph), and each filled with indian clearings and villages. the land was covered with a network of indian trails running in every direction, of which surprisingly little can be definitely stated. considering how numerous are the old-time maps which show the roads of the red-men in eastern and central ohio and in kentucky, it is remarkable that almost none give the routes in western ohio and eastern indiana. by comparison of contemporaneous authorities it is certain there were three important landward thoroughfares leading northward from the ohio river into the region here under view. in general terms, the most easterly of these ascended the valley of the little miami; another passed northward on the watershed between the two miamis; the third ran north from the present site of cincinnati on the watershed to the west of the great miami, with branches running into and up the river valley itself. all of these routes led to the strategic portages which connected the two miamis and the scioto with the st. mary and auglaize tributaries of the maumee.[ ] the unfortunate bowman expedition of [ ] went up the little miami to the shawanese villages along that river. in the year following george rogers clark waged his campaign against the celebrated shawanese town of piqua on the mad river tributary of the little miami, cutting a road for his packhorses and mounted six-pounder on the east side of the little miami.[ ] two years later clark executed one of the most successful campaigns yet made into the region north of the ohio. moving from near the mouth of the licking (the usual place of rendezvous of all the kentucky expeditions into ohio) it is believed the expedition took the central track between the miamis, reaching the great miami near the site of dayton. from thence the route was up that river to the portage. "the british trading-post," wrote clark to the governor of virginia,[ ] "at the head of the miami and carrying-place to the waters of the lake shared the same fate [as the towns clark attacked in person] at the hands of a party of one hundred and fifty horse, commanded by colonel benjamin logan." this post was, undoubtedly, historic loramie's store, the trading-post on loramie's creek, shelby county, ohio, at the southern end of the portage to the st. mary river. thus after a number of years of fighting, the kentuckians had at last struck at the vital spot. this blow ended the revolutionary warfare in the west. the british having lost, some time ago, the war in the east, had until now assisted the indians in an attempt to retrieve the situation by ousting the brave pioneers from the west. the presence of the hero of vincennes so far north as the portage to the st. mary and auglaize was proof enough that their hope of conquest in the west was idle. but hope would not down, and much of the hard story to which these pages are to be devoted would never have had a part in american history had the british now, once for all, given up the design of countenancing the indians in an attempt to hem in and push back the frontiers of expanding america. the contest until now, , had been one solely of retaliation on the part of the kentuckians; by treaties, oft confirmed, the indians had given up all title and claim to the lands south of the ohio river. from , when the treaty of fort mcintosh was made with the wyandot, delaware, chippewa, and ottawa nations, and , when the treaty of fort finney was made with the shawanese, the united states ceded to these indians all the lands lying between the muskingum and wabash rivers north of a line drawn from fort laurens to the miami-st. mary portage and thence to the mouth of river de la panse on the wabash. the northern valley of the ohio river, for a long distance into the interior, now coming into the possession of the united states, the inevitable struggle to hold it drew on apace. the tribes of the miamis nation, twightwees or miamis proper, weas or ouiatenons, piankeshaws, and shockeys, on the upper wabash, being troublesome, george rogers clark moved northward from vincennes with nearly a thousand troops in the fall of ; but clark's deportment was demoralizing and his campaign was a practical failure. however, before starting on the wabash campaign, clark had ordered colonel logan to strike again at the towns at the head of the great miami. with four or five hundred mounted riflemen logan accomplished the task of destroying eight indian villages and taking several score of prisoners. the foregoing details form a necessary introduction to the new era in the west, heralded by the passage of the ordinance of and the forming of the government of the territory northwest of the ohio river at marietta july , . until this time the question of western defense had been a problem for pennsylvania and virginia to solve by means of their frontier militia. now the united states government took up the tangled problem, by empowering president washington, on september , , to call out the militia of the frontier states to repel the incursions of the savages. from the time of the organization of the northwest territory until , the indians of the maumee region steadily increased their marauding expeditions, striking at every point along the ohio river from the mouth of the scioto to the mouth of the wabash. the government was overwhelmed with petitions and remonstrances from citizens of all classes in kentucky. judge innes addressed the secretary of war from kentucky: "i have been intimately acquainted with this district from november .... i can venture to say, that above souls have been killed and taken in the district, and migrating to it; that upwards of , horses have been taken ... and other property ... carried off and destroyed by these barbarians, to at least £ , ."[ ] the ringleaders of these marauding bands were the miami tribes of the upper wabash and miami rivers, and shawanese who dwelt with them. the delawares and wyandots, who now, in , signed the treaty of fort harmar (which only confirmed the previous treaties of fort stanwix and fort mcintosh) were not, at first, guilty of connivance; though soon they joined the indian confederacy regardless of their promises. it is interesting to note at the outset that the savages to whom the attention of the nation was now about to be attracted were styled, generally, the "northwestern indians." the significance of this is that now, when at last run to bay, the final campaigns in that long series of conflicts begun by washington and braddock and forbes on the heads of the ohio ( - ), continued by bouquet on the muskingum ( ), dunmore on the scioto ( ), crawford on the sandusky ( ), and clark on the miami ( ), were to be fought to a triumphant conclusion in the region of the wabash. these savages were the same that had ever fought the advancing fire-line of civilization--the miamis, delawares, shawanese, wyandots, and their confederates. driven westward for nearly half a century, they made a final stand at the western extremity of lake erie, almost under the guns of the british forts, and are known collectively now in as the "northwestern indians." the story of our actual conquest of the interior of america from the aboriginal inhabitants is practically the story of the campaigns which resulted in the acquisition successively of the allegheny, beaver, muskingum, scioto, miami, maumee, and wabash river valleys. fallen timber sealed the doom of the indian and ended a struggle begun at fort necessity in . the conquest would not have taken one-half the time it did had the indian not become allied now to france and now to england, alliances which introduced perplexing and delicate international questions which prolonged the pitiful struggle. on the sixth of october, , president washington, acting under the new powers conferred upon him, addressed a communication to governor st. clair requesting accurate information as to whether or not "the wabash and illinois indians are most inclined for war or peace."[ ] if found to favor the former course the governor was empowered "to call on the lieutenants of the nearest counties of virginia and pennsylvania, for such detachments of militia as you may judge proper, not exceeding, however, one thousand from virginia and five hundred from pennsylvania."[ ] with the prophetic foresight which so frequently marked washington's estimate of the future he added: "as it may be of high importance to obtain a precise and accurate knowledge of the several waters which empty into the ohio, on the northwest, and of those which discharge themselves in the lakes erie and michigan, the length of the portage between, and nature of the ground, an early and pointed attention thereto is earnestly recommended."[ ] anthony gamelin, a trusty scout, was sent up the wabash river to test the sentiments of the wabash and miami indians in april ; the gist of his report was that the young men of the nations could not be restrained from war, that the majority of the savages had "a bad heart." the influence of mckee and girty was in absolute authority.[ ] "i now enclose the proceedings of mr. gamelin," wrote major hamtramck to governor st. clair from vincennes, may , , "by which your excellency can have no great hopes of bringing the indians to a peace with the united states."[ ] the reasons are thus stated by governor st. clair to the secretary of war: "the confidence these [indians] have in their situation, the vicinity of many other nations, either much under their influence, or hostilely disposed towards the united states, and pernicious councils of the british traders, joined to the immense booties obtained by their depredations on the ohio."[ ] by july governor st. clair was ready to put in motion the campaign which was voted by all concerned to be inevitable. there was a double danger in further delay; the indians were growing more bold each day, and the people along the western frontier were beginning to distrust the strength of the government which, while claiming them, failed utterly to protect them. only a week before (july ) judge innes wrote these startling words to the secretary of war: "i will, sir, be candid on this subject.... the people say they have long groaned under their misfortunes, they see no prospect of relief.... they begin to want faith in the government, and appear determined to revenge themselves: for this purpose a meeting was lately held in this place, by a number of respectable characters, to determine on the propriety of carrying on three expeditions this fall."[ ] accordingly by circular letters to the county lieutenants dated fort washington, july , , st. clair called upon three hundred men from nelson, lincoln, and jefferson counties, virginia, to rendezvous at fort steuben (steubenville, ohio) september ; seven hundred men from madison, mercer, fayette, bourbon, woodford, and mason counties to rendezvous at fort washington september ; and five hundred men from washington, fayette, westmoreland, and allegheny counties, pennsylvania, to rendezvous four miles below wheeling on september . from this on affairs moved swiftly. on july --the day before the circular letters were sent off--general harmar contracted with elliott and williams of kentucky for one hundred and eighty thousand rations of flour, two hundred thousand rations of meat, eight hundred and sixty-eight horses equipped, one horse-master general, eighteen horse-masters, one hundred and thirty drivers, to be delivered at fort washington by october . on august , secretary of war knox wrote governor st. clair that he had ordered two tons of best rifle and musket powder, four tons of lead bullets, cartridge paper, case shot for five and a half inch howitzers and for three- and six-pounders to be hurried on from philadelphia to the ohio river. a thousand dollars was forwarded to fort washington for contingent expenses. knox hurried a letter on to the governor of virginia asking him to use his influence to induce the veteran kentucky colonels logan and shelby to join the army at fort washington as volunteers for "the accomplishment of the public good," and a letter to harmar requesting him to invite "those characters," and to treat them with "the greatest cordiality." st. clair wrote immediately to the british commander at detroit explaining candidly the nature of the campaign now on foot, explicitly stating its object and asking that the enemy should receive no assistance from british traders "from whose instigation," he made bold to add, "there is good reason to believe, much of the injuries committed by the savages has proceeded." everything considered, the young government responded nobly to the call of its western citizens. this was its first war, and one has to know only a little of the struggles for mere equipoise and maintenance since the close of the revolution to realize that a war at this time, of any proportions, was a most trying and exhausting undertaking. this has never been sufficiently emphasized. his first inauguration now two years past, the labors of his new honors were already bearing heavily upon the first president. if greater trials had ever been his portion, even in the struggle for independence, they had in a measure been anticipated and borne with a patience commensurate with the great interests at stake. he had been able to manoeuver his armies from red-coat generals' grasp, and the fretful complainings of the "times that tried men's souls" were alternately hushed in the presence of gloom and scattered in the hour of victory. but now the clash of personal interest and state pride rose loud about the chief executive, and advisers, who had once lost all thought of self in the common danger, now became uncertain quantities in the struggle for personal advancement, and bickered spitefully over matters of preferment and policy. the country which washington loved never needed his services more than now when these untried problems of currency, debt, and policy--and now of war--came rapidly to the front. the president's call for militia was answered with too great alacrity. a motley collection of kentucky militia was assembling by the middle of september, and those from pennsylvania reached fort washington on the twenty-fourth. the kentuckians were formed into three battalions under majors hall, m'mullen, and bay, commanded by lieutenant-colonel trotter--under whom they were anxious to serve. the pennsylvanians were formed in one battalion under lieutenant-colonel trubley and major pond, the whole commanded by colonel john hardin, subject to general harmar's orders. the regulars were formed in two battalions under major john p. wyllys and major john doughty. the company of artillery, having three pieces of ordnance, was under the command of captain william ferguson. a battalion of flying militia or light mounted troops was commanded by major james fontaine. the entire army numbered one thousand four hundred and fifty-three, of which three hundred and twenty were regulars. the "army" had assembled quickly; the stores had been forwarded to the place of rendezvous with exceeding despatch and faithfulness. the army was fatally weak in two particulars: many undisciplined old men and boys had volunteered as substitutes; and the arms, furnished by the volunteers themselves, were in lamentably poor condition. taken all in all, with the exception of armament, which was somewhat bettered at fort washington, this first little american army that now began an invasion of the maumee valley was in no better or no worse condition than the ordinary militia forces formerly put into the field by pennsylvania or kentucky. on the twenty-sixth of september the militia, eleven hundred strong, under colonel hardin, set forth from fort washington, striking in a northwesterly direction toward the valley of the little miami, on general clark's route of . david h. morris, making a slight error in dates, leaves this account, which gives, as the first day's march of the militia, four miles: "on the th of september, we took up our march for the maumee villages, near where fort wayne now stands, and proceeded four miles."[ ] of the start from fort washington thomas irwin leaves record: "my second visit to said cincinnati was as a volunteer from washington, pa. on harmars campaign about the first week in october .... fort washington was built, not finished, in my absence. the militia from kentucky and pennsylvania rendezvoused there at the same time marched from thence for the indian towns between the th and th of october on the trace made by general clark from kentucky in october [ ] which crossed the river hill[ ] north of fort washington passed mcmillins[ ] spring as it was afterwards called encamped at reading until harmar came up with the regular troops." at the beginning of the last century harmar's route was easily traced through warren county, running north of mason and west of lebanon.[ ] on september the regulars under general harmar left fort washington, by way of the same route, it would seem, as the militia. captain armstrong's record for the day reads: "the army moved from fort washington, at halfpast ten o'clock, a. m.,--marched about seven miles n. e. course--hilly, rich land. encamped on a branch of mill creek." how one can understand from this record that harmar's route followed what later became known as the "old wayne road" or "old hamilton road" up mill creek valley is beyond the ken of the present writer. encamping on the night of september on muddy creek, warren county, general harmar lay one mile south of the militia encampment.[ ] on the day following he moved through hardin's camp, which was located a few miles southwest of lebanon, and rested one mile in advance on turtle creek. here the divisions of the army united, and here the line of march was formed, according to armstrong's journal, on september . a. h. dunlevy, a pioneer in this neighborhood west of lebanon in , left record that near his home on the old route was the site of one of harmar's camps--possibly that of colonel hardin. a half acre was cleared and several graves were then visible there. "the brush," he wrote, "was piled in heaps around the camp. these brush heaps were decayed in but made fine harbors for snakes and as the warm sun of spring came out, i think hundreds of them could be seen in an hour passing from one brush heap to another. i used to amuse myself in watching their movements and noting their peculiar colors. every kind of snake seemed to nestle together in those brush heaps."[ ] on the fourth the combined army moved in a northwesterly direction through the turtle creek valley and, continuing over the hilly region northeast of lebanon, crossed the little miami at what has long been known as fish-pot ford about six miles northeast of lebanon.[ ] moving up the east bank of the river, camp was pitched one mile north of the crossing-place on cæsar's creek.[ ] the route the day following was up the river on the famous war path toward the indian chillicothe and piqua towns in the valleys of that and the mad river, along the general alignment of the little miami railroad. marching ten miles, according to captain armstrong, the army encamped "at five o'clock on glade creek, a very lively, clear stream." on the sixth, the site of old chillicothe was reached; "recrossed the little miami," says armstrong, "at half past one o'clock, halted one hour, and encamped at four o'clock on a branch." morris's account from the thirtieth of september reads: "thirtieth, we moved forward on the old indian trail leading to the old chilcothie town, on the little miami, and after several days marching, arrived at the place where the town once stood. here we fired off our guns; and in the evening, having recrossed the river, encamped about a mile above, near where james galloway now lives." the old indian trail ran from chillicothe to old piqua across mad river township, clark county, where, five miles west of springfield, tecumseh was born. after clark's destruction of this village in , its inhabitants moved across to the great miami where new piqua was built, and which was destroyed by clark in . the path harmar now followed bore toward the northwest, taking him to the site of the later piqua on the great miami. armstrong's journal reads: " ^{th}.... passed through several low praries, and crossed the pickaway fork of mad river.... encamped on a small branch, one mile from the former. our course the first four miles north, then northwest.--nine miles." the irwin ms., from the point of union of harmar and harding, reads: "formed the line of march there which was in two lines one on the right and one on the left of s^d trace a strong front and rear guard on said trace the baggage in the center passed near where the town of lebanon stands in warren county west of waynesville and xenia crossed mad river perhaps miles from dayton struck the great miami near the old piqua towns that was detroyed by s^d gen^l. clark crossed the miami some distance above them." for the journey between the two miamis the morris journal is perhaps most definite: "on the day following, we crossed mad river, and camped near new carlisle,[ ] in clark county, and within one mile of epee town, located precisely where elnathan cory now lives. this town gave name to the creek on which it stood, now called honey-creek.... here we killed cows intended for beef.... the next day we crossed indian creek ... and same day crossed lost creek in miami county.... on this evening, we encamped at a spring, on the farm formerly owned by nathaniel gerrard, and about two miles from the town of troy. gen. harmar gave to this spring, the name _tea spring_, as he and his officers refreshed themselves there, on that beverage." armstrong's record for the eighth and ninth is: "the army moved at halfpast nine o'clock. passed over rich land, in some places a little broken: passed several ponds, and through one small prarie, a n. w. course.--seven miles. th--the army moved at halfpast nine o'clock. passed through a level, rich country, well watered: course n. w.,--halted halfpast four o'clock, two miles south of the great miami.--ten miles." these commonplace records do not in any way represent the real state of affairs; perhaps they suggest only the topics of conversation of the vanguard of scouts and guides that led the army. the little band of troops was now in the heart of the enemy's country. the face of the land was covered with forests, broken here and there by patches of bush and prairie. that the indians knew of their advance, there was little doubt. when, where, or how they would oppose that advance, no one knew. the great miami was now reached and soon the strategic portage of the st. mary would be taken possession of. the course would then be down grade to the miami towns on the maumee. would the enemy rally here on the watershed crest near the old french fort on the loramie? such speculations as these occupied many more minds, it may confidently be believed, than thoughts of the streams or prairies crossed. the records left us tell only of the commonplaces, leaving the human element to the imagination. yet this can be better conceived if the route is correctly outlined. on the tenth of september harmar crossed the great miami river. "at the crossing," wrote armstrong, "there is a handsome high prairie on the s. e. side." "on the following day," reads the morris record, "we crossed the big miami, a little above the town of piqua, near manning's old mill.... this evening we encamped not far from upper piqua." this agrees with the irwin ms. previously quoted. on the eleventh the army moved to and crossed loramie's creek, seven miles from its camping-place of the preceding night (ten miles from the camp near the great miami of september ). of the route from the great miami onward, irwin states: "crossed loirimous creek a short distance from its mouth into the great miami river had a pretty good indian trace from there to what was called the old french store or trading house at st marys had a good trace from there to the maumee towns." the morris record reads: "next day, we took up our march for lorrimiers, a french trader at st. marys--... we crossed lorrimie creek on the next morning, at a village that had been burned by clark or logan, some ten years before. from here, we passed over the summit level for st. marys, where we encamped.... having crossed st. marys we encamped on its eastern bank."[ ] on september , by armstrong's journal, the army "crossed a stream at seven miles and a half running n. e. on which there are several old camps, much deadened timber, which continues to the river auglaize, about a mile. here has been a considerable village--some houses still standing. this stream is a branch of the omi [maumee] river, and is about twenty yards wide." from this on the route was along the old trace which followed the st. mary, some distance to the northward of the immediate bank, to its junction with the maumee, where the army arrived on the seventeenth of september, having accomplished the hard march of over one hundred and sixty miles in eighteen days by the regulars and twenty by the militia. on the thirteenth, "i think the ^{st} or ^d morning after we left st marys," according to mr. irwin, " or mounted men went out in search of some horses that had been lost or missing over night started a smart young indian without a gun in the open woods--took him prisoner brought him into camp ... he give every information respecting the movements of the indians stated they had determined to move their families and property out of the towns and burn them. six hundred men was detached or drafted from the army placed under the command of col. hardin he being the ^d in command with orders to proceed as quick as possible to the towns. when we arrived found what the prisoner stated was true indians happened to be under the bank of the river when the army came up they tried to escape the troops discovered them and about guns was discharged at them one was found dead the next day in the brush, the ballance of the army arriv'd at the towns two days after the first got there i was with the rear."[ ] signs that the indians had retreated in a northwesterly direction being discovered, general harmar, on the eighteenth, ordered colonel trotter of the militia to follow and attack them with a force of three hundred men. the detachment was provided with three days rations. about one mile from camp an indian was pursued and killed. a little later a second solitary indian scout was killed--after wounding one of his assailants. trotter moved hither and thither with apparent aimlessness until nightfall when he returned to camp--to harmar's disgust. the militia in camp had scattered in various directions searching for corn and other plunder which the savages had buried. the gun fired to call these into camp, trotter affirmed, was thought to be an alarm signal for him to return. the men under trotter displayed no more military characteristics than the prowling militia left at the encampment. such men, it was sure, would suffer at the hands of the fierce, watchful enemy, if ever their turn should come. it came on the very next day! it was now colonel hardin's turn to strike a blow, and he was ordered out on the indian path which ran northwest toward the kickapoo towns. proceeding about eleven miles from camp (fort wayne, indiana) to near the point where the goshen state road crosses the eel river, the keen scouter john armstrong saw important "signs" and heard an alarm gun in front. hardin did not act on the advice and made no disposition of his troops for battle. soon after, armstrong discovered the fires of the indian camp--but hardin, scorning the enemy, pushed straight on. the indian commander--the famous miami warrior, little turtle--based his plans on just such recklessness. deep in the brush and grass on either side of the trail his dogs of war crouched silent as cougars. the army had walked well into the trap before two crimson streaks of fire flashed out in the very faces of the troopers. the militia bolted at breakneck speed--some never stopping in their flight until they reached the ohio river. a small band of regulars under armstrong retired slightly and held their ground temporarily; then they retreated to harmar's camp. this savage stroke cost heavily, the indians killing almost an average of a white man apiece--the loss, about one hundred, equalling, probably, the number of the waylaying savage force. it was one of the bloodiest ambuscades in western history. armstrong's journal for the nineteenth reads: "attacked about one hundred indians fifteen miles west of the miami village; and from the dastardly conduct of the militia, the troops were obliged to retreat. i lost one sergeant, and twenty-one out of thirty men of my command. the indians on this occasion gained a complete victory--having killed, in the whole, near one hundred men, which was about their number. many of the militia threw away their arms without firing a shot, ran through the federal troops and threw them in disorder." of the indians armstrong adds "they fought and died hard." when hardin's troops returned, they found that harmar had moved two miles down the maumee in the work of destroying the indian villages and crops. from this camp, an old shawanese village, various companies were sent out in different directions to finish the work of destroying the indian settlements. on the night of the twenty-first, when seven miles distant from the miami village, colonel hardin proposed to harmar that he be allowed his pick of the militia with which to return secretly upon the indians. it was believed, and spies no doubt so reported, that the indians had returned to their central villages at the junction of the st. mary and st. joseph. harmar acquiesced, feeling that another blow would undoubtedly prevent the savages from following the army. the force was composed of three hundred and forty militia, under majors hall and mcmullen, major fontaine's mounted militia, and sixty regulars under major wyllys. the miami town was reached after sunrise. hardin's plan was to surround secretly the village and make a simultaneous attack from all sides. major hall's battalion was sent to cross the st. mary and hold themselves in readiness to attack from the rear when the main body, which would cross the maumee at the common ford, fell upon the village in front. hall's men wantonly fired on a fugitive indian before the signal for attack was given; to make matters worse the militia under mcmullen and fontaine began pursuing the various parties of flying redskins, leaving major wyllys and the regulars unsupported. the latter crossed the maumee, according to the fixed scheme, but were suddenly assailed by an overpowering force led by little turtle and were compelled to return with loss of many men, including major wyllys himself. the militia then hastened back to the main army. miserable as had been the deportment of the militia, their muskets had done severe execution, and harmar had no fear now of an indian attack--nor the slightest remnant of confidence in any but the fragment of regular troops left to him. on the twenty-third the army took up the line of outward march for fort washington and reached the ohio on the fourth day of november, having lost one hundred and eighty-three killed and thirty-one wounded. major wyllys and lieutenant frothingham of the regulars, and major fontaine and captains thorp, mcmurtrey, and scott, and lieutenants clark and rogers of the militia were the principal officers sacrificed. on the other hand there is ground for partly agreeing with irwin that harmar's campaign was not wholly a defeat. the indian loss was as large as the american--and this was a great deal accomplished. few armies before had entered the indian land and not been followed by the indians on the return with distinct losses. harmar's repeated though costly operations on the maumee had given the indians all the battle they wished; indeed it is not too much to say that they were stunned. chapter iii st. clair's campaign harmar wrought wide destruction but of the kind that made the indians of the maumee irrevocably and bitterly angry. the main boast of the returning campaigners was that the enemy did not pursue them--which, after all, was more significant than we can realize today. it illustrates in a word the exact effect of the raid; the indians were dumbfounded at the arrival of a white army so far within their forests. they knew as well as the whites that the punishment administered to the frontiersmen was almost wholly due to the rash boldness of the latter, who, rushing heedlessly after the scurrying savages, made ambuscades possible. yet harmar's actual success was only in burning villages and crops, and sending crowds of old men and women and children fleeing to the swamps and forest fastnesses. practically, it was the old story of a score of kentucky raids into the "indian side" of the ohio over again. "you are the 'town-destroyer,'" was the cry of an old chieftain to president washington, "and when that name is heard our women look quickly behind them and turn pale." but there was something more to be done on the maumee than to make squaws turn pale! that would not keep back the murdering bands from the infant settlements along and below the ohio. this became plain so suddenly that the shock was felt throughout the east. in no way could the northwestern indians have struck home more quickly than by perpetrating the terrible big bottom massacre. the new england colony which, led by rufus putnam, founded marietta at the mouth of the muskingum had, by january , expanded in all directions.[ ] one company of pioneers had ascended the muskingum to big bottom, morgan county, ohio. at dusk, on the second night in january, , a band of savages crossed the river at silverheels riffle above the unprotected blockhouse, and entered the settlement feigning friendship. the pioneers offered them a portion of the evening meal, when a sudden burst of flame swept the room. several whites fell straight forward into the fireplace before which they were eating; others, to the number of fourteen, were instantly put to death. but one blow was struck by the whites at big bottom. the goodwife of the woodsman meeks, uninjured by the first fire that swept the cabin, took advantage of the cloud of smoke to seize a broad-ax standing by the wall. as an indian strode forward to the bloody finale, the glittering blade sank deeply into his shoulder. it was but one blow--but it was a token of a nation's anger; it meant as much as the blood-red battle-ax the departing murderers left beside the smouldering ruins of big bottom blockhouse. the message of that war-club sped eastward. the blow at the new england colony was sure to attract unusual attention, and no doubt played an important part in deciding the great question of the hour. this was a question of war or peace. as in the year previous, so now in (as well as in later times) there were many who opposed indian warfare from humanitarian principles. suffice it to say these opponents of war did not live on the muskingum or licking rivers! yet peace, for all concerned, if it could be secured at an honorable price, was most desirable, and the united states faced the question fairly and with energy. as early as december, , the famous seneca chieftain cornplanter, being in philadelphia, was urged not only to present the exact feeling of the government to the six nations in new york and on the allegheny, but was asked to visit the hostile western nations as a peace messenger. the declaration of war by the savages at big bottom in no wise deterred the united states from this purpose of obtaining peace at the least price in blood and treasure. in march, , colonel thomas proctor was sent to the senecas to urge the young men of that tribe not to take the war path, and then was ordered to go with cornplanter to the maumee river. the task was dangerous and laborious, but proctor pushed his way through the forests of pennsylvania and new york to the senecas who kept so well the western door of the "long house of the iroquois." it was a fruitless mission. "the people at the setting sun are bad people," said an old warrior to the intrepid herald; "you must look when it is light in the morning until the setting sun, and you must reach your neck over the land, and take all the light you can, to show the danger." the senecas were right and the further proctor "reached his neck out" over the land the more plainly was this seen to be true. gordon, the british commander at niagara, forbade him taking ship for the maumee; "the unfriendly denial," he wrote the secretary of war, "puts a stop to the further attempting to go to the miamies." another item in his letter was of significance: joseph brant with forty warriors had gone westward to the confederated tribes on an unknown mission. in april, colonel timothy pickering was also sent to the senecas, and, meeting them in convention at painted post, urged the chieftains to hold back the young men from joining the hostile tribes. governor st. clair likewise sent messages, especially to the western tribes urging that hostile bands be withdrawn from the frontier ere the united states should be compelled to bring heavy chastisement. but peace is sometimes as costly, and more so, than war; such proved to be the case now. it was early believed by the most farsighted that a crushing defeat of the northwestern confederacy would be a great saving of blood. and so while peaceful efforts were being forwarded as effectually as the situation of the distant tribes and the hostility of english agents permitted, warlike preparations were likewise being made. as the spring of opened, the frontiers were overrun with murderous bands and the cry from the infant west to the central government could not be unheeded. "i most earnestly implore the protection of government," wrote the brave putnam to washington, "for myself and friends inhabiting these wilds of america." the cry from kentucky and the lower ohio was equally piercing. the plan of the united states at this juncture was wholly in keeping with its dignity and its power. failing in an attempt of reconciliation, it was determined to throw into the indian land several raiding bands of horsemen "to demonstrate that they [the savages] were within our reach, and lying at our mercy."[ ] in case these strokes did not awe the offenders, a grand campaign on an extensive scale was to be inaugurated. fearing the worst, though hopeful of the better, preparations for all these movements were put on foot, to be countermanded if peaceful measures sufficed. the attitude of the government at this serious crisis of its first indian war must be judged humane and generous. the indians protested that they had never ceded an inch of territory northwest of the ohio; yet at four treaties supposed representatives of all the nations concerned had received from american commissioners payment for all lands now ( ) occupied or claimed by the white men. in each case the nations had been formally invited to each treaty; they now averred that only irresponsible chieftains had signed these treaties. in a single instance it is possible to believe that unscrupulous indians might have so deceived the government officials and wronged the indians, but that this could have occurred on three occasions was manifestly absurd. the ohio company purchase and the symmes purchase had been made, the pioneers had emigrated and settled the lands. the government had given no white man right to cross the treaty line. those settlements could not be uprooted without great injustice. the war seemed, therefore, an imperative necessity, and the government had no honorable alternative if peace efforts failed. we have had many dealings with the indians since , and it is of some comfort to rest assured that our first indian war was eminently just and right. unless otherwise ordered, brigadier-general scott of kentucky was to make a dash at the indian villages on the upper wabash in the early summer. a little later general wilkinson was scheduled to lead another raiding band to the populous settlement on the eel river, a northern tributary of the wabash. these swift strokes, it was hoped, would compel the indians to confer concerning peace. no rift in the dark war-clouds occurred, despite the efforts of knox and st. clair to establish an armistice, and scott marched northward in may and wilkinson in august. like similar raids, these two were successful failures. villages and crops were ruined and captives were taken. many squaws "looked behind them and turned pale" perhaps, but in effect they had an opposite influence from that hoped: they undid whatever little good the efforts to secure peace had accomplished. there was now utmost need for the final "grand campaign." [illustration: a part of arrowsmith's map of the united states, ] [_showing the region in which wilkinson_, _scott_, _harmar_, _st. clair_, _and wayne operated_] the army of the united states now consisted of three or four hundred soldiers--the first regiment--distributed among the frontier forts on the ohio river. it was ordered that the depleted ranks of this regiment be filled by recruits to be raised "from maryland to new york inclusive," and that a full second regiment be raised, one company from south carolina and one from delaware and the remainder in the four new england states.[ ] the troops were to be mustered by companies, to rendezvous at fort pitt. governor arthur st. clair was created major-general and placed in command of the new army. brigadier-general richard butler was appointed second in command. the object of the campaign was to establish a line of military posts from fort washington on the ohio to the maumee, where, at the miami village at the junction of the st. mary and st. joseph, a strong fort was to be built, "for the purpose of awing and curbing the indians in that quarter, and as the only preventative of future hostilities."[ ] in present day terms the army was to march from cincinnati, ohio, and erect a fort on the site of fort wayne, indiana. in every order the underlying theory of the government is plain--the one end sought was peace. "this [peace] is of more value than millions of uncultivated acres," were the words of the secretary of war in st. clair's instructions.[ ] it was a war of self-defense, not a war of conquest. the business dragged at every point. in the hope that the indians would come to reason, scott's raid was delayed a week at the start. wilkinson, who was to move northward june , did not march until august . the continued anticipation of good results from these expeditions, which would render the grand campaign unnecessary, tended to lessen the energies of the preparations. general butler was assigned the duty of raising the recruits in the east--a discouraging task. the pay offered did not equal an average day's wage. the campaign was not entirely popular and promised innumerable hardships. enlistments came in slowly, and, in many instances, only the unfit and unworthy offered. as late as april the secretary of war wrote general butler: "none of the companies of the eastern states are yet nearly completed." as early as may he wrote st. clair: "it will at least be the latter end of july, or the beginning of august before your force shall be assembled." originally the army was to march from fort washington on july . general st. clair left philadelphia march for the ohio, to superintend affairs at the point of rendezvous. with "a degree of pain and difficulty that cannot well be imagined," st. clair, already a sick man, pushed on to pittsburg and lexington, kentucky, reaching fort washington on the fifteenth of may. one week later (may ) general butler reached pittsburg, to receive the army and the stores and ammunition and hurry all on to fort washington. but every rod became a mile and every hundredweight a ton. it was not until the fifth of june that the troops from the east reached fort pitt--eight hundred and forty-two soldiers of the twelve hundred secretary knox had promised may . and yet, few as they were, no boats had been prepared to carry them south, and indeed very few in which to transport the slowly accumulating stores and ammunition. contractor duer and quartermaster samuel hodgdon seemingly believed that barges grew on the rich banks of the ohio and flat-boats were to be picked from the trees. the congestion of troops and stores which now resulted at pittsburg was quite as appalling as the former scarcity of every needful thing. as rapidly as conditions permitted, general butler wrought a certain kind of order out of the chaos, but not a kind that augured well for the future. that could hardly have been expected. in one way or another various craft were knocked together, filled, and set afloat in good hope of reaching fort washington. june dragged by, and july. august found butler and quartermaster-general hodgdon still at pittsburg, and it was not until the twenty-sixth of that month that the last of the army began the voyage southward--sixty precious days late. on july secretary knox wrote st. clair at fort washington: "the president is greatly anxious that the campaign be distinguished by decisive measures." a letter of august reads: "the president still continues anxious that you should, at the earliest moment, commence your operations;" and another under the date of september reads: "[the president] therefore enjoins you, by every principle that is sacred, to stimulate your operations in the highest degree, and to move as rapidly as the lateness of the season, and the nature of the case will possibly admit." it is a matter of record that at the time this letter was written neither general butler or quartermaster-general hodgdon had so much as reached the rendezvous. the latter's delay was never explained and general butler was utterly dependent upon quartermaster and contractor. butler was at last ordered to fort washington by secretary knox in the following peremptory words, which implied neglect and carelessness--a rebuke which was, perhaps, as undeserved as it was sharp: "i have received your letter of the th instant, which has been submitted to the president of the united states, and i am commanded to inform you that he is by no means satisfied with the long detention of the troops on the upper parts of the ohio, which he considers unnecessary and improper. and it is his opinion, unless the highest exertions be made by all parts of the army, to repair the loss of the season, that the expenses which have been made for the campaign, will be altogether lost, and that the measures, from which so much has been expected, will issue in disgrace."[ ] however the quartermaster-general had been ordered as early as june to "consult major general butler upon all objects of the preparations and as soon as possible repair to headquarters."[ ] yet, had the army been assembled at fort washington july instead of september , there would have been no such thing as moving northward for weeks. no sooner had the first of the troops reached st. clair than it was clear that he had made no mistake in hurrying to the point of rendezvous. for instance the carriages of the guns used in harmar's campaign were ruined and had not been replaced. there was no corps of artificers and drafting was resorted to in order to secure smiths, carpenters, harness-makers, wheelwrights, etc. with the arrival of major ferguson, june , it became clear that nearly all the ammunition had yet to be properly prepared; a laboratory had to be built; the shells had to be filled with powder, likewise the artillery cartridges, the shells for howitzers and musket cartridges. not only did enough of this work have to be done for the immediate use of the army, but a sufficient supply had to be prepared for each of the posts to be erected between fort washington and the maumee, and to supply the main fort on the maumee and its defenders until spring. the carriages of the guns that arrived from philadelphia were rendered useless and new ones had to be made. almost all arms which the troops brought to fort washington were out of repair. an armory had to be built, and, says general st. clair, "so fast did the work of that kind increase upon our hands, that at one time it appeared as if it would never be got through with."[ ] an indeterminate amount of powder shipped from philadelphia was practically ruined before it reached fort washington; one boatload was entirely submerged on the way from fort pitt. the officers attempted to keep this from the men but the news leaked out. "the powder was very bad," records ensign pope of the militia, "i fired at a tree several times and hit but seldom; it would not force the ball." such of the powder as was good stood little chance of remaining so in the wretched tents that were palmed off on the quartermaster-general. colonel mentgetz, inspector, is our authority for the fact that, with the exception of two companies, the tents would not keep out rain at either front or back. general harmar said the flanks of the tents were of russian sheeting and the ends were of crocus or osnaburg and would not, in his opinion, keep out rain. according to major zeigler the tents were infamous and "many hundred dozen of cartridges were destroyed, and the troops, not being kept dry were sick in great numbers."[ ] the packsaddles were too big--"big enough for elephants," said an officer; the axes sent from philadelphia were useless--"would bend up like a dumpling," according to major zeigler. in fact fort washington was transformed into a manufacturing city, and there was almost no kind of work that was not done--though often the necessary tools had first to be made. two traveling forges had been sent west of which only the anvils were missing! it is not to be wondered that st. clair, as general harmar afterward said, was often the first up in the morning and went the rounds of the shops and laboratories greatly disturbed over the vast amount of work to be done, the difficulty in the doing of it, and the ominous delay. for, with the heat of the summer's end, the grass was fast withering, which meant that feed for the horses must be transported--an item of great magnitude. the failure of the quartermaster-general to come forward, even when ordered to do so, compelled st. clair to bear the brunt of all the results of mismanagement and delay. as noted, the delay of the quartermaster was never explained. his very appointment occasioned an outcry among officers who had known him; the soldiers laughed many of his measures to scorn. one of his employees who arrived at fort washington in charge of horses had, seemingly, no knowledge whatever of frontier life. the horses were not provided with hopples or bells; released from their long confinement in the barges they broke for the woods and many were never again secured. st. clair facetiously hinted that their master would have had to wear a bell, had he gone to seek them, in order to be secure from becoming lost. it was found later that the horses had been fed, not from troughs, as ordered, but from the sandy river beach, where their grain was strewn and much wasted, the horses also injuring each other in an attempt to eat it. but patience is exhausted before one half of the miserable story is told. more than enough has been suggested to show the condition of the "grand army" that had gathered and was now about to march northward. it is almost needless to add that an eternal jealousy between militia and regulars existed; that the troops were wretchedly clad; that nothing was known of the country through which the march was to be made, and less than nothing of the foe that was to be met and conquered. the camp of the army (except artificers) was moved by st, clair on august six miles northward from fort washington to ludlow's station,[ ] where the pasturage was better and where the troops were not under the influence of the dramshops at the little settlement about the fort. on the arrival of general butler and quartermaster hodgdon, september , a slight delay occurred through butler's being appointed president of a court-martial which general harmar had demanded and by which he was honorably acquitted. it was september before the advance was begun from ludlow's station northward. when the army, twenty-three hundred strong, at last filed out from ludlow's station, the plan seems to have been to build two forts between fort washington and the proposed fort on the maumee, the first at the ford, twenty-three miles north, on the great miami, and the second about the same distance in advance and twice as far from the maumee.[ ] the army marched from ludlow's station under the command of general butler and reached the miami september . st. clair returned to fort washington to hurry up the contractor's agents and muster in the militia he had called from kentucky. from september to october the army was busy building a fort at "camp miami," which st. clair named fort hamilton.[ ] on october butler made the last preparations for the march, fort hamilton being nearly completed. all the artillery cartridges (except sixty rounds) were distributed, and one half of the stock of musket cartridges. a body of contractor's stores was thrown across the miami, under cover, to join the army on its march. concerning the route and the road, little was known. at the outset of the campaign st. clair in his instructions was ordered "to appoint some skillful person to make actual surveys of your march, to be corrected, if the case will admit of it, by proper astronomical observations, and of all posts you may occupy."[ ] the first settlers in the miami purchase[ ] had spread inland a few miles at this time; one settlement, ludlow's station, was made five miles up mill creek and another twelve miles up the great miami. butler's route from ludlow's station to the site of fort hamilton was undoubtedly already an open trail that far. the day before he advanced from fort hamilton, butler wrote st. clair: "i have just received a verbal report from captain ginnon, the surveyor, who is returned. he has been seven miles, and says the face of the country is level but very brushy, and in his opinion it is impracticable for loaded horses to get on without a road.[ ] of this i will be a better judge as i advance and try the present order of march, &c. should i find it impracticable to execute, i feel confident that any directions that may be necessary to facilitate the movements will meet your approval. the road is cut one and a-half miles to a good stream of water and ground to encamp on. five miles advanced of that is a large creek, which is three feet deep at the place he crossed, but a little below is a ford, ..." on the fourth of october, with enough provisions to last a few days, without its commander, who was at fort washington hurrying on three hundred militia, the army under butler crossed the miami river and entered the shadows of the indian land. we have no definite record of the first days' marches. it would not seem that more than five miles a day were accomplished. the route was in alignment with the eaton road between hamilton and eaton, preble county. four mile (from hamilton) creek--then known as joseph's creek--was crossed near the old "fearnot mill," and the first encampment was made near what was afterward known as scott's tanyard on seven mile creek--then called st. clair's creek.[ ] the line of march was up seven mile creek, west of eaton, where the creek was forded. "the trace cannot now be definitely located," wrote a preble county annalist, a generation ago. "it was not cut to as great width as most of the military roads, and the line has been almost wholly obscured by the growth of the forest and the action of the weather upon the soil."[ ] narrow as the road here was, it was cut wider than st. clair intended. after the first day or two general butler, as he suggested in his letter of october , decided that st. clair's tri-track plan of march was impracticable, and gave orders that but one road should be cut, and that the army march in a body. on the seventh st. clair came hurrying on from fort washington to join his army. the militia had gone on on the fifth, but in bad temper. several deserted even upon arriving at fort washington. a sergeant and twenty-five men deserted on the night of the third. a score of men deserted from fort hamilton the night before the army marched. the anxiety of the officers, and the herculean efforts to get the army into fighting trim, had not created a very loyal spirit in the men who marched. a little more chicanery and misjudgment and the entire army would have mutinied. st. clair, before mounting his horse, wrote knox that his troops amounted in all to twenty-three hundred. "i trust i shall find them sufficient," he added. the words remind one of braddock's last letter to the british ministry before leaving fort cumberland for the death-trap on the monongahela in . major ebenezer denny traveled with st. clair as aide-de-camp and has left us the official account of the army's march. denny was not anxious to serve. "you must go," general harmar declared, "some will escape and you may be among the number."[ ] st. clair and denny reached fort hamilton on the seventh, and on the day following pushed on after the army over the narrow course it had made; this was running "north sixteen degrees." four encampments were passed and the militia, and st. clair reached his army that evening. there was full need of him. the army was making but five miles a day; and at that disastrously slow pace the stores were not keeping up. tonight (the eighth) st. clair wrote a stinging letter to israel ludlow. instead of having ninety thousand rations, as was promised, st. clair had to write "by day after tomorrow i shall not have an ounce unless some arrives.... if you found the transportation impracticable, you ought to have informed me, that i might have taken means to have got supplies forward, _or not have committed my army to the wilderness_.... no disappointment should have happened which was in the power of money to prevent; and money could certainly have prevented any here.... want of drivers will be no excuse to a starving army and a disappointed people."[ ] another exceedingly unfortunate affair demanded st. clair's attention, in his opinion, that night. he had given carefully studied and explicit orders by which the army should march. as noted, general butler changed the order of march as he threatened to do in his letter to st. clair from fort hamilton. the reasons for the change did not appeal to the commander-in-chief; butler was called to account for his action, apologized, and stated his reasons. st. clair had ordered that the army march in three lines, contending that it was far more easy to cut three roads, ten feet in width each, than to cut one road of thirty or forty. st. clair's method was that pursued by the wisest and most successful generals--forbes and bouquet--in hewing the first roads across the alleghenies. "the quantity of timber," st. clair records, "increases in a surprising proportion, as the width of the road is increased;"[ ] the veteran conqueror of fort duquesne, general forbes, wrote his right-hand man colonel bouquet under the same circumstances, urging the cutting of several paths, saying, "i don't mean here to cut down any large trees, only to clear away the brushwood and saplins...."[ ] temporarily, st. clair allowed butler's alteration to stand, but insisted that it should soon be corrected as the army pushed on. the result was that butler conceived an intense dislike for st. clair. the latter has placed it on record that, upon butler's arrival at fort washington, "he was soured and disgusted, and i suppose it was occasioned by the fault that had been found with the detention of the troops up the river;"[ ] knox's rebuke, previously quoted, would make plain the reason of any disinterest on the part of general butler. st. clair's reproof here and now seemed to increase it; "from that moment," st. clair said, "his coolness and distance increased, and he seldom came near me. i was concerned at it, but as i had given no cause, i could apply no cure."[ ] as the half mutinous, because half fed, army blundered on, it might seem that lack of provisions was its most serious menace; yet it becomes pretty clear that the estrangement of butler and st. clair was even more serious. on the ninth of october, the army pushed on nine miles, and the horses being tied up at night an eight o'clock start was achieved on the morning of the tenth, but only eight miles were traversed. at two o'clock on the afternoon of the eleventh the army drew out into the low prairie land which lies six miles south of fort jefferson, darke county, ohio, and halted for the night to search for a safe path through it. on the day after, a party led by general butler found a "deep-beaten" indian trail which skirted the lower levels "avoiding the wet land," and this was followed for five and a half miles. there is no record that st. clair followed an indian trail until near the center of darke county. the course heretofore had been run by the compass.[ ] from this night's encampment st. clair rode forward a short mile and chose the site for the next fort on the line from the ohio river to the maumee. the spot chosen was near the present site of fort jefferson, ohio--latitude ° ['] [''] n. the work of erecting the new post was undertaken with alacrity by many of the soldiers and officers--the latter working in the mud with the men. major ferguson found the lack of axes a serious handicap, there being but one ax to three workmen.[ ] yet these discouragements were not as disheartening as the continual dearth of provisions. this undermined discipline, perseverance, loyalty, and honor. desertions became more alarmingly frequent, but men who were not fed could not work and would not march. as half-rations, and those exceedingly poor, became the necessary order of the day, the army slowly melted from under the discouraged st. clair. every night found the army smaller and yet more discouraged.[ ] in vain st. clair beseeched hodgdon to hurry on provisions.[ ] but the contractor's horses were lacking and those to be had were unfit for the heavy loads bound to them. and here at fort jefferson another and more pitiful estrangement between st. clair and butler occurred. while the fort was being erected, the latter officer came to st. clair's tent and, in view of the slow advance of the army and the lateness of the season, asked st. clair for a thousand picked men with permission to hurry on by a forced march to the maumee and begin the erection of the fort there to be built. "i received the proposal," records st. clair, "with an astonishment that, i doubt not, was depicted in my countenance, and, in truth, had liked to have laughed in his face, which he probably discovered. i composed my features, however, as well as i could, told him, though it did not appear to me, at first view, as a feasible project, nevertheless, it deserved to be considered; that i would consider it attentively, and give him an answer in the morning, which i accordingly did, with great gravity: and from that moment, his distance and reserve increased still more sensibly."[ ] butler seems to have considered himself treated with contempt in this instance. it cannot be supposed that such a brave veteran officer as butler could have asked a thing which it was out of st. clair's power to grant; yet from the records of the condition of affairs it is difficult to see how st. clair could have risked dividing his army which, for the whole week following, was on half-rations, and men deserting by twos and threes and even scores every night. passing the question--which in no way can be decided--of the propriety of butler's plan, the circumstance seems to have deeply embittered a brave and good man with whom fate had been dealing most unkindly since the very beginning of the present campaign. as will be seen, it were a kindness to butler to believe that continued untoward fortune rendered him mentally incapable of acting henceforward in a sane manner toward general st. clair. explorations were carried on throughout the twenty-third and the line of march on the indian trail, previously discovered, was renewed on the twenty-fourth; the army stumbled helplessly on to greenville creek, where the city of greenville, ohio, now stands. this small effort to advance was more than the hungry army could endure and one whole dark week was spent here waiting for provisions. the condition of army discipline was probably indescribable. the kentuckians, who formed the large portion of the militia, were not afraid of the savages but the lack of food completely demoralized them. on the last day of october a large party numbering at least sixty deserted, and, hastening down the roadway which the army had cut, threatened to seize the provision train that was supposed to be slowly nearing the sorry army. the threat cast a gloom over the army and st. clair was compelled to order out the first regiment, not so much in pursuit of the deserters,[ ] as for the protection of the needed provisions. the army, weakened by the absence of this regiment, marched on--following an indian trail that ran north from greenville on the general alignment of the present fort recovery road. st. clair states the direction of the path as "north ° west."[ ] added to st. clair's many discouragements and butler's disaffection, was physical ailment. the touch of gout experienced on the journey over the alleghenies did not leave him. in his meager _journal_ he records on october : "so ill this day that i had much difficulty in keeping with the army."[ ] november dawned wet and cold but on the first his "friendly fit of gout" was growing better. on the third of november the army made its last day's march--little dreaming that it was the last or that just ahead lay the bloodiest battlefield in american pioneer history. the thomas irwin manuscript, previously quoted,[ ] gives us a glimpse of the day that is of singularly pathetic interest. "in the afternoon of the ^d something broke which caused a general halt nearly one hour the day was cold us waggoners in front had a very handy way of making fire we made up a large fire several of the officers collected around to warm themselves gen^l st clair was brought and took a seat he not being able to walk they discoursed on different subjects one was where they thought we were the general oppinion was that we had passed over the dividing ridge between the miamie waters and was then on the waters of st. marys col serjant came up at the time stated the advance gard had chased or indians from a fire out of a thicket & got part of a venison at it he likewise stated there had been more indians seen that day than any day previous the general observed that he did not think the indians was watching the motions of the army with a view to attack them other than steal horses or catch a person if they had a chance we all coincided [?] in that oppinion." poor st. clair! was ever a general more terribly mistaken? just beyond lay little turtle, now closing swiftly in on the doomed army. "the army moved about two miles," continues irwin, "from there halted to encamp at a good place but scarce of water an express came up from the advance gard give information that they had arrived at a fine running stream of water and a good place to encamp the army moved to s^d creek got there a little after sunset. it was between & oclock before the army got fixed to rest." then follows the ominous sentence: "this was on the ^d of november ." happy it is that the bloody promontory to which st. clair's army hobbled late on that cold november night can forever bear the cheerful name which another and more successful campaigner--whose soldiers were not always half-famished--gave it. and still no thoughtful student can look upon the slow-moving little wabash from the present site of fort recovery, ohio, without remembering that here camp destruction was pitched before ever fort recovery was erected. a fine high plateau or promontory thrusts itself out into the lower flats through which the river curves. at its extreme point the river approaches on the left and in front. on the right are extensive fields where the sunlight plays so tenderly that it is difficult to picture the rank swamp which lay there a century ago. beyond the river, level flats extend half a mile and more to the foothills beyond. major denny had accompanied the advance guard and quartermaster to this spot, and though "it was farther than could have been wished," word was sent back to the army advising that the march be continued to that point. it being "later than usual when the army reached the ground this evening," records denny, "and the men much fatigued prevented the general from having some works of defense immediately erected." the army camped in a hollow square on the summit of the promontory; general butler commanded the right and front and his troops under majors butler, clarke, and patterson lay in two lines along the edge of the high ground near the wabash. the left was composed of the battalions under bedinger and gaither, in the first line, and lieutenant-colonel darke's troops in the second. "the army was encamped in a hollow square," says irwin, "allong the bank of s^d creek perhaps yards between the lines so that the rear could go to the creek for water." the militia was sent forward across the wabash and encamped about one-fourth of a mile in the bottoms. the tired men fell to work gathering wood, and soon two rows of fires were brightly blazing in the narrow avenue between the troops of butler on the left and darke on the right. the rain had turned to snow. many of the exhausted men sank instantly to sleep. as if half conscious of the doom hanging over the army, certain of the officers were given to pondering on the number of indians seen that day. "fresh signs," writes denny, "... appeared today in several places; parties of riflemen detached after them, but without success." the irwin ms. reads: "the advance gard seen they supposed about indians in the bottom on the other side of s^d creek [wabash] when they arrived at it in the evening and had seen considerable sign that day." the premonition of disaster intensified as the camp became quiet and the blazing fires were brightly reflected in the light snow. among certain officers the premonition took shape, and it was determined to send out a party to reconnoiter. captain butler at first resolved to lead the party, but soon thought it improper to leave the camp. accordingly, colonel gibson went to captain slough of the first battalion of levies carrying a raccoon in his hand; finding slough, he invited him to his tent to see "how to dress a racoon indian fashion."[ ] captain butler joined them, and the three went to general butler's tent where wine was served. slough agreed to go out with a party of volunteers, nominally to catch "some of the rascals who might attempt to steal horses." it is plain, whatever the officers may have given as a reason for the scouting expedition, that slough was sent to feel of the woods--to guard against surprise. his line of men paraded in the firelight before butler's tent before stealing out beyond the lines. passing colonel oldham's tent, slough stopped and informed that officer of the detachment and its mission. colonel oldham "was lying down with his clothes on" and "requested me not to go, as he was sure my party would be cut off, for, says he, i expect the army will be attacked in the morning; i replied, that as i had received my orders i must go." slough led his party through the militia camp and onward about a mile on the indian trail. here they were divided, each party hiding on opposite sides of the path. soon a party of indians passed each hiding company; one company opened fire. it was not long before the men realized that something extraordinary was on hand. a larger body of indians soon came near slough's band on the left of the trace, paused, and coughed as if to attract another volley, and then passed on. the scouting party came together on the trail and agreed that an indian army was advancing; a hurried march to camp followed. on the way "every fifteen or twenty yards we heard something moving in the woods on both sides of the path, but could not see what it was," wrote slough. it was a thrilling moment when these men heard little turtle's quiet lines worming their way through the underbrush--an army making so strange a noise in the night that even frontiersmen could not recognize it. yet an unrecognized sound brought utmost alarm; "we pushed on," said slough, "and gained the militia camp as soon as possible." slough's first thought was to send word immediately to st. clair. he hurried to colonel oldham's tent. "i was just going to dress myself," says oldham, "and go and inform the commander in chief about it; i will thank you [slough] to inform the general that i think the army will be attacked in the morning." slough hastened to general butler's tent, but, seeing no one but the sentry, passed on to colonel gibson's tent. here he aroused gibson and doctor m'croskey, and repeated his alarming story. he asked gibson to go with him to general butler. colonel gibson was not dressed, and urged slough to go alone and arouse butler. he obeyed, and as he returned to general butler's tent the latter walked out of it and went to the fire. calling butler aside, that the sentry should not overhear the news, "i told him what colonel oldham had said, and that, if he thought proper, i would go and make the report to general st. clair. he stood some time, and after a pause, thanked me for my attention and vigilance, and said, as i must be fatigued i had better go and lie down. i went from him and lay down...." it was five days before general st. clair heard of slough's scouting episode of the night of november .[ ] all that slough and oldham suspected was true and more. all night long the indians crept around the army, ready for an attack at sunrise. the army began stirring at an early hour; some there were, it is sure, who anxiously awaited the dawn. the troops paraded under arms, as usual, before sunrise. ranks had just been broken when a scattering fire was heard in the militia camp, and soon the indian yell. the militia stood a moment and then fell back to the river, crossed it, and were upon major butler's and clark's battalions, throwing the latter into a confusion that was never remedied despite the energy of those officers. the indians were upon the heels of the militia, but were repulsed by the fire of the first line. with well-timed accuracy the indians charged the opposite side of the square, where, too, they were at first repulsed. the american army was now practically surrounded--the savages lying hidden in the brush, forests, and high grass on the low ground which surrounded the promontory on three sides and in front. the artillery was placed at the center of the two sides of the square and here the battle raged most fiercely. for some time, it would seem, the honors of the conflict were evenly divided. but from the position of the two armies it can readily be seen that the american fire was not so effective as that of the savages whose firmness and audacity was unparalleled. from their concealed position it required little marksmanship to pick men off rapidly on the high ground just beyond and hidden only by a low-lying cloud of smoke from their own guns. the officers, hurrying back and forth, offered conspicuous targets. from st. clair (who had to be assisted to mount his horse) down, the officers were brave and efficient. as st. clair passed down one line, butler passed up the other. they never met, though st. clair frequently asked for butler as the battle wore away. at last it was agreed that things were going badly and that a bayonet charge, only, would dislodge the enemy, who were rapidly cutting down the efficient strength of the army--making particular havoc among the officers. colonel darke was thereupon ordered to turn the left flank of the enemy, which he accomplished with firmness and success--driving the savages several hundred yards. yet soon they swarmed back, not being held where they were, and, in turn drove the troops backward. about the cannon, which the indians were taught to dread, the battle ebbed and flowed bloodily. as fast as the gunners were shot down others took their places. now and again the red line swept up to the guns and the piles of slain were scalped, amid the smoke, in the very face of the army. on the left flank, too, the savages were beginning to overpower and gain the summit of the promontory and enter the lines. they were charged fiercely but after each charge there was a sudden dearth of officers, and the lines returned very thin. the army was now attacked from every side, though not until late in the long three hours of conflict did the indians take the initiative. their settled plan was to get the troops in range, lie low, make no noise save with their guns, retire when assaulted, but follow back eagerly. such tactics were all that were necessary. as in braddock's battle beside the monongahela, so here, the white army on higher ground in plain sight could not do such fatal execution, by any means, as the indian army strewn among the standing and fallen trees, the brush and rank grasses of the lower ground, and on the sloping sides of the promontory. by nine o'clock the army had been exposed for three hours to the merciless indian fire. hundreds had fallen; the ground was literally covered with dead and dying. the only question was, could the remainder escape? the army was cut off from the road. benjamin van cleve, a young man, has left record of this memorable break for the road when order to retreat was at last given: "i found," he says, "the troops pressing like a drove of bullocks to the right. i saw an officer ... with six or eight men start on a run a little to the left of where i was. i immediately ran and fell in with them. in a short distance we were so suddenly among the indians, who were not apprised of our object, that they opened to us and ran to the right and left without firing. i think about two hundred of our men passed through them before they fired."[ ] an opening being made, the army poured heedlessly along. no order or semblance of order existed, save in a remnant of clark's command which essayed to cover the rear. in the very rear, on a horse which could not be pricked out of a walk, came st. clair, unmindful of the bloody tumult behind him where the old men and wounded were being killed. this awful battle was a fitting close for such a campaign. in almost every sense it was the greatest defeat suffered by white men on this continent at the hands of aborigines. st. clair's army numbered on the eve of november one thousand four hundred and eighty-six men and eighty-six officers. of these, eight hundred and ninety men and sixteen officers were killed or wounded. the army poured back to fort jefferson and then on to fort washington. the path hewn northward became, like braddock's road, a route for the hordes of indians toward the frontiers. their victory, so bloody, so overwhelming, gave confidence. perhaps never before nor afterward did any battlefield present a scene equal to that wabash slaughter field. the dying were tortured and the dead frightfully mutilated. on the theory that the army sought to conquer the indian land, sand was crushed into the eyes of the dead in cruel mockery. several scores of women followed the army--though contemporary records are singularly silent on this point.[ ] many of them, it is sure, fell into the hands of the savages and the first white visitors to the battleground found great stakes driven through many corpses.[ ] the two underlying causes for this terrible reverse of american arms were the long delay in getting the army on its feet, properly supplied; and the undisciplined condition of the troops. the immediate cause of the defeat was, without question, the failure of all the officers who knew of captain slough's discoveries on the night of november to communicate them to general st. clair. colonel oldham ordered slough to st. clair; he went only to general butler who dismissed him without acceding to his spoken request to be allowed to take the news to the commander-in-chief. the words of the standard authority on st. clair's defeat are perhaps severe, but no new information has come in half a century to give ground for altering them; albach says: "the circumstances under which the omission occurred, would favor an inference that he [butler] sacrificed the safety of the army to the gratification of his animosity against st. clair. the evidence given before the committee of congress is conclusive that he failed, at least to perform his whole duty in the premises."[ ] butler's side of the story could never be told; fatally wounded while heroically exhorting his men, the poor man was carried to his marquee under an oak, by his brother, captain edward butler. propped up on his mattress, a loaded revolver placed in each hand, the old veteran was left to his fate. as his friends left the tent by the rear, the indians surged in at the front.[ ] st. clair's road northward was the main thoroughfare to fort hamilton and fort jefferson from the ohio and, though superseded by another route soon built parallel to it, was ever of importance in the burst of population from pennsylvania and kentucky into the old northwest. but the soldiers of st. clair's successor were too superstitious to follow that ill-starred track. and, as forbes came successfully to fort duquesne over a new route built parallel to braddock's, so the second conqueror of the old northwest cut a new road parallel to st. clair's. chapter iv wayne and fallen timber the defeat of st. clair's army cast a nation into gloom. as the terrible tidings sped eastward a thousand frontier cabins were filled with dismayed men, women, and children. the passion into which it is said the patient washington was thrown, upon hearing the melancholy story, was typical of the feeling of a whole people. there could be no doubt, now, what the future would bring forth; a deluge of raiding savages, such as had never overrun the frontiers since braddock's defeat in , would certainly come; the desperate cry, "white men shall not plant corn north of the ohio," would now ring out over the thin fringe of frightened settlements on the miami and muskingum, and with that cry would come frenzied raiders from whose tomahawks men would do well to escape death and women be fortunate if they were quickly killed. from all the western settlements in kentucky, ohio, and pennsylvania a cry, anxious and often piteous, was hurried over the mountains to philadelphia for aid and protection. the young government now faced a problem difficult in the extreme with fine courage, fully conscious of its own dignity and its own latent power. within six weeks of st. clair's annihilation, the secretary of war submitted a statement to congress which summed up the situation briefly and clearly. the former treaties with the indians, the efforts for peace, the sorry details of the campaign were all described. peaceful and warlike efforts, alike, had failed. so much for the past. for the future, the plan was already formulated and ready for adoption by congress. first, the war must be brought to an end; if peace could be secured without further resort to arms, well and good; "it is submitted," read the secretary's communication, "that every reasonable expedient be again taken ... that the nature of the case, and a just regard to the national reputation, will admit." those in best position to judge, however, were sure that the pride of victory was so strong among the confederated nations that "it would be altogether improper to expect any favorable result from such [peaceful] expedients," and congress was warned accordingly that it was "by an ample conviction of superior force only, that the indians can be brought to listen to the dictates of peace on reasonable terms." it was properly insisted that relinquishment of territory formerly ceded by the savages could not be arranged "consistently with a proper regard to national reputation." the plan included the organization of a new army, comprising three hundred cavalry, three hundred artillerymen, and five regiments of infantry of four thousand five hundred and sixty men. it was to be styled "the legion of the united states," and was to be divided into four sub-legions of one thousand two hundred and eighty non-commissioned officers and privates each. the mistakes of the past dictated the necessity of having this force disciplined "according to the nature of the service;" its ultimate object was to establish a strong post on the present site of fort wayne, indiana. to secure a comprehensive grasp of the interesting campaign now undertaken, it is necessary to keep in mind simultaneously three situations: this new army, the moving companies of peace commissioners, and that ragged pathway northward from fort washington with the little stockade forts which guarded it. these varying phases will be treated chronologically, at the risk of coherency, and the scattered threads gathered much in the tangled order in which they were spun amid many hopes and many fears. one of the first important matters, in this as in previous campaigns, was to retain the neutrality of the six nations. the efforts in the year preceding had been approximately successful, though, according to his biographer, stone, joseph brant with a party of mohawks was present at st. clair's defeat. as early as january , , an express was hurried off to the reverend samuel kirtland, veteran missionary among the iroquois, informing him that colonel pickering had invited the principal chiefs of the six nations to visit washington. he was urged to assist in securing their acquiescence, especially joseph brant's, and to accompany them on the journey. the next act of secretary knox is peculiarly significant and interesting. captain peter pond, a trader, and one william steedman were ordered to proceed westward to the hostile tribes on the maumee, feigning to be traders. "no doubt can exist," wrote knox, "that our strength and our resources are abundant to conquer, and even extirpate the indians.... but this is not our object. we wish to be at peace with those indians--to be their friends and protectors--to perpetuate them on the land. the desire, therefore, that we have for peace, must not be inconsistent with the national reputation. we cannot ask the indians to make peace with us, considering them as the aggressors: but they must ask a peace of us. to persuade them to this effect is the object of your mission. insinuate, upon all favorable occasions, the humane disposition of the united states; and, if you can by any means ripen their judgement, so as to break forth openly [disclose yourselves], and declare the readiness of the united states to receive, with open arms, the indians, ... do it.... you might persuade some of the most influential chiefs to repair to our posts on the ohio, and so, from post to post, to this place."[ ] perhaps never in warfare were spies sent amongst an enemy on so remarkable a mission. in response to the government's invitation, fifty indian chieftains from the six nations arrived in philadelphia on march . they were treated with utmost courtesy by the government officials and proper gifts distributed. among other benefits, fifteen hundred dollars a year was promised by the united states to be spent encouraging education and agriculture in the iroquois land. the chief boon secured by this display of hospitality and liberality was the promise that the six nations would wholly abstain from war and would immediately send a delegation to the western tribes to mediate between them and the united states, secure an armistice, and make plans for a final treaty of peace. in this promise the government placed great hope. the six nations were the most prominent of their race on the continent and their chieftains exerted an influence equaled by none. having received, in person, from the nation's highest executive officers, protestations of friendliest nature, they were the best emissaries that could possibly treat with the hostile tribes on the maumee on behalf of the government. yet efforts to avert war did not stop here. by may it was determined to send an envoy extraordinary to the maumee, if the hazard could possibly be accomplished. the iroquois chiefs would, it was believed, keep their solemn pledges, yet affairs of such a nature usually developed very slowly among red-men and in the present crisis there was no time to be lost. accordingly a fitting personage was chosen by president washington to make the perilous attempt. his choice fell quickly on the brave leader of the ohio company pioneers to marietta--general rufus putnam. sufficient provision for his family in case of a disastrous termination of his journey being promised by the government, the quiet, bold pioneer departed from his frontier home on may for fort washington. his instructions were explicit. he was first to assure the hostile nations that the united states did not in the least desire any of the indian's land, but rather solemnly pledged itself to "guaranty all that remain, and take the indians under our protection." in turn the indians were to agree to a truce and call in all war-parties. the most prominent chiefs were to be invited to philadelphia to make a treaty; on his way westward general putnam was empowered to release all indian prisoners retained at fort washington and give the women presents to carry home with them in token of the government's pacific intentions.[ ] the frontier to which putnam now came was in need of brave men and strong. these had been long months since that dark november day when the remains of st. clair's shattered army poured back upon fort jefferson and fort hamilton, brigadier-general wilkinson now commanded at fort washington and with a firm hand was managing affairs on the firing-line. his outposts, forts hamilton and jefferson, were frequently surrounded by indian scouts sent down the narrow trace from little turtle's cantonments on the maumee, but no attack on these posts had yet been made in force. such an attack was frequently anticipated, and many sudden calls to arms sounded now and again within the little garrisons lost so far within the northern forests. the brave captain john armstrong still commanded at fort hamilton, guarding the strategic ford of the great miami and the narrow roadway toward fort jefferson and the silent corpse-strewn battle-ground beyond. wilkinson's principal duty was to keep the garrisons of his three little forts alive and in heart, and keep a watchful eye on the victorious enemy. in january, calling on volunteers from the country about cincinnati, wilkinson organized a little company to visit st. clair's slaughter-ground. the snow was two feet deep--a depth seldom if ever exceeded in southwestern ohio. kentucky volunteers crossed the ohio on ice above the mouth of the little miami. leaving fort washington january , the fatal field was reached february . such was the depth of snow that comparatively few bodies could be found, save as here and there, on knolls and ridges, a white mound of driven snow marked where a wolf had left a scalped and mangled corpse. the winter of - likewise witnessed the erection of an intermediary post between forts hamilton and jefferson, most appropriately named fort st. clair. it was erected by a body of men under command of captain john s. gano, under whom william henry harrison served, half a mile west of the present site of eaton, preble county, at st. clair's crossing of "garrison branch" of seven mile creek. as the spring of opened, and the forest roads became passable, it was expected that the indians, by a concerted movement, would attempt to sweep the three forts north of the ohio and make good their unjust claim to possession of that northern shore. accordingly spies were kept well out on the trails for any sign of an advancing army. others were sent nearer the indian's lair. on april two messengers, freeman and gerrard, were sent from fort washington with a speech to the hostile tribes, being ordered to follow harmar's trace up the little and great miamis. three days later wilkinson sent word to armstrong to order out a spy by way of st. clair's road, who should carefully study the route all the way to the miami towns. accordingly one of the boldest men on the frontier, william may, was ordered to "desert" to the enemy and, shaving his head and adopting their dress and manner of living, to learn all that was being planned and done in the red-men's camps. on may sergeant reuben reynolds was ordered to "desert" from fort st. clair and also follow st. clair's route to the maumee and reside with the indians until a favorable opportunity to return occurred. on may colonel hardin and captain alexander trueman left fort washington for the maumee, bearing an official message from the government, of similar tenor to that given to general putnam. thus six men had preceded putnam to the maumee, and only two of them went merely as spies--may and reynolds. the fate of four of these men dampened the ardor of the frontier people for peaceful efforts. freeman, gerrard, trueman, and hardin were all murdered before reaching the maumee. reynolds and may returned in safety later in the year. general putnam learned at fort washington of the fate of his predecessors and determined not to throw life away uselessly. favorable messages having been received from the upper wabash, he turned all his efforts toward securing a meeting with the wabash indians in the fall of the year at vincennes, indiana. no more attempts were made to reach the maumee over the "bloody way," as the indians termed the route north from fort washington. "the president of the united states must know well why the blood is so deep in our paths," exclaimed a shawanese chieftain, "... he has sent messengers of peace on these bloody roads, who fell on the way." a messenger was even now preparing to come this way to whom bloody roads were not new and for whom they had no fear. leaving the indian commissioners going slowly on their way to a conference with the hostile tribes at "auglaize"--the mouth of the auglaize river where defiance, ohio, now stands--and putnam waiting for the weas and kickapoos to assemble at vincennes, let us look back to the gathering "legion of the united states" into whose ready hands the matter of peace would go when the indians got courage enough to throw off the mask. it was one thing to plan an army on paper but a far more serious task to raise and organize it. and first and foremost arose the trebly difficult task of choosing a leader. the officers of revolutionary days were fast passing into old age, and as washington looked about him to the comrades of former years, there were few left capable of taking up the difficult task that st. clair laid down. a memorandum left by washington indicates the serious necessity of a wise choice and the nature of the possible candidates. lincoln was sober, honest, and brave, but infirm and past the vigor of life; baron steuben, a stickler for tactics, was likewise sober and brave and sensible, but a foreigner; moultrie was brave and had fought against the cherokees, but washington knew little of him; mcintosh was considered honest and brave but was not well known and consequently not popular, and was infirm; wayne was "more active and enterprising than judicious and cautious. no oeconomist it is feared:--open to flattery--vain--easily imposed upon and liable to be drawn into scrapes. too indulgent (the effect perhaps of some of the causes just mentioned) to his officers. whether sober--or a little addicted to the bottle i know not;" weedon was not deficient of resource and was of a convivial nature though not unduly so; hand was sensible and judicious and not intemperate; scott was brave and "means well" but not suited for extensive command, convivial; huntington, sober, sensible, discreet; wilkinson, lively, sensible, pompous, and ambitious, "whether sober or not i do not know;" gist, activity and attention doubtful, but of noble spirit; irvine, sober, tolerably sensible, prudent, an "oeconomist;" morgan, fortunate and had met with _éclat_, possibly intemperate, troubled with palpitation and illiterate; williams sensible though vain, in poor health; putnam, (rufus) strong-minded, discreet, "nothing conspicuous in character ... known little out of his own state and a narrow circle;" pinckney, brave, honorable, erudite, sensible and a stickler for tactics.[ ] no other officers are named as possible candidates for a position no one could possibly desire. as the list stands, it forms a startling refutation of the oft repeated saying that though drinking was common in the old days it was not carried to excess. the problem with washington seems to have been, speaking mildly, to find a responsible man with a clear head. his decision at first seems to have wavered between lincoln and moultrie; under these men as major-generals, wayne, morgan, and wilkinson might serve as brigadiers. what may have induced the final decision cannot be stated definitely, but the command was at last offered to brevet major-general "mad" anthony wayne and it was accepted. brevet brigadier-generals wilkinson and thomas posey were second in active command. major-general scott was to command fifteen hundred mounted kentucky militia. as with washington, so with wayne, the most serious task was to choose his officers from the recruits which early in were hurried on to pittsburg to defend the frontier under the dashing hero of stony point--wayne's appointment having been well received everywhere save in virginia and kentucky. if the army was to be disciplined "according to the nature of the service"--indian-fighting--indian-fighters must do the training. "we will be under the necessity," wrote wayne to knox from pittsburg, "of discharging many of the men--who never were--nor never will be fit for service, they are at present a nuisance to the legion & a useless expense to the publick.... you may rest assured i will carefully guard against improper appointments or recommendations--we shall have some difficulty before we can purge the legion of characters who never were fit for officers."[ ] such administrative ability as this was the very thing needed on the frontier; it drove from the gathering army many useless characters and made possible the encouragement and promotion of such valuable men as lieutenant william clark (of lewis and clark fame), eaton, and william henry harrison. the fine spirit of wayne infused courage throughout the frontier and made men eager to serve and win promotion, though sometimes "without shoez or shirts called upon to do the hardest duty & mo. pay due--while they have not money to buy a chew of tobacco."[ ] one of the most interesting manuscripts now extant of wayne, his army, its marches and battles, is preserved in the library of the state historical society of wisconsin. its author was no less a personage than brigadier-general thomas posey, associated with general wilkinson as second in command of the army. general posey's journal continually emphasizes the human element in the scenes through which he passed, and frequent side-lights from this hitherto unused source will be introduced in this narrative.[ ] posey reached pittsburg on august . "as we passed through the upper part of virginia," he leaves record of the journey across the mountains, "the people would often say what a pitty, such a likely parcel of young men were going to be slaughtered by the indians as gen^l st clair's army was." one of the most striking observations of pittsburg was the ominous statement, "at least one half of the people of pittsburg are in mourning for gen^l richard butler." throughout the summer the gathering troops remained at pittsburg while rigid examinations and drilling exercises were begun. on november the army moved down the ohio to a distance of seven miles above fort mcintosh at the mouth of beaver creek and twenty-two miles below pittsburg; this place was accordingly named legionville. here, "out of the reach of whisky, which baneful poison is prohibited from entering this camp," as wayne wrote the secretary of war,[ ] winter quarters were established, houses for the soldiers being erected first and those for officers afterward. severe daily drilling was the order of the day at legionville, the result of which, though delayed, was sure. while wayne was whipping an army into shape on the upper ohio two events were on the tapis at opposite corners of the black forest of the west to which the officials at philadelphia were paying much heed. at vincennes, on the twentieth of september, putnam was scheduled to meet the delegates of the wabash nations for a treaty of peace, and early in october the commissioners from the six nations were to meet the chiefs of the disaffected northwestern tribes at the mouth of the auglaize on the broad maumee. at vincennes putnam accomplished all that could have been expected, and a treaty was signed by thirty-one wabash chiefs on september . the treaty, finally, was not ratified by the united states senate because of an objectionable clause which was not compatible with the law of eminent domain.[ ] where defiance, ohio, now stands, flanked by its two rivers, one of the most unique conventions in our history assembled as the autumn winds stirred the forests. from the east, cornplanter and a stately retinue of forty-eight chiefs of the six nations proceeded to "au glaize." from even the far-away canadian nations emissaries arrived. when at last the famous convention assembled, and the pipe passed from chieftain to chieftain, two speakers, only, addressed the assembly. red jacket spoke for the senecas and the delegation from the iroquois land. a shawanese chieftain, whose name was not recorded, answered on the part of the hostile tribes. his words were a bold rebuke to the six nations for maintaining friendship with the united states. "... although you consider us your younger brothers," sneered the shawanese, "your seats are not at such a distance, but what we can see your conduct plainly; these are the reasons why we consider you to speak from the outside of your lips; for whenever you hear the voice of the united states, you immediately take your packs and attend their councils.... we see plainly folded under your arm the voice of the united states--wish you to unfold it to us, that we may see it freely and consult on it." so saying he threw a triple string of wampum across the fire to the senecas rather than handing it across in a friendly way. that philadelphia conference of last march did not please the western tribes. in turn the seneca sketched the story of the french and english domination and of the birth of the united states, which, he said, desired peace with the confederated indians. the shawanese repeated the story of st. clair's disaster of the year before and asserted that the indians claimed certain lands east of the ohio and all lands west of that river. those to the eastward would be given up for proper compensation. in reply to the seneca's desire to bring about a treaty with the hostile nations, the shawanese replied: "inform general washington we will treat with him, at the rapids of miami, next spring, or at the time when the leaves are fully out.... we will lay the bloody tomahawk aside, until we hear from the president of the united states...."[ ] cornplanter returned eastward with his delegation and the reports of the convention were hurried on to philadelphia with the ominous hint that no boundary would ever be consented to by the northwestern indians save only the ohio river. the message as it spread across the alleghenies brought dark days and anxious nights to cabins on the thin fringe of pioneer settlements from the muskingum to the miami. as the winter winds came down from the north, two of the spies sent out from fort washington came in from the forests--may from niagara and reynolds from montreal. leaving fort hamilton, may crossed st. clair's battlefield; beyond, in harmar's trail, he found trueman and two other men killed and scalped; captured, he was saved from death by simon girty and sold to matthew elliott, in whose employ he labored on the lakes. in numerous instances he identified scalps of friends, in particular that of colonel hardin. in september girty had gone on a raiding expedition to "fallentimber" between forts st. clair and hamilton to capture horses, saying that he would "do every mischief in his power" and "raise hell to prevent a peace."[ ] reuben reynolds, after varied experiences, came down from montreal through the vermont forests to philadelphia, where his deposition was taken by washington's secretary, lear, october . the lake superior indians had joined the confederacy and "they expected to have three thousand or three thousand five hundred indians in the field against the americans."[ ] may, with equally exaggerated reports, affirmed that there were " , warriors" at the auglaize river.[ ] not long after this wayne entertained at his camp at legionville several of the chiefs of the allegheny, cornplanter, new arrow, big tree, and guasutha. pointing to the ohio from where he sat, one of them--according to posey's journal--said: "my heart & mind is fixed on that river & may that water continue to run & remain the boundary of everlasting peice, between the white & red people on its opposite shores." few who had been watching the western situation believed but that spring would bring war. the indians did not even keep the promised truce. major adair, encamped beside the "bloody way" within sight of fort st. clair, was murderously attacked by indians early in the morning of november . six whites were killed and five wounded and a large number of packhorses purloined. however few attacks such as this occurred along the frontier. in march, president washington appointed the commissioners who were to treat with the indians at the rapids of the maumee "when the leaves are fully out." benjamin lincoln, beverly randolph, and timothy pickering were appointed, and received their commissions april . general lincoln left on the twenty-seventh with the baggage for niagara by way of the mohawk valley; pickering and randolph left philadelphia by way of the susquehanna on april . on the same day another delegation departed from the upper ohio for the west but not altogether on a peaceful mission; it was wayne's army, disciplined, hardened, and eager for the long-anticipated conflict. to wayne, war seemed inevitable; when informed that the commissioners were to be sent to the maumee according to agreement, he playfully expressed a desire to be present "with of his commissioners in company, with not a single quaker among them!" before leaving legionville he had ordered a number of color flags for the sub-legions of the secretary of war saying, with the confidence of a man who could not but win, "they shall never be lost." thus the third army of the united states floated down the winding ohio in april, . no other army on the ohio, since the day forbes's and bouquet's british regulars left fort pitt, could be compared with it in discipline and trustworthiness. harmar's and st. clair's armies were rabbles beside it. yet there had been a great struggle to secure proper subordination of officers and proper loyalty on the part of the rank and file. liberty meant license on the frontier, and here lay wayne's heaviest task and greatest victory. with a trained, sober army victory was a matter of time only. however, the government still looked for a happy outcome of the convention at the rapids of the maumee; and wayne was strictly ordered to make no hostile movement until the result of that meeting was known. it was expected that, by august , the question of war or peace would have been decided. wayne landed, and encamped about a mile below fort washington, where the high waters left only one convenient spot, which was accordingly dubbed "hobson's choice." the encampment extended to within four hundred yards of the village of cincinnati, according to the posey journal. from this village and its stock "of ardent spirit and caitiff wretches to dispose of it" wayne was anxious to be separated. the summer passed slowly, and each day's tidings from the north was awaited with such patience as could be mustered. faithful drilling, interrupted by fevers and influenza, was the order of the day, according to general posey's record. the number of challenges and duels suggests something of the social order. on one occasion an officer challenged one of his superiors who, in reply, had him arrested to obviate an encounter. in june a premature report came that the peace commissioners had failed in their mission. "we now have but one alternative left," wrote posey, "and this is we must meet the savage foe, the emortal washington at the head of our government, and the old hero gen^l wayne and his well disciplined legion, we have little to fear accept our god and fear him in love." the summer wore on with little or no definite tidings from the north. the troops were exercised daily and the necessities of the possible campaign were pushed on up the line of forts from the ohio river to fort jefferson. contractors and quartermasters were kept busy supplying the comparatively large army. the army and the nation waited for word from the rapids of the maumee. what would that word be? as the leaves began to open, the emissaries of a hundred indian nations were threading the forests of the old northwest and canada upon trails converging on the western shore of lake erie. roche de bout,[ ] as the locality of the "rapids of the miami of the lakes" was known, was on the present site of maumee city, ohio. great fields of indian corn spread up and down both sides of the broad valley; a score of vegetable plants thrived amid the corn. in the same area probably no such amount of ground was under cultivation by indian squaws as in the maumee valley. the spreading fields supported many villages and it was from these important centers of indian life that so many marauding parties descended upon kentucky, calling forth retaliating armies such as those of clark, harmar, and st. clair. and harmar, only, had actually reached this populous and fertile lair. here the convention was to be held. the united states commissioners had proceeded to niagara where they were entertained generously by governor simcoe at navy hall, a mile distant from fort niagara, being advised that the delegates from the various nations would undoubtedly be late arriving on the ground. on july , colonel brant and fifty indians arrived at fort erie from the maumee to meet and interview the american commissioners. this delegation alleged that the warlike actions of general wayne had prevented the meeting at the rapids and inquired specifically whether or not the commissioners were properly authorized to run a new boundary line. before this advanced deputation returned it was clear that the indians would refuse to recognize any treaty made since the famous stanwix treaty of .[ ] by their instructions the commissioners[ ] were ordered to insist upon the boundaries established at the treaty of fort harmar.[ ] from the beginning, despite the liberality of the offers of the united states--trading-posts north of the ludlow line to be evacuated and fifty thousand dollars to be paid to settle any miscellaneous claims by indians not benefited in previous treaties--there was no hope of reconciliation. in fact there was no agreement even among the "hostile" and the "peaceful" nations at roche de bout. the delegates from the six nations did not agree with the ill-disposed councils of the embittered shawanese and miami warriors and were not advised of the final decision of the council. the american commissioners were ever held off at arm's length. on the twenty-first of july they reached the mouth of the detroit river, and took quarters with captain matthew elliott. from this point communications passed to and fro between the real convention at roche de bout and the americans fifty miles away. the last message from the indians was sent august . its important paragraph read: "at our general council, held at the glaize last fall, we agreed to meet commissioners from the united states, for the purpose of restoring peace, provided they consented to acknowledge and confirm our boundary line to be the ohio: and we determined not to meet you, until you gave us satisfaction on that point: that is the reason we have never met."[ ] on the sixteenth day of august the commissioners replied that the above message was a virtual declaration of war, and declared that "impartial judges will not attribute the continuance of the war to them."[ ] a glimpse into the council of indians at the rapids is afforded us in the deposition made by an unknown pennsylvanian youth, who was captured by wea indians in and who had lived among the indians throughout the ten years since that time. he attended the treaty. on the tenth of july there were fourteen hundred indians present; on the twentieth, twenty-four hundred. of these, eighteen hundred were warriors. it was unanimously agreed that the ohio should be made the boundary line and that the indians be paid for kentucky. simon girty, governor simcoe's aide-de-camp, a lieutenant silvy of the fifth (british) regiment, and another british officer remained at colonel mckee's house, which was fifty yards distant from the council fire. in the evenings the head chiefs, especially those of the shawanese and delaware nations, met with colonel mckee and his guests. "mckee always promised that the king, their father, would protect them & afford them every thing they wanted in case they went to war.... advise that they ought not to make peace upon any other terms than to make the ohio the boundary line. after the final decision, mckee furnished the savages with arms, ammunition, scalping knives and tomahawks even more than they could use this winter." on the twenty-eighth of july the indians separated to reassemble "at au-glaize twenty-four days from that time" to watch wayne and attack him if opportunity offered.[ ] instantly a score of indian runners were hurrying south and east to knox and wayne with the secret code message to prepare for war.[ ] the exact date of wayne's receipt of this message (sent from niagara, august ) is not recorded. it was two hours after midnight, september , when the express thundered into petersburg, kentucky, with an order to general scott "to take the field with the mounted volunteers & to be at fort jefferson by the first of october."[ ] hobson's choice was the scene of intense activity as september drew to a close, and by october all was in readiness for the northward movement. excluding invalids, and garrisons to be left at the four forts on the line of march, wayne estimated his available force at twenty-six hundred regulars and three hundred and sixty mounted volunteers. "... you may rest assured," wayne wrote knox upon leaving fort washington, "that i will not commit the legion [risk an engagement] unnecessarily; and unless more powerfully supported ... i will content myself by taking a strong position advanced of [fort] jefferson, and by exerting every power, endeavor to protect the frontiers, and to secure the posts and army during the winter."[ ] already the far-sighted wayne had anticipated the matter of road-building, an important department of a pioneer general's duty in which he particularly excelled. as early as july , the american commissioners to the hostile tribes wrote secretary knox that the indian scouts reported that wayne "has cut and cleared a road, straight from fort washington, into the indian country, in a direction that would have missed fort jefferson; but that, meeting with a large swamp, it was, of necessity, turned to that fort, and then continued six miles beyond it."[ ] the very fact that when wayne left fort washington, october , he covered the seventy-five odd miles to the site of fort greenville (greenville, ohio) in six days is proof enough that the indians' spies were well within the mark in saying that a road had been built; more than that, packhorses had been wearing it deep into the ground with heavy loads of food for mouths and guns, and large droves of cattle had already rough-stamped wayne's trace from the ohio to the stillwater. faithful james o'hara was quartermaster and elliott and williams the contractors. colonel robert elliott, a native of hagerstown, pennsylvania, met his death at the hands of the savages at the "bigg hill" near fort jefferson while engaged in hurrying on provisions to the northern posts. "mr elliott had on a wig," records general posey in a strain of gloomy defiance, "the indians will not get his skulp." mad anthony street, in cincinnati, is the beginning of wayne's road northward up mill creek valley, thence running northwest to fort hamilton on the watershed south of the head branches of the west fork. the route through hamilton is given by everts as across the sites of snider's paper-mill, niles tool works, and cape and maxwell's plant.[ ] the old track crossed the miami a few rods south of the eastern end of the high street bridge and from there circled around the west end of what is locally known as the "devil's backbone" on what was l. d. campbell's peninsula but which is now an island. wayne's first camp was at five mile spring, southeast of the village of five mile. the old route passed over the present site of that village and kept on the eastern side of seven mile creek all the way to fort st. clair (eaton, preble county). two mile, four mile, seven mile, and nine mile creeks were all so named from wayne's crossing-places. following up the valley of seven mile about two miles, the old track leaves it near nine mile creek and turns due north, leaving butler county in wayne township, section . in preble county the "south end" of wayne's trace has always been used as a highway and known as "wayne's trace road." the trace passes through washington township east of eaton, crossing the greenville road on a bluff near a sycamore-tree on the east side of the road. it crossed banta's fork at or near the "forty-foot pitch" and ascended the high bank at a point on the east side of the present road. the swamp which the indian spies said had turned wayne's route nearer fort jefferson than was originally intended evidently lay in the vicinity of ithaca, twin township, darke county. the first settler in brown township, john woodington, made his clearing beside wayne's trace on the farm owned by william herdman in section on the greenville pike. through these parts the explorer will find the famous old track partially marked out by the growths of young sycamores which sprang up here when the forests were cut down. many of the first settlers "saw on the uncovered roots of trees, along the trace, the indisputable marks of wagon wheels or of the heavy ordinance trains."[ ] [illustration: dr. belknap's map of wayne's route in the maumee valley, [_from the original in the library of harvard university_]] a happy interest attaches to an old route like wayne's, from the very fact that the labor spent in hewing it out and in transporting over it vast quantities of provisions and ammunition was not expended in vain. wayne's road, like forbes's route across the alleghenies, led to victory; the dark winding tracks of the armies of braddock and st. clair possess a romantic element that is fascinating in the extreme, but wholly unsatisfactory. there is an inspiration in following the rough tracks of men who won which is not found in the paths of men who, after struggles perhaps more heroic because facing greater odds, failed. wayne was a thousand times better equipped for his campaign than was st. clair. before his campaign, the savage war was not taken very seriously. now proper preparations had been made, approximately sufficient stores accumulated, the official personnel sifted down; and as the "legion of the united states" went swiftly forward in the october sunlight of that indian summer, there was a sane consciousness of preparedness and power which was all but victory. the indians were quick to recognize and describe, in their figurative way, the two chief characteristics of wayne as a frontier commander--he was both the "black snake" and the "whirlwind." when in motion, he swept through the forests like a cyclone; the record of no pioneer army in america equals the marching records of wayne's legion. it was a standing order that every march should be under high pressure and that no break or interruption should in any case delay the movement of the main body a single moment. this impressed the savages tremendously; they had known no such army as this--which advanced into their country almost as fast as others had run out of it. thus they talked of the "whirlwind" around their northern fires. wayne, too, was a "black snake." he was as cunning as he was impetuous. as will be seen, he built roads he never traversed, doubled his track, and over and again completely outwitted the astonished indian spies that attempted, with sharp eyes in the brown leaves, to fathom his purposes. the lateness of the season prevented a more elaborate campaign than wayne had suggested to the secretary of war. the army swept northward to greenville creek and on the present site of greenville, ohio, erected fort greenville--named by wayne in honor of his dead friend general nathaniel greene of revolutionary fame. by november , posey records, all the houses were completed and once more the drilling and manoeuvering began. we have it under the hand of the same authority that general wayne affirmed that never in the revolutionary war had he commanded such well-drilled troops as these which spent the winter with him buried deep in those ohio forests. it is sure that a general never needed well-drilled soldiers more; and no less sure that no troops needed encouragement more than these. there were, however, the bright sides to life even here. though coffee was a dollar and brown sugar seventy-five cents a pound, and whiskey five dollars a gallon, yet there was good cheer and merrymaking. a battery was built for the officers to play "fiver," of which the younger men became very fond. on one evening the veteran general scott entertained the officers in his apartments and was drawn out to tell of pioneer kentucky in whose battles he had displayed so much courage and lost his three sons. "he told us how col^o boon first discovered kentucky," wrote posey; "'col^o boon was a very enterprizing, smart man,' said general scott, 'but very whimsical.'" there were frequent scouting expeditions in which the whole garrison was interested. on one occasion wells's audacious rangers fell upon three indians at their midday repast; one of the three in the pursuit was compelled to leap into a creek and when he "came up" he was found to be a white man, christopher miller. his life being saved, he renounced the wild career, visited his aged parents in kentucky, and then returned to become one of wayne's most successful spies. no doubt the soldiers laughed at this transformation of a red into a white man, and perhaps swore that if other indians were dowsed equally well they would be found to be equally white and to be wearing british uniforms! there was one duty that fell now to wayne that was not congenial. posey was one of the detachment which pushed forward in the december snow to st. clair's slaughter-ground and erected there the most advanced of the chain of forts between the ohio and maumee. as the company neared the spot, captain edward butler touched posey on the shoulder and said: "when you reach the ground go to a large spreading oak which you cannot fail to see. under that oak my brother's marquee was pitched and there you will find his bones which you can identify by a fracture of one thigh bone." "we went to the place," writes posey, "and found part of his [general richard butler's] bones, his skull and both thy bones, one we discovered had been broken.... we collected all the bones and laid them in one pile, on every skul bone you might see the mark of the skulping knife a round every skul bone." the pieces of guns--many barrels bent double by fiendish indians--were collected, and four cannon were discovered just where an indian prisoner had said they would be found. a strong fort was built and very appropriately named fort recovery, captain alexander gibson commanding the garrison. on the sixth day, a portion of the party returned to fort greenville. the erection of fort recovery was another leap toward the maumee and soon indians began to arrive at fort greenville bearing white flags and talking of an armistice and peace. wayne, obeying orders from the secretary to end the war without another campaign if possible, received the emissaries as though he believed their lying rôle. deceived by wayne's attitude, one of the allegheny chiefs, big tree, committed suicide. he had sworn to kill three hostile indians to avenge the death of his "very dear friend" general butler; exasperated at the hint of peace he made way with himself. the peace emissaries, and all talk of an armistice, faded with the winter snows, and by early summer every plan for the crucial campaign had been made both by the indians and by wayne. it was july before scott's fifteen hundred mounted volunteers arrived at greenville. already one bloody skirmish had taken place near the walls of fort recovery in which near a thousand indians had participated. large quantities of stores had been forwarded to greenville and fort recovery, and the grand advance on the maumee was on the eve of starting. of this campaign we have lieutenant boyer's official narrative,[ ] supplemented by the slight records of posey and lieutenant william clark, a brother of george rogers clark.[ ] at eight o'clock in the morning of july wayne with two thousand regulars and fifteen hundred mounted volunteers set out for the maumee valley from fort greenville. the route followed by st. clair and used during the winter by the fort recovery garrison was the course pursued, and camp was pitched in the afternoon on stillwater creek after a twelve-mile march. the next day the army was off before sunrise; we "pushed forward without regard to bag or baggage," records clark, "as if not in search, but in actual pursuit of a flying & disorderly enemy." fort recovery was reached at noon and the army camped a mile beyond. on the day following the army crashed onward, following the winding stream called a tributary of the "st. mary's" by st. clair, but which was in fact the head of the wabash. clark says the stream was crossed "more than a dozen times" and "camp beaver swamp" was pitched where the stream was found to be impassable, eleven miles from fort recovery. much of the journey today had been through wide prairies covered with nettles, the water unfit to drink and mosquitoes, "larger than i ever saw," observed boyer. today the road was opened as the army advanced and the route was up the wabash from the present village of fort recovery, mercer county, ohio. the construction of a bridge at camp beaver swamp seventy yards in length delayed the army one day but enabled the road-cutters to hew a way through to the st. mary river.[ ] on august , the army pressed on over the backbone of ohio and down the northern slope into the basin of the maumee river, and encamped beside the famous little st. mary river. today, emerging suddenly from the vast stretch of nettles and brush that grew in the swampy district, the army suddenly drew out into a beautiful level meadow, every corps of the army having the first view of all the other divisions. this day clark affirms that the army crossed the trace followed by general harmar in to the miami village. tonight the army encamped by the st. mary and on the morrow the erection of what was first called fort randolph and later fort adams was begun.[ ] this was the seventh fortified post in the chain from the ohio and was located on the south bank of the st. mary, four miles above rockford (the old shane's crossings), mercer county, ohio. on the fourth the army hurried on about eleven miles to "a small, dirty water," as clark described it, "a branch of the glaize [auglaize] river," where camp was fortified for the night. the day after, a march of equal length "down the creek" to the camp described by boyer as "camp forty-four miles in advance of fort recovery." wayne's camps were each proof against insult from the enemy, which accounts for his encamping early each afternoon. on the afternoon of august , the army reached the banks of the celebrated "glaize," the auglaize river. here, according to posey, a stronger encampment than usual was built, named fort loramie. as the maumee was neared the feeling of the army was intense. while at fort adams, wayne had made feints at cutting two roads, one down the st. mary river and another northwest straight toward roche de bout. these routes were both opened for some distance, that down the st. mary at least as far as the famous ford at shane's crossing--the present rockford.[ ] that the indian spies would report the building of these roads, there was no doubt. but when on august the swift advance was renewed neither road was followed! a straight course northward into the auglaize valley was taken--a route that could not have been pursued in any but the driest weather. it ran northward from fort adams, probably near the fort jennings of the war of , situated on the left bank of the auglaize in the northwest part of jennings township, putnam county, ohio. thence the route was straight down the auglaize in general alignment with the present defiance road. wayne's tactics in road-building as he neared the enemy's villages is perhaps quite unparalleled; indeed, as will be emphasized, this remarkable campaign was not less impressive to the savages--these swift plunges through the forests, the sudden pauses and the astonishing feints--than was the battle which soon crushed the indian confederacy. at the same time the careful historian would greatly err should he not give wayne credit for obeying, even now, the earnest commands of his superiors to secure an armistice and a peace without a battle. secretary knox had, over and again, urged wayne to secure peace without bloodshed if possible. a battle in any case was hazardous; there were possibilities of defeat; there were greater promises of a continuous war even in case of an american victory. the british had displayed characteristic arrogance in building a fort at roche de bout this very spring, around which the indian cohorts were probably gathering. complications with england were undoubtedly possible, if not entirely probable. from lieutenant clark's journal it is clear that general wilkinson proposed, as soon as the auglaize was reached, to make a dash with a flying column upon the populous district at the junction of the auglaize with the maumee. wayne refused to consider the plan[ ]--and throughout the remainder of clark's journal his words are well-nigh abusive of general wayne's whole management of the campaign.[ ] the dare-devil wayne's caution at this strategic juncture of this important campaign portrays an element of steadiness for which the hero of stony point has perhaps never received sufficient credit. on the eighth of august, after marching through five miles of cornfields, where were "vegetables of every kind in abundance," according to boyer, the tired legion came in view of the maumee, of which they and a whole nation had heard so much. the spot of encampment was the site of the present city of defiance on the commanding point between the rivers, and here in the three days succeeding, fort defiance was erected. to the indians the name of the spot was grand glaize.[ ] wells's rangers reported that the indian army was lying two miles above the british fort, on the west bank of the maumee. according to posey, wayne on the eleventh despatched an old indian to the hostile camp with offers of peace; two days later an old squaw was posted off with a similar message. neither returned. on the sixteenth, the fort being nearly completed, major hunt was left in command, and the grand advance began. the route was down the left bank of the maumee straight toward the painted lines of little turtle's army. christopher miller--the red-man made white by that plunge in the creek--met the army today with a message from the chieftain white eyes, clark records, asking wayne to remain ten days at grand glaize, not erecting a fort, and the indians would perhaps treat with him. "this letter," lieutenant clark states, "was generally considered as a challenge."[ ] nineteen miles was made the first day (august ) and twelve the day following. as the road was "generally bad," as boyer affirms, these tremendous marches must be considered remarkable, for each camp was heavily fortified and the enemy was just at hand. the spies in advance were unceasing in their vigilance and activity; and on the eighteenth poor may, who had lived with the indians as a spy the preceding winter at wayne's command, was entrapped and captured, suffering a most cruel death. this day the army encamped forty-one miles from fort defiance and made a strong entrenchment which was named fort deposit. here the heavy baggage was stored that the troops might go into action unencumbered. on the twentieth, at seven in the morning, the legion advanced in fighting order. the indian army, its left wing lying on presque isle, was stretched across the valley for two miles in a well-chosen position. a tornado had swept the forest here and the mass of fallen trees offered a particularly advantageous spot for the indians' favorite method of fighting. such spots were very common in the old black forest of the west and were generally known as "fallen timber" by the indians and pioneers;[ ] in them cavalry was almost useless. thus the mounted volunteers, the indians believed, would be debarred from the fight. at eleven o'clock the advanced lines met. at the first burst of sudden flame the american vanguard of volunteers was staggered, perhaps surprised at the fire from an unseen enemy lying beneath the tangled wind-rack of the forest. the guards on the right fell back through the regulars commanded by cook and steele. the regulars were thrown into confusion. it was fifteen minutes before order was restored but when joined by the riflemen and legionary cavalry, a charge with trailed arms was ordered and the savages were pricked out from their lairs with the point of the bayonet. a heavy firing on the left announced that the battle now was raging there, but only for a moment. the whole indian plan of battle was destroyed by the impetuous bayonet charges of troops hard-drilled in the dull days at legionville, hobson's choice, and in the snows of greenville. the redskins hid where a tornado had passed--not expecting another more destructive than the first! for two miles the scattering horde was pursued headlong through the forests. a halt was ordered just within sight of the british fort, whose guns were silent though menacing. the indians poured on down the valley toward the present site of toledo and lake erie. the battle of fallen timber was a decisive and important victory. the indians numbered about fifteen hundred; a considerable number of advancing allies never reached the battle-ground. the rapid strides of wayne had forced the meeting unexpectedly. those ten days the indians had requested for conference would have largely increased their strength. the number killed and wounded on either side was inconsiderable; forty indians, only, were found on the two-mile field of conflict. twenty-six killed and eighty-seven wounded, was the legion's loss. of the kentuckians, who hardly got into the action on account of the swift success of the legion, seven privates were killed, and ten privates and three officers were wounded. remaining three days on the battle-field, wayne destroyed many acres of corn and many indian huts and then returned to fort defiance. thence he ascended the maumee to the junction of the st. mary and st. joseph--harmar's battle ground--and built a fort which he permitted the oldest officer (posey?) to name "fort wayne in honor of the hero of stony point." from fort wayne the army ascended the st. mary to fort adams, and thence passed to loramie's, where a new fort loramie was erected. the troops from there opened a new route across to fort greenville. here, in the following year, the awed and broken indian nations signed the treaty of fort greenville which practically reaffirmed the previous treaty of fort harmar. viewed as a whole, wayne's campaign is most interesting from the standpoint of road-building. it was wayne's advance which awed the savages, not the battle of fallen timber. the army crashing northward through the forests as though ever in the pursuit of a foe, the impregnable forts that arose here and there, the strongly fortified camps, the fleet and active scouting parties, the stern but even temper of wayne's exhortations for peace, and at last, the fierce bayonet charge amid the prostrate trees, accomplished the very mission of the hour. that winding line of a road from the ohio to roche de bout, and the five new forts that sprang up on it in and , have left their impress strongly upon western history. the indians never forgot the "whirlwind," who was also a "black snake." since that road was built, the indian race has never been a national menace. bloody battles there have been, but at no time has the expansion of the united states been seriously jeopardized by indian hostility. clark's conquest of vincennes was now made good by the conquest of the maumee valley; harmar's reverses and st. clair's annihilation were avenged--the old northwest was won. appendixes appendix a portions of clark's memoir[ ] which refer to the march to kaskaskia "... on the [ th] of june we left our little island and run about a mile up the river in order to gain the main channel and shot the falls at the very moment of the sun being in a great eclipse which caused various conjectures among the superstitious as i knew that spies were kept on the river below the towns of the illinois i had resolved to march part of the way by land and of course left the whole of our baggage, except as much as would equip us in the indian mode. the whole of our force, after leaving such as was judged not competent to the expected fatiegue, consisted only of four companies, commanded by captns jno. montgomery, j. bowman, l. helm, and w. harrod my force being so small to what i expected owing to the various circumstances already mentioned i found it necessary to alter my plans of operations, as post st. vincent at this time was a town of considerable force consisting of near four hundred militia with an indian town adjoining and great numbers continually in the neighborhood, and in the scale of indian affairs of more importance than any other. [i] had thought of attacking it first but now found that i could by no means venture near it resolved to begin my career in the illinois where there was more inhabitants but scattered in different villages, and less danger of being immediately overpowered by the indians, and in case of necessity, [we could] probably make our retreat good to the spanish side of the mississippi, but if successful here [we] might pave our way to the possession of post st. vincent.... as i intended to leave the ohio at ft. massiac leagues below the tennessee i landed on barritaria a small island in the mouth of that river in order to prepare for the march ... having every thing prepared we moved down to a little gul[ley] a small distance above massiac in which we concealed our boats and set out a northwest course, nothing remarkable on this rout, the weather was favorable, in some parts water scarce as well as game, of course we suffered drought and hunger but not [to] excess, on the third day, john saunders, our principal guide, appeared confused we soon discovered that he was totally lost without there was some other cause of his present conduct i asked him various question, and from his answers i could scarcely determine what to think of him, whether or not he was sensible that he was lost the thought of which [?] or that he wished to deceive us the cry of the whole detachment was that he was a traitor, he beged that he might be suffered to go some distance into a plain that was in full view to try to make some discovery whether or not he was right. i told him he might but that i was suppitious [suspicious] of him from his conduct that from the first of his being employed always said that he knew the way well that there was now a different appearance that i saw the nature of the cuntry was such that a person once acquainted with it could not in a short time forget it that a few men should go with him to prevent his escape--and that if he did not discover and take us into _the hunters road_ that lead from the east into kaskaskia that he had frequently described that i would have him immediately put to death which i was determined to have done, but after an hour or two's search he came to a place that he perfectly knew and we discovered that the poor fellow had been as they call it bewildered. on the eavining of the fourth of july we got with in a few miles of the town." appendix b on the identification of clark's place of crossing the "two wabashes"[ ] mr. draper founds his conclusion that the "two wabashes" were the little wabash and the fox wholly on present-day ( - ) reports[ ] of the nature of the country at the little wabash above the mouth of the fox and above the mouth of the big muddy. the reports he received from residents of the neighborhoods carry evidence that the ground between the little wabash and fox most nearly agrees with clark's and bowman's descriptions of the crossing-place.[ ] this is true, and is of importance. but clark's and bowman's use of the word "heights" was merely relative; mr. draper's correspondents speak of high grounds and low grounds as the land lies today. with water but three or four feet deep, a few acres of land might have been uncovered, though not sufficiently elevated today to be termed a hill or even high ground. there is a point on the little --abash above the mouth of the fox that can be made to answer in a general way clark's and bowman's descriptions--going on the doubtful supposition that their descriptions were entirely accurate. in order to find a spot where clark saw nearly five miles of water before him, mr. draper suggests a point about two miles above the mouth of the fox, where there is a wide bottom on the west of the little --abash, another bottom between that stream and the fox, and another east of the fox.[ ] the possibility that the distance was exaggerated by clark (who said vincennes was two hundred and forty miles from kaskaskia when it was not over one hundred and seventy-five) is not considered. as a matter of fact, the whole plan of finding today five miles of low ground from any point west of the little --abash to the east of either the fox or the big muddy, is overthrown by clark's statement in the _memoir_ that (on the western side of the little wabash) "we formed a camp on a height which we found on the bank of the river." mr. draper's objection to the little wabash and big muddy crossing-place was because the high ground on the bank of the little wabash (seemingly here referred to by clark) prevented there being five miles of low ground to the opposite side of the big muddy.[ ] if clark and bowman gave the distance of width of water correctly, the crossing-place was two miles above the mouth of the fox, and clark's statement of forming a camp on a height on the river bank is totally inexplicable--for there is no height at this point to answer such a description. if, by "nearly" five miles, clark meant three miles, misjudging distance on water inversely with the usual way, his camp could have been on the immediate high bank of the little wabash above the mouth of the big muddy.[ ] certain other considerations have a tendency to influence the present writer in believing that the crossing-place was here--above the mouth of the big muddy. it was exceedingly wet from the day clark left kaskaskia; even on the watersheds he found deep standing water. on reaching the petit fork he found the rivers at flood-tide. by turning north to the clay county route he would strike the little wabash at a more northerly point, and would almost completely head the deep little bonpas which lay between the fox and the big wabash. the clay county route was in one sense, then, a watershed route, compared with the wayne county route. it is difficult to believe that clark's guides would ignore this after having been compelled to cross the petit fork on felled trees. again, on the second day out from the crossing-place of the little wabash, bowman records: " th. marched all day through rain and water; crossed fox river." if this entry is correct, of course the little wabash and big muddy crossing-place is completely established. mr. draper, holding that the fox was crossed simultaneously with the little wabash on the fifteenth, suggests that bowman meant bonpas for fox.[ ] choosing between possible errors, the present writer finds it easier to believe that bowman misjudged the width of water crossed on the fifteenth, than that he called the bonpas the fox. for on the seventeenth the heads of the bonpas are specifically accounted for by bowman as follows: " th. marched early; crossed several runs, very deep." mr. draper does not account for these, and it is difficult to do so if they were not the heads of the bonpas. for, if clark crossed the little wabash just above the mouth of the fox, his route, after crossing the bonpas, was northeast, and would, without any sort of question, have been on watersheds between little tributaries, first of the bonpas, and then of the embarras. again, by every account, it is sure clark and bowman expected to strike the embarras, and strike it at about seven or eight miles due west from vincennes. if, as draper believed, they were pursuing an old trail, which, it is well known,[ ] ran from the crossing-place of the little wabash two miles above the mouth of the fox to the wabash just below the mouth of the embarras, how can it be explained that the army reached, or ever intended to reach, the embarras seven or eight miles above its mouth? the very name would warn them away and it seems highly improbable that, if what was later known as the southern route was traversed, the army would ever have seen the embarras. appendix c operations of the army on the maumee as given in the irwin manuscript[ ] "the next day after the rear arrived a detachment of men was ordered out under the command of col. trotter of kentucky with orders to assertain what course the indians had went to draw days provisions and be out over night i was a volunteer in s^d. detachment there was about mounted men attached to the same a short distance after we crossed the st joseph river from where part of the town stood fell in with indians killed both and lost one man marched all day after in good order seen considerable signs could not assertain which way they had gone the six pounders was shot about sun set at the main camp the col concluded it was done to call the command in we returned to camp a short time after dark lay out side of camp all night had our own guards out, turned out next morning to perform the d day under command of col hardin went a northwest course from whence we crossed s^d river after going or mile found a large fresh indian trail pursued it with all speed in single file or in any way they could get allong from front to the rear was over half a mile the indians retreated with a view to draw the front into ambuscade which they done completely with two fires cut off the front entirely our company being in front the first day had to take the rear the second day when the front was cut off we formed a line in the rear cols hardin hall and major fountain was all on horse back halted with us when we formed, the indians pursued the front untill they come within one hundred yards then halted we had but about in our company had all treed in line across the trace they could see the officers on horse back with us we stood in that situation untill near dark then covered the retreat got into camp a short time after dark i never could assertain how many men we lost in that scrap a captn scott son of gen or governor scott of kentucky was killed in that scrap our troops was very much scattered a number came in after night as the cannon was fired every hour through the night at the main camp perhaps there was or killed, perhaps more or less the commencement was one of the most unexpected surprises ever any troops met with two of us went out and examined their encampment where their trace was first discovered over mile on this side where the battle was as there was there a general halt for a short time i would have said there was or hundred indians and we had not near as many men that day as was out the day before there was experienced officers along that ought to have known better they was too anxious on the pursuit the troops should have been marched in such a situation that no advantage could have been taken of them as was the case the day before the army remained in camp perhaps days making ready to return to fort washington when the army moved from camp perhaps about the th or th of november four or five mounted men with an officer placed themselves on a high eminence so that they could see over all the place where the indian town stood about two hours after the army cleared out the indians came in from different quarters to get provision as they had considerable hid under ground said spies remained there untill dark came into camp which was about or mile informed harmar and the officers what discoveries they had made a detachment of or hundred men was drafted from the different companies of s^d army that night to be on the ground next morning by day light and to be placed under the command of col hardin the plan of attack was made by the officers previous to their march and was well executed by the officers and troops engaged in the same there was too few troops in said detachment for the number of the enemy they had to contend with if men had arrived there about sunrise they would have give the enemy a complete defeat they give them a pretty good drubing as it was there was about regulars under the command of major ---- they fought well done great execution lost their major and lieutenant in the battle. col hardins post in the aforesaid plan was on the west side of the st. joseph river opposite to where the indian town stood he was there in good time the other troops crossed the maumee went right to where the town stood the indians was encamped in and round where it stood major fountain had the command of the light horse and mounted men he charged right in among the enemy fired off his pistols and drew his sword before they could recover the shock george adams informed them that he was near the major at that time that it appeared when the enemy got over their surprise ten or twelve indians discharged their guns at him the major kind of fell or hung on his horse they then discharged several guns at said adams he received several flesh wounds but recovered by this time the militia and regulars come up. the indians fought with desperation was drove from their encampment by the militia and regulars down the bank into the river which was perhaps yards wide and perhaps inches deep col hardins men on the opposite side which placed them between two fires the indians charged on hardins troops having no other chance to escape hardins troops give way and retreated the same way they went out and was not in that battle any more. some of the troops informed me that major fountain was living when our troops drove the indians from the battle ground. major mcmillin of kentucky collected the troops and tarried on the battle ground untill they indians had entirely disappeared and not one to be seen or heard i never understood what was the number of our troops killed by the enemy on that campaign though it was considerable my oppinion is there was more indians killed in that battle than was killed when gen^l --ayne defeated them in if harmar had sent out a detachment of six hundred men next day to collected the dead and buried them and assertained how many of the enemy was killed i think there would have been no risk in it as the indians was so completely cut up on the day of the battle such a move would have been an honor and credit to that campaign i can never agree that harmars campaing was a defeated one." footnotes: [ ] for a sketch of the position of this campaign in the revolution, and its leading details see _historic highways of america_, vol. vi, pp. - . [ ] our principal source of information concerning the kaskaskia campaign is george rogers clark's _memoir_, written probably in , the original of which is preserved in the draper manuscripts in the library of the state historical society of wisconsin. extracts of such portions as refer to the march to kaskaskia will be found in appendix a. [ ] page's _history of massac county_, p. . [ ] _draper mss._, xxi j, fols. , . [ ] _id._, fol. . [ ] _id._, fol. . [ ] _id._, fol. . [ ] _id._, fol. ; xxii, fol. . [ ] _id._, xxii, fol. . [ ] _id._, xxi, fol. ; cf. p. . [ ] _id._, xxi, fols. , . probably the route of the later st. louis-shawneetown trace; see p. . [ ] _id._, xxii, fols. , . [ ] _id._, xxii, fol. . [ ] _id._, xxi, fols. , , , , ; and xxii, fols. , . [ ] _id._, xxii, fols. , . cox's creek was crossed twice, the east fork in section , township , range , and the west fork in section , township , range . [ ] _id._, xxi, fols. , ; xxii, fol. . [ ] _id._, xxii, fol. . [ ] clark approached kaskaskia by the route and the ford over the kaskaskia river which he pursued on the vincennes campaign in the february following. (english's _conquest of the northwest_, vol. i, p. .) [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vii, p. . [ ] a galley-batteau, armed with two four-pounders and four swivels, and carrying forty-six men, under the command of captain john rogers, left kaskaskia february , for vincennes by the river route. it was named "the willing." [ ] probably at "a small branch about three miles from kaskaskia" mentioned by clark in his letter to mason (english's _conquest of the northwest_, vol. i, p. ). [ ] the map of clark's route from kaskaskia to vincennes in the standard work on his campaigns of - , english's _conquest of the northwest_ (vol. i, pp. - ), gives only the later kaskaskia trace of the eighteenth century--the modern route which it is sure clark did not pursue. [ ] _draper mss._, xxv j, fol. . see map on page . [ ] it seems to the writer useless to spend time and space in attempting to place exactly clark's camping-spots. he has made several exhaustive schedules of these camps and all the contradictions discussed pro and con. at best, any outline of camps must be purest conjecture, and therefore not authoritative or really valuable. in certain instances the camping-spots are definitely fixed by contemporaneous records. only these will be definitely described in this record--the others being placed more or less indefinitely. [ ] in possession of the kentucky historical society; first published in the _louisville literary news_, november , ; see english's _conquest of the northwest_, vol. i, pp. - , from which our quotations are made. [ ] _draper mss._, xxv j, fols. , , , . [ ] _id._, fol. . [ ] _id._, fol. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, xxiv, fols. - . [ ] _id._, xxv, fol. . [ ] volney's _a view of the soil and climate of the united states of america_ (brown's translation) , pp. - . [ ] these are the _memoir_ and the _letter to mason_ previously described. [ ] no explanation of "cot plains" was offered to mr. draper by his illinois correspondents. if the present writer be allowed a pure guess it would be that "cot" was the american spelling of the french _quatre_, "four;" "cot plains" would then be a "four mile prairie" east or northeast of skillet creek. the clay county route cut off a corner of romaine prairie just here--which may have been known as "four mile prairie" in earliest days. it is not known that such was the case. [ ] see appendix b. [ ] _draper mss._, xxv j, fol. . clark's men marched two leagues before reaching "sugar camp." mr. english's map (_conquest of the northwest_, vol. i, p. ) and bowman's _journal_ are therefore utterly at variance. [ ] _draper mss._, xxv j, fol. . [ ] the british fort sackville. [ ] referring to the fact that hamilton was accused of buying scalps of americans from the indians. the shrewdness of this communication is conspicuous, the result of the experiences at kaskaskia. [ ] english's _conquest of the northwest_ vol. i, p. . [ ] the author bases his remarks wholly on the belief, it will be observed, that clark crossed the little wabash east of clay city. [ ] see note . [ ] an interesting english version of embarras--denoting the creole pronunciation. on hutchins's old map of the embarras is called the "troublesome river"--see map, p. . [ ] the western branch of the bonpas, or the fox? [ ] all efforts to find any locality bearing this name have failed. possibly it was a double bend of the little wabash, east of clay city, which may resemble an ox yoke. "ox bow" is not an uncommon name for such reverse curves of rivers in several of our states. [ ] a well-known salt spring lies just west of the mccauley settlement crossing of the little wabash.--_draper mss._, xxv j, fol. . [ ] mr. draper suggests that this may have been near enterprise, wayne county, in keeping with the idea that the route here described was the route that clark followed. the most definite point known on volney's route west of the embarras was the salt spring, above mentioned, and this was on the more northerly route which crossed the little wabash east of clay city. slaves gibbet must therefore have been just east of xenia. [ ] probably harvey's point, six or eight miles southeast of salem. [ ] skillet creek. [ ] at the crossing of "petit fork"--adams tributary of skillet. [ ] near walnut hill. [ ] perhaps on head of big muddy in grand prairie. [ ] there seem to have been two old-time routes around grand prairie; the points of junction seem to have been in grand prairie and elkhorn prairie. pointe aux fesses is identified as elkhorn point, northeast of oakdale. [ ] in grand prairie. [ ] see note . [ ] oakdale. [ ] coultersville. [ ] northwest of steel's mills. [ ] mr. draper reduces these estimates to "probabilities," giving as the total distance miles (_draper mss._, xxv j, fol. ). [ ] this point of junction is eighteen miles east of salem, which is given as the point of junction on mr. english's map of clark's route.--_conquest of the northwest_, vol. i, pp. , . salem is the junction of the modern route from kaskaskia with the st. louis trace. [ ] additional testimony to the same effect is found in _draper mss._, xxv j, fol. . [ ] evans's _history of scioto county and pioneer record of southern ohio_ contains the best map of western ohio extant. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vi, p. . [ ] josiah morrow, to whom the author is indebted for much help in the study of harmar's route, affirms that in the land records of warren county he has found reference to this as "clark's old war-road." [ ] november , . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, pp. , ; st. clair to knox, _id._, p. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] the authorities used in connection with harmar's route and march are: the journal of captain john armstrong, of the regulars (dillon's _history of indiana_, pp. - ); thomas irwin's account of harmar's and st. clair's campaigns, in the _draper mss._, iv u, fols. - ; hugh scott's narrative, _id._, fol. , and david h. morris's narrative, in the troy (ohio) _times_ of january , . hereafter these will be referred to by name only. harmar's route out of cincinnati is thus described by j. g. olden in his _historical sketches and early reminiscences of hamilton county, ohio_: "moved from ft. washington up the little ravine that runs into deer creek near what is now the head of sycamore street, cincinnati, thence through mt. auburn and along the general course of what is now the reading turnpike to the little stream since known as ross run where he encamped for the night in what is now section mill creek township near where four mile tavern was built. the next day he moved, still on clark's old trace, now reading turnpike, passing near where the school-house now stands in reading, thence on to the little run east of where sharonville now is, where he encamped for the [second] night." [ ] an error for . as noted, three well-known expeditions had gone northward from the present site of cincinnati before harmar's: bowman in , clark in , and clark again in . in clark passed northward on the watershed between the miamis. it was therefore clark's route of which harmar's militia followed. [ ] mt. auburn. dr. daniel drake, writing in , says: "main street, beyond seventh, was a mere road nearly impassable in muddy weather which, at the foot of the hills, divided into two, called the hamilton and the mad-river road. the former took the course of the brighton house; the latter made a steep ascent over mount auburn." of a later road on harmar's trace we have this record: " road laid out from main street, cincinnati, northeast nearly on harmar's trace (six miles) to the road connecting columbia and white's station [upper carthage]" (_history of hamilton county_, p. ). [ ] lick schoolhouse, deerfield township, warren county? [ ] _history of warren county_ (chicago, ), p. . [ ] josiah morrow offers this correction for future editions of armstrong's _journal_: "the printed journal of armstrong's makes the first ten miles of the third day in a northwest course. even if this be understood as meaning west of north, it would take the army to the west of west chester in butler county. if we assume northwest to be an error for northeast, 'the first five miles over a dry ridge to a lick' would bring the army to the lick at lick school-house in deerfield township, warren county; and the next 'five miles through a low swampy country to a branch of the waters of the little miami' would be over the swampy land of early times in the vicinity of mason, and there is a tradition that the army stopped for a time on little muddy creek, on the farm formerly owned by joseph mcclung, north of mason." [ ] mss. in possession of josiah morrow, lebanon, ohio. [ ] a western tributary of the little miami, down which harmar is supposed to have marched to fish-pot ford, was formerly known as harmar's run. [ ] armstrong's printed _journal_ reads sugar creek for cæsar's creek. either this was an older name or the result of a typographical error. as the name cæsar comes from a negro who resided here with the indians, it is probable that, as josiah morrow assumes, "the soldier wrote seezar or seizar, which the printer mistook for sugar." [ ] a station on the big four railway, twelve miles northeast of troy. [ ] in general wayne's campaign in a trace known as "harmar's trace" was crossed just south of the st. mary river in mercer county (see p. ). if harmar recrossed the st. mary and proceeded south of the river to "shane's crossing" (rockford, mercer county) this is the only record of it. [ ] the irwin ms. account of the operations of the army on the maumee is intensely vivid, and, though incomplete, should be preserved in lasting form. it will be found in appendix c. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ix, ch. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . this project was suggested by general st. clair the year previous, but was not countenanced by the government. _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . officers who had orders from butler to march were, in some instances, delayed nearly a week before they received the necessary provisions with which to do so.--st. clair's _narrative of the campaign against the indians_ ( ), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] cummingsville--"six miles from the fort [washington], along what is now 'mad anthony street.'"--_history of hamilton county_, (cleveland, ), p. . [ ] knox to washington, october , , _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] the site of fort hamilton was in the present city of hamilton, ohio, and was described in as located on the ground reaching from stable street to the united presbyterian church, and stretching from the miami river eastward to the site of the universalist church. [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ix, ch. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . st. clair had ordered butler to proceed in three parallel paths each ten feet in width. [ ] everts's _atlas of butler county, ohio_, p. . [ ] _history of preble county, ohio ( )_, p. . [ ] _st. clair papers_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _st. clair papers_, vol. ii, p. . this letter may have been written at fort hamilton. [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, p. . it is difficult to harmonize st. clair's own words concerning the width of the roadway with those of the editor of _the st. clair papers_, vol. ii, p. , note. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. v, p. . cf. harmar's order of march p. . [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, p. . [ ] _id_., p. . [ ] _the st. clair papers_, vol. ii, pp. , . [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, p. . [ ] _the st. clair papers_, pp. , . [ ] st. clair wrote hodgdon regarding supplies as follows: "forty-five thousand rations of provisions should move with the army; ... twice in every ten days forty-five thousand rations should move from fort washington to the next post, until three hundred and sixty thousand rations were sent forward; ... forty-five thousand rations should again move with the army from the first post to a second, and an equal number twice in every ten days until the residue of the three hundred and sixty thousand were carried forward, and so on from post to post, still moving with forty-five thousand rations. they have failed entirely in enabling me to move with forty-five thousand rations, and from the letter above mentioned, the agent seems not to expect to move any beyond this place; for he says: 'if you move from thence (meaning this place) shortly, and take ten days' provisions with you, it will deprive us of the means to transport what may be necessary after that is exhausted.' after, then, that you know _exactly_ what the contractors can do as to transportation, (for so far as they can do it, it is their business, and must not be taken out of their hands) you will take your measures so, as that, on the th instant, i may be able to move with three hundred horse-loads of flour, and that one hundred and fifty horse-loads succeed that every seven days; one hundred and fifty horses being sent back every seven days. for whatever expense may attend the arrangement, this shall be your warrant; and i am certain, from your personal character, as well as from your zeal for the public good, that no unnecessary expense will be incurred. it is to be observed, that our beef will be expended about the th or th of next month. when i left fort washington, the agent of the contractors informed me that he expected a drove of cattle very soon; whether they are arrived or not i am not informed. i have written to him on this occasion; but i request you to inform yourself, and, if necessary, to make provision there also; and, indeed, there is not a moment to lose about it, and to provide for any deficiency. he writes me that the measures he has taken will give a supply to the last of december or a month longer, but nothing must be left to hazard."--_the st. clair papers_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, p. . [ ] _the st. clair papers_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] see p. . [ ] st. clair's _narrative_, pp. - . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. ; st. clair's _narrative_, p. . [ ] albach's _annals of the west_, p. . [ ] atwater's _history of ohio_, p. . [ ] captain robert buntin to governor st. clair, february , (dillon's _history of indiana_, p. ). [ ] _annals of the west_, p. . [ ] ms. of thos. posey, _draper mss._, xvi u, vol. . cf. page . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), pp. - . [ ] mss. in the new york state library in washington's handwriting; _magazine of american history_, vol. iii (february, ), pp. - . [ ] wayne to knox, october , , _draper mss._, v u, fol. . [ ] _id._, armstrong to wilkinson, september , . [ ] journal of thomas posey, _draper mss._, xvi u, vol. . hereafter this will be referred to merely by name. [ ] march , . [ ] the fourth article was the objectionable one. it read: "the united states solemnly guaranty to the wabash, and illinois nations, or tribes of indians, all the lands to which they have a just claim; and no part shall ever be taken from them, but by a fair purchase, and to their satisfaction. that the land originally belonged to the indians; it is theirs, and theirs only. that they have a right to sell, and a right to refuse to sell. and that the united states will protect them in their said just rights." _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . no citizen of the united states had or has a right to refuse to sell land to the government. such a right could not be given to an indian tribe. [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] a standing rock in the maumee river. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vi, pp. - . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), pp. - . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ix, ch. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] deposition of an unknown, but in wayne's handwriting. _draper mss._, v u, fol. . [ ] the following innocent sentence was to signify that war should immediately begin: "although we did not effect a peace, yet we hope that good may hereafter arise from the mission." wayne was provided with the commissioners' signatures as a guard against forgery.--_american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] scott to governor shelby of kentucky, "petersburg th sept oclock in the morning." _draper mss._, v u, fol. . [ ] wayne to knox, october , . _american state papers_, vol. iv (indian affairs, vol. i), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _atlas of butler county, ohio_ ( ), p. . [ ] _history of preble county, ohio_ ( ), p. . [ ] _a journal of wayne's campaign._ being an authentic daily record of the most important occurrences during the campaign of major general anthony wayne, against the northwestern indians; commencing on the th day of july, and ending on the d day of november, ; including an account of the great battle of august th. by lieutenant boyer (cincinnati, ). [ ] a copy of clark's journal is in the _draper mss._ (v u, fols. - ). the original is owned by mrs. a. j. ballard of louisville, kentucky. [ ] relics made from logs of this bridge, well preserved by their position in swampy ground, are not uncommon in mercer county. [ ] posey refers to this fort only as fort adams; clark mentions it only as fort randolph. boyer gives no name, referring to it as "the garrison." [ ] a venerable resident of rockford, mr. bronson roebuck, aged eighty-one, informs the writer that the road from fort adams passed down the north bank of the st. mary through an indian village, old town, on the farm of rouel roebuck, about two miles east of rockford, and continued down the valley to the present site of willshire; thence it continued to fort wayne but at a further distance from the river. [ ] just as st. clair refused butler's proposal at fort jefferson in the campaign of . [ ] "the scheme [of surprising the indians] was proposed, and certain success insured if attempted. gen wilkinson suggested the plan to the commander-in-chief, but it was not his plan, nor perhaps his wish, to embrace so probable a means for ending the war by compelling them to peace. this was not the first occasion or opportunity which presented itself to our observant general [wilkinson] for some grand stroke of enterprise, but the commander-in-chief rejected all and every of his plans"--fol. . clark's criticisms and objections fill his remaining pages--fols. - , , , , . [ ] _glaize_ was from the french meaning "clay;" auglaize river was the "river of the clay banks." [ ] clark adds, in thoroughly hostile tone, that wayne would have answered it but for the intervention of general wilkinson.--fol. . [ ] as mentioned in our narrative, p. , it was to a "fallen timber" on the bloody way between forts hamilton and st. clair that girty with a party of indians went in the fall of on a raiding expedition. the name is preserved, at least in one instance, in west virginia in fallen timber run, wetzel county. the modern spelling is "fallen timbers." [ ] see _ante_, page , note . the original of clark's _memoir_ is found in the _draper mss._, xlvii j, fols. - . [ ] see _ante_, page . [ ] _draper mss._, xxv j, fols. - . [ ] _id._, xxiv, fol. ; xxv, fols. - , . [ ] _id._, fols. , . [ ] _id._, xxiv, fol. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, fols. , . [ ] _id._, xxiv, fol. . [ ] see _ante_, page , note . the extract here given is from _draper mss._, iv u, fols. - . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected except for narratives and letters included in this text. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . certain words use an oe ligature in the original. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. historic highways of america volume [illustration: braddock's grave [_the depression on the right is the ancient track of braddock's road; near the single cluster of gnarled apple trees in the meadow beyond, braddock died and was first buried_]] historic highways of america volume braddock's road and three relative papers by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. routes of the french and english westward ii. the virginia campaign iii. from alexandria to fort cumberland iv. a seaman's journal v. the battle of the monongahela vi. a description of the backwoods vii. sparks and atkinson on braddock's route viii. braddock's road in history illustrations i. braddock's grave _frontispiece_ ii. english and french routes to the ohio; iii. plan of fort cumberland; february iv. view of fort cumberland; v. map of braddock's road; about vi. braddock's road near frostburg, maryland vii. middleton's map of braddock's road; viii. braddock's road in the woods near farmington, pennsylvania preface the french were invariably defeated by the british on this continent because the latter overcame natural obstacles which the former blindly trusted as insurmountable. the french made a league with the alleghenies--and washington and braddock and forbes conquered the alleghenies; the french, later, blindly trusted the crags at louisbourg and quebec--and the dauntless wolfe, in both instances, accomplished the seemingly impossible. the building of braddock's road in across the alleghenies was the first significant token in the west of the british grit which finally overcame. few roads ever cost so much, ever amounted to so little at first, and then finally played so important a part in the development of any continent. a. b. h. marietta, o., december , . braddock's road and three relative papers chapter i routes of the french and english westward if providence had reversed the decree which allowed frenchmen to settle the st. lawrence and englishmen the middle atlantic seaboard, and, instead, had brought englishmen to quebec and frenchmen to jamestown, it is sure that the english conquest of the american continent would not have cost the time and blood it did. the appalachian mountain system proved a tremendous handicap to saxon conquest. true, there were waterways inland, the connecticut, hudson, delaware, james, and potomac rivers, but these led straight into the mountains where for generations the feeble settlements could not spread and where explorers became disheartened ere the rich empire beyond was ever reached. the st. lawrence, on the other hand, offered a rough but sure course tempting ambitious men onward to the great lake system from which it flowed, and the ottawa river offered yet another course to the same splendid goal. so, while the stolid english were planting sure feet along the seaboard, new france was spreading by leaps and bounds across the longitudes. but, wide-spread as these discoveries were, they were discoveries only--the feet of those who should occupy and defend the land discovered were heavy where the light paddle of the voyageur had glistened brightly beneath the noon-day sun. it was one thing to seek out such an empire and quite another thing to occupy and fortify it. the french reached the mississippi at the beginning of the last quarter of the seventeenth century; ten years after the middle of the eighteenth they lost all the territory between the atlantic and mississippi--though during the last ten years of their possession they had attempted heroically to take the nine stitches where a generation before the proverbial one stitch would have been of twenty-fold more advantage. the transportation of arms and stores upstream into the interior, around the foaming rapids and thundering falls that impeded the way, was painfully arduous labor, and the inspiration of the swift explorers, flushed with fevered dreams, was lacking to the heavy trains which toiled so far in the rear. there were three points at which the two nations, france and england, met and struck fire in the interior of north america, and in each instance it was the french who were the aggressors--because of the easy means of access which they had into the disputed frontier region. they came up the chaudière and down the kennebec or up the richelieu and lake champlain, striking at the heart of new england; they ascended the st. lawrence and entered lake ontario, coveted and claimed by the province of new york; they pushed through lake ontario and down the allegheny to the ohio river, which virginia loved and sought to guard. the french tried to guard these three avenues of approach by erecting fortresses on the richelieu river, on lakes champlain, ontario, and erie, and on the allegheny and ohio rivers. these forts were the weights on the net which the french were stretching from the mouth of the st. lawrence to the mouth of the mississippi. and when that net was drawn taut new england and new york and virginia would be swept into the sea! it was a splendid scheme--but the weights were not heavy enough. after interminable blunders and delays the english broke into the net and then by desperate floundering tore it to fragments. they reached the line of forts by three routes, each difficult and hazardous, for in any case vast stretches of forests were to be passed; and until the very last, the french had strong indian allies who guarded these forests with valor worthy of a happier cause. new england defended herself by ascending the hudson and crossing the portage to lake george and lake champlain. new york ascended the mohawk and, crossing the famous oneida portage to odeida lake, descended the onondaga river to oswego on lake ontario. virginia spreading out, according to her unchallenged claims, across the entire continent, could only reach the french on the ohio by ascending the potomac to a point near the mouth of wills creek, whence an indian path led northwestward over a hundred miles to the monongahela, which was descended to its junction with the ohio. the two former routes, to lake champlain and to lake ontario, were, with short portages, practically all-water routes, over which provisions and army stores could be transported northward to the zone into which the french had likewise come by water-routes. the critical points of both routes of both hostile nations were the strategic portages where land travel was rendered imperative by the difficulties of navigation. on these portages many forts instantly sprang into existence--in some instances mere posts and entrepôts, in some cases strongly fortified citadels. the route from virginia to the ohio valley, finally made historic by the english general braddock, was by far the most difficult of all the ways by which the english could meet the french. the potomac was navigable for small boats at favorable seasons for varying distances; but beyond the mountains the first water reached, the youghiogheny, was useless for military purposes, as washington discovered during the march of the virginia regiment, . the route had, however, been marked out under the direction of captain thomas cresap, for the ohio company, and was, at the time of washington's expedition, the most accessible passageway from virginia to the "forks of the ohio." the only other virginian thoroughfare westward brought the traveller around into the valley of the great kanawha which empties into the ohio two hundred odd miles below the junction of the allegheny and monongahela rivers. it was over this slight trail by wills creek, great meadows, and the forks of the ohio that washington had gone in to the french forts on french creek; and it was this path that the same undaunted youth widened, the year after, in order to haul his swivels westward with the vanguard of colonel fry's army which was to drive the french from the ohio. washington's road--as nemacolin's path should, in all conscience, be known--was widened to the summit of mount braddock. from mount braddock washington's little force retraced their steps over the road they had built in the face of the larger french army sent against them until they were driven to bay in their little fortified camp, fort necessity, in great meadows, where the capitulation took place after an all-day's battle. marching out with the honors of war, the remnant of this first english army crawled painfully back to wills creek. all this took place in the summer of . [illustration: english and french routes to the ohio ( ) [_from the original in the british museum_]] the inglorious campaign ending thus in dismay was of considerably more moment than its dejected survivors could possibly have imagined. small as were the numbers of contestants on both sides, and distant though the scene of conflict might have been, the peace between england and france was at this moment poised too delicately not to be disturbed by even the faintest roll of musketry in the distant unknown alleghenies. washington had been able neither to fight successfully nor to avoid a battle by conducting a decent retreat because the reinforcements expected from virginia were not sent him. these "reinforcements" were rutherford's and clarke's independent companies of foot which governor dinwiddie had ordered from new york to virginia but which did not arrive in hampton roads until the eighth of june. on the first of september these troops were marched to wills creek, where, being joined by captain demerie's independent company from south carolina, they began, on the twelfth of september, the erection of a fort. the building of this fort by virginia nearly a hundred miles west of winchester (then a frontier post) is only paralleled by the energy of massachusetts in building two forts in the same year on the kennebec river--fort western and fort halifax. new york had almost forgotten her frontier forts at saratoga and oswego, and the important portage between the hudson and lake george was undefended while the french were building both fort ticonderoga and fort frederick (crown point) on lake champlain. new york and new england could have seized and fortified lake champlain prior to french encroachment as easily as virginia could fortify wills creek. virginia, however, had been assisted from the royal chest, while the assemblies of the other colonies were in the customary state of turmoil, governor against legislature. the intermediate province of pennsylvania, home of the peaceful quakers, looked askance upon the darkening war-clouds and had done little or nothing for the protection of her populous frontiers. as a result, therefore, the virginian route to the french, though longest and most difficult, was made, by the erection of fort cumberland at wills creek, at once the most conspicuous. fort cumberland, named in honor of the duke of cumberland, captain-general of the english army, was located on an eminence between wills creek and the potomac, two hundred yards from the former and about four hundred yards from the latter. its length was approximately two hundred yards and its breadth nearly fifty yards; and "is built," writes an eye-witness in , "by logs driven into the ground, and about feet above it, with embrasures for guns, and mounted pounders, besides stocks for swivels, and loop holes for small arms." as the accompanying map indicates, the fort was built with a view to the protection of the store-houses erected at the mouth of wills creek by the ohio company. this is another suggestion of the close connection between the commercial and military expansion of virginia into the ohio basin. wherever a storehouse of the ohio company was erected a fort soon followed--with the exception of the strategic position at the junction of the allegheny and monongahela where english fort building was brought to a sudden end by the arrival of the french, who, on english beginnings, erected fort duquesne in . a little fort at the mouth of redstone creek on the monongahela had been erected in but that, together with the blasted remains of fort necessity, fell into the hands of the french in the campaign of . consequently, at the dawning of the memorable year , fort cumberland was the most advanced english position in the west. the french indian allies saw to it that it was safe for no englishman to step even one pace nearer the ohio; they skulked continually in the neighboring forests and committed many depredations almost within range of the guns of fort cumberland. [illustration: plan of fort cumberland, and vicinity; dated february, [_showing buildings of the ohio company across the potomac river_] (_from the original in british museum_)] chapter ii the virginia campaign governor dinwiddie's zeal had increased in inverse ratio to the success of virginian arms. after washington's repulse at fort necessity he redoubled his energies, incited by a letter received from one of washington's hostages at fort duquesne. colonel innes was appointed to command the virginia troops and superintend the erection of fort cumberland, while washington was ordered to fill up his depleted companies by enlistments and to move out again to fort cumberland. indeed it was only by objections urged in the very strongest manner that the inconsiderate governor was deterred from launching another destitute and ill-equipped expedition into the snow-drifted alleghenies. but there was activity elsewhere than in virginia during the winter of - . contrecoeur, commanding at fort duquesne, sent clear reports of the campaign of . the french cause was strengthening. the success of the french had had a wonderful effect on the indifferent indians; hundreds before only half-hearted came readily under french domination. all this was of utmost moment to new france, possibly of more importance than keeping her chain of forts to quebec unbroken. as joncaire, the drunken commander on the allegheny, had told washington in , the english could raise two men in america to their one--but not including their indians. it is, probably, impossible for us to realize with what feelings the french anticipated war with england on the american continent. the long campaigns in europe had cost both nations much and had brought no return to either. even marshal saxe's brilliant victories were purchased at a fabulous price, and, at the end, louis had given up all that was gained in order to pose "as a prince and not as a merchant." but in america there was a prize which both of these nations desired and which was worth fighting for--the grandest prize ever won in war! between the french and english colonies lay this black forest stretching from maine through new york and pennsylvania and virginia to the gulf of mexico. it seemed, to the french, the silliest dream imaginable for the english to plan to pierce this forest and conquer new france. to reach any of the french forts a long passage by half-known courses through an inhospitable wilderness was necessary; and the french knew by a century of experience what a herculean task it was to carry troops and stores over the inland water and land ways of primeval america. but for the task they had had much assistance from the indians and were favored in many instances by the currents of these rivers; the english had almost no indian allies and in every case were compelled to ascend their rivers to reach the french. however, the formation of the ohio company and the lively days of the summer of in the alleghenies aroused france as nothing else could; here was one young virginian officer who had found his way through the forests, and there was no telling how many more there might be like him. and france, tenfold more disturbed by washington's campaign than there was need for, performed wonders during the winter of - . the story of the action at fort necessity was transmitted to london and was represented by the british ambassadors at paris as an open violation of the peace, "which did not meet with the same degree of respect," writes a caustic historian, "as on former occasions of complaint: the time now nearly approaching for the french to pull off the mask of moderation and peace."[ ] as if to confirm this suspicion, the french marine became suddenly active, the ministry ordered a powerful armament to be fitted at brest; "in all these armaments," wrote the earl of holderness's secret agent, "there appeared a plain design to make settlements and to build forts; besides, that it was given out, they resolved to augment the fortifications at louisburg, and to build more forts on the ohio."[ ] but there was activity now in england, too. governor sharpe of maryland, but lately appointed commander-in-chief in america, had only a hint of what was being planned and was to have even less share in its accomplishment; in vain his friends extolled him as honest--"a little less honesty," declared george ii, characteristically, "and a little more ability were more to be desired at the moment." and the rule worked on both sides of the atlantic. american affairs had long been in the hands of the secretary of the board of trade, the duke of newcastle, as perfect an ass as ever held high office. he had opposed every policy that did not accord with his own "time serving selfishness" with a persistency only matched by his unparalleled ignorance. once thrown into a panic, it is said, at a rumor that a large french army had been thrown into cape breton, he was asked where the necessary transports had been secured. "transports," he shrieked, "i tell you they marched by land!" "by land, to the island of cape breton?" was the astonished reply. "what, is cape breton an island? are you sure of that?" and he ran away with an "egad, i will go directly and tell the king that cape breton is an island!" it is not surprising that a government which could ever have tolerated such a man in high office should have neglected, then abused, and then lost its american colonies. but newcastle gave way to an abler man. the new campaign in north america was the conception of the captain-general of the british army, the duke of cumberland, hero of culloden. on november , , king george opened parliament with the statement that "his principal view should be to strengthen the foundation, and secure the duration of a general peace; to improve the present advantages of it for promoting the trade of his good subjects, and protecting those possessions which constitute one great source of their wealth and commerce." only in this vague way did his majesty refer to the situation in america, lest he precipitate a debate; but parliament took the cue and voted over four million pounds--one million of which was to be devoted to augmenting england's forces "by land and sea." cumberland's plan for the operations against the french in america had, sometime before, been forwarded to the point of selecting a generalissimo to be sent to that continent. major-general edward braddock was appointed to the service, upon the duke of cumberland's recommendation, on september . edward braddock was a lieutenant-colonel of the line and a major of the foot guards, the choicest corps of the british army--a position which cost the holder no less than eighteen thousand dollars. he was born in ireland but was not irish, for neither scot, irish, nor papist could aspire to the meanest rank of the foot guards. he was as old as his century. his promotion in the army had been jointly due to the good name of his father, edward braddock i, who was retired as major-general in , to his passion for strict discipline, and to the favor of his grace the duke of cumberland. braddock's personal bravery was proverbial; it was said that his troops never faced a danger when their commander was not "greedy to lead." in private life he was dissolute; in disposition, "a very iroquois," according to walpole. yet certain of his friends denied the brutality which many attributed to him. "as we were walking in the park," one of braddock's admirers has recorded, "we heard a poor fellow was to be chastized; when i requested the general to beg off the offender. upon his application to the general officer, whose name was dury, he asked braddock, how long since he had divested himself of brutality and the insolence of his manner? to which the other replied, 'you never knew me insolent to my inferiors. it is only to such rude men as yourself that i behave with the spirit which i think they deserve.'"[ ] and yet, when his sister fanny hanged herself with a silver girdle to her chamber door, after losing her fortune at the gaming tables, the brute of a brother observed, "i always thought she would play till she would be forced to tuck herself up." on the other hand it need not be forgotten that braddock was for forty-three years in the service of the famed coldstream guards; that he probably conducted himself with courage in the vigo expedition and in the low countries, and was a survivor of bloody dettingen, culloden, fontenoy, and bergen-op-zoom. in he was stationed at gibraltar where, "with all his brutality," writes walpole, "he made himself adored, and where scarce any governor was endured before."[ ] two months and one day after braddock's commission was signed he received two letters of instructions, one from the king and one from the duke of cumberland. "for your better direction in discharge of y^e trust thereby reposed in you," reads the king's letter, "we have judged it proper to give you the following instructions." the document is divided into thirteen heads: . two regiments of foot commanded by sir peter halket and colonel dunbar, with a train of artillery and necessary ships were ordered to "repair to north america." . braddock ordered to proceed to america and take under his command these troops, cultivating meanwhile "a good understanding & correspondence with aug. keppel esq^r." who was appointed commander of the american squadron. . orders him also to take command of and properly distribute men which the governors of the provinces had been ordered to raise to serve under governor shirley and sir william pepperell; informs him that sir john st. clair, deputy quarter master general, and jas. pitcher esq^r., "our commissary of y^e musters, in north america," had been sent to prepare for the arrival of the troops from ireland and for raising the troops in america. upon braddock's arrival he should inform himself of the progress of these preparations. . provisions for the troops from ireland had been prepared lest, upon arrival in america, they should be in want. . "whereas, we have given orders to our said gov^{rs} to provide carefully a sufficient quantity of fresh victuals for y^e use of our troops at their arrival, & y^t they should also furnish all our officers who may have occasion to go from place to place, with all necessaries for travelling by land, in case there are no means of going by sea; & likewise, to observe and obey all such orders as shall be given by you or persons appointed by you from time to time for quartering troops, impressing carriages, & providing all necessaries for such forces as shall arrive or be raised in america, and y^t the s^d several services shall be performed at the charge of y^e respective governments, wherein the same shall happen. it is our will & pleasure y^t you should, pursuant thereto, apply to our s^d governors, or any of them, upon all such exigencies." . the governors had been directed "to endeavor to prevail upon y^e assemblies of their respective provinces to raise forthwith as large a sum as can be afforded as their contribution to a common fund, to be employed provisionally for y^e general service in north america." braddock was urged to assist in this and have great care as to its expenditure. . concerns braddock's relations with the colonial governors; especially directing that a council of war which shall include them be formed to determine, by majority vote, matters upon which no course has been defined. . "you will not only cultivate y^e best harmony & friendship possible with y^e several governors of our colonies & provinces, but likewise with y^e chiefs of y^e indian tribes ... to endeavor to engage them to take part & act with our forces, in such operations as you shall think most expedient." . concerns securing the alliance and interest of the indians and giving them presents. . orders braddock to prevent any commerce between the french and the english provinces. . concerning the relative precedency of royal and colonial commissions. . describes the copies of documents enclosed to braddock concerning previous relations with the colonies for defense against french encroachment; "... and as extracts of lieut gov^r dinwiddie's letters of may ^{th}, june ^{th}, & july ^{th}, relating to the summons of the fort which was erecting on y^e forks of y^e monongahela, and y^e skirmish y^t followed soon after, & likewise of y^e action in the great meadows, near the river ohio, are herewith delivered to you, you will be fully acquainted with what has hitherto happened of a hostile nature upon the banks of that river." . concerns future correspondence between braddock and the secretaries of state to whom his reports were to be sent. the communication from the duke of cumberland written by his aide, colonel napier, throws much light upon the verbal directions which braddock received before he sailed: "his royal highness the duke, in the several audiences he has given you, entered into a particular explanation of every part of the service you are about to be employed in; and as a better rule for the execution of his majesty's instructions, he last saturday communicated to you his own sentiments of this affair, and since you were desirous of forgetting no part thereof, he has ordered me to deliver them to you in writing. his royal highness has this service very much at heart, as it is of the highest importance to his majesty's american dominions, and to the honour of his troops employed in those parts. his royal highness likewise takes a particular interest in it, as it concerns you, whom he recommended to his majesty to be nominated to the chief command. "his royal highness's opinion is, that immediately after your landing, you consider what artillery and other implements of war it will be necessary to transport to will's creek for your first operation on the ohio, that it may not fail you in the service; and that you form a second field train, with good officers and soldiers, which shall be sent to albany and be ready to march for the second operation at niagara. you are to take under your command as many as you think necessary of the two companies of artillery that are in nova scotia and newfoundland as soon as the season will allow, taking care to leave enough to defend the island. captain ord, a very experienced officer, of whom his royal highness has a great opinion, will join you as soon as possible. "as soon as shirley's and pepperel's regiments are near complete, his royal highness is of opinion you should cause them to encamp, not only that they may sooner be disciplined, but also to draw the attention of the french and keep them in suspense about the place you really design to attack. his royal highness does not doubt that the officers and captains of the several companies will answer his expectation in forming and disciplining their respective troops. the most strict discipline is always necessary, but more particularly so in the service you are engaged in. wherefore his royal highness recommends to you that it be constantly observed among the troops under your command, and to be particularly careful that they be not thrown into a panic by the indians, with whom they are yet unacquainted, whom the french will certainly employ to frighten them. his royal highness recommends to you the visiting your posts night and day; that your colonels and other officers be careful to do it; and that you yourself frequently set them the example; and give all your troops plainly to understand that no excuse will be admitted for any surprise whatsoever. [illustration: view of fort cumberland in ] "should the ohio expedition continue any considerable time, and pepperell's and shirley's regiments be found sufficient to undertake in the mean while the reduction of niagara, his royal highness would have you consider whether you could go there in person, leaving the command of the troops on the ohio to some officer on whom you might depend, unless you shall think it better for the service to send to those troops some person whom you had designed to command on the ohio; but this is a nice affair, and claims your particular attention. colonel shirley is the next commander after you, wherefore if you should send such an officer he must conduct himself so as to appear only in quality of a friend or counsellor in the presence of colonel shirley: and his royal highness is of opinion that the officer must not produce or make mention of the commission you give him to command except in a case of absolute necessity. "the ordering of these matters may be depended on, if the expedition at crown point can take place at the same time that niagara is besieged. "if after the ohio expedition is ended it should be necessary for you to go with your whole force to niagara it is the opinion of his royal highness that you should carefully endeavour to find a shorter way from the ohio thither than that of the lake; which however you are not to attempt under any pretense whatever without a moral certainty of being supplied with provisions, &c. as to your design of making yourself master of niagara, which is of the greatest consequence, his royal highness recommends to you to leave nothing to chance in the prosecution of that enterprize. "with regard to the reducing of crown point, the provincial troops being best acquainted with the country, will be of the most service. "after the taking of this fort his royal highness advises you to consult with the governors of the neighboring provinces, where it will be most proper to build a fort to cover the frontiers of those provinces. "as to the forts which you think ought to be built (and of which they are perhaps too fond in that country), his royal highness recommends the building of them in such a manner, that they may not require a strong garrison. he is of opinion that you ought not to build considerable forts, cased with stone, till the plans and estimates thereof have been sent to england and approved of by the government here. his royal highness thinks that stockaded forts, with pallisadoes and a good ditch, capable of containing men or upon an emergency, will be sufficient for the present. "as lieutenant colonel lawrence, who commands at nova scotia, hath long protracted the taking of beau-sejour, his royal highness advises you to consult with him, both with regard to the time and the manner of executing that design. in this enterprise his royal highness foresees that his majesty's ships may be of great service, as well by transporting the troops and warlike implements, as intercepting the stores and succors that might be sent to the french either by the baye françoise, or from cape breton by the baye verte on the other side of the isthmus. "with regard to your winter quarters after the operations of the campaign are finished, his royal highness recommends it to you to examine whether the french will not endeavor to make some attempts next season and in what parts they will most probably make them. in this case it will be most proper to canton your troops on that side, at such distances, that they may easily be assembled for the common defence. but you will be determined in this matter by appearances, and the intelligence, which it hath been recommended to you to procure by every method immediately after your landing. it is unnecessary to put you in mind how careful you must be to prevent being surprised. his royal highness imagines that your greatest difficulty will be the subsisting of your troops. he therefore recommends it to you to give your chief attention to this matter, and to take proper measures relative thereto with the governors and with your quartermasters and commissaries. "i hope that the extraordinary supply put on board the fleet, and the barrels of beef destined for your use, will facilitate and secure the supplying of your troops with provisions. "i think i have omitted nothing of all the points wherein you desired to be informed: if there should be any intricate point unthought of, i desire you would represent it to me now, or at any other time; and i shall readily take it upon me to acquaint his royal highness thereof, and shall let you know his opinion on the subject. "i wish you much success with all my heart; and as this success will infinitely rejoice all your friends, i desire you would be fully persuaded that no body will take greater pleasure in acquainting them thereof, than him, who is, &c." if excuse is needed for offering in such detail these orders, it is that few men have ever suffered more heavily in reputation and in person because of the failures, misconceptions, and shortcomings of others than the man who received these orders and attempted to act upon them. these instructions and the letter from the duke of cumberland make two things very clear: it is clear from the king's instructions (item ) that the campaign to the ohio valley from virginia was to be the important _coup_ of the summer; the documents mentioned were to acquaint braddock "with what has hitherto happened of a hostile nature upon the banks of that river." this is made more certain by one of the first sentences in the duke of cumberland's letter, "that immediately after your landing, you consider what artillery and other implements of war it will be necessary to transport to will's creek for your first operation on the ohio." it is also clear that braddock was helplessly dependent upon the success with which the american governors carried out the royal orders previously sent to them. they had been ordered to raise money and troops, provide provisions, open the necessary roads, supply carriages and horses, and conciliate and arm the indian nations on the frontier. how far they were successful it will be proper to study later; for the moment, let us consider the destination of the little army that set sail, after innumerable delays, from the downs december , , led by the famed "centurian" whose figure-head adorns greenwich hospital today. sending braddock and his army to virginia against the french on the ohio was a natural blunder of immeasurable proportions. it was natural, because all eyes had been turned to virginia by the activity of the ohio company, washington's campaign of the preceding year, and the erection of fort cumberland on the farthest frontier. these operations gave a seeming importance to the virginia route westward which was all out of harmony with its length and the facilities offered. "before we parted," a friend of braddock wrote concerning the general's last night in london, "the general told me that he should never see me more; for he was going with a handful of men to conquer whole nations; and to do this they must cut their way through unknown woods. he produced a map of the country, saying, at the same time, 'dear pop, we are sent like sacrifices to the altar.'" this gloomy prophecy was fulfilled with a fatal accuracy for which the choice of the virginia route was largely responsible. braddock's campaign had been fully considered in all its bearings in the royal councils, and the campaign through virginia to fort duquesne seems to have been definitely decided upon. even before braddock had crossed half of the atlantic his quartermaster-general, st. clair, had passed all the way through virginia and maryland to fort cumberland in carrying out orders issued to him before braddock had reached england from gibraltar. "having procured from the governors of pennsylvania and virginia and from other sources," writes mr. sargent, "all the maps and information that were obtainable respecting the country through which the expedition was to pass, he [st. clair] proceeded in company with governor sharpe of maryland upon a tour of inspection to will's creek." he inspected the great falls of the potomac and laid plans for their being made passable for boats in which the army stores were to be shipped to fort cumberland, and had made contracts for the construction of the boats. he laid out a camp at watkin's ferry. it is doubtful whether braddock had ever had one word to say in connection with all these plans which irrevocably doomed him to the almost impossible feat of making fort cumberland a successful base of supplies and center of operations against the french. moreover the virginia route, being not only one of the longest on which braddock could have approached the french, was the least supplied with any manner of wagons. "for such is the attention," wrote entick, "of the virginians towards their staple trade of tobacco, that they scarce raise as much corn, as is necessary for their own subsistence; and their country being well provided with water-carriage in great rivers an army which requires a large supply of wheel-carriages and beasts of burden, could not expect to be furnished with them in a place where they are not in general use."[ ] "their produce is tobacco," wrote one of braddock's army, of the virginians, "they are so attached to that, and their avarice to raise it, makes them neglect every comfort of life." as has often been said, carlisle in pennsylvania would have made a far better center of operations than fort cumberland, and eventually it proved to be pennsylvania wagons in which the stores of the army were transported--without which the army could not have moved westward from fort cumberland one single mile. "mr. braddock had neither provisions nor carriage for a march of so considerable a length, which was greatly increased and embarrassed by his orders to take the rout of will's creek; which road, as it was the worst provided with provisions, more troublesome and hazardous, and much more about, than by way of pennsylvania."[ ] not to use superlatives, it would seem that the american colonial governors and st. clair might have presented to braddock the difficulties of the virginia route as compared with the pennsylvania route early enough to have induced the latter to make carlisle his base for the ohio campaign; but there is no telling now where the blunder was first made; a writer in _gentleman's magazine_ affirmed that the expedition was "sent to _virginia_ instead of _pennsylvania_, to their insuperable disadvantage, merely to answer the lucerative views of a friend of the ministry, to whose share the remittances would then fall at the rate of - / _per cent_ profit."[ ] even the suspicion of such treachery as sending braddock to virginia to indulge the purse of a favorite is the more revolting because of the suggestion in the letter from the duke of cumberland that braddock, personally, favored an attack on fort niagara--which, it has been universally agreed, was the thing he should have done. "as to _your design_ of making yourself master of niagara"--the italics are mine--wrote cumberland; and, though he refers at the beginning to their numerous interviews, this is the sole mention throughout the letter of any opinion or plan of braddock's. "had general _braddock_ made it his first business to secure the command of lake ontario, which he might easily have done soon enough to have stopt the _force_ that was sent from _canada_ to _du quesne_, that fort must have been surrendered to him upon demand; and had he gone this way to it, greater part of that vast sum might have been saved to the nation, which was expended in making a waggon road, through the woods and mountains, the way he went."[ ] yet cumberland's orders were distinct to go to niagara by way of virginia and fort duquesne. horace walpole's characterization of braddock is particularly graphic and undoubtedly just--"desperate in his fortune, brutal in his behavior, obstinate in his sentiments, intrepid and capable."[ ] the troops given him for the american expedition were well suited to bring out every defect in his character; these were the fragments of the th and th regiments, then stationed in ireland. being deficient (even in time of peace), both had to be recruited up to five hundred men each. the campaign was unpopular and the recruits secured were of the worst type--"who, had they not been in the army, would probably have been in bridewell [prison]." walpole wrote, "the troops allotted to him most ill-chosen, being draughts of the most worthless in some irish regiments, and anew disgusted by this species of banishment."[ ] "the mutinous spirit of the men encreases," wrote an officer of braddock's army during the march to fort duquesne, "but we will get the better of that, we will see which will be tired first, they of deserving punishments, or we of inflicting them ... they are mutinous, and this came from a higher spring than the hardships here, for they were tainted in _ireland_ by the factious cry against the l-- l-- ld g--, and the primate; the wicked spirit instilled there by pamphlets and conversation, got amongst the common soldiers, who, tho' they are _englishmen_, yet are not the less stubborn and mutinous for that." thus the half-mutinous army, and its "brutal," "obstinate," "intrepid," and "capable" commander fared on across the sea to virginia during the first three months of the memorable year of . by the middle of march the entire fleet had weighed anchor in the port of alexandria, virginia. the situation could not be described better than entick has done in the following words: "put all these together, what was extraordinary in his [braddock's] conduct, and what was extraordinary in the way of the service, there could be formed no good idea of the issue of such an untoward expedition." chapter iii from alexandria to fort cumberland what it was that proved to be "extraordinary in the way of the service" general braddock soon discovered, and it is a fair question whether, despite all that has been written concerning his unfitness for his position, another man with one iota less "spirit" than braddock could have done half that braddock did. the colonies were still quite asleep to their danger; the year before, governor dinwiddie had been at his wits' end to raise in virginia a few score men for fry and washington, and had at last succeeded by dint of drafts and offers of bounty in western lands. pennsylvania was hopelessly embroiled in the then unconstitutional question of equal taxation of proprietary estates. the new york assembly was, and not without reason, clannish in giving men and money for use only within her own borders. it is interesting to notice the early flashes of lurking revolutionary fire in the colonies when the mother-country attempted to wield them to serve her own politic schemes. braddock was perhaps one of the first englishmen to suggest the taxation of america and, within a year, walpole wrote concerning instructions sent to a new york governor, that they "seemed better calculated for the latitude of mexico and for a spanish tribunal than for a free rich british settlement, and in such opulence and of such haughtiness, that suspicion had long been conceived of their meditating to throw off their dependence on their mother country."[ ] it would have been well for the provinces if they had postponed for a moment their struggle against english methods, and planned as earnestly for the success of english arms as they did when defeat opened the floodgates of murder and pillage all along their wide frontiers. but it is not possible to more than mention here the struggles between the short-sighted assemblies and the short-sighted royal governors. the practical result, so far as braddock was concerned, was the ignoring, for the greater part, of all the instructions sent from london. this meant that braddock was abandoned to the fate of carrying out orders wretchedly planned under the most trying circumstances conceivable. instead of having everything prepared for him, he found almost nothing prepared, and on what had been done he found he could place no dependence. little wonder the doomed man has been remembered as a "brute" in america! to have shouldered the blame for the lethargy of the colonies, for the jealousy of their governors, and for the wretchedness of the orders given braddock, would have made any man brutish in word and action. pennsylvanians have often accused washington of speaking like a "brute" when, no doubt in anger, he exclaimed that the officials of that province should have been flogged for their indifference; they were, god knows,--but by the indians after braddock's defeat. the desperateness of braddock's situation became very plain by the middle of april, when the governors of the colonies met at his request at the camp at alexandria to determine upon the season's campaigns. but it was not until later that he knew the full depths of his unfortunate situation. as early as march braddock wrote sir thomas robinson a most discouraging letter, but on april , after the governors' council, another letter to robinson shows the exact situation. as to the fund which the colonies had been ordered to raise, the governors "gave it as their unanimous opinion that such a fund can never be establish'd in the colonies without the aid of parliament."[ ] they were therefore "unanimously of the opinion that the kings service in the colonies, and the carrying on of the present expedition must be at a stand, unless the general shall think proper to make use of his credit upon the government at home to defray the expense of all the operations under his direction."[ ] in braddock's letter of april he affirms "the £ , voted in virginia has been expended tho not yet collected; pennsylvania and maryland still refuse to contribute anything; new york has raised £ , currency for the use of the troops whilst in that province, which i have directed to be applied for the particular service of the garrison at oswego.... i shall march from this place for frederick tomorrow morning in my way to will's creek, where i should have been before this time, had i not been prevented by waiting for the artillery, from which i still fear further delays, i hope to be upon the mountains early in may and some time in june to have it in my power to dispatch an express with some account of the event of our operations upon the ohio."[ ] the disappointed man was not very sanguine of success, but adds, "i hope, sir, there is good prospect of success in every part of the plan i have laid before you, but it is certain every single attempt is more likely to succeed from the extensiveness of it."[ ] by this he meant that the french, attacked at several points at once, would not be able to send reinforcements from one point to another. but more serious disappointments awaited braddock--a great part of the definite promises made by governor dinwiddie were never to be realized. the governor and sir john st. clair had promised braddock that twenty-five hundred horses and two hundred wagons would be in readiness at fort cumberland to transport the army stores across the mountains, and that a large quantity of beeves and other provisions would be awaiting the army through july and august. braddock was also promised the support of a large force of indians and, conformably to his orders, had been careful to send the usual presents to the tribes in question. he soon learned, however, that the short-sighted assemblies of both virginia and pennsylvania had already alienated the indians whom they should have attached to their cause, and but a handful were faithful now when the crisis had come; for the faithfulness of these few braddock was perhaps largely in debt to washington, whom they followed during the campaign of the preceding year. as to the details of his miserable situation, nothing is of more interest than the frank letter written by braddock to sir john robinson from fort cumberland, june : "i had the honor of writing to you from frederick the latter end of april. "on the th of may i arrived at this place, and on the th the train join'd me from alexandria after a march of twenty seven days, having met with many more delays and difficulties than i had even apprehended, from the badness of the roads, scarcity of forage, and a general want of spirit in the people to forward the expedition. "i have at last collected the whole force with which i propose to march to the attack of fort duquesne, amounting to about two thousand effective men, eleven hundred of which number are americans of the southern provinces, whose slothful and languid disposition renders them very unfit for military service. i have employ'd the properest officers to form and discipline them and great pains has and shall be taken to make them as useful as possible. "when i first came to this place i design'd to have refresh'd the troops by a few days rest, but the disappointments i have met with in procuring the number of wagons and horses necessary for my march over the mountains have detained me near a month. "before i left williamsburg i was informed by the deputy quarter master general, who was then at this fort, that horses and wagons might be depended upon from virginia and maryland, but as i had the utmost reason to fear a disappointment from my daily experience of the falsehood of every person with whom i was concern'd, i therefore before i left frederick, desired mr. franklin, postmaster of pennsylvania, and a man of great influence in that province, to contract for waggons and a number of horses, which he has executed with great punctuality and integrity, and is almost the only instance of ability and honesty i have known in these provinces; his waggons and horses have all joined me, and are indeed my whole dependence, the great promises of virginia and maryland having produc'd only about twenty waggons and two hundred horses: with the number i now have i shall be enabled with the utmost difficulty to move from this place, marching with one half of the provision i entended and having been oblig'd to advance a large detachment in order to make a deposite of provisions upon the alliganey mountains about five days march from me. [illustration: map of braddock's road (about ) [_from original in british museum_]] "it would be endless, sir, to particularize the numberless instances of the want of public and private faith, and of the most absolute disregard of all truth, which i have met with in carrying on of his majesty's service on this continent. i cannot avoid adding one or two instances to what i have already given. "a contract made by the governor of virginia for beeves was laid before me to be delivered in july and august for the subsistence of the troops, which contract he had entered into upon the credit of twenty thousand pounds currency voted by the assembly for the service of the expedition. depending upon this i regulated my convoys accordingly, and a few days since the contractors inform'd me that the assembly had refus'd to fulfill the governors engagements, and the contract was consequently void: as it was an affair of the greatest importance, i immediately offer'd to advance the money requir'd by the terms of the contract, but this the contractor rejected, unless i would pay him one third more; and postpone the delivery of the beeves two months, at which time they would have been of no use to me. "another instance is the agent employ'd in the province of maryland for furnishing their troops with provision, who delivered it in such condition that it is all condemn'd upon a survey, and i have been obliged to replace it by sending to the distance of an hundred miles. "this behavior in the people does not only produce infinite difficulty in carrying on his majesty's service but also greatly increases the expense of it, the charge thereby occasion'd in the transportation of provision and stores through an unsettled country (with which even the inhabitants of the lower parts are entirely unacquainted) and over a continued succession of mountains, is many times more than double the original cost of them; for this reason i am obliged to leave a quantity of provision at alexandria, which would be of great service to use at this place. the behaviour of the governments appears to me to be without excuse, but it may be some extenuation of the guilt of the lower class of people, that upon former occasions their assistance in publick has been ill rewarded, and their payments neglected; the bad effects of which proceeding we daily experience. "as i have his majesty's orders to establish as much as possible a good understanding with the indians, i have gathered some from the frontier of pennsylvania chiefly of the six nations, with whom i have had two or three conferences, and have given them proper presents; the number already with me is about fifty, and i have some hopes of more: upon my first arrivall in america, i received strong assurances of the assistance of a great number of southern indians, which i have entirely lost through the misconduct of the government of virginia: and indeed the whole indian affairs have been so imprudently and dishonestly conducted, that it was with the greatest difficulty i could gain a proper confidence with those i have engag'd, and even that could not be attain'd, nor can be preserv'd without a great expense. "the nature of the country prevents all communication with the french but by indians, and their intelligence is not much to be depended upon; they all agree the number of french now in fort duquesne is very inconsiderable, but that they pretend to expect large reinforcements. "i have an account of the arrival of the two thousand arms for the new england forces, and that they are sailed for nova scotia. batteaus and boats are preparing for the forces destined to the attacks of niagara and crown point, but the province of new york, which by its situation must furnish the greater part, do not act with so much vigor as i could wish. "in order to secure a short and easy communication with the province of pensilvania, after the forces have pass'd the alligany mountains, i have apply'd to governor morris to get a road cut from shippensburg in that province to the river youghyaughani; up which he informs me he has set a proper number of men at work, and that it will be compleated in a month: this i look upon to be an affair of the greatest importance, as well for securing future supplies of provisions, as for obtaining more speedy intelligence of what passes in the northern colonies.[ ] "i wait now for the last convoy and shall, if i do not meet with further disappointments, begin my march over the alleghaney mountains in about five days. the difficulties we have to meet with by the best accounts are very great; the distance from hence to the forts is an hundred and ten miles, a road to be cut and made the whole way with infinite toil and labor, over rocky mountains of an excessive height and steepness, and many stoney creeks and rivers to cross." braddock's army under halket and dunbar proceeded to fort cumberland from alexandria by various routes. governor sharpe had had a new road built from rock creek to fort cumberland;[ ] this was probably dunbar's route and is given as follows in braddock's orderly books:[ ] miles to rock creek[ ] -- to owen's ordinary to dowdens to frederick from fred^k on y^e road to conogogee from that halting place to conogogee from conogogee to john evens to the widow baringer to george polls to henry enock's to cox's at y^e mouth of little cacaph to col. cresaps to wills creek ---- halket's regiment went from alexandria to winchester, virginia by the following route as given in braddock's orderly books: miles to y^e old court house to m^r colemans on sugar land run where there is indian corn &c. to m^r miners to m^r thompson y^e quaker wh is wt corn to m^r they's y^e ferry of shanh from m^r they's to winchester -- at winchester halket was only five miles distant from "widow baringer's" on dunbar's road from frederick to fort cumberland. one of the few monuments of braddock's days stands beside the potomac, within the limits of the city of washington. it is a gigantic rock, the "key of keys," now almost lost to sight and forgotten. it may still be found, and efforts are on foot to have it appropriately marked. it is known in tradition as "braddock's rock"--on the supposition that here some of braddock's men landed just below the mouth of rock creek en route to frederick and fort cumberland. it is unimportant whether the legend is literally true.[ ] a writer, disputing the legend, yet affirms that the public has reason "to require that the destructive hand of man be stayed, and that the remnants of the ancient and historic rock should be rescued from oblivion." the rock may well bear the name of braddock, as the legend has it. nothing could be more typical of the man--grim, firm, unreasoning, unyielding. chapter iv a seaman's journal one of the most interesting documents relative to braddock's expedition is a _journal_ kept by one of the thirty seamen sent with braddock by commodore keppel. the original manuscript was presented by colonel macbean to the royal artillery library, woolwich, and is first published here. an expanded version of this document was published in winthrop sargent's _history of braddock's expedition_, entitled "the morris journal"--so called because it was in the possession of the rev. francis-orpen morris, nunburnholme rectory, yorkshire, who had published it in pamphlet form.[ ] concerning its authorship mr. sargent says, "i do not know who was the author of this journal: possibly he may have been of the family of capt. hewitt. he was clearly one of the naval officers detached for this service by com. keppel, whom sickness detained at fort cumberland during the expedition."[ ] a comparison of the expanded version with the original here printed shows that the "morris journal" was written by engineer harry gordon of the th artillery. the entry in the expanded version for june reads: "col. burton, capt. orme, mr spendlowe and self went out to reconnoitre the road."[ ] in the original, under the same date, we read: "colonel burton, capt. orme, mr engineer gordon & lieut spendelow were order'd to reconnoitre the roads." why mr. gordon desired to suppress his name is as inexplicable as the failure of the rev. francis-orpen morris, who compared the expanded and the original manuscripts, to announce it. the proof is made more sure by the fact that mr. gordon usually refers to himself as an "engineer," as in the entry for june : "this morning an engineer and men began working on the new road...." in the original the name is given: "engineer gordon with pioneers began to break ground on the new road...."[ ] he refers to himself again on july as "one of our engineers": "one of our engineers, who was in the front of the carpenters marking the road, saw the enemy first."[ ] it is well known that gordon first caught sight of the enemy and the original journal affirms this to have been the case: "mr engineer gordon was the first man that saw the enemy." mr. sargent said the author "was clearly one of the naval officers detached ... by com. keppel." though mr. gordon, as author, impersonated a seaman, there is certainly very much more light thrown on the daily duties of an engineer than on those of a sailor; there is far more matter treating of cutting and marking braddock's road than of handling ropes and pulleys. it is also significant that gordon, from first to last, was near the seamen and had all the necessary information for composing a journal of which one of them might have been the author. he was in dunbar's regiment on the march from alexandria--as were the seamen. he, with the carpenters, was possibly brigaded in the second brigade, with the seamen, and in any case he was with the van of the army on the fatal ninth as were the seamen. as to the authorship of the original journal the document gives no hint. from mr. gordon's attempt to cover his own identity by introducing the word "self" in the latter part of the entry of june , it might be supposed the original manuscript was written by the "midshipman" referred to under that date in the original journal. but the two midshipmen given as naval officers in the expedition, haynes and talbot, were killed in the defeat.[ ] the original journal which follows is of interest because of the description of the march of dunbar's brigade through maryland and virginia to fort cumberland. the remainder was evidently composed from descriptions given by officers after their return to fort cumberland:[ ] extracts from a journal of the proceedings of the detachment of seamen, ordered by commodore kepple, to assist on the late expedition to the _ohio_ with an impartial account of the late action on the banks of the _monongohela_ the ^{th} of july , as related by some of the principal officers that day in the field, from the ^{th} april to the ^{th} aug^{st}. when the detachment of seamen embark'd on board his majisty's ship guarland at hampton in virginia april ^{th} orders were given to march to morrow with companies of s^r p. halket's regiment for _winchester_ towards _will's creeks_; april ^{th} yesterdays orders were countermanded and others given to furnish eight days provisions, to proceed to _rock's creek_[ ] ( miles from alexandria) in the sea horse & nightingale boats; april ^{th}: arrived at _rock's creek_ miles from the lower falls of _potomack_ & miles from the eastern branch of it; where we encamped with colonel dunbars regiment april ^{th}: employed in loading waggon's with stores provisions and all other conviniences very dear _rock's creek_ a very pleasant situation. april ^{th}: detachment of seamen were order'd to march in the front: arrived at m^r. lawrence owen's: miles from _rock's creek_; and encamp'd upon good ground miles from the upper falls of _potomack_ april ^{th}: encamp'd on the side of a hill near m^r. michael dowden's;[ ] miles from m^r. owen's, in very bad ground and in - / foot snow april ^{th}: halted, but found it extreamly difficult to get either provisions or forrage. april ^{th}: march'd to _fredericks town_; miles from dowden's, the road very mountanious, march'd miles, when we came to a river call'd _monskiso_, which empties itself into the _potomack_; it runs very rapid; and is, after hard rain, feet deep: we ferried over in a float for that purpose. this town has not been settled above . years; there are houses & churches dutch, english;[ ] the inhabitants chiefly dutch, industrious, but imposing people; provisions & forrage in plenty. april ^{th}: encamp'd with a new york company under the command of captain gates, at the north end of the town, upon very good ground april ^{th}: exercising recruits, & airing the tents: several waggons arrived with ordnance stores, heavy dews at night occasion it to be very unwholsome april ^{th}: nothing material happen'd april ^{st}: the general attended by captains orme, morris and secretary shirley; with s^r john s^t clair; arrived at head quarters. april ^{th} inactive[ ]. april ^{th}: ordnance stores arrived, with recruits for the regiments april ^{th}: employ'd in preparing harness for the horses april ^{th}: march'd to m^r. walker's miles from _fredericks town_; pass'd the south ridge, commonly called the blue ridge or _shanandoh mountains_ very easy ascent and a fine prospect ... no kind of refreshment april ^{th}: march'd to _connecochiag_; miles from m^r. walker's, close by the _potomack_, a very fine situation, where we found all the artillery stores preparing to go by water to wills creek may ^{st}: employed in ferrying (over the _potomack_) the army baggage into virginia in floats and batteaux; the army march'd to m^r. john evans, miles from y^e _potomack_ and miles from winchester, where we encamp'd, and had tolerable good living with forrage; the roads begin to be very indifferent may ^{nd}: halted and sent the horses to grass may ^d: march'd to widdow barringers miles from m^r. evans; the day was so excissive hot, that many officers and men could not arrive at their ground until evening, this is miles from winchester and a fine situation may ^{th}: march'd to m^r. pots miles from the widdow's where we were refresh^t with vinison and wild turkeys the roads excessive bad. may ^{th}: march'd to m^r. henry enocks, a place called the _forks of cape capon_, miles from m^r. pots; over prodigious mountains, and between the same we cross'd a run of water in miles distance, times after marching miles we came to a river called _kahepatin_ where the army ferried over, we found a company of s^r peter halkets regiment waiting to escort the train of artillery to _wills creek_ may ^{th}: halted, as was the custom to do every third day, the officers for passing away the time, made horse races and agreed that no horse should run over hands and to carry stone may ^{th}: march'd to m^r. coxs's by the side of y^e _potomack_ miles from m^r. enock's, and encamped we cross'd another run of water times in miles roads bad. may ^{th}: ferried over the river into _maryland_; and march'd to m^r. jacksons, miles from m^r. coxs's where we found a maryland company encamp'd in a fine situation on the banks of the _potomack_; with clear'd ground about it; there lives colonel cressop, a rattle snake, colonel, and a d--d rascal; calls himself a frontierman, being nearest the _ohio_; he had a summons some time since from the french to retire from his settlement, which they claim'd as their property, but he refused it like a man of spirit;[ ] this place is the track of indian warriours, when going to war, either to the n^{o}ward, or s^{o}ward he hath built a little fort round his house, and is resolved to keep his ground. we got plenty of provisions &c^a. the general arrived with captains orme and morris, with secretary shirley and a company of light horse for his guard, under the command of cap^t. stewart, the general lay at the colonels. may ^{th}: halted and made another race to amuse the general d^o. ^{th}: march'd to _will's creek_; and encamp'd on a hill to the e^{t}ward of the fort, when the general past the troops; colonel dunbar informed them, that there were a number of indians at _will's creek_, that were friends to the english therefore it was the generals positive orders, that they should not be molested upon any account, upon the generals arrival at the fort, he was saluted with . guns, and we found indian men, women & children with companies of s^r peter halkets regiment, virginian companies and a maryland company. may ^{th}: _fort cumberland_, is situated within yards of _wills creek_ on a hill yards from the _potomack_, it's greatest length from east to west is yards, and breadth it is built with loggs drove into the ground: and feet above it embrazures are cut for guns which are . pounders, though are only mounted with loopholes for small arms; the indians were greatly surprised at the regular way of our soldiers marching and our numbers. i would willingly say something of the customs & manners of them, but they are hardly to be described. the men are tall, well made and active, but not strong; the women not so tall yet well proportion'd & have many children; they paint themselves in different manners; red, yellow & black intermixt, the men have the outer rim of their ears cut; and hanging by a little bit at top and bottom: they have also a tuft of hair left at top of their heads, dress'd with feathers.... their match coat which is their chief cloathing, is a thick blanket thrown round them; and instead of shoes wear mekosins, which laces round the foot and ankle ... their manner of carrying children are by lacing them on a board, and tying them with a broad bandage with a place to rest their feet, and boards over their heads to keep the sun off and this is slung to the womens backs. these people have no idea of a superior being or of religion and i take them to be the most ignorant, as to the knowledge of the world and things, of any creatures living. when it becomes dark they return to their camp, which is [nigh] woods, and dance for some time with making the most hidious noise. may ^{th}: orders for a council of war at the head quarters when the indians came, and were received by the guard with rested arms, an interpreter was directed to tell them that their brothers, the english, who were their friends were come to assist them, that every misunderstanding in past times, should now be buried under that great mountain (which was close by) and accordingly the ceremony was perform'd in giving them a string of wampum or beads; and the following speech was made, to assure them that this string or belt of wampum was a suriety of our friendship; and likewise a declaration, that every one, who were enemies to them, were consequently so to us. the interpretor likewise assured them, the we had a considerable number of men to the n^{o}ward, under the commands of our great war captains generals, shirley, pepperel & johnson that were making preparations for war to settle them happily in their countries, and make the french both ashamed & hungry, however, should any indians absent themselves they would be deem'd our enimies & treated as such; the generals moreover told them, he should have presents for them soon, and would then make them another speech, after which he parted with giving a dram round. may ^{th}: the indian camp were / miles from the fort which i went to visit their houses are composed of stakes, drove into the ground, with a ridge pole & bark of trees laid down the sides of it, w^{ch}. is all they have to shelter them from the weather.... the americans & seamen exercising. may ^{th}: inactive in our camp. i went to the indian to see them dance which they do once or twice a year round a fire, first the women dance, whilst the men are sitting, and then every women takes out her man; dances with him; lays with him for a week, and then returns to her proper husband, & lives with him.[ ] may ^{th}: casks of beef were surveyed and condemn'd[ ] d^o. ^{th}: arrived l^t. col^o. gage with companies, and the last division of the train, consisting of field pieces; howitzers and a number of cohorns, with store waggons cap^t. bromley of s^r p. halkets regim^t. died may ^{th}: orders for the funeral. may ^{th}: cap^t. bromley was interred with great solemnity[ ]-- ^{th}: the indians came to the generals tent when he made them a speech to this effect; that they would send away immediately their wives & children to pensilvania, and take up the hatchet against the french, that the great king of england their father had sent their wives & children such & such presents, and he had ordered arms, ammunition &c^a. to be delivered to their warriors, and expressd a concern for their / king killed last year--the presents consisted of shrouds; rings, beads, linnen, knives, wire & paint, they seem'd pleased, received their presents with belts & string of wampum, and promised an answer the next day in the evening they danced and made a most terrible noise to shew were mightily pleased. may ^{th}: cap^t. gates march'd into camp with his new york comp^y. the indians met at the generals tent, and told him they were highly obliged to the great king their father, for sending such numbers of men to fight for them, and they moreover promise to join them, and do what was in their power by reconnoitring the country, & bringing intelligence, they were likewise oblidged to the general for expressing his concern for the loss of their / king his brother, and for the presents he had made their families. their chiefs names were as follows ^{st}: monicatoha their mentor, ^d belt of wampum, or white thunder, who always keep the wampum, and has a daughter call'd bright lightning ^d: the great tree and silver heels, jimy smith and charles all belonging to the nations, the general assured them of his friendship and gave his honour, that he never would deceive them, after which they sung their song of war, put themselves into odd postures, w^{th} shouting and making an uncommon noise, declaring the french to be their pepetual enemies, which they never had done before, then the general took the indians to the park of artillery, ordered howtz^{rs}. : pounders to be fired, the drums beating & fifes playing the point of war, which astonish^t but pleased the indians greatly. they afterwards retired to their own camp to eat a bullock and dance in their usual manner, with shewing how they fight and scalp, and expressing in their dance, the exploits & warlike actions of their ancestors and themselves--arrived waggons from pensylvania with stores; and likewise from philidelpha with liquors, tea, sugar, coffe &c. to the amount of £ with horses, as presents to the officers of the regiments--an indian came in days from the french fort, and assured us they have only men in the fort, however they expected more soon, yet they purpose blowing it up whenever the army appears--as this indian was one of the delawars, who never were our friends he was suspected to be a rogue-- carpenters were employed in making a float, building a magazine & squaring timber to make a bridge over _wills creek_, the smiths were making miners tools, the bakers were baking biscuit, and every thing was getting ready for a march. may ^{st}: a troop of light horse & companies of s^r p. halkets regim^t. under the command of major chapman came in from winchester may ^d: the indians had arms & cloaths delivered to them d^o. ^d: the regiments were exercised & went through their formings d^o. ^{th}: employed in transporting the large timber to the fort, the army consists of regiments, each men; _new york_, independent _carolina_ companies of men, _virginia_ _maryland_ companies of men; comp^y. of artillery of & seamen may ^{th}: preparations for marching: men of s^r p. halkets were drum'd out, and received lashes each for theft. may ^{th}: the companies employed in loading waggons w^{th}. provisions, a captains guard march'd for _winchester_ to escort provisions to camp--several _delawar_ indians came into camp. may ^{th}: the _delawar_ indians assembled at the generals tent and told him they were come to assist him, but desired to know his intention the general thank'd them, and said that he should march in a few days for fort dec quisne, the indians then replyed, they would return home, collect their warriors and meet them on his march. may ^{th}: major chapman with a detachment of soldiers march'd with field pieces and waggons full of provisions when s^r john s^t clair, engineers, lieut. spendelow & seamen with some indians were order'd to clean the roads for them. may ^{th}: march'd in, cap^t. dobbs with a _north carolina_ company june ^{st}: the detachment got miles though the roads were very bad; lieu^t. spendelow returned with his seamen. june ^d: colonel burton, cap^t. orme, m^r. engineer gordon[ ] & lieu^t. spendelow were order'd to reconnoitre the roads, the latter reported that he had found a tolerable road, which might avoid the bad mountain that they would otherwise be obliged to pass; and accordingly it was determined to march the army that way, it being only miles about. june ^d: engineer gordon[ ] with pioneers began to break ground on the new road, when lieu^t. spendelow, midshipman[ ] & men were sent to the place that leads into the old road, cleard away and compleated mile, june ^{th}: midshipman & men cleard / of a mile ^{th}: continued working on the roads ^{th}: compleated the new road & return'd to camp. ^{th}: s^r p. halkets brigade march'd with field pieces and some waggons with provisions midshipman & seamen were orderd to assist the train june ^{th}. inactive june ^{th}: the general march'd w^{th}. the remaining part of the army. ^{th}: it was reported that a party of indians had surprized kill'd, and scalp'd families to the number of within miles of y^e fort june ^{th}: accounts of another family's scalp'd within miles of us. the governor detach'd a party to bury the dead, and to look for the indians, they found a child standing in the water scalp'd, which had holes in its skull, they brought it to the doctor, who dressed it but died in a week.[ ] june ^{th}: the last division of his majesty's forces march'd from _wills creek_ with general braddock, when the general arrived at the little meadows miles from the _creek_, and having all his forces w^{th}. him, found that the carriages, pack horses &c^a. he had with him, retardid his marches greatly, insomuch that in all probability, the french would be renforced, before he could possibly get there, provided he kept the whole army together--he therefore selected of the choicest men besides artillery & seamen with the most necessary stores that might be wanted, which compleated carriages, and left the heavy baggage provisions &c^a. with col^o. dunbar and the rest of the forces w^{th}. orders to follow as fast as possible: then march'd & continued untill ^{th}. july without interruption save or scalps on the march a number much inferior to the expectations, he encamp'd within miles of _fort dec quisne_ where he held a councill of war, when it was unaimously agreed that they should pass the _monongohela_ river in the morning twice and that the advanced party should march at o'clock in the morning to secure that pass (the river being very broad and easily defended as the fort was very near they thought it advisable to take that oppertunity, that the enemy might not have a view of them, therefore the general order'd that the army should march over with fixt bayonets to make a show. on the ^{th}. july the advanced party of men march'd about . o'clock some indians rush'd out of the bushes, but did no execution, the party went on & secured both passes of the river, and at the main body began to cross with colours flying, drums beating, & fifes playing the granadier's march, and soon formed, when they thought that the french would not attack them, as they might have done it w^{th}. such advantages in crossing the _monogohela_, the advanced party was / mile before the main body, the rear of which was just over the river, when the front was attacked the . granadier comp^{ys}. formed the flank the piquets with the rest of the men were sustaining the carpenters while they were cutting the roads. the first fire the enemy gave was in front, & they likewise gaul'd the piquets in flank, so that in few minutes the granadiers were nearly cut to pieces and drove into the greatest confusion as was cap^t. polsons comp^y. of carpent^{rs}. as soon as the main body heard that the front was attack'd they instantly advanced to secure them but found them retreating upon which, the general orderd the artillery to draw up, & the battalion to form, by this time the enemy had attacked the main body, which faced to the right & left and engaged them, but could not see whom they fired at, it was in an open road, that the main body were drawn up, but the trees were excessive thick round them, and the enemy had possession of a hill to the right, which consequently was a great advantage to them, many officers declare, that they never saw above of the enemy at one time during the whole action our soldiers were encouraged to make many attempts by the officers (who behaved gloriously) to take the hill, but they had been so intimidated before by seeing their comrades scalp'd in their sight and such numbers falling, that as they advanced up towards the hill and there officer's being pict off which was generally the case; they turn'd to their r^t. about & retired down the hill. when the general perceived & was convinced that the soldiers would not fight in a regular manner without officers, he devided them into small parties, and endeavour'd to surround the enemy, but by this time the major part of the officers were either kill'd or wounded, and in short the soldiers were totally deaf to the commands & persuasions of the few officers that were left unhurt. the general had horses shot under him before he was wounded, which was towards the latter part of the action, when he was put into a waggon with great dificulty as he was very sollicitious for being left in the field. the retreat now became general, and it was the opinion of many people that had we greater numbers, it would have been just the same thing, as our advanc'd party never regained the ground they were first attacked upon, it was extreamly lucky they pursued no farther than the first crossing the river but they kill'd & scalp'd every one they met with, the army march'd all night & join'd colonel dunbar the next day, miles distance from the field of battle, when the general order'd col^o. dunbar to prepare for a retreat in order for which, they were obliged to destroy great quantities of stores and provisions, to furnish the wounded officers & soldiers with waggons the generals pains encreased hourly, and on the ^{th} of july he died greatly lamented by the whole army, was decently though privately buried the next morning. the numbers kill'd; wounded & left in the field as appeared by the returns of the different companies were besides officers the companies of the grenadiers and carpenters sufferd most col^o. dunbars grenadiers were compleat out of which returned untouch'd. s^r p. halkets, were & only came out of y^e field every grenadier officer was either kill'd or wounded the seamen had kill'd & wounded out of it was impossible to tell the exact nunbers of the enemy but it was premised by the continual smart fire the kept during the whole action, that they must have at least man for man m^r. engineer gordon[ ] was the first man that saw the enemy, being in the front of the carpenters, making & picketing the roads for them, and he declared where he first descover'd them, that they were on the run, which plainly shews they were just come from _fort dec quesne_ and that their principal intention was to secure the pass of _monnongohela river_ but the officer who was their leader, dressed like an indian, w^{th}. a gorgeton, waved his hatt, by way of signal to disperse to y^e right and left forming a half moon col^o. dunbar continued his retreat and arrived with the remains of the army at _fort cumberland_ the ^{th}. july, and the ^{st}. the wounded officers & soldiers were brought in.... ^{th}. july orders were given for the army to march the ^{nd}. august ^{st}. august col^o. dunbar received a letter from commodore kepple to send the seamen to _hampton_ and accordingly the ^d. they march'd with the army & on the ^d. august left them august ^{th}. arrived at _winchester_ august ^{th}. march'd into _fredericksburgh_ and hired a vessel to carry the seamen to _hampton_ where they embarked on board his majesty's ship guarland the ^{th}. august . : pounders. . pounders, howitzers, cohorns, carriages of provisions ammunition hospital stores, the generals private chest which had about £ in it with horses loaded with officers baggage.[ ] chapter v the battle of the monongahela sir peter halket moved out from fort cumberland on june with a brigade comprising the th regiment, two independent companies of new york, two companies of virginia rangers, one of maryland rangers, a total of nine hundred and eighty-four men, six hundred woodchoppers under sir john st. clair having been sent forward to widen and improve washington's road. the next day but one colonel thomas dunbar marched away with another brigade comprising the th regiment, a company of carpenters, three companies of virginia rangers, and one from south and north carolina each, a total of nine hundred and ninety-three men. on the tenth, braddock and his aides and the rest of the army which was approximately two thousand two hundred strong--a force powerful enough to have razed duquesne, venango, la boeuf, presque isle, and niagara to the ground--if it could have reached them. this franklin who secured braddock horses and wagons was a prophet. and once he predicted that this "slender line" of an army would be greatly in danger of indian ambuscade "and be cut, like a thread, into several pieces, which, from their distance, cannot come up in time to support each other." braddock laughed at the prophecy, but his army had not been swallowed up in the gloom of the forests two days before its line was thinner and longer than braddock could ever have believed. when encamped at night, the line of wagons compactly drawn together was half a mile long; in marching order by day the army was often spread out to a length of four miles. and even in this fashion it could only creep along. halket with the first division made only five miles in three days. in ten days braddock had only covered the twenty-four miles to little crossings. the road makers followed implicitly the indian path where it was possible; when on the high ground the road was so rugged that many wagons were entirely demolished and more temporarily disabled; when off this track in the ravines they were buried axle deep in the bogs. to haul the wagons and cannon over this worst road ever trod braddock had the poorest horses available. all the weak, spavined, wind-broken, and crippled beasts in pennsylvania, maryland, and virginia were palmed off on braddock by unscrupulous contractors. and horses, dead or dying, were always left with the demolished wagons. "there has been vile management in regard to horses," wrote washington; before the army had covered one third of its journey there were not enough to draw all the wagons, the strongest being sent back each day to bring up the wagons left behind the morning before. the continuous diet of salt meat brought an epidemic of bloody flux on the army; some died, many were sick. washington's strong system was in the grasp of a fever before little crossings was reached. the situation now was desperate and would have appalled a less stubborn man than edward braddock. acting on washington's advice he here divided his army, preparing to push on to fort duquesne with a flying column of fourteen hundred men. washington found the first western river almost dry and reasoned that riviere aux boeufs would be too dry to transport southward the reinforcements that were hurrying from canada. on the nineteenth, braddock advanced with colonel halket and lieutenant colonels burton and gage and major sparks, leaving colonel dunbar and major chapman--to their disgust--to hobble on with the sick and dying men and horses, the sorry line of wagons creaking under their heavy loads. the young virginian colonel was left at the very first camp in a raging fever. though unable to push on further with the column that would capture duquesne, yet braddock considerately satisfied the ambition of washington by promising that he should be brought up before the attack was made. washington wrote home that he would not miss the capture of duquesne "for five hundred pounds!" with the flying column were taken the indians that were with the army but which numbered less than a dozen. braddock has been severely blamed for his neglect of the indians, but any earnest study of this campaign will assure the student that the commanding general was no more at fault here than for the failure of the contractors and the indifference of the colonies. he had been promised indians as freely as stores and horses and wagons. the indian question seems to have been handled most wretchedly since washington's late campaign. through the negligence of the busy-body dinwiddie (so eager for so many unimportant matters) even the majority of the indians who served washington faithfully and had followed his retreating army back to virginia were allowed to drift back to the french through sheer neglect. as none of dinwiddie's promises were fulfilled in this respect braddock turned in despair to morris for such ohio indians as were living in pennsylvania. there had been at least three hundred indians of the six nations living in that province, but in april the pennsylvania assembly had resolved to "do nothing more for them"; accordingly they went westward and most of them joined the french. morris, however, urged george croghan to send word to the delawares, shawanese, wyandots, etc., bidding them come and join braddock's army. but croghan brought less than fifty and braddock was not destined to keep all of these, for colonel innes, commanding at fort cumberland, not desiring the indian families on his hands during the absence of the fathers, persuaded braddock that there were not enough to add to the fighting strength of the army and that a few would be as serviceable for spies as many. nor was this bad reasoning: braddock would have been no better off with thirty than with ten. the fact is, he was in nothing deceived more by false promises and assurances than in the matter of indian coöperation. and was he more at fault for the lack of frontiersmen? true, he refused the services of captain jack and his company, but only because the latter refused to be governed by the discipline to which the rest of the army was subject; braddock could not agree to such an arrangement and it is doubtful if washington would have acted differently under similar circumstances. at least the virginian had nothing to do with captain jack's renowned company the year before. to other border fighters braddock gave a warm reception; gist and croghan, the two best known men on the frontier, held important offices in the army. it is as easy as common to lay at the door of a defeated and dead commander all the misfortunes of a campaign; whatever braddock's errors, the fact remains that the colonies failed absolutely to make the least move to provide an indian army for braddock's use. nothing could have more surely promised defeat and disgrace. the flying column flew like a partridge with a broken wing. "we set out," wrote washington who started with it but was compelled to stop, "with less than thirty carriages, including those that transported the ammunition for the howitzers, and six-pounders, and all of them strongly horsed; which was a prospect that conveyed infinite delight to my mind, though i was excessively ill at the time. but this prospect was soon clouded, and my hopes brought very low indeed, when i found, that, instead of pushing on with vigor, without regarding a little rough road, they were halting to level every mole-hill, and to erect bridges over every brook, by which means we were four days in getting twelve miles." on the third of july the flying column had passed the youghiogheny and were encamped ten miles north of it, forty miles from fort duquesne. it had not averaged three miles a day since leaving little crossings! here a council of war was held to decide whether to push on alone or await the coming of dunbar and the wagons. could the grenadiers and their officers have seen through that narrow path to their destination, how quickly would their decision have been made, how eagerly would they have hurried on to the ohio! contrecoeur at fort duquesne was in a miserable plight; every returning red-skin told of the advance of the great british army in the face of governor duquesne's proud boast to vaudreuil that it was impossible for the english to cross the alleghenies in sufficient force to cause uneasiness! braddock, despite the utter lack of proper support from the colonies, was accomplishing the eighth wonder of the world. it was desperate work. but a bull-dog was creeping nearer each day. throughout the winter the british ministry and the court of versailles had been exchanging the most ridiculous pretenses of peace while secretly preparing for war with dispatch. for every ill-recruited regiment king george sent to virginia, king louis sent two famous regiments to canada, and they arrived there despite boscawen, the english admiral, who captured two unimportant ships. yet that was enough to precipitate the struggle and save more fables from the respective ambassadors; "i will not pardon the piracies of that insolent nation," exclaimed louis--and open war was inevitable. at his landing at quebec vaudreuil found not less than twelve thousand soldiers in canada to defend the claims of his king. but that was a long frontier to man, from quebec to new orleans, and in april only about one thousand men were forwarded to defend the ohio river. of these contrecoeur had not more than three hundred, probably less. the summer before he had two thousand defenders, but duquesne, blindly trusting to the ephemeral league he had made with the alleghenies, had not been liberal again. in vain contrecoeur sent messages northward to venango and presque isle. riviere aux boeufs was as dry as the youghiogheny. inevitable surrender or capitulation stared the french commander in the face. even the crowds of indians within hail were not to be reckoned on; they were terrified at the proportions of braddock's army. accordingly, contrecoeur made his arrangements for a capitulation, as washington had done one year ago. braddock had accomplished the impossible; the indians were demoralized and took to "cooking and counciling"; fort duquesne was as good as captured. on the seventh braddock reached brush fork of turtle creek, but the country immediately between him and the ohio was so rough that the army turned westward and pitched its nineteenth encampment in long run valley two miles from the monongahela. here washington came up with the army in a covered wagon, still weak but ready to move with the army in the morning and sleep in duquesne that night. the whole army was infused with this hope as the ninth of july dawned. for no one questioned braddock's success if he could once throw that army across the mountains. no one knew the situation better than washington, and early in the campaign he wrote his brother: "as to any danger from the enemy, i look upon it as trifling." in london profane wits cited scripture (ezekiel xxxv: - ) to justify the conquest of the ohio valley: "moreover, the word of the lord came unto me saying, son of man, set thy face against mount seir and prophesy against it, and say unto it, thus saith the lord god: behold, o mount seir, i am against thee and i will stretch out mine hand against thee and i will make thee most desolate.... because thou hast said, these two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will possess it." already subscription papers were being passed about in philadelphia to provide festal fires to illumine the quaker city when the news of braddock's victory came. "why, the d--l," exclaimed one of the enthusiasts to that odd man franklin who did not sign his name at once, "you surely don't suppose the fort will not be taken?" "i don't know it will not be taken," replied the postmaster-general, "but i know that the events of war are subject to great uncertainty." a jingling ballad in chester county, pennsylvania, was spreading throughout the frontier. it ran, in part: to arms, to arms! my jolly grenadiers! hark, how the drums do roll it along! to horse, to horse, with valiant good cheer; we'll meet our proud foe, before it is long. let not your courage fail you: be valiant, stout and bold; and it will soon avail you, my loyal hearts of gold. huzzah, my valiant countrymen!--again i say huzzah! 'tis nobly done--the day's our own--huzzah, huzzah! march on, march on, brave braddock leads the foremost; the battle is begun as you may fairly see. stand firm, be bold, and it will soon be over; we'll soon gain the field from our proud enemy. a squadron now appears, my boys; if that they do but stand! boys, never fear, be sure you mind the word of command! huzzah, my valiant countrymen!--again i say huzzah! 'tis nobly done--the day's our own--huzzah, huzzah! before daybreak on the morning of the fatal ninth lieutenant colonel gage moved to the monongahela to secure the two fords the army was to use on the last day's march. at four o'clock sir john st. clair with two hundred and fifty men went forward to prepare the roads. at five braddock advanced and made the first crossing at eight o'clock. he then formed his army for a triumphant march to the second ford and on to fort duquesne. it had been feared that, however weak, contrecoeur would attempt to defend this ford of the monongahela. but this fear was dissipated on receipt of the news that gage held the second ford. contrecoeur knew it would be foolhardy to give braddock battle. he was in no mind to waste his men futilely. he knew an honorable capitulation was all for which he could hope. but on the th a captain of the regulars, m. de beaujeu, asked leave to go out with a band to oppose braddock's passage of the monongahela. reluctantly, it is said, contrecoeur gave his permission and, the whole garrison desiring to attend beaujeu, the commander detailed him selected troops on the condition that he could obtain the assistance of the indians who were about the fort. the impetuous beaujeu hurried off to the indians and unfolded his plan to them. but they were afraid of braddock; some of them had even gone into the english camp, at cumberland, or in the mountains, on pretense of joining the english army; they had seen the long lines of grenadiers and wagons laden with cannon. "how, my father," they replied, "are you so bent upon death that you would also sacrifice us? with our eight hundred men do you ask us to attack four thousand english? truly, this is not the saying of a wise man. but we will lay up what we have heard, and tomorrow you shall know our thoughts." baffled, beaujeu withdrew while the redskinned allies of the french frittered away the hours in debate--and the spies brought word that braddock was encamped in long run valley. the indomitable beaujeu, however, went and examined the ground at the ford of the monongahela, which braddock would pass on the next day. on the ninth, however, the indians brought word that they would not join in the unequal contest. but even as they spoke an indian scout came running down the narrow trail toward the fort. he brought the news of braddock's advance on the monongahela fords. beaujeu, cunning actor, played his last card desperately and well: "i am determined," he cried, "to go out against the enemy; i am certain of victory. what! will you suffer your father to depart alone?" the reproach stung the savage breasts. in a moment hundreds of hoarse voices were drowning the long roll of the drums. a mad scene followed; wild with enthusiasm, casks of bullets and flints and powder were rolled to fort gates and their heads knocked out. about these the savages, even while painting themselves for the fray, came in crowds, each one free to help himself as he needed. then came the race for the ford of the monongahela. down the narrow trail burst the horde of warriors, led by the daring beaujeu dressed in savage costume, an indian gorget swinging from his neck for good fortune. behind him poured delawares, ojibways, pottawattamies, abenakis, caughnawagas, iroquois, ottawas, led by their young king pontiac; shawanese, wyandots, hurons, led by athanasius from the mission of lorette, who gloried in a name "torn from the most famous page of christian history." with the six hundred savages ran two hundred canadians and four score french regulars. this rabble could not have left fort duquesne before high noon; no wonder beaujeu ran--fearing braddock had passed the battle-ground he had chosen last night. in that case he despaired of delaying the advance even a single day; yet in one day the expected reinforcements might arrive from the north! washington rode with braddock today, though he rode on a pillow in his saddle. in after life he often recalled the sight of braddock's grenadiers marching beside the monongahela in battle array, a fine picture with the thin red line framed in the fresh green of the forests. with the receipt of gage's note, the fear of ambuscade which had been omnipresent since the army left fort cumberland, vanished. during that month the indian guides, flanking squads, and woodchoppers had rushed into camp time and again calling the companies to arms; each alarm had been false. as fort duquesne was neared braddock grew doubly cautious. he even attempted to leave the indian trail which ran through the "narrows" and which crossed the monongahela at the mouth of turtle creek. when another course was found impossible for the wagons he turned reluctantly back to the old thoroughfare, but had passed the "narrows" safely and his advance guards now held the fords. all was well. by two o'clock braddock was across the river, bag and baggage. beyond, the indian trail wound along to the uplands, skirting the heads of numerous ravines and clinging persistently, like all the trails of the indians and buffalo, to the high ground between the brook and swamp. the ridge which the trail followed here to the second terrace was twenty rods in width, with the path near the center. on the west a deep ravine, completely hidden in the deep underbrush, lay almost parallel with the trail for a distance of over five hundred feet. on the opposite side smaller ravines also lay nearly parallel with the trail. on the high ground between these hidden ravines, and not more than two hundred feet from them, braddock's engineers and woodchoppers widened their road for gage's advance guard which was ordered to march on until three o'clock. as the engineers reached the extremity of the second terrace beaujeu came bounding into sight, the pack of eight hundred wolves at his heels. seeing the english, the daring but dismayed frenchman stopped still in his tracks. he was an hour too late. attempting to surprise braddock, beaujeu was himself surprised. but he waved his hat above his head and the crowd of warriors scattered behind him like a partridge's brood into the forest leaves. the french captain knew the ground and braddock did not, and the ground was admirably formed for a desperate stand against the advancing army. burton, who was just leaving the river shore, was ordered up to support gage on the second upland after the first fire. this brought the whole army, save four hundred men, to the second terrace between the unseen ravines on the east and west. into these ravines poured the indian rabble. the ravine on the east being shorter than that on the west, many savages ran through it and posted themselves in the dense underbrush on the hillside. thus, in a twinkling of an eye, the indians running southward in the two ravines and the british northward on the high ground between them, the fatal position of the battle was quickly assumed.[ ] no encounter has been more incorrectly described and pictured than the battle of the monongahela.[ ] braddock was not surprised; his advance guard saw the enemy long before they opened fire; george croghan affirmed that the grenadiers delivered their first charge when two hundred yards distant from the indians, completely throwing it away. nor did braddock march blindly into a deep ravine; his army was ever on the high ground, caught almost in the vortex of the cross-fire of the savages hidden on the brink of the ravines on either side, or posted on the high ground to the right.[ ] the road was but twelve feet in width. even as burton came up, gage's grenadiers were frightened and retreating. the meeting of the advancing and retiring troops caused a fatal confusion and delay in the narrow road. the fire from the indians on the high ground to the right being severe, braddock attempted to form his bewildered men and charge. it was futile. the companies were in an inextricable tangle. finally, to reduce things to order, the various standards were advanced in different directions and the officers strove to organize their commands in separate detachments, with a hope of surrounding the savages. this, too, proved futile. the indians on either side completely hidden in the ravines, the smoke of the rifles hardly visible through the dense underbrush, poured a deadly fire on the swarm of red-coats huddled in the narrow track. not a rifle ball could miss its mark there. as the standards were advanced here and there, the standard bearers and the officers who followed encouraging their men to form again were shot down both from behind and before.[ ] as once and again the paralyzed grenadiers broke into the forest to raid the ravines, in the vain hope of dislodging the enemy, they offered only a surer mark for the thirsty rifles toward which they ran. the virginians took to the trees like ducks to water, but the sight enraged braddock, mad to have the men form in battle line and charge in solid phalanx. in vain washington pleaded to be allowed to place his men behind the trees; braddock drove them away with the flat blade of his sword. yet they came back and fought bravely from the trees as was their habit. but it availed nothing to fight behind trees with the enemy on both flanks; the virginians were, after all, no safer there than elsewhere, as the death-roll plainly shows. the provincial portion of the army suffered as heavily, if not more heavily, than any other. no army could have stood its ground there and won that battle. the only chance of victory was to advance or retreat out of range of those hidden rifles. the army could not be advanced for every step brought the men nearer the very center of that terrible cross-fire. and the bull-dog braddock knew not the word "retreat." that was the secret of his defeat.[ ] soon there were not enough officers left to command the men, most of whom were hopelessly bewildered at seeing half the army shot down by a foe they themselves had never seen. many survivors of the battle affirmed that they never saw above five indians during the conflict. braddock was mortally wounded by a ball which pierced his right arm and lung. sir peter halket lay dead, his son's dead corpse lying across his own. of twenty-one captains, seven were dead and seven wounded; of thirty-eight lieutenants, fifteen were wounded and eleven were dead; of fourteen second lieutenants or ensigns, five were wounded and three were dead; of fifty-eight sergeants, twenty were wounded and seventeen dead; of sixty-one corporals and bombardiers, twenty-two were wounded and eighteen dead; of eighteen gunners, eight were wounded and six were dead; of twelve hundred privates, three hundred and twenty-eight were wounded and three hundred and eighty-six were dead. each frenchman, canadian, and indian had hit his man and more than every other one had killed his man. their own absolutely impregnable position can be realized when it is known that not twenty-five french, canadians or indians were killed and wounded. among the first to fall was the hero of the day, beaujeu; his indian gorget could not save his own life, but it delayed the capture of fort duquesne--three years. yet the stubborn, doomed army held its ground until the retreat was ordered. the wounded braddock, who pleaded, it is said, to be left upon the ground, and even begged for croghan's pistol with which to finish what a french bullet had begun, was placed in a cart and afterwards in a wagon and brought off the field.[ ] no sooner was retreat ordered than it became an utter rout. some fifty indians pursued the army into the river, but none crossed it. here and there efforts were made to stem the tide but to no purpose. the army fled back to dunbar, who had now crawled along to laurel hill and was encamped at a great spring at the foot of what is now dunbar's knob, half a mile north of jumonville's hiding place and grave. dunbar's situation was already deplorable, even washington having prophesied that, though he had crossed the worst of the mountain road, he could never reach fort duquesne. but as braddock's demoralized army threw itself upon him, dunbar's condition was indescribably wretched. a large portion of the survivors of the battle and of dunbar's own command, lost to all order, hurried on toward fort cumberland. dunbar himself, now senior officer in command, ordered his cannons spiked and his ammunition destroyed and, with such horses as could be of service, began to retreat across the mountains. for this he was, and has often been, roundly condemned; yet, since we have washington's plain testimony that he could never have hauled his wagons and cannon over the thirty comparatively easy miles to fort duquesne, who can fairly blame him for not attempting to haul them over the sixty difficult miles to fort cumberland? to fortify himself, so far removed from hopes of sustenance and succor, was equally impossible. there was nothing dunbar could do but retreat. the dying braddock, tumbling about in a covered wagon on the rough road, spoke little to the few men who remained faithfully beside him. only once or twice in the three days he lived did he speak of the battle; and then he only sighed to himself softly: "who would have thought it?" once, turning to the wounded orme, he said: "we shall better know how to deal with them another time." during his last hours braddock seems to have regarded his young virginian aide, washington, whose advice he had followed only indifferently throughout the campaign, with utmost favor, bequeathing him his favorite charger and his servant. on the night of the twelfth of july, in a camp in an indian orchard, near what is now braddock's run, a mile and more east of fort necessity, in great meadows, edward braddock died. in the morning he was buried in the center of the roadway. undoubtedly washington read the service over the briton's grave. when the army marched eastward it passed over the grave, obliterating its site from even an indian's keen eye. in , when the braddock's road was being repaired, what were undoubtedly his bones were uncovered, together with military trappings, etc. these were placed in the dry ground above the neighboring run, the spot being now marked by solemn pines. whatever braddock's faults and foibles, he accomplished a great feat in leading a comparatively powerful army across the alleghenies, and had he been decently supported by the colonies, there would have been no doubt of his success. as it was, shamefully hampered and delayed by the procrastinating indifference of the colonies, deceived and defrauded by wolfish contractors, abandoned by the indians because of the previous neglect of the colonial governors and assemblies, nevertheless the campaign was a distinct success, until at the last moment, fate capriciously dashed the chalice from braddock's lips. the shattered army reached fort cumberland on july . the tale of disaster had preceded it. the festal fires were not kindled in philadelphia. now, for the first time the colonies were awakened to the true situation, and in the months following paid dearly for their supine indifference. for with beaujeu's victory the french arms became impregnable on the ohio. braddock's defeat brought ten-fold more wretchedness than his victory could ever have brought of advantage. after that terrible scene of savagery at fort duquesne on the night of the victory, when the few prisoners taken were burned at the stake, there were no wavering indians. and instantly the frontier was overrun with marauding bands which drove back to the inhabited parts of the country every advanced settlement. all the virginian outposts were driven in; and even the brave moravian missionaries in pennsylvania and new york gave up their work before the red tide of war which now set eastward upon the long frontiers. for shirley had likewise been beaten back from fort niagara, and johnson had not captured fort crown point. two of the campaigns of were utter failures. chapter vi a description of the backwoods the clearest insight into the days when braddock's road was built, and the most vivid pictures of the country through which it wound its course, are given in certain letters of a british officer who accompanied braddock. no treatise on braddock's expedition could be in any measure complete without reproducing this amusing, interesting, yet pitiful testimony to the difficulties experienced by these first english officers to enter the backwoods of america. this is given in a volume entitled _extracts of letters from an officer in one of those regiments to his friend in london_, published in london in the year of braddock's defeat: "you desire me to let you know the particulars of our expedition, and an account at large of the nature of the country, and how they live here; also of the manner of the service, and which corps is the most agreeable to serve in, because it has been proposed to you to strive to buy a commission here, and that you awaited my advice to determine. dear sir, i love you so well that i shall at once tell you, i reckon the day i bought my commission the most unhappy in my life, excepting that in which i landed in this country. as for the climate, it is excessive hot in summer, and as disagreeably cold in winter, and there is no comfort in the spring; none of those months of gentle genial warmth, which revives all nature, and fills every soul with vernal delight; far from this, the spring here is of very few days, for as soon as the severe frosts go off, the heat of the neighbouring sun brings on summer at once, one day shall be frost, and the next more scorching or sultry and faint than the hottest dog-day in _england_. what is excessively disagreeable here is, that the wealth of the country consists in slaves, so that all one eats rises out of driving and whipping these poor wretches; this kind of authority so corrupts the mind of the masters, and makes them so overbearing, that they are the most troublesome company upon earth, which adds much to the uncomfortableness of the place. you cannot conceive how it strikes the mind on the first arrival, to have all these black faces with grim looks round you, instead of being served by blooming maid servants, or genteel white livery men: i was invited to supper by a rich planter, and the heat of the climate, the dim light of the myrtle wax-candles, and the number of black half-naked servants that attended us, made me think of the infernal regions, and that i was at supper with _pluto_, only there was no beautiful _proserpine_, for the lady of the house was more like one of the furies; she had passed through the education of the college of _newgate_, as great numbers from thence arrive here yearly; most being cunning jades, some pick up foolish planters; this lady's husband was far from a fool, but had married, not only for the charms of her person, but because her art and skill was quite useful to him in carrying on his business and affairs, many of which were worthy of an adept in the college she came from. among others he made me pay for my supper by selling me a horse upon honour, which, as soon as it was cool, shewed itself dog-lame and moon-blind. "as for eating, they have the names of almost every thing that is delicious, or in fashion in _england_, but they give them to things as little like as _cæsar_ or _pompey_ were to the _negroes_ whom they call by those _names_. for what they call a hare is a creature half cat, half rabbet, with white strong flesh, and that burrows in rotten trees; they call a bird not much bigger than a fieldfare, with hard, dry, strong flesh, hardly eatable, a partridge. the best thing they have is a wild turky, but this is only in season one month in the year; the rest it is hard, strong, and dry. as for beef, the months of _october_ and _november_ excepted, it is carrion; that is to say, so lean as it would not be called meat in _england_; their mutton is always as strong goats' flesh; their veal is red and lean, and indeed the heat of the summer and the pinching frost of winter, makes all like _pharaoh's_ lean kine. they brag of the fruits, that they have such plenty of peaches as to feed hogs; and indeed that is true, they are fit for nothing else; i do not remember, among the multitudes i have tasted, above one or two that were eatable, the rest were either mealy or choaky. melons grow in fields, and are plentier than pumpkins in _england_, as large and as tasteless; there are such quantities that the houses stink of them; the heat of the country makes them at once mellow, so that they hardly ever have the fine racy taste of an _english_ good melon, for in _england_ you have many bad melons to one good; but here the heat makes all fruits like us young fellows, rotten before they are ripe. with respect to fish, they have neither salmon, carp, trout, smelts, nor hardly any one good kind of fish. they give the name of trout to a white sea-fish, no more like a trout than a cat to a hare; they have one good, nay excellent kind of fish, i mean a turtle; but as scarce as in _england_. with respect to public diversions, the worst _english_ country town exceeds all they have in the whole province. as to drink, _burgundy_ and _champaign_ were scarce ever heard of; _claret_ they have but poor stuff, tawny and prick'd, for it cannot stand the heat of the summer, which also spoils the _port_; the _madeira_ is the best wine they have, but that only of the worst growths, for the best are sent to _jamaica_ or _england_; their only tolerable drink is rum punch, which they swill morning, noon, and night. their produce is tobacco; they are so attached to that, and their avarice to raise it, makes them neglect every comfort of life; but the intemperance of the climate affects not only all the cattle, fruits, and growths of the country, but the human race; and it is rare to see a native reach years of age. i have heard from the best judges, i mean the kind hearted ladies most in vogue, that a _virginian_ is old at , as an _englishman_ is at . the ladies i speak of are well experienced, and for most of them the public have for peculiar merit paid the passage, and honoured with an order for transportation on record. i would not deceive you so have told you the truth; i have not exaggerated, but have omitted many disagreeable circumstances, such as thunder storms, yellow fevers, musketoes, other vermin, _&c_ with which i shall not trouble you. the ship is just going." * * * * * "i sent a letter to you by captain _johnson_ bound for _bristol_, with a full account of the country, by which you will see the reasons why it will be highly improper for you to buy into the troops here; i send this by a ship bound for _london_. "they make here a division between the settlements and the woods, though the settlements are what we should call very woody in _europe_. the face of the country is entirely different from any thing i ever saw before; the fields have not the appearance of what bears that name in _europe_, instead of ploughed grounds or meadows, they are all laid out in hillocks, each of which bears tobacco plants, with paths hoed between. when the tobacco is green it looks like a coppice; when pulled the ground looks more like hop-yards than fields, which makes a very disagreeable appearance to the eye. the indian corn also, and all their culture runs upon hilling with the hoe, and the _indian_ corn grows like reeds to eight or nine feet high. indeed in some parts of the country wheat grows, but tobacco and _indian_ corn is the chief. "from the heart of the settlements we are now got into the cow-pens, the keepers of these are very extraordinary kind of fellows, they drive up their herds on horseback, and they had need do so, for their cattle are near as wild as deer; a cow-pen generally consists of a very large cottage or house in the woods, with about four-score or one hundred acres, inclosed with high rails and divided; a small inclosure they keep for corn, for the family, the rest is the pasture in which they keep their calves; but the manner is far different from any thing you ever saw; they may perhaps have a stock of four or five hundred to a thousand head of cattle belonging to a cow-pen, these run as they please in the great woods, where there are no inclosures to stop them. in the month of _march_ the cows begin to drop their calves, then the cow-pen master, with all his men, rides out to see and drive up the cows with all their new fallen calves; they being weak cannot run away so as to escape, therefore are easily drove up, and the bulls and other cattle follow them; then they put these calves into the pasture, and every morning and evening suffer the cows to come and suckle them, which done they let the cows out into the great woods to shift for their food as well as they can; whilst the calf is sucking one tit of the cow, the woman of the cow-pen is milking one of the other tits, so that she steals some milk from the cow, who thinks she is giving it to the calf; as soon as the cow begins to go dry, and the calf grows strong, they mark them, if they are males they cut them, and let them go into the wood. every year in _september_ and _october_ they drive up the market steers, that are fat and of a proper age, and kill them; they say they are fat in _october_, but i am sure they are not so in _may_, _june_ and _july_; they reckon that out of head of cattle they can kill about or steers, and four or five cows a year; so they reckon that a cow-pen for every head of cattle brings about £ sterling per year. the keepers live chiefly upon milk, for out of their vast herds, they do condescend to tame cows enough to keep their family in milk, whey, curds, cheese and butter; they also have flesh in abundance such as it is, for they eat the old cows and lean calves that are like to die. the cow-pen men are hardy people, are almost continually on horseback, being obliged to know the haunts of their cattle. "you see, sir, what a wild set of creatures our _english_ men grow into, when they lose society, and it is surprising to think how many advantages they throw away, which our industrious country-men would be glad of: out of many hundred cows they will not give themselves the trouble of milking more than will maintain their family." * * * * * "since my last, we are got out of the settlements and into the woods. the scene is changed, but not for the better. i thought we were then so bad that we had the consolation of being out of danger of being worse, but i found myself mistaken. the mutinous spirit of the men encreases, but we will get the better of that; we will see which will be tired first, they of deserving punishments, or we of inflicting them. i cannot but say the very face of the country is enough to strike a damp in the most resolute mind; the fatigues and wants we suffer, added, are enough to dispirit common men; nor should i blame them for being low spirited, but they are mutinous, and this came from a higher spring than the hardships here, for they were tainted in _ireland_ by the factious cry against the l-- l-- ld g--, and the primate; the wicked spirit instilled there by pamphlets and conversation, got amongst the common soldiers, who, tho' they are _englishmen_, yet are not the less stubborn and mutinous for that. they have the impudence to pretend to judge of and blame every step, not only of the officers, but of the ministry. they, every now and then, in their defence say they are free _englishmen_, and protestants, and are not obliged to obey orders if they are not fed with bread, and paid with money; now there is often only bills to pay them with, and no bread but _indian_ corn. in fine, in _europe_ they were better fed than taught; now they must be better taught than fed. indeed the officers are as ill off about food as they, the general himself, who understands good eating as well as any man, cannot find wherewithal to make a tolerable dinner of, though he hath two good cooks who could make an excellent ragout out of a pair of boots, had they but materials to toss them up with; the provision in the settlements was bad, but here we can get nothing but _indian_ corn, or mouldy bisket; the fresh bread we must bake in holes in the ground having no ovens, so besides the mustiness of the flour, it is half sand and dirt. we are happy if we can get some rusty salt pork, or beef, which hath been carried without pickle; for as we cannot carry barrels on horses, we are forced to take out the meat and put it in packs on horses backs; sometimes we get a few live cattle from the cow-pens, but they are so lean that they are carion and unwholesome. to this is added, the heat of the country, which occasions such faintness, that the men can hardly carry their arms; and sometimes when these heats are a little relaxed, there comes such storms of rain, thunder and lightening, that all the elements seems on fire; numbers of pine trees struck to shivers, and such effects of lightening, that if not seen one could hardly believe; yet we have not as yet had one man killed by lightening, but we have had several died by the bite of snakes, which are mortal, and abound prodigiously in the swamps, through which we are often forced to march; there is another inconveniency, which, tho it seems small, has been as teasing to me as the greater, that is a kind of tick, or forest bug, that gets into the legs, and occasions inflammations and ulcers, so that the wound itches and makes one ready to tear off the flesh; this hath greatly distressed both men and officers, and there is no help nor cure for it but patience: indeed they seldom occasion lameness, tho' sometimes they do; a soldier of our company was forced to have his leg cut off, for the inflammation caused by the many bites mortifying. we have nothing round us but trees, swamps, and thickets. i cannot conceive how we must do if we are attacked, nor how we can get up to attack; but the best is what the general said, to reassure the old soldiers who are all uneasy for fear of being attack'd on the long march in defiles, his excellency with great judiciousness says, that where the woods are too thick so as to hinder our coming at them, they will hinder their coming at us. [illustration: braddock's road near frostburg, maryland] "just as i write this we hear the best news i ever heard in my life, the general hath declared to the _virginians_, that if they do not furnish us with waggons and provisions in two days, he will march back; he has justly upbraided them for exposing the king's troops, by their bragging and false promises. they undertook to furnish us with horses, bread and beef, and really have given nothing but carion for meat, _indian_ corn for bread, jades for horses which cannot carry themselves. these assurances of furnishing every thing has deceived the general hitherto, and he, out of zeal for the service, hath undergone the utmost difficulties; but now it is impossible to go farther without they comply with the promises, they were weak, or wicked enough to make, for certainly they were never able to perform them; it is surprizing how they bragged before we left the settlements, of what plenty they would furnish us with at the cow-pens, and in the woods; these assurances has brought the general into the present difficulties, and he has very justly told them, that if he marched any farther without a supply, he should be justly charged with destroying his majesty's troops in the deserts, and thereby occasion the destruction of _virginia_ by encouraging the french; that if he was not supplied in two days, he would march back, and lay their breach of faith before his majesty. "i now begin to hope that i shall once more have the pleasure of seeing you, and the rest of my friends. pray acquaint my dear mr. m--, that i desire he would not sell my farm at --, since i hope soon to be over." [the rest relates to private affairs]. * * * * * "as the intention of marching back continues, another courier is to be sent, which opportunity i take, not only to let you know i am well, but to desire my cousin -- would not send any money to mr. -- to be remitted to me in _virginia_. as the pen is in my hand, i will give you an account of a diversion we had some nights ago, it was an _indian_ dancing, which i cannot call a ball, though it was a kind of masquerade, the habits being very antick; but this as every thing in this country is, was in the stile of the horrible; the sal de ball was covered with the canopy of heaven, and adorned with the twinkling stars, a large space of grass was mark'd out for the dancing-place, round which we the spectators stood, as at a cricket-match in _england_, in the centre of it was two fires, at a small distance from each other, which were designed as an illumination to make the dancers visible; near the fires was seated the musick, which were a number of men and women, with a kind of timbrels or small kettle-drums, made of real brass kettles, covered with deer skins made like parchment by the _indians_, and these they beat, and keep good time, although their tunes are terrible and savage; they also sing much in the same stile, creating terror, fear, and all dreadful passions, but no pleasing ones. after this noise had gone on for some time, at once we heard a most dreadful shout, and a band of horrid figures rushed into the ring, with a nimbleness hardly conceivable; they struck the ground in exact measure, answering the rough musick; at once all the descriptions of the fawns and satyrs of the _latin_ poets came into my mind, and indeed the _indians_ seemed to be the same kind of brown dancing people, as lived under king _faunus_, some years ago in _italy_; they are most chearful and loving to their friends, but implacable and cruel to their enemies. they drink and act when drunk much like _silenus_ and his satyrs; their whole life is spent in hunting, war, and dancing, what they now perform'd was a war dance; as soon as this surprize ceased the dancers followed one another, treading a large ring, round the two fires and music, and ceased singing; the timbrels and voices in the centre set up a tune to which they continued dancing, and follow'd one another in the ring with a very true measure, antick postures, and high bounds, that would puzzle our best harlequins to imitate; soon after, to every five dancers came out a boy, carrying in their hands flaming splinters of light wood instead of torches, which cast a glim light that made things as distinguishable as at noon-day; and indeed the surprisingness and newness of the spectacle made it not unpleasing; the indians being dress'd, some in furrs, some with their hair ornamented with feathers, others with the heads of beasts; their bodies naked, appearing in many places, painted with various colours, and their skins so rubbed with oyl as to glitter against the light; their waists were girded round with bear or deer skins with the hair on, and artificial tails fixed to many of them that hung down near unto the ground. after they had danced some time in a ring, the music ceased, the dancers divided into two parties, and set up the most horrid song or cry, that ever i heard, the sound would strike terror into the stoutest heart. they then formed themselves into two bodies, four deep, all which they did, still dancing to the tune and measure; they ceased singing, and the music began, on which the two bodies run in at each other, acting all the parts the _indians_ use in their manner of fight, avoiding shot, and striving to surround their enemies. some time past in this manner, and then at the signal of a dismal cry the dancers all at once rushed out again, leaving one only behind them, who was supposed to have mastered his enemy; he struck the ground with his tomohawk or club, as if he was killing one lying there, then acting the motions of scalping, and then holding up a real dried scalp, which before hung upon him amongst his ornaments; he then sung out the great achivements which some of their nation had performed against the _french_, told the names of the _indian_ warriors, and how many of _french_ each had scalped, and then the dance ended, _&c_." * * * * * "in my last i acquainted you with the joyful news that our general resolved not to be any longer deceived by the _virginians_, orders were given for our march back, but the day before that was appointed there arrived five quakers decently dressed, they were pure plump men, on brave fat horses, which, by the way, were the first plump creatures i had seen in this country. then, as i told you before, i believed _virginia_ was peopled by _pharaoh's_ lean kine, but these quakers seem to come from the land of _goshen_, they looked like christian people; they went directly to his excellence, and curiosity carried us all to the general quarters. they came with thanks to the general from the people of pensilvania, for the great labour he had gone through in advancing so far into the wilderness for the protection of his majesty's dutiful subjects. they acquainted him further, that they had been cutting roads to meet him with a number of waggons loaded with flour, cheese, bacon, and other provision; though this was good news i did not half like it, i fear'd it would occasion our stay, and prevent our marching back; besides it was ominous, your cheese and your bacon being the baits that draw rats to destruction, and it proved but too true; this bait drew us into a trap where happy was he that came off with the loss of his tail only. this evening we saw the road and waggons, and the men eat, this was a duty so long disused, that it was a tour of fatigue to the teeth. the fellows who drove the waggons, tho' they would have made but a shabby figure amongst our _hampshire_ carters, yet here they looked like angels, compared with the long, lank, yellow-faced _virginians_, who at best are a half-starved, ragged, dirty set; if by accident they can clear enough by their tobacco to buy a coat, they rather chuse a half-wore gaudy rag, than a substantial coarse cloth, or kersey; they are the very opposites to the _pensilvanians_, who buy coats of cloth so strong as to last as long as the garments of the _israelites_ in their march through the desert; a coat serves a man for his life and yet looks fresh, but this comes from their never wearing them at home; when out of sight they work half naked. they are a very frugal people, and if they were not so would be as beggarly as their neighbours the _virginians_. the ground does not bear half the crops as in _england_; they have no market but by sea, and that very dull, if you consider they are forced to put their flour in barrels after grinding and sifting, all at their own charge, and no consideration thereof in the price; whilst the _english_ farmer only threshes his wheat, and sends it to market. tho' _pensilvania_ is a paradise to _virginia_, it is a very poor country compared to _england_, and no man in his senses can live with comfort in _england_ stays here; as soon as they get estates they come over to _england_. the proprietor, a most worthy gentleman, and universally admired, went over, and out of complaisance staid a little time with them, but soon returned back to _england_, where he resides. if _pennsylvania_ could be agreeable to any one, it would be so to him, who is one of the most amiable men living, and the whole people used their utmost endeavors to make the place agreeable; but alas, the intemperature of the climate, the nearness and frugality in their manner of living, necessary to carry on the cultivation; the labor that most are forced to undergo to live, prevent their giving way to pleasure, and the rest, as soon as they by labor and frugality get enough to come to _england_, leave that country, so there are not people enough at ease to make an agreeable society; nor to occasion those improvements in gardens, buildings, and parks, as would make life agreeable, much less is their numbers enough of rich to afford encouragement to support public diversions; so that _america_ is a very disagreeable place, the least shire-town in _england_ has more pleasures than the best town in _north america_. "but to return to our quakers, the chief of them told the general that he feared greatly for the safety of the army; that the woods, the farther we went, would be the more dangerous, and the _french_ were a subtle and daring enemy, and would not neglect any opportunity of surprising us; that the further we went the more difficult it would be to supply us with provisions, and that the country was not worth keeping, much less conquering. the _french_ not yet knowing our force were in terror, and if he sent would perhaps come into a treaty; that peace was a heavenly thing; and as for the country in dispute it was misrepresented by those projectors, who had some private advantage; for it was fit for none but _indians_, the soil bad, far from the sea, and navigation; therefore he thought if the _french_ would abandon and destroy their forts, and we do the same, and leave the lands to their rightful owners the _indians_, on condition that that nation should pay some furrs and deer skins, by way of tribute, to our most gracious king _george_, a pacification might be established till the matter was made up before his majesty. that general _oglethorp_ had in that manner settled all differences with the _spaniards_ on the southern frontiers, towards _florida_, and the accord lasted to this day; on the other hand, he said, that if the _french_ refused, then the _indians_, who are a free and warlike nation, and much too powerful to be despised, would probably take our side; if we would pull down the _french_ forts, and our own also, they would be the guard of our colonies with very small expense to _england_. "the general not only heard this proposal with pleasure, and communicated it to most of the officers, but doubted if he had power to execute it. some of the braggadocio _virginians_, who last year ran away so stoutly, began to clamor against the quakers and the general; so we marched on; the general got as far as the meadows, where, to hasten our march, he fortified and intrenched a camp, and left the heavy baggage, sick men, and spare provision _&c_, and to cover our communication, he left colonel _dunbar_ with men. this place was the only one where regular troops could make use of their discipline and arms, and it is all open ground, therefore the general made this camp as a place of arms, where a fortification being erected would supply the army as they should want, and might receive, and lay up the provisions in safety, as they arrived from _pennsylvania_; the general also said, that as this place was on the west side of the _allegane_ mountains, it preserved his majesty's rights against the _french_, who pretended that those mountains bounded his majesty's dominions. here we halted and refreshed ourselves bravely, by the help of the _pensilvania_ provisions, and of deer, wild turkeys, and game of several other kinds brought in by the _indians_, which though we should deem it bad enough in _england_, for there is not above one deer in ten that is fat, yet here our former wants made these delicious. "on the th of _july_ our _indians_ were defeated in the woods by the _french_ parties; a few only was killed, but their chief man was taken; the _french_ have treated them very kindly, and declare they intend no war against the _indians_. the general is apprehensive this will make an ill impression on them, therefore does not care to trust them any further; he has publickly said he will advance himself with men, drive the enemy out of the woods, and invest _fort du quesne_; he is resolved to be prepared for all accidents, therefore leaves colonel _dunbar_ with a strong party to make good this camp. the ground round the camp is open, and the situation so advantageous, that this camp is defensible against all the efforts the _french_ can make, if any accident, should happen to the general; and he has declared, he has put it in this condition, that his majesty's affairs may not suffer if he should miscarry. "the general seems very anxious about marching through the woods, and gave very particular orders; powder and bullet were given out, and every thing fit for action; two lieutenant-colonels were ordered to command the advanced party. the general followed with the gross of the two regiments from _europe_, the _americans_ followed, and the rear was brought up by captain _dumary's_, and another independent company. we marched on in this manner without being disturbed, and thought we had got over our greatest difficulties, for we look'd upon our march through the woods to be such: we were sure we should be much above a match for the _french_, if once we got into the open ground near the forts, where we could use our arms. we had a train, and a gallant party of sailors for working our guns, full sufficient to master better works than those of the _french_ forts, according to the intelligence we had of them. then we march'd on, and when within about ten miles of fort _du quesne_, we were, on a sudden, charged by shot from the woods. every man was alert, did all we could, but the men dropped like leaves in _autumn_, all was confusion, and in spight of what the officers and bravest men could do, numbers run away, nay fired on us, that would have forced them to rally. i was wounded in one leg, and in the other heel, so could not go, but sat down at the foot of a tree, praying of every one that run by, that they would help me off; an _american virginian_ turned to me, yes, countryman, says he, i will put you out of your misery, these dogs shall not burn you; he then levelled his piece at my head, i cried out and dodged him behind the tree, the piece went off and missed me, and he run on; soon after lieutenant _grey_, with a party of _dumary's_ company came by, who brought up the rear; the firing was now quite ceased, he told me the general was wounded, and got me carried off. when we arrived at the _meadows_, we found colonel _dunbar_ did not think it expedient to wait for the _french_ there, but retired, and carried us, the wounded, with him to _will's creek_. i have writ till i am faint." chapter vii sparks and atkinson on braddock's route[ ] several months ago we received from that indefatigable delver in the early annals of our country, jared sparks, esq., of salem, massachusetts, a letter containing some valuable information as to the route of general braddock after leaving gist's farm, not far from where connelsville now stands. that letter we, for reasons which it is unnecessary to mention, have withheld from publication; but those reasons no longer existing, we now publish it--premising only a few introductory remarks. mr. sparks, as the biographer of washington and as the collator of his papers, and as a most indefatigable searcher after the whole truth in our early history, enjoyed extraordinary advantages, so that his statements in all such matters should always command the utmost confidence. there is in the possession of the pennsylvania historical society a draught of "the monongahela and youghiogany rivers" taken by joseph shippen, jr., in .[ ] on this draught the route of general braddock is distinctly laid down from cumberland to stewart's crossings, now connelsville, and thence to a point about twelve or fourteen miles, nearly due north, and of course some four or five miles east of the youghiogany. from that point the line of march is not laid down until within about six miles of the monongahela river, at braddock's first ford, about one mile and a half below mckeesport; from that point it is distinctly traced across the monongahela twice to the field of battle. as mr. shippen was brigade major in general forbes' army, and in that capacity visited this place within four years after braddock's defeat, we may well suppose that he had accurate information as to the route of that unfortunate general. extract of a letter from jared sparks, esq., to the editor of the _olden time_. "salem, mass., feb. th, . "dear sir:--there is a copy of the 'memorial' which you mentioned in the library of harvard college which i believe is complete. i shall obtain it soon, and will have the missing pages copied and forward to you the manuscript. i suppose you wish it sent by mail. i once compared this translation with the original[ ] and found it clumsily executed, but the substance is probably retained. "having heretofore examined with care the details of braddock's expedition, i am persuaded that the following, as far as it goes, is a correct account of his march from gist's plantation: "on the th of june the army forded the youghiogany at stewart's crossings and then passed a rough road over a mountain. a few days onward they came to a great swamp which detained them part of a day in clearing a road. they next advanced to salt lick creek, now called jacob's creek, where a council of war was held on the d of july to consider a suggestion of sir john st. clair that colonel dunbar's detachment should be ordered to join the main body. this proposal was rejected on the ground that dunbar could not join them in less than thirteen days; that this would cause such a consumption of provisions as to render it necessary to bring forward another convoy from fort cumberland; and that in the meantime the french might be strengthened by a reinforcement, which was daily expected at fort duquesne--and moreover; the two divisions could not move together after their junction. "on the th the army again marched and advanced to turtle creek, about twelve miles from its mouth, where they arrived on the th inst. i suppose this to have been the eastern branch or what is now called rush creek, and that the place at which they encamped was a short distance northerly from the present village of stewartsville. it was general braddock's intention to cross turtle creek, and approach fort duquesne on the other side; but the banks were so precipitous, and presented such obstacles to crossing with his artillery and heavy baggage that he hesitated, and sir john st. clair went out with a party to reconnoitre. on his return, before night, he reported that he had found the ridge which led to fort duquesne but that considerable work would be necessary to prepare a road for crossing turtle creek. this route was finally abandoned, and on the th the army marched eight miles and encamped not far from the monongahela, west of the youghiogany and near what is called in an old map 'sugar run.' when braddock reached this place it was his design to pass through the narrows, but he was informed by the guides who had been out to explore that the passage was very difficult, about two miles in length, with a river on the left and a high mountain on the right, and that much work must be done to make it passable for carriages. at the same time he was told that there were two good fords across the monongahela where the water was shallow and the banks not steep. with these views of the case he determined to cross the fords the next morning. the order of march was given out and all the arrangements were made for an early movement. "about eight o'clock on the morning of the th the advanced division under colonel gage crossed the ford and pushed forward. after the whole army had crossed and marched about a mile, braddock received a note from colonel gage, giving notice that he had passed the second ford without difficulty. a little before two o'clock the whole army had crossed this ford and was arranged in the order of march on the plain near frazer's house. gage with the advanced party was then ordered to march, and while the main body was yet standing on the plain the action began near the river. not a single man of the enemy had before been seen. "the distance by the line of march from stewart's crossing to turtle creek, or brush creek, was about thirty miles. at this point the route was changed almost to a right angle in marching to the monongahela. the encampment was probably two or three miles from the bank of the river, for colonel gage marched at the break of day and did not cross the ford till eight o'clock. during the whole march from the great meadows the pickets and sentinels were frequently assailed by scouting parties of french and indians and several men were killed. mr. gist acted as the general's guide. on the th of july two indians went out to reconnoitre the country toward fort duquesne; and mr. gist also on the same day, in a different direction. they were gone two days, and all came in sight of the fort, but brought back no important intelligence. the indians contrived to kill and scalp a french officer whom they found shooting within half a mile of the fort. "the army seldom marched more than six miles a day and commonly not so much. from stewart's crossing to turtle creek there were six encampments. during one day the army halted. "i shall be much pleased to see mr. atkinson's map. his knowledge of the ground will enable him to delineate braddock's route much more accurately than it can be done from any sources now available. i am, sir, respectfully yours, jared sparks. neville b. craig, esq., pittsburgh." [illustration: middleton's map of braddock's road ( ) [_braddock's road is shown as dotted line. the double line is the present route from cumberland to ft. necessity_]] since the foregoing letter was in type we have received from mr. t. c. atkinson of cumberland, maryland, lately employed on the pittsburgh and connelsville rail road, a very able and interesting article on the subject of braddock's route to the monongahela, with a very beautiful map of the country, by mr. middleton, one of mr. atkinson's assistants on the survey for the railroad. the article of mr. atkinson, and the map, furnish all the information as to the march of general braddock's army which can now be hoped for. mr. atkinson had for years devoted much time to the examination of the route of the army of braddock eastward, and some distance westward of cumberland, and his late employ along the youghiogany and monongahela afforded him an opportunity to complete his work. as a striking evidence of the accuracy of his researches, we will mention that in tracing the route he was much surprised and puzzled by what seemed the strange divergence of the army from the youghiogany river after passing it at stewart's crossings. yet the traditionary evidence and marks on the ground seemed to establish beyond doubt the fact that the army had passed far into the interior of our present county of westmoreland, and near to mount pleasant, crossing the line of the pittsburgh and greensburg turnpike road. this seemed so far from the natural and direct route that even the strong traditionary and other evidence, could not entirely remove the possibility of doubt. mr. atkinson himself was entirely satisfied as to the correctness of his own conclusions, but of course would be gratified to receive a confirmation, in an authentic shape, of his own convictions. just at that crisis we received the letter from mr. sparks, which precedes these remarks, thus settling most conclusively the verity of many of the traditions current in the country as to the erratic course of braddock's army from stewart's crossings to the monongahela river. we are, deeply indeed, indebted to mr. atkinson, and also to his assistant, mr. middleton, for their very valuable contribution in illustration of the early history of this country. the pittsburgh and connelsville rail road project cannot be regarded as an entirely fruitless effort; it has, at least, produced this most valuable historical essay. all additional information in relation to those early scenes must possess interest to every intelligent american; and we rejoice in the opportunity of placing mr. atkinson's valuable communication and the accompanying map before the readers of the _olden time_: "the interest with which the routes of celebrated expeditions are regarded, and the confusion which attends them after the lapse of years, is well exemplified in the case of hannibal, whose march toward rome, in order to divert their army from the siege of capua, was totally lost in the course of a few centuries. the constant blunders of livy in copying first from one writer, and then from another who made him take a different path, justify a recent english historian who went to italy to see the ground for himself, in saying that the punic war was almost as hard in the writing as the fighting. "as the time is coming when the road by which the unfortunate braddock marched to his disastrous field will be invested with antiquarian interest akin to that attending hannibal's route, or rather the _via scelerata_, by which the fabian family marched out of rome, i have thought it time not idly spent to attempt to pursue its scattered traces as far as it is in my power, among more pressing occupations. in this sketch i do not design to pursue it to its extent, but only to identify it in those parts where it has been convenient for me to visit it and in others to shadow out its general direction. where it is obscure i hope to have opportunities to examine it at a future day. "of the well conducted expedition of colonel bouquet and its precise path, the publications of mr. hutchins, the geographer, who was one of the engineers, leaves us very well informed. it is presumable that similar details would be found of the march of if it had had a successful termination. the three engineers who were in the field were wounded; and it is probable their papers fell into the hands of the enemy or were lost in the flight. "general braddock landed at alexandria on the th of february, . the selection of this port for the debarcation of the troops, was censured at the time, though it is probable it had the approval of washington. the two regiments he brought with him were very defective in numbers, having but about five hundred men each, and it was expected their ranks would be recruited in america. it is shown by the repeated requests on this point made by the general at cumberland that this expectation was vain. after numerous delays, and a conference with the royal governors, we find general braddock _en route_ on the th of april when he had reached fredricktown in maryland. passing thence through winchester, va., he reached fort cumberland about the th of may. sir john sinclair, deputy quarter master general, had preceded him to this point about two weeks.[ ] "the army struck the little cacapehon (though pronounced cacapon, i have used for the occasion the spelling of washington and various old documents), about six miles above its mouth, and following the stream encamped on the virginia side of the potomac preparatory to crossing into maryland. the water is supposed to have been high at the time, as the spot is known as the ferry-fields, from the army having been ferried over. this was about the th or th of may. "the army thence pursued the banks of the river, with a slight deviation of route at the mouth of the south branch, to the village of old town, known at that time as the shawnee old town, modern use having dropped the most characteristic part of the name. this place, distant about eight miles from the ferry-fields, was known at that early day as the residence of col. thomas cresap, an english settler, and the father of the hero of logan's speech. the road proceeded thence parallel with the river and at the foot of the hills, till it passes the narrows of will's mountain, when it struck out a shorter line coincident with the present county road, and lying between the railroad and the mountain, to fort cumberland. "from the little cacapehon to this point the ground was comparatively easy, and the road had been generally judiciously chosen. thenceforward the character of the ground was altered, not so much in the general aspect of the country as that the march was about to abandon the valleys, and now the real difficulties of the expedition may be said to commence. "the fort had been commenced the previous year, after the surrender at the great meadows, by col. innes, who had with him the two independent companies of new york and south carolina. it mounted ten four pounders, besides swivels, and was favorably situated to keep the hostile indians in check.[ ] "the army now consisted of regulars, sailors, and provincials, besides a train of artillery. the provincials were from new york and virginia; one company from the former colony was commanded by captain gates, afterwards the hero of saratoga. on the th of june, braddock having, through the interest and exertions of dr. franklin, principally, got wagons and horses from pennsylvania, was ready to march. "_scaroodaya_, successor to the half-king of the senecas, and _monacatootha_, whose acquaintance washington has made on the ohio, on his mission to le boeuf, with about indians, senecas, and delawares, accompanied him.... "the first brigade under sir peter halket, led the way on the th, and on the th the main body followed. some idea of the difficulties they encountered, may be had when we perceive they spent the third night only five miles from the first. the place of encampment which is about one third of a mile from the toll-gate on the national road, is marked by a copious spring bearing braddock's name. "for reasons not easy to divine, the route across will's mountain first adopted for the national road was selected instead of the more favorable one through the narrows of will's creek, to which the road has been changed within a few years for the purpose of avoiding that formidable ascent. the traces are very distinct on the east and west slopes, the modern road crossing it frequently. from the western foot, the route continued up braddock's run to the forks of the stream, where clary's tavern now stands, nine miles from cumberland, when it turned to the left, in order to reach a point on the ridge favorable to an easy descent into the valley of george's creek. it is surprising that having reached this high ground, the favorable spur by which the national road accomplishes the ascent of the great savage mountain, did not strike the attention of the engineers, as the labor requisite to surmount the barrier from the deep valley of george's creek, must have contributed greatly to those bitter complaints which braddock made against the colonial governments for their failure to assist him more effectively in the transportation department. "passing then a mile to the south of frostburg, the road approaches the east foot of savage mountain, which it crosses about one mile south of the national road, and thence by very favorable ground through the dense forests of white pine peculiar to this region, it got to the north of the national road, near the gloomy tract called the _shades of death_. this was the th of june, when the dense gloom of the summer woods and the favorable shelter which those enormous pines would give an indian enemy, must have made a most sensible impression on all minds, of the insecurity of their mode of advance. "this doubtless had a share in causing the council of war held at the little meadows[ ] the next day. to this place, distant only about twenty miles from cumberland, sir john sinclair and major chapman had been dispatched on the th of may, to build a fort; the army having been seven days in reaching it, it follows as the line of march was upwards of three miles long, the rear was just getting under way when the advance were lighting their evening fires. "here it may be well enough to clear up an obscurity which enters into many narratives of these early events, from confusing the names of the _little meadows_ and _great meadows_, _little crossings_ and _great crossings_, which are all distinct localities. "the _little meadows_ have been described as at the foot of meadow mountain; it is well to note that the _great meadows_ are about thirty-one miles further west, and near the east foot of laurel hill. "by the _little crossings_ is meant the ford of casselman's river, a tributary of the youghiogheny; and by the _great crossings_, the passage of the youghiogheny itself. the little crossing is two miles west of the little meadows, and the great crossing seventeen miles further west. "the conclusion of the council was to push on with a picked force of men and pieces of cannon; and the line of march, now more compact was resumed on the th. passing over ground to the south of the little crossings, and of the village of grantsville, which it skirted, the army spent the night of the st at the bear camp, a locality i have not been able to identify, but suppose it to be about midway to the great crossings, which it reached on the d. the route thence to the great meadows or fort necessity was well chosen, though over a mountainous tract, conforming very nearly to the ground now occupied by the national road, and keeping on the dividing ridge between the waters flowing into the youghiogheny on the one hand and the cheat river on the other. having crossed the youghiogheny, we are now on the classic ground of washington's early career, where the skirmish with jumonville, and fort necessity, indicate the country laid open for them in the previous year. about one mile west of the great meadows and near the spot now marked as braddock's grave, the road struck off more to the north-west, in order to reach a pass through laurel hill that would enable them to strike the youghiogheny, at a point afterwards known as stewart's crossing and about half a mile below the present town of connellsville. this part of the route is marked by the farm known as mount braddock. this second crossing of the youghiogheny was effected on the th of june. the high grounds intervening between the river and its next tributary, jacob's creek, though trivial in comparison with what they had already passed, it may be supposed, presented serious obstacles to the troops, worn out with previous exertions. on the d of july a council of war was held at jacob's creek, to consider the propriety of bringing forward col. dunbar with the reserve, and although urged by sir john sinclair with, as one may suppose, his characteristic vehemence, the measure was rejected on sufficient grounds. from the crossing of jacob's creek, which was at the point where welchhanse's mill now stands, about - / miles below mount pleasant, the route stretched off to the north, crossing the mount pleasant turnpike near the village of the same name, and thence by a more westerly course, passing the great sewickley near painter's salt works, thence south and west of the post office of madison and jacksonville, it reached the brush fork of turtle creek. it must strike those who examine the map that the route, for some distance, in the rear and ahead of mount pleasant, is out of the proper direction for fort duquesne, and accordingly we find on the th of july, gen. braddock in doubt as to his proper way of proceeding. the crossing of brush creek, which he had now reached, appeared to be attended with so much hazard that parties were sent to reconnoitre, some of whom advanced so far as to kill a french officer within half a mile of fort duquesne. "their examinations induced a great divergence to the left, and availing himself of the valley of long run, which he turned into, as is supposed, at stewartsville, passing by the place now known as samson's mill, the army made one of the best marches of the campaign and halted for the night at a favorable depression between that stream and crooked run and about two miles from the monongahela. at this spot, about four miles from the battle ground, which is yet well known as braddock's spring, he was rejoined by washington on the morning of the th of july. "the approach to the river was now down the valley of crooked run to its mouth, where the point of fording is still manifest, from a deep notch in the west bank, though rendered somewhat obscure by the improved navigation of the river. the advance, under col. gage, crossed about o'clock, and continued by the foot of the hill bordering the broad river bottom to the second fording, which he had effected nearly as soon as the rear had got through the first. "the second and last fording at the mouth of turtle creek was in full view of the enemy's position, and about one mile distant. by o'clock the whole army had gained the right bank, and was drawn up on the bottom land, near frazier's house (spoken of by washington as his stopping place on his mission to le boeuf), and about / of a mile distant from the ambuscade." chapter viii braddock's road in history the narrow swath of a road cut through the darkling alleghenies by general braddock has been worth all it cost in time and treasure. throughout the latter half of the eighteenth century it was one of the main thoroughfares into the ohio valley, and when, at the dawning of the nineteenth, the united states built our first and greatest public highway, the general alignment of braddock's road between cumberland and the last range of the alleghenies--laurel hill--was the course pursued. in certain localities this famed national boulevard, the cumberland road, was built upon the very bed of braddock's road, as braddock's road had been built partly upon the early washington's road which followed the path of indian, buffalo, and mound-building aborigines. nowhere in america can the evolution of road-building be studied to such advantage as between cumberland, maryland and uniontown, pennsylvania. for some years after braddock's defeat his route to and fro between the monongahela and potomac was used only by scouting parties of whites and marauding indians, and many were the swift encounters that took place upon its overgrown narrow track. in general forbes built a new road westward from carlisle, pennsylvania rather than follow braddock's ill-starred track, for reasons described in another volume of the present series.[ ] forbes frightened the french forever from the "forks of the ohio" and erected fort pitt on the ruins of the old fort duquesne. in colonel bouquet led a second army across the alleghenies, on forbes's road, relieved fort pitt and put an end to pontiac's rebellion. by the time of forbes's expedition braddock's road was somewhat filled with undergrowth, and was not cut at all through the last and most important eight miles of the course to fort duquesne. forbes had some plans of using this route, "if only as a blind," but finally his whole force proceeded over a new road. however, certain portions of braddock's road had been cleared early in the campaign when forbes thought it would be as well to have "two strings to one bow." it was not in bad condition.[ ] this new northern route, through lancaster, carlisle, bedford (reastown), and ligonier, pennsylvania, became as important, if not more so, than braddock's course from cumberland to braddock, pennsylvania. as the years passed braddock's road seems to have regained something of its early prestige, and throughout the revolutionary period it was perhaps of equal consequence with any route toward the ohio, especially because of virginia's interest in and jealousy of the territory about pittsburg. when, shortly after the close of the revolution, the great flood of immigration swept westward, the current was divided into three streams near the potomac; one went southward over the virginian route through cumberland gap to kentucky; the other two burst over forbes's and braddock's roads. some pictures of the latter are vividly presented in early records of pilgrims who chose its rough path to gain the el dorado beyond the appalachian mountain barriers. william brown, an emigrant to kentucky from hanover, virginia, over braddock's road in has left a valuable itinerary of his journey, together with interesting notes, entitled _observances and occurrences_. the itinerary is as follows: miles to hanover court house, to edmund taylor's, to parson todd's, louisa, to widow nelson's, to brock's bridge, orange co., to garnet's mill, to bost. ord'y, near hind's house, to raccoon ford, on rapidan or porters, to culpepper co.-house, to pendleton's ford, on rappahannock, to douglass's tavern, or wickliffe's house, to chester's gap, blue ridge, to lehu town, to ford of shenandore river, frederick, to stevensburg, to brown's mill, to winchester, to gasper rinker's, to widow lewis's, hampshire, to crock's tav., to reynold's, on the so. branch potowmack, to frankford town, to haldeman's mills, to north branch, potomack, to gwyn's tav., at the fork of braddock's old road, alleghany co., maryland, to clark's store, to little shades of death, to tumblestone tav., or the little meadows, to big shades of death, to mountain tav., or white oak springs, to simpson's tav., fayette co., pennsylvania, to big crossing of yoh, to carrol's tavern, to laurel hill, to beason town, to redstone, old fort, to washington town, washington co., penn., to wheeling, old fort, ohio co., vir., --- [ ] mr. brown's notes of the journey over the mountains are: "set out from hanover friday th august arrived at redstone old fort about the th inst. the road is pretty good until you get to the widow nelson's, then it begins to be hilly and continues generally so till you get to the blue ridge--pretty well watered. racoon ford on rapidan is rather bad. the little mountains are frequently in view after you pass widow nelson's. pendleton's ford on rappahanock is pretty good. in going over chester gap you ride about miles among the mountains before you get clear, a good many fine springs in the mo. between the blue ridge and the alleghany mo. appears to be a fine country, altho the land is pretty much broken. at shenandore ford there is two branches of the river to cross and it is bad fording. but there is a ferry a little below the ford. there is a very cool stream of water about miles below winchester. this is a well watered country but springs are rather scarce on the road, at winchester there are several fine springs. the south branch of potowmack has a good ford, also the north branch. soon after you pass gwyns tavern in maryland you enter upon the alleghany mo. and then you have a great deal of bad road, many ridges of mo.--the winding ridge--savage, negro, etc. and laurel hill which is the last, but before you get to the mount, there is some stony bad road between the widow lewis' and the mo. after you pass clark's store in the mo. you get into a valley of very pretty oak land. in many places while you are in the mo. there is very good road between the ridges. just before you get to the little shades of death there is a tract of the tallest pines i ever saw. the shades of death are dreary looking valleys, growing up with tall cypress and other trees and has a dark gloomy appearance. tumblestones, or the little meadows is a fine plantation with beautiful meadow ground. crossing of yoh, is a pretty good ford. there is some very bad road about here. it is said gen braddock was buried about miles forward from this, near a little brook that crosses the road. laurel hill is the highest ridge of the mo. when you get to the top of it to look forward toward redstone there is a beautiful prospect of the country below the mo. you see at one view a number of plantations and beason town which is six miles off."[ ] with the growth of cumberland and the improvement of navigation of the upper potomac, and especially the building of the canal beside it, the importance of the braddock route across the mountains was realized by the state of maryland and the legislature passed laws with reference to straightening and improving it as early as ; acts of a similar nature were also passed in and .[ ] a pilgrim who passed westward with his family over braddock's road in leaves us some interesting details concerning the journey in a letter written from western virginia after his arrival in the "monongahela country" in the fall of that year. arriving at alexandria by boat from connecticut the party found that it was less expensive and safer to begin land carriage there than to ascend the potomac further. they then pursued one of the routes of braddock's army to cumberland and the braddock road from that point to laurel hill. the price paid for hauling their goods from alexandria to morgantown (now west virginia) was thirty-two shillings and six-pence per hundred-weight "of women and goods (freight)"--the men "all walked the whole of the way." crossing "the blue mountain the monongehaly & the lorral mountains we found the roads to be verry bad." it is difficult to say when braddock's road, as a route, ceased to be used since portions of it have never been deserted. there are interesting references to it in the records of allegheny county, maryland, which bear the dates [ ] and [ ]. a little later it is plain that "jesse tomlinson's" is described "on _national road_" rather than on "_braddock's road_," as in .[ ] from this it would seem that by the term "braddock's road" was ignored, at least at points where the cumberland road had been built upon the old-time track. elsewhere braddock's route kept its ancient name and, perhaps, will never exchange it for another. [illustration: braddock's road in the woods near farmington, pennsylvania] the rough track of this first highway westward may be followed today almost at any point in all its course between the potomac and the monongahela, and the great caverns and gullies which mark so plainly its tortuous course speak as no words can of the sufferings and dangers of those who travelled it during the dark half century when it offered one of the few passage-ways to the west. it was a clear, sweet october day when i first came into great meadows to make there my home until those historic hills and plains became thoroughly familiar to me. from the cumberland road, as one looks southward from mount washington across great meadows and the site of fort necessity, the hillside beyond is well-timbered on the right and on the left; but between the forests lies a large tract of cultivated ground across which runs, in a straight line, the dark outline of a heavy unhealed wound. a hundred and fifty years of rain and snow and frost have been unable to remove, even from a sloping surface, this heavy finger mark. many years of cultivation have not destroyed it, and for many years yet the plow will jolt and swing heavily when it crosses the track of braddock's road. i was astonished to find that at many points in fayette and neighboring counties the old course of the road can be distinctly traced in fields which have for half a century and more been under constant cultivation. if, at certain points, cultivation and the elements have pounded the old track level with the surrounding ground, a few steps in either direction will bring the explorer instantly to plain evidence of its course--except where the road-bed is, today, a travelled lane or road. on the open hillsides the track takes often the appearance of a terrace, where, in the old days the road tore a great hole along the slope, and formed a catchwater which rendered it a veritable bog in many places. now and then on level ground the course is marked by a slight rounding hollow which remains damp when the surrounding ground is wet, or is baked very hard when the usual supply of water is exhausted. in some places this strange groove may be seen extending as far as eye can reach, as though it were the pathway of a gigantic serpent across the wold. at times the track, passing the level, meets a slight ridge which, if it runs parallel to its course, it mounts; if the rising ground is encountered at right angles, the road ploughs a gulley straight through, in which the water runs after each rain, preserving the depression once made by the road. and as i journeyed to and fro in that valley visiting the classic spots which appear in such tender grace in the glad sunshine of a mountain autumn, i never passed a spot of open where this old roadway was to be seen without a thrill; as james lane allen has so beautifully said of boone's old road through cumberland gap to kentucky, so may the explorer feelingly exclaim concerning braddock's old track: "it is impossible to come upon this road without pausing, or to write of it without a tribute." this is particularly true of braddock's road when you find it in the forests; everything that savage mark tells in the open country is reëchoed in mightier tones within the shadows of the woods. there the wide strange track is like nothing of which you ever heard or read. it looks nothing like a roadway. it is plainly not the track of a tornado, though its width and straight course in certain places would suggest this. yet it is never the same in two places; here, it is a wide straight aisle covered with rank weeds in the center of the low, wet course; there, the forests impinge upon it where the ground is drier; here, it appears like the abandoned bed of a brook, the large stones removed from its track lying on each side as though strewn there by a river's torrent; there, it swings quickly at right angles near the open where the whole width is covered with velvet grass radiant in the sunshine which can reach it here. in the forests more than elsewhere the deep furrow of the roadway has remained wet, and for this reason trees have not come up. at many points the road ran into marshy ground and here a large number of roundabout courses speak of the desperate struggles the old teamsters had on this early track a century ago. and now and then as you pass along, scattered blocks and remnants of stone chimneys mark the sites of ancient taverns and homesteads. in the forests it is easy to conjure up the scene when this old track was opened--for it was cut through a "wooden country," to use an expression common among the pioneers. here you can see the long line of sorry wagons standing in the road when the army is encamped; and though many of them seem unable to carry their loads one foot further--yet there is ever the ringing chorus of the axes of six hundred choppers sounding through the twilight of the hot may evening. it is almost suffocating in the forests when the wind does not blow, and the army is unused to the scorching american summer which has come early this year. the wagon train is very long, and though the van may have halted on level ground, the line behind stretches down and up the shadowy ravines. the wagons are blocked in all conceivable positions on the hillsides. the condition of the horses is pitiful beyond description. if some are near to the brook or spring, others are far away. some horses will never find water tonight. to the right and left the sentinels are lost in the surrounding gloom. and then with those singing axes for the perpetual refrain, consider the mighty epic poem to be woven out of the days that have succeeded braddock here. though lost in the alleghenies, this road and all its busy days mirror perfectly the social advance of the western empire to which it led. its first mission was to bind, as with a strange, rough, straggling cincture the east and the west. the young colonies were being confined to the atlantic ocean by a chain of forts the french were forging from quebec to new orleans. had they not awakened to the task of shattering that chain it is doubtful if the expansion of the colonies could ever have meant what it has to the western world. could virginia have borne a son in the western wilderness, kentucky by name, if france had held the ohio valley? could north carolina have given birth to a tennessee if france had made good her claim to the mississippi? could new england and new york and pennsylvania have produced the fruits the nineteenth century saw blossom in the old northwest if france had maintained her hold within that mighty empire? the rough track of braddock's road, almost forgotten and almost obliterated, is one of the best memorials of the earliest struggle of the colonies for the freedom which was indispensable to their progress. there was not an hour throughout the revolutionary struggle when the knowledge of the great west that was to be theirs was not a powerful inspiration to the bleeding colonies; aye, there was not a moment when the gallant commander of those ragged armies forgot that there was a west into which he could retreat at the darkest hour over braddock's twelve-foot road. that is the great significance of this first track through the "wooden country"--an awakened consciousness. the traveller at uniontown, pennsylvania, is within striking distance of braddock's road at its most interesting points. a six-mile climb to the summit of laurel hill brings one upon the old-time route which will be found near washington's spring. a delightful drive along the summit of the mountain northward brings one near the notorious "dunbar's camp" where so many relics of the campaign have been found and of which many may be seen in the museum of the nearby pennsylvania soldiers' orphans' home. here dunbar destroyed the quantities of stores and ammunition with which he could not advance, much less retreat. the visitor here should find "jumonville's grove," about a quarter of a mile up the valley, and should not miss the view from dunbar's knob. less than one mile eastward of chalk hill, beside a brook which bears braddock's name, beneath a cluster of solemn pines, lies the dust of the sacrificed braddock. if there is any question as to whether his body was interred at this spot, there is no question but that all the good he ever did is buried here. deserted by those who should have helped him most, fed with promises that were never kept, defeated because he could not find the breath to cry "retreat" until a french bullet drove it to his throat--he is remembered by his private vices which the whole world would quickly have forgotten had he won his last fight. he was typical of his time--not worse. in studying braddock's letters, preserved in the public records office, london, it has been of interest to note that he never blamed an inferior--as he boasted in the anecdote previously related. his most bitter letter has been reproduced, and a study of it will make each line of more interest. his criticism of the colonial troops was sharp, but his praise of them when they had been tried in fire was unbounded. he does not directly criticise st. clair--though his successful rival for honors on the ohio, forbes, accused st. clair in not only of ignorance but of actual treachery. "this behavior in the people" is braddock's charge, and no one will say the accusation was unjust. with something more than ordinary good judgment braddock singled out good friends. what men in america, at the time, were more influential in their spheres than franklin, washington, and morris? these were almost the only men he, finally, had any confidence in or respect for. washington knew braddock as well as any man, and who but washington, in the happier days of , searched for his grave by braddock's run in vain, desirous of erecting a monument over it? mr. king, editor of the pittsburg _commercial-gazette_, in took an interest in braddock's grave, planted the pines over it and enclosed them. a slip from a willow tree that grew beside napoleon's grave at st. helena was planted here but did not grow. there is little doubt that braddock's dust lies here. he was buried in the roadway near this brook, and at this point, early in the last century, workmen repairing the road discovered the remains of an officer. the remains were reinterred here on the high ground beside the cumberland road, on the opposite bank of braddock's run. they were undoubtedly braddock's. as you look westward along the roadway toward the grave, the significant gorge on the right will attract your attention. it is the old pathway of braddock's road, the only monument or significant token in the world of the man from whom it was named. buried once in it--near the cluster of gnarled apple-trees in the center of the open meadow beyond--he is now buried, and finally no doubt, beside it. but its hundreds of great gorges and vacant swampy isles in the forests will last long after any monument that can be raised to his memory. braddock's road broke the league the french had made with the alleghenies; it showed that british grit could do as much in the interior of america as in india or africa or egypt; it was the first important material structure in this new west, so soon to be filled with the sons of those who had hewn it. footnotes: [ ] entick, _history of the late war_, vol. i., p. . [ ] entick, _history of the late war_, vol. i., p. . [ ] _apology for the life of george anne bellamy_, vol. iii., p. . [ ] _letters of walpole_, (edited by cunningham, london ), vol. ii., p. . [ ] entick _history of the late war_, vol. i., p. . [ ] _history of the late war_, vol. i., p. . [ ] _gentleman's magazine_, vol. , p. ( ); also _a review of the military operations in north america_, london, , p. . [ ] _a letter relating to the ohio defeat_, p. . [ ] walpole's _memoirs of george ii_, vol. ii., p. . [ ] walpole's _memoirs of george ii_, vol. ii., p. ; also london _evening post_, september - , . [ ] walpole's _memoirs of george ii_, vol. i., p. ; sargent's _history of braddock's expedition_, p. , note. [ ] minutes taken "at a council at the camp at alexandria in virginia, april , ." public records office, london: _america and west indies_, no. . [ ] braddock's ms. letters, public records office, london: _america and west indies_, no. . [ ] for these early routes through pennsylvania, partially opened in , see _historic highways of america_, vol. v., chap. i. [ ] _maryland archives_; correspondence of governor sharpe, vol. i., pp. and . [ ] preserved at the congressional library, washington. [ ] eight miles from alexandria. see note . [ ] arguments pro and con have been interestingly summed up by dr. marcus benjamin of the u. s. national museum, in a paper read before the society of colonial dames in the district of columbia april , , and by hugh t. taggart in the _washington star_, may , . for a description of routes converging on braddock's road at fort cumberland see gen. wm. p. craighill's article in the _west virginia historical magazine_, vol. ii, no. (july, ), p. . cf. pp. - . [ ] london, groombridge & sons, . mr. morris, in footnotes, gave what he considered any important variations of the original manuscript from the expanded version he was editing; mr. sargent reproduced these notes, without having seen the original. [ ] _history of braddock's expedition_, p. , note. [ ] _history of braddock's expedition_, p. , note. [ ] mr. gordon evidently used the word "self" in his entry of june to throw any too curious reader off the track. [ ] _history of braddock's expedition_, p. . [ ] _history of braddock's expedition_, p. . [ ] in the gordon journal, under the date of june , there are two entries. one seems to have been gordon's and reads: "the director of the hospital came to see me in camp, and found me so ill.... i went into the hospital, & the army marched with the train &c., and as i was in hopes of being able to follow them in a few days, i sent all my baggage with the army." without doubt this was gordon's entry, as no sailor could have had sufficient baggage to warrant such a reference as this, while an engineer's "kit" was an important item. then follow two entries (june and ) evidently recorded by one who remained at fort cumberland, and a second entry under the date of june , which is practically the first sentence of the entry under the same date in the original manuscript, and which has the appearance of being the genuine record made by the sailor detained at fort cumberland. the confusion of these entries in the gordon journal makes it very evident that one author did not compose them. the two entries for june are typical of "mr engineer gordon" and an unknown sailor. [ ] this form of the name of the modern rock creek is significant and is not given in the expanded form of this journal. "rock's creek" suggests that the great bowlder known as "braddock's rock" was a landmark in and had given the name to the stream which entered the potomac near it. [ ] the use of full names in this journal is strong evidence that it is the original. [ ] the gordon journal assiduously reverses every such particular as this; it reads here: "there are about houses and churches, one english, one dutch." [ ] though in almost every instance the gordon journal gives a more wordy account of each day's happenings, it _never gives a record for a day that is omitted by this journal_, as april , , and ; at times, however, a day is omitted in that journal that is accounted for in this; see entries for may and may --neither of which did mr. morris give in his footnotes, though the latter was of utmost significance. [ ] the words "from the french" are omitted in the gordon journal, which makes the entry utterly devoid of any meaning--unless that cresap had been ordered to retire by the ohio company! cresap in that document is called "a vile rascal"; cf. pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi., p. . for eulogy of cresap see _ohio state archæological and historical publications_, vol. xi. [ ] this is given for the th in the gordon journal. [ ] the gordon journal: "mr spendlow and self surveyed casks of beef, and condemned it, which we reported to the general." [ ] two chaplains accompanied the two regiments philip hughes was chaplain of the th and lieut. john hamilton of the th. the latter was wounded in the defeat. [ ] the entry of gordon journal reads: "col. burton, capt. orme, mr. spendlowe and self...." [ ] the gordon journal: "this morning an engineer and men...." [ ] the only hint given in the gordon journal as to the author of the original document is under this date. the gordon journal reads, "mr. spendlowe and self with of our men went to the place where the new road comes into the old one...." "self" here seems to refer to "midshipman"; but mr. gordon often refers to himself as an engineer and never once inserts his own name, though he was a most important official. gordon probably accompanied or followed spendlowe. [ ] entries written by one while detained at fort cumberland. if written by gordon he hastened immediately to the front, for he was with braddock's advance on july . [ ] the gordon journal: "one of our engineers, who was in front of the carpenters marking the road, saw the enemy first." who but gordon would have omitted his name under these circumstances? [ ] this last paragraph is evidently an additional memorandum of british loss. the contents of the chest was undoubtedly £ , . [ ] _british newspaper accounts of braddock's defeat_, p. . pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi., p. . [ ] this view of braddock's defeat is given in the late john fiske's recent volume, _new france and new england_. [ ] london _public advertiser_, november , . [ ] london _public advertiser_, november , . [ ] cf. _british newspaper accounts of braddock's defeat_, p. . pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi., p. . london _public advertiser_, november , . [ ] cf. _british newspaper accounts of braddock's defeat_, p. ; london _public advertiser_, november , . [ ] this chapter is from neville b. craig's _the olden time_, vol. ii., pp. - , - . [ ] see _historic highways of america_, vol. v. [ ] preserved in the library of harvard university. [ ] "many misstatements are prevalent in the country adjacent to the line of march, especially east of cumberland, the traditionary name of braddock's route being often applied to routes we know he did not pursue. it is probable the ground of the application consists in their having been used by the quarter master's men in bringing on those pennsylvania wagons and pack horses procured by dr. franklin, with so much trouble and at so great expense of truth. sir john sinclair wore a hussar's cap, and franklin made use of the circumstance to terrify the german settlers with the belief that he was a hussar who would administer to them the tyrannical treatment they had experienced in their own country if they did not comply with his wishes. it is singular that a small brook and an obscure country road in berkley county, virginia, bear the name of sir john's run, and sir john's road, supposed to be taken from the name of this officer. [ ] "the original name of cumberland was cucucbetuc, and from its favorable position on the potomac, was most probably the site of a shawnee village, like old town; moreover, it was marked by an indian name, a rare occurrence in this vicinity, if any judgment may be drawn from the few that have been preserved. [ ] "this interesting locality lies at the west foot of the meadow mountain, which is one of the most important of the alleghany ridges, in pennsylvania especially, where it constitutes the dividing ridge between the eastern and western waters. a rude entrenchment, about half a mile north of the inn on the national road, kept by mr. huddleson, marks the site of this fort. this is most probably the field of a skirmish spoken of in frontier history, between a mr. parris, with a scouting party from fort cumberland, and the sieur donville, commanding some french and indians, in which the french officer was slain. the tradition is distinctly preserved in the vicinity, with a misapprehension of washington's participation in it, arising probably from the partial resemblance between the names of donville and jumonville. from the positiveness of the information, in regard to the battle ground, conflicting with what we know of jumonville's death, it seems probable enough that this was the scene of this indian skirmish; and as such, it possesses a classic interest, valuable in proportion to the scarcity of such places. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. v., ch. . [ ] _bouquet papers, mss._ preserved in british museum: forbes to pitt, july ; forbes to bouquet, august ; bouquet au forbes, july , . [ ] speed's _the wilderness road_, pp. - . [ ] speed's _the wilderness road_, p. . [ ] lowdermilk's _history of cumberland_, p. . [ ] _land records of allegheny county, md._ liber e, fol. . [ ] _id._, liber g. fol. . [ ] _id._, liber i and j, fol. . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected except for narratives and letters included in this text. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . certain words use an oe ligature in the original. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. historic highways of america volume [illustration: cumberland gap and boone's wilderness road] historic highways of america volume boone's wilderness road by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the pilgrims of the west ii. the first explorers iii. annals of the road iv. kentucky in the revolution v. at the end of boone's road illustrations i. cumberland gap and boone's wilderness road _frontispiece_ ii. plat of boonesborough iii. filson's map of kentucky preface the naming of our highways is an interesting study. like roads the world over they are usually known by two names--the destinations to which they lead. the famous highway through new york state is known as the genesee road in the eastern half of the state and as the albany road in the western portion. in a number of cities through which it passes--utica, syracuse, etc.--it is genesee street. this path in the olden time was the great road to the famed genesee country. the old forbes road across pennsylvania soon lost its earliest name; but it is preserved at its termination, for the pittsburger of today goes to the carnegie library on the "forbes street" car line. the maysville pike--as unknown today as it was of national prominence three quarters of a century ago--leading across ohio from wheeling to maysville (limestone) and on to lexington, is known in kentucky as the zanesville pike; from that city in ohio the road branched off from the old national road. the "glade road" was the important branch of the pennsylvania or pittsburg road which led through the glades of the alleghenies to the youghiogheny. one of the most singular names for a road was that of the "shun pike" between watertown and erie, in northwestern pennsylvania. the large traffic over the old "french road"--marin's portage road--between these points on lake erie and french creek necessitated, early in the nineteenth century, a good road-bed. accordingly a road company took hold of the route and improved it--placing toll gates on it for recompensation. those who refused to pay toll broke open a parallel route nearby, which was as free as it was rough. it became known as the "shun" pike because those who traversed it shunned the toll road. few roads named from their builders, such as braddock, forbes, bouquet, wayne, ebenezer zane, marin, and boone preserved the oldtime name. indeed nearly all our roads have lost the ancient name, a fact that should be sincerely mourned. the black swamp has been drained, therefore there can be now no "black swamp road." there are now no refugees and the "refugees road" is lost not only to sight but to the memory of most. perhaps there is but one road in the central west which is commonly known and called by the old indian name; this is the "tuscarawas path," a modern highway in eastern ohio which was widened and made a white man's road by the first white army that ever crossed the ohio river into what is now the state of ohio. one roadway--the wilderness road to kentucky from virginia and tennessee, the longest, blackest, hardest road of pioneer days in america--holds the oldtime name with undiminished loyalty and is true today to every gloomy description and vile epithet that was ever written or spoken of it. it was broken open for white man's use by daniel boone from the watauga settlement on the holston river, tennessee, to the mouth of otter creek on the kentucky river in the month preceding the outbreak of open revolution at lexington and concord. it was known as "boone's trail," the "kentucky road," the "road to caintuck," or the "virginia road," but its common name was the "wilderness road." a wilderness of laurel thickets lay between the kentucky settlements and cumberland gap and was the most desolate country imaginable. the name was transferred to the road that passed through it. it seems right that the brave frontiersman who opened this route to white men should be remembered by this act; and for a title to this volume "boone's wilderness road" has been selected. as in the case of other highways with which this series of monographs is dealing, so with boone's wilderness road: the road itself is of little consequence. the following pages treat of phases of the story of the west suggested by boone's road--the first social movement into the lower ohio valley, henderson's transylvania company, the struggle of the watauga settlement to prevent the southern indians from cutting kentucky off from the world, the struggle of the kentucky settlements against the british and their indian allies, the burst of population over boone's road into kentucky, and what the early founding of that commonwealth meant to the east and to the west. boone and harrod and their compatriots assured the world of the splendid lands of kentucky; richard henderson and his associates of the transylvania company proved the questionable fact that a settlement there could be made and be maintained. boone's road, opened for the transylvania company, made a way thither. the result was a marvelous westward movement that for timeliness, heroism and ultimate success is without a parallel in our annals. when the armies of the revolutionary war are counted, that first army of twenty-five thousand men, women, and children which hurried over boone's little path, through dark powell's valley, over the "high-swung gateway" of cumberland gap, and down through the laurel wildernesses to crab orchard, danville, lexington, and louisville must not be forgotten. no army ever meant so much to the west; some did not mean more to the east. the author is greatly indebted for facts and figures to thomas speed's invaluable study _the wilderness road_, and to other filson club publications, and for inspiration and suggestion to mr. allen's _the blue grass region of kentucky_. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, may , . boone's wilderness road _it is impossible to come upon this road without pausing, or to write of it without a tribute._ --james lane allen. chapter i the pilgrims of the west no english colony in america looked upon the central west with such jealous eye as virginia. the beautiful valley of the _oyo_--the indian exclamation for "beautiful"--which ran southwesterly through the great forests of the continent's interior was early claimed as the sole possession of the virginians. the other colonies were hemmed in by prescribed boundary lines, definitely outlined in their royal charters. new york was bounded by lake erie and the allegheny and thought little of the west. the pennsylvanian colony was definitely bounded by the line which is the western boundary line of that commonwealth today. carolina's extremity stopped at thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes. virginia's western boundary was not defined; hence the west was hers. england herself was not at all sure of the west until after the fall of quebec; but the treaty of paris was soon signed and, so far as the french were concerned, the colonies extended to the mississippi. then pontiac's bloody war broke out and matters were at a standstill until bouquet hewed his way into "the heart of the enemies' country" and, on the muskingum, brought pontiac's desperate allies, the delawares and shawanese, to terms. but now, when the west was his, the king of england did a wondrous thing. he issued a proclamation in the year which forbade anyone securing "patents for any lands beyond the heads or sources of any of the rivers which fall into the atlantic ocean from the west or northwest!" thus lord hillsborough, british secretary for the colonies, thought to checkmate what he called the "roving disposition" of the colonists, particularly the virginians. the other colonies were restrained by definite boundaries; virginia, too, should be restrained. hillsborough might as well have adopted the plan of the ignoramus who, when methods for keeping the indians from crossing the frontier were being discussed, suggested that a strip of land along the entire western frontier be cleared of trees and bushes, in the belief that the savages would not dare to cross the open! yet the secretary's agent set to work to mark out a western boundary line which should connect the western lines of georgia and new york and so accomplish the limitation of virginia. but the virginians also acted. they sent an agent of their own, thomas walker, to fort stanwix (rome, new york) to treat with the six nations for some of this very western land that hillsborough was contriving to keep them out of. for the king issued the proclamation in the interest of the western indians (and the annuities he received when the fur trade was prosperous) who desired that the west should be preserved to them. but what could be said if virginia purchased the indian's claim? could a king's proclamation keep the virginians from a territory to which, for value received, the indians had given a quit-claim deed? this famous treaty of fort stanwix was held in the fall of . three thousand indians were present. presents were lavished upon the chieftains. the western boundary line crossed from the west branch of the susquehanna to kittanning on the allegheny river; it followed the allegheny and ohio rivers southwest to the mouth of the great kanawha. here it met hillsborough's line which came up from florida and which made the great kanawha the western boundary of virginia. had the fort stanwix line stopped here the western boundary line of the colonies would have been as lord hillsborough desired. but walker did not pause here. sir william johnson, british indian agent for the northern district, who was "thoroughly versed in the methods of making profit by his office," allowed walker to extend the line so as to enclose virginia's prospective purchase; and the tennessee river was made the western boundary instead of the great kanawha. thus johnson at once satisfied the claims of virginia and the pride of the six nations, who were still anxious to prove their long-boasted possession over the cumberland region, as well as their sovereignty over the hated cherokee, by thus formally disposing of the land. so everyone was satisfied--but hillsborough. and yet the crown was compelled, finally, to approve the treaty of fort stanwix. this treaty marks an epoch in the history of the central west, since, thereby, nearly half of it became a portion of one of the thirteen colonies. the other half, north of the ohio river, remained in the possession of the indians who inhabited it. it is remarkable how little known that great territory was which now became a part of virginia. this was largely because it was an uninhabited country. the territory north of the ohio river was filled with indian nations, some of whom had reigned there from times prehistoric. this was likewise true of the country south, where the great southern confederacies had held sway since white men came to this continent. but between these inhabited areas lay a pleasant land which any tribe would have gladly possessed had there not been so many rivals for it. consequently it became a "dark and bloody" land where a thousand unrecorded battles were fought by indians from both north and south who had the temerity to come there to hunt, or by armies who were hurrying through it in search of their foes who lived beyond. no bouquet had pierced through to the cumberland to release prisoners who might bring back reports of the land. no missionaries had carried their "great and good" words to this battle ground of the nations and returned with tidings of its splendid meadows and their fertility. one or two adventuresome explorers had looked there and brought back practically all that the world knew of it. but they had never visited the most pleasant portions and knew little, if anything, of its real value. and all the indians seemed to know was that it was a bloody border-land where no tribe could hunt in peace; where every shadow contained a lurking foe; and where every inch of soil was drenched with blood. thus to an unknown and unoccupied border-land between the indians of the north and those to the south, virginia obtained, from one of its alleged possessors, a nominal hold. could she maintain it? the world asked the question and awaited the answer, wonderingly. the principal reason why virginia was successful was because her inhabitants were an agricultural people like their ancestors before them in england. being an agricultural people they had expanded further, geographically, than the inhabitants of any of the other colonies. as early as , cabins were being built in bedford county, virginia, over one hundred and fifty miles from the seaboard. there were settlements on the new river, a branch of the great kanawha, before the french and indian war. fort loudoun, over the border, was erected in , and forts long island and chissel in . the wyoming massacre in new york state in the revolutionary war occurred on what was then the frontier, though wyoming was less than a hundred miles from new york city. and, fortunately, this agricultural people was located in the most favorable place along the atlantic for expansion, for a reason already mentioned. back of new york and pennsylvania roamed the iroquois, delawares, shawanese, and other indian nations. back of virginia, whose fine rivers rose in the mountains, lay a comparatively uninhabited country; for, the moment the indians became allied with either of the encroaching european powers, they ceased contending together in the border-land behind virginia. it was not until virginians began to occupy it that it became anew a "dark and bloody ground." virginia knew less of indian warfare than some of the neighboring colonies until the era of her expansion when her sturdy people began occupying the land obtained at the treaty of fort stanwix. the expansion of virginia was greatly facilitated by the geographical position of the mountains along her western frontier. while the mountains of western new york and pennsylvania obstructed expansion, in virginia the mountain ranges facilitated it. further north they trended directly north and south and even the rivers could find a passage-way only by following the most tortuous courses. true, the hudson and mohawk valleys offered a clear course to the great highland across to the niagara river, but it was not until very late in the eighteenth century that the path across this watershed was open to white men. the two routes through pennsylvania crossed the mountains horizontally and almost feared to follow the waterways. braddock's road crossed the waters of one stream three times at right angles in the space of eighty miles and did not follow it one hundred yards altogether. in virginia the mountain ranges trend southwesterly, with the rivers between them, offering a practicable though roundabout route westward. but there was another thing virginia possessed in addition to an agricultural people--an uninhabited territory west of her and some plain courses into it. she had among her citizens some daring, far-sighted, energetic men who might easily be called the first promoters of america. they were moneyed men who sought honestly to make money; but they were also men of chivalry and intense patriotism--virginians of virginians. they thought of their pockets, but they also thought of their colony and their king; the standing of the old dominion was very dear to them: its growth in commercial as well as geographical dimensions. they desired to be thought well of at home; they desired that virginia should be thought the best of all america. of these men the washingtons were the most prominent, and george washington was a marvelously inspired leader. as early as virginians secured a grant of land south of the ohio and directly west of old virginia. the enterprise amounted to nothing save by precipitating the contest between england and france for the west. the example of the younger washington in fighting for the possession of the west, in encouraging the disheartened people of the frontier in the dark days of defeat, in aiding in the final victory, in investing heavily in western land (for he, it is said, died the richest man in america, and half his wealth lay west of the alleghenies), in encouraging the building of the potomac canal, in impressing upon the people the commercial value of exploiting the entire west from lake huron to cumberland gap, affords perhaps the most remarkable instance in our whole national history of one man inspiring a people to greater things. a place and a rough way thither was ready for expanding virginia--and such sons as washington gave the inspiration. through the great "trough" between the allegheny and blue ridge ranges passes the pioneer route to which we of the central west owe as much as to any thoroughfare in america--that rough, long, roundabout road which, coming down from lancaster and yorktown, crossed the potomac at wadkin's ferry, and passed up the shenandoah valley by martinsburg, winchester and staunton; and on to the headwaters of the new river, where it was joined by the thoroughfare through central virginia from richmond. here, near the meeting of these famous old-time virginia thoroughfares, stood fort chissel, erected in and situated two hundred miles east of cumberland gap. beyond fort chissel ran the indian trail toward the gap and, within fifty miles of the gap, stood fort watauga on a branch of the holston. this was the most westerly fort at the time of the stanwix treaty, and about the rude fort was springing up the watauga settlement. other earlier settlements were made at draper's meadows and at inglis ferry on new river by families bearing those names. for more than a century the population of virginia and north carolina had been slowly sifting up the river valleys toward the west and by the time the king's proclamation was issued many cabins were already erected beyond the headwaters of streams which fell "into the atlantic ocean from the west or northwest." even the faithful hillsborough seems to have recognized this since his boundary line passed through chiswell's mine on the great kanawha and the mouth of that river--much further west than a strict interpretation of the proclamation would allow. this vanguard which was moving westward was led by explorers and hunters. of two of the former, mention will be particularly made. the parties of hunters who now began to press beyond the furthest settlements, while they subsisted on game, were also real explorers of the west and helped to set in motion and give zest to the great immigration which followed the signing of the stanwix treaty. it was only one year after the stanwix treaty when daniel boone came up from his home on the yadkin in north carolina and led a company of men through the gap into the land whose hero and idol he was ever to be. about the same time john finley and party were trapping on the forbidden rivers, and colonel james knox and company of nine hunted on the new, clinch, and holston rivers, and reaching even to the lower cumberland in - . these parties of men found that a paradise for the husbandman was to be speedily revealed to the world at the foothills of the cumberland and pine mountains on the great plain falling away westward to the mississippi. at first, only the most vague description of the rich meadows of the west reached the virginian settlements, but, meager as they were, they started a tide of immigration quite unparalleled in american history. one of these descriptions is preserved for us in the autobiography of daniel boone, and, though couched in language with which he was probably less familiar than his amanuensis, still is not unlike the stories told in border cabins to eager listening frontiersmen who were soon on their rough way to this el dorado beyond the horrid ranges of the cumberlands: "we found everywhere abundance of wild beasts of all sorts, through this vast forest. the buffalo were more frequent than i have seen cattle in the settlements, browsing on the leaves of the cane, or cropping the herbage on those extensive plains, fearless, because ignorant of the violence of man.... nature was here a series of wonders and a fund of delight. here she displayed her ingenuity and industry in a variety of flowers and fruits, beautifully colored, elegantly shaped and charmingly flavored; and we were diverted with innumerable animals presenting themselves perpetually to our view.... just at the close of day the gentle gales retired and left the place to the disposal of a profound calm. not a breeze shook the most tremulous leaf. i had gained the summit of a commanding ridge, and, looking around with astonishing delight, beheld the ample plains, the beauteous tracts below: on the other hand had i surveyed the famous ohio river, that rolled in silent dignity, marking the western boundary of kentucky with inconceivable grandeur. at a vast distance i beheld the mountains lift their venerable brows, and penetrate the clouds." inspired by such descriptions as these, there came in the wake of the hunter-explorers crowds of immigrants. very many came even bringing their families, for the novelty of the adventure and because there was nothing to keep them where they had had but a tomahawk claim on the border. there were thousands who entered the west and became valuable citizens (considering the work to be done) who would best be described as gypsies. for a larger part of the way across the continent this peculiar class of people moved westward between the advanced explorers and the swarm of genuine "settlers" whose feet, even at this time, were making the middle of our continent tremble. for instance, very many of the first settlers in the territory near the mississippi hailed from a portion of the land between their home there and the allegheny mountains, just as many of the first settlers between the ohio and lake erie hailed from virginia's land between the ohio and tennessee. the phrase "following the immigration" was a common one and covered this class of pioneers who moved away from a given district of land when it began to fill with settlers. there has appeared a disposition in some quarters to attempt to minimize the value of the hosts of so-called "squatters" and "tomahawk claimers" who first moved into the west. our pioneer literature is full of discreditable allusions, made by the second tide of pioneers who came west, concerning the scattered ranks of first comers, their moral character, their ways of thought and living. the later blueblood stock had not a little to say concerning the pioneers of western virginia and kentucky flavored with the same spice that dickens employed when, a little later, he jotted down his "american notes." it seems as though it were reasonable to remember what these first comers did rather than the picture of what they were. but for them there could never have been a better west. who composed the armies of mcintosh, brodhead, crawford, harmar, st. clair, and wayne but these rough, wild-looking men who first entered the west? what is now western pennsylvania, west virginia, and kentucky gave practically all the troops which conquered the land between the ohio river and the great lakes. and all of them, save the few who could raise money to buy some of it, retired again to their slovenly "claims" south of the ohio--and a flood-tide of newcomers came after them to bring a new era they could never have brought, and, incidentally, leave to posterity repulsive pictures of them. it hath been said: "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." the west was a land of brier and thorn, and men as rough as briers and thorns were needed to strike the first swift hard blows. the squatter in the west played an important part and should not be remembered solely by the pictures drawn of his filth, lawlessness, and laziness. the cleaveland of was a paradise beside the cleveland of . was it not caleb atwater who said that "not one young man, whose family was rich, and of very high standing in the eastern states, has succeeded in ohio?" a little later in this narrative we shall read of one "abraham hanks" who went, an unknown pioneer, with daniel boone through cumberland gap at the very van of all the western immigration! atwater was not referring to his grandson--the immortal son of nancy hanks. theodore roosevelt in the following words has emphasized the debt our country owes to this class of early citizens: "nevertheless this very ferocity was not only inevitable, but it was in a certain sense proper; or at least, even if many of its manifestations were blamable, the spirit that lay behind them was right. the backwoodsmen were no sentimentalists; they were grim, hard, matter-of-fact men, engaged all their lives long in an unending struggle with hostile forces, both human and natural; men who in this struggle had acquired many unamiable qualities, but who had learned likewise to appreciate at their full value the inestimable virtues of courage and common-sense. the crisis [revolution] demanded that they should be both strong and good; but, above all things, it demanded that they should be strong. weakness would have ruined them. it was needful that justice should stand before mercy; and they could no longer have held their homes, had they not put down their foes, of every kind with an iron hand." with these uncouth border families moved another class of men known as land speculators. the schemes of these fortune hunters and of the many great companies of which they were the representatives would fill a moderate volume and can only be hinted at here. as we have noted, a company was organized very early to speculate in western lands, called the ohio company. it received from the king of england a grant of land between the monongahela and great kanawha rivers, but failed to fulfil the required conditions and the charter reverted to the crown. from that day to the breaking out of the revolutionary war numerous land companies secured by one means or another a claim to certain lands and many sought such claims but never secured them. it will be necessary to refer to one of these companies later in the course of our narrative. near the front in this race for the rich meadows between the ohio and tennessee were bounty-land claimants. one of virginia's most effective pleas for the great territory which had come into her possession was that she might reward her soldiers of the french and indian wars. while as a people she had known less of indian warfare than some of the colonies, virginia had been liberal in sending troops northward to defend the frontier. and these virginians had made a name for themselves at braddock's defeat and elsewhere. washington was always insistent that the claims of these old veterans of the bloody border war be redeemed in good lands, and it must be remembered ever with pride that as late as , only six years before he became commander-in-chief of the armies of the united states at cambridge, and but two years after the signing of the stanwix treaty, he made the difficult journey to the ohio river and down that river in a canoe to virginia's new empire on the great kanawha, where surveys of bounty lands for his heroes of fort necessity were first made. additional surveys were soon made along the ohio and licking rivers. explorers, hunters, squatters, speculators, and bounty-land claimants--this was the heterogeneous population that was surging westward to the land of which boone wrote. but not all came down the old thoroughfare between the allegheny and blue ridge mountains and through cumberland gap. many followed northward the rough trails which descended the new and monongahela rivers, while many went northwesterly over braddock's overgrown twelve-foot road or along the winding narrow track of forbes's road through the pennsylvania glades to the little frontier fortress, fort pitt. from the time bouquet relieved this beleaguered garrison until the stanwix treaty, pittsburg, as the town was now known, had been growing. one year after that treaty ( ) the manor of pittsburg was surveyed, the survey embracing five thousand seven hundred and sixty-six acres. upon the signing of the stanwix treaty, pittsburg became an important point and was claimed by both pennsylvania and virginia. about it sprang up villages and from it down the ohio and up the allegheny and monongahela rivers settlements spread. what was loosely known as the "monongahela country"--the territory between the monongahela and ohio rivers--became quite populous. here, high up along the ohio river, the virginians learned how to fight the red man, if they had never known before. the decade succeeding pontiac's war, though nominally a peaceful one, was, nevertheless, one long and bitter duel between the indians north of the ohio and the virginians who were coming "in shoals" to its southern bank. it has been estimated that the total loss of life within that decade was as great as the total loss in the open war--dunmore's war--which soon broke out and which momentarily threatened the extinction of virginia's great colonial movement into the southern half of this black forest of the west. we have refrained from using the name kentucky long enough, perhaps, to accomplish the purpose of impressing upon the reader's mind the part virginia and the virginians played in the creation of the earliest settlement in the west, first known as the county, then the state, of kentucky. as professor shaler has said: "she owes to virginia the most of the people she received during the half century when her society was taking shape: her institutions, be they good or evil, her ideals of life, her place in the nation's history, are all as immediately derived from her great mother virginia as are an individual man's from the mother who bore him." the name kentucky, kentuckgin, kantucky, kentucke, caintuck, as it was variously spelled, may have been derived from an iroquois word _ken-ta-kee_, which means "among the meadows." when, in the olden days, only the long, painted canoes of the iroquois could be moored in safety in the shades of the woodland meadows south of the oyo, the name ken-ta-kee was first heard--a name which has come down to us so pregnant with pride and power. the catawba river, which gained its name, perhaps, from the famous war-path which followed it toward the land of the catawbas in the south, was first known as the louisa river (named by walker in honor of the wife of the "bloody duke" of cumberland), and afterwards as the kentucky river. after the treaty at the close of dunmore's war, virginia had two quit-claim deeds to her western empire: one from the iroquois, who boasted their possession of it, and one from the shawanese, who had disputed the settlement. there was yet another claimant to deal with, the cherokees of the south. in the year following the battle of point pleasant ( ) a land company headed by colonel richard henderson purchased from the cherokees the land between the ohio, kentucky, and cumberland rivers. this purchase was achieved at fort watauga through the agency of daniel boone. this private purchase from the indians was afterward annulled by both virginia and north carolina, but so far as the indian claims to kentucky were concerned it had passed into the possession of the white man. every inch of soil had been fairly obtained from each and every claimant who had made it a "dark and bloody ground" through their battles for it, since the earliest period of recorded history. but at the time of the cherokee purchase, an old indian chief said to boone: "brother, we have given you a fine land, but i believe you will have much trouble in settling it." perhaps the cherokees knew what shawanese quit-claim deeds were worth! after making this purchase for colonel henderson, boone engaged to mark out a road through cumberland gap to the center of the newly acquired territory. following the old trail through the gap, boone's road ended at a new settlement at the mouth of otter creek on the kentucky river named boonesborough, in his honor. fort boonesborough was completed july , . colonel logan and party came westward through the gap at the same time but diverged from boone's road on rockcastle creek, and opened the more important branch of the road toward louisville by way of crab orchard and danville, and erected fort logan one mile west of standford, in what is now lincoln county, kentucky. harrod's, logan's, and boone's forts were the important early "stations" in the west. to them the thousands wended their tedious way over the "wilderness road," as both branches (logan's and boone's) were fitly called, or down the ohio from pittsburg. and along these lines of western movement cabins and clearings made their rapid appearance despite the era of bloodshed which began almost simultaneously with the opening of the revolutionary war in the east. such were the pilgrims of the west. it is interesting to note that these leaders of civilization in the west were true americans--american born and american bred. it is remarkable that the discoverers of the american central west were either french or american. for the work of exploring this _hinterland_, england scarcely furnished a man; she can write no names opposite those of brulé, cartier, champlain, du lhuth, hennepin, joliet, marquette, and la salle. nearly all that england knew of the interior she learned from the french. her great explorers were maritime explorers and her conquest of new france was effected by water. but while the west could not have for its first colonists the counterpart of the hardy, irresistible race who first came to the atlantic seaboard, it did have the next best thing--the direct descendants of them. it was a race of americanized britons who pressed from virginia into the west. hardly a name among them but was pure norman or saxon. of the twenty-five members of the political club at danville, kentucky, which discussed with ability the federal constitution, all but two were descendants of colonists from great britain and ireland. of forty-five members of the convention which framed kentucky's first constitution, only three could claim european ancestry. of the seven hundred members of the filson club, the representative historical society of kentucky today, there are not more than twenty who are not either english, scotch, welsh, or irish. the blood of the mother country flowed in purer strain in no portion of the continent at the outbreak of the revolutionary war than in the virginian settlement of kentucky. that the blood was true to its fighting traditions is proved by the revolutionary pension rolls. in there were nine hundred revolutionary soldiers receiving pensions in kentucky. this race gave to the west its real heroes--the gists, walkers, boones, clarks, todds, shelbys, kentons, logans, lewises, crawfords, gibsons, and st. clairs. in frontier cabins they were bred to a free life in a free land--worthy successors to washington and his school, worthy men to subdue and rule the empire of which they began the conquest before the outbreak of the revolutionary war. in the form of these sturdy colonizers the american republic stretched its arm across the appalachian mountain system and took in its grasp the richest river valley in the world at the end of boone's wilderness road. that arm was never withdrawn, that grasp never relinquished. the leaven of old virginia leavened the whole lump. thus may be outlined briefly the era of expansion in which boone's road played an all-important part. in the succeeding chapters the phases of this historic movement are reviewed as the meager data now obtainable can permit. chapter ii the first explorers the first real explorations of the great territory secured by virginia at the treaty of fort stanwix were made by dr. thomas walker, who later so skilfully managed virginia's part of that treaty, and christopher gist, in the early years of the second half of the eighteenth century, and . the brief journals[ ] written by these men are the sources of our first information concerning the vast territory west of the appalachian mountain system--the eastern half of the mississippi basin south of the ohio river. they are meager records of hard day's pilgrimages, an outline of the routes pursued, and a description of the lands which were traversed. both were explorers for two newly-formed land companies. walker represented the loyal land company of london, and gist was the representative of the ohio company. the company for which walker acted had secured a grant of eight hundred thousand acres in the territory now embraced in kentucky north of ° ´. the ohio company had a grant of five hundred thousand acres between the kanawha and monongahela rivers. these men were sent to search out favorable lands and report on the giants and grapes. they found both. little suggestion of the romance and daring of these historic journeys can be found in either of the journals of them; they make slight books. but volumes can be written on what can be read by the most careless reader between their few lines. the long climbing over the almost pathless mountains, the nights spent in discomfort, the countless trials, fears, dangers of which they knew so much and told so little--all this should make a story if it never has, that could not by any means find an uninterested reader. no youth's history is of moment until we know the man and know that he is a man among men. our nation is still a boy. only with the passing of the years will its boyhood be studied and known as it should be known; when that time comes, the brief stories of such men as walker and gist will appear of priceless value. "having, on the th of december last, been employed for a certain consideration to go to the westward in order to discover a proper place for a settlement, i left my house on the sixth day of march, at o'clock, - , in company with ambrose powell, william tomlinson, colby chew, henry lawless & john hughs. each man had a horse and we had two to carry the baggage. i lodged this night at col. joshua fry's, in albemarle, which county includes the chief of the head branches of james river on the east side of the blue ridge." thus begins dr. walker's journal. at this time england and her colonies were dating by the old calendar, each new year beginning on the twenty-fifth of march. accordingly they started nineteen days before the beginning of the year . it was a brave little company of adventurous men. walker had attended william and mary college, and then had joined the ranks of that distinguished army of representative virginians who, with saddle-bags and surveying instruments, proved to be the vanguard of the army which was to achieve the real conquest of the west. his home was castle hill, near charlottesville, albemarle county, virginia, where his companions had rendezvoused for the present expedition and from which point they began their historic journey. powell was of the best virginian stock, and has left his name to one of the great valleys through which the highway to the west ran. his son became a revolutionary officer and his great-grandson was general a. p. hill, the famous confederate leader. chew was from orange county, virginia, and belonged to the maryland branch of the chew family. two presidents of the united states, madison and taylor, could claim him as a relative. seven years later he served in washington's regiment in forbes's expedition against fort duquesne, and was killed in grant's wild attack on that fort. as the journal states, this company spent the first night out with colonel joshua fry. fry too was one of them in spirit, though he did not accompany them westward. he was a graduate of oxford university, joint author with jefferson of fry and jefferson's celebrated map of virginia, and a commissioner for the crown in establishing the boundary line between north carolina and virginia. he was killed by being thrown from his horse while taking command of washington's expedition against fort duquesne, four years later. these statistics show plainly that the best brain and blood of virginia was foremost in attempting to realize virginia's dream of conquest and expansion. but it was a time for brave men to show themselves. ambitious virginia had been slow to claim the west, where even at this early date frenchmen had gone so far into the wilderness. céloron, bold emissary of the humpbacked canadian governor gallissonière, was now burying leaden plates at the mouths of the rivers which emptied into the ohio, as a sign of french possession of the west. one of these was placed at the mouth of the great kanawha "at the mouth of the river chinodahihetha, this th day of august," claiming for the bourbon crown the entire territory in which the grant of land to the ohio company was located. there was not a moment to lose if the west was to be saved to england. a settlement must be made quickly, and walker and his band pushed on immediately to find a "proper place for a settlement." but all this, seemingly, is neither here nor there--so far as walker's journal is concerned. there is not one mention of the political crisis then at hand; instead of french claims, walker deals with tired horses or broken-legged dogs, and where one might suppose he would mention national boundary lines he tells only of cutting names on trees. and at the end, where the reader might look for a summary statement of the results of his tour he finds this: "i got home about noon. we killed in the journey buffaloes, elks, bears, deer, wild geese, about turkeys, besides small game. we might have killed three times as much meat, if we had wanted it." yet, so far as human interest is concerned, the record is exceptionally entertaining, and to a student of the great thoroughfare from virginia to kentucky it is full of meaning; because of its many references to the difficulties of traveling at that early date, and to the varied experiences of explorers on the earliest thoroughfares westward. it is this story of experience in traveling west in that makes walker's journal of interest in the present study. on the day after the party left colonel fry's, "we set off about ," writes dr. walker, "but the day proving wet, we only went to thomas joplin's on rockfish. this is a pretty river, which might at a small expense be made fit for transporting tobacco; but it has lately been stopped by a mill dam near the mouth to the prejudice of the upper inhabitants who would at their own expense clear and make it navigable, were they permitted." virginia's great industry evidently flourished this far from tidewater even at this early date, though handicapped by these dams which were erected by the "averice of millers," on which dr. walker comments again in his next day's record. the record for sunday, the eleventh, is appropriately brief: " th. the sabbath." in only one or two instances did the party travel on sunday, and then the journey was occasioned by necessity. on the twelfth the party crossed the upper james river above the mouth of the rivanna, and lodged with one thomas hunt. " th. we went early to william calloway's and supplied ourselves with rum, thread, and other necessaries & from thence took the main waggon road leading to wood's or the new river. it is not well clear'd or beaten yet, but will be a very good one with proper management." wood's river--or new river, as we know it today--was discovered in by colonel abraham wood, who explored along the line which later became the boundary line between north carolina and virginia. he crossed the alleghenies through "wood's gap" (now flower gap) and, going down little river, found new river not far from inglis ferry, where walker's party crossed three days later. this mention of the road walker traversed is his first reference to the great road westward toward cumberland gap; he remarks its roughness, but before he returned to virginia he learned new lessons on rough roads. "this night we lodged in adam beards low grounds. beard is an ignorant, impudent, brutish fellow, and would have taken us up, had it not been for a reason, easily suggested." when thus brought in contrast with the hospitality usually tendered walker's party, the deportment of this churlish mountaineer is conspicuous. travelers on these first highways were ever in need--if for nothing more than a camping-place. the people who settled beside the frontier roads were trained by bitter experience to a generous hospitality. this hospitality was particularly marked, throughout the colonies, among those who could afford it, especially on the frontiers; and here it was often bestowed upon travelers when it could be ill-afforded. the modern hotel has in a large measure relieved the general public from the burden of continual and promiscuous hospitality, and it has been found that where hotels are least known this prime requisite of an expanding civilization may still be found. on the frontier, men were dependent on those who lived beside the road, not only in time of accident and sickness, but at all times--for little food and forage could be carried. at times travelers nearly perished when once beyond the frontier line. walker's party, though they killed the large amount of game mentioned, were once compelled to kill and eat one of their dogs. captain estill, who lost his life in kentucky in the engagement which bears his name, is said to have done a great service for emigrants from virginia by killing game and leaving the meat beside the road, in order to "pass on and notify incoming trains where they might find a supply of meat." instances of vile treatment of travelers are not often cited, but the few that exist are the exceptions that prove the rule of generosity which was common to the time. leaving beard's, walker and his men went, on the fourteenth, to nicholas welch's, "where," the doctor writes, "we bought corn for our horses, and had some victuals dress'd for breakfast." from here they climbed the blue ridge through buford's gap, in bedford county, through which the norfolk and western railroad now passes. "the ascent and descent is so easie," writes walker, "that a stranger would not know when he crossed the ridge." on the day after, they reached "the great lick" near the present city of roanoke, and continued up the trail on the following day to near the historic inglis ferry, not far from the present village of blacksburg, montgomery county, virginia. from this on, walker's route is not of importance to our study, as he missed the great trail which would have taken him to the pleasant meadows of kentucky--though he struck it again at cumberland gap but did not follow it--and wandered over a circuitous route thus outlined by daniel bryan: "they started from low down in virginia, traveled westwardly across alleghany mountains to chissel's lead mine, on new river; thence into the holston valley, thence over walden's ridge and powell's mountain into powell's valley.... they then continued down the valley, leaving cumberland mountain a small distance on their right hand, until they came to cumberland gap.... at the foot of this mountain they fell into an indian path leading from the cherokee towns on tennessee river to the shawnee indian towns on the ohio, which path they followed down yellow creek to the old ford of cumberland river.... thence they went on the path down the river to the flat lick, eight miles; here they left the river, continued on the path, turning more north, crossing some of the head branches of the kentucky river over a poor and hilly country, until they concluded there was no good country in the west. they then took an easterly course over the worst mountains and laurel thickets in the world.... they crossed the laurel or cumberland mountain and fell into the green brier country, almost starved to death ... and reached home with life only to pay for all their trouble and suffering." regretting that this opinion of the final value of walker's journey cannot be gainsaid, it is yet of interest to follow his footsteps and learn what were some of the experiences of such early explorers as these. on the twenty-sixth they "left the inhabitans," as dr. walker called the line of civilization, and were at last within the wild land where no settlers had yet come. on the night of the twenty-ninth the "dogs were very uneasie," and the next day, on reedy creek, a branch of the south fork of the holston, the tracks of a party of indians were discovered, which explained the restlessness of the dogs. it is probably little realized in this day how valuable dogs were to explorers and immigrants. they were not only of service in giving warning of the approach of strangers, but were well-nigh indispensable in securing game and in searching for lost horses. dr. walker's love for dogs is a tradition in the family, and his care of them on this journey is typical of the gentleman and the wise frontiersman. at the junction of reedy creek and the holston--an historic spot in tennessee--walker found a gigantic elm tree, which measured twenty-five feet in circumference at a distance of three feet from the ground. pioneers and explorers considered the study of trees a fine art. by this means they always judged the quality of the soil, and knew at a glance by the growth that stood on it the character of any piece of land. the diaries of all that old school of western adventurers contain frequent mention of trees which were an almost infallible criterion of the soil beneath. washington had keen eyes for trees--as for everything else--as illustrated in the journal of his trip down the ohio river in . on the fourth of november he found a sycamore on the great kanawha, in comparison with which this first elm of walker's was insignificant. it measured, three feet from the ground, forty-five feet in circumference, and near by stood another measuring thirty-one feet around. upon hearing about this larger tree, some one remarked that washington might have told the truth about the cherry tree but he told a "whopper" about the sycamore. but it was not guess-work, for the record states clearly that the girth of the larger tree lacked two inches of being the complete forty-five feet. trees along the ohio grew to an immense size; an old ohio river pilot affirms that in his boyhood a burned trunk of a sycamore stood on his father's farm on the little muskingum, into which he has frequently driven a horse, turned it about, and come out again. general harmar found on the ohio a button-wood tree forty-two feet in circumference, which held forty men within its trunk. on the seventh of april dr. walker writes: "it snowed most of the day. in the evening our dogs caught a large he bear, which before we could come up to shoot him had wounded a dog of mine, so that he could not travel, and we carried him on horseback, till he recovered." on the thirteenth the party reached "cave gap," which walker named cumberland gap in honor of the "bloody duke," the hero of culloden. "just at the foot of the hill is a laurel thicket.... on the south side is a plain indian road. on the top of the ridge are laurel trees marked with crosses, others blazed and several figures on them.... this gap may be seen at a considerable distance, and there is no other, that i know of, except one about two miles to the north of it, which does not appear to be so low as the other. the mountain on the north side of the gap is very steep and rocky, but on the south side it is not so. we called it steep ridge." the party crossed the cumberland river about four miles below the present village of barbourville, knox county, kentucky, on the twenty-third of april. the river was named by walker at this time. from this spot walker, with two companions chosen by lot--powell and chew--went on a tour of exploration alone, leaving the others "to provide and salt some bear, build an house, and plant some peach stones and corn." walker and his two companions floundered about the neighboring region for five days, not getting out of the mountainous country and not finding any good land. they crossed the cumberland again, on the third day out, about twenty miles below the first crossing-place, and then returned up the river to the main party and found that the work he had ordered to be done was completed. "the people i had left had built an house by , clear'd and broke up some ground, & planted corn, and peach stones." thus was raised, beside the tumbling cumberland, on the farm now owned by george m. faulkner four miles below barbourville, kentucky, the first house now recorded as built by white men in the fine territory between the cumberland mountains and the ohio river, now the state of kentucky. it was not an "improver's cabin"--a log pen without roof--but a roofed house, and instituted what the english loyal land company could claim to be a "settlement" in the territory which they had been granted. this was completed by the planting of corn and peach trees. the formality of this "settlement" is evinced by the fact that, two days later, the entire party moved on for further exploration, never again to return to their house or to reap their crops. it was twenty years before a house was erected in kentucky for the permanent dwelling. from this on, dr. walker's journal is a long story of accidents and disappointments. one horse became lame, and "another had been bit in the nose by a snake." "i rub'd the wounds with bear's oil, and gave him a drench of the same and another of the decoction of rattle snake root some time after." on the same day "colby chew and his horse fell down the bank. i bled and gave him volatile drops, & he soon recovered." on the first of may they reached powell's river. this was named from ambrose powell. during the journey dr. walker gave the name of each of his companions to rivers he discovered; none were given his name, though a mountain range to the north of fort chiswell still bears the name of walker's mountain. on powell's river the party this day again struck the indian path which later became the great highway to kentucky. again he was on the route that would have taken him to the famous meadows below the foothills of the mountains, and again he left it as he did when he chose to explore on the south side of cumberland mountain, instead of crossing at pineville and following the trail northward. he did not cross rockcastle river. j. stoddard johnson says: "this was the farthest western point reached by doctor walker. he did not cross the main rockcastle river, and, therefore, was never on the waters of salt or green rivers, as claimed by some. a day or two's travel to the west or northwest would have brought him to the fertile lands of lincoln or madison county, his description of which would have left no doubt of his having passed the watershed between the rockcastle, the salt, and the rivers to the westward."[ ] shoes formed an important item in the catalogue of necessaries for the early traveler's outfit on the first traveled ways in america. already walker's party, though they traveled largely by horse, had worn out the shoes with which they started, and on the eleventh of may under one of the great cliffs near rockcastle river they set to work to make themselves new shoes out of elkskin. "when our elk's skin was prepared," writes dr. walker on the fourteenth, "we had lost every awl that we brought out, and i made one with the shank of an old fishing hook, the other people made two of horse shoe nails, and with these we made our shoes and moccosons." on the twenty-third the party was on the kentucky river, where walker found a sycamore which measured forty feet in circumference--almost, it will be seen, the size of the tree washington found on the great kanawha--upon which he marked his initials, "t. w." on the day after, he found another sycamore thirty feet in circumference. these trees, it would naturally be inferred, marked the location of fertile soil. on the twenty-sixth the "dogs roused a large buck elk, which we followed down to a creek. he killed ambrose powell's dog in the chase, and we named the run tumbler's creek, the dog being of that name." " st. we crossed mountains and camped just by a wolf's den. they were very impudent and after they had twice been shot at, they kept howling about the camp. it rained till noon this day." "june ye st. we found the wolf's den and caught of the young ones." it was very common for frontiersmen to invade the dens of wolves without any opposition on the part of the old wolves. wolf cubs have often been pulled away from their mothers, who would only snarl and show their teeth. bears, on the other hand, would fight to the death any invader of their dens. notions which commonly prevail today, about the dangers in the primeval forests of america from wild animals, undergo a great change after a careful reading of pioneer literature. on the fourth of june "a very black cloud appearing, we turn'd out our horses, got tent poles up, and were just stretching a tent, when it began to rain and hail, and was succeeded by a violent wind which blew down our tent & a great many trees about it, several large ones within yds. of the tent. we all left the place in confusion and ran different ways for shelter. after the storm was over, we met at the tent, and found all safe." on the fourteenth the party had gone east as far as the dividing ridge between the two forks of the big sandy; but within a few days the horses were spent, and the whole party floundered onward afoot. on the twentieth they reached flat-top mountain, raleigh county, west virginia. this day dr. walker's horse was bitten by a snake; "... having no bear's oil," he wrote, "i rub'd the place with a piece of fat meat, which had the desired effect." passing the present site of hinton, west virginia, the party followed about the present line of the chesapeake and ohio railway. they crossed the allegheny divide july , and hot springs the ninth. they found "six invalides there. the spring water is very clear & warmer than new milk, and there is a spring of cold water within feet of the warm one. i left one of my company this day." they reached augusta court house (staunton, virginia) on the eleventh, and castle hill on the sixteenth, having been four months and seven days on the journey. walker's hard tour amounted to very little for the plain reason that he never got west of the mountains. he found no good land and his report was depressing. it remained for another brave frontiersman to go further and bring back the welcome news of large areas of splendid land in the ohio valley. in john hanbury, london merchant; thomas lee, president of the council of virginia; and a number of prominent virginians formed the ohio company, elsewhere mentioned, and received a large grant of land in the west. the grant was made march , : two hundred thousand acres between the monongahela and great kanawha rivers, and later three hundred thousand acres, to be located on the waters of the lower ohio. in this company employed christopher gist, a hardy, well-trained frontiersman who lived on the yadkin in north carolina, to explore the ohio valley and make a report upon the land there found. for his arduous service he was to receive one hundred and fifty pounds sterling "and such further handsome allowance as his service should deserve." his instructions read as follows: "you are to go out as soon as possible to the westward of the great mountains, and carry with you such a number of men as you think necessary, in order to search out and discover the lands upon the river ohio & other adjoining branches of the mississippi down as low as the great falls thereof: you are particularly to observe the ways & passes thro all the mountains you cross, & take an exact account of the soil, quality & product of the land, and the wideness and deepness of the rivers, & the several falls belonging to them, together with the courses & bearings of the rivers & mountains as near as you conveniently can: you are also to observe what nations of indians inhabit there, their strength and numbers, who they trade with, & in what comodities they deal. "when you find a large quantity of good, level land, such as you think will suit the company, you are to measure the breadth of it, in three or four different places, & take the courses of the river & mountains on which it binds in order to judge the quantity: you are to fix the beginning & bounds in such a manner that they may be easily found again by your description; the nearer in the land lies the better, provided it be good & level, but we had rather go quite down the mississippi than take mean broken land. after finding a large body of good level land, you are not to stop but proceed further, as low as the falls of the ohio, that we may be informed of that navigation; and you are to take an exact account of all the large bodies of good level land, in the same manner as above directed that the company may the better judge when it will be most convenient for them to take their land. "you are to note all the bodies of good land as you go along, tho there is not a sufficient quantity for the company's grant, but you need not be so particular in the mensuration of that, as in the larger bodies of land. "you are to draw as good a plan as you can of the country you pass thro: you are to take an exact and particular journal of all your proceedings, and make a true report thereof to the ohio company." gist was the man for the business in hand. he came from an enterprising family and was well educated. his father was one of the commissioners for laying off the city of baltimore. "little is known of his early life, but the evidences he has left in his journals, his maps, plats of surveys, and correspondence indicate that he enjoyed the advantages of an education superior to that of many of his calling in those early days. his signature and manuscript are characterized by the neatness and uniformity of a copy plate, while his plats and surveys are models in their mathematical exactness and precision of drawing. to this evidence of scholarly order and professional skill he added the hardy qualities of the pioneer and backwoodsman, capable of enduring the exposure of long journeys in the most rigorous weather. in him were combined the varied talents which made him at once an accomplished surveyor, an energetic farmer who felled the forest and tilled the soil, a skilful diplomat who understood the indian character and was influential in making treaties, a brave soldier, an upright man, trusted by the highest civil and military authorities with implicit faith."[ ] the earlier portion of gist's journey, which he began in october, , is not of importance in the present monograph. he reached the ohio river by way of the juniata and kiskiminitas rivers. crossing the ohio he worked his way westward on the great trail to the "crossing place of the muskingum" (bolivar, ohio), and from thence he traversed the indian trail to the country of the shawanese and miamis. it was not until tuesday, the twelfth of march, that gist again crossed the ohio, and entered what is now the state of kentucky. his first day's experience was typical--in a land so well known for great things and strong; for on the day after crossing at the shawanese shannoah town, he found two men who had "two of the teeth of a large beast.... the rib bones of the largest of these beasts were eleven feet long, and the skull bone six feet wide, across the forehead, & the other bones in proportion; and that there were several teeth there, some of which he called horns, and said they were upwards of five feet long, and as much as a man could well carry." gist was now in kentucky--the land of which thousands were waiting to hear, the home of the race that was to come and conquer and settle and hold the west. of it gist came to know only a little, but this little was the beginning of a revelation. after crossing the ohio, gist journeyed over a hundred miles down the southern bank of the river, and on march eighteenth crossed "the lower salt lick creek," the licking river. reports of indians at the "falls" and "the footsteps of some indians plain on the ground" made him desist from visiting that spot, but he took down descriptions of it. on the nineteenth he turned southward into the interior. on the twentieth he ascended pilot knob, near clay city, powell county, and writes of the view from that height from which he saw, as john finley wrote later, "with pleasure the beautiful level of kentucky." with but a glimpse of the good lands of kentucky, gist, like walker before him, journeyed into the mountainous country to the southeast. for a month he floundered around in the desolate laurel ridges where walker had spent so many distressing days the year before. on red river gist crossed walker's route and came on homeward between walker's outward and homeward courses. from red river he went through pound gap and eastward, down what is known as gist's or guesse's fork of the clinch in wise county, virginia, and then upon bluestone, a tributary of new river. on the thirteenth of may he crossed walker's route again at inglis ferry, near draper's meadows. on the seventeenth he passed into north carolina through flower or wood's gap toward his home on the yadkin. he reached home on the eighteenth and found that his family had removed to roanoke, thirty-five miles eastward, because of depredations of the indians during the winter. gist's journey was far more successful than walker's. he found the fine fertile valleys of the muskingum, scioto, and miami rivers north of the ohio, and he caught a glimpse of the beautiful meadows of kentucky. he singularly made a complete circle about the land between the monongahela and kanawha rivers, where the ohio company's grant of land was made. as he did not approach it on any side it is probable that he knew that only rough land lay there. had it not been for the sudden breaking out of the old french war, the ohio company would undoubtedly have settled on lands in the ohio valley according to gist's advice. hostilities on the frontier soon drove back the farther settlements, and rendered activities in the land gist had discovered out of the question, either on the part of land companies or private individuals. chapter iii annals of the road with the close of pontiac's rebellion and the passing away of the war clouds which had hung so long over the west, ten thousand eyes turned longingly across the alleghenies and blue ridge. war with all its horrors had yet brought something of good, for never before had the belief that a splendidly fertile empire lay to the westward taken such a hold upon the people of virginia. nothing more was needed but the positive assurance of large areas of good land, and a way to reach it. it was ten years after the close of pontiac's war before both of these conditions were fulfilled. first came the definite assurance that the meadows of kentucky were what gist and others had reported them to be. the proclamation of , forbidding western settlement, did not forbid hunting in the west--and the great emigration which started as slow as a glacier was finally put into motion by the proof brought back to north carolina and virginia by the hunters (of whom mention has been made) who went over the mountains between and . in colonel james smith, undaunted by his captivity among the indians, hunted through the southern portion of kentucky. in john finley traded with the indians in northern kentucky, and james harrod and michael stoner were in the southern portion of the country. finally, in daniel boone came into the land "a second adam in another eden." boone reached the edge of the beautiful blue grass region and returned home in to tell of what he saw, and to bring his family "as soon as possible to live in kentucky, which i esteemed a second paradise, at the risk of my life and fortune." in also, the party of stout hunters headed by colonel james knox reached kentucky, and hunted on the green and lower cumberland rivers; they were so long absent from home that they were given the name of "the long hunters." these, too, brought glowing descriptions of the fine meadows of _ken-ta-kee_. at once the forests were filled with cohorts of surveyors--the vanguard of the host under whose feet the continent was soon to tremble. these surveyors represented the various land companies and the bounty land seekers, who had a claim to the two hundred thousand acres promised the virginian soldiers in the old french war. scores of cabins were raised in at harrodsburg, near danville, on the east fork of salt river, on dick's river, and on salt river. their erection marks the beginning of the first settlement of the land one year previous to the breaking out of the war of the revolution. these first comers found their way to kentucky by two routes--the warriors' path through cumberland gap, and the ohio river, which they reached either by the kittanning path up the juniata or by braddock's or forbes's roads. each route was dangerous and difficult beyond description. it was a terrible road from cumberland to pittsburg, and the journey down the ohio was not more inviting. when the river was high and afforded safe navigation it was as much a highway for red men as for white--and these were treacherous times. when the river was low, a thousand natural obstructions tended to daunt even the bravest boatmen--and the virginian backwoodsmen were not educated to contend with such a dangerous stream as the ohio, with its changing currents, treacherous eddies, and thousands of sunken trees. one frontiersman who made the river trip at an early date, cautioned those who essayed the trip against rowing their boats at night; lest the sound of the oars should prevent the watchman from hearing the "riffling" of the water about the rocks and sunken trees, on which many a boat had been wrecked with all its precious freight. the danger of river travel down such a stream appealed with tremendous force to the early pioneers, with the result that the majority chose the land route. but what an alternative! a narrow trail in the forests six hundred miles in length was the only path. it had been traversed by many even as early as , but each traveler had made it worse, and the story of the hardships of the journey through "the wilderness" would make even the bravest pause. it is a hard journey today, one which cannot be made without taxing even the strongest; what was it before the route was dotted with cities and hamlets, before the road had been widened and bridged, before the mountains had been graded and the swamps drained, before the fierce lurking enemies had been driven away? neither walker nor gist traversed what became the famed wilderness road to kentucky. when the shawanese raided draper's meadows, near inglis ferry, in , they took their prisoners away on the trail through powell's valley toward cumberland gap; and the rescuing party which followed them were perhaps the first white men who traveled what became the great pioneer thoroughfare to kentucky. it was, undoubtedly, the route followed by the early hunters who passed through cumberland gap and found the fertile meadows of which dr. walker was ignorant, and of which christopher gist caught only a faint glimpse. settlements sprang up slowly beyond inglis ferry, but by the time of boone's return in a few families were on the upper waters of the holston, and settlements had been made on the watauga where fort watauga was soon to be built, and at wolf hills, now abington. these settlements were all one hundred miles east of cumberland gap, and the little path thither was not yet marked for white man's use. but the brave boone was as good as his word--and he did attempt to bring his family and five other families to kentucky in the year , over what was soon to be known as boone's road. this was the beginning of the great tide of immigration through cumberland gap, a social movement which for timeliness and ultimate success ranks as the most important in the history of the central west. this initial attempt was not a success, for the party was driven back by indians, with loss, entirely discouraged. but from this time on, despite dunmore's war which now broke out, the dream of western immigration could not be forgotten. but all the western movement was now put at hazard by the outbreak of this cruel, bloody war between the "long knives"--as the virginians in the monongahela country came to be called, from the sabres that hung at their loins--and the shawanese north of the ohio. as suggested, the preceding years had been marked by continual bloodshed. it is undoubtedly true that those long knives on the upper ohio had been doing some dreadful slashing. perhaps the provocations were as enormous as the crimes; surely the indians to the north were the most bloodthirsty and cruel of any on the continent. at the same time it is safe to say that many of their white foes on the ohio were inhuman marauders, whose principal occupation was that of shooting game for a living and indians for sport. even in the statement in boone's autobiography there is a plain suggestion of a guilty conscience on the part of those of whom he wrote: "the settlers [in the monongahela country], now aware that a general warfare would be commenced by the indians, immediately sent an express to williamsburg, the seat of government in virginia, communicating their apprehensions and soliciting protection." how aware? because some of the relatives of the indian chieftain logan had been basely murdered, while intoxicated, on yellow creek? the virginian house of burgesses was quick to answer this appeal of the western colonists, and governor dunmore's earnestness in arranging the campaign resulted in the short wars bearing his name. general andrew lewis, a hero of braddock's defeat, was commissioned to raise an army of border settlers and march down the great kanawha; while lord dunmore went northward to pittsburg, where, in the monogahela country, he would recruit another army and descend the ohio to the mouth of the great kanawha. here the armies would unite to pierce the valley of the scioto in which the hell-hound shawanese dwelt. lewis gathered an army of eleven hundred experienced borderers from the watauga settlement and the greenbriar valley, and marched swiftly northward. but the enemy knew of his approach, and instead of joining dunmore's army at the mouth of the great kanawha he met a barricaded indian horde, equal in size to his own army, and the bloody and momentous battle of point pleasant was fought and won. arriving at the ohio, lewis encamped on the point of land between the two rivers. soon two hunters pursuing a deer encountered the indian vanguard which was bearing down on the ill-placed army of whites. one hunter fell dead and the other returned with the alarming news. general lewis, a pupil in that school on braddock's road, lit his pipe and ordered the assault. two regiments advanced on the indian line, which now ranged from river to river, completely cutting it off from retreat. both colonels commanding were soon killed and their men began to fall back disconcerted. reënforcements drove the redskins back to their entrenchments, and renewed confidence. but at last fighting became desperate. among his virginians, the brave flemming, twice wounded, kept repeating his order, "advance, outflank the enemy and get between them and the river." among his desperate followers the calm voice of cornstalk was heard all day long: "be brave, be brave, be brave!" as in the battle of bushy run, where the hope of the west lay with bouquet as it did now with lewis, so at point pleasant no way of success was left, at the close of that october day, save in strategy. the white man did not learn to conquer the red until he learned to deal with him on his own terms of cunning and deceit. in desperation lewis sent three companies up the great kanawha under cover of the bank to crooked creek. ascending this stream with great caution, these heroes of the day rushed from its bed upon the enemy's flank, and the tide of the battle was turned. the indians, though having suffered least, fell back across the ohio to their villages to the northward. the proposed junction of the two white armies was achieved, but lewis had already sufficiently awed the shawanese, who came to dunmore's camp charlotte in their valley, and gave their affirmation to the fort stanwix treaty, which surrendered to the whites all the territory south of the ohio and north of the tennessee. in less than a year boone went through the gap alone to the "falls of the ohio" (louisville), and returned in safety, more possessed than ever with the ambition to take his family to the el dorado which he had discovered, and of which he spoke in the enthusiastic vein which has already been quoted. he had found the splendid lands of which gist had guessed; he had found a straight path thither. all that was lacking was an impetus to turn a floodtide of virginians and their neighbors into the new land. this came, too, within a year after the close of dunmore's war--an artificial impetus in the shape of a land company, headed by a brave, enterprising man, colonel richard henderson, with whom were associated eight other north carolinians of high social standing. richard henderson was the son of samuel henderson ( ) and elizabeth williams ( ). he was born in hanover county, virginia, on the twentieth of april, . his two well-known brothers, nathaniel and pleasant, were born in and , respectively. the sons were worthy of their good scotch-welsh ancestry. when richard was about ten years of age his father moved from their home in virginia to granville county in the province of north carolina. here the elder henderson was afterward appointed sheriff of his county, and the young richard was soon able to assist his father by doing the business "of the sherriffltry."[ ] after this practical introduction to the science of law young richard turned to the theoretical study, and read law for a twelve-month with his cousin, judge williams. in that day a prospective barrister was compelled to get a certificate from the chief-justice of his colony; this he presented to the governor, who, being satisfied as to the candidate's acquirements, gave him a license. richard henderson's self-confidence and genuine talent are exhibited by the story which his brother records, of his attempting to obtain a license to practice law after the brief period of study mentioned above. procuring a certificate from the chief-justice he presented himself to the governor of north carolina as a candidate for a license. "how long have you read law and what books have you studied?" asked the governor. "twelve months," replied young henderson, naming the books he had used. the governor replied brusquely that it was wholly unnecessary for him to take the time to give an examination, as no one could in that length of time and with such books become proficient. "sir," replied richard henderson not a whit dismayed, "i am an applicant for examination; it is your duty to examine me and if found worthy, to grant me a license; if otherwise, to refuse one." it can well be imagined how quickly the governor bristled up and how mercilessly he would "quiz" a lad who informed him in such a spirited manner what the duties of his office required of him. but the running fire of questions did not daunt the candidate more than had the governor's indifference--and the young richard received at the close of the interview, not only a license, but what meant more, many encomiums from his governor. henderson soon acquired a good practice and became a judge on the bench of the superior court. in the conflict with the british agent in north carolina was precipitated, and the colonial government was abolished. it was at this time that judge henderson became interested in the desire of the cherokee indians to sell land. henderson's plan was to purchase from the cherokees the great territory lying south of the kentucky river--one-half the present state of kentucky. this was quite against the laws and traditions of the only colony which had any valid claim to the territory--virginia, his native state--but this seemed to matter not to henderson and his associates; these were john williams, under whom henderson had studied law, leonard henley bullock, james hogg, nathaniel thomas, david hart, john luttrell, and william johnstone. at the very beginning of the century virginia had passed an act forbidding the private purchase of lands from the indians. the founders of transylvania evidently doubted virginia's sweeping claims to the entire interior of the continent--at any rate land companies seemed to be the only means by which the vast wildernesses beyond the mountains could be opened up and settled. though virginia soon proved the invalidity of the purchase, she at the same time was frank enough to admit that henderson's company had done a good work in giving an impetus to westward expansion, by appropriately recompensing the north carolinians for their expenditure and labors. henderson's purchase was gigantic in its proportions, embracing nearly twenty million acres. the consideration was ten thousand pounds sterling. the purchase was made at the advance settlement at watauga, march , --only a month before the outbreak at lexington and concord. henderson employed boone to assist in the transaction, and immediately after engaged him to mark out the road through cumberland gap to a settlement in kentucky, where the transylvania company (as henderson strangely named his organization) was to begin the occupation of the empire it had nominally secured. of this boone writes modestly that he was "solicited by a number of north carolina gentlemen, that were about purchasing the lands lying on the south side of the kentucky river, from the cherokee indians, to attend their treaty at watauga, in march, , to negotiate with them, and mention the boundaries of the purchase. this i accepted, and at the request of the same gentlemen undertook to mark out a road in the best passage from the settlement through the wilderness to kentucky, with such assistance as i thought necessary to employ for such an important undertaking." as in the case of nemacolin's path across the alleghenies, so now a second westward indian pathway was blazed for white man's use; and if the transylvania colony can in no other respect be said to have been successful, it certainly conferred an inestimable good upon virginia and north carolina and the nation, when it marked out through the hand of boone the wilderness road to kentucky. from watauga the path led up to the gap, where it joined the great warrior's path which came down through kentucky from the scioto valley in ohio. for about fifty miles boone's road followed this path northward, whereupon, leaving the indian trail, boone bore to the west, marking his course on a buffalo trace toward "hazel patch" to the rockcastle. the buffalo path was followed onward up roundstone creek, through "boone's gap" in big hill; through the present county of madison, kentucky; and down little otter creek to the kentucky river. here boonesborough was built for the transylvania colony, which became the temporary center of kentucky. felix walker, one of boone's road-making party, made an autobiographical statement about of this brave attempt to cut a white man's path into kentucky. from this statement these quotations from de bow's _review_ ( ) are pertinent: "the treaty (at watauga) being concluded and the purchase made, we proceeded on our journey to meet col. daniel boon, with other adventurers, bound to the same country; accordingly we met and rendezvoused at the long island on holsteen river, united our small force with colonel boon and his associates, his brother, squire boon, and col. richard callaway, of virginia. our company, when united, amounted to persons. we then, by general consent, put ourselves under the management and control of col. boon, who was to be our pilot and conductor through the wilderness, to the promised land.... about the th of march we put off from the long island, marked out our track with our hatchets, crossed clinch and powell's river, over cumberland mountain, and crossed cumberland river--came to a watercourse called by col.--rockcastle river; killed a fine bear on our way, camped all night and had an excellent supper. on leaving that river, we had to encounter and cut our way through a country of about twenty miles, entirely covered with dead brash, which we found a difficult and laborious task. at the end of which we arrived at the commencement of a cane country, traveled about thirty miles through thick cane and reed, and as the cane ceased, we began to discover the pleasing and rapturous appearance of the plains of kentucky. a new sky and strange earth seemed to be presented to our view.... a sad reverse overtook us two days after, on our way to kentucky river. on the th of march, , we were fired on by the indians, in our camp asleep, about an hour before day. capt. twetty was shot in both knees, and died the third day after. a black man, his body servant, killed dead; myself badly wounded; our company dispersed. so fatal and tragical an event cast a deep gloom of melancholy over all our prospects, and high calculations of long life and happy days in our newly-discovered country were prostrated; hope vanished from the most of us, and left us suspended in the tumult of uncertainty and conjecture. col. boon, and a few others, appeared to possess firmness and fortitude. in our calamitous situation, a circumstance occurred one morning after our misfortunes that proved the courage and stability of our few remaining men (for some had gone back). one of our men, who had run off at the fire of the indians on our camp, was discovered peeping from behind a tree, by a black woman belonging to colonel callaway, while gathering some wood. she ran in and gave the alarm of indians. colonel boon instantly caught his rifle, ordered the men to form, take trees, and give battle, and not to run till they saw him fall. they formed agreeably to his directions, and i believe they would have fought with equal bravery to any spartan band ever brought to the field of action, when the man behind the tree announced his name and came in.... at length i was carried in a litter between two horses, twelve miles, to kentucky river, where we made a station, and called it boonsborough, situated in a plain on the south side of the river, wherein was a lick with two sulphur springs strongly impregnated.... in the sequel and conclusion of my narrative i must not neglect to give honor to whom honor is due. colonel boone conducted the company under his care through the wilderness, with great propriety, intrepidity and courage; and was i to enter an exception to any part of his conduct, it would be on the ground that he appeared void of fear and of consequence--too little caution for the enterprise. but let me, with feeling recollection and lasting gratitude, ever remember the unremitting kindness, sympathy, and attention paid to me by col. boone in my distress. he was my father, my physician, and friend; he attended me as his child, cured my wounds by the use of medicines from the woods, nursed me with paternal affection until i recovered, without the expectation of reward." [illustration: plat of boonesborough [_based on a copy of the original in possession of john stevens_]] it was altogether fitting that among the very first to follow boone's blazed road to kentucky we should find judge henderson and his fellow-promoters of the transylvania company. nothing shows more plainly the genuineness of their purposes and the heroism of their spirit. they were not foisting on their countrymen a hazardous scheme by which they should profit, while others bore the brunt of the toil and danger. true, henderson had, purposely or unwittingly, ignored the technicality of virginia's claim to the possession of the west; but, with an honesty unparalleled at that day in such matters, they met the representatives of the real owners of the lands they desired, and had purchased them and paid down the purchase money. there is almost no doubt that they could have satisfied virginia's technicalities at a less cost; and then have gone, as so many have done, to fortify their possessions and "fight it out" with the genuine owners of the soil, who would eventually get nothing and lose everything. this judge henderson did not do; nor did he sit down comfortably at home and send others to turn his holdings into money. he arose and started--amid dangers that shall not be mentioned lest they be minimized--for far-away kentucky, on the little roadway boone was opening. henderson's party left fort watauga march , , and arrived at the infant boonesborough april . the leader of the party fortunately kept a record, though meager, of this notable journey. this precious yellow diary is preserved by the wisconsin historical society. it reads: "monday march th having finished my treaty with the indians, at wataugah sett out for louisa & arrived at john shelbeys in the evening--tuesday the ^{st} went to m^r john seviers in company of col^o williams & col^o hart & staid that day--wednesday the ^d--mess^{rs} williams & hart set off home & i staid with m^r sevier thursday ^d still at m^r seviers--n. b. because our horses were lost tho. not uneasiy as mess^{rs} hart and letteral made a poor hand of traveling-- friday ^{th} sett of in pursuit of m^r hart & letteral. overtook them both & lodged at capt bledsoe's-- satterday the ^{th}. came to m^{rs} callaway's. sunday ^{th} staid there. monday ^{th} emplied in storeing away goods. tuesday ^{th}--sett off for louisa wednesday continued journey. n. b. m^r luttrel not come up. thursday ^{th} arrived at cap^t martins in powels valey-- fryday ^{st} imploy'd in makeing house to secure the waggons as we could not possibly clear the road any further. n. b. my waggon & sam^l hendersons came up in a.m. w. luttrel in the evin^g satterday the day of april--imploy'd in making ready for packing &^c m^r hart came up-- sunday ^d continued at capt^t martins waiting for the waggon monday the ^d still continued waiting for the waggon-- tuesday the ^{th}--still continued waiting for the waggon. the same evening the waggon arrived--tho so late we cood not proceed-- wednesday ^{th} started off with our pack horses ab^t. oclock traveld about miles to a large spring. the same evening m^r litteral went out a hunting & has not yet returned. [next. both henderson and sa^l durning went in pursuit of him--_erased in diary_.] the same evening sam^l. hendersons & john farriers horses took a scare with there packs run away with sams saddle & briddle. farrars saddle baggs other things damaged. next morning sam^l henderson & farrar went in pursuit of there horses. saddle &c--the same evening john farrar returnd to our camp with news that they had found all there goods. but two of there horses were missing thursday sent john farrar back with provission to meet & assist sam henderson with orders to stay with him, till they overtook us, as we promis'd to wait for them at cumberland gap fryday the ^{th}--sam^l. henderson & john farrar returned to us with there horses packs & every thing safe. we having waited at our camp miles below martins for them [thursday the ^{th}--_erased_]. traveled about six miles to the last settlement in powels valey where we were obliged to stop and kill a beef wait for sam henderson & [n. b?] this was done whilst waiting for sam^l henderson as afo[re mentioned] fryday the ^{th}. about brake of day begun to snow, about ^oclock received a letter from m^r littereals camp that were five persons kill'd on the road to the cantuckee by indians--cap^t hart, uppon the receipt of this news retreated back with his company & determin'd to settle in the valley to make corn for the cantuckey people the same day received a letter from da^n. boone. that his company was fired uppon by indians kill'd two of his men--tho he kept the ground & saved the baggage &c. satterday the ^{th}. started ab^t. ^oclock cross'd cumberland gap about miles met about persons returning from the cantuckey. on acc^t. of the late murder by the indians could prevail one one [_sic_] only to return. mem^o several virginians who were with us returned. sunday the ^{th}. arrived at cumberland river where we met rob^t wills & his son returning &c monday ^{th}. dispach^d cap^t cocke to the cantukey to inform cap^t boone that we were on the road continued at camp that day on acc^t of the badness of the wether tuesday ^{th} started from cumberl^d. made a very good days travel of near mile kill'd beef &c. wednesday the travel'd about miles, prevented going any further by the rains & high water at richland creek-- thursday the ^{th}. last night arrived men [of] our camp stewart & ten other men, campt within half mile of us on there return from lousia campt. that night at larrel river--they had well nigh turnd three or four of our virg & us back. fryday the . traveld about miles to a camp &c satterday the ^{th}. traveld about miles & campt on the north side of rock castle river.--this river's a fork of cumberland--lost an ax this morn at camp. sunday the ^{th}. about oclock met jemes mcafee with other persons returning from cantuckey traveld about miles and campt on the head of dicks river where luna from mc.afees camp came to us resolved to go to the louisa-- monday ^{th} started about oclock prevented by rain. traveld miles tuesday the ^{th}. traveld about miles, met michael stoner with pack horses to assist us. campt that night in the edge of the rich land--stoner brought us excellent beef in plenty wednesday ^{th}. traveld about miles campt on oter creek--a good mill place thursday the ^{th}. arrived at fort boone. on the mouth of oter creek cantukey river--where we were saluted by a running fire of about guns; all that was then at fort--the men appeared in high spirits & much rejoiced on our arrival"[ ] colonel henderson (as the leader of the transylvania colony is best known) arrived at boonesborough one day after the outbreak of the revolutionary struggle at lexington and concord, and on his own fortieth birthday. a clearer glimpse of the fortunes of this company of pilgrims who followed in boone's wake is preserved for us in the journal kept by william calk, who was with hart's party that henderson met at martin's cabin on the second of april. the original manuscript is in the possession of the family of the late mr. thomas calk, near mt. sterling, kentucky. it reads: " mond. th--i set out from prince wm. to travel to caintuck on tuesday night our company all got together at mr. prises on rapadan which was abraham hanks[ ] philip drake eaneck smith robert whitledge & my self, thear abrams dogs leg got broke by drake's dog. wedns. th,--we started early from prises made a good days travel & lodge this night at mr. cars on north fork james river. thurs. th,--we started early it raind chief part of the day snowd in the eavening very hard & was very coald we traveld all day & got to mr. blacks at the foot of the blue ridge. fryd. th--we start early cross the ridge the wind blows very hard & cold and lodge at james loyls. satrd. th--we git this day to william andersons at crows ferrey & there we stay till monday morning. mond. th--we start early cross the fery and lodge this night at wm. adamses on the head of catauby. tuesd. st--we start early and git over pepers ferey on new river & lodge at pepers this night. wedns d--we start early and git to foart chissel whear we git some good loaf bread & good whiskey. thurs d--we start early & travel till a good while in the night and git to major cammels on holston river. fryday th--we start early & turn out of the wagon road to go across the mountains to go by danil smiths we loose driver come to a turabel mountain that tired us all almost to death to git over it & we lodge this night on the lawrel fork of holston under agrait mountain & roast a fine fat turkey for our suppers & eat it without aney bread. satrd th--we start early travel over some more very bad mountains one that is caled clinch mountain & we git this night to danil smiths on clinch and there we staid till thursday morning on tuesday night & wednesday morning it snowd very hard and was very coald & we hunted a good deal there while we staid in rough mountains and kild three deer & one turkey eanock abram & i got lost tuesday night & it a snowing & should a lain in the mountains had not i a had a pocket compas by which i got in a littel in the night and fired guns and they heard them and caim in by the repoart. thursd th--we set out again & went down to elk gardin and there suplid our selves with seed corn & irish tators then we went on a littel way i turnd my hors to drive afore me & he got scard ran away threw down the saddel bags and broke three of our powder goards & abrams beast burst open a walet of corn & lost a good deal & made a turrabel flustration amongst the reast of the horses drakes mair run against a sapling & noct it down we cacht them all agin & went on & lodgd at john duncans. fryd st--we suployd our selves at dunkans with a pounds of bacon & went on again to brileys mill & suployd our selves with meal & lodged this night on clinch by a large cainbraike & cuckt our suppers. april satrd first--this morning there is ice at our camp half inch thick we start early & travel this day along a verey bad hilley way cross one creek whear the horses almost got mired some fell in & all wet their loads we cross clinch river & travell till late in the night & camp on cove creek having two men with us that wair pilates. sund d--this morning is a very hard frost we start early travel over powels mountain and camp in the head of powels valey whear there is verey good food. mond d we start early travel down the valey cross powels river go some throu the woods without aney track cross some bad hils git into hendersons road camp on a creek in powels valey. tuesday th raney, we start about oclock and git down to capt. martins in the valey where we over take coln henderson & his companey bound for caintuck & there we camp this night there they were broiling & eating beef without bread. wednesday th breaks away fair & we go on down the valey & camp on indian creek we had this creek to cross maney times & very bad banks abrams saddel turnd & the load all fell in we go out this eavening & kill two deer. thurs th this morning is ahard frost & we wait at camp for coln henderson & companey to come up they come up about o'clock & we join with them and camp there still this night waiting for some part of the companey that had thier horses ran away with their packs. fryday th this morning is a very hard snowey morning we still continue at camp being in number about men & some neagros this eaven--comes a letter from capt. boone at caintuck of the indians doing mischief and some turns back. satrd april th--we all pact up and started crost cumberland gap about one oclock this day we met a great maney peopel turned back for fear of the indians but our companey goes on still with good courage we come to a very ugly creek with steep banks & have it to cross several times on this creek we camp this night. sunday th--this morning we wait at camp for the cattle to be drove up to kill a beef tis late before they come & peopel makes out alittel snack & agree to go on till night we git to cumberland river & there we camp meet more men turn back. monday th--this is alowry morning & very like for rain & we keep at camp this day and some goes out ahunting. i & two more goes up avery large mountain near the tops we saw the track of two indians & whear they had lain unter some rocks some of the companey went over the river a bofelo hunting but found none at night capt. hart comes up with his packs & there they hide some of thier lead to lighten thier packs that they may travel faster. tuesday th--this is a very loury morning & like for rain but we all agree to start early we cross cumberland river & travel down it about miles through some turrabel cainbrakes as we went down abrams mair ran into the river with her load & swam over he folowd her & got on her & made her swim back agin it is a very raney eavening we take up camp near richland creek they kill a beef mr. drake bakes bread without washing his hands we keep sentry this night for fear of the indians. wednesday th this is a raney morning but we pack up & go on we come to richland creek it is high we toat our packs over on a tree & swim our horses over & there we meet another companey going back they tell such news abram & drake is afraid to go aney further there we camp this night. thursday th this morning the weather seems to breake & be fair abram & drake turn back we go on & git to loral river we come to a creek before wheare we are able to unload & toate our packs over on a log this day we meet about more turning back we are obligd to toat our packs over loral river & swim our horses one hors ran in with his pack & lost it in the river & they got it agin. fryday th--this is a clear morning with a smart frost we go on & have a very mire road and camp this night on a creek of loral river and are surprisd at camp by a wolf. satterday th clear with a small frost we start early we meet some men that turns & goes with us we travel this day through the plais caled the bressh & crofs rockcass river & camp ther this night & have fine food for our horses. sunday th--cloudy & warm we start early & go on about mile down the river and then turn up a creek that we crost about times some very bad foards with a great deal of very good land on it in the eavening we git over to the waters of caintuck & go a littel down the creek & there we camp keep sentry the forepart of the night it rains very har all night. monday th this is a very rany morning but breaks about a oclock & we go on and camp this night in several companeys on some of the creeks of caintuck. tuesday th fair & cool and we go on about oclock we meet men from boons camp that caim to cunduck us on we camp this night just on the begining of the good land near the blue lick they kill bofelos this eavening. wednesd th smart frost this morning they kill bofelos about oclock we come to where the indians fired on boons company & kild men & a dog & wounded one man in the thigh we campt this night on oter creek. thursday th this morning is clear and cool. we start early and git down to caintuck to boons foart about o'clock wheare we stop they come out to meet us & welcom us in with a voley of guns. fryday st warm this day they begin laying off lots in the town and prearing for peopel to go to worck to make corn. satterday nd they finish laying out lots this eavening i went a-fishing and cactht cats they meet in the night to draw for choise of lots but refer it till morning sunday april d this morning the peopel meets & draws for chois of loots this is a very warm day. monday th we all view our loots & some dont like them about oclock the combses come to town & next morning they make them a bark canew and set off down the river to meet their companey. tuesday th in the eavening we git us a plaise at the mouth of the creek & begin clearing. wednesday th we begin building us a house & a plaise of defense to keep the indians off this day we begin to live without bread. thursday th raney all day but we still keep about our house. satterday th--we git our house kivered with bark & move our things into it at night and begin houskeeping eanock smith robert whitledge & my self. may, monday first i go out to look for my mair and saw bufelos the being the first that i saw & i shot one of them but did not git him when i caim home eanock & robin had found the mair & was gone out a hunting & did not come in for--days and kild only one deer. tuesday d i went out in the morning & kild a turkey and come in & got some on for my breakfast and then went & sot in to clearing for corn."[ ] the personal statement of mrs. elizabeth thomas is of interest in this connection. she was one of col. calloway's company that followed henderson in september . this statement is preserved in the library of the wisconsin historical society and reads: "i was born in virginia on the ^{th} day of sept in rockbridge county near the natural bridge my father moved on the north fork of holston within or miles of abbingdon & remained there two or three years and in march we moved down holstien near the big island, [long island] where we remained until sept when col calloway and his company came along going to kentucky, when my father william pogue packed up and came with him with our family, col boone and with his wife and family and col hugh mcgary, thomas denton and richard hogan were on the road before us and when we arrived at boonesborough the latter part of september there was only fur [four] or six cabbins built along on the bank of the kentucky river but not picketted in being open on two sides."[ ] this was the great pathway of early pioneers to kentucky, and the course of the marvelous floodtide of immigration which swept over the mountains in the last three decades of the eighteenth century. [illustration: filson's map of kentucky ( )] the itineraries of early travelers describe the wilderness road in definite terms. one of the earliest is that given by john filson, whose history of kentucky was published as early as . it described the route from philadelphia to louisville (eight hundred and twenty-six miles), as follows: miles from philadelphia to lancaster, to wright's on the susquehanna, to yorktown, to abbotstown, to hunterstown, to mountain at black's gap, to other side of the mountain, to stone-house tavern, to wadkin's ferry on potomac to martinsburg, to winchester, to newtown, to stoverstown, to woodstock, to shenandoah river, to north branch shenandoah, to staunton, to north fork james river, to botetourt c. h., to woods on catawba river to paterson.s. on roanoke, to alleghany mountain, to new river, to forks of road, to fort chissel, to stone mill, to boyds, to head of holstein, to washington c. h., to the block-house, to powell mountain, to walden's ridge, to valley station, to martin's cabin, to cumberland mountain, to cumberland river, to flat lick, to stinking creek, to richland creek, down richland creek, to racoon spring, to laurel river, to hazel patch, to rockcastle river, to english station, to col. edward's crab orchard, to whitley's station, to logan's station, to clark's station, to crow's station, to harrod's station, to harlands', to harbisons, to bardstown, to salt works, to falls of the ohio, --- mr. speed preserves for us the itinerary with "observations and occurrences" of william brown, the father of judge alfred m. brown, of elizabeth town, kentucky. "it is contained in a small manuscript book," writes mr. speed, "which has been preserved in the family. it is especially interesting from the fact that immediately upon his arrival in kentucky, by the journey of which he made a complete record, the battle of blue licks occurred. he aided in burying the slain, among whom was his own brother, james brown." the itinerary and "observations and occurrences" follow:[ ] ( ) "hanover to richmond, henrico co., to widow simpson's, chesterford, to powhatan co. house, to joseph thompson's at the forks of the road, to long's ordinary, buckingham, to hoolen's on willis creek, to mrs. sanders, cumberland, to widow thompson's passing hood's and swiney's, to captain hunter's, to thompson's on the long mo., campbell, to dupriest, to new london, to liberty town, to yearley's, at goose creek, bedford, to m. loland, at the blue ridge gap, to big flat lick, to fort lewis, botetourt, to hans' meadows, to english's ferry, new river, to fort chiswell, to atkins' ordinary, to mid fork holstein, -- to cross white's, montgomery, to col. arthur campbell's, to -mile ford of holstein, to maj. dysart's mill, to washington co. house, to head of reedy creek, sullivan co., north carolina, to block house, to north fork holstein, to moccasin gap, to clinch river, to ford of stock creek, to little flat lick, to north fork of clinch, to powell's mountain, to wallan ridge, to valley station, to powell's river, to glade spring, to martin's station, to big spring, to cumberland mountain gap, to yellow creek, to cumberland river, to big flat lick, to little richland creek, to big richland creek, to robinson creek, to raccoon spring, to laurel river, to little laurel river, to raccoon creek, to hazel patch, to rockcastle creek, to rockcastle river, to scaggs' creek, to head of dicks river, to english station, to crab orchard, to logan's old fort, to doehurty's station, to harrod's station, to harrodsburg, from hanover to harrodsburg is miles. _observations and occurrences_: set out from hanover monday, th may, ; arrived at the block-house about the first week in july. the road from hanover to this place is generally very good; crossing the blue ridge is not bad; there is not more than a small hill with some winding to go over. neither is the alleghany mountain by any means difficult at this gap. there are one or two high hills about new river and fort chiswell. the ford of new river is rather bad; therefore we thought it advisable to cross in the ferry-boat. this is generally a good-watered road as far as the block-house. we waited hereabouts near two weeks for company, and then set out for the wilderness with twelve men and ten guns, this being thursday, th july. the road from this until you get over wallen's ridge generally is bad, some part very much so, particularly about stock creek and stock creek ridge. it is a very mountainous country hereabout, but there is some fine land in the bottoms, near the watercourses, in narrow slips. it will be but a thin settled country whenever it is settled. the fords of holstein and clinch are both good in dry weather, but in a rainy season you are often obliged to raft over. from them along down powell's valley until you get to cumberland gap is pretty good; this valley is formed by cumberland mountain on the northwest, and powell mountain on the southeast, and appears to bear from northeast southwestwardly, and is, i suppose, about one hundred miles in length, and from ten to twelve miles in breadth. the land generally is good, and is an exceeding well-watered country, as well as the country on holstein river, abounding with fine springs and little brooks. for about fifty miles, as you travel along the valley, cumberland mountain appears to be a very high ridge of white rocks, inaccessible in most places to either man or beast, and affords a wild, romantic prospect. the way through the gap is not very difficult, but from its situation travelers may be attacked in some places, crossing the mountain, by the enemy to a very great disadvantage. from thence until you pass rockcastle river there is very little good road; this tract of country is very mountainous, and badly watered along the trace, especially for springs. there is some good land on the water-courses, and just on this side cumberland river appears to be a good tract, and within a few years i expect to have a settlement on it. some parts of the road are very miry in rainy weather. the fords of cumberland and rockcastle are both good unless the waters be too high; after you cross rockcastle there are a few high hills, and the rest of the way tolerable good; the land appears to be rather weak, chiefly timbered with oak, etc. the first of the kentucky waters you touch upon is the head of dick's river, just eight miles from english's. here we arrived thursday, th inst., which is just seven days since we started from the block-house. monday, th inst., i got to harrodsburg, and saw brother james. the next day we parted, as he was about setting off on a journey to cumberland. on monday, august th, colonel john todd, with a party of one hundred and eighty-two of our men, attacked a body of indians, supposed to number six or seven hundred, at the blue lick, and was defeated, with the loss of sixty-five persons missing and slain. _officers lost_: colonels--john todd and stephen trigg; majors--edward bulger and silas harlan; captains--w. mcbride, john gordon, jos. kincaid, and clough overton; lieutenants--w. givens, and john kennedy; ensign--john mcmurtry. in this action brother james fell. on saturday th inst., colonel logan, with four hundred and seventy men, went on the battle-ground and buried the slain; found on the field, slain, forty-three men, missing, twenty-two, in all sixty-five. i traveled but little about the country. from english's to harrodsburg was the farthest west, and from logan's fort to the blue lick the farthest north. thus far the land was generally good--except near and about the lick it was very poor and badly timbered--generally badly watered, but pretty well timbered. at richmond ford, on the kentucky river, the bank a little below the ford appears to be largely upward of a hundred feet perpendicular of rock. on my return to hanover i set off from john craigs' monday, d september, ; left english's tuesday, o'clock, arrived at the block-house the monday evening following, and kept on the same route downward chiefly that i traveled out. nothing material occurred to me. got to hanover sometime about the last of october the same year." thomas speed's grandfather gives the following itinerary from "charlotte court-house to kentucky" under date of : miles "from charlotte court-house to campbell court-house, to new london, to colonel james callaway's, to liberty, to colonel flemming's, to big lick, to mrs. kent's, to english's ferry, to carter's, to fort chissel, to the stone-mill, to adkins', to russell place, to greenaway's, to washington court-house, to the block-house, to farriss's, to clinch river, to scott's station, to cox's at powell river, to martin's station, to--[manuscript defaced] to cumberland mountain to cumberland river, to flat lick, to stinking creek, to richland creek, to raccoon spring, to laurel river, to hazel patch, to rockcastle, to--[manuscript defaced]." the foregoing itineraries afford us some conception of the settlements and "improvements" that sprang up along the winding thoroughfare from virginia to kentucky. the writer has sought with some care to know more of these--of the modes of travel, the entertainment which was afforded along the road to men and beasts, and the social relation of the greater settlements in virginia and kentucky to this thin line of human lives across the continent. very little information has been secured. it is plain that the great immigration to kentucky would have been out of the question had there been no means of succor and assistance along the road. there were many who gained their livelihood as pioneer innkeepers and provisioned along boone's road. among the very few of these of whom any record is left, captain joseph martin is perhaps the most prominent and most worthy of remembrance. martin's "cabin" or "station," as it is variously termed, occupied a strategic point in far-famed powell's valley, one hundred and eighty miles west of inglis ferry, twenty miles east of cumberland gap and about one hundred and thirty miles southeast of crab orchard and boonesborough. captain martin was virginia agent for indian affairs, and was the most prominent man in the scattered settlements in powell's valley, where he was living at the time of the founding of boonesborough. later he made his headquarters at long island in north carolina. it is plain from colonel henderson's journal that wagons could proceed along boone's road in no further than martin's cabin. here everything was transferred to the packhorses. several letters from colonel henderson to captain martin, preserved by the wisconsin historical society, give us a glimpse of silent powell's valley. one of them reads: "boonesborough ^{th} june dear sir: m^r ralph williams, david burnay, and william mellar will apply to you for salt and other things which we left with you and was sent for us since we came away--please to deliver to them, or those they may employ what they ask for, and take a receipt--also write me a few lines informing me, what you have sent &c by hem & by whom--i long much to hear from you, pray write me at large, how the matter goes with you in the valey, as well as what passes in virginia--if the pack-horsemen should want any thing towards securing my books from damage pack-saddles, provisions, or any thing which you see is necessary; please to let them have it on our acc^t.--all things goes well hitherto with us, i hope the[y] do with you would have sent your mares but am afraid they are not done horsing they will be safely brought by my brother in a few weeks i am d^r sir your hble serv^t rich^d. henderson m^r joseph martin in the valley"[ ] on july he wrote again: "am sorry to hear that the people in the valey are distressed for provisions and ammunition have given some directions to my brother to assist you a little with powder. standly, i suppose has before now delivered your inglish mare, and the other you'l receive by my brother--when we meet will render an acc^t. for my behaviour in keeping them so long--we did not forget you at the time of making laws, your part of the country is too remote from ours to attend our convention you must have laws made by an assembly of your own, i have prepared a plan which i hope you'l approve but more of that when we meet which i hope will be soon, tho 'til col. boone comes cant say when--am extreamly sorry for the affair with the indians on the ^d of last month. i wish it may not have a bad effect, but will use my endeavors to find out who they were & have the matter settled--your spirited conduct gives me great pleasure--keep your men in heart if possible, now is our time, the indians must not drive us--depend upon it that the chief men and warriors of the cherokees will not countenance what there men attempted and will punish them--pray my dear sir dont let any person settle lower down the valey i am affraid they are now too low & must come away i did not want any person to settle yet below cumberland gap--my brother will [tell] you of the news of these parts--in haste d^r sir...." in december, john williams wrote captain martin from boonesborough and his letter gives us a closer insight into affairs along boone's road: "... with respect to the complaints of the inhabitants of powells valley with regard to cattle being lodged there, i should think it altogether unjust than [that] non-inhabitants should bring in cattle to destroy and eat up the range of the inhabitants' stock; yet, sir, i cannot conceive that col. hart's stopping his stock there, when on their way here, to recruit them for their journey, can be the least infringement. col. hart is a proprietor, & [has] as great a right in the country as any one man. in the valley are many lands yet unentered; and certainly if there be a right in letting stock into the range, he has a right equal to any man alive. i therefore hope you will endeavor to convince the inhabitants thereof, and that it is no indulgence to col. hart, but a right he claims, and what i think him justly entitled to. i hope to have the pleasure of seeing you at boonesborough the ^{st} instant--in the meantime making not the least doubt but that you will use every justifiable method in keeping up peace and harmony in the valley"[ ] as indicated in the former letter, the emigrants from the colonies were encroaching upon the cherokee lands beyond the henderson purchase. joseph martin was under the necessity of protesting to the assembly of north carolina against settlers from that state pressing beyond the henderson lands and settling in the cherokee country.[ ] it is seen by colonel henderson's letter that boone's road marked the most westerly limit to which pioneers could go with safety. irresponsible cherokees invaded the henderson purchase, and equally irresponsible (or ignorant) whites invaded the cherokee country. the difficulty probably lay in not having a definite, plain boundary line that he who ran might recognize. the settlement here in powell's valley meant everything to the pioneers of kentucky. this is made additionally plain by the attempt of interested parties to have captain martin's indian agency removed from long island to a point on boone's road near cumberland gap. in december william christian wrote governor harrison from "great [long] island," explaining the dependence of the inhabitants (undoubtedly both red and white) upon martin in time of need. "i find," he wrote, "that the party here, consisting of fifty odd, are living on col. martin's corn. whenever a family begins to be in a starving condition, it is very probable they will push for this place & throw themselves upon him for bread."[ ] fourteen days later he wrote from mahanaim to "hon. col. sampson matthews" of richmond; protesting against virginia's indian agency being kept at long island, north carolina; and urging that it be removed to near cumberland gap: "the gap is near half way betwixt our settlements on holston and kentucky, and a post there would be a resting place for our poor citizens going back and forward, and would be a great means of saving the lives of hundreds of them. for it seldom happens that indians will kill people near where they trade; & it is thereabouts the most of the mischief on the road has been done.... i view the change i propose as of great importance to the frontier of washington, [county] to our people journeying to & from kentucky, particularly the poor families moving out...."[ ] it was, throughout the eighteenth century, exceedingly dangerous to travel boone's road; and those who journeyed either way joined together and traveled in "companies." indeed there was risk enough for the most daring, in any case; but a well-armed "company" of tried pioneers on boone's road was a dangerous game upon which to prey. it was customary to advertise the departure of a company either from virginia or kentucky, in local papers; in order that any desiring to make the journey might know of the intended departure. the principal rendezvous in kentucky was the frontier settlement of crab orchard. certain of these advertisements are extremely interesting; the verbal changes are significant if closely read: notice is hereby given, that a company will meet at the crab orchard, on sunday the ^{th} day of may, to go through the wilderness, and to set out on the ^{th}. at which time most of the delegates to the state convention will go[ ] a large company will meet at the crab orchard on sunday the ^{th} of may, in order to make an early start on monday the ^{th} through the wilderness for the old settlement[ ] a large company will meet at the crab orchard on the ^{th}. day of may, in readiness to start on the ^{th}. through the wilderness for richmond[ ] notice is hereby given that several gentlemen propose meeting at the crab-orchard on the ^{th}. of june in perfect readiness to move early the next morning through the wilderness[ ] notice a large company will meet at the crab-orchard the ^{th}. of november in order to start the next day through the wilderness. as it is very dangerous on account of the indians, it is hoped each person will go well armed[ ] it appears that unarmed persons sometimes attached themselves to companies and relied on others to protect them in times of danger. one advertisement urged that everyone should go armed and "not to depend on others to defend them."[ ] the frequency of the departure of such companies suggests the great amount of travel on boone's road. as early as parties were advertised to leave crab orchard may , may , may , june , and june . nor does it seem that there was much abatement during the more inclement (safer?) months; in the fall of the same year companies were advertised to depart november , december , and december . yet at this season the indians were often out waylaying travelers--driven no doubt by hunger to deeds of desperation. the sufferings of such redskinned marauders have found little place in history; but they are, nevertheless, particularly suggestive. one story, which has not perhaps been told _ad nauseam_, is to the point; and would be amusing if it were not so fatally conclusive. in the winter of - a party on boone's road was attacked by indians not far from the kentucky border. their horses were plundered of goods, but the travelers escaped. hurrying "in" to the settlements a company was raised to make a pursuit. by their tracks in the snow the indians were accurately followed. they were overtaken at a camp, where they were drying their blankets, &c., before a great fire. at the first charge the savages, completely surprised, took to their heels--stark naked. not satisfied with recovering the stolen goods the kentuckians pursued the fugitives into the mountains. along the course they found trees stripped of pieces of bark, with which the indians had attempted to cover their bodies. they were not overtaken, though some of their well protected pursuers had their own feet frost-bitten. the awful fate of the savages is unquestionable. before richard henderson arrived in kentucky daniel boone wrote him: "my advice to you, sir, is to come or send as soon as possible. your company is desired greatly, for the people are very uneasy, but are willing to stay and venture their lives with you, and now is the time to flustrate the intentions of the indians, and keep the country whilst we are in it. if we give way to them now, it will ever be the case." this letter shows plainly how the best informed man in kentucky regarded henderson's settlement at boonesborough. henderson's purchase was repudiated by both virginia and north carolina; but the virginia legislature confirmed henderson's sales of land, in so far as they were made to actual settlers, and not to speculators, henderson and his associates were granted land in lieu of that taken from them. the transylvania company, while looked upon askance by many who preferred to risk their tomahawk claim rights to those the company granted, exerted as great a moral influence in the first settlement of kentucky as daniel boone affirmed it would--a greater influence than any other company before the revolutionary war. what it meant to the american colonies to have a brave band of pioneers in kentucky at that crucial epoch, is an important chapter in the history of boone's road. chapter iv kentucky in the revolution history was fast being made in kentucky when the revolutionary struggle reached the crisis in at concord and lexington. south of the ohio river virginia's new empire was filling with the conquerors of the west. the mississippi valley counted a population of thirteen thousand, three thousand being the population of new orleans. st. louis, in spanish possession, was carrying on a brisk trade with the indians on the missouri. vincennes, the british port on the wabash, had a population of four hundred whites. detroit, the metropolis of the west, numbered fifteen hundred inhabitants, more than double the number in the dashing days of gladwin only a decade before. the british flag also waved at kaskaskia on the mississippi, and at sandusky. this fringe of british forts on the north was separated from the american metropolis of the west, pittsburg, and from the first fortresses built in kentucky, by leagues of forests, dark as when bouquet pierced them; and filled with sullen indian nations, awed for the time being by dunmore's invasion, but silently biding their time to avenge themselves for the loss of the meadow lands of ken-ta-kee. such was the condition of affairs when, in april , the open struggle for independence of the american colonies was roughly precipitated at lexington. it might seem to the casual observer that the colonists, who were now hastening by way of boone's wilderness road into the virginian kentucky, could not feel the intense jealousy for american interests which was felt by the patriots in the east. on the contrary, there is evidence that these first pioneers into the west had a profound knowledge of the situation; and a sympathy for the struggling patriots, which was enhanced even by the distance which separated them, and the hardships they had endured. not a few of them, too, had known personally of the plundering british officials and the obnoxious taxes. it is the proud boast of kentuckians that in the center of their beautiful blue grass country was erected the first monument to the first dead of the revolution. a party of pioneers heard the news of the battle of lexington while sitting about their camp fire. long into the night the rough men told and retold the news, and before morning named the new settlement they were to make, lexington, in honor of new england's dead. it was not at all evident at first what the war was going to amount to in the west. scarcely more was known in the west of the revolutionary war than had been known two decades before of the french and indian war. but at the outset it was plain that there was to be a tremendous struggle on both sides to gain the allegiance, as the british desired, of the indian nations which lay between the ohio river and the great lakes. for two years the struggle in the east went on, engrossing the entire attention of both parties. during and the history of the west is merely the continuation of the bloody story of the years which led up to dunmore's campaign, like the savage attack on wheeling, in september, . slowly the indians forgot lewis's crushing victory at point pleasant, and their solemn pledges at camp charlotte; and were raiding the feeble kentucky posts with undiminished relish, or giving the long knives plenty of provocation for the barbarities of which the latter are known to have been guilty. the opening scene of the revolutionary war in the west was the most important phase of the war in the history of boone's wilderness road; for at the very outset the question was decided once for all whether or not that thin, long, priceless path to kentucky through the watauga settlement was to be held or lost. if it could not be held, there was no hope left for the brave men who had gone to found that western empire beyond the cumberland mountains. with their line of retreat cut in two by the southern indians, they were left without hope of succor or success: for the success of their enterprise depended upon the inspiration their advance gave to those behind them. none would come if the wautauga settlement did not survive. the british agents among the southern indians--the cherokees, creeks, choctaws and chickasaws--precipitated a quick and early struggle along this historic pathway by goading the indians into a murderous attack upon the watauga settlement. the cherokees who had sold the transylvania company its lands, were the most easily incited to war, and fifty packhorse loads of ammunition scattered through their towns in those deep mountain valleys where the two carolinas and georgia meet, determined an outburst in july, . straight north from them lay the rude beginnings of civilization on the headwaters of the tennessee, and further "in" was the frontier line of virginia. the headquarters of the watauga settlement may be said to have been fort watauga, commanded by the heroes robertson and sevier; here boone had made the treaty with the cherokees for richard henderson, a trifle over a year ago. eaton's, evan shelby's, john shelby's, campbell's, and the wommack forts were the important way stations on this path from virginia to kentucky. two indian parties larger than the others made for fort watauga and eaton's station, and the defenders of the latter post, learning from their scouts that a formidable array under the notorious dragging canoe was coming, resolved to give them a hot, unexpected welcome. accordingly, on the morning of july twentieth nearly two hundred brown forms could have been seen stealing away from the fort in two thin lines half lost in the fog toward the open land known as "the flats" near the "long island" of the holston. in the march an advance party of a score of savages was met and put to flight. no other signs of the enemy could be discovered and the men started back to their fort at the end of the day. dragging canoe, not less audacious than his foes, awaited his time, and when the whites were marching homeward, came down upon them, his savages forming a wedge-shaped line of battle. instantly the borderers fell back to the right and left, and with a desperate quietness awaited the onslaught. the indian plan of rushing the whites off their feet by an overwhelming charge failed; the borderers settled deeper into the ground and met the rush and dashed the savage line into fragments. one charge--and all was over. there was no recovering from this form of attack for untrained soldiery, and the assaulting band instantly broke and fled. this battle of long island flats was the first of the series of victories for the watauga pioneers; its importance can hardly be measured today. its best fruit was that it brought other victories to the encouraged wataugans. on the same day the other indian horde invested and assailed fort watauga at dawn. only about two score men were at home to defend a large number of women and children, but they were fully equal to the emergency and with a frightful burst of fire drove back the line of savages which could just be seen advancing at that hour when indians invariably made their attacks--the early dawn. robertson was senior officer in command, and sevier his brave assistant. the latter, having learned of the indian uprising, characteristically wrote a message to the people far away on the virginia border to look well to their homes--never even asking that assistance be sent to the much more feeble and vastly more endangered watauga settlement on the kentucky road. elsewhere the border warfare was being waged with varying fortune; a small band of georgian frontiersmen invaded the cherokee country[ *] in the hope of capturing a notorious british agent, cameron; it suffered heavily through the faithlessness of the cherokees. the whole southern frontier was aroused, and plans for dashes into the cherokee country were made but could not be forwarded simultaneously. yet cameron and his tories and indians acted in unison and brought sudden desolation into south carolina. the force of the blow was broken by the brave colonel andrew williamson, who, gathering over a thousand volunteers near the end of july began the first important invasion of the cherokee country. near eseneka, the cherokee town, the carolinians found cameron and won a costly victory. after some internal dissensions the little army got on its mettle and went steadily forward to wipe out the lower cherokee towns, which was completely accomplished by the middle of august. scarcity of ammunition, only, kept williamson from attacking the middle towns. this task fell to the lot of the second expedition into the cherokee country. this was a joint campaign waged by north and south carolina, and virginia, each to furnish two thousand men. the north carolinians under rutherford were earliest in the field. this officer with twenty-four hundred men left the head of the catawba and opened "rutherford's trace" leading to swananoa gap in the blue ridge and on to the middle cherokee towns by way of warrior's ford of french broad and mount cowee. the middle towns were destroyed, and, uniting with williamson, the two bodies of men swept over the cherokee valley towns until "all the cherokee settlements west of the appalachians had been destroyed from the face of the earth, neither crops nor cattle being left." while the carolinians had been sweeping into the lower cherokee country, the virginia troops had been assembling at the long island of the holston under their leader colonel william christian. their campaign against the overhill towns was slowly formed here on the little westward pathway, and it was not until the first of october that all the contributions of men and arms from the settlements between fort watauga and the virginia frontier were received. the advance, by way of big island of the holston, was slow but determined--each encampment being made absolutely secure against surprise. the indians, learning of the strength of christian's army, knew better than to resist. they retired without a struggle and the borderers reached the heart of the overhill country on the fifth day of november. here they ravaged, burned, and razed to their hearts' content, until a deputation imploring peace came from the broken tribes. in this action old dragging canoe would have no part but stole away with a few followers toward the chickamauga. christian agreed to a treaty which definitely marked out the boundary line between the indians and the whites, and then returned home leaving a garrison near the kentucky path by the holston. in the words of roosevelt, who of all writers has done this campaign most justice: "the watauga people and the westerners generally were the real gainers by the war. had the watauga settlements been destroyed, they would no longer have covered the wilderness road to kentucky; and so kentucky must perforce have been abandoned. but the followers of robertson and sevier stood stoutly for their homes; not one of them fled over the mountains. the cherokees had been so roughly handled that for several years they did not again go to war as a body; and this not only gave the settlers a breathing time, but also enabled them to make themselves so strong that when the struggle was renewed they could easily hold their own. the war was thus another and important link in the chain of events by which the west was won; and had any link in the chain snapped during these early years, the peace of would probably have seen the trans-alleghany country in the hands of a non-american power." if the holding of this pathway was of such moment the value of the pathway is plainly understood. turning now to the end of boone's road, it will be necessary to review briefly the revolutionary war in the "far" west; though in many of the campaigns the road itself played no part, in a large and genuine sense it was the pilgrims of boone's road who fought the most important battles of the revolution in the west. early in the struggle in the west, far-sighted ones saw signs of the growing despicable alliance of the savages to british interests; and before the bloody year of opened, it was only a question of how much england wanted of the savage allies who were crowded about their forts along the lakes. it is a terrible blot on the history of british rule in america, that when driven to face the same situation, english officers in the west used every means of retaliation for the use of which they so roundly condemned french officials a quarter of a century before. american officers employed indians as guides and scouts, and were guilty of provoking inter-tribal war; but they did not pay indians for bringing in british scalps, or praise them for their murderous successes and equip them for further service. as a brave american officer said, "let this reproach remain on them"--and the people of the west will never forget the reproach, nor forgive! they remember, and always will remember, the burning words of washington written more than ten years after the close of the revolution: "all the difficulties we encounter with the indians, their hostilities, the murder of helpless women and children along all our frontiers, results from the conduct of the agents of great britain in this country." there are today, in hundreds of homes of descendants of the pioneers in kentucky, memories of the inhuman barbarities of british officers during the revolution; these will never be forgotten, and will never fail to prejudice generations yet unborn. the reproach will remain on them. at the outbreak of the war, chiefs of the indian nations were invited to pittsburg, where the nature of the struggle was explained to them in the following parable: "suppose a father had a little son whom he loved and indulged while young, but growing up to be a youth, began to think of having some help from him; and making up a small pack, he bid him carry it for him. the boy cheerfully takes this pack up, following his father with it. the father finding the boy willing and obedient, continues in this way; and as the boy grows stronger, so the father makes the pack in proportion larger; yet as long as the boy is able to carry the pack, he does so without grumbling. at length, however, the boy having arrived at manhood, while the father is making up the pack for him, in comes a person of an evil disposition, and, learning who was to be the carrier of the pack, advises the father to make it heavier, for surely the son is able to carry a larger pack. the father, listening rather to the bad adviser than consulting his own judgment and the feelings of tenderness, follows the advice of the hard-hearted adviser, and makes up a heavy load for his son to carry. the son, now grown up, examining the weight of the load he is to carry, addresses the father in these words: 'dear father, this pack is too heavy for me to carry, do pray lighten it; i am willing to do what i can, but am unable to carry this load.' the father's heart having by this time become hardened, and the bad adviser calling to him, 'whip him if he disobeys,' and he refusing to carry the pack, the father orders his son to take up the pack and carry it off or he will whip him, and already takes up a stick to beat him. 'so,' says the son, 'am i to be served thus for not doing what i am unable to do? well, if entreaties avail nothing with you, father, and it is to be decided by blows, whether or not i am able to carry a pack so heavy, then i have no other choice left me, but that of resisting your unreasonable demand by my strength, and thus by striking each other learn who is the strongest.'" the indians were urged to become neutral in the struggle that was opening. impossible as such a course would have been to men who loved war better than peace, certain tribes promised to maintain neutrality. in a few months, however, most of the nations were in open or secret alliance with british officers. only the better element of the delaware nation, led by captain white eyes, became attached to the american cause. england was always handicapped in her use of the american indian, because of the want of men who could successfully exert control over him. even when the forts of the french in the west passed into british possession, frenchmen were retained in control, since no englishman could so well rule the savages who made the forts their rendezvous. the beginning of the successful employment of the indians against the growing virginian empire south of the ohio, and against the multiplying cabins and forts of the long knives, may loosely be said to have begun in the spring of when three northern renegades, simon girty, matthew elliott, and alexander mckee, eluded the continental general hand at pittsburg and took service under lieutenant-governor hamilton at detroit. bred to border warfare, and well known among the indians from the susquehanna to the missouri, these three men were the "most effective tools for the purposes of border warfare" that the british could have secured. hamilton immediately began to plan the invasion of pennsylvania and the conquest of pittsburg. the campaign was condemned by his superiors in the east, and was forgotten by its originator--when the news of a bold invasion of his own territory by a virginian army suddenly reached his ears. the transylvania company came silently but suddenly to an end when the kentuckians elected george rogers clark and gabriel john jones members of the virginian assembly, for the assembly erected the county of kentucky out of the land purchased by henderson at fort watauga in . upon bringing this about, clark, a native of virginia and a hero of dunmore's war, returned to kentucky nourishing greater plans. with clear eyes he saw that the increasing affiliation of indian and british interests meant that england, even though she might be unsuccessful in the east, could keep up an interminable and disastrous warfare "along the rear of the colonies," as long as she held forts on the northern edge of the black forest. clark sent spies northward, who gained information confirming his suspicions; and then he hurried eastward, with his bold plan of conquering the "strongholds of british and indian barbarity"--kaskaskia, vincennes, and detroit. he came at a fortunate time. the colonies were rejoicing over the first great victory of the early war, saratoga. hope, everywhere, was high. from patrick henry, governor of virginia, clark received two orders, one of which was to attack the british post kaskaskia. he at once set out for pittsburg to raise, in the west (where both dunmore and lewis raised their armies), troops for the most brilliant military achievement in western history. descending the ohio to kentucky, where he received reënforcements, clark marched silently through the forests--with one hundred and thirty-five chosen men--to kaskaskia, which he took in utter surprise july , . "keep on with your merriment," he said to revelers whom he surprised at a dance, "but remember you dance under virginia, not great britain." clark brought the news of the alliance recently made between france and the united states into the illinois country and used it with telling effect. a french priest at vincennes raised a virginian flag over that fort, telling the inhabitants and the indians that their "french father had come to life." in october virginia incorporated the "county of illinois" within her western empire--the first portion of the land north of the ohio river to come under the administration of one of the states of the union. contemporaneously with clark's stirring conquest, an expedition was raised at pittsburg to march against the indians in the neighborhood of the british fort at sandusky--possibly to counteract the rumored attempt to invade pennsylvania, by hamilton at detroit. troops and supplies were to be assembled at fort pitt, where the famous route of bouquet was to be followed toward the lakes. the expedition was put in charge of general lachlan mcintosh. distressing delays made the half-hearted indians who were to guide the army, chafe; and mcintosh started before his stores arrived, fearing that longer delay would alienate his friendly indians, among whom was the delaware, white eyes, now turned from a neutral course. at the mouth of the beaver river mcintosh built the fort which bears his name--the first fort built by the americans on the northern side of the ohio. advancing westward over bouquet's tri-trail track with twelve hundred men, he reached the muskingum (tuscarawas) river in fourteen days, arriving november , , where he erected fort laurens. but lieutenant-governor hamilton, learning of clark's seizure of kaskaskia and the treachery of the fickle inhabitants of vincennes, set about to reconquer illinois. departing from detroit on a beautiful october day, the expedition descended the detroit river and entered the maumee. the weather changed and it was seventy-one days before the american captain helm at vincennes surrendered his wretched fort and became a prisoner of war. hamilton was unable to push on to kaskaskia because of the lack of provisions, and sat down to watch the winter out where he was. thus the spectacular year closed--clark at kaskaskia, watching his antagonist feasting at vincennes; mcintosh's little guard at fort laurens undergoing continual harassing and siege. in the east the evacuation of philadelphia, the battle of monmouth, and the terrible wyoming massacre were the events of the year. the year was to see as brilliant an achievement in the west, as the east was to see in the capture of stony point. this was the recapture of vincennes by clark. joined by an experienced adventurer, colonel francis vigo, formerly of the spanish service, clark was persuaded that he must capture hamilton or hamilton would capture him. accordingly, on the fifth of february, clark set out for vincennes with one hundred and seventy trusty men. in twelve days they reached the embarras river, which was crossed on the twenty-first with great bravery, the men wading in water to their shoulders. on the twenty-fifth, hamilton, the most surprised man in the world, was compelled to surrender. within two weeks he was on his way to virginia; where, being found guilty of buying virginian scalps from the indians, he was imprisoned, but was exchanged the year following. in july, while returning from new orleans with supplies; colonel rogers and his party of kentuckians were overwhelmed by indians, under girty and elliott, on the ohio river. in a terrible running battle sixty kentuckians were killed. the sad news spread quickly through kentucky and a thousand tongues called loudly for revenge. in response major bowman led three hundred volunteers up the scioto valley and attacked the shawanese capital. there was bungling somewhere and a retreat was ordered before victory was achieved. during this summer the conqueror of illinois expected to complete his triumph by the capture of detroit. a messenger from thomas jefferson, governor of virginia, brought tidings that troops for this expedition would be forthcoming from virginia and kentucky, and rendezvous at vincennes in july. when the time came, clark found only a few soldiers from kentucky and none at all from virginia. the detroit expedition fell through because of virginia's poverty in money and in men; though artillery, ammunition, and tools had been secured for the campaign from fort pitt, at washington's command. but with masterly foresight governor jefferson secured the establishment of a fort on the mississippi river in the illinois country. during this summer the little garrison which general mcintosh left buried in the black forest at fort laurens fled back over the trail to pittsburg. nowhere north of the ohio were the scenes frequently enacted in kentucky reproduced so vividly as at little fort laurens, on the upper muskingum. at one time fourteen of the garrison were decoyed and slaughtered. at another time an army numbering seven hundred warriors invested the little half-forgotten fortress and its intrepid defenders. a slight embankment may be seen today near bolivar, ohio, which marks one side of the first fort erected in what is now ohio, those near the lake shore excepted. thus closed the year : clark again in possession of vincennes, as well as kaskaskia and cahokia, but disappointed in the failure of the detroit expedition; hamilton languishing in a virginia dungeon, twelve hundred miles from his capital--fort detroit; fort laurens abandoned, and the kentucky country covered with gloom over rogers's terrible loss and bowman's inglorious retreat from the valley of the scioto. on the other hand, the east was glorying in mad anthony wayne's capture of stony point, sullivan's rebuke to the indians, and paul jones's electrifying victory on the sea. in four expeditions set forth, all of them singular in character, and noteworthy. the year before, , spain had declared war upon england. the new commander at detroit took immediate occasion to regain control of the mississippi by attacking the spanish town of st. louis. this expedition, under captain sinclair, descended the mississippi from prairie du chien. the attack was not successful, but six whites were killed and eighteen taken prisoner. at the time of bowman's expedition against the shawanese, in the preceding year a british officer, colonel bird, had assembled a noteworthy array at sandusky preparatory to the invasion of kentucky. news of the kentucky raid up the scioto valley set bird's indians to "cooking and counselling" again, instead of acting. this year bird's invasion materialized, and the fate of the kentucky settlements trembled in the balance. the invading army of six hundred indians and canadians was armed with two pieces of artillery. there is little doubt that this army could have battered down every "station" in kentucky and swept victoriously through the new settlements. ruddles's station on the licking was first menaced, and surrendered quickly. martin's fort also capitulated. but here bird paused in his conquest and withdrew northward, the barbarity of the indian allies, for once at least, shocking a british commander. the real secret of the abrupt retreat lay no doubt in the fact that the increasing immigration had brought such vast numbers of people into kentucky that bird dared not penetrate further into the land for fear of a surprise. the gross carelessness of the newly arrived inhabitants, in not taking the precaution to build proper defenses against the indians, undoubtedly appeared to the british commander as a sign of strength and fortitude which he did not have the courage to put to the test. as a matter of fact, he could probably have annihilated every settlement between the ohio river and cumberland gap. in retaliation kentucky sent an immense army north of the ohio, a thousand men volunteering under clark, the hero of vincennes. a large indian army was routed near the shawanese town pickaway. many towns with standing crops were burned. a similar expedition from pittsburg under general brodhead burned crops and villages on the upper muskingum. in return for the attack on st. louis, the spanish commander at that point sent an expedition against the deserted british post of st. joseph. upon declaring war against england in the previous year, spain had occupied natchez, baton rouge, and mobile, which, with st. louis, gave her command of the mississippi. but his catholic majesty was building other spanish castles in america. he desired the conquest of the british northwest, to offset the british capture of gibraltar. this "capture" of st. joseph led to an amusing but ominous claim on the part of spain at the treaty of paris: when, with it for a pretext, the spanish crown claimed all lands west of a line drawn from st. joseph southward through what is now ohio, kentucky, tennessee, georgia, alabama, and mississippi. the mississippi river boundary was, however, stoutly contended for and obtained by the american commissioners. in this year the first "gunboat" to ply western waters was built under direction of brigadier-general clark. it was a galley armed with light artillery. this queer-looking craft soon fell into disuse, though it became a terror to the indians who continually infested the lower ohio. it was relished little better by the militia, who disliked service on water. but it stands as a typical illustration of the enterprise and devotion of the "father of kentucky" to the cause for which he had done so much. the year following, , saw the termination of the revolution in the east, when cornwallis's army marched down the files of french and american troops at yorktown to the melancholy tune "the world's turned upside down." the treaty of paris was not signed until , and in the meantime the bloodiest year of all the war in the west, , was adding its horrors to all that had gone before. while the east was rejoicing, the central west saw the terrible massacre of gnadenhutten--the more terrible because committed by white men themselves. in may, , the atrocities of the savages (encouraged by the british) along the pennsylvanian and virginian border were becoming unbearable, and an expedition was raised in the monongahela country to penetrate to the indian-infested country on the sandusky river. volunteers, four hundred in number, all mounted, rendezvoused at the ohio near mingo bottom; they elected as commander colonel william crawford, an experienced officer of the revolutionary war, following washington faithfully through the hard long island and delaware campaigns. crawford struck straight through the forests, even avoiding indian trails, at first, in the hope of taking his foe utterly by surprise. but his wily foe completely outwitted him and the indians and british knew well each day's progress. the battle was fought in a prairie land near the sandusky river in what is now crawford county, ohio, and though not a victory for either side, an american retreat was ordered during the night following. colonel crawford was captured, among others, and suffered a terrible death at the stake, perhaps the saddest single atrocity committed by the redman in western history. this gray-haired veteran of the revolution gave his life to appease the indians for a massacre of christian indians perpetrated by savage borderers from the monongahela country the year previous. kentucky had witnessed minor activities of the savages during the spring. in august a grand indian army assembled on the lower scioto for the purpose of invading kentucky. the assembly was harangued by simon girty, and moved southward and invaded bryant's station, one of the strongest forts in kentucky. after a terrible day, during which re-enforcements kept arriving, only to be compelled to fight their way into the fort or flee, girty attempted to secure capitulation. outwitted, the renegade resorted to a stratagem, as cunningly devised as it was terribly successful. in the night the entire indian army vanished as if panic-stricken. meat was left upon the spits. garments lay strewn about the encampment and along the route of the fugitive army. the more experienced of the border army, which was soon in full cry on the trail, scented the deception; but the headstrong hurried onward in hope of revenge. at the crossing of the licking, near the lower blue licks, the indian ambush received the witless pursuers with a frightful burst of flame, and the battle of blue licks became a running fire, a headlong rout and massacre. a thousand men joined clark for a retaliatory invasion of the north, and the usual destruction of villages and crops was accomplished. this may be considered the last military event in the revolutionary war in the west. chapter v at the end of boone's road on the nineteenth of april, , the rumble of the running fire at lexington and concord told that the farmers of new england had at last precipitated the struggle which had been impending for a full generation. it was a roar that, truly, was "heard round the world." one day later, april , , colonel henderson and his fellow-pioneers of the transylvania company reached boonesborough; there they were joyfully received by a running fire of five and twenty muskets discharged by boone's vanguard, which had preceded them to cut the road. if the musket-shot behind the new england stone walls was heard round the world, the rattle of that score of muskets in distant kentucky was heard around a continent. the former uttered a hoarse defiance to tyrants--a cry to god for liberty; what was the faint roar which echoed back a thousand mountain miles from kentucky but an answer to that cry? an assurance that "to him that hath shall be given?" there is something divinely significant to me in the coincidence of the opening shock of the revolution, and the arrival in kentucky of the first considerable body of determined, reputable men. the story of the revolutionary war in the west has been told in preceding pages, as the merest record of fact. it is unnecessary to state that it was the most important conflict ever waged there, and it is equally trite to observe that the struggle centered around kentucky. boone's road had made possible the sudden movement of population westward, and this pioneer host immediately drew upon itself the enemies that otherwise would have scourged the frontiers of new york, pennsylvania, virginia, and north carolina. the first and principal portion of the kentucky pioneers--those who fought the revolutionary battles--entered kentucky by the cumberland gap route. james lane allen writes: "that area [kentucky] has somewhat the shape of an enormous flat foot, with a disjointed big toe, a roughly hacked-off ankle, and a missing heel. the sole of this huge foot rests solidly on tennessee, the ohio river trickles across the ankle and over the top, the big toe is washed entirely off by the tennessee river, and the long-missing heel is to be found in virginia, never having been ceded by that state. between the kentucky foot and the virginia heel is piled up this immense, bony, grisly mass of the cumberland mountain, extending some three hundred miles northeast and southwest. it was through this heel that kentucky had to be peopled. the thin, half-starved, weary line of pioneer civilizers had to penetrate it, and climb this obstructing mountain wall, as a line of traveling ants might climb the wall of a castle. in this case only the strongest of the ants--the strongest in body, the strongest in will--succeeded in getting over and establishing their colony in the country far beyond. luckily there was an enormous depression in the wall, or they might never have scaled it. during about half a century this depression was the difficult, exhausting entrance-point through which the state received the largest part of its people, the furniture of their homes, and the implements of their civilization; so that from the very outset that people represented the most striking instance of a survival of the fittest that may be observed in the founding of any american commonwealth. the feeblest of the ants could not climb the wall; the idlest of them would not."[ ] mr. speed agrees wholly in this opinion: "the settlers came in ... increasing numbers.... a very large proportion came over the wilderness road."[ ] in the early days river travel was not practicable. during the revolutionary war and for some time thereafter travel down the ohio river was dangerous, both because of the hostility of the savages and because of the condition of the river. in earlier days the journey from the ohio into the populated parts of kentucky was a great hardship. the story of one who emigrated to kentucky by way of the ohio shows plainly why many preferred the longer land route by way of cumberland gap. the following is from an autobiographical statement made by spencer record, preserved by the wisconsin historical society: "about the twentieth of november ( ) we embarked on the monongahela in our boat, in company with kiser, i having with me four head of horses and some cattle. we landed at the mouth of limestone creek, but there was then, no settlement there. we made search for a road, but found none. there was indeed a buffalo road, that crossed limestone creek a few miles above its mouth, and passing may's lick about twelve miles from limestone, went on to the lower blue lick on licking river, and thence to bryant's station: but as we knew nothing of it, we went on, and landed at the mouth of licking river, on the twenty ninth of the month. "the next day, we loaded periogue, and a canoe, and set off up licking, sometimes wading and pulling our periogue and canoe over the ripples. after working hard for four days, we landed, hid our property (which was whiskey and our farming utensils) in the woods, and returned to the ohio, which by this time had taken a rapid rise and backed up licking, so that we took kiser's boat up, as far as we had taken our property and unloaded her. we left on the bank of licking, a new wagon and some kettles. leaving our property to help kiser, we packed up and set off up licking, and travelled some days; but making poor progress, and snow beginning to fall, with no cane in that part of the country, for our horses and cattle, we left kiser and set off to hunt for cane. he sent his stock with us, in care of henry fry, who had come down in his boat with cattle for his father. "when we came to the fork of licking we found a wagon road cut out, that led up the south fork. this road had been cut by colonel bird, a british officer, who had ascended licking in keel boats, with six hundred canadians and indians. they were several days in cutting out this road which led to riddle's fort, which stood on the east side of licking, three miles below the junction of hinkston's and stoner's fork, yet our people knew nothing of it, till they were summoned to surrender.... we took the road and went on, the snow being about half leg deep. early in the morning, about three miles from riddle's fort, we came to three families encamped. they had landed at limestone but finding no road, they wandered through the woods, crossed licking, and happening to find the road, took it.... we went on to the fort, where we found plenty of cane. the next morning, john finch and myself set off to try to find lexington, and left the horses and cattle ... as there was no road, we took up will creek, and towards the head of it we met some hunters, who lived on the south side of kentucky river who gave us directions how to find a hunting trace, that led to bryant's station.... we went on, found the trace, and arrived at bryant's station."[ ] adding to the difficulties of land travel the dangers of the river tide, the difficulty of securing boats, and their great cost, it is little wonder that emigrants from virginia preferred the long but better-known land route, through powell's valley and cumberland gap to the braddock road and the ohio river. at a later date, however, the difficulties of river passage were materially decreased and the ohio became the great outward emigrant route. but for the return traffic from kentucky to virginia, there was no comparison between the ease of the land route and the water route. mr. speed affirms that the road through cumberland gap "was the only practicable route for all return travel."[ ] of course for a long period there were no exports from kentucky, as hardly enough could be raised to feed the multitude of immigrants; but when at last kentucky strode to the front with its great harvests of wheat and tobacco, the mississippi and ohio ports received them. the east received comparatively little benefit, in a commercial way, from boone's road; but in the earliest days that slight track furnished a moral support that can hardly be exaggerated. the vast population that surged westward over it was a mighty barrier which protected the rear of the colonies from the savages, until savage warfare was at an end. though the frontiers of new york, pennsylvania, and virginia suffered greatly during the revolution, it was kentucky that was the thorn in the side of the british; kentucky drew the fire of both british and indians which otherwise would have desolated the rear of the eastern colonies, and necessitated a greater number of men than could possibly have been maintained there. it was not at fort pitt that the british were constantly striking, but at the kentucky "stations;" it was not up the allegheny or monongahela that colonel burd pushed his keel boats, but up the licking. this fact is splendidly urged by col. john floyd, in a letter to the governor of virginia written on the sixth of october, , in a plea for assistance in maintaining the kentucky settlements: "... a great deal more might be said concerning the dangerous situation of these counties, but i have not been informed whether government think it absolutely necessary for the advantage of the community at large to defend this country [kentucky] at so considerable expense as must be incurred thereby; and i therefore beg leave to offer your excellency one or two reasons why it may be of advantage to defend the kentucky country. it is now beyond a doubt, that the attention of at last [least] savage warriors is fixed on this spot, and who will not disturb any other part of the continent as long as we maintain our ground. but, on the contrary, as soon as this country is laid waste, they will immediately fall upon the inhabitants of washington, montgomery, greenbriar, &c--in short, from south carolina to pennsylvania. i believe all the counties on the west side of the blue ridge were kept for many years penned up in forts by the shawanese, mingoes, delawares & a few of their adherents; if so what will be the consequence when at least fifteen powerful nations are united and combined with those above mentioned against about twelve hundred militia dispersed over three very extensive counties. those nations have absolutely been kept off your back settlements by the inhabitants of kentucky. two or three thousand men in this country would be sufficient to defend it, and effectually secure the back settlements on new river & its waters, as well as those high up james river & roanoake."[ ] in addition to conferring the inestimable advantage of defending the frontiers of the colonies, the early settlement and the holding of kentucky insured american possession of the middle west; this meant everything to the east--for the steady, logical expansion of the nation was the one hope of the country when independence was secured. upon the americanization of the mississippi valley depended the safety of the eastern colonies, and their commercial and political welfare. it meant very much to the east that a strong colony was holding its own on the ohio and mississippi during the hours when the revolutionary struggle was in progress; and it meant even more to the east that, upon the conclusion of that struggle, thousands whose future seemed as black as the forests of the west could immediately emigrate thither and begin life anew. but for the virginians and kentuckians along the ohio it is almost certain that great britain would have divided the eastern half of this continent with the triumphant revolutionists. for the few posts along the lakes that she did hold there was a spirited wrangle for twenty years, until they were at last handed over to the united states. boone did not blaze his road one day too soon, and the hand of divine providence is not shown more plainly in our national history than by the critical timeliness with which these pioneers were ushered into the meadow lands of ken-ta-kee. the onslaughts of shawanese and wyandot did not overwhelm them; nor were they daunted by the plotting of desperate british officers, who spread ruin and desolation along the flank and rear of the fighting colonies. again, this earliest population in the immediate valley of the mississippi had a powerful influence on the attitude of the united states toward the powers that held the mississippi. had it not been for a kentucky in embryo in - , it is unquestionable that the confused story of the possession of that great river valley would have been worse confounded. the whirl of politics in kentucky during the four decades after the revolutionary war daunts even the student of modern kentucky politics; and of one thing we may rest assured--had the state possessed a little less of the sober sense that came from virginia through cumberland gap, it is certain the story of those wild days would not be as readable to modern kentuckians as it is. it was more than fortunate for the young republic that at the close of the revolution there was a goodly population of expatriated virginians and north carolinians on the mississippi, ready to press its claims there. thus we may briefly suggest the benefits which the older colonies received from the earliest settlers in kentucky--and but for boone's road made by the transylvania company, it is exceedingly doubtful, as boone wrote, whether the settlement of kentucky would have been successfully inaugurated as early as . at any rate boone's road brought into kentucky thousands of pioneers who probably would have refused to move westward by the ohio river route. as for the benefit kentucky itself received from boone's road, that is self-evident. taking everything into consideration, no distinct movement of population in america, before or since, can compare in magnitude with the burst of immigration through cumberland gap between and . never on this continent was a population of seventy thousand people located, within fifteen years of the day the first cabins were erected, at an equal distance from the existing frontier line. it is difficult to frame the facts of this remarkable phenomenon in language that will convey the full meaning. if the brave pioneers from connecticut who founded the northwest territory at marietta, ohio, in , had gone on to kentucky, they would have found themselves, within twelve years, in as populous a state as that they left in new england. the stanwix treaty and boone's road largely answer the question why kentucky contained more than one-half as many inhabitants as massachusetts, twenty-five years after its first settlement was made; and why it was admitted into the union four years before tennessee, ten years before ohio, twenty-four years before indiana, twenty-six years before illinois (bounded by the ohio and mississippi and lake michigan), and twenty-eight years before maine. between and the population of kentucky jumped from , to , , only one-third less than proud maryland, and five times that of ohio. in the census of kentucky stood fourteenth in a grouping of sixteen states and territories, while in it stood ninth. in it exceeded the population of rhode island, delaware and tennessee. in it exceeded new jersey, new hampshire, georgia, vermont, maine, tennessee, rhode island, and delaware. in this year it had one hundred and sixty thousand more inhabitants than indiana territory, mississippi territory, and ohio territory combined. in the decade mentioned, new york state increased in population two hundred and fifty thousand; far-away kentucky increased one hundred and forty-seven thousand. but the west as a whole was benefited by boone's road. the part played by this earliest population of kentucky in the development of the contiguous states--ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri--has never been emphasized sufficiently. no ohio historian has given sufficient attention to the part played by kentuckians in the conquest of that area of territory. the struggle between the kentuckians and the ohio indians has been outlined. the former fought for and saved to the union the great territory south of the ohio; and then left their smoking cabins and threw themselves ever and anon across the ohio, upon the indian settlements between that river and the great lakes. where is even the kentucky historian who has done his state justice in telling the story of kentucky's conquest of ohio and indiana? of the brilliant operations of clark in illinois we know very much, and the part played by the kentuckians on the mississippi and illinois has frequently been made plain. but a singular misconception of the nature of indian warfare has robbed the heroes of old kentucky of much honor due them. judged by ordinary military standards, the numerous invasions of ohio and indiana by kentuckians amounted to little. such was not the real case, many times. the indians could ever retreat helter-skelter into the forests, avoiding more than a mere skirmish with the advancing pioneers. but they could not take their crops--and the destruction of one slight maize crop meant more to the invading army than the killing of many savages. the killing of the indians did nothing but aggravate hostilities and long delay the end of the conflict. on the other hand, slaying redskins became the passion of the whites, and it is probable that many of their expeditions seemed failures if blood was not spilt. but their very presence in the indian land and the destruction of the grain fields was more to their purpose, could they only have realized it. the indians were then compelled to live largely on game, and as this grew more scarce each year the simple problem of obtaining subsistence became serious. the hunters were compelled to go further and further into the forest, and the tribes followed them. by doing nothing more than burning the harvest fields and ruining the important springs, the whites were slowly but surely conquering the trans-ohio country.[ ] by such a process one river valley after another was deserted, until, when the first legalized settlement was made in ohio--at marietta, in --the muskingum, scioto and miami valleys were practically deserted by redskins. little as the indians relished the new settlement at marietta, they paid practically no attention to it but kept their eyes on the populated valleys of kentucky, where their enemies of so many years' standing had settled, held their own, and then carried fire and sword northward. in october governor arthur st. clair wrote the hon. mr. brown of danville, kentucky, to give warning of the indian war that seemed imminent; "the stroke, if it falls at all, will probably fall upon your country," he wrote.[ ] and the indian war of was precipitated because of indian marauds along the kentucky border--not because of attacks upon the settlements along the upper ohio. the kentuckians had played a preëminent part in driving the indians back to the head of the wabash and the mouth of the maumee, in the two decades preceding the indian war which opened in , and during that war they were to the american armies what the english were to the allies at waterloo. local histories and local historians have created the impression that ohio was conquered largely by ohioans. nothing could be more misleading. far-reaching as the influence of the little roadway through cumberland gap has been, its actual history is of little interest or importance. perhaps none of our ancient roads has done so much for society in proportion to the attention paid to it. any adjective ever applied to a roadway, if it were of a derogatory character, might have been fitly applied to portions of this old track which played an important part in giving birth to the first and most important settlement in the west. during the few important years of its existence boone's road was only what boone made it--a blazed foot-path westward. it was but the merest foot-path from to , while thousands floundered over its uncertain track to lay the rude foundations of civilization in the land to which it led. "there are roads that make a man lose faith," writes mr. allen; "it is known that the more pious companies [of pioneers] as they traveled along, would now and then give up in despair, sit down, raise a hymn, and have prayers said before they could go farther." there was probably not a more desperate pioneer road in america than this. the mountains to be crossed, the rivers and swamps the traveler encountered, were as difficult to overcome as any on braddock's road; and boone's road was very much longer, even if measured from its technical starting-point--the watauga settlement. as early as the virginia assembly took up the subject of a western highway, and commissioners were appointed to explore the region on both sides of the mountains, to choose a course for a roadway, clear and open the route, and render a report upon the advisability of making a wagon road. yet no improvement followed. the narrow path--rough, treacherous, almost impassable--remained the only course. a vivid description of what a journey over it meant in this year, , has been left us by chief-justice robertson in an address given at camp madison, franklin county, kentucky, half a century ago: "this beneficent enactment [the land law] brought to the country during the fall and winter of that year an unexampled tide of emigrants, who, exchanging all the comforts of their native society and homes for settlements for themselves and their children here, came like pilgrims to a wilderness to be made secure by their arms and habitable by the toil of their lives. through privations incredible and perils thick, thousands of men, women, and children came in successive caravans, forming continuous streams of human beings, horses, cattle, and other domestic animals, all moving onward along a lonely and houseless path to a wild and cheerless land. cast your eyes back on that long procession of missionaries in the cause of civilization; behold the men on foot with their trusty guns on their shoulders, driving stock and leading packhorses; and the women, some walking with pails on their heads, others riding with children in their laps, and other children swung in baskets on horses, fastened to the tails of others going before; see them encamped at night expecting to be massacred by indians; behold them in the month of december, in that ever memorable season of unprecedented cold called the 'hard winter,' traveling two or three miles a day, frequently in danger of being frozen or killed by the falling of horses on the icy and almost impassable trace, and subsisting on stinted allowances of stale bread and meat; but now lastly look at them at the destined fort, perhaps on the eve of merry christmas, when met by the hearty welcome of friends who had come before, and cheered by fresh buffalo meat and parched corn, they rejoice at their deliverance, and resolve to be contented with their lot. "this is no vision of the imagination, it is but an imperfect description of the pilgrimage of my own father and mother, and of many others who settled in kentucky in december, ." not until was the mountain route improved. "in that year," writes mr. speed, "according to an account-book recently found among the henry innis papers, by colonel john mason brown ... a scheme was projected for the clearing and improvement of the wilderness road, under the direction of colonel john logan and james knox. it was a private enterprise altogether; the subscribers to it are set down in the book as follows: isaac shelby, £ s robert breckinridge, george nicholas, henry pawling, john brown, james brown, alexander s. bullitt, wm. mcdowell, edward s. thomas, joseph crockett, wm. king, wm. montgomery, jr., john hawkins, samuel woods, hubbard taylor, thomas todd, wm. steele, james trotter, joseph gray, joshua hobbs, robert todd, jesse cravens, david knox, thomas lewis, samuel taylor, john mckinney, nicholas lewis, jacob froman, richard young, james davies, robert patterson, robert mosby, john watkins, matthew walton, john jouett, robert abel, john wilson, richard taylor, arthur fox, john caldwell, george thompson, baker ewing, abe buford, willis green, wm. montgomery, sr., morgan forbes, daniel hudgins, samuel grundy, james hays, james edwards, wm. campbell, david stevenson, hugh logan, peter troutman, thomas montgomery, john vauhn, elijah cravens, richard chapman, james sutton, joseph lewis, wm. baker, richard jackman, jonathan forbes, isaac hite, john blane, abraham hite, john caldwell, peyton short, george m. bedinger, alex. d. orr, philip caldwell, cornelius beatty, nathaniel hart, john grant, andrew holmes, alex. parker, robert barr, james parker, thomas kennedy, wm. live, george teagarden, george muter, james hughes, buckner thruston, john moylan, samuel mcdowell, james parberry, joseph reed, wm. perrett, john robinson, john wilkins, wm. whilley, bacon acct. henry clark, hardy rawles, james young, john warren, peter sidebottom, john willey, moses collier, abraham himberlin, alex blane, john jones, levi todd, thomas ball, "besides these, it appears from a note in the memorandum book there were other subscribers. among the innis papers i have found the following paper: 'colonel john logan and colonel james knox, having consented to act as commissioners to direct and supervise the making and opening a road from the crab orchard to powell's valley, provided funds to defray the necessary expenses shall be procured, we, the subscribers, do therefore severally engage to pay the sum annexed to our names to the hon. harry innis and colonel levi todd, or to their order, in trust, to be by them applied to the payment of the reasonable expenses which the said commissioners may incur in carrying the above design into effect, also to the payment of such compensation to the said commissioners for their services as the said innis and todd may deem adequate.' june , . thos. barber, $ wm. crow, green dorsey, john cochran, david gillis, wm. petty, john warren, wm. kenton, philip bush, jr., david rice, john rochester, john rogers, samuel g. keen, padtrick curran, john reedyun, daniel barber, philip yeiser, "the money subscribed was disbursed by harry innis. men were employed as 'road cutters,' as 'surveyors,' to 'carry provisions,' to 'grind corn,' and 'collect bacon.' the pay was two shillings sixpence per day, and the work extended over twenty-two days in the summer of ."[ ] the kentucky legislature passed an act in , which provided a guard for pilgrims on the wilderness road; in an act was passed for the clearing of the boonesborough fork of the road, from rockcastle creek to the kentucky river. in the legislature passed an act to make the wilderness road a "wagon road" thirty feet wide from near crab orchard to cumberland gap. proposals being advertised for, the aged daniel boone addressed governor isaac shelby the following letter: "sir feburey the th after my best respts to your excelancy and famyly i wish to inform you that i have sum intention of undertaking this new rode that is to be cut through the wilderness and i think my self intiteled to the ofer of the bisness as i first marked out that rode in march and never re'd anything for my trubel and sepose i am no statesman i am a woodsman and think my self as capable of marking and cutting that rode as any other man sir if you think with me i would thank you to wright mee a line by the post the first oportuneaty and he will lodge it at mr. john miler son hinkston fork as i wish to know where and when it is to be laat [let] so that i may atend at the time i am deer sir your very omble sarvent"[ ] boone probably did not get the contract.[ ] in five hundred pounds were appropriated for the repair of the road and erection of toll-gates. the result of this and all subsequent legislation, to preserve a thoroughfare after its day and reason for existence had passed, is thus summed up by mr. allen: "but despite all this--despite all that has been done to civilize it since boone traced its course in [ ?], this honored historic thoroughfare remains today as it was in the beginning, with all its sloughs and sands, its mud and holes, and jutting ledges of rock and loose bowlders, and twists and turns, and general total depravity." and yet "it is impossible," mr. allen continues, "to come upon this road without pausing, or to write of it without a tribute." the mountainous portions of boone's old road are the picturesque as well as the historic portions. and come what may, this zig-zag pathway through powell's valley and cumberland gap can never be effaced--never forgotten. the footsteps of the tens of thousands who have passed over it, exhausted though each pilgrim may have been, have left a trace that a thousand years cannot eradicate. and so long as the print of those weary feet can be seen in dark powell's valley, on cumberland gap, and beside yellow and rockcastle creeks, so long will there be a memorial left to perpetuate the heroism of the first kentuckians--and the memory of what the middle west owes to virginia and her neighbors. for when all is said this track from tide water through cumberland gap must remain a monument to the courage and patriotism of the people of old virginia and north carolina. cumberland gap, "that high-swung gateway through the mountain" stands as "a landmark of what nature can do when she wishes to give an opportunity to the human race in its migrations and discoveries, without surrendering control of its liberty and its fate." here passed the mound-building indian and the buffalo, marking the first routes from north to south across the continent. here later passed the first flood-tide of white men's immigration. there are few spots on the continent, it is said, where the traveler of today is brought more quickly to a pause, overcome equally by the stupendous panorama before him, and by the memory of the historical associations which will assail even the most indifferent. ere you reach the gap "the idea of it," writes mr. allen, "dominates the mind. while yet some miles away, it looms up, feet in elevation, some half a mile across from crest to crest, the pinnacle on the left towering to the height of feet. it was late in the afternoon when our tired horses began the long, winding, rocky climb from the valley to the brow of the pass. as we stood in the passway, amid the deepening shadows of the twilight and the solemn repose of the mighty landscape, the gap seemed to be crowded with two invisible and countless pageants of human life, the one passing in, the other passing out; and the air grew thick with unheard utterances--primeval sounds undistinguishable and strange, of creatures nameless and never seen by man; the wild rush and whoop of retreating and pursuing tribes; the slow steps of watchful pioneers; the wail of dying children and the songs of homeless women; the muffled tread of routed and broken armies--all the sounds of surprise and delight, victory and defeat, hunger and pain, and weariness and despair, that the human heart can utter. here passed the first of the white race who led the way into the valley of the cumberland; here passed that small band of fearless men who gave the gap its name; here passed the 'long hunters'; here rushed armies of the civil war; here has passed the wave of westerly immigration, whose force has spent itself only on the pacific slopes; and here in the long future must flow backward and forward the wealth of the north and the south." footnotes: [ ] johnson's _first explorations of kentucky_ (filson club publications, no. ), contains the journals of walker and gist used in connection with this chapter. [ ] johnson's _first explorations of kentucky_ (filson club publications no. ), p. . [ ] _first explorations of kentucky_ (filson club publications no. ), pp. - . [ ] mss. of major pleasant henderson in the _draper collection_, madison, wisconsin; _kentucky mss._, vol. , fol. . [ ] draper collection: _kentucky mss._ vol. . [ ] the maternal grandfather of abraham lincoln. [ ] this copy of the journal was made from the original by mary catharine calk, granddaughter of thomas calk, jr. [ ] draper collection: _kentucky mss._, vol. , cc. p. . [ ] _the wilderness road_: pp. - . [ ] draper collection: _kentucky mss._, vol. , fol. . [ ] _id._ [ ] draper notes, wisconsin historical society, vol. ; _id._, _martin to gov. harrison_, trip of , vol. , p. . [ ] _draper notes_, vol. , p. . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _kentucky gazette_: no. , april , . [ ] _id._, no. , may , . [ ] _id._ [ ] _id._, no. , may , . [ ] _id._, vol. ii, no. , november , . [ ] _id._, vol. ii, no. , november , . [ *] see _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, note . [ ] allen: _the blue grass region of kentucky_, pp. - . [ ] speed: _the wilderness road_, p. ; cf. pp. , ; cf. roosevelt: _the winning of the west_ ( ), vol. i, p. . [ ] draper collection: _kentucky mss._, vol. , cc. pp. - . [ ] speed: _the wilderness road_, p. . cf. _american pioneer_, vol. ii, pp. - ; _st. clair papers_, vol. ii, p. ; _life of nathaniel massie_, p. ; collins's _history of kentucky_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _draper's notes_, vol. ii, trip , iii, p. . [ ] cf. _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. , p. . [ ] _kentucky gazette_: vol. ii, no. , october , . [ ] _the wilderness road_, pp. - . [ ] collins: _history of kentucky_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected except for narratives and letters included in this text. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. . for longtitude and latitude, the minutes and seconds are placed as single quotes within brackets. for example: ° ['] ['']. historic highways of america volume [illustration: a milestone on braddock's road [_see page , note _]] historic highways of america volume pioneer roads and experiences of travelers (volume i) by archer butler hulbert _with illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the evolution of highways: from indian trail to turnpike ii. a pilgrim on the pennsylvania road iii. zane's trace and the maysville pike iv. pioneer travel in kentucky illustrations i. a milestone on braddock's road _frontispiece_ ii. indian travail iii. old conestoga freighter iv. earliest style of log tavern v. widow mcmurran's tavern (scrub ridge, pennsylvania road) vi. bridge on which zane's trace crossed the muskingum river at zanesville, ohio vii. pioneer view of houses at fort cumberland, maryland preface the first chapter of this volume presents an introduction to the two volumes of this series devoted to pioneer roads and experiences of travelers. the evolution of american highways from indian trail to macadamized road is described; the lancaster turnpike, the first macadamized road in the united states, being taken as typical of roads of the latter sort. an experience of a noted traveler, francis baily, the eminent british astronomer, is presented in chapter two. the third chapter is devoted to the story of zane's trace from virginia to kentucky across ohio, and its terminal, the famous maysville pike. it was this highway which precipitated president jackson's veto of the internal improvement bill of , one of the epoch-making vetoes in our economic history. the last chapter is the vivid picture of kentucky travel drawn by judge james hall in his description of "the emigrants," in _legends of the west_. the illustrations in this volume have been selected to show styles of pioneer architecture and means of locomotion, including types of earliest taverns, bridges, and vehicles. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, december , . pioneer roads and experiences of travelers (volume i) chapter i the evolution of highways: from indian trail to turnpike we have considered in this series of monographs the opening of a number of historic roads and the part they played in the development of the most important phases of early american history. but our attitude has been that of one asking, why?--we have not at proper length considered all that would be contained in the question, how? it will be greatly to our purpose now to inquire into the methods of road-making, and outline, briefly, the evolution of the first trodden paths to the great highways of civilization. from one aspect, and an instructive one, the question is one of width; few, if any, of our roads are longer than those old "threads of soil"--as holland called the indian trails; braddock's road was not longer than the trail he followed; even the cumberland road could probably have been followed its entire length by a parallel indian path or a buffalo trace. but braddock's road was, in its day, a huge, broad track, twelve feet wide; and the cumberland road exceeded it in breadth nearly fifty feet. so our study may be pursued from the interesting standpoint of a widening vista; the belt of blue above our heads grows broader as we study the widening of the trail of the indian. to one who has not followed the trails of the west or the northland, the experience is always delightful. it is much the same delight as that felt in traversing a winding woodland road, intensified many fold. the incessant change of scenery, the continued surprises, the objects passed unseen yet not unguessed, those half-seen through a leafy vista amid the shimmering green; the pathway just in front very plain, but twenty feet beyond as absolutely hidden from your eyes as though it were a thousand miles away--such is the romance of following a trail. one's mind keeps as active as when looking at niagara, and it is lulled by the lapsing of those leaves as if by the roar of that cataract. yet the old trail, unlike our most modern roads, kept to the high ground; even in low places it seemed to attempt a double-bow knot in keeping to the points of highest altitude. but when once on the hills, the vista presented varied only with the altitude, save where hidden by the foliage. we do not choose the old "ridge roads" today for the view to be obtained, and we look continually up while the old-time traveler so often looked down. as we have hinted, elsewhere, many of our pioneer battles--those old battles of the trails--will be better understood when the position of the attacking armies is understood to have been on lower levels, the rifles shooting upward, the enemy often silhouetted against the very sky-line. [illustration: indian travail] but the one characteristic to which, ordinarily, there was no exception, was the narrowness of these ancient routes. the indian did not travel in single file because there was advantage in that formation; it was because his only routes were trails which he never widened or improved; and these would, ordinarily, admit only of one such person as broke them open. true, the indians did have broader trails; but they were very local in character and led to maple-sugar orchards or salt wells. from such points to the indian villages there ran what seemed not unlike our "ribbon roads"--the two tracks made by the "travail"--the two poles with crossbar that dragged on the ground behind the indian ponies, upon which a little freight could be loaded. in certain instances such roads as these were to be found running between indian villages and between villages and hunting grounds. they were the roads of times of peace. the war-time trails were always narrow and usually hard--the times of peace came few and far between. as we have stated, so narrow was the trail, that the traveler was drenched with water from the bushes on either hand. and so "blind"--to use a common pioneer word--were trails when overgrown, that they were difficult to find and more difficult to follow. though an individual indian frequently marked his way through the forest, for the benefit of others who were to follow him or for his own guidance in returning, the indian trails in native state were never blazed. thus, very narrow, exceedingly crooked, often overgrown, worn a foot or more into the ground, lay the routes on which white men built roads which have become historic. let us note the first steps toward road-building, chronologically. the first phase of road-making (if it be dignified by such a title) was the broadening of the indian path by the mere passing of wider loads over it. the beginning of the pack-horse era was announced by the need of greater quantities of merchandise and provisions in the west to which these paths led. the heavier the freight tied on either side of the pack-horse, the more were the bushes bruised and worn away, and the more the bed of the trail was tracked and trampled. the increasing of the fur-trade with the east at the beginning of the last half of the eighteenth century necessitated heavier loads for the trading ponies both "going in" and "coming out"--as the pioneers were wont to say. up to this time, so far as the present writer's knowledge goes, the indian never lifted a finger to make his paths better in any one respect; it seems probable that, oftentimes, when a stream was to be crossed, which could not be forded, the indian bent his steps to the first fallen tree whose trunk made a natural bridge across the water. that an indian never felled such a tree, it is impossible to say; but no such incident has come within my reading. it seems that this must have happened and perhaps was of frequent occurrence. our first picture, then, of a "blind" trail is succeeded by one of a trail made rougher and a little wider merely by use; a trail over which perhaps the agents of a croghan or a gist pushed westward with more and more heavily-loaded pack-horses than had been customarily seen on the trails thither. of course such trails as began now to have some appearance of roads were very few. as was true of the local paths in massachusetts and connecticut and virginia, so of the long trails into the interior of the continent, very few answered all purposes. probably by three routes, running through southwestern pennsylvania, central pennsylvania, and central new york, were worn deep and broad. by broad of course we mean that, in many places, pack-horses could meet and pass without serious danger to their loads. but there were, probably, only these three which at this time answered this description. and the wider and the harder they became, the narrower and the softer grew scores of lesser trails which heretofore had been somewhat traversed. it is not surprising that we find the daring missionary zeisberger going to the allegheny river like a beast on all fours through overgrown trails, or that washington, floundering in the fall of along the upper monongahela and cheat rivers, was compelled to give up returning to the south branch (of the potomac) by way of the ancient path from dunkards bottom. "as the path it is said is very blind & exceedingly grown up with briers," wrote washington, september , , in his journal, "i resolved to try the other rout, along the new road to sandy creek; ..." this offers a signal instance in which an ancient route had become obsolete. yet the one washington pursued was not an appian way: "... we started at dawning of day, and passing along a small path much enclosed with weeds and bushes, loaded with water from the overnights rain & the showers which were continually falling, we had an uncomfortable travel...."[ ] such was the "new road." the two great roads opened westward by the armies of washington, braddock, and forbes, whose history has been dealt with at length in this series, were opened along the line of trails partially widened by the pack-horses of the ohio company's agents (this course having been first marked out by thomas cresap) and those of the pennsylvania traders. another route led up the mohawk, along the wide iroquois trail, and down the onondaga to the present oswego; this was a waterway route primarily, the two rivers (with the portage at rome) offering more or less facilities for shipping the heavy baggage by batteaus. it was a portage path from the hudson to lake ontario; the old landward trail to niagara not being opened by an army.[ ] yet braddock's road, cut in , was quite filled up with undergrowth in as we have noted. it was "a brush wood, by the sprouts from the old stumps."[ ] in those primeval forests a road narrowed very fast, and quickly became impassable if not constantly cared for. the storms of a single fall or spring month and the heavy clouds of snow on the trees in winter kept the ground beneath well littered with broken limbs and branches. here and there great trees were thrown by the winds across the traveled ways. and so a military road over which thousands may have passed would become, if left untouched, quite as impassable as the blindest trail in a short time. other indian trails which armies never traversed became slightly widened by agents of land companies, as in the case of boone blazing his way through cumberland gap for richard henderson. for a considerable distance the path was widened, either by boone or martin himself, to captain joseph martin's "station" in powell's valley. thousands of traces were widened by early explorers and settlers who branched off from main traveled ways, or pushed ahead on an old buffalo trail; the path just mentioned, which washington followed, was a buffalo trail, but had received the name of an early pioneer and was known as "mcculloch's path." but our second picture holds good through many years--that trail, even though armies had passed over it, was still but a widened trail far down into the early pioneer days. though wagons went westward with braddock and forbes, they were not seen again in the alleghenies for more than twenty-five years. these were the days of the widened trails, the days of the long strings of jingling ponies bearing patiently westward salt and powder, bars of bended iron, and even mill-stones, and bringing back to the east furs and ginseng. of this pack-saddle era--this age of the widened trail--very little has been written, and it cannot be passed here without a brief description. in doddridge's _notes_ we read: "the acquisition of the indispensable articles of salt, iron, steel and castings presented great difficulties to the first settlers of the western country. they had no stores of any kind, no salt, iron, nor iron works; nor had they money to make purchases where these articles could be obtained. peltry and furs were their only resources before they had time to raise cattle and horses for sale in the atlantic states. every family collected what peltry and fur they could obtain throughout the year for the purpose of sending them over the mountains for barter. in the fall of the year, after seeding time, every family formed an association with some of their neighbors, for starting the little caravan. a master driver was to be selected from among them, who was to be assisted by one or more young men and sometimes a boy or two. the horses were fitted out with pack-saddles, to the latter part of which was fastened a pair of hobbles made of hickory withes--a bell and collar ornamented their necks. the bags provided for the conveyance of the salt were filled with feed for the horses; on the journey a part of this feed was left at convenient stages on the way down, to support the return of the caravan. large wallets well filled with bread, jerk, boiled ham, and cheese furnished provision for the drivers. at night, after feeding, the horses, whether put in pasture or turned out into the woods, were hobbled and the bells were opened [unstuffed].... each horse carried [back] two bushels of alum salt, weighing eighty-four pounds to the bushel." another writer adds: "the caravan route from the ohio river to frederick [maryland] crossed the stupendous ranges of the ... mountains.... the path, _scarcely two feet wide_, and travelled by horses in single file, roamed over hill and dale, through mountain defile, over craggy steeps, beneath impending rocks, and around points of dizzy heights, where one false step might hurl horse and rider into the abyss below. to prevent such accidents, the bulky baggage was removed in passing the dangerous defiles, to secure the horse from being thrown from his scanty foothold.... the horses, with their packs, were marched along in single file, the foremost led by the leader of the caravan, while each successive horse was tethered to the pack-saddle of the horse before him. a driver followed behind, to keep an eye upon the proper adjustment of the packs." the pennsylvania historian rupp informs us that in the revolutionary period "five hundred pack-horses had been at one time in carlisle [pennsylvania], going thence to shippensburg, fort loudon, and further westward, loaded with merchandise, also salt, iron, &c. the pack-horses used to carry bars of iron on their backs, crooked over and around their bodies; barrels or kegs were hung on each side of these. colonel snyder, of chambersburg, in a conversation with the writer in august, , said that he cleared many a day from $ to $ in crooking or bending iron and shoeing horses for western carriers at the time he was carrying on a blacksmith shop in the town of chambersburg. the pack-horses were generally led in divisions of or horses, carrying about two hundred weight each ...; when the bridle road passed along declivities or over hills, the path was in some places washed out so deep that the packs or burdens came in contact with the ground or other impending obstacles, and were frequently displaced." though we have been specifically noticing the alleghenies we have at the same time described typical conditions that apply everywhere. the widened trail was the same in new england as in kentucky or pennsylvania--in fact the same, at one time, in old england as in new england. travelers between glasgow and london as late as found no turnpike till within a hundred miles of the metropolis. elsewhere they traversed narrow causeways with an unmade, soft road on each side. strings of pack-horses were occasionally passed, thirty or forty in a train. the foremost horse carried a bell so that travelers in advance would be warned to step aside and make room. the widened pack-horse routes were the main traveled ways of scotland until a comparatively recent period. "when lord herward was sent, in , from ayrshire to the college at edinburgh, the road was in such a state that servants were frequently sent forward with poles to sound the depths of the mosses and bogs which lay in their way. the mail was regularly dispatched between edinburgh and london, on horseback, and went in the course of five or six days." in the sixteenth century carts without springs could not be taken into the country from london; it took queen henrietta four days to traverse watling street to dover. of one of queen elizabeth's journeys it is said: "it was marvelous for ease and expedition, for such is the perfect evenness of the new highway that her majesty left the coach only once, while the hinds and the folk of baser sort lifted it on their poles!" a traveler in an english coach of said: "this travel hath soe indisposed mee, yt i am resolved never to ride up againe in ye coatch." thus the widened trail or bridle-path, as it was commonly known in some parts, was the universal predecessor of the highway. it needs to be observed, however, that winter travel in regions where much snow fell greatly influenced land travel. the buffalo and indian did not travel in the winter, but white men in early days found it perhaps easier to make a journey on sleds in the snow than at any other time. in such seasons the bridle-paths were, of course, largely followed, especially in the forests; yet in the open, with the snow a foot and more in depth, many short cuts were made along the zig-zag paths and in numerous instances these short cuts became the regular routes thereafter for all time. an interesting instance is found in the "narrative of andrew j. vieau, sr.:" "this path between green bay [wisconsin] and milwaukee was originally an indian trail, and very crooked; but the whites would straighten it by cutting across lots each winter with their jumpers [rude boxes on runners], wearing bare streaks through the thin covering [of snow], to be followed in the summer by foot and horseback travel along the shortened path."[ ] this form of traveling was, of course, unknown save only where snow fell and remained upon the ground for a considerable time. throughout new york state travel on snow was common and in the central portion of the state, where there was much wet ground in the olden time, it was easier to move heavy freight in the winter than in summer when the soft ground was treacherous. even as late as the building of the erie canal in the second and third decades of the nineteenth century--long after the building of the genesee road--freight was hauled in the winter in preference to summer. in the annual report of the comissioners of the erie canal, dated january , , we read that the roads were so wretched between utica and syracuse in the summer season that contractors who needed to lay up a supply of tools, provisions, etc., for their men, at interior points, purchased them in the winter before and sent the loads onward to their destinations in sleighs.[ ] one of the reasons given by the erie canal commissioners for delays and increased expenses in the work on the canal in , in their report delivered to the legislature february , , was that the absence of snow in central new york in the winter of - prevented the handling of heavy freight on solid roads; "no hard snow path could be found."[ ] the soft roads of the summer time were useless so far as heavy loads of lumber, stone, lime, and tools were concerned. no winter picture of early america is so vivid as that presented by the eccentric evans of new hampshire, who, dressed in his esquimau suit, made a midwinter pilgrimage throughout the country lying south of the great lakes from albany to detroit in .[ ] his experiences in moving across the middle west with the blinding storms, the mountainous drifts of snow, the great icy cascades, the hurrying rivers, buried out of sight in their banks of ice and snow, and the far scattered little settlements lost to the world, helps one realize what traveling in winter meant in the days of the pioneer. the real work of opening roads in america began, of course, on the bridle-paths in the atlantic slope. in a measure was passed in the massachusetts bay colony reading: "whereas the highways in this jurisdiction have not been laid out with such conveniency for travellers as were fit, nor as was intended by this court, but that in some places they are felt too straight, and in other places travelers are forced to go far about, it is therefore, ordered, that all highways shall be laid out before the next general court, so as may be with most ease and safety for travelers; and for this end every town shall choose two or three men, who shall join with two or three of the next town, and these shall have power to lay out the highways in each town where they may be most convenient; and those which are so deputed shall have power to lay out the highways where they may be most convenient, notwithstanding any man's propriety, or any corne ground, so as it occasion not the pulling down of any man's house, or laying open any garden or orchard; and in common [public] grounds, or where the soil is wet or miry, they shall lay out the ways the wider, as six, or eight, or ten rods, or more in common grounds." with the establishment of the government in the province of new york in the following regulation for road-making was established, which also obtained in pennsylvania until william penn's reign began: "in all public works for the safety and defence of the government, or the necessary conveniencies of bridges, highways, and common passengers, the governor or deputy governor and council shall send warrents to any justice, and the justices to the constable of the next town, or any other town within that jurisdiction, to send so many laborers and artificers as the warrent shall direct, which the constable and two others or more of the overseers shall forthwith execute, and the constable and overseers shall have power to give such wages as they shall judge the work to deserve, provided that no ordinary laborer shall be compelled to work from home above one week together. no man shall be compelled to do any public work or service unless the press [impressment] be grounded upon some known law of this government, or an act of the governor and council signifying the necessity thereof, in both which cases a reasonable allowance shall be made." a later amendment indicates the rudeness of these early roads: "the highways to be cleared as followeth, viz., the way to be made clear of standing and lying trees, at least ten feet broad; all stumps and shrubs to be cut close by the ground. the trees marked yearly on both sides--sufficient bridges to be made and kept over all marshy, swampy, and difficult dirty places, and whatever else shall be thought more necessary about the highways aforesaid." in pennsylvania, under penn, the grand jury laid out the roads, and the courts appointed overseers and fence-viewers, but in the townships were given the control of the roads. eight years later the county roads were put in the hands of the county justices, and king's highways in the hands of the governor and his council. each county was ordered to erect railed bridges at its expense over rivers, and to appoint its own overseers and fence-viewers. even the slightest mention of these laws and regulations misrepresents the exact situation. up to the time of the revolutionary war it can almost be said that nothing had been done toward what we today know as road-building. many routes were cleared of "standing and lying trees" and "stumps and shrubs" were cut "close by the ground"--but this only widened the path of the indian and was only a faint beginning in road-building. the skiff, batteau, and horse attached to a sleigh or sled in winter, were the only, common means of conveying freight or passengers in the colonies at this period. we have spoken of the path across the alleghenies in as being but a winding trace; save for the roughness of the territory traversed it was a fair road for its day, seek where the traveler might. in this case, as in so many others, the history of the postal service in the united states affords us most accurate and reliable information concerning our economic development. in the year mentioned, , the mail between new york and philadelphia was carried only once a week in summer and twice a month in winter. forty years later there were only eighteen hundred odd miles of post roads in the whole united states. at that time ( ) only five mails a week passed between new york and philadelphia. it may be said, loosely, that the widened trail became a road when wheeled vehicles began to pass over it. carts and wagons were common in the atlantic seaboard states as early and earlier than the revolution. it was at the close of that war that wagons began to cross the alleghenies into the mississippi basin. this first road was a road in "the state of nature." nothing had been done to it but clearing it of trees and stumps. yet what a tremendous piece of work was this. it is more or less difficult for us to realize just how densely wooded a country this was from the crest of the alleghenies to the seaboard on the east, and from the mountains to central indiana and kentucky on the west. the pioneers fought their way westward through wood, like a bullet crushing through a board. every step was retarded by a live, a dying, or a dead branch. the very trees, as if dreading the savage attack of the white man on the splendid forests of the interior, held out their bony arms and fingers, catching here a jacket and there a foot, in the attempt to stay the invasion of their silent haunts. these forests were very heavy overhead. the boughs were closely matted, in a life-and-death struggle for light and air. the forest vines bound them yet more inextricably together, until it was almost impossible to fell a tree with out first severing the huge arms which were bound fast to its neighbors. this dense overgrowth had an important influence over the pioneer traveler. it made the space beneath dark; the gloom of a real forest is never forgotten by the "tenderfoot" lumberman. the dense covering overhead made the forests extremely hot in the dog days of summer; no one can appreciate what "hot weather" means in a forest where the wind cannot descend through the trees save those who know our oldest forests. what made the forests hot in summer, on the other hand, tended to protect them from winter winds in cold weather. yet, as a rule, there was little pioneer traveling in the allegheny forests in winter. from may until november came the months of heaviest traffic on the first widened trails through these gloomy, heated forest aisles. it can be believed there was little tree-cutting on these first pioneer roads. save in the laurel regions of the allegheny and cumberland mountains, where the forest trees were supplanted by these smaller growths, there was little undergrowth; the absence of sunlight occasioned this, and rendered the old forest more easily traversed than one would suppose after reading many accounts of pioneer life. the principal interruption of travelers on the old trails was in the form of fallen trees and dead wood which had been brought to the ground by the storms. with the exception of the live trees which were blown over, these forms of impediment to travel were not especially menacing; the dead branches crumbled before an ax. the trees which were broken down or uprooted by the winds, however, were obstructions difficult to remove, and tended to make pioneer roads crooked, as often perhaps as standing trees. we can form some practical notion of the dangerous nature of falling trees by studying certain of the great improvements which were early projected in these woods. the allegheny portage railway over the mountains of huntingdon county, pennsylvania, and the erie canal in central new york, both offer illustrations to the point. the portage track was sent through an unbroken, uninhabited forest wilderness from hollidaysburg to johnstown in the twenties. in order to render the inclines safe from falling trees and breaking branches, a swath through the woods was cut one hundred and twenty feet wide.[ ] the narrow trellis of the inclines scaled the mountain in the center of this avenue; wide as it was, a tree fifty feet long could have swept it away like paper. the erie canal was to be forty feet in width; a clean sixty foot aisle was opened through the forests before the digging could begin. of course nothing like this could be done for pioneer highways; when the states began to appropriate money for state roads, then the pioneer routes were straightened by cutting some trees. it was all the scattered communities could do before this period to keep the falling trees and branches from blocking the old roads. travelers wound in and out on one of the many tracks, stumbling, slipping, grinding on the roots, going around great trees that had not been removed, and keeping to the high ground when possible, for there the forest growth was less dense. the question immediately arises, what sort of vehicle could weather such roads? first in the van came the great clumsy cart, having immensely high and solid wooden wheels. these were obtained either by taking a thin slice from the butt of the greatest log that could be found in good condition, or by being built piecemeal by rude carpenters. these great wheels would go safely wherever oxen could draw them, many of their hubs being three feet from the ground. thus the body of the cart would clear any ordinary brook and river at any ford which horses or oxen could cross. no rocks could severely injure such a massy vehicle, at the rate it usually moved, and no mere rut could disturb its stolid dignity. like the oxen attached to it, the pioneer cart went on its lumbering way despising everything but bogs, great tree boles and precipices. these creaking carts could proceed, therefore, nearly on the ancient bridle-path of the pack-horse age. on the greater routes westward the introduction of wheeled vehicles necessitated some changes; now and then the deep-worn passage-way was impassable, and detours were made which, at a later day, became the main course. here, where the widened trail climbed a steeper "hog-back" than usual, the cart-drivers made a roundabout road which was used in dry weather. there, where the old trail wound about a marshy piece of ground in all weathers, the cart-drivers would push on in a straight line during dry seasons. thus the typical pioneer road even before the day of wagons was a many-track road and should most frequently be called a route--a word we have so frequently used in this series of monographs. each of the few great historic roads was a route which could have been turned into a three, four, and five track course in very much the same way as railways become double-tracked by uniting a vast number of side-tracks. the most important reason for variation of routes was the wet and dry seasons; in the wet season advantage had to be taken of every practicable altitude. the indian or foot traveler could easily gain the highest eminence at hand; the pack-horse could reach many but not all; the "travail" and cart could reach many, while the later wagon could climb only a few. in dry weather the low ground offered the easiest and quickest route. as a consequence every great route had what might almost be called its "wet" and "dry" roadways. in one of the early laws quoted we have seen that in wet or miry ground the roads should be laid out "six, eight, or ten rods [wide]," though elsewhere ten or twelve feet was considered a fair width for an early road. as a consequence, even before the day of wagons, the old routes of travel were often very wide, especially in wet places; in wet weather they were broader here than ever. but until the day of wagons the track-beds were not so frequently ruined. of this it is now time to speak. by we may believe the great freight traffic by means of wagons had fully begun across the alleghenies at many points. it is doubtful if anywhere else in the united states did "wagoning" and "wagoners" become so common or do such a thriving trade as on three or four trans-allegheny routes between and . the atlantic ocean and the rivers had been the arteries of trade between the colonies from the earliest times. the freight traffic by land in the seaboard states had amounted to little save in local cases, compared with the great industry of "freighting" which, about , arose in baltimore and philadelphia and concerned the then central west. this study, like that of our postal history, throws great light on the subject in hand. road-building, in the abstract, began at the centers of population and spread slowly with the growth of population. for instance, in revolutionary days philadelphia was, as it were, a hub and from it a number of important roads, like spokes, struck out in all directions. comparatively, these were few in number and exceedingly poor, yet they were enough and sufficiently easy to traverse to give washington a deal of trouble in trying to prevent the avaricious country people from treacherously feeding the british invaders. these roads out from philadelphia, for instance, were used by wagons longer distances each year. beginning back at the middle of the eighteenth century it may be said that the wagon roads grew longer and the pack-horse routes or bridle-paths grew shorter each year. the freight was brought from the seaboard cities in wagons to the end of the wagon roads and there transferred to the pack-saddles. referring to this era we have already quoted a passage in which it is said that five hundred pack-horses have been seen at one time at carlisle, pennsylvania. for a longer period than was perhaps true elsewhere, carlisle was the end of the wagon road westward. a dozen bridle-paths converged here. here all freight was transferred to the strings of patient ponies. loudon, pennsylvania, was another peculiar borderland depot later on. it will be remembered that when richard henderson and party advanced to kentucky in they were able to use wagons as far as captain joseph martin's "station" in powell's valley. at that point all freight had to be transferred to the backs of ponies for the climb over the cumberlands. in the days of marcus whitman, who opened the first road across the rocky mountains, fort laramie, wyoming, was the terminus of wagon travel in the far west. thus pioneer roads unfolded, as it were, joint by joint, the rapidity depending on the volume of traffic, increase of population, and topography. [illustration: old conestoga freighter] the first improvement on these greater routes, after the necessary widening, was to enable wagons to avoid high ground. here and there wagons pushed on beyond the established limit, and, finding the way not more desperate than much of the preceding "road," had gone on and on, until at last wagons came down the western slopes of the alleghenies, and wagon traffic began to be considered possible--much to the chagrin of the cursing pack-horse men. no sooner was this fact accomplished than some attention was paid to the road. the wagons could not go everywhere the ponies or even the heavy carts had gone. they could not climb the steep knolls and remain on the rocky ridges. the lower grounds were, therefore, pursued and the wet grounds were made passable by "corduroying"--laying logs closely together to form a solid roadbed. so far as i can learn this work was done by everybody in particular and nobody in general. those who were in charge of wagons were, of course, the most interested in keeping them from sinking out of sight in the mud-holes. when possible, such places were skirted; when high or impassable ground prevented this, the way was "corduroyed." we have spoken of the width of old-time bridle-paths; with the advent of the heavy freighter these wide routes were doubled and trebled in width. and, so long as the roadbeds remained in a "state of nature," the heavier the wagon traffic, the wider the roads became. we have described certain great tracks, like that of braddock's road, which can be followed today even in the open by the lasting marks those plunging freighters made in the soft ground. they suggest in their deep outline what the old wagon roads must have been; yet it must be remembered that only what we may call the main road is visible today--the innumerable side-tracks being obliterated because not so deeply worn. in a number of instances on braddock's road plain evidence remains of these side-tracks. judging then from this evidence, and from accounts which have come down to us, the introduction of the freighter with its heavier loads and narrower wheels turned the wide, deeply worn bridle-paths and cart tracks into far wider and far deeper courses. the corduroy road had a tendency to contract the route, but even here, where the ground was softest, it became desperate traveling. where one wagon had gone, leaving great black ruts behind it, another wagon would pass with greater difficulty leaving behind it yet deeper and yet more treacherous tracks. heavy rains would fill each cavity with water, making the road nothing less than what in illinois was known as a "sloo." the next wagoner would, therefore, push his unwilling horses into a veritable slough, perhaps having explored it with a pole to see if there was a bottom to be found there. in some instances the bottoms "fell out," and many a reckless driver has lost his load in pushing heedlessly into a bottomless pit. in case a bottom could be found the driver pushes on; if not, he finds a way about; if this is not possible he throws logs into the hole and makes an artificial bottom over which he proceeds. we can hardly imagine what it meant to get stalled on one of the old "hog wallow" roads on the frontier. true, many of our country roads today offer bogs quite as wide and deep as any ever known in western virginia or pennsylvania; and it is equally true that roads were but little better in the pioneer era on the outskirts of philadelphia and baltimore than far away in the mountains. it remains yet for the present writer to find a sufficiently barbarous incident to parallel one which occurred on the old york (new york) road just out of philadelphia, in which half a horse's head was pulled off in attempting to haul a wagon from a hole in the road. "jonathan tyson, a farmer of years of age [in ], of abington, saw, at years of age, much difficulty in going to the city [philadelphia on york road]: a dreadful mire of blackish mud rested near the present rising sun village.... he saw there the team of mr. nickum, of chestnut hill, stalled; and in endeavoring to draw out the forehorse with an iron chain to his head, it slipped and tore off the lower jaw, and the horse died on the spot. there was a very bad piece of road nearer to the city, along the front of the norris estate. it was frequent to see there horses struggling in mire to their knees. mr. tyson has seen thirteen lime wagons at a time stopped on the york road, near logan's hill, to give one another assistance to draw through the mire; and the drivers could be seen with their trowsers rolled up, and joining team to team to draw out; at other times they set up a stake in the middle of the road to warn off wagons from the quicksand pits. sometimes they tore down fences, and made new roads through the fields."[ ] if such was the case almost within the city limits of philadelphia, it is not difficult to realize what must have been the conditions which obtained far out on the continental routes. it became a serious problem to get stalled in the mountains late in the day; assistance was not always at hand--indeed the settlements were many miles apart in the early days. many a driver, however, has been compelled to wade in, unhitch his horses, and spend the night by the bog into which his freight was settling lower and lower each hour. fortunate he was if early day brought assistance. sometimes it was necessary to unload wholly or in part, before a heavy wagon, once fairly "set," could be hauled out. around such treacherous places ran a vast number of routes some of which were as dangerous--because used once too often--as the central track. in some places detours of miles in length could be made. a pilot was needed by every inexperienced person, and many blundering wiseacres lost their entire stock of worldly possessions in the old bogs and "sloos" and swamps of the "west." a town in indiana was "very appropriately" named mudholes, a name that would have been the most common in the country a century ago if only descriptive names had been allowed.[ ] the condition of pioneer roads did, undoubtedly, influence the beginnings of towns and cities. on the longer routes it will be found that the steep hills almost invariably became the sites of villages because of physical conditions. "long-a-coming," a new jersey village, bore a very appropriate name.[ ] the girls of sussex, england, were said to be exceedingly long-limbed, and a facetious wag affirmed the reason to be that the sussex mud was so deep and sticky that in drawing out the foot "by the strength of the ancle" the muscles, and then the bones, of the leg were lengthened! in when prince george of denmark went to meet charles the seventh of spain traveling by coach, he traveled at the rate of nine miles in six hours--a tribute to the strength of sussex mud. charles augustus murray, in his _travels in north america_, leaves us a humorous account of the mud-holes in the road from the potomac to fredericksburg, maryland, and his experience upon it: "on the th of march i quitted washington, to make a short tour in the districts of virginia adjacent to the james river; comprising richmond, the present capital, williamsburgh, the former seat of colonial government, norfolk, and other towns. "the first part of the journey is by steam-boat, descending the potomac about sixty miles. the banks of this river, after passing mount vernon, are uninteresting, and i did not regret the speed of the champion, which performed that distance in somewhat less than five hours; but this rate of travelling was amply neutralized by the movement of the stage which conveyed me from the landing-place to fredericsburgh. i was informed that the distance was only twelve miles, and i was weak enough (in spite of my previous experience) to imagine that two hours would bring me thither, especially as the stage was drawn by six good nags, and driven by a lively cheerful fellow; but the road bade defiance to all these advantages--it was, indeed, such as to compel me to laugh out-right, notwithstanding the constant and severe bumping to which it subjected both the intellectual and sedentary parts of my person. "i had before tasted the sweets of mud-holes, huge stones, and remnants of pine-trees standing and cut down; but here was something new, namely, a bed of reddish-coloured clay, from one to two feet deep, so adhesive that the wheels were at times literally not visible in any one spot from the box to the tire, and the poor horses' feet sounded, when they drew them out (as a fellow-traveller observed), like the report of a pistol. i am sorry that i was not sufficiently acquainted with chemistry or mineralogy to analyze that wonderful clay and state its constituent parts; but if i were now called upon to give a receipt for a mess most nearly resembling it, i would write, 'recipe--(nay, i must write the ingredients in english, for fear of taxing my latin learning too severely)-- ordinary clay lb. do. pitch lb. bird-lime oz. putty oz. glue lb. red lead, or _colouring_ matter oz. fiat haustus--ægrot. terq. quaterq. quatiend.' "whether the foregoing, with a proper admixture of hills, holes, stumps, and rocks, made a satisfactory _draught_ or not, i will refer to the unfortunate team--i, alas! can answer for the effectual application of the second part of the prescription, according to the joe miller version of 'when taken, to be well shaken!' "i arrived, however, without accident or serious bodily injury, at fredericsburgh, having been _only_ three hours and a half in getting over the said twelve miles; and, in justice to the driver, i must say that i very much doubt whether any crack london whip could have driven those horses over that ground in the same time: there is not a sound that can emanate from human lungs, nor an argument of persuasion that can touch the feelings of a horse, that he did not employ, with a perseverance and success which commanded my admiration." fancy these wild, rough routes which, combined, often covered half an acre, and sometimes spread out to a mile in total width, in freezing weather when every hub and tuft was as solid as ice. how many an anxious wagoner has pushed his horses to the bitter edge of exhaustion to gain his destination ere a freeze would stall him as completely as if his wagon-bed lay on the surface of a "quicksand pit." a heavy load could not be sent over a frozen pioneer road without wrecking the vehicle. yet in some parts the freight traffic had to go on in the winter, as the hauling of cotton to market in the southern states. such was the frightful condition of the old roads that four and five yoke of oxen conveyed only a ton of cotton so slowly that motion was almost imperceptible; and in the winter and spring, it has been said, with perhaps some tinge of truthfulness, that one could walk on dead oxen from jackson to vicksburg. the bull-skin road of pioneer days leading from the pickaway plains in ohio to detroit was so named from the large number of cattle which died on the long, rough route, their hides, to exaggerate again, lining the way. in our study of the ohio river as a highway it was possible to emphasize the fact that the evolution of river craft indicated with great significance the evolution of social conditions in the region under review; the keel-boat meant more than canoe or pirogue, the barge or flat-boat more than the keel-boat, the brig and schooner more than the barge, and the steamboat far more than all preceding species. we affirmed that the change of craft on our rivers was more rapid than on land, because of the earlier adaptation of steam to vessels than to vehicles. but it is in point here to observe that, slow as were the changes on land, they were equally significant. the day of the freighter and the corduroy road was a brighter day for the expanding nation than that of the pack-horse and the bridle-path. the cost of shipping freight by pack-horses was tremendous. in , during the whiskey insurrection in western pennsylvania, the cost of shipping goods to pittsburg by wagon ranged from five to ten dollars per hundred pounds; salt sold for five dollars a bushel, and iron and steel from fifteen to twenty cents per pound in pittsburg. what must have been the price when one horse carried only from one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty pounds? the freighter represented a growing population and the growing needs of the new empire in the west. the advent of the stagecoach marked a new era as much in advance of the old as was the day of the steamboat in advance of that of the barge and brig of early days. the social disturbance caused by the introduction of coaches on the pioneer roads of america gives us a glimpse of road conditions at this distant day to be gained no other way. a score of local histories give incidents showing the anger of those who had established the more important pack-horse lines across the continent at the coming of the stage. coaches were overturned and passengers were maltreated; horses were injured, drivers were chastised and personal property ruined. even while the cumberland road was being built the early coaches were in danger of assault by the workmen building the road, incited, no doubt, by the angry pack-horse men whose profession had been eclipsed. it is interesting in this connection to look again back to the mother-country and note the unrest which was occasioned by the introduction of stagecoaches on the bridle-paths of england. early coaching there was described as destructive to trade, prejudicial to landed interests, destructive to the breed of horses,[ *] and as an interference with public resources. it was urged that travelers in coaches got listless, "not being able to endure frost, snow or rain, or to lodge in the fields!" riding in coaches injured trade since "most gentlemen, before they travelled in coaches, used to ride with swords, belts, pistols, holsters, portmanteaus, and hat-cases, which, in these coaches, they have little or no occasion for: for, when they rode on horseback, they rode in one suit and carried another to wear when they came to their journey's end, or lay by the way; but in coaches a silk suit and an indian gown, with a sash, silk stockings, and beaver hats, men ride in and carry no other with them, because they escape the wet and dirt, which on horseback they cannot avoid; whereas in two or three journeys on horseback, these clothes and hats were wont to be spoiled; which done, they were forced to have new very often, and that increased the consumption of the manufacturers; which travelling in coaches doth in no way do." if the pack-horse man's side of the question was not advocated with equally marvelous arguments in america we can be sure there was no lack of debate on the question whether the stagecoach was a sign of advancement or of deterioration. for instance, the mails could not be carried so rapidly by coach as by a horseman; and when messages were of importance in later days they were always sent by an express rider. the advent of the wagon and coach promised to throw hundreds of men out of employment. business was vastly facilitated when the freighter and coach entered the field, but fewer "hands" were necessary. again, the horses which formerly carried the freight of america on their backs were not of proper build and strength to draw heavy loads on either coach or wagon. they were ponies; they could carry a few score pounds with great skill over blind and ragged paths, but they could not draw the heavy wagons. accordingly hundreds of owners of pack-horses were doomed to see an alarming deterioration in the value of their property when great, fine coach horses were shipped from distant parts to carry the freight and passenger loads of the stagecoach day. the change in form of american vehicles was small but their numbers increased within a few years prodigiously. nominally this era must be termed that of the macadamized road, or roads made of layers of broken stone like the cumberland road. these roads were wider than any single track of any of the routes they followed, though thirty feet was the average maximum breadth. to a greater degree than would be surmised, the courses of the old roads were followed. it has been said that the cumberland road, though paralleling braddock's road from cumberland to laurel hill, was not built on its bed more than a mile in the aggregate. after studying the ground i believe this is more or less incorrect; for what we should call braddock's route was composed of many roads and tracks. one of these was a central road; the cumberland road may have been built on the bed of this central track only a short distance, but on one of the almost innumerable side-tracks, detours, and cut-offs, for many miles. at great meadows, for instance, it would seem that the cumberland road was separated from braddock's by the width of the valley; yet as you move westward you cross the central track of braddock's road just before reaching braddock's grave. may not an old route have led from great meadows thither on the same hillside where we find the cumberland road today? the crookedness of these first stable roads, like many of the older streets in our cities,[ ] indicates that the old corduroy road served in part as a guide for the later road-makers. it is a common thing in the mountains, either on the cumberland or pennsylvania state roads, to hear people say that had the older routes been even more strictly adhered to better grades would have been the result. a remarkable and truthful instance of this (for there cannot, in truth, be many) is the splendid way braddock's old road sweeps to the top of laurel hill by gaining that strategic ridge which divides the heads of certain branches of the youghiogheny on the one hand and cheat river on the other near washington's rock. the cumberland road in the valley gains the same height (laurel hill) by a longer and far more difficult route. the stagecoach heralded the new age of road-building, but these new macadamized roads were few and far between; many roadways were widened and graded by states or counties, but they remained dirt roads; a few plank roads were built. the vast number of roads of better grade were built by one of the host of road and turnpike companies which sprang up in the first half of the nineteenth century. specific mention of certain of these will be made later. confining our view here to general conditions, we now see the indian trail at its broadest. while the roads, in number, kept up with the vast increase of population, in quality they remained, as a rule, unchanged. traveling by stage, except on the half dozen good roads then in existence, was, in , far more uncomfortable than on the bridle-path on horseback half a century previous. it would be the same today if we could find a vehicle as inconvenient as an old-time stagecoach. in our "experiences of travelers" we shall give pictures of actual life on these pioneer roads of early days. a glimpse or two at these roads will not be out of place here. the route from philadelphia to baltimore is thus described by the _american annual register_ for : "the roads from philadelphia to baltimore exhibit, for the greater part of the way, an aspect of savage desolation. chasms to the depth of six, eight, or ten feet occur at numerous intervals. a stagecoach which left philadelphia on the th of february, , took five days to go to baltimore. [twenty miles a day]. the weather for the first four days was good. the roads are in a fearful condition. coaches are overturned, passengers killed, and horses destroyed by the overwork put upon them. in winter sometimes no stage sets out for two weeks." little wonder that in , when president and mrs. adams tried to get to washington from baltimore, they got lost in the maryland woods! harriet martineau, with her usual cleverness, thus touches upon our early roads: "... corduroy roads appear to have made a deep impression on the imaginations of the english, who seem to suppose that american roads are all corduroy. i can assure them that there is a large variety in american roads. there are the excellent limestone roads ... from nashville, tennessee, and some like them in kentucky.... there is quite another sort of limestone road in virginia, in traversing which the stage is dragged up from shelf [catch-water] to shelf, some of the shelves sloping so as to throw the passengers on one another, on either side alternately. then there are the rich mud roads of ohio, through whose deep red sloughs the stage goes slowly sousing after rain, and gently upsetting when the rut on one or the other side proves to be of a greater depth than was anticipated. then there are the sandy roads of the pine barrens ... the ridge road, running parallel with a part of lake ontario.... lastly there is the corduroy road, happily of rare occurrence, where, if the driver is merciful to his passengers, he drives them so as to give them the association of being on the way to a funeral, their involuntary sobs on each jolt helping the resemblance; or, if he be in a hurry, he shakes them like pills in a pill-box. i was never upset in a stage but once ...; and the worse the roads were, the more i was amused at the variety of devices by which we got on, through difficulties which appeared insurmountable, and the more i was edified at the gentleness with which our drivers treated female fears and fretfulness."[ ] perhaps it was of the virginian roads here mentioned that thomas moore wrote: "dear george! though every bone is aching, after the shaking i've had this week, over ruts and ridges, and bridges, made of a few uneasy planks, in open ranks over rivers of mud, whose names alone would make the knees of stoutest man knock."[ ] david stevenson, an english civil engineer, leaves this record of a corduroy road from lake erie to pittsburg: "on the road leading from pittsburg on the ohio to the town of erie on the lake of that name, i saw all the varieties of forest road-making in great perfection. sometimes our way lay for miles through extensive marshes, which we crossed by corduroy roads, ...; at others the coach stuck fast in the mud, from which it could be extricated only by the combined efforts of the coachman and passengers; and at one place we travelled for upwards of a quarter of a mile through a forest flooded with water, which stood to the height of several feet on many of the trees, and occasionally covered the naves of the coach-wheels. the distance of the route from pittsburg to erie is miles, which was accomplished in forty-six hours ... although the conveyance ... carried the mail, and stopped only for breakfast, dinner, and tea, but there was considerable delay caused by the coach being once upset and several times mired."[ ] "the horrible corduroy roads again made their appearance," records captain basil hall, "in a more formidable shape, by the addition of deep, inky holes, which almost swallowed up the fore wheels of the wagon and bathed its hinder axle-tree. the jogging and plunging to which we were now exposed, and occasionally the bang when the vehicle reached the bottom of one of these abysses, were so new and remarkable that we tried to make a good joke of them.... i shall not compare this evening's drive to trotting up or down a pair of stairs, for, in that case, there would be some kind of regularity in the development of the bumps, but with us there was no wavering, no pause, and when we least expected a jolt, down we went, smack! dash! crash! forging, like a ship in a head-sea, right into a hole half a yard deep. at other times, when an ominous break in the road seemed to indicate the coming mischief, and we clung, grinning like grim death, to the railing at the sides of the wagon, expecting a concussion which in the next instant was to dislocate half the joints in our bodies, down we sank into a bed of mud, as softly as if the bottom and sides had been padded for our express accommodation." the first and most interesting macadamized road in the united states was the old lancaster turnpike, running from philadelphia to lancaster, pennsylvania. its position among american roads is such that it deserves more than a mere mention. it has had several historians, as it well deserves, to whose accounts we are largely indebted for much of our information.[ ] the charter name of this road was "the philadelphia and lancaster turnpike road company;" it was granted april , , and the work of building immediately began. the road was completed in at a cost of four hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars. when the subscription books were opened there was a tremendous rush to take the stock. the money raised for constructing and equipping this ancient highway with toll houses and bridges, as well as grading and macadamizing it, was by this sale of stock. in the lancaster _journal_ of friday, february , , the following notice appeared: "that agreeable to a by-law of stockholders, subscriptions will be opened at the company's office in philadelphia on wednesday, the tenth of february next, for one hundred additional shares of capital stock in said company. the sum to be demanded for each share will be $ , with interest at six per cent. on the different instalments from the time they are severally called for, to be paid by original stockholders; one hundred dollars thereof to be paid at time of subscribing, and the remainder in three equal payments, at , and days, no person to be admitted to subscribe more than one share on the same day. by order of the board. william govett, secretary." "when location was fully determined upon," writes mr. witmer, "as you will observe, today, a more direct line could scarcely have been selected. many of the curves which are found at the present time did not exist at that day, for it has been crowded and twisted by various improvements along its borders so that the original constructors are not responsible. so straight, indeed, was it from initial to terminal point that it was remarked by one of the engineers of the state railroad, constructed in (and now known as the pennsylvania railroad), that it was with the greatest difficulty that they kept their line off of the turnpike, and the subsequent experiences of the engineers of the same company verify the fact, as you will see. today there is a tendency, wherever the line is straightened, to draw nearer to this old highway, paralleling it in many places for quite a distance, and as it approaches the city of philadelphia, in one or two instances they have occupied the old road bed entirely, quietly crowding its old rival to a side, and crossing and recrossing it in many places. "you will often wonder as you pass over this highway, remembering the often-stated fact by some ancient wagoner or stage-driver (who today is scarcely to be found, most of them having thrown down the reins and put up for the night), that at that time there were almost continuous lines of conestoga wagons, with their feed troughs suspended at the rear and the tar can swinging underneath, toiling up the long hills (for you will observe there was very little grading done when that roadway was constructed), and you wonder how it was possible to accommodate so much traffic as there was, in addition to stagecoaches and private conveyances, winding in and out among these long lines of wagons. but you must bear in mind that the roadway was very different then from what it is at the present time. "the narrow, macadamized surface, with its long grassy slope (the delight of the tramp and itinerant merchant, especially when a neighboring tree casts a cooling shadow over its surface), which same slope becomes a menace to belated and unfamiliar travelers on a dark night, threatening them with an overturn into what of more recent times is known as the summer road, did not exist at that time, but the road had a regular slope from side ditch to center, as all good roads should have, and conveyances could pass anywhere from side to side. the macadam was carefully broken and no stone was allowed to be placed on the road that would not pass through a two-inch ring. a test was made which can be seen today about six miles east of lancaster, where the roadway was regularly paved for a distance of one hundred feet from side to side, with a view of constructing the entire line in that way. but it proved too expensive, and was abandoned. day, in his history, published in ,[ ] makes mention of the whole roadway having been so constructed, but i think that must have been an error, as this is the only point where there is any appearance of this having been attempted, and can be seen at the present time when the upper surface has been worn off by the passing and repassing over it." the placing of tollgates on the lancaster pike is thus announced in the lancaster _journal_, previously mentioned, where the following notice appears: "the public are hereby informed that the president and managers of the philadelphia and lancaster turnpike road having perfected the very arduous and important work entrusted by the stockholders to their direction, have established toll gates at the following places on said road, and have appointed a toll gatherer at each gate, and that the rates of toll to be collected at the several gates are by resolution of the board and agreeable to act of assembly fixed and established as below. the total distance from lancaster to philadelphia is miles. gate no. -- miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- - / miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- - / miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. -- - / miles w from schuylkill, collect miles gate no. --witmer's bridge, collect miles." there is also in the same journal, bearing date january , , the following notice: "sec. . and be it further enacted, by authority of aforesaid, that no wagon or other carriage with wheels the breadth of whose wheels shall not be four inches, shall be driven along said road between the first day of december and the first day of may following in any year or years, with a greater weight thereon than two and a half tons, or with more than three tons during the rest of the year; that no such carriage, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be seven inches, or being six inches or more shall roll at least ten inches, shall be drawn along said road between the said day of december and may with more than five tons, or with more than five and a half tons during the rest of the year; that no carriage or cart with two wheels, the breadth of whose wheels shall not be four inches, shall be drawn along said road with a greater weight thereon than one and a quarter tons between the said first days of december and may, or with more than one and a half tons during the rest of the year; no such carriage, whose wheels shall be of the breadth of seven inches shall be driven along the said road with more than two and one half tons between the first days of december and may, or more than three tons during the rest of the year; that no such carriage whose wheels shall not be ten inches in width shall be drawn along the said road between the first days of december and may with more than three and a half tons, or with more than four tons the rest of the year; that no cart, wagon or carriage of burden whatever, whose wheels shall not be the breadth of nine inches at least, shall be drawn or pass in or over the said road or any part thereof with more than six horses, nor shall more than eight horses be attached to any carriage whatsoever used on said road, and if any wagon or other carriage shall be drawn along said road by a greater number of horses or with a greater weight than is hereby permitted, one of the horses attached thereto shall be forfeited to the use of said company, to be seized and taken by any of their officers or servants, who shall have the privilege to choose which of the said horses they may think proper, excepting the shaft or wheel horse or horses, provided always that it shall and may be lawful for said company by their by-laws to alter any and all of the regulations here contained respecting burdens or carriages to be drawn over the said road and substituting other regulations, if on experience such alterations should be found conducive of public good." there were regular warehouses or freight stations in the various towns through which the lancaster pike passed, mr. witmer leaves record, where experienced loaders or packers were to be found who attended to filling these great curving wagons, which were elevated at each end and depressed in the centre; and it was quite an art to be able to so pack them with the various kinds of merchandise that they would carry safely, and at the same time to economize all the room necessary; and when fully loaded and ready for the journey it was no unusual case for the driver to be appealed to by some one who wished to follow horace greeley's advice and "go west," for permission to accompany him and earn a seat on the load, as well as share his mattress on the barroom floor at night by tending the lock or brake. mr. witmer was told by one of the largest and wealthiest iron masters of pittsburg that his first advent to the smoky city was on a load of salt in that capacity. "in regard to the freight or transportation companies," continues the annalist, "the line wagon company was the most prominent. stationed along this highway at designated points were drivers and horses, and it was their duty to be ready as soon as a wagon was delivered at the beginning of their section to use all despatch in forwarding it to the next one, thereby losing no time required to rest horses and driver, which would be required when the same driver and horses took charge of it all the way through. but, like many similar schemes, what appeared practical in theory did not work well in practice. soon the wagons were neglected, each section caring only to deliver it to the one succeeding, caring little as to its condition, and soon the roadside was encumbered with wrecks and breakdowns and the driver and horses passed to and fro without any wagon or freight from terminal points of their sections, leaving the wagons and freight to be cared for by others more anxious for its removal than those directly in charge. so it was deemed best to return to the old system of making each driver responsible for his own wagon and outfit. "a wagoner, next to a stagecoach-driver, was a man of immense importance, and they were inclined to be clannish. they would not hesitate to unite against landlord, stage-driver or coachman who might cross their path, as in a case when a wedding party was on its way to philadelphia, which consisted of several gigs. these were two-wheeled conveyances, very similar to our road-carts of the present day, except that they were much higher and had large loop springs in the rear just back of the seat; they were the fashionable conveyance of that day. when one of the gentlemen drivers, the foremost one (possibly the groom), was paying more attention to his fair companion than his horses, he drove against the leaders of one of the numerous wagons that were passing on in the same direction. it was an unpardonable offense and nothing short of an encounter in the stable yard or in front of the hotel could atone for such a breach of highway ethics. at a point where the party stopped to rest before continuing their journey the wagoners overtook them and they immediately called on the gentleman for redress. but seeing a friend in the party they claimed they would excuse the culprit on his friend's account; the offending party would not have it so, and said no friend of his should excuse him from getting a beating if he deserved it, and i have no doubt he prided himself on his muscular abilities also. however it was peaceably arranged and each pursued his way without any blood being shed or bones broken. that was one of the many similar occurrences which happened daily, many not ending so harmlessly. "the stage lines were not only the means of conveying the mails and passengers, but of also disseminating the news of great events along the line as they passed. the writer remembers hearing it stated that the stage came through from philadelphia with a wide band of white muslin bound around the top, and in large letters was the announcement that peace had been declared, which was the closing of the second war with great britain, known as the war of . what rejoicing it caused along the way as it passed!" [illustration: earliest style of log tavern] the taverns of this old turnpike were typical. of them mr. moore writes: "independent of the heavy freighting, numerous stage lines were organized for carrying passengers. as a result of this immense traffic, hotels sprung up all along the road, where relays of horses were kept, and where passengers were supplied with meals. here, too, the teamsters found lodging and their animals were housed and cared for over night. the names of these hotels were characteristic of the times. many were called after men who had borne conspicuous parts in the revolutionary war that had just closed--such as washington, warren, lafayette, and wayne, while others represented the white and black horse, the lion, swan, cross keys, ship, etc. they became favorite resorts for citizens of their respective neighborhoods, who wished at times to escape from the drudge and ennui of their rural homes and gaze upon the world as represented by the dashing stages and long lines of conestoga wagons. here neighbor met neighbor--it was the little sphere in which they all moved, lived and had their being. they sipped their whisky toddies together, which were dispensed at the rate of three cents a single glass, or for a finer quality, five for a spanish quarter, with the landlord in, was asked; smoked cigars that were retailed four for a cent--discussed their home affairs, including politics, religion and other questions of the day, and came just as near settling them, as the present generation of men, that are filling their places, required large supplies and made convenient home markets for the sale of butter, eggs, and whatever else the farmers had to dispose of." in our history of the cumberland road the difference between a wagonhouse and a tavern was emphasized. mr. witmer gives an incident on the lancaster turnpike which presents vividly the social position of these two houses of entertainment: "it was considered a lasting disgrace for one of the stage taverns to entertain a wagoner and it was sure to lose the patronage of the better class of travel, should this become known. the following instance will show how carefully the line was drawn. in the writer's native village, about ten miles east of this city [lancaster], when the traffic was unusually heavy and all the wagon taverns were full, a wagoner applied to the proprietor of the stage hotel for shelter and refreshment, and after a great deal of consideration on his part and persuasion on the part of the wagoner he consented, provided the guest would take his departure early in the morning, before there was any likelihood of any aristocratic arrivals, or the time for the stage to arrive at this point. as soon as he had taken his departure the hostlers and stable boys were put to work to clean up every vestige of straw or litter in front of the hotel that would be an indication of having entertained a wagoner over night!" the later history of the turnpike has been sketched by mr. moore as follows: "the turnpike company had enjoyed an uninterrupted era of prosperity for more than twenty-five years. during this time the dividends paid had been liberal--sometimes, it is said, exceeding fifteen per cent of the capital invested. but at the end of that time the parasite that destroys was gradually being developed. another, and altogether new system of transportation had been invented--a railroad--and which had already achieved partial success in some places in europe. it was about the year that this new method of transportation began to claim the serious attention of the progressive business men throughout the state. the feeling that some better system than the one in use must be found was fed and intensified by the fact that new york state was then constructing a canal from albany to the lakes; that when completed it would give the business men of new york city an unbroken water route to the west.... "with the completion of the entire pennsylvania canal system to pittsburg, in , the occupation of the famous old conestoga teams was gone.[ ] the same may also be said of the numerous lines of the stages that daily wended their way over the turnpike. the changes wrought were almost magical. everyone who rode patronized the cars; and the freight was also forwarded by rail. the farmers, however, were not ruined as they had maintained they would be. their horses, as well as drivers, were at once taken into the railway service and employed in drawing cars from one place to another. it was simply a change of vocation, and there still remained a market for grain, hay, straw and other produce of the farm. "the loss sustained by the holders of turnpike stock, however, was immeasurable. in a comparative sense, travel over the turnpike road was suspended. receipts from tolls became very light and the dividends, when paid, were not only quite diminutive, but very far between. "the officers of the pennsylvania railroad company have always been noted for their foresight, as well as shrewdness in protecting the business interests of their organization--and none have given more substantial evidence of these traits than its present chief officer, mr. alexander cassatt. in the year the horse cars had been extended as far west as the centennial buildings and it became apparent in a year or two thereafter that they might be still further extended over the turnpike in the direction of paoli and thus become an annoying competitor for the local travel, which had been carefully nurtured and built up by the efforts of the railroad company. under the leadership of mr. cassatt a company was organized to purchase the road. when all the preliminaries had been arranged a meeting of the subscribers to the purchasing fund was held on the twentieth day of april, . the turnpike was purchased from fifty-second street to paoli, about seventeen miles, for the sum of twenty thousand dollars. in the following june a charter was secured for the 'lancaster avenue improvement company,' and mr. cassatt was chosen president. the horse railroad was thus shut off from a further extension over the old turnpike. the new purchasers rebuilt the entire seventeen miles and there is today probably no better macadam road in the united states, nor one more scrupulously maintained than by 'the lancaster avenue improvement company.' some parts of the turnpike road finally became so much out of repair that the traveling public refused to longer pay the tolls demanded. this was the case on that portion of the road lying between paoli and exton, a distance of some eight and a half miles. it traversed parts of the townships of willistown and east and west whiteland, in chester county and upon notice of abandonment being served in upon the supervisors of these townships, those officials assumed the future care of the road. the turnpike was also abandoned from the borough of coatesville to the lancaster county line, a distance of about eight and one-half miles. this left only that portion of the turnpike lying between exton station and the borough of coatesville, a distance of some ten miles, under control of the old company, and upon which tollgates were maintained. the road was in a wretched repair and many persons driving over it refused to pay when tolls were demanded. the company, however, continued to employ collectors and gather shekels from those who were willing to pay and suffering those to pass who refused. "thus the old company worried along and maintained its organization until , when the 'philadelphia and west chester traction company,' made its appearance. this company thought it saw an opportunity to extend the railroad west over the turnpike at least as far as downingtown, and possibly as far as the borough of coatesville. terms were finally agreed upon with the president of the turnpike company, and all the rights, titles and interests in the road then held by the original turnpike company, and which embraced that portion lying between exton and the borough of coatesville, were transferred to mr. a. m. taylor, as trustee, for ten dollars per share. the original issue was twelve hundred shares. it was estimated that at least two hundred shares would not materialize, being either lost or kept as souvenirs. the length of the road secured was about ten miles. the disposition of the old road may be enumerated as follows: sold to hestonville railroad $ , to lancaster and williamstown turnpike company , to lancaster avenue improvement company , to a. m. taylor, trustee (estimated) , -- ------ total miles sold total purchase money received $ , abandoned paoli to exton - / coatesville to lancaster company line - / ------ total miles abandoned "the distance from coatesville to philadelphia, via whitford, a station on the pennsylvania railroad ten miles east of coatesville, thence to west chester and over the electric road, is somewhat less than by the pennsylvania railroad. immediately after the purchase, mr. taylor announced that it was the intention of his company to extend their road to downingtown, and, possibly, to coatesville. but a charter for a trolley road does not carry with it the right of eminent domain. upon investigation, mr. taylor discovered that the pennsylvania railroad company owned property on both sides of the purchased turnpike, and that without the consent of that organization a trolley road could not be laid over the turnpike. he further discovered that at a point west of downingtown the railroad company, in connection with one of its employees, owned a strip of land extending from the valley hill on the north to the valley hill on the south. the proposed extension of the trolley road, therefore, had to be abandoned. "as the turnpike road could not be used by the new purchasers for the purposes intended, it was a useless and annoying piece of property in their hands. a petition has already [ ] been filed in the court of quarter sessions of chester county looking toward having the road condemned. judge hemphill has appointed jurors to view the said turnpike road and fix the damages that may be due the present owners. whatever damages may finally be agreed upon the county of chester must pay, and the supervisors of the different townships through which the road passes will thereafter assume its care. this will probably be the last official act in which the title of the old organization will participate. 'men may come and men may go,' and changes be made both in ownership and purposes of use, but whatever the future may have in store for this grand old public highway, the basic principle will always be: 'the old philadelphia and lancaster turnpike;' and as such forever remain a lasting monument to the courageous, progressive, and patriotic men whose capital entered into and made its construction possible." the principal rivals of the macadamized roads were the plank roads. the first plank road in america was built at toronto, canada, in - , during sir francis bond head's governorship. it was an experiment and one darcy boulton is said to have been the originator of the plan.[ *] in this method of road-building was introduced into the united states, syracuse, new york, possessing the first plank road this side the canadian border. in fifteen years there were two thousand one hundred and six miles of these roads in new york state alone, and the system had spread widely through the more prosperous and energetic states. usually these roads were single-track, the track being built on the left hand side of the roadway; the latter became known as the "turn-out." the planks, measuring eight inches by three, were laid on stringers, these, in turn, resting on a more or less elaborately made bed. the average cost of plank roads in new york was a trifle less than two thousand dollars per mile. it will be remembered that the cumberland road cost on the average over ten thousand dollars per mile in maryland and pennsylvania, and three thousand four hundred dollars per mile west of the ohio river. its estimated cost per mile, without bridging, was six thousand dollars. it was natural, therefore, that plank roads should become popular--for the country was still a "wooden country," as the pioneers said. it was argued that the cost was "infinitely less--that it [plank road] is easier for the horse to draw upon--and that such a road costs less for repairs and is more durable than a macadam road.... on the salina and central road, a few weeks back, for a wager, a team [two horses] brought in, without any extraordinary strain, six tons of iron from brewerton, a distance of twelve miles, to syracuse [new york].... indeed, the farmer does not seem to make any calculations of the weight taken. he loads his wagon as best he can, and the only care is not to exceed the quantity which it will carry; whether the team can draw the load, is not a consideration...." such arguments prevailed in the day when timber was considered almost a nuisance, and plank roads spread far and wide. few who were acquainted with primitive conditions have left us anything vivid in the way of descriptions of roads and road-making. "the pioneers of our state," wrote calvin fletcher, in an exceedingly interesting paper read before the indiana centennial association, july , , "found indian trails, which, with widening, proved easy lines of travel. many of these afterward became fixtures through use, improvement, and legislation.... next to the hearty handshake and ready lift at the handspike, where neighbors swapped work at log-rollings, was the greeting when, at fixed periods, all able-bodied men met to open up or work upon the roads. my child-feet pattered along many of the well-constructed thoroughfares of today when they were only indistinct tracings--long lines of deadened trees, deep-worn horse paths, and serpentine tracks of wabbling wagon wheels. the ever-recurring road-working days and their cheerful observance, with time's work in rotting and fire's work in removing dead tree and stump, at last let in long lines of sunshine to dry up the mud, to burn up the miasma, and to bless the wayfarer to other parts, as well as to disclose what these pioneer road-makers had done for themselves by opening up fields in the forests.... to perfect easily and naturally these industries requires three generations. the forests must be felled, logs rolled and burned, families reared, and in most cases the land to be paid for. when this is accomplished a faithful picture would reveal not only the changes that had been wrought, but a host of prematurely broken down men and women, besides an undue proportion resting peacefully in country graveyards. a second generation straightens out the fields at odd corners, pulls the stumps, drains the wet spots, and casting aside the sickle of their father, swings the cradle over broader fields; and even trenches upon the plans of the third generation by pushing the claim of the reaper, the mower and the thresher.... the labor of the three generations in road-making i class as follows: to the first generation belonged locating the roads and the clearing the timber from them. the wet places would become miry and were repaired by the use of logs.... the roots and stumps caused many holes, called chuck holes, which were repaired by using brush and dirt--with the uniform result that at each end of the corduroy or brush repairs, a new mud or chuck hole would be formed in time; and thus until timber and brush became exhausted did the pioneer pave the way for the public and himself to market, to court, and to elections. the second generation discovered a value in the inexhaustible beds of gravel in the rivers and creeks, as well as beneath the soil. roadbeds were thrown up, and the side ditches thus formed contributed to sound wheeling. legislation tempted capital to invest and tollgates sprang up until the third generation removed them and assumed the burden of large expenditures from public funds for public benefit. "and thus have passed away the nightmare of the farmer, the traveller, the mover and the mail-carrier--a nightmare that prevailed nine months of the year.... an experience of a trip from indianapolis to chicago in march, , by mail stage is pertinent. it took the first twenty-four hours to reach kirklin, in boone county; the next twenty-four to logansport, the next thirty-six to reach south bend. a rest then of twenty-four hours on account of high water ahead; then thirty-six hours to chicago--five days of hard travel in mud or on corduroy, or sand.... in the summer passenger coaches went through, but when wet weather came the mud wagon was used to carry passengers and mail, and when the mud became too deep the mail was piled into crates, canvas-covered, and hauled through. this was done also on the national [cumberland], the madison, the cincinnati, the lafayette and the bloomington roads." the _corvée_, or required work on the roads of france, has been given as one of the minor causes of the social unrest which reached its climax in the french revolution. american peasants had no such hardship according to an anonymous rhymester: oh, our life was tough and tearful, and its toil was often fearful, and often we grew faint beneath the load. but there came a glad vacation and a sweet alleviation, when we used to work our tax out on the road. when we used to work our tax out, then we felt the joys of leisure, and we felt no more the prick of labor's goad; then we shared the golden treasure of sweet rest in fullest measure, when we used to work our tax out on the road. the macadam and plank roads saw the indian trail at its widest and best. the railway has had a tendency to undo even such advances over pioneer roads as came in the heyday of macadam and plank roads. we have been going backward since rather than forward. the writer has had long acquaintance with what was, in , the first turnpike in ohio--the warren and ashtabula road; it was probably a far better route in than in . by worrying the horse you can not make more than four miles an hour over many parts of it. one ought to go into training preparatory to a carriage drive over either the cumberland or the pennsylvania road across the alleghenies. as the trail was widened it grew better, but once at its maximum width it was eclipsed as an avenue by the railway and, exceptions aside, has since deteriorated. every foot added in width, however, has contained a lesson in american history; every road, as we have said, indicates a need; and the wider the road, it may be added, the greater the need. an expanding nation, in a moment's time, burst westward through these narrow trails, and left them standing as open roadways. few material objects today suggest to our eyes this marvelous movement. these old routes with their many winding tracks, the ponderous bridges and sagging mile-posts,[ ] are relics of those momentous days. chapter ii a pilgrim on the pennsylvania road the following chapter is from francis baily's volume, _a journal of a tour in unsettled parts of north america_. it is an account of a journey in from philadelphia to pittsburg over the pennsylvania road treated of in volume v of this series. francis baily was an english scientist of very great reputation. it is to be doubted whether there is another account of a journey as far west as mr. baily's record takes us (cincinnati, ohio) written at so early a date by an equally famous foreign scholar and scientist. the route pursued was the old state road begun in running through pennsylvania from chambersburg, bedford, and greensburg to pittsburg. mr. baily's itinerary is by ancient taverns, most of which have passed from recollection. from pittsburg he went with a company of pioneers down the ohio river to their new settlement near cincinnati. in his experiences with these friends he gives us a vivid picture of pioneer travel north of the ohio river. "there being no turnpikes in america, the roads are, of course, very bad in winter, though excellent in summer. i waited at baltimore near a week before i could proceed on my journey, the roads being rendered impassable. there is, at present, but one turnpike-road on the continent, which is between lancaster and philadelphia,[ ] a distance of sixty-six miles, and is a masterpiece of its kind; it is paved with stone the whole way, and overlaid with gravel, so that it is never obstructed during the most severe season. this practice is going to be adopted in other parts of that public-spirited state [pennsylvania], though none of the other states have yet come into the measure. "from baltimore to philadelphia are ninety-eight miles; between which places there is no want of conveyance, as there are three or four stages run daily. in one of these i placed myself on the morning of _march rd, _. a description of them perhaps would be amusing. the body of the carriage is closed in, about breast high; from the sides of which are raised six or eight small perpendicular posts, which support a covering--so that it is in fact a kind of open coach. from the top are suspended leather curtains, which may be either drawn up in fine weather, or let down in rainy or cold weather; and which button at the bottom. the inside is fitted up with four seats, placed one before the other; so that the whole of the passengers face the horses; each seat will contain three passengers; and the driver sits on the foremost, under the same cover with the rest of the company. the whole is suspended on springs; and the way to get into it is _in front_, as if you were getting into a covered cart. this mode of travelling, and which is the only one used in america, is very pleasant as you enjoy the country much more agreeably than when imprisoned in a close coach, inhaling and exhaling the same air a thousand times over, like a cow chewing the cud; but then it is not quite so desirable in disagreeable weather.[ ] "we had not proceeded far on our journey before we began to encounter some of those inconveniences to which every person who travels in this country _in winter time_ is exposed. the roads, which in general were very bad, would in some places be impassable, so that we were obliged to get out and walk a considerable distance, and sometimes to 'put our shoulders to the wheel;' and this in the most unpleasant weather, as well as in the midst of mire and dirt. however, we did manage to get twelve miles to breakfast; and after that, to a little place called bush, about thirteen miles farther, to dinner; and about nine o'clock at night we came to _havre de grace_, about twelve miles further, to supper; having walked nearly half the way up to our ancles in mud, in a most inclement season. havre de grace is a pretty little place, most delightfully situated on the banks of the susquehannah river, which at this place is about a quarter of a mile broad; it is about a couple of miles above the mouth of the river, where it empties into the chesapeak bay; a fine view of which you have from the town. an excellent tavern is kept here by mr. barney ... and which is frequented by parties in the shooting season, for the sake of the wild fowl with which the susquehannah so plentifully abounds; the canvass-back, a most delicious bird, frequents this river.... next morning we got ferried across the river, and, breakfasting at the tavern on the other side, proceeded on our journey, encountering the same difficulties we had done the preceding day. about three miles from barney's is a little place, called principio, situated in a highly romantic country, where there is a large foundry for cannon and works for boring them, situated in a valley surrounded by a heap of rocks; the wheels of the works are turned by a stream of water running over some of these precipices. about three miles from this is another delightful place, called charleston; i mean with respect to its _situation_; as to the town itself, it does not seem to improve at all, at which i very much wonder, as it is most advantageously situated at the head of the chesapeak, of which and the country adjoining it commands a full and most charming view. we got about nine miles farther, to a town called elkton, to dinner. this place has nothing in it to attract the attention of travellers. i shall therefore pass it by, to inform you that we intended getting to newport, about eighteen miles, to sleep. it was four o'clock before we started; and we had not proceeded far on these miserable roads, ere night overtook us; and, as the fates would have it, our unlucky coachman drove us into a miry bog; and, in spite of all our endeavours, we could not get the coach out again; we were therefore obliged to _leave it there, with the whole of the baggage, all night_; and were driven to the necessity of seeking our way in the dark to the nearest house, which was about a mile and a half off; there, getting ourselves cleaned and a good supper, we went to bed. next morning we found everything just as we left it; and, getting another coach, we proceeded on our journey, and, dining at chester, got to philadelphia about nine o'clock in the evening, completely tired of our ride, having been three days and three nights on the road. "i would not have been thus particular, but i wished to give you a specimen of the american mode of travelling, though you will understand that these difficulties are to be met with only at that season of the year when the frost breaks up, and the roads get sadly out of order; for in summer time nothing can be more agreeable, expeditious, and pleasant. the fare from baltimore to philadelphia is dollars, or s., and the customary charges on the road are / dollar for breakfast, dollar for dinner, wine not included, / dollar for supper, and / dollar for beds. these are their general prices, and they charge the same whatever they provide for you. by this, you will observe that travelling in these settled parts of the country is about as expensive as in england. "the country between baltimore and philadelphia is of a _clayey_ nature, mixed with a kind of gravel; yet still, in the hands of a skilful farmer, capable of yielding good produce. the land on each side of the road, and back into the country, was pretty well cultivated, and (though winter) bore marks of industry and economy. hedges are not frequent; but instead of them they place split logs angular-wise on each other, making what they call a "worm fence," and which is raised about five feet high. this looks very slovenly, and, together with the stumps of trees remaining in all the new-cleared plantations, is a great _desight_ to the scenery of the country.... from newark to new york is about nine miles, and the greatest part of the road is over a large swamp, which lies between and on each side of the pasaik and hackinsac rivers. over this swamp they have made a causeway, which trembles the whole way as you go over it,[ ] and shows how far the genius and industry of man will triumph over natural impediments. "to new york, which is ninety-six miles from philadelphia, we were a day and a half in coming. the roads were not so bad as when we came from baltimore. our fare was dollars, and the charges on the road the same as between baltimore and philadelphia:--viz., / dollar breakfast, dollar dinner, / dollar supper, and / dollar lodging.... the inhabitants of new york are very fond of music, dancing, and plays; an attainment to excellence in the former has been considerably promoted by the frequent musical societies and concerts which are held in the city, many of the inhabitants being very good performers. as to dancing, there are two assembly-rooms in the city, which are pretty well frequented during the winter season; private balls are likewise not uncommon. they have two theatres, one of which is lately erected, and is capable of containing a great number of persons; there is an excellent company of comedians, who perform here in the winter. but the amusement of which they seem most passionately fond is that of sleighing, which is riding on the snow in what _you_ call _a sledge_, drawn by two horses. it is astonishing to see how anxiously persons of all ages and both sexes look out for a good fall of snow, that they may enjoy their favourite amusement; and when the happy time comes, to see how eager they are to engage every sleigh that is to be hired. parties of twenty or thirty will sometimes go out of town in these vehicles towards evening, about six or eight miles, when, having sent for a fiddler, and danced till they are tired, they will return home again by moonlight, or, perhaps more often, by _day_ light. whilst the snow is on the ground no other carriages are made use of, either for pleasure or service. the productions of the earth are brought to market in sleighs; merchandise is draughted about in sleighs; coaches are laid by, and the ladies and gentlemen mount the _silent_ car, and nothing is heard in the streets but the tinkling[ ] of bells.... i set off on the _ st_ of _september, _, to make a tour of the western country,--that land of paradise, according to the flattering accounts given by imlay and others. wishing to go to the new city of washington, _we_[ ] took our route through philadelphia and baltimore, which i have already described. i shall not trouble you with any further remarks, excepting that as the season was just the reverse of what it was when i passed through this country last, it presented quite a different appearance from what i described to you in my former letters. besides, there was none of that inconvenience from bad roads, so terrible to a traveller in the winter. on the contrary, we went on with a rapidity and safety equal to any mode of travelling in england. "from baltimore to the new city of washington is forty-five miles, where we arrived on the _ th_ of _october_ following. the road is well furnished with taverns, which in general are good, at least as good as can be expected in this part of the world. close to washington is a handsome town called georgetown; in fact, it will form part of the new city; for, being so near the site intended for it, and being laid out nearly on the same plan, its streets will be only a prolongation of the streets laid out for the city of washington: so it will in course of time lose its name of georgetown, and adopt the general one of washington. much in the same manner the small places formerly separated from the metropolis of england have lost their name, and fallen under the general denomination of london. "georgetown is situated on a hill close to the river potomak; it presents a beautiful view from the surrounding country, of which also it commands a fine prospect. it is a seaport town, and some of their vessels are employed in the london trade. there are stages run daily between this place and baltimore, for which you pay four dollars. there are also stages to and from alexandria, a handsome and flourishing town situated on the potomak, lower down the stream, and about eight miles off; for which you pay a fare of three quarters of a dollar. we put up at the federal arms whilst we were there. it is a good inn, but their charges are most extravagantly high.... at about half-past one, _october th_, we started on our journey over the allegany mountains to pittsburgh.[ ] about fourteen miles on the road is a pretty little town called montgomery court house;[ ] it contains some good houses, but the streets are narrow. about seven miles further is a little settlement, formed a few years back by captain lingham, called middlebrook. captain lingham has a house on the road, near a mill, which he has erected; and here (following the example of many of his brother officers) he has retired from the toils and bustle of war, to spend his days in the enjoyments of a country life. we arrived here about six o'clock; the sun was just setting, yet there was time to go another stage; but, as we got into a part of the country where _taverns_[ ] were not very frequent, we proposed stopping here this night. accordingly, putting our horses up at a little tavern, (which, together with four or five more houses, composed the whole of the settlement,) we had a comfortable supper and went to bed. about half-past six the next morning we started from this place, and stopped, about seven miles on the road, at an old woman's of the name of roberts.[ ] this old woman (whose house, i believe, was the only one we saw on the road) acts at times in the capacity of a tavern-keeper: that is, a person travelling that way, and straitened for provisions, would most probably find something there for himself and his horse. the old lady was but just up when we called; her house had more the appearance of a hut than the habitation of an hostess, and when we entered there was scarcely room to turn round. we were loath to stop here; but there not being any other house near, we were obliged to do it, both for the sake of ourselves and our horses. we soon made her acquainted with our wants, and she, gathering together a few sticks, (for her fire was not yet lighted,) and getting a little meal and some water, mixed us up some cakes, which were soon dressed at the fire, and then all sitting down at the table, and having mixed some tea in a little pot, we enjoyed a very comfortable breakfast. the poor old woman, who was a widow, seemed to live in a deal of distress: the whole of her living was acquired by furnishing accommodation to travellers. when we were sitting over the fire, and partaking of our meal-cakes with this old woman, it brought to mind the story of elijah and the widow, (i kings, chap, xvii.,) particularly where she answers him with, 'as the lord thy god liveth, i have not a cake, but one handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, i am gathering two sticks, that i may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.' the appositeness of our situations rendered this passage very striking, and made me look upon my hostess in a more favourable point of view than when i first saw her. i gave her something to render her situation more comfortable and happy. "leaving this lonely habitation, we continued on our journey, and crossing the sinecocy [monocacy?] river, about eleven miles on the road, we reached fredericktown, about four miles farther, at twelve o'clock. this is a large flourishing place, contains a number of good houses, and is a place of great trade, owing to its being the thoroughfare to the western country of pennsylvania and the ohio. there is a large manufactory of rifle-guns carried on here; but so great is the demand for them, that we could not meet with one in the whole place: they sell in general from to dollars each, according to their style of being mounted. the tavern where we stopped was kept by mrs. kemble: it is a tolerably good house. after dinner we left this place, and after going about three or four miles, we arrived at the foot of the appalachian mountains. and here let me stop a little to make a few observations on the face of the country we have just passed over. from georgetown to this place, it almost wholly consists of a sandy, gravelly soil, with difficulty repaying the husbandman for the trouble of tilling it. the face of the country is very uneven, being a constant succession of hill and dale. little towns or villages are scattered over the country at the distance of seven or eight miles, which communicate with each other by roads which are almost inaccessible during the winter and spring months. our charges on this part of the road were half a dollar each for breakfast and dinner and supper, without any distinction of fare. if our table were spread with all the profusion of american luxury, such as ham, cold beef, fried chicken, &c. &c., (which are not uncommon for breakfast in this part of the world), or whether we sat down to a dish of tea and hoe-cake, our charge was all the same. the accommodations we met with on the road were pretty well, considering the short time this country has been settled, and the character and disposition of its inhabitants, which are not those of the most polished nations, but a character and disposition arising from a consciousness of independence, accompanied by a spirit and manner highly characteristic of this consciousness. it is not education alone that forms this character of the americans: it stands upon a firmer basis than this. the means of subsistence being so easy in the country, and their dependence on each other consequently so trifling, that spirit of servility to those above them so prevalent in european manners, is wholly unknown to them; and they pass their lives without any regard to the smiles or the frowns of men in power. "nearly the whole of the way from georgetown to fredericktown we preserved a distant view of the allegany mountains, at whose feet we were now arrived. they presented to us one general bluff appearance, extending as far as our eye could see from the north-east to the south-west. our approach to them was in a line perpendicular to that of their extension, so that they seemed to bid defiance to our progress. the _allegany mountains_ is a name given to a range of several ridges of mountains stretching from vermont to carolina, of which one ridge alone is properly called the allegany mountain. these ridges are nearly miles in width; and the middle one, or the allegany, forms the backbone of the rest. the ridge which first presented itself to our view, is called in howell's map the south mountain. the road (which here began to be very rocky and stony) is carried over the least elevated part of the mountain, and from its summit we beheld that beautiful limestone valley so recommended by brissot. on our descent from this mountain, we entered on one of the finest tracts of land in all america. the celebrated valley, which lies between this and the next ridge of mountains, extends from the susquehanna on the north to winchester on the south, is richly watered by several navigable streams, and is capable of producing every article which is raised in the neighbouring countries in the greatest abundance. it is inhabited chiefly by germans and dutch, who are an industrious race of men and excellent farmers. their exertions have made this valley (bounded on each side by barren and inhospitable mountains) assume the appearance of a highly cultivated country, abounding in all the conveniences and some of the luxuries of life. besides a general appearance of comfortable farms scattered over the face of the country, it can boast of several large and populous towns, which keep up a connexion with the cities on the atlantic, and supply the interior of this mountainous country with the produce of distant nations. it was dark before we descended from this mountain; but we had not proceeded far in the valley when we came to a little place called boone's-town, where we were glad to rest ourselves and horses after the fatigues of so rough a road. boone's-town is eight miles from fredericktown: it has not been settled above three or four years. we met with a very good tavern and excellent accommodations. "from boone's-town, the next morning (_sunday, october th, _) we passed through funk's-town, which is another new-settled place; and immediately on leaving this, hagar's-town presented itself to our view, about two miles off: here we arrived to breakfast. hagar's-town[ ] is a large flourishing place, and contains some good houses. the streets are narrow, and, agreeably to a barbarous custom which they have in laying out new towns in america, the court-house is built in the _middle_ of the principal street, which is a great obstruction to the passage, as well as being of an uncouth appearance. this place is situated on a fine plain, and, like frederick's-town, is a place of great trade, and also a manufactory for rifle-guns, of which we bought two at twenty dollars each. here is a paper published weekly; and assemblies are held here during the winter. there is also a great deal of horse-racing in the neighbourhood at stated seasons. we put up at the indian queen, kept by ragan: it is a good house and much frequented. "from hagar's-town we proceeded on to greencastle, which is a poor little place, but lately settled, and consisting of a few log-houses built along the road. we stopped at one of these houses, which they called the tavern, kept by one lawrence; it was a poor miserable place. we were obliged to unsaddle our horses, put them into the stable, and feed them ourselves; and then, having got something to eat and refreshed ourselves, we got out of this place as soon as we could. greencastle is eleven miles from hagar's-town; and we had to go eleven miles farther that evening to mr. lindsay's, whom we had engaged at baltimore to carry some goods to pittsburgh in his waggons. his house lay at some distance from the road we were going, so that we struck across the woods to approach it; and, after having missed our way once or twice, we struck on a road which took us down to his house. here we were hospitably entertained for two days by mr. lindsay and his father-in-law, mr. andrews, who have a very excellent farm, and live very comfortably in the truly american style. the place at which he resides is called the _falling springs_; for what reason they are called _falling_ springs i cannot conceive; they _rise_ from under an old tree, and the stream does not proceed three hundred yards before it turns a cyder-mill; and a little farther on turns a grist-mill. these mills belong to mr. andrews, as also does a large quantity of the land around; for in this country _all_ the farmers are landholders; mr. and mrs. andrews are irish; and they and their family are all settled in the neighbourhood. their children are all brought up in industry, and have their time fully employed in performing the different necessary duties of the house and farm. nevertheless, they appear to live very happy and comfortable. "_tuesday, october th, ._--about eleven o'clock this morning we set off from mr. andrews's, in company with a party of several of the neighbouring farmers who were going to chambersburgh to vote at an election. chambersburgh is about three miles from mr. andrews's, and is a large and flourishing place, not inferior to frederick's-town or hagar's-town; being, like them, on the high road to the western country, it enjoys all the advantages which arise from such a continual body of people as are perpetually emigrating thither. i have seen ten and twenty waggons at a time in one of these towns, on their way to pittsburgh and other parts of the ohio, from thence to descend down that river to kentucky. these waggons are loaded with the clothes and necessaries of a number of poor emigrants, who follow on foot with their wives and families, who are sometimes indulged with a ride when they are tired, or in bad weather. in this manner they will travel and take up their abode in the woods on the side of the road, like the gypsies in our country, taking their provisions with them, which they dress on the road's side, as occasion requires. "about thirteen miles from chambersburgh, which we left in the afternoon, is a place called the _mill_,[ ] which is kept by some dutchmen. we understood it was a tavern, but were disappointed; however, as it was now dark, and no tavern on the road for some distance, we were under the necessity of begging a lodging here, which was granted us at last with the greatest reluctance. here we had rather an unfavourable specimen of dutch manners. we were _kindly_ directed to take our horses to the stables, and take care of them ourselves, which we accordingly did; and, returning to the house, i was witness to a kind of meal i had never before experienced. first of all, some sour milk was warmed up and placed on the table. this at any other time would probably have made us sick; but having fasted nearly the whole day, and seeing no appearance of anything else likely to succeed it, we devoured it very soon; particularly as the whole family (of which there were seven or eight) partook of it likewise; all of us sitting round _one_ large bowl, and dipping our spoons in one after another. when this was finished a dish of stewed pork was served up, accompanied with some hot pickled cabbage, called in this part of the country "warm slaw." this was devoured in the same hoggish manner, every one trying to help himself first, and two or three eating off the same plate, and all in the midst of filth and dirt. after this was removed a large bowl of cold milk and bread was put on the table, which we partook of in the same manner as the first dish, and in the same disorder. the spoons were immediately taken out of the greasy pork dish, and (having been just cleaned by passing through the _mouth_) were put into the milk; and that, with all the _sang froid_ necessarily attending such habitual nastiness. our _table_, which was none of the cleanest (for as to _cloth_, they had none in the house), was placed in the middle of the room, which appeared to me to be the receptacle of all the filth and rubbish in the house; and a fine large fire, which blazed at one end, served us instead of a candle. "wishing to go to bed as soon as possible (though, by the by, we did not expect that our accommodations would be any of the most agreeable), we requested to be shown to our room, when, lo! we were ushered up a ladder, into a dirty place, where a little hole in the wall served for a window, and where there were four or five beds as dirty as need be. these beds did not consist (as most beds do) of blankets, sheets, &c., but were truly in the dutch style, being literally nothing more than one feather bed placed on another, between which we were to creep and lie down. the man, after showing us this our place of destination, took the candle away, and left us to get in how we could, which we found some difficulty in doing at first; however, after having accomplished it, we slept very soundly till morning, when we found we had passed the night amongst the whole family, men, women, and children, who had occupied the other beds, and who had come up after we had been asleep. we got up early in the morning from this inhospitable and filthy place, and, saddling our horses, pursued our journey. [illustration: widow mcmurran's tavern, scrub ridge, pennsylvania road] "_october th, ._--at ten o'clock we arrived at mcconnell's-town, in cove valley (thirteen miles), having first passed over a high ridge called, in howell's map, the north mountain; and here we left that beautiful valley, which is enriched by so many streams, and abounds with such a profusion of the conveniences of life; a country than which, if we except kentucky, is not to be found a more fertile one in the whole of the united states. "on our descent from the north mountain we caught, through every opening of the woods, the distant view of mcconnell's, whose white houses, contrasted with the _sea_ of woods by which it was surrounded, appeared like an island in the ocean. our near approach to it, however, rendered it not quite so pleasing an object; for it consisted but of a few log-houses, built after the american manner, without any other ornament than that of being whitened on the _outside_. there was a pretty good tavern kept here by a dutchwoman, where we stopped to breakfast; and, leaving this place, we crossed a hill called scrubheath, at the end of which was whyle's tavern (ten miles): we did not stop, but went to the top of sideling hill (two miles), where there is a tavern kept by skinner, where we dined. sideling hill is so called from the road being carried over this ridge, _on the side of the hill_, the whole way; it is very steep in ascent, and towards the top appears very tremendous on looking down. "from this tavern to the junietta, a branch of the susquehannah river, is eight miles. the hill terminates at the river, and the road down to it is a narrow winding path, apparently cleft out of the mountain. it so happened that when we came to this defile, a travelling man with a number of packhorses had just entered it before us; and as it was impossible for us to pass them, we were obliged to follow them down this long winding passage to the river, at their own pace, which, poor animals, was none of the speediest. the sun, though not set, had been long hid from us by the neighbouring mountains, and would not lend us one ray to light us on our melancholy path. we fell into conversation with our fellow-traveller, and found that he had been to philadelphia, where he had purchased a number of articles necessary to those who live in this part of the country, and which he was going to dispose of in the best manner possible. the gloominess of our path, and the temper of mind i happened to be then in, threw me into reflections on a comparison of this man's state with my own. at length a distant light broke me from my reverie, and indicated to us a near prospect of our enlargement from this obscure path; and the first thing that presented itself to our view was the junietta river, which, flowing with a gentle stream between two very steep hills, covered with trees to the very top, the sun just shining, and enlightening the opposite side, though hid to us, presented one of the most enchanting and romantic scenes i ever experienced. from this place to hartley's tavern is eight miles, and this we had to go before night. it was sunset before we had reached the summit of the opposite hill of the river. from this hill we beheld ourselves in the midst of a mountainous and woody country; the junietta winding and flowing on each side of us at the foot of the hill; the distant mountains appearing in all the _wildness of majesty_, and extending below the horizon. the moon had just begun to spread her silver light; and by her assistance we were enabled to reach our destined _port_. the road, which was carried along the side of a tremendously high hill, seemed to threaten us with instant death, if our horses should make a false step. embosomed in woods, on a lonely path, we travelled by the kind light of the moon till near eight o'clock, when we reached our place of destination. it was a very comfortable house, kept by one hartley, an englishman, and situated in a gap of the mountains, called in this part of the country warrior's gap, and which affords an outlet or passage for the junietta river, which here is a fine gentle stream. the country just about here was very mountainous; yet our landlord had got a very pleasant spot cleared and cultivated, and which furnished him with the principal necessaries of life. finding this an agreeable place, we stopped here three days, and went up into the mountains to shoot; but, being very young hands at this diversion, we were always unsuccessful. "on _saturday, october th_, we set off from hartley's about eleven o'clock, and proceeded to redford (six miles), which is a pleasant place, and agreeably situated, and contains a great many houses. the town is supplied with water from the neighbouring hills; conveyed in pipes to each house, and to a public place in the middle of the town. we left this place about half-past twelve, and proceeded to ryan's tavern, at the foot of the allegany mountain (eleven miles). here we dined; and after dinner, we proceeded up the mountain, the top of which we reached about five o'clock; and here i was surprised to find a number of little streams of water flowing through some as fine land as is to be met with in the united states, and abounding with fish. this appearance upon the top of so high a mountain is not a little remarkable; but i have since found it to be the case in other ridges of mountains which i have passed over. we intended to have gone on to webster's this evening, but the weather proving so bad, we called at a little house on the road, in order to stop during the night. but we were informed that they could not accommodate us; however, they directed us to a person about a mile off, where they thought we could get accommodated; accordingly, striking across the woods, we proceeded to this house, and, after some little trouble, and in a very tempestuous night, we found it out, and here took up our abode for the night. our landlord's name was statler, and his residence is about eight miles from ryan's. here we found a very comfortable habitation, and very good accommodation; and though situated at the top of the highest ridge of mountains, we experienced not only the comforts, but also some of the luxuries of life. from the stone which forms the base of this mountain they make mill-stones, which are sent to all parts of the country, and sell from fifteen to twenty and thirty dollars a pair. land sells on these mountains for two dollars an acre. we found this so comfortable a place, that we stopped here to breakfast the next morning (_october th_), and then we proceeded to webster's, at a place called stoystown (nine miles), where there is a good tavern, and where we stopped to bait our horses. about a mile before we came to webster's we passed over stoney creek, which has a great many different branches, and rather large, but most of them were dry, owing partly to the season, and partly to their lying so very high. about nine miles further we stopped at murphy's, where we baited our horses; but the habitation was so uncomfortable, and their accommodations so miserable, that we could get nothing for ourselves; we were therefore obliged to defer till the evening taking any refreshment. on leaving this place we crossed laurel hill, which is near nine miles long, and which is the highest ridge of the apalachian mountains: it is rather a ridge upon a ridge, than a mountain by itself, as it rises upon the allegany ridge. the perpendicular height of this ridge is , feet; and in crossing it we were not a little incommoded by the cold winds and rain which generally infest the summit. this, together with the badness of the roads (being nothing but large loose stones), made it one of the most unpleasant rides i ever experienced. it was near dark before we descended this mountain; and we had then to go three miles to a poor miserable hut, where we were obliged to spend the night amidst the whole family and some other travellers, all scattered about in the same room. "about half-past six the next morning (_october th, _) we set out from king's, and crossing chestnut ridge, we arrived at letty bean's to breakfast (seven and a half miles). after crossing chestnut ridge we took our leave of the apalachian mountains, having passed miles over them, from the blue ridge to chestnut ridge. these mountains are for the most part very stony and rocky, yet have a great quantity of fine land on them, even on their very summits. the roads which are carried over them are much better than i expected; and if from the tops of them you can (through an opening of the trees) gain a view of the surrounding country, it appears like a sea of woods; and all those hills which appeared very high in our passing over them, are lost in one wide plane, extending as far as the eye can reach, at least fifty or sixty miles, presenting a view not only novel, but also highly majestic. at other times, when you get between the declivities of the mountains, they appear in all the wildness of nature, forming the most romantic scenery the imagination can picture. it is not to be supposed, that immediately on leaving the apalachian mountains the country subsides into a smooth level; on the contrary, for several miles, both on the eastern and western side, the country is very hilly, not to say sometimes mountainous; and it is said that the western side of the mountains is feet above the level of the eastern side. "from the foot of the mountains to pittsburgh is about forty miles, and here we arrived to dinner on the _ th october_, having gone, during our route, about miles from philadelphia. the accommodations we met with were, upon the whole, tolerably good; at least, such as a person (considering the country he was travelling in) might bear with: charges rather high. it cost us, together with our horses, two dollars a day each. the common charges on the eastern side of the mountains were:--for breakfast, dinner, and supper, / dollar each; oats, cents. per gallon. on the western side, dinner and supper were charged sometimes s., sometimes s. d., and breakfasts, d., (pennsylvania currency). for breakfast we generally used to have coffee, and buck-wheat cakes, and some fried venison or broiled chicken, meat being inseparable from an american breakfast; and whatever travellers happened to stop at the same place, sat down at the same table, and partook of the same dishes, whether they were poor, or whether they were rich; no distinction of persons being made in this part of the country.... "the waggons which come over the allegany mountains from the atlantic states, (bringing dry goods and foreign manufactures for the use of the back-country men,) return from this place generally empty; though sometimes they are laden with deer and bear skins and beaver furs, which are brought in by the hunters, and sometimes by the indians, and exchanged at the stores for such articles as they may stand in need of." passing down the ohio river mr. baily proceeded with a pioneer party the leader of which, mr. heighway, was about to found a town on the banks of the little miami river in ohio. leaving the river at the newly located village of columbia, ohio, the party pushed on northward. mr. baily accompanied them out of curiosity, and his record is of utmost interest. "_saturday, march th, _,--the two waggons started, accompanied with a guide to conduct them through the wilderness, and three or four pioneers to clear the road of trees where there might be occasion; and on "_monday, march th_,--dr. bean and myself started about noon, accompanied by several others in the neighbourhood; some of whom were tempted by curiosity, and others with a prospect of settling there. we were mounted on horses, and had each a gun; and across our saddles we had slung a large bag, containing some corn for our horses, and provision for ourselves, as also our blankets: the former was necessary, as the grass had not yet made its appearance in the woods. we kept the road as long as we could; and when that would not assist us any farther, we struck out into the woods; and towards sundown found ourselves about twenty miles from columbia. here, having spied a little brook running at the bottom of a hill, we made a halt, and kindling a fire, we fixed up our blankets into the form of a tent, and having fed both ourselves and our horses, we laid ourselves down to rest; one of us, by turns, keeping watch, lest the indians should come and steal our horses. the next morning,-- "_tuesday, march th_,--as soon as it was light, we continued our journey, and towards the middle of the day overtook our friend h.,[ ] almost worn out with fatigue. the ground was so moist and swampy, and he had been obliged to come through such almost impassable ways, that it was with difficulty the horses could proceed; they were almost knocked up; his waggons had been over-turned twice or thrice;--in fact, he related to us such a dismal story of the trials both of patience and of mind which he had undergone, and i verily believe if the distance had been much greater, he would either have sunk under it, or have formed his settlement on the spot. we encouraged him with the prospect of a speedy termination, and the hopes of better ground to pass over; and with this his spirits seemed to be somewhat raised. we all encamped together this night, and made ourselves as happy and as comfortable as possible. my friend h. seemed also to put on the new man; and from this, and from his being naturally of a lively turn, we found that it was a great deal the want of society which had rendered him so desponding, and so out of spirits; for after we had cooked what little refreshment we had brought with us, and finished our repast, he sang us two or three good songs, (which he was capable of doing in a masterly style,) and seemed to take a pleasure in delaying as long as he could that time which we ought to have devoted to rest. as to my own part, i regarded the whole enterprise in a more philosophic point of view; and i may say with the spectator, i considered myself as a silent observer of all that passed before me; and could not but fancy that i saw in this little society before me the counterpart of the primitive ages, when men used to wander about in the woods with all their substance, in the manner that the present race of tartars do at this day. i could not but think that i saw in miniature the peregrinations of abraham, or Ã�neas, &c., &c. "the next morning, _wednesday, march th_, by day-light, our cavalcade was in motion; and some of the party rode on first to discover the spot, for we were travelling without any other guide than what little knowledge of the country the men had acquired by hunting over it. i could not but with pleasure behold with what expedition the pioneers in front cleared the way for the waggon; there were but three or four of them, and they got the road clear as fast as the waggon could proceed. whilst we were continuing on at this rate, we observed at some distance before us, a human being dart into the woods, and endeavour to flee from us. ignorant what this might mean, we delayed the waggons, and some of us went into the woods and tracked the footsteps of a man for some little distance, when suddenly a negro made his appearance from behind some bushes, and hastily inquired whether there were any indians in our party, or whether we had met with any. the hideousness of the man's countenance, (which was painted with large red spots upon a black ground,) and his sudden appearance, startled us at first; but soon guessing his situation, we put him beyond all apprehension, and informed him he was perfectly safe. he then began to inform us that he had been a prisoner among the indians ever since the close of the last american war; and that he had meditated his escape ever since he had been in their hands, but that never, till now, had he been able to accomplish it.... "we could not but look upon the man with an eye of pity and compassion, and after giving him something to pursue his journey with, and desiring him to follow our track to columbia, we separated. at about three or four o'clock the same afternoon, we had the satisfaction of seeing the little miami river. here we halted, (for it was on the banks of this river that the town was laid out,) and we were soon joined by our other companions, who had proceeded on first, and who informed us that they had recognized the spot about half a mile higher up the river. we accordingly went on, and got the goods all out of the waggons that night, so that they might return again as soon as they thought proper. and here we could not but congratulate our friend h. upon his arrival at the seat of his new colony." chapter iii zane's trace and the maysville pike in the study of the ohio river as a highway of immigration and commerce it was emphasized that in earliest pioneer days the ascent of the river was a serious and difficult problem. this was true, indeed, not on the ohio alone, but on almost every river of importance in the united states. of course brawny arms could force a canoe through flood-tides and rapids; but, as a general proposition, the floods of winter, with ice floating fast amid-stream and clinging in ragged blocks and floes along the shore, and the droughts of summer which left, even in the ohio, great bars exposed so far to the light that the river could be forded here and there by children, made even canoe navigation well-nigh impossible. for other craft than light canoes navigation was utterly out of the question in the dry seasons and exceedingly dangerous on the icy winter floods at night--when the shore could not be approached. such conditions as these gave origin to many of our land highways. where pioneer homes were built beside a navigable river it was highly important to have a land thoroughfare leading back to the "old settlements" which could be traversed at all seasons. many of our "river roads" came into existence, not because the valleys offered the easiest courses for land travel, but because pioneer settlements were made on river banks, and, as the rivers were often worthy of the common french name "embarras," land courses were necessary. in the greater rivers this "homeward track," so to speak, frequently abandoned the winding valley and struck straight across the interior on the shortest available route. the founding of kentucky in the lower ohio valley offers a specific instance to illustrate these generalizations, and brings us to the subject of a thoroughfare which was of commanding importance in the old west. we have elsewhere dealt at length with the first settlement of kentucky, making clear the fact that the great road blazed by boone through cumberland gap was the most important route in kentucky's early history. the growth of the importance of the ohio river as a thoroughfare and its final tremendous importance to kentucky and the entire west has also been reviewed. but, despite this importance, the droughts of summer and the ice-torrents of winter made a landward route from kentucky to pennsylvania and the east an absolute necessity. even when the river was navigable, the larger part of the craft which sailed it before were not capable of going up-stream. heavy freight could be "poled" and "cordelled" up in the keel-boat and barge, but for all other return traffic, both freight and passenger, the land routes from kentucky north and east were preferable. for many years the most available messenger and mail route from cincinnati, vincennes, and louisville was over boone's wilderness road through cumberland gap. but, as the eighteenth century neared its close, the large population of western pennsylvania and northwestern virginia made necessary better routes from the upper ohio valley across the alleghenies; in turn, the new conditions demanded a route up the ohio valley from kentucky to pennsylvania. in our survey of indian thoroughfares, a slight path known as the mingo trail is mentioned as leading across eastern ohio from mingo bottom near the present steubenville, on the ohio river, to the neighborhood of zanesville on the muskingum river.[ ] mingo bottom was a well-known indian camping-place; the name is preserved in the railway junction thereabouts, mingo junction. a distinct watershed offers thoroughfare southwesterly across to the muskingum, and on this lay the old trail. the termini of this earliest known route were near two early settlements of whites; mingo bottom lies eight or nine miles north of wheeling, one of the important stations in the days of border warfare. the mingo trail, swinging southward a little, became the route of white hunters and travelers who wished to cross what is now eastern ohio. the muskingum river terminus of the trail was wills town, as far down the muskingum from zanesville as mingo bottom was above wheeling on the ohio. it is altogether probable that a slight trace left the wills town trail and crossed the muskingum at the mouth of licking river--the present site of zanesville. if a trail led thence westwardly toward the famed pickaway plains, it is recorded on none of our maps. we know, therefore, of only the mingo trail, running, let us say loosely, from wheeling, west virginia, to zanesville, ohio, which could have played any part in forming what soon became known as the first post road in all the territory northwest of the river ohio. with the close of the indian war and the signing of the treaty of greenville in , the american possession of the northwest was placed beyond question. a flood of emigrants at once left the eastern states for the central west, and the return traffic, especially in the form of travelers and private mail packets, from kentucky and cincinnati, began at once to assume significant proportions, and congress was compelled to facilitate travel by opening a post route two hundred and twenty-six miles in length from the upper to the lower ohio. accordingly, the following act: "_an act to authorize ebenezer zane[ ] to locate certain lands in the territory of the united states northwest of the river ohio_" was passed by congress and approved may , : "_be it enacted, &c._, that, upon the conditions hereinafter mentioned, there shall be granted to ebenezer zane three tracts of land, not exceeding one mile square each, one on the muskingum river, one on hockhocking river, and one other on the north bank of scioto river, and in such situations as shall best promote the utility of a road to be opened by him on the most eligible route between wheeling and limestone,[ ] to be approved by the president of the united states, or such person as he shall appoint for that purpose; _provided_, such tracts shall not interfere with any existing claim, location, or survey; nor include any salt spring, nor the lands on either side of the river hockhocking at the falls thereof. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that upon the said zane's procuring, at his own expense, the said tracts to be surveyed, in such a way and manner as the president of the united states shall approve, and returning into the treasury of the united states plats thereof, together with warrents granted by the united states for military land bounties, to the amount of the number of acres contained in the said three tracts; and also, producing satisfactory proof, by the first day of january next, that the aforesaid road is opened, and ferries established upon the rivers aforesaid, for the accommodation of travellers, and giving security that such ferries shall be maintained during the pleasure of congress; the president of the united states shall be, and he hereby is, authorized and empowered to issue letters patent, in the name and under the seal of the united states, thereby granting and conveying to the said zane, and his heirs, the said tracts of land located and surveyed as aforesaid; which patents shall be countersigned by the secretary of state, and recorded in his office: _provided always_, that the rates of ferriage, at such ferries, shall, from time to time, be ascertained [inspected] by any two of the judges of the territory northwest of the river ohio, or such other authority as shall be appointed for that purpose. "approved may , ."[ ] zane evidently went at once to work opening the road to kentucky, his brother jonathan, and son-in-law john mcintire, assisting largely in the work. the path was only made fit for horsemen, particularly mail-carriers. it is probable that the task was not more difficult than to cut away small trees on an indian trace. it is sure that for a greater part of the distance from the ohio to the muskingum the mingo trail was followed, passing near the center of belmont, guernsey and muskingum counties. the route to the southwest from that point through perry, fairfield, pickaway, ross, richland, adams, and brown counties may or may not have followed the path of an indian trace. no proof to the contrary being in existence, it is most reasonable to suppose that this, like most other pioneer routes, did follow a more or less plainly outlined indian path. the new road crossed the muskingum at the present site of the town well named zanesville, the hocking at lancaster, the scioto at chillicothe, and the ohio at aberdeen, ohio, opposite the old-time limestone, kentucky. [illustration: bridge on which zane's trace crossed the muskingum river at zanesville, ohio] one george sample was an early traveler on this national road; paying a visit from the east to the ohio country in , he returned homeward by way of zane's trace or the maysville road, as the route was variously known. after purchasing a farm on brush creek, adams county, ohio, and locating a homeless emigrant on it, mr. sample "started back to pennsylvania on horseback" according to his recorded recollections written in ;[ ] "as there was no getting up the river at that day.[ ] in our homeward trip we had very rough fare when we had any at all; but having calculated on hardships, we were not disappointed. there was one house (treiber's) on lick branch, five miles from where west union[ ] now is." trebar--according to modern spelling--opened a tavern on his clearing in or , but at the time of sample's trip his house was not more public than the usual pioneer's home where the latch-string was always out.[ ] "the next house," continues mr. sample, "was where sinking spring or middle-town is now.[ ] the next was at chillicothe, which was just then commenced. we encamped one night at massie's run, say two or three miles from the falls of paint creek, where the trace then crossed that stream. from chillicothe to lancaster the trace then went through the pickaway plains. there was a cabin some three or four miles below the plains, and another at their eastern edge, and one or two more between that and lancaster. here we staid the third night. from lancaster we went next day to zanesville, passing several small beginnings. i recollect no improvement between zanesville and wheeling, except a small one at the mouth of indian wheeling creek, opposite to wheeling. in this space we camped another night. from wheeling we went home pretty well." the matter of ferriage was a most important item on pioneer roads as indicated by the act of congress quoted. the court of general quarter sessions met at adamsville, adams county, december , , and made the following the legal rates of ferriage across the scioto and ohio rivers, both of which zane's trace crossed: _scioto river:_ man and horse - / cents. single - / " wagon and team " horned cattle (each) - / " _ohio river:_ man and horse - / " single - / " wagon and team $ . horned cattle - / " [ ] no sooner was zane's trace opened than the government established a mail route between wheeling and maysville and lexington. for the real terminus of the trace was not by any means at little maysville; an ancient buffalo route and well-worn white man's road led into the interior of kentucky from maysville, known in history as the maysville road and maysville pike. on the ohio side this mail route from wheeling and lexington was known by many titles in many years; it was the limestone road, the maysville pike, the limestone and chillicothe road, and the zanesville pike; the maysville and zanesville turnpike was constructed between zanesville and the ohio river. at zanesville the road today is familiarly known as the maysville pike while in kentucky it is commonly called the zanesville pike. "when the indian trail gets widened, graded and bridged to a good road," wrote emerson, "there is a benefactor, there is a missionary, a pacificator, a wealth-bringer, a maker of markets, a vent for industry."[ ] the little road here under consideration is unique among american highways in its origin and in its history. it was demanded, not by war, but by civilization, not for exploration and settlement but by settlements that were already made and in need of communion and commerce. it was created by an act of congress as truly as the cumberland road, which soon should, in part, supersede it. and finally it was on the subject of the maysville turnpike that the question of internal improvement by the national government was at last decided when, in , president jackson signed that veto which made the name of maysville a household word throughout the united states. in , after a delay which created great suspense in the west, the cumberland road at last leaped the ohio river at wheeling. zane's trace, now a wide, much-traveled avenue, offered a route westward to zanesville which could be but little improved upon. the blazed tree gave way to the mile-stone and the pannier and saddle-bag to the rumbling stagecoach and the chaise. it is all a pretty, quiet picture and its story is totally unlike that of boone's rough path over the cumberlands. for settlements sprang up rapidly in this land of plenty; we have seen that there were beginnings at chillicothe and zanesville when sample passed this way in . by , zane's lots at the crossing of the hockhocking (first known as new lancaster, and later as lancaster--from the town of that name in pennsylvania) were selling; his terms and inducements to settlers, especially mechanics, are particularly interesting.[ ] as intimated, the kentucky division of the maysville pike--leading from the ohio river through washington, paris, and lexington--became famous in that it was made a test case to determine whether or not the government had the right to assist in the building of purely state (local) roads by taking shares in local turnpike companies. this much-mooted question was settled once for all by president andrew jackson's veto of "a bill authorizing a subscription of stock in the maysville, washington, paris, and lexington turnpike road company," which was passed by the house february , . it read:[ ] "_be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled_, that the secretary of the treasury be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to subscribe, in the name and for the use of the united states, for fifteen hundred shares of the capital stock of the maysville, washington, paris, and lexington turnpike road company, and to pay for the same at such times, and in such proportions, as shall be required of, and paid by, the stockholders generally, by the rules and regulations of the aforesaid company, to be paid out of any money in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated: _provided_, that not more than one-third part of the sum, so subscribed for the use of the united states, shall be demanded in the present year, nor shall any greater sum be paid on the shares so subscribed for, than shall be proportioned to assessments made on individual or corporate stockholders. "sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the said secretary of the treasury shall vote for the president and directors of the aforesaid company, according to such number of shares as the united states may, at any time, hold in the stock thereof, and shall receive upon the said stock the proportion of the tolls which shall, from time to time, be due to the united states for the shares aforesaid, and shall have and enjoy, in behalf of the united states, every other right of stockholder in said company." in his first annual message to congress, dated december , , president jackson stated plainly his attitude to the great question of internal improvements. "as ... the period approaches when the application of the revenue to the payment of [national] debt will cease, the disposition of the surplus will present a subject for the serious deliberation of congress.... considered in connection with the difficulties which have heretofore attended appropriations for purposes of internal improvement, and with those which this experience tells us will certainly arise whenever power over such subjects may be exercised by the general government, it is hoped that it may lead to the adoption of some plan which will reconcile the diversified interests of the states and strengthen the bonds which unite them.... to avoid these evils it appears to me that the most safe, just, and federal disposition which could be made of the surplus revenue would be its apportionment among the several states according to their ratio of representation, and should this measure not be found warranted by the constitution that it would be expedient to propose to the states an amendment authorizing it."[ ] in his veto of the maysville road bill president jackson quoted the above paragraphs from his annual message, and, after citing both madison's and monroe's positions as to internal improvements of pure local character, continues: "the bill before me does not call for a more definate opinion upon the particular circumstances which will warrent appropriations of money by congress to aid works of internal improvement, for although the extention of the power to apply money beyond that of carrying into effect the object for which it is appropriated has, as we have seen, been long claimed and exercised by the federal government, yet such grants have always been professedly under the control of the general principle that the works which might be thus aided should be 'of a general, not local, national, not state,' character. a disregard of this distinction would of necessity lead to the subversion of the federal system. that even this is an unsafe one, arbitrary in its nature, and liable, consequently, to great abuses, is too obvious to require the confirmation of experience. it is, however, sufficiently definate and imperative to my mind to forbid my approbation of any bill having the character of the one under consideration. i have given to its provisions ... reflection ... but i am not able to view it in any other light than as a measure of purely local character; or, if it can be considered national, that no further distinction between the appropriate duties of the general and state governments need be attempted, for there can be no local interest that may not with equal propriety be denominated national. it has no connection with any established system of improvements; is exclusively within the limits of a state, starting at a point on the ohio river and running out miles to an interior town, and even as far as the state is interested conferring partial instead of general advantages. "considering the magnitude and importance of the power, and the embarrassments to which, from the very nature of the thing, its exercise must necessarily be subjected, the real friends of internal improvement ought not to be willing to confide it to accident and chance. what is properly _national_ in its character or otherwise is an inquiry which is often extremely difficult of solution.... "if it be the wish of the people that the construction of roads and canals should be conducted by the federal government, it is not only highly expedient, but indispensably necessary, that a previous amendment of the constitution, delegating the necessary power and defining and restricting its exercise with reference to the sovereignty of the states, should be made. the right to exercise as much jurisdiction as is necessary to preserve the works and to raise funds by the collection of tolls to keep them in repair can not be dispensed with. the cumberland road should be an instructive admonition of the consequences of acting without this right. year after year contests are witnessed, growing out of efforts to obtain the necessary appropriations for completing and repairing this useful work. whilst one congress may claim and exercise the power, a succeeding one may deny it; and this fluctuation of opinion must be unavoidably fatal to any scheme which from its extent would promote the interests and elevate the character of the country.... "that a constitutional adjustment of this power upon equitable principles is in the highest degree desirable can scarcely be doubted, nor can it fail to be promoted by every sincere friend to the success of our political institutions."[ ] the effect of jackson's veto was far-reaching. it not only put an end to all thought of national aid to such local improvements as the maysville turnpike, but deprived such genuinely national promotions as the baltimore and ohio railway of all hope of national aid. "president jackson had strongly expressed his opposition to aiding state enterprises and schemes of internal improvement by appropriations from the central government," records a historian of that great enterprise; "from whatever source the opposition may have come, the [baltimore and ohio railway] company recognized that it must not hope for aid from the national government."[ ] the significance of jackson's veto could not be more strongly presented. chapter iv pioneer travel in kentucky the following interesting and vivid picture of early travel in kentucky is taken from judge james hall's _legends of the west_ (philadelphia, ); though largely a work of fiction, such descriptions as these are as lifelike as the original picture. the place at which the party landed was a small village on the bank of the [ohio] river, distant about fifty miles from a settlement in the interior to which they were destined. "here we are on dry land once more," said the englishman as he jumped ashore; "come, mr. logan, let us go to the stage-house and take our seats." logan smiled, and followed his companion. "my good friend," said edgarton, to a tall, sallow man in a hunting-shirt, who sat on a log by the river with a rifle in his lap, "can you direct us to the stage-house?" "well, i can't say that i can." "perhaps you do not understand what we want," said edgarton; "we wish to take seats in a mail-coach for ----." "well, stranger, it's my sentimental belief that there isn't a coach, male or female, in the county." "this fellow is ignorant of our meaning," said edgarton to logan. "what's that you say, stranger? i _spose maybe_ you think i never _seed_ a coach? well, it's a free country, and every man has a right to think what he pleases; but i reckon i've saw as many of _them are fixens_ as any other man. i was raised in tennessee. i saw general jackson once riding in the elegantest carriage that ever mortal man _sot_ his eyes on--with glass winders to it like a house, and _sort o'_ silk _curtings_. the harness was mounted with silver; it was _drawd_ by four blooded nags, and _druv_ by a mighty likely _nigger_ boy." the travellers passed on, and soon learned that there was indeed no stage in the country. teams and carriages of any kind were difficult to be procured; and it was with some difficulty that two stout wagons were at last hired to carry mr. edgarton's movables, and a _dearborn_ obtained to convey his family, it being agreed that one of the gentlemen should drive the latter vehicle while the other walked, alternately. arrangements were accordingly made to set out the next morning. the settlement in which mr. edgarton had judiciously determined to pitch his tent, and enjoy the healthful innocence and rural felicity of the farmer's life, was new; and the country to be traversed to reach it entirely unsettled. there were two or three houses scattered through the wilderness on the road, one of which the party might have reached by setting out early in the morning, and they had determined to do so. but there was so much fixing and preparing to be done, so much stowing of baggage and packing of trunks, such momentous preparations to guard against cold and heat, hunger and thirst, fatigue, accident, robbery, disease, and death, that it was near noon before the cavalcade was prepared to move. even then they were delayed some minutes longer to give mr. edgarton time to oil the screws and renew the charges of his double-barrel gun and pocket-pistols. in vain he was told there were no highwaymen in america. his way lay chiefly through uninhabited forests; and he considered it a fact in natural history, as indisputable as any other elementary principle, that every such forest has its robbers. after all, he entirely neglected to put flints in his bran new locks instead of the wooden substitutes which the maker had placed there to protect his work from injury; and thus "doubly armed," he announced his readiness to start with an air of truly comic heroism. when they began their journey, new terrors arose. the road was sufficiently plain and firm for all rational purposes; that is to say, it _would do_ very well for those who only wanted to get along, and were content to make the best of it. it was a mere path beaten by a succession of travellers. no avenue had been cut for it through the woods; but the first pioneers had wound their way among the trees, avoiding obstacles by going round them, as the snake winds through the grass, and those who followed had trodden in their footsteps, until they had beaten a smooth road sufficiently wide to admit the passage of a single wagon. on either side was the thick forest, sometimes grown up with underbrush to the margin of the _trace_, and sometimes so open as to allow the eye to roam off to a considerable distance. above was a dense canopy of interwoven branches. the wild and lonesome appearance, the deep shade, the interminable gloom of the woods, were frightful to our travellers. the difference between a wild forest in the simple majesty of nature, and the woodlands of cultivated countries, is very great. in the latter the underbrush has been removed by art or destroyed by domestic animals; the trees as they arrive at their growth are felled for use, and the remainder, less crowded, assume the spreading and rounded form of cultivated trees. the sunbeams reach the soil through the scattered foliage, the ground is trodden by grazing animals, and a hard sod is formed. however secluded such a spot may be, it bears the marks of civilization; the lowing of cattle is heard, and many species of songsters that hover round the habitations of men, and are never seen in the wilderness, here warble their notes. in the western forests of america all is grand and savage. the truth flashes instantly upon the mind of the observer, with the force of conviction, that nature has been carrying on her operations here for ages undisturbed. the leaf has fallen from year to year; succeeding generations of trees have mouldered, spreading over the surface layer upon layer of decayed fibre, until the soil has acquired an astonishing depth and an unrivalled fertility. from this rich bed the trees are seen rearing their shafts to an astonishing height. the tendency of plants towards the light is well understood; of course, when trees are crowded closely together, instead of spreading, they shoot upwards, each endeavouring, as it were, to overtop his neighbours, and expending the whole force of the vegetative powers in rearing a great trunk to the greatest possible height, and then throwing out a top like an umbrella to the rays of the sun. the functions of vitality are carried on with vigor at the extremities, while the long stem is bare of leaves or branches; and when the undergrowth is removed nothing can exceed the gloomy grandeur of the elevated arches of foliage, supported by pillars of majestic size and venerable appearance. the great thickness and age of many of the trees is another striking peculiarity. they grow from age to age, attaining a gigantic size, and then fall, with a tremendous force, breaking down all that stands in their downward way, and heaping a great pile of timber on the ground, where it remains untouched until it is converted into soil. mingled with all our timber are seen aspiring vines, which seem to have commenced their growth with that of the young trees, and risen with them, their tops still flourishing together far above the earth, while their stems are alike bare. the undergrowth consists of dense thickets, made up of the offspring of the larger trees, mixed with thorns, briers, dwarfish vines, and a great variety of shrubs. the ground is never covered with a firm sward, and seldom bears the grasses, or smaller plants, being covered from year to year with a dense mass of dried and decaying leaves, and shrouded in eternal shade. such was the scene that met the eyes of our travellers, and had they been treated to a short excursion to the moon they would scarcely have witnessed any thing more novel. the wide-spread and trackless ocean had scarcely conveyed to their imaginations so vivid an impression of the vast and solitary grandeur of nature, in her pathless wildernesses. they could hardly realize the expectation of travelling safely through such savage shades. the path, which could be seen only a few yards in advance, seemed continually to have terminated, leaving them no choice but to retrace their steps. sometimes they came to a place where a tree had fallen across the road, and edgarton would stop under the supposition that any further attempt to proceed was hopeless--until he saw the american drivers forsaking the track, guiding their teams among the trees, crushing down the young saplings that stood in their way, and thus winding round the obstacle, and back to the road, often through thickets so dense, that to the stranger's eye it seemed as if neither man nor beast could penetrate them. sometimes on reaching the brink of a ravine or small stream, the bridge of logs, which previous travellers had erected, was found to be broken down, or the ford rendered impassable; and the wagoners with the same imperturbable good nature, and as if such accidents were matters of course, again left the road, and seeking out a new crossing-place, passed over with scarcely the appearance of difficulty. once they came to a sheet of water, extending as far as the eye could reach, the tall trees standing in it as thickly as upon the dry ground, with tufts of grass and weeds instead of the usual undergrowth. "is there a ferry here?" inquired edgarton. "oh no, sir, it's nothing but _a slash_." "what's that?" "why, sir, jist a sort o' swamp." "what in the world shall we do?" "we'll jist put right ahead, sir; there's no dif-_fick_-ulty; it's nice good driving all about here. it's sort o' muddy, but there's good bottom to it all the way." on they went. to edgarton it was like going to sea; for no road could be seen; nothing but the trackless surface of the water; but instead of looking down, where his eye could have penetrated to the bottom, he was glancing forward in the vain hope of seeing dry land. generally the water was but a few inches deep, but sometimes they soused into a hole; then edgarton groaned and the ladies screamed; and sometimes it got gradually deeper until the hubs of the wheels were immersed, and the englishman then called to the wagoners to stop. "don't be afeard, sir," one of them replied, "it is not bad; why this ain't nothing; it's right good going; it ain't a-going to swim your horse, no how." "anything seems a good road to you where the horse will not have to swim," replied the englishman surlily. "why, bless you," said the backwoodsman, "this ain't no part of a priming to places that i've seed afore, no how. i've seed race paths in a worse fix than this. don't you reckon, stranger, that if my team can drag this here heavy wagon, loaded down with plunder, you can sartainly get along with that _ar_ little carry-all, and nothing on the face of the _yeath_ to tote, but jist the women and children?" they had but one such swamp to pass. it was only about half a mile wide, and after travelling that far through the water, the firm soil of the woods, which before seemed gloomy, became cheerful by contrast; and edgarton found at last, that however unpleasant such travelling may be to those who are not accustomed to it, it has really no dangers but such as are imaginary. as the cavalcade proceeded slowly, the ladies found it most pleasant to walk wherever the ground was sufficiently dry. mrs. edgarton and the children might be seen sauntering along, and keeping close to the carriage, for fear of being lost or captured by some nondescript monster of the wild, yet often halting to gather nosegays of wild flowers, or to examine some of the many natural curiosities which surrounded them.... the sun was about to set when the wagoners halted at an open spot, covered with a thick carpet of short grass, on the margin of a small stream of clear water. on inquiring the reason, mr. edgarton was assured that this was the best _campground_ on the route, and as there was no house within many miles, it was advisable to make arrangements for passing the night there. "impossible!" exclaimed the european gentleman; "what! lie on the ground like beasts! we shall all catch our death of cold!" "i should never live through the night," groaned his fair partner.... "don't let us stay here in the dark, papa," cried the children. logan expressed the opinion that an encampment might be made quite comfortable, and the sentimental julia declared that it would be "delightful!" edgarton imprecated maledictions on the beggarly country which could not afford inns for travellers, and wondered if they expected a gentleman to nestle among the leaves like robin hood's foresters.... this storm, like other sudden gusts, soon blew over, and the party began in earnest to make the best of a bad business by rendering their situation as comfortable as possible. the wagoners, though highly amused at the fears of their companions, showed great alacrity and kindness in their endeavours to dissipate the apprehensions and provide for the comfort of foreigners; and, assisted by mr. logan, soon prepared a shelter. this was made by planting some large stakes in the ground, in the form of a square, filling up the sides and covering the tops with smaller poles, and suspending blankets over and around it, so as to form a complete enclosure. mrs. edgarton had a carpet taken from the wagons and spread on the ground; on this the beds were unpacked and laid, trunks were arranged for seats, and the emigrants surprised at finding themselves in a comfortable apartment, became as merry as they had been before despondent. a fire was kindled and the teakettle boiled, and there being a large store of bread and provisions already prepared, an excellent repast was soon placed before them, and eaten with the relish produced by severe exercise. the night had now closed in, but the blaze of a large fire and the light of several candles threw a brilliant gleam over the spot and heightened the cheerfulness of the evening meal. the arrangements for sleeping were very simple. the tent, which had been divided into two apartments by a curtain suspended in the middle, accommodated all of mr. edgarton's household: logan drew on his greatcoat, and spreading a single blanket on the ground, threw himself down with his feet to the fire; the teamsters crept into their wagons, and the several parties soon enjoyed that luxury which, if shakspeare may be believed, is often denied to the "head that wears a crown." the light of the morning brought with it cheerfulness and merriment. refreshed from the fatigues of the preceding day, inspired with new confidence, and amused by the novelties that surrounded them, the emigrants were in high spirits. breakfast was hastily prepared, and the happy party, seated in a circle on the grass, enjoyed their meal with a keen relish. the horses were then harnessed and the cavalcade renewed its march. the day was far advanced when they began to rise to more elevated ground than that over which they had travelled. the appearance of the woods was sensibly changed. they were now travelling over a high upland tract with a gently-waving surface, and instead of the rank vegetation, the dense foliage and gloomy shades by which they had been surrounded, beheld woodlands composed of smaller trees thinly scattered and intermingled with rich thickets of young timber. the growth though thick was low, so that the rays of the sun penetrated through many openings, and the beaten path which they pursued was entirely exposed to the genial beams. groves of the wild apple, the plum, and the cherry, now in full bloom, added a rich beauty to the scene and a delightful fragrance to the air. but the greatest natural curiosity and the most attractive scenic exhibitions of our western hemisphere was still in reserve; and a spontaneous expression of wonder and delight burst from the whole party, as they emerged from the woods and stood on the edge of _a prairie_. they entered a long vista, carpeted with grass, interspersed with numberless flowers, among which the blue violet predominated; while the edges of the forest on either hand were elegantly fringed with low thickets loaded with blossoms--those of the plum and cherry of snowy whiteness, and those of the crab-apple of a delicate pink. above and beyond these were seen the rich green, the irregular outline, and the variegated light and shade of the forest. as if to produce the most beautiful perspective, and to afford every variety of aspect, the vista increased in width until it opened like the estuary of a great river into the broad prairie, and as our travellers advanced the woodlands receded on either hand, and sometimes indented by smaller avenues opening into the woods, and sometimes throwing out points of timber, so that the boundary of the plain resembled the irregular outline of a shore as traced on a map. [illustration: pioneer view of houses at fort cumberland, maryland] delighted with the lovely aspect of nature in these the most tasteful of her retreats, the party lingered along until they reached the margin of the broad prairie, where a noble expanse of scenery of the same character was spread out on a larger scale. they stood on a rising ground, and beheld before them a vast plain, undulating in its surface so as to present to the eye a series of swells and depressions, never broken nor abrupt, but always regular, and marked by curved lines. here and there was seen a deep ravine or drain, by which the superfluous water was carried off, the sides of which were thickly set with willows. clumps of elm and oak were scattered about far apart like little islands; a few solitary trees were seen, relieving the eye as it wandered over the ocean-like surface of this native meadow. it so happened that a variety of accidents and delays impeded the progress of our emigrants, so that the shadows of evening began to fall upon them, while they were yet far from the termination of their journey, and it became necessary again to seek a place of repose for the night. the prospect of encamping again had lost much of its terrors, but they were relieved from the contemplation of this last resource of the houseless, by the agreeable information that they were drawing near the house of a farmer who was in the habit of "accommodating travellers." it was further explained that mr. goodman did not keep a public-house, but that he was "well off," "had houseroom enough, and plenty to eat," and that "_of course_," according to the hospitable customs of the country, he entertained any strangers who sought shelter under his roof. thither they bent their steps, anticipating from the description of it a homestead much larger and more comfortable than the cheerless-looking log-cabins which had thus far greeted their eyes, and which seemed to compose the only dwellings of the population. on arriving at the place, they were a little disappointed to find that the abundance of _houseroom_ which had been promised them was a mere figure of speech, an idiomatic expression by a native, having a comparative signification. the dwelling was a log house, differing from others only in being of a larger size and better construction. the logs were hewed and squared instead of being put up in their original state, with the bark on; the apertures were carefully closed, and the openings representing windows, instead of being stopped when urgent occasion required the exclusion of the atmosphere, by hats, old baskets, or cast-off garments, were filled with glass, in imitation of the dwellings of more highly civilized lands. the wealth of this farmer, consisting chiefly of the _plenty to eat_ which had been boasted, was amply illustrated by the noisy and numerous crowd of chickens, ducks, turkeys, pigs, and cattle, that cackled, gobbled, and grunted about the house, filling the air with social though discordant sounds, and so obstructing the way as scarcely to leave room for the newly-arrived party to approach the door. as the cavalcade halted, the foremost driver made the fact known by a vociferous salutation. "hal-low! who keeps house?" a portly dame made her appearance at the door, and was saluted with,-- "how de do, ma'am--all well, ma'am?" "all right well, thank you, sir." "here's some strangers that wants lodging; can we get to stay all night with you?" "well, i don't know; _he's_ not at home, and i harly know what to say." "i'll answer for _him_," replied the driver, who understood distinctly that the pronoun used so emphatically by the good lady alluded to her inferior moiety; "he wouldn't turn away strangers at this time of day when the chickens is jist goin to roost. we've ben a travellin all day, and our critters is mighty tired and hungry, as well as the rest of us." "well," said the woman, very cheerfully, "i reckon you can stay; if you can put up with such fare as we have, you are very welcome. my man will be back soon; he's only jist gone up to town." the whole party were now received into the dwelling of the backwoodsman by the smiling and voluble hostess, whose assiduous cordiality placed them at once at their ease in spite of the plain and primitive, and to them uncomfortable aspect of the log house. indeed, nothing could be more uninviting in appearance to those who were accustomed only to the more convenient dwellings of a state of society farther advanced in the arts of social life. it was composed of two large apartments or separate cabins, connected by an area or space which was floored and roofed, but open at the sides, and which served as a convenient receptacle to hang saddles, bridles, and harness, or to stow travellers' baggage, while in fine weather it served as a place in which to eat or sit. in the room into which our party was shown there was neither plastering nor paper, nor any device of modern ingenuity to conceal the bare logs that formed the sides of the house, neither was there a carpet on the floor, nor any furniture for mere ornament. the absence of all superfluities and of many of the conveniences usually deemed essential in household economy was quite striking. a table, a few chairs, a small looking-glass, some cooking utensils, and a multitudinous array of women's apparel, hung round on wooden pins, as if for show, made up the meagre list, whether for parade or use, with the addition of several bedsteads closely ranged on one side of the room, supporting beds of the most plethoric and dropsical dimensions, covered with clean cotton bedding, and ostentatiously tricked out with gaudy, parti-colored quilts. the "man" soon made his appearance, a stout, weatherbeaten person, of rough exterior, but not less hospitably disposed than his better half, and the whole household were now actively astir to furnish forth the evening's repast, nor was their diligent kindness, nor the inquisitive though respectful cross-examination which accompanied it, at all diminished when they discovered that their guests were english people. soon the ample fire-place, extending almost across one end of the house, was piled full of blazing logs; the cries of affrighted fowls and other significant notes of preparation announced that active operations were commenced in the culinary department. an array of pots and kettles, skillets, ovens, and frying-pans, covered the hearth, and the astonished travellers discovered that the room they occupied was not only used as a bedchamber, but "served them for parlour, and kitchen, and hall." we shall not attempt to describe the processes of making bread, cooking meat and vegetables, and preparing the delightful beverage of the evening meal, a portion of which took place in the presence of the surprised and amused guests, while other parts were conducted under a shed out of doors. a large table was soon spread with clean linen, and covered with a profusion of viands such as probably could not be found on the board of the mere peasant or labouring farmer in any other part of the world.[ ] coffee was there, with sweet milk and buttermilk in abundance; fried chickens, venison, and ham: cheese, sweetmeats, pickles, dried fruit, and honey; bread of wheat and corn, hot biscuits and cakes, with fresh butter; all well prepared and neat, and all pressed upon the hungry travellers with officious hospitality. had the entertainment been furnished in regal style at some enchanted castle by invisible hands, the guests could scarcely have been more surprised by the profusion and variety of the backwoods repast, so far did the result produced exceed the apparent means afforded by the desolate-looking and scantily-furnished cabin. if our worthy travellers were surprised by the novelties of backwoods _inn_-hospitality which thus far had pressed upon them, how much was their wonder increased when the hour for retiring arrived, and the landlady apologized for being obliged to separate guests from their hosts. "our family is so large," said the woman, "that we have to have two rooms. i shall have to put all of you strangers into a room by yourselves." the party were accordingly conducted into the other apartment, which was literally filled with arrangements for sleeping, there being several bedsteads, each of which was closely curtained with sheets, blankets, and coverlids hung around it for the occasion, while the whole floor was strewed with pallets. here mr. edgarton and his whole party, including logan and the teamsters, were expected to sleep. a popular poet, in allusion to this patriarchal custom, impertinently remarks, some cavillers object to sleep with fellow-travellers. and on this occasion the objection was uttered vehemently, the ladies declaring that martyrdom in any shape would be preferable to lodging thus like a drove of cattle. unreasonable as such scruples might have seemed, they were so pertinaciously adhered to on the one side, and so obstinately resisted by the exceedingly difficult nature of the case on the other, that there is no knowing to what extremities matters might have gone, had not a compromise been effected by which logan and the wagon-drivers were transferred into the room occupied by the farmer's family, while the edgartons, the sister, the maid, the greyhound, the pug-dog, and the parrot, remained sole occupants of the apartment prepared for them. footnotes: [ ] _diary of george washington, sept. to oct. , ._ [ ] cf. "journal of lieut. robert parker," _the pennsylvania magazine_, vol. xxvii, no. , pp. - . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. v, p. . [ ] _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, p. . [ ] _public documents relating to the new york canals_ (new york, ), p. . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _a pedestrious tour_, by estwick evans. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xiii, ch. . [ ] watson's _annals of philadelphia_, vol. i, p. . [ ] see "hulme's journal" in w. cobbett's _a year's residence in the united states_ ( ), p. . [ ] d. hewett's _american traveller_ ( ), p. . [ *] it is curious to note that while the introduction of coaches is said here to be injurious to the breed of horses, macaulay, a century or so later, decried the passing of the coach and the old coaching days because this, too, meant the destruction of the breed of horses!--see _historic highways of america_, vol. x, p. . [ ] florida avenue is said to have been the first street laid out on the present site of washington, d. c. as it is the most crooked of all the streets and avenues this is easy to believe. [ ] _retrospect of western travel_, vol. i, pp. - . [ ] moore's notes are as follows: on "ridges" (line ): "what mr. weld [an english traveler in america] says of the national necessity of balancing or trimming the stage, in passing over some of the wretched roads in america, is by no means exaggerated. 'the driver frequently had to call to the passengers in the stage to lean out of the carriage, first on one side, then on the other, to prevent it from oversetting in the deep ruts, with which the road abounds. "now, gentlemen, to the right!" upon which the passengers all stretched their bodies half out of the carriage to balance on that side. "now, gentlemen, to the left!" and so on.'--_weld's travels._" on "bridges" (line ): "before the stage can pass one of these bridges the driver is obliged to stop and arrange the loose planks, of which it is composed, in the manner that best suits his ideas of safety, and as the planks are again disturbed by the passing of the coach, the next travelers who arrive have, of course, a new arrangement to make. mahomet, as sale tells us, was at some pains to imagine a precarious kind of bridge for the entrance of paradise, in order to enhance the pleasures of arrival. a virginia bridge, i think, would have answered his purpose completely." [ ] _sketch of the civil engineering of north america_, pp. - . [ ] "the oldest turnpike in pennsylvania," by edward b. moore, in philadelphia _press_ or delaware county _american_, june , ; and "the old turnpike," by a. e. witmer in _lancaster county historical society papers_, vol. ii (november, ), pp. - . [ ] sherman day, _historical collections of the state of pennsylvania_ (philadelphia, ). [ ] the rise of the pennsylvania canal and railway system will be treated in chapter four of _historic highways of america_, vol. xiii. [ *] for these and other facts concerning plank roads we are indebted to w. kingsford's _history, structure and statistics of plank roads_ ( ). [ ] the frontispiece to this volume represents a mile-stone which was erected beside braddock's old road, near frostburg, maryland, during the revolutionary war. on the reverse side it bears the legend, "our countrys rights we will defend." on the front these words can be traced: "[ ?] miles to fort cumberland miles to capt smith's inn & bridge by crossings. [smithfield, pennsylvania] the best road to redstone old fort m." the stone was once taken away for building purposes and broken; the town authorities of frostburg ordered it to be cemented, returned and set up on its old-time site. [ ] the lancaster turnpike. [ ] "in these stages," as brissot [jean pierre brissot de warville, _new travels in the united states_ (london, )] observes, "you meet with men of all professions. the member of congress is placed by the side of the shoemaker who elected him; they fraternise together, and converse with familiarity. you see no person here take upon him those important airs which you too often meet with in england."--baily. [ ] it consists of several layers of large logs laid longitudinally, and parallel to each other, and covered at the top with earth.--baily. [ ] the sleighs not making any noise when in motion over the snow, the horses are obliged by law to have little bells fastened around their necks, to warn foot-passengers of their approach.--baily. [ ] i was in company with a gentleman of the name of heighway, who was going down to the northwestern settlement to form a plantation.--baily. see p. . [ ] by d. hewett's _american traveller_, the principal points on the washington-pittsburg route are given as follows: distance. montgomery c. h. . clarksburg . monocasy river . fredericktown . hagerstown . pennsylvania state line . m'connell'stown . junietta river . bedford . stoyestown . summit of laurel hill . greensburg . pittsburg . total . [ ] mr. hewett gives this note of montgomery c. h.: "this village is also called rockville. there is an extremely bad turnpike from washington to this place, so much so, that the man who keeps the toll house, _after_ having taken toll, recommends travellers to go the _ola road_."--p. . [ ] all the inns and public-houses on the road are called taverns.--baily. [ ] clarksburg. [ ] hagar's-town is ten miles from boone's-town.--baily. [ ] mcdowell's mill. [ ] mr. heighway, an englishman who settled now at waynesville, warren county, ohio.--_history of warren county, ohio_ (chicago, ), p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] the patriot-pioneer of wheeling, the first settlement on the ohio river below pittsburg, which he founded in , and where he lived until . he was born in virginia in . [ ] the importance of the historic _entrepôt_ limestone mason county, kentucky (later named maysville from one of its first inhabitants) has been suggested in volume ix of this series (pp. , , ). it was the most important entrance point into kentucky on its northeastern river shore-line. what it was in earliest days, because of the buffalo trail into the interior, it remained down through the earlier and later pioneer era to the time of the building of the trunk railway lines. [ ] _united states statutes at large, private laws - , inclusive_, p. . [ ] _american pioneer_, vol. i, p. . [ ] an exaggerated statement, yet much in accord with the truth, as we have previously observed. [ ] county seat of adams county, ohio. [ ] evans and stivers, _history of adams county, ohio_, p. . [ ] wilcoxon's clearing, sinking spring, highland county, ohio.--_id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _society and solitude_, essay on "civilization," pp. - . [ ] see graham's _history of fairfield and perry counties, ohio_, pp. - . [ ] _bills & resolutions, house reps., st sess., st cong., part , & ' _, h. r., p. . [ ] richardson's _messages and papers of the presidents_, vol. ii, pp. , . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] reizenstein's "the economic history of the baltimore and ohio railroad," _johns hopkins studies in historical and political science_, fifteenth series, vii-viii, p. . [ ] i cannot resist the opportunity of nailing to the counter a wretched fabrication of some traveller, who represents himself as dismounting at a western house of entertainment, and inquiring the price of a dinner. the answer is, "well, stranger--with wheat bread and chicken fixens, it would be fifty cents, but with corn bread and common doins, twenty-five cents." the slang here used is of the writer's own invention. no one ever heard in the west of "chicken fixens," or "common doins." on such occasions, the table is spread with everything that the house affords, or with whatever may be convenient, according to the means and temper of the entertainers. a meal is a meal, and the cost is the same, whether it be plentiful or otherwise.--hall. * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. historic highways of america volume historic highways of america volume pioneer roads and experiences of travelers (volume ii) by archer butler hulbert _with maps_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the old northwestern turnpike ii. a journey in northern virginia iii. a pilgrim on braddock's road iv. the genesee road v. a traveler on the genesee road vi. the catskill turnpike vii. with dickens along pioneer roads illustrations i. part of a "map of the route between albany and oswego" (drawn about ; from original in british museum) ii. part of a "map of the grand pass from new york to montreal ... by thomas pownall" (drawn about ; from original in the british museum) iii. western new york in preface this volume is devoted to two great lines of pioneer movement, one through northern virginia and the other through central new york. in the former case the old northwestern turnpike is the key to the situation, and in the latter the famous genesee road, running westward from utica, was of momentous importance. a chapter is given to the northwestern turnpike, showing the movement which demanded a highway, and the legislative history which created it. then follow two chapters of travelers' experiences in the region covered. one of these is given to the _journal of thomas wallcutt_ ( ) through northern virginia and central pennsylvania. another chapter presents no less vivid descriptions from quite unknown travelers on the virginian roads. the genesee road is presented in chapter four as a legislative creation; the whole history of this famous avenue would be practically a history of central new york. to give the more vivid impression of personal experience a chapter is devoted to a portion of thomas bigelow's _tour to niagara falls _ over the genesee road in its earliest years, when the beautiful cities which now lie like a string of precious gems across this route were just springing into existence. for a chapter on the important "catskill turnpike," which gives much information of road-building in central new york, we are indebted to francis whiting halsey's _the old new york frontier_. the final chapter of the volume includes a number of selections from the spicy, brilliant descriptions of pioneer traveling in america which dickens left in his _american notes_, and a few pages describing an early journey on indian trails in missouri from charles augustus murray's _travels in north america_. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, january , . pioneer roads and experiences of travelers (volume ii) chapter i the old northwestern turnpike we have treated of three historic highways in this series of monographs which found a way through the appalachian uplift into the mississippi basin--braddock's, forbes's, and boone's roads and their successors. there were other means of access into that region. one, of which particular mention is to be made in this volume, dodged the mountains and ran around to the lakes by way of the mohawk river and the genesee country. various minor routes passed westward from the heads of the susquehanna--one of them becoming famous as a railway route, but none becoming celebrated as roadways. from central and southern virginia, routes, likewise to be followed by trunk railway lines, led onward toward the mississippi basin, but none, save only boone's track, became of prime importance. but while scanning carefully this mountain barrier, which for so long a period held back civilization on the atlantic seaboard, there is found another route that was historic and deserves mention as influencing the westward movement of america. it was that roadway so well known three-fourths of a century ago as the old northwestern turnpike, leading from winchester, virginia, to the ohio river at parkersburg, virginia, now west virginia, at the mouth of the little kanawha. the earliest history of this route is of far more interest than importance, for the subject takes us back once more to washington's early exploits and we feel again the fever of his wide dreams of internal communications which should make the virginia waterways the inlet and outlet of all the trade of the rising west. it has been elsewhere outlined how the cumberland road was the actual resultant of washington's hopes and plans. but it is in place in a sketch of the old northwestern turnpike to state that washington's actual plan of making the potomac river all that the erie canal and the cumberland road became was never even faintly realized. his great object was attained--but not by means of his partisan plans. it is very difficult to catch the exact old-time spirit of rivalry which existed among the american colonies and which always meant jealousy and sometimes bloodshed. in the fight between virginia officers in forbes's army in over the building of a new road through pennsylvania to fort duquesne, instead of following braddock's old road, is an historic example of this intense rivalry. a noted example, more easily explained, was the conflict and perennial quarrel between the connecticut and pennsylvania pioneers within the western extremity of the former colony's technical boundaries. that washington was a virginian is made very plain in a thousand instances in his life; and many times it is emphasized in such a way as must seem odd to all modern americans. at a stroke of a pen he shows himself to be the broadest of americans in his classic letter to benjamin harrison, ; in the next sentence he is urging virginia to look well to her laurels lest new york, through the hudson and mohawk, and pennsylvania, through the susquehanna and juniata, do what virginia ought to do through her potomac. the powerful appeal made in this letter was the result of a journey of washington's in the west which has not received all the attention from historians it perhaps deserves. this was a tour made in in the tangled mountainous region between the heads of the branches of the potomac and those of the monongahela.[ ] starting on his journey september , washington intended visiting his western lands and returning home by way of the great kanawha and new rivers, in order to view the connection which could be made there between the james and great kanawha valleys. indian hostilities, however, made it unwise for him to proceed even to the great kanawha, and the month was spent in northwestern virginia. on the second, washington reached leesburg, and on the third, berkeley; here, at his brother's (colonel charles washington's) he met a number of persons including general morgan. "... one object of my journey being," his _journal_ reads, "to obtain information of the nearest and best communication between the eastern & western waters; & to facilitate as much as in me lay the inland navigation of the potomack; i conversed a good deal with gen^l. morgan on this subject, who said, a plan was in contemplation to extend a road from winchester to the western waters, to avoid if possible an interference with any other state." it is to be observed that this was a polite way of saying that the road in contemplation must be wholly in virginia, which was the only state to be "interfered" with or be benefited. "but i could not discover," washington adds, "that either himself, or others, were able to point it out with precision. he [morgan] seemed to have no doubt but that the counties of freder^k., berkeley & hampshire would contribute freely towards the extension of the navigation of potomack; as well as towards opening a road from east to west." it should be observed that the only route across the mountains from northwestern virginia to the ohio river was braddock's road; for this road washington was a champion in , as against the central route forbes built straight west from bedford to fort duquesne.[ ] then, however, braddock's road, and even fort duquesne, was supposed to lie in virginia. but when the pennsylvania boundaries were fully outlined it was found that braddock's road lay in pennsylvania. washington now was seeking a new route to the west which would lie wholly in virginia. the problem, historically, presents several interesting points which cannot be expanded here. suffice it to say that washington was the valiant champion of braddock's road until he found it lay wholly in maryland and pennsylvania. gaining no satisfaction from his friends at berkeley, washington pushed on to one captain stroad's, out fourteen odd miles on the road to bath. "i held much conversation with him," the traveler records of his visit at stroad's, "the result ... was,--that there are two glades which go under the denomination of the great glades--one, on the waters of yohiogany, the other on those of cheat river; & distinguished by the name of the sandy creek glades.--that the road to the first goes by the head of patterson's creek[ ]--that from the acc^{ts}. he has had of it, it is rough; the distance he knows not.--that there is a way to the sandy creek glades from the great crossing of yohiogany (or braddocks road) [smithfield, pennsylvania] & a very good one; ..." at the town of bath washington met one colonel bruce who had traversed the country between the north branch (as that tributary of the potomac was widely known) and the monongahela. "from col^o. bruce ... i was informed that he had travelled from the north branch of potomack to the waters of yaughiogany, and monongahela--that the potom^k. where it may be made navigable--for instance where mcculloughs path crosses it, miles above the old fort [cumberland], is but about miles to a pretty large branch of the yohiogany ...--that the waters of sandy creek which is a branch of cheat river, which is a branch of monongahela, interlocks with these; and the country between, flat--that he thinks (in order to ev^d. [evade] passing through the state of pennsylvania) this would be an eligible road using the ten miles c^k. with a portage to the navigable waters of the little kanhawa; ..." this was the basis of washington's plan of internal communication from potomac; he now pressed forward to find if it were possible to connect the youghiogheny and north branch of the potomac, the youghiogheny and monongahela, and the monongahela and little kanawha. of course the plan was impossible, but the patient man floundered on through the foothills and mountains over what was approximately the course mentioned, the "mccullough's path" and sandy creek route from the potomac to the monongahela. in his explorations he found and traversed one of the earliest routes westward through this broken country immediately south of the well known resorts, oakland and deer park, on the baltimore and ohio railway. this was the "mccullough's" path already mentioned. having ascended the monongahela river from near brownsville, pennsylvania, washington, on september , arrived at a surveyor's office (the home of one pierpoint) eight miles southward along the dividing ridge between the monongahela and cheat rivers.[ ] on the twenty-fifth--after a meeting with various inhabitants of the vicinity--he went plunging eastward toward the north branch of the potomac "along the new road [which intersected braddock's road east of winding ridge] to sandy creek; & thence by mccullochs path to logstons [on the north branch of the potomac] and accordingly set of [off] before sunrise. within miles i came to the river cheat ab^t. miles from its mouth--.... the road from morgan town or monongahela c^t. house, is said to be good to this ferry [ice's]--distance ab^{t}. miles[ ] ... from the ferry the laurel hill[ ] is assended ... along the top of it the road continues.... after crossing this hill the road is very good to the ford of sandy creek at one james spurgeons,[ ] ... ab^t. miles from ice's ferry. at the crossing of this creek mccullocks path, which owes its origen to buffaloes, being no other than their tracks from one lick to another & consequently crooked & not well chosen, strikes off from the new road.... from spurgeon's to one lemons, which is a little to the right of mccullochs path, is reckoned miles, and the way not bad; but from lemons to the entrance of the yohiogany glades[ ] which is estimated miles more thro' a deep rich soil ... and what is called the briery mountain.[ ] ... at the entrance of the above glades i lodged this night, with no other shelter or cover than my cloak. & was unlucky enough to have a heavy shower of rain.... ^{th}.... passing along a small path ... loaded with water ... we had an uncomfortable travel to one charles friends[ ] about miles.... a mile before i came to friends, i crossed the great branch of yohiogany.... friend ... is a great hunter.... from friends i passed by a spring (distant miles) called archy's from a man of that name--crossed the backbone[ ] & descended into ryans glade.[ ]--thence by tho^s. logston's ... to the foot of the backbone, about miles ... across the ridge to ryans glade one mile and half ...--to joseph logstons - / miles ...--to the n^o. branch at mccullochs path miles[ ]--infamous road--and to tho^s. logstons more.... th. i left m^r. logston's ...--at ten miles i had ... gained the summit of the alligany mountain[ ] and began to desend it where it is very steep and bad to the waters of pattersons creek ... along the heads of these [tributaries], & crossing the main [patterson's] creek & mountain bearing the same name[ ] (on the top of which at one snails i dined) i came to col^o. abrah^m. hites at fort pleasant on the south branch[ ] about miles from logstons a little before the suns setting. my intention, when i set out from logstons, was to take the road to rumney [romney] by one parkers but learning from my guide (joseph logston) when i came to the parting paths at the foot of the alligany[ ] (ab^t. miles) that it was very little further to go by fort pleasant, i resolved to take that rout ... to get information...." this extract from washington's journal gives us the most complete information obtainable of a region of country concerning which it is difficult to secure even present-day information. the drift of the pioneer tide had been on north and south lines here; the first-comers into these mountains wandered up the monongahela and youghiogheny rivers and their tributaries. even as early as the old french war a few bold companies of men had sifted into the dark valleys of the cheat and youghiogheny.[ ] that it was a difficult country to reach is proved by the fact that certain early adventurers in this region were deserters from fort pitt. they were safe here! a similar movement up the two branches of the potomac had created a number of settlements there--far up where the waters ran clear and swift amid the mountain fogs. but there had been less communication on east and west lines. it is easy to assume that mcculloch's path was the most important route across the ragged ridges, from one glade and valley to another. it is entirely probable that the new road, to which washington refers, was built for some distance on the buffalo trace which (though the earlier route) branched from the new road. an old path ran eastward from dunkard's bottom of which washington says: "... being ... discouraged ... from attempting to return [to the potomac] by the way of dunkars bottom, as the path it is said is very blind & exceedingly grown up with briers, i resolved to try the other rout, along the new road ..." as quoted on page . the growth of such towns as cumberland and morgantown had made a demand for more northerly routes. the whole road-building idea in these parts in the last quarter of the eighteenth century was to connect the towns that were then springing into existence, especially morgantown and clarksburg with cumberland. washington's dream of a connected waterway was, of course, hopelessly chimerical, and after him no one pushed the subject of a highway of any kind between the east and the west through virginia. washington's own plans materialized in the potomac navigation company, and his highway, that should be a strong link in the chain of federal union between the improved potomac and the ohio, became the cumberland road; and it ran just where he did not care to see it--through maryland and pennsylvania. yet it accomplished his first high purpose of welding the union together, and was a fruit of that patriotic letter to governor harrison written a few days after washington pushed his way through the wet paths of the cheat and youghiogheny valleys in . these first routes across the mountains south of the cumberland road--in virginia--were, as noted, largely those of wild beasts. "it has been observed before," wrote washington in recapitulation, "to what fortuitous circumstances the paths of this country owe their being, & how much the ways may be better chosen by a proper investigation of it; ..." in many instances the new roads built hereabouts in later days were shorter than the earlier courses; however it remains true here, as elsewhere, that the strategic geographical positions were found by the buffalo and indian, and white men have followed them there unwaveringly with turnpike and railway. when washington crossed the north branch of the potomac on the th of october, at "mccullochs crossing," he was on the track of what should be, a generation later, the virginian highway across the appalachian system into the ohio basin. oddly enough virginia had done everything, it may truthfully be said, toward building braddock's road to the ohio in , and, in , had done as much as any colony toward building forbes's road. all told, virginia had accomplished more in the way of road-building into the old central west by than all other colonies put together. yet, as it turned out, not one inch of either of these great thoroughfares lay in virginia territory when independence was secured and the individual states began their struggle for existence in those "critical" after-hours. these buffalo paths through her western mountains were her only routes; they coursed through what was largely an uninhabited region, and which remains such today. yet it was inevitable that a way should be hewn here through virginia to the ohio; the call from the west, the hosts of pioneers, the need of a state way of communication, all these and more, made it sure that a virginia turnpike should cross the mountains. before that day arrived the cumberland road was proposed, built, and completed, not only to the ohio river, but almost to the western boundary of the state of ohio; its famous successor of another generation, the baltimore and ohio railway, was undertaken in . these movements stirred northern virginians to action and on the twenty-seventh of february, , the general assembly passed an act "to incorporate the north-western road company." sections , , , and of this act are as follows: " . _be it enacted by the general assembly of virginia_, that books shall be opened at the town of winchester, in frederick county, under the direction of josiah lockhart, william wood, george s. lane, abraham miller, and charles brent, or any two of them; at romney, in hampshire county, under the direction of william naylor, william donaldson, john m'dowell, robert sherrard, and thomas slane, or any two of them; at moorfield, in hardy county, under the direction of isaac van meter, daniel m'neil, benjamin fawcett, samuel m'machen, and john g. harness, or any two of them; at beverly, in randolph county, under the direction of eli butcher, squire bosworth, jonas crane, andrew crawford, and william cooper, or any two of them; at kingwood, in preston county, under the direction of william sigler, william johnson, william price, charles byrne, and thomas brown, or any two of them; at pruntytown, in harrison county, under the direction of abraham smith, frederick burdett, thomas gethrop, cornelius reynolds, and stephen neill, or any two of them; at clarksburg, in harrison county, under the direction of john l. sehon, john sommerville, john webster, jacob stealy, and phineas chapin, or any two of them; and at parkersburg, in wood county, under the direction of jonas beason, joseph tomlinson, tillinghast cook, james h. neal, and abraham samuels, or any two of them, for purpose of receiving subscriptions to a capital stock of seventy-five thousand dollars, in shares of twenty dollars, to be appropriated to the making of a road from winchester to some proper place on the ohio river, between the mouths of muskingum, and little kanawha rivers, according to the provisions of this act.... " . the proceedings of the first general meeting of the stockholders, shall be preserved with subsequent proceedings of the company, all of which shall be entered of record in well bound books to be kept for that purpose: and from and after the first appointment of directors, the said responsible subscribers, their heirs and assigns, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, a body politic and corporate, by the name of 'the north western road company;' ... " . it shall be the duty of the principal engineer of the state, as soon as existing engagements will permit, to prescribe such plans or schemes for making the whole road, or the several parts or sections thereof, as he shall think best calculated to further its most proper and speedy completion, and to locate and graduate the same, or part or parts thereof, from time to time, make estimates of the probable cost of making each five miles, (or any shorter sections,) so located and graduated, and to make report thereof to the board of public works at such time or times as shall be convenient. " . the said president and directors shall, from time to time, make all contracts necessary for the completion of the said road, and shall require from subscribers equal advances and payments on their shares, and they shall have power to compel payments by the sale of delinquent shares, in such a manner as shall be prescribed by their by-laws, and transfer the same to purchasers: _provided_, that if any subscriber shall at any time be a contractor for making any part of the said road, or in any other manner become a creditor of the company, he shall be entitled to a proper set-off in the payment of his stock, or any requisition made thereon...."[ ] a mistake which doomed these plans to failure was in arbitrarily outlining a road by way of the important towns without due consideration of the nature of the country between them. the mountains were not to be thus mocked; even the buffalo had not found an east and west path here easily. as noted, the towns where subscriptions were opened were winchester, romney, moorefield, beverly, kingwood, pruntytown, clarksburg, and parkersburg. when the engineers got through hampshire county by way of mill creek gap in mill creek mountain and on into preston county, insurmountable obstacles were encountered and it was reported that the road would never reach kingwood. from that moment the north-western road company stock began to languish; only the intervention of the state saved the enterprise. however, in , a new and very remarkable act was passed by the virginia assembly organizing a road company that stands unique in a road-building age. this was "an act to provide for the construction of a turnpike road from winchester to some point on the ohio river." the governor was made president of the company and he with the treasurer, attorney-general, and second auditor constituted the board of directors. the st, d, and th sections of this interesting law are as follows: " . _be it enacted by the general assembly_, that the governor, treasurer, attorney general, and second auditor of the commonwealth for the time being, and their successors, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, under the denomination of 'the president and directors of the north-western turnpike road,' with power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and to hold lands and tenements, goods and chattels, and the same to sell, dispose of, or improve, in trust for the commonwealth, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned. and three of the said commissioners shall constitute a board for the transaction of such business as is hereby entrusted to them; of which board, when present, the governor shall be president: and they shall have power to appoint a clerk from without their own body, and make such distribution of their duties among themselves respectively, and such rules and regulations ... as to them may seem necessary.... " . _be it further enacted_, that the said president and directors of the north-western turnpike road be, and they are hereby empowered as soon as may be necessary for the purposes herein declared, to borrow on the credit of the state, a sum or sums of money not exceeding one hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars, and at a rate of interest not exceeding six per centum per annum.... " . _be it further enacted_, that the said president and directors, out of the money hereby authorized to be borrowed, shall cause to be constructed a road from the town of winchester, in the county of frederick, to some point on the ohio river, to be selected by the principal engineer. and for the purpose aforesaid, the principal engineer, as soon as may be after the passage of this act, shall proceed to lay out and locate the said road from the points above designated. he shall graduate the said road in such manner that the acclivity or declivity thereof shall in no case exceed five degrees. the width of the said road may be varied, so that it shall not exceed eighteen feet, nor be less than twelve feet. through level ground it shall be raised in the middle one-twenty-fourth part of its breadth, but in passing along declivities it may be flat. bridges, side ditches, gutters, and an artificial bed of stone or gravel, shall be dispensed with, except in such instances as the said principal engineer may deem them necessary...."[ ] other sections stipulated that the state had the right to survey any and all routes the engineers desired to examine, and that persons suffering by loss of land or otherwise could, if proper application was made within one year, secure justice in the superior or county courts; that the company appoint a superintendent who should have in charge the letting of contracts after such were approved by the company; that, as each stretch of twenty miles was completed, toll gates could be erected thereon, where usual tolls could be collected by the company's agents, the total sum collected to be paid into the state treasury; that the company had the right to erect bridges, or in case a ferry was in operation, to make the ferryman keep his banks and boats in good condition; that the company make annual reports to the state board of public works; and that the road be forever a public highway. the roadway was now soon built. not dependent upon the stock that might be taken in the larger towns, the road made peace with the mountains and was built through the southern part of preston county in , leaving kingwood some miles to the north. evansville was located in , and owes its rise to the great road. the route of the road is through hampshire, mineral, grant, garrett, preston, taylor, harrison, doddridge, ritchie, and wood counties, all west virginia save garrett which is in maryland. important as the route became to the rough, beautiful country which it crossed, it never became of national importance. being started so late in the century, the baltimore and ohio railway, which was completed to cumberland in , stopped in large part the busy scenes of the old northwestern turnpike. yet to the historic inquirer the old turnpike, so long forgotten by the outside world, lies where it was built; and can fairly be said to be a monument of the last of those stirring days when virginia planned to hold the west in fee. hundreds of residents along this road recall the old days with intense delight. true, the vast amount of money spent on the cumberland road was not spent on its less renowned rival to the south, but the cumberland road was given over to the states through which it ran; and, in many instances, was so neglected that it was as poor a road as some of its less pretentious rivals. a great deal of business of a national character was done on the northwestern turnpike. parkersburg became one of the important entrepôts in the ohio valley; as early as , we shall soon see, a pioneer traversing the country through which the northwestern turnpike's predecessor coursed, speaks of an awakening in the monongahela valley that cannot be considered less than marvelous. taking it through the years, few roads have remained of such constant benefit to the territory into which they ran, and today you will be told that no railway has benefited that mountainous district so much as this great thoroughfare. but in a larger sense than any merely local one, virginia counted on the northwestern turnpike to bind the state and connect its eastern metropolis with the great ohio valley. virginia had given up, on demand, her great county of kentucky when the wisdom of that movement was plain; at the call of the nation, she had surrendered the title her soldiers had given her to illinois and the beautifully fertile scioto valley in ohio. but after these great cessions she did not lose the rich monongahela country. it had been explored by her adventurers, settled by her pioneers--and virginia held dear to her heart her possessions along the upper ohio. in the days when the northwestern turnpike was created by legislative act, canals were not an assured success, and railways were only being dreamed of. and the promoters of canals and railways were considered insane when they hinted that the mountains could be conquered by these means of transportation. with all the vast need for improvements, the genius of mankind had never created anything better than the road and the cart; what hope was there that now suddenly america should surprise the world by overthrowing the axioms of the centuries past? and so, in the correct historical analysis, the northwestern turnpike must be considered virginia's attempt to compete successfully with maryland, pennsylvania, and new york, in securing for herself a commanding portion of the trade of the west. in all the legislative history of the origin of the northwestern turnpike, it is continually clear that its origin was of more than local character. it was actually the last roadway built from the seaboard to the west in the hope of securing commercial superiority; and its decline and decay marks the end of pioneer road-building across the first great american "divide." in a moment the completion of the erie canal assured the nation that freight could be transported for long distances at one-tenth the cost that had prevailed on the old land highways. soon after, the completion of the pennsylvania canal proved that the canal could successfully mount great heights--and virginia forgot her roads in her interest in canals. chapter ii a journey in northern virginia thomas wallcutt of massachusetts served through the revolutionary war as hospital steward and received in payment therefor one share in the ohio company.[ ] he went out to marietta in , and returned eastward by the half-known virginia route. his _journal_[ ] forms an interesting chapter of travel on american pioneer roads: "monday, march, .[ ] pleasant, clear, cold, and high winds. we were up before sunrise, and got some hot breakfast, coffee and toast; and captain prince, mr. moody, mr. skinner, captain mills and brother, mr. bent, &c., accompanied us over the river[ ] to sargent's or williams's, and took leave of us about nine o'clock, and we proceeded on our journey. we had gone but a little way when we found the path[ ] so blind that we could not proceed with certainty, and i was obliged to go back and get a young man to come and show us the way. when we had got back to our companions again, they had found the road, and we walked twenty miles this day. weather raw, chilly, and a little snow. the country after about five or six miles from the ohio is very broken and uneven, with high and sharp hills. "tuesday, march, . the weather for the most part of the day pleasant, but cold winds, northerly. the country very rough, the hills high and sharp.[ ] one third of the road must go over and on the ridges, and another third through the valleys. we walked this day about twenty-three or twenty-four miles, and slept near the forty-fourth or forty-fifth mile tree. "wednesday, march, . weather raw and moist. to-day we crossed several of the large creeks and waters that fall into the ohio. this occasioned a loss of much time, waiting for the horse to come over for each one, which he did as regularly as a man would. the country much the same, but rather better to-day, except that a great deal of the road runs along through the streams, and down the streams such a length with the many bridges that will be wanted, that it will be a vast expense, besides the risk and damage of being carried away every year by the floods. we had so much trouble in crossing these streams that at last we forded on foot. one of the largest in particular, after we had rode it several times, we waded it four or five times almost knee-deep, and after that a number of times on logs, or otherwise, without going in water. two of the streams, i doubt not, we crossed as often as twenty times each. we walked this day about fifteen miles. "thursday, march, . with much fatigue and pain in my left leg, we walked about fifteen miles to-day. they all walked better than i, and had got to carpenter's and had done their dinner about two o'clock when i arrived. they appear to be good farmers and good livers, have a good house, and seem very clever people. mr. c. is gone down the country. they have been a frontier here for fifteen years, and have several times been obliged to move away. i got a dish of coffee and meat for dinner, and paid ninepence each, for the doctor and me. we set off, and crossed the west branch of the monongahela over to clarksburgh. the doctor paid his own ferriage. we went to major robinson's, and had tea and meat, &c., for supper. i paid ninepence each, for the doctor and me. weather dull and unpleasant, as yesterday. "friday, march, . weather good and pleasant to-day. we set off before sunrise and got a little out of our road into the morgantown road, but soon got right again. we breakfasted at webb's mill, a good house and clever folks. had coffee, meat, &c.; paid sixpence each, for me and the doctor. lodged at wickware's, who says he is a yankee, but is a very disagreeable man for any country, rough and ugly, and he is very dear. i paid one shilling apiece for the doctor's and my supper, upon some tea made of mountain birch, perhaps black birch, stewed pumpkin, and sodden meat. appetite supplies all deficiencies. "saturday, march, . beautiful weather all day. set off not so early this morning as yesterday. the doctor paid his ferriage himself. mr. moore, a traveller toward his home in dunker's bottom, fayette county, pennsylvania, [?] set out with us. he seems a very mild, good-natured, obliging old gentleman, and lent me his horse to ride about two miles, while he drove his pair of steers on foot. the doctor and i being both excessively fatigued, he with a pain in his knee, and mine in my left leg, but shifting about, were unable to keep up with our company, and fell much behind them. met mr. carpenter on his return home. he appears to be a very clever man. when we had come to field's, i found mr. dodge had left his horse for us to ride, and to help us along, which we could not have done without. we got a dish of tea without milk, some dried smoked meat and hominy for dinner; and from about three o'clock to nine at night, got to ramsay's. seven miles of our way were through a new blazed path where they propose to cut a new road. we got out of this in good season, at sundown or before dark, into the wagon road, and forded cheat river on our horses. tea, meat, &c., for supper. old simpson and horton, a constable, had a terrible scuffle here this evening. "lord's day, march, . mr. dodge is hurrying to go away again. i tell him i must rest to-day. i have not written anything worth mention in my journal since i set out, until to-day, and so must do it from memory. i want to shave a beard seven days old, and change a shirt about a fortnight dirty; and my fatigue makes rest absolutely necessary. so take my rest this day, whether he has a mind to go or stay with us. eat very hearty of hominy or boiled corn with milk for breakfast, and boiled smoked beef and pork for dinner, with turnips. after dinner shaved and shirted me, which took till near night, it being a dark house, without a bit of window, as indeed there is scarce a house on this road that has any. "monday, march, . waited and got some tea for breakfast, before we set out. settled with ramsay, and paid him _d._ per meal, for five meals, and half-pint whiskey _d._ the whole came to eight shillings. weather very pleasant most of the day. we walked to brien's about half-past six o'clock, which they call twenty-four miles. we eat a little fried salt pork and bit of venison at friends',[ ] and then crossed the great youghiogeny. about two miles further on, we crossed the little _ditto_ at boyles's.... we walked about or near an hour after dark, and were very agreeably surprised to find ourselves at brien's instead of stackpole's, which is four miles further than we expected. eat a bit of indian bread, and the woman gave us each about half a pint of milk to drink, which was all our supper. "tuesday, march, . we were up this morning, and away about or before sunrise, and ascended the backbone of the alleghany, and got breakfast at williams's. i cannot keep up with my company. it took me till dark to get to davis's. messers. dodge and proctor had gone on before us about three miles to dawson's. we got some bread and butter and milk for supper, and drank a quart of cider. mr. davis was originally from ashford, county of windham, connecticut; has been many years settled in this country; has married twice, and got many children. his cider in a brown mug seemed more like home than any thing i have met with. "wednesday, march. we were up this morning before day, and were set off before it was cleverly light. got to dawson's, three miles, where messers. d. & p. lodged, and got some tea for breakfast, and set off in good season, the doctor and i falling behind. as it is very miry, fatiguing walking, and rainy, which makes extremely painful walking in the clay and mud, we could not keep up with d. we stopped about a mile and a half from the methodist meeting near the cross roads at cressops, and four from cumberland, and got some fried meat and eggs, milk, butter, &c., for dinner, which was a half pistareen each. after dinner the doctor and i walked into cumberland village about three o'clock, and put up at herman stitcher's or stidger's. we called for two mugs of cider, and got tea, bread and butter, and a boiled leg of fresh young pork for supper. the upper part of the county of washington has lately been made a separate county, and called alleghany, as it extends over part of that mountain, and reaches to the extreme boundary of maryland. the courts, it is expected, will be fixed and held at this place, cumberland, which will probably increase its growth, as it thrives pretty fast already. we supped and breakfasted here; paid _s._ for each, the doctor and me. pleasant fine weather this day. my feet exceedingly sore, aching, throbbing, and beating. i cannot walk up with my company. "thursday, march. paid mr. dodge _s._ advance. a very fine day. we stayed and got breakfast at stitcher's, and walked from about eight o'clock to twelve, to old town, and dined at jacob's, and then walked to dakins's to lodge, where we got a dish of indian or some other home coffee, with a fry of chicken and other meat for supper. this is the first meal i have paid a shilling l. m. for. the country very much broken and hilly, sharp high ridges, and a great deal of pine. about ... miles from old town, the north and south branches of the potomac join. we walked twenty-five miles to-day. "friday, march, . very fine weather again to-day. we walked twenty-four miles to mcfarren's in hancock, and arrived there, sun about half an hour high. mcfarren says this town has been settled about ten or twelve years, and is called for the man who laid it out or owned it, and not after governor hancock. it is a small but growing place of about twenty or thirty houses, near the bank of the potomac, thirty-five miles below old town, and five below fort cumberland; twenty-four above williamsport, and ninety-five above georgetown. we slept at mcfarren's, a so-so house. he insisted on our sleeping in beds, and would not permit sleeping on the floors. we all put our feet in soak in warm water this evening. it was recommended to us by somebody on the road, and i think they feel the better for it. "saturday, march. a very fine day again. we have had remarkably fine weather on this journey hitherto. but two days we had any rain, and then but little. we stayed and got breakfast at mcfarren's, and set out about eight o'clock, and walked about twenty-one miles this day to thompson's, about half a mile from buchanan's in the cove gap in the north mountain. my feet do not feel quite so bad this day, as they have some days. i expect they are growing stronger and fitter for walking every day, though it has cost me a great deal of pain, throbbing, beating, and aching to bring them to it. it seems the warm water last night did me some good. "lord's day, march, . up and away before sunrise, and walked to breakfast to mccracken's. he has been an officer in the continental army. i find it will not do for me to try any longer to keep up with my company, and as they propose going through reading, and we through philadelphia, we must part to-night or to-morrow. i conclude to try another seven miles, and if i cannot keep up, we part at semple's, the next stage. they got to semple's before me, and waited for me. i conclude to stay and dine here, and part with messrs. proctor and dodge. i am so dirty; my beard the ninth day old, and my shirt the time worn, that i cannot with any decency or comfort put off the cleaning any longer. i again overhauled the letters, as i had for security and care taken all into my saddle-bags. i sorted them and gave mr. dodge his, with what lay more direct in his way to deliver, and took some from him for boston and my route. "i paid mr. dodge three shillings more in addition to six shillings i had paid him before at the widow carrel's, according to our agreement at twelve shillings to philadelphia; and as we had gone together and he had carried our packs three hundred miles (wanting two), it was near the matter. he supposed i should do right to give him a shilling more. i told him as i had agreed with him at the rate of fifty pounds, when they did not weigh above thirty-five, and at the rate of going up to pitt instead of returning, which is but half price, i thought it was a generous price, and paid him accordingly as by agreement. we wished each other a good journey, and mr. proctor, the doctor, and i drank a cup of cider together. when we had got cleaned, a wagoner came along very luckily, and dined with us, and going our way, we put our packs in his wagon, and rode some to help. we gave him a quarter of a dollar for this half day and tomorrow. we got to carlisle in the evening and put up with adam at lutz's. "this carlisle is said to be extremely bad in wet weather. it probably is nearly & quite as bad as pittsburg, marietta, albany. i went to lutz's because adam puts up there, he being of his nation, but it is a miserable house, and adam says he is sorry he carried us there. the victuals are good, but they are dirty, rough, impolite. we supped on bread and milk, and lutz would insist on our sleeping in a bed and not on the floor; so we did so. "tuesday, march, . a pleasant day and the roads very much dried, so that the travelling is now comfortable. we dined at callender's in more fashion than since i left home. adam stopped at simpson's so long that it was dark when we got over the river to chambers's, where we stopped another half hour. set off about seven o'clock, and got to foot's about eleven. all abed, but adam got us a bit of bread and butter, and made us a fire in the stove, and we lay on the floor. "wednesday, march, . old foot is a crabbed.... he has been scolding and swearing at adam all this morning about something that i cannot understand. it has rained last night, and the roads are again intolerable. adam says he cannot go again until his father says the word, and that may not be this two or three days. but we cannot go and carry our packs on our backs now, the roads are so bad, and we should gain nothing to walk, but spend our strength to little or no purpose. we must wait for a wagon to go along our way, and join it, or wait for the roads to grow better. "carried our dirty things to wash; two shirts, two pairs stockings, and one handkerchief for me; two shirts, two pair stockings, and one pair trowsers for the doctor. went to several places to look for shoes for the doctor. he could not fit himself at the shoemakers, and bought a pair in a store for _s._ _d._ pennsylvania, or _s._ _d._ our currency. he went to henry moore's, the sign of the two highlanders. i drank a quart of beer and dined. old foot is a supervisor, and is gone to harrisburg to-day, to settle some of his business. "thursday, march, . the sun rises and shines out so bright to-day that i am in hopes the roads will be better, at least, when we go. old foot could not finish his business yesterday, and is gone again to-day. he is uncertain when he shall send adam forward to philadelphia, perhaps not until monday. it will not do for us to stay, if we can somehow get along sooner. time hangs heavy on our hands, but we do what we can to kill it. the doctor and i went down to moore's and dined together, which was a shilling l. m. apiece. we then came back to foot's and drank a pint of cider-royal together. the house is for the most part of the day filled with germans, who talk much, but we cannot understand them. we have coffee and toast, or meat for breakfast, and mush and milk for supper. our time is spent in the most irksome manner possible; eating and drinking, and sleeping and yawning, and attending to the conversation of these dutch. in the evening the house is crowded with the neighbors, &c., and for the ... old foot says, and adam too, that he will not go till monday. this is very discouraging. "friday, march, . a very dull prospect to-day. it rained very hard in the night, and continues to rain this morning. no wagons are passing, and none coming that we can hear of. we have no prospect now but to stay and go with adam on monday. we stay at home to-day and murder our time. we read mcfingal, or ballads, or whatever we can pick up. we had coffee and toast and fresh fried veal for breakfast, and ate heartily, and so we eat no dinner. the doctor goes out and buys us _d._ worth of cakes, and we get a half-pint of whiskey, which makes us a little less sad. in comes a man to inquire news, &c., of two men from muskingum. he had heard thompson's report, which had made so much noise and disquiet all through the country. he had three harrisburg papers with him, which give us a little relief in our dull and unwelcome situation. at dark there come in two men with a wagon and want lodging, &c. they stay this night, and with them we find an opportunity of going forward as far as lancaster, which we are determined to embrace. "saturday, march, . we stay and get a good breakfast before we set out, and agree to give mr. bailey _s._ l. m. for carrying our baggage. this is higher than anything it has cost us on the road in proportion, but we cannot help it. it is better than to waste so much time in a tavern. it rains steadily, and the road is all mush and water. before i get on a hundred rods i am half-leg deep in mire. set off about eight o'clock, and overtook the wagon about two miles ahead. however, it clears off before night, and the sun shines warm, and the roads mend fast. we made a stay in elizabethtown about two hours to feed and rest. the doctor and i had two quarts of beer and some gingerbread and buckwheat cakes for dinner. we got to colonel pedens to lodge, which is eighteen miles through an intolerable bad road, to-day. (elizabethtown, about fifty houses; middletown, about an hundred houses.) we paid our landlady this evening, as we are to start so early in the morning it would not do to wait till the usual time of getting up to pay then, and we have got nine miles to go to reach lancaster. "lord's day, march, . we started this morning at day dawn, and got to ---- at the black horse, four and a half miles to breakfast. the wagon went by us, and fed at shoop's. i left the doctor with them and to take care of the things, and walked into the town before them. stopped at gross's, the spread eagle, and left word for the doctor, which they never told him. i heard the bell ring for church just as i got here, which made me go into town after waiting some time for them. took leave of mr. bailey, &c. i went to the english episcopal church, and then went back to look for the doctor, and he looking for me; we were some time in chase, and missed each other. found we could not get served at the angel, so took our baggage and walked down to doersh's, who keeps the stage. got dinner here. shaved, shirted, put on my boots, and went out into town. stopped at the court-house and heard a methodist. walked further about; stopped and looked into the catholic chapel, and talked with the priest. looked into the churches, such as i could, and returned to tea at sundown. spent the remainder of the time till bed reading newspapers. washed my feet and went to bed just before ten. "monday, march, . after breakfast the doctor and i took a ramble about the town, to look at it and to inquire if we could find any wagon going to philadelphia, that we can get our baggage carried. the most likely place we can hear of is to go to the creek, about a mile from town. immediately after our walk we settled and paid, and set out at just eleven o'clock. paid toll over conestoga bridge, and stopped at locher's, at the indian king, two miles from lancaster, and drank a quart of beer. it was not good. dined at blesser's, on a cold meal, which was _d._ l. m. apiece. got to hamilton's at salsbury, a very good house; nineteen miles. this is more than i expected when i set out at eleven o'clock. a very good supper; rye mush and milk, cold corn beef, and apple pie on the table. but _d._ l. m. for supper and lodging apiece. we have had very good weather for travelling, and the roads are drying fast. in hopes that we shall find some wagon going on the philadelphia road, that we may get our packs carried part of the way. "tuesday, march, . we walked twenty-four miles this day, that is, from hamilton's to fahnstock's. very pleasant weather, suitable for travelling; not too warm nor too cold. my feet very tender and sore, but we keep along steady. got to fahnstock's, admiral warren, about eight o'clock. got some bread and milk for supper. the doctor had nothing but a pint of cider for his supper. we slept well, considering my being excessively fatigued. the post overtook us. "wednesday, march. stayed to breakfast this morning, which was very good, but i do not like the practice, at least i do not seem to need eating meat with breakfast every morning. i sometimes eat it two or three times a day because it is set before me, and it is the fashion to have meat always on the table. we dined about seven miles from philadelphia; crossed the schuylkill about sunset, and walked into town about dark. crossed the schuylkill over the floating bridge, and paid our toll, _d._ pennsylvania each." chapter iii a pilgrim on braddock's road a yellow letter, almost in tatters, lies before me written by one samuel allen to his father, mr. jason allen of montville, new london county, connecticut, from bellville, virginia,[ ] november , . bellville is in wood county, west virginia, eighteen miles by the ohio river from parkersburg. this letter, describing a journey from alexandria and cumberland to the ohio by way of "broadaggs [braddock's] old road," gives a picture of certain of the more pathetic phases of the typical emigrant's experience unequaled by any account we have met in print. incidentally, there is included a mention of the condition of the road and, what is of more interest, a clear glimpse into the ohio valley when the great rush of pioneers had begun after the signing of the treaty of greenville, the year before, which ended the indian war. "bellville w. va november the ^{th} . "honoured parents six months is allmost gone since i left n. london [new london, connecticut] & not a word have i heard from you or any of the family i have not heard wheather you are dead or alive, sick or well. when i heard that mr. backus had got home i was in hopes of recieving a letter by him. but his brother was here the other day and sayes that he left his trunk and left the letters that he had in the trunk, so i am still in hopes of having one yet. there is an opertunity of sending letters once every week only lodge a letter in the post-offis in n. london & in a short time it will be at belleville. the people that came with me has most all had letters from their friends in new england mr avory has had two or three letters from his brother one in fiften dayes after date all of whitch came by the waye of the male. "general putnam of muskingdom [marietta on the muskingum] takes the new london papers constantly every week "when we arrived to allexandria [alexandria, virginia] mr avory found that taking land cariag from there to the monongehaly would be less expence then it would be to go any farther up the potomac & less danger so he hired wagoners to carry the goods across the mountains to morgantown on the monongahaly about one hundred miles above pittsburg mr avorys expence in comeing was from n london to allexndria six dollars each for the passengers and two shillings & six pence for each hundred weight. from allexandria to morgantown was thirty two shillings and six pence for each hundred weight of women & goods the men all walked the hole of the way. i walked the hole distance it being allmost three hundred miles and we found the rode to be pritty good untill we came to the mountaing. crossing the blue mountain the monongehaly & the lorral mountains we found the roads to be verry bad. "you doubtless remember i rote in my last letter that prentice was taken ill a day or two before he continued verry much so untill the ^{th} of july when he began to gro wors the waggoner was hired by the hundred weight & could not stop unless i paid him for the time that he stoped & for the keeping of the horses that i could not affoard to do so we were obliged to keep on we were now on the allegany mountain & a most horrid rode the waggon golted so that i dare not let him ride so i took him in my arms and carried him all the while except once in a while mr davis would take him in his armes & carry him a spell to rest me. a young man that mr avory hired at allexandria a joiner whose kindness i shall not forgit he kep all the while with us & spared no panes to assist us in anything & often he would offer himself. our child at this time was verry sick & no medecal assistance could be had on this mountain on the morning of the ^{th} as we was at breackfast at the house of one mr tumblestone [tomlinson?] the child was taken in a fit our company had gone to the next house to take breakfast which was one mile on our way we were alone in the room & went & asked mrs tumblestone to come into the room she said she did not love to see a person in a fitt but she came into the room polly ask her if she new what was good for a child in a fitt she said no & immediately left the room & shut the door after her & came no more into the room when that fitt left him there came on another no person in the room but mr tumblestone who took but little notis of the child tho it was in great distress polly said she was afraid the child would die in one of them fitts mr tumblestone spoke in a verry lite manner and sayes with a smile it will save you the trouble of carrying it any farther if it does die we then bundled up the child and walked to the next house ware we come up with our company i had just seated myself down when the child was taken in a fitt again when that had left it it was immediately taken in another & as that went off we saw another coming on the man of the house gave it some drops that stoped the fitt he handed me a vial of the dropps--gave directions how to use them the child had no more fitts but seemed to be stuped all day he cried none at all but he kept a whining & scouling all the while with his eyes stared wide open his face and his eyes appeared not to come in shape as before when we took dinner it was six mile to the next house the waggoners said they could not git through thro that night we did not love to stay out for fear our child would die in the woods so we set off & left the waggons i took the child in my arms and we traveled on mr davis set off with us & carried the child above half of the time here we traveled up & down the most tedious hills as i ever saw & by nine oclock in the evening we came to the house the child continued stayed all the night the next morning at break of day i heard it make a strange noise i percieved it grew worse i got up and called up the women [who] ware with us the woman of the house got up & in two hours the child dyed polly was obliged to go rite off as soon as his eyes was closed for the waggoners would not stop i stayed to see the child burried i then went on two of the men that was with me were joiners & had their tools with them they stayed with me & made the coffin mr simkins [simpkins] the man of the house sent his negroes out & dug the grave whare he had burried several strangers that dyed a crossing the mountain his family all followed the corps to the grave black & white & appeared much affected. "when we returned to the house i asked mr simkins to give me his name & the name of the place he asked me the name of the child i told him he took his pen & ink & rote the following lines alligany county marriland july the ^{th} died john p allen at the house of john simkins at atherwayes bear camplain broadaggs old road half way between fort cumberland & uniontown.[ ] i thanked him for the kindness i had received from him he said i was verry welcome & he was verry sorry for my loss "we then proceeded on our journey & we soon overtook the waggons & that nite we got to the foot of the mountain we came to this mountain on the ^{th} of the month and got over it the ^{th} at night we left the city of allexandria on the potomac the ^{th} day of june & arrived at morgantown on the monongahely the ^{th} day of july "thus my dear pearents you see we are deprived of the child we brought with us & we no not whather the one we left is dead or alive. i beg you to rite & let me no polly cant bear her name mentioned without shedding tears if she is alive i hope you will spare no panes to give her learning. "when we arrived at morgantown the river was so lo that boats could not go down but it began to rain the same day that i got ther i was about one mile from there when it began to rain & from the ^d at night to the ^d in the morning it raised feet the logs came down the river so that it was dangerous for boats to go & on sunday the ^d in the evening the boats set off three waggons had not arrived but the river was loreing so fast that we dare not wate the goods was left with a merchant in that town to be sent when the river rises they have not come on yet one of my barrels & the brass cittle is yet behind "mr avory said while he was at morgantown that cattle were verry high down the river & them that wanted to by he thought had better by then he purchased some & i bought two cows and three calvs for myself & three cows for mrs hemsted & calves & a yoke of three year old stears. the next morning after the boats sailed i set off by land with the cattle & horses with john turner & jonathan prentice & arrived at bellvill the ^{th} of august & found it to be a verry rich & pleasant country we came to the ohio at wheeling crick one hundred miles belo pittsburg & about the same from morgantown we found the country settled the hole of the way from morgantown to wheeling & a verry pleasant road we saw some verry large & beautiful plantations here i saw richer land than i ever saw before large fields of corn & grane of a stout groath from wheeling to bellville it is a wilderness for the most of the way except the banks of the river this side----which is one hundred miles we found it verry difficult to get victules to eat. i drove fifty miles with one meal of victules through the wilderness & only a foot path & that was so blind that we was pestered to keep it we could drive but a little wayes in a day whenever night overtook us we would take our blankets & wrap around us & ly down on the ground we found some inhabitance along the river but they came on last spring & had no provisions only what they brought with them "the country is as good as it was represented to be & is seteling verry fast families are continually moveing from other parts into this beautiful country if you would give me all your intrest to go back there to live again it would be no temtation if you should sell your intrest there & lay your money out here in a short time i think you would be worth three or four times so much as you now are. it is incredible to tell the number of boats that goes down this river with familys a man that lives at redstone old fort on the monongehaly says that he saw last spring seventy boats go past in one day with familys moveing down the ohio. there is now at this place a number of familys that came since we did from sesquehanah there is now at this place eighty inhabitance. corn is going at .^s pr bushel by the quantity .^s -^d by the single bushel. there has been between two & three thousand bushels raised in bellville this season & all the settlements along the river as raised corn in proportion but the vast number of people that are moveing into this country & depending upon bying makes it scerce & much higher than it would be "there is three double the people that passes by here then there is by your house there is packets that passes from pittsburg to kentucky one from pittsburg to wheeling miles one from that to muskingdom miles one from that to gallipolees miles the french settlement opisite the big canawa [kanawha] & from that there is another to kentucky----of which goes & returns every week &----loaded with passengers & they carry the male mammy offered me some cloath for a jacket & if you would send it by mr woodward it would be very exceptible for cloaths is verry high here common flanel is ^s per yard & tow cloth is ^s ^d the woolves are so thick that sheep cannot be kept without a shephard they often catch our calvs they have got one of mine & one of mrs hemstid the latter they caught in the field near the houses i have often ben awoak out of my sleep by the howling of the wolves. "this is a fine place for eunice they ask ^s per yard for weaving tow cloth give my respects to betsey & eunice & tell them that i hope one of them will come with mr woodward when he comes on horses are very high in this country & if you have not sold mine i should be [glad] if you would try to send him on by mr. woodward. i dont think mr avory will be there this year or two & anything you would wish to send you nead not be affraid to trust to mr. woodwards hands for he is a verry careful & a verry honest man & what he says you may depend upon. "land is rising verry fast mr avory is selling his lots at dollars apeace he has sold three since we came here at that price we was so long a comeing & provisions so verry high that i had not any money left when i got here except what i paid for the cattle i bought i have worked for mr avory since i came here to the amount of sixteen dollars i paid him dollars before we left n london i am not in debt to him at preasent or any one else i have sot me up a small house and have lived in it upwards of a fortnight we can sell all our milk and butter milk at ^d per quart mr avory will give me three shillings per day for work all winter & find [furnish] me with victules or ^s & find myself i need not want for business i think i am worth more then i was when i came we have ben in verry good health ever since we left home. "general st clair who is now govener of the western teritoryes & general wilkinson with their adicongs [aid-de-camps] attended by a band of soldiers in uniform lodged at bellvill a few nights ago on their way from headquarters to philadelphia with amaracan coulours a flying "please to give my respects to george & james & tell them that if they want an interest this is the country for them to go to make it please to except of my kind love to yourselves & respects to all friends who may enquire do give my love to mr rogers & family & all my brothers and sisters & our only child lydia polly sends her love to you & all her old friends & neighbors your affectionate son samuel allen" the following is a translation of a letter written twelve years after washington's journey of , by eric bollman, a traveler through dunkard's bottom, to his brother lewis bollman, father of h. l. bollman of pittsburg: "from cumberland we have journeyed over the alleghany mountains in company with general irwin, of baltimore, who owns some , acres in this vicinity. the mountains are not so high and not so unproductive as i had imagined them to be. several points are rocky and barren, such as the laurel ridge, but even this with proper attention and ... european cultivation could be made productive. there are proportionately few such ranges as this, and for the greater part, the mountains are covered with fine timber. "we spent the first night at west port. up to this point, at the proper seasons, the potomac is navigable and could be made so quite a distance further. but even in the present state the land journey to the monongahela, which is navigable and flows into the ohio, is but a distance of miles.... "the road is not in a bad condition and could be made most excellent. this will, without doubt, be accomplished just as soon as the country is sufficiently inhabited, since there is no nearer way to reach the western waters. "the next day we dined with mr. m. mccartin, still higher up in the mountains. there are many settlements in this vicinity. we were entertained in a beautiful, cool, roomy house, surrounded by oat fields and rich meadows, where the sound of the bells told that cattle were pasturing near by. we dined from delicate china, had good knives, good forks, spoons, and other utensils. our hostess, a bright, handsome, healthy woman, waited upon us. after dinner, a charming feminine guest arrived on horseback; a young girl from the neighboring farm, of perhaps years of age, with such bashful eyes and such rosy cheeks, so lovely and attractive in manner that even coopley, our good mathematician, could not restrain his admiration. "this is the 'backwoods' of america, which the philadelphian is pleased to describe as a rough wilderness--while in many parts of europe, in westphalia, in the whole of hungary and poland, nowhere, is there a cottage to be found, which, taking all things together in consideration of the inhabitant, can be compared with the one of which i have just written. "four miles from this we reached the glades, one of the most remarkable features of these mountains and this land. these are broad stretches of land of many thousand acres, covered with dense forests; beyond this there is not a tree to be found, but the ground is covered knee-deep with grass and herbs, where both the botanist and the cattle find delicious food. many hundred head of cattle are driven yearly, from the south branch and other surrounding places, and entrusted to the care of the people who live here. what can be the cause of this strange phenomenon! one can only suppose that at one time these glades were covered with timber, which, overthrown by a mighty hurricane, gradually dried and fell into decay. but it would take too long to give the many reasons and arguments both for and against this supposition. "only lately have the indians ceased roving in this vicinity; which has done much to delay its cultivation, but now it is being cleared quite rapidly, and in a short time will, without doubt, become a fine place for pasturage. we spent the second night with one named boyle, an old hollander. early the next morning we could hear the howling of a wolf in the forest. "we breakfasted with tim friend, a hunter, who lived six miles further on. if ever adam existed he must have looked as this tim friend. i never saw such an illustration of perfect manhood. large, strong and brawny; every limb in magnificent proportion, energy in every movement and strength in every muscle, his appearance was the expression of manly independence, contentment and intelligence. his conversation satisfied the expectations which it awakened. with gray head, years old, of which he had lived in the mountains, and of an observing mind, he could not find it difficult to agreeably entertain people who wished for information. he is a hunter by profession. we had choice venison for breakfast, and there were around the house and near by a great number of deers, bears, panthers, etc. i cannot abstain from believing that the manly effort which must be put forth in the hunt, the boldness which it requires, the keen observation which it encourages, the dexterity and activity which are necessary to its success, act together more forcibly for the development of the physical and mental strength than any other occupation. "agriculture and cattle-raising, in their beginning produce careless customs and indolence; the mental faculties remain weak, the ideas limited, and the imagination, without counterpoise, extravagant. therefore we admire the wisdom and penetration of the north american indian, his sublime eloquence and heroic spirit in contrast to the asiatic shepherd, from whom we receive only simple arabic fables. the man, of whatever color he may be, is always that which the irresistible influence of his surroundings has formed him. we left our noble hunter and his large, attractive family unwillingly and followed a roadway to duncard's bottom, on cheat river. "we had ridden along uneventfully for about two hours. i was in advance, when joseph, who rode behind me, cried: 'take care, sir. take care. there is a rattlesnake.' it lay upon the road and my horse had almost stepped upon it, which would have proved a disastrous thing. joseph, a good active fellow, sprang instantly from his horse in order to kill it. the snake disappeared in the bushes and rattled. it sounded so exactly like the noise of a grasshopper that i did not think it could be anything else. joseph armed himself with a stout stick and heavy stone, followed the snake, found it, and killed it, but then jumped quickly back, for he saw close by another rattlesnake, which had coiled itself and was ready to spring at him. he hurried back again and killed the second. they were - / feet long and nine inches in circumference, in the thickest part of the body; one had nine rattles and the other five. we examined the poisonous fangs, took the rattles with us and hung the bodies on a tree. i had thought until now that the principle of life was as stubborn in a snake as in an eel, but found to my astonishment that a slight blow was sufficient to destroy it in this dangerous specimen. other observations touching upon natural history i must keep for future discussion. "we dined at duncard's bottom, crossed the cheat river in the afternoon, reached the monongahela valley, spent the night in a very comfortable blockhouse with mr. zinn, and arrived the next day at morgantown, on the monongahela. we spent a day and a half here and were pleasantly entertained by mr. reeder and william m. clary, and received much information, especially concerning sugar, maple trees and sugar making. from morgantown we went to the mouth of george creek, fayette county, pennsylvania. as it was afternoon when we reached here we were overtaken by night and compelled to spend the night in a small blockhouse with mr. mcfarlain. we found mr. mcfarlain a respectable, intelligent farmer, surrounded as usual, by a large and happy family. "directly after our arrival the table was set, around which the entire family assembled. this appears to be the usual custom in the united states with all people who are in some measure in good circumstances. one of the women, usually the prettiest, has the honor of presiding at table. there were good table appointments, fine china, and the simple feast was served with the same ceremony as in the most fashionable society of philadelphia. never, i believe, was there in any place more equality than in this. strangers who come at this time of day at once enter the family circle. this was the case with us. mr. mcfarlain told us much about his farm and the misfortunes with which he struggled when he first cultivated the place upon which he now lives. he has lived here years, a circumstance which is here very unusual, because the adventure loving nature, together with the wish to better their condition and the opportunity, has led many people to wander from place to place. "'but,' said mr. mcfarlain, when we made this observation, 'i have always believed there was truth in the saying, "a rolling stone gathers no moss." with labor and industry i have at last succeeded, and can still work as well as my sons.' "'oh,' said his wife, a jolly woman, 'he does not do much. the most he does is to go around and look at the work.' "'let him, let him,' interrupted the daughter, an energetic, pretty girl of perhaps years, who was serving the coffee. 'he worked hard when he was young.' and no girl of finer education could have said it with more charming naivete or with the appearance of more unaffected love. "after the evening meal the eldest son showed us to our bed-room. 'shall i close the window?' said he. 'i usually sleep here and always leave it open; it does not harm me, and dr. franklin advises it.' "the next morning when we came down we found the old farmer sitting on the porch reading a paper. upon the table lay 'morse's geography,' 'the beauty of the stars,' 'the vicar of wakefield,' and other good books. i have entered into particulars in my description of this family, because we were then only five miles from the home of gallatin, where the people are too often represented as rough, uncultured, good-for-nothings. it is not necessary to mention that all families here are not as this, yet it is something to find a family such as this, living on this side of the mountains, miles from the sea coast. we called upon mr. gallatin, but did not find him at home. geneva is a little place, but lately settled, at the junction of george creek and the monongahela. "from here we went to uniontown, the capital of fayette county, where we saw excellent land and redstone creek. we dined the following day in redstone or brownsville; journeyed to washington, the capital of the county of the same name, and arrived the following day in pittsburg. "of this city and its magnificent situation between two mighty rivers, the monongahela and the allegheny, i shall write you another time. from the window where i now sit, i have a view of the first named river, a half mile long. it is as broad as the thames in london. the bank on this side is high, but horizontal and level, covered with short grass, such as the sheep love, which reminds me of the rock at brighthelmstein. it is bordered with a row of locust trees. the bank on the other side is a chain of hills, thickly shaded with oak and walnut trees. the river flows quietly and evenly. boats are going back and forth; even now one is coming, laden with hides from illinois. the people on board are wearing clothes made of woolen bed blankets. they are laughing and singing after the manner of the french, yet as red as indians, and almost the antipodes of their fatherland. "from here to the mouth of the ohio it is , miles and , to the mouth of the mississippi. how enormous! how beautiful it is to see the dominion of freedom and common sense established. to see in these grand surroundings the development of good principle and the struggle toward a more perfect life; to admire the spirit of enterprise as it works toward a great plan, which seems to be in relation to the great plan which nature itself has followed, and at last to anticipate by a secret feeling, the future greatness and prosperity which lies before this growing country." two years later felix renick passed this way and includes in his account a vivid picture of the earliest sort of taverns in the west: "some of our neighbors who had served in dunmore's campaign in , gave accounts of the great beauty and fertility of the western country, and particularly the scioto valley, which inspired me with a desire to explore it as early as i could make it convenient. i accordingly set out from the south branch of potomac for that purpose, i think about the first of october, , in company with two friends, joseph harness and leonard stump, both of whom have long since gone hence. we took with us what provisions we could conveniently carry, and a good rifle to procure more when necessary, and further prepared ourselves to camp wherever night overtook us. having a long journey before us, we traveled slow, and reached clarksburgh the third night, which was then near the verge of the western settlements in virginia, except along the ohio river. among our first inquiries of our apparently good, honest, illiterate landlord, was whether he could tell us how far it was to marietta [ohio], and what kind of trace we should have? his reply was, 'o yes, i can do that very thing exactly, as i have been recently appointed one of the viewers to lay out and mark a road from here to marietta, and have just returned from the performance of that duty. the distance on a _straight line_ which we first run was seventy-five miles, but on our return we found and marked another line that was much _nearer_.' this theory to mr. harness and myself, each of us having spent several years in the study and practice of surveying, was entirely new: we however let it pass without comment, and our old host, to his great delight, entertained us till late in the evening, with a detailed account of the fine sport he and his associates had in their bear chases, deer chases, &c., while locating the road. we pursued our journey next morning, taking what our host called the nearest, and which he also said was much the best route. the marks on both routes being fresh and plain, the crooked and nearest route, as our host called it, frequently crossing the other, we took particular notice of the ground the straight line had to pass over, and after getting through we were disposed to believe that our worthy host was not so far wrong as might be supposed. the straight line crossing such high peaks of mountains, some of which were so much in the sugar-loaf form, that it would be quite as near to go round as over them. "the first night after leaving the settlement at clarksburgh, we camped in the woods; the next morning while our horses were grazing, we drew on our wallets and saddlebags for a snack, that we intended should pass for our breakfast, and set out. we had not traveled far before we unexpectedly came to a new improvement. a man had gone there in the spring, cleared a small field and raised a patch of corn, &c., staying in a camp through the summer to watch it to prevent its being destroyed by the wild animals. he had, a few days before we came along, called on some of his near neighbors on the ohio, not much more perhaps than thirty miles off, who had kindly came forth and assisted him in putting up a cabin of pretty ample size, into which he had moved bag and baggage. he had also fixed up a rock and trough, and exposed a clapboard to view, with some black marks on it made with a coal, indicating that he was ready and willing to accommodate those who pleased to favor him with a call. seeing these things, and although we did not in reality need any thing in his way, mr. harness insisted on our giving him a call, observing that any man that would settle down in such a wilderness to accommodate travelers ought to be encouraged. we accordingly rode up and called for breakfast, horse feed, &c. then let me say that as our host had just 'put the ball in motion,' was destitute of any helpmate whatever, (except a dog or two,) he had of course to officiate in all the various departments appertaining to a hotel, from the landlord down to the shoe-black on the one side, and from the landlady down to the dishwash on the other. the first department in which he had to officiate was that of the hostler, next that of the bar keeper, as it was then customary, whether called for or not, to set out a half pint of something to drink. the next, which he fell at with much alacrity, was that of the cook, by commencing with rolled up sleeves and unwashed hands and arms, that looked about as black and dirty as the bears' paws which lay at the cabin door, part of whose flesh was the most considerable item in our breakfast fare. the first operation was the mixing up some pounded corn meal dough in a little black dirty trough, to which the cleaner, and perhaps as he appeared to think him, the better half of himself, his dog, had free access before he was fairly done with it, and that i presume was the only kind of cleaning it ever got. while the dodgers were baking, the bear meat was frying, and what he called coffee was also making, which was composed of an article that grew some hundred or one thousand miles north of where the coffee tree ever did grow. you now have the bill of fare that we sat down to, and the manner in which it was prepared; but you must guess how much of it we ate, and how long we were at it. as soon as we were done we called for our bill, and here follows the items: breakfast fifty cents each, horses twenty-five each, half pint of whisky fifty cents. mr. harness, who had prevailed on us to stop, often heard of the wilderness hotel, and whenever mentioned, he always had some term of reproach ready to apply to the host and the dirty breakfast, though we often afterwards met with fare somewhat similar in all respects. "we camped two nights in the woods, and next day got to marietta where the land office was then kept by general putnam, and from his office we obtained maps of the different sections of country we wished to explore."[ ] chapter iv the genesee road the military importance of the mohawk valley and strategic portage at rome, new york, was emphasized in our study of portage paths.[ ] throughout the french and indian war and the revolutionary struggle the water route to the hudson from lake ontario, by way of the onondaga, lake oneida, wood creek, and the mohawk, was of great moment. but only because it was a route--a thoroughfare; not because the territory through which it coursed was largely occupied or of tremendous value. the french held the lakes and the english were constantly striving for foothold there. when fort oswego was built on the present site of oswego, the first step by the english was taken; the route had been the river route with a portage at fort williams (rome). when fort niagara was captured in by sir william johnson, the french were driven from the lakes; johnson's route to niagara was by lake ontario from oswego. it has been suggested that a volume of this series of monographs should be given to the campaigns of the english against fort niagara. these campaigns were made largely on waterways; they left no roads which became of any real importance in our national development. certain campaigns of the old french war left highways which have become of utmost significance; only of these routes and their story should this series be expected to treat. despite the two wars which had created busy scenes in the mohawk valley, no landward route connected it with niagara river and lake erie except the iroquois trail.[ ] no military road was built through the "long house of the iroquois." to gain the key of the western situation--niagara--the common route was to oswego. there were local roads along the lake shore, and these were used more or less by the troops. in the revolution no american general could get beyond fort stanwix by land. leger himself came up the oswego river to join burgoyne. [illustration: part of a "map of the route between albany and oswego" (_parts aa' and bb' belong opposite_) [_drawn about ; from original in british museum_]] as a consequence, the interior of new york was an almost unexplored wilderness at the end of the revolution in . with the opening of the genesee country by the various companies which operated there, a tide of immigration began to surge westward from the upper mohawk along the general alignment of the old-time iroquois trail. utica sprang up on the site of old fort schuyler, and marked the point of divergence of the new land route of civilization from the water route.[ ] this was about . in asa danworth erected his salt works at bogardus corners, now the city of syracuse. geneva, batavia, and buffalo mark the general line of the great overland route from utica and syracuse across new york. it followed very closely the forty-third meridian, dropping somewhat to reach buffalo. the great genesee road, as it was early known, began at old fort schuyler, as a western extremity of the mohawk valley road and later turnpike, and was built to the genesee river by a law passed march , . in a law was passed extending it to the western boundary of the state. it was legally known as the great genesee road and the main genesee road until . in that year the road passed into the hands of a turnpike company the legal name of which was "the president and directors of the seneca road company." the old name clung to the road however, and on the map here reproduced we find it called the "ontario and genesee turnpike road." it forms the main street of both the large cities through which it passes, syracuse and utica, and in both it is called "genesee street." the first act of legislation which created a genesee road from an indian trail read as follows: "_be it enacted by the people of the state of new york, represented in senate and assembly_ that israel chapin, michael myer, and othniel taylor shall be and hereby are appointed commissioners for the purpose of laying out and improving a public road or highway to begin at old fort schuyler on the mohawk river and to run from thence in a line as nearly straight as the situation of the country will admit to the cayuga ferry in the county of onondaga or to the outlet of the cayuga lake at the discretion of the said commissioners and from the said outlet of the cayuga lake or from the said cayuga ferry as the same may be determined on by the said commissioners in a line as nearly straight as the situation of the country will admit to the town of canadaquai and from thence in a line as nearly straight as possible to the settlement of canawagas on the genesee river. "_and be it further enacted_ that the said road shall be laid out six rods wide, but it shall not be necessary for the said commissioners to open and improve the same above four rods wide in any place thereof. and the whole of the said road when laid out, shall be considered as a public highway and shall not be altered by the commissioners of any town or country [county?] through which the same shall run. "_and be it further enacted_ that the treasurer of this state shall pay to the said commissioners or any two of them a sum or sums of money not exceeding in the whole the sum of six hundred pounds out of the monies in the treasury which have arisen or may arise from the sale of military lotts to be laid out and expended towards the opening and improving that part of the said road passing through the military lands. "_and be it further enacted_ that for the purpose of laying out opening and improving the remainder of the said road, the said treasurer shall pay unto the said commissioners or any two of them out of any monies in the treasury not otherwise appropriated at the end of the present session of the legislature a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred pounds which said sum shall be by them laid out and expended in making or improving the remainder of the said road as aforesaid. _provided_ that no larger proportion of the said sum of fifteen hundred pounds shall be appropriated towards the opening and improving of the said road in the county of ontario then in the county of herkemer. "_and be it further enacted_ that it shall and may be lawful to and for the said commissioners or any two of them to improve the said road by contract or otherwise as to them may appear the most proper. "_and be it further enacted_ that where any part of the said road shall be laid out through any inclosed or improved lands the owner or owners thereof shall be paid the value of the said lands so laid out into an highway with such damages as he, she or they may sustain by reason thereof which value and damages shall be settled and agreed upon by the said commissioners or any two of them and the parties interested therein, and if they cannot agree, then the value of the lands and damages shall be appraised by two justices of the peace, on the oaths of twelve freeholders not interested in paying or receiving any part of such appraisement, otherwise than in paying their proportion of the taxes for the contingent charges of the county which freeholders shall be summoned by any constable not otherwise interested than as aforesaid, by virtue of a warrant to be issued by the said two justices of the peace for that purpose, and the whole value of the said lands so laid out into an highway, and damages together with the costs of ascertaining the value of the said damages of the county in which the said lands shall be situated are levied collected and paid. "_and be it further enacted_ that each of the said commissioners shall be entitled to receive for their services the sum of sixteen shillings for every day they shall be respectively employed in the said business to be paid by the respective counties in which they shall so be employed which sums shall be raised levied and paid together with and in the same manner as the necessary and contingent charges of such county are raised levied and paid and that the said commissioners shall account with the auditor of this state for the monies they shall respectively receive from the treasurer of this state by virtue of this act on or before the first day of january one thousand seven hundred and ninety six."[ ] a law entitled "an act appropriating monies for roads in the county of onondaga and for other purposes therein mentioned," passed april , , contained the following concerning the genesee road: "_and be it further enacted_ that the said commissioners shall and they are hereby strictly enjoined to expend two thousand dollars of the said monies in repairing the highway and bridges thereon heretofore directed to be laid out by law and now commonly called the great genesee road from the eastern to the western bounds of the said county of onondaga and the residue of the money aforesaid to expend in the repair of such highways and the bridges thereon in the said county as will tend most extensively to benefit and accommodate the inhabitants thereof. "_and be it further enacted_ that it shall be the duty of the said commissioners and they are hereby strictly enjoined to cause all and every bridge which shall be constructed under their direction over any stream to be raised at least three feet above the water at its usual greatest height in the wettest season of the year and to construct every such bridge of the most durable and largest timber which can be obtained in its vicinity, and that wherever it can conveniently be done the road shall be raised in the middle so as to enable the water falling thereon freely to discharge therefrom and shall pursue every other measure which in their opinion will best benefit the public in the expenditure of the money committed to them."[ ] in an act, passed april , , supplementary to an "act for the better support of oneida, onondaga and cuyuga indians ...", it was ordered that from the proceeds of all sales of lands bought of the indians the surveyor-general should pay £ to the treasurer of herkimer county and a like amount to the treasurer of onondaga county; this money was ordered to be applied to "mending the highway commonly called the great genesee road and the bridges thereon."[ ] a law of the year following, , affords one of the interesting uses of the lottery in the development of american highways. it reads: "whereas it is highly necessary, that direct communications be opened and improved between the western, northern and southern parts of this state. therefore "_be it enacted by the people of the state of new york, represented in senate and assembly_, that for the purpose of opening and improving the said communications, the managers herein after named shall cause to be raised by three successive lotteries of equal value, the sum of forty-five thousand dollars. that out of the neat [net?] proceeds of the first lottery the sum of eleven thousand seven hundred dollars, and out of the neat proceeds of the third lottery, the further sum of two thousand two hundred dollars shall be and hereby is appropriated for opening and improving the road commonly called the great genesee road, in all its extent from old fort schuyler in the county of herkimer to geneva in the county of ontario...."[ ] the western movement to lake erie became pronounced at this time; the founders of connecticut's western reserve under general moses cleaveland emigrated in . the promoters of the genesee country were advertising their holdings widely. the general feeling that there was a further west which was fertile, if not better than even the mohawk and hudson valleys, is suggested in a law passed march , , which contained a clause concerning the extension of the genesee road: "_and be it further enacted_ that the commissioner appointed in pursuance of the act aforesaid, to open and improve the main genessee road, shall and he is hereby authorized and empowered to lay out and continue the main genessee road, from the genessee river westward to the extremity of the state. _provided nevertheless_, that none of the monies appropriated by the said act shall be laid out on the part of the road so to be continued; _and provided also_ that the said road shall be made at the expense of those who may make donations therefor."[ ] the mania which swept over the united states between and of investing money in turnpike and canal companies was felt early in new york. the success of the lancaster turnpike in pennsylvania was the means of foisting hundreds of turnpike-road companies on public attention and private pocket-books. by , new york state had at least one hundred and thirty-seven chartered roads, with a total mileage of four thousand five hundred miles, and capitalized at seven and a half millions. it is nothing less than remarkable that this thoroughfare from the mohawk to lake erie should have been incorporated as a turnpike earlier in point of time than any of the routes leading to it (by way either of the mohawk valley or cherry valley) from albany and the east. the seneca road company was incorporated april , . the mohawk turnpike and bridge company was incorporated three days later. the cherry valley routes came in much later. the genesee road was incorporated by the following act, april , : "an act to establish a turnpike road company for improving the state road from the house of john house in the village of utica, in the county of oneida, to the village of cayuga in the county of cayuga, and from thence to canadarque in the county of ontario. "_be it enacted by the people of the state of new york represented in senate and assembly_ that benjamin walker, charles williamson, jedediah sanger and israel chapin and all such persons as shall associate for the purpose of making a good and sufficient road in the form and manner herein after described from the house of john house ... observing as nearly the line of the present state [genesee] road as the nature of the ground will allow, shall be and are hereby made a corporation and body politic in fact and in name, by the name of 'the president and directors of the seneca road company'...."[ ] the road was to be under the management of nine directors and the capital stock was to be two thousand two hundred shares worth fifty dollars each. the directors were empowered to enter upon any lands necessary in building the road, specifications being made for appraisal of damages. the road was to "be six rods in width ... cleared of all timber excepting trees of ornament, and to be improved in the manner following, to wit, in the middle of the said road there shall be formed a space not less than twenty four feet in breadth, the center of which shall be raised fifteen inches above the sides, rising towards the middle by gradual arch, twenty feet of which shall be covered with gravel or broken stone fifteen inches deep in the center and nine inches deep on the sides so as to form a firm and even surface." tollgates were to be established when the road was in proper condition every ten miles; the rates of toll designated in this law will be of interest for comparative purposes: _tolls in on seneca turnpike, new york_ wagon, and two horses . - / each horse additional . cart, one horse . coach, or four wheeled carriage, two horses . each horse additional . carriage, one horse . - / each horse additional . cart, two oxen . each yoke additional . saddle or led horse . sled, between december and march . - / score of cattle . score of sheep or hogs . the old genesee road passed through as romantic and beautiful a land as heart could wish to see or know; but the road itself was a creation of comparatively modern days, in which seneca and mohawk were eliminated factors in the problem. here, near this road, a great experiment was made a few years after its building, when a canal was proposed and dug, amid fears and doubts on the part of many, from albany to buffalo. one of the first persons to advocate a water highway which would eclipse the land route, sent a number of articles on the subject to a local paper, whose editor was compelled to refuse to print more of them, because of the ridicule to which they exposed the paper! poor as the old road was in bad weather, people could not conceive of any better substitute. [illustration: part of a "map of the grand pass from new york to montreal ... by thos. pownall" [_drawn about ; from original in british museum_]] when the erie canal was being built, so poor were the roads leading into the region traversed by the canal, that contractors were compelled to do most of their hauling in winter, when the ground was frozen and sleds could be used on the snow. among the reasons given--as we shall see in a later monograph of this series--for delays in completing portions of the canal, was that of bad roads and the impossibility of sending heavy freight into the interior except in winter; and a lack of snow, during at least one winter, seriously handicapped the contractors. but when the erie canal was built, the prophecies of its advocates were fulfilled, as the rate per hundred-weight by canal was only one-tenth the rate charged by teamsters on the genesee road. the old "waggoners" who, for a generation, had successfully competed with the inland lock navigation company, could not compete with the erie canal, and it was indeed very significant that, when governor clinton and party made that first triumphal journey by canal-boat from buffalo to albany and new york--carrying a keg of lake erie water to be emptied into the atlantic ocean--they were not joyously received at certain points, such as schenectady, where the old methods of transportation were the principal means of livelihood for a large body of citizens. how delighted were the old tavern-keepers in central new york with the opening of the erie canal, on whose boats immigrants ate and slept? about as happy, we may say, as were the canal operators when a railway was built, hurrying travelers on at such a rapid pace that their destinations could be reached, in many cases, between meals! yet until the railway came, the fast mail-stages rolled along over the genesee road, keeping alive the old traditions and the old breed of horses. local business was vastly increased by the dawning of the new era; society adapted itself to new and altered conditions, and the old days when the genesee road was a highway of national import became the heritage of those who could look backward and take hope for the future, because they recognized better the advances that each new year had made. chapter v a traveler on the genesee road among the many records of travelers on the famous genesee road, that of timothy bigelow, as given in his _journal of a tour to niagara falls in the year _,[ ] approaches perhaps most nearly to the character of a description of the old highway which should be presented here: "july th. we proceeded [from albany] to schenectady to breakfast, fifteen miles, beale's tavern; a good house. a new turnpike is making from albany to this place; it is constructed in a very durable manner, with a pavement covered with hard gravel. that part which is completed is now an excellent road; the remainder will soon be equally good. it was not disagreeable to us to be informed that this road, and indeed all the other turnpikes, and most other recent works which we met with, which required uncommon ingenuity or labor, were constructed by yankees. "schenectady seems not to be a word fitted to common organs of speech. we heard it pronounced snacketady, snackedy, ksnackidy, ksnactady, snackendy, and snackady, which last is much the most common. to ballston, bromeling's, sixteen miles; a most excellent house. we found here about forty guests, but understood there were upwards of two hundred at aldrich's, mcmasters's, and the other boarding-houses near. bromeling himself has accommodations in the first style for one hundred and thirty persons. "we met with but few people here from massachusetts. mr. henry higginson and his wife, mr. bingham, the bookseller, and his family, were all we knew. the mineral water was not agreeable to us all upon the first experiment; but with others, and myself in particular, it was otherwise. it is remarkably clear and transparent; the fixed air, which is continually escaping from it, gives it a sparkling appearance, and a lively and full taste, not unlike to that of brisk porter or champagne wine, while one is actually drinking.... we slept at beals's. july th, we took the western stage in company with a mr. row, a gentleman from virginia, who was about to engage in trade at geneva, on the seneca lake. we crossed over to the north side of the mohawk soon after setting out, to schwartz's (still in schenectady), a poor house, seven miles; thence to pride's in amsterdam, nine miles. pride's is a handsome limestone house, built about fifty years since, as we were informed, by sir william johnson, for his son-in-law, guy johnson.... to abel's in amsterdam, situated on trapp's hill, opposite to the mouth of schoharie river and the old fort hunter, to dine. the prospect to the south-west is extensive and romantic, exhibits an agreeable mixture of hills and plains, diversified with extensive forests almost in a state of nature, and cultivated fields scarce less extensive, now covered with a rich harvest of ripening wheat. the prospect was the principal thing which we found in this place to recommend it. the tavern is a poor one, and our dinner of course was miserable. four miles to shepard's, in canajoharie, to sleep.... the mohawk in many places was shoal, and interrupted with so many islands and sand-banks that we were often at a loss to conceive how loaded boats could pass, and yet we saw several going up-stream with heavy loads.... july th. to carr's at little falls, to breakfast, twenty miles; a very good house. in this stage, we passed the east canada creek. observed for the very first time the cypress-tree. the gloomy, melancholy air of this tree, and the deep shade which it casts, resulting from the downward direction of its branches, as well as the form and color of its leaves, have very properly marked it out as emblematical of mourning. "on approaching the little falls, we observed undoubted marks of the operation of the water on rocks, now far out of their reach, particularly the round holes worn out [by] pebbles kept in a rotatory motion by the current, so common at all falls. it is certain that heretofore the falls must have been some ways further down stream, and have been much greater than they now are, and that the german flats, and other low grounds near the river above, must have been the bed of a lake. the falls occupy about half a mile. in some spots, the river is so crowded between rocks, that one might almost pass across it; in most places, however, it is broken into a number of streams by irregular masses of limestone rock. there is here a commodious canal for the passage of boats cut round these falls. the whole fall is fifty-four feet; and there are five locks, in each of which the fall is ten feet, besides the guard-lock, where it is four. the locks are constructed of hewn stone, and are of excellent workmanship; they are almost exactly upon the construction of those at the head of middlesex canal. most of the buildings in the neighborhood, as well as two beautiful bridges over the canal here, are also of limestone. carr and his wife are from albany, and are agreeable and genteel people. "to trowbridge's hotel, in utica, to dine. the house is of brick, large, commodious, and well attended. we found good fare here; in particular, excellent wine. from little falls to this is twenty-two miles. in this stage, we passed the german flats, an extensive and well-cultivated tract of internal land on both sides the mohawk. the town of german flats is on the south of the town of herkimer, opposite thereto, on the north side of the river. notwithstanding the celebrity of this spot for the excellence of its soil, we thought it not equal to that on connecticut river. having passed the west canada creek, the hills on both sides the river seem to subside, and open to the view an extensive and almost unbounded tract of level and fertile country, though of a much newer aspect than any we had seen before. [illustration: western new york in ] "at utica, we passed over to the southern side of the mohawk. the river here is about the size of the nashua, and from this place bends off to the north-west. we happened to pass the bridge as a batteau was coming up to a store at the end of it, to discharge its cargo. the water was so shoal that the batteau grounded before it could be brought to its proper place. a pair of horses were attached to its bows, and it was not without the assistance of several men, added to the strength of the horses, that it was got up to the landing-place at last. "morality and religion do not seem to have much hold of the minds of people in this region. instances of rudeness and profanity are to be met with in almost every place, but the people engaged in unloading the batteau were much more extravagantly and unnecessarily profane than is common. several persons also, whom i saw at little falls this morning, told me that they knew full well that adam could not have been the first man, or that he must have lived much longer ago than the scriptures declare, because they said it must be more than five thousand years for the mohawk to have broken through the rocks, as it has done at those falls. "utica was begun to be settled sixteen years ago, and is now a little city, and contains several elegant dwelling-houses, some of which are of brick, and a few of stone, together with a great number of stores and manufactories of different kinds. the lombardy poplar-tree is cultivated here in great abundance. the facility of transportation by means of the mohawk and hudson rivers on one side, and wood creek, oneida, and ontario lakes on the other, together with the extraordinary fertility of the adjacent country, must at no great distance of time make utica a place of great business and resort, and of course its population must rapidly increase. moses johnson, a broken trader, late of keene, now of manlius, a little above this place, whom we saw at trowbridge's, spoke of this country as not favorable for traders, and that a very few stores of goods would overstock the market. it is natural, however, for people in his situation to ascribe their misfortunes to anything rather than their own imprudence or misconduct, which others would probably consider as the true cause of them. mr. charles taylor and his father, whom we had overtaken at shepard's, we left at utica. "july th. to laird's in westmoreland, to breakfast, eleven miles; a very good house. our breakfast here was garnished with a dish of excellent honey. every thing in and about the house was neat, and we were particularly struck with the genteel and comely appearance of two young ladies, daughters of our landlord, one of whom, we were told, had attended a ball in the neighborhood, i think at paris, the evening before. this stage was over a tract of very fertile country, nearly level, but a little ascending; the growth was mostly of rock-maple and lime-tree. we passed a creek in new hartford, called sawguet, or sogwet, or sacada [sauquoit], and another in a corner of paris called kerry, or riscana, say oriskany. the whole country from utica to this place is thickly settled. the houses are mostly well built, and many of them handsome; very few log houses to be seen. young orchards are numerous and thrifty, and lombardy poplars line the road a great part of the way; and yet we saw not a single field which had not the stumps of the original forest trees yet remaining in it. honey is sent from hence to lake ontario, in barrels. "to shethar's in sullivan, eighteen miles, to dine; a good tavern. the face of the country is not so level here as about utica, though it cannot be called hilly, even here. in addition to the forest trees which we had before seen, we here found the shag-bark nut tree in abundance. in this stage, we passed through the oneida indian village.... in this stage, we also passed the skanandoa creek, the first water we met with which discharges itself into the ocean by the st. lawrence, as the oriskany was the last which pays tribute to the hudson. "we next passed the oneida creek, which unites with the skanandoa. the earth in some places here is of the same color with that on connecticut river, where the red freestone is found. in the oneida village, the fields are free from stumps, the first to be met that are so from utica to this place.... to tyler's in onondaga hollow, to sleep, twenty-one miles. the last sixteen miles are over a very hilly country; the canaseraga mountain, in particular, is four or five miles over, and very steep.... "the country, as we approached onondaga hollow, we found had been longer settled than nearer the oneida village, because the last cession of the oneidas on the west, and immediately contiguous to their present reservation, was made but six or eight years ago, whereas the country to the westward of that had begun to be settled some time before. the town of manlius, in particular, has the appearance of a flourishing settlement. this town is the first in the _military tract_, which is the lands given by the state of new york as a gratuity to the officers and soldiers of their line in the revolutionary army. as we were descending into the onondaga hollow, we saw to the north-westward the salina or onondaga lake.... "the onondaga creek, which is of a convenient size for a mill-stream, runs along the hollow from south to north, as do all the other streams in this country. this creek passes near the celebrated onondaga salt springs, which are situated about five or six miles northward from tyler's.... july th. rose at half past two o'clock, and proceeded to andrew's, at skaneateles, to breakfast, sixteen miles; a good tavern. the country is still hilly, but very fertile. the soil is deep,--a mixture of loam and clay. the roads here must be very bad in wet weather. it rained last night for the first time since we commenced our journey; and the horses' feet, in consequence thereof, slipped as if they were travelling on snow or ice. "rising out of onondaga hollow is a long and very steep hill. the road is constructed on the southern side of a precipice, in such a manner that, as you approach the top of the hill, you have a tremendous gulf on your left hand, at the bottom of which you hear the murmur of a brook fretting among the rocks, as it is passing on toward the onondaga creek, which it joins in the hollow. there is a kind of railing or fence, composed of logs secured with stakes or trees, which is all that prevents the passenger, and even the road itself, from falling to the bottom of the gulf. on the hill we found the embryo of a village. a court-house is already built, and the frame of a hotel is raised. the hotel, we were told, is to be kept by one brunson. it is an accommodation much needed by travellers on this road. "to harris's in cayuga, fifteen miles, to dine. we here had an excellent dinner of beefsteaks. mr. harris told us that they could keep beef fresh four or five days, in hot weather, by hanging it upon the trees--wrapping it in flannel--as high as was convenient. flannel is better to wrap it in than linen. "the village of cayuga is small, but pleasant and lively. it is in the township of marcellus, on the eastern bank of the cayuga lake, within one or two miles of its northern extremity. this lake is about two miles wide in general, and almost forty miles long. nearly north and south from the village, there are about fifteen miles of the lake in sight. the shores are mostly of hard land, except at the northern extremity, where there is a great deal of marsh, which is an unfavorable circumstance for the village, as it is not only disagreeable to the sight, but, i think, also to the smell. there is a wooden bridge across the lake, leading from cayuga village towards geneva, one mile long, wanting three roods. it suffered so much by shocks of the ice last winter, that in some places it is hardly safe to pass it. this forenoon we had passed the outlet of the owasco lake, but did not see the lake itself, which we were told was about a mile south of the road. the country hitherto is somewhat uneven, though by no means so much so as near the onondaga hollow. the soil, however, is excellent in many places, and is of a reddish color. "to powell's hotel in geneva, to sleep, sixteen miles; excellent accommodations. at harris's we had met with a mr. rees, a gentleman in trade at geneva, who took passage in the stage with us for that place. from this gentleman, whom we found very intelligent and communicative, we learned many particulars concerning the salt springs, discovered about five years since upon the cayuga outlet. these springs are about twelve miles below the cayuga bridge, and are on both sides the outlet: that on the western side is in the township of galen, and belongs to mr. rees and his partner in trade. these springs had long been known to the indians, but they had always been reserved in communicating their knowledge of the state of the country to the white settlers. it was not till most or all of those who lived near this outlet had died or moved away, except one, that he mentioned the existence of these springs; and for a reward he conducted some persons to the place where they are situated. the persons to whom he communicated this information endeavored to purchase the favored spot before the owner should be apprised of its inestimable value; but he accidentally obtained a knowledge of his good fortune, and of course refused to sell.... the road from cayuga to geneva is for a few miles along the southern or south-eastern side, and the rest along the northern or north-eastern side of the seneca outlet. the face of the country near the road is more level; but the soil is more sandy and uninviting than we had lately seen, till we approached near to geneva. the land there is excellent, as we were told it was, through all the tract which extends between the cayuga and seneca lakes. this tract rises in a kind of regular glacis from each lake, so that from the middle of it one can see both. it wants nothing but inhabitants and cultivation to make it an elysium. the seneca outlet flows into the lower end of the cayuga lake. towards its mouth there is a considerable fall, or rather rapid, which it is contemplated to lock, whereby a water communication will be opened between the two lakes. the stream is about half the size of the winnipiseogee, and has a bluish-white appearance. "we were within half a mile of geneva before we came in sight of the seneca lake. this charming sheet of water extends southerly from this place to catharine town, forty miles, being from two to four miles wide. there is not a foot of swamp or marsh on its borders, from one extremity to the other; but it is everywhere lined by a clear, gravelly beach, and the land rises from it with a very gentle and graceful ascent in every direction.... "not far from geneva are some of the indian orchards, which were cut down by general sullivan in his famous expedition, scarce less barbarous than those of the savages themselves. the trees now growing in these orchards sprouted from the roots of those which were cut down, and therefore grow in clusters, six or seven rising from one root. we saw indian fields here free from stumps, the only ones which are to the westward of utica, except those belonging to the oneidas. we were told that, at this season of the year, the wind at geneva blows constantly from the south in the forenoon, and from the north in the afternoon. we here quitted the stage, which runs no further than canandaigua, and hired an open dutch wagon and driver, and a single horse, to carry us to niagara.... the turnpike road ends at this place [canandaigua]. the whole length from albany is two hundred and six or seven miles: it may properly be called two turnpikes, which join each other at utica. a project is on foot for still extending the turnpike even to niagara, a direct course to which would not probably exceed one hundred miles. "mr. rees told us yesterday that he was engaged to proceed to-morrow with certain commissioners to mark out the course of the road, and that the proprietors will begin to work upon it next year. the road may not be very good property at first, but will probably soon become so, judging from the astonishing rapidity with which this country is settled. it is ascertained that one thousand families migrated hither during the last year, two thirds of whom were from new england. "to hall's in bloomfield, to sleep, twelve miles; very good house. we had an excellent supper and clean beds. the town of bloomfield has been settled about fifteen years, and is now in a flourishing state. here is a handsome new meeting-house with a tasty steeple. the vane on the steeple is rather whimsical. it is a flying angel, blowing a trumpet against the wind.... to hosmer's in hartford, to breakfast, twelve and a half miles. between bloomfield and this, we passed through charleston, which has but recently been reclaimed from the wilderness. it is perfectly flat, the soil is pretty good, though better, and more settled at some distance from the road than near it. the reason of cutting the road where it goes was because the country in that direction was open, when it was first explored, between this place and lake ontario, which is but twenty-eight miles distant, or to gerundegut [now toronto] bay, but twenty-two miles.... "hitherto we have found better roads since we left the turnpike than before, except that the bridges and causeways are mostly constructed with poles. hosmer, our landlord, is an intelligent man and keeps a good tavern. we had for breakfast good coffee, excellent tea, loaf sugar, mutton chop, waffles, berry pie, preserved berries, excellent bread, butter, and a salad of young onions. i mention the particulars, because some of the articles, or such a collection, were hardly to be expected in such a depth of wilderness. "to gansen's in southampton, twelve and a half miles, to dine. within about a mile of hosmer's, we passed the genesee river. the outlet of the conesus lake joins this river about a mile above, or to the south. where we crossed, there is a new bridge, apparently strong and well built; and yet the water last spring undermined one end of it, so that it has sunk considerably.... "gansen's is a miserable log house. we made out to obtain an ordinary dinner. our landlord was drunk, the house was crowded with a dozen workmen, reeking with rain and sweat, and we were, withal, constantly annoyed with the plaintive and frightful cries and screams of a crazy woman, in the next room. we hastened our departure, therefore, even before the rain had ceased. "to russell's in batavia, twelve miles, to sleep. one mile from gansen's, we crossed allen's creek, at buttermilk falls, where there are mills, and five miles further the chookawoonga creek, near the eastern transit line of the holland purchase. this line extends from the bounds of pennsylvania to lake ontario, a distance of near ninety-four miles. so far, the road was the worst of any we had seen; and none can be much worse and be passable for wheels. within six miles of batavia, the road is much better, and the land of a good quality, heavily timbered all the way, but especially near the settlement. it is but three years since this spot was first cleared, and it is now a considerable village. here is a large building, nearly finished, intended for a court-house, jail, and hotel, under the same roof. the street is perfectly level, and is already a good and smooth road. here is also an excellent mill, on a large and commodious scale, situated on the tonawanda creek, which is the first water we saw which passes over niagara falls. russell's is a poor tavern. we were told that our sheets were clean, for they had been slept in but a _few_ times since they were washed. "july d. to luke's in batavia, to breakfast, five miles. we intended to have stopped at mccracken's, one mile short of this, but we were told that we could not be accommodated. the exterior appearance of both houses was very much alike; they are log huts, about twelve feet square. luke's consisted of a single room, with a small lean-to behind, which served for a kitchen. it contained scarce any furniture, not even utensils enough to serve us comfortably for breakfast.... "it was but eighteen months since luke began a settlement here, and he was the first who made the attempt between batavia and vandevener's, a distance of eighteen miles, though in that distance now there are several huts. taverns like luke's are not uncommon in this vicinity; almost every hut we saw had a sign hung out on a pole or stump, announcing that it was an inn. perhaps such complete poverty did not exist in them all as we found at luke's, yet, judging from external appearances, the difference could not be great. "we passed the tonawanda near batavia court-house, and then kept along its southern bank to this place. the woods are full of new settlers. axes were resounding, and the trees literally falling about us as we passed. in one instance, we were obliged to pass in a field through the smoke and flame of the trees which had lately been felled and were just fired. "to vandevener's in willink, thirteen miles. we had intended only to dine here; but by reason of a thunder shower, and the temptation of comfortable accommodations, we concluded not to proceed till next day. our last stage was through the batavia woods, famed for their horrors, which were not abated by our having been informed at russell's, that not far from here a white man had lately been killed by the indians. we found the road much better than we had anticipated; the last four miles were the worst. a little labor would make the road all very good, at least in dry weather. there is another way to come from batavia here; but it is six miles further, and probably little or no better than this. "it was but three years since vandevener began here. he at first built a log house, but he has now a two-story framed house, adjoining that. his whole territory is five hundred acres, one hundred of which he has already got under improvement.... "july d. to ransom's in erie, to breakfast, fourteen miles. ransom came from great barrington in massachusetts, and settled here last september.... the last three miles from ellicott's creek to ransom's is a new road cut through a thick wood, and is as bad as any part of the road through the batavia woods. "to crow's at buffalo creek, eight miles. in this stage, we passed the four mile creek. half the distance from ransom's was over open country, ... in which many young chestnut-trees are just sprouting from the ground. the rest of our way was through a thick wood, where the growth is the same kind as in the interior of massachusetts.... "from buffalo we passed along the beach of lake erie, to the ferry across its outlet on the niagara river, at black rock, so called, three miles...." chapter vi the catskill turnpike so few writers have paid any attention to the influence of roads in the development of our country that it is a great pleasure to find in francis whiting halsey's _the old new york frontier_,[ ] a chapter on the old catskill turnpike; through the kindness of the author it is possible to present here this story of that strategic highway of old new york: "before the revolutionary war something of a road had been cut through the woods from otsego lake southward along the susquehanna, and other primitive roads led to and from the lake; but these highways had almost disappeared during the later years of the war, when nature had done her effective work of reclamation. the one leading from the lake southward was improved in as far as hartwick, and others were speedily taken in hand. further down the river efforts were made to establish convenient communication with the hudson, and out of this grew a road which eventually became the great highway for a large territory. it was called the catskill turnpike, and had its terminus on the susquehanna at wattles's ferry.[ a] "this road, as a turnpike, properly dates from , but the road itself is much older. its eastern end had been opened long before the revolution with a terminus in the charlotte valley. it seems then to have been hardly more than a narrow clearing through the forest, what farmers call a 'wood road,' or frontiersman a 'tote road.' it served as a convenient route to the susquehanna, because much shorter than the older route by the mohawk valley. over this road on horseback in , came colonel staats long morris and his wife, the duchess of gordon. "after the war demands rose for a better road, and one was soon undertaken with its terminus at wattles's ferry. this terminus appears to have been chosen because the river here was deep enough to permit the use of 'battoes' during the low water that prevailed in summer. by the summer of the road was in passable condition. alexander harper and edward paine in february, , declared that they had been to 'a very great expense in opening the roads from catskill and the hudson to the susquehanna river.' in the same year a petition was filed for a road 'from the ouleout to kyuga lake.' the road to cayuga lake (ithaca) made slow progress, and in general jacob morris addressed to governor clinton a letter which shows that it was then still to be undertaken. early in the state had taken the road to catskill in charge. in august, g. gelston made up from surveys a map from catskill 'running westerly to the junction of the ouleout creek with the susquehanna river.' the country had been previously explored for the purpose by james barker and david laurence.[ ] "in sluman wattles charged his cousin, nathaniel wattles, £ , _s._ for 'carting three barrells from your house to catskill,' £ for 'five days work on the road,' and shillings for 'inspecting road.' besides nathaniel wattles, menad hunt was interested in the work, and in the two men appealed to the state to be reimbursed for money paid out above the contract price.[ ] during this year the father of the late dr. samuel h. case, of oneonta, emigrated to the upper ouleout from colchester, conn., with his seven brothers. they drove cattle and sheep ahead of them, and consumed eight days in making the journey from the hudson river. solomon martin went over the road in the same year, using sluman wattles's oxen, for which he was charged £ , _s._ he went to catskill, and was gone fifteen days. this road was only twenty-five feet wide. in a regular weekly mail-route was established over it. "these are among the many roads which were opened in the neighborhood before the century closed--before the catskill turnpike, as a turnpike, came into existence. nearly every part of the town of unadilla, then embracing one-third of otsego county, had been made accessible before the year . the pioneers had taken up lands all through the hill country. but the needs of the settlers had not been fully met. all over the state prevailed similar conditions. the demands that poured in upon state and town authorities for road improvements became far in excess of what could be satisfied. everywhere fertile lands had been cleared and sown to grain, but the crops were so enormous that they could neither be consumed at home nor transported to market elsewhere. professor mcmaster says that 'the heaviest taxes that could have been laid would not have sufficed to cut out half the roads or build half the bridges that commerce required. "out of this condition grew the policy of granting charters to turnpike companies, formed by well-to-do land-owners, who undertook to build roads and maintain them in proper condition for the privilege of imposing tolls. men owning land and possessed of ready money, were everywhere eager to invest in these enterprises. they not only saw the promise of dividends, but ready sales for their lands. at one time an amount of capital almost equal to the domestic debt of the nation when the revolution closed was thus employed throughout the country. by the year , no fewer than roads had been chartered in new york state alone, with a total length of , miles and a total capital of $ , , . about one-third of this mileage was eventually completed. "eight turnpikes went out from albany, and five others joined catskill, kingston, and newburg with the susquehanna and delaware rivers. the earliest of these five, and one of the earliest in the state, was the catskill and susquehanna turnpike, that supplanted the primitive state road to wattles's ferry. the old course was changed in several localities, the charter permitting the stockholders to choose their route. among the names in the charter were john livingston, caleb benton (a brother of stephen benton), john kortright, sluman wattles, and solomon martin. the stock was limited to $ , in shares of $ each. "the road ran through lands owned by the stockholders. little regard was had for grades, as travellers well know. the main purpose was to make the land accessible and marketable. the road was completed in , and soon became a famous highway to central new york, and the navigable susquehanna, and so remained for more than a quarter of a century. it was in operation four years earlier than the great western turnpike, connecting albany with buffalo and running through cherry valley. spafford in described it as 'the appian way turnpike,' in which it seems the pride felt in it, likened as it thus was to one of the best roads ever built by man--that roman highway which still does service after the lapse of more than , years. in one sense this turnpike was like a roman road: it followed straight lines from point to point regardless of hills, obstacles being squarely faced and defied by these modern men as by the old romans. "ten toll-gates were set up along the line, with the rates as follows: for twenty sheep and hogs, eight cents; for twenty horses and cattle, twenty cents; for a horse and rider, five cents; for a horse and chaise, twelve and one-half cents; for a coach or chariot, twenty-five cents; for a stage or wagon, twelve and one-half cents. in , caleb benton, who lived in catskill, was president of the corporation, and in the stage business of the road was granted as a monopoly to david bostwick, stephen benton, lemuel hotchkiss, and terence donnelly. two stages were to be kept regularly on the road, the fare to be five cents per mile. a stage that left catskill wednesday morning reached unadilla friday night, and one that left unadilla sunday reached catskill tuesday. the most prosperous period for the road was the ten years from to . "two years after the road was built, dr. timothy dwight, president of yale college, during one of his regular vacation journeys, passed over it and stopped at unadilla. he has left a full record of the journey. dr. dwight, accustomed long to the comforts of life in new england, had no sooner crossed the state line from massachusetts to new york than he observed a change. the houses became ordinary and ill repaired, and very many of them were taverns of wretched appearance. "for sixteen or eighteen miles, he saw neither church nor school-house. catskill contained about houses, and much of the business was done by barter. the turnpike to the susquehanna he described as a 'branch of the greenwood turnpike from hartford to albany, commencing from canaan in connecticut and passing to wattles's ferry on the susquehanna. thence it is proposed to extend it to the county of trumbull on the southern shore of lake erie.' the road he thought 'well made.' "connecticut families were found settled along the line. now he came upon 'a few lonely plantations recently begun upon the road,' and then 'occasionally passed a cottage, and heard the distant sound of an axe and of a human voice. all else was grandeur, gloom and solitude.' at last after many miles of riding he reached a settlement 'for some miles a thinly built village, composed of neat, tidy houses,' in which everything 'indicated prosperity.' this was franklin. coming down the ouleout, the country, he said, 'wore a forbidding aspect, the houses being thinly scattered and many of them denoted great poverty.' "when dr. dwight reached wattles's ferry, the more serious trials of his journey began. all the privations of life in a new country which he had met on the road from catskill at last had overtaxed his patience, and he poured forth his perturbed spirit upon this infant settlement. when he made a second visit a few years later he liked the place much better. his first impressions are chronicled at some length. he says: "'when we arrived at the susquehanna we found the only inn-keeper, at the eastern side of the river, unable to furnish us a dinner. to obtain this indispensable article we were obliged therefore to cross the river. the ferry-boat was gone. the inhabitants had been some time employed in building a bridge, but it was unfinished and impassable. there was nothing left us, therefore, but to cross a deep and rapid ford. happily the bottom was free from rocks and stones.' "dr. dwight appears to have found no satisfactory stopping-place in unadilla, and proceeds to say: "'about four miles from the ferry we came to an inn kept by a scotchman named hanna. within this distance we called at several others, none of which could furnish us a dinner. i call them inns because this name is given them by the laws of the state, and because each of them hangs out a sign challenging this title. but the law has nicknamed them, and the signs are liars. "'it is said, and i suppose truly, that in this state any man who will pay for an inn-keeper's license obtains one of course. in consequence of this practice the number of houses which bear the appellation is enormous. too many of them are mere dramshops of no other use than to deceive, disappoint and vex travellers and to spread little circles of drunkenness throughout the state. a traveller after passing from inn to inn in a tedious succession finds that he can get nothing for his horse and nothing for himself.' "the remedy he prescribed for this was to license 'only one inn where there are five or six.' the evil was general. in the people of meredith made a formal and vigorous protest against the growth of intemperance and crime as caused by public houses. there were ten hotels in that town alone, besides a number of distilleries. many citizens banded themselves in behalf of order and decency, and their protest abounded in an energy of language that would have delighted the soul of dr. dwight. of his further experience at mr. hanna's hotel, he says: "'we at length procured a dinner and finding no house at a proper distance where we could be lodged concluded to stay where we were. our fare was indeed bad enough, but we were sheltered from the weather. our inn-keeper besides furnishing us with such other accommodations as his home afforded, added to it the pleasures of his company and plainly considered himself as doing us no small favor. in that peculiar situation in which the tongue vibrates with its utmost ease and celerity, he repeated to us a series of anecdotes dull and vulgar in the extreme. yet they all contained a seasoning which was exquisite, for himself was in every case the hero of the tale. to add to our amusement, he called for the poems of allan ramsay and read several of them to us in what he declared to be the true scottish pronunciation, laughing incessantly and with great self-complacency as he proceeded.' "dr. dwight remarks that 'a new turnpike road is begun from the ferry and intended to join the great western road either at cayuga bridge or canandaigua. this route will furnish a nearer journey to niagara than that which is used at present.' we see from this what were the plans of that day, as to the future central highway of new york state. of unadilla dr. dwight says: "'that township in which we now were is named unadilla and lies in the county of otsego. it is composed of rough hills and valleys with a handsome collection of intervales along the susquehanna. on a remarkably ragged eminence immediately north-west of the river, we saw the first oaks and chestnuts after leaving the neighborhood of catskill. the intervening forests were beach, maple, etc. the houses in unadilla were scattered along the road which runs parallel with the river. the settlement is new and appears like most others of a similar date. rafts containing each from twenty to twenty-five thousand feet of boards are from this township floated down the susquehanna to baltimore. unadilla contained in eight hundred and twenty-three inhabitants.'[ ] "on september , , dr. dwight left mr. hanna's inn and rode through to oxford. the first two miles of the way along the susquehanna were 'tolerably good and with a little labor capable of being excellent.' he continues: "'we then crossed the unadilla, a river somewhat smaller but considerable longer (sic) than the susquehanna proper, quite as deep and as difficult to be forded. our course to the river was south-west. we then turned directly north along the banks of the unadilla, and travelling over a rugged hill, passed through a noble cluster of white pines, some of which though not more than three feet in diameter, were, as i judged, not less than feet in height. no object in the vegetable world can be compared with this.' "eleven years later, dr. dwight again passed over the turnpike on his way to utica. 'the road from catskill to oxford,' he said, 'i find generally bad, as having been long neglected. the first twenty miles were tolerable, the last twenty absolutely intolerable.' after noting that in franklin 'religion had extensively prevailed,' he wrote: "'unadilla is becoming a very pretty village. it is built on a delightful ground along the susquehanna and the number of houses, particularly of good ones, has much increased. a part of the country between this and oxford is cultivated; a considerable part of it is still a wilderness. the country is rough and of a high elevation.' "in some reminiscences[ ] which my father wrote in , he described the scenes along this road that were familiar to him in boyhood at kortright-- to . the road was then in its most prosperous period. it was not uncommon for one of the hotels, which marked every few miles of the route, to entertain thirty or forty guests at a time. the freight wagons were huge in size, drawn by six and eight horses, and had wheels with wide tires. stages drawn by four and six horses were continually in use. not infrequently came families bound for ohio, where they expected to settle--some of these connecticut people, who helped to plant the western reserve settlements. this vast traffic brought easy prosperity to the people along the turnpike and built up towns and villages. my father records the success of the rev. mr. mcauley's church at kortright--a place that has now retrograded so that it is only a small hamlet, just capable of retaining a post office. but mr. mcauley's church at one time, more than sixty years ago, had five hundred members, and was said to be the largest church society west of the hudson valley. "a change occurred with the digging of the erie canal and the building of the erie railway. morever, in was built a turnpike from north kortright through the charlotte valley to oneonta. the white man having tried a route of his own over the hills, reverted to the route which the red man had marked out for him ages before. much easier was the grade by this river road, and this fact exercised a marked influence on the fortunes of the settlements along the olden line. freight wagons were drawn off and sent by the easier way. stages followed the new turnpike and the country between wattles's ferry and kortright retrograded as rapidly as it had formerly improved.[ ] "the building of the catskill turnpike really led to the founding of unadilla village on its present site. it had confined to this point a growth which otherwise would probably have been distributed among other points along the valley. here was a stopping-place, with a river to be crossed, horses to be changed, and new stages taken, and here had been established the important market for country produce of noble & hayes. unadilla became what might be called a small but thriving inland river port. here lumber was sawed and here it came from mills elsewhere for shipment along with farm products to baltimore. here grain was ground, and here were three prosperous distilleries. "the building of the turnpike along the charlotte was not the only blow that came to the western portion of the catskill road. another and permanent one came to the whole length of the turnpike when the erie canal was built, followed later by the erie railroad. otsego county, in , had reached a population of , , but with the erie canal in operation it ceased to grow. at the present time the showing is considerably less than it was in , and yet several villages have made large increases, the increase in oneonta being probably tenfold. "contemporary with the erie canal was an attempt to provide the susquehanna with a canal. it became a subject of vast local interest from cooperstown to the interior of pennsylvania. the scheme included a railway, or some other method of reaching the erie canal from the head of otsego lake. colonel de witt clinton, jr., son of the governor, made a survey as far as milford, and found that in nine miles there was a fall of thirty feet, and that at unadilla the fall from the lake was feet, while in miles from the lake it was feet. in a new survey showed that miles out of were already navigable, the remaining distance requiring a canal. some seventy locks would be needed and sixty-five dams. judge page, while a member of congress, introduced a bill to aid slack-water navigation from cooperstown to tide-water. it was his opinion that the failure of the bill was due to the spread of railroads. "with the ushering in of the great railroad era, the susquehanna valley saw started as early as many railroad projects which could save it from threatened danger. their aim was to connect the upper susquehanna with the hudson at catskill, and the mohawk at canajoharie. none ever got beyond the charter stage. strenuous efforts were afterward made to bring the erie from the ancient cookoze (deposit) to the susquehanna at a point above oghwaga, but this also failed. "indeed it was not until after the civil war that any railroad reached the headwaters of the susquehanna; but it was an agreeable sign of the enterprise which attended the men of and following years that at the period when the earliest railroad in this state, and one of the earliest on this continent, had just been built from albany to schenectady, serious projects existed for opening this valley to the outer world. even the great erie project languished long in consequence of business depression. it was not until that it was completed as far as middletown, and not until that it reached dunkirk. "not even to the erie was final supremacy on this frontier assured, but the upper susquehanna lands, more than those through which the erie ran, were doomed to a condition of isolation. nature itself had decreed that the great route of transportation in new york state was to run where the great trail of the iroquois for centuries had run--through the mohawk valley. along that central trail from albany, 'the eastern door,' to buffalo, 'the western door of the long house,' the course of empire westward was to take its way." chapter vii with dickens along pioneer roads some of the most interesting descriptions of pioneer traveling are from the racy pages of charles dickens's _american notes_, a volume well known to every reader. no description of early traveling in america would be complete, however, without including a number of these extremely witty, and, in some instances, extremely pathetic descriptions of conditions that obtained in virginia and ohio in dickens's day. the following description of a negro driver's manipulation of reins, horses, and passengers may be slightly exaggerated, but undoubtedly presents a typical picture of southern stage driving: "soon after nine o'clock we come to potomac creek, where we are to land; and then comes the oddest part of the journey. seven stage-coaches are preparing to carry us on. some of them are ready, some of them are not ready. some of the drivers are blacks, some whites. there are four horses to each coach, and all the horses, harnessed or unharnessed, are there. the passengers are getting out of the steamboat, and into the coaches, the luggage is being transferred in noisy wheel-barrows; the horses are frightened, and impatient to start; the black drivers are chattering to them like so many monkeys; and the white ones whooping like so many drovers: for the main thing to be done in all kinds of hostlering here, is to make as much noise as possible. the coaches are something like the french coaches, but not nearly so good. in lieu of springs, they are hung on bands of the strongest leather. there is very little choice or difference between them; and they may be likened to the car portion of the swings at an english fair, roofed, put upon axle-trees and wheels, and curtained with painted canvas. they are covered with mud from the roof to the wheel-tire, and have never been cleaned since they were first built. "the tickets we have received on board the steamboat are marked no. , so we belong to coach no. . i throw my coat on the box, and hoist my wife and her maid into the inside. it has only one step, and that being about a yard from the ground, is usually approached by a chair: when there is no chair, ladies trust in providence. the coach holds nine inside, having a seat across from door to door, where we in england put our legs: so that there is only one feat more difficult in the performance than getting in, and that is getting out again. there is only one outside passenger, and he sits upon the box. as i am that one, i climb up; and while they are strapping the luggage on the roof, and heaping it into a kind of tray behind, have a good opportunity of looking at the driver. "he is a negro--very black indeed. he is dressed in a coarse pepper-and-salt suit excessively patched and darned (particularly at the knees), grey stockings, enormous unblacked high-low shoes, and very short trousers. he has two odd gloves: one of parti-coloured worsted, and one of leather. he has a very short whip, broken in the middle and bandaged up with string. and yet he wears a low-crowned, broad-brimmed, block hat: faintly shadowing forth a kind of insane imitation of an english coachman! but somebody in authority cries 'go ahead!' as i am making these observations. the mail takes the lead in a four-horse wagon, and all the coaches follow in procession: headed by no. . "by the way, whenever an englishman would cry 'all right!' an american cries 'go ahead!' which is somewhat expressive of the national character of the two countries. "the first half mile of the road is over bridges made of loose planks laid across two parallel poles, which tilt up as the wheels roll over them: and in the river. the river has a clayey bottom and is full of holes, so that half a horse is constantly disappearing unexpectedly, and can't be found again for some time. "but we get past even this, and come to the road itself, which is a series of alternate swamps and gravel-pits. a tremendous place is close before us, the black driver rolls his eyes, screws his mouth up very round, and looks straight between the two leaders, as if he were saying to himself, 'we have done this often before, but _now_ i think we shall have a crash.' he takes a rein in each hand; jerks and pulls at both; and dances on the splashing board with both feet (keeping his seat, of course) like the late lamented ducrow on two of his fiery coursers. we come to the spot, sink down in the mire nearly to the coach windows, tilt on one side at an angle of forty-five degrees, and stick there. the insides scream dismally; the coach stops; the horses flounder; all the other six coaches stop; and their four-and-twenty horses flounder likewise: but merely for company, and in sympathy with ours. then the following circumstances occur. "black driver (to the horses). 'hi!' nothing happens. insides scream again. black driver (to the horses). 'ho!' horses plunge, and splash the black driver. gentleman inside (looking out). 'why, what on airth--' gentleman receives a variety of splashes and draws his head in again, without finishing his question or waiting for an answer. black driver (still to the horses). 'jiddy! jiddy!' horses pull violently, drag the coach out of the hole, and draw it up a bank; so steep, that the black driver's legs fly up into the air, and he goes back among the luggage on the roof. but he immediately recovers himself, and cries (still to the horses), 'pill!' no effect. on the contrary, the coach begins to roll back upon no. , which rolls back upon no. , which rolls back upon no. , and so on, until no. is heard to curse and swear, nearly a quarter of a mile behind. black driver (louder than before). 'pill!' horses make another struggle to get up the bank, and again the coach rolls backward. black driver (louder than before). 'pe-e-e-ill!' horses make a desperate struggle. black driver (recovering spirits). 'hi! jiddy, jiddy, pill!' horses make another effort. black driver (with great vigour). 'ally loo! hi. jiddy, jiddy. pill. ally loo!' horses almost do it. black driver (with his eyes starting out of his head). 'lee, dere. lee, dere. hi. jiddy, jiddy. pill. ally loo. lee-e-e-e-e!' "they run up the bank, and go down again on the other side at a fearful pace. it is impossible to stop them, and at the bottom there is a deep hollow, full of water. the coach rolls frightfully. the insides scream. the mud and water fly about us. the black driver dances like a madman. suddenly we are all right by some extraordinary means, and stop to breathe. "a black friend of the black driver is sitting on a fence. the black driver recognizes him by twirling his head round and round like a harlequin, rolling his eyes, shrugging his shoulders, and grinning from ear to ear. he stops short, turns to me, and says: "'we shall get you through sa, like a fiddle, and hope a please you when we get you through sa. old 'ooman at home sir:' chuckling very much. 'outside gentleman sa, he often remember old 'ooman at home sa,' grinning again. "'aye aye, we'll take care of the old woman. don't be afraid.' "the black driver grins again, but there is another hole, and beyond that, another bank, close before us. so he stops short: cries (to the horses again) 'easy. easy den. ease. steady. hi. jiddy. pill. ally. loo!' but never 'lee!' until we are reduced to the very last extremity, and are in the midst of difficulties, extrication from which appears to be all but impossible. "and so we do the ten miles or thereabouts in two hours and a half; breaking no bones though bruising a great many; and in short getting through the distance, 'like a fiddle.' "this singular kind of coaching terminates at fredericksburgh, whence there is a railway to richmond...." dickens, the student of human nature, surely found vast material for inspection and observation in our american coaches. the drivers particularly attracted his attention as we have seen; their philosophical indifference to those under their charge as well as their anxieties on certain occasions caused him to marvel. the stage-drivers of dickens's day were marvels and offer character studies as unique as they were interesting. for the general air of conscienceless indifference on the part of drivers, and exasperated verbosity of passengers, perhaps no sketch of dickens is more to the point than the following which describes, with lasting flavor, a ride from york, pennsylvania, to harrisburg: "we left baltimore by another railway at half-past eight in the morning, and reached the town of york, some sixty miles off, by the early dinner-time of the hotel which was the starting-place of the four-horse coach, wherein we were to proceed to harrisburg. "this conveyance, the box of which i was fortunate enough to secure, had come down to meet us at the railroad station, and was as muddy and cumbersome as usual. as more passengers were waiting for us at the inn-door, the coachman observed under his breath, in the usual self-communicative voice, looking the while at his mouldy harness, as if it were to that he was addressing himself: "'i expect we shall want _the big_ coach.' "i could not help wondering within myself what the size of this big coach might be, and how many persons it might be designed to hold; for the vehicle which was too small for our purpose was something larger than two english heavy night coaches, and might have been the twin-brother of a french diligence. my speculations were speedily set at rest, however, for as soon as we had dined, there came rumbling up the street, shaking its sides like a corpulent giant, a kind of barge on wheels. after much blundering and backing, it stopped at the door: rolling heavily from side to side when its other motion had ceased, as if it had taken cold in its damp stable, and between that, and the having been required in its dropsical old age to move at any faster pace than a walk, were distressed by shortness of wind. "'if here ain't the harrisburg mail at last, and dreadful bright and smart to look at too,' cried an elderly gentleman in some excitement, 'darn my mother!' "i don't know what the sensation of being darned may be, or whether a man's mother has a keener relish or disrelish of the process than anybody else; but if the endurance of this mysterious ceremony by the old lady in question had depended on the accuracy of her son's vision in respect to the abstract brightness and smartness of the harrisburg mail, she would certainly have undergone its infliction. however, they booked twelve people inside; and the luggage (including such trifles as a large rocking-chair, and a good-sized dining-table), being at length made fast upon the roof, we started off in great state. "at the door of another hotel, there was another passenger to be taken up. "'any room, sir?' cries the new passenger to the coachman. "'well there's room enough,' replies the coachman, without getting down, or even looking at him. "'there an't no room at all, sir,' bawls a gentleman inside. which another gentleman (also inside) confirms, by predicting that the attempt to introduce any more passengers 'won't fit nohow.' "the new passenger, without any expression of anxiety, looks into the coach, and then looks up at the coachman: 'now, how do you mean to fix it?' says he, after a pause: 'for i _must_ go.' "the coachman employs himself in twisting the lash of his whip into a knot, and takes no more notice of the question: clearly signifying that it is anybody's business but his, and that the passengers would do well to fix it, among themselves. in this state of things, matters seem to be approximating to a fix of another kind, when another inside passenger in a corner, who is nearly suffocated, cries faintly, "'i'll get out.' "this is no matter of relief or self-congratulation to the driver, for his immoveable philosophy is perfectly undisturbed by anything that happens in the coach. of all things in the world, the coach would seem to be the very last upon his mind. the exchange is made, however, and then the passenger who has given up his seat makes a third upon the box, seating himself in what he calls the middle: that is, with half his person on my legs, and the other half on the driver's. "'go a-head cap'en,' cries the colonel, who directs. "'go-lang!' cries the cap'en to his company, the horses, and away we go. "we took up at a rural bar-room, after we had gone a few miles, an intoxicated gentleman who climbed upon the roof among the luggage, and subsequently slipping off without hurting himself, was seen in the distant perspective reeling back to the grog-shop where we had found him. we also parted with more of our freight at different times, so that when we came to change horses, i was again alone outside. "the coachmen always change with the horses, and are usually as dirty as the coach. the first was dressed like a very shabby english baker; the second like a russian peasant; for he wore a loose purple camlet robe with a fur collar, tied round his waist with a parti-coloured worsted sash; grey trousers; light blue gloves; and a cap of bearskin. it had by this time come on to rain very heavily, and there was a cold damp mist besides, which penetrated to the skin. i was very glad to take advantage of a stoppage and get down to stretch my legs, shake the water off my great-coat, and swallow the usual anti-temperance recipe for keeping out the cold.... "we crossed this river [susquehanna] by a wooden bridge, roofed and covered in on all sides, and nearly a mile in length. it was profoundly dark; perplexed, with great beams, crossing and recrossing it at every possible angle; and through the broad chinks and crevices in the floor, the rapid river gleamed, far down below, like a legion of eyes. we had no lamps; and as the horses stumbled and floundered through this place, towards the distant speck of dying light, it seemed interminable. i really could not at first persuade myself as we rumbled heavily on, filling the bridge with hollow noises, and i held down my head to save it from the rafters above, but that i was in a painful dream; for i have often dreamed of toiling through such places, and as often argued, even at the time, 'this cannot be reality.' "at length, however, we emerged upon the streets of harrisburg...." coachmen are further described by dickens during his stagecoach trip from cincinnati to columbus in ohio: "we often stop to water at a roadside inn, which is always dull and silent. the coachman dismounts and fills his bucket, and holds it to the horses' heads. there is scarcely any one to help him; there are seldom any loungers standing round; and never any stable-company with jokes to crack. sometimes, when we have changed our team, there is a difficulty in starting again, arising out of the prevalent mode of breaking a young horse; which is to catch him, harness him against his will, and put him in a stage-coach without further notice: but we get on somehow or other, after a great many kicks and a violent struggle; and jog on as before again. "occasionally, when we stop to change, some two or three half-drunken loafers will come loitering out with their hands in their pockets, or will be seen kicking their heels in rocking-chairs, or lounging on the window sill, or sitting on a rail within the colonnade: they have not often anything to say though, either to us or to each other, but sit there idly staring at the coach and horses. the landlord of the inn is usually among them, and seems, of all the party, to be the least connected with the business of the house. indeed he is with reference to the tavern, what the driver is in relation to the coach and passengers: whatever happens in his sphere of action, he is quite indifferent, and perfectly easy in his mind. "the frequent change of coachmen works no change or variety in the coachman's character. he is always dirty, sullen, and taciturn. if he be capable of smartness of any kind, moral or physical, he has a faculty of concealing it which is truly marvellous. he never speaks to you as you sit beside him on the box, and if you speak to him, he answers (if at all) in monosyllables. he points out nothing on the road, and seldom looks at anything: being, to all appearance, thoroughly weary of it, and of existence generally. as to doing the honours of his coach, his business, as i have said, is with the horses. the coach follows because it is attached to them and goes on wheels: not because you are in it. sometimes, towards the end of a long stage, he suddenly breaks out into a discordant fragment of an election song, but his face never sings along with him: it is only his voice, and not often that. "he always chews and always spits, and never encumbers himself with a pocket-handkerchief. the consequences to the box passenger, especially when the wind blows toward him, are not agreeable." hiring a special express coach at columbus, dickens and his party went on to sandusky on lake erie alone. his description of the rough, narrow corduroy road is unequaled and no one but dickens could have penned such a thrilling picture of the half-conquered woodland and its spectral inhabitants: "there being no stage-coach next day, upon the road we wished to take, i hired 'an extra,' at a reasonable charge, to carry us to tiffin, a small town from whence there is a railroad to sandusky. this extra was an ordinary four-horse stage-coach, such as i have described, changing horses and drivers, as the stage-coach would, but was exclusively our own for the journey. to ensure our having horses at the proper stations, and being incommoded by no strangers, the proprietors sent an agent on the box, who was to accompany us all the way through; and thus attended, and bearing with us, besides, a hamper full of savoury cold meats, and fruit, and wine; we started off again, in high spirits, at half-past six o'clock next morning, very much delighted to be by ourselves, and disposed to enjoy even the roughest journey. "it was well for us, that we were in this humour, for the road we went over that day, was certainly enough to have shaken tempers that were not resolutely at set fair, down to some inches below stormy. at one time we were all flung together in a heap at the bottom of the coach, and at another we were crushing our heads against the roof. now, one side was down deep in the mire, and we were holding on to the other. now, the coach was lying on the tails of the two wheelers; and now it was rearing up in the air, in a frantic state, with all four horses standing on the top of an insurmountable eminence, looking coolly back at it, as though they would say 'unharness us. it can't be done.' the drivers on these roads, who certainly get over the ground in a manner which is quite miraculous, so twist and turn the team about in forcing a passage, corkscrew fashion, through the bogs and swamps, that it was quite a common circumstance on looking out of the window, to see the coachman with the ends of a pair of reins in his hands, apparently driving nothing, or playing at horses, and the leaders staring at one unexpectedly from the back of the coach, as if they had some idea of getting up behind. a great portion of the way was over what is called a corduroy road, which is made by throwing trunks of trees into a marsh, and leaving them to settle there. the very slightest of the jolts with which the ponderous carriage fell from log to log, was enough, it seemed, to have dislocated all the bones in the human body. it would be impossible to experience a similar set of sensations, in any other circumstances, unless perhaps in attempting to go up to the top of st. paul's in an omnibus. never, never once, that day, was the coach in any position, attitude, or kind of motion to which we are accustomed in coaches. never did it make the smallest approach to one's experience of the proceedings of any sort of vehicle that goes on wheels. "still, it was a fine day, and the temperature was delicious, and though we had left summer behind us in the west, and were fast leaving spring, we were moving towards niagara and home. we alighted in a pleasant wood towards the middle of the day, dined on a fallen tree, and leaving our best fragments with a cottager, and our worst with the pigs (who swarm in this part of the country like grains of sand on the sea-shore, to the great comfort of our commissariat in canada), we went forward again, gaily. "as night came on, the track grew narrower and narrower, until at last it so lost itself among the trees, that the driver seemed to find his way by instinct. we had the comfort of knowing, at least, that there was no danger of his falling asleep, for every now and then a wheel would strike against an unseen stump with such a jerk, that he was fain to hold on pretty tight and pretty quick to keep himself upon the box. nor was there any reason to dread the least danger from furious driving, inasmuch as over that broken ground the horses had enough to do to walk; as to shying, there was no room for that; and a herd of wild elephants could not have run away in such a wood, with such a coach at their heels. so we stumbled along, quite satisfied. "these stumps of trees are a curious feature in american travelling. the varying illusions they present to the unaccustomed eye as it grows dark, are quite astonishing in their number and reality. now, there is a grecian urn erected in the centre of a lonely field; now there is a woman weeping at a tomb; now a very comonplace old gentleman in a white waist-coat, with a thumb thrust into each arm-hole of his coat; now a student poring on a book; now a crouching negro; now, a horse, a dog, a cannon, an armed man; a hunch-back throwing off his cloak and stepping forth into the light. they were often as entertaining to me as so many glasses in a magic lantern, and never took their shapes at my bidding, but seemed to force themselves upon me, whether i would or no; and strange to say, i sometimes recognized in them counterparts of figures once familiar to me in pictures attached to childish books, forgotten long ago. "it soon became too dark, however, even for this amusement, and the trees were so close together that their dry branches rattled against the coach on either side, and obliged us all to keep our heads within. it lightened too, for three whole hours; each flash being very bright, and blue, and long; and as the vivid streaks came darting in among the crowded branches, and the thunder rolled gloomily above the tree tops, one could scarcely help thinking that there were better neighbourhoods at such a time than thick woods afforded. "at length, between ten and eleven o'clock at night, a few feeble lights appeared in the distance, and upper sandusky, an indian village, where we were to stay till morning, lay before us." dickens's description of his visit to "looking-glass prairie" from st. louis is full of amusement, and contains many vivid pictures of pioneer roads and taverns in the mississippi valley: "as i had a great desire to see a prairie before turning back from the furthest point of my wanderings; and as some gentlemen of the town had, in their hospitable consideration, an equal desire to gratify me; a day was fixed, before my departure, for an expedition to the looking-glass prairie, which is within thirty miles of the town. deeming it possible that my readers may not object to know what kind of thing such a gipsy party may be at that distance from home, and among what sort of objects it moves, i will describe the jaunt.... "i may premise that the word prairie is variously pronounced _paraaer_, _parearer_, and _paroarer_. the latter mode of pronunciation is perhaps the most in favour. we were fourteen in all, and all young men: indeed it is a singular though very natural feature in the society of these distant settlements, that it is mainly composed of adventurous persons in the prime of life, and has very few grey heads among it. there were no ladies: the trip being a fatiguing one: and we were to start at five o'clock in the morning punctually.... "at seven o'clock ... the party had assembled, and were gathered round one light carriage, with a very stout axletree; one something on wheels like an amateur carrier's cart; one double phaeton of great antiquity and unearthly construction; one gig with a great hole in its back and a broken head; and one rider on horseback who was to go on before. i got into the first coach with three companions; the rest bestowed themselves in the other vehicles; two large baskets were made fast to the lightest; two large stone jars in wicker cases, technically known as demi-johns, were consigned to the 'least rowdy' of the party for safe keeping; and the procession moved off to the ferry-boat, in which it was to cross the river bodily, men, horses, carriages, and all as the manner in these parts is. "we got over the river in due course, and mustered again before a little wooden box on wheels, hove down all aslant in a morass, with 'merchant tailor' painted in very large letters over the door. having settled the order of proceeding, and the road to be taken, we started off once more and began to make our way through an ill-favoured black hollow, called, less expressively, the american bottom.... "we had a pair of very strong horses, but travelled at the rate of little more than a couple of miles an hour, through one unbroken slough of black mud and water. it had no variety but in depth. now it was only half over the wheels, now it hid the axletree, and now the coach sank down in it almost to the windows. the air resounded in all directions with the loud chirping of the frogs, who, with the pigs (a coarse, ugly breed, as unwholesome-looking as though they were the spontaneous growth of the country), had the whole scene to themselves. here and there we passed a log hut; but the wretched cabins were wide apart and thinly scattered, for though the soil is very rich in this place, few people can exist in such a deadly atmosphere. on either side of the track, if it deserve the name, was the thick 'bush;' and everywhere was stagnant, slimy, rotten, filthy water. "as it is the custom in these parts to give a horse a gallon or so of cold water whenever he is in a foam with heat, we halted for that purpose, at a log inn in the wood, far removed from any other residence. it consisted of one room, bare-roofed and bare-walled of course, with a loft above. the ministering priest was a swarthy young savage, in a shirt of cotton print like bed-furniture, and a pair of ragged trousers. there were a couple of young boys, too, nearly naked, lying idly by the well; and they, and he, and _the_ traveller at the inn, turned out to look at us.... "when the horses were swollen out to about twice their natural dimensions (there seems to be an idea here, that this kind of inflation improves their going), we went forward again, through mud and mire, and damp, and festering heat, and brake and bush, attended always by the music of the frogs and pigs, until nearly noon, when we halted at a place called belleville. "belleville was a small collection of wooden houses, huddled together in the very heart of the bush and swamp.... the criminal court was sitting, and was at that moment trying some criminals for horse-stealing; with whom it would most likely go hard: for live stock of all kinds being necessarily very much exposed in the woods, is held by the community in rather higher value than human life; and for this reason, juries generally make a point of finding all men indicted for cattle-stealing, guilty, whether or no. the horses belonging to the bar, the judge, and witnesses, were tied to temporary racks set up roughly in the road; by which is to be understood, a forest path, nearly knee-deep in mud and slime. "there was an hotel in this place which, like all hotels in america, had its large dining-room for the public table. it was an odd, shambling, low-roofed out-house, half cowshed and half kitchen, with a coarse brown canvas table-cloth, and tin sconces stuck against the walls, to hold candles at supper-time. the horseman had gone forward to have coffee and some eatables prepared, and they were by this time nearly ready. he had ordered 'wheat-bread and chicken fixings,' in preference to 'corn-bread and common doings.'[ ] the latter kind of refection includes only pork and bacon. the former comprehends broiled ham, sausages, veal cutlets, steaks, and such other viands of that nature as may be supposed, by a tolerably wide poetical construction, 'to fix' a chicken comfortably in the digestive organs of any lady or gentleman.... "from belleville, we went on, through the same desolate kind of waste, and constantly attended, without the interval of a moment, by the same music; until, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we halted once more at a village called lebanon to inflate the horses again, and give them some corn besides: of which they stood much in need. pending this ceremony, i walked into the village, where i met a full sized dwelling-house coming down-hill at a round trot, drawn by a score or more of oxen. the public-house was so very clean and good a one, that the managers of the jaunt resolved to return to it and put up there for the night, if possible. this course decided on, and the horses being well refreshed, we again pushed forward, and came upon the prairie at sunset. "it would be difficult to say why, or how--though it was possibly from having heard and read so much about it--but the effect on me was disappointment. looking towards the setting sun, there lay, stretched out before my view, a vast expanse of level ground; unbroken, save by one thin line of trees, which scarcely amounted to a scratch upon the great blank; until it met the glowing sky, wherein it seemed to dip: mingling with its rich colours, and mellowing in its distant blue. there it lay, a tranquil sea or lake without water, if such a simile be admissible, with the day going down upon it; a few birds wheeling here and there; and solitude and silence reigning paramount around. but the grass was not yet high; there were bare black patches on the ground; and the few wild flowers that the eye could see, were poor and scanty. great as the picture was, its very flatness and extent, which left nothing to the imagination, tamed it down and cramped its interest. i felt little of that sense of freedom and exhilaration which a scottish heath inspires, or even our english downs awaken. it was lonely and wild, but oppressive in its barren monotony. i felt that in traversing the prairies, i could never abandon myself to the scene, forgetful of all else; as i should do instinctively, were the heather underneath my feet, or an iron-bound coast beyond; but should often glance towards the distant and frequently-receding line of the horizon, and wish it gained and passed. it is not a scene to be forgotten, but it is scarcely one, i think (at all events, as i saw it), to remember with much pleasure, or to covet the looking-on again, in after life. "we encamped near a solitary log-house, for the sake of its water, and dined upon the plain. the baskets contained roast fowls, buffalo's tongue (an exquisite dainty, by the way), ham, bread, cheese, and butter; biscuits, champagne, sherry; lemons and sugar for punch; and abundance of rough ice. the meal was delicious, and the entertainers were the soul of kindness and good humour. i have often recalled that cheerful party to my pleasant recollection since, and shall not easily forget, in junketings nearer home with friends of older date, my boon companions on the prairie. returning to lebanon that night, we lay at the little inn at which we had halted in the afternoon. in point of cleanliness and comfort it would have suffered by no comparison with any village ale-house, of a homely kind, in england.... "after breakfast, we started to return by a different way from that which we had taken yesterday, and coming up at ten o'clock with an encampment of german emigrants carrying their goods in carts, who had made a rousing fire which they were just quitting, we stopped there to refresh. and very pleasant the fire was; for, hot though it had been yesterday, it was quite cold to-day, and the wind blew keenly. looming in the distance, as we rode along, was another of the ancient indian burial-places, called the monks' mound; in memory of a body of fanatics of the order of la trappe, who founded a desolate convent there, many years ago, when there were no settlers within a thousand miles, and were all swept off by the pernicious climate: in which lamentable fatality, few rational people will suppose, perhaps, that society experienced any very severe deprivation. "the track of to-day had the same features as the track of yesterday. there was the swamp, the bush, the perpetual chorus of frogs, the rank unseemly growth, the unwholesome steaming earth. here and there, and frequently too, we encountered a solitary broken-down waggon, full of some new settler's goods. it was a pitiful sight to see one of these vehicles deep in the mire; the axletree broken; the wheel lying idly by its side; the man gone miles away, to look for assistance; the woman seated among their wandering household gods with a baby at her breast, a picture of forlorn, dejected patience; the team of oxen crouching down mournfully in the mud, and breathing forth such clouds of vapour from their mouths and nostrils, that all the damp mist and fog around seemed to have come direct from them. "in due time we mustered once again before the merchant tailor's, and having done so, crossed over to the city in the ferry-boat: passing, on the way, a spot called bloody island, the duelling-ground of st. louis, and so designated in honour of the last fatal combat fought there, which was with pistols, breast to breast. both combatants fell dead upon the ground; and possibly some rational people may think of them, as of the gloomy madmen on the monks' mound, that they were no great loss to the community." for purposes of comparison, the following description of experiences in later times with indian trails of the west will be of interest. much that has been deduced from a study of our pioneer history and embodied in the preceding pages finds strong confirmation here; in earlier days, with forests covering the country, the trails were more like roads than in the open prairies of the west; but, as will be seen, many laws governed the earlier and the later indian thoroughfares, alike. i quote from the hon. charles augustus murray's memoirs, written three-quarters of a century ago, of a tour in missouri: "on the th we pursued our course, north by east: this was not exactly the direction in which i wished to travel, but two considerations induced me to adopt it at this part of the journey. in the first place, it enabled me to keep along the dividing ridge; an advantage so great, and so well understood by all prairie travellers, that it is worth making a circuit of several miles a day to keep it; and the indian trails which we have crossed since our residence in the wilderness, convince me that the savages pay the greatest attention to this matter. in a wide extent of country composed of a succession of hills and ridges, it is evident there must be a great number of steep banks, which offer to an inexperienced traveller numerous obstacles, rendering his own progress most toilsome, and that of loaded packhorses almost impossible. if these ridges all ran in parallel lines, and were regular in their formation, nothing would be more simple than to get upon the summit of one, and keep it for the whole day's journey: but such is not the case; they constantly meet other ridges running in a transverse direction; and, of course, large dips and ravines are consequent upon that meeting. the 'dividing ridge' of a district is that which, while it is, as it were, the back-bone of the range of which it forms a part, heads at the same time all the transverse ravines, whether on the right or on the left hand, and thereby spares to the traveller an infinity of toilsome ascent and descent. "i have sometimes observed that an indian trail wound through a country in a course perfectly serpentine, and appeared to me to travel three miles when only one was necessary. it was not till my own practical experience had made me attend more closely to this matter, that i learnt to appreciate its importance. i think that the first quality in a guide through an unknown range of rolling prairie, is having a good and a quick eye for hitting off the 'dividing ridge;' the second, perhaps, in a western wilderness, is a ready and almost intuitive perception (so often found in an indian) of the general character of a country, so as to be able to bring his party to water when it is very scarce.... a few miles farther we crossed an old indian trail i think it was of a pawnee party, for it bore north by west ... it had not been a war-party, as was evident from the character of the trail. a war-party leaves only the trail of the horses, or, of course, if it be a foot party, the still slighter tracks of their own feet; but when they are on their summer hunt, or migrating from one region to another, they take their squaws and children with them, and this trail can always be distinguished from the former, by two parallel tracks about three and a half feet apart, not unlike those of a light pair of wheels: these are made by the points of the long curved poles on which their lodges are stretched, the thickest or butt ends of which are fastened to each side of the pack-saddle, while the points trail behind the horse; in crossing rough or boggy places, this is often found the most inconvenient part of an indian camp equipage.... i was fortunate enough to find an indian trail bearing north by east, which was as near to our destined course as these odious creeks would permit us to go. we struck into it, and it brought us safely, though not without difficulty, through the tangled and muddy bottom in which we had been involved: sometimes a horse floundered, and more than once a pack came off; but upon the whole we had great reason to congratulate ourselves upon having found this trail, by which we escaped in two hours from a place which would, without its assistance, probably have detained us two days. i was by no means anxious to part with so good a friend, and proceeded some miles upon this same trail; it was very old and indistinct, especially in the high and dry parts of the prairie. i left my horse with the rest of the party and went on foot, in order that i might more easily follow the trail, which became almost imperceptible as we reached an elevated district of table-land, which had been burned so close that i very often lost the track altogether for fifty yards. if a fire takes place on a prairie where there is already a distinct trail, it is as easy to follow it, if not more so than before; because the short and beaten grass offering no food to the fire, partly escapes its fury, and remains a green line upon a sea of black; but if the party making the trail pass over a prairie which is already burnt, in the succeeding season when the new grass has grown, it can scarcely be traced by any eye but that of an indian.... after we had travelled five hours ... i found that the trail which we had been following, merged in another and a larger one, which appeared to run a point to the west of north. this was so far out of our course that i hesitated whether i should not leave it altogether; but, upon reflection, i determined not to do so ... if i attempted to cross the country farther to the eastward, without any trail, i should meet with serious difficulties and delays.... i therefore struck into it, and ere long the result justified my conjecture; for we came to a wooded bottom or valley, which was such a complete jungle, and so extensive, that i am sure, if we had not been guided by the trail, we could not have made our way through it in a week. as it was, the task was no easy one; for the trail, though originally large, was not very fresh, and the weeds and branches had in many places so overgrown it, that i was obliged to dismount and trace it out on foot. it wound about with a hundred serpentine evolutions to avoid the heavy swamps and marshes around us; and i repeatedly thought that, if we lost it, we never should extricate our baggage: even with its assistance, we were obliged frequently to halt and replace the packs, which were violently forced off by the branches with which they constantly came in contact ... 'where on earth is he taking us now?--why we are going back in the same direction as we came!' i turned round and asked the speaker (a comrade) ... to point with his finger to the quarter which he would make for if he were guiding the party to fort leavenworth. he did so; and i took out my compass and showed him that he was pointing south-west, _i.e._ to santa fé and the gulf of california: so completely had the poor fellow's head become puzzled by the winding circuit we had made in the swamp."[ ] footnotes: [ ] washington's _journal_ sept. nd to oct. th, . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. v, ch. . [ ] this creek rises in hardy county, virginia, and flows northeastward through hampshire county, entering the north branch of the potomac river about eight miles southeast of cumberland, maryland. [ ] union township, monongalia county, west virginia. [ ] oliphant's iron furnace, union township? [ ] the mountainous boundary line between monongalia and preston counties. [ ] bruceton's mills, grant township, preston county, west virginia? [ ] southwestern corner of maryland, some twenty miles north of oakland. [ ] briery mountain runs northeast through the eastern edge of preston county, bounding dunkard bottom on the east as cheat river bounds it on the west. [ ] the friends were the earliest pioneers of garrett county, john friend coming in bringing six sons among whom was this charles. the sons scattered about through the valley of the youghiogheny, charles settling near the mouth of sang run, which cuts through winding ridge mountain and joins the youghiogheny about fifteen miles due north from oakland. washington, moving eastward on mcculloch's path probably passed through this gap in winding ridge. a present-day road runs parallel with winding ridge from friendsville (named from this pioneer family) southward to near altamont, which route seems to have been that pursued by mcculloch's path. see scharf's _history of western maryland_, vol. ii, p. ; _atlas of maryland_ (baltimore, ), pp. - ; war atlas - , _house miscellaneous documents_, vol. iv, part , no. , d cong. st sess. - , plate cxxxvi. [ ] great back bone mountain, garrett county, maryland, on which, at altamont, the baltimore and ohio railway reaches its highest altitude. it was about here that washington now crossed it, probably on the watershed between youghiogheny and potomac waters west of altamont. [ ] ryan's glade no. , garrett county. [ ] this point is pretty definitely determined in the journal. we are told that the mouth of stony river (now stony creek) was four miles below mcculloch's crossing. this would locate the latter near the present site of fort pendleton, garrett county, maryland, the point where the old northwestern turnpike crossed the north branch. [ ] greeland gap, grant county, west virginia. [ ] knobby mountain. [ ] near moorefield, hardy county, west virginia. [ ] mt. storm, grant county. the old northwestern turnpike bears northeast from here to claysville, burlington and romney. washington's route was southwest along the line of the present road to moorefield. evidently the buffalo trace bore southwest on the watershed between stony river and abraham's creek--white's _west virginia atlas_ ( ), p. . bradley's _map of united states_ ( ) shows a road from morgantown to romney; also a "western fort" at the crossing-place of the youghiogheny. [ ] dunkard's bottom, in portland township, preston county, west virginia, was settled about by dr. thomas eckarly and brothers who traversed the old path to fort pleasant on south branch.--thwaites's edition of withers's _chronicles of border warfare_ ( ), pp. - . [ ] _laws of virginia_ ( - ), pp. - . [ ] _laws of virginia_ ( ), pp. - ; _journal of the senate ... of virginia_ ( - ), p. . [ ] see _historic highways of america_, vol. ix, pp. - . [ ] _journal of thomas wallcutt in _, edited by george dexter (_proceedings of the massachusetts historical society_, october, ). [ ] the journal begins at the ohio company's settlement at marietta, ohio. [ ] they crossed the ohio river to the present site of williamstown, west virginia, named from the brave and good pioneer isaac williams. [ ] the monongahela trail; see _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] for an early ( ) map of this region that is reasonably correct, see herman böye's _map of virginia_ in massachusetts historical society library. [ ] near friendsville, maryland--named in honor of the old pioneer family; see note , _ante_; cf. corey's map of virginia in his _american atlas_ ( ), d edition; also samuel lewis's _map of virginia_ ( ). [ ] bellville was the earlier flinn's station, virginia.--s. p. hildreth's _pioneer history_, p. . [ ] the author has, for several years, been looking for an explanation of this interesting obituary; "broadaggs" is, clearly, a corruption of "braddock's." of "atherwayes" no information is at hand; it was probably the name of a woodsman who settled here--for "bear camplain" undoubtedly means a "bare _campagne_," or clearing. the word _campagne_ was a common one among american pioneers. cf. harris's _tour_, p. . a spot halfway between cumberland and uniontown would be very near the point where the road crossed the pennsylvania state-line. [ ] a reminiscent letter written in for the _american pioneer_ (vol. i, pp. - ). [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vii, pp. - . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] the iroquois trail likewise left the river valley at this spot. [ ] _laws of new york_, , ch. xxix. [ ] _laws of new york_, , ch. xxvi. [ ] _id._, ch. xxxix. [ ] _laws of new york_, , ch. lx. [ ] _laws of new york_, , ch. xxvi. [ ] _laws of new york_, - , ch. lxxviii. [ ] boston, , pp. - . [ ] published by charles scribner's sons, . [ a] this name long since was abandoned. on the opposite side of the river, however, a new settlement grew up under the name of unadilla, the beginnings of which date about . see the same author's "the pioneers of unadilla village" (unadilla, ).--halsey. [ ] state land papers.--halsey. [ ] sluman wattles's account book.--halsey. [ ] dr. dwight's figures are for the township, not for the village, which was then a mere frontier hamlet, of perhaps one hundred souls.--halsey. [ ] "reminiscences of village life and of panama and california from to ," by gains leonard halsey, m. d. published at unadilla.--halsey. [ ] a stage line, however, for long years afterward supplied these settlements with a means of communication with unadilla, and it is within the memory of many persons still calling themselves young that for a considerable series of years, trips twice a week were regularly made by henry s. woodruff. after mr. woodruff's death a large and interesting collection of coaches, sleighs, and other stage relics remained upon his premises--the last survival of coaching times on the catskill turnpike, embracing a period of three-quarters of a century.--halsey. [ ] see _historic highways of america_, vol. xi, p. , _note_. [ ] _travels in north america_ (london, ), vol. ii, pp. - . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. historic highways of america volume historic highways of america volume portage paths the keys of the continent by archer butler hulbert _with maps_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface part i: portage paths i. nature and use of portages ii. the evolution of portages part ii: a catalogue of american portages i. introductory ii. new england and canadian portages iii. new york portages iv. portages to the mississippi basin illustrations i. the morris map of : northern english colonies ii. the old oneida portage in (rome, new york) preface the little portage pathways which connected the heads of our rivers and lakes or offered the _voyageur_ a thoroughfare around the cataracts and rapids of our rivers were, as the subtitle of this volume suggests, the "keys of the continent" a century or so ago. the forts, chapels, trading stations, treaty houses, council fires, boundary stones, camp grounds, and villages located at these strategic points all prove this. the study of these routes brings one at once face to face with old-time problems from a point of view almost never otherwise gained. the newness and value of reviewing historic movements from the standpoint of highways is strikingly emphasized in the case of portage paths. while studying them, one seems to rise on heights of ground like those these pathways spanned--and from that altitude, gazing backward, to get a better perspective of the military and social movements which made these little roads historic. the difficulty of treating such a broad subject in a single monograph must be apparent. portages are found wherever lakes or rivers lie, and our subject is therefore as broad as the continent. it is obvious that in a limited space it is possible to treat only of portages most used and best known--which most influenced our history. these are practically included in the territory lying south of the great lakes between the atlantic ocean and the mississippi river. historically, too, we are taken back to the early days of our history when america was coextensive with the continent, for the important portages were those binding the st. lawrence with the rivers of new england, and the tributaries of the great lakes with those of the mississippi. it has seemed most profitable to divide the subject into two parts: in the first, under the specific title of "portage paths" is given a description of these routes, their nature, use, and evolution. the second part is devoted to a "catalogue of american portages," and in it are included extracts from the studies of students who have given the subject of portages their attention, showing style of treatment, methods of investigation and research, and results of field-work. among these dr. wm. f. ganong's _historic sites in the province of new brunswick_ and elbert j. benton's _the wabash trade route_ are commanding examples of critical, scholarly field-work and specific historical analysis. professor justin h. smith's impressive monograph on _arnold's battle with the wilderness_, and secretary george a. baker's _the st. joseph-kankakee portage_ are illustrations of what could and should be done in many score of cases throughout the united states. to sylvester's _northern new york_ and dr. h. c. taylor's _the old portage road_ the author is likewise indebted. the author has attempted to make good in some degree the astonishing lack of material concerning the famous oneida portage in new york, a subject which calls loudly for earnest and minute study--for this portage path at rome, new york, with the exception of niagara, was the most important west of the hudson river. a plea for the study of the subject of portages and the marking of historic sites occupies the concluding pages. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, may , . part i portage paths chapter i nature and use of portages there may be no better way to introduce the subject of the famous old portages of america, than to ask the reader to walk, in fancy, along what may be called a "backbone of america"--that watershed which runs from the north atlantic seaboard to the valley of the mississippi river. it will prove a long, rough, circuitous journey, but at the end the traveler will realize the meaning of the word "portage," which in our day has almost been forgotten in common parlance, and will understand what it meant in the long ago, when old men dreamed dreams and young men saw visions which will never be dreamed or seen again in human history. as we start westward from new brunswick and until we reach the sweeping tides of the mississippi we shall see, on the right hand and on the left, the gleaming lakes or half-hidden brooks and rivulets which flow northward to the st. lawrence or the great lakes, or southward to the atlantic ocean or the gulf of mexico. on the high ground between the heads of these water-courses our path lies. for the greater portion of our journey we shall find neither road nor pathway; here we shall climb and follow long, ragged mountain crests, well nigh inaccessible, in some spots never trod by human foot save the wandering hunter's; there we shall drop down to a lower level and find that on our watershed run roads, canals, and railways. at many points in our journey we shall find a perfect network of modern routes of travel, converging perhaps on a teeming city which owes its growth and prosperity to its geographical situation at a strategic point on the watershed we are following. and where we find the largest population and the greatest activity today, just there, we may rest assured, human activity was equally noticeable in the old days. as we pass along we must bear in mind the story of days gone by, as well as the geography which so much influenced it. it is to the earliest days of our country's history that our attention is attracted--to the days when the french came to the st. lawrence and the great lakes, and sought to know and possess the interior of the continent, to which each shining tributary of the northern water system offered a passage way. passing the question how and why new france was founded on the st. lawrence, it is enough for us to know she was there before the seventeenth century dawned, and that her fearless _voyageurs_, undaunted by the rushing tides of that great stream, were pushing on to a conquest of the temperate empire which lay to the southward. here in treacherous eddies, the foaming rapids, and the mighty current of that river, they were soon taught the woodland art of canoeing, by the most savage of masters; and in canoes the traders, trappers, missionaries, explorers, hunters, and pioneers were soon stemming the current of every stream that flowed from the south. but these streams found their sources in this highland we are treading. heedless of the interruption, these daring men pushed their canoes to the uttermost navigable limit, and then shouldered them and crossed the watershed. once over the "portage," and their canoes safely launched, nothing stood between them and the atlantic ocean. it is these portage paths for which we shall look as we proceed westward. as we pass, one by one, these slight roadways across the backbone of the continent, whether they be miles in length or only rods, they must speak to us as almost nothing else can, today, of the thousand dreams of conquest entertained by the first europeans who traversed them, of the thousand hopes that were rising of a new france richer and more glorious than the old. advancing westward from the northern atlantic we find ourselves at once between the headwaters of the st. john river on the south and sparkling etchemin on the north, and we cross the slight track which joins these important streams. not many miles on we find ourselves between the kennebec on the south and the chaudière on the north, and cross the pathway between them which has been traversed by tens of thousands until even the passes in the rocks are worn smooth. the valley of the richelieu heads off the watershed and turns it southwest; we accordingly pass down the green mountain range, across the historic path from otter creek to the connecticut, and below lake george we pass northward across the famous road from the extremity of that lake to the hudson. striking northward now we head the hudson in the adirondacks and come down upon the strategic watershed between its principal tributary, the mohawk, and lake ontario. the watershed dodges between wood creek, which flows northward, and the mohawk, at rome, new york, where fort stanwix guarded the portage path between these streams. pressing westward below seneca lake and the genessee, our course takes us north of lake chautauqua, where we cross the path over which canoes were borne from lake erie to lake chautauqua, and, a few miles westward, we cross the portage path from lake erie to rivière aux boeufs, a tributary of the allegheny. pursuing the height of land westward we skirt the winding valley of the cuyahoga and at akron, ohio, find ourselves crossing the portage between that stream and the tuscarawas branch of the muskingum. as we go on, the valley of the sandusky turns up southward until we pass between its headwaters and just north of the olentangy branch of the scioto. we face north again and look over the low-lying region of the black swamp until the maumee valley bars our way and we turn south to cross the historic portage near fort wayne, indiana, which connects the maumee and the wabash. by a zig-zag course we approach the basin of lake michigan and pass deftly on the height of ground between the st. joseph flowing northward and the kankakee flowing southward. here we cross another famous portage path. circling the extremity of lake michigan by a wide margin, our course leads us to a passage way between the chicago river and the illinois. here we find another path. the wisconsin river basin turns us northward now, and near madison, wisconsin, we run between the head of the fox and the head of the wisconsin and cross the famed portage path which connected them. just beyond lies the mississippi, and if we should wish to avoid it we would be compelled to bear far north among the canadian lakes. thus from the atlantic coast we have passed to the mississippi without crossing one single stream of water; but we have crossed at least twelve famous pathways between streams that flow north and south--routes of travel, which, when studied, give us an insight into the story of days long passed which cannot be gained in any other way. over these paths pushed the first explorers, the men who, first of europeans, saw the ohio and mississippi. possessing a better knowledge of their routes and their experiences while voyaging in an unknown land, we realize better the impetuosity of their ambition and the meaning of their discoveries to them. we can almost see them hurrying with uplifted eyes over these little paths, tortured by the luring suggestions of the glimmering waterways in the distance. whether it is that bravest of brave men, la salle, crossing from lake erie to the allegheny, or marquette striding over the little path to the stream which should carry him to the mississippi, or céloron bearing the leaden plates which were to claim the ohio for france up the difficult path from lake erie to lake chautauqua, there is no moment in these heroes' lives more interesting than this. these paths crossed the dividing line between what was known and what was unknown. here on the high ground, with eyes intent upon the vista below, faint hearts were fired to greater exertions, and dreamers heavy under the dead weight of physical exhaustion again grew hopeful at the camping place on the portage path. of all whose ambitions led them over these little paths, none appeal more strongly to us than the daring, patient missionaries who here wore out their lives for the master. each portage was known to them, better, perhaps, than to any other class of men. here they encamped on their pilgrimages, though, from being spots of vantage which excited them onward, they were rather the line of demarcation between the near and the distant fields of service, and all of them full of trial and suffering and seeming defeat. nowhere in the north can the heroism of the catholic missionaries be more plainly read today in any material objects than in the deep-worn, half-forgotten portage paths which lay along their routes. the nobility of their ambitions, compared with those of explorers, traders, and military and civil officials, has ever been conspicuous, but the full measure of their self-sacrifice cannot be realized until we know better the intense physical suffering they here endured. if the study of portage paths results only in a deeper appreciation of the bravery of these black-robed fathers, it will be worth far more than its cost. in this connection it is proper to make a restriction; portage paths not only joined the heads of streams flowing in opposite directions, but were also land routes between rivers and lakes, between lakes, and even between rivers running in the same direction. they not only connected the etchemin and st. john, and the chaudière and kennebec, but also the st. john and the kennebec, and the kennebec and penobscot. many portages joined the lesser lakes; for example, such as lake simcoe, lying between lake ontario and georgian bay, or lake chautauqua lying between lake erie and the allegheny river. the most common form of portage, however, was the pathway on a river's bank around rapids and waterfalls which impeded the _voyageur's_ way. these were very important on such a turbulent river as the st. lawrence, and on smaller rivers such as the scioto or rivière aux boeufs which were almost dry in certain places in midsummer.[ ] in midwinter, with ice running or blocking the course on small streams, these carrying places were as important as in the dry season. the clearest pictures preserved for us of travelers on these first highways are, happily, to be found in the letters of the jesuit missionaries who knew them so well, and whose heroism it were a sin to forget. without attempting to distinguish the various personalities of these brave men, let us take some descriptions of their routes from their own lips. "these places are called portages, inasmuch as one is compelled to transport on his shoulders all the baggage, and even the boat, in order to go and find some other river, or make one's way around these rapids and torrents; and it is often necessary to go on for several leagues, loaded down like mules, and climbing mountains and descending into valleys, amid a thousand difficulties and a thousand fears, and among rocks or amid thickets known only to unclean animals."[ ] "we returned by an entirely different road from that which we had followed when going there. we passed almost continually by torrents, by precipices, and by places that were horrible in every way. in less than five days, we made more than thirty-five portages, some of which were a league and a half long. this means that on these occasions one has to carry on his shoulders his canoe and all his baggage, and with so little food that we were constantly hungry, and almost without strength and vigor. but god is good and it is only too great a favor to be allowed to consume our lives and our days in his holy service. moreover, these fatigues and difficulties--the mere recital whereof would have frightened me--did not injure my health.... i hope next spring to make the same journey and to push still farther toward the north sea, to find there new tribes and entire new nations wherein the light of faith has never yet penetrated."[ ] "on the third day of june, after four canoes had left us to go and join their families, we made a portage which occupied an entire day spent now in climbing mountains and now in piercing forests. here we had much difficulty in making our way, for we were all laden as heavily as possible--one carrying the canoe, another the provisions, and a third what we needed in our commercial transactions. i carried my chapel and my little store of provisions; there was no one who was not laden and sweating from every pore. we entered, somewhat late, the great river manikovaganistikov, which the french call rivière noire ["black river"], because of its depth. it is quite as broad as the seine and as swift as the rhone. the eleven portages which we had to make there and the numerous currents which it was necessary to overcome by dint of paddling gave us abundant exercise."[ ] "but what detracts from this river's [st. lawrence] utility is the waterfalls and rapids extending nearly forty leagues,--that is from montreal to the mouth of lake ontario,--there being only the two lakes i have mentioned where navigation is easy. in ascending these rapids it is often necessary to alight from the canoe and walk in the river, whose waters are rather low in such places, especially near the banks. the canoe is grasped with the hand and dragged behind, two men usually sufficing for this.... occasionally one is obliged to run it ashore, and carry it for some time, one man in front and another behind--the first bearing one end of the canoe on his right shoulder, and the second the other end on his left."[ ] "now when these rapids or torrents are reached, it is necessary to land and carry on the shoulder, through woods or over high and troublesome rocks, all the baggage and the canoes themselves. this is not done without much work; for there are portages of one, two, and three leagues, and for each several trips must be made, no matter how few packages one has.... i kept count of the number of portages, and found that we carried our canoes thirty-five times, and dragged them at least fifty. i sometimes took a hand in helping my savages; but the bottom of the river is full of stones so sharp that i could not walk long, being barefooted."[ ] "but the mission of the hurons lasted more than sixteen years, in a country whither one cannot go with other boats than of bark, which carry at the most only two thousand livres of burden, including the passengers--who are frequently obliged to bear on their shoulders, from four to six miles, along with the boat and the provisions, all the furniture for the journey; for there is not, in the space of more than miles, any inn. for this reason, we have passed whole years without receiving so much as one letter, either from europe or from kebec, and in a total deprivation of every human assistance, even that most necessary for our mysteries and sacraments themselves,--the country having neither wheat nor wine, which are absolutely indispensable for the holy sacrifice of the mass."[ ] the following are extracts from the instructions given to missionaries concerning their conduct on the journey from montreal to the huron country ( ): "the fathers and brethren whom god shall call to the holy mission of the hurons ought to exercise careful foresight in regard to all the hardships, annoyances, and perils that must be encountered in making this journey.... to conciliate the savages, you must be careful never to make them wait for you in embarking. you must provide yourself with a tinder box or a burning mirror, or with both, to furnish them fire in the daytime to light their pipes, and in the evening when they have to encamp; these little services win their hearts.... you must try and eat at daybreak unless you can take your meal with you in the canoe; for the day is very long, if you have to pass it without eating. the barbarians eat only at sunrise and sunset, when they are on their journeys. you must be prompt in embarking and disembarking; and tuck up your gowns so that they will not get wet, and so that you will not carry either water or sand into the canoe. to be properly dressed, you must have your feet and legs bare; while crossing the rapids you can wear your shoes, and, in the long portages, even your leggings.... it is not well to ask many questions, nor should you yield to your desire to learn the language and to make observations on the way; this may be carried too far. you must relieve those in your canoe of this annoyance, especially as you cannot profit much by it during the work.... each one should be provided with half a gross of awls, two or three dozen little knives called jambettes [pocket-knives], a hundred fishhooks, with some beads of plain and colored glass.... each one will try, at the portages, to carry some little thing, according to his strength; however little one carries, it greatly pleases the savages, if it be only a kettle.... be careful not to annoy any one in the canoe with your hat; it would be better to take your nightcap. there is no impropriety among the savages."[ ] with the foregoing introduction to the subject of portage paths and the nature of the journey over them, their historical importance is next to be noted. in champlain laid the foundation for montreal, and two years later pushed northwest up the ottawa river in search of a northwest passageway to the east, but he only reached isle des allumettes, the indian "half-way house" between the st. lawrence and lake huron. two years later the missionary le caron pushed up the same long voyage; following the ottawa and mattawan he entered the famous portage to lake nipissing which opened the way to "mer douce"--lake huron. champlain soon followed le caron over the same course and reached lake nipissing by the same portage. in his campaign against the iroquois in central new york, champlain also found another route to lake huron, by way of lake ontario, the trent, and the lake simcoe portage. champlain's unfortunate campaigns against the iroquois were of far-reaching effect; one of the significant results being to drive the french around to lakes huron, michigan, and superior by way of the lake nipissing and lake simcoe portages.[ ] the finding of lakes huron and ontario and the routes to them was the hardy "champlain's last and greatest achievement." an interpreter of champlain's, etienne brulé, was the first to push west of "mer douce" and bring back descriptions that seem to fit lake superior. this was in . five years later nicollet drove his canoe through the straits of mackinaw, discovered the "lake of the illinois"--lake michigan--and from green bay went up the fox and crossed the strategic portage to the wisconsin. he affirmed that if he had paddled three more days he would have reached the ocean! though lake erie was known to the french as early as it was not until that it was explored or even approximately understood. in september of that year the two men who rank next to champlain as explorers, la salle and joliet, met on the portage between lake ontario and grand river, and discussed the question of what the west contained and how to go there. they had heard of a road to a great river and they both were men to do and dare. they parted. joliet went to montreal, having converted the two sulpitian missionaries galinée and dollier to his belief that the western road would be found by passing to the western lakes. they therefore left la salle and went up through the strait of detroit, and galinée made the first map of the upper lakes now in existence. la salle on the other hand, believing a story told him by the senecas, held that the road sought lay to the southwest, and it is practically agreed today that he passed from near grand river across lake erie southward, and entered the stream which was later known as the ohio, and passed down this waterway perhaps to the present site of louisville, kentucky. if modern scholarship in this case is correct, la salle was the discoverer of the sweeping ohio, having come to it over the lake erie-rivière aux boeufs portage, or the lake erie-chautauqua portage. there is little reason to believe he ascended the cuyahoga and descended the tuscarawas and muskingum as has been feebly asserted. the ohio, if it was at this time actually discovered by la salle, remained almost unknown for nearly a century. in frontenac detailed joliet to make the discovery of the mississippi and the adventurer went westward to mackinaw where he met marquette. the two went down green bay, up the fox, and across the portage to the wisconsin; on june , , they entered the mississippi river. returning, they ascended the illinois and (probably) the kankakee; crossing the portage to the st. joseph they were again afloat on lake michigan. the indomitable la salle built a vessel of sixty tons on lake erie in --the "griffin," first craft of her kind "that ever sailed our inland seas above lake ontario." in her la salle was to sail to near the mississippi; part of this ship's cargo comprised anchors and tackling for a boat in which the explorer would descend the mississippi and reach the west indies. the "griffin" was lost, but her builder pushed on undismayed to the valley of the illinois river. late in he built fort miamis at the mouth of the st. joseph, and in december he passed up that river and over the portage to the kankakee which joliet and marquette had traversed six years before. "passing places soon to become memorable in western annals ... he finally stopped at a point just below the [peoria] lake and began a fortification. he gave to this fort a name that, better than anything else, marks the desperate condition of his affairs. hitherto he had refused to believe that the "griffin" was lost--the vessel that he had strained his resources to build, and freighted with his fortunes.... but as hope of her safety grew faint, he named his fort _crèvecoeur_--'broken heart.'"[ ] leaving here his thirty men under tonty to build a new boat, and sending hennepin to the upper mississippi, the indomitable hero set out for canada to secure additional material for his new boat. ascending the kankakee he crossed the portage to the western extremity of lake erie and passed on through the lakes to niagara. fort crèvecoeur was plundered and deserted, but la salle, in the winter of - was again dragging his sledges over the portage to the illinois on his way to the great river which he, first of europeans, should fully traverse, "but which fate seemed to have decreed that he should never reach." on the ninth of the following april the brave man stood at last at its mouth, and beside a column bearing the arms of france, a cross and a leaden plate claiming all the territory from which those waters came, he took possession of the richest four million square miles of earth for louis xiv. "that the mississippi valley was laid open to the eyes of the world by a _voyageur_ who came overland from canada, and not by a _voyageur_ who ploughed through the atlantic and the gulf of mexico from spain, is a fact of far-reaching import. the first louisiana was the whole valley; this and the lake-st. lawrence basin made up the second new france ... the two blended and supplemented each other geographically...."[ ] the second new france was united to louisiana by hinges; these hinges were the portage paths which joined them. the importance of these routes of travel did not by any means pass when once the explorers and missionaries had hurried over them and brought back news of the lands to which they led. the economic history of these routes is both interesting and important, and should be considered, perhaps, before reviewing their military significance. as we have had occasion to notice, straits and portages were famous meeting places. la salle and joliet met between lake erie and lake ontario; joliet and marquette met at mackinaw. all routes converged on these narrow land and water courses, while on the broad lakes sojourners passed each other at short distances unwittingly. for in the old days of canoes the coming and going routes varied with a thousand circumstances. of course the traveler's general rule was to reach quickest waters flowing toward his destination. if he was making for the mouth of the mississippi from montreal his best route would be to turn south from lake ontario to the first easterly head of the allegheny river, in preference to pushing further west to the head of any of the other tributaries of the mississippi. following the same rule, the route from quebec to the kennebec valley was by way of moosehead lake; the return route was by way of the dead river. a person returning from the "falls of the ohio" (louisville, kentucky) to canada would, other things being equal, make for the nearest head of a stream flowing into lake erie. in the case of the great lakes, winds and changing water-level soon became understood and governed travel. parties journeying from mackinaw to illinois or the mississippi would hold to the western coast of lake michigan, for here they were favored by the winds, and proceeded southward by the fox-wisconsin portage or the chicago-illinois portage. in returning they would, under ordinary circumstances, choose the kankakee-st. joseph portage which would obviate the necessity of stemming the illinois or wisconsin and crossing lake michigan. the more direct route to the head of the maumee was not discovered or appreciated until later. thus traffic, on the lakes at least, was not on the bee line that it is today, and thus it was that portage paths and straits were famous meeting-places and camping spots.[ ] straits, in many cases, may be classed with portages; often a portage was necessary only in one direction. on the rivers the same portages were usually the routes of parties ascending and descending, but on such a stream as the st. lawrence they were frequently different; descending _voyageurs_ "shot" many rapids about which it was necessary to make a portage when ascending. as a meeting place the portage must have been anticipated with an interest inconceivable to us who know comparatively nothing of woodland journeying. eager eyes were often strained to catch first sight across the water of the opening where the portage path entered the woods. and when this opening was lost to the sight of the departing traveler, the last hope of meeting friends had vanished. what this meant in a day when friends were few and far to seek and enemies quite the reverse, it would be difficult even to hint. even in the good old colonial days in the heart of new england, friends met at the tavern, when a neighbor was to make a little journey on horseback, to drink his health. pioneers moving from new york city to what is now utica spent an afternoon previous to starting in prayer with clergymen.[ ] what, then, did partings and meetings mean in the earliest days on the great lakes and st. lawrence--when every rapid was a danger and every wood concealed an enemy?[ ] letters were sometimes left hanging conspicuously on trees at portages. the social nature of the portage camping ground is illustrated by the meetings--friendly and otherwise--between the indian retinues of the many travelers who encamped here. when céloron journeyed from quebec to the ohio valley with his leaden plates, he paused at one of the portages to allow his indian allies to jollify with certain comrades whom they met here.[ ] there are cases where such meetings resulted more seriously than mere drunken sprees.[ ] the meeting-place was also the famous camping ground. to reach the portage path the tired paddler bent every energy as the red sun lay on the horizon. two landings were thus saved. here the ground around either end of the path had been cleared and trodden hard by a thousand campers, and if wood was scarce in the immediate locality there was abundance at no great distance. no one familiar with camping need be told the advantages, natural and artificial, to be found on an old camping ground. but here it should be noted that the shortest portage between any two bodies of water was rather an arbitrary line, at least theoretically so. it was chosen as a good site, not for staying, but for passing. usually it traversed some sort of watershed, more or less distinct; on either side low ground, marshes, and swamps were not uncommon. in many instances the length of the portage path varied inversely with the stage of the water. some portages were a mile long in wet seasons and ten miles long in dry. where this was true the country through which the path ran was not altogether suitable for camps nor for villages, which the camps on important portages often became. often, however, the nature of the country was favorable for habitation, and at many portages the camps became permanent. at such points indian villages were sometimes found; but as a rule portages were not largely inhabited unless they were defended, and that was not until the era of military occupation. the portages were frequently used as burying grounds by the indians, and beside the little paths around the rapids of the river lies the dust of hundreds swept away to their death by the boiling waters. the portages were not infrequently on high, dry ground, favorable for interment. here, too, on the portages the toiling missionaries were wont to pause and erect their crosses and altars. in the long journeys back and forth from quebec to the land of the hurons, for instance, the portage paths of the ottawa and st. lawrence became familiar ground; where one had raised an altar another would be glad to pray. there were silent, holy places on these little roads by which we run noisily today--we who know little of the suffering, the devotion, and the piety of those who first walked and worshiped here. the missionaries called the indian trails "roads of iron" to suggest the fatigue and suffering endured in their rough journeys. if the ordinary trail was a road of iron, what of the portage path--which so often led over cliffs and mountain spurs in going around a waterfall or rapid? but these were not the most difficult portages. there were many carrying places which, uniting heads of streams or lakes, ran over high mountains, through the most impenetrable fastnesses--paths fit only for mountain goats. yet up these rough steeps the missionaries of the cross, soldiers, and traders forced their way, slipping, sliding, seizing now and again at any object which would offer assistance. many of these climbs would tax a person free of baggage in this day of cleared fields and hills; fancy the toil of the old-time _voyageurs_ weighed down by canoes, provisions, and baggage, assailed by the clouds of insects which greeted a traveler in the old forests, and perhaps enduring fears of unseen enemies and unknown dangers. then there was the stifling heat of the primeval forests. our present day notion of forests is diametrically opposed to old-time experience. to us, the forest is a popular symbol of restful coolness; formerly they were exhausting furnaces in the hot season, where horses fell headlong in their tracks and men fainted from fatigue. we wonder sometimes that pioneer armies frequently accomplished only ten or twelve miles a day, sometimes less. but these marches were mostly made in the months of october and november--the dryest months of the year in the central west--and the stifling heat of the becalmed forest easily explains both slowness and wearing fatigue. it was the heat that all leaders of pioneer armies feared; for heat meant thirst and at this season of the year the ground was very dry. many a crazed trooper has thrown himself into the first marsh or swamp encountered and has drunk his fill of water as deadly as any bullet. all this applies with special force to portages, as all know who have essayed mountain climbing in the stifling heat of a windless day. all that marching troops have endured, the brave missionaries and those who came after them suffered on the carrying place with the additional hardship, often, of climbing upward in the heat rather than marching on level ground. when attempting to gain some idea of the physical effort of old-time traveling, the cost of crossing a difficult portage must be considered as the most expensive in time and strength. the story of céloron's climb up from lake erie to lake chautauqua, hamilton's struggle through the beaver dams and shoals of petite rivière on the maumee-wabash portage route, arnold's desperate invasion of canada over "the terrible carrying place" on the kennebec-chaudière route, and the history of the difficulties of the oneida portage at rome, new york, present to us pictures of the portages of america that can never fade from our eyes. at the ends of many of the portage paths were to be found busy out-door work-shops in the old days of pirogues and canoes. the trees nearby and far away stood stark and white against the forest green, having lost their coats of bark; many were fallen, and others were tottering. here and there were scattered the refuse pieces of bark and wood. the ends of portage paths were famous carpenter shops.[ ] there were humble libraries here, too. it was while wintering on the chicago portage that marquette wrote memoirs of his voyages. in some instances, too, peculiar relics of the old life in the heyday of the canoe have come down to us. the end of the portage path, besides being a camping spot, was the provisioning place. here food was to be made or to be secured and properly seasoned and packed. at the old french portages stone ovens were erected, in which quantities of bread might be baked before starting on a journey. at either end of the chautauqua portage between lake erie and lake chautauqua such little monuments have been discovered. in each case the baking place was a circular piece of masonry of stone laid in strong mortar, three feet in height and three or four feet in diameter.[ ] the portages between many waters crossed important transverse watersheds along which coursed the great landward routes of primeval america. here at the junction of the greater and lesser paths were wide, open spaces where many a camp has been raised and struck, where assemblies innumerable have been harangued, where a thousand ambuscades have been laid and sprung. portage paths crossed the watersheds which were frequently boundary lines. they also connected river valleys which came to be boundary lines. consequently these routes of travel became themselves, in several instances, important boundaries. this is illustrated by the line decided upon at the fort stanwix treaty; in several instances the territory of the united states has been bounded by a little portage path--such as that between the cuyahoga and tuscarawas rivers in ohio--which is now quite forgotten. in this instance the little path is still to be identified from the fact that it was a boundary line for such a length of time that the lands on the eastern and western sides were surveyed by different systems. the "great carrying place" between the hudson and lake george was one of the boundaries of the first grant of land made by the mohawks at saratoga. at the treaty of fort mcintosh, , the western boundary line of the united states included the courses of two portage paths. as in maine, of which subsequent mention is to be made, so throughout the continent, portage paths were commonly named from the destinations to which they led; thus they had two names, as is true of highways in general. in certain instances, as in the case of the "oneida carrying-place" well-known portages had one general name. to the portages about the rapids on such rivers as the st. lawrence and ottawa, descriptive names were given by the french. one was called "portage de l'Épine," another "portage des roses"--suggestive of the fragrant wild rose which overhung the path to the annoyance of the traveler in spite of its perfume. another path was known as "portage talon." perhaps the most fanciful name recorded is "portage de la musique"--where the river's tide boiled noisily over the rocks and reefs, forever chanting the same song. other names were "portage des chats," "portage de joachin," "portage de la roche fendue," "portage des chenes," "portage des galots." one path, at least, bore the noble title "portage d' récollets."[ ] in the post office directory twelve states are today represented by an office bearing the name portage or portageville. chapter ii the evolution of portages from every point of view the portages of america, considered historically, were most important, because by reason of their strategic position they were coigns of vantage for military operations. picture the continent at the opening of the culminating phases of the old french war in - . for nearly two centuries military and civil officials, missionaries and traders had been passing to and fro on the ottawa, st. lawrence, and richelieu, through canada, illinois, and louisiana, erecting forts and establishing chapels and trading stations. little by little the english settlements had crept back into the interior. ten score of portage paths had been traversed; forts and blockhouses had been built, captured, burned, and rebuilt. flying parties of french had swooped down into new york, and english and dutch had chased them back. both sides had become more and more acquainted with the geography of the continent, and now, when war was about to begin in earnest, both antagonists leaped forward quickly to seize for once and all the vital spots in the "communications" in the neutral ground between them, where the vanguards had been bickering and fighting for at least a century. the richelieu river, lake champlain, and the hudson had offered the founders of quebec and montreal the most direct course to the new england settlements. they had learned it well in their campaigns against the iroquois. the keys of this route were the portage paths between the st. lawrence and the richelieu in the north; and the portages between lakes champlain and george, and lake george and the hudson river in the south. as early as jacques de chambly erected a fort at the foot of the rapids, at chambly on the richelieu, at the end of the thirteen-mile portage from la prarie three miles above montreal on the st. lawrence. two other forts, fort st. louis and fort sainte terese, also guarded the richelieu river; and at its head, at the foot of lake champlain, stood fort richelieu. later a portage path fifteen miles in length was built from la prarie (laprairie) to fort john (st. johns), below the "island of st. therese." ascending lake champlain the french quickly perceived the strategic positions of crown point and "carillon"--at the end of the portage from lake george--where they erected fort crown point in , and fort frederick (ticonderoga) in . the english on the other hand ascended the hudson from albany, and built fort ingoldesby at stillwater in , and fort nicholson at fort edward in the same year. at the wood creek end of the portage another fort was built first named fort schuyler, later named fort anne. fort edward and fort william henry were built in . this chain of forts from albany to montreal, guarding the important passageways on land and water, marks the line of what was known as "the grand pass from new york to montreal." the last struggle for this line of communication, johnson's rebuke to the advancing dieskau, abercrombie's stroke at fort ticonderoga, the brilliant montcalm's capture of fort william henry, and, finally, the wresting of the champlain valley from the french by the hitherto defeated english, forms a unique romance which finds its key of action at the portage paths which united the hudson, lake george, and lake champlain. there were other routes into new england, known of old, on which the french had spread terror throughout the north atlantic slope. they came up the chaudière and down the kennebec into massachusetts' "province of main." early in the french and indian wars massachusetts began another series of campaigns, to secure again and once for all the kennebec valley, building forts halifax ( ) and western ( ) at the head of navigation. at the northern end of the portage between the kennebec and "rivière puante," on the morris map of , here presented, we find the indian village wanaucok still described as a nest of "indians in the french interest." these allies of the french around the highland portages explain the need of english forts on the kennebec. the forts of the connecticut river were largely necessitated by the routes of travel between the heads of its tributaries and the "rivière s^t. francis" and "otter river." on the morris map we read "indians of s^t. francis in league with the french." the mouth of otter creek was near fort ticonderoga, and it offered, with a portage to the connecticut, another route of french aggression. "from this fort the french make their excursions," reads the interesting morris map, "and have this war [ _seq._] burnt and destroy'd two forts (saratoga and fort massachusets) and broke up upwards of settlements." [illustration: the morris map of [_showing important portages between the st. lawrence and new england rivers_] (_from the original in the british museum_)] the hudson-lake george portage marked the most important course from canada to new york, but there was another route which was fought for earnestly. the french could ascend the st. lawrence to lake ontario and gain access to the entire rear of new york, and by a dozen minor waterways the hudson again could be reached. the st. lawrence had long been an avenue of french exploration and missionary activity. "the route thither (from quebec up the st. lawrence to lake ontario and lake simcoe to georgian bay to the land of the hurons) is very easy, there being only two waterfalls where it is necessary to land and make a portage--a short one at that; and there it would be easy to construct a small redoubt for the purpose of maintaining free communication and of making ourselves masters of this great lake."[ ] thus the jesuits "had anticipated by twenty years frontenac's plan of building a fort for the control of lake ontario."[ ] fort frontenac (kingston, canada, ) guarded the french end of lake ontario, while the english ascended the mohawk and descended the "onnondaga" (oswego) to its mouth (oswego, new york) where they erected fort oswego in , which montcalm captured in . to reach the mouth of the onondaga, the english crossed the already well-worn path, the "oneida portage" a mile in length, between the mohawk river and wood creek. the strategic position of this path is not shown more clearly than by the number and importance of the military works erected there, forts williams ( ), bull ( ), newport and famed stanwix ( ). throughout the old french war this strip of ground was the scene of bloody battles, massacres, and sieges; and its detailed story--a fascinating one--should be written immediately. the mohawk end of the portage path forms the main avenue of rome, new york, and at the center of the little city the site of fort stanwix, "a fort which never surrendered," is appropriately marked. it is the boast of the romans that from this site the stars and stripes were "first unfurled in battle" august , . the flag was made from an officer's blue camlet cloak and the red petticoat of a soldier's wife. the white stars and stripes were cut from ammunition bags. the news that congress, on june , had adopted the flag had just reached the inland portage fortress by a batteau from down the mohawk. the granting of the vast area of land on the ohio river by the king of england to the ohio land company in brought home to the french the realization that the west was disputed territory, and governor galissonière immediately dispatched céloron de bienville with a band of two hundred and seventy men to reënforce the french claim to the ohio valley. it is an ancient french custom to bury leaden plates at the mouths of rivers as a sign of possession, and céloron bore a supply of such memorials to bury at the mouths of rivers emptying into the ohio. ascending the st. lawrence the party crossed lake ontario to the niagara river. this strategic portage path around niagara falls, which joined lake ontario and lake erie, used from time immemorial, became important to the french when they secured the mastery of lake ontario after the erection of fort frontenac. four years after the english came to oswego the french erected the first permanent fort niagara here in , absolutely controlling all intercourse with the west by way of the great lakes. it was the key of the lake system, and the numerous campaigns of the english projected against fort niagara until its capture in are evidence of its strategic position and the importance of the little worn road it guarded. once beyond the niagara portage céloron's attention was turned to the rival routes from lake erie to la belle rivière. there were at least five passageways well-known to the indians. of these the french knew very little, for, having found the mississippi, they had been less interested in this branch of it. but now that the english were claiming and even settling the land along its half-known shores it was time they were enforcing their claims. so céloron made for the first portage southward in order to strike the ohio on its headwaters. this was the chautauqua lake portage from chautauqua creek--which the french knew as "rivière aux pommes"--six miles by land from the present barcelona, new york, to lake chautauqua. from the seventeenth to the twenty-second of july was spent in making the difficult march over what has long been known as the "old portage road." bonnécamps, who accompanied céloron, wrote: "the road is passably good. the wood through which it is cut resembles our forests in france."[ ] céloron went his way, having given great prominence to the chautauqua portage, indirectly suggesting that it was the most convenient pass from lake erie into the disputed ohio valley. it remained for another to mark a more practicable course. céloron's report to his governor was thoroughly alarming, and a french force under m. marin was sent from montreal in to fortify the route to the ohio river and to erect forts to hold that river itself. after looking over the formidable chautauqua route, marin moved along the shore of lake erie to "presque isle" (erie, pennsylvania), where the french had made a settlement as early as . marin chose to make this twenty-mile portage from presque isle to "rivière aux boeufs" the armed route of french aggression into the ohio valley, in preference to the shorter but more tedious and more uncertain chautauqua pass. at the northern end of the portage he built fort presque isle and at its southern extremity fort le boeuf.[ ] the arrival of the french upon the headwaters of the allegheny will forever be remembered by the new and significant name washington now gave rivière aux boeufs--which the stream still bears--french creek. marin, who hurried on down the allegheny building forts machault (venango) at the junction of rivière aux boeufs and the allegheny, and duquesne at the junction of allegheny and monongahela, should have named the youghiogheny "english creek." when once on the way, the time taken by the french and english to reach the key position of the west--pittsburg--varied inversely as the length of the portages they had to traverse. it will be remembered that washington in his first campaign of explored carefully the youghiogheny river in the hope that the road he had just opened from the potomac at cumberland, maryland to the "great crossings" (smithfield, pennsylvania) might after all be a portage path between atlantic waters and the mississippi system. he found the youghiogheny useless.[ ] the english route to the ohio was practically an all-land route; braddock received a little help from the potomac but did not even attempt to use any western river, nor did forbes in or bouquet in . the monongahela, downward from redstone old fort (brownsville, pennsylvania), at the end of burd's road, began to be used in the revolutionary period, and in pioneer days was a famous point of embarcation for western travelers. on the other hand, the french portage at presque isle was the key to their position in the ohio valley, for over it came every ounce of ammunition and stores for fort duquesne. it was braddock's purpose in to ascend the allegheny after the capture of fort duquesne, raze the forts that guarded this portage path, and then meet governor shirley who was marching upon niagara.[ ] with fort duquesne captured, forts le boeuf and presque isle razed, and fort niagara besieged, the french would have had as little hope of holding the ohio valley as the shenandoah. nothing could show more plainly the signification of these fortified portages than the campaigns directed against them. further west, the maumee valley was of early importance to the french because of the two portages which gave them access to the miami river on the south and the wabash on the southwest. the use to explorers of the latter portage has been mentioned. here, near the present site of maumee city, the first settlement of whites in the limits of the state of ohio was made about . the city of fort wayne, indiana, marks the maumee terminus of the important portage to the wabash river--the modern name carrying the significance of fortification which we are emphasizing. it is to be deplored that the name fort stanwix, rather than rome, is not retained for the city at the mohawk terminus of the oneida portage in new york. here the french built forts in and , the latter being surrendered in . here general anthony wayne built a fortress in which controlled all traffic over the old pathway as had its predecessors. passing further west, two forts, at least, guarded well-known portages: fort st. joseph's ( ), located a little below south bend, indiana, guarding the kankakee-st. joseph portage; and fort winnebago ( ) guarding the fox-wisconsin portage. the post ouiatanon founded on the wabash in was the first military establishment within what is now the state of indiana. it was located eighteen miles (by the river) below the mouth of the tippecanoe and near the city of lafayette. many writers have located this historic site incorrectly--a mistake it is impossible to make when the actual meaning of the post is understood. it guarded the key of the upper wabash, for this point "was the head of navigation for pirogues and large canoes, and consequently there was a transfer at this place of all merchandize that passed over the wabash."[ ] coming down to the revolutionary period, the battles fought upon these portages and the forts that were built show that these historic paths had lost little of their significance. all the way across the continent from the portage from the kennebec to quebec, over which arnold led his army, to fallen timbers on the maumee, near which wayne built fort wayne, a significant portion of the struggle for a free america took place on portage paths. as in the french war, so in this later struggle, the paths between lake champlain and the hudson and between the mohawk and lake oneida were all-important passageways. burgoyne was defeated not far from the spot where the french dieskau was repulsed, and on the oneida carrying-place, as has been said, the first united states flag was unfurled in battle in . in the west, of course, niagara never lost its importance, but the remainder of the portages had now lost something of their military significance, as the revolution in the west was a series of raids and counter-raids on the settlements of the whites in virginia and kentucky, and upon the indians in the valleys of the muskingum, scioto, sandusky, maumee, and wabash. cross-country land routes were well-worn at this date and few military movements were made which involved portages; such were hamilton's capture of vincennes by way of the maumee and the wabash, and burd's keel-boat invasion up the licking river into kentucky. savage strokes like those of robertson and sevier, clark at vincennes, mcintosh, lewis, brodhead, bowman, crawford, harmar, st. clair, and wayne were distinctively land campaigns. yet in these, too, the value of the portage routes is most clearly seen, as for instance during the conquest of the northwestern indians by general anthony wayne in - . the permanent headquarters of wayne were at fort washington (cincinnati), and temporary headquarters were at fort greenville (greenville, o.) and fort defiance (defiance, o.) the conquest was directed northward up the great miami valley to the heads of the wabash and maumee. it was directed against the indian villages, as was true of harmar's and st. clair's campaigns before it; and these villages, like so many others, were located in part at the portages between the miami, auglaize, st. mary, and wabash. at these places wayne struck swiftly--building forts greenville, recovery, adams, and a fort on the headwaters of the auglaize, the name of which is not known. from these points he made his heroic campaign of in the valleys of the maumee, auglaize and st. mary. but with the successful prosecution of this campaign general wayne's work was not done. the country conquered must be held--the crops destroyed must not be resown--the villages destroyed must not be rebuilt. all this was as important a feat as the victory at fallen timber, and much more difficult. and so, in the months succeeding his victory, wayne did as valuable work for his country as at any time, and one of the most important of his plans was a movement which looked toward holding the northern portages from the miami river to the st. mary and auglaize. in a letter to the secretary of war, dated october , , at the miami villages, wayne observes: "the posts in contemplation at chillicothe, or picque town, on the miami of the ohio, at lormie's stores, on the north branch, and at the old tawa town, will reduce the land carriage of dead or heavy articles, at proper seasons, viz: late in the fall, and early in the spring, to thirty-five miles, and in times of freshets, to _twenty_ in place of , by the most direct road to grand glaize, and to the miami villages, from fort washington, on the present route, which will eventually be abandoned, as the one now mentioned will be found the most economical, and surest mode of transport, in time of war, and decidedly so in time of peace."[ ] from greenville on the twelfth of november he wrote again: "as soon as circumstances will admit, the posts contemplated at picque town, lormie's stores, and at the old tawa towns, at the head of navigation, on au glaize river, will be established for the reception, and as the deposites, for stores and supplies, by water carriage, which is now determined to be perfectly practicable, in proper season; i am, therefore, decidedly of opinion, that _this_ route ought to be totally abandoned, and _that_ adopted, as the most economical, sure, and certain mode of supplying those important posts, at grand glaize and the miami villages, and to facilitate an effective operation towards the _detroit_ and sandusky, should that measure eventually be found necessary; add to this, that it would afford a much better chain for the general protection of the frontiers, which, with a block house at the landing place, on the _wabash_, eight miles southwest of the post at the miami villages, [southern end of the maumee-wabash portage path on little river] would give us possession of all the portages between the heads of the navigable waters of the gulfs of mexico and st. lawrence, and serve as a barrier between the different tribes of indians...."[ ] in the treaty of greenville, signed by the confederated nations and the united states authorities, the reserved tracts indicate the line of policy previously suggested by general wayne, and the following section emphasizes the strategic meaning of the portages of the interior of the west: "and the said indian tribes will allow to the people of the united states, a free passage by land and by water, as one and the other shall be found convenient, through their country, along the chain of posts hereinbefore mentioned; that is to say, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, at or near loramie's store, thence, along said portage to the st. mary's, and down the same to fort wayne, and then down the miami to lake erie; again, from the commencement of the portage at or near loramie's store, along the portage; from thence to the river auglaize, and down the same to its junction with the miami at fort defiance; again, from the commencement of the portage aforesaid, to sandusky river and down the same to sandusky bay and lake erie, and from sandusky to the post which shall be taken at or near the foot of the rapids of the miami of the lake; and from thence to detroit. again, from the mouth of chicago, to the commencement of the portage between that river and the illinois, and down the illinois river to the mississippi; also, from fort wayne, along the portage foresaid, which leads to the wabash and then down the wabash to the ohio."[ ] as a site for forts the old portage paths came to take an important place in the social order of things. in many parts settlements were safe only within the immediate vicinity of a fort. often they were safe only within the palisade walls of upright logs;[ ] and around these interior fortresses the first lands were cleared and the first grain sowed. they were trading posts as well as forts--indeed many of the portage forts were originally only armed trading stations located at the portages because these were common routes of travel. around them the indians raised their huts when the semi-annual hunting seasons were over. thus on the portage, settlements sprang up about the forts to which the military régime had no objection--though such settlements were discouraged equally by those devoted to the earliest fur trade and to missionary expansion.[ ] but military officers found their one hope of retaining the land lay in allying the indians firmly with them. the attempts of the french so to shift the seats of the indian tribes in the west that the english could not trade with them or deflect them from french interest forms an interesting chapter in the early rivalry for indian support.[ ] this never appeared more acute than at fort duquesne in when forbes's army was approaching and the brave missionary post was among the delawares urging them to leave the region about the fort and abandon the french. these portage forts being, oftentimes, half-way places, were convenient points for conventions and treaties. the treaty of fort stanwix ( ) was one of the most important in our national history; other conventions, such as at fort watauga ( ), fort miami ( ), greenville ( ), and portage des sioux ( ), are instances of important conventions meeting at half-way fortresses on or near the portage passageways. when the pioneer era of expansion dawned, these worn paths, in many cases, became filled with the eager throngs hastening westward to occupy the empire beyond the mountains. the roads the armies had cut during the era of military conquest became the main lines of the expansive movement and only the waterways which gave access to the ohio river or the great lakes were of great importance. the two important roadways which served as portages were the genesee road from the mohawk to buffalo, and braddock's road from alexandria, virginia to brownsville (redstone old fort), pennsylvania. the heavier freight of later days tended to lengthen the old portages, as each terminus had to be located at a depth of water which would float many hundred-weight. but, as in the old days of canoes, the stage of water still determined the length of portage. freight sent over the alleghenies for the lower ohio river ports of indiana and kentucky was shipped at brownsville if the monongahela contained a good stage of water; if not, the wagons continued onward to wheeling with their loads. old residents at such points as rome, new york; watertown, pennsylvania; akron, ohio; fort wayne, indiana remember vividly the pioneer day of the portages when barrels of salt and flour, every known implement of iron, mill stones, jugs and barrels of liquor, household goods, seeds, and saddles composed the heterogeneous loads that were dragged or rolled or hauled or "packed" over the portages of the west. strenuous individuals have been known to roll a whiskey barrel halfway across a twenty-mile portage. with the settling of the country and a new century came a new age of road-building. travel until now had been on north and south routes--on portage paths, which usually ran north and south between the heads of rivers which flowed north or south, on routes of the buffalo, which the herds had laid on north and south lines during their annual migrations, and on indian trails which had been worn deep by the nations of the north and those of the south during their immemorial conflicts. the main east and west land routes, such as forbes's and braddock's, were now to be replaced by well-made thoroughfares. in the building of certain of these, the dominating influence of water transportation, and, consequently, the strategic routes between them, were considered of utmost importance. this is emphasized strikingly in the building of the cumberland national road across the alleghenies by the united states government ( - ). in the act passed by congress enabling the people of ohio to form a state we read: "that one-twentieth of the net proceeds of the lands lying within said state sold by congress shall be applied to the laying out and making public roads leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic, to the ohio."[ ] the commissioners appointed according to law by president jefferson surveyed the territory through which the road should pass and met at cumberland, maryland for consultation. in their report of they said: "in this consultation the governing objects were: . shortness of distance between navigable points on the eastern and western waters. . a point on the monongahela best calculated to equalize the advantages of this portage in the country within reach of it. . a point on the ohio river most capable of combining certainty of navigation with road accommodation; embracing, in this estimate, remote points westwardly, as well as present and probable population on the north and south. . best mode of diffusing benefits with least distance of road." in their choice of cumberland as the eastern terminus for this national road the question of portage entered largely into consideration: "... it was found that a high range of mountains, called dan's, stretching across from gwynn's to the potomac, above this point, precluded the opportunity of extending a route from this point in a proper direction, and left no alternative but passing by gwynn's; the distance from cumberland to gwynn's being upward of a mile less than from the upper point, which lies ten miles by water above cumberland, the commissioners were not permitted to hesitate in preferring a point which shortens the portage, as well as the potomac navigation." after outlining the route of the road, the commissioners summed up matters as follows: "... it will lay about twenty-four and a half miles in maryland, seventy-five and a half in pennsylvania, and twelve miles in virginia; ... this route ... has a capacity at least equal to any other in extending advantages of a highway; and at the same time establishes the shortest portage between the points already navigated, and on the way accommodates other and nearer points to which navigation may be extended, and still shorten the portage.... under these circumstances the portage may be thus stated: "from cumberland to monongahela, sixty-six and one-half miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with connelsville, on the youghiogeny river, fifty-one and one-half miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with the lower end of the falls of the youghiogeny, which will lie two miles north of the public road, forty-three miles. from cumberland to the intersection of the route with the youghiogeny river, thirty-four miles.... the point which this route locates, at the west foot of laurel hill, having cleared the whole of the alleghany mountain, is so situated as to extend the advantages of an easy way through the great barrier, with more equal justice to the best parts of the country between laurel hill and the ohio. lines from this point to pittsburg and morgantown, diverging nearly at the same angle, open upon equal terms to all parts of the western country that can make use of this portage; and which may include the settlements from pittsburg up big beaver, to the connecticut reserve, on lake erie, as well as those on the southern borders of the ohio and all the intermediate country." thus it is clear that our one great national turnpike was, in reality, a portage path. upon this same general principle many of our first highways were built, in an era when inland water navigation, on canal and river, was considered the secret of commercial prosperity. with the building of canals, the ancient portages again became prominent because of geographical position; in every state the portage paths marked the summit levels. in the cases of such important works as the erie canal and the ohio canal the portages between the mohawk and wood creek in new york and between the cuyahoga and tuscarawas in ohio were of vital importance. in many instances, at the points where the old portages mark the spots of least elevation, two canals are found converging from three or four valleys. it is quite impossible for us to realize the importance attached to the portage routes in days when steam navigation and locomotion were not dreamed of. this is suggested by the clause of the famous ordinance of in which they were again declared to be "common highways forever free." washington's serious study of this subject is exceedingly interesting--not less so because many of his plans which seemed to many idle dreaming were completely realized not long after his death.[ ] with the advent of the era of railway building, and as the number of the shining rails increase yearly at these geographical centers, the strategic nature of the portage routes has been and is still being strongly emphasized. engineering art is now defying nature everywhere, and daring feats of bridge-building are daily accomplished; but the old routes and passes still remain the most practicable, and in the long run pay best. in spite of the fact that tunnels can go wherever money dictates, and bridges can be swung across the most baffling chasms, at the same time the fiercest struggles for rights of way (outside the cities) are being waged today for the portage paths first trod by the indian. part ii a catalogue of american portages chapter i introductory as introductory to the description of the more noted american portages, it will be advantageous to present them at a bird's-eye view in the form of a comparative chart stating the names and termini of each, with a remark concerning its specific function: _portage route._ _water termini._ _remarks._ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- st. johns--st. grand river--wagan. this and the two lawrence. following are important land passes in the water route up the st. johns to canada. same. touladi--trois pistoles. same. ashberish--trois pistoles. same. temiscouata--rivière route of present post du loup. road between same points. same. st. francis--lake short but difficult pohenegamook, to head portage. of la fourche branch of rivière du loup. same. black river--ouelle. morris map describes this as an express route. same. north-west branch of "grand portage." st. john river--rivière du sud. same. lake etchemin route. route of etchemin indians to quebec. kennebec--st. rivière des probably the most lawrence. loups--moosehead practicable route from lake--rivière quebec up the chaudière chaudière. and over the divide into the kennebec river. same. dead river--chaudière probably the most ("the terrible practicable route from carrying-place"). the south by way of the kennebec to quebec. arnold's route. connecticut--st. same. important indian route francis. from canada into new hampshire. connecticut-- otter creek--black(?) route from french lake champlain. river. ports on lake champlain to the connecticut valley. hudson--lake hudson--lake george. the "grand pass" from champlain. the hudson valley toward canada. followed by dieskau, johnson, montcalm, abercrombie and burgoyne. same. hudson--wood creek--lake portage to fort ann. george. st. lawrence-- st. lawrence--richelieu. last portage in the lake champlain. "grand pass" from new york to montreal. hudson--lake mohawk--wood creek strategic portage in ontario. (feeder of lake oneida). the route from albany and new york to oswego and niagara. mohawk-- mohawk--lake otsego. route from central susquehanna. new york to pennsylvania. niagara. portage around niagara another route around falls. niagara falls was by portage from western extremity of lake ontario to grand river. chautauqua. chautauqua céloron's route to the creek--chautauqua lake. ohio. lake erie-- lake erie--french creek. marin's route to allegheny. fort duquesne. ohio river-- cuyahoga--tuscarawas. route from muskingum lake erie. to lake erie. same. scioto--sandusky. same. miami--auglaize and céloron's return route st. mary. from the ohio to lake erie. wabash--lake maumee--st. "the wabash--maumee erie. mary--little river trade route." ("petite rivière.") wabash--lake wabash--st. joseph. michigan. illinois--lake kankakee--st. joseph. michigan. illinois--lake des plaines--illinois. michigan. mississippi-- pigeon river--lake of direct route from lake michigan. the woods. georgian bay and lake michigan to the mississippi. lake superior-- green bay--fox-wisconsin. "the grand portage." hudson bay. chapter ii new england--canadian portages the territory lying between the st. lawrence river and the atlantic seaboard offers an unexcelled field for the study of portage paths and their part in the history of the continent. the student of this branch of archæology finds at his disposal the admirable studies of dr. william f. ganong, which cover an important portion of this field.[ ] from these studies (the best published account) the following general statements concerning indian routes of travel are very enlightening: "the indians of new brunswick, like others of north america, were, within certain limits, great wanderers. for hunting, war, or treaty making, they passed incessantly not only throughout their own territory, but over that limit into the lands of other tribes. the indian tribes of acadia have never, within historic times, been at war with one another, but they joined in war against other tribes and mingled often with one another for that and other reasons. in facilities for such travels our indians were exceptionally fortunate, for the province is everywhere intersected by rivers readily navigable by their light canoes. indeed i doubt if anywhere else in the world is an equal extent of territory so completely watered by navigable streams, or whether in any other country canoe navigation was ever brought to such a pitch of perfection or so exclusively relied upon for locomotion. the principal streams of the province lead together curiously in pairs, the country is almost invariably easy to travel between their sources, and a route may be found in almost any desired direction.... no doubt, an indian in selecting his route of travel to a given point, where more than one offered, would average up, as a white man would do, the advantages and drawbacks of each for that particular season, taking account of the length of the routes, amount of falls and portaging, the height of the water, etc., and his decision would be a resultant of all the conditions and would be different in different seasons. it is not easy to understand why so many routes from the st. john to quebec were in use, unless some offered advantages at one time, others at another. between the heads of the principal rivers were portage paths. some of these are but a mile or two long--others longer. some of these portages are still in use and uninfluenced by civilization. a good type is that between nictor lake and nepisiguit lake, which i have recently seen. the path is but wide enough to allow a man and canoe to pass. where it is crossed by newly fallen trees the first passer either cuts them out, steps over them, or goes round, as may be easiest, and his example is followed by the next. in this way the exact line of the path is constantly changing though in the main its course is kept. no doubt some of these paths are of great antiquity. gesner states that one of the most used, that between eel river lake and north lake, on the route from the st. john to the penobscot, had been used so long that the solid rocks had been worn into furrows by the tread of moccasined feet; and kidder quotes this and comments upon it as probably the most ancient evidence of mankind in new england. a somewhat similar statement is made by monro as to the misseguash--baie verte portage. i have seen something very similar on the old portage path around indian falls on the nepisiguit, but i am inclined to think it is the hob-nailed and spiked shoes of the lumbermen which have scored these rocks, and not indian moccasins and it is altogether likely that this explanation will apply also to the case mentioned by gesner, whose over-enthusiastic temperament led him into exaggerated statements. in new brunswick the lines of regular travel seem to have followed exclusively the rivers and the portage paths between their heads, and there is no evidence whatever of former extensive trails leading from one locality to another through the woods, such as are well known to have existed in massachusetts. the difference in the distribution and navigability of the rivers amply explains this difference. it is not, of course, to be supposed that the indians never departed from these routes; in their hunting expeditions they undoubtedly wandered far and wide, and especially in the valleys of the smaller and navigable brooks. moreover, they undoubtedly had portages used only on rare occasions, and also at times forced their way over between streams where there was no regular route, but in general the main rivers gave them ample facilities for through travel from one part of the province to another, and they had no other method. the birch canoe was the universal vehicle of locomotion to the new brunswick indian; it was to him what the pony is to the indian of the west. "the labour of crossing the portages was always severe, but the indians took, and take, it philosophically, as they do everything that cannot be helped. while canoe travel in good weather, on full and easy rivers, is altogether charming, it becomes otherwise when low water, long portages and bad weather prevail. we obtain vivid pictures of its hardships from the narratives of st. valier, and from several of the jesuit missionaries. since many of the portage paths are still in use by indians, hunters, and lumbermen, their positions are easy to identify, and many of them are marked upon the excellent maps of the geological survey. many others, however, have been long disused, and have been more or less obliterated by settlement, or by roads which follow them, and these are not marked upon our recent maps. i have made a special effort to determine the exact courses of these portages before they are lost forever, and where i have been able to find them by the aid of residents i have given them on the small maps accompanying this paper. all portages known to me are marked upon the map of new brunswick, in the pre-historic or indian period accompanying this paper, and their routes of travel are in red on the same map. the lines show how thoroughly intersected the province was by their routes. this map does not by any means mark all the navigable rivers, but only those which form parts of through routes of travel. the relative importance of routes i have tried to represent by the breadth of the lines, the most important routes having the broadest lines. many of the most ancient portages had distinct names but i have not recovered any of these. kidder gives as the ancient indian name of eel river--north lake portage the name metagmouchchesh (variously spelled by him), and i have heard that more than one was called simply "the hunters' portage" by the indians, possibly to distinguish the less important ones used only in hunting from those of the through routes. when portages are spoken of at this day they are usually given the name of the place towards which they lead; thus, a person on the tobique would refer to the portage at the head of that river as the nepisiguit, or the bathurst portage, and on the nepisiguit, he would speak of it as the tobique portage. this usage seems to be old and perhaps it is widespread. thus bishop plessis, in his journal of , speaking of the portage between tracadie and tabusintac rivers (the latter leading to neguac), says (page ): 'we reached a portage of two miles which the people of tracadie call the nigauek portage, and those of nigauek the tracadie portage.' "the situations of many of the old portages are preserved to us in place names. thus we have _portage bridge_, at the head of the misseguash; _portage bank_, on the miramichi, near boiestown (not on the maps); _portage river_, on the northwest miramichi, also as a branch of the tracadie, also west of point escuminac, and also south of it; _portage brook_, on the nepisiguit, leading to the upsalquitch; _portage lake_, between long and serpentine lakes; _portage station_, on the intercolonial railway. kingston creek, at the mouth of the belleisle, was formerly called _portage creek_. _anagance_ is the maliseet word for portage; and _wagan_ and _wagansis_, on the restigouche and grand river, are the micmac for portage, and a diminutive of it."[ ] the chief routes of travel were along the sea-coasts and up and down the valley of the st. john river--the latter routes being of most importance. "of all indian routes," writes dr. ganong, "in what is now the province of new brunswick, the most important by far was that along the river st. john. this river was, and is, an ideal stream for canoe navigation. it not only has easy communication with every other river system in this and the neighbouring provinces, but it is in itself very easy to travel.... the st. john rises in maine and its head waters interlock with those of the penobscot, and with the etechemin flowing into the st. lawrence near quebec." under the system of the st. john-restigouche portage dr. ganong thus describes the grand river--wagan path: "this was the most travelled of all routes across the province. the grand river is easy of navigation up to the wagansis (i.e., little wagan), up which canoes could be taken for some two miles. a level portage of two or three miles leads into the wagan (micmac _o-wok-un_, 'a portage') a muddy, winding brook, which flows into the restigouche, which to its mouth is a swift but smooth-flowing stream, unbroken by a fall, and almost without rapids. the total fall from the portage is not over feet, and hence it is far easier to ascend than the nepisiguit, and consequently was the main route across from bay chaleur to the st. john. for the upper waters of the st. john a route from the mouth of the nepisiguit by bay chaleur to the restigouche and thence to the st. john would be both considerably shorter and much easier than by the nepisiguit--tobique route. "this portage is marked on bouchette, , bonner, , lockwood, , wilkinson, , and the geological survey map. on van velden's original survey map of the restigouche, , a 'carrying-place across the highlands' about nine miles is given, doubtless a portage directly from wagan to grand river. this route was taken by plessis in , (journal, ), by gordon (p. ), who fully describes it, and by many others. it is said in mcgregor's british america, (ii., ), that the courier then travelled up this river with mails for new brunswick and canada, evidently by this route. formerly the alders which blocked the wagan and wagansis were cut out by travellers, and even by workmen paid by the provincial government (as i have been told), but since a road has been cut within a few years from the st. john directly through to the restigouche at the mouth of the wagan, this route is no longer used, and probably is now practically impassable." of the st. john--st. lawrence system dr. ganong describes seven routes; we use his own words: touladi--trois pistoles portage this was one of the principal routes from the st. john to quebec. it led through lake temiscouata by the touladi river to lac des aigles, thence to lac des islets, thence by a short portage path to the bois-bouscache river and down the trois pistoles. this route is described in bailey and mcinnes' geological report of , m, pages , , , where it is called "one of the main highways ... between the st. john river and the st. lawrence." ashberish--trois pistoles portage another route from temiscouata to trois pistoles was by way of the ashberish river. this portage is marked on bouchette, , and is mentioned by him in his topographical dictionary, and by bailey in his 'st. john river' (page ). it was by either this or the last-mentioned route that captain pote was taken to quebec in , as he describes in his journal, but the description is not clear as to which route was followed. the compass directions and the portages and lakes mentioned by him would rather indicate the ashberish route, though the editor of the journal sends him by the lac des aigles. this route is shown on the franquelin-demeulles map of , with the continuous line used on that map for portage routes, and it is probably this route that is marked on bellin of , and on many following him. temiscouta--riviÈre du loup portage as early as a portage path was projected along this route where now runs the highway road. a document of (quebec ms. iv., ) reads, "nous donnons les ordres nécessaires pour faire pratiquer un chemin ou sentier d'environ pieds dans le portage depuis la rivière du loup à lieues audessous de québec jusques au lac témisquata d'ou l'on va en canot par la rivière st. jean jusqu'à beaubassin, et ce pour faciliter la communication avec l'escadre et pour y faire passer quelques détachement de françois et sauvages s'il est nécessaire." whether or not this path was made we do not know. in this route was examined by captain peach (as a map in the public record office shows), and about , a road was cut along it as a part of the post route from quebec to nova scotia. from that time to the present it has been much travelled, and is often referred to in documents and books. st. francis--riviÈre du loup portage the exact course of this portage i have not been able to locate, but it probably ran from lake pohenegamook to some of the lakes on the la fourche branch of the rivière du loup. the indian name of the st. francis, _peech-un-ee-gan-uk_ means the long portage (_peech_, long, _oo-ne-gun_, a portage, _uk_, locative). the first recorded use of this portage is in le clercq in his "Établissement de la foi." he states that about , rècollet missionaries came to acadia from acquitaine, and thence went to quebec in canoes by the river loup with two frenchmen and five indians. it is first shown roughly on a manuscript map of , very clearly on bellin, of , and on several others following him, and on bouchette of . it is mentioned in a document of (quebec ms. v. ) as four leagues in length. it was by this route st. valier came from quebec to acadia in or , and a very detailed account of the difficulties of the voyage is given in his narrative. he states that he travelled a short distance on the rivière du loup and rivière des branches and a long distance on the st. francis. this route he describes as shorter but harder than that ordinarily used. on the unpublished derozier map of two portages are shown in this region, one from some branch of what is apparently the st. francis to the trois pistoles, and one from another river to the westward of the st. francis, perhaps from lac de l'est, to the rivière du loup, but they are given too inaccurately to admit of identification. between the temiscouata and st. francis basins are several portages; one from long lake at the head of the cabano to the st. francis, and another from long lake to baker lake; and there are other minor ones, all marked on the geological survey map. black river--ouelle portage on some early maps, such as bellin, , the ouelle is made to head with a branch of the st. john, which can be only the black river. the morris map of marks a portage from the st. john to the ouelle, and has this statement: "expresses have passed in seven days by these rivers from chiegnecto to quebec." the exact route of this portage i have not been able to determine. north-west branch--riviÈre du sud portage this portage is first referred to in a letter of from dénonville to the minister: "je joins a cette carte un petit dessin du chemin le plus court pour se rendre d'icy en huict jours de temps au port royal en acadie, par une rivière que l'on nomme du sud et qui n'est qu'a huict ou dix lieues au dessous de quebec. on le ramonte environ dix lieues et par un portage de trois lieues on tombe dans celle de st. jean qui entre dans la baye du port royal." this is probably the grand portage referred to by ward chipman in one of his letters of the last century. st. john lake-etchemin portage portages between these rivers are mentioned by bouchette under "etchemin" in his topographical dictionary. the river received its name from its use by the etchemins (maliseets and penobscots) as a route to quebec. a large portion of the st. john valley lies in the state of maine and all that was true of new brunswick, so far as early methods of locomotion are concerned, was and is true of maine in a great measure. maine, however, was not bounded on two sides by the ocean. both the kennebec and penobscot rivers were ancient and important routes of travel between quebec and the sea. of the two the penobscot was, perhaps, the easier to navigate but the kennebec was the more important route. james sullivan writing of the kennebec in the last decade of the eighteenth century observes: "the kenebeck ... receives the eastern branch, at fifty miles distance from noridgewock. the main branch of the kenebeck, winding into the wilderness, forms a necessity for several carrying places, one of which, called the great carrying place, is five miles across, and the river's course gives a distance of thirty-five miles, for that which is gained by five on the dry land. at one hundred miles distance, or perhaps more from the mouth of the eastern branch, the source of the main or western branch of the kenebeck is found extended a great distance along side the river chaudière, which carries the waters from the high lands into the st. lawrence. the best description of this branch of the kenebeck, is had from the officers who passed this route under the command of general arnold, in .... the carrying place from boatable waters in it, to boatable waters in the river chaudière, is only five miles over."[ ] among the most interesting maps of the kennebec-chaudière route may be mentioned montresor's map of , "a draught of a route from quebec to fort halifax," in the british museum.[ ] the route is there given as up the "yadatsou chaudiere or kettle river." when wolf river was reached it was ascended; then to "river ahoudaounkese." here was a portage of five miles to within about that distance of lake oukeahoungauta; portage of about one half mile to loon lake; thence into moosehead lake at the head of the east branch of the kennebec. a portage could be made into the penobscot; and at the southeastern extremity of moosehead lake are the words "portage to the penobscot." the return route was up the kennebec to "the great carrying place to river of tewyongyadight or the dead river." this was arnold's route, already referred to by mr. sullivan. ascending the dead to "the amaguntic carrying place" (a portage of about four miles) the route is marked to "the river of mekantique" and through "the meadow of mekantique;" thence through "lake of me' kantique de st augustin" and into the chaudière. perhaps the earliest map showing a road throughout the kennebec and chaudière valleys is "a new map of nova scotia & cape britain" ( ) in the british public records office.[ ] the road bears the name "kenebec road." among the haldimand papers in the british museum[ ] is a most interesting "journal from the last settlements on the chaudiere to the first inhabitants on kennebec river kept by hugh finley, from the th of september that he left quebec until the th that he arrived at falmouth in casco bay in the p[r]ovince of the massachusets bay-- ." finley had been appointed "surveyor of post roads on the continent of north america" and, in view of the tedious length and the common retardments of the lake champlain route between canada and new england, determined to explore the chaudière-kennebec route. four indian guides accompanied the surveyor, who were "to mark (as they should pass along in their rough way) the path by which a good road might be cut." the last farm on the chaudière was " miles s. easterly of quebec." "the reaches in this river are long between rapid and rapid, but navigable for batteaus only." on the fifteenth the party had reached "rapide du diable;" seven miles further was "la famine" river where were two huts. four miles further they arrived at "des loups" river. this was the common upward route of travel as the upper chaudière route was interrupted by ponds, swamps, etc. concerning indian maps mr. finley makes an interesting statement: "it is impossible to guess distances from an indian draft, that people have no idea of proportion." on the eighteenth the party encamped early in the afternoon "on purpose to pack up our provisions &c in proper packages to be distributed in proportional burthens to each of the party as we were next day to proceed thro the woods." then came a desperate journey of nine miles in nine hours up steeps, over and under trees which tore the canoes and almost exhausted their bearers. at the end of two small lakes a half mile portage brought the travelers to another lake. "half over this carrying place is the just hight of land between canada & new england," wrote mr. finley, "consequently the boundary line between the province of quebec and massachusets bay will be a line drawn half way between the lake we just left and this lake." according to finley this portage was ninety-six miles from quebec and forty-six from the last house on the chaudière--by the route he had traversed. he proceeded down the kennebec, up the "androcogkin" to brunswick and across by land to casco bay. miles "it appears by this journal, that the distance from quebec to launieres the last house on the river chaudiere in a good road is from launier's house to carry a road in the best path through a country dry and level (as appears by the proper rout projected) down to noridgiwalk, the first and nearest settlement in new england from noridgewalk to oaks's or wassarunset r from oaks's or wassarunset to casco bay --- in all from quebec to falmouth [portland] " it is clear that the route from quebec to the kennebec was by way of "des loups" river to moosehead lake--named, writes finley, "from a very remarkable mountain [on] the s side about nine miles down. the indians say that it resembles a moose deer stooping." it is equally clear that the route from the kennebec to quebec was by way of the western branch, the dead river and the chaudière. this route was made historic by arnold's famous campaign of and has recently been described with intense feeling by professor justin h. smith.[ ] "arnold's men found lower dead river, as we can see from their journals, much as it now is. on both sides luxuriant grass covered the plain, or faded out in the reaches of poorer soil; tall evergreens, rather thinly planted, soughed and swayed above it; while here and there a glimpse could be had of goodly mountains, the confines of the valley." professor smith graphically describes the trials of those who traveled by water. those who attempted to travel the "kenebec road" suffered even worse: "the land parties fared no better. it was impossible to keep along the river. detours and wide circuits multiplied all distances. swollen rivulets had to be followed up until a narrow place was found and a tree could be felled across for a bridge. once, if not more than once, a party marched for miles up a stream only to discover that it was not dead river at all. at night many of the men were unable to find the boats and had to bivouac as they could, without supper and without breakfast." at last the brave band neared the portage to the north-flowing waters. despite their distressing fatigues "there was only one thought:" writes professor smith, "advance; and the army set forward as rapidly as possible on the twenty-fifth and longest portage, four miles and a quarter over the height of land. for once their misfortunes wore the look of blessings: there was little freight. the provisions weighed only four or five pounds per man. a large part of the gunpowder proved to be damaged, and was thrown away.... the bateaux had broken up one by one, until some of the companies had scarcely any left. morgan had preserved seven, and was determined on taking them across, for there was no other way to transport his military stores down the chaudière; but resolution of such a temper was now beyond mere men. an attempt was made to trail the bateaux up a brook that enters arnold pond; but the attempt had to be given up, and each company, except morgan's, took only a single boat over the portage. "even in this light order, the troops were hardly able to conquer the mountain. there was a trail, to be sure, and steele's pioneers had bettered it; but a mountain trail, even when good, is not a highway, except in altitude. 'rubbish' had been collecting here ever since creation, as it seemed to morrison, and a handful of tired men could not remove it all in a few days' time. ten acres of trees blown down across the path had to be left there. a wet place half a mile wide could not be rooted up. rocks, dead logs, gorges, and precipices had to be stumbled over. the snow, hiding pitfalls and stones, betrayed many a foot into a wrench and a bruise. those who carried the boats--and no doubt all carried in turn--suffered still more, for bateaux and carriers often fell together pell-mell down a slope into the snow. 'the terrible carrying-place'--that was the soldiers' name for it." the portages between the connecticut river and the canadian waters were of great local importance during the old french war and the revolution; they were not as important to the country at large as those of the northeast. the two of special significance were routes to the st. francis river, lake memframagog and otter creek (flowing into lake champlain). fort number four "had been built by massachusetts when it was supposed to be within its limits. it was projected by colonel stoddard, of northampton, and was well situated, in connection with the other forts, on the western frontier, to command all the paths, by which the indians travelled from canada to new-england."[ ] this fort was on the celebrated highway from the connecticut across country to fort edward on the hudson river, so largely traveled throughout the period of military operations. in during sir william johnston's campaign against fort crown point, new hampshire raised five hundred men, under the command of colonel joseph blanchard. "the governor," writes belknap, "ordered them to connecticut river, to build a fort at cohos, supposing it to be in their way to crown point. they first marched to baker's-town, where they began to build batteaux, and consumed time and provisions to no purpose. by shirley's advice they quitted that futile employment, and made a fatiguing march through the woods, by the way of number-four, to albany."[ ] the failure to capture crown point this year brought down a scourge of indians upon new hampshire, particularly from the st. francis river, between which and the connecticut there was "a safe and easy communication by short carrying-places."[ ] but the white men found this route ere long and themselves carried destruction up the st. francis valley.[ ] when in , general amherst was preparing to complete wolfe's victory by reducing the remainder of canada, eight hundred new hampshire men proceeded under colonel john goffe to fort number four. "but instead of taking the old route, to albany, they cut a road through the woods, directly toward crown point. in this work they made such dispatch, as to join that part of the army which amherst had left at crown point, twelve days before their embarkation."[ ] this road was built over the portage to otter creek. it "began at wentworth's ferry, two miles above the fort at no. , and was cut miles; at the end of which, they found a path, made the year before; in which they passed over the mountain to otter creek; where they found a good road, which led to crown point. their stores were brought in waggons, as far as the miles extended; and then transported on horses over the mountains. a drove of cattle for the supply of the army went from no. , by this route to crown point."[ ] this carrying place is conspicuously marked on a board of trade map of in the british public records office and described "_from_ crown point _to_ stephens fort _about_ _miles_ n. ° w _nearly_."[ ] fort stephens is placed on the "konektikut or long r." near the mouth of black river. "a survey of lake champlain" by william brassier dated shows the line of this road southeast of crown point passing up otter creek. the legend reads "the road was opened by the new hampshire regiments during the last war."[ ] chapter iii new york portages the strategic value of the "great pass" from new york by way of the hudson, lakes george and champlain, and the richelieu river has already been emphasized. the important military points on the route were the portages from the hudson to lake george, from lake george to lake champlain, the narrows at crown point, and the portage from chambly to la prairie on the st. lawrence. these portages are marked on numerous early maps; the hudson-lake george portage is quite accurately drawn on colonel romer's map of .[ ] from that year on throughout the century the greater accuracy with which it is mapped illustrates its growing importance. one of the most interesting early descriptions of this famous pass is given on a "map of part of new york, comprehending the country between new york and quebec, the river connecticut, &c., to shew 'the way from albany to canada ... part by land and part by water;' drawn about ."[ ] the route is thus described: miles "the way from albany to canada described we goe part by land & part by water . to sprouts or first landing by water : . to fort ingoldsby by land when [?] rivers low . to a falles by water first carrying place of / mile over . to falles by water ^d. carrying place of / ^m : . to fort niccolson by water this is the ^d. carrying place now we leave hudson's river . goe to the camp att wood creeke : from [?] camp down the streame. to a falle carying place is / m over by water to crown point begining of corlaers lake to end of a lake begining chamly river (?) to a rift in [?] river to rocke, a carying place of two miles over to chamly either by land or water from chamly to montreall by land is miles by water miles from mont royall down the great river of canada to sorell at the mouth of chamly river : to trois river it comes allmost from hudsons bay : to quebec the chief place in canada :" another itinerary is given in a "sketch of the indian country on the north of new york" presented "to the board by maj^r. gov^r. winthrop:[ ] "the several distances from albany to cubeck leagues from albany to saragtoqua from saragtoqua to ye carrying place the carrying place over from ye carrying [place to the] falls from the falls to [chambly] from chambly to sorel from sorel to s^t. fransoy from st fransoy to troy [trois] river from troy river to champlain from champlain to batishan from batishan to lovenjere from lovenjere to cubeck colaers lake long from y^e end of y^e lake to chambly " perhaps the most detailed description of the pass is given by a former prisoner among the french who has written the following observations on a copy of a "french draught of lake champlain & lake george."[ ] the text shows that the date of the observations is about : "from fort edward to fort william henry, on lake george fifteen miles good road. this lake is thirty six miles long, and in the widest part not quite three, all very good navigation but for two miles at the farther end becomes a narrow winding creek, very mountainous on each side particularly the east, the landing place is within three miles of ticonderoga, where the lake begins to discharge itself into champlain over several little falls which interupt the navigation for a mile & half, where every thing is carried over land for that distance, on the eastern side, to a saw mill the french have there, from the mill to ticonderoga is a mile & ahalf more, water carriage only dry a very narrow creek overlook'd by steep mountains on each side, this is the only communication their is from lake george to ticonderogo for artillery, and heavy baggage and is altogither one of the most difficult and most dangerous passes in north america. "french draught of lake champlain & lake george with remarks of an english prisoner who return'd from quebec to fort edward, by the river s^t. lawrence river sorrelle & these lakes touch'd at fort chamblay fort s^t. johns crown point & ticonderoga. "this draught is pretty correct from crown point towards canada but from crown point to fort edward is not so exact. however their are no capital errors to mislead an army or party going that way the whole being sufficient to give a good idea of those important waters. "distances in these remarks are from the river s^t lawrence to fort william henry taken from french authoritys, but from ticonderogo to fort edward by way of wood creek from the english. "from fort edward to wood creek where it becomes navigable for batteaux, eleven miles, from thence to wood creek falls twenty eight miles, from these falls to ticonderogo thirty miles uninterrupted navigation. a few miles beyond the falls is a branch of wood creek call'd south bay, a noted rendevous for the enemys scalping parties from ticonderogo. it was from this place that general dieskeau march'd when he attack'd general johnston's entrenchment on lake george, it is twenty five miles distance from fort edward & sixteen from fort william henry. "ticonderogo by the french call'd carrillon is distance from fort edward by way of lake george fifty four miles, stands upon that part of champlain call'd by the english wood creek on the western side it is a small square wooden fort advantageously situate & regularly built, has two ravelins, one to the land, the other, to the water, which with the ditch are still unfinish'd because of the rockyness of the ground, the garrison usually consists of four hundred men & fort will contain no more. "from ticonderogo to fort s^t. frederick or crown point fifteen miles, good navigation some islands & the creek not above a mile wide, but the strait at the point is about three hundred & fifty yards. "fort st frederick is a place of no strength being commanded by several rising grounds, is built of stone very ruinous & irregular, and however its appearance may be upon paper is by no means tenable once an army gets before it. their are several houses on the outside but it cannot contain so many men within the walls as ticonderogo. "from crown point to fort st johns is one hundred and five [?] miles all navigable as from wood creek falls, for vessels, the french have two upon the lake of sixty tons each, but their is water for much larger a good many very fine islands very safe navigation good anchoring & shelter every where against all winds the lake is very unequal in its breadth but its greatest is seven miles. it abounds with creeks & bays particularly on the east side which give admission to the new england colonies as wood creek & lake george do to new york. notwithstanding the french plantations with the names of their owners mark'd out in the draught there is not a single inhabitant between st johns & ticonderoga from under the cannon of their forts a few straggling houses indeed there are, which have been deserted since the war. "fort st john is built of pallisados only & two wooden blockhouses in the angles next the water has a few swivels & is of no use but against small arms for which it was originally design'd. from fort st johns to la prarie on the south bank of st lawrence river is fifteen miles land carriage only over a level country partly settled from la prarie to the town & island of montreall is three miles. "from fort s^t. johns down sorrell river to chamblay there is no navigation for vessels & a mile from the fort they are obliged to lighten their batteaux for a hundred yards in dry seasons but from that to s^t. etreze [threse?] half way betwixt both forts six miles from each is good batteau navigation & a fine landing place on the west side covered by an island. here commence the french settlements & here is a magazine for supplying the forts on lake champlain. "from s^t. etraze to chamblay fort the river is very rocky & rapid and not navigable but for light batteaux when the waters are high so that they most commonly carry for that distance by land. from chamblay to la prarie opposite to montreall is twelve miles good road in dry seasons & a fine level country. chamblay is a stone fort built above sixty years ago & is not tenable against cannon. a little below the fort, sorrell river forms a beautiful bason continues so till it empties itself into the great river st lawrence at sorrell village forty five miles below montreall & one hundred & thirty five above quibec. "there are no indians upon lake champlain except a small tribe of the abnacques consisting of twenty families who live at the bottom of massisque bay, neither does it abound with bever or such other commoditys as constitute the indian commerce therefore it has been formerly too much neglected & represented as an aquisition of less value than more distance lakes & rivers which would never have been thought of had it not been for the riches they produced, but this lake is nevertheless by far the most important inland water in north america, because it is the key of the enemys country, a canal leading from new england, & new york, to the very bowels of canada, to montreall in particular, the seat of all their indian trade & warlike preparations & which with the country round it is the most fertile part of all that province. "crown point commands the whole lake as it is the only strait there is upon it, that can in the least among vessels or boats in passing, till arrived within a few miles of the french settlements, therefore the english when in possession of that pass can land an army openly or partys secretly, in many different places within a few hours march of the french inhabitants, by which means they will have it in their power not only to invade in time of war, but make reprisalls upon any other occasion whenever they receive the least injury from french or indians in any part of his majestys dominions in north america. miles "from fort edward to fort w^m henry from fort w^m henry to ticonderogo from ticonderogo to crown point from crown point to fort s^t johns from fort s^t johns to la prarie from la prarie to montrall --- from fort s^t johns to chamblay from chamblay to la prarie - from chamblay to the mouth of the sorrell river from the mouth of the sorrell river to montreall from d^o. to quebic "lake champlain (besides being the only channel by which the english can possibly invade canada from their frontiers) is the only one by which they can be invaded from thence, for through the whole extent of the south bank of s^t. lawrence river, or the great lakes there is not another communication by which an army can be brought sufficient to make any conquest." the forts which guarded this historic route have been mentioned, and it is possible here only to hint of the remarkable story of the ebb and flow of the war tides which have made the "grand pass" perhaps the most alluring field of study in america. under the specific title "saratoga and the northern war-path" an entertaining writer has sketched the place in history occupied by this water thoroughfare and its vital land connections.[ ] the story beginning far back in the seventeenth century includes de tracy's expedition to the mohawk country in ; between and "numerous war parties passed through _kay-ad-ros-se-ra_ and saratoga on their way to and from the hostile settlements on the st. lawrence and the mohawk and lower hudson." a list of the important expeditions only would include those of ; , under le moyne upon schenectady; , under general winthrop; , under major schuyler; and - . from this time peace reigned until queen anne's war in . this year witnessed winthrop's and nicholson's campaigns; in nicholson again swept up the hudson on his way toward quebec, but was compelled to abandon his plan. from until there were thirty-one years of peace--during which time the french built forts crown point and ticonderoga on lake champlain. in the war was again resumed; "during this short war no less than twenty-seven marauding parties swept down from fort frederick at crown point upon the settlers of what are now saratoga and rensselaer counties." on june , , in the night, the new english fort clinton at saratoga was attacked by la corne. in the following year it was destroyed by the english because of its exposed situation, and albany once more became the most northern outpost. the peace signed in lasted until the outbreak of the final struggle in . then followed johnson's, winslow's, and abercrombie's campaigns up the hudson against ticonderoga, and montcalm's swoop upon fort william henry. in the "northern war path" became again the route of armies--and here the decisive battle of saratoga was fought and won. of this campaign mention will be made again. the western war-route to the lakes was up the mohawk and down the onondaga (oswego) rivers. albany and oswego were its termini; and the oneida carrying-place of one mile (in favorable seasons) between the mohawk river and wood creek, at rome, new york, was its key. this famous route is interestingly described by mr. sylvester as follows:[ ] "the first carrying place on the great western route was from the hudson at albany through the pine woods to the mohawk at schenectady. this carrying place avoided the _ga-ha-oose_ falls. at the terminus of the old indian carrying place on the hudson, now called albany, the dutch, under hendrick christiensen, in , built fort nassau on castle island.... in they built another fort at the mouth of the normanskill, at the old indian _ta-wa-sent-ha_--'the place of the many dead.' in fort orange was built by adriaen joris, and eighteen families built their bark huts and spent there the coming winter.... "in the year arendt van curler, and other inhabitants of fort orange, 'went west' across the old carry through the pines to the rich mohawk flats and founded a settlement. to this settlement they applied the old indian name of albany, calling it schenectady. from albany it was the new settlement on the mohawk beyond the pines.... "from schenectady the western trail ran up the mohawk to what is now the city of rome, where there was another carry of a mile in length, to the wood creek which flows into oneida lake. this carrying place, afterward the site of fort stanwix, was called by the indian _da-ya-hoo-wa-quat_ (carrying-place). from it the old trail ran through the oneida lake, and down the oswego river to lake ontario. at the mouth of the oswego river, on lake ontario, was the old indian village called _swa-geh_, the lake-port of the iroquois.... between schenectady and _swa-geh_ was a line of forts built for the protection of the traveling fur-traders, and as barriers to french and indian invasion from the valley of the st. lawrence. the first of these was at the mouth of the schohariekill, and was called fort hunter. it was built on the site of old indian _te-hon-de-lo-ga_, the lower castle of the mohawks. above fort hunter, near the indian _ga-no-jo-hi-e_--'washing the basin'--the middle mohawk castle, was fort plain. the indian name of fonda was _ga-na-wa-da_--meaning 'over the rapids.' of little falls, it was _ta-la-que-ga_--'small bushes,' and of herkimer the indian name was _te-uge-ga_, the same as the river. at herkimer was hendrick's castle and fort herkimer, near _ga-ne-ga-ha-ga_, the upper mohawk castle.... the indian name for utica was _nun-da-da-sis_--meaning 'around the hill.' at utica, the indian trail from the west crossed the river.... a little above utica was a small indian station called _ole-hisk_--'the place of nettles.' this is now oriskony, one of the famous battle-grounds of the revolution.... at the mouth of wood creek, on the oneida lake, a royal blockhouse was built, and at the west end of oneida lake, in , fort brewerton was built. the indian name for wood creek was _ka-ne-go-dick_; for oneida lake was _ga-no-a-lo-hole_--'head on a pole.' for syracuse the indian name was _na-ta-dunk_, meaning 'pine-tree broken with top hanging down,' and the indian name of fort brewerton was _ga-do-quat_." the oneida portage--as the carrying place between the mohawk and wood creek is known in history--was guarded at its mohawk terminus as early as by the erection of fort williams, and at the wood creek terminus as early as by fort bull. throughout the century of conflict between french and english the oneida portage route was of utmost importance. in the crucial years between and it was especially important. the route is thus described in a contemporaneous account: "oswego, along the accustomed route, is computed to be about miles west from albany. the first sixteen, to the village of schenectady, is land carriage, in a good waggon road. from thence to the little falls in the mohawk river, at sixty five miles distance, the battoes are set against a rapid stream; which too, in dry seasons, is so shallow, that the men are frequently obliged to turn out, and draw their craft over the rifts with inconceivable labour. at the little falls, the portage exceeds not a mile: the ground being marshy will admit of no wheel-carriage, and therefore the germans who reside here, transport the battoes in sleds, which they keep for that purpose. the same conveyance is used at the great carrying-place, sixty miles beyond the little falls; all the way to which the current is still adverse, and extremely swift. the portage here is longer or shorter, according to the dryness or wetness of the seasons. in the last summer months, when rains are not infrequent, it is usually six or eight miles across. taking water again, we enter a narrow rivulet, called the wood-creek, which leads into the oneida lake, distant forty miles. this stream, tho' favorable, being shallow, and its banks covered with thick woods, was at this time much obstructed with old logs and fallen trees. the oneida lake stretches from east to west about thirty miles, and in calm weather is passed with great facility. at its western extremity opens the onondaga river, leading down to oswego, situated at its entrance on the south side of the lake ontario. extremely difficult and hazardous is the passage thro' this river, as it abounds with rifts and rocks; and the current flowing with surprising rapidity. the principal obstruction is twelve miles short of oswego, and is a fall of about eleven feet perpendicular. the portage here is by land, not exceeding forty yards, before they launch for the last time."[ ] [illustration: the old oneida portage in (rome, new york) (_from the original in the british museum_)] far-famed fort stanwix arose near the site of fort williams in and fort wood creek (on the site of fort bull) and fort newport were built about the same time or a little earlier. in the british museum may be seen a colored "plan of the forts at the onoida, or great carrying place, in the province of new york in america," built by major-general shirley, commander-in-chief in north america, and destroyed by major-general webb, august , , before they were finished. this map must ever be of entrancing interest to the student who views it knowingly. the strategic nature of this little plot of ground was recognized, a century or so ago, by a continent--indeed by a world. in the old french war there was not, perhaps, so important a spot on the continent as this, the path from the hudson to lake george alone excepted. and when it is recalled that the oneida portage led to the west--to the lakes and the ohio basin--the oneida path, taken throughout the years, can but be considered of preëminent importance, commercially. a visit to thriving little rome and a study of the country roundabout will prove of appealing interest. here, within cannon shot, stood half a dozen forts; here, in the very center of rome is the wide straight roadway over which millions of pioneers moved to their conquest of the west; here is the junction of the black river and the erie canal, which, "conceived by the genius, and achieved by the energy of de witt clinton, was, during the second quarter of this [nineteenth] century, the most potent influence of american progress and civilization." and, in its turn, here lie the gleaming rails of the new york central--and the "empire" has covered the canal boat with dust. the conditions here make it almost possible to say, "all roads lead to rome, new york." from one and the same point of observation it is possible to see the junction of the erie and black river canals, the portage path from the mohawk to wood creek, the new york central railway, and the terminus of the utica and mohawk valley electric railway. two canals, a highway, a railway, and an electric line converging within an air-rifle shot would not be found in a town of only a few thousand inhabitants were it not for some extraordinary geographical reason. in the olden days the adage was very true indeed, though rome was not the old-time name. it is deemed a pity that stanwix could not have been preserved as the name of this historic site, but it is said the revulsion against everything english during and after the revolution made the retention of that fine historic name impossible. during the revolutionary war the name of fort stanwix was changed to fort schuyler; but that name, with all its heritage of nobility and patriotism, was not retained, and "fort" schuyler has been dropped to make room for "fort" stanwix, which is exceedingly contradictory. when the deluge of classical names passed over central new york--utica, manlius, troy, syracuse, rochester, etc.--that of rome was deposited here. a square block in the center of rome, higher than the surrounding land, is the site of forts stanwix and schuyler. it is covered with dwellings on all sides, but at each of the corner bastions is planted a cannon bearing a bronze tablet reading: "a fort which never surrendered. defended august by col. peter ganseboort & lieut. col. marinus willett. here the stars & stripes were first unfurled in battle. erected ." the country about rome is very level, the declension in any direction being slight; water from one field is said to flow into the gulf of the st. lawrence and into new york bay. the explorer on the oneida portage will find it difficult to identify the historic sites. the erie canals have completely drained the country, and the last course is, in part, in the very bed of wood creek--the stream to which the portage from the mohawk led. the nearest point to wood creek is distant about one mile from rome; by the old route it was crossed again two miles further west. of course the length of portage between the mohawk and wood creek depended upon the stage of water in the latter. the portage for canoes was probably never more than the mile; in later days, when fort oswego was erected and supplies were sent thither by batteaux from albany, a three and even six-mile portage was necessary in order to reach water that would float the heavy freight. at either end of the three-mile portage stood fort williams, on the mohawk, and fort bull, on wood creek. the longer portage was, a little later, artificially shortened by damming the waters of wood creek. by the appended map it will be seen that in fort newport was being built at the end of the one-mile portage. the explorer of today will note in the western extremity of rome the old basin of wood creek where the water was held back by dam and floodgate. the end of this basin, near where the road crosses wood creek, was the site of old fort newport. on the ruins of fort bull--which was destroyed in by a french raid from canada--was erected fort wood creek in , distant, as the map shows, three miles from fort newport. fort stanwix, new fort, fort williams, fort newport, fort bull, and fort wood creek were all erected within twenty-five years, and within three or four miles of each other. nothing could suggest more plainly the strategic nature of this roadway on the backbone of new york. of them all, the remains of fort wood creek alone are visible, save the embankment of fort stanwix. here, three miles out from rome, where the old portage path used to run, beside the little creek now only a shadow of the oldtime stream, is the interesting star-shaped ruin of fort wood creek, surrounded by a moat still five feet deep. the southern side, as the map shows, (k), was not fortified strongly like the others, as the water of the creek protected it. the dam and floodgate were just beyond the southwestern bastion and the old embankment of the dam can still be traced. the broad pond formed by the dammed water is clearly visible in outline; the present stream runs near the center of it. it was probably seldom in the olden days that the creek was not navigable here; the dam doubtless made it so, for a large part of the year, from fort newport downwards. yet the narrative just quoted affirms that the portage was sometimes "six or eight miles across" in unusually dry seasons. this was certainly prior to the erection of the dams and floodgates, which "saved so much land carriage" according to the map. in dry seasons, the map assures us, the floodgates saved a portage of seven miles to canada creek. this is evidently the "six or eight miles" portage mentioned by the narrative. the british campaign of was a spectacular event which covered the three great valleys which converge from the north, south, and west upon albany. a bird's-eye view of this campaign emphasizes as it is almost impossible to do otherwise the strategic value of portage paths. from the north, burgoyne comes up lake champlain and lake george and across the portage to the hudson, and starts down the valley; to meet him, general clinton leaves new york and ascends the hudson toward albany. from oswego st. leger starts up the onondaga (oswego) river toward the oneida carrying place and albany--where the three armies are to form a union for the final overthrow of the revolution. st. leger never got fairly over the oneida portage; he could not carry fort schuyler which guarded it, and at herkimer he was completely routed. burgoyne crossed safely the portage to the hudson, but had hardly done more when gates was upon him and saratoga was the early turning point of the war. to all intents and purposes the great campaign was utterly thwarted because the americans successfully held the strategic keys of the continent--the lake george-hudson and the oneida carrying places. chapter iv portages to the mississippi basin the portage paths from the great lakes, or streams entering them, to the tributaries of the mississippi river were of great importance during the era when that river was the goal of explorers, conquerors and pioneers. so numerous were they, it is only possible to describe the most important briefly in this catalogue. the greater are worthy, each, of an exhaustive monograph, and even those of least prominence were of importance far beyond our ability to understand in these days. of them all only three routes have received the attention they deserve; these are the lake erie-lake chautauqua portage, the wabash route, and the st. joseph-kankakee portage. several other important portages present as interesting fields of study, if not more so, as these, and local historians living near these paths will do well to interest themselves in them, map their exact routes minutely, locate the old springs, licks, forts, and traders' cabins, before all trace and recollection of them is lost. passing westward from niagara the first explorers of the west found the shortest route from the lakes to the ohio was by a portage from chautauqua creek to chautauqua lake and from thence down the conewango to the allegheny river. whether or not this was the most practicable route it was, at first, of major importance. the shortest route was all too long for men on missions such as that of céloron bearing his leaden plates to the ohio valley in .[ ] there was, undoubtedly, an indian portage between lake erie and lake chautauqua before céloron's expedition, but it would seem that now the first roadway was built here. céloron reached niagara river july , . he departed on the fifteenth, and "on the th," wrote father bonnècamps "we arrived early at the portage of yjadakoin. it began at the mouth of a little stream called rivière aux pommes ["apple river"],--the rd that is met after entering the lake, and thus it may be easily recognized."[ ] on the seventeenth the party began the tedious portage and "made a good league." on the day following "our people being fatigued, we shortened the intervals between the stations, and we hardly made more than half a league ... the nd, the portage was entirely accomplished." six days were thus spent in crossing the nine-mile path--a very good indication of how difficult was the journey. and yet bonnècamps affirms "the road is passably good."[ ] this road was opened by a detachment under villiers and le borgne sent out by céloron on the sixteenth--"nearly three-quarters of a league of road" being cleared the first day.[ ] a detailed study of this path has been made by dr. h. c. taylor of brocton, new york.[ ] from him we quote the following concerning the "old portage road," as the path is known locally: "its starting point was on the west side of chautauqua creek at barcelona, within a few rods of the lake. its course from this point was southerly along the bank of the creek, passing the afterward location of the first grist mill built in the county, by john mcmahon, not far from the mouth of the creek, in or , reached and crossed the now main road at the ancient cross roads, one mile west of the centre of the village of westfield, at the monument erected there a few years since by hon. e. t. foote ( ). from this point by a south easterly course it soon reached the steep bank of the creek chautauqua, along which it ran for a mile when it passed into a deep gorge of a hundred feet or more in depth, through which the creek ran, by an extensive dugway still plainly to be seen on the lands owned by miss elizabeth stone, where it crossed the creek and by another dugway on lands for many years owned by wm. cummings, it reached the high banks a few rods from the present glen mills. the passage of this gorge was a work of considerable magnitude. the west bank was so very precipitous that the passage of teams would seem nearly impossible, yet it is said that in later years, before the road on the east side of the creek through the now village of westfield was opened, vast quantities of salt and merchandise were transported over it from lake erie to lake chautauqua for pittsburgh and other points in the ohio valley. "on the east side of the gorge the road was less precipitous and is now a public highway. after reaching a point above glen mills on the south side of the gorge through which the east branch of the chautauqua creek now runs, and where the mayville road is now located at that point, to avoid the rugged section over the hill it passed up the east branch for some distance and continued to the east of the present thoroughfare to mayville, and reached chautauqua lake at or near the present steamboat landing." by --the year of marin's expedition to the ohio--the old road was well overgrown. in the primeval forests it did not take long for a road to become impassable if unused. braddock's road over the alleghenies, cut in , was impassable in . this road cut in was cut out again in .[ ] in each case three years had elapsed. marin reached the portage (barcelona) in april , but, warned perhaps by céloron, was unfavorably impressed with the practicability of the route and decided to push on and find another portage to the allegheny. of this matter we have the testimony of stephen coffin, an eye-witness: "they [marin's vanguard] remained at the fort [niagara] days, and then set out by water, it being april, and arrived at chadakoin, on lake erie [barcelona], where they were ordered to fell timber and prepare it for building a fort, according to the governor's instructions, but mons. morang [marin] coming up the next day with men and indians, put a stop to the building of the fort, not liking the situation, the river chadakoin [chautauqua creek] being too shallow to carry out any craft with provisions, etc, to belle riviere.... the two commanders had a sharp debate, the first insisting on building the fort there in accordance with the instructions, but morang gave him a writing to satisfy the governor on that point; and then mons. mercier, who was commissary and engineer was directed to go along the lake and look for a situation, which he found, and returned in a few days, it being fifteen leagues to the southwest of chadakoin."[ ] the portage chosen by marin in preference to this chautauqua route was that from presque isle (erie, pennsylvania) to rivière aux boeufs. marin did not accomplish the task of fort-building for which he was sent in the time prescribed, and his failure was attributed by some to his choice of route to the allegheny. when returning to niagara late in the fall a detachment of french from presque isle again landed at the chautauqua portage. "on the th (october) they arrived," coffin testified, "at chadakoin where they stayed four days, during which time mons. peon [pean] with men, cut a wagon road over the carrying place from lake erie to lake chadakoin, viewed the situation which proved to their liking, so set off nov. d for niagara." we have one other glimpse of these impetuous frenchmen widening this first portage path from the great lakes toward the ohio. samuel shattuck was born in deerfield, massachusetts in . in he went from his native town on a ranging expedition and was at fort oswego when marin's party went down lake ontario. an officer and five soldiers--one of whom was this eleven-year-old lad--were instantly sent out to watch the french squadron of canoes. they followed them to niagara and into lake erie. an autobiographical story has been taken down by dr. taylor from the lips of shattuck's grandson. soon after passing niagara, the story goes, the boats were lost to sight; "but we expected to overtake them easily, and in fact did so sooner than was agreeable to us as we came near discovering ourselves to the indians that belonged to the expedition scattered through the woods. they had landed at the mouth of chautauqua creek, as now called, and were already felling trees on the west side of the creek, apparently for some sort of fortification. we were confident they had chosen this as a carrying place to some waterway south of the highlands.... from some cause not apparent to us there was a cessation of work, and after three or four days the whole of both parties, with the exception of a few indians, embarked in their boats and moved westward." young shattuck went on with the party and remained near presque isle spying on the french movements until september, when his party returned to oswego. in october--such was the anxiety of the english concerning this fort and road-building--the same scouts were sent back toward presque isle. in the meantime, as before stated, the french had started back for niagara; landing at the chautauqua portage to make a road. "on the seventh day out [from oswego]," reads shattuck's autobiographical story, "or near october th, as near as i remember, in the afternoon we came upon a party of nearly or quite a hundred frenchmen rolling logs into a ravine in the bottom of a deep gulf, and digging into the steep sides of the gulf for a road, apparently, at a point that i now ( ) know to have been on the south border of the village of westfield.... we came upon this party very suddenly and unexpectedly, for we had supposed that the whole matter of a carrying place had been transferred to erie.... as it was we escaped and witnessed the completion of the road from lake erie to lake chautauqua. on the third or fourth day the whole party embarked in their boats and moved eastward."[ ] passing west of presque isle, the first stream offering another passage way to the ohio was the cuyahoga river. ascending this stream about twenty-five miles, an eight-mile portage, almost within the city limits of akron, ohio, offered the traveler a passage way to the tuscarawas branch of the muskingum river, which in turn offered a clear course to the ohio at marietta. this portage is not of more than purely local interest save only that it was the first western boundary of territory west of the ohio to be secured by the united states from the indians. the treaties of fort mcintosh, fort harmar and greenville designate this portage as the western boundary line between white and red men. the path was surveyed in july --one year after the arrival of the connecticut pioneers in the western reserve--by moses warren jr. its total length was given as eight miles, four chains, and fifty-five links. the path was, undoubtedly, of great importance in the earliest days. this route, if the rivers were passable, was certainly the most practicable of all routes from lake erie to the lower ohio. the portage was comparatively easy and the muskingum was a swift, clear river. the cuyahoga was probably almost impassable except at floodtide. the connecticut pioneers found it so in . pioneer settlers on the upper tuscarawas received much of their merchandise from the east by way of buffalo and the cuyahoga-tuscarawas portage.[ ] the scioto and miami rivers were not as large as the muskingum but were easily plied at most seasons by the light canoe. the sandusky and auglaize (emptying into the maumee) offered a waterway which, with portages, took the traveler from lake erie to the ohio by these routes. that they were uncertain and difficult courses is shown by the records of croghan and bonnécamps.[ ] the spot of ground at the head of the great miami (from the source of loramie creek to the head of the st. mary and auglaize) was a more important point than one would believe without considerable investigation. looking at the matter from the olden view-point it seems that this was one of the strategic points in the west in the canoe age. here on loramie creek three routes focused--those of the st. mary, auglaize, and miami rivers. here, near the mouth of loramie creek, english traders erected a trading station almost contemporaneous with céloron's journey; from their point of vantage the french drove them away, and here the earliest french store was built. this stood near the mouth of the creek in miami county (ohio) while sixteen miles up the creek at the beginning of the shortest portage was the location of famed loramie's store of later date and known to half a continent for half a century. the carrying place across to girty's town (george not simon girty) was five miles to what is now st. marys, shelby county on the st. mary river. toward this point harmar and wayne both struck in and , wayne building fort loramie at that end of the portage path mentioned. a stone raised near the mouth of loramie creek was one of the corner stones of the old indian treaty line mentioned in the treaties of fort stanwix ( ), fort mcintosh ( ), fort harmar ( ) and greenville ( ). loramie creek was known thereby as the "standing stone fork of the great miami." one of the remarkable features of the loramie portage was the deadened trees to be seen here--indicative of busy canoe-building. at the head of the maumee--the "miami river of lake erie"--a portage path led to the wabash. it began on the left bank of the st. mary river, a short distance above its junction with the st. joseph, and ran eight miles to little river, the first branch of the wabash. this route from the lakes to the mississippi, at first of least importance, became finally the most important of the five great french passage ways southwest. it was discovered to be the shortest route from the capital of new france to the mississippi and illinois settlements and has been appropriately called "the indian appian way." the importance of this route in the history of the old northwest has been effectively presented by elbert jay benton.[ ] the voyager's canoes followed the ottawa river from montreal, then by portage to lake nipissing, and to georgian bay, an eastern arm of lake huron, and thence by the northern lakes to green bay, the fox, and by portage to the wisconsin and mississippi rivers. it was the most natural route because in every way it was the line of least resistance. it avoided the near approaches to the iroquois indian limits and led directly to the numerous indian haunts around the greater lakes. as the objective point for the westward expeditions was gradually moved farther south into the mississippi basin, shorter routes across the territory, later known as the old northwest, were used. the wisconsin portage soon yielded in point of frequency of use to those at the south end of lake michigan. the route up the illinois river and by portage into the chicago river and lake michigan was followed by joliet and marquette on their return from the discovery of the mississippi. a few years later la salle followed the coast of lake michigan to the st. joseph river and up that stream, thence by a portage to the kankakee, and so again to the usual destination--points on the illinois and the mississippi. "about this time, in the course of the evolution of new routes leading to the mississippi, occurred the first use of the wabash river by white explorers. this stream was occasionally reached in the earliest period by leaving lake michigan on the st. joseph river and then by a short portage to the headwaters of a northern branch of the wabash, but the more important way to reach it was by the 'miami river of lake erie' and a short portage. of the five great portage routes,[ ] this was the last one to come into general use by the whites.... many have tried to trace la salle's voyage of by the wabash river. joliet's map of , which locates la salle's route by way of lake erie and the wabash, has been used in support of this contention. but the route laid down is clearly a later interpolation and adds nothing directly to the argument. it is, however, most significant that within a few years la salle had become in some manner fully aware of this wabash route and the advantages it offered. during the years that he was in command at ft. frontenac, he appears to have been evolving great schemes for appeasing the iroquois and for opening up an easy channel of trade to the mississippi valley by the maumee and wabash; but by he seems to have temporarily abandoned this plan, 'because,' he says, 'i could no longer go to the illinois but by the lakes huron and illinois, as the other routes which i have discovered by the head of lake erie and by the southern coast of the same, have become too dangerous by frequent encounters with the iroquois who are always on that shore.' la salle's description of the territory between lake erie and lake michigan indicates a familiarity with this region scarcely possible save from personal observation. in a letter written november , , he says, 'there is at the end of lake erie ten leagues below the strait a river by which we could shorten the route to the illinois very much. it is navigable to canoes to within two leagues of the route now in use.'[ ]... his [la salle's] representations were the first to direct the attention of the french to the regions south and west of lake erie."[ ] perhaps the most historic campaign in which the wabash route played a part was hamilton's journey across it in when he went to the recapture of vincennes.[ ] from the standpoint of this present study this campaign is of particular interest, as it was one of the exceedingly few instances in which a military movement was made by water on the lesser rivers of the west. it is remarkable that though the two important posts west of the alleghenies, detroit and pittsburg, were through many years, in the possession of bitter enemies, neither one ever conquered or hardly attempted to conquer the other. a hundred plans for the capture of detroit were conceived in fort pitt, and many a commander of fort detroit was determined to subdue fort pitt.[ ] yet it can almost be said that nothing of the kind was ever actually attempted, unless mcintosh's campaign be considered such an attempt. this was because the journey between them could be accomplished only by a long, tedious land march over the great trail,[ ] or by a desperate journey over small inland streams and the portages between them. difficult as the land journey over the indian trail would seem, it is clear that it was considered preferable to any water route in revolutionary days.[ ] thus hamilton's campaign over the wabash route upon vincennes was an exceptional feat, successfully accomplished after great hardships and delays. clark's marvelously intrepid recapture of this fort by wading through the drowned lands of the wabash has so far eclipsed all other events of that campaign that the heroism of other actors has been forgotten. on october , ,[ ] hamilton left the miamis' town, where he held conferences with the indians, and proceeded to pied-froid, on the other side of the river st. joseph. the day following the gun-boat was placed on the carriage with great difficulty. two officers were left to forward the boats from the portage, and hamilton walked to the further end of the carrying place, three leagues, where the provisions were collected. he ordered two officers with the six-pounder and ammunition to go down to carry in pirogues. "this carry is one of the sources of the wabash," hamilton wrote in his _journal_, "and takes its rise on the level plain, which is a height of land near the miamis town. the carry is called 'petite rivière.'[ ] where the pirogues were first launched, it is only wide enough for one boat, and is much embarrassed with logs and stumps. about four miles below is a beaver dam,[ ] and to these animals the traders are indebted for the conveniency of bringing their peltry by water from the indian posts on the waters of the ouabache.[ ] on my return met lieut. du vernet with seven pirogues loaded. ordered him to proceed and join lieut. st. cosme, who was below the dam with some men employed to clear the chemin couvert, the narrow part of the carry, so narrow and embarrassed with logs under water and boughs overhead that it required a great deal of work to make it passable for our small craft." on october , hamilton sent lieutenant de quindre with seven pirogues loaded with provisions, and fourteen men, to follow lieut. du vernet. in the evening he went to the dam which had been cut there to give a passage for the pirogues; and by sinking a batteau in the gap, and stopping the water with sods and paddles, he raised the water. "lay in the wood this night. wolves very numerous hereabout. october . returned to the camp at the portage. november . left landing with seven batteaus and three pirogues loaded with provisions, and proceeded to the dam, which we opened and yet found the water so scanty that it was with the greatest difficulty we passed the chemin couvert. at the end of this narrow pass came to the swamp called les volets, from the water lilies in it.[ ] the batteaus frequently rested on the mud, and we labored hard up to the knees in mud and entangled among the roots and rotten stumps of trees. at length got to the channel formed by the meeting of the petite rivière and the rivière a boête.[ ] here we encamped, having got but ten miles with great fatigue. november . small party sent down the river to clear away the logs, etc. the rest of the men employed in damming the water of the two little rivers, to provide for our passage downwards. heard from lieut. du vernet below that we could not proceed from the shallowness of the water. november . work on the dam continued. a light canoe sent to the landing for workmen and tools, which returned at half past twelve at night. november . water was raised three feet. at p. m. major hay arrived with the remainder of the boats, provisions, etc. november . major hay proceeded down the river, the water being let off, and made another dam a mile below rivière à l'anglais.[ ] november th. broke up the dam and proceeded to the pays plat, where the bed of the river being very broad with almost continuous ledges of rock and large stones, found great difficulty. men in the water from a. m. till after sunset, at which time only one batteau had got to the foot of the rifts (petit rocher). most of the boats damaged. november . continued to work in the water to forward the boats. sent down to du vernet, who was encamped at the fork of the ouabache, for seven light pirogues and twenty-two men to assist in lightening the boats. november . set off from petit rocher. arrived at the forks of the ouabache at p. m. november . repairing the boats and airing the bales which had got wet. sent back to petit rocher for the provisions, which had been left there to lighten the boats. after this the river began to rise on account of the heavy rains, and snow and cold weather also came on, which increased the difficulties of the journey." from the returns of henry du vernet, second lieutenant of artillery, the number of perogues used by hamilton was forty-two, and of batteaux ("and a very large french one"), ten. ten two-wheeled carts were employed at the portage, two carriages "with wheels for the batteaus," and four "with wheels for the peroques."[ ] the st. joseph river, emptying into lake michigan, was one of the earlier important roundabout routes to the mississippi. the eastern fork headed with the wabash, and with a short portage was the route la salle described as being "within two leagues" of the miami of lake erie. this st. joseph-wabash portage was extremely important, but was roundabout, and was probably abandoned at a comparatively early date. the southern branch of the st. joseph heads near the northwest branch of the kankakee, a tributary of the illinois, near south bend, indiana. this historic path has been made the subject of a monograph by secretary george a. baker of the northern indiana historical society.[ ] the seal of this society is appropriately inscribed: "this region before the advent of the white man was occupied by the miamis and pottawatomies. it was made historic by the early explorers and missionaries who used the kankakee-st. joseph river portage." a few of mr. baker's paragraphs should be included in this catalogue: "shortly after easter sunday, , the sick and disheartened priest, father jacques marquette, left the indian village of kaskaskia to return to his beloved st. ignace by a new route, which many eminent authorities believe to have been via the kankakee river. in that case it is very probable that he and his two faithful attendants, pierre porteret and jacques, made use of the portage between the kankakee and st. joseph rivers--a carrying place of between four and five miles. the portage landing on the st. joseph river is two and three-quarters miles northwest of the court house, at south bend, st. joseph county, indiana, and the portage extends in a southwesterly course to three small ponds which were the nearest sources of the kankakee. the basins of these ponds are still clearly defined.... the earliest mention of this historic route is found in the writings of father louis hennepin, henry de tonty and réné robert cavelier, sieur de la salle, who first made use of it ... in december, . we are led to believe, however, that louis jolliet, companion of marquette and co-discoverer of the mississippi, knew of this portage as early as . "the portage landing ... is just to the east of the big red barn, on the miller property, south of the residence, and at the foot of a beautiful ravine declining gently from the high ground. at the water's edge, stretching back at least one hundred feet, is a low sandy terrace of recent formation. the approach to this picturesque ravine is obscure and hard to locate from the river; the view being obstructed by the forest trees. many of the original trees are still standing ... many red-cedars, the latter evidently being the progeny of a grand old cedar, a stately monarch of the portage landing, which reaches to the height of over sixty feet, with a girth of more than eight feet at its base.... the trunk ... has been covered by the sand and soil washed from above, to a depth of between seven and eight feet.... recently, june, , the soil around the old cedar was removed and the measurements as stated were made. as the trunk was laid bare ... three great blaze-marks [were found], forming a rude cross, made by a wide-bladed axe, such as were in common use in the french colonies. here was what we had suspected, one of the witness trees marked no doubt in early days to locate the portage."[ ] fort st. joseph was located on the opposite side of the river from a pottawatomie village, which was on the portage trail. the location of this fort and indian settlement is never unanimously estimated to have been less than about sixty miles from the mouth of the st. joseph river; father marest wrote father german from "cascaskias" november , : "... we ascended the river saint joseph, in order to make a portage at [ ?] leagues from its mouth."[ ] this important route from illinois to detroit was first fortified by the building of the earliest "fort miami," near the mouth of the st. josephs of lake michigan, by la salle in . "but this fort," mr. reuben gold thwaites writes, "was destroyed by la salle's men in . father jean mermet, then at the river [st. joseph] mouth, writes la mathe cadillac, april , , that he proposes to establish a mission 'three journeys,' or about sixty miles up river, 'near a stream [illinois] which is the source of the ouabache,' where there is a portage of half a league (_margry_, v, p. ). in , father chardon had his mission sixty miles above the mouth. by , there appears to have been a french military post at this mission. charlevoix, in a letter dated 'river st. joseph, aug. , ,' writes, describing his approach to the fort from lake michigan: 'you afterward sail up twenty leagues in it [up the st. josephs river] before you reach the fort, which navigation requires great precaution.'... the evidence is ample, that the fort on the st. josephs, from about to its final destruction during the revolutionary war, guarded the portage between the river of that name and the kankakee, on the east bank of the st. josephs, in indiana, a short distance below the present city of south bend."[ ] the kankakee-st. joseph route was a favorite one for travelers returning from illinois to the great lakes and canada. the favorite early "outward" route was from the western shore of lake michigan into the illinois river. here were two courses: by way of either the calumet or the chicago river to the des plaines branch of the illinois. the latter portage was best known and most used. perhaps no one of the western portages varied more than this in length, as on the best authority it is asserted that sometimes no portage was necessary, and at others a portage of nine miles was necessary: "the chicago--des plaines route involved a 'carry' of from four to nine miles, according to the season of the year; in a rainy spring season, it might not be over a mile; and during a freshet, a canoe might be paddled over the entire route, without any portage."[ ] when marquette reached the des plaines, known as "portage river" because it offered a pathway to the illinois, he was compelled to make a portage of only "half a league."[ ] the course of this portage is practically the present route of the famous drainage canal which joins the chicago river with the des plaines at elgin, illinois. the most westernly portage from the great lakes to the mississippi was of the greatest importance in the earliest years of white man's exploration. the french were the first explorers, and they were at first barred from lakes ontario and erie--which offered the shortest courses to the mississippi, via the ohio--by the ferocious iroquois; whose hostility champlain had quickly incurred, toward himself and his people. driven around, as has been shown,[ ] by way of the ottawa to georgian bay, the longest route to the mississippi became one of the shortest. from georgian bay it is a straight course to green bay, and so the portage between the fox and the wisconsin rivers became one of the earliest as well as one of the most important in america. by this route the discoverers of the mississippi were destined to come--for there were many who found and lost this river. first in the line came radissou and groseilliers, at the end of that fifth shadowy decade of the seventeenth century. these daring men, possessed of the desire "to travell and see countreys" and "to be knowne w^{th} the remotest people," found the fox-wisconsin portage and passed down the wisconsin to the mississippi, probably in the spring or early summer of [ ]--arriving on that river eleven years before la salle, and fourteen years before joliet and marquette, to whom the discovery of the mississippi is usually ascribed. but though these men passed over this route to the discovery of the mississippi, they were not the first white men to traverse it. jean nicolet, the first of europeans, came over this course in , but did not descend the wisconsin.[ ] two score years later the bold missionaries, joliet and marquette, entered the fox river and came to maskoutens, "the fire nation." "here," wrote marquette, "is the limit of the discoveries which the french have made, for they have not yet gone any farther." of radissou and groseilliers no memory was left among the savages, and of them marquette had never heard. "no sooner had we arrived," marquette wrote in his _journal_, "than we, monsieur jollyet and i assembled the elders together; and he told them that he was sent by monsieur our governor to discover new countries, while i was sent by god to illumine them with the light of the holy gospel. he told them that, moreover, the sovereign master of our lives wished to be known by all the nations; and that in obeying his will i feared not the death to which i exposed myself in voyages so perilous. he informed them that we needed two guides to show us the way; and we gave them a present, by it asking them to grant us the guides. to this they very civilly consented; and they also spoke to us by means of a present, consisting of a mat to serve us as a bed during the whole of our voyage. on the following day, the tenth of june two miamis who were given us as guides embarked with us.... we knew that, at three leagues from maskoutens, was a river which discharged into mississippi. we knew also that the direction we were to follow in order to reach it was west-southwesterly. but the road is broken by so many swamps and small lakes that it is easy to lose one's way, especially as the river leading thither is so full of wild oats that it is difficult to find the channel. for this reason we greatly needed our two guides, who safely conducted us to a portage of , paces, and helped us to transport our canoes to enter that river; ... thus we left the waters flowing to quebeq, or leagues from here, to float on those that would thenceforward take us through strange lands."[ ] by the feet of such undaunted heroes the fox-wisconsin portage path was made hallowed ground. but the importance of this route, in the days when georgian bay was the entering point of the french into the great lakes, did not rapidly diminish; through all pioneer history, when mackinac and detroit were the key of the lakes, this route to the mississippi was important. for instance, in the fur trade of the west and of wisconsin in particular, this portage was of utmost moment.[ ] in the preceding pages this matter of the fur trade on portages has not been sufficiently suggested; it is, however, a subject on which important and exhaustive histories should be written. the portages were, in numerous instances, the keys of the fur trade. in the revolutionary war, the fox-wisconsin portage bore a more or less important part in british plans of gaining the alliance of the indians of the upper mississippi basin.[ ] the awakening in the northwest is evidenced by the increasing importance of this pathway in the war of .[ ] this was the route of british trade with the mississippi indians until the very last.[ ] the commercial and economic history of this route, the establishment of fort winnebago, the question of government ownership of land, the improvement of the fox and wisconsin rivers, the military road across the portage, the days of the durhams boats, and the building of the canal make this route more interesting than any other west of niagara.[ ] it would be a serious omission not to include in this catalogue at least a mention of the portages which completed the line of communication along the chain of the great lakes--or from the st. lawrence across to the extremity of lake superior. the importance of the portage from the ottawa to lake nipissing and french river has been fully suggested, in our emphasis of the use of the ottawa route, by which the french avoided the iroquois and gained the western lakes. the historic and economic phase of the niagara river offers a magnificent untouched field for historic study. the series of forts and their varying flags which defended this key of the lakes; the struggle for their possession; the portage routes here that were of such vital importance to all the west; the earliest systems of transportation around niagara falls; the supplementary roundabout routes, such as up grand river; and finally, the building of the welland canal, offer a splendid topic for study and field work. at the extremity of lake superior was the grand portage, which joined the great lakes with hudson bay, by way of pigeon river and the lake of the woods. it was first found by radissou and groseilliers in , fortified in , and at the beginning of the nineteenth century was "the headquarters or general rendezvous, for all who trade in this part of the world."[ ] in concluding this review of portage paths the author finds a final opportunity to offer a plea for the wide study of historic sites and for placing there monuments of some kind for the purposes of identification before it be all too late. we cannot realize in the slightest degree the great interest that will be felt in our historical beginnings one, two, and three centuries from now, as our nation grows richer and hundreds give themselves up to the study of the past where ten can do so today. it is fair to believe that we cannot realize how precious every relic and every accurate piece of information--every monument and tablet--will seem when at last the days of braddock and johnson, washington and clark and wayne are lost in three hundred years of change and evolution. therefore we cannot fully realize the precious duty that falls upon the present generation--and upon us particularly. the reason is evident: within a generation there will not be left in our land a single son of one of the genuine pioneers of, for instance, new york or ohio. even those of the second generation remember with really little distinctness and accuracy the days of which their fathers told; often their stories are entirely unreliable. this very fact is in itself alarming, and is it not then the duty of all interested persons to secure immediately every item of information from such of that second generation as are found to be accurate and clear? in every state there are a hundred historic sites for which, in time, people generally will be inquiring. we speak easily of fort necessity and fort bull and fort laurens--but where are they? the sites of these historic embankments are known today, but of the new york and pennsylvania sites doubts are beginning to pass current. the location of fort laurens--the first american fort built west of the ohio river--is pretty definitely known. it is fair to say that in a generation or two the spots, if left unmarked, will never be located correctly. a small stone, with a plain legend, costing a mere trifle, would insure the future against such a misfortune. the subject of portage paths naturally suggests the matter of locating historic sites and marking them for the reason that so many such points were on these portages. a mere catalogue of the forts mentioned in preceding pages prove this conclusively. add to these the mission houses, trading stations and treaty houses here erected and we have a sum total of vitally important historic sites which could be equalled only by looking to the river valleys. and very frequently indeed the real significance of many a fort at a river's mouth lay in the fact that at that river's head lay a strategic carrying place. what else did fort defiance, fort venango, fort oswego, fort niagara, fort miami on the st. joseph mean? these portage routes should be presented to all local and state historical societies as important fields of study in the very immediate present if the many historic sites here are to be correctly marked. they are easy fields of investigation because as a rule a great amount of geographic lore is treasured up in a small compass; many a portage, like the oneida portage at rome, new york, was not over a mile in length; yet here are the sites of at least half a dozen forts, some of them of world-wide renown. take the famous portage at fort wayne, indiana, from the maumee (st. mary) to the wabash (little river); the field here is of great importance yet the ground to be covered is exceedingly limited. a few dollars invested in slight monuments could now establish markers along this route with some degree of accuracy and conscientious satisfaction. later on this will not be possible. each year lessens the probability of accuracy, takes from the neighborhood one and another of the aged men who would be of assistance, changes more and more the face of the landscape--in short tends to rob all future students of something of real value that we might confer upon them. it may be due to a lack of antiquarian enthusiasm on the part of the present writer, but he is strongly of the opinion that our historical societies are losing an invaluable amount of information and data by not seizing the advantage of the advice of pioneers' sons who are now living concerning the location of historic sites; not a little money is being expended here and there on archæological research which would produce exactly as fruitful returns a generation from now as it does today. the stone pipes and hammers will be found in as good condition in as but there are a hundred important sites that can never be marked correctly after a score of men now over seventy years of age have passed away. at a recent centennial celebration on the site of one of the most important forts in the entire west the old fortress was reconstructed with life-like accuracy under scholarly direction. it was necessary, however, because of inundations of the neighboring river, to draw in one of the bastions. it will not be many years before the entire topography of that site will be altered by the same destructive force, unless it is stayed, and when the second centennial of the day when mad anthony wayne unfurled his flag in the face of the british from the walls of fort defiance is celebrated, there is a question whether the site of that fort will be above or below the river's tide. a pig-sty at fort recovery, ohio, marks the fort recovery angle of the famous greenville treaty line. underneath the pen lies the stone which marks the angle and the site of that historic fort and, consequently, st. clair's battle-ground. the line runs twenty-one miles westward to the pillar raised on loramie creek, the historic site of the old french trading post in ° ['] north latitude ° [''] west longitude; at the other angle on the muskingum river the site of fort laurens is also a matter of record. in this way, it is true, many points of interest have a definite location but this is true in only a few cases. the writer, recently returning from a tour through illinois on george rogers clark's old route to the conquest of vincennes took his notes at once to madison, wisconsin to revise them from the correspondence carried on by lyman c. draper, a generation ago, with the oldest residents of illinois concerning clark's route. the remarkable contrast between testimony obtainable now and that secured a generation ago could not have been more strikingly impressive. indecision, indefiniteness, inaccuracy grow more and more pronounced as the days draw by and an actual experience such as this compels one interested in our country's development to cry out against permitting more time to be lost. pennsylvania has set a good example in forwarding a minute study of her frontier forts, two large volumes having been published by that state on the subject. there are signs that there is an awakening interest in definitely locating and marking historic sites. it need not be an expensive work. it is certainly an important one. and the courses of the important carrying places should be early considered. footnotes: [ ] for an account of the portages in the dry season on the scioto see _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] _the jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. xxxvii, pp. - . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _id._, vol. xlix, pp. - . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _id._, vol. viii, pp. - . [ ] _id._, vol. xxxix, pp. - . [ ] _id._, vol. xii, pp. - . [ ] as outlined in _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, ch. iii. this route of the french to the greater lakes took them away from the ohio river and long delayed their occupation of the allegheny and ohio valleys. [ ] hinsdale's _old northwest_, pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] céloron on his journey to the ohio in did not cross lake ontario by the same route pursued by his indian retinue (céloron's journal, in darlington's _fort pitt_, p. ). [ ] william e. dodge's _old new york_, p. . [ ] for a touching instance, see _jesuit relations ana allied documents_, vol. lxvi, p. . [ ] _the jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lxix, p. . [ ] _documentary history of new york_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] sylvester's_ northern new york_, p. ; céloron's journal in darlington's _fort pitt_, p. . [ ] sir william johnson's _journal_, october , ; cf. severance's _old trails of the niagara frontier_, p. . [ ] these names were copied from nolin's "carte du canada" ( ) and bellin's "partie occidentale de la nouvelle france" ( ), both in the bibliothèque nationale, paris. [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. xl, p. . the st. lawrence proved less easily navigated when it became better known. [ ] _id._, note (page ). [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lxix, p. . [ ] described in _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, pp. - . [ ] sparks's _writings of washington_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] royal orders to braddock, _historic highways of america_, vol. iv, pp. , . [ ] dunn's _indiana_, p. . [ ] _american state papers_, vol. iv, p. . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] sylvester's _northern new york_, p. . [ ] hinsdale's _old northwest_, p. ; benton's _the wabash trade route_, p. . [ ] dunn's _indiana_, p. . [ ] _united states statutes at large_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, ch. vi. [ ] _a monograph of historic sites in the province of new brunswick_, transactions of the royal society of canada, vol. v, sec. ii, pp. - . [ ] _a monograph of historic sites in the province of new brunswick_, pp. - . [ ] _the history of the district of maine_, p. . [ ] _crown mss._, cxix, . [ ] _board of trade maps_, vol. , no. . [ ] _add. mss._, , , pp. - . [ ] _the century magazine_, vol. lxv, no. (february, ). [ ] belknap: _history of new hampshire_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. , note. [ ] _board of trade maps_, vol. , no. . [ ] _crown maps_ (british museum), vol. cxxi, no. . [ ] _board of trade maps_, case , no. . [ ] _crown maps_ (british museum), vol. cxxi, no. [ ] _board of trade maps_, case , no. . [ ] _crown maps_ (british museum), vol. cxxi, no. . [ ] sylvester's _northern new york_, ch. xxxiii. [ ] _northern new york_, pp. - . [ ] _a review of the military operations in north america_ (london, ), pp. - . [ ] see _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, pp. - . [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lxix, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] céloron's journal in darlington's _fort pitt_, p. . [ ] _the old portage road_; published in the fredonia (n. y.) _censor_, january, . [ ] see _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, pp. - . [ ] affidavit of stephen coffin, _colonial records state of new york_, vol. vi, p. . [ ] taylor's _the old portage road_, fredonia _censor_, january, . [ ] for a map of this portage see hulbert's _red-men's roads_, p. . [ ] croghan's journal, _historic highways of america_, vol. ii., pp. - ; bonnécamp's journal, _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lxix, pp. - . [ ] "the wabash trade route in the development of the old northwest," _johns hopkins university studies_, series xxi, nos. - (january-february, ). [ ] fox-wisconsin, chicago-illinois, st. joseph-kankakee, st. joseph-wabash and maumee-wabash portage routes. [ ] margry: _découvertes des français dans l'amérique septentrionale_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _id._, vol. i, pp. - ; fiske's _discovery of america_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vi, p. . [ ] for references to proposed routes by land and water against fort detroit and fort pitt see butterfield's _washington-irvine correspondence_, pp. , , , , (note), - ; _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, pp. , ; _irvine papers_ (mss.), wisconsin historical society, vol. ii, a a. pp. , ; washington ms. _journal_, september (state department). [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] irvine-washington, february , (_washington-irvine correspondence_, p. ). [ ] the following are notes on and extracts from hamilton's _journal_ preserved at harvard university. [ ] little river. [ ] "the beaver are never molested at this place by the traders or indians, and soon repair their dam, which is a most serviceable work upon this difficult communication."--account of the expedition of lieut.-gov. hamilton, _michigan pioneer collections_, vol. ix, p. . "the beavers had worked hard for us, but we were obliged to break down their dam to let the boats pass...."--hamilton to haldimand, november , _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, p. . [ ] wabash. [ ] under this date hamilton wrote to haldimand from "camp at petite riviere," concerning the portage path from the maumee to little river, as follows: "this carrying place is free from any obstructions, but what the carelessness & ignorance of the french have left, & would leave from generation to generation. an intelligent person at a small expense might make it as fine a road as any within miles of london. the woods are beautiful, oak, ash, beech, nutwood, very clear & of a great growth ... in a ridge near the road i found a sea fossil, to find marine productions on this hauteur des terres is to my mind more curious than their being found in the alps--there are no mountains in view from detroit to this place so that these appearances cannot readily be accounted for from volcanoes of which there is no trace to be observed."--_wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, p. . [ ] aboite river, allen county, indiana. [ ] one of the most curious of errors. this river was called by the indians eel river, and is the name translated by the french, _rivière l'anguille_. hamilton mistook this for _l'anglais_, which name he used. cf. imlay's _america_, p. , where the name is spelled _longuille_; _american state papers_, vol. iv, p. ; gamelin's _journal_, _id._, p. . [ ] _michigan pioneer collections_, vol. ix, p. . [ ] _the st. joseph-kankakee portage_, northern indiana historical publications, no. . [ ] _id._ [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lxvi, p. ; cf. _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, p. . [ ] _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, pp. - ; cf. _michigan pioneer collections_, vol. ix, p. ; _magazine of western history_, vol. iii, p. . [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lix, note . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. iii, ch. iii. [ ] butterfield, in _magazine of western history_, v, pp. , - ; _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, p. , note. [ ] butterfield's _discovery of the northwest_, p. , ff. [ ] _jesuit relations and allied documents_, vol. lix, pp. , . [ ] _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, pp. , ; turner's _indian trade of wisconsin_. [ ] _wisconsin historical collections_, vol. xi, pp. , . [ ] _id._, pp. , , , , , , . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, vol. vii, p. ; vol. x, p. ; vol. xi, pp. , , , , , - ; vol. xii, pp. , . [ ] harmon's _journal_ (andover, ) p. . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected except for narratives and letters included in this text. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . certain words use an oe ligature in the original. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. . for longtitude and latitude, the minutes and seconds are placed as single quotes within brackets. for example: ° ['] ['']. historic highways of america volume [illustration: bridge at "big crossings"] historic highways of america volume the cumberland road by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. our first national road ii. building the road in the west iii. operation and control iv. stagecoaches and freighters v. mails and mail lines vi. taverns and tavern life vii. conclusion appendixes illustrations i. bridge at "big crossings" _frontispiece_ ii. map of cumberland road in pennsylvania and maryland iii. chestnut ridge, pennsylvania iv. map of cumberland road in the west v. a culvert on the cumberland road in ohio preface for material used in this volume the author is largely in the debt of the librarians of the state libraries of maryland, pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, and illinois. from the honorable c. b. galbreath, of the ohio state library, he has received much assistance covering an extended period. to the late thomas b. searight's valuable collection of biographical and colloquial sketches, _the old pike_, the author wishes to express his great indebtedness. as mr. searight gave special attention to the road in pennsylvania, the present monograph deals at large with the story of the road west of the ohio river, especially in the state of ohio. the cumberland road was best known in some parts as the "united states" or "national" road. its legal name has been selected as the most appropriate for the present monograph which is revised from a study of the subject _the old national road_ formerly published by the ohio state archæological and historical society. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, may , . the cumberland road _it is a monument of a past age; but like all other monuments, it is interesting as well as venerable. it carried thousands of population and millions of wealth into the west; and more than any other material structure in the land, served to harmonize and strengthen, if not to save, the union._--veech. chapter i our first national road _the middle ages had their wars and agonies, but also their intense delights. their gold was dashed with blood, but ours is sprinkled with dust. their life was intermingled with white and purple; ours is one seamless stuff of brown._--ruskin. a person cannot live in the american central west and be acquainted with the generation which greets the new century with feeble hand and dimmed eye, without realizing that there has been a time which, compared with today, seems as the middle ages did to the england for which ruskin wrote--when "life was intermingled with white and purple." this western boy, born to a feeble republic-mother, with exceeding suffering in those days which "tried men's souls," grew up as all boys grow up. for a long and doubtful period the young west grew slowly and changed appearance gradually. then, suddenly, it started from its slumbering, and, in two decades, could hardly have been recognized as the infant which, in , looked forward to a precarious and doubtful future. the boy has grown into the man in the century, but the changes of the last half century are not, perhaps, so marked as those of the first, when a wilderness was suddenly transformed into a number of imperial commonwealths. when this west was in its teens and began suddenly outstripping itself, to the marvel of the world, one of the momentous factors in its progress was the building of a great national road, from the potomac river to the mississippi river, by the united states government--a highway seven hundred miles in length, at a cost of seven millions of treasure. this ribbon of road, winding its way through maryland, pennsylvania, ohio, indiana, and illinois, toward the mississippi, was one of the most important steps in that movement of national expansion which followed the conquest of the west. it is probably impossible for us to realize fully what it meant to this west when that vanguard of surveyors came down the western slopes of the alleghenies, hewing a thoroughfare which should, in one generation, bind distant and half-acquainted states together in bonds of common interest, sympathy, and ambition. until that day, travelers spoke of "going into" and "coming out of" the west as though it were a mammoth cave. such were the herculean difficulties of travel that it was commonly said, despite the dangers of life in the unconquered land, if pioneers could live to get into the west, nothing could, thereafter, daunt them. the growth and prosperity of the west was impossible, until the dawning of such convictions as those which made the cumberland road a reality. the history of this famed road is but a continuation of the story of the washington and braddock roads, through great meadows from the potomac to the ohio. as outlined in volumes iii and iv of this series, this national highway was the realization of the youth washington's early dream--a dream that was, throughout his life, a dominant force. but braddock's road was for three score years the only route westward through southwestern pennsylvania, and it grew worse and worse with each year's travel. indeed, the more northerly route, marked out in part by general forbes in , was plainly the preferable road for travelers to pittsburg until the building of the cumberland road, - . the rapid peopling of the state of ohio, and the promise of an equal development in indiana and illinois caused the building of our first and only great national road. congress passed an act on the thirtieth of april, , enabling the people of ohio to form a state government and seek admission into the union. section seven contained the following provision: "that one-twentieth of the net proceeds of the lands lying within said state sold by congress shall be applied to the laying out and making public roads leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic, to the ohio, to the said state, and through the same, such roads to be laid out under the authority of congress, with the consent of the several states through which the roads shall pass."[ ] on the third of march, another act was passed which appropriated three of the five per cent to laying out roads in the state of ohio, the remaining two per cent to be devoted to building a road from navigable waters leading into the atlantic ocean, to the ohio river contiguous to the state of ohio. a committee was appointed to review the matter and the conclusion of their report to the senate on the nineteenth of december, was as follows: "therefore the committee have thought it expedient to recommend the laying out and making a road from cumberland, on the northerly bank of the potomac, and within the state of maryland, to the ohio river, at the most convenient place on the easterly bank of said river, opposite to steubenville, and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into said river, ohio, a little below wheeling in virginia, this route will meet and accommodate roads from baltimore and the district of columbia; it will cross the monongahela at or near brownsville, sometimes called redstone, where the advantage of boating can be taken; and from the point where it will probably intersect the river ohio, there are now roads, or they can easily be made over feasible and proper ground, to and through the principal population of the state of ohio."[ ] immediately the following act of congress was passed, authorizing the laying out and making of the cumberland road: an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio section . _be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled_, that the president of the united states be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, three discreet and disinterested citizens of the united states, to lay out a road from cumberland, or a point on the northern bank of the river potomac, in the state of maryland, between cumberland and the place where the main road leading from gwynn's to winchester, in virginia, crosses the river, to the state of ohio; whose duty it shall be, as soon as may be, after their appointment, to repair to cumberland aforesaid, and view the ground, from the points on the river potomac hereinbefore designated to the river ohio; and to lay out in such direction as they shall judge, under all circumstances the most proper, a road from thence to the river ohio, to strike the same at the most convenient place, between a point on its eastern bank, opposite to the northern boundary of steubenville, in said state of ohio, and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into the said river a little below wheeling, in virginia. sec. . and be it further enacted, that the aforesaid road shall be laid out four rods in width, and designated on each side by a plain and distinguishable mark on a tree, or by the erection of a stake or monument sufficiently conspicuous, in every quarter of a mile of the distance at least, where the road pursues a straight course so far or further, and on each side, at every point where an angle occurs in its course. sec. . and be it further enacted, that the commissioners shall, as soon as may be, after they have laid out said road, as aforesaid, present to the president an accurate plan of the same, with its several courses and distances, accompanied by a written report of their proceedings, describing the marks and monuments by which the road is designated, and the face of the country over which it passes, and pointing out the particular parts which they shall judge require the most and immediate attention and amelioration, and the probable expense of making the same possible in the most difficult parts, and through the whole distance; designating the state or states through which said road has been laid out, and the length of the several parts which are laid out on new ground, as well as the length of those parts laid out on the road now traveled. which report the president is hereby authorized to accept or reject, in the whole or in part. if he accepts, he is hereby further authorized and requested to pursue such measures, as in his opinion shall be proper, to obtain consent for making the road, of the state or states through which the same has been laid out. which consent being obtained, he is further authorized to take prompt and effectual measures to cause said road to be made through the whole distance, or in any part or parts of the same as he shall judge most conducive to the public good, having reference to the sum appropriated for the purpose. sec. . and be it further enacted, that all parts of the road which the president shall direct to be made, in case the trees are standing, shall be cleared the whole width of four rods; and the road shall be raised in the middle of the carriage-way with stone, earth, or gravel or sand, or a combination of some or all of them, leaving or making, as the case may be, a ditch or water course on each side and contiguous to said carriage-way, and in no instance shall there be an elevation in said road, when finished, greater than an angle of five degrees with the horizon. but the manner of making said road, in every other particular, is left to the direction of the president. sec. . and be it further enacted, that said commissioners shall each receive four dollars per day, while employed as aforesaid, in full for their compensation, including all expenses. and they are hereby authorized to employ one surveyor, two chainmen and one marker, for whose faithfulness and accuracy they, the said commissioners, shall be responsible, to attend them in laying out said road, who shall receive in full satisfaction for their wages, including all expenses, the surveyor, three dollars per day, and each chainman and marker, one dollar per day, while they shall be employed in said business, of which fact a certificate signed by said commissioners shall be deemed sufficient evidence. sec. . and be it further enacted, that the sum of thirty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, to defray the expenses of laying out and making said road. and the president is hereby authorized to draw, from time to time, on the treasury for such parts, or at any one time, for the whole of said sum, as he shall judge the service requires. which sum of thirty thousand dollars shall be paid, first, out of the fund of two per cent reserved for laying out and making roads to the state of ohio, and by virtue of the seventh section of an act passed on the thirtieth day of april, one thousand eight hundred and two, entitled, "an act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes." three per cent of the appropriation contained in said seventh section being directed by a subsequent law to the laying out, opening, and making roads within the said state of ohio; and secondly, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, chargeable upon, and reimbursable at the treasury by said fund of two per cent as the same shall accrue. sec. . and be it further enacted, that the president be, and he is hereby requested, to cause to be laid before congress, as soon as convenience will permit, after the commencement of each session, a statement of the proceedings under this act, that congress may be enabled to adopt such further measures as may from time to time be proper under existing circumstances. approved march , . th. jefferson. president jefferson appointed thomas moore of maryland, joseph kerr of ohio, and eli williams of maryland commissioners. their first report was presented december , , as follows: "the commissioners, acting by appointment under the law of congress, entitled, 'an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio,' beg leave to report to the president of the united states, and to premise that the duties imposed by the law became a work of greater magnitude, and a task much more arduous, than was conceived before entering upon it; from which circumstance the commissioners did not allow themselves sufficient time for the performance of it before the severity of the weather obliged them to retire from it, which was the case in the first week of the present month (december). that, not having fully accomplished their work, they are unable fully to report a discharge of all the duties enjoined by the law; but as the most material and principal part has been performed, and as a communication of the progress already made may be useful and proper, during the present session of congress, and of the legislatures of those states through which the route passes, the commissioners respectfully state that at a very early period it was conceived that the maps of the country were not sufficiently accurate to afford a minute knowledge of the true courses between the extreme points on the rivers, by which the researches of the commissioners were to be governed; a survey for that purpose became indispensable, and considerations of public economy suggested the propriety of making this survey precede the personal attendance of the commissioners. "josias thompson, a surveyor of professional merit, was taken into service and authorized to employ two chain carriers and a marker, as well as one vaneman, and a packhorse-man and horse, on public account; the latter being indispensable and really beneficial in accelerating the work. the surveyor's instructions are contained in document no. , accompanying this report. "calculating on a reasonable time for the performance of the instructions to the surveyor, the commissioners, by correspondence, fixed on the first day of september last, for their meeting at cumberland to proceed in the work; neither of them, however, reached that place until the third of that month, on which day they all met. "the surveyor having, under his instructions, laid down a plat of his work, showing the meanders of the potomac and ohio rivers, within the limits prescribed for the commissioners, as also the road between those rivers, which is commonly traveled from cumberland to charleston, in part called braddock's road; and the same being produced to the commissioners, whereby straight lines and their true courses were shown between the extreme points on each river, and the boundaries which limit the powers of the commissioners being thereby ascertained, serving as a basis whereon to proceed in the examination of the grounds and face of the country; the commissioners thus prepared commenced the business of exploring; and in this it was considered that a faithful discharge of the discretionary powers vested by the law made it necessary to view the whole to be able to judge of a preference due to any part of the grounds, which imposed a task of examining a space comprehending upwards of two thousand square miles; a task rendered still more incumbent by the solicitude and importunities of the inhabitants of every part of the district, who severally conceived their grounds entitled to a preference. it becoming necessary, in the interim, to run various lines of experiment for ascertaining the geographical position of several points entitled to attention, and the service suffering great delay for want of another surveyor, it was thought consistent with the public interest to employ, in that capacity, arthur rider, the vaneman, who had been chosen with qualification to meet such an emergency; and whose services as vaneman could then be dispensed with. he commenced, as surveyor, on the nd day of september, and continued so at field work until the first day of december, when he was retained as a necessary assistant to the principal surveyor, in copying field notes and hastening the draught of the work to be reported. "the proceedings of the commissioners are especially detailed in their general journal, compiled from the daily journal of each commissioner, to which they beg leave to refer, under mark no. . "after a careful and critical examination of all the grounds within the limits prescribed, as well as the grounds and ways out from the ohio westwardly, at several points, and examining the shoal parts of the ohio river as detailed in the table of soundings, stated in their journal, and after gaining all the information, geographical, general and special, possible and necessary, toward a judicial discharge of the duties assigned them, the commissioners repaired to cumberland to examine and compare their notes and journals, and determine upon the direction and location of their route. "in this consultation the governing objects were: . shortness of distance between navigable points on the eastern and western waters. . a point on the monongahela best calculated to equalize the advantages of this portage in the country within reach of it. . a point on the ohio river most capable of combining certainty of navigation with road accommodation; embracing, in this estimate, remote points westwardly, as well as present and probable population on the north and south. . best mode of diffusing benefits with least distance of road. "in contemplating these objects, due attention was paid as well to the comparative merits of towns, establishments and settlements already made, as to the capacity of the country with the present and probable population. "in the course of arrangement, and in its order, the first point located for the route was determined and fixed at cumberland, a decision founded on propriety, and in some measure on necessity, from the circumstance of a high and difficult mountain, called nobley, laying and confining the east margin of the potomac, so as to render it impossible of access on that side without immense expense, at any point between cumberland and where the road from winchester to gwynn's crosses, and even there the nobley mountain is crossed with much difficulty and hazard. and this upper point was taxed with another formidable objection; it was found that a high range of mountains, called dan's, stretching across from gwynn's to the potomac, above this point, precluded the opportunity of extending a route from this point in a proper direction, and left no alternative but passing by gwynn's; the distance from cumberland to gwynn's being upward of a mile less than from the upper point, which lies ten miles by water above cumberland, the commissioners were not permitted to hesitate in preferring a point which shortens the portage, as well as the potomac navigation. "the point of the potomac being viewed as a great repository of produce, which a good road will bring from the west of laurel hill, and the advantages which cumberland, as a town, has in that respect over an unimproved place, are additional considerations operating forcibly in favor of the place preferred. "in extending the route from cumberland, a triple range of mountains, stretching across from jening's run in measure with gwynn's, left only the alternative of laying the road up will's creek for three miles, nearly at right angles with the true course, and then by way of jening's run, or extending it over a break in the smallest mountain, on a better course by gwynn's, to the top of savage mountain; the latter was adopted, being the shortest, and will be less expensive in hill-side digging over a sloped route than the former, requiring one bridge over will's creek and several over jening's run, both very wide and considerable streams in high water; and a more weighty reason for preferring the route by gwynn's is the great accommodation it will afford travelers from winchester by the upper point, who could not reach the route by jening's run short of the top of savage, which would withhold from them the benefit of an easy way up the mountain. "it is, however, supposed that those who travel from winchester by way of the upper point to gwynn's, are in that respect more the dupes of common prejudice than judges of their own ease, as it is believed the way will be as short, and on much better ground, to cross the potomac below the confluence of the north and south branches (thereby crossing these two, as well as patterson's creek, in one stream, equally fordable in the same season), than to pass through cumberland to gwynn's. of these grounds, however, the commissioners do not speak from actual view, but consider it a subject well worthy of future investigation. having gained the top of alleghany mountain, or rather the top of that part called savage, by way of gwynn's, the general route, as it respects the most important points, was determined as follows, viz: "from a stone at the corner of lot no. , in cumberland, near the confluence of will's creek and the north branch of the potomac river; thence extending along the street westwardly, to cross the hill lying between cumberland and gwynn's, at the gap where braddock's road passes it; thence near gwynn's and jesse tomlinson's, to cross the big youghiogheny near the mouth of roger's run, between the crossing of braddock's road and the confluence of the streams which form the turkey foot; thence to cross laurel hill near the forks of dunbar's run, to the west foot of that hill, at a point near where braddock's old road reached it, near gist's old place, now colonel isaac meason's, thence through brownsville and bridgeport, to cross the monongahela river below josias crawfords' ferry; and thence on as straight a course as the country will admit to the ohio, at a point between the mouth of wheeling creek and the lower point of wheeling island. "in this direction of the route it will lay about twenty-four and a half miles in maryland, seventy-five miles and a half in pennsylvania, and twelve miles in virginia; distances which will be in a small degree increased by meanders, which the bed of the road must necessarily make between the points mentioned in the location; and this route, it is believed, comprehends more important advantages than could be afforded in any other, inasmuch as it has a capacity at least equal to any other in extending advantages of a highway; and at the same time establishes the shortest portage between the points already navigated, and on the way accommodates other and nearer points to which navigation may be extended, and still shorten the portage. "it intersects big youghiogheny at the nearest point from cumberland, then lies nearly parallel with that river for the distance of twenty miles, and at the west foot of laurel hill lies within five miles of connellsville, from which the youghiogheny is navigated; and in the same direction the route intersects at brownsville, the nearest point on the monongahela river within the district. "the improvement of the youghiogheny navigation is a subject of too much importance to remain long neglected; and the capacity of that river, as high up as the falls (twelve miles above connellsville), is said to be equal, at a small expense, with the parts already navigated below. the obstructions at the falls, and a rocky rapid near turkey foot, constitute the principal impediments in that river to the intersection of the route, and as much higher as the stream has a capacity for navigation; and these difficulties will doubtless be removed when the intercourse shall warrant the measure. "under these circumstances the portage may be thus stated: from cumberland to monongahela, sixty-six and one-half miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with connellsville, on the youghiogheny river, fifty-one and one-half miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with the lower end of the falls of youghiogheny, which will lie two miles north of the public road, forty-three miles. from cumberland to the intersection of the route with the youghiogheny river, thirty-four miles. "nothing is here said of the little youghiogheny, which lies nearer cumberland; the stream being unusually crooked, its navigation can only become the work of a redundant population. "the point which this route locates, at the west foot of laurel hill, having cleared the whole of the alleghany mountain, is so situated as to extend the advantages of an easy way through the great barrier, with more equal justice to the best parts of the country between laurel hill and the ohio. lines from this point to pittsburg and morgan town, diverging nearly at the same angle, open upon equal terms to all parts of the western country that can make use of this portage; and which may include the settlements from pittsburg, up big beaver to the connecticut reserve, on lake erie, as well as those on the southern borders of the ohio and all the intermediate country. "brownsville is nearly equidistant from big beaver and fishing creek, and equally convenient to all the crossing places on the ohio, between these extremes. as a port, it is at least equal to any on the monongahela within the limits, and holds superior advantages in furnishing supplies to emigrants, traders, and other travelers by land or water. "not unmindful of the claims of towns and their capacity of reciprocating advantages on public roads, the commissioners were not insensible of the disadvantage which uniontown must feel from the want of that accommodation which a more southwardly direction of the route would have afforded; but as that could not take place without a relinquishment of the shortest passage, considerations of public benefit could not yield to feelings of minor import. uniontown being the seat of justice for fayette county, pennsylvania, is not without a share of public benefits, and may partake of the advantages of this portage upon equal terms with connellsville, a growing town, with the advantage of respectable water-works adjoining, in the manufactory of flour and iron. "after reaching the nearest navigation on the western waters, at a point best calculated to diffuse the benefits of a great highway, in the greatest possible latitude east of the ohio, it was considered that, to fulfill the objects of the law, it remained for the commissioners to give such a direction to the road as would best secure a certainty of navigation on the ohio at all seasons, combining, as far as possible, the inland accommodation of remote points westwardly. it was found that the obstructions in the ohio, within the limits between steubenville and grave creek, lay principally above the town and mouth of wheeling; a circumstance ascertained by the commissioners in their examination of the channel, as well as by common usage, which has long given a decided preference to wheeling as a place of embarkation and port of departure in dry seasons. it was also seen that wheeling lay in a line from brownsville to the centre of the state of ohio and post vincennes. these circumstances favoring and corresponding with the chief objects in view in this last direction of the route, and the ground from wheeling westwardly being known of equal fitness with any other way out from the river, it was thought most proper, under these several considerations, to locate the point mentioned below the mouth of wheeling. in taking this point in preference to one higher up and in the town of wheeling, the public benefit and convenience were consulted, inasmuch as the present crossing place over the ohio from the town is so contrived and confined as to subject passengers to extraordinary ferriage and delay, by entering and clearing a ferry-boat on each side of wheeling island, which lies before the town and precludes the opportunity of fording when the river is crossed in that way, above and below the island. from the point located, a safe crossing is afforded at the lower point of the island by a ferry in high, and a good ford at low water. "the face of the country within the limits prescribed is generally very uneven, and in many places broken by a succession of high mountains and deep hollows, too formidable to be reduced within five degrees of the horizon, but by crossing them obliquely, a mode which, although it imposes a heavy task of hill-side digging, obviates generally the necessity of reducing hills and filling hollows, which, on these grounds, would be an attempt truly quixotic. this inequality of the surface is not confined to the alleghany mountain; the country between the monongahela and ohio rivers, although less elevated, is not better adapted for the bed of a road, being filled with impediments of hills and hollows, which present considerable difficulties, and wants that super-abundance and convenience of stone found in the mountain. "the indirect course of the road now traveled, and the frequent elevations and depressions which occur, that exceed the limits of the law, preclude the possibility of occupying it in any extent without great sacrifice of distance, and forbid the use of it, in any one part for more than half a mile, or more than two or three miles in the whole. "the expense of rendering the road now in contemplation passable, may, therefore, amount to a larger sum than may have been supposed necessary, under an idea of embracing in it a considerable part of the old road; but it is believed that the contrary will be found most correct, and that a sum sufficient to open the new could not be expended on the same distance of the old road with equal benefit. "the sum required for the road in contemplation will depend on the style and manner of making it; as a common road cannot remove the difficulties which always exist on deep grounds, and particularly in wet seasons, and as nothing short of a firm, substantial, well-formed, stone-capped road can remove the causes which led to the measure of improvement, or render the institution as commodious as a great and growing intercourse appears to require, the expense of such a road next becomes the subject of inquiry. "in this inquiry the commissioners can only form an estimate by recurring to the experience of pennsylvania and maryland in the business of artificial roads. upon this data, and a comparison of the grounds and proximity of the materials for covering, there are reasons for belief that, on the route reported, a complete road may be made at an expense not exceeding six thousand dollars per mile, exclusive of bridges over the principal streams on the way. the average expense of the lancaster, as well as baltimore and frederick turnpike, is considerably higher; but it is believed that the convenient supply of stone which the mountain affords will, on those grounds, reduce the expense to the rate here stated. "as to the policy of incurring this expense, it is not the province of the commissioners to declare; but they cannot, however, withhold assurances of a firm belief that the purse of the nation cannot be more seasonably opened, or more happily applied, than in promoting the speedy and effectual establishment of a great and easy road on the way contemplated. "in the discharge of all these duties, the commissioners have been actuated by an ardent desire to render the institution as useful and commodious as possible; and, impressed with a strong sense of the necessity which urges the speedy establishment of the road, they have to regret the circumstances which delay the completion of the part assigned them. they, however, in some measure, content themselves with the reflection that it will not retard the progress of the work, as the opening of the road cannot commence before spring, and may then begin with making the way. "the extra expense incident to the service from the necessity (and propriety, as it relates to public economy,) of employing men not provided for by law will, it is hoped, be recognized and provision made for the payment of that and similar expenses, when in future it may be indispensably incurred. "the commissioners having engaged in a service in which their zeal did not permit them to calculate the difference between their pay and the expense to which the service subjected them, cannot suppose it the wish or intention of the government to accept of their services for a mere indemnification of their expense of subsistence, which will be very much the case under the present allowance; they, therefore, allow themselves to hope and expect that measures will be taken to provide such further compensation as may, under all circumstances, be thought neither profuse nor parsimonious. "the painful anxiety manifested by the inhabitants of the district explored, and their general desire to know the route determined on, suggested the measure of promulgation, which, after some deliberation, was agreed on by way of circular letter, which has been forwarded to those persons to whom precaution was useful, and afterward sent to one of the presses in that quarter for publication, in the form of the document no. , which accompanies this report. "all which is, with due deference, submitted. eli williams, thomas moore, joseph kerr. december , ." starting from cumberland the general alignment of braddock's road was pursued, until the point was reached where the old thoroughfare left the old portage trail, on the summit of laurel hill. the course was then laid straight toward brownsville (redstone old fort) probably along the general alignment of the old indian portage path, and an earlier road. from brownsville to washington was an old road, possibly the course of the indian trail. as has already been suggested, there was a dispute concerning the point where the road would touch the ohio river. the rivalry was most intense between wheeling and steubenville. wheeling won through the influence of henry clay, to whom a monument was erected at a later date near the town on the old road. the commissioners rendered a second report on the fifteenth of january, as follows: "the undersigned, commissioners appointed under the law of the united states, entitled 'an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio,' in addition to the communications heretofore made, beg leave further to report to the president of the united states, that, by the delay of the answer of the legislature of pennsylvania to the application for permission to pass the road through that state, the commissioners could not proceed to the business of the road in the spring before vegetation had so far advanced as to render the work of exploring and surveying difficult and tedious, from which circumstance it was postponed till the last autumn, when the business was again resumed. that, in obedience to the special instructions given them, the route heretofore reported has been so changed as to pass through uniontown, and that they have completed the location, gradation, and marking of the route from cumberland to brownsville, bridgeport, and the monongahela river, agreeably to a plat of the courses, distances and grades in which is described the marks and monuments by which the route is designated, and which is herewith exhibited; that by this plat and measurement it will appear (when compared with the road now traveled) there is a saving of four miles of distance between cumberland and brownsville on the new route. "in the gradation of the surface of the route (which became necessary) is ascertained the comparative elevation and depression of different points on the route, and taking a point ten feet above the surface of low water in the potomac river at cumberland, as the horizon, the most prominent points are found to be elevated as follows, viz.: _feet_ summit of wills mountain . western foot of same . summit of savage mountain , . savage river , . summit little savage mountain , . branch pine run, first western water , . summit of red hill (afterwards called shades of death) , . summit little meadow mountain , . little youghiogheny river , . east fork of shade run , . summit of negro mountain, highest point[ ] , . middle branch of white's creek, at the west foot of negro mountain , . white's creek , . big youghiogheny river . summit of ridge between youghiogheny river and beaver waters , . beaver run , . summit of laurel hill , . court house in uniontown . a point ten feet above the surfaceof low water in the monongahela river, at the mouth of dunlap's creek . "the law requiring the commissioners to report such parts of the route as are laid on the old road, as well as those on new grounds, and to state those parts which require the most immediate attention and amelioration, the probable expense of making the same passable in the most difficult parts, and through the whole distance, they have to state that, from the crooked and hilly course of the road now traveled, the new route could not be made to occupy any part of it (except an intersection on wills mountain, another at jesse tomlinson's, and a third near big youghiogheny, embracing not a mile of distance in the whole) without unnecessary sacrifices of distances and expense. "that, therefore, an estimate must be made on the route as passing wholly through new grounds. in doing this the commissioners feel great difficulty, as they cannot, with any degree of precision, estimate the expense of making it merely passable; nor can they allow themselves to suppose that a less breadth than that mentioned in the law was to be taken into the calculation. the rugged deformity of the grounds rendered it impossible to lay a route within the grade limited by law otherwise than by ascending and descending the hills obliquely, by which circumstance a great proportion of the route occupies the sides of the hills, which cannot be safely passed on a road of common breadth, and where it will, in the opinion of the commissioners, be necessary, by digging, to give the proper form of thirty feet, at least in the breadth of the road, to afford suitable security in passing on a way to be frequently crowded with wagons moving in opposite directions, with transports of emigrant families, and droves of cattle, hogs, etc., on the way to market. considering, therefore, that a road on those grounds must have sufficient breadth to afford ways and water courses, and satisfied that nothing short of well constructed and completely finished conduits can insure it against injuries, which must otherwise render it impassable at every change of the seasons, by heavy falls of rain or melting of the beds of snow, with which the country is frequently covered; the commissioners beg leave to say, that, in a former report, they estimated the expense of a road on these grounds, when properly shaped, made and finished in the style of a stone-covered turnpike, at $ , per mile, exclusive of bridges over the principal streams on the way; and that with all the information they have since been able to collect, they have no reason to make any alteration in that estimate. "the contracts authorized by, and which have been taken under the superintendence of the commissioner, thomas moore (duplicates of which accompany this report), will show what has been undertaken relative to clearing the timber and brush from part of the breadth of the road. the performance of these contracts was in such forwardness on the st instant as leaves no doubt of their being completely fulfilled by the first of march. "the commissioners further state, that, to aid them in the extension of their route, they ran and marked a straight line from the crossing-place on the monongahela, to wheeling, and had progressed twenty miles, with their usual and necessary lines of experiment, in ascertaining the shortest and best connection of practical grounds, when the approach of winter and the shortness of the days afforded no expectation that they could complete the location without a needless expense in the most inclement season of the year. and, presuming that the postponement of the remaining part till the ensuing spring would produce no delay in the business of making the road, they were induced to retire from it for the present. "the great length of time already employed in this business makes it proper for the commissioners to observe that, in order to connect the best grounds with that circumspection which the importance of the duties confided to them demanded, it became indispensably necessary to run lines of experiment and reference in various directions, which exceed an average of four times the distance located for the route, and that, through a country so irregularly broken, and crowded with very thick underwood in many places, the work has been found so incalculably tedious that, without an adequate idea of the difficulty, it is not easy to reconcile the delay. "it is proper to mention that an imperious call from the private concerns of commissioner joseph kerr, compelled him to return home on the th of november, which will account for the want of his signature to this report. "all of which is, with due deference, submitted, this th day of january, . eli williams, thomas moore." it was necessary to obtain permission of each state through which the cumberland road was to be built; pennsylvania, only, made any condition, hers being that the road touch the towns of washington and uniontown.[ ] the first contracts were let on the eleventh and the sixteenth of april, , for building the first ten miles west of cumberland, maryland. these contracts were completed in the year following. more were let in , , and ; and two years later contracts for all the distance to uniontown, pennsylvania were let. in , united states mail coaches were running between washington, d. c. and wheeling, virginia. the cost of the road averaged $ , per mile between cumberland and uniontown, and $ , per mile for the entire division from the potomac to the ohio. too liberal contracts is the reason given for the heavy expense between uniontown and wheeling. [illustration: map of cumberland road in pennsylvania and maryland] a flood of traffic swept over the great highway immediately upon its completion. as early as the year it is recorded that a single one of the five commission houses at wheeling unloaded one thousand and eighty-one wagons, averaging three thousand five hundred pounds each, and paid for freightage of goods the sum of ninety thousand dollars. but the road was hardly completed when a specter of constitutional cavil arose, threatening its existence. in a bill was passed by congress looking toward the preservation and repair of the newly-built road. it should be stated that the roadbed, though completed in one sense, was not in condition to be used extensively unless continually repaired. in many places only a single layer of broken stone had been laid, and, with the volume of traffic which was daily passing over it, the road did not promise to remain in good condition. in order to secure funds for the constant repairs necessary, this bill ordered the establishment of turnpikes with gates and tolls. the bill was immediately vetoed by president monroe on the ground that congress, according to his interpretation of the constitution, did not have the power to pass such a sweeping measure of internal improvement. the president based his conclusion upon the following grounds, stated in a special message to congress, dated may , : "a power to establish turnpikes, with gates and tolls and to enforce the collection of the tolls by penalties, implies a power to adopt and execute a complete system of internal improvements. a right to impose duties to be paid by all persons passing a certain road, and on horses and carriages, as is done by this bill, involves the right to take the land from the proprietor on a valuation, and to pass laws for the protection of the road from injuries; and if it exist, as to one road, it exists as to any other, and to as many roads as congress may think proper to establish. a right to legislate for the others is a complete right of jurisdiction and sovereignty for all the purposes of internal improvement, and not merely the right of applying money under the power vested in congress to make appropriations (under which power, with the consent of the states through which the road passes, the work was originally commenced, and has been so far executed). i am of the opinion that congress does not possess this power--that the states individually cannot grant it; for, although they may assent to the appropriation of money within their limits for such purposes, they can grant no power of jurisdiction of sovereignty, by special compacts with the united states. this power can be granted only by an amendment to the constitution, and in the mode prescribed by it. if the power exist, it must be either because it has been specially granted to the united states, or that it is incidental to some power, which has been specifically granted. it has never been contended that the power was specifically granted. it is claimed only as being incidental to some one or more of the powers which are specifically granted. "the following are the powers from which it is said to be derived: ( ) from the right to establish post offices and post roads; ( ) from the right to declare war; ( ) to regulate commerce; ( ) to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and the general welfare; ( ) from the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution all the powers vested by the constitution in the government of the united states, or in any department or officer thereof; ( ) and lastly from the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and other property of the united states. according to my judgment it cannot be derived from either of these powers, nor from all of them united, and in consequence it does not exist."[ ] during the early years of this century, the subject of internal improvements relative to the building of roads and canals was one of the foremost political questions of the day. no sooner were the debts of the revolutionary war paid, and a surplus accumulated, than a systematic improvement of the country was undertaken. the cumberland road was but one of several roads projected by the general government. through the administrations of adams, jefferson, and madison large appropriations had been made for numerous improvements. the bill authorizing the levying of tolls was a step too far, as president monroe held that it was one thing to make appropriations for public improvements, but an entirely different thing to assume jurisdiction and sovereignty over the land whereon those improvements were made. this was one of the great public questions in the first half of the present century. president jackson's course was not very consistent. before his election he voted for internal improvements, even advocating subscriptions by the government to the stock of private canal companies, and the formation of roads beginning and ending within the limits of certain states. in his message at the opening of the first congress after his accession, he suggested the division of the surplus revenue among the states, as a substitute for the promotion of internal improvements by the general government, attempting a limitation and distinction too difficult and important to be settled and acted upon on the judgment of one man, namely, the distinction between general and local objects. "the pleas of the advocates of internal improvement," wrote a contemporary authority of high standing on economic questions, "are these: that very extensive public works, designed for the benefit of the whole union, and carried through vast portions of its area, must be accomplished. that an object so essential ought not to be left at the mercy of such an accident as the cordial agreement of the requisite number of states, to carry such works forward to their completion; that the surplus funds accruing from the whole nation cannot be as well employed as in promoting works in which the whole nation will be benefited; and that as the interests of the majority have hitherto upheld congress in the use of this power, it may be assumed to be the will of the majority that congress should continue to exercise it. "the answer is that it is inexpedient to put a vast and increasing patronage into the hands of the general government; that only a very superficial knowledge can be looked for in members of congress as to the necessity or value of works proposed to be instituted in any parts of the states, from the impossibility or undesirableness of equalizing the amount of appropriation made to each; that useless works would be proposed from the spirit of competition or individual interest; and that corruption, coëxtensive with the increase of power, would deprave the functions of the general government.... to an impartial observer it appears that congress has no constitutional right to devote the public funds to internal improvements, at its own unrestricted will and pleasure; that the permitted usurpation of the power for so long a time indicates that some degree of such power in the hands of the general government is desirable and necessary; that such power should be granted through an amendment of the constitution, by the methods therein provided; that, in the meantime, it is perilous that the instrument should be strained for the support of any function, however desirable its exercise may be. "in case of the proposed addition being made to the constitution, arrangements will, of course, be entered into for determining the principles by which general are to be distinguished from local objects or whether such distinction can, on any principle, be fixed; for testing the utility of proposed objects; for checking extravagant expenditure, jobbing, and corrupt patronage; in short, the powers of congress will be specified, here as in other matters, by express permission and prohibition."[ ] in , however, president monroe found an excuse to sign a bill which was very similar to that vetoed in , and the great road, whose fate had hung for two years in the balance, received needed appropriations. the travel over the road in the first decade after its completion was heavy, and before a decade had passed the roadbed was in wretched condition. it was the plan of the friends of the road, when they realized that no revenue could be raised by means of tolls by the government, to have the road placed in a state of good repair by the government and then turned over to the several states through which it passed.[ ] the liberality of the government, at this juncture, in instituting thorough repairs on the road, was an act worthy of the road's service and destiny. [illustration: chestnut ridge, pennsylvania] in order to insure efficiency and permanency these repairs[ ] were made on the macadam system; that is to say, the pavement of the old road was entirely broken up, and the stones removed from the road; the bed was then raked smooth, and made nearly flat, having a rise of not more than three inches from the side to the center in a road thirty feet wide; the ditches on each side of the road, and the drains leading from them, were so constructed that the water could not stand at a higher level than eighteen inches below the lowest part of the surface of the road; and, in all cases, when it was practicable, the drains were adjusted in such manner as to lead the water entirely from the side ditches. the culverts were cleared out, and so adjusted as to allow the free passage of all water that tended to cross the road. having thus formed the bed of the road, cleaned out the ditches and culverts, and adjusted the side drains, the stone was reduced to a size not exceeding four ounces in weight, was spread on with shovels, and raked smooth. the old material was used when it was of sufficient hardness, and no clay or sand was allowed to be mixed with the stone. in replacing the covering of stone, it was found best to lay it on in layers of about three inches thick, admitting the travel for a short interval on each layer, and interposing such obstructions from time to time as would insure an equal travel over every portion of the road; care being taken to keep persons in constant attendance to rake the surface when it became uneven by the action of wheels of carriages. in those parts of the road, if any, where materials of good quality could not be obtained for the road in sufficient quantity to afford a course of six inches, new stone was procured to make up the deficiency to that thickness; but it was considered unnecessary, in any part, to put on a covering of more than nine inches. none but limestone, flint, or granite were used for the covering, if practicable; and no covering was placed upon the bed of the road till it had become well compacted and thoroughly dried. at proper intervals, on the slopes of hills, drains or paved catch-waters were made across the road, whenever the cost of constructing culverts rendered their use inexpedient. these catch-waters were made with a gradual curvature, so as to give no jolts to the wheels of carriages passing over them; but whenever the expense justified the introduction of culverts, they were used in preference, and in all cases where the water crossed the road, either in catch-waters or through culverts, sufficient pavements and overfalls were constructed to provide against the possibility of the road or banks being washed away by it. the masonry of the bridges, culverts, and side-walls was ordered to be repaired, whenever required, in a substantial manner, and care was taken that the mortar used was of good quality, without admixture of raw clay. all the masonry was well pointed with hydraulic mortar, and in no case was the pointing allowed to be put on after the middle of october. all masonry finished after this time was well covered, and pointed early in the spring. care was taken, also, to provide means for carrying off the water from the bases of walls, to prevent the action of frost on their foundations; and it was considered highly important that all foundations in masonry should be well pointed with hydraulic mortar to a depth of eighteen inches below the surface of the ground. by the year , travel over the first great road across the allegheny mountains into the ohio basin had begun. chapter ii building the road in the west the tales of those who knew the road in the west and those who knew it in the east are much alike. it is probable that there was one important distinction--the passenger traffic of the road between the potomac and ohio, which gave life on that portion of the road a peculiar flavor, was doubtless not equaled on the western division. for many years the center of western population was in the ohio valley, and good steamers were plying the ohio when the cumberland road was first opened. indeed the road was originally intended for the accommodation of the lower ohio valley.[ ] still, as the century grew old and the interior population became considerable, the ohio division of the road became a crowded thoroughfare. an old stage-driver in eastern ohio remembers when business was such that he and his companion knights of rein and whip never went to bed for twenty nights, and more than a hundred teams might have been met in a score of miles. when the road was built to wheeling, its greatest mission was accomplished--the portage path across the mountains was completed to a point where river navigation was almost always available. and yet less than half of the road was finished. it now touched the eastern extremity of the great state whose public lands were being sold in order to pay for its building. westward lay the growing states of indiana and illinois, a per cent of the sale of whose land had already been pledged to the road. then came another moment when the great work paused and the original ambition of its friends was at hazard. in congress appropriated one hundred and forty-one thousand dollars for completing the road from washington, pennsylvania to wheeling. in the same year ten thousand dollars was appropriated for laying out the road between wheeling, virginia and a point on the left bank of the mississippi river, between st. louis and the mouth of the illinois river. for four years the fate of the road west of the ohio hung in the balance, during which time the road was menaced by the specter of unconstitutionality, already mentioned. but on the third day of march, , a bill was passed by congress appropriating one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for building the road to zanesville, ohio, and the extension of the surveys to the permanent seat of government in missouri, to pass by the seats of government of ohio, indiana, and illinois.[ ] two years later, one hundred and seventy thousand dollars was appropriated to complete the road to zanesville, ohio, and in an additional appropriation for continuing it westward was made.[ ] it has been noted that the cumberland road from cumberland to wheeling was built on a general alignment of a former thoroughfare of the red men and the pioneers. so with much of the course west of the ohio. between wheeling and zanesville the cumberland road followed the course of the first road made through ohio, that celebrated route marked out, by way of lancaster and chillicothe, to kentucky, by colonel ebenezer zane, and which bore the name of zane's trace. this first road built in ohio was authorized by an act of congress passed may , .[ ] this route through ohio was a well worn road a quarter of a century before the cumberland road was extended across the ohio river. the act of , authorizing the extension of the great road into the state of ohio, was greeted with intense enthusiasm by the people of the west. the fear that the road would not be continued beyond the ohio river was generally entertained, and for good reasons. the debate of constitutionality, which had been going on for several years, increased the fear. and yet it would have been breaking faith with the west by the national government to have failed to continue the road. the act appropriated one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for an extension of the road from wheeling to zanesville, ohio, and work was immediately undertaken. the ohio was by far the greatest body of water which the road crossed, and for many years the passage from wheeling to the opposite side of the ohio, bridgeport, was made by ferry. later a great bridge, the admiration of the countryside, was erected. the road entered ohio in belmont county, and eventually crossed the state in a due line west, not deviating its course even to touch cities of such importance as newark or dayton, although, in the case of the former at least, such a course would have been less expensive than the one pursued. passing due west the road was built through belmont, guernsey, muskingum, licking, franklin, madison, clark, montgomery, and preble counties, a distance of over three hundred miles. a larger portion of the cumberland road which was actually completed lay in ohio than in all other states through which it passed combined. the work on the road between wheeling and zanesville was begun in - . ground was broken with great ceremony opposite the court house at st. clairsville, belmont county, july , . an address was made by mr. william b. hubbard. the cost of the road in eastern ohio was much less than the cost in pennsylvania, averaging only about three thousand four hundred dollars per mile. this included three-inch layers of broken stone, masonry bridges, and culverts. large appropriations were made for the road in succeeding years and the work went on from zanesville due west to columbus. the course of the road between zanesville and columbus was perhaps the first instance where the road ignored, entirely, the general alignment of a previous road between the same two points. the old road between zanesville and columbus went by way of newark and granville, a roundabout course, but probably the most practicable, as anyone may attest who has traveled over the cumberland road in the western part of muskingum county. a long and determined effort was made by citizens of newark and granville to have the new road follow the course of the old, but without effect. ohio had not, like pennsylvania, demanded that the road should pass through certain towns. the only direction named by law was that the road should go west on the straightest possible line through the capital of each state. the course between zanesville and columbus was located by the united states commissioner, jonathan knight, esq., who, accompanied by his associates (one of whom was the youthful joseph e. johnson), arrived in columbus, october , . bids for contracts for building the road from zanesville to columbus were advertised to be received at the superintendent's office at zanesville, from the twenty-third to the thirtieth of june, . the road was fully completed by . the road entered columbus on friend (now main) street. there was great rivalry between the north end and south end over the road's entrance into the city. the matter was compromised by having it enter on friend street and take its exit on west broad, traversing high to make the connection. [illustration: map of cumberland road in the west] concerning the route out of columbus, the _ohio state journal_ said: "the adopted route leaves columbus at broad street, crosses the scioto river at the end of that street and on the new wooden bridge erected in by an individual having a charter from the state. the bridge is not so permanent nor so spacious as could be desired, yet it may answer the intended purposes for several years to come. thence the location passes through the village of franklinton, and across the low grounds to the bluff which is surrounded at a depression formed by a ravine, and at a point nearly in the prolongation in the direction of broad street; thence by a small angle, a straight line to the bluffs of darby creek; to pass the creek and its bluffs some angles were necessary; thence nearly a straight line through deer creek barrens, and across that stream to the dividing grounds, between the scioto and the miami waters; thence nearly down to the valley of beaver creek." the preliminary survey westward was completed in and extended to indianapolis, indiana. bids were advertised for the contract west of columbus in july . during the next seven years the work was pushed on through madison, clark, montgomery, and preble counties and across the indiana line. proposals for bids for building the road west of springfield, ohio, were advertised for, during august ; a condition being that the first eight miles be finished by january . these proposals are interesting today. the following is a typical advertisement: "national road in ohio.--notice to contractors.--proposals will be received by the undersigned, until the th of august inst., for clearing and grubbing eight miles of the line of national road west of this place, from the th to the nd mile inclusive west of columbus--the work to be completed on or before the st day of january, . "the trees and growth to be entirely cleared away to the distance of feet on each side of the central axis of the road, and all trees impending over that space to be cut down; all stumps and roots to be carefully grubbed out to the distance of feet on each side of the axis, and where occasional high embankments, or spacious side drains may be required, the grubbing is to extend to the distance of feet on each side of the same axis. all the timber, brush, stumps and roots to be entirely removed from the above space of feet in width and the earth excavated in grubbing, to be thrown back into the hollows formed by removing the stumps and roots. "the proposals will state the price per linear rod or mile, and the offers of competent, or responsible individuals only will be accepted. "notice is hereby given to the proprietors of the land, on that part of the line of the national road lying between springfield and the miami river, to remove all fences and other barriers now across the line a reasonable time being allowed them to secure that portion of their present crops which may lie upon the location of the road. g. dutton, _lieutenant u. s. engineers supt._ national road office, springfield, ohio. august nd ."[ ] indianapolis was the center of cumberland road operations in indiana, and from that city the road was built both eastward and westward. the road entered indiana through wayne county but was not completed until taken under a charter from the state by the wayne county turnpike company, and finished in . when indiana and illinois received the road from the national government it was not completed, though graded and bridged as far west as vandalia, then the capital of illinois. the cumberland road was not to indiana and illinois what it was to ohio, for somewhat similar reasons that it was less to ohio than to pennsylvania, for the further west it was built the older the century grew, and the newer the means of transportation which were coming rapidly to the front. this was true, even, from the very beginning. the road was hardly a decade old in pennsylvania, when two canals and a railroad over the portage, offered a rival means of transportation across the state from harrisburg to pittsburg.[ ] when the road reached wheeling, ohio river travel was very much improved, and a large proportion of traffic went down the river by packet. when the road entered indiana, new plans for internal improvements were under way beside which a turnpike was almost a relic. in - , indiana passed an internal improvement bill, authorizing three great canals and a railway.[ ] the proposed railway, from the village of madison on the ohio river northward to indianapolis, is a pregnant suggestion of the amount of traffic to indiana from the east which passed down the ohio from wheeling, instead of going overland through ohio.[ ] this was, undoubtedly, mostly passenger traffic, which was very heavy at this time.[ ] but the dawning of a new era in transportation had already been heralded in the national hall of legislation. in the house committee on roads and canals had discussed in their report the question of the relative cost of various means of intercommunication, including railways. each report of the committee for the next five years mentioned the same subject, until, in , the matter of substituting a railway for the cumberland road between columbus and the mississippi was very seriously considered. in that year a house bill (no. ) came back from the senate amended in two particulars, one authorizing that the appropriations made for illinois should be confined to grading and bridging only, and should not be construed as implying that congress had pledged itself to macadamize the road. the house committee struck out these amendments and substituted a more sweeping one than any yet suggested in the history of the road. this amendment provided that a railroad be constructed west of columbus with the money appropriated for a highway. the committee reported, that, after long study of the question, many reasons appeared why the change should be made. it was stated to the committee by respectable authority, that much of the stone for the masonry and covering for the road east of columbus had to be transported for considerable distances over bad roads across the adjacent country at very great expense, and that, in its continuance westward through ohio, this source of expense would be greatly augmented. nevertheless the compact at the time of the admission of the western states supposed the western termination of the road should be the mississippi. the estimated expense of the road's extension to vandalia, illinois, sixty-five miles east of the mississippi, amounted to $ , , . , making the total expense of the entire road amount to about ten millions. the committee said it would have been unfaithful to the trust reposed in it, if it had not bestowed much attention upon this matter, and it did not hesitate to ground on a recent report of the secretary of war, this very important change of the plan of the road. this report of the war department showed that the distance between columbus and vandalia was three hundred and thirty-four miles and the estimated cost of completing the road that far would be $ , , . , of which $ , , . had been expended and $ , , . remained to be expended in order to finish the road to that extent according to plans then in operation; that after its completion it would require an annual expenditure on the three hundred and thirty-four miles of $ , . to keep it in repair, the engineers computing the annual cost of repairs of the portion of the road between wheeling and columbus (one hundred and twenty-seven miles) at $ , . . on the other hand the estimated cost of a railway from columbus to vandalia on the route of the cumberland road was $ , , . , and the cost of preservation and repair of such a road, $ , . . thus the computed cost of the railway exceeded that of the turnpike but about twenty per cent, while the annual expense of repairing the former would fall short more than fifty-six per cent. in addition to the advantage of reduced cost was that of less time consumed in transportation; for, assuming as the committee did a rate of speed of fifteen miles per hour (which was five miles per hour less than the then customary speed of railway traveling in england on the liverpool and manchester railroad, and about the ordinary rate of speed of the american locomotives), it would require only twenty-three hours for news from baltimore to reach columbus, forty-two hours to indianapolis, fifty-four to vandalia, and fifty-eight to st. louis. one interesting argument for the substitution of the railway for the cumberland road was given as follows: "when the relation of the general government to the states which it unites is justly regarded; when it is considered it is especially charged with the common defense; that for the attainment of this end the militia must be combined in time of war with the regular army and the state with the united states troops; that mutual prompt and vigorous concert should mark the efforts of both for the accomplishment of a common end and the safety of all; it seems needless to dwell upon the importance of transmitting intelligence between the state and federal government with the least possible delay and concentrating in a period of common danger their joint efforts with the greatest possible dispatch. it is alike needless to detail the comparative advantages of a railroad and an ordinary turnpike under such circumstances. a few weeks, nay, a very few days, or hours, may determine the issue of a campaign, though happily for the united states their distance from a powerful enemy may limit the contingency of war to destruction short of that by which the events of an hour had involved ruin of an empire." despite the weight of argument presented by the house committee their amendment was in turn stricken out, and the bill of appropriated six hundred thousand dollars for the cumberland road, both of the senate amendments which the house committee had stricken out being incorporated in the bill. the last appropriation for the cumberland road was dated may , ; it granted one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the road in both ohio and indiana, and nine thousand dollars for the road in illinois. chapter iii operation and control the cumberland road was built by the united states government under the supervision of the war department. of its builders, whose names will ever live in the annals of the middle west, brigadier-general gratiot, captains delafield, mckee, bliss, bartlett hartzell, williams, colquit, and cass, and lieutenants mansfield, vance, and pickell are best remembered on the eastern division. nearly all became heroes of the mexican or civil wars, mckee falling at buena vista, williams at monterey, and mansfield, then major-general, at antietam. among the best known supervisors in the west were commissioners c. w. weaver, g. dutton, and jonathan knight. the road had been built across the ohio river but a short time when it was realized that a revenue must be raised for its support from those who traveled upon it. as we have seen, a law was passed in both houses of congress, in , authorizing the government to erect tollgates and charge toll on the cumberland road as the states should surrender this right.[ ] this bill was vetoed by president monroe, on grounds already stated, and the road fell into a very bad condition. but what the national government could not do the individual states could do, and, consequently, as fast as repairs were completed, the government surrendered the road to the states through which it passed. maryland, pennsylvania, ohio, and virginia, accepted completed portions of the road between and .[ ] the legislatures of ohio and pennsylvania at once passed laws concerning the erection of tollgates, ohio authorizing one gate every twenty miles, february , ,[ ] and pennsylvania authorizing the erection of six tollgates by an act passed april , of the same year.[ ] the gates in pennsylvania were located as follows: gate no. at the east end of petersburg, no. near mt. washington, no. near searights, no. near beallsville, no. near washington, and no. near west alexander. the cumberland road was under the control of commissioners appointed by the president of the united states, the state legislatures, or governors.[ ] upon these commissioners lay the task of repairing the road, which included the making of contracts, reviewing the work done, and rendering payment for the same. none of the work of building the road fell on the state officials. therefore, in ohio, two great departments were simultaneously in operation, the building of the road by the government officials, and the work of operating and repairing the road, under state officials. two commissioners were appointed in pennsylvania, in , one acting east, and the other west, of the monongahela river.[ ] in ohio placed all her works of internal improvement under the supervision of a board of public works, into whose hands the cumberland road passed.[ ] special commissioners were appointed from time to time by the state legislatures to perform special duties, such as overseeing work being done, auditing accounts, or settling disputes.[ ] two resident engineers were appointed over the eastern and western divisions of the road in ohio, thus doing away with the continual employment and dismissal of the most important of all officials. these engineers made quarterly reports concerning the road's condition.[ ] the road was conveniently divided by the several states into departments. east of the ohio river, the monongahela river was a division line, the road being divided by it into two divisions.[ ] west of the ohio the eighty-seventh mile post from wheeling was, at one time, a division line between two departments in ohio.[ ] later, the road in ohio was cut up into as many divisions as counties through which it passed.[ ] the work of repairing was let by contract, for which bids had been previously advertised. contracts were usually let in one-mile sections, sometimes for a longer space, notice of the length being given in the advertisement for bids. contractors were compelled to give testimonials of good character and reliability; though one contract, previously quoted, professed to be satisfied with "competent or responsible individuals only." a time limit was usually named in the contract, with penalties for failure to complete the work in time assigned. the building of the road was hailed with delight by hundreds of contractors and thousands of laborers, who now had employment offered them worthy of their best labor, and the work, when well done, stood as a lasting monument to their skill. old papers and letters speak frequently of the enthusiasm awakened among the laboring classes by the building of the great road, and of the lively scenes witnessed in those busy years. contractors who early earned a reputation followed the road westward, taking up contract after contract as opportunity offered. farmers who lived on the route of the road engaged in the work when not busy in their fields, and for their labor and the use of the teams received good pay. thus not only in its heyday did the road prove a benefit to the country through which it passed, but at the very beginning it became such, and not a little of the money spent upon it by the government went into the very pockets from which it came by the sale of land. the great pride taken by the states in the cumberland road is brought out significantly in the laws passed concerning it. pennsylvania and ohio legislatures passed laws as early as , and within three days of each other (pennsylvania, april ,[ ] and ohio, april [ ]), looking toward the permanent repair and preservation of the road. there were penalties for breaking or defacing the milestones, culverts, parapet walls, and bridges. a person found guilty of such act of vandalism was "fined in a sum of not more than five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in a dungeon of the jail of the county, and be fed on bread and water only, not exceeding thirty days, or both, at the discretion of the court."[ ] there were penalties for allowing the drains to become obstructed, for premature traveling on unfinished portions of the roadbed;[ ] for permitting a wagon to stand over night on the roadbed, and for locking wheels, except where ice made this necessary. local authorities were ordered to build suitable culverts wherever the roads connected with the cumberland road. "directors" were ordered to be set up, to warn drivers to turn to the left when passing other teams.[ ] the rates of toll were ordered to be posted where the public could see them.[ ] "beacons" were erected along the margin of the roadbed to keep teams from turning aside. laws were passed forbidding the removal of these.[ ] the operation of the cumberland road included the establishment of the toll system, which provided the revenue for keeping it in repair; and from the tolls the most vital statistics concerning the old road are to be obtained. immediately upon the passing of the road into the control of the individual states, tollgates were authorized, as previously noted. schedules of tariff were published by the various states. the schedule of in pennsylvania was as follows: tolls on the cumberland road in pennsylvania ( ) score of sheep or hogs . score of cattle . led or driven horse . horse and rider . sleigh or sled, for each horse or pair of oxen drawing the same . dearborn, sulky, chair or chaise with one horse . chariot, coach, coachee, stage, wagon, phaeton, chaise, with two horses and four wheels . either of the carriages last mentioned with four horses . every other carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sum, according to the number of wheels, and horses drawing the same. cart or wagon whose wheels shall exceed two and one-half inches in breadth, and not exceeding four inches . horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, and every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed four inches, and not exceed five inches in breadth . horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, for every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed six inches, and not more than eight inches . horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, all other carts or wagons whose wheels shall exceed eight inches in breadth free the tolls established the same year in ohio (see table, pp. - ) were higher than those charged in pennsylvania. the philosophy of the toll system is patent. rates of toll were determined by the wear on the road. tolls were charged in order to keep the road in repair, and, consequently, each animal or vehicle was taxed in proportion as it damaged the roadbed. cattle were taxed twice as heavily as sheep or hogs, and, according to the tariff of , hogs were taxed twice as much as sheep. the tariff on vehicles was determined by the width of the tires used, for the narrower the tire the more the roadbed was cut up. wide tires were encouraged, those over six inches (later eight) went free, serving practically as rollers. the toll-rates in ohio are exhibited in the following table: tolls on the cumberland road in ohio ( - ) [ ] score sheep or hogs . . . - / . - / {. . {. score cattle . . . - / . - / . . horse, mule, or ass, led or driven . . - / . . . . horse and rider . - / . . - / . - / . . sled or sleigh drawn by one horse or ox . - / . - / . . . . horse in addition . - / . . . . . dearborn, sulky, chair, or chaise, one horse . - / . . - / . - / . . horse in addition . - / . . - / . . . chariot, coach, coachee, horses . - / . - / . - / . - / ... . horse in addition . - / . . - / . - / ... . vehicle, wheels under two and one-half inches in breadth . - / ... . - / . ... ... vehicle, wheels under four inches in breadth . - / . - / . . ... ... horse drawing same . . . . ... ... vehicle, wheels exceeding four inches and not exceeding five inches . ... ... ... ... ... vehicle, wheels exceeding four inches and not exceeding six inches ... . . . - / ... ... horse or ox drawing same . . . . ... ... vehicle, wheels exceeding six inches ... ... ... . ... ... person occupying seat in mail stage . . ... ... ... ... estimates differed in various states but averaged up quite evenly. to the rising generation, to whom tollgates are almost unknown, a study of the toll system affords novel entertainment, helping one to realize something of one of the most serious questions of public economics of two generations ago. tollgates averaged one in eighteen or twenty miles in pennsylvania, and one in ten miles in ohio, with tolls a little higher than half the rate in pennsylvania. tollgate-keepers were appointed by the governor in the early days in ohio,[ ] but, later, by the commissioners. these keepers received a salary which was deducted from their collections, the remainder being turned over to the commissioners. the salary established in ohio in was one hundred and eighty dollars per annum.[ ] in it was increased to two hundred dollars per annum, and tollgate-keepers were also allowed to retain five per cent of all tolls received above one thousand dollars.[ ] in tollgate-keepers were ordered to make returns on the first monday in each month, and the allowance of their per cent on receipts over one thousand dollars was cut off, leaving their salary at two hundred dollars per annum.[ ] equally perplexing with the question of just tolls was found to be the question of determining what and who should have free use of the cumberland road. this list was increased at various times, and, in most states, included the following at one time or another: persons going to, or returning from public worship, muster, common place of business on farm or woodland, funeral, mill, place of election, common place of trading or marketing within the county in which they resided. this included persons, wagons, carriages, and horses or oxen drawing the same. no toll was charged school children or clergymen, or for passage of stage and horses carrying united states mail, or any wagon or carriage laden with united states property, or cavalry, troops, arms, or military stores of the united states, or any single state, or for persons on duty in the military service of the united states, or for the militia of any single state. in pennsylvania, a certain stage line made the attempt to carry passengers by the tollgates free, taking advantage of the clauses allowing free passage of the united states mail by putting a mail sack on each passenger coach. the stage was halted and the matter taken into court, where the case was decided against the stage company, and persons traveling with mailcoaches were compelled to pay toll.[ ] ohio took advantage of pennsylvania's experience and passed a law that passengers on stagecoaches be obliged to pay toll.[ ] pennsylvania exempted persons hauling coal for home consumption from paying toll.[ ] many varied and curious attempts to evade payment of tolls were made, and laws were passed inflicting heavy fine upon all convicted of such malefaction. in ohio, tollgate-keepers were empowered to arrest those suspected of such attempts, and, upon conviction, the fine went into the road fund of the county wherein the offense occurred.[ ] persons making long trips on the road could pay toll for the entire distance and receive a certificate guaranteeing free passage to their destination.[ ] compounding rates were early put in force, applying, in ohio, for persons residing within eight miles of the road,[ ] the radius being extended later to ten.[ ] passengers in the stages were counted by the tollgate-keepers and the company operating the stage charged with the toll. at the end of each month, stage companies settled with the authorities. thus it became possible for the stage drivers to deceive the gate-keepers, and save their companies large sums of money. drivers were compelled to declare the number of passengers in their stage, and in the event of failing to do so, gate-keepers were allowed to charge the company for as many passengers as the stage could contain.[ ] stage lines were permitted to compound for yearly passage of stages over the road and the large companies took advantage of the provision, though the passengers were counted by the gate-keepers. it may be seen that gate-keepers were in a position to embezzle large sums of money if they were so minded, and it is undoubted that this was done in more than one instance. indeed, with a score and a half of gates, and a great many traveling on special rates, it would have been remarkable if some employed in all those years during which the toll system was in general operation did not steal. but this is lifting the veil from the good old days! as will be seen later, the amounts handled by the gate-keepers were no small sums. in the best days of the road the average amount handled by tollgate-keepers in pennsylvania was about eighteen hundred dollars per annum. in ohio, with gates every ten miles, the average (reported) collection was about two thousand dollars in the best years. it is difficult to reconcile the statement made by mr. searight concerning the comparative amount of business done on various portions of the cumberland road, with the figures he himself quotes. he says: "it is estimated that two-fifths of the trade and travel of the road were diverted at brownsville, and fell into the channel furnished at that point by the slackwater navigation of the monongahela river, and a similar proportion descended the ohio from wheeling, and the remaining fifth continued on the road to columbus, ohio, and points further west. the travel west of wheeling was chiefly local, and the road presented scarcely a tithe of the thrift, push, whirl and excitement which characterized it east of that point."[ ] on another page mr. searight gives the account of the old-time superintendents of the road in pennsylvania in its most prosperous era, one dating from november , to november , ,[ ] the other from may , to december , .[ ] in the first of these periods the amount of tolls received from the eastern division of the road (east of the monongahela) is two thousand dollars less than the amount received from the western division. even after the amounts paid by the two great stage companies are deducted, a balance of over a thousand dollars is left in favor of the division west of the monongahela river. in the second report, $ , . more was received on the western division of the road than on the eastern, and even after the amounts received from the stage companies are deducted, the receipts from the eastern division barely exceed those of the western. how can it be that "two-fifths of the trade and travel of the road were diverted at brownsville?" and the further west mr. searight goes, the more does he seem to err, for the road west of the ohio river, instead of showing "scarcely a tithe of the thrift, push, whirl and excitement which characterized it east of that point," seems to have done a greater business than the eastern portion. for instance, when the road was completed as many miles in ohio as were built in pennsylvania, the return from the portion in ohio ( ) was $ , . - (in the very first year that the road was completed), while in pennsylvania the receipts in were only $ , . , after the road had been used for twenty-two years. in the same year ( ) ohio collected $ , . from her cumberland road tollgates--about three times the amount collected in pennsylvania. again mr. searight gives a pennsylvania commissioner's receipts for the twenty months beginning may , , as $ , . , while the receipts from the road in ohio in only the twelve months of were $ , . . at the same time the tolls charged in ohio were a trifle in excess of those imposed in pennsylvania, therefore, ohio's advantage must be curtailed slightly. on the other hand it should be taken into consideration that the cumberland road in pennsylvania was almost the only road across the portion of the state through which it ran, while in ohio other roads were used, especially clay roads running parallel with the cumberland road, by drivers of sheep and pigs, as an aged informant testifies. as mr. searight has said, the travel of the road west of the ohio may have been chiefly of a local nature, yet his seeming error concerning the relative amount of travel on the two divisions in his own state, makes his statements less trustworthy in the matter. still it can be readily believed that a great deal of continental trade did pass down the monongahela after traversing the eastern division of the road and that increased local trade on the western division rendered the toll receipts of the two divisions quite equal. local travel on the eastern division may have been light, comparatively speaking. mr. searight undoubtedly meant that two-fifths of the through trade stopped at brownsville and wheeling and one-fifth only went on into ohio. the total amount of tolls received by pennsylvania from all roads, canals, etc., in was about $ , , while ohio received a greater sum than that in from tolls on the cumberland road alone, and the road was not completed further west than springfield. a study of the amounts of tolls taken in from the cumberland road by the various states will show at once the volume of the business done. ohio received from the cumberland road in forty-seven years nearly a million and a quarter dollars. an itemized list of this great revenue shows the varying fortunes of the great road: _year_ _tolls_ _year_ _tolls_ $ , $ , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , --------------- , total $ , , - , about ohio began leasing portions of the cumberland road to private companies. in the entire distance from springfield to the ohio river was leased for a term of ten years for $ , a year. commissioners were appointed to view the road continually and make the lessees keep it in as good condition as when it came into their hands.[ ] before the contract had half expired, the board of public works was ordered (april, ) to take the road to relieve the lessees.[ ] in the proper limits of the road were designated to be "a space of eighty feet in width, and where the road passed over a street in any city of the second class, the width should conform to the width of that street," such cities to own it so long as it was kept in repair.[ ] finally, in , the state of ohio authorized commissioners of the several counties to take so much of the road as lay in each county under their control. it was stipulated that tollgates should not average more than one in ten miles, and that no toll be collected between columbus and the ohio central lunatic asylum. the county commissioners were to complete any unfinished portions of the road.[ ] later ( ) the rates of toll were left to the discretion of the county commissioners, with this provision: "that when the consent of the congress of the united states shall have been obtained thereto, the county commissioners of any county having a population under the last federal census of more than fifteen thousand six hundred and less than fifteen thousand six hundred and fifty shall have the power when they deem it for the best interest of the road, or when the people whom the road accommodates wish, to submit to the legal voters of the county, at any regular or special election, the question, 'shall the national road be a free turnpike road?' and when the question is so submitted, and a majority of all those voting on said question shall vote yes, it shall be the duty of said commissioners to sell gates, tollhouses and any other property belonging to the road to the highest bidder, the proceeds of the sale to be applied to the repair of the road, and declare so much of the road as lies within their county a free turnpike road to be kept in repair in the way and manner provided by law for the repair of free turnpikes."[ ] the receipts from the franklin county, ohio, tollgate for the year were as follows: january $ february march april may june july august september october november december -------- total $ it will be noted that april was the heaviest month of the year. the gate-keeper received a salary of thirty dollars per month. it is hardly necessary to say that this great american highway was never a self-supporting institution. the fact that it was estimated that the yearly expense of repairing the ohio division of the road was one hundred thousand dollars, while the greatest amount of tolls collected in its most prosperous year ( ) was a little more than half that amount ($ , . ) proves this conclusively. investigation into the records of other states shows the same condition. in the most prosperous days of the road, the tolls in maryland ( ) amounted to $ , and the expenditures $ , . .[ ] in a "balance" was recorded of $ , . , but a like amount was charged up on the debtor side of the account. the receipts reported each year in the auditor's reports of the state of ohio show that equal amounts were expended yearly upon the road. as early as the governor of ohio was authorized to borrow money to repair the road in that state.[ ] chapter iv stagecoaches and freighters the great work of building and keeping in repair the cumberland road, and of operating it, developed a race of men as unknown before its era as afterward. for the real life of the road, however, one will look to the days of its prime--to those who passed over its stately stretches and dusty coils as stage- and mail-coach drivers, express carriers and "wagoners," and the tens of thousands of passengers and immigrants who composed the public which patronized the great highway. this was the real life of the road--coaches numbering as many as twenty traveling in a single line; wagonhouse yards where a hundred tired horses rested over night beside their great loads; hotels where seventy transient guests have been served breakfast in a single morning; a life made cheery by the echoing horns of hurrying stages; blinded by the dust of droves of cattle numbering into the thousands; a life noisy with the satisfactory creak and crunch of the wheels of great wagons carrying six and eight thousand pounds of freight east or west. the revolution of society since those days could not have been more surprising. the change has been so great it is a wonder that men deign to count their gain by the same numerical system. as macaulay has said, we do not travel today, we merely "arrive." you are hardly a traveler now unless you cross a continent. travel was once an education. this is growing less and less true with the passing years. fancy a journey from st. louis to new york in the old coaching days, over the cumberland and the old york roads. how many persons the traveler met! how many interesting and instructive conversations were held with fellow travelers through the long hours; what customs, characters, foibles, amusing incidents would be noticed and remembered, ever afterward furnishing the information necessary to help one talk well and the sympathy necessary to render one capable of listening to others. the traveler often sat at table with statesmen whom the nation honored, as well as with stagecoach-drivers whom a nation knew for their skill and prowess with six galloping horses. henry clays and "red" buntings dined together, and each made the other wiser, if not better. the greater the gulf grows between the rich and poor, the more ignorant do both become, particularly the rich. there was undoubtedly a monotony in stagecoach journeying, but the continual views of the landscape, the ever-fresh air, the constantly passing throngs of various description, made such traveling an experience unknown to us "arrivers" of today. how fast it has been forgotten that travel means seeing people rather than things. the age of sight-seeing has superseded that of traveling. how few of us can say with the new hampshire sage: "we have traveled a great deal 'in concord.'" splendidly are the old coaching days described by thackeray, who caught their spirit: "the island rang, as yet, with the tooting horns and rattling teams of mail-coaches; a gay sight was the road in merry england in those days, before steam-engines arose and flung its hostelry and chivalry over. to travel in coaches, to drive coaches, to know coachmen and guards, to be familiar with inns along the road, to laugh with the jolly hostess in the bar, to chuck the pretty chambermaid under the chin, were the delight of men who were young not very long ago. the road was an institution, the ring was an institution. men rallied around them; and, not without a kind conservatism, expatiated upon the benefits with which they endowed the country, and the evils which would occur when they should be no more:--decay of english spirit, decay of manly pluck, ruin of the breed of horses, and so forth, and so forth. to give and take a black eye was not unusual nor derogatory in a gentleman; to drive a stage-coach the enjoyment, the emulation of generous youth. is there any young fellow of the present time who aspires to take the place of a stoker? you see occasionally in hyde park one dismal old drag with a lonely driver. where are you, charioteers? where are you, o rattling 'quicksilver,' o swift 'defiance?' you are passed by racers stronger and swifter than you. your lamps are out, and the music of your horns has died away."[ ] in the old coaching days the passenger- and mail-coaches were operated very much like the railways of today. a vast network of lines covered the land. great companies owned hundreds of stages operating on innumerable routes, competing with other companies. these rival stage companies fought each other at times with great bitterness, and competed, as railways do today, in lowering tariff and in outdoing each other in points of speed and accommodation.[ ] new inventions and appliances were eagerly sought in the hope of securing a larger share of public patronage. this competition extended into every phase of the business--fast horses, comfortable coaches, well-known and companionable drivers, favorable connections. however, competition, as is always the case, sifted the competitors down to a small number. companies which operated upon the cumberland road between indianapolis and cumberland became distinct in character and catered to a steady patronage which had its distinctive characteristics and social tone. this was in part determined by the taverns which the various lines patronized. each line ordinarily stopped at separate taverns in every town. there were also found grand union taverns on the cumberland road. had this system of communication not been abandoned, coach lines would have gone through the same experience that the railways have, and for very similar reasons. the largest coach line on the cumberland road was the national road stage company, whose most prominent member was lucius w. stockton. the headquarters of this line were at the national house on morgantown street, uniontown, pennsylvania. the principal rival of the national road stage company was the "good intent" line, owned by shriver, steele, and company, with headquarters at the mcclelland house, uniontown. the ohio national stage company, with headquarters at columbus, ohio, operated on the western division of the road. there were many smaller lines, as the "landlords," "pilot," "pioneer," "defiance," "june bug," etc. some of the first lines of stages were operated in sections, each section having different proprietors who could sell out at any time. the greater lines were constantly absorbing smaller lines and extending their ramifications in all directions. it will be seen there were trusts even in the "good old days" of stagecoaches, when smaller firms were "gobbled up" and "driven out" as happens today, and will ever happen in mundane history, despite the nonsense of political garblers. one of the largest stage companies on the old road was neil, moore, and company of columbus, which operated hundreds of stages throughout ohio. it was unable to compete with the ohio national stage company to which it finally sold out, mr. neil becoming one of the magnates of the latter company, which was, compared with corporations of its time, a greater trust than anything known in ohio today.[ ] to know what the old coaches really were, one should see and ride in one. it is doubtful if a single one now remains intact. here and there inquiry will raise the rumor of an old coach still standing on wheels, but if the rumor is traced to its source, it will be found that the chariot was sold to a circus or wild west show or has been utterly destroyed. the demand for the old stages has been quite lively on the part of the wild west shows. these old coaches were handsome affairs in their day--painted and decorated profusely without, and lined within with soft silk plush.[ ] there were ordinarily three seats inside, each capable of holding three passengers. upon the driver's high outer seat was room for one more passenger, a fortunate position in good weather. the best coaches, like their counterparts on the railways of today, were named; the names of states, warriors, statesmen, generals, nations, and cities, besides fanciful names, as "jewess," "ivanhoe," "sultana," "loch lomond," were called into requisition. the first coaches to run on the cumberland road were long, awkward affairs, without braces or springs, and with seats placed crosswise. the door was in front, and passengers, on entering, had to climb over the seats. these first coaches were made at little crossings, pennsylvania. the bodies of succeeding coaches were placed upon thick, wide leathern straps which served as springs and which were called "thorough braces." at either end of the body was the driver's boot and the baggage boot. the first "troy" coach put on the road came in . it was a great novelty, but some hundreds of them were soon throwing the dust of maryland and pennsylvania into the air. their cost then was between four and six hundred dollars. the harness used on the road was of giant proportions. the backbands were often fifteen inches wide, and the hip bands, ten. the traces were chains with short thick links and very heavy. but the passenger traffic of the cumberland road bore the same relation to the freight traffic as passenger traffic does to freight on the modern railway--a small item, financially considered. it was for the great wagons and their wagoners to haul over the mountains and distribute throughout the west the products of mill and factory and the rich harvests of the fields. and this great freight traffic created a race of men of its own, strong and daring, as they well had need to be. the fact that teamsters of these "mountain ships" had taverns or "wagon houses" of their own, where they stopped, tended to separate them into a class by themselves. these wagonhouses were far more numerous than the taverns along the road, being found as often as one in every mile or two. here, in the commodious yards, the weary horses and their swarthy jehus slept in the open air. in winter weather the men slept on the floors of the wagonhouses. in summer many wagoners carried their own cooking utensils. in the suburbs of the towns along the road they would pull their teams out into the roadside and pitch camp, sending into the village to replenish their stores. the bed of the old road freighter was long and deep, bending upward at the bottom at either end. the lower broad side was painted blue, with a movable board inserted above, painted red. the top covering was white canvas drawn over broad wooden bows. many of the wagoners hung bells of a shape much similar to dinner bells on a thin iron arch over the hames of the harness. often the number of bells indicated the prowess of a teamster's horses, as the custom prevailed, in certain parts, that when a team became fast, or was unable to make the grade, the wagoner rendering the necessary assistance appropriated all the bells of the luckless team. the wheels of the freighters were of a size proportionate to the rest of the wagon. the first wagons used on the old roads had narrow rims, but it was not long before the broad rims, or "broad-tread wagons," came into general use by those who made a business of freighting. the narrow rims were always used by farmers, who, during the busiest season on the road, deserted their farms for the high wages temporarily to be made, and who in consequence were dubbed "sharpshooters" by the regulars. the width of the broad-tread wheels was four inches. as will be noted, tolls for broad wheels were less than for the narrow ones which tended to cut the roadbed more deeply. one ingenious inventor planned to build a wheel with a rim wide enough to pass the tollgates free. the model was a wagon which had the rear axle four inches shorter than the front, making a track eight inches in width. nine horses were hitched to this wagon, three abreast. the team caused much comment, but was not voted practicable. the loads carried on the mountain ships were very large. an ohio man, mcbride by name, in the winter of went over the mountains with seven horses, taking a load of nine hogsheads weighing an average of one thousand pounds each. the following description is from the _st. clairsville_ (ohio) _gazette_ of : "it was a familiar saying with sam patch that _some things can be done easier than others_, and this fact was forcibly brought to our mind by seeing a six-horse team pass our office on wednesday last, laden with _eleven hogsheads of tobacco_, destined for wheeling. some speculation having gone forth as to its weight, the driver was induced to test it on the hay scales in this place, and it amounted to , lbs. gross weight--net weight , . this team (owned by general c. hoover of this county) took the load into wheeling with ease, having a hill to ascend from the river to the level of the town, of eight degrees. the buckeyes of belmont may challenge competition in this line." teamsters received good wages, especially when trade was brisk. from brownsville to cumberland they often received $ . a hundred; $ . per hundred has been paid for a load hauled from wheeling to cumberland.[ ] the stage-drivers received twelve dollars a month with board and lodging. usually the stage-drivers had one particular route between two towns about twelve miles apart on which they drove year after year, and learned it as well as trainmen know their "runs" today. the life was hard, but the dash and spirit rendered it as fascinating as railway life is now. far better time was made by these old conveyances than many realize. ten miles an hour was an ordinary rate of speed. a stage-driver was dismissed more quickly for making slow time, than for being guilty of intoxication, though either offense was considered worthy of dismissal. the way-bills handed to the drivers with the reins often bore the words: "make this time or we'll find some one who will." competition in the matter of speed was as intense as it is now in the days of steam. a thousand legends of these rivalries still linger in story and tradition. defeated competitors were held accountable by their companies and the loads or condition of their horses were seldom accepted as excuses. couplets were often conjured up containing some brief story of defeat with a cutting sting for the vanquished driver: "if you take a seat in stockton's line you are sure to be passed by pete burdine." or, "said billy willis to peter burdine you had better wait for the oyster line." according to a contemporary account, in september, , van buren's presidential message was carried from baltimore (canton depot) to philadelphia, a distance of one hundred and forty miles, in four hours and forty-three minutes. seventy miles of the journey was done by rail, three by boat, and eighty-seven by horse. the seventy-three by rail and boat occupied one hundred and seventeen minutes and the eighty-seven by horse occupied the remaining two hundred and twenty-six minutes, or each mile in about two minutes and a half. this time must be considered remarkable. the mere fact that these figures are not at all consistent need occasion no alarm; they form the most consistent part of the story. the news of the death of william the fourth of england, which occurred june , , was printed in columbus, ohio papers july . it was not until that the capital of ohio was connected with the world by telegraph wires. time-tables of passenger coaches were published as railway time-tables are today. the following is a cumberland road time-table printed at columbus for the winter of - : coach lines winter arrangement the old stage lines with all their different connections throughout the state, continue as heretofore. the mail pilot line, leaves columbus for wheeling daily, at a. m., reaching zanesville at p. m. and wheeling at a. m. next day, through in hours, allowing five hours repose at st. clairsville. the good intent line, leaves columbus for wheeling, daily at p. m., through in hours, reaching wheeling in time to connect with the stages for baltimore and philadelphia. the mail pilot line, leaves columbus daily, for cincinnati at a. m., through in hours, allowing six hours repose at springfield. extras furnished on the above routes at any hour when required. the eagle line, leaves columbus every other day, for cleveland, through in hours, via mt. vernon and wooster. the telegraph line leaves columbus for sandusky city, every other day at a. m., through in two days, allowing rest at marion, and connecting there with the line to detroit, via lower sandusky. the phoenix line, leaves columbus every other day, for huron, via mt. vernon and norwalk, through in hours. the daily line of mail coaches, leaves columbus, for chillicothe at a. m., connecting there with the line to maysville, ky., and portsmouth. for seats apply at the general stage office, next door to col. noble's national hotel. t. c. acheson, _for the proprietor_. the following advertisement of an opposition line, running in , is an interesting suggestion of the intense spirit of rivalry which was felt as keenly, if not more so, as in our day of close competition: opposition! defiance fast line coaches daily from wheeling, va. to cincinnati, o. via zanesville, columbus, springfield and intermediate points. through in less time than any other line. "_by opposition the people are well served._" the defiance fast line connects at wheeling, va. with reside & co.'s two superior daily lines to baltimore, mcnair and co.'s mail coach line, via bedford, chambersburg and the columbia and harrisburg rail roads to philadelphia, being the only direct line from wheeling--: also with the only coach line from wheeling to pittsburg, via washington, pa., and with numerous cross lines in ohio. the proprietors having been released on the st inst. from burthen of carrying the great mail, (which will retard any line) are now enabled to run through in a shorter time than any other line on the road. they will use every exertion to accommodate the traveling public. with stock infinitely superior to any on the road, they flatter themselves they will be able to give general satisfaction; and believe the public are aware, from past experience, that a liberal patronage to the above line will prevent impositions in high rates of fare by any stage monopoly. the proprietors of the defiance fast line are making the necessary arrangements to stock the sandusky and cleveland routes also from springfield to dayton--which will be done during the month of july. all baggage and parcels only received at the risk of the owners thereof. jno. w. weaver & co., geo. w. manypenny, jno. yontz, _from wheeling to columbus, ohio_. james h. bacon, william rianhard, f. m. wright, william h. fife, _from columbus to cincinnati_. there was always danger in riding at night, especially over the mountains, where sometimes a misstep would cost a life. the following item from a letter written in tells of such an incident: "one of the reliance line of stages, from frederick to the west, passed through here on its way to cumberland. about ten o'clock the ill-fated coach reached a small spur of the mountain, running to the potomac, and between this place and hancock, termed millstone point, where the driver mistaking the track, reined his horses too near the edge of the precipice, and in the twinkling of an eye, coach, horses, driver, and passengers were precipitated upward of thirty-five feet onto a bed of rock below--the coach was dashed to pieces, and two of the horses killed--literally smashed. "a respectable elderly lady of the name of clarke, of louisville, kentucky, and a negro child were crushed to death--and a man so dreadfully mangled that his life is flickering on his lips only. his face was beaten to a mummy. the other passengers and the driver were woefully bruised, but it is supposed they are out of danger. there were seven in number. "i cannot gather that any blame was attached to the driver. it is said that he was perfectly sober; but he and his horses were new to this road, and the night was foggy and very dark." an act of the legislature of ohio required that every stagecoach used for the conveyance of passengers in the night should have two good lamps affixed in the usual manner, and subjected the owner to a fine of from ten to thirty dollars for every forty-eight hours the coach was not so provided. drivers of coaches who should drive in the night when the track could not be distinctly seen without having the lamps lighted were subject to a forfeiture of from five to ten dollars for each offense. the same act provided that drivers guilty of intoxication, so as to endanger the safety of passengers, on written notice of a passenger on oath, to the owner or agent, should be forthwith discharged, and subjected the owner continuing to employ that driver more than three days after such notice to a forfeiture of fifty dollars a day. stage proprietors were required to keep a printed copy of the act posted up in their offices, under a penalty of five dollars. another act of the ohio legislature subjected drivers who should leave their horses without being fastened, to a fine of not over twenty dollars. as has been intimated, passengers purchased their tickets of the stage company in whose stage they embarked, and the tolls were included in the price of the ticket. a paper resembling a waybill was made out by the agent of the line at the starting point. this paper was given to the driver and delivered by him to the landlord at each station upon the arrival of the coach. this paper contained the names and destinations of the passengers carried, the sums paid as fare and the time of departure, and contained blank squares for registering time of arrival and departure from each station. the fares varied slightly but averaged about four cents a mile. chapter v mails and mail lines the most important official function of the cumberland road was to furnish means of transporting the united states mails. the strongest constitutional argument of its advocates was the need of facilities for transporting troops and mails. the clause in the constitution authorizing the establishment of post roads was interpreted by them to include any measure providing quick and safe transmission of the mails. as has been seen, it was finally considered by many to include building and operating railways with funds appropriated for the cumberland road. the great mails of seventy-five years ago were operated on very much the same principle on which mails are operated today. the post office department at washington contracted with the great stage lines for the transmission of the mails by yearly contracts, a given number of stages with a given number of horses to be run at given intervals, to stop at certain points, at a fixed yearly compensation, usually determined by the custom of advertising for bids and accepting the lowest offered. when the system of mailcoach lines reached its highest perfection, the mails were handled as they are today. the great mails that passed over the cumberland road were the great eastern and the great western mails out of st. louis and washington. a thousand lesser mail lines connected with the cumberland road at every step, principally those from cincinnati in ohio, and from pittsburg in pennsylvania. there were through and way mails, also mails which carried letters only, newspapers going by separate stage. there was also an "express mail" corresponding to the present "fast mail." it is probably not realized what rapid time was made by the old-time stage and express mails over the cumberland road to the central west. even compared with the fast trains of today, the express mails of sixty years ago, when conditions were favorable, made marvelous time. in the post office department required, in the contract for carrying the great western express mail from washington over the cumberland road to columbus and st. louis, that the following time be made: wheeling, virginia hours. columbus, ohio - / " indianapolis, indiana - / " vandalia, illinois - / " st. louis, missouri " at the same time the ordinary mail-coaches, which also served as passenger coaches, made very much slower time: wheeling, virginia days hours. columbus, ohio " " indianapolis, indiana " " vandalia, illinois " " st. louis, missouri " " cities off the road were reached in the following time from washington: cincinnati, ohio hours. frankfort, kentucky " louisville, kentucky " nashville, tennessee " huntsville, alabama - / " the ordinary mail to these points made the following time: cincinnati, ohio days hours. frankfort, kentucky " " louisville, kentucky " " nashville, tennessee " " huntsville, alabama " " the post office department had given its mail contracts to the steamship lines in the east, when possible, from boston to portland and new york to albany. one mail route to the southern states, however, passed over the cumberland road and down to cincinnati, where it went on to louisville and the mississippi ports by packet. the following time was made by this great southern mail from louisville: nashville, tennessee hours. mobile, alabama " new orleans, louisiana " the service rendered to the south and southwest by the cumberland road, was not rendered to the northwest, as might have been expected. chicago and detroit were difficult to bring into easy communication with the east. until the railway was completed from albany to buffalo, the mails went very slowly to the northwest from new york. the stage line from buffalo to cleveland and on west over the terrible black swamp road to detroit was one of the worst in the united states. when lake navigation became closed, communication with northwestern ohio, michigan, wisconsin and northern indiana and illinois was almost cut off. had the stage route followed that of the buffalo and indian on the high ground occupied by the mahoning indian trail from pittsburg to detroit, a far more excellent service might have been at the disposal of the post office department. as it was, stagehorses floundered in the black swamp with "mud up to the horses' bridles," where a half dozen mails were often congested, and "six horses were barely sufficient to draw a two-wheeled vehicle fifteen miles in three days."[ ] the old time-tables of the cumberland road make an interesting study. one of the first of these published after the great stage lines were in operation over the entire road and the southern branch to cincinnati, appeared early in the year . by this schedule the great eastern mail left washington daily at p. m. and baltimore at p. m. and arrived in wheeling, on the ohio river, in fifty-five hours. leaving wheeling at : a. m., it arrived in columbus at five the morning following, and in cincinnati at the same hour the next morning, making forty-eight hours from one point on the river to the other, much better time than any packet could make. the great western mail left cincinnati daily at p. m. and reached columbus at p. m. on the day following. it left columbus at : p. m. and reached wheeling at : p. m. the day following, thence washington in fifty-five hours.[ ] at times the mails on the cumberland road were greatly delayed, taxing the patience of the public beyond endurance. the road itself was so well built that rain had little effect upon it as a rule. in fact, delay of the mails was more often due to inefficiency of the post office department, inefficiency of the stage line service, or failure of contractors, than poor roads. until a bridge was built across the ohio river at wheeling, in , mails often became congested, especially when ice was running out. there were frequent derangements of cross and way mails which affected seriously the efficiency of the service. the vast number of connecting mails on the cumberland road made regularity in transmission of cross mails confusing, especially if the through mails were at all irregular. to us living in the present age of telegraphic communication and the ubiquitous daily paper, it may not occur that the mail stages of the old days were the newsboys of the age, and that thousands looked to their coming for the first word of news from distant portions of the land. in times of war or political excitement the express mailstage and its precious load of papers from baltimore, philadelphia, and new york, was hailed as the latest editions of our newspapers are today. thus it must have been that a greater proportion of the population along the cumberland road awaited with eager interest the coming of the stage in the old days, than today await the arrival of the long mail trains from the east. late in the 's and in the 's, when the mailstage system reached its highest perfection, the mail and passenger service had been entirely separated, special stages being constructed for hauling the former. as early as the post office department decreed that the mails, which heretofore had always been held as of secondary consideration compared with passengers, should be carried in specially arranged vehicles, into which the postmaster should put them under lock and key not to be opened until the next post office was reached. these stages were of two kinds, designed to be operated upon routes where the mail ordinarily comprised, respectively, a half and nearly a whole load. in the former, room was left for six passengers, in the latter, for three. including newspapers with the regular mail, the later stages which ran westward over the cumberland road rarely carried passengers. indeed there was little room for the guards who traveled with the driver to protect the government property. many old drivers of the "boston night mail," or the "new york night mail," or "baltimore mail," may yet be found along the old road, who describe the immense loads which they carried westward behind flying steeds. such a factor in the mailstage business did the newspapers become, that many contractors refused to carry them by express mail, consigning them to the ordinary mails, thereby bringing down upon themselves the frequent savage maledictions of a host of local editors.[ ] newspapers were, nevertheless, carried by express mailstages as far west as ohio in , as is proved by a newspaper account of a robbery committed on the cumberland road, the robbers holding up an express mailstage and finding nothing in it but newspapers.[ ] the mails on the cumberland road were always in danger of being assailed by robbers, especially on the mountainous portions of the road at night. though by dint of lash and ready revolver the doughty drivers usually came off safely with their charge. chapter vi taverns and tavern life so distinctive was the character of the cumberland road that all which pertained to it was highly characteristic. next to the race of men which grew up beside its swinging stretches, nothing had a more distinctive tone than the taverns which offered cheer and hospitality to its surging population. the origin of taverns in the east was very dissimilar from their history in the west. the first taverns in the west were those which did service on the old braddock's road. unlike the taverns of new england, which were primarily drinking places, sometimes closing at nine in the evening, and not professing, originally, to afford lodging, the tavern in the west arose amid the forest to answer all the needs of travelers. it may be said that every cabin in all the western wilderness was a tavern, where, if there was a lack of "bear and cyder" there was an abundance of dried deer meat and indian meal and a warm fireplace before which to spread one's blankets.[ ] the first cabins on the old route from the potomac to the ohio were at the wills creek settlement (cumberland) and gist's clearing, where washington stopped on his le boeuf trip on the buffalo trace not far from the summit of laurel hill. after braddock's road was built, and the first roads were opened between uniontown and brownsville, washington and wheeling, during the revolutionary period, a score of taverns sprang up--the first of the kind west of the allegheny mountains. the oldest tavern on braddock's road was tomlinson's tavern near "little meadows," eight miles west of the present village of frostburg, maryland. at this point the lines of braddock's road and the cumberland road coincide. on land owned by him along the old military road jesse tomlinson erected a tavern. when the cumberland road was built, his first tavern was deserted and a new one built near the old site. another tavern, erected by one fenniken, stood on both the line of the military road and the cumberland road, two miles west of smithfield ("big crossings") where the two courses were identical. the first taverns erected upon the road which followed the portage path from uniontown to brownsville were collin's log tavern and rollin's tavern, erected in uniontown in and , respectively. these taverns offered primitive forms of hospitality to the growing stream of sojourners over the rough mountain path to the youghiogheny at brownsville, where boats could be taken for the growing metropolis of pittsburg. another tavern in the west was located on this road ten miles west of uniontown. as the old century neared its close a score of taverns sprang up on the road from uniontown to brownsville and on the road from brownsville to wheeling. at least three old taverns are still remembered at west brownsville. hill's stone tavern was erected at hillsboro in . "catfish camp," james wilson's tavern at washington, the first tavern in that historic town, was built in and operated eleven years for the benefit of the growing tide of pioneers who chose to embark on the ohio at wheeling rather than on the monongahela at brownsville. other taverns at washington before were mccormack's ( ), sign of the white goose ( ), buck tavern ( ), sign of the spread eagle, and globe inn ( ). the gregg tavern and the famous old workman house at uniontown were both erected in the last years of the old century, - . two miles west of rankintown, smith's stone tavern stood on the road to wheeling, and the sign of the american eagle ( ) offered lodging at west alexander, several years before the old century closed. west of the ohio river, on zane's rough blazed track through the scattered ohio settlements toward kentucky, travelers found, as has been elsewhere noted, entertainment at zane's clearings, at the fords of the muskingum and scioto, and at the little settlement at cincinnati. before the quarter of a century elapsed ere the cumberland road crossed the ohio river, a number of taverns were erected on the line of the road which was built over the course of zane's trace. on this first wagon-road west of the ohio river the earliest taverns were at st. clairsville and zanesville. at this latter point the road turned southwest, following zane's trace to lancaster, chillicothe, and maysville, kentucky. the first tavern on this road was opened at zanesville during the last year of the old century, mcintire's hotel. in the winter of the same year, , green's tavern was built, in which, it is recorded, the fourth of july celebration in the following year was held. cordery's tavern followed, and david harvey built a tavern in . the first license for a tavern in st. clairsville was issued to jacob haltz, february , . two other licenses were issued that year to john thompson and bazil israel. barnes's tavern was opened in . william gibson, michael groves, sterling johnson, andrew moore, and andrew marshall kept tavern in the first half decade of this century. as elsewhere noted, there was no earlier road between zanesville and columbus which the cumberland road followed. west of zanesville but one tavern was opened in the first decade of this century. griffith foos's tavern at springfield, which was doing business in , prospered until . the other taverns of the west, at zanesville, columbus, springfield, richmond (indiana), and indianapolis, are of another era and will be mentioned later. the first taverns of the west were built mostly of logs, though a few, as noted, were of stone. they were ordinary wilderness cabins, rendered professionally hospitable by stress of circumstance. they were more often of but one or two rooms, where, before the fireplace, guests were glad to sleep together upon the puncheon floor. the fare afforded was such as hunters had--game from the surrounding forest and neighboring streams and the product of the little clearing, potatoes, and the common cereals. at the beginning of the new century a large number of substantial taverns arose beside the first western roads--even before the cumberland road was under way. the best known of these were built at washington, the sign of the cross keys ( ), the mcclellan ( ); and at uniontown the national and walker houses. at washington arose the sign of the golden swan ( ), sign of the green tree ( ), gen. andrew jackson ( ), and sign of the indian queen ( ). these were built in the age of sawmills and some of them came well down through the century. it is remarkable how many buildings are to be seen on the cumberland road which tell by their architectural form the story of their fortunes. many a tavern, outgrowing the day of small things, was found to be wholly inadequate to the greater business of the new era. additions were made as circumstances demanded, and in some cases the result is very interesting. the seaton house in uniontown was built in sections, as was the old fulton house (now moran house) also of uniontown. a fine old stone tavern at malden, pennsylvania was erected in and an addition made in . a stone slab in the second section bears the date " ," also the word "liberty," and a rude drawing of a plow and sheaf of wheat. though of more recent date, the well-known four mile house west of columbus, ohio displays, by a series of additions, the record of its prosperous days, when the neighboring camp chase held its population of confederate prisoners. among the more important taverns which became the notable hostelries of the cumberland road should be mentioned the black, american, mountain spring, and pennsylvania houses at cumberland; plumer tavern and six mile house west of cumberland; franklin and highland hall houses of frostburg; lehman and shulty houses at grantsville; thistle tavern at the eastern foot of negro mountain, and hablitzell's stone tavern at the summit; the stoddard house on the summit of keyser's ridge; the stone tavern near the summit of winding ridge, and the wable stand on the western slope; the wentling and hunter houses at petersburg; the temple of juno two miles westward; the endsley house and camel tavern at smithfield (big crossings); a tavern on mt. augusta; the rush, inks, and john rush houses, sampey's tavern at great meadows; the braddock run house; downer tavern; snyder's tavern at eastern foot of laurel hill, and the summit house at the top; shipley and monroe houses and norris tavern east of uniontown, and searight's tavern six miles west; johnson-hatfield house; the brashear, marshall, clark and monongahela houses at brownsville; adam's tavern; key's and greenfield's taverns at beallsville; gall's house; hastings and the upland house at the foot of egg nogg hill; ringland's tavern at pancake; the fulton house, philadelphia, and kentucky inn and travellers inn at washington; rankin and smith taverns; caldwell's tavern; brown's and watkin's taverns at claysville; beck's tavern at west alexander; the stone tavern at roney's point and the united states hotel and monroe house at wheeling. west of the ohio were rhode's and mcmahon's taverns at bridgeport; hoover's tavern near st. clairsville; chamberlain's tavern; christopher hoover's tavern, one mile west of morristown; taylor's tavern; gleave's tavern and stage office; bradshaw's hotel at fairview; drake's tavern at middleton; sign of the black bear at washington; carran's, mcdonald's, mckinney's and wilson's taverns in guernsey county and the ten mile house at norwich, ten miles east of zanesville. in zanesville, robert taylor opened a tavern in , and in moved to the present site of the clarendon hotel, situated on the cumberland road and hung out the sign of the orange tree. perhaps no tavern in the land can claim the honor of holding a state legislature within its doors, except the sign of the orange tree, where, in - , when zanesville was the temporary capital of ohio, the legislature made its headquarters.[ ] the sign of the rising sun was another zanesville tavern, opened in , the name being changed by a later proprietor, without damage to its brilliancy, perhaps, to the sign of the red lion. the national hotel was opened in and became a famous hostelry. roger's hotel is mentioned in many old advertisements for bids for making and repairing the cumberland road. in william burnham opened the sign of the merino lamb in a frame building owned by general isaac van horne. the sign of the green tree was opened by john s. dugan in , this being remembered for entertaining president monroe, and general lewis cass at a later date. west of zanesville, on the new route opened straight westward to columbus, the famous monumental pile of stone, the five mile house long served its useful purpose beside the road and is one of the most impressive of its monuments, today. edward smith and usal headley were early tavern-keepers at this point. henry winegamer built a tavern three miles west of the five mile house. henry hursey built and opened the first tavern at gratiot. these public houses west of zanesville were erected in the year preceding the opening of the cumberland road, which was built through the forest in the year .[ ] the stages which were soon running from zanesville to columbus, left the uncompleted, line of the cumberland road at jacksontown and struck across to newark and followed the old road thence to columbus. the first tavern built in columbus was opened in , which, in , bore the sign "the lion and the eagle." after it was known as "the globe." the columbus inn and white horse tavern were early columbus hotels; pike's tavern was opened in , and a tavern bearing the sign of the golden lamb was opened in . the neil house was opened in the twenties, a transfer of it to new owners appearing in local papers in . it was the headquarters of the neil, moore, and company line of stages and the best known early tavern in the old coaching days in ohio. many forgotten taverns in columbus can be found mentioned in old documents and papers, including the famous american house, buckeye hotel, on the present site of the board of trade building, etc. west of columbus the celebrated four mile house, which has been referred to previously, was erected in the latter half of the century. in the days of the great mail and stage lines billy werden's tavern in springfield was the leading hostelry in western ohio. at this point the stages running to cincinnati, with mail for the mississippi valley, left the cumberland road. across the state line, neal's and clawson's taverns offered hospitality in the extreme eastern border of indiana. at richmond, starr tavern (tremont hotel), nixon's tavern, gilbert's two-story, pebble-coated tavern and bayle's sign of the green tree, offered entertainment worthy of the road and its great business, while sloan's brick stagehouse accommodated the passenger traffic of the stage lines. at indianapolis, the palmer house, built in , and washington hall, welcomed the public of the two great political faiths, democrat and whig, respectively. at almost every mile of the road's long length, wagonhouses offered hospitality to the hundreds engaged in the great freight traffic. here a large room with its fireplace could be found before which to lay blankets on a winter's night. the most successful wagonhouses were situated at the outskirts of the larger towns, where, at more reasonable prices and in more congenial surroundings than in a crowded city inn, the rough sturdy men upon whom the whole west depended for over a generation for its merchandise, found hospitable entertainment for themselves and their rugged horses. these houses were usually unpretentious frame buildings surrounded by a commodious yard, and generous watering-troughs and barns. a hundred tired horses have been heard munching their corn in a single wagonhouse yard at the end of a long day's work. in both tavern and wagonhouse the fireplace and the bar were always present, whatever else might be missing. the fireplaces in the first western taverns were notably generous, as the rigorous winters of the alleghenies required. many of these fireplaces were seven feet in length and nearly as high, capable of holding, had it been necessary, a wagonload of wood. with a great fireplace at the end of the room, lighting up its darkest corners as no candle could, the taverns along the cumberland road where the stages stopped for the night, saw merrier scenes than any of their modern counterparts witness. and over all their merry gatherings the flames from the great fires threw a softened light, in which those who remember them best seem to bask as they tell us of them. the taverns near some of the larger villages, wheeling, washington, or uniontown, often entertained for a winter's evening, a sleighing party from town, to whom the great room and its fireplace were surrendered for the nonce, where soon lisping footsteps and the soft swirl of old-fashioned skirts told that the dance was on. beside the old fireplace hung two important articles, the flip-iron and the poker. the poker used in the old road taverns was of a size commensurate with the fireplace, often being seven or eight feet long. each landlord was keeper-of-the-poker in his own tavern, and many were particular that none but themselves should touch the great fire, which was one of the main features of their hospitality, after the quality of the food and drink. eccentric old "boss" rush in his famous tavern near smithfield (big crossings) even kept his poker under lock and key. the tavern signs so common in new england were known only in the earlier days of the cumberland road as many of the tavern names show. the majority of the great taverns bore on their signs only the name of their proprietor, the earliest landlord's name often being used for several generations. the advancing of the century can be noticed in the origin of such names as the national house, the united states hotel, the american house, etc. the evolution in nomenclature is, plainly, from the sign or symbol to the landlord's name, then to a fanciful name. another sign of later days was the building of verandas. the oldest taverns now standing are plain ones or the two story buildings rising abruptly from the pavement and opening directly upon it. of this type is the brownfield house at uniontown and numerous half-forgotten houses which were early taverns in pennsylvania and ohio. the kitchen of the old inn was an important feature, especially as many of the taverns were little more than restaurants where stage-passengers hastily dined. the food provided was of a plain and nourishing character, including the famous home-cured hams, which andrew jackson preferred, and the buckwheat cakes, which henry clay highly extolled. in this connection it should be said that the women of the old west were most successful in operating the old-time taverns, and many of the best "stands" were conducted by them. the provision made in a license to a woman in early new england, that "she provide a fit man that is godly to manage the business," was never suggested in the west, where hundreds of brave women carried on the business of their husbands after their decease. and their heroism was appreciated and remembered by the gallant aristocracy of the road. the old revolutionary soldiers who, quite generally, became the landlords of new england, did not keep tavern in the west. but one revolutionary veteran was landlord on the cumberland road. the road bred and brought up its own landlords to a large extent. the early landlords were fit men to rule in the early taverns, and provided from forest and stream the larger portion of food for the travelers over the first rough roads. it is said that these objected to the building of the cumberland road, through fear that more accelerated means of locomotion would eventually cheat them out of the business which then fell to their share. but, like the new england landlord, the western tavern-keeper was a many-sided man. had the cumberland road taverns been located always within villages, their proprietors might have become what new england landlords are reputed to have been, town representatives, councilmen, selectmen, tapsters, and heads of the "train band"--in fact, next to the town clerk in importance. as it was, the western landlord often filled as important a position on the frontier as his eastern counterpart did in new england. this was due, in part, to the place which the western tavern occupied in society. taverns were, both in the east and in the west, places of meeting for almost any business. this was particularly true in the west, where the public house was almost the only available place for any gathering whatever between the scattered villages. but while in the east the landlord was most frequently busy with official duties, the western landlord was mostly engaged in collateral professions, which rendered him of no less value to his community. the jovial host at the cumberland road tavern often worked a large farm, upon which his tavern stood. some of the more prosperous on the eastern half of the road, owned slaves who carried on the work of the farm and hotel. he sometimes ran a store in connection with his tavern, and almost without exception, officiated at his bar, where he "sold strong waters to relieve the inhabitants." whiskey, two drinks for a "fippenny bit," called "fip" for short (value six and a quarter cents) was the principal "strong water" in demand. it was the pure article, neither diluted nor adulterated. in the larger towns of course any beverage of the day was kept at the taverns--sherry toddy, mulled wine, madeira, and cider. as has been said, the road bred its own landlords. youths, whose lives began simultaneously with that of the great road, worked upon its curved bed in their teens, became teamsters and contractors in middle life, and spent the autumn of their lives as landlords of its taverns, purchased with the money earned in working upon it. several well-known landlords were prominent contractors, many of whom owned their share of the great six- and eight-horse teams which hauled freight to the western rivers. the old taverns were the hearts of the cumberland road, and the tavern life was the best gauge to measure the current of business that ebbed and flowed. as the great road became superseded by the railways, the taverns were the first to succumb to the shock. in a very interesting article, a recent writer on "the rise of the tide of life to new england hilltops,"[ ] speaks of the early hill life of new england, and the memorials there left "of the deep and sweeping streams of human history." the author would have found the cumberland road and its predecessors an interesting western example of the social phenomena with which he dealt. in new england, as in the central west, the first traveled courses were on the summits of the watersheds. these routes of the brute were the first ways of men. the tide of life has ebbed from new england hilltops since the beginning. sufficient is it for the present subject that the cumberland road was the most important "stream of human history" from atlantic tide-water to the headwaters of the streams of the mississippi. its old taverns are, after the remnants of the historic roadbed and ponderous bridges, the most interesting "shells and fossils" cast up by this stream. this old route, chosen first by the buffalo and followed by red men and white men, will ever be the course of travel across the mountains. from this rugged path made by the once famous cumberland road, the tide of life cannot ebb. here, a thousand years hence, may course a magnificent boulevard, the american appian way, to the commercial, as well as military, key of the eastern slopes of the mississippi basin at the junction of the allegheny and monongahela rivers. it is important that each fact of history concerning this ancient highway be put on lasting record. chapter vii conclusion it is impossible to leave the study of the cumberland road without gathering up into a single chapter a number of threads which have not been woven into the preceding record. and first, the very appearance of the old road as seen by travelers who pass over it today. one cannot go a single mile over it without becoming deeply impressed with the evidence of the age and the individuality of the old cumberland road. there is nothing like it in the united states. leaping the ohio at wheeling, the cumberland road throws itself across ohio and indiana, straight as an arrow, like an ancient elevated pathway of the gods, chopping hills in twain at a blow, traversing the lowlands on high grades like a railroad bed, vaulting river and stream on massive bridges of unparalleled size. the farther one travels upon it, the more impressed one must become, for there is, in the long grades and stretches and ponderous bridges, that "masterful suggestion of a serious purpose, speeding you along with a strange uplifting of the heart," of which kenneth grahame speaks; "and even in its shedding off of bank and hedgerow as it marched straight and full for the open downs, it seems to declare its contempt for adventitious trappings to catch the shallow-pated."[ ] for long distances, this road "of the sterner sort" will be, so far as its immediate surface is concerned, what the tender mercies of the counties through which it passes will allow, but at certain points, the traveler comes out unexpectedly upon the ancient roadbed, for in many places the old macadamized bed is still doing noble duty. nothing is more striking than the ponderous stone bridges which carry the roadbed over the waterways. it is doubtful if there are on this continent such monumental relics of the old stone bridge builders' art. not only such massive bridges as those at big crossings (smithfield, pennsylvania) and the artistic "s" bridge near claysville, pennsylvania, will attract the traveler's attention, but many of the less pretentious bridges over brooks and rivulets will, upon examination, be found to be ponderous pieces of workmanship. a pregnant suggestion of the change which has come over the land can be read in certain of these smaller bridges and culverts. when the great road was built the land was covered with forests and many drains were necessary. with the passing of the forests many large bridges, formerly of much importance, are now of a size out of all proportion to the demand for them, and hundreds of little bridges have fallen into disuse, some of them being quite above the general level of the surrounding fields. the ponderous bridge at big crossings was finished and dedicated with great éclat july , . near the eastern end of the three fine arches is the following inscription: "kinkead, beck & evans, builders, july , ." [illustration: culvert on the cumberland road in ohio] the traveler will notice still the mileposts which mark the great road's successive steps. those on the eastern portion of the road are of iron and were made at the foundries at connellsville and brownsville. major james francis had the contract for making and delivering those between cumberland and brownsville. john snowdan had the contract for those between brownsville and wheeling. they were hauled in six-horse teams to their sites. those between brownsville and cumberland have recently been reset and repainted. the milestones west of the ohio river are mostly of sandstone, and are fast disappearing under the action of the weather. some are quite illegible though the word "cumberland" at the top can yet be read on almost all. in central ohio, through the darby woods, or "darby cuttings," the mileposts have been greatly mutilated by vandal woodchoppers, who knocked off large chips with which to sharpen their axes. the bed of the cumberland road was originally eighty feet in width. in ohio at least, property owners have encroached upon the road until, in some places, ten feet of ground has been included within the fences. this matter has been brought into notice where franchises for electric railway lines have been granted. in franklin county, west of columbus, ohio, there is hardly room for a standard gauge track outside the roadbed, where once the road occupied forty feet each side of its axis. when the property owners were addressed with respect to the removal of their fences, they demanded to be shown quitclaim deeds for the land, which, it is unnecessary to say, were not forthcoming from the state. hundreds of contracts, calling for a width of eighty feet, can be given as evidence of the original width of the road.[ ] in days when it was considered the most extraordinary good fortune to have the cumberland road pass through one's farm, it was not considered necessary to obtain quitclaim deeds for the land. it is difficult to sufficiently emphasize the aristocracy which existed among the old "pike boys," as those most intimately connected with the road were called. this was particularly true of the drivers of the mail and passenger stages, men who were as often noted for their quick wit and large acquaintance with men as for their dexterous handling of two hands full of reins. their social and business position was the envy of the youth of a nation, whose ambition to emulate them was begotten of the best sort of hero-worship. stage-drivers' foibles were their pet themes, such as the use of peculiar kinds of whips and various modes of driving. of the latter there were three styles common to the cumberland road, ( ) the flat rein (english style), ( ) top and bottom (pennsylvania adaptation), ( ) side rein (eastern style). the last mode was in commonest use. of drivers there were of course all kinds, slovenly, cruel, careful. of the best class, john bunting, jim reynolds, and billy armor were best known, after "red" bunting, in the east, and david gordon and james burr, on the western division. no one was more proud of the fine horses which did the work of the great road than the better class of drivers. as thackeray said was true in england, the passing of the era of good roads and the mailstage has sounded the knell of the rugged race of horses which once did service in the central west. as one scans the old files of newspapers, or reads old-time letters and memoirs of the age of the cumberland road, he is impressed with the interest taken in the coming and going of the more renowned guests of the old road. the passage of a president-elect over the cumberland road was a triumphant procession. the stage companies made special stages, or selected the best of their stock, in which to bear him. the best horses were fed and groomed for the proud task. the most noted drivers were appointed to the honorable station of charioteer-to-the-president. the thousands of homes along his route were decked in his honor, and welcoming heralds rode out from the larger towns to escort their noted guests to celebrations for which preparations had been making for days in advance. the slow-moving presidential pageant through ohio and pennsylvania was an educational and patriotic ceremony, of not infrequent occurrence in the old coaching days--a worthy exhibition which hardly has its counterpart in these days of steam. jackson, van buren, monroe, harrison, polk, and tyler passed in triumph over portions of the great road. the taverns at which they were fêted are remembered by the fact. drivers who were chosen for the task of driving their coach were ever after noted men. but there were other guests than presidents-elect, though none received with more acclaim. henry clay, the champion of the road, was a great favorite throughout its towns and hamlets, one of which, claysville, proudly perpetuates his name. benton and cass, general lafayette, general santa anna, black hawk, jenny lind, p. t. barnum, and john quincy adams are all mentioned in the records of the stirring days of the old road. as has been suggested elsewhere, politics entered largely into the consideration of the building and maintenance of the road. enemies of internal improvement were not forgotten as they passed along the great road which they voted to neglect, as even martin van buren once realized when the axle of his coach was sawed in two, breaking down where the mud was deepest. many episodes are remembered, indicating that all the political prejudice and rancor known elsewhere was especially in evidence on this highway, which owed its existence and future to the machinations of politicians. but the greatest blessing of the cumberland road was the splendid era of growth which it did its share toward hastening. its best friends could see in its decline and decay only evidences of unhappiest fortune, while in reality the great road had done its noble work and was to be superseded by better things which owed to it their coming. historic roads there had been, before this great highway of america was built, but none in all the past had been the means of supplanting themselves by greater and more efficient means of communication. the far-famed appian way witnessed many triumphal processions of consuls and proconsuls, but it never was the means of bringing into existence something to take its place in a new and more progressive era. it helped to create no free empire at its extremity, and they who traversed it in so much pride and power would find it today nothing but a ponderous memorial of their vanity. the cumberland road was built by the people and for the people, and served well its high purpose. it became a highway for the products of the factories, the fisheries and the commerce of the eastern states. it made possible that interchange of the courtesies of social life necessary in a republic of united states. it was one of the great strands which bound the nation together in early days when there was much to excite animosity and provoke disunion. it became the pride of new england as well as of the west which it more immediately benefited; "the state of which i am a citizen," said edward everett at lexington, kentucky, in , "has already paid between one and two thousand dollars toward the construction and repair of that road; and i doubt not she is prepared to contribute her proportion toward its extension to the place of its destination."[ ] hundreds of ancient but unpretentious monuments of the cumberland road--the hoary milestones which line it--stand to perpetuate its name in future days. but were they all gathered together--from indiana and ohio and pennsylvania and virginia and maryland--and cemented into a monstrous pyramid, the pile would not be inappropriate to preserve the name and fame of a highway which "carried thousands of population and millions of wealth into the west; and more than any other material structure in the land, served to harmonize and strengthen, if not save, the union." what of the future? the dawning of the era of country living is in sight. it is being hastened by the revolution in methods of locomotion. the bicycle and automobile presage an era of good roads, and of an unparalleled countryward movement of society. with this era is coming the revival of inn and tavern life, the rejuvenation of a thousand ancient highways and all the happy life that was ever known along their dusty stretches. by its position with reference to the national capital, and the military and commercial key of the central west, pittsburg, and both of the great cities of ohio, the cumberland road will become, perhaps, the foremost of the great roadways of america. the bed is capable of being made substantial at a comparatively small cost, as the grading is quite perfect. its course measures the shortest possible route practicable for a roadway from tidewater to the mississippi river. as a trunk line its location cannot be surpassed. its historic associations will render the route of increasing interest to the thousands who, in other days, will travel, in the genuine sense of the word, over those portions of its length which long ago became hallowed ground. the "shades of death" will again be filled with the echoing horn which heralded the arrival of the old-time coaches, and winding ridge again be crowded with the traffic of a nation. a hundred cumberland road taverns will be opened, and bustling landlords welcome, as of yore, the travel-stained visitor. merry parties will again fill those tavern halls, now long silent, with their laughter. and all this will but mark a new and better era than its predecessor, an era of outdoor living, which must come, and come quickly, if as a nation we are to retain our present hold on the world's great affairs. appendixes appendix a appropriations by congress at various times for making, repairing, and continuing the road . act of march , , authorizes the president to appoint a commission of three citizens to lay out a road four rods in width "from cumberland or a point on the northern bank of the river potomac in the state of maryland, between cumberland and the place where the main road leading from gwynn's to winchester, in virginia, crosses the river, ... to strike the river ohio at the most convenient place between a point on its eastern bank, opposite the northern boundary of steubenville and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into the said river a little below wheeling, in virginia." provides for obtaining the consent of the states through which the road passes, and appropriates for the expense, to be paid from the reserve fund under the act of april , , $ , . . act of february , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president in making the road between cumberland and brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , $ , . . act of march , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president in making the road between cumberland and brownsville, and authorizes the president to permit deviation from a line established by the commissioners under the original act as may be expedient; _provided_, that no deviation shall be made from the principal points established on said road between cumberland and brownsville; to be paid from fund act of april , $ , . . act of february , , appropriates balance of a former appropriation not used, but carried to surplus fund, $ , . . act of may , , appropriates to be expended under direction of the president, for making the road from cumberland to brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , $ , . . act of march , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for making the road from cumberland to the state of ohio, to be paid from fund act of april , $ , . . act of february , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president, for making the road between cumberland and brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , $ , . . act of april , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for making the road from cumberland to the state of ohio, to be paid from the fund act april , $ , . . act of april , , appropriates to meet claims due and unpaid $ , . demands under existing contracts $ , . (from money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.) . act of march , , appropriates for existing claims and contracts $ , . completing road $ , . (to be paid from reserved funds, acts admitting ohio, indiana, and illinois.) . act of may , , appropriates for laying out the road between wheeling, virginia, and a point on the left bank of the mississippi river, between st. louis and the mouth of the illinois river, road to be eighty feet wide and on a straight line, and authorizes the president to appoint commissioners. to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated $ , . . act of april , , appropriates for completing contract for road from washington, pennsylvania, to wheeling, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated $ , . . act of february , , appropriates for repairs between cumberland and wheeling, and authorizes the president to appoint a superintendent at a compensation of three dollars per day. to be paid out of any money not otherwise appropriated $ , . . act of march , , appropriates for opening and making a road from the town of canton, in the state of ohio, opposite wheeling, to zanesville, and for the completion of the surveys of the road, directed to be made by the act of may , , and orders its extension to the permanent seat of government of missouri, and to pass by the seats of government of ohio, indiana and illinois, said road to commence at zanesville, ohio; also authorizes the appointment of a superintendent by the president, at a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per annum, who shall make all contracts, receive and disburse all moneys, etc.; also authorizes the appointment of one commissioner, who shall have power according to provisions of the act of may , ; ten thousand dollars of the money appropriated by this act is to be expended in completing the survey mentioned. the whole sum appropriated to be advanced from moneys not otherwise appropriated, and replaced from reserve fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri $ , . . act of march , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for balance due to the superintendent, $ , ; assistant superintendent, $ . ; contractor, $ . $ , . . act of march , (military service), appropriates for the continuation of the cumberland road during the year $ , . . act of march , (military service), appropriates for construction of road from canton to zanesville, and continuing and completing the survey from zanesville to the seat of government of missouri, to be paid from reserve fund, provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri $ , . for balance due superintendent, from moneys not otherwise appropriated, $ . . act of march , , appropriates for repairs between cumberland and wheeling, and authorizes the appointment of a superintendent of repairs, at a compensation to be fixed by the president. to be paid from moneys not otherwise appropriated. the language of this act is: "for repairing the public road from cumberland to wheeling" $ , . . act of may , , appropriates for the completion of the road to zanesville, ohio, to be paid from fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri $ , . . act of march , , appropriates for opening road westwardly, from zanesville, ohio, to be paid from fund provided in acts admitting ohio, illinois, indiana, and missouri $ , . . act of march , , appropriates for opening road eighty feet wide in indiana, east and west from indianapolis, and to appoint two superintendents, at eight hundred dollars each per annum, to be paid from fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri, $ , . . act of march , , appropriates for repairing bridges, etc., on road east of wheeling $ , . . act of may , (internal improvements), appropriates for opening and grading road west of zanesville, ohio, $ , ; for opening and grading road in indiana, $ , ; commencing at indianapolis, and progressing with the work to the eastern and western boundaries of said state; for opening, grading, etc., in illinois, $ , , to be paid from reserve fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri; for claims due and remaining unpaid on account of road east of wheeling, $ , ; to be paid from moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated $ , . . act of march , , appropriates $ , for opening, grading, and so forth, west of zanesville, ohio; $ for repairs during the year ; $ , for work heretofore done east of zanesville; $ . for arrearages for the survey from zanesville to the capital of missouri; and $ , for opening, grading, and so forth, in the state of indiana, including bridge over white river, near indianapolis, and progressing to eastern and western boundaries; $ , for opening, grading and bridging in illinois; to be paid from the fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri $ , . . act of july , , appropriates $ , for repairs east of the ohio river; $ , for continuing the road west of zanesville; $ , for continuing the road in indiana, including bridge over east and west branch of white river; $ , for continuing road in illinois; to be paid from the fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, and illinois $ , . . act of march , , appropriates to carry on certain improvements east of the ohio river, $ , ; in ohio, west of zanesville, $ , ; in indiana, $ , ; in illinois, $ , ; and in virginia, $ , $ , . . act of june , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in ohio; $ , for continuing the road in indiana; $ , for continuing the road in illinois, and $ , for the entire completion of repairs east of ohio, to meet provisions of the acts of pennsylvania (april , ), maryland (jan. , ), and virginia (feb. , ), accepting the road surrendered to the states, the united states not thereafter to be subject to any expense for repairs. places engineer officer of army in control of road through indiana and illinois, and in charge of all appropriations; $ , to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, balance from that provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois, $ , . . act of june , (general appropriation), for arrearages due to the contractors $ , . . act of march , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in the state of ohio; $ , for continuing road in the state of indiana; to be out of fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois, and $ , . for the entire completion of repairs in maryland, pennsylvania and virginia; but before any part of this sum can be expended east of the ohio river, the road shall be surrendered to and accepted by the states through which it passes, and the united states shall not thereafter be subject to any expense in relation to said road. out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated $ , . . act of march , (repair of roads), appropriates to pay for work heretofore done by isaiah frost on the cumberland road, $ ; to pay late superintendent of road a salary, $ . $ , . . act of july , , appropriates for continuing the road in ohio, $ , ; for continuing road in indiana, $ , , including materials for a bridge over the wabash river; $ , for continuing the road in illinois, provided that the appropriation for illinois shall be limited to grading and bridging, and shall not be construed as pledging congress to future appropriations for the purpose of macadamizing the road, and the moneys herein appropriated for said road in ohio and indiana must be expended in completing the greatest possible continuous portion of said road in said states so that said finished part thereof may be surrendered to the states respectively; to be paid from fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri $ , . . act of march , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in ohio; $ , for continuing the road in indiana; $ , for continuing the road in illinois, provided the road in illinois shall not be stoned or graveled, unless it can be done at a cost not greater than the average cost of stoning and graveling the road in ohio and indiana, and provided that in all cases where it can be done the work to be laid off in sections and let to the lowest substantial bidder. sec. of the act provides that sec. of act of july , , shall not be applicable to expenditures hereafter made on the road, and $ , . is appropriated by this act for repairs east of the ohio river; to be paid from fund provided in acts admitting ohio, indiana, and illinois $ , . . act of may , , appropriates for continuing the road in ohio, $ , ; for continuing it in indiana, including bridges, $ , ; for continuing it in illinois, $ , ; for the completion of a bridge over dunlap's creek at brownsville; to be paid from moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated and subject to provisions and conditions of act of march , $ , . . act of june , (civil and diplomatic), appropriates for arrearages on account of survey to jefferson, missouri $ , . total $ , , . appendix b specimen advertisement for bids for repairing cumberland road in ohio ( ) sealed proposals will be received at toll-gate no. , until the th day of march next, for repairing that part of the road lying between the beginning of the rd and end of the nd mile, and if suitable bids are obtained, and not otherwise, contracts will be made at bradshaw's hotel in fairview, on the th. those who desire contracts are expected to attend in person, in order to sign their bonds. on this part of the road three hundred rods or upwards ( - / cubic feet each) will be required on each mile, of the best quality of limestone, broken evenly into blocks not exceeding four ounces in weight, each; and specimens of the material proposed, must be furnished, in quantity not less than six cubic inches, broken and neatly put up in a box, and accompanying each bid; which will be returned and taken as the standard, both as regards the quality of the material and the preparation of it at the time of measurement and inspection. the following conditions will be mutually understood as entering into, and forming a part of the contract, namely: the , and miles to be ready for measurement and inspection on the th of july; the , and miles on the st of august; the , and miles on the th of august; the , and miles on the st of september; the , , miles on the th of september; the , and miles on the st of october; and the and miles, if let, will be examined at the same time. any failure to be ready for inspection at the time above specified, will incur a penalty of five per cent. for every two days' delay, until the whole penalty shall amount to per cent. on the contract paid. all the piles must be neatly put up for measurement and no pile will be measured on this part of the work containing less than five rods. whenever a pile is placed upon deceptive ground, whether discovered at the time of measurement or afterward, half its contents shall in every case be forfeited for the use of the road. proposals will also be received at the american hotel in columbus, on the th of march for hauling broken materials from the penitentiary east of columbus. bids are solicited on the , and miles counting from a point near the toll-gate towards the city. bids will also be received at the same time and place, for collecting and breaking all the old stone that lies along the roadside, between columbus and kirkersville, neatly put in piles of not less than two rods, and placed on the outside of the ditches. appendix c advertisement for proposals for building a cumberland road bridge and for toll houses in ohio-- proposals will also be received in zanesville on monday, the st day of may next, at roger's tavern, for rebuilding the bridge over salt creek, nine miles east of zanesville. the structure will be of wood, except some stone work to repair the abutments. a plan of the bridge, together with a bill for the timber, &c., can be seen at the place of letting after the th inst. conditions with regard to proposals the same as above. at the same time and place, proposals will likewise be received, for building three or four toll-gates and gate houses between hebron, east of columbus, and jefferson, west of it. the house of frame with stone foundations, and about by feet, one story high, and completely finished. bills of timber, stone, &c., will be furnished, and particulars made known, by calling on the undersigned, at rodger's tavern, in zanesville after the th inst. in making bids, conditions the same as above. all letters must be post-paid, or no attention shall be given to them. thomas m. drake, _superintendent_. p. s.--proposals will also be received at columbus, on monday, the th of april, for repairing the national road between kirkersville and columbus--by william b. vanhook, superintendent. april . william wall, _a. c. b. p. w._ appendix d advertisement of cumberland road tavern in ohio-- tavern stand for sale or rent.--a valuable tavern stand sign of the harp, consisting of - / acres of choice land partly improved, and a dwelling house, together with three front lots. this eligible and healthy situation lies miles east of columbus city, the capital of ohio, on the national road leading to zanesville, at big walnut bridge. the stand is well supplied with several elegant springs. it is unnecessary to comment on the numerous advantages of this interesting site. the thoroughfare is great, and the growing prospects beyond calculation. for particulars inquire of t. armstrong, hibernia. dec. - . footnotes: [ ] _united states statutes at large_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _senate reports_, th cong., st sess., rep. no. . [ ] keyser's ridge. [ ] the dates on which the three states gave their permission were: pennsylvania, april , ; maryland, ; ohio, . [ ] richardson (editor): _messages and papers of the presidents_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] harriet martineau's _society in america_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] see appropriation no. , in appendix a. [ ] for specimen advertisement for repairs see appendix b. [ ] the early official correspondence concerning the route of the road shows plainly that it was really built for the benefit of the chillicothe and cincinnati settlements, which embraced a large portion of ohio's population. the opening of river traffic in the first two decades of the century, however, had the effect of throwing the line of the road further northward through the capitals of ohio, indiana, and illinois. zane's trace, diverging from the cumberland road at zanesville, played an important part in the development of southwestern ohio, becoming the course of the lancaster and maysville pike. see _historic highways of america_, vol. xi. [ ] see appropriation no. , in appendix a. [ ] see appropriations nos. and , in appendix a. [ ] _private laws of the united states_, may , . [ ] _springfield pioneer_, august ; also _ohio state journal_, august , . [ ] harriet martineau's _society in america_, vol. i, p. . [ ] wabash-erie, whitewater, and indiana central canals and the madison and indianapolis railway. cf. atwater's _tour_, p. . [ ] _illinois in ' _, pp. - . this was probably passenger and freight traffic as the mails went overland from the very first, until the building of railways. [ ] _ohio state journal_, january , . [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] see appropriation no. , in appendix a. [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxix, p. . for specimen advertisement for bids for erection of tollgates in ohio see appendix d. [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxxiv, p. ; xxv, p. . [ ] _id._, xxiii, p. . [ ] _id._, xliii, p. . [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xliii, p. . [ ] _id._, lviii, p. . [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxvi, p. . [ ] _id._ [ ] concerning the celerity of opening the road after the completion of contracts, captain weaver, superintendent in ohio, made the following statement in his report of : "upon the first, second and third divisions, with a cover of metal of six inches in thickness, composed of stone reduced to particles of not more than four ounces in weight, the travel was admitted in the month of june last. those divisions that lie eastward of the village of fairview together embrace a distance of very nearly twenty-eight and a half miles, and were put under contract on the first of july, and first and thirty-first of august, . this portion of the road has been, in pursuance of contracts made last fall and spring, covered with the third stratum of metal of three inches in thickness, and similarly reduced. on parts of this distance, say about five miles made up of detached pieces, the travel was admitted at the commencement of the last winter and has continued on to this time to render it compact and solid; it is very firm, elastic and smooth. the effect has been to dissipate the prejudices which existed very generally, in the minds of the citizens, against the mcadam system, and to establish full confidence over the former plan of constructing roads. "on the first day of july, the travel was admitted upon the fourth and fifth divisions, and upon the second, third, fourth, and fifth sections of the sixth division of the road, in its graduated state. this part of the line was put under contract on the eleventh day of september, , terminating at a point three miles west of cambridge, and embraces a distance of twenty-three and a half miles. on the twenty-first of july the balance of the line to zanesville, comprising a distance of a little over twenty-one miles, was let." [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxvi, p. ; _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _id._, xxvi, p. . [ ] tolls for were based on number of horses, each additional horse being taxed about . . tolls for (in franklin county) were practically identical with tolls of . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxx, p. . [ ] _id._, xxx, p. . [ ] _id._, xxxiv, p. . [ ] _id._, xliii, p. . [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), pp. , , - . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxxv, p. . [ ] _laws of pennsylvania_ (pamphlet), p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxx, p. . [ ] _id._, xxix, p. . [ ] _id._, xxx, p. . [ ] _id._, xxx, p. . [ ] _id_., xxxii, p. ; xxx, p. . [ ] searight's _the old pike_, p. . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _id._, pp. - . [ ] _laws of ohio_, lii, p. . [ ] _id._, lvi, p. . [ ] _id._, lxx, p. . [ ] _id._, lxxiii, p. . [ ] _laws of ohio_, lxxiv, p. . [ ] _report of the superintendent of the national road, with abstract of tolls for the fiscal year_ ( ). [ ] _laws of ohio_, xxx, p. . [ ] thackeray's _the newcomes_, vol. i, ch. x. [ ] in one instance a struggle between two stagecoach lines in indiana resulted in carrying passengers from richmond to cincinnati for fifty cents. the regular price was five dollars. [ ] an old ohio national stage driver, mr. samuel b. baker of kirkersville, ohio, is authority for the statement that the ohio national stage company put a line of stages on the wooster-wheeling mail and freight route and "ran out" the line which had been doing all the business previously, after an eight months' bitter contest. [ ] the following appeared in the _ohio state journal_ of august , : "a splendid coach--we have looked at a coach now finishing off in the shop of messrs. evans & pinney of this city, for the ohio stage company, and intended we believe for the inspection of the post-master general, who sometime since offered premiums for models of the most approved construction, which is certainly one of the most perfect and splendid specimens of workmanship in this line that we have ever beheld, and would be a credit to any coach manufactory in the united states. it is aimed, in its construction, to secure the mail in the safest manner possible, under lock and key, and to accommodate three outside passengers under a comfortable and complete protection from the weather. it is worth going to see." [ ] before the era of the cumberland road the price for hauling the goods of emigrants over braddock's road was very high. one emigrant paid $ . per hundred for hauling "women and goods" from alexandria, virginia, to the monongahela. six dollars per hundredweight was charged one emigrant from hagerstown, maryland, to terre haute, indiana. [ ] _ohio state journal_, february , . "the land mail between this and detroit crawls with snails pace."--_cleveland gazette_, august , . cf. _historic highways of america_, vol. i., p. . [ ] the northern and southern ohio mails connected with the great eastern and great western mails at columbus. they were operated as follows: northern mail: left sandusky city a. m., reached delaware p. m. left delaware next day a. m., reached columbus a. m. left columbus : a. m., reached chillicothe p. m. left chillicothe next day a. m., reached portsmouth p. m. southern mail: left portsmouth a. m., chillicothe p. m., columbus p. m., day following. delaware p. m., sandusky city p. m. day following. a cleveland mail left cleveland daily for columbus via wooster and mt. vernon at a. m. and reached columbus on the day following at p. m., returning the mail left columbus at a. m. and reached cleveland at p. m. on the ensuing day. [ ] "the extreme irregularity which has attended the transmission of newspapers from one place to another for several months past has been a subject of general complaint with the editors of all parties. it was to have been expected that, after the adjournment of congress, the evil would have ceased to exist. such, however, is not the case. although the roads are now pretty good, and the mails arrive in due season, our eastern exchange papers seem to reach us only by chance. on tuesday last, for instance, we received, among others, the following, viz., _the new york courier_ and _enquirer_ of march , and ; the _philadelphia times_ and _saturday evening post_ of march ; the _united states gazette_ of march ; and the _new jersey journal_ of march and . the cause of this irregularity, we have reason to believe, does not originate in this state."--_ohio state journal_, march , . [ ] _ohio state journal_, august , [ ] it may be found upon investigation that the portions of our country most noted for hospitality are those where taverns gained the least hold as a social institution. cf. allen's _the blue grass region of kentucky_, p. . [ ] the virginian house of burgesses met in the old raleigh tavern at williamsburg, in . (woodrow wilson's _george washington_, p. .) [ ] for advertisement of sale of a cumberland road tavern see appendix d. [ ] mr. edward p. pressey in _new england magazine_, vol. xxii, no. (august, ). [ ] grahame's _the golden age_, p. . [ ] "the proper limits of the road are hereby defined to be a space of eighty feet in width--forty feet on each side of the center of the graded road-bed."--law passed april , , _laws of ohio_, lviii, p. . [ ] everett's _speeches and orations_, vol. i, p. . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . certain words use an oe ligature in the original. historic highways of america volume historic highways of america volume the old glade (forbes's) road (pennsylvania state road) by archer butler hulbert _with maps and illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the old trading path ii. a blood-red frontier iii. the campaigns of iv. the old or a new road? v. the new road vi. the military road to the west vii. the pennsylvania road illustrations i. shippen's draught of the monongahela and youghiogheny rivers, and braddock's road ( ) ii. frontier forts and blockhouses in iii. forbes's road to raystown ( ) iv. the remains of bouquet's redoubt at fort pitt preface when general edward braddock landed in virginia in , one of his first acts in his campaign upon the ohio was to urge governor morris to have a road opened westward through pennsylvania. his reason for wishing another road, parallel to the one his own army was to cut, was that there might be a shorter route than his own to the northern colonies, over which his expresses might pass speedily, and over which wagons might come more quickly from pennsylvania--then the "granary of america." it was inevitable that the shortest route from the center of the colonies to the ohio would become the most important. the road braddock asked morris to open was completed only three miles beyond the present town of bedford, pennsylvania, when the road choppers hurried home on receipt of the news of braddock's defeat. braddock made a death-bed prophecy; it was that the british would do better next time. in pitt placed braddock's unfulfilled task on the shoulders of brigadier-general john forbes, who marched to bedford on the new road opened by morris; thence he opened, along the general alignment of the prehistoric "trading path," a new road to the ohio. it was a desperate undertaking; but forbes completed his campaign in november, triumphantly--at the price of his life. this road, fortified at carlisle, shippensburg, chambersburg, loudon, littleton, bedford, ligonier, and pittsburg became the great military route from the atlantic seaboard to the trans-allegheny empire. by it fort pitt was relieved during pontiac's rebellion and the ohio indians were brought to terms. throughout the revolutionary war this road was the main thoroughfare over which the western forts received ammunition and supplies. in the dark days of the last decade of the eighteenth century, when the kentucky and ohio pioneers were fighting for the foothold they had obtained in the west, this road played a vital part. when the need for it passed, forbes's road, too, passed away. two great railways, on either side, run westward following waterways which the old road assiduously avoided--keeping to the high ground between them. between these new and fast courses of human traffic the old glade road lies along the hills, and, in the dust or in the snow, marks the course of armies which won a way through the mountains and made possible our westward expansion. the "old glade road," the old-time name of the youghiogheny division (burd's or the "turkey foot" road) of this thoroughfare, has been selected as the title of this volume, as more distinctive than the "pennsylvania road," which would apply to numerous highways. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, december , . the old glade (forbes's) road chapter i the old trading path when, in the middle of the eighteenth century, intelligent white men were beginning to cross the allegheny mountains and enter the ohio basin, one of the most practicable routes was found to be an old trading path which ran almost directly west from philadelphia to the present site of pittsburg. according to the indians it was the easiest route from the atlantic slope through the dense laurel wildernesses to the ohio.[ ] the course of this path is best described by the route of the old state road of pennsylvania to pittsburg built in the first half-decade succeeding the revolutionary war. this road passed through shippensburg, carlisle, bedford, ligonier, and greensburg; the old trading path passed, in general, through the same points. comparing this path, which became forbes's road, with nemacolin's path which ran parallel with it, converging on the same point on the ohio, one might say that the former was the overland path, and the latter, strictly speaking, a portage path. the old trading path offered no portage between streams, as nemacolin's path did between the potomac and monongahela. it kept on higher, dryer ground and crossed no river of importance. this made it the easiest and surest course; in the wintry season, when the youghiogheny and monongahela and their tributaries were out of banks, the old trading path must have been by far the safest route to the ohio; it kept to the high ground between the monongahela and allegheny. it was the high ground over which this path ran that the unfortunate braddock attempted to reach after crossing the youghiogheny at stewart's crossing. the deep ravines drove him back. there is little doubt he would have been successful had he reached this watershed and proceeded to fort duquesne upon the old trading path. as is true of so many great western routes, so of this path--the bold christopher gist was the first white man of importance to leave reliable record of it. in he was employed to go westward for the ohio company. his outward route, only, is of importance here.[ ] on wednesday, october , he departed from colonel cresap's near cumberland, maryland and proceeded "along an old old indian path n e about miles."[ ] this led him along the foot of the great warrior mountain, through the flintstone district of allegheny county, maryland. the path ran onward into bedford county, pennsylvania, and through warrior's gap to the juniata river. here, near the old settlement bloody run, now everett, the path joined the well-worn thoroughfare running westward familiarly known as the "old trading path." eight miles westward of this junction, near the present site of bedford, a well-known trail to the allegheny valley left the old trading path and passed through the indian frank's town and northwest to the french venango--franklin, pennsylvania. leaving this on his right, gist pushed on west over the old trading path. "snow and such bad weather" made his progress slow; from the fifth to the ninth he spent between what are now everett in bedford county and stoyestown in somerset county.[ ] on the eleventh he crossed the north and east forks of quemahoning--often called "cowamahony" in early records.[ ] on the twelfth he "crossed a great laurel mountain"--laurel hill. on the fourteenth he "set out n w m to loylhannan an old indian town on a creek of ohio called kiscominatis, then n m nw m to an indian's camp on the said creek."[ ] the present town of ligonier, westmoreland county, occupies the site of this indian settlement. "laurel-hanne, signifying the middle stream in the delaware tongue. the stream here is half way between the juniata at bedford and the ohio [pittsburg]."[ ] between here and the ohio, gist mentions no proper names. the path ran northwest from the present site of ligonier, through chestnut ridge "at the miller's run gap, and reached the creek again at the big bottom below the present town of latrobe on the pennsylvania central railway; there the trail forked ... the main trail [traveled by gist], led directly westward to shannopin's town, by a course parallel with and a few miles north of the pennsylvania railway."[ ] the following table of distances from carlisle to pittsburg was presented to the pennsylvania council march , : miles from carlisle to major montour's from montour's to jacob pyatt's from pyatt's to george croghan's at aucquick old town[ ] from croghan's to the three springs from the three springs to sideling hill from sideling hill to contz's harbour from contz's harbour to the top of ray's hill from ray's hill to the crossing of juniata[ ] from crossing of juniata to allaquapy's gap[ ] from allaquapy's gap to ray's town[ ] from ray's town to the shawonese cabbin[ ] from shawonese cabbins to the top of allegheny mountain from allegheny mountain to edmund's swamp[ ] from edmund's swamp to cowamahony creek[ ] from cowamahony to kackanapaulins from kackanapaulins to loyal hanin[ ] foot ray's hill from loyal hanin to shanoppin's town[ ] by this early measurement the total distance between carlisle to pittsburg by the indian path was one hundred and ninety miles; ninety-seven miles from carlisle to raystown and ninety-three miles from raystown to pittsburg.[ ] when it is remembered that this was the original indian track totally uninfluenced by the white man's attention it is interesting to note that the great state road of pennsylvania from carlisle to pittsburg, laid out in , so nearly followed the indian route that its length between those points (in ) was just one hundred and ninety-seven miles--seven miles longer[ ] than that of the prehistoric trace of indian and buffalo. perhaps there is no more significant instance of the practicability of indian routes in the united states than this. the very fact that the indian path was not very much shorter than the first state road shows that it was distinctively a utilitarian course. one interested in this significant comparison will be glad to compare the courses of the old path and that of the state road as given by the compass.[ ] other references to the old trading path are made by such traders as george croghan and john harris. croghan wrote to richard peters, march , : "the road we now travel ... from laurel hill to shanopens (near the forks of the ohio), is but miles, as the road now goes, which i suppose may be odd miles on a straight line."[ ] in an "account of the road to loggs town on allegheny river, taken by john harris, " this itinerary is given: "from ray's town to the shawana cabbins m to edmund's swamp m to stoney creek m to kickener paulin's house, (indian) m to the clear fields m to the other side of the laurel hill m to loyal haning m to the big bottom m to the chestnut ridge m to the parting of the road[ ] m thence one road leads to shannopin's town the other to kisscomenettes, old town."[ ] so much for the old trading path before the memorable year of . it is significant that the route had already been "surveyed"; pennsylvania herself desired a share of the indian trade which virginia hoped to monopolize through her ohio company, which already had storehouses built at wills creek on the cumberland and at redstone old fort on the monongahela. but with the beginning of hostilities with the french, precipitated by washington and his virginians in , the indian trade was now completely at a standstill. general braddock and his army which was destined to march westward and capture fort duquesne arrived at alexandria, virginia, february , . already braddock's deputy quartermaster-general, sir john st. clair, had passed through maryland and virginia and had decided upon the route of the army to fort cumberland, the point of rendezvous. four days after braddock reached alexandria, governor morris of pennsylvania received a letter from st. clair asking him to "open a road toward the head of youghheagang or any other way that is nearer the french forts," in order that the stores to be supplied by the northern colonies might take a shorter course than by way of the roads then being opened through maryland and virginia.[ ] morris immediately replied "... there is no waggon road from carlisle west through the mountains but only a horse path, by which the indian traders used to carry their goods and skins to and from the ohio while that trade remained open."[ ] though morris usually made requests of the assembly in vain, the request concerning this road was granted, and morris was empowered, in the middle of march, to open a road "through carlisle and shippensburg to the yoijogain, and to the camp at will creek."[ ] he immediately appointed george croghan, john armstrong, james burd, william buchannan, and adam hoops to find a road to the three forks of the youghiogheny--or "turkey foot" as the spot was familiarly known on the frontier. on april burd reported as follows to morris: "... we have viewed and layed out the roads leading from hence to the yohiogain and the camp at will's creek, and enclosed you have the draughts thereof.... we have dispersed our advertisements through the counties of lancaster, york, and cumberland, to encourage labourers to come to work, and we intend to set off to begin to clear up on monday first."[ ] thus, slowly, the old trading path was widened into a rough roadway westward from carlisle. on may , john armstrong wrote governor morris that there were over a hundred choppers at work.[ ] five days later burd wrote richard peters that there were one hundred and fifty at work; but he adds, ominously: "the people are all anxious to have arms, and if you can procure me arms i would not trouble the general for a cover; but if you can't they will not be willing to go past ray's town without a guard."[ ] little wonder: the van of braddock's army had struck westward into the alleghenies the day before this was written, and already the woods were full of spies sent out by the french, and many massacres had been reported. the horses and wagons which franklin had secured for braddock comprised almost his whole equipment. these had gone to fort cumberland by the old "monocasy road" and watkins ferry.[ ] on the twelfth of june allison and maxwell wrote richard peters that "sideling hill," sixty-seven miles west of carlisle, and thirty miles east of raystown, "is cut very artificially, nay more so than we ever saw any; the first waggon that carried a load up it took fifteen hundred without ever stopping;" there were, however, many discouragements--"for four days the labourers had not one glass of liquor!"[ ] on june william buchannan reported that the road was cleared to raystown.[ ] but some of the wagons were "pretty much damnified." on the seventeenth edward shippen wrote morris from lancaster: "i understand mr. burd has cut the road miles beyond ray's town, which is miles from shippensburg."[ ] on the twenty-first general braddock wrote as follows to governor morris from bear camp (seven miles west of little crossings): "as it is perfectly understood here in what part the road making in your province is to communicate w^{th} that thro' w^{ch} i am now proceeding to fort du quesne, i must beg that you and mr peters will immediately settle it, and send an express on purpose after me with the most exact description of it, that there may be no mistake in a matter of so much importance."[ ] on july morris wrote burd, who was in command of the working party, concerning this request of braddock's. he takes it "for granted ... that the road must pass the turkey foot ... and that there cou'd be no road got to the northward." under such circumstances he affirmed that the nearest course to braddock's road would be a straight line from turkey foot (confluence, pennsylvania) to the great crossings of the youghiogheny (smithfield, pennsylvania). he asked burd to settle this point and send his decision immediately to braddock.[ ] [illustration: shippen's draught of the monongahela and youghiogheny rivers and braddock's road ( ) (_great crossings was the intended junction of paddock's road and burd's_) (_from the original in possession of pennsylvania historical society_)] the working party on the pennsylvania road was attacked early in july and needed every one of the five score men whom braddock had been able to spare for their protection.[ ] burd replied[ ] from the "top of the alleghanies" on july , while still in ignorance of braddock's utter rout: "at present i can't form any judgment where i shall cut the general's road, further than i know our course leads us to the turkey foot, by the information of mr. croghan when we run the road first. mr. croghan assured me he wou'd be on the road with me in order to pilott from the place where we left off blaizeing. instead of that he has never been here, nor is there one man in my company that ever was out this way to the turkey foot, but the party i send will discover the place where we shall cut the road and inform the general, and upon their return i will order 'em to blaize back to me." the news of braddock's defeat came slowly to the cutters of this historic roadway from central pennsylvania to the youghiogheny. on tuesday night, july , a messenger was sent to them from fort cumberland, who arrived the night of the day the above letter was written.[ ] dunbar wrote morris from "near ye great crossings" on the sixteenth: "i have sent an express to captain hogg, who is covering the people cutting your new road, as i can't think his advancing that way safe, to retire immediately."[ ] burd reported to morris from shippensburg july , that his party had retreated to fort cumberland from the top of allegheny mountain july ; "st clair told me," he added, tentatively, "that i had done my duty." he had left before dunbar's messenger had arrived.[ ] such is the first chapter of the story of the white man's occupation of the old trading path and the old glade road--the name commonly applied to the portion which burd opened from the main path from where it diverged four miles west of bedford to the summit of allegheny mountain. this branch was also known as the "turkey foot road."[ ] the old trading path was now a white man's road from carlisle to bedford and four miles beyond. but the tide of war now set over the mountains after braddock's defeat, putting an end to any improvement of the new rough road that was opened. yet not all the ground gained was to be lost. governor shirley, now in command, wildly ordered dunbar to move westward again to retrieve braddock's mistakes, but sanely added, that, in the case of defeat "you are to make the most proper disposition of his majesties' forces to cover the frontiers of the provinces, particularly at the towns of shippensburg and carlisle, and at or near a place called mcdowell's mill, where the new road to the allegheny mountains begins in pennsylvania, from the incursions of the enemy until you shall receive further orders."[ ] was this a hint that braddock had been sent by a wrong route and that his successor would march to fort duquesne over the old trading path? chapter ii a blood-red frontier there is no truer picture of the dark days of - along the frontiers of pennsylvania and virginia than that presented in the correspondence of washington at this time. a great burden fell upon his young shoulders with the failure of the campaigns of . though far from being at fault, he suffered greatly through the faults and failures of others. the british army had come and had been routed. now, after such a victory as the indians had never dreamed possible, the virginia and pennsylvania frontiers, five hundred miles in length, lay helpless before the bands of bold marauders drunk with the blood of braddock's slain. the young colonel of the remnant of the virginia regiment took up the difficult task of defending the southern frontier as readily as though a quiet, happy life on his rich farms was an alternative as impossible as alluring. but perhaps a bleeding border-land never in the world needed a twenty-three year old lad more than virginia now needed her young son. a flood-tide of murder and pillage swept over the alleghenies. the raids of the savages brought the people to their senses, as the most terrible of tales came in from the frontier. but soon the question arose, "where is the frontier?" the great track braddock had opened for the conquest of the ohio valley became the pathway of his conquerors, and soon fort cumberland, the frontier post, was far in the enemies' country. the indians soon found burd's road on the summit of the alleghenies and poured over it by raystown toward carlisle and shippensburg. each day brought the line of settlements nearer and nearer the populous portions of virginia and pennsylvania, until winchester became an endangered outpost and fears were entertained for lancaster and york. hundreds now who had refused the despairing braddock horses and wagons saw their wives and children murdered and their homesteads burned to the ground. whether dunbar did right or wrong in hurrying back to virginia, it was a bitter day for virginia and pennsylvania. when his army hastened from the frontier, it became the prey of the foes whose appetite that army had whetted. yet shirley, reconsidering his former scheme, ordered dunbar to new york. after drawing the full fire of the french and indians upon virginia and pennsylvania, this army was sent to new york. looking backward, with the stern years - in mind, it is easy to see that then, in , pennsylvania and virginia were to be put through a hard school for a glorious purpose. they were to be trained in the art of war. of it they had known practically nothing. they had no effective militia. of military ethics they had no dream. they knew not what obedience meant and could not understand delegated authority. their liberty was license or nothing. of the power of organization, concentration, discipline, routine, and method they were almost as ignorant as their redskinned enemies. although the men of new england had not been given such great obstacles to overcome, it is undoubtedly true that their militia was far more adequate than anything of which pennsylvania or virginia knew, at least until .[ ] and yet braddock died cursing his regulars and extolling the colonials! washington was elected commander-in-chief in virginia on his own dignified terms; the army was increased to sixteen companies and l , were voted for general defense. by october the young commander was at winchester, where he faced a situation desperate and appalling. the country-side was terror-stricken, and few could be found even for defense; many chose "to die with their wives and families." the few score men who attempted to stem the tide of retreat were almost powerless. "no orders are obeyed," washington wrote dinwiddie, "but such as a party of soldiers, or my own drawn sword enforces." such was the frenzy of the retreat of the frontier population that threats were made "to blow out the brains" of all in authority who opposed them. but the young commander continued undaunted. he impressed men and horses and wagons, and sent them hurrying for flour and musket-balls and flints; he compelled men to erect little fortresses to which the people might flee. not the least of his trials--undoubtedly the most discouraging--was the faithlessness of the troops sent out by governor dinwiddie upon the reeking frontier. many of them were themselves panic-stricken and fled back with the rabble. the whole militia regime was inadequate; there was no authority of sufficient weight vested in the commanding officers to enable them to deal even with insolence, much less desertion. "i must assume the freedom," washington wrote the governor, "to express some surprise, that we alone should be so tenacious of our liberty as not to invest a power, where interest and policy so unanswerably demand it.... do we not know, that every nation under the sun finds its account therein, and that, without it, no order or regularity can be observed? why then should it be expected from us, who are all young and inexperienced, to govern and keep up a proper spirit of discipline without laws, when the best and most experienced can scarcely do it with them?" as the winter of - approached, the indian atrocities ceased and for a few months there was quiet. but by early spring the raids were renewed with merciless regularity. every day brought a new tale of murder and pillage; and very soon every road was filled with fugitives "bringing to winchester fresh dismay." with his few men this first hero of winchester (who by the way was at his post, not "twenty miles away") was again straining every nerve that virginia might not lose the great stretch of beautiful country west of the blue ridge. "the supplicating tears of women and moving petitions of the men, melt me into such deadly sorrow, that i solemnly declare, if i know my own mind, i could offer myself a willing sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to the people's ease." perhaps the vacillating dinwiddie threw this letter down as too ardent a one for a military hand to pen; if so edward everett has raised it aloft to show his thrilled audiences "the whole man" washington. "the inhabitants are removing daily," he again wrote--"... in a short time will leave this country as desolate as hampshire." to such a degree were the people terrified that secret meetings were held where leaders openly spoke of making terms with the french and indians by renouncing all claims to the west--no less traitors to the best good of the colonies than those who celebrated over braddock's defeat.[ ] the campaign of , as conducted by shirley, contained no hope of relief for pennsylvania or virginia; "so much am i kept in the dark," washington exclaimed, "that i do not know whether to prepare for the offensive or defensive; yet what might be absolutely necessary in the one, would be quite useless in the other." he well knew a determined stroke at fort duquesne, "a floodgate to open ruin and woe," was the only hope of the southern and central colonies. in the meantime he led a desperately exasperating life attempting to hold the frontier with his tatterdemalion army by following pennsylvania's example of building a line of forts to defend the country. there was no destitution or distress of which he did not know; at times he was begging for blankets to cover his naked soldiers, and again for shoes and shirts; there were few guns in a state of repair and at times in days of danger hundreds flocked to him who could neither be fed nor armed. his life must have been known to lord fairfax who wrote in the following strain: "such a medley of undisciplined militia must create you various troubles, but having caesar's commentaries and perhaps quintus curtius, you have therein read of greater fatigues, murmurings, mutinies, and defections, than will probably come to your share." the fact is, in these days there was no officer's duty with which washington was not acquainted. he supervised the building of forts, the transportation of stores and guns and ammunition, here reprimanding a coarse mountaineer for profanity, there leading the scouts as they threshed a mountain for lurking delawares; he personally hurried off wagons to endangered outposts with flour and powder, and then listened to and quieted the fears of frantic women and men. is the splendid lesson of these years clear? by providential dispensation these colonies were a miniature of the america of , suddenly thrown upon its own resources and in war. the divine hand is not more clearly seen in our national development than in the struggle of the colonies between and , which prepared a nation for the hour her independence should strike. and now it was that washington, gates, mercer, gladwin, lewis, putnam, crawford, gibson, stephen, st. clair, and stewart learned for themselves and then taught their countrymen to fight; now washington found what it meant to be the commander of bare-foot armies, already a hero of two defeats, he was yet to play the hero in bitter, pitiful extremities, to become a dogged believer in hopeless, last alternatives, a burden-bearer for hundreds of homeless ones--a people's mainstay when other men were faltering. now, as in , his task was to rouse a people only half awake to the crisis; to demonstrate the superiority of wisely ordered liberty over license, and the inferiority of personal independence compared with a unity made strong through faithful cooeperation, and hallowed by mutual self-sacrifice. and fortunate it was for all the colonies that england compelled them to learn how to carry war's heavy harness now, against the day when they should be assailed by something more disastrously fatal to the cause of liberty than savages fired to murder and pillage by french brandy. in all these wild days, the old path westward from shippensburg and carlisle was often crowded with fugitives fleeing from the reeking frontier, and, quite as often, shrouded in a cloud of dust raised by squads of wan militia hastening westward to the defense of the outposts. though no officer guarding this strategic passage-way became endeared to his countrymen as washington, here heroism and devotion were displayed, if ever on this continent. the plans of england during these years will be described elsewhere, but it is to our purpose to know now that for the present she deserted the southern provinces; that she was "willing to wait for the rains to wet the powder, and rats to eat the bow-strings of the enemy, rather than attempt to drive them from her [southern] frontiers." until the matter of the defense of the pennsylvania frontier was left almost entirely to individual initiative. but already the road through carlisle and shippensburg had been fortified. fort lowther was erected in carlisle as early as . it was an important post on the route to virginia, over which the wagons and horses raised by franklin for braddock, were, in part, forwarded to fort cumberland. here governor morris came, to be in closer touch with braddock, and here the news of the defeat reached him. fort franklin was erected on the old road at shippensburg, twenty miles west of carlisle and thirty-six from harris ferry (harrisburg). it was built sometime previous to braddock's time but was not used after . ten miles further on at falling springs (chambersburg) there was no fortification in , nor was there one at loudoun (loudon) thirteen miles west of that point. two miles south of fort loudoun morris erected a deposit at mcdowell's mill (bridgeport, franklin county) but, though the spot was well known on the frontier, there seems to have been no regular fort there until .[ ] it was at this point that the new road toward raystown diverged westward from the main road running south to virginia. this junction was considered a strategic point by the time of braddock's defeat, as shown by shirley's order to dunbar quoted at the close of the last chapter. up to the time of braddock's defeat the pennsylvania assembly had done nothing toward the preservation of the colony, save ordering the road cut from carlisle to the youghiogheny river. they furnished not a man for braddock's army and voted not a pound toward the expense of securing the wagons and horses which made braddock's march possible. the stores which governor morris laid in along the line of the road, at shippensburg and mcdowell's mill, were secured and forwarded without aid from the assembly. though many pennsylvanians served, in one way or another, in the unfortunate expedition, the public was divided on this issue. some were loyal to the assembly and many favored warlike measures. it has been asserted that had not forbes's road been built in its building would have been postponed twenty years. passing this interesting speculation, it is sure braddock's defeat brought to pennsylvania a terrible and bloody awakening; nothing can show this more strikingly than the fact that when braddock's successor came, only three years later, the pennsylvania assembly quickly supported him by voting twenty-seven hundred men for offensive service and appropriating half a million dollars for war. the change was not more striking than was the need for it. all the terrifying scenes in virginia were reproduced in pennsylvania; the savages poured through the mountain gaps and fell with unparalleled fury upon a hundred defenseless settlements. pennsylvania had not expanded further at this time than to the blue mountains. her frontier was not, therefore, nearly as broad as virginia's, and the frontier firing-line was not so far removed from the populated districts. at the same time it is probable that the indians from logstown and kittanning could get a scalp quicker (so far as distance was concerned) from pennsylvania than from virginia--and the french paid as much for one as for the other! late in the pennsylvania assembly, now awakened to the condition of affairs caused by their shortsighted, prejudiced policy, took the matter of protection of the frontier into their own hands. failing to furnish the ounce of prevention, they came quickly with the pound of cure. a chain of forts was planned which, stretching along the barrier wall of the blue mountains from the potomac to the delaware, should guard the more prominent gaps. "sometimes the chain of defenses ran on the south side, and frequently both sides of the mountains were occupied, as the needs of the population demanded. some of these forts consisted of the defenses previously erected by the settlers, which were available for the purpose, and of which the government took possession, while others were newly erected. almost without exception they were composed of a stockade of heavy planks, inclosing a space of ground more or less extensive, on which were built from one to four blockhouses, pierced with loopholes for musketry, and occupied as quarters by the soldiers and refugee settlers. in addition to these regular forts it became necessary at various points where depredations were most frequent, to have subsidiary places of defense and refuge, which were also garrisoned by soldiers and which generally comprised farmhouses, selected because of their superior strength and convenient location, around which the usual stockade was thrown, or occasionally blockhouses erected for the purpose. the soldiers who garrisoned these forts were provincial troops, which almost without exception were details from the first battalion of the pennsylvania regiment, under the command of that brave and energetic officer, lt. colonel conrad weiser."[ ] the appended map is a photograph of the original which was made in this year, --for the forts of are not included. it is of particular interest because it gives the complete cordon of forts along the frontier from the hudson to the last fort in virginia which washington was building. among other things this map shows clearly how much wider were the frontiers of the southern than those of the northern colonies. the most westerly fort in virginia was fifty miles further west than fort duquesne. the appalachian range trends southwesterly and its influence upon the expansion of the colonies is most significant. [illustration: frontier forts and blockhouses in (_from the original in british public records office_)] in this year, though a western campaign on fort duquesne did not materialize, the line of the old road was greatly strengthened and a blow was struck at the indians on the allegheny that was timely and effective. the former was a most important task--of far greater importance than was dreamed at that date. no one then knew the part this road westward from carlisle was to play in our national development; it could not have been conceived, in , that this route was to be the only fortified highway into the west--the most important military road of equal length on the continent throughout the eighteenth century. that fort lowther at carlisle was in ruins in is shown by the following letter written by william trent to richard peters february , , which also gives a realistic picture of the state of affairs which compelled the pennsylvania assembly to begin the fort-building of that year: "all the people had left their houses, betwixt this and the mountain, some come to town and others gathering into the little forts.[ ] they are moving their effects from shippensburg; every one thinks of flying unless the government fall upon some effectual method, and that immediately, of securing the frontiers, there will not be one inhabitant in this valley one month longer. there is a few of us endeavoring to keep up the spirits of the people. we have proposed going upon the enemy tomorrow, but whether a number sufficient can be got, i cannot tell; no one scarce seems to be affected with the distress of their neighbours and for that reason none will stir but those that are next the enemy and in immediate danger. a fort in this town would have saved this part of the country, but i doubt this town in a few days, will be deserted, if this party [of savages] that is out should kill any people nigh here." commissioner young was at carlisle soon after, putting fort lowther into proper condition; he wrote governor morris: "i have endeavored to put this large fort in the best possible defense i can; but i am sorry to say the people of this town cannot be prevailed on, to do anything for their own safety.... they seem to be lulled into fatal security, a strange infatuation, which seems to prevail throughout this province." the fort was not completed in july; colonel armstrong wrote morris on the twenty-third of that month. "the duties of the harvest field have not permitted me to finish carlisle fort with the soldiers, it should be done otherwise, the soldiers cannot be so well governed, and may be absent or without the gates at the time of the greatest necessity." in the same letter colonel armstrong--the washington of pennsylvania--wrote: "lyttleton, shippensburg and carlisle (the two last not finished) are the only forts now built that will in my opinion be serviceable to the public." it is significant that these three forts were on the old road westward, showing that this route was of utmost importance in armstrong's eyes. fort lyttleton was one of four important forts erected, at armstrong's direction, by governor morris west of the susquehanna late in and early in . it was built "at sugar cabins upon the new road"; wrote morris to shirley february : "it [fort lyttleton] stands upon the new road opened by this province towards the ohio, and about twenty miles from the settlements, and i have called it fort lyttleton, in honor of my friend george. this fort will not only protect the inhabitants in that part of the province, but being upon a road that within a few miles joins general braddock's road, it will prevent the march of any regulars into the province and at the same time serve as an advance post or magazine in case of an attempt to the westward." the site of this fort was on land now owned by dr. trout, of mcconnellsburg, pennsylvania--about sixty feet on the north side of the old state road.[ ] fort morris at shippensburg was building in november ; "we have one hundred men working," wrote james burd, "... with heart and hand every day. the town is full of people, five or six families in a house, in great want of arms and ammunition; but, with what we have we are determined to give the enemy as warm a reception, as we can. some of our people have been taken prisoners, but have made their escape, and came to us this morning." there had, as noted, been some sort of fortification here at an earlier date, fort franklin. as said previously, fort morris was still uncompleted july , . it was in fort franklin, undoubtedly, that the magazine was placed during braddock's campaign. fort mcdowell, at mcdowell's mill, was also erected in , being an important point at the junction of the old road into virginia and the new road to raystown. the savage onslaughts of the indians were felt no more severely in any quarter than near here. at great cove, in november , forty-seven persons were murdered or taken captive out of a total population of ninety-three. the strategic position of fort mcdowell at the junction of the roads was emphasized by colonel armstrong, who, after saying that forts lyttleton, shippensburg, and carlisle were the only ones that would be useful to the public, added: "mcdowell's, or thereabouts, is a necessary post; but the present fort is not defensible." fort loudoun was erected on the old road in , one mile east of the present village of loudon, franklin county. the spot was historic even before it was fortified, the settlement here being one of the oldest in that section of the state. this point was a famous rendezvous both in the early days when the old trading path was the main western highway, and in after days when the path became forbes's road. from here the pack-horse trains started westward into the mountains loaded--two hundred pounds to a horse--with goods which had come this far in wagons from lancaster and philadelphia. the site of fort loudoun therefore marks the western extremity of the early colonial roadways and the eastern extremity of the "packers' paths" or trading paths which offered, until , the only route across the mountains.[ ] fort loudoun was built late in , after considerable debate as to its location. colonel armstrong, after examining a spot near one barr's, finally determined to locate it "on a place in that neighborhood, near to parnell's knob, where one patton lives ... as it is near the new road; it will make the distance from shippensburg to fort lyttleton two miles further than by mcdowell's." ten miles southwest of shippensburg, benjamin chambers, a noted pioneer, erected fort chambers at falling spring, the present chambersburg. it was a private fort completed in ; by some means the owner had secured two four-pound cannon which he mounted in his little fort, the roof of which he had already covered with lead. it was feared that chambers's little fort would be captured by the savages and the guns turned upon shippensburg and carlisle. but their owner repudiated the insinuation and even held the guns from colonel armstrong, who was armed with the governor's order to surrender them. incidentally, also, he made good his boasts and held the fort with equal pugnacity from the savages. colonel chambers was of great assistance to general forbes in the days of , and, as an aged man, sent his three sons, raised in the lead-roofed fortress with its "great guns," to boston in to fight again for the land he had helped to conquer from the indians in the dark days of braddock and forbes. such men as benjamin chambers made forbes's road a possibility. the state road built westward over the track of forbes's and bouquet's armies is well known in eastern pennsylvania as the "chambersburg and pittsburg turnpike."[ ] these forts west of the susquehanna were garrisoned by the eight companies of the second battalion of the pennsylvania regiment. while the work of completing the forts not yet finished went on, a campaign of more importance than was realized was conceived by ex-governor morris and explained to governor denny and the council. it comprised a bold stroke by lieutenant-colonel armstrong at the indian-infested region of kittanning on the allegheny. here the delaware captain jacobs held bloody sway, having, according to the report of an indian spy who had recently visited the spot, nearly one hundred white prisoners from virginia and pennsylvania captive at that point. fort shirley was appointed the place of rendezvous and the little campaign was kept as secret as possible. as the map shows, fort shirley (no. ), fort lyttleton (no. ) and shippensburg form a triangle, the longest side of which marks the straight line between the two latter posts. fort loudoun was near this line between fort lyttleton and fort morris at shippensburg. near fort loudoun a branch of the old kittanning path ran northwesterly by fort shirley and onward to the allegheny.[ ] over this track the bold band, which rendezvoused at fort shirley late in august, was to enter the indian land. it numbered three hundred and seven men, almost precisely the size of washington's party which precipitated war in . but with the gloomy fate of washington's band and braddock's army in mind this must have been a thoughtful company of men that proceeded from fort shirley on the next to the last day of august . their success was all out of proportion to their expectation but not out of proportion to their bravery. within a week kittanning was reached, surrounded when it was darkest before dawn, and savagely attacked in the grey of the misty morning. the town was utterly destroyed, some three score savages killed and eleven prisoners rescued and brought back over the mountains. the moral effect of this dash toward the allegheny was of exceeding benefit to the whole frontier, and armstrong--always feared by the indians--became their especial _bete noire_. the expedition, having been made from lethargic pennsylvania, had a wholesome effect upon all the other colonies and did much to cement them into the common league which accomplished much before two years had passed. armstrong, as one of the builders of the new road through raystown, as efficient officer in the work of fortifying this route, and now as leader of an offensive stroke at once daring and successful, was slowly being fitted for more useful and more important duties when the flower of pennsylvania's frontier should be thrown across the alleghenies upon fort duquesne. this officer's opinion, already quoted, that the only forts worth the candle west of the susquehanna were the three or four which fortified the main route westward from carlisle to raystown, appears to have met the approval of those in authority by ; on april , governor denny wrote to the proprietaries: "four forts only were to remain over susquehannah, viz., lyttleton, loudoun, shippensburg, and carlisle."[ ] if this is considered a backward step it must also be considered as a concentration of energy in a most telling manner. if the frontier from the susquehanna to the maryland line could not be held at every point the decision seems to have been that the line of the old road must be secured at all costs, whereupon all the public forts were abandoned save the four which guarded this western highway. but the decision meant more than this. it was in fact an offensive measure. instead of holding a line of forts at the mountain gaps as a shield to the settlements, the line of the roadway westward was to be protected and even prolonged--a bristling sword-point stretching over the alleghenies into the very heart of the french and indian region. this is proved by the building of a new fort yet further west than lyttleton--at raystown, near the point where burd's road, cut in toward the youghiogheny, left the old trading path. this significant undertaking was evidently on the tapis early in the winter. on february , armstrong wrote burd: "this is all that can possibly be done, before the grass grows and proper numbers unite, except it is agreed to fortify raystown, of which i, yet, know nothing." on the fifth of may he addressed a letter to the governor in which he said: "... prompts me to propose to your honour what i have long ago suggested, to the late governor and gentlemen commissioners, that is the building a fort at raystown without which the king's business and the country's safety can never be effected to the westward.... 'tis true this service will require upwards of five hundred men, as no doubt they will be attacked if any power be at fort duquesne, because this will be a visible, large and direct stride to that place." thus it is clear that every step westward on the new-cut roadway from fort lyttleton toward raystown was a step toward fort duquesne, and every fortification built on this track was a "visible, large and direct" stroke at the power of france on the ohio. a fort was erected at raystown within the year. chapter iii the campaigns of "between the french and the earthquakes," wrote horace walpole in to mr. conway, "you have no notion how good we have grown; nobody makes a suit of clothes now but of sackcloth turned up with ashes." the years and were crowded with disappointments. with the miscarriage of the three campaigns of , governor shirley became the successor of the forgotten braddock and assembled a council of war at new york composed of governors shirley, hardy, sharpe, morris, and fitch, colonels dunbar and schuyler, majors craven and rutherford, and sir john st. clair. as though in very mockery, the king's instructions to the betrayed and sacrificed braddock were read to the council, after which general shirley announced a scheme for campaigns to be conducted during the new year. the new "generalissimo" proposed four campaigns: one army of five thousand men was to assemble at oswego, four thousand of whom were to be sent to destroy, first, fort frontenac, then forts niagara, presque isle, la boeuf, and detroit; a second army of three thousand provincials was to march over braddock's road against fort duquesne; an army of one thousand men was to advance to crown point on lake champlain and erect a fort there; a fourth army of two thousand men was to "carry fire and sword" up the kennebec river, across the portage, and down riviere chaudiere to its mouth near quebec. the council agreed, as councils will, to all this quixotic program; insisting, however, that ten thousand men should be sent to crown point and six thousand to oswego. in spite of shirley's earnestness things moved very slowly, and the bickering between governors and assemblies and the jealousy of men out of power of those in power retarded every movement. the deadlock in pennsylvania resulted in the abandonment of that province and virginia so far as offensive measures were concerned, and the two governors busied themselves in fortifying their smoking frontiers, as described above. and finally the northern campaigns toward the lakes came to a sudden stand when general shirley was superseded in his command by lord loudoun who, lacking the sense to forward shirley's plans, officiously altered them completely at a time when everything depended on quick and concerted action. as a result, loudoun moved northward at a snail's pace. it seemed as though affairs in america were momentarily paralyzed by the shock of the tremendous conflict now opened on the continent. on the eighteenth of may england had declared war on france and twenty-two days later france responded, and the most terrible conflict of the eighteenth century opened, in which the great frederick eventually humbled, with england's help, the three empresses whose hatred he had drawn upon himself. but while louis sent an army of one hundred thousand against frederick, he had yet twelve thousand to hurry over to new france to make good the successes of . these sailed under that best and bravest of frenchmen since the days of champlain, montcalm, on the third of april. in three months montcalm had swept down lake champlain to fort ticonderoga. then, as if to make sport of his antagonist--loudoun, who had abandoned shirley's oswego scheme--montcalm returned to montreal, hurried with three thousand soldiers down the st. lawrence and across to oswego, which surrendered at once with its twelve hundred defenders. the outwitted loudoun crawled slowly up to lake george; the winter of - came on, and the two commanders glared at each other across the narrow space of snow and ice that separated them. the two important campaigns planned by shirley were utter failures, and the westward campaign against fort duquesne was not even attempted. the french were strengthening everywhere. "whoever is in or whoever is out," exclaimed chesterfield, "i am sure we are undone both at home and abroad.... we are no longer a nation." but one of shirley's _coups_ had succeeded; winslow captured beausejour. in the west armstrong had razed the indian town of kittanning on the allegheny. on the other hand these minor successes were far overbalanced by the destruction of oswego and fort bull, between the mohawk and lake oneida, and the menacing position montcalm had assumed with the strengthening of ticonderoga, crown point, and frontenac. pitt, a fine example of a man too powerful to hold office with peace, was forced into the premiership again near the end of this black year of . parliament refused to support him, the duke of cumberland, captain-general of the army, opposed him, and the king hated him; early in april he was dismissed. england had found her man but the pigmies in power shrank from acknowledging him. with that sublime confidence which once or twice in a century betokens latent genius, pitt exclaimed: "i am sure i can save this country, and that nobody else can." meantime chesterfield was sighing: "i never saw so dreadful a time." the year of dragged on as gloomily as its predecessor. montcalm, master of the situation, pushed southward upon fort william henry on lake george, and general webb at fort edward. loudoun abandoned the scene and went gallantly sailing with the fleet against louisbourg. fort william henry surrendered and montcalm spread terror to albany and new york. had he pressed his advantage it is questionable if he could not have occupied the whole hudson valley. why he did not could have been explained better in quebec than in new york. it was ever the foe behind montcalm that was his worst enemy, and which eventually compassed his ruin. if official jealousies were now the bane of new france, incapacity until now had handicapped her enemies. when pitt was forced out of office in april, england was "left without a government." "england has been long in labor," said the prussian frederick, "and at last she has brought forth a man." her hour was long delayed, but early in pitt was again made secretary of state with old newcastle first lord of the treasury. "it was a partnership of magpie and eagle. the dirty work of government, intrigue, bribery, and all the patronage that did not affect the war, fell to the share of the old politician. if pitt could appoint generals, admirals, and ambassadors, newcastle was welcome to the rest. 'i will borrow the duke's majorities to carry on the government,' said the new secretary."[ ] seldom indeed has the elevation of one man to power produced such almost instantaneous results as did the elevation of pitt. the desperateness of england's condition undoubtedly intensified, by contrast, the successes which came when he assumed full power. england had been fighting, not france and her allies, but the stars; all the bravery and sturdiness of her soldiers and sailors could not counteract the ignorance and incapacity of those who had heretofore commanded them. now, capacity and ability were in league; like an electric shock the realization of this significant union passed from man to man. the people felt it, and the army and navy; the political pigmies about the throne felt it, as well as the king. pitt, vain as any genius, asked for the latter's confidence; the reply was "deserve it and you shall have it"--and a hanoverian king of england kept his word. "i shall now have no more peace," he had sighed when pelham died; and had not the reins of power soon passed into the hands of pitt it is doubtful if he ever could have had peace with honor. it was the skilful surgeon's knife that england needed, and no time for men who feared the sight of blood; the "great commoner" proved the skilful surgeon and at once gave england a motto pelham never knew: "neither fleet nor army should eat the bread of the nation in idleness." pitt at once displayed a prime qualification for his post of honor by choosing with unfailing discernment men who should lead both fleets and armies from idleness into action. his american campaign of embraced three decisive movements, an attack on louisbourg--stepping-stone to quebec--an invasion upon montcalm on lake champlain, and an expedition to fort duquesne. for these three movements he chose two of the three leaders. the two he chose completed their assignments with utmost courage and success. the third, abercrombie, whom pitt could not prevent succeeding the incompetent loudoun--met with defeat. as if to reaffirm his sagacity, ferdinand of brunswick, whom pitt sent to frederick the great in the place of the disgraced duke of cumberland, was also signally victorious over the foes who had compelled the king's brother, the year before, to sign a convention in which he promised to disband his army. admiral boscawen set amherst down before louisbourg with fourteen thousand men at the beginning of june, young wolfe leading the army up from the boats over crags which the french had left unguarded because they were, seemingly, inaccessible. at the same time abercrombie was gathering his army, of equal strength, at the head of lake george, preparatory to proceeding northward upon fort ticonderoga. the command, of the fort duquesne campaign was given by pitt to brigadier john forbes, a scot, ten years younger than his century. of forbes little seems to be known save that he began life as a medical student; abandoning his profession for that of arms he made a brave and good officer. that pitt chose him to retrieve the dead braddock's mistakes speaks loudly of his commanding abilities; the numerous quotations from his correspondence given elsewhere in this monograph will present a clearer picture of this almost unknown hero than has ever yet been drawn. "though a well-bred man of the world," writes parkman, "his tastes were simple; he detested ceremony, and dealt frankly and plainly with the colonists, who both respected and liked him."[ ] the correspondence between forbes and his chief assistant, lieutenant-colonel henry bouquet, a swiss, commanding the regiment of royal americans, is convincing proof of the democratic plainness and whole-hearted earnestness of braddock's successor. the condition of the frontiers of virginia and pennsylvania during the years succeeding braddock's defeat has been previously reviewed, and the greatness of the task now thrown upon general forbes's shoulders can be readily conceived. yet there was much in his favor; the colonies were quite aroused to the danger. pennsylvania and virginia were at last ready to put shoulder to shoulder in an attempt to drive the french from the ohio. pennsylvania promised forbes twenty-seven hundred men; sixteen hundred were to come from virginia and other of the southern provinces. twelve hundred highlanders from montgomery's regiment were given forbes, also the royal american regiment, made up largely of pennsylvania germans and officered by men brought for the purpose from europe. the force, when at last gathered together, amounted to between six and seven thousand men. the very proportions of this army were its principal menace. no one believed that fort duquesne, far away in the forests beyond the mountains, could hold out against this formidable array. that the french, now being attacked simultaneously in the east and in the north, could send reenforcements to the ohio was no more likely. but there still lay the alleghenies, their crags and gorges. could this large body of troops cross them and take provisions sufficient to support men and horses? as with braddock, so now with forbes, it was the mere physical feat of throwing an army three hundred miles into the forests that was the crucial problem. fort duquesne could have been captured with half of forbes's army; wolfe had hardly more than that at quebec in the year succeeding. if forbes could move this army, or any considerable fraction of it, across the mountains, there was no reasonable doubt of his success. forbes was much more delayed in getting his expedition off than was either of his two colleagues, abercrombie and amherst. little dreaming that it would not be until the middle of june that his stores would arrive from england, forbes had in march settled upon conococheague (williamsport, maryland) as a convenient point of rendezvous for his army.[ ] in this he acted upon the advice of his quartermaster-general, sir john st. clair, who was sent forward to examine routes and provide forage, but for whom, however, forbes had little respect. some time later st. clair urged forbes to alter this plan and make the new outpost on burd's road toward the youghiogheny, raystown, the point of rendezvous. the difficulty of the route from conococheague to fort cumberland undoubtedly induced st. clair to advise this change of base; later governor sharpe had a road cut from fort frederick to fort cumberland, but that was not until late in june. following st. clair's advice, forbes changed his original plan and raystown (bedford, pennsylvania) became the base of supplies and point of rendezvous. on the twenty-third of april colonel bouquet, commanding the royal americans, wrote forbes of his arrival at new york and in less than a month this exceedingly efficient officer was on his way over the old road westward through shippensburg and carlisle. he was at lancaster may , and wrote forbes: "i arrived here this morning, and found mr young waiting for money to clear armstrong's path the commissioners having disappointed him."[ ] on the twenty-second he wrote again outlining the route and stages on the road to raystown: "the first stage (from lancaster) shippensburg ^d fort loudon fort littleton miles / way to rays town, where i shall have a stockade erect'd miles at rays town where we shall build a fort."[ ] general forbes reached philadelphia by the middle of april but found himself as yet without an army. the raising of the provincials progressed slowly; his highlanders were not yet arrived from south carolina; his stores and ammunition had not come from england. however, on may , he wrote bouquet giving orders concerning the formation of magazines and ordered him to contract for one hundred and twenty wagons to transport provisions "backwards to rays town," and to select at that point a site for a fort. he added: "by all means have the road reconnoitred from rays town to the yohageny"--the road burd had completed to the summit of allegheny mountain in . it is plain that forbes intended, at this time, to march to fort cumberland by way of carlisle and bedford, and go on to fort duquesne over braddock's road. in this case he much needed burd's road to the youghiogheny--for the same reasons that braddock did. there is no evidence that forbes conceived the plan of using a new road westward from raystown until he and bouquet came to realize that, with that point as a rendezvous, the fort cumberland route would necessitate a long detour from a direct line toward fort duquesne. bouquet pushed on westward. he left fort lowther, at carlisle, june , and was writing forbes from fort loudoun on the eleventh. on the twenty-second he reached the juniata and wrote forbes on the twenty-eighth from his "camp near raes town," which now became the rendezvous of the summer's campaign. here fort bedford was built, making the most westernly fort in the chain of fortresses built through central pennsylvania. it was one of the leading features of general forbes's plan to extend this chain of forts all the way to the ohio. "it was absolutely necessary," he wrote to pitt, explaining this feature of his campaign, "that i should take precautions by having posts along my route, which i have done from a project that i took from turpin's essay, _sur la guerre_. last chapter ^{th} book, intitled _principe sur lequel on peut etablir un projet de campagne_, if you take the trouble of looking into this book, you will see the general principles upon which i have proceeded."[ ] the highlanders did not arrive from south carolina until the seventh of june, and the army stores and artillery did not arrive from england until the fourteenth. the work of raising the provincial troops was not forwarded with any greater despatch. in general terms forbes did not get fairly started from the seaboard until three weeks later than braddock had left fort cumberland. thus, though personally blameless, forbes began his campaign under an almost fatal handicap. and, with this army converging from many points upon fort bedford, arose the vital question of routes to be pursued. chapter iv the old or a new road? so many are the versions of the story of the building of forbes's road through pennsylvania that it was with utmost interest that the present writer took up the task of examining the only sources of reliable information: the correspondence of general forbes, colonel bouquet, and sir john st. clair, as preserved in the bouquet papers at the british museum, and at the british public records office. while these letters were supplemented by frequent personal interviews which have never been recorded, yet the testimony given by them is overwhelming that, until the very last, both men, forbes and bouquet, were quite undecided what route to fort duquesne was most practicable; both were open to conviction, and were equally disinterested parties, thinking only of the good of the cause to which both soon gave their lives. no one can read this voluminous correspondence and believe for one moment that general forbes was prejudiced in favor of a pennsylvania route by pennsylvania intriguers, as has been frequently asserted;[ ] nor that the brave swiss bouquet was at any time determined to guide the army whose van he bravely led by any but the most expeditious and practicable thoroughfare. that both men knew of the bitter factional fight which was waging, this correspondence makes very clear; that both were made doubly proof against factional arguments, because of this knowledge, is equally plain. before entering upon a consideration of the forbes-bouquet-st. clair correspondence, it must be always remembered that general forbes had originally planned to make the campaign by the old braddock road from virginia and had issued orders for the assembling of both provincial and regular troops at "conegochieque" (conococheague), on the road built by governor sharpe from alexandria to fort frederick in , over which dunbar's column marched.[ ] it was undoubtedly his purpose to march south from philadelphia over the old monoccasy road to the potomac and then westward over the braddock routes which converged upon fort cumberland. from there the main track of braddock's army offered an open way toward fort duquesne. as previously suggested it was the advice of sir john st. clair, his quartermaster-general, that influenced forbes to alter his plan and march straight westward from philadelphia toward lancaster and the pennsylvania frontier. whatever may have induced st. clair to give this advice, it is sure he had learned some lessons from the disastrous campaign of when he led braddock through a country quite devoid of carriages, horses, and produce; pennsylvania, on the other hand, was the granary of america;[ ] and, if a road was lacking, horses and wagons were not, and it was better to lack what could be provided than to lack that which could not possibly be obtained. on may , forbes wrote bouquet from philadelphia that it was time the magazines were being formed. one week later (may ), sir john st. clair wrote bouquet from winchester: "governor sharpe has been here with me and is returned to frederick town in maryland." it would seem that sir john's change of mind concerning the advisability of forbes opening a new route westward dated from governor sharpe's visit; for, on the day following (may ), he writes bouquet: "i am not anxious about the cutting the road to rays town from fort cumberland, it may be done in days, or in , if the two ends are gone upon at the same time; but i am afraid you will have a deal of work from fort loudon to rays town, which i am afraid will be troublesome." on the cover of this letter bouquet made the following memorandum: "the officer commanding the virginia troops, soon to march into pennsylvania, is to take directions from henry pollan living upon the temporary line, or in his absence, from any sensible person about his house, for the nearest and best waggon road from said pollans or the widow mcgaws to fort loudon, to which place the troops are to march, shippensburg being much out of the way."[ ] bouquet reached carlisle on the twenty-fourth of may, and wrote forbes as follows on the day after: "i shall order washington's regiment to fort cumberland and as soon as we take post at reas town of them must cut the road along the path from fort cumberland to reas town and join us." the evident plan of sir john st. clair to divert bouquet from the route he had originally outlined is disclosed further in a letter written from winchester on may , in which he says: "i cannot send col^o byrd to you as all the cherokees have resolved never more to go to pennsylvania, on account of the soldiers of fort loudon, taking up arms against them, by cap^t trent's instigation." under the same date, however, bouquet wrote st. clair and in the letter gave the order which he had preserved in form of a memorandum on the back of st. clair's letter of may . sir john, however, became more and more insistent that the virginia and maryland routes should be employed; on june he wrote bouquet that "the pattomack has as much water in it as the po at cremona," intending to show how useful the stream would be for transporting army stores to fort cumberland. on june --when washington arrived at winchester--st. clair wrote bouquet: "i send you this by john walker who is the best woodsman i ever knew, he will be usefull in reconnoitering the road to be cut on the other side of the mountain, but do not attempt it too far to the right." in this letter st. clair again reiterates the threat that the cherokees will not go into pennsylvania. and in a postscript, written in french, he adds a parting shot: "i think you will have some trouble to find a road from the mountain to the great falls of the yougheogany." on june st. clair again wrote: "i had great dependence on john walker the guide for finding the road from the allegheny ridge to the great crossing, i detained him the other day, on purpose, to know if he wou'd attempt to find it. the answer that he made me, was, that he knew that country very well, having hunted there many years, that the hills run across the line the road ought to go and are very steep: that he was sent by col^o dunbar, from the great crossing, to acquaint col^o burd, of the defeat of the army, and that the year after he was taken prisoner by the shanese, and carried [over] that road, to the french fort; and that the shanese (who he was acquainted with and speaks their language) told him, that was the best way to get out of these mountains and laurell thicketts. on the whole he says that the road may be made, with a great deal of labor, & time, but that it must be reconoiter'd, when the leaves are off the trees; being impossible to do it at this season. considering all these circumstances and the season of the year advancing so fast, and the small number of indians we have left, i must send you my opinion (which always was that if i was to carry a convoy from lancaster to fort cumberland i would pass by, or near reas town). that we have not time to reconoitre the road in question, and open it, without taking up more time than we have to spare, and which wou'd give the french and indians too favorable an opportunity of attacking on that laborious work. i think it will be more eligible to fall down on fort cumberland, and get on from thence to the great crossing, after making a block house, at the little meadows. this will advance us miles from fort cumberland, and a deposite may be made at that place." no one can read this strange letter without realizing bouquet's unhappy situation: a vacillating know-nothing for quartermaster-general, and a commander-in-chief detained from coming to the front. bouquet wrote to forbes, who answered that the course of the proposed new road should be examined before that route was abandoned. "i have yours of the ^{th}," wrote forbes on june , "from fort loudon and i am sorry that you are obliged to change our route, and shall be glad to find the road proposed by gov^{r} sharp practicable, in which case i should think it ought to be sett about immediately.[ ]... i suppose you will reconnoitre the road across the allegany mountains from reas town and if found unpracticable, that the fort cumberland garrison should open the old road[ ] forward towards the crossing of the yohagani.... i find we must take nothing by report in this country, for there are many who have their own designs in representing things, so i am glad you have proceeded to reas town, where you will be able to judge of the roads and act accordingly.... let there be no stops put to the roads as that is our principall care at present." no one can believe that the author of this letter was the blindly prejudiced man some have painted him. bouquet was, however, not to be contented with an examination of one route westward; his scouts were out in three directions: on braddock's road, on the old trading path running westward from raystown (now bedford), and also on the upper path toward the allegheny by way of the indian frank's town. in all this forbes seconded him as shown by his letter of june : "i approve much of your trying to pass the laurel hill leaving the yohageny to the left, as also of knowing what can be done by the path from franks town or even from the head of the susquehannah, for i have all along had in view to have partys, to fall upon their settlements about venango and there abouts while we are pushing forward our principale design." in the meantime old sir john kept up his current of objections, so wretchedly ill-timed; he wrote thus from carlisle june : "i shall be glad you may find a waggon road leaving the yougheagany on the left, it is what i never cou'd find, i think the experiment is dangerous at present and going on an uncertainty when by falling down upon fort cumberland, we have our road opened; should [the wagon road] be made use of, then the collums of our army would be too far assunder." st. clair had been pushing the opening of the road from fort frederick to fort cumberland in the expectation that the army would consequently "fall down" to the more southernly westward road even before reaching fort cumberland. three days previous to the last letter quoted he wrote bouquet: "i have this morning [june ] received the report that the road from fort frederick to fort cumberland is practicable." bouquet evidently laid the sum and substance of st. clair's letters before general forbes who, on july , delivered himself in reply as follows: "sir john st. clair was the person who first advised me to go by raes town, why he has altered his sentiments i do not know, or to what purpose make the road from fort frederick to cumberland, as most certainly we shall now all go by raes town, but i am afraid that sir john is led by passions, he says he knows very well that we shall not find a road from raes town across the allegany, and that to go by raes town to f. cumberland is a great way about, but this he ought to have said two months ago or hold his peace now. pray examine the country tother side of the allegany particularly the laurell ridge that he says its impossible we can pass without going into braddock's old road. what his views are in those suggestions i know not, but i should be sorry to be obliged to alter ones schemes so late in the day, particularly as it was s^{ir} johns proper business to have forseen and to have foretold all this. who to the contrary was the first adviser. let the road to fort cumberland from raes town be finished with all diligence because if we must go by fort cumberland it must be through raes town as it is now too late to make use of the road by fort frederick and i fancy you will agree that ... there is no time to be lost." general forbes wrote an interesting letter to pitt under the date of july . speaking of raystown he writes: "the place having its name from one rae, who designed to have made a plantation there several years ago." speaking of the country he observes: "being an immense forest of miles in extent, intersected by several ranges of mountains, impenetrable almost to any thing human save the indians (if they be allowed the appelation) who have foot paths or tracks through those desarts, by the help of which, we make our roads.... i am in hopes of finding a better way over the alleganey mountain, than that from fort cumberland which general braddock took. if so i shall shorten both my march, and my labor of the road about miles, which is a great consideration. for were i to pursue m^r braddock's route, i should save but little labour, as that road is now a brush wood, by the sprouts from the old stumps, which must be cut down and made proper for carriages as well as any other passage that we must attempt." yet his letter to bouquet on the day after, july , says that forbes was not stickling for the new road: "i shall hurry up the troops, directly," he wrote, "so pray see for a road across the alligeny or by fort cumberland, which garrison may if necessary be clearing braddocks old road." however, lest he be put under the necessity of taking the longer route, he wrote again to bouquet by james grant: "that the road over the allegany may be reconnoitred, for he (forbes) is unwilling to be put under the necessity of making any detour." on july general forbes wrote bouquet from carlisle: "i ... have all along thought the road from f. frederick to cumberland superfluous, if we could have done without it, which i am glad to understand we can do by raes town. it would have been double pleasure if from thence we could have got a good road across the laurell hill, but by cap^t wards journal i begin to fear it will be difficult, altho i would have you continue to make further tryalls, for i should be very sorry to pass by fort cumberland. i am sensible that some foolish people have made partys to drive us into that road, as well as into the road by fort frederick, but as i utterly detest all partys and views in military operations, so you may very well guess, how and what arguments i have had with s^{ir} john st clair upon that subject. but i expect governor sharp here this night when i shall know more of this same road. i hope your second detachment across the allegeny have been able to ascertain what route we must take, and that consequently you are sett about clearing of it.... i have sent up major armstrong with one demming an old indian trader who has been many a time upon the road from raes town to fort duquesne, he says there is no difficulty in the road across the laurell hill and that he leaves the yohageny all the way upon his left hand about miles, and that it is only miles from the laurell hill to fort duquesne, along the top of the chestnut ridge.... as i presume you may want forage, and as s^{ir} john has confessed that he had provided none but at fort cumberland (i suppose on purpose to drive me into that road, for what purpose i know not) if you therefore think it necessary, send waggons to fort cumberland for part of it.... let me hear immediately your resolution about the road." to this bouquet replied that he had sent orders to have braddock's road reconnoitred and cleared; "at all events it may serve to deceive the enemy." he was daily in expectation of news from his exploring parties on laurel hill and promised forbes to forward their report as soon as he received it. washington had now reached fort cumberland and was soon in correspondence with bouquet at raystown thirty-four miles to the northward. july he wrote: "i shall direct the officer, that marches out, to take particular pains in reconnoitring general braddock's road, though i have had repeated information, that it only wants such small repairs, as could with ease be made as fast as the army would march."[ ] on the twenty-first he wrote: "the bridge is finished at this place, and tomorrow major peachey, with three hundred men, will proceed to open general braddock's road. i shall direct them to go to george's creek, ten miles in advance. by that time i may possibly hear from you ... for it will be needless to open a road, of which no use will be made afterwards."[ ] thus it is clear that, as late as july , washington at fort cumberland, bouquet at raystown, and forbes at carlisle were all in doubt as to the army's route. on july bouquet wrote general forbes: "i waited for the return of captain ward before replying [to forbes's letters of the th and th inst]. he arrived yesterday evening, his journal being so vague and confused that i could not understand anything from it. captain gordon is making an extract from it which i send with this. they are convinced that a waggon road could be made across laurell hill, not so bad as that from fort littleton to this place, & that there is water and grass all the way, but little forage between the two mountains. the slope of the alleghany is the worst, the country between that and laurell hill is passable, and this last mountain, (of which they have made a sample--) is very easy to cross: all the guides & officers who were on the ohio agree that from lawrell hill onwards there are no further difficulties; it is a chain of hills easy to cross. they have thought it impracticable to continue the road cut by colonel burd to join the braddock road, except by following the whole length of lawrell hill, which would make the road longer than if taken through cumberland; the rest of the country is rendered impassable by marshes, &c. the pack horses have just arrived. we must give them a day's rest, & on the day after tomorrow major armstrong will set out with a party of volunteers to mark out the road, and will send me a man every day (or every two days) to inform me of his progress & observations. there is no spot suitable for the making of a depot until one comes to the foot of the other slope of lawrell hill, which may be about miles from here; there is sufficient water there, and forage, but as it would entail too great a risk to leave his party on the other side of lawrell hill, i shall give him instructions to reconnoitre, & to mark out the site of the depot, & then return to edmund's swamp, where i will in the first place send him a reinforcement with provisions, so that he may make an entrenched camp there, which will serve as flying base; and if the report he makes of his route is favourable, i shall send men (in all) to take a post at loyal hanny, which i conceive to be the proper place for the chief depot; from there it will be more easy to push his parties forward than from this place. i hope you will be here before the main detachment marches, and in that case i shall go myself, if you approve. i wish the new levies may be able to join before that time, so as to be able to form the three pennsylvania battalions, and get them into order. i shall have here the two companies of workmen from virginia, to be employed in cutting the road as soon as you shall have decided upon your route. i shall await your arrival before beginning, because the pack horses cross without difficulty, and will suffice to carry their provisions. as regards your route the virginia party continues in full force, and although the secret motive of their policy seems to me not above suspicion of partiality, it nevertheless appears to me an additional reason for acting with double caution in a matter of this consequence, so as to have ample answers for all their clamors, if any accident happens, which they would not fail to attribute to the choice of a fresh route. captain patterson, who set out two days after captain ward with a party of men to reconnoitre the fort, has returned with them without accomplishing anything. he tried to cross the two mountains in a direct line with the fort, but he found lawrell hill impassible, and the different reports agree in the fact that there is no other pass to be found except the indian path reconnoitred by captain ward. the guide dunning speaks of a gap he crossed years ago, but no one knows this gap, which he declares he found in 'hunting horses.' he is marching with the major and two or three other guides.... the communication with cumberland is cut, and it is an excellent road."[ ] on july forbes wrote, by the hand of st. clair, to bouquet asking that all the guides then with him be sent to carlisle for a conference with the general. three days later bouquet answered as follows: "major armstrong has three guides (and three indians) with him: mcconnell, brown and starrat. i am sending you all that are left there,--frazer, walker, garret, and the two that are at littleton,--ohins and lowry. if those from cumberland arrive in time, i will send them on afterwards." on july washington wrote bouquet from fort cumberland: "i do not incline to propose any thing that may seem officious, but would it not facilitate the operation of the campaign, if the virginian troops were ordered to proceed as far as the great crossing, and construct forts at the most advantageous situations as they advance, opening the road at the same time? in such a case, i should be glad to be joined by that part of my regiment at raystown. major peachey, who commands the working party on braddock's road, writes to me, that he finds few repairs wanting. tonight i shall order him to proceed as far as savage river, and then return, as his party is too weak to adventure further.... i shall most cheerfully work on any road, pursue any route or enter upon any service, that the general or yourself may think me usefully imployed in, or qualified for, and shall never have a will of my own, when a duty is required of me. but since you desire me to speak my sentiments freely, permit me to observe, that after having conversed with all the guides, and having been informed by others, who have a knowledge of the country, i am convinced that a road, to be compared with general braddock's, or indeed, that will be fit for transportation even by packhorses, cannot be made. i have no predilection for the route you have in mind, not because difficulties appear therein, but because i doubt whether satisfaction can be given in the execution of the plan. i know not what reports you may have received from your reconnoitring parties; but i have been uniformly told, that, if you expect a tolerable road by raystown, you will be disappointed, for no movement can be made that way without destroying our horses. i should be extremely glad of one hour's conference with you, when the general arrives. i could then explain myself more fully, and, i think, demonstrate the advantages of pushing out a body of light troops in this quarter. i would make a trip to raystown with great pleasure, if my presence here could be dispensed with for a day or two, of which you can best judge." [illustration: forbes's road to raystown ( ) [_the dotted line to the youghiogheny shows the line of burd's road_] (_from the original in the british museum_)] with washington's letter came also one from general forbes, written july . from it these extracts are to the point: "as i disclaim all parties (factions) myself, i should be sorry that they were to creep in amongst us. i therefore conceive what the virginia folks would be at, for to me it appears to be them, and them only, that want to drive us into the road by fort cumberland, no doubt in opposition to the pennsylvanians who by raes town would have a nigher communication (than them) to the ohio. s^{ir} john st. clair was the first person that proposed and enforced me in to take the road by raes town, i having previous to this ordered our army to assemble at conegochegue which i was obliged afterwards to alter to raestown at his instance, altho he then declared that he nor nobody else knew any thing of the road leading from the laurell hill, but as he has represented it of late impracticable to me, i was therefore pressing to have the communication opened from raes town to fort cumberland. s^{ir} john i am afraid had got a new light at winchester, and i believe from thence proceeded to the opening the road from fort frederick to fort cumberland. i put the question fairly to him yesterday morning by asking him if he knew of any intention of making me change measures and forcing me into the fort cumberland road, when he knew that it was at his instance solely, that i had changed it to raes town; i showed him cap^t ward's journal & description of the road from raestown to the top of the laurell hill, telling him at the same time, that if an easy road could be found there, or made there, that i was amazed he should know nothing off it, which was evident by his telling me of late that the laurel hill was impracticable, he appeared nonplused, but rather than appear ignorant, he said that there were many indian traders that knew those roads very well; i stopt him short by saying if that was the case, that i was very sorry he had never found them out, or never thought it worth his while to examine them. in short he knows nothing of the matter. col^l byrd in a paragraph of his letter from fort cumberland, amongst other things writes, that he has upwards of sixty indians waiting my arrival, and ready to accompany me, but they will not follow me unless i go by fort cumberland. this is a new system of military discipline truly; and shows that my good friend byrd is either made the cats foot of himself, or he little knows me, if he imagines that sixty scoundrels are to direct me in my measures. as we are now so far advanced as raestown i should look fickle in my measures, in changing, to go by fort cumberland, without being made thoroughly sensible of the impracticability of passing by the shortest way over the laurell hill to the ohio. the difference at present in the length of road the one way and the other stands thus-- "from raestown to fort cumberland, miles or upwards "from fort cumberland to fort duquesne by ge^{nl} braddocks, miles in all to which add the passage of rivers &c and the last miles not cut. "the other road-- "from raestown to the top of the laurell hill miles "from then to fort duquesne suppose or miles in all with no rivers to obstruct you and nothing to stop you that i can see, except the bugbear, a tremendous pass of the laurel hill. "if what i say is true and those two roads are compared, i don't see that i am to hesitate one moment which to take unless i take a party [join a faction] likewise, which i hope never to do in army matters. "i have now told you my opinion, and what i think of the affairs of the road, but to judge at such distance, and of a country i never saw, nor heard spoke off but in cap^t ward's account, i therefore can say nothing decisive, so have sent up s^{ir} john st clair in order that he may explore that new road and determine the most ellegible to be pursued, but this i think need not hinder you from proceeding upon the new road as soon as you can conveniently.... i have spoke very roundly upon this subject [roads and forage] to s^{ir} john, who was sent up the country from philadelphia for no other purpose than to fix the roads and provide forage, both of which i am sorry to say it, are yet to begin--but all this _entre nous_ until i see you." under the same date (july ) general forbes wrote as follows to major-general abercrombie: "scouting parties have been sent out, with the best guides we could find, and according to the reports which some of them have made, the road over the allegeny mountain and the lawrel ridge will be found practicable for carriages, which will be of infinate consequence, will facilitate our matters much by shortening the march at least miles, besides the advantage of having no rivers to pass, as we shall keep the yeogheny upon our left.... the troops are all in motion ... but i have retarded the march of some of them upon the route from this place, as i am unwilling to bring them together till the route is finally determined." on the twenty-sixth bouquet wrote forbes as follows: "i am sending you a letter i have received from major armstrong. by the report of the two guides he sent out it seems the thing is very practicable; in an affair of so much consequence as this i thought i ought to act with greatest caution. while the waggoner returned today with an escort to reconnoitre how the road could be laid so as to avoid all the detours and windings of the path; and i have asked colonel burd to go with rhor tomorrow to the top of the mountain (allegheny) to determine the straightest line from here to the foot of the ascent, and to mark the turnings of the road to reach the top. i hope you will be here on their return, and could then judge if it would be well to risk this route. in days the major will return to edmund's swamp, where there is abundant forage, and he will let me know what we must expect from lawrell hill. a man who has been times by this path to the ohio says that the remainder of the route after loyal hanny is a long series of hills, with swamps and bogs, but not of great ascent. he is a man named fergusson, very limited, from whom one can elicit nothing precise; i have sent him with the major and dunnings. upon the major's report, we shall be sure of the route as far as loyal hanny; and, as regards the remainder, i am sending out captain patterson tomorrow with men, to follow this same path to the end, and return forthwith to report, observing the bad places, and the facilities afforded by the country for obviating them, such as trees, stones, &c., the quantity of grass and water, the defiles, distances, &c. he ought to be back in days at latest. colonel washington has had the beginning of the road cut from braddock, [along braddock's road?] which i have fixed at miles from fort cumberland. you will have been informed by the guides i sent you of the advantages of this route which is open, and needs very little in the way of repair; its drawbacks consist in the want of forage, its length, its defiles, and the crossing of rivers. colonel washington, who is animated with sincere zeal to contribute to the success of this expedition, and is ready to march wheresoever you may decide, writes me that, from all he has heard and from all the information he has been able to collect, our route is impracticable even for packhorses, so bad are the mountains, and that the braddock road is the only one to take &c. "there, my dear general, you have in brief the reports and opinions which have reached me; i will add no reflection of my own, hoping to see you every day. do you not think it would be well to see colonel washington here, before making your decision? and if our parties continue to send favourable news, to convert him to give way to the evidence?" in reply to washington's letter of the twenty-fifth bouquet wrote: "nothing can exceed your generous dispositions for the service. i see with the utmost satisfaction, that you are above the influences of prejudice, and ready to go heartily where reason and judgement shall direct. i wish, sincerely, that we may all entertain one and the same opinion; therefore i desire to have an interview with you at the houses built half way between our camps. i will communicate all the intelligence, which it has been in my power to collect; and, by weighing impartially the advantages and disadvantages of each route, i hope we shall be able to determine what is most eligible, and save the general trouble and loss of time."[ ] concerning this meeting washington wrote as follows to his friend major francis halket, then in forbes's camp at carlisle: "i am just returned (august ^{nd})[ ] from a conference with colonel bouquet. i find him fixed, i think i may say unalterably fixed, to lead you a new way to the ohio, through a road, every inch of which is to be cut at this advanced season, when we have scarce time left to tread the beaten track, universally confessed to be the best passage through the mountains. if colonel bouquet succeeds in this point with the general, all is lost,--all is lost indeed,--our enterprise will be ruined, and we shall be stopped at the laurel hill this winter; but not to gather _laurels_, except of the kind that covers the mountains. the southern indians will turn against us, and these colonies will be desolated by such an accession to the enemy's strength. these must be the consequences of a miscarriage; and a miscarriage is the almost necessary consequence of our attempt to march the army by this new route. i have given my reasons at large to colonel bouquet. he desired that i would do so, that he might forward them to the general. should this happen, you will be able to judge of their weight. i am uninfluenced by prejudice, having no hopes or fears but for the general good. of this you may be assured, and that my sincere sentiments are spoken on this occasion." concerning the same interview bouquet wrote forbes (july ): "i have had an interview with colonel washington, to ascertain how he conceives the difficulties could be overcome; i got no satisfaction from it; _the majority of these gentlemen do not know the difference between a party and an army_, and, overlooking all difficulties, they believe everything to be easy which flatters their ideas. what i shall have to tell you on this point cannot be discussed in a letter...." in this same letter bouquet wrote, concerning the general situation: "you will see from the extract appended from major armstrong's letters the report he makes thereupon. all seems practicable and even easy, but i put too little confidence in the observations of a young man without experience to act upon his judgement. i have therefore sent colonel burd, rhor and captain ward to reconnoitre the allegheny, to make an examination of all the difficulties, and thus put me into a position to decide what reliance is to be placed on the rest of the discoveries. unfortunately they have found things very different, and this mountain which these gentlemen crossed so easily is worse than seydeling hill, and the ascent much longer. considering that it was impossible to cut a waggon road on this slope without immense labour, they searched along the mountain for another pass, and found about two miles to the north a gap of which no one was aware.... it seems that, with much labour, one might make a much easier road there than the other; it remains to be seen what obstacles are still to be encountered before loyal hanning. sir john has arrived, and i have communicated to him all i know on the subject; and he starts today or tomorrow morning with colonel burd, rhor and men to reconnoitre this gap, and the whole route as far as loyal hanning. he will spend or days on this survey, and i hope on his return you will be able to form a decision. and, in order that no time may be lost, i will make a commencement of the work if the thing is practicable without awaiting your orders. i have thought it best not to do so up to the present, in order not to lay ourselves open to public reflections if we commenced and abandoned different routes. i agree with you that you cannot take the cumberland route untill you are in a position to demonstrate the impossibility of finding another road, or at any rate the impossibility of opening one without risking the expedition by too great an expenditure of time. we are in a cruel position, if you are reduced to a single line of communication. it is miles from cumberland to gist, and there are only three places capable of furnishing forage sufficient for the army; the rest would not suffice for a single night. the frost, which commences at the end of october, destroys all the grass, and the rivers overflowing in the spring cut off all communication.... if we open a new route, we have not enough axes." on the same day forbes wrote bouquet by the hand of halket a decisive letter in which he said: "he [forbes] thinks that no time should be lost in making the new road, he has directed me to inform you that you are immediately to begin the opening of it agreeable to the manner he wrote to you in his last letter, as he sees all the advantages he can propose by going that route, and will avoid innumerable inconveniencys he would encounter was he to go the other, he is at the same time extremely surprised at the partial disposition that appears in those virginia gentlemans sentiments, as there can be no sort of comparison between the two routes when you consider the situation of the troops now at reastown, & that their is not the least reason to expect that we shall meet with any difficulties but what may be easily surmounted." on the next day but one forbes wrote: "he [halket] told you my opinion of the laurell hill road, and that i thought it ought to be sett about directly, as it is good to have two strings to one bow." on this day washington wrote a last letter to bouquet in behalf of the braddock route: "the matters, of which we spoke relative to the roads, have since our parting, been the subject of my closest reflection; and, so far am i from altering my opinion, that, the more time and attention i bestow, the more i am confirmed in it; and the reasons for taking braddock's road appear in a stronger point of view. to enumerate the whole of these reasons would be tedious, and to you, who are become so much master of the subject, unnecessary. i shall therefore, briefly mention a few only, which i think so obvious in themselves, that they must effectually remove objections. several years ago the virginians and pennsylvanians commenced a trade with the indians settled on the ohio, and, to obviate the many inconveniencies of a bad road, they, after reiterated and ineffectual efforts to discover where a good one might be made, employed for the purpose several of the most intelligent indians, who, in the course of many years' hunting, had acquired a perfect knowledge of these mountains. the indians, having taken the greatest pains to gain the rewards offered for this discovery, declared, that the path leading from will's creek was infinitely preferable to any, that could be made at any other place. time and experience so clearly demonstrated this truth, that the pennsylvania traders commonly carried out their goods by will's creek. therefore, the ohio company, in , at a considerable expense, opened the road. in the troops, whom i had the honor to command, greatly repaired it, as far as gist's plantation; and, in , it was widened and completed by general braddock to within six miles of fort duquesne. a road, that has so long been opened, and so well and so often repaired, must be much firmer and better than a new one, allowing the ground to be equally good. "but, supposing it were practicable to make a road from raystown quite as good as general braddock's,--i ask, have we time to do it? certainly not. to surmount the difficulties to be encountered in making it over such mountains, covered with woods and rocks, would require so much time, as to blast our otherwise well-grounded hopes of striking the important stroke this season. "the favorable accounts, that some give of the forage on the raystown road, as being so much better than that on the other, are certainly exaggerated. it is well known, that, on both routes, the rich valleys between the mountains abound with good forage, and that those, which are stony and bushy, are destitute of it. colonel byrd and the engineer, who accompanied him, confirm this fact. surely the meadows on braddock's road would greatly overbalance the advantage of having grass to the foot of the ridge, on the raystown road; and all agree, that a more barren road is nowhere to be found, than that from raystown to the inhabitants, which is likewise to be considered. "another principal objection made to general braddock's road is in regard to the waters. but these seldom swell so much, as to obstruct the passage. the youghiogany river, which is the most rapid and soonest filled, i have crossed with a body of troops, after more than thirty days' almost continued rain. in fine, any difficulties on this score are so trivial, that they really are not worth mentioning. the monongahela, the largest of all these rivers, may, if necessary, easily be avoided, as mr. frazer the principal guide informs me, by passing a defile, and even that, he says, may be shunned. "again, it is said, there are many defiles on this road. i grant that there are some, but i know of none that may not be traversed; and i should be glad to be informed where a road can be had, over these mountains, not subject to the same inconvenience. the shortness of the distance between raystown and loyal hanna is used as an argument against this road, which bears in it something unaccountable to me; for i must beg leave to ask, whether it requires more time, or is more difficult and expensive, to go one hundred and forty-five miles in a good road already made to our hands, than to cut one hundred miles anew, and a great part of the way over impassable mountains. "that the old road is many miles nearer winchester in virginia, and fort frederic in maryland, than the contemplated one, is incontestable; and i will here show the distances from carlisle by the two routes, fixing the different stages, some of which i have from information only, but others i believe to be exact. _from carlisle to fort duquesne by way of raystown._ miles. from carlisle to shippensburg " shippensburg to fort loudoun " fort loudoun to fort littleton " fort littleton to juniatta crossing " juniatta crossing to raystown ---- " raystown to fort duquesne ---- _from carlisle to fort duquesne, by way of forts frederic and cumberland._ miles. from carlisle to shippensburg " shippensburg to chambers's " chambers's to pacelin's " pacelin's to fort frederic " fort frederic to fort cumberland ---- " fort cumberland to fort duquesne ---- "from this computation there appears to be a difference of nineteen miles only. were all the supplies necessarily to come from carlisle, it is well known, that the goodness of the old road is a sufficient compensation for the shortness of the other, as the wrecked and broken wagons there clearly demonstrate.... "... from what has been said relative to the two roads, it appears to me very clear, that the old one is infinitely better, than the other can be made, and that there is no room to hesitate in deciding which to take, when we consider the advanced season, and the little time left to execute our plan." but forbes's letter of the thirty-first was decisive, and, following his orders, colonel bouquet began cutting a new road westward from raystown august . chapter v the new road the correspondence included in the chapter preceding affords probably the utmost light that can be thrown today upon the reason of the making of the great pennsylvanian thoroughfare to the ohio. it cannot be affirmed, as has often been said, that forbes was early prejudiced in favor of a pennsylvania route; he never could have been such a hypocrite as to pen the words to be found on page . that his first plans were completely altered at the advice of sir john st. clair is very plain from his letters to governor denny (march ) and to colonel bouquet (july ); but up to the very last he leaves the question open, to be decided wholly according to the reports of the guides and explorers. it is difficult, however, to reconcile the words in forbes's letter to bouquet of july , in which he states that st. clair, when advising the raystown route, affirmed "that he nor nobody else knew anything of the road leading from laurell hill." it is evident from this that forbes originally expected to fall down to the braddock road from raystown, but that when once on the ground, with the distances clear in his mind, he was compelled to find a shorter road westward if there was one to be found. this is the only explanation of his immediate change of plan at st. clair's advice, knowing that st. clair had found no route westward by laurel hill; it seems that st. clair thought only of proceeding via raystown to fort cumberland, as he affirmed in his letter of june to bouquet. st. clair was undoubtedly right in deciding that the best course to fort cumberland from philadelphia for the army was through populous pennsylvania, and his understanding that the braddock road would be followed from that point would easily explain why he had provided forage at fort cumberland, which occasioned forbes's criticism in his letter of july . indeed from forbes's letters of june , , and , it does not seem that he had any definite plan for the construction of a new road. on the other hand forbes very correctly doubted the advisability of using braddock's long route when his army was once gathered together along the road from carlisle to raystown. bouquet stated his (forbes's) position very soundly when he said: "you cannot take the cumberland until you are in a position to demonstrate the impossibility of finding another road, or at any rate the impossibility of opening one without risking the expedition by too great an expenditure of time." moreover, forbes had a comprehensive view of the situation such as probably no one else had. so far as bouquet's position was concerned, his correspondence shows that he was assiduous in carrying out forbes's directions; as to any conspiracy on his part to win forbes over to the pennsylvania route, as washington insinuated, who can believe one existed after reading his letters? bouquet very properly threw the burden of ultimate decision upon forbes, as it was his duty to do; he sent him all the information which he could obtain, pro and con, concerning all routes; he sent colonel burd out, with his guides, in order to have testimony upon which he was sure he could rely; he urged forbes to defer his decision of route until he (forbes) could have a personal interview with washington; he had braddock's road partly cleared and plainly described it as needing "very little in the way of repair;" he never seems to have attempted to minimize the difficulties of making a new route or maximize those of the old; he continually urges the necessity of great caution in the selection of a route. the motives which directed the movements of sir john st. clair during these months of controversy are quite beyond fathoming. it is easy to believe that the "new light," which forbes said sir john had received "at winchester," made it clear that if he did not send the army over the southern route (fort frederick-fort cumberland) to cumberland, it was possible that forbes would never traverse braddock's road at all. it is certain that upon governor sharpe's and washington's arrival upon the scene, sir john began to shower upon bouquet letters advising the opening of the fort frederick-fort cumberland road; "and i believe from thence," forbes wrote of st. clair's meeting with governor sharpe, "proceeded to the opening the road from fort frederick to fort cumberland." indeed, it would be interesting to know whether it was not st. clair's suddenly raised clamor over the length of the raystown route to fort cumberland (hoping to "drive" forbes over the fort frederick route) that determined forbes to ignore fort cumberland and push out on a new, shorter route to the ohio. whatever were st. clair's reasons for such vacillating plans, it is sure he fell into disgrace in forbes's eyes. in addition to the upbraiding he received from the general's own lips, forbes wrote in his letter of july that the wagons were the plague of his life and denied that st. clair had taken "the smallest pains" or made the "least inquiry" concerning the matters he had been detailed to care for. again, in forbes's letter to bouquet of july he says: "sir john acknowledges taking some (kettles &c from pennsylvania troops) and applying them to the use of the virginians &c which is terrible." in a letter previously quoted forbes affirms that st. clair--who was sent in advance of the army to settle the matter of route--"knows nothing of the matter." forbes's wrath at st. clair reached a climax before the end of august when he savagely declared that he suspected his "heart as well as the head."[ ] and now as to washington. his letters are typical of the young man to whom these western forests were not unfamiliar; they are patriotic and loyal. though he was standing for election to the house of burgesses in his home county, he had refused to accept a leave of absence to do his electioneering--which in no wise prevented his election. i cannot find any ill-boding prophecy in his letters, concerning the making of a new road westward from raystown, which after events did not justify. he affirmed that forbes could not reach fort duquesne by a new road before the winter set in; and no prophecy ever seemed more accurately fulfilled. for before fort duquesne was reached it was decided not to attempt to continue the campaign further. an unexpected occurrence suddenly turned the tide and forbes went on--to a splendid conquest. but, nevertheless, washington's prophecy was, not long after it was made, found to have been that of a wise man. had forbes been one iota less fortunate than braddock was unfortunate, washington's words would have come true to the letter. so much for his judgment, which forbes ignored. but washington's knowledge was limited, so far as the general situation of the army was concerned. forbes's expedition was one of three simultaneous campaigns; and the three commanders were somewhat dependent upon each other. at any time forbes might be called upon to give assistance to abercrombie or johnson. forbes was in constant correspondence with both of his colleagues; after abercrombie's repulse the prosecution of the fort duquesne campaign, it may almost be said, was in question. at any rate it was important to have open the shortest possible route of communication to the northern colonies where the other campaigns were being pushed; in case fort duquesne was captured a straight road through populous, grain-growing pennsylvania would be of utmost importance; especially as pennsylvania abounded in vehicles, while in virginia they were scarce. washington thought only of a quick campaign completed in the same season as begun. forbes, however, was not in eager haste and had good reason for moving slowly. as early as august he wrote bouquet: "between you and i be it said, as we are now so late, we are yet too soon. this is a parable that i shall soon explain." three reasons appealed to forbes for moving slowly, though it is doubtful if he intended moving as slowly as he actually did move: frederick post, the missionary, had been sent to the indians on the beaver asking them to withdraw from the french; the indian chiefs were invited to the treaty at easton, where their alliance with the french would, it was hoped, be undermined; winter was drawing on apace, when the indians who were with the french would withdraw to their villages and begin to prepare for the inclement season. one of the direct serious charges brought against washington was that he did "not know the difference between a party and an army." this is brought by colonel bouquet and i do not believe that he was in error or that the accusation can be proved unjust. washington had had much experience, such as it was, in the fort necessity campaign, with braddock, and on the virginia frontier. but the fort necessity campaign was conspicuous as a political, not a military event. the force he led west did not number two hundred men. this was, surely, a party, not an army. now, be it remembered, the great difficulty of leading any body of men, small or great, lay in provisioning them and feeding the horses. the larger the army the greater the difficulty--indeed the difficulty trebled as the number of men and horses was doubled. on those mountain roads the second wagon was drawn with much greater difficulty than the first. again, a small body of men could, in part, be supplied with food from the forests; in the case of an army this source of supply must be ignored. in the case of washington's fort necessity campaign, how did his handful of men fare? they nearly starved--and capitulated because they did not have the food to give them the necessary strength to retreat. this was not washington's fault, for he, properly, left this matter with those whose business it was; but the experience certainly did not teach him how to handle an army. i cannot see that he had the opportunity to learn much more in braddock's campaign in . he was that general's aide, a carrier of messages and orders, and a member of the military family. he had ever before his eyes a thousand examples of carelessness, chicanery, and mismanagement, but those could not teach him how an army was to be cared for properly. his advice was often asked and minded, but he gave it in the capacity of a frontiersman, not as a tactician or officer. the one exception was when he urged that braddock divide the _army_ into two _parties_ by sending a small flying column rapidly against fort duquesne. it is clear from preceding pages that, on the virginia frontier, he learned no lessons on the control of large bodies of men. but now, in , as colonel of an important branch of the army general forbes was throwing across the alleghenies, washington came forward conspicuously as a champion of a certain route to be pursued by an army of five thousand men. frankly, what did he know of the needs of five thousand men on a march of two hundred miles from their base of supplies? his correspondence on this point is not satisfactory. he had never passed over the pennsylvania road, and, though he understood better than anyone what it meant to cut a new road, he does not answer the argument that the braddock road failed to offer as much pasturage for horses and cattle as the pennsylvania route. he confines himself largely to the matter of celerity: and the situation, as we have explained, did not demand haste. forbes had the best of reasons for moving slowly. from a commissary's standpoint washington's argument could have had no weight whatever. washington was strongly prejudiced in favor of the virginia route; and no man could have had better reasons for prejudice, as will be shown. he argued conspicuously and vehemently on a subject with which he had no experience. great and good as he became, and brave and faithful as he was, it is all the easier to confess to a weakness which was due to a lack of experience and to loyal, old-time virginia pride. it is an exceedingly pleasant duty to emphasize the fact that, after his repeated arguments were cast aside by his superiors and a route was chosen in the face of the strongest opposition he could bring to bear on the subject, the young man swallowed his chagrin and the slights under which his fine spirit must have writhed, and worked manfully and heroically for measures which he had heartily opposed. in all that he had done in the past five years he never played the man better than here and now. it is very difficult to unravel what general forbes continually calls the plot of certain virginians to force him into braddock's road. the matter is of additional interest because, in his letter to bouquet of august , forbes utters a very sharp criticism of washington: "by a very unguarded letter of col. washington's that accidentally fell into my hands, i am now at the bottom of their scheme against this new road, a scheme that i think was a shame for any officer to be concerned in, but more of this at [our] meeting." again on september he wrote: "therefore [i] would consult c. washington, altho perhaps not follow his advice, as his behaviour about the roads, was in no ways like a soldier." what letter this was of washington's i do not know. it could not have been the letter written to halket (page ); it hardly seems possible that it could have been the following letter which washington wrote to governor fouquier: "the pennsylvanians, whose present as well as future interest it was to have the expedition conducted through their government, and along that way, because it secures their frontiers at present, and their trade hereafter, a chain of forts being erected, had prejudiced the general absolutely against the old road, and made him believe that we were the partial people, and determined him at all events to pursue that route."[ ] the doubt is not whether forbes would have spoken sharply if he had seen this letter, but whether it could have fallen into his hands. it was undoubtedly sent from fort cumberland straight to winchester and williamsburg. from one point the letter does washington no credit, though it shows plainly that there was a bitter factional fight and that he felt strongly the righteousness of the virginian side of the question, for which he is not to be blamed. as to his accusation against his general, it seems to me unreasonably bitter. forbes's correspondence with bouquet is convincing proof of the falseness of washington's theory that the pennsylvanians "had prejudiced the general absolutely against the old road ... and determined him at all events to pursue that (new) route." after wrestling with the route question two months forbes wrote general abercrombie as late as july that he was unwilling to bring the divisions of his army together "till the route is finally determined." forbes had no predilection for pennsylvanians; when, in september, a spirit of jealousy appeared concerning the province from which the army provisions should be obtained, forbes wrote bouquet (september ): "i believe neither you nor i values one farthing where we get provisions from, provided we are supplyed, or interest ourselves either with virginia or pennsylvania, which last i hope will be damn'd for their treatment of us with the waggons, and every other thing where they could profit by us from their impositions, altho at the risque of our perdition." the controversy as to whether forbes's route should be through pennsylvania or virginia serves to bring into clear perspective one of the most interesting and one of the most important phases of our study--the meaning of the building of a road at that time to either one of those colonies. nothing could emphasize this more than the sharpness of the quarrel and the position of those concerned in it. it meant very much to pennsylvania to have forbes cut a road to the ohio in both of the two ways suggested by washington to governor fouquier--it fortified her frontier and opened a future avenue of trade. the old trading path had been her best course westward and her trade with the indians had been nothing to what it would now become. but such as it had been, it was most distasteful to the virginians to the south who called the west their own. this rivalry was intense for more than a quarter of a century and came near ending in bloodshed; the quarrel was only forgotten in the tumultuous days of . general forbes seems to have understood very well that his new road would be of utmost importance to pennsylvania as that province would then have a "nigher communication [than virginia] to the ohio;" and that was the very reason he cut it: because it was shorter--not to please pennsylvania. if fort duquesne was to be captured and fortified and manned and supplied, the shortest route thither would be, as the dark days of and and proved, a desperately long road to travel. on the other hand the building of forbes's road in pennsylvania was a boon which that province far less deserved than virginia. virginia men and capital were foremost in the field for securing the indian trade of the ohio; they had, nearly ten years before, secured a grant of land between the monongahela and kanawha, and sent explorers and a number of pioneers to occupy the land; their private means had been given to clear the first white man's road thither and erect storehouses at wills creek and redstone; the activity of these ambitious, worthy men had brought on the war now existing. when open strife became the colonies' only hope of holding the west, virginia was first and foremost in the field; the same spirit that showed itself in commercial energy was very evident when war broke out, and for four years virginia had given of her treasure and of her citizens for the cause. during this time pennsylvania had hardly lifted a finger, steadily pursuing a course which brought down upon her legislators most bitter invectives from every portion of the colonies. and now, in the last year of the war, the conquering army was to pass through pennsylvania to the ohio, building a road thither which should for all time give this province an advantage very much greater than that ever enjoyed by any of the others. true, braddock's road curled along over the mountains, but after the defeat by the monongahela it had never been used except by small parties on foot and had become well-nigh impassable otherwise. we do not know what washington wrote in the letter which forbes so roundly criticised, but it can easily be conceived, without detriment to his character, that he might have spoken in a way forbes could not understand concerning lethargic pennsylvania's undeserved good fortune.[ ] but forbes had the present to deal with, not the past, and the shortest route to the ohio was all too long. this became alarmingly plain in a very short time after the day, august , on which bouquet began to cut it. the story of the hewing of this road cannot be told better than by quoting the fragments appertaining to it contained in the letters of those closely concerned in its building. old st. clair, who, as we have seen, was sent on by forbes to bouquet, was the advance supervisor. as early as august he was writing bouquet from "camp on y^e side of alleganys" that not as much progress had been made as he had hoped, and that the "work to be done on this road is immense. send as many men as you can with digging tools, this is a most diabolical work, and whiskey must be had. i told you that the road wou'd take men days in cutting to the top of the mountain." on the sixteenth he wrote: "a small retrench^t is picked out at kikeny pawlings." "... the stages will be from rays town to the shanoe cabins miles, to s^r allan mcleans camp or miles to edmunds swamp or miles." "... the pack horses returning from kikoney paulins have taken the other road, so you may send them back loaded." forbes, writing to bouquet, refers as follows to the new road august : "extremely well satisfied with your accounts of the road, and very glad to find that you have, entered upon the making of it;" (august ): "i hope your new road advances briskly, and that from the alleghany hill to laurell hill may be carrying forward by different partys, at the same time, that you are making the pass of the allegany practicable;" (august ): "i hope the new road goes on fast and that soon we shall be able to take post at loyal haning. i see nothing that can facilitate this more than by still amusing the enemy by pushing considerable parties along m^r braddock's route, which parties might endeavour to try to find communications betwixt the two roads where they approach the nearest, or where most likely such passages can be found. as it will be necessary very soon to make a disposition of our small army i beg you will give your thoughts a little that way. at present i think the greatest part ought to be assembled at raestown to make our main push by that road, while col^l washington, or some other officer might push along the other road and might join us if a communication can be found when called upon. but this is only an idea in embryo...." (august ): "in carrying forward the new road i think there might easily be a small road carried on at the same time, at about yards to the right and left of it, and parallel with it, by which our flanking partys might advance easier along with the line. i dont mean here to cut down any large trees, only to clear away the brushwood and saplins, so as the men either on foot or on horseback may pass the easier along...." bouquet forwarded this order to st. clair on august , also writing: "colonel burd is to command on the west of lawrell hill, and to march without delay and before the road is cut to loyal h-- [hannan]." on the same date st. clair wrote bouquet from stoney creek as follows: "i wrote you yesterday ... that three waggons have got to this place, the road not so good as i shall make it.... i hope to get to kikoney pawlins to morrow night, if not shall do it next day. tell mr sinclair to send me my down quilt the weather is cold." that evening he wrote again, in reply to bouquet's letter, from "kikoney paulins:" "it is impossible for me to tell you any more than i have done about the road to l-- h-- [loyal hannan]. i required men to make the road over the lai ri--ge in three days on condition i was to see it done my self, and perhaps i might reach l-- h the ^d day. i expect to get the road cleared as far as the clear fields a mile from the foot of l--r on this side, by the time the a--y [army] comes up, and work afterwards with as many men as the other corps will give me." from edmonds swamp st. clair wrote next (no date): "i got the waggons safe as far as this post yesterday the road is so far good, and if it had not rain'd so hard i was in hopes to report the road good this night to kikoney pawlings.... if you think the road from rays town to the shanoe cabins will be wet in the autumn, it wou'd be well to open the road over the two risings, and it wou'd be shorter for our returned waggons. i shall send out a reconoitering party miles northward that we may know the paths that lead to sidling hill." by the last of august all parties concerned were beginning to realize that the young washington had been telling some plain truth when he urged forbes not to try this new route. on the twenty-seventh bouquet wrote st. clair: "i am extremely disappointed in my expectation of the road being open before this time to the foot of lawrell hill ... push that road with all possible dispatch ... the chief thing we want is the communication open for waggons to loyal hannon. employ all your strength there, and colonel burd has order to cut backwards to you from l. han.... capt dudgeon and m^r dapt will oversee some part of the road, and every body is to stir and make amend for their unaccountable slowness." bouquet blamed st. clair for the delay and forbes wrote him from shippensburg august : "the slow advance of the new road and the cause of it touch me to the quick, it was a thing i early foresaw and guarded again[st] such an assistant with all the force and energy of words that i was master of, but being over ruled was resolved to make the most i could of a wrong head ... the virginians who are able to march ... might advance as far forward upon braddock's road as to that part of it which is most contiguous to our second deposite, which i think might be about saltlick creek.... the using of braddock's road i have always had in mind was it only a blind--pray lose no time as that does not oblidge us to march, before we see proper." forbes alone realized that despatch was not to be, necessarily, the secret of the success of his campaign, though he had urged bouquet to hasten the roadmaking as fast as possible. he had his eyes fixed elsewhere than on the allegheny ranges; he knew the indians at fort duquesne were weary of the listless campaign; that bradstreet had been sent against fort frontenac (which, if captured, would shut fort duquesne completely off from quebec); that by the first of september a hundred indians were already gathered at easton ready for a treaty; that the brave post was now among the delawares bringing the final opportunity for them to abandon the french cause. on september he wrote bouquet hinting of all these circumstances and urging delay in everything but mere road-building. on the sixth of september forbes wrote pitt: "in my last i had the honour to acquaint you, of my proceedings in the new road across the alleganey mountains, and over laurell hill, (leaving the rivers yohieganey and monongahela to my left hand) strait to the ohio, by which i have saved a great deal of way, and prevented the misfortunes that the overflowing of those rivers might occasion. "i acquainted you likewise of the suspicions i had, of the small trust i could repose in the pennsylvanians in assisting of me with anyone necessary, or any help in furthering the service that they did not think themselves compelled to do by the words of your letter to them.... my advanced post consisting of men, are now in possession of a strong post miles on the other side of laurell hill, and about from fort du quesne, nor had the enemy even suspected my attempting such a road till very lately, they having been all along securing the strong passes, and fords of the rivers upon gen^l braddock's route."[ ] forbes had been in philadelphia while bouquet was struggling away at raystown with his thousand perplexities. early in july he had proceeded to carlisle where he remained stricken down "with a cursed flux" until the eleventh of august. two days later he reached shippensburg, where he was again prostrated and unable to advance until the middle of september. it is difficult to realize that the campaign had been directed so largely by this prostrate man whose "excruciating pains" often left him "as weak as a new-born infant" and who, when able to be about camp, retired "at eight at night, if able to sit up so late." all of this might well have been stated long ago but it is of particular significance now that forbes's correspondence of the whole summer has been systematically reviewed. the very trials and perplexities, the crying need for his bravery and resolution, seemed in a measure to keep him alive. no one can study this campaign without yearning to know more of the impetuous soul which threw its last grain of strength into making it a triumphant success. the indians called forbes "the head of iron"--and no words can better describe the man. giving all praise possible to bouquet for his sturdy and active service throughout the summer, it is still plain that the dying forbes was the magnetic influence that made others strong. those were dark days at raystown when at last the pale general arrived upon the ground; "had not the general come up," wrote an officer on the spot, "the consequence wou'd have been dangerous."[ ] bouquet was an invaluable man but the "head of iron" in command was needed. the remainder of the campaign has been often told and in detail. washington and his virginians came northward over the newly-cut road to fort bedford at raystown and plunged westward to the loyalhannan, to which point armstrong and st. clair pushed the road-building. washington himself supervised the cutting of forbes's road westward from fort ligonier toward fort duquesne. much as he had wrangled with bouquet as to the propriety of making a new road he was as good as his word and worked heroically for its success. never, even in braddock's death-trap on the monongahela, did he come nearer giving his life to his country. forbes's first check came when grant's command, sent forward from fort ligonier to reconnoitre fort duquesne, was cut to pieces on grant's hill within sight of the french fort. eight hundred men went on the expedition; two hundred and seventy-three were killed, wounded, or captured. bouquet reported the disaster to forbes on the seventeenth of september, upon which the sad man "deeply touched by this reverse," writes parkman, "yet expressed himself with a moderation that does him honor." "your letter of the seventeenth i read with no less surprise than concern, as i could not believe that such an attempt would have been made without my knowledge and concurrence. the breaking in upon our fair and flattering hopes of success touches me most sensibly. there are two wounded highland officers just now arrived, who give so lame an account of the matter that one can draw nothing from them, only that my friend grant most certainly lost his wits, and by his thirst of fame brought on his own perdition, and ran great risk of ours." the brave generosity of these words is not so significant as the fact that this pain-racked man, far behind on the road, had such a grasp of the minutest detail of the whole campaign that bouquet, he believed, would not even send out a scouting party in force without his "knowledge and concurrence." a letter from forbes to bouquet dated reastown, september rd, contains some interesting paragraphs: "the description of the roads is so various and disagreeable that i do not know what to think or say. lieutenant evans came down here the other day, and described laurell hill as, at present, impracticable, but he said he could mend it with the assistance of men, fascines and fagots, in one day's time. col. stephens writes col. washington that he is told by everybody that the road from loyal hannon to the ohio and the french fort is now impracticable. for what reason, or why, he writes thus i do not know; but i see col. washington and my friend, col. byrd, would rather be glad this was true than otherways, seeing the other road (their favourite scheme) was not followed out. i told them plainly that, whatever they thought, yet i did aver that, in our prosecuting the present road, we had proceeded from the best intelligence that could be got for the good and convenience of the army, without any views to oblige any one province or another; and added that those two gentlemen were the only people that i had met with who had shewed their weakness in their attachment to the province they belong to, by declaring so publickly in favour of one road without their knowing anything of the other, having never heard from any pennsylvania person one word about the road; and that, as for myself, i could safely say--and believed i might answer for you--that the good of the service was the only view we had at heart, not valuing the provincial interest, jealousys, or suspicions, one single two-pence; and that, therefore, i could not believe col. stephen's descriptions untill i had heard from you, which i hope you will very soon be able to disprove. i fancy what i have said more on this subject will cure them from coming upon this topic again." forbes's next check was more ominous than grant's scrimmage. it was not administered by the french--though they followed up the decisive victory on grant's hill with various attacks in force upon fort ligonier--but by the clouded heavens. a wet autumn set in early as if to make st. clair's road doubly "diabolical." forbes wrote bouquet on october : "your description of the roads pierces me to the very soul yet still my hopes are that a few dry days would make things wear a more favourable aspect as all clay countries are either good or bad for carriages according to the wet or dry season. it is true we cannot surmount impossibilities nor prevent unforseen accidents but it must be a comfort both to you and i still that we proceeded w^t caution in the choice of this road and in the opinion of every disinterested man, it had every advantage over the other. and i am not sure but it has so still considering the yachiogeny & monongehela rivers--so i beg y^t you will without taking notice to any body make yourself master of the arguments for and objections against the two roads so that upon comparison one may judge how far we have been in the right in our choice. n. b. if any party goes out after the enemy they ought to have instructions always with regard to the roads forward as likewise ye communication twixt loyalhana and the nearest part of m^r braddocks road which want of all things to be reconnoitred in order to stop foolish mouths if it chances to prove anyways as good or practicable. may not such a communication be found without crossing laurel hill?" these are exceedingly interesting words when we know that failure stared forbes in the face. this might mean official inquiry or court martial; in such a case there would have been, no doubt, question raised as to the "right" of forbes's and bouquet's "choice." but the fact that forbes desired to know the exact condition of braddock's road, to get into it if it seemed best, and to prove the soundness of his judgment if it was found to be useless, is especially significant because it shows so plainly that the weary man already scented failure. in a few days he wrote again: "these four days of constant rain have completely ruined the road. the wagons would cut it up more in an hour than we could repair in a week. i have written to general abercrombie, but have not had one scrap of a pen from him since the beginning of september; so it looks as if we were either forgot or left to our fate." early in november the poor man was carried on over the mountains to fort ligonier where the whole army, approximately six thousand strong, lay. hope of continuing the campaign had fled and the desperate prospect of wintering amid the mountains, with no certainty of receiving sufficient stores to keep man and beast alive, stared the whole army in the face. nevertheless, at a council of officers it was decided to attempt nothing further that season. in a few hours three prisoners were brought into camp who reported the true condition of affairs at fort duquesne. bradstreet had destroyed the stores destined for the ohio by the destruction of fort frontenac. ligneris, the commandant, had consequently been compelled to send home his illinois and louisiana militia. the brave post had succeeded in alienating the ohio indians. the remainder at fort duquesne were glad now to hurry away into their winter quarters in their distant homelands. the gods had favored the brave. immediately forbes determined upon a hurried advance with a picked body of twenty-five hundred men, unencumbered. washington and armstrong hastened ahead to cut the pathway. a strong vanguard led the way. behind them came the hero of the hour and of the campaign, forbes, borne on his litter. the highlanders occupied the center of the rear, with the royal americans and provincials on their right and left under bouquet and washington. on the night of the twenty-fourth the little army lay on its arms in the hills of turkey creek, near braddock's fatal field. at midnight a booming report startled them. were the french welcoming the long-expected reenforcements from presque isle and niagara--or had a magazine exploded? in the morning some advised a delay to reconnoitre. forbes scorned the suggestion; "i will sleep," he is said to have exclaimed, "in fort duquesne or in hell tonight." at dusk that november evening the army marched breathlessly down the wide, hard trace over which beaujeu had led his rabble toward braddock's army and, without opposition, came at last within sight of the goal upon which the eyes of the world had been directed so long. the barracks and store-house of fort duquesne were burned, the fortifications blown up and the french--gone forever. two days later a weary man sat within an improvised house and with a feeble hand indited a letter to the british secretary of state. and all it contained was summed up in its first words: "pittsbourgh ^{th} novem^r ." it was pitt's bourgh now. the region about the junction of the allegheny and monongahela was known in kentucky as "the pitt country." the generous bouquet expressed the sentiment of the army when he affirmed: "after god, the success of this expedition is entirely due to the general." when forbes's physical condition is understood, his last campaign must be considered one of the most heroic in the annals of america. "its solid value was above price. it opened the great west to english enterprise, took from france half her savage allies, and relieved the western borders from the scourge of indian war. from southern new york to north carolina, the frontier populations had cause to bless the memory of the steadfast and all-enduring soldier."[ ] forbes soon became unable to write or dictate a letter. on the terrible return journey over his freshly-hewn road he suffered intensely, sometimes losing consciousness. he was carried the entire distance to philadelphia on his litter, and in march he died. his body, at last free from pain, was laid with befitting honors in the chancel of christ church. the following death notice and appreciation of general forbes appeared in the pennsylvania _gazette_ march , : "on sunday last, died, of a tedious illness, john forbes, esq., in the th year of his age, son to ---- forbes, esq., of petmerief, in the shire of fife, in scotland, brigadier general, colonel of the th regiment of north america; a gentleman generally known and esteemed, and most sincerely and universally regretted. in his younger days he was bred to the profession of physic, but, early ambitious of the military character, he purchased into the regiment of _scott's grey dragoons_, where, by repeated purchases and faithful services, he arrived to the rank of lieutenant colonel. his superior abilities soon recommended him to the protection of general campbell, the earl of stair, duke of bedford, lord ligonier, and other distinguished characters in the army; with some of them as an aid; with the rest in the familiarity of a family man. during the last war he had the honor to be employed in the post of quarter-master general, in the army under his royal highness, the duke, which duty he discharged with accuracy, dignity and dispatch. his services in america are well known. by a steady pursuit of well-concerted measures, in defiance of disease and numberless obstructions, he brought to a happy issue a most extraordinary campaign, and made a willing sacrifice of his own life to what he valued more--the interests of his king and country. as a man he was just and without prejudices; brave, without ostentation; uncommonly warm in his friendships, and incapable of flattery; acquainted with the world and mankind, he was well-bred, but absolutely impatient of formality and affectation. as an officer, he was quick to discern useful men and useful measures, generally seeing both at first view, according to their real qualities; steady in his measures, and open to information and council; in command he had dignity without superciliousness; and though perfectly master of the forms, never hesitated to drop them, when the spirit and more essential parts of the service required it. "yesterday, ( th,) he was interred in the chancel of christ's church, in this city." a fellow-countryman of forbes has built beside forbes's road (now forbes street), in the city of pittsburg, a magnificent library. what could be more fitting or beautiful than that this brave scotchman's memory should be honored with a monumental pillar here on his road which "opened the great west to english enterprise?" and let it bear the sweet human testimony of a british historian: "no general was ever more beloved by the men under his command."[ ] chapter vi the military road to the west there is another hero of forbes's road. the rough days of that summer of were only suggestions of what was to come. other armies than that of forbes were to pass this way, for, be it understood at once, forbes's road became the great military highway into the west. no single road in america witnessed so many campaigns; no road in america was fortified by such a chain of forts. for a generation this route from lancaster by carlisle, bedford, ligonier to pittsburg was the most important thoroughfare to the west. the french retired from fort duquesne, down the ohio and up the allegheny. the remainder of the war was fought far away on the st. lawrence. hardly a shot was fired in the west after the skirmishes at fort ligonier succeeding grant's defeat. the french at venango and detroit made light of forbes's occupation of fort duquesne. they had retired voluntarily and swore to return in the spring. in a dozen western posts the french bragged still of their possession of the west and of their future conquests. the indians believed each boast. in the next year's campaign quebec fell. new france passed away, and all french territory east of the mississippi, save only a fishing station on the island of newfoundland came into the hands of the english. but this campaign was fought in the far northeast. of it the west and its redskinned inhabitants knew nothing. fort niagara was the most westerly fort which had succumbed; fort duquesne, technically, was evacuated. the real story of the successive french defeats was, perhaps, little heard of in the west; or, if communicated to the indian allies there, the logical conclusion was not plain to them. how could a land be conquered where not a single battle had been fought? so far as the indians were concerned, france was never more in possession of their western lakes and forests than then. was not the blundering braddock killed and his fine army utterly put to rout? were not the french forts in the west--presque isle, venango, le boeuf, miami, and detroit, secure? fort duquesne could be reoccupied whenever the french would give the signal. the leaden plates of france still reposed at the mouths of the rivers of the west and the arms of the king of france still rattled in the wind which swept the land. fancy the surprise of the indians, then, when little parties of redcoat soldiers came into the west, and, with quiet insolence, took possession of the french forts and of the indian's land! and the french moved neither hand nor foot to oppose them, though through so many years they had boasted their prowess, and though ten wyandots could have done so successfully. detroit was surrendered to a mere corporal's guard, and the lesser forts to a sentry's watch each. it remained for the newcomers to inform the indians of the events which led to the changing of the flags on these inland fortresses--to tell them that the french armies had been utterly overwhelmed, and the french capital captured, and french rule in america at an end. but these explanations, given glibly, no doubt, by arrogant english officers, were repeated over and over by the indians, and slowly, before a hundred, yea, a thousand dim fires in the forests. we can believe it was not all plain to them, this sudden conquest of a country where hardly a battle had been fought for eight years, and that battle the greatest victory ever achieved by the red man. perhaps messengers were sent back to the forts to gain, casually, additional information concerning this marvelous conquest by proxy. french traders, as ignorant, or feigning to be, as the indians, were implored to explain the sudden forgetfulness of the french "father" of the indians. it was inexplicable. the news spread rapidly: "the french have surrendered our land to the english." fierce shawanese around their fires at chillicothe on the scioto heard the news, and sullenly passed it on westward to the miamis, and eastward to the angered delawares on the muskingum, who had now forgotten frederick post. the senecas on the upper allegheny heard the news. the ottawas and wyandots on both sides of the detroit river heard it--and before the fires of each of these fierce french-loving indian nations there was much silence while chieftains pondered, and the few words uttered were stern and cruel. cruel words grew to angry threats. by what right, the chieftains asked, could the french surrender the black forest to the english? when did the french come to own the land, after all? they were the guests, the friends of the indian--not his conquerors. the french built forts, it is true, but they were for the indian as well as for the french, and were forts in name only, and the more of them the merrier! but now a conqueror had come, telling the indian the land was no longer his, but belonged to the british king. threats soon grew into visible form. where it started is not surely known--some say from the senecas on the upper allegheny--but soon a fearful bloody belt went on a journey with its terrible summons to war. it passed to the delawares and to the shawanese and miamis and wyandots, and where it went the death halloo sounded through the forests. the call was to the indians of the black forest to rise and cast out the english from the land. if the french could not have it, certainly no one else should. the dogs of war were loosened. the young warriors of the allegheny and muskingum and scioto and miami and detroit danced wildly before the fires, and the old men sang their half-forgotten war chants. the terrible war which in burst over the west has never been paralleled by savages the world over in point of swift success. this may be attributed to the fact that a leader was found in pontiac, a chieftain in the ottawa nation, who for daring and intelligence was never matched by a man of his race. he had the courage of sweeping and patriotic convictions. he saw in the english occupation of the land the doom of the red man. indeed he must have seen it before, but if so he had not had an opportunity to put his convictions to a public test. the indian was becoming a changed man. the implements and utensils of the white man were adopted by the red. the independent forest arts of their fathers were beginning to be forgotten. kettles and blankets and powder and lead were taking the place of the wooden bowls and fur robes and swift flint heads. in another generation the art of making a living for himself in the forest would be forgotten by the indian, and he would henceforth be absolutely dependent upon the foreigner. all this pontiac saw. he felt commissioned to lead a return to nature. the arts of the white man must be discarded and the indians must come back to their primitive mode of living in dependence upon their own skill and ingenuity. and so pontiac waged a religious war. at a great convention of the savages he told them that a delaware indian had, while lost in the forests, been guided into a path which led to the home of the great spirit, and, on coming there, had been upbraided by the master of life himself for the degenerate state to which his race was falling. the forest arts of their fathers must be encouraged and relied upon. the utensils of the white man must be banished from the wigwams. bows and arrows and tomahawks and stone hatchets should not be discarded. otherwise the great spirit would take away their land from them and give it to others. and so, much of the fury which accompanied the war was a sort of religious frenzy. "the master of life himself has stirred us up," said the warriors. pontiac's plot--undoubtedly the most comprehensive military campaign ever conceived in redman's brain--was discovered by the british at fort miami, on the maumee river, in march , four years after the fall of quebec. there the bloody belt was found and secured before it could be forwarded to the wabash with its murderous message. by threats and warnings the untutored english officers thought to quell the disturbance. amherst, his majesty's commanding general in america, haughtily condemned the signs of revolution as "unwarranted." moreover he gave his officers in the west authority to declare to the indian chieftains that if they should conspire they would in his eyes, make "a contemptible figure!" time passed and the garrisons breathed easily as quiet reigned. it was but the lull before the storm. on the seventh of may, pontiac, who led his ottawas at braddock's defeat, appeared before detroit, the metropolis of the northwest, with three hundred warriors. the watchfulness of the brave major gladwin, a well-trained pupil in that school on braddock's road, and the failure of pontiac to capture the fort by strategy, though his warriors were admitted within its walls and had shortened guns concealed beneath their blankets, was the dramatic beginning of a reign of terror and a war of devastation all the way from sault st. marie to even beyond the crest of the alleghenies. pontiac immediately invested detroit and throughout the black forest his faithful allies did their ottawa chieftain's will. on the sixteenth of may, fort sandusky was surrounded by indians seemingly friendly. the british commander permitted seven to enter. as they sat smoking, by the turn of a head the signal was given and the commander was a prisoner. as he was hurried out of the fort he saw, here one dead soldier, there another--victims of the massacre. nine days later a band of indians appeared before the fort at the mouth of the st. joseph. "we are come to see our relatives," they said, "and wish the garrison good morning." within two minutes after their entrance the commanding officer and three men were prisoners and eleven others were murdered. two days later the commander of fort miami, on the maumee river, came, at an indian girl's pitiful plea, to the indian village to bleed a sick child. he was shot in his tracks. four days later the commander of fort ouatianon, on the wabash, was inveigled into an indian cabin and captured, the fort surrendering forthwith. two days later indians gathered at fort michilimackinac to engage in a game of lacrosse. at the height of the contest the ball was thrown near a gate of the fort. in the twinkling of an eye the commanding officer who stood watching the game was seized, and the indians, snatching tomahawks from under the blankets of squaws who were standing in proper position, entered the fort and killed fifteen soldiers outright and took the remainder of the garrison prisoners. sixteen days later fort le boeuf, on french creek, where washington delivered his message to the haughty st. pierre a decade before, was attacked by an overwhelming army of savages. keeping the enemy off until midnight, the garrison made good its escape, unknown to the exultant besiegers who had already fired one corner bastion, and fled down the river to fort pitt. on their way they passed the smouldering ruins of fort venango. two days later fort presque isle was attacked. in two days the commander, senseless with terror, struck his flag. the same day fort ligonier on forbes's road was invested by a besieging army. thus the campaign of pontiac, prosecuted with such swiftness and such success, bade fair to end in triumph. "we hate the english," the indians sent word to the french on the mississippi, "and wish to kill them. we are all united: the war is our war, and we will continue it for seven years. the english shall never come into the west!" but fort detroit and fort pitt stood firm. for months pontiac beleaguered the northern fortress, gaining advantages whenever the garrison attacked him, but unable to reduce the fort. all summer long the eyes of the world were upon detroit; and the gallant defense of fort pitt, was, comparatively, forgotten. but the maintenance of this strategic point was of incalculable importance to the west. the garrison felt this. and here, if anywhere, was courage shown in battle. here, if ever, brave men faced fearful odds with unshaken courage worthy of their saxon blood. in planning his campaign pontiac delegated the shawanese and delawares to carry fort pitt. if they could not do it he might be assured that the position was impregnable. they were his most reliable warriors, and, once given the task of carrying out the second most important _coup_ of their great leader's plan, could be trusted to use any alternative savage lust could suggest, or trick savage cunning could invent in order to accomplish their portion of the terrible conquest of the west. the defense of detroit was brave; but detroit was on the great water highway east and west. succor was possible, in fact probable, in time; if not, there was a way of escape. at fort pitt could either be expected? the only approach to it was this indifferent roadway hewn westward from bedford in . moreover the fort had never been completed. on three sides the flood tides of the rivers had injured it. ecuyer, its valiant defender, threw up a rough rampart of logs and palisaded the interior. and in this fragile fortress, hardly worthy of the name, behind which lay the darkling alleghenies and about which loomed the black forest, were gathered some six hundred souls, a larger community, probably, than the total population of detroit. and around on every side were gathered the lines of ochred warriors preparing for another charge even to the very blood-bespattered walls. the garrison might well have believed itself beyond the reach of succor, if indeed succor could avail before need of it had vanished. the bones of braddock's seven hundred slain lay scattered about the forests only seven miles away. could another army come again? little wonder that the shawanese and delawares were already flushed with victory as they renewed their unavailing attacks. the task of relieving fort pitt was placed upon the tried shoulders of colonel henry bouquet, whose brilliant services in forbes's campaign have been fully described. amherst, then commanding in america, sent him the remains of the forty-second and seventy-seventh regiments, which amounted to the pitiful total of three hundred and forty-seven men and officers; concerning additional troops amherst was painfully plain: "should the whole race of indians take arms against us i can do no more." recruits joined the army as it moved along through lancaster and carlisle, which augmented the force slightly. but the brave bouquet, with an army not exceeding five hundred men, set out westward from bedford on the rough road he himself had made with the vanguard of the "head of iron" five years before. the appalling condition in which he found the country along the border would have daunted a less bold man. every fort from lake erie to the ohio had been razed to the ground. the whole country was panic-stricken. houses were left vacant or burned, together with crops, and the mountain roads were blocked with fugitives, half famished, who threw themselves upon the intrepid bouquet at his camps. it was indeed a trying time, a time for such a man as bouquet to show himself. never did the success of a campaign in the history of war depend more on the sagacity, bravery, and personal knowledge of a single commanding officer. this daring swiss was everywhere and everything. he knew that the enemy, though they retired before him even as he approached fort ligonier, were watching every movement of the coming army. he knew they were cognizant of his weakness, the debility of his men, the lack of provision, the paucity of scouts and spies. he knew, and so did the silent, lurking spies of the enemy, that braddock's slain outnumbered his whole force. but ligonier--named by bouquet himself from a warrior whose bravery was now his inspiration--was not a place to pause, though just beyond lay the death-trap where aubrey had defeated the ill-fated grant five years before. on he went. as the inevitable battle-ground was neared bouquet redoubled his watchfulness. when a darker defile than usual was reached, with a rifle across his lap, the commander went forward and himself led the army's van into it. on the morning of the fifth of august tents were struck early and another day's march commenced. over broken country enveloped in forests the army went its way. by one o'clock they had made seventeen miles and were not less than half a mile from bushy run, their proposed camping place. suddenly was heard the report of rifle fire in front. as the main army listened the noise quickened to a sharp rattle--and the decisive battle of bushy run was commenced. the two foremost companies were ordered forward to support the vanguard now hotly engaged. this causing no abatement, the convoy was halted and a general charge formed. by an onward rush, with fixed bayonets, bouquet and his eager men cleared the field. but firing on the right and left and in the rear announced that both flanks and the convoy were simultaneously attacked. an order was given to fall back. this having been executed, an unbroken circle was formed about the terrified horses. though in number the combatants were nearly equal, the savages had all the advantage of a superior force fighting under cover. bouquet's army, like braddock's, was in the open. with furious cries accompanied by a heavy fire, the indians attempted to break the iron circle. and they fought with sly cunning. not waiting to receive the answering attacks, they leaped behind the nearest trees, only to come back to the attack with increased ferocity from another quarter. the english suffered severely while the active indians, under cover, were almost untouched. nothing but implicit confidence in bouquet could have inspired this little army with the steadiness it displayed. no one lost composure. each man knew they could not retreat or advance--fight they must and fight they surely did. night came, and under cover of the darkness the wearied soldiers cared for the wounded. placed in the cleared center of the circle, a rude wall of sacks of flour was built around them. here, enduring agonies of thirst, for not a drop of water could be obtained, they lay listening to the fiendish yells of the enemy--a poor cure for wounds and burning thirst. when the necessary arrangements for the night had been completed and provision made against a night attack, bouquet, doubtful of surviving the morrow's battle, wrote to sir jeffrey amherst a brief and concise account of the day's fight. his report ends with these words: "... as, in case of another engagement, i fear insurmountable, difficulties in protecting and transporting our provisions, being already so much weakened by the losses of this day, in men and horses, besides the additional necessity of carrying the wounded, whose situation is truly deplorable." even before morning light, the beastly, impatient cries of the indians began to be heard on every side, soon accompanied by a deadly fire. as on the preceding day the return fire had little effect, for the savages silently vanished at the gleam of leveled bayonets. but at ten o'clock the ring remained unbroken though the troops were already fatigued and were now crazed by torments of thirst, "more intolerable than the enemy's fire." the horses, often struck and completely terrified, now broke away by scores and madly galloped up and down the neighboring hills. the ranks were constantly thinning. it was plain to all that a decisive and immediate bold stroke must be made. the commander was equal to the emergency! the confidence of the foe had grown so overbearing that bouquet determined to stake everything upon the very recklessness of his enemies. the portion of the circle which immediately fronted the indians, and which was composed of light infantry, was ordered to feign retreat. as this movement was accomplished, a thin line of men was thrown across the deserted position from the sides, drawing in close to the convoy. thinking this to be a retreat, which the new line had been summoned to cover, the indians, with cutting screams, jumped out from every side and rushed headlong toward the centre of the circle. then, suddenly upon their rear poured the light infantry, which had made a marvelous detour through the woods. with a frightful bayonet charge and with highland yells as piercing as those of the indians, the grenadiers, flushed with victory, drove the terrified savages through the forests. in the twinkling of an eye the outcries of the savages ceased altogether and not a living foe remained. sixty indian corpses lay scattered about the camp. only one captive was taken and he was riddled with english bullets. the loss of the english amounted to eight officers and one hundred and fifteen men. this was the first english victory over the indians of the central west. fort necessity, braddock's field, and grant's hill were now avenged. it was a late victory but was far better late than never. fort pitt was relieved. [illustration] what forbes's road was to pittsburg and the west in the old french war and in pontiac's rebellion it was in the revolutionary days, - . for thirty years after it was built it was the main highway across the mountains. it is impossible to estimate the worth of this straight roadway to the ohio; had forbes followed braddock's road to fort pitt, western travel ever after would have been at the mercy of the two rivers, the youghiogheny and monongahela, which that road crosses. in the winter months it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to have kept open communication between a line of forts and blockhouses on braddock's road. this was done on forbes's road throughout the half century of conflict. at the opening of the revolutionary war, the continental war office being at philadelphia, forbes's road became more strategic than ever in its history. it was now known as the "pennsylvania road," and was the direct route to the military center of the west, fort pitt. braddock's road--now known as the "virginia road"--was the main route from virginia and maryland. in the dispute between virginia and pennsylvania for the region of which fort pitt was the center, the two routes thither were the avenues of the two contending factions. with the drowning of this quarrel in the momentous struggle precipitated in , forbes's road at once became preeminently important. cattle and goods were frequently sent over braddock's road as far as brownsville and forwarded by water to fort pitt and the american forts on the ohio. but far greater was the activity on forbes's road. forts bedford and ligonier, and a score of fortified cabins at such points as turtle creek, sewickly, bullock pens, widow myers, proctors, brush run, reyburn's, and hannastown served to guard the main thoroughfare to the ohio. between these points scouts were continually hurrying, and over the narrow roadway passed the wagons and pack-horses laden with ammunition and stores. hannastown and ligonier became the important _entrepots_ between carlisle and fort pitt in the revolution. carlisle was the important eastern depot of troops and ammunition from which both eastern and western commanders received supplies.[ ] garrisons along the pennsylvania road were ordered at the close of the war to report at carlisle for their pay.[ ] hannastown, thirty miles east of fort pitt and three miles northeast of the present greensburg, was the first collection of huts on the pennsylvania road between bedford and pittsburg dignified by the name of a town. at the breaking out of the revolution it was the most important settlement in all westmoreland county save only those about forts pitt and ligonier. "these huts scattered along the narrow pack-horse track among the monster trees of the ancient forest, was that hannastown, which occupied such a prominent place in the early history of western pennsylvania where was held the first court west of the alleghany where the resolves of may , , were passed."[ ] from this rude little cluster of huts on forbes's road, deep in the allegheny mountains, came one of the first and most spirited protests against british tyranny. from such sparks the flames of revolution were soon fanned. hannastown "was burned last saturday afternoon," wrote general irvine to secretary of war lincoln, july , ; "... that place is about thirty-five miles in the rear of fort pitt, on the main road leading to philadelphia, generally called the pennsylvania [forbes's] road. the virginia [braddock's] road is yet open, but how long it will continue so is uncertain, as this stroke has alarmed the whole country beyond conception." in winter the road was almost impassable; brodhead wrote richard peters: "the great depth of snow upon the alleghany and laurel hills have prevented our getting every kind of stores, nor do i expect to get any now until the latter end of april."[ ] general irvine wrote his wife january , : "if the road was fit for sleighing i could now go down (to carlisle) snugly, but it is quite impracticable; it is barely passable on horseback." fort pitt was invariably supplied with regular troops from lancaster or carlisle, which marched over the pennsylvania road.[ ] chapter vii the pennsylvania road such had become the importance of the pennsylvania road that, soon after the revolutionary struggle, pennsylvania took active steps to improve it. on the twenty-first day of september an act of the assembly of pennsylvania gave birth to the great thoroughfare at first called "the western road to pittsburg," and familiarly known since as the pittsburg or the chambersburg-pittsburg pike.[ ] this state road was, as heretofore recorded, one hundred and ninety-seven miles in length from carlisle to pittsburg. the road built in - follows practically the course of the present highway between the same points. here and there the traveler may see the olden track a few rods distant on his right or left; at points it lies several miles to the south. the present pittsburg pike passes through greensburg, while old hannastown on forbes's road lies three miles to the northwest. the old route was a little less careful as to hills than the new, and made a straighter line across the country; the telephone companies have taken advantage of this and send their wires along the easily discerned track of the old road at many points. there is no point perhaps where the old road of is so plainly to be remarked as on the side of the upper end of long hollow run, napier township, bedford county, a few miles west of historic little bedford.[ ] the pennsylvania road and its important branch, the "turkey foot" road to the youghiogheny, became one of the important highways to the ohio basin in the pioneer era. with the digging of the pennsylvania canal up the valley of the juniata, the pennsylvania road became less important until it became what it is today, a merely local thoroughfare. for the last two decades in the eighteenth century, the pennsylvania road held a preeminent position--days when a good road westward meant everything to the west. but the road could never be again what it was in the savage days of ' , ' and ' -' , when it was the one fortified route to the ohio. the need for forbes's road passed when forts loudoun, bedford, ligonier, and pitt were demolished. while they were standing, the open pathway between them meant everything to their defenders and to the farmers and woodsmen about them. but it meant almost as much to the fortresses far beyond in the wilderness of the ohio valley--forts mcintosh, patrick henry, harmar, finney, and washington. the vast proportion of stores and ammunition for the defenders of the black forest of the west passed over forbes's road, and its story is linked more closely than we can now realize with the occupation and the winning of the west. mr. mcmaster has an interesting paragraph on forbes's road in pioneer days: "from philadelphia ran out a road to what was then the far west. its course after leaving the city lay through the counties of chester and lancaster, then sparsely settled, now thick with towns and cities and penetrated with innumerable railways, and went over the blue ridge mountains to shippensburg and the little town of bedford. thence it wound through the beautiful hills of western pennsylvania, and crossed the alleghany mountains to the head-waters of the ohio. it was known to travelers as the northern route, and was declared to be execrable. in reality it was merely a passable road, broad and level in the lowlands, narrow and dangerous in the passes of the mountains, and beset with steep declivities. yet it was the chief highway between the mississippi valley and the east, and was constantly travelled in the summer months by thousands of emigrants to the western country, and by long trains of wagons bringing the produce of the little farms on the banks of the ohio to the markets of philadelphia and baltimore. in any other section of the country a road so frequented would have been considered as eminently pleasant and safe. but some years later the traveler who was forced to make the journey from philadelphia to pittsburg in his carriage and four, beheld with dread the cloud of dust which marked the slow approach of a train of wagons. for nothing excited the anger of the sturdy teamsters more than the sight of a carriage. to them it was the unmistakable mark of aristocracy, and they were indeed in a particularly good humor when they suffered the despised vehicle to draw up by the road-side without breaking the shaft, or taking off the wheels, or tumbling it over into the ditch. his troubles over, the traveler found himself at a small hamlet, then known as pittsburg."[ ] forbes's road, strictly speaking, began at bedford, as braddock's road began at cumberland. in these pages the main route from philadelphia--the pennsylvania road--has been considered under the head of forbes's road. the eastern extremity of this thoroughfare, or the portion, sixty-six miles in length, between philadelphia and lancaster, became the first macadamized road in the united states and demands particular attention in another volume of this series[ ]. nothing could have been more surprising to the writer than to find how remarkably this road held its own in competition with the braddock or the cumberland road south of it. explain it as you will, nine-tenths of the published accounts left by travelers of the old journey from philadelphia, baltimore, or washington into the ohio valley describe this pennsylvania route. the cumberland road was built from cumberland, maryland to wheeling, west virginia, on the ohio ( - ) at a cost of nearly two million dollars, yet during the entire first half of that century you will find that almost every important writer who passed over the mountains went over the pennsylvania road. it is exceedingly difficult to find a graphic picture of a journey over braddock's road before ; contemporaneous descriptions of a journey over the cumberland or national road are not numerous. on the other hand a volume could be filled with descriptions of the old pennsylvania road through bedford and ligonier. i believe the fame of the cumberland road was due rather to the fact of its being a national enterprise--and the first of its kind on the continent--than to any superiority it achieved over competing routes. the idea of the road was grand and it played a mighty part in the advancement of the west; but, such was the nature of its course, that it does not seem to have been the "popular route" from washington to pittsburg, the principal port on the ohio river. the pennsylvania road was the most important link between new england and the ohio valley in the days when new england was sending the bravest of its sons to become the pioneers of the rising empire in the west. true, venable has written: "the footsteps of a hundred years have echoed, since o'er braddock's road, bold putnam and the pioneers led history the way they strode. "on wild monongahela's stream they launched the mayflower of the west, a perfect state their civic dream, a new new world their pilgrim quest." it is due to the pennsylvania road, however, to correct the history of these lofty strains. putnam and his pioneers did not travel one step on braddock's road, nor did they launch their boats on wild monongahela's stream. they came over the worn track of forbes's road through carlisle and bedford, proceeding southwest through the "glades" to the youghiogheny river at west newton, pennsylvania.[ ] braddock's road would have been exceedingly roundabout for new england travelers, as forbes long before clearly established. pennsylvania's new road, begun in , was not a tempting route of travel for these new englanders in this year, . "the roads, at that day," wrote dr. hildreth, "across the mountains were the worst we can imagine--cut into deep gullies on one side by mountain rains, while the other was filled with blocks of sand stone.... as few of the emigrant wagons were provided with lock-chains for the wheels, the downward impetus was checked by a large log, or broken tree top, tied with a rope to the back of the wagon and dragged along on the ground. in other places, the road was so sideling that all the men who could be spared were required to pull at the side stays, or short ropes attached to the upper side of the wagons, to prevent their upsetting.... all this part of the country, and as far east as carlisle, had been, about twenty-five years before, depopulated by the depredations of the indians. many of the present inhabitants well remembered those days of trial, and could not see these helpless women and children moving so far away into the wilderness as ohio, without expressing their fears.... three days after ... they reached the little village of bedford. during this period they had crossed "sideling hill," forded some of the main branches of the juniata, and threaded the narrow valleys along its borders. every few miles long strings of pack-horses met them on the road, bearing heavy burthens of peltry and ginseng, the two main articles of export from the regions west of the mountains. others overtook them loaded with kegs of spirits, salt, and bales of dry goods, on their way to the traders in pittsburg.... four miles beyond bedford, the road to the right was called the "pittsburg road," while that to the left was called the "glade road," and led to simrel's ferry, on the yohiogany river. this was the route of the emigrants...." this imperfect glimpse of these "founders of ohio" toiling over the pennsylvania road in on their way to marietta--the vanguard of that ohio company which made possible the "sublime" ordinance of --is striking proof that this pathway was the link between the old and the new new england. the pennsylvania road was also a common route from baltimore and washington; it was arthur lee's route to pittsburg in ,[ ] and col. john may's route from baltimore to pittsburg in .[ ] francis baily, f.r.s., president of the royal astronomical society of england, was one of the well-known englishmen who left a record of experiences on this pioneer highway. in this gentleman started upon a tour from washington to pittsburg. he mentions no other route than the one he traversed, and it is altogether probable that he pursued the most popular. on october he left washington, and, passing through fredericktown, hagerstown, and chambersburg, met the pennsylvania road at mcconnellstown, and traveled westward on it to pittsburg.[ ] that mr. baily pursued the main route westward there can be no doubt. an entry in his _journal_ for october reads: "chambersburg is ... a large and flourishing place, not inferior to frederick's-town or hagar's-town; being, like them, on the high road to the western country, it enjoys all the advantages which arise from such a continual body of people as are perpetually emigrating thither." the celebrated morris birkbeck, founder of the english settlement in illinois, journeyed from washington, d.c., to pittsburg, in , by way of frederickstown and hagerstown and the pennsylvania road. at "mcconnell's town," under the date of may , he wrote in his journal: "the road we have been travelling [from washington, d. c.] terminates at this place, where it strikes the great turnpike from philadelphia to pittsburg."[ ] of the scenes about him mr. birkbeck writes:[ ] "old america seems to be breaking up, and moving westward. we are seldom out of sight, as we travel on this grand track, towards the ohio, of family groups.... to give an idea of the internal movements of this vast hive, about , wagons passed between baltimore and philadelphia, in the last year, with from four to six, carrying from thirty-five to forty cwt. the cost of carriage is about seven dollars per cwt., from philadelphia to pittsburg, and the money paid for the conveyance of goods on this road, exceeds l , sterling. add to these the numerous stages loaded to the utmost, and the innumerable travellers, on horseback, on foot, and in light waggons, and you have before you a scene of bustle and business, extending over a space of three hundred miles, which is truly wonderful." birkbeck does not mention the cumberland road, though it is drawn on the map accompanying his book. his advice to prospective immigrants is, in every instance, to come westward by the pennsylvania road.[ ] w. faux, the english farmer who came to america to examine birkbeck's scheme went westward by braddock's (cumberland) road.[ ] he returned to the east, however, by the pennsylvania road. in examining the works of a score of english travelers this was the only one i happened to find who had gone westward over the cumberland road. later travelers, as charles augustus murray, martineau, and dickens passed westward over the pennsylvania canal and incline railway. no sooner did this northern canal route and railway rob the pennsylvania and cumberland roads of much business, than the baltimore and ohio railway, in turn, took it away from the canal. the building of the railway was one of the epoch-making events in our national history; "i consider this among the most important acts of my life," affirmed the venerable charles carroll, the maryland commissioner for the railway, "second only to my signing the declaration of independence, if even it be second to that."[ ] for a number of years the baltimore and ohio railway--the heir and assign of braddock's road and the famed cumberland road--was the great avenue of western movement and progress. but brain and muscle, even genius, cannot make two miles one mile. the shortest route across the continent was, inevitably, to become the important highway. it must be remembered that in the early days philadelphia was the metropolis of america, and baltimore its chief rival. as long as these cities held the balance of power and trade, a southerly route to pittsburg, such as that of braddock's road, then the cumberland road and, finally, the baltimore and ohio railway would be successful. but with the vast strides made by new york, the center of power stole northward until no route to the ohio could compete with the most direct westward line from new york and philadelphia. the question then became the same old-time problem which forbes met and decided. the straightest possible line of communication between philadelphia and pittsburg was equally necessary in and in . the only difference was that made necessary by the doing away with the heavy grades of pioneer roads and following the water courses. the result was the pennsylvania railroad--and its motto is full of significance, "look at the map." there is to be found the secret of its splendid success. the distance from philadelphia to pittsburg on the baltimore and ohio railway (connellsville route) is four hundred and thirty-eight miles. the distance between philadelphia and pittsburg on the pennsylvania railroad is three hundred and fifty-four miles--a saving of eighty-four miles. these railways do not follow the old highway routes closely but they mark their general alignment and are frequently close beside them. "look at the map" was practically forbes's challenge to those who disputed his judgment a century and a half ago when he determined to build a straight road from the heart of the colonies to the strategic key of the ohio valley. his wisdom has been triumphantly confirmed in the present generation. footnotes: [ ] affirmation of shawanese to the indian trader, john walker; see sir john st. clair's letter, p. ff. [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. vi, ch. i. [ ] darlington's _christopher gist's journals_, p. . [ ] _id._, pp. , . [ ] _pennsylvania colonial records_, vol. v, p. . [ ] darlington's _christopher gist's journals_, p. . [ ] _id._, (notes), p. . cf. errett in _magazine of western history_, may , p. . [ ] _id._, (notes), pp. - . [ ] later the site of fort shirley, shirleysburg, huntington county. see _frontier forts of pennsylvania_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] menchtown, at the foot of ray's hill. [ ] mt. dallas. [ ] bedford. [ ] mile hill, one mile east of schellsburg, bedford county. [ ] buckstown, somerset county. [ ] quemahoning--"stoney creek." [ ] ligonier, westmoreland county. [ ] delaware indian village of some twenty huts situated in that part of pittsburg contained between penn avenue, thirtieth street and two mile run in the twelfth ward, along the shore of the allegheny. [ ] cf. _forbes-bouquet_, pp. - . [ ] proved by comparison with dana's _description of the bounty lands in the state of illinois; also the principal roads and routes_, pp. , . [ ] for course of indian path by compass see _colonial records_, vol. v, p. , ; for route of state road by compass see _id._, vol. xvi, pp. - . [ ] _pennsylvania archives_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] the branch which left the main trail here led northwest to the kiskiminitas river and down that river to kiskiminitas old town at old town run, seven miles distant from the allegheny river. in the survey of the main trail previously referred to (note ) we read: "n. , w. miles to loyal hanin old town; n. . w. miles to the forks of the road." the discrepancy is so great as to lead one to think there were two routes from "loyal haning" to "the parting of the road." [ ] _pennsylvania archives_, vol. ii, p, . [ ] pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] sioussat's "highway legislation in maryland," _maryland geological survey_ (special publication), vol. iii, part iii, p. . [ ] pennsylvania _colonial records_, pp. , . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, pp. , . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] for road-cutters' claim of l , see pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi, pp. , - . [ ] _land records of allegheny county, maryland_, liber d, fol. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] see davies's sermon, _virginia's danger and remedy_, (glasgow, ) d ed., p. ; cort's _colonel henry bouquet_, p. ; london _public advertiser_, october , ; _bouquet au forbes_, july , , p. ; "i know of only one remedy for the frightful indolence of the officers of these provinces, which would be to drum one out in the presence of the whole army"--_bouquet au forbes_, july ; _bouquet papers_, , , fol. . bury: _exodus of the western nations_, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] pennsylvania _colonial records_, vol. vi, p. . [ ] _morris to braddock_, july , . [ ] _frontier forts of pennsylvania_, vol. i, pp. , . [ ] cabins fortified by their owners and neighbors. [ ] _frontier forts of pennsylvania_, vol. i, p. . [ ] braddock's road cannot be considered as a wagon road at this time; long before hostilities had ceased it had become impassable for wagons. [ ] _frontier forts of pennsylvania_, vol. i, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _pennsylvania archives_, vol. iii, p. . [ ] parkman: _montcalm and wolfe_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _montcalm and wolfe_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] see note . [ ] this, as with all succeeding quotations from the correspondence of bouquet, forbes, and st. clair, was copied by the writer from the originals in the _bouquet papers_ in the british museum. [ ] the main route westward was, the year before, in poor condition between philadelphia and bedford. _loudon to denny_, pennsylvania archives, iii, pp. - . [ ] _forbes to pitt_, october , . [ ] by hildreth and others. [ ] _forbes to governor denny_ (of pennsylvania), march , : pennsylvania records, n, p. . [ ] note , first reference. [ ] cf. _historic highways of america_, vol. iv, p. . [ ] fort frederick-fort cumberland route. [ ] braddock's road. [ ] sparks: _writings of washington_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _id._, p. . [ ] bouquet never exaggerates the difficulties that would attend forbes if he chose to march by fort cumberland. [ ] sparks: _writings of washington_, ( ) vol. ii, p. , note. [ ] quotations from washington's correspondence can be identified by dates in sparks's _writings of washington_. [ ] _forbes to bouquet_, august , . [ ] sparks: _writings of washington_ ( ), vol. ii, p. , note. [ ] washington's jealousy of virginia's welfare appeared in when the question of braddock's route from alexandria to fort cumberland arose. it would seem to us today that conditions in virginia must have been pitiable if the marching of an army through the colony could have been considered in any way a boon. yet such was washington's attitude in toward the governor of maryland's new road. in a letter to lord fairfax dated may , , washington objected to dunbar's regiment marching to cumberland by way of frederick, maryland; in a letter to major carlisle written from fort cumberland may , , he ridicules the route: "dunbar had to recross [the potomac] at connogagee [williamsport, maryland] and come down [into virginia]--laughable enough." [ ] as to the correctness of forbes's statement see _bougainville au cremille_, pennsylvania archives ( d series), vol. vi, p. ; also _daine au marechal de belleisle_, _id._, pp. , . [ ] _armstrong to richard peters._ pennsylvania archives, vol. iii, p. . [ ] parkman: _montcalm and wolfe_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] entick: _history of the late war_ ( ), vol. iii, p. , note. [ ] _lincoln to irvine_, july , . [ ] _id._, june . . [ ] egle's _history of pennsylvania_, pp. , . [ ] _pennsylvania archives_, vol. viii, p. . [ ] _brig. gen. hazen to irvine_, september , . [ ] _colonial records_, vol. xv, pp. , , , , , - , , - , , , , , , , ; vol. xvi, pp. - . [ ] several items of interest to students of forbes's road will be found in _history of the county of westmorland, pennsylvania_, pp. - . [ ] mcmaster's _history of the people of the united states_, vol. i, pp. , . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xi. [ ] darlington's note in edes's _journal and letters of col. john may, of boston_, p. ; dr. s. p. hildreth: _early immigration_, p. . [ ] _the olden time_, vol. ii., p. . [ ] _journal and letters of col. john may_, p. . [ ] _journal of a tour in unsettled parts of north america_, london , pp. - . [ ] _notes on a journey in america_, d edition, , p. . [ ] _id._, pp. , . [ ] _letters from illinois_ (london ), pp. , ; _additional extracts_, p. . [ ] _memorable days in america_ (london ), p. . [ ] _history and description of the baltimore and ohio railroad_, , p. . * * * * * transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. . obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been corrected. . footnotes have been moved to the end of the main text body. . images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break. . certain words use an oe ligature in the original. . carat character (^) followed by a single letter or a set of letters in curly brackets is indicative of subscript in the original book. generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) the adhesive postage stamp. decision of the "encyclopÆdia britannica": _james chalmers was the inventor of the adhesive stamp--"mr. pearson hill has not weakened the evidence" to that effect._ also papers on the penny postage reform, bequeathed by the late sir henry cole. james chalmers first proposed the adoption of the adhesive postage stamp, of which he was the inventor. by patrick chalmers, _fellow of the royal historical society_. [illustration] london: effingham wilson, royal exchange. . _price sixpence._ preface. when a man of note dies, the journalist of the day can only reproduce in an obituary notice the accepted position of his life and works--it is no part of that writer's duty to examine, so as fully to certify, all the statements at hand, or to ransack old volumes dealing with the times when such reputation was established. that is the duty and the task of the later historian, or of some one specially interested. such has been my duty, my task, as respects that public benefactor, the late sir rowland hill, with the result arrived at in this and former publications. upon the death of sir rowland hill in august, , a series of letters with comments thereon appeared in the dundee press, recalling the name and services of a townsman who, in his day, had taken an active interest in post-office improvement, and had worked in that field to some purpose. mr. james chalmers, bookseller, dundee, who died in , had been an earnest postal reformer. through his efforts, and after a long correspondence with the post office in london, he brought about such an acceleration of the mail as to lessen the time necessary for the reply to a letter from dundee to london, or betwixt the chief commercial towns of the north and south, by two days--a day each way. subsequently he conceived the idea of an adhesive stamp for postage purposes; and it was this invention, made known to such post-office reformers as mr. hume and mr. wallace--with both of whom, as with others, he was in communication--that formed the origin of the adoption of the adhesive stamp in the reformed penny postage system of , the plan proposed by mr. rowland hill in having been that of the impressed stamp. these letters in the dundee press from old townsmen and friends of mr. chalmers, personally unknown to me as i was to them (i having left dundee while a youth, over fifty years ago, and passed much of the interval abroad), with the consequent attention drawn to the subject, naturally called upon me to make an endeavour to vindicate my father's claim to the merit of such an important feature in the success of the penny postage scheme as was, and is, the adhesive stamp. these letters, moreover, acquainted me with what i was previously unaware of--that on the st january, , a public testimonial had been presented in the town hall of dundee to mr. chalmers, in recognition of his postal services, and of his having been the originator of the adhesive postage stamp; thus all the more calling upon me to investigate a subject of which hitherto i had only a dim and partial idea. this investigation was further facilitated by my withdrawal just before the same period of from active business, thus enabling me to examine at the library of the british museum the papers, documents, speeches, and motions in parliament, reports of parliamentary committees, and all such evidence and information tending to throw light upon, from the year onwards, the history and events preceding the reformed system of postage introduced to the public in the year by the then mr. rowland hill. my father long since dead (while i was abroad), and his establishment long ago broken up, difficulty was at first experienced in obtaining the specific evidence necessary to enable me to establish my claim on his behalf, but the attention publicly drawn to the matter by former publications of my own, and of mr. pearson hill to which i was called upon to reply, brought forward ever-increasing evidence of the most conclusive nature, and to which i am now enabled to add material and interesting confirmation from papers left by the late sir henry cole, whose connection with the penny postage reform of - is well known. the penny postage scheme of sir rowland hill not original. my business, of course, in the investigation just named, was to ascertain what plan sir rowland hill had proposed in his pamphlet of for the purpose of carrying out his penny postage scheme, and to trace therefrom the adoption on his part of my father's plan of the adhesive stamp. but a discovery of much more historical importance before long presented itself, namely, that neither the conception of uniform penny postage itself, nor of any one of the valuable principles and figures of the penny postage scheme, were original conceptions on the part of sir rowland hill. the reformed system of postage was not the work of one year nor of one man. for some years prior to the abuses and mismanagement of the post office were a constant theme of complaint, both in and out of parliament--many able and earnest men combined to bring about some reform demanded by men of business and public opinion. commissions of inquiry were held, evidence and suggestions taken, reports issued. early in mr. wallace, m.p. for greenock, a prominent post-office reformer, obtained a commission of inquiry on the subject, which commission issued in all ten reports; while, in addition to parliamentary returns, a commission, termed the commission of revenue inquiry, had sat for many years prior to the commission of merely post office inquiry, and had issued twenty-three reports, in more than one of which post-office affairs were dealt with. in that large field of complaint, suggestion, information, and proposal may be found the substance, origin, and foundation of the subsequent writings and proposals of sir rowland hill. it will be remembered that the old system of postage, prior to , was that of a high and variable charge according to distance, of, say, twopence to one shilling and sixpence a letter, charged by sheet; and two sheets, however light in weight, were charged double. the same with circulars. but in these reports, including the evidence of the numerous witnesses, are to be found embodied all the valuable principles and figures of the reformed system. and that all these reports had come under mr. hill's review is left in no doubt, having been sent to him by mr. wallace, after mr. hill, freed from other occupations, had, in , joined the circle of post-office reformers, when he "commenced that systematic study, analysis, and comparison which the difficulty of my self-imposed task rendered necessary."--("life," page .) but to be looked upon as the _inventor_ of that scheme which he had introduced and (saved and rendered practicable by the adhesive stamp) had successfully carried out--to have this scheme understood as having been the unaided conception of his own mind--was with sir rowland hill simply a mania, and to that mania james chalmers, the originator in every sense of that adhesive stamp, was sacrificed. the bearing of all this non-originality of conception on the part of sir rowland hill is obvious when the question of the stamp is under consideration. in propounding the scheme itself, what were only acquired ideas were assumed, or allowed to be assumed, as inventions or conceptions. as with the scheme, so with the stamp--the stamp also was an acquired idea, not rowland hill's invention. having now, however, obtained from a quarter of the highest standing, after an impartial investigation, a full acknowledgment of my father's services, and this in addition to an already large amount of recognition from the press in general, further observations as to the non-originality of the scheme may be here dispensed with, for the present at least, and left to history. and if i have been compelled to show that, so far from the adhesive stamp having been the invention of sir rowland hill, originality of conception formed no element whatever in any one of the proposals of even the penny postage scheme itself, such course has been forced upon me by the unfortunate proceedings of mr. pearson hill in denying, against the clearest evidence, my just claim in the matter of the stamp, without a pretence of proof that such was at any period an invention on the part of sir rowland hill. the impressed stamp. the plan by which mr. rowland hill, in his pamphlet of , proposed to carry out in practice his uniform penny postage scheme was, shortly stated, first, simply to pay the penny or money with the letters; but secondly, and more especially, by stamped sheets of letter paper, and stamped wrappers or covers. "let stamped covers and sheets of paper be supplied to the public, from the stamp office or post office, or both, and at such a price as to include the postage." ... "economy and the public convenience would require that sheets of letter paper of every description should be stamped on the part used for the address; that wrappers, such as are used for newspapers, as well as covers made of cheap paper, should also be stamped," and kept on sale at the post offices. "stationers would also be induced to keep them." what mr. hill overlooked in this proposal, was the broad fact that he sets up the stamp office or post office to do the business in letter paper of the stationers throughout the kingdom--some huge government establishment against which competition would be hopeless, as the stamp office was to sell the writing paper at cost price, while the stationer requires a profit to pay his rent and expenses, and to live upon. the effect upon the stationers, consequently would have been confiscation--and against this plan the united body of paper makers and stationers subsequently protested. the select committee of the house of commons of - , again, took exception to mr. hill's plan mainly on account of its liability to forgery--a stamp of the nature proposed would be extensively forged. after evidence on the part of the stamp-office authorities and paper makers had been taken, it was decided to recommend--that the paper for all stamped covers should be manufactured at the paper mills of a mr. dickenson, or of another, solely, under strict excise supervision. this paper of mr. dickenson's was of a peculiar make, having threads of cotton or silk so interwoven in the paper that a post-office clerk could readily know by the look or feel that a stamped cover was genuine. the paper makers protested and petitioned against this, objecting to one of the body having all the work. besides, the proposal involved permanent excise supervision over the manufacture of paper. this proposal, however, extended only to covers or envelopes; how forgery was to be prevented in respect to the stamps upon the sheets of letter paper the committee do not say. the whole position, in fact, remained in a state of chaos, only relieved by the ultimate adoption of the adhesive stamp, which plan mr. chalmers had laid before this committee through mr. wallace, the chairman, and likewise through mr. chalmers, m.p., a member of the committee, and which plan had been publicly discussed, not without finding adherents, including mr. cobden, one of the witnesses in favour of the scheme. to the solution proposed by the committee that all stamped covers should be made of dickenson's peculiar paper the government again highly objected, further adding to the dilemma; and when the chancellor of the exchequer, on the th of july, , introduced and carried a resolution sanctioning a penny postage bill being brought forward, he distinctly only "asked hon. members to commit themselves to the question of a uniform rate of postage of one penny at and under a weight hereafter to be fixed." everything else was to be left open. "if it were to go forth to the public to-morrow morning that the government had proposed, and the house had adopted, the plan of mr. rowland hill, the necessary result would be to spread a conviction abroad that, as a stamped cover was absolutely to be used in all cases, which stamped covers were to be made by one single manufacturer, alarm would be felt lest a monopoly would thereby be created, to the serious detriment of other members of a most useful and important trade. the sense of injustice excited by this would necessarily be extreme. i therefore do not call upon the house either to affirm or to negative any such proposition at the present. i ask you simply to affirm the adoption of a uniform penny postage, and the taxation of that postage by weight. neither do i ask you to pledge yourselves to the prepayment of letters, for i am of opinion that, at all events, there should be an option of putting letters into the post without a stamp." "if the resolution be affirmed, and the bill has to be proposed, it will hereafter require very great care and complicated arrangements to carry the plan into practical effect. it may involve considerable expense and considerable responsibility on the part of the government; it may disturb existing trades, such as the paper trade." ... "the new postage will be distinctly and simply a penny postage by weight." ... "i also require for the treasury a power of taking the postage by anticipation, and a power of allowing such postage to be taken by means of stamped covers, and i also require the authority of rating the postage according to weight."[ ] in this dilemma, as to _how_ to carry out the scheme in practice, mr. wallace favourably suggested the adhesive stamp, the adoption of which plan, he had no hesitation in saying from the evidence adduced, would secure the revenue from loss by forgery. mr. warburton, also a member of the - committee, "viewing with considerable alarm the doubt which had been expressed of adopting mr. hill's plan of prepayment and collection by stamped covers," recommended that plans should be applied for from the public. again, in the house of lords on the th of august, lord melbourne, in introducing the bill, is as much embarrassed as was the chancellor of the exchequer in the commons. the opponents of the bill use, as one of their strongest arguments, the impossibility of carrying out the scheme in practice. the earl of ripon says:--"why were their lordships thus called upon at this period of the session to pass a bill, when no mortal being at that moment had the remotest conception of how it was to be carried into execution?" here lord ashburton, like mr. wallace in the commons, favourably suggested the adhesive stamp, "which would answer every purpose, and remove the objection of the stationers and paper makers to the measure." let it, then, be clearly noted that, up to the period of the bill in july and august, , not a word is said in any way connecting mr. hill's name with other than the impressed stamp on the sheet of letter paper, or, more especially, on the stamped covers. that, _and that alone_, is taken on the one part as _his_ plan by all the speakers, official or otherwise--for that alone does the chancellor of the exchequer ask for "powers." the adhesive stamp is brought in, on the other part, as a distinct proposal, in no way entering into the proposals of mr. hill. (the above is given in more detail in my former pamphlet, entitled "sir rowland hill and james chalmers, the inventor of the adhesive stamp," ). footnotes: [ ] see "hansard," vol. . the adhesive stamp. in my pamphlet entitled "sir rowland hill and james chalmers, the inventor of the adhesive stamp," i have already proved from overwhelming evidence, both general and specific, the invention of the adhesive stamp for postage purposes by the late james chalmers, bookseller, dundee, in the month of august, . in addition to friends and fellow-townsmen, several of those in his employment at that period have, unknown to me, come forward from various quarters to describe the process and to fix the date. the setting up of the form with a number of stamps having a printed device--the printing of the sheets--the melting of the gum--the gumming the backs of the sheets--the drying and the pressing--are all described, and the date already named is conclusively fixed.[ ] that this was the first instance of such invention is clear; earlier instances of an _impressed_ stamp proposed for postage purposes are on record, but not one of a proposed adhesive stamp--while sir rowland hill himself has left it on record, in his "life," referring to the same period and occasion when an impressed stamp was proposed in for newspaper covers by mr. knight, "of course, adhesive stamps were yet undreamt of." (see page of my pamphlet above named). i have further shown that mr. chalmers was one of the early postal reformers prior to the period of mr. rowland hill, that he had done great service in the way of accelerating the mails betwixt london and the north, and that he was in communication with several of those early reformers, such as mr. hume, mr. wallace, and mr. knight--the publisher subsequently of mr. rowland hill's pamphlet of --so that his proposal of an adhesive stamp for postage purposes, a matter of notoriety in his own locality, would further have become well known in the general circle of postal reformers, amongst whom, and from whom, on joining same in the year , mr. rowland hill obtained the information which enabled him to draw up and publish his penny postage scheme of . (see page of my pamphlet named.) one of those pioneers of postal reform, the rev. samuel roberts, m.a., of conway, gives his personal testimony of the adhesive stamp having been originated by james chalmers. (page .)[ ] my pamphlet goes on to show (page ) that on the appointment of the house of commons committee of - on the proposed uniform penny postage scheme, mr. chalmers sent in his plan of an adhesive stamp to mr. wallace, the chairman, and to another member of that committee. mr. wallace's reply, stating that he will lay the plan before the committee, is of date th december, . in the dilemma in which the government found itself (upon introducing on the th july, , the resolution preliminary to the bill) as to _how_ to carry out the penny postage scheme in practice (page ) mr. wallace favourably suggested the plan of the adhesive stamp. the statement of the chancellor of the exchequer upon this occasion, with the interposition of mr. wallace in the commons, and of lord ashburton in the lords, in favour of the adhesive stamp have already been given, conclusively showing that, up to this period, mr. hill had not included the adhesive stamp in his proposals. on the passing of the bill in august, mr. hill was relegated to the treasury for the purpose of carrying out the scheme. the first step taken was to invite plans, by treasury circular of rd august, from the public; some time was taken up in receiving and considering these plans, until, by treasury minute of december th, , the adhesive stamp was at length officially adopted, in conjunction with mr. hill's stamped covers, or stamp impressed upon the sheet of letter paper itself. (see page .) but the adhesive stamp, indeed, had been practically adopted by mr. hill before the plans were received, considered, and nothing better found, a concurrence of opinion having set in in favour of same. it will be seen that mr. chalmers, in his published statement of date february, , now produced from sir henry cole's papers, called for petitions towards the adoption of the adhesive stamp. in august, , both the associated body of paper-makers and certain merchants and bankers of the city of london pressed for the adoption of this stamp; mr. rowland hill himself, in a paper entitled "on the collection of postage by means of stamps," circulated by him about the period of the bill being before parliament, included the adoption of the adhesive stamp, in conjunction with his own impressed stamp. mr. cole also drew up an able paper on the stamp question, including the advocacy of the adhesive stamp. so general, indeed, had then become opinion in its favour, that of the plans sent in no less than forty-nine others besides mr. chalmers, who again sent in his plan, recommended the adoption of the adhesive stamp, invented by mr. chalmers in , laid by him before the committee of the house of commons in december, , and further, as we shall now see, sent in to mr. cole as secretary to the mercantile committee of the city of london, in february, , and acknowledged by mr. rowland hill in a letter to mr. chalmers of date rd march, . in this letter mr. hill makes no pretension to the merit or proposed adoption of the adhesive stamp on his part, for, as will be seen, mr. chalmers subsequently returned to mr. hill a copy of this very letter for the purpose of pointing out this fact to mr. hill. it was not until the propriety, and indeed necessity, of adopting mr. chalmers' plan--not until its final official acceptance--that, in a letter dated th january, , mr. hill, then in despotic power, putting mr. chalmers aside upon the pretext afterwards mentioned, assumed the whole merit to himself. footnotes: [ ] since publishing my evidence specifically proving what is here stated, i have been favoured with the following letter:-- "brechin, _ th october, _ "dear sir, "when i penned my anonymous note to the _dundee advertiser_ in august, , expressing the hope that there might be still living some who could corroborate my statement that the late mr. chalmers was the inventor of the 'adhesive stamp,' i hardly expected it would be followed by such an amount of corroboration. "with regard to the _date_ of the invention, you appear to have received ample proof, and i am able to add thereto. it was in the autumn of that i left dundee to reside here, and the stamp was in existence in mr. chalmers' premises before i left. "i may add that when i wrote in , i was not aware of the existence of a son of mr. c. my sole object in writing was that _dundee_ might claim and receive the honour of being the place of birth of the 'adhesive stamp.' "i am, &c., "(_signed_) david prain. "p. chalmers, esq., "wimbledon." a portrait of mr. prain, by the talented scottish artist, mr. irvine, subscribed for by mr. prain's fellow-townsmen and former pupils, has just been presented in his honour to the mechanic's institute of brechin. the proceedings upon this occasion, including the able speeches of provost lamb and of mr. prain, will be found in the _brechin advertiser_ of th june, . on a former occasion mr. prain was presented with a service of plate and testimonial to the value of several hundred pounds, subscribed for by former pupils at home and abroad. it is at the testimony of such men as this, including the late mr. william thorns, of dundee, that my opponents sneer as being "the mere wandering fancies of a few old men!" the general testimony is that of an entire locality. [ ] an interesting obituary of mr. roberts, lately deceased, will be found in the "_times_" of th september, . mr. roberts is there recognised as the pioneer of postal reform and originator of the proposal of a low and uniform postage. sir henry cole's papers and the adhesive stamp of mr. chalmers. in his "fifty years of public life," lately published, sir henry cole gives much information with respect to the penny postage reform, a boon with the obtaining and carrying out of which he was intimately associated--first as secretary to the mercantile committee of the city of london, and afterwards as coadjutor to mr. rowland hill at the treasury. "a general collection of postage papers," having reference to this reform, elucidating the efforts made by this committee of london merchants and bankers during the year - , to obtain for the scheme the sanction of the legislature, has been bequeathed by sir henry cole, "to be given to the british museum after my death."[ ] "the mercantile committee," he states, "was formed chiefly by the exertions of mr. george moffat in the spring of . mr. ashurst conducted the parliamentary inquiry, and upon myself, as secretary, devolved the business of communicating with the public." this committee formed the source and focus of the agitation which brought about the ultimate enactment of uniform penny postage. money was freely subscribed, meetings were held, public bodies in the provinces were urged to petition, members of parliament and ministers were waited upon, and a special paper advocating the scheme, termed the "post circular," was issued and circulated gratis. of these proceedings mr. cole was the guiding genius; and, amongst other successes, over two thousand petitions to parliament were obtained--labours which were ultimately crowned with success. to mr. cole, then, it now turns out that mr. chalmers, in february, , sent a copy of his plan of the adhesive stamp. mr. wallace and the house of commons committee had already got it, but it is only now that the particulars of the plan have been brought to light--and in this "collection of postage papers," sir henry cole has indeed left a valuable legacy to me, and to all prepared to recognise the true originator of the adhesive postage stamp. these papers include a printed statement of mr. chalmers' plan, dated " castle street, dundee, th february, ." and which runs as follows:-- "_remarks on various modes proposed for franking letters, under mr. rowland hill's plan of post office reform._ "in suggesting any method of improvement, it is only reasonable to expect that what are supposed to be its advantages over any existing system, or in opposition to others that have been or may be proposed, will be explicitly stated. "therefore, if mr. hill's plan of a uniform rate of postage, and that all postages are to be paid by those sending letters _before_ they are deposited in the respective post offices, become the law of the land, i conceive that the most simple and economical mode of carrying out such an arrangement would be by _slips_ (postage stamps) prepared somewhat similar to the specimens herewith shown. "with this view, and in the hope that mr. hill's plan may soon be carried into operation, i would suggest that sheets of stamped slips should be prepared at the stamp office (on a paper made expressly for the purpose) with a device on each for a die or cut resembling that on newspapers; that the _sheets_ so printed or stamped should then be rubbed over with a strong solution of gum or other adhesive substance, and (when thoroughly dry) issued by the stamp office to town and country distributors, to stationers and others, for sale in sheets or singly, under the same laws and restrictions now applicable to those selling bill or receipt stamps, so as to prevent, as far as practicable, any fraud on the revenue. "merchants and others whose correspondence is extensive, could purchase these slips in quantities, cut them singly, and affix one to a letter by means of wetting the back of the slip with a sponge or brush, just with as much facility as applying a wafer."--adding that in some cases, such as for circulars, the stamp might answer both for stamp and wafer; a suggestion which those who may recollect the mode of folding universally practised before the days of envelopes, will appreciate. mr. chalmers goes on--"others, requiring only one or two slips at a time, could purchase them along with sheets of paper at stationers' shops, the _weight_ only regulating the rate of postage in all cases, so as a stamp may be affixed according so the scale determined on. "again, to prevent the possibility of these being used a _second time_, it should be made imperative on postmasters to put the post office town stamp (as represented in one of the specimens), across the slip or postage stamp." mr. chalmers then goes on to point out the advantages to be derived from this plan, and to state objections to mr. hill's plan of impressed stamped covers or envelopes, or stamp impressed upon the sheet of letter paper itself. at that period envelopes--being scarcely known, and never used, as involving double postage--were a hand-made article, heavy and expensive; objections which have disappeared with the abolition of the excise duty on paper, and the use of machinery. but how true were mr. chalmers' objections _then_, may be gathered from the fact, as recorded by sir rowland hill in his "life," that the large supply provided of the first postage envelope, the mulready, had actually _to be destroyed_ as wholly unsuitable and unsaleable, while the supply of adhesive stamps was with difficulty brought up to the demand. the force and value of mr. chalmers' objections to the stamp impressed upon the sheet itself, are best exemplified by the fact that, though ultimately sanctioned by the treasury at the instance of mr. hill, such plan never came into use. people bought their own paper from the stationers, and not from the stamp office, and applied the adhesive stamp as the weight required. mr. chalmers concludes, "taking all these disadvantages into consideration, the use of stamped slips is certainly the most preferable system; and, should others who take an interest in the proposed reform view the matter in the same light as i do, it remains for them to petition parliament to have such carried into operation." this statement of mr. chalmers is printed on part of an elongated sheet of paper. on the half not occupied by the type are several specimens of a suggested stamp, about an inch square, and with the words printed, "general postage--not exceeding half-an-ounce--one penny." and the same--"not exceeding one ounce--twopence." (it is only of late years that a penny has franked one ounce in weight.) a space divides each stamp for cutting off singly,[ ] and the back of the sheet is gummed over. one of the specimens is stamped across with the post-mark, "dundee, th february, ," to exemplify what mr. chalmers states should be done to prevent the stamp being used a second time. here is a complete description of the principle of the adhesive stamp as ultimately adopted by mr. hill at the treasury by minute of th december, , when he sent mr. cole to messrs. bacon & petch, the eminent engravers, to provide a die and contract for the supply of stamps (see mr. bacon's evidence, page of my former pamphlet), a plan in use to the present day. this description, as now brought to light under the signature of mr. chalmers himself, fully confirms the evidence with respect to the invention in august, , as given by his then _employés_ yet living, w. whitelaw and others. (see pages - of my former pamphlet.) here, then, was the plan of the future adhesive stamp, already laid before mr. wallace and the house of commons committee, also sent to the secretary of the city of london mercantile committee, in printed form, as to one of many, long before leave was asked, on th july, , even to introduce the bill into parliament. that mr. hill saw mr. cole's copy, or had a special copy sent also to himself, is clear, because mr. hill at once writes to mr. chalmers, under date rd march, . what mr. hill states in that letter we know not altogether, as mr. pearson hill has not thought proper to publish that letter, and my request to him for a copy has not been complied with. (see page of my former pamphlet.) we know thus much, however, that mr. rowland hill makes no pretension _then_ to ever having suggested or approved of an adhesive stamp, as already pointed out. not until writing to mr. chalmers on the th january, (see page of former pamphlet), before which period, in obedience to the general demand, the adhesive stamp had at length been adopted, did mr. hill, in reply to mr. chalmers' claim as the originator, set up any counter-claim on his own part to any share in the merit of the adhesive stamp. but, as with the scheme itself, so now with the stamp which saved it, no second party was to be allowed to divide with mr. hill the sole merit of this great reform. so the far-fetched excuse, the mere afterthought, bred of the success which had attended mr. chalmers' proposal to the committee and to mr. cole, is hit upon (page ) to put mr. chalmers aside and to attach to himself the whole merit of the adhesive stamp. mr. hill had said something about a bit of gummed paper before the commissioners of post office inquiry in february, (subsequent to publishing the first edition of his pamphlet, in which nothing was said of an adhesive stamp), an idea mr. hill had acquired in the interval, just as he had acquired all the principles of the scheme itself, at second hand (page ). on this occasion mr. hill had supposed a difficulty which might occur to a person who had to re-address a letter at a post office, but was unable to write, and at the same time precluded from paying the penny in cash, while the stamped wrapper would obliterate the address. in such an exceptional case, and in order to secure "the universal adoption" of the impressed stamp, a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash, might be wetted and applied. better, however, he goes on to say, allow the penny to be received in cash, so that you have only the impressed stamp or the penny in payment, and which penny was accepted up to the year .[ ] up to the year , consequently, no such exceptional case could have arisen, the penny in cash being sufficient acceptance. this allusion to an adhesive stamp is repeated by mr. hill in the second edition of his pamphlet. here then, in february, , was a passing allusion made by mr. hill to an adhesive stamp, showing that, subsequent to the issue of the first edition of his pamphlet, he had acquired from some quarter the idea of mr. chalmers' invention. february, , was two years and a half after the proved invention of the adhesive stamp by mr. chalmers, one of the early postal reformers, one who "held correspondence with the postal reformers of his day, both in and out of parliament" ("encyclopædia britannica," see page following), the correspondent, amongst others, of messrs. knight & co., who published for mr. hill. in a letter, then, of th january, , as we learn from mr. pearson hill's account of the matter, and from mr. chalmers' reply, mr. hill pointed out to mr. chalmers that his claim could not be admitted, because he, mr. hill, first proposed an adhesive stamp in february, , the first official proposal of his plan by mr. chalmers, his letter to mr. wallace and the house of commons committee, having been only in december of the same year. in answer to this extraordinary pretension on the part of mr. hill, it is enough to point to mr. hill's letters to the postmaster-general, lord litchfield, in january, , explaining and enforcing his penny postage scheme then before the public--letters published in the papers of the period, and in which not a word is said of an adhesive stamp.[ ] or more than enough, to point to the speech of the chancellor of the exchequer, already quoted (page ), to prove that, up to so late a date as the th july, , mr. hill had _not_ proposed to adopt an adhesive stamp. the press, up to th august, , had heard of no such proposal on his part.[ ] this allusion to an adhesive stamp in february, , was a mere passing allusion as to what might be done in a supposed exceptional case which could never have arisen so long as the penny in cash was accepted, and was nothing more. for mr. hill to represent to mr. chalmers that he, mr. hill, had proposed to adopt the adhesive stamp as a means of carrying out his scheme in february, , was to state what was _not the case_; consequently any admission so gained from mr. chalmers was wholly invalid. an extract from the reply of mr. chalmers, dated th may, (reproduced at page of my former pamphlet), has been circulated by mr. pearson hill, in whose hands alone is the entire correspondence, with the object of showing that mr. chalmers "honestly abandoned" his claim. but mr. chalmers honestly abandoned nothing; while no impartial person will, upon consideration, for a moment attach any importance to just what "extract" from his correspondence mr. pearson hill has thought proper to produce. i again contend, as i have already maintained, that this correspondence was public, not private, property--that such should have remained at the treasury, subject to the inspection of all concerned, in place of having been appropriated by sir rowland hill as private, and thus so as to admit of only such portion being ultimately made known as may have suited himself. in this extract of th may, , mr. chalmers, after stating he had delayed to reply until seeing the stamps in operation, writes with surprise at what mr. hill now states. had he known or supposed that any one else, especially mr. hill himself, had proposed the adhesive stamp for the purpose of carrying out the scheme, he would not have troubled him at all. but having sent his plan to mr. wallace, m.p., and got his acknowledgment of th december, , saying same would be laid before the committee; also to mr. chalmers, m.p., and got his reply of th october, , saying such had been laid before the committee; also mr. hill's own letter of rd march, , a copy of which he encloses--from _all_ these he was led to believe he had been first in the field. _now_, not doubting mr. hill's assurance of th january, , to the contrary (and in any case indisposed to contest a decision against which there was practically no appeal), he only regrets having through his ignorance put others as well as himself to any trouble in the matter; "while the only satisfaction i have had in this as well as in former suggestions--all original with me--is that these have been adopted, and have been and are likely to prove beneficial to the public." such is the letter or extract which, placed in the hands of every editor in london, has led to my statements being here treated with comparative neglect.[ ] but let my statements equally with those of mr. pearson hill be read by any impartial writer, as in the case of the "encyclopædia britannica," afterwards noticed, and the result, it will be seen, is to lead to an entirely different conclusion. "james chalmers was the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp--mr. pearson hill has not weakened the evidence to that effect." here was honesty certainly--simplicity indeed--on the side of mr. chalmers; but what about the representation on the part of mr. hill? was it the case that he had proposed the adoption of the adhesive stamp in february, , as represented to mr. chalmers? the proofs to the contrary are conclusive. mr. hill had made a passing allusion to an adhesive stamp in february, , but _only_ a passing allusion. nothing can be more clear than that the adoption of the adhesive stamp for the purpose of carrying out his scheme formed no part of the original proposals and intentions of mr. hill. his representation to mr. chalmers was therefore exaggerated, delusive, and misleading.[ ] "why did not you tell me anything of this before?" replies mr. chalmers in effect;--"_there_ is a copy of your letter of rd march, , when i sent you my plan, in which letter of yours no such pretensions were put forward. it is only now that i learn for the first time that you had ever proposed or been in favour of an adhesive stamp. further, how is it that neither of these members of the committee before whom i laid my plan had ever heard of any such prior proposal on your part? however, i am now only sorry at having troubled you--i have at least the satisfaction of knowing that the public have got my plan somehow." "why did you not tell me anything of this before?" why indeed! because mr. hill _then_ had not contemplated an adhesive stamp, as has been abundantly proved. an impressed stamped cover "was absolutely to be used in all cases," says the chancellor of the exchequer as late as in july, --a "power" was asked for this, and for this alone. (see _ante_, page .) but much had happened in the interval betwixt mr. hill's two letters to mr. chalmers. the stamp not accepted by mr. hill in had become in the favourite of all opinions concerned, the adopted of the treasury. it had saved his scheme. mr. chalmers must now be put aside, a matter which the entire contrast betwixt the dispositions of the two men rendered only too easy, and so this afterthought, this far-fetched pretext already noticed, was hit upon for the purpose. at the same time mr. chalmers appears to have been too apathetic in the matter, indifferent to personal considerations so long as the public got his stamp from some quarter; but the absence of any desire for personal advantage is a not unfrequent characteristic in those who have done some public service. but it is this neglect, or mere indifference, on the part of my father, in not having made a better stand in with respect to a matter the national and universal value of which no one could then appreciate or foresee, that all the more calls upon me now, under a better acquaintance with the facts and circumstances, to claim for his memory that recognition to which he is clearly entitled, as having been "the originator and inventor of the adhesive postage stamp." footnotes: [ ] these papers are in the art library of the south kensington museum. [ ] the perforated sheets were not introduced until the year . this improvement was the invention of a mr. archer, for which he got the sum of £ , . [ ] in his "life" lately published, written by himself, sir rowland hill _omits the clause_ in his original evidence which restores the payment of the penny in cash and does away with any necessity for an adhesive stamp, even in the exceptional case he had supposed. not only does sir rowland hill omit this clause, but he even gives the reader to understand that to the year , the year of his pamphlet, is to be ascribed his adoption of the adhesive stamp. how then, it will be asked, does sir rowland hill account for the speech of the chancellor of the exchequer on the th july, , and the interposition of mr. wallace in favour of an adhesive stamp? this difficulty sir rowland hill surmounts by simply taking no notice of either. [ ] in his letter to lord litchfield of th january, , mr. hill states his plan to be:--"that the payment should always be in advance. and to rid this mode of payment of the trouble and risk which it would otherwise entail on the sending of letters, as well as for other important considerations, i propose that the postage be collected by the sale of stamped covers." [ ] the "times" of this date has the following paragraph:--"the penny postage will commence, we learn, on the st january next. it is intended that stamped envelopes shall be sold at every post office, so that stationers and other shopkeepers may, as well as the public, supply themselves at a minute's notice." not a word as to an adhesive stamp being known as in contemplation. it will be evident from these two instances alone, independent of the proceedings in parliament and of mr. hill's letter to mr. chalmers of rd march, , that the adhesive stamp formed no part of the original proposals or intentions of sir rowland hill. [ ] see "the world," "daily chronicle," &c., also "proceedings of the commissioners of sewers" for july, , as reported in the "city press." [ ] the "christian leader" of glasgow ably puts the matter thus:--"sir rowland hill seems to have been at pains to obscure the facts of the case for the purpose of claiming to himself the credit of an invention which really belonged to the dundee bookseller." the "encyclopÆdia britannica." the nineteenth volume of the above-named standard work, lately published, contains an article headed "postage stamps," in which my late father is fully recognised as having been the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp. it is well known that the articles in this work are drawn up by learned experts upon the respective subjects dealt with, having access to and being in the habit of consulting official and historical documents, and edited under a strong sense of responsibility to the high standing of the work itself and to history; so that it is with unspeakable satisfaction that i now find myself enabled to produce from such a quarter an emphatic recognition of my father's services in connection with the great boon of penny postage reform. this article, so far as it deals with the origin of the adhesive stamp, is as follows; but in considering same it should be borne in mind that the article was drawn up _before_ the discovery of mr. chalmers' plan amongst the papers of the late sir henry cole, with the consequent proofs given in the last chapter as to mr. chalmers having taken the initiative in urging the adoption of this stamp, not only to members of the select committee of the house of commons of - , but to mr. rowland hill himself, long before mr. hill, in his paper of (see _ante_, page ), gave in his adhesion to that plan in conjunction with his own:-- "postage stamps.--for all practical purposes the history of postage stamps begins in the united kingdom, and with the great reform of its postal system in - ." after giving instances in which the _impressed_ stamp had been in use, or had been suggested for postal purposes in this country and elsewhere, the article proceeds:--"finally, and in its results most important of all, the 'adhesive stamp' was made, experimentally, in his printing-office at dundee, by mr. james chalmers, in august, .[ ] these experimental stamps were printed from ordinary type, and were made adhesive by a wash of gum. their inventor had already won local distinction in matters of postal reform by his strenuous and successful efforts, made as early as in the year , for the acceleration of the scottish mails from london. those efforts resulted in a saving of forty-eight hours on the double journey, and were highly appreciated in scotland. there is evidence that from onwards his attention was much directed towards postal questions, and that he held correspondence with the postal reformers of his day both in and out of parliament. it is also plain that he was more intent upon aiding public improvements than upon winning credit for them. he made adhesive stamps in , and showed them to his neighbours, but took no step for publicly recommending their adoption by the post office until long after such a recommendation had been published--although very hesitatingly--by the author of the now famous pamphlet entitled 'post office reform.'[ ] mr. hill brought the adhesive stamp under the notice of the commissioners of post office inquiry on the th february, . mr. chalmers made no _public_ mention of his stamp of until december, ."[ ] "only a fortnight before his examination by the above-named commissioners mr. hill, in his letter to the late lord monteagle (then mr. spring rice, and chancellor of the exchequer), seems to have had no thought of the _adhesive_ stamp. he recommends to the treasury 'that stamped covers and sheets of paper be supplied to the public from the stamp office or post office ... and sold at such a price as to include the postage.... covers at various prices would be required for packets of various weights. each should have the weight it is entitled to carry legibly printed with the stamp.... should experience warrant the government in making the use of stamped covers universal,[ ] most important advantages would be secured. the post office would be relieved altogether from the collection of the revenue.'[ ] "then, upon suggestion, it would seem, of some possible difficulty that might arise from the occasional bringing to a post-office by persons unable to write, of unstamped letters, he added: 'perhaps this difficulty might be obviated by using a bit of paper just large enough to bear the stamp, and covered at the back with a glutinous wash.' it is a quite fair inference that this alternative had been suggested from without.[ ] in reviewing the subject, long afterwards, in his 'history of penny postage,' sir r. hill says: 'the post-office opinions as to the use of stamps for ... prepayment were on the whole favourable.'[ ] in a paper of , entitled 'on the collection of postage by means of stamps,' the author continued to look upon 'stamped covers or envelopes as the means which the public would most commonly employ; still believing that the adhesive stamp would be reserved for exceptional cases.'[ ] "mulready's well-remembered allegorical cover came into use on st may, , together with the first form of the stamped letter-paper, and the adhesive labels. they all met at first, but only for a few days, with a large sale. that of the first day yielded £ , . soon afterwards the public rejection of the 'mulready envelope,' writes rowland hill, 'was so complete as to necessitate the destruction of nearly all the vast number prepared for issue.' whilst, on the other hand, the presses of the stamp office were producing more than half a million of [adhesive] labels, by working both night and day, they yet failed to meet the demand.[ ] it was only after many weeks, and after the introduction of a series of mechanical improvements and new processes, due to the skill and ingenuity in part of mr. edwin hill of the stamp office, in part of mr. perkins, an engraver, that the demand could be effectually answered." the above emphatic decision on the part of eminent men whom i have never seen in favour of james chalmers as having been the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp, will give much satisfaction in those numerous quarters from which i have already met with countenance and support. after a full consideration of the respective statements put forward by myself and by mr. pearson hill on the subject, james chalmers at length obtains a recognition of which he has, as a rule, been only too long deprived. and that the same man who invented this stamp also first proposed its adoption has been already too clearly shown to require repetition here. surely sir rowland hill's "paper of ," mentioned in this article, was a trifle behindhand, when i have just proved from sir henry cole's papers that mr. chalmers had already laid his plan before mr. hill himself in february, . did mr. hill tell us _that_ in his paper of ? no. did he tell us that he drew up this paper of under a pressing demand for the adhesive stamp from all quarters? no. _was it fair of sir rowland hill to allow the readers of his "history of penny postage," or of his paper of , to conclude that this proposal on his part of was put forward of his own initiation, and this with mr. chalmers' plan and statement of february, , already in his possession?_ a plan which, in his reply to mr. chalmers of rd march following, mr. hill had pooh-poohed! moreover, in referring to this "paper of " in his "history of penny postage," vol. , page , sir rowland hill takes special credit to himself for having therein recommended that the adhesive stamps "should be printed on sheets," putting same forward as a further idea of his own, and wholly ignoring the fact of such having been a special feature, "for sale in sheets or singly," in that plan of mr. chalmers _which lay before him_. (see _ante_, page .) it is unfortunate that the writer of this article was not at the time of writing in possession of the whole facts of the case, when doubtless mr. hill's "paper of " would have been characterised as it deserved. sir rowland hill's mode of obtaining credit for "inventions" or proposals of other men will now be better understood. if mr. hill alluded to this adhesive stamp (the admitted invention of mr. chalmers in ) in february, , while mr. chalmers urged its adoption officially only in december, this, it will be seen, arose from mr. hill having been privileged to give evidence on postal affairs before the commissioners of inquiry. the proposal of with respect to newspapers came to nothing; consequently there was no opening _then_ for mr. chalmers to send in his invention _officially_. in sending in his plan to the select committee of the house of commons in december, , mr. chalmers was still a year and a half before the penny postage bill was even introduced into parliament. mr. hill did not adopt same until he issued his "paper of ." mr. hill's allusion to this stamp in february, , this "publishing" of the idea "very hesitatingly," had no practical effect whatever on the cause in hand; such only shows that mr. hill had heard of the invention of , without seeing its value or proposing to adopt it. moreover, mr. chalmers was publishing his own invention, while mr. hill was only publishing an acquired idea, "suggested from without." it is to the man who not only invented the adhesive postage stamp, but who further first urged the adoption of same in its entirety for the purpose of carrying out the penny postage scheme, that the merit of this plan and of its results are due and will be ascribed. but if i was to stop here i should be told now, as i have been told before on obtaining important recognitions, that the present decision in my favour was again got upon mere _ex-parte_ statements--that had mr. pearson hill only been given the opportunity, a very different aspect would have been put upon the matter. no choice, consequently, is left me but to show that it is to mr. pearson hill himself i am indebted for the introduction which has led to my success, and without which introduction, now reproduced, i should have remained in entire ignorance as to any forthcoming article upon postal affairs, or have been most courteously afforded an opportunity of stating my case:-- [_copy._] "encyclopÆdia britannica." " , belsize park, london, n.w., _ th march, _. "gentlemen, "as you are now issuing a new edition of your 'encyclopædia britannica,' and as for years past a mr. patrick chalmers has persistently been making false and groundless charges against my father, the late sir rowland hill, i think it well to send you the enclosed printed documents for your information, as it is by no means improbable that he may strive to get you to insert some untrue statement when you deal with the question of the post office and postal reform. "i need hardly say that i shall be happy at any time to submit to you the original documents which are in my possession, which disprove the claims put forward in behalf of mr. james chalmers of dundee, if you would desire to see them. "your statistical information about the post office, as given in my copy of the encyclopædia (the eighth edition) is of course now much behindhand. i dare say you have already on your staff of contributors some gentleman well able to supply you with fresh information; but should you be in want of any such help, i feel sure that my cousin, mr. lewin hill, head of the statistical branch of the secretary's office, general post office, london, would gladly undertake the work if you desired it. "i am, gentlemen, "your obedient servant, "(signed) pearson hill. "messrs. a. & c. black, edinburgh." it is thus manifest that, in having obtained this conclusive recognition, i have taken no undue advantage of mr. pearson hill, while it will also be manifest that mr. pearson hill's statements have found acceptance in other quarters only because i have not been afforded an equally impartial hearing as in the present case. his printed documents, his statements, with all the advantage of being sole possessor of the correspondence betwixt his late father and mine, have been put forward, and yet the decision is against him. again, as respects the penny postage scheme itself, the proofs are conclusive that _originality of conception_ formed no element whatever in any one of the proposals of sir rowland hill, preceded and heralded as the penny postage reform had been by the labours of a whole band of pioneers. special reference may be made to the statements of the rev. samuel roberts, whose biography as the pioneer of uniform penny postal reform is given in the _times_ of th september last. the "rowland hill memorial fund" committee have themselves admitted, after what has been laid before them, their sense of this non-originality by the change made in the inscription upon the city statue of sir rowland hill, thereby confirming the accuracy of my statements. moreover, a treasury minute of th march, , distinctly states that uniform penny postage had been urged upon the government prior to the proposals of sir rowland hill. thus, independent and conclusive testimony, as distinguished from the mere family tradition with which many writers have hitherto been content, leaves the question of plagiarism beyond dispute. as with the stamp, so with the scheme, the ideas were _acquired, not original_. here, then, is the justification of my statements. so far from having been "persistently making false and groundless charges," i have been stating facts and elucidating the truth, and the aspersions of mr. pearson hill are thus scattered to the winds. for mr. pearson hill, however, every allowance will be made, though his style of controversy will not be admired. that gentleman forgets that my motives and objects are just as legitimate as his own, and should be met in a legitimate way. this leads me to mention that some time ago mr. samuel morley, m.p. (at one period chairman of the "sir rowland hill memorial fund" committee) was good enough to suggest that this controversy should be decided by arbitration, and to which i agreed in principle, subject to due preliminaries, but met with no response. at a later period, in a letter already published, after pointing to my own evidence, i invited mr. morley's good offices, seeing that mr. pearson hill declined to reply to or even to open any letter from me, to ascertain from mr. hill if he could produce any evidence, or anything beyond mere assumption, to the effect that the adhesive postage stamp was at any period an invention on the part of sir rowland hill, but i was equally unsuccessful in obtaining any reply, there being, in fact, nothing beyond assumption in the matter. nowhere does sir rowland hill directly profess that this stamp was his invention. my friends, both in and out of the press, who have been puzzled at the silence of many of the london papers on this subject, will now be in a position to form some conclusion as to the cause of this silence. what has been sent to the messrs. black and to the commissioners of city sewers, may have been sent to the london papers; indeed, i have been given to understand has been generally circulated in these quarters, already compromised in their expressed opinions, and so in no way disposed to entertain fresh views.[ ] my opponents, some of them in high position, others themselves connected with the press, are desirous, and naturally so, that public attention should not be drawn to my statements.[ ] in this way, crushed beneath the weight of a hitherto great name, statements have been disregarded which, when read and investigated as in the case of the "encyclopædia britannica," have been found substantiated. i ask my supporters and others, therefore, to read and judge for themselves. whether the london papers, hitherto silent, seeing the important recognition my claim has now met with, and the fresh and conclusive evidence now disclosed from the papers of sir henry cole, will also now read and admit some discussion of this matter of public interest in their columns, remains to be seen. in any case, an enduring record of my father's share in the great postal reform of - is secured. a work of the highest standing, and a reference to which is the first act of historical writers, has recorded james chalmers as having been the originator of that adhesive postage stamp which saved the reformed scheme. moreover, in lands beyond the sea, an interest is taken in this subject wholly unknown here; individuals and learned societies collect for their own information, and hand down for future perusal, everything published on the great penny postage reform, and in some of these quarters amazement is expressed at the single-hero-worship which prevails in this country with respect to a subject which investigation shows to have been the offspring of many minds, the result of the labours of not a few zealous but unassuming men. the services of sir rowland hill, already cordially recognised in my pamphlets, it would be superfluous again to dwell upon here. and if, while cordially pointing out these great services, it has also fallen to my lot to put a fresh and less favourable aspect upon their nature and extent than hitherto understood, to bring to light his great failing of assuming or allowing to be assumed as conceptions of his own what were only acquired ideas, of omitting to notice what it was not convenient to notice, let it be remembered that such has been forced upon me as a necessity solely in the pursuit of what is now declared to have been a just claim. at one period, indeed, i had withdrawn from the whole matter, until recalled to it by mr. pearson hill himself in a published statement to which i was challenged to reply. my replies, under ever-increasing and conclusive evidence, have now been put forward. should the result not have proved such as the best friends of sir rowland hill could have desired, upon his own son, and not upon me, rests the responsibility. it is enough for me that my father's memory as the originator and inventor of the adhesive postage stamp has been successfully vindicated. footnotes: [ ] "patrick chalmers, sir rowland hill, and james chalmers, inventor of the adhesive stamp (london, ), _passim_." see also the same writer's pamphlet, entitled "the position of sir rowland hill made plain ( )," and his "the adhesive stamp; a fresh chapter in the history of post-office reform ( )." compare mr. pearson hill's tract, "a paper on postage stamps," in reply to mr. chalmers, reprinted from the "philatelic record," of november, . mr. hill has therein shown conclusively the priority of _publication_ by sir rowland hill. he has also given proof of mr. james chalmers' express acknowledgment of that priority. but he has not weakened the evidence of the priority of _invention_ by mr. chalmers. [this admission on the part of mr. chalmers, obtained through an obscuring and consequent misapprehension of the facts, was, of course, wholly invalid. even if valid, it will be seen at page that such priority of publication of an idea "suggested from without" was of no practical consequence.--p.c.] [ ] "ninth report of commissioners of post-office inquiry, ," pp. , , reprinted in sir r. hill's "history of penny postage" ("life," &c., ii. ). [ ] [that mr. chalmers had not made an earlier offer of his stamp _officially_ is accounted for by the proposals of with respect to a penny postage on newspapers, in place of an impressed stamp of fourpence on the sheet, having come to nothing.--p.c.] [ ] _i.e._, by prohibiting the prepayment of letters in money. [ ] "ninth report," as above. [ ] moreover, what sir rowland hill does _not_ tell in his "history," is that the compulsion to use a stamp in all cases was, in his _original evidence_ in this ninth report, at once _withdrawn_, the permission to pay the penny in cash being restored, so that the person "unable to write" was at once relieved of all "difficulty," and no bit of gummed paper required even in the exceptional case supposed. (see my former pamphlet, page .) keeping this fact in view, there is thus only a passing "allusion" here in february, , to the adhesive stamp, and nothing more, not even a partial proposal to use it. this clause restoring the permission to pay the penny in place of using any stamp, is taken no notice of by sir rowland hill "in reviewing the subject long afterwards."--p.c. [ ] "history of penny postage," as above. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] hill, _et supra_, p. . [ ] in lately replying to mr. pearson hill in the columns of the _whitehall review_, i have put this query, which has not been denied, "will mr. pearson hill undertake to say that he has not made a communication, written or verbal, similar to the above letter to messrs. a. & c. black to every editor in london, if not throughout a wider sphere?" [ ] one mode of stifling the subject has been to circulate the impression that i am a person under the hallucination that "his father invented the _penny postage scheme_," thus rendering my claim too ludicrous to obtain attention. see, amongst others, the _times_ and _daily news_ of th july, . value and importance of the adhesive stamp. "why should we be called upon to pass this penny postage bill," said the opponents of that measure in august, , "when no mortal being had at that moment the remotest conception of how it was to be carried into execution?" mr. rowland hill's plan of the impressed stamp had not satisfied the committee. this plan, as amended by the committee, had not satisfied the government. (see _ante_, page .) the paper makers and stationers were in a state of protest and alarm. "this part of the business must stand over," said the government of the day, "how to carry out the scheme will require much consideration." it was here that james chalmers, through mr. wallace, chairman of the committee, stepped in--the adhesive stamp saved the scheme. _that_ was the value and importance of his invention and proposal. it satisfied the paper trade; "let the stationer, not the stamp office," said mr. chalmers, "sell the paper, the post office the stamp." he saved the scheme of mr. hill to the country by relieving and setting agoing the clogged wheels of penny postage--he supplied the engines to the much admired but immovable craft and sent her speeding smoothly and swiftly upon her beneficent mission. no wonder sir rowland hill determined that no name but his own should be heard of in connection with the adhesive stamp, for of what use is a scheme, however desirable, if you cannot carry it out in practice? this is what he admits on the subject soon after the simultaneous introduction of the mulready envelope and the adhesive stamp--"the public rejection of the former was so complete as to necessitate the destruction of nearly all the vast number prepared for issue." on the other hand--"though the presses of the stamp office were producing more than half a million of adhesive stamps by working both night and day, they yet failed to meet the demand." up to this day, after over forty years of public service, and notwithstanding the improvements in the production of impressed and embossed stamps, the adhesive stamp remains indispensable to our postal, inland revenue, telegraphic, and parcel-post systems--"eighteen hundred millions are issued _yearly_ from the office of the controller of stamps. these range in value from a halfpenny to twenty pounds, covering postage and inland revenue from a halfpenny to two shillings and sixpence; postage proper from five shillings to five pounds; inland revenue proper (such as foreign bills, sea policy stamps, &c.) from one penny to ten pounds; and fees (such as judicature, &c.), from one penny to twenty pounds. the penny stamp takes the first place amongst the numbers issued. of these, as many as thirteen hundred millions and a half were despatched from somerset house in the course of a recent twelvemonth."[ ] twenty-five millions of parcels are now annually conveyed by parcel post, a business only practicable through prepayment by adhesive stamp. thus, ever increasing in utility, thus indispensable to the carrying out of all or any of these great public services, the value of james chalmers' invention and proposal--the importance of this "powerful mechanism of the stamp"--may be best felt by the consideration that its suspension, even for a day, would paralyse the entire commercial and social system of the nation, it may be said "of the world" for in all other lands, one after another, has the adhesive stamp become an institution for similar purposes as in our own, and in corresponding numbers. in this sense an eminent writer has lately stated, "whoever discovered the adhesive stamp, the discovery has socially revolutionised the world." "should my plan be adopted," was the prophetic saying of mr. chalmers when he sent his plan to london and to mr. hill himself, long before the penny postage bill was even introduced into parliament, "should my adhesive stamp be adopted, the demand for these will in time become so vast, that i am only puzzled to think where premises can be found to get them up." surely the man who rescued the legislature from such a complication as has been described, surely the originator of this indispensable and ubiquitous adhesive stamp has done the state some service. footnotes: [ ] "chambers' journal," march, . conclusion. objections have been raised, both in and out of the press, to the effect that my claim comes "too late in the day." such objection will, i believe, be found effectually met in my preface and former pamphlets, to the satisfaction of any impartial mind favouring me with a perusal. with those who decline to read my statements, amongst whom may be named several writers of biography wrapt up in a blind worship of pre-conceived ideas, nothing, of course, can be done. others say, "get an official recognition of your claim from the post office, then we will recognise you." this, again, is taking matters in the reverse order; if the post office is ever to recognise me, the pressure must come from outside, as the post office, under its late chief, mr. shaw lefevre, simply declines to read or cause to be read for its information anything i may lay before it, as "not being deemed necessary." as i have nothing to ask from that quarter, having now gained a recognition promising to be sufficient for my purpose, i have no present intention of again troubling the post office on the subject. the feeling of _esprit de corps_, if nothing else, will probably render the post office the very last body to admit that any mistake by the late sir rowland hill has been made. but it may be said, "did not the post office give palmer, the organiser of the mail-coach system, in addition to his pay of £ , a year, £ , ?" and was not james chalmers the successor in that line, sixty years ago, of palmer? yes--but then mr. palmer was a man of business, and had made his bargain with the post office _before_ he took the mail-coach organisation in hand to be paid according to results; while, after all, the £ , was only a compromise, obtained, moreover, only after the repeated interference of parliament. james chalmers, recognised by the leading scottish press of the period, and by his townsmen, never dreamt of asking a pecuniary reward. again, was not the post office in most liberal with archer, the inventor of the perforating machine--did they not give him £ , for the use of it? yes--but then mr. archer had taken out a patent for his invention, and refused to sell the use of it for less, and it was not until after a fruitless negotiation of five years, ending in a parliamentary committee taking up the subject and insisting upon mr. archer being paid his moderate demand, that the post office and the treasury gave in, and but for this parliamentary pressure we might yet be cutting off our stamps with a pair of scissors to this day. in the same way, then, it has been asked, would not an infinitesimal royalty on the increasing millions of adhesive stamps have long ago placed that originator, him and his, amongst the wealthy of the land? yes--but such was not the spirit in which james chalmers trafficked and trifled with the public interests. what are his last words to sir rowland hill on the subject? "the only satisfaction i have had in this, as well as in former suggestions, all original to me, is that these have been adopted, and have and are likely to prove beneficial to the public." this was the spirit in which the originator of the adhesive stamp ever tendered his services, public or private--the satisfaction of finding them useful and accepted. in the continued and ever-increasing utility of his stamp may be seen that silent yet irresistible tribute of the nation to its originator which james chalmers would most have prized--only, let the hand which gave it be rightly known and recognised. for a time powerful influences to silence may prevail and popular delusion continue to hold its sway. but at some future day, if not now--in other lands if not in this--will the name of james chalmers be yet recognised in connection with our constant friend and companion, the adhesive stamp, and the great boon of penny postage reform. appendix. dundee. so satisfied were the dundee merchants of a past age as to the originality and value of mr. chalmers' invention and happy suggestion that, on the st january, , a public testimonial was presented to him in the town hall of dundee in recognition of same and of other postal services. this testimonial consisted of a silver jug and salver and a purse of sovereigns. just before this period, mr. rowland hill had been presented by the merchants of the city of london with a cheque for over £ , , in recognition of what now turns out to have been merely a borrowed scheme, and which scheme was only saved from untimely collapse by the adoption of mr. chalmers' plan of the adhesive stamp. in the present generation, again, the town council of dundee have performed a graceful act to the memory of a deserving townsman, by having passed at a meeting held on the rd march, , the following resolution:-- "that, having had under consideration the pamphlet lately published on the subject of the adhesive stamp, the council are of opinion that it has been conclusively shown that the late james chalmers, bookseller, dundee, was the originator of this indispensable feature in the success of the reformed penny postage scheme, and that such be entered upon the minutes." the above resolution of the town council is now, it will be seen, fully confirmed by the able and learned writers of the "encyclopædia britannica," after an impartial investigation of the subject--a confirmation having all the greater weight as reversing, upon evidence which could not be resisted, previously recorded impressions. dundee is now a large and wealthy community, returning two members to parliament; few centres of business have benefited more conspicuously from the legislation of the past forty years, including as the foundation of all mercantile intercourse that great postal reform which james chalmers saved from failure and made practicable. two generations have already recognised and given every credit to the services of their townsman--what further notice dundee may yet take of this matter of national and historical interest originated in the locality, the "value and importance" of which has elsewhere been inadequately described, remains to be seen. opinions from the press. having already published most of these in detail, to save space and repetition it will be sufficient here to give a list or little more, of the numerous journals which have given me more or less support. those to which i am more particularly indebted are:--in scotland-- the "dundee advertiser," a consistent support during a past lengthened period, including powerful leading articles and notices. the "montrose standard," several cordial and able articles of the highest value, while the same is to be gratefully noticed of the other forfarshire papers. the "brechin advertiser," the "forfar herald," the "arbroath guide," the "montrose review." the "north british daily mail," of glasgow, in a leading article headed "a neglected inventor," after stating the case, goes on to say: "it is not creditable to the generosity of the government of this country that an important invention of this kind, which has conferred such a great boon upon the public, should have remained so long unacknowledged and unrewarded." this article has been extensively reproduced. the "glasgow news" and the "christian leader," of glasgow, cordial articles. the "paisley herald," the same on several occasions. the "aberdeen free press," a warm and able support. the "blairgowrie advertiser" has taken much interest and pains to support me; also the "perthshire constitutional," the "fifeshire journal," the "north british advertiser," to all of which my best thanks are due. in the metropolis and neighbourhood, considering how short a period has elapsed since the opinion has been almost unanimously expressed that the reformed penny postage scheme was the "sole and undisputed invention of sir rowland hill," to whom has also been erroneously attributed the invention and proposal as well as the ultimate adoption of the adhesive stamp, fair progress has already been made in obtaining a recognition of mr. chalmers' services. that greater progress has not been made may be attributed to the powerful influences which have been at work to stifle the whole subject, including an attempt on the part of mr. pearson hill to stop the publication of pamphlets. in the "illustrated london news" mr. g. a. sala writes: "it seems tolerably clear that sir rowland hill was not the inventor, in the strict sense of the term, either of the penny postage or of the adhesive postage stamp ... anent the invention of the adhesive stamp, a pamphlet has recently been published, but i have not yet had time to read it.... whoever discovered the adhesive stamp, the discovery has socially revolutionised the world." according to this high authority, the adhesive stamp was thus at least _not_ the invention of sir rowland hill. the "whitehall review" has given me consistent and most valuable support; also the "metropolitan," the "people," the "home and colonial mail." the "machinery market," of london and darlington, a practical monthly journal of high position, while retaining all its former admiration for sir rowland hill's services, decides, in a long and able article, in favour of james chalmers as respects the stamp. the "inventors' record," in an article on "disputed inventions," supports the same view. the pretensions brought forward on the part of sir rowland hill are declared to be wholly groundless, and the invention accorded to james chalmers. the "croydon review," a monthly, in a series of able articles, has informed its readers candidly with respect to the untenable pretensions of sir rowland hill, both as respects the scheme and the stamp, cordially ascribing the latter to james chalmers. the "surrey independent" has ably supported me in several leading articles. as far as conception went, "sir rowland hill displayed a remarkable facility for picking other people's brains." to the "surrey comet" and "wimbledon courier" my best thanks are due for cordial notices and recognition; as also to the "west middlesex advertiser," the "south hampstead advertiser," the "north middlesex advertiser," the "christian union," the "hornsey and finsbury park journal," the "american bookseller," the "acton and chiswick gazette," "figaro," "vanity fair," the "kensington news," "life," and others. from the provincial press, much valuable support has been given me:-- the "oldham chronicle" and "rastrick gazette" have written often and ably on the subject, supported by such papers as the "bradford observer," the "western daily press," of bristol, the "bristol gazette," the "norwich argus," the "brighton herald," the "brighton argus," the "dover and county chronicle," the "colchester chronicle," the "stratford and south essex advertiser," the "essex standard," the "bradford times," the "burnley express," the "barnsley times," the "wigan observer," the "stockport advertiser," the "yorkshire gazette," the "westmoreland gazette," the "wakefield and west riding herald," the "frome times," the "man of ross," the "totnes times," the "banner of wales," the "west bromwich free press," the "swinton and pendlebury times," the "accrington gazette," the "birkenhead news," the "brighton standard," the "hastings observer," the "newcastle courant," the "preston chronicle," the "monmouthshire beacon," the "lydney observer," the "west of england observer," the "cardiff free press," the "monmouthshire chronicle," the "eskdale and liddlesdale advertiser," the "irvine express," the "surrey advertiser," the "printers' register," the "newcastle examiner," the "malvern news," and others, with articles sympathetically copied into the "brighton guardian," the "aberdeen journal," the "dundee courier," the "edinburgh courant," the "liverpool albion," the "building and engineering times" of london," &c. the late sir thomas nelson, solicitor to the corporation of the city of london, writes:-- "hampton wick, _ th february, _. "sir, "i have read the pamphlet you sent me. your statements are very interesting. it is nothing uncommon for the man to whom the idea first occurs to have it developed by others, who get the credit of it. "yours truly, "(signed) t. j. nelson. "patrick chalmers, esq. wimbledon." if plagiarism is not uncommon it is none the less unfair to the original inventor, nor the less to be deprecated, more especially where the result has been to obtain unmerited "credit" heaped upon the wrong man at the expense of the man to whom "the idea first occurred," and who further, as is now more fully proved since sir thomas nelson wrote, also first urged its "development" to the very man who ultimately took all the "credit" to himself. to plagiarism such as this a stronger term is applicable. sir bartle frere writes:-- "wressil lodge, wimbledon, _ st april, _. "sir, "i have received your letter of the th, and thank you for its enclosures on the subject of the invention of the adhesive postage stamp. "i have long believed that mr. james chalmers was the inventor of that important part of our present postal system, but i regret that i cannot suggest to you any means of giving further publicity to your father's claims to the merit of that most useful invention. "i remain, sir, "yours truly, (signed) h. b. e. frere. "p. chalmers, esq." sir bartle frere introduced the adhesive postage stamp into scinde during his administration of that province, having obtained his knowledge and belief as to james chalmers having been the originator of same from independent sources thirty years before my own investigation of the subject. * * * * * in some quarters this matter is ignored on the ground that the subject of this pamphlet is not of sufficient importance or too late to call for notice. to such i reply--"then let the issue of the adhesive stamp (see page ) be discontinued." should it be found that such cannot be done without serious detriment to the public service, then surely to continue to use a man's indispensable invention and proposal without so much as a word of recognition, will, if adhered to, prove a course of proceeding hard indeed to justify, as well as something wholly foreign to the antecedents of british journalism. effingham wilson, printer, royal exchange, e.c. +-----------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page imformation changed to information | +-----------------------------------------------+ ten years among the mail bags: or, notes from the diary of a special agent of the post-office department. by j. holbrook. with illustrations. philadelphia: h. cowperthwait & co. . entered, according to act of congress, in the year . by j. holbrook in the clerk's office of the district court for the district of columbia. this work is respectfully dedicated to those officially connected with the mail service of the united states. preface. the idea of preparing the present work was suggested to the author by the universal interest manifested in regard to the class of delinquencies to which it relates, and the eagerness with which the details of the various modes adopted in successful cases to detect the guilty parties, have been sought after by all classes. he was also induced to undertake this series of narratives by the hope and belief that while it afforded interesting matter for the general reader, it might prove a public benefit by increasing the safety of the united states mails, and fortifying those officially connected with the post-office and mail service, against the peculiar temptations incident to their position, thus preserving to society some at least who, without such warnings as the following sketches contain, might make shipwreck of their principles, and meet with a felon's doom. it has been said that whoever acts upon the principle that "honesty is the best policy," is himself dishonest. that is, policy should not be the motive to honesty, which is true; but taking into view how many there are who would not be influenced by higher considerations, it is evident that whatever serves to impress on the mind the inevitable connection between crime and misery, if not between honesty and happiness, will aid in strengthening the barriers against dishonesty, too often, alas! insufficient to withstand the pressure of temptation. the author has endeavored to enforce these truths in the following pages, and he relies for the desired impression on the fact that they are not dry, abstract precepts which he presents, but portions of real life; experiences the like of which may be the lot of any young man; temptations before which stronger men than he have fallen, and which he must flee from if he would successfully resist. the most elaborate treatise on rascality would not compare in its effects on the mass of mankind, with the simplest truthful narrative of a crime and its consequences, especially if addressed to those exposed by circumstances to the danger of committing offences similar to the one described. two objections to the publication of a work like the present, occurred to the author as well as to others whom he consulted, and caused him to hesitate in commencing the undertaking. first, the possibility that the detailed description of ingenious acts of dishonesty, might furnish information which could be obtained from no other source, and supply the evil-disposed with expedients for the prosecution of their nefarious designs. second, the danger of again inflicting pain upon the innocent relatives and friends of those whose criminal biography would furnish material for the work. in reference to the first of these objections it may be said, that, although descriptions of skilful roguery are always perused with interest, and often with a sort of admiration for the talent displayed, yet when it is seen that retribution follows as certainly and often as closely as a shadow; that however dexterously the criminal may conceal himself in a labyrinth of his own construction, the ministers of the law track him through all its windings, or demolish the cunningly devised structure; and that when he fancies himself out of the reach of justice, he sees, to his utter dismay, her omnipresent arm uplifted to strike him down; when these truths are brought to light by the record, an impressive view will be given of the resources which are at command for thwarting the designs of dishonesty, and of the futility of taking the field against such overwhelming odds. and in addition to the certainty of detection, the penalty inflicted for offences of this description is to be taken into the account. doubtless many employés in post-offices have committed crimes of which they never would have been guilty but for a mistaken idea of security from the punishment to which they were making themselves liable. it is well for all to be correctly informed on this subject, and to know that offences committed against this department are not lightly dealt with. information of this character the author has fully supplied. again--comparatively but few of the secret modes of detection are exhibited, and he who should consider himself safe in evading what plans are here described, will find to his sorrow that he has made a most dangerous calculation. as to the second objection above mentioned, namely, the danger of wounding the feelings of innocent parties, the author would observe that fictitious names of persons and places are generally substituted for the real ones; thus avoiding any additional publicity to those concerned in the cases given. and furthermore, he ventures to hope that few of the class to which this objection refers, would refuse to undergo such a trial of their feelings, if by this means a wholesome warning may be given to those who need it. there are other wrongs and delinquencies connected with our postal system, of a mischievous and immoral tendency, and of crushing effect upon their authors, which, although not in all cases punishable by statute, yet require to be exposed and guarded against. descriptions of some of the most ingenious of these attempts at fraud, successful and unsuccessful, are also here held up to public view. it was the author's intention to give two or three chapters of an historical and biographical character,--a condensed history of our post-office system, with some notice of that of other countries, and brief biographical sketches of our post masters general. but matter essential to the completeness of the work in hand, as illustrating the varieties of crime in connection with post-offices, has so accumulated, that the chapters referred to could not be introduced without enlarging the volume to unreasonable dimensions; and the author has been compelled to limit his biographies of the post masters general to a short chronological notice of each of those officers. [illustration] the post masters general. under the revolutionary organization, the first post master general was benjamin franklin. he was experienced in its duties, having been appointed post master of philadelphia in , and deputy post master general of the british colonies in . he was removed from this office, to punish him for his active sympathies with the colonists; and one of the first acts of their separate organization was to place him at the head of their post-office department. it is a singular coincidence that this eminent philosopher, who cradled our postal system in its infancy, also, by first bringing the electric fluid within the power of man, led the way for the electric telegraph, the other great medium for transmitting intelligence. the necessities of the revolutionary struggle, demanded the abilities of franklin for another sphere of action. richard bache, his son-in-law, was appointed to succeed him as post master general, in november, . he was succeeded by ebenezer hazard, who subsequently compiled the valuable historical collections bearing his name. he held the office until the inauguration of president washington's administration. in relation to the several post masters general, since the adoption of the federal constitution, the author regrets that he is compelled, contrary to his original intention, to confine himself to brief chronological notes. the succession is as follows:-- . samuel osgood.--born at andover, mass., feb. , . graduated at harvard college in . a member of the massachusetts legislature, and also of the board of war, and subsequently an aid to gen. ward. in , a member of the massachusetts constitutional convention. in , appointed a member of congress; in , first commissioner of the treasury; and sept. , , post master general. he was afterwards naval officer of the port of new york, and died in that city aug. , . . timothy pickering.--born at salem, mass., july , . graduated in . was colonel of a regiment of militia at the age of nineteen, and marched for the seat of war at the first news of the battle of lexington. in , appointed judge of two local courts. in the fall of marched to new jersey with his regiment. in appointed adjutant-general; and subsequently a member of the board of war with gates and mifflin. in he succeeded greene as quarter master general. in he was employed in negotiations with the indians; aug. , , he was appointed post master general; in , secretary of war; and in , secretary of state. from to he was senator, and from to , representative in congress. died at salem, june , . . joseph habersham.--born in . a lieutenant colonel during the revolutionary war; and in a member of congress. appointed post master general feb. , . he was afterwards president of the u.s. branch bank in savannah, georgia. died at that place nov. . . gideon granger.--born at suffield, ct., july , . graduated at yale college in , and the following year admitted to the bar. in elected to the connecticut legislature. nov. , , appointed post master general. retired in , and removed to canandaigua, n. y. april, , elected a member of the senate of that state, but resigned in , on account of ill health. during his service in that body he donated one thousand acres of land to aid the construction of the erie canal. died at canandaigua, dec. , . . return jonathan meigs.--born at middletown, ct., in . graduated at yale college in , and subsequently admitted to the bar. in emigrated to marietta, ohio, then the north western territory. in , during the indian wars, he was sent by gov. st. clair on a perilous mission through the wilderness to the british commandant at detroit. in the winter of - , he was elected by the legislature the first chief justice of the supreme court of the new state. in october, , he was appointed colonel commanding the united states forces in the upper district of the territory of louisiana, and resigned his judgeship. in the following year he was appointed as one of the united states judges for louisiana. april , , he was transferred to the territory of michigan. in october following he resigned his judgeship, and was elected governor of the state of ohio, but his election was successfully contested on the ground of non-residence. he was chosen at the same session as one of the judges of the supreme court of the state; and at the next session as united states senator, for a vacancy of one year and also for a full term. in he was again elected governor of ohio, and on the th of december resigned his seat in the senate. in he was re-elected governor. on the th of march, , he was appointed post master general, which he resigned in june, . died at marietta, march , . . john mclean.--born in morris co., new jersey, march , . his father subsequently removed to ohio, of which state the son continues a resident. he labored on the farm until sixteen years of age, when he applied himself to study, and two years afterwards removed to cincinnati, and supported himself by copying in the county clerk's office, while he studied law. in he was admitted to the bar. in he was elected to congress, and re-elected in . in he was unanimously elected by the legislature, a judge of the supreme court of the state. in he was appointed by president monroe, commissioner of the general land office, and on the th of june, , post master general. in he was appointed as one of the justices of the supreme court of the united states, which office he yet holds. . william t. barry.--born in fairfax co., va., march , . graduated at the college of william and mary. he was admitted to the bar, and in early life emigrated to kentucky. in , he was a candidate for governor of that state, and defeated by a small majority, after one of the most memorable contests in its annals. appointed post master general march , . in appointed minister plenipotentiary to spain, and died at liverpool, england, on his way to madrid. . amos kendall.--born at dunstable, mass., august , . graduated at dartmouth college in . about the year removed to kentucky, and in was appointed post master at georgetown, in that state. in he assumed the editorial charge of the _argus_, published at frankfort, in the same state, which he continued until , being, most of the time, state printer. in he was appointed fourth auditor of the united states treasury; and, may , , post master general. he resigned the latter office in , and has, since the introduction of the electric telegraph, been mainly employed in connection with enterprises for its operation. he is yet living. . john milton niles.--born at windsor, ct., august , . admitted to the bar in december, . about he removed to hartford, and was one of the first proprietors of the _hartford times_, and had charge of its editorial columns until the year . in he was appointed judge of the hartford county court, which office he held until . in he represented hartford in the connecticut legislature. in april, , he was appointed post master at hartford; which he held until december, , when he was appointed united states senator to fill a vacancy, and in the ensuing may was elected by the legislature for the remainder of the term. in and he was supported by his party, though without success, for the office of governor of the state. may , , he was appointed post master general. in he was elected united state senator for a full term. mr. niles is yet living. . francis granger.--born at suffield, ct., dec. , . graduated at yale college in . admitted to the bar in may, . he was elected a member of the new york legislature in , and again in , , , and . in he was a candidate for the office of lieutenant governor, but was defeated; and in and again in , he was run for governor, with the same result. in he was elected to congress. in he was a candidate for vice president, and received the electoral votes of the states of massachusetts, vermont, new jersey, delaware, ohio, indiana, and kentucky. he was again elected to congress in and in . appointed post master general march , , but resigned the following september. his successor in congress thereupon resigned, and mr. granger was again elected to that body. on the th of march, , he finally retired from public life, but is yet living. . charles a. wickliffe.--born at bardstown, kentucky, june , , and was admitted to the bar at an early age. he was twice elected to the state legislature during the war of . he twice volunteered in the northwestern army, and was present at the battle of the thames. in he was again elected to the legislature. in he was elected to congress, and was four times re-elected. during his service in that body, he was appointed by the house as one of the managers in the impeachment of judge peck. upon leaving congress, in , he was again elected to the lower branch of the state legislature; and, upon its assembling, was chosen speaker. in he was elected lieutenant governor of the state, and in , by the death of gov. clark, he became acting governor. he was appointed post master general, september , . in he was chosen as a delegate to the constitutional convention of kentucky; and, under the new constitution, he was appointed as one of the revisers of the statute laws of the state. he is yet living. [illustration] . cave johnson.--born, january , , in robertson co., tennessee. his opportunities for education were limited, but made available to the greatest extent. in his youth, he acted as deputy-clerk of the county, his father being clerk. he was thence led to the study of the law. in he was appointed deputy quarter master in a brigade of militia commanded by his father, and marched into the creek nation under general jackson. he continued in this service until the close of the creek war in . in he was admitted to the bar. in he was elected by the legislature one of the attorneys general of the state, which office he held until elected a member of congress in . he was re-elected in , , and . defeated in . again elected in , , and . appointed post master general, march , . in he served for a few months as one of the circuit judges of tennessee; and, in , was appointed by the governor and senate as president of the bank of tennessee, at nashville. he is yet living. . jacob collamer.--born at troy, n. y., about , and removed in childhood to burlington, vt., with his father. graduated at the state university at that place in . served during the year , a frontier campaign, as a lieutenant, in the service of the united states. admitted to the bar in . practised law for twenty years, serving frequently in the state legislature. in he was elected an associate justice of the supreme court of the state, from which position he voluntarily retired in . in the course of that period, he was also a member of a convention held to revise the constitution of the state. in elected to congress to fill a vacancy, and re-elected for a full term, in , and again in . appointed post master general march th, . in he was again elected a justice of the supreme court of vermont; and in he was chosen united states senator, which office he now holds. . nathan kelsey hall.--born at skaneateles, n. y., march th, . removed to aurora in the same state in , and commenced the study of the law with millard fillmore. removed with the latter to buffalo in . admitted to the bar in . appointed first judge of the court of common pleas in . in elected a member of the state legislature, and in a member of congress. he was appointed post master general july , ; and, in , united states judge for the northern district of new york, which office he now holds. . samuel dickinson hubbard.--born at middletown, ct., august , . graduated at yale college in . he was admitted to the bar in , but subsequently engaged in manufacturing enterprises. he was mayor of the city of middletown, and held other offices of local trust. in he was elected a member of congress, and re-elected in . he was appointed post master general september , . died at middletown october , . . james campbell, the present post master general of the united states, was born september , , in the city of philadelphia, pa. admitted to the bar in , at the age of twenty-one years. in , at the age of twenty-eight, he was appointed judge of the common pleas court for the city and county of philadelphia, which position he occupied for the term of nine years. in , when the constitution of the state was changed, making the judiciary elective, he was nominated by a state convention of his party as a candidate for the bench of the supreme court of the state, but was defeated after a warmly contested and somewhat peculiar contest, receiving however , votes. in january, , he was appointed attorney general of pennsylvania, which he resigned to assume the duties of post master general. he was appointed to that office on the th of march, . introduction. a mail bag is an epitome of human life. all the elements which go to form the happiness or misery of individuals--the raw material, so to speak, of human hopes and fears--here exist in a chaotic state. these elements are imprisoned, like the winds in the fabled cave of Æolus, "biding their time" to go forth and fulfil their office, whether it be to refresh and invigorate the drooping flower, or to bring destruction upon the proud and stately forest-king. well is it for the peace of mind of those who have in temporary charge these discordant forces, that they cannot trace the course of each missive as it passes from their hands. for although many hearts are made glad by these silent messengers, yet in every day's mail there is enough of sadness and misery, lying torpid like serpents, until warmed into venomous life by a glance of the eye, to cast a gloom over the spirits of any one who should know it all; and to add new emphasis to the words of the wise man, "he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow." but until they are released from their temporary captivity, the letters guard in grim silence their varied contents. joy and sorrow as yet have no voice; vice and crime are yet concealed, running, like subterranean streams, from the mind which originated, to the mind which is to receive their influence. the mail bag is as great a leveller as the grave, and it is only by the superscription in either case, that one occupant can be distinguished from the other. but leaving these general speculations, let us give more particular attention to the motley crowd "in durance vile." if each one possessed the power of uttering audibly the ideas which it contains, a confusion of tongues would ensue, worthy of the last stages of the tower of babel, or of a woman's rights convention. indeed matters would proceed within these leathern walls, very much as they do in the world at large. the portly, important "money letter," would look with contempt upon the modest little _billet-doux_, and the aristocratic, delicately-scented, heraldically-sealed epistle, would recoil from the touch of its roughly coated, wafer-secured neighbor, filled to the brim, perhaps, with affections as pure, or friendship as devoted as ever can be found under coverings more polished. would that the good in one missive, might counteract the evil in another, for here is one filled with the overflowings of a mother's heart, conveying language of entreaty and remonstrance,--perhaps the traces of anxious tears,--to the unwary youth who is beginning to turn aside from the path of rectitude, and to look with wishful eyes upon forbidden ground. need enough is there of this message to strengthen staggering resolution, to overpower the whispers of evil; for close by are the suggestions of a vicious companion, lying in wait to lure him on to vice, and to darken the light of love which hitherto has guided his steps. in one all-embracing receptacle, the strife of politics is for a time unknown. epistles of whigs, democrats, pro and anti-slavery men lie calmly down together, like the lion and the lamb, (if indeed we can imagine anything lamb-like in political documents,) ready, however, to start up in their proper characters like satan at the touch of ithuriel's spear, and to frown defiance upon their late companions. theological animosity, too, lies spell-bound. orthodoxy and heterodoxy, old and new school, protestant and catholic, free thinkers and no thinkers, are held in paper chains, and cease to lacerate one another with controverted _points_. nor in this view of dormant pugnacity, should that important constituent, the law, be left out of sight. an opinion clearly establishing the case of a. b. unsuspectingly reposes by the side of another utterly subverting it, thus placing, or about to place, the unfortunate a. b. in the condition of a wall mined by its assailants, and counter-mined by its defenders, quite sure (to use a familiar phrase,) of "bursting up" in either case. and the unconscious official who "distributes" these missiles, might well exclaim, if he knew the contents, "cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war." but we come to another discord in our miniature life-orchestra. those all-embracing, ever-sounding tones, which lie at the two extremities of the "diapason of humanity," namely, life and death, here find their representatives. here lies a sable-edged missive, speaking to the eye as the passing bell speaks to the ear, telling of blighted happiness, a desolate home, and loving hearts mourning and refusing to be comforted because the loved one is not; while close at hand and perchance overlying the sad messenger, is the announcement of another arrival upon the stage of life--our first--and though it is as yet behind the curtain, not having made its bow to the world at large, is an important character in the green room; and the aid of that convenient individual, uncle sam, is invoked to convey the information of its advent to a circle of expectant friends, as highly favored as that select few who are sometimes invited to witness a private performance by some newly-arrived artist, before he makes his appearance in a more public manner. nor should we omit at least a passing notice of the humorous aspects of our bag. physiognomy will not go far in aiding us to determine as to a given letter, whether its contents are grave or gay. a well-ordered epistle, like a highly bred man, does not show on its face the emotions which it may contain. but in what we may call the lower class of letters, where nature is untrammeled by envelopes, and eccentricity or unskilfulness display themselves by the various shapes and styles in which the documents are folded and directed, there is more room for speculation on their internal character; and it is the author's intention to furnish some rare specimens of unconscious humor of this kind, for the delectation of his readers. as we contemplate the wit, fun, humor, and jollity of all sorts, which lie dormant within these wrappages, we are tempted to retract our commiseration for the imaginary official whom we have supposed to know the contents of the letters in his charge, and therefore drag out a miserable existence under their depressing influence. at least we feel impelled to modify our remarks so far as to say that in the case supposed, his days would be passed in alternate cachinnations and sympathizing grief. he would become a storehouse of wit, a magazine of humor. for there is much of wit, humor, and jollity running through these secret channels, that never is diffused through the medium of the press, but flows among the privacies of domestic circles, adding life to their intercourse, and increasing the attractions of social fellowship, like some sparkling stream, both refreshing and adorning the landscape through which it takes its course. we leave the further development of this prolific train of thought, to the reader's imagination. yet the imagination can devise no combination more strange than those which may be found every day within the narrow precincts of which we have been speaking; and the same may be said of the post-office system at large, interwoven as it is with the whole social life of civilized man. the laws of the land are intended not only to preserve the person and material property of every citizen sacred from intrusion, but to secure the privacy of his thoughts, so far as he sees fit to withhold them from others. silence is as great a privilege as speech, and it is as important that every one should be able to maintain it whenever he pleases, as that he should be at liberty to utter his thoughts without restraint. now the post-office undertakes to maintain this principle with regard to written communications as they are conveyed from one person to another through the mails. however unimportant the contents of a letter may be, the violation of its secrecy while it is in charge of the post-office department, or even after having left its custody, becomes an offence of serious magnitude in the eye of the law; and as the quantity and importance of mail matter is continually increasing, it has been found necessary to adopt means for its security, which were not required in the earlier history of the post-office. one kind of danger to which the mails were exposed before the days of railroads and steamboats, namely, highway robbery, is now almost unknown. the principal danger at present to be apprehended, is from those connected with their transportation and delivery, and a system of _surveillance_ has been adopted, suited to the exigency of the case, namely, the creation of special agents, who have become a fixed "institution," likely to be essential to the efficiency of the department, as long as any of its employés are deficient in principle or honesty. the origin of this special agent system will be given elsewhere. it is sufficient to say here, that the curious developments of character, and combinations of circumstances, which will be found in the following pages, were mainly brought to light by the operation of this system, as carried out by one of its agents. "ten years" of experience have given the author (or at least ought to have given him) an ample supply of material for the illustration of nearly every phase in post-office life. his principal difficulty is the "_embarras des richesses_;" yet he has endeavored to select such cases as are not only interesting in themselves, but well calculated to benefit those for whose use the present work is especially designed. contents. chapter i. no "ear-biters" employed--the commission--a whole school robbed--value of a "quarter"--embargo on trunks--unjust suspicion--the dying mother--fidelity of post masters--a venerable pair of officials--president pierce assists--a clue to the robberies--the quaker coat--an insane traveler--the decoy letters--off the road--the dancing horse--the decoy missing--an official visit by night--finding the marked bills--the confession--the arrest page chapter ii. a competent assistant--yielding to temptation--an easy post master--whispers of complaint--assistant embarrassed--application to his uncle--the refusal--value of a kind word--resort to depredations--evidences of guilt--decoy letter taken--the bowling saloon--the agent worsted--the restaurant--bother of the credit system--the fatal bank-note--keen letter to the agent--the arrest--the next meeting chapter iii. business rivalry--country gossiping--museum of antiquities--new post master--serious rumors--anonymous letters--package detained--bar-room scene--_ram_ifications of the law--first citizens--rascally enemies--lawyer's office--gratuitous backing--telegraphing--u. s. marshal arrives--the charge--the fatal quarter--enemies' triumph--the warrant--singular effects of fear--a faithful wife--sad memories--the squire's surprise--all right chapter iv. high crimes in low places--honest baggage-masters--suspicious circumstances--watching the suspected--shunning the dust--honesty triumphant--an episode--unexpected confession--the night clerks--conformity to circumstances--pat the porter--absents himself--physician consulted--the dead child--hunting excursions--"no go"--pat explains his absence--his discharge--the grave-stones--stolen money appears--the jolly undertakers--pat at the grave--more hunting--firing a salute--removing the deposits--crossing the ferry--scene at the post-office--trip to brooklyn--recovery of money--escape--encounter with a policeman--searching a steamer--waking the wrong passenger--accomplices detained--luxuries cut off--false imprisonment suit--michael on the stand--case dismissed chapter v. an infected district--a "fast" route agent--heavy bank losses--amateur experiments--dangerous interference--a moral lecture--the process discovered--an unwelcome stranger--midnight watching--monopoly of a car--detected in the act--the robber searched--his committal--a supposed accomplice--the case explained--honesty again triumphant--drafts and letters--a long sentence--public sympathy--a christian wife--prison scenes--faithful to the last--an interesting letter chapter vi. safety of the mails--confidence shaken--about mail locks--importance of seals--city and country--meeting the suspected--test of honesty--value of a string--a dreary ride--harmless stragglers--a cautious official--package missing--an early customer--newspaper dodge--plain talk--a call to breakfast--innocence and crime--suspicion confirmed--the big wafers--finding the string--the examination--escape to canada--a true woman--the re-arrest--letter of consolation--the wife in prison--boring out--surprise of the jailor--killing a horse chapter vii. startling complaints--character against suspicion--the two clerks--exchanging notes--the faro bank--tracing a bill--an official call--false explanation--flight of the guilty--the fatal drug--the suicide--sufferings of the innocent--the moral chapter viii. a night in a post-office. midnight mails--suspected clerk--a trying position--limited view--a "crack" agent--sneezing--"counter irritation"--the night bell--fruitless speculations--insect orchestra--picolo introduced--snoring--harmless accident--the boot-black--a tenanted boot--the exit chapter ix. throwing off the cars--fiendish recklessness--the boot-tracks--a scamp among the printers--obstruction removed--a ruse--the boots secured--"big jobs"--the trial--unreliable witness--a life-sentence chapter x. stopping a post-office. the unpaid draft--the forged order--a reliable witness--giving up the mail key--a lady assistant--post-office records--the official envelope--return of the post master--the interview--embarrassment of guilt--duplicate circular--justice secured chapter xi. indian depredations--the model mail contractor--rifles and revolvers--importance of a scalp--indian chief reconnoitering--saving dead bodies--death of a warrior--the charge--a proud trophy--sunset on the prairie--animal life--a solitary hunt--the buffalo chase--desperate encounter with an indian--ingenious signal--returning to camp--minute guns--a welcome return chapter xii. cheating the clergy--duping a witness--money missing--a singular postscript--the double seal--proofs of fraud--the same bank-note--"post-boy" confronted--how the game was played--moving off chapter xiii. young offenders--thirty years ago--a large haul--a ray of light chapter xiv. obstructing the mail. a sound principle--a slow period--a wholesome law--"ahead of the mail"--moral suasion--indignant passengers--dutch oaths--a smash--interesting trial--a rowdy constable--the obstructors mulcted chapter xv. a dangerous mail route--wheat bran--a faithful mail carrier--mail robber shot--a "dead-head" passenger--an old offender--fatal associate--robbery and murder--conviction and execution--capital punishment--traveling in mexico--guerillas--paying over--the robbers routed--a "fine young english gentleman"--the right stuff chapter xvi. the tender passion--barnum's museum--little eva--the boys in a box--the bracelet--love in an omnibus--losses explained chapter xvii. detached incidents. bank letter lost--the thief decoyed--post-office at midnight--climbing the ladder--an exciting moment--queer place of deposit--a post master in prison--afflicted friends--sighs and saws--the culprit's escape--how it was done--a cool letter--a wife's offering--moral gymnastics--show of honesty--unwelcome suggestion--"a hard road to travel"--headed by a parson--lost time made up--a male overhauled chapter xviii. frauds carried on through the mails. sad perversion of talent--increase of roguery--professional men suffer--young america _at_ the "bar"--papers from liverpool--the trick successful--a legal document--owning up--a careless magistrate--letters from the un-duped--victimizing the clergy--a lithograph letter--metropolitan sermons--an up-town church--a book of travels--natural reflections--wholesome advice--the seed mania--_strong_ inducements--barnes' notes--"first rate notice"--farmer johnson--wethersfield outdone--joab missing--"gift enterprise"--list of prizes--the trap well baited--evading the police--the _scrub_ race chapter xix. post-office sites. embarrassing duty--an exciting question--a "hard case"--decease of a post master--the office discontinued--the other side--call at the white house--the reference--agent's arrival--molasses incident--an honest child--slicking up--the academy--stuck fast--the shoe factory--a shrewd citizen--the saw mill--a tenantless building--viewing the "sites"--obliging post master--the defunct bank--a funeral scene--the agent discovered--exciting meeting--"restoration hall"--eloquent appeals--a fire brand--committee on statistics--generous volunteers--being "put down"--good-nature restored--the bill "settled"--a stage ride--having the last word chapter xx. harrowfork post-office. a gloomy picture--beautiful village--litigation in harrowfork--a model post master--the excitement--petitioning the department--conflicting statements--the decisive blow--the new post master--the "reliable man"--indignant community--refusal to serve--an editor's candidate--the temperance question--newspaper extracts--a mongrel quotation--a lull--a "spy in washington"--bad water--new congressmen--the question revived--delegate to washington--obliging down easter--the lost letters--visit to the department--astounding discovery--amusing scene--a congressman in a "fix"--the difficulty "arranged" chapter xxi. unjust complaints. infallibility not claimed--"scape-goats"--the man of business habits--home scrutiny--a lady in trouble--a bold charge--a wronged husband--precipitate retreat--complaints of a lawyer--careless swearing--wrong address--no retraction--a careless broker--the charge repulsed--the apology--mistake repeated--the affair explained--a comprehensive toast chapter xxii. practical, anecdotal, etc. the wrong address--odd names of post-offices--the post-office a detector of crime--suing the british government--pursuit of a letter box--an "extra" customer--to my grandmother--improper interference--the dead letter--sharp correspondence--the irish heart--my wife's sister chapter xxiii. responsibility of post masters chapter xxiv. official courtesy, etc. chapter xxv. importance of accuracy chapter xxvi. post masters as directories--novel applications--the butter business--a thievish family--"clarinda" in a city--decoying with cheese--post master's response--a truant husband--woman's instinct chapter xxvii. a windfall for gossipers--suit for slander--profit and loss--the resuscitated letter--condemned mail bag--an epistolary rip van winkle chapter xxviii. valentines. their origin--degeneration--immoral influence--incitement to dishonesty chapter xxix. the clairvoyant discovery chapter xxx. poetical and humorous addresses upon letters chapter xxxi. origin of the mail coach service chapter xxxii. evasion of the post-office laws chapter xxxiii. post-office paul prys chapter xxxiv. special agents chapter xxxv. route agents chapter xxxvi. decoy letters supplementary chapter. practical information--post-office laws--improved letter case ten years among the mail bags. chapter i no "ear-biters" employed--the commission--a whole school robbed--value of a "quarter"--embargo on trunks--unjust suspicion--the dying mother--fidelity of post masters--a venerable pair of officials--president pierce assists--a clue to the robberies--the quaker coat--an insane traveller--the decoy letters--off the road--the dancing horse--the decoy missing--an official visit by night--finding the marked bills--the confession--the arrest. in the fall of , information was received from the post-office department at washington, of extensive depredations upon the mails along the route extending from boston to a well known and flourishing inland town in one of the new england states, accompanied with the expression of a strong desire on the part of the post master general, that prompt and thorough efforts should be made to ferret out, if possible, those who were concerned in these wholesale peculations. it so happened that the gentleman at this time at the head of the post-office department, had not been a very ardent believer in the necessity or usefulness of "secret agents," so called. in fact, when he entered upon the duties of his office, he dismissed the entire corps of this class of officials, and notwithstanding the urgent calls of the public, and the dissenting views of his most experienced assistants, he steadily refused to re-employ them, excepting temporarily, and in special cases, until near the close of his official term. justice to that honest and thorough-going officer, however, requires some mention of the causes which controlled his decision in this important matter. while he was a representative in congress, a violent onslaught was made upon the system of special agents, for the reason (as was alleged,) that they were neither more nor less than so many political emissaries, supported at the public expense; and in consequence of their secret, and therefore commanding position, possessing, and often exerting an undue and improper influence against those opposed to them in politics. believing this charge to be unjust, he took up, in the house of representatives, the defence of this special agent system, and called for proof in support of the accusations of violent partisan conduct brought against these agents. those who know him will be able to judge of his mortification and displeasure when it was distinctly proved that in one instance a special agent relieved his pugnacious propensities by getting into a regular fight at the polls, and damaging one _poll_, by biting off an ear attached thereto; the poll aforesaid being the property of a political opponent. it was also shown that this sanguinary agent inserted a dirk knife between the ribs of another antagonist, thus performing a sort of political phlebotomy, with the intention, doubtless, of relieving the patient of some portion of his superabundant whig or democratic blood (whichever it might have been) and thereby bringing him to a rational view of public questions. this, and some other equally reputable cases of interference in elections, having been fully established, it is not wonderful that strong prejudices should have arisen in the mind of the future post master general against this class of officers, although such disorderly and disgraceful conduct was clearly the fault of the individuals who indulged in it, and not of the corps or system, with which they were connected. and i would here say, in justice to this body of agents, that many of them were gentlemen of intelligence and discretion, who would be far from countenancing such proceedings as have just been mentioned. when, therefore, in the year above designated, the writer found himself in possession of a special agent's commission, signed by the same gentleman, as "post master general," and rendered impressive by the broad seal of that department, which represented a . steed rushing madly along, with a post-rider on his back, and the mail portmanteau securely attached,--when he received accompanying instructions to look into the alarming state of things on the route aforesaid--his leading thought and ambition was to satisfy the distinguished tennessean that a special agent could catch a mail robber by the ear quite as readily as a political antagonist, and apply the knife of justice to those whose case required it, with at least as much courage and skill as could be displayed in the matter of disabling belligerent "shoulder hitters" at the ballot boxes. how much the result of this first investigation, after the restoration of the "ear-biters" (as they were then sometimes facetiously called,) had to do with the radical change in opinion and action, noticeable in certain quarters, as to the utility and indispensable necessity of this "right arm" of the department, it may not be advisable, nor indeed modest, to inquire. the depredations in the case thus placed in my hands for investigation, were seemingly very bold, although from the length of the route, and the number of post-offices thereon, the rogue had no doubt flattered himself that it would take a long time to trace him out, even if government should condescend to notice the complaints which he might suppose would be made at head-quarters. it is also possible that he was encouraged to this course of rascality by the belief that the department had no officials whose particular business it was to be "a terror to evil-doers," and that he could easily elude the efforts of those no more experienced than himself in the crooks and turns through which every villain is compelled to slink. the letters stolen were principally addressed to the members of a large and flourishing literary institution, situated in the town already mentioned, and embracing in its catalogue pupils of both sexes from almost every section of the union. so keen was the scent of the robber, that, like an animated "divining rod," he could indicate unerringly the existence of gold, or its equivalent beneath the paper surface soil, and he "prospected" with more certainty, though less honesty, than a california miner. from all the mail-matter passing through his office, he would invariably select the valuable packages, abstracting their _material_ contents, and, as it afterwards appeared, committing the letters to the flames. "dead men tell no tales." neither do burnt letters. the results of this system of robbery, as regarded those who suffered by it, were somewhat peculiar. the abstraction of an equal amount from the members of a business community, might have inconvenienced some, but would have made little perceptible difference in the course of business. the temporary deficiency would have been as little felt, on the whole, as the withdrawing of a pail-full of water from a running stream. the level is quickly restored, as supplies flow in. but when the victims of dishonesty are youth pursuing their studies at a distance from home, and depending on remittances from their parents and friends for the means of discharging the debts which they may incur, the case is widely different. here the stream is dammed up somewhere between its source and the place where the waters ought to be flowing, and the worst description of drought--a drought of money--ensues. all sorts of consequences, in the present instance, followed this state of things. the school became, in this particular, like a besieged city, cut off from supplies from without, while its inhabitants lived on under an ever increasing pressure of difficulties, which made premature micawbers of the unfortunate aspirants to that temple which is so artistically represented in the frontispiece to webster's spelling book, as surmounting the hill of science, and animated by the figure of fame on the roof, proclaiming through her trumpet a perpetual invitation to enter the majestic portals beneath. the possessor of money, received, under these circumstances, a greater degree of consideration than is usually accorded to the millionaire in the world at large. the owner of a "quarter" had troops of friends, and became purse-proud on the strength of that magnificent coin. happy was he who had unlimited "tick;" to whose call livery-stable keepers were obsequious, and with whom tailors were ready to in_vest_, having faith to believe that the present dry aspect of the financial sky would be succeeded by refreshing showers of "mint-drops" from the paternal pockets. some of the young ladies who had invoked the milliner's assistance in defiance of the poet's line--"beauty unadorned, &c.," occasionally received hints respecting the settlement of their trifling accounts, which materially diminished the pleasure that they would otherwise have felt in the contemplation of their outer adornments. bonnets reminded them of bills, and dresses of duns. the more juvenile portion of our scholastic community, too, felt the pressure of the "hard times" which some invisible hand had brought upon them. in early life, the saccharine bump is largely developed, but unlike other organs described by phrenologists, this is within the mouth, and is commonly called the "sweet tooth." those luxurious youth who had hitherto indulged the cravings of this organ _ad libitum_, or as far as they could do so without the knowledge of their teachers, found the wary confectioners unwilling longer to satisfy their unsophisticated appetites, without more "indemnity for the past" if not "security for the future," than they had yet furnished. so these victims of raging desire were compelled to retire hungry from untasted luxuries, not without sundry _candid_ expressions of their feelings toward the obdurate retailers of sweets, and _tart_ replies from those individuals. their only consolation was to revel in dreams in which the temple of fame was supported by pillars of candy, with a protuberant pie for a dome; while her trumpet was converted into a cornucopia from which unfailing streams of sugar-plums were issuing. but such annoyances and inconveniences as have been enumerated were trifling, compared with other consequences which resulted from this prolonged and systematic robbery of the mails. it is hard for one who never had his word doubted, to learn by unmistakeable indications that his story of money expected and not received, is disbelieved by an impatient creditor, who perhaps hints that the money has come and gone in some other direction than that which it should have taken. the honorable pride of some was wounded in this manner, and much ill-feeling arose between those who had hitherto regarded each other with mutual respect. the term of the school was just closing, and worthy mrs. k., who had several of the pupils as boarders in her family, being blessed with a rather large organ of caution, refused to allow one or two to leave (who did not expect to return the next term,) without depositing some collateral security for the payment of their board-bills. those luckless youth had written again and again for the money necessary to settle their accounts in the place; but their entreaties were apparently unnoticed and unanswered. they were in the condition of mr. pecksniff's pupils, who were requested by their preceptor to ring the bell which was in their room, if they wanted anything. they often did so, but nobody ever answered it. it very naturally seemed almost incredible to mrs. k. that the parents of her boarders should neglect to provide for the various expenses which arise at the close of a school term, especially as these pupils were not to return. so the good lady felt bound by her duty to herself to lay an embargo upon their trunks, and she further took occasion to observe that if there hadn't been so much horseback riding, &c., during the summer, her bill could have been settled. this of course provoked an angry retort, and suspicion smouldered on one side, and resentment flamed out on the other, until the whole mystery was unravelled. in another boarding-house, inhabited by pupils of both sexes, it had been customary for some of their number to get from the post-office the letters and papers sent to them, and this duty had lately devolved, for the most part, on one person, henry s., who was a relation of the post master, and, from other circumstances, had frequent occasion to visit the office. as he returned almost empty-handed of letters from day to day, his disappointed fellow-boarders at first wondered at the silence of their friends, then suspicion began to work in their minds; and since the post master was a man of unsullied honor, and entirely reliable for honesty, they at length reluctantly admitted the supposition that henry s. must be the delinquent. acting on the ground that s. was the guilty one, his fellow-boarders gave orders to the post master, forbidding the delivery of their letters to him. so the next day, when he presented himself at the office, he was thunderstruck by the information that he had lost the confidence of his fellow-pupils, and that they would no longer trust their letters in his hands. "it can't be," exclaimed he, "that they suppose i took their letters." "i guess they do," said the old post master; "but i think they had better be sure that there were letters coming to them, before they suspect you." "oh, now i see why they have acted so strangely, lately, just as if they didn't want me around. i never once thought that this was the reason of it." from that time, he withdrew himself as much as possible from the society of his fellow-pupils, stung by a sense of their injustice, and cherishing anything but amiable feelings towards them; yet he did not escape sundry taunts and flings at his character for honesty, from the maliciously disposed. and although those who had regarded him with suspicion, frankly acknowledged their error when the true culprit came to light, yet it was long before he could entirely forgive them the deep mortification they had caused him. nor were such cases as this the worst that occurred. there was a boy in the school, "the only child of his mother, and she was a widow." the lad was quick in intellect, amiable in disposition, and a general favorite throughout the institution. he loved his mother with a strength of affection not often surpassed, and it was fully responded to, by his tender parent. the frequent visits which she made him during his residence at the school had given her opportunities to become acquainted with many of her son's young companions, as well as with his teachers, so that she was quite well known in the little community. let us place ourselves at the residence of mrs. e. (the lady in question,) some hundred miles away. she is lying upon a sick-bed, from which she will never arise. let us listen to the conversation between her and her attendant. "has the train come up yet, mary?" "yes, ma'am, it passed a few minutes ago, but charley hasn't come." "of course he hasn't, he would have been in my arms before this, if he had." "perhaps," suggests mary, "he will be here by the next train." "god grant he may," groans the dying mother. "it is now more than a week since they first wrote to him, telling him that i was very sick, and requesting him to come immediately. oh, what _can_ keep him away so long? i fear he is sick himself. some one must go to-morrow, and find out what it is that keeps him from me. i cannot die without seeing him once more." while this mother was struggling with disease, and with that "hope deferred" that "maketh the heart sick," her son was pursuing his daily round of studies and amusements, anticipating with delight his return home at the close of the term. we may imagine the grief and distress of the poor boy when his uncle, who came for him, told him how the friends at home had written to him twice, each time enclosing him the requisite funds to bear his expenses home, that there might be no delay from _that_ cause. and how his mother's only wish, as she now lay rapidly sinking, was to see once more her beloved charley. off they went, the boy and his uncle, on iron wings,--but the wing of the death-angel was swifter, and before they arrived at the place of their destination, had cast its awful shadow over the mother's brow. it will easily be believed that the failure of so many letters to reach those for whom they were intended, excited no small degree of uneasiness in the minds of the parents and friends of the pupils; and in some instances, such was their alarm and anxiety, that journeys of hundreds of miles were undertaken in order to learn why their letters were not received, and why they heard nothing from those to whom they wrote; for the unknown author of all this trouble and confusion, in order to prevent discovery, often destroyed the letters passing both ways. i cannot here refrain from saying a few words respecting the heinousness of such villanous conduct on the part of post masters or their employés. leaving out of sight the fact that they are sworn to do nothing contrary to the laws, in their official capacity, and that if they incur the guilt of a breach of trust, they also become guilty of perjury, it should be considered that the well-being of community in all its relations, domestic, social, commercial, and literary, depends on the fidelity with which they discharge the duties of their office. much confidence is reposed in them by the public, and i am happy to say, that in comparatively few instances is this confidence misplaced. but in consequence of the circumstances just mentioned, an amount of evil, terrible to contemplate, may be the result of an abuse of trust, which may seem trifling to the guilty perpetrator. the law considers no abuse of the trust reposed in those connected with the post-office as slight; but with a jealous regard for the good of community, provides penalties commensurate with the greatness of their crimes, for those whom neither common honesty, nor honorable feelings, nor moral principle can withhold from the commission of such deeds. but we will resume the thread of our story. it may seem strange that the disorders which i have partly described, should have continued so long before the department was informed of the state of things; but in regard to this, i would say that frequently such failures of correspondence go on for some time, and work much mischief before the post master is apprised of the troubles existing in his vicinity, as he of course is not expected to know what letters are sent to his office, in the absence of complaints made directly to him. it should be stated here, for the benefit of those not informed in these matters, that it is made part of the duty of a post master to report promptly to the post-office department all complaints of the loss of any valuable letters said to have been deposited in his office. in the case i am narrating, the failures in the delivery of letters became at length so general, that complaint was made to the post master of the town, and information communicated directly to the department at washington. having received a commission from the post master general as before stated, with orders to investigate this case, i proceeded at once to the place in question, having first been assured of the entire reliability of the post master in charge there; and if looks could ever be taken as the index of the man, i needed no other assurance of his honesty. i found an old gentleman who had numbered his three-score years and ten, a veteran in the service, having held the post which he then filled, "from time immemorial." he looked the worthy representative of that class of men, whose moral principles are applied to the discharge of public duties, as strictly as to those of a private character,--men like that high-minded worthy, who, when his son attempted to help himself to a sheet of paper from a desk containing public property, rebuked him thus: "take some paper from _my_ desk, if you want it. _that_ paper belongs to the united states." it is generally necessary in investigating cases of depredations, to inquire into the honesty of the clerks in the offices to which we direct our attention; but in the present instance, such a precaution was uncalled for, since the only assistant of the old post master was his wife, a venerable, motherly matron, of about his age, who had aided him in his official duties, and had been his help-meet in the household for many, many years. the correspondence of a generation had passed through their hands, and they were enabled to note the changes in the number and appearance of the letters which were placed in their charge during the long period of their incumbency,--changes produced by the increase of population, the freer intercourse between distant places, and the facilities for epistolary communication, which had been progressing ever since they had assumed the responsibilities of their office. at first few letters were transmitted but those of a sturdy, business-like appearance, written on coarse paper, and sealed with wafers of about the dimensions of a modern lady's watch,--wafers that evidently had in charge matter of weighty import, and were mighty embodiments of the adhesive principle. then, as time and improvement advanced, and the _cacoëthes scribendi_ became more generally developed, documents appeared of a milder grade, and of a more imaginative aspect, not only representing the cares of business life, but indicating, by the fineness of their texture, the laboriously neat and often feminine character of their superscriptions, and the delicacy of their expressive waxen seals, that love and friendship, and the interests of domestic circles, were also beginning thus to find utterance. our worthy pair, having been connected with the postal department during such a large portion of its existence, had naturally come to feel much interest in whatever concerned it, and of course were especially anxious that no blot should come upon the reputation of the office in their charge, and that the delinquent in the present case should be brought to light and to justice. the old man was slow to believe that a fraud had been committed by those connected with any office in his neighborhood, as he thought he could vouch for the character of every one of his brother post masters with whom he was acquainted, and the information which he gave me respecting them seemed to exonerate them, so far as his opinion could do it. my first proceeding at that point, was to examine the books of the office, by which it appeared that boston packages were received only once or twice a week, while they had been sent daily, according to the records of the boston post-office. after passing over the entire route several times _incog._, and taking as minute a view of the several offices as it was in my power to do without incurring the danger of being recognised, i concluded that my duty required me to seek an interview with the united states district attorney, whose functions were then discharged by no less a personage than hon. franklin pierce, now president of the united states. on laying the whole matter before him, he expressed much regret at the seeming implication of the "granite state" in such acts of dishonesty and systematic fraud; at the same time confidently expressing the belief that the incumbents of two or three post-offices, to which i felt satisfied the difficulty was confined, could not be the guilty parties, as they were personally known to him. although i greatly respected his judgment, yet i ventured to suggest the possibility that his desire to think well of his acquaintances might have led him to view the characters of some of them in a too favorable light. so, in order to establish more firmly their trust-worthiness in my estimation, he kindly went over to the state-house, where the legislature was in session, and confidentially consulted the representatives from each of the towns in question. one of the members thus consulted, and who readily endorsed the favorable opinion of the attorney, happened to be _a brother of the post master who had done all the mischief_, as it was afterwards ascertained. i have reason to believe, however, that this gentleman was not aware of his brother's delinquencies, and that he was incapable of doing anything to countenance or forward such dishonorable practices. one of the lost letters contained several twenty dollar notes on one of the boston banks. on the occasion of a public exhibition, held at the close of the term, in the academy before referred to, a large number of visitors from abroad were collected together, and as money at such a time would be circulating in the town more freely than usual, it seemed not unlikely that one or more of those bank notes might find their way into the current of business, and furnish, by their identification, some clue to the perpetrator of the robberies. with this hope, i inquired privately of several merchants in the place, whether they had recently taken any such bills, and learned from one of them that, about two weeks before, at the time of the exhibition, several of those or similar bills had been offered for exchange by a stranger, which fact would perhaps have attracted no particular attention, were it not for the absence of any apparent object in this exchange. the imperfect description of the stranger which i obtained, agreed tolerably well, as far as it went, with that of mr. f., post master in the town of c., where was one of the offices through which the many missing packages should have passed. the most decided mark of identity which was furnished me, was a brown over-coat, cut something after the quaker style, which my informant remembered to have been worn by the stranger for whose accommodation he had exchanged notes similar to those described. deeming it unsafe to inquire of any neighbor of the suspected post master whether he possessed such a coat, i adopted the expedient of attending, on the following sabbath, the church of whose congregation he was a member, for the purpose, of course, of listening to a good sermon, not forgetting, however, under the scriptural license furnished in luke xiv. , to look about now and then for the quaker coat and its owner,--a wolf in sheep's clothing. i observed the frequent characteristics of a country congregation,--a noisy choir, a gorgeous display of ribbons and other "running rigging" by the fairer portion of the audience, and a peculiarly ill-fitting assortment of coats, but never a quakerish garment. by the time the preacher had drawn his last inference, i had drawn mine, namely, that it is easier to identify a man by his face than by his coat, inasmuch as he cannot lay aside the one, while he may the other. the day, indeed, was remarkably mild, and few over-coats made their appearance. mr. f. was present, however, at both services, as i afterwards learned, and occupied a seat in the choir,--a _base_ singer, probably. i have now to mention one of those singular coincidences which are so frequently brought about, as if with the design of aiding in the exposure of crime, and of pointing out its perpetrators with unerring accuracy. the numerous instances which are every day occurring, illustrative of this principle, leave us no room to doubt its truth. "murder will out," and so will all other crimes. let the guilty one envelope himself in a seemingly impenetrable cloud of secrecy; let him construct, ever so cunningly, the line of his defences, sparing no pains to fortify every exposed point, and to guard against every surprise; yet some ray of light, darting, like the electric flash, he knows not whence, will pierce the darkness which surrounded him; some hidden spark will kindle an explosion, which will bury him and his works in ruin. "trifles light as air" harden into "confirmation strong as words of holy writ." assuming that the aforesaid coat, if it had any connection with the author of the robberies, was probably manufactured at the only tailoring establishment in the place, i happened in there on monday morning, and inquired of the presiding genius his price for a respectable over-coat, intending in some roundabout way to find out whether he had made one like that which i was in pursuit of. "that depends," replied he, "on the material and style of making." while continuing a desultory conversation with him on the subject of coats, their various shapes and styles, &c., my eye fell upon a small slip of paper pinned to the sleeve of a garment hanging near the door, and on approaching it, i found the name w. f. written upon the paper. "that coat belongs to mr. f., our post master," remarked the knight of the goose. "it was a trifle too small, and i have been altering it." its color, unusual length, and peculiar make, were circumstances almost conclusive to my mind of the identity of its owner with the individual who had been exchanging the twenty dollar notes. i bid the tailor good morning, feeling pretty well satisfied that i had laid the foundation of a more important _suit_ than any which his art could furnish. the distance from this place to the town where the academy was situated, was about twenty miles, and the next thing to be done was to ascertain whether f. had been there within a week or two. a little reflection suggested a tolerably safe and direct mode of ascertaining this fact, which was, to see the merchant before referred to, as being cognisant of the passing of the twenty dollar notes, who had already been partially informed of the object of my former inquiries concerning them; and to request him to address a line to mr. f., inquiring whether he recollected seeing a person, apparently insane, in the stage-coach, while on his way home after the exhibition. this certainly could do no harm in case he was not present on that occasion, while if he had been, he would very naturally confirm the fact in answering the question proposed. the next mail brought a reply to the effect that he did not return home by the stage, but in his own private conveyance, and therefore saw no such person as the one inquired about. i had thus made a beginning in laying a foundation for the superstructure of evidence which i was endeavoring to raise; a foundation, of which a tight coat was the corner-stone. if mr. f.'s outer garment had not required alteration, i should, up to this time, have failed in establishing a most important fact, viz., his probable identity with the individual who passed the bank notes; and as long as this point was involved in much uncertainty, i should hardly have felt prepared to push my researches with much energy or hope. the following facts were now in my possession: mr. f. was in the same town where the exhibition was held, and upon that occasion; his general appearance corresponded to that of the person who had then and there exchanged the notes; and his position as post master gave him sufficient opportunities to have committed the robberies. all this seemed to authorize and require more definite and concentrated measures on my part. in the mail from boston, which was to pass on that route on the following day, sundry tempting-looking packages might have been found, which were not altogether valueless in a pecuniary point of view, and would assuredly have been missed had they been stopped anywhere short of their place of destination. in other words, these packages were what are called _decoy letters_,--a species of device for entrapping the dishonest, which will always be effectual, and whose detective power the shrewdest rogue is unable to withstand. the utmost sagacity will never enable one to distinguish between a decoy-letter and a genuine one, so that the only way of securing safety from these missives is to let all letters alone. the coat of arms of scotland--a thistle, with the motto "_noli me tangere_,"--would be an appropriate device for these paper bomb-shells. this set of packages, however, passed the suspected point in safety on this occasion, and several times afterwards, for the very good reason, as it subsequently appeared, that, in the absence of the post master, an honest person overhauled the mails. the snare was laid once more, and with better success. upon a certain day, as the mail was leaving boston, a letter containing some fifty dollars, in good and lawful money, duly marked and recorded, that it might afterwards be identified, was placed in the package of letters for the post-office which had suffered so many losses before, and to pass through the office over which he of the tight coat presided. this package was watched by the special agent for the distance of seventy miles or more, until it had arrived unmolested within ten or fifteen miles of the suspected office. about this time i again fell in with general pierce, who kindly offered to act in concert with me until the result of that day's experiment should be decided; he taking the stage which was to convey the mail, and i intending to follow after by private conveyance, both to meet again, and to examine the contents of the bag after it had passed the office at c. the object of this temporary separation, as my readers will readily see, was to prevent the possibility of any recognition of my person, which might have been incurred had i been seen traveling with a gentleman so well known as the hon. mr. pierce. much curiosity would inevitably be manifested to know whom the u. s. district attorney had with him, and speculations on the subject might approach too near the truth for the interests of public justice. the united efforts of the sixteen legs which impelled the "leathern conveniency" containing my friend, the attorney, were soon too much for the four that hurried along "cæsar and his fortunes;" and the first-mentioned vehicle ere long was "hull-down" in the distance. i had often been over this route before, yet in some incomprehensible way, either by turning off too often, or not turning often enough, i got upon the wrong road, and came near making a bungling job of it. pressing on as fast as possible to get a glimpse of the stage once more, i had driven furiously for several miles, until, becoming convinced that i was not likely to overtake it though i should go in that direction till doomsday, i halted at a farm-house which stood near the road, and addressed a man who apparently had been engaged in cutting wood in the yard, for he stood, axe in hand, with an unsplit log lying before him. the sound of my wheels had undoubtedly arrested his attention. dropping his axe with alacrity, he lounged up to the fence, and leaned his elbows upon it, evidently prepared to refresh himself after his bodily toil, with a little social intercourse. "is this the road to g.?" said i. "what are yer in such a darned hurry for, now," replied my interlocutor. "i've heerd them air wheels of yourn a rattlin, rattlin, this half hour by spells, and i don't bleive i've cut the vally of an armfull of wood all that time. i do'no what she'll say." here he glanced uneasily over his shoulder towards the house, as if he feared _her_ awe-inspiring presence. "but, my friend," i remonstrated, "this don't tell me anything about the road. i _am_ in a hurry, and no mistake; and i'll be much obliged to you, if you will give me a short answer to a short question." "wal, if that's all you want, mebbe i can 'commodate yer. 'taint no use keeping on this ere road. ef you should drive ever so fast on't, you couldn't never git to g. cause it don't go there! wal, you wanted a short answer, so i'll give it to yer. that are beast o' yourn hes some good pints. wal, ef you want to git to g.--lemme see,--never bin on this road afore, hev you?" "of course i haven't," replied i, somewhat testily. "then you wouldn't know nothin about the old hoxie place; no, sartin you wouldn't. wal, abeout two mild furder on, you'll come to a brick house with four chimblys, jist where another road comes in. you turn to the right by the brick house, and that'll bring you to g." "how much further is it to g. this way than it is by the direct road?" "wal, 'bout four mild." upon this, i was about starting, when he called out, "i say, mister, don't you want to trade hosses? i----" "what yer beout there, jerry," exclaimed a shrill voice from the house, which could be no other than that of the redoubtable "she"--"not a stick of wood in the house, and you a loafin there on the fence. i tell you----" her further remonstrances were lost to me, but i doubt not that the luckless jerry received a suitable reprimand for his delinquency. here i was then, having four miles further to go than the stage, and my horse beginning to show unequivocal signs of fatigue. as the stage driver knew nothing of our plan, the probability was that he would pass the next office long before i could arrive and examine the mail bag. in this emergency, i could think of nothing better than to leave horse and carriage at some place on the road, and obtain a saddle-horse, with which i might succeed in "coming to time." and after turning at the "brick house with four chimblys," i was gladdened by the sight of a tavern some half a mile beyond, to which i hastened with all practicable speed, and lost no time in inquiring whether i could obtain a substitute for my over-driven animal. the landlord was prompt in answering my demand, and forthwith ordered his hostler to put the saddle upon "bob." while bob was being "got up," i found myself the object of many inquisitive looks from the assemblage of tavern loungers, to whom my arrival was a rather unusual windfall; for it was not every day that the intervals between drams were enlivened by such a comet-like approach. the team wagons and other vehicles which frequented the road, and whose motions were as methodical as those of the planets--the tavern being the sun of their system--produced no emotions in the minds of these idlers, like the unexpected appearance of an unknown body like myself, coming no one knew whence, and going no one could tell where. one of two alternatives seemed forced on them by the "hot haste" of my movements. the stranger was either a pursuer or the pursued. if he was the latter, what had he been doing? and if the former, of what had somebody else been guilty? these perplexing questions were settled in a manner apparently satisfactory to them, by the inquiry which i made of the landlord, whether he had seen a man pass that way on horseback, leading another horse, which i described minutely. the anxious audience at once jumped at the conclusion, as i had intended they should, that i was in pursuit of a horse-thief, which impression i took care to strengthen by sundry incidental remarks. it seemed necessary by some such device to prevent all suspicion of my real character and object, in order that if i failed in executing my design this day, the case might stand as well as before. by this time "bob" had been saddled and bridled, and issued forth from the stable, equipped for action, under the auspices of the hostler. he (to wit, bob,) was a stout canadian pony, rejoicing in a peculiarly shaggy mane, and a tail which was well calculated to add completeness to my comet-like character. he was strong of limb, and evidently quite as competent as any quadruped that could ordinarily be found, to carry me to my destination within the required time. as soon as i was fairly in the saddle, some one among the small crowd assembled to witness my departure, gave a slight whistle and made a sound something like "he up," whereat the treacherous bob went through a series of gymnastic performances highly gratifying to the select audience in front of the tavern, and occasioning a display on my part, of equestrian accomplishments which i was never before conscious of possessing. the pony elevated himself upon his hind legs so as to assume an almost perpendicular posture, giving me much the attitude of napoleon as he is represented in david's well-known picture, "only more so." after standing thus for an instant, he commenced a rotary movement, still upon two legs, and coming down, reared in the opposite direction a few times, before he saw fit permanently to resume the horizontal position, i, during this period of revolution, hanging by his neck (my _main_ stay,) and losing off my hat in the ardor of my embraces. [illustration] while i was thus the sport of circumstances, the spectators indulged in various jocose observations, which then seemed to me exceedingly ill-timed and impertinent. one suggested that i was a millerite, and was endeavoring to "go up" on horseback, at the same time expressing a desire to know what i would charge for an extra passenger; while another inquired what direction i proposed to take in my pursuit of the imaginary horse-thief; intimating a willingness to be in his place, so far as concerned any danger of being overtaken by me. "well done!" exclaimed the jolly landlord, as bob re-assumed his quadrupedal character. "no, no," replied i, "there's too much _rare_ meat in him for that." under cover of this sally, i made a triumphant retreat, the landlord leading bob for a little distance, lest he should be inclined to repeat the entire programme. while thus engaged, boniface explained the conduct of the horse, by informing me that he formerly belonged to a person who had taught him the trick, which he would always attempt to go through with when instigated thereto by such a sound as i heard when i mounted him. with many apologies for the occurrence, "mine host" let go the bridle, and i proceeded to find out what bob could do with his whole force of legs. this performance was more satisfactory to me than his former one, and as we flew along, his tail and my coat-tails streaming in the air, i seemed to myself an embodiment of the design upon the seal of my commission, and was inwardly amused to think how soon the ideal post-rider and his steed had found their real representatives in the persons of myself and bob. in this style we dashed onward, and as i reined in my panting charger before the door of the hotel in g., the stage was just ready to start, the driver being seated on his official throne, whip and reins in hand, looking the picture of impatience. he would have been gone before this, had not the district-attorney interceded for a short delay. this gentleman was standing in the door of the post-office, appearing very much surprised at my want of punctuality. a hasty explanation produced a smile, and the remark, that it was a "good joke." a doubt which i suggested, as to the safety of examining the mail in the presence of the post master, was set at rest by my companion, who assured me that he was certain of the integrity of this functionary, and also informed me that he had been made acquainted with the object of our call, before my arrival. the post master being a merchant, there was, among the other miscellaneous articles which compose the stock of a country store, a fair assortment of gentlemen of leisure, sitting upon the counter, and reclining in graceful attitudes upon the boxes and barrels. our unusual movements inspired them with unwonted vigor, and an ardent desire was manifested on their part to know what hidden mystery lurked within the recesses of the mail-bag, which we were about carrying to a room above, in order to be out of the way of observation. two of these gentlemen, thirsting for knowledge, hastily formed themselves into a committee of investigation, and followed us up stairs, until they were summarily relieved from the discharge of their self-imposed duties by a peremptory intimation from mr. pierce, that we wished to be alone for a short time. as soon as we had secured ourselves from intrusion, the bag was hastily unlocked, and its contents turned upon the floor. each package was taken up, separately and carefully examined, but the all-important one, whose absence would indicate unerringly the guilt of the suspected individual, was not there! this was the most trying and responsible moment of all, as it is always found to be in such investigations--the moment when it is discovered that the trap has been sprung, and the rogue is almost within your grasp. for experience has shown, that missing a "decoy-letter," and establishing in a legal manner the guilt of the individual who is known to have intercepted it, are two very different things. much caution is requisite in the management of these cases, in order to leave no loop-hole of retreat to the culprit. too hasty movements might spoil all, by alarming him before he had put it out of his power to account plausibly for the detention of the letter; while a too long delay might enable him to increase materially the difficulty of obtaining direct evidence, by affording him an opportunity of disposing of the necessary proof,--the letter itself, and the contained money. in the present instance, it was considered that a too speedy return to search for the absent package, might result in finding it in a perfect state, allowing of the explanation by the post master, that it had been left over by mistake in overhauling the mail, which would have put the case in a capital shape for a tolerably sharp lawyer to defend. we therefore concluded to allow several hours to elapse before making a descent upon the premises, the time being mainly occupied in drawing up the requisite papers, and procuring the attendance of a proper officer to serve them. all things having been prepared, we started, at about nine o'clock in the evening, for the post-office in question. the office itself was in a small building, some twenty rods from the post master's house, and as we approached the premises, no light was visible, excepting in one of the chambers of the dwelling. there, accordingly, we directed our steps, and a few raps upon the door brought down the post master, light in hand, who at once recognised "squire paarce," as he called the district-attorney. this gentleman politely requested him to step over to the office, to transact some business, the nature of which he did not then explain. the post master expressed his readiness to accompany mr. pierce, remarking that he must first leave him a moment, in order to go to another part of the house for a lantern. some such manoeuvre on his part had been anticipated, and he was closely watched--in fact, mr. pierce went with him--while absent on his errand, to deprive him of an opportunity of secreting any money that he might have on his person. on reaching the post-office, he was introduced to the agent, whose first object was, to get an admission from him, that he was present when the mail arrived from boston that day, that he overhauled it alone, and that he had at this time no packages on hand to go by the mail northward the day following. these points having been ascertained, the subject of the numerous losses on that route was broached, and the fact plainly stated, that they had been traced to that office; which piece of information was received by the post master with the utmost apparent self-possession. indeed, he seemed exceedingly surprised to hear of the various frauds which i enumerated, and professed entire ignorance that anything of the kind had occurred, assuring me that if such things had been done, my suspicions as to his office were utterly groundless. "do you receive much money in the course of your business, mr. f.?" i asked. "some," was the laconic reply. "have you much on hand now, and is it here, or at the house, or where is it?" "i don't know that my duty to the post-office department compels me to answer such questions--to strangers, anyhow," replied he, with an air of defiance. "then," said i, "_my_ duty to the department will require me to dispense with further interrogatories, and proceed to satisfy myself as to the present state of your finances in some other, and more direct way." "well, squire," said he, turning to mr. pierce, "i want to know if you have brought this man here to bully me, on my own premises, and accuse me of doing things that i never thought of, to say nothing of his impertinence in inquiring into my private business affairs. let him find out what he can about them. i sha'n't help him." the district-attorney assured him that all was correct; that his rights should be protected; and that he had better furnish the required information as to his means, and allow us to examine any funds he might have on hand. this, the attorney suggested, would be the course which a regard for his own interests should lead him to adopt. after much grumbling, and giving vent to his dissatisfaction by the remark, that "he didn't see why he should be picked out, and treated in this way," he reluctantly complied with my somewhat urgent request to be allowed to look at the money in his possession. handing me his wallet, he awaited the result of the examination with all the composure he could command. he must have inferred, from what had been said, that it was in my power to identify whatever money he had that was unlawfully obtained, yet with the consciousness that he was thus open to detection, he did not flinch, nor betray but in a small degree, the heart-sinking that a knowledge of his perilous situation could not fail to produce. these were my first thoughts, but i afterwards had occasion to believe that he was not aware of the overwhelming proof against himself which he supplied as he passed his pocket-book into my hands. a hasty examination of its contents revealed unmistakable evidence of his guilt, for on consulting the description of the bills mailed that morning in boston, to go some twenty miles above this point, every one of them was at once identified! "mr. f.," said i, "this money i saw placed in a letter in boston, this morning, to go some distance above you; how came it in your wallet?" for some time the unfortunate man was speechless. he had continued so long in his course of fraud, that the ground had begun to feel firm beneath his feet, when all at once this gulf opened before him, about to swallow up everything that man ought to hold most dear: character, liberty, the love and respect of his fellow men, and even property--a thing of comparatively little importance--for restitution would justly be required. the words in which one of milton's fallen spirits addresses a brother angel, might appropriately be applied to this victim of the lust of gold. "if thou be'st he;--but o, how fallen, how changed!" yes, indeed, how changed! he had occupied a high position in community, enjoying the confidence of every one; and had been elected to places of honor and trust by his fellow-citizens, before his appointment to this office by the general government. what was he now? what would he be when it should be known everywhere that the exemplary mr. f. had been guilty of a felon's crimes, and was likely to meet with a felon's doom? how could he ever face again his children, already deprived of one parent by death, and about to lose another by that which is worse than death? ah! if crime presented the same aspect before its perpetration that it does afterward, how vast would be the diminution of human guilt! the district-attorney and sheriff having purposely retired for a few moments, i took occasion to represent to f., in as strong a light as possible, the disappointments and distress which his unprincipled course had occasioned among the pupils of the academy, at the same time urging him, if he had not destroyed their letters, to produce them at once, that they might be forwarded to their rightful owners. he did not deny that he was the author of all the mischief; and stated that the letters he had taken had been destroyed, but that the money--several hundred dollars--was invested in real estate, and could be restored. after i had ascertained these important facts, i consigned the criminal to the sheriff's hands, in virtue of the warrant which had before been made out, as i have already mentioned. the sheriff returned to the house with him, to allow him to make some preparation for a night's ride, and as they issued from the dwelling, i noticed that f. had on the identical quaker coat, which had been to him what the robe of nessus was to hercules,--a garment bringing unforeseen destruction to its wearer. the trial of the prisoner was held in due time, and its result furnished no exception to the truth of the scriptural declaration respecting the way of transgressors. before closing this narrative, i should mention that measures were taken to secure the restoration of their money to those who had been defrauded by this man's dishonesty. it was, however, a slower process to heal the wounded feelings, to re-establish the broken friendships, and to reproduce the lost confidence, of which he had been the guilty cause. whether he ever regained his lost reputation, i am unable to say. a long course of upright conduct may and ought to obliterate the memory of former crime, but the commission of such crimes ordinarily raises additional barriers in the way of a virtuous life; and too often it were as hopeful a task to collect the fragments of a diamond which has just been dashed upon the pavement, and attempt to reconstruct it in its original beauty, as to gather up the remains of a ruined character, and endeavor to restore it to its former lustre. chapter ii. a competent assistant--yielding to temptation--an easy post master--whispers of complaint--assistant embarrassed--application to his uncle--the refusal--value of a kind word--resort to depredations--evidences of guilt--decoy letter taken--the bowling saloon--the agent worsted--the restaurant--bother of the credit system--the fatal bank-note--keen letter to the agent--the arrest--the next meeting. those who are connected in any way with the administration of the law, find their sympathies excited in very different degrees by the several cases which they have in hand from time to time. although the ruin of character is to be deplored under all circumstances, yet it never gives rise to greater commiseration and regret than when it destroys more than ordinary capabilities for adorning and profiting society. such were the capabilities possessed by thomas l., the subject of the following sketch. i have rarely, in my official capacity, come in contact with a young man who was more richly endowed with acuteness of intellect, brilliancy of talent, and fascination of manners; and in addition to these gifts of nature, he had received from a devoted mother those lessons of morality and religion which she fondly hoped would guard him from the dangers that might beset his path. well was it for her peace of mind that she was removed to that world "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest," while yet her beloved son retained an unsullied character, and the respect of his fellow-men. such was the young man whose fall i have to record. his employer, the post master, was a man of ample pecuniary means, independent of the emoluments of his office, and, as is often true in similar cases, giving but little time or attention to the discharge of its duties. nor was his immediate superintendence necessary, so far as concerned the details of business, for his young assistant, though only eighteen years of age, kept everything in complete order, and so administered the office, with the occasional assistance of a younger lad, as to give perfect satisfaction to all who had dealings with it, and to render the angel-like visits of the post master a matter of very little consequence to the public. but this universal popularity, and the absence of supervision and of restraint, other than that supplied by his own conscience, were circumstances unfavorable to the preservation of his integrity, and laid him open to the temptations which so easily assail those of like character and similarly situated. the most gifted and socially attractive are always peculiarly exposed to danger of this kind, and nothing short of firmly established principle can be relied on for safety. doubtless, the truths which his departed mother had endeavored to impress upon his young mind often sounded their tones of warning in his ears; yet they were too weak to be heard in the roar of the stream which was bearing him along to destruction. a few drops of water seem of little importance. they may sparkle as dew, they may form a rainbow; but when, united to others, they rush onward as a mighty torrent, sweeping everything before them, we may see how pleasing and often apparently trifling are the beginnings of evil, and how irresistible are its downward tendencies to those who put themselves within its power. the usual enticements of a moderate-sized massachusetts country village,--the sleighing parties, dancing schools, balls, refreshment saloons, bowling alleys, &c., conspired in this case to invite considerable expenditures, and the subject of this sketch, in his attempt to keep up with the course of extravagance and unthinking dissipation upon which his companions had entered, who could better afford the expense, found his means entirely inadequate to this end; but before making the discovery, he had been committed to the whirlpool of fashionable pleasure too far to extricate himself without much difficulty. the first effects of this course began to show themselves in the frequent closing of the office in advance of the proper time, and the opening of it at irregular and often unseasonable hours. whispers of complaint were heard on the part of business men, which, coming to the ears of the post master, were followed by some _gentle_ remonstrances,--gentle they necessarily were, for circumstances already related had given the boy too much consequence (rendering his services, as he well knew, quite indispensable) to allow him to bear patiently anything like a "blowing up" from his too easy employer. for a time, however, this remissness ceased, and like some noble ship struck by a heavy wave and brought to a momentary stand, while driving onward to shipwreck, this promising young man appeared to pause in his dangerous career, and for a while all seemed to be going on well. but the improvement was only temporary. the importunities of his companions, innocent perhaps of any vicious design, again diverted his attention from business, and he was soon fairly in the old track of pleasure-seeking, regardless of the sacrifice of time or money. having the entire control of the post-office funds, and not being required to account for the money collected till the close of the quarter, he at first ventured to use these funds in a limited way, to pay the more urgent demands upon him, trusting, as he afterwards expressed himself, that "something would turn up," he knew not what, to enable him to replace the money before the quarterly settlement with his confiding employer. as the time approached, he discovered with dismay that the deficiency amounted to some seventy-five dollars. how to make this good was a perplexing question, which occupied his daily thoughts and disturbed his nightly slumbers. he was proud-spirited, and up to this time, had enjoyed an unspotted reputation. discovery must be averted at any rate. at this juncture, the thought of some property which his widowed mother at her death had left for him in the hands of a relative living at a distance, came to his relief, and he resolved to lose no time in applying for aid in that direction. a frank and full statement of his real situation would no doubt have brought him the desired aid, but, as will be seen in his letter of application to his uncle, he was induced to give a false reason for his need of funds, and the cold, business-like reply which followed, is such as would naturally be expected from one who had no sympathy with the weaknesses of youth, and no disposition to inquire with a kindly interest into the affairs of his young relative. had this reply been different in its tone, it might have drawn out the requisite explanation, and have effectually prevented what afterwards occurred. here are the letters: e----, mass., february th, . my dear uncle, i am in need of some funds, say seventy-five dollars. i have foolishly loaned about that amount in small sums to a friend at school here, upon whose word i thought i could depend, when he promised me he could replace it at any moment i desired. i shall consider it a great favor if you will accommodate me. your affectionate nephew, thomas. to this the following reply was received:-- new york, february th, . my dear sir, your letter of the th inst. is before me, soliciting the sum of seventy-five dollars. this singular request has very much surprised me, as in the first place i have no available means in my hands belonging to you, and besides, if i had, i should not be in a hurry to relieve you from the embarrassment which you seem to be in, as it may learn you to be more cautious in future. i have understood that your compensation is ample for your support, if you are economical; but if you lend your money to spendthrifts, and get swindled out of it, it is your own affair. this is the opinion of yours, &c., henry s----. it can be imagined how much a response of this description was calculated to open the heart, or invite the confidence of the unfortunate thomas. his pride felt sorely the repulsive tone which his uncle adopted, and the supposed disgrace of making an unsuccessful application for money, to say nothing of the slurs cast upon his own discretion, and the honor of his companions. at this critical juncture in the character and affairs of the young man, such a cold rebuff was like a death-blow to all purposes of future fidelity and honesty; and as i listened to this part of the instructive narration, i could not but feel that the uncle, by withholding needed sympathy and aid, was in some degree responsible for the after course of his erring nephew. all hope of assistance in this direction having been abandoned, desperation suggested a further departure from honesty. "it is but a little more risk," whispered the fiend. "take enough to make this quarter's account square, and you will come out right somehow before another settlement." weakened conscience was unable to withstand the pressure of circumstances, and the plausible scheme proposed for relief. so, money letters, which heretofore had been perfectly safe, were emptied of their contents to meet the present exigency. indications not to be mistaken, that some one was robbing the mails in that vicinity, soon began to appear, though among all the complaints, not one referred to the loss of any letter mailed at or addressed to the office at e. they all related to important letters posted at other offices, but passing through e., and it was not until all sorts of tests and experiments had been tried in vain at other points, and every other mode of operation exhausted, that the agent took up temporary quarters at the private residence of an acquaintance, from which, without being observed, he could overlook this office, hitherto the least suspected on the route. the opportunity afforded after dark of taking a glance at the interior of the office and its principal occupant, through the glass boxes in front, was of course properly improved, and this little experiment furnished, as the result showed, an important clue to the whole matter; for on the first evening's watch, i discovered what i deemed evidence of the clerk's guilt. stepping silently and unnoticed into the vestibule of the office, and gaining a position whence i could observe his motions, i distinctly saw him thrust what appeared to be a letter into the stove, afterwards taking up a wallet from the table and placing it hastily in his pocket. i must have made some slight noise, for after doing this, he suddenly turned and looked sharply in my direction. this may have been nothing more than the instinctive glance of distrust which those who have not the entire control of themselves are apt to cast around after doing something that they would dislike to be detected in. however it may have been, thinking that he had discovered me, i stepped boldly up to the "general delivery," and inquired for a letter for "robert marshall, railroad contractor," taking occasion to observe him closely as he was engaged in running over the letters. he seemed confused, his hands shook a little, his face was flushed, and his voice was inclined to tremble, as he replied that there was "nothing for robert marshall." i attributed all this to fear lest his previous movements might have been observed, and left the office, strongly suspecting that thomas l. was the author of the depredations in question. a few experiments in the way of "decoy letters," mailed so as to pass through that office, soon converted suspicion into certainty. one of these letters, containing sundry bank-notes, disappeared, and one of the notes was traced directly back to his hands. how this was done, the reader will probably insist upon knowing, and it is my intention to gratify this thirst for information, although in so doing i shall be compelled to reveal a degree of unskilfulness in the game of ten-pins which would deter the most sanguine gamester from betting on my head. in the basement of the hotel was a bowling saloon, which, as i had ascertained, the suspected clerk was in the habit of visiting in the evening, after closing the post-office, and this fact suggested my plan. i might have arrested and searched him at once, but i thought it the better way to watch the money exchanged by him, in the hope that some of the missing bills might thus come to light. for if he should chance to have none of these about his person, a search would spoil all, by putting him on his guard, whereas if he should offer none of them, no harm would be done, and things would remain _in statu quo_. with these views i made a confidant of the landlord of the hotel which contained the bowling saloon, and agreed to meet him there early in the evening for a "roll," and arranged that in case the young man came in as usual, my partner should excuse himself, and substitute l. in his place, to oblige a stranger, who, of course, was rolling merely for exercise. my design in making this arrangement was to fasten the expense of the evening's recreation upon l. by a brilliant and overpowering display of my skill in bowling, calculating that he would probably pass some of the stolen money in payment. this was my programme--how it was executed i shall proceed to show. "mine host" and i had been rolling perhaps half an hour, when a fine-looking, well-dressed young man entered the saloon, whom i at once recognised as l. the landlord and myself happened to be the only ones then engaged in playing, as it was rather early in the evening for the appearance of most of those who resorted there; so l. watched our game for a while, till the landlord, looking at his watch, remarked that he had an engagement which must be attended to immediately, and turning to l., said, "here, tom, you take my place with this gentleman, for i've got to go away." "enough said," replied tom. "i am always on hand for most any kind of a _ball_." as i looked at the pleasing features and intelligent countenance of the young man, a pang of sorrow shot through my heart, to think that over his head the invisible sword of justice was even now suspended. but such reflections are unprofitable, inasmuch as they tend to unfit one for the discharge of painful duty. so i dismissed them as far as i could, and applied myself to my double game-- "rolling down at once, by a double stroke, a man, as well as a pin." the first roll of my new antagonist shook my faith in the feasibility of my plan, for the ball went clattering among the wooden platoons like the grape-shot at balaklava, and in an instant ten _block heads_ bit the dust. "a rather bad beginning," thought i; "but i don't believe he can do that again." comforting myself with this reflection, i applied all the practical and theoretical skill i was master of, to vanquish my experienced foe. i called to mind my long dormant and slender knowledge about the angles of incidence and reflection. i considered the nature of resultant forces, and the effect which a ball impinging on pin a would have upon the uprightness of its neighbors, b, c, &c. i thus devised theoretical "ten strikes," which (doubtless from some defect in the reasoning) would fall short of my ideal standard by as much as four or five pins; and on several occasions, the ball strayed almost innocuously through the ranks, prostrating only one or two of the outposts. i had a few transient gleams of light when my adversary grew somewhat careless, perhaps from continued success; but darkness soon returned upon my prospects, and i saw in my mind's eye the money coming from my pocket and not his. we held but little conversation during the progress of our game, for my thoughts were preoccupied with my ultimate object, and l. made no great effort to overcome my taciturnity; yet some casual remarks were made which showed that he identified me as the person who inquired for letters for "robert marshall, railroad contractor." after playing thus for some time, he invited me to take a glass of ale, which proposition i gladly accepted, as it would give me one more chance to know something about the contents of his pocket book. i began to think that my toils were nearly over, and as we stood imbibing the fluid, i could hardly wait until the glasses were emptied, in my impatience to see the bank-note produced which was to settle at once the bill, and him. delusive anticipations! the credit system interposed to crush my hopes, for l. said to the bar-tender, "put it down to me, jim." as "jim" put it down, _i_ felt put down, and followed my companion back to the alley as humbly as if we had changed places, and i was the suspected one. "come, mr. l.," said i, after we had resumed our game, "you play so much better than i that you will be safe in giving me some little advantage. just allow me twenty on a 'string,' and let me see if i can do any better at that." "very well, sir," said he, "i will do it, although i am afraid you will be too much for me." but i was not, and after playing until the establishment closed for the night, i found myself under the disagreeable necessity of paying some three dollars for the privilege of being thoroughly defeated, deducting the benefit received from more than two hours' hard work! [illustration] one other expedient suggested itself, namely, offering in payment a twenty dollar note, in the hope that the proprietor, finding it inconvenient to make change, would call on the victorious clerk to accommodate him, and thus would bring to light the missing bills. but this device also failed. i did not yet "give up the ship." "i don't know how it is with you, l.," said i, "but i feel rather empty about the epigastric region, after such a pull as you have given me, and i should think you might afford to treat a fellow." "well, i don't care if i do," said he. "_i_ feel a sort of gnawing under my vest. come up stairs, and we'll get something." to this i replied that i was tired of the noise, and would rather go to some more quiet place. he readily assented, and led the way to a neighboring restaurant. we ensconced ourselves within one of the curtained recesses, and here i devoted myself to the consumption of as much "provant" as my digestive organs could dispose of, with the intention of running up as large a bill as possible, in order that a bank-note might be offered in payment, and the desired proof of my companion's guilt secured. i saw through the corner of my eye that he seemed to be studying my physiognomy, and the thought came into my mind that his readiness to "treat" was owing to his wish for a good opportunity to find out something more about me. we had begun to talk about various kinds of occupations, and he inquired, "is not your business a profitable one, mr.--marshall, i believe?" i acknowledged the name, and said that my business was anything but a profitable one.[a] [a] see act of congress establishing the compensation of special agents. "isn't it a rather ticklish one, now-a-days? so much rascality you know." "yes, but i mean to look out sharp for rogues, and to be pretty sure that i deal with people i can trust." "i have a very good situation in the post-office," said he, "but i sometimes wish to be where i could have more variety--some kind of business that would require me to travel." "you had better be contented where you are," replied i; "this seventeen-year old fever never did any one much good. if you are faithful in your present place, you will have no trouble in getting a better situation a few years hence." to this he made no reply, and the conversation dropped. after i had appeased "the sacred rage of hunger," and added some works of supererogation in that line for the furtherance of my object, we emerged from our retreat, as "the iron tongue of midnight" was tolling twelve, which sounded to me like the knell of my companion's doom, for i felt confident that the time had now come for the _denouement_ of the two-act drama which we had been playing that evening. it seemed extremely improbable that there should be here any accommodating "jim" to score down the little bill for future settlement. but there was. we went up to what was then the bar, but in these temperance times would be called the "office," and l. said to the presiding genius, with a familiar and confident air, "just charge that to me, and i'll make it all right." "rather all wrong," thought i. as we passed out into the darkness of the night and stood for a moment on the steps, i thought i discovered, by the faint light of a street lamp, my companion observing me with scrutinizing glances, thus seeming to indicate a suspicion on his part that our rapid acquaintance and companionship had not been without some design, which he was desirous of penetrating. indeed a fear of this produced anything but agreeable reflections after we had separated, and i had retired to my lodgings. could it be that a suspicion of my real object had prevented him from paying for the ale, and settling the bill at the restaurant? it seemed possible, certainly, yet under other circumstances i should have thought nothing of the occurrence, and he seemed to be satisfied with the "dodge" of the "railroad contractor." then came a doubt as to the wisdom of the policy i had adopted, in allowing him to be at large, instead of arresting him at once on the disappearance of the decoy letter. several days had elapsed since it was taken, and the probability of finding any part of its contents upon him, hardly seemed to warrant a resort to that course now; so, on the whole, i concluded to persevere in the cautious line of policy with which i had commenced. in the course of a conversation which i held with the aforementioned landlord, on the following day, the fact came to light that he had a claim against l., for money loaned. it occurred to me that an urgent application for its repayment might accomplish the desired object, and i requested the landlord to assist me in this way. he readily complied, and after a second appeal the debt was discharged, and among the money, which i lost no time in comparing with the description of that purloined from the letter, was a five dollar note that i at once identified as one of the stolen bills. notwithstanding this overwhelming evidence as to the origin of the mail depredations on this route, there were good reasons for further delay in making the arrest, especially as it seemed unlikely that the person detected would know anything of his real situation for a few days. during this interval, i found it necessary to visit a neighboring city. the reader may judge of my surprise at receiving, two days afterwards, a letter, of which the following is a copy:-- sir, i have ascertained, no matter how, that you are the "railroad contractor" whom i met in the basement of the hotel in this place a few evenings since, and who partook of my hospitalities afterwards at m----'s saloon. also that you entertained and perhaps still entertain some doubts of my honesty, as a clerk in the post-office here. i am sorry you had not the candor to say as much to my face, and thus afford me the opportunity of satisfying you as to my standing and character among those who have known me best and longest. you are welcome, sir, to all the advantage you obtained in your underhanded dealings with me on the occasion referred to; if, however, you cannot prostrate private character faster than you can ten-pins, i think i have but little to fear at present. yours, _not_ very respectfully, thomas l----. to j. holbrook, special agent, p. o. dept. how this clue to my official identity was obtained, i failed to discover at the time, and have been no wiser on that point at any period since. nor was it of much account, as the information, from whatever quarter derived, came too late to be of any avail, and after he had exposed himself by passing the money which had been placed in the mail to detect him. when he was preparing the above epistle, congratulating himself on my want of skill at prostrating "private character," little did he think that i had already achieved a sweeping "ten-strike" in his own case! the necessary complaint was made, a warrant issued, and the unfortunate young man taken into custody by the u. s. marshal. i shall never forget the indescribable look which he gave me as he entered the office of the u. s. commissioner, for a preliminary examination. it was the first time we had met since the memorable roll and supper, and the quondam "railroad contractor" now first appeared to his eye transmuted into the formidable "special agent." there was little surprise in his look, but an expression of mortified pride and anger, as he addressed me in a low tone, "i thought i should meet _you_ here!" "well, thomas," said i, "i don't know as you will believe me, but, i assure you, i heartily regret that you are brought to this pass, and if the ends of justice could be answered, i should be the first to let you go free." "perhaps you would," replied he, moodily. "it's easy enough to say so." "but," i remarked, "i want you to take a reasonable view of the matter. you cannot think me so destitute of common humanity as to wish to place any one in such an unpleasant position, much less a young man like yourself, so capable of better things." he appeared to be somewhat impressed by the earnestness with which i spoke, and answered in a softened tone, "i suppose i ought to believe you, but it seems hard to be entrapped in the way i have been." "it may be the best thing that could have happened to you under the circumstances," said i, "and i sincerely hope that it will prove so." i was desirous of making him see that i was actuated in the course i had taken by no motive other than a wish to discharge my duty faithfully, and therefore left him for the time to consider what i had said, confident that a little reflection would calm his ruffled temper, and lead him to a correct view of the case. in this i was not mistaken, and when i urged him to make a confession on the ground of justice to others, and his own interest, he "made a clean breast" of it, and gave in substance the account of his downward course, with which the reader is already familiar. he expressed much regret and penitence, and a mournful satisfaction that his mother was not alive to know of his disgrace. it seems unnecessary to pursue the subject further. the force of the lesson it is calculated to teach would not thus be increased, and the feelings of some might be harrowed up, who should rather receive sympathy and consolation. chapter iii. business rivalry--country gossiping--museum of antiquities--new post master--serious rumors--anonymous letters--package detained--bar-room scene--_ram_ifications of the law--first citizens--rascally enemies--lawyer's office--gratuitous backing--telegraphing--u.s. marshal arrives--the charge--the fatal quarter--enemies' triumph--the warrant--singular effects of fear--a faithful wife--sad memories--the squire's surprise--all right. the jealousies and rivalry often existing between persons of similar occupations, which supply the truth contained in the old proverb, "two of a trade can never agree," are fostered and strengthened in small towns to an extent which is not as conspicuous, and perhaps not as frequently observed in larger places. for this general spirit of emulation and strife is greatly aggravated by the interest that almost all the inhabitants of small communities feel in the sayings and doings of their neighbors. this interest is too often manifested by reporting from one to another hasty and ill-considered speeches, which should be suffered to die where they are born; but thus set in motion by careless tongues, for the benefit of itching ears, they roll on like snow-balls, and attain a size and shape hardly recognisable by those who gave them their first impulse. an incidental, but an important consequence of these circumstances, is the ready formation of parties about almost every quarrel that may arise in such a village. the tranquil surface of country life is in this way disturbed, like that of a still lake by the plunge of a stone into its bosom, and the resulting waves, in both instances, extend indefinitely in every direction. the bustling little town of h. was not exempt from the evils at which i have glanced, for the half-dozen shopkeepers who supplied the inhabitants with their necessaries and luxuries, fully exemplified the truth of the proverb above quoted. their rivalry, however, was not exercised by and toward one another impartially, but it was rather a contest between the old, established merchants of the place, and one whose coming was of a comparatively recent date. it was, in short, a competition between old and young america. the old school merchants affected to look with contempt on their younger brother and his goods, suggesting that, however alluring his prices and commodities might be, his customers would find to their cost, that "all is not gold that glitters." hints were thrown out about calicoes that "did from their color fly," and sugar that was not entirely soluble in hot water. it was also darkly intimated that b. (the merchant in question) couldn't stand it long at the rate he was going on, rashly keeping his assortment full all the time, instead of cautiously waiting until an article was ordered, before he sent for it. this sort of thing would never do. it was sure to bring him to ruin. on the other hand, the enterprising b. ridiculed the clique of "old fogies," as he termed them, and characterized their establishments as "museums of antiquities." in accordance with the spirit of the age, he lined his shop with vast hand-bills, printed on type of stupendous size, so that he who runs might read; with such headings as "the only cheap store!" "fresh and fashionable goods at low prices!" "this stock of goods bought within the present century!" and other wonderful announcements, which drew the susceptible public within his doors to a greater extent than was agreeable to the feelings or the interests of his "slower" competitors. and as if all this was not enough, by way of climax to his prosperous course, b. received the appointment of post master. the post-office, as a matter of course, always brings an increase of business to the store where it is kept; and in the present instance, b. did not fail to secure all the advantages arising from his position. and so successfully did he manage his affairs, with this additional impetus, that one or two of his opponents, finding many of their customers deserting them by reason of the superior attractions of the "new store," abandoned the field in disgust, determined, however, to lose no opportunity of undermining the object of their jealousy, or at least of injuring his prospects. rumors, detrimental not only to his reputation as a man of business, but to his character as a post master, soon got abroad. how they originated, no one knew; whether they had any foundation in truth, no one could say. the baseless reports which malice invents, have no more permanent effect upon an upright character, than have flying clouds upon the mountain which they may temporarily obscure; and it is only when rumors are weighted by truth, that they can injure materially the object at which they are aimed. "honor dwelling in the heart, welcome friends or welcome foes. whensoe'er it doth depart, smiles are weak, but strong are blows." anonymous letters were despatched to the post master general, expressing a want of confidence in the management of the office, and hinting at something of a more criminal nature than mere official carelessness and neglect; but as such complaints are always disregarded when unaccompanied by responsible names (being considered the result of personal rivalry or malice), nothing was done in the premises. these unknown correspondents, however, did not cease from their machinations, and it soon came to the ears of the obnoxious post master, that he had been assailed at head-quarters; unjustly, as he claimed. so he lost no time in repelling the "vile slanders" through the medium of sundry long-winded communications to the department, the burthen of which was, that business rivals had done it all; and that the ridiculous stories which had been set afloat, originated entirely in the unworthy design of building up their authors on the ruins of his good name. and in the most indignant terms he courted, and even demanded, a careful investigation of his official acts and his private character. these various communications on both sides were all referred to the special agent, that he might establish either the truth or the falsity of the charges made against this post master. the first step was to obtain a private interview with some of the complainants, who were traced out by means of the specimens of their hand-writing furnished by the letters they had sent to the department. they readily admitted themselves to be the authors of those documents, after having been assured that the government had no other object than to ascertain the truth, and to protect the rights of the citizens who had an interest in the post-office. i gave them to understand that the department required something more than mere assertion as a ground for decided action; and suggested, that if those charges were well founded, which represented the loss of valuable letters posted at that office, their truth could be shown by furnishing a list of such letters, and a statement of all the facts, by the parties immediately interested. as had been stated, the accusers of b. proved to be his rivals in trade, and their active friends, animated and impelled by that bitter competition of which i have already spoken. in addition to the causes to which i have alluded as especially influential in country places, to produce such a state of feeling, may be mentioned a sectarian spirit, the bane of many small villages, creating needless prejudices, dividing the community into discordant fragments, and forcing a man to stand, in a degree at least, not on his own merits, but on the preference of the sect with which he may be connected. this sentiment is in some measure natural, and unavoidable. similarity of opinion tends to create favorable prepossessions toward those who thus agree, but is ever liable to produce an exclusive feeling which does injustice to all concerned. thus arises much of the sympathy and preferences which are so strongly felt in small communities, especially towards merchants and professional men. dr. wilkins goes to our meeting, therefore he is a good doctor, whatever other folks may say. mrs. garfield, the trader's wife, is _such_ a good woman, and did so much in fixing up our church and the vestry, that we must all "patronize" her husband, and sustain him against his enemies, who oppose him solely on account of his activity, and that of his family, in building up "our society." dr. wilkins may not be eminently successful in the treatment of his patients, and mr. garfield may be far from remarkable for his moderate prices, yet their enthusiastic friends stick to them through thick and thin. all these things must be taken into the account in pursuing investigations like those which i had just commenced, and due allowance made for the disturbing forces acting on the minds of those who undertake to furnish the required information. the rubbish of selfishness and gossip must be thrown aside, and only those statements regarded which are corroborated by sufficient evidence. acting upon this rule in the present instance, but willing, in justice to the accused as well as to the public, to follow up even the accusations of open enemies, i instituted careful inquiries in the right quarter, which soon established the fact that there was a screw loose not far from that post office, if not directly in connection with it. but for some weeks previous, no letters had been disturbed which were deposited in or addressed to this office, the failures having been confined to the mails which passed through it and were there assorted. this circumstance rather confirmed suspicion than otherwise, for the post master being aware of the complaints sent to washington, would consider it necessary to use greater caution in carrying on his depredations (if he were guilty,) especially in regard to the class of letters taken. but in such cases, as in those that come under the supervision of medical art, various applications are required according to the changes in symptoms and circumstances. for instance, i might perhaps have worked to this day in the ordinary line of experiments, such as depositing special test letters in that office, or sending them to be delivered there, and all to no purpose. they would, for a time at least, have been the object of special care, and particular pains would have been taken for their safe dispatch; while if dishonesty really existed, it would seek out and avail itself of such opportunities as would not be likely to betray it, or to attract the attention of the self-constituted "vigilance committee," which had already sounded the alarm. with such views, i adopted a species of "decoy" which i thought best suited to meet the exigencies of the case. in the first place a document was prepared addressed to an imaginary firm at rouse's point, new york. it read as follows: boston, march , . messrs. baxter & clark, gentlemen, herewith you will receive twenty-five dollars and fifty cents, the balance of my account, and for which you will please send me a receipt as soon as convenient. when does either of your firm intend to visit boston? i like the articles you last sent me very much better than the former ones, and so say my customers,--will send you another order before long. very respectfully yours, f. p. crane, jr. bank notes of a small denomination were used to make up the twenty-five dollars named in the letter, and two american quarters enclosed, to make it more attractive; both bills and specie having been marked, and a full description of them taken. another letter, written in a different hand, addressed to a lady, and containing nothing of value, was also prepared and placed in a note envelope, to accompany the above _business letter_. here is a copy of it:-- boston, march , . my dear cousin, since you visited us, we have experienced important changes. our family is pretty much broken up by george's death. father and mother depended so much on him to manage our out of doors affairs, that they don't feel like keeping house any longer, and have gone to boarding, and as i shall not have any particular household cares, i expect to be floating about, like many others of the sisterhood of old maids, ready to make myself generally useful. perhaps i may inflict a visit on you in the course of the summer, and help you to take care of _that baby_. i can't stop to write any more, for we are hardly settled after moving. father and mother send love to you and husband. your affectionate sarah. my object in sending this second missive was to prevent any suspicion that otherwise might arise in regard to the money-letter. for it might reasonably be presumed that the accused post master would be on the watch for anything that could by any possibility compromise him; and a solitary letter containing funds, passing through his office, might "give him pause," in case he should have any desire to appropriate its contents. both letters were directed to rouse's point, n. y., regularly post-marked at the boston post-office, and the post bill also made out for rouse's point. but on the outside wrapper was purposely written the name of the office which i wished to test. this would excite no suspicion, for mistakes such as this appeared to be, do sometimes occur in the hurry of making up the mails. instead of putting the package into the mail, however, i conveyed it myself to a point near the town of h., and saw it placed in the pouch just before it reached that office. the question now to be settled was, whether on taking off the wrapper (marked "h." as the reader will remember,) and finding the enclosed letters directed to another place, he would forward them to their address, as was his duty, or would appropriate them to himself, believing that they had come there in consequence of a mere accident, and that if he should see fit to take possession of them, the circumstances of the case would effectually conceal his crime, and render search unavailing. it may be said that this was carrying temptation too far. by no means. what degree of integrity should be reasonably required, let me ask, of a person in the service of the public, occupying a responsible position like that of a post master? upon whose fidelity depend the prompt and safe transaction of business, and the security of many other interests of social life. will a valetudinarian virtue answer the purpose? a virtue strong against weak temptations, but weak against strong ones? the man whose principles cannot withstand every degree of enticement to dishonesty, is unfit for any place of trust. furthermore, the combination of circumstances which i have just described, might occur in the experience of any post master throughout the country, and the sufferers by the unfaithfulness of an official so tempted, would hardly be satisfied with being told that he could have resisted any ordinary enticement, but that such an opportunity was too good to be lost. it should be borne in mind that up to this time, the party whose character was involved in these investigations and experiments, was totally unaware of the visits of the agent to his neighborhood. the _mis-sent_ package referred to, arrived at the office in h. on the evening of the day that it left boston, and should have been remailed and forwarded on the following morning; but a close examination of the contents of the mail-bag soon after it left h., failed to bring to light the hidden treasure. no package for rouse's point made its appearance. this, however, did not make out a clear case against the "persecuted" official, neither did it justify his arrest. it occurred to me, on failing to find the letters referred to, that the wrapper in which they had been enclosed, might have been used in sending off other letters that morning, it being the custom in most of the smaller offices, as a matter of economy, to use the same wrappers several times by turning or reversing them. a short search produced the paper in question, which i removed from the package it enclosed, and substituted another in its place. here was an additional proof that the decoy package had reached the office at h., and had been opened, as the new address upon the wrapper was in the post master's hand-writing. he could not therefore say that he had never received such a package at his office, or should he make such an assertion, as he would be very likely to do if he were guilty, the production of this envelope would shut his mouth, and go far to prove his evil intentions. but the case, at this stage, was very far from being a clear one against him, and he yet had a chance, if he were an honest man, of coming out triumphant over the efforts of malice, and the wiles of his "persecutors." the removal of the wrapper and its use in enclosing other packages was all natural enough, being, as i have said, agreeable to the frequent custom in such small offices, and even the non-appearance of the rouse's point letters might yet be accounted for on the supposition that he had laid them aside to be forwarded, and had forgotten them; or that not observing the name of the town to which they were addressed, he had placed them in the "general delivery," where they might at that moment be lying unmolested. desirous of affording the suspected man a fair chance to prove his innocence in this matter, if that were possible, and acting in accordance with the above-mentioned charitable suppositions, i allowed two other opportunities of remailing the letters to pass, but after searching in vain for them on both occasions, i resolved to wait upon the post master and talk over freely and frankly the subject of his enemies' attacks, believing that he would not for a moment dream that i had any connection with the missing package, even if he had purloined it,--a calculation which afterwards proved to be perfectly correct. accordingly i proceeded to the hotel at an early hour in the morning, intending not to seek an interview with him till after breakfast, and while waiting in the bar-room i overheard the following conversation. for convenience' sake i will indicate the different speakers by letters of the alphabet. mr. _a._ (to c. just entering the room.)--"good morning, mr. c. are you 'armed and equipped as the law directs' to go over to f?" (a neighboring town.) _c._--"you mean by that, i suppose, whether i have laid in enough cigars to last till i get there, and patience enough to hold out till i can get back." _a._--"it will be a tedious business, that's a fact. here's nobody knows how many going over from this town; no end to the witnesses, and no end to the case, _i_ don't believe; at least not this term of court." "yes," broke in a rough-looking bystander, "the court'll set and set, and never hatch out nothin' but a parcel of goslins for the lawyers to pluck." _a._--"we can't dispute you, l., for you've been one of those same 'goslins,' i believe." _l._--"no i haint, i've been a darned sight wuss,--a great goose. i swow it makes me mad with myself whenever i think on't." "come, daddy l.," spoke up a free and easy specimen of young america, "tell us about that great law-suit of yours. i never heard all the particulars." "wal, young man," returned l. solemnly, "i'll tell you all about it, hopin' it'll be a warnin' to you never to have nothin' to do with the law. "about fifteen, mebbe sixteen year ago, afore you'd got through hollerin arter your mammy, i used to keep considerable of a lot of sheep, and one year i bought a ram that i'd taken a fancy to jest because he was sech an all-fired big feller, and had sech thunderin' curly horns. i got him pretty cheap, and arter i'd had him awhile, i found out the reason on't. he was the darndest buttin', jumpin' feller that ever _i_ see. there couldn't a calf nor a colt nor nothin' about his size come into the pastur where he was, but what he'd be arter it and knock it into a cocked hat if he could git a lick at it. fact, he pretty much killed two or three likely calves that i had, but the colts was mostly too lively for him. he couldn't often hit 'em. "wal, i kinder hated to kill the feller, he was such a buster, so i shet him up in a little three-cornered lot so's to have him out of the way till the calves was killed off or had got bigger. but what did the rascal du but go to buttin' agin the stone wall that kep him out of neighbor bliss's patch o' rye; and afore he'd bin there tew days, he knocked a hole in't and got into the rye. it was a kinder out of the way place where the lot was, so he had a chance to stay there all night, and 'praps a little longer. anyhow, when bliss found it out, he was hoppin' mad. "he's rether techy any time, but he'd bin a braggin' on this ere field o'rye, how he was goin' to beat the hull town on it, and to have that old ram a nibblin' and trottin' threw it, and a spilin on't, sot his dander up. i was willin' to a' paid him suthin' for damages, but his charges was tew hot for me. told him i'd see him darned afore i'd be imposed upon in that shape. wal, he said he'd sue me, and sure enuff he did. "we kept a lawin' on it considerable of a spell. fust the court gin him his damages; then i 'pealed, and the case kept a gettin' put over somehow or other, till the 'all wool _suit_,' as the lawyers got to callin' it, come to be a standin' joke, and i was heartily sick on't. wal, finally we contrived to settle it, and arter payin' bliss about what he fust asked, i had my costs to see tu, and i went to squire sharp, my lawyer, to see what _he_ was a goin' to charge me for his _sarvices_, as he called it. he was jest as smilin' and clever as a baskit o' chips. "'take a seat, mr. l.' says he, 'i'll find your little account in a minit. pleasant mornin', sir, good growin' weather.' "wal, i set down and found out purty soon that i'd got 'bout fifty dollars to pay for his _sarvices_,--blame 'em! "'now,' says i, 'squire, that air's a good deal o' money for a man like me tu pay, and i don't blieve i can raise it all tu wonst. p'raps you'd take part out in _pro_duce, jest ter 'commodate.' "'oh, yes,' says he, 'mr. l., i'll take anything you've a mind to bring.' "'so,' thinks i, 'i'll git red of one plague by the means;' and i went home and got the old ram and carried him up to the squire's house. "'good mornin', squire,' says i, 'i've brought the fust instalment on my little account.' "'the deuce you have,' says he, 'what do you suppose i'm going to do with that old buck?' "'donno, squire,' says i, 'all i know is that you said you'd take anything i was a mind ter bring, and this ere ram is _legal tender_, anyhow.' "wal, he saw he was kinder stuck, so he 'greed to take it, and 'low me five dollars. "i heerd arterwards that the squire put the ram into an empty hog-pen, to keep him until he could sell him, but the darned critter went over the top on't, and tackled miss sharp, the squire's wife, that happened to be a stoopin' down, weedin' her posies in the gardin, upsot her, and then put arter little jim, one of her boys, and floored him, and ended off with knockin' down a crazy old well-curb, pitchin' into the well, and breakin' his neck, or drowndin' himself, i donno which. "that's the end of my experience in law. the old ram cost me, fust and last, about a hundred dollars." after the conclusion of this instructive narration, the general conversation, which for the time had been suspended, was resumed, and i gathered from what was said that the post master was one of the principal witnesses in the trial above alluded to by messrs a. & c.; that arrangements had been made for an early start, as the place where the court was to be held was some twelve or fifteen miles distant, and that the hotel where we were was the place of rendezvous. i observed narrowly every new-comer, and soon a well-dressed, intelligent-looking man, apparently about thirty years old, entered, whom i took to be the very gentleman i wished to see. my conjecture respecting him proved to be correct, for it was not long before some one addressed him, inquiring whom he had engaged to take charge of the post-office during his absence. deeming it unsafe to delay longer, i beckoned him out of the room, unnoticed by others, and in a friendly and familiar manner, introduced myself, taking care to throw him off his guard by remarking, that being in that vicinity i had concluded to make him a call and satisfy myself whether the complaints made to the department respecting him were just or otherwise, adding that in many of these cases similar complaints had their origin in personal disagreements, or business rivalry. "i am delighted to see you," he replied. "i am gratified that the department has at last authorized some one who is impartial, to look into its matters here, and if i can have a day with you, i will convince you by the testimony of the best men of all parties, that the stories detrimental to me are the invention of enemies, who seem determined to put me down if possible. but they haven't succeeded yet, and what's more, they can't succeed. things have come to a pretty pass when a man can't carry on a more flourishing business than his neighbors, without being set upon and slandered out of his life. "i am summoned to-day to attend court, but if it is inconvenient for you to wait till my return, i shall run the risk of being in time to-morrow, with my testimony, as this business is of vital importance to me and mine, and must not be neglected, come what may." "it _is_ very important," i replied, "and my advice is to risk the displeasure of the court, and ask some of your friends to explain your non-appearance." he concluded to follow my recommendation, and we walked over to the post-office, and retired within its sanctum, where we remained some time, combining pleasure with business, by inhaling the vapor of as good cigars as the mercantile department could furnish, while examining the post-office books, and the post master's general arrangements, and discussing various matters relative thereto. my chief object was, if possible, to get a sight of the contents of the boxes where the two "decoys" should be if they had been mistaken for local letters, and placed in the "general delivery." the one enclosing the bank-notes and specie would come under the initial b., and this box contained quite a number of letters which i thought it unsafe to examine particularly. while i was endeavoring to devise some plausible mode of getting a satisfactory view of them, some one fortunately entered the store and inquired if there were any letters for john barstow. all the b's were at once taken down by the post master, thus giving me exactly the opportunity i wanted of observing each letter, as he was running them over. the last one was reached, but the _mis-sent_ document did not appear; so one important requisite for proving his innocence seemed entirely cut off. soon after, we started out to call on some of the "first citizens," as he termed them, but i readily discovered that the select few to whom i was being introduced, although evidently sincere in the opinions they expressed, were a little biassed in his favor by one motive and another; and that they were quite as likely to be deceived as those whose interests, perhaps, fully as much as their regard for a faithful administration of the post-office, had led them to scrutinize more closely the conduct and principles of our injured friend. among those of his backers on whom we called, was a lawyer of some note in that region, who had recently received a nomination for congress from one of the leading political parties. on our way to this gentleman's office, the post master, as my readers will easily suppose, took care to inform me thoroughly respecting these important particulars. squire w. was evidently a tower of strength to him, and he spared no pains to impress upon me the great truth, that whomsoever the squire thought fit to endorse, possessed irrefragable evidence of an immaculate character. we fortunately found the would-be future m. c. in his office, no other person being present than a law student, also a warm friend to my companion, who quickly withdrew, owing probably to some silent intimation from one or the other of the gentlemen present, that his room was, for the time being, better than his company. this was not, by the way, the post master's first visit here to-day, for he had stopped in as we were passing in the morning, leaving me a moment for that purpose, on which occasion he doubtless suggested our visit, and the importance to him of a pretty strong backing. he appeared immensely delighted to think that he had been able to bring me, a "green" agent, upon whom his character with the department depended, into contact with one whose assurances were to dispel all the clouds that lowered about his head, and reveal him to the community with the double effulgence of injured innocence and undimmed integrity. this pleasing prospect seemed to beget an exuberance of spirits which rather astonished his friend, the squire, as i judged by the occasional expression of his countenance. "now, squire," said the post master, slapping him gently on the back in a persuasive manner, "i want you to tell this gentleman just what you think about the opposition made to me in this village. you know we have always been opposed in politics, and of course you are entirely disinterested in the matter. all you want is to have the office here well managed. you have heard all about the charges that some of my rascally enemies have made against me, and i believe i told you the other day, that they had sent complaints on to washington. we'll see how their slanders turn out when the agent here gets through with investigating the matter. all i want is the truth." "yes, yes, i see," said the squire, clearing for action, by putting an extra stick into the stove, and materially lessening the contents of a good-sized snuff-box that stood upon the table. "it's just as my friend b. says, mr. h----," continued he; "we've always belonged to different parties in politics, and are connected with different religious societies,--in fact, we don't seem to agree on anything of that sort. but i never mean to allow such things to affect my estimate of a man's character, and i hope i shall always be ready to do any one justice, however he may differ from me in opinion. "the case, sir, stands thus: here is a young man fortunate enough to be possessed of more industry and enterprise than some of his neighbors, and accordingly succeeds in business better than they do. their envy is excited, he incurs their ill-will, and they attempt by slander to ruin his character. i don't think any of them would lose by exchanging characters with him. no, sir," (fortifying his position with another pinch of snuff,) "all these charges are utterly without foundation, save in the brains of those who produced them,--a narrow foundation enough, in all conscience, for anything. "i have, perhaps, as great an interest in the proper management of the post-office here as any one, as i receive and send through it probably more important correspondence than any other man in town; but i have never had cause to complain, and, so far as i know, everything has gone right." here a moment's pause followed, which the lawyer improved by replenishing the stove and his facial promontory. the post master cleared his throat, gave the squire an approving nod, and rocked back and forth upon the hind legs of his chair, picking his teeth in a nonchalant way, apparently much at his ease. "by the way, squire w.," he broke out, rather suddenly, "perhaps the gentleman would like to hear about that letter that marshall mailed here to go to new haven, ct., and which was misdirected to new haven, vt." i replied, that i should be happy to hear any statements that would throw light on the subject in hand. "well," said the squire, "there was a great handle made of that affair. you see, this marshall is a careless, absent-minded genius, and he wrote a letter, into which he put fifty dollars for his old mother in connecticut, and it didn't get there. well, he came and consulted me about it, and wanted me to sue b. here, for the money. "'why, mr. w.,' said he, 'i'm confident that b. has got it. people say he can't be trusted, and i believe it now.' "'but see here, marshall,' replied i, 'there are twenty offices or more between this place and the one where you sent your letter; and it is, to say the least, quite as likely to have been purloined anywhere else as here. you had better wait a few days, and i will make inquiries, and do what i can to find out whether b. knows anything about it. if it should appear at all probable that he does, i can assure you that i will not hesitate to sue him.' "so i put off matters for a little while, and before marshall got very urgent again, the lost letter turned up in the new haven, vt., post-office; no one being to blame but the very man who had made all the fuss! the enemies of our friend here, who had all the time been chuckling to think they had him on the hip, felt flat enough, i assure you, when the letter came to light, for they would rather have paid over the fifty dollars themselves, than to have lost this chance of confirming their accusations against him." this turn in the conversation gave me an excellent opportunity of trying the nerves, or the innocence of the post master, without exciting his suspicions in the least; so i remarked, "the new haven, vermont, post master must have been an honest man, or this money letter might never have been seen again; as no one would have thought of looking there for it, and if they had, it wouldn't have been very easy to prove that it ever went there." here i glanced at b., but his countenance betrayed no consciousness that my observation was designed to hit him, and with an aspect of unruffled coolness, he proceeded to say, "that new haven case reminds me of something very similar, which happened in this office only a day or two ago. a package of letters came here from boston, which were intended for a town in new york. by the way, mr. agent, i wish the next time you are in the rutland office you would request the mailing clerks to be a little more particular in addressing their wrappers, as our packages, both of letters and papers, frequently go astray, while those for other offices sometimes come here. surrounded, as i am, by so many prying and fault-finding people, failures caused in this way are likely to be seized upon to make me trouble." i replied, that i would try to bear his request in mind, being all the time well satisfied that it was a device adopted to turn attention from the _mis-sent_ package, to which he had unguardedly referred, and to prevent further allusion to it, which might awaken suspicion, and even betray guilt. he was indeed treading on dangerous ground. his voluntary admission, that a package similar to my decoy package had been in his hands, and that he had noticed the name of the place to which the letters were directed, was all that was wanting to confirm my belief that they had been purloined, since i already knew that they had not been forwarded from his office. after our worthy legal friend had exhausted every illustration, and brought to view every fact at his command, corroborating his very high estimate of the post master's character, both personal and official, and had given the "enemies" the extremely low and degraded position which they, as maligners of spotless worth, and conspirators against tried honesty, ought justly to assume,--in short, after he had said, if not done, all that even the object of his advocacy could have desired, i proposed an adjournment for dinner, more for the sake of securing in that way an opportunity of telegraphing for the united states marshal, than for administering to the wants of the inner man. the victim of calumny and myself separated at the door of the squire's office, agreeing to meet again soon after dinner; and while he was dispatching his meal, i was dispatching a telegraphic message, which ran thus:-- "----, esq., u. s. marshal: "come here by first train. i will join you at the depot, and explain business." just as i had left the telegraph office, i was addressed in a very private and mysterious manner by a substantial-looking citizen, whom i had before observed eyeing me very closely. he wished to know whether i was the united states mail agent. i informed him that such was the title of my office. "then i want an opportunity for some conversation with you about this business of the post office. i suppose you are here to examine into this affair, and are willing to hear both sides. there are some things in connection with the matter, which i think you ought to know." "i was just going to the hotel for my dinner," said i. "government officers must eat, you know, as well as other people, and for a while after dinner i shall be engaged; but if what you have to communicate is of importance, i will endeavor to confer with you before i leave town." "i hope you will; and allow me one word now. i understand that you have been closeted with squire w., and i want you to know something about his position in this matter. everybody allows him to be an honest and a sincere man, but the fact is, he has been very active in effecting the removal of the site of the post-office from the other side of the river to its present location, and could hardly be called a disinterested witness in such an investigation as you no doubt intend to give the subject." how far this dig at the squire was just, i could not then certainly know; but a glance at his law dispensary and the post-office, distant from each other only a few rods, both being a good quarter of a mile from the old post-office site, gave some plausibility to the intimation that the squire's interest and love for justice, happened in this instance, to run in the same direction. my presence in the village had become pretty generally known, as appeared by various unmistakable indications, particularly some not very flattering remarks which i overheard at the dinner-table, such as "a one-sided affair," "consulting interested persons," "don't know how he expects to find out the truth," and the like; all of which i pretended neither to hear nor to notice. it was very evident that our man of letters hadn't many friends in _that_ house, for those of its inmates and frequenters who were not in some way influenced by rival interests, were no doubt more or less disaffected by the removal of the post office from that immediate neighborhood. as i was one of the last to leave the table, the usual cloud of tobacco smoke had taken possession of the bar-room, and was enveloping its occupants in an atmosphere "darkly, deeply, beautifully blue," when i entered the apartment devoted to the production of this mollifying vapor. the narcotic herb seemed to have lost its ordinary soothing power, for the company then and there present bestowed upon me glances cool and scrutinizing enough to dispel effectually any inclination i might have had for indulging a short time in the delights of social intercourse. so i seized my over-coat, and passed out; and this movement was the signal for a spasmodic giggle by the entire assemblage, in which the landlord joined, as i supposed, for i distinctly recognised his grum voice just as i closed the door, uttering, in a contemptuous tone, the following remark, "i guess the agent don't like tobacco smoke!" i was little disturbed, however, by these and sundry other indications that i was not establishing a reputation for impartiality and shrewdness with a majority of the citizens. if i were to listen to all they might be ready to tell me, i should be spending valuable time to no sort of purpose, for the proofs of the post master's delinquency which i had thus far obtained were derived, not from them, but from himself, and it was in that direction only that i could reasonably expect to obtain conclusive evidence of his guilt, for all the accusations which his enemies had sent to the department had been supported by nothing better than the opinions of those who made them. if i failed in securing what i expected from the course i was pursuing, it would then be time to see what other proof could be procured from different quarters; and until the result of my investigations should be known, i was content to rest under the cloud of misapprehension which appeared to be gathering about me, knowing that thus i could best serve the interests of justice, and that time would set me right with those who were now disposed to look on me as one whose mind had been preoccupied by the artful tales of the post master and his friends. i must confess that i was somewhat amused to think what a complete metamorphosis my character would undergo in the eyes of almost every member of this little community, when the truth should come to light. i had sufficient confidence in the uprightness and candor of the squire, to believe that he would readily acquit me of trifling, in the course i had pursued with him, and that he would acquiesce in the adoption of whatever measures the public interest might seem to have required. nor was i in this instance the victim of misplaced confidence, as will hereafter appear. the post master and myself soon met again at the post-office, when cigars for two were produced, and as we sat smoking them, i could not avoid a feeling of melancholy, at seeing him apparently so cheerful and happy, and sincerely regretted the necessity that compelled me to persist sternly in a course which would assuredly end in the blight of his hopes and the ruin of his character. he was evidently certain of having fully established his innocence, and of having inspired me with some of the contempt for his persecutors which he felt himself. "we have met the enemy, and they are ours," seemed to be the language of his looks and actions, if not of his lips. the sky over his head appeared bright; the clouds, to his eyes, had dispersed; and he dreamed not that the roar of the next railroad train would be to him like the peal of thunder which accompanies the lightning's quick and deadly bolt. yet i consoled myself with the reflection that my motives were such as should actuate every public officer in the discharge of his duty, and that i was not responsible for the consequences which might follow the carrying out of plans judiciously devised for this end,--an end which, in an important case like this, fully justified the means. this train of thought was interrupted by the post master, who rather abruptly asked, "well, mr. h., i suppose you have satisfied yourself about this affair; and, if it isn't asking too much, i should be glad to know what sort of report you are going to make to the department?" i was unprepared for this, and i confess i was for a moment nonplussed. but i evaded a direct answer, by relating what i had heard and seen at the hotel, and how displeased they all were with me for not giving them a chance to be heard in the course of my investigation. and wishing to divert his mind still further from the troublesome point on which he had touched, i ventured upon a few remarks about the painful and often disagreeable duties of a special agent, introducing, by way of embellishment, an anecdote of post master general collamer. in the course of a conversation between that officer and one of the western special agents, the matter of an increase of salary, among other things, was briefly discussed. says the agent, "you know, sir, that many times we are called upon to do things which can hardly be made to square with the code of honor; and in fact, we sometimes have to resort to downright duplicity and deception." "well, well," replied judge collamer, "i suppose you find yourself perfectly at home at that!" this diversion answered the purpose, and nothing further was said about my intended report. just as i had fairly extricated myself from this ticklish position, a messenger from the telegraph-office appeared, with a reply from the marshal to my dispatch, which response i managed to read without the least suspicion of its nature on the part of the individual who had such a momentous interest therein. the contents of the dispatch were simply, "i will leave by first train." after having been introduced to a number of other swift witnesses for our friend, who _happened in_ at the post-office, and holding some conversation with them on the all-absorbing theme, the iron horse's shrill neigh announced the approach of the train by which the marshal was to arrive; and without much ceremony i took my leave, to meet him at the depot, promising to return again. he was the first man to alight on the platform, and was soon made acquainted with the business in hand. we thought it best that he should go directly to my room at the hotel, where i was presently to join him, in company with the post master; and ten minutes more found us there, sitting around as pleasant a fire as ever irradiated and comforted with its genial warmth, such a trio of officials. i had introduced the marshal by his proper name and title, yet the announcement produced no visible effect upon the unsuspecting post master. he seemed as cool and unembarrassed as if he had been in the habit of forming the acquaintance of united states officers every day. this rather astonished me, as it did the marshal, and he (the marshal) favored me with a glance and a slight motion of the head, which intimated that, in his opinion, i had mistaken my man. i had set it down as a fixed fact, that the appearance and introduction of the marshal in his own character, would at once excite the apprehensions of the post master, and lead to inquiries from him which would render it comparatively easy for me to enter upon that decisive course of questioning and examination which the present advanced state of the affair required. but all my calculations were frustrated by this unexpected move on the part of my antagonist, and i was left _in statu quo_, so far as regarded any help i had hoped for from him. in this condition of things, all that remained for me was to make a bold push at once, and break the ice as speedily as possible. so, turning to the post master, i thus addressed him: "were you, mr. b., at home, last monday evening, when the boston mail arrived?" "i was," replied he, after some hesitation. "did you open and assort the mail yourself on that occasion?" "i did." "and did you find a package of two letters, mailed at boston, and addressed to rouse's point?" here, for the first time, a change came over his countenance; and, after a moment's reflection, he answered very firmly, that he did not recollect any such package. "one of the letters," continued i, "contained twenty-five dollars in bills, and fifty cents in specie, and the other contained no money, and was addressed to a lady." he listened attentively, and repeated that he did not see any such letters as those i had described. "well, sir," i observed, "we must now trouble you to show us the money you have about you." he readily complied with this requisition, by handing me his pocket-book. it was well filled, but among a tolerably large roll of bank-notes, none of those included in the decoy letter appeared. his knowledge, of the absence of these important witnesses against him, easily accounted for his promptness in submitting to the examination, and as he received the wallet from me again, and returned it to his pocket, his air of assurance, which for the moment had been dimmed, reappeared in all its native lustre, and with an assumed expression of wounded pride, he requested to know if he was to understand that i suspected him of interfering improperly with the letters i had been inquiring about. to this i answered, "yes, sir; you _are_ so to understand me; and further, that i believe you have robbed and destroyed those letters!" the marshal was looking on all this while, evidently somewhat incredulous as to the justice of my accusations, for he had long known by reputation the young man against whom they were made, being an acquaintance of the family, and always supposed him to be an enterprising, honest person. indeed, he told me afterwards, that he really thought, to use his own expression, that i "had put my foot in it." in fact, i began to think myself, that however certain b.'s guilt might be, it was likely to prove more difficult than i had supposed, to establish the fact legally. one thing, however, remained,--to examine a quantity of specie, which i knew he had in his pocket, as he had frequently exhibited it during the day in the way of making change at his office. this also, amounting to some six or eight dollars, was promptly produced at my request, and laid on the table. "now," thought i, "the last card is dealt; let us see whether it will turn up a trump." the evil spirit, which so enticingly leads people into scrapes, and is so reluctant to get them out again, true to its fatal instincts, had safely preserved the evidence of guilt in the present case. a moment's inspection of the different coins, brought to light one of the identical pieces which had been placed in the missing letter! it was thus described in the original memorandum to which i referred: "american quarter--dot over left wing of eagle; slightly filed on lower edge under date, ." "here is one of the quarters," said i, holding it up, "that was in the rouse's point letter,--marked and described in my memorandum, so that i could swear to it anywhere." "well, mr. h.," said the post master, "i suppose this circumstance appears to you very strongly against me, and perhaps it is. but i should like a few moments' private conversation with you, if you have no objection." agreeably to this hint, the marshal retired; but the post master remained silent for a while, resting his chin on his hand, and gazing into the fire with a countenance overshadowed by dejection and discouragement. the gloom on his features grew deeper and deeper, but at last he roused himself, and looked me full in the face, saying, in almost despairing tones, "_can_ anything be done to save me? oh, mr. h., for heaven's sake, put yourself in my place for a moment! think what it is to fight as i have fought for years, to defend my reputation against enemies who wanted to pull me down, and build themselves up on my ruins; and after holding my ground so long, to be blown to pieces, as it were in an instant! how they'll all exult! there's old p.; i can see just how he'll look, shaking his old fox head. 'ah, i knew something was rotten all the time!' "what can you do to get me out of this trouble? i can't have it so; i _must_ have something done to save me from becoming the laughing-stock of my enemies." "but," said i, "your enemies, as you call them, could have done you no harm, if you had not supplied them with weapons yourself." "that may be," replied he, mournfully, "but i assure you that this is my _first_ offence. i had never dreamed of meddling with letters till this rouse's point package came in my way; but it didn't seem as if it could ever be discovered, so the temptation was too much for me." (it is a curious fact, by the way, that almost all the cases of post office robbery we meet with are "first offences;" even those whose boldness indicates some little previous experience in such things.) "what," inquired i, "did you do with the bills that were in the letter?" "i sent them away," replied he, "the same day that i took them. now, i've told you frankly all about the affair, and i hope you will contrive some way to save me from disgrace and ruin. couldn't the business stop here, if i refund what i have taken, and resign my office as post master? i should be willing to do more than that, if it should be necessary." i assured him that i had no power to make any such arrangement, and that i must leave the matter with the marshal, who i supposed would be under the necessity of serving the process. thus speaking, i stepped to the door, and called that gentleman into the room, who proceeded forthwith to read the warrant issued against b. during the reading of that instrument, a sudden change came over the countenance of the unfortunate post master. he turned pale, and would have fallen, had i not prevented him. the marshal and i assisted him to a bed that stood in the room, where he lay for a long time, prostrate in body and mind. as i stood over him, attempting to revive him by the use of such means as were at hand, i thought how great must have been the shock which had so overpowered his faculties. his strength of body, and pride of soul, were, for the time, laid low. what a pity that he had not possessed the right kind of pride; not merely the ambition to rise above the machinations of his enemies, and put them under his feet, but the pride that despises a mean action, and dreads a crime more than its consequences. such a feeling would have been a safeguard; but i was sorry to observe that, while he was confessing his guilt, the thought of his enemies' triumph over him was uppermost in his mind. he had now somewhat revived, and wishing to calm his exasperated feelings, (which i supposed were in some measure the cause of his present condition,) by turning his thoughts to another channel, i inquired of the marshal, in a rather low tone, whether he had any family. "he has a wife, i believe," was the reply, and in a moment b. was saying to himself, his eyes still shut, "jane, jane, what will _you_ think? don't despise me, if you can help it." he went on for some little time in this strain, displaying a high regard for his wife's affection and good opinion, and an apprehension that he might have forfeited them by his misconduct; an apprehension utterly groundless--so far, at least, as regarded affection, for the undying flame of love in a true woman's heart cannot so be quenched. mrs. b., as i afterwards learned, was a most estimable woman, whose influence had doubtless been of great benefit to her husband. alas! that the power of his good angel could not have triumphed over the temptation to which he yielded! when he had recovered sufficiently to walk about, the marshal took him in charge, and conveyed him to a neighboring town, where the united states district judge resided, for examination. his friends, who were highly respectable, were informed by telegraph of his arrest, and gave the required bail for his appearance at trial. thus we have traced out an important part of the career of one whose character was laid low, not by his enemies, but by his own hand. and whenever i pass through the pleasant town which was the scene of these transactions, a shade of melancholy comes over me, entirely at variance with the general cheerful appearance both of the place and the surrounding landscape. on one of the last occasions that i was in that vicinity, the train on which i was traveling stopped for a few moments at this station. it was a delightful summer's day, and if the objects which met my eye, as i gazed up and down the street, had not been, many of them, monuments to me of a melancholy history, i should have thought that the place yielded in beauty to few of the villages which adorn new england. but a stranger occupied the store where the unfortunate b. maintained the contest with his rivals; the post office was in other hands; and i was just turning away from a scene that suggested nothing but unpleasant reminiscences, when squire w. emerged from the station-house, and cordially addressed me. this was the first time i had seen him, since our memorable interview in his office. "good morning, mr. h.," said he; "how is the rogue-catching business now? i suppose you have disposed of a good many since you despatched b. so summarily. when i first heard of his arrest, feeling sure of his innocence as i did, i don't know that i should have been much surprised if you had come after me next; and i felt a little sore, to tell you the truth, to think that my endorsement of him had so little weight with you. but i have since seen that you were perfectly right about it, though i am sorry that poor b. should have turned out so badly." here the iron horse began to manifest indications of impatience, and shaking hands with the worthy squire, we went our several ways. chapter iv. high crimes in low places--honest baggage-masters--suspicious circumstances--watching the suspected--shunning the dust--honesty triumphant--an episode--unexpected confession--the night clerks--conformity to circumstances--pat the porter--absents himself--physician consulted--the dead child--hunting excursions--"no go"--pat explains his absence--his discharge--the grave-stones--stolen money appears--the jolly undertakers--pat at the grave--more hunting--firing a salute--removing the deposits--crossing the ferry--scene at the post office--trip to brooklyn--recovery of money--escape--encounter with a policeman--searching a steamer--waking the wrong passenger--accomplices detained--luxuries cut off--false imprisonment suit--michael on the stand--case dismissed. public confidence in the united states mail, and in the integrity of those connected therewith, never perhaps received a severer shock than that which it suffered from the extensive robberies committed in the summer and fall of , by pat r., at that time a night porter in the new york post office. the range of _his_ ambition was by no means commensurate with his humble station in life and the post office, and his menial occupation did not repress aspirations which could render him a fit rival to such men as swartwout and schuyler, both by the extent of his schemes of villany, and the success with which they were carried on. he was no petty thief, content with doing a small but comparatively safe business at filching, or at least, satisfied to begin with the "day of small things;" but he had hardly taken the oath of office before its strength was tested, and it proved no greater restraint to him than a spider's thread to a wild buffalo. he at once plunged into the tempting field which lay before him, and grasped with a greedy clutch at every opportunity to enlarge his increasing store of ill-gotten wealth. he would sometimes add thousands to his hoard in a single night, and carried on these bold depredations for some time unsuspected, not because he was _above_ suspicion, but because he was _below_ it. in other words, after these robberies had been pretty satisfactorily traced to the new york office, it was necessary to establish the innocence, so far as these losses were concerned, of a large number of clerks, before suspicion fairly rested on the guilty party. thus, when the investigation was commenced, he was buried up, so to speak, beneath so many protecting layers, all of which were removed before he came to light. i will not attempt to give any idea of the quantity of labor necessary in this and similar preliminary investigations. some of the numerous complaints made to the department and the post master of new york, involved large sums of money. among them was a package of $ in bank-notes, mailed at middletown, conn., for philadelphia, penn. another of $ from bridgeport, conn., to zanesville, ohio. still another of $ from joliet, ill., to new york, and many other smaller sums, from $ to $ ; also drafts, notes, checks, &c, to an enormous amount in the aggregate. none of these valuable remittances had been seen by any persons properly interested in them, after they had passed out of the hands of the senders. doubtless to those unacquainted with such matters, it may not prove much for the efficiency of the special agent to state that the thefts were occasionally repeated even after he had entered upon this investigation. but the agent employed in this instance always preferred to catch the rogue, rather than frighten him, thereby leaving innocent parties under the ban of suspicion, as well as destroying all chances for the recovery of the property already stolen. and the benefits and propriety of that course were fully realized in the result of the important case under consideration. as "it is the last straw which breaks the camel's back," so it is often the stealing of the last letter which aids in bringing to light the depredator of former ones. i propose here to relate some details, which may be interesting, of the means taken to "narrow down" and trace out those extensive robberies, not so much on account of anything novel or original, adopted at this or any other stage of the investigation, as to demonstrate the value of a character that is proof against trying temptation; and the dangerous position of those who are not at all times thus fortified, although they may be innocent of the particular offences charged. with but few exceptions, the mails in which the missing letters and money packages should have been conveyed to new york, would have come from the east by the express night trains, over the boston and new york railroad. upon those trains, the mails were in charge of the baggage-masters, the regular mail or "route agents" being confined to the way mail-trains running at different hours of the day. a variety of circumstances, besides their good reputation, conspired to avert suspicion from these baggage-men. the mails were in "through bags," and it required a mail-key to obtain access to their contents; and besides, the robberies could not well be perpetrated in that way without collusion between several persons,--the express agents, and the conductors, all reliable men, having occasion often to visit the baggage car, which was always well lighted. accompanying the night express trains there were also "through baggage-masters," so called. their duty was performed by two persons, one of whom left boston and the other new york on each evening. on privately consulting the officers of the railroad company as to the running of these men, it appeared that about all the losses had happened on the nights of one of them: a discovery which, as had been shown by experience in similar cases, was by no means conclusive, and yet of too much importance to be overlooked. the individual thus involved knew me well, and it required no little manoeuvring to get over the route as often as was necessary, without being observed by him. one night when thus endeavoring to avoid him, a very amusing incident occurred. the regular conductor soon after leaving springfield, was taken suddenly ill, and procured the services of this identical baggage-master for a short distance, unknown of course to me. i was sitting curled up in the corner of the saloon of the first passenger car, when the door opened and the well known call of "tickets, gentlemen," apprised me that he had found me out before i had recognised him, or at least had discovered that i was "aboard." but i made the best of it, simply remarking that there was the least dust there of any spot on the train. up to this time my ground of suspicion was mainly confined to the coincidence already mentioned between the dates of losses, and his presence on the cars. the investigation had not proceeded far, however, when another matter came to light, which increased suspicion in that quarter. a citizen of new york called on me and stated that recently, just as the night train was starting from the depot in canal street, he handed this same baggage-master a letter containing money, which he asked him to take charge of, not having time to carry it to the post-office. he at first declined, on the ground that the conveyance of letters out of the mail was illegal, but finally proposed to receive it, and, if possible, to get it into the proper bag through one of the small openings between the staples. this was the last that was ever seen of the letter by the sender or his correspondent. the former having called on the baggage-master, had been told that, the letter was crowded into the right mail-bag, as promised; but the statement was not believed, and the circumstance happening in the midst of other troubles on the same line, seemed to constitute an important step in the progress of discovering the author of all this mischief. a very shrewd acquaintance of the man of trunks, in boston, was confidentially employed to ascertain something of his habits, and the state of his finances. after a fair and faithful trial, he reported to me, that the aforesaid superintendent of baggage was "as steady as a model deacon, and as poor as a country editor within fifty miles by railroad, of a large city." and that "although always ready, like many other clever fellows, to partake of the hospitality of his friends when strongly urged, yet you might as well try to get a smile out of a dead man without the use of a galvanic battery, as to induce him to spend a dollar unnecessarily." the justice of this report was speedily confirmed, and the problem for the thousandth time satisfactorily worked out, that suspicion never yet injured a really honest man, although seemingly well founded in the outset. connected with the mailing of one of the large money packages already described, were circumstances which made it necessary, as is often the fact in a series of robberies, to investigate it as an isolated case, unconnected with the theft of the other packages and letters, none of which would go into or pass through the office in which this one was deposited. the statement of the cashier went to show that he took the package to the post-office himself, and handed it to a clerk who happened to be alone in the office, and but a short time before the mail left for new york. this was confirmed by the clerk's own statement, and by his entry in a book kept for the registry of valuable letters and parcels. about the habits of this clerk, and his manner when examined, there was nothing which appeared in the least to implicate him. the cashier thought it out of the question that anything could be wrong there. the young clerk was a member of his sabbath-school class, from which he was never absent, and he believed him to be "all right." and yet he had an excellent opportunity to have kept back the package, and the temptation would indeed have been a dangerous one to older and more strongly fortified persons than he was. i determined, therefore, to put him to the test of a direct charge of having purloined the package, which i lost no time in doing, intimating that a confession and restoration of the money was his first duty. but he met the charge fearlessly, and firmly asserted his innocence as to the important remittance in question. the faithful monitor within, however, would not let him rest there. believing, probably, that i knew more about other transactions of his than the one i had accused him of, he addressed me as follows:-- "i mailed that bank package, and know that it left our office. what could i have done with so much money, if i had been bad enough to have taken it? and i _was_ just bad enough! i am willing to tell you all i have done, and will very gladly restore the ill-gotten funds, for they have made me miserable." i will omit the details of this unexpected confession, but the first case owned was the $ letter that had been handed to the through baggage-master, to be crammed into the locked mail-pouch, the failure of which letter, as has been already shown, had given so much force to suspicions against him! by way of corroborating this part of his admissions, at my request, he described the address of the letter, the kind of money it contained, and to complete the identity, he mentioned that it came there loose in the mail-bag. this discovery relieved the baggage-man amazingly, and at the same time aided me in deciding at what point the heavy losses had occurred; for if the large package started from this office, and was not disturbed on the cars, it must have been stolen in the new york or philadelphia office, where it was destined. another fact transpired about this time, which assisted still further in locating these alarming robberies. among them was one of a letter mailed by the cashier of a bank in vermont, for an office in one of the western states, and enclosing a quantity of the notes of that bank. the bills had peculiar marks upon them. they all found their way back to the bank through the usual channel of redemption, within a week of the time they were mailed; hence, of course, the letter could not have gone beyond new york. besides, it was sent to that office for distribution, and the post bill was on file there, and described this identical letter, by its unusual rate, and as being pre-paid by stamps. in all the other cases, the post bills were not to be found, either in new york or other distant post offices, and they must have been taken with the packages themselves. the fact that the night mails had suffered chiefly, warranted me now in confining the investigation principally to the night clerks. they were generally a worthy and reliable class of gentlemen, some of them having held this responsible station for many years. in the inquiries and examinations which i was obliged to make, i found some instances of conformity to circumstances and limited means, that would confer credit on any men, or any age. but it will perhaps be said, that cunning men may be dishonest, and yet keep their ill-gotten gains out of sight; surrounding themselves with the appearances of frugality and even poverty. this may be so sometimes, temporarily, but it is nevertheless a fact that rogues _steal money to spend it_, and for the comfort and ease which they _expect_ it will confer, which expectation, however, never is realized. for it is the universal rule that money, or any other property not honestly obtained, "bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder;" and realizing the fabled vulture of prometheus, unceasingly feeds on the undying life of him who steals, not fire from heaven, but a baser thing from earth. the sad experience of thousands who have thought themselves cunning enough to cope with the shrewdest officers of justice, will show that however artful and ingenious may be the devices adopted, there are ways enough to meet and expose them. honesty is, therefore, not only the best policy, but the only safe and impregnable barrier against suspicion, detection, and misery. pat r. was appointed as a night porter, at the urgent solicitation of a prominent, and at that time, somewhat influential citizen of the first ward. he was recommended as a robust, athletic man, just suited to the drudgery which somebody must undertake in such an office, of attending to the lifting, handling, and removing of heavy mails. in that capacity it was not expected that he would discharge any of the more responsible duties of a regular clerk, such as making up and assorting mail-matter; but the labor of the office accumulating, he gradually added to his nightly employments that of "facing up" the contents of the midnight mails, after they had been emptied out, and separating the letter from the newspaper packages. had this last fact been furnished me at an earlier date, by the head clerk of that department, this troublesome investigation would probably have been sooner brought to a satisfactory termination. but, supposing from pat's position and legitimate duties, that he had not the requisite opportunities for committing depredations, he was about the last one to be looked after. and when i did conclude to extend my particular attentions to him, i was somewhat startled by the discovery, from an examination of the "time register"--a book in which each clerk is required to enter his name and the time of his arrival at and departure from the office--that pat had not been on duty for nearly a week! this was of course known before to the then first clerk of that department, but the sickness of the absentee, and the death of one of his children, which had been alleged as an excuse, (through another porter,) seemed to be a plausible and satisfactory explanation. but the agent thought otherwise, under the circumstances, and deemed it best, at all events, to ascertain in a careful way its truth or falsity. by the aid of a reliable day clerk, who lived in brooklyn, in the neighborhood of pat, i learned the name and general standing of the physician whom he had employed. an interview with him, supposed on his part to be for the purpose of ascertaining whether pat was a man of strictly temperate habits, and in all respects fit to be employed in a post office, confirmed the part of his story relating to the child's death, but disproved the rest of it, about his own illness. but the doctor went the whole figure in regard to pat's good character and fitness for any place which was not too intellectual. i could see, however, that my referee cared more about keeping a paying customer, (all professional charges, as he stated, having been fully liquidated up to that date,) than for posting me up in any matters that would jeopardize so good a situation, where all the monthly payments were in hard and legal currency. by this step i obtained the first tangible justification of my suspicions against pat. he had assigned, in part at least, a false reason for his absence. at about the same time, i consulted one of the brooklyn penny-posts, whose beat took in pat's residence, and who reported that he had on several occasions recently met him with a gun on his shoulder, apparently starting on a hunting excursion. he was very poor when he entered the office, and by way of testing his ability to live without work, it was arranged with an agent for procuring laborers for a western railroad, to call on him, and offer him a chance to go to illinois as foreman of a gang of hands. but it was "no go." his health was too precarious for that. thus matters went on for some time longer, when one day, very much to my surprise, pat entered the post master's room, and with a woe-begone look, and most melancholy tone of voice, commenced apologizing for his apparent neglect of duty. i was busily engaged in writing at the time, and so continued, hoping that he would not recognise me, as it afterwards appeared he did not. "misther fowler," says he, "i wish to spake to your honor about meself. ye see, sir, i've been unfortunate, and didn't come to me task; and the cause is, sir, that i've been sick meself with a terrible diarrhoee (placing his hand on his abdominal region,) and what is more painful than that (still keeping his hand in the same position, instead of changing it to the region of the heart,) i have buried a darling boy, your honor; and sure isn't it enough to turn the brain of a poor divil? ah, may the like on't niver happen to yourself, sir!" and a big tear rolling down his cheek, attested the _sincerity_ of his grief. a momentary fear that the post master might intimate something of our suspicions, was speedily relieved by his shrewdly remarking that he was sorry for his (pat's) misfortunes, and that he had no fault to find, except that he ought to have sent more particular word as to the cause of his detention. pat thanked his employer, and backing out of the room, promised to be at his post that night. "well, what do you think of him?" inquired the postmaster. "i think," said i, "that if he _is_ the robber, and can come here and appear in that way, he is smarter than either of us. but we shall see." for the week following, but few of his movements were unknown to me. his duties at night were very indifferently performed, and the hours during the day usually improved by the other night clerks for rest, were by him devoted to dissipation; so that, before half the night had passed, he would often be found in some out of the way place, fast asleep. his discharge (which he no doubt desired) was thought best, in order to throw him upon his own resources, with the hope of bringing to light some of the stolen funds, if they were still in his hands. much of the money, which amounted in all to some $ , could be identified. the middletown package of § consisted of small bills, put up in parcels of § each; and upon every bill there was a mark by which it could be readily known. up to this time none of the money contained in this package or the others, except that mentioned as coming from vermont, had found its way to the banks by which it was issued. one day, about noon, i observed pat's giant-like form crossing broadway, and for more than an hour i followed him without his knowledge, until he brought up in a stone-cutter's establishment. as i passed and repassed the door, i thought i observed him paying over some bank-notes to the occupant. after he had left, i stepped in, and was soon in possession of three $ notes of the middletown (ct.) bank, with which he had paid for the _grave-stones_ of "_his darling boy!_" the bills were clearly a part of the § middletown package, being of the same denomination, and exhibiting the same unmistakable marks. this accidental meeting, at once supplying a key to the mystery, was one of those misfortunes that so often befall criminals at some point of their guilty career, and even when they imagine themselves perfectly successful, and permanently secure against the possibility of detection. i must here tell the reader a secret, explanatory of a question that naturally arises, namely, why, with such overwhelming proof in my possession, an arrest was not at once made. it was simply because he would have gone clear before any tribunal, had i depended on the case as it then stood. the bills of the § package were all marked as stated, but unfortunately a large amount, with precisely the same peculiarities, was in circulation at this very time, though not supposed to be in that vicinity. had the arrest taken place then, and the cashier been summoned to testify on the point of identity, he would have said that he put _such_ bills into the philadelphia package, but could not have sworn that they were some of the identical notes. besides, it was no unimportant part of this difficult business, to effect a return of the funds, as far as possible, to the pockets of the victims of these robberies. the scarcity of live game in any direction within several miles of brooklyn, and pat's supposed want of experience in the use of the "shooting iron," suggested the possibility that his frequent excursions to a neighboring wood had some other object than hunting. possibly it might be the guarding of his hidden treasures. therefore, on a bright october morning, i concluded, if possible, to know more upon this point, and, disguised in the garb of a shabby-looking hunter, with a gun and dog borrowed of a friend for the occasion, i strolled off in the direction in which pat had so often been in the habit of going. before fairly reaching the woods, he and two of his companions passed me in a rough-looking vehicle, and soon after turned from the main road into the burial-ground. from a somewhat secluded spot, i could watch their movements tolerably well, and it soon became apparent that at least one of the objects of this trip was to place the marble stones--the payment for which had so singularly betrayed him--at the grave of his deceased child. the whole party were evidently under the effects of the "critter;" and the prospect seemed to be, that they would soon have occasion to mourn the departure of other beloved _spirits_, for the jug circulated freely, and a more jolly set of fellows, considering the lugubrious nature of their errand, is seldom met with. but when they arrived at the spot where the child was sleeping, their mirth grew less boisterous, and pat in silence commenced his labor of love; and as he proceeded in his melancholy task, i could see that he refused to join his companions in further potations, for although their respect for the place, or for their friend's affliction, seemed to overcome for the time their rum-inspired loquacity, they did not cease to resort to the jug for strength to enable them to bear his grief, while sitting in the cart waiting for the completion of the task which brought them there. [illustration] at length the little white stones stood in their places, showing, by the short distance between them, how brief was the passage from the cradle to the grave, of the being whose whole history, so far as concerned the world at large, was inscribed on these marble pages. a parent's heart, however, bears a different record; and after pat had adjusted the turf about the little grave, and given the finishing touches to his work, he stood and gazed for a moment upon the resting place of his child, thinking--of what? perhaps of the contrast between the guilty living and the innocent dead. perhaps a flash from conscience glanced across his mind. at least he exhibited some external signs of emotion, for as he turned away to join his unconcerned companions, he brushed away a tear, and with it, perhaps, the softening influences that were at work upon his heart. the trio once more seated in the vehicle, pat no longer refused the fluid consolation that his companions proffered him. they by turns levelled the jug at the heavens, taking observations with the mouth rather than with the eyes, and as the last member of this astronomical corps elevated the instrument, its near approach to the perpendicular showed that a vacuum was well nigh formed within its recesses. what discoveries they made, except "seeing stars" in general, i cannot say, for they immediately turned their course towards home. this was the last that i saw of pat that day, but the next time he started on his accustomed tramp, two days after, he had at least one attentive spectator of his rifle exercise; and although i failed on this occasion to discover the precise place of his deposits, owing to my fear of alarming him, the opinion was strengthened by what i saw, that they were still resting quietly within a thick piece of woods, embracing some three or four acres, where he spent several hours that day. during this time, i was not more than a quarter of a mile from him, yet not a single report of his gun did i hear. presuming that he had seen me at a distance, i now and then let off a charge innocent of lead, and occasionally betrayed the dog into a tolerably ferocious bark, by making him "speak" for a small cigar case which, held at a respectful distance from the animal, might easily have been mistaken by him for a well-cooked morsel of meat. this stratagem i thought necessary to carry out the idea of a busy and enthusiastic huntsman. but this little essay at hunting yielded me no game of bipeds, feathered or otherwise. soon after this, a rumor that several of his neighbors were preparing for a removal to the west, led me to fear that pat also might have similar intentions, and that on the occasion of his last visit to the woods, he might, after all, have withdrawn the deposits. it was therefore deemed unsafe to delay longer in bringing matters to a crisis. but the manner of doing this, and of conducting the arrest, so as to accumulate evidence of his guilt, and at the same time recover a part or the whole of the funds, was worthy of much caution and study. if i went with an officer directly to his house to make the arrest, he might be absent at the time, and, getting notice of our visit, effect his escape. his family or accomplices, if he had any, would of course be aware of our movements, and perhaps secure the spoils, unless they were secreted immediately upon the premises. then i should be left with only the proof already mentioned: that he had had an opportunity of purloining the $ package, and had passed three bills supposed to have been contained therein; together with some other less important circumstances. the only safe and discreet course seemed to be to secure him when alone, and by that means keep his family ignorant respecting his arrest, until every effort had been made to get possession of the money. accordingly i procured the aid of an officer, and at an early hour in the morning, we took up our quarters in a private dwelling in the neighborhood, where we could overlook pat's house, and patiently waited for him to make his appearance. it happened to be one of his lazy mornings, and he did not venture out until near ten o'clock, and then, very much to our disappointment, in company with another individual, unknown to either of us. a moment's consultation resulted in the decision to follow them at some distance, in the hope that they might separate, but with the determination not to lose sight of pat again, and to take him into custody that day at all hazards. we had not gone far, however, before he looked over his shoulder, and although at least two squares from us, and a number of other persons were passing and repassing at the time, he no doubt recognised the officer, for after proceeding but a few steps further, he and his friend turned and came toward us. believing that we were discovered, and that pat was making for the house to look after the safety of the treasures, a stratagem was hastily arranged to throw him off his guard, and at the same time to separate him from the stranger, who was so much in our way. it matters little what this scheme was, provided there were no actual misrepresentations involved. suffice it to say, it was quite successful, and his companion resuming his walk towards brooklyn city hall, the rest of the party were soon on their way to new york. at the ferry, and while waiting for the boat, pat suddenly became quite restless, as if he had for the first time connected me with the scene in the post master's room. he walked back and forth upon the dock, and several times halted and leaned on the railing directly over the water, with one hand in his breeches' pocket, as if he contemplated throwing something overboard. but i remained closely at his side, wherever he went, and kept him engaged as much as possible, in remarks about the weather, the growth of brooklyn, and other common-place matters. we had soon crossed the ferry, and were seated in an omnibus, moving slowly (who ever went in any other way by that conveyance?) up broadway. pat had by this time grown very taciturn, and no doubt began to suspect that his escort was not entirely prepared to fight for his personal liberty. in fact, he must have fully decided in his own mind that we were no very consistent friends of the "largest liberty," in his case at least, when one of us pulled the leather strap, to give the usual signal for a halt. this was just as we had reached the head of cedar street, on which the post office is situated, and before we had arrived, by several blocks, at the place where he at first supposed he was going to call, for a much more agreeable purpose than that of being confronted with the charge of extensive mail robbery. as he alighted from the "slow coach," he halted for a moment, as if inclined to have some better understanding before proceeding further, especially as we turned our faces in the direction of the post office. he possessed physical strength enough to have put an end to our troubling him any further, but broadway at midday is no very favorable place for such an attempt; and besides, he no doubt hoped that all might yet come out right. after being told that he was wanted at the post office on some private business, he went there peaceably. once alone with him in a private room, the time had fully arrived for deciding--not as to his guilt, for of that i was fully satisfied--but what were the chances of proving it, and of inducing him to disgorge his plunder. "patrick," said i, "you are detected in your robberies of the night mails in this office, and the first question i wish you to answer is, can you restore the money, that it may be returned to those you have robbed." he received the accusation with a look of surprise, but without any manifest trepidation. "i am an honest man, thank god," he asseverated, "and i'll defy all ye can do to me; and it's nither ye nor the divil that can scare me, so it ain't," at the same time drawing himself up into an attitude of defiance. "i don't wish to scare you, pat," i remarked. "i am sorry on account of your family that you should have so abused your trust while employed in this office. but that is neither here nor there. i want you to hand over the seven or eight thousand dollars you have got so wrongfully. you passed some of the $ , from the middletown package, to mr. g., for the grave-stones, you know, and i have the bills in my pocket." "and it's trouble enough that i've had," he replied, "with the sickness of meself, and the death of little pat, and now ye'd have me father all the thievish tricks of the whole office, would ye? ye'll find, if ye look sharp, that it's another that's got the letters ye speak of; for sure haven't i seen him, while 'facing up,' throw something under the counter, among the waste paper, and then go looking there agin, after his task was done? and wasn't they large, thick parcels that he dumped under the table?" i have never had a doubt that he was then describing the exact process by which he committed his own depredations. "very well," i answered, "you will soon see who is answerable;" and calling the officer, who had remained outside the door during the conversation, pat was notified that his person must undergo a thorough search--and it _was_ thorough. among the contents of his wallet were some forty dollars that agreed very well with the description of the kind of money mailed at joliet, and also the receipt for the aforesaid grave-stones. on examining his hat, which he had taken off on first entering the office, and placed at some distance, on the top of a secretary, there appeared, snugly stowed away under the leather lining, $ , all in fives of the middletown bank, with the well-known marks on each bill! but even this discovery produced but little impression on him; declaring, as he did very promptly, that he could show where he obtained that money; and no doubt he could! pat was left in charge of two suitable persons, and the remainder of the day was spent by the officer and myself in searching his house and premises for the balance of the missing funds, which was done without giving any information to his wife of the real object of our examination, or the unpleasant situation of her husband. the woods were also thoroughly ransacked, though the chances appeared to be, that the booty had been removed to the house or vicinity, as he went directly from home that morning, having a part of the funds about his person, with the design, as it was afterwards ascertained, of purchasing tickets for himself and family, and several others, to illinois. but our researches were unavailing, and i returned to the post-office somewhat disappointed; for the proof was not yet sufficient to convict him, on account of the impossibility of identifying the bills with certainty, as i have already mentioned. before leaving, i had made known to him our intention to search his house, and when we returned, he for the first time showed signs of great uneasiness, and walked the room constantly, evidently anxious to know if his treasures had been discovered. his anxiety was natural enough, for it turned out that the whole of the money was secreted in the house, and that at one time during the search, i was separated from its hiding place, only by a half-inch board! but pat remained immovable, so far as any confessions were concerned; and it was thought advisable, at this juncture, to call into requisition the influence of the person at whose urgent solicitation pat had obtained his situation in the post-office. an interview between them was speedily arranged, but the accused, for a while, still continued stoutly to deny his guilt. subsequently, however, he inquired of the post master whether, in case he produced the money, he would have his liberty. the post master assented, so far as to promise no prosecution on _his_ part, and pat finally agreed to go with us on the following morning, and point out the place of deposit, but insisted that h., his friend and patron, (just referred to,) should be of the party. fully impressed with the importance of securing pat as well as the property of his victims, i now obtained a warrant, which was at once placed in the hands of one of the u. s. deputy marshals, who agreed to be in the immediate vicinity of the mail robber's residence, but to delay the arrest till he received a signal from me that all was ready, and after the funds were fairly in our possession. accordingly, a hack was ordered to be at the post office at an early hour the next morning, and we (the post master, myself, pat, and h.) were soon crossing the ferry to south brooklyn. ten minutes' ride brought us in front of pat's house, where we all alighted. here matters took a turn wholly unexpected to me, for pat insisted that no one but his friend, h., and himself, should go for the money, which he said was buried in the yard behind the house. to this i objected, but pat stood firm, remarking, that it would attract too much attention if all hands went, and that if his request could not be granted, he should make no further disclosures, and we might as well go back to new york. the post master and myself having at that time confidence in h., i took him aside and told him pat must not be allowed to escape, on any account, and that if he went alone with him, he must promise to be responsible for his safe and speedy return with the money, to all of which, h. readily assented, claiming to have complete control over his man, and promising to have him back in a few moments. with this understanding they both passed round the house, and i started to give the marshal the signal that the time for his services had arrived. not more than three minutes had elapsed before i returned in company with that officer, and h. was seen coming towards us, with a small box under his arm, but _alone_. "where is r.?" i inquired. "he went into the house, through the back yard," was the response. taking the box from h., and handing it over to the post master, to be taken to the carriage, we at once passed into the house, but no pat could be found. on applying to h., to know what this meant, he explained by saying, that as soon as the box was handed to him, pat hopped over the fence into his back yard, and entered the house. after some further search, he could not be found there, and h. proposed that we should not then appear too anxious to secure him; repeatedly promising to have him forthcoming at any moment, after the excitement had passed by a little. returning to the carriage, we started for new york, counting the funds as we rode, which amounted to $ . much of it was in the original parcels of bank-notes, of one hundred and two hundred dollars each, enclosed in the usual straps of paper, with the amount of each package marked thereon, in the figures of the cashiers and others, which greatly assisted afterwards in the identification. the author of all this mischief managed to elude the most secretly and cautiously executed plans for his arrest. it was, however, pretty well ascertained that he occasionally visited his home during the night season, and one night he was discovered at a late hour, by a local policeman (who had been employed to watch for him,) emerging from the front door of his house. they saw each other at about the same instant, and the policeman made an effort to seize him; but pat was well armed, and was in the act of pointing a gun at the officer, when the latter, knocking it aside, presented a revolver and snapped it, the cap, luckily for the miserable fugitive from justice, only exploding. the noise had attracted the attention of two of his friends, who it appears were just leaving the premises, and who were also well armed, and in the confusion which ensued, aided by the darkness of the night, pat managed to get clear again. the next attempt to arrest him was undertaken in consequence of private information that his family, together with a brother and other relatives, had purchased tickets for the west. the buying of an extra ticket more than was required for the party entering their names, authorized the belief that it was obtained for pat himself, who would probably join them at some point on the route. they were to leave on a certain evening, by one of the albany boats, which usually made no landing between the two cities. on this occasion authority was obtained for the boat to touch at poughkeepsie, to receive on board the special agent and two united states marshals. with this sleepless corps of officials there was no lack of handcuffs, revolvers, &c., nor of firm resolves to take the culprit at all hazards, if he was on the boat, and to arrest his wife and one or two others, believed to have been his accessories after, if not before, the fact. the night being still and cloudless, at about midnight the well-known sound of a steamer's paddles was heard, and soon the huge form of the "hendrick hudson" was seen looming up in the distance, her numerous signal and other lights, as she changed her position from time to time, appearing like some brilliant constellation, and making a most beautiful display. as she approached, for a time there appeared no perceptible change in her course, but when nearly opposite the landing, she suddenly veered toward us, and in a moment her guards were chafing against the ends of the pier; and without waiting for the gang-plank, we were on board before the wheels had fairly ceased their motion. the engineer's bell sounded the signal for going ahead; and we about the same time commenced our search through the floating palace. as we progressed through the spacious cabins, a chorus of discordant sounds saluted us from their sleeping occupants. it is curious, by the way, to see how the levelling influence of sleep shows itself in establishing a sort of equality between different individuals, in respect of the noise they make in the world. your modest man, who, in his waking moments, avoids all display of his vocal or other powers, no sooner comes under the influence of the drowsy god, than his modesty deserts him; he blows his trumpet with as much sonorousness as the most impudent of mankind. the most retiring person i ever knew, was remarkable for being outrageously vociferous in his slumbers. the redoubtable pat, however, was guiltless of contributing to the volume of sound aforesaid; nor was his physiognomy discoverable among the sleeping or waking occupants of the cabins, so far as we could see. and as for any discoveries we made that night, or any good that our trusty arms did us, we might as well have been encircled in the "arms of morpheus." at one time, however, we thought our night's work would prove a successful one, for on hastily consulting the clerk as we boarded the steamer, he informed us that a man answering tolerably well the description of the object of our search, had paid his fare to albany, and was snugly stowed away in berth no. , in the forward cabin. the revolvers and "ornaments" were hastily examined, and the plan adopted of delegating one of the trio to proceed quietly to no. , and, under the pretence that its occupant was in possession of the wrong berth, to ascertain, first, if he was really the veritable pat. as i was the only one who could readily identify him, this duty fell upon me; and leaving my fearless associates at the top of the stairs, with instructions to rush to my aid, in case i took off my hat, with almost breathless anxiety i made a descent into the cabin, and in a few seconds stood in front of the berth designated by the clerk. "hallo, stranger," i called out, at the same time gently shaking him, "haven't you got the wrong pew?" an inhuman sort of a grunt was all the reply i could at first obtain, but after repeating the inquiry, and increasing the force of the punch, he leisurely turned over. "and what the d--l do you want?" says the lodger, "bothering a gentleman in this way? is it my pocket-book, or my boots, you're after?" it wasn't pat's voice at all, nor was it his face, which i at that moment got a glimpse of, by the aid of a lantern in the hands of one of the servants who was passing. as i saw preparations making for "turning out," and was satisfied that i had waked up the wrong passenger, i thought it prudent to withdraw before matters progressed further in that direction. none of the suspected party were on board on that occasion. the telegraph was resorted to after our arrival in albany, and word transmitted to us in that way, that the party we were in search of would certainly go up the river by the boat on the following night. the next morning we were at the wharf, and by an arrangement with the officers of the boat, we were enabled to see every person who went ashore, as they passed through a half-opened door at the after-gangway, in giving up the passage tickets. the net was well spread this time, and though we did not pick pat up, we secured the whole party of his traveling friends, including his wife and two children. the marshal took them in charge, and without much ceremony or explanation, conducted them to a hack which had been provided for their special accommodation. they were very soon after escorted to the police station, and a subsequent examination of their persons and effects afforded no additional light, except that among the baggage of mrs. r. was found a lot of scrap gold, which a dentist of philadelphia mailed to a new york firm, and which had never reached that firm. on the strength of this discovery, she was afterwards indicted as an accomplice of her husband, and committed to brooklyn jail, where she remained for several months, her two children staying with her, at her own request. although she undoubtedly knew the precise locality of her "liege lord," and probably could have procured her own liberty by making it known, yet she remained firm, and to the last steadily refused to give the least information, insisting, moreover, that she was ignorant of the post office depredations at the time they were going on, and that the stolen property found in her possession was placed in one of the trunks without her knowledge. possibly it was so, as some of pat's wearing apparel was found there also. the remainder of the party, three in number, were detained at albany. it was deemed necessary that they should remain there a while, but the chief of police was instructed not to treat them strictly as prisoners, but to allow them to lodge at the station; and an arrangement was made for them to eat at a neighboring restaurant, at the expense of government. the proprietor of the aforesaid restaurant finding, however, that they were disposed to abuse that privilege, by imbibing too freely, and selecting from the bill of fare whatever was choice and expensive--and especially as the contract for this portion of his customers was not very clearly defined--took the precaution to erase from one copy of the bill of fare all articles of a rare and expensive kind, which corrected list, by the third day, embraced but one or two plain dishes. this brief programme was sure to be thrust before them as often as they called for anything to eat, though a verbal announcement of "coffee" was added at the regular morning and evening repast. having also some faint recollection of the discussions in the public papers about reforms in the navy, and dispensing with the "grog rations," he compromised the matter on that head, by allowing the men "two drinks" a day, and no more; that being, in his estimation, a proper government allowance. as sufficient legal evidence could not be procured, to show that they really aided and abetted in the robberies, they were notified that their bills would no longer be paid by the post office department; and declining to continue their journey to the west, tickets were furnished them to return to new york. soon after their arrival in the city, they fell in with a tolerably smart specimen of a lawyer, whose indignation at the unheard-of proceedings against them, of course had nothing to do with so mercenary a motive as that of getting a fee out of them; and by his advice a suit was promptly brought against the special agent and the two deputy marshals, for false imprisonment! the cause was "set down" for trial in the marine court, and came off in the course of a week or two. a waggish spectator remarked that he could not see why it was brought in the marine court, unless it was because the complainants were "half seas over" when stopped at albany. a very brief synopsis of this trial will, i think, prove worth a perusal. on the part of the prosecution, the complainants themselves were the witnesses--all three of them genuine sons of the emerald isle. separate trials were asked and granted, and that of the special agent was first taken up. michael d. was duly sworn, but instead of mounting the witness's stand, with one bound and a broad grin, he was inside the judge's desk, and seated in the chair usually occupied by one of the associate judges! a burst of laughter followed, in which his honor, as well as the spectators, joined. the officer in attendance on the court was quickly alongside of mike, and with considerable difficulty removed him to the witness' stand. here he fixed his eyes intently on me, perhaps to keep watch, lest i should attempt to run away, considering me his prisoner at last, and evidently chuckling within himself at the thought that the time had now come to put me on as limited allowance, so far as variety went, as he had been restricted to while in albany. order being now restored, the counsel commenced interrogating the witness. "michael, were you on your way to illinois, from this city, on the th instant?" _witness._--"was i in illinoi? and sure i niver was in me life; and if that spalpeen of an agint beside ye says i was, he lies, bedad he does!" notwithstanding the loud calls of "stop, stop," by his lawyer, he went through with the sentence, and stood, a thumb in each arm-hole of his vest, looking defiantly at me, and apparently ready for the next question. _the court._--"now, michael, you must not be in such a hurry. try and understand what is said to you thoroughly, before answering. i shall not permit any indulgence in the use of harsh names to any of the government officers, or to any one else in court." _witness._--"and didn't they stop me, and trate me the same as a male thafe, your honor?" _the court._--"well, that's what we want to find out; but you must not talk, only when you are questioned; remember that." _counsel._--"i will put the inquiry in another shape. were you a passenger on board the steamboat for albany, on any night during the present month?" mike remained speechless for a moment, staring at the judge in the most penetrating manner. that functionary finally broke the silence, "well, why don't you answer?" _witness._--"and sure, your honor, didn't you just tell me to remain spacheless when questioned?" _court._--"_only_ when questioned, i said." _witness_ (to the counsel).--"i _was_ on the stameboat, and the agint there knows it, so he does; and them other big feeling chaps there (pointing to the deputy marshals) knows it too. and i'd like to see 'em try to delay me in that way agin," at the same time looking fists, if not daggers, at those innocent officials. here the patience of the court, as well as the counsel, became well nigh exhausted, and it was suggested that michael should stand aside for the present, as the same facts could be proved by another and more intelligent witness. the new witness went on to describe the affair from the commencement, including the detention at albany. the cross-examination, however, showed that so far as any "imprisonment" was concerned, it was literally "false." it was shown that all had the "freedom of the city," while in albany, having frequently visited some "distant" connections--_distant_ about two miles from the police station--and had been well boarded, away from the station, at the public expense. that in fact they could have gone anywhere they chose, a few hours after their arrival in albany, or on any succeeding day. after listening to the circumstances, and the motives which led to the detention of these men, and to the testimony of one of the police officers at albany, in relation to their treatment while there, the judge summarily dismissed the case, remarking that, in the first place no "imprisonment" had been proven, and that, even if it had, he should probably have sustained the officers in the discharge of what they considered their duty, in endeavoring to ferret out and punish the authors of important crimes against the laws of the land. the trial i have just described was but one of many incidental occurrences which took place in the course of the attempts made to arrest pat r.; occurrences, both tragical and comical, which would here find a place, did not the limited space render that impossible. in closing the history of this case, it will be sufficient to say that, in the course of our investigations, the innocence of many suspected persons was established; restitution made to the sufferers by pat's villany, so far as their losses could be satisfactorily traced to him; and the post-office department were rid of one of the most daring and unscrupulous mail robbers that ever disgraced the service. he is not even now as secure in his hiding place as he perhaps imagines himself to be. if there are those (as there is reason to suspect) who shared with him in such of the spoils as were not recovered, they also, even if they escape the punishment which they merit from their fellow men, will not always elude the pursuit of conscience, nor avoid the retribution which she will most surely inflict upon them. chapter v. an infected district--a "fast" route agent--heavy bank losses--amateur experiments--dangerous interference--a moral lecture--the process discovered--an unwelcome stranger--midnight watching--monopoly of a car--detected in the act--the robber searched--his committal--a supposed accomplice--the case explained--honesty again triumphant--drafts and letters--a long sentence--public sympathy--a christian wife--prison scenes--faithful to the last--an interesting letter. the literary reputation of one of the oldest and most celebrated seats of learning in new england, was once temporarily overshadowed by the "bad eminence" that it attained in the eyes of all within a distance of fifty miles in every direction, who attempted to transmit valuable matter through the mails. the period during which this state of things existed, was in the months of january and february, . throughout those months a fatality attended all money-letters designed to pass through the place referred to; the like of which has seldom been known in the history of the post-office. as well might one have attempted to send a valuable letter across the maelstrom, as to get it safely past the fatal point. this point was like the lion's cave in the fable, _into_ which many tracks entered, but _from_ which none were seen to return. and the lion, whoever he was, had an insatiable and indiscriminating appetite, for he consumed the supplies coming from three or four neighboring counties in the state, and like a feline oliver twist, continually "asked for more." the effects of these numerous losses, of course, were not confined to the vicinities of the sufferers, but were felt in remote portions of the country. but the loss of money and the consequent inconvenience, were not the only results following this wholesale robbery. perhaps no series of mail depredations ever spread so widely the cloud of suspicion over those connected with the mail service. all the route agents, post masters, post-office clerks, and mail messengers, whose spheres of duty lay within the infected district; all these officials felt the severity of the test of character, which existing circumstances applied. such a state of things as that which we are describing, often serves as a thunder-shower, to clear the moral atmosphere. half-formed purposes of roguery are, for the present at least, laid by; those already guilty of peculation on a small scale cease from their operations; all wait in breathless suspense for the _denouement_ of the drama; and when the bolt falls, and the offender is smitten down, they breathe more freely; and such a catastrophe is not unfrequently the turning point in the life of some young man, who has hitherto been vacillating between good and evil. the arrest and punishment of another inspires him with salutary fear of similar results in his own case, should he venture upon a like course. and the effect of such occurrences upon those who have never turned aside from the path of rectitude, is no less decided. these are the times that "try men's souls." it is a hard thing for one to bear up for weeks and months under a load of suspicion, though conscious of innocence; but this is a still harder task, if he has nothing between the eyes of the public and his inward rottenness but the thin shell of a decent and false reputation. no man can know to its full extent the value of a good character, until he has been through some "fiery trial," in which nothing but such a power could have saved him from ruin. yet those who at the time of which i speak, were most firm in conscious integrity, did not escape the stings of annoying suspicions, and significant insinuations. "could it be a certain route agent?" confidentially asked an officious individual, perhaps quite too willing to start such a suspicion, the aforesaid agent having, in pursuance of general instructions, denied him the privilege of the mail car. "i saw him," continued our virtuous friend, "sporting a fine turn-out only last sunday, and they do say that he is rather _fast_ for a young man on so small a salary. it wouldn't surprise me much if they should find that the trouble is there." unfortunately for this theory, so well founded on the basis of a sunday "turn out" and a "they say," the "fast" young man could not have had access to one in a dozen of the lost packages. this is a specimen of the endless surmises and conjectures that were thrown out in the progress of the affair, much to the annoyance of numerous post masters' clerks, and other officials, whose honesty, aided by the strenuous efforts of the special agent to arrive at the truth, carried them through the ordeal triumphantly; and left their accusers, particularly the man who couldn't ride in the mail car, rather "chop-fallen," and possibly not a little disappointed. the banks within the infected district, suffered in the loss of drafts, &c., to the amount of at least two hundred thousand dollars, while scarcely a business man in either of the two or three cities within range of the prevailing disorder, escaped the vexatious and often injurious consequences of the depredations then going on, for the robber did not stop to select his booty. indeed, he could not have done so, had he wished it, as the reader will hereafter see. an investigation of the case was ordered by the department, and carried on with as much energy as prudence would permit; yet in the midst of it the robberies continued unchecked. hereupon some of the bank officers grew very impatient, as the victims of depredations are apt to do, if they are not made acquainted with every step that is taken in the delicate process of narrowing down the investigation. when i had been on the trail for nearly a week, one of those gentlemen--an excellent financier, but by no means profoundly versed in the mysteries of human nature--in his imprudent zeal to find out _something_, took matters into his own hands, and came near spoiling all by alarming the robber, without detecting him. he prepared a sort of decoy letter, as he called it, well filled with pieces of tissue paper, about the size of bank-notes, and this tempting package he addressed to a cashier to whom several of the missing letters had been directed. this fell into the hands of the robber, but the experiment was rendered harmless by the fact stated by himself after his arrest, that he never stopped to read or examine any letters, except to ascertain whether they contained money. it will never be known, probably, how much good advice the criminal lost, when he committed this _tissue_ of deception to the flames, for the worthy cashier, in his well-meant zeal, supplied the place of bank-notes in the decoy package with what he doubtless considered of more value, namely, a moral lecture to the delinquent, displaying in vivid colors the folly and wickedness of his course, and closing with the warning that if he took _that_ letter, he would surely be detected! the ingenuity and shrewdness of this device cannot be too much admired. the threat contained in the letter was so well calculated to throw the culprit off his guard, that if he had read it, he would no doubt have fallen an easy prey to such cunning machinations! it was of course expected by the deviser of this scheme that the package would be preserved by the person who stole it, in order to afford the necessary evidence of crime! the pieces of tissue paper could easily have been identified, and he would naturally preserve the accompanying document with as much care as job was ready to show to the "book" which he wished his adversary to write! such interference as this, with an important investigation, is never warranted by any considerations whatever. the commander of an army who has laid all his plans for surprising an enemy, would feel under very slight obligations to any officious friend, who, in his impatience and ignorance of the course intended, should alarm the foe by some hasty and ill-advised attack. thus is it in the investigations to which we refer. secrecy is all-important to the successful issue of the plans that may be devised; and volunteer services, especially from persons destitute of experience, are quite as likely to aid the criminal as to assist those who are endeavoring to detect him. this digression has been made principally for the sake of protesting against such interference as that above mentioned, and of inducing others to abstain from similar unwarrantable experiments. notwithstanding the uneasiness of our amateur detective officer, and the remarkable skill displayed by him (as he supposed) in that capacity, considerable progress had already been made by means much safer than those which he adopted, if not more ingenious. there were but few points to which suspicion could be reasonably directed, as there were but few places where the stolen packages would have centered. each of these points was closely watched. a section of rail road, some thirty-five miles in length, over which most of the robbed mails must have passed, seemed, for a time, to satisfy the conditions of the problem to be solved, but this hypothesis was overturned by the fact that on one and the same night, packages were taken from mails which had passed each other on this road, in opposite trains, on separate tracks, and at a high rate of speed. the mail messengers employed to convey the mails to and from the several railroad depots at central points, were carefully looked after, but all appeared right among them. and as for the post-offices, there were not more than two out of all affected by the numerous losses, through which half a dozen of the lost letters would have passed. there was however, one man who had not thus far been included in the investigation, chiefly because in the discharge of his ordinary duties as baggage-master, at a central station or junction where mail carriers were provided by the rail road companies, he was not supposed to have even a temporary charge of any of the mails. but while watching one of the mail carriers on a certain evening, as he was conveying a number of mails from a city post-office to the cars, the agent observed him placing them in charge of the aforesaid baggage-master, prior to the arrival of the train by which they were to be forwarded. after they had thus been committed to his custody, he was seen to throw them carelessly into his baggage room, and enter the room, closing the door behind him. after a lapse of several minutes, he came out, piled the bags upon a barrow or baggage truck, and wheeled them to a point upon the platform, opposite which the approaching train was to stop. the unnecessary operation of placing the bags in the room, when the train was nearly or quite due, was a very suspicious circumstance, especially when taken in connection with the other movements of the baggage-master, and by means of the telegraph the post master of a neighboring city was requested to be present at the opening of that mail, to see whether certain letter packages arrived which were known to have been in the through mail pouch for his office that evening. the reply was, "opened mail myself, no letters for this delivery." an hour and a half had now passed since the train had left, and if the mails had been rifled in the baggage room, sufficient time had been afforded the robber to have concealed or destroyed all the direct proof of his guilt upon this occasion. hence no open action was then taken in view of the discoveries made. besides, there was too much at stake to warrant the incurring of any risk on the strength of these facts. the following evening the movements of the suspected person were again watched, the agent having a better knowledge respecting the exact nature and value of a portion of the contents of the mail bags which were to be forwarded at that time. upon this occasion, the train was "on time," and the carrier a little later than usual, so the mails were placed directly upon the barrow, and wheeled by the baggage-master to an obscure part of the depot, more remote from observation, and less in the way of passers, than that where they were carried the previous night. after remaining there a short time, he rolled the truck and its valuable load back to the usual spot, in readiness for the train. this strange manoeuvre indicated still another and a bolder operation, but the probabilities were that he had been foiled in any attempt he might have designed to make, by a person whom i saw following him into his dark retreat to make application for baggage, as i supposed, for they both entered the baggage room, and soon came out, the stranger with a valise in his hand. this _contre-temps_ excited in my mind no very amiable feelings toward its innocent cause, for i had concluded to bring the affair to a crisis at once, should the telegraph report anything missing from the mails. but the dispatch received that evening was, "all right," which confirmed my belief that my plans and those of the baggage-master had been frustrated by the stranger. another train from the opposite direction, and bringing mails for delivery at this point, were due at a later hour, and as there had also been losses from those mails, i decided to wait and see what usage they received on their arrival, which, owing to heavy snow-drifts somewhere on the road, was delayed till near midnight. when the train came in and the baggage was disposed of, the mails were all carried to the baggage room instead of to the post-office, and, after putting out the gas-lights about the depot, the faithful baggage-master returned to his apartment. through a small swinging window designed for ventilation, opening into this room near the top, i could see a faint light, and from its unsteady motions, which showed that the lamp from which it proceeded was in the hand of some one moving it in various directions, i concluded that the occupant of the room was rifling the mails. this was an exciting moment. my first impulse was to proceed at once to the door, demand admittance, and charge him on the spot with the crime of which i suspected him. but a slight distrust of my physical ability to cope with him single-handed in case of resistance, which would almost certainly follow if my suspicions were correct; and the lateness of the hour, rendering it improbable that i could obtain aid should it be necessary; these considerations prevented me from carrying out my first intention, and when the unconscious object of my scrutiny put out his light and left the depot, i went in an opposite direction to my quarters, determined, however, to give him but one more chance to continue his depredations. the next night he robbed his last mail bag. obtaining a private interview with the superintendent of the rail road, i for the first time laid the facts before him, for the purpose of securing some assistance in the prosecution of my plans which he only could render. i wished to provide a place of concealment in that retired part of the depot where the mails had been taken on the preceding evening; and as empty cars were frequently left standing over night upon some of the unoccupied tracks, it was arranged to leave a car near the place mentioned, for my exclusive occupancy. from the "loop-hole" of this "retreat" i could determine with some accuracy the nature of such mysterious movements as i had before witnessed in that vicinity. lest the baggage room should be chosen this time as the scene of operation, and thus my plans be defeated, a discreet friend was stationed near that point about the time that the mails were brought over from the office, in order to "head off" the suspected functionary. for the purpose of allowing as much time as possible, the conductor of the train, which was to take that mail, had been telegraphed to "come in a little behind time." certain money packages had been prepared, and everything being in readiness, i took my post of observation in the empty car just before the mails came from the post-office. i had not long been stationed, when i heard the familiar rumbling sound of the baggage truck, and in a moment more the baggage-master appeared, trundling along his load of mails, and coming to a halt upon the platform, within fifteen feet of my watchful eye. that eye saw rapid work for a few moments! hasty passes of the right hand between the mouth of one of the mail bags (as it appeared in the dim light to be) and the capacious pockets of a sack over-coat, showed clearly for what purpose the mails had been thus taken out of the way, and the well-known click of a mail-lock informed me that the operation was concluded, and that the moment had arrived for action on my part. i think a rail road car was never emptied of its contents in a much less time than on the present occasion. and my very informal introduction to the wholesale dealer in goods in the "original packages," was about as sudden. in fact, he had hardly set down the barrow, after removing it a few rods to its usual position, before i was addressing him. in the midst of the rifling process just described, i had seen him open the door of a small apartment near him, a light shining out for a moment while the door was open. and it occurred to me that an accomplice might be secreted there for the purpose of receiving the stolen property. accordingly i remarked that i would like to have him accompany me for a moment into this room on private business, to which he readily assented, neither knowing me, nor having any suspicion of the nature of my "business," for otherwise he might not have so cheerfully complied with my request. on opening the door i discovered a person within, who appeared to be wholly unoccupied, except in smoking a cigar. thinking it probable that he was in some way connected with the robberies, i considered it prudent to obtain assistance before making known the object of this interview, and accordingly spoke to three or four persons who had been attracted to the place by the unwonted movements, requesting them to call one of the police officers, some of whom were generally in the vicinity of that rail road station. [illustration] during this delay, and in order to prevent any attempt at escape, i put a series of questions to the baggage-master, calculated to allay the suspicion which began to be strongly indicated by his looks. "did you," i inquired, "find, in this morning's train from h----, a pocket-book, lost there by a passenger? if we can recover the papers, the money is less of an object." this seemed to relieve his fears considerably, and he replied in a cheerful tone, "i have found no such thing. it isn't my business to go through the trains, but this man's," pointing to the other person present. "ah, it's my mistake. did _you_ see anything of a pocket-book," i asked, turning to the person indicated. "no," was the answer; "have you lost such an article?" i was relieved from the difficulty of this question by a rap on the door from the chief of police, who was the man of all others whom i wished to see. as he entered, i intimated to him, in a whisper, what was on foot, and then turning to the baggage-master, without any preamble or formality, i requested him to hand me the mail-key, which he had in his possession. "i haven't any mail-key," was the dull response. "very well," said i, "then we shall have to search you." he turned pale, and remarked, with assumed calmness, "i suppose i know what you want." one of the side pockets of his over-coat appearing somewhat distended, i commenced my investigations with that. the first article that appeared was the large package of letters made up that evening for delivery at the neighboring city, before alluded to, and the next dive brought to light a heavy distribution package for the same office. several other packages of less size were afterwards drawn forth. after the search had been completed, the culprit was hand-cuffed, and lodged in jail within half an hour from the time when he had committed this last depredation. after we had dispatched this part of the business, we turned our attention to the companion of the unfortunate baggage-master, who had been observing our proceedings with the utmost equanimity, though not without interest. "that's rather hard on ed," said he, as the door closed on the culprit. "yes," replied i, "it is. but i believe we must search you, for i think you are concerned in this affair." "i never was searched in my life," said he, smilingly, "excepting when i've searched my own pockets, and then i never found much. perhaps you'll have better luck; at any rate, it won't hurt me to have it tried;" and so saying, he laid aside his cigar, and presented himself to undergo the ordeal. but nothing was found to implicate him in any way. i then expressed my fear that he might still be an accomplice, as i noticed the baggage-master open and shut the door of the little room, while rifling the mails that night. an honest laugh followed this remark, and an explanation was given me, which satisfactorily accounted for the suspicious circumstance. it seems that his dishonest companion, fearing that he would come out of the room and detect him in the act, had opened the door, telling him that he would have to be locked in till the train arrived, and turned the key on the outside. this passed for a joke, and the imprisoned person thought little of it, as he would have no occasion to leave the room until the train arrived, when it would be his duty to inspect the cars. it also appeared that this locking up trick had been played several times previously, no doubt for a similar purpose. thus, was an honest man subjected to suspicion, by circumstances beyond his control. a satisfactory explanation of them, however, was not beyond his power, and his experience goes to increase the array of testimony, to show the inestimable value of a clear conscience in all exigencies whatever. the key of a private desk in the baggage room was taken from the robber, and in this desk was found about $ , in bank drafts, checks, &c., and more than a hundred rifled letters, which, as their post-marks showed, must have been the proceeds of one or two nights' robbery. everything taken from the mails, except money, had been committed to the flames, as the criminal himself afterwards confessed. a large portion of the available funds which he had accumulated, was recovered and restored to the rightful owners. in less than a week from this time, he was tried, and sentenced to the state prison for the term of _twenty-seven years_. the discoveries here detailed, gave rise to great surprise and excitement among all who knew the guilty individual, for he had sustained a good reputation for sobriety, honesty, and industry. his innocent family received the warmest sympathy of the entire community, which indeed they deserved, for the culprit's wife was a sincere christian woman;--a living exemplification of the religion by which she professed to be guided. some of the interviews at the prison between her husband, children, and herself, were painful to behold; yet, after the first terrible shock, (and how terrible it was, can be realized by those only who have seen a beloved one suddenly metamorphosed from a fancied angel into a "fallen spirit,") she became more resigned to the overpowering calamity which had overtaken herself and her children. she had no reproaches for her sinning husband, nor did she allude in his presence to the sufferings which he had brought upon his innocent family; but her aim seemed to be, to induce him, by means of his bitter experience, to begin a new and a christian life. one day, when i called to see the prisoner, in company with a gentleman who was anxious to learn the fate of a package of valuable papers which he had lost, we found the afflicted woman sitting by her husband,--one arm thrown lovingly around his neck, and an open bible lying in her lap. we apologized to her for the interruption. she looked up mournfully, a tear stealing down her wan cheek as she said, "it is no matter, i was only reading to poor edward." then looking at him fondly, she continued,--"he has been a kind, good husband and father, and hadn't any bad habits or companions that i knew of; and i have often thought that if he only had religion, he would be perfect. and if this trial, bad as it is, will only make him a christian, it will be all i shall ask." meanwhile her two little children were thoughtlessly playing about the door of the cell, unconscious of the ruin which had been wrought in the hearts and the prospects of their wretched parents. the youngest one, while we were there, tried to play at "bo-peep" with its father, but was immediately checked by the poor mother, who cried out in an agonized voice, "oh eddie, don't!" ever since her husband was sent to prison, this devoted wife has visited him twice a month, (having been furnished with a free pass by the officers of the rail road which passes near the prison,) and to judge by the report of those who have an opportunity of observing him every day, the prisoner has commenced that christian life, to which the prayers and loving efforts of his wife were designed to lead him. nothing can be said that would add to the force of the lesson contained in the facts here narrated. if a life-time of imprisonment, and the blighting of the hopes and happiness of loved ones, do not show with sufficient impressiveness the result of crime, imagination will in vain attempt to supply the deficiency. i append a letter received by me from the criminal, some time after his committal to the state prison:-- w----, july , . kind friend-- for i must consider you as such, because through your instrumentality i have been saved, perhaps, from a worse fate than has befallen me. i think through this, i have been taught to see what a sinner i am. i am truly penitent for this crime, as well as all my disobedience to the just laws of god. i mean, through the help of almighty power, to serve my creator the remaining years of my life. it is strange how i was tempted to do that crime. i never was inclined to do evil or keep bad company. in fact, i kept no company hardly, except that of my wife and little ones. oh! how my heart throbs to break loose and join them! look upon yours as you can in freedom, and think of me. it almost suffocates me to call them before me in my mind. oh, horrors! little did i ever think such a fate would befal me! i cannot tell why i did it, more than this--to pay my debts. how they did trouble me--how should i ever pay them? but this was not the way to cancel them. i do not love money--not at all. i never desired to be rich, only to be square with the world. i became indebted by inexperience and pride. i would tell you the little story of my life, if i could. my connections, except my father, are pious people. my mother was a good christian, and died in the happy hope of heaven. she called me to her bedside about two months before her death. that was the last time i saw her alive; and when she parted with me, she clasped me to her bosom, with these words--"my son, obey god and meet me in heaven!" oh! how full of meaning, and a mother's love. but this is too painful. i cannot write of this. you can imagine my feelings at this time. but the evil tempter has left me now, and i pray to god, never to return. do warn others of my sad fate, to shun the road to ruin. god, in his infinite goodness, has looked upon me with compassion, and calmed my troubles in part. at least all that i have desired, he has done for me, or how could i have lived? will you not call and see me some time? don't despise the thief; christ did not. many thanks to your kind heart. also please thank the government attorney, and the post masters of h----, and n---- h----. may god watch over and preserve you all. your unworthy servant, e. a. s----. chapter vi. safety of the mails--confidence shaken--about mail locks--importance of seals--city and country--meeting the suspected--test of honesty--value of a string--a dreary ride--harmless stragglers--a cautious official--package missing--an early customer--newspaper dodge--plain talk--a call to breakfast--innocence and crime--suspicion confirmed--the big wafers--finding the string--the examination--escape to canada--a true woman--the re-arrest--letter of consolation--the wife in prison--boring out--surprise of the jailor--killing a horse. in our larger cities, and indeed throughout the country, there are thousands of persons engaged in the transaction of business, who if called upon would testify that in the course of their employment of the mails, involving in the aggregate the collection and disbursement of millions of dollars, no part of their correspondence, valuable or otherwise, had failed or had ever been delayed through any fault of the post-office department. such, up to the year , had been the experience--an experience extending through many years--of a firm in northern new york, extensively engaged in manufacturing and real estate operations, which required the frequent transmission of heavy remittances between their place of business and new york city. for a long time they confined themselves to the use of drafts, checks, and other representatives of money, but as everything went on smoothly for years, they finally remitted money itself, in the shape of bank-notes, whenever convenience required, without bestowing a thought upon the insecurity or danger of such a course; and for a time the prompt acknowledgment of the receipt of the various sums thus sent strengthened their confidence in the safety of the mails, and the fidelity of their management. therefore the rifling of one money letter directed by them to new york caused but little alarm; but when this was followed in rapid succession by the loss of the contents of a second, third, and even a fourth, they began to think that there was "something rotten in the state of"--new york, and accordingly called upon the post-office department for aid in ascertaining the locality, and detecting the perpetrator of these robberies. the losses could not be attributed to misdirection, or any other of the long catalogue of causes not of a criminal nature, though occasioning much alarm and inconvenience. for in the present case the rifled letters had reached the parties addressed. they had been opened, robbed, and resealed. the route over which the letters passed was a long one--some four hundred miles--and the first look at the case seemed almost to forbid the hope of success in its investigation; for it appeared probable that the robber might defy detection as effectually as "a needle in a hay-mow;" and a belief of this kind no doubt encouraged him in his course. there was, however, another fact in connection with the matter, as will presently be seen, of which he was ignorant, which might have caused him at least to hesitate in pursuing his designs, had he known it, for it very much curtailed the limits within which investigation was necessary. the course of the mail on this route was, first to ogdensburg, some sixty miles, by stage, the mail being overhauled at each of the intermediate offices, eight or ten in number. at ogdensburg, all matter for new york was put into a "through bag," which was furnished with a brass lock, and not to be opened until its arrival in new york. it may be well here to state that two kinds of locks are used in the mail service; the iron lock for short distances and upon routes where the mails are frequently overhauled, a key to which is in the possession of all the post masters and "route agents;" and the brass lock, used for greater safety only between large places and on important routes; the intermediate offices being supplied with their mail matter without the necessity of opening the through bag. consequently the brass key is in the hands of comparatively few post masters, (only those who are connected with the offices where the through bags are opened,) and of none of the route agents. the reader will see from this statement, and others hereafter to be made, that the robberies were probably committed somewhere between the first-mentioned place and ogdensburg, and that thus it would be necessary to pursue the investigation only on the latter route, some sixty miles as has already been mentioned. the _seals_ of the rifled letters were important witnesses in this case. in the resealing, uncommonly large wafers of a peculiar shade had been used, as well as a particular kind of stamp, which circumstances satisfactorily proved that all the robberies were the handi-work of one person, and probably at a single locality. the letters had in each instance been detained somewhere one day longer than the time usually required for their passage over the route. now there are certain features or symptoms, so to speak, in cases of mail depredations which go far to assist one accustomed to their investigation in determining whether they have occurred in large or small post-offices, and to distinguish with tolerable accuracy, between city and country embezzlements. a city depredator seldom if ever confines his operations to letters passing over a particular route. indeed he could scarcely do so were he to attempt it, for in the usual division of labor, a dozen letters arriving on separate days would be likely to be taken charge of by as many different hands, and if letters were passing each way on the same route, it would be still more difficult for the same person to purloin from both, as the receiving and forwarding departments are generally if not always entirely distinct. neither is it a city symptom to reseal and replace a letter after it has been rifled, for the reason, among others, that the depredator is not willing, after having succeeded in purloining it, to incur the additional risk of smuggling it back again. while in country or village post-offices, the thefts must in most cases be confined to one route, and there is more leisure and better opportunity for the resealing and returning process. for similar reasons, the loss or robbery of a number of letters addressed to the same party or business firm, although arriving by different routes, would not necessarily place a city post-office clerk under suspicion, since he could scarcely have a motive for such a selection among the thousands of valuable letters coming into his custody. on the contrary, if he were disposed to be dishonest, he would be more likely to take a.'s letter to-day, b.'s to-morrow, and c.'s the next day. neither would it, in the case just supposed, be probable that there was a rogue on each of the different routes. the theory which experience and observation have established, would be that the repeated embezzlements had been carried on by some dishonest messenger outside the office who had in his power only the correspondence with which he had been intrusted. at all events, such a conclusion would be fully justified by the very frequent discoveries of similar delinquencies in our cities and large towns. the peculiar features in the present case showed quite plainly that neither the new york nor ogdensburg offices were implicated, and that the depredations had occurred somewhere between the latter and the mailing office. an important question now arose, namely, what postmaster between these points used wafers similar to those upon the rifled letters. having entire confidence in the ogdensburg post master, i requested him to write to each of the post masters on the suspected route, asking for information on indifferent subjects and requiring replies. one was requested to send a copy of the post-bill from his office to ogdensburg of a certain date. another was inquired of to know whether a letter remained in his office addressed to timothy saunders; another to know whether there was once a clerk in his office by the name of philip barton, and if so, where he was at present residing. in this way letters were obtained from all these post masters in the course of a few days, and the mode of sealing was in each case particularly examined. upon one of these letters the large wafer was found! there was not only the kind of wafer, but the stamp identical with that used upon the rifled letters. for a few days after this, the exterior of all the letters received at ogdensburg, and which passed through the suspected office, were carefully examined to see if they had been disturbed. this examination showed plainly that a number had been opened, and resealed either with the large wafer, or by the use of the original seals, which of course were mutilated. careful inquiry of some who knew the suspected post master, showed that he was a merchant in good standing, against whom no charge of dishonesty had ever been preferred. the next thing to be done was to visit a point beyond him, in order to pass decoy letters through his hands, on their way to the ogdensburg office. accompanied by a citizen of ogdensburg, whose services i had secured as a guide, i started in a private conveyance, and when we had arrived within ten miles of the office of the big wafers, we turned into a by-road so as to avoid passing through the village in which it was situated. at a short distance from the village upon the road aforesaid, we saw a sleigh approaching, (it was the month of december, and capital sleighing,) and as it drew near, my companion remarked that he believed its occupant was mr. willis, the very person we were endeavoring to avoid! my friend knew mr. w. by sight, but was not sure that mr. w. knew _him_. we concealed our faces as well as we could under the circumstances, and passed at as rapid a rate as was compatible with the muscular powers of our rosinante. it afterwards appeared that willis was out on a collecting tour that day, and that neither of us were known to him, nor had he the least suspicion of our business. the mail which had so frequently suffered the loss of its valuable contents, passed over the route in the night, leaving fort covington at about ten p. m. and reaching the suspected office a little before midnight. an interview with the victim of the former losses, resulted in his preparing a letter containing one hundred dollars in bank-notes, addressed to the same new york correspondent to whom the other letters had been sent. a full account of the bills was taken, and the letter sealed with a _small_ wafer. a post-bill was prepared by the post master at fort covington, and the letter enclosed in a wrapper directed on the outside to new york city. for the first time it occurred to me that the _string_ to be put upon the decoy package, might be made to play an important part in supplying evidence of crime. if the letter should be robbed, and then destroyed together with the wrapper, and the money secreted, no proof of the deed would remain excepting the circumstance that the package went into that office and never came out. but the most cunning depredator would never think of destroying a thing so insignificant as a string. so i concluded to make it available in the experiment about to be tried. among my notes of this case, i find the following description--"a white cotton string, twelve inches long; a knot exactly in the middle, another an inch from one end, and another two inches from the other end,--the last-mentioned end dipped in ink." the package, tied up with this tell-tale string, was then thrown into the bag, and we soon set out on our return in the mail conveyance. the road lay for the most part through thick swampy woods, upon whose grim silence the cheerful sound of our sleigh-bells made but little impression. nor did we possess any other means for dispelling the gloom around us than the red glow of a couple of cigars, with which we resisted the encroachments of jack frost, so far as our noses were concerned. these (the cigars, not the noses) must have appeared like feeble imitations of a pair of coach lamps. we had passed over about half the distance through the woods, when an incident occurred serving at least to break the monotony of our ride. a dark object by the side of the road, made conspicuous by the snow upon the ground, attracted our attention and that of our horses, who attempted to halt, and required a smart application of the lash to induce them to resume their pace. a moment after we could distinguish the forms of two persons stepping nearer to the middle of the road as we approached them. not a word was said by either of us, as we were too much engaged in speculating on the character of the unexpected apparitions, to indulge in conversation; but the driver had evidently made up his mind to forestall any nefarious designs which they might entertain. requesting me to "raise up a little," he drew from the sleigh-box an instrument effectual to lay such phantoms, to wit, a revolver. there was, however, no occasion for its use, for the personages before us turned out to be two french canadians too far gone in intoxication to be very formidable antagonists, had they entertained hostile intentions, which they were far from doing, as their energies were entirely devoted to maintaining a perpendicular position, and keeping somewhere within the bounds of the road. their erratic course rendered it somewhat difficult to avoid running over them, but we finally left them behind, muttering "_sacre_" and staggering about in a very social manner. when we had arrived at the village and were within a quarter of a mile of the office, i alighted from the sleigh and walked on, leaving it to overtake me, my object in this being to keep out of sight of the post master, whose suspicions might possibly be excited by seeing a stranger in the sleigh with the mail carrier, although the mail carriage occasionally conveyed passengers. perhaps this was an excess of caution on my part. at any rate, it did no harm, and i prefer in all such cases to give a wide berth to possibilities. once more on our way, my mind was chiefly occupied with conjectures as to the result of that night's experiment, and in determining what steps were to be taken in case the money package had been abstracted. the post master himself had changed the mails on this occasion, the driver in the mean time having gone over to the hotel at my request, in order to afford the former a good opportunity for committing the depredation if he entertained any such design. the distance to the next post-office on this route was about six miles, and nothing further could be ascertained respecting the condition of the package, till our arrival there. an excellent account had been given me of the post master at this place, and his assistant. the former boarded at the hotel nearly opposite the post-office, which was kept in his store. as he was crossing the street with the mail bag on his way to the office, i overtook him, made myself known to him, and under an injunction of secrecy, disclosed to him the object of my visit at such an unseasonable hour. i furthermore expressed a desire to examine the packages contained in the pouch. "it may all be right," said he, "but i hardly think i ought to allow an entire stranger, especially at this hour of the night, to know anything of the contents of the mails." i was glad to find in this gentleman such a degree of caution and faithfulness to his public trust, and i was disposed to test it a little further. "well, sir," i said, "if you are to obstruct an agent of the department in this way, while in the discharge of his duties, you will be reported at head quarters for removal." "can't help that," replied he, "i intend to go pretty straight while i am here, and if the post master general himself were to appear here and want to overhaul my mails, he couldn't touch them, unless he satisfied me that he was the very man. that's just as the case stands." "very well," i remarked, "the driver knows who i am, and if he says it's all right, i suppose that will do." "not a bit of it," was the decided answer; "he may be deceived as well as any one else." i now drew from my pocket the official evidence of my authority, bearing the signature of the post master general, and the seal of the post office department. after inspecting this document rather closely, the cautious officer observed that there was no mistaking the signature of n. k. hall, and that he believed he must "give in." i expressed my gratification at the fidelity which he had displayed, and in a moment more the contents of the bag were spread upon the counter. a careful search, several times repeated, failed to discover the decoy package. its absence, of course, showed that it must have been stopped at the office which i had intended to test. i informed the driver that i could go no further with him that night, and procuring another conveyance, i returned to look after the stolen letter, and its dishonest possessor. directly opposite the post-office was the village tavern, and there i arrived about daylight, intending from that position to watch the post master, and introduce myself as soon as he entered his store. after watching about an hour, i observed some one removing the outside shutters of the store windows, and was informed by the landlord that it was the proprietor and post master. i deemed it important not to be seen by him until i had entered the store, when it would be too late to destroy or secrete anything that he might have taken from the mail the night previous. in this i was successful. when i opened the store door, he was stooping down near the stove, engaged in preparing "kindlings" for making his fire. i came upon him so suddenly that he started to his feet almost with a spring, and looked rather more flurried than one would naturally be who expected to see no more formidable a personage than some early customer for a codfish or a quart of molasses. "thus conscience does make cowards of us all," thought i, as i observed his futile attempts to recover his self-possession. after returning my salutation, he resumed the occupation which i had interrupted, that of splitting up a knotty piece of pine; but in his embarrassment he endeavored in vain to strike twice in the same place, hitting the floor quite as often as the stick which he was attempting to dismember. several common-place questions and answers passed between us while he was thus engaged. with the view of giving a temporary relief to his nerves, and of ascertaining what part of the store was appropriated to the post-office, (for there was nothing of the kind in sight,) i inquired,-- "is there a letter here for albert g. foster, jr.?" "no, there is no letter in the office for any one of that name," replied he, apparently much relieved by the inquiry. "you must have a paper for me," said i, "will you look?" he dropped his hatchet, and i followed him into a counting-room at the further end of the store, which was devoted to the postal department. the transient newspapers were examined, but not a paper could be found for albert g. or any other foster. by this time the gentleman had nearly recovered from the effects of my first sudden appearance, but the calm was destined to be only of short duration. "mr. willis, you have been talking to an agent of the post-office department, who has been sent on here for the purpose of detecting you in your frequent depredations upon the mails passing through your office, particularly the letters of messrs. a. & co. and last night you repeated the experiment once too often. now i want the letter that you then robbed, and the hundred dollars which you found in it. it is a shameful thing for any one, much more for a man of your standing and connections, to convert, as you have done, a position of public trust and responsibility into a sort of place of ambush, where you lie in wait for the letters of your unsuspecting neighbors, and other members of the community, and thus abuse the confidence reposed in you. it is worse than highway robbery." he gazed intently at me for a few moments with a look designed to be one of surprise and injured innocence. the attempt was a miserable failure, however. conscience would lend her aid to no such cloaking of guilt, but proclaimed it through the wavering of his eye, the forced expression of his countenance, and the general agitation which he vainly attempted to conceal. "that is plain talk, sir, _very_ plain talk," said he; "and i think you cannot know much about me or my standing in society, to come here and accuse me in the way you have done." "your standing," replied i, "can have but little to do with last night's transactions. i must have the hundred dollars, even if you have destroyed the letter; and it is also important that i should recover what you have taken from the mails on previous occasions." "you seem to be sure that you are safe in making these charges, sir," said he; "but all you have yet stated is nothing but assertion without any proof." just then the front door of the store opened, and a pleasant voice was heard, "breakfast is ready, father." a sweet little child stood in the door-way, and her innocent, careless face, contrasted strikingly with the anxiety which displayed itself in the features of her guilty father. would that her voice could have called him away from the course of villany and dishonor which he had taken! as her father did not at once reply to her, she came skipping up to him, and as she caught hold of his hands and playfully attempted to draw him along, he looked at her and then at me, with an expression that said as plainly as words could say it,--"have you the heart to come between us, and destroy the happiness of my innocent family?" i felt the force of the appeal, but was impressed still more strongly with detestation of the conduct of a man who could deliberately risk involving the members of his domestic circle in misery and disgrace for the sake of enriching himself at the expense of those who had confided in his integrity. "i can't go now, my dear," said he, withdrawing his hands from hers, "i am very busy. run along and tell mother not to wait for me." so away tripped little innocence, joyfully humming a simple air, and leaving us to deal with the grim question before us. i now commenced a search among some waste papers scattered upon the floor and one of the tables, for the wrapper in which the decoy letter had been enclosed, but i could find it nowhere. i however continued the search, hoping to find the string, if nothing else; and my perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of the package at the back part of a drawer in a desk. the package appeared to be in a perfect state, except that the string was missing. holding it up, i inquired of the post master, "what is this package doing here?" "it must have been thrown out by mistake in overhauling the mail last night," replied he. i removed the wrapper, and immediately found a full confirmation of my previous assertions, for the letter itself had been broken open, and the large wafer substituted for the original seal. in fact it had been served exactly like its rifled predecessors, and was now waiting to go forward to new york by the next mail. i also observed a quantity of the large wafers lying upon the desk, a few of which i secured for the purpose of comparison. the evidence of the string now became of little importance, but i wished to find it if possible, and after a few moments' search, i discovered it lying on the floor behind the counter of the store. the probability is that after the mail had passed that night, he took the stolen letter to the store, and there opened it. against such overwhelming proof as this, it was worse than useless to contend. so thought the unfortunate post master, whose tone now changed considerably. he refunded on the spot the proceeds of the last night's robbery, and proposed to make over a portion of the goods in his store as security for the restitution of the amount previously purloined, if by such a step he could save himself and his young family (consisting of a wife and the little girl already referred to,) from the crushing effects of public exposure. but this tender regard for the happiness and honor of his family came too late. such considerations, if others are insufficient, ought to restrain one from the commission of crimes; and it has always seemed to me that when a man in the full possession of his faculties can thus compromise the comfort and peace of mind of his innocent family, he deserves little sympathy or pity from any quarter, however sincerely he may regret his folly. willis was arrested by a local officer, and taken before a justice of the peace in that neighborhood, who, notwithstanding the efforts made to impress upon him the importance of holding the accused for trial, fixed the bail at a few hundred dollars, which sum was readily furnished by responsible parties. as several weeks were to elapse before the session of the court, it was my intention to re-arrest him under a united states warrant, as soon as one could be obtained, but during the night he made over a portion of his property to his sureties, and hastily filling a few trunks with articles of clothing and other personal property, he decamped with his family to canada, leaving behind a deserted home and a disgraced name. as soon as the crimes of willis became known in the town, universal sympathy for the wife of the criminal was felt and manifested. she was a refined and accomplished lady, connected with a highly-respectable family in a neighboring county, and had endeared herself to all who knew her, by her kindness and other excellent qualities. like a true woman, she remained constantly at the side of her husband, after his arrest; overlooking all his offences in her devoted affection, and palliating them to others as far as she could, on the ground of pecuniary embarrassments. some weeks elapsed before a clue was obtained to his whereabouts. the deputy marshal, to whom this business was intrusted, entered upon the search with great energy, and finally succeeded in arresting him, and conveyed him to utica, new york, where he was examined before the united states commissioner, who held him to bail in a large amount, for trial before the united states district court. being unable to obtain this heavy bail, he was sent to jail a few miles from utica, to await his trial. his wife, on his second arrest, returned to her father's house. it was soon after this that she wrote him the following letter, which was left in the jailor's possession: f----, feb. , . my dear william, it goes to my heart to feel that we are separated, even for a time, and above all, to think _what it is_ that separates us. but, william, my love for you is such, that i had rather you were thus than dead. "i ask not, i care not, if guilt's in thy heart, but i know that i love thee, whatever thou art." oh! what strong temptation you must have had to struggle with, before you yielded to it! and i know that you meant to restore the money to those it belonged to, at some time or other. i sometimes find it hard to elude julia's artless inquiries. she wants to know "why father went away with that man and didn't come back." poor child! must she ever know that her father is in a----? i can't write the word. god forbid, my dear, that i should speak a word of reproach, but perhaps i can say in a letter what i might find it hard to say if i were with you. i am sure, william, that you have fallen into error for my sake and julia's, but let me assure you, from the bottom of my heart, that i had far rather sink with you into the depths of honest poverty, than rise to affluence, leaving an approving conscience behind. never think of me for a moment, i beseech you, as a wife whose wishes must be gratified at whatever expense, but reckon on me as one who will ever be ready to undergo any self-denial which the adoption of a straight-forward course may involve. i reproach myself that i had not been more free to confide to you my views on this subject before your misfortune. had i done so, perhaps we might have been differently situated now. but the past cannot be changed. the future may be a new life to us, if we wish it; and shall we not? as to the bail, i have strong hopes that it can be arranged before long. i hope to be with you as early as next week. julia sends a kiss to father, and says, "tell him i want him to come and see me and mother." i send the same for myself. good night, my dear, and many good morrows. your affectionate wife, ellen. not far from two weeks after the committal of willis to jail, mrs. willis called one day late in the afternoon, and requested permission of the jailor to spend the night with her husband. this officer was a kind-hearted old gentleman, and the lady-likee deportment of the applicant, whom he had seen on former occasions, had won his entire confidence. he made no objection, and his native gallantry, and sympathy for the lady, prevented a very thorough investigation of the contents of a large basket that she brought with her, which presented to his eye nothing but a goodly array of such delicacies as are not usually included in a prison bill-of-fare. so she was ushered into her husband's place of confinement, basket and all. the jailor retired to rest that night with the happy consciousness of having done at least one kind act during the day, and slept soundly,--perhaps more soundly than usual--till morning. when going his accustomed rounds, he noticed sundry shavings and chips of a decidedly new and fresh appearance on the floor outside of willis's door. he further noticed that the door was partly open, whereupon he hastily entered the room in no small perturbation of mind. nor was his disturbance diminished when he found that there was but one occupant of the bed, and that, the fair lady whom he had admitted the night before! she was apparently fast asleep, and although the spectacle was one of a picturesque description, the old gentleman would have derived much more satisfaction from a sight of her liege lord. he looked in all directions round the room, with the vague idea that his prisoner might start up from behind a chair or table; but no such phenomenon occurred, and the conclusion forced itself upon him that he had been made the victim of misplaced confidence; in other words, that willis had escaped by the aid of his devoted wife and her treacherous basket. an auger, concealed in its depths, had been smuggled in, and used in boring off the door-hinges, and now lay on the floor. [illustration] "mrs. willis," cried the now indignant jailor, "mrs. willis, i say!" but the slumberer stirred not, and he repeated the call in louder tones,--"mrs. willis, where's your husband?" rising up on one elbow, and looking about the room, apparently much confused, she replied, "where's my husband? have you taken him away without letting me know it?" she steadily refused to give any information concerning the time or mode of his escape, and was equally careful not to deny that she furnished the means for securing his exit. she was therefore arrested and taken before an united states commissioner, charged with aiding and abetting the escape of a prisoner; but such was the public sympathy in her behalf, that she was discharged from custody, and no doubt, soon joined her husband, who had proved himself so utterly unworthy of such an affectionate, devoted, and heroic companion. not long after this escape, a suit was brought in one of the lower courts, against a brother of willis, to recover the value of a horse killed by hard driving on the night of willis's disappearance. it was more than surmised that the two circumstances were in some way connected. chapter vii. startling complaints--character against suspicion--the two clerks--exchanging notes--the faro bank--tracing a bill--an official call--false explanation--flight of the guilty--the fatal drug--the suicide--sufferings of the innocent--the moral. the close of the year , and the opening of , were marked in the post-office department with frequent and startling announcements of the loss, by mail, of valuable letters from southern virginia, and eastern and northern north carolina, directed to richmond and other commercial cities farther north. these cases, as they reached the department, were duly prepared and submitted to the special agent for investigation. search and inquiry were promptly instituted. but for a time the utmost vigilance failed to obtain any clue to the supposed embezzlements. the cases of loss continued to multiply; and at length the agent's attention was particularly drawn to the distributing post-office at p. a circle of numerous facts pointed unmistakably to this spot as their center and focus. it was here that the lines of circumstantial evidence from every quarter converged and met. the post-office at p., therefore, became an object of special interest in the eyes of the agent. however, investigations in this direction proved at first no more successful than elsewhere. the high integrity of character for which the post master was distinguished, and the excellent reputation of his clerks, stood like a wall of adamant in the way of all evidence and all suspicions. the agent seemed destined to be baffled at every point. yet a stern truth stared him in the face, and fixed its immovable finger over this distributing office. every missing letter, although reaching p. by various routes, had been mailed at points south of it for points north of it. here they must all concentrate, and here only. it was therefore at this place only that all the losses could have occurred. several days were passed by the agent in p. and the vicinity, quietly pursuing his investigations. no person knew the secret of his business. he became acquainted with the post master and his two clerks, studied their characters, and their social circumstances. the first was a man of position and competence, whose honor no breath of calumny had ever dimmed, and who could not possibly have any motive for periling the peace and prosperity of his family by a dishonest course. neither did the unflawed respectability of the clerks betray any chink or crevice in which to harbor a doubt. the elder of these, and the superior in the office, was a young man of education and refinement. we will call his name carleton. his face was frank, his eye steady and clear, his manners always self-possessed and easy. the agent liked and admired him from the first. he learned too that he was a favorite with all who knew him--that his connections were among the first families in the state; and that by his talents and high-toned generous impulses, he had so far nobly sustained the lustre of his family name. another circumstance was greatly in carleton's favor. although descended from the "aristocracy," the fortunes of his family had run somewhat low in the later generations; and now, his father being dead, he devoted himself zealously to the maintenance of his aged mother, and the education and support of his only sister. the junior clerk was a youth of minor pretensions. he was uniformly retiring in his manners. although by no means a person of forbidding aspect, there was something measured and guarded in his movements, far less prepossessing than the free and chivalrous bearing of carleton. this apparent prudence might arise from various causes. the agent could not believe that it was the result of a secretive and dishonest disposition. if such was the case, however, that same discretion had effectually succeeded in covering the poverty of his moral character from public scrutiny. foiled at every point where he attempted to hang the sad burden of criminal facts, the agent resolved upon striking a bold and hazardous blow. he sought a private interview with carleton. "do you know," said he, "that i am here on very delicate and peculiar business?" "i had not thought of such a thing," replied carleton. "well, sir, i will tell you. i am convinced that you are the very man to assist me. if you will, you may do me and the post-office department a signal service." "i do not understand you." "no, but you will. first, however, give me your pledge that what i have to divulge shall be held in strictest confidence and honor by you." "certainly," said carleton, "if you wish it." the agent then stated the business that had brought him to p----. carleton expressed some surprise, but cheerfully promised to afford the department any assistance and information in his power. "have you mentioned the subject to mr. b.?" he asked. "not yet; he is the nominal post master, it is true, but you have a far more intimate knowledge of the details of the office than he has. i have another reason for not speaking with him. i dislike to disturb his confidence until the establishment of strong proof renders it my duty to do so." "you can speak to me with perfect plainness," said carleton. "i trust so," replied the agent. "and i am sure you will do all you can to set me right, if i am going wrong. nor will you, i am convinced, suffer me to injure an innocent person in your estimation. to come to the point, then, i wish you to open your inmost thoughts, and tell me if you regard it as possible that your fellow-clerk can be guilty of these depredations upon the mails." "you shock me," said carleton, not without emotion. "speak freely," continued the agent. "why, i could almost as soon think of suspecting mr. b. himself," exclaimed the other. "i believe howard to be perfectly honest." "certainly, i know nothing to the contrary; and i sincerely hope your judgment is well founded. but," continued the agent, "our public duty should not be altogether biassed by private opinion. you will not, therefore, fail to unite with me in tracing the embezzlements to their true source, no matter at whose door the blame may be laid." "i will do all in my power," said carleton. "although i would be almost willing to pledge my own reputation that the losses have occurred outside of the office, i will use every exertion to discover any dereliction from duty that may come within my sphere of observation." the agent expressed his thanks for the clerk's ready promise of coöperation, and took his leave. meanwhile he did not neglect other measures that he had adopted for tracing the robberies. by a singular coincidence, within an hour after this conversation with carleton, he was able to seize a certain clue, which he had long been in search of, and despaired of obtaining. on his return to the hotel, the landlord thus addressed him: "you asked me if i could give you any more large bills, in exchange for small ones. i think i can accommodate you this morning. i have a one hundred dollar bank-note, which, if you are sending money by mail, will be very convenient." "thank you," replied the agent; "it will be a great accommodation." the landlord passed the bank-note over the counter. one can imagine the agent's secret triumph on discovering, at last, one of the very bills he was in search of, one that had been lost in a letter passing that post-office only a week before; and of which he had an accurate description from the department. having made the purchase, he held the bank-note up to the light. "i suppose you will warrant this paper to be genuine?" he suggested. "there is no doubt about it, sir," said the landlord. "of course you know from whom you had it?" "to be sure! i took it of one of my boarders this morning, captain wilkins." "i have no doubt but the bill is good," said the agent, putting it in his pocket. "you are sure you had it of the captain?" "o, yes! 'twasn't an hour ago he gave it to me." "by the way, who is this captain wilkins? he's a very gentlemanly-appearing fellow." "o, he's a capital fellow!" said the landlord. "what's his business?" "he keeps a faro bank." to a northern reader, the two clauses of this statement may seem inconsistent with each other. but allowance must be made for the freedom of southern manners and society. to bet at a faro bank is considered no serious stain upon the honor and respectability of gentlemen in southern cities. the keeper of a faro bank may pass, as we have seen, for a "capital fellow." but the agent felt pained to know from what source the landlord had obtained the bill. already a dark picture of temptation and crime arose before his eyes. it is a significant and too often a tragical word--the faro bank! captain wilkins had gone to ride. the agent pretended to transact a little business, mailed two or three letters, and read the newspapers until his return. the rattling of a light-wheeled buggy before the hotel steps announced the expected arrival. captain wilkins--a soberly-dressed and polite individual, whom one might have taken for a clergyman--stepped out of the vehicle, accompanied by a friend, pulled off his driving-gloves as he entered the house, and lighted a fresh cigar at the bar. the agent took an early occasion to accost him. "can i speak with you a moment?" "certainly," said captain wilkins. the two walked aside together. the agent exhibited the bank-note. "did you ever see that paper before?" "yes, and very recently. i passed it with the landlord this morning." "as the bill is of so high a denomination, you probably remember from whom you received it?" "perfectly well. i had it last night from one of the post-office clerks, who was betting at my bank, and for whom i changed it." "may i ask from which one?" "o, from carleton. he is a reliable fellow. have you any doubts about the bill?" "no, if you are sure you had it of carleton." "i am sure of that." "you could swear to it as the identical bank-note?" captain wilkins glanced at the paper again. "it's the identical rag," said he; "i can take my oath of it." this startling revelation gave a different phase to the business. the finger of discovery seemed to point directly at the senior clerk. again the agent, on leaving wilkins, recalled carleton's every look and word, in the conversation he had with him that morning. he could not recall the faintest indication of guilt. and he could not but hope that the young man was as innocent as he appeared; and that circumstances would prove him so. however, there was no way left but to follow the thread of evidence he had so far successfully traced. he strolled towards the post-office, and found howard there alone. "where is your brother-clerk?" he asked. "he went to dinner about five minutes ago,--rather earlier than usual." "very well; perhaps you can do my business for me. i mailed a letter here this morning, which i would like to recover from the mails, if it has not already gone out." a description of the letter was given. all this was done to prevent howard from suspecting the agent's real business with carleton. the letter had gone, as the inquirer well knew, and he left the office. but now his pace was quickened. he knew not what might be the result of his interview with carleton. it was a significant fact that he had gone to dinner at an earlier hour than usual. if guilty, what more natural than that he should take that opportunity of destroying any evidence of his guilt to be found among his papers at home? the agent had already learned where carleton lived, and he hastened at once to his house. the young man's mother received him in a truly lady-like and hospitable manner. "he just came in," said she, graciously. "sit down, i will have him called. he remarked that he had some trifling affair to attend to before dinner, and immediately went to his chamber. you may speak to him, sarah." "i have only a word to say to him," replied the visitor. "perhaps it will be as well for me to go to his room, instead of calling him down." "as you please. my daughter will show you the way." sarah, a beautiful and stately girl of eighteen, conducted the caller to her brother's chamber, and knocked at the door. presently carleton appeared. a slight paleness overspread his features on recognising the agent, but without losing his self-possession, he invited him to enter the chamber. "i have strange feelings on seeing you!" he observed in a very natural tone of voice. "what you said to me about howard, has troubled me more than i would have thought it possible. take a seat. do you smoke?" "not before dinner," replied the agent. he made a rapid observation of the chamber, as he sat down. "you are very comfortably situated here." "i have nothing to complain of. we live rather humbly, but we are not ambitious." carleton then spoke of his mother and sister, in a manner which touched his visitor deeply. could it be possible, thought the latter, that he was destined to destroy the peace of that happy family? he shrank with indescribable repugnance from the performance of his duty; but it inexorably urged him to finish what he had begun, and he produced the fatal bank-note. "not to detain you," said he, "i have some question in my mind with regard to a bill i took this forenoon. i have been referred to you as the person who passed it. will you see if you recognise it?" again the swift pallor swept over carleton's face; but this time it was more marked than before, and his fingers trembled as he examined the bill. "certainly," said he, "i recognise it. it's a note i changed with captain wilkins last night." "it also happens," observed the agent, "to be a note which, according to an accurate description i have of it, was recently lost in the southern mails. this is as painful to me, mr carleton, as it is unexpected; and i hope you will be able satisfactorily to account for the manner in which you obtained this money." "it is still more painful to me than it can be to you," replied carleton; "and heaven knows i heartily wish i could not tell how that bill came into my possession. i remembered it, after you left me this morning; and i had a presentiment that trouble would come out of it. i am afraid, sir," carleton added, after some hesitation,--"i am afraid your suspicions of howard will prove too well founded!" "do you mean to say, that howard is responsible for that bill?" "i will tell you all i know about it, sir. i yesterday sold a colt i had been training the past season. he proved too high-spirited for our use, and i preferred to own a horse my mother and sister would not be afraid to ride after. i sold it to a neighbor of ours, mr. fellows. he was to pay me one hundred dollars down,--and this is the money he gave me." carleton hesitated. the agent begged him to proceed, as no time was to be lost. "i was trying to recall the conversation that passed between mr. fellows and myself. it was to this effect: "'i'd quite as lief you would give me small bills, if convenient,' said i, 'for i shall have several little sums to pay out of this in a day or two.' "he replied that he could do no better by me, and added that he thought howard would like to change it for me. 'how so?' said i. "'you remember,' said he, 'that howard bought a house lot of me, some time ago. the last payment came due yesterday. he seemed reluctant to part with this bill, and said if i would wait, he would give me specie for it in a day or two.' something more was said about howard's good luck in making payments for the house lot, so promptly, and so we parted." "where will i find this mr. fellows?" asked the agent. "i saw him not ten minutes ago enter a store in the village." "you are sure he will corroborate your statement?" "there's no doubt of it. he's a plain, practical man, who tells a straight-forward story." "come, then," said the agent, "we will go and find him." carleton readily assented, and the two left the chamber. "i've a little business to transact before dinner, mother," said the young man, as they passed out. "if i am not back in a quarter of an hour, do not wait for me." but little difficulty was experienced in finding mr. fellows. he was such a person as carleton had described; but he turned out to be very deaf, and the agent deemed it expedient to retire with him and carleton to some secure place, where their loud talking would not be overheard. the clerk proposed that they should make use of the private room of the post-office. the agent readily agreed to this, for he was somewhat anxious to make sure of howard; and he now resolved that the latter should be present at the interview. this plan was also proposed by carleton, and when they had arrived at the post-office, the senior clerk informed the junior, in a low and serious tone, that his presence was requested in the private apartment. "but who will attend in the office?" asked howard. "i'll speak to one of the clerks in the store; they accommodate us very often in this way," carleton added, addressing the agent. "it's only around the corner." the thought struck the agent that it would be safe enough to accompany carleton. but to do so, it would be necessary to leave howard, who, if guilty, might by this time have suspected the danger at hand. besides, it seemed not at all probable that carleton could have any motive for attempting an escape. his position in society, his family circumstances, his frank and manly demeanor,--everything tended to disarm suspicion. furthermore, nothing could be more satisfactory than the story he had related of the manner in which he obtained the fatal bill. he was accordingly suffered to leave the office. as there were persons passing in and out, the agent did not consider it proper to broach the important subject until carleton's return. but some minutes passed, and he did not reappear. "i thought he said he had only to go around the corner," said the agent. "it is probable," howard replied, "that the boys have gone to dinner. in that case, if your business is important, he has possibly gone to call the post master himself." a quarter of an hour passed. carleton had had time to walk to mr. b.'s house and back, but still he did not make his appearance. the agent grew uneasy. he waited five minutes longer, then resolved upon a decisive step. "mr. fellows," he cried, in the deaf gentleman's ear, "did you ever see that bill before?" fortunately, mr. fellows' sight was good, though his hearing was bad. he examined the paper without spectacles, and decided at once that he then and there saw it for the first time. "did you not buy a horse of carleton yesterday?" "no," said mr. fellows; "i have talked of selling his mother a pony, but i never bought anything of him." the truth flashed upon the agent's understanding. for his credit let it be declared, carleton had played his game with a consummate art that would have deceived "the very elect." no time was lost in obtaining traces of the young man's flight. the agent judged rightly, from his character, that he would not attempt to leave town. he anticipated a more melancholy fate for the unhappy youth. some inward prompting seemed to direct him to an apothecary's shop not many doors distant, and on inquiry he learned that carleton had just been there. "which way did he go?" "in fact, i am not certain he has gone," said the druggist. "he purchased some medicines, remarking that he wished to write out some directions for its use, and stepped into the back room. i have been very busy, and he may have passed out without my seeing him." the agent sprang forward. the door was locked upon the inside. "what medicine did you sell him?" asked the agent. "oh! you needn't be alarmed, he has studied medicine, and knows how to use these things." "he knows how to use them too well! this door must be forced. his life depends upon it,--if it is not already too late!" too late, indeed, it was! on breaking into the room, carleton was found lying upon the floor, with an empty vial beside him, and an unfinished letter to his sister on the table. in that letter he confessed his guilt, and besought his sister not only to support the mortal affliction he had brought upon her, with fortitude, but also to sustain and console their mother. the young man was not yet dead. medical assistance was speedily procured, but all efforts to save his life proved unavailing. he was already past consciousness, and never spoke again. a veil should be drawn to exclude the scene of horror, agony, and distress that awaited his family. the brokenhearted mother survived the tragical interruption of her late happy days but a few months. and though the sister was afterwards happily married, it is said that, from the date of her brother's disgraceful end, a continual cloud of melancholy rested upon her mind during the remainder of her life. she has since passed into that land where kindred souls are destined to meet again; and these allusions to her sad family history will give her no pain. the secret of carleton's lapse from virtue is soon told; and the lesson is one that every youth, who considers himself secure from temptation, should heed and carefully remember. the devil never boldly enters the citadel of rectitude, at the outset. he first walks around, and passes by; then holds a parley, and "makes the worse appear the better reason;" and ends by gaining permission to walk in just _once_, promising thenceforward to cease his solicitations, and keep aloof. but once admitted, he goes artfully to work to destroy all our defences, and before we are aware of it, he is a permanent occupant of the castle. such was undoubtedly carleton's experience. he was not a hardened sinner. he was truly a man of generous and noble impulses. but little transgressions of the stern law of conscience had in his boyhood weakened his moral force, and prepared him for more serious offences. then, in an unguarded hour, he formed an attachment for a fascinating, but gay and heartless woman, under whose influences his soul fell from the truth and purity of manhood. it was her hand which indirectly administered the deadly drug that destroyed his life. to meet her necessities for dress and dissipations, he resorted to the faro bank. although fortunate at first, he afterwards lost extensively, and became pecuniarily embarrassed. he borrowed money, which he was unable to return. only one course seemed open to him, to save his honor in the public eye. at first, he purloined cautiously and abstemiously from the mails, hoping, no doubt, that success at the faro bank would swell those unlawful gains, and cancel the necessity for further depredations. but let us not pursue the sad topic. the end we have seen, and we will hasten to turn the last leaf of this melancholy chapter. chapter viii. a night in a post-office. midnight mails--suspected clerk--a trying position--limited view--a "crack" agent--sneezing---"counter irritation"--the night bell--fruitless speculations--insect orchestra--picolo introduced--snoring--harmless accident--the boot-black--a tenanted boot--the exit. some years ago, the post-office of a prominent city in western new york became involved in a series of mail depredations, and at length it was apparent that some one of three clerks who had slept in the office, must be guilty of committing them; but the fastening of the charge upon the delinquent was a thing yet to be accomplished. by various processes, the range of suspicion was narrowed down till it rested upon _one_ of the clerks, and it only remained to get the _legal_ proof of his guilt. packages were missed that were known to have reached the office by the midnight mails. the clerks took turns in getting up to receive these mails, each one performing his duty for a week in succession, the one who for the time attended to it, sleeping on a cot in the post-office _proper_, and the other two occupying a small apartment at some little distance from the main office, but connected with it. it had also been ascertained that the packages were abstracted from a particular mail-pouch which arrived with many others about midnight, and remained unassorted till morning. on a certain occasion, when the suspected clerk was upon duty, an exact description of everything in that pouch was taken, upon the cars from the west, with the view of comparing the list of its contents with the post bills which should be found on the files of the office the following morning, these bills having heretofore disappeared with the packages. as i had before this had good reason to know that magistrates and jurors in that section of the country very properly required pretty conclusive evidence for conviction in such cases, i determined, in addition to other expedients, to take the post of private watchman inside the office, for one night at least, that i might obtain, by ocular demonstration, sufficient proof against the guilty one, to satisfy the most incredulous court and jury. one of the unsuspected clerks was sent away that night, and the other, in whom i had the utmost confidence, was apprised of my intentions. by him i was let into the office through a private door, before the object of our machinations had entered; and i was not long in selecting a suitable place where i could see without being seen, behind an open door leading from the post master's private room. this position could command (through the crack of the door) a fair view of the aforesaid cot and its occupant. it was not long before the individual arrived who was to be honored with my scrutiny during the live-long night; and as he "wrapt the drapery of his couch about him," i could not avoid making a momentary comparison between the luxury about to be enjoyed by him, and the wearisome hours upon which i was entering. well, "some must watch, while some must sleep; thus runs the world away." sitting in the public stocks,--watching with the body of a person who has died of some contagious disease,--being cornered by a bore, when you have an immediate engagement elsewhere,--waiting your turn in a dentist's office,--all these are somewhat trying to the nerves; but for a real test of their power of endurance, commend me to a stand behind a door, between the hours of p. m. and daylight; the thermometer ranging from upwards, all motion and sound being forbidden, under the imminent risk of being discovered in your hiding place, and forced to retreat ignominiously. this is a faint picture of the situation of the author on the night in question. zeal for the public good, and a cracker or two, alone sustained him through the tedious night watches. the proverb says that "a great deal can be seen through a small hole." my sphere of vision, however, was rather limited, embracing only a portion of the adjoining room, faintly lighted by a hanging lamp, the cot with its sleeping burden, a table, and the dimly seen tiers of letter boxes forming a back-ground. entirely in keeping with this scene of "still life," was the monotonous buzz of sundry flies of a rowdyish disposition, who, not content with tickling the noses of peaceable citizens, and otherwise harassing them during the day, must needs "keep it up" through the hours devoted to repose by insects of more steady habits. however, they might have been engaged in the praiseworthy occupation of soothing one another to rest by their "drowsy hum," for i myself began to feel its soporific influence, and to bless "the man who first _in_vented sleep," but anathematize (inwardly) him who was _pre_venting it. i was roused from this sleepy condition by a slight irritation in the schneiderian membrane; in other words, i began to feel a desire to sneeze. now, sneezing is an operation which admits of no compromise. you must either "go the whole hog," or entirely refrain. any attempt to reduce the force of the explosion is as unavailing as was the irishman's effort to "fire aizy" when he was touching off the cannon. so the annoying inclination must be nipped in the bud, if i wished to preserve my secrecy inviolate, and prove that i was "up to _snuff_." accordingly i called to mind (as far as i was able) and practised all the expedients of which i had ever heard, besides others entirely original, for allaying this titillation. i rubbed the bridge of the nose; i would have slapped myself on the forehead, had i not feared the remedy would prove worse than the disease in respect of noise. i instituted experiments in "counter irritation," by pulling my hair, pinching my ear, and thus diverting attention from the rebellious organ; and finally i succeeded in subduing this refractory member. the uneasiness i felt lest, after all, i should be compelled to wake the echoes of the building, as well as other more tangible creations, were in some degree dispelled by several hearty snores which proceeded from the sleeper, and, like the guns which announce the arrival of a vessel in port, gave evidence that he had arrived in the land of dreams. under the cover of this "_feu de joie_," i dispatched a cracker (not a fire-cracker) which i happened to have in my pocket, as my inner man began to feel the effects of my unwonted position and consequent weariness. at about midnight, a sudden peal of the bell, pulled by the mail carrier, at a back door, aroused the sleeper, who started up, went to the door and received the mail, and, after a little delay, returned to his bed, not, however, to sleep as quietly as before, as he often rolled over from side to side, occasionally uttering a groan. having nothing better to do, i speculated on the cause of these phenomena. they might be owing, first, to heat, second, to a disordered stomach, or third, to an uneasy conscience. as to the first of these supposed causes, it seemed improbable that his recent visit to the door in a very airy costume, should have had any tendency to increase the animal heat; and as regarded the second theory, my knowledge of his dietetic habits was too limited to furnish me with data for anything like an argument. if his short delay at the door after receiving the mail bags, was produced by any cause for which conscience might properly goad him, the last hypothesis might be correct,--but on the whole i was obliged to follow the example of many profounder theorists, and confess that i didn't know much about the matter. [illustration] a combination of the stomach and conscience suppositions, might be an adequate solution of the question, for the slender salary of a post-office clerk hardly sufficed for more than three meals a day, and the inference from these premises would be rather easy that a fourth must have been at the public expense. here my reflections came to an untimely end, for the insect orchestra, of whose performances i have spoken, was reinforced by the addition of a picolo, in the shape of one of those minute specimens of creation commonly called mosquito, whose note, "most musical, most melancholy," blended with the trombone of the blue bottle fly in a manner rather more curious than pleasing. and the different sounds produced by these insects were no less unlike than their modes of approaching their victims; the latter, with bull-headed obstinacy, bouncing against your face in a blundering way, with apparently no particular object excepting that of making himself generally disagreeable, while the former, lighting upon you as delicately as a snow flake, proceeds with admirable promptitude and definiteness of purpose to take out his lancet, and, like some never-failing humorist, is always "in the vein." the tones of this insect Æolian rose and fell for a little time at a distance, but i was speedily aware of its presence in immediate proximity to my ear, and apparently making a tour of observation around my head, whereupon i commenced a blind sort of defence by flourishing my hands as noiselessly as possible round the region invaded, to as little purpose, however, as the attack of regular troops upon a body of indians; for in a moment the music ceased, and i felt the sharp prick which informed me that i was hit, and i instinctively inflicted an energetic slap upon the spot, by which my enemy was extinguished, and one bill at least effectually cancelled. this result was not attained without a report, which so violently broke the silence, that i stood for a moment in breathless suspense, fearing that the sound would penetrate into the realms of morpheus, and that thus i might pay too dearly for my triumph. but the sleeper "made no sign," and i was again left to my solitary musings. a small pistol which i had observed my sleeping friend place under his head, on going to bed, did not tend to increase the comforts of my position, for since he had become so restless, the thought passed through my mind that he might have heard some suspicious noise in my direction, and was feigning sleep, while on the watch for its repetition. if this were the case, the discovery of a supernumerary on the premises, might lead to a hasty assault on the supposed midnight prowler, and also a more rapid transfer of the contents of the pistol to me than would be either agreeable or wholesome, before i could offer any reasonable explanation for my presence behind the door at such an unseasonable hour. after a while, however, a renewal of the snoring, which was occasionally echoed by the occupant of the adjoining room, assured me of the absence of belligerent intentions, and the buzzing of the flies before mentioned, with the ticking of a clock in the office, were the only additional sounds that broke upon the silence. about two o'clock, a slight accident occurred to me, which, however, did no harm. in reaching for a pitcher of water that stood on the table near by, i knocked off a book, which must have been poised on the corner of the table. i immediately imitated, by scratching, the gnawing of a rat in the wall, so that if the falling of the book had aroused the sleeper, he would have attributed both the noises to the imaginary animal. but few sounds outside the building were heard, save the occasional drunken shout of some votary of bacchus, reeling home to disgrace his family with his presence; and the measured strokes of the city clocks, as they told off the long, long hours. but the most ludicrous circumstance happened just about daylight,--that is, daylight outside, for within the office it was still dark, as all the blinds were closed. i was startled by a sudden rap on the door of the post master's room which opened into the main hall, soon followed by another even more energetic. the clerk in the bed-room jumped from his bed and passed by me to open the door. fearing that i should be discovered, i darted into the bed-room without his knowledge, and before he had returned. the truth is, he was not more than half awake, and had forgotten me entirely. he had admitted a colored man to get the boots which required his polishing touch, and then returned to bed again. this gentleman of color, who by the way proved to be a trusty porter employed in several of the offices in the building, proceeded first to the side of the cot to get the boots there, and then made for the bed-room, into which i had retreated. in feeling about the floor to find the remaining "leathern conveniences," he seized one of mine! "i've got my foot in it now," thought i; but by a gentle and dexterous movement i succeeded in withdrawing the exposed covering from his partial grasp, without his discovering the existence of a leg within. whether it was fright at the touch of the tenanted boot, or something else, that made him leave the premises so suddenly, i have never been fully satisfied. i went out myself soon after, leaving both clerks sound asleep. what occurred on that night beyond that which i have already described, or how the investigation terminated, i am confident the reader will not insist upon knowing, when i assure him that there are special reasons, affecting public as well as private interests, why i should make no further disclosures. though this was not the last night which i have spent in post-offices for similar purposes, yet i have never repeated the experiment under circumstances requiring quite so severe restraints, and such abridgment of personal liberty. chapter ix. throwing off the cars--fiendish recklessness--the boot-tracks--a scamp among the printers--obstruction removed--a ruse--the boots secured--"big jobs"--the trial--unreliable witness--a life-sentence. in the narrations of mail robberies which we have thus far given, their perpetrators, though bold and unscrupulous, have not often plotted the destruction of human life in order to further their projects. but in the case we are about briefly to relate, murder on a large scale was coolly contemplated for the sake of the facilities which would be afforded to the plunderers of the mail, by the confusion, distress, and preoccupation which necessarily follow the throwing of cars from a railroad track. the certain destruction of property and the probable loss of life which would be caused by the successful execution of their plans, were nothing to these atrocious scoundrels, as long as by these means plunder might be brought within their grasp. rather more than a year ago, on a certain day in march, the locomotive of a mail train upon one of the western railroads was thrown from the track by a "t" rail, which was placed with one end against a tie, so that the other, projecting somewhat upward, was struck by the engine. this occurred near a city in one of the western states. no one on the train was injured, and whoever placed the obstruction failed in accomplishing his purpose, if that was to rob the mail. no person was particularly suspected of the deed, but tracks made by a boot of peculiar shape, with rows of large nails around the soles and heels, were found in the soft clay in the neighborhood of the spot, and an impression of them was taken for future reference. on the same day the superintendent of the road received a letter, of which the following is a copy. adrian, march , . sir: i have for the last few days written five or six notes to send you, but as often i have changed my mind and concluded to let the information that i wish to convey you, lie buried in obscurity. but the late act of villany that was committed i may say within sight of our city, forces me to disclose to you information that i received a few days ago of the formation of a gang of rascals who have combined together to commit, i may say, wholesale murder, and other criminal acts, by obstructing the passage of trains and endangering the same on the m. s. & n. r. r. this gang of villains is under the management of two men that are now known to me. the subject came to my knowledge by an offer from them of a large sum of money if i would take part with them in their intended villany. this i refused, and scornfully regarded their proposals to have anything to do with them. i further threatened to expose them if they should attempt at any time to carry their intentions into effect, and one of them said if i should ever disclose to any one their intentions, that it would be certain death to me. i cannot in this note explain to you the information i wish to convey in full; but should you answer by dropping a line in the post-office to me, i will, if you wish, disclose to you the names of the parties; in fact, i will give you all the information that i can of the parties and their intended plot, on condition that you will give a liberal reward. i would be able to point them out or describe them so that they might be arrested. i am satisfied one of them has in his trunk documents that would disclose the whole matter. i hope you will keep this subject dark, as i am exposing myself to great danger by disclosing this to you, and would also expose the interest of the road by disclosing this subject to the public. yes, such would make the road a terror to all. as i cannot write to any satisfaction, should you wish to know further about the matter, let me know and i will go to your office any evening that may be convenient to you. for the present i remain yours, a. s----. the author of this document (who here signs a feigned name) claimed to be a natural son of an english lord celebrated in literature, and assumed the name of his pretended father. he seems to have been a man of considerable shrewdness, though he did not prove to be quite shrewd enough to outwit the business men and officers of justice with whom he had to deal. the superintendent replied to the letter, requesting an immediate interview. to this b. (the person in question) returned an answer, stating that he had written to one of the leaders of the gang in new york, and that he would call on the superintendent as soon as he had received a reply, which might give him further information. three or four days after this the interview was held, and afterwards another in the presence of the attorneys of the railroad company. on these occasions, b. repeated his story with some further details, and offered to assist in the detection of the scoundrels, if he could be assured of a sufficient reward. there were many suspicious circumstances about this person, both as respected his appearance and the statements which he made. it did not seem very probable that any one should have so intimate a knowledge of the designs of the villains as he appeared to possess, without being, to some extent at least, involved in their guilt. notwithstanding their suspicions, the officers of the road concluded to engage his services, with the intention of keeping a sharp lookout upon him. he gave the names of several persons as concerned in the scheme, and proposed to correspond with some of the leaders and draw from them disclosures which would cause their detection. about this time he went to work in a printing office, and was observed to be irregular in his habits, being much out at nights. he had occasional interviews with mr. s. (one of the attorneys above mentioned,) rather respecting what he had _not_ discovered than what he had, and sometimes showing letters that he pretended to have received, threatening his life unless he left the country. these interviews, however unfruitful they were in available information, led to a result which was not anticipated by the cunning b. had this individual narrowly observed all the surroundings of the lawyer's office, he would have seen a quantity of fresh damp sand strewed upon the walk in front, through which he was obliged to pass on entering. of course he thought nothing of it; hardly any one would; but the impressions which his boots made on that sand were found to correspond exactly with those obtained from the clay at the scene of the railroad accident before mentioned! one evening, about three weeks after the accident on the railroad, b. rushed into the office of the railroad company in breathless haste, and informed the assistant superintendent that he had been applied to by a certain person to put obstructions on the track a little west of the city, to catch the p. m. mail train west; but had got away from him and hurried to the office to give this information. the assistant superintendent and others immediately went up the road about two miles, and found obstructions placed in the spot indicated, and removed them. when the train passed, the light in front of the locomotive showed several men running into the woods. this was the third instance of attempted obstruction to the mail trains upon this road, within less than a month (one having occurred previously to that first mentioned, causing, however, but slight damage,) and it was ascertained that there were considerable amounts of money in the mail on each of those occasions. it may be remarked in passing, that although b. had notified the company in advance, of actual obstructions, and had given the names of the parties concerned, yet no progress seemed to be made in detecting the guilty individuals. it was evidently his policy to obtain money from the company as the price of his disclosure, and yet to manage so that no discovery would result. in the mean time, the post-office department had been informed of these facts, and an experienced and skilful police officer in chicago was appointed special mail agent to investigate the matter. he very soon came to the conclusion that whoever the other guilty persons might be, b. was "one of 'em" to all intents and purposes. as we have before stated, b. had said that one of the leaders was in new york, and at the request of the company's attorney, b. wrote a letter to him. the chief of police of new york was written to, and requested to station an officer at the post-office to watch for and arrest the party who should call for the letter, but during the time which elapsed between the arrival of the letter and the officer who was to watch outside the post-office, the letter disappeared, and even before any one connected with the new york post-office had been apprised of the arrangement. four days afterwards, b. informed one of the company's attorneys that the man in new york had received the letter and sent him a verbal answer to the effect, that he had better write no more by mail, "as the letters might get lost." mr. p., the chicago police officer, went in company with a lawyer to new york, with the design of finding the man to whom the letter was addressed. their efforts, however, though assisted by the chief of police, and the special agent for the new york district, were unavailing. it was ascertained that he had paid his passage to liverpool on the ship washington, but having been asked a casual question by one of the officers of the vessel, concerning his relationship to a certain englishman, he had forfeited his passage-money, and disappeared. having returned to the west, mr. p., the government agent, determined to arrest b., which he effected, and, without his knowledge, obtained possession of his boots, which had already supplied such important evidence against him. he displayed much virtuous indignation, and talked largely of his wealth, respectability, and high standing in society; but all this availed him nothing, and he was committed to jail. although he had arrested b., yet mr. p. doubted whether he had sufficient evidence to convict him, and determined to condemn him out of his own mouth. accordingly he made arrangements with a deputy sheriff of milwaukie, to play the part of prisoner, and thus to obtain the rascal's confidence. agreeably to this arrangement, when b. entered the prison, he found the deputy sheriff already in his cell, apparently a fellow victim to the demands of justice. for about four weeks this gentleman was most of the time in the cell with b., representing himself as an "express robber;" conducting himself in such a turbulent manner that b. supposed the time of his absences was passed in the dungeon. for some time, however, he failed in extracting any disclosures from b., who confidently expected that his connection with the railroad company would protect him. after he had been in prison about three weeks, b. was informed that his arrest had been made by an united states officer, who intended to make his boots convict him of obstructing the mail train, and that the railroad company were powerless to shield him from punishment for acts committed (as this had been) previous to his employment by them. he now saw his danger, and, on returning to his cell with his supposed fellow prisoner, who had assumed the name of harris, he manifested great agitation. harris asked what was the matter. b. hesitated for a while, and at length exclaimed: "that rascally p. has stole my boots." "what if he has?" replied the pseudo harris. "they couldn't be worth much." "they are worth considerable to me, i can tell you, for he means to send me to state prison with them." "send you to state prison? what in the world do you mean? how can your boots send you to state prison?" "why, he is going to show that they made the tracks that were found where the rail was put on the track east of adrian." "well," said harris, "that looks rather bad, but it isn't as bad as it might be. you'll get out of it yet, and i'll help you, if i can. i expect to get bailed out in a day or two, and if i can do anything for you, i will." "you are the man for me," said b., "and i shall want you to come and swear on my trial that you saw a person by the name of a---- put the rail on, and that i wasn't there." "but if you are innocent," replied harris, "you will get clear; and if you are guilty, i don't believe i can help you." "you must, by heavens," said b. "if you don't, i'm a goner!" here the conversation ended that day, but the next morning b. directed his fellow prisoner to testify that his name was grover, and that on the night on which the obstruction in question was made, he went with a----, and saw him put the rail on the track. (so minute, by the way, was b.'s description of the place and the manner in which the obstructing rail was laid, that the deputy sheriff going there afterwards in company with mr. p., easily found the spot, and identified the very tie under which the rail was placed, though it was the first time he had been there.) "well," said harris, _alias_ grover, (who seemed to grow rapidly rich in names,) "if i help you out in this way, what shall _i_ get by it?" b. replied: "if you get me clear i shall keep the confidence of the railroad company, and will introduce you to a set of good fellows who do nothing but big jobs, and my connection with the company will enable me to get you a position where you can pay yourself." having by such inducements secured (as he supposed) the aid of his companion, b. recovered his equanimity, and wrote as follows to one of the attorneys for the railroad company:-- "to return to the obstruction east of adrian in regard to my boots such as i can prove by j s that i mentioned in my last, by him i can prove where i was that night, as also where my boots were, and as for the other man's evidence i am sure that i cannot be mistaken as to my success on trial or examination. i hope you will soon see mr g again and be sure to have him at the time. as to the danger of my going to adrian for fear i would fall into the hands of the engineers and firemen in that place, i will say for once and all, let me go to adrian--& as to the danger of falling into the hands of rowdies i am not afraid of no! no! not if all the fiends of pandemonium was to raise against me i will not shrink from anything as long as i am innocent or as long as i can have the protection of the law on my side justice! justice!! is all i claim and that i expect to have before a court of justice and an independent & impartial jury, if i can't swim there let me sink. res. yours & others, a. s. b. p. s. i will convince your engineers & firemen that i was their friend, and that i have oftentimes run myself into danger for their safety, as well as that of the company & the travelling public yes & if they or the co. have any feeling of gratitude in them i am sure that they will not show it by prosecuting me but first i must prove "_my title_ clear" & that i can do so hurra boys, &c., three times three. yours truly, a. s. b." the railroad company could have no further doubt of his guilt. it was plain that he had entered their service to betray them; and though he had given the names of his accomplices, he had been careful not to catch them. at his request he was removed to adrian for trial. he told his counsel what he should prove by grover; and was assured of an honorable acquittal. at the trial, the counsel for the prosecution examined several witnesses in relation to the boot-tracks, which, for the time being, were as interesting to the legal fraternity, as are the ancient bird-tracks found in sandstone, to geologists. the defence supposed that the counsel for the prosecution would there rest, and were confident that they had the game in their own hands, knowing, as they did, that the evidence thus far adduced was not sufficient to convict their client. but the prosecution called "wm. b.," (the deputy sheriff,) when, to the utter astonishment and dismay of the prisoner, his man grover took the stand! this unexpected transmutation at once dissipated the dreams of triumph and future villany in which he had been revelling; and as "wm. b." testified to the facts in his possession, and the disclosures of the prisoner, this baffled scoundrel found the prop on which he had relied falling beneath him, and plunging him into that gulf from which he had made such desperate though vain efforts to escape. he was found guilty on two indictments. on the first, he was sentenced to imprisonment for life, the judge remarking that he would suspend sentence on the other till the first had expired. the interval between the pilfering of small sums and the deliberate plotting of wholesale murder for the sake of plunder, seems a wide one; yet no one who enters even the verge of the maelstrom of a dishonest course, can tell how far within the vortex he may be drawn by its ever strengthening current. the case just related forms a culminating point in the series of villanies which we have recorded in this book for the benefit of those who, in defiance of the eternal laws of providence, attempt to make the way of the transgressor easy. chapter x. stopping a post-office. the unpaid draft--the forged order--a reliable witness--giving up the mail key--a lady assistant--post-office records--the official envelope--return of the post master--the interview--embarrassment of guilt--duplicate circular--justice secured. one of the coolest and at the same time silliest pieces of post-office rascality that i have ever known, occurred a few years since in rhode island. a small draft from the post-office department having been presented by a mail contractor to the post master of p., payment was refused, on the ground that the office had been abolished some time before, and that there was little or nothing due the department. no time was lost by the contractor in apprising the proper officer at washington, of the non-payment of the draft, and the reason assigned therefore; when reference was at once made to the official records. they, however, failed to show the discontinuance of the office. here was a mysterious and singular affair, and a letter was accordingly despatched to the seemingly delinquent post master, requiring an explanation of his course. a reply to this was very promptly sent to the department, to the effect that some months previous he had received from the appointment office formal notice that his office had been discontinued, accompanied by an order to hand over all the mail matter remaining on hand, together with the mail key, and other property of the department, to a neighboring post master, and that he had of course answered the demand. a re-examination of the books still showing the office to be a "live one," he was written to, and directed to forward the original document upon the authority of which he had shut up his office. the papers were duly forwarded, and sure enough, there was the "order," signed with the name of the second assistant post master general, who was then at the head of the appointment office. it read as follows:-- post-office department, march , . sir, the post master general having decided to discontinue the post-office at p----, from and after the expiration of the present fiscal quarter, you will, at that time, please hand over all mail matter, the mail key, and all other property belonging to the department, to the post master at m----, on his presenting this order. very respectfully, your obt. servant, wm. j. brown, d asst. p. m. general. although a tolerably fair imitation of that officer's hand-writing, it was at once pronounced a forgery. my services, as special agent, were called into requisition, and all the facts, as they then stood, communicated to me. as speedily as possible i visited the scene of this perplexing and extraordinary official mystery. arriving at the site of the late post-office, i found its former incumbent to be a highly respectable merchant, well advanced in years, and blessed with one of those countenances which, to a person at all accustomed to study character in that way, at once dispels all doubt and distrust. he was of dutch descent, and, while intelligent on general subjects, was poorly "posted" in the arts and devices of cunning knaves. from him i received a full statement of the shutting up process, and obtained some additional facts, which afterwards furnished me with a clue to the whole mystery. on one of the last days of march, mr. g----, post master at another village in the same town, called on him in company with one of his friends, and presented what purported to be a copy of an order from the department, directing him to close the office, and to give up the property in the manner already described. of course the post master felt and manifested no little surprise, for the office had been established but about a year, and he had heard of no application or desire in any quarter for such a proceeding. "it is all right, i suppose," said he, after carefully examining the "copy" which had been handed him without a word of explanation; "but i think, before i hand over the property, i ought to have the original order." "oh yes, it's all correct," responded the witness (who had seen the copy made from the spurious order, supposing that to be genuine); "i saw it compared with the original myself, and it's a true copy." "but the quarter will not be ended till to-morrow," remarked the astonished official; "and, on the whole, i think i must refuse compliance, unless the original instructions are placed in my hands." "then i understand you as refusing to obey the order of the department, do i?" said the applicant. "not at all," was the mild response; "i am perfectly ready to comply when i see the written command over the signature of the proper officer of the department. it can be but little trouble to produce that, and i think, under the same circumstances, you would demand as much yourself." "but do i not bring a reliable witness to prove that this is an exact copy of the original?" asked the visitor, impatiently. "true, but my request is reasonable, and i think i will adhere to it," he replied; and the gentleman, with his companion, left the premises, simply remarking, "you will hear from me again, to-morrow." and sure enough, he did. towards sun-down on the following day, the abolisher of post-offices made his appearance, and, with an air of authority, without uttering a word, threw the extinguishing document upon the counter. the post master took it up, and after adjusting his spectacles, examined first the outside. it had the usual printed endorsement on the right hand upper corner, "post-office department, official business," was properly franked by the second assistant, post-marked "washington," and plainly addressed to the "post master, m----, r. i." on withdrawing the letter from its covering, it had, sure enough, every appearance of genuineness, and no doubt remained that it was the official action of the department. the post-office effects were accordingly put in shape as hastily as possible, and handed over. but "the course of _knavery_ never did run smooth." strong suspicions began to arise that the neighboring post master, before mentioned, was the author of the whole transaction, and when the knowledge of a motive on his part was supplied, his guilt became to my mind clear and positive. it appeared that at the time of the establishment of the now defunct post-office, there was a tremendous opposition, in which he took an active and leading part, but the member of congress for that district favored the application for the new office, and it was finally granted. being but two miles from the old establishment, there was, as had been anticipated, a considerable falling off in the receipts of the latter. the snake was "scotched, not killed," or in other words, post master number one had bottled up his wrath, and was biding his time. the affair had now become with him a matter of pride as well as interest, and when joked, as he frequently was, about his defeat in the post-office contest, he was often heard to say that the new post-office was "short-lived any way." he was quite an active, prominent politician, and when a new nomination for congress was to be made, he thought he saw his way clear. he struggled hard for the selection of a personal friend, and succeeded, not only in the nomination, but in the election. but when the pinch came, the honorable member failed him, and could not be persuaded to take the responsibility, for the new post-office had proved really a great convenience to many of his constituents and to some of his friends, personal and political. with the advantage of this information obtained from the ex-post master and one or two other citizens of that vicinity, i proceeded to visit the office which at one gulp had swallowed up the other, without apparent injury to its digestive organs. the post master was absent, and the office in charge of his wife. this was a piece of good luck, for it would enable me to examine the books and papers to greater advantage, and what was better, to interrogate the lady and her lesser half separately. two or three points were very important. might not some wicked wag in the department, knowing all the circumstances of the case, have prepared the letter in question, and sent it as a hoax? this could be easily settled by referring to the account of mails received, for the record in that event should show the receipt of a free letter, either direct from washington, or from the distribution office at new york. then another test, was a comparison of the "order," with the hand-writing of the post master. but the most troublesome point of all to reconcile, was, how the official envelope had been obtained, for that was beyond a doubt genuine. introducing myself to the lady assistant, who happened to be alone in the office, i remarked,-- "i am in pursuit of a letter which should have come here from new york in march last, and i wish to see if your new york packages, during that month, were all regularly received. where do you keep your transcripts, the books, or sheets, you know, upon which you copy your post-bills?" they were taken from a desk and laid before me. turning to the record of the month in question, not a single free letter was entered as received at that office for the last two weeks in march, from any quarter! "who made the entries in this book?" i inquired. "my husband," was the prompt answer. having the general style of the "order" in my mind, i glanced over a few pages of the book, and observed several peculiarities in the formation of some of the capital letters which i had noticed in the (to this time) fatherless document. it was written in bluish ink, and so were the pages of the records made at about the same time,--a trifling circumstance to be sure, but yet a link in the chain of evidence. the wafer too, used in sealing, was strikingly similar in size and shade to those contained in a large box upon the desk. the "order" was on a half sheet of letter paper of different size and stamp from the wrapper enclosing it. it now remained to establish some reasonable theory to account for his possession of a genuine official envelope. some farther reflection supplied that theory which in the sequel proved to be the correct one. the date of the washington post-mark i had before noticed, was very indistinct, in fact could not be made out, although the word "washington" and "march" were tolerably plain. at that time the present style of envelopes were not much in use by the department. could it not be an old wrapper, or the "fly leaf" of some former official document from head quarters? this idea was certainly favored by the fact that on one side it presented a ragged appearance as if torn from another half sheet; and if its fellow could be found on the premises, the two parts must necessarily fit together, and conclusively show that a branch of the appointment office had really been temporarily established without authority of law, not far from that locality. it was now late in the afternoon, and the post master still absent, though momentarily expected home. an invitation to take tea with the good lady, was the more readily accepted, from a desire to prevent any comparing of notes between them with respect to the inquiries and examination already made. at the table i ventured, for the first time, to broach the subject of the "stoppage" affair. "i believe the last time i passed over this route, you had two post-offices in town," i remarked. "yes," was the reply, "but it made so much bother, and did so little good, that it was abolished some months since." in her manner of receiving this remark, i could discover no proof of a participation in, or knowledge of the process by which the rival concern had been gotten rid of. and i might as well say in this connection as anywhere else, that i have never in my own official experience, known any instance of a wife or child being made an accomplice, partner or confidant, "before the fact," in the commission of serious post-office offences. prying ladies have sometimes, however, from curiosity, rather than pecuniary considerations, exhibited a remarkable aptness in getting at the written contents of letters, without the consent or knowledge of the owners. the cloth had not long been removed before the post master's approach was heralded by the scratching at the door of a large newfoundland dog, the circumstance being at once noted by the lady as indicative of the safe return of her husband. in a moment more the sound of the horse's hoofs were distinctly heard, and as soon as the nag had been passed over to a boy we had left in the office, the post-office annihilator entered. "my dear," says the affectionate wife, "you have got back once more." and with this salutation she announced her guest, as "a gentleman who had come to see about some post-office business." he eyed me rather closely, and with a much less amiable expression than he assumed on learning that i was a near relative of his "uncle sam," which i saw it was essential to make known to him, in order to secure decent treatment; for he was decidedly savage in his looks and manners on the first introduction, taking me no doubt for some troublesome customer (as i eventually proved to be, by the way,) who had come to bother him about some trifling affair. an intimation that i would like to see him at the post-office was sufficient. we soon found ourselves there alone, and i commenced interrogating him thus:-- "did you receive notice from the department in march last of the discontinuance of the office at p.?" "i did, and was ordered to take possession of the property of the department," he replied. "the old gentleman," said he, "rather hated to yield; but, when i showed him the documents, he caved in and made the best of it. the fact is, the office never ought to have been created at all." "when did the order reach your hands?" i asked; "and do you remember the circumstance of its arrival in the mail?" "i well remember all about it," said he; "i opened the mail that day myself, as usual. i think it was one of the last days in march. i shall never forget the astonished look of neighbor n., as he perused the order converting him into a private citizen once more." "he wasn't satisfied with a certified copy of the unwelcome document, was he?" i remarked. "and, by the way, what was the object of serving a _copy_ of the paper on him?" "well," he rejoined, with a slight embarrassment, "the fact is, i thought i had better retain the original for my own protection, in case of any fuss. he had to have it, however, before he would shut up shop." at this juncture i produced the "order," and laying it before him, requested that he would turn to the entry of a free letter on his "mails received," at the time of the receipt of this one. the search was in vain, as i well knew it would be; and he undertook to explain that circumstance by claiming that official letters frequently came from washington without wrapper or post-bill. by this time he evidently began to construe my inquiries into a suspicion of his fraudulent conduct; and, as in all such cases, every attempt to extricate himself only made the matter worse. "come to think of it," said he, "i was absent from home the day that letter arrived, and on my return i took it from my private box where my letters are put," at the same time pointing to a pigeon-hole in a small letter-case over the desk. "and would your wife open the mail in your absence?" i inquired. receiving an affirmative answer, i requested him to call her, taking care that they should hold no private conversation. exhibiting to her the outside of the letter, i asked if she recollected taking it from the mail and placing it in the post master's box. they exchanged glances, and, on the second look towards him, i was just in time to observe a trifling nod of the head by way of intimating that she had better say yes. but she thought otherwise, and was quite positive that if such a thing bad come loose in the bag, at any time when she opened the mail, she would have noticed it. "to come right to the point," said i, "this document is disowned by the department, and no authority has been given to any one to discontinue the other office." a forced laugh from the post master followed this announcement, but the honest wife looked worried. "well," he answered, "if it did not come from the appointment office, then some mischievous clerk in the department may have sent it as an april-fool hoax, as it was near the first of april; or some one may have slipped it into my private box unobserved, though no one could well do it unless it was the boy that you see about here." "i see no motive that he could have had for doing it," i observed. "but he might possibly have been hired to do it," was the reply. in accounting for the envelope, it now became an important point to settle whether or not the post master had been in the habit of preserving all official circulars from the department. if so, and this envelope had been torn from one of them, the remaining fragment might still come to light as his certain accuser. a search of the files showed the preservation of all such documents for two years previous, but nothing appeared to match the covering of the "order." still believing it was obtained in that way, i adjourned the investigation for a few days, and meantime applied to the department for duplicates of any printed circulars that had been sent to this office, and the return mail brought me one that was so sent, but a few weeks previous to the fraud in question. its absence from the postmaster's files, while all other similar documents had been carefully saved, was a strong circumstance to show that a part of it at least had been used for this dishonest purpose. but the damning proof was yet to come. in the printed words "official business," which were in capitals on the outside of the duplicate circular, there was a defect, or "nick" in the letter o, and the last s, in business. on comparing this with the covering of the spurious order, exactly the same bruises were found in the same letters, identifying the one with the other in the most positive manner, as the coincidence would be almost miraculous of the same type being battered in precisely the same way, upon circulars printed at different times. nor was this all. in folding the circular before the ink was fairly dry, some parts of the printed words in the body of it had "struck off" upon the inner side of the "fly leaf," which parts of words could, by a strong light, be distinctly observed upon several lines directly under each other. referring to the printed page of the entire circular received for examination and comparison, a copy of which was known to have been sent to this post-office, _the same words were found to occur, and precisely in the same relative positions_. thus was the final link in the chain of evidence closed and riveted; a chain which held the guilty one in its unyielding grasp, and set at nought all attempts at evasion or escape, had he been disposed to make them. his only alternative was silence or confession, and of these he chose the latter. a full report of all the facts above stated was made to the department, and the tricky post master soon received an official letter from washington, concerning whose genuineness the most sceptical could have no doubt. in this case, "the engineer was hoist with his own petard." in stopping his neighbor's office he was himself stopped; and, furthermore, received a reward for his misdeeds, the nature of which any future post-office stopper will learn by sad experience. the defunct office was resuscitated, and its former incumbent reinstated in all the rights and privileges of which he had been deprived by the treachery of his unscrupulous opponent. nothing but the most obstinate determination to carry his point, at all hazards, could have impelled this man to the extreme measures which he adopted for ridding himself of his rival. forgery is a crime of sufficient magnitude, one would think, to deter from its commission any one that is not prepared to go all lengths in the execution of his designs. and the present case shows how far pride and self-will may carry a man who yields to their suggestions, and how small a matter may be sufficient to raise them to an irresistible height, and create a tide which may sweep away conscience, and honor, and all that is valuable in character, to say nothing of an enlightened regard to self-interest. the man whose discreditable exploit we have recorded, paid dearly for his short-lived triumph; and whoever is in danger of suffering his pride or obstinacy to hurry him beyond the bounds of prudence and virtue, will do well to "sit down first, and count the cost." chapter xi. indian depredations--the model mail contractor--rifles and revolvers--importance of a scalp--indian chief reconnoitering--saving dead bodies--death of a warrior--the charge--a proud trophy. sunset on the prairie--animal life--a solitary hunt--the buffalo chase--desperate encounter with an indian--ingenious signal--returning to camp--minute guns--a welcome return. previous to the year there was no regular mail service between the valley of the mississippi and new mexico and utah territories. in selling lands to settlers and taking these communities under the protecting care of the nation, the government was bound in good faith to give them a regular mail. this, like all other mail service, is carried on without much regard to the question whether the actual receipts from the locality will be remunerative or not. the commencement of this service in , called out the energies of some of our most daring and enterprising business men. a tract of country nearly one thousand miles in extent had to be traversed, where there were no civilized inhabitants, and but one or two military posts. the indian tribes, finding their game disappear before the unerring rifle of the white hunter, and learning the taste of the luxuries of civilized life without the industry to procure them, became at first sullen and despairing, then hostile and revengeful. a detailed account of the "hair breadth 'scapes," the dangers, losses, and tragedies in encounters with hostile indians, in transporting the united states mails across these plains, would form one of the most remarkable chapters in the postal history of the world. one mail contractor on the route from independence, missouri, to santa fé, by his success in transporting the mails safely, and his daring and diplomacy with the indians, has become eminent among his countrymen, and dreaded by the hostile tribes whom he has encountered. the treachery so fatally prevalent in meetings between small bands of whites and these dark sons of the forest, and the cunning and boldness displayed in stealing the horses and cattle that belong to the "pale faces," have made it necessary that great caution should be used, and also that the indians should be made to feel the force of that terrible weapon the modern rifle. the indian has long since learned the superiority that the possession of "revolvers" gives to the white hunters. and he has also learned at what distance it is safe for him to approach the camp or the traveling party of his foes. they do not consider that there is much security in any distance less than three hundred yards, when well mounted and in rapid motion. the honor attached to the possession of scalps, and the dismal forebodings attending the loss of a beloved chief, make all the tribes particularly cautious that their leaders shall not be too much exposed, and that their slain shall not fall into the hands of the enemy. a reckless daring displayed by a chief, always gives him honor with his tribe, and this is proportioned to the success which attends his efforts and skill, whether in the offensive or defensive. the mail contractor before alluded to, is a man of great humanity as well as courage, and prefers making now and then a terrible example, rather than wage an indiscriminate warfare with tribes inveterately hostile. after the tragic occurrences attending the capture and terrible death of mrs. white, with several others in a party of california emigrants near santa fé, the indians, emboldened by success, seemed to feel that they had the power and did not lack the will to drive all white travelers from the plains. our "model mail contractor," in addition to the heavy responsibility of conveying from fifteen hundred weight to a ton and a half of the united states mails, often had intrusted to his care, coin and gold dust in considerable quantities, and the lives and effects of numerous passengers. a usual "mail train" consisted of three covered wagons, with elliptic springs, each drawn by six mules, guarded by eight or ten men, and carrying perhaps as many passengers. thirty miles a day was a usual drive, and this gave several hours' rest in every twenty-four. by having plenty of sharp's rifles, and colt's six-shooting cavalry pistols, the entire company of men and passengers formed a terrible phalanx, able to fire three or four hundred shots without any delay in loading. the indians soon learned to _respect_ these parties, and usually gave them a wide berth, not venturing to attack them though outnumbering them by more than ten to one. soon after the above-mentioned barbarous transactions near santa fé, the mail was on its way accompanied by the contractor himself. one morning, marks of hostile indians were quite frequent. a large camp was passed where the fires still burned, and newly picked bones of buffalo and deer were scattered around. in the course of the forenoon, several indians were seen, and at the noon rest, their whole party was in sight, numbering apparently one hundred and fifty or more. the main body kept three or four hundred yards off, but one daring warrior, evidently their chief, would ride in a wide circuit, approaching sometimes within a hundred and fifty or two hundred yards of the mail wagons. he seemed to be reconnoitering; and though the mail party, passengers and all, did not exceed a dozen persons, there seemed to be little disposition to attack them. the chief--as he proved to be--was splendidly dressed; the long feathers on his head waving in the wind, and mounted on a milk white horse, he seemed the murat of his nation. [illustration] a shield of raw hide, dried in the sun, quite common among the indians, covered his entire person from his saddle to his neck. though within rifle shot, his swift riding and the protection afforded by the shield, gave but little chance for a successful shot. in the most daring and impudent manner he rode several times in a semicircle, reducing the distance between his followers and the little band of whites, at least one half. the mail contractor told his men to stand by their arms, and be ready for an attack. he then took his sharp's rifle and lay down on the ground, resting his gun across a stone. he looked across the sights, and saw the chief "wheel his daring flight" within good gun range, but always on the full run with his head just in sight over the shield. each indian is provided with a rope or _lariat_ made of hide, and this is fastened by one end around the rider's waist, and by the other to the saddle, that in the event of his being killed, the horse will drag off the dead body and thus prevent its falling into the hands of his enemies. some accident happened to the chief on the white charger; his stirrup broke, or something took place which obliged him to dismount. he was then about a hundred and seventy yards from the mail camp, and as he dismounted on the farther side, he was no fairer mark than before. it was easy enough to shoot down the horse, but that would accomplish nothing, as the chief was nearer to his friends than to his foes. it was evident that he must, to a certain extent, expose himself, when he mounted, and as he sprang up in his stirrup, his breast for a moment presented a fair mark. the sharp ring of the rifle was heard, and the chief lay on the ground, while the blood sprinkled the snowy flank of the beautiful charger. he was shot through the heart! the horse sprung, and the weight of the dead chief broke the _lariat_ clear from the saddle. the consternation among the indians was terrible. drawing their knives and pistols, the mail carriers gave a yell, and charged directly at the whole array of indians. the head of the little band, whose successful shot had so opportunely killed the chief, had given orders not to attack except on the defensive, but nothing could restrain them; and appalled as much by the daring bravery of the whites as by the sudden death of their chief, the warriors broke and fled. the scalp of the unfortunate indian was soon stripped from the skull, and, with its dark and flowing locks, formed a trophy of the short combat, and made the subject of a tale around the fireside of the bold and hardy pioneer. * * * * * we have room for but one more narrative of border life, and the perils of mail carrying in the backwoods; and this is also an incident in the life of our "model mail contractor." at a period anterior to the events just related, the mail, with quite a number of wagons, was wending its way toward santa fé. the party were near the banks of the cimmeron, and then in the country of the arrapahoes. large herds of buffalo were constantly visible, but no indians had been seen for some days. it was a beautiful afternoon in june, the slowly descending sun illuminating one of the grandest scenes in nature--a broad rolling prairie covered with verdure, and presenting one checkered field of animal life. beautiful antelopes, that flew rather than ran, and scarce seemed to touch the earth; stately elks, with branching horns, gallantly guarding their gregarious herds, and the unwieldy bison, far more numerous than all the rest, numbering hundreds of thousands, and blackening the plain as far as the eye could reach. our hero of many an indian skirmish and numerous buffalo hunts, mounted his horse to go and select an animal from the vast herd, which should furnish supper for his party. he was mounted on a fleet animal, but after getting fairly away from the train, he found he had omitted to put on his spurs. it was in a section of country where small streams form deep ravines, some of them nearly as abrupt, though not as deep as the awful _canons_ of the gila and the head branches of the rio grande. he singled out a fat buffalo cow, and drawing his "colt," dashed on to get near and be sure of a fatal shot at the first fire. not being able to spur his horse, the animal led him a rapid race, and taking a path, followed it down a dark ravine, where a slender stream gurgled idly between its banks. his horse, accustomed to the sport, went faster and faster, and neared the buffalo at every spring, till she suddenly turned the corner of the bank, now near the bottom of the ravine, and some fifty or sixty feet below the level of the prairie. the path that led down the ravine was a gradual descent, and on each side were some scattering trees and bushes. when the bluff was rounded in pursuit of the buffalo, the animal was but a few yards ahead, and then, for the first time, a fair mark. our hero was nearly ready to fire, when _whiz!_ went an arrow so near that there was no mistaking its sound, especially to one whose ear was practised in indian warfare. the arrow had scarcely ceased its whir, before a mounted indian came down upon our buffalo hunter, from behind the bank of the ravine. his lance was poised in its "rest," with the butt of it firmly against his shoulder. the buffalo passed from sight, and the indian instantly appeared; and before there was a moment for reflection, the "white hunter" had to "wink and hold out his iron." the lance was a bright piece of steel, about twenty inches long, on a pole of some twelve feet in length. this murderous blade was aimed directly at his breast, and the two horses on a full run in opposite directions. our contractor had nothing on but a pair of trousers, his red hunting shirt, and traveling cap. the indian, with the exception of some long feathers on his head, was naked to the waist. the savage observed the "law of the road," and took the right, and with one simultaneous and almost involuntary movement, the "pale face" dropped the bridle, and with his left arm parried the approaching blow by knocking the lance upward. the blade in its course ripped the hunting shirt, and tore the muscles from his shoulder; and simultaneously with this he fired his "colt," and saw the blood spirt from the naked breast of the indian. the slain warrior fell heavily to the ground, while the white man's horse turned suddenly to the right, and mounted the bank of the ravine, which was here so steep, that, having no longer a hold of the bridle, the rider came near tumbling backward. the surface of the prairie was gained, and near two hundred yards measured off by the horse before the owner had time to gather his scattered thoughts. he attempted to grasp the bridle, but found his left arm quite powerless, not only from the wound on the shoulder, but the stunning effect of the lance on his fore-arm, near the wrist. with a rapid movement he plunged his pistol into the holster, and seizing the bridle with his right hand, drew up his horse and dismounted. every movement had been so rapid since going down the path into the ravine after the buffalo, until he emerged in safety on the plain, that he had not reflected a moment. he had done better; he had _acted_. there now appeared five indians, all mounted, and not more than two hundred and fifty yards from where he stood. he instantly formed his plan. his arms consisted of his revolver, and a double-barrelled english fowling-piece, one barrel loaded with ball, and the other with buckshot. he unstrapped his gun, kept himself on the farther side of the horse from the indians, and as they seemed to be approaching him, he made his arrangements. he concluded to wait until they arrived within about a hundred and fifty yards, and then fire with his ball, and if possible, kill the foremost. the other barrel with the buckshot would then be "good" for two more, when he would have five loaded barrels of his "colt," with only two foes. but the cowardly villains dared not attack him. four of them retreated, and the other rode a little nearer to reconnoitre. [illustration] the indian, believing he knew the character of his foe as that of an old hunter, was sure he was armed with one or more "six-shooters." he communicated his thoughts to his red-skinned brethren, by riding several times rapidly round in a circle, this being the sign given by the arrapahoes when they meet white men armed with "revolvers." being satisfied with this view of their foe, and the taste they had had of his prowess, they turned their horses and disappeared down the ravine. danger was not yet over, and our friend was determined to be ready for whatever might happen. he rode slowly away for fifty or a hundred yards, and stopped. thinking he had better have his arms in as good condition as possible, he dismounted and thought he would load the discharged barrel of his pistol. on looking, this trusty weapon was missing. the holster was entirely torn away, and the pistol gone. he went back where he had waited for the indians, and there lay the pistol on the ground. in his violent effort to put up the weapon and stop the horse while one arm was totally disabled, he had evidently thrust it in the holster so violently as to tear the leather away, and the weapon unperceived had fallen to the ground. having loaded the empty barrel, he again mounted. the sun by this time was just setting. the indians and the long dark ravine lay between him and the camp, and he took a circuitous route to meet the train. after going some four miles to the south-west, he came to the road. by the light of the moon he examined the track to see if his wagons with their broad tires had passed. there were no ruts but those made by the narrow-tired wagons of a mormon train that was one or two days ahead of them. he then followed back, and mile after mile not a sound, not a person, not an animal, or a camp fire broke the vast solitude! but now he hears a gun directly ahead of him. another minute and another gun; yes, 'tis his own party camped out for the night, firing minute guns as a signal, and waiting with anxiety and fear for their absent leader. he soon rode up, and--in the words of the narrator, as he told us the story--"how the boys took me in their arms and hugged me! they fairly screamed as i told them how i missed the buffalo but didn't miss the indian. they took me on their shoulders and carried me three times round the camp. we saw no more of the arrapahoes during the journey to santa fé." such have been the adventures and perils of carrying the mails between the far outposts of civilization, on our wild frontier. chapter xii. cheating the clergy--duping a witness--money missing--a singular postscript--the double seal--proofs of fraud--the same bank-note--"post-boy" confronted--how the game was played--moving off. our collection of "outside" delinquencies would be incomplete, were we to omit the following case, which was investigated by the author not long ago, and in which not a little ingenuity, of the baser sort, was displayed. it will serve as a specimen of a numerous class of cases, characterized by attempts to defraud some correspondent, and to fasten the blame of the fraud upon some one connected with the post-office. we could give many instances of a similar kind, did our limits permit. a person of good standing in community, who laid claim not only to a moral, but a religious character, was visiting in a large town on the hudson river, about midway between new york and albany. this person owed a clergyman, living in new haven, conn., the sum of one hundred dollars; and one day he called at the house of another clergyman of his acquaintance in the town first mentioned, and requested to be allowed the privilege of writing a letter there to his clerical creditor, in which the sum due that gentleman was to be enclosed. writing materials were furnished, and he prepared the letter in the study of his obliging friend, and in his presence. after he had finished writing it, he said to the clergyman, "now, as the mails are not always safe, i wish to be able to prove that i have actually sent the money. i shall therefore consider it a great favor if you will accompany me to the bank, where i wish to obtain a hundred-dollar note for some small trash that i have, and bear witness that i enclose the money and deposit the letter in the post-office." the reverend gentleman readily acceded to his request, and went with him to the bank, where a bill of the required denomination was obtained and placed in the letter, which was then sealed with a wafer, the clergyman all the while looking on. they then went to the post-office, (which was directly opposite the bank,) and after calling the attention of his companion to the letter and its address, the writer thereof dropped it into the letter box, and the two persons went their several ways. the letter arrived at new haven by due course of mail, and it so happened that the clergyman to whom it was addressed was at the post-office, waiting for the assorting of the mails. he saw a letter thrown into his box, and called for it as soon as the delivery window was opened. upon breaking the seal and reading the letter, he found himself requested to "please find one hundred dollars," &c., with which request he would cheerfully have complied, but for one slight circumstance, namely, the absence of the bank-note! this fact was apparently accounted for by a postscript, written in a heavy, rude hand, entirely different from that of the body of the letter, and reading as follows:-- "p. s. i have taken the liberty to borrow this money, but i send the letter, so that you needn't blame the man what wrote it." (signed) "post-boy." the rifled document was immediately shown to the post master, and in his opinion, as well as that of the clergyman, a daring robbery had been committed. the latter gentleman was advised by the post master to proceed at once to new york, and confer with the special agent, and at the same time to lay all the facts before the post master general. he did so, and it was not long before the agent had commenced the investigation of the supposed robbery. in addition to the postscript appended, the letter bore other indications of having been tampered with, which at first sight would seem almost conclusive on this point. upon the envelope were two wafers, differing in color, one partly overlapping the other, as if they had been put on by different persons at different times. notwithstanding these appearances, there were circumstances strongly conflicting with the supposition that the letter had been robbed. the postscript was an unnatural affair, for no one guilty of opening a letter for the purpose of appropriating its contents, would stop to write an explanatory postscript, especially as such a course would increase the chances of his own detection. and in the present instance, there had been no delay of the letter to allow of such an addition. by a visit to the office where the letter was mailed, the agent ascertained that it must have left immediately after having been deposited, and the advanced age and excellent character of the post master, who made up the mail on that occasion, entirely cut off suspicion in that quarter. an interview was then held with the clergyman who witnessed the mailing of the letter, and from him were obtained the facts already stated. concerning the writing of the document, and its deposit in the letter box in a perfect state, after the money had been enclosed, he was ready and willing to make oath, and had he been called upon he would have done so in all sincerity and honesty. in reply to an inquiry whether he used more than one sort of letter paper, he informed me he had had but one kind in his study for several months, and at my request, immediately brought in several sheets of it. a comparison of this with the sheet upon which the _rifled_ epistle had been written, showed that the latter was a totally different article from the first. the shape and design of the stamp, the size of the sheet, and the shade of the paper, were all unlike. moreover, the wafers used at the bank, where the hundred-dollar note was obtained, and the letter containing it, sealed, were very dissimilar to either of those which appeared upon the "post-boy" letter. from the consideration of all these facts, i was satisfied that a gross and contemptible fraud had been perpetrated by the writer of the letter, and lost no time in proceeding to the village where that personage lived. i called upon the post master and made some inquiries relative to the character and pecuniary circumstances of the person in question. from the replies made, it appeared, as i have already stated, that his reputation in community was good. i thought it might be possible that in so small a place, i could ascertain whether he had lately passed a hundred-dollar note, as he would have been likely to have done, if it was true that he had not enclosed it in the new haven letter. calling at the store which received most of his custom, i introduced myself to the proprietor, made a confidant of him to some extent, and learned that the very next day after that on which the aforesaid letter was mailed, its author offered him in payment for a barrel of flour, a hundred-dollar note on the bank from which a bill of the like denomination had been obtained, as before-mentioned, in exchange for the "small trash." the merchant could not then change it, but sent the flour, and changed a bill which he supposed to be the same, a few days afterward. armed with these irresistible facts, i proceeded to call on the adventurous deceiver of the clergy, who had attempted to make one member of that body second his intention to cheat another. "insatiate archer! could not one suffice?" "mr. t----," said i, after some preliminary conversation, "it's of no use to mince matters. the fact is, you did not send the money in that new haven letter. you offered it the day after you pretended to mail it, at mr. c.'s store. you see i've found out all about it, so i hope you will not deny the truth in the matter." i then gave him his choice, to send the hundred dollars promptly to his new haven correspondent, or allow me to prove in a public manner, the facts in my possession. being thus hard pressed, and finding himself cornered, he confessed that he had prepared the letter which was received in new haven--postscript, double wafers and all--before he left home, and that while crossing the street from the bank to the post-office, he substituted this for the one he wrote in the clergyman's study! he promised to send the money, and pretended to have suffered severely in his feelings, on account of this dishonest act. there is no united states law providing for the punishment of such an offence, but public opinion and private conscience make nicer distinctions than the law can do, and often mete out a well deserved penalty to those who elude the less subtle ministers of justice. in the present instance, the foregoing story was made public by direction of the post master general; and the author of the trick, unable to sustain the indignation and contempt of the community in which he lived, was compelled to make a hasty retreat from that part of the country. chapter xiii. young offenders--thirty years ago--a large haul--a ray of light. the facts of the following case were furnished me by a gentleman connected with the new york post-office. i will introduce him as the relator of his own story, taking some liberty, however, with the phraseology. it is one of the too numerous class of cases, of which mere boys are the heroes, (if the term may thus be perverted,)--a class that is represented in this work, which would otherwise be incomplete, professing, as it does, to illustrate the various phases of post-office life, as respects persons of different ages and conditions. the present narration will show that our own times are not the only period fertile in juvenile rascality, but that the youth of thirty years ago were too frequently set upon evil. at the time when the incidents occurred which i am about to narrate, (viz. in the year ,) it was the usual practice in the new york office to make up the morning's mails on the preceding evening, and to place them upon tables before they were entered on the "transcripts," (sheets or books in which copies of the post-bills are made,) and enclosed in wrappers. at this time a boy twelve or thirteen years of age was employed as assistant to one of the letter carriers, and generally arrived at the office at an earlier hour in the morning than the regular clerks. the nature of his duties made him well acquainted with the different species of letters, so that he could determine without much difficulty, from its general appearance, whether a letter contained hidden treasures or not. so, by way of beguiling the time before the arrival of the clerks, or for the sake of a little improving practice, he one morning looked over the eastern mail, which lay spread before him, and selected a letter addressed by the cashier of the farmers' and mechanics' bank of new york, to the cashier of one of the banks in boston, containing four thousand dollars in bank-notes of one thousand dollars each. on the discovery of this "pile," the boy lost no time in "removing the deposits" to his own pocket, substituting for the bank-notes four pieces of paper of an equal size, cut from wrappers lying on the floor. he then resealed the letter and replaced it. the letter was forwarded by due course of mail, and when it was received at the bank, the cashier discovered to his dismay that the money by some jugglery had been converted into brown paper; and the evident marks of breaking open and resealing, indicated unequivocally that some human agency had been engaged in working the spell. information of the loss was immediately conveyed to the new york office, much to the consternation and grief of all concerned, for this office had been considered a model one, and the clerks had taken pride in sustaining its character, to say nothing of their own; and now that suspicion was thrown among them by this daring act of dishonesty, which, from appearances, must have been committed by some one having access to the mails, they felt that all confidence in one another, as well as the confidence of community in them, would be greatly weakened, until the author of the deed should be discovered. it was suggested, indeed, that the robbery might have been committed in the boston office, but circumstances rather favored the supposition that the guilt rested with new york. the post-office department at washington was apprised of the facts in the case, and the attempts made to investigate the matter elicited a good deal of correspondence, which, however, produced no successful result. among other expedients, intimations were thrown out that a thorough search should be made of the residences and persons of the clerks, although it was not likely that the thief, whoever he might be, was so green as to keep the money for such a length of time, in any place where its discovery would be positive proof against him; and if the search were unavailing, the only result would be the infliction of mortification upon those who were innocent of the crime. at this juncture, a ray of light appeared. it was then as well as now the practice of the assorting clerks to place the letters "mis-sent" and "overcharged," in a box by themselves, and one morning a letter of this description was mis-sent to this office, directed to jamaica, l. i., which was accordingly placed in this box. on our return from breakfast this letter was found to be missing. as the boy before mentioned was the only occupant of the office during our absence, the disappearance of the letter naturally induced the belief that he had taken it. this second instance of delinquency assumed a double importance from the fact that the purloiner of this and the robber of the boston letter, were in all probability one and the same person. every exertion was therefore made to bring the truth to light. one of the clerks was dispatched to jamaica to ascertain whether the letter might not have been somehow received at that office, but his proposed investigations were prevented by the unofficial behavior of his horse, which, unmindful of the important business in hand, ran away, upset the carriage, and spilt out its contents. the clerk was so much injured as to be unable to proceed, and therefore returned without the desired information. on the next morning, while the "drop letters" were being assorted, this letter was found among them and was identified. it had been broken open, examined, resealed, but not robbed of a draft for a large amount which it contained. near the seal were written with a pencil the words "picked up in vesey street." the hand-writing was believed to be that of the suspected boy, and he was immediately charged with taking and breaking open the letter, which accusation he stoutly denied, but when he was assured that we knew his hand, that the words which he had written on the letter showed conclusively that he knew something of its whereabouts during its absence, and that it was our determination to investigate the matter thoroughly, his courage gave way, and he confessed opening the letter, but said he did not meddle with the draft which it contained, as he could make no use of it. having thus applied an entering wedge, i lost no time in turning to account the information already obtained, which i hoped would lead to the detection of the person who robbed the boston letter. indeed, i was entirely unprepared to admit the existence of two such rascals in the new york office, as such repeated instances of delinquency would imply, and was quite positive that the boy before me was the only culprit. i accordingly said to him, "now, samuel, i am glad for your sake that you have confessed your guilt in relation to this letter, and i hope you will be equally frank if you have been doing anything else of a similar nature. i strongly suspect that you robbed the boston letter that we had so much trouble about, and if you did, the best thing you can do will be to confess it." "no, sir," replied he, "i don't know any more about this boston letter than you do, and i haven't touched any letter but the jamaica one." "it is useless," said i, "for you to make such assertions, in the face of the probabilities in the case. you have confessed that you stole one letter, and that renders it the more likely that you have robbed the other." "perhaps it is likely," returned he, "but i didn't do it." "well," said i, "take your choice. if you persist in your denial, you must meet the consequences, and you know that this kind of offence is punished severely; but if you will own up, i will engage that you shall get off as easily as possible." by such considerations i finally induced him to acknowledge his guilt in relation to the boston letter, and on being questioned further, he stated that he still had the bills, and offered to show me the place where they were concealed. i at once started off, accompanied by him as my guide. we took a course which soon led us out of the city, and along the banks of the east river. the day was rainy, and a mist overhung the river and the land. as we plodded along through the mud and wet, the face of my young companion was shaded with a sadness which indicated that the external world harmonized in its gloom with the little world within. for myself, i must acknowledge that the prospect of reestablishing lost confidence among my fellow-employés in the post-office, and of putting an end to the suspicion which had haunted almost every one, as well as restoring the stolen property to its rightful owner, produced in me an exhilaration of spirits strangely at variance with all that met my eye. but as we continued to go on and on, with no signs of approaching our place of destination, i began to query with myself, whether my companion might not contemplate giving me the slip, after leading me a wild-goose chase. i could not see, indeed, what motive he could have for such a proceeding, unless he wished to vent his malice on me as one who had been prominent in detecting his misdeeds. but he kept on steadily, till, after going half a mile or so beyond the old penitentiary, (a distance of about three miles from the post-office,) he turned from the road and stopped before an old wooden house, apparently uninhabited. the exterior showed signs of many years' conflict with the elements, in which it had been decidedly worsted. moss had gathered upon the shingles, and the paint, of which there was here and there a trace, strengthened by a feeble contrast the dark color of the parts from which it had been entirely washed away. some of the windows were destitute of glass, and probably served as a mark for the "slings and arrows" of passing boys. we entered the building, whose damp and musty-smelling air chilled me, heated as i was with my long and fatiguing walk, and ascending a flight of stairs, the boy unlocked the door of a room into which i passed by his request. the room contained no furniture but half a dozen chairs, a table, and an old bureau. this last he approached, unlocked, and taking out entirely one of the drawers, he showed another smaller one, which was behind the first when that was in place. opening this, my eyes were refreshed with a sight of the four bills, of which i immediately took possession, and thinking it well to see what further discoveries i could make in this _terra incognita_, i found a little drawer, concealed like the first one behind another, and containing two or three hundred dollars in bills, which the precocious youth confessed to having purloined at different times from dead letters, which were usually _laid out_ upon tables while the clerks were making up the dead letter account. it would seem that the boy thought no more of robbing a dead letter, than do the camp-followers of plundering dead men after a battle. after examining the bureau as thoroughly as i was able, and finding no more of the ill-gotten wealth, i asked my companion whether he had any more money that did not belong to him, to which inquiry he returned a negative answer. the place of concealment was certainly well chosen, for the old house would be the last place to which any one would think of going, who was in search for anything valuable. it seemed to me that it was a particularly fortunate circumstance that the discovery was made at this time, for he informed me that he had been accumulating the money found in the bureau with the intention of intrusting it to his uncle, for the purpose of purchasing some property in newburgh. this would have been a rather large operation for a youth of his age! an operation even worthy of some specimens of young america at the present day. it seemed remarkable to me, as it doubtless has to the reader, that the boy should have such a remote and strange hiding-place. i afterwards learned that the house, the back part of which was occupied by a small family, belonged to an acquaintance of his, and that he used the room as a place of rendezvous, with some of his companions, and, as we have seen, as a receptacle for stolen money. having accomplished the object of my expedition, i returned light of heart, though heavy of limb, and communicated the facts as soon as possible to the cashier of the farmers' and mechanics' bank, and to the post master. the lad was at once arrested, tried, and found guilty, but in consideration of his youth, and his apparent ignorance of the extent of his crime, and the recovery of the property, he was sent to the house of refuge for three years. the boy's reformation was permanent, as i have been informed by one who afterwards knew him, when he had removed to a distant place, and established a good character. if this was so, (which there is no reason to doubt,) it furnishes an instance of the salutary effects arising from early detection in a course of crime, especially to those who are not yet hardened in iniquity. the whole case, also, shows the danger of allowing boys, with principles hardly established as yet, and destitute of that firmness which habit and perseverance bestow, to occupy responsible stations in large offices, where the apparent facility for the commission of crime and the temptations offered, too often subvert the honesty which has not yet ripened into a second nature. chapter xiv. obstructing the mail. a sound principle--a slow period--a wholesome law--"ahead of the mail"--moral suasion--indignant passengers--dutch oaths--a smash--interesting trial--a rowdy constable--the obstructors mulcted. the proper adjustment of the various interests, great and small, which are involved in the every-day life of a nation like ours, is a problem not always very easy of solution, yet one of vital importance to the well-working of the social machine. indeed, it has ever been an important part of legislation to determine the relative magnitude of different interests, both public and private, and to assign to each its proper place in the scale. republican principles require that the less should yield to the greater--individual convenience to public good. and an excellent illustration of the practical application of these principles by the wisdom of congress, is found in the provisions which that body has made to secure the uninterrupted transmission of the mails. it is unnecessary to enlarge upon the vast importance of punctuality in this branch of the public service. time, as an element in business transactions, is increasing in value in proportion to the multiplication of devices for obtaining the greatest results possible from each passing moment. an hour in the present year, represents more--more business--more planning--more results of various kinds, than did an hour thirty years since. to take, for instance, the matter of traveling. the state of things no longer exists which will permit public conveyances to take pretty much their own time in starting and in arriving at their destinations. that was a distressingly "slow" period, when horses were in their glory, and wayside taverns afforded comforts and luxuries which are poorly replaced by the eating, or rather devouring department of a rail road depot, where ravenous passengers, like the israelites of old, are obliged to dispatch their repast, girded up for flight, at a moment's notice, instead of comfortably and deliberately sitting down under the auspices of "mine host," to a meal which deserved more respectful attention than could be given it in a less space of time than half an hour; the driver, meanwhile, being easy in his mind on the subject of "connecting," inasmuch as he, the _connector_, felt quite certain that the _connectee_ would not leave him in the lurch, as "lee-way" of an hour or two was allowed, and often required, by the exigencies of traveling. but since, by the agency of steam, an hour swallows up thirty miles instead of four or five, minutes become correspondingly precious, and the locomotive infuses somewhat of its own energy into every mode of progression. the inexorable hand of the rail-way clock waits not for dilatory drivers, and makes no allowances for detention, unavoidable or otherwise. here comes in the application of our republican principle. if it were in the power of any one to delay the progress of the vehicle containing the mail, to suit his whim or convenience, the public interests would often be seriously interfered with; and, in order to prevent such contingencies, the following law was enacted by congress:-- _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall, knowingly and wilfully, obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or of any driver or carrier, or of any horse or carriage, carrying the same, he shall, upon conviction for every such offence, pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars; and if any ferryman shall, by wilful negligence, or refusal to transport the mail across any ferry, delay the same, he shall forfeit and pay, for every ten minutes that the same shall be so delayed, a sum not exceeding ten dollars. it is obviously right that the pleasure of an individual should not weigh for a moment in the balance, with the interests of thousands depending as they do, in a degree, upon the prompt transmission of correspondence. were all the consequences of simply impeded delivery of important letters to be made known, the record would be a melancholy one indeed. in crowded cities especially, through whose streets the mails are many times a day conveyed to steamboats and rail road stations, it is particularly important that all obstacles in their way should be removed; and pains have been taken to make the law on this subject generally understood, so that at the approach of the wagon bearing the magic characters "u. s. mail," the crowd of vehicles which throng the busy streets, separate to the right and left, and do homage to that supreme power--the public good. a curious trial under the law i have cited, was held in boston before the united states court, about two years since. it appears that the regular mail-coach from worcester to barre, left the former place on the afternoon of january , about half past four, full of passengers, and ornamented, as well as distinguished, by the words "u. s. mail," painted in conspicuous letters on both sides of the foot-board. the passengers were beginning to develope those sparks of sociability which are elicited by the collisions with one another, and the stimulus to the brain resulting from sundry jolts inseparable from the vicissitudes of stage-coach traveling. in other words, the coach had proceeded about two miles, when, arriving at a place where there was some ascent in the road, it overtook three one-horse wagons, which made way for it to pass. very soon, however, the two occupants of the hindmost wagon, (whom we will call stark and baker,) whipped up their steed, and rushed by the coach, like some saucy cutter shooting ahead of a seventy-four. after this demonstration, their horse, having gained four or five rods on the coach, subsided into a walk. the correspondingly moderate movements which the driver of the coach was compelled to adopt, did not very well suit his views, as the icy road and his heavy load formed a combination of circumstances which rendered him anxious to make all possible speed, in order to fulfil the requirements of the u. s. mail, as well as those of his passengers. but he was obliged to retain his humble position of follower to the wagon, for the road at that point was too narrow to admit of passing, and as no other means of attaining his object were at his command, he proceeded to try the effect of moral suasion. "i say, you, there," shouted he to the obstinate couple in the wagon, who were smoking very much at their ease, and apparently busily engaged in conversation, "i wish you'd drive on faster, or let me go by you." "couldn't do it," replied the provoking stark, "unless you'll race." "it's none of my business to race," returned the driver; "all i want is to go on." "well, let's see you do it, then," said stark, checking his horse still more. they soon came to a wider portion of the road, and the stage driver attempted to pass the wagon, but was foiled by the dexterous manoeuvring of stark, who so accurately adjusted his motions to those of the stage-coach as to check-mate its presiding genius. upon coming to a still wider place, the driver outsailed his persevering tormentor, and pushed on at a rapid rate, say seven knots an hour, indulging the sanguine hope that he was rid of his old man of the sea. but this expectation was short-lived, for, on arriving at a curve in the road, where it was narrow and icy, he was compelled to "shorten sail," whereat stark added wings to his speed, and ran by the coach, directly afterward reining his horse into a walk as before. [illustration] a succession of similar manoeuvres was kept up till the coach reached holden, a distance of three or four miles, and during this time the facetious stark, not content with these highly aggravating proceedings, added insult to injury by personal reflections on the skill of the driver and the character of his horses. "hallo, you driver!" shouted he derisively, "why don't you _drive_? if there's any of your passengers in a hurry, i'll take 'em on, and tell the folks that you'll be along in the course of a day or two." to this the driver wisely answered nothing, but his tormentor did not profit by his example. after some ineffectual attempts on the part of the u. s. functionary to pass the wagon, which were foiled as before, stark again essayed to beguile the time with a further display of his conversational powers. "guess your horses ain't very well trained to keep the road, are they? they seem to go from one side to the other as if they couldn't draw a bee-line. may be, though, they are kinder faint, and that's what makes 'em stagger about so. i'll try 'em." so saying, he proceeded to open a bag which lay in his wagon; and, taking from it a handful of oats, he allowed the horses to come nearly up to him, when he held out the grain to them, calling "k'jock, k'jock," as if he was desirous of enticing them along. before this time, the occupants of the coach had become aware of what was going on, and were naturally highly indignant at the imposition practised on them by the audacious stark and his fellow conspirator. one irascible gentleman did not bear the infliction with as much equanimity as his "guide, philosopher, and friend," upon the coach-box; but, every time that the wagon passed the coach, he popped his head out at the nearest window, and fired at the enemy a volley of reproachful epithets that could be likened to nothing but the "nine-cornered dutch oaths," which on special occasions were wont to rumble through the gullet of william the testy, at the hazard of choking that illustrious individual, as we are assured by the grave and matter-of-fact historian of new york. the persevering repetition of the provocation at last excited a degree of rage in the breast of our peppery friend which could not be allayed by the expedients we have mentioned. he called out, "driver, i say, stop and let me out, and i'll see whether this sort of thing will go on much longer. why don't you stop? do you suppose we are going to stand this for ever? how the deuse do you think we shall ever get to barre, at this rate?" the driver advised him to keep cool, telling him that very likely they would get rid of the wagon before long; with which opinion another of the passengers coincided, who knew the men, remarking that they belonged in hubbardston, and would probably turn off at the road leading to that place. this road was beyond holden, where the coach stopped at the public-house. here the men in the wagon came up, and expressed a wish to exchange their horse for the four coach-horses, provided sufficient "boot" were offered them. to this impertinence the driver made no reply; but the fiery passenger intimated to them that, if they would come within his reach, he would give them _boot_ enough to make their accounts _foot up_ even. after leaving the mail, the coach started out of holden, preceded by the wagon, which dodged back and forth along the road as heretofore. they passed the hubbardston road, but the men did not turn off; and, about a mile from rutland, they made that once-too-often attempt which such mischievous individuals usually make somewhere along their course. the patience of the much-enduring driver had become finally exhausted; and, as the annoying wagon was in the act of passing him, at a rather narrow place in the road, he drove on without particular reference to that vehicle, and experimentally tested the relative strength of the fore wheel of the coach and the body of the wagon. the latter structure was "nowhere," or, to speak more accurately, it was resolved into its original elements; while the aforesaid wheel rolled away uninjured, bearing its share of the triumphant passengers. the occupants of the smashed vehicle survived the "wreck of matter;" whether with a whole skin or not, does not appear, as the personal knowledge of the driver, as stated on the trial, was summed up in the words, "_i left 'em there!_" in consequence of the proceedings which have been described, the coach arrived at barre an hour and a quarter behind the time. it having been thought advisable to prosecute these men for obstructing the mail, a suit was brought against them in the u. s. district court of massachusetts. the evidence on the part of government went to show that they must have known the character of the coach: that it carried the mail, for the words "u. s. mail" were conspicuously painted on the coach; and the sign "post-office" was up at the place in holden where the mail was taken out, and where they saw the coach stop. also the men were known by sight to some of the passengers; and one of them had been a stage-coach proprietor, and the other had driven a coach. indeed, one of the passengers, while they were at holden, addressed baker, whom he knew, by name, and told him "he should think that he had been in the stage business long enough to know better." the passengers were unanimous in considering the case as clearly one of wilful detention. the testimony for the defence was rather lame. the post master at rutland testified that the mail from worcester was due at p. m., though he had known it three-quarters of an hour later. he thought it arrived, on the evening in question, at minutes past ; but could not say certainly that the th of january was the night when the mail arrived at that time, though he had no doubt of it, nor had he looked at his register since that night. in short, his evidence amounted to a rough guess, which could make no impression on the gibraltar of opposing testimony furnished by a coach full of passengers, as well as other witnesses. another witness for the defence testified that stark's horse was "smooth-shod," with the view of establishing the extreme improbability of the alleged performances, as the road was icy, and rapid motion therefore hazardous to an animal thus shod. but, as the quadruped in question was shown actually to have done the thing, this ingenious theory was set aside, although a slur was thus cast upon mr. stark's character as a prudent driver. but the crowning shame of stark's delinquency consisted in the fact that he was constable and tax-collector of the town of hubbardston. history is not without instances of monarchs and others high in authority, who have descended to the indulgence of freaks inconsistent with the dignity of their station; and shakspeare has immortalized the frolics of prince henry. but neither historian nor poet has hitherto been able to record of a constable and tax-gatherer that he amused himself with maliciously driving a smooth-shod horse, so as to obstruct the progress of the united states mail. this man, set to be "a terror to evil-doers" should have been a terror to himself; indeed we may conceive of him as smitten with compunction, and arresting himself--stark the constable tapping himself on the shoulder. at least he should have arrested his own progress, before he fell from his high estate, and degenerated from a constable into an unlucky buffoon. the questions for the jury were, first, did these men obstruct the united states mail? and, secondly, did they do so knowingly and wilfully? if they did so obstruct the mail, then as a man is presumed in law to intend what is the natural and necessary consequence of his acts, in the absence of controlling testimony otherwise, the inference would inevitably follow, that their conduct in this affair was the result of "malice aforethought." they were both convicted, and sentenced as follows,--stark, the driver of the wagon, to a fine of thirty dollars, and baker to a fine of fifteen; thus footing up the pretty little sum of forty-five dollars for their evening's diversion, besides the destruction of their wagon, which was taken into the account in determining the amount of the fines. thus ended this piece of folly, the record of which it is hoped will serve as a warning to any who may be disposed to try similar "tricks upon travelers," since they might not get off as easily as did the pair of worthies, whose brilliant exploit we have briefly sketched. chapter xv. a dangerous mail route--wheat bran--a faithful mail carrier--mail robber shot--a "dead-head" passenger. an old offender--fatal associate--robbery and murder--conviction and execution--capital punishment. traveling in mexico--guerillas--paying over--the robbers routed--a "fine young english gentleman"--the right stuff. in the early annals of our country, many instances of mail robbery are found, some of which occasioned the display of great intrepidity and daring, as the perusal of the following pages will show. while the country was yet thinly settled, and the mails were transported on horseback, or in different kinds of vehicles, from the gig to the stage-coach, often through extensive forests, which afforded every facility for robbery, the office of stage driver or mail carrier was no sinecure. resolute men were required for this service, who on an emergency could handle a pistol as well as a whip. some thirty or forty years ago, a mail-coach ran in the northern part of the state of new york, through the famous "chateaugay woods." the forest was many miles in extent, and common fame and many legends gave it the reputation of a noted place for freebooters and highwaymen. one morning the stage driver on this route had occasion to examine his pistols, and found, instead of the usual charge, that they were loaded with _wheat bran_! a daring villain had, through an accomplice, thus disarmed the driver, preparatory to waylaying him. he drew the charges, cleaned the weapons, and carefully loaded them with powder and ball. that afternoon he mounted his stage for his drive through the chateaugay woods. there was not a passenger in his vehicle. whistling as he went, he "cracked up" his leaders, and drove into the forest. just about the centre of the woods a man sprang out from behind a tree, and seized the horses by the bit. "i say, driver," said the footpad, with consummate coolness, "i want to take a look at that mail." "yes, you do, no doubt, want to overhaul my mails," replies the driver; "but i can't be so free, unless you show me your commission. i'm driver here, and i never give up my mails except to one regularly authorized." "o, you don't, eh? well, here's my authority," showing the butt of a large pistol partly concealed in his bosom. "now dismount and bear a hand, my fine fellow, for you see i've got the documents about me." "yes, and so've i," says the driver, instantly leveling his own trusty weapon at the highwayman. "o! you won't hurt nobody, i guess; i've seen boys playing soger before now." "just drop those reins," says the keeper of uncle sam's mail bags, "or take the consequences." "o! now you're joking, my fine lad! but come, look alive, for i'm in a hurry, it's nearly night." a sharp report echoed through the forest, and the disciple of dick turpin lay stretched upon the ground. one groan and all was over. the ball had entered his temple. the driver lifted the body into the coach, drove to the next stopping place, related the circumstances, and gave himself up. a brief examination before a magistrate resulted in his acquittal, and highwaymen about the chateaugay woods learned that pistols might be dangerous weapons, even if they were loaded with wheat bran, provided they were in the hands of one who knew how to use them. * * * * * another exciting case occurred near utica, early in the present century, when western and northern new york was a wilderness. an old rogue, who had long been steeped in crime, finding his companions nearly all gone--the prisons and gallows having claimed their own--and his material resources nearly exhausted, sought for a profitable alliance. he succeeded in getting into familiarity with a very young man, son of a gentleman of standing and reputation, a worthy citizen and an honest man. these two laid their plans for robbing the mail. considerable sums of money were known to pass constantly in the great mail running east and west. watching their opportunity, they stopped the coach one night when there were no passengers. the driver was bold and faithful to his charge, and made a stout resistance. they tied him to a tree, and opened the mail. fearing detection and not obtaining much money, the veteran villain drew his pistol and shot the poor driver. as in most criminal transactions, fortune went against the perpetrators. they were both taken, and sufficient evidence being produced, they were sentenced to be hanged. though there was but one opinion as to the comparative culpability of the two individuals, no one could say but that both were equally guilty, in a legal sense, of the murder. out of respect to the parents of the young man, great efforts were made to obtain a pardon, but they were unsuccessful. both the sentences were carried into execution. the circumstance gave rise to a thorough discussion of the policy, the humanity, and the right or wrong of capital punishment. one of the most powerful arguments ever made against the death penalty, was written by the father of the younger criminal, and obtained a wide circulation in pamphlet form. in the summer of , a company of travelers were seated in the mail stage that runs from mexico to vera cruz. marauding parties of _guerillas_ had often stopped the mail, and when practicable, robbed the passengers. sometimes returning californians, and other travelers, gave these freebooters a rather warm reception. on the present occasion there were but three or four passengers, some of whom were armed with small revolvers. suddenly a party of mounted guerillas appeared, nearly a dozen in number, and at once stopped the coach and ordered the passengers out. either from fear or collusion, the drivers never interfere, but remain neutral. probably, if they resisted, their lives would pay the forfeit. the passengers, supposing there was no hope of escape but to give up their watches and money, commenced "paying over." a young english gentleman in one corner of the coach, immediately took up a double-barreled gun and shot the villain at the door of the coach, and then with the other barrel killed another of the party, by shooting him off his horse. he then drew a revolver, and jumped out. the other travelers concluded, like wellington's reserve at waterloo, that they might as well "up and at 'em," and, quite unprepared for such a reception, the freebooters--the surviving ones--fled with precipitation. the papers resounded with the praises of "this fine young english gentleman, all of the modern time." his father was a distinguished member of parliament, and soon had the pleasure of meeting his son, who had been abroad and shown that he was made of the right kind of stuff for a traveler in a dangerous country. chapter xvi. the tender passion--barnum's museum--little eva--the boys in a box--the bracelet--love in an omnibus--losses explained. as shakspeare, after having displayed falstaff in his ordinary character of rascal and rowdy in general, represented him as a "lover sighing like furnace," so we, in the course of our researches among juvenile delinquents, find that they are sometimes the victims of what they consider the tender passion. and the ardor excited in their breasts is not always innocent in its effects, but, as in the case of "children of an older growth," sometimes leads to the commission of heinous crime, as is exemplified in the instance we are about to relate. while the drama of "uncle tom's cabin" was running at that museum of natural and _un_natural history, commonly called barnum's, four boys, the eldest apparently about fourteen years of age, were observed night after night occupying a stage-box in the theatre attached to that establishment, and watching, with admiring eyes, the movements of the young lady who represented "little eva." boys are gregarious in their loves and hates, and it appeared that in the present instance, the three younger ones were not smitten with the aforesaid damsel, _per se_, but simply as friends or satellites of their older companion, accompanying him in that capacity, to encourage him, and witness his hoped-for triumph over the heart of the young actress, and possibly for the sake of sharing in the "treats" of various kinds which he dispensed to favored ones with a lavish hand. not content with sighing at a distance for the object of his affections, and on one occasion making a decided demonstration, by throwing a gold bracelet upon the stage, intended to encircle her arm, the enamored youth often watched for his charmer as she descended from the world of imagination to that of real life,--from the theatrical stage to that humble, but useful vehicle, an omnibus; and having ascertained which one was irradiated by her presence, he madly rushed after, and purchased, with the slight outlay of a sixpence, the enrapturing consciousness of being included within the narrow walls that held the mistress of his heart. but "the course of true love never did run smooth." sometimes unfeeling parents obstruct; sometimes "no" is a decided obstacle; but neither of these was the immediate cause of the rough "course" in the present instance. it does not appear that our stricken youth had ever approached near enough to his "bright particular star" to admit of any confidential disclosure of the state of his feelings; much less had he opened any negotiations with the "powers that be." the rocks on which he split were, the manager of the museum and a police officer! when the reader is informed that the lad in question was not the son of wealthy parents, and had, or ought to have had no other pecuniary resources than those which he derived from his occupation in the employ of a bookseller, he will readily conjecture whence came the means for the indulgence of such extravagance and folly as have been described. such an unusual occurrence as the hiring of a stage box by a boy, for several nights in succession (the expense of which was five dollars a night), attracted the attention and the suspicions of the manager of the museum, who sent for the police, and on searching the boys, an empty envelope, addressed to "s----& co., fulton street," the employers of our precocious young gentleman, was found upon his person. it was then ascertained that s---- & co. had recently lost several money-letters, and the boy, being the person who took the letters out of the post-office for the firm, had appropriated the money to his own use. he was tried before the united states court, and sent to the house of refuge, where, it is to be hoped, he was cured of indulging his boyish whim at the expense of his employer's money and his own character. chapter xvii. detached incidents. bank letter lost--the thief decoyed--post-office at midnight--climbing the ladder--an exciting moment--queer place of deposit. a post master in prison--afflicted friends--sighs and saws--the culprit's escape--how it was done--a cool letter--a wife's offering. moral gymnastics--show of honesty--unwelcome suggestion. "a hard road to travel"--headed by a parson--lost time made up--a male overhauled. the invalid wife--the announcement--a touching incident. during the whole of the author's official career, he has never been brought into physical conflict with any one, nor exposed to any great danger in the discharge of his duties. these duties have seldom called him to undergo "moving accidents by flood and field," excepting so far as severe weather, dangerous roads, fractious horses, or some other of the inconveniences and perils incident to the different modes of traveling, might be classed under that head. an incident, however, once occurred while i was engaged in investigating a case of depredation, which may be worthy of record here, as it is not devoid of a certain picturesqueness, even aside from the extremely interesting circumstance (to me) that my head, for a short time, seemed to be in imminent danger. the case referred to was that of the loss of a letter containing six hundred dollars, posted by the cashier of a northern bank. the person, (a post-office clerk,) whom i suspected of being the robber, was detected in taking a decoy letter which was placed in his office after the loss of the one first mentioned. on the strength of this, i boldly charged him with the first loss, and insisted that he should restore the money. after the usual assertion of innocence, and some demur, he intimated to me that the spoils were hidden somewhere in the post-office. this interview was held in the directors' room of the bank which had suffered the loss, and i immediately proposed that we should go over to the office and get the money. accordingly we proceeded thither. it was then after midnight. as soon as we entered, my companion locked the door behind us, and preceded me, with a lantern in his hand. a remark which i made respecting the lonely appearance of a post-office at that time of night, drew from him nothing but a sullen assent, which put an end to any further conversational efforts on my part. the room (or rather recess) in which he lodged, was over that part of the office devoted to the public, a space in front of the boxes, and access was had to it by means of a ladder inside the office. the clerk rapidly ascended this ladder and i followed closely behind, without a word being spoken by either of us. the apartment, besides the ordinary furniture of a lodging-room, contained a few shelves of books, indicating some pursuit more creditable to their owner than those which had rendered my interference with them necessary. i had before been told that he was somewhat diligent in the cultivation of his intellect. setting down his lantern upon the table, he reached up and took down a rifle which was suspended to the wall, directly over his bed, a fit emblem for one engaged in _rifling_ the mails. although the moodiness which he had displayed during our intercourse that evening, had not surprised me, yet i was by no means prepared to expect that he would resort to such extreme measures as his movements seemed to indicate. i was uncertain what to do. "the better part of valor" being "discretion," it was by no means clear whether this same discretion required me to rush upon him, or to make a precipitate retreat down the ladder, or to jump and disappear in the darkness below. there was evidently no time to lose, for the deadly weapon was already pointed in my direction, and its desperate owner was fumbling about the stock, as if, in the dim light, he could not easily find the lock. springing towards him, i seized the rifle by the barrel, remarking, that i wished he would not turn the muzzle upon me, and then i saw what he was attempting to do. he had crammed the stolen notes into the "patch-box" of the rifle, and was endeavoring to get them out, which he could not readily effect as they were tightly wedged in. i cheerfully volunteered to assist him, and by our united efforts, the debt was discharged instead of the rifle! in other words, i recovered the identical bank-notes, deposited in the office by the cashier several weeks previously, all in one hundred dollar bills. the evidence furnished by the "patch-box," was of course amply sufficient to convict the depredator, had other proof been wanting, and he was recently sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in the state prison. * * * * * an ingeniously planned and successfully executed escape of a mail robber from prison, occurred in troy, new york, less than a year ago. this person had held the office of post master in a place of some note in the northern part of new york. he was a man of education, and connected by birth and marriage with some of the most respectable and influential families in that part of the state, and in the province of canada. these favorable circumstances, however, did not prevent him from becoming seriously embarrassed in his pecuniary affairs, by which he was led, in an evil hour, to resort to mail depredations, continuing them until this course was cut short by his detection and arrest. as he failed to give the requisite bail, he was thrown into prison to await his trial, which was to take place in the course of a few weeks. as the efforts which he and his friends had made to secure the intervention of the post master general for postponing the trial were unavailing, and the direct and positive proof against him made it certain that he would be doomed to at least ten years' imprisonment at hard labor, the desperate expedient of breaking jail seemed to be the only hook left to hang a hope upon. he occupied a large room, adjoining that of the notorious murderess mrs. robinson, and had for his room-mate a person who had been committed for some minor offence. he was frequently visited by his relations, whose high respectability exempted them from the close examination which should have been made by the jailor, to ascertain that they carried no contraband articles on their persons. respectability in this case, as in many others, served as a cloak to devices from which rascality derived more benefit than the cause of justice. these afflicted friends, in the course of their visits, contrived to supply the prisoner with the tools necessary to enable him to effect his escape from "durance vile." sighs and saws, regrets and ropes, anguish and augers, were mingled together, supplying both consolation for the past and hope for the future. the time selected for the escape was a sabbath night. the first thing discovered by the jailor on the next morning, was a rope suspended from a back-hall window in the second story, and reaching to the ground, the window being open. on ascending the stairs, he found in the partition separating the mail robber's room from the hall, an opening about large enough to admit of the egress of a small person; and on entering the room but one occupant appeared, who was fast asleep; but the mail robber was gone. it was with the utmost difficulty that the sleeper could be aroused. he was evidently under the influence of some powerful narcotic, as was fully shown by his replies to the interrogatories of the jailor after he had sufficiently recovered from his stupefaction to understand what was said to him. his story was, that on the previous evening he was complaining of a severe cold, whereupon his sympathizing room-mate remarked that he had some medicine that was just the thing for such complaints, and offered to give him a dose, if he wished to try it. to this the unsuspecting victim of sharp practice assented; and the amateur "m. d." measured out a quantity sufficient for the purpose intended, first pretending to swallow a dose himself, in order to convince his patient that the medicine was perfectly safe. one of the last things that the patient remembered on the night in question, was that about eleven o'clock he was affected by a very drowsy sensation which he could not overcome, and that he lay down on his bed to sleep. about this time his attending physician came to him and inquired "how he felt;" to which he replied, "very sleepy." his benevolent friend assured him that this was a "favorable sign," and asserted further that he would be "all right by morning." at the same time showing his solicitude for his companion's comfort by taking the pillow from his own bed and placing it under his head. the cause of these phenomena stood revealed, in the shape of a vial labeled "laudanum," which was found upon a table in the room. near it lay a note addressed to the jailor, of which the following is a copy. sunday night. dear sir, intelligence of a very discouraging nature, informing me that my approaching trial is not to be postponed on any account, impels me to make my way out of this place to-night. before doing so, however, i have to thank you for your kindness to me. i am also indebted to dr. m. for his attention to my comfort, and i regret that interests of the highest importance require me to take a step which may lead some people to find fault with you. all that i can say about that is, that i have been fortunate in eluding your vigilance as a public officer. the effects i leave behind me should be sent by express to my friends in p----, who no doubt will pay all expenses incurred by me while i was with you. any letters coming here may be forwarded to me at p----, that is, after waiting a week when my brother is to be at that place. with a renewal of my acknowledgments for your goodness, i remain respectfully yours, a. c. n. to j. price, esq., sheriff, &c. among the "effects," left behind, were sundry saws, files, and chisels of the best workmanship and materials; a large roll of putty, to have been used in concealing the saw-marks, in case a second night's labor had been required; and a valise containing a variety of books, wearing apparel, and letters received from his friend during his confinement. one of them was from his wife, a young, lovely, and accomplished woman. it is full of love, devotion, and christian resignation, and ends as follows:-- "the dear baby is quite well, and is growing finely every day. she is a dear, beautiful child. oh that god may keep her for us both, for she will make us so happy, she binds us so closely together. "here are some lines which i have preserved for some time. they have often comforted me, and i hope your feelings are such that they may comfort you." "god's way is best." this blessed truth i long have known, so soothing in its hopeful tone-- whate'er our trials, cares and woes, our father's mercy freely flows-- that on his bosom we may rest, for god is good, "his way is best." trouble without and grief within, are the sure heritage of sin; and e'en affection's voice may die in the last quivering, gasping sigh; but what though death our souls distress, 'twere better thus--"god's way is best." misfortune's dark and bitter blight may fall upon us like the night; our souls with anguish may be torn when we are called o'er friends to mourn; but what assurance doubly blest, to feel that all "god's ways are best." yes, glorious thought! in yonder sky are joys supreme which never die-- that when our earthly course is run, we'll live in regions of the sun; and there, upon the savior's breast, we'll sing for aye, "god's way is best." * * * * * it was a doctrine advanced by mahomet, that all men after death were obliged to cross a fiery gulf, upon a bridge as narrow as a single hair. the good always succeeded in effecting their passage safely, while the wicked were precipitated into the depths below. this idea might be extended to the present life, by way of illustrating the difficulties which beset those who follow a criminal course, and attempt to conceal the fact from the eyes of others. a step too far, or not far enough, this way or that, is sufficient to cause them to slip, and this kind of tight-rope balancing is a species of moral gymnastics, in the execution of which few are successful. a specimen of this was once furnished me by a post master against whom serious complaints had been made to the department, but who was not aware of the existence of such charges. in the course of several interviews which i held with him, i gave him not the remotest hint that i suspected his integrity, yet (probably on the principle of taking medicine when one is well, or thinks he is, in order to be better) he resorted to several somewhat original expedients to establish a character for honesty in my estimation. the most striking of these was the following:-- as i entered the vestibule of the office one day, he pretended to pick up a ten dollar note from the floor. after the usual morning salutation, he said, "i am in luck, this morning. i just picked up here a ten dollar bill, and i must see if i can't find the owner;" and he forthwith proceeded to write a flaming placard, announcing the finding of "a sum of money" outside the delivery window, and to post it in a conspicuous place. his singular manner, however, while speaking of the money, and while engaged in drawing up the notice, attracted my attention, and i became strongly impressed with the belief that the whole affair was one of those silly devices which are as effectual in preventing the detection of those who employ them, as is the device of the ostrich, in hiding his head under his wing, to conceal him from his pursuer. it occurred to me, after a little reflection, that i had seen a well-known merchant in the place hand the post master a ten dollar note the day previous, in payment for postage stamps. this fact was confirmed by inquiries which i made of the merchant, who further informed me that he could recognise the bill if he should see it again, from the initials which it bore of a correspondent, who had sent it to him by mail a few days before. having ascertained what these initials were, ("c. p.,") i took occasion to examine the note, (which the post master had rather ostentatiously laid aside in a drawer, to be ready for the _owner_ whenever he should claim it,) and found the "c. p." upon it. after the notice of the finding had been posted some twenty-four hours without the appearance of any claimant, i suggested to the _honest_ finder, by way of annoying him a little in return for his attempted deception, that as the money was found within the post-office limits, the department would probably require that it should pass into the united states treasury, in the same way as funds contained in dead letters for which no owners can be found. this view of the case did not seem to strike him favorably. he looked blank, but attempted to pass it off as a joke, by saying that he didn't know that the post-office was a dead letter. the next morning the placard had disappeared, and the post master informed me that a stranger had called late on the evening before, who claimed and described the bill, and to whom it was accordingly surrendered! the termination of this case fully confirmed my opinion of the post master's double-dealing in relation to this affair. * * * * * it sometimes happens that the ends of justice are best secured by allowing criminals to go on for a time unmolested in their course, and even by affording them facilities for the commission of offences, which will be to them as snares and pitfalls. when means like these are adopted for the detection of crime, a temporary check to the operations of the suspected persons, from whatever cause arising, creates some additional trouble and anxiety to those who are endeavoring to ferret out the evil-doer, and provokes a degree of exasperation toward his unconscious abettor. such an untimely interference with plans carefully laid, and carried out at a considerable expense of time and effort, once occurred while the author was attempting to bring to light an unscrupulous depredator, in whose detection the public was much interested, as many had suffered by the loss of money sent through his office. i had been hard at work for a week in pursuing this investigation, having for the third time passed decoy letters over the road on which the suspected office was situated, (the road being one of the roughest kind, about forty miles in length, and very muddy,) and was flattering myself that _that_ day's work would enable me to bring my labors to a conclusion satisfactory to the public and myself, if not to the delinquent; when my hopes were, for the time, dashed to the ground by the innocent hand of the village parson. and it happened in this wise:-- the mail carrier was instructed to throw off his mail, as usual, at the suspected office, and to remain outside, in order to afford the post master a good opportunity for the repetition of the offence which he was supposed to have committed, the agent being all the time a mile or two in advance, in another vehicle, impatiently waiting to learn the fate of his manoeuvres. as the part of the road where i was stationed, was in the midst of woods, and the carrier had no passengers, no particular caution was needed in conducting the conversation, and before my associate had reached me, he called out, "i guess you'll have to try it again; the dominie was there and helped to overhaul the mail to-day." the sportsman, who, having just got a fair sight at the bird which he has been watching for hours, beholds it, startled by some blunderer, flying off to "parts unknown;" the angler, who, by unwearied painstaking, having almost inveigled a "monarch of the pool" into swallowing his hook--sees a stone hurled by some careless hand, descending with a splash, and putting an end to his fishy flirtation;--these can imagine my feelings when the mail carrier made the above announcement. "confound the dominie," involuntarily exclaimed i, "why couldn't he mind his own business?" i examined the mail bag, but nothing was missing except the matter that properly belonged to that office. but at the next trial, the parishioner did not have ministerial aid in opening his mail, and accordingly, probably by way of indemnifying himself for his forced abstinence, he not only seized the decoy package, but several others. the following day, instead of overhauling the mail, he was himself thoroughly overhauled by an united states marshal. a man of such weak virtue, should hire a "dominie" by the year, to stand by and help him resist the devil, during the process of opening the mails. not the least painful of the various duties connected with the detection of crime, is the sometimes necessary one of revealing a husband's guilt to his wife. i anticipated a severe trial of my feelings in making such a disclosure during the progress of a recent important case where the mail robber was in possession of a mail-key by means of which he had committed extensive depredations. he was at length detected, and has lately entered upon a ten years' term in the state prison. on his arrest he manifested much solicitude for his wife, fearing that the intelligence of his situation would overpower her. "she is in feeble health at best," said he, "and i am afraid this will kill her." it was necessary, however, that i should see her in order to get possession of some funds, a part of the proceeds of the robberies, which her husband had committed to her keeping. furnished with a written order from the prisoner, and leaving him in the marshal's custody, i proceeded to call on the invalid, racking my brains while on the way to her residence, for some mode of communicating the unpleasant truth which should disclose it gradually, and spare her feelings as much as possible. on my arrival at the boarding-house, the note was sent to the lady's room. it read as follows:-- my dear susan: will you hand to the bearer a roll of bank-notes which i left with you. edwin. the lady soon made her appearance. she was young, rather prepossessing, and evidently in delicate health. finding that i was the bearer of the note, she addressed me, expressing great surprise that her husband had sent a request so unusual; and with an air of independence observed that she did not "know about paying over money under such circumstances to an entire stranger." desiring not to mortify her unnecessarily by making explanations in the presence of others, i requested her to step into a vacant room near at hand, and after closing the door, i said in a low tone, "it is an extremely painful thing for me, mrs. m----, but as you do not seem inclined to comply with your husband's order, i must tell you plainly that the money was taken from the mails by him. there is no mistake about it. he has had a mail-key which i have just recovered, and has made a full acknowledgment of his numerous depredations. i beg of you to bear this dreadful news with fortitude. no one will think less of you on account of his dishonest conduct." i expected to see the poor woman faint immediately, and had mentally prepared myself for every emergency, but, a moment after, _i_ should have been more likely to have fallen into that condition, if astonishment could ever produce such an effect, for as soon as i had finished what i was saying, she stood, if possible, more erect than before, and with some fire in her eye, and one arm 'akimbo,' she replied in a spirited manner, "well, if he _has_ done that, he's a dam'd fool to own it--_i_ wouldn't!" she gave up the money, however, soon after, and although the recklessness displayed in the speech above quoted seemed to make it probable that she was implicated in her husband's guilt, it afterwards appeared that this exhibition of "spunk" was due to the impulses of a high-spirited and excitable nature, which sometimes, as in the present instance, broke away from control, and went beyond the bounds of decorum. such an ebullition of passion indicated, in her case, a less degree of moral laxity than it would have shown in one differently constituted. in a subsequent examination of their apartment in search of other funds and missing drafts, a touching incident occurred, strikingly displaying, when taken in connection with the outbreak just mentioned, the lights as well as shades of an impulsive character. during this examination, it became necessary to investigate the contents of a well-filled trunk, and this was done by the lady herself, under my supervision. after several layers of wearing apparel had been taken out, she suddenly paused in her work, and wiped away a falling tear, as she gazed into the trunk. thinking that some important evidence of her husband's crimes was lurking beneath the garments remaining, and that her hesitation was owing to reluctance on her part to be instrumental in convicting him, i reached forward and was about to continue the examination myself, when she interposed her arm and said sobbingly, "those are the little clothes of our poor baby,--they haven't been disturbed since his death, and i can't bear to move them." a second glance into the trunk confirmed her sad story, for there were the little shoes, scarcely soiled, the delicately embroidered skirts and waists,--all the apparel so familiar to a mother's eye, which, in its grieving remembrance of the departed child, "stuffs out his vacant garments with his form." a similar affliction had taught me to appreciate the sacredness of such relics, and i waited in sympathizing silence, until she could command her feelings sufficiently to continue the search. she soon resumed it, and the contents of the trunk were thoroughly examined, yet none of the lost valuables were found therein. chapter xviii. frauds carried on through the mails. sad perversion of talent--increase of roguery--professional men suffer--young america _at_ the "bar"--papers from liverpool--the trick successful--a legal document--owning up--a careless magistrate--letters from the un-duped. victimizing the clergy--a lithograph letter--metropolitan sermons--an up-town church--a book of travels--natural reflections--wholesome advice. the seed mania--_strong_ inducements--barnes' notes--"first rate notice"--farmer johnson--wethersfield outdone--joab missing. "gift enterprise"--list of prizes--the trap well baited--evading the police--the _scrub_ race. an incalculable amount of talent is perverted to dishonest purposes, thereby becoming a gift worse than useless to its possessors, and a fruitful source of evil to the community. such misemployed ability is like the "staff of life," turned by a magic worse than egyptian, into the serpent of death. and the brilliancy which surrounds the successful development of some deep-laid plan of knavery--the admiration which it involuntarily excites, in the mind even of those who abhor the deed, and condemn the cunning designer, render such misdirected powers doubly dangerous, by exciting in the weak-minded and evil-disposed a desire to emulate such wonderful achievements, and to become notorious, if they cannot make themselves famous. it cannot be denied that a considerable degree of talent is requisite to insure success, even in a course of knavery; and by success i mean nothing more than that longer or shorter career, which ends, if not always in detection, certainly in disappointment and misery. success, then, in this connection, signifies putting off the evil day--a day which is as sure to come as any other day. time is an enemy which no rogue can ever outrun. even such pitiful success as this is not within the grasp of small abilities. the possessors of such moderate endowments will find it emphatically true, that honesty is the best policy for them, however brilliant and seductive a dishonest course may be. when shakspeare wrote, "put money in thy purse," he probably did not intend to exhort any one to pocket another's money, but to confine himself to that which he actually possessed. but, judging by the number and variety of the ingenious frauds which are practised upon the community, the saying in question seems to have been adopted in its most unscrupulous sense as a principle, by sundry personages, more remarkable for smartness than for honesty. not a few of these characters have selected the mails as the means of facilitating their designs upon the pockets of the public at large. "but this sort of thing is becoming too prevalent," as a worthy magistrate was in the habit of remarking, when about to sentence some pick-pocket or disturber of the peace; and if the devices of the class of villains referred to continue to increase as they have done for years past, semi-annual sessions of the legislative branch of government will scarcely suffice for the enactment of penalties to meet the increasing exigencies of the case. there is no end to the gross swindles of this description now perpetrated or attempted, and requiring the utmost care and watchfulness on the part of the public to avoid being deceived by them. no class nor condition in society is exempt from these wiles; the most intelligent and shrewd being victimized quite as often as the credulous and inexperienced. lawyers, clergymen, editors, farmers, and even post masters, have all in turn been swindled by means of facilities afforded by the post-office system, the frauds ranging in magnitude and importance, from imaginary papers of onion seed, to "calls" for ministerial aid in the momentous work of converting "a world lying in wickedness!" it is with a view to put those who may peruse these pages on their guard, that a few rare specimens of the tricks of these "jeremy diddlers" are here exposed, most of which have come to light within a few months of this present writing. the first that we will describe, was perpetrated quite successfully upon the legal fraternity, and some of the most distinguished members of that highly useful profession in the different states, will no doubt readily recognise the truthfulness of the picture, as it is held up to their gaze. this "dodge" may properly be entitled young america practising _at_ the bar. in january of the present year, the post master of brooklyn, n. y., called my attention to the fact that large numbers of letters were arriving at that office to the address of "william h. jolliet," and that from some information he had received, he was led to believe that the correspondence was in some way connected with a systematic scheme of fraud. arrangements were accordingly made to watch the person who was in the habit of inquiring for the "jolliet" letters, and the next time he called, which was in the evening, he was followed as far as the fulton ferry, detained just as he was about to enter the ferry-boat, and questioned in reference to the letters. the person thus interrogated was an exceedingly intelligent boy, about fifteen years of age, plainly but neatly dressed, and of prepossessing manners, particularly for one so young. when asked what he intended to do with the letters he had just taken from the post-office, he manifested great self-possession, and apparently anticipating trouble, without allowing an opportunity for a second question, he hurriedly asked, "why, what about this business? i have been thinking there might be something wrong about jolliet's letters. i am a student in a respectable law-office in new york, and would not like to be involved in any trouble of this sort. i can tell you, sir, all i know about these letters." as his explanation will hereafter appear in full, suffice it here to say, that he threw the entire responsibility upon a stranger whom he accidentally met in the harlem cars. the story was told with much apparent frankness, and a gentleman passing along who knew the lad, and confirmed his statement as to his connection with a prominent law-office in new york, he was allowed to go at large, under a promise that at an appointed hour on the following day, he would call on the brooklyn post master, explain the matter more fully, and put him in possession of facts which would enable the officers to arrest jolliet, if that was thought best. the appointed time arrived, but the young man did not. a rather voluminous package of papers, however, was sent as a substitute. these papers are so well worded, and so formally drawn up, that i will here introduce two of them _verbatim._ the reader will bear in mind that they are the production of a boy only fifteen years of age:-- new york, january , , , m. post master, brooklyn, l. i. dear sir: being detained by important court business from attending to my promise given to you yesterday to be at your office, i am obliged to write to you. i enclose a statement of facts which i think sufficient to get a warrant. it is sworn to by me before a commissioner of deeds of new york, authorized to take acknowledgments for the state. i saw mr. jolliet yesterday evening. he does not suspect anything. i told him that the mails had not arrived when i was over to brooklyn, yesterday; and, in course of the conversation, he told me _he would take a sleigh ride to snediker's on saturday_. therefore, it is important you should _get a warrant, and take him upon that day_. he also told me he would have a white sleigh, a white robe, and a cream-colored pair of horses. you can easily know him. i will be over, if no accident intervenes, to-morrow, say about or o'clock. i tracked him to the manhattan bar-room in broadway, but could not find out his residence, as he stayed too late. i think he is connected with a gang of rascals who have made this kind of rascality their special business. i am acquainted with the district attorney in this city, and have thought of getting him to bring the case before the grand jury, and get a bench warrant out in new york against jolliet, in case you should think it advisable. meanwhile, i will remain still about the matter until i hear from you again. yours, very truly. annexed is the statement of facts alluded to above:-- _statement of facts_. a. during the month of november or december, , i became acquainted with a man whom i knew by the name of william h. jolliet. he seemed to be about or years of age, and, by his dialect, of english parentage; he was genteelly dressed, and seemed to be a gentleman by his talk and manners. he came to know me from often seeing me on the cars of the new york and harlem rail road, and often talking to me. i am in the habit of doing copying, &c., for pay, and therefore was willing to do anything in that way, under the usual circumstances--that is, for pay. he asked me one day if i was a man of business. i told him i was. he then asked me if i could make a copy of a note he had in his pocket, and show it to him the next time i should meet him, and not to say anything about it to anybody. i told him i would. he gave it to me, and it was something as follows--that is, substantially:-- brooklyn, l. i., jan. , . sir: i have received a package of papers for you from liverpool, england, with six shillings charges thereon--on receipt of which amount the parcel will be sent to you by such conveyance as you may direct. yours, respectfully, william h. jolliet. i met him one or two days afterwards, and gave him his original, and my copy. he said it was very well done, but looked too much like a law-hand, and asked me if i couldn't write more of a mercantile-looking hand. i told him i supposed i could. he then gave me my copy, and told me to buy some paper, and make as many copies as i could, and direct them one to each of the names he gave me on a list, and mail them. i told him i would. this was on a saturday evening; and on sunday afternoon i wrote about a hundred copies of them, and directed them and sent them. i met him on monday, and he asked me if i had done it. i told him i had; he then asked for the list of names he had given me, and i handed it to him. he asked if i knew the names i had directed the letters to. i told him i did not, although i did well, my suspicions about him having been aroused by his request for secrecy. on that sunday on which i wrote the notes, i made up my mind to play traitor to him, by sending the notes as directed, and keeping all answers which he should get (he having told me to call for them at the brooklyn post office), and then delivering them, with my evidence, to officer b----, in new york, whom i know well by reputation as a good officer, and an american in fact and principle. this was foiled by my disclosures to the post master of brooklyn, on thursday. at the time he asked me to make the copies of the note, he gave me a five-dollar gold piece, to defray expenses. i have kept a copy of the list he gave me, and also of another which he had given me, and which i returned in the same way. i have mailed about letters in all. at the time he ordered me to make the copies of the letter and mail them, he requested me to make a letter and direct it to him at brooklyn, and mail along with the others. i did so, but i asked him what this was for, and he said he wanted to know how long it would take for a letter to go from new york to brooklyn. but i did not believe him, and this formed part of the causes for my suspicions. i afterwards received the letter, i think it was tuesday, and gave it to him. at the time of my first mailing the letters, i dropped, by carelessness, a list of the names of persons to whom they were directed, along with them. could this list be got, it would tell us a great deal about the transaction, and then we could have a complete list of all the persons addressed. it was dropped in one of the three new boxes on the south-west corner of the new york post-office. i have seen him since he first spoke to me about this affair, five or six times, (once on friday, saturday, monday, and tuesday, and twice on wednesday, i believe.) he lives in harlem, i think. i don't know anything further of interest, and close with the ardent wish, that a king's county officer will get the credit of catching one of the greatest scoundrels that ever lived, thereby ridding the community of him. g. h. b. city of brooklyn, county of kings, ss, g. h. b----, of the city of new york, student at law above named, being duly sworn, doth depose and say that he has read the foregoing statement, and knows the contents thereof, and that the same is true of his own knowledge. g. h. b. sworn before me this th january, . b. t. b----, comr. of deeds. being satisfied that a young lad of sufficient abilities to compose these documents in such a style, could not have been made the innocent dupe of any one, especially a stranger, i determined to lay the whole matter before his employer, a prominent member of the new york bar. he had heard nothing of it before, and was much pained to hear my narration, for he was warmly attached to the young student, who, up to that time had enjoyed his entire confidence, and for whose improvement and legal education he had taken unusual pains. a moment's reference to the law register, a work containing the names and residences of all the members of the legal profession in every state in the union, and to be found in almost every law office, showed the source whence he had obtained the list which had been "dropped by carelessness" into the post-office, for pencil marks appeared against the names of most of the _country_ lawyers, but including none of those that had ever been correspondents of the firm with which he was connected! the opinion that there was no accomplice, nor even principal, in the case, beyond the boy himself, was fully coincided in by his employer, and it was at once decided to call the lad up for a private examination. i thought, as he entered the room, cap in hand, and with an air of perfect _nonchalance_, that i had seldom seen a more expressive and intelligent countenance. his high forehead, adorned with graceful curls of brown hair, his full and laughing eye, and the regular features of his face, seemed made for some better use than to delude unwary victims. "george," said his employer, "what do these jolliet letters mean, that you have been sending all over the country?" _boy._--"i will tell you all i know about it, sir. some weeks since, as i was coming in town one morning, in the harlem cars, a man calling himself jolliet----" _agent._--"stop, george, and hear me a moment before you go further. we don't want to hear that story. we know there is no such person as jolliet, and if you go on with such a statement before mr. f.," (his employer,) "your pride will render it harder for you to make the acknowledgments that i know you must come to. you have had no accomplice, and if you will bring me the law register, i will show you where you got the names of the lawyers to whom you sent the letters." _mr. f._--"now, george, you see that mr. h. knows all about it, and i hope you will not attempt to deny the truth. i am deeply pained to find that you have been guilty of such misdemeanors; and i trust, for your own sake, that you will make a clean breast of it." after a pause of a few moments, the young man acknowledged, that, being "hard up," he had resorted to this plan to obtain funds, and that he knew no such person as "william h. jolliet." _agent._--"how then could you have sworn to the statement you sent to the brooklyn post master? you must have been aware that in so doing, you were committing perjury." _boy._--"ah! but i did not swear to it. my name is attached to the affidavit, it is true, but having prepared it beforehand, i spoke to the commissioner just as he was leaving the officer, and he signed it, but in his hurry he forgot to administer the oath." _agent._--"but that omission must have been merely accidental. supposing he had required the usual ceremony, what would you have done?" _boy._--"i have so often seen him omit it, that i took that risk. if he had insisted, i should have backed out." subsequent inquiry satisfied me that the commissioner in question, having often had occasion to sign affidavits for the young man, in the course of the office business, was not always particular in administering the oath, and that it was no doubt neglected in the present instance. the punishment inflicted in this case, was all that the most indignant victim of the fraud would have demanded; and there is reason to believe that a permanent reformation in the character of the young man has been the result; and that the rare talents which he possesses, will yet be found arrayed on the side of honesty and virtue. answers to the jolliet letters continued to arrive from all parts of the country, for some time after the discovery of the fraud, as here related. the letters that had accumulated in the brooklyn post office, were sent to the dead letter office, opened, and subsequently returned to their respective owners, with their contents, accompanied by a proper explanation. in nearly every instance, the dodge had been successful. the six shillings, or that amount in postage stamps, were duly enclosed; and, in some instances a dollar, to make even change, with directions for forwarding the mysterious package. such an unexpected notice had no doubt given rise in many cases to sundry visions of heavy fees, which were to flow in upon the fortunate correspondent of jolliet, for conducting the business of some wealthy capitalist of the old world, who, attracted by his professional fame, was about to confide to him matters of great weight and importance--perhaps some complicated law-suit, the successful issue of which would bring him a wealth of reputation and money, compared with which the outlay of six shillings was an item too contemptible to be regarded. or some sanguine individual might scent out a legacy in the "package from liverpool." people were dying every day in england, whose heirs lived in this country. it was not very unusual for persons to inherit immense fortunes from those whose names they had never heard. it might make the difference of thousands of dollars to a man whether his name was brown or white, when some possessor of one or the other name came to leave his property behind him. and it would be a pity to lose the chance of securing a handsome property for one's self, or the opportunity of acting as agent for somebody else, though the whole affair might prove but a hoax, and the chance of thus finding a fortune rather less than the prospect of drawing a prize in a "gift lottery." it was amusing to peruse the letters which the agent received from those who had been swindled, acknowledging the safe return of the letter and money which they had sent to jolliet. most of them were "well satisfied" when they sent the money, "that it was all a hoax," but then it was a small sum that he applied for, and they thought they would send it to the fellow for the ingenuity he had displayed in "raising the wind!" all, however, seemed very glad to get their money again, even at the risk of allowing such talent to go unrewarded. some wary old heads, too acute to be caught by such chaff, took the precaution to request jolliet to call on their friends in new york, leave the package, and get the six shillings. another directed that it should be left at the express office, the expenses paid there, and when the parcel arrived, the entire charges would be promptly met. two or three, not content with informing jolliet that he had not taken them in, indulged in a somewhat sarcastic style of correspondence. the following are two specimens of this kind of reply:-- p----, feb. , . mr. wm. h. jolliet, sir: i am in receipt of a note from you, informing me that you have in your possession a package for me from liverpool, eng., on which there is a charge of s. sterling, and which you will send to me on receipt of the above sum. sir, i cannot but think it a little strange that my large circle of friends and correspondents in liverpool (a circle which may be represented thus, ) should have thought it necessary for parcels which they send me, to pass through your hands, unless you have some connection with the friends aforesaid, unknown to me. before i send you the _sterling_ money, i should like answers of the like quality, to some or all of the following interrogatories:-- st. who are you? d. who knows you? d. who do you know? th. is "wm, h. jolliet" the name given you in baptism? th. wouldn't you receive less than six shillings, if you could get it? th. do you think you have taken me in? th. after reading the above, please inform me whether you remain _jolly yet_. not your victim, jno. s----. h----, jan. , . sir: i know i am ambitious. i have my aspirations. my fame may be extending. perhaps it is, i had thought it was local; confined to this county, certainly to the state. but it seems that i am known abroad, and you wish me to pay the moderate sum of seventy-five cents for verifying the fact. sir, i am an anglo-saxon. i rejoice in it. and i don't doubt that somewhere between adam's time and mine, some of my progenitors have inhabited england. but i believe they have all died or moved away. so you see it isn't likely that i have any relations in liverpool, whence came the package you say is in your hands. in the next place, sir, living as i do in an inland town, i know little of those "who go down to the sea in ships." (david, psalms, cap. .) and all my particular friends are in this country, according to the best of my knowledge and belief. but no others than the individuals i have cited, would be likely to send me packages from foreign lands. it therefore follows, sir, that the aforesaid package is not _in rerum natura_. i shall be happy to receive from you any facts which may vitiate this conclusion. pending this, i remain yours, &c., ed. b----. mr. wm. h. jolliet. * * * * * we have allowed the lawyers to lead off in the melancholy procession of victims of rascality which we have undertaken to display to our readers; and it is our design, in marshaling our regiment of "the great deluded," to place the clergy second in order. lawyers are (or ought to be) hard-headed, with little faith in mankind at large; while it is the general characteristic of clergymen to be soft-hearted, and to trust, sometimes "not too wisely, but too well," in the integrity of their fellow men. in addition to the weak points which they may have in common with all, and through which they are liable to be successfully assailed, the cultivation of that spirit of charity which "thinketh no evil" makes them slow in suspecting villanous designs on the part of others; and renders them an easy prey to those who are unscrupulous enough to use their unsuspecting disposition as a means of carrying into effect their own base purposes. in making these remarks, we are far from wishing to cast any slur upon the native shrewdness or penetration of the clergy, which would be unjust to them, (for there are few keener intellects than those that are possessed by some who are members and ornaments of this body,) but our object is simply to mention some of the causes which often make them the victims of imposition. many of them, especially those who live in the country, occupied as they are with the duties of their calling, in the retired life of the study, and in intercourse with the comparatively honest and virtuous community in which their lot is cast, are somewhat secluded from the world at large, and know little, except by report, of the innumerable forms of deceit and iniquity that people enact, who live outside of their own quiet boundaries. this is, perhaps, less generally true at the present time than it was years ago, before the increased facilities for communication had given equal facilities to rogues, who have chosen our large cities as a field for their nefarious operations, and have extended them, by means of the mails, to the remotest corners of the country. the trick which we are about to describe was attempted on a large scale, and the trap set for unwary clergymen was sprung in almost every section of the country, with considerable success, though some of the intended victims were too wary to be thus swindled. the trap alluded to was in the form of a letter, of which the following is a copy:-- new york, sunday, march , . brother p----: being at leisure this afternoon, and somewhat wearied rather than refreshed by the morning's discourse of our respected pastor, i have concluded to sit down and write you, though utterly unacquainted save in that sympathy which persons of like temperament involuntarily feel toward one another. it is the apparent coldness and formality of our metropolitan sermons that has led me, by a pleasant contrast, to think of you. i heard you once, while passing through your place--a sermon that has many times recurred to my memory, though its calm piety and deep perception of human nature may be weekly occurrences to your congregation. i have several times thought it would be well for our church to call on you for a trial here. our house is wealthy, and "up town," though that is no matter. i had almost given up the idea, when it was forcibly returned to me yesterday by seeing a notice of you in the new publication of travels through the states; in which i see the writer has heard you, and was so impressed that he gives a strong description of you and your style, so well according with my views, that i feel confirmed in my opinion of you. you have probably seen it. and, aside from any vanity at praise in print, or any pain at his censure, (for he finds fault, too,) i think a preacher cannot too much study his style, in duty to his master and his people, by learning all he can of his hearers' views of him, if not for the praise at least for the blame. so you see i yet hope to sit under your ministrations. i wish you would write me, immediately, what you think of coming here, if i propose you. my bell has just rung for tea, and i close hastily, wishing you success in any field, and "many souls as seals of your ministry." yours, in the lord, a. d. connelson. p. s.--if you have not seen the notice of you, (in the book i alluded to,) i will get it for you. i believe it sells at a dollar and a half, or thereabouts. i close in haste, a. d. c. here is an instance of one who "stole the livery of heaven to serve the devil in." the author of this production, which was lithographed, leaving only a space after the commencing word "brother," for the insertion of the name of the person addressed, was signed in some copies as above, and in others by the name of "w. c. jansing." we can easily imagine the effect of such an artful, flattering epistle upon the mind of some unsuspecting and humble country pastor, whose chief ambition had hitherto been to minister to the spiritual wants of his little congregation, and who had never before indulged the thought of receiving a "call" to the attractions and responsibilities of a city pastor's life. he taxes his memory in vain to recollect upon what occasion any stranger, who might represent the devout connelson, had been present during his sabbath services, and in like manner fails to recall any reminiscences of the author, who, in his "travels through the states," had also heard him, and was "impressed" so remarkably in accordance with mr. connelson's "views." his opinion of his own abilities having been elevated several degrees by the united testimony of two such competent witnesses, he begins to think that after all, it is not so very improbable that he should be thought of as a candidate for that "wealthy" and "up-town church." "was not the distinguished dr. l---- called from as small a place as this, to the charge of a large city congregation? and i remember that his abilities did not use to be so much superior to mine." with reflections like these, he works himself into a state of mind that would prevent any surprise, were he some day to be waited on by a committee from the church aforesaid, with the request that he would favor the congregation with a specimen of his preaching, with the additional view of securing the "pleasant contrast" to the "apparent coldness and formality of metropolitan sermons," that might result from his ministrations. at any rate, it would be gratifying to him to see for himself, what the traveling critic had said of him and his sermons; not that he cared particularly about the opinion, so far as he himself was concerned, but he would like to have his people know that their minister had attracted the attention of distinguished characters from abroad. so he replies to his spontaneous correspondent, intimating that he should have no objection to taking charge of the "up-town" church; and enclosing a dollar and a half, to purchase the book of travels, which he does, not without misgivings that he is sacrificing too large a portion of his slender salary, for indulgence in the anticipated luxury. it is almost needless to add, that the dollar and a half went to the "bourne from which no _traveler_ returns," and that our clergyman did not, in this instance, display "that deep perception of human nature," which so often recurred to the mind of the admiring connelson. the operations of this worthy were soon stopped by the new york post master, who, having received letters from some of the shrewder members of the reverend body, enclosing the above epistle, gave the matter in charge to the police, whose movements alarmed the rogue, and blew up the cheat, before many letters containing money had arrived. enough came, however, to show that had he not been disturbed, he would have feathered his nest comfortably with the spoils of those whom he had plucked. these letters, remaining uncalled for, became "dead" in due course of time, and were returned with their contents to their authors; doubtless refreshing the heart of many a sorrowing minister, who supposed that he had seen the last of his money, and had given up all hopes of receiving the promised _quid pro quo_. i insert as a sort of epistolary curiosity, a letter addressed to connelson by one of his intended victims, which was sent under cover to the new york post master, with the request that he would read and deliver it, if he knew the whereabouts of the person alluded to. "f----, march , . "mr. a. d. connelson. "sir: "i am in receipt of a communication from you, of the th inst., of whose flattering contents i have reason to believe that i am not the only recipient; as i am not ignorant of the fact that the art of lithography can be employed to multiply _confidential_ letters to any extent. if, as you state, you have at any time heard a discourse from my lips, i regret that the principles which it inculcated have produced so little impression upon your actions, especially as it has 'many times recurred to your memory.' "there are truths, sir, in addition to those you may have heard on the occasion referred to, (if there ever was any such occasion,) which, judging from the apparent object of your letter, it might be profitable for you to recall. i would recommend to your attention the truth contained in the following saying of the wise man:--'the getting of treasures by a lying tongue, is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek death.'--_prov._ , . "you have expressed a hope 'to sit under' my 'ministrations.' i trust you will be profited by the few words i now address to you, and if you feel any disappointment in failing to find the expected 'dollar and a half, or thereabouts,' you will have to console yourself with the reflection, 'how much better is it to get wisdom than gold? and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver?'_prov._ , . i give you the references to the passages quoted that you may ruminate on them at your sabbath's 'leisure,' which i hope will hereafter be more profitably employed than in attempting to perform the part of "a wolf in sheep's clothing." "your well-wisher, g. j. t." "p. s. if you ever happen to pass through this place again, and to be detained over the sabbath, your name, mentioned to the sexton, or indeed, to any member of my congregation, will secure you as good a seat as the house will furnish; and if you will inform me of your intended presence, beforehand, i will endeavor to suit my discourse to your _wants_, if not to your _wishes_. "'not what we _wish_, but what we _want_, do thou, o lord, in mercy grant.' "if, however, circumstances like some that i can foresee, if you continue in your present course, should prevent a visit to our place, i hope you will manage to be satisfied with the ministrations of the chaplain at sing sing, who, i understand, is an excellent, talented man. and i trust that you and your _traveled_ friend will agree as well on the question of his merits as you have on those of others." further comment on this case is unnecessary; and we would only say that any one suspecting an imposture in any such mode as the foregoing, need not be prevented from indulging in a reasonable suspicion, by the charitable thought, "this person could not be such a rascal;" for it is a truth that should be well known and acted upon, that no amount of hypocrisy, deceit or audacity is too great to be practised by miscreants like those whose villanous devices are to some extent exposed in these pages. * * * * * the onion seed trick. "if you have tears, prepare to shed them now." the next ingenious "dodge" to which i would call the attention of my readers, is one which might be styled double-barreled, inasmuch as it brought down both editors and farmers simultaneously. the agricultural portion of community has been much exercised of late years on the subject of seed. astounding stories have circulated through the newspapers from time to time, concerning the wonderful prolific powers of certain kinds of seed, and prices have in some instances been demanded for these choice varieties, which remind one of the times when a laying hen of the right breed would earn more per day for her owner than an ordinarily smart negro. it really seemed to be the belief of many enthusiastic persons, that seed could be brought, by careful culture, to a pitch of perfection that would almost render it independent of the assistance of mother earth, save as a place to stand on. the improved seed was to do it all. however desirable it might be to obtain seed which could be warranted under all circumstances to produce heavy _crops,_ (which of course can always be done after a certain fashion, by feeding it out to fowls,) this "good time coming" will not be hastened, we apprehend, by the public-spirited efforts of "mr. joab s. sargent," notwithstanding the glowing prospects held out in the following advertisement:-- farmers and gardeners.--attention! _spanish onion seeds._ the subscriber will send to any part of the united states and canada, a paper of the seeds of the above superior onion, on the receipt of ten cents (one dime.) farmers and gardeners, see to it that you secure the best of seeds. for a mere trifle now, you can put money in your pockets and fat on your ribs. address, joab s. sargent, hicks st., cor. of state, brooklyn, n. y. p. s.--publishers of newspapers giving the above and this notice three insertions, calling attention editorially thereto, and sending marked copies to the subscriber, will receive by return mail three dollars' worth of the above seeds, or a copy of barnes' notes on the gospels, valued at three dollars and fifty cents, or two dollars cash. address plainly as above. april , . observe how adroitly the cunning joab aims his thrusts at the most vulnerable spot in both classes of his victims. "publishers of newspapers," in the plenitude of joab's generosity, are to have their choice between the onion seeds, the gospel, and the ready cash, if they will but make known to the world the incomparable qualities of the genuine spanish article. and many of these publishers "called attention to the same" with a will, as the following copy of one of those notices will show:-- "something new for farmers and gardeners.--see our advertising columns. if you want _large onions_, get the real _spanish_ seed--a change in the seed works wonders. we have seen bushels of onions imported from spain of half a pound weight each, and as large as saucers." it may be well to say here that no onion seeds, "spanish" or other, were sent in compliance with the many orders which poured in upon the successful sargent from all parts of the country, excepting that a few of those first received were supposed to have been answered by the sending of a few seeds of some kind, whether onion or grass, no one knew. perhaps the recipients will discover in the course of time. the editors were equally unfortunate. many of them selected the "notes on the gospels" in preference to the seed or the money, yet their wishes were not destined to be gratified. let us see how this tempting advertisement worked on the farmers and gardeners. here is farmer johnson, whose boy has just brought in his weekly paper from the office, and who is proceeding to refresh himself after the labors of the week, with the record of what the world at large has been doing in the same time. he deliberately peruses the columns of his hebdomadal, dwelling with solemnity on the more weighty articles, and endeavoring to laugh over the funny ones, till, after having exhausted the "reading" department, his eye goes on in search of new advertisements, which he can distinguish at a glance, for he knows all the old ones by heart. his attention is arrested by the conspicuous heading, "spanish onion seeds." he reads it over carefully, and studies every word, that he may be sure that he fully and correctly understands it; and then comparing it with the editorial notice of the same thing, he rapidly becomes convinced that spanish onions must be great things, and that ten cents may be safely invested in the speculation. visions of saucer-like onions rise before him; of prizes in agricultural exhibitions; and if he is an inhabitant of connecticut, he fancies he sees the former renown of the ancient town of pyquag, or wethersfield, growing dim before the lustre of spanish onions. accordingly he sends the required dime to joab, who proved to be like the elephant which had been trained to pick up coin from the ground and place it on a lofty shelf. upon a certain occasion, a young gentleman was gratified by this performance, he having furnished a half-dollar for the display of the animal's skill. after the piece was safely deposited far out of reach, the youth requested the exhibitor to "make him hand it down again." "we never learnt him that trick," was the reply! the enterprising joab reaped an abundant harvest of dimes, and floods of papers poured into the brooklyn post-office, each one containing his advertisement marked, agreeably to its conditions, and a few words written upon it by the editor, making his choice between the valuables promised by sargent, and directing how to send the books, when they were the articles selected. these papers were of course charged with letter postage, and as the quantity which had arrived was becoming somewhat troublesome by its bulk, (since joab took very good care not to inquire for _them_,) the post master sent to hicks street, in order to notify him of the mass of news waiting for him at the office, as well as to make some inquiries in reference to the voluminous correspondence in which mr. sargent was engaged. but the person sent, returned with the report, "_non est inventus_," and the wary deceiver, having doubtless taken the alarm, came no more to the office to inquire for letters; so that although the rogue was "unwhipped of justice," a stop was put to his unrighteous gains. this case may serve as a warning to all, to look with distrust upon such advertisements emanating from unknown individuals, especially if the promises made are out of proportion to the "value received." in the present imperfect state of human nature, it is not common to find an individual offering through the papers most disinterested proposals for the good of people in general, without the fact coming to light sooner or later, that he had rather more prominently in view his own good in particular. and i will conclude with the following aphorism,--if you want onion seed, or anything else, send where you know you will not be cheated. * * * * * a gift enterprise. the fraud of which i am about to speak, also depended in a great measure for its success on the fact that it could be carried on through the mails. gorgeous hand-bills were sent to the post-offices throughout the country, accompanied with requests to the different post masters to act as agents, and allowing them a liberal per-centage on all tickets sold. those who read these hand-bills (suspended on the post-office walls,) and swallowed with expanded eyes and capacious throats the magnificent promises which they contained, could not determine by anything that appeared on the surface, whether "dashall & co." were real personages, or merely figments of the brain; and if the former, whether or not they were able and willing to meet their engagements. the scheme certainly had as fair an appearance as any "gift enterprise," and the "local habitation" and "name," which were appended, gave more probability to the idea that the firm in question was not a myth but a reality. thus it is evident that no one could have detected the fraud without entering into a course of investigation which would have involved more time, trouble, and expense, than most people would be willing to devote to the affair under the circumstances. the following is a copy of "dashall & co's." list of prizes: , presents to be given to the purchasers of the large and elegant engraving of the "inauguration of george washington, president of the united states," from the celebrated painting of david paul laurens. price of engraving one dollar, which includes a gift-ticket, entitling the holder to a chance in the following list of magnificent gifts. the value of the presents, as appraised by a committee chosen for the purpose, is $ , , as follows:-- a splendid farm on the hudson river, completely stocked, houses, &c. $ , stone front dwelling and lot on fifth avenue, n. y. , a magnificent _gold_ tea service, property of the late g. van denton , silver wine service , the race horse "white raven" , coach, harness, and horses, _a magnificent establishment_ , shares central rail road stock , fine watches, $ each , , gold seals and charms , , gold pens and silver holders , boxes best cigars gold guard chains , a splendid buggy " phaeton , a horse, harness, and buggy, splendid affair an elegant dog, st. bernard splendid fast-sailing yacht, "spirit of the wave" , the fast and trim pleasure yacht, "evening bird" , a loan for years , " " , " " , (all without interest.) rosewood piano mahogany pianos , a farm in ohio , a farm in kentucky , a farm in pennsylvania , a farm in massachusetts , , vols. poems , statue of "cigar girl," by reeves , also over , paintings, statues, medals, charts, albums, valuable books, and portfolios of engravings, making in all , gifts, which will be distributed by a committee appointed by the shareholders, and forwarded free of charge by the public's obedient servants, dashall & co., broadway, new york. whoever concocted the above list certainly deserves credit for the expansiveness of his views, the soaring flights of his imagination, and the nicety with which he adapted his various enticements to the different phases of human nature and life. was the reader of the hand-bill a "fast" youth? to him a dollar opened the prospect of "a horse, harness, and buggy,--splendid affair;" or "a splendid, fast-sailing yacht;" or " boxes best cigars;" or, as a companion to the above cigars, "statue of cigar girl, by reeves." did the list of prizes attract the attention of a person agriculturally inclined? to him a choice of farms was offered in the varied regions of massachusetts, pennsylvania, ohio, or kentucky; or "a splendid farm on the hudson river" awaited some fortunate individual, who had sufficient faith in good luck and "dashall & co.," to purchase the one hundred and fifty thousandth part of a chance to secure that valuable property. the man of business was tempted by sundry loans "for years without interest," and by "thirty shares of central rail road stock." through what "centre" this rail road ran, unless it was dashall & co's. office, the deponent sayeth not. upon the man of literary tastes, one dollar might confer "an elegant selected library," while the lover of music was attracted by the offer of elegant "rosewood and mahogany pianos." nor was the fairer portion of creation forgotten, in the shower of gifts which was to fall on the th of march, . the ambitious lady, who had long sighed for more splendid adornments to her table, could not read without emotion the promise of "a magnificent _gold_ tea service, the property of the late g. van denton." as the lamented van denton was doubtless known, in the circle of his acquaintance, as a man of taste, the promised tea service must have been unexceptionable in that respect. "melodeons, harps, paintings, albums, portfolios of engravings, &c.," formed a galaxy of attractions which drew many a dollar from fair hands. the engraving of the "inauguration of george washington" appealed to the patriotic feeling of every american. what friend of his country would refuse to part with the paltry sum of one dollar, which would enable him to possess this transcendent work of art, copied from the "celebrated painting" of the no less celebrated "david paul laurens;" a blood relation, no doubt, of the departed "van denton." each ticket was so embellished with intimations of the rich gifts possibly in store for its holder, as almost to make him feel as if he were already driving a "blood horse," or taking his ease in the "magnificent residence on the hudson." the reader is by this time probably aware of the true character of "dashall & co.," and their magnificent scheme. the former were atrocious impostors, and the latter was only a bag of wind. the suspicions of the new york post master were excited as to the character and destination of the numerous letters which came addressed to the aforesaid firm; and the chief of the police taking the matter in hand, a detachment from that body made a descent on broadway, where they found a respectable female of milesian extraction, engaged in washing the floor; and observed an open window, through which the representative of dashall & co. had probably made his exit. there was no furniture of any description in the room; so, having secured neither "persons" nor "papers," the civil authority was compelled to beat a retreat, not without sundry remonstrances from the old woman, touching the invasion of her "_clane flure_." she could tell them nothing about the firm, and only knew that she was sent there by the owner of the room to "clane up," which occupation she resumed, after imparting this information, with a vigor that threatened the immediate submersion of the intruders. the parties concerned in this fraudulent transaction are supposed to have cleared upwards of fifty thousand dollars by the operation, which, allowing for the per-centage to agents and other expenses, proves conclusively that there was more than that number of fools existing at the time in this enlightened land. we would hope that those who were taken in by this cheat, will not be thus deceived again. we trust that the foregoing record of knavery, whose contrivers were indebted, in some measure, for the carrying out of their plans, to the post masters who acted as agents, will have the effect of producing greater caution on the part of these officials as respects undertaking agencies for _unknown_ individuals. it would seem that a proper regard for the public interest would prevent any post master from lending himself, even undesignedly, to a fraudulent scheme like this of "dashall & co." it would be easy to refuse to have anything to do with proposed agencies, whose principals were not known to the post master, or concerning whom satisfactory information could not be obtained. the adoption of this practice would seriously interfere with the operations of the class of rogues who succeed in their villanous designs by making cats' paws of honest people in ways similar to that above described. i do not hesitate to say that thousands of dollars would every year be saved to those who are now swindled out of their money, if post masters were to take the course suggested, and refuse to allow hand-bills containing advertisements to be posted up in their offices, unless they were satisfied of the reliability of the parties sending them. chapter xix. post-office sites. embarrassing duty--an exciting question--a "hard case"--decease of a post master--the office discontinued--the other side--call at the white house--the reference--agent's arrival--molasses incident--an honest child--slicking up--the academy--stuck fast--the shoe factory--a shrewd citizen--the saw mill--a tenantless building--viewing the "sites"--obliging post master--the defunct bank--a funeral scene--the agent discovered--exciting meeting--"restoration hall"--eloquent appeals--a fire brand--committee on statistics--generous volunteers--being "put down"--good-nature restored--the bill "settled"--a stage ride--having the last word. of all the troublesome matters that have to be passed upon and decided by the head of the post-office department, the settlement of controversies involving the location of small post-offices, is undoubtedly the most perplexing, and difficult of adjustment. by such cases we are forcibly reminded of attempts which we have witnessed in our younger days, to soothe the troubled breasts of an angry swarm of bees, destitute of a queen, and uncertain where to "locate." whoever tried to settle the question before _they_ settled, was pretty sure to get well stung for his pains. the difficulty above referred to arises from the conflicting, contradictory representations made to the department by interested parties, governed by as great a variety of motives as the number of individual whims and interests depending upon the settlement of the "vexed question." notwithstanding the voluminous documents and geographical information usually tendered in these cases, those with whom the final decision rests, often find themselves perplexed beyond measure, to know what is for the true interests of a majority of the citizens--that being the only object aimed at by the department--and deem it necessary, occasionally, to refer the subject to a special agent, with instructions to visit the neighborhood, make a personal inspection of the different sites proposed, and decide, if possible, what the public interest and convenience demand. in some instances, where the emoluments of the office itself would not exceed the sum of fifty dollars annually, and where its entire abolishment would not prove any serious inconvenience, a whole neighborhood has been thrown into the most intense excitement, and feuds and animosities have been engendered which the parties concerned will perhaps carry with them to the grave. but, like numerous other phases of post-office life, they furnish many admirable and instructive illustrations of human nature _as it is_. during his experience, the writer has himself been frequently charged with the duty of becoming the medium for the settlement of local disputes such as have been alluded to; and a difficult and unpleasant duty has he often found it, though a better school for studying the selfishness and other hard points of the human character, cannot be desired. but the government official who is sent to ascertain the truth in one of these post-office disputes, will sometimes find himself about as much embarrassed as have been his superiors, and unless he is well posted up in the shrewd dodges and ingenious appliances that he will have to encounter, will find it quite as troublesome to give an impartial and just recommendation. decide satisfactorily he cannot of course, for those whose ends are not answered are not only sure to grumble, but to charge all sorts of unfairness upon him in conducting the investigation. the town of m., situated somewhere east of a line drawn across the map, from new york city to whitehall, n. y., but out of the state of new york, was recently the scene of one of these hotly contested controversies; and it is proposed to give an outline of the investigation, as it stands sketched among the author's official notes, under the head of a "hard case," with, of course, some additional comments and illustrations. in extent of territory, the town referred to is about six miles square, and contains three small villages, one comparatively new, having sprung up at the rail road depôt near the west line of the town. the second, about two miles to the eastward of this; and the third, about two miles still further to the east. village number two, in the order in which they have just been mentioned, had for many years been the site of the only post-office in the town, and continued in the uninterrupted enjoyment of this monopoly until the office became vacant by the death of the post master. this was the signal for a movement for some time privately contemplated and discussed within a limited circle composed of a few of the knowing ones residing in villages numbers one and three, which movement involved nothing less than the establishment of a post-office at each of those points, and the abolishment of the old established one at village number two. a petition to that effect was hastily drawn up and circulated chiefly among those whose interests in the plan sought, would be apt to secure secrecy, due care being taken to say quite as much in favor of the new sites and against the old one, as the facts in the case would warrant. this petition was dispatched to washington in charge of an influential person, whose hot haste for immediate action was rendered tolerably reasonable by the fact, that the decease of the post master left the community without any appointed guardian of its postal interests. a fair case having been made out according to the meagre information before the department, and the aforesaid bearer of dispatches not hesitating to supply verbally what seemed to be lacking in other forms, with one fell swoop of the pen of the post master general, the glory departed from village number two to its more fortunate rivals, numbers one and three; and by the same trifling operation, two very competent and suitable individuals were promoted from the condition of private and unassuming citizenship, to the dignity and responsibilities of deputy post masters of the united states of america! when the news of this sad calamity reached the staid and peaceable villagers, who had thus been unexpectedly deprived of their ancient postal privileges, rest assured it was no favorable time for the organization of a peace society! such oil would not still these waves! their late beloved and popular post master had become a "dead letter," though properly "addressed," as was fondly hoped, by the heavenly "messengers" who beckoned him away from other duties, to "wrap" and "box up"--and now even the post-office itself had been prematurely "taken away" also. not many suns had risen and set, however, before the other side of the picture was prepared and presented at washington, and now the ball had fairly opened, with the orchestra in full blast. a formidable remonstrance had received the signatures of all the "legal voters," and, as was charged on the other side, of many whose elective rights were not so easily settled. the customary accusations of unfairness, improper influence, stealing a march, downright misrepresentations, &c., were called in requisition to show the department that this "outrage" on the citizens was unwarrantable; and the important trust of conveying this evidence to the seat of government, fell to the lot of a certain gentleman well known among political circles in that section of the country, and supposed to possess a fair share of influence with the appointing power. he repaired to washington, made his first call at the white house, and labored hard to enlist the feelings of the chief executive in the case, but a few words from that distinguished official were sufficient to show that such interference in a comparatively unimportant matter could not reasonably be expected of him. the president did however show his respect for his visitor, who happened to be an old personal friend, by escorting him down to the department, and introducing him to the post master general. the governor of the state was also in the case, the two united states senators, and several of the members of congress, as the files of the papers, _pro_ and _con_, clearly demonstrated. not that they felt any personal interest in the result of the controversy, but because their political relations with many of those who did, were such that they could not well resist their importunities to come up to their relief. on patiently listening to the statements of the representative from the seat of war, and re-examining the documentary evidence, the post master general declined to reverse his former decision, but suggested sending one of the department's agents to investigate the whole matter. this course was adopted, and the responsibility thus transferred for the time being, to the shoulders of the to be author of "ten years." for many days before he arrived upon the ground, the excitement both among the vanquished and the vanquishing, was at the highest pitch; information that such reference of the case had been made, having been conveyed to both parties on the return of the distinguished politician from the capital. post master number one, however, could not await the slow process of that form of justice, so he dispatched a semi-official private note to me, nearly as follows, if my memory serves me: sir: will you please inform me if you have been instructed to visit this place in connection with our post-office controversy. if so, i would like to be informed of the time of your visit, as i wish to post you up as to certain parties here whose true position you ought to understand before their testimony in the case is heard. yours truly, f. b. s----. p. s.--if i knew when you are to arrive, i would be at the cars. to this i simply replied that i could not fix upon the precise day, but would call upon him on my arrival. one lovely afternoon of a lovely day in october, the "agent" might have been seen alighting from the car at the rail road station at m., fully impressed, of course, with the difficulty of the task before him, but with a sincere desire to carry out, if possible, the intention of government, and to mete out equal and exact justice to all parties. a new and flourishing-looking store, the only one by the way in the neighborhood, with a small sign over the door, with the words "post-office" inscribed thereon, saved me the necessity of inquiring for post-office site number one. in a few moments i found myself in the presence of the merchant and post master, who proved to be a young man of prepossessing and business-like appearance. a few questions on my part served to apprise him of the official character of the person by whom he was addressed, and also to cause his momentary neglect of a young customer for whom he was just then engaged in answering an order for a gallon of molasses. the little damsel who was there upon the saccharine errand, regarded me with open-eyed awe, having probably heard something of the department in the course of the all-pervading post-office controversies of the last few months, and cast as many stolen glances at me as her modesty would allow, thus securing a mental daguerreotype, to be displayed for the benefit of her wondering parents, after her return home with the double load of news and molasses. in his embarrassment at my sudden arrival, the post master forgot the molasses, and in a moment quite a torrent of the thick liquid had overflowed its bounds, and formed a pool upon the floor. "post master," said i, "you have left your molasses running over." in his eagerness to stop the leak, he went plump into the sweet puddle, with both feet, and any time that day his tracks might have been seen all over the store. "never mind," said he, "accidents will happen;" at the same time drawing his feet across some waste paper upon the floor. the young customer smiled, but during the running over process, she had said not a word, for by the means she was getting "scripture measure." she handed the post master a bank-note in payment, who, still laboring under considerable excitement, made her the wrong change, doing himself out of at least half the cost of the molasses, which, together with the loss of the surplusage, made it anything but a profitable business transaction for him. but the little girl was honest. she counted and recounted the change that had been given her, and with that peculiar expression that in one like her attends the consciousness of an honest act, she threw it all back upon the counter, remarking, "you have given me too much, sir." the countenance of the post master gave evidence by this time of not a little mortification at the occurrence of two such awkward blunders in the presence of a dignitary all the way from washington; and in his hurry to turn my attention from them, he forgot even to thank the child for her honest conduct, as he returned her the change "revised and corrected." but i did not. wishing not to cast an implied censure upon sweet-foot, i passed to the piazza of the store, to throw aside the stump of an havana, (or a "suffield," as the case may have been,) and unobserved by him, handed her a quarter, which she acknowledged by a blushing smile, and a low courtesy. returning, i missed the post master for a moment, and stepping within sight of the floor behind the counter, i could distinctly see the molasses tracks going toward a small enclosure at the other end of the counter. it proved to be the apartment used for the post-office. stepping a little further behind the counter, i spied my new and confused acquaintance, arranging the books, letters, and papers, apparently in great haste. seeing that i had returned to the store and now observed him, he advanced towards me a few paces. "i usually keep things in better order in the post-office," said he, "but i was away this forenoon, and my boy has got things a little mixed up." "never mind that now," i replied; "i am in something of a hurry, and want to enter at once on the business upon which i came. what is all this fuss that the people of the old village are making about the new post-office arrangements? by the row they are kicking up at washington, the department are almost led to believe there was something unfair in the means adopted to effect the change, and that they may have erred in their decision." this plain and informal opening of the case seemed to restore his self-possession. "well, they have tried to make a fuss, that's a fact, but it's more spunk than anything else. you see this is a new village, and although there are not yet many buildings, business is fast centering here, and it's bound to be _the place._ the folks up there have to come to the depôt constantly, and if they only think so, can be just as well accommodated here. they hate to lose a good place to loaf in, that's all there is to it. they don't need a post-office no more than a rail road wants a guide post. "they will tell you a great deal about their academy, and talk big about other things. as to the academy, it has got reduced, and most of the pupils who do attend, either belong to the upper village where they have a post-office now, or have to pass right by this door in going to school. but few of them being from abroad, they have but little correspondence any way. then you will hear tall speechifying about a flourishing hat factory which perhaps did something once, but can hardly be said to be in operation now. i hear they claim to have three extensive stores in the village. now if you will look for yourself, you will see two small affairs that don't both together sell half the goods that i do, and as to the third, it was closed some time ago, and if the owner went away in broad daylight, then common report does him great injustice." after a few remarks in the same vein, in the course of which he waxed quite eloquent, he closed by offering to take me in his wagon and show me the other two villages. he had been standing quite still during the delivery of this speech, and considerable effort was required to raise his feet to go in the direction of his hat, the adhesive qualities of the syrup still holding out. i thanked him for the offer, but said i must decline it, as i desired to avoid all cause of jealousy in my mode of investigation, and further remarked, that i would prefer to take a general view of all the localities, without the aid or explanations of any of the parties interested; and that after this had been done, i would give all hands a fair and impartial hearing. "very well," said he, "all we ask is fair play, but you will have to make a good deal of allowance for the extravagant statements of the leaders in the old village. i can prove that they have got democrats to sign to have the office restored, who are on our paper, and who say they were deceived when they signed theirs." having heard about enough of this, i had gradually moved along to the store door, when my eye rested upon a large wooden building near by, several stories high, and with an unusual number of windows, about the only building of any size in the vicinity. "what is that?" i asked, at the same time pointing to it. "that?--that is a shoe manufactory." "how many hands are employed there?" i inquired. just then, a fine-looking, elderly gentleman, with an air which denoted that he had a right to do pretty much as he pleased, stepped upon the piazza, and was introduced to me by the post master as his father-in-law, not omitting of course to inform his respected relative that i was no less a personage than the identical gentleman expected from washington. "ah," said he, "i am glad the department has seen fit to send so competent a person to look into this business, and i hope, sir, it will be thoroughly done." this was said in a gentlemanly, dignified manner, and he passed into the store without any further conversation. but the term "competent person," as applied to me, warned me that i should probably find it necessary to guard against "soft sodder" also, as one of the means of persuasion, and made me half suspicious that he might not be the impartial and disinterested individual that he appeared at first sight. the suspicion was just, for i afterwards learned that he was a wealthy and enterprising whig citizen, owning a beautiful mansion and a good deal of other property in village number three, (one of the new sites,) and that he was the proprietor of a good share of the real estate at the depôt village; and further, that he had been mainly instrumental in getting the changes effected. his personal interests in them footed up as follows: a post-office established at the village of his residence, and a post-office at the depôt village, (where the store in which it was kept belonged to him,) and his son-in-law appointed post master! a shrewd yankee operation that, though i could discover the adoption of no dishonorable means in securing these advantages. it was decidedly smart, though, and it isn't every body who could have successfully executed such a programme, after it had been arranged. this interruption of the conversation between the post master and myself, came in just in time to stave off an answer to my question about the large building in view, and my friend no doubt considered that an effectual stop was put to further inquiries on that subject. but not so. failing to discover any signs of thrift or vitality in or about the huge edifice referred to, i now repeated the inquiry. "i was asking how many persons are employed in that shoe factory?" before i had fairly finished the sentence, however, he had darted into the store and returned with two havanas, (?) saying, "come, have a smoke, and let's walk over and take a look at the saw mill," which by the way happened to be in an opposite direction from the aforesaid shoe establishment. i consented, however. the mill was in operation, and the stream, such as it was, kept up a pretty respectable roar, though you could hear yourself converse, i noticed, quite as easily as by the side of old niagara just after a smart shower! feeling somewhat humorously inclined, owing to his persevering evasion of my researches as to the boot and shoe enterprise, i remarked as we stood observing the perpendicular thrusts of the saw through a submissive-looking log, "this is the _board_ing house spoken of in your post-office petitions, isn't it?" he did not "take," however, but gravely replied that they _had_ turned out stacks of boards since the mill was started, and that they had thought of keeping it running nights as well as days. as i could conceive of no very direct connection between a saw mill and a post-office, and not caring to have too much saw dust thrown in my eyes, nor to countenance any log-rolling operation, i moved off toward the store again. but not a word was volunteered about the "factory," so i marched straight over to it, and trying one of the main doors, found it all fast as i had suspected. i was about to repeat the attempt at another part of the building, but the post master had now arrived on the ground, and his reluctant explanation saved me further trouble on that head at least. "owing to the hard times, it is not occupied now, but until lately it has employed some thirty or forty hands. they'll get agoing again soon, and intend to employ some eighty workmen. the suspension is only temporary." "worse off than the hat factory of which you spoke, at the other village," i observed. he made no reply. finding i could obtain no independent conveyance by which to make the tour of observation through the other parts of the town, i accepted the offer of a young man who drove up to the store very opportunely, to whom the idea was suggested by the post master, and who, it was hinted, was in no way identified with this vexatious dispute. during the first mile or so of our ride his neutrality seemed well sustained, but it began rapidly to disappear as we came in sight of the village which had been bereft of its post-office as well as its post master, his answers to my questions betraying a decided bias toward the "let well enough alone" policy as applicable in this case. i did not propose to stop there at this time, but to pass through to the upper village,--but my suspicions that i had after all committed myself to the temporary keeping of one of the friends of the new sites, were fully confirmed when i found him taking a narrow by-way through the old settlement, poorly calculated to show off the place to much advantage. "look here," said i, "don't go through this hollow, but take a turn round by those spires, and let me see what they have got to brag about." coming to a halt, and backing round in a somewhat spiteful manner, during which manoeuvre we came near upsetting, he soon came upon the route indicated. whether from a conviction that there was no use in trying to cheat me any longer, or from the study requisite for the invention of some new system of tactics likely to be more successful, he said but little more during the rest of our ride. i subsequently ascertained that he and the scheme of getting two post-offices for one, rejoiced in one and the same paternity, or in other words, that his mother was the wife of the enterprising and wealthy gentleman before mentioned, and like a good and dutiful son, he "went in" for whatever favored the "old man's" interest. passing through one of the main streets of the middle or post-officeless village, i observed standing in front of a respectable, ancient-appearing mansion, a solemn-looking hearse, and a large number of other vehicles, indicating that funeral services were being performed within, and through the open windows and doors i could see the friends and mourners. "a funeral, i perceive," said i to my companion. a sullenly emphasized "yes," was all the notice vouchsafed to my remark. "a fine-looking lot of horses collected here," i continued. "yes, pretty fair," he rejoined, without, however, withdrawing his attention from a large fly which was annoying our animal, and at the same time proving himself anything but an expert marksman by his repeated unsuccessful attempts to annihilate the insect with the lash of his whip. "this accounts for my seeing so few persons in the streets," i remarked. "they must be attending the funeral." "i suppose so," he answered, at the same instant striking the unlucky fly dead, which neither he nor bob-tail had before succeeded in choking off. a quarter of an hour more found us at village number three, pleasantly situated upon elevated ground, and consisting of an old-fashioned country church, the fine establishment of the wealthy pioneer in this post-office enterprise, already referred to, a store, and a few other buildings. the solitary merchant here was also the newly-appointed post master, a very worthy man from all appearances, though of course deeply impressed with the idea that the "balance of power" should not be disturbed by a discontinuance of the recently established office, and the restoration of the old one on its former site. and it appeared very clear that he had done all in his power to make the inconvenience of the late change fall as lightly as possible upon those more directly interested, for he had arranged to extend every accommodation in his power, and among other things to post a list of all the letters for distant sections of the town, upon the "meeting-house" door every sabbath, and to keep his office open "between meetings," for the delivery of all mail matter which should be called for. his brief history, as related by himself, brought to light the fact that he had served the government as post master many years before, having originally been appointed, as he said, by "old hickory" himself. during half an hour's conversation, the information furnished at this point was generally of a candid and impartial character, though the explanations regarding a defunct bank, the remains of which stood within a stone's throw of the post-office, proved the most troublesome subject that was talked over. the expiration of its charter, if i mistake not, was given as the reason for its closed doors. the measured tolling of the church bell attracted my attention. the funeral procession from the other village had reached the hill and was just entering the burial-ground, through the church-yard, and after a short interval passed out again on its return. having now obtained all the information i could in that quarter, i suggested to my escort that i was ready to move, and we were soon on our way back. about half way to the middle village, we came up with the procession, and followed along at a slow pace, in fact forming a part of the solemn cortege. it had somehow leaked out that the "post-office agent" was there, and along the whole line, hats and even bonnets could be seen projecting from the sides of such of the carriages as were provided with coverings. compared with the post-office question, the grave was nowhere, and funerals were at a discount. some of the most interested happened to be in the nearest vehicles to us, and when they discovered who my companion was, a number of the animals were suddenly relieved of a good share of their burthen. several of the deserters fell in the rear, and without waiting for a formal introduction, began to discourse eloquently upon the subject of their post office grievances. i assured them that i would spend the night at the hotel in their village, where i would be happy to meet them and their friends, for the purpose of inquiry and investigation. [illustration] many a head of a family, i think, was missed that evening from the tea tables, for although it was about the usual hour of that repast when i reached the hotel, the citizens came flocking in in great numbers, and filling the spacious audience room which the landlord had hastily prepared on hearing of my approach, to its utmost capacity, and even before i was fairly seated. most of them being still in the same dress in which they had attended the funeral ceremonies, the "customary suit of solemn black," they were about as well-looking a set of men as you will often see in country or city. a more excited and anxious group of faces, i am sure was never seen in a council of war on the eve of a great and decisive battle. nor will i attempt to assert that i was wholly free from anxiety as to how i should acquit myself before this august assembly, as the representative and embodiment of the government, on this trying occasion. the scene, however, considered in reference to the real importance of the interests at stake, was richly ludicrous. i felt that the dignity of the post-office department was for a time committed to my keeping, and i flatter myself that i succeeded admirably in sustaining it, though it required occasionally not a little effort. one of the gentlemen whose acquaintance i had informally made in the rear of the funeral procession, did the honors in the way of introducing me to each of those who had assembled, and to such as came in in the course of that ever-to-be remembered evening--i should have said night, for it was not far from daylight, when i had listened to the last eloquent appeal in behalf of restoring to them their lost rights and privileges. the whole thing was conducted in a way which, for parliamentary order and decorum, would have put to the blush the lower house of congress near the close of the session; and i am not quite sure that the upper branch of that honorable body, with an exciting subject in hand, could not have derived some useful hints from the manner in which business was there enacted. the room, which i understand was soon after christened and is now known as "restoration hall," was about twenty-five feet by thirty, and for most of the time during this eventful meeting, i chanced to occupy the only rocking chair therein, at one side of the room facing the door. considering that most of the company were my seniors by several years, that was hardly polite; but after several times insisting in vain that some one else should take the post of honor, i settled down without further misgivings. never did i so heartily regret my ignorance of the art of stenography as now; for a _verbatim_ report of all that was here said, would prove the richest and most amusing part of this narrative. after some general and desultory conversation, and considerable manoeuvring as to who should lead off, the responsible task fell upon a somewhat venerable and prominent citizen, who, as i perceived from his "opening," had enjoyed the honor of representing the town in the lower house, as well as the senate of the state. this gentleman's indignation was so intense at the "shabby treatment" of the government, that at first he seemed to question the propriety of condescending to enter into any argument or formal statement in support of a speedy restoration of the post-office. "i feel myself mortified and humbled," said he, "that anything more should be required in this case in securing us justice, than a mere glance at this assemblage, which, leaving out the speaker, cannot be surpassed in respectability and intelligence, by any which could be so readily convened in any community." (a general sensation, and a modest assent all round, so far as looks could indicate it.) "you have before you, sir," continued he, "professional men--men who have devoted all their lives to the training and education of youth,--farmers, mechanics, and merchants,--all of them, sir, men who know their rights, and knowing dare maintain them, sir. many of them, and i for one, sir, differ with the administration in politics; but i take it, sir, that has nothing to do with the settlement of this business. our government will have arrived at a pretty pass, indeed, when it makes a distinction between a whig or locofoco community, in the granting of mail facilities." the term "locofoco" proved for a moment a slight firebrand in the camp--a six foot, plain farmer-looking individual, who had not i think attended the funeral, and who, like the brave putnam, had left his plough in the furrow, on hearing of a chance to fight--starting to his feet and interrupting the speaker,-- "your honor," said he, "i hope my whig friend, if he must speak of politics, will consent to call democrats by their right names. what would he say if i should apply the term 'federalists' to his side of the house?" the first speaker was evidently preparing for a broadside in return for this interruption, but it was averted at once by the assurance volunteered on my part, that the question of politics would have nothing to do with this one; and that no harm was probably intended by the use of the objectionable designation; whereupon our agricultural friend quietly resumed his seat, his blood seemingly several degrees cooler than when he left it. "you're right, sir, no harm _was_ intended," good-naturedly responded the pioneer orator. "it came so natural to say locofoco, that i hardly noticed it myself. we all have one common object here, and the fact that neighbour b. is the only loco--i beg pardon--democrat, who happens to be present, should have suggested to me greater allowance for his sensitive feelings." there was a general laugh at the expense of our lone representative of the democracy, and the discussion resumed its more legitimate channel. at a later period, a careful canvassing would have shown quite a respectable sprinkling of the political friends of the gentleman who took exceptions as above stated; and i have always mistrusted that he managed in some way to procure their special attendance, being evidently a little chagrined at the accidental exposure of the very meagre representation of his party at the commencement. the gentleman having the floor proceeded:-- "i am satisfied the post master general would never have decided as he has, if he had waited for further information. and the indecent haste with which certain men acted in this matter, is a downright shame and disgrace. i doubt not, from what i can learn, that they had their petitions secretly circulating, as soon as the sickness of our late post master became known. would to god he had lived to defeat their selfish and illiberal schemes! but an overruling providence ordered it otherwise, doubtless for the accomplishment of some wise purpose! "we are prepared to show you, sir, by the figures, (though we have seen that, in the hands of unprincipled men, figures _will_ sometimes lie,) that three-fourths of the mail matter for the town belongs to persons of this village, who, by this wicked movement, are obliged to send a distance of two miles for their letters and papers." here was a strong statement, exhibiting a greater difference in the business and correspondence of the three villages than even the papers on the official files of the department had claimed. i was therefore disposed to call for the proof, if it could be had, before proceeding further. "is there any way of getting at what you have just stated as a fact?" i inquired. they were not to be caught napping, for the "committee on statistics" was on the spot, to meet any such exigencies that might arise. a slight nod of the gentleman's head toward the corner of the room was promptly responded to by one of the company, whom i had observed listening more intently, if possible, than the rest, to the opening address. he might be described as a gentleman about forty years of age, with sharp features, and withal as active and keen-looking a body as you will often come across. with a smile, and an air of self-reliance, he drew from his hat a bundle of papers of different shapes, from an inch wide to a full sheet of large size "cap," and, coming to the table, placed them upon it. a moment's search, during which not a word was spoken, produced the desired voucher, which was to confirm the truth of the three-fourths assertion. it proved to be a certificate signed by the assistant of the late post master, setting forth that, _in his opinion_, only about one-quarter of all the letters arriving at that office, during the last three months of its existence, went outside of a circle of one mile. the ex-assistant himself, being present, was appealed to, but although he was willing, in general terms, to re-affirm what he had put upon paper, yet he failed to furnish any very satisfactory data upon which the calculation had been made. it was so much at variance with the allegations contained in the petitions for the new sites, that the impression could not be resisted that there had been truth-stretching somewhere. "should the office be re-established here," said i to the ex-assistant, "can the department rely on the benefit of your experience in its future management, as post master?" my object of course was to fathom, if possible, the depth of any personal interest he might have had in making the certificate referred to. "well, sir, as to that," he answered, his face a little flushed, "i hardly think i could attend to it; and besides, i may go to the west in the spring, if not before." my unexpected inquiry as to a suitable candidate for the office, produced a marked sensation. i observed that it had especially disconcerted the "committee on statistics;" why it did so the reader will learn in due time. apologizing to the gentleman whose speech had thus been interrupted, he resumed, but in a few moments came to an abrupt close on the arrival of two young gentlemen, both residing near village number three, and therefore, except to a few, supposed to have come as spies and reporters. a short consultation, in which i took no part, showed that they were, as i inferred, all right on the main question, notwithstanding their location. they were brothers. if the actors in this scene had been engaged in a play upon the stage, these two new characters could not have been introduced in a more artistic or timely manner. what they had to offer was prefaced by a few words from the gentleman who had just terminated his formal discourse, informing me that they had magnanimously volunteered to come here and throw their mite into the scale, on the side of truth and right, and that private interest, even, could not blind _them_ to the great injustice that had been perpetrated. their own testimony was very brief, and so was their stay, for, believing i had seen their names on one of the petitions asking for just what had been done, i unlocked my carpetbag, and on referring to one of the original papers which for the time being had been placed in my hands, i there found both their signatures, quite conspicuous among the petitioners! and i felt bound to give others a sight of them, too, if for no other reason, to impart to the "injured" members of that community a slight knowledge of some of the difficulties which the post master general and his assistant often have to encounter in these and similar cases. it was all news to those present excepting to the two "magnanimous" gentlemen interested. they had doubtless supposed that the evidence of their double-dealing was very quietly sleeping in one of the snug and obscure pigeon-holes of the appointment office. on coming into the room again, after a quarter of an hour's absence at the supper table, i missed these two generous volunteers, and understood they left very soon after i withdrew. their inconsistent course was afterwards explained to me in this wise: after they had signed for the change, and the papers had gone to washington, it came out that the three select-men of the town had united in a letter to the department, on the same side of the question, all three of them happening to live nearer the new sites than the old one; and the brothers having become involved in a somewhat bitter quarrel with one of those officials, had determined to get on the opposite side, in the post-office struggle, and defeat their wishes if possible. among the speakers was the principal of the academy before alluded to; a very intelligent gentleman, and one of dignified appearance. his observations related mainly to the inconveniences resulting to the members of that institution from the want of a post-office. after he had concluded his remarks, i inquired, "what is the present number of your pupils?" upon this, some one suggested obtaining a printed catalogue, and the "committee on statistics" forthwith disappeared in search of the required pamphlet. the zeal and efficiency of this gentleman may have had no connection with his desire to fill the office of post master, should the office be re-established. the reader will judge of this when he learns who was finally selected for that position. after a few moments' absence, he returned with a copy of the catalogue. observing that it was for a previous term, i asked whether there were as many pupils now as at that time. "the school is not quite as large at present," said the principal; "but we expect even a larger number of pupils at the beginning of the next term." the hint furnished me (as the reader will remember) by my official friend of molasses memory, in respect to the residences of the pupils, happening to occur to my mind, i ran my eye over the column containing that information, and found that, with few exceptions, they belonged in town. consequently, unless they carried on a more extensive correspondence than is usual for such youth, the argument maintained by the principal would lose much of its force. i made no allusion, however, to this discovery, and he soon closed his remarks, expressing the hope that the loud complaints of the distant (?) parents and guardians of the young ladies and gentlemen under his charge would soon be effectually hushed by the restoration of their former excellent mail facilities! a few of those wise words, which, as solomon assures us, are "as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies," were driven, in conclusion, by farmer g., who, as a person sitting near me whispered, was a justice of the peace. his remarks were characterized by much good sense, but an untoward circumstance occurred as he concluded, which interfered with the gravity of the proceedings as well as with his own centre of gravity. as the closing passage of his peroration fell from his lips, he also fell at the same instant! there was a scarcity of seats upon the present occasion, and our oratorical friend had no sooner risen for the purpose of "pouring the persuasive strain," than his chair was appropriated by a fatigued neighbor, who "squatted" on the vacant territory, regardless of "pre-emption" or pre-session. unconscious of this furtive proceeding, mr. g. went on with his remarks, and closed with the following sentence:-- "in conclusion, sir, i should like to know whether the people of this village are to be put down in this way?"--at the same time attempting to resume the seat he had vacated, in the full belief that it was still where he had left it. as facts did not bear him out in this opinion, he was obliged to yield to the force of circumstances, and had gained such a backward impetus before he discovered the treachery of his friend, that he descended to the floor with as much emphasis as two hundred pounds of bone and muscle are capable of producing under similar circumstances! the illustration of his remarks was perfect. he thought that the inhabitants of the village were to be "put down" in an underhanded manner. whether they were to rise again as rapidly as did he, remains to be seen. "that strain again; it had a dying fall," thought i after the orator descended so suddenly from his rhetorical and personal elevation. business was for the moment swallowed up in a roar of laughter, to which the ex-senator, the dignified principal, the energetic dealer in statistics, and the agent, contributed; and even the fallen speaker, whose title to the _floor_ no one was inclined to dispute, joined in the chorus. the person who had caused this catastrophe, apologized to mr. g. by remarking, "you got through quicker than i'd any idee of." "or i either," dryly returned mr. g., brushing the dust from his inexpressibles. this occurrence seemed the signal for adjournment, and all retired in good spirits, thanks to the gentleman who had thus, in spite of himself, been made the instrument of producing such a pleasant state of feeling. a sort of informal levee was held on the following morning, when all the forcible things bearing on the subject in hand were said which had been forgotten at the meeting of the night previous, or were the result of after cogitations. as the time drew near for leaving, i called upon the landlord for my bill. "oh, that's all settled," said he. "settled? by whom, pray?" i asked. "why, _they_ told me not to take anything from you, as they would make it all right," he replied. i called the attention of the landlord to the impropriety of such a course under the circumstances, since in the event of the restoration of the office to that village, it might be said, "oh, it's easy enough to see how that happened. they knew what they were about when they paid the agents' hotel bill." for such reasons i declined the courtesy, and insisted on paying the bill myself. the landlord finally yielded, remarking, "_they_ won't like it when they find out that their directions were not followed." soon after, the stage arrived at the door of the hotel from a neighboring town, on its way to the rail road depôt, and this was to be my conveyance to that place. i took leave of such of the gentlemen as were standing about the piazza, and mounted to the seat upon the top of the stage, behind and above the driver's station. to this elevated position i was unexpectedly followed by the "committee on statistics," and another person whom i had not seen before. this move on the part of the former gentleman was probably made not only to secure my ear during the passage to the depôt, but to prevent the post master there from gaining any advantage over him in the time which would elapse between the arrival of the stage and the departure of the cars. being placed, like men in general, between the known and unknown,--the "committee" on one side, and the stranger on the other, my attention, soon after we had started, was attracted to the former individual by sundry punches in the ribs, proceeding from his elbow, accompanied with ominous winks and glances towards my other companion, who was just then conversing with the driver. "look out what you say," whispered the vigilant committee, "that fellow is a spy; he is one of the depôt boys." "all right," i replied, in all sincerity, for i was not sorry to find that my friend would be prevented by the presence of the "spy" from executing the design which he undoubtedly had, of catechizing me in reference to the report i should make to the department. arriving at the station, i crossed over to the post-office, and there remained until the whistle of the locomotive was heard. "well, good bye, mr. w----," said i to the post master, offering my hand. "i think," said he, "that i will ride a little way with you, as far at least as the next station." he accompanied me across to the depot, and as we stepped upon the platform of a car, we were followed by the "committee" and one of his most interested friends, who had come over in the stage with us, an inside passenger. these gentlemen were evidently bent on thwarting the plans of my saccharine associate, but he had in an important particular greatly the advantage over them, for, by virtue of his office, he was allowed the privilege of riding in the mail car, to which we at once proceeded, leaving our disappointed friends in the outer world, among the undistinguished crowd whom the conductor indiscriminately calls upon for "your money or your ticket." my companion and his opponents alighted at the next station, to wait for the return train, and as the cars moved on, i observed that they were conversing together, the countenance of the former displaying a radiant appearance of satisfaction which plainly showed his triumphant state of mind. i have no means of knowing what passed between them on their return, but it is altogether probable that the "committee" and his friend employed the time in "pumping" or attempting to pump their associate, unless he took refuge in the mail car. the investigation resulted in restoring the post-office to the center village, and in discontinuing the two others. the reader will be pleased to learn that the "committee on statistics" received the appointment of post master. chapter xx. harrowfork post-office. a gloomy picture--beautiful village--litigation in harrowfork--a model post master--the excitement--petitioning the department--conflicting statements--the decisive blow--the new post master--the "reliable man"--indignant community--refusal to serve--an editor's candidate--the temperance question--newspaper extracts--a mongrel quotation--a lull--a "spy in washington"--bad water--new congressmen--the question revived--delegate to washington--obliging down easter--the lost letters--visit to the department--astounding discovery--amusing scene--a congressmen in a "fix"--the difficulty "arranged." there is no blessing bestowed upon us by a kind providence, which man's selfishness may not pervert into a grievance. we have seen this principle illustrated in the use and abuse of post-offices, as often as in any other civil institution. how society in the nineteenth century could exist without mail routes and the regular delivery of letters, it is impossible to conceive. imagine a town without a post office! a community without letters! "friends, romans, countrymen, and lovers," particularly the lovers, cut off from correspondence, bereft of newspapers, buried alive from the light of intelligence, and the busy stir of the great world! what an appalling picture! we have always thought that robinson crusoe and his man friday might have enjoyed a very comfortable existence, had juan fernandez been blessed with a post-office. but think of a society of crusoes and fridays! nobody receiving letters, nobody writing letters--no watching the mails, no epistolary surprises and enjoyments, which form so large an element in our social life to-day! but gloomy as the picture appears, we have many times thought that some very respectable and enlightened villages would be decidedly benefited, were the post office stricken from the catalogue of their institutions. this is a bone of contention, which often sets the whole neighborhood by the ears and communities, which might otherwise enjoy the reputation of being regular circles of "brotherly love," break out into quarrels, contentions, slanders, litigations, and all sorts of unchristian disturbances. the case of the town of harrowfork, which i find recorded in my note-book, will most capitally illustrate the point under consideration. harrowfork, by the way, is not the real name of the town, but a fictitious one, which we use for our convenience, to avoid personalities. it is located on the eastern slope of an eminence, which overlooks one of the fairest of valleys on one of the most beautiful new england streams. the town was once a favorite place of resort with the writer, during the summer season; and, although this was years ago, the pretty village is still fresh in his memory, with its green hills, its handsome residences embowered in the foliage of trees and vines--its rival churches, with their emulous spires pointing toward heaven; its shady roads, and magnificent prospects, looking far off upon the wide-spread valley, dotted with farmhouses, and beautified by the sinuous, glittering waters of the stream. its sunrises were particularly fine, and it has always seemed to me that the poet must have had them in his mind, when he penned the sonnet commencing "full many a glorious morning i have seen flatter the mountain tops with sovereign eye, kissing with golden face the meadows green, gilding pale streams with heavenly alchemy!" it appears to us a strange dispensation of providence, that such a perfect nest of loveliness should be invaded by inharmonious cat birds, and mischief-making wrens. but dissensions did creep in through the post-office. up to a certain time, such universal peace prevailed among the inhabitants, that its two lawyers would have been beggared, had they not wisely resorted to farming, as a more reliable occupation than the occasional and precarious one of conducting some tame and straight-forward case, for a petty fee. but now the lawyers have enough to do, without turning aside from their regular profession; litigation is brisk and spirited in harrowfork, and intricate and aggravated cases are numerous. neighbors quarrel, church members sue each other, deacons go to law, the lawyers build fine houses, their families grow extravagant in dress--all owing to the post-office. as long as old uncle crocker was post master, there was no difficulty. he seemed just the man for the business. he was looked upon as a part of the institution. nobody thought of turning him out, more than they would have thought of petitioning for the removal of harrowfork hill. but uncle crocker was not a permanent institution, notwithstanding the people's faith. one of his daughters married, and settled in the west. excited by the report she made of the country, two of his sons followed her, and in the course of time, uncle crocker himself "pulled up stakes," retired from the post-office with honors, and migrated to the new territory. as soon as the old gentleman's intention was made public, there was a slight flutter of interest in the community, in relation to the subject of a successor in his office. at first, if the name of a new candidate was hinted at, it was offered like snagsby's expression of opinion in the presence of his wife--only as a "mild suggestion." but there was a good deal of partisan feeling latent in harrowfork, and this was just the thing to develope it; and gently as the breeze had arisen, it freshened and increased, until it blew a perfect hurricane, that not only disturbed the whole county, but became troublesome even as far off as washington. at an early period of the excitement, the friends of an enterprising tradesman in the place had gone quietly to work, and procured his appointment to the office. it was quite a surprise to many of his fellow-townsmen, and no small sensation was produced when deacon upton was announced as the new post master. many were dissatisfied, of course, and although the deacon had always been known as a quiet, inoffensive man, he suddenly became the subject of derogatory remarks. the personal friends who had been instrumental in securing the appointment, formed a spirited minority in his favor, while all who had not been consulted in the premises, naturally felt bound to range themselves on the side of his critics and opponents. to make matters worse, a presidential campaign followed mr. upton's inauguration, and politics "ran high." the post-office became the great centre and source of excitement. people met, on the arrival of the mails, and glanced over the editorial columns of their newspapers, and talked over their grievances. at length the great crisis came. a change of administration was effected. and as the health or sickness of the nation appeared now to depend entirely upon the post-office incumbent at harrowfork, this subject received prompt attention from all parties. all sorts of communications, full of absurd complaints, contradictory statements, imperative commands, and angry denunciations, were now poured in upon the post-office department at washington. to show what human nature is at such times, and also to designate how perfectly clear and beautifully pleasant the duty of the appointing power becomes, in the progress of the snarl, we will give a few specimens of these conflicting missives. here is one version of the story:-- to his honor, the post master general, at washington, sir: your honor's humble petitioners, legal voters in the town of harrowfork, respectfully submit the following _undeniable facts_ for your consideration. first, the person who now holds the office of post master in our place, is _totally unfit_ for the business. he was got in by a clique of interested individuals, who used underhanded measures for the purpose, and succeeded in their object only by blinding the eyes of the department to the real character of the man, and the wishes of the people. not one man in fifty is in favor of the present incumbent; and those who are, turn out generally to be persons who seldom write or receive letters, and have little or no business in connexion with the post-office. second, the office is left during a great portion of the time in the charge of the post master's father-in-law, a worthy old gentleman, but whose sight has somewhat failed him; so that when persons call for letters or papers, he has first to hunt up his spectacles, which he has been known to be near five minutes in finding; then he has to go over with the letters, &c., very slowly, to avoid making mistakes, very often taking them out of the wrong box at that, and after all, giving the wrong letters to people, or giving them none at all, when the fact is, letters for them have perhaps been lying untouched in the office for weeks. such cases are nothing uncommon. third, valuable letters have been lost through carelessness on the part of persons in the office, or from _less excusable_ causes, of which we leave your honor to judge. letters containing money are particularly liable to miscarry. fourth, it is a fact which merits your honor's special consideration, that, in consequence of the dissolute habits of the post master's nephew, who attends in the office evenings, a not very respectable gang of young men are encouraged to hang about the doors till late at night, making it very unpleasant for the more sober citizens to go there for their mails. fifth, the present post master is a deacon of the church, and very sectarian in his views. there may be no direct connection between this circumstance, and the fact that the religious newspapers of different sects from his own, are apt to be lost or destroyed in the mails, while the "helmet of truth," a paper to which he is commissioned to obtain subscribers, is always punctually delivered! your honor's petitioners state this only as a remarkable coincidence, which may however have some bearing upon the case. in view of these stubborn and undeniable facts, we the undersigned, legal voters in the town of harrowfork, humbly petition your honor, that the present post master be removed, and a more suitable person appointed in his place. we also beg leave to suggest to your honor's consideration, the name of josiah barnaby, as a fit and reliable candidate for the office, and a person who would be sure to give more general satisfaction to the community than any other available man. trusting that the foregoing statements will receive your honor's early attention, and such official action as the merits of the case demand, we remain your honor's respectful petitioners. signed by { aminadab fogle { and thirteen others. this was certainly a strong case, and it would seem perfectly clear that "his honor" should straightway remove upton and appoint barnaby to fill his place. but close upon the heels of the above petition, followed another of a very different character. the framers of the last also maintained that a change should be made, and adduced strong charges against upton; but it appeared after all, that barnaby was not the most reliable man. "such an appointment," said the new document, "would give greater dissatisfaction, if possible, than the old one has done. the said barnaby is an infidel, who made himself very obnoxious to all right-minded citizens by his avowed disbelief in the scriptures, and his contempt of the sabbath, and the ordinances of religion. your honor's humble petitioners, therefore, submit that it would be an outrage upon the feelings of a christian community to have such a person appointed to so important and responsible an office. furthermore, the undersigned take it upon themselves to affirm that it is not the wish of over four persons in our district that the said barnaby should receive the commission. we understand the petition in his favor was drawn up by one aminadab fogle, whose name heads the list. now it happens that the said fogle is a brother-in-law of the said barnaby, while at least three others in his (barnaby's) favor are likewise connections of the family, and persons, like him, entirely destitute of religious principles. with regard to other persons who signed the petition, the most of them privately acknowledge that they did so, because they were urged, and could not refuse, without offending their neighbors. under these circumstances, the undersigned respectfully represent that they express the general feeling of the community, when they nominate mr. homer s. clark as an eligible candidate for the office in question." then follows an eulogy on mr. homer s. clark; the whole winding up with a grand rhetorical flourish, to the tail of which are attached some twenty-three names, representing the active "better class" of society in harrowfork. so it appeared that clark was the right man; and undoubtedly the department would have proceeded at once to invest him with the disputed honors; but before any action could be had in the matter, a candid representation from another party, strengthened by affidavits, served to cast "ominous conjecture" on the whole affair. this was a petition from the upton party, wherein it was maintained, that of the two aspirants for office, barnaby was the better man of the two, clark having made himself very unpopular, by failing for a large amount some years before, going through chancery, and afterwards living in a style of elegance unbecoming a man who had dismissed his creditors with ten cents on a dollar. it was also shown that the prime mover in favor of clark was a cousin of his, and the same person who was supposed to have held a large portion of bankrupt property in trust for the said clark at the time of his failure! still barnaby was no more fit for the office, than the petitioners in favor of clark had represented. there were fifty in harrowfork eminently qualified to fulfil the duties of post master, and who would give infinitely better satisfaction than either of the new candidates; but of them all, there was no one, who, in the opinion of the petitioners, was better calculated for the office than the present incumbent. it was only a few dissatisfied, mischief-making people, who pretended to consider a change at all desirable. upton had now been in a year; had shown himself obliging and faithful; and although a few unimportant mistakes, unavoidable under the circumstances, had escaped his eye in the early part of his career, he was now experienced, and no such errors would be likely to occur in future. the attention of the department was then called to the fact that the names of john harmon, solomon corwin, amos fink, and several others, probably would be found on both the clark and barnaby petitions! this inconsistency was easily accounted for. in the first place, john harmon had always been accustomed, when crocker was post master, to make himself quite at home in the office. mr. upton, however, exercising a stern impartiality, had from the first excluded every outsider from the private room, harmon not excepted, during the business of opening and assorting the mails. thereupon harmon had taken offence, and was ready to sign any petition against upton, without regard to the source whence it originated. with respect to corwin and fink and any others whose names might be found on both the previous petitions, they were easy, good-natured individuals, who could not say "no;" and who might generally be prevailed upon to sign any sort of a paper to which their attention was called. it was therefore the humble prayer of the petitioners, that no needless change should be made, but that the present post master should be continued in office, at least until some good reason should be assigned for his removal. then followed a good show of names designed to impress the department with the power and influence of the upton party. this put a different face upon the matter, and simple justice seemed to require that the actual incumbent should remain unmolested in the enjoyment of the honors and emoluments of his office. but there came another statement from a fourth party, containing grave and serious charges not only against barnaby and clark, but also against upton, and recommending the removal of the latter, and the appointment of a new candidate, mr. ezekiel sloman, to the vacancy. it was made to appear that mr. sloman was the man, of all others, to please the community at large; and for a time his prospects were very good; but some of upton's friends getting wind of the matter, it was satisfactorily represented to the department, that although an honest, well-meaning man, the said sloman was entirely destitute of energy and business tact; that, indeed, he had so little worldly capacity that he was literally supported by the charity of friends; and that in order to relieve themselves of the encumbrance, these friends had united to have him appointed post master. thus sloman was cast overboard. the upton party exulted. their opponents were exasperated, and a coalition was formed between the barnaby and clark factions. aminadab fogle and john harmon put their heads together. both clark and barnaby were dropped, and all hands agreed to support a new man named wheeler. but the main thing was to remove upton. the following strong point was accordingly made against that individual, in addition to the previous charges. "although entirely disinterested in the matter, except so far as the common rights of humanity are concerned, the undersigned consider it their conscientious duty to inform your honor that the said upton is decidedly opposed to the present national administration. he has long been at heart an abolitionist of the deepest dye, and of late his fanaticism has shown itself in public. during the recent presidential campaign, the post-office was made the head-quarters of the free soilers, and was, during a large portion of the time, converted into a regular caucus room by the leaders of that party. that your honor may judge for yourself what this man's political conduct has been, the undersigned take the liberty of calling your attention to the enclosed editorial notice of a free soil meeting in which deacon upton took an active part. it is clipped from the columns of the "temperance goblet," a paper neutral in politics and religion, and entirely independent and impartial on the post-office question. the following is the newspaper paragraph referred to: "next, we were a little surprised to see our respected friend post master upton take the floor, and treat the audience to a harangue, which as a specimen of eloquence will, we venture to assert, find nothing to compare with it in the orations of cicero. but it was the matter, more than the manner of the speech, which excited our astonishment. we had always given our friend credit for being a law and order man, _notwithstanding his well known abolition prejudices_," (words in italics underscored with ink by the petitioners,) until the occasion of this public demonstration of the most ultra garrisonianism. how a man, uniformly discreet, should have suffered his feelings to run away with his judgment in a public discourse, we cannot conceive, unless it be that in the whirlwind of eloquence that bore him away, all consideration of law, patriotism, and duty, were lost sight of. after all, it is not upton who is to blame, it is the times. he should have lived in athens, in the palmy days of grecian oratory. what would demosthenes have been by the side of the giant upton? echo answers "what?" this proved the decisive blow. upton was cut off like hamlet, senior, "even in the blossoms of his sin." scarce was his removal effected, however, when the eyes of harrowfork were suddenly opened to the fact that he was "about the best man for post master, that could be had, after all!" the slanders that had been circulated to his disadvantage, were turned in his favor. among other instances of dishonest dealing, in the opposition party, the great fraud touching upton's abolitionism, was now discovered and exposed. he was proved to be entirely innocent of any such "political heresy;" and it was further shown that the slip of editorial clipped from "the temperance goblet," had never appeared in the columns of that paper--that it had been prepared expressly, and privately printed for the dishonest purpose it had served! but the correction of the false and malicious statements came too late to benefit upton in his official capacity. he had "gone out with the tide," and the returning waves were ineffectual to bring him in again. he was politically defunct, and a new post master "reigned in his stead." about the new post master. he was the favorite of no faction, and the appointment came to him as unexpectedly as to the public. this is the way of it. about the time, the "town committee," having first endorsed a paper in favor of wheeler, sent privately to washington to inform the post master general that the said endorsement was a mere formality, to be taken no notice of whatever; and to recommend a new candidate named foster. the department becoming not a little disgusted with the whole business, wrote to a "reliable" man in the vicinity, but not in the town, for advice on the subject. flattered by the compliment, the "reliable" person drew up an elaborate paper on the subject, demonstrating that the party would be endangered by the appointment of either of the rival candidates, and representing that some such cool-headed and discreet individual as mr. walters, (a widower of forty,) against whom no prejudice had been raised, and who would no doubt prove acceptable to the entire community, should receive the commission. this "reliable" man was supposed of course to be quite disinterested. his suggestion was accordingly adopted, and walters walked into the post-office, as upton walked out. but little opposition would have been excited against the new incumbent, had the manner of his appointment remained a secret. but the "reliable" man thought it too good to keep. he desired that society should know what an important personage he had become. the dignity of his being consulted by the department at washington, would be but half enjoyed privately. he accordingly rode over to harrowfork, shook hands with the "select-men," talked about the post-office, and laughed inwardly, holding his sides and looking suspiciously wise, whenever the subject of the new appointment was broached. he knew a thing or two--_he_ could tell a secret if he chose--there was more than one way to settle a quarrel;--he knew the department, the department knew him. ha! ha! ha! and ho! ho! ho! &c. horrible doubts racked the brain of john harmon. he took aminadab fogle aside. "look here!" said he. "what relation is judge ames (the "reliable man") to the new post master?" "i declare," replied fogle, "i never thought of that! walters is ames' wife's sister's husband's youngest brother! he is dreadful thick, too, with the family, and the talk is he is going to marry ames' oldest daughter." "that explains it," said john harmon; "i knew there was something of the kind at the bottom of it all. keep dark, and i'll pump the judge until we get out of him all about the way this rascally appointment has been made." already it was "a rascally" appointment. after harmon's talk with the judge, who was but too ready to acknowledge his instrumentality in the matter, it became a "detestable appointment," and an "underhanded proceeding." and scarce had the tail of the judge's horse disappeared over the bridge that night, when all harrowfork rang with the discovery that had been made. little thought the "reliable" man as he went home, chuckling over the joke, what a hornet's nest he had disturbed. but he probably knew something of it the following sunday, when the widower walters went over to amesbury to pay a visit to the judge's family in general, and his eldest daughter in particular. the truth is, a deafening hum of indignation had gone up from harrowfork, and it was universally declared that the new appointment was by far the most objectionable that could possibly have been made! the result was, the department, the "reliable" man, and the new post master, individually and collectively, got soundly abused by all hands; and it was not long before a delegation was dispatched to washington, to expose the fraud, and remonstrate against the continuance of walters in office. against the latter, the most serious charges were preferred. it was claimed, among other things, that he had been in town but a few years; furthermore, that he had some time since held the office of post master in a neighboring state, and had resigned to prevent being removed for official delinquencies. it was mainly on this ground that the post master general was induced to recall his commission. scarcely was this done, however, when it was discovered that the unfortunate man had been wronged; that it was another walters who had been a post master, &c. anxious to make immediate reparation, the department hastened to send on the papers again; but by this time, walters, indignant at the manner in which he had been treated, refused to accept the office, writing a high-toned and dignified letter on the subject to the post master general. "i do not wish," said he, "to have anything whatever to do with the petty strife of politics. i have not sought, neither do i desire, any public office. had such been my ambition, my recent experience would be sufficient entirely to eradicate the disease, unless it had become chronic, from the effects of breathing too long the malaria of political society. "'some men are born great; some achieve greatness; and others have greatness thrust upon them;' mine was of the last description; but i am thankful that it has been temporary: nor shall i again consent to endure 'the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,' in so lofty and exposed a position as that of post master of harrowfork." the sharp and independent style of this epistle made walters quite popular with the department, and he was again urged to accept the commission, which he again refused. the trouble was accordingly no nearer a settlement than at the outset. the department had unwittingly offended everybody, and the "reliable" man was, perhaps, the most violently indignant of all. when applied to a second time, he fired off an explosive epistle at the post master general, which would serve as a model for that style of writing. "he was not the person," he said, "to place himself more than once in a position to be gratuitously insulted." and he was surprised that the department, after subjecting walters to the treatment he had received, should again apply to him (the judge) for assistance. had he an enemy whom he wished to make the victim of public animadversion and disgrace, he might possibly nominate him to the office. but certainly he could not think of laying such an affliction at the door of his friends. in conclusion, the post master general, president, and company, were politely invited to "look elsewhere for support in future." the truth is, the judge's vanity was touched. having enjoyed the notoriety of procuring the appointment of walters, he naturally became incensed at the turn affairs had taken, and seized the first opportunity of emptying the vials of his wrath in a quarter where they were expected to produce a sensation. the administration, however, survived. meanwhile mr. atkins, editor of the temperance goblet, who had _his_ special candidate--a speculator named blake--was playing his cards adroitly. he had a strong ally in hon. mr. savage, m. c., then at washington. the last-named gentleman, who had previously taken offence at the post master general, for having the independence to fill a vacancy in a post-office in his district without consulting him, now, however, came alertly to the rescue, assuring the department that blake was the most suitable man that could be chosen. blake was accordingly honored with the commission which walters had refused. now blake was a strenuous advocate of the "maine law." he, accordingly, had for his enemies all the opponents of his favorite doctrine. the "harrowfork freeman," an anti-maine law organ, was particularly bitter against him. the editor of that paper lent his columns to the exposure of the new post master's past course, and in a "scathing article" accused him of having been formerly the proprietor of a large distillery, and of having accumulated the bulk of his property in that business! on the other hand, atkins of the goblet devoted his paper to the defence of his candidate. at the same time hon. mr. savage had become reconciled to the post master general, in consequence of the attention paid to his recommendation in the case, and wrote a friendly and familiar letter to the department, explanatory and apologetic of blake's course. he alluded to the article in the "freeman," and expressed a hope that the department would not be prejudiced by its statements. this reference, by the way, was the first intimation the department had, that such an article ever appeared. the honorable member went on to treat the subject as if the general government and the nation at large stood waiting with breathless anxiety for the issue. "true," said he, "he was at one time engaged in the manufacture of liquor; but certainly that circumstance should not injure him in the estimation of high-minded and liberal men. it is an honest calling, if honestly followed, and nobody will pretend that blake has not shown himself upright in all his dealings. for my part, i hold to enlightened views on the subject of eating and drinking; nor do i believe that one citizen has a right to penetrate and criticise another's private life." blake was continued in office, whether in consequence of the honorable member's championship, we cannot say. but certain it was, that in the election struggle which came off soon after, atkins of the goblet supported the regular candidate for congress, who was no other than this same mr. savage, of "enlightened views;" and by carrying the mass of the temperance vote, secured his re-election by some forty-five majority! the goblet's course in this business appeared not a little mysterious. it had supported blake for post master--a man whose temperance professions were now regarded as entirely superficial and worthless--and savage for congress, a person more than suspected as being a moderate drinker and a man of boasted "liberal principles." messrs. harmon and fogle put their dissatisfied heads together to discover the secret. they were aided and encouraged by the editor of the freeman, and presently in an article in that paper headed, "how to make tin night-caps out of pine shingles," the whole "black history of shameless fraud and double-dealing," as it was called, was revealed to an astounded public. we quote a few paragraphs from the freeman's article:-- "here," said the merciless reviewer, with genuine satire, "here is a beautiful instance of love and harmony in political life! here is prophecy fulfilled. 'the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and a little child shall lead them.' savage--rightly named--is the lion. blake--innocent, harmless, dove-like blake, who never did anything wrong, is the lamb; and atkins is the little boy. he leads them into sweet pastures of public office; and gives them to drink of congress water and post-office pap. o happy trio! o honest and consistent coalition! "what makes the union appear all the more admirable, is the fact that the most discordant elements have here been made to blend and intermingle. savage is a moderate drinker, who loves his wine at dinner, and his punch before going to bed. atkins is a stiff and uncompromising temperance man. one is maine law, the other is anti-maine law. as for blake, he is sometimes one, sometimes both, and sometimes neither one thing nor the other. but atkins supports savage, savage supports blake, and they all support each other. "now, as our grandmother used to say, 'wherever you see a turnip-top growing, you may be sure that there's a turnip at the bottom of it. large or small, it's still a turnip.' now, we have long admired the luxuriance of savage, atkins, blake & co.'s turnip-tops. we have recently been looking for the turnip, and lo! here it is! who secured savage's re-election? blake, when at the last county convention of the maine laws, he advised them not to make an independent temperance ticket for congress. who devoted his paper to the cause of the moderate drinker? atkins. who got blake the post-office? atkins and savage. but what are savage and blake doing for atkins all this time? is atkins so unselfish as to work for them gratis? nobody believes it! where then does the milk in the cocoa-nut come from? let us see. "in the first place--we have it on the authority of an old lady who knows the genealogy of every family in the county, and can trace most people's ancestry back to noah--blake is atkins's second cousin. there's one point. now for another. blake owns three-fourths of the entire goblet printing establishment, and holds the property in such a way, that he can any day take the paper into his own hands, and manage it to suit himself! therefore, whoever edits the goblet, is blake's tributary. we were going to say tool or slave, but concluded to sacrifice truth to politeness. thus it happens that atkins is only as it were blake's left hand," &c. after several more paragraphs of the same sort, the author of the annihilating article, who found it very difficult to conclude the subject, being of a very rich and attractive nature, finally summed up all his points, and bound them together with a striking original quotation, attributed to shakspeare. it was as follows: "o consistency! thou art a jewel! which, like the toad, ugly and envious, bears yet a precious secret in his head." it was this mongrel quotation which damped the freeman's powder. the goblet took it up, turning the laugh against its rival; and for months the modern style of rendering shakspeare was a standing joke. of course a copy of the freeman, containing the editorial marked, was sent to the post master general; but on reading about the toad at the end of the annihilating article, the department dismissed the whole subject with a good-natured laugh. notwithstanding the truth of the charges against him, blake was continued in office. 'twas probably the fun of the thing that saved him. then followed a lull. the good people of harrowfork were worn out with the harassing post-office question, and it was permitted to rest until the approach of the next congressional election. atkins of the goblet went openly to work to secure the re-nomination of savage. but in the mean time, a "spy in washington"--there are always "spies in washington"--privately gave information to the leading maine law men in the district, concerning the honorable member's very equivocal support of temperance principles. armed with this intelligence, the indignant constituency remonstrated with atkins on the inconsistency of his course. he however, "flatly denied" the allegations against savage. "very well," said the constituency; "you may be sincere, but we shall investigate the matter a little." at the allusion to investigation, atkins winced, and endeavored to dissuade his friends from such a "needless step." "we'll have a committee appointed to write savage a letter, at all events, and demand an exposition of his principles," replied they. "we want to know what sort of a man we are supporting. we went for savage before, mainly through your influence; now we're determined to make sure it's all right, before we give him a single vote." "nonsense, gentlemen," said atkins; "of course it's all right! don't go to bothering our candidate with letters. letters are the devil in politics." the temperance men, however, were not to be dissuaded, and a letter was written, in which the hon. member was asked, among other things, if he was or was not "in the habit of using intoxicating liquors as a beverage, while at the seat of government?" in reply to this question, the gentleman of "enlightened views" wrote to the committee:-- "i frankly admit, that the consequence of the bad water at washington, which has so deleterious an effect upon my health, when i drink it, as to render me for a large portion of the time unfit for business, i have occasionally, by the advice of my physician, resorted to ardent spirits, simply as a remedial agent. yet this habit has been confined _strictly_ to the capital. never out of washington have i indulged in anything of the sort, even as a medicine." this letter was received with significant nods and winks, expressive of doubts and disapprobation, by the committee; and it was sent to the "goblet" for publication. in the mean time, however, its author had given atkins private instructions on the subject; and the "goblet" declined to publish the letter. "gentlemen," said atkins, when called on for an explanation, "this is an absurd affair from beginning to end. i opposed the proceeding at the outset. i consider the letter perfectly satisfactory; but my readers are tired of these things, and so am i. i must therefore be excused from having anything to do with the affair." "you will publish the letter, however, as an advertisement?" suggested the committee. "not even as an advertisement!" "not if paid for?" "no, not if paid for, gentlemen!" said the imperturbable atkins. "very well," replied the committee, exasperated, "we know who will publish it." they went across the way to the office of the "freeman," the "rum paper," as it was called. harmon, who was of the committee, knew the editor, and took him confidentially aside. "atkins," said he, "refuses to print this document; 'twill be just the thing for you, and it will spite him to see it in the freeman." "to tell you the truth," said he, "i'm afraid to publish it. 'twill just suit our moderate drinkers, and i'm not so sure but it would injure _our_ candidate with that class of men. on the whole," said he, "i think i won't print it." foiled in this quarter, john harmon bethought him of the "news courier," a neutral paper published in a neighboring town, which offered to print communications relating to the approaching campaign, provided they were written in a proper spirit, and did not compromise too much its position as a neutral journal. the savage letter was accordingly sent to the courier, and promptly appeared in its columns. but the editor, desiring to keep both scales of the balance as nearly in equilibrium as possible, inserted in the same number of his paper a very profound, scientific treatise, signed "filter," giving an analysis of the washington water, showing that its chemical properties were identical with those of the member's own well at home! and strongly questioning the utility of mixing whiskey with it at all, and more especially such whiskey as is too often sold at the seat of government! the result was decisive. the goblet lost popularity and patronage; atkins lost influence and money; and savage lost the election. on the other hand, the news courier gained the favor and support of the temperance people, by its "bold and manly course" in exposing the rottenness of savage's principles. john harmon was triumphant; and one of the very leaders of the temperance cause was sent to congress. the new member was no other than judge ames, the "reliable" man, himself! reader, be not surprised! political life is fertile in such unexpected events. the judge had gained popularity by coming out strongly for the maine law. the old party to which he belonged had endorsed his nomination, john harmon electioneered for him, and lent his horse and wagon to bring invalids, old men, and indifferent voters to the polls, on election day; and the judge was returned by an overwhelming majority. then the old question of post master was again revived, and the whole ground gone over again; the contest becoming more personal and desperate than before, and the files of the department teeming with all sorts of exaggerated petitions and violent remonstrances. the appointing power was made the victim of every kind of imposition and abuse. in the mean while the new member exercised that better part of valor, called discretion. popularity rendered him good-natured and conservative; and he lost no time in effecting a reconciliation with the post master general, of whom he had so rashly complained. already, on the other hand he had written to his constituents describing the embarrassment of his situation, and requesting as a particular favor that he might for a brief period at least be excused from any personal interference with the post-office quarrel. this unexpected communication somewhat disappointed the enemies of blake; john harmon, in particular, was highly exasperated, having previously obtained a promise from ames that, in case of his election, he would use his influence to have blake removed. the antagonistic parties were accordingly left to settle their difficulties as best they could. the battle raged furiously. fresh petitions, remonstrances, affidavits, and accusations were volleyed at the department; and at length a special bearer of dispatches was delegated to washington, to support the charges against blake, and demand of the post master general his reasons for declining immediate action in so plain a case. now, the person selected for this important mission was no other than our old acquaintance, mr. john harmon. he was intrusted with the business for several excellent reasons. in the first place, he was a ready and vehement talker. secondly, he was an enthusiast on the post-office question, and a bitter opponent of the blake faction. thirdly, he understood human nature, and knew how to manage ames. fourthly, and chiefly, he was the author of the most serious charge against blake. he had a short time before posted a letter containing a twenty dollar bank-note, at the harrowfork post-office. this letter never reached its destination. now, blake knew there was money in that letter; and it could be proved that, not long after its miscarriage, just such a bank-note as the one contained was passed by the post master, "under suspicious circumstances." this charge was on file among the papers of the department; and it was thought that harmon was the most suitable person to agitate the subject. mr. john harmon made a comfortable journey, and arrived at the seat of government in due season. his first business was to secure lodgings suited to the high character of a delegate from harrowfork. but washington was crowded with visitors, and the hotels were filled. mr. john harmon was chagrined. he leaned his chin upon his hand, and his elbow upon the counter of the "national." mr. john harmon ruminated. "i don't see but what me'n' you'll hef to go halves, and turn in together," said a voice at his other elbow. mr. john harmon looked up. a stranger, of tall figure, prominent cheek-bones, sallow complexion, dressed in a very new and very stiff suit of clothes, smiled upon him in a decidedly friendly manner. "there's jest one room, the landlord says'st we can hav' on a pinch," confined the speaker. "it's up pooty high, and an't a very sizable room, at that. i've got the furst offer on't, but i won't mind makin' a team'th you, if you're a mind to hitch on, and make the best on't. what d'ye say?" mr. john harmon said he supposed he would accept his new friend's proposal. but at the same time he hinted to the clerk at the desk that he was from the hon. mr. ames' district. "if you were the president, himself, we could not do any better by you, under the circumstances," said the clerk. this assurance served to soothe john harmon's injured feelings, and he retired to the room in the top of the house, with his new acquaintance. "come down on gov'ment business, i s'pose likely?" suggested the latter. "yes," replied john harmon, "on post-office business." "i want to know! glad we fell in," cried the stranger. "i came down on some sich business myself." "indeed!" said john harmon. "you are going to call on the post master general, then?" "shouldn't be 'tall surprised," remarked the other, rolling up his sleeves over the wash-bowl. "can't tell exac'ly, though. i wanted to see what was goin' on down here, and git a sight of the big bugs, and hear a little spoutin' in congress; so i told our folks to hum--says i, i b'lieve i'll scooter off down to washin'ton, says i, and take a peep into the dead letter office, and see if i can find hide or hair o' that 'ere hundred dollar letter, says i." "have you lost a letter containing a hundred dollars?" inquired john harmon, interested. the stranger said "'twas jes' so," and went on to relate the circumstances. he also incidentally stated that his name was forrester wilcox; that he owned a farm somewhere "down east," comprising over two hundred acres of land, and one hundred and fifty under cultivation; that he had been a member of the maine legislature, and held the office of "deputy sheriff" in his county. this account of himself impressed john harmon favorably; and in return for the confidence, he talked mr. forrester wilcox to sleep that night, on the subject of the harrowfork post-office. on the following morning, our friends concluded to pay an early visit to the post-office department. they were now on excellent terms with each other; and on arriving at the department, john harmon readily accepted an invitation from forrester wilcox to accompany him to the dead letter office, before endangering the digestion of his breakfast, by entering upon the perplexing harrowfork business. accordingly, as they entered the building, mr. wilcox hailed a messenger. "look here! you!" said he, "where abouts does a chap go to find the dead letters?" "this way," replied the polite messenger. the visitors were shown to the left, through the lower main hall of the department; then turning into another passage, the messenger pointed out the last door on the right, as the one they were in search of. "thank ye," said mr. wilcox; "i'll do as much for you some time. may as well bolt right in, i suppose?" he added, consulting his companion. john harmon said "certainly," and the next moment the two found themselves in the midst of the clerks of that important bureau. mr. forrester wilson singled out one of the most approachable of them, and addressed him on the subject of the hundred dollar letter. "i have no recollection of any such letter," said the clerk. however, for the visitor's satisfaction, he examined the list of returned money letters, for the last quarter. john harmon, interested for his friend wilcox, also ran his eye over the list. "it's not here," said the clerk; "but you may rest assured, that in case it is at any time discovered, it will find its way back to you in safety." he was about to dismiss the visitors, but john harmon coughed; john harmon looked very red. john harmon was perspiring very profusely. the truth is, among the last letters on the list, he found recorded the identical one, containing the twenty dollar bank note, which blake was charged with purloining! what to do in the matter, john harmon was at a loss to know. after some hesitation, however, he asked permission to glance once more at the list. he was accommodated, and presently his finger rested on the important entry. "i declare," said he, "if there ain't a letter i mailed at harrowfork! i had no idea of finding it here! can i get it now, by proving property?" "it has already been returned to your address," answered the clerk, on learning the circumstances. "you will find it on your return to harrowfork. it miscarried in consequence of a mistake in the superscription." "are you sure it has been sent?" inquired john harmon. the clerk was quite sure, and john harmon instantly withdrew. "so there's one of your charges agin blake knocked overboard," suggested wilcox. "he'll be a little grain tickled to see that 'ere letter come back, i s'pect!" "no person," answered john harmon, magnanimously, "no person in the world can be more rejoiced than i am, that blake is proved innocent of the charge." wilcox replied that he was very glad to hear it; and so they parted to meet again at dinner. whether john harmon was so greatly rejoiced at the proof of blake's innocence, will be seen in the sequel. while the down easter went to see the lions about town, our delegate found his way to the apartment of the post master general, and inquired for that officer in a manner which said very plainly, "i am john harmon, of harrowfork; and i guess now we'll have that little post-office affair settled." unfortunately--or rather fortunately, for his own peace of mind, at least, the post master general was engaged that morning at cabinet meeting at the white house, and john harmon was referred to the first assistant, who listened patiently to his statement. our delegate had a speech prepared for the occasion, which he now declaimed in a very high tone of voice, "with a swaggering accent, sharply twanged off," as sir toby belch would have said, and with vehement and abundant gestures. "i am instructed by my constituents," he said, in conclusion, "to demand of the department satisfactory reasons for the delay and procrastination to which we have been obliged tamely to submit!" "you should consider," politely returned the assistant, "that harrowfork numbers only one among some twenty-four thousand post-offices in the union; and that it is a little unreasonable to expect us to bear in mind all the details of an occasional and not uncommon case. we will attend to your business, however, directly." the papers relating to the harrowfork post-office were sent for, and promptly produced. the delegate seized them without ceremony. the first endorsement that caught his eye, checked his eagerness, and induced reflection. "i'd like to know, sir," said he, "_what that means_?" as he called the assistant's attention to the word "rest," inscribed in formidable characters, very much resembling the hand-writing of the post master general. "if you think," he continued, "or imagine, or flatter yourselves that you're to have any kind of _rest_ in this marble building, till that rascally blake is turned out, you're very much mistaken. or if it means that you want the _rest_ of the temperance men in favor of his removal, i can promise you so much, on my responsibility as a delegate." the assistant smiled. he had dealt with persons of john harmon's temperament before. "permit me to inform you," said he, "what that harmless little word signifies. it means nothing more nor less than that, for the present, no action is to take place. ah!" he added, glancing at the brief upon the papers, "i remember this case very well! it has been from first to last an exceedingly vexatious one to the department, and these memoranda bring it pretty fully to my recollection." "well, sir," interrupted john harmon, in his declamatory way--"isn't it plain? isn't it perfectly clear? haven't we the rights of the case, sir?" "it is not quite so plain--not quite so clear--nor is it easy to determine who has the rights of the case," returned the official. "the most troublesome point at the present time, seems to be this: while, according to the documents, a majority of the citizens of harrowfork seem to be eager for a removal, both the late member of congress, and the newly elected one, have written private letters here--i mention this confidentially--in favor of the present incumbent." "you don't mean ames?" cried john harmon. "ames hasn't come out for blake?" "there is a letter on file, over his own signature, in which he represents that blake is as suitable a man as could be named, and that he had better be continued in office." the assistant spoke with seriousness and candor. john harmon was thunderstruck. "just give me a look at that letter!" said he, through his closed teeth. "i want to see it over ames' own fist, before i believe it! when we promised our support for his election, he agreed to carry out our wishes in regard to the post-office, at all hazards! if he has dared to turn traitor!" muttered john harmon, revengefully. "the letter is entirely of a private nature," said the assistant, "but it is contrary to our wishes to keep any communications secret, that are designed to influence our public acts; and owing to the peculiar circumstances of the case, i am willing to show you the letter,--on condition, however, that its contents shall not be divulged outside the department." john harmon, burning to seize upon the evidence of ames' treachery, assented, although reluctantly; and the official explored the wilderness of papers, for the document in question. "here it is," said he, "no!"--glancing at the endorsement--"this is a communication with regard to a letter of your own, containing a twenty dollar note, which blake is charged with purloining. how is it about that? anything new?" "well,--no,--hem!" coughed john harmon. after discovering the proof of blake's innocence, in the dead letter office, he rather hoped the subject would not be mentioned; but he was too much absorbed in looking after ames' honesty, to take very good care of his own. "the matter--hem!" (john's throat was quite musty)--"stands about as it did." "you have no positive proof of the charge, then?" "no,--well,--that is, not what would be called legal proof, i suppose. the circumstances were very strong against blake at the time, but being all in the neighborhood, nobody liked to prosecute. for my part," said john harmon, nobly, "i'd rather suffer wrong, than do wrong, and i preferred to lose the twenty dollars, to injuring blake's private character." the assistant made a commendatory remark touching this generous sentiment, and passed over the letter. john harmon wiped the perspiration from his brow, and felt relieved. whether he was ashamed to confess his own gross carelessness in the matter, and the injustice of his charge, or whether--acting on the principle of doing evil that good might come from it, he determined to make the most of every point established against blake, without regard to truth--does not plainly appear. we leave the affair to his own conscience. the assistant meanwhile drew ames' letter out of the "case." in his eagerness to grasp it, john harmon dropped it upon the floor. as he stooped to take it up, his eye caught a glimpse of a visitor who had just entered. john harmon looked at the visitor, the visitor looked at john harmon. john harmon looked first red, then white; the visitor looked first very white, then very red. the delegate was the first to resume his self-possession. [illustration] "well, friend ames, how do you do?" said he, adroitly shifting the letter from his right hand to the left, and giving the former to the "honorable" member. "very well! capital!" replied ames, nervously. "what's the news?" "nothing particular," said john harmon, with a grim smile, sliding the letter into his hat. "fine weather--good deal of company at washington, i find." "o yes, considerable!" ames rubbed his hands, and tried to appear at ease. "i am glad to see you here. you must go up to the house with me. how are all the folks at home? how's harrowfork now-a-days?" john harmon answered these questions evasively. at the same time, the assistant's countenance betrayed an inward appreciation of unspeakable fun. the member's face grew redder still, and still more red. the truth is, he had that morning received a note from blake warning him of harmon's journey to the capital, and had just left his seat in the house, hastening to the department, to secure the fatal letter before it betrayed his treachery. as we have seen, he was just too late. the assistant took pleasure in seating the two visitors side by side upon the same sofa, and allowed them to entertain each other. but the conversation was forced, unnatural, embarrassing. at length ames, resolved upon knowing the worst, plunged desperately into the all-important subject. "i suppose," said he, "you don't entirely get over the excitement at home about the post-office." "no, we don't," replied john harmon, significantly; "and that ain't the worst of it." he bent over the end of the sofa, and deliberately, with the grimmest sort of smile, drew from his hat the honorable member's private note. "and, somehow, it don't strike me," he added, glancing his eye over its contents, "that this letter of yours is going to lessen the excitement very materially. i suppose you know that hand-writing?" he thrust the letter into the honorable member's face. the honorable member's face flushed more fiery than before. he stammered, he smiled, he rubbed his handkerchief in his hands, and upon his brow. "my dear harmon," said he, blandly, "i see you don't fully understand this business." "i'm sure i don't," cried john harmon; "and i'd like to find the honest man who does! didn't you pledge yourself to use your influence, if elected, to have blake removed?" "don't speak so loud!" whispered the honorable member, who didn't at all fancy the humorous smile on the assistant's face. "it's all right, i assure you. but this isn't exactly the place to talk over the affair. come with me to my lodgings, and we'll discuss the matter." not averse to discussion, john harmon consented to the proposal. "i beg your pardon," said the assistant post master general, "but that paper,--i cannot suffer that to be removed." it was the fatal letter. john harmon wanted it; the honorable member wanted it still more; but the assistant insisted, and the document was left behind. now, the honorable member was in what is commonly termed a "fix." like too many such politicians, who, nevertheless, as mark antony says, are "all honorable men," he had found it convenient to adopt the "good lord, good devil" policy, using two oars to row his boat into the comfortable haven of public office. accordingly, while gently drawing figmative wool over the visual organs of the radical temperance people, he had managed, at the same time, by private pledges, to conciliate atkins, blake & company, and secure the silence of the goblet. once elected, he did not fail to look forward to a future election, in view of which he considered it expedient to smile upon one faction with one side of his face, and grin upon the opposition with the other. for this double-dealing, honest, honest iago,--we mean honest john harmon--called the member to account. how the affair was settled is not generally known. but one thing is positive. the honorable member and the delegate from harrowfork suddenly blossomed into excellent and enduring friends; and not long after, mr. john harmon became the occupant of a snug berth at the seat of government, supposed to have been obtained through the influence of the honorable member from his district. "how about blake and the post-office?" inquired mr. forrester wilcox, the morning he left washington. "i've concluded," replied john harmon, candidly, "that the post-office is well enough as it is. blake turns out to be a passable kind of post master after all, and i don't really think 'twill be worth while to make any change for the present." and this was the answer the worthy delegate made to all persons, who, from that time forward, interrogated him on the subject. shortly after, his very honorable friend, the member from his district, being now decidedly averse to political letter-writing, went home on a flying visit, and passing through harrowfork, took pains to make himself agreeable to all parties. among other nice and prudent acts, he privately consulted blake. the post master listened to his advice, and immediately on the member's return to washington, appointed as an assistant in his office, a young man of strict temperance principles, who was quite popular with the opposition, and who had for some time acted as secretary of the "county association for the suppression of intemperance." this appointment seemed to cast oil upon the troubled waters. and so the matter rests at the present date. ames is still in congress; john harmon continues to enjoy his comfortable quarters at the seat of government. tim blake remains the efficient post master of harrowfork, with the young man of strict temperance principles for his assistant; and atkins still edits the goblet. this powerful organ has of late regained something of its former popularity and patronage; but whether it will support ames at the next congressional election, depends upon blake; whether blake retains his office, depends upon ames; whether ames maintains his position and influence at home, depends in a very great measure upon honest john harmon, who, like the ghost in hamlet, "could a tale unfold, whose lightest word would harrow up" the political soil of harrowfork, in a manner dangerous to the constitution and the union. chapter xxi unjust complaints infallibility not claimed--"scape-goats"--the man of business habits--home scrutiny. a lady in trouble--a bold charge--a wronged husband--precipitate retreat. complaints of a lawyer--careless swearing--wrong address--no retraction. a careless broker--the charge repulsed--the apology--mistake repeated--the affair explained--a comprehensive toast. infallibility is not claimed by those connected with the post-office department, and it cannot be denied that mistakes sometimes occur through the carelessness or incompetency of some clerk or other official. but if there is a body of men who perform the duties of scape-goats more frequently than any other, those men are post masters, and post-office clerks. whoever takes this responsible station with the expectation that a faithful discharge of his duty will protect him from all suspicion and blame, cherishes a pleasing dream that may at any moment be dispelled by the stupidity, or carelessness, or rascality of any one among the many-headed public, whose servant he is. when it is considered that in the selection of persons to fill the important office of post master, the department makes every effort to secure the services of competent and honest men, and that they, in the appointment of their clerks, generally endeavor to obtain those of a like character, it may reasonably be supposed that at least as high a degree of accuracy and integrity can usually be found inside of post-office walls, as without its boundaries. i cannot, indeed, claim for this corps of officials entire immaculacy. could i justly do so, they would be vastly superior in this respect to mankind at large. but without setting up any such high pretensions, i would suggest that those connected with the post-office receive a greater share of blame for failures in the transmission of letters than justly belongs to them. many people seem to think that nobody can commit a blunder, or be guilty of dishonesty in matters connected with the mails, but post masters or their employés. acting on this impression, such persons, when anything goes wrong in their correspondence, do not stop to ascertain whether the fault may not be nearer home, but at once make an onslaught upon the luckless post-office functionary who is supposed to be the guilty one. the investigation of some such unfounded charges, resulting in placing the fault where it belonged, has brought to light curious and surprising facts, respecting the atrocious blunders sometimes committed by the most accurate and methodical business men. such men have been known to send off letters with no address, or a wrong one; and even (as in one case which will be found in this chapter) to persist in attempting to send a letter wrongly directed. they have been known to mislay letters, and then to be ready to swear that they had been mailed. the blame of these and similar inadvertencies has been laid, of course, upon somebody connected with the post-office. mr. a. is a man of business habits; _he_ never makes such mistakes, and indignantly repudiates the idea that any one in his employ could be thus delinquent. so the weight of his censure falls on the much-enduring shoulders of a post-office clerk. besides the class of cases to which i have alluded, which arise from nothing worse than carelessness or stupidity, many instances occur in which the attempt is made by dishonest persons to escape detection, by throwing the blame of their villany upon post-office employés. cases like the following are not uncommon. a merchant sends his clerk or errand-boy to mail a letter containing money. this messenger rifles it, reseals it, and deposits it in the letter box. on the receipt of the letter by the person to whom it is addressed, the robbery comes to light; and, as the merchant is naturally slow to believe in the dishonesty of his messenger, he at once jumps at the conclusion that the theft was committed after the letter entered the post-office. in such cases, and in those of which i have been speaking, it would be well to establish the rule that scrutiny, like charity, should "begin at home." letters are sometimes mailed purporting to contain money for the payment of debts--when in fact they contain none--with the intention of making it appear that they have been robbed in their passage through the mails. in short, the cases are numberless in which, through inadvertence or design, censure is unjustly thrown upon the employés of the post-office; and the investigations of this class of cases forms no unimportant branch of the duties of a special agent. it has been the pleasing duty of the author, in not a few instances, to relieve an honest and capable official from the load of suspicion with which he was burdened, by discovering, often in an unexpected quarter, where the guilt lay. * * * * * the biter bit. the following case, which might properly be entitled "the biter bit," displays still another phase of the subject in hand. a lady of a very genteel and respectable appearance, called one day on a prominent new england post master, with a letter in her hand, which she insisted had been broken open and resealed. she handed the letter to the post master, who examined it, and appearances certainly seemed to justify her assertion. she further declared that she well knew which clerk in the office had broken it open, and that he had previously served several of her letters in the same way. upon hearing this, the post master requested her to walk inside the office, and point out the person whom she suspected. such an unusual phenomenon as the appearance of a lady inside the office, produced, as may be supposed, a decided sensation among the clerks there assembled. nor was the sensation diminished in intensity when the post master informed them, that the lady was there for the purpose of identifying the person who had been guilty of breaking open her letters! this announcement at once excited the liveliest feelings of curiosity and solicitude in the mind of almost every one present, and each one, conscious of innocence, indulged in conjectures as to who that somebody else might be, whom the accusing angel (?) was to fix upon as the culprit. all their conjectures fell wide of the mark. after looking about for a moment, the lady pointed out the last man whom any one in the office would have suspected of such an offence--one of the oldest and most reliable of their number. "that is the person," said she, indicating him by a slight nod of the head; "and if he persists in making so free with my letters, i will certainly have him arrested. why my letters should always be selected for this purpose, i cannot imagine; but if any more of them are touched, he will wish he had let them alone." this direct charge, and these threats, produced a greater commotion among his fellow clerks, than in the mind of the gentleman accused. waiting for a moment after she had spoken, he broke the breathless silence that followed her words, by saying calmly,--"mrs.----, i believe?" "that is my name, sir." "have you concluded your remarks, madam?" "i have, sir, for the present." "then, madam, i will take the liberty to inform you that _your husband_ is the person on whom you ought to expend your indignation. he has, at different times, taken several of your letters from the office, opened and read them, and after resealing, returned them to the letter box, having made certain discoveries in those letters, to which he forced me to listen, as furnishing sufficient ground for his course, and justifying former suspicions! he earnestly requested me never to disclose who had opened the letters, and i should have continued to observe secrecy, had not your accusation forced me to this disclosure in self-defence. if you wish to have my statement corroborated, i think i can produce a reliable witness." the lady did not reply to this proposition, but made a precipitate retreat, leaving the clerk master of the field, and was never afterwards seen at that post-office. * * * * * in the summer of , among the complaints of missing letters made at the new york post-office, was one referring to a letter written by a young lawyer of that city, directed as was claimed, to a party in newark, n. j. enclosed was the sum of twenty-five dollars in bank-notes. the writer of the letter was annoyed by the circumstance, to an unusual degree, and caused a severe notice of censure upon the post-office department, to be inserted in one of the leading new york journals. a formal certificate was also drawn up, duly sworn to, and forwarded to washington. it read as follows:-- state of new york, city and county of new york, ss. john b. c----, of said city, counsellor at law, being duly sworn, doth depose and say that on the th day of july instant, he enclosed the sum of $ in a letter addressed to capt. john m----, newark, n. j., and deposited the same in the post-office in the city of new york. that the said enclosure and deposit of the letter was made in the presence of one of the principal clerks of the said post-office, whose attention deponent particularly called to the fact at the time. that deponent is informed, and believes that the said clerk's name is john hallet. sworn before me this th day of august, . (signed) henry h. m----, comr. of deeds. the complainant was visited by the special agent, and the bare suggestion that the failure might have been owing to some error in the address of the letter, was received with much indignation. _he_ didn't do business in that way, and the post-office and its clerks couldn't cover up their carelessness or dishonesty, by any such inventions. the reader ought to have been present in the post master's room, some few months subsequently, when this infallible (?) individual called, in response to a notice that his letter had been returned from the dead letter office! _secretary._--"good morning, mr. c----." _c._--"good morning, sir. i have received a notice to call here for a letter." _secretary._--"yes, sir, that is the one referred to, (placing the unlucky missive before him). is that address in your hand-writing?" _c._--"why,--y-e-s, it's mine sure--i couldn't dispute that." _secretary._--"it seems to be directed to newburg, n. y., instead of to newark, n. j." _c._--"i have nothing to say. i could have sworn that the address was correct." _secretary._--"you did so swear, i believe. mistakes will happen, but i think the least you can do, will be to retract the article you published censuring us, for what you were yourself to blame." the amazed limb of the law made no further reply, but left the office gazing intently on the letter, and in his bewilderment getting the wrong door, as he had originally got the wrong address upon the letter. no such correction was ever made, however, and like hundreds of similar faults, for which others are alone responsible, the charge yet stands against the post-office department, and those in its employ. * * * * * some years since, a letter containing drafts and other remittances to a considerable amount, was deposited in the new york office, to be transmitted by mail, having been directed (as was supposed) to a large firm in philadelphia. this letter would pass through the hands of a clerk, whose duty it was to separate all those deposited in the letter box, and arrange them according to their respective destinations. he discovered that it was directed to _new york_, yet though he had heard of the firm to which it was addressed, he thought it might have been so directed for some particular purpose, and accordingly placed it in the "alphabet," for delivery to the proper claimant. on the day after this, mr. d., of the firm of d. & a., well known brokers in wall street, called at the office and stated that his clerk had deposited such a letter to be mailed in time to go to philadelphia the same day, but that he had been advised that it had not been received. the clerk in attendance was somewhat perplexed by this statement, but suggested the probability that _his_ clerk, in the hurry of business, had directed it wrong. mr. d. replied that this could not be, for he saw all his letters before they were confided to the charge of his clerk, and as the one in question had not been received, it must have been mailed incorrectly through the ignorance or carelessness of the clerk assigned to that duty; and indeed went so far as to intimate that it might have been detained purposely. this insulting remark induced the post-office clerk to express his perfect indifference concerning such a groundless conjecture, and to state, as his opinion, that the charge of ignorance, carelessness, or sinister design, would eventually be found to rest on the shoulders of mr. d. or his clerks. against this turning of the tables, that gentleman indignantly protested, and the post master, who overheard the altercation, appeared vexed and displeased at the supposed delinquency of his clerk. a general search was commenced in the office, in order, if possible, to settle the disputed point. in the course of this investigation, the "pigeon-hole" designed for letters corresponding with such a name as that of the philadelphia firm, was examined, and the letter in question was found, directed "new york," instead of "philadelphia." upon this being known, mr. d. made many apologies, begged to be exonerated from all intention to charge criminality upon any one, took his letter and retired, much disconcerted and chagrined. he went to his office and poured out sundry vials of wrath upon the head of his luckless clerk, to whom he attributed the atrocious blunder which had been committed. the affair, however, did not end here. on the following day a letter was deposited in the post-office, at about one o'clock, in time for the philadelphia mail, _directed precisely as before!_ viz. addressed to the philadelphia firm, but directed "new york," and happened to fall under the eye of the clerk who had been cognisant of the error of the day previous. this second instance of gross inadvertence, or something worse, on the part of somebody, was rather too much for the equanimity of the post master, who at once sent for mr. d., and showed him the letter, which seemed as if it was under the influence of some mischievous enchanter. as the words "new york," in the superscription, stared d. in the face, he in turn became enraged, and was about to leave the office with the fell design of discharging his clerk _instanter_. the post master then requested him, before he left, to sit down and alter the direction of the letter from "new york" to "philadelphia," which he did. the letter was mailed accordingly, and duly received. a few days afterwards, the post-office clerk met mr. d., and said to him, "i suppose you have turned off your clerk for his mismanagement in relation to the letter about which so much trouble was made in our office." "ah!" replied he, "i believe i shall have to confess that _i_ was the only one to blame in the matter. my clerk was perfectly innocent. on returning home with the letter, i laid it down with the intention of having the mistake in the direction rectified, but having something else to call off my attention just then, it was mixed with the letters for city delivery, and was taken to the office with them by my clerk." thus all this trouble and vexation was caused by the carelessness of a man who was accustomed to system and accuracy in the transaction of his business; and the above related facts may lead even persons of this description not to be too confident of their own freedom from error, when any mistake like that just mentioned occurs. i can give no better summary of the whole subject under consideration, than that which is found in some remarks made by robert h. morris, esq., on the occasion of his retirement from the office of post master of new york, in may, , at a dinner prepared for the occasion. during the evening mr. morris said, "gentlemen, please fill your glasses for a toast. as i intend to toast a man you may not know, i deem it necessary, before mentioning his name, to tell you what sort of a man he is. "he rises at o'clock in the morning and works assiduously during the whole day, until o'clock in the evening--goes wearied to bed, to rise again at o'clock, and again to work assiduously. "if the gentlemen of the press--and there are some among us--incorrectly direct their newspapers for subscribers, it is the fault of the man i intend to toast, if the papers do not reach those to whom they should have been addressed. "if a publishing clerk omits to address a newspaper to a subscriber, it is the fault of the man i intend to toast that the subscriber does not get his paper. "if a man writes a letter and seals it, and neglects to put any address upon it, it is the fault of the man i will toast, if the letter does not reach the person for whom it was intended. "if an officer of a bank addresses a letter to boston instead of new orleans, it is the fault of the man i shall presently toast, if the letter is not received at new orleans. "if a merchant's clerk puts a letter in his over-coat, and leaves that coat at his boarding-house, with the letter in his pocket, the man i will toast is to blame because the letter has not reached its destination. "if a merchant shuts up a letter he has written, between the leaves of his ledger, and locks that ledger in his safe, the man i will toast has caused the non-reception of that letter. "if a poor debtor has no money to pay his dunning creditor, and writes a letter that he encloses fifty dollars, but encloses no money, having none to enclose, the man i will toast has stolen the money. "if a _good, warm-hearted, true_ friend, receives a letter from a dear (?) but poor friend, asking the loan of five dollars; and, desiring to be considered a good, warm-hearted, true friend, and at the same time to save his five dollars, writes a letter saying 'dear friend, i enclose to you the five dollars,' but only wafers into the letter a small corner of the bill,--the man i will toast has stolen the five dollars out of the letter, and in pulling it out, tore the bill. "if a rail-road-bridge is torn down or the draw left open, and the locomotive is not able to jump the gap, but drops into the river with the mail, the man i will toast has caused the failure of the mail. "this, gentlemen, is the stranger to you, whom i will toast. i give you, gentlemen--a post-office clerk!" chapter xxii. practical, anecdotal, etc. the wrong address--odd names of post-offices--the post-office a detector of crime--suing the british government--pursuit of a letter box--an "extra" customer--to my grandmother--improper interference--the dead letter--sharp correspondence--the irish heart--my wife's sister. giving the wrong state in an address, is a disease as common among letters, as hydrophobia among dogs. a draper's clerk in c---- sent a remittance to boston which did not arrive there. the draper was obliged to send the amount (three hundred and fifty dollars) again, which he did personally, to prevent mistakes. this too failed to arrive, but the first was soon received by him from the dead letter office, having died at boston in _new york_, instead of _massachusetts_! the merchant drank gunpowder-tea, and gave his clerk a "blowing up." the latter person, however, was in some sort avenged, not long after, for coroner john marron reported that the second letter, written and mailed by the merchant himself, had died of the same disease that carried off the first, and forwarded the body to him. it should here be mentioned, for the benefit of the uninitiated, that the gentleman referred to, is the third assistant post master general, embracing the superintendence of the dead letter office. his duties may be considered as in some respects analogous to those of a coroner, as he, or those in his bureau, in the case of defunct money letters, ascertain the causes of death, and send the remains to surviving friends. the omission of the name of the state from the address of a letter, often causes much uncertainty in its motions. there are, for instance, seven philadelphias besides the one in pennsylvania, twenty-three salems, as many troys, and no end of washingtons, jeffersons, and other names distinguished in the history of the country. there are three new yorks, and eleven bostons. indeed the majority of the names of the post-offices are at least duplicated, and often repeated many times, as we could easily show; but two or three more specimens of this will suffice. twenty-three franklins, twenty jacksons, and sixteen madisons, will help to perpetuate the memories of the distinguished men who once bore those names. the danger of a letter's miscarrying in consequence of the omission of the name of the state on its direction, is of course reduced to nothing, when there is no other post-office in the country with the same name as the one addressed, especially if there is any oddity about the name. thus, were we to direct a letter to "sopchoppy," it would be likely to find the place rejoicing in that euphonious title, even were the state (florida) omitted in the address; although it would often involve the trouble of consulting the list of post-offices. "sorrel horse," also, could not fail to receive whatever might be sent to it. a teetotaler would not be surprised to find "sodom" in "champaign county;" and while on this subject we would say that temperance views seem to have prevailed in naming post-offices. we have two named temperance, and three temperancevilles, to balance which, besides the above sodom, there appear only "gin town," and "brandy station," one of each. one given to speculation on such matters, would be curious to know what must be the state of society in "tight squeeze." is the "squeeze" commercial or geographical? do hard times prevail there as a general thing, or is there some narrow pass, leading to the place, which has originated the name? there may be some tradition connected with the subject; at least a moderately lively fancy might make something even of such an unpromising subject as "tight squeeze." far different must be the condition of things in "pay down." this favored place is doubtless eschewed by advocates of the credit system, and here cash must reign triumphant. some villages seem to aspire to astronomical honors. there are in our social firmament, one sun, one moon, and two stars; also one eclipse, and a transit, whether of venus or not is unknown. so it appears that the "man in the moon," is not altogether a fictitious character, but may be a post master. the twenty-five thousand names contained in the list of post-offices would furnish many other curiosities as noticeable as those just cited, and we refer those who are desirous of entering more largely into the subject, to that work. it is sufficient for us to have called the attention of the public to the necessity of exactness and sufficient fulness in the address of letters, to insure their delivery at the place where they are intended to go. much vexation, and real inconvenience would be obviated, if more care were exercised in this respect, and the dead letter office would have fewer inquests to make. * * * * * the post-office as a detector of crime. the mails, as we have seen, afford facilities to the rogue for carrying out his designs as well as to the honest man in the prosecution of his business. but the post-office has been made, accidentally or purposely, the instrument of bringing to light criminals who had hitherto remained undetected; and whose deeds had no such connection with the mails as those which have thus far been described in this work. a striking instance of this has been kindly furnished me by the cincinnati post master, relating to a case which has excited the horror of the whole country. i refer to the arrison case, most of the circumstances of which are doubtless familiar to my readers. it will be recollected that the man arrison was guilty of murdering the steward of the cincinnati hospital, and his wife, by means of a box, containing explosive materials, which took fire by the action of opening it. arrison immediately absconded, and his place of retreat remained undiscovered for some time; but he was destined to be betrayed by a chain of circumstances, hanging upon an accident of the most trifling description. a letter came to the cincinnati office from muscatine, iowa, addressed to "p. f. willard, cincinnati, ohio." the muscatine post-mark was so placed as to cover the p. in the address in such a manner as to make it resemble a c. there being a young lawyer in the place by the name of c. f. willard, the letter was very naturally placed in his box. upon opening and reading the document, he found that its contents were of the most mysterious character, and totally incomprehensible. finding thus that it was not intended for him, he very properly returned it to the office with the request that it should be handed to the post master. this gentleman calling to mind the circumstances of the arrison case, and being familiar with some of the names connected therewith, came to the conclusion, after reading the letter, that arrison was the writer, and thereupon gave the information which led to his discovery and arrest. * * * * * suing the british government. a clerk stationed at the "general delivery" window of the post-office, dispensing epistolary favors to the impatient throng without, was suddenly confronted by a countenance flaming with wrath; which countenance was part and parcel of the individual, now first known to fame by the name of mike donovan, who had elbowed his way through the crowd, and now stood before the astonished official, demanding justice. handing him a foreign letter, marked " cents," mike exclaimed in a tone of righteous indignation, "here, sir, is a letther that i paid twinty-four cints for, out of me own pocket, and the letther is from pat cosgrove, me cousin in ould ireland, and pat is as honest a boy as iver saw daylight, and pat, he says inside of the letther that he paid the postage, and so some raskill has chated me, and i mane to make him smart for't; and i'd be obleiged to ye if ye'd tell me who to _sue_. bedad, it isn't me that's goin to put up wid such rashcality." here he brought down his shillalah on the floor, to the imminent danger of his neighbor's toes, with an emphasis strongly suggestive of his fixed determination to exact the uttermost farthing from his unknown defrauder. the clerk informed him if any mistake had occurred, the british government was the delinquent, and therefore the party to be sued. "is it the british government?" inquired pat. "certainly," was the reply, "that's where you must look for your twenty-four cents." mike settled his hat over his eyes, and walked out of the office with an air of defiance to the world in general, and the british government in particular. * * * * * pursuit of a letter box. timothy boyle, entering the post-office one morning, and perceiving a clerk "taking a limited view of society" through the aperture technically called "general delivery," naturally supposed that the duties of this functionary included receiving as well as delivering, and accordingly handed him a letter adorned with the lineaments of the father of his country, (not tim's,) and bearing upon its exterior this general exhortation to all whom it might concern,--"with spede." the clerk directed tim to deposit the document in the letter box. "and where _is_ the letther box?" "follow this railing," said the young man, "and you will find it round the corner;" meaning thereby the corner of the tier of boxes, which was surrounded by a neat railing. on the strength of these instructions, tim turned on his heel, dashed into the main street, ("with spede," as per letter,) and walked on vigorously till he arrived at a corner, which happened to be occupied as a tailor's shop. "i want to put this letther in the box," said tim, after looking about him in vain for any sign of such a receptacle. "what box?" asked the tailor. "what box would i put it in but the letther box?" replied tim. "who sent you here after a letterbox?" said the tailor; "you must be a natural fool to suppose that we have any such thing here." "natheral fule or not, sir, i was towld by the clark at the post-office that i'd find the box round the corner, and shure this is a corner i've come to, and if it isn't here, i don't know where i'll find it." "you'd better go back to the post-office," said the tailor, "and see whether the clerk can make you understand where to put your letter." so the unlucky tim left the tailor's shop with the impression that he had been made a goose of by the post-office clerk, and by "nursing his wrath to keep it warm," he succeeded in bringing it to the boiling point, by the time that he again entered the office. "and it's a purty thrick ye've bin a playin' me, misthur clark," he vociferated, "sendin' me to a tailor's shop for a letther box! bad luck to ye, what for did ye put me to all this throuble?" the clerk blandly explained to mr. boyle that the "throuble" was caused by his own impetuosity, not to say stupidity, and finally succeeded in describing the locality of the letter box in such a lucid manner, that even tim was guided by his direction to the much desired spot, and it is to be hoped that the letter in question underwent no more such vicissitudes, before it reached its destination. * * * * * an "extra" customer. an irish dame entered the post-office at----, and walking up to the post master with a letter in one hand, and a three cent piece in the other, she committed them both to his charge, inquiring, "will the letther go?" "certainly it will," was the reply. "but is it in time for the extra?" "in time for the _what_?" asked the mystified post master. "is this letther in time for the _extra_?" repeated the woman. "what do you mean by extra," rejoined the official. "i mane, is the _baggage_ put up?" replied the persevering questioner. the post master, seeing that the good woman was so thoroughly posted up in all the details of letter-sending, informed her categorically that the letter _would go_, inasmuch as it was in time for the "extra," and the "baggage" was _not_ "put up." hereupon the inquisitive lady, having been fully satisfied in her own mind that the epistle would not fail of the "extra," sailed out of the office a happier, if not a wiser woman. * * * * * to my grandmother. a little bright eyed, flaxen-haired boy, was one day observed to enter the vestibule of the post-office at washington, with a letter in his hand, and to wait very modestly for the departure of the crowd collected about the delivery window. as soon as the place was cleared, he approached the letter box and carefully deposited his epistle therein, lingering near as if to watch over the safety of the precious document. his motions attracted the attention of the clerk stationed at the window, whose curiosity induced him to examine the superscription of the letter just deposited by the little fellow. the address on the letter was simply, "to my dear grandmother, louisiana;" doubtless some good old lady, whose memory, in the mind of her innocent grandchild, was redolent of cake and candy, and all the various "goodies" which grandmothers are generally so ready to supply, to say nothing of the various well meant offices of kindness, to which their sometimes blind affection prompts them. "look here, my little man," said the clerk, "what is your grandmother's name, and where does she live?" "why, she's my grandma, and she lives in louisiana." "yes, i see that on the letter, but it will never get to her if her name isn't put on, and the place where she lives." "well, please put it on, sir." "but i shall not know what her name is, unless you tell me." "why, sir, she's my grandma,--don't you know her? she used to live at my house." after the display of considerable ingenuity on the part of the clerk, and a good deal of innocent evasion by the child, the old lady's name and place of residence were finally ascertained, and added to the address; after which the little one went on his way, rejoicing in the assurance given by the clerk that now his "dear grandmother" would certainly receive the important epistle from her darling. * * * * * improper interference. a letter was once sent from the dead letter office at washington, containing rail road scrip to a considerable amount. the letter had been mailed in a southern town, and miscarried, and it was returned to the post master of that town for delivery to the writer. it so happened that the writer of the epistle had failed in business, and on the arrival of the letter the post master informed one of his creditors, and an attachment was laid on the letter by the sheriff. the writer reported the case to the department, when a peremptory order was sent requiring the post master to return the letter at once to the dead letter office at washington. it was sent, and the return mail brought the post master's dismissal from office and the appointment of his successor. the post-office was worth $ a year, and the discharged post master had abundance of time to count up the profits that might have been made by acting up to the good old rule, "let every man mind his own business." * * * * * the dead letter. the following is contributed by "dave," of the columbus (ohio) post-office. during my term of service at the general delivery of this office, it was my custom, upon receiving dead letters from washington city, to make a list of the names of the persons to whom they were addressed, and stick it up in the lobby of the office, with a notice, "call for dead letters." one day an elaborate specimen of erin's sons, whose brawny fist and broad shoulders seemed to denote a construction with an eye single to american rail roads, lounged into the office, and up to the board containing the aforesaid list. he looked at it a moment and burst into tears. i spoke to him through the window, and asked him what was the matter. "oh! mr. post master, i see ye have a daid letther for me. i spect me sester in ireland's daid, and it's not awake since i sint her a tin pound note to come to ameriky wid--and kin ye tell me how long she's bin daid, mr. post master?' i asked him his name, found the "letther," and after a request from him to "rade it, sir, and rade it aisy if you plaze," opened it and told him not to cry; that his sister was not dead, but that it was a letter written by himself and directed to _michael flaherty_, boston, chicago." and is michael daid, mr. post master?" "no, i guess not," said i. "well, who _is_ daid, sir?" i explained to him that letters not taken from the office to which they were addressed within a certain time, were sent to what was called the dead letter office at washington city, and from thence, if containing anything valuable, to the persons who wrote them. "god bliss ye for that, sir, but michael lives in chicaga." i told him i would not dispute that, but boston and chicago were two distinct cities, and the letter was addressed to both, and that boston being the first named, it had been retained there, and his friend had not received it. "sure and i thought boston was in chicaga! and that's what ye call a daid letther, is it? faith and i thought it was bridget and not the letther, was daid. ye see, mr. post master, michael he writ home to the ould folks that he lived in chicaga, that he had married a nice american lady, that she was a sea-cook on a stameboat, and that they called her a nager. so whin i started for ameriky, the ould modder, miehael's modder, she give me these illegant rings (the letter contained a pair of ear-rings,) to give michael's wife for a prisint. when we landed at boston, i wrote michael the letther, tould him i was going to columbus to live, put on the name--michael flaherty, boston, chicaga, and put it in the post,--and sure here it is, and michael's sea-cook nager niver got it. bad luck to the ship that fetched me to boston, mr. post master." after offering to "trate me for the trouble" he had caused me, he left, and ever after, when he mailed a letter he brought it to me to put on the address, "because he didn't understand these daid letthers." * * * * * sharp correspondence. one of the peter funk "gift-enterprise" firms in a large city, sent a package of tickets to a post master in maine, the postage upon which was fifteen cents unpaid. they got the following hard rap over the knuckles, from the indignant official:-- "i herewith return your tickets. you must be fools as well as knaves, to suppose that i will aid you in swindling my neighbors, and _pay all the expenses myself_." to which he in a few days received the annexed "settler:"-- sir, "we perhaps owe you an apology for sending the parcel postage unpaid. as we infer from the phraseology of your note, that you are willing to swindle your neighbors if we will pay all the expenses, please give us your lowest terms on which you will act as our agent. p. s. all communications shall be strictly confidential." this note was promptly returned, with the following endorsement across its face, by the post master:-- "it seems you are not only fools and knaves, but blackguards also. ask my neighbors if they think i would "swindle" them either at my own expense or that of any one else." to which this answer came back by next mail:-- "we _have_ inquired of your neighbors long ago, and that's the reason we applied to you in the first instance." here follows the post master's final reply:-- "i acknowledge the corn. send us your street and number, so that i can call on you when i come to the city, and i may conclude to aid your "enterprise." but that was the last thing that the "gift" gentleman could think of doing. in fact, secrecy as to his locality, was quite essential in keeping out of the clutches of the police. * * * * * the irish heart. many of the reading public will remember the sad accident which occurred in hartford, conn., in the year , when by the bursting of a boiler connected with a car factory, several of the workmen were killed. among the killed were two irishmen, brothers, each of whom left a widow, with an infant child. these men had been industrious and faithful toward their employers, and kind in their own households, so that when they were taken away in such a sudden and shocking manner, their sorrowing widows felt a double stroke, in the loss of affectionate hearts, and in the deprivation of many of the comforts which the hand of affection had hitherto supplied. their little ones, too, required much of their attention, and often seriously interfered with their efforts to provide for the daily wants of their desolate households. about six months after the accident, the hartford post master received from the department at washington a "dead letter," which had been written by these brothers to a female relative in ireland, enclosing a draft for ten pounds sterling, to defray the expenses of her passage to america. this anxiety on the part of these children of erin who had come to this land of promise, to furnish their relatives and friends whom they had left behind, with the means of following them, is a striking manifestation of that ardent attachment to home and its circle of loved ones, which leads them to undergo every sacrifice in order to effect a reunion with those for whose presence they long with irrepressible desires, as they go about, "strangers in a strange land." they have often been known to submit to the severest privations for the sake of bringing over a sister, a brother, or some other relative, without whom the family circle would be incomplete. all this is but one aspect of the "irish heart," whose warmth of affection and generous impulses should put to shame many, who without their ardent unselfishness, coolly laugh at the blunders and _mal apropos_ speeches of its possessors, and attribute that to shallowness, which is in truth but a sudden and sometimes conflicting flow of ideas. as the mad poet mcdonald clark once wrote in an epigram on an editor who had accused him of possessing "zigzag brains," "i can tell johnny lang, by way of a laugh, since he's dragged in my name to his pen-and-ink brawl, that some people think it is better by half to have brains that are 'zigzag,' than no brains at all!" "by their works ye shall know them." it is comparatively easy to utter the language of affection, and to express a vast deal of fine sentiment; and much of this spurious coin is current in the world. but when one is seen denying himself almost the necessaries of life, in order to accumulate a little fund for the benefit of some one near to his heart, though far away, we feel that there can be no deception here. like the widow's mite, it has the ring of pure gold. the letter referred to, (which was sent back from ireland in consequence of some misdirection,) was full of kind feeling, and manifested on the part of the writers a firm and simple trust in the goodness of providence. the post master sent word to the widows that this letter was in his possession, and accordingly was visited by the bereaved women, whose tears flowed fast as they gazed upon the record which recalled so vividly the kindnesses of their departed husbands. the little sum enclosed, as they stated, was the result of the united efforts of the two families, who cheerfully joined in this labor of love. how many a recollection of unmurmuring self-denial, with the hope that made it easy; how many a remembrance of bright anticipations of the happiness to be enjoyed, when the beloved one, for whose sake these efforts were made, should be received within their family circle; how many such things must have been brought to mind by the sight of the missive, so freighted with affection and memories of the past! the post master informed the widows that by returning the draft to the office from which it was purchased, they might obtain the money on it; but they replied that since it had once been dedicated to an object sacred both to the departed and their survivors, it must go back to ireland, and fulfil its mission. so these poor stricken women, to whom ten pounds was a large sum, (even larger than when the letter was first sent,) and who much needed the comforts it would purchase, sent back the draft, and have since had the happiness of meeting their relative in america, and seeing the wishes of their husbands faithfully carried out. this is but one of many constantly recurring instances of generosity and devotion which come to the knowledge of post masters; and while we have put on record some of the blunders of an impulsive people, our sense of justice as well as inclination, has prompted us to make public the foregoing incidents, so forcibly illustrating the warm attachments that grace the irish heart. * * * * * my wife's sister. the most ridiculous errors and omissions sometimes occur on the part of persons applying to post masters for missing letters. the following amusing correspondence will illustrate this phase of post-office experience:-- new york, th jan. . post master new york. dear sir, a week ago last monday, i mailed two letters, both having enclosures, but of no intrinsic value, directed to my wife's sister in new haven, conn., neither of which have ever reached their destination. very respectfully yours, w. b. h----. the above letter was forwarded to the post master of new haven, after having been read by the new york post master. it was soon returned with the following pertinent inquiries:-- post office, new haven, conn., feb. , . solus!? well, that is a fix! what is that name? is it jonathan or wm, b. haskell, or hershel? who'd he marry? how many sisters did his wife have? what were their names? who are their friends and relations in new haven? is the lady here on a visit? or, like a careful matron, has she come here to educate her children? egad, i don't know! my library is wofully deficient in genealogy, and i shall be obliged to "give it up." who can tell me the name of "my wife's sister?" yours truly, l. a. t----. the new haven post master's letter was then sent to mr. h., with the annexed note:-- post office, new york, feb. , . mr. wm. b. h----. dear sir, by direction of the post master, i forwarded your letter of inquiry to the post master at new haven. he returns the letter to this office with a request that the name of your "wife's sister" may be given to him, as he has been unable to discover it, although possessed of a large library embracing many works of a genealogical character. the p. m. at new haven is inclined to the belief that it will be difficult to find the letter sent to his office, unless the name of the party addressed is given to him. in this belief the p. m. at new york joins, and the two p. m.'s hold concurrent opinions on this subject. with all due apologies for the seemingly gross ignorance of the post masters in this matter, i am very respectfully your obedient servant, wm. c----, secretary. chapter xxiii responsibility of post masters. cases sometimes occur of the loss of letters apparently by the carelessness of post masters or their clerks; and in view of such cases, an important question arises; namely, to what extent a post master is responsible for the consequences of such carelessness? the subject is not free from difficulties. in many cases it would be hard to say what constitutes culpable carelessness. it is common in country towns for persons to take from the post-office the mail matter of their neighbors, especially when they live at a distance from the office, as an act of accommodation to them; and many letters are thus safely delivered every day. now should a valuable letter in this way come into the possession of some dishonest person, and be retained by him, it would seem severe, if not unjust, to prosecute the post master for the loss; since in committing it unawares to improper hands, he did but act in accordance with ordinary usages, countenanced by the community. it would undoubtedly be a safer way of doing business, to insist upon an order in every case where a letter is delivered to any other person than the one to whom it is addressed, or some one usually employed by him for this purpose. but the country post master who should rigidly insist upon this rule, would receive "more kicks than coppers" for his good intentions; and indeed, cases like the one supposed are few and far between. in cities, also, something like the following might and does frequently happen. a person known to be in the employ of another, comes to the post-office, and says he is sent by his employer for his letters, and the clerk in attendance, believing his statement, gives them to him. he robs the letters and disappears. in this case, it hardly seems that the clerk was guilty of a culpable degree of negligence. here is another instance of the manner in which a letter may go to the wrong person, where the fault is not chargeable to post-office employés. in the list of advertised letters, one is found for john smith. an individual calls for the letter, claiming to be the identical john, and receives it; but a day or two after the "simon pure" appears, and is indignant at learning that his letter has already been appropriated, or that the clerk knows nothing about it, having forgotten the circumstance. of course the clerk, in such a case, might require the supposed john smith to identify the letter as far as was possible, by mentioning the place from which he expected it; but many supposable circumstances might destroy the conclusiveness of this evidence of identity, such as the acquaintance of the false john with the real one, and his knowledge of the place whence he received most of his correspondence. besides, the real claimant might not be able to tell where the letter was mailed, for his correspondent might have written from some other place than the one where he usually lived. but it is needless to multiply instances. those that we have mentioned, and many others which will readily occur to the reader, will suffice to show that the number of cases in which a post master can justifiably be prosecuted, is very limited by the nature of the circumstances. on the other hand, a proper diligence requires of the post master not only the obvious precaution of securing reliable assistants, but a care in relation to the minutiæ of his office which shall prevent the mislaying of letters, by carelessness _within_, or their abstraction by theft from _without_. the boxes and delivery window should be so arranged as to render the interior of the boxes inaccessible to outsiders, and of course no one should be admitted within the enclosure, under any ordinary circumstances. i am aware that these hints are unnecessary to the great body of post masters in this country; yet it can do no harm to mention such things, as it appears by the following report that post masters are sometimes held to answer before a court, for the want of diligence in discharging the duties of their office. the suit was brought in , by moses christy of waterbury, vermont, against rufus c. smith, post master at that place, for the loss of a letter containing fifty dollars, mailed at salisbury, mass., nov. , , by moses true, jr. moses true, jr., testified that he carried the letter to the salisbury post-office, and showed the money to the post master, who counted it, and it was then enclosed in the letter, and left with the post master, who testified that he mailed it in the ordinary way, and forwarded it to waterbury by the usual course. the letter not being received by christy, application was made for it to the post master, but nothing could be found of it. the post-bill, however, which accompanied it, was found in the waterbury office. it was shown that a son of christy and one other person were in the habit of calling at the post-office for his letters; but they both swore that they did not remember receiving the letter in question, and that if it was taken out by either of them, it was, in the absence of christy, laid upon his desk or placed in a private drawer. it was further proved that the waterbury office was kept in a room about sixteen feet square, divided in the centre by the boxes and a railing, which separated the part devoted to the office business, from the portion appropriated to the use of the public; that the boxes were so arranged that the box of moses christy could easily be reached through the "delivery;" and that persons were frequently allowed to pass behind or near one end of the counter within the enclosure, to transact business with the post master. there was no evidence to show that any persons, other than the office assistants, were permitted to go behind the railing at the time the letter in question arrived at the office. it appeared that the post master employed several persons as assistants in the summer and autumn of , but there was no evidence to show that any of these persons were regularly appointed and sworn. it further appeared by christy's postage account, that one or two letters were charged to him on the th of november, , and he produced four or five letters, which, by the ordinary course of the mails, would have been received on that day. we here copy from "vermont reports," vol. , p. :-- the defendant requested the court to charge the jury as follows:-- . that the defendant does not in any manner stand as an insurer in relation to the business of his office, and is only held to ordinary diligence in the discharge of the duties of his office, and can only be made liable for losses occasioned by a want of such diligence, and that the burden of proof is upon the plaintiff, to establish the fact of the want of such diligence. . that in order to establish the fact of want of ordinary diligence, the plaintiff must show some particular act of negligence in relation to the letter in question, and that the loss was the direct consequence of the particular negligence proved. . that although there may have been official misconduct on the part of the defendant, yet unless it be shown that the plaintiff's loss was the result of such misconduct, he cannot recover. . that if the letter were by mistake delivered to the wrong person, stolen by a stranger, or embezzled by a clerk, the defendant is not liable, unless he has been negligent, and the loss was the direct consequence of his negligence. . that it is not sufficient, to entitle the plaintiff to recover, merely to show that a letter was received at the office, and that the person to whom it was directed has not received it. . that the post master is not liable for the negligence of his deputies, unless he is guilty of negligence in appointing wholly unsuitable persons. . that the defendant being a public officer, he would not be liable in an action of trover, unless, at the time the letter was called for, he had the letter in his possession or control, and withheld it, or had actually appropriated the letter, or money, to his own use. the court charged the jury in accordance with all the foregoing requests, except the second and sixth. in relation to the second request the court charged the jury, that it was not necessary, in order to enable the plaintiff to recover, that he should show a particular act of negligence in relation to the letter in question; but that, if the plaintiff had shown a general want of common care and diligence on the part of the defendant, either in the construction of his places of deposit for letters, so that they were unsafe, or in the management of the post-office, in permitting persons to go behind the railing who had no legal right to go there, and had also satisfied them that the letter and money in question were lost in consequence of such negligence or misconduct of the defendant, then the defendant should be liable. in reference to the sixth request the court charged the jury, that as there was no proof that any of the persons who were employed by defendant in the office had ever been appointed or sworn as assistants, they were to be regarded as mere clerks, or servants of the defendant, and that if, through negligence or want of common care and diligence on the part of such clerks or servants, the money and letters were lost, the defendant would be liable therefore. verdict for plaintiff. exceptions by defendant. the decision was sustained in the supreme court. if the report of the above case shall have the effect to render any class of post masters more careful of the custody of correspondence, and in the general management of their offices, the object of its insertion will have been answered. chapter xxiv. official courtesy, etc. the post-office clerk who fails to do his duty thoroughly, is like a light-house keeper, who now and then allows his light to go out, or become dim. sometimes no harm may result; but it may be that the helmsman of some gallant ship laden with precious goods, and far more precious lives, seeing no light to direct him through the angry storm, steers blindly onward, and is wrecked upon the very spot whence the guiding star should have beamed. not only is it the duty of those connected with post-offices to exercise the utmost carefulness and exactness, in order that mail matter may promptly reach the persons for whom it is intended, but sometimes much caution and discretion are required from them, that letters may not fall into hands for which they were not designed. there are other qualifications scarcely less desirable for post-office employés than exactness and caution. patience and courtesy toward the various individuals constituting that public which it is the duty of these officials to serve, go very far in carrying out the idea of the post-office,--that of being a convenience to the community. we have elsewhere shown that the life of a post-office clerk is not passed upon a bed of roses, and we would here call his attention to the truth that many annoyances must be expected by him in the course of his experience. the ignorance and consequent pertinacity of those who apply for letters, frequently try his patience to the utmost. a person, for instance, anxiously expecting a letter, and not understanding that the mail by which it would come arrives only once a day, inquires at the office half a dozen times on the same day, and it is not very wonderful that the clerk in attendance should give short answers to the persevering applicant, or even omit to search for the letter. yet, even in a case like this, much allowance should be made for the possible circumstances of the person in question. he may be waiting for news from a sick child, or for some other information of the utmost importance to him, and it is surely hard enough to be disappointed in such expectations, without being obliged to suffer the additional pain of a harsh response. of course post-office clerks seldom know the peculiar circumstances of those who apply for letters; but the exercise of patience and mildness toward all, would be sure to spare the feelings of those who often rather need sympathy than rough words. many who carry on little correspondence, and therefore have little occasion to be informed respecting post-office matters in general, often make blunders which are very annoying; but it is to be remembered that those in charge of the post-office, were employed for this, (among other things which contribute to the perfection of this branch of public service,) namely, to bear with all classes of correspondents, and to maintain a uniform courtesy toward every one. this would render it possible for even the most timid to approach the "delivery window," without experiencing the sensation of looking into a lion's den, as has sometimes (but i trust seldom) been the case. on the other hand, it is reasonable that those who avail themselves of the conveniences of the post-office, should take pains to inform themselves on those points which it is necessary they should know, in order to avoid giving inconvenience to themselves, and unnecessary trouble to those appointed to serve them. the times of opening and closing mails, and similar matters, should be known, that the post-office may not bear the blame due to negligence outside its walls. cases now and then occur, similar to the following, which happened but a few years ago. a letter came into the windsor, vermont, post-office, containing a draft on the suffolk bank for three hundred dollars, and directed "johnson clark, windsor, ct." the "ct.," however, was written so indistinctly as to resemble "vt.;" and as there was a person by the name of johnson clark (as we shall call him) in the latter place, the letter was handed to him. when he looked at the post-mark, (that of a town some twenty or thirty miles distant,) he remarked, "i can't imagine who can have been writing to me from there," and after opening and reading it, he returned it to the post master, saying that it was not for him. but his honesty was only of a transient nature, for he could not keep the money out of his thoughts, and he soon began to think that he had been rather hasty in returning the letter, when, for aught he knew, he could have retained its contents with impunity. for was not the letter directed to johnson clark? and may not one take possession of a letter directed to himself? this course of thought and these queries were followed by the determination to recover the letter, and appropriate the contents. clark accordingly went to the post master the next day, and stated that he had heard, the evening before, of the death of a relative who had been living at the west, and who had left him a small legacy, namely, the sum contained in the letter. on the strength of these representations, the post master gave him the document, without, so far as appears, making any attempt to verify his statement. the inheritor of legacies proceeded forthwith to the bank in the village, and obtained the money on the draft, endorsing it, as is customary. it only required his own name to be written, and where was the harm? thought he. a few days after this, the person who had written the letter came to windsor, vt., having been informed by his correspondent at windsor, ct., that it had not reached him; and thinking it possible that it might have gone astray. on his arrival at the former place, he soon ascertained that the vermont dromio had taken possession of his letter. this worthy found that the name of johnson clark was not a spell potent enough to protect him in the enjoyment of his unrighteous gain. he was sent to the state prison for two years. in this instance, the post master was clearly guilty of carelessness in allowing clark to obtain the letter on the pretext that he offered. as there was a well known town in connecticut of the name of windsor, prudence would have required a closer examination of the address, after the letter was returned by clark. and the story by which clark imposed upon him, was sufficiently lame in some particulars to have called for a closer investigation of its truth. if the post master had requested to be allowed to read that part of the letter which referred to the pretended legacy, a refusal on the part of clark to permit it, would of course have created a strong suspicion that he was playing a dishonest game, and would have justified the post master in withholding the letter until further proof could be obtained as to the identity of johnson clark with the one for whom the epistle was designed. cases similar to the above are not unfrequent; and in all such instances, those who rely on a name identical with that of some other person, as a shield for attempted dishonesty, have found their defence fail them in the hour of need. the matter seems too plain to need elucidation; yet not a few persons, equally compounded of folly and knavery, have actually supposed that the possession of a name like that of another man, would enable them to keep on the shady side of the law in making free with his purse also. this accidental resemblance of name has often been used for dishonest purposes in other ways than the one just described. snooks manufactures a patent medicine which is beginning to obtain some celebrity, when some obscure snooks starts up with _his_ pill, or elixir. the innocent public, ready to swallow pills and stories bearing the name of snooks, makes no distinction between the two personages; and the "original jarley" is compelled to share his honors and emoluments with his upstart namesake. trickery like this can seldom be reached by law, but the appropriator of the contents of a letter under circumstances like those above detailed, is dealt with like any other kind of robbery. chapter xxv. importance of accuracy. after giving "outsiders" the share of blame which rightly belongs to them for the delay, miscarrying, and loss of valuable mail matter, a balance remains due to the post masters and post-office clerks. we have elsewhere expressed our views respecting dishonesty in these officials, and shall consequently confine our present remarks principally to carelessness and other similar faults, which can hardly be called crimes, but which often produce effects as disastrous as those which are the result of evil intention. these faults, indeed, differ only in degree from what are termed crimes; for neglect of duty, is on a small scale, a species of dishonesty. there is, perhaps, no situation in which a lack of promptness and accuracy in the transaction of business may be productive of so great evil, as in that of a post-office employé. those engaged in ordinary branches of business have some idea of the relative consequence of the matters about which they are occupied from day to day. they can generally know what is the actual importance of any given transaction, so that, if they are disposed to be negligent, they may, if they choose, avoid incurring the guilt and blame which would follow unfaithfulness in great things. but the post-office clerk seldom has the power of making such a discrimination. the letter which is carelessly left over to-day, may go to-morrow, but too late to save the credit of a tottering house, or to render the instructions it may contain, of any avail. in the rapid course of commercial transactions, what is wisdom one day, may be folly the next, and thus it not unfrequently happens that the best contrived plans may be ruined by the delay or non-arrival of a letter. the following instance will illustrate this. before the passage of the late postal treaty with great britain, a clerk in one of our large cities was sent to the post-office to mail a letter, containing an order for goods on an english house. the clerk pocketed the twenty-four cents which he had been intrusted with for the purpose of pre-paying the letter; therefore agreeably to the postal arrangements then existing, it could not go by steamer, but was sent by a sailing vessel. consequently the order was delayed, and therefore was not executed as promptly as the firm sending it had expected; and when the goods arrived they had fallen in value to such an extent, that the firm in question incurred by the operation a loss estimated at at least ten thousand dollars. chapter xxvi. post masters as directories--novel applications--the butter business. a thievish family--"clarinda" in a city--decoying with cheese--post master's response. a truant husband--woman's instinct. editors are supposed by many to be walking encyclopedias, with the record of the entire range of human knowledge inscribed on the tablets of their brains; and there are those who in like manner seem to consider post masters as living directories, able at short notice to inform any one who chooses to ask, where smith lives, and what business jones is in, or what is the price of guano, (an inquiry actually made by letter, of a new york post master.) in short, these government officers are often called upon to serve the public in a sphere which congress never contemplated in the various enactments it has passed respecting the duties of post masters, and the details of the postal system. a few specimens of letters received by different post masters, may not be uninteresting, as illustrating this phase of post-office life. here is one from an individual desirous of entering into a mercantile transaction in the "botter" line, and receiving the post master's endorsement of some good "commish marchan" who could be interested in the business. g---- ----, pennsylvania, january , . postmaster will pleze to give this letter to a good commish marchan what he could pay for fresh botter everry weak if a man would cent a hundred up to hundred paunts my intension is to go in sutch bisnis you will plese rite me back to this present time. yours respectful j. s. if the "fresh botter" was "cent everry _weak_," as was proposed, it must undoubtedly have been very much sought after, as possessing the negative, but important merit of not being _strong_. our next specimen was received by the post master of one of the cities in western new york, and is unique both as regards its object, and its orthography, or rather cacography, which appears like "fonotipy" run mad. north s----, nov. , . dear friend it is with plaisure that i take my pen in hand to inform you of a famly moveing from this place the wider stacy and her to girls they are poor and haf to work for their liveing clarinda is the girl that workes the most from home mr sam shirtleff says that she has worked for him and she stole pork and cheese and the pork hid between the bed blankets and they found it and weid it and thaught a rat had braught it there and the cheese she carid home with her they sent to ladies there a visiting and sent a peic of cheese with them and they got tea and had cheese uporn the table and they sliped a peice of the cheese in thir laps and compard it togather and it was the same cind it was a large inglich cheese that shirtleff bought she has also worked to mr alford blax and his brother the old batchlor his mother was old and generly done the niting she nit seventeen pare of socks and layed them up for her boys when she got old and coldent nit no more and they was all taken away by her to pare afterwords was found at the store and she sed that she had took them they owed her five dolars yet and they wont pay her till she delivers the socks and she dare not make no fuss for fear they will bring her out she worked to mr cringlands and she hooked a pare of white kid gloves and a hym book and a pocket handkerchief and the gloves she traded away to the store for a dress by giveing a pare of socks to boot and she worked to truman buts this sumer she had taken a pare of stockin which they found in her sunday bonet and they lost to shiling in money and then they discharged her bengman grene bought a set of dishes and they lost to platters out of the set they lost sope and buter out of their sular she borrowed of mister spicer a silver pen which coast a dolar and after he was dead she denied haveing it and she told it herself that she sold it for half a dolar and a pennife and the pennife was fifty cents they borrowed a pale of wheat flour and when they carid it home and put to thirds rie the pepole most look out for them in the trincket line mr sir post master plese answer this as soon as you can and oblidge your friend much yours with respect direct your leter silas stickney north s----, n. y. the zeal of silas, if he was actuated by no sinister motives--no spite toward "the wider stacy and her to girls," especially "clarinda," whose exploits form the burden of his complaints--this zeal is highly commendable, and united with it there is a fulness of specification in the catalogue of "clarinda's" misdemeanors which equals in richness and effect anything that even the fertile brain of dickens could conceive. the ingenious device of sending ladies to the suspected domicil under color of a friendly visit, but provided with a touchstone in the shape of "a peic of cheese," wherewith to detect the other piece supposed to have been purloined by some one of the thievish family, was worthy of a vidocq; and the triumphant issue of the case, when their worthy committee of investigation "sliped a peic of cheese in their laps" and settled its identity with the "inglich cheese" which the victimized "shirtleff" had purchased, showed the power of genius, attaining great ends by the use of simple means. this epistle developes a new ramification of the postal system. a post master entreated to act as a conservator of public morals; to exert all his powerful influence against "clarinda," who proved treacherous to "mr sam shirtleff" in the matter of pork and cheese; and abstracted from "mr alford blax and his brother the old batchlor, the seventeen pare of socks" that their mother had "nit" to comfort their nether extremities when she, by reason of the infirmities of age, "coldent nit;" and filched "sope and buter" out of "bengman grenes sular;" to say nothing of the "pare of stockin" which were secreted in her "sunday bonet," and "to shilling," the loss of which occasioned her discharge from the service of "truman buts." upon this unfortunate post master was thrown the charge of seeing that the city received no detriment from the demoralizing influence of clarinda! this gentleman, not willing to be outdone by his correspondent in his devotion to the public good, indited the following reply:-- b---- post-office, dec. , . mr. silas stickney, dear sir: i am in receipt of yours of the th ult., and in reply would say that i cannot too highly commend your solicitude in behalf of good morals, and your discretion in selecting the post master of this place to carry out your benevolent designs toward its inhabitants. the corrupting influence of small villages upon large towns is a thing much to be lamented, and it grieves me to think that the unsophisticated inhabitants of this place are to be exposed to the machinations of the "widow stacy and her to girls." it will be, sir, like the evil one entering the garden of eden, where all was innocence and purity! if in the course of my official duties, i find it feasible to ward off impending danger from this immaculate town, be assured that i shall not fail to do so. yours, &c., w. d----, p. m. * * * * * but post masters are made confidants in graver matters than these. they are not unfrequently called upon by deserted wives to look up their truant husbands, and by desolate husbands to aid them in recovering frail partners, who have been unfaithful to their marriage vows, and have forsaken the "guides of their youth." letters of this description are principally from the more illiterate class of community; yet amid the crooked chirography and bad spelling, there sparkles so much tender affection, sometimes for the guilty one, sometimes for the innocent children, who are suffering from the unprincipled conduct of a parent, that these cases command the warmest sympathy of those whose aid is invoked, although the requests thus made relate to matters entirely out of their sphere, and consequently they are seldom able to afford much assistance to the parties in trouble. i will here give an extract from this class of letters, as illustrating the above remarks. the following is from a letter received by the post master of a city in ohio, from a woman who had been deserted by her husband five years previous. she requested the post master to read it to her husband, in case he should find him, so it is written _at_ the latter person. in the postscript, (which is generally supposed to contain the pith of female correspondence,) she says,-- "you would shed tears if you onley could see wat a smart peart little boy you have hear what a sham it is to think that a sensable man should leave a wife and a child that is got as much sense as he has--and people say he is as much like you as he can be he has got the pretys black eyes i have ever seen in any ones head he has an eye like a hawk." thus is the _argumentum ad hominem_ supplied by woman's instinct. fatherly pride was called upon to effect that to which conjugal affection was inadequate. chapter xxvii. a windfall for gossipers--suit for slander--profit and loss--the resuscitated letter--condemned mail bag--an epistolary rip van winkle. in country villages, where few events happen to interrupt the monotony of every day life, the occurrence of an out-of-the-way incident is like seed sown in a fertile soil, producing a fruitful crop of speculations and surmises, and affording food for conversation for many a day to the eager gossip-hunters who abound in such small places. about thirty years ago, the quiet town of lebanon, in the state of connecticut, was enlivened by one of these occurrences, which brought a new influx of curiosity-mongers to the blacksmith's shop; covered all the barrels, boxes, and counters in the store with eager disputants, and gave new life to the sewing society, and its auxiliary "tea-fights." the cause of this unwonted moving of the waters, was on this wise: mr. jonathan little, a well known new york merchant, while on a summer visit to lebanon, his native place, mailed at that office a letter directed to the firm of which he was a member, and containing bank-notes to the amount of one thousand dollars. the letter failing to arrive at its destination, and special agents being as yet unknown, mr. little advertised in several papers, describing the money lost, and offering a reward for its recovery. this, however, produced no results, and the tide of speculation and discussion rose to its highest pitch. the loss of the bewildering sum of one thousand dollars naturally stimulated the imaginative powers of the lebanonians, and, hurried away by his zeal, or perhaps by a wish to appear sagacious, mr. roger bailey, the brother of the lebanon post master, while in conversation with several persons, incautiously asserted that amasa hyde, the post master at franklin, (the next town to lebanon on the route to new york,) had taken the letter, adding, "he's just such a fellow." the by-standers were rather astonished at this bold charge, impeaching as it did the integrity of a man whose character had always been above suspicion. that "bird of the air" which is always ready to "carry the matter," soon diffused the information that amasa hyde was supposed to be the delinquent. this gentleman being indisposed to leave his reputation at the mercy of "thousand-tongued rumor," which personage could not easily be brought before a jury, instituted inquiries for the purpose of discovering the originator of these injurious reports. he succeeded in tracing them to their source, and sued the unwary bailey for slander. mr. b., by the verdict of the jury, was compelled to pay some seven hundred dollars and costs, for the pleasure of expressing his opinion. this, however, is but an episode in the history of the lost letter. after a while the excitement died away, and mr. little found it necessary to place the thousand dollars to the account of "profit and loss," especially the latter. the theory was once advanced by an acute genius, and applied to the case of a tea-kettle inadvertently dropped into the ocean, that "a thing isn't lost when you know where it is." but the subject in hand seems to show that a thing isn't always lost, if you _don't_ know where it is. for, about two years after the occurrences above mentioned, the missing letter came to light with all its valuable contents. and this resuscitation took place, not in lebanon, nor in franklin, but in the new london post-office! it appears that the mail bag which contained the letter, was found, on its arrival at new london, so much worn as to be unsafe, and was accordingly condemned by the post master and thrown aside as useless, having first, of course, been emptied of its contents, as was supposed. two years subsequently, a quantity of old mail bags and other rubbish was removed from the office, and the letter in question took the opportunity to drop out, and return, an epistolary rip van winkle, to the world whence it had retired for so long a time. chapter xxviii. valentines. their origin--degeneration--immoral influence--incitement to dishonesty. who saint valentine was, is not much to the purpose in this place. we will give him credit for having been, however, a very excellent and highly respectable individual. we must therefore utterly protest against the custom which has obtained of late years, making him the tutelary saint of innumerable silly lovers, mean mischief-makers, and vulgar letter-writers generally. unfortunately for the reputation of this inoffensive bishop, the day noted in the calendar as sacred to his blessed memory, happens to be that on which, according to the auld-wives' legends of merrie england, there is a universal marrying and giving in marriage among the feathered tribes. the fourteenth of february seems rather bleak for a grand wedding festival at which any birds but snow birds are expected to attend; but we suppose we must respect the tradition. it seems early too for imitative lads and lasses, who should wait until the warm spring approaches; "when the south-wind in may days, with a net of shining haze, silvers the horizon wall, and with softness touches all-- tints the human countenance with a color of romance;" and when all nature is bathed afresh in light and love, and inspired with new life. but, says a french writer, the divine faculty which distinguishes man from the brutes, is the capacity to drink when he is not thirsty, and to make love at all seasons of the year. whether this "divine faculty" is a god-gift, or a perversion and abuse, the legitimate fruit of the sad tree of knowledge of good and evil, we will not stop to discuss. man has it in full exercise; and however the birds may grumble at being obliged to hurry up their matrimonial cakes under the very beard and brow of winter, cupid will be found--like the classical clothes-brusher and job-waiter--"_nunquam non paratus_"--always ready at your service. the probability is that the human custom of choosing mates about this time, is more ancient than the notion touching the pairing of birds, and that the latter is a mere fable, suggested by the former. some commentator on shakspeare has traced it back "to a pagan custom of the same kind during the lupercalia feasts of pan and juno, celebrated in the month of february by the romans. we are further told that, the anniversary of st. valentine happening in this month, the pious promoters of christianity placed this custom under his patronage in order to indicate the notion of its pagan origin." unhappy st. valentine! but we must remember that formerly there was something sweet and poetical in the choosing of mates. now we are thrilled with tender emotions when poor ophelia sings her "good morrow to st. valentine's-day." but somehow, romance dies out in our material age; and beautiful superstitions give place either to cold practical knowledge, or degenerate into farcical caricatures. what a difference between the rapturous and bashful exchange of vows pledged by the youth and maidens in good old times, before reading and writing came in fashion, and the celebrated valentine composed by the younger mr. weller! the vulgarization of the custom has been gradual. instead of the song-singing invitations to love, under cold windows, "all in the morning betime," lovers began, in the course of human progress, to indite gentle missives to their sweethearts, and to receive autograph replies. this improved method was eagerly adopted by all such as dared not give verbal utterance to their sweet passion, as well as by those who had private malice to vent, and sneaking insults to offer. then arose the manufacture and merchandise of valentines, which has of late become so important a branch of industry. from early in february until late in march, our toy shops and periodical and fancy "depots" appear to traffic mainly in these exceptionable articles. their windows flame with the vulgar trash. on every corner "valentines!" "valentines!" stare us in the face. some are very choice and costly; we see now and then one inlaid in a rich casket, and prized at twenty-five or even fifty dollars. others are made of fine fancy paper, adorned with flowers in water colors, or prettily filigreed; with a scroll in the center for the verses expressive of the sender's sentiments. but the softer heads that indulge in these expensive trifles, are comparatively few. a cheaper luxury satisfies our economical sentimentalists. all kinds of coarsely ornamented note-paper, and large square awkward envelopes, find their ready patrons. every taste is suited, from the sickliest fastidiousness, to the most clownish ambition for flashy colors and tawdry designs. in opposition to the sentimental valentines, we have the gross caricatures which have done more than anything else of this kind to disgust the common sense and good taste of community. it would seem that only the most vulgar minds could be attracted by these; yet the large traffic in them shows that vulgarity is an extensive element in the popular character. no matter how indelicate and disgusting one of these specimens of low invention may be, some fool will be found to purchase it, and send it to another individual whom he either wishes to insult or expects to amuse. in this way all sorts of printed immoralities obtain circulation. in this way cowards take revenge for imaginary slights or dignified rejections. in this way, for about two or three weeks in each year, some altogether harmless and well-meaning people have been subjected to gross annoyances and serious taxes for postage. thanks to the law-makers, the advance pay requisition will hereafter put a stop to that species of petty swindling. year after year the same foolish figures and senseless mottos are forwarded from the same simpletons to the same victims. we know a musician who for three successive seasons has received that witched caricature, representing a shape-- "if shape it could be called that shape had none,--" all nose and moustache, blowing a trombone considerably larger than himself. our dentist usually enjoys a visit from a caricature suited to _his_ profession--a tooth-drawer with his little head in a vast chasm representing a young lady's mouth. he has learned to expect it; he good-naturedly looks for it, about valentine's day; and merely opening it when it comes, to see that it is the right one, he quietly tosses it into the fire. this valentine sending is a custom like that of a certain drunken revel once popular in denmark,--"more honored in the breach than in the observance." it is ignored by good society. and as for the victimized, it is a mark of common sense to bestow every valentine into the grate, unopened, as soon as received. it is estimated that not less than half a million of these worse than worthless missives pass through the post-offices annually. the cost to the parties purchasing them, forms an aggregate of about $ , . over and above this expense is the postage, which is sometimes double, triple, or even four or five times the ordinary rates of single letter postage. formerly many were unpaid, and often persons to whom they were addressed, indignantly refused to take them from the office. thus were the mails not only uselessly encumbered with the vile trash, but quantities of the "rejected addresses" were subjected to the formality of visiting the dead letter office, where they finally met with that destruction they so clearly merited. this abuse of the post-office privileges is unworthy of any nation above the capacity of monkeys. the immoralities circulated and encouraged by valentines cannot be estimated. statistics would fail to arrive at the amount of vice engendered by this pernicious breed. one of the worst evils that owe their origin to this cause, is the temptation laid in the way of post-office clerks. a valentine is often the first provocation to crime. numerous instances have come under the observation of the writer, in which persons convicted of robbing the mails, trace back their transgressions to no more serious a fault than that of peeping into one of these silly missives. they are often carelessly sealed, and easily opened by third parties without discovery. imagine a young man intrusted with the care of a village post-office. he is interested in miss a. he believes she encourages his sentiments. he hopes her proud father will some day encourage him as an eligible suitor for his daughter's hand. still he is subject to desponding and jealous doubts. and when, one evening in the middle of february, a valentine addressed to his paragon strikes his eye as he is assorting the mails, an indescribable pang shoots through his heart. he wonders who sent it. tom bellows is at first suspected, but the hand-writing differs from tom's. "can it be robert cartwright?" says the distressed clerk. "he is partial to miss a., and she seems pleased with him. what can he be writing to her?" such thoughts perplex the young man's brain. the valentine is not taken from the office that evening; and when all is quiet, he draws it once more out of the box, and again examines the superscription. it is certainly cartwright's writing. "o dear!" sighs the clerk, "how easy i could open it, and nobody know it!" aching with curiosity, but calling moral principle and self-denial to his aid, he returns the missive to the box, and goes to bed. but sleep is out of the question. he is awake, thinking about the valentine, and those supposed to be immediately interested therein. "i wonder if i _could_ open it!" he says to himself. "i've half a mind to try." he gets up, strikes a light, and a moment later the valentine is in his hand. "if it comes open," says he, "i'll seal it again without reading it. i only want to see if it can be done without having it show afterwards." instantly he starts back. the valentine is open! really, he did not mean to do it; it came open so much easier than he expected! although it is night, and he is alone, he cannot help looking over his shoulder to assure himself that the grim individual watching him, exists only in his imagination. "well," thinks he, "it's done, and who knows it? what's the harm, as long as i'm going to seal it up again?--and after all, i don't see that it will be much worse just to see if there is any name to it, provided i don't read the rest." thus excusing himself, he profanes the sacred interior of the missive, and finds the suspicious signature--"robert." trembling at the temptation to read more, he hastily folds the sheet, and returns it to the envelope. but the next moment it is out again, and he is reading with flushed cheek and burning eye, the tender words that robert c. has written to miss a. "all this hath a little dashed his spirits;" and he returns to bed feverish and restless. in spite of his reason, which keeps saying stoutly, "what's the harm? nobody will know it," he suffers greatly in conscience. but the valentine is taken from the office, and the profanation of its mystery remains unsuspected. and in a few days another valentine appears, addressed to robert cartwright. the hand-writing, although disguised, is alarmingly like miss a.'s. by this time the clerk's jealousy has eaten up his conscience. "there's no more harm in opening two than in opening one," whispers the devil in his ear. "i believe you," says the clerk; "but i may yet be found out." "no danger," says the devil; "only be careful." he is too ready to adopt the suggestion. he is excusable, he thinks, under the circumstances. the valentine is accordingly opened and read. deliberation and forethought add gravity to the offence. the clerk has unconsciously blunted his moral perceptions, and weakened his moral strength; and he is now prepared to open regular letters passing through his hands. at first it is jealousy and rivalry that tempt his curiosity. then other matters of interest entice him, until one day he discovers, in no little consternation, that he has thrust his fingers into a nest of bank-notes! "well, after all," says he, "mr. b. is rich; he won't mind the loss; it's only a trifle with him. while to me, the sum is considerable. if i don't keep up appearances with bob cartwright, i might as well be out of the world. i've a right to live; and destroying this letter and appropriating its _contents_, is just nothing at all, if i don't get found out. but i'm safe enough--i'm the very last person to be suspected." the career of this young man need not be traced further. nor need the subject of valentines be pursued. we have written enough to show that they are the offspring of weak sentimentalism or foolish buffoonery; an encumbrance to the mails, an annoyance to those who receive them, a tax to all parties, and a temptation to post-office clerks; and withal, imbecilities and immoralities which all worthy citizens should take every occasion to discountenance, and banish from civilized society. chapter xxix. the clairvoyant discovery. a short time after the detection of the new haven mail robber, a gentleman from the town of w. called upon the post master at hartford, to say that he had some weeks since mailed a letter at the post-office in the town where he resided, addressed to a firm in hartford; and containing a sum of money, and that the letter had never been received. on examining his records, the post master ascertained that no bill had been received from the office where the letter was mailed corresponding with the date of the mailing, and that consequently the letter, so far as his records could show, had never reached his office. as the time of this loss happened at the period when the mail robber was committing depredations from day to day, and as the post-bill was missing, the hartford post master expressed the opinion that the letter had very probably fallen into the hands of the mail robber, although new haven was off the route on which the letter should go, and the package of letters could not have got there without having been mis-sent. this theory was entirely unsatisfactory to the gentleman who mailed the letter, and he left hartford with the conviction that he would be compelled to endure the loss of his money with such philosophy as he could summon to his aid. but hope soon succeeds fear, as daylight follows darkness, and before many days the gentleman in search of his money again called at the post-office in hartford, that being the important port in his voyage of discovery. it was very evident that his mind was somewhat "exercised," and the ominous tone in which he requested the post master to meet him immediately, at room no. ---- at the hotel where his name was entered, made it clear that a revelation of no slight importance was about to be made. the post master told him he would accompany him immediately, and started with his eager friend for the appointed place. during their walk nothing was said on the great subject-matter, probably because it was deemed too solemn in its nature to be broached amid the bustle and jar of a crowded street. the hotel was soon reached, and the communicator of the "latest intelligence" ascended the stairs to the room where the gentleman accompanying him would be called on to listen to the disclosures about to be made, and take such action thereon as circumstances might seem to require. after pointing solemnly to a chair, declaring by such dumb show that he desired the post master to be seated, and then taking a chair himself and sitting thereon so as to face the person with whom he was conversing, he deliberately asked-- "do you believe in clairvoyance?" what an unexpected question! and how should such a question be noticed? certain it was that among all the laws in relation to the post-office department, and the rules and regulations for its government, minute and circumstantial as they were, not one word could be found instructing the officers of this branch of government what they should do in the matter of clairvoyance. even ben franklin himself, who was "_par excellence_" the electrical post master general, had never issued an order bearing on this subtle subject. and here, in this hotel room, where, at a great many different times, a great many different kinds of spirits had entered a great many different kinds of persons, this official in a great business department, dealing constantly with the practicalities of life, and without law, rules, or regulations to tell him what he should do in the emergency, was met with the question proposed, in a sepulchral voice,--"do you believe in clairvoyance?" was it his duty to discuss with the questioner the "odic force," and "biology" and "psychology," and all the other theories connected with the doctrines of spiritualism? must post masters be also masters of mental science, and of things in heaven and earth never dreamed of in the philosophy of the great mass of mankind? because they have to deal with the transmission of intelligence to different parts of the earth, must they also take charge of intelligence coming from unknown regions, "out of space, out of time?" the question, however, was before him, and the post master replied that he had heard of some strange things connected with clairvoyance. seemingly satisfied with this reply, the gentleman went on to say that he had been very anxious to know what had become of his letter, and had therefore consulted a clairvoyant. some locations are blessed with a gifted seer, or more generally _seeress_, whose mind at inspired intervals is a complete "curiosity shop" of the universe--who can tell the whereabouts of a lost thimble or teaspoon, who can inform the anxious inquirer who committed the last murder, and who can describe to eager listeners the manner in which people conduct voiceless conversation in saturn, and how they fight in mars, and how they make love in venus. or the gifted one, descending rapidly to earth, can prescribe a remedy for any ill that flesh is heir to,--and all these wonders are performed for a moderate pecuniary compensation, and with the praiseworthy object of aiding and enlightening "suffering humanity." our inquiring friend was so fortunate as to reside in one of these localities, and his mission to the post master was that of rehearsing the discoveries of the priestess. he stated that the information given by the clairvoyant lady was so minute and distinct as to leave a strong impression of its truthfulness on his mind. that she traced the letter from the time it was put in the office--saw it placed in the mail bag, saw the bag taken from the office, saw every station where it stopped--saw it taken into the hartford office--saw it opened there, saw a clerk take the letter, open it, and on finding that it contained a number of bank-bills, put said letter in a drawer of his, and then lock the drawer. farther than this, the seeress declared that said clerk wore large whiskers, and a large gold ring, and that he resided in front street. in addition to these facts the lady declared that the letter thus opened, with the bills still in it, was yet remaining in the locked drawer of the delinquent clerk. having carefully repeated this train of circumstantial evidence, pointing so distinctly to a certain culprit, the gentleman then commenced interrogating the head of the hartford post-office:-- "have you, sir," said he, "a clerk in your employment who wears whiskers?" the witness was compelled, on the part of some of his clerks at least, to plead guilty to this first count in the indictment from an invisible grand jury. as whiskers are not an expensive article of luxury, even post-office clerks can afford to wear them. "have you," continued the counsel for the unknown prosecutor, "a clerk who wears large whiskers _and_ a large gold ring?" the reply to this query was not equally satisfactory, for the witness averred that his clerks were decidedly not given to jewelry; and as to gold, they felt that they could invest it more usefully than in the purchase of mammoth finger-rings. "have you," continued the pertinacious querist, "a clerk who lives in front street?" here again the answer was not gratifying, for the witness declared that to the best of his knowledge, no clerk of his had, whether with or without whiskers, or whether with or without a stupendous finger-ring, made front street illustrious by residing therein. notwithstanding the discrepancy, the gentleman went on with his inquiries:-- "have you a clerk in your employment who has a drawer of which he keeps the key?" the reply to this question was such as to meet the wishes of the querist, and he was told that there was more than one such clerk in his office. "then," said the gentleman, "i demand that you have those drawers opened, and their contents examined!" notwithstanding the urgent desire of the person who had reposed such confidence in the revelations of the female informer, the post master peremptorily declined to take a single step implying a doubt as to the integrity of his clerks, on the mere strength of clairvoyant testimony. argument was in vain, and the disappointed letter seeker left hartford, thinking in all probability that general pierce would have done better to have given the charge of the office there to some person more willing to accommodate the public! some time after this, the special agent met the post masters of new haven and hartford, in pursuance of instructions from the department, for the purpose of distributing the funds taken from the depredator, among those who had lost by the robberies. on examining the money found on the person of the robber, there were discovered the seven bank-bills, all of one denomination, lost by our clairvoyant-seeking friend! the bills not only agreed with his description, but, what made the case still stronger, was the fact that no other bills of the same denomination and bank were claimed by any other party. how it was that "the spirits" gave the distinguished seeress such a complete tissue of falsehoods, will probably remain unknown until the "new philosophy" becomes better understood, or until the spirit of franklin, who it is said presides over communications from the upper spheres, appoints some special agent to investigate the causes of failure. the gentleman who unexpectedly regained his money, may still entertain his old affection for clairvoyance, but he cannot deny that the poet was right when he exclaimed, "optics sharp it needs, i ween, to see what is not to be seen." chapter xxx. poetical and humorous addresses upon letters. the exterior, as well as the interior of a letter is sometimes made the vehicle of sentiment, affection, wit, fun, and the like, which, thus riding as outside passengers, display their beauties to the gaze of those connected with post-offices. in such instances, it may be that the writer's ideas, gushing from his pen, have overflowed their bounds, and spread themselves upon the usually dry surface of the epistle. it must be a pleasing relief to post-office clerks, wearied with the monotonous task of turning up innumerable names, to find the flowers of fancy and imagination supplanting the endless catalogue of smiths and browns which ordinarily meet their eyes. below are a few specimens of these embellished addresses. the first is probably from some home-sick miner. it was mailed at san francisco, california. his wife and children have no doubt derived, long ere this, the pleasure which he anticipated for them, in the perusal of the letter:-- go, sheet, and carry all my heart; (i would that thou couldst carry me,) freighted with love thou wilt depart across the land, across the sea. o'er thee will bend a loving face, to thee will listen little ears; thou wilt be welcomed in _my place_, and thou wilt bring both smiles and tears. across the land, across the sea, thy homeward course thou wilt pursue, i may not see them welcome thee, yet know i well their hearts are true. then swiftly go, thou ocean steed; roll on, ye rapid iron wheels, bearing away, with careless speed, the message that my soul reveals. the address followed, in plain prose. * * * * * rail road, steamboats, horses, stages, all of you are paid your wages, all of you, for nothing better than to take this little letter. should the document miscarry, uncle sam will see "old harry!" to prevent this dread collision, i present unto your vision state, county, and between, the town, indiana, nashville, brown. for mrs. jane eliza brent, this is enough,--now "let her went." * * * * * here is a specimen in a less elevated strain:-- robber, shouldst thou seize this letter, break it not; there's nothing in't, nought for which thou wouldst be better: note of bank, or coin from mint. there is nothing but affection, and perhaps a little news; when you've read this, on reflection, take or leave it as you choose. if you should conclude to leave it, i would like to have it go to seth jones, who will receive it in the town we call glasgow, and the state of old kentucky, (there's no rhyme for that but "lucky.") the following seems to have been the superscription to a dun, written "more in sorrow than in anger." a hard old hoss is charley cross, and i don't care who knows it; he's borrowed an x, and never expects i'll dun him, so he goes it. he'll find he's mistaken, and won't save his bacon, unless he sends me the tin: in the city of penn, somewhere is his den; i can't tell what _state_ he is in. perhaps he's "slewed," or may be, pursued by some other man he owes, whichever it is, when this meets his phiz, my account he had better close. the street and number were subjoined; but it is to be feared that the "old hoss" proved hard-bitted, and would have nothing to do with "_checks_," except those in his favor. * * * * * post master dear, i greatly fear that this letter never will go to him i write, unless to your sight the name i plainly show. 'tis thomas brown, the name of his town is hartford; the county the same, land of steady habits, famed for onions and rabbits, the place whence once i came. * * * * * this is apparently an outpouring of the sorrows of a victim to the maine law, and was mailed in that state:-- oh john o'brien, half of you is better than the whole, for that would be a demi-john, my sorrow to console. oh dear o'brien, briny tears into my whiskers roll, to think that you live in new york, while here is not a soul to stand treat; or in other words, to "pass the flowing bowl." all flesh is grass: all paper's rags, (so it is said by wicked wags.) but i would like to pass along among th' epistolary throng, till i reach the town of kent nor to a paper mill be sent, and come to an untimely end, before i find my writer's friend; whose name is putnam, or sam put, in the old state connecticut. * * * * * this is going to my tailor, a _trust_-worthy man is he; like a clock, for ever _ticking_, he keeps his account with me. to send my bill i here request him for the br--ches he has made: thanks to good old uncle samuel, he must send it on _pre-paid_. (the address was in prose.) * * * * * when you c this letter, you'd better letter b. for it is going over unto tom mcg. in the town of dover, state of tennessee. * * * * * address on a valentine: mr. post master, keep this well, for every line is going to tell how much i love my bill martell, syracuse, n. y. * * * * * i want this letter to go right straight to wilmington city in delaware state, to daniel b. woodard, a cooper by trade; he can make as good barrels as ever were made. * * * * * swiftly hasten, postman's organ, bear this onward to its fate, in new york to george c. morgan; john street, no. . * * * * * east th street, city of new york, two hundred fifty-three-- is where of all this little work, this moment ought to be. and could i to the lightning's wing or telegraphic wire, attach it by a silken string, 'twould be my fond desire. but since to do the swift exploit each other power must fail, i send to emily bailey hoyt, with pleasure--in the mail. * * * * * i know a man, his name is dunn! he lives in splendid style: but if he'd pay--say half his debts, he'd lose 'bout all his "_pile_." he stops in charlestown, old bay state, quite near to bunker hill, where many a brave man met his fate, dispensing putnam pill. * * * * * a valentine address. lizzie, they say the little birds are making matches now; (warranted to keep in any climate.) a good example they have set which i would like to follow; so if you have a heart to let, i hope to know to-morrow. * * * * * on the river hudson, in the town of troy, lives miss sarah judson full of life and joy. 'tis for that sweet creature this epistle's meant; if it does but reach her, i shall be content. * * * * * the following address was found on a missive which passed through the new york office on or about the th of february, and was secured with a seal representing cupid taking aim at one of his victims with a revolver: cupid's mother has supplied him with "six shooters" for his bow; when he'd arrows i defied him; now, alas! he's laid me low. here i send, done up in paper, fanny may, my heart to you. i think you will keep it safer than i've done,--so now adieu. the town and state were in prose. * * * * * send this, post master, if you are willing, to john m. p----, a darned old villain. let it go without postage bounty, to union valley, cortland county, * * * * * take me along in haste i pray, to john o'donnel without delay. the postage is paid, there is no excuse if i'm not delivered at syracuse. * * * * * let nought impede thy progress, while on thy journey going, and quickly may'st thou be received, by john, or pardon bowen. albany, n. y. * * * * * miss kate may, _somewhere_ in new york city. i hope to goodness she will receive this missive. * * * * * john m. simpson, dedham, mill village, mass. in care of john lee, the man that speaks through his nose or with the crucket foot. * * * * * for nevel kelly, degrau st., next shanty to the river in the rear of the grave-stone yard, brooklyn, n. y. * * * * * new haven, post-office state of connecticut brown street number for elen rumford under care of mister allen and if the main law folks up there don't like the name of _rum_ford i can't help it. * * * * * for brigded livingston no post office city hartford, state of cannada or three-ways to no _america_. * * * * * to thos. walsh rd avenue or if not there (new york to the care of america jerrimiah o droyer--no-- south street south troy new york to be forwarded to mary dohorty (for thos. walsh (in haste america * * * * * to mr. leedfara, who runs the ferry over across to long island for mary maguire new york. * * * * * mistress crovor keeps a stand in the _hutson dippo_--new york lives in reed street. * * * * * direct this letter to second floor back room for kate barrey washington street new york in heast. * * * * * to the lady that wears a white cloak straw bonnett trimmed with blue & wears a blue veil, brown or striped dress no -- bleeker street new york. * * * * * to don tom rigan and monseer birch-- to new york city straight let this 'ere letter go right to der corner of der bowery and grand into jim story's place which every one must know onto i forgot his name's old oyester stand. the _blades_ it's intended for are hearty and frisky, you'll find backe of der bar, where yer give dis letter. the postman may find himself a cocktail der better. * * * * * p.o. no albany street boston state of mass for michael ryan tailor and if he do not live here i expect that the person who will live here will forward this letter to him if they chance to know where he live. * * * * * mister john shane syracuse no salina street your parents are here, and state new york city north america. * * * * * william doger syracuse corner of james and warren street undago county state of new york--america-- care for john burk or jeremiah burk paid or else where * * * * * the american girl who wants a place, sixth avenue, up two flights of stairs, back room. * * * * * thadeus m. guerai esqr. son of pat guerai, late manager of the devon estate, county limerick ireland, and husband of sarah coburn harding; niece of major harding of harding grove, county limerick ireland-- care of b. douglass & co. charlestown s.c. chapter xxxi. origin of the mail coach service. the greatest improvement in the english mail service, during the eighteenth century, was the introduction of mail coaches. this was brought about by the energy and perseverance of john palmer, esq. like most of those who introduce great improvements, he was an "outsider," one unacquainted by business habits and associations, with the postal service. at that time (about ) stage coaches, with passengers, traversed the country over all the principal roads, and ran from five to seven miles an hour. the mails, however, had _never_ had any better conveyance than that of a horse or a gig, managed by a man or boy. the whole mail service was on a most irregular footing; mail robberies were frequent, and the speed did not average over three and a half miles an hour. mr. palmer's plan was, to have the mails transferred to the stage coaches, that the swiftest conveyance which the country afforded should carry the mails. for so obvious an improvement, we would suppose that there would be little or no opposition. parliamentary committees were appointed, post masters general reported, and all the officials were against it! statesmen took it up; the proposition was debated in parliament; and, after many years of persevering labor, mr. palmer saw his plan adopted. but opposition did not end here. there were more reports against it, and those who opposed at first from ignorance, and a belief that no improvement would result, now kept up their opposition from a dread of being thought false prophets. but there were those who appreciated the improvement, and mr. palmer got a pension from government of three thousand pounds a year for life, and afterwards a grant of fifty thousand pounds, for the benefit his improvement in the mail service had been to the revenue of the country. we have, from a well known post-office reformer,[b] a nice piece of sarcasm for the special benefit of those who _oppose_ great improvements, and then deny their value after they have been adopted and proved. [b] rowland hill, esq. a report from the english post master general says: "from a comparison of the gross produce of inland postage: for four months, and from every other comparison they have been able to make, they were perfectly satisfied that the revenue has been very considerably decreased by the plan of mail coaches." this report gives the opinions of the lords of the treasury, and enlarges on the innumerable inconveniences which the change had occasioned. the great post-office reformer, forty years after this, makes the following comment:-- "heavy must be the responsibility on those who thus persisted in folly and mischief; and wonderful is it that mr. palmer should have been able to beguile the government and the legislature into sanctioning his mad career! who was the statesman, unworthy of the name, that thus gave the rein to audacity; that thus became, in his besotted ignorance, the tool of presumption? who stood god-father to the vile abortion, and insisted on the admission of the hideous and deformed monster into the sacred precincts of lombard street, the seat of perfection? his name--alas! that the lynx should be guided by the mole! that samson should be seduced by delilah! palimirus allured by a dream!--his name was william pitt." chapter xxxii. evasion of the post-office laws. before the adoption of the present rates of postage, much ingenuity was displayed in making newspapers the vehicles of such information as should legitimately have been conveyed by letters. various devices were employed to effect this object. as the law strictly prohibited writing upon papers, requiring that such newspapers should be charged with letter postage, the problem was, to convey information by their means without infringing the letter of the law. sometimes a sentence or a paragraph was selected, some of the letters of which were crossed out in such a manner that the letters left legible conveyed the meaning which the operator intended. by such transmuting process, pugnacious editorials were converted into epistles of the mildest and most affectionate description, and public news of an important character not unfrequently contracted into a channel for the conveyance of domestic intelligence. as the constructions of the law on this subject, by the officers of the department, became more and more stringent, the most amusing and ingenious inventions to get beyond their reach were resorted to. for instance, marking an advertisement or other notice, with a pen or pencil, having been declared a violation of law, attention was sometimes called to such notices, by cutting round them on three sides, thus making a sort of flap, and doubling it back on the side left uncut. in one case, which now occurs to the author, a notice served in that way, thus producing a hole in the paper, had the strikingly appropriate caption of "a good opening!" the vacancy produced in the paper, in such a case, of course attracted the attention of the person who received it, and _that_ advertisement was sure to be read, if no other. hieroglyphics were sometimes employed for conveying contraband ideas. the following will answer as a specimen of this class of attempted evasions. it was neatly drawn on the margin of a newspaper which came to a western post-office, from a town in new england. [illustration] the meaning will of course he readily understood by the reader--"children all well!" such specimens of the fine arts are seldom attempted under the present low rates of postage, as the saving of two cents would hardly pay for the required time or labor. but there are those even now-a-days, who, for that paltry consideration, are found willing to compromise their consciences, if indeed they have any, by resorting to some of the less laborious methods, in attempting to carry out their prudential designs. chapter xxxiii. post office paul prys. legislative enactments have been found no less necessary, to defend the sacredness of private correspondence from the prying eye of curiosity, than from the plundering hand of dishonesty. there are many who would recoil from the thought of robbing a letter of its pecuniary contents, but feel no compunction at violating its secrecy for the sake of indulging an idle or a malicious inquisitiveness, if the commission of the deed can be concealed. this may not be called a common evil, and yet it exists; and it is one against which acts of congress have been levelled almost in vain, for there is perhaps hardly any portion of the laws of that body relative to the protection of correspondence, through the mails, about which there is felt so great a degree of security. this violation of the first principles of decency and propriety, not unfrequently leads to results more disastrous than those which are caused even by robbery itself. the person, too, who indulges himself in this disgraceful practice, cannot be sure that he will always keep clear of more serious misdemeanors. he who pries into letters for one purpose, may be led to pry into them for another. when one has become accustomed to tampering with letter seals, he has broken through a powerful restraint to crime, and has laid himself yet more open to the assaults of temptation. sometimes a state of things exists in a neighborhood which clearly shows that some unauthorized person is acquainted with the contents of many of the letters passing-through the post-office, before the rightful owners have received them. secrets of the utmost importance are suddenly blazed abroad, and those of less consequence are used to inflict much annoyance upon the persons whom they concern. those in charge of the post-office become the objects of suspicion, and the inhabitants of the infected district, if they are unable to obtain positive proof of unlawful meddling with their correspondence, at least show, by their endeavors to prevent their letters from going through the dangerous channel, that they have lost their confidence in the integrity of the post master, or of his assistants. for instance,--farmer haycroft's daughter had settled the preliminaries of a treaty of the most tender description with a young gentleman of a neighboring city, though without the knowledge and contrary to the wishes of the parental potentates on both sides. their happiness, it is clear, depended on preserving their secret inviolate. should it come to the ears of their "potent, grave, and reverend _seniors_," a storm of wrath might be expected like that which is seen when two clouds, heavily charged, unite in pouring out their burden of lightning, wind, and rain. therefore, in order to avoid such a consummation, interviews were not risked, as being too hazardous, but a correspondence was carried on under fictitious names. much solicitude was felt by the inquisitive matron who presided over the _pryington_ post-office, to know who "elizabeth greene" (the _nom de guerre_ of the haycroftian damsel) could be. so she cross-questioned the boy who inquired for letters for the aforesaid elizabeth, but he was decidedly non-committal. and, as a last resort, she sent her servant-maid to follow the unwary messenger, and see where he went. she returned with the exciting intelligence that jane haycroft met him and received from his hands the letter which the boy had just taken from the office. this information but aggravated the thirst for knowledge which raged in the breast of the post mistress, and she inwardly resolved that she would in some way unravel the mystery that lurked under the name of "elizabeth greene." the town was shortly after astonished with the news of the proposed "match," and as the post-office dame was not supposed to deal in _clairvoyance_, the inference was natural that some less creditable but more certain method had been adopted to bring the important fact to light. the detection of supposed guilt in cases of this kind was formerly very difficult, and heretofore the special agents had rather undertake the investigation of a dozen cases of mail robbery than to attempt to unearth one of these moles, working under ground, and gnawing at the roots of their neighbor's reputation and happiness. for these paul prys generally leave but few traces behind them by which they may be ferreted out, however strong the grounds of suspicion may be. tests have been devised, however, by which these dealers in contraband knowledge may be unerringly pointed out and detected in their contemptible occupation. a letter may be opened, read, and resealed never so carefully, yet by means of these tests the opening can be satisfactorily proved, and the opener brought to justice, at least so far as a removal from office can answer the ends of punishment. a knowledge of this secret plan rests solely with the post master general and his special agents, and it can only be communicated to the latter under the most positive injunctions of secrecy. it will be applied in all cases where there is reasonable ground for believing that correspondence has been tampered with. the legal penalty for this offence is five hundred dollars fine, and imprisonment for twelve months. chapter xxxiv. special agents. the institution of special agents did not originate in this country. at a comparatively early period it constituted a part of the british postal system, and these agents are termed "post-office surveyors." this corps of officials has ever been considered by the english government one of the most important adjuncts of the post-office department. in the early history of the department in our own country persons were occasionally employed, in cases of emergency, to act as its representatives, and to exercise temporary supervision over some of the various branches of the mail service; but the special agent system, as it now exists, was first organized in the year , while the hon. amos kendall was at the head of the department. the number of special agents in the united states has been gradually increased since their first establishment, and is now eighteen, suitably distributed throughout the country, each one having a district assigned him as the particular field of his operations, but to act elsewhere if so ordered. it is not the intention to enter into an argument for the purpose of proving the usefulness of this branch of the department. if this has not been shown by the facts recorded in the former part of this volume, as well as by the many prominent and familiar cases all over the country, which have been so successfully conducted by other members of the corps, it would be in vain to attempt it now. i would only say a few words respecting the power of this system, to _prevent_ crime. there are some persons in the world of firm principles and unbending rectitude, who need not the aid of outward circumstances for the maintenance of an upright character. but perhaps the majority of mankind require some external helps in the way of restraints, from public opinion, and even the threatenings of the law. on such the fear of detection frequently acts in a most salutary manner, deterring from the commission of crime, and sometimes leading to a higher motive for right conduct than apprehension of punishment. in more than one instance, after the conclusion of some important case of depredation, i have been informed that money-letters, passing upon other routes than the ones under suspicion, and even at a considerable distance, have been regarded with a reverence never felt for them before. a portly envelope was considered a sort of trojan horse, filled with the elements of destruction, ready to overwhelm the explorer of its treacherous recesses. this extraordinary caution was owing, of course, to the knowledge (which often gets out in spite of the utmost endeavors to prevent it) that the special agent was abroad; and when once a person has been thoroughly impressed with the danger of tampering with the forbidden thing, he does not soon nor easily yield to the whisperings of the tempter. the duties of a special agent of the post-office department involve a constant and vigilant supervision of all its interests. this embraces a much wider range of action, and requires much higher qualifications on the part of those who undertake it, than any simply "detective" service. it is believed that neither congress nor the public generally attach such a degree of importance to the office in question as it really possesses, both in itself and in the estimation of the department. this is perhaps owing to the fact that so great a proportion of its duties have of late been connected with the investigation of cases of depredation upon the mails. this has given the corps of special agents the apparent character of mere "detective officers," while in truth they are much more than this. the qualifications which a special agent should possess are numerous and diverse; some, indeed, not often found in connection with one another. a high degree of shrewdness and tact is required, in order to estimate probabilities rightly, and to pursue investigations in such a way as to avoid attracting attention or exciting alarm. and an essential pre-requisite to success is a good knowledge of human nature. to calculate beforehand with correctness what a given person will do under certain circumstances, and thus to anticipate his movements, and make him subservient to the execution of your plans; to vary the mode of approach to suspected persons, according to the combinations of circumstances and the shades of character existing in the case in hand; to do all this, and much more of a like description, demands no small knowledge of the workings of the human mind. it is comparatively an easy matter to follow up a mail robber when once upon his track, (though there is often nicety even in this,) but to collect the scattered rays of suspicion and conjecture, and to bring them together into one focus, throwing its revealing glare upon the criminal, requires a higher order of intellect than any after operations. and the caution which is always necessary in the conducting of these cases, in order to secure a successful result, is called for not only for the sake of detecting the guilty, but in order that the innocent may not suffer blame. it often happens that circumstances of the strongest kind indicate the guilt of some person, who, notwithstanding, is entirely free from all connection with the crime. never, perhaps, is a stronger temptation to hasty and indiscreet procedures offered than by such a state of things. yet he who is guided by discretion, is not led away by the dazzling hope of immediate success in his investigation, but, aware how fallacious are sometimes the strongest appearances, he considers the question before him with coolness and deliberation, fully conscious of the priceless value of character, and reluctant to make any movement that might unjustly throw a shadow upon it. from the nature of their employment, special agents are constantly brought in contact with the most intelligent and prominent men in the community, who justly expect to find the post-office department represented by men of gentlemanly bearing, fair education, correct deportment, and sound discretion. the absence of any of these qualities, especially of all of them, would lower the standing of the department with those whose good opinion is most valuable, and would naturally cause speculations on the reasons why persons so deficient in the qualities necessary to make them acceptable to people of discernment, should have been appointed to such a responsible post. it would hardly be just to hold the department responsible for the existence of all such evils, as there is always danger that the influence and diplomacy of politicians may be used for the purpose of securing appointments to persons who are unfit for them. if the time ever comes when politicians shall act upon truly patriotic principles, then we may reasonably expect that the appointing of subordinate officers of this department will be left to those in whose power the law has placed it, undisturbed by pressure from without. the duties of a special agent are often made more difficult by the thoughtlessness or curiosity of those whom he meets in the course of his official business. the maintenance of secrecy is absolutely necessary to much success in his plans. it is perfectly obvious that the measures taken to detect a rogue should be concealed from him, and it is generally no less important that he should not know that any one is on his track. the public at large, however, seem to think themselves at liberty to inquire of an agent all about his plans; where he is going, whom he is in pursuit of, and any other matters that curiosity may suggest. often have i been saluted, on entering an omnibus or a railroad car, with the question, "well, h----, who has been robbing the mails now?" thus making the person of the agent known to all within hearing, and perhaps to some from whom it were very desirable to keep such knowledge. i received a similar salutation once from a thoughtless acquaintance, in the presence of a delinquent post-office clerk whom i was watching, and to whom i was before unknown. in country places, also, agents are often brought to their wit's end for answers to the questions proposed, which shall be satisfactory to the querist, and keep within the bounds of truth. sometimes they find themselves compelled, in anticipation of this annoying curiosity, to take refuge in a mercantile character, inquiring the price of butter, and other "produce." at other times, with parental solicitude, they inform themselves of the comparative merits of different boarding-schools; or they, in pursuance of their own policy, discuss policies of "life insurance." i was once indebted to the system alluded to for my escape from the fangs of an inquisitive landlord. in the investigations of the case then in hand, it was of the utmost importance that the presence of an agent of the department, on that route, should not be known. so when mine host commenced his inquiries, i informed him that i had thought of delivering a lecture on life insurance, and asked him whether he supposed that an audience could be got together in the village. he appeared very much interested in the matter, and offered to guarantee at least five hundred hearers for the proposed lecture. one evening, while i was in my room employed in preparing decoy letters, he called upon some errand, and, observing me at work among some papers, he said: "ah, at work on your lecture, are you? well, i won't disturb you." we went so far as to make some arrangements for the printing of hand-bills, &c., but the mental illumination which the inhabitants of the village had in prospect, was extinguished by my disappearance, accompanied by a culprit, whom it was more important to secure than even an "audience of five hundred." during the examination of the criminal, my worthy host inquired of me, with a sagacious wink, how the "life insurance" business flourished? it may not be out of place here to allude to an erroneous idea respecting the powers of special agents, which prevails to some extent, namely, that the agents are permitted by the department to open letters addressed to other persons, where the interests of justice seem to require it. this is contrary to the truth. an agent has no more power or right than any other person to open letters not belonging to him, for whatever purpose he may wish to do so. should he see fit to break a seal, he does it at his own responsibility. the law makes no exceptions in his favor. and the department cannot confer this power of opening letters, because no such power has been given it. the post master general is as accountable to the laws as any private citizen. chapter xxxv. route agents. this is the designation of a very useful and indispensable class of officials, who were hardly known to the service in this country previous to the year . their introduction appears to have been contemporaneous with the employment of railroads for the transportation of the u. s. mails, and a necessary consequence of the adoption of this mode of conveyance. the number of these agents has been progressively increased in proportion with the extension of railroads, and they are now employed upon nearly all these roads in this country, as well as upon many of the steamboats which carry the mails. since , they have increased as follows:-- in there were " " " " " " " " " " " " by the terms of contract with each railroad company, it is required to furnish a suitable car for the use of the mail or route agent when so requested by the department. the agent occupies this traveling post-office, or mail car, receives and delivers mails along the route; assorts, and gives the proper direction to all mail matter passing through his hands; mails such letters, pre-paid _by stamps_, as are handed him, and accompanies the mails in their transit between the post-office and the railroad station or steamboat, at the terminus of the route. it is too often the case that persons of influence, in proposing a candidate for this responsible post, greatly undervalue the nature and importance of the duties to be performed, supposing that they involve merely the mechanical labor of delivering mail bags at the different post-office stations upon the route. the fact is, that the successful working of our postal machinery depends in no small degree upon the active, faithful, and intelligent discharge of the route agents' duties. in new england especially, and perhaps in some other sections of the country, a very large proportion of the correspondence passes through the hands of these officials, at some stage in its progress. much care, and a thorough knowledge of the topography of the sections of the country through which the route lies, as well as that of more distant portions, are therefore required for giving letter and other packages a direction by which they will reach their destination in the shortest possible time. and that essential preliminary, the ascertaining where a given package is to go, is a matter not always easy of accomplishment. for the most skilful interpreters of the species of chirography known as "quail tracks," are often taxed to their utmost capacity of learning and experience, in the endeavor to decipher the outside addresses of packages which they are required to "distribute" without loss of time. furthermore, in consequence of the improvements constantly progressing in many parts of the country, and the frequent changes in railroad, steamboat, and stage connections, resulting from that and other causes, what would be correct "distribution" one day, might not be so the next. the old adage, "the longest way round is the shortest way home," is often literally true in the sending of mail matter, for steam occupies less time in accomplishing a circuitous route of a hundred miles, than horses in passing over a direct one of twenty. on the other hand, it sometimes happens that a long route by stage should be adopted, instead of a short one by railroad, owing to a want of the proper railroad connections. when all these demands upon the vigilance and ability of the route agent are exercised, it will be obvious that it would be difficult to estimate the amount of injury that the public might receive from the employment of a careless, inefficient, or illiterate person in this position. among the post master general's instructions to route agents is one requiring them to receive and mail all letters written after the closing of the mail at the places where the writers reside, and before its departure. this privilege--intended solely for the accommodation of those who are prevented by unavoidable circumstances from depositing their letters in the post-office--has of late been used, or rather abused, to a degree never dreamed of by the department. this abuse, in many cases, has proceeded to an extent which would seem to warrant the withholding of the privilege. tardy and indolent correspondents, who can save a few steps by taking their letters to a mail car or steamboat, instead of to the proper place of deposit, a post-office, find the hard-worked route agent an invention admirably calculated to facilitate the indulgence of their lazy habits, and do not scruple to avail themselves of the opportunity to the utmost extent. there is also a numerous class who entertain feelings of hostility toward their post master for various reasons; not unfrequently from the failure of their own attempts or those of their friends to obtain the office which he holds. these persons show their resentment by withholding their mail matter from the post-office, and thus cheating the incumbent out of his lawful commissions. in carrying out this plan, they make the route agent an innocent accessory, by placing all their correspondence in his car just before the departure of the train, thus unnecessarily increasing his labor for the sake of gratifying their own malice. another class, fully persuaded of the truth of the principle that "seeing is believing," and unwilling to trust in anything less reliable than their own eyes, deposit their letters with the agent rather than in the post-office, in order to avoid the innumerable perils which might beset them in their passage from the custody of the post master to that of the agent! these cautious persons are not satisfied without ocular demonstration of the departure of their letters, so that if the letters should fail to reach their destination, they would still have the pleasing consciousness that they had done all in _their_ power to avoid such a catastrophe. still another class confide their letters to the route agent, from a belief that letters, especially valuable ones, will thus go forward more safely and expeditiously. but this is an incorrect idea, for in the first place the pressure of other indispensable duties, such as receiving, assorting, and delivering mails, may occupy so much of the agent's time that he will find it impossible to mail all the letters handed him, in which case they would often suffer at least a day's delay. and as to the supposed additional safety of money-letters, when sent in this way, it may be remarked that in case of a serious collision happening to the train while the letters were still loose, the chances of their loss from destruction or theft, would be much greater than if they were properly secured in a locked mail-pouch. important losses have occurred in this way, and of course they may happen at any time. in behalf of the route agents, whose duties, at best, are sufficiently arduous, the public are earnestly requested to exercise the privilege referred to only in accordance with its original intention, namely, in reference to letters which _cannot_ with due diligence be mailed in the ordinary way. another important regulation contained in the route agents' instructions, is that which forbids the admission within the mail car of any one except those officially connected with the department. the strict enforcement of this rule is well for all concerned, and should be cheerfully acquiesced in by the railroad companies and the public at large. nor should its application in individual cases be construed, as has sometimes been done, into a distrust of the honor or honesty of the person refused admittance. it is done simply in pursuance of a wholesome and reasonable requirement, and with the view to confine responsibility to those upon whom it is placed by the department, and to guard against hindrances to the faithful and accurate discharge of their duty. the faithfulness of one of the route agents, in respect to a compliance with instructions, was a few years since tested by the post master general in person, who happened to be travelling _incog._, so far as those on that train were concerned. just as the cars were about to leave one of the stations, judge hall, then post master general, presented himself at the door of the mail apartment, when the following conversation occurred:-- _post master general._--good morning, sir; i would like a seat in your car to avoid the dust. _agent._--well, i would like to accommodate you, but you see what my instructions say, (at the same time pointing to the printed circular posted up in the car, with the signature of "n. k. hall" attached.) _p. m. general._--yes, that is all well enough, but mr. hall probably did not mean to exclude honorable gentlemen who would not interfere with the mails, or annoy you with conversation. _agent._--(scanning the person of his unknown visitor pretty closely)--suppose he didn't, what evidence have i that you are an honorable gentleman? besides, i am a strict constructionist, and the order says no person is allowed here except those connected with the department. judge hall insisted upon staying, however, and deliberately took a seat in the only chair on the premises. whereupon the agent proceeded to call the baggage-master to assist in forcibly ejecting this persevering customer; and he certainly would have _gone out_, had he not without loss of time presented his card to the incensed agent, just in time to prevent so ludicrous a denouement. he was warmly commended for his faithfulness, and highly enjoyed the visit of his distinguished guest during the remainder of his stay. chapter xxxvi. decoy letters. those who may have perused the preceding pages of this work, will require no further comment on the nature and utility of decoy letters. but as some persons are met with who, without much reflection, condemn their use under all circumstances, it may be well to offer a few remarks in defence of this practice. it is very clear that decoy letters can never injure honest men. these missives trouble no one who does not unlawfully meddle with them, and it can hardly be claimed that they offer any greater temptations to the dishonestly inclined than any other class of money-letters. it is of course impossible for any one to distinguish between a decoy letter and a genuine one, and he who faithfully discharges his duties in reference to other letters, will never find out by his own personal experience, that there are such things as decoys. it should not be forgotten that these devices are employed for the public good, and that the security of a vast amount of property, as well as the removal of unjust suspicion, often depends upon the detection of some delinquent post-office employé. in such a case, it would surely be foolishly fastidious to object to the adoption of a method of effecting the desired end, which accurately distinguishes between the innocent and the guilty, and which does injustice to no one. in the defence of criminals tried in the united states courts, for mail robbery, whose detection has been effected by means of decoy letters, especially in cases where there seems to be no other ground of defence, it is frequently insisted on very eloquently, that as the law of congress on this subject provides against the embezzlement of letters "intended to be conveyed by post," no offence is committed by the purloining of decoys, inasmuch as this class of epistles are not _bonâ fide_ letters, and are not intended to be conveyed in the mail, within the true intent and meaning of the statute. this position has been overthrown, however, as often as it has been assumed, and it is believed that the decisions on this point, of all the united states judges before whom the question has been raised, have been uniform throughout the country. in a recent important trial in the city of new york, before his honor judge betts, the decoy system received a severe hetchelling from the learned counsel for the prisoner, and after the evidence had been laid before the jury, the court was asked to dismiss the case and the culprit, on the ground that the offence provided against in the twenty-first section of the act of , had not been committed. but his honor took a very different view of the matter, as will appear by the following extract from his decision:-- judge betts remarked to the jury that the facts upon which the indictment is found being uncontroverted, the question of the prisoner's guilt depends solely upon points of law. when facts are ascertained, it is the province of the court to determine whether they come within the provisions of the law sought to be applied to them; and, although in criminal cases the jury gives a general answer, covering both the law and fact, to the inquiry whether the accused is guilty or not guilty, it is not to be supposed they will, in a case resting wholly upon a question of law, render a verdict in opposition to the instructions of the court. the defence of the accused assumes that the twenty-first section above recited, in order to a conviction under it, demands affirmative proof from the prosecution that the letters were _intended to be conveyed by post_, according to their address: and it is urged that such proof not being made, but on the contrary, the evidence being that the writer of the letters did not intend they should be so delivered, but meant to take them out of the mail himself, to prevent their delivery, if they were not embezzled in the office in this city, the acts done by the accused are no offence under the statute. i think that construction of the statute cannot be maintained in respect to letters actually in the mail, and especially in this case, where the letters had been conveyed by post and came into this office by the mail from other offices. it is a presumption of law, and not a matter of proof, that letters so circumstanced, were intended to be conveyed by post. the question of intention is no longer referable to the private purpose of the writer, whatever might be the fact when letters are given to persons employed in the post-office department, out of the office, for the purpose of being put into it or conveyed by mail. when, however, a letter already in the mail is purloined, ( mclean r. ; id. ,) or is embezzled by a carrier on the route, ( curtis r. ,) it is, in judgment of law, intended to be conveyed by post, within the meaning of the statute, and the private purpose and intention of the person who put it in the mail, is in no way material, and need not be proved. nor indeed, if the accused can prove, or it is made to appear upon the evidence of the prosecution, that the letter was placed in the mail or came into a post-office, prepared and intended as a decoy, and was not intrusted to the mail in the way of bonâ fide correspondence, is the criminality of taking it thereby absolved: even if the evidence advances another stage, and shows that the decoy was aimed at and intended for the particular person caught by it, (_the united states_ v. _laurence_, mclean r. ; _the united states_ v. _foye_, curtis r. - .) these decisions enforce the manifest policy of the statute. the post-office establishment, and the enactments maintaining the security of its action and the fidelity of persons employed in it, compose a great national measure, and the laws governing and protecting it are to be construed so as to subserve the public good, and not with a view to what might be a reasonable rule in transactions between individuals. but i apprehend that even in individual transactions, the agents of a bank, a merchant's clerk, or a domestic servant could not protect themselves against a criminal or civil charge of appropriating the effects of their employers, by proof that the property had been placed within their reach by its owner, in distrust of their honesty, and for the purpose of testing it. the method adopted by the department to detect offenders under this law, does not appear to me objectionable in the point of view pressed by the counsel for the accused. no further temptation or facility to the commission of the offence is thereby placed before such offenders than must necessarily be presented in the daily business of their trusts. these packages were in every respect the same in appearance, and with only the same indications of enclosing money, as ordinary letters by which remittances are made. and it seems to me when it comes to be understood by persons handling such packages in the mail or destined for it, that a watchful eye may be following each package from office to office, and noticing everything done to it, that the apprehension of such supervision may act almost with the force of a religious consciousness of accountability, in awing wicked purposes and preventing criminal actions. i am persuaded that letters would rarely be intercepted in their transmission by post, if every person concerned in mailing or carrying them, could be impressed with the idea that each package enclosing valuables, may be but a bait seeking to detect whoever may be dishonest enough to molest it, and to become a swift witness for his conviction and punishment. the jury convicted the prisoner, and on the th day of december, , he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. supplementary chapter. practical information. the design of the author, in the preparation of the present volume, would be but imperfectly answered, were he to fail to communicate that practical information which it is very desirable that the public at large should possess, both for their own sake and that of those connected with the mail service. for, an accurate knowledge of the requirements of the law upon leading points, would obviate much of the disappointment and unpleasant feeling to which mistaken views on the subject give rise. there are popular errors on many matters connected with post-office regulations which are every day causing trouble and vexation, and which can only be corrected by presenting the facts as they are. this information is not accessible to the public in general; at least, it is out of the way, and is not kept before the people. the department publishes, at irregular intervals, an edition of its laws and regulations for the use of post masters, each of whom is supplied with a copy; and this, with the exception of the ordinary newspaper record of the laws as they are passed, is the only source of information upon this subject open to people in general. the detail of regulations established by the department, seldom finds its way into the papers, and correspondents are left to acquire their knowledge respecting it by (sometimes sad) experience. it is the intention of the author to supply these deficiencies in part at least, avoiding, however, all laws and regulations likely to be changed by legislation, or the constructions put upon them by the chief officers appointed from time to time to administer those laws. post masters being already provided with the official instructions pertaining to their duties, a repetition here is deemed unnecessary farther than a knowledge of the laws and regulations may be essential to the public. for the items of information presented below, the author relies in part on the suggestions of his own experience, but they are mainly compiled from the established regulations of the post-office department, and such of the decisions of its chief officers as are likely to remain permanently in force:-- * * * * * missing letters, etc. that the loss or delay of letters, valuable or otherwise, is often caused by the dishonesty or carelessness of those to whose custody they are committed, must be acknowledged. still, in a large proportion of such cases, the cause is to be found in some one or a combination of those curious omissions and mistakes to which all correspondents--but more especially men deeply involved in business pursuits--are so liable. the records of the dead letter office, if consulted, would present a list of delinquents in this particular, embracing the names of hundreds of individuals and firms, ranking as the most exact and systematic persons in the community. a similar examination of the official reports of the special agents and post masters, would further show to what an extent such losses are attributable to a want of fidelity and proper care on the part of persons employed to convey letters to and from the post-office. suggestions as to the remedies are hardly called for. so far as relates to misdirections, as they are most apt to occur with persons and mercantile houses of extensive correspondence, an excellent precaution may be found, in requiring the post-office messenger, after the letters have been prepared for the mail, to enter in a book kept for that purpose, the full outside address of each letter, with the date of mailing. in case any one of them is incorrectly addressed, and fails to reach its intended destination, a reference to the book of superscriptions will show where the missing document was sent, and lead to its immediate recovery. if correctly addressed, that fact would appear, and materially aid in an official investigation. this, together with the adoption of a greater degree of care than is at present exercised, in the selection of persons to act as private letter carriers, would greatly reduce the number of losses, mishaps, and complaints in connection with the mails. where it is possible, but one person should be sent to the post-office. the name of the writer or firm, written or printed on the letter, is an advantage in case of miscarriage. when a valuable letter is missing from any cause, the fact should be at once reported to the post master, in writing, with full particulars, and a search made by the complainants, of the pockets of any spare over-coats about the premises. where letters are delivered by a public letter carrier, or penny post, a locked box or some other safe place of deposit for the letters thus left, should be provided. a neglect of this precaution, is the cause of many annoyances and losses. the address of letters intended for delivery in cities, should include, if possible, the occupation, street and number of the party addressed. when a letter is, by mistake or owing to a duplicate name, delivered to the wrong person, it should be immediately returned to the post-office with a verbal explanation, and not be dropped into the letter box. if inadvertently opened by the party taking it from the office, the fact should be endorsed on the back of the letter, with the name of the opener. experience has shown that locked letter boxes or drawers opening on the outside, especially in cities and large towns, are unsafe, as depositories of letters, especially those containing articles of value. no letters should be given to route agents upon the cars or steamboats, except such as cannot be written before the closing of the mail at the post-office. under no circumstances can route agents receive letters that are not pre-paid _by stamps_. when there are good grounds for believing that letters are opened and read from motives of curiosity, complaint should be made in writing to the chief clerk of the post-office department, washington. a secret plan for the certain detection of _prying_ delinquents has recently been devised. two or more letters directed to different persons, cannot be sent by mail in one envelope or packet, without subjecting the sender to a fine of ten dollars. this does not apply to any letter or packet directed to a foreign country. costly and delicate articles of jewelry or other valuables, should not be placed in a letter, as they are liable to serious injury in the process of stamping. it is a violation of law to enclose a letter or other thing (except bills and receipts for subscription,) or to make any memorandum in writing, or to print any word or communication, after its publication, upon any newspaper, pamphlet, magazine, or other printed matter. the person addressed must pay letter postage, or the sender be fined five dollars. if a letter is deposited in a post-office, and the enclosure accidentally omitted, or it becomes necessary to alter or add to the contents, it is much better to _write another letter_, than to trouble those in the office to look for the original one. in large places, especially, a successful search for it, even immediately after its deposit, would consume much valuable time, and such a request is altogether unreasonable, when the remedy suggested is so simple and cheap. on calling or sending for a letter known to have been advertised, the fact should always be stated, otherwise only the _current_ letters are examined. although it is strictly the duty of post masters and other agents of the department, to correct or report such errors in the mail service as may come to their knowledge, it is, nevertheless, desirable that any private citizen should inform the department of continued neglect or carelessness in the execution of mail contracts or mismanagement in a post-office. legal provision has been made by congress, by which letters may be sent _out_ of the mail in cases of emergency. by the use of the government envelope, _with the stamp printed thereon_, and constituting a part thereof, letters may be so sent, provided the envelope is duly sealed, directed, and addressed, and the date or receipt or transmission of such letter written or stamped thereon. the use of such envelope more than once, subjects the offender to a fine of fifty dollars. a letter or ordinary envelope with a postage stamp _put on_ by the writer, _cannot_ go out of the mail (except by private hand,) for the reason that the law confines the matter entirely to the envelopes furnished by the department. were the privilege extended to the other kind of stamps, there being no way to cancel them, by their re-use, extensive frauds upon the revenue would be the result. a singular notion seems long to have prevailed that it is no violation of law to send an _unsealed_ letter outside of the mail. this makes no difference whatever. even if the paper written upon is not folded, it is a letter. where bundles of newspapers are sent in the mail to "clubs," without the names of the subscribers upon the papers, the post master is under no official obligation to address them. still the department enjoins a spirit of courtesy and accommodation towards publishers and the public, in all such matters. a person receiving a letter from the post-office by mistake, or finding one in the street or elsewhere, can under no pretence designedly break the seal without subjecting himself to a severe penalty. a printed business card or the name of the sender, placed upon the outside of a circular, subjects it to double postage; and for any writing, except the address, letter postage is charged. the following are among the established rules and regulations of the department founded upon existing statutes of congress:-- only the dead letters containing enclosures of value, are required by law to be preserved and returned to their owners; but if the writer of a letter not containing an enclosure of value desires to have his letter preserved, it will be done if he pre-pay the letter and mark the words "to be preserved," in large characters, on the sealed side. upon the return of his letter he will be required to pay the postage from washington. the masters of steamboats under contract with the department, will deliver into the post-offices (or to the route or local agent of the department, if there be any,) at the places at which they arrive, all letters received by them, or by any person employed on their boats, at any point along the route. masters or managers of all other steamboats, are required by law, under a penalty of thirty dollars, to deliver all letters brought by them, or within their care or power, addressed to, or destined for, the places at which they arrive, to the post masters at such places: _except letters relating to some part of the cargo_ and left unsealed. all letters not addressed to persons to whom the cargo, or any part of it, is consigned, are therefore to be delivered into the post-office, to be charged-with postage. every master of a vessel from a foreign port is bound, immediately on his arrival at a port, and before he can report, make entry, or break bulk, under a penalty not to exceed $ , to deliver into the post-office all letters brought in his vessel, directed to any person in the united states, or the territories thereof, which are under his care or within his power, except such letters as relate to the cargo or some part thereof. stage coaches, railroad cars, steamboats, packetboats, and all other vehicles or vessels performing regular trips at stated periods, on a post route between two or more cities, towns, or places, from one to the other, on which the united states mail is regularly conveyed under the authority of the post-office department, are prohibited from transporting or conveying, otherwise than in the mail, any letter, packet, or packets of letters, (except those sealed and addressed and pre-paid by stamped envelopes, of suitable denominations,) or other mailable matter whatsoever, except such as may have relation to some part of the cargo of such steamboat, packetboat, or other vessel, or to some article at the same time conveyed by such stage, railroad car, or some vehicle, and excepting also, newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals. a newspaper, pamphlet, circular, or other printed sheet, if in a wrapper, should be so folded and wrapped that its character can be readily determined; and so that any prohibited writing, marks, or signs upon it may easily be detected. if closely enveloped and sealed it is chargeable with letter postage. no post master or other privileged person can authorize his assistant, clerk, or any other person to write his name for the purpose of franking any letter, public or private. the personal privilege of franking travels with the person possessing it, and can be exercised in but one place at the same time. no post master or privileged person can leave his frank behind him upon envelopes to cover his correspondence in his absence. money and other valuable things, sent in the mail, are at the risk of the owner. but, if they be lost, the department will make every effort in its power to discover the cause, and, if there has been a theft, to punish the offender. letters can be registered on the payment of the registry fee of five cents for each letter. post masters, assistants, and clerks, regularly employed and engaged in post-offices, and also post riders and drivers of mail stages, are by law exempt from military duty and serving on juries, and from any fine or penalty for neglect thereof.--_act of_ , _sec._ ; _act of_ , _sec._ . a post master will suffer no person whatever, except his duly sworn assistants, or clerks and letter carriers, who may also have been sworn, to have access to the letters, newspapers, and packets in his office, or whatever constitutes a part of the mail, or to the mail locks or keys. if no special order upon the subject has been made in regard to his office, a post master is allowed seven minutes only to change the mail. if the mail be carried in a stage, coach, or sulky, it will be the duty of the driver to deliver it as near the door of the post-office as he can come with his vehicle, but not to leave his horses, and he should not be permitted to throw the mail on the ground. post masters will not suffer newspapers to be read in their offices by persons to whom they are not addressed; nor to be lent out in any case, without permission of the owners. if newspapers are not taken out of the office by the person to whom they are addressed, the post master will give immediate notice to the publishers, and of the cause thereof if known. packets of every description, weighing more than four pounds, are to be excluded, except public documents, printed by order of either house of congress, or such publications or books as have been or may be published, procured, _or purchased_, by order of either house of congress, or joint resolution of the two houses, and legally franked. newspapers and periodicals to foreign countries (particularly to the continent of europe) must be sent in narrow bands, open at the sides or end; otherwise they are chargeable there with letter postage. drop and box letters, circulars, free packets containing printed documents, speeches, or other printed matter, are not to be advertised. if newspapers are carried out of the mail for sale or distribution, post masters are not bound to receive and deliver them. pamphlets and magazines for immediate distribution to subscribers cannot be so carried without a violation of the law of congress. the great mails are to be closed at all distributing offices not more than one hour before the time fixed for their departure; and all other mails at those offices, and all mails at all other offices, not more than half an hour before that time, unless the departure is between o'clock, p. m., and , a. m., in which case the mail is to be closed at , p. m. postage stamps and stamped envelopes, may be used in pre-payment of postage on letters to foreign countries, in all cases where such pre-payment can be made in money. a letter bearing a stamp, cut or separated from a stamped envelope, cannot be sent through the mail as a pre-paid letter. stamps so cut or separated from stamped envelopes lose their legal value. it is expected that a disposition to accommodate will prompt a post master to search for and deliver a letter, on the application of a person who cannot call during the usual office hours. no person can hold the office of post master, who is not an actual resident of the city or town wherein the post-office is situated, or within the delivery of the office.--_sec._ _of act of_ . letter postage is to be charged on all hand-bills, circulars, or other printed matter which shall contain any manuscript writing whatever. when the mail stops over night where there is a post-office, it must be kept in the office. any person wishing a letter mailed direct, and not to be remailed at a distributing office, can have his directions followed by writing the words "mail direct" upon the letter. the use of canvas bags of any kind, for any other purposes than the conveyance of mail matter, subjects every person so offending, to all the penalties provided in the th section of the act of . contractors, mail carriers, and others in the service of the department, are by no means free from censure in this respect, and increased vigilance in the detection of such practices, and the prompt and indiscriminate punishment of the offenders, have recently been enjoined by the post master general. some of the laws are often violated by persons not connected with the post-office, and it is proper, therefore, that all classes should be made acquainted with the penalties which attach to such offences. for this reason the following extracts from the laws are here inserted:-- _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall, knowingly and wilfully, obstruct or retard the passage of the mail, or of any driver or carrier, or of any horse or carriage, carrying the same, he shall, upon conviction for every such offence, pay a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars; and if any ferryman shall, by wilful negligence, or refusal to transport the mail across any ferry, delay the same, he shall forfeit and pay, for every ten minutes that the same shall be so delayed, a sum not exceeding ten dollars. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person employed in any of the departments of the post-office establishment, shall unlawfully detain, delay, or open any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he shall be intrusted, or which shall have come to his possession, and which are intended to be conveyed by post; or, if any such person shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letter or packet intrusted to such person as aforesaid, and which shall not contain any security for, or assurance relating to money, as hereinafter described, every such offender, being thereof duly convicted, shall, for every such offence, be fined, not exceeding three hundred dollars, or imprisoned, not exceeding six months, or both, according to the circumstances and aggravation of the offence. and if any person, employed as aforesaid, shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, with which he or she shall be intrusted, or which shall have come to his or her possession, and are intended to be conveyed by post, containing any bank-note or bank post bill, bill of exchange, warrant of the treasury of the united states, note of assignment of stock in the funds, letters of attorney for receiving annuities or dividends, or for selling stock in the funds, or for receiving the interest thereof, or any letter of credit, or note for, or relating to, payment of moneys, or any bond, or warrant, draft, bill, or promissory note, covenant, contract, or agreement whatsoever, for, or relating to, the payment of money, or the delivery of any article of value, or the performance of any act, matter, or thing, or any receipt, release, acquittance, or discharge of, or from, any debt, covenant, or demand, or any part thereof, or any copy of any record of any judgment or decree in any court of law, or chancery, or any execution which may have issued thereon, or any copy of any other record, or any other article of value, or any writing representing the same; or if any such person employed as aforesaid, shall steal, or take, any of the same out of any letter, packet, bag, or mail of letters, that shall come to his or her possession, such person shall, on conviction for any such offence, be imprisoned not less than ten years, nor exceeding twenty-one years; and if any person who shall have taken charge of the mails of the united states, shall quit or desert the same before such person delivers it into the post-office kept at the termination of the route, or some known mail carrier, or agent of the general post-office, authorized to receive the same, every such person, so offending, shall forfeit and pay a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars for every such offence; and if any person concerned in carrying the mail of the united states, shall collect, receive, or carry any letter, or packet, or shall cause or procure the same to be done, contrary to this act, every such offender shall forfeit and pay, for every such offence, a sum not exceeding fifty dollars. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall rob any carrier of the mail of the united states, or other person intrusted therewith, of such mail, or of part thereof, such offender or offenders shall, on conviction, be imprisoned not less than five years, nor exceeding ten years; and, if convicted a second time of a like offence, he or they shall suffer death; or, if, in effecting such robbery of the mail, the first time, the offender shall wound the person having custody thereof, or put his life in jeopardy, by the use of dangerous weapons, such offender or offenders shall suffer death. and if any person shall attempt to rob the mail of the united states, by assaulting the person having custody thereof, shooting at him or his horse or mule, or threatening him with dangerous weapons, and the robbery is not effected, every such offender, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment, not less than two years nor exceeding ten years. and, if any person shall steal the mail, or shall steal or take from, or out of, any mail, or from, or out of any post-office, any letter or packet; or, if any person shall take the mail, or any letter or packet therefrom, or from any post-office, whether with or without the consent of the person having custody thereof, and shall open, embezzle, or destroy any such mail, letter, or packet, the same containing any article of value, or evidence of any debt, due, demand, right, or claim, or any release, receipt, acquittance, or discharge, or any other article, paper, or thing, mentioned and described in the twenty-first section of this act; or, if any person shall, by fraud or deception, obtain from any person having custody thereof, any mail, letter, or packet, containing any article of value, or evidence thereof, or either of the writings referred to, or next above-mentioned, such offender or offenders, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned, not less than two, nor exceeding ten years. and, if any person shall take any letter or packet, not containing any article of value, nor evidence thereof, out of a post-office, or shall open any letter, or packet, which shall have been in a post-office, or in custody of a mail carrier, before it shall have been delivered to the person to whom it is directed, with a design to obstruct the correspondence, to pry into another's business or secrets; or shall secrete, embezzle, or destroy any such mail, letter, or packet, such offender, upon conviction, shall pay, for every such offence, a sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, and be imprisoned not exceeding twelve months. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall rip, cut, tear, burn, or otherwise injure, any valise, portmanteau, or other bag, used, or designed to be used, by any person acting under the authority of the post master general, or any person in whom his powers are vested, in a conveyance of any mail, letter, packet, or newspaper, or pamphlet, or shall draw or break, any staple, or loosen any part of any lock, chain, or strap, attached to, or belonging to any such valise, portmanteau, or bag, with an intent to rob, or steal any mail, letter, packet, newspaper, or pamphlet, or to render either of the same insecure, every such offender, upon conviction, shall, for every such offence, pay a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned not less than one year, nor exceeding three years, at the discretion of the court before whom such conviction is had. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that every person, who, from and after the passage of this act, shall procure, and advise, or assist, in the doing or perpetration of any of the acts or crimes by this act forbidden, shall be subject to the same penalties and punishments as the persons are subject to, who shall actually do or perpetrate any of the said acts or crimes, according to the provisions of this act. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall buy, receive, or conceal, or aid in buying, receiving, or concealing, any article mentioned in the twenty-first section of this act, knowing the same to have been stolen or embezzled from the mail of the united states, or out of any post-office, or from any person having the custody of the said mail, or the letters sent or to be sent therein; or if any person shall be accessory after the fact to any robbery of the carrier of the mail of the united states, or other person intrusted therewith, of such mail, or of part thereof, every person, so offending, shall, on conviction thereof, pay a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and be imprisoned and confined to hard labor for any time not exceeding ten years. and such person or persons, so offending, may be tried and convicted without the principal offender being first tried, provided such principal offender has fled from justice, or cannot be found to be put on his trial. _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall be accessory after the fact, to the offence of stealing or taking the mail of the united states, or of stealing or taking any letter or packet, or enclosure in any letter or packet sent or to be sent in the mail of the united states, from any post-office in the united states, or from the mail of the united states, by any person or persons whatever, every person so offending as accessory, shall, on conviction thereof, pay a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and be imprisoned for a term not exceeding five years; and such accessory after the fact may be tried, convicted, and punished in the district in which his offence was committed, though the principal offence may have been committed in another district, and before the trial of the principal offender: _provided,_ such principal offender has fled from justice, or cannot be arrested to be put upon his trial. _sec._ , _act of_ . * * * and if any person shall counterfeit the hand-writing or frank of any person, or cause the same to be done, in order to avoid the payment of postage, each person, so offending, shall pay, for every such offence, five hundred dollars. _sec._ , _act of_ . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person or persons shall forge or counterfeit, or shall utter or use knowingly, any counterfeit stamp of the post-office department of the united states issued by authority of this act or by any other act of congress, within the united states, or the post-office stamp of any foreign government, he shall be adjudged guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof in any court having jurisdiction of the same, shall undergo a confinement at hard labor for any length of time not less than two years, nor more than ten, at the discretion of the court. _sec._ , _act of_ . * * * and any person who shall falsely and fraudulently make, utter, or forge any postage stamp with the intent to defraud the post-office department, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction shall be subject to the same punishment as is provided in the twenty-first section of the act approved the third day of march, eighteen hundred and twenty-five, entitled "an act to reduce into one the several acts establishing and regulating the post-office department." _act of_ . sec. . * * * and any person who shall forge or counterfeit any postage stamp provided or furnished under the provisions of this or any former act, whether the same are impressed or printed on or attached to envelopes or not, or any die, plate, or engraving therefore, or shall make or print, or knowingly use or sell, or have in his possession with intent to use or sell, any such false, forged, or counterfeited die, plate, engraving, or postage stamp, or who shall make or print, or authorize or procure to be made or printed, any postage stamps of the kind provided and furnished by the post master general as aforesaid, without the especial authority and direction of the post-office department, or who, after such postage stamps have been printed, shall, with intent to defraud the revenues of the post-office department, deliver any postage stamps to any person or persons other than such as shall be authorized to receive the same, by an instrument of writing duly executed under the hand of the post master general, and the seal of the post-office department, shall, on conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of felony, and be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years, or by both such fine and imprisonment. sec. . * * * and if any person shall use or attempt to use in pre-payment of postage, any postage stamp which shall have been before used for like purposes, such person shall be subject to a penalty of fifty dollars for every such offence, to be recovered in the name of the united states, in any court of competent jurisdiction. _sec._ , _act of_ . * * * if any person employed in any department of the post-office, shall improperly detain, delay, embezzle, or destroy, any newspaper, or shall permit any other person to do the like, or shall open, or permit any other to open, any mail, or packet, of newspapers, not directed to the office where he is employed, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars, for every such offence. and if any person shall open any mail or packet of newspapers, or shall embezzle or destroy the same, not being directed to such person, or not being authorized to receive or open the same, such offender shall, on conviction thereof, pay a sum not exceeding twenty dollars for every such offence. and if any person shall take, or steal, any packet, bag, or mail of newspapers, from, or out of any post-office, or from any person having custody thereof, such person shall, on conviction, be imprisoned, not exceeding three months, for every such offence, to be kept at hard labor during the period of such imprisonment. if any person shall enclose or conceal a letter, or other thing, or any memorandum in writing, in a newspaper, pamphlet, or magazine, or in any package of newspapers, pamphlets, or magazines, or make any writing or memorandum thereon, which he shall have delivered into any post-office, or to any person for that purpose, in order that the same may be carried by post, free of letter postage, he shall forfeit the sum of five dollars for every such offence. _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that it shall not be lawful for any person or persons to establish any private express or expresses for the conveyance, nor in any manner to cause to be conveyed, or provide for the conveyance or transportation, by regular trips, or at stated periods or intervals, from one city, town, or other place, to any other city, town, or place, in the united states, between and from and to which cities, towns, or other places, the united states mail is regularly transported, under the authority of the post-office department, of any letters, packets, or packages of letters, or other matter properly transmittable in the united states mail, except newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals; and each and every person offending against this provision, or aiding and assisting therein, or acting as such private express, shall, for each time any letter or letters, packet or packages, or other matter properly transmittable by mail, except newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, shall or may be, by him, her, or them, or through his, her, or their means or instrumentality, in whole or in part, conveyed or transported contrary to the true intent, spirit, and meaning of this section, forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred and fifty dollars. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that it shall not be lawful for any stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, nor any of the owners, managers, servants, or crews of either, which regularly perform trips at stated periods on a post route, or between two or more cities, towns, or other places, from one to the other of which the united states mail is regularly conveyed under the authority of the post-office department, to transport or convey, otherwise than in the mail, any letter or letters, packet or packages of letters, or other mailable matter whatsoever, except such as may have relation to some part of the cargo of such steamboat, packetboat, or other vessel, or to some article at the same time conveyed by the same stage coach, railroad car, or other vehicle, and excepting also, newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals; and for every such offence, the owner or owners of the stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one hundred dollars; and the driver, captain, conductor, or person having charge of any such stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, packetboat, or other vehicle or vessel, at the time of the commission of any such offence, and who shall not at that time be the owner thereof, in whole or in part, shall, in like manner, forfeit and pay, in every such case of offence, the sum of fifty dollars. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the owner or owners of every stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, or other vehicle or vessel, which shall, with the knowledge of any owner or owners, in whole or in part, or with the knowledge or connivance of the driver, conductor, captain, or other person having charge of any such stage coach, railroad car, steamboat, or other vessel or vehicle, convey or transport any person or persons acting or employed as a private express for the conveyance of letters, packets, or packages of letters, or other mailable matter, and actually in possession of such mailable matter, for the purpose of transportation, contrary to the spirit, true intent, and meaning of the preceding sections of this law, shall be subject to the like fines and penalties as are hereinbefore provided and directed in the case of persons acting as such private expresses, and of persons employing the same; but nothing in this act contained shall be construed to prohibit the conveyance or transmission of letters, packets, or packages, or other matter, to any part of the united states, by private hands, no compensation being tendered or received therefore in any way, or by a special messenger employed only for the single particular occasion. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that all persons whatsoever who shall, after the passage of this act, transmit by any private express, or other means by this act declared to be unlawful, any letter or letters, package or packages, or other mailable matter, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, or who shall place or cause to be deposited at any appointed place, for the purpose of being transported by such unlawful means, any matter or thing properly transmittable by mail, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, or who shall deliver any such matter, excepting newspapers, pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, for transmission to any agent or agents of such unlawful expresses, shall, for each and every offence, forfeit and pay the sum of fifty dollars. [the th section of the act of august , , provides that letters enclosed in "government envelopes," so called, having the stamp _printed_ thereon, may be conveyed _out of the mail. provided_, that the said envelope shall be duly sealed, or otherwise firmly and securely closed, so that such letter cannot be taken therefrom without tearing or destroying such envelope; and the same duly directed and addressed, and the date of such letter, or the receipt or transmission thereof, to be written or stamped, or otherwise appear on such envelope.] * * * "and if any person shall use, or attempt to use, for the conveyance of any letter, or other mailable matter or thing, over any post-road of the united states, either by mail or otherwise, any such stamped letter envelope which has been before used for a like purpose, such person shall be liable to a penalty of fifty dollars, to be recovered, in the name of the united states, in any court having competent jurisdiction."--_sec._ , _act of_ . [newspapers for subscribers may go in or out of the mail; but pamphlets, magazines, &c., if intended to supply regular subscribers, must go in the mail.--_act of_ .] _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that all moneys taken from the mails of the united states by robbery, theft, or otherwise, which have come or may hereafter come into the possession or custody of any of the agents of the post-office department, or any other officers of the united states, or any other person or persons whatever, shall be paid to the order of the post master general, to be kept by him as other moneys of the post-office department, to and for the use and benefit of the rightful owner, to be paid whenever satisfactory proof thereof shall be made; and upon the failure of any person in the employment of the united states to pay over such moneys when demanded, the person so refusing shall be subject to the penalties prescribed by law against defaulting officers. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that it shall not be lawful to deposit in any post-office, to be conveyed in the mail, two or more letters directed to different persons enclosed in the same envelope or packet; and every person so offending shall forfeit the sum of ten dollars, to be recovered by action _qui tam_, one half for the use of the informer, and the other half for the use of the post-office department: _provided_, that this prohibition shall not apply to any letter or packet directed to any foreign country. _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall steal, purloin, embezzle, or obtain by any false pretence, or shall aid or assist in stealing, purloining, embezzling, or obtaining by any false pretence, or shall knowingly and unlawfully make, forge, or counterfeit, or cause to be unlawfully made, forged, or counterfeited, or knowingly aid or assist in falsely and unlawfully making, forging, or counterfeiting any key suited to any lock which has been or shall be adopted for use by the post-office department of the united states, and which shall be in use on any of the mails or mail bags of the said post-office department, or shall have in his possession any such mail key or any such mail lock, with the intent unlawfully or improperly to use, sell, or otherwise dispose of the same, or cause the same to be unlawfully or improperly used, sold or otherwise disposed of, or who being employed in the manufacture of the locks or keys for the use of the said post-office department, whether as contractor or otherwise, shall deliver or cause to be delivered any finished or unfinished key or lock used or designed by the said post-office department, or the interior part of any such mail lock, to any person not duly authorized under the hand of the post master general of the united states and the seal of the said post-office department to receive the same, (unless such person so receiving the same shall be the contractor for furnishing such locks and keys, or engaged in the manufacture thereof in the manner authorized by the contract, or the agent for such manufacturer,) such person so offending shall be deemed guilty of felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding ten years. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that if any person shall steal, purloin or embezzle any mail bags in use by or belonging to the post-office department of the united states, or any other property in use by or belonging to the said post-office department, or shall, for any lucre, gain, or convenience, appropriate any such property to his own, or any other than its proper use, or for any lucre or gain shall convey away any such property to the hindrance or detriment of the public service of the united states, the person so offending, his counsellors, aiders, and abettors, (knowing of and privy to any offence aforesaid,) shall, on conviction thereof, if the value of such property shall exceed twenty-five dollars, be deemed guilty of felony, and shall be imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years; or if the value of such property shall be less than twenty-five dollars, shall be imprisoned not more than one year, or be fined not less than ten dollars, nor more than two hundred dollars, for every such offence. _act of_ . sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that it shall not be lawful for any post master or other person to sell any postage stamp or stamped envelope for any larger sum than that indicated upon the face of such postage stamp or for a larger sum than that charged therefore by the post-office department; and any person who shall violate this provision shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction thereof, shall be fined in any sum not less than ten nor more than five hundred dollars. this act to take effect and be in force from and after the commencement of the next fiscal quarter after its passage. _provided_, that nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to alter the laws in relation to the franking privilege. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that for the greater security of valuable letters posted for transmission in the mails of the united states, the post master general be and hereby is authorized to establish a uniform plan for the registration of such letters on application of parties posting the same, and to require the pre-payment of the postage, as well as a registration fee of five cents on every such letter or packet to be accounted for by post masters receiving the same in such manner as the post master general shall direct: _provided however_, that such registration shall not be compulsory; and it shall not render the post-office department or its revenue liable for the loss of such letters or packets or the contents thereof. [illustration] improved letter case. the delivery of letters can be greatly facilitated by means of a very simple improvement in the letter case for the "general delivery," which has already been adopted to some extent, with the most satisfactory results. in the early history of post-offices, the old-fashioned letter case divided off in alphabetical order, or by vowels, answered a tolerable purpose, and so it would now in very small offices,--but as population increased, and fifty or more letters had to be overhauled before the applicant could receive an answer, some relief both for post masters and the public became absolutely indispensable, and various trifling changes and improvements were adopted--but none of them were found to be "up to the times," till the introduction of the labor and time saving invention called the "square of the alphabet." it is believed to have been originally planned and adopted in the post-office at providence, r. i. since then, the dimensions of the case and the arrangement of the boxes have been varied to suit the amount of business in the comparatively small number of offices that have introduced it. but the size and plan exhibited in the prefixed diagram, is believed to be the most convenient and simple, and well suited to places varying in population, from five thousand to fifty thousand. the practical advantage is, that by the division of the letters when placed in the pigeon holes, at least four applications can be correctly answered, where one can be under the old plan of crowding a large number of letters together. and where this improved case occupies a position opposite the "general delivery" window, many individuals soon learn the location of the box where their letters should be, and in case it is empty, inquiry becomes unnecessary. the rows of letters of the alphabet running horizontally, from left to right, represent the surname, and are several times repeated for convenience, and as an aid to the eye in tracing given initials; while the perpendicular rows of letters stand for the christian name, and are used doubly, to reduce the size of the case. where it is necessary, however, the christian initials can also be placed singly, by enlarging the case, or making it in two sections, using only half of the alphabet for each, placing the two sections in an angular form, or backing one against the other, and putting the entire frame on an upright shaft turning upon a pivot at top and bottom, near the general delivery, so as to admit of turning the case, as the locality of the initials inquired for may require. the plan for example works thus:--john jones calls for a letter. the person in attendance glances at the j. on the horizontal line, and then runs the eye to the range of the j. on the perpendicular line, and that is the box in which jones' letter ought to be. one for isaac jones would be in the same place, in a case constructed after the above arrangement. its dimensions are as follows:-- size of the entire case, feet - / inches, by feet - / inches. size of pigeon holes or letter boxes, - / by - / inches. thickness of outside of case and lettered shelves, / of an inch. intermediate shelves, / inch thick. upright partitions of boxes, / inch thick--partitions cut out concave in front. the legs or supports of the case should be about feet in length, and "white wood" is considered the best material for the entire case. paint can be used for the lettering, or letters printed upon paper, and pasted on separately, will answer the purpose. the end. transcriber's note: * obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. * several compound words had dual spellings: they were changed for consistency's sake to the hyphenated form as follows: handwriting =====> hand-writing (p. , , , ) hadbills =====> hnd-bills (p. ) ladylike =====> lady-like (p. , ) missent =====> mis-sent (p. , ) overcoat =====> over-coat (pp. , , , , , , , , ) postmark =====> post-mark (p. , ) prepaid =====> pre-paid (pp. , , , , , ) prepayment =====> pre-payment (p. , ) reelected =====> re-elected (pp. xii, xiii) roommate =====> room-mate (p. , ) selectmen =====> select-men (p. , ) stagecoach =====> stage-coach (p. , ) unduped =====> un-duped (p. xxii) * other changes: depôt (appears six times) and depot ( times) were left as they were. cheerfu changed to cheerful (p. ) therefor changed to therefore (p. ) historic highways of america volume [illustration: general roy stone (_father of the good-roads movement in the united states_)] historic highways of america volume the future of road-making in america a symposium by archer butler hulbert and others _with illustrations_ [illustration] the arthur h. clark company cleveland, ohio copyright, by the arthur h. clark company all rights reserved contents page preface i. the future of road-making in america ii. government coÖperation in object-lesson road work iii. good roads for farmers iv. the selection of materials for macadam roads v. stone roads in new jersey illustrations i. portrait of general roy stone (father of the good-roads movement in the united states) _frontispiece_ ii. a good-roads train iii. sample steel track for common roads (showing portrait of hon. martin dodge) iv. typical macadam road near bryn mawr, pennsylvania v. a study in grading vi. sand clay road in richland county, south carolina vii. gravel road near soldiers' home, district of columbia viii. oyster-shell object-lesson road ix. earth and macadam roads preface the present volume on the future of road-making in america presents representative opinions, from laymen and specialists, on the subject of the road question as it stands today. after the author's sketch of the question as a whole in its sociological as well as financial aspects, there follows the hon. martin dodge's paper on "government coöperation in object-lesson road work." the third chapter comprises a reprint of hon. maurice o. eldridge's careful article, "good roads for farmers," revised by the author for this volume. professor logan waller page's paper on "the selection of materials for macadam roads" composes chapter four, and e. g. harrison's article on "stone roads in new jersey" concludes the book, being specially valuable because of the advanced position new jersey has taken in the matter of road-building. for illustrations to this volume the author is indebted to the office of public road inquiries, hon. martin dodge, director. a. b. h. marietta, ohio, may , . the future of road-making in america chapter i the future of road-making in america in introducing the subject of the future of road-making in america, it may first be observed that there is to be a future in road-building on this continent. we have today probably the poorest roads of any civilized nation; although, considering the extent of our roads, which cover perhaps a million and a half miles, we of course have the best roads of any nation of similar age. as we have elsewhere shown, the era of railway building eclipsed the great era of road and canal building in the third and fourth decades of the old century, and it is interesting to note that freight rates on american railways today are cheaper than on any railways in any other country of the world. to move a ton of freight in england one hundred miles today, you pay two dollars and thirty cents; in germany, two dollars; in france, one dollar and seventy-five cents; in "poor downtrodden" russia, one dollar and thirty cents. but in america it costs on the average only seventy-two cents. this is good, but it does not by any means answer all the conditions; the average american farm is located today--even with our vast network of railways--at least ten miles from a railroad station. now railway building has about reached its limit so far as mileage is concerned in this country; in the words of stuyvesant fish, president of the illinois central railroad company, we have "in the united states generally, a sufficiency of railroads." thus the average farm is left a dozen miles from a railway, and in all probability will be that far away a century from now. and note: seventy-five per cent of the commerce of the world starts for its destination on wagon roads, and we pay annually in the united states six hundred million dollars freightage to get our produce over our highways from the farms to the railways. let me restate these important facts: the average american farm is ten miles from a railway; the railways have about reached their limit of growth territorially; and we pay six hundred million dollars every year to get the seventy-five per cent of our raw material and produce from our farms to our railways. this is the main proposition of the good roads problem, and the reason why the road question is to be one of the great questions of the next half century. the question is, how much can we save of this half a billion dollars, at the least expenditure of money and in the most beneficial way? in this problem, as in many, the most important phase is the one most difficult to study and most difficult to solve. it is as complex as human life itself. it is the question of good roads as they affect the social and moral life of our rural communities. it is easy to talk of bad roads costing a half billion dollars a year--the answer should be that of hood's--"o god! that bread should be so dear, and flesh and blood so cheap." you cannot count in terms of the stock exchange the cost to this land of poor roads; for poor roads mean the decay of country living, the abandonment of farms and farm-life, poor schools, poor churches, and homes stricken with a social poverty that drives the young men and girls into the cities. you cannot estimate the cost to this country, in blood, brain, and muscle, of the hideous system of public roads we have possessed in the decade passed. look at any of our cities to the men who guide the swift rush of commercial, social, and religious affairs and you will find men whose birthplaces are not preparing another such generation of men for the work of the future. for instance, bad roads and good schools are incompatible. the coming generation of strong men and strong women is crying out now for good roads. "there is a close and permanent relation," said alabama's superintendent of education, "existing between good public roads and good public schools. there can be no good country schools in the absence of good country roads. let us be encouraged by this movement looking toward an improvement in road-building and road-working. i see in it a better day for the boys and girls who must look to the country schools for citizenship." "i have been longing for years," said president jesse of the university of missouri, "to stump the capital state, if necessary, in favor of the large consolidated schoolhouse rather than the single schoolhouses sitting at the crossroads. but the wagons could not get two hundred yards in most of our counties. therefore i have had to smother my zeal, hold my tongue, and wait for the consolidated schoolhouse until missouri wakes to the necessity of good roads. then not only shall we have consolidated schoolhouses, but also the principal of the school and his wife will live in the school building, or in one close by. the library and reading-room of the school will be the library and reading-room of the neighborhood.... the main assembly room of the consolidated schoolhouse will be an assembly place for public lectures.... i am in favor of free text-books, but i tell you here and now that free text-books are a trifle compared with good roads and the consolidated schoolhouse." it is found that school attendance in states where good roads abound is from twenty-five to fifty per cent greater than in states which have not good roads. how long will it take for the consolidated schoolhouse and increased and regular attendance to be worth half a billion dollars to american men and women of the next generation? this applies with equal pertinency to what i might call the consolidated church; good roads make it possible for a larger proportion of country residents to enjoy the superior advantages of the splendid city churches; in fact good roads have in certain instances been held guilty of destroying the little country church. this could be true within only a small radius of the cities, and the advantages to be gained outweigh, i am sure, the loss occasioned by the closing of small churches within a dozen miles of our large towns and cities--churches which, in many cases, have only occasional services and are a constant financial drain on the city churches. farther out in the country, good roads will make possible one strong, healthy church where perhaps half a dozen weak organizations are made to lead a precarious existence because bad roads make large congregations impossible throughout the larger part of the year. this also applies to city schools, libraries, hospitals, museums, and lyceums. good roads will place these advantages within reach of millions of country people who now know little or nothing of them. once beyond driving distance of the cities, good roads will make it possible for thousands to reach the suburban railways and trolley lines. who can estimate in mere dollars these advantages to the quality of american citizenship a century hence? american farms are taxed by the government and pay one-half of the seven hundred million dollars it takes yearly to operate this government. after receiving one-half, what per cent does the government return to them? only ten per cent. ninety per cent goes to the direct or indirect benefit of those living in our cities. where does the government build its fine buildings, where does it spend its millions on rivers and harbors? how much does it expend to ease this burden of six hundred millions which lies so largely on the farmers of america? a few years ago a law was passed granting $ , to investigate a plan to deliver mail on rural delivery routes to our farmers and country residents. the law was treated about as respectfully as the long-headed jesse hawley who wrote a series of articles advocating the building of the erie canal; a certain paper printed a few of them, but the editor sent the remainder back saying he could not use them--they were making his sheet an object of ridicule. eighteen years later the canal was built and in the first year brought in a revenue of $ , . so with the first rural free delivery appropriation--the postmaster general to whose hands that first $ , was entrusted for experimental purposes, refused to try it and sent the money back to the treasury. today the rural free delivery is an established fact, of immeasurable benefit; and if any of the appropriations for it are not expended it is not because they are being sent back to the treasury by scrupulous officials. rural delivery routes diverge from our towns and cities and give the country people the advantages of a splendid post office system. good roads to these cities would give them a score of advantages where now they have but this one. like rural delivery it may seem impracticable, but in a short space of time america will leap forward in the front rank of the nations in point of good highways. an execrable road system, besides bringing poor schools and poor churches, has rendered impossible any genuine community of social interests among country people. at the very season when the farm work is light and social intercourse feasible, at that season the highways have been impassable. to this and the poor schools and churches may be attributed the saddest and really most costly social revolution in america in the past quarter of a century. the decline of country living must in the nature of things prove disastrously costly to any nation. "the roar of the cannon and the gleam of swords," wrote that brilliant apostle of outdoor life, dr. w. h. h. murray, "is less significant than the destruction of new england homesteads, the bricking up of new england fireplaces and the doing away with the new england well-sweep; for these show a change in the nature of the circulation itself, and prove that the action of the popular heart has been interrupted, modified and become altogether different from what it was." in the popular mind the benefits of country living are common only as a fad; the boy who goes to college and returns to the farm again is one of a thousand. who wants to be landlocked five months of the year, without social advantages? good roads, in one generation, would accomplish a social revolution throughout the united states that would greatly tend to better our condition and brighten the prospect of future strength. president winston of the north carolina state college of agriculture said: "it might be demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that bad roads are unfavorable to matrimony and increase of population." seven of the most stalwart lads and beautiful lasses of greece were sent each year to crete to be sacrificed to the minotaur; bad roads in america send thousands of boys and girls into our cities to the minotaurs of evil because conditions in the country do not make for the social happiness for which they naturally yearn. thus we may hint at the greater, more serious, phase of the road problem. beside it, the financial feature of the problem can have no place; the farm has been too much to the american nation, its product of boys and girls has been too eternally precious to the cause of liberty for which our nation stands, to permit a system of highways on this continent which will make it a place where now in the twentieth century foreigners, only, can be happy. the sociological side of the road question is of more moment today in this country, so far as the health of our body politic in the future is concerned, than nine-tenths of the questions most prominent in the two political platforms that come annually before the people. william jennings bryan, when addressing the good roads convention at st. louis in , said: "it is a well-known fact, or a fact easily ascertained, that the people in the country, while paying their full share of county, state, and federal taxes, receive as a rule only the general benefits of government, while the people in the cities have, in addition to the protection afforded by the government, the advantage arising from the expenditure of public moneys in their midst. the county seat of a county, as a rule, enjoys the refreshing influence of an expenditure of county money out of proportion to its population. the capital of a state and the city where the state institutions are located, likewise receive the benefit of an expenditure of public money out of proportion to their population. when we come to consider the distribution of the moneys collected by the federal government, we find that the cities, even in a larger measure, monopolize the incidental benefits that arise from the expenditure of public moneys. "the appropriations of the last session of congress amounted to $ , , , divided as follows: agriculture $ , , army , , diplomatic and consular service , , district of columbia , , fortifications , , indians , , legislative, executive, and judicial departments , , military academy , navy , , pensions $ , , post office department , , sundry civil , , deficiencies , , permanent annual , , miscellaneous , , "it will be seen that the appropriation for the department of agriculture was insignificant when compared with the total appropriations--less than one per cent. the appropriations for the army and navy alone amounted to twenty-five times the sum appropriated for the department of agriculture. an analysis of the expenditures of the federal government will show that an exceedingly small proportion of the money raised from all the people gets back to the farmers directly; how much returns indirectly it is impossible to say, but certain it is that the people who live in the cities receive by far the major part of the special benefits that come from the showering of public money upon the community. the advantage obtained locally from government expenditures is so great that the contests for county seats and state capitals usually exceed in interest, if not in bitterness, the contests over political principles and policies. so great is the desire to secure an appropriation of money for local purposes that many will excuse a congressman's vote on either side of any question if he can but secure the expenditure of a large amount of public money in his district. "i emphasize this because it is a fact to which no reference has been made. the point is that the farmer not only pays his share of the taxes, but more than his share, yet very little of what he pays gets back to him. "people in the city pay not only less than their share, as a rule, but get back practically all of the benefits that come from the expenditure of the people's money. let me show you what i mean when i say that the farmer pays more than his share. the farmer has visible property, and under any form of direct taxation visible property pays more than its share. why? because the man with visible property always pays. if he has an acre of land the assessor can find it. he can count the horses and cattle.... the farmer has nothing that escapes taxation; and, in all direct taxation, he not only pays on all he has, but the farmer who has visible property has to pay a large part of the taxes that ought to be paid by the owners of invisible property, who escape taxation. i repeat, therefore, that the farmer not only pays more than his share of all direct taxation, but that when you come to expend public moneys you do not spend them on the farms, as a rule. you spend them in the cities, and give the incidental benefits to the people who live in the cities. "when indirect taxation is considered, the farmer's share is even more, because when you come to collect taxes through indirection and on consumption, you make people pay not in proportion to what they have but in proportion to what they need, and god has so made us that the farmer needs as much as anybody else, even though he may not have as much with which to supply his needs as other people. in our indirect taxation, therefore, for the support of the federal government, the farmers pay even more out of proportion to their wealth and numbers. we should remember also that when we collect taxes through consumption we make the farmer pay not only on that which is imported, but upon much of that which is produced at home. thus the farmer's burden is not measured by what the treasury receives, but is frequently many times what the treasury receives. thus under indirect taxation the burden upon the farmer is greater than it ought to be; yet when you trace the expenditure of public moneys distributed by the federal government you find that even in a larger measure special benefits go to the great cities and not to the rural communities. "the improvement of the country roads can be justified also on the ground that the farmer, the first and most important of the producers of wealth, ought to be in position to hold his crop and market it at the most favorable opportunity, whereas at present he is virtually under compulsion to sell it as soon as it is matured, because the roads may become impassable at any time during the fall, winter, or spring. instead of being his own warehouseman, the farmer is compelled to employ middlemen, and share with them the profits upon his labor. i believe, as a matter of justice to the farmer, he ought to have roads that will enable him to keep his crop and take it to the market at the best time, and not place him in a position where they can run down the price of what he has to sell during the months he must sell, and then, when he has disposed of it, run the price up and give the speculator what the farmer ought to have. the farmer has a right to insist upon roads that will enable him to go to town, to church, to the schoolhouse, and to the homes of his neighbors, as occasion may require; and, with the extension of rural mail delivery, he has additional need for good roads in order that he may be kept in communication with the outside world, for the mail routes follow the good roads. "a great deal has been said, and properly so, in regard to the influence of good roads upon education. in the convention held at raleigh, north carolina, the account of which i had the pleasure of reading, great emphasis was placed upon the fact that you can not have a school system such as you ought to have unless the roads are in condition for the children to go to school. while we are building great libraries in the great cities we do not have libraries in the country; and there ought to be a library in every community. instead of laying upon the farmer the burden of buying his own books, we ought to make it possible for the farmers to have the same opportunity as the people in the city to use books in common, and thus economize on the expense of a library. i agree with professor jesse in regard to the consolidation of schoolhouses in such a way as to give the child in the country the same advantages which the child in the city has. we have our country schools, but it is impossible in any community to have a well-graded school with only a few pupils, unless you go to great expense. in cities, when a child gets through the graded school he can remain at home, and, without expense to himself or his parents, go on through the high school. but if the country boy or girl desires to go from the graded school to the high school, as a rule it is necessary to go to the county seat and there board with some one; so the expense to the country child is much greater than to the child in the city. i was glad, therefore, to hear professor jesse speak of such a consolidation of schools as will give to the children in the country advantages equal to those enjoyed by the children of the city. "and as you study this subject, you find it reaches out in every direction; it touches us at every vital point. what can be of more interest to us than the schooling of our children? what can be of more interest to every parent than bringing the opportunity of educational instruction within the reach of every child? it does not matter whether a man has children himself or not.... every citizen of a community is interested in the intellectual life of that community. sometimes i have heard people complain that they were overburdened with taxes for the education of other people's children. my friends, the man who has no children can not afford to live in a community where there are children growing up in ignorance; the man with none has the same duty as the man with many, barring the personal pride of the parent. i say, therefore, that anything that contributes to the general diffusion of knowledge, anything that makes more educated boys and girls throughout our country, is a matter of intense interest to every citizen, whether he be the father of a family or not; whether he lives in the country or in the town. "and ought not the people have the opportunity to attend church? i am coming to believe that what we need in this country, even more than education of the intellect, is the education of the moral side of our nature. i believe, with jefferson, that the church and the state should be separate. i believe in religious freedom, and i would not have any man's conscience fettered by act of law; but i do believe that the welfare of this nation demands that man's moral nature shall be educated in keeping with his brain and with his body. in fact, i have come to define civilization as the harmonious development of the body, the mind, and the heart. we make a mistake if we believe that this nation can fulfil its high destiny and mission either with mere athletes or mere scholars. we need the education of the moral sense; and if these good roads will enable men, women, and children to go more frequently to church, and there hear expounded the gospel and receive inspiration therefrom, that alone is reason enough for good roads. "there is a broader view of this question, however, that deserves consideration. the farm is, and always has been, conspicuous because of the physical development it produces, the intellectual strength it furnishes, and the morality it encourages. the young people in the country find health and vigor in the open air and in the exercise which farm life gives; they acquire habits of industry and economy; their work gives them opportunity for thought and reflection; their contact with nature teaches them reverence, and their environment promotes good habits. the farms supply our colleges with their best students and they also supply our cities with leaders in business and professional life. in the country there is neither great wealth nor great poverty--'the rich and the poor meet together' and recognize that 'the lord is the father of them all.' there is a fellowship, and, to use the word in its broadest sense, a democracy in the country that is much needed today to temper public opinion and protect the foundations of free government. a larger percentage of the people in the country than in the city study public questions, and a smaller percentage are either corrupt or are corrupted. it is important, therefore, for the welfare of our government and for the advancement of our civilization that we make life upon the farm as attractive as possible. statistics have shown the constant increase in the urban population and the constant decrease in the rural population from decade to decade. without treading upon controversial ground or considering whether this trend has been increased by legislation hostile to the farm, it will be admitted that the government is in duty bound to guard jealously the interests of the rural population, and, as far as it can, make farm life inviting. in the employment of modern conveniences the city has considerably outstripped the country, and naturally so, for in a densely populated community the people can by coöperation supply themselves with water, light, and rapid transit at much smaller cost than they can in a sparsely settled country. but it is evident that during the last few years much has been done to increase the comforts of the farm. in the first place, the rural mail delivery has placed millions of farmers in daily communication with the world. it has brought not only the letter but the newspaper to the door. its promised enlargement and extension will make it possible for the wife to order from the village store and have her purchases delivered by the mail-carrier. the telephone has also been a great boon to the farmer. it lessens by one-half the time required to secure a physician in case of accident or illness--an invention which every mother can appreciate. the extension of the electric-car line also deserves notice. it is destined to extend the borders of the city and to increase the number of small farms at the expense of flats and tenement houses. the suburban home will bring light and hope to millions of children. "but after all this, there still remains a pressing need for better country roads. as long as mud placed an embargo upon city traffic, the farmer could bear his mud-made isolation with less complaint, but with the improvement of city streets and with the establishment of parks and boulevards, the farmer's just demands for better roads find increasing expression." the late brilliant congressman, hon. thomas h. tongue of oregon, left on record a few paragraphs on the sociological effect of good roads that ought to be preserved: "good roads do not concern our pockets only. they may become the instrumentalities for improved health, increased happiness and pleasure, for refining tastes, strengthening, broadening, and elevating the character. the toiler in the great city must have rest and recreation. old and young, and especially the young, with character unformed, must and will sweeten the daily labor with some pleasure. it is not the hours of industry, but the hours devoted to pleasure, that furnish the devil his opportunity. it is not while we are at work but while we are at play that temptations steal over the senses, put conscience to sleep, despoil manhood, and destroy character. healthful and innocent recreations and pleasure are national needs and national blessings. they are among the most important instrumentalities of moral reform. they are as essential to purity of mind and soul as to healthfulness of body. out beyond the confines of the city, with its dust and dirt and filth, morally and physically, these are to be found, and good roads help to find them. what peace and inspiration may come from flowers and music, brooks and waterfalls! how the mountains pointing heavenward, yesterday battling with storms, today bathed with sunshine, bid you stand firm, walk erect, look upward, cherish hope, and for light and guidance to call upon the creator of all light and of all wisdom! how such scenes as these kindle the imagination of the poet, quicken and enlarge the conception of the artist, fire the soul of the orator, purify and elevate us all! but if love of action rather than contemplation and reflection tempts you, how the blood thrills and the spirits rise as one springs lightly into the saddle, caresses the slender neck of an equine beauty, grasps firmly the reins, bids farewell to the impurities of the city, and dashes into the hills and the valleys and the mountains to commune with nature and nature's god. or what joy more exquisite than with pleasant companionship to dash along the smooth highway, drawn by a noble american trotter? what poor city scenes can so inspire poetic feeling, can so increase the love of the beautiful, can so elevate and broaden and strengthen the character, and so inspire us with reverence for the great father of us all? but for the full enjoyment of such pleasures good roads are indispensable. "another blessing to come with good roads will be the stimulus and encouragements to rural life, farm life. the present tendency of population to rush into the great cities makes neither for the health nor the character, the intelligence nor the morals of the nation. it has been said that no living man can trace his ancestry on both sides to four generations of city residents. the brain and the brawn and the morals of the city are constantly replenished from the country. the best home life is upon the farm, and the most sacred thing in america is the american home. it lies at the foundation of our institutions, of our health, of our character, our prosperity, our happiness, here and hereafter. the snares and pitfalls set for our feet are not near the home. the pathways upon which stones are hardest and thorns sharpest are not those that lead to the sacred spot hallowed by a father's love and a mother's prayers. the bravest and best of men, the purest and holiest women, are those who best love, cherish, and protect the home. god guard well the american home, and this done, come all the powers of darkness and they shall not prevail against us. fatherhood and motherhood are nowhere more sacred, more holy, or better beloved than upon the farm. the ties of brotherhood and sisterhood are nowhere more sweet or tender. the fair flower of patriotism there reaches its greatest perfection. every battlefield that marks the world's progress, the victory of liberty over tyranny or right over wrong, has been deluged with the blood of farmers. he evades neither the taxgatherer nor the recruiting officer. he shirks the performance of no public duty. in the hour of its greatest needs our country never called for help upon its stalwart yeomen when the cry was unheeded. the sons and daughters of american farmers are filling the seminaries and colleges and universities of the land. from the american farm home have gone in the past, as they are going now, leaders in literature, the arts and sciences, presidents of great universities, the heads of great industrial enterprises, governors of states, and members of congress. they have filled the benches of the supreme court, the chairs of the cabinet, and the greatest executive office in the civilized world. our greatest jurist, our greatest soldier, our greatest orators, webster and clay, our three greatest presidents, washington, lincoln, and mckinley, were the product of rural homes. the great presidents which virginia has given to the nation, whose monuments are all around us, whose remains rest in your midst, whose fame is immortal, drew life and inspiration from rural homes. the typical american today is the american farmer. the city life, with its bustle and stir, its hurry and rush, its feverish anxiety for wealth, position, and rank in society, its fretting over ceremonies and precedents, is breaking down the health and intellect and the morals of its inhabitants. these must be replenished from the rural home. whatever shall tend to create a love for country life, to decrease the rush for the city, instil a desire to dwell in the society of nature, will make for the health, the happiness, the refinement, the moral and intellectual improvement of the people. nothing will contribute more to this than the improvement of our common roads, to facilitate the means of communication between one section of the country and the other, and between all and the city." * * * * * turning now from the high plane of the social and moral effect of good roads, let us look at the financial side of the question. good roads pay well. in urging good roads in virginia, an official of the southern railway said that if good roads improved the value of lands only one dollar per acre, the gain to the state by the improvement of all the roads would be twenty-five million dollars. yet this is an inconceivably low estimate; lands upon improved roads advance in value from four to twenty dollars per acre. virginia could therefore expect a benefit from improved highways of at least one hundred million dollars--more than enough to improve her roads many times over. indeed this matter of the increase in value of land occasioned by good roads can hardly be overestimated. near all of our large towns and cities the land will advance until it is worth per foot what it was formerly worth per acre. take mecklenburg county, north carolina. beginning in to macadamize three or four miles of road a year with an annual fund of $ , , the county now has over a hundred miles of splendid roads; the county seat has increased in population from , to , . "i know of a thirty-acre farm," said president barringer of the university of virginia, a native of that county, "that cost ten dollars an acre, and forty-six dollars an acre has been refused for it, and yet not a dollar has been put on it, not even to fertilize it. some of the farms five and six miles from town have quadrupled in value." in alabama the same thing has been found true. "the result of building these roads," said mayor drennen of birmingham, "is that the property adjoining them has more than doubled in value." that wise financier, d. f. francis, president of the louisiana purchase exposition, when suggesting that missouri would do well to bond herself for one hundred million to build good roads, said: "the average increase in the value of the lands in missouri would be at least five dollars per acre." taking president francis at his word, the difference between the value of missouri before and after the era of good roads would buy up the four hundred and eighty-four state banks in missouri eleven times over. what president francis estimates missouri would be worth with good roads over and above what her farms are now worth would buy all the goods that the city of st. louis produces in a year. in other words, the estimated gain to missouri would be more than two hundred and twenty million dollars. passing the increased value of lands, look at the equally vital question of increased values of crops. take first the crops that would be raised on lands not cultivated today but which would be cultivated in a day of good roads. look at virginia, where only one-third of the land is being cultivated; the value of crops which it is certain would ultimately be raised on land that is now unproductive would amount to at least sixty million dollars. the general passenger agent of the oregon railway and navigation company said recently that his lines were crying out for wheat to ship to china; "we have about reached the limit of our facilities; twelve or fifteen miles is the only distance farmers can afford to haul their wheat to us. make it possible for them to haul it double that distance and you will double the business of our railway." and the business of local nature done by a railroad is a good criterion of the prosperity of the country in which it operates. crops now raised on lands within reach of railways would of course be enhanced in value by good roads; more loads could be taken at less cost; weather interferences would not enter into the question. but of more moment perhaps than anything else, a vast amount of land thus placed within quick reach of our towns and cities would be given over to gardening for city markets, a line of agriculture immensely profitable, as city people well know. "the citizens of birmingham," said the mayor of that city, "enjoy the benefits of fresh products raised on the farms along these [improved] roads. the dairymen, the truck farmers, and others ... are put in touch with our markets daily, thereby receiving the benefits of any advance in farm products." poor roads are like the interest on a debt, and they are working against one all the time. it is noticeable that when good roads are built, farmers, who are always conservative, adjust themselves more readily to conditions. they are in touch with the world and they feel more keenly its pulse, much to their advantage. too many farmers, damned by bad roads, are guilty of the faults of which birmingham's mayor accused alabama planters: "the farmers in this section," he said, "are selling cotton today for less than seven cents per pound, while they could have sold irish potatoes within the past few months at two dollars per bushel." farmers over the entire country are held to be slow in taking advantage of their whole opportunities; bad roads take the life out of them and out of their horses; they think somewhat as they ride--desperately slow; and they will not think faster until they ride faster. it is said that a man riding on a heavy southern road saw a hat in the mud; stopping to pick it up he was surprised to find a head of hair beneath it: then a voice came out of the ground: "hold on, boss, don't take my hat; i've got a powerful fine mule down here somewhere if i can ever get him out." you can write and speak to farmers until doomsday about taking quick advantage of the exigencies of the markets that are dependent on them, but if they have to hunt for their horses in a hog-wallow road all your talk will be in vain. when we seriously face the question of how a fine system of highways is to be built in this country, it is found to be a complex problem. for about ten years now it has been seriously debated, and these years have seen a large advance; until now the problem has become almost national. one great fundamental idea has been proposed and is now generally accepted by all who have paid the matter any attention, and that is that those who live along our present roads cannot be expected to bear the entire cost of building good roads. this may be said to be settled and need no debate. practically all men are agreed that the rural population should not bear the entire expense of an improvement of which they, however, are to be the chief beneficiaries; the state itself, in all its parts, benefits from the improved conditions which follow improved roads, and should bear a portion of the expense. do not think that city people escape the tax of bad roads. in st. louis four hundred thousand people consume five hundred tons of produce every day. the cost of hauling this produce over bad roads averages twenty-five cents per mile and over good roads about ten cents per mile, making a difference of fifteen cents per mile per ton. for five hundred tons, hauled from farms averaging ten miles distance, this would be seven hundred and fifty dollars per day, or a quarter of a million dollars a year--enough to build fifty miles of macadamized road a year. the farmers shift as much as they can of their heavy tax on the city people--the consumer pays the freight. everybody is concerned in the "mud-tax" of bad roads. and so what is known as the "state aid" plan has become popular. by this plan the state pays a fixed part of the cost of building roads out of the general fund raised by taxation of all the people and all the property in the state. under these circumstances corporations, railroads, and the various representatives of the concentrated wealth of the cities all contribute to this fund. the funds are expended in rural districts and are supplemented by money raised by local taxation. the state of new york, which has a good system, pays one-half of the good roads fund; each county pays thirty-five per cent, and the township fifteen per cent. pennsylvania has appropriated at one time six and a half millions as a good roads fund. the new ohio law apportions the cost of new roads as follows: the state pays twenty-five per cent, the townships twenty-five per cent, and the county fifty per cent. of the twenty-five per cent paid by the townships fifteen per cent is to be paid by owners of abutting property and ten per cent by the township as a whole. in new jersey, which has a model system of road-building and many model roads, the state pays a third, the county a third, and the property owners a third. a more recent theory in american road-building which has been advanced is a plan of national aid.[ ] this is no new thing in america, though it has been many years since the government has paid attention to roadways. in the early days the wisest of our statesmen advocated large plans of internal improvement; one great national road, as we have seen, was built by the war department from the potomac almost to the mississippi, through wheeling, columbus, indianapolis and vandalia, at a cost of over six million dollars. and this famous national road was built, in part, upon an earlier pathway, cut through ohio by ebenezer zane in , also at the order of congress, and for which he received grants of land which formed the nucleus of the three thriving ohio cities, zanesville, lancaster, and chillicothe. the constitutionality of road-building by the government was questioned by some, but that clause granting it the right to establish post-offices and post roads "must, in every view, be a harmless power," said james madison, "and may perhaps, by judicious management, become productive of great public conveniency. nothing which tends to facilitate the intercourse between the states can be deemed unworthy of the public care."[ ] but the government was interested not only in building roads but in many other phases of public improvement; it took stock in the chesapeake and ohio canal; congress voted $ , to survey the chesapeake and ohio canal route, and the work was done by government engineers. when railways superseded highways, the government was almost persuaded to complete the old national road with rails and ties instead of broken stone. when the erie canal was proposed, a vast scheme of government aid was favored by leading statesmen;[ ] the government has greatly assisted the western railways by gigantic grants of land worth one hundred and thirty-eight million dollars. the vast funds of private capital that have been seeking investment in this country, at first in turnpike, plank, and macadamized roads, then in canals, and later in railways, has rendered government aid comparatively unnecessary. in the last few years the only work of internal improvement aided by the government is the improvement of the rivers and harbors, which for takes over fifty millions of revenue a year. the sum of $ , , has been well spent on river and harbor improvement in the past seven years. not only are the great rivers, such as the ohio and mississippi, improved, but lesser streams. a short time ago i made a journey of one hundred miles down the elk river in west virginia in a boat eleven inches deep and twelve feet long; a channel all the way down had been made about two feet wide by picking out the stones; the united states did this at an expense of fifteen hundred dollars. the groceries and dry goods for thousands were poled up that river in dug-outs through that two-foot channel. i doubt if a two-wheel vehicle could traverse the road which runs throughout that valley, but i know a four-wheel vehicle could not. the advocates of national aid urge the right to establish post roads; "i had an ancestor in the united states senate," said ex-senator butler of south carolina, "who refused to vote a dollar for the improvement of charleston harbor; but almost the first act of my official life was to get an appropriation of two hundred and fifty thousand for that purpose. there is as ample constitutional warrant for the improvement of public roads out of the united states treasury--as large as there is for the improvement of rivers and harbors, or for the support of the agricultural colleges." "but few judicial opinions have been rendered on this subject. in the case of dickey against the turnpike company, the kentucky court of appeals decided that the power given to congress by the constitution to establish post roads enabled them to make, repair, keep open, and improve post roads when they shall deem the exercise of the power expedient. but in the exercise of the right of eminent domain on this subject the united states has no right to adopt and use roads, bridges, or ferries constructed and owned by states, corporations, and individuals without their consent or without making to the parties concerned just compensation. if the united states elects to use such accommodations, it stands upon the same footing and is subject to the same tolls and regulations as a private individual. it has been asserted that jefferson was opposed to the appropriation of money for internal improvements, but, in , in writing to mr. lieper, he said, 'give us peace until our revenues are liberated from debt, ... and then during peace we may chequer our whole country with canals, roads, etc.' writing to j. w. eppes in he says, 'the fondest wish of my heart ever was that the surplus portion of these taxes destined for the payment of the revolutionary debt should, when that object is accomplished, be continued by annual or biennial reënactments and applied in times of peace to the improvement of our country by canals, roads, and useful institutions.' congress has always claimed the power to lay out, construct, and improve post roads with the assent of the states through which they pass; also, to open, construct, and improve military roads on like terms; and the right to cut canals through the several states with their consent for the purpose of promoting and securing internal commerce and for the safe and economical transportation of military stores in times of war. the president has sometimes objected to the exercise of this constitutional right, but congress has never denied it. cooley, the highest authority on constitutional law, says: "'every road within a state, including railroads, canals, turnpikes, and navigable streams, existing or created within a state, becomes a post-road, whenever by law or by the action of the post-office department provision is made for the transportation of the mail upon or over it. many statesmen and jurists have contended that the power comprehends the laying out and construction of any roads which congress may deem proper and needful for the conveyance of the mails, and keeping them repaired for the purpose.'"[ ] it has been many years since the united states government was interested considerably in mail routes on the roadways of this country; in the past half century the government has spent but one hundred thousand dollars for the improvement of mail roads. the new era of rural delivery brings a return, in one sense, of the old stagecoach days. a thousand country roads are now used daily by government mail-carriers, but the government demands that the roads used be kept in good condition by the local authorities. thus the situation is reversed; instead of holding it to be the duty of the government to deliver mail in rural districts, congress holds that the debt is on the other side and that, in return for the boon of rural delivery, the rural population must make good roads. madison well saw that government improvement of roads as mail routes would be of great general benefit; for in _the federalist_ he adds that the power "may perhaps by judicious management become productive of great public conveniency." [illustration: a good-roads train [_the southern roadway's good-roads train, october , , consisting of two coaches for officials and road experts and ten cars of road machinery; for itinerary through virginia, north carolina. tennessee, alabama, and georgia_]] one great work the government has done and is doing. it has founded an office of public road inquiries (described elsewhere) at washington, and under the efficient management of hon. martin dodge and maurice o. eldridge a great work of education has been carried on--samples of good roads have been built, good road trains have been sent out by the southern railway and the illinois central into the south, a laboratory has been established at washington, under the efficient charge of professor l. w. page, for the testing of materials free of charge, and a great deal of road information has been published and sent out. the brownlow bill, introduced into congress at the last session, is the latest plan of national aid, and is thus described by hon. martin dodge of the office of public road inquiries: "the bill provides for an appropriation of twenty million dollars. this is to be used only in connection and coöperation with the various states or civil subdivisions of states that may make application to the general government for the purpose of securing its aid to build certain roads. the application must be made for a specific road to be built, and the state or county making the application must be ready to pay half of the cost, according to the plans and specifications made by the general government. in no case can any state or any number of counties within the state receive any greater proportion of the twenty million dollars than the population of the state bears to the population of the united states. "in other words, all of the plans must originate in the community. the bill does not provide that the united states shall go forward and say a road shall be built here or a road shall be built there. the united states shall hold itself in readiness, when requested to do so, to coöperate with those who have selected a road they desire to build, provided they are ready and willing to pay one-half the cost. then, if the road is a suitable one and is approved by the government authorities, they go forward and build that road, each contributing one-half of the expense. in order to prevent the state losing jurisdiction of the road, it is provided that it may go forward and build the road if it will accept the government engineer's estimate. for instance, if a state or county asks for ten miles of road, the estimated cost of which is thirty thousand dollars, and the state or county officials say they are willing to undertake the work for thirty thousand dollars, the government authorizes them to go ahead and build that road according to specifications, and when it is finished the government will pay the fifteen thousand dollars. if the state or county does not wish to take the contract, the general government will advertise and give it to the lowest bidder, and will pay its contributory share and the other party will pay its contributory share. "it is no part of the essential principle involved in this national aid plan that the exact proportion should be fifty per cent on each side. any other figure can be adopted. some think ten per cent is sufficient; some think thirty-three and one-third is the proper percentage; others think twenty-five per cent only should be paid by the government, twenty-five per cent by the state, twenty-five per cent by the county, and twenty-five per cent by the township. the one idea that seems to be generally accepted is that the government should do something." thus the interest in the great question is beginning to forge to the front; through the office of public road inquiries a great deal of information is being circulated touching all phases of the question. there is a fine spirit of independence displayed by the leaders of the movement; no one plan is over-urged; the situation is such that the final concerted popular action will come from the real governing power--the people. when they demand that the united states shall not have the poorest rural roads of any civilized and some uncivilized nations, we as a nation will hasten into the fore front and finally lead the world in this vital department of civic life, as we are leading it in so many other departments today. [illustration: sample steel track for common roads [_on the driver's right is seated hon. martin dodge, since director of the office of public road inquiries_]] footnotes: [ ] see _post_, pp. - . [ ] _the federalist_, p. . [ ] _historic highways of america_, vol. xiv, p. . [ ] thomas m. cooley, _constitutional law_ (boston, ), pp. - . chapter ii government coÖperation in object-lesson road work[ ] in a government having a composite nature like that of the united states it is not always easy to determine just what share the general government, the state government, and the local government should respectively take in carrying out highway work, though it is generally admitted that there should be coöperation among them all. in the early history of the republic the national government itself laid out and partially completed a great national system of highways connecting the east with the west, and the capital of the nation with its then most distant possessions. fourteen million dollars in all was appropriated by acts of congress to be devoted to this purpose, an amount almost equal to that paid for the louisiana purchase. in other words, it cost the government substantially as much to make that territory accessible as to purchase it; and what is true of that territory in its larger sense is also true in a small way of nearly every tract of land that is opened up and used for the purposes of civilization; that is to say, it will cost as much to build up, improve, and maintain the roads of any given section of the country as the land in its primitive condition is worth; and the same rule will apply in most cases after the land value has advanced considerably beyond that of its primitive condition. it is a general rule that the suitable improvement of a highway within reasonable limitations will double the value of the land adjacent to it. seven million dollars, half of the total sum appropriated by acts of congress for the national road system, was devoted to building the cumberland road from cumberland, maryland, to st. louis, missouri, the most central point in the great louisiana purchase, and seven hundred miles west of cumberland. the total cost of this great road was wholly paid out of the united states treasury, and though never fully completed on the western end, it is the longest straight road ever built by any government. it passes through the capitals of ohio, indiana, and illinois, and the cost per mile was, approximately, ten thousand dollars. it furnishes the only important instance the country has ever had of the general government providing a highway at its own expense. the plan, however, was never carried to completion, and since its abandonment two generations ago, the people of the different states have provided their own highways. for the most part they have delegated their powers either to individuals, companies, or corporations to build toll roads, or to the minor political subdivisions and municipalities to build free roads. with the passing of the toll-road system, the withdrawal of the general government from the field of actual road construction, and the various state governments doing little or nothing, the only remaining active agent occupying the entire great field is the local government in each community; and while these various local governments have done and are still doing the best they can under the circumstances, there is great need that their efforts should be supplemented, their revenues enlarged, and their skill in the art of road construction increased. the skill of the local supervisor was sufficient in primitive times, so long as his principal duties consisted in clearing the way of trees, logs, stumps, and other obstructions, and shaping the earth of which the roadbed was composed into a little better form than nature had left it; and the resources at his command were sufficient so long as he was authorized to call on every able-bodied male citizen between twenty-one and forty-five years of age to do ten days' labor annually on the road, especially when the only labor expected was that of dealing with the material found on the spot. but with the changed conditions brought about by the more advanced state of civilization, after the rights of way have been cleared of their obstructions and the earth roads graded into the form of turnpikes, it became necessary to harden their surfaces with material which often must be brought from distant places. in order to accomplish this, expert skill is required in the selection of materials, money instead of labor is required to pay for the cost of transportation, and machinery must be substituted for the hand processes and primitive methods heretofore employed in order to crush the rock and distribute it in the most economical manner on the roadbed. skill and machinery are also required to roll and consolidate the material so as to form a smooth, hard surface and a homogeneous mass impervious to water. the local road officer now not only finds himself deficient in skill and the proper kind of resources, but he discovers in many cases that the number of persons subject to his call for road work has greatly diminished. the great cities of the north have absorbed half of the population in all the states north of the ohio and east of the mississippi, and those living in these great cities are not subject to the former duties of working the roads, nor do they pay any compensation in money in lieu thereof. so the statute labor has not only become unsuitable for the service to be performed, but it is, as stated, greatly diminished. in the former generations substantially all the people contributed to the construction of the highways under the statute labor system, but at the present time not more than half the population is subject to this service, and this, too, at a time when the need for highway improvement is greatest. while the former ways and means are inadequate or inapplicable to present needs and conditions, there are other means more suitable for the service, and existing in ample proportion for every need. the tollgate-keeper cannot be called upon to restore the ancient system of turnpikes and plank roads to be maintained by a tax upon vehicles passing over them, but there can be provided a general fund in each county sufficient to build up free roads better than the toll roads and with a smaller burden of cost upon the people. the statute labor in the rural districts cannot be depended upon, because it is unsuitable to the service now required and spasmodic in its application, when it should be perennial; but this statute labor can be commuted to a money tax, with no hardships upon the citizens and with great benefit to the highway system. former inhabitants of the abandoned farms or the deserted villages cannot be followed to the great cities and the road tax which they formerly paid be collected from them again to improve the country roads; but it can be provided that all the property owners in every city, as well as in every county, shall pay a money tax into a general fund, which shall be devoted exclusively to the improvement of highways in the rural districts. the state itself can maintain a general fund out of which a portion of the cost of every principal highway in the state shall be paid, and by so doing all the people of the state will contribute to improving the highways, as they once did in the early history of the nation, when substantially all the wealth and population was distributed almost equally throughout the settled portions of the country. having a general fund of money instead of statute labor, it would be possible to introduce more scientific and more economical methods of construction with coöperation. this coöperation, formerly applied with good results to the primitive conditions, but which has been partially lost by the diminution in the number and skill of the co-workers, would be restored again in a great measure by drawing the money with which to improve the roads out of a general fund to which all had contributed. in many countries the army has been used to advantage in time of peace in building up and maintaining the highways. there is no army in this country for such a purpose, but there is an army of prisoners in every state, whose labor is so directed, and has been so directed for generations past, that it adds little or nothing to the common wealth. the labor of these prisoners, properly applied and directed, would be of great benefit and improvement to the highways, and would add greatly to the national wealth, while at the same time it would lighten the pressure of competition with free labor by withdrawing the prison labor from the manufacture of commercial articles and applying it to work not now performed, that is, the building of highways or preparing material to be used therefor. the general government, having withdrawn from the field of road construction in , has since done little in that line until very recently. eight years ago congress appropriated a small sum of money for the purpose of instituting a sort of inquiry into the prevailing condition of things pertaining to road matters. this appropriation has been continued from year to year and increased during the last two years with a view of coöperating to a limited extent with other efforts in road construction. the general government can perform certain duties pertaining to scientific road improvement better than any other agency. scientific facts ascertained at one time by the general government will serve for the enlightenment of the people of all the states, and with no more cost than would be required for each single state to make the investigation and ascertain the facts for itself. with a view to securing scientific facts in reference to the value of road-building materials, the secretary of agriculture has established at washington, d. c., a mechanical and chemical laboratory for testing such material from all parts of the country. professor l. w. page, late of harvard university, is in charge of this laboratory, and has tested many samples of rock without charge to those having the test made. there is, however, no test equal to the actual application of the material to the road itself. with a view to making more extensive tests than could be done by laboratory work alone, the director of the office of public road inquiries has, during the past two years, coöperated with the local authorities in many different states in building short sections of object-lesson roads. in this work it is intended not only to contribute something by way of coöperation on the part of the general government, but also to secure coöperation on the part of as many different interests connected with the road question as possible. the local community having the road built is most largely interested, and is expected to furnish the common labor and domestic material. the railroad companies generally coöperate, because they are interested in having better roads to and from their railroad stations. they therefore contribute by transporting free or at very low rates the machinery and such foreign material as is needed in the construction of the road. the manufacturers of earth-handling and road-building machinery coöperate by furnishing all needed machinery for the most economical construction of the road, and in many cases prison labor is used in preparing material which finally goes into the completed roadbed. the contribution which the general government makes in this scheme of coöperation is both actually and relatively small, but it is by means of this limited coöperation that it has been possible to produce a large number of object-lesson roads in different states. these have proved very beneficial, not only in showing the scientific side of the question, but the economical side as well. in the year object-lesson roads were built under the direction of the office of public road inquiries near port huron, saginaw, and traverse city, michigan; springfield, illinois; and topeka, kansas. since that time the object-lesson roads so built have been extended and duplicated by the local authorities without further aid from the government. the people are so well pleased with the results of these experiments that they are making preparations for additional extensions, aggregating many miles. during the year sample object-lesson roads were built on a larger scale in coöperation with the illinois central, lake shore, and southern railroad companies, and the national association for good roads in the states of louisiana, mississippi, tennessee, kentucky, illinois, new york, north carolina, south carolina, alabama, and georgia. in all of these cases the coöperation has been very hearty on the part of the state, the county, and the municipality in which the work has been done, and the results have been very satisfactory and beneficial. hon. a. h. longino, governor of mississippi, in his speech made at the international good roads congress at buffalo, september , , said: "my friends, the importance of good roads seems to me to be so apparent, so self-evident, that the discussion thereof is but a discussion of truisms. much as we appreciate railroads, rivers, and canals as means for transportation of the commerce of the country, they are, in my judgment, of less importance to mankind, to the masses of the people, and to all classes of people, than are good country roads. "i live in a section of the country where that important subject has found at the hands of the people apparently less appreciation and less effort toward improvement than in many others. in behalf of the good roads association, headed by colonel moore and mr. richardson, which recently met in the state of mississippi, i want to say that more interest has been aroused by their efforts concerning this important subject among the people there than perhaps ever existed before in the history of the state. by their work, demonstrating what could be done by the methods which they employed, and by their agitation of the question, the people have become aroused as they never were before; and since their departure from the state a large number of counties which were not already working under the contract system have provided for public highways, worked by contract, requiring the contractor to give a good and sufficient bond, a bond broad enough in its provisions and large enough in amount to compel faithful service; and mississippi is today starting out on a higher plane than ever before." footnotes: [ ] by hon. martin dodge, director of the office of public road inquiries. chapter iii good roads for farmers[ ] poor roads constitute the greatest drawback to rural life, and for the lack of good roads the farmers suffer more than any other class. it is obviously unnecessary, therefore, to discuss here the benefits to be derived by them from improved roads. suffice it to say, that those localities where good roads have been built are becoming richer, more prosperous, and more thickly settled, while those which do not possess these advantages in transportation are either at a standstill or are becoming poorer and more sparsely settled. if these conditions continue, fruitful farms may be abandoned and rich lands go to waste. life on a farm often becomes, as a result of "bottomless roads," isolated and barren of social enjoyments and pleasures, and country people in some communities suffer such great disadvantage that ambition is checked, energy weakened, and industry paralyzed. good roads, like good streets, make habitation along them most desirable; they economize time and force in transportation of products, reduce wear and tear on horses, harness and vehicles, and enhance the market value of real estate. they raise the value of farm lands and farm products, and tend to beautify the country through which they pass; they facilitate rural mail delivery and are a potent aid to education, religion, and sociability. charles sumner once said: "the road and the schoolmaster are the two most important agents in advancing civilization." [illustration: typical macadam road near bryn mawr, pennsylvania] the difference between good and bad roads is often equivalent to the difference between profit and loss. good roads have a money value to farmers as well as a political and social value, and leaving out convenience, comfort, social and refined influences which good roads always enhance, and looking at them only from the "almighty dollar" side, they are found to pay handsome dividends each year. people generally are beginning to realize that road-building is a public matter, and that the best interests of american agriculture and the american people as a whole demand the construction of good roads, and that money wisely expended for this purpose is sure to return. road-making is perfected by practice, experience, and labor. soils and clays, sand and ores, gravels and rocks, are transformed into beautiful roads, streets, and boulevards, by methods which conform with their great varieties of characters and with nature's laws. the art of road-building depends largely for its success upon being carried on in conformity with certain general principles. it is necessary that roads should be hard, smooth, comparatively level, and fit for use at all seasons of the year; that they should be properly located, or laid out on the ground, so that their grades may be such that animate or inanimate power may be applied upon them to the best advantage and without great loss of energy; that they should be properly constructed, the ground well drained, the roadbed graded, shaped, and rolled, and that they should be surfaced with the best material procurable; that they should be properly maintained or kept constantly in good repair. all the important roads in the united states can be and doubtless will be macadamized or otherwise improved in the not distant future. this expectation should govern their present location and treatment everywhere. unless changes are made in the location of the roads in many parts of this country it would be worse than folly to macadamize them. "any costly resurfacing of the existing roads will fasten them where they are for generations," says general stone. the chief difficulty in this country is not with the surface, but with the steep grades, many of which are too long to be reduced by cutting and filling on the present lines, and if this could be done it would cost more in many cases than relocating them. many of our roads were originally laid out without any attention to general topography, and in most cases followed the settler's path from cabin to cabin, the pig trail, or ran along the boundary lines of the farms regardless of grades or direction. most of them remain today where they were located years ago, and where untold labor, expense, and energy have been wasted in trying to haul over them and in endeavors to improve their deplorable condition. the great error is made of continuing to follow these primitive paths with our public highways. the right course is to call in an engineer and throw the road around the end or along the side of steep hills instead of continuing to go over them, or to pull the road up on dry solid ground instead of splashing through the mud and water of the creek or swamp. far more time and money have been wasted in trying to keep up a single mile of one of these "pig-track" surveys than it would take to build and keep in repair two miles of good road. another and perhaps greater error is made by some persons in the west who continue to lay out their roads on "section lines." these sections are all square, with sides running north, south, east, and west. a person wishing to cross the country in any other than these directions must necessarily do so in rectangular zigzags. it also necessitates very often the crossing and recrossing of hills and valleys, which might be avoided if the roads had been constructed on scientific principles. [illustration: a study in grading [_the old road had a grade of eight per cent; by the improved route the grade is four per cent_]] in the prairie state of iowa, for example, where roads are no worse than in many other states, there is a greater number of roads having much steeper grades than are found in the mountainous republic of switzerland. in maryland the old stagecoach road or turnpike running from washington to baltimore makes almost a "bee line," regardless of hills or valleys, and the grades at places are as steep as ten or twelve per cent, where by making little detours the road might have been made perfectly level, or by running it up the hills less abruptly the grade might have been reduced to three or four per cent, as is done in the hilly regions of many parts of this and other countries. straight roads are the proper kind to have, but in hilly countries their straightness should always be sacrificed to obtain a level surface so as to better accommodate the people who use them. graceful and natural curves conforming to the lay of the land add beauty to the landscape, besides enhancing the value of property. not only do level, curved roads add beauty to the landscape and make lands along them more valuable, but the horse is able to utilize his full strength over them; furthermore, a horse can pull only four-fifths as much on a grade of two feet in one hundred feet, and this gradually lessens until with a grade of ten feet in one hundred feet he can draw but one-fourth as much as he can on a level road. all roads should therefore wind around hills or be cut through instead of running over them, and in many cases the former can be done without greatly increasing the distance. to illustrate, if an apple or pear be cut in half and one of the halves placed on a flat surface, it will be seen that the horizontal distance around from stem to blossom is no greater than the distance over between the same points. the wilfulness of one or two private individuals sometimes becomes a barrier to traffic and commerce. the great drawback to the laying out of roads on the principle referred to is that of the necessity, in some cases, of building them through the best lands, the choicest pastures and orchards, instead, as they do now, of cutting around the farm line or passing through old worn-out fields or over rocky knolls. but if farmers wish people to know that they have good farms, good cattle, sheep, or horses, good grain, fruit, or vegetables, they should let the roads go through the best parts of the farms. the difference in length between a straight road and one which is slightly curved is less than one would imagine. says sganzin: "if a road between two places ten miles apart were made to curve so that the eye could see no farther than a quarter of a mile of it at once, its length would exceed that of a perfectly straight road between the same points by only about one hundred and fifty yards." even if the distance around a hill be much greater, it is often more economical to construct it that way than to go over and necessitate the expenditure of large amounts of money in reducing the grade, or a waste of much valuable time and energy in transporting goods that way. gillespie says "that, as a general rule, the horizontal length of a road may be advantageously increased to avoid an ascent by at least twenty times the perpendicular height which is thus to be avoided--that is, to escape a hill one hundred feet high it would be proper for the road to make such a circuit as would increase its length two thousand feet." the mathematical axiom that "a straight line is the shortest distance between two points" is not, therefore, the best rule to follow in laying out a road; better is the proverb that "the longest way round is the shortest way home." the grade is the most important factor to be considered in the location of roads. the smoother the road surface, the less the grade should be. whether the road be constructed of earth, stone, or gravel, steep grades should always be avoided if possible. they become covered at times with coatings of ice or slippery soil, making them very difficult to ascend with loaded vehicles, as well as dangerous to descend. they allow water to rush down at such a rate as to wash great gaps alongside or to carry the surfacing material away. as the grade increases in steepness either the load has to be diminished in proportion or more horses or power attached. from gillespie we find that if a horse can draw on a level one thousand pounds, on a rise of-- foot in-- pounds feet he draws feet feet feet feet feet feet feet feet it is therefore seen that when the grades are foot in feet, or feet to the mile, a horse can draw only three-fourths as much as he can on a level; where the grade is foot in feet, or feet to the mile, he can draw only one-half as much, and on a ten per cent grade, or feet to the mile, he is able to draw only one-fourth as much as on a level road. as a chain is no stronger than its weakest link, just so the greatest load which can be hauled over a road is the load which can be hauled through the deepest mud hole or up the steepest hill on that road. the cost of haulage is, therefore, necessarily increased in proportion to the roughness of the surface or steepness of the grade. it costs one and one-half times as much to haul over a road having a five per cent grade and three times as much over one having a ten per cent grade as on a level road. as a perfectly level road can seldom be had, it is well to know the steepest allowable grade. if the hill be one of great length, it is sometimes best to have the lowest part steepest, upon which the horse is capable of exerting his full strength, and to make the slope more gentle toward the summit, to correspond with the continually decreasing strength of the fatigued animal. so far as descent is concerned, a road should not be so steep that the wagons and carriages cannot be drawn down it with perfect ease and safety. sir henry parnell considered that when the grade was no greater than one foot in thirty-five feet, vehicles could be drawn down it at a speed of twelve miles an hour with perfect safety. gillespie says: "it has been ascertained that a horse can for a short time double his usual exertion; also, that on the best roads he exerts a pressure against his collar of about one thirty-fifth of the load. if he can double his exertion for a time, he can pull one thirty-fifth more, and the slope which would force him to lift that proportion would be, as seen from the above table, one of one in thirty-five, or about a three per cent grade. on this slope, however, he would be compelled to double his ordinary exertion to draw a full load, and it would therefore be the maximum grade." mr. isaac b. potter, an eminent authority upon roads, says: "dirty water and watery dirt make bad going, and mud is the greatest obstacle to the travel and traffic of the farmer. mud is a mixture of dirt and water. the dirt is always to be found in the roadway, and the water, which comes in rain, snow, and frost, softens it; horses and wagons and narrow wheel tires knead it and mix it, and it soon gets into so bad a condition that a fairly loaded wagon cannot be hauled through it. "we cannot prevent the coming of this water, and it only remains for us to get rid of it, which can be speedily done if we go about it in the right way. very few people know how great an amount of water falls upon the country road, and it may surprise some of us to be told that on each mile of an ordinary country highway three rods wide within the united states there falls each year an average of twenty-seven thousand tons of water. in the ordinary country dirt road the water seems to stick and stay as if there was no other place for it, and this is only because we have never given it a fair opportunity to run out of the dirt and find its level in other places. we cannot make a hard road out of soft mud, and no amount of labor and machinery will make a good dirt road that will stay good unless some plan is adopted to get rid of the surplus water. water is a heavy, limpid fluid, hard to confine and easy to let loose. it is always seeking for a chance to run down a hill; always trying to find its lowest level." an essential feature of a good road is good drainage, and the principles of good drainage remain substantially the same whether the road be constructed of earth, gravel, shells, stones, or asphalt. the first demand of good drainage is to attend to the shape of road surface. this must be "crowned," or rounded up toward the center, so that there may be a fall from the center to the sides, thus compelling the water to flow rapidly from the surface into the gutters which should be constructed on one or both sides, and from there in turn be discharged into larger and more open channels. furthermore, it is necessary that no water be allowed to flow across a roadway; culverts, tile, stone, or box drains should be provided for that purpose. in addition to being well covered and drained, the surface should be kept as smooth as possible; that is, free from ruts, wheel tracks, holes, or hollows. if any of these exist, instead of being thrown to the side the water is held back and is either evaporated by the sun or absorbed by the material of which the road is constructed. in the latter case the material loses its solidity, softens and yields to the impact of the horses' feet and the wheels of vehicles, and, like the water poured upon a grindstone, so the water poured on a road surface which is not properly drained assists the grinding action of the wheels in rutting or completely destroying the surface. when water is allowed to stand on a road the holes and ruts rapidly increase in number and size; wagon after wagon sinks deeper and deeper, until the road finally becomes utterly bad, and sometimes impassable, as frequently found in many parts of the country during the winter season. road drainage is just as essential to a good road as farm drainage is to a good farm. in fact, the two go hand in hand, and the better the one the better the other, and vice versa. there are thousands of miles of public roads in the united states which are practically impassable during some portion of the year on account of bad drainage, while for the same reason thousands of acres of the richest meadow and swamp lands lie idle from year in to year out. the wearing surface of a road must be in effect a roof; that is, the section in the middle should be the highest part and the traveled roadway should be made as impervious to water as possible, so that it will flow freely and quickly into the gutters or ditches alongside. the best shape for the cross section of a road has been found to be either a flat ellipse or one made up of two plane surfaces sloping uniformly from the middle to the sides and joined in the center by a small, circular curve. either of these sections may be used, provided it is not too flat in the middle for good drainage or too steep at the gutters for safety. the steepness of the slope from the center to the sides should depend upon the nature of the surface, being greater or less according to its roughness or smoothness. this slope ought to be greatest on earth roads, perhaps as much in some cases as one foot in twenty feet after the surface has been thoroughly rolled or compacted by traffic. this varies from about one in twenty to one in thirty on a macadam road, to one in forty or one in sixty on the various classes of pavements, and for asphalt sometimes as low as one in eighty. where the road is constructed on a grade or hill the slope from the center to the sides should be slightly steeper than that on the level road. the best cross section for roads on grades is the one made up from two plane surfaces sloping uniformly from the center to the sides. this is done so as to avoid the danger of overturning near the side ditches, which would necessarily be increased if the elliptical form were used. the slope from the center to the sides must be steep enough to lead the water into the side ditches instead of allowing it to run down the middle of the road. every wheel track on an inclined roadway becomes a channel for carrying down the water, and unless the curvature is sufficient these tracks are quickly deepened into water courses which cut into and sometimes destroy the best improved road. in order to prevent the washing out of earth roads on hills it sometimes becomes necessary to construct water breaks; that is, broad shallow ditches arranged so as to catch the surface water and carry it each way into the side ditches. such ditches retard traffic to a certain extent, and often result in overturning vehicles; consequently they should never be used until all other means have failed to cause the water to flow into the side channels; neither should they be allowed to cross the entire width of the road diagonally, but should be constructed in the shape of the letter v. this arrangement permits teams following the middle of the road to cross the ditch squarely and thus avoid the danger of overturning. these ditches should not be deeper than is absolutely necessary to throw the water off the surface, and the part in the center should be the shallowest. unfortunately farmers and road masters have a fixed idea that one way to prevent hills, long and short, from washing is to heap upon them quantities of those original tumular obstructions known indifferently as "thank-you-ma'ams," "breaks," or "hummocks," and the number they can squeeze in upon a single hill is positively astonishing. quoting mr. isaac b. potter: "side ditches are necessary because the thousands of tons of water which fall upon every mile of country road each year, in the form of rain or snow, should be carried away to some neighboring creek or other water channel as fast as the rain falls and the snow melts, so as to prevent its forming mud and destroying the surface of the road. when the ground is frozen and a heavy rain or sudden thaw occurs, the side ditch is the only means of getting rid of the surface water; for no matter how sandy or porous the soil may be, when filled with frost it is practically water-tight, and the water which falls or forms on the surface must either remain there or be carried away by surface ditches at the sides of the road. "a side ditch should have a gradually falling and even grade at the bottom, and broad, flaring sides to prevent the caving in of its banks. it can be easily cleared of snow, weeds, and rubbish; the water will run into it easily from each side, and it is not dangerous to wagons and foot travelers. it is therefore a much better ditch than the kind of ditch very often dug by erosion along the country roadside." where the road is built on a grade some provision should be made to prevent the wash of the gutters into great, deep gullies. this can be done by paving the bottom and sides of the gutters with brick, river rocks, or field stone. in order to make the flow in such side ditches as small as possible it is advisable to construct outlets into the adjacent fields or to lay underground pipes or tile drains with openings into the ditches at frequent intervals. the size of side ditches should depend upon the character of the soil and the amount of water they are expected to carry. if possible they should be located three feet from the edge of the traveled roadway, so that if the latter is fourteen feet wide there will be twenty feet of clear space between ditches. the bottom of the ditch may vary in width from three to twelve inches, or even more, as may be found necessary in order to carry the largest amount of water which is expected to flow through it at any one time. sometimes the only ditches necessary to carry off the surface water are those made by the use of the road machines or road graders. the blade of the machine may be set at any desired angle, and when drawn along by horses, cuts into the surface and moves the earth from the sides toward the center, forming gutters alongside and distributing the earth uniformly over the traveled way. such gutters are liable to become clogged by brush, weeds, and other débris, or destroyed by passing wagons, and it is therefore better, when the space permits, to have the side ditches above referred to, even if the road be built with a road machine. in order to have a good road it is just as necessary that water should not be allowed to attack the substructure from below as that it should not be permitted to percolate through it from above. especially is the former provision essential in cold climates, where, if water is allowed to remain in the substructure, the whole roadway is liable to become broken up and destroyed by frost and the wheels of vehicles. therefore, where the road runs through low wet lands or over certain kinds of clayey soils, surface drainage is not all that is necessary. common side drains catch surface water and surface water only. isaac potter says: "many miles of road are on low, flat lands and on springy soils, and thousands of miles of prairie roads are, for many weeks in the year, laid on a wet subsoil. in all such cases, and, indeed, in every case where the nature of the ground is not such as to insure quick drainage, the road may be vastly benefited by under drainage. an under drain clears the soil of surplus water, dries it, warms it, and makes impossible the formation of deep, heavy, frozen crusts, which are found in every undrained road when the severe winter weather follows the heavy fall rains. this crust causes nine-tenths of the difficulties of travel in the time of sudden or long-continued thaws. "roads constructed over wet undrained lands are always difficult to manage and expensive to maintain, and they are liable to be broken up in wet weather or after frosts. it will be much cheaper in the long run to go to the expense of making the drainage of the subjacent soil and substructure as perfect as possible. there is scarcely an earth road in the united states which cannot be so improved by surface or subdrainage as to yield benefits to the farmers a hundred times greater in value than the cost of the drains themselves. "under drains are not expensive. on the contrary, they are cheap and easily made, and if made in a substantial way and according to the rules of common sense a good under drain will last for ages. use the best tools and materials you can get; employ them as well as you know how, and wait results with a clear conscience. slim fagots of wood bound together and laid lengthwise at the bottom of a carefully graded drain ditch will answer fairly well if stone or drain tile cannot be had, and will be of infinite benefit to a dirt road laid on springy soils." subdrains should be carefully graded with a level at the bottom to a depth of about four feet, and should have a continuous fall throughout their entire length of at least six inches for each one hundred feet in length. if tile drains cannot be had, large, flat stones may be carefully placed so as to form a clear, open passage at the bottom for the flow of the water. the ditch should then be half filled with rough field stones, and on these a layer of smaller stones or gravel and a layer of sod, hay, gravel, cinders, or straw, or, if none of these can be had, of soil. if field stones or drain tile cannot be procured, satisfactory results may be attained by the use of logs and brush. if there be springs in the soil which might destroy the stability of the road, they should, if possible, be tapped and the water carried under or along the side until it can be turned away into some side channel. such drains may be made of bundles of brush, field stones, brick, or drain tiles. they should be so protected by straw, sod, or brush as to prevent the soil from washing in and clogging them. most of the roads in this country are of necessity constructed of earth, while in a few of the richer and more enterprising communities the most important thoroughfares are surfaced with gravel, shell, stones, or other materials. unless some new system for the improvement of public roads is adopted, the inability of rural communities to raise funds for this purpose will necessarily cause the construction of hard roads to be very gradual for some time to come. until this new system is adopted the most important problem will be that of making the most of the roads which exist, rather than building new ones of specially prepared materials. the natural materials and the funds already available must be used with skill and judgment in order to secure the best results. the location, grades, and drainage having been treated in the preceding pages, the next and most important consideration is that of constructing and improving the various kinds of roads. of earth roads, as commonly built, it suffices to say that their present conditions should not be tolerated in communities where there are any other materials with which to improve them. earth is the poorest of all road materials, aside from sand, and earth roads require more attention than any other kind of roads, and as a rule get less. at best, they possess so many defects that they should have all the attention and care of which their condition is susceptible. with earth alone, however, a very passable road can be made, provided the principles of location, drainage, and shape of surface, together with that of keeping the surface as smooth and firm as possible by rolling, be strictly adhered to. in fact a good earth road is second to none for summer travel and superior to many of the so-called macadam or stone roads. "water is the great road destroyer," and too much attention cannot be given to the surface and subdrainage of earth roads. the material of which their surfaces are composed is more susceptible to the action of water and more easily destroyed by it than any other highway material. drainage alone will often change a bad road into a good one, while on the other hand the best road may be destroyed by the absence of good drains. the same can be said of rolling, which is a very important matter in attempting to build or maintain a satisfactory earth road. if loose earth is dumped into the middle of the road and consolidated by traffic, the action of the narrow-tired wheels cuts it or rolls it into uneven ruts and ridges, which hold water, and ultimately results, if in the winter season, in a sticky, muddy surface, or if it be in dry weather, in covering the surface with several inches of dust. if, however, the surface be prepared with a road machine and properly rolled with a heavy roller, it can usually be made sufficiently firm and smooth to sustain the traffic without rutting, and resist the penetrating action of the water. every road is made smoother, harder, and better by rolling. such rolling should be done in damp weather, or if that is not possible, the surface should be sprinkled if the character of the soil requires such aid for its proper consolidation. in constructing new earth roads all stumps, brush, vegetable matter, rocks, and bowlders should be removed from the surface and the resulting holes filled in with suitable material, carefully and thoroughly tamped or rolled, before the road embankment is commenced. no perishable material should be used in forming the permanent embankments. where possible the longitudinal grade should be kept down to one foot in thirty feet, and should under no circumstances exceed one in twenty, while that from center to sides should be maintained at one foot in twenty feet. wherever the subgrade soil is found unsuitable it should be removed and replaced with good material rolled to a bearing, _i.e._, so as to be smooth and compact. the roadbed, having been brought to the required grade and crown, should be rolled several times to compact the surface. all inequalities discovered during the rolling should be leveled up and rerolled. on the prepared subgrade, the earth should be spread, harrowed if necessary, and then rolled to a bearing by passing the unballasted road roller a number of times over every portion of the surface of the section. in level countries and with narrow roads, enough material may be excavated to raise the roadway above the subgrade in forming the side ditches by means of road machines. if not, the required earth should be obtained by widening the side excavations, or from cuttings on the line of the new roadway, or from pits close by, elevating graders and modern dumping or spreading wagons being preferably used for this purpose. when the earth is brought up to the final height, it is again harrowed, then trimmed by means of road levelers or road machines and ultimately rolled to a solid and smooth surface with road rollers gradually increased in weight by the addition of ballast. no filling should be brought up in layers exceeding nine inches in depth. during the rolling, sprinkling should be attended to wherever the character of the soil requires such aid. the cross section of the roadway must be maintained during the last rolling stage by the addition of earth as needed. on clay soils a layer of sand, gravel, or ashes spread on the roadway will prevent the sticking of the clay to the roller. as previously explained, the finishing touches to the road surface should be given by a heavy roller. before the earth road is opened to traffic, deep and wide side ditches should be constructed, with a fall throughout their entire length of at least one in one hundred and twenty. they should be cleaned and left with the drain tiling connections, if any, in good working order. clay soils, as a rule, absorb water quite freely and soften when saturated, but water does not readily pass through them; hence they are not easily subdrained. when used alone, clay is the least desirable of all road materials, but roads constructed over clay soils may be treated with sand or small gravel, from which a comparatively hard and compact mass is formed which is nearly impervious to water. material of this character found in the natural state, commonly known as hardpan, makes, when properly applied, a very solid and durable surface. in soil composed of a mixture of sand, gravel, and clay, all that is necessary to make a good road of its kind is to "crown" the surface, keep the ruts and hollows filled, and the ditches open and free. [illustration: sand clay road in richland county, south carolina [_sand soil with nine inches of clay and two inches cover of sand_]] roads are prone to wear in ruts, and when hollows and ruts begin to make their appearance on the surface of an earth road great care should be used in selecting new material, with which they should be immediately filled, because a hole which could have been filled at first with a shovel full of material would soon need a cart full. it should, if possible, be of a gravelly nature, entirely free from vegetable earth, muck, or mold. sod or turf should not be placed on the surface, neither should the surface be renewed by throwing upon it the worn-out material from the gutters alongside. the last injunction, if rightly observed and the proper remedy applied, would doubtless put an end to the deplorable condition of thousands of miles of earth roads in the united states. a road-maker should not go to the other extreme and fill up ruts and holes with stone or large gravel. in many cases it would be wiser to dump such material in the river. these stones do not wear uniformly with the rest of the material, but produce bumps and ridges, and in nearly every case result in making two holes instead of one. every hole or rut in a roadway, if not tamped full of some good material like that of which the road is constructed, will become filled with water, and finally with mud and water, and will be dug deeper and wider by each passing vehicle. the work of maintaining earth roads will be much increased by lack of care in properly finishing the work. the labor and money spent in rolling a newly-made road may save many times that amount of labor and money in making future repairs. after the material has been placed it should not be left for the traffic to consolidate, or for the rains to wash off into the ditches, but should be carefully formed and surfaced, and then, if possible, rolled. the rolling not only consolidates the material, but puts the roadbed in proper shape for travel immediately. if there is anything more trying on man or beast than to travel over an unimproved road, it must be to travel over one which has just been "worked" by the antiquated methods now in vogue in many of the states. the traveled way should never be repaired by the use of plows or scoops. the plow breaks up the compact surface which age and traffic have made tolerable. earth roads can be rapidly repaired by a judicious use of road machines and road rollers. the road machine places the material where it is most needed, and the roller compacts and keeps it there. the labor-saving machinery now manufactured for road-building is just as effectual and necessary as the modern mower, self-binder, and thrasher. road graders and rollers are the modern inventions necessary to permanent and economical construction. two men with two teams can build more road in one day with a grader and roller than fifty men can with picks and shovels, and do it more uniformly and more thoroughly. doubtless the best way to keep an earth road, or any road, for that matter, in repair is by the use of wide tires on all wagons carrying heavy burdens. water and narrow tires aid each other in destroying streets, macadam, gravel, and earth roads. narrow tires are also among the most destructive agents to the fields, pastures, and meadows of farms, while on the other hand wide tires are road-makers; they roll and harden the surface, and every loaded wagon becomes in effect a road roller. nothing so much tends to the improving of a road as the continued rolling of its surface. tests recently made at the experiment stations in utah and missouri show that wide tires not only improve the surface of roads, but that under ordinary circumstances less power is required to pull a wagon on which wide tires are used. the introduction in recent years of a wide metallic tire which can be placed on any narrow-tired wheel at the cost of two dollars each, has removed one very serious objection to the proposed substitution of broad tires for the narrow ones now in use. repairs on earth roads should be attended to particularly in the spring of the year, but the great mistake of letting all the repairs go until that time should rot be made. the great want of the country road is daily care, and the sooner we do away with the system of "working out" our road taxes, and pay such taxes in money, the sooner will it be possible to build improved roads and to hire experts to keep them constantly in good repair. roads could then secure attention when such attention is most needed. if they are repaired only annually or semiannually they are seldom in good condition but when they are given daily or weekly care they are almost always in good condition, and, moreover, the second method costs far less than the first. a portion of all levy tax money raised for road purposes should be used in buying improved road machinery, and in constructing each year a few miles of improved stone or gravel roads. the only exceptions to the instructions given on road drainage are found in the attempt to improve a sand road. the more one improves the drainage of a sand road the more deplorable becomes its condition. nothing will ruin one quicker than to dig a ditch on each side and drain all the water away. the best way to make such a road firm is to keep it constantly damp. very bushy or shady trees alongside such roads prevent the evaporation of water. the usual way of mending roads which run over loose sandy soils is to cover the surface with tough clay or mix the clay and sand together. this is quite an expensive treatment if the clay has to be transported a great distance, but the expense may be reduced by improving only eight or ten feet or half of the roadway. any strong, fibrous substance, and especially one which holds moisture, such as the refuse of sugar cane or sorghum, and even common straw, flax, or swamp grass, will be useful. spent tan is of some service, and wood fiber in any form is excellent. the best is the fibrous sawdust made in sawing shingles by those machines which cut lengthwise of the fiber into the side of the block. sawdust is first spread on the road from eight to ten inches deep, and this is covered with sand to protect the road against fire lighted from pipes or cigars carelessly thrown or emptied on the roadbed. the sand also keeps the sawdust damp. the dust and sand soon become hard and packed, and the wheels of the heaviest wagons make but little impression upon the surface. the roadbed appears to be almost as solid as a plank road, but is much easier for the teams. the road prepared in this manner will remain good for four or five years and will then require renewing in some parts. the ordinary lumber sawdust would not be so good, of course, but if mixed with planer shavings might serve fairly well. roads built of poles or logs laid across the roadway are called corduroy roads, because of their corrugated or ribbed appearance. like earth roads, they should never be built where it is possible to secure any other good material; but, as is frequently the case in swampy, timbered regions, other material is unavailable, and as the road would be absolutely impassable without them at certain seasons of the year, it is well to know how to make them. roads of this character should be fifteen or sixteen feet wide, so as to enable wagons to pass each other. logs are superior to poles for this purpose and should be used if possible. the following in regard to the construction of corduroy roads is from gilmore's _roads, streets, and pavements_: "the logs are all cut the same length, which should be that of the required width of the road, and in laying them down such care in selection should be exercised as will give the smallest joints or openings between them. in order to reduce as much as possible the resistance to draft and the violence of the repeated shocks to which vehicles are subjected upon these roads, and also to render its surface practicable for draft animals, it is customary to level up between the logs with smaller pieces of the same length but split to a triangular cross section. these are inserted with edges downward in the open joints, so as to bring their surface even with the upper sides of the large logs, or as nearly so as practicable. "upon the bed thus prepared a layer of brushwood is put, with a few inches in thickness, with soil or turf on top to keep it in place. this completes the road. the logs are laid directly upon the natural surface of the soil, those of the same or nearly of the same diameter being kept together, and the top covering of soil is excavated from side ditches. "cross drains may usually be omitted in roads of this kind, as the openings between the logs, even when laid with utmost care, will furnish more than ample water way for drainage from the ditch on the upper to that on the lower side of the road. when the passage of a creek of considerable volume is to be provided for, and in localities subject to freshets, cross drains or culverts are made wherever necessary by the omission of two or more logs, the openings being bridged with planks, split rails, or poles laid transversely to the axis of the road and resting on cross beams notched into the logs on either side." the essential requirement of a good road is that it should be firm and unyielding at all times and in all kinds of weather, so that its surface may be smooth and impervious to water. earth roads at best fulfil none of these requirements, unless they be covered with some artificial material. on a well-made gravel road one horse can draw twice as large a load as he can on a well-made earth road. on a hard smooth stone road one horse can pull as much as four horses will on a good earth road. if larger loads can be hauled and better time made on good hard roads than on good earth ones, the area and the number of people benefited are increased in direct proportion to the improvement of their surface. moreover, it is evident that a farm four or five miles from the market or shipping point located on or near a hard road is virtually nearer the market than one situated only two or three miles away, but located on a soft and yielding road. hard roads are divided here into three classes--gravel, shell, and stone. although it is impracticable, and in many cases impossible, for communities to build good stone roads, a surface of gravel may frequently be used to advantage, giving far better results than could be attained by the use of earth alone. where beds of good gravel are available this is the simplest, cheapest, and most effective method of improving country roads. [illustration: gravel road near soldiers' home, district of columbia] in connection with the building and maintenance of gravel roads the most important matter to consider is that of selecting the proper material. a small proportion of argillaceous sand, clayey, or earthy matter contained in some gravel enables it to pack readily and consolidate under traffic or the road roller. seaside and river gravel, which is composed usually of rounded, waterworn pebbles, is unfit for surfacing roads. the small stones of which they are composed, having no angular projections or sharp edges, easily move or slide against each other, and will not bind together, and even when mixed with clay may turn freely, causing the whole surface to be loose, like materials in a shaken sieve. inferior qualities of gravel can sometimes be used for foundations; but where it becomes necessary to employ such material even for that purpose it is well to mix just enough sandy or clayey loam to bind it firmly together. for the wearing surface or the top layer the pebbles should, if possible, be comparatively clean, hard, angular, and tough, so that they will readily consolidate and will not be easily pulverized by the impact of traffic, into dust and mud. they should be coarse, varying in size from half an inch to an inch and one-half. where blue gravel or hardpan and clean bank gravel are procurable, a good road may be made by mixing the two together. pit gravel or gravel dug from the earth as a rule contains too much earthy matter. this may, however, be removed by sifting. for this purpose two sieves are necessary, through which the gravel should be thrown. the meshes of one sieve should be one and one-half or two inches in diameter, while the meshes of the other should be three-fourths of an inch. all pebbles which will not go through the one and one-half inch meshes should be rejected or broken so that they will go through. all material which sifts through the three-fourths inch meshes should be rejected for the road, but may be used in making side paths. the excellent road which can be built from materials prepared in this way is so far superior to the one made of the natural clayey material that the expense and trouble of sifting is many times repaid. the best gravel for road-building stands perpendicular in the bank; that is, when the pit has been opened up the remainder stands compact and firm and cannot be dislodged except by use of the pick, and when it gives way falls in great chunks or solid masses. such material usually contains tough angular gravel with just enough cementing properties to enable it to readily pack and consolidate, and requires no further treatment than to place it properly on the prepared roadbed. some earth roads may be greatly improved by covering the surface with a layer of three or four inches of gravel, and sometimes even a thinner layer may prove of very great benefit if kept in proper repair. the subsoil of such roadway ought, however, to be well drained, or of a light and porous nature. roads constructed over clay soils require a layer of at least six inches of gravel. the gravel must be deep enough to prevent the weight of traffic forcing the surface material into weak places in the clay beneath, and also to prevent the surface water from percolating through and softening the clay and causing the whole roadway to be torn up. owing to a lack of knowledge regarding construction, indifference, or carelessness in building or improving, roads made of gravel are often very much worse than they ought to be. some of them are made by simply dumping the material into ruts, mud holes, or gutter-like depressions, or on unimproved foundation, and are left thus for traffic to consolidate, while others are made by covering the surface with inferior material without any attention being paid to the fundamental principles of drainage. as a result of such thoughtless and haphazard methods the road usually becomes rougher and more completely covered with holes than before. in constructing a gravel road the roadbed should first be brought to the proper grade. ordinarily an excavation is then made to the depth of eight to ten inches, varying in width with the requirements of traffic. for a farm or farming community the width need not be greater than ten or twelve feet. a roadway which is too wide is not only useless, but the extra width is a positive damage. any width beyond that needed for the traffic is not only a waste of money in constructing the road, but is the cause of a never-ending expense in maintaining it. the surface of the roadbed should preferably have a fall from the center to the sides the same as that to be given the finished road, and should, if possible, be thoroughly rolled and consolidated until perfectly smooth and firm. a layer, not thicker than four inches, of good gravel, such as that recommended above, should then be spread evenly over the prepared roadbed. such material is usually carried upon a road in wheelbarrows or dump carts, and then spread in even layers with rakes, but the latest and best device for this purpose is a spreading cart. if a roller cannot be had, the road is thrown open to traffic until it becomes fairly well consolidated; but it is impossible properly to consolidate materials by the movement of vehicles over the road, and if this means is pursued constant watchfulness is necessary to prevent unequal wear and to keep the surface smooth and free from ruts. the work may be hastened and facilitated by the use of a horse roller or light steam roller; and of course far better results can be accomplished by this means. if the gravel be too dry to consolidate easily it should be kept moist by sprinkling. it should not, however, be made too wet, as any earthy or clayey matter in the gravel is liable to be dissolved. as soon as the first layer has been properly consolidated, a second, third, and, if necessary, fourth layer, each three or four inches in thickness, is spread on and treated in the same manner, until the road is built up to the required thickness and cross section. the thickness in most cases need not be greater than ten or twelve inches, and the fall from the center to the sides ought not to be greater than one foot in twenty feet, or less than one in twenty-five. the last or surface layer should be rolled until the wheels of heavily loaded vehicles passing over it make no visible impression. if the top layer is deficient in binding material and will not properly consolidate, a thin layer, not exceeding one inch in thickness, of sand or gravelly loam or clay, should be evenly spread on and slightly sprinkled if in dry weather, before the rolling is begun. hardpan or stone screenings are much preferred for this purpose if they can be had. the tendency of material to spread under the roller and work toward the sides can be resisted by rolling that portion nearest the gutters first. to give the surface the required form and to secure uniform density, it is necessary at times to employ men with rakes to fill any depressions which may form. in order to maintain a gravel road in good condition, it is well to keep piles of gravel alongside at frequent intervals, so that the person who repairs the road can get the material without going too far for it. as soon as ruts or holes appear on the surface some of this good fresh material should be added and tamped into position or kept raked smooth until properly consolidated. if the surface needs replenishing or rounding up, as is frequently the case with new roads after considerable wear, the material should be applied in sections or patches, raked and rolled until hard and smooth. care must be taken that the water from higher places does not drain upon or run across the road. the side ditches, culverts, and drains should be kept open and free from débris. in many of the eastern and southern states road stones do not exist; neither is it possible to secure good coarse gravel. no such material can be secured except at such an expense for freight as to practically preclude its use for road-building. oyster shells can be secured cheaply in most of these states, and when applied directly upon sand or sandy soil, eight or ten inches in thickness, they form excellent roads for pleasure driving and light traffic. shells wear much more rapidly than broken stone or gravel of good quality, and consequently roads made of them require more constant attention to keep them in good order. in most cases they should have an entirely new surface every three or four years. when properly maintained they possess many of the qualities found in good stone or gravel roads, and so far as beauty is concerned they cannot be surpassed. the greatest obstacles to good stone road construction in most places in the united states are the existing methods of building and systems of management, whereby millions of dollars are annually wasted in improper construction or in making trifling repairs on temporary structures. [illustration: oyster-shell object-lesson road [_in course of construction, near mobile, alabama_]] the practice of using too soft, too brittle, or rotten material on roads cannot be too severely condemned. some people seem to think that if a stone quarries easily, breaks easily, and packs readily, it is the very best stone for road-building. this practice, together with that of placing the material on unimproved foundations and leaving it thus for traffic to consolidate, has done a great deal to destroy the confidence of many people in stone roads. there is no reason in the world why a road should not last for ages if it is built of good material and kept in proper repair. if this is not done, the money spent is more than wasted. it is more economical, as a rule, to bring good materials a long distance by rail or water than to employ inferior ones procured close at hand. the durability of roads depends largely upon the power of the materials of which they are composed to resist those natural and artificial forces which are constantly acting to destroy them. the fragments of which they are constructed are liable to be attacked in cold climates by frost, and in all climates by water and wind. if composed of stone or gravel, the particles are constantly grinding against each other and being exposed to the impact of the tires of vehicles and the feet of animals. atmospheric agencies are also at work decomposing and disintegrating the material. it is obviously necessary, therefore, that great care be exercised in selecting for the surfacing of roads those stones which are less liable to be destroyed or decomposed by these physical, dynamical, and chemical forces. siliceous materials, those composed of flint or quartz, although hard, are brittle and deficient in toughness. granite is not desirable because it is composed of three materials of different natures, viz., quartz, feldspar, and mica, the first of which is brittle, the second liable to decompose rapidly, and the third laminable or of a scaly or layerlike nature. some granites which contain hornblende instead of feldspar are desirable. the darker the variety the better. gneiss, which is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, more or less distinctly slaty, is inferior to granite. mica-slate stones are altogether useless. the argillaceous slates or clayey slates make a smooth surface, but one which is easily destroyed when wet. the sandstones are utterly useless for road-building. the tougher limestones are very good, but the softer ones, though they bind and make a smooth surface very quickly, are too weak for heavy loads; they wear, wash, and blow away very rapidly. the materials employed for surfacing roads should be both hard and tough, and should possess by all means cementing and recementing qualities. for the southern states, where there are no frosts to contend with, the best qualities of limestone are considered quite satisfactory so far as the cementing and recementing qualities are concerned; but in most cases roads of this class of material do not stand the wear and tear of traffic like those built of trap rock, and when exposed to the severe northern winters such material disintegrates very rapidly. in fact, trap rock, "nigger heads," technically known as diabase, and diorites, are considered by most road engineers of long experience to be the very best stones for road-building. trap rocks as a rule possess all the qualities most desired for road stones. they are hard and tough, and when properly broken to small sizes and rolled thoroughly, cement and consolidate into a smooth, hard crust which is impervious to water, and the broken particles are so heavy that they are not readily broken or washed away. unfortunately the most useful stones for road-building are the most difficult to prepare, and as trap rocks are harder to break than any other stones they usually cost more. the foundation or lower courses may be formed of some of the softer stones like gneiss or limestone, but trap rock should be used for the wearing surface, if possible, even if it has to be brought from a distance. as to the construction of macadam roads, mr. potter says: "in the construction of a macadam road in any given locality, the question of economy generally compels us to use a material found near at hand, and where a local quarry does not exist field stone and stone gathered from the beds of rivers and small streams may often be made to serve every purpose. many of the stones and boulders thus obtained are of trap rock, and in general it may be said that all hard field and river stones, if broken to a proper size, will make fairly good and sometimes very excellent road metal. no elaborate test is required to determine the hardness of any given specimen. a steel hammer in the hands of an intelligent workman will reveal in a general way the relative degree of toughness of two or more pieces of rock. field and river stone offer an additional advantage in that they are quickly handled, are generally of convenient size, and are more readily broken either by hand or by machine than most varieties of rock which are quarried in the usual way. "it is a simple task to break stone for macadam roadways, and by the aid of modern inventions it can be done cheaply and quickly. hand-broken stone is fairly out of date and is rarely used in america where any considerable amount of work is to be undertaken. stone may be broken by hand at different points along the roadside where repairs are needed from time to time, but the extra cost of production by this method forbids its being carried on where extended work is undertaken. hand-broken stone is generally more uniform in size, more nearly cubical in shape, and has sharper angles than that broken by machinery, but the latter, when properly assorted or screened, has been found to meet every requirement. "a good crusher driven by eight horsepower will turn out from forty to eighty cubic yards of two-inch stone per day of ten hours, and will cost from four hundred dollars upward, according to quality. "some crushers are made either stationary, semistationary, or portable, according to the needs of the purchaser, and for country-road work it is sometimes very desirable to have a portable crusher to facilitate its easy transfer from one part of the township to another. the same portable engine that is used in thrashing, sawing wood, and other operations requiring the use of steam power may be used in running a stone crusher, but it is best to remember that a crusher will do its best and most economical work when run by a machine having a horsepower somewhat in excess of the power actually required. "as the stone comes from the breaker the pieces will be found to show a considerable variety in size, and by many practical road-makers it is regarded as best that these sizes should be assorted and separated, since each has its particular use. to do this work by hand would be troublesome and expensive, and screens are generally employed for that purpose. screens are not absolutely necessary, and many road-makers do not use them; but they insure uniformity in size of pieces, and uniformity means in many cases superior wear, smoothness, and economy. most of the screens in common use today are of the rotary kind. in operating they are generally so arranged that the product of the crusher falls directly into the rotary screen, which revolves on an inclined axis and empties the separate pieces into small bins below the crusher. a better form for many purposes includes a larger and more elaborate outfit, in which the stone is carried by an elevator to the screen and by the screen emptied into separate bins according to the respective sizes. from the bins it is easily loaded into wagons or spreading carts and hauled to any desired point along the line of the road. "the size to which stone should be broken depends upon the quality of the stone, the amount of traffic to which the road will be subjected, and to some extent upon the manner in which the stone is put in place. if a hard, tough stone is employed it may be broken into rough cubes or pieces of about one and a half inches in largest face dimensions, and when broken to such a size the product of the crusher may generally be used to good advantage without the trouble of screening, since dust 'tailings' and fine stuff do not accumulate in large quantities in the breaking of the tougher stone. "if only moderate traffic is to be provided for, the harder limestones may be broken so the pieces will pass through a two-inch ring, though sizes running from two and a quarter to two and a half inches will insure a more durable roadway, and if a steam roller is used in compacting the metal it will be brought to a smooth surface without much trouble. as a rule, it may be said that to adhere closely to a size running from two and a quarter to two and a half inches in largest face dimensions, and to use care in excluding too large a proportion of small stuff as well as all pieces of excessive size, will insure a satisfactory and durable macadam road." macadam insisted that no large stone should ever be employed in road-making, and, indeed, most modern road builders practice his principle that "small angular fragments are the cardinal requirements." as a general rule it has been stated that no stone larger than a walnut should be used for the surfacing of roads. stone roads are built in most cases according to the principles laid down by john l. macadam, while some are built by the methods advocated by telford. the most important difference between these two principles of construction relates to the propriety or necessity of a paved foundation beneath the crust of broken stone. telford advocated this principle, while macadam strongly denied its advantages. in building roads very few iron-clad rules can be laid down for universal application; skill and judgment must be exercised in designing and building each road so that it will best meet the requirements of the place it is to occupy. the relative value of the telford and macadam systems can most always be determined by the local circumstances, conditions, and necessities under which the road is to be built. the former system seems to have the advantage in swampy, wet places, or where the soil is in strata varying in hardness, or where the foundation is liable to get soft in spots. under most other circumstances experienced road builders prefer the macadam construction, not only because it is considered best, but also because it is much cheaper. the macadam road consists of a mass of angular fragments of rock deposited usually in layers upon the roadbed or prepared foundation and consolidated to a smooth, hard surface produced by the passage of vehicles or by use of a road roller. the thickness of this crust varies with the soil, the nature of the stone used, and the amount of traffic which the road is expected to have. it should be so thick that the greatest load will not affect the foundation. the weight usually comes upon a very small part of the surface, but is spread over a large area of the foundation, and the thicker the crust the more uniformly will the load be distributed over the foundation. macadam earnestly advocated the principle that all artificial road-building depended wholly for its success upon the making and maintaining of a solid dry foundation and the covering of this foundation with a durable waterproof coating or roof of broken stone. the foundation must be solid and firm; if it be otherwise the crust is useless. a road builder should always remember that without a durable foundation there is no durable road. hundreds of miles of macadam roads are built in the united states each year on unimproved or unstable foundations and almost as many miles go to pieces for this same reason. says macadam: "the stone is employed to form a secure, smooth, water-tight flooring, over which vehicles may pass with safety and expedition at all seasons of the year. its thickness should be regulated only by the quality of the material necessary to form such a flooring and not at all by any consideration as to its own independent power of bearing weight.... the erroneous idea that the evils of an underdrained, wet, clayey soil can be remedied by a large quantity of materials has caused a large part of the costly and unsuccessful expenditures in making stone roads." the evils from improper construction of stone roads are even greater than those resulting from the use of improper material. macadam never intended that a heterogeneous conglomeration of stones and mud should be called a macadam road. the mistake is often made of depositing broken stone on an old road without first preparing a suitable foundation. the result, in most cases, is that the dirt and mud prevent the stone from packing and by the action of traffic ooze to the surface, while the stones sink deeper and deeper, leaving the road as bad as before. another great mistake is often made of spreading large and small stones over a well-graded and well-drained foundation and leaving them thus for traffic to consolidate. the surface of a road left in this manner is often kept in constant turmoil by the larger stones, which work themselves to the surface and are knocked hither and thither by the wheels of vehicles and the feet of animals. these plans of construction cannot be too severely condemned. the roadbed should be first graded, then carefully surface-drained. the earth should then be excavated to the depth to which material is to be spread on and the foundation properly shaped and sloped each way from the center so as to discharge any water which may percolate through. this curvature should conform to the curvature of the finished road. a shouldering of firm earth or gravel should be left or made on each side to hold the material in place, and should extend to the gutters at the same curvature as the finished road. the foundation should then be rolled until hard and smooth. upon this bed spread a layer of five or six inches of broken stone, which stone should be free from any earthy mixture. this layer should be thoroughly rolled until compact and firm. stone may be hauled from the stone-crusher bins or from the stone piles in ordinary wheelbarrows or from wagons, and should be distributed broadcast over the surface with shovels, and all inequalities leveled up by the use of rakes. if this method of spreading is employed, grade stakes should be used so as to insure a uniformity of thickness. after the stakes are driven the height of the layer is marked on their sides, and if thought necessary a piece of stout cord is stretched from stake to stake, showing the exact height to which the layer should be spread. spreading carts have been recently invented which not only place the stone where it is needed without the use of shovels, but spread it on in layers of any desired thickness and at the same time several inches wider than the carts themselves. if the stones have been separated into two or three different sizes, the largest size should compose the bottom layer, the next size the second layer, etc. the surface of each course or layer should be thoroughly and repeatedly rolled and sprinkled until it becomes firm, compact, and smooth. the first layer, however, should not be sprinkled, as the water is liable to soften the foundation. the rolling ought to be done along the side lines first, gradually working toward the center as the job is being completed. in rolling the last course it is well to begin by rolling first the shoulderings or the side roads if such exist. a coat of three-quarter inch stone and screenings, of sufficient thickness to make a smooth and uniform surface, should compose the last course, and, like the other layers, should be rolled until perfectly firm and smooth. as a final test of perfection, a small stone placed on the surface will be crushed before being driven into the material. if none of the stones used be larger than will pass through a two-inch ring, they can be spread on in layers as above described without separating them by screens. water and binding material--stone screenings or good packing gravel--can be added if found necessary for proper consolidation. earth or clay should never be used for a binding material. enough water should be sprinkled on to wash in and fill all voids between the broken stones with binding material and to leave such material damp enough to insure a set. if a road is built of tough, hard stone, and if the binding material has the same characteristics, a steam roller is essential for speedy results. a horse roller may be used to good advantage if the softer varieties of stone are employed. for general purposes a roller weighing from eight to twelve tons is all that is necessary. heavier weights are difficult to handle upon unimproved surfaces unless they be constructed like the addison roller, the weight of which can be increased or lightened at will by filling the drum with water or drawing the water out. this roller can be made to weigh as much as eight tons and, like several other very excellent ones now on the market, is provided with anti-friction roller bearings, which lighten the draft considerably. every stone road, unless properly built with small stones and just enough binding material to fill the voids, presents a honeycombed appearance. in fact, a measure containing two cubic feet of broken stone will hold in addition one cubic foot of water, and a cubic yard of broken macadam will weigh just about one-half as much as a solid cubic yard of the same kind of stone. isaac potter says: "to insure a solid roadway and to fill the large proportion of voids or interstices between the different pieces of broken stone, some finer material must be introduced into the structure of the roadway, and this material is usually called a binder, or by some road-makers a 'filler.' "there used to be much contention regarding the use of binding material in the making of a macadam road, but it is now conceded by nearly all practical and experienced road-makers, both in europe and america, that the use of a binding material is essential to the proper construction of a good macadam road. it adds to its solidity, insures tightness by closing all of the spaces between the loose, irregular stones, and binds together the macadam crust in a way that gives it firmness, elasticity, and durability." binding material to produce the best results should be equal in hardness and toughness with the road stone; the best results are therefore obtained by using screenings or spalls from the broken stone used. coarse sand and gravel can sometimes be used with impunity as a binder, but the wisdom of using loam or clay is very much questioned. when the latter material is used for a binder the road is apt to become very dusty in dry weather, and sticky, muddy, and rutty in wet weather. the character of the foundation should never take the place of proper drainage. the advisability of underground or subdrainage should always be carefully considered where the road is liable to be attacked from beneath by water. in most cases good subdrains will so dry the foundation out that the macadam construction can be resorted to. sometimes, however, thorough drainage is difficult or doubtful, and in such cases it is desirable to adopt some heavy construction like the telford; and, furthermore, the difficulty of procuring perfectly solid and reliable roadbeds in many places is often overcome by the use of this system. in making a telford road the surface for the foundation is prepared in the same manner as for a macadam road. a layer of broken stone is then placed on the roadbed from five to eight inches in depth, depending upon the thickness to be given the finished road. as a rule this foundation should form about two-thirds of the total thickness of the material. the stone used for the first layer may vary in thickness from two to four inches and in length from eight to twelve inches. the thickness of the upper edges of the stones should not exceed four inches. they are set by hand on their broadest edges lengthwise across the road, breaking joints as much as possible. all projecting points are then broken off and the interstices or cracks filled with stone chips, and the whole structure wedged and consolidated into a solid and complete pavement. upon this pavement layers of broken stones are spread and treated in the same way as for a macadam road. stone roads should be frequently scraped, so as to remove all dust and mud. nothing destroys a stone road quicker than dust or mud. the hand method of scraping with a hoe is considered best. no matter how carefully adjusted the machinery built for this purpose may be, it is liable to ravel a road by loosening some of the stones. the gutters and surface drains should be kept open, so that all water falling upon the road or on the adjacent ground may promptly flow away. says spalding, a road authority: "if the road metal be of soft material which wears easily, it will require constant supervision and small repairs whenever a rut or depression may appear. material of this kind binds readily with new material that may be added, and may in this manner frequently be kept in good condition without great difficulty, while if not attended to at once when wear begins to show it will very rapidly increase, to the great detriment of the road. in making repairs by this method the material is commonly placed a little at a time and compacted by passing vehicles. the material used for this purpose should be the same as that of the road surface and not fine material, which would soon reduce to powder under the loads which come upon it. by careful attention to minute repairs in this manner a surface may be kept in good condition until it wears so thin as to require renewal. "in case the road be of harder material, that will not so readily combine when a thin coating is added, repairs may not be frequent, as the surface will not wear so rapidly, and immediate attention is not so important. it is usually more satisfactory in this case to make more extensive repairs at one time, as a larger quantity of material added at once may be more readily compacted to a uniform surface, the repairs taking the form of an additional layer upon the road. "where the material of the road surface is very hard and durable, a well-constructed road may wear quite evenly and require hardly any attention, beyond ordinary small repairs, until worn out. it is now usually considered the best practice to leave such a road to itself until it wears very thin, and then renew it by an entirely new layer of broken stone placed on the worn surface and without in any way disturbing that surface. "if a thin layer only of material is to be added at one time, in order that it may unite firmly with the upper layer of the road, it is usually necessary to break the bond of the surface material before placing the new layer, either by picking it up by hand or by a steam roller with short spikes in its surface, if such a machine is at hand. care should be taken in doing this, however, that only the surface layer be loosened and that the solidity of the body of the road be not disturbed, as might be the case if the spikes are too long." in repairing roads the time-honored custom of waiting until the road has lost its shape or until the surface has become filled with holes or ruts should never be tolerated. much good material is wasted by spreading a thick coat over such a road and leaving it thus for passing vehicles to consolidate. the material necessary to replace defects in a road should be added when the necessities arise and should be of the best quality and the smallest possible quantity. if properly laid in small patches the inconvenience to traffic will be scarcely perceptible. if such repairs are made in damp weather, as they ought to be, little or no difficulty is experienced in getting a layer of stone to consolidate properly. if mud fills the rut or hole to be repaired, it should be carefully removed before the material is placed. wide tires should be used on all heavy vehicles which traverse stone roads. a four or five inch stone or gravel road will last longer without repair when wide tires are used than an eight or ten inch road of the same material on which narrow tires are used. not only should brush and weeds be removed from the roadside, but grass should be sown, trees planted, and a side path or walk be prepared for the use of pedestrians, especially women and children, going to and coming from church, school, and places of business and amusement. country roads can be made far more useful and attractive than they usually are, and this may be secured by the expenditure of only a small amount of labor and money. although such improvements are not necessary, they make the surroundings attractive and inviting and add to the value of property and the pleasure of the traveler. if trees are planted alongside the road they should be far enough back to admit the wind and sun. most strong growing trees are apt to extend their roots under the gutters and even beneath the roadway if they are planted too close to the roadside. even if they be planted at a safe distance those varieties should be selected which send their roots downward rather than horizontally. the most useful and beautiful tree corresponding with these requirements is the chestnut, while certain varieties of the pear, cherry, and mulberry answer the same purpose. where there is no danger of roots damaging the subdrainage or the substructure of the road, some other favorite varieties would be elms, rock maples, horse-chestnuts, beeches, pines, and cedars. climate, variety of species selected, and good judgment will determine the distance between such trees. elms should be thirty feet apart, while the less spreading varieties need not be so far. the trunks should be trimmed to a considerable height, so as to admit the sun and air. fruit trees are planted along the roadsides in germany and switzerland, while mulberry trees may be seen along the roads in france, serving the twofold purpose of food for silkworms and shade. if some of our many varieties of useful, fruitful, and beautiful trees were planted along the roads in this country, and if some means could be devised for protecting the product, enough revenue could be derived therefrom to pay for the maintenance of the road along which they throw their grateful shade. the improvement of country roads is chiefly an economical question, relating principally to the waste of effort in hauling over bad roads, the saving in money, time, and energy in hauling over good ones, the initial cost of improving roads, and the difference in the cost of maintaining good and bad ones. it is not necessary to enlarge on this subject in order to convince the average reader that good roads reduce the resistance to traffic, and consequently the cost of transportation of products and goods to and from farms and markets is reduced to a minimum. the initial cost of a road depends upon the cost of materials, labor, machinery, the width and depth to which the material is to be spread on, and the method of construction. all these things vary so much in the different states that it is impossible to name the exact amount for which a mile of a certain kind of road can be built. the introduction in recent years of improved road-building machinery has enabled the authorities in some of the states to build improved stone and gravel roads quite cheaply. first-class single-track stone roads, nine feet wide, have been built near canandaigua, new york, for $ to $ , per mile. many excellent gravel roads have been built in new jersey for $ , to $ , per mile. the material of which they were constructed was placed on in two layers, each being raked and thoroughly rolled, and the whole mass consolidated to a thickness of eight inches. in the same state macadam roads have been built, for $ , to $ , per mile, varying in width from nine to twenty feet and in thickness of material from four to twelve inches. telford roads fourteen feet wide and ten to twelve inches thick have been built in new jersey for $ , to $ , per mile. macadam roads have been built at bridgeport and fairfield, connecticut, eighteen to twenty feet wide, for $ , to $ , per mile. a telford road sixteen feet wide and twelve inches thick was built at fanwood, new jersey, for $ , per mile. macadam roads have been built in rhode island, sixteen to twenty feet wide, for $ , to $ , per mile. massachusetts roads are costing all the way from $ , to $ , per mile. a mile of broken stone road, fifteen feet wide, costs in the state of massachusetts about $ , per mile, while a mile of the same width and kind of road costs in the state of new jersey only $ , . this is due partly to the fact that the topography of massachusetts is somewhat rougher than that of new jersey, necessitating the reduction of many steep grades and the building of expensive retaining walls and bridges, and partly to the difference in methods of construction and the difference in prices of materials, labor, etc. doubtless the state of new jersey is building more roads and better roads for less money per mile than any other state in the union. its roads are now costing from twenty to seventy cents per square yard. where the telford construction is used they sometimes cost as much as seventy-three cents per square yard. the average cost of all classes of the roads of that state during the last season was about fifty cents per square yard. the stone was, as a rule, spread on to a depth of nine inches, which, after rolling, gave a depth of about eight inches. at this rate a single-track road eight feet wide costs about $ , per mile, while a double-track road fourteen feet wide costs about $ , per mile, and one eighteen feet wide costs about $ , per mile. where the material is spread on so as to consolidate to a four-inch layer the eight-foot road will cost about $ , per mile, the fourteen-foot road about $ , per mile, while the one eighteen feet wide will cost about $ , per mile. [illustration: earth and macadam roads [_built by convict labor in mecklenburg county, north carolina_]] the total cost of maintaining roads in good order ranges, on account of varying conditions, between as wide limits almost as the initial cost of construction. suffice it to say that all money spent on repairing earth roads becomes each year a total loss without materially improving their condition. they are, as a rule, the most expensive roads that can be used, while on the other hand stone roads, if properly constructed of good material and kept in perfect condition, are the most satisfactory, the cheapest, and most economical roads that can be constructed. the road that will best suit the needs of the farmer, in the first place, must not be too costly; and, in the second place, must be of the very best kind, for farmers should be able to do their heavy hauling over them when their fields are too wet to work and their teams would otherwise be idle. the best road for the farmer, all things being considered, is a solid, well-built stone road, so narrow as to be only a single track, but having a firm earth road on one or both sides. where the traffic is not very extensive the purposes of good roads are better served by narrow tracks than by wide ones, while many of the objectionable features of wide tracks are removed, the initial cost of construction is cut down one-half or more, and the charges for repair reduced in proportion. footnotes: [ ] by hon. maurice o. eldridge, assistant director office of public road inquiries. chapter iv the selection of materials for macadam roads[ ] no one rock can be said to be a universally excellent road material. the climatic conditions vary so much in different localities, and the volume and character of traffic vary so much on different roads, that the properties necessary to meet all the requirements can be found in no one rock. if the best macadam road be desired, that material should be selected which best meets the conditions of the particular road for which it is intended. the movement for better country roads which has received such an impetus from the bicycle organizations is still felt, and is gaining force from the rapid introduction of horseless vehicles. to this demand, which comes in a large measure from the urban population, is to be added that of the farmer, who is wakening to the fact that good roads greatly increase the profits from his farm produce, and thus materially better his condition; and to the farmer, indeed, we must look for any real improvement in our country roads. in considering the comparative values of different rocks for road-building, it must be taken for granted in all cases that the road is properly laid out, constructed, and maintained. for if this is not the case, only inferior results can be expected, no matter how good the material may be. in most cases the selection of a material for road-making is determined more by its cheapness and convenience of location than by any properties it may possess. but when we consider the number of roads all over our country which are bad from neglect and from obsolete methods of maintenance that would be much improved by the use of any rock, this regard for economy is not to be entirely deprecated. at the same time, as a careless selection leads to costly and inferior results, too much care cannot be used in selecting the proper material when good roads are desired at the lowest cost. when macadam roads are first introduced into a district they are at worst so far superior to the old earth roads that the question is rarely asked, whether, if another material had been used, better roads would not have been obtained, and this at a smaller cost. when mistakes are made they are not generally discovered until much time and money have been expended on inferior roads. such errors can in a great measure be avoided if reasonable care is taken in the selection of a suitable material. to select a material in a haphazard way, without considering the needs of the particular road on which it is to be used, is not unlike an ill person taking the nearest medicine at hand, without reference to the nature of the malady or the properties of the drug. if a road is bad, the exact trouble must first be ascertained before the proper remedy can be applied. if the surface of a macadam road continues to be too muddy or dusty after the necessary drainage precautions have been followed, then the rock of which it is constructed lacks sufficient hardness or toughness to meet the traffic to which it is subjected. if, on the contrary, the fine binding material of the surface is carried off by wind and rain and is not replaced by the wear of the coarser fragments, the surface stones will soon loosen and allow water to make its way freely to the foundation and bring about the destruction of the road. such conditions are brought about by an excess of hardness or toughness of the rock for the traffic. under all conditions a rock of high cementing value is desirable; for, other things being equal, such a rock better resists the wear of traffic and the action of wind and rain. this subject, however, will be referred to again. until comparatively recent years but little was known of the relative values of the different varieties of rock as road material, and good results were obtained more by chance and general observation than through any special knowledge of the subject. these conditions, however, do not obtain at present, for the subject has received a great deal of careful study, and a fairly accurate estimate can be made of the fitness of a rock for any conditions of climate and traffic. in road-building the attempt should be made to get a perfectly smooth surface, not too hard, too slippery, or too noisy, and as free as possible from mud and dust, and these results are to be attained and maintained as cheaply as possible. such results, however, can only be had by selecting the material and methods of construction best suited to the conditions. in selecting a road material it is well to consider the agencies of destruction to roads that have to be met. among the most important are the wearing action of wheels and horses' feet, frost, rain, and wind. to find materials that can best withstand these agencies under all conditions is the great problem that confronts the road-builder. before going further, it will be well to consider some of the physical properties of rock which are important in road-building, for the value of a road material is dependent in a large measure on the degree to which it possesses these properties. there are many such properties that affect road-building, but only three need be mentioned here. they are hardness, toughness, and cementing or binding power. by hardness is meant the power possessed by a rock to resist the wearing action caused by the abrasion of wheels and horses' feet. toughness, as understood by road-builders, is the adhesion between the crystal and fine particles of a rock, which gives it power to resist fracture when subjected to the blows of traffic. this important property, while distinct from hardness, is yet intimately associated with it, and can in a measure make up for a deficiency in hardness. hardness, for instance, would be the resistance offered by a rock to the grinding of an emery wheel; toughness, the resistance to fracture when struck with a hammer. cementing or binding power is the property possessed by the dust of a rock to act, after wetting, as a cement to the coarser fragments composing the road, binding them together and forming a smooth, impervious shell over the surface. such a shell, formed by a rock of high cementing value, protects the underlying material from wear and acts as a cushion to the blows from horses' feet, and at the same time resists the waste of material caused by wind and rain, and preserves the foundation by shedding the surface water. binding power is thus, probably, the most important property to be sought for in a road-building rock, as its presence is always necessary for the best results. the hardness and toughness of the binder surface more than of the rock itself represents the hardness and toughness of the road, for if the weight of traffic is sufficient to destroy the bond of cementation of the surface, the stones below are soon loosened and forced out of place. when there is an absence of binding material, which often occurs when the rock is too hard for the traffic to which it is subjected, the road soon loosens or ravels. experience shows that a rock possessing all three of the properties mentioned in a high degree does not under all conditions make a good road material; on the contrary, under certain conditions it may be altogether unsuitable. as an illustration of this, if a country road or city park way, where only a light traffic prevails, were built of a very hard and tough rock with a high cementing value, neither the best, nor, if a softer rock were available, would the cheapest results be obtained. such a rock would so effectively resist the wear of a light traffic that the amount of fine dust worn off would be carried away by wind and rain faster than it would be supplied by wear. consequently the binder supplied by wear would be insufficient, and if not supplied from some other source the road would soon go to pieces. the first cost of such a rock would in most instances be greater than that of a softer one and the necessary repairs resulting from its use would also be very expensive. a very good illustration of this point is the first road built by the massachusetts highway commission. this road is on the island of nantucket and was subjected to a very light traffic. the commission desired to build the best possible road, and consequently ordered a very hard and tough trap rock from salem, considered then to be the best macadam rock in the state. delivered on the road this rock cost $ . per ton, the excessive price being due to the cost of transportation. the road was in every way properly constructed, and thoroughly rolled with a steam roller; but in spite of every precaution it soon began to ravel, and repeated rolling was only of temporary benefit, for the rock was too hard and tough for the traffic. subsequently, when the road was resurfaced with limestone, which was much softer than the trap, it became excellent. since then all roads built on the island have been constructed of native granite bowlders with good results, and at a much lower cost. if, however, this hard and tough rock, which gave such poor results at nantucket, were used on a road where the traffic was sufficient to wear off an ample supply of binder, very much better results would be obtained than if a rock lacking both hardness and toughness were used; for, in the latter case, the wear would be so great that ruts would be formed which would prevent rain water draining from the surface. the water thus collecting on the surface would soon make its way to the foundation and destroy the road. the dust in dry weather would also be excessive. only two examples of the misuse of a road material have been given, but, as they represent extreme conditions, it is easy to see the large number of intermediate mistakes that can be made, for there are few rocks even of the same variety that possess the same physical properties in a like degree. the climatic and physical conditions to which roads are subjected are equally varied. the excellence of a road material may, therefore, be said to depend entirely on the conditions which it is intended to meet. it may be well to mention a few other properties of rock that bear on road-building, though they will not be discussed here. there are some rocks, such as limestones, that are hygroscopic, or possess the power of absorbing moisture from the air, and in dry climates such rocks are distinctly valuable, as the cementation of rock dust is in a large measure dependent for its full development on the presence of water. the degree to which a rock absorbs water may also be important, for in cold climates this to some extent determines the liability of a rock to fracture by freezing. it is not so important, however, as the absorptive power of the road itself, for if a road holds much water the destruction wrought by frost is very great. this trouble is generally due to faulty construction rather than to the material. the density or weight of a rock is also considered of importance, as the heavier the rock the better it stays in place and the better it resists the action of wind and rain. only a few of the properties of rock important to road builders have been considered, but if these are borne in mind when a material is to be selected better results are sure to be obtained. in selecting a road material the conditions to which it is to be subjected should first be considered. these are principally the annual rainfall, the average winter temperature, the character of prevailing winds, the grades, and the volume and character of the traffic that is to pass over the road. the climatic conditions are readily obtained from the weather bureau, and a satisfactory record of the volume and character of the traffic can be made by any competent person living in view of the road. in france the measuring of traffic has received a great deal of attention, and a census is kept for all the national highways. the traffic there is rated and reduced to units in the following manner: a horse hauling a public vehicle or cart loaded with produce or merchandise is considered as the unit of traffic. each horse hauling an empty cart or private carriage counts as one-half unit; each horse, cow, or ox, unharnessed, and each saddle horse, one-fifth unit; each small animal (sheep, goat, or hog), one-thirtieth unit. a record is made of the traffic every thirteenth day throughout the year, and an average taken to determine its mean amount. some such general method of classifying traffic in units is desirable, as it permits the traffic of a road to be expressed in one number. before this french method can be applied to the traffic of our country it will be necessary to modify considerably the mode of rating. this, however, is a matter which can be studied and properly adjusted by the office of public road inquiries. it is most important to obtain a record of the average number of horses and vehicles and kind of vehicles that pass over an earth road in a day before the macadam road is built. the small cost of such a record is trifling when compared with the cost of a macadam road (from $ , to $ , per mile for a fifteen-foot road), in view of the fact that an error in the selection of material may cost a much larger sum of money. after a record of the traffic is obtained, if the road is to be built of crushed rock for the first time, an allowance for an immediate increase in traffic amounting at least to ten or fifteen per cent had best be made, for the improved road generally brings traffic from adjoining roads. to simplify the matter somewhat, the different classes of traffic to which roads are subjected may be divided into five groups, which may be called city, urban, suburban, highway, and country road traffic, respectively. city traffic is a traffic so great that no macadam road can withstand it, and is such as exists on the business streets of large cities. for such a traffic stone and wood blocks, asphalt, brick, or some such materials are necessary. urban traffic is such as exists on city streets which are not subjected to continuous heavy teaming, but which have to withstand very heavy wear, and need the hardest and toughest macadam rock. suburban traffic is such as is common in the suburbs of a city and the main streets of country towns. highway traffic is a traffic equal to that of the main country roads. country road traffic is a traffic equal to that of the less frequented country roads. the city traffic will not be considered here. for an urban traffic, the hardest and toughest rock, or in other words, a rock of the highest wearing quality that can be found, is best. for a suburban traffic the best rock would be one of high toughness but of less hardness than one for urban traffic. for highway traffic a rock of medium hardness and toughness is best. for country road traffic it is best to use a comparatively soft rock of medium toughness. in all cases high cementing value should be sought, and especially if the locality is very wet or windy. rocks belonging to the same species and having the same name, such as traps, granites, quartzites, etc., vary almost as much in different localities in their physical road-building properties as they do from rocks of distinct species. this variation is also true of the mineral composition of rocks of the same species, as well as in the size and arrangement of their crystals. it is impossible, therefore, to classify rocks for road-building by simply giving their specific names. it can be said, however, that certain species of rock possess in common some road-building properties. for instance, the trap[ ] rocks as a class are hard and tough and usually have binding power, and consequently stand heavy traffic well; and for this reason they are frequently spoken of as the best rocks for road-building. this, however, is not always true, for numerous examples can be shown where trap rock having the above properties in the highest degree has failed to give good results on light traffic roads. the reason trap rock has gained so much favor with road-builders is because a large majority of macadam roads in our country are built to stand an urban traffic, and the traps stand such a traffic better than any other single class of rocks. there are, however, other rocks that will stand an urban traffic perfectly well, and there are traps that are not sufficiently hard and tough for a suburban or highway traffic. the granites are generally brittle, and many of them do not bind well, but there are a great many which when used under proper conditions make excellent roads. the felsites are usually very hard and brittle, and many have excellent binding power, some varieties being suitable for the heaviest macadam traffic. limestones generally bind well, are soft, and frequently hygroscopic. quartzites are almost always very hard, brittle, and have very low binding power. the slates are usually soft, brittle, and lack binding power. the above generalizations are of necessity vague, and for practical purposes are of little value, since rocks of the same variety occurring in different localities have very wide ranges of character. it consequently happens in many cases, particularly where there are a number of rocks to choose from, that the difficulty of making the best selection is great, and this difficulty is constantly increasing with the rapidly growing facilities of transportation and the increased range of choice which this permits. on account of their desirable road properties some rocks are now shipped several hundred miles for use. there are but two ways in which the value of a rock as a road material can be accurately determined. one way, and beyond all doubt the surest, is to build sample roads of all the rocks available in a locality, to measure the traffic and wear to which they are subjected, and keep an accurate account of the cost both of construction and annual repairs for each. by this method actual results are obtained, but it has grave and obvious disadvantages. it is very costly (especially so when the results are negative), and it requires so great a lapse of time before results are obtained that it cannot be considered a practical method when macadam roads are first being built in a locality. further than this, results thus obtained are not applicable to other roads and materials. such a method, while excellent in its results, can only be adopted by communities which can afford the necessary time and money, and is entirely inadequate for general use. the other method is to make laboratory tests of the physical properties of available rocks in a locality, study the conditions obtaining on the particular road that is to be built, and then select the material that best suits the conditions. this method has the advantages of giving speedy results and of being inexpensive, and as far as the results of laboratory tests have been compared with the results of actual practice they have been found to agree. laboratory tests on road materials were first adopted in france about thirty years ago, and their usefulness has been thoroughly established. the tests for rock there are to determine its degree of hardness, resistance to abrasion, and resistance to compression. in the massachusetts highway commission established a laboratory at harvard university for testing road materials. the french abrasion test was adopted, and tests for determining the cementing power and toughness of rock were added. since then similar laboratories have been established at johns hopkins university, columbia university, wisconsin geological survey, cornell university, and the university of california. the department of agriculture has now established a road-material laboratory in the division of chemistry, where any person residing in the united states may have road materials tested free by applying for instructions to the office of public road inquiries. the laboratory is equipped with the apparatus necessary for carrying on such work, and the department intends to carry on general investigations on roads. part of the general plan will be to make tests on actual roads for the purpose of comparing the results with those obtained in the laboratory. besides testing road materials for the public, blank forms for recording traffic will be supplied by the department to any one intending to build a road. when these forms are filled and returned to the laboratory, together with the samples of materials available for building the road, the traffic of the road will be rated in its proper group, as described above; each property of the materials will be tested and similarly rated according to its degree, the climatic conditions will be considered, and expert advice given as to the proper choice to be made. footnotes: [ ] by logan waller page, expert in charge of road material laboratory, division of chemistry. [ ] this term is derived from the swedish word _trappa_, meaning steps, and was originally applied to the crystallized basalts of the coast of sweden, which much resemble steps in appearance. as now used by road builders, it embraces a large variety of igneous rocks, chiefly those of fine crystalline structure and of dark-blue, gray, and green colors. they are generally diabases, diorites, trachytes, and basalts.--page. chapter v stone roads in new jersey[ ] as new jersey contains a great variety of soils, there are many conditions to be met with in road construction. the northern part of the state is hilly, where we have clay, soft stone, hard stones, loose stones, quicksand, and marshes. in the eastern part of the state, particularly in the seashore sections, the roads are at their worst in summer in consequence of loose, dry sand, which sometimes drifts like snow. in west new jersey, which comprises the southern end of the state, there is much loose, soft sand, considerable clay, marshes, and low lands not easily drained. in addition to the condition of the soil, there is the economic condition to be considered. in the vicinity of large towns or cities, where there is heavy carting by reason of manufactories and produce marketing, it is necessary to have heavy, thick, substantial roads, while in more rural districts and along the seashore, where the travel is principally by light carriages, a lighter roadbed construction is preferred. in rural districts, where the roads are used for immediate neighborhood purposes, an inexpensive road is desirable. the main thoroughfares have to be constructed with a view to considerable increase of travel, as farmers in the outlying districts who formerly devoted their time to grazing of stock, raising of grain, etc., find it more profitable to change the mode of farming to that of truck raising, fruit growing, etc. the road engineers of new jersey find that they cannot follow old paths and make their roads after one style or pattern. technical engineering in road construction must yield to the practical, common-sense plan of action. an engineer with plenty of money and material at hand can construct a good road almost anywhere and meet any condition, but with limited resources and a variety of physical conditions he has to "cut the garment to suit the cloth." we start out with this dilemma. we must have better roads, and our means for getting them being very limited, if we cannot get them as good as we would like, let us get them as good as we can. let me give a practical illustration. stone-road construction outside of turnpike corporations in west jersey was begun in the spring of . i was called on by the township committee of chester township, burlington county, to construct some roads. moorestown is a thriving town of about three thousand inhabitants in the center of the township. the roads to be constructed, with one exception, ran out of the town to the township limits, being from one-half to three miles in length. the roads were generally for local purposes. there were ten roads, aggregating about eleven miles. the bonding of the township was voted upon, and it was necessary, in order to carry the bonding project of $ , , to have all these roads constructed of stone macadam. the roads to be improved were determined on at a town meeting without consulting an engineer as to the cost, etc., so that the plain question submitted to me was, can you construct eleven miles of stone road nine feet wide for $ , ? the conditions to be met were these: there was no stone suitable for road-building nearer than from sixty to eighty miles; cost of freight, about seventy-five cents per ton; the hauls from the railroad siding averaged about one and three-quarter miles; price of teams in summer, when farmers were busy, about $ . per day. in preparation for road construction there were several hills to be cut from one to three feet; causeways and embankments to be made over wet and swampy ground. for this latter work the property holders and others interested along the road agreed to furnish teams, the township paying for laborers. the next difficulty was the kind of a road to build. as the width was fixed at nine feet as a part of the conditions for bonding, there seemed only one way left to apply the economics--that was, in the depth of the roads. on the dry, sandy soils i put the macadam six inches deep; this depth was applied to about six miles of road. on roads where the heaviest travel would come the roadbed was made eight inches deep. on soils having springs and on embankments over causeways the depth was ten inches with stone foundation, known as telford. where springs existed, they were cut off by underdrains. it had been the practice of engineers in their specifications to call for the best trap rock for all the stone construction. as this rock is hard to crush and difficult to be transported some seventy or eighty miles to this part of new jersey, i found that in order to construct all of the road from this best material it would take more money than the bonds would provide; so i had half of the depth which forms the foundation made of good dry sedimentary rock. of course, in this there is considerable slate, but the breaking is not nearly so costly as the breaking of syenite or jersey trap rock, and there was a saving of thirty per cent. as the surface of the road had to take all the wear, i required the best trap rock for this purpose. since the construction of these roads in chester township, roads are now built under the state-aid act by county officials and paid for as follows: one-third by the state, ten per cent by the adjoining property holders, and the balance ( - / per cent) by the county. the roads constructed under this act are generally leading roads and those mostly traversed by heavy teams. they are constructed similarly to those in chester township, excepting that they are generally twelve feet wide and from ten to twelve inches deep. many of them have a telford foundation, which is now put down at about the same price as macadam, and meets most of the conditions better than macadam. the less expensive stone is used for foundations, and the best and more costly for surface only. in this way the cost of construction has been greatly reduced. in regard to the width, a road nine or ten feet wide has been found to be quite as serviceable as one of greater width, unless it is made fourteen feet and over. it is not claimed that a narrow road is just as good as a wide road, but it has been found better to have the cost in length than in width in rural districts. in and near towns, where there is almost constant passing, the road should not be less than from fourteen to twenty feet in width. the difficulty in getting on and off the stone road where teams are passing is not so great as is supposed. to meet this difficulty in the past, on each side of the road the specifications require the contractor to make a shoulder of clay, gravel, or other hard earth; this is never less than three feet and sometimes six to eight feet in width, according to the kinds of soil the road is composed of and the liability of frequent meeting and passing. in rural districts the top-dressing of these shoulders is taken from the side ditches; grass sods are mixed in when found, and in some cases grass seed is sown. as the stone roadbed takes the travel the grass soon begins to grow, receiving considerable fertilizing material from the washing of the road; and when the sod is once formed the waste material from the wear of the road is lodged in the grass sod and the shoulder becomes hard and firm, except when the frost is coming out. another mode of building a rural road cheaply and still have room for passing without getting off the stone construction is to make the roadbed proper about ten feet wide, ten or twelve inches deep; then have wings of macadam on each side three feet wide and five or six inches deep. in case ten feet is used the two wings would make the stone construction six feet wide. if the road is made considerably higher in the center than the sides, as it should be, the travel, particularly the loaded teams, will keep in the center, and the wings will only be used in passing and should last as long as the thicker part of the road. the preparation of the road and making it suitable for the stone bed is one of the most important parts of road construction. this, once done properly, is permanent. wherever it is possible the hills should be cut and low places filled, so that the maximum grade will not exceed five or six feet rise in one hundred feet; where hills cannot be reduced to this grade without incurring too much expense, the hill, if possible, should be avoided by relaying the road in another place. wherever stone roads have been constructed it has been found that those using them for drawing heavy loads will increase the capacity of their wagons so as to carry three or four times the load formerly carried. this can easily be done where the road has a maximum grade of not greater than five or six per cent, as before stated; but when the grade is greater than this the power to be expended on such loads upon such grades will exhaust and wear out the horses; thus a supposed saving in heavy loading may prove to be a loss. in the preparation of the road it is necessary to have the ditches wide and deep enough to carry all the water to the nearest natural water way. these ditches should at all times be kept clear of weeds and trash, so that the water will not be retained in pools. bad roads often occur because this important matter is overlooked. on hills the slope or side grade in construction from center of road to side ditches should be increased so as to exceed that of the longitudinal grade; that is, if the latter is, say, five per cent, the slope to side should be at least six per cent and over. where the road in rural districts is on rolling ground and hills do not exceed three or four per cent, it is an unnecessary expense to cut the small ones, but all short rises should be cut and small depressions filled. a rolling road is not objectionable, and besides there is no better roadbed for laying on metal than the hard crust formed by ordinary travel. in putting on the metal, particularly on narrow roads, the roadbed should be "set high;" it will soon get "flat enough." it is better to put the shouldering up to the stone than to dig a trench to put the stone in. if the road after preparation is about level from side to side and the stone or metal construction is to be, say, ten inches deep, the sides of the roadbed to receive the metal should be cut about three inches and placed on the side to help form the shoulder; the rest of the shoulder, when suitable, being taken from the ditches and sides in forming the proper slope. the foundation to receive the metal, if the natural roadbed is not used and the bed is of soft earth, should be rolled until it is hard and compact. it should also conform to the same slope as the road when finished from center to sides. if the bed or foundation is of soft sand rolling will be of little use. in this case care must be taken to keep the bed as uniform as possible while the stone is being placed on the foundation. when the road passes through villages and towns the grading should reduce the roadbed to a grade as nearly level as possible. it must be borne in mind that the side ditches need not necessarily always conform to the center grade of the road. when the center grade is level the side ditches should be graded to carry off the water. in some cases i have found it necessary to run the grade for the side ditches in an opposite direction from the grade of the road. this, however, does not often occur. the main thing is to get the water off the road as soon as possible after it falls, and then not allow it to remain in the ditches. and just here the engineer will meet with many difficulties. the landowners in rural districts are opposed to having the water from the roads let onto their lands, and disputes often arise as to where the natural water way is located. this should be determined by the people in the neighborhood, or by the local authorities. i have found in several cases, where the water from side ditches was allowed to run on the land, that the land was generally benefited by having the soil enriched by the fertilizing matter from the road. after the roadbed has been thoroughly prepared, if made of loam or clay, it should be rolled and made as hard and compact as possible. wherever a depression appears it should be filled up and made uniformly hard. place upon it a light coat of loam or fine clay, which will act as a binder. if the roller used is not too heavy it may be rolled to advantage, but the rolling of this course depends upon the character of the stones. if the stones are cubical in form rolling is beneficial, but if they are of shale and many of them thin and flat, rolling has a tendency to bring the flat sides to the surface. when this is the case the next course of fine stone for the surface will not firmly compact and unite with them. when the foundation is of telford it is important that stones not too large should be used. they should not exceed ten inches in length, six inches on one side, which is laid next to the earth, and four inches on top, the depth depending on the thickness of the road. if the thickness of the finished road is eight inches, the telford pavement should not exceed five inches; if it is ten or more inches deep, then the telford could be six inches. it need in no case be greater than this, as this is sufficient to form the base or foundation of the metal construction. the surface of the telford pavement should be as uniform as possible, all projecting points broken off, and interstices filled in with small stone. care should be taken to keep the stone set up perpendicular with the roadbed and set lengthwise across the road with joints broken. this foundation should be well hammered down with sledge hammers and made hard and compact. upon this feature greatly depends the smoothness of the surface of the road and uniform wear. if put down compactly rolling is not necessary, and if not put down solid rolling might do it damage in causing the large stones to lean and set on their edges instead of on the flat sides. i refer to instances where the road is to be ten inches and over. then put on a light coat or course of one and one-half inch stone, with a light coat of binding, and then put on the roller, thus setting the finer stone well with the foundation and compacting the whole mass together. after the macadam or telford foundation is well laid and compacted, the surface or wearing stone is put on. if the thickness of the road is great enough, say twelve or fourteen inches, this surface stone should be put on in courses, say of three and four inches, as may be required for the determined thickness of the road. on each course there should be applied a binding, but only sufficient to bind the metal together or fill up the small interstices. it must be remembered that broken stone is used in order to form a compact mass. the sides of the stone should come together and not be kept apart by what we call binding material; therefore only such quantity should be used as will fill up the small interstices made by reason of the irregularity of the stone. each course should be thoroughly rolled to get the metal as compact as possible. when the stone construction is made to the required depth or thickness, the whole surface should be subjected to a coat of screenings about one inch thick. this must be kept damp by sprinkling, and thoroughly rolled until the whole mass becomes consolidated and the surface smooth and uniform. before the rolling is finished the shoulders should be made up and covered with gravel or other hard earth and dressed off to the side ditches. when practicable these should have the same grade or slope as the stone construction. this finish should also be rolled and made uniform, so that, in order that the water may pass off freely, there will be no obstruction between the stone roadbed and side ditches. to prevent washes and insure as much hardness as possible on roads in rural districts, grass should be encouraged to grow so as to make a stiff sod. for shouldering, when the natural soil is of soft sand, a stiff clay is desirable. when the natural soil is of clay, then gravel or coarse sand can be used, covering the whole with the ditch scrapings or other fertilizing material, where grass sod is desirable. of course this is not desirable in villages and towns. for binding, what is called garden loam is the best. when this cannot be found use any soft clay or earth free from clods or round stones. it must be spread on very lightly and uniformly. any good dry stone not liable to disintegrate can be used as metal for foundation for either telford or macadam construction. for the surface it is necessary to have the best stone obtainable. like the edge of a tool, it does the service and must take the wear. as in the tool it pays to have the best of steel, so on the road, which is subject to the wear and tear of steel horseshoes and heavy iron tires, it is found the cheapest to have the best of stone. it is difficult to describe the kind of stone that is best. the best is generally syenite trap rock, but this term does not give any definite idea. the kind used in new jersey is called the general name of jersey trap rock. it is a gray syenite, and is found in great quantities in a range running from jersey city, on the hudson river, to a point on the delaware between trenton and lambertville. there are quantities of good stone lying north of this ledge, but none south of it. the best is at or near jersey city. the same kind of stone is found in the same ranges of hills in pennsylvania, but in the general run it is not so good. the liability to softness and disintegration increases after leaving the eastern part of new jersey, and while good stone may be found, the veins of poorer stone increase as we go south and west. it is generally believed that the hardest stones are best for road purposes, but this is not the case. the hard quartz will crush under the wheels of a heavy load. it is toughness in the stone that is necessary; therefore a mixed stone, like syenite, is the best. this wears smooth, as the rough edges of the stone come in contact with the wheels. it requires good judgment based on experience to determine the right kind of stone to take the constant wear of horseshoes and wagon tires. if good roads are desired, the work is not done when the road is completed and ready for travel. there are many causes which make repairing necessary. i will refer to only a few of them. stone roads are liable to get out of order because of too much water or want of water; also, when the natural roadbed is soft and springy and has not been sufficiently drained; when water is allowed to stand in ditches and form pools along the road, and when the "open winters" give us a superabundance of wet. before the road becomes thoroughly consolidated by travel it is liable to become soft and stones get loose and move under the wheels of the heavily loaded wagons. in the earth foundation on which the stone bed rests the water finds the soft spots. the wheels of the loaded teams form ruts, and particularly where narrow tires are used. the work of repair should begin as soon as defects appear, for, if neglected, after every rain the depressions make little pools of water and hold it like a basin. in every case this water softens the material, and the wagon tires and horseshoes churn up the bottoms of the basins. this is the beginning of the work of destruction. if allowed to go on, the road becomes rough, and the wear and tear of the horses and wagons are increased. stone roads out of repair, like any common road in similar condition, will be found expensive to those who use and maintain them. the way to do is to look over a road after a rain, when the depressions and basins will show themselves. whenever one is large enough to receive a shovelful of broken stone, scrape out the soft dirt and let it form a ring around the depression. fill with broken stone to about an inch or two above the surface of the road. the ring of dirt around will keep the stone above the surface in place, and the passing wheels will work it on the broken stone and also act as a binder. the whole will work down and become compact and even with the road surface. the ruts are treated in the same way. use one and one-half inch stone for this; smaller stones will soon grind up and the hole appear again. the second cause of the necessity for road repairs is want of water. this occurs in summer during hot, dry spells. the surface stone "unravels;" that is, becomes loose where the horses travel. this condition is more liable to be found on dry, sandy soils, and where the roadbed is subject to the direct rays of the sun, and where the winds sweep off all the binding material from the surface. in clay soil there is little or no trouble from "unraveling." the cause being found, the remedy is applied in this way: put on water with the sprinkler before all the binding material is blown off. if the hot, dry weather continues, sprinkling should continue. do this in the evening or late in the afternoon. the next mode is to repair the road by placing the material back as it was originally. the loose stones are placed in the depressions and good binding material--garden loam or fine clay--is put on, then roll the whole repeatedly and dampen by sprinkling as needed until the whole surface becomes smooth and hard. care must be taken that too much binding material is not used. if too much is used it will injure the road in winter when there is an excess of water. when a road has been neglected and allowed to become uneven and rough, or is by constant use worn down to the foundation stones, there should be a general repairing. in the first place, if it is the roughness and unevenness that is the only defect, this may be remedied by the use of a large, heavy roller with steel spikes in its rolling wheels. this will puncture the surface so that an ordinary harrow will tear up the surface stones. then take the spikes out of the roller wheels, and, with sprinkling and rolling, the roadbed can be repaired and made like a new road. but if the cause of the roughness is from wearing away of the stone, so that the surface of the road is brought down to or near the foundation, then the road needs resurfacing. the mode of treatment is the same as in the other case. in districts where there is stone suitable for road construction the county, town, township, or other municipality, proposing to construct stone roads, should own a stone quarry and a stone crusher. for grading and preparing the road for construction, dressing up sides, clearing out side ditches, etc., a good road machine is necessary. for constructing roads and repairing them a roller is necessary, the weight depending upon the kind of road constructed. if the road is not wide a roller of from four to six tons is all the weight necessary. the rolling should be continued until compactness is obtained. for wide, heavy roads a steam roller of fifteen tons can be used to advantage. a sprinkling wagon completes the list that is necessary for the county or town or other municipality constructing its own roads. footnotes: [ ] by e. g. harrison, c. e., secretary new jersey road improvement association. important historical publications of the arthur h. clark company * * * * * full descriptive circulars will be mailed on application "the most important project ever undertaken in the line of philippine history in any language, above all the english."--_new york evening post._ * * * * * =_the_ philippine islands - = * * * * * being the history of the philippines from their discovery to the present time * * * * * explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history, and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial, and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with european nations to the end of the nineteenth century. * * * * * _translated, and edited and annotated by_ e. h. blair, _and_ j. a. robertson, _with introduction and additional notes by_ e. g. bourne. * * * * * with analytical index and illustrations. limited edition, fifty-five volumes, large vo, cloth, uncut, gilt top. price, $ . net per volume. * * * * * "the almost total lack of acceptable material on philippine history in english gives this undertaking an immediate value." --james a. le roy in _american historical review_. "with our freshened interest in the far east, american readers ought not to neglect the new possessions in that region which now fly the stars and stripes." --_chicago evening post._ "now at least there should be no difficulty for the american student to gain a clear view of the difficulties which both the spaniards and their successors have had to contend with in these islands, when they have this work before them, and have not, as formerly, to obtain information from obscure spanish sources, in a language hitherto comparatively little studied in the united states, ... welcome to all students of the far east."--_english historical review._ =early western travels - = * * * * * a series of annotated reprints of some of the best and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive of the aborigines and social and economic conditions in the middle and far west, during the period of early american settlement. * * * * * edited, with historical, geographical, ethnological, and bibliographical notes, and introductions and index, by reuben gold thwaites editor of "the jesuit relations and allied documents," "wisconsin historical collections," "chronicles of border warfare," "hennepin's new discovery," etc. * * * * * with facsimiles of the original title-pages, maps, portraits, views, etc. volumes, large vo, cloth, uncut, gilt tops. price $ . net per volume (except the maximilien atlas, which is $ . net). limited edition; each set numbered and signed. * * * * * _an elaborate analytical index to the whole_ almost all of the rare originals are without indexes. in the present reprint series, this immense mass of historical data will be made accessible through one exhaustive analytical index, to occupy the concluding volume. * * * * * in many cases the records reproduced are so rare that this collection will be practically the only resource of the student of the original sources of our early history. the printing and binding of the edition are handsome and at the same time so substantial that the documents reproduced may be said to have been rescued once for all time.--_public opinion._ +-----------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page ben changed to been | | page surfaceing changed to surfacing | +-----------------------------------------------+ the royal mail [illustration: mail-coach accident near elvanfoot, lanarkshire.] the royal mail its curiosities and romance by james wilson hyde superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh third edition london simpkin, marshall and co. mdccclxxxix. _all rights reserved._ note.--it is of melancholy interest that mr fawcett's death occurred within a month from the date on which he accepted the following dedication, and before the issue of the work. to the right honourable henry fawcett, m. p. her majesty's postmaster-general, the following pages are, by permission, respectfully dedicated. preface to third edition. the second edition of 'the royal mail' having been sold out some eighteen months ago, and being still in demand, the author has arranged for the publication of a further edition. some additional particulars of an interesting kind have been incorporated in the work; and these, together with a number of fresh illustrations, should render 'the royal mail' still more attractive than hitherto. the modern statistics have not been brought down to date; and it will be understood that these, and other matters (such as the circulation of letters), which are subject to change, remain in the work as set forth in the first edition. edinburgh, _february _. preface to second edition. the favour with which 'the royal mail' has been received by the public, as evinced by the rapid sale of the first issue, has induced the author to arrange for the publication of a second edition. this edition has been revised and slightly enlarged; the new matter consisting of two additional illustrations, contributions to the chapters on "mail packets," "how letters are lost," and "singular coincidences," and a fresh chapter on the subject of postmasters. the author ventures to hope that the generous appreciation which has been accorded to the first edition may be extended to the work in its revised form. edinburgh, _june _. introduction. of all institutions of modern times, there is, perhaps, none so pre-eminently a people's institution as is the post-office. not only does it carry letters and newspapers everywhere, both within and without the kingdom, but it is the transmitter of messages by telegraph, a vast banker for the savings of the working classes, an insurer of lives, a carrier of parcels, and a distributor of various kinds of government licences. its services are claimed exclusively or mainly by no one class; the rich, the poor, the educated, and the illiterate, and indeed, the young as well as the old,--all have dealings with the post-office. yet it may seem strange that an institution which is familiar by its operations to all classes alike, should be so little known by its internal management and organisation. a few persons, no doubt, have been privileged to see the interior working of some important post-office, but it is the bare truth to say that _the people_ know nothing of what goes on within the doors of that ubiquitous establishment. when it is remembered that the metropolitan offices of london, edinburgh, and dublin have to maintain touch with every petty office and every one of their servants scattered throughout england, scotland, and ireland; that discipline has to be exercised everywhere; that a system of accounting must necessarily be maintained, reaching to the remotest corners; and that the whole threads have to be gathered up and made answerable to the great head, which is london,--some vague idea may be formed of what must come within the view of whoever pretends to a knowledge of post-office work. but intimately connected with that which was the original work of the post-office, and is still the main work--the conveyance of letters--there is the subject of circulation, the simple yet complex scheme under which letters flow from each individual centre to every other part of the country. circulation as a system is the outcome of planning, devising, and scheming by many heads during a long series of years--its object, of course, being to bring letters to their destinations in the shortest possible time. so intricate and delicate is the fabric, that by interference an unskilled hand could not fail to produce an effect upon the structure analogous to that which would certainly follow any rude treatment applied to a house built of cards. these various subjects, especially when they have become settled into the routine state, might be considered as affording a poor soil for the growth of anything of interest--that is, of curious interest--apart from that which duty calls upon a man to find in his proper work. yet the post-office is not without its veins of humour, though the metal to be extracted may perhaps be scanty as compared with the vast extent of the mine from which it has to be taken. the compiler of the following pages has held an appointment in the post-office for a period of twenty-five years--the best, perhaps, of his life; and during that term it has been his practice to note and collect facts connected with the department whenever they appeared of a curious, interesting, or amusing character. while making use of such notes in connection with this work, he has had recourse to the post-office annual reports, to old official documents, to books on various subjects, and to newspapers, all of which have been laid under contribution to furnish material for these pages. the work is in no sense a historical work: it deals with the lighter features of a plain, matter-of-fact department; and though some of the incidents mentioned may be deemed of trivial account, they will be found, it is thought, to have at least a curious or amusing side. the author desires to mention that he has received valuable help from several of his brother officers, who have supplied him with facts or anecdotes; and to these, as well as to gentlemen who have lent him books or given him access to files of old newspapers, he expresses his grateful acknowledgments. he also tenders his sincere and respectful thanks to the postmaster-general for permission granted to make extracts from official papers. the post-office renders an unpretending yet most important service to commerce and to society; and it will be a source of deep gratification to the author if what he has written should inspire in the reader a new and unexpected interest in "the hundred-handed giant who keeps up the intercourse between the different parts of the country, and wafts a sigh from indus to the pole." contents. chap. page i. old roads, ii. postboys, iii. stage and mail coaches, iv. foot-posts, v. mail-packets, vi. shipwrecked mails, vii. amount of work, viii. growth of certain post-offices, ix. claims for post-office service, x. the travelling post-office, xi. sorters and circulation, xii. pigeon-post, xiii. abuse of the franking privilege, and other petty frauds, xiv. strange addresses, xv. post-office robberies, xvi. telegraphic blunders, xvii. how letters are lost, xviii. odd complaints, xix. curious letters addressed to the post-office, xx. singular coincidences, xxi. savings-bank curiosities, xxii. replies to medical inquiries, xxiii. various, xxiv. about postmasters, xxv. red tape, illustrations. mail-coach accident at elvanfoot, _frontispiece_ caution to postboys, _page_ rothbury and morpeth mail-driver, " ewenny bridge outrage--notice of, " holyhead and chester mails snowed up near dunstable-- th dec. . (_from an old print_) " devonport mail-coach forcing its way through a snowdrift near amesbury-- th dec. . (_from an old print_), " nocturnal refreshment, " st martin's-le-grand in the coaching days, " 'lady hobart' mail packet, " postboy jack, " steamship 'america,' " travelling post-office, " delivering arm, showing how the pouch is suspended, " caution against letter carrying, " strange addresses, " - falstaff as a highwayman, " grizel cochrane and postboy, " selby mail-bag, " letter-box taken possession of by tomtits, " the mulready envelope, " interior of an old post-office, " the postmistress of watford, " form of postmaster's appointment, " the royal mail. chapter i. old roads. the present generation, who are accustomed to see the streets of our cities paved with wood or stone, or otherwise so laid out as to provide a hard and even surface suited to the locomotion of wheeled vehicles, or who by business or pleasure have been led to journey over the principal highways intersecting the kingdom in every direction, can form no idea of the state of the roads in this country during the earlier years of the post-office--or even in times comparatively recent--unless their reading has led them to the perusal of accounts written by travellers of the periods we now refer to. the highways of the present day, radiating from london and the other large centres of industry, and extending their arms to every corner of the land, are wellnigh perfect in their kind, and present a picture of careful and efficient maintenance. whether we look, for example, at the great north road leading from london, the carlisle to glasgow road, or the highland road passing through dunkeld, we find the roads have certain features in common: a broad hard roadway for vehicles; a neatly kept footpath where required; limits strictly defined by trim hedges, stone walls, or palings; and means provided for carrying off surface-water. the picture will, of course, vary as the traveller proceeds, flat country alternating with undulating country, and wood or moorland with cultivated fields; but the chief characteristics remain the same, constituting the roads as worthy of the age we live in. how the people managed to get from place to place before the post-office had a history, or indeed for long after the birth of that institution, it is hard to conceive. then, the roads were little better than tracks worn out of the surface of the virgin land,--proceeding in some cases in a manner approaching to a right line, over hills, down valleys, through forests, and the like; in others following the natural features of the country, but giving evidence that they had never been systematically made, being rather the outcome of a mere habit of travel, just as sheep-tracks are produced on a mountain-side. such roads in winter weather, or in rainy seasons, became terrible to the traveller: yet the only repairs that were vouchsafed consisted in filling up some of the larger holes with rude stones; and when this method of keeping up repairs no longer availed, another track was formed by bringing under foot a fresh strip of the adjoining land (generally unenclosed), and thus creating a wholly new road in place of the old one. smiles, in his 'lives of the engineers,' thus describes certain of the english roads: "in some of the older settled districts of england, the old roads are still to be traced in the hollow ways or lanes, which are met with, in some places, eight and ten feet deep. horse-tracks in summer and rivulets in winter, the earth became gradually worn into these deep furrows, many of which in wilts, somerset, and devon, represent the tracks of roads as old as, if not older than, the conquest." and again: "similar roads existed until recently in the immediate neighbourhood of birmingham, long the centre of considerable traffic. the sandy soil was sawn through, as it were, by generation after generation of human feet, and by pack-horses, helped by the rains, until in some places the tracks were as much as from twelve to fourteen yards deep." in the year , chancellor cowper, who was then a barrister on circuit, thus wrote to his wife: "the sussex ways are bad and ruinous beyond imagination. i vow 'tis melancholy consideration that mankind will inhabit such a heap of dirt for a poor livelihood. the country is a sink of about fourteen miles broad, which receives all the water that falls from two long ranges of hills on both sides of it, and not being furnished with convenient draining, is kept moist and soft by the water till the middle of a dry summer, which is only able to make it tolerable to ride for a short time." in scotland, about the same time, the roads were no better. the first four miles out of edinburgh, on the road towards london, were described in the privy council record of to have been in so wretched a state that passengers were in danger of their lives, "either by their coaches overturning, their horse falling, their carts breaking, their loads casting and horse stumbling, the poor people with the burdens on their backs sorely grieved and discouraged; moreover, strangers do often exclaim thereat." nor does there appear to have been any considerable improvement in the state of the roads in the northern kingdom for long afterwards, as we find that in , according to lang's 'historical summary of the post-office in scotland,' "the channel of the river gala, which ran for some distance parallel with the road, was, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level and the easiest to travel in." the common carrier from edinburgh to selkirk, a distance of thirty-eight miles, required a fortnight for the journey, going and returning; and the stage-coach from edinburgh to glasgow took a day and a half for the journey. a yorkshire squire, thomas kirke, who travelled in scotland in , gave a better account of the roads; but his opinion may have been merely relative, for travelling showmen to this day prefer the roads in the south of scotland to those in the north of england, on account of their greater hardness; and this derives, no doubt, from the more adamantine material used in the repair of the scotch roads. this traveller wrote: "the highways in scotland are tolerably good, which is the greatest comfort a traveller meets with amongst them. the scotch gentry generally travel from one friend's house to another; so seldom require a change-house (inn). their way is to hire a horse and a man for twopence a mile; they ride on the horse thirty or forty miles a-day, and the man who is his guide foots it beside him, and carries his luggage to boot." another visitor to scotland in , named morer, thus describes the roads: "the truth is, the roads will hardly allow these conveniences" (meaning stage-coaches, which did not as yet exist in scotland), "which is the reason that the gentry, men and women, choose rather to use their horses. however, their great men often travel with coach-and-six, but with so little caution, that, besides their other attendance, they have a lusty running footman on each side of the coach, to manage and keep it up in rough places."[ ] it might be supposed that the roads leading from windsor, where one of the royal residences was, would have been kept in a tolerable state, so as to secure the sovereign some comfort in travelling. but their condition seems to have been no better than that of roads elsewhere. an account of a journey made in by prince george of denmark, the husband of queen anne, from windsor to petworth, runs as follows:--"the length of way was only forty miles, but fourteen hours were consumed in traversing it; while almost every mile was signalised by the overturn of a carriage, or its temporary swamping in the mire. even the royal chariot would have fared no better than the rest had it not been for the relays of peasants who poised and kept it erect by strength of arm, and shouldered it forward the last nine miles, in which tedious operation six good hours were consumed." [ ] in the north of scotland a similar account was given of the roads there about the year . the writer of 'letters from a gentleman in the north of scotland' stated that "the highlands are but little known even to the inhabitants of the low country of scotland, for they have ever dreaded the difficulties and dangers of travelling among the mountains; and when some extraordinary occasion has obliged any one of them to such a progress, he has, generally speaking, made his testament before he set out, as though he were entering upon a long and dangerous sea-voyage, wherein it was very doubtful if he should ever return." yet later still, and in close proximity to london, a royal party had a most unsatisfactory journey, owing to the miserable state of the roads. it happened that in george ii. and queen caroline were proceeding from the palace at kew to that at st james's, when they had to spend a whole night upon the way; and between hammersmith and fulham they were overturned, the royal occupants of the coach being landed in a quagmire. a year or two after this, lord hervey wrote that "the road between this place [kensington] and london is grown so infamously bad, that we live here in the same solitude as we would do if cast on a rock in the middle of the ocean; and all the londoners tell us that there is between them and us an impassable gulf of mud." no part of the country could boast of a satisfactory condition of the roads, these being everywhere in the same neglected and wretched state, and travellers who had the misfortune to use them have recorded their ideas on the subject in no gentle terms. arthur young, who travelled much in the middle of last century, thus alludes to a road in essex: "of all the cursed roads that ever disgraced this kingdom in the very ages of barbarism, none ever equalled that from billericay to the king's head at tilbury. it is for near twelve miles so narrow that a mouse cannot pass by any carriage. i saw a fellow creep under his waggon to assist me to lift, if possible, my chaise over a hedge. to add to all the infamous circumstances which concur to plague a traveller, i must not forget the eternally meeting with chalk-waggons, themselves frequently stuck fast, till a collection of them are in the same situation, and twenty or thirty horses may be tacked to each to draw them out one by one." in a somewhat similar way he describes the road from bury to sudbury in suffolk. here, he says, "i was forced to move as slow in it as in any unmended lane in wales. for ponds of liquid dirt, and a scattering of loose flints just sufficient to lame every horse that moves near them, with the addition of cutting vile grips across the road under the pretence of letting the water off, but without effect, altogether render at least twelve out of these sixteen miles as infamous a turnpike as ever was beheld." in one of his journeys, young proceeded to the north by the great north road, thence making branch trips to the various agricultural districts. of many of these roads he gives a sorry account. thus: "to wakefield, indifferent; through the town of wakefield so bad that it ought to be indicted. to castle howard, infamous; i was near being swallowed up in a slough. from newton to stokesley in cleveland, execrably bad. you are obliged to cross the moors they call black hambledon, over which the road runs in narrow hollows that admit a south-country chaise with such difficulty, that i reckon this part of the journey made at the hazard of my neck. the going down into cleveland is beyond all description terrible; for you go through such steep, rough, narrow, rocky precipices, that i would sincerely advise any friend to go a hundred miles to escape it. the name of this path is very judicious, _scarthneck_--that is, _scare-nick_, or frighten the devil. "from richmond to darlington, part of the great north road; execrably broke into holes like an old pavement, sufficient to dislocate one's bones." "to morpeth; a pavement a mile or two out of newcastle; all the rest _vile_. "to carlisle; cut up by innumerable little paltry one-horse carts." one more instance from the pen of young and we leave him. in the course of one of his journeys, he makes his way into wales, where he finds his _bête noire_ in the roads, and freely expresses himself thereupon in his usual forcible style: "but, my dear sir, what am i to say of the roads in this country? the turnpikes, as they have the assurance to call them, and the hardiness to make one pay for? from chepstow to the half-way house between newport and cardiff they continue mere rocky lanes, full of hugeous stones as big as one's horse, and abominable holes. the first six miles from newport they were so detestable, and without either direction-posts or milestones, that i could not well persuade myself i was on the turnpike, but had mistook the road, and therefore asked every one i met, who answered me, to my astonishment, 'ya-as.' whatever business carries you into this country, avoid it, at least till they have good roads; if they were good, travelling would be very pleasant." the necessity for a better class of road cannot but have forced itself upon the government of the country from time to time, if not for the benefit of travellers and to encourage trade, at any rate to secure a rapid movement of troops in times of disturbance or rebellion; yet we find the state of streets in the metropolis, and roads in the country, as in , thus described in blackie's 'comprehensive history of england': "when the only public approaches to parliament were king street and union street, these were so wretchedly paved, that when the king went in state to the house, the ruts had to be filled up with bundles of fagots to allow the royal coach a safe transit. while the art of street-paving was thus so imperfect, that of road-making was equally defective, so that the country visitor to the metropolis, and its dangers of coach-driving, had generally a sufficient preparative for the worst during his journey to town. this may easily be understood from the fact that, so late as , few turnpikes were to be seen after leaving the vicinity of london, for miles together, although it had been made felony to pull them down. these roads, indeed, were merely the produce of compulsory pauper labour, contributed by the different parishes; and, like all such work, it was performed in a very perfunctory manner." the same authority gives a further picture of the state of the highways some twenty years later, when apparently little improvement had taken place in their condition: "notwithstanding the numerous acts of parliament, of which no less than were emitted between the years and , for the improvement of the principal highways, they still continued narrow, darkened with trees, and intersected with ruts and miry swamps, through which the progress of a waggon was a work of difficulty and danger. one of these--the turnpike road from preston to wigan--is thus described by an angry tourist in , and the picture seems to have been too generally realised over the whole kingdom: "to look over a map, and perceive that it is a principal one, not only to some towns, but even whole counties, one would naturally conclude it to be at least decent; but let me most seriously caution all travellers who may accidentally purpose to travel this terrible country, to avoid it as they would the devil; for a thousand to one but they break their necks or their limbs by overthrows or breakings down. they will here meet with ruts, which i actually measured, four feet deep, and floating with mud only from a wet summer; what, therefore, must they be after a winter? the only mending it receives is the tumbling in some loose stones, which serve no other purpose but jolting a carriage in the most intolerable manner. these are not merely opinions, but facts; for i actually passed three carts broken down in these eighteen miles, of execrable memory." obvious as it must be to every mind capable of apprehending ordinary matters in the present day, that the opening up of the country by the laying down of good roads would encourage trade, promote social intercourse, knit together the whole kingdom, and render its government the more easy and effective; yet it is a fact that the improvement of the roads in various parts of the country, both in england and scotland, was stoutly opposed by the people, even in certain places entailing riot and bloodshed. so strong were the prejudices against the improved roads, that the country people would not use them after being made. this bias may perhaps have partaken largely of that unreasoning conservatism which is always prone to pronounce that that which _is_ is best, and opposes change on principle--an example of which is afforded by the conduct of the driver of the marlborough coach, who, when the new bath road was opened, obstinately refused to travel by it, and stuck to the old waggon-track. "he was an old man," he said; "his grandfather and father had driven the aforesaid way before him, and he would continue in the old track till death." other grounds of objection were not wanting, having some show of reason; but these, like the others, were useless in stemming the tide of improvement which eventually set in, and brought the roads of the nation into their present admirable state. chapter ii. postboys. "hark! 'tis the twanging horn!... he comes, the herald of a noisy world, with spatter'd boots, strapp'd waist, and frozen locks, news from all nations lumbering at his back, true to his charge the close-pack'd load behind; yet careless what he brings, his one concern is to conduct it to the destined inn, and, having dropp'd the expected bag, pass on. he whistles as he goes, light-hearted wretch, cold and yet cheerful: messenger of grief perhaps to thousands, and of joy to some, to him indifferent whether grief or joy." --cowper. as described in the preceding chapter, these were the roads over which postboys had to travel with their precious charges during a long series of years, and to their wild and disreputable state must to a great extent be attributed the slow rate at which the post was then wont to travel. when it is considered that these men or boys were exposed to all accidents of weather, stoppages by swollen rivers, delays through the roads being cut up, to their straying from the beaten track during fogs, and to all other chances of the road, including attacks by footpads or highwaymen, their occupation cannot have been a light or agreeable one. it is by no means easy to construct a detailed outline of the duties which postboys had to perform, or to describe under what rules they proceeded from stage to stage; but we have ample evidence of the rate at which they covered the ground, and how their speed varied at different periods, owing, it must have been in some cases, to the lack of supervision. the following evidence of the speed of a post messenger in the latter half of the sixteenth century is furnished by a letter in the correspondence of archbishop parker, the times at which the letter reached the various stages on its journey being endorsed upon it. the letter is as follows, viz.:-- "archbishop parker _to_ sir w. cecil. "sir,--according to the queen's majesty's pleasure, and your advertisement, you shall receive a form of prayer, which, after you have perused and judged of it, shall be put in print and published immediately," &c. &c. "from my house at croydon this d july , at of the clock afternoon.--your honour's alway, matth. cant. "to the rt. honble. sir w. cecil." endorsed by successive postmasters:-- "received at waltham cross, the d of july, about at night." "received at ware, the d july, at o'clock at night." "received at croxton, the th of july, between and of the clock in the morning." "so that his grace's letter, leaving croydon at in the afternoon of july d, reached waltham cross, a distance of nearly miles, by at night of the d, whence, in hours, it seems to have advanced miles to ware; and within hours more to have reached croxton, a further distance of miles, having taken nearly hours to travel about miles." in a public post between london and edinburgh was established, the journey being limited to three days. this mail set out as a rule but twice a-week, and sometimes only once a-week. an express messenger conveying news of the death of charles ii., who died on the th february , was received in edinburgh at one o'clock on the morning of the th february; and it may also be mentioned here--though the matter hardly reflects upon the speed of postboys, who travel by land and not by water--that in it required three months to convey the tidings of the abdication of james ii. of england and vii. of scotland to the orkney islands. down to this period the mails from london to scotland were carried on horseback with something like tolerable speed, taking previous performances into account, for in it is noted that parliamentary proceedings of saturday were in the hands of the edinburgh public on the ensuing thursday. this rate of travelling does not appear to have been kept up, for in the post from london to edinburgh took six days to perform the journey. when it is considered that nearly a century before, the same distance could be covered in three days, this relapse seems to bespeak a sad want of vitality in the post-office management of the age. the cause of the slow travelling, which appears to have continued for over forty years, comes out in a memorial of traders to the convention of burghs in , wherein dissatisfaction was expressed with the existing arrangements of the post,--the mail for london on reaching newcastle being there delayed about a day, again detained some time at york, and probably further delayed in the south; so that the double journey to and from london occupied eleven days instead of seven or eight, as the memorial deemed sufficient. to the post-office mind of the present age, this dilatory method of performing the service of forwarding mails is incomprehensible, and the circumstance reflects discreditably both on the post-office officials who were cognisant of it, and on the public who submitted to it. it is fair to mention, however, that at this period the mail _from_ london _to_ edinburgh covered the ground in eighty-seven hours, or in fully three and a half days; and that as a result of the memorial, the time was reduced to eighty-two hours, and the journey from edinburgh to london reduced to eighty-five hours. in , the london to edinburgh mail commenced to be despatched five times a-week, instead of only three times; and at this time, during the winter season, the mail leaving london on tuesday night was generally not in the hands of the people of edinburgh until the afternoon of sunday. we are informed, in lang's 'historical summary of the post-office in scotland,' that in there was not a single horse-post in that country. there must, however, have been some earlier attempts to establish horse-posts in the northern kingdom, for chambers, in his 'domestic annals of scotland,' under the year , refers to the fact of a warrant being granted against interlopers who were carrying letters by foot on the same line on which mr mean had set up a horse-post. a traveller in relates, also, that besides the horse-post from edinburgh to berwick, there was a similar post from edinburgh to portpatrick in connection with the irish packet service. again, chambers tells us that in the good people of aberdeen having had "long experience of the prejudice sustained, not only by the said burgh of aberdeen, but by the nobility, gentry, and others in the north country, by the miscarrying of missive letters, and by the not timeous delivery and receiving returns of the samen," bestirred themselves to establish a better state of things. it was considered proper that "every man might have their letters delivered and answers returned at certain diets and times;" and it was accordingly arranged, under post-office sanction, that lieutenant john wales should provide a regular horse-service to carry letters to edinburgh every wednesday and friday, returning every tuesday and thursday in the afternoon. in the first horse-post between edinburgh and stirling was established, and in march a similar post between edinburgh and glasgow was set up. this latter post went three times a-week, travelled during the night, and performed the distance between the two places in ten hours--being at the rate of about four miles an hour. were we to give further instances of the slowness of the horse-posts, we should probably prove tedious, and therefore the proofs adduced on this point must suffice. though the state of the roads may be held to account for some of the delay, the roads must not be charged with everything. in a surveyor in the north of scotland wrote as follows: "it is impossible to obtain any other contractors to ride the mails at d. out, or - / d. per mile each way. on this account we have been so much distressed with mail-riders, that we have sometimes to submit to the mails being conveyed by mules and such species of horses as were a disgrace to any public service." the same surveyor reported in , that it would give rise to great inconvenience if no boys under sixteen years were allowed to be employed in riding the posts--many of them ranging down from that age to fourteen. so, what from the condition of the highways, the sorry quality of the horses, and the youthfulness of the riders, it is not surprising that the writers of letters should inscribe on their missives: "be this letter delivered with haste--haste--haste! post haste! ride, villain, ride,--for thy life--for thy life--for thy life!" unnecessary though that injunction be in the present day. the postboys were a source of great trouble and vexation to the authorities of the post-office through the whole course of their connection with the department. a surveyor who held office about the commencement of the eighteenth century, found, on the occasion of a visit to salisbury, something wrong there, which he reported to headquarters in these terms:-- "at this place [salisbury] found the postboys to have carried on vile practices in taking bye-letters, delivering them in that city, and taking back the answers--and especially the andover riders. on a certain day he found on richard kent, one of the andover riders, five bye-letters--all for salisbury. upon examination of the fellow, he confessed that he had made it a practice, and persisted to continue in it, saying that he had no wages from his master. the surveyor took the fellow before the magistrate, proved the facts, and as the fellow could not get bail, was committed; but pleading to have no friends nor money desired a punishment to be whipped, and accordingly he was to the purpose. the surveyor wrote the case to andover, and ordered that the fellow should be discharged; but no regard was had thereto. but the next day the same rider came post, run about the cittye for letters, and was insolent. the second time the said richard kent came post with two gentlemen, made it his business to take up letters; the fellow, instead of returning to andover, gets two idle fellows and rides away with three horses, which was a return for his masters not obeying instructions, as he ought not have been suffered to ride after the said facts was proved against him." the same surveyor complained bitterly, with respect to the postboys, "that the gentry doe give much money to the riders, whereby they be very subject to get in liquor, which stops the males." indeed the temptation of the ale-house was no doubt another factor in the slow journeying of the postboys, as it was the source of much trouble in the days of mail-coaches. mr palmer, through whose initiative and perseverance mail-coaches were subsequently established throughout the country, thus described the post as it existed in :-- "the post, at present, instead of being the swiftest, is almost the slowest, conveyance in the country; and though, from the great improvement in our roads, other carriers have proportionably mended their speed, the post is as slow as ever. it is likewise very unsafe, as the frequent robberies of it testify; and to avoid a loss of this nature, people generally cut bank bills, or bills at sight, in two, and send the bills by different posts. the mails are generally intrusted to some idle boy, without character, mounted on a worn-out hack, and who, so far from being able to defend himself or escape from a robber, is much more likely to be in league with him." including stoppages, this mode of travelling was, up to , at the rate of about three to four miles an hour. we are again indebted to mr chambers for the following statement of careless blunders made by postboys in connection with the edinburgh mails:--"as indicating the simplicity of the institution in those days, may be noticed a mistake of february , when, instead of the mail which should have come in yesterday (sunday), _we had our own mail of thursday last returned_--the presumption being, that the mail for edinburgh had been in like manner sent back from some unknown point in the road to london. and this mistake happened once more in december , the bag despatched on a saturday night being returned _the second sunday morning after_; 'tis reckoned this mistake happened about half-way on the road." we hardly agree, however, that these mistakes were owing to the simplicity of the institution, but rather to the routine nature of the work; for it is the fact that blunders equally flagrant have occurred in the post-office in recent times, even under elaborate checks, which, if rightly applied, would have rendered the mistakes impossible. [illustration (facsimile): caution to post-boys. by the act of th of _geo._ iii. if any post-boy, or rider, having taken any of his majesty's mails, or bags of letters, under his care, to convey to the next post town or stage, shall suffer any other person (except a guard) to ride on the horse or carriage, or shall loiter on the road, and wilfully misspend his time, so as to retard the arrival of the said mails, or bags of letters, at the next post town or stage.--every such offender shall, on conviction before one justice, be committed to the house of correction, and confined to hard labour for one month. all post-boys and riders are therefore desired to take notice of this, and are hereby cautioned not to fail in the regular performance of their duty, otherwise they will most assuredly be punished as the law directs. and it is hoped and requested, for the benefit of public correspondence, that all persons, who may observe any post-boy or rider, offending as aforesaid, will give immediate notice to surveyor of the general post-office, johnson williamson (about )] many of the troubles which the post-office had with its postboys may possibly be ascribed to the low rate of wages paid by the contractors for their services. this matter is referred to by the solicitor to the scotch post-office, who was engaged upon an inquiry into the robbery of the mail on the stage between dingwall and tain in the year . the distance between these places is about twenty-five miles, and five hours were occupied in making the journey. one of the postboys concerned stated in his declaration that his whole wages were s. a-week; and with reference to this, the solicitor in his report observes as follows: "of course it may fairly be presumed that no respectable man will be got to perform this duty. dismission to such a man for committing a fault is no punishment; and the safety of the conveyance of the mail, which the public have a right to require, seems to render some regulation in this respect necessary." the following account of the violation of the mails by a postboy may perhaps be aptly introduced here:-- in the autumn of , a good deal of anxiety was caused to the authorities of the post-office in scotland, in consequence of reports being made to them that many bankers' letters had been tampered with in course of their transmission by post through certain of the northern counties. to discover who was concerned in the irregularities was rendered the more difficult, owing to the fact that the mail-bags in which the letters had been despatched were reported to have reached their destinations duly sealed. but a thing of this kind could not go on without discovery, and investigation being made, the storm burst over the head of a poor little postboy named william shearer, a lad of fifteen years of age, who was employed riding the north mail over the stage from turriff to banff. from the account we have of the matter, it would seem that in this case, as in many others, it was opportunity that made the thief; for the mail-bags had on some occasions been insecurely sealed, the despatching postmasters having failed to place the wax over the knots of the string--and the postboy was thus able to get to the inside of the bags without cutting the string or breaking the seals, by simply undoing the knots. here the temptation presented itself; and although some twenty-six letters were found inside his hat when he was searched, it is not unlikely that he commenced by merely peeping into the letters by pulling out their ends, for several bank letters containing notes for considerable sums had been so violated, while the contents were found safe. to cover one delinquency the boy had recourse to others. in order to account for his delay on the road, he opened the bag containing his way-bill, borrowed a knife from a shoemaker who kept one of the toll-houses, and altered his hour of despatch from his starting-point. the unfortunate youth also gave way to drink, stopping at the toll-houses, and calling sometimes for rum, sometimes for whisky, the keepers sharing in the refreshments, which were purchased with stolen money. on one occasion the boy opened a parcel intrusted to him, and from a letter inside abstracted a twenty-shilling note. whether to render himself all the more redoubtable on the road, over a section of which he travelled in the dark, or for some other purpose, is not clear, but with six shillings of the aforesaid sum he bought a sword, and with two shillings a pistol, the balance going in drink. the occupation of riding the mail was not for one so young: yet it was found that full-grown men often gave more trouble than boys; and it may be here remarked that the adventure of davie mailsetter in the 'antiquary' is no great exaggeration of the service of postboys at the period to which it refers. the poor boy shearer was put upon his trial before the circuit court of justiciary at aberdeen; and when called upon to plead, confessed his guilt. there was every disposition on the part of the public prosecutor, and of the presiding judge, to let the case go as lightly as possible against the prisoner--doubtless on account of his youth; but the law had to be vindicated, and the sentence passed was that of transportation for a period of seven years. since then humanity has made progress, and no such punishment would be inflicted in such a case nowadays. exposed to all the inclemency of the seasons, both by night and day; having to weather snowstorms and suffer the drenchings of heavy rain; to grope a way through the dense fogs of our climate, and endure the biting frosts of midwinter; or yet to face the masked highwayman on the open heath, or the footpad in the deep and narrow road,--these were the unpleasantnesses and the dangers which beset the couriers of the post-office in past years, ere the department had grown to its present robust manhood. as to the exposure in wintry weather, it is stated that postboys on reaching the end of their stages were sometimes so benumbed with the cold that they had to be lifted out of their saddles. some idea of what the postboys suffered may be gathered from the adventure of the rothbury to morpeth mail driver in the snowstorm of the st march . this man, robert paton, left rothbury with two horses, and another was sent from morpeth to meet him. on his way two of the horses succumbed to fatigue, and these, with the mail-cart, were left behind in charge of a companion, while paton proceeded on the third horse, that sent from morpeth, to his destination. one of the horses abandoned was so knocked up that it had to be left in the snow till next day. at one time the snow would just reach the horses' knees, at another the animals would be plunging desperately through quickly forming wreaths, in snow reaching half-way up their shoulders, and then an open stretch of country would expose them to the fury of the blinding storm. paton had started from rothbury at five o'clock in the afternoon, and was due at morpeth at . p.m., but he did not reach the post-office there till . p.m., and his son, who had carried the parcel basket for the last three miles, did not come in till midnight. on his arrival at morpeth, paton presented a most grotesque appearance, something like the pictures of father christmas, being covered over with snow, and adorned with icicles hanging from his hair and beard. he required the aid of a friendly hand to steady him when he descended, as his lower limbs seemed cramped and powerless, owing to the cold and long continuance in the saddle. [illustration: rothbury and morpeth mail driver.] of the attacks made upon postboys by highwaymen, some instances more or less tragic are given in another chapter. this we will conclude by recording the fate that befell a postboy who was charged with the conveyance of the mail for london which left edinburgh on saturday the th november . this mail, after reaching berwick in safety and proceeding thence, was never again heard of. a notice issued by the post-office at the time ran as follows: "a most diligent search has been made; but neither the boy, the horse, nor the packet has yet been heard of. the boy, after passing goswick, having a part of the sands to ride which divide the holy island from the mainland, it is supposed he has missed his way, and rode towards the sea, where he and his horse have both perished." the explanation here suggested is not at all improbable, in view of the fact that november is a month given to fogs, when a rider might readily go astray crossing treacherous sands. chapter iii. stage and mail coaches. prior to the middle of the seventeenth century, about which period stage-coaches came into use in england, the only vehicles available to ordinary travellers would seem to have been the carrier's stage-waggon, which, owing to its lumbering build and the deplorable state of the roads, made only from ten to fifteen miles in a long summer's day. the interior of such waggons exhibited none of the refinements of modern means of travel, the only furnishing of the machine being a quantity of straw littered on the floor, on which the passengers could sit or lie during the weary hours of their journey. though the stage-coaches came into vogue about the middle of the seventeenth century, as already stated, the heavy waggons seem also to have held a place till much later--for in one of these roderick random performed part of his journey to london in ; and it was doubtless only the meaner class of people who travelled in that way, as the description given by smollett of his companions does not mirror, certainly, people of fashion. m. sobrière, a frenchman, on his way from dover to london in the reign of charles ii., thus writes of his experience of the waggon: "that i might not take post, or be obliged to use the stage-coach, i went from dover to london in a waggon. it was drawn by six horses, one before another, and driven by a waggoner, who walked by the side of it. he was clothed in black, and appointed in all things like another st george. he had a brave montero on his head, and was a merry fellow, fancied he made a figure, and seemed mightily pleased with himself." unlike travelling in the present day, when one may go miles in a railway carriage without speaking to a fellow-passenger, the journey in the old-fashioned waggon brought all the travellers too close and too long together to admit of individual isolation, for the passengers might be associated for days together as companions, had to take their refreshment together, lived as it were in common, and it was even the custom to elect a chairman at the outset to preside over the company during the journey. but the stage-coach gradually became the established public conveyance of the country, improving in its construction and its rate of progression as the improved state of the roads admitted of and encouraged such improvement. still, compared with the stage-coaches of the best period, travelling by the earlier stage-coaches was a sorry achievement. here is an advertisement of stage-coaches of the year :-- "from the th april there will continue to go stage-coaches from the george inn, without aldersgate, london, unto the several cities and towns, for the rates and at the times hereafter mentioned and declared:-- "every monday, wednesday, and friday--to salisbury, in two days, for xx. s.; to blandford and dorchester, in two days and half, for xxx. s.; to burput, in three days, for xxx. s.; to exmister, hunnington, and exeter, in four days, for xl. s.; to stamford, in two days, for xx. s.; ... to york, in four days, for xl. s." indeed the charges might have been reckoned by time, the travelling being at the rate of about s. a day. another advertisement in thus sets forth the merits of some of the stage-coaches of the period:-- "exeter flying stage-coach in three days, and dorchester and blandford in two days. go from the saracen's head inn, in friday street, london, every monday, wednesday, and friday; and from the new inn, in exeter, every tuesday and thursday." then the advertisement makes known the fact, with regard to another coach, that the stage begins "flying on monday next." they were not satisfied in those days with a coach "going," "running," or "proceeding," but they set them "flying" at the rates of speed which may be gathered from these notices. nearly thirty years later another advertisement set forth that the taunton flying machine, hung on steel springs, sets out from the saracen's head inn, in friday street, london, and taunton, every monday, wednesday, and friday, at three o'clock in the morning, the journey taking two days. there were places inside for six passengers, and the fares were as follows, viz.:-- to taunton, £ " ilminster, " yeovil, " sherborne, " shaftesbury, outside passengers, and children in the lap, were half these fares. to follow out in a historical fashion the development of the coaching period down to the introduction of railways, would be beyond the purpose of this work, nor will the limits of these pages admit of so great an extension of the subject. the earlier modes of travelling, and the difficulties of the roads, are treated of in several histories of england in a general way, and more fully in such books as the 'lives of the engineers,' by smiles; 'old coaching days,' by stanley harris; and 'annals of the road,' by captain malet,--all of which contain much that is entertaining and interesting. here it is proposed merely to recall some of the incidents of the coaching days, so far as they relate to the mail-service, between the time when palmer's mail-coaches were put on the road in , down to the time when they were shouldered off the road by the more powerful iron horse. the dangers to which the mail-coaches were exposed were chiefly of three kinds,--the danger of being robbed by footpads or highwaymen; that of being upset in the road by running foul of some cart, dray, or waggon, or other object placed in the way; and the peril of being overtaken by snowstorms, and so rendered helpless and cut off from the usual communications. it was an almost everyday occurrence for the mail-bags to be robbed on the night journeys, when the principal mails were carried. we know of these things now through notices which were issued by the post-office at the time, of which copies are still in existence. here are the terms of a notice issued to the mail-guards in march :-- "three irishmen are in custody for highway robbery. one of them has confessed, and declares that their purpose in going out was to rob the mail-coach. their first step was to watch an opportunity and fire at the guard, which it is supposed might have been easily obtained, as they are so frequently off their guard. they had pistols found on them. it is therefore necessary, in addition to your former instructions, to direct that you are particularly vigilant and watchful, that you keep a quick eye to every person stirring, and that you see your arms are in the best possible condition, and ready for instant duty." on the st december , a bag of letters for stockport was stolen out of the mail-box while the coach was in macclesfield. it was a sunday night about ten o'clock when the robbery took place, and the bag was found empty under a haystack near the town. the following notice of another robbery was issued by the postmaster-general on the st march :-- "whereas the bags of letters from this office (london), of last night, for the following towns--viz., hatfield, welwyn, stevenage, baldock, biggleswade, kimbolton, st neots, oundle, stilton, wansford, grantham, spilsby, spalding, lowth, horncastle, and boston, --were stolen from the mail-box, about ten o'clock on the same night, supposed at barnet, by forcibly wrenching off the lock whilst the horses were changing; whoever shall apprehend and convict, or cause to be apprehended and convicted, the person or persons who stole the said bags, shall be entitled to a reward of one hundred pounds," &c. on monday the th november of the same year, the bags of letters from melton mowbray, oakham, uppingham, kettering, thrapston, higham ferrers, and wellingborough, were stolen at bedford at about nine o'clock in the evening. again, in january , a further warning to the guards was issued, showing the necessity for vigilance on the part of these officers, by describing some of the recent robberies which were the occasion for the warning:-- "the guards are desired by mr hasker to be particularly attentive to their mail-box. depredations are committed every night on some stage-coaches by stealing parcels. i shall relate a few, which i trust will make you circumspect. the bristol mail-coach has been robbed within a week of the bankers' parcel, value £ or upwards. the bristol mail-coach was robbed of money the d instant to a large amount. the 'expedition' coach has been twice robbed in the last week--the last time of all the parcels out of the seats. the 'telegraph' was robbed last monday night between saracen's head, aldgate, and whitechapel church, of all the parcels out of the dicky. it was broken open while the guard was on it, standing up blowing his horn. the york mail was robbed of parcels out of the seats to a large amount." the following account of a stage-coach robbery committed on that, at one time, notoriously dangerous ground called hounslow heath, is taken from the 'annals of the road,' already referred to in this work:-- "in the reign of king george iii., a stage coach, driven by one williams, and going over hounslow heath on the road between reading and london, was stopped by a highwayman, who, riding up, demanded money of the passengers. a lady gave up her watch, a gent his purse, and away goes the highwayman, followed, however, by williams (the bold) on one of the leaders, who 'nailed' and brought him back to the coach, on which he was placed and taken to staines. this occurred on a tuesday; the hearing before the magistrates took place on wednesday; on thursday he was in newgate; on friday he was tried, and sentenced to be hung on monday. williams then got up a memorial, petitioning for a reprieve; and on this being presented to his majesty, the sentence was commuted to transportation for life. the king was so pleased with williams's daring, that he presented him with a key of windsor park gates, to be used by him and his descendants so long as they drove a coach from reading to london. this royal authority allowed them to pass through the park instead of going by the turnpike road." another very interesting account of a mail-coach robbery is given by mr s. c. hall in his 'retrospect of a long life,' the object of the outrage being, not apparently plunder for plunder's sake in the ordinary sense, but to recover some legal documents and money paid as rent by a man in the neighbourhood who stood high in local favour, but was understood to have been harshly treated by his landlord. the case occurred in ireland, and is characteristic of the way in which the irish people give vent to their feelings when they are stirred by affection or sentiment. "i was travelling in ireland (it must have been about the year ), between cork and skibbereen, when i witnessed a stoppage of the mail to rob it. the road was effectually barricaded by a huge tree, passage was impossible, and a dozen men with blackened faces speedily surrounded the coach. to attempt resistance would have been madness: the guard wisely abstained from any, but surrendered his arms; the priming was removed, and they were returned to him. the object of the gang was limited to acquiring the mail-bags; they were known to contain some writs against a gentleman very popular in the district. these being extracted, the coach pursued its way without further interruption. the whole affair did not occupy five minutes. it was subsequently ascertained, however, that there had been a further purpose. the gentleman had that day paid his rent--all in bank-notes; when the agent desired to mark them, there was neither pen nor ink in the house; the mail-bag contained these notes. where they eventually found their way was never proved, but it was certain they did not reach the landlord, whose receipt was in the hands of his tenant, duly signed." interceptions of the mail for the purpose of preventing the serving of writs by means of the post are not unknown in ireland at the present time. in august a post-runner near mallow was stopped by two men, dressed in women's clothes and with blackened faces, who seized his mail-bag, and made search for registered letters which it was supposed might have contained ejectment notices. none were found, however, and the men returned the other letters to the runner. a similar outrage was committed in the same neighbourhood in . the following exciting and unpleasant adventure happened to the passengers by the enniskillen mail-coach on its way to dublin on the morning of the th january . the coach had safely made its journey to a point within two miles of a place called dunshaughlin, the time being about a.m., when the mail-guard, watchful as his duty required, espied a number of men suspiciously lying on each side of the road in advance of him. the night must have been clear, and probably there was bright moonlight; as otherwise, at that early hour in the month of january, the men lying in wait could not have been observed. there being little doubt that an attack upon the mail was contemplated, the carriage was at once drawn up, and the alarm given. the drowsy or benumbed travellers, thus rudely aroused and brought to a sense of their danger, hastily jumped to the ground, and demanded the spare arms which were carried for use on like emergencies. these were immediately served out to the passengers, who, if not animated by true irish spirit at so early an hour, to fight for fighting's sake, were at any rate determined to defend their lives and property. at the head of the coach-party in this lonely and trying situation was a clergyman of the county cavan named king, who, like father tom in the play, had not forgotten the accomplishments of his youth, and who was prepared to carry the message of peace and goodwill with the blunderbuss at the ready, this being the weapon with which he had armed himself. the robbers, perceiving that they were to encounter a determined opposition, thought it wise to retreat; and while the guards stood by their charge--the mail-coach--the men were pursued over a field by mr king, on whom they fired, without, however, doing any damage. the parson, deeming a return necessary, replied with the gaping blunderbuss--and to some purpose it was thought, for three of the men were within twenty yards of him when he fired. the would-be robbers being now driven off, the passengers had time to realise their fright; and gathering themselves again into the coach, the journey was continued, though it is hardly likely that sleep resumed its sway over the terrified passengers for the remaining hours of that particular night. these are but a few instances of the robberies against which the guards were constantly warned to be on the alert, and which they were enjoined to prevent. they were provided with a blunderbuss and a brace of pistols, to make a good defence in case of need; and it may be interesting to recall that the charge for the former was ten or twelve shot the size of a pea, and two-thirds of such charge for the latter--the quantity of lead mentioned being sufficient, one would suppose, if well directed, to give a hot welcome to any one attempting the mail. but the guards were very often not so vigilant as they should have been, the ale-houses having then the attractions which to many they still have: sometimes they fell asleep on their boxes, and in other respects wofully infringed the regulations. the following official notice plainly shows this:-- "i am very sorry to be under the necessity of addressing the mail-guards on such a subject; but though every direction and inspection are given them, and they are fully informed of the punishments that must follow if they do not do their duty, yet, notwithstanding this, and every admonition given in every way that can be devised, four guards that were looked upon as very good ones, have in the course of last week been guilty of such misconduct as obliges their discharge--for the public, who trust their lives and property in the conduct of the office, can never be expected to suffer such neglect to pass unnoticed. the four guards discharged are john ----, for having his mail-box unlocked at ferry-bridge while the mail was therein; wm. ----, for going to the office at york drunk to fetch his mail, though barely able to stand; w. ----, for bringing the mail on the outside of the mail-box and on the roof, and converting the mail-box to another use; w. ----, for going from london to newmarket without firearms." on another occasion a guard was fined five guineas "for suffering a man to ride on the roof of the mail-coach," and at the same time he was told that if he had not owned the truth he would have been dismissed--this being followed by the quaint observation, looking like a grim official joke, "which he may be now, if he had rather than pay the fine to the fund"! one more notice as to the vice of taking drink on the part of the guards, and as showing the impressive and formal manner of carrying out a dismissal in the coaching days. the document is of the year , and runs as follows, viz.:-- "i am very sorry to order in all the guards to witness the dismissal of one old in the service; but so imperious is the duty, that was he my brother he would be dismissed: indeed i do not think there is a guard who hears this but will say, a man who goes into an ale-house, stays to drink (and at brentford) at the dusk of morning, leaving his mail-box unlocked, deserves to lose his situation; and he is dismissed accordingly. and i am sure i need not stimulate you to avoid fresh misconduct--to read your instructions, and to mind them. i am the more sorry for this, as guards who have been some time in the service are fit for no other duty." towards the drivers also of the mail-coaches severe measures were taken when they got drunk; and the penalty sometimes took a peculiar form, as witness the following public act of submission and contrition:-- "whereas i, john ----, being driver of the mail-coach, on my way from congleton to coleshill on monday, december , " (some excuse, perhaps, on account of its being christmas-day), "did stop at several places on the road to drink, and thereby got intoxicated,--from which misconduct, driving furiously, and being from my coach on its returning, suffered the horses to set off and run through the town of coleshill, at the risk of overturning the carriage, and thereby endangering the lives of the passengers, and other misfortunes which might otherwise have occurred: for which misdeeds the postmasters-general were determined to punish me with the utmost rigour, and if it had been prosecuted, would have made me liable to the penalty incurred by the said offence of _imprisonment for six months_, _and not less than three_; but from my general good character, and having a large family, have generously forgiven me on my showing contrition for the past offence, as a caution to all mail and other coachmen, and making this public acknowledgment." in another case a mail-coach driver was summoned before a magistrate for intoxication and impertinence to passengers, and was thereupon mulcted in a penalty of £ , with costs. the accidents that befell the coaches were sometimes of a really serious character, and of very frequent occurrence--some of them, or perhaps many of them, being due wholly to carelessness. a person writing in remarks as follows:--"it is really heartrending to hear of the dreadful accidents that befall his majesty's subjects now on their travels through the country. in my younger days, when i was on the eve of setting out on a journey, my wife was in the habit of giving me her parting blessing, concluding with the words, 'god bless you, my dear; i hope you will not be robbed.' but it is now changed to 'god bless you, my dear; i hope you will not get your neck broke, and that you will bring all your legs safe home again.'" sometimes the drivers, if it fell in their way to overtake or be overtaken by an opposition coach, would go in for proving who had the best team, and an exciting race would result. sometimes a horse would fall, and bring the coach to grief; and in the night-time the horses would occasionally tumble over obstacles maliciously placed on the road to bring this about. whether this was always done to facilitate robbery, or out of sheer wantonness, is not quite clear, but instances of such acts of wickedness were frequent. on the night of the th june , some evil-disposed persons placed a gate in the middle of the turnpike road near welwyn green, and set up two other gates at the entrance of welwyn lane, also across the road, with the view of obstructing the mail-coach and injuring the persons of the passengers. early on the morning of the th april , the mail-coach was obstructed, in coming out of dumfries, by some evil-disposed persons placing boughs or branches of trees across the turnpike road, by which the lives of the passengers were put in peril and the mail much delayed. a similar outrage was committed on the night of the th august , when a large gate was placed in the middle of the road on ewenny bridge, near bridgend, in glamorganshire. in this instance the horses of the mail-coach took fright, imperilling the lives of all upon the coach; for it is very likely that they narrowly escaped being thrown over the bridge. again, on the night of the th april , some persons placed eleven gates at different points across the road two or three miles out of lancaster, on the way to burton-in-kendal, whereby destruction was nearly brought upon the mail-coach and its human freight. between northwich and warrington, early on the morning of the th november , eight or ten gates and a door were placed in the way of the mail-coach, and further on a broad-wheeled cart, with the view of wrecking the mail. on sunday, the th june , the horses of the mail-coach were thrown down near newmarket, and much injured, by stumbling over a plough and harrow, wickedly placed in their way by some evil-doers. these are but a few of the cases of such malicious acts, with respect to which rewards were offered by the postmaster-general at the time, for the discovery of the offenders. [illustration: notice of offer of reward.] but there were other ways in which the mail was placed in jeopardy--namely, by waggoners with teams getting in the middle of the highway, and not clearing out smartly to let the mails go by, or by otherwise so driving their horses as to foul with the mail-coach. and it is curious to observe how such cases were dealt with by the post-office. the following poster, issued publicly, will explain the matter:-- "caution to carters. "whereas i, edward monk, servant to james smith of pendlebury, near manchester, farmer, did, on tuesday the th day of july last, misconduct myself in the driving of my master's cart on the pendleton road, by not only riding furiously in the cart, but damaging the york and liverpool mail-coach, and endangering the lives of the passengers--for which the conductor of the mails has directed a prosecution against me; but on condition of this my public submission, and paying the expenses attending it, all proceedings have been discontinued. and i thank the conductor, and the gentlemen whose lives i endangered, for their very great lenity shown me; and i promise not to be guilty of such outrage in future. and i trust this will operate as a caution to all carters or persons who may have the care of carts and other carriages, to behave themselves peaceably and properly on the king's highway. witness my hand, the d aug. ." then there was the danger attending the running away of the horses with the coach, of which the following is an instance, the facts being succinctly set forth in a notice of , of which the following is a copy:-- "whereas walter price, the driver of the chester and manchester mail-coach, on thursday night the d nov. , on arriving in chester, incautiously left his horses without any person at their heads, to give out a passenger's luggage (while the guard was gone to the post-office with the mail-bags), when they ran off with the mail-coach through the city of chester, taking the road to holywell, but fortunately without doing any injury; in consequence of which neglect, the driver was, on the saturday following, brought before the magistrates, and fined in the full penalty of five pounds, according to the late act of parliament." and through the city of chester, with its narrow streets! it seems a miracle how four runaway horses, with a coach at their heels, could have cleared the town without dire disaster. again, it would come to pass that in dark nights the horses would sometimes stumble over a stray donkey or other animal which had taken up its night-quarters in the middle of the road, and there made its bed. nor were these the only perils of the road, which were always increased when the nights were thick with fog. on the morning of the th december , the mail from the south reached berwick late owing to a fog, the horses being led by the driver, notwithstanding whose care the coach had been overturned twice. the drivers were called upon on occasions to make up their minds in a moment to choose one of two courses, when danger suddenly burst upon them and there was no escape from it. a good instance of such a case happened to the driver of the edinburgh to dumfries mail-coach, who proved that he could reason his case quickly and take his resolve. at one of the stages he had changed horses, and was proceeding on his way, the first portion of the road being down a steep hill with an abrupt turn at the foot. he had hardly got his coach fairly set in motion, when to his dismay he perceived that the wheelers, two new horses, had no notion of holding back. the animals became furious, while the passengers became alarmed. it seemed a hopeless task to control the horses under the circumstances, and to attempt to take the turn at the foot of the hill would have assured the upsetting of the coach and all its belongings. at this juncture the passengers observed a strange smile creep over the coachman's face, while he gathered up the reins in the best style of the profession, at the same time lashing his horses into a good gallop. terror-struck, the passengers saw nothing but destruction before them; yet they had no alternative but to await the issue. opposite the foot of the hill was a stout gate leading into a field, and this was the goal the driver had in view. steadying the coach by keeping its course straight, he gave his horses all the momentum they could gather, and shot them direct at the gate. the gate went into splinters, the horses and coach bounded into the field, and were there immediately drawn up, neither horses, coach, nor passengers being seriously hurt by the adventure. [illustration: holyhead and chester mails snowed up near dunstable-- th dec. . (_from an old print._)] of all the interruptions to the mail-coach service, none were so serious as those which were occasioned by snowstorms, nor were the dangers attending them of a light nature to the drivers, guards, or passengers. the work achieved by man, either for good or evil, how insignificant does it not seem when contrasted with the phenomena of nature! in the year a severe snowstorm occurred in the country, which very much deranged the mail-service, as may be gathered from the following circular issued by the london post-office on the th april of that year:-- "several mail-coaches being still missing that were obstructed in the snow since the st february last, this is to desire you will immediately represent to me an account of all spare patent mail-coaches that are in the stage where you travel over, whether they are regular stationed mail-coaches or extra spare coaches, and the exact place where they are, either in barn, field, yard, or coach-house, and the condition they are in, and if they have seats, rugs, and windows complete." so that here, after a lapse of about three months, the post-office had not recovered the use of all its mail-coaches, and was beginning to hunt up the missing vehicles. another snowstorm occurred in january , evidence of which, from a passenger's point of view, is furnished by macready in his 'reminiscences.' he wrote as follows:-- "the snow was falling fast, and had already drifted so high between the ross inn and berwick-on-tweed that it had been necessary to cut a passage for carriages for some miles. we did not reach newcastle until nearly two hours after midnight: and fortunate was it for the theatre and ourselves that we had not delayed our journey, for the next day the mails were stopped; nor for more than six weeks was there any conveyance by carriage between edinburgh and newcastle. after some weeks a passage was cut through the snow for the guards to carry the mails on horseback, but for a length of time the communications every way were very irregular." but christmas of must bear the palm for snowstorms which have succeeded in deranging the mail-service in england, and it may be well to quote here some accounts of the circumstances written at the time:-- "the guard of the glasgow mail, which arrived on sunday morning, said that the roads were in the northern parts heavy with snow, and that at one place the mail was two hours getting over four miles of road. never before, within recollection, was the london mail stopped for a whole night at a few miles from london; and never before has the intercourse between the southern shires of england and the metropolis been interrupted for two whole days." "fourteen mail-coaches were abandoned on the various roads." "the brighton mail (from london) reached crawley, but was compelled to return. the dover mail also returned, not being able to proceed farther than gravesend. the hastings mail was also obliged to return. the brighton up-mail of sunday had travelled about eight miles from that town, when it fell into a drift of snow, from which it was impossible to extricate it without further assistance. the guard immediately set off to obtain all necessary aid; but when he returned, no trace whatever could be found either of the coach, coachman, or passengers, three in number. after much difficulty the coach was found, but could not be extricated from the hollow into which it had got. the guard did not reach town until seven o'clock on tuesday night, having been obliged to travel with the bags on horseback, and in many instances to leave the main road and proceed across fields, in order to avoid the deep drifts of snow." "the bath and bristol mails, due on tuesday morning, were abandoned eighty miles from london, and the mail-bags brought up in a postchaise-and-four by the two guards, who reached london at six o'clock on wednesday morning. for seventeen miles of the distance they had to come across fields." "the manchester down-mail reached st albans, and getting off the road into a hollow, was upset. the guard returned to london in a post-chaise and four horses with the bags and passengers." "about a mile from st albans, on the london side, a chariot without horses was seen on tuesday nearly buried in the snow. there were two ladies inside, who made an earnest appeal to the mail-guard, whose coach had got into a drift nearly at the same spot. the ladies said the postboy had left them to go to st albans to get fresh cattle, and had been gone two hours. the guard was unable to assist them, and his mail being extracted, he pursued his journey for london, leaving the chariot and ladies in the situation where they were first seen." "the devonport mail arrived at half-past eleven o'clock. the guard, who had travelled with it from ilminster, a distance of miles, states that journey to have been a most trying one to both men and cattle. the storm commenced when they reached wincanton, and never afterwards ceased. the wind blew fresh, and the snow and sleet in crossing salisbury plain were driving into their faces so as almost to blind them. between andover and whitchurch the mail was stuck fast in a snowdrift, and the horses, in attempting to get out, were nearly buried. the coachman got down, and almost disappeared in the drift upon which he alighted. fortunately, at this juncture, a waggon with four horses came up, and by unyoking these from the waggon and attaching them to the mail, it was got out of the hollow in which it was sunk." these are some of the reports, written at the time, of the disorganisation of the mail-service in consequence of the snowstorm. some slight idea of the magnitude of the drifts may be obtained from one or two additional particulars. the mail proceeding from exeter for london was five times buried in the snow, and had to be dug out. a mail-coach got off the road seven miles from louth, and went over into a gravel-pit, one of the horses being killed and the guard severely bruised. so deeply was another coach buried on this line of road that it took men, principally sappers and miners, working several hours, to make a passage to the coach and rescue the mails and passengers. near chatham the snow lay to a depth of or feet, and the military were turned out to the number of to clear the roads. [illustration: the devonport mail-coach forcing its way through a snowdrift near amesbury-- th dec. . (_from an old print._)] on the line of road from chatham to dover, a sum of £ was spent by the road-trustees in opening up the road for the resumption of traffic, an official report stating that for miles the road "was blocked up by an impenetrable mass of snow varying from feet to feet in depth." between leicester and northampton cuttings were made, just wide enough for a coach to pass, where the snow was heaped up to a height of , , and in some places feet. about a stage from coventry, near a place called dunchurch, seventeen coaches were reported to be laid up in the snow; and in other parts of the country a similar wholesale derangement or stoppage of road-traffic took place. on the th january , an official report set forth that "the mail-coach road between louth and sheffield had on the th inst. been closed twelve days in consequence of the snow, and it is stated that it will be a week before the mail can run." an attempt was made to get the mail forward from lewes to london by post-chaise and four horses; but after proceeding about a mile from the town, the chaise returned, the driver reporting that it was impossible to proceed, as the main road was quite blocked up with snow to a depth of or feet. these were the good old times; and no doubt to us they have a romance, though to the people who lived in them they had a very practical aspect. the general instructions to mail-guards in cases of breakdown were as follows:-- "when the coach is so broke down that it cannot proceed as it is on its way to london, if you have not above two passengers, and you can procure a post-chaise without loss of time, get them and the mail forward in that way, with the horses that used to draw the mail-coach, that they may be in their places (till you come to where a coach is stationed); and if you have lost any time, you must endeavour to fetch it up, which may be easily done, as the chaise is lighter than the coach. "if you cannot get a post-chaise, take off one of the coach-horses, and ride with your bags to the next stage; there take another horse,--and so on till you come to the end of your ground, when you must deliver the bags to the next guard, who must proceed in the same manner. if your mail is so large (as the york, manchester, and two or three others are at some part of the road) that one horse cannot carry it, you may take two; tie the mail on one horse and ride the other. the person who horses the mail must order his horsekeeper at every stage to furnish you with horses in case of accidents. change your horses at every post-town, and do all your office-duty the same as if the coach travelled. "if in travelling from london an accident happens, use all possible expedition in repairing the coach to proceed; and if it cannot be repaired in an hour or two, take the mail forward by horse or chaise--if the latter, the passengers will go with you." in pursuance of these instructions, many instances of devotion to duty were given by the mail-guards, in labouring to get the mails forward in the midst of the snowstorm of . on the th of december the birmingham mail-coach, proceeding to london, got rather beyond aylesbury, where it broke down. some things having been set right, another effort was made, and some little further way made; but the attempt to go on had to be given up, for the snow was getting deeper at every step. a hurricane was blowing, accompanied with a fall of fine snow, and the horses shook with extreme cold. in these circumstances, price the mail-guard mounted one of the horses, tied his mail-bags on the back of another, and set out for london. he was joined farther on by two postboys on other horses with the bye-bags, and all three journeyed in company. the road-marks being frequently effaced, they were constantly deviating from their proper course, clearing gates, hedges, and ditches; but having a general knowledge of the lie of the country, and price being possessed of good nerves, they succeeded in reaching the metropolis. the guard was in a distressing state of exhaustion when he reached his destination. this was only one instance of the way in which the guards acquitted themselves during this memorable storm, and for their great exertions they received the special thanks of the postmaster-general. at a place called cavendish bridge the mails were arrested by the storm, and the exertions of the coachman and guard were thus referred to by a private gentleman of the neighbourhood, who communicated with the post-office on the subject: "i take leave to remark that the zeal and industry evinced by the guard and coachman, more especially the former (named needle), upon the trying occasion to which your communication has reference, was well worthy of imitation, and formed a striking contrast to the reprehensible apathy of two gentlemen who were inside passengers by the mail." a notable instance of the devotion to duty of a coachman and mail-guard, and one illustrating the dangers and hardships which post-office servants of that class had to encounter, occurred in the winter of . on tuesday the st february of that year, james m'george, mail-guard, and john goodfellow, coachman, set out from dumfries for edinburgh at seven o'clock in the morning, and after extraordinary exertions reached moffat,--beyond which, however, they found it impossible to proceed with the coach, owing to the accumulation of snow. they then procured saddle-horses, and with these, accompanied by a postboy, they went on, intending to continue their journey in this way. they had not proceeded beyond erickstane hill, a rising ground in close proximity to the well-known natural enclosure called the deil's beef-tub, when it became evident that the horses could not make the journey, and these were sent back in charge of the postboy to moffat. the guard and coachman, unwilling to give in, continued their journey on foot, having in view to reach a roadside inn at tweedshaws, some two or three miles farther on. the exact particulars of what thereafter happened will never be known, beyond this, that the mail-bags were afterwards found tied to one of the road-posts set up in like situations to mark the line of road on occasions of snowstorms, and that the two men perished in the drift. the last act performed by them, before being quite overcome by exhaustion and fatigue, was inspired by a sense of duty, their aim being to leave the bags where they would more readily be found by others, should they themselves not live to recover them. shortly after this the two men appear to have succumbed; for their bodies were found five days afterwards within a hundred yards of the place where they left the bags, and where at the cost of their lives they had rendered their last service to the post-office and their country. "and down he sinks beneath the shelter of the shapeless drift, thinking o'er all the bitterness of death, mix'd with the tender anguish nature shoots through the wrung bosom of the dying man, his wife, his children, and his friends unseen. ... on every nerve the deadly winter seizes; shuts up sense; and, o'er his inmost vitals creeping cold, lays him along the snows, a stiffened corse, stretch'd out, and bleaching in the northern blast." --thomson. we who are accustomed to the comforts of railway travelling, are nevertheless, in regard to accidents, very much like the ostrich; for though we do not purposely close our eyes to danger, we are nevertheless placed in such a position that we are unable, when shut up in a railway carriage, to see what is before us, or about to happen. far otherwise was the case in the days of coaching. the passengers, as well as the drivers and guards, were not only exposed to the drenchings from long-continued rain, the terrible exposure to the cold night-air in winter travelling, and the danger of attack from highwaymen, but they ran the risks of all the accidents of the road, many of which they could see to be inevitable before they happened. there were occasions when passengers were frozen to death on the coaches, and others when they fell off benumbed with cold. it is said sometimes that first impressions are often correct; but there are, of course, erroneous first impressions as well. a story is told of a mail-guard in scotland who had the misfortune to be on a coach which upset, and from which all the outside people were thrown to the ground. the guard came down upon his head on the top of a stiff hedge, and from this temporary situation rolled into a ditch, where for a moment he lay. coming to himself from a partial stupor, he imagined there was something wrong with the top of his head, and putting up his hand, he felt a flat surface, which to his dawning perception appeared to be a section of his neck, his impression being that his head had been cut off. this was, however, nothing but the crown of his hat, which, being forced down over his head and face, had probably saved him from more serious damage. broken limbs were accidents of common occurrence; but affairs of much more serious import occasionally took place, of which the following is a notable example:-- on the night of tuesday the th october , the road between carlisle and glasgow was the scene of a catastrophe which will serve to illustrate in a striking degree one of the perils of the postal service in the mail-coach era. the place where the event now to be described occurred, lies between beattock and elvanfoot (about five miles from the latter place), where the highway crosses the evan water, a stream which takes its rise near the sources of the clyde, but whose waters are carried southward into dumfriesshire. to be more precise, the situation is between two places called raecleuch and howcleuch, on the carlisle road; and a bridge which now spans the water, in lieu of a former bridge, retains by association, to this day, the name of the "broken bridge." it was at the breaking up of a severe storm of frost and snow, when the rivers were flooded to such an extent as had never been seen by the oldest people in the neighbourhood. the bridge had been but recently built; and though it was afterwards stated that the materials composing the mortar must have been of bad quality, no doubt would seem to have been entertained as to the security of the bridge. the night was dark, and accompanied by both wind and rain--elements which frequently usher in a state of thaw. the mail-coach having passed the _summit_, was speeding along at a good round pace, the "outsiders" doubtless making themselves as comfortable as circumstances would allow, while the "insides," as we might imagine, had composed themselves into some semblance of sleep, the time being between nine and ten o'clock, when, suddenly and without warning, the whole equipage--horses, coach, driver, guard, and passengers--on reaching the middle of the bridge, went headlong precipitate into the swollen stream through a chasm left by the collapse of the arch. it is by no means easy to realise what the thoughts would be of those concerned in this dreadful experience--pitched into a roaring torrent, in a most lonely place, at a late hour on such a night. the actual results were, however, very serious. the two leading horses were killed outright by the fall, while one of the wheelers was killed by a heavy stone descending upon it from the still impending portions of the wrecked structure. the coach and harness also were utterly destroyed. but, worse still, two outside passengers, one a mr lund, a partner in a london house, and the other named brand, a merchant in ecclefechan, were killed on the spot, while a lady and three gentlemen who were inside passengers miraculously escaped with their lives, though they were severely bruised. the lady, who had scrambled out of the vehicle, sought refuge on a rock in mid-stream, there remaining prisoner for a time; and by her means a second catastrophe of a similar kind was happily averted. the mail from carlisle for glasgow usually exchanged "good-night" with the south-going coach, when they were running to time, just about the scene of the accident. fortunately the coach from carlisle was rather late; but when it did arrive, the lady on the rock, seeing the lights approach, screamed aloud, and thus warned the driver to draw up in time. succour was now at hand. something ludicrous generally finds itself in company with whatever is of a tragic nature. the guard of the carlisle coach was let down to the place where the lady was, by means of the reins taken from the horses. _hughie_ campbell--that was the guard's name--when deliberating upon the plan of rescue, had some delicacy as to how he should affix the reins to the person of the lady, and called up to those above, "where will i grip her?" but before he could be otherwise advised, the lady, long enough already on the rock, broke in, "grip me where you like, but grip me firm," which observation at once removed hughie's difficulty, and set his scruples at ease. the driver of the wrecked coach, alexander cooper, was at first thought to have been carried away; but he was afterwards found caught between two stones in the river. he survived the accident only a few weeks--serious injuries to his back proving fatal. as for the guard, thomas kinghorn, he was severely cut about the head, but eventually recovered. it was usual for the coachman and guard over this wild and exposed road to be strapped to their seats in stormy weather; but on this occasion kinghorn, as it happened, was not strapped, and to this circumstance he attributed his escape from death. when the mail went down, he was sent flying over the bridge, and alighted clear from the wreck of the coach. the dead passengers and the wounded persons were taken by the other coach into moffat. it may be added that the fourth horse was got out of its predicament little the worse for the fall, and continued to run for many a day over the same road; but it was always observed to evince great nervousness and excitement whenever it approached the scene of the accident. yet the mail-coach days had charms and attractions for travellers, if they at the same time had their drawbacks: the bustle and excitement of the start, when the horses were loosed and the driver let them have rein, under the eyes of interested and admiring spectators; the exhilarating gallop as a good pace was achieved on the open country-road; the keen relish of the meals, more especially of breakfast, at the neatly kept and hospitable inn; the blithe note of the guard's horn, as a turnpike-gate or the end of a stage was approached; and the hurried changing of horses from time to time as the journey progressed. ever-varying scene is the characteristic of the occasion: the village with its rustic quiet, and odd characters, who were sure to present themselves as the coach flew by; the fresh and blooming fields; the soft and pastoral downs; the scented hedgerows in may and june; the stretches of road embowered with wood, affording a grateful shade in warm weather; the farmer's children swinging on a gate or over-topping a fence, and cheering lustily with their small voices as the coach swept along. and then, the hours of twilight being past, when "day hath put on his jacket, and around his burning bosom buttoned it with stars," the eeriness of a night-journey would be experienced. during hard frost the clear ring of the horses' feet would be heard upon the road; the discomfort of fellow-passengers rolling about in their places, overcome by sleep, would be felt; while in the solemn dulness of the darker hours of night the monotony of the situation would be relieved at intervals, in the mineral districts, by miniature mountains of blazing coal, shedding their lurid glare upon the coach as it passed, and showing up the figures of soiled and dusky men employed thereat, thus creating a horrible impression upon the passengers, and seeming to afford an effective representation of dante's shadowy world. or, on occasions of great national triumph--when, for example, some important victory crowned our arms--the coach, decked out with ribbons or green leaves, would be the bearer of the joyful and intoxicating news down into the country,--the driver and guard, as the official representatives of the crown, being the heroes of the hour. but it may be of interest to learn what a mail-coach journey was from one who had just completed such a trip, and who, in the freshness of youth, and with the unreserve which can only subsist in correspondence between members of a family or dear friends, immediately commits his impressions to writing. we have a vivid sketch of a journey of this kind from no less a personage than felix mendelssohn, the great musical composer. mendelssohn was at the time a young man of twenty: he had been making a tour in scotland with his friend klingemann--the visit being that from which, by the way, mendelssohn derived inspiration for the composition of his delightful scotch symphony; and the means by which he quitted the northern kingdom was by mail-coach from glasgow to liverpool. the following letter, descriptive of the journey, and dated august , , is copied from an interesting work called 'the mendelssohn family':-- "we flew away from glasgow on the top of the mail, ten miles an hour, past steaming meadows and smoking chimneys, to the cumberland lakes, to keswick, kendal, and the prettiest towns and villages. the whole country is like a drawing-room. the rocky walls are papered with bushes, moss, and firs; the trees are carefully wrapped up in ivy; there are no walls or fences, only high hedges, and you see them all the way up flat hill-tops. on all sides carriages full of travellers fly along the roads; the corn stands in sheaves; slopes, hills, precipices, are all covered with thick, warm foliage. then again our eyes dwelt on the dark-blue english distance--many a noble castle, and so on, until we reached ambleside. there the sky turned gloomy again, and we had rain and storm. sitting on the top of the 'stage,' and madly careering along ravines, past lakes, up-hill, down-hill, wrapped in cloaks, and umbrellas up, we could see nothing but railings, heaps of stones or ditches, and but rarely catch glimpses of hills and lakes. sometimes our umbrellas scraped against the roofs of the houses, and then, wet through, we would come to a second-rate inn, with a high blazing fire, and english conversation about walking, coals, supper, the weather, and bonaparte. yesterday our seats on the coach were accidentally separated, so that i hardly spoke to klingemann, for changing horses was done in about forty seconds. i sat on the box next by the coachman, who asked me whether i flirted much, and made me talk a good deal, and taught me the slang of horsemanship. klingemann sat next to two old women, with whom he shared his umbrella. again manufactories, meadows, parks, provincial towns, here a canal, there a railway, then the sea with ships, six full coaches with towering outsiders following each other; in the evening a thick fog, the stage running madly in the darkness. through the fog we see lamps gleaming all about the horizon; the smoke of manufactories envelops us on all sides; gentlemen on horseback ride past; one coach-horn blows in b flat, another in d, others follow in the distance, and here we are at liverpool." speed was of the first consideration, and the stoppages at the wayside stages were of very limited duration. at an inn, the travellers would hardly have made a fair start in appeasing their hunger, when the guard would be heard calling upon them to take their seats, which, with mouths full, and still hungry, they would be forced to do, though with a bad grace and a growl--the acknowledged privilege of englishmen. a story is told of one passenger, however, who was equal to the occasion. leisurely sipping his tea and eating his toast, this traveller was found by the landlord in the breakfast-room when the other passengers were seated and the coach was on the point of starting. boniface appealed to him to take his place, or he would be left behind. "but," replied the traveller, "_that_ i will not do till i have a spoon to sup my egg." a glance apprised the landlord that not a spoon adorned the table, and rushing out he detained the coach while all the passengers were searched for the missing articles. then out came the satisfied traveller, who also submitted to be searched, and afterwards mounted the coach; and as the mail drove off he called to the landlord to look inside the teapot, where the artful traveller had placed the dozen spoons, with the double object of cooling the tea for his second cup, and detaining the coach till he drank it. the illustration here inserted, from an old print, shows a passenger securing refreshment on a cold night. [illustration: nocturnal refreshment.] in the year the speed of some of the mail-coaches was nearly ten miles an hour, including stoppages, and this was kept up over very long distances. from edinburgh to london, a distance of miles, the time allowed was forty-five and a half hours; in the opposite direction the time was curtailed to forty-two and a half hours. from london to york, miles, twenty hours were allowed; london to manchester, miles, nineteen hours; london to exeter, miles, nineteen hours; london to holyhead, miles, twenty-seven hours; london to devonport, miles, twenty-one hours. but in the earlier days of the mail-coach, travelling was much less rapid; for we find that in the mail-coach from perth to edinburgh, a distance by way of fife of miles, took eight hours for the journey, including stoppages and the transit by ferry across the forth--that is, at the rate of five miles an hour. the mail-guards rode about twelve hours at a stretch--quite long enough, in all conscience, on a wet or frosty night. but though in the earlier days of the mail-coaches the speed achieved by them, even on the main lines, was probably not more than seven or eight miles an hour, the people at head-quarters would seem to have regarded this as a thing not to be trifled with; for in a postmaster-general's minute of , directing that, owing to the frequent robberies, a caution should be given to the public against sending bank notes otherwise than in halves, the following bit of advice is added. the minute directs that the notice shall contain "also a printed caution at the foot of the table, directing all persons to avoid, as far as may be, sending any cash by the post, _partly from the prejudice it does the coin by the friction it occasions from the great expedition with which it is conveyed_, and especially as the cash is so liable to fall out of the letter by jolting, and to be found at the bottom of the bag," &c. it would be a species of high treason to treat with levity any kind of expression or decision proceeding from a reigning postmaster-general, but at this safe distance of time we may venture to smile at the idea here propounded, that coins would seriously suffer by _sweating_ in a mail-bag conveyed by coach at the surprising rate of eight miles an hour. such ill-founded apprehensions of the mail-coach speed were not, however, confined to post officials, for lord campbell was frequently warned against the danger of travelling in this way, and instances were cited to him in which passengers died from apoplexy induced by the rapidity with which these vehicles travelled! an incident of a romantic nature happened about the year in connection with the stage-coach (not a mail-coach, however, be it noted) running between edinburgh and glasgow at that period. the stage-coach, drawn by four horses, had been on the road for many years, having been established about the year . the time occupied in the journey was twelve hours; nor, down to the period in question, had any acceleration taken place. a young lady of glasgow, of distinguished beauty, having to travel to edinburgh, a lover whose suit towards her had not hitherto proved successful, took the remaining tickets for the journey, and so became her sole companion on the way. by assiduous attentions, and all the winsome ways which the tender passion knows to suggest, as well as by earnestness of pursuit, the lover won the lady to his favour, and she soon thereafter became his wife. but the full day did not justify the brightness of the morning: the husband failed to prove himself worthy of his good fortune; "and the lady, in a state worse than widowhood, was, a few years after, the subject of the celebrated clarinda correspondence of burns." in addition to the obvious duties of the mail-guards--to protect the mails and carry out their exchange at the several stations--they were sometimes required to perform special duties unconnected with post-office work. they were, for example, called upon to keep watch in the early part of the present century upon french prisoners of war who might be breaking their parole, a likely way of escaping being by the mail-coaches. the guards were instructed to question any suspicious foreigner travelling by the coach, and to report the matter to the postmaster at the first town at which they arrived. this was doubtless looked upon as a pleasure rather than as a hardship; for they were reminded that the usual reward was ten guineas each--not a bad price for a frenchman under the circumstances. no record of the mail-coach days would be complete without a description of the annual procession of mail-coaches which used to be held in the metropolis on the monarch's birthday. as every corporation or society has its saint's day, or yearly festival, so the jehus of the post-office were not without theirs; an occasion on which they showed themselves to advantage, and drew admiring crowds to behold them. the following account of one of these displays is from the 'annals of the road,' a work of great interest on subjects connected with coaching generally; and as the description is given with spirit and apparent truthfulness, we cannot do better than give it at length, and in this way bring the present chapter to a close:-- "the great day of the year was the king's birthday, when a goodly procession of four-in-hands started from the great coach manufactory of mr john vidler, in the neighbourhood of millbank, and wended its way to st martin's-le-grand. splendid in fresh paint and varnish, gold lettering and royal arms, they were the perfection of neatness and practical utility in build, horsed to perfection, and _leathered_ to match. they were driven by coachmen who, as well as the guards behind, were arrayed in spick-and-span new scarlet and gold. no delicate bouquets, but mighty nosegays of the size of a cabbage, adorned the breasts of these portly mail coachmen and guards, while bunches of cabbage-roses decorated the heads of the proud steeds. in the cramped interior of the vehicles were closely packed buxom dames and blooming lassies, the wives, daughters, or sweethearts of the coachmen or guards, the fair passengers arrayed in coal-scuttle bonnets and in canary-coloured or scarlet silks. on this great occasion the guard was allowed two seats and the coachman two, no one allowed on the roof. but the great feature, after all, was that stirring note, so clearly blown and well drawn out, and every now and again sounded by the guards, and alternated with such airs as 'the days when we went gipsying,' capitally played on a key-bugle. should a mail come late, the tune from a passing one would be, 'oh, dear! what can the matter be?' this key-bugle was no part of the mail equipment, but was nevertheless frequently used. "heading the procession was the oldest-established mail, which would be the bristol. on the king's birthday, , there were coaches in the procession. they all wore hammer-cloths, and both guard and coachman were in red liveries, the latter being furnished by the mail contractor. they wore beaver hats with gold lace and cockades. such a thing as a low billycock hat was not to be seen on any coach anywhere. sherman's mails were drawn by black horses, and on these occasions their harness was of red morocco. [illustration: st martin's-le-grand in the coaching days.] "the coaches were new each year. in these days brass mountings were rarely known; plated or silver only were in use. on the starting of the procession, the bells of the neighbouring churches rang out merrily, continuing their rejoicing peals till it arrived at the general post-office. many country squires, who were always anxious that their best horses should have a few turns in the mail-coaches in travelling, sent up their horses to figure in the procession. "from millbank the procession passed by st james's palace, at the windows of which, above the porch, stood king william and his queen. the duke of richmond (then postmaster-general) and the duke of wellington stood there also. each coach as it passed saluted the king, the coachman and guard standing up and taking off their hats. the appearance of the smart coaches, emblazoned with the royal arms, orders, &c., coachman and guard got up to every advantage, with their nosegays stuck in their brand-new scarlet liveries, was at this point strikingly grand. the inspectors of mail-coaches rode in front of the procession on horseback." chapter iv. foot-posts. "i know of no more universally popular personage than this humble official. bearer of love-letters, post-office orders, cheques, little carefully tied packages, all the more charming that it is difficult to get at their contents, it is who shall be first to open the door to him. he is welcomed everywhere; smiling faces greet him at every door. in england, the postman is the hero of christmas time; so he strikes the iron while it is hot, and on boxing-day comes round to ask for a reward, which all are ready to give without grudging."--max o'rell in 'john bull and his island.' though in former times foot-messengers--or, as they are called, post-runners--were employed to convey many of the principal mails over long stretches of country, their work in this way has been almost wholly superseded by the railway and by horse-posts; and while post-runners are perhaps now numerically stronger than they ever were, their work is principally confined nowadays to what may be termed the capillary service of the post-office. they are chiefly employed in conveying correspondence between country towns and the outlying points forming the outskirts or fringes of inhabited districts. these men have in many cases very arduous work, being required to walk from sixteen to twenty-four miles a-day; and it is not improbable that the circumstances of these later times make the duties more trying in some respects than they were formerly. for the messengers are so timed for arrival and departure that they are prevented from taking shelter on occasions of storm, and are obliged to plod on in spite of the elements; whereas in remote times, when a runner took several days to cover his ground, he could rest and take refuge at one stage, and make up lost time at another. be this, however, as it may, it is the fact that very many post-runners die from that insidious disease, consumption. in the year , the magistrates of aberdeen established a post for conveying their despatches to and from edinburgh, and other places where the royal residence might for the time be. this institution was called the "council post"; and the messenger was dressed in a garment of blue cloth, with the armorial bearings of the town worked in silver on his right sleeve. in the year , there was not a single horse-post in scotland, all the mails being conveyed by runners on foot; and the ground covered by these posts extended from edinburgh as far north as thurso, and westward as far as inveraray. about the year , an improved plan of forwarding the mails was introduced in scotland by the horse-posts proceeding only from stage to stage--the mails being transferred to a fresh postboy at each point; but in the majority of cases the mails were still carried by foot-runners. before the change of system the plan of proceeding was this, taking the north road as an example: "a person set out with the mail from edinburgh to aberdeen: he did not travel a stage and then deliver the mail to another postboy, but went on to dundee, where he rested the first night; to montrose, where he stayed the second; and on the third he arrived at aberdeen; and as he passed by kinghorn, it behoved the tide, and sometimes also the weather, to render the time of his arrival more late and uncertain." the plan of conveying mails by the same runners over long distances continued much later, however; for we find that in a post-runner travelled from inverness to lochcarron--a distance across country as the crow flies of about fifty miles--making the journey once a-week, for which he was paid five shillings. another messenger at the same period made the journey from inverness to dunvegan in skye--a much greater distance--also once a-week, the hebdomadal stipend in this instance being seven shillings and sixpence. as with the postboys, so with the runners; the surveyors seem to have had some trouble in keeping them to their prescribed duties, as will be gathered from the following report written in the year : "i found it had been the general practice for the post from bonaw to appin to lodge regularly all night at or near the house of ardchattan, and did not cross shien till the following morning, losing twelve hours to the appin, strontian, and fort william districts of country; and i consider it an improvement of itself to remove such private lodgings or accommodations out of the way of posts, which, as i have been informed, is sometimes done for the sake of perusing newspapers, as well as answering or writing letters." nor was the speed of the foot-posts--in some cases, at any rate--very much to boast of, these humble messengers being at times heavily weighted with the correspondence they had to carry. in the year , before the dumbarton to inveraray mail service was raised to the dignity of a horse-post, the surveyor, in referring to the necessity for the employment of horses, thus deplores the situation: "i have sometimes observed these mails, at leaving dumbarton, about three stones or forty-eight pounds weight, and they are generally above two stones. during the course of last winter, horses were obliged to be occasionally employed; and it is often the case that a strong highlander, with so great weight on him, cannot travel more than _two miles an hour_, which greatly retards the general correspondence of this extensive district of country." in winter-time, and on occasions of severe storms, the post-runners have sometimes to endure great fatigue; and it is then that their loyalty to the service is put to the test. an instance of stern fidelity to duty on the part of one of these men, at the time of the snowstorm of , formed the subject of a petition to the postmaster-general from the inhabitants of sheerness and the isle of sheppy. the document recites that a foot-messenger named john wright continued for nine days, from the th december , to carry the mails between sheerness and sittingbourne--a distance for the double journey of about twenty-four miles. at the end of this time he was so completely exhausted and overcome by the effects of cold and exposure, that he had to give up duty for a time. the memorial sets forth that "the road is circuitous and crooked, through marshes, and very exposed, without any protection from the drift (in many places very deep), and with a ditch on either side--the water of which was frozen just sufficient to bear the weight of the snow, thereby rendering the travelling extremely hazardous, inasmuch as the dangers were in a great measure unseen; and had the postman mistaken his road (which from the frequent drifting of the snow, and the absence of traffic at that time was often untracked), and fallen into one of these ditches, he must no doubt have perished." it appeared further, that between the two places there was a ferry which the postman had to cross, and that in making the passage on the night of the th december, the boat in which he was nearly swamped, and he "was compelled to escape through mud and water up to his waist." it is not an uncommon thing for messengers to lose their lives in the discharge of their duties, and a severe winter seldom passes without some fatality of this kind. in the winter of - , a sad accident befell a messenger employed in northumberland. on a night of intense darkness and storm, this man turned off the usual road in order to avoid crossing a swollen stream; and subsequently losing his way, he sank down and died, overcome by exposure and fatigue. in another case a messenger at lochcarron, in scotland, being unable to pursue his usual route over a mountain feet high, on account of a heavy fall of snow, proceeded by water to complete his journey; but the boat which he had engaged capsized, and both the messenger and two other persons who accompanied him were drowned. a few years ago, on the evening of christmas-day, a rural messenger at bannow, in ireland, while on his return journey along a narrow path flanked on each side by a deep ditch, is believed to have been tripped by a furze-root, and being precipitated into one of the ditches, was unfortunately drowned. the rural post-messengers having, moreover, to visit isolated houses along their route, are exposed to the attacks of dogs kept about the premises. a few years ago a rural messenger was delivering letters at a farmhouse, when he was severely bitten by a retriever dog, and he died six weeks afterwards from tetanus. it is perhaps in the western highlands and islands of scotland that the most trying conditions for the rural messengers present themselves. from ullapool to coigach and rieff in ross-shire, for example, a journey of twenty-six miles, the messenger travels out one day, and back again the next. proceeding from ullapool, the main road is followed for about three miles, when the man strikes off into the hills, and after a time reaches a river. this he is enabled sometimes to cross by means of stepping-stones; but so often does the water cover these, that he is generally obliged to ford it, and in doing so gets himself thoroughly wet. then he pursues a course along or over one of the most dangerous rocks in scotland for a distance of three or four miles, the rock in some places being so precipitous that he is obliged to cling to it for dear life.[ ] after passing this rock he continues some distance further over the hills, and ultimately regains the main road, by which he completes his journey. apart altogether from the dangerous character of the road, the distance which the post-runner has to walk day after day must necessarily be severe and trying work. [ ] route changed since . from lochmaddy to castlebay there is a chain of posts seventy-five miles long, served partly by foot-messengers, partly by horse-posts, and partly by boats. the line is intersected by dangerous ferries, one between kilbride and barra being six miles wide, and exposed to the full force of the waves from the atlantic. from garrynahine to miavaig, in the island of lewis, there is another dangerous service, partly by foot-post and partly by boat, the distance being seventeen miles. the road lies all through bog--a dreary waste--while the sea portion is on a most exposed part of the coast. these are a few instances of the laborious and dangerous services performed by the rural postmen. their brother officers in the towns, though in many cases having quite hard enough work (mr anthony trollope tells that the hardest day's work he ever did in his life was accompanying a glasgow postman up and down stairs on his beat), have not the exposure of the men in the country; and as they are familiar to the eyes of every one, any special notice of them here would be out of place. it may, however, be mentioned, that the men who formerly delivered letters in small towns were not always in the pay of the post-office or under its control. this appears by an official report of , relating to the town service of greenock, which runs as follows: "as the greenock letter-carrier is not paid by government, nor _their_ appointment properly in us, they are of course elected by the magistrates or inhabitants of the town, who have the right to choose their own carriers, or call for their letters at the office." chapter v. mail-packets. the employment of vessels for the conveyance of mails seems to have passed through three several stages, each no doubt merging into the next, but each retaining, nevertheless, distinct features of its own. first, there was the stage when government equipped and manned its own ships for the service; then there was an age of very heavy subsidies to shipping companies who could not undertake regularity of sailing without some such assistance; and now there is the third stage, when, through the great development of international trade and the consequent competition of rival shipowners, regularity of sailing is ensured apart from the post, and the government is able to make better terms for the conveyance of the mails. it is curious to take a glimpse of the conditions under which the early packets sailed, when they were often in danger of having to fight or fly. the instructions to the captains were to run while they could, fight when they could no longer run, and to throw the mails overboard when fighting would no longer avail. in , such a ship as then performed the service was described as one of "eighty-five tons and fourteen guns, with powder, shot, and firearms, and all other munitions of war." a poor captain, whose ship the 'grace dogger' was lying in dublin bay awaiting the tide, fell into the hands of the enemy, a french privateer having seized his ship and stripped her of rigging, sails, spars, and yards, and of all the furniture "wherewith she had been provided for the due accommodation of passengers, leaving not so much as a spoone or a naile-hooke to hang anything on." the unfortunate ship in its denuded state was ransomed from its captors for fifty guineas. if we may judge from this case, the fighting of the packets does not seem always to have been satisfactory; and the postmasters-general of the day, deeming discretion the better part of valour, set about building packets that should escape the enemy. they did build new vessels, but so low did they rest in the water that the postmasters-general wrote of them thus: "wee doe find that in blowing weather they take in soe much water that the men are constantly wet all through, and can noe ways goe below to change themselves, being obliged to keep the hatches shut to save the vessel from sinking, which is such a discouragement of the sailors, that it will be of the greatest difficulty to get any to endure such hardshipps in the winter weather." these flying ships not proving a success, the postmasters-general then determined to build "boats of force to withstand the enemy," adopting the bull-dog policy as the only course open in the circumstances. it may be interesting to recall how these packets were manned. in may the crews of the packets between harwich and holland were placed on the following footing:-- per mensem. master and commander, £ mate, surgeon, boatswain, midshipman, carpenter, boatswain's mate, gunner's mate, quartermaster, captain's servant, able seamen at £ , s., agent's instrument, ---------- in all, £ these wages may not have been considered too liberal considering the risks the men ran; and as an encouragement to greater valour in dealing with the enemy, and as an additional means of recompense, the crew were allowed to take prizes if they fell in their way. they also "received pensions for wounds, according to a code drawn up with a nice discrimination of the relative value of different parts of the body, and with a most amusing profusion of the technical terms of anatomy. thus, after a fierce engagement which took place in february , we find that edward james had a donation of £ because a musket-shot had grazed on the tibia of his left leg; that gabriel treludra had £ because a shot had divided his frontal muscles and fractured his skull; that thomas williams had the same sum because a granada shell had stuck fast in his left foot; that john cook, who received a shot in the hinder part of his head, whereby a large division of the scalp was made, had a donation of £ , s. d. for present relief, and a yearly pension of the same amount; and that benjamin lillycrop, who lost the fore-finger of his left hand, had £ for present relief, and a yearly pension of the same amount." some other classes of wounds were assessed for pensions as follows: "each arm or leg amputated above the elbow or knee is £ per annum; below the knee is nobles. loss of the sight of one eye is £ , of the pupil of the eye £ , of the sight of both eyes £ , of the pupils of both eyes £ ; and according to these rules we consider also how much the hurts affect the body, and make the allowances accordingly." but between different parts of the united kingdom, not a century ago, it is remarkable how infrequent the communications sometimes were. nowadays, there are three or four mails a-week between the mainland and lerwick, in shetland, whereas in the mails between these parts were carried only ten times a-year, the trips in december and january being omitted owing to the stormy character of the weather. the contract provided that there should be used "a sufficiently strong-built packet," and the allowance granted for the service was £ per annum. it may perhaps be worthy of notice that the amount of postage upon letters sent to shetland in the year ended the th july was no more than £ , s. d. it was also stipulated, by the terms of the agreement, that the contractors should adopt a proper search of their own servants, lest they should privately convey letters to the injury of the revenue; and they were also required to take measures against passengers by the packet transgressing in the same way. on one occasion the good people in these northern islands, when memorialising for more frequent postal service, suggested that the packets would be of great use in spying out and reporting the presence of french privateers on the coast; but the postmaster-general of the period took the sensible view that the less the packets saw of french privateers the better it would be for the packet service. difficulties are experienced even in the present day in communicating with some of the outlying islands of the north of scotland, weeks and occasionally months passing without the boats carrying the mails being able to make the passage. the following is from a report made by the postmaster of lerwick on the th march , with reference to the interruption of the mail-service with foula, an outlying island of the shetland group:-- "a mail was made up on the th january, and several attempts made to reach the island, but unsuccessfully, until the th march. fair isle was in the same predicament as foula, but the mail-boat was more unfortunate. a trip was effected to fair isle about the end of december, but none again until last week. about th march the boat left for fair isle, and nothing being heard of her for a fortnight, fears were entertained for her safety. fortunately the crew turned up on d march, but their boat had been wrecked at fair isle. during the twenty years i have been in the service, i have never been so put about arranging our mails and posts as since the new year; we have had heavier gales, but i do not think any one remembers such a continuation of storms as from about the first week of january to end of february; indeed it could hardly be called _storms_, but rather one continued storm, with an occasional lull of a few hours. i cannot recall any time during the period having twenty-four hours' calm or even moderate weather. if it was a lull at night, it was on a gale in the morning; and if a lull in the morning, a gale came on before night. the great difficulty in working foula and fair isle is the want of harbours; and often a passage might be made, but the men dare not venture on account of the landing at the islands." this statement gives a fair idea of the difficulties that have to be overcome in keeping up the circulation of letters with the distant fragments of our home country. in the packet service deeds of devotion have been done in the way of duty, as has been the case on occasions in the land service. at a period probably about , a mr ramage, an officer attached to the dublin post-office, being charged with a government despatch, to be placed on board the packet in the bay of dublin, found, on arriving there, that the captain, contrary to orders, had put to sea. mr ramage, being unable to acquit himself of his duty in one way, undertook it in another; and hiring an open boat, he proceeded to holyhead, and there safely landed the despatch. another instance is related in connection with the shipwreck of the 'violet' mail-packet sailing between ostend and dover; the particulars being given as follows in the postmaster-general's report for :-- "mr mortleman, the officer in immediate charge of the mail-bags, acted on the occasion with a presence of mind and forethought which reflect honour on his memory. on seeing that the vessel could not be saved, he must have removed the cases containing the mail-bags from the hold, and so have placed them that when the ship went down they might float; a proceeding which ultimately led to the recovery of all the bags, except one containing despatches, of which, from their nature, it was possible to obtain copies." it has already been mentioned that at the close of the seventeenth century a mail-packet was a vessel of some tons--a proud thing, no doubt, in the eyes of him who commanded her. the class of ship would seem to have remained very much the same during the next hundred years; for, in the last years of the eighteenth century, a mail-packet on the falmouth station, reckoned fit to proceed to any part of the world, was of only about tons burthen. her crew, from commander to cook, comprised only twenty-eight persons when she was on a war footing, and twenty-one on a peace footing; and her armament was six -pounder guns. the victualling was at the rate of tenpence per man per day; the whole annual charge for the packet when on the war establishment, including interest on cost of ship, wages, wear and tear of fittings, medicine, &c., being £ , s. d.; while on the peace establishment, with diminished wear and tear, and reduced crew, the charge was estimated at £ , s. d. the packets on the harwich station, performing the service to and from the continent, were much less in size, being of about tons burthen. during the wars with the french at this period the mail-packets were not infrequently captured by the enemy. from to alone four of these ships were thus lost--namely, the 'king george,' the 'tankerville,' the 'prince william henry,' and the 'queen charlotte.' the 'king george,' a lisbon packet, homeward bound with the mails and a considerable quantity of money, was taken and carried into brest. the 'tankerville,' on her passage from falmouth to halifax, with the mails of november and december , was captured by the privateer 'lovely lass,' a ship fitted out in an american port, and probably itself a prize, there having been some diplomatic correspondence with the united states shortly before on the subject of a captured vessel bearing that name. before the 'tankerville' fell into the hands of the enemy, the mails were thrown overboard, in accordance with the standing orders which have already been referred to. the officers and crew were carried on board the 'lovely lass,' and then the 'tankerville' was sunk. soon afterwards the captive crew were released by the commander of the privateer, and sent in a spanish prize to barbadoes. but though the mail-packets were intended to rely for safety mainly upon their fine lines and spread of canvas, and were expected to show fight only in the last resort, we may be sure that, when the hour of battle came upon them, they were not taken without a struggle. nor, indeed, did they always get the worst of the fray, as will be seen by the following account of a brilliant affair which took place in the west indies, copied from the 'annual register' of :-- "the 'antelope' packet sailed from port royal, jamaica, november , . on the st of december, on the coast of cuba, she fell in with two schooners, one of which, the 'atalanta,' outsailed her consort; and after chasing the 'antelope' for a considerable time, and exchanging many shots, at five o'clock in the ensuing morning, it being calm, rowed up, grappled with her on the starboard side, poured in a broadside, and made an attempt to board, which was repulsed with great slaughter. by this broadside, mr curtis, the master and commander of the 'antelope,' the first mate, ship's steward, and a french gentleman, a passenger, fell. the command then devolved on the boatswain (for the second mate had died of the fever on the passage), who, with the few brave men left, assisted by the passengers, repelled many attempts to board. the boatswain, at last observing that the privateer had cut her grapplings, and was attempting to sheer off, ran aloft, and lashed her squaresail-yard to the 'antelope's' fore-shrouds, and immediately pouring in a few volleys of small arms, which did great execution, the enemy called for quarter, which was instantly granted, although the french had the bloody flag hoisted during the whole contest. the prize was carried into annotta bay about eleven o'clock the next morning. the 'antelope' sailed with hands, but had lost four before the action by the fever, besides two then unfit for duty: so that, the surgeon being necessarily in the cockpit, they engaged with only men, besides the passengers. "the 'atalanta' was fitted out at charlestown, mounted eight -pounders, and carried men, french, americans, and irish, of whom were killed or wounded in the action; the 'antelope' having only two killed and three wounded--one mortally. "the house of assembly at jamaica, as a reward for this most gallant action, voted guineas-- to be paid to the master's widow, to the first mate's, to the boatswain, and among the rest of the crew." another adventure of a mail-packet worthy of mention happened a few years later. the 'lady hobart,' an atlantic packet of tons burthen, left halifax, nova scotia, for england in june , and a few days after leaving port, fell in with a french schooner, called 'l'aimable julie,' laden with salt fish. captain fellowes of the packet took possession of the schooner, and put a prize crew in charge. a few days later, however, the 'lady hobart' ran into an iceberg; and there being no hope of saving the ship, the mails were lashed to pigs of ballast and thrown overboard. the crew and passengers took to the boats, and the 'lady hobart' shortly thereafter foundered. after suffering great hardships, the voyagers reached newfoundland on the th july. the illustration is from a contemporary print. [illustration: 'lady hobart,' mail-packet, tons.] the duty of throwing the mails overboard, when serious danger was apprehended, appears sometimes to have been carried out with undue haste; for we find an account in the 'annual register' of march , , that the dutch mail of the d february had been thus disposed of through an unlucky mistake. the ship conveying it was of dutch nationality, and, being boarded by a privateer, those in charge had hastily concluded that the visitor must be an enemy. when too late, they discovered their mistake, for the stranger proved to be a friendly english cruiser; and they thereafter reached harwich with a budget of regrets in place of the mails. the packet-boats sailing from the ports of harwich and dover, being habitually in the "silver streak," were subject to frequent interruptions from english privateers and men-of-war frequenting these waters; and to lessen the inconvenience thus arising, the packets at one time carried what was called a "postboy jack." an official record of thus describes the flag: "it is the union-jack with the figure of a man riding post with a mail behind him, and blowing his horn." these flags were made of bunting, and cost £ , s. each. [illustration: postboy jack] happily there has not for a long time been any need for using fighting ships to convey the mails of this country over the high seas; and this is a danger which it has not been needful to provide against in the packet service of the present generation. before leaving these mail-packets of former days, it is perhaps worth recording, that while needy passengers were sometimes carried on board at half the usual fares, and those in destitute circumstances for nothing at all, the poor jews were kept outside the pale of the generous concession; and the post-office thus joined the world's mob in the general harsh treatment of that unhappy race. this appears by an official order of , and the hardship was only removed under an authority dated august , . the postmaster-general's minute on the subject is as follows:--"the postmaster-general thinks that the last words of the order which proscribes all jews, merely because they are jews, is not consistent with the usual liberality of the office; but that the agent should be directed to give to them the same privileges that are given to all the rest of the world without any exception to them on account of their religion." we will be pardoned one more quotation. it is a concession on the score of religion, made by the postmaster-general in a minute, dated october , . it runs thus:--"let the secretary write a civil letter to mr coke, that the postmaster-general is very willing to relinquish, on the part of the king, the usual head money of guineas for three persons at £ , s. each, whom mr coke represents to be sent to the west indies for the purpose of instructing the negro slaves in the principles of the christian religion." while in the eighteenth century but trifling advancement would seem to have been made in naval matters, what a contrast is presented by the achievements of the last eighty years! as compared with the 'etruria' and the 'umbria' recent acquisitions of the cunard company, for the conveyance of the mails between liverpool and new york, each of tons burthen and , horse-power, the pigmy vessels of the past almost sink into nothingness; and we cannot but acknowledge the rapidity with which such stupendous agencies have come under the control of man for the furtherance of his work in the world. [illustration: steamship 'america.'] a favourite american packet of our own era, for travellers crossing the atlantic, was the 'america' of the national steamship company, which has since been purchased by the italian government for service as a fast cruiser. it is a ship of tons gross tonnage; and is a surprising contrast to the american packet of eighty years ago already described. we would present a further contrast between the past and the present as regards the packet service. so late as , and perhaps later still, the voyages out to the undermentioned places and home again were estimated to take the following number of days, viz.:-- days. to jamaica, " america, " leeward islands, " malta, " brazil, " lisbon, there were then no regular packets to china, new south wales, sierra leone, cape coast castle, goree, senegal, st helena, and many parts of south america; opportunity being taken to send ship letter-bags to these places as occasion offered by trading vessels. nowadays the transit of letters to the places first above-mentioned is estimated to occupy the following number of days:-- days. to jamaica, " america, " west indies, " malta, - / " brazil, " lisbon, and the return mails would occupy a similar amount of time. in nothing perhaps will the advantages now offered by the post-office, in connection with the packet service, be more appreciated by the public than in the reduced rates of postage. the following table shows the initial rates for letters to several places abroad in and in :-- . . france, s. d. - / d. italy, s. d. - / d. spain, s. d. - / d. sweden, s. d. - / d. portugal, s. d. - / d. gibraltar, s. d. - / d. malta, s. d. - / d. united states, s. d. - / d. brazil, s. d. d. if we were asked to point out a mail-packet of the present day as fulfilling all modern requirements in regard to the packet service, and showing a model of equipment in the vessels as well as order in their management, we would not hesitate to name the mail-steamers plying between holyhead and kingstown. it may not be generally known, but it is the case, that these vessels carry a post-office on board, wherein sorters perform their ordinary duties, by which means much economy of time is effected in the arrangement of the correspondence. in stormy weather, when the packets are tumbling about amid the billows of the channel, the process of sorting cannot be comfortably carried on, and the men have to make free use of their sea legs in steadying themselves, so as to secure fair aim at the pigeon-holes into which they sort the letters. but the departure of one of these ships from kingstown is a sight to behold. up to a short time before the hour of departure friends may be seen on the hurricane-deck chatting with the passengers; but no sooner is the whistle of the mail-train from dublin heard than all strangers are warned off; in a few minutes the train comes down the jetty; the sailors in waiting seize the mail-bags and carry them on board; and the moment the last of the bags is thus disposed of, the moorings are all promptly cast off, and the signal given to go ahead: and with such an absence of bustle or excitement is all this done, that before the spectator can realise what has passed before his eyes, the ship is majestically sailing past the end of the pier, and is already on her way to england. chapter vi. shipwrecked mails. outside the post-office department it is probably not apprehended to what extent care is actually bestowed upon letters and packets--when, in course of transit through the post, their covers are damaged or addresses mutilated--in order to secure their further safe transmission; many envelopes and wrappers being of such flimsy material that, coming into contact with hard bundles of letters in the mail-bags, they run great risk of being thus injured. but the occasions on which exceptional pains are taken, and on a large scale, to carry out this work, are when mails from abroad have been saved in the case of shipwreck, and the contents are soaked with water. then it is that patient work has to be done to get the letters, newspapers, &c., into a state for delivery, to preserve the addresses, and to get the articles dried. in certain instances the roof of the chief office in st martin's-le-grand has been used as a drying-green for shipwrecked newspapers, there being no sufficient space indoors to admit of their being spread out. the amount of patching, separating, and deciphering in such circumstances cannot well be conceived. but perhaps the most curious difficulty arising out of a shipwrecked mail was that which took place in connection with the loss of the union steamship company's packet 'european' off ushant, in december . after this ship went down the mails were recovered, but not without serious damage, through saturation with sea-water. one of the registered letter-bags from cape town, on being opened in the chief office in london, was found to contain several large packets of diamonds, the addresses on which had been destroyed by the action of the water, and some lbs. weight of loose diamonds, which had evidently formed the contents of a lot of covers lying as pulp at the bottom of the bag, and from which no accurate addresses could be obtained. every possible endeavour was made to trace the persons to whom the unbroken packets were consigned, and with such success, that after some little delay they reached the hands of the rightful owners. to discover who were the persons having claims upon the loose diamonds, which could not be individually identified, was a more serious matter, involving much trouble and correspondence. at length this was ascertained; and as the only means of satisfying, or attempting to satisfy, the several claims, the diamonds were valued by an experienced broker, and sold for the general behoof, realising £ , . this means of meeting the several claimants proved so satisfactory, that not a single complaint was forthcoming. chapter vii. amount of work. _correspondence._ the amount of work performed by the post-office in the transmission of letters and other articles of correspondence within the space of a year, may be gathered from the following figures, taken from the postmaster-general's annual report issued in :-- the letters numbered, , , , post-cards, , , books and circulars, , , newspapers, , , ------------- total, , , , ============= these figures are, however, of little service in conveying to our minds any due conception of the amount of work which they represent. nor, when the scene of the work is spread and distributed over the whole country, and the labour involved is shared in by a host of public servants, would any arrangement of figures put the matter intelligibly within our grasp. the quantity of paper used in this annual interchange of thought through the intermediary of the british post-office, may perhaps be measured by the following facts:--supposing each letter to contain a single sheet of ordinary-sized note-paper; the post-cards taken at the size of inland post-cards; book-packets as containing on an average fifty leaves of novel-paper; and newspapers as being composed of three single leaves inches by inches,--the total area of paper used would be nearly millions of square yards. this would be sufficient to pave a way hence to the moon, of a yard and a half in breadth; or it would give to that orb a girdle round its body yards in width; or again, it would encircle our own globe by a band yards in width. another way to look at the magnitude of the post-office work is as follows:--suppose that letters, book-packets, newspapers, and post-cards are taken at their several ascertained averages as to weight, the total amount of the mails for a year passing through the british post-office, exclusive of the weight of canvas bags and small stores of various kinds, would exceed , tons, which would be sufficient to provide full freight for a fleet of twenty-one ships carrying tons of cargo each. what a burthen of sorrows, joys, scandals, midnight studies, patient labours, business energy, and everything good or bad which proceeds from the human heart and brain, does not this represent! yet, after all, what are the figures above given, when put in the balance with the facts of nature? the whole paper, according to the foregoing calculations, although it would gird our earth with a band yards wide, could only be made to extend hence to the sun by being attenuated to the dimensions of a tape of slightly over one-eighth of an inch in width! bearing in mind the great quantity of correspondence conveyed by the post, as well as the hurry and bustle in which letters are often written, it is not astonishing that writers should sometimes make mistakes in addressing their letters; but it will perhaps create surprise that one year's letters which could neither be delivered as addressed, nor returned to the senders through the dead-letter office, were over half a million in number! it is curious to note some remarks written by the post-office solicitor in edinburgh eighty years ago with respect to misdirected letters. he speaks of "the very gross inattention in putting _the proper_ addresses upon letters--a cause which is more productive of trouble and expense to the post-office than any other whatever. in fact, three out of four complaints respecting money and other letters may generally be traced to that source, and of which, from the proceedings of a few weeks past, i have ample evidence in my possession at this moment." letters posted in covers altogether innocent of addresses, number , in the year; and the value in cash, bank-notes, cheques, &c., found in these derelict missives is usually about £ . letters sent off by post without covers, or from which flimsy covers become detached in transit, number about , ; while the loose stamps found in post-offices attain the annual total of , . the loose stamps are an evidence of the scrambling way in which letters are often got ready for the post, and probably more so of the earnest intentions of inexperienced persons, who, in preparing stamps for their letters, roll them on the tongue until every trace of adhesive matter is removed, with the result that so soon as the stamps become dry again they fall from the covers. letters which cannot be delivered in consequence of errors in the addresses, or owing to persons removing without giving notice of the fact to the post-office, are no less than , , , such being the number that reach the dead-letter office. but of these it is found possible to return to the writers about five millions, while the remainder fail to be returned owing to the absence of the writers' addresses from the letters. the other articles sent to the dead-letter office in a year are as follows, viz.:-- post-cards, nearly , book-packets, " , , newspapers, " , as regards the book-packets, it is well to know that a large part of the five millions is represented by circulars, which are classed as book-packets, and the addresses on which are not infrequently taken by advertisers from old directories or other unreliable sources. there is one trifling item which it may be well to give, showing how the smallest things contribute to build up the great, as drops of water constitute the sea, and grains of sand the earth. those tiny things called postage-stamps, which are light as feathers, and might be blown about by the slightest breeze, make up in the aggregate very considerable bulk and weight, as will be appreciated when it is mentioned that one year's issue for the united kingdom amounts in weight to no less than one hundred and fourteen tons. st valentine's day. "the day's at hand, the young, the gay, the lover's and the postman's day, the day when, for that only day, february turns to may, and pens delight in secret play, and few may hear what many say." --leigh hunt. the customs of st valentine's day have no direct connection with the saint whose name has been borrowed to designate the festival of the th of february. it is only by a side-light that any connection between the saint and the custom can be traced. in ancient rome certain pagan feasts were held every year, commencing about the middle of february, in honour of pan and juno, on which occasions, amid other ceremonies, it was the custom for the names of young women to be placed in boxes, and to be drawn for by the men as chance might decide. long after christianity had been introduced into rome, these feasts continued to be observed, the priests of the early christian church failing in their attempts to suppress or eradicate them. adopting a policy which has served missionaries in other quarters of the globe, the priests, while unable at once to destroy the pagan superstitions with the obscene observances by which they were accompanied, endeavoured to lessen their vicious character, and to bring them more into harmony with their religion; and one step in this policy was the substitution of the names of the saints for those of young women previously used in the lotteries. now it happened that the fourteenth day of february was the day set apart for the commemoration of the saint named valentine; and as the feasts referred to commenced, as has been seen, in the middle of february, a connection would seem to have been set up between the lotteries of the pagan customs (carried down to the time when valentines were drawn for) and the saint's festival, merely through a coincidence of days. that st valentine should have been selected as the patron of the custom known to us nowadays, is too unlikely, knowing as we do from history something of his life and death. he was a priest who assisted the early christians during the persecutions under claudius ii., and who suffered a cruel martyrdom about the year , being first beaten with clubs, and then beheaded. the customs of st valentine's day have passed through many phases, each age having its own variation, but all having a bearing to one idea. the following is an account of the ceremony in our own country as observed by "misson," a learned traveller of the early part of last century:--"on the eve of st valentine's day the young folks of england and scotland, by a very ancient custom, celebrate a little festival. an equal number of maids and bachelors get together, each writes their true or some feigned name upon separate billets, which they roll up and draw by way of lots, the maids taking the men's billets, and the men's the maids'; so that each of the young men lights upon a girl that he calls his valentine, and each of the girls upon a young man whom she calls hers. by this means each has two valentines, but the man sticks faster to the valentine that has fallen to him than to the valentine to whom he has fallen. fortune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines give balls and treats to their mistresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport often ends in love." pennant also, in writing of his tour in scotland in , refers to the observance of this custom in the north of scotland in these words:--"the young people in february draw valentines, and from them collect their future fortune in the nuptial state." in later times the drawing of a lady's name for a valentine was made the means of placing the drawer under the obligation to make a present to the lady. the celebrated miss stuart, who became the duchess of richmond, received from the duke of york on one occasion a jewel worth £ , in discharge of this obligation; and lord mandeville, who was her valentine at another time, presented her with a ring worth some £ . the term valentine is no longer used in its more general application to denote the lady to whom a present is sent on the th of february, but the thing sent, which is usually a more or less artistic print or painting, surmounted by an image of cupid, and to which are annexed some lines of loving import. thirty years ago valentines were generally inexpensive articles, printed upon paper with embossed margins. their style gradually improved until hand-painted scenes upon satin grounds became common; and valentines might be bought at any price from a halfpenny to five pounds. it should not be omitted to be noted that for many years valentines have had their burlesques, in those ridiculous pictures which are generally sent anonymously on valentine's day, and which were often observed to be decked out in extraordinary guises, and having affixed to them such things as spoons, dolls, toy monkeys, red herrings, rats, mice, and the like. on one occasion a valentine was seen in the post having a human finger attached to it. but as every dog has its day, and each succeeding period of life its own interests and allurements, so have customs their appointed seasons, and ideas their set times of holding sway over the popular mind. the wigs and buckled shoes of our forefathers, the ringlets of our grandmothers, which in their day were things of fashion, have lapsed into the category of the curious, and have to us none other than an antiquarian interest. the liberal in politics of to-day becomes the conservative of to-morrow; and the custom of sending valentines, at one time so common, that afforded so great pleasure not only to the young, but sometimes to those of riper years, has already had its death-knell sounded; and at the present rate of decline, it bids fair very soon to be relegated to the shades of the past. the rage for sending valentines probably had its culmination some ten years ago, since when it has steadily gone down; and now the festival is no longer observed by fashionable people, its lingering votaries being found only among the poorer classes. the following facts show how far the post-office was called upon to do the _messenger's_ part in delivering the love-missives of st valentine when the business was in full swing. at the chief office in london on valentine's eve , some extra mail-bags, each feet long by feet wide, were required for the additional work thrown on the post-office in connection with valentines, and at every post-office in the kingdom the staff was wont to regard st valentine's eve as the occasion of the year when its utmost energies were laid under requisition for the service of the public. but the decay of the ancient custom of sending valentines has probably not come about from within itself; it may rather be attributed to the progress made in what may be called the rival custom of sending cards of greeting and good wishes at christmas-time. it would almost seem that two such customs, having their times of observance only a few weeks apart, cannot exist together; and it will probably be found that the new has been growing precisely as the old has been dying, the former being much the stronger, choking the latter. valentines were sent by the young only--or for the most part, at any rate--while christmas-cards are in favour with almost every age and condition of life. it follows, then, that a custom such as this, having developed great energy, and being patronised by all classes, must throw a larger mass of work upon the post-office--the channel through which such things naturally flow--than valentines did. and so it has been found. the pressure on the post-office in the heyday of valentines was small by comparison with that which is now experienced at christmas. during the christmas season of , the number of letters, &c., which passed through the inland branch of the general post-office in london, in excess of the ordinary correspondence, was estimated at , , , a large portion of which reached the chief office on christmas morning; while in the christmas week of the extra correspondence similarly dealt with was estimated at , , , including registered letters (presumably containing presents of value), of which there was a weight of no less than three tons. everywhere similar pressure has been felt in the post-offices, and it is by no means settled that we have yet reached the climax of this social but rampant custom. in the london metropolitan district there are employed postmen; and taking their daily amount of walking at miles on the average--a very low estimate--this would represent an aggregate daily journeying on foot of , miles, or equal to twice the circumference of our globe. articles of many curious kinds have been observed passing through the post from time to time, some of them dangerous or prohibited articles, which, according to rule, are sent to the returned-letter office--the fact showing that the post-office is not only called upon to perform its first duty of expeditiously conveying the correspondence intrusted to it, but is made the vehicle for the carriage of small articles of almost endless variety. some of these are the following, many of them having been in a live state when posted--viz., beetles, blind-worms, bees, caterpillars, crayfish, crabs, dormice, goldfinches, frogs, horned frogs, gentles, kingfishers, leeches, moles, owls, rabbits, rats, squirrels, stoats, snails, snakes, silk-worms, sparrows, stag-beetles, tortoises, white mice; artificial teeth, artificial eyes, cartridges, china ornaments, devonshire cream, eggs, geranium-cuttings, glazier's diamonds, gun-cotton, horseshoe nails, mince-pies, musical instruments, ointments, perfumery, pork-pies, revolvers, sausages, tobacco and cigars, &c., &c. occasionally the sending of live reptiles through the post-office gives rise to interruption to the work, as has occurred when snakes have escaped from the packets in which they had been enclosed. the sorters, not knowing whether the creatures are venomous or not, are naturally chary in the matter of laying hold of them; and it may readily be conceived how the work would be interfered with in the limited space of a travelling post-office carriage containing half-a-dozen sorters, upon a considerable snake showing his activity among the correspondence, as has in reality happened. on another occasion a packet containing a small snake and a lizard found its way to the returned-letter office. upon examining it next day the lizard had disappeared, and from the appearance of the snake it was feared that it had made a meal of its companion. another live snake which had escaped from a postal packet was discovered in the holyhead and kingstown marine post-office, and at the expiration of a fortnight, being still unclaimed, it was sent to the dublin zoological gardens. in the returned-letter office in liverpool, a small box upon being opened was found to contain eight living snakes; but we are not informed as to the manner in which they were got rid of. the strike of the stokers employed by the gas companies of the metropolis in is remembered in the post-office as an event which gave rise to a considerable amount of inconvenience and anxiety at the time. that the post-office should be left in darkness was not a thing to be thought possible for a moment; for such a circumstance would almost have looked like the extinction of civilisation. on the afternoon of the d december in the year mentioned, intimation reached the chief office that the gas company could not guarantee a supply of gas for more than a few hours, in consequence of their workmen having struck work. the occasion was one demanding instant action in the way of providing other means of lighting, and accordingly an order was issued for a ton of candles. these were used at st martin's-le-grand and at the branch offices in the east central district; while arrangements were made to provide lanterns and torches for the mail-cart drivers, and oil-lamps for lighting the post-office yard. in the evening the sorting-offices presented the novel spectacle of being lighted up by candles; and this reign of tallow continued during the next three days. the total cost of this special lighting during the four days' strike was £ ; but there was a saving of about , feet of gas, reducing the loss to something like £ . chapter viii. growth of certain post-offices. when the past history of the post-office is looked into, at a period which cannot yet be said to be very remote, it is both curious and instructive to observe the contrast which presents itself, as between the unpretending institution of those other days, and the great and ubiquitous machine which is now the indispensable medium for the conveyance of news to every corner of the empire. to imagine what our country would be without the post-office as it now is, would be attempting something quite beyond our powers; and if such an institution did not exist, and an endeavour were made to construct one at once by the conceits and imaginings of men's minds, failure would be the inevitable result, for the british post-office is the child of long experience and never-ending improvement, having a complexity and yet simplicity in its fabric, which nothing but many years of growth and studied application to its aims could have produced. but it is not the purpose here to go into the history of its improvements, or of its changes. it is merely proposed to show how rapidly it has grown, and from what small beginnings. the staff of the edinburgh post-office in was composed of no more than seven persons, described as follows:-- salary. manager for scotland, £ accountant, clerk, clerk's assistant, three letter-carriers, at _s._ a-week each. in the number of persons employed had increased to eleven, whose several official positions were as follows:-- postmaster-general for scotland. accountant. secretary to the postmaster. principal clerk. second clerk. clerk's assistant. apprehender of private letter-carriers. clerk to the irish correspondents. three letter-carriers. the apprehender of private letter-carriers, as the name implies, was an officer whose duty it was to take up persons who infringed the post-office work of carrying letters for money. the work continued steadily to grow, for in we find there were persons employed, of whom were letter-carriers; and in the numbers had increased to . in there were ; in , when the penny post was set on foot, there were ; and in , . in the total number of persons employed in all branches of the post-office service in edinburgh was . the post-office of glasgow, which claims to be the second city of the kingdom, shows a similar rapidity of growth, if not a greater; and this growth may be taken as an index of the expansion of the city itself, though the former has to be referred to three several causes--namely, increase of population, spread of education, and development of trade. in the staff of the glasgow post-office was as follows, viz.:-- salary. postmaster, £ first clerk, second clerk, four letter-carriers, at s. d. a-week each, a stamper or sorter, at s. d. a-week, so that the whole expense for staff was no more than £ , s. per annum, and this had been the recognised establishment for several years. but it appears from official records, that though the postmaster was nominally receiving £ a-year, he had in given £ each to the clerks out of his salary, and expended besides, on office-rent, coal, and candles, £ , s. d. somewhat similar deductions were made in and , and thus the postmaster's salary was then less than £ a-year in reality. it is worthy of note here that letters were at that time delivered in glasgow only twice a-day. some ten years earlier--that is, in --the indoor staff consisted of the postmaster and one clerk, the former receiving £ a-year, and the latter £ . a penny post, for local letters in glasgow, was started in the year , when, as part and parcel of the scheme, three receiving-offices were opened in the city. the revenue derived from the letters so carried for the first year was under £ , showing that there cannot have been so many as eighty letters posted per day for local delivery. after a time the experiment was considered not to have been quite a success, for one of the receiving-offices was closed, and a clerk's pay reduced £ a-year, in order to bring the expense down to the level of the revenue earned. in matters improved, however, as in the first quarter of that year the revenue from penny letters was greater than the expense incurred. at the present time, the staff of the glasgow post-office numbers persons, and the postmaster's salary is over a thousand pounds a-year. to those who know liverpool, with its expansive area, its vast shipping, its stir of commerce, and, in the present relation, its army of postmen, the following facts will exhibit a striking contrast between the past and the present. in , when the population of that town stood at something like , , the number of postmen employed was but three, whose wages were s. a-week each; but, to be quite correct, it should be added that one of the postmen, having heavier work than the others, was aided by his wife, and for this assistance the office allowed from £ to £ a-year. one of the postmen delivered the letters for the southern district, including everton, st ann's, richmond, &c.; another served the northern portion, taking in part of the old dock, the dry dock, george's dock, &c.; while the third disposed of the letters for the remaining portions of the town. the duties of these men seem to have been carried out with a good deal of deliberation. the postmen arranged the correspondence for distribution in the early morning, then they partook of breakfast, and set out upon their rounds about a.m., completing their work of delivery about the middle of the afternoon. and thus it would appear that liverpool at that time had only one delivery per day. upon all letters delivered by two of the postmen--the two first mentioned--a halfpenny per letter over and above the postage was charged for delivery; in the other case the ordinary postage only was levied. the reason for the additional charge was no doubt this that the postmaster was allowed by the department only one postman, and that consequently the wages of the other men who were necessarily employed had to be met by the special tax referred to. the following minute of the postmaster-general, dated th october , while in some sense affording an explanation of the matter, shows that somewhat peculiar notions prevailed with regard to providing force where such was required. it runs as follows:-- "there are only two instances in the kingdom where more than one letter-carrier is allowed, viz., portsmouth and bath. i understand it has been held as a general rule not to allow more than one to any other place, however extensive and populous it may be; in the two exceptions to this rule the inhabitants had been accustomed to pay the deputies a gratuity for delivering the letters, but having refused to continue the payment, these postmasters felt their income considerably reduced, and i believe it was not till after much discussion the rule was broke through." the minute continues as follows:--"mr palmer had some ideas respecting such a modification of the rates of postage as might induce the inhabitants of every place in the kingdom to pay _with cheerfulness_ an extra halfpenny or penny over and above the rates; this extra payment to be sanctioned by an act of parliament; and then the whole amount of the sums now paid for letter-carriers, being £ , s. per year, would be saved to the revenue." if this accurately represents mr palmer's ideas, mr palmer did not quite understand the british public. at the same period to which we refer, there were only three letter-carriers in manchester, four at bristol, and three or four at birmingham; but in each case only one was allowed by the department, the others being employed as extras, and provided for, no doubt, by a special tax upon the letters delivered. this system of charging extra for delivery would seem to have been open to abuse, for we find that in the postmaster-general called for explanation of an exceptional charge at eton, in a minute as follows:--"let the comptroller-general inquire who serves, and by whose authority, the parts of the country circumjacent to the eton delivery, as they charge no less a sum than d. for each letter, in addition to the postage, for all letters delivered at upton, which is not above a mile from the college." and the postmaster-general makes this very wise observation on the practice--"this enormous expense for letters must check and ruin all correspondence, and essentially hurt the revenue." at the end of last century and beginning of this--and indeed it may be said throughout the whole term of the existence of the post-office--humble petitions were always coming up from postmasters for increase of pay, and from these we know the position in which postmasters then were. the postmaster of aberdeen showed that in , when the revenue of his office was £ , s. d., with something for cross post-letters, probably about £ , his salary had been £ , s.; while in , with a revenue of over £ , his whole salary was only £ , s., and out of this he had to pay office-rent and to provide assistance, fire, wax, candles, books, and cord. at arbroath, now an important town, the revenue was, in , £ , s. d., and the postmaster's salary, £ . at this figure the salary remained till , though the revenue had increased to £ , s. d.; but now the postmaster appealed for higher pay, and brought up his supports of office-rent, coal, candles, wax, &c., to strengthen his case. in dundee, in the year , the postmaster's salary was £ , and the revenue £ , s. d. at paisley, the postmaster's salary was fixed at £ in and remained at that figure till when a petition was sent forward for what was called in official language an augmentation. in the memorial it is stated that the revenue for was £ , s. d., and that the deductions for rent, coal, candles, wax, paper, pens, and ink, reduced the postmaster's salary to from £ to £ a-year! to show how these towns have grown up into importance within a period of little more than the allotted span of man, and as exhibiting perhaps the yet more bounding expansion of the post-office system, the following particulars are added, and may prove of interest:-- at aberdeen, at the present time, the annual value of postage-stamps sold, which may be taken as a rough measure of the revenue from the carriage of correspondence alone, is little short of £ , ; the staff of all sorts employed numbers ; and the postmaster's salary exceeds £ a-year. arbroath is less pretentious, being a smaller town; but the letter revenue is over £ a-year; the persons employed, ; and the postmaster's salary nearly £ . dundee shows a postage revenue of over £ , ; persons are employed there; and the postmaster's salary is little short of £ . while at paisley the revenue from stamps is nearly £ , ; the persons employed, ; and the postmaster's salary, £ . notwithstanding the vast decrease in the rates of postage, these figures show, in three of the cases mentioned, that the revenue from letters is now about twelve times what it was less than a century ago. it will probably be found that one of the most mushroom-like towns of the country is barrow-in-furness, now a place of considerable commerce, and an extensive shipping port. the following measurements, according to the post-office standard, may repay consideration. prior to there was nothing but a foot-postman, who served the town by walking thither from ulverston one day, and back to ulverston the next. later on, he made the double journey daily, and delivered the letters on his arrival at barrow. in the town had grown to such dimensions that the office was raised to the rank of a head-office, and three postmen were required for delivery. now, in , thirteen postmen are the necessary delivering force for the town. about the year the post-office had not as yet carried its civilising influence into the districts of balquhidder, lochearnhead, killin, and tyndrum, there being no regular post-offices within twenty, thirty, or forty miles of certain places in these districts. the people being desirous of having the post-office in their borders, the following scheme was proposed to be carried out about the time mentioned:-- a runner to travel from callander to lochearnhead--fourteen miles--at s. a journey, three times a-week, £ salary to postmaster of lochearnhead, a runner from lochearnhead to killin--eight miles--at s. a journey, three times a-week, salary to postmaster of killin, receiving-house at wester lix, runner thence to luib--four or five miles-- s. d. per week, office at luib, -------- total, £ ======== so that here a whole district of country was to be opened up to the beneficent operations of the post at an annual cost of what would now be no more than sufficient to pay the wages of a single post-runner. it may be proper, however, to remark in this connection, that money then was of greater value than now; and since it has been shown that a messenger had formerly to travel as much as fourteen double miles for s., it is not surprising that scotchmen, brought up in such a school, should like to cling to a sixpence when they can get it. it were remiss to pass over london without remark, whose growth is a marvel, and whose post-office has at least kept up in the running, if it has not outstripped, london itself. in the delivery of london extended from about grosvenor square and mayfair in the west, to shadwell, mile end, and blackwall in the east; and from finsbury square in the north, to the borough and rotherhithe in the south; and the number of postmen then employed for the general post-delivery was . london has since taken into its maternal embrace many places which were formerly quite separate from the metropolis, and nowadays the agglomeration is known, postally, as the metropolitan district. in this district the number of men required to effect the delivery of letters in is no less than . it may be mentioned that the general post-delivery above mentioned had reference to the delivery of ordinary letters coming from the country. letters of the penny post--or local letters--and letters from foreign parts, were delivered by different sets of men, who all went over the same ground. in the number of men employed in these different branches of delivery work was as follows, viz.:-- men. for foreign letters, " inland letters, " penny-post letters, total, it was not till many years later that all kinds of letters came to be delivered by one set of postmen, and that thus needless repetition of work was got rid of. at the same period--namely, in --the other officers of all kinds employed in the london post-office numbered . at the present time the officers of all kinds (exclusive of postmen, who have been referred to separately) employed in the metropolitan district are nearly , in number. chapter ix. claims for post-office service. in his autobiography, mr anthony trollope, many years a post-office surveyor, records how he was employed in england, for a considerable period about the year , revising and extending the rural-post service; and he there mentions the frequency with which he found post-runners to be employed upon routes where there were but few letters to deliver--while in other directions, where postal communication would have been of the utmost benefit, there were no post-runners at all. this state of things had no doubt had its origin in the efforts of influential persons, at some previous time, to have the services established for their own personal benefit; while persons in other districts, having less interest at headquarters, or being less imperious in their demands, were left out in the cold, and so remained beyond the range of the civilising influence. the posts in such cases, once established, went on from year to year; and though the arrangements were out of harmony with the surroundings, very often nothing was done--for in all likelihood no one complained loud enough, or, at any rate, in a way to prove effective. but though the department did wake up to the need for a better distribution of its favours in the country districts in , there were earlier instances of surveyors attempting to lay down the posts for the general good, instead of for a select few, and in these cases the surveyors had sometimes a hard battle to fight. the following report from a surveyor in scotland, written in the year , will illustrate what is here mentioned. it is given at length, and will possibly be found worthy of perusal; for it not only shows both spirit and independence on the part of the surveyor, who was evidently a man determined to do his duty irrespective of persons, but it sheds some light on the practices of the post-runners of that period, and their relations with their superiors on the one hand, and the public on the other. it affords us, too, a specimen of official writing remarkable for some rather quaint turns and expressions. the report proceeds:-- "i am much obliged by the perusal of my lord ----'s card to you of the th ultimo, with the copy of a fresh memorial from his lordship and other gentlemen upon the long-argued subject of the alteration of the course of the post betwixt perth and coupar-angus. "it is certainly one of those cases which hath become of tenfold more importance by the multiplicity of writing, than from any solid reasoning or essential matter of information to be drawn from it. "it having fallen to my official duty to execute the alteration of this post proposed by my late colleague mr ----, to whose memory i must bear testimony, not only of his abilities, but his impartiality in the duties of his office, and under the authority of the late respectable and worthy postmaster-general mr ----, whose memory is far above any eulogium of mine, i considered the measure as proper and expedient, equally for the good of the country in general, and the revenue under the department of the post-office; and i can with confidence deny that it was 'hastily, inconsiderately, or partially' gone into, as this memorial would wish to establish. in this capacity, and under these circumstances, it is no wonder i could have wished the epithets used against this official alteration, of _ignorance, arbitrary and oppressive proceedings_, to have dropped from a person less honourable, respectable, and conspicuous than i hold the honble. ---- at the head of this memorial. before this last memorial was presented, i understood from mr ----, secretary, in the presence of lord ----, that any further opposition upon the part of the blairgowrie gentlemen to a re-alteration was now given up; indeed this cannot be surprising if they had learned, as stated in the memorial, page , that they had protested, did now protest, and would never cease to complain loudly of it, until they obtain redress. whether this argument is cool or arbitrary i have not time nor inclination to analyse, but having been removed from this ancient district of road, and given my uniform opinion upon the merits of the alteration itself, i have no desire to fight the memorialists to all eternity. before, however, taking final leave of this contest, and of a memorial said to be unanswerable, i consider myself in duty and honour called upon to vindicate the late mr ----, as well as myself, from the vindictive terms of '_ignorance, arbitrary, and oppressive_' implied in the memorial, and which, if admitted _sub silentio_, might not be confined to the mismanagement of the post-office, but to every other department of civil government. in order to this, i shall as briefly as i can follow the general track of the memorial, as of a long beaten road in which, if there is not safety, there is no new difficulty to encounter. it is needless to go over the different distances,--i am ready to admit them--they have not formed any material part of the question,--and the supposed ignorance of the surveyor here is not to the point. the alteration neither did nor should proceed upon such mathematical nicety. the idea of posts is to embrace the most extensive and most needful accommodation. in establishing a post to blairgowrie it was neither _ignorant nor arbitrary_ to take the line by isla bridge, which was the centre of the country meant to be served by it--that is, the coupar and the stormont and highland district. it is of some consequence to observe here, that with all the great and rapid improvements mentioned in the memorial, of the lower or coupar district, the upper or stormont district was, upon the first year's trial, above one-half of its revenue to the post-office, the second nearly or about three-fourths, and continuing to increase in proportion. coupar-angus revenue for the year ending th october last was £ , s. d., and blairgowrie £ , s. d. now, if the coupar district of country, which contains in it a populous market-town, can produce no more than this proportion for the whole district, it is evident that the district of stormont, with only as yet a little village for its head town, has more correspondence in regard to its state of agriculture and improvement as an infant district, than the parent district with its antiquity can lay claim to, and equally well entitled at least to be protected and nourished. much is said of the memorialists' line of road, and of its being one from time immemorial. i have said in a former paper that this may be the case; many of the roads in scotland, god knows, are old enough. but unless the feudal system should still exist upon any of them, i know of no law, no regulation, no compulsion, that can oblige the post, more than any other traveller, to take these old beaten tracks where they can find any other patent or better road. nay, more,--as a traveller, i am entitled to take any patent road i choose, good or bad; and the moment this privilege is doubted in regard to the post, you resign at once the power of all future improvements so far as it belongs to your official situation to judge it, and let or dispose of in lease the use of your posts to particular and local proprietors of lands, who will be right to take every advantage of it in their power, and include it specifically in the rental of their estates, as i have known to be the case with inns in which post-offices had formerly been kept. "there are three great roads to the north of scotland from perth (besides one by dunkeld)--viz., one by dundee, &c., one by coupar, &c., and one by blairgowrie, which run not at a very great distance in general from each other in a parallel line. the great post-line or mail-coach road is by dundee; and there is little chance, i believe, of this being departed from, as there is no other that can ever be equally certain. the next great road to the westward is by coupar and forfar, &c., and is supplied by branch-posts from the east or coast line. and the third or upper line is by blairgowrie and spittal of glenshee, which have no post for , , or miles; and if ever that part of the country is to have the blessing of a regular post, it surely ought not to be by branching from the coast-line through all the different centres, but by the more immediate and direct line through blairgowrie. every one will call his own line the great line; but surely, if i am to travel either, i should be allowed to judge for myself; and i believe it would be thought very _arbitrary_ indeed, if, before i set out, a proprietor or advocate for any of these great lines should arrest my carriage or my horse, and say, you shall not proceed but upon my line. i confess myself so stupid that i can see no difference betwixt this and taking it out of the power of the post-office to judge what line they shall journey mails. if this is not the case, then all the present lines of the post, however absurd and ridiculous they now are or may become, must, as they were at the beginning and now are, remain so for ever. and i would expect next to see legal charters and infeftments taken upon them as post-roads merely, and travellers thirled to them as corn to a mill. but in regard to the voluminous writings already had upon this subject, and now renewed in this last memorial, it may be necessary to be a little more particular. "setting the distances aside, which no persons should have a right to complain of except the inhabitants of coupar and beyond it, by any delay occasioned on that account, what is the whole argument founded upon? that, by the alteration, the memorialists, some of them in the near neighbourhood of coupar-angus, but betwixt perth and it, have had the privilege from time immemorial, as it is said, of receiving their letters by the post from perth, and sending them back by the same conveyance to perth, without benefiting the revenue a single sixpence, which would accrue to it by such letters being either received from or put in at the office at coupar-angus, as they ought to be. for, so far as i understand the regulations of the office, they are to this purpose, that if any letters shall be directed for intermediate places, at least three-fourths from any post-office, they shall be put into the bag and conveyed (if conveyed at all by post) to the post-office nearest them, or at which they shall be written, one-fourth of the distance of the whole stage, and rated and charged accordingly. the post-office could not be ignorant of this rule not being observed, for it was evident that very few letters for this populous and thriving district were put into the bag, except such as behoved to go beyond coupar or perth, and bearing the name of 'short letters.' it was impossible to convict the posts of fraud in carrying them without opening the letters, a privilege which cannot be exercised without much indelicacy as well as danger. but it required no penetration to discover that this was a very commodious and cheap way of corresponding, though it did not augment the revenue. it was an ancient privilege, and in that view it might be considered _arbitrary_ and _oppressive_ to meddle with or interrupt it. it is a little curious that the memorialists are principally gentlemen of property upon the road short of coupar, and who require to be supplied daily with their small necessary articles from perth. i have seen no remonstrance or complaint from the town of coupar itself as to this alteration, nor of the consequent lateness of arrival and danger it is said to have occasioned, nor from a number of gentlemen beyond, whose letters come in the bag for the delivery of coupar. the noise has chiefly been made by gentlemen who pay nothing for this post to coupar-angus, and it puts me in mind of an anecdote i met with of a gentleman who had influence enough with a postmaster in the country to get the post by his house, and deliver and receive his letters, proceeding by a line of road in which he avoided an intermediate office, and thereby saved an additional postage both ways. "this line was also a very ancient one, and from time immemorial a line too upon which our forefathers had fought hard and bled; but their children somehow or other had discovered and adopted what they thought a much better line. i said the delivery of short letters was not all the advantages privately had by the old plan of the post to coupar-angus. this post was in the known and constant habit of carrying a great deal more than letters for the inhabitants short of, as well as for coupar itself; and in the delivery of various articles upon the road, and receiving reimbursements for his trouble one way or other, he lost one-fourth of his time; and if, as the memorialists assert, there are fewer places to be served on the isla road, it is a demonstration that the longest way is often all the nearest, and upon this head i have already ventured to assert, and still do, that by a regular management which may be easily accomplished, the post may come sooner by isla to coupar than ever it did formerly by the ancient road; and if it was possible to watch and hunt after the irregularity of the post as established upon the old system, the memorialists would find themselves in no better situation than they now are. i beg to mention here a specimen i met of this old system of private accommodation, with the consequence that followed, which may illustrate a little upon which side the imputation of _ignorance_, _arbitrary_, and _oppression_ may lie. having met this post with a light cart full of parcels, and a woman upon it along with the mail, i charged him with the impropriety of his conduct as a post, and threatened that he should not be longer in the service. 'oh,' says he, 'sir, you may do as you please; i have served the country so long in this way, that if you dismiss me, the principal gentlemen on the road have determined to support me, and i can make more without your mail than i do by it.' he was dismissed. he was supported by a number of names which it is not now in my power to recollect, but which are well known in coupar-angus, and he issued in consequence hand-bills that, being now dismissed as a post, he would continue to carry on as before; and it was not till the _arbitrary_ hand of the solicitor of the post-office fell upon him, that he would either have been convicted or discouraged from his employ. "in this view, therefore, and not from ignorance, i know it is better for the revenue in some instances to pay for miles of a post, than or , and to pay for three short runners than one long one. we have no greater faith in blairgowrie than coupar posts, and they were both put upon the same footing; and notwithstanding all the arguments stated against the measure, or upon the _absurdity_, _arbitrary_, and _oppression_, so much insisted on, i am still humbly of the opinion, which was maturely weighed and decided, that the system now in practice was best for the revenue, whatever it might be to particular individuals; and in this decision i only followed the coincident opinion of judgments much superior to my own. "a great deal is said upon the danger of committing care of bags or letters to two separate runners instead of one. with regard to carrying letters privately, or executing commissions, it may be so. this is the great inconvenience felt from the change. but is there any instance where posts have opened any of the bags containing letters, and thereby committed felony? is there any instance where a wilful and felonious delay has happened here more than may be natural to any change of bags anywhere else in the kingdom? i have heard of their not meeting sometimes so regularly in very bad or stormy weather. this will happen to the most regular mail-coaches and horse-posts in britain; and before such general objections are to be founded upon, wilful and corrupt misconduct should be proved, such as i am able to do upon the old system of one post only. "the poor blacksmith is next brought forward. i do not know that a man's character is to be decided by his calling. he was engaged by the office to keep a receiving-house for the runners. he is paid for his trouble by government, and is as much under the confidence and trust of the office, till he proves himself unworthy of it, as the postmasters of perth, coupar-angus, or blairgowrie. it is not surprising, however, that this poor blacksmith should be in general terms decided unfit for such duty, when officers who should have been much better acquainted with the _hammer and nails of office_, do not know how to drive them! "a very short explanation to the idea mentioned by the memorialists that the opposition by the blairgowrie gentlemen rose from the supposition that they were to be cut out of their post altogether. i never heard of this before, nor do i know this idea to have existed. the blairgowrie district did not interfere with the post-office, nor the office with them, more than has happened in writing; nor, so far as consists with my knowledge, have i heard or understood that the coupar district wished to deprive blairgowrie of an office. that coupar wishes to have blairgowrie subservient to and passing through it is clear enough. but they do not advert that, as both coupar and blairgowrie are within one stage of perth; had coupar gone through blairgowrie or blairgowrie through coupar, the law might say that one of them must pay an additional rate from perth--that is, d. instead of d.; and which both mr edwards and i were clearly of opinion would rather have injured than improved the revenue, as has been experienced in some similar cases. this legal distinction my lord ---- does not appear to have observed. it is, however, stated, that by this plan of going through coupar to blairgowrie a very easy and direct communication would be established betwixt the two places. this i have no doubt of for private business-parcels, money, &c., &c.; because it would be easier for blairgowrie to communicate in this way by one runner, by one with coupar and two to perth, than by two to coupar and two to perth, and for coupar to communicate with perth by one than two each way. this is harping on the old key. but it is a reduction of service, like the shortening of the road here, i do not wish to see. i do not want a reconciliation of this kind; and whatever obloquy i may endure, with imputation of _ignorance_ and other general epithets of a similar kind, i believe the memorialists, upon cool reflection, may be more inclined to ascribe these observations to proceed from honest zeal rather than wanton opposition. if it should be otherwise, i shall remain very satisfied that i have given my judgment of it according to conscience; and i cannot be afraid, if it is necessary, that the whole writings upon the subject should be again submitted to the final decision of his majesty's postmaster-general. in regard to the power of altering the course of the posts, i am decidedly of opinion the question ought to go to their lordships' judgment; but as to any personal opposition to the memorialists, i disclaim it; and as they say they are determined to fight till they conquer, i would now retire from the contest, with this observation, that, though such doctrines and resolutions may be very good for the memorialists, they would, in my humble opinion, if generally expressed and followed, be very bad for the country." it is really surprising how some of the ideas and practices of the feudal times still survive, ancient arrangements coming up from time to time for revision, as those who suffer acquire greater independence or a truer conception of their position in the state. quite recently the postmaster-general was called upon to settle a dispute between the senior magistrate of fraserburgh and lord ---- (the local seigneur) as to who had the right to receive letters addressed to "the provost" or "chief magistrate" of fraserburgh, both parties claiming such letters. his lordship had hitherto obtained delivery of the letters, on the ground of his being "heritable provost" or baron-bailie, titles which smell strongly of antiquity; but the modern provost and chief magistrate being no longer disposed to submit to the arrangement, appealed to headquarters, and obtained a decision as follows--viz., that he being senior police magistrate, should receive all communications addressed to "the provost," "the chief magistrate," or "the acting chief magistrate," and that lord ---- should have a right to claim any addressed to the "baron-bailie." the surprise is, that the ancient method of disposing of the letters should have been endured so long, and that a town's provost should have been so slighted. personal interest, unfortunately, often steps in to prevent or hinder the carrying out of reforms for the general good; even the selfishness of mere pleasure placing itself as an obstacle to the accomplishment of things of great consequence in practical life. the post-office being called upon to consider the question of affording a daily post to a small place in ireland, which until then had had but a tri-weekly post, a gentleman called upon the postmaster to urge that things might be left as they were, stating as his reason that the change of hours, as regards the mail-car, rendered necessary in connection with the proposed improvements, would not suit himself and some other gentlemen, who were in the habit of using the car when going to fish on a lake near the mail-car route! is not this a case showing a sad lack of public spirit? chapter x. the travelling post-office. travellers who are in the habit of journeying over the principal railway lines, must at some time or other have noticed certain carriages in the express trains which had an unusually dull and van-like appearance, though set off with a gilded crown and the well-known letters v.r., and that generally these carriages appeared to have no proper doors, and were possessed of none but very diminutive windows--on one side, at any rate. it will have been observed, also, that sometimes two, three, or more of such carriages are placed end to end in certain trains, and that a hooded gangway or passage enables those inside one carriage to visit any or all of the other carriages. when the small square holes or dwarf doorways which communicate with the outside are open, a glare of light is seen within, which reveals a variety of human legs and much canvas--the latter in the shape of mail-bags, either suspended from the walls of the carriage or lying on the floor. these carriages are what are called in the post-office the "travelling post-office"; or, when brevity is desirable--as is often the case--the "t.p.o." there are several travelling post-offices of more or less importance pursuing their rapid flight during the night in different quarters of the country; but the most important, no doubt, are the "london and north-western and caledonian," running from london to aberdeen; the "midland," running from newcastle diagonally across england to bristol; and the "london and holyhead" travelling post-office, by which the irish mails to dublin are conveyed as far as holyhead. [illustration: travelling post-office.] if a stranger were allowed to travel in one of these carriages, the first thing that would probably take his notice would be the brilliant light which fills the interior; and the necessity for a good light to enable men, standing on a vibrating and oscillating floor, to read quickly all sorts of manuscript addresses, will be understood by whoever has attempted to peruse writing by the light derived from the ordinary oil-lamps of a railway carriage. yet for years the light supplied in the travelling post-office has been given by improved oil-lamps, though more recently gas has been introduced in some of the carriages. the next thing he would notice would likely be the long series of pigeon-holes occupying the whole of one side of the vehicle, divided into groups--each box having a name upon it or a number, and a narrow table running along in front of the boxes, bearing a burden of letters which the sorters are busily disposing of by putting each one in its proper place--that is, in the pigeon-hole, from which it will afterwards be despatched. then hanging on the walls or lying under the table will be seen canvas bags and canvas sacks, each having its name stencilled in bold letters on its side; and somewhere about the floor great rolls of black leather, with enormously strong straps and buckles--the expanse of leather in each roll being almost sufficient to cover an ox. the use of these hides of leather will be described further on. the _raison d'être_ of the travelling post-office is to circumvent time,--to enable that to be done on the way which, without it, would have to be done before the train started or after it arrived at its destination, at the expense of time in the doing, and to collect and dispose of correspondence at all points along the route of the train--which correspondence would otherwise in many cases have to pass through some intermediate town, to be detained for a subsequent means of conveyance. the t.p.o. is one of the most useful parts of the machinery of the post-office. among the smaller things that might be observed in the carriage would be balls of string for tying bags or bundles of letters, cyclopean sticks of sealing-wax, a chronometer to indicate sure time, a lamp used for melting the wax, and various books, report-forms, seals, &c. the stranger would be surprised, also, to see with what expedition an experienced sorter can pass the letters through his hands, seldom hesitating at an address, but reading so much of it as is necessary for his purpose, and, without raising his eyes, carrying his hand to the proper pigeon-hole, just as a proficient on a musical instrument can strike with certainty the proper note without taking his eye off his music. in some cases--as in dealing with registered letters--a sorter has much writing to do; but, standing with his feet well apart, and holding a light board on his left arm on which to write, and further, by accommodating his body to the swinging of the carriages, he is able to use his pen or pencil with considerable freedom and success. as the duties in the t.p.o. are for the most part performed during the night, the sorters employed have a great deal of night-work, and in some cases their terms of duty are very broken and irregular. thus, with the hardships they have to endure in periods of severe frost, when no heating apparatus is supplied except a few warming-pans, they live a life of duty far removed from ease or soft idleness. the large pieces of leather with stout straps attached, already referred to, called pouches, are used as a protection to mail-bags which have to be delivered by what is commonly known as the apparatus. the mail-bags to be so disposed of are rolled up inside one of these pouches; the ends of the leather are folded in; the whole is bound round with the strong leather straps; and, the buckles being fastened, the pouch is ready for delivery. but, first, let the apparatus itself be described. this consists of two parts: an arm or arms of stout iron attached to the carriage, which can be extended outwards from the side, and to the end of which the pouch containing the bag is suspended when ready; and a receiving net, also attached to the side of the carriage, which can likewise be extended outwards to catch the mails to be taken up--this portion acting the part of an aerial trawl-net to capture the bags suspended from brackets on the roadside. the apparatus on the roadside is the counterpart of that on the carriage, the suspending arm in each case fitting itself to the nets on the carriage and roadside respectively. now the use of this apparatus demands much attention and alacrity on the part of the men who are in charge of it; for arms and net must not, for fear of accidents, be extended anywhere but at the appointed places, and within or yards of where the exchange of mails is to take place. the operators, in timing the delivery, are guided by certain features of the country they are passing through--a bridge, a tree on a rising ground which can be seen against the sky, a cutting along the line through which the train passes with much clatter, a railway station, and so on--as well as by their estimate of the speed at which the train is running. when the nights are clear, a trained operator can easily recognise his marks; but in a very dark night, or during a fog, his skill and experience are put to the test. on such occasions he seems to be guided by the promptings of his collective senses. he puts his face close to the window, shutting off the light from the carriage with his hands, and peers into the darkness, trying to recognise some wayside object; he listens to the noise made by the train, estimates its speed of travelling, and by these means he judges of his position, and effects the exchange of the mails. it is indeed marvellous that so few failures take place; but this is an instance of how, by constant application and experience, things are accomplished which might at first sight be considered wellnigh impossible. when the exchange takes place, it is the work of a moment--"thud, thud." the arm which bore the bag springs, disengaged, to the side of the carriage; the operator takes the inwards bag from the net, draws the net close up to the side of the vehicle, and the whole thing is done, and we are ready for the next exchange. the blow sustained by the pouch containing the mail-bag at the moment of delivery, on occasions when the train is running at a high speed, is exceedingly severe, and sometimes causes damage to the contents of the bags when of a fragile nature and these are not secured in strong covers. a bracelet sent by post was once damaged in this way, giving rise to the following humorous note:-- "mr ---- is sorry to return the bracelet to be repaired. it came this morning with the box smashed, the bracelet bent, and one of the cairngorms forced out. among the modern improvements of the post-office appears to be the introduction of sledge-hammers to stamp with. it would be advisable for mr ---- to remonstrate with the postmaster-general," &c. [illustration: delivering arm, showing how the pouch is suspended.] the travelling post-office apparatus is said to have been originally suggested by mr ramsay of the general post-office; but his machinery was not very satisfactory when brought into practice. the idea was, however, improved upon by mr dicker, who was able to bring it into working condition; and for his services in this matter he was awarded a sum of £ by the lords of the treasury, and the postmaster-general conferred upon him an appointment as supervisor of mail-bag apparatus. some further improvements were carried out by mr pearson hill, as, for example, the double arm, so that two pouches might be discharged at once from the same carriage-door. the apparatus first came to be used about thirty years ago, and there are now in the united kingdom some points or stations at which this magical game of give and take is carried on daily, and in many cases several times a day. at certain places not merely one or two pouches are discharged at a time, but a running fire is sometimes kept up to the extent of nine discharges of pouches. by the limited mail proceeding to the north, nine pouches are discharged at oxenholme from the three post-office carriages, the method followed being this:--two pouches are suspended from the arms at each carriage-door, and upon these being discharged, three of the arms are immediately reloaded, when the pouches are caught by a second set of roadside nets, distant only about yards from the first. it is necessary that great care should be taken in adjusting the nets, arms, and roadside standards to their proper positions in relation to one another, for any departure from such adjustment sometimes leads to accident. the pouches occasionally are sent bounding over hedges, over the carriages, or under the carriage-wheels, where they and their contents get cut to pieces. pouches have been found at the end of a journey on the carriage-roof, or hanging on to a buffer. in november last, a pouch containing several mail-bags was discharged from the midland travelling post-office at cudworth, near barnsley; but something going wrong, the pouch got cut up, and the contents were strewn along the line as far as normanton. some of these were found to be cheques, a silver watch, a set of artificial teeth, &c. the following is a list of the travelling post-offices in the united kingdom, most of which travel by night, distributing their freight of intellectual produce through all parts of the country:-- north-western and caledonian. birmingham and stafford. london and holyhead. bangor and crewe, and normanton and stalybridge. london and exeter. bristol and exeter. york and newcastle. st pancras and derby. midland. bristol and newton abbot. south-western. south-eastern. great northern. london and bristol. london and crewe. ----------------- dublin and belfast. belfast and northern counties. ulster. midland (ireland). great southern and western. dublin to cork. there are, besides, a great many other travelling post-offices of minor importance throughout the country, designated sorting tenders. chapter xi. sorters and circulation. post-office sorters, unlike men who follow other avocations, are a race unsung, and a people unknown to fame. the soldier of adventure, the mariner on the high seas, the village blacksmith, the tiller of the soil, the woodman in the forest--nay, even the tailor on his bench,--all of these have formed the theme of song, and have claimed the notice of writers of verse. it is otherwise with the men who sort our letters. this may possibly be due to two causes--that sorters are comparatively a modern institution, and that their work is carried on practically under seal. in times which are little beyond the recollection of persons now living, the lines of post were so few, and the division and distribution of letters so simple, that the clerks who examined and taxed the correspondence also sorted it: and the time taken over the work would seem to show much deliberation in the process; for we find that in , when correspondence was very limited, it took above an hour at edinburgh "to tell up, examine, and retax" the letters received by the mail from england for places in the north; and that, when foreign mails arrived, two hours were required; and further time was necessary for taxing and sorting letters posted in edinburgh for the same district of country--the staff employed in the business being two clerks. in those days there were really no sorters, unless such as were employed in the chief office in london. as to the work being carried on under seal, it is not going beyond the truth to say that, to the great majority of persons, the interior of the post-office is a _terra incognita_, their sole knowledge of the institution being derived from the pillar and the postman. yet the sorters of the present age, forming a very large body, are ever engaged in doing an important and by no means simple duty. as letters arrive in the morning, and are handed in at the breakfast-table, speculation arises as to their origin; a well-known hand is recognised, interest is excited by the contents, or the well-springs of emotion are opened--joy is brought with the silvered note, or sorrow with the black insignia of death; and thus, absorbed in the matter of the letters themselves, no passing thought is spared to the operators whose diligent hands have given them wings or directed their line of flight. when most men are enjoying the refreshment of nature's sweet restorer, which it is the privilege of the night-hours to give, the sorters in a large number of post-offices throughout the country are hard at work, and on nearly all the great lines of railway the travelling post-offices are speeding their wakeful flight in every direction, carrying not only immense quantities of correspondence, but a large staff of men who arrange and sort it in transit. unconsciously though it may be, these men by their work are really a most powerful agency in binding society together, and promoting the commercial enterprise of the country. it lies in the nature of things that sorters' duties should largely fall into the night. like a skilful mariner who bends to his use every wind that blows, the post-office avails itself of every opportunity to send forward its letters. to lay aside till morning, correspondence arriving at an intermediate stage at night, would not consort with the demands of the age we live in; despatch is of the first consequence, and hence it is that to deal with _through_ correspondence, many offices are open during the night. some offices are never closed: at all hours the round of duty goes on without intermission; but in these, as also in many other cases where the periods of duty are long, relays of sorters are necessarily employed. much might be said of the broken hours of attendance, the early risings, the discomforts and cold of the travelling post-offices in winter, and the like, which sorters have to endure; and something might also be said of their loyalty to duty, punctuality in attendance, and readiness to strain every nerve under the pressure of occasions like christmas. but these things would not, perhaps, be of general interest, and our object here is rather to show what a sorter's work really is. does it ever occur to an ordinary member of the community how letters are sorted? and if so, what has the thinking member made of it? we fear the idea would wear a somewhat hazy complexion. this is how it is done in edinburgh, for example. the letters when posted are of course found all mixed together, and bearing addresses of every kind. they are first arranged with the postage-stamps all in one direction, then they are stamped (the labels being defaced in the process), and thereafter the letters are ready to be sorted. they are conveyed to sorting frames, where a first division is carried out, the letters being divided into about twenty lots, representing roads or despatching divisions, and a few large towns. then at these divisions the final sortation takes place, to accord with the bags in which the letters will be enclosed when the proper hour of despatch arrives. this seems a very simple process, does it not? but before a sorter is competent to do this work, he must learn "circulation," which is the technical name for the system under which correspondence flows to its destination, as the blood courses through the body by means of the arteries and veins. by way of contrast to what will be stated hereafter, it may be convenient to see how letters circulated less than a hundred years ago. in the london mail arrived at glasgow at o'clock in the morning, but the letters for paisley did not reach the latter place till a.m.--that is, five hours after their arrival in glasgow, though the distance between the places is only seven miles. a couple of years before that, letters arriving at edinburgh on sunday morning for stirling, alloa, and other places north thereof, which went by way of falkirk, were not despatched till sunday night; they reached falkirk the same night or early on monday morning, and there they remained till tuesday morning, when they went on with the north mail--so that between edinburgh and falkirk two whole days were consumed. in the year the london mail reached edinburgh at a.m., unless when detained by bad weather or breakdowns. the letters which it brought for perth, aberdeen, and places on that line, lay in edinburgh fourteen hours--viz., till p.m.--before being sent on. the people of aberdeen were not satisfied with the arrangement, and as the result of agitation, the hour was altered to p.m. this placed them, however, in no better position, for the arrival at aberdeen was so late at night, that the letters could only be dealt with next day. it was not easy to accommodate all parties, and there was a good deal of trouble over this matter. the edinburgh newspapers required an interval, after the arrival of the london mail, for the printing of their journals and preparing them for the north despatch. the aberdeen people thought that an interval of three hours was sufficient for all purposes, and urged that the north mail should start at a.m. in one of their memorials they write thus:--"they think that the institution of posts was, in the first place, to facilitate commerce by the conveyance of letters with the quickest possible despatch from one end of the kingdom to the other, and, in the next place, to raise a revenue for government; and they cannot conceive that either of those ends will be promoted by the letters of two-thirds of the kingdom of scotland lying dormant for many hours at edinburgh." in another of the petitions from the people of aberdeen, they strangely introduce their loyalty as a lever in pressing their claims:--"were we of this city," say they, "to lay claim to any peculiar merit, it might perhaps be that of a sincere attachment to order and good government, which places us, in this respect at least, equal to the most dignified city in britain." from a post-office point of view, the memorialists appeared to be under some mistake as to the gain to be derived from the change desired, for there was something connected with the return mails which did not fall in with the plan, and the surveyor made some opposition to it. in one of his reports he makes this curious observation:--"i am persuaded that some of them, as now appears to be the case, may be very well pleased to get free from the obligation of answering their letters in course--and particularly in money matters"! one or two instances of the cross-post service of former times, in england itself, which might be supposed to be more fortunate than its scottish neighbour, will repay consideration. thus we find it duly recorded in official reports, that in there was no direct post between thrapston and wellingborough, though the distance separating them was only nine miles. letters could circulate between these towns by way of stilton, newark, nottingham, and northampton, performing a circuit of miles, or they could be sent by way of london, miles up and - / down, in which latter case they reached their destination one day sooner than by the former round-about route. again, from ipswich to bury st edmunds, two important towns of , [ ] and [ ] inhabitants respectively, and distant from one another only miles, there was no direct post. letters had to be forwarded either through norwich and newmarket, or by way of london, the distance to be covered in the one case being miles, and in the other - / miles. we have not the means of computing the time letters took to travel from ipswich to bury st edmunds in , but an itinerary for affords the necessary information as regards the later period. suppose a letter were posted at ipswich for bury st edmunds on monday, it would be despatched to norwich at . a.m. on tuesday, reaching norwich some six hours thereafter. it would leave norwich at . p.m. same day (tuesday), and arrive at newmarket at about . p.m., where it would lie all night and the greater part of next day, and would only arrive at bury st edmunds at . p.m. on wednesday. if the letter were sent by the metropolitan route, its time would be the same, thus:--leaving ipswich at . p.m. on monday, it would reach london at . a.m. on tuesday. thence it would not get despatched till . p.m.; and proceeding to newmarket, would arrive there at . a.m. on wednesday. here it would remain till the afternoon, and would reach bury st edmunds, as in the former case, at . p.m. (on wednesday). so that, in practice, to cover this short interval of miles by post, three whole days were necessary. [ and ] from published records of . one more instance:--from salisbury to south wales, a distance of some miles, letters had to circulate through london, making a journey, up and down, of something like miles, and this without alternative. these facts show what a poor circulation the post-office had at the period in question, and what splendid intervals there were in which to sort the correspondence. nowadays, in any office pretending to importance, the letters pour in all day long (and all night too, possibly), and they pour out in a constant stream at the same time--letters being in and out of an office in certain instances within the space of a few minutes. a good sorter will sort letters at the rate of to a minute. but let us look at what a sorter has to learn to do this. a leaf of the circulation book in use at edinburgh for places in england is here inserted (p. ), which will be of assistance in understanding the matter. it will be observed that there are seven times in the day at which despatches are made to england. letters for martock, in somersetshire, for example, in accordance with the hour at which they may be posted, would be sent thus: to birmingham at . a.m.; to the midland travelling post-office forward, third division, at . p.m.; no circulation at . p.m.; to the glasgow and carlisle sorting tender (a sorting carriage running between these towns) at . p.m.; no circulation at . p.m.; to the bristol and exeter travelling post-office at . p.m.; and to london at . p.m. then if we take mitcheldean, at the foot of the sheet, its circulation is this: to birmingham at . a.m.; to gloucester at . p.m.; to the glasgow and carlisle sorting tender at . p.m.; to gloucester at . p.m.; and to manchester at . p.m. and so on throughout the book, which contains the names of some places in england. nor, as regards england, is this all. the sorters have to divide letters into the several london districts by reference to the street addresses which the letters bear. again, these men have to know the circulation for scotch towns and irish towns, and many of them have, besides, such a knowledge of the streets of their own city, edinburgh, as enables them to sort letters for delivery into the several postmen's districts. thus it will be seen that the sortation of letters is no mere mechanical process, but demands considerable head-work, as well as activity of body. [abbreviations used in the following table: t.p.o. - travelling post-office s.t. - sorting tender f. - forward] +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | towns. | counties. | how sent. | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | martock, r.s.o. | somerset | a.m. birmingham | | (_ilminster_)| | . p.m. midland t.p.o., f. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. b. & e. t.p.o. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | maryport | cumberland | a.m. carlisle | | | | . p.m. carlisle | | | | . p.m. carlisle | | | | . p.m. carlisle | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | matlock bath | derby | . p.m. derby | | | | . p.m. derby | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. derby | | | | . p.m. leeds | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | melksham | wiltshire | . a.m. birmingham | | | | . p.m. midland t.p.o., f. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. london | | | | . p.m. london, g.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | melton mowbray | leicester | . p.m. midland t.p.o., no. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. leicester | | | | . p.m. leeds | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | menai bridge, | anglesea | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | r.s.o. (_bangor_)| | . p.m. liverpool | | | | . p.m. manchester | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | merthyr tydvill | glamorgan | . a.m. birmingham | | | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. manchester | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | micheldever | hants | . a.m. london | | station | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london | | | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | middlesborough | york | . a.m. darlington | | | | . p.m. bag | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | middleton-on-the- | york | . a.m. york | |wolds, (_beverley_)| | . p.m. normanton | | | | . p.m. hull | | | | . p.m. york | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | middlewich | chester | . a.m. liverpool | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. n.w. t.p.o. | | | | . p.m. liverpool | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | midhurst | sussex | . a.m. london | | | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london | | | | . p.m. london, s.w. div. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | milford haven | pembroke | . a.m. birmingham | | | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. manchester | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | milnthorpe | westmorland | . a.m. birmingham | | | | . p.m. midland t.p.o., f. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. b. & e. t.p.o. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | milverton, r.s.o. | somerset | . a.m. birmingham | | (_taunton_) | | . p.m. midland t.p.o., f. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. b. & e. t.p.o. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | milnehead, r.s.o. | somerset | . a.m. birmingham | | (_taunton_) | | . p.m. midland t.p.o., f. | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. b. & e. t.p.o. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | mitcham | surrey | . a.m. london | | | | . p.m. london sub. | | | | . p.m. london sub. | | | | . p.m. london | | | | . p.m. london sub. | | | | . p.m. london | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ | mitcheldean, | gloucester | . a.m. birmingham | | r.s.o. (_ross_) | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. g. & c. s.t. | | | | . p.m. gloucester | | | | . p.m. manchester | +-------------------+--------------+----------------------------------+ with some men it is impossible for them ever to become good sorters, even with the most earnest desire on their part to do so. there are certain qualities necessary for the purpose, and if they are not united in the person, he will never come to the front as a good sorter. these are: self-command--necessary when working against time; activity in his person so as to meet any sudden strain of work; a methodical habit; and, the _sine quâ non_ of a sorter, a quick, prehensile, and retentive memory. so much has a sorter to learn, that a man without a head can never distinguish himself; and an educational test, except as a measure of acquirements in a collateral way, is of very little use. a sorter's success rests chiefly upon natural aptitude. in the circulation of letters, we may discover the paradox that "the longest road is often the shortest"; the explanation of which is, that by a round-about way letters may sometimes arrive sooner than by waiting the next chance by a more direct route. post-office circulation is not tied down by any strait-laced lines of geographical science, nor by any consideration but that of the economy of time. for example, at certain periods letters from edinburgh for places in norfolk and suffolk go on to london, to return north to those counties by the mails out of london; similarly, letters for places north of manchester are at certain hours sent on to that city, to be returned part of the way by next opportunity. it will no doubt seem a puzzle that letters for ireland should, at a certain time of day, be forwarded from edinburgh to leeds in yorkshire! yet this is so, and with good results,--the fact being that, after the more direct despatches for the day, irish letters are sent by the last evening train to leeds, whence early next morning they are sent across the country, reaching a travelling post-office proceeding from london to holyhead, and then catching the day-mail packet for ireland. thus they arrive in the sister isle by the time they would otherwise be only leaving scotland. in the travelling post-offices the plan of carrying letters away from their destinations in order that time may be gained for their sortation, and afterwards sending them back by a post-office carriage proceeding in the reverse direction, is largely practised, and with the greatest advantage. again, letters from newcastle-on-tyne for glasgow, forwarded by the night-mail, take what might be thought to be a very wide circuit--namely, by way of normanton in yorkshire, and manchester and wigan in lancashire; yet that circulation is found to be best at the hour at which the night-mail despatch is made. in one more case that may be cited, letters from berwick-on-tweed for carlisle are, at a certain time of the day, forwarded through edinburgh as the most expeditious route. there is such a complexity of arrangement in the matter of circulation, and so great a dependence of any one part on a great many other surrounding parts, that comparatively few persons ever thoroughly understand it, and only those who can master it should meddle with it. in one aspect the process of sortation bears some resemblance to digestion. this is observed in connection with the strange courses which letters run if, by a first misreading of the address, they happen to get out of their proper line or direction. a day seldom passes but some letter addressed to edenbridge in kent reaches the city of edinburgh, either from london or some other english town. there is, of course, a strong resemblance between the names of the two places as written, yet the missent letters must have passed through the hands of two or three sorters before reaching edinburgh. but though this might seem to suggest carelessness, there is this to be said, that whenever a letter for edenbridge gets out of its own course, and into the stream of letters for edinburgh, the sorters have a predisposition to assimilate it as an edinburgh letter, and so it gets forwarded to that city. the same thing applies in regard to letters for leek, leith, and keith, and for musselburgh and middlesborough--especially when, as is too often the case, the writing is not good; and many other similar instances might be given. letters for fiji frequently reach edinburgh from london and the south, being missent as for fife in scotland; and we have it on the authority of the colonial postmaster of fiji, that numbers of letters, papers, &c., directed to fife, reach the fiji islands. two letters posted at hamilton, bermuda, and addressed to edinburgh, saratoga co., n.y., were recently observed to perform a curious circuit before reaching their destination. instead of being sent direct to the united states from bermuda, they were forwarded to london in england; and here, getting into the current of inland correspondence, they were sent to edinburgh in scotland. at this stage their wild career was stopped, and they were put in proper course to recross the atlantic. it is near the truth to say, that similarity of names and bad writing are the causes of very many of the irregularities which befall letters in their transit through the post. chapter xii. pigeon-post. the intellectual superiority of man has enabled him to bend to his purposes the various physical powers of the lower animals--as, for example, the strength of the ox and the fleetness of the horse--and his observation has taught him also to turn to his use some of the instincts of the lower creation, though these gifts may lie hidden beyond the reach of his understanding. thus the keen scent of the bloodhound, and the sense which enables the "ship of the desert" to sniff the distant spring, are equally become subservient to the interests of man; but it is with reference to another instinct not less remarkable that this chapter is written--the homing instinct of the carrier-pigeon. this gentle bird has long been known as a messenger capable of conveying news from one place to another over considerable distances. it is asserted that "hirtius and brutus, at the siege of modena, held a correspondence by pigeons; and ovid tells us that taurosthenes, by a pigeon stained with purple, gave notice to his father of his victory at the olympic games, sending it to him at Ã�gina." in persia and turkey pigeons were trained for this service, and it is stated that every bashaw had some of these birds reared, in order swiftly to convey news to the seraglio on occasions of insurrection or other emergency. in somewhat modern times the best birds were said to be those of aleppo, which served as couriers at alexandretta and bagdad; but many years ago their services in this line had to be given up, owing to the kurd robbers killing the pigeons in the course of their journey. it does not appear, however, that, until quite recent times, any great use has been made of these birds by western nations, at any rate under any extended scheme for commercial or peaceful ends. yet, by what may seem an incongruity, the dove, which is _par excellence_ the emblem of love and peace, has of late years been trained for purposes of war by the great continental states; and it is impossible to predict how far the fate of nations may be determined hereafter by the performances of these naturally harmless creatures. the following particulars from one of the annual reports on the post-office will show to what extent service was rendered by carrier-pigeons in keeping up postal communication with paris when that city was invested during the franco-german war of - :-- "as the war proceeded and the hostile forces approached paris, the risk of interruption to our indian mails became more and more imminent, and caused serious uneasiness to the post-office. this feeling, which was not long in communicating itself to the public, the subsequent investment of the capital served to enhance. the mails had now to branch off at amiens, and go round by rouen and tours, at a cost, in point of time, of from thirty to forty hours; but even this circuitous route could not long be depended upon, and nothing remained but to abandon marseilles altogether as the line of communication for our indian mails. there was only one alternative--to send them through belgium and germany by the brenner pass to brindisi, and thence by italian packets to alexandria. "but it was in respect to the mails for france herself, and especially for paris, that the greatest perplexity prevailed. as soon as amiens was threatened--amiens, the very key-stone of our postal communication with the interior and south of france--it became evident that the route _viâ_ calais would not remain much longer. the alternative routes that presented themselves were _viâ_ dieppe, and _viâ_ cherbourg or st malo, and no time was lost in making the necessary arrangements with the brighton and south-western railway companies. by both companies trains were kept in constant readiness at the terminus in london, and vessels remained under steam at newhaven and southampton, prepared to start at the shortest notice, according to the course events might take. late in the evening of the th of november, intelligence was received in london that the line of communication through amiens was closed, and the mails were diverted from calais to cherbourg; within the next four days cherbourg was exchanged for dieppe, and dieppe soon afterwards for st malo. as to the means adopted for maintaining communication with paris, the pigeon-post has become matter of history. letters intended for this novel mode of transmission had to be sent to the headquarters of the french post-office at tours, where, it is understood, they were all copied in consecutive order, and by a process of photography transferred in a wonderfully reduced form to a diminutive piece of very thin paper, such as a pigeon could carry, the photographic process being repeated on their arrival in paris, for the purpose of obtaining a larger impression. they were essential conditions that these letters should be posted open without cover or envelope, and that they should be registered; that they should be restricted to twenty words; that they should be written in french in clear and intelligible language, and that they should relate solely to private affairs, and contain no allusion either to the war or to politics. the charge was fixed at d. for each word (the name and address counting as one word), and d. for registration. during the investment, from november to january , the number of letters sent from london to tours, for despatch by pigeon-post to paris, was ." profiting by the example furnished during the progress of the franco-german war, the good people of the fiji islands have quite recently established a pigeon-post, to serve them in the peaceful pursuits of trade. the colony of fiji is a group of islands, between which the communications by sailing-vessels or steamers are not very regular, the former being frequently becalmed or retarded by head-winds, while the latter are of small power and low speed. an important part of the trade of the islands consists in exporting fruit and other produce to australia and new zealand, the largest portion consisting of bananas, of which a single steamer will sometimes carry about , bunches. it is desirable not to cut the bananas till the steamers from australia and new zealand arrive at fiji, and consequently early news of the event is most important to planters in the more remote islands; for if the small schooners or cutters which carry the fruit between the islands arrive too late for the steamer, the poor planters lose their whole produce, which, being perishable, has to be thrown overboard. in these circumstances a pigeon-post has been called into operation: and should this method of communication be extended to all the important islands, as it has already been to some, many a cargo will be saved to the poor planters which would otherwise be wholly lost. subjoined is a copy of news by "pigeon-post," taken from the 'polynesian gazette' of the th june . it was conveyed by pigeon from suva to levuka, a distance as the crow flies of about miles, and the time occupied in transit was minutes, the actual flight to the home of the pigeon taking but minutes:-- "latest news from suva. "_per pigeon-post._ "the following despatch, dated suva, sunday, p.m., was received at nasova at . same day:-- "'hero' arrived midnight, left melbourne th, newcastle th. passengers--mrs fowler and child, mrs cusack and family, mrs blythe and child, messrs f. hughes, fullarton, j. sims, j. b. matthews, t. rose, and a. h. chambers. "agents-general of queensland and victoria gone to france to interview ministers _in re_ recidivistes question. marylebone won match, one innings and runs; australians have since defeated birmingham eleven. 'gunga,' capt. fleetwood, leaves sydney th ult. new zealand football team beat n.s. wales, points to _nil_. 'cintra' at newcastle, loading coal for melbourne, same time as 'hero.' a.s.n. co. bought adelaide simpsons birkgate and fenterden. "'wairarapa' and 'penguin' just arrived, further news when admitted to pratique. "_monday_, p.m. "'penguin' may be expected in levuka mid-day to-morrow, tuesday. "'wairarapa' leaves for levuka at daylight on wednesday. 'hero' leaves at . on tuesday, for deuba, and may be expected to arrive in levuka on wednesday night." it is right to add that the "pigeon-post" of fiji is not connected with the postal department, but is carried on as a private enterprise. chapter xiii. abuse of the franking privilege, and other petty frauds. _abuse of the franking privilege._ wherever the use of anything of value is given without the check of a money or other equivalent, the use is sure to degenerate into abuse; and in the experience of the post-office this has been proved to be the case, both as regards letters and telegrams. in regard to the first, the franking privilege was long found to be a canker eating into the vitals of the revenue; and its abolition on the introduction of the penny postage in came none too soon. had the privilege been longer continued, it is impossible to conceive to what extent the abuse of it might have grown; but what might have occurred here has, in some measure, taken place in the united states, as is shown by the following statement made by the postmaster-general of that country, about twenty years after the abolition of the privilege in this:-- "another potent reason for the abolition of the franking privilege, as now exercised, is found in the abuses which seem to be inseparable from its existence. these abuses, though constantly exposed and animadverted upon for a series of years, have as constantly increased. it has been often stated by my predecessors, and is a matter of public notoriety, that immense masses of packages are transported under the government frank which neither the letter nor the spirit of the statute creating the franking privilege would justify; and a large number of letters, documents, and packages are thus conveyed, covered by the frank of officials, written in violation of law, not by themselves, but by some real or pretended agent; while whole sacks of similar matter, which have never been handled nor even seen by government functionaries, are transported under franks which have been forged. the extreme difficulty of detecting such forgeries has greatly multiplied this class of offences; whilst their prevalence has so deadened the public sentiment in reference to them, that a conviction, however ample the proof, is scarcely possible to be obtained. the statute of , denouncing the counterfeiting of an official frank under a heavy penalty, is practically inoperative. i refer you to the case reported at length by the united states attorney for the district, as strikingly illustrating this vitiated public opinion, reflected from the jury-box. the proof was complete, and the case unredeemed by a single palliation; and yet the offender was discharged, unrebuked, to resume, if it should please him, his guilty task. this verdict of acquittal is understood to have been rendered on two grounds--first, that the accused said he did not commit the offence to avoid the payment of the postages; and second, that the offence has become so prevalent that it is no longer proper to punish it. these are startling propositions, whether regarded in their legal, moral, or logical aspects." the unblushing way in which the british post-office in its earlier days was called upon to convey not only franked letters, but, under franks, articles of a totally different class, will be perceived from the following cases. it is not to be understood, however, that the things consigned actually passed through the post-office, but rather that they were admitted for transport on board the special packet-ships of government, sailing for the purposes of the post-office. the cases are taken from the first annual report of the postmaster-general:-- "fifteen couples of hounds going to the king of the romans with a free pass." "some parcels of cloth for the clothing colonels in my lord north's and my lord grey's regiments." "two servant-maids going as laundresses to my lord ambassador methuen." "doctor crichton, carrying with him a cow and divers other necessaries." "three suits of cloaths for some nobleman's lady at the court of portugal." "a box containing three pounds of tea, sent as a present by my lady arlington to the queen-dowager of england at lisbon." "eleven couples of hounds for major-general hompesch." "a case of knives and forks for mr stepney, her majesty's envoy to the king of holland." "one little parcell of lace, to be made use of in clothing duke schomberg's regiment." "two bales of stockings for the use of the ambassador of the crown of portugal." "a box of medicines for my lord galway in portugal." "a deal case with four flitches of bacon for mr pennington of rotterdam." the post-office always had a great deal of trouble in controlling and keeping in check this system of franking; and withal, the privilege was much abused. before the year , members of parliament had merely to write their names on the covers to ensure their correspondence free passage through the post; and packets of such franks were furnished by the members to their friends, who laid them past for use as occasion required. nay, more,--a trade was carried on in franks by the servants of members, whose practice it was to ask their masters to sign them in great numbers at a time. it was even suspected, and probably with sufficient reason, that franks were forged to a large extent; and, had postage been paid on all franked correspondence, it is estimated that the revenue would have been increased by £ , . in the hope of imposing some greater check on the evil, it was enacted in that the whole superscription must be in the handwriting of the member; but even this proved inadequate, and further restrictions were imposed in and . some very difficult and troublesome questions arose from time to time in dealing with member's letters. for example, when a member of parliament had no place of residence in london, and was living out of the united kingdom, if he had his letters addressed to a public office, or to any solicitor, banker, or other agent, he was not entitled to have his letters free of postage, but, if so directed and delivered, the postage had to be paid. again, when a member kept up a residence in london, but had his letters directed to another place, the member ceased to enjoy the privilege as regards such letters; as he also did when letters were addressed to his residence in the country, and he happened to be elsewhere at the time of their delivery. then a catholic peer dying, who had never taken his seat, and being succeeded by his brother, who was a protestant, the question is raised whether the latter could claim to use the franking privilege before the issue of the writ calling him to the house of peers; and the legal decision is given that he could not so exercise the privilege. keeping the members within proper bounds must evidently have been a task for the officers of the post-office requiring both vigilance and determination. but there was another kind of fraud carried on under the privilege granted to soldiers. a surveyor in scotland thus referred to the irregularity as observed in scotland in :-- "as there is so much smuggling of letters already in scotland, and reason to suspect it will increase from the additional rates, it is matter of serious concern to the revenue to obtain a clear legal restriction; and i wish you to represent it to the board at london, in case it may not be too late to offer any hints from the distant situation we are in. "i have had occasion formerly to observe to you that a very great evasion of the post revenue has taken place--particularly in the north of scotland--from the privilege granted to soldiers, under cover of which not only a very general opportunity is taken by the common people there to have their letters carried by soldiers to be freed by their officers, and having them again in return under soldiers' addresses; but even in several instances which i observed and detected, persons in higher ranks have availed themselves of this circumstance." nor were people of quality above the habit of committing similar frauds upon the post-office revenue, as will be observed from the following remarks penned by an official on the th april . the statement runs thus:--"on the st ultimo, having gone into the mail-coach office at glasgow, soon after the arrival of the coach from ayr, and observing several parcels which had arrived by it, one in particular took our attention by its appearing to contain a loaf of bread of the supposed value of d. or d., addressed to the honble. mrs ----, of glasgow; and as this parcel was charged d., it created the idea of some mistake having happened in sending it in that way, by which the carriage exceeded the value, besides the original cost of it. "in a few minutes after this, however, two ladies called for the parcel, one of them believed to be mrs ----herself, and the other her sister, and inquired for the parcel; and my curiosity leading me to notice the issue of this supposed hoax, i was not a little surprised to find, after the lady had cut up the cover, that two or three letters were enclosed with the loaf, one of which she gave to the other lady, and sent the loaf home by the porter." the post-office has also been exposed to frauds in other ways. thus it was a common device to take a newspaper bearing the newspaper frank, prick out with a pin certain words in the print making up a message to be sent, and the newspaper so prepared served all the purposes of a letter as between the sender and receiver. or a message would be written on the cover of a newspaper with the first of all fluids known to us--milk--which, when dry, was not observed, but developed a legible communication subsequently when held to the fire. the following anecdotes of the evasions of postage are told by the late sir rowland hill:-- "some years ago, when it was the practice to write the name of a member of parliament for the purpose of franking a newspaper, a friend of mine, previous to starting on a tour into scotland, arranged with his family a plan of informing them of his progress and state of health, without putting them to the expense of postage. it was managed thus: he carried with him a number of old newspapers, one of which he put into the post daily. the postmark, with the date, showed his progress; and the state of his health was evinced by the selection of the names from a list previously agreed upon, with which the newspaper was franked. sir francis burdett, i recollect, denoted vigorous health." "once on the poet's [coleridge's] visit to the lake district, he halted at the door of a wayside inn at the moment when the rural postman was delivering a letter to the barmaid of the place. upon receiving it she turned it over and over in her hand, and then asked the postage of it. the postman demanded a shilling. sighing deeply, however, the girl handed the letter back, saying she was too poor to pay the required sum. the poet at once offered to pay the postage; and in spite of some resistance on the part of the girl, which he deemed quite natural, did so. the messenger had scarcely left the place when the young barmaid confessed that she had learnt all she was likely to learn from the letter; that she had only been practising a preconceived trick--she and her brother having agreed that a few hieroglyphics on the back of the letter should tell her all she wanted to know, whilst the letter would contain no writing. 'we are so poor,' she added, 'that we have invented this manner of corresponding and franking our letters.'" in asserting its monopoly in the carriage of letters in towns, or wherever the post-office had established posts, there was always trouble; and so much attention did the matter require, that special officers for the duty were employed, called "apprehenders of private letter-carriers." the penalties were somewhat severe when infringements were discovered, and the action taken straight and prompt, as will be seen by the following, which is a copy of a letter written in to a person charging him with breaking the law:-- "sir,--his majesty's postmasters-general have received an information laid against you, that on the th ultimo your clerk, mr ----, for whom you are answerable, illegally sent three letters in a parcel by a stage-coach to you at broadstairs, kent, contrary to the statute made to prevent the sending of letters otherwise than by the post. "i am commanded by their lordships to inform you that you have thereby incurred three penalties of £ each, and that they feel it their duty to proceed against you to recover the same. "should you have any explanation to give, you will please to address the postmaster-general.--i am," &c. [illustration (facsimile): general post-office, aug. th, a caution. to all coach-masters, carriers, higlers, ship masters employed coastwise, newsmen, watermen and others. having received repeated information that letters are illegally collected, carried and delivered, to the great injury of the public revenue, and it being the wish of this office rather to prevent than punish, and that the unwary may be made acquainted with the penalties they are subject to; i am directed to give this public notice, that from the date hereof, every effort will be used to detect and punish all persons so offending.--the penalties for which are five pounds for every letter so collected, carried, or delivered, whether for hire or not, and one hundred pounds, for every week such practice is continued. by command of the postmaster general, johnson wilkinson, _surveyor_.] in august , at the warwick assizes, a carrier between warwick and birmingham was convicted of illegally collecting and carrying letters, when penalties amounting to £ were incurred; but the prosecution consented to a verdict being taken for two penalties of £ each, with costs of the suit. a report of the period observed that "this verdict should be a warning to carriers, coachmen, and other persons, against taking up letters tied round with a string or covered with brown paper, under pretence of being parcels, which, the learned judge observed, was a flimsy evasion of the law." the very cheap postage which we now enjoy has removed the inducement in a large measure to commit petty frauds of this kind on the post-office revenue, and the commission of such things may now be said to belong to an age that is past. _frauds on the public._ the post-office, while it is the willing handmaid to commerce, the vehicle of social intercourse, and the necessary helper in almost every enterprise and occupation, becomes at the same time a ready means for the unscrupulous to carry on a wonderful variety of frauds on the public, and enables a whole army of needy and designing persons to live upon the generous impulses of society. while these things go on,--and post-office officials know they go on,--the department is helpless to prevent them; for the work of the post-office is carried on as a secret business, in so far as the communications intrusted to it are concerned, and the contents of the letters conveyed are not its property or interest. there are men and women who go about from town to town writing begging letters to well-to-do persons, appealing for help under all sorts of pretences; and these persons are as well known, in the sense of being customers to the department, as a housekeeper is known at her grocer's shop. there are other persons, again, who carry on long-firm swindles through the post, obtaining goods which are never to be paid for; and as soon as the goods are received at one place, the swindlers move on to another place, assume new names, and repeat the operation. the schemes adopted are often very deeply laid; and the police, when once set upon the track, have hard work to unravel the wily plans. but tradespeople are not infrequently themselves very much to blame, as they show themselves too confiding, and too ready to do business with unknown persons. the following is an instance of a fraud upon well-to-do persons in this country, attempted by an american in the year :-- the rev. mr champneys, of st pancras, london, received a letter posted at florence, burlington county, new jersey, u.s., which upon being opened seemed to be not intended for him, but was a communication purporting to be written from one sister to another. the letter made it appear that the writer was highly connected, had fallen into the greatest distress owing to the death of her husband, that her feelings of self-respect had restrained her from telling her griefs till she could no longer withhold them, and making free use of the deepest pathos and high-sounding sentiments, and finally appealing for an immediate remittance. mr champneys, not suspecting a fraud, and desiring to help forward the letter to the person who, as he supposed, should have received it, inserted the following advertisement in the 'times' newspaper:-- "a letter, dated florence, burlington county, new jersey, u.s., intended for mrs lucy campbell, scotland, has been misdirected to rev. w. champneys, gordon square. will mrs campbell kindly communicate her address immediately?" in response to this inquiry, what was mr champney's surprise but to find that a large number of persons had received letters in identical terms and in precisely the same circumstances! this of course caused him to reflect, and then the facts became clear to him--which were, that under the guise of a trifling mistake, that of placing a letter in the wrong envelope, a set of dire circumstances were placed before persons who were likely to be kind-hearted and generous, in the hope that, though the writer was unknown to them, they might send some money to cheer a poor but respectable family steeped in calamity! how far the attempt succeeded does not appear, but mr champneys very properly at once wrote a letter to the 'times' exposing the fraud, and it is to be hoped that some generous souls were in consequence saved from folly. one more instance--but one coming within the class of the "confidence trick." in several country newspapers the following advertisement made its appearance:-- "an elderly bachelor of fortune, wishing to test the credulity of the public, and to benefit and assist others, will send a suitable present of genuine worth, according to the circumstances of the applicant, to all who will send him stamps--demanded merely as a token of confidence. stamps will be returned with the present." and then the address followed, which was not always the same in all the advertisements. the advertiser alone would be able to say how far he profited by this little arrangement, but some idea of the simplicity of mankind may be derived from the fact that between and letters for this person, each containing stamps, reached the dead-letter office--owing doubtless to his having "moved on" from the places where he had lived, in consequence of their becoming too warm to hold him. specimens of the letters written by the dupes are as follows:-- . "the rev. ---- encloses stamps. he is a clergyman with very limited means, and the most useful present to him would be five pounds. if his application be not agreeable, he requests that the stamps be returned." . "i have enclosed the stamps, and shall be very pleased to receive any present you will send me. as i am not very well off, what i would like very much would be a _nice black silk dress_, which i should consider a rich reward for my credulity." . "mrs ---- presents her compliments to the 'elderly bachelor,' and in order to amuse him by her credulity encloses stamps, and thus claims the promised present. her position and circumstances are good, she mixes in gay society, and is quite an adept at dancing the polka mazourka. these details may determine the suitability of the present." . "having read your advertisement testing the 'credulity of the public,' i feel disposed on my part to test the upright and honourable intentions of a stranger, contrary to the opinion of some, who tell me it is only a hoax, or, worse, a mere take-in. i therefore, with the honesty of an irishman, beg to say i am a clerygyman's wife, mother of nine children,--the six eldest fine enterprising sons; the three youngest, engaging, intelligent girls. we irish generally have larger hearts than purses. i therefore lay these facts before you, an englishman, knowing that a briton's generosity and capabilities are proverbially equal.--hoping i may be able to prove i have formed a correct opinion of advertiser's truthfulness, i am," &c. after this we may afford to smile, and use the words of a very old author with every confidence of their freshness: "oh, where shall wisdom be found? where is the place of understanding?" chapter xiv. strange addresses. the addresses of letters passing through the post have often very curious features, arising from various causes: sometimes the whole writing is so bad as to be all but illegible; sometimes the orthography is extremely at fault; sometimes the writer, having forgotten the precise address, makes use of a periphrase; sometimes the addresses are insufficient; and sometimes the addresses are conjoined with sketches on the envelopes showing both artistic taste and comic spirit. post-office sorters, who constantly have passing through their hands writing of every style and every degree of badness, acquire an aptitude for deciphering manuscript; and writing must be bad indeed, if to be read at all, when it fails to be deciphered in the post-office. a very large collection might be made of the vagaries of writers in the addresses placed by them on letters; but the following will give some idea, though not a complete idea, of one of the troubles met with in dealing with post-letters. some time ago the danish and norwegian consul at ipswich, being struck by the ever-varying way in which the word "ipswich" was spelt in the addresses of letters reaching him from abroad, took the pains to make a record of each new style of spelling, and after a time he was able to collect together fifty-seven incorrect methods of spelling the word "ipswich," which had been used upon letters addressed to him. they are given as follows, viz.:-- elsfleth, epshvics, epshvidts, epsids, epsig, epsvet, epsvidts, epwich, evswig, exwig, hoispis, hvisspys, ibsvi, ibsvig, ibsvithse, ibwich, ibwigth, ispsich, ie yis wich, igswield, igswig, igswjigh, ipesviok, ipiswug, ipswitis, ipsiwisch, ipsovich, ipsveten, ipsvick, ipsvics, ipsvids, ipsvidts, ipsvig, ipsvikh, ipsvits, ipsvitx, ipsvoigh, ipsweh, ipsweich, ipswgs, ipswiche, ipswick, ipswict, ipswiceh, ipswig, ipswigh, ipswight, ipswish, ipswith, ipswitz, ispich, ispovich, ispwich, ixvig, iysuich, uibsvich, vittspits. letters so addressed generally reached the consul in direct course of post, though some of them were occasionally delayed by being first sent to wisbeach. in other cases assistance was given in reading the addresses by the northern version of the county "suffolg" following the word intended for ipswich. the address, adne edle street, london, proved to be intended for threadneedle street, london. in another case, no. oldham & bury, london, was written for no. aldermanbury, london. on another occasion the following address appeared on a letter:-- too dad thomas hat the ole oke otchut bary. pade. sur plees to let ole feather have this sefe; the address being intended for the old oak orchard, tenbury. a further odd address was as follows, written, it is presumed, by a german:-- tis is fur old mr willy wot brinds de baber in lang kaster ware ti gal is. gist rede him assume as it cums to ti pushtufous; the english of the address being-- this is for old mr willy what prints the paper in lancaster where the jail is. just read him as soon as it comes to the post-office. the next address is one made use of, apparently, owing to the true and particular address being lost, but the directions given served their purpose, and the letter was duly delivered:-- for a gentleman residing in a street out of the ---- road, london. he is a shopkeeper, sells newspapers and periodicals to the trade, and supplies hawkers, and others with cheap prints, some of which are sold by men in the street. he has for years bought the waste of the illustrated ---- their prints printed in colours particularly. he is well known in the locality, being wholesale. postman will oblige if he can find this. similar cases are as follows, but we are unable to say whether the addresses given served their intended purpose:-- mr ----. travelling band, one of the four playing in the street. persha [pershore], worcestershire. please to find him if possible. to e----, a cook as lived tempery with a mrs l----, or some such a name, a shoemaker in castle st. about no. ---- hoburn in ; try to make this out. she is a welsh person about feet --stoutish. lives in service some ware in london or naboured. london. this is for her that maks dresses for ladies, that livs at tother side of road to james brocklip. edensover, chesterfield. this is for the young girl that wears spectacles, who minds two babies. sherriff st., off prince edwin st., liverpool. in two further instances the indications sufficed, and the letters were duly delivered. thus-- to my sister jean, up the canongate, down a close, edinburgh. she has a wooden leg. and-- my dear ant sue as lives in the cottage by the wood near the new forest. in this case the letter had to feel its way about for a day or two, but ant sue was found living in a cottage near lyndhurst. another letter was addressed thus:-- this letter is for mrs ----. she lives in some part of liverpool. from her father john ----, a tailor from ----; he would be thankful to some postmaster in liverpool if he would find her out. unfortunately, in this instance the directions given failed to trace the person to whom it was sent, and it had to go to that abyss of "rejected addresses," the dead-letter office. it occasionally happens that when the eye is unable to make out an address, the ear comes to the rescue. in london a letter came to hand directed to mr owl o'neil, general post office. but no one was known there of that name. a clerk, looking at the letter, commenced to repeat aloud, "mr owl o'neil, mr owl o'neil," when another clerk, hearing him, exclaimed, "why! that must be intended for mr rowland hill,"--which indeed proved to be the case. a similar circumstance happened in edinburgh, with a letter from australia, addressed to mr ---- johns. . scotland. it proved to be intended for johnshaven, a village in the north of scotland. two odd addresses are as follows, one being from america, the other from ireland:-- little alice, serio-comic singer, london, england. to edinburgh city, scotland, for pat feeley, katie kinnigan's son, ould fishmarket close, number , send this with speed. an american gentleman having arrived in england, and not knowing where a sister was residing at the time, addressed a letter to her previous residence thus-- upper norwood, or elsewhere. the letter having been delivered to the lady, the writer intimated to the post-office that he had received a reply in ordinary course, and explaining that the letter had been delivered to her on the top of a stage-coach in wales. in admiration of the means taken to follow up his sister, the writer ventured to add, "that no other country can show the parallel, or would take the trouble at any cost." it would be impossible to explain in words the difficulties that are met with, and the successes which are obtained, in deciphering badly written addresses; and facsimiles of the directions upon some such letters are therefore appended to enable the reader to appreciate the facts. in the london post-office indistinctly addressed letters are at once set aside, so as not to delay the work of sortation, and are carried forthwith to a set of special officers who have an aptitude for deciphering indistinct writing. these officers, by a strange contradiction in the sense of things, are called the "blind officers"; and here the letters are rapidly disposed of, either by having the addresses read and amended, or marked with the name of a post-town for which the letters may be supposed to be intended. to facilitate this special work, the blind officers are furnished with a series of gazetteers and other books containing the names of gentlemen's seats, farms, and the like, throughout the country, and many a letter reaches the hands of the person addressed through a reference to these books. in addition to instances of indistinctly addressed letters, a few specimens of addresses of an artistic and humorous character are furnished in this chapter. [illustration: _read e. c. _____ sierra leone cape coast castle or elsewhere_] [illustration: _read ...... lane? scotland road liverpool_] [illustration: _read hugglescote ashby de la zouch warwickshire_] [illustration: _read mr c_____ charlotte place goodge street w_] [illustration: _read no pvt w_____ no section st oxfordshire light infantry convalescent depot madras, east indies_] [illustration: _read mrs _____ minories nr aldgate church london_] [illustration: _read harrow weald harrow_] [illustration: _(read forest gate)_] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] the letter, of which the above represents the address, was posted in a town in the north of england, and delivered to the editor of the 'courant' in edinburgh. a facsimile of a portion of the communication enclosed is also shown, which will give an idea of the interest attaching to editorial work, and afford some valuable information to the reader! [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] [illustration] chapter xv. post-office robberies. if records are not now forthcoming of all the robberies which have been committed upon the post-office from the earliest times, we may be assured that an institution such as it is, maintaining agencies all over the country, and having to keep up communications between those agencies, would be exposed at all times and at all points to the risk of robbery, whether by the dashing boldness of the highwayman, or the less pretentious doings of the town house-breaker. to us who live in an age when the public roads are generally safe to travellers, it is difficult to realise the dangers that lurked in the highways at no more remote a period than last century; nor can we well realise a state of things under which mail-coaches in this our quiet england had to be protected by guards armed to the teeth. we have it handed down, however, as a historical fact, that when, in , belsize house, hampstead, was opened as a place of public resort, the programme announcing its attractions contained the following item:--"and for the security of its guests, there are twelve stout fellows completely armed, to patrol betwixt london and belsize, to prevent the insults of highwaymen or footpads which may infest the road." yet that statement does not give the whole truth, for the road between these two places became so much more dangerous, that after a time "the patrol had to be increased from twelve to thirty stout fellows completely armed, independently of two tall grenadiers who mounted guard over the gate of the mansion." the following is from the 'annual register' of :--"murders, robberies--many of them attended with acts of cruelty and threatening letters--were never perhaps so frequent about this city [london] as during last month. one highwayman in particular, by the name of the flying highwayman, engrosses the conversation of most of the towns within twenty miles of london, as he has occasionally visited all the public roads round this metropolis, and has collected several considerable sums. he robs upon three different horses. he has leaped over colnbrook turnpike a dozen times within this fortnight, and is now well known by most of the turnpike men in the different roads about london." again, it is recorded that "even the toll-house keepers in london were so liable to be robbed, that they had to be furnished with arms, and enjoined to keep no money in their houses after eight o'clock at night. the boldness with which street robberies still continued to be committed was evinced so late as , when the neapolitan ambassador was robbed in his coach in grosvenor square by four footpads armed with pistols." but highway robbery had long been practised, even by individuals in the higher stations; and it is recorded of sir john falstaff, one of shakespeare's heroes, that he was the terror of travellers on every road for a hundred miles out of london. the place chiefly identified with his exploits, however, was gad's hill, in kent. thus it will be seen that the roads leading out of london were infested by disorderly characters; and robberies of the mails proceeding to and from london were of frequent occurrence, as appears from official records referring to the close of last century and the commencement of this. in the coaching days very frequent robberies of the mails took place, though they were protected by armed guards, and some of these robberies have been described in the chapter relating to mail-coaches. [illustration: falstaff as a highwayman.] the passengers who travelled in the mail-coaches, with the knowledge of these molestations going on around them, must have been kept in a constant state of alarm; and the circumstance could not fail materially to discourage travelling in days when the facilities for exchanging visits were few compared with what we now enjoy. the state of things already described as regards the mail-coaches, extended also to the horse-posts, the riders being attacked probably more freely than the coaches; for while the plunder to be had would be less, the postboys were not in a position to make so great a show of defence. nor did the severity of the laws restrain evil-doers, either in england or scotland, where sentences of execution were from time to time carried out upon the delinquents. on the th of july , the post-rider who was proceeding through the extreme north of england, on his way from london to the scottish metropolis, was known to have been twice stopped, and to have been robbed of his mail, the scene of the occurrence being near alnwick, in northumberland. in connection with this event, of which an account has been handed down by lauder of fountainhall, a curious and romantic anecdote has been told by wilson in his 'tales of the borders,' and by chambers as one of his scottish traditional stories. sir john cochrane of ochiltree, in ayrshire, was one of argyle's chief associates in that unfortunate and abortive attempt, made by the exiles in the year above named, to compass the overthrow of the reigning monarch, james ii., so far as scotland was concerned, which attempt was only part of the more general scheme of the exiles abroad--both english and scotch--and the disaffected at home, to drive the king from his throne, and to place the duke of monmouth thereon in his stead. after a variety of disasters experienced by the limited following which argyle and his party had been able to bring together, and when hope of a successful issue could no longer secure cohesion, there ensued a general break-up of the party, accompanied by what is to be looked for in similar situations--a general flight and _sauve qui peut_. sir john cochrane sought refuge in the house of a relative in renfrewshire, where, however, he was discovered by his pursuers at the end of june; and on the d of july, sir john, his son, and another traitor were brought into edinburgh, "bound and barefooted, by the hangman," and cast into the tolbooth to await their doom. what daring enterprises may not flow from a woman's love and devotion, when a parent's liberty is imperilled or his life is at stake! sir john had a daughter called grizel, who fondly loved him, and who, on visiting him in prison, had not failed to show the intensity of her filial regard; nor was sir john slow to reciprocate these feelings on his part. being then but eighteen years of age, she nevertheless conceived the daring thought of intercepting the mail-packet coming from the south, which was supposed to contain a warrant for the execution of her father; and with this object in view, she proceeded to berwick-on-tweed alone. here she habited herself in male attire; and being armed, and mounted on a fleet horse, she set out upon her extraordinary and perilous adventure. [illustration: grizel cochrane and postboy.] on tweedmouth moor, it is narrated, she fell in with the postboy, who, under threats of immediate death, gave up his charge, grizel riding off with the mail-packet and the postboy's horse, from which he had been unseated. under these circumstances, the warrant not reaching its destination, it could not be put into execution, and the delay which took place before another could be procured, was turned to account by sir john's friends, who exerted themselves on his behalf. sir john was the younger son of a rich family, from whom a ransom was to be had; and it is stated that a bribe of £ by lord dundonald, cochrane's father, to the priests of the royal household, was the means of securing a pardon. sir john lived to become earl of dundonald, while grizel became the wife of john kerr of morriston, in berwickshire; and there can be little doubt that she afterwards exhibited as a wife all the amiable and affectionate qualities of which she proved herself possessed as a daughter. unfortunately for the authenticity of the story, so far as grizel cochrane's connection with it is concerned, the dates hardly bear the matter out; for if sir john was lodged in the tolbooth of edinburgh on the d of july, a warrant for his execution could barely have reached northumberland from london by the th: and again, while the story relates that sir john cochrane was confined in the tolbooth, macaulay states that he "was taken, and sent up to london." the following story of the robbery of a mail carried by a postboy, is taken from chambers's 'domestic annals of scotland,' under the date th august :-- "andrew cockburn, the postboy who carried the packet or letter-bag on that part of the great line of communication which lies between cockburnspath and haddington, had this day reached a point in his journey between the alms-house and hedderwick muir, when he was assailed by two gentlemen in masks; one of them mounted on a blue-grey horse, wearing a stone-grey coat with brown-silk buttons--the other riding on a white horse, having a white english grey cloak-coat with wrought silver-thread buttons. holding pistols to his breast, they threatened to kill him if he did not instantly deliver up the packet, black box, and bag which he carried; and he had no choice but to yield. they then bound him, and leaving him tied by the foot to his horse, rode off with their spoil to garlton house, near haddington. as the packet contained government communications, besides the correspondence of private individuals, this was a crime of a very high nature, albeit we may well believe it was committed on political impulse only. suspicion seems immediately to have alighted on james seton, youngest son of the viscount kingston, and john seton, brother of sir george seton of garlton; and sir robert sinclair, the sheriff of the county, immediately sought for these young gentlemen at their father's and brother's houses, but found them not. with great hardihood, they came to sir robert's house next morning to inquire, as innocent men, why they were searched for; when sir robert, after a short examination in presence of the postboy, saw fit to have them disarmed and sent off to haddington. it was sunday, and bailie lauder, to whose house they came with their escort, was about to go to church. if the worthy bailie is to be believed, he thought their going to the sheriff's a great presumption of their innocence. he admitted, too, that lord kingston had come and spoken to him that morning. anyhow, he concluded that it might be enough in the meantime if he afforded them a room in his house, secured their horses in his stable, and left them under charge of two of the town-officers. unluckily, however, he required the town-officers, as usual, to walk before him and his brother magistrates to church--which, it is obvious, interfered very considerably with their efficiency as a guard over the two gentlemen. while things were in this posture, messrs seton took the prudent course of making their escape. as soon as the bailie heard of it he left church, and took after them with some neighbours, but he did not succeed in overtaking them. the privy council had an extraordinary meeting to take measures regarding this affair, and their first step was to order bailie lauder and the two town-officers into the tolbooth of edinburgh as close prisoners. a few days afterwards the magistrate was condemned by the council as guilty of plain fraud and connivance, and declared incapable of any public employment. william kaim, the smith at lord kingston's house of whittinghame, was also in custody on some suspicion of a concern in this business; but he and the town-officers were quickly liberated. "john seton was soon after seized by captain james denholm on board a merchant vessel bound for holland, and imprisoned in the castle of edinburgh. he underwent trial in july , and by some means escaped condemnation. a favourable verdict did not procure his immediate liberation; but, after three days, he was dismissed on caution, to return into custody if called upon. this final result was the more remarkable, as his father was by that time under charge of having aided in the betrayal of the bass." other instances of such gentleman-like performances in waylaying the post were not unknown in the primitive days of the post-office, for about the year the following notice was issued for the discovery of a gentleman of the law who had taken to evil ways by intercepting the mail:--"whereas mr herbert jones, attorney-at-law in the town of monmouth, well known by being several years together under-sheriff of the same county, hath of late divers times robbed the mail coming from that town to london, and taken out divers letters and writs, and is now fled from justice," &c. in august , the postboy riding the last stage towards edinburgh with the mail from england, was robbed on the th of that month, at a short distance from edinburgh. a record of the period relates that the robbery was committed by "a person mounted on horseback with a sword about him, and another person on foot with a pistol in his hand, upon the highway from haddington to edinburgh, near that place thereof called jock's lodge (a mile from town) about ten hours of the night." the robbers took "the packet or common mail, with the horse whereon the boy rode." a proclamation was issued by the scottish privy council, offering a reward of a hundred pounds for the apprehension of the offenders, with a free pardon to any one of them who should inform upon the rest; but with what result is not known. on the th september , the mail-rider from the north charged with the conveyance of mails for edinburgh, having reached kinross about midnight, proceeded to change horses as usual in a stable-yard at that place. the mail-bags he deposited on the back of a chaise in the yard until he should be ready to resume his journey. as was his custom, he then went into the stable to give a feed of corn to his horse; but while so engaged, the bags were abstracted and the contents stolen. two brothers, who were proved to have been in the neighbourhood at the time, and to whom some of the stolen property was traced, were arraigned for the crime before the high court of justiciary in edinburgh, and being found guilty, were sentenced to be executed. the following is a somewhat fuller account of a post, robbery on the public road, which occurred a few years later:-- in , the mails between edinburgh and glasgow were still conveyed by men travelling on horseback--the route taken being by way of falkirk--the hour of despatch from glasgow being p.m., and the hour of arrival in edinburgh about a.m. or a.m. the riders of this mail seem to have had sections of the road apportioned to them--one rider covering the road from glasgow to falkirk, the other taking the stage from falkirk to edinburgh. on the morning of the st of august in that year, the rider for the east stage--named william wilson--received the glasgow mail-bag entire and duly sealed at falkirk, and thereafter set out towards edinburgh. when he approached a rising ground called sighthill--probably a wooded knoll bearing that name, about three miles from linlithgow, on the road to polmont--he observed two men coming down towards him, and who, so soon as they got near him, placed themselves one on each side of his horse, and immediately seized him. one of the two men held something in his hand, and threatened wilson that if he offered to speak his brains would be blown out. then he was led away into a field of corn, where he was blindfolded by one of the men with his own handkerchief, and his hands tied behind his back; thereupon he was thrown down, and his legs bound together to prevent his getting free. meanwhile the other man led off the horse and rifled the mail. the post-rider remained in his unhappy position for about an hour, when he managed to extricate himself, and proceeding to the first house he could reach, implored the inmates "for god's sake" to let him in, as he had been robbed. having been admitted and obtained assistance, he returned to the scene of his adventure, and found the empty mail-bag at the foot of a haystack, while the horse was recovered a little distance away. the mail contained bills, &c., for something like £ or £ . the robbery of the mail caused great excitement in edinburgh so soon as it became known, and no long time elapsed before the perpetrators were in the hands of the authorities. the two men concerned in it proved to be james clark _alias_ alex. stewart, and robert brown, formerly privates in the foot guards. no sooner had they got back to edinburgh--where they had previously lodged--than they commenced to change some of the bank-notes taken from the mail-bag, and got the worse of drink; and being once suspected, the evidence soon accumulated and became strong against them. they were tried for the offence before the high court of justiciary in edinburgh in november following, and being found guilty, were sentenced to be executed. this robbery would appear to have had the effect of stirring up the public mind to demand a means of conveying the mails between the two cities affording greater security; for an agitation immediately followed for the setting up of coaches or diligences to carry the mails between those cities. owing, however, to difficulties and disagreements between the merchants and traders as to the hours of departure and arrival, and to wranglings over the particular route to be journeyed, the idea was abandoned, and the horse-post as of old was meanwhile continued. the robbery seems not to have been soon forgotten, however; for we find that towards the close of a proposal was made to enter into an agreement for the service with "an officer of the mid-lothian cavalry, and master of the riding academy in edinburgh," who offered to conduct and carry on the service in a masterly and military manner for an allowance of £ per annum--the riders to be employed being none other than able and active dragoons. but in the nature of things such a mail service could not continue, and negotiations still proceeded for the employment of diligences--not resulting in success, however, until the year , when the first mail-coach between edinburgh and glasgow was put upon the road. a somewhat similar attack upon a postboy was made in yorkshire in the year , when the rider's life was threatened by a highwayman single-handed, and the mails stolen from him. the case is interesting owing to the fact that traces of the robbery were obtained so recently as , though at the period of its occurrence no trace of the highwayman or of his plunder could be discovered. the official account of the robbery, when it happened, was as follows:-- "the postboy coming from selby to york was robbed of his mail between six and seven o'clock this evening. about three miles on this side of selby he was accosted by a man on foot, with a gun in his hand, who asked him if he was the postboy, and at the same time seized hold of the bridle. without waiting for any answer, he told the boy he must immediately unstrap the mail and give it him, pointing the muzzle of the gun at him whilst he did it. when he had given up the mail, the boy begged he would not hurt him; to which the man replied he need not be afraid, and at the same time pulled the bridle from the horse's head. the horse immediately galloped off with the boy, who had never dismounted. "he was a stout man, dressed in a drab jacket, and had the appearance of being a heckler. the boy was too much frightened to make any other remark on his person, and says he was totally unknown to him. the mail contained the bags for howden and london, howden and york, and selby and york." [illustration: selby mail-bag.] although a reward of £ was offered for the discovery of the robber, and a free pardon to any accessory who might turn accuser, nothing was heard of the matter at the time, though suspicion, it is said, pointed to some of the inhabitants of selby. the robbery might perhaps have remained forgotten, but that, upon a public-house situated on the churchhill, selby, being pulled down in , a suit of clothes, a sou'-wester hat, and an old mail-bag marked "selby" were found in the roof. there is little doubt that these were the clothes worn by the robber on the occasion under notice, and that the bag (which is a sort of waterproof-pouch, furnished with two straps to pass over the shoulders) is the identical bag which contained the mails stolen in . when the foundations of this old public-house were turned up, the discovery was made of several coffins containing bodies in a good state of preservation--a circumstance, when taken in connection with the traces of the mail-robbery and the public character of the house, ominous in the extreme. the case is one which might be taken as somewhat proving the suggestion put forward by smollett in 'roderick random' as to the intimate relations which existed between the _personnel_ of the innkeepers and the common highwaymen--the former being well aware of the profession followed by the latter, if not actually sharers in their plunder. the illustration of the selby bag is from a photograph. the bag, when folded for the postboy's back, measured about inches broad by inches deep. on wednesday the d october , at half-past nine in the evening, the postboy carrying the mail-bags from teignmouth and neighbouring places to exeter, was assaulted "in a most desperate and inhuman manner" near the village of alphington, and plundered of the teignmouth and exminster bags. the poor man was attacked with such fury that he was felled from his horse, came to the ground on his head, which was fractured in two places, and in consequence of his injuries, he remained insensible for some time. when he regained consciousness in the exeter hospital, whither he had been conveyed, he was able to explain that, at the time of the attack, he was walking his horse up a hill, that the assailant was a young man, and that he was mounted on a grey horse. this horse was supposed afterwards to be traced, though the robber failed to be discovered, notwithstanding that a reward of £ was offered for his discovery and conviction. "a horse exactly answering the description," says an official record, "was taken from a field near dawlish on the wednesday night, and turned back to the same place before daybreak on thursday, having evidently been rode very fast, and gored very much in the sides." the owner of the horse could give no assistance in the matter, nor had he suspicions against any one; so that it would appear the robber had taken the horse surreptitiously for his purpose. the mail-bags were afterwards recovered, with some few of the letters opened: but it did not appear that any property was missing. the unfortunate rider, whose name was "caddy," remained in hospital till the january following, when he was discharged; but in the month of may his wounds broke out afresh, and he had to return to hospital, being now become subject to epileptic fits owing to his injuries. as he was no longer able for service, he was granted a gratuity by the post-office; and it is not probable that he survived very long thereafter. with the mere expectation of getting some little gain from the robbery, the marauder had all but killed the poor postboy, who had a wife and two children dependent on him; and he has in his evil-doing given a good example of what burns calls "man's inhumanity to man," that "makes countless thousands mourn." in the year the deputy-postmaster of the orkneys and his son, a lad of about sixteen years of age, were tried at the high court of justiciary, edinburgh, on a charge of breaking open certain post-letters while in their custody in course of transit, and therefrom abstracting money. the indictment contained a further charge of forgery against the elder prisoner, the deputy having endorsed another person's name upon a money-order contained in one of the stolen letters. the thefts were committed at different times in and , and the specific cases upon which evidence was led were in respect of the following letters--viz., two letters sent at different times to orkney by a seaman in the royal navy, one containing a guinea-note and half a guinea in gold, the other containing either a guinea in gold or a note for that amount; a letter from london for orkney, containing a money-order for £ s.; and a letter from perth for orkney, enclosing a note for a guinea: the whole amount involved being under £ . in the course of the trial it was proved that the deputy was guilty, certain of the missing letters having been found in his house, and the son had already confessed to what was charged against him. the whole cases were clearly made out to the satisfaction of the jury, who returned a verdict accordingly against both prisoners, but with a recommendation of mercy towards the son of the deputy, on the score of his tender years. sentence was pronounced on the th september, and the date of execution fixed for the th october. by the exercise of the royal prerogative, george iii. granted a free pardon to the deputy's son, who was forthwith set at liberty; but it is a melancholy reflection, that for delinquencies involving the loss of so small a sum as £ , the deputy-postmaster should, on the date fixed for his execution, have actually been led forth to his doom. in a report of the circumstance written at the time, it is stated "that he was attended by the rev. mr black of lady yester's, and mr struthers of the relief congregation, and behaved in a manner suitable to his unhappy situation!" god forbid that there should be a standard of deportment for occasions like this, where, to our more humane notions, the punishment so fearfully outweighs the offence. early in the year a sad blow fell upon the postmaster of a certain town in wales, on its being discovered that an assistant in his office, a daughter of his own, had been stealing post-letters. in the course of investigations made into her misdoings, it was discovered that the thefts had been going on for a period of seven years, during which time she had accumulated as much jewellery and haberdashery as would have stocked a small shop--and besides, money to the amount of £ . the letters from which the property had been taken were between two and three hundred, and these she had kept, so that it was possible to restore to the owners, in many cases, the stolen articles. on the th march the unfortunate and misguided creature was tried, on the charge of stealing a particular letter, and was convicted--the sentence passed upon her being _transportation for ten years_. it was afterwards ascertained that the motive underlying this long career of thieving was a desire to amass such a dowry as would improve her prospects in the matter of obtaining a husband. _hatton garden robbery._ on thursday the th november , the whole country was made aware, through the daily papers, that a most daring post-office robbery had been committed in london the previous afternoon, the scene of the event being the hatton garden branch office, situated in the busy district of holborn. the time and plan of carrying out the undertaking were not such as are usually chosen for attempts of this kind, the hour at which the robbery was effected being p.m., when the office was thronged with the public purchasing stamps, or doing other business in view of the night-mail despatch. nor was there any furtive mode of proceeding in the ordinary sense, but a bold and dashing stroke for the chances of success or failure. on the afternoon of the day of the robbery, a murky fog, such as londoners know so well and heartily dislike, hung over the metropolis. the street lamps afforded but a dull light in the thoroughfares; shops and offices were lighted up for the evening's business; and the afternoon's work in the hatton garden post-office was at its height (the registered-letter bag, containing some forty registered letters, having just been deposited in an ordinary bag hanging from a peg in the office), when suddenly, and without apparent cause, the whole of the lights in the office went out, and the place was plunged in almost total darkness. consternation took possession of the female clerks behind the counter, while young clerks and boys from warehouses and offices, conceiving the occasion to be one for noise and merriment, helped to increase the confusion by clamour and hubbub outside the counter. no long time elapsed before matches were obtained and tapers lit, when it was immediately discovered that the tap of the gas-meter in the basement had been turned off; but on the tap being turned on again, the jets in the office were relit, and the place resumed its wonted appearance. the young ladies in the office being now able to see around them, soon detected the absence of the bag, which had been left hanging on the peg, and which they knew had not yet been despatched by them. it did not take long to realise that the bag had vanished--in fact, had been stolen; and to this day the property contained in the lost registered letters has not been recovered, nor have the persons concerned in the theft been traced. it is believed that two or more individuals were engaged in the robbery, the supposition being that one person got down into the basement without attracting attention, and turned off the gas, while another, so soon as darkness supervened, got by some means within the counter, and, unobserved, took the bag from the peg--all concerned making good their escape in the midst of the stir and noise by which they were surrounded. the whole adventure bears the impress of having been carefully planned and cleverly executed, and there is little doubt that the robbery was carried out by men who were experts in their nefarious calling. the value of the articles contained in the forty registered letters was about £ , ; and as the scene of the robbery lay in the midst of diamond merchants and jewellers, it is not surprising that precious stones and jewellery were the principal contents of these letters. besides watches, bracelets set with pearls and diamonds, ear-rings, rings, &c., the following articles were among the property stolen--viz., eight parcels of rough diamonds, turquoises, a quantity of small emeralds, drilled sapphires, pairs of garnet bores, pairs of sapphire bores, a quantity of sapphires weighing carats, several rubies and sapphires weighing carats, &c., &c. a reward of £ was offered by the postmaster-general, and a further reward of £ by certain insurance companies who had insured the valuable letters, for the conviction of the delinquents and the recovery of the stolen property; but the robbery remains to this day one of those which have baffled the skill of the metropolitan police and the officers of the post-office to unravel or to bring home to the evil-doers. _cape diamond robbery._ the greater portion of the diamonds found in griqualand west, in south africa, are sent weekly to england through the post-office, made up in packets, which are forwarded as registered letters--the value of these remittances being collectively from £ , to £ , . in april , the sailing of the mail-steamer from cape town having been delayed until the day after the arrival of the up-country mails, the bag containing the registered correspondence was left in the registered-letter office of the cape town post-office; not, however, locked up in the safe, where it ought to have been, but carelessly left underneath one of the tables. during the night the office was broken into, and the whole of the diamonds stolen, valued at £ , . who the robbers were appears never to have been discovered, and they have doubtless since been in the enjoyment of the fruits of their villainous enterprise. as it is the practice of people in the diamond trade to insure packets of diamonds sent by them, the senders did not suffer anything beyond inconvenience by this robbery; but the insurance companies were involved in the loss, and had to pay claims amounting to £ , . the following is an account of a robbery attempted upon a postman in london in july , as officially reported at the time:-- "an attempt was this morning made to murder or seriously to maim bradley, the lombard street letter-carrier, with a view of obtaining possession of the letters for his district. he was passing through mitre court, a narrow passage between wood street and milk street, when the gate of the court was closed and locked behind him with a skeleton key by, it is believed, three men, who followed him a few yards farther on in the passage. on bradley getting to a wider part of the court, one of them felled him to the ground by a heavy blow from a life-preserver; he attempted to rise, but was again knocked down in a similar manner. he then felt that they tried to force from him his letter-bags, but fortunately the mouths of them were, for security, twisted round his arm. they continued their blows; but bradley retained sufficient consciousness to call out 'murder!' so as to be heard by some of the porters in the adjoining warehouses, who ran to see what was the matter, but unluckily the villains escaped. poor bradley is most seriously injured--so much so that he may be considered in some danger." an idea of the amount of property the thieves would have obtained had bradley not held the bags tightly (even under such circumstances), may be formed from the fact that he had in his possession thirty-seven registered letters containing property, besides all the other letters for messrs overend, gurney, & co., robarts, curtis, & co., glynn & co., the london and county bank, as well as those for thirty-four other houses in lombard street. it was believed at the time that the value of the property in bradley's possession amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds. a daring robbery of a berlin postman occurred not very long ago, when the outrage was accompanied by a still more atrocious crime--the murder of the postman. the man was one of a class who deliver money remittances at the addresses of the persons to whom they are sent, under a system which prevails in some countries of the continent, and he had with him cash and notes to the amount of some £ . the robber and murderer, a man of great bodily strength, had so arranged that a small remittance would fall to be delivered at his address on monday morning--an occasion when a large number of remittances are received; and on the postman reaching the place, and proceeding to pay the requisite sum, the occupier of the premises felled him with a hammer, and with repeated blows killed him outright. it was evident from the circumstances that the murderer had duly planned the outrage, for the room rented was near to the starting-point of the postman, so that he should not have paid away any portion of his charge when he reached the room. the body of the poor postman was found afterwards cold and stiff, lying in a pool of blood, with his empty and rifled bag beside him; and the weapon with which the perpetrator had achieved the murder, remained there as a witness of the crime. the murderer was said to have previously served in a cuirassier regiment. before decamping, he had turned the key in the door of his room; and the discovery was only made after a search by the post-office authorities at the addresses at which the postman had to call, on his failing to return later in the day. some years ago the following extensive robbery of letters occurred in london. an unusually large number of complaints were found to be reaching the general post-office, of the non-receipt by merchants, bankers, and others carrying on business in lombard street and its neighbourhood, of letters containing bank-notes, cheques, advices, and important correspondence, sent to them from all parts of the kingdom. the circumstance naturally gave rise to careful inquiry on the part of the post-office authorities, with the result that suspicion fell upon a young postman of nineteen years of age, through whose hands many of the missing letters would in ordinary course have to pass. certain bank of england notes, which had been contained in some of the letters, were found to have been cashed; and the names endorsed upon them, though fictitious, were in a handwriting resembling that of the young man suspected. thereupon he was arrested and searched, when in a pocketbook on his person were found two £ notes, which had been forwarded from norfolk to a banking-house in london, but had failed to reach their destination. in a pocket in his official coat were found also some thirty-five letters of various dates, which he had neglected to deliver, to the inconvenience or loss no doubt of the persons addressed; but the most astonishing part of the business is, that when his locker or cupboard at the general post-office was examined, about letters were found there which he had stopped, the dates upon the envelopes showing that his delinquencies had extended over several months. this young man, upon being tried for the offences named, was convicted, and with the usual severity observed in similar circumstances, the judge passed upon the prisoner a sentence of six years' penal servitude. the following curious instance of the wholesale misappropriation of post-letters also came under the notice of the post-office authorities in london a few years ago:-- a man was observed one day carrying off some boards from a building in course of erection in the wandsworth bridge road, fulham, and being pursued by a constable, he dropped the timber and made off. the man was, however, captured and taken to the police-station, whereupon the place where he lived was searched for other stolen property. his habitation was situated upon a waste piece of ground on the banks of the thames, the erection being of wood built upon piles, and so placed as to be almost entirely surrounded by water. here this man, who was a barge-owner, and who was passing under an assumed name, had lived in isolation for about a year; the position selected for his home being one calculated to afford him that complete seclusion from social intercourse which would seem to have been his aim. in the course of their examination of the contents of the hut, the police found not only more stolen timber, but various other articles, the chief of which, in the present connection, were a large lot of post-letters, mail-bags, and articles of postmen's clothing, besides milk-cans and a case of forty rifles. as the inquiry proceeded, it became known that the prisoner was a post-office pensioner, having been superannuated from his office of postman some three years previously, after having served in that capacity a period of fifteen years. it would seem that his official delinquencies had extended over some six or eight years; but so far as the letters showed, theft in the ordinary sense could hardly have been the man's purpose, inasmuch as the letters had not been opened, with one exception, and in this instance the person for whom the letter was intended could not be found. the motive underlying this free departure from the ways of honesty seems to have had its root in simple acquisitiveness; the hundredweight of letters, book-packets, &c., the old mail-bags, discarded uniforms, and waste official papers (not to mention the thirty milk-cans, supposed to have been picked up when going his rounds as a postman, and the case of rifles), having been turned to no profitable account. had the superannuated postman opened the letters found in his premises, the punishment which would have followed would necessarily have been severe. as the case stood, however, he was merely charged under the post-office acts with their unlawful detention, and sentence was passed upon him of eighteen months' imprisonment with hard labour. it seems astonishing that this postman should have had the folly to retain about him so long the evidences of his errors, which might at any time have been brought up against him; but, perhaps, the feeling prompting this may be akin to that which leads criminals to visit the scenes of former iniquities, even when incurring the risk of discovery, and if discovered, of certain punishment. the following is a case of robbery which occurred in , as reported by the newspapers of the day, the culprit being quite a young person:-- "the most destructive and important case of robbery in connection with mr fawcett's plan, introduced some two or three years ago, for facilitating the placing of small sums, by means of postage-stamps, in the post-office savings bank, came before the bristol magistrates to-day, when ellen hunt, a domestic servant, about sixteen years of age, was charged with stealing a large number of letters, some of them containing cheques, the property of the postmaster-general. mr clifton, who prosecuted, said the robberies were of a very extensive character, and might have been fraught with the direst consequences. they had been discovered in a singular manner, no money having been missed: but a large number of circular letters, addressed by the bristol clerk to officials requiring to be sworn in connection with the school board election this week, miscarried. inquiries were made by the postal authorities, when it was found that all these circulars had been posted at the redcliffe district office, where the prisoner was the servant of the postmaster, mr devine. it was the custom of mr devine to place the key of the letter-box in a secret place for the use of himself and his assistants; but the prisoner discovered it, and the circular letters were found in her possession with the postage-stamps off them. they had been removed for payment into the post-office savings bank on the forms by which a shilling's worth of postage-stamps saved up by school-children and others is now accepted by the savings bank department of the post-office; but the most serious part of the case was the fact that in the prisoner's box were discovered the bundles of opened letters now produced by detective short, and containing cheques already discovered to the amount of £ , s., all of which had been sent through the same post-office. the charge was laid under the th section of the act, but formerly a prisoner would have been liable for such an offence to transportation for life. some evidence having been given, the girl, who was hysterical throughout the hearing, was remanded. apparently no effort had been made to deal with the cheques, but the detective stated that the numerous letters had been opened." _tale of a banker's letter._ towards the close of last century, or early in the present century, a tradesman of the better class carrying on business in a certain town of the west of england, which we shall here call x----, and who also added to his ordinary business that of the agency of a bank, posted a bulky letter containing heavy remittances in notes, addressed to the bank of england. this letter never reached its destination, and the loss, being of a most serious kind, was soon bruited about, and became the theme, locally, of general conversation. as it happened, the sender was a man of strong political opinions, and having courage to express them, there were many persons holding opposite views who not only regarded him with feelings akin to dislike, but were ready to take up any missile which chance might place in their way to damage their adversary's fair name. while, therefore, the bank agent maintained that he had posted the letter in question, insinuations were set afloat to the effect that he had not done so, and that the object of his allegations was to fend off pressing calls in matters of account. he suffered greatly in reputation from these unsupported stories, though there was nothing else in his circumstances to create suspicion. time, the great anodyne of scandal, had somewhat assuaged the sufferings of the unfortunate banker, and probably softened the unkind feelings of those who had been disposed to think hardly of him; the loss of the letter itself had ceased to attract attention; and as yet nothing was heard of the letter, or the valuable enclosures which it had contained. at length, however, the agent received intimation that one of the missing notes--a bank of england note for £ --which was _stopped_ at that establishment, had been presented in london. as the result of inquiries which were made, it was now traced to an old-established silversmith somewhere in the city of london; but beyond this point the search failed, for all the account the silversmith could give was, that he had received the note some time previously from a man of respectable appearance, who had the exterior and conversation of what might be a well-to-do west-country farmer. this man was accompanied to his shop by a young woman of the flash type, to whom the stranger presented two or three rings; purchasing for himself some heavy gold seals, such as were in vogue at the period, a silver tankard or two, and several punch-ladles. in payment of these articles the £ note was passed, but the silversmith could give no further help; though hope was not yet extinct, for he added that he should certainly recognise his customers, were they ever to come under his observation again. the man of x---- was a man of determination, and, still smarting under the loss of means and honour, he resolved that, sooner or later, he should discover by whom his letter had been stolen. the silversmith, readily entering into these views, cordially offered his personal services, and it was arranged between the banker and himself that they should ransack london, visiting the ranelahs, the vauxhalls, the parks, the theatres--indeed every place where gay women and men of pleasure might be found together. this was an arduous task; but in the end their perseverance was rewarded by the discovery of the young woman to whom the farmer had presented the rings. on being questioned, this young person, while frankly stating what she knew, had little to tell. she had, she said, been in snow hill or holborn one morning at the hour of the arrival of the west of england mail-coach. among the passengers who got down was a youngish, fresh-looking farmer, whose acquaintance she then made, and whose constant companion she was for several days thereafter. she still wore the articles of jewellery which had been presented to her; but she declared that she had never seen the man since, nor did she know his name. and here the inquiry again seemed to exhaust itself, in the vague discovery of a _west-country farmer_. the acquaintance between the banker and the silversmith, which had come about in the way already stated, soon ripened into friendship. they had, in a greater or less degree, a common interest in the matter of the stolen note, but they soon found out that there was other common ground for the growth of amity between them--they were both disciples of izaak walton. it became the custom of the silversmith to visit at the house of his friend in the west every season, when the two men would go out fishing together in the neighbouring streams, enjoying each other's society, and frequently, no doubt, going over again the old story of the lost letter. one day, during such a visit, the silversmith went out alone to try a stream not many miles distant from his friend's residence, and while so engaged a heavy shower swept across the scene. the angler sought shelter in a roadside inn, from which, as it happened, he was not far distant. the house was well known, and the proprietor was of the half-farmer, half-publican type, the business of innkeeper in such a situation not affording a sufficient living by itself. feeling somewhat peckish, the visitor called for lunch. he was waited upon by the landlord in person. while the bread and cheese and cider were being carried in, the landlord apologised for the absence of the female folks, who were for the moment engaged elsewhere; and during this brief conversation, the silversmith (still instinct with professional taste) studied a bunch of heavy seals hanging from a watch in the landlord's fob. the landlord perceived that these articles had attracted the stranger's notice, and when he again came into the room the fact was observed by the other that they had been left aside or placed out of sight. this incident set the stranger thinking; and while so engaged, his eye fell upon an old-fashioned glass-fronted cupboard occupying a corner of the room, in which were exhibited the inn treasures--old crystal vessels, china bowls, and the like--together with the plate of the establishment. a sudden thought struck him. he proceeded to examine the contents of the repository; and, standing upon a chair to explore the upper shelves, what was his amazement when he there recognised the silver tankards and the silver punch-ladles which he had sold to the west-country farmer many years before! then, eagerly turning over the whole matter in his mind, the features of the landlord came back upon him, and in this man he recognised the person who in london had purchased these articles and paid to him the stolen £ bank of england note. the silversmith lost no time in communicating the facts to the banker, who at once obtained a warrant, and, with two constables, proceeded the same evening to the inn to put it into execution. the landlord was called into a room, there and then he was charged with having stolen the note, and was forthwith conveyed into x---- a prisoner. it transpired in the course of inquiries that in his early days--before the period of the robbery--this man had been employed as a servant or assistant by the postmaster at x----. he left that situation, however, and became coachman to one of the neighbouring gentry. while in this service it was very frequently his duty to drive the family into town, where they would rest some portion of the day in their town house, and return to the country seat in the evening. in these intervals it sometimes happened that the coachman would go to the post-office, and there chat and gossip with his old fellow-servants. he visited the post-office on the day when the stolen letter was posted; he and his former comrades smoked and drank together; and in the end he volunteered to assist with the letters. he did so; and while thus engaged he managed to abstract the banker's letter, which, owing to its bulky nature and the address which it bore, he suspected to contain value. his visit on that particular day was verified by circumstances in the recollection of the persons at the post-office, and other evidence of his guilt accumulated against him; but this testimony was not really necessary, for the farmer-publican himself confessed to the theft of the letter, and explained how he had obtained possession of it. the course usual in such circumstances followed. the offence was visited with the severity which characterised the period--the man suffered the extreme penalty of the law. chapter xvi. telegraphic blunders. although the work of sending and receiving telegraphic messages may be regarded in a general way as partaking largely of a merely mechanical nature, yet it is work to which the operator who is to achieve credit in his sphere must bring much tact, good sense, intelligence, a knowledge of the world, and a considerable amount of patience. not only are the terms in which telegrams are frequently written so far devoid of context in themselves, owing to the curt way in which they are worded, as to render the sense of little assistance in estimating the correctness of a message received, but the letters of the telegraphic alphabet, being nothing more than little groups of dots and dashes variously arranged, are extremely susceptible of mutilation, owing to any lack of exact spacing on the part of the sending operator. nor does the liability to error lie only in these directions. the dots and dashes frequently fail or run together, owing either to feeble signals, contact of the wires with one another, with trees, or other objects, or to the instruments not being in perfect adjustment. a grain of grit or of dust getting between the points of contact in a delicate instrument will sometimes do much mischief in the way indicated. there is liability to mistakes, too, in consequence of the handwriting of the senders, or of the operators at a transmitting point where messages have to be again taken down, not being very plain. yet over and above these tendencies to error, there is the fallibility of human nature, which will sometimes lead a person to write "no" where "yes" is intended, or "black" where "white" is meant; and of such mistakes probably no explanation can be given. so that the work of a telegraphist is beset with pitfalls, and he requires all his wits and a fair share of intelligence to keep him right in his work. it may further be remarked that many errors in telegrams, which might be supposed by the public to be gross or inexcusable, have occurred in the most simple way, or have been shown to be due to failures of a very trifling kind. the following are illustrations of such mistakes:-- a pleasure-party, telegraphing to some friends, stated that they had "arrived all right," but the message was rendered, "we have arrived all tight." the words "right" and "tight" in the morse code are as follows:-- r i g h t · - · · · - - · · · · · - t i g h t - · · - - · · · · · - in another case, a poor person, desiring to state that her daughter was ill, wrote in her message, "mary is bad." this was rendered, "mary is dead," the sense being changed by a slight imperfection of spacing, thus-- d e a d - · · · · - - · · instead of-- b a d - · · · · - - · · in a third case, owing to failing signals, possibly from so simple a cause as the intermittent contact of the wire with a wet branch of a tree, or a particle of grit or dust finding its way between the points of the instrument, the import of the message was altogether changed. thus, "alfred doing well, enjoyed egg to-day," was received, "alfred dying, enjoyed gg to-day." a gentleman telegraphed from london to his brother in the country to send a hack to meet him at the station; but when the gentleman arrived at the station he found a _sack_ waiting for him. a firm in london telegraphed, "_send rails ten foot lengths_;" but the message was delivered, "_send rails in foot lengths_." a person telegraphed to a friend to "take two stalls at the haymarket," but the message conveyed directions to secure "two stables at the haymarket." in another telegram, the intimation, "mother is no worse," was changed to "mother is no more." again, "you will be glad to hear that your sister has accepted an engagement with your father's approval," was rendered, "that your sister has accepted an engagement with your father's apostle." in another case a plain business message, thus--"come to me as early as you can, that we may arrange wednesday," was given a matrimonial turn by being delivered as, "that we may arrange wedding." the next case is one in which a hungry man would doubtless be made an angry man in consequence of the mistake which occurred. his message, which was written thus,--"shall arrive by train to-morrow _morning_; provide a good _supply_ of bread, butter, eggs, milk, and potatoes,"--was delivered as "provide a good _supper_ of bread," &c. in another instance the notice that "mr ---- will come to-night with me at to tea," was rendered, "mr ---- will come to-night with me, get to tea;" the only argument in favour of the mistake being "the more the merrier." then, on another occasion, a telegram sent by a person in the country to "madame ----, costumier," at an address in london, conveying an order for a fancy dress, was presented to the maker of costumes as "madame ----, costermonger." in a telegram directed to "----, m.p., house of commons," the address somehow got changed to "----, m.p., house of correction;" but the member not being found there, the clerks at the delivering office suggested that it should be tried at the "house of detention,"--a not unlikely place for successful delivery of such a message as things were at the time. it has been left to america to produce a mistake in telegraphing which, while it is very amusing, could not result in hurt or disappointment to any one. here it is, just as received from the other side of the "ferry":-- a st louis merchant, while in new york, received a telegram notifying that his wife was ill. he sent a message to his family doctor asking the nature of the sickness, and if there was any danger, and promptly received the answer "_no danger; your wife has had a child; if we can keep her from having another to-night she will do well._" the mystification of the agitated husband was not removed until a second inquiry revealed the fact that his indisposed lady had had a _chill_. chapter xvii. how letters are lost. in dealing with the vast numbers of letters and other post articles which daily flow through the capacious veins of the british post-office, the officials of the department come to learn many strange things connected with the wanderings of letters from their proper courses; they learn much in regard to the blunders made by the senders of letters in writing their addresses, and of the supreme folly frequently shown by individuals in transmitting valuables in carelessly-made-up packets; and this experience not only has the effect of causing complaints made by the public to be sometimes met by doubts and misgivings on the part of the post-office, but is of great use in tracing home the blame to the right quarter, which is found to be, not infrequently, where the complainer had least reason to suspect it. the following facts will probably establish what is here advanced, besides proving of interest to the reader. it is quite a common occurrence for letters--especially letters of a small size--which are dropped into a letter-box, to slip inside newspapers or book-packets, and to be carried, not only out of their proper course, but to places abroad, thus getting into the hands of the wrong persons. such letters are returned from time to time from every quarter of the globe, but what proportion of those which go astray are duly returned it is impossible to say; for there are persons who, on receiving letters in this way not intended for them, proceed to open the envelopes through sheer curiosity, and having thus violated the letters, do not hesitate to destroy them. others again, through dishonest motives, open letters of this class in the hope of gain. but there are others who, through no such interest, but merely from the want of a neighbourly spirit, refuse to take any trouble to put an errant letter in its proper course. this spirit was displayed in the case of a letter which had been misdelivered by the postman at a given address on the first floor of a tenement (it being intended for a person occupying the ground floor), the person who had received it stating, when questioned, that he had torn up the letter because he would not be troubled to send it downstairs! letters are sometimes, too, carried away to wrong addresses by sticking to the backs of other letters. again, through a great want of sense, or perhaps a redundancy of stupidity, letters are deposited occasionally in the most extraordinary places, in the idea that they are being posted. a servant-girl being sent out to post a letter, drops it into the letter-box of an empty shop, where it is found when an intending tenant goes to look at the premises. in a town in the north of scotland a person was observed to deposit a letter in a disused street hydrant, and on the cover of the box being removed, three other letters were found, the senders of which had similarly mistaken the water-pillar for a letter-box. the letters had been passed into the box through the space formerly occupied by the tap-lever. a somewhat similarly absurd thing happened some time ago in liverpool, where two letters were observed to have been forced behind the plate indicating the hours of collection on a pillar letter-box--the person who had placed them there no doubt thinking he was doing the correct thing. it must be that many individuals entertain the greatest confidence in the servants of the post-office, or they would not send money and valuables as they do. they also, perhaps, regard the department as a fit subject on which to perpetrate petty frauds, by sending things of intrinsic value enclosed in books and newspapers. instances of this kind are frequent. within the folds of a newspaper addressed to a person in ireland were found two sovereigns, yet there was no writing to show who the sender was. a brown-paper parcel, merely tied with string, unsealed, and not even registered, was found to contain six sovereigns, one half-crown, two sixpences, and three halfpenny-pieces, wrapped up in small articles of ladies' dress. in the chief office in london, two gold watches were found inside an unregistered book-packet addressed to new zealand, the middle portions of the leaves having been cut out so as to admit of the watches being concealed within. on another occasion, but in a scotch post-office, a packet containing a book bound in morocco, was on examination discovered to have the inner portion of the leaves hollowed out, while still retaining the appearance of an ordinary book, and inside this hollow were found secreted a gold watch and a silver locket. at another time, a £ bank of england note was observed pinned to one of the pages of a book addressed to the initials of a lady at a receiving-house in the london metropolitan district. a packet done up in a piece of brown paper, unsealed, but tied with string, was found to contain a small quantity of trimming, a collar-box with a few paper-collars, and inside the box were two £ notes and s. in silver. a halfpenny wrapper was used to serve as a covering for the transmission of a letter, a bill of sale, and four £ bank of england notes. in a newspaper which reached the dead-letter office were found four sovereigns, and in another a gold locket. a packet carelessly rolled up was seen to contain a sovereign, two half-sovereigns, and a savings-bank book. in several instances coins have been found imbedded in cake and pieces of toast; and on one occasion gold coins of the value of £ , s. were discovered in a large seal at the back of a letter, the gold pieces having come to light through the wax getting slightly chipped. but the most flattering act of confidence in the probity of the post-office fell to be performed by a person at leeds, who, desiring to send a remittance to a friend, folded a five-pound note in two, wrote the address on the back of it, and, without cover or registration, consigned it to the letter-box. petty frauds are committed on the post-office to a large extent by the senders of newspapers, who infringe the rules by enclosing all sorts of things between the leaves--such as cigars and tobacco, collars, sea-weed, ferns and flowers, gloves, handkerchiefs, music, patterns, sermons, stockings, postage-stamps, and so on. people in the united states and canada are much given to these practices, as shown by the fact that in one-half of the year , more than , newspapers were detected with such articles secreted in them. occasionally letters of great value are very carelessly treated after delivery, through misconception as to what they really are. a person alleging that a registered letter containing a number of suez canal coupons had not reached him, the post-office was able to prove its delivery; and on search being then made in the premises of the addressee, the coupons were found in the waste-paper basket, where they had been thrown under the idea that they were circulars. in another instance a registered letter, containing turkish bonds with coupons payable to bearer, was misdirected to and delivered at an address in the west end of london, though it was really intended for a firm in the city. the value of the enclosures was more than £ . when inquiry came to be made at the place of delivery, it was found that the bonds had been mistaken for foreign lottery-tickets of no value, and were put aside for the children of the family to play with. cases come to light, too, involving a history--or at least suggesting a history without affording particulars--or leaving us entirely in the dark as to the circumstances of the matter. thus, two packets which had been addressed to australia, and had been forwarded thither, were returned to england with the mark upon them, "unclaimed." on being opened, one of them was found to contain sovereigns, and the other sovereigns; yet there was no communication whatever in either to show who had sent them. it was supposed, by way of explanation, that a person proceeding to australia had directed the packets to himself, intending to reach the colony by means of another ship; and that, having died upon the passage, or his ship having been lost, no application was ever made for them at the office to which they had been directed. on one occasion a cheque for £ , s. was found loose in a pillar letter-box in birmingham. the owner was traced through the bank upon which the cheque was drawn, but he was unable to give any explanation of the circumstances under which it had passed from his possession. the following are a series of instances in which letters have got out of their proper bearings,--chiefly in the hands of the senders or the persons addressed, or through the carelessness of the servants of those persons; and the cases show how prone the public are to lay blame upon the post-office when anything goes wrong with their letters, before making proper search in their own premises. a number of cases are added, in which the servants of the senders or of the persons addressed have been proved dishonest, when the blame had first been laid upon post-office servants; and one or two cases are given where the department has been held up as the delinquent, merely to afford certain individuals an excuse for not paying money due by them, or otherwise to shirk their obligations. "a person applied at the leeds post-office, and stated that two letters (one of which contained the half of a bank-note) which he had himself posted at that office had not reached their destination--mentioning at the same time some circumstances associated with the alleged posting of the letters. after some conversation, he was requested to produce the letter which had informed him of the non-receipt of the letters in question; but instead of producing it, he, to his own great astonishment, took from his pocket the very letters which he believed he had himself posted." "inquiry having been made respecting a letter sent to a person residing at kirkcudbright, it appeared that it had been duly delivered, but that the addressee having left the letter on a table during the night, it had been devoured by rats." another case of the depredation of rats upon letters is as follows:-- certain letters which ought to have reached a bookseller in a country town not having been received, it was concluded, after inquiry, that they had been duly delivered, but had subsequently been withdrawn from under the street door, which was furnished with a slit to receive letters, but without a box to retain them. during subsequent alterations in the shop, however, when it was necessary to remove the flooring under the window, the discovery was made of thirty-one letters, six post-cards, and three newspapers which had been carried thither by rats! the corners of the letters, &c., bearing the stamps, were nibbled away, leaving no doubt that the gum upon the labels was the inducement to the theft. several of the letters contained cheques and money-orders. but rats are old enemies to letters, as is known in the post-office; for in the olden times, when sailing-ships were in use as mail-packets, sad complaints were made of the havoc caused by "ratts" to the mails conveyed in these ships. nor are rats the only dumb creatures which have shown a "literary" turn, in getting possession of post-letters. some years ago a postman was going his rounds delivering letters in kelvedon, in essex, carrying a registered letter in his hand ready to deliver it at the next house, when a tame raven--a worthy compeer, if not a contemporary, of the jackdaw of rheims--suddenly darted down, snatched it from his grasp, and flew off with it. the bewildered postman could only watch the bird while it made a circuit over the town, which it did before alighting; and so soon as it got to a suitable place, it set to work to analyse the composition of the missive by tearing the letter to pieces. the fragments were shortly afterwards collected and put together, when it was found that part of them were the remains of a cheque for £ , which was afterwards renewed when the singular affair was made known. another curious incident in which birds are concerned occurred in the spring of at shewbridge hall, near nantwich, in cheshire. for the convenience of the people at the hall, a letter-box is placed by the gate at the roadside, into which the post-runner drops the correspondence addressed to shewbridge hall. mr lockett, the occupier of the house, expecting a letter from liverpool, containing a cheque for £ , went to the box, where, as it happened, he found the letter, but in a mutilated state, and the cheque gone. believing that a robbery of his box had been committed, or that the letter had been violated before being deposited therein, he forthwith rode into nantwich to report the matter at the post-office and to the police. returning later on, he examined the box more closely, and discovered tomtits inside; and further investigation led to the discovery of the cheque lying twenty yards away on the turnpike road, whither it had evidently been carried for examination. the cheque was folded small, and could therefore be easily carried by these small birds. [illustration: letter-box taken possession of by tomtits.] the tomtits had taken possession of the box for nesting purposes, and perhaps they found the letter to be in the way, and accordingly made an effort to remove it. in the spring of the previous year a pair of tomtits built their nest in this letter-box (possibly the same pair), and reared a brood of young, though letters were being dropped into the box every day. a very similar circumstance occurred in the same season at a place near lockerbie, where a letter-box is affixed to the trunk of a tree bordering on the main road, for the convenience of the people living at daltonhook farm, which occupies a site some distance from the highway. the letter-box is about fifteen inches square, with the usual slit to admit of letters being dropped in, and a door to the front the full size of the box, to allow the postman to clear it or to place larger packets within. a pair of tomtits, considering the box an eligible place for bringing up a family, built their nest in it, obtaining ingress and egress by the letter-slit, and choosing that portion of the interior farthest from the door for their purpose. in contrast to the ruthlessness and cruelty of many who show no love to god's creatures unless they contribute in some way to their comfort or profit, the post-runner and the family who use the box, in a kind-hearted way took every care to disturb these objects of interest as little as possible, and in due time the nest was complete, and eight tiny eggs were deposited therein. while the female was sitting on the eggs during the term of incubation, she did not rise from the nest when the post-runner opened the door, but would make a peculiar noise and peck at his hand as he put it forward to take out or deposit letters. but after a time the two became more friendly, and kindness on the one side begetting confidence on the other, the bird at length became so familiar, that while it continued to sit on the nest it would peck crumbs from the man's hand, instead of showing displeasure, as it formerly had done. at length seven young birds became the joy of the parents. these, however, did not find the box altogether free from drawbacks; for letters, in being deposited through the slit, sometimes fell on the top of the youngsters, and so excited the wrath of the old birds. this was proved on one occasion when a servant dropped a letter into the box, for when the post-runner next visited the receptacle, he found the letter so mutilated, either through sheer rage on the part of the tomtits, or in their endeavours to eject it by the slit, that he took it back to the farmhouse rather than send it forward in its badly damaged state. however, the brood at length got through the troubles of their infantile days; and we may indulge the hope that they have since lived to join in the antiphonies of the grove, or to adorn the roadside spray with their neat figures and glowing colours. it may be added that these little birds are very eccentric in the choice of their nesting-places. in one case they selected the inside of a weathercock on the top of a steeple for their breeding-place, and in another the interior of a beehive in full work. here they set up house and reared their young, neither injuring the bees, nor being molested by them in return. "a gentleman at archerstown, county westmeath, complained of a letter, containing half bank-notes and post-bills amounting to £ , addressed to dublin, not having come to hand; but when the matter came to be fully examined, it was ascertained that the letter was in a drawer in the house of the very person to whom it had been directed, but by whom it had been entirely overlooked." a banker residing in a country town in scotland reported that a letter containing two £ notes and two £ notes, addressed to him by another banker, and posted at a town ten miles distant, had not come to hand. on inquiry, the sender could not state either the numbers or the dates of the notes. he had, moreover, allowed upwards of two months to elapse before taking any steps to ascertain whether his letter had reached its destination. "as this valuable letter had been posted without the precaution of registration, and had the words 'county rates' on the envelope, it was supposed to have excited the cupidity of some one connected with one or other of the two post-offices concerned, and an officer was immediately despatched to investigate the case. the complainant reiterated the statement that the letter had not reached him; but within half an hour of the officer's departure, an inmate of the house having made a fresh search, found the letter among some papers in a press, where it had apparently been placed unopened when received." "a bank agent sent a letter containing valuable enclosures to another bank agent. the letter was presumed to have been lost by the post-office; but no trace of it could be obtained there, and the applicant was informed accordingly. it subsequently appeared that the son of the person to whom the letter had been addressed had called at the post-office and received the letter, and that he had afterwards left the town for the holidays, carrying the letter away with him in his pocket, where it had remained." "a letter supposed to contain a £ note was registered at moffat, and in due course delivered to the addressee, who, however, declined to sign a receipt for it, as the £ note was missing. the sender was written to, but he asserted that the note had been enclosed. the postmaster chiefly concerned (who had been more than fifty years in the service) was greatly distressed at the doubt thus cast upon his honesty; but on further inquiry, the sender admitted that he had obtained a trace of the £ note, and stated that the fault had not been with the post-office. on being pressed for fuller information, he stated that when writing his letter he had placed the £ note in an envelope and affixed a postage-stamp thereon, when a lady came hurriedly into his shop, also to write a letter, and he had assisted her by getting an envelope and placing a postage-stamp on it; that he had placed this envelope beside that which contained the bank-note; and that when the lady had finished her letter, he gave her by mistake the envelope with the £ note in it, and put his own letter into the empty envelope. he had carried the two letters to the post-office; and his own, which he supposed contained the £ , he had registered. both letters were safely delivered; and the £ having been returned as evidently sent in error, the lady who had forwarded it brought it to the complainant, and thus the mystery was cleared up." during a snowstorm which occurred a year or two ago, a london firm put up for posting, among others, a letter to a glasgow firm containing a cheque for a sum little short of £ . the cheque not reaching its destination in due course, payment was stopped at the bank, and notwithstanding that every inquiry was made, nothing was heard of the letter at the time. eventually, however, the cheque was brought to the firm who had drawn it, together with the letter, by a police-inspector, who had found the letter adhering to a block of ice floating in the thames off deptford. the supposition is, that when the letters of the day were being carried to the lombard street post-office, this letter was dropped in the street, that it was carted off in the snow to the thames, and there, after a week's immersion in the river, got affixed to the block of ice, as already stated. on the th february , a medical gentleman residing at richmond, surrey, when going his usual round of visits, found on the carriage floor two letters, one addressed to a person in edinburgh, the other to a lady residing near castle-douglas. the letters had been duly prepared for the post, each bearing an undefaced postage-stamp, but nothing in their appearance indicated that they had ever been posted. the finder was at first puzzled at the discovery, but on reflection, he remembered having a few minutes previously opened a large newspaper, the 'queen,' which had reached him from edinburgh two or three days before, but had till then remained unopened in his carriage. it occurred to him that the letters might have come concealed within the folds of the newspaper, and he was good enough to forward a note with each to the persons addressed, explaining the circumstances under which he had found them. subsequent investigation by the post-office brought to light the fact that one of the two letters, and the copy of the 'queen' from which they were supposed to have dropped, had been deposited in different pillar-boxes in edinburgh, but in the same collector's district; and there can be no doubt that this letter, and probably also the other letter, were shaken inside the folds of the newspaper during their conveyance to the head-office in the collector's bag. in one of the notes which the doctor sent with the letters, he made this remark:--"i cannot help feeling that the postal authorities and the public should both have their eyes opened to what a serious danger such a letter-trap as a large newspaper might prove." he omitted to add, however, that the sender of the 'queen' had tied it up very carelessly without a wrapper, and in a way that could hardly fail to render it a dangerous travelling companion for letters. had the letters fallen into dishonest hands, their loss would certainly have been attributed to the post-office, and the case is one which aptly illustrates a means by which letters sometimes get out of their proper course, or are lost altogether. a firm of solicitors in leith wrote a letter to a client in the same town, enclosing a cheque for £ ; and this letter, although it was alleged to have been duly posted, failed to reach the person for whom it was intended. the usual inquiries were made, but unsuccessfully, no trace being discovered of the letter. some days afterwards the firm received the letter and cheque, minus the envelope, from a farmer near tranent, in one of whose fields a ploughman had picked them up. this man was engaged spreading town-refuse upon the field when he found the letter, which he opened, and thereupon threw away the cover. for the purposes of investigation, it was very essential that this should be produced; but it happened that meanwhile the field had been gone over with a grubbing machine, and the chances of the recovery of the discarded envelope were thereby greatly lessened. the ploughman's son was set to work, however, to make a search, and after toiling a whole day, he found the envelope. on examination, it was seen that the postage-stamp affixed was still undefaced, and the envelope bore nothing to show that it had ever been in the post-office. the whole circumstances left no doubt that the letter had either got into the waste-paper basket of the senders, or had been dropped on the way to the post-office, and that it had been carried ten miles into the country amongst street rubbish, with which, as manure, the farm in question was supplied from the town of leith. a registered letter posted at newcastle, and addressed to a banker in edinburgh, not having reached the addressee's hands, a telegram was forwarded to the sender intimating the fact, and requesting explanation of the failure. the banker supposed that the letter had been lost or purloined in the post-office; but it was afterwards proved to have been duly delivered to the bank porter, who having locked it up in his desk, had quite forgotten it. a lady residing in jersey applied to the post-office respecting a letter which had been sent by her to a clergyman at oxford. inquiry was made for it at all the offices through which it would pass, but unsuccessfully, no trace whatever of it being found. subsequently the clergyman informed the secretary of the post-office that he had found the letter between the cushions of his own arm-chair, where it had been placed, no doubt, at the time of delivery. "a person complained of delay in the receipt of a letter which appeared to have passed through the post-office twice. it transpired that the letter had, in the first instance, been duly delivered at a shop, where it was to remain till called for, but that it had accidentally been taken away with some music by a customer, who had afterwards dropped it in the street. subsequently the letter must have been picked up and again posted, and hence its double passage through the post-office." "a barrister complained of the non-delivery of a letter containing the halves of two £ bank of england notes, stating that he had posted the letter himself; but he shortly afterwards wrote to say that the letter had reached its destination. it appeared that, instead of putting it into the letter-box, he had dropped the letter in the street, where, fortunately, it was picked up by some honest person, who posted it." a business firm having frequently failed to receive letters which had been addressed to them, made complaint on the subject from time to time; but the inquiries which were instituted resulted in nothing. after much trouble, however, it was at length discovered that a defect existed in the letter-box in the firm's office-door, and fifteen letters were found lodged between the box and the door, some of which had been in that situation more than nine years. a letter said to contain a cheque for £ , s., addressed to a london firm, not having reached its destination, inquiries were made with respect to it. at the end of three months it turned up at a _papier-mâché_ factory, whither it had, no doubt, been carried among waste-paper from the office at which it had been delivered. in , a registered letter sent from dunkeld on a given date was duly received in edinburgh, and delivered at its address, which was a bank, the postman obtaining a signature to the receipt-form in the usual way. some little time afterwards complaint was made by the manager of the bank that the letter had not been received; but the post-office was able to prove the contrary by the receipt, the signature to which, on being submitted to the manager, was acknowledged to be that of the wife of the housekeeper of the establishment. yet this person could give no account of the letter, nor had any one else seen it; and as the letter was stated to have contained four £ notes and a bank deposit-book, the fact of its disappearance gave rise to a state of things which can be better imagined than described. the post-office, in the circumstances, offered the suggestion that the bank's waste-paper should be carefully examined. as it happened, however, a quantity of this material had just been cleared out, having been purchased by a waste-paper dealer; and the fact made the chances of recovery in that direction all the more remote. yet the housekeeper was set to work: he traced the bags first to the store of the dealer, then to the premises of a waste-paper merchant in another part of the city. with assistance he carefully examined the contents of the bags filled at the bank, and his efforts were rewarded by the discovery of the registered letter, which was in precisely the same state as when delivered, never having been opened. it had very likely fallen from a desk in the bank on to the floor, and by a careless person been brushed aside with used envelopes and scraps of paper, thus finding its way into the waste-paper basket. in april , a letter was posted in a certain village in ayrshire, addressed by a wife to her husband, who was in command of a vessel bound for new york. the letter was properly directed to the captain by name, it bore the name of his ship, and was addressed to the care of the british consul, new york. the captain never received the letter, and this circumstance gave rise, upon his return from sea, to what is described as a "feud" between him and his wife,--he, reposing perhaps greater faith in the post-office than in the dutiful attentions of his wife, believing that his better-half had not written to him, since he failed to receive the letter on application at its place of address in new york. time, with its incessant changes, hopes, fears, joys, and disappointments, winged its hurried flight for a period of eleven years ere the matter which had caused the feud came to be fully understood. at the end of that time the same letter was returned to the writer through the dead-letter office, having (according to the stamp upon it) been unclaimed at new york. it was stated that the return of the letter had "put all to rights" between the couple concerned, though it is to be hoped that the healing hand of time had already done much in this direction, and that the return of the long-lost letter did nothing more than put the finishing touch to restored confidence. in connection with this matter, it was afterwards ascertained that the letter was one of over similar letters returned to the new york post-office from the offices of the british consul in that city, upon a new appointment being made to the consulate,--the "new broom," as one of his first acts, having made a clean sweep of this accumulation of letters, some of which had been lying there no less than seventeen years. how far the failure of these letters to reach the persons addressed was due to their not having been called for, or to the negligence of clerks at the consulate, is not known, nor will it ever be ascertained what heart-burnings and misery may have been occasioned by this wholesale miscarriage of correspondence. in march , a letter plainly addressed to an individual by name, and bearing the name and number of a street in a certain district of london, reached the dead-letter office, whither it had been sent by the postman of the district, owing to the person to whom it was directed not being known at the address given. when opened, with a view to its return to the writer, the letter was discovered to contain a bank of england note for £ , together with a short memorandum suggesting the return of the note to some person, but in such vague and general terms that no one who had not had previous information on the subject could have fully understood the purport of the message. the memorandum was, moreover, without head or tail--it had no superscription to indicate whence it had come, nor had it a signature to show by whom it had been written. the circumstance being one of an exceptional character, special steps were taken with a view to trace the owner, and an advertisement was inserted in several of the metropolitan newspapers--bringing up, it is true, a responsive crop of claimants for lost notes, but without eliciting any such claims as would warrant the surrender of the note in question. from the terms of the memorandum in the letter, and the fact that it was anonymous, the suggestion readily arose that whoever had had the note last had not come by it in the regular way of business; and this idea was strengthened by the discovery that the note had been paid over by a bank about eight years previously to a person whose name and address were endorsed upon it; and from that period the note had evidently not been in circulation. it was thought probable that the endorser had lost the note in some way shortly after receiving it, and that coming into the hands of some individual who feared to put it in circulation, it had been kept up during these eight years. meanwhile, the right to receive the note not having been established by any one, the amount was paid in to the revenue. in the postmaster-general's report for , further mention was made of the finding of the note in the dead-letter office, and several claims again reached headquarters, one of which proved to be so far good, that, when the facts had been fully investigated, the amount was paid over to the claimant. it appeared that the person whose name was endorsed on the note received it in part payment of a cheque cashed by him in , when he was bought out of the business in which he had till then been a partner. two years afterwards--viz., in --he died, and his widow was unaware at the time that the note had been lost. from circumstances which this lady was able to prove, however, there seemed to be every reason to believe that her husband (whose practice it was to endorse notes when he had received them) had by some means lost the note, or that it had been carelessly left by him in some old book or other papers which were sold as waste-paper after her husband's death; and thus the post-office was made the means of restoring a considerable sum of money to the rightful owner, while the person who had without title possessed it in the interval dared not claim it. "a letter said to have been posted by a person at fochabers, enclosing a letter of credit for £ , was supposed to have been appropriated by an officer of the post-office; but on inquiry it was ascertained that, instead of posting the letter himself, as he asserted, the writer had intrusted it to a servant, who had destroyed the letter, and had attempted to negotiate the order." "a person complained repeatedly of letters addressed to him having been intercepted and tampered with, and of drafts having been stolen from them and negotiated. there being ground to suspect that the thief was in the complainant's own office, he reluctantly consented to test the honesty of his clerks; and the result showed that one of them was the guilty party, the man being subsequently tried and convicted. the thefts had been committed by means of a duplicate key, which gave the clerk access to the letter-box." "several complaints were made of the non-delivery of letters addressed to the editor of a newspaper; but this gentleman afterwards intimated that he had discovered that the delinquent was his own errand-boy, who confessed to having pilfered his letter-box." "a similar case occurred at romsey, where, on an investigation by the surveyor, it was discovered that the applicant's errand-boy had abstracted the letters from his private bag, which it was found could be done even when the bag was locked." "application was made respecting a letter containing a cheque for £ , s. d., which had been presented and cashed. the letter had not been registered, and no trace of it could be discovered. the applicants, however, ultimately withdrew their complaint against the post-office, stating their belief that the missing letter had not been posted, but had been stolen by one of their clerks, who had absconded." "a merchant sent his errand-boy to post a letter, and to purchase a stamp to put upon it. the letter contained negotiable bills amounting to £ ; and as the merchant did not receive an acknowledgment from his correspondent, he cast the blame on the post-office. an inquiry followed, which resulted in showing that the errand-boy had met another boy on a similar mission, who undertook to post the letter in question. on further reflection, however, the latter resolved to convert the penny intended for a postage-stamp into sweetmeats, which he did, and then destroyed the letter with its contents, carrying the fragments into a field near the post-office, where they were found hidden." a sailor applied for a missing letter containing a money-order for s., which he said had been sent, but had not reached him; but when he found that the matter was under strict investigation, he confessed that the money had been paid to him, and that he had denied having received it, in order to excuse himself from not paying a debt to the person with whom he lodged. "a person having applied for a missing letter, said to contain two £ and one £ bank of england notes, and which he stated had been sent to him by his father, it appeared on inquiry that no such letter had been written; and he afterwards confessed that his object in asking for the letter was a device to keep in abeyance a pecuniary demand upon him by his landlady." some years ago a person complained that twelve sovereigns had been abstracted from a letter received by him while it was in transit through the post, but he was told in reply that the envelope bore evidence that it had not contained coin to that amount. this person then communicated with the sender of the letter, who persisted in declaring that she had put therein the amount stated. at this stage of the inquiry an officer was despatched to investigate the matter; and upon his requiring the woman who had sent the envelope to accompany him before a magistrate to attest the truth of her statement upon oath, she confessed that the statement was false, and explained her conduct by saying that she had promised to lend the person to whom the envelope had been addressed £ , but that she had been unwilling to do so, as she felt sure that she should never get her money back again; and that she determined, therefore, to keep her money, and throw the blame on the post-office. "a bank in glasgow some years ago complained that a letter had been delivered there without its contents--halves of bank-notes for £ ; and on a strict investigation, it appeared that the letter had been intrusted to a boy to post, who confessed that, being aware the letter contained money, and finding that the wafer with which it was fastened was wet, he had been tempted to steal the contents, which, at the time, he believed to be whole notes; but who added that when, on afterwards examining them, he found them to be halves only, he enclosed them in an unfastened sheet of paper, which he directed according, as he believed, to the address of the letter from which he had taken them. the halves of the notes and sheet of paper were subsequently discovered in the glasgow post-office, the address on the paper being, however, very different from that of the letter in which the notes had been enclosed." "complaint was made that a letter containing the halves of bank of england notes for £ , sent to a firm in liverpool, had failed to reach its destination. on inquiry, it appeared that the letter had been duly delivered, and subsequently stolen by a well-known thief, who had the audacity to go and claim the corresponding half-notes from another firm in liverpool, to whose care the stolen letter showed they had been sent by the same post; and in this object the scoundrel succeeded." an unregistered letter containing a £ bank of england note, posted at macclesfield and addressed to manchester, was stated not to have reached its destination. full inquiry was made, but the letter could not be found. subsequently, however, the note was presented at the bank of england, and on being traced, it was discovered that the letter had been stolen after its delivery. "a letter containing two £ bank of england notes was stated to have been posted at leeds, addressed to a lady at leamington, without reaching its destination; but the inquiry that was instituted by the post-office caused the sender to withdraw his complaint, and to prefer against the clerk whom he had intrusted with the letter, a charge of having purloined it before it reached the post-office." "the secretary of a charitable institution in london gave directions for posting a large number of 'election papers,' and supposed that these directions had been duly acted upon. shortly, however, he received complaints of the non-receipt of many of the papers, and in other cases of delay. he at once made a complaint at the post-office; but, on examination, circumstances soon came to light which cast suspicion on the person employed to post the notices, although this man had been many years in the service of the society, and was supposed to be of strict integrity. ultimately, the man confessed that he had embezzled the postage, amounting to £ , s. d., and had endeavoured to deliver the election papers himself." "complaint having been made by a dealer in foreign postage-stamps that several letters containing such stamps had not reached him, a careful investigation was made, but for some time without any result. the letters should have been dropped by the letter-carrier into the addressee's letter-box; but to this box no one, the dealer asserted, had access but himself. some time afterwards, however, a cover addressed to the complainant was picked up in the street, and on inquiry being made whether the letter to which it belonged had been delivered, the complainant stated that it had not. but it so happened that the letter-carrier had a clear recollection of dropping this letter into the letter-box, and, moreover, remembered to have observed a young girl who was at the window move, as he thought, towards the box. this led to the girl being closely questioned, when she admitted the theft, confessing also that she had committed other similar thefts previously. thus, by a mere chance, a suspicion which had been cast on the post-office was dispelled." "the publisher of one of the london papers complained of the repeated loss in the post-office of copies of his journal addressed to persons abroad. an investigation showed that the abstraction was made by the publisher's clerk, his object apparently being to appropriate the stamps required to defray the foreign postage. in another case a general complaint having arisen as to the loss of newspapers sent to the chief office in st martin's-le-grand, inquiry led to the discovery of a regular mart held near the office, and supplied with newspapers by the private messengers employed to convey them to the post. on another occasion a man was detected in the act of robbing a newsvendor's cart, by volunteering on its arrival at the general post-office to assist the drivers in posting the newspapers: instead of doing so, he walked through the hall with those intrusted to him, and, upon his being stopped, three quires of a weekly paper were found in his possession." in the spring of , a young lady, fifteen years of age, whose parents resided in a small english town, which shall be nameless, was sent to a boarding-school at some distance therefrom to pursue her education. the mother of the young lady was in a delicate state of health, and, as was most proper in the circumstances, letters were written from time to time and forwarded to the daughter at school, giving particulars of her mother's progress. so far this is all plain and straightforward. the young lady, however, one day declared that though on a particular date mentioned by her she had written home to inquire how her mother was, that letter had not been delivered; and that on the second day thereafter a brown-paper parcel was placed in a very mysterious manner in the hall of the house where she was at school. in this parcel was found a letter for the young lady intimating her mother's death, and explaining that the parcel had been brought by a friend--thus accounting for the absence from it of all post-marks. other circumstances were related by the girl--that she had seen a man galloping along the road, and that he had left the parcel in question. two days after this event, a letter was posted from her parents' residence to inform the young lady that her mother was much better; but when the letter arrived and was opened, she produced another letter requiring her immediate return, in order to attend her mother's funeral. the case was very puzzling, and naturally excited great interest,--the more so, as some suspicion arose that a conspiracy existed to carry off the young lady, in which some person in the post-office was aiding and abetting. the matter formed the subject of two separate investigations, ending in failure, and the mystery still remained. it was only after a third attempt at elucidation--when an officer specially skilled in prosecuting inquiries of a difficult kind had visited the school--that the truth began to appear. this officer reported that, in his opinion, the whole proceedings were but a plot of a school-girl to get home; and the young lady afterwards confessed this to be the case. it is not probable that the petty fraud of again using stamps which have already passed through the post is perpetrated with any great frequency upon the post-office. still, cases no doubt do occur, and may at any time lead to criminal proceedings, like those which took place at hull some years ago. a person in that town having posted a letter with an old stamp affixed, the stamper who had to deface the stamp in the usual way, detected the irregularity, and brought the matter under notice. proceedings were taken against the offender, and the case being established against him, and the fact being stated that this person had previously been warned by the post-office against committing like frauds, he was mulcted in a fine of £ and costs, with the alternative punishment of three-months' imprisonment. the accidents and misfortunes which are the lot of letters in this country, seem also to attend post-letters in their progress through the post-offices of other countries. a curious case was noticed some years ago in the french capital. some alterations were being carried out in the general post-office in paris, when there was found, in a panel situated near a letter-box, a letter which had been posted just fifty years before. there it had remained concealed half a century. the letter was forwarded to the person whose address it bore, and who, strange to say, was still alive; but the writer, it transpired, had been dead many years. on one occasion notice was given to the post-office by a clergyman residing in a country town in the south of england, that a packet sent by him containing a watch had been tampered with in the post, the packet having reached the person addressed, not with the watch that had been despatched, but containing a stone, which, it was alleged, must have been substituted in course of transit. as is usual in cases of this kind, very particular inquiries were necessary to establish whether the post-office was really in fault, because experience has shown that very often obloquy is laid upon the department which ought to rest elsewhere; and accordingly, a shrewd and practised officer in such matters was sent to the town in question to make investigations. arrived at the clergyman's residence, the officer found that that gentleman was from home; but introducing himself to the sender's wife, he explained his mission, and in a general way learned from her what she was able to communicate with regard to the violated packet. while the interview was thus proceeding, the officer, with professional habit, made the best use of his eyes, which, lighting upon a rough causeway of small stones somewhere on the premises, afforded him a hint, if not as yet a suspicion, as to the locality of the fraud. in fact, he remarked a striking resemblance between the stone which had been received in the packet and the stones forming the causeway. in the most delicate way he insinuated the inquiry whether the lady might not possibly entertain some shadow of a suspicion of her own servants. "oh dear, no," was the reply; "they are all most respectable, and have the highest characters." the lady had the utmost confidence in them, and to admit such a thought was to do them grave injustice. the officer was not to be satisfied with such an assurance, however, and by using tact and patience he brought the lady to see that, if there was no dishonesty with her own servants, they would come safely out of the inquiry, and it might be well to allow him to question them. it was further permitted, after some objection on the lady's part and persuasion on that of the officer, that the latter should ask each of the servants separately whether they would allow their boxes to be examined. if they had nothing to conceal, the ordeal could not, of course, hurt them. the female servants were called up one by one and closely questioned, and on the proposed examination of the boxes being suggested, the girls at once assented. this was so far satisfactory, but there was still the butler to deal with. in due turn the presence of this household ornament was summoned to the room, when, up to a certain point, everything went well; but it being put to him to have his boxes searched, injured virtue cried out, and indignation and scorn were vented upon the obtrusive inquirer. the officer had, however, gained a point, for he was now in a position to say that if the butler continued to object, the suspicion would arise that he might possibly be the culprit, and it might even be concluded that he and not the post-office ought to account for the watch. at length the man-servant gave way, and he and the officer proceeded to the butler's quarters. upon the trunk being opened, the first thing to attract notice was three bottles of wine. "holloa!" says the officer, "what have we here? a strange wine-cellar this!" "oh," observed the butler, "these are three bottles of ginger-wine which were given me by my father, a grocer in the town." "indeed!" says the officer, who had meanwhile been noting the colour as he held a bottle between himself and the light; "it looks a queer colour for ginger-wine. you won't mind letting me taste your wine, will you?" overborne by the assurance of the officer perhaps, or thinking him quite chatty and chummy, a cork was withdrawn, and the officer was sipping capital old crusted port. the wine was pronounced very good, but the missing watch was not forthcoming. the scene of inquiry was now changed. the officer proceeded to the shop of the grocer, made some trifling purchase, put on his most affable ways, and he soon had the grocer talking, first on general topics, then on personal matters, and at last on the theme of his own family. "how many have you?" says the officer. "so-and-so," responds the grocer. "all doing for themselves by this time, i suppose?" continues the officer. this flung the door open for a full statement of the position of the family, which was given without reserve, as if to an old friend, until the butler with the clergyman was mentioned, when the officer interrupted him with the remark-- "ah, to be sure; i know something of him. that was capital ginger-wine you gave him lately." "ginger-wine!" quoth the grocer; "i never had wine in my house in my life, and i certainly never gave my son any." this was enough for the officer, who remarked that there might be a mistake; and soon thereafter he found means to bring the conversation to a close. returning immediately to the clergyman's house, he again saw the lady, and told her what had occurred. he made bold to say, moreover, that her butler was a thief, that he was stealing her husband's wine, that he in all probability had made away with the watch, and that she ought to give him into custody, and to prosecute him. at this point the butler was called in, and in presence of his mistress plainly taxed with the theft of the wine. finding it useless to stand out, he confessed that he had taken it, but protested that he had not stolen the watch. the lady, however, had no longer any doubt in the matter; and deeply distressed at finding how greatly she had been deceived in her estimate of his character for integrity, exclaimed--"oh john! to think that after all the pains your master and i have taken to make you a good man, you should have done this wicked thing! oh john, john!" the officer saw that in the lady's view all suspicion was removed from the post-office, and prepared to leave; but feeling anxious about the lady in the absence of her husband, said he should go to the police-station and fetch a couple of constables to attend to the matter. on this hint the butler became greatly excited and alarmed, and earnestly begged that only one policeman might be sent. "oh no," said the officer, "you are a big man, and we must have two;" and beckoning mrs ---- to leave the room, he turned the key in the door, and went for the police. during his absence, the household was in a state of wild excitement, the lady of the house being in a high state of nervousness, while below-stairs the servants were in no better condition. meanwhile, one of the females, either through sympathy for the idol of the kitchen, or in pursuance of womanly curiosity, which is not less likely, sought the vantage-ground of a water-butt at the rear of the premises, in order to make a reconnaissance through the window, and ascertain how the butler was comporting himself in the new and extraordinary situation where he was. but one glance into the room was enough; she sprang to the ground, and ran to her mistress screaming that john was cutting his throat. sure enough he had been engaged in this operation, using a pocket-knife for the purpose; and the officers of justice, on opening the door, found him streaming with blood from the self-inflicted wound. at this juncture the post-office official left the matter to be dealt with by the clergyman as he might see fit. he felt sufficient interest in the case, however, to make inquiry subsequently as to the fate of the culprit, and learnt that he had recovered from his injury; that his kind master and mistress had forgiven him; and although they did not receive him back into their service, they helped him in other ways, and were assiduous in their endeavours to keep him in the paths of rectitude and honesty. the following anecdote, borrowed from a french source,[ ] will illustrate how serious the consequences may be when letters are not clearly and intelligibly addressed, and by what slight accidents such missives sometimes go far from their right course. [ ] 'la poste anecdotique et pittoresque.' par pierre zaccone. about the year there was garrisoned at a small town in the department of the pas-de-calais an honest soldier named goraud, who had served with the colours a term of seven years. though he had conducted himself well, and was favourably thought of by his superiors, he had never been able to rise above the grade of full private. he liked his profession, but being unable either to read or write, the avenues to promotion remained closed against him. goraud came from an obscure village in provence, where his poor old mother, a woman of over sixty, lived, and where also resided a married brother, younger than himself, who was surrounded by a rising family of children. the soldier received from time to time letters from his mother, which, on being read to him, affected him deeply, sometimes even to tears. there were, besides, other friends in his native place of whom he entertained kindly recollections, and with whom he kept up intercourse through his family; especially a young woman towards whom he had formerly had very tender feelings, which, though not now so strong, time and distance had not as yet effaced. becoming home-sick, and having no bright prospect before him in the army, goraud yearned to be set free, so that he might spend the rest of his days "in the midst of those he so much loved," as is expressed on the tomb of the great napoleon. he had already, as has been before stated, served seven years; he had been of good conduct; and now he had but to demand his discharge in order to accomplish his fondest wish. but just as he was about to make the necessary request, and to realise the dream which he had been cherishing, a letter from his brother changed all his plans. his joy was turned to sorrow. this letter informed him that his mother was seriously ill, and, moreover, that some distemper had assailed his brother's stock, carrying many of them off; in fact, misery stared in the face those among whom he had hoped to live happily, and to eke out the remainder of his days in comfort. the poor fellow was sadly cast down; the phantom of pleasure had passed from his view; he shed bitter tears of disappointment, and was at his wits' end. dejection and irresolution did not, however, last. he soon regained command of himself, and filial affection suggested to him the course which he should pursue. next day he proceeded to the office of an agent whose business it was to procure substitutes for individuals desirous of avoiding service in the army; and in a few days thereafter he engaged to serve his country for seven years more, receiving in return a payment down of francs. it may be guessed what was the next step taken by the worthy soldier. he remitted the francs to his mother, in a letter directed to the care of his brother; and at the same time he intimated that he was to start at once for algeria, there to join the new regiment to which he had been posted. three months passed, and as yet no acknowledgment for the money came to hand. this to goraud, after the sacrifice he had made, was sadly disappointing; but he did not at first feel alarmed. the idea occurred to him that his mother might be a trifle worse, or that something might have delayed the reply. he decided to write again. he related what he had done, explained the cause he had for uneasiness, and begged that an early answer might be sent to him. this was not long in coming. it stated that the old mother was again well, that the brother had had a hard struggle, and that though he hoped to pull through, it might prove necessary for him to quit the place. in regard to the alleged remittance, it was briefly added that no money had been received. this latter statement created a most painful impression upon the soldier. his brother's letter appeared to breathe a tone which was not usual; he imagined that, under the guise of calculated frigidity, was to be perceived an insinuation that no money had been sent: and, smarting under the sting of such reflections, the blush of offended virtue rose to his cheek. his feelings ran over the whole gamut of wounded sentiment. he saw himself an injured man, and felt deeply hurt; his money had gone unacknowledged, and he became roused to anger; and then, revolving the whole circumstances in his mind, suspicion took possession of him. recollecting that the money-letter had been sent as an ordinary letter by post, and that the reply had not seemed quite right, he now suspected that his brother had received the remittance, appropriated it to his own use, and denied the receipt of his letter. in this frame of mind, he had a communication penned to his brother full of denunciations and reproaches, and couched in such terms of violence, that he would not allow the epistle when written to be read over to him. next day he started with a distant expedition on active service. gloomy, cast down, and above all irate, he was ready to fight with the wind or his own shadow. in the first brush with the enemy he threw himself into their midst with fury, and fought desperately for several hours, as if to provoke the end which he now longed for. instead of meeting his death, however, he gained the hero's prize--the cross of honour. one month previously he would have hailed this distinction with delight; now everything was dull and indifferent to him--even glory! about a year after this event goraud accompanied his regiment to paris. as he was leaving the barracks one day a voice hailed him with the question, "is not your name goraud?" "yes, major," was the soldier's reply. "very good," says the other, "here is a letter for you. there are several gorauds in the regiment, and the letter has already been opened. i see you are wanted at the dead-letter office of the post-office about some business which concerns you." he took the letter, and at once hastened to the post-office. there an explanation awaited him of the miscarriage of his remittance, and the mystery which had clouded his spirits and embittered his life for a whole year. the same letter that he had despatched lay before him with its contents intact. it had been written and addressed for him by a comrade in the regiment, the superscription, turned into english, being something in this form-- "to m. jacques goraud, for widow goraud, at la bastide, canton of marseilles." as it happened, the obliging comrade was a poor scribe, and was without any great experience in letter-writing, or in the art of addressing letters. the only word in the direction which had been plainly written, and stood out in a way to catch the eye, was the word "canton." this was the key to the mystery; the letter had been sent to china! at the period in question the sailing-ships conveying the mails took about six months to reach that distant country, and the same time for the return voyage. the soldier's letter had made the double journey; and the blunder being discovered when the letter came back to france, it was sent to the village in provence to which it was really addressed. but, alas! adversity had overtaken the family in the old home. they had left the place, and gone no one knew whither; and, so far as the post-office was concerned, it only remained to return the letter to the writer through the dead-letter office. the moral of this anecdote is, that letters ought to be plainly addressed. some examples of the rambling style in which addresses are often written are given in another chapter. it would be a useful work were the school boards to give some instruction in this matter to the children under their care. the copy-books might be headed with specimen addresses for the purpose, and the teachers could point out how desirable it is, in addition to plain writing, that the addresses should be well arranged--the name of the person occupying one line, the street and number another, and the name of the town a conspicuous place to the right, in a line by itself. in this particular "they do things better in france," for in that country instruction of the kind in question was introduced into the primary schools more than twenty years ago. chapter xviii. odd complaints. the post-office, in its extensive correspondence with the public, has often great difficulty in satisfying what are deemed to be the reasonable claims and representations of reasonable people; but it has also to endeavour to satisfy and persuade persons who, as shown by the demands made by them, are not altogether within the category above mentioned. what would be thought of the following appeals made to the secretary on the subject of the injury supposed to be done by electricity thrown off from telegraph wires?-- "sir,--i have been rejoicing in the hope that when the last telegraph wire was removed i should be at peace; but alas for human hopes! last sunday and saturday nights, i suppose all the wires must have been working simultaneously, for about . a.m. i was awakened by the most intense pains in my eyes, and for the two nights i do not think i had more than six hours sleep--that is, none after . in the morning. since then i have slept from home, and must continue to do so until either the wires are removed or i leave the house, which i shall be obliged to do, even though it remain unoccupied. the wires are carried in a tube to a pole about yards from my house on the angle, and i imagine that when they are all working, and emerge from the tube, that the electrical matter thrown off must be very great. pipes have now been run up ---- road, where a pillar or pole might very easily be fixed, and the present one might be removed yards farther off, where it would electrify nothing but fields.--with many apologies for troubling you again, for, i hope, the last time, and with many thanks for your kindness hitherto, i am," &c. "sir,--i am sorry to be obliged to trouble you again respecting the wires opposite my house at ----. you promised in your favour of ---- that the wires should be removed within a month from that date, a great amount of labour having to be gone through. i was not surprised that six months were required for their removal instead of one, and therefore bore patiently with the delay, although my eyesight, and indeed every one's in the house, suffered most severely; but why, when at last eight were removed, should one be allowed to remain? since the eight have gone, i have been able to sit in my own house without being in as excruciating pain as formerly; but still i am pained, and particularly between the hours of four and seven in the morning. if one wire affects me so much, imagine my sufferings when nine were working! such being the case, will you kindly cause the remaining wire either to be removed or encased in the vulcanized tube, so as to contract the current.--thanking you for your kindness hitherto, and hoping you will add this favour to the rest, i am," &c. there are some persons who suffer from the delusion that their landladies and the sorters in the post-office habitually conspire to keep up, or rob them of, their letters--letters generally which they look for to bring them money or the right to property. these people are always giving trouble, and are difficult to shake off. on one occasion a lady, who was possessed of a set idea of this kind, called at the general post-office in london to state her grievance, which she did in most fluent terms. her complaint was noted for inquiry, and then she went away. an hour or two after, she returned to ascertain whether she had left a packet of papers which she had meanwhile missed; but they could not be found. this circumstance, she stated, convinced her that she had been robbed; and an incident that happened when she quitted the building in the morning confirmed her, she stated, in her idea. a man came up to her and asked if he could show her the way to the dead-letter office. "no, thank you," was the reply; "i can find the way myself." she said she knew him to be a magistrate or a judge: "he had a thick neck and flat nose, and the bull-dog type of countenance, and was altogether repulsive-looking." she felt assured he was watching her, &c. an aged couple in the south of england moved about from place to place in order to escape from persons who were supposed by them to open their letters. persecuted, as they imagined, in one town, they would take lodgings in another town, and very soon they would suspect the servants of the house and the officers of the post-office of obtaining a knowledge of the nature of their correspondence. then they would wait on the postmaster, and generally go through their chronic grievance. the postmaster, in turn, would assure them that their letters were fairly dealt with; but this did not satisfy them, and very soon they were off to another town, in the hope of evading their tormentors, but in reality to go through the same course as before. mr anthony trollope has left us, in the account of his life, a capital specimen of the frivolous and groundless complaints with which the post-office has frequently to deal. his account is as follows:--"a gentleman in county cavan had complained most bitterly of the injury done to him by some arrangement of the post-office. the nature of his grievance has no present significance; but it was so unendurable that he had written many letters, couched in the strongest language. he was most irate, and indulged himself in that scorn which is so easy to an angry mind. the place was not in my district; but i was borrowed, being young and strong, that i might remember the edge of his personal wrath. it was mid-winter, and i drove up to his house, a squire's country seat, in the middle of a snowstorm, just as it was becoming dark. i was on an open jaunting-car, and was on my way from one little town to another, the cause of his complaint having reference to some mail-conveyance between the two. i was certainly very cold, and very wet, and very uncomfortable when i entered his house. i was admitted by a butler, but the gentleman himself hurried into the hall. i at once began to explain my business. 'god bless me!' he said, 'you are wet through. john, get mr trollope some brandy-and-water,--very hot.' i was beginning my story about the post again, when he himself took off my greatcoat, and suggested that i should go up to my bedroom before i troubled myself with business. 'bedroom!' i exclaimed. then he assured me that he would not turn a dog out on such a night as that, and into a bedroom i was shown, having first drank the brandy-and-water standing at the drawing-room fire. when i came down i was introduced to his daughter, and the three of us went in to dinner. i shall never forget his righteous indignation when i again brought up the postal question, on the departure of the young lady. was i such a goth as to contaminate wine with business? so i drank my wine, and then heard the young lady sing, while her father slept in his arm-chair. i spent a very pleasant evening, but my host was too sleepy to hear anything about the post-office that night. it was absolutely necessary that i should go away the next morning after breakfast, and i explained that the matter must be discussed then. he shook his head and wrung his hands in unmistakable disgust,--almost in despair. 'but what am i to say in my report?' i asked. 'anything you please,' he said. 'don't spare me, if you want an excuse for yourself. here i sit all the day,--with nothing to do; and i like writing letters.' i did report that mr ---- was now quite satisfied with the postal arrangement of his district; and i felt a soft regret that i should have robbed my friend of his occupation. perhaps he was able to take up the poor-law board, or to attack the excise. at the post-office nothing more was heard from him." the department not only takes much trouble to investigate cases of irregularity of which definite particulars can be given, but it has frequently to enter into correspondence with persons who seem to have no clear idea of the grounds upon which they make their complaints. a person having stated that his newspapers were not delivered regularly, was requested to answer certain questions on the subject, and the following is the result:-- questions. answers. title and date of newspaper? don't know. whether posted within eight days from date of publication? don't know. how many papers were there in the packet? one. was each newspaper under oz. in weight? don't know. where posted, when, and at what hour? don't know. by whom posted? don't know. amount of postage paid, and in what manner paid? don't know. the want of information on the part of the public in regard to postal matters of the most ordinary kind cannot at times but give rise to wonder. a person in a fair position of life, residing in one of the eastern counties of england, having obtained a money-order from his postmaster, payable at a neighbouring town, called again a few days afterwards and complained that his correspondent could not obtain payment in consequence of some irregularity in the advice. thereupon a second advice was sent; but a few days later the sender called again, stating that the payee was still unable to obtain payment. the sender added that he was quite sure that he had sent the money, as he had the receipt in his pocket. on being asked to show it, he produced the original order, which should, of course, have been forwarded to the payee, and without which the money could not be obtained. a similar instance of ignorance of the method of business as carried on by the post-office was exhibited by a poor irishman in london, and is thus described in the 'life of sir rowland hill':-- "the belief has more than once been manifested at a money-order-office window that the mere payment of the commission would be sufficient to procure an order for £ ,--the form of paying in the £ being deemed purely optional. an irish gentleman (who had left his hod at the door) recently applied in aldersgate street for an order for £ on a tipperary post-office, for which he tendered (probably congratulating himself on having hit upon so good an investment) sixpence. it required a lengthened argument to prove to him that he would have to pay the £ into the office before his friend could receive that small amount in tipperary; and he went away, after all, evidently convinced that his not having this order was one of the personal wrongs of ireland, and one of the particular injustices done to hereditary bondsmen only." chapter xix. curious letters addressed to the post-office. the fountain-head of the post-office establishment of this country, whose personal embodiment is the postmaster-general, possesses very ample means for the collection of information of various kinds through its willing and trusty agents, to be found in every corner of the empire; and this idea seems to be entertained as well by individuals abroad as by our neighbours at home, who, when they fail to ascertain what they want by other means, frequently fall back upon the postmaster-general for assistance and guidance--the post-office being pre-eminently a people's institution, whose head even no poor man need fear to approach--at any rate by letter. it is a common expression to say that a thing cannot be done for love or money; but while the postmaster-general is addressed by inquirers on every variety of subject, it will be found that love and money are at the bottom of many of the communications addressed to him not strictly upon the business of his department. in the following paragraphs will be found specimens of such letters--some entreating him to render assistance in tracing missing relatives, some asking help in the recovery of fortunes supposed to have been left to the writers, others begging him to obtain situations for them, and the like; but the letters generally explain themselves. the dead-letter office must occasionally be supposed to be a repository for the human dead, as inquiries for deceased persons are sometimes addressed to the "dead office." thus:-- "we heard in the paper about or months back mary ann ---- the servant girl at london was dead. please send it to the printer's office by return of post whether their was a small fortune left for ----." "i beg of you to let me if you do no something about a young sailor. his name hugh ----. he is away now since or years. i hope gentlemen you will let me no if he is dead or alive as i am anxious to no as it is a deal of trouble on my mind as he is a boy that i have reared up without father an mother an he a deal of trouble on my mind. he has a dark eyes an brown hair, looking pael. please gentlemen to let me no if you can by return." "i rite a line two see if you hard enny thing of my husband ---- that was left at ---- ill. pleese will you rite back by return of post as we are in great trobble." "i have just been hearing of men that was drowned about months ago. i hear there was one of the men went under the name of john ----. could the manager of the office give any particulars about that man,--what he was like, or if there was such a name, or if he had any friend. he just went amissing about that time. i here enclose a stamp, and address to ----" &c. again, the post-office is asked to hunt up missing relatives:-- "i write to ask you for some information about finding out persons who are missing. i want to find out my mother and sisters who are in melbourne in australia i believe--if you would find them out for me please let me know by return of post and also your charge at the lowest." "i right to you and request of you sinsearly for to help me to find out my husband. i ham quite a stranger in london, only two months left ireland. i can find know trace of my husband. your the only gentleman that i know that can help me to find him. thears is letters goes to him to ---- in his name and thears is letters comes to him to the ---- post-office for him. sir you may be sure that i ham low in spirit in a strange contry without a friend. i hope you will be so kind as not to forget me. sir, i would never find ---- for i would go astray, besides i have no money." "i right these fue lines to you to ask you if you would be so kind as to teel me if there his such a person living in england. she was living at birmingham last rtimmas--this his mi sister and brother-in-law--they hant in birmingham now--let this letter go to every general post-office there is." then come requests for information about property that may be supposed to have been left by relatives in this country to persons abroad--generally in america--in which the postmaster-general is usually treated to an insight, more or less deep, into the family affairs or history of the writers, the rich relatives being as a rule faithfully remembered by the poor, while the recollections in the opposite direction would seem to exhibit features of a less enduring nature. here are a few specimens:-- "kansas. "my grandfather mr john ---- made a will on or about oct. -- dated at ---- leaving to his son, my father, £ , the interest to be paid to him half yearly, the prinsaple to be divided among his children at his death. my father died on the ---- last leaving myself and one brother who wishes you to look up and collect the money for us." "california. "i take the plesure in writing a few lines to you wishing you to ask some old friend of yours to find my father wether he is ded or gone to some other place. his trade was when i left a artist and a panter. i left london when i was four years old. i came to california, my mother and him had some fuss. the street where we lived is on oxford street. you will find my name on the regester in the blumsbery church. my father is german and my mother she is french. i wish you would try and find him for me i woud be so glad if you find him. i will pay you for your truble. "i was born in --. if you go to that ---- church you will find my age if the church is there or the book. pleas let me know as soon as you can." "missouri. "you must excuse me for writing to you for i dont know any one in england. i know the names of no lawyers, and thought i would write to you. we have seen it in our paper several times of money being left to the ---- heirs, and heard that a lawyer of london made a flying visit to st louis to find the heirs, but failed. my father was born and raised in ---- england. his name was ---- the oldest son of three. my parents died shortly after we came to america, and i was quite small. i know but little about any of them. i remember hearing my father say that he had rich relatives who intended to make him their heir. i am very poor; lost everything during the war. if you know of some lawyer who will see to it without money as i have none to invest. please answer to tell me what you think you can do for me." "as i have no correspondent in london at present i adopt this plan of procuring one that i can transact business through--the matter i wish to call your attention to is this--to the estate of ---- and the heirs. the papers were sent here once but have been lost. ---- died in london about years ago and left a large estate of which my client's interest would be about seventy-five thousand dollars at the time of his death--will you please inform me what it is necessary for us to do in the matter in full." "united states. "will you do me the kind favour, as you are the postmaster and able to know, as i judge of. it is this, give to me the full name and address of any 'mac----' that you know of in england, or in scotland, or ireland, or wales, or in india, or at or in any other country that you may know of, with their full names and correct address, so that i can write to them myself. "if you have any list, or book, or pamphlet, with the names of parties who have died, and left money or land to their heirs at law, as i want such information," &c. a farmer in the country wants a postmaster to act as go-between in a little business matter, and pens him a few lines to the following effect:-- "john ---- acting as farmer here would be very much obliged to the postmaster if he would be so good as to name a suitable party at ---- to whom he might sell a stone pig of good quality well--for he understands it is the best place to sell. the pig is now quite ready for killing." a sharp fellow in tennessee, anxious to become rich by a short cut, wants an instrument to hunt gold and silver, and forthwith applies to the post-office:-- "i want you to do me a kines, to hand this (letter) to some good watch maker and tell him to see if i can by a instrument to tell where gold or silver is in the ground or if there is a instrument maid to find mettel--gold or silver--that are in the ground. if it will attrack it. a instrument for that perpos. i understand there are sutch a thing made. if so, be pleas tell me where i can by one and what it will cost me. it can be sent to new york to ---- where i can get it. i want to get a instrument to hunt gold & silver. you will pleas write to me as i think if there are sutch a thing maid i could get one in your country. i send you a stamp." a stranger in the country expresses his readiness to reward the postmaster-general with some partridges if he will get some one to send him a parcel of mithridate mustard:-- "will you do me the favour of dropping me a line to say if you know of an herbalist or greengrocer that could send me a parcel of mithridate mustard. it grows at hatfield by the river side, and in the streets of peckham on the surrey side. as i am a stranger, if you will kindly see if you can get any one to send it me i will send a post-office order or stamps for what it will cost before they start it by train; or if you will get it i will send it to you. i will send you some partridges for your trouble if you will kindly let me know. it dont grow in any part of ----shire that i am aware of. we have the common hedge mustard growing here, but that wont do what the gentleman wants it for." a massachusetts owner of an old clock begs for antiquarian search into the history of an ancient timepiece which has come into his possession:-- "i have tuke the liberty to address you, wishing to know if i could ask the favour by paying you for the trouble i ask to know. "i have an old clock in my collection made by henton brown, london, in the first part of . i would like to know where he was in business and when he died, if it could be ascertained. please inform me if you could find out by any record in london. i would pay you for all trouble. "this darling ---- is one of the loveliest places in massachusetts." now a brother, being doubtful of a love business in which his sister is concerned, claims the help of the post-office in clearing matters up:-- "will you, if you please, let me know if there is such a gentleman as mr ---- in ----. i beleave he is a chirch clurdgman. there is a young man in ---- who has been engaged to my sister, and he says mrs ---- at ---- is his sister. i should very much like to know, if you will oblige me by sending. i thought if mrs ---- was his sister i would rite and ask for his charetar, because he is a stranger to us all." a frenchman, with hat in hand, and all ready to propose, merely wants to know, as a preliminary, whether the lady he has in view is still alive!-- "Ã� monsieur le "directeur de la poste de londres. "j'ai cinquante trois ans. veuillez être assez bon de me faire réponse pour me donner des résultats sur l'existence de madame ----? si parfois elle était toujours veuve je voudrais lui faire la proposition de lui demander sa main d'après que j'en aurais des nouvelles. en attendant, monsieur, votre réponse." a couple, having got over the proposal and acceptance stage, write for a special licence to get married forthwith:-- "will you please oblige susannah ---- and walter ---- with the particulars of an aspecial licence to get married--is it possible for you to forward one to us without either of us coming to you--if you enclose the charge and have it returned, would we get one before next monday week to get married at ----. if you will kindly send by return to the address enclosed the particulars, we should feel greatly obliged." and matters being advanced one stage further in another case, the following inquiry is sent to the postal headquarters:-- "will you please inform me if there is to be a baby show this year at woolwich; if so, where it is to be holden, and what day." nor is the purely social element lost sight of in the letters reaching st martin's-le-grand, unconnected with post-office business, as the two specimens hereafter show:-- "united states. "i have always had a great desire to visit your country, but as i probly never shall, i thought i would write. "i am a young lady attending the high school at ----, a pictorest town bordering on the ---- river. our country seat is four miles and a half west of ----. my father is a rich gentleman farmer. "we have four horses, or head of cattle, or pigs, and a large henery. we have about acres of land, so of course we have to keep a house full of servants. "we are quite well off in worldly goods, but should be better off if you could inform me about that fortune i expect from a great-uncle, great-aunt, or somebody. it is about half a million either on my father's or mother's side. if you would be so kind as to write and inform me, i would be a thousand times obliged. if you would assist me in getting it i will reward you handsomely. their name is ----. they used to be very fond of me when i was a crowing infant in my mother's arms. it is a very pretty country out hear, wide rolling prairies enter spersed with fine forests. there is a stream of water running through our land, a stream so softly and peasfully wild that it looks as if nature had onely just made it and laid down her pencil and smiled. "the schoolroom is just a little ways from ----, the name of our farm. it is the schoolroom where i learnt my a b, abs, but i probly never shall go there to school again. it is vacation now and i have come out on to the farm to stay till school commences again. it seems so nice to be where i can have new milk to drink and nice fresh eggs again. i intend to enjoy myself till school commences again. father has sold off most all of our horses, but he saved my riding horse, so i intend to have rides and drives without number. "well, as i have said as much as you will care to read, i will stop. i hope you will excuse all mistakes as i am not a very old young lady--only years old." "indiana, u.s. "enclosed you will please find a letter which i would like for you to give some young lady or gent--lady preferred--who you think would like a correspondent in this country. will correspond on topics of general interest. for further particulars glance at enclosed letter as it is not sealed. "to the person in whose hands this message may fall, i would like a correspondent in your city which i think would be of interest to each of us in the way of information. "my house is in the central part of the united states, my age is . i am a partner in the manufacturing of ----. we are also dealers in ---- work. i have travelled all over the united states and canada. i can give you any information you may desire in reference to this country--this must necessarily be brief. would like to discuss the habits and nature of our people. to-day is thanksgiving day set apart by our president as a day of thanksgiving for our prosperity, &c; it is observed annually all over the u.s. it is principally observed by giving receptions, dinners, &c. it is snowing to-day; it is the first day of winter we have had. the thermometer is ten above zero. all business is suspended to-day. please state what day you receive this, as i would like to know how long a letter is on the road--if you do not wish to answer this, please give to some of your friends who will--my address you will find on the enclosed card." an individual who had apparently, like rip van winkle, been asleep for a number of years, suddenly starts up, and imagines that he has committed a petty fraud upon the post-office, and so, to ease his conscience, pens the following confession:-- "i enclose you sixpenny stamps, and ask you to credit shillings to revenue as conscience money, as i consider that i owe your department that amount, having enclosed some weeks ago letters to india within a cover to a friend. at the time of my doing so i thought i was doing no wrong, as the three letters enclosed were merely messages which i did not like to trouble my friend with; but lately i have thought differently, and to quiet my conscience i send you the enclosed stamps, and beg of you to be good enough to acknowledge the receipt of s. in the columns of the 'daily telegraph' as conscience money from ----. i send s. d. extra as cost of insertion of the acknowledgment." the question even of "who shall be the hangman" is thought to be a fit subject for elucidation at the post-office. "i hope you will pardon me for asking of you the favour of satisfying a curiosity which cannot, without distortion, be called a morbid one. the question i am about to put is prompted by the statement in the london papers that marwood is to be the executioner of peace. "now, being fully cognizant, from my readings of journals more than years back, that york has always retained its own executioners (askern having succeeded howard), i am sceptical as to the correctness of the above statement. but, assuming it to be correct, i should like to be informed why peace's particular case should cause a deviation from the old bylaws of your county (york), which gives name to an archiepiscopal province.--hoping to be pardoned for thus troubling you, i am," &c. and again, the postmaster-general is begged to step in and prevent people being called hard names. "i humbly beg your consideration if there is no law to stop persons from calling all manner of bad names day after day as it is annoying me very much in my calling as a gardener and seedsman; as i have applyed to the office at ---- for a summons for a little protection and they tell not, so i think it rather too hard for me as i have done all the good i have had the means to do with to the hospitals and institutions and all charityable purposes both in ----and elsewhere if needed; but i suffer from lameness with a ulcerated leg not being able for laborious hard work, although i wish to do as i would be done by. please to answer this at your leisure." the next specimens are from persons out of employment:-- "i am taking the liberty of writeing you those few lines, as i am given to understand that you do want men in new south wales, and i am a smith by trade, a single man. my age is next birthday. i shood be verry thankfull if you wood be so kind and send all the particulars by return." "having lost my parents, i am desirous of taking a housekeeper's situation where a domestic is kept. must be a dissenting family, baptist preferred. thinking that such a case might come under your notice, i have therefore taken the liberty of sending to you." "illinois, u.s. "mr postmaster if you would be so kind as to seek for us work as we are two colored young men of ---- illinois, and would like to come to england and get work as coachmen or race horse trainers, as we have been experance for twelve years practicesing training--if any further information about it we can be reckemend to any one that wish to hire us, pleas to advertise it in the papers for us." the two letters of inquiry for situations which follow are rather amusing, owing to their mode of expression, being written by foreigners not having a command of the english idiom; and they will mirror to our own countrymen what sort of figures they must sometimes cut in the eyes of our neighbours across the channel, when airing their "dictionary french" in the metropolis of fashion:-- "sir,--i have the honour of coming to solicit of your goodwill of telling me if i could not to pass into the english telegraphic administration, and, in the affirmative, what i would must make for that. i have undergone here all the examens demanded by the french administration; i am now surnumerary, and in a few months i shall be named clerck. i know completely the two breguet's and morse machines, and i have begun the 'hughes.' but, as i am now in a little office where that last is not employed, i cannot improve me actually. i have also some knowledge of the english language. i have kept the last year the post of ---- during several months. "as for my family, my father died from two years, was advocate and sus-prefect ---- during thirty years. myself, at paris, i have had for scholl-fellow, several young gentlemen, among others, master ----, the son of the great english perfumery, and others notable manufacturers of london, where i should desire ardently to be clerck, if, by effect of your good-will, you give satisfaction to my claim. i am old of twenty-five years, and i have satisfied to the military law. "i dare to hope, master the director, that, be it as it may, you will make to me the honour of answering what i must expect of your resolution, and in the same time yours conditions. "i am, master, in expecting, with the most profound respect, your very humble servant." "switzerland. "you will excuse me of the liberty which i take to write to you, but as i know nobody in your town, i have not found an other way for find relations with some body honourable. i will ask you if you can procure me a place in the english colonies or plantations as teacher in an institution or tutor in a good family. i am old of years. i have gone a good course of study in the college and gymnasium in ----, and i have held during a - / year in the pensionnat ---- an place as teacher of french language and mathematics. i can give you some good certificates; i speak french, german, and a little english. i should wish for be entirely defrayed of the charges of lodging, nourishment, &c., to have a good salary and the voyage paid. these are my conditions; perhaps will you found something for satisfy them. i will give you a commission proportionably to the importance of the place. i hope sir a favorible answer, and it is in this expectation that i am," &c. the next letter is of another kind, and is not a bad effort for a schoolboy:-- "not having received the live bullfinch mentioned by you as having arrived at the returned-letter office two days ago, having been posted as a letter contrary to the regulations of the postal system, i now write to ask you to have the bird fed and forwarded at once to ----; and to apply for all fines and expenses to ----. if this is not done and i do not receive the bird before the end of the week, i shall write to the postmaster-general, who is a very intimate friend of my father's, and ask him to see that measures are taken against you for neglect. this is not an idle threat, so you will oblige by following the above instructions." in the rules laid down by the post-office for the guidance of its officers and the information of the public, an endeavour is made to use plain language; but in any case of doubtful meaning, the post-office, having framed the rules, claims the right of interpreting them. at one time an element in the definition of a newspaper, under the newspaper post, was that it should consist of a sheet or sheets _unstitched_. a newspaper having been taxed a penny, owing to the sheets being tied together with thread, the person who sent the newspaper made the following sharp remonstrance:-- "sir,--i had hoped that the utterly indefensible regulation in reference to which i send a wrapper had been silently abolished. the public is quite unable to understand why stitching is made the _differentia_ of a newspaper and a pamphlet, and i can hardly suppose that the occasional penalty of d. can be the motive. if in the printed regulations you would assign a sufficient motive, no one would of course object. allow me to ask, if a piece of string is passed through two holes and the ends not tied in a knot, if that is considered stitching? according to johnson's definition of stitching my newspaper was not stitched, but tied, _for i used no needle_." again, a person having suffered the loss of a letter, containing something of value perhaps, launched a bolt from scripture at the department:-- "i got no redress before, but i trust i shall on this occasion; or else there must be something rotten in the state of denmark. judas iscariot was a thief, and carried the bag, and it will be a pity and a great scandal if he has found a successor in some branch of the post-office." a fond parent, finding that some white mice sent by his little boy were detained in the post-office, owing to the transmission of live animals being contrary to regulations, writes very indignantly to the department, overlooking its impersonal nature, and singles out the officer whose performance of duty provoked him for such castigation as his pen was capable of inflicting. here is his letter, and it is mild compared with some of the comminatory effusions which occasionally reach the post-office:-- "sir,--tuesday last week my little son sent three white mice to a friend at ----, in a wooden revolving cage, done up strongly in brown paper, with such sufficient biscuit to serve them for the day; but to-day we have heard that your officious manager at our district office delayed sending it, and wrote instead to ask the address of the sender, and called to-day to say he would not forward the cage. now allow me to ask by what law has he dared to delay the delivery, and by that means no doubt killed the little animals? they were in a wooden cage, carefully packed, and could not in any way have been an annoyance; they were not explosive, they were not loose; and i know of no notice in your regulations whereby he dare to delay the delivery and starve the little creatures to death. i would also ask by what law did he open the package? the full postage was on the parcel, and no doubt the stamp ( d.) has been obliterated, which he will of course have to refund, as also the cost of the white mice; he cannot, of course, pay the disappointment. why did the office at ---- take it if wrong? but it is not, because he has sent several such little creatures to others, and they have always reached safely. he likewise had the impudence to say i was to send to the office for the cage, &c. i feel assured you will be equally astonished with me at his assurance. the package was booked from here over eight days ago, and it was his duty to have delivered it. please see to it; the address on the parcel was ----."[ ] [ ] the mice were duly fed during their detention, and were eventually sent for by the applicant. a young man, conceiving that he had a call to the ministry, quitted the post-office service to qualify for that vocation. after a time, the following letter, which fully explains its own purpose, reached headquarters:-- "enclosed is from a young man in my parish, whose sister is a permanent invalid, and his father a retired church officer, so that he must have a _dry_ crust. "i suppose his _style_ does not take amongst the independent congregations wanting pastors, so he is sent back to business (a great mistake, i told him, he ever left it). "he says something about being over twenty-four years of age; but i think it hard he should go to college for three years, and then be sent adrift without a plank. is it possible to reinstate him at the post-office? he goes to chapel in my parish, and his family are all deserving and needy. excuse this effort to help a respectable though needy fellow." chapter xx. singular coincidences. extraordinary coincidences have been chronicled in connection with almost every situation in life, some fortunate and attended with profit to those involved, others unfortunate or disastrous; and the post-office is no exception to the rule as being a field for the observation of such occurrences. the peculiar nature of the coincidences to be observed in the following examples may be worthy of note, or at any rate the cases may repay their perusal with some small degree of interest:-- "among the workmen employed in some alterations at a nobleman's country seat were two bearing exactly the same christian name and surname, but unconnected and unacquainted with each other, one being a joiner, the other a mason. the joiner, who was a depositor in the post-office savings' bank, having received no acknowledgment of a deposit of £ , obtained a duplicate. the mason, who was not a depositor, became insane and was removed to a lunatic asylum about the same time; and the original acknowledgment, intended for the joiner, having fallen into the hands of the mason's mother, she concluded that the account was his, and made a claim for the money towards defraying the expenses of his maintenance, and was with difficulty undeceived." a registered packet containing a valuable gold seal was sent to a firm of fancy stationers in newcastle-on-tyne, and delivered at its address in due course. complaint was shortly afterwards made, however, that the young person who opened the packet found the seal was not enclosed, and inquiries were at once set on foot in the post-office to discover how and where it could have been abstracted. a week or two after, and while these inquiries were still proceeding, the firm in question reported that a tradesman in town had presented to them the identical seal, with the view of ascertaining its value! this information served as a clue to the elucidation of the matter, and the loss of the seal was shown to have occurred in the following fashion:--in the process of opening the packet, the young person concerned had carelessly allowed the seal to fall, unobserved by her; it got mixed up with waste-paper, which formed part of some waste shortly thereafter removed to the premises of a marine-store dealer, where it underwent a course of sortation. an old woman engaged in this work found the seal, appropriated it, and without more ado pawned it. the person with whom it was pledged was he who presented it at the address where it had dropped from the letter. the coincidence is not only a curious one, but the case illustrates how, but for the coincidence, the blame of the loss would have rested on the post-office. a traveller in the north of europe became sadly puzzled with letters which followed him about, although not intended for him, and the difficulties in his case are described in a letter written by him, of which the following is a transcript:-- "i am sorry you have had so much trouble respecting the registered letter supposed to have been lost in transmission from my wife to me in ----. but i assure you the letter was most carefully and punctually delivered, not having been even a post behind its due time, and i think your case can hardly have referred to me at all. there was another rev. j---- d---- (the same name) travelling in norway at the same time, whose letters kept crossing my path everywhere; and when i read them, i was almost in doubt whether i was myself or him, for his wife had the same name as mine, and his baby the same name as mine, and just the same age; but who he can be i cannot make out, only he is not i. perhaps the registered letter which has given you such trouble may have been for him. it may satisfy you, however, to know that mine was all right." the following incident occurred about twenty years ago. a gentleman of the uncommon name of onions was travelling in scotland, and was expected by his friends to call at a certain post-office for letters on a particular day. the day prior to this, a telegram reached this post-office from his home in the south of england, requesting that he might be told to return at once, owing to the serious illness of his brother. the telegram upon its receipt was duly placed in the proper box by the clerk in charge of the _poste restante_ at the time, and who of course, the telegram being open, was aware of its contents. next day, when the same clerk was upon duty, a mr onions presented himself, asking for letters; but the clerk, on going to the box to get the aforesaid telegram, was unable to find it, nor could any one in the office at the time say anything about it. mr onions was, however, informed of its import, whereupon he said he had no brother, but as his father had been ailing when he left, he supposed a mistake of "brother" for "father" had been made in transmission, and that the message was no doubt intended for him. he then left the office. a few days later the postmaster received a letter from this gentleman, then in the south of england, stating that he had been made the victim of a cruel hoax (he having found on reaching home that no telegram had been sent to him), and he was the more convinced of this because his visit to scotland was in pursuance of his honeymoon. the matter being investigated, it transpired that on the morning of the day on which mr onions called for letters, another mr onions, for whom the message was meant, had called and received the telegram from a clerk who shortly thereafter went off duty. the confusion had thus arisen through two persons of the same uncommon name calling at the same post-office on the same day for letters, and, as it happened, applying for their letters at hours when two different clerks were in attendance. in the following case the names are fictitious, but in their similarity they will adequately illustrate the narrative:-- the sudden expansion of telegraph business upon the transfer of the telegraphs to the state in , necessitated the employment of a large number of inexperienced operators, and some awkward blunders were the consequence. in the year mentioned, a liverpool man named parlane went to london; but before parting with his wife, it was arranged that on a certain day he would telegraph whether she should join him in london or he would return to liverpool. on the appointed day the promised telegram was sent asking his wife to come to london, the message being directed (we shall say) to mrs parlane, menzies street, toxteth park, liverpool. by some accidental failure of current, or imperfect signalling the word "menzies"[ ] reached liverpool as "meins,"[ ] and there being no meins street in liverpool, the messenger was directed to take the message for trial to main street, for which it was thought it might be intended. the messenger found at main street[ ] a mrs m'farlane, and to this person the message was presented. the names being similar, mrs m'farlane opened the telegram, and her husband also being in london, she had no doubt whatever that the command which it contained to repair to london, though altogether unexpected, was intended for herself. that evening she accordingly started for the metropolis. [ ] the names are given from memory. meanwhile mrs parlane had been suffering intense anxiety at not receiving the promised telegram, and being unable longer to endure the suspense in which she found herself, she likewise started for london the same evening. strange as it may appear, both mrs parlane and mrs m'farlane travelled to london not only by the same train, but in the same compartment; and it was by a comparison of notes that the telegram intended for the one was discovered to have got into the hands of the other. the string of coincidences in this matter is exceedingly singular--viz., that two persons of similar names should reside at the same number in neighbouring streets; that the husbands of both should be in london at the same time; that the two wives should travel to london in the same train; and that they should find themselves companions in the same compartment. identity in names and addresses in all particulars sometimes gives rise to trouble and inconvenience. through the misdelivery of a savings-bank acknowledgment, it was brought to light that in a suburban district of london, where there were two terraces bearing exactly the same designation, there were residing, at the same number in each, two persons having, not only the same surname, but the same christian name. but even more curious are the following facts in the matter of similar names and addresses, though in this instance nothing of ill-consequence has yet arisen beyond the occasional misdelivery of a letter. in edinburgh at the present time ( ), there resides at st andrew's terrace a mr james gibson, and, immediately opposite, at st andrew's place, another mr james gibson. it happens, also, that a mr john gibson is to be found at st andrew square. hence we have this very singular series of almost identical addresses, the persons concerned being all different, and, so far as we are aware, unacquainted with each other:-- ( ) mr j. gibson, st andrew's terrace. ( ) mr j. gibson, st andrew's place. ( ) mr j. gibson, st andrew square. in consequence of the misdelivery of a post-packet, the following case of almost identical addresses in two different towns was brought under notice:-- mr andrew thom, boot maker, south bridge street, airdrie. and mr andrew thom, boot top manufacturer, south bridge, edinburgh. not very long ago, two letters directed to mrs r---- at her residence in edinburgh were duly delivered there; but as the lady was at the time living at the grand hotel in london, they were placed under a fresh cover by one of her family and forwarded thither. some days thereafter the postmaster of glasgow received a communication from a mrs r---- (the same name), residing at the grand hotel, expressing great astonishment that the two letters, which she now returned, had been sent to her, since her permanent address was not in edinburgh, but glasgow. the matter was afterwards explained, on the fact becoming known that two ladies of the same name, one hailing from glasgow, the other from edinburgh, had been living at the same time in the same hotel, and that the waiter had delivered the letters to the wrong person. chapter xxi. savings-bank curiosities. with persons who deposit their hard-earned savings in the post-office savings bank, there is sometimes observed a disposition, not to be wondered at in their case, to use more than ordinary care in keeping their savings secret,--which care, however, does not always secure the aim which they have in view, but results in quite a different fashion. a domestic servant who had invested in a trustee savings bank about £ , entered the holy bonds of matrimony in , when it might have been expected she would be ready to admit the man of her choice to a knowledge of her monetary worth; but instead of doing so, she concealed this matter from him, and he remained ignorant of it throughout the remainder of his life. the sum at her credit in the trustee savings bank was afterwards transferred to the post-office savings bank, and by dint of saving she added to that amount nearly £ more. at length, in , after thirty-six years of married life, she died, leaving her husband with three children, but without revealing what she had so jealously guarded, in the interest, no doubt, of her children. not many months thereafter the man married again. the second wife seems by some means to have come to a knowledge of her predecessor's savings, and in order to pave the way to future possession, prevailed upon the old man to make a will in her favour, which he consented to do, not knowing that he was worth anything, and thus gratified a whim, as he might suppose, at small cost. the effect of this was, that, when the old man died, the second wife obtained the whole amount of the account, while the poor children, whose mother had kept her secret so many years in their interest, derived no benefit whatever from the savings which she had hoped to leave them. an irishman who had managed to get some savings together in the savings bank was exercised as to the safe-keeping of his deposit-book, and he adopted the following plan to give himself peace of mind on this score:--first of all, he placed his book inside a box, which he then locked. this box he placed inside a second box, which he locked likewise. continuing the series of operations, he locked the second box inside a third box; and then, to crown the business, hung up all the keys in a place where they were accessible to many persons. in a short time the book disappeared, and by forging the signature of the rightful owner, the thief succeeded in obtaining payment of the poor irishman's deposits to the amount of about £ . this unfortunate depositor is a type of a considerable class of persons, who show themselves capable of carrying out plans to a certain stage, but fail in some one particular to give them the completeness necessary to success. another individual who had some misgivings as to the safety of his deposit-book, suggested a plan for his identification, furnishing the necessary data, which were his age, and a statement that he had a scar under his left arm, known to himself alone. he desired that no one should be allowed to withdraw money from his account unless upon satisfactory information being given on these points. in another instance a depositor proposed to send his likeness, with a view to his identification, lest some other person might get possession of his book, and so withdraw his savings. he then proceeded in his letter to touch upon another matter as follows:--"there are some little articles i would like to get from london, and one of them is some natural leaf-tobacco, which i would be glad if you sent me an ounce of, and charge me for it--it is only to be bought in the largest tobacco-stores." not receiving the tobacco, he expressed surprise in a subsequent letter that his request had not been complied with, observing, by way of reproach perhaps, that "the commonest person in america (my country) can speak to general grant, and there is nothing said wrong about it." a good deal of trouble has to be taken in sifting claims for moneys in the post-office savings bank--especially in cases where the persons concerned are of a poor and illiterate class. the following may be taken as a case in point:-- "an account had been opened in a manufacturing town in yorkshire in by a girl who was described as a minor over seven years of age. only one deposit was made; and nothing further was heard of the account until , when a labourer wrote from northumberland claiming the money as having been deposited by his wife, who had recently died. on a marriage certificate being forwarded, it was found that the marriage took place in , and that the wife was thirty-five years of age at that time. the applicant also stated that he could swear to his wife's handwriting, whereas the depositor could not write. he was informed of these discrepancies, but still insisted that the money was deposited by his wife, and employed a lawyer to urge his claim." sometimes depositors mislay their deposit-books, or lose them altogether, and in course of time forget that they have anything lying at their credit. this is an instance of such a case:--a depositor, upon being reminded that he had not sent up his book for a periodical examination--the time for which was already past--replied that his book was lost, but that if there was any balance due to him, he would be glad to have the particulars. the amount due to him was upwards of £ ; but as, when a depositor has lost his book, it is usual to test his knowledge of the account, this course was followed, when, from the answers received, it was made clear that he was entirely ignorant of the sum standing to his credit--and, indeed, that he believed his account to be closed. but for the notice sent to him in regard to his deposit-book, he would never have made any claim. as might readily be supposed, strange communications are often received on savings-bank business--some quaint and curious, though written quite seriously, while others are evidently written with the intention of making fun; yet another class deriving their peculiarities from a too common cause--want of education. a few of such specimens are given as follows:-- a depositor being asked to furnish particulars of his account, the reply received from some one who had opened the letter on his behalf was to this effect:--"he is a tall man, deeply marked with smallpox, has one eye, wears a billycock, and keeps a pea-booth at lincoln fair,"--a description ample enough, and one that would rejoice the heart of a detective. the envelopes supplied to depositors, in which they send their books to headquarters, have within the flap a space provided to receive the depositor's address, and the request is printed underneath--"state here whether the above address is permanent." this request has called forth such rejoinders as these--"here we have no continuing city," "this is not our rest," "heaven is our home," "yes, _d. v._" in one case the reply was "no, _d. v._, for the place is beastly damp and unhealthy;" while another depositor, being floored by the wording of the inquiry, wrote--"doant know what permanent is"! when deposit-books are lost or destroyed, some explanation is usually forthcoming as to how the circumstance occurred, and some of these statements are of a very curious kind. thus a person employed in a travelling circus accounted for the loss of his book in these terms: "last night, when i was sleeping in the tent, one of our elephants broke loose and tore up my coat, in the pocket of which was my bank-book, and eat part of it. i enclose the fragments." in another case the statement furnished was: "i think the children has taken it out of doors and lost it, as they are in the habbit of playing shutal cock with the backs of books." another depositor said that his book was "supposed to have been taken from the house by our tame monkey." while in a further case the explanation vouchsafed was as follows: "i was in a yard feeding my pigs. i took off my coat and left it down on a barrell; while engaged doing so, a goat in the yard pulled it down. the book falling out, the goat was chewing it when i caught her." a sergeant in the army lost his book "whilst in the act of measuring a recruit for the army,"--a circumstance which is, perhaps, not creditable to the recruit. a needy depositor pledged his coat, forgetting, however, to withdraw his deposit-book, which was in one of the pockets. on applying to redeem his property, he found that the coat had been mislaid by the pawnbroker, and that his book was thus lost. in a somewhat similar way another depositor accounted for his loss "through putting the book in an old coat-pocket, and selling the coat without taking out the book again." it was suggested that he should apply to the person who purchased the coat, when he replied that he had been "to the rag merchant," but could find no trace of his book. on another occasion a depositor explained that his book had been mutilated by a cat. another book, which was kept in a strong box in a pigsty, had been destroyed by the tenant--a pig. while in yet another case the depositor explained that "his little puppy of a dog got hold of it and tore it all to pieces--not leaving so much as the number." a coast-guardsman employed on the sussex coast, writing shortly after the occurrence of some severe storms, explained that his book had been washed away with the whole of his household effects. in a case of mutilation of a book, the following account of the circumstance was given by the owner: "in the early part of last year i was taken seriously ill away from home; and having my bank-book with me, i wrote in the margin in red ink what was to be done with the balance in case of a fatal result, and as a precaution against its being wrongfully claimed on my recovery, i cut this out." these are some of the more curious instances of the loss of books--the loss being ordinarily ascribed either to change of residence, to the book being dropped in the street, or to its being burnt with waste-paper. chapter xxii. replies to medical inquiries. for many years past it has been incumbent upon all candidates seeking employment in the post-office, as in other public departments, to undergo medical examination, with the view of securing healthy persons for the service; and in the course of such examinations the medical officer requires to make inquiry into the state of health of the candidates' parents, brothers, sisters, &c., the information being elicited in forms to be filled up by the candidates. though it is not to be expected that persons entering as postmen, messengers, and so on, should exhibit perfection in their orthography, still, in referring to the more common troubles that afflict the human frame, some approach to an intelligible description of diseases might be hoped for. dr lewis, who held the post of medical officer in the general post-office, london, for many years, recorded the following examples of answers received to his questions:-- "father had sunstroke, and i caught it of him." "my little brother died of some funny name." "a great white cat drawed my sister's breath, and she died of it." a parent died of "apperplexity"; another died of "parasles." one "caught tiber fever in the hackney road"; another had had "goarnders"; a third "burralger in the head." some of the other complaints were described as "rummitanic pains," "carracatic fever," "indigestion of the lungs," "toncertina in the throat," "pistoles on the back." one candidate stated that "his sister was consumpted, now she's quite well again"; while the sister of another was stated to have "died of compulsion." it is to be hoped that the work of the school boards will be seen in the absence of such answers from the medical officers' schedules of the future. in addition to the medical scrutiny as to health, all candidates for service have to give satisfactory accounts in regard to their previous employment; and this is elicited by means of questions put to the candidate on what is known as the a. form. the following are questions and answers in the case of a young lady candidate:-- write your christian and surname in full. elizabeth b---- your usual signature? yours ever, lizzie. state how you have been employed since leaving school. _ans_. music and singing, and nursing dear mamma, who is an invalid! chapter xxiii. various. _superstition_. superstition rarely stands in the way of the extension of postal accommodation or convenience; but a case of the kind occurred some time ago in the west of ireland. application was made for the erection of a wall letter-box, and authority had been granted for setting it up; but when arrangements came to be made for providing for the collection of letters, no one could be found to undertake the duty, in consequence of a general belief among the poorer people in the neighbourhood that, at that particular spot, "a ghost went out nightly on parade." the ghost was stated to be a large white turkey without a head. _curious names_. everything that departs from the usual mode or fashion of things is regarded as curious, and the term may be applied also to the incidence of names and professions, either in regard to their relative fitness of relationship, or to an opposite quality. as the sight of two or three individuals with wooden legs walking in company would be sure to claim our attention, if it did not excite our mirth, so the coming together of persons having similar names under the same roof by mere chance, would not fail to attract notice, and be thought a peculiar circumstance. of the first class the following cases may be noted,--namely, that at torquay, devonshire, there used to be a butcher called bovine; in the east of london there is a james bull, a cow-keeper; and at birnam, perthshire, a gardener and strawberry-grower called john rake. there is further, we are informed, at cork a person carrying on the pawnbroking business whose name is uncle, than which there could be nothing more appropriate. of the second class the following is an instance, persons of the names given having been employed together in a single office of the general post-office some years ago:-- a lacroix. a parsons. a partridge. a laforet. an archer. a peacock, a deforge. a fisher. and a defraine. a hunter. one berdmore. a clark. _letter-box, st martin's-le-grand._ so much has it become the custom in these later times for the post-office to afford facilities to the public in whatever will tend to increase the business of the department, that in all large towns pillar-boxes or branch offices are dotted about everywhere at short distances, thus altering the conditions which formerly obtained, when the chief office was the great central point where correspondence had to be deposited for despatch. london is no exception to this general plan of accommodation, and there may be some lingering regrets that the stirring scenes which used to attend the closing of the letter-box at st martin's-le-grand (when the great hall led right through the building) no longer exist, at least as things worthy of note. lewins, who wrote the history of the post-office (her majesty's mails), thus describes what nightly took place at the closing of the box at six o'clock:-- "the newspaper window, ever yawning for more, is presently surrounded and besieged by an array of boys of all ages and costumes, together with children of a larger growth, who are all alike pushing, heaving, and surging in one great mass. the window, with tremendous gape, is assaulted with showers of papers, which fly thicker and faster than the driven snow. now it is, that small boys of eleven and twelve years of age, panting sinbad-like under the weight of huge bundles of newspapers, manage somehow to dart about and make rapid sorties into other ranks of boys, utterly disregarding the cries of the official policemen, who vainly endeavour to reduce the tumult into something like post-office order. if the lads cannot quietly and easily disembogue, they will whizz their missiles of intelligence over other people's heads, now and then sweeping off hats and caps with the force of shot. the gathering every moment increases in number, and intensifies in purpose; arms, legs, sacks, baskets, heads, bundles, and woollen comforters--for who ever saw a veritable newspaper boy without that appendage?--seem to be getting into a state of confusion and disagreeable communism, and yet 'the cry is still, they come.' heaps of papers of widely opposed political views are thrown in together--no longer placed carefully in the openings; they are now sent in in sackfuls and basketfuls, while over the heads of the surging crowd were flying back the empty sacks, thrown out of the office by the porters inside. semi-official legends, with a very strong smack of probability about them, tell of sundry boys being thrown in, seized, emptied, and thrown out again void. as six o'clock approaches still nearer and nearer, the turmoil increases more perceptibly, for the intelligent british public is fully alive to the awful truth that the post-office officials never allow a minute of grace, and that 'newspaper fair' must be over when the last stroke of six is heard. one--in rush files of laggard boys, who have purposely loitered in the hope of a little pleasurable excitement; two--and grown men hurry in with the last sacks; three--the struggle resembles nothing so much as a pantomimic _mêlée_; four--a babel of tongues vociferating desperately; five--final and furious showers of papers, sacks, and bags; and six--when all the windows fall like so many swords of damocles, and the slits close with such a sudden and simultaneous snap, that we naturally suppose it to be a part of the post-office operations that attempts should be made to guillotine a score of hands; and then all is over, so far as the outsiders are concerned." though the tradition referred to of boys being thrown into the letter-box may not have a very sure foundation in fact, it is the case at any rate that a live dog was posted at lombard street, and falling into the bag attached to the letter-box, it was not discovered till the contents of the bag were emptied out on a table in the general post-office. _curious explanations._ in the considerable army of servants who carry on the work of the post-office, embracing all grades from the postmaster-general to the rural postman, are to be found individuals of every temperament, character of mind, and disposition--the candid, the simple, the astute, the wary; and the peculiarities of the individuals assert themselves in their official dealings as surely as they would do in the ordinary connections of life. the following "explanations" furnished by postmasters who had failed to send up their accounts at the proper time, will illustrate the procedure of the candid or simple when in trouble, who seem quite unnecessarily to give every detail of their shortcomings, instead of doing, as most men would do in the circumstances--make a general excuse:-- "my daily accounts would have reached you in time; but on saturday morning, whilst purchasing american cheeses and sampling them, i tasted some of them, which brought on a bilious complaint, so that i was obliged to suspend work on monday. being now somewhat better, i trust all will go on right." "i regret the daily accounts should have been delayed so long; but having some friends to see me, the accounts were forgotten." "the postmistress of ----, cambridge, is very sorry that she has not sent her accounts before this; she will be sure to do so to-morrow. the delay is on account of her having three little motherless grandchildren staying with her for a few days." the following will bear company with the three foregoing specimens. it is a pathetic appeal from a letter-receiver, who, mistaking the purpose for which a certain credit of official money was allowed him, spent it, and was unexpectedly called upon to account for the balance due by him to the head office:-- "mr ----, superintendent of the money-order department, called upon me yesterday, and dispelled a very mistaken notion of mine--viz., that as i had given a guarantee of £ , i was perfectly 'justifiable' in making use of a portion of the money received for my own business. i am now very sorry indeed that the idea had gained such an ascendancy over me as it had done. the letter i received from you a few days ago aroused me from that delusive lethargy into which i was sinking; and if you would have the kindness to compare the amount now with what it was then, you will perceive that an effort has been made to retrieve my folly. "my object in writing this to you is an earnest appeal not to degrade me in the position i have struggled so hard to maintain through such distress as we have had, by suspending the business of the office. i beg and earnestly entreat of you to give me time to recover myself; and i assure you that under such a stimulation a vigorous effort will be made to place myself in that honourable position which it has been my desire to hold. therefore, hoping that you will take a favourable view of the case, i subscribe myself, your contrite and obedient servant." _prisoners of war._ the following incident, though not directly bearing upon post-office matters, has a relation to letters. it forms the subject of a pathetic story, and brings into contrast the possible isolation of poor fellows who may be taken in war, with the rapid and constant intercourse kept up between the peoples of enlightened countries during times of peace by the intermediary of the post-office. the facts are here quoted from a notice of the circumstance published in a local newspaper:-- "the extensive works for the manufacture of paper belonging to alex. cowan & sons, at valleyfield, near edinburgh, were in , owing to the dulness of trade, sold to government, and converted into a prison for the french soldiers and sailors, of whom over were kept from to , when peace was happily established between britain and france. during these three years died, whose remains rest in a quiet spot near the mills. of these, a list of the names, ages, and place of capture is preserved by messrs cowan. the mills were reacquired from government about , and are carried on as among the largest paper-mills of britain by the same firm. in some repairs lately carried out at these works ( ) an old floor was lifted, and underneath was found a letter written by a prisoner, but which he was never able to despatch. a copy of this letter is annexed, as possibly some of the writer's relatives may see it and be interested by a perusal." the french is not very good; but here it is:-- "prison, valleyfiel, _mars, année_ . "mon cher perre et ma cher mÃ�re,--d'après plusieur lettre que je vous ecrives, étant en angleterre, sans en avoir pu en recevoir aucune réponse. je ne sais à quoi attribuer cette interuption, et depuis on va arrivez en ecosse, je me suis toujours empressez pour vous donner de mes nouvelles, et qui a été bien impossible, à moins jusqu'à presens, d'en recevoir. je désirai ardement d'en recevoir des votres, ainsi mon cherre père et ma cherre mère, je vous prie trêes umblement de prendre des procotions pour me donné de vos nouvelle, est des changement du pays, est dans ce qui est égale à mon égard, de la famille, seullement pour à l'égard de ma santé, elle a toujours etté bonne depuis mon de part. je désire que la présente vous soient pareille, ainsi que mes frerre et seurre, paran, et ami, rien autre chose que je puis vous marqué pour le ----. je soussignez jean françois noel de sariget, la commune de saint leonard, canton de fraize, arrondissement de saint dies, departemeant voges. monsieur perigord lafeste, banquier à paris, dans la rue de mont no. . je soussignez jean nicolas demange de saint leonard, canton de franche." a handsome monument was erected in over the last resting-place of the poor prisoners who died during their period of captivity, and it bears the following inscription:-- "près de ce lieu réposent les cendres de prisonniers de guerre morts dans ce voisinage entre le mars et le juillet . "nés pour bénir les voeux de vieillissantes mères, par le sort appelés a devenir amants aimés, epoux, et pères, ils sont morts exilés! "plusieurs habitans de cette paroisse aimant à croire que tous les hommes sont frères, firent élever ce monument l'an ." _explosion in a pillar-box._ a singular accident, though one not altogether unique in its character, befell one of the pillar letter-boxes in montrose some years ago. a street had been opened up for the purpose of effecting repairs on the gas-pipes, and while the examination and repairs were in progress, some gas, escaping from the pipes, found its way into the letter-box. the night watchman, intending to light his pipe, struck a match on the box close to the aperture, when a violent explosion immediately followed, blowing out the door, and otherwise doing damage; but, luckily, neither the watchman nor the letters sustained any injury. _a mother's love_. the affection of mothers for their children has been a theme of tenderest writing in all ages; and innumerable effusions of this nature, more or less intense, are daily carried by the post-office. the following is a case in point, the writing being observed on the back of a christmas card. "my dear child,--accept this little gift as a token of true friendship, from your mother." the card was found in the dead-letter office! _the mulready envelope._ the failure of the mulready envelope to establish itself in public favour is surely a monument to the caprice of the national taste, if it be not an evidence of how readily the tide of thoughtless opposition may set in to reject that which is new or unusual, without serious grounds for dislike. a facsimile of the design is here given, the envelopes for sale being printed in two colours--black and blue. [illustration] it was introduced to the notice of the public at the time of the establishment of the penny postage, being intended to supply a desideratum in this respect, that the cover should serve the combined purposes of an envelope and a postage-stamp, the envelopes being good for a postage of one penny or twopence, according as they were printed in black or blue. mulready, a member of the royal academy, was the artist, and the design had the approval of the royal academicians, so that it did not go forth without substantial recommendations. if the subjects be examined, it will be found that they are accurately drawn, ingeniously worked together, and apposite in their references to the beneficent work of the post-office department. britannia sending forth her messengers to every quarter of the globe, ships upon the sea with sails unfurled ready to obey her instant behests, the reindeer as the emblem of speed in the regions of snow, intercourse with the nations of the east and of the west, and the blessings of cheap postage in its social aspects, are all suitably depicted. yet the whole thing fell flat; the envelope drew down upon itself scorn and ridicule, and it had to be quickly withdrawn. in the end, it was necessary to provide special machinery to destroy the immense quantities of the envelope which had been prepared for issue. it is amusing, however, to read the contemptuous and very funny criticisms which were showered upon the artist and mr rowland hill by the newspapers of the day, in one of which the following remarks appear:-- "the envelopes and half-sheets have an engraved surface, extremely fantastic, and not less grotesque. in the centre, at the top, sits britannia, throwing out her arms, as if in a tempest of fury, at four winged urchins, intended to represent postboys, letter-carriers, or mercuries, but who, instead of making use of their wings and flying, appear in the act of striking out or swimming, which would have been natural enough if they had been furnished with fins instead of wings. on the right of britannia there are a brace of elephants, all backed and ready to start, when some hindoo, chinese, arabic, or turkish merchants, standing quietly by, have closed their bargains and correspondence. the elephants are symbolic of the lightness and rapidity with which mr rowland hill's penny postage is to be carried on, and perhaps, also, of the power requisite for transporting the £ a-year to his quarters, which is all he obtains for strutting about the post-office with his hands in his pockets, and nothing to do, like a fish out of water. on the left of britannia, who looks herself very much like a termagant, there is an agglomeration of native indians, missionaries, yankees, and casks of tobacco, with a sprinkling of foliage, and the rotten stem of a tree, not forgetting a little terrier dog inquisitively gliding between the legs of the mysterious conclave to see the row. below, on the left, a couple of heads of the damsel tribe are curiously peering over a valentine just received (scene, valentine's day), whilst a little girl is pressing the elders for a sight of cupid, and the heart transfixed with a score of arrows. on the right, again, stands a dutiful boy, reading to his anxious mamma an account of her husband's hapless shipwreck, who, with hands clasped, is blessing rowland hill for the cheap rate at which she gets the disastrous intelligence. with very great propriety the name of the artist is conspicuously placed in one corner, so that the public and posterity may know who is the worthy oliver of the genius of a rowland on this important occasion. as may well be imagined, it is no common man, for the mighty effort has taxed the powers of the royal academy itself, if the engraved announcement of w. mulready, r.a., in the corner, may be credited. considering the infinite drollery of the whole, the curious assortment of figures and faces; the harmonious _mélange_ of elephants, mandarins' tails, yankee beavers, naked indians squatted with their hindquarters in front, cherokee chiefs with feathered tufts shaking missionaries by the hand; casks of virginia threatening the heads of young ladies devouring their love-letters; and the old woman in the corner, with hands uplifted, blessing lord lichfield and sir rowland for the saving grace of d. out of the shilling, and valuing her absent husband's calamity or death as nothing in comparison with such an economy,--altogether, it may be said that this is a wondrous combination of pictorial genius, after which phiz and cruikshank must hide their diminished heads, for they can hardly be deemed worthy now of the inferior grade of associates and aspirants for academic honours." all this is excessively funny, and enables us to smile; but if the grounds of condemnation were of no more solid kind, we might venture the suggestion that the envelopes had hardly a fair trial at the bar of serious public judgment. _lines on the penny postage._ the following lines were popular about the year , when sir rowland hill introduced the uniform penny rate of postage. the scheme was not looked upon hopefully in all quarters, and some persons predicted an early failure for it, while others only saw in the new departure grounds for ridicule or jest. these lines, which are certainly amusing, are said to be the production of mr james beaton:-- something i want to write upon, to scare away each vapour-- the "penny postage" shall i try? why, yes, i'll write on paper. thy great invention, rowland hill, each person loudly hails; the females they are full of it, and so are all the mails. this may be called the "penny age," and those who are not mulish, are daily growing "penny wise," though not, i hope, pound foolish. we've penny blacking, penny plays, penny mags, for information, and now a "penny post," which proves we've lots of penetration. their love-sick thoughts by this new act may lucy, jane, or mary, array in airy-diction from johnson's dictionary. each maid will for the postman watch the keyhole like a cat, and spring towards the door whene'er there comes a big rat-tat. and lots of paper will be used by every scribbling elf, that each should be a paper manufacturer himself. to serve all with ink enough they must have different plans; they must start an "ink walk" just like milk, and serve it round in cans. the letters in st valentine so vastly will amount, postmen may judge them by the lot, they won't have time to count; they must bring round spades and measures, to poor love-sick souls deliver them by bushels, the same as they do coals. as billet-doux will so augment, the mails will be too small, so omnibuses they must use, or they can't carry all; and ladies pleasure will evince, instead of any fuss, to have their lovers' letters all delivered with a 'bus! mail-coachmen are improving much in knowledge of the head, for like the letter which they take, they're themselves all over red. postmen are "men of letters" too; each one's a learned talker, and 'cause he reads the diction'ry, the people call him "walker." handwriting now of every sort the connoisseur may meet; though a running hand, i think, does most give postmen running feet. they who can't write will make their mark when they a line are dropping, and where orthography is lame, of course it will "come hopping." invention is progressing so, and soon it will be seen, that conveyance will be quicker done than it has ever been; a plan's in agitation--as nought can genius fetter-- to let us have the answer back, before they get the letter. _at the stamp-counter._ a man who can stand at the stamp-counter and serve the public without fear and without reproach, must needs be possessed of a highly sweetened temper. what with the impatient demands of some, the unreasonable demurs of others, the tiresome iteration of questions propounded by the eccentric, and the attention required to be given to the mrs browns of society, not to mention the irritating remarks at times of the inconsiderate, the position behind the counter is one which calls for self-control and a large share of good-nature. the sort of thing that has to be endured at the hands of "perfect woman, nobly planned, to warn, to comfort, and command," when she chooses to lay siege to the stamp-window, is thus described by an american writer, and the description is not to any great extent an exaggeration (if it be so at all) of experiences which are had in our own country in this particular direction:-- "just about eleven o'clock yesterday forenoon there were thirteen men and one woman at the stamp-window of the post-office. most of the men had letters to post on the eastern trains. the woman had something tied up in a blue match-box. she got there first, and she held her position with her head in the window and both elbows on the shelf. "'is there such a place in this country as cleveland?' she began. "'oh yes.' "'do you send mail there?' "'yes.' "'well, a woman living next door asked me to mail this box for her. i guess it's directed all right. she said it ought to go for a cent.' "'takes two cents,' said the clerk, after weighing it. 'if there is writing inside, it will be twelve cents.' "'mercy on me, but how you do charge!' "here the thirteen men began to push up and bustle around, and talk about the old match-box delaying two dozen business letters; but the woman had lots of time. "'then it will be two cents, eh?' "'if there is no writing inside,' observed the clerk. "'well, there may be; i know she is a great hand to write. she's sending some flower-seed to her sister, and i suppose she has told her how to plant 'em ----' "'two threes,' called out one of the crowd, as he tried to get at the window. "'hurry up!' cried another. "'there ought to be a separate window here for women,' growled a third. "'then it will take twelve cents?' she calmly queried, as she fumbled around for her purse. "'yes.' "'well, i'd better pay it, i guess.' "from one pocket she took two coppers, from her reticule she took a three-cent piece, from her purse she fished out a nickel; and it was only after a hunt of eighty seconds that she got the twelve cents together. she then consumed four minutes in licking on the stamps, asking where to post the box, and wondering if there was really any writing inside. "but woman proposes and man disposes. twenty thousand dollars worth of business was being detained by a twelve-cent woman, and a tidal wave suddenly took her away from the window. in sixty seconds the thirteen men had been waited on and gone their ways, and the woman returned to the window, handed in the box, and said, 'them stamps are licked on crooked; it won't make any difference, will it?'" chapter xxiv. about postmasters. the description furnished by scott in the 'antiquary' of the internal management of a country post-office, as existing towards the close of last century, is extremely amusing and piquant; but the probability is that, while so much of what is said might be true to circumstances, the picture was heightened in colour for the purpose of literary effect. no doubt a certain amount of gossip emerged from such country offices, derived from the outsides and occasionally from the insides of letters; yet it is hardly likely that a group of curious women should have gathered together in the postmaster's room to make a general overhaul of the contents of the mail-bag, as is described in the case of the post-office at fairport. in small country towns in the present day, it is no uncommon thing to attribute the spread of "secrets" about the place to a breach of confidence at the post-office, while the real fact is that things told by the persons concerned in strictest secrecy to their most intimate friends are by these communicated again to other kind friends, and so the ripple of information rolls on till there is no longer any secret at all, and the poor official at the post-office is assumed to be the only possible offender. the smaller the place the greater is the thirst for neighbourly gossip, the more quickly does it spread when out, and the more ready are those whose secrets ooze forth to point the finger of suspicion at the post-office. every one knows what a small country post-office is nowadays. when we seek change of air and relaxation in the holiday season, choice is made maybe of some little country village or seaside resort whereat to spend the few weeks at our disposal. if the place be a _place_ at all, there we shall find a post-office; but possibly there is no house-to-house delivery, and letters must be called for at the post-office itself. as the post-hour approaches, groups of visitors take up positions near the office door, or squat themselves down on any patch of sward that may be conveniently near. young ladies waited upon by their admirers, mothers with their children, a bachelor group or two from the inn, and here and there a native of the place, some expecting letters, others indulging a feeble hope in that direction, attend as assistants at what is one of the excitements of the day. presently the post-runner, with his wallet slung upon his back and a rustic walking-stick in his hand, appears in the distance, jogging along with that steady swinging stride which is so characteristic of his class. the visitors begin to close up around the post-office; in a few minutes the runner steps into it; he throws down his wallet of treasures on the counter, removes his faded and dusty hat, and with his coloured cotton handkerchief wipes the sweat from his soiled and heated face. meanwhile the attention of the postmistress is given to the contents of the bag; and as the expectant receivers of letters crowd in at or around the door, a few who have been unable to approach sufficiently near derive what consolation they can from eyeing the operations through the shop window, or by vainly endeavouring to catch an early glimpse of some well-known superscription as the letters pass one by one through the hands of the postmistress. the division of the letters, which can hardly be called a system of sorting, is a proceeding worthy of study. some letters are placed up on end against sweetie-bottles in the window, others are laid down on shelves, others again are spread out on drawers or tables, quite in an arbitrary fashion. the postmistress has no difficulty in reading the addresses, as a rule, but the name of a new-comer seems to demand a little study: the letter is looked at back and front, and then laid down hesitatingly in a place by itself, as if it were an uncanny thing. the address of a letter for any young lady supposed to be engaged in correspondence of a tender kind seems also to require scrutiny; and should she happen to be well in at the door, it is immediately handed to her, those who are in the secret and those who are not forming different ideas as to the reason for this special mark of favour. while this is being done, an undefined sensation is produced in the small crowd, and the recipient retires in confusion to peruse the letter in peace and quiet elsewhere. at length the whole treasures are ready, and the distribution to the eager callers is a matter of a very few minutes, to be renewed again at the same hour next day. something like this is the routine observed when the delivery is being effected at small rural post-offices in our own days--the keeper of the post being a shopkeeper, generally a grocer. in the earlier history of the post, and up till the time of mail-coaches, the post-office was very generally to be found established at the inn of the place. there was an evident convenience in this, owing to the innkeeper being the postmaster in the other and original sense of the provider of horses to ride post, when it was common to send on expresses, by means of these agents, from stage to stage. but the innkeepers, being often farmers besides, had business more important than that of the post to look after, and consequently the work was delegated to others. the duty of receiving and despatching the mails was frequently left to waiters or chambermaids, with the undesirable but inevitable result that the work was badly done. often there was no separate place set apart for post-office business; letters were sorted in the bar or in one of the public rooms, where any one could see them, thereby excluding all possibility of secrecy in dealing with the correspondence. referring to the middle of last century, a surveyor expressed himself to the effect that "the head ostler was often the postmaster's prime minister in matters relating to the mails." [illustration: interior of an old post-office.] the interest taken by boniface in the post-office does not seem to have been very great; for an english surveyor, writing in , thus expresses himself: "persons who keep horses for other uses, and particularly innkeepers, may assuredly more conveniently and at less expense work the mails than those who keep horses for that business only. but, on the other hand, it may be observed that innkeepers, so far from paying government service the compliment of employing in it their best horses, too often send their worst with the mails; and as to their riders, they are, in general, the dregs of the stable-yard, and by no means to be compared to those employed by postmasters in private stations." lack of interest in the mails did not, however, stand in the way of their turning the post to account in favour of their visitors; for in another official report the following observation is made on the subject of franking: "the post-office is not of the consequence or recommendation to an inn which it used to be before the restriction in franking took place; and a traveller, now finding that my host at the public office is deprived of that privilege, moves over to the red lyon." when mail-coaches came to be put upon the road, the necessity for having postmasters other than innkeepers forced itself upon the authorities, so that there should be an independent check upon the contractors, and a better regulation of the arrival and departure of the mails, with less chance of excuse for delays; and thus a change was brought about in the status of country postmasters. but postmasters in the old days do not seem to have been uniformly happy in their posts. the following from a surveyor's report of december , relating to the postmaster of wetherby, in yorkshire, shows this, and no doubt describes the case accurately. the wetherby office had been made more important by some rearrangement of posts, with the result which the surveyor thus pathetically brings under notice: "the postmaster-general's humanity, i humbly apprehend, would be very much affected if they knew exactly the situation of this poor deputy. he has now experienced the difference between his former snug duty and the very great fatigue of a large centre office, and labour throughout almost the whole of every night since the th october . also the very heavy expenses incurred thereby for assistance, coal, candles, paper, wax, &c., without any addition to his salary. to add to his distresses--for he is not rich" (who ever heard of a rich postmaster?)--"he has been so closely pressed from the bye-letter office for his balance due there as to have been compelled to borrow money to discharge them, at the very time that he could not obtain any account from the general office, nor warrants for payment of as large sums due to him." it is not difficult to picture this poor postmaster of wetherby, tied to duty all night long arranging his mails by the light of a guttering candle, and smarting under financial difficulties; the head office squeezing him for revenue with one hand, and holding back what was due to him for his services with the other. sometimes country post-offices would be the scene of small gatherings late at night, waiting the arrival of the mail, as was the case at dumfries in , when some few of the inhabitants would wait up till ten, eleven, or twelve o'clock to receive the english newspapers, so eager were they to peruse them. similar anxiety to be first in possession of commercial or political news conveyed through the newspapers was no doubt common to all business centres at the period referred to; though in our own age such information is largely anticipated and discounted by the telegraph, and in this respect the circumstances have changed. senex, in 'glasgow past and present,' humorously describes the scene enacted at the tontine coffee rooms, in glasgow, during the french war, at the close of last century, on the arrival of the mail. he says:--"immediately on receiving the bag of papers from the post-office, the waiter locked himself up in the bar, and after he had sorted the different papers and had made them up in a heap, he unlocked the door, and making a sudden rush into the middle of the room, he tossed up the whole lot of newspapers as high as the ceiling. now came the grand rush and scramble of the subscribers, every one darting forward to lay hold of a falling newspaper. sometimes a lucky fellow got hold of five or six newspapers, and ran off with them to a corner, in order to select his favourite paper; but he was always hotly pursued by some half-dozen of the disappointed scramblers, who, without ceremony, pulled from his hands the first paper they could lay hold of, regardless of its being torn in the contest. on these occasions i have often seen a heap of gentlemen sprawling on the floor of the room, and riding upon one another's backs like a parcel of boys. it happened, however, unfortunately, that a gentleman in one of these scrambles got two of his teeth knocked out of his head, and this ultimately brought about a change in the manner of delivering the newspapers." again, when a mail was passing through a town between stages in the middle of the night, the postmaster, awoke by the postboy's horn, would present himself at an upper window and take in his bag by means of a hook and line, his body shivering the while in the cold night blast. an instance of such a proceeding is given by williams in his history of watford, where the destinies of the post were, at the time, presided over by a postmistress. "in response," says he, "to the thundering knock of the conductor, the old lady left her couch, and thrusting her head, covered with a wide bordered night-cap, out of the bedroom window, let down the mail bag by a string, and quickly returned to her bed again." coming thus nightly to the open window in her night dress could not have been without its risks to a delicate creature like the postmistress. these postmasters required looking after occasionally, however, for they sometimes did wrong. in the postmaster of edinburgh got into trouble by levying charges of d., d., or d. upon letters over and above the proper rates, and he was peremptorily ordered to discontinue the practice. [illustration: the postmistress of watford despatching the mail.] they also, it would appear, exercised some sort of surveillance over private correspondence. chambers, in his 'domestic annals of scotland,' to which valuable work we are again indebted, gives a case in point: "in july , two letters from brussels, _having the cross upon the back of them_, had come with proper addresses under cover to the edinburgh postmaster. he _was surprised with them_, and brought them to the lord advocate, who, however, on opening them, found they were of no value, being only on private business; wherefore he ordered them to be delivered by the postmaster to the persons to whom they were directed." yet zeal for the king's interest did not always have an acceptable reward, as is shown by the scotch privy council record of . the keeper of the edinburgh letter-office was accused of "sending up a _bye-letter_ with the flying packet upon the twenty-two day of june last, giving ane account to the postmaster of england of the defeat of the rebels in the west, which was by the said postmaster communicated to the king before it could have been done by his majesty's secretary for scotland, and which letter contains several untruths in matter of fact." for having forestalled his majesty's secretary, probably, rather than for the inaccuracy as to facts, the keeper of the post was sent to the tolbooth, there to meditate upon the unprofitableness of official zeal, during the council's pleasure. it does not seem to have been thought prudent to intrust the date-stamping of letters to postmasters generally until some time in the present century. down to the close of last century, at any rate, according to a survey report of the year , this was allowed only at the more important offices. the report is as follows:--"in regard to having the dumbarton letters stamped with the day of the month, as now done at glasgow, the subject has often been considered, and although it has been approved of with some large commercial towns in england, and edinburgh and glasgow in scotland, it has been much doubted how far it would be proper or necessary to establish it generally with less towns, where the practice might be more subject to irregularity or abuses, besides the very great expense such a supply of stamps would occasion to the revenue." the smallness of the salaries allowed to the postmasters of former times is referred to in another chapter, and this may, no doubt, have contributed to the lack of interest taken in the work by some of these officials. but while their pay was small, a good deal of form and circumstance attended their appointment, as will be seen from the following reproduction, on a reduced scale, of the formal appointment of the postmaster of east grinstead in . from a post-office point of view the form is interesting, as no such documents are now in use. [illustration: this whole page is a facsimile. charles _earl of_ tankerville, _and_ henry frederick _lord_ carteret, _his majesty's postmaster-general of all his majesty's dominions in_ europe, africa, _and_ america. to all people to whom these presents shall come, greeting. know ye, that we, the said charles _earl of_ tankerville, and henry frederick _lord_ carteret, having received good testimony of the fidelity and loyalty to his majesty, of mr. thomas palmer and reposing great trust and confidence in the knowledge, care and ability of the said thomas palmer to execute the office and duties required of a deputy postmaster, have deputed, constituted, authorized and appointed, and by these presents do depute, constitute, authorize and appoint, the said thomas palmer to be our lawful and sufficient deputy, to execute the office of deputy postmaster of the stage of east grinsted in the county of sussex to have, hold, use, exercise and enjoy, the said office of deputy postmaster of the stage aforesaid, with all and every the rights, privileges, benefits and advantages to the same belonging, from the fifth day of january last for the term of three years, unless sooner removed by us, under such conditions, covenants, provisoes, payments, orders and instructions, to be faithfully observed, performed and done by the said deputy, and servants, as he or they shall, from time to time, receive from us, or by our order. in witness whereof, we the said charles _earl of_ tankerville, and henry frederick _lord_ carteret, have hereunto set our hands, and caused the seal of the said office, in such cases used, to be affixed. dated the eighth day of in the twentysixth year of his majesty's reign. by command] traditions of hard work and long hours linger still in the post-office, though nowadays the periods of duty are generally reduced to moderate limits. some idea of the service required to be rendered formerly by post-office servants may be gathered from the following order, dating about or . it refers to the secretary to the post-office in dublin, but we ought perhaps to put a very free interpretation upon it:--"the duty of the secretary is to carry on the general correspondence, and, under the direction of the postmaster-general, to superintend the whole business of the office; to attend the board, and give directions for carrying into execution the orders of the postmaster-general. his attendance is constant, and at all hours by day and by night--generally from until , from until , and from until o'clock each day." the postmasters of the united kingdom are a very large class, numbering many thousands, and comprising every variety of individual from the honest country shopkeeper to the highly intelligent men who are placed in charge of the offices in our principal towns. the former have enough to do in mastering the various codes of rules under which the many branches of business are carried on; while the latter, in exercising discipline over their forces, carrying out changes of administration, and endeavouring to meet the wishes of a public ever wakeful to their interests and privileges, are something in their way like petty sovereigns, of whom it might not inaptly be said, "uneasy is the head that wears a crown," though the material emblem itself be wanting. chapter xxv. red tape. the post-office is no stranger to the taunt that it is swathed from head to foot in red tape; or, at any rate, that its operations are so trammelled with routine that no inquiry into irregularities can be made with anything like due expedition. such accusations as these often come from unreflecting persons, or from those whose business operations are of a small kind, and who have no idea of the methods necessary for carrying on a huge administration. an ordinary shopkeeper, for example, has under his own eye the whole sphere of his daily business; he has a personal knowledge of all purchases from the wholesale houses, and knows exactly the particulars of his daily sales; he has, moreover, the behaviour of his servants constantly under observation with a view to discipline; in fact, he is ever present in his own business world, the whole scope of which is within his individual purview. if a person of this class were asked a question in regard to his affairs, it would probably be in his power to afford an answer at once; and when he addresses an inquiry to the post-office he expects a reply with like rapidity. not receiving an answer with the looked-for despatch, as might very likely happen, the cause would be assumed to be needless routine--otherwise red tape. now it is proper here to observe, that between business or trade in the ordinary sense, and the administration of a department like the post-office, there exists a gulf which forbids all comparison, and establishes a contrast of the most striking kind. a stranger, were he taken through the secretariat of the post-office at st martin's-le-grand, the brain of the whole department, could not fail to be struck by the method which reigns throughout, and the way in which various subjects coming up for consideration are disposed of in different branches. in one quarter he would find inquiry going on into the characters and antecedents of candidates for appointments throughout the country, and preparations being made for their examination by the civil service commissioners. in another room would be found officers exercising judicial functions in regard to cases of misbehaviour reported from the country-- meting out arrest of pay or dismissal in accordance with the gravity of the offence in each instance. then in other rooms questions as to new buildings, their fittings and furniture, and the increase of staff when demanded by provincial offices, are undergoing close examination. inquiries for missing letters take up attention in one branch; various other kinds of irregularities are dealt with in another. the foreign mails branch, the home mails and parcel-post branch, the telegraph branch, with all their subdivisions of work, occupy separate rooms, and claim the attention of officers specially trained to their several duties. and how does all the correspondence for the secretary at headquarters find its way to its proper quarter for treatment? there is a branch called the registry, in which every letter or communication of any importance is registered on receipt--that is, it receives a number, the name of the writer is indexed, and the subject of his letter recorded. the number of officers employed in the registry is ; and the original papers passing through the branch in the way stated exceed , annually. from this branch every morning the papers for treatment are distributed over the secretariat, each officer receiving the papers proper to his duty. nor does the business of the registry end here, for every _case_--each separate set of papers on a subject is called a _case_--is recorded again whenever sent elsewhere, so that its destination can be traced. were this not done, laggard postmasters, or persons acting from base or interested motives, might find it convenient not to return the papers, and so by silence _end them_. sometimes a single case will go backwards and forwards thirty or forty times, yet its whole history of travel is recorded. this is the routine which some people call _red tape_. in dealing in this way with large masses of correspondence, each atom of which has to receive its due share of brain-attention, there is necessarily some degree of retardation; and it may be remarked that, between this process and the law in mechanics, under which, other things being equal, a gain of power is accompanied by a loss of speed, there exists a strong analogy. but by this classification and division of labour it is possible to bring about results which could not be achieved by a much larger staff under any plan of desultory working. we will mention one thing which, perhaps more than any other, excites the public to use the taunt of _red tape_. it is a printed reply to a complaint, commonly spoken of as the "stereotyped reply." the public do not know how carefully and conscientiously delays and reported losses of letters are investigated in the post-office. inquiries are made in every office through which the letters would pass in transit, and records made, lest an explanation should afterwards be forthcoming; but after all, in the eyes of some persons, the printed reply spoils all. these persons forget, however, that the printed letter conveys all that is to be said on the subject, and that it is used in the interests of economy. it may be admitted of the post-office, that of all its characteristics, the most prominent is that of its method, routine, or red-tapeism, in the limited sense of what is necessary for the furtherance of the public service; but there is, perhaps, no concern of like magnitude in the world in which there is less of the musty fusty red tape of antiquity that has outlived its time, and no longer serves any useful purpose. [illustration: red tape] printed by neill and company, edinburgh. the royal mail: its curiosities and romance. by james wilson hyde, superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh. opinions of the press. =the times.=--"the author of 'the royal mail' has served five-and-twenty years in the post-office, and had it been his fortune to turn novelist, like his confrère anthony trollope, he would never have been so lavish of invaluable materials. the merest glance through his pages might suggest subjects or incidents for half a score of sensational romances. but the whole of the volume is so full of fascination that once taken up it is difficult to lay it down." =saturday review.=--'mr hyde's work certainly shows that, even at the present time, the business conducted by the post-office is not unfrequently enlivened by romantic incidents; while in antiquarian interest it is rich beyond the average." =pall mall gazette.=--"this volume is a storehouse of amusing anecdotes." =the echo.=--"the curiosities and romance of the post-office have furnished mr j. wilson hyde, superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh, with a subject for one of the most entertaining books of the year. the book is well written, well arranged, and thoroughly deserves success." =graphic.=--"contains a vast number of well-arranged facts, some valuable, some curious, about what is pre-eminently 'the people's institution.'" =st james's gazette.=--"the result is a work that is sure to be widely read. the author treats of the old coaching days in a cheery spirit; and if some of his excellent anecdotes lack the gloss of novelty, that was only to be expected. but by far the most interesting pages in his interesting book are those in which he deals with the working of the present system.... an extremely readable and meritorious book." =whitehall review.=--"'the royal mail' is not a book to be put down unfinished, for what is told in it is well worth knowing, and the admirable way it is related makes it all the more enjoyable." =the literary world.=--"this book is free from the least suspicion of dulness, and is replete with the liveliest anecdotes we have seen for many a day. there is a good story on almost every page." =daily news.=--"a book which is an interesting addition to post-office literature, and it will be read with pleasure by thousands who know nothing of the internal working of the postal service." =scotsman.=--"a book of singular interest, and excellence.... the carelessness with which in some cases the mails were conveyed, the means taken to preserve them from robbers, the length of time occupied in their transmission from one place to another, the difficulty in dealing with particular portions of them,--all these are described in the earlier chapters of mr hyde's book, and are described with singular power and ease of narrative. the book, in short, is far more interesting than most of the modern novels, and it will enable the country to understand better than it could otherwise understand the vast and complicated machinery by which one of the most ordinary and yet imperative requirements of modern life is carried out. mr hyde must have hearty commendation for the manner in which he has done his work." =glasgow weekly citizen.=--"positively the most interesting book i have seen for an age. it is certain to have an immediate and very wide popularity. it reads like a novel, and shows in many cases how true is the old maxim, that 'truth is stranger than fiction.' to everybody this volume will be of the greatest interest. and many subjects of great and universal interest are treated in the most lively and entertaining manner. the volume abounds in capital stories." =north british daily mail.=--"it is brimful of the most curious out-of-the-way facts illustrative of the early struggles of the postal service, and also contains some very amusing and romantic stories of the old stage-coach days. the work is written in such an easy unpretentious chatty style, and is so admirably arranged, that when taken up few will lay it down until they have read it through to the end. it is, moreover, capitally illustrated." =newcastle daily journal.=--"this is a thoroughly instructive and amusing book. mr hyde approaches his subject in the character of a chronicler. the book is a most entertaining one." =liverpool daily post.=--"his volume is replete with interesting facts, anecdotes, and illustrations, and it is written on a subject which has an interest for every one.... his pages will repay perusal." =dundee advertiser.=--"a perusal of mr hyde's clever book will show the difference between the postal service of a century ago and that of the present time. to the credit of the author be it said, that he succeeds in doing this without being tiresome, a consummation not always achieved by those who undertake such a mission." =aberdeen journal.=--"every page is full of interest, and the whole book shows the man accustomed to put the greatest amount of information in the fewest and most appropriate words. from beginning to end of the book the reader finds himself in the company of one that speaks what he knows." =bristol times and mirror.=--"in this work, mr j. wilson hyde has gathered together a perfect budget of information pertaining to our postal service both in the past and present days. the book is neatly bound, and is decidedly a valuable addition to the literature of the season." =manchester examiner and times.=--"'the royal mail' is singularly interesting. the writer has unearthed from ancient documents, old newspapers, and official reports, a curious collection of incidents and facts which give a vivid idea of the difficulties of the postal service in its youth, and of the immense improvements which have been made in recent years. the book is both entertaining and instructive. the reader will find a good deal that is strange and even romantic in the account." =quiz.=--"a delightful book, by the superintendent of the edinburgh general post-office.... a book, full of contemporary curiosities and old-world romances, which, while it gives an entertaining account of the inner workings of the post-office of to-day, transports you to the grand idyllic epoch of sleepy britain, the times of pack-horses and postboys, of wayside inns and county hostelries, of masked cavaliers, and great snows and impracticable roads. a glance at the contents of mr hyde's volume is sufficient to indicate the extent and variety of the materials he has gathered together." =birmingham daily mail.=--"a book which may be looked upon in the light of a historical work.... its aim, while historic, seems to be to deal with the lighter features of the great department of the state, the post-office. 'the royal mail' ... will be found very entertaining, and sometimes very strange and romantic reading." =practical teacher.=--"a book which, albeit not a novel, has all the charm and interest of the most exciting romance. altogether it would be difficult to speak too highly of mr hyde's delightful volume." =yorkshire post.=--"mr j. w. hyde of edinburgh has collected and arranged an altogether admirable array of historical and illustrative matter bearing on our postal system." =courant.=--"he has made a wonderfully good book. by some curious instinct he has divined what is most interesting in the subject he writes about, and there is not a dull page from the first to the last. no previous writer on the post-office has given us so graphic a picture of its daily life, and of the adventures it undergoes from hour to hour. he has in truth written a romance of the post-office abounding in truths stranger than fiction." transcriber's notes: ( ) obvious punctuation and typographical errors have been rectified. ( ) italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equals=. ( ) where there are slight differences of print style in facsimiles of actual documents, they have not been altered (e.g. "postboy", "post-office", etc.). ( ) in chapter xi, the table has been restructured to fit the available space and some abbreviations have been adjusted and defined. the railroad problem [illustration: _courtesy of the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul railway._ an interesting illustration of rail-power development. notice the evolution of the crude steam engine of into the giant locomotive of , which in turn is overshadowed by the later arrival--electricity.] [illustration: _courtesy of the c. m. & st. p. railway._ steam, the giant power, which, by welding our states together with bands of steel, has been a mighty factor in the unifying of the nation.] the railroad problem by edward hungerford author of "the modern railroad," etc. illustrated chicago a. c. mcclurg & co. copyright a. c. mcclurg & co. published april, w. f. hall printing company, chicago to an old friend, and a good one samuel o. dunn acknowledgment i wish to express my indebtedness to the editors of _collier's_, _every week_, and the _saturday evening post_ for their very gracious permission to use, as portions of this book, parts of my articles which have appeared recently in their publications. to mr. e. w. mckenna of new york is due a special word of appreciation for his helpfulness in the preparation of this book. e. h. contents chapter page i the sick man of american business ii the plight of the railroad iii organized labor--the engineer iv organized labor--the conductor v unorganized labor--the man with the shovel vi unorganized labor--the station agent vii the labor plight of the railroad viii the opportunity of the railroad ix the iron horse and the gas buggy x more railroad opportunity xi the railroad and national defense xii the necessity of the railroad xiii regulation index illustrations page illustration of rail-power development _frontispiece_ the engineer the knight of the ticket punch the section gang the station agent the pennsylvania's electric suburban zone electricity into its own the olympian ore trains hauled by electricity the motor-car upon the steel highway the adaptable motor-tractor when freight is on the move the bush terminal freight terminal warehouse at rochester the railroad in the civil war the railroad "doing its bit" america's "vital area" rock island government bridge railroad outline map of the united states the royal gorge erratum the word "telephone" on page , line , should read "telegraph." the railroad problem chapter i the sick man of american business on a certain estate there dwells a large family of brothers and sisters. there are many of them and there is great variety in their ages. they are indifferent to their neighbors; they deem themselves quite self-sufficient. but, for the most part they are an industrious family. they are a family of growing wealth--in fact, in every material sense they may already be called rich. and their great estate is slowly beginning to reach its full development. in this family there are several older brothers who long since attained a strength and dominance over some of the younger members of the family. it is one of these brothers about whom this book is written. it does not assume to be a story of his life. that story has been told by abler pens. it merely aims to be a brief recital of his present condition. for, truth to tell, this older brother has come upon hard times. after a long life of hard work, at a time when his service should be of greatest value to the estate, he has broken down. he has begun to fail--and in an hour when the greedy neighbors grow contentious and he may be of greatest service to his own big family. the railroad is the great sick man of the american business family. he is a very sick man. doctors may disagree as to the cause, sometimes as to the nature, of his ailment; they may quarrel even as to the remedies they deem necessary for his recovery. but there is no question to the fact that he is ill. just at this time, owing to the extraordinary and abnormal prosperity that has come to the united states, largely because of the great war in europe, he has rallied temporarily. but his illness continues, far too deep-seated to be thrown off in a moment. and the recent extraordinary legislation passed by congress has done nothing to alleviate the condition of the sufferer. on the contrary, it has been a great aggravation. i make no pretense as a doctor. but in the course of ten years of study of our american railroads certain conditions have forced themselves upon my attention--time and time again. i have had the opportunity to see the difficulties under which the railroads labor and some of the difficulties which the railroads have carved for themselves. i have had the chance to see how a mass of transportation legislation has acted and reacted upon these great properties. i have known and talked with their employees--of every station. and i have made up my own mind as to the great opportunity that still awaits the railroad in america. for i am firmly convinced that the great transportation organism of the united states has but scratched the surface of its usefulness. it is this last phase of the railroad that is, or should be, of greatest interest to every american. within the short space of the pages of this book, i am going to try to show first the financial plight that has overtaken the overland carriers of our country. i am less of a financier than physician. but the figures upon which my premises are builded have been obtained by a veteran railroader; they have been carefully checked by expert auditors and railroad statisticians, and as such they may be called fundamental. given first the financial and the physical plight of our railroads as it exists today, we shall come to another great phase of its weakness--the labor question. partly because of a disposition to put off the real solution of this problem to a later and apparently easier day, and partly because of conditions over which the railroads have had no control whatsoever, this problem has grown from one of transportation to one of politics--politics of the most vexed and complicated sort. we shall look at this labor question from the most engrossing angle--the human one--and we shall try to look upon it from the economic and financial angle as well. and we shall reserve our real opinion as to its solution until we have had the opportunity to look from the depressing picture of the railroad of today to the picture--by no means conceived in entire fancy--of the railroad of tomorrow. upon that second picture we shall build our opinion as to the present necessities of the railroads. because, in my own mind, it is only as the railroad seeks opportunity, as it seeks to enlarge its vision, that it will be given the chance to live as a privately owned and managed institution. it is today close to the parting of the ways, and the men who control it have come now to the point where they will have to choose--the one path or the other. it will no longer be possible to delay the decision of a really vital economic question to a later, and an easier, day. * * * * * around the bedside of this sick man of our great estate are gathered the physicians and the nurses. they are a motley lot. one of the nurses is called labor, and at first thought you will think him well worth watching. another nurse is more appealing at first sight. she is a slender _spirituelle_ thing. we call her regulation. perhaps she is worth watching, too. perhaps her ways should be mended. she is not bad at heart; oh, no! but she has had bad advisers. of that you may be sure--at the beginning. and it is quite certain that until she does mend her manners, until labor, the other nurse, does likewise, the caller who stands around the corner will not come in the sick room. the invalid constantly calls for him. the man around the corner is known as capital. he holds a golden purse. but you may be quite sure that he will not come to the sick man and thrust the purse within his fingers until both labor and regulation have changed their manners. there are no two sides to such an argument. with which statement let us turn from parables and toward plainer speaking. let us begin consideration of the plight of the railroad. chapter ii the plight of the railroad remember that the railroad is the big man in the american business family, the very head of the house, you may say. sick or well, he dominates his brothers--even that cool, calculating fellow whom we delight to call "the banking interests." all america pays toll to transportation. and, inasmuch as the steam railroads are its dominating form of transportation, the entire country hangs upon them. in the long run this country can prosper only when its railroads prosper. do you wish to dispute them? before the facts your contention will not hold very long. according to the last census more than , , persons were directly employed upon the steam railroads of the united states; some , , in industries bearing directly upon the railroads--lumber, car and locomotive building, iron and steel production, and the mining of coal. it is a goodly number of folk whose livelihood, or a large portion of it, comes from an indirect relation to the railroad. it has been said, with a large degree of statistical accuracy, that one person in every ten in the united states derives his or her living from the railroad. perhaps you are not one of this great family of , , persons--more folk than dwell in the great state of new york, including the second largest city upon the face of the world. granted this--then probably you are one of the , , savings-bank depositors in the united states. if you are, you are an indirect holder of railroad securities. the savings-banks of this country have many, many million dollars of their savings invested in railroad bonds. if you have not even a savings-bank account let me assume that you have a life-insurance policy; there are three life-insurance policy-holders for every savings-bank depositor. the value of every one of those , , policies depends on the wealth that is locked up within the strong boxes of the life-insurance companies. and a very great proportion of that wealth is expressed in the stocks and bonds of railroad companies. try as you may, you cannot escape the dominance of the railroad in financial and industrial america. you might have neither savings-bank account nor insurance policy of any sort, yet the railroad would touch you constantly, through both your income and your outgo. if you were a city man, it would touch you not only in the prices that you pay for milk and meat and vegetables, but for the rent of your house or apartment. as i write, the entire east is panic-stricken for fear of a coal famine, faces steadily rising prices. the production at the mines, despite a scarcity of labor, has not been far from normal. but the railroad has failed in its part of the problem--the providing of sufficient cars to transport the coal from the mines to the consumer. it has been hard put to find cars to move the munitions of war from the interior to the seaboard towns. and the coal mines, because of the lack of railroad cars, have been unable to relieve the situation. so panic has resulted. upon its heels have come similar, if somewhat lesser panics over the congestion and lack of delivery of foodstuffs--conditions which have been reflected in rises in the prices, if not in the value of most foods. these prices already have reached higher figures than at any time since the civil war. today they are nearly even with those which prevailed during the dark days of the sixties. and even if they are due directly to crop shortages and abnormal exports they still are a reflex of the railroad's intimate touch with every man, woman, and child all the way across the land. sitting on the porch of his home at dusk, the farmer looks out over his broad acres, sees the great industrial aids that american invention has given him for the growing and the harvesting of his crops and forgets, perhaps, that on each of these mechanical devices he has paid a toll to the railroad. but when he looks to his wheatlands he must recall that it is the railroad that carries forth their crops--not only to the cities and towns of the united states, but to the bread-hungry land, far overseas. in those markets he competes with the wheat from lands so far distant that they seem like mere names wrenched from the pages of the geography book--argentina, india, australia. because of this alone, it is nationally important that the steel highways which lead from our seaport gateways inland to the wheat and corn fields be kept healthy and efficient. they have become integral parts of that broad national policy which says that the united states is no longer isolated or insular but one of the mighty company of world nations. will you permit me for a moment to enlarge upon this point--this competition between our farmer of the west and the farmer of the argentine republic, of india, of australia, and of the nations of the baltic sea in the market of the consuming nations of the world? as the wheat fields of each of these nations are nearer tidewater than the wheat fields of the united states, it long ago became necessary for our railroads to lower the transportation rate for grain in order that the american farmer might not become submerged in this great international competition. that this has been done, a single illustration will show: a bushel of wheat today is transported from the center of the great granary country of our northwest or southwest to tidewater--an average distance of , miles--for cents. this is at the rate of . of a cent--a minute fraction over half a cent--per ton-mile. the average ton-mile rate in great britain, . cents, as applied to our average grain haul in the united states of , miles, would make the transportation cost of american wheat four and one-half times as much, or $ . . the american farmer owes a far greater debt to the railroad than he sometimes may believe. he may have suffered under the oppressions and injustices of badly managed roads--may yet be smarting from these oppressions and injustices. but how much greater would be the oppression and injustice of a high grain rate such as i have just shown? and if such a rate were imposed upon him, would he be able in an average year to grow wheat at a profit, to say nothing of being able to compete with it in the broad markets of the entire world? * * * * * a minute ago and we were speaking of the abnormal prosperity of the railroads. the flood first descended in october, . it rapidly mounted in volume. the railroads declared embargoes, first against this class of freight and then against that. solicitation ceased. the bright young men of their traffic forces were set to work helping the overworked operating departments, tracing lost cars and the like. the backs of their operating departments were all but broken. i myself saw last winter on the railroads for a hundred miles out of pittsburgh long lines of freight cars laden with war munitions and other freight making their slow and tedious ways toward tidewater. i saw bridgeport a nightmare, the railroad yards of every other connecticut town, congested almost overnight, it seemed. the new york terminals were even worse. for a long time it seemed as if relief might never reach them. it seemed wonderful, but it was not. it seemed like millions in railroad earnings, but it was not. translated into the unfeeling barometage of percentages it all represented but five and one-half per cent on the actual value of the railroads of the united states. and that, compared with the long season of lean years that had gone before, was as nothing. take the season of years from to --a season for which the statistical records are now complete. despite the great financial panic of , these were, in some lines of business, mighty prosperous years. the output of automobiles was to be measured not in hours but in the very fractions of minutes. you might figure the earnings of the "movies" well into the millions each twelvemonth; they were building new theaters in all the cities and the bigger towns, almost overnight it seemed. manufacturing and selling, nationally speaking, were up to the average. yet in those very years, it was necessary for some of our very best railroads--the best operated and the best financed, if you please--to dip into their previously accumulated assets to pay the dividends which they had promised to their stockholders, in several cases to either lower or omit dividends. and some of the best of these were also compelled to pinch their maintenance expenses to a point that brought them close to the safety line in operation, or even beyond it. and what of the weaker roads--the roads upon which whole communities, whole states, if you please, are frequently absolutely dependent? what did these roads do in such an emergency? the record speaks for itself. the best of these second-class railroads made no secret of the fact that they were cutting down on maintenance in order to pay their dividends or the interest upon their mortgage bonds. the worst of them simply marched down the highway to bankruptcy. at no time in the history of this country has as much of its railroad mileage been in the hands of receivers as today. if you are in that glorious company of self-appointed patriots who violently proclaim themselves at every possible opportunity "anti-railroad," you may be asking me now why so many of our roads have entered bankruptcy. you may be asking me if it is not due in some cases to bad location, and in others to inefficient or dishonest management. i shall reply to you by saying that perhaps fifty per cent of the railroads which are in bankruptcy today are there because they never should have been constructed in the first place and because of the financial management. the lack of judgment, ofttimes the sinister motives that brought them into being are now being paid for and paid for dearly. and in the second place, i will take no issue with you as to either carelessness or dishonesty in management of some of our railroads. "why is it that every investigation of a railroad nowadays shows such a rotten condition throughout its affairs?" asked a distinguished economist at a dinner in chicago last winter. e. p. ripley, the veteran president of the santa fé, answered that question. "it is because a road is never investigated until it is morally certain that its affairs are rotten," said he, and then told how but one or two rotten apples would send their foul odors through an entire barrel and so seemingly contaminate its entire contents. would you blacken a whole company because a few of its members have erred? take another instance. a club for a while shelters a genuine blackleg. are we to say that, because of this mere fact, its other members are not as good as any of us? so it is with the railroads. you cannot point even the finger of suspicion to such properties as the santa fé, the burlington, the pennsylvania, the north western, or the baltimore and ohio railroads--to mention a few out of many, many instances. these are good roads; in some instances because they have been extraordinarily well located, but in most instances because of their continuous enlightened management. yet some of them have been hard put to it of late to maintain their dividend obligations to their stockholders. and many roads have been compelled to lower or else suspend entirely the dividends paid in the years gone before. * * * * * "how about efficiency?" you may interject. you are not the first to ask that question. it was asked several years ago by a distinguished citizen of boston--louis d. brandeis, now a justice of the supreme court at washington. in the course of a rate hearing in which he appeared as counsel, brandeis asked the question, then answered it himself. "i could save the railroads of the united states a million dollars a day, by applying the principles of modern efficiency to their operations," was his quiet answer to his own interrogation. the remark was a distinct shock to the railroad executives, to put it mildly. some of them were angered by it. the wiser ones, however, went home and sent their secretaries scurrying out after all the books on the then new science of efficiency that could be found. the more they studied efficiency the less these wise men were inclined to anger against brandeis. some of them found that they had been practicing efficiency on their properties for a long time past--only they had not known it by that name. they had been rebuilding whole divisions of their lines, relocating and reconstructing them so as to lower grades and iron out curves--all to the ultimate of a more economical operation of their roads. a bettered railroad means invariably a cheaper one to operate. the saving in grades and curves--no matter what may be the initial cost--means a more than proportionate saving in fuel cost, as well as in wear and tear upon the track and cars. remember, if you will, that one of the biggest things that efficiency spells is economy. and economy is always a popular virtue in railroading, particularly among those gentlemen whose only interest in the railroads arises from the fact that they own them. if greater efficiency meant greater economy--well, perhaps it was just as well that that smart attorney from boston made his remark at the rate hearing, only perhaps he might have phrased it in a little less violent fashion. that is why a man like daniel willard, the remarkably efficient president of the baltimore and ohio railroad--the man who has done so much toward rehabilitating that one-time minstrel-show joke into one of the best railroad properties in the united states--spent days and nights reading every scrap about efficiency that could be brought to his attention, why he brought harrington emerson, one of the best-known of the efficiency experts into his own offices and staff, why, beginning with his great car and engine repair and construction shops, he is gradually extending the principles of modern scientific efficiency to every corner of the railroad which he heads. willard's example has been followed by other railroad executives. and it is because of these and other efficiency principles that the best of our railroads have been enabled to crawl through the hard years of the past decade, without going into bankruptcy. * * * * * it is a gloomy record--these lean years in egypt. they came succeeding a decade of apparent prosperity for most of the railroads. i say "apparent" advisedly. for, when you get well under the surface of things, you will find that even the first six or seven years of the present century were not genuinely prosperous for the overland carriers. dip into statistics for a moment. they are dry and generally uninteresting things but nevertheless they are the straws which will show the way the wind is blowing. look at these: in the net capitalization of our railroads was, in round figures, $ , , , . six years later, or at the end of the greatest period of material prosperity that the united states has ever known, this capitalization had increased to $ , , , --approximately thirty-seven per cent. a great deal has been written about railroad capitalization--a great deal without knowledge of the real facts in the case, and a great deal more with knowledge but also with malicious intent. these figures speak for themselves. translated, they represent the expenditures of the railroads for permanent improvements and expansions during that busy seven-year period. at first glance an expenditure of more than $ , , , is staggering. yet what are the facts? the facts are that hardly one of these roads expended enough that memorable season to keep pace with the vast demands of the freight and passenger traffic--particularly the freight--upon them. we experienced great railroad congestions during the winters of , , , and . and the loss to the large users of railroad facilities because of these earlier congestions is no vague thing; it can be figured high in the millions of dollars. and furthermore it can be said that there is no period of expansion in recent american commercial history that has not been both limited and hampered by the lack of transportation facilities. what a commentary this, on our so-called national efficiency! * * * * * today we are just crossing the threshold of what seems to be an even greater period in the industrial expansion of the nation.[ ] yet how are our railroads prepared to meet their great problem? in , as we have already seen, they met it by an expansion of their physical facilities. but in the railroads had credit. in the credit of many of them had become a rather doubtful matter. and this, of course, has been a serious detriment to their expansion--to put it mildly. an analysis of the service, both freight and passenger, of the railroads in the year , the last of the "big years" in railroad traffic, compared with that of --the most recent year whose figures are available--is illuminating in estimating railroad credit today, or the lack of it. the passenger-mile--representing the progress of one train over one mile of track--is the unit of that form of traffic. in the total passenger-miles had increased to , , , from the total of , , , in --or . per cent. similarly the ton-mile is the unit of freight transportation. as the name indicates, it represents the carrying of one ton of goods of any description for a mile. in the ton-miles had grown to , , , from , , , --or twenty-two per cent. but, as the traffic grew, it was necessary that the railroad should grow. despite supreme difficulties in finding credit it did manage to invest some $ , , , in property expansions and reconstructions during the seven years from to . yet this very money must be paid for, and, in view of the gradually impaired credit, paid for rather generously. at five per cent, this expenditure represents an added annual interest charge of $ , , to the railroads of the united states, a figure whose great size may be the better appreciated when one realizes that it is considerably more than half a million dollars a day. against this increased outgo one must measure increased revenues for over , of $ , , --one deals in large figures when one speaks of the earnings and expenses of more than a quarter of a million miles of railroad. yet even increased earnings of more than $ , , are not so impressive when one finds that operating expenses and taxes in were $ , , higher than in . and both operating expenses and taxes are far higher in than they were in . hold this picture up to the light. i have begun to develop the huge plate for you. now study its details for yourself. an investment of $ , , , --more than ten times the cost of the panama canal--produced, at the end of a seven-year cycle, increased transportation earnings of more than $ , , ; yet it required $ , , , or an excess in a single year of more than $ , , , to meet the pay-roll, material tax, and other costs of operating the railroads. and in this figure we have not taken account of that annual interest charge of more than half a million dollars a day for the huge $ , , , investment fund. that interest charge cannot be ignored. bankers demand their pay. add the deficit in a single year--a normal year, if you please. here it is--$ , , plus $ , , --and you have a total deficit of $ , , . and this is but a single year. the years that preceded it were no better. the money that went to meet these deficits was provided from some source. where did it come from? most of the big railroaders know. they will tell you, without much mincing of words, that it came from previous accumulations of surplus, or else from money withheld from the upkeep of the physical property of the railroads. of this last, much more in due course. for the present moment, consider that great $ , , , expenditure between and for additions and betterments. it was none too much--not even enough when one comes to consider it beside the great expansions in service as represented by the showings of passenger-miles and ton-miles. and yet today, as we shall see in due course, the railroads stand in need of far greater development and expansion than ever before in their history. five or six years ago that supreme railroader, james j. hill, estimated that the railroads of america would need a further expenditure of $ , , , a year upon their properties before they would be in shape even to decently handle the traffic that would be coming to them before the end of the present decade. hill was a master railroader who stood not only close to his properties but close to the great territory which they serve. he knew that the states of the union which are west of the mississippi river had been developed to only twenty-seven per cent of their ultimate possibilities. it would be hard to state the lack of development of the railroads of that territory in exact percentage. it certainly would be a figure far less than twenty-seven. if you are a traveler at all familiar with the middle west and the south; if you are traveling steadily and consistently these years over all of their rail routes, you must have been convinced of their appalling condition. many of their main lines are deplorable; their branch lines are unspeakable. branch-line service in every part of the land has been a neglected feature of railroad opportunity--as we shall see in due course. but in the middle west and in the south they are at their worst. if they do not actually cry aloud from a physical standpoint for reconstruction, their service, or the lack of it, certainly does. yet the people, the communities, and the industries which are situated upon them are entitled to a railroad service which shall enable them to compete upon an even basis with the communities and industries which are situated upon rich and efficiently managed railroads. i feel that this is an economic principle to which there can be no dissent. and i think also that there can be no dissent to the wretched plight of many of the roads of the middle west and the south--more particularly the southwest. in rough figures, the prosperous railroads of the land, representing some forty per cent of its mileage, are able to give service to their patrons; sixty per cent are unable to render a proper service. but even in the prosperous sections of the west--of the larger proportion of the country--one who rides and sees and thinks cannot fail to be impressed with another great cost, yet to come. i am speaking of the removal of tens of thousands of highway grade crossings, in our towns and cities and in the open country. already a good beginning has been made; but it is as nothing compared with the work which remains to be done. the coming of the automobile has hastened the necessity of the completion of this work. the railroads have contrived many ingenious and perfected methods of safeguarding their highway grade crossings. the best of them are most inadequate, however. the fact remains--a fact that must be particularly patent to you when you ride across michigan, or indiana, or illinois, or iowa, or any of their sister states--that here is a great and vastly expensive work awaiting the railroads of this country. in the larger cities--new york, boston, buffalo, chicago, st. louis, kansas city, to name a few striking examples--many millions have been expended in this work within the past few decades. while the several communities--in some instances the state treasuries--have borne a portion of these expenditures, the burden has fallen invariably upon the backs of the railroads. fortunately the railroads which have succeeded in absolutely eliminating many of their highway crossings--and, in so doing, reducing a large part of their accident claims--have been the wealthier roads. but that is little satisfaction to a community unfortunate enough to be situated on the lines of a bankrupt road. the chances are that its grade crossings, being more poorly protected, are more dangerous. one thing more, while we are upon this subject and are speaking particularly of this lack of development of the railroads of the west and of the southwest. it is an interesting fact that there are but three railroads--the santa fé, the union pacific, and the southern pacific--which have done any considerable amount of double-tracking west of the missouri river. yet, as we shall see when we come to the military necessity of our railroads, it is only a double-track railroad which is competent to handle any really considerable volume of traffic. and it is equally true that it is more than foolish to attempt to build or to develop any considerable mileage of branch lines until there are double-track main stems to serve it adequately. james j. hill had all these things in mind when he made his definite statement as to the financial needs of the railroads of the united states during the present decade. and he did not need to give consideration to the abnormal traffic which the great war has given to our railroads. the normal development of the west, its gigantic possibilities, were sufficient to convince that man of great vision, to set his ready pencil at statistics. as a matter of fact and in view of the record of these past half-dozen years, the average well-posted railroader of today will tell you that hill was only conservative in his estimate. but, being even more conservative ourselves, let us allow that, if the railroads had been unhampered during the past decade, they would have expended as high as $ , , , a year in permanent improvements.[ ] ten billions instead of four! ten billions of dollars makes dramatic comparison even with our great trade balance that has accumulated during the european war--the excess of exports over imports already amounting to only a little over $ , , , . and as to what it would have meant to industrial america, poured out through many channels, raw materials, manufactured goods, labor--it takes no stimulated mind to imagine. the flush period into which the war has suddenly plunged us can give a fair indication. * * * * * now consider for a moment not the possible expansion that the railroad might have made in the last decade and did not, and see how it has failed in the ordinary upkeep of its property. this last phase of its plight bears directly upon the great railroad financial problem as it exists in this year of grace, --the epochal year in which the roads need to replenish their equipment; the year in which they find the doors of the money markets, open to almost all other forms of industrial investment, all but closed in their faces. by equipment, i now speak in the broad sense of the word not merely of cars and locomotives but tracks and bridges and terminals as well--the entire physical aspect of the properties. yet take, if you will, the word "equipment" in its narrow and technical sense. the sense of railroad necessity is not lessened. the other day the massachusetts public service commission complained that the largest of the railroads operating out of boston was using in its suburban service some wooden passenger coaches, varying in age from twenty-five to forty years. the railroad did not deny that allegation. it merely said that it had no money with which to buy modern coaches. its condition is typical. week after week in the glorious autumn of the year of grace , the news columns of the commercial pages of our morning newspapers were telling with unvarying monotony of the shortage of freight cars as bulletined by the american railway association-- , this week, , last, , next--who knows? the merchant and the manufacturer know. they know in shipments of every sort delayed; in the delays running into sizable money losses week upon week and month upon month. it may not be able to convince them that at the close of the fiscal year --the period upon which we are working--there were upon the roads of the united states , , freight cars, a number which, although greatly added to since that date, has not yet been made adequate for the normal traffic demands of the country.[ ] and a large proportion of these cars are both obsolete and inadequate. in , out of the , , freight cars some , were of a capacity of but , pounds or under--a type today considered obsolete by the most efficient operating man. a great majority of this latter number of cars was of all-wood construction. if the financial condition of the railroads had permitted, they doubtless would have been replaced long since with all-steel cars of far greater carrying capacity. this situation in the freight-car equipment is reflected in larger measure in the passenger-car and locomotive situation. there are railroads in the united states that today are compelled by the exigencies of a really serious situation to operate locomotives whose very condition is a menace not only to the men who must ride and operate them but also to the passengers in the trains they haul. the annual number of serious delays that may be charged to "engine failure" is appalling.[ ] now consider "equipment" in its broader sense. expert railroaders will tell you that save in the case of the larger and more prosperous roads, there has been, in the course of the past seven or eight years, a serious depreciation in the maintenance of the way and structure of the railroad. in the prosperous years from to a very great improvement was made in this physical feature of the railroad. in the last of these years the american railroad reached the highest standard of physical perfection that it has ever known. in came the great panic. it made drastic economies immediately necessary. the railroads in their anxiety to meet, first, their dividends, and second, their interest obligations, pinched maintenance to the extreme limit. this was effective in two ways: in the first place the great preponderance of roads did not have earnings to make ordinary improvements, nor credit to provide the capital charge that would apply for improved rights of way, bridges, stations, freight houses, shops, and the like. expert track engineers say that the loss in the maintenance of line during these lean years in egypt that have just passed will average at least $ , a mile. multiplied by a total of , miles of railroad line in the united states this means that the railroads are "back" in the upkeep of their lines alone some $ , , .[ ] an expert railroader of my acquaintance takes this great figure--considerably exceeding the cost of the panama canal--adds to it as representing a carefully ascertained deficiency in the replacement of rolling stock an almost equal sum--$ , , . to these he further adds the dividends paid by the solvent roads out of their surpluses during the seven hard years--$ , , --and the depreciation of the value of the securities of the roads in bankruptcy during the same period--$ , , . the total of these four great items is $ , , , --a sum instantly comparable with that of the national debt. there is, however, from a bookkeeping standpoint, at least, an offset against these losses in the equipment account of $ , , which has, under a wise ruling of the interstate commerce commission, been charged to expenses during the seven years and set up as a reserve to meet the accruing deficiency of equipment. however, there have been no restrictions as to the maintenance of this fund, or how it should be handled. the very prosperous lines--representing some , miles, or less than half the total mileage of the country--probably have their contribution to this depreciation fund as an asset. in the case of the poorer roads--speaking financially--it doubtless has been applied to other purposes, in order to help them maintain their bare existence. it has come home to these, and with great force, that the governing conditions which make their income fixed take little cognizance of the vast annual increases in material, in tax, and in labor costs. in rough figures--decidedly rough, it seems to me--it has been estimated that the losses of our railroads during the past ten years alone have amounted to approximately one-half the entire cost of the civil war. that figure is impressive--it is little less than appalling. even with the depreciation accounts of the american railroads deducted as an asset, we still have this awe-inspiring total of $ , , , confronting us. some of this--the unpaid dividends of more than seven attenuated years--is water that will never come to the mill again. but the neglected rights of way, the ancient buildings, and the bridges needing rehabilitation on some of our railroads, the locomotives and the cars travel-racked and fairly shrieking for repairs, are all of them physical matters that must be set right before the sick man of american business can stand firmly on his feet once again. and when these things are done, the railroad will stand physically just where it stood from eight to nine years ago. and who can deny that it should stand nine years ahead of instead of nine years behind it? chapter iii organized labor--the engineer so much then for the physical condition of the railroad as it exists today--the condition that constantly is being reflected in its inability to handle the supertides of traffic that, in this memorable winter that ushers in , are coming to its sidings and to the doors of its freight houses. consider now the condition of its great human factor--its relations with its employees. i am sure that you will find this, in many ways, in quite as deplorable a condition as the track and physical equipment. it is a condition that steadily has grown worse, instead of better--and this despite a constant improvement in the quality of the individual men in railroad service. there is not an honest-speaking railroad executive all the way across the land who cannot tell you that he would a dozen times rather deal with the average individual railroader of today than with the average individual railroader of, let us say, a quarter of a century ago. with the railroader's boss--his grand chief and any of the smaller chiefs--well, here is a far different matter. but there has been a steady improvement in the quality of railroaders--of every sort and degree. if you have traveled upon our steel pathways for twenty years or more you must have noticed that yourself. the transition of the rough-looking, rough-speaking, rough-thinking brakeman into the courteous trainman comes first to my mind. and if the old-time conductor with lantern on his arm has disappeared, there has appeared a diplomat in his stead, a gentleman with whom we are soon to become a little better acquainted. we still have railroad wrecks, some of them admittedly the fault of the engineer. but apparently we have ceased to have railroad wrecks due to the fact that there was a drunken man in the engine cab. the last serious wreck where this accusation was made was near corning, new york, on the night of the fourth of july, . more than forty persons lost their lives in a rear-end collision and the railroad which paid the damages, both in money and in reputation, did its very best to follow up a suspicion in its mind that the engineer of the second train was drunk when he climbed into its engine cab. it was never able to prove that charge. and one of the best things that you may say about that extraordinarily well-organized union--the brotherhood of locomotive engineers--has been its unceasing efforts to drive out drinking among its members. its record along these lines is of unspotted cleanliness. do you happen to know of rule g, that stringent regulation in the standard rule books of the operating departments of the railroads of america, which is written not alone against the use of liquor by employees when on or off duty but also against their frequenting the places where liquor is sold? time was when the abuse of rule g sometimes was winked at, upon certain roads. that time has passed. today it is perhaps the most stringently observed of all the manifold commandments in american railroading. and the influence of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers has done much toward consummating that very end. a little while ago an engineer running on one of the soft-coal roads of west virginia suspected one of his fellows in the engine cab of drinking. it disturbed him more than a little. finally he went to the man. "jim," said he, in the course of their heart-to-heart talk, "you've simply got to cut out the stuff or--" "if i don't, what?" "if you don't i'm a-goin' to take it up at the lodge. you know the brotherhood's against that sort of thing." jim laid his hand upon the other's arm. "don't do _that_," he protested. "i'd a whole sight rather you'd report me, if you feel that you've got to report me, to the superintendent." there was no doubt in that engineer's mind as to the stand of the biggest of the brotherhoods on rule g. nor is that stand based entirely on sentiment. the men who stand at the head of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers never lose sight of the responsibility that rests upon the man in the engine cab. it is one of the strongest arguments which they may use in their appeals for increased wages. it is an argument which meets with ready and popular approval in the minds of the public which rides back and forth upon the railroad trains of america. and no stronger support can be offered by the strongest of their organizations than an adherence to rule g that is practical as well as theoretical. responsibility in the engine cab! who is going to deny that the engineer has a superb responsibility--from the moment when he arrives at the roundhouse and signs for and receives his engine to the moment when he "checks out" at the terminal at the far end of his run? to the better appreciate the fullness of such responsibility, one would do well to climb into the cab of one of our fast trains and watch the man there at his task. so, if you would know something of the man in the engine cab, come and ride a little way with him. it is not easily arranged. the railroaders have grown very strict in the enforcement of the rule which forbids strangers in the engine cabs. it is one of the ways in which they have been tightening their safety precautions. yet in this one instance it can be arranged. you sign tremendously portentous legal "releases," whose verbiage, freely translated, gives you the distinct impression that you are going to your sure doom. but you are not. you are going to ride with jimmie freeman, crack passenger engineer of one of the best and the biggest of our eastern railroads. you are going to have a close look at the man in the engine cab. * * * * * forty minutes before the leaving time of freeman's train her big k-i engine backs into the terminal from the roundhouse and is quietly fastened to the long string of heavy cars. the engineer went over the big, clean, lusterless mechanism before it left the inspection-pit at the roundhouse. it is part of his routine; part of his pride as well. and even though it cuts him out of a sunday dinner with his folks in the little house at the edge of the town, he prefers that it be so. in his simple, direct way he tells you that he has the same satisfaction in speeding a locomotive on which, by personal inspection, he knows that every bolt and nut is in the proper position, that a crack chauffeur has in speeding a good car up the boulevard knowing that it, too, is in condition--engine, driver, axles, all the hundred and one friction parts that must work truly, even at high speed and under the great heat that high speed generates in a bearing. for remember that freeman's limited is a crack train--its name a household word at least halfway across the land. he came to it five years ago--a prize for an engine-runner who had judgment, who had kept a good "on time" record for eight years with a less important passenger train; a man who knew the complications of a locomotive as you and i know the fingers of our two hands. it was not a "seniority" appointment. the "seniority" jobs come to the very oldest of the passenger engineers who, because of the very length of their service, are permitted to pick and choose the runs that would suit them best. these rarely are the very fast runs. they are more apt to be some modest local train making its way up a branch line and back, where there is little congestion of traffic and a throttle-man's nerves are not kept on edge every blessed moment that he is on the job. [illustration: the engineer oiling is too important a matter to be deputed, so he attends to it himself.] jimmie freeman did not pick his job. it picked him. it picked him because he had nerve, a steady head, good physique, a knowledge of the locomotive and of all of its whims and vagaries. and if his is one of the hardest jobs on the big road for which he works, he is perhaps only one of a half-thousand passenger engineers it might pick from its ranks and find fully able to measure to it. * * * * * an air signal over the engineer's head rasps twice; a starting signal. he pulls out the throttle ever and ever so little a way--a distance to be measured in inches and fractions of inches--and the limited is in motion. "we're sixty seconds late in getting off," says freeman as he replaces his watch and settles down for the forty-mile pull up to b----, the first stop and scheduled to be reached in forty-three minutes. that means, with "slow orders" through station yards, as well as one or two sharp curves and a steep grade midway, that jimmie will have no time to loaf on the straight-aways--he calls them "tangents." "green on the high," says the fireman, as the big k-i ducks her head under a signal bridge and her pilot trucks find their way to the long crossover that brings her from the platform track in the tangle of the terminal yard over to a "lead-track," which in turn gives to the "main," stretching out over the sunshiny open country to distant b----. "yellow on the low," calls the fireman again as the engine slips under still another signal bridge and finds her way to the long, unbroken sweep of the beginning of the "main." freeman repeats the signals. for his part he is supposed to read them all the way to p----, where his run ends and the limited goes, bag and baggage, upon the rails of a connecting road. he is supposed to read, the fireman to repeat. as a practical thing it is sometimes out of the question. the cab of the big passenger puller is far from a quiet place. there is the dull pound of the drivers over the smooth rails, the roar of the great fire between them, the deafening racket of the forced draft that pours into it. the cab does not lend itself to conversation. but if freeman does not repeat the signal indications audibly he does it mentally. it is part of his job. and the mere repeating of the signal does not assure safety. * * * * * once, a number of years ago and upon another railroad, i rode in the cab of a fast passenger train. the road ran straight for many miles and across a level country. each mile of its path was marked by a clock signal, gleaming against the night. the engineer shouted each of those signals, and his fireman echoed them back. "white," he would call--for white was then the safety color, not the green that has been almost universally adopted now. "white it is," would come the reply. and in another mile: "white," and "white she is." and once my heart all but leaped into my mouth. the block showed red--red, the changeless signal for danger. but our engineer did not close his throttle or reach for the handle of his air brake. "red," he chanted in his emotionless fashion; but the fireman altering his echo to "red she is," looked up for a moment into his chief's face. the chief never moved a muscle. sixty seconds later he shouted again. "white." "white she is," repeated the fireman, and grinned as he thrust another shovelful of coal into the fire box. after the run was over and we sat at the comfortable eating counter of the railroad y.m.c.a., i asked the engineer why he had run by that red signal. he hesitated a moment. "man alive," said he, "do you suppose i can afford to bring my train to a full stop every time one of those pesky blocks gives me the bloody eye? i could get the next two blocks and saw they were safe. i know every inch of the line, and knew that there was not an interlocking"--meaning switches and crossing tracks--"within ten miles of us. the block was out of order and i knew it. and i was right." "suppose there was a broken rail in that block," i suggested, "wouldn't that break the current and automatically send the signal to danger?" the engineer did not answer that quickly. he knew the point was well taken. finally, pressed, he said that his was a "penalty train," which meant that it carried the mail and excess-fare passengers and that it would cost his railroad dollars and cents if it were more than thirty minutes late at its final terminal. to have stopped this train flat at the red signal, when he felt morally certain and could practically see that the line was clear and open, would have cost fifteen minutes or more. if the practice was repeated and even his detention sheets showed that the time lost was due to stopping at a signal that was out of order, he would not be censured. oh, no! but sooner or later there would be a new man on that run--a man who had the reputation of bringing his train in on time over his division. that was what the engineer told me that night as we munched our crullers and sipped our coffee. * * * * * freeman tells another story. freeman says that he never ran past a red signal in his life and that he could not have held his run on the limited for five long years if he had not been in the habit of bringing her in "in her time." freeman speaks a good word for the signals. you take note of it. then you remember that in one of the innumerable cases that came up before the interstate commerce commission down in washington, the engineer of the congressional limited testified that in the five-hour run from the national capital up to the outskirts of new york he had to read and understand and observe exactly signals. it was one of the things that he said made his job difficult. yet when this run today is over and we are standing with freeman by the side of the turntable in the big and smoky roundhouse, as his big long-boned black baby is edging gently into her bunk for a few hours of well-earned rest, he will tell you frankly that he has a genuine affection for the signals that stand to beckon him on or to halt him in his run of miles up the main line. "i just let myself think of another fairly fast run i had once--up on a side line, single-track at that, where there wasn't but two interlockings the whole distance or a single block protection from one end to the other." then he adds, "i'd hate without the signals to pull twenty-four at a sixty-mile-an-hour clip. to my mind they're like watchmen, with flags or lanterns every mile up the main line. only a watchman couldn't see a mile and know of a break in the rail, the way that electric block knows it. talk about a thing being human. that toy's better than human. it has a test record of less than one per cent of failures, and in that small failure record, ninety-eight per cent of the actual failures turned the signal automatically to danger." on freeman's road they do not penalize a man for failing to make his time, by finding some other excuse and then quietly removing him from his run. on the contrary, there are maximum speed limits for every mile of the main line and its branches--ways by which the road knows that the maximums are not being exceeded. and freeman likes to quote the big boss of one of the big roads--daniel willard, come from an engine cab to be president of the baltimore and ohio railroad. once, when discussing this very question, willard said: "if there is a rule on our railroad that delays an engineman and tends to prevent his making his schedule time we want to know it--at once. if we believe the rule is wrong we will remove it. if not, and it delays the trains, we will lengthen their running time." in fact, the steady tendency of all american roads during the past ten years has been toward lengthening schedules rather than shortening them. the two whirlwind trains between new york and chicago now take twenty hours for the trip, instead of eighteen, as was the case when they were first installed. the famous run of the jarrett and palmer special in , from jersey city to oakland on san francisco bay, in four days flat, still stands almost as a transcontinental record, while the fastest running time ever accredited to a locomotive-- - / miles an hour by a new york central locomotive with four cars, for a short distance between rochester and buffalo--was accomplished more than twenty years ago. the railroads are playing fairer with their jimmie freemans. the men who sit on the right-hand side of the engine cabs appreciate that. they know the responsibility that sits unseen, but not unnoticed, at the side of the man who guides the locomotive. * * * * * "we've passed the sixty mark," shouts freeman's fireman into your ear. above the din of the engine you catch his words as the faintest of whispers. and you look ahead at the curving track. curving? forever curving, and each time it swerves and the path that we are eating up at the rate of eighty-eight feet to the second is lost behind the brow of a hill or through a clump of trees, your heart rises to your mouth and you wonder if all is well just over there beyond. and then you remember that the friendly raised arm of the block semaphore has said "yes." the engineer's figure is immobile but his mind is alert. his touch upon the throttle is as light as that of a child. his face, half hidden behind his great goggles, is expressionless. yet behind those same protecting glasses the windows of his soul are open--and watching, watching, forever watching the curving track. sometimes the track curves away from his side of the cab, and then the fireman climbs up on his seat behind and picks up the lookout. but he does not pick up freeman's responsibility. * * * * * freeman has a high regard for signals. he never permits them to become monotonous. "if ever i get that way, i'll know it myself," says he, "and it will be high time for me to get out." after all, his service on this extra-fast train may not exceed ten years. a man whose nerve was not iron and his physique steel could not last one-third of that time. according to the insurance figures of the brotherhood of locomotive engineers, to which freeman and most of his fellows belong, eleven years and seven days is the average length of service for an engineer upon an american railroad. the railroad managers figure it a little differently and place the average at something over twelve years. and out in the west, where the railroads span the mountains and thread the canyons, the man in the engine cab will rarely last more than six years. of course the situation varies on different railroads. before me lies the report of the boston and albany railroad--impressive because of the length of the service of the engineers of that staunch property. it is the habit of that railroad to give annual passes to the employees who have been in its service more than fifteen years. more than half of its engineers receive such passes. and early in the present year it retired from active service engineer james w. chamberlain, who had been in its employ more than fifty-three years. and for a dozen years past chamberlain had been piloting two of the road's fastest trains between boston and springfield. you cannot always rely upon averages. * * * * * we are within five miles of b----, where our ride in the engine cab ends. around us is the typical vicinage of a growing american town already almost great--gas tanks, factories, truck gardens, encroaching upon these the neat pattern of new streets upon which small houses are rearing their heads--close round about us the railroad yards, vast in their ramifications and peopled with a seemingly infinite number of red and blue and yellow freight cars. there is a trail of them close beside freeman's arm. the trail culminates in a caboose which shows flags and we know that it is a freight that has just come scampering down the line into the yard--a bare five or six minutes leeway to get out of our way--out of the way of the trains whose delays mean personal reports and excuses to the "old man," a practical, hard-headed railroader who has a fine contempt for excuses of every sort. "you writer fellows like to talk about the heroes of the engine cab," says the fireman; "the boy who is pulling that greasy old baldwin comes nearer being a hero than jimmie or any of the rest of the passenger bunch." there is nothing cryptic in his meaning. he means that the freight engineer, pulling a less carefully maintained piece of motive power, to which had been added not only its full working capacity of cars, but as many extra as an energetic and hard-pressed trainmaster may add, up to the risk point of an engine-failure and consequent complete breakdown out upon the main line, must keep out of the way of the gleaming green and gold and brass contraption that has the right of way from the very moment that she starts out from the terminal. yet it is the freight-puller and his train that are earning the money that must be used to pay the deficit on the limited that whirls by him so contemptuously. for that proud and showy thing of green and gold and brass has never been a money-earner--and never will be. everyone with the road says that of her. they call her a parasite and say things about solomon in all his glory when they look at the gay flowers in her dining cars and the rampant luxury in her lounging cars--but how they do love her! it is the parasite of which they brag, and not the dull and dusty freight. * * * * * it is forty minutes since we first pulled out of the terminal and our journey with freeman began. and now, a few blocks away and around a sharp curve to the left, is the big and sprawling passenger station at b----, with the twilight shadows gathering beneath the roof of its expansive train shed. and freeman has already put on the air brakes, the big engine is feeling its way cautiously through the maze of tracks and switches while once again you hear the fireman call the signals. three minutes later the train is halted--beside the long platform under that great and smoky shed, folk are getting on and off the cars--there is all the gay confusion that marks the arrival and the departure of an important train. but there is no confusion about freeman. with his long-nosed oil can in hand he is around the front of "his baby," making sure that she is attuned for her next long leap up the line. freeman takes no chances. instead, he takes each and every opportunity for renewed inspections of his locomotive. responsibility in the engine cab! one cannot deny that it exists there. one finds it hard to confound the hard fact that the engineer is worthy of a good wage--how good a wage is the only point to be determined. for responsibility must be well paid--whether it is responsibility at the dispatcher's desk, in the lonely signal tower, in the track-foreman's shanty, in any of the many, many forms of railroad operation where the human factor in safety can never be eliminated--where danger ever lurks, just around the corner and within easy reach of the outstretched hand. the engineer has his full share of responsibility. but he has no monopoly of it. chapter iv organized labor--the conductor here is another of the well-organized and protected forms of the railroad's labor--the conductor. he will tell you that a goodly measure of responsibility rests upon his own broad shoulders. yet your veteran railroad executive does not regard his conductor so much as a responsibility man as a diplomat. this last, after all, is his chief rôle. you gather your brow. you do not understand. "i thought," you begin slowly, for you have made some sort of a study of this big game of railroading, "i thought that the traveling freight and passenger agents, all that solicitous company which travels through the highways and byways of the land, the big towns and the small, seeking out traffic, for the railroad, were regarded as its diplomats." you are partly right--partly wrong. for the real diplomat of the railroad is multiplied in its service, far more than the freight or the passenger agents. the humblest and the rarest of passengers do not fail to see him. the man who rides on the railroad train for the first time in his life comes into almost instant touch with him. you yourself have seen him many times making his way down the aisle of the car; stopping patiently beside each of his passengers--we use the phrase "his passengers" advisedly--greeting old friends with cheery nods; upholding the dignity of the railroad and his own authority--quietly, but none the less surely--time and time again. here, as we shall come in a moment to understand, is a real diplomat of the railroad--an autocrat of no small authority in those rare instances where he may fail to be a gentleman. and all this stands to the infinite credit of more than , conductors in the railroad service across the land. we have just called him an autocrat. remember, however, that for the safe movement of his train up and down the railroad's busy lines he shares, in an important degree, the responsibility with the man with whom we have just ridden in the engine cab; but the engineer cannot very well make or lose business for his railroad unless he stops his train too sharply and too many times. the conductor--well, we are going to see him in his rôle of peacemaker plenipotentiary to the public. it, of itself, is a rôle where he can be and is of infinite value to the railroad. * * * * * do you chance to recall the conductor of yesteryear--conceding no more than his blue cap to the growing use of uniforms in a republican country; somewhat unkempt perhaps as to clothes--yet benevolent and fatherly in his way? did that sickly-looking woman at the end of the coach fumble and then attempt a feeble and impotent smile when he asked her for her ticket? and did he, with a sublime myopia, pass her by without demanding that bit of pasteboard? your old-time conductor knew the difference between impostors--even in skirts--and empty-pocketed folks to whom a railroad journey might be a tragic necessity. a few years up and down the line, the constant study of the folk within his cars quickly taught him that. and it would have been a pretty poor sort of old-fashioned railroad that would not have allowed him discretion in such cases. your new-time railroad allows him little or no discretion in matters of this sort. your conductor of today, finally quite at ease in the trimness of his well-set uniform, his arm-lantern gone into the scrap heap in these days of electric-lighted cars, on most railroads has practically no opportunity to use his judgment in matters that pertain to the fares. if he lets anyone ride free on his train--and the boss learns of it--he hears dire threats about the interstate commerce commission, sees the yawning doors of the penitentiary close at hand. railroad managements have a way of using that law for the punishment of dishonest employees. so your conductor of today lacks the power of his brethren of an earlier day. they worked in a generation when the railroad still was a personal thing. men and families owned railroads as they might own farms or banks or grocery stores. they headed their own roads and they assumed an attitude toward their men, autocratic or benevolent as the case might be, but almost always distinctly personal. the railroad as a separate unit had not then grown beyond a point where that was possible and the big boss was a real factor in the lives of his men. they might come to have a real affection for him--such as they had for lucius tuttle, when he was president of the boston and maine--and call him by his first name. no higher compliment can come up from the ranks to a railroad executive. today discretion is discrimination in far too many cases. so reads the interstate commerce law about discrimination. it places discrimination in the same class with burglary and the shippers who had dealings with many of our railroads a quarter of a century ago are thanking all the political gods of the united states of america that this law was placed upon the statute-books; but it can be read too literally, just as the conductor of a modern train can be too sharp-sighted. here is a case, which from too fine or technical a reading of the law might be read into discrimination; in reality it was an instance of real discretion on the part of the conductor. a man--a nervous, tired man--was bound east through the state of new york upon the lake shore limited. his destination was kingston, which is situate upon the west bank of the hudson river, almost half way between new york and albany. the route of the lake shore limited is down the east shore of the river, without a stop between albany and new york. anyone who knows the hudson valley well knows how atrocious are the facilities for crossing the river at almost any point between those two cities. this tired, nervous man planned to catch the last train of the afternoon down the west shore railroad from albany to kingston. under normal conditions he had about thirty minutes' leeway in which to make the change; but on this occasion the lake shore limited was a little more than thirty minutes late and he did not alight at albany--he had no wish to hang around there until some time in the early morning. he decided that he would go through to new york, cross the city from the grand central station to weehawken and then go through to kingston on a night train. this meant extra miles of travel; but the man was in a very great hurry and with him time counted more than miles. as his train swept across the bridge and out of albany the conductor came through. he was a round, genial-faced fellow, typical of that other generation of train captains that one often finds upon the older railroads of the land; and the man from kingston halted him--told his story very much as we have told it here. "i didn't know but that, if you were going to stop for water at poughkeepsie, i might slip off some way," he finally ventured. "that would leave me less than twenty miles from home." the conductor did not hesitate. "we don't stop at poughkeepsie--for water or anything else," he said. "but i'll stop at rhinecliff for you." rhinecliff is on the east bank of the hudson, directly opposite kingston. that seemed too good to be true--and the man stammered out his thanks. "i didn't think you'd stop this crack train for anybody," he said quite frankly. "the time card doesn't--" "this train stops for the proper accommodation of the patrons of this road," interrupted the conductor, "and i'm its high judge. you lost out on your connection at albany through no fault of yours. it was our fault and we are doing our best to make it up to you." consider the value of such a man to the organization which employs him. that little act was worth more to the big railroad whose uniform he bore than a ton of advertising tracts or a month's service of its corps of soliciting agents. the kingston man crossed the river from rhinecliff in a motor boat and thanked the road and its conductor for the service it had rendered him. he was a large shipper and his factory in the western part of the state is in a hotly competitive territory; but the road that through the good sense of its employee had saved him much valuable time today hardly knows a competitor in his shipping room. discrimination? your attorney, skilled in the fine workings of the interstate commerce law, may tell you "yes," but we are inclined to think he is wrong, for the man was not permitted to alight at rhinecliff because he was anything more than a patron of the road. he had no political or newspaper affiliations to parade before the conductor; he did not hint at his strength as a shipper, he did not even give his name. if there is discrimination in that, i fail to see it. a certain man took a trip from new york to chicago three or four years ago. he went on a famous road, well conducted, and he returned on its equally famous competitor. each road had just conquered a mighty river by boring an electrically operated tunnel underneath it. the tunnel had been well advertised and the man, whose mind had a mechanical turn, was anxious to see both of them. in each case the train bore a wide-vestibuled day coach as its last car. in the first tunnel through which he passed he went to the rear of the day coach with the intention of taking a look at the under-river bore. he wanted to stand at the rear of the aisle and look through the door at the electrically lighted tube. but the conductor anticipated him. he drew down the sash curtain of the car door. "sorry," he said, "but the company's rules prohibit passengers from standing in the aisles." one might write a whole chapter on the thoroughly asinine rules that some roads have made for the guidance not only of their employees but of their patrons as well. but this man did not argue. he bowed dutifully to the strong arm of the rule book and went back to his seat--thoroughly cowed. but how different was the case on the other railroad, by which he returned from chicago! this second time he went to the rear of the train, recalling his first experience and the rebuff he had received. but this road and its conductor were of a different sort. this second conductor was fastening the outside doors of the vestibule at the rear of the last car and saying to the little group assembled there: "if you will wait a minute i will give you a chance to get out on this rear platform and see the big job we've been working on so long. we all of us are mighty proud of it." how much of an asset do you suppose this conductor was to his company? by this time the new-fangled railroad executive who reads this will be filled with disgust. "doesn't he know," i can hear him say, "that railroading has taken some pretty big strides within the past fifteen or twenty years? we're perfecting; we're systematizing. we've studied the motions of the bricklayer and we're dabbling in efficiency. we've modeled our railroads after the best of the standing armies of europe and we've begun to move men like units. that means that we've no room in railroad ranks for individualists. an individualist never makes an ideal unit and the new efficiency demands units--not thinkers!" does it? in the minds of a good many railroaders of the newer schools it seems to. yet some of these very same railroaders were overjoyed a little time ago--when the half-baked adamson eight-hour law was being jammed through congress--to see out from the middle west, from the rails of the santa fé, the union pacific, the milwaukee roads, veteran conductors coming forward, who not only did not hesitate to speak their minds against the measure, but actually sought out injunctions against it. what it might cost these men in prestige and in the affection of their fellows, in possible punishments by the lodges of their brotherhoods, the outside public may never know. it can be fairly assured that the price was no small one. would the railroad executives of the middle west have preferred that these men be units, rather than individualists? i think not. the truth of the matter is, that in its very desire to stand straight, the new school of railroading sometimes leans backward. we will grant that in the coming of the great combinations of new-time railroads it was a mighty good step to eliminate the haphazard, wasteful, inefficient old school of personal railroading. consolidation has effected some wonderful working advantages in the operation of our giant systems, and it is a grave question whether today, with the margin between income and operating cost constantly narrowing, if the eggs were unscrambled and the famous little old roads returned, they could be operated long and dodge the scrawny fingers of receivership. yet it is a fact that if they have gained in many ways by consolidation and centralization, they have lost something definite in the personal feeling which used to exist between their men and themselves. it was an asset that could hardly be expressed in dollars and cents. after the new york, new haven, and hartford railroad had absorbed the famous old colony--down there in the southeastern corner of massachusetts--it was five years before its conductors ceased to know it and to love it as the old colony. to older conductors the panhandle and the lake shore are still as real and as vital as if those beloved names still appeared upon the rolling stock. measure such an asset in dollars and cents if you can! you cannot, thank god, place a valuation upon such assets as affection and loyalty. so to your first qualities of dignity and authority and discretion--in these days we dare not call it discrimination--supplement those of affection and of loyalty. and to these add that of ability; for a conductor's entire work is not merely collecting his tickets and keeping the passengers of his train in good humor--though sometimes this last is a man's job by itself. he must bear in mind that bible of the railroad--the time card--the place his train takes upon it; its relation to every other train, regular and special, on the line. his mind must be--every minute that he is on the road--a replica of the dispatcher's, working in perfect synchronism with that of the controlling head who bends over the train sheet back at headquarters. this work, comparatively simple on a double-track line, becomes, in many instances, tremendously complicated upon the many miles of single-track railroads that still bear a heavy traffic up and down and across america. the "opposing trains" to be met and passed; the slower trains moving in the same direction to be overtaken and also passed; the complications of special movements--all these must be borne in accurate correlation as the conductor passes up or down the line. he may have extra cars to his train and an extraordinarily difficult crowd of passengers to handle, but he cannot for a moment ignore the most minute detail of the flimsy messages that are handed to him during the entire length of his trip. and back of his specific orders for the day he must ever carry the entire scheme of the division's operation. [illustration: the knight of the ticket punch courtesy, diplomacy, helpfulness are quite as much parts of his job as anything else. he is a distinctive american figure; no railroads elsewhere have his counterpart.] so here you have the passenger conductor--a real knight of the road, if you please--careful, discerning, courageous; a rare diplomat; perhaps in this commercial day of big things the spirit of the skipper of the famous old-time clipper ship incarnate! he is worthy of the great railroad empire of the world. in europe, the state railroads of germany and of france, the short, congested lines of great britain have not his counterpart. he is a product both of our nationalism and of the hard necessity that has hedged him in. and, in passing, it is worthy of note that some of the men who sit today in the highest executive positions of the greatest of our railroads have stood their long, hard turns with the ticket-punch. a recent and a peculiarly gifted chairman of the interstate commerce commission--edgar e. clark--was for many years a passenger conductor; his pride in his calling of those earlier years is unbounded. here i have shown you in a word the two strongest of the four types of railroad organized labor. for while there are organizations among some other forms of the railroads' employees, switchmen, telegraphers, and the like, it is the engineers, the firemen, the conductors, and the trainmen who hold the whiphand of authority over the railroad executive and the politician alike. they have a power that is to be feared--they have said it themselves. and the politicians, the public, a good many of the biggest railroad executives have believed it. once in a while you will find a railroad executive--like that stern old lion, edward payson ripley, who brought the santa fé railroad out of bankruptcy into affluence and became its president--who states his disbelief and states it so plainly that there can be no doubt as to its meaning. for a long time ripley has seen the handwriting on the wall. and so seeing, he has had small patience with the weak-kneed compromise that invariably has followed the so-called recurrent crises between the four big brotherhoods of the railroads and their employers. there is nothing weak-kneed about ripley and the rapidly growing group of executives rallying about him. it must come to an issue, open warfare if you please. in such a war either the railroads or their labor will win. but upon the victory, no matter how it may go, definite economic policy may be builded. you cannot build either definite or enduring policy upon compromise. our own civil war and the weak-kneed years of compromise that preceded it ought to show that to each of us, beyond a shadow of a doubt. * * * * * we are just passing through one of the periodic "crises" between the railroads and their four big brotherhoods. these "crises," which, up to the present time at least, have always ended in wage adjustments of a decidedly upward trend, are apt to be staged on the eve of an important election. they invariably are accompanied by threats of a strike--the german _der tag_ reduced to an american rule of terror. these threats are so definite as to leave nothing but alarm in the public breast. then arbitration may be brought to play upon the situation. there is a vast amount of understanding--accompanied by a still greater amount of misunderstanding. the big leaders of the big brotherhoods are no fools. they are skilled in the new-fangled science of publicity. and so are the railroads. yet finally the men get their increased wages--or a good part of what they have asked. and finally the cost is slipped along to the public, in the form of increased passenger fares or freight tariffs. then, sooner or later, the brotherhood railroad employee feels the increased cost of transportation distinctly reflected in his own rising cost of living. he feels it distinctly, because an instinctive idea of the manufacturer or the distributor is to add on the transportation cost to his manufacturing and selling cost, with something more than a fair margin. thus a general increase of five per cent in freight rates may only mean that it costs a fraction less than two cents more to ship a pair of shoes from boston to cleveland. but the manufacturer in boston is tempted to add five cents to his selling cost--to cover not only the increase in transportation, but other manufacturing-cost increases, less definite in detail but appreciable in volume. the wholesaler, under the same pressure from a steadily advancing cost of maintaining his business, makes his increase ten cents, and the retailer, not immune from the same general conditions which govern the manufacturer or the wholesaler, protects himself by placing an extra charge of twenty-five cents to his retail patron. if the final patron--the man or the woman who is to wear the shoes--protests, the retailer informs him that the recent increase in freight rates--well advertised in the public prints--is responsible for the new selling price. so has the increase in freight rates been magnified--both in reality and in the public mind. it is when the brotherhood man or his wife or daughter buys the shoes that they begin to pinch--economically, at least. it is not only shoes, it is clothing, it is foodstuffs, it is coal--the pressure gains and from every quarter. then the brotherhood man--engineer or conductor or fireman or trainman--rises in lodge-meeting and demands a better wage. his margin between income and outgo is beginning to narrow. he has a family to rear, a home to maintain--a pride in both. in the course of a short time the men at the top of the brotherhoods feel this mass pressure from below. they must yield to it. if they do not, their positions and their prestige will be taken away from them. so they get together, decide on the amount of the relief they must have, and begin their demands upon the railroads. and when the railroads, with their well-known cost sheets ever in front of them, show resistance, the threats of strike once again fill the air. gentle, peace-loving folk of every sort become alarmed. there is turmoil among the politicians, of every sort and variety. after that, arbitration. president wilson in his recent address to congress, in his accurate, authoritative way, laid great stress upon this very point of arbitration. he had laid stress upon it in the crisis of september, --when it looked as if railroad union labor and the executives of the railroads had come to an actual parting of the ways--and the country was to be turned from threats into the terrorizing actuality of a strike. only congress, which seems rarely able to realize that it can ever be anything else than congress and so bound to its traditions of inefficiency, chose to overlook this portion of the president's solution of the situation. it granted the eight-hour day--so called--but it was deaf to arbitration. said president wilson in his address: to pass a law which forbade or prevented the individual workman to leave his work before receiving the approval of society in doing so would be to adopt a new principle into our jurisprudence, which i take it for granted we are not prepared to introduce. but the proposal that the operation of the railways of the country shall not be stopped or interrupted by the concerted action of organized bodies of men until a public investigation shall have been instituted which shall make the whole question at issue plain for the judgment of the opinion of the nation is not to propose any such principle. the president is nearly always right--particularly so in domestic affairs. but never, in my knowledge, has he expressed himself with greater vigor and strength than in this particular instance. not that the principle is apt to be popular--quite the reverse is probable. there are employers of a certain type, also employees of a certain type, whose bitterness against any fair measure of arbitration is unyielding. the great railroad brotherhoods have never shown any enthusiasm over the idea, despite the fact that the two countries in which arbitration is strongest and most successful--australia and new zealand--are controlled by organized labor. there are railroad executives also who have been opposed to arbitration save where they might manipulate it to serve their own selfish ends. but these are the types of railroad chiefs who are beginning to disappear under the new order of things in america. theirs was another and somewhat less enlightened generation--particularly in regard to social economics. and even in the railroad the old order is rapidly giving way to the new. there is a class in america which enthusiastically receives arbitration--compulsory arbitration--and demands that it be extended in full to the railroad, as well as to every other form of industrial enterprise. i am referring to the average citizen--the man who stands to lose, and to lose heavily, while a strike of any magnitude is in progress. he is an innocent party to the entire matter. and he must be protected--absolutely and finally. that is why we must have arbitration--compulsory arbitration, for any arbitration which is not compulsory and practically final, is useless. we have had the other sort already and it has brought us nowhere. we had arbitration of the uncompulsory sort before the critical days at the end of last august. in the final course of events both the railroads and their brotherhood employees ignored it. and the average man, the man in the street, was ignorant of the fact that it had even been tried. after that sort of arbitration comes compromise, and compromise of that sort is a thin veil for failure. and failure means that the whole thing must be gone over once again. the circle has been completed--in a remarkably short space of time. it all is a merry-go-round, without merriment; a juggernaut which revolves upon a seemingly unending path. yet he is a real juggernaut. for while the brotherhood man may seek and obtain relief upon the lines which i have just indicated--how about the salaried man outside the railroad? and how about the man inside the railroad whom no strong brotherhood organization, no gifted, diplomatic leader of men protects? it is this last class--the unorganized labor of the railroad, that i want you to consider for a little time. it is obviously unfair, from any broad economic standpoint, that these men, far outnumbering the organized labor of the railroad, should be ignored when it comes to any general readjustment of its wages. yet, as a matter of fact, this is the very thing that has been coming to pass. and today it is one of the most pronounced symptoms of weakness in the great sick man of american business. chapter v unorganized labor--the man with the shovel in choosing the engineer and the conductor as the two very best types of organized labor upon the railroad i have had in mind the special qualifications that go with each. with the engineer one instantly links responsibility. and i think that in a preceding chapter i showed you with some definiteness that responsibility is never far from the engine cab. with the conductor one touches the diplomat of the rank and file of railroad service--one of the most frequent of the railroad's touching points with the public which it aims to serve. how about unorganized labor--the great groups of railroad workers who have no brotherhoods to look out for their rights or to further their interests? has organized labor a monopoly of responsibility or of diplomacy? i think not. and if you will permit me, i shall try to show you an unorganized worker whose responsibility is quite as constant and as great as that of the men in the engine cab. this man is the one who makes the path for the locomotive safe--he is the track foreman, or section-boss. and the station agent, not of the metropolitan city but rather of the smaller cities or even the villages that multiplied many times make up the america that we all know, may yield nothing to the conductor in diplomacy. of him, more in the next chapter. consider first, if you will, the section-boss--the man who makes the steel highway safe for you and me each time we venture forth upon it. it is obvious that no amount of brains in the engine cab, no skill, no sagacity, no reserve force, is going to compensate for a neglected track. a single broken rail may send the best-driven locomotive in the world into the ditch beside the right of way, a mass of tangled and useless scrap iron. the section foreman knows this. and knowing it does not diminish his own sense of responsibility. * * * * * sometimes when you sit in the observation end of the limited and look back idly upon the retreating landscape you will see him, shovel in hand, standing beside the track and glancing in a dazed fashion at a fast-flying luxury which he has never enjoyed. he seems, at first sight, to be a fairly inconsequential part in the manifold details of railroad operation. yet it would be well if you could come a little closer to this important human factor in the comfort and the safety of your trip; could understand more fully the difficulties of his work. first you would have to understand that from the very hour the railroad is completed it requires constant and exacting care to keep it from quick deterioration. continual strains of the traffic and the elements, seen and unseen, are wearing it out. temperature, wind, moisture, friction, and chemical action are doing their best to tear down the nicety of the work of man in building the best of his pathways. the effects of temperature--of the wonderful range of heat and cold which the greater part of america experiences and sometimes within a remarkably short space of time--are to expand, contract, and ofttimes to break the rails; to sever telegraph lines, the maintenance of which is so vital to the safe conduct of the railroad; to disrupt the equally important signal service. a single flat-wheeled freight car went bumping up a railroad side line in minnesota on a zero day a few winters ago and broke so many rails that it was necessary to tie up the entire line for twenty-four hours, until it could be made fit for operation once again. track looks tough. in reality it is a wonderfully sensitive thing. not only is the rail itself a sensitive and uncertain thing, whether it weighs pounds to the yard or pounds to the yard, but the ballast and the ties, and even the spikes, must be in absolute order or something is going to happen, before long, to some train that goes rolling over them. a large percentage of railroad accidents, charged to the account of the failure of mechanism, is due to this very thing. therefore the maintenance of track alone--to say nothing of bridges, culverts, switches, and signals--becomes from the very beginning a very vital, although little understood, feature of railroad operation. here then is the floor-plan of the job of the man who stands there beside the track as you go whizzing by and who salutes you joyously as you toss a morning paper over the brass rail. his own facilities for getting newspapers are rather limited. he is a type--a man typical, if you please--of , of his fellows who make the track safe for you. the brigadiers general of this sturdy corps of railroaders are the engineers of the maintenance of way. a very large road will boast several executives of this title, reporting in all probability to a chief engineer of maintenance. reporting to these from each superintendent's division is a division engineer--probably some chap out of tech who is getting his first view of railroading at extremely short range. he, in turn, will have his assistants; but he is probably placing his chief reliance on his track supervisors. now we are coming much closer to the man whom you see standing there beside your train. these track supervisors are the field-rangers of maintenance. each is in charge of from ten to twelve sections, which probably will mean from eighty to one hundred miles of single-track--much less in the case of double-or three-or four-track railroads. the section has its own lieutenant--section foreman he is rated on the railroad's pay-roll; but in its lore he will ever be the section-boss, and boss of the section he must be indeed. if ever there was need of an autocrat in the railroad service, it is right here; and yet, as we shall presently see, even the section-boss must learn to temper his authority with finesse and with tact. here, then, is our man with the shovel. suppose that, for this instant, the limited grinds to a stop, and you climb down to him and see the railroad as he sees it. underneath him are four or six or eight workers--perhaps an assistant of some sort or other. over him are the supervisors and above them those smart young engineers who can figure out track with lines and pothooks, though the section-boss is never sure that his keen eye and unfailing intuition are not better than all those books which the college boys keep tucked under their arms. the college boys, however, seem to have the sway with the big bosses down at headquarters and the section-boss knows, in his heart as well as in his mind, that he can go only a little distance ahead before he comes against a solid wall, the only doors of which are marked technical education. he can be a supervisor at from $ to $ a month and ride up and down the division at the rear door of a local train six days a week; the time has gone when he might advance to the proud title of roadmaster--a proud title whose emolument is not higher than that of the organized brotherhood man who pulls the throttle on the way-freight up the branch. and, as a matter of fact, there are only a few roads which nowadays cling even to the title of roadmaster. yet this man is not discouraged. it is not his way. he will tell you so himself. "go up?" he asks. "go up where?" let the limited go, without you. this man is worthy of your studied attention. give it to him. you are standing with him beside a curving bit of single-track. the country is soft and restful and quiet, save for the chattering of the crickets and the distant call of your train which has gone a-roaring down the line. the august day is indolent--but the section gang is not. the temperature is close to ninety, but the gang is tamping at the track with the enthusiasm of volunteer firemen at a blaze in a lumberyard. it is only its foreman who has deigned to give you a few minutes of his attention. [illustration: the section gang in the section-boss and his men is vested the responsibility of making the steel highway safe. a single broken rail may send the best driven locomotive into the ditch--a mass of tangled and useless scrap iron.] "up where?" he asks once again--then answers his own question: "to some stuffy sort of office? not by a long shot! i'm built for the road, for track work. this road needs me here. we're only single-track as yet on this division; but next summer we'll be getting eastbound and westbound, and then a bigger routing of the through stuff. tonight the fastest through train in this state will come through here, at nearer seventy miles an hour than sixty, and my track's got to be in order--every foot of the , feet of it." "that's your job," you say to him. "part of it," he replies. "my job is seven miles long and has more kinks to it than an eel's tail. see here!" he points to a splice-bar, almost under your feet. you look at it. you are frank to admit that it looks just like any other splice-bar that you have ever seen; but the section-boss shows you a discoloration on it, hardly larger than a silver dollar. "salt water from a leaky refrigerator car did that. we've got to look out for it all the time--especially on the bridges." you choke a desire to ask him how he knows and merely inquire: "are you responsible for the bridges too?" "to the extent of seeing that they are o.k. for train movement. my job includes tracks, switches, drains, crossings, switch and semaphore lamps. we get out on our old hand-power mallet here and make every sort of emergency repair you can think of--and then some more--on telegraph wires, culverts, signals, and the interlocking. we've got to know the time card and keep out of the way of the regular trains. every little while a special comes along and we have to dump our little pullman in the ditch--without much time for ceremony. we've got to know as much about flagging as the trainmen. and sometimes we have to act as sextons." "sextons?" you venture. he thumbs a little notebook. "last year i performed the last rites over seven cows, two sheep, and a horse. my job has a lot of dimensions." he puts his book back in his pocket and draws out a circular letter which the general manager at headquarters has been sending out to all the track-bosses. he hands it to you, with a grin. it says: more than any other class of employees you have the opportunity of close contact with the farmers who are producing today that which means tonnage and therefore revenue for the company tomorrow. have you ever thought of cultivating the farmer as he is cultivating the fields? a friendly chat over the fence, a wave of the hand as you pass by, may mean a shipment of corn or cattle--just because you are interested in him. for your company's welfare as well as your own, cultivate the farmer. the railroad can and does do a lot of efficient solicitation through its fixed employees in the field; the opportunities of the station agent in this wise are particularly large. and there is a good deal of real sense in this particular circular. yet the section-boss seems to regard it as distinctly humorous. "the big boss sits in his office or in his car," is his comment, "and i think he forgets sometimes that he was once a section man himself and working fourteen hours a day. the farmer doesn't have a lot of time for promiscuous conversation, nor do we. we'll wave the hand all right--but a chat over the fence? along would come my supervisor and i might have a time of it explaining to him that i was trying to sell two tickets to california for the road. no, sir, we're not hanging very much over fences and chatting to farmers. under the very best conditions we work about ten hours a day. and there are times when a sixteen-hour law, even if we had one, wouldn't be of much account to us." "what times?" "accidents and storms! when we get a smash-up on this section or on one of my neighbors' we all turn to and help the wrecking crew. i've worked fifty-one hours with no more than a snatch of sleep and without getting out of my clothing--and that was both accident and storm. it's storm that counts the most. it's nice and pretty out here today, even if a little warmish. come round here next february, when the wind begins to whistle and the mercury is trying to hide in the bottom of its little tube, and help me replace rails in a snow-packed track." against conditions such as these the railroad finds no little difficulty in securing good trackmen. the section-boss will tell you how, until about twenty years ago, these were largely irishmen, with a fair mixture of germans and scots--even a few englishmen. the italians began coming over in droves a little more than a quarter of a century ago and almost the first men they displaced were the irish trackmen on our railroads. perhaps it would be fairer to say they took the jobs which the irishmen were beginning to scorn. the latter preferred to become contractors, politicians, lawyers. what is the use of driving like a slave all day long, they argued, when you can earn five times as much by using your wits? of recent years there have been few irishmen in track service--an occasional section-boss like the man to whom we have just been talking--and with the exception of wisconsin and minnesota, practically none of the men from the north of europe. even the better grades of italians have begun to turn from track work. they, too, make good contractors and politicians and lawyers. in the stead of these have come the men from the south of italy, greeks, slavs, a few poles, and a few huns. these seem particularly to lack intelligence. yet they seemingly are all that the railroad may draw upon for its track maintenance. these were the conditions that prevailed up to the beginning of the great war in europe. since that time the situation has grown steadily worse. with the tightening of the labor market, with the inadequate rates of pay in both the car and right of way maintenance departments of the railroads, the average railroad manager is hard pressed today to keep his line in order. sometimes he fails. and a distinct factor in the run-down condition of so many of our second-and third- and fourth-grade railroads is not alone their financial condition, to which we already have referred, but quite as much their utter inability to summon track labor at any price within their possibility. it is rather difficult, to say the least, to get a section foreman at three dollars a day when henry ford is paying five dollars as a minimum wage in his detroit factory and munition manufacturers are even going ahead of this figure. i myself have seen grass growing this last summer in the tracks of some mighty good roads. and weeds between the ties and the rails are all too apt to be the indication of even worse conditions--not quite so perceptible to the eye. * * * * * it is this very polyglot nature of the men who work upon the track which has operated against their being brought into a brotherhood--such as those who man the freight and passenger trains. the isolation of the section-bosses and their gangs, as well as the dominance of the padrone system among the italians until very recently, have been other factors against a stout union of the trackmen. but the mixture of tongues and races has been the chief objection. you do not find italians or slavs or poles or greeks on the throttle side of the locomotive cab or wearing the conductor's uniform in passenger service, although you will find them many times in the caboose of the freight and the negro fireman is rather a knotty problem with the chief of that big brotherhood. in fact, it has been rather a steady boast of the engineers and the conductors that their great organizations are composed of americans. that fact, of itself, is peculiarly significant. yet what are americans? and how many of those fine fellows who drive locomotives and who captain fancy trains will fail to find some part of their ancestry in europe, within three or four generations at the longest? we have shown that responsibility is not a matter of color, of race, nor of language. and it is responsibility--responsibility plus energy and ability and honesty--that the railroad seeks to obtain when it goes into the market to purchase labor. the day has come when the railroad has begun to take keener notice of the personnel of the men to whom is given the actual labor of keeping the track in order. the better roads offer prizes to the foremen for the best-kept sections. the prizes are substantial. they need to be. with hard work as the seeming reward in this branch of service the railroad, even before the coming of the war, was no longer able to pick and choose from hordes of applicants. a dozen years ago it began to fairly dragnet the labor markets of the largest cities; and when it gets men it has to use them with a degree of consideration that was not even dreamed of in other days. no longer can an autocratic and brutal foreman stand and curse at his section hands. they simply will not stand for it. "bawlers-out," as the worst of these fellows used to be known along the line, are not now in fashion. and the track supervisor who used to stand on the rear platform of a train and toss out "butterflies" is far more careful in his criticism. "butterflies," be it known, are indited by the supervisor _en route_ to call the attention of the foremen to track defects in their sections. * * * * * the negro is still in large service in the south--below the ohio and east of the mississippi. he is a good trackman--and with the labor market as it stands today, drained to the bottom, it is a pity there are not more of him. unlike most of the south-of-europe men, he has strength and stamina for heavy, sustained work. moreover, he is built to rhythm. if you can set his work to syncopated time he seems never to tire of it. he is a real artist. he cuts six or eight inches off the handle of his sledge hammer and it becomes his "short dog." gripping it at the end with both hands he swings it completely around his head and strikes two blows to the white man's one, no matter how clever the white man may be. and he is actually fond of a bawler-out. he respects a real boss. the hobo trackman is in a class by himself. he is not the migratory creature that you may imagine him. on the contrary, in nine cases out of ten he can be classed by distinct districts. thus he may be known as a st. paul man, a chicago man, or a kansas city man, and you may be quite sure that he will venture only a certain limited distance from his favorite haunts. in the spring, however, he generally is so hungry that he is quite willing to undertake any sort of job at any old price, provided free railroad tickets are given. the majority of these hoboes have had experience with the shovel. some of them know more about track than their foremen. unless the section-boss has had previous experience with hoboes, however, he will get no benefit from their superior knowledge, but will be left to work out his problem entirely alone. as a rule the hobo becomes independently rich on the acquisition of ten dollars. then he turns his face toward that town to which he gives his devoted allegiance. he now has money to pay fares; but he does not pay them. summer is on the land and he likes to protract the joys of the road; so he beats his way slowly home and leaves a record of his migration executed in a chirography that is nothing less than marvelous. the day that masonry went out of fashion in railroad construction and concrete came in was a bonanza to him. on the flat concrete surfaces of bridge abutments and piers, telephone houses and retaining walls, he marks the record of his going and whither he is bound--and marks it so plainly with thick, black paint that even he who rides upon the fastest of the limited trains may read--although it may not be given to him to ever understand. down in the southwest the track laborer is mexican, while in the far west he is a little brown man, with poetry in his soul and a vast amount of energy in his strong little arms. the japanese invasion has been something of a godsend to the railroads beyond the rocky mountains. up in british columbia, where john chinaman is not in legal disfavor, you will find him a track laborer--faithful and efficient. on the canadian pacific seventeen per cent of the total force of trackmen is chinese. at the west end of that canadian transcontinental, the track gangs almost exclusively are chinese. the jap is not illegal in the united states, however, and he is turning rapidly to railroading. it is only fair to say that he is the best track laborer our railroads have known. he is energetic, receptive, ambitious, intelligent, and therefore easily instructed. his mind being retentive, he rarely has to be told a thing a second time. though small, he is robust and possessed of powers of endurance far beyond any other race. furthermore, he is cleanly--bathing and changing his clothes several times a week. his camp is always sanitary and he prides himself on the thoroughness of his work. you may be sure he is carrying a japanese-english dictionary and that from it he is learning his three english words a day. track workers from the south of europe will spend a lifetime without ever learning a single word of english. there is another class of asiatic workers that in recent years has begun to show itself along the west coast and this class is far less satisfactory in every way. these are the hindus. they have drifted across the seven seas and marched into a new land through the gates of san francisco or portland or seattle. but as yet they have not come in sufficient numbers to represent a new problem in american railroading. the japanese already have attained that distinction. here, then, is the polyglot material with which our section-boss must work. his name may be smith, he may have come out of new england itself, and his little house there beside the track is probably as neat as yours or mine. he works long hours and hard, with his body, his hands, and his mind; the men under his authority are more apt to be inefficient than efficient; his responsibility is unceasing. it is not an easy job. and for it he is paid from sixty-five to ninety dollars a month--rarely more. a locomotive engineer is paid three times as much. yet he is protected by the eight-hour day as his standard of employment, although it is more than likely that his actual hours of work may be even less than eight. and his responsibility is little greater than that of the section-boss. chapter vi unorganized labor--the station agent the primary schools of railroading are the little red and yellow and gray buildings that one finds up and down the steel highways of the nation, dotting big lines and small. you find at least one in every american town that thinks itself worthy of the title. and they are hardly less to the towns themselves than the red schoolhouses of only a little greater traditional lore. to the railroad their importance can hardly be minimized. they are its tentacles--the high spots and the low where it touches its territory and its patrons. to best understand how a station agent measures to his job, let us do as we have done heretofore and take one of them who is typical. here is one man who in personality and environment is representative and the small new york state town in which he is the railroad's agent is typical of tens of thousands of others all the way from maine to california. brier hill is an old-fashioned village of less than , population, albeit it is a county seat and the gateway to a prosperous and beautiful farming district. two railroads reach it by their side lines, which means competition and the fact that the agent for each must be a considerable man and on the job about all of the time. our man--we will call him blinks and his road the great midland--has never lived or worked in another town. thirty years ago he entered the service of the g.m. as a general utility boy around the old brick depot at twelve dollars a month. the old brick depot is still in service and so is blinks. in thirty years his pay has been advanced. he now gets $ a month; in addition his commissions amount to $ or $ a month. engineers and conductors get much more, but the station agent, as we have come to understand, is not protected by a powerful labor organization. there is an order of railroad station agents, to be sure, but it is weak and hardly to be compared with the brotherhood of locomotive engineers or the order of railroad trainmen. in some cases the station agents rising from a telegraph key have never relinquished their membership in the telegraphers' union. but, with the telephone almost accepted as a complete success in the dispatching of trains, the railroads see a new opportunity for the efficient use of men who have been crippled in the service; in some cases for the widows and the daughters of men who have died in the ranks. it takes aptitude, long months, and sometimes years to learn the rapid use of the telegraph. a clear mind and quick wit are all that is necessary when the long-distance telephone moves the trains up and down the line. blinks, being typical, does not belong to a labor organization. although he was an expert telegrapher with a high speed rate, he did not happen to belong to the telegraphers' organization. instead there is in him a fine vein of old-fashioned loyalty to the property. he was all but born in the service of the great midland; he expects to die in the harness there in his homely old-fashioned office in the brick depot at brier hill. his is the sort of loyalty whose value to the road can hardly be expressed in mere dollars and cents. if you would like to know the truth of the matter, you would quickly come to know that the real reason why blinks has never joined a union is that he holds an innate and unexpressed feeling that he is a captain in the railroad army, rather than a private in its ranks. for he is secretly proud of the "force" that reports to him--chief clerk, ticket agent, two clerks, a baggagemaster, and three freight-house men. not a man of these draws less than seventy dollars a month, so there is not much difference in their social status and that of the boss. no one has been quicker than he to recognize such democracy. he prides himself that he is an easy captain. "we work here together like a big family," he will tell you, "although i'm quite of the opinion that we're about the best little collection of teamwork here in the village. together we make quite an aggregate. only two concerns here employ more help--the paper mill and the collar factory." you are a bit astonished at that--and at that you begin to think--not of the relation of the town to the railroad but rather of the railroad to the town. you ask blinks as to the volume of the business his road does at his station. he hesitates in replying. that is rather a state secret. finally he tells you--although still as a secret. "we do a business of $ , a month," he says quietly, "which is as much as any two industries here--and this time i'm making no exceptions of the paper mill or the collar factory." quickly he explains that this is no unusual figure. and figures do not always indicate. smithville, up on another division, is only a third as large and does a business of $ , a month. there are paper mills here and inasmuch as they handle their products in carload lots on their own sidings there is need of a large force around the station. on the other hand, a neighboring town of the same size shows about the same monthly revenue and needs a station force much larger than blinks's. for its leading industry is a paint factory, without siding facilities. its products move in comparatively small individual boxes, requiring individual care and handling--that is the answer. "you work long hours and hard hours?" you may demand of blinks. he shakes his head slowly. "long hours a good deal of the time, but not very often hard hours," he tells you. "my work is complicated and diverse but it is largely a case of having it organized." indeed it is complicated and diverse. there are only four passenger trains each day up and down the line, but the rush of freight is heavy, particularly at certain seasons of the year. and both of these functions of the railroad as they relate to blinks's town come under his watchful eye. in addition, remember that he is the express agent and is paid a commission both on the business bound in and on the business bound out of his office, as well as the representative of the telegraph company. the telegraph company pays him nothing for handling its messages, but from the express company he will probably average forty-five dollars a month, particularly as his brisk county-seat town is one in which the small-package traffic does not greatly vary at any season of the year. down in the southwest, where a great amount of foodstuffs moves out by express within a very few weeks there are men who may, in two months, take several hundred dollars, perhaps a check into four figures from the express company. the gateway to a summer resort is regarded as something of the same sort of a bonanza to the station agent. still blinks, if he would, could tell you of a man at a famous resort gateway who lost his job through it. the president of his road was a stickler for appearances. on a bright summer day when vacation traffic was running at flood tide, his car came rolling into the place. word of it came to the station agent, but the station agent was lost in an avalanche of express way-bills. he should have been out on the platform in his pretty new cap and uniform. at least that was what the president thought. so nowadays that station agent gives all his time to the express way-bills. there is a new man for the cap and uniform, and when the president of that railroad arrives in the town he is greeted with sufficient formality. as a matter of fact the express companies prefer to maintain offices wherever it is at all possible. the bonanza offices for the railroad agents are few and far between and when the railroad begins to find them it is apt to part. so blinks can consider himself lucky that his commissions do not run over fifty dollars a month. that means that the express company will not attempt anything as suicidal as establishing its own office in brier hill and his own modest perquisite is not apt to be interrupted. his is routine work and intricate work. he writes enough letters in a week to do credit to a respectable correspondence school and he makes enough reports in seven days to run three businesses. his incoming mail arrives like a flood. there are tariffs, bulletins, more tariffs, instructions, more tariffs, suggestions--and still more tariffs. the tariffs, both freight and passenger, are fairly encyclopedic in dimensions and the folks down at headquarters fondly imagine that he has memorized them. at least that seems to be their assumption if blinks can judge from their letters. every department of the road requests information of him, and gets it. and when he is done with the railroad he realizes that he is violating biblical injunction and serving two masters, at least. for the express company is fairly prolific with its own tariffs and other literature. and the telegraph company has many things also to say to blinks there in the old brick depot. [illustration: the station agent he is the human tentacle of the railroad; the flesh-and-blood factor by which it keeps in touch with many, many thousands of patrons.] yet the wonder of it is that blinks endures it all--not only endures but actually thrives under it. in a single hour while you are sitting in his dingy, homy little office just back of the ticket cage, you can see the press of work upon him. he has just finished a four-page report to the legal department, explaining the likelihood of the road's being able to stave off that demand for an overhead crossing just back of the town; there is a letter on his desk from the general freight agent asking him for a "picture" of the business at brier hill, which means a careful analysis of its industries and trade--not an easy job of itself. there is an express package of $ , in gold destined to a local bank, over in the corner of the ticket cage. blinks keeps a bit of watchfulness for that "value package" down in the corner of his mind while a thousand things press in upon it. number four is almost within hearing when a young man and his wife appear at the window, baggage in hand, and demand a ticket via cincinnati, st. louis, and sedalia to muskogee. the young ticket clerk tears madly through a few dozen tariffs, scratches his head blankly--and blinks has to jump into the breach. in thirty seconds he has the right tariff. "i think the through one way is thirty-four sixteen," he smiles at the patrons, "but i had better look up and make sure." his memory was right--but blinks takes no chances. "can we get a stop-over at urbana?" asks the woman. the station agent dives into a tariff, after a moment nods "yes." "wonder if we could go around by jefferson city and stop off there?" inquires the man, "i've relatives there." blinks starts to say "yes," then hesitates. wasn't there a special bulletin issued by the missouri pacific covering that detour? or was it the katy? he finds his way through twenty or thirty tariff supplements. he knows that if he makes a mistake he not only will be censured, but will probably be forced to make good the mistake from his own pocket--according to the ruling of the interstate commerce law, which he feels is yet to be his nemesis. number four is almost near enough to hear the hissing of her valves but he tells his patrons not to worry--she has a deal of express matter to handle this morning and will tarry two or three minutes at the station. he finds the right ticket forms, clips and pastes them, stamps and punches them, until he has two long green and yellow contracts each calling for the passage of a person from his town to muskogee. incidentally he finds time to sell a little sheaf of travelers' checks and an accident insurance policy in addition to promising to telegraph down to the junction to reserve pullman space. in six or seven minutes he has completed an important passenger transaction, with rare accuracy. rare accuracy, did we say? we were mistaken. that sort of accuracy is common among the station agents of america. when the nervous, hurried, accurate transaction is done you might expect blinks to rail against the judgment of travelers who wait until the last minute to buy tickets involving a trip over a group of railroads. but that is not the way of blinks. "i could have sent them down to the junction on a local ticket and let them get their through tickets there. but i like those tickets on my receipt totals and i'm rather proud of the fact that they've made this a coupon station. my rival here on the r---- road has to send down to headquarters for blank tickets and a punch whenever he hears in advance of a party that's going to make a trip and a clerk down there figures out the rate. we make our own rates and folks know they can get through tickets at short notice." that means business and blinks knows that it means business. "but he almost had me stumped on that alternative route via jefferson city," he laughs. "they catch us up mighty quickly these days if we make mistakes of that sort." the interstate commerce law, as we have already seen, is a pretty rigid thing and lest a perfectly virtuous railroad should be accused of making purposeful "mistakes" in quoting the wrong rate, it insists that the agent himself shall pay the difference when he fails to charge the patron the fully established rate for either passenger or freight transportation. in fact it does more. it demands that the agent shall seek out the patron and make him pay the dollars and cents of the error, which is rather nice in theory but difficult in execution. the average citizen does not live in any great fear of the interstate commerce law. blinks, being a practical sort of railroader, is willing to tell you of the line as it works today--of the problems and the perplexities that constantly confront him. and occasionally he gives thought to his rival, whose little depot is on the far side of the village. "now fremont is up against it," he tells you confidentially. "his road is different from ours. we have built up a pretty good reputation for our service. my job is a man's job but at least i don't have to apologize for our road. fremont does. his road is rotten and he knows it. he knows when he sells a man a ticket through to california or even down to new york that the train is going to be a poor one, made up of old equipment, probably late, and certainly overcrowded. and if it's a shipper fremont knows that there is a good chance that his car is going to get caught in some one of their inadequate yards and perhaps be held a week on a back siding. "it keeps fremont guessing. his business is not more than half of mine and he has to work three times as hard to get it. he catches it from every corner and starves along on a bare eighty dollars a month. and they are not even decent enough to give him anything like this." he delves into an inner pocket and pulls out a leather pass wallet. it is a "system annual"--a magic card which permits his wife or himself to travel over all the main lines and side lines of the big road, at their will. he gives it a genuine look of affection before he replaces it. "when a man's been fifteen years in the station service of our road, he gets one of these for himself; at twenty-five they make it include his wife and dependent members of his family--which is quite as far as the law allows." blinks laughs. "they're generous--in almost every way--except in the pay envelope. and in these days they're actually beginning to show some understanding of the real difficulties of this job." there is an instance in his mind. he gives it to you. for the station agent here at brier hill still recalls the fearful lecture he got from the old superintendents of his division--within a month after he was made station agent at the little town. they had celebrated the centennial of the fine old town; there had been a gay night parade in which all the merchants of the village were represented. some of them had sent elaborate floats into the line of march, but blinks had been content to have his two boys march, carrying transparencies that did honor to the traffic facilities of the great midland. the transparencies had cost $ . and blinks had the temerity to send the bill for them on to headquarters. if he had stolen a train and given all his friends a free ride upon it he hardly could have caught worse censure. but blinks's road has begun to see a great light. it has begun to realize blinks and his fellows are the tentacles by which it is in contact with its territory. as the traffic steadily grows heavier it has relieved him of the routine of telegraphic train orders by establishing a block tower up the line at the top of the hill, where regular operators make a sole business of the management of the trains and so widen the margin of safety upon that division. it has appointed supervising agents--men of long experience in depot work, men who are appointed to give help rather than criticism--who go up and down its lines giving blinks and his fellows the benefits of practical suggestions. it has done more than these things. today it would not censure him for spending $ . out of his cash drawers for giving it a representation on a local fête-day. it would urge him to spend a few more dollars and make a really good showing. it is giving him a little more help in the office and insisting that he mix more with the citizens of the town. it will perhaps pay his dues in the chamber of commerce and in one or two of the local clubs, providing the dues are not too high. for the road is still feeling its way. we think that it is finding a path in the right direction. it has long maintained an expensive staff of traveling solicitors for both freight and passenger traffic--expensive not so much in the matter of salaries as in the constant flood of hotel and food bills. it has ignored blinks and his fellows--long-established tentacles in the smaller towns--and their possibilities. now it is turning toward them. out in the middle west they are trying still another experiment. several roads have begun letting their local agents pay small and obvious transit claims right out of their cash drawers, instead of putting them through the devious and time-taking routine of the claim departments. under the new plan the agent first pays the claim--if it does not exceed twenty-five dollars, or thereabouts--and the claim department checks up the papers. there may be cases where the road loses by such methods, but they are hardly to be compared with the friends it gains. an express company has adopted the plan, three or four railroads are giving it increasing use. the idea is bound to spread and grow. and not the least of its good effects will be the increased self-respect of the agents themselves. the trust that the road places in them gives them new trust in themselves. blinks has a little way of talking about courtesy--which in effect goes something after the same fashion. he generally gives the little talk when a new man comes upon his small staff. "the best exercise for the human body," he tells the man, "is the exercise of courtesy. for it reflects not only upon the man who is its recipient, but in unseen fashion upon the man who gives it." after all, railroading is not so much engineering, not so much discipline, not so much organization, not so much financing, as it is the understanding of men. chapter vii the labor plight of the railroad some eighteen per cent of the , , railroad employees of the land, receiving a little over twenty-eight per cent of their total pay-roll, are affiliated with the four great brotherhoods--of the engineers, the firemen, the conductors, and the trainmen. in fairness it should be added that the reason why this eighteen per cent in numerical proportion, receives twenty-eight per cent in financial proportion, is that the eighteen per cent includes the larger proportion of the skilled labor of the steel highway. offhand, one would hardly expect a track laborer to receive the same wages as freeman, whose skill and sense of responsibility entitles him to run the limited. yet how about this section-boss, this man whom we have just interviewed as he stands beside his job, the man who enables freeman's train to make her fast run from terminal to terminal in safety? remember that in summer and in winter, in fair weather and in foul, this man must also measure to his job. he must _know_ that his section--six or seven or eight or even ten miles--is, every inch of it, fit for the pounding of the locomotive at high speed. you do not have to preach eternal vigilance to him. it long since became part of his day's work. and to do that day's work he must work long hours and hard--as you have already seen--must be denied the cheeriness and companionship of men of his kind. he frequently must locate his family and himself far apart from the rest of the world. all of this, and please remember that his average pay is about one-third of the average pay of the engineer. it is plain to see that no powerful brotherhood protects him. if space permitted we could consider the car-maintainer. his is an equally responsible job. yet he, too, is unorganized, submerged, underpaid. his plight is worse than that of the station agent--and we have just seen how blinks of brier hill earns his pay. as a matter of fact blinks is rather well paid. there are more men at country depots to be compared with fremont--men who give the best of their energy and diplomacy and all-round ability only to realize that their pay envelope is an appreciably slimmer thing than those of the well-dressed trainmen who ride the passenger trains up and down the line. the trainman gets a hundred dollars a month already--and under the adamson law he is promised more. this, however, may prove one thing quite as much as another. it may not prove that the trainman is overpaid as much as it proves that the station agent is underpaid. personally, i do not hesitate to incline to the latter theory. i have learned of many trainmasters and road foremen of engines who have far less in their pay envelopes at the end of the month than the men who are under their supervision and control. and there is not much theory about the difficulty a road finds, under such conditions, to "promote" a man from the engineer's cab to the road foreman's or the trainmaster's office. in other days this was a natural step upward, in pay and in authority. today there is no advance in pay and the men in the cab see only authority and responsibility and worry in such a job--with no wage increase to justify it. down in the southwest this situation is true even of division superintendents--men of long training, real executive ability, and understanding who are actually paid less month by month than the well-protected engineers and conductors of their divisions. there is no brotherhood among station agents, none among the operating officers of the railroads of america. and yet for loyalty and ability, taken man for man, division for division, and road for road, there are no finer or more intelligent workers in all of industrial america. still the fact remains that they are not well-paid workers. when is a man well paid? according to the public prints, charlie chaplin, that amusing young clown of the movies, receives from a quarter to half a million dollars a year--according to the ability of his most recent press agent. i happen to know that a certain missionary bishop down in oklahoma receives as his compensation $ , a year--although he never is quite certain of his salary. with due respect to the comedian of the screen-drama, does anyone imagine that his influence in the upbuilding of the new america is to be compared for a moment to that of the shepherd of the feeble flocks down in the southwest? your economist will tell you, and use excellent arguments in support of the telling, that the wage outgo of the land is fixed, in definite proportion to its wealth. granting then that this is so--one thinks twice before he runs amuck of trained economists--is it still fair to infer that the track foreman or the car-maintainer or the station agent is amply paid? and is it equally fair to infer that the pay of these three classes of railroad employees, so typical of unorganized transportation labor, could be raised by lowering the pay of organized employees without leaving these organized employees actually underpaid? and what assurance has the average man, the man in the street, that any reduction in the pay of the engineers, the conductors, the firemen, and the trainmen--if such a miracle actually be brought to pass--would result in a corresponding increase in the pay of the other eighty-two per cent of the labor of the railroad? these are questions that must be answered sooner or later. in the present situation it looks as if they would have to be answered sooner rather than later. with them come others: assuming still that our economist with his belief that the wage outgo of the entire nation is correct, is it not possible that the railroad as an institution is not getting its fair proportion of the national total? i have just shown you how eighteen per cent of the railroad's employees receives twenty-eight per cent of their pay-roll. it would be equally interesting to know the percentage of national wage which goes to all the employees of all the railroads. i cannot but feel when i realize the great annual total of wages which are being paid in the automobile and the war-munitions industries, to make striking instances, that the railroads are by no means receiving their fair share of the national wage account. even the salaries paid to railroad executives, with the possible exception of a comparatively small group of men at the very top of some of the largest properties, are not generous. there has been much misstatement about these salaries. because of these misstatements it is unfortunate, to say the least, that the railroads have not followed a policy of publishing their entire pay-rolls--from the president down to office boy. but the fact remains--a fact that may easily be verified by consulting the records of the interstate commerce commission--that railroad salaries are not high, as compared with other lines of industry in america. that is one reason why the business has so few allurements to the educated young men--the coming engineers of america. they come trooping out of the high schools, the technical schools, the colleges, and the universities of our land and struggle to find their way into the electrical workshops, the mines, the steel-making industry, the automobile shops, the telephone, even to the new, scientific, highly developed forms of agriculture. few of them find their way to the railroad. this is one of the most alarming symptoms of the great sick man of american business--his apparent utter inability to draw fresh, red blood to his veins.[ ] a few of the roads--a very few indeed--have made distinct efforts to build up a personnel for future years by intelligent educational means. the southern pacific and the union pacific have made interesting studies and permanent efforts along these lines. but most of the railroads realize that it is the wage question--the long, hard road to a decent pay envelope in their service, as compared with the much shorter pathways in other lines of american industry--that is their chief obstacle in this phase of their railroad problem. it has been suggested, and with wisdom, that the railroad should begin to make a more careful study and analysis of its entire labor situation than it has ever before attempted. today it is giving careful, scientific, detailed attention to every other phase of its great problems. one road today has twenty-seven scientific observers--well trained and schooled to their work--making a careful survey of its territory, with a view to developing its largest traffic possibilities. and some day a railroad is to begin making an audit of its labor--to discover for itself in exact fact and figures, the cost of living for a workman in richmond or south bend or butte or san bernardino. upon that it will begin to plat its minimum wage-increase. suppose the railroad was to begin with this absolute cost of living as a foundation factor. it would quickly add to it the hazard of the particular form of labor in which its employee was engaged expressed in dollars and cents--a factor easily figured out by any insurance actuary. to this again would be added a certain definite sum which might best be expressed, perhaps, as the employee's profit from his work; a sum which, in ordinary cases at least, would or should represent the railroad's steady contribution to his savings-bank account. to these three fundamental factors there would probably have to be added a fourth--the bonus which the railroad was compelled to offer in a competitive labor market for either a man or a type of men which it felt that it very much needed in its service. only upon some such definite basis as this can a railroad's pay-roll ever be made scientific and economic--and therefore permanent. an instant ago and i was speaking of bonuses. the very word had, until recently, a strange sound in railroad ears. the best section foreman on a line may receive a cash prize for his well-maintained stretch of track; i should like to hear of a station agent like blinks who knows that his well-planned and persistent effort to build up the freight and passenger business at his station, is to be rewarded by a definite contribution from the pay-chest of the railroad which employs him. up to very recently there apparently has not been a single railroad which has taken up this question of bonus payments for extra services given. to the abounding credit of the atchison, topeka, and santa fé railway and its president, edward payson ripley, let it be said that they have just agreed to pay the greater proportion of their employees receiving less than $ , a year a bonus of ten per cent of the year's salary for --a payment amounting all told to $ , , . the employees so benefited must have been employed by the santa fé for at least two years and they must not be what is called "contract labor." by that the railroad means chiefly the men of the four great brotherhoods whose services are protected by very exact and definite agreements or contracts. the men of the brotherhoods are hardly in a position to expect or to demand a bonus of any sort. and it also is worthy of record that practically every union man, big or little, has placed himself on record against bonus plans of every sort. i hope that the example of the santa fé is to be followed by the other railroads of the country.[ ] it is stimulating and encouraging; it shows that the big sick man of american business apparently is not beyond hope of recovery. for, in my own mind, the bonus system is, beyond a doubt, the eventual solution of the whole involved question of pay as it exists today and will continue to exist in the minds of both employer and employee. our progressive and healthy forms of big industry of the united states have long since come to this bonus plan of paying their employees. the advances made by the steel companies and other forms of manufacturing enterprise, by great merchandising concerns, both wholesale and retail, and by many of the public utility companies, including certain traction systems, are fairly well known. it is a step that, when once taken, is never retraced. the bonus may be paid in various ways--in cash or in the opportunity to subscribe either at par or at a preferred figure, to the company's stock or bonds. but there is little variation as to the results. and the workmen who benefit directly by these bonus plans become and remain quite as enthusiastic over them as the men who employ them and whose benefit, of necessity, is indirect. * * * * * in this connection some studies made recently by harrington emerson, the distinguished efficiency engineer, are of particular interest. mr. emerson, while attached to the president's office of the baltimore and ohio railroad, has had opportunity to study the railroad situation at close range and in a very practical way. he has placed his carefully developed theories in regard to the man in the shop and his wage into a study of the railroader and his pay-envelope. he has gone back into transportation history and found that at first employes were paid by the day. but long hours either on the road or waiting on passing sidings worked great hardships to them. as a more or less direct consequence the men in train service formed unions and succeeded in establishing the peculiar combination of pay upon the mile and the hour basis--which has obtained ever since in general railroad practice. if a train or a locomotive man was called for duty, even if he never left the station, he received a full day's pay. this, in mr. emerson's opinion and in the opinion of a good many others who have studied the situation, was as it should be and the principle should have been adhered to. but to it was tacked the piece rate of the mile. if a train or locomotive man made one hundred miles it was considered a day's work, even if made in two hours. in this way the piece-rate principle became firmly established alongside of the hourly basis. "what was the result on railroad operation and costs?" asks mr. emerson and then proceeds to answer his own question. he calls attention to the cars weighing , pounds and having axle-loads of , pounds that are being run upon our railroads today and expresses his belief that because in our established methods of railroad accounting, operating costs include train men's wages, but not interest on capital invested in locomotives, cars, trains and terminals; railroad managers, driven by the need to make a showing long since began to plan more revenue tons per train-mile in order to keep down or lessen train-crew wage-costs per ton-mile. this was very well as long as it led to better-filled cars and trains, but the plan quickly expanded into heavier locomotives and heavier cars which necessitated heavier rails, more ties, tie-plates, stronger bridges, reduced grades, and a realignment until all that was gained in tonnage-mile costs was lost in increased obsolescence, unremunerative betterment, and other fixed charges. even as good a railroader as mr. harriman was once led to regret that railroads were not built upon a six-foot gauge instead of the long-established one of four feet eight and one-half inches, because he felt that this would enable him still further to increase train load in proportion to train crew. a good many railroaders have said that we have reached and long since passed the point of efficiency by increasing our standard of car and train sizes. mr. emerson is not new in that deduction. but he puts the case so clearly in regard to the confusing double basis in the pay of the trainmen--the vexed point that is before the supreme court of the united states as this book is being completed, because the adamson so-called eight-hour day omitted the mileage factor, to the eternal annoyance of those same trainmen--that i cannot forbear quoting his exact words: piece rates to trainmen should be abolished. the work of trainmen should be classified. there should be short hours and correspondingly high pay for men working under great strain. there should be heavy penalties attached for overtime, although it does not follow that the man who puts in the overtime should receive the penalty. society wants him to protest against overtime, because it may be both dangerous to the public and detrimental to the worker. the worker should not be bribed to encourage it. it is evident that pay by the hour with penalties for overtime would encourage lighter and faster trains. lighter and faster trains would increase the roads' capacity as well as car and locomotive mileage. capital expenses would drop. the savings made would be available to increase wages and to pay higher bills for material and to pay better dividends. beyond this there is little more to be said--at least pending the decision of the highest court in the land. but no matter how the supreme court may find in this vexatious matter, the fact remains that the union man in railroad employ will continue to be paid upon this complicated and unfit double method of reckoning--clumsy, totally inadequate (built up through the years by men who preferred compromise) and complicate an intelligent and definite solution of a real problem. some day, some railroader is going to solve the question; and, in my own humble opinion, a genuine solution, worked from the human as well as the purely economic angle is going to rank with the bonus and other indications of an advanced interest on the part of railroad executives in the men as a step toward a betterment of the relations between them. * * * * * in my opinion such steps as these that i have just outlined not only would go far toward solving the frequent "crises" that arise between the railroads and their employees, but would tend greatly to prevent the depreciation of the human equipment of the road. remember that this labor problem is one which presses hard not only upon the body politic, but upon the whole human structure of our country. its solution, as well as the solution of the physical question, must be not only immediate, but economic and financial. all this is bound to result soon in a very great increase in the railroad's pay-roll. it is an added cost that must be met before the railroad can come into its own once again. it is quickly obvious that the great pay-roll must be equalized, that in these days of steadily mounting cost of living, its unorganized labor--its trackmen, its carmen, its shopmen, its clerks, its station agents--must be given a fairer chance in the division of its wages. it needs to pay better salaries to its minor officers, and it is today handicapped for lack of these. it is obvious also that it is going to be extremely difficult, to say the least, for the railroad to reduce the wages of its organized labor. put this statement to the ones that have gone before and you can quickly see the need for very great increases in the railroad's pay-roll in the immediate future. it is going to be compelled to seek a larger share in that great portion of the nation's outgo that goes to pay for its labor of every sort. it can no longer postpone the pressing demands of its unorganized workers. the failure to increase their portion of the pay-roll, with its consequent tendency toward the depreciation, if you please, of much of the human element in the operation of the railroad, may yet prove to be a problem, larger and more serious than the failure not alone to increase but to prevent the physical depreciation of the railroad. this physical question--the financial plight of the railroad, its great and growing depreciation account, the consequent deterioration of its lines, particularly its branch lines--we already have discussed. to that plight now add the labor plight. no wonder that the great man of american business lies sick upon his bed. already we have learned that from a purely material point of view, the railroad is nine years back of instead of nine years ahead of this date. its involved, delicate, unsettled labor problem shows that nine years is a small lapse indeed between the tardiness of its labor relations, together with the real understanding of its human problem, and the general understanding of labor and social conditions in other lines of american industry. yet it is not too late to mend. and just to show that this is possible, that it is worth while bringing the sick man of american business back to health again, just for the opportunities of development that stand before him, i am going to take your time to show you a few of the larger possibilities of the railroads of the united states. chapter viii the opportunity of the railroad in the past decade the united states has progressed mightily. have the railroads of the land made equal progress? the past decade of american progress will, in all probability, pale before the coming of the next--particularly if we are cool-headed and smart-headed enough to take critical reckoning of our weaknesses and to use such a reckoning as a stepping-stone toward supplementing our great inherent and potential strength. will the railroad during the coming decade move forward to its opportunity? and what is the opportunity of the railroad? these are pertinent questions. they come with added force upon a statement of the present plight of our overland carriers and before one comes to consider the measures of immediate relief that must be granted them. they must be considered too--briefly, but with a due appreciation of their importance. the railroaders of vision--and i have never believed that there was a really big railroader who lacked vision--today are thinking of them. * * * * * for a beginning take the possibility of the application of electricity as a motive power in the operation of the railroad. our overland carriers have only begun to sound the vast possibilities of this great agent of energy. to many of the roads, its present attainments both in europe and in america are still, in large measure, a closed book. they have little realization of what was accomplished in suburban electrification in paris or in berlin well before the beginning of the war; hardly greater realization of the marvels wrought in the suburban zones of new york, philadelphia, portland, and san francisco. and the tremendous accomplishment of the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul railway in transforming nearly miles of its main line over the crest of the rocky mountains is still so new and so dazzling as to have given railroad managers in other sections of the land little opportunity to consider its opportunities as applied to their own properties. * * * * * within the past few years the folk of the east have seen several important terminals--terminals really vast in their proportions and their accommodations--developed in the great cities of the atlantic seaboard. there have been important passenger stations erected in other parts of the land--the new union station in kansas city, the union station at minneapolis, and the north western terminal at chicago coming first to mind among these. but the passenger terminal developments along the atlantic seaboard have differed from those of the middle west chiefly in the fact that into their planning and construction has been interwoven the use of electricity as a motive power for the trains which are to use them. practically every one of these is so designed as to make its operation by steam power impossible. the ambitious good taste of many of our cities growing into a real metropolitanism has been gratified in this decade of our national progress by the erection of monumental passenger stations. these structures invariably are more than merely creditable--they are impressive, majestic, beautiful. yet the big railroaders do not always see them in this light. they find themselves, by one means or another, compelled to gratify local civic pride by the expenditure of hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars more than it would cost to build a plain, efficient terminal, large enough to accommodate the traffic of both today and tomorrow. the extra expenditure goes to produce a granite palace, generally ornate and sometimes extravagant to the last degree. yet in all this widespread development of the american terminal, one at least has been evolved which is not merely monumental, but an economic solution of its own great cost. i refer to the new grand central terminal in the city of new york. you may recall the old grand central station. it was no mean terminal. commodore vanderbilt built it himself soon after the close of the civil war. the passenger business of the railroads of the land was then beginning to be a considerable thing. americans were gaining the travel habit. the genus commuter had been born. the first of the railroad vanderbilts saw all these things. and, because he had the fine gift of vision, he turned his far-seeing toward action. on forty-second street--then a struggling crossroad at the back of new york--he erected the greatest railroad terminal in the world. it was indeed a giant structure, and the biggest of our american towns had, in its grand central depot, a toy over which it might brag for many and many a day. new york was in genuine ecstasy about it. its ornate and graceful train shed spanned thirteen tracks, and even if our fathers did wonder where all the cars could come from to fill so spacious an apartment they had to marvel at its beauty. and beyond this creation of the artist was the creation of the engineer--the huge switching yard, black and interlaced with steel tracks. it was a mightily congested railroad yard; upon its tight-set edges the growing city pressed. skyscrapers sprang up roundabout and looked down upon the cars and locomotives. the value of that land, given as a switching yard for a passenger terminal, eventually was reckoned close to $ , , . and the yard itself became a black barrier to the development of the heart of metropolitan new york. * * * * * in forty years from the day it was opened, the last vestige of the grand central depot, a building which, to a considerable portion of the population of this land, had been second in fame only to the capitol at washington, was gone. workmen had torn it stone from stone and brick from brick and carted it off as waste to scrap yards. the majesty of that lovely vaulted train shed had been reduced to a pile of rusty and useless iron. it had been outgrown and discarded. in fact within a dozen years after its christening the wonderful depot was overtaxed. even vanderbilt's vision could not grasp the growth that was coming, not only to new york, but to the great territory his railroads served. in a dozen years workmen were clearing a broad space to the east of the main structure for an annex train shed of a half-dozen tracks, to relieve the pressure upon the original station. another twelve years and the laborers were again upon the grand central, this time adding stories to the original structure and trying to simplify its operation by new baggage and waiting rooms. within the third dozen years the workmen were busy with air drill and steam shovel digging the great hole in the rock that was the first notice to the old grand central that its short lease of busy life was ending. and in the fortieth year of its life they were tearing down the old station--old within the span of two generations--old only because it had been outgrown. * * * * * the problem of the new grand central was both engineering and architectural. it is the engineering side of the problem which interests us here and now. it was that side which it was necessary to solve first. to solve it meant that the passenger traffic into new york from the north and east for another fifty or a hundred years must be discounted--not an easy matter when in the case of a single famous trunk-line railroad it has been found that the passenger traffic has doubled each ten years for the past three decades. when the statisticians put down their pencils the engineers whistled. to fashion a station for the traffic of , even for that of , meant such a passenger station as no railroad head, no engineer, no architect had ever before dreamed of building. at a low estimate, it meant that there would have to be some forty or fifty stub-tracks in the train shed. in the great train shed of the union station of st. louis, there are thirty-two of these stub-tracks and the span of that shed is feet. that would have meant in the case of the new grand central a train house with a width of nearly a thousand feet. the engineers shook their heads. they knew their limitations--with the grand central hedged in by the most expensive real estate in the city of new york. to buy any large quantity of adjoining land for the new station was quite out of the question. fortunately there was a way out. there generally is. the electric locomotive had begun to come into its own. for the operation of this station, including the congested four-track tunnel under park avenue, from the very throat of the train-shed yard up to harlem, four miles distant, it represented an almost ideal form of traction, largely because of its cleanliness and freedom from smoke. for the engineers who were giving their wits to the planning of a new terminal it was the solution of their hardest problem. they would cut their train shed of fifty tracks about in half--and then place one of these halves directly above the other. this would make a fairly logical division between the through and the suburban traffic of the terminal. in that way the new grand central was planned. and that one thing represented its first important demarkation from the other great passenger stations of the land. it also is the thing that pointed the way to the most wonderful development of america's most wonderful terminal, the thing that is infinitely greater than the station itself. recall once again, if you will, that dirty smoke-filled yard at the portals of the old station. it was rather an impressive place; by night, with its flashing signals of red and green and yellow, its glare of dominant headlights and the constant unspoken orders of swinging lamps; by day, a seeming chaos of locomotives and of cars, turning this way or that, slipping into the dark cool train shed under grinding brakes, or else starting from that giant cavern with gathering speed, to roll halfway across the continent before the final halt. to the layman it was fascinating, because he knew that the chaos was really ordered, on a scientific and tremendous scale, that the alert little man who stood at the levers of the inconspicuous tower mid-yard, was the clear-minded human who was directing the working of a great terminal by the working of his brain. but to the thinking railroader that railroad yard, like every railroad yard in the heart of the great city, was a waste that was hardly less than criminal. the coming of the electric locomotive has spelled the way by which that waste in the hearts of our american cities may be ended. concretely, in the case of the new grand central, it made a splendid solution of one of the greatest of the growth problems in the largest city of our continent. for, while the new grand central, service and approach yards considered even as a single level--some sixty acres all told--are larger than the older yard, they apparently have disappeared. in that thing alone a great obstacle to the constant uptown growth of new york has been removed. sixteen precious city blocks have been given back to the city for its development. and already a group of buildings possessing rare architectural unity and beauty have begun to rise upon this tract. there are other american cities where this experiment--no longer an experiment, if you please--might well be effected today. of these, more in a moment. for, before we leave the question of the grand central consider one other thing: the economic value of its design to the railroad company which has erected it. it was only a moment ago that we were speaking of the utter extravagance shown in the designing and building of the monumental passenger stations in so many of our metropolitan cities. the new york central, for reasons of its own, has been reticent in stating both the cost of the new grand central and the income which it derives not only from the rentals of the privileges in the station itself--restaurants, news stands, barber shops, checking stands, and the like--but also from the ground rental of the great group of huge buildings which it has permitted to spring up over its electrified station yards. it is known, however, that this income is not only sufficient to pay the interest upon the investment of the new terminal, to provide slowly but surely a sinking fund for the retirement of the bonds which have been issued for the building of the terminal, but also to go a considerable distance toward the actual operating expenses of the terminal. here, then, is the first of our giant opportunities for the railroader of tomorrow. there is, of course, no novelty in rentals from ordinary station privileges. the pennsylvania railroad, by the development of the electric locomotive, was enabled to tunnel both the hudson and the east rivers and thus to realize its dream of long years--a terminal situated in the heart of manhattan island; a passenger terminal so situated as to place the great railroad of the red cars in a real competitive position with the railroad of the vanderbilts, which so long had held exclusive terminal facilities within the congested island of manhattan. the pennsylvania did not do the thing by halves--it rarely does; it built what is beyond the shadow of a doubt the most beautiful railroad station in america, if not in the entire world. the majesty of its waiting room is such as to make it perhaps the loveliest apartment in all these united states. but even the pennsylvania lacked the opportunity for economic return that was gained out of the new grand central station, hardly a mile distant. that it was not asleep to the possibilities is shown by the double row of high-rental shops which line the arcade entrance to that waiting room. a central post-office, a clearing house for the great mail of new york, was erected spanning the maze of tracks at one end of the station. and recently the railroad has begun the erection of a huge hotel spanning the tracks at the other end in this it is following the example of the new york central, which some time ago devised a group of hotels as a part of the development of the grand central property. one of these hotels is completed and immensely popular; the other has just been begun. the new york central will not only derive a generous ground rent from these taverns--it places itself in a splendid strategic position to receive the traffic of their patrons. it is a somewhat singular thing--an instance perhaps, of the lack of vision of railroaders of an earlier generation--that modern hotels were not long ago made an integral part of our larger passenger terminals at least. our english cousins have not overlooked this opportunity. the great hotels builded into their terminals have long since enjoyed a world-wide reputation for their excellence. upon our own continent both the canadian pacific and the grand trunk railroads have not been slow to take advantage of similar opportunities. and to a considerable degree, at least, their example has been followed by certain roads right in the united states--the santa fé and the delaware and hudson are the first to come to my mind. the hotels of these railroads may not be, in themselves, directly profitable. but there is no question but that they are distinct factors in the development of passenger traffic, and so, in the long run, distinctly profitable. * * * * * consider for an instant, if you will, the possibilities of the electrified passenger terminal as applied to some others of our metropolitan american cities. take boston, for instance. in that fine old town the electrification of its two great passenger terminals some time ago approached the dignity of becoming a real issue. oddly enough the two railroads which would develop the situation in the larger of its two terminals--the south station--are the new haven and the new york central, the lessee of the boston and albany. though both of these systems participate in the joint operation of the new grand central terminal of new york, neither of them has leaped at the possibility in boston. the tremendous financial difficulties through which the new haven property has been struggling for the last six or eight years and from which it has not yet emerged, are undoubtedly the cause of this. the boston and maine railroad, which owns and operates the north station, is in even worse financial plight. and it is hard for an outsider to see any immediate possibility of the application of electric power to the great north station and the vast network of through and suburban lines which radiate from it. nor is the north station so situated as to render it possible today to give it an economic development even approximating that of the grand central. [illustration: the p. r. r.'s electric suburban zone the block system operated automatically by electricity. the signal over the right hand track reads, "stop." picture taken near bryn mawr, pa.] [illustration: electricity into its own electric suburban train on the main line of the pennsylvania railroad between philadelphia and paoli.] the boston and albany is a co-tenant with the new haven in the huge and murky south station. it has always been a rich railroad. twenty-five years ago it was building superb stone bridges and stations, structures of real architectural worth--a full quarter of a century it was in advance of almost every other railroad in america. in those days the boston and albany probably did not dream that the time would come when its chief asset would be the value of its right of way across the newer and the finer portion of boston. "the albany road," as the older bostonians like to term the b. and a., has the extreme possibilities of cost for the electric transformation of its lines all the way from worcester east, not only met but many times multiplied in the development possibilities of the back bay district which it now traverses with its through track and interrupts with its somewhat ungainly storage yards. these yards, now used for the holding of empty passengers coaches, occupy tremendously valuable acres on boylston street within a block of copley square--the artistic and literary center of the hub. they are essential, perhaps, to the economical operation of the road's terminal, but when you come to consider the growth of the city, a tremendous waste. they have stood--a noisy, dirty, open space--stretching squarely across the path of boston's finest possible development. if these were marshlands, like those that used to abound along the charles river, boston long ago would have filled them in and added many valuable building sites to its taxable area. for remember that the development of the grand central terminal has proceeded far enough already to show that in these days of heavy steel and concrete construction, and with the absolute cleanliness of electric railroad operation, it is possible to build a hotel over a big railroad yard without one guest in a thousand ever knowing that a train is being handled underneath his feet every thirty seconds or thereabouts. indeed, in the grand central scheme provision is being made already for the construction of an opera house right over the station approach tracks; the congregation of st. bartholomew's is building over the same railroad yards one of the finest church structures in america. here, then, is a golden opportunity for the boston and albany--by the substitution of electric power for steam and the roofing of its yards--to develop those tremendously valuable vacant acres back of copley square; and the man who goes to boston ten years hence probably will not see a smoky gash cut diagonally through the heart of one of the handsomest cities in america in order to permit a busy railroad to deliver its passenger and freight at a convenient downtown point. it is hard to estimate the financial benefits which eventually will result to the boston and albany of cellarless city squares over its boylston street yards. the benefit to boston, like the benefit to new york through the development of the grand central and pennsylvania terminals, is hardly to be expressed in dollars and cents. * * * * * in chicago the question of terminal electrification has taken a less definite form than in boston, although the chicagoans are making fearful outcry against the filth that is poured out over their city from thousands of soft-coal locomotives. the illinois central has been ranked as the chief offender because of its commanding location--blocking as it does the lovely lake front for so many miles. chicago has ambitious plans for that lake front. you may see them, hanging upon the walls of her art institute. these plans, of necessity, embrace the transformation not only of the terminal but of the railroad tracks within her heart from steam to electric operation. perhaps chicago's plans are more definite than those of the railroads that serve her. it is significant that the great north western terminal, still very new, was builded with a slotted train-shed roof in order to release the smoke and foul gases from the many steam locomotives which are constantly using it. it is equally significant that the new union station, which is being built to accommodate four others of her largest railroads is also being equipped with a slotted train-shed roof, and for the same reason. on the other hand, it is gratifying to notice that the tentative plans for the new illinois central terminal contemplate the erection of a double-decked station, very similar in type to the new grand central--a station which, from the very nature of its design, must, of necessity, use electric traction. doubly gratifying this is to chicagoans: for as we have already said, the illinois central, which, through its occupation of the lake front by its maze of steam-operated tracks, has so long hampered the really artistic development of chicago's greatest natural asset--the edge of its lovely lake. for some years past the illinois central has been particularly slow to make the best uses of its great suburban zone south of chicago; slow to realize its even larger opportunities of a development even greater than that of today. this has come home with peculiar force to the many, many thousands of commuters who use its suburban trains each day. now they know why the road has been so loath to retire its antique cars and locomotives in this service. the filing of the primary plans for its new terminal on the lake front at twelfth street and michigan avenue shows that the road is at last planning to do the big thing in a really big way. and it is not fair to suppose that it has overlooked a single economic possibility of the electric development of its immensely valuable terminal. the result of this development upon the other railroads with their steam-operated terminals in the heart of chicago, will be awaited with interest.[ ] * * * * * philadelphia stands next to new york among eastern cities in the electric development of its terminals, although it is interesting to note here and now that for twenty years past the baltimore and ohio railroad has handled both freight and passenger trains with electric power through its double terminal and long tunnel in the heart of that city and has handled them both economically and efficiently. the wonder only is that its chief competitors should have retained steam power so long as a motive power in their long tunnels underneath baltimore. yet it is one of these competitors which is making the real progress in the philadelphia situation. the pennsylvania railroad, which owns and operates broad street station, probably one of the best-located passenger terminals in any of the very large cities of america, has already begun to use electricity to bring a large number of its suburban trains in and out of that station. after much patient experimentation it has evolved a comparatively inexpensive method of carrying the current to the overhead trolleys of these suburban trains. and the system has already proved itself so economical and so successful as to render its extension to other portions of the system a question of only a comparatively short time. electricity should spell opportunity to steam railroads. yet until recently it seemingly has failed to do this very thing. it has looked as if the steam railroaders of a past generation were not thoroughly awakened to the opportunities it offered; were not willing, at any rate, to strive to find a way toward taking advantage of it. to understand this better let us go back for a moment and consider the one-time but short-lived rivalry between the trolley and the steam locomotive. as soon as the electric railroads--which were, for the most part, developments of the old-fashioned horse-car lines in city streets--began to reach out into the country from the sharp confines of the towns the smarter of the steam railroad men began to show interest in the new motive power. it would have been far better for some of them if they had taken a sharper interest at the beginning; if at that time they had begun to consider earnestly the practical adaptation of electricity to the service of the long-established steam railroad. in many cases the short suburban railroads, just outside of the larger cities, which had been operated by small dummy locomotives, were the first to be electrified; in some of these cases they became extensions of city trolley lines. people no longer were obliged to come into town upon a poky little dummy train of uncertain schedule and decidedly uncertain habits and then transfer at the edge of the crowded portion of the city to horse cars. they could come flying from the outer country to the heart of the town in half an hour--and, as you know, the business of building and booming suburbs was born. after these suburban lines had been developed the steam railroad men of some of the so-called standard lines, began to study the situation. as far back as the nantasket branch of the present new haven system was made into an electric line. a little steam road, which wandered off into the hills of columbia county from hudson, new york, and led a precarious existence, extended its rails a few miles and became the third-rail electric line from hudson to albany and a powerful competitor for passenger traffic with a large trunk-line railroad. the new haven system found the electric third rail a good agent between hartford and new britain and the overhead trolley a good substitute for the locomotive on a small branch that ran for a few miles north from its main line at stamford, connecticut. the problems of electric traction for regular railroads were complicated, however, and the big steam roads avoided them until they were forced upon their attention. the interurban roads spread their rails--rather too rapidly in many cases--making themselves frequently the opportunities for such precarious financing as once distinguished the history of steam roads, and also frequently making havoc with thickly settled branch lines and main stems of the steam railroads. in a good many cases the steam roads have had to dig deep into their pockets and buy at good stiff prices interurban roads--a situation that they might have anticipated with just a little forethought. such a condition was reached in a populous state along the atlantic seaboard just a few years ago. a big steam road, plethoric in wealth and importance, had a branch line about miles in length, which tapped a dozen towns, each ranging from , to , in population. the branch line carried no through business, nor was its local freight traffic of importance, but it was able to operate profitably eleven local passenger trains in each direction daily. these trains were well filled, as a rule, and the branch returned at least its equitable share toward the dividend account of the entire property. as long as it did that no one at headquarters paid any particular attention to it. there was no physical reason why that branch should not have been made into an interurban electric railroad a dozen years ago--the road that owned it has never found it difficult to sell bonds for the improvement of its property. though no one paid particular attention to it at headquarters, a roving young engineer with a genius for making money, looked at it enviously--at the dozen prosperous towns it aimed to serve. a fortnight's visit to the locality convinced him. he went down to a big city where capital was just hungry to be invested profitably and organized an electric railroad to thread each of those towns. before the headquarters of the steam road was really awake to the situation cars were running on its electric competitor. and the people of the dozen towns seemed to enjoy riding in the electric cars mightily--they were big and fast and clean. the steam road made a brave show of maintaining its service. it hauled long strings of empty coaches rather than surrender its pride; but such pride was almost as empty as the coaches. sooner or later any business organization must swallow false pride; and so it came to pass that an emissary of the steam road met the roving young engineer and asked him to put a price on his property. he smiled, totaled his construction and equipment costs, added a quarter of a million dollars to the total, and tossed the figures across the table. the emissary did not smile. he reported to his headquarters and the steam railroad began to fight--it was going to starve out the resources of its trolley competitor by cutting passenger rates to a cent a mile. when the trolley company met that, the railroad would cut the rate in two again--it could afford to pay people to ride on its cars rather than suffer defeat; but they would not ride on its cars, even at a lower rate. and once again the steam road's emissary went up the branch. he sought out the trolley engineer. the trolley man was indifferent. "well," said the steam-road man, "we're seeing you." and at that he threw down a certified check for the exact amount that had been agreed upon at their previous conference. the trolley man did not touch the paper. he smiled what lady novelists are sometimes pleased to call an inscrutable smile, then shook his head slowly. "what!" gasped the emissary from the steam road. "wasn't that your figure?" "it was--but isn't now!" said the engineer. "it's up a quarter of a million now." "why?" "just to teach you folks politeness and a little common decency," was the reply. and the lesson must have taken hold--for the steam railroad paid the price. the result was that it again held the territory and could regulate the transportation tolls, but what a price had been paid! two railroads occupied the territory that was a good living for but one. the trolley line, now that it has begun to depreciate and to require constant maintenance repairs, vies with the desolate branch of the steam road, which runs but two half-filled passenger trains a day upon its rails. a tax is laid upon the steam-road property--a greater tax upon the residents of the valley--for operating man after operating man is going to "skin" the service in a desperate attempt to make an extravagant excess of facilities pay its way. the trolley line has already raised many of its five-cent fares to an inconvenient six cents--the steam branch is held fast by the provisions of its charter and the watchfulness of a state regulating commission. and in the beginning the entire situation could have been solved easily and efficiently by the comparatively modest expenditures required to electrify the steam railroad's branch. a good many railroads have taken forethought. the new york central found some of its profitable lines in western new york undergoing just such electric interurban competition and a few years ago it installed the electric third rail on its west shore property from utica to syracuse, forty-four miles. the west shore is one of the great tragedies in american railroading. built in the early eighties from weehawken, opposite the city of new york, to buffalo, it had apparently no greater object than to parallel closely the new york central and to attempt to take away from the older road some of the fine business it had held for many years. after a bitter rate war the new york central, with all the resources and the abilities of the vanderbilts behind it, won decisively and bought its new rival for a song; but a property so closely paralleling its own tracks has been practically useless to it all the way from albany to buffalo, save as a relief line for the overflow of through freight. so the west shore tracks, adapted for high-class, high-speed through electric service from utica to syracuse, represented a happy thought. under steam conditions only two passenger trains were run over that somewhat moribund property in each direction daily, while the two trains of sleeping cars passing over the tracks at night were of practically no use to the residents of those two cities. under electric conditions there is a fast limited service of third-rail cars or trains leaving each terminal hourly, making but a few stops and the run of over forty-four miles in an hour and twenty minutes. there is also high-speed local service and the line has become immensely popular. by laying stretches of third and fourth tracks at various points the movement of the new york central's overflow through freight has not been seriously incommoded. the electric passenger service is not operated by the new york central but by the oneida railways company, in which the controlling interests of the steam road have large blocks of stock. similarly the erie railroad disposed of a decaying branch of its system, running from north tonawanda to lockport, to the buffalo street-railroad system, though reserving for itself the freight traffic in and out of lockport. the buffalo road installed the overhead trolley system and now operates an efficient and profitable trolley service upon that branch. perhaps it was because the erie saw the application of these ideas and decided that it was better to take its own profits from electric passenger service than to rent again its branches to outside companies--and perhaps because it also foresaw the coming electrification of its network of suburban lines in the metropolitan district around new york and wished to test electric traction to its own satisfaction--but ten years ago it changed the suburban service lines from the south up into rochester from steam to electric. more recently it has tried a third method--by organizing an entirely separate trolley company to build an overhead trolley road paralleling its main line from waverly, new york, to corning, new york. in some stretches this new trolley road is built on the right of way of the erie's main line. the erie people have preferred to conduct their electrification experiments in outlying lines of comparatively slight traffic rather than to commit themselves to a great electrification problem in their congested territory round new york and make some blunder that could be rectified only at a cost of many millions of dollars. that seems good sense, and the pennsylvania followed the same plan. while its great new station in new york was still a matter of engineer's blueprints, it began practical experiments with electric traction in the flat southern portion of new jersey. it owned a section of line ideally situated in every respect for such experiments--its original and rather indirect route from camden to atlantic city, which had since been more or less superseded by a shorter "air-line" route. the third rail was installed and the new line became at once popular for suburban traffic in and out of philadelphia and for the great press of local traffic between philadelphia and atlantic city. of the success of that move on the part of the pennsylvania there has never been the slightest question. regular trains have been operated for several years over this route at a high rate of speed, and not the slightest difficulty has been found in maintaining the schedules. in the far west the southern pacific has made notable progress in the application of electricity as a motive power for branch-line traffic. practically all of its many suburban lines in and around portland and oakland (just across the bay from san francisco) are today being operated in this way--which enables modern steel passenger trains of two or three coaches to be operated at very frequent intervals, thus providing a branch-line service practically impossible to obtain in any other way. when, in the next chapter, we come to consider the automobile as a factor in railroad transportation, we shall consider this entire question of branch-line operation in far greater detail. i always have considered it one of the great neglected opportunities of the average american railroad. but to take advantage of it means a more intense study of its details and its problems. our railroads, as you know already, have been woefully under officered. it is chiefly because of this serious defect in their organization that the branch lines, their problems and their possibilities, have so long been neglected. * * * * * one thing more before we are entirely away from this entire question of the electric operation of the standard railroad: the use of this silent, all-powerful motive force is by no means to be confined to suburban or to branch lines. the new haven management is steadily engaged in lengthening and extending its new york suburban zone. in the beginning, while it still was in a decidedly experimental state, this zone extended only from the grand central terminal to stamford, connecticut--some thirty-four miles all told. now it has been extended and completed through to new haven, practically twice the original distance. in a little while it is probable that the new haven will have completed another link in this great electric chain which slowly but surely it is weaving for itself. and there are traffic experts in new england who do not hesitate to express their belief that in another ten years, perhaps in half that time, all through traffic between new york and boston-- miles--will move behind electric locomotives. there is nothing particularly visionary in this. last year i rode a longer distance than that on a standard express train--the olympian, one of the finest trains upon the north american continent, which means, of course, in the whole world. and the electrification of the main line of the chicago, milwaukee, and st. paul railway, whose boast it is that it owns and operates the olympian, was then but half complete. to be even more exact, only one-half of the first unit of installation, from harlowton, montana, to avery, idaho, had been installed. workmen were still busy west of deer lodge, rigging, stretching the wires, finishing the substations and making the busy line ready for electric locomotives all the way through to avery. and it was announced that when avery was reached and the first contract-section completed-- miles, about equal to the distance between new york and buffalo--work would be started on another great link to the west; this one to reach the heart of spokane itself. and in a little longer time electric locomotives would be hauling the yellow trains of the milwaukee right down to tidewater at seattle--a span of trollified line equaling roughly about one-half the entire run from chicago to puget sound.[ ] [illustration: the olympian the crack train of the chicago, milwaukee & st. paul railway, drawn by an electric motor.] [illustration: ore trains hauled by electricity where the chicago, milwaukee, & st. paul and the butte, anaconda, & pacific railways cross near butte, montana.] now here is an undertaking--the harnessing of the mountain streams of montana and idaho and washington toward the pulling of the freight and the passenger traffic of the newest and best constructed of our transcontinentals for half their run. translated into the comfort of the passenger, it means that for a long night and two days that are all too short, the trail of the olympian is dustless, smokeless, odorless; it means that the abrupt stops and jerking starts of even the best of passenger engineers are entirely eliminated. the electric locomotive starts and stops imperceptibly. it is one of the very strongest points in its favor. and when you come to freight traffic--the earning backbone of the greater part of our railroad mileage in the united states--the operating advantages of the electric locomotive over its older brother of the steam persuasion are but multiplied. the electric locomotives of the milwaukee, being the newest and the largest yet constructed, have missed none of these advantages. as the greatest of all these, take the single tremendous question of regenerative braking. up to this time no one has ever thought of transforming the gravity pull of a heavy train going downgrade into motive energy for another train coming uphill. talk about visions! how is this for one? yet this is the very thing that the milwaukee is doing today--upon each of its heavily laden trains as they cross and recross the backbone of the continent. its great new locomotives take all the power they need for the steady pull as they climb the long hills; but when they descend those selfsame hills they return the greater part of that power--sixty-eight per cent, if you insist upon the exact figure. perhaps you drive an automobile. if so you probably have learned to come down the steeper hills by use of compression--by a reversal of the energies of your motor, until it is actually working against the compelling force of gravity. your brakes are held only for emergency. that is the only part which the brakes on a milwaukee electric train play today. the electric locomotive in a large sense is its own brake. in other words, a turn of the engineer's hand transforms its great motors into dynamos; gravity pulls the trains and forces the dynamos to turn--back goes the sixty-eight per cent of current into the copper trolley-wire overhead; over on the other side of the mountain somewhere a train ascending toward the summit feels instantly the influx of new energy and quickens its speed. here is the railroading of tomorrow thrusting itself into the very door of today. you certainly cannot accuse the management of the milwaukee of any lack of vision. and perhaps it is only the highest form of tribute to it to mention the fact that the great northern, the strongest of the competitors in the northwest, has been watching with keen interest the tremendous operating economies that electricity has brought to the road of the yellow cars and has already announced its intention of transforming at once its main line between seattle and spokane-- miles--from a steam into an electrically operated line. the great northern, as everyone should know by this time, is the first and the largest of the great group of hill roads. and no one has ever accused james j. hill, or the men who followed after him, of any lack of real transportation vision. chapter ix the iron horse and the gas buggy the other day the convention of an important episcopalian diocese was held in a large town in one of our eastern states. the general passenger agent of a certain good-sized railroad which radiates from that town in every direction saw a newspaper clipping in relation to the convention and promptly dictated a letter to his assistant there asking about how many passengers they had had as a result of the gathering. the reply was prompt. "none," it read. the g.p.a. reached for his ready-packed grip and took the next train up there. he wanted to find out the trouble. it was not hard to locate. it was a pretty poor shepherd of a pretty poor flock who did not possess some lamb who commanded a touring car of some sort. and it was a part of the lamb's duty, nay, his privilege, to drive the rector to the convention. they came from all that end of the state in automobiles. and what had in past years been a source of decent revenue to the railroad which covered that state ceased to be any revenue whatsoever. this is only one of many such cases. any county or state or interstate gathering held in a part of the country where road conditions are even ordinarily good may count on folk coming to it by automobile up to a -mile radius, ofttimes from much greater distances. it is not argued that the trip is less expensive; the contrary is probably invariably true. only today folks have the cars, and a meeting in an adjoining county gives a welcome excuse for a little trip. need more be said? only this. those same folk might otherwise have gone upon the cars. and the railroad's assistant general passenger agent could have sat down beside his typewriter and written a neat little letter to his chief calling attention to the increased business resulting from the meeting of the grand lodge of the x.y.g.c. this year as compared with that of last--the inference being nearly as clear to the chief as to the man who had created the aforesaid increased business. multiply these lodge meetings, these conventions, these convocations; add to them high-school excursions and picnics and fraternity field-days almost without number; picture to yourself, if you will, the highways leading to these high spots of american life crowded with private and public motor cars of all descriptions and you can begin to realize a serious situation which confronts the passenger traffic men of the big steam railroads. upon the eastern and western edges of the land, where highway conditions have attained their highest development, the situation is all but critical; in the central and southern portions of the country it is already serious. here is one of the big hard-coal roads up in the northeastern corner of the u.s.a. its president lays much stress upon the value to the property of its anthracite holdings and carryings. yet he is far too good a railroader to ignore the value of its passenger traffic. because of this last his road has builded huge hotels and connecting steamboats. in past years its passenger revenues have even rivaled the tremendous earnings of its coal business. because, however, of the competition of the automobile these have slipped backward for the past few years. and the president of the road has reasoned it out in an ingenious fashion. "there are , motor cars licensed in albany, troy, and their intermediate towns alone," he says. "if each of these carried three passengers twenty-five miles a day for a year their passenger-miles would equal those of our entire system for the same time." a passenger-mile, as we know already, is one of the units in estimating the traffic revenue of a railroad. it is passenger-miles, by the hundreds and the thousands, that the railroads of new england are losing today. when one stands beside one of the well-traveled pathways of the ideal tour, the real tour, or the mohawk trail and sees touring cars loaded to the gunwales with luggage go whizzing by him, ten, twenty to the hour, he begins to realize this.[ ] more than , visiting automobiles were registered in massachusetts this last summer. there were last year in the united states, , , automobiles. with a carrying capacity averaging five persons to a car-- , , persons all told--they can seat three times as many persons as all our railroad cars in the country combined. not all of these folk would travel by train if there were no motor cars. some of them are riding for the pure joy of automobile touring. but many of them would go to the mountains or the coast anyway and so make a large addition to railroad passenger revenues. the vast increase in trunks handled over reasonably long distances by the express companies in these last few years is, in itself, something of an index of the volume of this through business, which is today traveling by motor. now cross the country and take a quick glimpse at the situation in the northwest. the president of an important steam road at portland--which in turn controls both city and interurban lines extending out from portland and spokane--is peculiarly qualified to speak of the situation there. "our road has suffered severely from this new form of automobile competition," he says. "we lost last summer quite a proportion of our passenger business moving from portland to the beaches because of the completion of a hard-surface wagon road between it and them. we were compelled to withdraw several local trains, to lay off a number of trainmen because of this new competitor. with us the question is vital. it is still more vital with our electric interurban properties. throughout california, oregon, and washington this class of railroad has suffered most severely from motor competition, and with the decreased cost and increased effectiveness of the automobile i expect such losses to increase rather than to diminish. in all these states there have been large expenditures for improved highroads during the past five years; many times under the guise of providing easy and inexpensive transportation for farm products to markets. but these highroads instead of being built from the transportation centers out into the producing region, so as to serve the farms, have almost invariably paralleled steam and electric lines. as a result the transportation companies have been heavily taxed to construct and maintain highways for the benefit of competitors who are carrying both passengers and freight in direct competition with them." the southern pacific, whose lines cover california like a fine mesh, has been hard hit by this new form of competition. the fine new highways and the even climate of the golden state, which brought the jitney to its highest strength there, are giving stimulus to its bigger brother--the long-distance motor bus. these have multiplied in every direction until today there are central stations in the larger cities, providing waiting, smoking, and reading rooms in charge of a joint employee, who usually acts as starter and information clerk and is liberally supplied with large printed schedules advertising automobile service to various points. from these stations the routes radiate in almost every direction; one may ride from san francisco to stockton, miles; or to fresno, miles; connecting there with a public automobile for los angeles, some miles farther. from los angeles there are still more routes: to bakersfield, miles over the new tejon pass route; to santa barbara, about miles; to san diego, about miles, and from san diego on to el centro in the imperial valley, another miles. these routes are generally covered with touring cars--generally second-hand but tried and capable of efficient and reliable service. but there is a tendency toward larger cars, where the volume of travel warrants; several companies operating large busses, seating from twenty to twenty-five persons each. a very good example of this is the peninsular rapid transit company, which operates between san francisco and san mateo and between san mateo and palo alto. fares by automobile in california are generally somewhat lower than the railroad fares. there are instances, however, where the fares are equal and yet the motor cars enjoy the bulk of the business, perhaps from their ability to pick up or discharge passengers anywhere along the route--in town or in country, perhaps from their frequency and flexibility of service. several attempts made by the railroads to regain their traffic by reducing rates have shown these things to be real factors in the situation. as far as the southern pacific is concerned, it finds today that the automobile has taken the bulk of its one-way and round-trip short-haul business, leaving it the long-haul and commutation traffic. in some instances the gasoline buggy has helped itself to long-haul traffic as well; as between los angeles and bakersfield, where the distance by motor car over the wonderful new tejon pass highroad--to which the southern pacific, as chief taxpayer in california, has contributed most generously--is but miles, against miles, the shortest rail distance. the gasoline buggy can climb grades and round curves that the iron horse may not even attempt. there is genuine feeling among many of the railroad companies of the land that the new competition is unjust. they make a good case for themselves. complaints are coming in from the rail carriers all the way across the land. new york has appropriated and expended nearly $ , , in building a system of improved highways over the entire state. like the highways of california, they, too, are superb roads. not only do they link all the big cities and the big towns but they sometimes stretch for many miles through the fastnesses of the forest--you may drive for twenty miles through the adirondacks on as perfect a bit of pavement as any city park may boast and yet not pass more than one or two human habitations in all that distance. all of which is glorious for the motorist and his friends, to say nothing of the hotel keepers and the garage owners on the route. but how about the new york central railroad, which covers the greater part of new york state like a web and which, because of the fact that it is its chief taxpayer, becomes automatically the heaviest contributor to these highways? it knows that every mile of improved road that is completed is going to mean a lessening of its revenues from local passenger traffic. and it can have, from that point of view, small comfort from seeing the increasing list of motor-car owners in the new york state towns. for the moment leave the purely pleasure uses of the motor car. consider a commercial possibility that is increasing almost overnight. the auditing departments of concerns that have from to salesmen out in the field are beginning to acquaint themselves with gasoline and tire performances. they soon will have need of such special knowledge. a single case will illustrate: two drummers working out of syracuse--the one for a typewriter concern and the other for a wholesale grocery--decided to cooperate. together and out of their own funds they purchased an inexpensive car--had its body so adjusted that back of the driving seat there was a compartment large enough for a goodly quantity of samples and the valises that held their personal effects. they had figured that upon many of the local lines of railroad, operating but two or three trains a day in each direction at the most, they could not under the most favorable conditions "make" more than four towns a day. from twenty to thirty per cent of their time was spent in the lobbies of hotels or country stations waiting for the up local or the down. with their automobile they now can get out of a town as soon as their business is done there. and during the past three months they have averaged six towns a day. here is a possibility of the automobile that the railroad can hardly afford to ignore. one big new england road noted in a recent month that its sale of mileage books--a form of railroad ticket designed particularly for the use of commercial travelers--had declined nearly twenty-nine per cent since the high-water mark three years before. investigation on its part showed that the drummers all through its territory were beginning to get automobiles. the houses that employed them were encouraging them, either helping in the part purchase of the cars or, in some cases, buying them entirely. they, too, had discovered that their salesmen, no longer dependent on the infrequent train service of branch lines, could "make" more towns in a day. here is our ubiquitous branch line bobbing up once again. it is a problem which seemingly will not down. for branch-line passenger service is closely related to this last phase of automobile competition. it is the opinion of a good many shrewd railroaders--as well as our own--that the big roads have not always given proper attention to the full development of this phase of their traffic. some of the big roads--some of the smaller ones too--have given this traffic, oftentimes valuable in itself and never to be ignored as feeding possibility of main-line and competitive traffic, little or no attention. other roads ignore it. "it is unprofitable," they tell you, with exceeding frankness. "if there is any money at all in the passenger end of the railroad it is in the long haul. we have our branch lines and of course we shall have to continue to operate them, as best we can. but they are the lean of our business. and we have to get a lot of fat on the long-haul traffic to even up with this discouraging lean." it is because of this theory--very popular in some transportation circles--that so many branch-line railroads have today no more, in many instances even less, trains than they had twenty or thirty or forty years ago. the constant tendency has been to cut down service upon the branches. such cuts generally come in the recurrent seasons of railroad retrenchment. but the trains cut off are rarely restored. for one thing, the branch-line railroad does not often run in a genuinely competitive territory. for another, there is apt to be less protest from a string of small towns and large villages than from one or two large cities with boards of trade, whose secretaries are eternally nagging the railroads. yet these small towns and villages--ofttimes the nucleus and the birthplace of our best americanism--and even the isolated crossroads have some rights.[ ] one of the largest of these is the right of communication. some of them, under the shrinkage of the train service of the single branch-line railroad that has served them, have found themselves in turn shrinking and hardening. the popular-priced automobile may yet prove the salvation of these towns. the tavern at the crossroads has been repainted and is serving "chicken and waffle" dinners, the general store thrives anew on its sale of gasoline and oil. but best of all, the folks in adjoining villages visit back and forth. they mix and broaden. the intercourse that they were denied by the railroad has been given them through the agency of the automobile. come now to the public use of the automobile. and, although many railroaders profess to scout at the automobile carrying passengers for pay and state their belief that the increasing number of privately owned and operated cars represents their real problem, yet the motor bus operating 'cross country begins to bear, in its relation to the steam railroad, a strong resemblance to the effect of the jitney upon the traction road. in this last case the opposition quickly reached a high and dangerous volume and then subsided. the reasons why the jitney, after being hailed with high acclaim all the way across the land, has disappeared from the streets of more than half our american cities and towns, are not to be told here. it is sufficient here and now to say that, save in the south and the extreme west, it has ceased to be a formidable competitor of the trolley. but as the jitney of the city has diminished, its brother of the country roads has grown. and the various regulating boards, city and county, while generally looking upon the city boy with a forbidding look, have given nothing but encouraging glances to his country brother. on a certain day last summer, i rode with henry sewall from frederick, maryland, to baltimore. henry is a coffee-colored negro of unusually prepossessing dress and manner. he owns a seven-passenger motor car of model and a fairly popular-priced make. he keeps his car tuned up and clean. i found the two of them in the main street of frederick--just in front of one of the town's most popular hostelries. the car bore a placard stating that it would leave for baltimore, forty-six miles distant, at five o'clock and that the one-way fare for the journey would be $ . . i asked henry sewall the time that i might reasonably expect to be at my hotel in baltimore. he showed his even white teeth as he replied: "'fore seven 'clock, suh. ah've been known to do it in less." i glanced at the time card of the railroad that connects frederick with baltimore. it is a particularly good railroad, yet the afternoon train that it runs over the "old main line," as it calls that branch, left frederick at : p.m. and did not arrive at a station, some ten "squares"--one never says "blocks" in baltimore--from my hotel, until : . mileage and fare were practically the same as henry sewall's, but the train made numerous intermediate stops. and henry announced, with the negro's love of pomp and regulation, that the laws of the state of maryland would not permit him to stop and pick up passengers between frederick and baltimore--his license with the imposing state seal in its corner especially forbade that. i rode with henry. the softness and the sunshine of a perfect day in early summer, the knowledge that the old national pike over which we were to travel was in the pink of condition, that we were to pass across the stone jug bridge and through the fascinating towns of newmarket and ellicott city was too much to be forsworn. and we had a glorious ride--the car filled and but one stop of ten minutes at the delightful ellicott city, where henry changed tires. but even with this detention i was at my hotel promptly at seven o'clock. henry makes the round trip from baltimore to frederick each day of the week, excepting sundays, when his car is for general charter. even on rainy days henry's car is almost invariably filled--he manages to carry eight passengers besides himself. with a maximum earning capacity of twenty-four dollars a day and an average of only a very little less, henry is earning a very good living for himself, even when he figures on the cost, the wear and tear, and the depreciation of an automobile which is being driven about miles a day. there are many henry sewalls in and around baltimore. maryland today claims to have the finest highroads of any state in the union. the cross-country jitney busses have not been slow to take advantage of this. they start at regularly appointed hours from a popular-priced hotel in the heart of the city and the hours of their arrival and departure are as carefully advertised and as carefully followed as those of a steam railroad. when they are all starting out in the morning, the scene is as brisk and gay as it must have been at barnum's hotel in the baltimore of nearly a century ago, when, with much ado and gay confusion, the coaches set out upon the post roads--for frederick, for york, for harrisburg, for philadelphia, and for washington. yet the railroads that radiate from baltimore have not seen fit to fight these newcomers for the traffic of from ten to fifty miles outside the city. they have made particularly serious inroads upon the earnings of one of the smaller of these steam lines, which ordinarily derives a very good share of its earnings from its suburban traffic. there are good and sufficient reasons for the big railroads to hold their peace. take henry sewall's opposition. the direct rail route to frederick from baltimore is a line exempted from through passenger trains and very largely given over to a vast tonnage of through freight. the officers of the road have from time to time given thought to the possibilities of increasing the local passenger service on that very line. to do so, however, on the generous plans that they had outlined among themselves would have meant either one of two things--either they would seriously have incommoded the movement of the through freight--which is a railroad's largest source of profit--or else they would have been compelled to add a third track to that particular line. the income from the increased local passenger service would not justify the expense in either of these cases. therefore this railroad can afford to be indifferent to henry sewall and his gasoline coach. yet there is a broader way of looking at it. out from my old home town in northern new york there radiates today nearly as complete a system of motor-bus routes as that from baltimore. we have almost miles of superb new state highways in jefferson county. and watertown--our county seat--is a hub of no small traffic wheel. these busses, despite the arduous winters of the north country--watertown is reputed to have but three seasons: winter and july and august--keep going nearly the entire year round. they are of course patronized all that time. and the railroad which serves almost the entire north country loses much local passenger traffic as a result of them. it is the same system that i have just quoted as being the largest taxpayer in the state of new york--the chief contributor to its $ , , system of highways. yet it, too, is not fighting these jitney busses. on the contrary, one of its high traffic officers said to me just the other day: "we realize that the automobile is hardly apt to be a permanent competitive factor in any long distance passenger traffic--and that is the only passenger traffic in which we see any real profit. and there is a still bigger way of looking at it. every automobile that goes into the sections of new york which we serve means a movement of high-grade freight--the tires, the gasoline, the oils, the innumerable accessories that it constantly demands, mean more freight. besides this, if the automobile is developing the man on the farm or in the little village we shall, in the long run, profit. the development of the entire state of new york means the development of our railroad." and that is a platform on which no business--no matter how large or how small it is--can ever lose. * * * * * but is there not a possibility that the railroad can regain some of the traffic that it has lost, temporarily at least, to the motor car? is it not possible that the derided branch line may not be changed from a withered arm into a growing one? amputation has sometimes proved effective. there is many and many a branch-line railroad, which probably should never have been built in the first place, whose owners have been wise enough to abandon it and to pull up the rails. old iron has a genuine market value. go back with me once again to the time when the trolley began to be a long-distance affair. we have seen already how a good many steam railroad men looked with apprehension upon their branch lines--and with good cause. for a time it did look as if the electric railroad might become a genuine competitor of the steam railroad. a good many interesting fantasies of that sort got into print. an enterprising interurban trolley company over in illinois put on trolley-sleeping cars between st. louis and springfield and st. louis and peoria. it was said that the day was coming when a man would ride in a trolley limited all the way from chicago to new york--a real train, with sleeping cars and dining cars and negro porters and manicures and an observation platform. the utica (new york) chamber of commerce got tremendously excited over the matter and went all the way out to st. louis and back in a chartered car taken right out of the press of traffic in genesee street. but the trolley, as we have seen, has not proved a competitor of the steam railroad. it has become in almost every instance a feeder and as such is a valuable economic factor in the transportation situation. there have been no more sleeping cars placed on trolley routes, but a little time ago i found a canadian pacific box car on the shores of keuka lake, more than ten miles distant from the nearest steam railroad. a trolley road had placed it there, on a farmer's private siding. and he was packing it full of grapes--grapes to go overseas from some big canadian port upon the atlantic. such possibilities of the trolley line to the steam railroad point to similar feeding possibilities of the automobile--but of these very much more in their proper time and places. let us still continue to study the possibilities of the branch line. the other day i chanced to travel upon a certain small brisk railroad that runs across a middle western state. in my lap was a time card of that line and i was idly following it as we went upon our way. halfway down the long column of town-names, i saw a change. in other days a passenger for the enterprising county shiretown of caliph had been compelled to alight at the small junction point known as east caliph and there take a very small and very dirty little train for three miles, which finally left him at a clump of willows by a brookside--a full dozen hot and dusty blocks from the courthouse square which marks the geographical and commercial center of caliph. that branch-line train has disappeared. in its place a line on a time card reads "automobile service to caliph," and at the junction i saw a seven-passenger touring car with the initials of the railroad upon its tonneau doors. the motor bus takes you to the door of caliph's chief hotel, which faces that same courthouse square. the branch is unused, except for occasional switching. there is no expense of keeping it up to the requirements of passenger traffic, nor of maintaining a passenger station. the hotel serves as this last and at far less expense. and the cost of running the automobile over three miles of excellent highway is far cheaper than that of running a railroad train. the chauffeur is an entirely competent conductor and ticket-taker. and between passenger runs he can be used to carry the express and baggage on a motor truck. his own opportunities for development are fairly generous. * * * * * recently the automobile has been placed upon the railroad rails--with astonishing results as to both efficiency and economy. i saw one of these, not long ago, working on a small railroad running from the columbia river up to the base of mount hood. the superintendent of that railroad--he likewise was its agent, conductor, dispatcher, engineering expert, and chief traffic solicitor--had purchased a large "rubberneck" automobile, had substituted railroad flange wheels for the rubber-tired highway wheels, and was not only saving money for his property but also giving much pleasure to his patrons. a ride in a dirty, antiquated, second-hand coach behind a smoky, cindery locomotive is hardly to be compared with one in a clean, swift automobile, riding in the smooth ease of steel rails. so successful had the experiment proven that he was having a closed automobile made for winter service upon his railroad--with a tiny compartment for the baggage, the mail, and the express. a series of interesting experiments conducted by the army along the mexican border recently showed another way in which the motor truck could well be made an active ally and agent of the railroad. special t-rail wheel flanges were designed to fit outside of the heavy rubber tires that carry the cars over highways. it is the work of a very few minutes to slip these steel flanges on or off the wheels. which means that the motor truck may follow the lines of the railroad as far as it leads, giving many more miles of performance for each gallon of gasoline consumed; and then, when the rails end in the sand and sagebrush, may strike off for itself across the country in any direction. [illustration: the motor-car upon the steel highway how much better this than the smoky, dirty cars of yester-year!] [illustration: the adaptable motor-tractor equipped with flange wheels and hitched to a flat-car train on a logging railroad, it makes a bully motor-truck of real hauling capacity.] these ideas may seem visionary--advanced, perhaps. they are nothing of the kind. they are new, but they do represent the practical working of the great opportunity in branch-line railroading. and the gasoline-propelled unit railroad coach is no longer visionary, no longer even to be classed as a mere novelty. this adaptation of the automobile idea in the form of a single gasoline-propelled car, which combines baggage and express and smoking and day-coach compartments in an efficient compactness, has been a tremendous help to many railroads on their branch-line problems. these cars require a crew of but three men against a minimum crew of five men on the old-style steam train for branch-line service. they are clean and they are fast. and they have aided many railroads to increase their branch-line operation without increasing their operating cost--in many cases making actual savings. it is well for the big men who own and operate the steam railroad to remember that no matter how rapid may be the spread of the automobile or how permanent its extensive use, there will always be a large class of travel-hungry folk who must ride upon some form of railroad. there are people who, if financially capable of owning a car, are incapable of running it, and cannot afford a chauffeur. and the difficulties of owning an automobile increase greatly when one comes to live in the larger cities. the local line situation is not nearly as bad as it looks at first glimpse. there is a business for it if the railroader will devote himself carefully to its cultivation. remember that in many cases he has sought so long for the larger profits of long-distance business between the big cities that he has rather overlooked the smaller, sure profits of the local lines. and it is interesting to know that the railroad of the middle west which concededly maintains the finest local service is the one road that made no active appearance in a recent hearing in which the roads of its territory sought increased passenger rates. despite the fact that many of its competitors have said that its local service is expensive and generous to an unwarranted degree, it found that its net profits on its passenger earnings were proportionately higher than those on its freight! this road runs parlor cars upon almost all of its local trains, sleeping cars where there is even a possibility of their getting traffic. a big eastern road has just begun to follow this parlor-car practice. it builds and maintains its own cars. there are no expensive patent rights to be secured in the making of a parlor car. a double row of comfortable wicker or upholstered chairs, a carpet, lavatory facilities, and a good-humored porter will do the trick. and the train and the road upon which such a simple, cleanly car travels at once gains a new prestige. in an age when travel demands a private bath with every hotel room, a manicure with the haircut, and a taxicab to and from the station, a parlor car is more of a necessity than a luxury. and it is surprising to notice its earning possibilities upon even the simplest of branch lines or on one local train. * * * * * one thing more--a rather intimately related thing, if you please. we have spoken of the railroad automobile which runs up the public highway from east caliph to caliph and return. let us consider that particular form of transportation service of the automobile in still another light. a man who went up into one of the great national parks on the very backbone of the united states this last summer was tremendously impressed with both the beauty and the accessibility of the place. the one thing was supplemental to the other. this man was impressed by still another thing, however. the railroad which had brought him to a certain fine and growing city at the base of the mountains--a most excellent and well-operated railroad it chanced to be--had a branch line which ran much closer to the national park, upon which it was spending many thousands of dollars in advertising, both generously and intelligently. in other days park visitors took this branch--four-in-hands or carriages from its terminal for the thirty-mile run up through the canyon and into the heart of the park. with the coming of the automobile all this was changed. the motor car quickly supplanted the old-time carriages, even the four-in-hands themselves. in a short time it was running from the big city below the base of the mountains and the railroad was taking off one of its two daily trains upon the branch in each direction. then, after only a little longer time, it was making a truce with its new competitor--so that its through tickets might be used, in one direction at least, upon the motor cars. an excellent idea, you say. perhaps. but i know a better one. this same man rode last summer upon one of those motor vehicles all the way from the big city up into the heart of the park--some seventy miles all told. he is a man who owns an excellent touring car at his home--back east. perhaps that is the reason why he did not enjoy this run out in the west. for the car on which he rode was a truck-chassis upon which had been builded a cross-seat body, with accommodations for some fifteen or sixteen passengers. it was the only practical way in which a motor vehicle could be built in order to compete with the railroad at its established rates of fare. yet he did not enjoy the run, at least not until they were across the long forty-mile stretch of plains and up into the foothills of the rockies. and then he and his were a little too tired by the slow, if steady, progress of the low-geared truck-chassis, to really have the keenest enjoyment of the glorious park entrance. the point of all this is that the railroad which owns and operates that branch line ought also to own those excellently managed motor routes that radiate from its terminals through one of the loveliest and most rapidly growing playgrounds in all western america--perhaps own and operate a chain of its own hotels as well. it would gain not only prestige by so doing, but traffic as well. for back of its own advertising of the charms of that superior place it would set the guaranty of its name, of its long-established reputation for handling passengers well. there are plenty of places in the united states where this may be done--and done today. the southern pacific is widely advertising a motor route through the apache country and the salt river valley of arizona and in connection with its southern main stem between el paso and los angeles. the success of its radical traffic step on its part may yet lead it to a correlation with its service of many wonderful motor runs over those superb roads of california, as well. similar opportunities are open to the burlington, the milwaukee, the union pacific, the denver and rio grande, the great northern--all of them railroads not ordinarily blind to traffic opportunities of any sort whatsoever. in the east, the boston and maine, the maine central, and the central vermont railroads are confronted with dozens of such possibilities of developing through supplemental motor routes in the white mountains and the green mountains; the adirondacks, the catskills, and the alleghenies should be filled with opportunities for the delaware and hudson, the new york central, the pennsylvania, the baltimore and ohio, and the chesapeake and ohio railroads. to establish such routes only needs a few things--the detailed and detached attention of an alert young traffic man, with his nose well above conventions and precedents, working with a man schooled in the operation of motor vehicles upon a large scale. to this partnership add a competent advertising man, give a little money at the outset--and the trick will be turned. and i am confident that if it be well turned, the railroad will never wish to turn back again. chapter x more railroad opportunity let us now bring the motor truck into consideration. so far we have not taken it into our plans. and yet it is the phase of automobile competition that some railroad men frankly confess puzzles them the most. for it hits close to the source of their largest revenue--the earnings from the freight. it is a transport of things rather than of men. but that is no fundamental reason why it should not become as much an ally and a feeder of the railroad--as the passenger automobile, for instance. the possibilities of the motor truck, under the development of good roads, which already has grid-ironed the two coastal fronts of the united states with improved highways and placed them here and there and everywhere throughout the interior, are large. a wholesale meat vendor in philadelphia has used motor trucks with specially designed refrigerator bodies to distribute his wares not only through the immediate suburban territory in southeastern pennsylvania and in adjacent new jersey, but right up to the very doors of new york city, itself. florists, whose greenhouses dot the illinois prairies for fifty miles roundabout chicago, today are using fleets of these vehicles to bring their wares at top speed either to suburban railroad stations or down into the heart of the city itself--although this last is somewhat unsatisfactory owing to the crowded streets of downtown chicago. the motor truck is coming into increasing use in oregon and in washington and in california. it is proving a disturbing competitor to the small railroads upon the larger islands of the hawaiian group. and a company has just been formed to introduce a motor-truck freight service to certain railroadless parts of china--which are supplied with ancient but very passable highroads. [illustration: when freight is on the move the past two winters have seen the great black-breasted yards of all our american railroads congested with traffic almost to the breaking point. executives, high and low, have lived in the yards for days and weeks and months at a time trying to relieve the congestion. this terminal yard of the west shore railroad at weehawken, n. j., opposite new york city, is typical of many, many others.] come back to the united states. last winter, when the railroads of the east struggled under a perfect flood tide of freight, due to the rush of war munitions toward the seaboard for transshipment, they were compelled to issue embargoes. that means, plainly speaking, that for days and sometimes weeks at a time they were compelled to refuse to accept or deliver many classes of freight. they gave their first efforts to moving coal and milk and the other vital necessities for the towns which they served with the rigors of an unusually hard winter to combat. it was a long time before the embargoes were all raised--even with all the big operating men in the east working from eighteen to twenty hours out of twenty-four--in many cases living in their private cars set in the heart of the most congested yards. bridgeport was one of the towns that was hardest hit by these embargoes. while it is served by a single railroad, it is upon the main stem of that road--a system that is reputed to be well equipped for the handling of high-grade freight. but the conditions were unusual, to say the least. bridgeport found herself transformed almost overnight from a brisk and average connecticut manufacturing town into one of the world's greatest munition centers. prosperity hit her between the eyes. for a time people slept all night in the railroad station because they had nowhere else to go. and the fine new county almshouse was hurriedly transformed into a huge hotel. bridgeport swarmed with people. a single munition factory there employed close to , people. the railroad, long since hemmed in by the growing factory town, could not rebuild its yards overnight. neither could it look for relief toward the other connecticut towns. they, too, were making munitions and were in turn congested. but by far the worst congestion of all was at bridgeport. the railroad people worked unceasingly, but for a time to apparently no purpose. and for a time it was almost impossible for a package to reach bridgeport from new york or the west. in this emergency the motor truck proved its worth. it so happens that there is a factory in bridgeport which manufactures a very heavy type of motor truck. it put one of these in service between its plant and new york--fifty-six miles distant over the well-paved historic boston post road. it brought emergency supplies of every sort to the factory doors. so efficient did it prove itself in everyday service that a group of bridgeport manufacturers and merchants formed themselves into a transportation company and placed other trucks in daily service between their town and new york. and a little later when the new york terminals became glutted with freight and hedged about with embargoes, the manufacturers of bridgeport began having freight billed to them at the local freight houses in newark. they extended their motor-truck service to that busy jersey town and so saved themselves many dollars. when, in the course of a few months, the congestion was removed and freight conditions at bridgeport were normal once again, the motor-truck service along the post road disappeared. it could not compete with the freight rates of the railroad.[ ] but its possibilities as a feeder are enormous. only a few days ago i stood beside the desk of the traffic vice-president of a big trunk line and looked over his shoulder at a huge map spread there. it showed the main line and the branches of his railroad--from all these, stretching, like a fine moss upon an old oak, the improved highroads. the mapmaker had done more. by use of colors he had shown the automobile stage routes upon these roads--those that carried freight and those that combined two or three of these classes of traffic. the vice-president frankly confessed that he was studying to see what practical use he could make of these feeding motor routes. it was significant that the railroad should be making so careful a study of its new competitor, that it should be taking the first beginning steps to recognize it not as a competitor but rather as a friend and an ally, a feeder which eventually may be the means of bringing much traffic to its cars. the motor truck running over a well-paved highway can easily reach a farm or factory situated far from the steel rails.[ ] it may save the construction of expensive and eventually unprofitable branch-line railroads just as the passenger automobile or motor bus has begun to save the building of unprofitable street-car lines. if the farm fails or the factory burns down, never to be rebuilt, the railroad does not find itself with an expensive and utterly useless branch line of track upon its hands. there is still another great freight-traffic opportunity for the sick man of american business. it lies in the perfection and development of a standard unit container. the idea is not, in itself, entirely new. a good many men have been studying for a long time to develop a practical receptacle that will obviate the necessity of constantly handling and rehandling freight--always a great expense both at terminals and at transfer yards. the remarkable development of the automobile truck during the past five years has only emphasized the vital need of some such universal container. an ideal receptacle of this sort would be built of fiber or of steel--better still, a combination of the two. such a container would roughly approximate in size the body of a small motor truck. two of them would fit comfortably upon the chassis of a large truck--three or four, upon the frame of an electric car--for either city or interurban use. the regulation freight car of the steam railroad would then consist of trucks and frame--builded to receive from five to seven of the standard containers. these containers would also be able to fit in the low hold decks of a steamship with a great economy of room and therefore with a great efficiency of service. the manufacturer then would load the containers in his shipping room. some of them destined through under seal to large cities, such as new york or chicago or philadelphia; others, carrying a variety of products to small places, would be addressed to recognized transfer or assorting points. this last method would be exactly similar to that employed by the post-office department or the express companies in handling their daily flood tides of small parcel traffic. the use of the universal container would be directed more particularly, however, to heavier freight, both in individual packages and in bulk. coal or grain or lumber would hardly be sent in a container. it might be possible, however, to ship flour and sugar in the universal container, and entirely without the expense of wrappings. from the manufacturer's door--whether it were at street level, or in a community industrial building fifteen floors above the street--the container would go to the railroad frame car. by use of small-wheeled trucks or overhead tractors it would be carried first to the waiting chassis of the motor truck--in case the manufacturer was not able to command railroad siding facilities for himself. the motor truck would carry it to the freight terminal--overhead crane would make short shift of loading the container and its fellows upon the frame car. the rest of the journey would be that of ordinary freight, save that at the destination the shipping process would be exactly reversed--the motor truck performing its part of the work again, if necessary, and the container going direct to the merchant or manufacturer with the least possible delay and with no expensive intermediate handlings, with their consequent labor expense as well as the possible danger from breakage. this idea is not chimerical. also, it is not inexpensive. it requires much study to work out the details and when these have been brought into practicability it would require much money for the initial investment in containers. they would have to be built in large quantities, in order to justify the large immediate expense to adapt any number of freight cars, terminals, and warehouses to their use. but as to their efficiency and their ultimate economy, few transportation men who have given much real thought to the subject, are in doubt. such schemes quickly ally themselves with the entire problem of terminals. "terminals?" you say, and immediately think of what we were discussing a few minutes ago--the grand central station and other monumental structures of its sort. but those were passenger terminals. and now we have come to the great opportunities to be found in the handling and the development of the freight. perhaps you are not impressed with the importance of freight terminals. they are not the impressive gateways of large cities; but in many, many senses they are the most important. through them pour the foodstuffs--the meats, the fish, the vegetables, the fruits, the milk, the clothing, the fuel, the thousand and one things, necessary for the comfort of man and his luxury. bar those gateways but for a single day and then see the panic that would overcome your city. * * * * * while we were speaking of the new grand central station and the important step it typified in the economic and efficient progress of our country, we called attention to the allied facilities that were springing up roundabout it--hotels, clubs, office buildings, auditorium, all of them more or less closely affiliated with the business of the great north gate of a metropolitan city. is there any reason why the freight gateways should not be the housing places of affiliated industries--industries, if you please, more or less dependent upon the rapid movement of either their raw material or their finished products? suppose that the railroads were ever to seek out and solve that fascinating problem of the universal unit container. would not the most fortunate manufacturer be he whose shipping room, his entire modern and concentrated factory as well, was so close to a comprehensive freight terminal as to permit the handling of his containers, his other freight too, by means of chutes or elevators--with even the motor truck, to say nothing of less modern forms of city truckage, entirely eliminated? [illustration: the bush terminal south brooklyn, new york city.] [illustration: new freight terminal warehouse at rochester built by the buffalo, rochester, & pittsburgh railway. a modern combination of freight house and storage warehouse.] there is, on one of the harbor-shores of metropolitan new york, a city within a city. it is located in brooklyn, to be exact, and it occupies somewhat more than a half-mile of waterfront--a waterfront cut into long deep-water piers, of the most modern type and running far out into the harbor. back of these piers and connected with them by means of an intricate, but extremely well-planned system of industrial railroad, rise many buildings of steel and stone and concrete, almost all of them built to a single type and differing only in the minor details of their construction. on the many floors of this group of buildings are myriad separate industries, widely diverse as to character and product but all of them capable of concentrated location. together they employ many thousands of men and women and the high-grade freight which they send out each day would pay a king's ransom. in other days the greater number of these industries were scattered about both brooklyn and the manhattan boroughs of new york. as a rule they were remote from both freight houses and sidings. the freight-terminal situation of new york, owing to the peculiar physical formation of the city and its segregation from the mainland by several great navigable rivers, the upper harbor, and the sound, is most difficult of operation. all the railroads find it necessary to lighter their freight over these navigable streams, either upon car-floats or in other forms of vessels. and, even under the most favorable operating conditions of light freight traffic, there is constant danger of congestion. but to a manufacturer situated on one of the narrow sidestreets of either manhattan or brooklyn, the situation was infinitely worse. his problem was to even reach the freight houses along the watersides of the town--a problem to be imperfectly solved by the use of trucks. fifty trucks in a narrow street, crowding and jostling, mean infinite congestion and loss of time. add to this the prima-donna-like temperament of the average truck-driver, showing itself in constant and protracted strikes, and you can see why the manufacturers have flocked not only to that great industrial city in south brooklyn, but to others like it which have begun to spring up in and around metropolitan new york. not only is the trucking expense entirely eliminated--the freight cars are waiting in the great community shipping rooms in the ground floor of the very factory--but heat and light and power are alike brought to a fixed and reasonable cost. and the newest of these manufacturing buildings are fabricated so strongly that it is both possible and practicable to raise a loaded box car to any of their floors--to the manufacturer's individual shipping room, if you please. here is an idea instantly adaptable to the freight terminal of any railroad. a remarkably progressive small railroad--the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburgh--has recently built a freight terminal of this very sort at rochester. and there is hardly an important city reached by an important railroad that does not offer many opportunities for the development of freight terminals of this sort, terminals which, like the grand central station, would bring direct revenue to the railroad which built them. in this hour when the cost of foodstuffs is occupying so large a portion of public attention, when a large part of the problem lies in the marketing and storage facilities, or the lack of them, it might be possible to develop the freight terminal as both a cold-storage plant and a market. and all of this would tend to bring additional revenue to the railroad, as well as to simplify greatly, if not to solve entirely, some of the great transportation and terminal problems which are today troubling our cities and our larger towns and which are making their food costs mount rapidly to heights which the imagination has heretofore failed to grasp. already the residents of these communities are taking definite steps toward relief. in the city of new york, commissioner john j. dillon of the state department of food and markets has proposed that the state erect a public wholesale market house for the private sale or auctions of foodstuffs of every sort and in every quantity. this market would be open, on equal terms and without favor or prejudice to buyers of every sort. it is believed that it would, in every way, tend to simplify the terminal handling of foodstuffs and in just such measure help to reduce food costs to the ultimate consumer. commissioner dillon estimates the cost of such a market house at from $ , , to $ , , . owing to a recent wave of stringent economy, upon certain lines, at albany, this suggestion of his has not been looked upon with great favor by the executive branch of the state government. yet it is probable that in the long run a state which has not turned a hair at a recently voted appropriation of $ , , for a necessary addition to its park lands will halt at a necessary appropriation of $ , , to reduce food costs in its largest city, even more to provide similar food stations in its other large communities. we soon shall see how it has voted $ , , for a canal of little or no practical value. the suggested expenditure for market houses is as nothing compared with that. but before such market houses can be planned and erected comes the opportunity of the railroads whose lines reach new york. if they can build such terminals, or even adapt, temporarily at least, their present plants to meet such a public and general need they will be proving themselves, in truth, public servants. if i may be permitted here and now to enter a _sotto-voce_ remark, it would be that an absence of some such definite, modern, constructive methods as these--not alone in regard to food transportation, terminal handling, storage, and marketing, but as to speculation itself--is going to bring the united states closer to a practical and nation-wide experiment in socialism than the disturbed railroad situation has ever brought it. it seems as if the railroad's older brother, the steward and purveyor of our great estate, was about to fall ill. i think that i can see that tremulous, but stern nurse, regulation, turning her attention toward him. and i am quite sure that if he does break down at this time he is going to know regulation as the railroad never has known her. all these things are more or less intimately related to the question of terminals--more rather than less. and they are all most intimately related to the question of the freight-traffic development of the railroad. "get the terminals," were james j. hill's repeated orders to his lieutenants in the creative period of his railroads. hill knew the value of terminals, freight terminals in particular; he knew that it took a freight car bound from east to west or west to east as long to go through the city of chicago as from chicago to st. paul-- miles--and that is why he set out to get his terminals in growing cities while the land was cheap and the getting was good. hill had vision. he was also tremendously practical. it was the combination of these qualities that made him the master railroader of his generation. * * * * * there is another form of transportation whose development always has been and always will be directly connected with the development of the railroads. i am referring to the use of the inland waterways of the country--not merely the great lakes which today bear the most highly developed commerce of any fresh-waterways in the world, but our rivers and our canals. with the notable exception of the great lakes, which we have just cited, we are decades behind europe in the use of these waterways. and to make a bad matter worse federal legislation has sought to penalize the enterprise of the railroads in any attempts to develop the use of the waterways in their own interest. just how this came about is a matter of plainly recorded history; a story of the attempts of certain ill-advised carriers to purchase and to strangle water lines, because of the competition which they offered. but the railroads which operated the huge grain and coal fleets on the great lakes were not throttling--they were developing. and the success of their example was slowly but surely having its effect on their fellows elsewhere across the land. fortunately the same hands that make a law may repeal it. and the odious anti-railroad provisions of the navigation law that accompanied the opening of the panama canal should be revoked at once. the railroads should be aided and encouraged in the development, through their capital and the use of their connecting land lines as well as their advantageous waterfront terminals in almost all our cities, in developing a waterborne traffic. such a traffic, devoting itself chiefly, if not exclusively, to the lower, coarser, and slower moving grades of freight would be a tremendous relief to their rails; in the long run probably saving them huge capital expenditures for the construction of third and fourth tracks to relieve their overburdened double-tracks. congestion on our railroads is not always a question of overcrowded terminals. take that great, elaborate, and all but economically useless ditch which the state of new york is just completing from the hudson river at troy to the foot of lake erie at buffalo--the outgrowth of the once-famous erie canal. as a piece of engineering the new barge canal is a marvel. its locks are comparatively few, roomy, marvels of operating mechanism, its fairway is generous--together these give a water pathway large enough for a barge of , tons burden. two thousand tons is roughly equal to forty modern freight cars--a fair length train. two of these barges would have the tonnage equivalent of a full-length modern freight train. fifty of them would be a genuine relief to the crowded rails of the new york central's six tracks from albany to buffalo. but the new york central is not permitted to operate barges through the new erie canal from troy to buffalo. oh, no! and for that matter, not from new york up the waters of the hudson to troy. the federal regulation takes care of the waters of the hudson--and keeps them freight-desolate--the sovereign state of new york prevents their passing through the sacred portals of its new $ , , canal. for, truth to tell, the new canal was designed for but two or three real purposes; to keep the port of buffalo from falling into decay, to find jobs for numerous deserving feeders at the public trough and keep down the local freight rates of the new york central, which it parallels for its entire length. if it succeeds in these things--and it probably will--the men who control the present destinies of the state government will probably lose no time in worrying over the fact that the canal is practically completed, yet no boats of the modern type for which it was builded have been launched--or even planned. for a traffic not one one-thousandth of that at panama, a canal of half the size and half the cost has been constructed. seneca falls has been made a port, and so has rome and so has holley--and if the citizens of these sleepy towns doubt this they may go down and see the wharves and warehouses, the docks and levees which a benevolent state has wished upon them. and even if there are no boats to patronize these wonderful establishments they are kept atrim, and throughout all the watches of the night brilliantly alight. perhaps the argosy is yet to plow the waters of the erie! one thing i know. i traveled on a night train on the delaware and hudson not so long ago and chanced to see the great locks of the champlain canal--twin sister to the new erie--all the distance ablaze with clusters of arc lamps. traffic? not a bit of it. there is no traffic upon the champlain canal. and the gods in the high heavens must laugh aloud as they read of "america efficient" and night after night gaze down upon the brilliancy of those glaring lights upon the unused lengths of the canals of the state of new york. "one hundred and fifty millions of dollars," groans the practical engineer, "and the state of new york might have had instead of miles of canals, , miles of railroads, every mile of the needed improved highways she has been building, many more beside. the overhead that the freight will have to pay going through the expensive and extravagant new canal is far greater than that of the best of railroads." all of which is perfectly true. but, in the words of an economist of another generation, it is a condition and not a theory which confronts us. the canals have been built--but no vessels have been builded for them. the waterways cannot remain unused. the state has two ways by which it may force their use. it may build, equip, and operate its own barges and so bring at once a widespread experiment in government transportation that seems almost foredoomed to complete failure, or it may take steps to induce, not only the new york central, but the other railroads which link new york and buffalo, to build and operate barges upon the canals. remember that these railroads are more than merely links; local freight-carriers between new york and buffalo. and buffalo, as you probably know, is one of the larger of the terminals at the base of the great lakes. each year millions of bushels of grain--other coarse freight as well--find their way to its docks for rail transshipment to new york or boston, where in turn they may go into the holds of vessels for transportation overseas. the erie canal is as much a link as any of these railroads. and, despite the fact that the state of new york has been foolish enough to build and maintain it exclusively from its own treasury, the fact remains that it is a water avenue of national communication. a glance at your atlas will satisfy you as to that. of one thing the state of new york may be certain. private capital is not going to build traffic upon the erie and the champlain canals--particularly in view of the legislation which tends to discourage, if not actually to prevent, a company of any real size or influence operating upon the canal. the tendency of today is entirely toward centralization and consolidation. and the small independent transportation company, deprived of feeding traffic and adequate joint or independent terminals has a hard shift for existence. i have dilated upon the new york canals because they are typical of the river opportunities that await the railroad throughout the rest of the country. you think of the old-time river boat--you still can see a few of them rubbing their blunt noses against the levees at new orleans or memphis or st. louis or pittsburgh--and you laugh at me. i might reply by calling your attention to the fact that the tonnage of the port of pittsburgh, which moves entirely on the muddy rivers that serve it, is in excess of the tonnage of many of the greatest and most famous seaports in the world--liverpool to make a shining comparison. and as for the river steamboat--it is capable of infinite development, of transformation from the gaudy and inefficient carrier of ante-bellum days into a mighty freight-hauler of today. the great lakes have witnessed a complete transformation of the type of freight vessel upon their waters. the genius that effected the revolution of their naval architecture is available for the development of the river craft of the united states. need more be said? the opportunity awaits. preceded by the necessary repeal legislation, to which i have already referred, it is, at the least, among the very largest of the opportunities that today await the sick man of american business. perhaps by this time you are beginning to be genuinely interested in the opportunity for the development of the freight traffic of the railroad. it is not entirely an opportunity of the operating or the engineering departments. indeed, at the present time the greatest activities of the traffic-soliciting forces of the railroad are given to its larger customers--patrons whose shipments run in carload, if not in trainload lots. the undeveloped field of freight opportunity for the railroad is the smaller patron--the man who ships "less than carload," but whose traffic fostered and increased would mean trainloads by the dozens, by the hundreds, by the thousands. the railroads, through their industrial departments already have begun to accomplish much along these lines. one big road--the baltimore and ohio--has begun, on a very large scale, to make an intensive study of the resources of the territory which it occupies. it sends a corps of its investigators--college-trained men, all of them, into a single small city and keeps them there for one or two or three weeks. when they are done with both this field work and the review of it back at headquarters, the road has in its archives at baltimore a book of pages or more which is a complete record of that city, not alone industrially, but socially and historically as well. and if the town is clamorous for a new depot--most towns are--a study of this book will do much toward giving the answer. it may show that it finally is entitled to a new passenger gateway; and it may show also that it is careless about its pavements and its lawns, about the upkeep of the public buildings which it already has--in which case the railroad has a fairly good reason for refusing a new station. other railroads are following these methods--most of our roads are quickly imitative at least, even when they are unwilling to break precedent and take a definite lead. yet, in my own humble opinion, they have not begun to even scratch the surface possibilities of traffic development. the experience of the express companies is illuminating in this regard. confronted with the establishment of the parcel post and threatened for a season at least with the loss of much of their small-parcel traffic to it, they began to look about to find where they might develop a tonnage with which to fill their cars and wagons. at that moment the cost of living was making one of its periodic ascents. the express companies took advantage of the situation and began the development of a food-products service direct to the consumer. the idea was popular. it met with instant approval and tided the express companies over the hardest period of their history. * * * * * these things are interesting in the abstract. in the concrete they may yet spell the very salvation of the railroad. two things are necessary, however, to transform them from the abstract to the concrete--brains and money. i think that i have shown you enough already to convince you that brains is not lacking in the conduct of the railroad, despite the extreme difficulty which it is having today in gaining recruits from the best type of young men who come trooping out from the preparatory schools, the technical schools, and the colleges of the land. true it is that we have not yet raised master railroaders to take the places of james j. hill or e. h. harriman. yet it is by no means certain that such master railroaders may not be in the making today on our great overland carriers. take such men as daniel willard, the hard-headed, far-seeing president of the baltimore and ohio, hale holden, the diplomatic and statesmanlike head of the historic burlington, charles h. markham of the illinois central, james h. hustis of the boston and maine, howard elliott of the new haven, william t. noonan of the buffalo, rochester, and pittsburgh, or carl r. gray of the western maryland--these are men to whom the future development of our railroads may safely be trusted. bricks cannot be made without straw. and these men cannot bring the great sick man of american business back to health without our help--without the help and cooperation of every thinking man and woman in the united states. that cooperation must come without delay, not only to relieve the plight of the railroad with which we already are familiar, but also to make it possible for him to take advantage of the great opportunities which await him. the average railroader--feeling that the cards were all against him, that his credit at the bank was nearly nil, and that he must spend the greater part of his time on the defensive, fighting legislation that he believed to be grossly unfair--has not given much attention to these great new ideas, vastly radical in their conception and requiring in their execution much overturning of well-established methods and precedents. yet this is not to be interpreted as showing that he lacks vision. for remember that the sick man of american business is not too ill to realize his opportunity. but he knows that first he must regain his feet once more before he can begin important creative work. he knows that the lines along which he has been working for a long time have been cramped and restricted--conservative, to put it mildly. but he also knows that before he can begin on extensive creative work he must have several things--money and, more than money, public aid and sympathy. and of these things--the present necessity of our railroads--we shall soon treat. but before we come to them we shall come to a consideration of a railroad problem of recent compelling attention--a problem that is both opportunity and necessity, and so deserves to be considered between them. chapter xi the railroad and national defense the secretary of the navy met a high officer of the telephone company in washington some months ago. "i have noticed a great deal about your new transcontinental telephone line," said he. "i wonder if you could tell me how long it would take us, in a national crisis, to get in telephone communication with each navy yard in the united states and what the cost would be." the telephone man stepped to the nearest of his contraptions. in a moment he was back. "not more than five minutes," he said quietly, "and in such a crisis there would be no charge to the government." * * * * * the telephone, the telegraph, and the railroad are the three great avenues of national communication. in time of peace they throb with its traffic and beat in consonance with the heartbeats of its commerce. in time of war their value to the nation multiplies, almost incredibly. it is then of vital necessity that they be preserved in their entirety. it is of almost equal military necessity that they be kept close to the armies that are afield. of the telephone we have just spoken. the services of the telephone at the time of the civil war are too well remembered today for it to be ignored in any future national crisis. but it is of the railroad that we are talking in this book--the railroad that brings the food to your larder, even the milk to your doorstep; that keeps the coal upon your hearthstone and the clothing upon the backs of you and yours; that carries you to and fro over the face of the land. it is the railroad, that living, breathing thing that girdles the whole land and sends its tentacles into even the smallest town, that, as you already know, is your servant in times of peace. how can it be made to serve you in time of war? * * * * * when the last great war was fought in the united states, our railroads had barely attained their majority. in the days of the civil war there were no railroad systems, as we know them today. instead there was a motley of small individualistic railroads, poorly coordinated. they were, for the most part, poorly built and insufficiently equipped. nothing was standardized. even the track-gauges varied and passengers or freight going a considerable distance found it necessary to change cars at intersecting points. nevertheless, the railroad played a tremendous part in the war of the rebellion. because of it sherman made his conquering march from atlanta to the sea. he was something of a railroader himself, that doughty general. and upon his immediate staff were expert railroaders. over the crude railroads of the georgia of that day, with the aid of their war-racked cars and locomotives, they supplied the commissary of the sherman army as it made its way across a devastated land. [illustration: the railroad in the civil war this picture of a section of alexandria, virginia, was taken in and shows the cars and engines of the united states military railroad of that day.] in the north the military railroad, reaching down from the very portal of the long bridge at washington, its railheads almost always touching the union lines, was an almost indispensable factor to the army of the potomac. the baltimore and ohio was hardly a less important factor. it paid a high price for the accident of location. one of stonewall jackson's earliest and most brilliant achievements was the seizure of eight locomotives from its roundhouse at martinsburg and their movement, some forty miles, over a dirt road to winchester, virginia, where they found the tracks of a part of the railroad system of the confederacy. later on jackson returned to martinsburg and helped himself to twelve more b. and o. locomotives, also moving these over the turnpike to winchester. he knew and lee knew that even a clumsy balloon-topped, wood-burning locomotive was worth horses in transport service. and the south was none too plentifully supplied with locomotives even before the war began. the most of the work of the railroads in the civil war was not dramatic. but it was thorough--the carrying of men between the cities of the middle west and the army of the cumberland. at first it was chaotic, but it became well systematized. the direct line between new york and washington--although then composed of four separate railroads--was recognized as a route of vast strategic value. the men who handled troops and supplies over it, in doing so qualified themselves to assume the mastery of the great railroad systems that were to spring into being at the close of the war--as a result of both construction and consolidation. * * * * * in , when the country was again plunged into war, preparation of the railroad lines of the land had grown to maturity. unfortunately, however, the theater of the war was close to the corner of the land which was then most poorly equipped with railroads. but the standardization of the operating conditions had been largely accomplished. one could run a car or locomotive upon practically every important line in the land without changing the gauge of its wheels. this last, of itself, was important. it meant that the equipment of larger and stronger roads to the north could be sent down to the plant system and the florida central and peninsular--barely equipped for ordinary purposes--which were suddenly called upon to handle an extraordinary traffic. this, of itself, was a mixed blessing. for the borrowed locomotives were often too heavy for the light rails and long bridges over the florida marshes. derailments were frequent and the delays they entailed, protracted. the men who went to tampa in that hot summer of have not forgotten the florida central and peninsular nor the plant system, even though those two railroads have now passed into history. nor has the war department forgotten them. on one memorable occasion, the quartermaster started a special trainload of emergency army supplies south from philadelphia to tampa. in order to make sure that the train should go through promptly, he placed one of his own representatives upon it, with orders to push it through. the train disappeared. after three weeks, the quartermaster's department found it on a siding at a place called turkey creek, a good eighteen miles from tampa--held there because of the hopelessly congested terminal at the waterside. and they never yet have found the special representative who was to put it through. these abominable conditions, the conditions that made it necessary to take from four to six days from the great mobilization camp at chattanooga to port tampa, a journey which should have been done in from one-half to one-third of this time, were not to be charged to the poor men who were struggling to operate those inadequate railroads. they were doing the best they could, without plan and without facilities. and it is interesting to note in this connection, that in that same memorable summer, an appeal came to washington not to put more than troops a day through the jersey city gateway for fear of congesting the terminals there! * * * * * more recently the railroads of the south have been called upon again to handle troops and munitions and commissary. of course the problems that have confronted them upon the mexican border are hardly comparable with those of the civil war or the spanish-american war. yet on the very morning that the entire country was shocked by villa's audacious raid upon columbus, new mexico, the heads of the great railroad systems that come together at el paso were alert and ready for any orders that the war department might give. at : p.m. that evening a telegraphic request for trains came from washington to the general headquarters of the southern pacific lines at houston. five thousand troops were to be moved from the camps at galveston and near-by texas city, and as quickly as possible. early in the morning the trains began moving. the railroad had made a full night of it. throughout the night they had brought their extra equipment into galveston from san antonio, from new orleans, from shreveport--every important operating center within twelve hours' run. the trains were ready as quickly as the troops. and they made the long run of miles up over the long single-track to el paso in an average of thirty-six hours--under the conditions, a really remarkable performance. [illustration: the railroad "doing its bit" hauling a trainload of army trucks and supplies from chicago to gen. pershing's expedition "somewhere in mexico."] the santa fé and the rock island operate direct lines from chicago to el paso. they were called upon during many months of the past year to carry munitions south to the border--particularly motor trucks--and were not found wanting. the rock island with its complementary line, the el paso and southwestern, carried motor trucks and water wagons from chicago to el paso, , miles, on a fifty-hour schedule. the "limited" with all of its reputation for fast running and its high-speed equipment only makes this distance in forty-three hours and a half, while the ordinary schedule for freight--which is the equipment upon which it was necessary to handle the motor trucks and the water wagons--is hours and minutes from one city to the other. but pershing needed the automobiles. they were vital for his expedition. and it was a part of the day's work for the railroad to carry them down to the border in record time.[ ] * * * * * the job of handling the troops on the texas line has hardly been more than part of the day's work. the railroaders down there will tell you that. the real job of the railroad recently has been laid overseas in the nations that are fighting so bitterly for mastery. the german military use of railroads is most interesting because it is the best. american travelers for years past have noticed upon the trucks of each separate piece of rolling stock in the empire, its military destination, as well as cabalistic figures to denote its carrying capacity in men and horses and pounds of freight. yet these were but the surface indications of a great plan--whose formulas had been worked out and rested on the shelves of the war headquarters in berlin. how well the plan has worked we all know now. for the first time in its history the railroad has become an active fighting factor--not merely to be content with the bringing of powder and shell and food and equipment up to the bases of the fighting lines; not merely to assemble troops, in a comparatively leisurely fashion, or to take tired and sick and wounded men back to their homes; but to be a striking arm, if you please, moving whole brigades and even armies with all the tensity and speed and resource at its command. in other days you might laugh at the peaceful little german passenger train, making its leisurely way in all the pomp and circumstance that only an empire may show. but you cannot laugh at the german military train, black with troopers, darting its way across the kaiserland with a speed and definiteness that is all but human. it has been stated that the real reason why the germans failed to reach paris in their memorable drive of september, , was that even their remarkable system of military railroads failed in this supreme crisis. if this be so, it must be that the task placed upon them was superhuman. for it was just such military trains as we have just seen, multiplied in dozens and in hundreds, that moved whole brigades to southern galicia during the first two weeks of april, --a distance, roughly speaking, equal to that from boston to detroit. it was the military plan for the railroads of germany that brought the regiments out of the trenches in arras in the last week in june of that same year and on the fourth of july had them hammering at the might of warsaw. and warsaw is miles from the low fields of arras. not until the war is over will the whole military workings of the german railroads be known. but examples such as these show that they did work. and it may be remembered that when the german army began flowing in a tidal fashion up over the russian steppes they came to von hindenburg and reminded him of napoleon and the retreat from moscow. and von hindenburg showed his great teeth and remarked that napoleon had had no railroads. "the bread which our soldiers eat today in windau was baked yesterday in breslau," he added. and it takes only a single glance at the map to see that windau is approximately miles distant from breslau. "we drink german mineral water and we eat fresh meat direct from berlin. if necessary, we can build fifty miles of railroad in two days. therefore it is nonsense to speak now of the times and the strategy of napoleon." * * * * * here, then, is another of the great practical lessons that these three fateful years are teaching america. consider now how she may avail herself of this particular lesson--the coordination of her great systems of more than a quarter of a million miles of standard steam railroads with an orderly and intelligent military plan, against any invasion. other nations have had to build railroads with a particular relation to military strategy. keen-minded belgians and frenchmen long ago noted the tendency of germany to build double-track railroads to comparatively unimportant points upon her western front--since then they have had the opportunity to see the wartime efficiency of these lines, suddenly turned in an august from practical stagnation into busy, flowing currents of military traffic. of the strategic value of double-track routes, much more in a moment. for this moment consider the location of the principal rail lines of the united states--particularly in their reference to the defense of the nation. the "vital area" of the country, so called, is the coast territory between portland, maine, and washington, district of columbia, and resting east of the sharp ridges of the alleghenies. here is a great part of the wealth, the population, and the banking of the united states. fortunately, however, this is the district best supplied with efficient railroads, double-tracked, triple-tracked, quadruple-tracked. and a reference to the map will quickly show that these lines are particularly well adapted to coast defense. from the extreme northeastern tip of maine down to key west and around the white and curving shore of the gulf to brownsville and the mouth of the rio grande there is hardly a strategical point that is not well served by existing railroads. north of boston, the boston and maine and the maine central systems run, not alone parallel to the coast, but by means of a network of other lines intersecting their coast lines, are prepared to serve them from the inland country every few miles. the importance of this last fact comes to mind when one realizes the possibility of an invading force eluding our naval patrols and cutting our coast line railroads. with a network of adequate line behind the one actually closest to the shore, important communication would not be interrupted for any considerable time. boston is linked with new york by three distinct routes of the new haven system; with chicago by the boston and albany, in practical effect a branch stem of the new york central system. nor are these three stems the only protection that the new york, new haven, and hartford railroad extends to new england. the exposed and bended arm of cape cod is a weak point in the nation's "vital area." the new haven holds and controls the one-time old colony railroad which reaches the old whaling ports of plymouth, new bedford, and provincetown--a railroad which might at any time become of vast strategic importance and which should be at once double-tracked, by the federal government, if necessary, for the same reason that germany double-tracked her lines leading to her french and belgian border. and only second in importance to the old colony in case of an attempted invasion from across the atlantic is the long island railroad, stretching straight out of the city of new york to the very tip of the island. between the rockaways and montauk there are many points on the south edge of long island that offer possibilities to landing parties. and it is essential that the railroad that serves this peculiarly barren bit of coast within two hours' rail run of the largest city upon the american continent be prepared to serve it well in the case of military necessity. fortunately the long island railroad has been vastly improved--its double-track increased--within the past ten years. it is no longer barred by the east river from actual track connections with the other railroads of the country. the great pennsylvania tunnels already make it possible in a military emergency to pour filled train and empty, on short headway, into long island. the strategic value to the nation of these tunnels will soon be supplemented by the hell gate bridge over the east river which will bind the pennsylvania and the long island railroads with the main lines of the new haven and the new york central. this bridge cannot be completed too quickly. it is of immediate strategic necessity. * * * * * from new york south the same main-stem railroad that served the north so well in the days of the civil war still stands. it has, however, ceased to be a chain of railroads, with ferriage at havre de grace and heartrending transfers by horse cars across philadelphia and baltimore, as it was in the days when new england and the york state and the jersey regiments went down to washington and over across the potomac. from baltimore north, this ancient stem is now the pennsylvania railroad, four-tracked or double-tracked the entire distance, rich in surplus locomotives and cars, and halted no longer by either the delaware or the susquehanna rivers. since the close of the civil war the pennsylvania has builded its own line from baltimore to washington, while the baltimore and ohio, which owned that section of the ancient stem, has thrust its own line up into philadelphia, coming from that point to jersey city over the main-line rails of the philadelphia and reading and the central railroad of new jersey systems. this means that there are today between these parallel railroad systems eight main-line tracks from new york to philadelphia and from four to six from philadelphia through baltimore to washington. it is a combined railroad trunk of which a nation might well be proud. and this nation may yet be profoundly grateful that it has such a railroad trunk, through the heart of its "vital area." consider again this "vital area"--the great metropolitan districts of boston, of new york, of philadelphia, of baltimore--almost a continuous city, in fact, all the way along the atlantic coast from the south tip of maine to the potomac. it stretches west to the alleghenies, in fact we may say a little beyond them, to include such vigorous communities as pittsburgh and cleveland and buffalo. here in this "vital area" of the nation are more than eighty per cent of its munition-making plants, its largest hard coal and soft coal deposits, its steel-making plants, its greatest shipyards and its three most important navy yards. major general leonard wood has said that , , men would be necessary to properly defend the coast-line from portland, maine, to washington. therefore the railroad main stem that connects these cities and the many larger cities between them is the most important military base line upon this continent. it needs all the resources of two- and four- and even six-tracked railroads, for general wood has gone on record as saying that in a national crisis it might be necessary to move half a million men on this great base line within the course of ten short hours. on a conservative estimate these would require trains--trains which, stood end to end, would reach all the way from new york to washington or to utica. such a train movement would stagger even the imagination of a passenger-traffic manager accustomed to figure the "business" in and out of a national inauguration or a big football game at princeton or new haven or cambridge. a railroader whose pencil has a quick aptitude for figures has estimated that germany has seven and a half locomotives for every ten miles of track. we have one-third that proportion. yet the preponderance of what our railroad men like to call "motive power" lies east of the mississippi river and north of the ohio. the same thing is true of cars--cars of every sort and variety. that is not the problem. here it is. suppose, if you will, that an enemy finding an entrance to america on the sandy south shore of long island--to choose the spot most in the favor of the writers of the lurid fiction of an imaginary war between some european nation and the united states--has actually succeeded in capturing the city of new york. the great military base line of america is broken at its most important point. how are major general wood and the rest of the men who are puzzling the great problem out with him, going to move a half-million men--a half or a quarter of that number from new england over into pennsylvania or down toward the defense lines around the national capital? take a look at your railroad map. look sharply! you will need to look sharply to see the second line of communication between new england and the rest of the nation. there it is--a thin and wavering railroad line, stretching from new haven up through the connecticut hills, spanning the hudson on the slender tracery of the poughkeepsie bridge and threading still more hills until it reaches trenton, new jersey, and the main base line once again. the nation may yet thank a gentleman named charles s. mellen for that second line of communication. for while the much discussed ex-president of the new haven did not build the poughkeepsie bridge or the new england lines leading to it, he at least caused both of them to be double-tracked, curves and grades ironed out until one heavily laden coal train could follow close upon the heels of another. [illustration: america's "vital area" the workshops and the coalbins of the united states, together with the principal railroads which must protect them. this bird's-eye map made as though viewed from an aeroplane at a point five hundred miles off of cape cod.] that was mellen's motive in making a large part of this second line of communication into first-class railroad--the perfecting of new england's long, lean arm down into the pennsylvania coal bin. but no matter what his motive--he has never pretended to be altruistic--his coal line is of great strategic value. not alone does it circle around metropolitan new york at a reasonably safe distance, but it intersects the great trunk lines running west from the seaboard--routes that would be of unspeakable strategic value in the case of the seizure of our largest city. for these would be the lines that would have to feed our army--not with mere food, but with men and guns and shells and all that with these go. at poughkeepsie this second line of communication intersects the main stem of the new york central, in turn the main stem of the vanderbilt system reaching almost every important city west of the alleghenies and east of the mississippi and north of the ohio. at goshen it intersects the erie railroad, come in these recent years from being a reproach and a byword into one of the most efficiently operated railroads in the entire land. farther south it intersects the lackawanna and the lehigh valley--roads rich in money and in resources. suppose now the second line of communication is gone--the graceful span of the poughkeepsie bridge a mass of twisted steel in the channel of the hudson. what is the third line of communication? it consists of the aristocratic old boston and albany leading due west out of boston, and threading worcester and springfield and pittsfield--each of these a manufacturing center of no mean importance--and finally coming to albany, and of the delaware and hudson, which, bending southwest from albany, finds its way through the anthracite hills of pennsylvania and eventually by way of harrisburg to the main base at philadelphia or baltimore. this line also intersects the east and west trunk lines. the fourth line of communication? alas, we must believe that the capture of these three widely separated lines is almost humanly impossible. when they are gone the new england head is fastened to the body of the nation only by a thin artery indeed. for the fourth line of communication is a wavering, roundabout railroad, practically all single-track, which follows close to the canadian border. it is of conceivable military importance only in the unthinkable event of a quarrel with our cousins to the north. in such a catastrophe this line, of potential military value, could be made of actual value only by double-tracking and by almost complete reconstruction. * * * * * enough now of the possibilities of the cutting of the main military base of the nation. go south with me for a moment from washington and see the strategic position of our railroads along the more southerly portions of the atlantic coast. cross the potomac on the nameless steel structure that superseded the historic long bridge more than a decade ago and yet is of hardly less military importance. for the trains of every railroad running south from washington must cross upon its tracks. of these railroads, three are the trunk stems that, while running many miles back from the actual coast, still serve it. they are the southern railway, the seaboard air line, and the atlantic coast line. these three railroads and their direct connections reach from washington to norfolk, to charleston, to savannah, to mobile, and to new orleans--the most important of the southeasterly ports. one of their most interesting connections crosses the keys of florida and does not stop on its overseas trip until it reaches the last of them--key west, which is almost within scent of the cigar fumes of havana. if we ever had to send another army into cuba, tampa would be completely out of it. there is hardly any comparison between these trunk railroads of the southeast and the lines that struggled so hard to handle the armies at the time of the spanish-american war. they have been double-tracked for long distances, more generously supplied with locomotives and cars, although they are still quite a way behind their northern brethren in this regard. still it would not be a very difficult matter in a national crisis to move great fleets of rolling stock from one corner of the land to another. by careful advance planning and a study of rail weights and bridges this would become a comparatively simple matter. ignore, for the moment, the strategic value of the many railroads in the center of the land; forget the possibility of an army striking us upon our atlantic coast. let us turn our faces toward the west coast, toward the great stretch of barren and unprotected pacific shore from british columbia down to san diego. and before we begin tracing strategic routes upon the map let us close our eyes and go back into history. do you recall that inspiring picture in the old geographies of the completion of the union pacific railroad--the two doughty locomotives, one facing west, the other east, with their cowcatchers gently touching, while a motley of distinguished guests are indulging in oratory and other things? do you happen to recall why the union pacific was builded, why the national credit was placed behind its construction? military necessity is the answer. the men who went before the congress of the fifties and the sixties and who argued ably and well for the building of the first transcontinental railroad across the united states laid great stress upon this question of military necessity. "only by the building of such a railroad as this," they argued, "can the union be held absolutely indissoluble." so came the name of the road. today one looks at the military necessity of the union pacific railroad from another point of view. now open your eyes. look at your map and see that military value of this first great transcontinental railroad. its chief eastern terminal is at council bluffs, on the bank of the missouri river and but an overnight ride from chicago, with which it is connected by six excellent railroads--most of them double-tracked. its northerly main stem is double-tracked practically the entire distance to ogden, utah, an even thousand miles distant from the missouri. a twin main stem runs from cheyenne down to denver and east to kansas city, where it enjoys direct connections to st. louis, memphis, and the entire south. the north and east feed the road chiefly through its council bluffs gateway. at ogden the union pacific divides into three great feeding lines--the main one extending due west to sacramento and san francisco, with one to the north reaching portland and seattle and another to the south running direct to los angeles. while these three lines are nominally separate railroads, they are, in effect, component parts of the union pacific system. in any military crisis requiring the rapid transcontinental movement of troops they would become extremely important parts. the union pacific is, of course, supplemented by other transcontinentals. to the south rests the long main stem of the santa fé, which boasts not only that it is the only railroad with its own rails direct from chicago to california, but that it already has more than fifty per cent of its main line double-tracked. farther south still is the southern pacific, which, although its real eastern terminal is at new orleans, enjoys a practical chicago terminal over the lines of the rock island. in the north are three american transcontinentals--the milwaukee, the northern pacific, and the great northern. while the milwaukee is the only one of these with its own rails from chicago to seattle, its two rivals maintain a brisk competition by the use of the burlington and the north western systems between chicago and st. paul. by the use of these roads it would be possible to throw a great number of troops and munitions across to almost any section of the pacific coast and in a very short time. and for more than twenty years there has existed a north and south trunk line, that would make it possible to obtain a flexible use of troops between san diego, los angeles, san francisco, portland, and seattle. there are lines close to the coast all the way from eureka past coos bay to astoria and the puget sound country. the main north and south trunk lies anywhere from fifty to a hundred miles inland from the coast all the way from los angeles to seattle. perhaps it is well that this is so. it is unfortunate only that no more than a comparatively small portion of it is double-tracked and that a large part of it through northern california and oregon is so threaded through the high mountains as to be very difficult to operate. military strategy demands that this important trunk line be made possible to operate at highest efficiency. that can only come through grade correction and a completion of double-track. * * * * * i have laid stress and constant repetition upon this question of double-track, simply because a double-track railroad is almost ten times as efficient as a single-track railroad. that should be apparent to a layman even upon the very face of things. the other day i sat in the southern pacific offices at houston, texas, and talked with a genius of a railroad operator in regard to this very thing. he was telling of the remarkable record made by his road in getting the troops across from galveston to el paso. i asked what was the best he could do in a real emergency--an emergency calling for perhaps the movement of , troops, instead of , . "under normal conditions we can put five trainloads a day of troops across texas, in addition to our regular traffic and keep them moving at a rate of from seventeen to eighteen miles an hour, including stops. we could put on more trains, but this would not accomplish much except to tie up all of them. we have to figure the capacity of our main line very largely by the frequency of the passing sidings." "suppose a crisis should arise--a crisis which demanded an even quicker movement of troops?" i asked. he did not hesitate in his reply. "in such a crisis we would pull all our other traffic off the line and move from ten to twelve trains a day." which, translated, would mean at the most from five to six regiments of , men and their accouterments. and this on a railroad with a tremendously high reputation for efficient operation. here is the case for single-track. now consider double-track. the union pacific moves in summertime eight through passenger trains west-bound out of its ancient transfer station at council bluffs, an equal number east-bound. frequently there are extra sections of these trains, to say nothing of a pretty steady schedule of freights. yet even this by no means represents the capacity of its low grades and double-track to ogden. the pennsylvania railroad in twenty-four hours has handled trains bound in a single direction out of its great yards at altoona, which means a train every eleven minutes and a half. while the main line of the pennsylvania is four-tracked, that traffic was freight and handled almost entirely upon one of a pair of freight tracks. if such a performance was possible in the steep hills of the keystone state, it would hardly be exaggeration to suggest that the union pacific could handle a military train bound west from the missouri at least every thirty minutes. taking , men to the train as a moderate estimate, this great road could dispatch nearly , men a day without in any degree congesting itself. and while its central connecting stem at ogden--that portion of the southern pacific once known as the central pacific--is by no means completely double-tracked, in a military necessity it could be made so at once by the simple expedient of using for a one-way movement of the trains, the newly built western pacific which parallels it all the way from ogden to san francisco. here, then, is the answer, here the way that in a military crisis we may also gain a double-track transcontinental route across the north edge of the country. we simply need to take two out of the three single-track lines there--the milwaukee, the northern pacific, and the great northern--and by keeping the traffic moving in a single direction, we gain at once a practical and effective double-track railroad. this method can be repeated in the south from chicago to el paso and thence across to los angeles, by a similar operating combination of the santa fé, the rock island, the el paso and southwestern, and the southern pacific. the map itself will suggest numerous other combinations of the same sort. physically, the railroads of the united states are today wonderfully well adapted to any military crisis that they might be asked to meet. and the constant raising of their efficiency during the past decade, because of the growing tendency of expenses to overlap income, has done nothing to impair their military value. potentially, they are fit and ready. ready, they are actually; fit and ready is an entirely different matter. let us come to it, here and now. * * * * * suppose that tomorrow the "cry of war" were to resound from one end of this country to the other, that an army of at least , , men were to spring into being as quickly and as easily as all these pacificists aver. immediately the railroads would be called to their superhuman tasks of transporting men and horses, and motor trucks, munitions, and materials of every sort. and somewhere this great problem of military rail transport would have to center. today, in times of peace, it centers in the quartermaster's department of the war department, which contracts with the railroads for the carrying of troops and supplies just as any private organization might arrange. the existing study of the war department provides that in the declaration of war the railroads shall be operated by the board of engineers. yet to a large extent this earlier study has been superseded by president wilson in the appointment of a council of national defense to take over the industrial, commercial, and social mobilization of the united states in case of a great crisis. as a member of this council mr. wilson has appointed daniel willard, of the baltimore and ohio railroad, in direct charge of the transportation and communication, in such a crisis. of this, much more will be said in a moment. it is conceded that in any great national crisis the government would immediately take over the operation of the railroads. the advocates of government ownership point to this as a clinching argument for their proposition. as a matter of fact it argues nothing of the sort. the united states government, by act of congress early in the civil war, took over the operation of all the railroads, although it actually took control of those roads only in the theater of the war. it also took over thomas a. scott, vice-president of the pennsylvania railroad and a remarkable railroader, and placed him in charge of the military roads--which, in itself, is significant. under scott's brilliant leadership were such men as david craig mccallum and herman haupt, the last of these a man whose combined knowledge of army organization and railroad operation made him almost invaluable to the government. and the real success of the federal military railroads in the civil war was due to the fact that the government officers who operated them were expert railroaders borrowed for the nonce from civil life. [illustration: rock island government bridge built and owned jointly by the united states government and the rock island railroad, it crosses the mississippi, connects rock island and davenport, and is a point of military importance.] it would be hardly less than a calamity for the army to attempt to operate the railroads of the united states or any considerable part of them. the army officers know that. leonard wood knows it. the war college down at washington knows it and has prepared a new study of the new problem recognizing the necessity of keeping the railroads in any crisis operated by railroad men. an army man is no more competent to operate a railroad than a railroader is to command a brigade upon the field of battle. there is a railroad executive up in new england who well remembers the days of the spanish war. at that time he was trainmaster of the southern railway at asheville, north carolina. his division ran from knoxville, tennessee, down to the main line at salisbury-- miles. it threaded the blue ridge mountains and did it with difficulty. it was a hard road to operate at the best. and in fate called upon it to handle a considerable number of troops from the concentration camp at chattanooga down toward the embarkation stations at norfolk and newport news. that was the difficult problem, with the high grades, the many curves, and the few passing sidings. to accomplish it meant careful planning. the division staff made such a plan. each meeting point for the regular trains and the extra was carefully designated and a time allowance for meals at asheville was arranged; forty minutes, no more, no less. being well planned, the operation went along smoothly--that is, until the road was forced to break away from its own scheme. the trainmaster was about to dispatch one of the troop trains from asheville, its forty-minute meal period having nearly expired, when an assistant informed him that the officers of the regiment it carried were not aboard. the trainmaster hurried downstairs. the officers were having their after-dinner coffee and their cigars and showed no disposition whatsoever to hurry out to the cars. he made up his mind quickly. he knew that if this train was delayed ten minutes the whole operating plan would go to pieces and the entire division become almost hopelessly congested. he went to the commanding officer and quickly explained this to him. the colonel of the volunteers quickly waved him to one side. "this train'll start when i'm good and ready to have it start," he said huskily. the trainmaster stood his ground. "i'll have to send it on in three minutes," he said politely, "and you gentlemen will have to take your chance in getting on another section." the army man (volunteer) swore a great big oath, and added: "you make a move to start this train before i give the word and i will make you a military prisoner." the railroader capitulated, although today he is sorry that he did not stick it out and go to prison. and the operating schedule of his division went to pot. stalled trains piled up for miles along its main line and its sidings. incredible delays were the immediate result of one man's tinkering with the delicate operating structure of the railroad. * * * * * but given even a fairly free hand, a measure of authority, and some opportunity for preparation, the railroader will be able to give a good account of himself in the military handling of troops. he has shown that during the past year when he has been called upon to hurriedly move our army toward the south border of the nation. i have told already of the records made on that occasion--how long trains, filled with troops and provisions and munitions of war, were sent down to the border in double-quick time. one thing i have not yet told--the provisions for housing and feeding these troops while they are on the road. it now is definitely understood that troop movements of the regular army, volunteers and militia as well, are to be made with sleeping equipment, particularly on long-distance runs. the practice is to use the so-called standard pullmans for the officers, the tourist-sleepers for the men--three to the section. obviously it is out of the question to feed a regiment, or even a portion of it, in dining cars. sometimes it is difficult to make last-minute arrangements at eating-houses along the line, even if the regiment wished to spare the time to detrain for a meal. the pullman company has solved the problem for at least the ordinary movements of the army by the construction of kitchen-cars. these are long, fourteen-section tourist-sleepers, with an unusually capacious kitchen at one end. this kitchen can easily feed not only the car in which it is located, but the occupants of an entire train of average length. it is not difficult for it to give three square meals a day to hungry men. here is a bit of practical efficiency that is worthy of passing notice. of course no one expects that in a time of great military urgency the troops would ride in pullmans. they would be lucky to get day coaches, and in the final stress of things, it would probably be found necessary to quickly cut windows in the sides of freight cars and hurriedly equip them with seats. a yankee box car so equipped would be a good deal better than a good many of the small cars in which the german army has been so quickly and so efficiently transferred from one side of that kingdom to the other. it is the flexibility of the standard equipment of the american railroads that today offers perhaps the largest opportunity for its successful military use. a single instance will prove this. a man--his name is l. w. luellen--has devised a scheme for mounting heavy rapid-fire ordnance upon steel flat cars. obviously it would be quite impossible to fire even a miniature "big bertha" from anything so unstable as a railroad car. but mr. luellen has met this difficulty by arranging to have built at intervals not exceeding thirty miles along the entire atlantic coast, short sidings flanked by heavy concrete bases. he, too, has studied his railroad map, as a little while ago we were studying it. he has found that a comparatively small number of guns with a fifteen-mile shooting radius, could by means of these permanent bases at thirty-mile intervals protect the entire atlantic coast, a good portion of the pacific as well. the method of their operation is simple. the guns would be sent to any section they were needed on fast passenger schedule. it would be a matter of minutes rather than hours, for the flat cars to be run in between the permanent concrete bases and by jacks transferred to them from the cars. the scheme is so simple that it seems absurd. but the war department experts say that it is remarkably practical. and mr. luellen, who seems to know what he is talking about, says that it would not cost more than $ , , to install it--guns, cars, and permanent bases, along the north atlantic seaboard. here is a form of railroad preparedness that would seem worth the careful attention of the national legislature. * * * * * already the american army has what is known as the medical reserve corps, made up of physicians and surgeons all the way across the land. the great national organizations of civil engineers are beginning to plan a similar reserve in the ranks of their own profession. in the american railway association, the railroads of this country have a common meeting ground and an organization that can quickly take definite steps toward meeting the federal authorities in planning the military use of the transportation routes of the country. there is no mistaking the patriotism of the railroaders. some of them have smarted in recent years under what they have believed to be an unwarranted intrusion by the federal authorities into the affairs of their properties, but at heart every man of them is loyally american. and every man of them is not merely loyal in a passive sense, but is both willing and able to aid the government with all the resources at his command. take the critical situation which broke upon the country early in the present year when diplomatic relations with germany suddenly were broken and the possibility of war loomed high. president wilson, acting under the authority which congress had vested in him immediately appointed a committee of seven prominent americans--a council of national defense. as a member of this council and in immediate charge of the nation's transportation and communication in case of emergency mr. wilson chose daniel willard, president of the baltimore & ohio railroad. he chose wisely. of the dominant quality of mr. willard's americanism as well as of his great railroad ability and executive fitness for so important a post there can be no question. within seven days after he had accepted this billet, willard was at work for the government. he bespoke for it at once the interest and cooperation of the heads of the other great railroads of america. he knew that in any national crisis the interest and the patriotism of these men was never to be doubted. and so he sought their cooperation and not in vain. a full dozen of the biggest railroad executives in the united states closed their desks and at willard's suggestion came hurrying to washington. when their conference was done, a definite plan for the service of the railroads in a time of great national stress had been begun--a program which the railroad executives then returned to study in detail. at the conference they were told of the great defense and offense plans of the war college for the part which the railroad must play in a national emergency. some of the railroad presidents learned for the first time the designated mobilization centers all the way across the land, the equipment necessary for each, the movement and direction of troop and munition trains, from every one of them. it is gratifying to know that these railroad executives already are giving much time and thought to the use of our railroads in national defense. so is major charles hine, who, like herman haupt, came out of west point, perfected himself in military training and organization and gave his time after leaving the army to railroad training and organization. hine started as a brakeman on the erie railroad, in order that he might study railroad operation from the bottom up--that he might eventually bring to the railroad some of the really good points of the army. he has since held high executive positions in many of the great railroad systems of the land--studying the problems of each until he knows the railroad map of this country as you and i know the fingers of our hands. the value of such a man to america in an emergency is not to be figured in dollars and cents. but to my own mind, the value of such a military reserve corps among the railroaders will be comparatively slight if its membership be confined merely to railroad executives. the qualities of patriotism and good americanism are by no means confined to the higher-paid railroad men. take a purely suppositious case--yet an entirely typical one: down in the offices of the old cumberland valley railroad at chambersburg, we will say, there is a boy who is assistant trainmaster or assistant superintendent. he is a smart boy, who has climbed rapidly in railroad ranks because of his abilities. he reads the papers. he is keenly interested in this whole idea of national defense. he reads the newspapers and the magazines and he wonders what his own part would be if washington were taken by an enemy invader. being a good railroader he does not have to spend much time in doubts. he knows that his little railroad--ever an important cross-country traffic link from harrisburg down to martinsburg and winchester, will suddenly become part of the military base line north and south along the atlantic coast. over its stout rails will come the tidal overflow that ordinarily moves over the four busy tracks of the two railroad systems between baltimore and philadelphia. that means that his railroad, his own division, himself, if you please, will be called upon to handle a great traffic from harrisburg south to the upreached arms of the norfolk and western and the baltimore and ohio lines. that young man in the chambersburg railroad office should be under a course of instruction today, as to the emergency use of his railroad, his division. the division is the operating unit of the railroad in america. therefore a scheme for the military use of the railroad should begin with its head, the superintendent. in the superintendent's office of every railroad division that may have possible military value, there should be a member of the army reserve corps, making the plan for the possible military use of his division. in the general superintendent's office there should be another reserve officer studying the schemes of the several divisions that center there. similarly the process should be repeated in the general manager's and the president's offices, where authority converges still further. this is important work, vital training, if you please. it is hardly the sort of detail work to be placed upon the shoulders of a railroad executive, already burdened with a vast amount of other detail. * * * * * the best army training is that which simulates, as far as possible, the actual conditions that might arise in the case of real war. that is why the maneuvers that were held in the east at various times during the past decade have been of tremendous value. they should be repeated and the railroads should be asked to play their part at a moment's notice. to play that part well at so short a notice means planning in advance. the new haven railroad recently, on the occasion of the harvard-yale game and the inauguration of yale bowl, brought sixty-five trains carrying , passengers into new haven between : a.m. and : p.m.--the record passenger movement in the history of american railroading. not one of those trains was late, not even to the fraction of a minute. in the very first hour of the afternoon, trains, passenger coaches all told, arrived at an interval of slightly over two minutes-- passengers to the minute. and the detraining and entraining of these passengers was accomplished with military precision. but the new haven's remarkable performance was the result of planning--planning to the last detail. no wonder that john a. droege, its general superintendent, is qualified to speak of the military possibilities of the railroad. but droege knows that advance plans are of vital necessity. of course, our railroads have met difficult situations when it has become absolutely necessary. the ohio floods of three years ago proved their ability to meet a great emergency in a great manner. in a few hours many miles of their tracks were completely washed away, hundreds of bridges destroyed, their lines thrown into apparently hopeless confusion. yet the railroaders never lost their heads. they arranged to reroute their through trains. then and there it was that the lake shore railroad--running from buffalo to chicago--showed its resources. for it took upon its broad shoulders the trains from all these completely blocked lines--the pennsylvania, the baltimore and ohio, and the erie--and for long days tripled its ordinary traffic without apparently feeling the great overload. yet this traffic was in some sense routine and it was moving over one of the most generously equipped railroads in america. the military plan, as we have already seen, may have to make large strategic use of railroad lines of comparatively unimportant strength. it is here that the definite plan--from the superintendent's office upward--counts. it is gratifying to know that the military bill provides an opportunity for the construction of such a plan, gratifying to know that the war college at washington has succeeded in its detailed study of the use of our railroads in time of war. [illustration: _an outline map of the united states showing the railroad routes of greatest strategic military importance._] it is upon such a study that mr. willard was enabled to give the railroad presidents whom he summoned to the federal capital such a lucid statement of the parts that each of them and their railroads would be expected to fulfill. further than this, they are yet to evolve recommendations for terminal yards and double trackings which in an emergency would probably prove of tremendous military value but for which there is no commercial justification whatsoever. it is expected that the united states government will pay for construction work of this sort. it is entirely fit that it should. there hardly can be two sides to this question. the only question comes as to how rapidly these needed improvements can be made, particularly the emergency terminals. it will be unfortunate, to say the least, to attempt to move an army of any real size into a seaport important in a military or naval sense, but inadequately equipped with terminal sidings. it takes, roughly speaking, one mile of railroad train to handle one thousand troops and their accoutrements. to bring an army of fifty thousand men--a very moderate army, indeed--into a smaller city would require the prompt handling and unloading of fifty miles of train. these are the military railroad necessities which must be planned and built by the federal government--without delay. all these things are going to cost time and thought--and money. and it is because of this last factor that i have placed this entire question of the military development of our railroads at the end of opportunity and at the beginning of necessity--the immediate needs of the railroad, which we are now going to consider. chapter xii the necessity of the railroad in the entire history of the railroads they have never witnessed an outpouring of freight traffic such as came to their rails this winter and last, and congested their yards and lines in every direction. in addition to the high tide of traffic arising from a return of general prosperity the tremendous rush of munitions of war, destined overseas to the allies from the north atlantic ports, found the greater part of the roads suffering from the results of a decade of lean years and improperly prepared to handle any press of business. the causes that led to this lack of preparation, i have reviewed. because of them the railroads were not ready even for a normal volume of traffic, to say nothing of the flood tides that came upon them. it was not possible to remedy the neglect before the tides began. and upon these traffic tides there also came at the close of , one of the hardest winters that the east has known in many a long year. days and nights and even weeks, the great freight yards of metropolitan new york, of philadelphia, of baltimore, of boston, of buffalo, and of pittsburgh were swept by wind and snow, while the mercury hovered around the zero mark. the record of their operating departments against these fearful conditions is a record of which the american railroads long may be proud. superintendents, trainmasters, general superintendents, and general managers moved into their biggest yards and lived there for weeks and months at a time--in private cars, bunk cars, and cabooses--right on the job. but the odds against them were overwhelming. it was not until the warm days of early summer that the congestion was relieved and the railroads able to lift the embargoes that, in self-defense, they had been forced to place upon the freight. it is already known that the congested conditions are being repeated in the winter that ushers in --probably in even worse measure. and the railroads even after a comparatively dull summer are not much better prepared physically to meet the situation. to have made themselves ready for any such flood tides of traffic as were visited upon them last winter would have meant the radical reconstruction of many great terminal and interchange yards as well as the building of cars and locomotives by the thousands--involving, as we now know, the expenditure of great sums of money. and this seemed out of possibility, although the orders for new rolling stock in the first ten months of exceeded the entire orders for . you must remember that it is one thing to order rolling stock in these piping times of prosperity--quite another thing to obtain it from manufacturers far behind their orders and greatly hampered by shortages of fuel, of labor, and of raw material. here once again the railroads are greatly hampered by their lack of fresh capital. a little while ago--until the unprecedented floods of traffic began to descend upon them--the railroaders, big and little, all the way across the land saw their only relief in a granting of further increases in their rates, both freight and passenger. even today the best-informed of them will tell you that the necessity still exists--must sooner or later be met--when the war tides have ceased and business in america returns to its normal levels once again. for while traffic may return to normal levels, the prices of both the railroad's raw material and its labor will not descend so rapidly, if, indeed, they descend at all. before the great wave of war prosperity came upon us, the railroaders were showing their pressing need of immediate relief in the form of rate increases and were making a very good case for their necessities. they showed with unimpeachable exactness the steadily mounting cost of labor and of materials. instance after instance they showed where the many regulating bodies had aided and abetted in raising costs of operation but had not granted any income increases with which to meet these costs. no matter how much the federal board and the various state boards might conflict in other matters, they always have seemed to be in general and complete harmony as to laying increased burdens upon the back of the carriers. under the whip of labor, congress passed the sixteen-hour measure, a good bill for the railroaders but mighty expensive to the roads. the full-crew bill, as we shall soon see, swept across the various states like a windborne conflagration across an open prairie. and after these the eight-hour day! and all this while many of the states were also passing bills reducing the price of passenger transportation to two cents a mile. a most unfair type of bill this, considered from any reasonable angle. for if it were profitable to carry a passenger at this figure--which i very much doubt--this type of measure still would remain arbitrary, unscientific, illogical--reasons which, of themselves, should utterly condemn it. yet here is a sort of railroad bill to which state legislatures are most prone--of which very much more in a moment. it was hopeless to expect this sort of a legislature to increase railroad rates--any more than the state regulating boards, which are the creatures of the various legislatures. the federal commission down at washington, did far better. with its usual breadth of judgment, it did not refuse to grant relief. after a careful survey by it of the entire subject, interstate freight rates were increased slightly; passenger rates much more generously. in fact it was the first time in years that many of the passenger fares had been given any very general increase. an old adage--which had become almost a fetish in the minds of the railroaders--was that the passenger rates were absolutely sacred; that any increases in the incomes of the roads must be borne by the freight. increases in passenger tariffs probably would be greeted by roars of protest from the public, rioting was not out of the possibility.[ ] as a matter of fact the interstate passenger rates were raised, and there was hardly a protest on the part of the public. the railroaders who had clung superstitiously to their fetish had overlooked one big bet--the american public will pay for service. for super-service it will pay most generously. perhaps you do not believe this? if so, consider this: when you travel you probably pick out the newest and the finest hotels in the towns you visit; you are considerably provoked if they do not give you a room with private bath each time. you scorn the old-time omnibus from the station--nothing but a taxi will do for you. and when it comes to picking trains.... do you know what are the most popular trains in america today? the most expensive. the most popular and crowded trains between new york and chicago today are the twenty-hour overnight flyers which, for their superior accommodations and their shortened running time, charge eight dollars excess over the regular fare. night after night these trains run in two, sometimes in three and even four sections, while the differential lines--so called because of their slightly inferior running time and accommodations--almost starve to death for lack of through traffic. the same thing is true between new york and boston, where the excess-fare trains are the most popular and hence the most crowded. the rule seems to hold good wherever excess-fare trains are operated. there is a great deal of hard sense to prompt the operation of these excess-fare trains. for instance, take two men--one rich, one poor--and imagine them going, say from boston to san francisco. they make several stops on the trip. the rich man, after the way of his kind, tarries in the fine hotels of two or three cities along the route. he pays five dollars a day for his rooms in these taverns, and from two to four dollars apiece for each of his meals. the poor man stops in those same cities. he pays from fifty cents to a dollar for his lodging each night and his meals will cost him nearer twenty-five than seventy-five cents each. each of these men suits the necessities of his pocketbook and each finds suitable accommodations at the prices he wishes to pay. yet the rich man and the poor man pay practically the same long-distance through fare--a trifle over two cents a mile--for the journey. of course the rich man may have his drawing-room in a smart train that is formed almost exclusively of pullman cars and the poor man may ride in day coaches and free reclining chair cars all the way; but the railroad's revenue is practically the same from each of them. here, then, is the rub! rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief--until comparatively recently, and then in only a few cases, have they represented any difference in the railroad's income account. for our railroads, with a few exceptions, long ago bartered away one of the large functions of their passenger business. i am referring to the building and operation of the sleeping and the parlor cars--a business carried forth today almost exclusively by the pullman company. great reticence is shown by the railroads in speaking of their contracts with the pullman company, yet it is generally known that, save in a few notable cases, that company pockets the entire seat-and-berth revenue of its cars. the railroad derives no income from hauling them. and it is not so long ago that most of our railroads paid the pullman company an additional toll of from three to five cents a mile for hauling each of its cars over their rails. it is hardly fair to scold the pullman corporation for having driven a shrewd bargain years ago, when it was far-sighted, with a generation of railroaders, now almost past and gone, who were very near-sighted about the steadily growing taste of americans for luxury in travel. it is only fair, in addition, to state that it has been generally progressive in the maintenance of its service and equipment; it has been in the front rank in the substitution of the steel car--which the modern traveler demands and which has been a definite factor in creating the definite plight of our great sick man today--for the wooden coach. if the pullman company has moved slowly in the retirement of the barbaric scheme of upper and lower berths giving into a common center aisle, that is not to be charged against it either. this is not the time nor the place to discuss these cars in detail. but it is pertinent to make a brief comparison of them and the compartment cars of england and the continent. "are you willing to pay the price for them--all of you travelers, i mean?" says the big railroad traffic-man blandly when you go to him about the matter. "it costs you almost twice as much for a stateroom from paris to marseilles as from new york to buffalo--two journeys of approximately the same length. are you willing to stand for an increase in railroad rates instead of paying the european charges for sleeping-car staterooms?" you say, quite frankly, that you do not object to paying six dollars for a compartment from new york to buffalo, or even seven dollars for the slightly more luxurious drawing-room--a feature, by the way, which is existent in practically every pullman sleeping car and ready for the use of the exquisite traveler. you recall that it was not so many years ago that the railroads themselves answered this very question--by demanding that there be at least one and one-half standard passage money presented for the use of a compartment; two full fares for the use of a drawing-room. up to that time those few roads that were progressive enough to use solid compartment cars in regular service paid for their generosity. there are but nine compartments or drawing-rooms in the standard pullman all-compartment car. and if it happened, as frequently it did happen, that these compartments were all occupied singly, the railroad derived but nine passenger fares for hauling one of the very heaviest types of coaches. a day coach of similar weight would carry from to passengers. the new ruling, however, has helped to equalize the situation. to return to the excess-fare trains. it now looks as if they were the only way through for a majority of the trunk-line railroads. gradually railroad heads have been warming to them; and the rush of traffic to their cars has been almost as astonishing as the lack of protest to accompany the sturdy raises in interstate passenger fares. it is a little more than twenty years ago that the fast-running empire state express was placed in service between new york and buffalo. it was a railroad sensation. the fastest mile ever made by a locomotive, to which we referred when we were speaking of the men in the engine cab, was made on a fall day in , by the empire state speeding west from rochester. the train in that day, and for a long time afterward, was composed of day-coaches--save for a single parlor-car; and barring passes, about every form of railroad transportation was accepted upon it, without excess charge. it quickly became the most patronized railroad train in the world and a tremendous advertisement for the new york central, which operated it. yet this tremendously historic and popular train is regarded by the expert railroaders of today as a mistake. it is a mistake that probably would not be repeated today. if the empire state was to be added to the time card tomorrow, it would, in all probability, be an excess-fare train--a little bit more luxurious perhaps, but certainly more expensive. and travelers would continue to flock to it as they do to those staunch extra-fare trains between new york and boston--the knickerbocker, the bay state, and the merchants' limited. * * * * * the railroads of the west were, for a long time, seemingly barred from establishing "excess-speed-for-excess-fare" trains by physical limitations which seemed to make long-distance high-speed trains impracticable. for you must remember that in the case of the new york-chicago excess-fare trains the extra charge is based exactly on shortened time. for each hour saved from the fixed minimum of twenty-eight hours for standard lines between the two cities one dollar is added to the standard fare. so it is that the twentieth century limited and its counterpart on the pennsylvania, each making the run in twenty hours, add eight dollars to the regular fare of $ . . but, if these trains are delayed--for any cause whatsoever--they will pay back one dollar for each hour of the delay, until the standard minimum fare is again reached. yet the western railroads have taken hold of the situation with a bold hand. "we shall put a winter train from chicago to los angeles and san francisco that will be _de luxe_ in every sense of the word," said the santa fé four or five winters ago. "we shall have the very best of train comforts--library, barber shop, ladies' maids, compartments a-plenty--and we shall charge twenty-five dollars excess fare for the use of this train." railroad men around chicago received this news with astonishment. "you don't mean to say," they gasped, "that you are going to guarantee to cut twenty-five hours off the running time between chicago and the pacific coast?" "we are going to run the new train through in five hours less time than our fastest train today." "five dollars an hour! that's going some!" whistled railroad chicago. "five dollars an hour--nothing!" replied the santa fé. "we are going to charge for luxury--not for speed. we are going to charge folks eighty-five dollars for the ride between chicago and san francisco instead of the standard price of sixty dollars; and we are going to have them standing in line for the privilege of doing it! they will come home and boast of having ridden on that train just as folks come home from across the atlantic and boast of the great hotels that have housed them in europe. you never hear a man brag of having ridden in a tourist-sleeper." the santa fé was right. it gauged human nature successfully. its _de luxe_ train at twenty-five dollars excess fare has become a weekly feature between chicago and the pacific coast the entire winter long. its chief rival has also installed an excess-fare train--in connection with its feeding lines, the north western and the southern pacific. this train runs daily the year round and so charges but ten dollars excess fare between chicago and san francisco. but in the case of neither of these trains do they refund fare-excess in case of delay. they feel that the two big passenger roads of the east made a distinct mistake when they established that basic principle. truth to tell, america these days is bathed in luxury. america stands ready to pay the price; but america demands the service.[ ] and the lesson of the excess-fare trains is one that the railroader who thinks as he reads may well take to heart. some of them are giving it consideration already. one big road has had for some time past under advisement a scheme by which it would make a ticket charge of one-half cent a mile extra for those of its passengers who chose to ride in sleeping or parlor cars. in this way it would compensate itself for the lack of any portion of the pullman company's direct revenue. * * * * * a certain big railroader out in the middle west has very determined opinions in regard to the possibility of the passenger end of the railroad receipts being increased. like many of the big operating men he affects a small regard for the passenger service. and this despite the fact that if you touch the average railroader, big or little, upon his tenderest spot, his pride in his property, he will talk to you in glowing terms of the "limited," the road's biggest and fastest show train--showy from the barber shop and the bath in her buffet car, to the big brass-railed observation platform at the rear. he will not talk to you at length of his freight trains, but he will prate unceasingly of nineteen's "record"--how she ran ninety-eight per cent on time last month, a good showing for a train scheduled to make her thousand miles or so well inside of twenty-four hours. this big railroader of the middle west does not, however, take your time in mere boasting of his operating record. he comes to cases, and comes quickly--to the question of increased passenger rates when our present flood tide of traffic has descended to the normal. "see here," he tells you when you are seated in his big, comfortable office, "here are the figures. they speak for themselves. take new york, for instance. there were , commuters entering and leaving that big town each business day last year. with an average ride of fourteen miles for each commuter, we have a total passenger mileage of , , , miles in that metropolitan district. the passenger traffic from new york westward to chicago and beyond in the same time was , passengers. multiply these by the average rail distance between the two cities, miles, and you have another , , passenger-miles. now to this add , commercial travelers, each riding an estimated average of fifty miles a day-- , , , miles for these--and you have a total of , , , miles--or approximately ten and a half per cent of the passenger miles on our steam railroads last year. this ten and a half per cent of the passenger travel was participated in by , persons--a little bit more than one-half of one per cent of the total population of the country. if this rule holds good it follows that five and three-tenths per cent of the population of the united states, or , , , received in an average year all the benefits of the passenger-carrying establishment of the railroads. "the average journey upon our railroads last year was thirty-four miles; therefore, a round trip between new york and chicago represented twenty-eight average trips; a round trip between new york and san francisco ninety-two average trips. we can agree that the bulk of the passenger travel consists of commuters, commercial travelers, men on business trips, and persons traveling for pleasure; in proportion about in the order i have given them. if these figures show anything, they show that the great bulk of our passenger mileage is used by a class which we may call constant travelers. i believe that it is a reasonably safe assumption that at least four-fifths of the , , , passenger-miles made last year were used by this class of travel, probably representing less than , , of the population of the country. this same , , , of passenger-miles distributed equally among our entire population produces passenger-miles per individual. "it is a simple matter for the artisan, the farmer, or the man in the street, without _wanderlust_ in his blood, to figure out for himself that if he and each member of his family do not travel their miles in a single year then he is helping to pay for the passenger service of the railroads in the form of increased freight charges. "i myself have always maintained that the passenger revenues of our railroads do not render their proportion of the cost of operation. the interstate commerce commission has upheld the same contention, as anyone can see by its recent decision granting increases in passenger rates proportionately much higher than the increases in freight rates. these figures of mine show how a privileged class, representing ten per cent, or, at the widest calculation, not more than twenty per cent of the population, have been receiving transportation at far less than the actual cost; while the remaining ninety per cent of the citizens of the united states have paid the freight--literally." the railroader's figures are interesting--to say the least. and we must assume that he has not forgotten the fact that there is one great economic difference between the freight and the passenger traffic. the one must move, and, save in the few cases where waterborne traffic competes, move by rail; a large part of the other is shy and must be induced. if this were not true the big railroads would be advertising for freight business as steadily and as strongly as they advertise for passengers. of course a large proportion of folk travel because necessity so compels, yet there is a goodly proportion, a proportion to be translated into many thousands of dollars, who travel upon the railroad because the price is low enough to appeal to their bargain-sense. in this great class must always be included the excursionists of every class. these folk must be lured by attractive rates. and as a class they are particularly susceptible just now to the charms of the railroad's great new competitor--the automobile. it was only two or three years ago that the round-trip ticket at considerably less than the cost of two single-trip tickets and the twenty-dollar mileage book, entitling the bearer to , miles of transportation, prevailed in the eastern and more closely populated portion of the united states. the price of the mileage book was raised to $ . . within a short time it is likely to go to $ . and there are shrewd traffic men among the railroad executives of the country who today say that within twenty years it will cost five cents a mile to ride upon the railroad--as against an average fare of two and a half cents today. and i do not think that, in view of the advances in cost--as well as that great necessity in making good that loss in both physical and human equipment, to which i have already referred--the public will make any large protest. the average man does not wish to ride upon a railroad that is neglecting either its property or its employees. he is willing to pay a larger price for his transportation if only he is assured that this larger price is going to make his travel more safe and more comfortable in every way. therefore i do not think that it is going to be very hard for the railroads to gain necessary advances in fares--particularly if they will not forget one big thing. the success of the twentieth century limited and the other trains of its class ought not to be lost upon the railroader. with service he can trade for increased rates. there are many large opportunities for the railroad along these lines, in both freight and passenger service. a progressive desire to enter into these opportunities will probably bring the railroad many of the advances that it so sorely needs. and i am not sure but that such a spirit would also do much toward securing for it the very necessary unification of regulation--not alone of its income but also of its outgo--that it so earnestly seeks at the present time. chapter xiii regulation at the time that these lines are being written the railroads of the united states are entering a veritable no man's land. the ponderous newlands committee of congress has begun its hearing and accomplished little; so little that it has asked and received an extension of time of nearly eleven months in which to go into the entire question more thoroughly. we all hope it does. the adamson bill, establishing the so-called eight-hour day for certain favored classes of railroad employees, is statute, but its constitutionality is yet to be established. and the railroads are preparing to fight it, in its present form, and to the bitter end. general sympathy seems to be with them; it is quite probable that even the four brotherhoods that fought for the measure--unlike the pears soap boy--are not quite happy now that they have received it. in the midst of all this confusion president wilson, assured of a second term of office and so of a reasonable opportunity to try to put a concrete plan into effect, has emerged with his definite program, not radically different from that which he evolved last august at the time of the biggest of all crises between the railroads and their labor, but which was warped and disfigured until its own father might not know it. his plan, as now is generally known, provides not alone for the eight-hour day for all classes of railroad employees, but includes the most important feature of compulsory arbitration referred to in an earlier chapter.[ ] it now looks as if the united states was upon the threshold of the eight-hour day--in many, many forms of its industrial life. i believe that, in his heart, the average railroader--executive or employee--favors it, fairly and honestly and efficiently applied. it has been charged as the first large step forward toward the government operation of our railroads, yet i cannot see it as nearly as large a step as the extension of the maximum weight of packages entrusted to the parcel post, a system which if further extended--and apparently both legally and logically extended--might enable a man to go up to scranton and place enough postage stamps upon the sides of a carload of coal to send it to his factory siding at tidewater. compared with this the eight-hour day is as nothing as a step toward government operation or ownership. a genuine eight-hour day is, of course, a long step toward the nationalization of our railroads--quite a different matter, if you please. president wilson's entire plan, as it has already been briefly outlined, forms a very definite step toward such nationalization. it at once supersedes the indefinite quality of the newlands committee hearings--no more indefinite at that than the average hearing of a legislative committee. when the wilson plan has been adopted, fully and squarely and honestly, either by this congress or by the next, it will then be the order of the day to take up some of the next steps, not so much, perhaps, toward the nationalization of our railroads as toward the further bettering of their efficiency and their broadening to take advantage of some of their great latent opportunities as carriers of men and of goods. * * * * * the men who control our railroads today look forward to such a definite program with hope, but not without some misgivings. for, after all, we are by no means nationally efficient, and there seems to be a wide gulf between the making of our economic plans and their execution. no wonder, then, that the railroads are dubious. they are uncertain. they have been advised and threatened and legislated and regulated until they are in a sea of confusion, with apparently no port ahead. the extent of the confusion is indicated not alone by their failure to handle the traffic that has come pouring in upon them in the last days of the most active industrial period that america ever has known, but by the failure of their securities to appeal to the average investor--a statement which is easily corroborated by a study of recent wall street reports. and what would be a bad enough situation at the best has been, of course, vastly complicated by the labor situation. we already have reviewed some of the salient features of that situation; we have seen, of organized labor, the engineer and the conductor at work; and of unorganized labor, the section-boss and the station agent. we have seen the equality of their work and the inequality of their wage. it is futile now to attempt to discuss what might have happened if the pay envelopes of all these four typical classes of railroad employees had been kept nearer parity. as a matter of fact the disagreeable and threatening situation between the railroads and the employees of their four brotherhoods is largely of their own making. if, in the past, the railroads had done either one of two things there probably would be no strike threats today, no adamson legislation, no president of the united states placed even temporarily in an embarrassing and somewhat humiliating position. the railroads, in the succession of "crises," as we have already studied them, must have foreseen the inevitable coming of the present situation. they could have fought a strike--and perhaps won it--at any time better in the past than at the present. the brotherhoods have gained strength and the efficiency of unison more rapidly than the railroads. and even if the railroads at some time in the past had fought the issue and lost it, they at least would have had the satisfaction of having fought a good fight and an honest one. institutions are builded quite as frequently on defeats as upon successes. or the railroads might have sedulously recognized the nonunion worker in their ranks and by a careful devotion to his position and his pay envelope kept his progress equal to that of his unionized brother. true, that would have cost more in the first place, but it now looks as if the railroad would have to pay the amount in the last place--and the accrued interest is going to be sizable. it is not yet too late to do this last thing; it is a principle for which the railroaders should fight, into the last ditch. the greatest of the many fundamental weaknesses of the adamson bill is the bland way in which it ignores this principle--the way in which, as we already have seen, it singles out the four great brotherhoods for the generous protection of the so-called "eight-hour day," and leaves all the other railroad workers out in the cold. or is it a method of proselyting by which the four brotherhoods hope to force the other branches of railroad workers into organization? it is not too late for the men who control our railroads to offset such brutal forms of proselyting by raising the status of their unorganized labor--voluntarily and in advance of possible legislation, if you please; with a generosity of heart that cannot fail to make a warm appeal to public sentiment. it is not too late for our railroads, on their own part, to consider labor from as scientific and as modern a viewpoint as they do their physical and financial problems. it is not too late for them to raise up high executives who shall make labor, its emoluments and its privileges, its possibilities of evolution their whole study. in an earlier chapter of this book we discussed this matter in detail; called attention to the lack of new blood of the right sort coming to the ranks of the railroad, to the opportunity of fixing wages upon a purely scientific as well as a cost-of-living basis; suggested even the broad possibilities of the bonus system as well as the abandonment of the complicated double basis of payment to trainmen which has crept into effect. upon these foundations the pay envelopes of the railroad worker in the future must be figured. if the railroads themselves are incapable of so establishing it--and in full fairness to them it must be stated that the time may have passed when they were capable of accomplishing this, unaided at least--then the national government must step in and do it. the interstate commerce commission may be asked to establish, with compulsory arbitration, not only a minimum but a maximum rate which the railroad may pay its various classes of employees--and so still another great step will be taken in the nationalization of our system of transportation. call it socialism, if you like; i do not, but i do feel that it is another large step toward nationalization. moreover, the very consideration of the topic brings us at once to the greatest immediate necessity of the railroad--unified regulation. * * * * * unified regulation is the crux of the railroad situation today, from the railroad executive's, the investor's, and the patron's point of view. your wiser executive is holding the question of increased rates in abeyance for the moment. he is devoting his best thought and his best energy toward simplifying and bettering railroad control. he has a frank, honest motive in so doing. not only will he build toward permanence of the great national institution with which he is connected but he will begin also to induce capital--the wherewithal with which to build up properties and pay-rolls and possibilities--to come once again toward the bedside of the sick man. capital is a sensitive creature. conservative is far too mild a word to apply to it. capital takes few chances. and the steady and continued talk of the plight of the railroad has driven capital away from the bedside of the sick man. yet capital, if unwilling to take chances, rarely overlooks opportunity. and if capital be convinced that opportunity is really beckoning to the railroad, that fair treatment is to be accorded to the patient at last, he will return there himself and place his golden purse in the sick man's hand. only the wary capital will demand assurances--he will demand that the railroad's two nurses, labor and regulation, be asked to mend their manners and that that fine old physician, public sentiment, be called to the bedside. let us cease speaking in parables, and come to the point: railroad regulation today is, of course, an established factor in the economic existence of this nation. already it is all but fundamental. it came as a necessity at the end of the constructive and destructive period of american railroading. i connote these two adjectives advisedly, for while the railroad in a physically constructive sense was being built it also was doing its very best to destroy its competitors. it had hardly attained to any considerable size before the natural processes of economic evolution began to assert themselves. certain roads, stronger than others, still stronger grew. and as they stronger grew, the sense of power, the economic value of power, came home the more clearly to them. to gain power meant, first of all, the crushing of their opponents, if not by one means then by another. this is not the time or place to discuss the great evils that arose from the unbridled savagery of cut-throat competition in the seventies, the eighties, and the early nineties. the whole rotten record of rebates, of sinister political advantages gained through bribery of one form or another, has long since been bared. the illegitimate use of the railroad pass in itself makes a very picturesque chapter of this record. such a condition of affairs could not go forward indefinitely. in this day and age it is a wonder that it existed as long as it did exist. out of this turmoil and seething chaos was born railroad regulation. she was a timid creature at first, gradually feeling her increasing strength, however, and not hesitating to use it. for a long time she had a dangerous enemy, a fellow who up to that time had allied himself almost invariably with railroads and railroaders--the practical politician. eventually this fellow took upon himself the rôle of best friend to railroad regulation. [illustration: the royal gorge, grand canyon of the arkansas, colorado the most remarkable chasm in the world traversed by a railroad.] the effect of the railroad pass upon the dishonest newspapers was only a little less potent than upon the dishonest politician. put in its kindliest light it was a softening influence in the editorial sanctum. when it was gone a sterner spirit began to assert itself in a large portion of the press. the railroad was being called to account for its sins more sharply than ever before. and a smarting politician who went before a legislature with some measure striking hard at a railroad could be reasonably assured of a large measure of support from the fourth estate. * * * * * in the golden age of journalism both editors and reporters spent their vacations in delightful, but distant, points. it was a pretty poor sort of journalist who paid his fare when he wished to ride upon the cars. generally his own office took care of his rather extensive and extravagant demands for travel. if, however, he happened to be employed upon one of the few honest newspapers who had conscientious scruples about accepting free transportation, either wholesale or retail, from the railroads, he generally had recourse to the local politicians. there were aldermen in new york, in philadelphia, and in chicago, undoubtedly politicians in numerous other cities, who carried whole pads of blank railroad passes in their pockets. it was only necessary for them to fill these out to have them good for immediate transportation. the effect of this transportation upon the political welfare of the railroads in city halls, in courthouses, in state capitols, even in the national capitol itself--can well be imagined. there was another evidence of this golden stream of free transportation. it was having a notable effect upon the passenger revenues of the railroads, particularly in the relation of these revenues to the cost of operating the trains. it was no unusual thing for a popular evening train from some state metropolis up to its capital, to be chiefly filled with deadheads. the railroads grew alarmed at the situation. it was beginning to overwhelm them. they looked for someone to help them out of it. they found that someone in railroad regulation--that spiritual young creature who had been brought into the world and clothed with honesty and idealism. railroad regulation came to their aid. railroad regulation abolished the pass--the illegitimate use of the pass, at any rate. long before this time she had made rebating and bribery cardinal and unforgivable sins. the effect upon the dishonest politician as well as the dishonest newspaper was pronounced. the reaction was instant. if this new creature, railroad regulation, possessed so vast a strength, the roads should be taught to feel it. they would be shown exactly where they stood. and so it was that viciousness, revenge, and a crafty knowledge of the inborn dislike of the average human mind to the overwhelming and widespread corporation seized upon railroad regulation. now the railroads were indeed to be regulated. the spiritual creature was given not one iron hand but eventually forty-six. in addition to the interstate commerce commission down at washington, each of forty-five separate states gradually created for themselves local railroad-regulating commissions. the efficiency of these boards was a variable quality--to say the least. but if each of them had been gifted with the wisdom of solomon as well as with the honesty of moses, the plan would not have worked, except to the great detriment of the welfare of the railroads. no railroader today will deny that it has worked in just such detrimental fashion. he will tell you of instance after instance of the conflicts of authority between the various regulatory boards of the various states through which his property operates; of the still further instances where these conflict with the rulings and orders of the federal board at washington. railroaders have large faith in the interstate commerce commission. they believe that is both fair and able, a great deal more able than most of the state regulatory boards. yet even if all the state boards were as efficient as those of massachusetts or wisconsin--to make two shining examples--the system still would be a bad one. today these state boards, in many cases under the influence, the guiding power, or the orders of erratic state legislatures, are imposing strange restrictions upon the railroads under their control. in sixteen states there are laws regulating the type of caboose a freight train must haul. linen covers are required for head rests in the coaches in one commonwealth; in another they are forbidden as unsanitary. oklahoma and arkansas are neighbors, but their regulations in regard to the use of screens in the day coaches of their railroads are not at all neighborly. in one of them screens are required; in the other, absolutely forbidden. it, therefore, is hard work to get a train over the imaginary line which separates arkansas and oklahoma without fracturing the law. according to a man who has made a careful study of the entire subject, thirty-seven states have diverse laws regulating locomotive bells, thirty-five have laws about whistles and thirty-two have headlight laws. the bells required range from twenty to thirty-five pounds and one state absolutely insists upon an automatic bell-ringing device. the five-hundred candle-power headlights that are good enough for virginia may be used across the border in kentucky, but not in north carolina, which will not permit lights under fifteen-hundred candle-power. and south carolina insists that the headlight shall be ten-thousand candle-power or a searchlight strong enough to discern a man at eight hundred feet. nevada goes still further and says that the light must show objects at a distance of a thousand feet. even the lowly caboose, the "hack" of the freight-trainmen, has not escaped the attention of state legislators. while many states are quite content with the standard eighteen-foot caboose mounted on a single four-wheel truck, thirteen of them demand a minimum length of twenty-four feet--missouri twenty-eight and maine twenty-nine--while fifteen insist that there must be two of the four-wheel trucks. the legislators at eight commonwealths have solemnly decreed that caboose platforms be fixed at twenty-four inches in width, illinois and missouri require thirty inches, while iowa and nebraska are content with eighteen and with twenty inches respectively. a legislator's lot cannot be an entirely happy one when it comes to determining these details of railroad equipment. but then compare his lot with that of the man who must operate the railroad--who finds that one state compels the continuous ringing of the locomotive bell while a train is passing through one of its towns; despite the fact that an adjoining state makes such an act a criminal offense. the life of a man who must operate a railroad over some seven or eight of these states is certainly cast upon no bed of roses.[ ] yet these are but the smaller troubles which await him. take the question of the so-called "full-crew" law: beginning only a very few years ago a wave of legislation swept over the country, compelling the railroads to increase the number of brakemen that they carried upon each of their trains. the carriers protested bitterly against the measure. they said that it was arbitrary, expensive, illogical, unnecessary. but it was indorsed by the labor organizations, and the politicians fell in line. twenty-two states passed the law. governors foss of massachusetts, cruce of oklahoma, and harmon of ohio vetoed it. so did governor hughes of new york. later governor sulzer of new york signed it. it also became operative in ohio. the people of missouri, speaking through their referendum, threw it out. but in twenty states it became and remains statute--a greatly increased operating charge against the railroads which operate through them. the "full-crew" law in pennsylvania, in new york, and in new jersey costs the pennsylvania railroad an extra $ , a year--five per cent, if you please, on $ , , worth of capital. the "full-crew" legislation has been followed more recently by an attempt at legislation regulating the length of trains--freight trains in particular. some of the men who engineered the first crusade have been responsible for the second. they have volunteered the suggestion that the railroads have sought to offset the effects of the "extra crew" by lengthening the trains. and they have countered by proposing statutes suggesting that all freight trains be limited to fifty cars, about half of the present maximum. to the average man this will seem as logical as if the state were to step in and tell him how long he must take to reach his office in the morning or how long he must wear a single pair of shoes. to the railroader the injustice of the thing comes home even more sharply. for these ten years or more he has been working to increase the efficiency of his plant. he has believed that one of the straightest paths to this end has been in increasing the capacity of his trains--just as the carrying capacity of merchant ships has steadily been increased. he has made this possible by enlarging his locomotives and his cars, by laying heavier rails, by rebuilding his bridges and by ironing out the curves and reducing the grades in his tracks, by multiplying the capacity of his yards and terminals--all at great cost. these things have made the -car, , -ton capacity freight train not merely a possibility, but to his mind an economic necessity as well. and this despite the interesting opinion of mr. harrington emerson which i have given in an earlier chapter. last winter, when the state of illinois seriously considered the legislation limiting train-lengths, the president of one of its greatest railroads went down into the southern part of the state and said: "do you wish us to discard these strong new locomotives that we have been building? do you wish us to return to the small engines of a quarter of a century ago? it would be inefficient, wasteful to use our modern locomotives for the short-length trains. and sooner or later you would have to bear the cost of the discarded equipment. state laws may be erratic. economic laws never are. they are as fixed as the laws of nature or of science." and the state of illinois took heed of what this man and his fellows said and killed the piece of ridiculous legislation. but it is by no means killed in some of the other states of the union. * * * * * the conflicts between state authorities that we noticed already have borne directly upon the railroad's earnings. the conflicting intrastate rates have borne far more deeply and far more dangerously upon them. indiana long since fixed the demurrage penalty at one dollar a day for each car which a railroad failed to furnish a shipper; north dakota made it two dollars; while kansas and north carolina fixed it at five dollars a day. unscientific is hardly the word for such rate-making. and how shall one term kansas' action, withholding passenger-fare legislation until she found whether or not the supreme court of nebraska would permit the two-cent-a-mile bill of that state to stand? if these rank discrepancies in the manhandling of rates by the various states affected only their own territories it would be quite bad enough. unfortunately they play sad and constant havoc with the interstate rates.[ ] these are delicate and builded, many times, upon local or state conditions. and this despite the fact that the vast majority of freight traffic is interstate, rather than intrastate. the majority of the grain from the farm lands of nebraska or minnesota is not destined for omaha in the one case, or minneapolis in the other; yet these sovereign states take upon their solemn shoulders the regulating of grain rates--to the ultimate discomfiture and cost of the other portions of the land. i have but to refer you to justice hughes's decision in the so-called minnesota rate case. he showed how this arbitrary local outgrowth of the obsolete doctrine of states' rights worked to the utter and absolute detriment of the nation as a whole. and yet in the six long years while that case was pending the great northern and northern pacific companies lost more than $ , , --a sum of money never to be recovered from their shippers--as a result of the state's unsustained reductions in freight rates.[ ] no better argument has ever been framed for the nationalization of our railroads, for making the powers of the interstate commerce commission absolute and supreme. * * * * * no wonder, then, that the railroaders are praying that a way may be found and found soon for lifting the entire authority over them out of the hands of the forty-five present state boards of control--who never have agreed and who apparently can never be made to agree on any one form of procedure--and placing it in the hands of the very competent regulating board down at washington, enlarged and strengthened for its new burdens. the interstate commerce commission has never shown a tendency toward freak rulings. its time has been taken with genuinely important matters. on these it has raised itself to its present high degree of efficiency. it has shown itself capable of studying the details of complicated transportation problems and rendering decisions of great practical sense. but the scope, and therefore the efficiency, of the interstate commerce commission are closely hemmed in by existing laws. the latest "crisis" between the railroads and the four great brotherhoods of their employees brought this limitation sharply to the fore. it is therefore equally essential that the power and scope of the federal commission be broadened as well as being made superior to those of the state regulating boards.[ ] and it is gratifying to note the progress that president wilson already is making toward the first of these necessary immediate reliefs to the railroads of the land. if president wilson shall succeed in persuading congress that the entire control of the railroads should be placed in the hands of an enlarged and strengthened interstate commerce commission, he will have earned the thanks of every man who has made an honest study into the situation. such a commission, clothed with the proper powers, could and would do much not only toward relieving the railroads' immediate necessities in regard to both physical betterment and the enlargement of their pay-rolls, but in enabling them to grasp some of the opportunities which we have outlined in previous chapters--opportunities requiring a generous outpouring of money at the beginning. if i mistake not, public sentiment is going to demand that, if the railroads be granted the relief of unified regulation, they shall be prompt in their acceptance of at least some of these great avenues of development. we have heard much in late years of the banker control of our railroads and of absentee landlordism in their management. the two things are not to be confused. banker control is not, in itself, a bad thing. absentee landlordism invariably is. there are good stretches of railroad in every part of the country that today are failing to render not alone the proper income returns to their owners but, what is worse, service to their communities, because of this great canker, this lack of immediate executive control and understanding. and it is significant in this close connection of two phases of the railroad situation that it was the banker control in new york of the one-time harriman system--the union pacific, the southern pacific, the oregon short line, etc.--that gave to it at one fell swoop, five presidents--one at san francisco, one at omaha, one at portland, one at tucson, and one at houston--each a young, vigorous man equipped with power and ability. the good effects of that far-seeing move--that instant wiping out of the charges of absentee landlordism that were being lodged against the harriman system--are still being felt. it is not banker control that is essentially bad for our railroads. it is banker control together with an utter lack of vision, that has cost them so many times their two greatest potential assets--public interest and public sympathy. banker control plus vision may readily prove itself the best form of control for our carriers. and that our bankers do not entirely lack vision may be argued by the far-seeing and opportunity-grasping way in which our bankers of the newer school are today reaching for american development in south america, in china, in the philippines, and in other parts of the world. back of the president, back of the newlands committee and its rather dazzling sense of importance, sits the nation. it is far superior to any mere committees of its own choosing and it is weighing the entire railroad situation as perhaps it never before has been weighed. it is considering the enlargement and the strengthening of the interstate commerce commission--together with it a feasible method for the federal incorporation of our roads--this last a vital necessity in the mind of any man who has ever tried to finance an issue of securities for an interstate property with each separate state trying to place its own regulations--in many cases both onerous and erratic--upon them. with the spirit of congress willing, there still remains the very large question of how far its power would extend, in attempting either to reduce the power of the state boards or to make them more amenable to the federal commission. our states have been most jealous of their sovereign rights. and it is easy to conceive that their aid and cooperation--so very necessary to the success of the entire ultimate project of the nationalization of our railroads--is not to be obtained by the mere wishing.[ ] president wilson has set the beginnings for the plan and set them well. as i write it is still up to congress to undo its mischievous legislation which, if it is made to include an eight-hour day, should render a genuine eight-hour day, one applicable to every class of railroad employee--although it would be difficult to imagine a railroad superintendent or general manager or president quitting at the end of the short-term service. they are schooled to harder things. and with the eight-hour day must come these other things to which we have already referred, not once but several times. first among these are the matters so closely correlated in president wilson's program that they cannot be separated from the eight-hour day: arbitration--compulsory arbitration, if you please--the strengthening of the power of the government to seize the railroads and operate them in a time of national panic or military necessity, the enlargement of the powers and the personnel of the interstate commerce commission. with all these things accomplished, and the situation just so much strengthened, it will then become the duty of the railroads to reach out more generously toward their opportunities for further development as the transport service of a great and growing people. it will be necessary for them to attract, to train, to reward new executives of every sort; to further their credit by deserving credit, to show outwardly in a more potent way the thing that so many of them have believed they inwardly possess--true efficiency, both for service and for growth. please do not forget this great point of growth--of development, you may prefer to put it. in my mind, men, institutions, nations, even railroads never stand still; they either grow, or else they decline, they shrink, they die. but the railroad, as the greatest servant of a great people, cannot die without bringing death to the nation itself. therefore he _must_ grow. he must plan. he must announce his plans. he must bring public sentiment to his aid. law can do many things--but few of these latter ones. public sentiment may accomplish every one of them, and almost in a crack of a finger. no wonder that capital--that conservative fellow--longs to have him stand at the bedside of the railroad. the sick man is not without his ambitions--you may be sure of that. he sees his opportunities, perhaps more clearly than ever before in the course of his long life. he is anxious to be up and at them. but before this can be done, some of these things, which we have outlined so briefly here, will have to come to pass. there are reckonings to be made, huge doctors' bills to be met--and the american public will have to help meet them. the alternative? there are many panaceas suggested; but i fear that most of these are but nostrums. ingenious, many of them are, nevertheless. and some of them come from men who speak with both authority and experience. one man proposes to have the entire federal taxes paid through the railroad, which, in turn, would recoup itself through its freight and passenger rates. he makes an interesting case for himself. another suggests a federal holding company for all the railroads of the united states and makes his suggestion read so cleverly and so ingeniously that you all but forget that he is drawing only a thin veil over government ownership. of government ownership i am not going to treat at this time; not more than to say that to almost all american railroaders--big and little, employers and employed, stockholders and bondholders--it represents little less than death itself to the sick man of american business. in my own opinion it is, at the least, a major operation--an operation whose success is extremely dubious. index adamson bill, object and effect of, - . aliens, value of, in railroad work, ff. american railway association, cooperation of, with government, . arbitration, compulsory, , ; in wage disputes, ff. architectural problems in relation to increase of passenger traffic, ff. atlantic coast, service of railroads in defense of, . automobile: effect of the, on railroad traffic, ff.; as a freight feeder of the railroad, ; operated on railroad tracks, . betterments and additions, amount needed for, ff., , . _see also_ railroads. branch-lines and their relation to automobile competition, ; opportunities neglected by railroads, , . brotherhoods, ff.; influence of, on wages, , n.; strength of, . _see also_ labor. canals, advantages of, to railroads, . capital, ; relation of, to earnings, ; conductor, efficiency of the present-day, . cooperation of public vital to railroads, . cost of living, how influenced by railroads, . _de luxe_ trains, economic wisdom of, . deficits, how met, . _see also_ railroads. droege, john a., , . efficiency, , ; relation of, to economy, . eight-hour day legislation, , , . electricity as motive power, , , ; advantages of, ff.; in boston, ; in chicago, ; in philadelphia, ; to freight traffic, ; to railroad systems as a whole, , ; to suburban systems, ; transformation of gravity pull into motive energy, . elliott, howard, . embargoes: cause of, ; effect of, , ; motor truck, value of, in case of, . emerson, harrington, . employees, number of, in interests allied to railroads, ; number of, on steam railroads, . engineer, efficiency of the present-day, ff. engineering problems in relation to increase of passenger traffic, . excess-fare trains, , ; pending inauguration of, on western railroads, . extensions, difficulty of raising funds for, , n. freight and passenger traffic, economic difference between, . freight cars, number and condition of, in use, ; number needed per year, , n. _see also_ railroads. freight feeder for railroad, automobile and motor truck recommended as, , . freight gateways as housing places of affiliated industries, . freight terminals, development of, . full-crew bill, the, ; legislation regarding, . german railroads, efficiency of, . government ownership, . grade crossings, extent of removal of, - . grain, cost of transportation of, . grand central station, the, , . gray, carl r., , . harriman, e. h., . harrison, fairfax, . hill, james j., , , . hine, major charles, . holden, hale, . hustis, james h., . interstate commerce commission, effectiveness of, ; enlargement of powers of, . labor, bonus payments, ff.; brotherhoods, affiliation of labor with, ; improvement in quality of, ; relations of organized, with the railroads, , ; unorganized labor, interests and responsibilities of, ff.; wage adjustments between railroads and employees, ff.; wages of, ff. labor question, the, , . legislation, conflict of state, ff. liquor, opposition of railroads to its use by employees, . locomotives, number ordered per year, , n. markham, charles h., , . mellen, charles s., . military reserve corps among railroad men, . negro, value of the, in railroad work, . nonunion labor, employment of, . noonan, william t., . operation, what it involves, . _see also_ railroads. pacific coast, service of railroads in defense of, . panic of , effect of, . passenger and freight traffic, economic difference between, . passenger-mile, statistics of, ; unit of traffic, . passenger rates, increases in, ; prospects for future increase in, , . _see also_ railroads. passenger service, state of, , n. _see also_ passenger-mile. pullman cars, comparison of, with european cars, . pullman company, control by, of sleeping and parlor cars, . railroad fares, effect of automobile on rate of, ff. railroads, and national defense, ; army operation of, in case of war, ; as military lines of communication, ff.; banker control of, ; betterments and additions, expenditures for, ; capitalization of, ; car famine now existing, , n., ; condition of, in case of present-day war, ; in middle west and south, ; congestion, effect of, on, ; cooperation of public vital to, ; cost of living, how affected by, ; credit of, affected, ; debt of american farmer to, ; deficits, how met, ; depreciation fund, an asset, when, ; development extent of, yet needed, ; difficulties under which they labor, ; double-track, military value of, ; needed, ; earnings of, in relation to capital, ; efficiency, as applied to, ; emergencies, ability of, to meet, ; employees, number of, on, ; equipment, ; federal incorporation of, ; flexibility of equipment of, ; freight and passenger traffic, economic difference between, ; german military use of, ; governmental operation of, in case of war, ; inadequacy of, to meet needs of nation, , n.; labor and tax, ff.; locomotives, condition of, in operation by, , and note; losses, extent of, ; necessity and value of, to the country, ; operating, cost of, in relation to capital and earnings, ; opportunity of, ; passenger rates, part played by, in cost of operation, ; part played by, in civil war, ; possibilities of development for, ff., , , , , ; receiverships of, - ; regulation of, , ff.; rehabilitation, extent of, needed, ; relations of, with employees, ; resources of, need for study of, ; service of, in defense of pacific coast, ; service of, in defense of atlantic coast, ; superiority of, in , over those in civil war, ; seizure of, by government, ; trained officials necessary for efficient handling of, ; upkeep, failure of, to meet, ; value of, to the nation, in time of war, ; wealth of the nation, how affected by, ; _see also_ labor. rate increases, need of, . regulation of railroads, , ; confusion resulting from present methods, ; essential and advantageous, ff.; unified, . section boss, the, ff. _see also_ labor. standard unit container, a factor in freight traffic, . _see also_ railroads _s. v._ "possibilities of development." state railroad commissions, ineffectiveness of, . station agent, the, ff., ff. _see also_ labor. supervisor, the, . _see also_ labor. telegraph, value of the, in time of war, . telephone, effectiveness of the, in national crisis, . terminals, development of, . ton-mile, statistics of, ; unit of traffic, . tonnage-mile costs, . _see also_ labor; wages. track foreman, the, ff. _see also_ labor. traffic tides and congestion, . trains, legislation regulating length of, , . union pacific railroad, military value of, . vanderlip, frank a., , n. "vital area" of country, how served by railroads, , . wage adjustments and arbitration, ff. wages, bonus payments, , ; hour basis, the, ; maximum and minimum rates of, ; mile basis, the, ; "piece-rate" principle, the, ff.; rate of, discussed, ff. _see also_ labor. waterways: development of inland, ; objectionable provisions of navigation law, ; vessels, need of, . wealth of nation, how affected by railroads, . willard, daniel, , . footnotes: [ ] "not only have the developments of the last fifteen months disclosed the enormous productive capacity of the people and industry of this country, but they have also shown that when it is being fully utilized the facilities of the railroads are not adequate to the demands which it causes to be made upon them. to sum up, then, the industry and commerce of the country grew rapidly throughout the ten years ending in , and almost throughout that period the facilities of the railroads were increased so rapidly that they proved adequate to the demands made upon them. at last, however, the traffic did catch up with the facilities, the result being the great car shortage of - . the year , unlike the year , marks the beginning, not the approach of the end, of a period of industrial and commercial activity and growth. there will doubtless be a painful and violent readjustment after the war ends, but there will be another period of industrial expansion after the readjustment is passed. "since our railroad facilities have proved inadequate at the beginning of the present period of prosperity, will they not prove inadequate to the demands which will be made upon them as soon as the period of readjustment is over. and if they prove inadequate at the beginning of a period of prosperity, what kind of a situation will they cause to develop if industry steadily grows more active and traffic heavier, as it did for several years prior to ? "there seems to be only one rational answer to this question. no matter how favorable to a period of prolonged and great prosperity other conditions may be, progress in industry and commerce will be sharply arrested, and there will not be any long continuance of prosperity, if the facilities of transportation are not greatly increased. the net operating income of the railroads during the year now closing has been unprecedented, probably averaging more than six per cent on the investment in road and equipment. in the past whenever it has averaged over five per cent there has resulted a largely increased investment in new facilities. in view of the large net earnings now being made the expenditures during for new mileage and trackage, for new equipment and other improvement have been relatively small."--_railway age gazette._ [ ] frank a. vanderlip, president of the city national bank, new york city, in an address delivered in washington, late in october, , called attention to the fact that in the year just closing, $ , , had been invested in new industrials in america, but practically not a dollar for railroad investment. the only new capital which the railroads have been able to obtain has been through borrowing. on top of this congress has taken the extraordinary responsibility of advancing the wages of the railroad trainmen. the extent of the railroad business is such that it ought to be building , freight cars a year. last year ( ) they built , , in the total was little, if any, greater. and week after week the reports are published, showing the car famine in america. [ ] "in the five years, ending with , the number of locomotives ordered by the railroads of the united states was almost , , or almost , per year. during the five years, ending with , the number ordered has been less than , , or about , a year. "in the five years, ending with , the total number of freight cars ordered was almost , , , an average of over , a year. during the five years, ending with , the number ordered has been only about , , or an average of about , a year."--_railway age gazette._ [ ] the winter which ushered in has seen not only great freight congestion, and in consequence many embargoes, but a serious impairment of passenger service, particularly in the northern and eastern sections of the united states. this impairment has taken the form of constant and irritating passenger train delays. these have come despite a winter more mild and open, particularly in the east, than we have had for a number of years. they have been so constant and so pronounced as to arouse much comment as to their possible causes. by some they have been attributed to labor disaffection, and by others, to the congestion caused by the abnormal movement of freight. but the railroaders who know best feel that the real cause is in "engine failure." in the hard years of stringent economy through which our carriers have just passed they not only failed to purchase sufficient new locomotives, but to repair and maintain properly the ones already in their roundhouses. and in february, --after eighteen months of grilling traffic--these locomotives have begun to bend and break under the strain. after all, a locomotive is not so very much different from a man. there comes a limit to its endurance. [ ] "some question has been raised repeatedly as to whether the condition of railroad net earnings really has been the cause of the decline in new construction, and in the acquisition of new equipment. for example, in the hearings before the newlands committee at washington some of the members of the committee have called attention to the fact that the stocks of many of the better managed and more prosperous railroads have steadily sold above par, that their bonds also have commanded what seem to the questioners figures which indicate a good market for bonds, and it has been asked whether any cases can actually be cited where strong railroad companies have sought and have failed to sell at good prices securities to raise money for improvements. points of this kind having been raised, the _railway age gazette_ recently addressed a letter to the presidents of several of the leading railroads of the country, asking them to give specific examples of how the condition of earnings and of the money market during recent years has interfered with their raising money for extensions and improvements. there has not been time as yet for replies to all these inquiries to be received. some have been received, however, and they contain significant information. one letter which has been received is from the president of an important and relatively strong, prosperous and conservatively managed railroad in the northwest. he says in part: "'this company has been for some time, and is now desirous of building about four hundred miles of extensions of its railroad in sections of the northwest that are not at present adequately served by transportation facilities; but, because of its inability to dispose of its securities, at a price that, as a business proposition, would warrant their sale, has been unable to make these much needed extensions. "'until within the past few years this company was able to dispose of its four per cent bonds at approximately par, and in common with other first class securities, these were considered by the purchasers to be a good investment; but in the last few years we have found it practically impossible to dispose of these bonds at a price that would meet the demands of an economical and proper administration of its financial affairs. "'in in order to secure funds required for needed improvements and betterments, we were compelled to issue bonds drawing five per cent, and for improvements on our chicago division we were unable to find purchasers for its bonds, and were compelled to issue notes due in three years, bearing interest at five per cent for that purpose.' "another letter which has been received is from the president of one of the greatest railroad systems, not only of the eastern part of the united states, but of the world, a system which has been managed with notable conservatism and ability, and which has regularly paid substantial dividends. the president of this railroad says: "'replying to your letter regarding cases where railroads had found it impracticable to do any new construction work because of their inability to get the public to invest in their securities, much depends upon how this question is put. railroads cannot issue bonds and stock and throw them on the market to discover whether the public will take them or not. i know of no instance where any company with sound credit and good earnings had any difficulty in selling its securities to the public, provided the rate was satisfactory, compared with others, but there have been very many cases where the railroads have discovered, through consultation with investors and bankers, that there was no market for railroad securities, except on terms too onerous for the railroads to accept, and, further, because many railroads, including our own, suffered such a reduction in earnings that they were not warranted in offering securities to the public or proceeding with large items of construction work or large orders for equipment. "'for instance, in the case (of an important subsidiary property), i know that for a long period we had to defer selling bonds on more than one occasion, although the construction work was proceeding, because market conditions were not favorable. its mortgage bonds would be guaranteed by (its owners), but in lieu of selling them, we temporarily authorized short-term borrowing at lower interest rates. for the period to the general experience of most of the railroads was that they had not sufficient business, or earnings, to furnish a credit basis to make proper additions to their property and equipment, nor was there sufficient prospect of any increased traffic to justify proceeding with any great expenditure program. during this period, short-term financing had to be resorted to because of the impossibility of selling capital stock on any basis, or mortgage bonds, except on onerous conditions.'"--_railway age gazette._ [ ] "the bitter fight now raging as to the content and enforcement of the adamson act should not make us lose sight of certain things which are more fundamental in railroading than either wages or hours. the transportation service of this country has been the best in the world, partly because it gave us a free field for able and ambitious men. rising from the commonest sort of day labor, these executives command the respect and obedience of the rank and file, but sometimes forget to cooperate. that is the root cause of the present-day troubles. it is natural that a corporation president should stand for the interests of the company, but if the men are to be bound up heart and soul in loyalty to the work, then their interests are, and must be, part of the interests of the company. a railroad cannot be run exclusively by presidents, superintendents, and managers; there must be engineers and firemen of training and long experience. as a practical matter, this means that these occupations must hold many capable men during their entire working lives. in a country of free institutions this situation cannot be held down by autocratic rule. if the men have no say in the company, they will try to get one in the union. the great mistake of american railroad presidents during the last thirty years has been to force this growth of factionalism, to make it plain that the union was the means by which the men could get ahead. the railroad brotherhoods secured one concession after another in hours, wages, and operating rules, concessions which the nonunion men could not get. the limits of this method have about been reached. cannot railroad executives save the future by definitely abandoning this policy of quarrel and drift, by making themselves the true leaders of all their men? we think they can. they have had too much of a caste point of view and have been too much absorbed in other things. it is time to change. the general alternatives have been well stated by edward a. filene, a leader of the new mercantile new england, in these words: "'if american employers are farsighted they will begin to put as much hard thinking into the problem of men as they have put into the problem of machinery, for, finally, that contentment of labor which is based upon a welfare that springs from justice and frank dealing is the only soil from which permanently prosperous business can spring. "'all of the initiative in solving the labor problem must not in the future come from the employees. if the employers of america do not solve the labor problems by business statesmanship, the employees of america will determine the outcome by force; and what labor cannot get in the future by the physical force of strikes, it may be able to get through the legal force of legislation and the income-taxing power.' "if our railroad employers, among others, will learn and apply the wisdom expressed in this excerpt, all will yet be well."--_collier's weekly._ [ ] already it has been followed by several other railroad and express systems--conspicuous among these, the southern pacific, the union pacific, the erie, wells fargo & co. express, and the american express company. the union pacific's plan, embracing an expenditure of approximately $ , , in bonus payments, differs from those of the other railroads, except the erie, in that it does not make a distinction between the men who belong to the brotherhoods or other forms of union labor, and those who are not "contract labor." the union pacific's plan also embraces a scheme of group insurance, in the benefits of which its employes participate without cost to themselves. insurance plans, of one sort or another, have recently become popular, and are being recognized as a logical outgrowth of the pension systems which have long since become part of the fiber and structure of the older and more conservative of our railroad and express companies. [ ] the filing of further plans for the development of its main passenger terminal in chicago would indicate decidedly that the illinois central had not overlooked the possibility of the electric development of its great suburban territory there. for the plans now not only include the new terminal, itself, but the complete electrification of the suburban service on the main line, as well as the south chicago, blue island, kensington and eastern branches--all told, some forty miles of line--and involving for electric equipment alone the expenditure of about $ , , . the railroad is to give up a large portion of the ground occupied by the existing station to permit of the widening and extension of the lake front park, and its approaches. an interesting part of the whole terminal scheme is that which provides that the entire portion of the illinois central tracks between the present main passenger terminal at twelfth street, which, in a general way, will become the site of the new one, and randolph street--reaching the entire eastern edge of the loop district--will become an elongated suburban station. from the several platforms of this station subways will pass under michigan avenue, and so enable commuters to avoid the heavy automobile traffic of that great thoroughfare. the new terminal is to be planned large enough to accommodate eventually the many passenger trains of the several large railroads that now enter the lasalle and dearborn stations. if this is ever brought to pass the city of chicago will have accomplished a real economic benefit. for the land occupied by these two great stations and their yards is not alone a considerable acreage, but the terminals themselves have acted as real barriers to the most logical growth of the so-called loop district--the busy heart of commercial chicago. barred on the east by lake michigan, and on the north and west by the chicago river, this commercial center would have grown south long ago had it not been for these two great terminals. their removal, therefore, would not only accomplish a passenger traffic consolidation--of great advantage to the through traveler--but would open a great downtown area for the development of chicago's heart. [ ] definite announcement has been made by the milwaukee that it will begin the extension of its electric-equipped main line through the cascades to puget sound early in the summer of . this will mean that for a time there will be a "gap" for about miles in the vicinity of spokane, where steam will continue to be used as a motive power. for a number of miles west of spokane the milwaukee's main passenger line has trackage rights over the oregon-washington system. this fact, and the fact that electrification is best justified economically in mountainous districts is responsible for this "gap." it is probable that it will not continue to exist for many years more. at the present time the very high cost of electric locomotives suitable for hauling heavy freight and passenger trains for long distances is making the milwaukee--today the unquestioned leader in this great progressive policy of electrification--move both slowly and surely. according to the last annual report of the road the most recent lot of twenty engines cost an average of $ , . each--or about four or five times the cost of the largest steam locomotive. despite the tremendous initial expense of these electric engines, their remarkable performances more than justify their cost. [ ] to a very prominent hotel in the white mountains five years ago, ninety per cent of the patrons came by train; last year ninety-five per cent of the guests arrived in their motor cars. "talk about getting folks to go to california, or even to the rocky mountains," said the veteran passenger traffic manager of one of the greatest of our transcontinental carriers, when he was in boston a few weeks ago and heard of this, "we can and will advertise, but we are up against two tremendous competitors: the first of these is new york city, which is a tremendous permanent and perpetual attraction to all the rest of america days out of the year. the second is the automobile, the family car, if you please, into which has gone the recreation money which otherwise might have been going into the ticket wickets of our railroads. think of it, there were , pleasure cars built and sold in the united states last year, while the experts are placing , , as the figure for ! more than $ , , , --an almost incredible sum--was spent by americans last year on automobiles, and all the things which directly pertain to them. what chance has the railroad against such a giant of a competitor?" [ ] "the railroad that neglects its branch-line service is playing with fire vastly more than it may suppose," said a distinguished railroad economist only the other day. "it may feel that it has an economic right to neglect branch-line opportunities because of the limited revenue opportunities that these feeders ofttimes present. but it must not overlook one thing--the patent fact that many of the voters, the men and women whose sentiment expressed in their ballots may build or ruin the future of so many of our overland carriers, reside upon these same branch lines. indeed, one may say that the manufacture of sentiment upon branch-line railroads is a business well worth the attention of a keen traffic-man. for it may be just that very amount of sentiment that might swing the balance for or against a railroad." [ ] "something more than a nation-wide railroad strike would have been required to interfere seriously with the business of the norton grinding company, of worcester, mass., of the halle brothers company, of cleveland, the american telephone and telegraph company, and some other far-sighted concerns," says a circular issued by the white automobile company at the time of the strike crisis in august, . in meeting the threatened emergency of having all freight shipments blockaded, these companies outlined a new example in industrial preparedness. "the worcester machinery makers and the great bell institution increased their fleets of trucks by having the machines delivered overland to avoid all chance of strike congestion, while the cleveland department store planned its own transportation system between the atlantic seaboard and the sixth city. "the situation confronting the norton company was one which demanded immediate action, and in which normal methods were of no avail. when a general suspension of all the ordinary facilities for moving goods seemed imminent, the norton company placed its order for three five-ton trucks with the seymour automobile company, the white company's worcester dealer, and it was stipulated in the contract that the trucks should be delivered in worcester within three days, independent of railroad service. "the trucks were shipped by boat from cleveland to buffalo, and then driven overland to worcester. the -mile journey was completed in the remarkably short time of forty-eight hours, with a gasoline consumption of better than eleven miles to a gallon. stops were made only for the purpose of replenishing the gasoline and oil supply, and for meals for the drivers." [ ] "the effect of the improvements wrought as the result of the self-propelled vehicle's influence is already strikingly apparent. when franklin county, new york, voted $ , in bonds to improve its system of roads, twenty-five cans of milk, weighing one hundred and twenty pounds each, constituted the average two-horse load. after the money raised by the bond issue had been spent, motor-trucks hauled fifty cans to the load. with the sum of $ , the twelve-mile stretch of road leading from spottsylvania court house to fredericksburg was improved. in a single year $ , was saved in draying. "the estimated cost of hauling the corn, wheat, oats, potatoes, cotton, and hay crops of the country is annually $ , , . no one knows how much of that vast sum could be saved if motors were able to ply between the farm and the railroad station. very few cities have compiled statistics. some light is shed on the subject in a report prepared by the chicago municipal markets--not so much on the influence of good roads as on the reduction in haulage costs, which is effected by self-propelled vehicles running on fine pavements. it appears that it costs eleven and one-quarter cents to carry one ton a mile by motor in the city of chicago, and seventeen and three-quarter cents by horse. the average cost of delivering a package by the department stores, grocery stores, and meat markets of the city is approximately eight cents by motor and sixteen cents by horse for each mile. "apply these figures to the cities of the entire country, and consider further that motor-trucks can deliver goods directly from the farm to the city retailer, and it seems not unreasonable to expect that the cost of living must at least be held stationary, if it is not actually reduced by the wider introduction of mechanical road vehicles. surely, the horse must eventually disappear in our towns, at least, if the city consumer pays an average of one dollar and ninety cents for vegetables which the farmer sells for one dollar; if it costs more to haul by horse one hundred pounds of produce five miles from chicago wharves to the householder or the retail store than to ship it by boat from the shores of lake michigan to chicago; if it costs nearly half as much to deliver a ton of coal by horse from the railroad tracks to the business district of chicago as it does to ship it four hundred miles by rail from southern illinois to the city."--waldemar kaempffert in _harper's magazine_. [ ] "during the largest movement of troops took place in the united states, since the spanish-american war. it began early in the year when regular army detachments of cavalry, infantry, artillery and engineers were sent to the border on march , march , may and june . the transportation of these organizations was accomplished in an excellent manner, in exceptionally good time, and without accidents of any nature. on may , the militia of arizona, new mexico, and texas, were called to the border, and on june , , the national guard troops of all the other states were called into the service of the united states, and directed to assemble at their state mobilization camps. from these points to designated stations on the frontier transportation arrangements were under the direction of the war department. the troops began leaving their mobilization camps about midnight on june . on july there were en route to the border from various sections of the united states, troop trains, carrying over , freight, passenger, and baggage cars, with a total strength of , men. on july , troop trains were en route, and , militia troops (not including arizona, new mexico, and texas) were either at the border or on the way thereto. from the beginning of the movement up to july , , militia troops were moved to the international boundary. "some idea of the task imposed upon the railroads of the country by the transportation of the national guard may be had when it is considered that trains were necessary to carry the first , troops. over , passenger cars, including standard pullman and tourist cars and coaches, were provided, and in addition about baggage cars, most of which were equipped as kitchen cars for serving hot meals en route, , box cars, , stock cars, flat cars, and approximately , locomotives and crews, not including switching engines, yard engines and their crews. the call upon the railroads for the transportation of the militia occurred in the fortnight which includes the fourth of july, the time of the greatest density of passenger travel in the eastern states. instructions were issued by all railroads concerned that the movement of troop trains was to be given preference over other travel, and it is believed that this was done in all cases. "to have effected the entire movement of all the troops in tourist sleepers would have required approximately , cars, or five times as many as were in existence. the pullman company, by utilizing some standard sleeping cars, made available for the movement tourist cars. in all cases where it was possible to do so tourist equipment was furnished, and where they were not immediately available the troop were met en route and transferred to tourists in every possible case. official reports from all military departments show that no organization moved in coaches in less space than three men to every four seats, and wherever possible two seats for each man. the total number of men transported in coaches averaged men to each coach. "although the movement of organized militia came at a time when the commercial traffic on the railroads was the largest in years, it was accomplished with very little interference with regular train service, and with no congestion whatever, either at initial or terminal points or en route. in july there were moved into the brownsville, texas, district special trains, composed of , cars of passengers and , cars of freight for the army, in addition to cars of army supplies, handled in freight trains, and the usual commercial traffic. this district is reached only by one single-track line, and all rolling stock had to be returned over the same line. "the concentration of the militia on the mexican border and the mobilization for the great war in are not comparable, as all civil traffic was suspended in europe to make way for military movements, and the distances involved in the movement to the mexican border were very much greater than those in europe. the longest run in germany was about miles, and in france much less, whereas the distances traveled by the troops in the united states varied from miles, in the case of louisiana troops, to , miles in the case of connecticut troops. the majority of the troops came from northern and northeastern states and were carried over , miles, in most cases in remarkably fast time. for example, the seventh new york infantry with , men, equipment, ammunition, and baggage left new york at p. m. on june , and arrived at san antonio, texas, at : p. m., on june , a distance of , miles. shipments of freight were made from washington and vicinity to the border in four days, from new york and vicinity in five days, and from the great lakes in a little more than forty-eight hours. "as a specific example showing how the cooperation of the railroad companies assisted the army, there may be cited the case of the first motor trucks purchased for the expeditionary forces in mexico. twenty-seven trucks were purchased under bid in wisconsin on march . they were inspected and loaded in fourteen cars; the men to operate them were employed and tourist cars furnished for them, following which a train was made up which left wisconsin at : a. m., on march . it arrived at columbus, n. m., , miles away, shortly after noon on the th; the trucks were unloaded from the cars, loaded with supplies, and sent across the border, reaching general pershing's command with adequate supplies of food before he had exhausted the supplies taken with him from columbus."--from the report of quartermaster-general henry g. sharpe, of the united states army, as reprinted in the _railway age gazette_. [ ] "when railroads were started in england, they were influenced by stage coach precedents. they put the engineer behind the iron horse and called him a driver, they called the railroad car a coach or a van. they imitated the class distinction of the four-in-hand, and then charged by the mile. coach travel cost by the mile. there were no terminal charges, no road upkeep charges. it was a piece rate proposition, a price per mile proposition as to revenues. the great difference between horse coaches and railroads was overlooked. probably per cent of stage coach expenses, whether of capital investment or operation, lies in the coaches, horses and harness. even in the modern railroad, in the united states, only per cent of the capital and per cent of the operating expense are in the moving trains. classified passenger and classified freight rates based on distance are founded on one-fifth of the real cost. this is not all. the cost of the other four-fifths has been increasing steadily from the start. yard expenses are increasing far more rapidly than road expenses. the cost of terminals is growing with the square of the population. what is more serious, both will continue to rise. getting so much for nothing, both passengers and shippers congregate in the big cities, and add still further to the congestion, to the increased cost of the part of railroading. "every railroad man, every banker, every investor, every student of transportation knows that rates should be increased because the roads can no longer stand the drain of deferred obsolescence, or unremunerative investments, especially in terminals. "rates ought to be based on four elements and probably a fifth added. the four basic elements are. ( ) cost of collecting the traffic; ( ) cost of transporting the traffic; ( ) cost of insurance or classification; ( ) cost of delivering the traffic. "only ( ) and ( ) now enter into rates. it is as cheap to arrive at new york at the pennsylvania, or new york central station, as to drop the train in newark or tarrytown. it is as cheap to ship freight to a new york dock as to unload it from the car at a country siding. "in the new york subway the cost of ( ), ( ) and ( ) sinks to a vanishing point, and nothing is left but the flat cost of running trains and a flat revenue per passenger. "in steam railroads operation costs of both ( ) and ( ) are very great, but not made up by revenue. the fifth element that ought to govern charges is a principle that even frogs know all about, but which human beings operating railroads have not yet learned, namely, to put on flat and expand when prices are high so as to accumulate a surplus to tide over the lean years. this fifth element is really included in ( ) classification. railroads now have different rates for different commodities, but $ . a bushel wheat and $ . cotton are not the same as $ . wheat and $ . cotton. the wheat raised and the cotton grown, and the iron made into pig iron at $ . a ton can afford to pay rates that vary with the price. "piece rates applied to traffic is the tuberculosis that is gradually but surely consuming our railroads."--harrington emerson. [ ] as an evidence of the fact that the sick man of american business has by no means lost his ability to render service, consider what might have seemed to travelers a minor detail of ordinary service, and yet was in reality a tremendous task. on a certain snowy morning in january, , traffic into new york was unusually heavy. the great automobile show was just opening, folk were flocking to it from all corners of the country. the facilities of even as great a railroad as the new york central were severely taxed. its twentieth century limited was in three sections, the detroiter in two, train six in three. on these and two other trains due into the grand central station between and : a. m., , persons were served with breakfast. this breakfast required sixteen dining-cars, eighty-two stewards, cooks, and assistants, and waiters. advance advice was received of the requirements, the cars assembled, the crews brought together, and everything made ready to attach the cars to the train at albany in the early morning. and this was all in addition to the regular dining-car service of the road. [ ] and now congress has adjourned without passing the supplementary feature of the adamson bill--the all important requirement of arbitration in labor disputes. [ ] "fifteen states have laws designed to secure preferential treatment for their freight by prescribing a minimum movement for freight cars. several of these require a minimum movement of fifty miles a day, though the average daily movement throughout the nation is only twenty-six miles. one state imposes a penalty of ten dollars an hour for the forbidden delay. though under the federal law there is no demurrage penalty for failure to furnish cars to a shipper, several states have penalties running from one dollar to five dollars per car per day. the result is that the railroads are compelled to discriminate against interstate commerce and against commerce in the states that have no demurrage penalties. "one by-product of all this chaotic regulation has been an increase in ten years of eighty-seven per cent in the number of general office clerks employed by the railroads, and an increase of nearly per cent (over $ , , ) in the annual wages paid to them. during this period the gross earnings of the roads increased only fifty per cent. in the fiscal year of the railroads were compelled to furnish to the national and state commission and other bodies over two million separate reports."--harold kellock in _the century magazine_. [ ] illinois a few years ago passed a statute limiting passenger fares within her boundaries to two cents a mile. to this, the business men's league of st. louis filed a complaint with the interstate commerce commission, stating that a discrimination had been created against st. louis. the federal board had made most of the interstate passenger fares in the central portion of the country average two and one-half cents. this made the fare from chicago to st. louis (in missouri) $ . , while the fare from chicago to east st. louis (directly across the river, but in illinois) only $ . . a similar complaint was received from keokuk, iowa, also just across the mississippi from illinois. after reviewing these complaints the federal commission held that two and four-tenths cents was a reasonable rate for interstate fares in this territory and required the railroads to remove the discrimination against st. louis, mo., and keokuk, iowa. the decision was limited, however, to the points involved in the complaint. the supplemental report covers all points in illinois. "'in our original report in this proceeding,' commissioner daniels says, 'it was shown how the lower state fares within illinois furnished a means whereby passengers could and did defeat the lawfully established interstate fares between st. louis and illinois points. this was done by using interstate tickets purchased at interstate fares from st. louis to an east side point in illinois, and thence continuing the journey to any illinois destination on a ticket purchased at the lower state fare. "'we deem it advisable to point out that the interstate fares between st. louis and keokuk on the one hand and interior illinois points on the other, made on a per mile basis of two and four-tenths cents, would likewise be subject to defeat if the state fares to and from interior illinois points intermediate to the passengers' ultimate destination be made upon a basis lower than the fares applying between st. louis or keokuk and such illinois destination. it would be necessary merely for the passenger who desired to defeat the interstate fare to shift the intermediate point at which to purchase his state ticket. the burden and discrimination which a lower basis of fares within the state casts upon the interstate commerce would not be removed merely by an increase in the intra-state fares to and from the east bank points. "'and not only this burden, but the direct undue prejudice to st. louis and keokuk will also continue if the east side cities while on the face of the published tariff paying fares to and from illinois points upon the same basis as do st. louis and keokuk can in practice defeat such fares by paying lower state fares in the aggregate to and from illinois destination, by virtue of such an adjustment of fares.'" as soon, however, as the railroads attempted to put this edict of the interstate commerce commission into effect the state courts of illinois stepped in and tied their hands. at the present time the matter is still involved in much litigation. and a man may buy a ticket from chicago to east st. louis for $ . , and for ten-cent trolley fare cross the eads bridge into st. louis. this is, of course, a great injustice to the railroads--an inequality which must sooner or later be adjusted, and the sooner, the better. [ ] "a curious light was thrown on this condition in connection with the shreveport rate case. texas, in order to keep louisiana merchants from competing in its markets, had fixed a number of rates within the state applying between points of production and jobbing centers and markets in the direction of the louisiana line. these rates were substantially lower than the interstate rates from shreveport, louisiana, to the same texas points of consumption. the united states supreme court sustained the interstate commerce commission in raising the texas rates so that louisiana business men could get a square deal. "thereafter senator shepard, of texas, introduced a bill in the senate to abolish the doctrine of the shreveport case. in a hearing on this bill it developed that while louisiana was protesting against rate discrimination on the part of texas, the city of natchez, in mississippi, was making a similar protest against the action of louisiana in fixing rates which excluded the business men of natchez from the louisiana markets. moreover, one of those who appeared in favor of the bill was judge prentice, chairman of the virginia railroad commission, which was at that time complaining that the state rate-fixers in north carolina had discriminated against virginia cities. "in short, an appalling condition of interstate warfare was revealed that was hurting business generally and killing railroad development."--harold kellock in _the century magazine_. [ ] when one comes to consider the possibility of the interstate commerce commission being made supreme in these matters of railroad regulation, he must assume that the members of this commission are to be held immune from interference; save by the actual and necessary processes of the higher courts. the objection by senator cummins, of iowa, recently to the senate's affirmation of the reappointment of commissioner winthrop m. daniels, is in this connection, most illuminating and disquieting. senator cummins was careful to say that he held no quarrel against mr. daniel's character or personality. he added that he would be glad to vote for a confirmation of appointment to any other government position. unfortunately, commissioner daniels had written several of the commission's opinions advocating recent raises in railroad rates. for this offense the senator from iowa sought to punish him by blocking his reappointment. fortunately, however, mr. cummins carefully conceived revenge failed of execution. the senate promptly and generously confirmed the president's appointment. but the episode shows clearly a great potential danger to which the members of this commission, as well as all other regulatory boards, are subject if their honest opinions, as expressed in decisions, run counter to the whim of popular opinion. [ ] "no one who has traveled about the world will seriously contend that there is any other country where the quality and quantity of rail transportation is so good or so abundant as in the united states. in most european countries rail transportation is furnished by the government at great cost to the public, both directly in the form of heavier taxes and indirectly in the form of high rates. in this country it is furnished by the investment of private capital. this capital is supplied by about , , persons. it is absolutely at the mercy not only of the federal government, but, within their boundaries, of the legislatures of forty-eight states. how much it may earn depends upon the whim of these masters. how much it may lose has never been determined; for when a certain point is reached the courts step in and administer the bankrupt's business. "last year the railways of the country earned about $ , , , net, a greater sum than ever before in their history. it was less than six per cent on railroad property devoted to the use of the public. "the record earnings of the railroads in are being used and will be used to urge government ownership. but how about the lean years? if in the most prosperous year of their lives the railroads of the country cannot earn six per cent, what happens in poor years? ask the courts. they know. "it is possible now, by right administration, to make particular railroads yield liberal returns to investors; but under government ownership there could be no such incentive to careful management; the bad would be lumped with the good; the profits in one quarter would be required to meet the deficits in another; the government would have to assume all necessary capital, and this would by so much impair the government's borrowing power. "if the people of this country can once be brought to appreciate the importance of maintaining the quality and expanding the quantity of rail transportation they will see to it that private enterprise is supported, not hampered, in furnishing this most vital of public services. they will manifest overwhelmingly a wish that the roads be set free from the conflicting authorities of forty-eight masters and be controlled by only one, greater than all the rest put together. they will demand that the federal government allow such rates as will permit earnings sufficient to attract private capital actually needed to supply public service. they will insist that the federal control and regulation of transportation shall be as constructive and helpful as federal control and regulation of banking. it is painful to look at the federal reserve system and then to contemplate the plight into which haphazard regulation has brought the railroads."--the _new york sun_. images of public domain material from the google print project.) an historical summary of the post office in scotland, compiled from authentic records and documents. by t. b. lang, esq. controller, sorting department, general post office, edinburgh. for private circulation. edinburgh: printed by w. h. lizars, st. james' square. . note. _this historical summary, compiled by_ mr. lang, _was originally contained in a letter addressed to the secretary to the general post office in scotland, with a view to its being included in the annual report of the postmaster-general, presented to both houses of parliament at the commencement of the present session, but it not being considered necessary to include the whole summary in the report, extracts only were published in the appendix. the whole summary is therefore now printed, with his grace's sanction, for private distribution._ an historical summary of the post office in scotland. the earliest records that can be found relating to the conveyance of despatches or letters in scotland, do not date earlier than the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. in these early records, special messengers for the conveyance of the king's despatches and correspondence are called "_nuncii_" or "_cursores_;" but the information as to their mode of travelling, and regulations for their guidance, is imperfect and limited. messengers of this description were also employed to convey despatches from foreign countries, for which they received gratuities on their arrival at the scottish court. about the year , the name of post is found to apply to messengers travelling with the utmost rapidity then attainable in charge of despatches.[ ] on the st of april , the english envoy in scotland wrote from stirling to henry viii. of england--"this friday, when i came home to dyner, i received your most honorable letters by post, dated at your mansion, greenwich, th march."[ ] these letters, which appear to have occupied five or six days in transit from greenwich to stirling, must have been conveyed by one of these special court messengers. it was not long after this period that the municipal corporations and private persons of consequence also introduced messengers of this description. for example, in , a post was established by the magistrates of aberdeen for carrying their despatches to and from edinburgh and other places of royal residence. they appointed a person for conducting these despatches, under the name of the council post, who was dressed in a garment of blue cloth, with the town's armorial bearings in silver upon the right sleeve.[ ] in a public post was first established in britain, under government authority by charles i.[ ] its main object was to establish regular and certain communication between london and edinburgh. the journey was limited to three days, and the rate of postage for a single letter was fixed at d. sterling. mails were despatched between these two cities usually twice a week, sometimes only once. about two years after this period, the post as the medium of communication, became so insecure, that in a person in england wrote to his friend in scotland--"i hear the posts are waylaid, and all letters taken from them, and brought to secretary cooke; therefore will i not, nor do you, send by that way hereafter." the post at this time was called the merchant post, but it did not prosper.[ ] in , the commonwealth took the scottish posts under its jurisdiction, and in connection with that measure they appear to have removed many, if not all the officers. the posts were then placed upon a better footing, and the system was still further improved by cromwell. in the postage from england to scotland was lowered to d. sterling. in the revenues of the post office in great britain and ireland were farmed to john manley, esq., who was appointed postmaster-general, and the rate of postage in scotland was fixed at d. for a single letter under miles, for all distances above miles d., to england d., and to ireland d.[ ] on the th december , charles ii. re-appointed robert mein "sole keeper of the letter office in edinburgh," an office from which he had been removed during the commonwealth.[ ] by grant under the privy seal, dated at whitehall on the th september , king charles ii. bestowed upon patrick grahame of inchbrakie the office of postmaster-general of scotland[ ]--"officium precipui magistri cursoris lie postmaster-generall et censoris omnium cursorum dicti regni scotie"--for all the days of his life, with power to appoint postmasters at the stages necessary for forwarding the king's letters from place to place. the grant conveyed to grahame all the rights and privileges which any postmaster-general had previously enjoyed in scotland, and specially bestowed on him a salary of £ scots yearly.[ ] on the th september , the privy council of scotland commissioned robert mein, merchant,[ ] and keeper of the letter office, edinburgh, to establish posts between scotland and ireland, and ordained that linlithgow, kilsyth, glasgow, kilmarnock, dumboag, ballintrae, and port patrick, should be stages on the route, and granted him the sum of £ sterling, to build a packet boat to carry the mail from port patrick to donaghadee, and further gave him the sole privilege of carrying letters on this line of road, for which he was allowed to charge for each letter to glasgow, s. scots, and from thence to any part within scotland, s. scots, and for letters to ireland, s. scots.[ ] in , by grant under the privy seal dated at edinburgh on the st march, king charles ii. bestowed the office of postmaster of haddington upon william seton, who was at the time provost and postmaster. the office which had been previously held by cornelius ramsay, is described to be "allswell for the carrieng and convoyeing of all such packetts from haddington by post to colbrandspath as shall be directed to them,[ ] and for the despatching and carrieng by post frae haddingtoune to canongait, and carieng and convoyeing of all such packetts as shall be directed to england to anie of our privie counsell of this our kingdome of scotland, or to anie of our officers for our affairs and service." the salary is stated to be £ scots yearly.[ ] in the privy council passed an act for erecting a foot post between edinburgh and inverness once a week, and between edinburgh and aberdeen twice a week, "wind and weather serving," and fixed the rate of postage for a letter not exceeding one sheet of paper, carried miles scots (about english), at s. scots; for a single letter carried miles, s. scots; and for an ounce weight, s. d. scots; and for every single letter carried above miles scots, within scotland, s. scots; for an ounce weight s., and so proportionably.[ ] the same act, "for the more effectual prosecution and performance of the premises," discharges "all other posts established, or pretending to be established upon the aberdeen and inverness roads."[ ] to show the difficulties in the way of rapid communication at this period, from the condition of the roads in scotland, it may be stated, that in an agreement was made to run a coach between edinburgh and glasgow (a distance of forty-four miles), which was to be drawn by six horses, and to perform the journey to glasgow and back in six days. the undertaking was considered so arduous, that the contractor was to receive " merks a-year for five years, to assist him; but the speculation turned out so unprofitable that it was soon abandoned."[ ] in , the intelligence of the death of charles ii., who died on th february, was received in edinburgh at one o'clock in the morning of the th, by an express from london.[ ] in it occupied three months to convey the tidings of the abdication of james ii. of england and vii. of scotland to the orkneys. the post office in scotland again received the sanction of parliamentary authority in , although "several public posts" had already been established for carrying letters "to and from most parts and places in this kingdom," for the maintaining of mutual correspondence, and preventing the many inconveniences that happen by private posts. and the "well ordering of these public posts being a matter of general concern, and of great advantage, and that the best means for that end will be the settling and establishing a general post office," the scottish parliament "ordains and appoints a general post office to be kept within the city of edinburgh, from whence all letters and pacquets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the kingdom, or any other of his majesty's dominions, or into any kingdom or country beyond seas, by the pacquet that goes sealed to london." it is also enacted, that a postmaster-general shall be appointed by letters patent under the privy seal, or that the office of postmaster-general may be set in tack by the lords of treasury and exchequer. the rates of postage were fixed at d. for a single letter to berwick, or within fifty miles of edinburgh; above fifty miles and not exceeding miles, d.; and all single letters to any place in scotland, above miles, to pay d.: common carriers were prohibited from carrying letters, except where no post offices were established, and if convicted, they became liable "to be imprisoned for six days for ilk fault, and fined in the sum of six pounds scots 'toties quoties.'" this act also authorizes a weekly post between scotland and ireland, and orders boats to be maintained for carrying the mails between portpatrick and donaghadee; and a special provision is made, that ireland is not to be put to any expense, but that the postmaster-general should be allowed the sum expended on the packet boats in his intromissions with the treasury. and lastly, the postmaster-general is ordered to take care that posts are established over all the kingdom at places most convenient.[ ] in , sir robert sinclair of stevenson, had a grant from king william of the whole revenue of the post office in scotland, with a pension of £ per annum to keep up the post. the post office at this time appears to have been any thing but a profitable concern, as sir robert, after due deliberation, gave up the grant, thinking it disadvantageous.[ ] from the th november till whitsunday , george main, jeweller in edinburgh, accounts in exchequer for the duties of the post office within scotland, leased to him by the lords of the treasury and exchequer in scotland, during the three years ending at the latter date, for the yearly rent of , merks scots, or £ , s. d. sterling, subject to a deduction for the conveyance of public expresses, &c., and also a sum not exceeding £ per annum for keeping a packet boat for carrying the mails between portpatrick and ireland. it appears that he paid the following yearly salaries, viz.-- postmaster at haddington £ sterling. postmaster in canongate " postmaster at cockburnspath " james weems, clerk to the post office, " postmaster of portpatrick for the charge } of a packet boat } " the expense of the secretary's packet and expresses from the post office to london, from th november to st may , amounted to £ , s. sterling. the expense for expresses for public affairs of the government, sent and received betwixt london and berwick, from th january to st may , paid to the london post office, amounted to £ , s. d. between th march and th october , there were "flying packets" (or special despatches) outgoing, and from st january to rd october , the like number of flying packets sent by them. the cost of these paid to the postmaster of haddington and cockburnspath was £ , s. sterling. the same postmasters received £ , s. d. sterling for flying packets sent by them for the stages between edinburgh and berwick, from th april to st may . a sum of £ , s. sterling was also paid for inquiries as to a robbery of the packet at or near dunglass miln.[ ] from this period downwards, the data are of a more minute description, giving the condition of the post office more in detail, and affording the means of estimating its progress by the extent of its establishment. in , the business of the general post office at edinburgh was discharged by seven persons, viz.--george main, manager for scotland, who held his commission from the postmaster-general of great britain, salary £ per annum; his accountant, £ per annum; a clerk, £ ; the clerk's assistant, £ ; three letter-carriers or runners, each s. per week.[ ] in , the act of william, , was repealed by an act of anne, and the post office of scotland was united with that of england, ireland, and america under one postmaster-general. it was ordained "that a chief letter office be kept at edinburgh, and the packet boats between donaghadee and portpatrick are still to be maintained." this act also regulates the rates of postage.[ ] during the five years which immediately followed the union, and which ended on the st may , the average annual sum paid into the exchequer by the scottish post office, was £ .[ ] from the time of the act of anne, the establishment in scotland was governed by a deputy postmaster-general, under the authority of the postmaster-general of great britain, to whom all matters of importance had to be referred, and whose sanction required to be given to any matter involving pecuniary outlay. the first deputy postmaster-general, under the new arrangement, was george main, who remained in office till , when he was succeeded by mr. james anderson,[ ] a writer to the signet in edinburgh. there is a collection of this gentleman's papers in the advocate's library in edinburgh, and amongst them some official correspondence, which gives not only interesting information relating to the post office, but also as to the state of the country at that period, and it is from this source that precise information is derived as to the condition of the postal arrangements. when mr. anderson took office on the th july , there was not a single horse post in scotland, foot runners being the usual means of conveyance for the mails. in this manner direct bags were conveyed from edinburgh as far north as thurso, and westward to inverary. there were three mails a-week from edinburgh to glasgow, and three in return; the runners set out from edinburgh each tuesday and thursday, at twelve o'clock at night, and on sundays in the morning, and the mails arrived at glasgow on the evening of wednesday and friday, and on the forenoon of monday. for this service the post office paid £ sterling per annum, but from the fraudulent dealing of the postmaster of falkirk, who made the payments, the runners seldom received more than from £ to £ . after his appointment, mr. anderson directed his attention to the establishment of horse posts on the western road from edinburgh. the first regular horse post in scotland appears to have been from edinburgh to stirling; it started for the first time on the th november . it left stirling at two o'clock afternoon, each tuesday, thursday, and saturday, and reached edinburgh in time for the night mail to england. in march , the first horse post between edinburgh and glasgow was established, and we have the details of the arrangement in a memorial addressed to lord cornwallis and james craggs, who jointly filled the office of postmaster-general of great britain. the memorial states, that the "horse post will set out for edinburgh each tuesday and thursday, at eight o'clock at night, and on sunday about eight or nine in the morning, and be in glasgow (a distance of thirty-six miles by the post road of that time) by six in the morning on wednesday and friday in summer, and eight in winter, and both winter and summer will be on sunday night." there appears to have been a good deal of negotiation connected with the settlement of this post, in which the provost and bailies of glasgow took part. after some delay, the matter appears to have been arranged to the satisfaction of all parties. a proposition was made at this time to establish a horse post between edinburgh and aberdeen, at a cost of £ , s. per annum, to supersede the foot posts, which were maintained at a cost of £ , s. the scheme, however, appears not to have been entertained at that time by the post office authorities. at this period ( ), it took double the time for the mail to perform the journey between london and edinburgh that it did in the middle of the seventeenth century. when the mail was first established by charles i. in , three days was the time allowed for the special couriers to perform the journey between edinburgh and london; in , it required six days for the post to perform the same journey. this can easily be seen by examining the post marks on letters of that time. in the year , edinburgh had direct communication with sixty post towns in scotland, and in the month of august, the total sum received for letters passing to and from these offices and edinburgh, was £ , s. d. the postage on letters to and from london in the same month amounted to £ , s. d., and the postage for letters per the london road, amounted to £ , s., making the total sum for letters to and from edinburgh, during that month, amount to £ , s. d.--equal to £ , s. per annum.[ ] at this period we have interesting records of the seizure and pillage of the mail by the rebels. on the th september , the postmaster of inverness wrote to the postmaster-general--"i had yours of y^e th current, tuesday last, about o'clock forenoon. the night before i had account that y^e post was prisoner; our bagg was broke up, so was y^e dingwall and dornoch baggs. you have, enclosed, a list of what came in my open bagg; if there were any frank letters, i received none of them, save or ."[ ] it would also appear that the mail was occasionally violated by common robbers. in , the duke of argyll, who had then supreme control in scotland, gave orders to mr. anderson to place relays of horses from edinburgh to inverness, for the purpose of forwarding despatches to, and receiving intelligence from the army in the highlands under general cadogan. these posts worked upon two lines of roads--the one went through fife and round by the east coast, passing through aberdeen; the other took the central road _via_ perth, dunkeld, and blair athole. these horse posts were, however, discontinued immediately after the army retired. at this time the government evinced great concern about the irish correspondence, and ordered mr. anderson to visit portpatrick, and examine the harbours, with the view of selecting the one most convenient for the mail packets. after the rebellion had been suppressed, the public appear to have had great confidence in the post, and evinced a desire to have more extended postal accommodation, and in some instances memorialized the postmaster-general to open offices in the rural districts. by an order, dated th november , mr. anderson received notice, that he had been superseded, and that sir john inglis had been appointed deputy postmaster-general for scotland, and would take office on the st december. it would appear from the correspondence of mr. anderson, that all appointments in the post office in scotland, were held directly from the deputy postmaster-general for the time being; and on the entrance of a new postmaster-general into office, all commissions and bonds of security had to be renewed, and it was common for the postmasters to employ all the influence in their power to obtain the favour of the new postmaster-general, in order to be retained in their situations.[ ] in , the yearly revenue of the post office establishment in scotland was £ .[ ] in , archibald douglas, esq., was deputy postmaster-general, and the establishment in edinburgh consisted of eleven persons, including the postmaster-general, a person called an apprehender of private letter-carriers, and three letter-carriers or runners.[ ] in , alexander hamilton, esq. of innerwick, was deputy postmaster-general, and the establishment, exclusive of letter-carriers, consisted of eight persons, including a solicitor. in this year there were post towns in scotland, and direct bags were sent from edinburgh to kirkwall and stornoway.[ ] about the year , the mails began to be conveyed from stage to stage by relays of fresh horses, and different post-boys, to the principal places in scotland, but the greater portion of the mails were still carried by foot runners. before the system of relays was introduced on the north road, the mode of conveying the mails was very tedious. "for instance, a person set out with the mail from edinburgh for aberdeen; he did not travel a stage, and then deliver the mail to another post-boy, but went on to dundee, where he rested the first night; to montrose, where he stayed the second, and on the third he arrived at aberdeen, and as he passed by kinghorn, it behoved the tide, and sometimes also the weather, to render the time of his arrival more late and uncertain. in this manner the mail was conveyed 'thrice a-week.' the communication by post between london and edinburgh was not much better."[ ] the condition of the roads however in scotland, would not admit of any thing like rapid travelling. the best roads, even in the populous districts, were occasionally to be found in the channels of streams. the common carrier from edinburgh to selkirk, miles, required a fortnight for his journey, going and returning. the channel of the river gala, which for a considerable distance ran parallel with the road, being, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level and easiest to travel in. between the principal cities, the means of travelling were little better. it took a day and a-half for the stage coach to travel from edinburgh to glasgow.[ ] at this period, and for long before, there was a set of single horse "trafficers" (cadgers), that regularly plied between different places. these traffickers, and the carriers, in spite of the laws against them, carried more letters than the post office, at least in the country districts.[ ] in , the revenue of the general post office in scotland was £ , and in the year it amounted to £ , . in the latter year the mail was upon the road from london to edinburgh hours, but from edinburgh to london hours. at this time, upon a representation from the committee of royal burghs, such regulations were adopted, that the time was reduced to hours from london to edinburgh, and hours from edinburgh to london. in the year , the revenue of the post office in scotland, amounted to £ , . on the th of october , a further improvement was made in the london mail, by having it despatched five times a-week, instead of three as formerly. previously it had travelled in so dilatory a manner, that in winter the letters which were sent from london on tuesday night, for the most part, were not distributed in edinburgh till sunday, between sermons. in , the postage upon a single letter, carried only one stage, was reduced from d. to d.[ ] in , william oliphant, esq. of rossie, was deputy postmaster-general. the edinburgh establishment then consisted of ten persons, exclusive of letter-carriers, and there were post towns in scotland. a packet was despatched to lerwick on the first wednesday of each month, and returned about the th or th of the intervening month; the postage upon a single letter to lerwick was d.[ ] in , the modern stage coach was introduced into scotland; the first coach arriving in edinburgh on the th april. it performed the journey to london in hours. and in the same year the first penny post in scotland was established in edinburgh by peter williamson, an eccentric native of aberdeen, who, in consequence of keeping a coffee-shop in the hall of the parliament house, was frequently employed by gentlemen attending the courts, to forward letters to different parts of the city. this kind of business increased so much, that he opened an office, and established a regular penny post delivery of letters throughout the city. he had hourly deliveries, and agents at various parts of the town to collect letters. the men who delivered, of whom there were four in uniform, also collected letters, and for this purpose they rang a bell as they proceeded on their rounds to give information of their approach. williamson's success soon induced others to attempt a similar undertaking; but the authorities of the general post office, seeing the importance of this branch of business as a source of revenue, gave williamson a pension for the good will of the business, and the penny post was then attached to the general establishment.[ ] the scottish penny posts were afterwards confirmed to the general post, by an act of parliament, in the reign of george iii.[ ] in , twenty-three persons, including six letter-carriers, were employed in the edinburgh establishment, and the number of post towns had increased to .[ ] a direct mail between london and glasgow was not established before , when, on the th july, the first mail coach from london arrived in glasgow. previously the correspondence between those cities passed through edinburgh, where it was detained twelve hours to be sent with the mail to glasgow at night.[ ] in , the number of persons required to conduct the business of the edinburgh office was thirty-one, and the number of post towns in scotland .[ ] in , the inland office, including the letter-carrier's branch, consisted of twenty-one persons. having followed the scottish post office down to the close of the eighteenth century, it may be observed, that for a long time after its introduction and establishment, it was conducted solely with a view to the convenience and security of the correspondence of the public, and that it frequently received assistance from the scottish government by pecuniary grants; and if we except the periods of rebellion, when a certain amount of _surveillance_ was exercised by the agents of government as a measure of state security, the post office in scotland appears to have been conducted with great integrity and freedom from abuse. in , the inland office, including the letter-carriers' branch, consisted of thirty-five persons; in , of thirty-nine; and in , of fifty-two persons. in april , the post office in edinburgh was removed to the first story of a house opposite the tolbooth, on the north side of the high street.[ ] at a later time it occupied the first floor of a house near the cross, above an alley which still bears the name of the post office close. it was removed from this to a floor in the south side of the parliament square, which was fitted up like a shop, and the letters were dealt across an ordinary counter like other goods. at this time all the out-door business of delivery in town was managed by one letter-carrier. from the parliament square, the post office was removed to lord covington's house, thence after some years, to a house on the north bridge,[ ] and to the present office in , at which period the despatch of the mails was conducted in an apartment about feet square. this apartment was purposely kept as dark as possible, in order to derive the full advantage of artificial light, employed in the process of examining letters, to see whether they contained enclosures or not. at the present time, the establishment in edinburgh consists of officers, of which are letter-carriers, porters, and messengers. the average number of letters passing through and delivered in edinburgh daily, may be estimated at , . the number of mail bags received daily is , and the number despatched is . the amount of money orders issued and paid, shows a sum of £ , , circulating annually through the department in scotland. general post office, _edinburgh, th december, _. printed by w. h. lizars, edinburgh. * * * * * the post office act of anne, , united the post offices of england and scotland under one postmaster-general, entitled the postmaster-general of great britain, and the office in scotland was managed by deputy. the following is a list of the deputy postmasters-general in scotland from that time down to , when the office of deputy postmaster-general for scotland was abolished-- george main james anderson sir john inglis archibald douglas alexander hamilton of innerwick robert oliphant of rossie thomas elder of forneth william robertson robert trotter of castlelaw hon. francis gray, afterwards lord gray of kinfauns james, th earl of caithness sir david wedderburn, bart. * * * * * footnotes: [ ] this appears from the rolls of exchequer in her majesty's general register house at edinburgh. [ ] oliver & boyd's new edinburgh almanac for , pp. - . [ ] kennedy's "annals of aberdeen," vol. i. page . [ ] rymer's "foedera," vol. xix. page . [ ] oliver & boyd's new edinburgh almanac for , pp. - . [ ] register of privy seal, - , vol. i. page . arnott's "history of edinburgh," page . [ ] privy seal register, - , vol i. page . [ ] it appears that the office of postmaster-general had been held by sir w. seaton, sometime before the appointment of grahame. [ ] registrum secreti sigilli regum scotorum, , page ; h. m. general register house, edinburgh. [ ] robert mein, in addition to the office of sole keeper of the letter office, edinburgh, appears to have held the office of king's confectioner and comfit maker--register of privy seal of scotland, vol. i. page . [ ] registrum secreti concilii regum scotorum, acta - , page ; h. m. general register house, edinburgh. [ ] the grant is made to william seton and agnes black, or the longest liver of the two, during all the days of their lives. [ ] register of the privy seal of scotland, vol. i. - , pp. , ; h. m. general register house, edinburgh. [ ] one scots shilling was about that time equal to one penny sterling. [ ] ordinance of the privy council, passed th january . the ordinance says--"the lords of his majesty's privy council having considered a petition presented to them by robert mein, keeper of the letter office at edinburgh, with concourse and consent of patrick grahame of inchbrakie, postmaster-general, and diverse noblemen, gentlemen, merchants, traders, and others inhabiting in and about the northern shires of this kingdom, desyring for the advancement of trade correspondence and convenience of the king's subjects, that foot posts might be erected for carrying and recarrying of letters upon the northern road betwixt edinburgh and inverness, at such reasonable rates and pryces as the council should think fit.... the said lords find the desyr of the said petition reasonable, and much importing the benefite and conveniency of his majesty's leidges in these northern parts, and therefore doe hereby grant full power and commission to the said robert mein to erect and settle constant foot posts upon the said road." registrum secreti concilii regum scotorum, acta - , pp. , . h. m. general register house, edinburgh. [ ] m'culloch's commercial dictionary, article "roads." a scotch merk was about that time equal to s. ½d. sterling. [ ] privy council record. [ ] scottish acts of william iii. vol. i. sess. , cap. . [ ] old statistical account of scotland, vol. vii. p. . [ ] exchequer roll in h. m. register house, edinburgh. [ ] chamberlain's "state of great britain, ," page . [ ] act of anne, parl. ix. cap. . [ ] "caledonia," by george chalmers, vol. iii. p. . [ ] author of "diplomata et numismata scotiæ," "collections relating to the history of queen mary of scotland," &c. [ ] from the account, "for the month of august , of james wemyss, principal clerk, g.p.o., edinburgh." anderson's ms. papers. [ ] in this letter, the postmaster of inverness informs the postmaster-general, that on "tuesday morning" the "laird of mackintosh, with a body of four or five hundred men," entered the town of inverness, and having placed sentries at the doors of several of the magistrates and inhabitants, mackintosh of borlum proclaimed the pretender at the cross; and then the rebels, after seizing a sum of public money and some lead, retired "without doing further wrong." the carrying away of this money appears to have put some of the public authorities of inverness in a "straite" for "want of money." the postmaster on that account advanced six pounds, and apologized to the postmaster-general for making this use of the post office money without orders. [ ] "anderson, ms. papers," advocates' library, edinburgh. [ ] arnott's "history of edinburgh," page . [ ] "state of scotland, ," page . [ ] "scots almanac, ." [ ] arnott's "history of edinburgh," page . [ ] m'culloch's com. dic. article--"roads." in the ten years that followed , there were successive turnpike acts passed for edinburghshire, for lanarkshire, and various ways that are connected with edinburgh and glasgow. in , parliament gave £ towards building the bridges across the tweed at coldstream, making the subservient roads, and afterwards £ for making a road from ballantrae to stranraer, in order to facilitate the passage to ireland. in , the parliament began to make annual grants of £ , for repairing the new roads and building bridges in the highlands--"caledonia," by chalmers, vol. i. p. . [ ] the postmaster of falkirk, writing to the postmaster-general at the time mr. anderson held that office, says--"the carriers carry more letters than the post," and gives a list of carrier's names, and recommends that their horses be seized. anderson, ms. papers. [ ] arnott's "history of edinburgh," page . [ ] "scots almanac, ." [ ] chambers's gazetteer. [ ] george iii. cap. , . [ ] scots almanac, . [ ] m'culloch's com. dict. article "roads." [ ] scots almanac, . [ ] notice of removal of post office, edinburgh, in "scots courant, april ." [ ] chambers's "traditions of edinburgh." the die varieties of the nesbitt series of united states envelopes by victor m. berthold. new york scott stamp & coin co. . copyrighted, all rights reserved. contents. introduction, the - series, reference list, second issue: , one cent: blue, three cents: red, four cents, six cents: red, ten cents: green, reference list, third issue: , three cents: rose, six cents: rose, reference list, fourth issue: and , dies inscribed "u. s. postage", dies inscribed "u. s. post", reference list, fifth issue: - , reference list, appendix, addenda, errata, introduction "variety is the spice of life". this aphorism, if applied to collectors of the dies of the early united states envelopes, changes with kaleidoscopic rapidity into: "varieties are the bane of collectors". the truth of this statement is borne out by the fact that, though the die varieties of the nesbitt issues are one of the most interesting phases of american philately, the amount of our knowledge concerning them is surprisingly small. if we recall that many of these dies have been in existence for half a century, embracing all issues prior to , and thus, in comparison with modern issues, are hoary with age, that they have been collected for decades by ardent lovers of united states envelopes, our surprise is heightened. the honor of the first attempt at describing the various nesbitt die varieties and making this knowledge public property belongs to an english philatelist of rare ability, the late gilbert harrison. while this confers great credit upon the latter, it is an humiliation to american philatelists that this page of our own history was left to be written by an english student. even so, this work[a] did not appear until fully forty years after the nesbitt dies were first issued. it is, likewise, true that messrs. tiffany, bogert and rechert in their "historical notes"[b] undertook to rescue the nesbitt die varieties from an ignominious oblivion, and for this they are also entitled to praise, but up to the most recent time, the great body of collectors did not possess a guide-book, a "philatelic baedeker," which would enable the timorous traveler to proceed into the unknown country with a feeling of perfect safety. naturally the question arises: what is the reason for this state of affairs? why have the nesbitt die varieties been relegated to an entirely unmerited obscurity? unless i am greatly mistaken the answer is that the large majority of collectors believed the subject to be fraught with difficulties. add to this both the lack of a catalogue and of any systematic exposition of the early die varieties, and it is easy to comprehend why the bugbear has continued to the detriment of united states philately. however, thanks to the good services of the scott stamp & coin co., and the j. m. bartels co., this wrong impression has been largely removed and the future collector of the nesbitt dies has a rich and inviting field now open for his favorite pursuit. moreover, henceforth no collection lacking these important die varieties can lay a claim to a full degree of completeness, and this remark refers equally to those who collect entire envelopes or cut square specimens. indeed, of the two the latter is by far the larger gainer, because these varieties appear on comparatively few "knives" or shapes of envelopes. assuming that not many collectors, either young or old, have busied themselves with die varieties a few remarks about the method or way of studying them, gained from practical experience, may not be out of place. of course, i do not intend to give specific rules here. these will be in order as soon as we take up a special issue. it is true that die varieties may be found in half a dozen different ways, but it is equally plain that if we can use a uniform method, applicable to all, we shall be far better off. although this fact is self evident, such a method was unknown when the writer commenced the study of the nesbitt die varieties. recognizing, however, the value of some simple means, various methods were pursued until, after numerous disappointing failures, the solution of the problem was found by means of line prolongation and the use of a unit distance measurement. as in redrawing a die the engravers of the nesbitt envelopes have endeavored merely to reproduce the stamp in its general features, the result is that the spacings between the letters, the form of the letters, their size, and the size of the entire stamp may all be subject to many changes. owing to this nonchalant procedure, and referring now to the very first issue, the engravers have left to posterity not less than ten different heads of the "father of our country" which can readily be seen on fine specimens. for the same reason there are ten dies of the cent red, commonly known as die or e, which are further characterized by the "t" of "three" having a long cross stroke. this die was redrawn and the long cross stroke of "t" changed into a short line. the alteration added twenty varieties, among which are some highly interesting and valuable specimens. suppose we select the "t" of "three" for our starting point and, noting that that letter is found in various positions, slanting to the right or left, or standing nearly vertically, we lay the edge of a fine piece of paper along the outside of the downstroke and thus virtually prolong the "t" line downward. next we carefully note where that prolongation touches a letter in the lower label. if we find that in a number of dies the line touches the "n" of "cents", we have probably established a general class. continuing our inquiry we may note that the "t" line falls outside of the "n", perhaps touches the "t" or may even cut the "s" of "cents"; a clear indication that we have other die varieties. the above, i believe, illustrates sufficiently what is meant by a system of line prolongation. another great help is furnished by the use of a uniform distance measurement. for convenience take ten millimetres and, setting a divider at that distance, commence with the "t" of "three", selecting as our starting point the left end of the horizontal cross stroke of "t". assume that, in our first specimen, the end of the ten millimetre line touches the end of the first "e", in the second it may fall between the two "e"s, while in a third the same distance reaches outside the final "e". in this simple and comparatively easy manner, we have ascertained three important classes. knowing our main classes, the next step is to study a number of dies of the same general class for sub-varieties, using again one or both of the methods with which we are now well acquainted. in this manner order is brought out of apparent confusion, and if we work carefully, and are willing to have a little patience, the final success will pay well for all our trouble. indeed the mental training gained by this work is very valuable and will assist us greatly in the knowledge of other stamps or dies. so far i have not spoken of the various forms of watermarks employed by nesbitt, nor of the tresses, or seals, found on the flaps. these are of importance to the collector of entire envelopes, but are a negligible quantity for those who prefer to get the die varieties as cut square specimens. as it is evident that the purpose of the present work is to enable the great body of collectors of united states stamps to become well acquainted with the early nesbitt varieties, hitherto considered the exclusive property of the specialist, i suggest to the powers that supply our need in the way of stamp albums to prepare a couple of extra pages, showing the die and its main varieties. a friend of the writer, an enthusiastic collector of cut square specimens, has adopted this plan and it is certain that if any of our readers had an opportunity to see how attractive and interesting these pages appear, they would not hesitate to do likewise. perhaps this suggestion will be heeded by the album publishers. if so, there will soon spring up special groups of collectors of the early nesbitt die varieties. in conclusion i desire to express to messrs. j. m. bartels, edward h. mason and geo. rauh, all of boston, my sincere thanks for the valuable aid which they have rendered me in preparing this work. mr. bartels has worked with me continuously in my investigations into the intricacies of these dies; mr. mason has placed his grand collection of united states envelopes unreservedly at my disposal, besides aiding me in many other ways, and it is to mr. rauh that i am indebted for the very fine and conscientiously executed drawings of the various, heads of this series. victor m. berthold. boston, mass. feb. . footnotes: [footnote a: the--nesbitt stamped envelopes--and wrappers--of the--united states of america,--with descriptions of the varieties of the dies,--and fifteen full-page illustrations--by--the late gilbert harrison.--edited and completed--by--e. d. bacon.--published as a supplement to the "london philatelist",--by m. p. castle,--vice-president of the philatelic society, london,-- .] [footnote b: the--stamped envelopes.--wrappers and sheets--of the united states--by john k. tiffany, r. r. bogert,--and joseph rechert.--a committee of the national philatelical society,--new york-- .--published by--the scott stamp & coin co. limited.-- east rd st.] the - series. it is strange that the yankee, who is generally so quick witted in all matters pertaining to trade and commerce, has been comparatively slow in recognizing the value of the stamped envelope for business purposes. as a matter of fact, the famous mulready and its numerous caricatures had been used in great britain for nearly a dozen years when the thirty-second congress, on aug. , , authorized the issue of stamped envelopes in the united states. the next we hear of the matter is a short line in the report of the postmaster-general, dated december , , which reads: "such envelopes as are authorized are now in preparation and will soon be issued." and, in february of the following year, the _scientific american_ mentions the interesting news that "g. f. nesbitt has shown to the postmaster-general an embossed stamp for prepaid envelopes which has been accepted, and the manufacture will at once proceed. such, however, is the labor and care required for their production, that none will be ready for delivery before the middle of next april." the much heralded novelty of the post office finally appeared july , . at least, this date is certified to by the national intelligencer of the _washington journal_, which, in describing the envelopes just sent out for distribution, states: "they are as yet but of a single size and of the three cent value." it also adds that the addition of the nesbitt seal is an outrage. without entering into further details, it is of general interest to note that, up to , geo. f. nesbitt & co., of new york, continued to furnish the united states post office department with envelopes. recalling the fact that nesbitt originated the dies; that the machinery for embossing was very crude compared with our modern apparatus, collectors must concede that his work deserves great credit. the question, however, of superlative interest to philatelists is: why has nesbitt produced such a large number of dies or die varieties? the answer is simple: pressed hard by the department to manufacture several millions of envelopes, a gigantic task in the early days of stamp making, and lacking our present means of reproducing working dies from the matrix, he undoubtedly used his best effort; i.e. he probably ordered a number of engravers to reproduce the original die, and, in the hurry of the work, little attention was paid to exactness. this would seem a very plausible explanation, and in the absence of any official data let us permit the above assumption to stand. whatever may be the facts in the case, one thing is certain; the varieties exist and have been a source of trouble to many collectors of united states envelopes. with wider knowledge and on better acquaintance, it is certain that in future they will prove a most interesting branch of united states philately. die i. [illustration] short labels with curved ends close to the letters. loops in left side ornament and in right. ten heads--twelve varieties. in accordance with the instructions of the united states postal department, the first issue of united states envelopes was to represent a profile of general washington after houdon's famous bust. no doubt the spirit of the engraver was willing, but the "flesh was woefully weak." indeed, it is no exaggeration to affirm that the head, or heads, of die i (or a) are as far from houdon's masterpiece as the sun is from our planet. moreover, on a close inspection we find a lot of curious and noteworthy details which seem to indicate that the artist, or artists, had peculiar ideas of the manly beauty of the "father of our country." certainly, various national types are represented and the expression runs the gamut of meekness, aggressiveness, stolidity, stupidity and boozy hilarity. as a rule an artist would be satisfied to ornament the eye of his subject with one eyebrow, but several of the profiles of die have two, and in a position which would bewilder the student of anatomy. another startling feature is the sidelock, which sometimes grows upon the eyebrow. and finally we are forced to conclude that the tonsorial artist who attended washington performed queer tricks. in one die one-half of the head appears void of hirsutic covering. well, perhaps this was the summer season! i must not forget to mention that on one side of the nostrils appears a phrygian cap, probably an indication of the republican spirit of the united states. in conclusion the writer recalls a good joke by a gentleman prominent in philatelic circles. after a perusal of the above paragraphs he expressed himself that the bust of washington of die , instead of being "after houdon" was a "hoodoo", and there is a great deal of truth in the witticism. owing to the antiquity of the first issue of nesbitt dies, collectors must not expect to find an abundance of mint specimens. of course they are the exception, but in many used envelopes the head is impressed with sufficient clearness to permit identification, and the cuts accompanying the dies, being photographic reproductions of pen drawings by an artist, will be found a valuable aid. indeed, as far as the varieties of die are concerned, a thorough knowledge of, or acquaintance with, the various heads is necessary to avoid confusion, especially as the inscription in several labels is similar and not unfrequently the lettering is quite indistinct. if the question is asked why a unit distance measurement is not applied to differentiate these varieties, the answer is that the spacing of the letters of the inscription is nearly alike. of course the slant of the letters differs. such differences as are helpful and noticeable will be mentioned. the system of line prolongation, for example, the downward prolongation of the "t" of "three", discloses certain groups in the writer's opinion, but the differences obtained thereby are not of sufficient practical value for establishing groups. for a quick and reliable identification of these varieties an intimate knowledge of the heads is required. it having been decided to reproduce the heads, the question arose: shall we draw every feature and every detail, or is it preferable to indicate merely such portions of the face as are different in the various dies? evidently, many minor points could be omitted without in any way detracting from the usefulness of the drawings. indeed, the adoption of this plan permitted the artist to emphasize and to bring out more strikingly such features as constitute the real differences. there are three prominent features in each of the ten heads. the first is the side-lock, which may be either single or double, straight or hooked, short or long. second in importance is the distance between the end of the side-lock and the ear-lobe. even a casual observation shows that the distance between the ear-lobe and the end of the side-lock varies greatly; very wide, near and close. the third feature is the lowest front-lock, which, by the taste or art of the die cutters has been, like man, "wonderfully and fearfully made", short or long, thin or full, single or double. in good specimens the eyebrow constitutes a valuable adjunct, and in all dies where this feature plays a prominent part it will be noted. finally the attention of the collector is directed to the fact that only head shows washington with circularly cropped hair, or, as the barber would express it, a "dutch clip". this head was used for varieties , and , the first being a rather scarce article. if the student fixes his attention on the above three main features, and does not attempt to get the entire ten heads fixed in his mind at a glance, it will be found that the task of differentiation is not at all a burden even to the youngest collector of cut square specimens. a certain amount of patience is, however, required; likewise a certain amount of willingness to be taught, but the collector possessing these two virtues--and it is one of the crowning glories of stamp collectors to be both studious and patient--will soon have the various nesbitt heads of washington engraved upon his memory. taking the distance between the end of the side-lock and the ear-lobe as our main feature, the various heads may be grouped into three distinct classes: class i. distance between side-lock and ear-lobe very wide. heads a, , , , . class ii. distance between side-lock and ear-lobe near. heads , , . class iii. side-lock close to ear-lobe. heads , , . * * * * * head i. [illustration: i.] a long side-lock commences a short distance above the corner of the eye, but stops quite a distance from it. together with the side-lock commences a heavy lower lock which slants across the ear-lobe, leaving the lower half exposed. there is a considerable space between the end of the side-lock and the ear-lobe. the entire hair ends in a nearly horizontal line. two folds in the garment on the right side of the neck. [hw: see appendix page ] [illustration] variety i:--"cents" close to outer oval line. "ce" on level and far apart. "c" quite a distance from curve. "n" and "t" wide apart at base. "s" close to curve. the final "e" of "three" is somewhat lower than the first "e", dips to the right, and is close to the curve. "t" of "three" is also close to curve. many of the white envelopes are on horizontally laid paper. variety :--"three" near outer oval line. "t" further from curve. "re" wider apart at top than in var. , and "hr" slightly nearer than in var. . the distance between "en" and "nt" of "cents" is very wide. "s" far from curve. "ce" wide apart. head ia. [illustration: ia.] same as head i, but the side-lock is shorter and is further from the ear-lobe. [illustration] variety :--"c" is above level of "e", near inner oval line and close to curve. "ce" wide apart. note that "ent" is near and "nt" much nearer at base than in var. or . "nts" is also nearer inner oval line. "th" of "three" is close. the "r" of "three" slants to right. this variety is often seen on white paper horizontally laid. head ii. [illustration: ii.] an heavy eyebrow. two side-locks, of which the first is merely a fine line, commence far from and high above the corner of the eye. the first side-lock is only half as long as the second; the latter is curved sharply at its end, and near the ear-lobe. near the end of the side-lock commences the lowest front-lock, which slants only a little distance across the lobe. front-lock and ear-lobe resemble the letter "t". hair is divided into two parts. the lowest lock of the back row is in line with the queue. [illustration] variety .--"cents" is close to outer frame line and "c" is far from curve. "en" near; "ce" wide. "nt" wide at base, "thr" near. head iii. [illustration: iii.] side-lock starts some distance from the eye-brow and a little above it. the eyebrow is heavy. the side-lock is long, rather heavy and curved and ends far from the ear-lobe. the main feature is the heavy lowest front-lock, which slants across the lobe but ends in line with it. side-lock, lobe and lowest front-lock somewhat resemble a figure . [illustration] variety :--"c" above level of "e": the entire word is high in label, especially "nt". "ce" wide. note the top of "s" which almost touches the lower right curve. "th" wide at top. "r" is nearly vertically placed and in centre of the label. the top of the "t" of "cents" is a little above final stroke of "n". head iv. [illustration: iv.] a heavy eyebrow ends near the middle of the side-lock. the latter is short and stops (as in head iii) far from the ear-lobe. the main feature is that the queue forms a direct continuation of the lowest front-lock. [illustration] variety :--"ce" of "cents" near. "en" wide. "nt" wide at base. note that the upper end of the lower right curve reaches well over the top of "s" and "c" is far from curve. "th" close. distance at top of "hr" and "re" about the same. head v. [illustration: v.] a very heavy eye-brow. the side-lock starts in line with the corner of the eye and near the eyebrow; it curls slightly outward and, following closely the outline of the ear-lobe, ends almost above it. a heavy lock starts near the end of the side-lock, slants across the ear-lobe and ends in nearly a point. this feature distinguishes head v from head ii, in which the lowest lock ends full and rounded. the queue is continued from the second heavy lock. note also that the lock immediately behind the side-lock consists of two fine hairs and a heavy third strand. [illustration] variety :--"t" of "three" below level of "hree". "cents" near outer oval line. "c" and "s" quite a distance from curves. "ent" spaced nearer than "c" to "e" and "t" to "s". head vi. [illustration: vi.] an heavy eyebrow. near its end starts a small side-lock together with a long, narrow lock which slants across ear-lobe. note that half of this lock is below the lobe. there is some distance between the side-lock and the lobe. a second heavy strand of hair extends the entire length of the [hw: narrow] lock and continues into the queue. [illustration] variety :--"c" above level of "e" and far from it. "n" stands vertically and almost in centre of label. "nt" close at top and near at base. "c" and "s" are close to curves. note that "hr" and "re" are wide at top. head vii. [illustration: vii.] an heavy eyebrow extends beyond the corner of the eye. a long side-lock starts from the eyebrow and ends far from the ear-lobe. the lowest lock commences near the middle of the side-lock. along the latter is another strand of hair of the same thickness but it is longer than the first and in line with the queue. the hair consists of two distinct rows, each of which has five locks. [illustration] variety :--"cents" near inner oval line. "ce" near; "ent" near; "nt" close at top. "c" and "s" far from curves. "re" wider at top than "hr". head viii. [illustration: viii.] an heavy eyebrow near the corner of the eye. it extends to the beginning of the side-lock, which is long, slim, almost straight, and ends a little distance from the ear-lobe. note that the point of the side-lock is not turned up to the left. together with the side-lock starts the lowest front-lock. it is rather thin, slants across the lobe, and is divided at the end, which is the main feature. note that it extends but a little distance beyond the lobe. immediately above the lowest strand is a second one, much longer than the first, forming the commencement of the queue. [illustration] variety :--"three" high in label. "hr" very close. "cents" near outer oval line. base of "e" a little below that of "c". "en" wide. "ts" near at base. head ix. [illustration: ix.] the side-lock starts above and far from the corner of the eye. it is short, curves outward towards its end, and terminates a little distance above the ear-lobe. note that the ear-lobe is larger than usual and extends quite a distance beyond the end of the side-lock. together with the side-lock commences the lowest bunch of hair, which resembles somewhat a pear, i.e. slim at the start and bulging towards the base. the hair is divided into two rows. the queue is in line with the back row. [illustration] variety :--"cents" near inner oval line; "c" high, and a little above level of "e". "ce" wide; "ent" near at top. "s" close to curve. "three" close to inner oval line. "hr" and "re" wide at top. head x. [illustration: x.] an heavy eyebrow starting upward from the bridge of the nose. a second eyebrow is close to the corner of the eye. a long side-lock starts near it and touches the ends in line with the ear-lobe. the hair is divided into two parts, four locks in front and three in the back row. the lowest lock in the front row is by far the heaviest. the hair is cut round similar to head . note that the queue is in line with the second row of hair. [illustration] variety :--"cents" close to inner frame line, especially "c". "three" close to inner oval line. "ent" near at base. the die resembles closely var. with the exception of "c," which is high in the label. * * * * * before leaving this issue some remarks about the paper and its various tints may be useful. the writer well remembers that when he first took up the study of these envelopes he was often sorely puzzled how to classify a specimen. the general catalogue knows but two shades of paper, white and buff, and is mute on the question of quality. as a matter of fact the quality of the paper used for the first issue varies from soft to a hard, brittle texture, from thin to thick, with a dull or even highly glazed surface. a decided rarity is a kind of wove paper, unwatermarked. we find fine laid lines, the cross lines near or far, and two very distinct varieties of watermarks. the white paper has sometimes a creamy and at other times a bluish tint, and the buff may be collected in various light and dark shades. the most pronounced shade varieties of buff appear, however, later, and will be mentioned when we study die . for the benefit of collectors of entire envelopes we will conclude this chapter by adding that: knife i appears only in five varieties, i.e. nos. , , , , and , while knife , both white and buff, exists in all varieties. three cents, red. die . [illustration] the "straight end" die. short labels with straight ends. - / loops on the left; loops on the right. * * * * * it is generally conceded that this die is one of the earliest made, because many of the envelopes bear the nesbitt tress or seal on the flap. in addition to head , used for die i, there now appear two new ones. this issue is also noticeable because in each of the three varieties the lettering is about the same. for this reason a knowledge of the heads is imperative for identification of the varieties. it may also assist the collector to note that head i exists only with the seal on the flap of the envelope, and that in heads xi and xii the garment at the back of the neck has four folds in contradistinction to head i, in which the garment has but two folds. as far as we know, letter size envelopes, bearing die , were issued in july, , and note size in september of the same year. excepting note size (knife of the present list), all other envelopes exist on both white and buff paper. [illustration] variety , head i:--as this head has been fully described and illustrated under die , it needs no additional remarks. head xi. [illustration: xi.] variety , head xi.--a small but heavy eyebrow near the corner of the eye. the side-lock commences close to the eye-brow and is rather short and shaped like a comma. near the end of the side-lock begins the lowest front-lock, which is very short, heavy, and extends some distance beyond the ear-lobe. note that the end of the side-lock reaches to the middle of the ear-lobe. the queue is continued from the second front-lock. there are five locks in the front row and two heavy upper locks in the back row: [hw: there is usually a flaw in the outer colored line opposite the lower left straight line near "c."] head xii. [illustration: xii.] variety , head xii:--a long, heavy-side-lock starts near a heavy eyebrow, which extends far beyond the corner of the eye. at its end the side-lock bends sharply to the left and is quite a distance from the ear-lobe. together with the side-lock starts the lowest front-lock. it slants across the ear-lobe, broadens towards its middle and is pointed at the end. the side-lock, front-lock and ear-lobe somewhat resemble the figure . the queue is continued from the lowest lock immediately behind the second front-lock. there are five locks in the front row and three heavy locks in the back row. * * * * * three cents, red. die . "three" in square label with a diagonal line across each corner _called "k ends_." - / loops on left; loops on right. [illustration] this die appeared in july, , and exists on note and letter size envelopes. the former is extremely rare. mr. harrison, who has carefully studied this die, found two heads of washington (xiii and xiv). he states, however, that: "in the heads in relief there is only a slight difference in the arrangement of the hair, which is of no practical use, as in most specimens of this series the head is so lightly impressed that it is impossible to detect any differences." realizing how difficult it is to get a fine specimen of this die, the writer tried his best to obtain a clear impression, and the drawing shows that the search has not been in vain. head xiii. two small side-locks. (for further description see head xiv). [illustration] variety .:--"c" of "cents" low. head xiv. [illustration: xiv.] one short side-lock: a heavy eyebrow. a fine, short side-lock starts quite a distance from the latter and ends far from the ear-lobe. together with the side-lock commences the short, lowest front-lock. immediately above the latter commences the third front-lock, which is bifurcated to the middle. this is the main feature of the die. it is by far the heaviest strand and continues, uninterruptedly, into the queue. all other front or rear locks are short. between the last-mentioned long front-lock and the short, lowest one lies a small rear lock, pointed at its start and broad at its end. including the lowest front-lock, there are five locks in front and but three in the rear row, i.e., two above the long, bifurcated front-lock and a small one immediately below the latter. variety :--"c" of "cents" high in the frame. three cents, red. die . [illustration] wide label, measuring mm. horizontally, with square ends; lower label short ( mm.) but also with straight ends. loops on each side. issued july, . luckily the engraver has seen fit to use but one head for this issue and it is our old favorite, head i, and needs no further description. there is but one variety, and none of the envelopes have the nesbitt seal. [illustration] variety :--letters of "three" very widely spaced, especially the last two letters. "t" nearer to left label than "e" to the right. "ent" of "cents" nearer to each other than "c" to "e" and "t" to "s". the die has been used for note and letter size, i.e., knives and , on white, and for the latter on both white and buff paper. three cents, red. die . [illustration] the common die of the first series. short labels (measuring mm. horizontally) with curved ends. loops on the left; - / loops on the right. * * * * * this die appeared in march, , and remained in existence until october, . on account of its six years of constant use, it was not strange that the die should need repairing and retouching. nevertheless, while admitting the necessity of repairs, this does not account in any way for the fact that we have thirty distinctly different dies in this series, many of which cannot be explained by the above theory. of course, the various curves of the labels may be accounted for by repeated retouching, but no one who compares many of these dies would attempt to give the same reason for the totally different lettering and the great variety in the spacing. as a matter of fact, most of the so-called varieties are far more distinct dies than some of the well-known reays and plimptons of equal denominations. in spite of the great number of varieties of this issue, the engraver has seen fit to use but one head of washington, which is totally different from any of those preceding. head xv. [illustration: xv.] two fine, very short side-locks, reaching to the middle of the ear-lobe, which is rather large. there are seven very thin locks of hair, almost hair lines, in the upper part of the head, extending to the back of the head, each with a curve in the centre. below these there is a short, thick bunch, or lock, bent upwards into the space left by the curve of the seventh thin lock. there is one short, thick front-lock and three in the back row, side by side, nearly at right angles to the bunch of hair which is bent upwards. the lowest front-lock slants a considerable distance across the ear, while the lock immediately above it is much longer and reaches into the queue. the latter is very thin and shows no subdivisions. doubtless the thirty varieties of this die would have been highly prized by collectors and would have been well known many years ago if american philatelists had taken the trouble to study them with a view to systematic classification. certainly, without a system the collector's task is troublesome, but, with a proper classification, the difficulty vanishes and what has hitherto been considered an annoyance becomes a pleasurable pursuit. this issue greatly favors the collector of cut square specimens, for a good many dies can easily be found. on the contrary, the collector of entires, especially the advanced collector who desires mint copies, will find it difficult to get unused specimens of many dies. the paper used is white and buff, and, as mentioned before, both the quality and color differ widely. for instance: "buff" covers shades which would be called at the present time light chocolate, brown, oriental buff, light yellow, etc. a great many envelopes are of soft paper, nearly unsurfaced, while there are numerous others having a hard, brittle texture, highly surfaced or glazed. often six shades may be obtained, and they are certainly worthy of being collected with care. it has already been stated that the thirty varieties can be classified, and that such classification is a great help to the philatelist. fortunately, the first ten dies are quickly recognized by the long, horizontal cross stroke of "t" of "three," and "t" of "cents," while the remaining twenty dies have a short top stroke, and this differentiation, in the writer's humble opinion, should have been introduced long ago in the general catalogues. before commencing the study of the first ten varieties, it is only proper to state that even mr. harrison has put himself on record that: "the ten earlier varieties are by no means easy to separate." indeed, they are decidedly more troublesome and require far closer work than any of the other nesbitt die varieties. the student is sure to find many specimens in which the upper curves are entirely worn away, and in judging the spacing of the letters errors are likely to occur, due to heavy impressions, which are not infrequent. being well aware of these annoyances, the writer has tried, to the best of his ability, to make the description of these ten varieties as lucid as possible, and as they now stand they represent the labor of many hours. expressions like "far", "near" or "close" are, of course, subject to individual interpretation, but by comparing the illustrations accompanying the text, what is meant by "close", etc., will be easily understood. wherever greater accuracy seemed needful, the distance between two letters, either at the top or the base has been added. if a letter is stated to be below the level of another, the student, as a rule, should have no difficulty in recognizing this fact. this is true of varieties and , but a certain amount of training of the eye is required to recognize quickly the lower position of "t" and "e" of "three" in varieties , and . together with the new die two new sizes of envelopes appear, known as knives and , respectively; both are termed "full letter" and have three black lines on the inside of the left side flap. * * * * * "t" with long cross stroke. dies to . the ten die varieties are divided into three groups by drawing a straight line along the outside of the downward stroke of "t" of "three". ) line cuts through "s" of "cents" (var. , , , ). ) line goes to right of "s" (var. , , ). ) line goes through right lower curve (var. , , ). it should be understood, however, that the above line prolongation is only tentative, not absolute, and can only be relied upon in a general way as certain specimens will be found which will vary from it to a greater or less extent. description of dies. [illustration] variety :--"t" a considerable distance from upper left curve. "th" widely spaced, but "hr" near and "r" the highest letter. "re" wide at top. "ee" wide. "ce" wide at base. "en" wide. "nt" wide at base. lower curves deep and far from "c" and "s". variety :--"t" near curve, and "t" and final "e" below level of "hre". "th" near, "hr" near, but "re" and "ee" wide at top. upper curves are frequently much deteriorated. lower left curve far from "c". "ce" and "nt" wide at base. "ts" near. lower right curve near "s". [illustration] variety :--upper left curve very far from "t". "re" wide and "r" slants sharply to the right. "ee" near at top. "c" far from lower left curve. "ce" wide at base. "e" slants sharply to the left and "en" wide at base. "s" close to curve. variety :--"t" near curve but below level of "h". "hr" wide but "re" wider, and "ee" widest at top. the main feature of this die is that the lower left curve slants sharply downward and is far from base of "c". "ce" wide at base. "nt" very wide at base. "s" far from curve. variety :--upper right curve flattened and top of "t" near curve. "t" low and far from "h". "hr" widely spaced at top, but "re" still wider. "ee" near. upper right curve far from "e" both at top and base. frequently the curves are nearly obliterated. [illustration] variety :--upper right curve near "t". top of "t" some distance from "h". "re" wide at top. "ee" wide. the curve is far from top of "e", but slants so that, at the point where it meets the inner oval line, it is near base of "e". lower left curve near "c" and reaches over the top of the letter. "cen" near; "nt" near at base. "s" far from curve. [illustration] variety :--the flaw variety. upper right curve very deep. top of "t" considerably nearer curve than base. "th" near. "hr" and "re" near at top. "ee" very wide at top. curve is very far from "e" both at top and base. lower left curve flattened and near "c". "ex" near. "nt" well spaced. in the outer red frame line, near base of "t", a small portion of the die is broken away. variety :--upper left curve deep and top of "t" near curve. "th" near. "hre" near, and "re" the closest spacing of all the varieties. "ee" near. right curve is a good distance from top of "e". lower left curve small and near "c". "ce" wide. "ent" near and upper horizontal stroke of "n" often joined to "t". "ts" near and "s" close to curve. [illustration] variety :--upper left curve much flattened and close to "t"; "t" and final "e" somewhat below level of "hre". "th" close and "h" sharply slanting to left. "hree" near at top. right curve far from "e". lower left curve short and near "c". "ce" close. "en" near. "nt" near at base. right curve near "s". variety :--upper left curve near "t". "th" near at top. "hre" spaced as in var. but "ee" nearer, and top of "e" nearer the curve. lower left curve near "c". "c" above level of "e" and near at base. "ents" near. "s" far from curve. letters "t" with short cross strokes. dies to . these twenty die varieties are grouped into two classes by the use of a unit distance measurement of and mm. respectively. class i. [illustration] a line mm. long will extend from the point where the upper left curve meets the inner white frame-line to the end of the final "e" of "three". [illustration] group a:--a line mm. long, starting from the junction of the upper left curve and the inner, white, frame-line will extend to the end of the horizontal stroke of the first "e" of "three". (var. to .) group b:--a line mm. long, starting from the junction of the upper left curve and the inner, white, frame-line will extend to a point just beyond the end of the horizontal stroke of the first "e" of "three". (var. to .) class ii. [illustration] a line mm. long, starting from the junction of the upper left curve and the inner, white, frame-line, will extend to a point just outside of the final "e" of "three". (var. to .) [illustration] variety :--the top stroke of "n," if extended, would bisect the vertical stroke of "t". "re" very wide at top. "t" and "e" about an equal distance from curves. lower left curve well rounded. "en" near at top. "n" broad. variety :--the small horizontal line of "n," if extended, would cut the vertical downstroke of "t." all the centre crossbars of "es" touch the horizontal upper stroke. "n" of "cents" is narrow; is the lowest letter, and has a heavy middle line. "t" and "e" are close to the curves, which are short. "ts" close and on level. there are often two dots in the central oval, one near the throat and the other opposite the third loop above "c". compare variety for "nt," also variety . variety :--a flaw in the design, caused by the addition of a short line immediately above the right lower curve and at the beginning of the first loop. "th" wide. "re" wide at top. "ce" near. the entire word "cents" is well in the centre of the label. "s" above level of "t". note the wide distance of "c" from the lower left corner. [illustration] variety :--this die shows the widest spacing of "three". lower left curve is deep; slants back and is far from "c". lower right curve near "s". "t" and "e" about equally far from curves. upper right curve much flattened. note "t" short and top of "c" considerably below inner oval line. note also that centre of first loop below upper right curve is unfinished. "th" wide at base; "ce" near: "en" wide. "n" _tall and narrow_. variety :--"re" very wide. there is a small triangle in the design immediately above the centre of lower right curve. upper left curve very deep and "t" far from it. "hre" wide at base. final "e" below level of first "e" and nearer curve than "t". lower left curve is flat and "c" is far from it, both at top and base. "ce" wide. _tall, narrow "n"._ note that the entire word is high in the label. [illustration] variety :--"s" of "cents" high in label. lower left curve very slightly curved and very far from "c," which is elongated. "ce" wide, likewise "en". "n" large and broad. lower right curve flattened and "s" far from curve. "t" and "e" about equally distant from upper curves, which are, likewise, flattened. "th" nearer at top than "hr". "re" wider at top than "hr". "ee" wide at top. compare varieties and for upper right curve. variety :--lower left curve commences near top of "c" of "cents", slants sharply downward, and is, at the point where the curve meets the outer oval line, far from base of "c". upper right curve is much flattened and close to "e" at base. upper left curve is deep and a good distance from "t". the latter is short, thick and near "h". "re" much wider at top than "hr". there are two small dots immediately below the upper right curve. in the lower label "c" and "s" are slightly above the level of "ent"; "en" near; "n" broad. compare variety for lower left curve and note position of "t" of "three" with regard to upper left curve. [illustration] variety :--lower left curve slants back and is far from "c" at the junction of the curve with the outer frame line. "t" close to upper left curve. upper left curve flat and "t" is much nearer to it than "e" to the right curve. "thr" near at top. "re" very wide at top. "ee" near. the entire word "cents" is close to the inner oval line. "n" is broad, and top of "t" is slightly above "x". "ts" close. note that there are three dots immediately above lower right curve. compare variety for lower left curve. variety :--"t" and "e" close to curves. upper curves short. "hre" wide at top. "ee" near. lower left curve near "c". "ce" close. "en" wide. "n" in upright position. "nt" wide at base. compare variety for arrangement of letters in upper label and note "nt". note that the top of "e" is very near curve. [illustration] variety :--"c" high; near inner oval line and close to "e". "c" and "s" above level of "ent". "c" heavy and near lower left curve. "en" wide. "nt" close. upper curves are short. "t" near upper left curve. "th" close and "t" has short top stroke. upper right curve starts far from top of "e" and slants inward. "ee" near. lower right curve deep. compare varieties , and for lower label. variety :--"t" short, thick and near curve. "th" near. "r" in the centre of label and in a vertical position. upper right curve slants inward and is much nearer to base than to top of "e". "c" and "s" in lower label are above level of "ent". "s" of "cents" far from curve. lower left curve short and close to "c". "n" is broad. lower right curve deeper than lower left curve. "cen" near. compare variety for lower right curve and for upper right curve. [illustration] variety :--"en" joined at top. "hr" very wide at top and forming a sharp angle. "th" close. upper left curve flat. upper right curve is deep; far from top of "e" and terminates at its base. lower left curve far from "c". "c" and "s" above level of "ent". upper cross stroke of "t" short. "s" far from lower right curve. first loop above lower right curve has a very large centre. compare variety . variety :--"r" highest letter and close to outer frame line. "th" close. "re" very wide at top. "t" and "e" about the same distance from curves. there are two small, colored dots immediately below the upper right curve. lower left curve slants. "c" and "s" equally far from curves. "cent" on level and "cen" close at base. compare variety for lower left curve. [illustration] variety :--top stroke of "e" is above top of "c". "ce" close. "en" near at top. "n" short and thick. top stroke of "n" nearly touches "t". "nt" high in label. lower curves well rounded and short, but lower left curve deeper than lower right. "c" somewhat further from curve than "s". upper right curve deep and far from "e". "th" near and about parallel. "hr" near, but "re" wider at top. "ee" near; centre strokes touch upper horizontal line. compare, for distance of "thr", variety . variety :--a flaw, i.e., a white line running out from the middle of the third loop on the right, towards the inner oval line. lower left curve a good distance away from "c". "c" round and full, but shorter than the rest of the letters. "s" far from lower right curve. "ee" widely spaced and upper right curve flat. "c" and "s" above level of "ent". [illustration] variety :--"c" of "cents" elongated, very slanting and far from "e". lower left curve is very flat and far from "c". "ent" near at top. lower right curve slants back and is far from base of "s". upper left curve is very flat. "hre" very wide at top and "ee" widely spaced. "n" is broad. there are, also, two dots immediately below upper right curve. compare varieties and . variety :--the horizontal bar of the final stroke of "n" extends over the top of "t". lower left curve fat and very far from "c". "ce" wide. upper left curve much deeper than upper right curve, which is almost a straight line. "t" very short. "th" wide at top, "hr" wider. note that "r" stands to right of the centre of stamp and, also, the wide, colored space above the top of "thre". "n" of "cents" is broad. compare varieties and . variety :--"t" of "three" is low, small and heavy. "re" nearest. "t" is near the inner oval line and much nearer to upper left curve than "e" to upper right curve. "th" near, "h" and "e" at top about the same distance apart from "e", which is upright and close to outer frame line. "ee" near. lower left curve short; lower right curve deep. "ce" on level and close. "en" far. "n" short and thick and, at base, nearer "e" than "t". compare variety . [illustration] variety :--"thr" spaced closest. "t" of "three" slightly nearer the curve than "e" is to upper right curve. upper curves are deep and well rounded. "th" close. "c" of "cents" is heavy and close to the short, round curve. "nt" near and sometimes touching at top. "ts" wide and "s" far from curve. lower right curve deep and well rounded. note that the word "cents" is near the outer frame line. compare variety for "s" distance. variety :--"c" near outer frame line and on level with "e". "th" very near and top of "t" close to curve. "re" much wider at top than "hr". "ee" wide at top. upper right curve much larger than upper left curve and much further from top than from base of "e". lower curves short and round. "nt" wide at base. "ts" close at top and top of "s" close to curve. there is a colored dot, or circle, immediately above centre of the lower right curve. note wide colored space above top of "r" and "e". compare varieties and . six cents, red and six cents, green. short labels with straight ends. - / loops on the left; loops on the right. the date of issue of the six cents red is generally placed about july st. ; that of its congener--but with color changed--sometime before sept. th of the same year. as there has never been much demand for a six cent envelope, it is strange that this issue has four distinct heads of washington, two forms of "six", small and large, and different spacings of the word "cents". unlike the last issue, the die is exceedingly well printed, and it is not difficult to get fine copies. in varieties and "six" is widely spaced: in varieties and the spacing is closer. variety . [illustration] no description of the head is needed; it is head i of die of . "ce" very wide; "en" wide; "nt" near at top and "s" is far from "t". variety . [illustration: xvi.] head xvi. side-lock is long, straight, curved at its point, and ends near the ear-lobe. there are five locks in the front row and four in the back row. the highest front-lock is split into two parts. between the side-lock and the lowest front-lock and well towards the middle of the former, commences a thin lock which extends far beyond the ear-lobe and ends in the queue. "ce" wide; "en" wide; "nt" further at base than in var. . "ts" near. this head is found on the reprints on white and buff vertically laid paper. variety . [illustration: xvii.] head xvii. a very heavy eyebrow which comes close to the side-lock. the latter is very fine and near the ear-lobe. the hair consists of five long and nearly parallel locks. the second longest and heaviest lock touches the queue. "ce" very wide; "en" wide. "nt" wide at top. "ts" very widely spaced. variety . [illustration: xviii.] head xviii. a heavy eyebrow. a short side-lock with a sharp point, starting near the eye-brow, ends [hw: some] distance from the ear-lobe. there are five locks in the front row and the same number in the back row. of the five front locks four are heavy. there is also a long and thin strand between the second and third front-lock. together with the side-lock starts the lowest front-lock which broadens out towards its middle and ends in a point a short distance behind the ear-lobe. the second front-lock is in line with the queue. "cents" close to outer frame line. "ce" nearer than in var. . "t" has a short cross-stroke; "ts" is wide and "nt" is near at top. all varieties of the six cents red exist only on knife , and all those of the six cents green only on knife . the former is a newcomer and was styled "official, size ". on account of its size ( x mm.) the envelope did not meet with much favor, and to-day it is difficult to find a cancelled specimen in fine condition. in accordance with the instructions of the post office the envelope should have been folded so that the right side flap overlapped the left, but this rule was not strictly adhered to, so that many collectors possess specimens with the opposite folding. ten cents, green. narrow labels with straight ends. - / loops on the left; loops on the right. this die appeared in april, . its issuance is due to an act of congress of march , , which fixed the letter rate for transportation over miles at cents. [illustration] head xv: var. i:--letters of "ten" about equally spaced. "t" slants back and is somewhat nearer the left label than "n" to the right. "ce" close: "nt" near, and the top of the latter above "n". "s" closer to curve than "c". frequently a little white line runs out from the left ornamental scrollwork a short distance above "c". ten cents, green. very wide upper label (measuring horizontally - / mm.) with straight ends. loops on each side. * * * * * [illustration: xix.] [illustration] head xix: var i:--a short fine eyebrow extends upward from the end of the nose. another short, but much heavier one, is attached to the corner of the eye. two fine, short side-locks commence a little distance from the heavy eyebrow and finish just above the ear-lobe. there is a double row of five short and heavy locks, while the queue is continued from the lowest lock in the back row. the garment at the back has three folds. "ten" near, but "n" nearer to right label than "t" to the left. letters of "cent" closely spaced, but "s" some distance from "t". * * * * * a reference list of entire envelopes of the series of to . three cents, red. die i. "three" in narrow curved label. var. : head i. no.[c] paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x seal. b " " " var. : head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head ia. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head ii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head iii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head iv. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head v. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head vi. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head vii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. w " " no watermark, plain. b " " plain and seal. var. : head viii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head ix. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal; also hor. laid. b " " plain and seal. var. : head x. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " die ii. "three" in narrow, straight label. var. : head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x seal. b " " " var. : head xi. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " var. : head xii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x plain. w x plain and seal. b " " " " " die iii. "three" in square label with a diagonal line across each corner, called "k ends". var. : head xiii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " var. : head xiv. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " die iv. "three" in wide label with square ends. head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " die v. "three" in medium curved label. "t" with long cross stroke. var. : head xv. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x w " " no watermark. b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " "t" with short cross stroke. var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x [hw: reprints on white and buff b " " vertically laid paper.] var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " w " " b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " w " " b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x [hw: removed remarks] b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w x b " " w x b " " w x ladies note. var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " w x b " " six cents, red. var. . head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . head xvi. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x reprints on vertically laid b " " paper. var. . head xvii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . head xviii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " six cents, green. var. . head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . head xvi. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x reprints on vertically laid b " " paper. var. . head xvii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " var. . head xviii. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x b " " ten cents. die i. short label with square ends. head xv. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x various shades. b " " " " die ii. long label with square ends. head xix. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x various shades. reprints on b " " vertically laid paper. footnotes: [footnote c: note:--the numbers used in this list are arbitrary, consecutive, and have no relation to the numbers used in any other work of a similar nature. under the heading "paper," "w." means white and "b." buff paper. the numbers under the headings "knife" and "size" are those of the knives illustrated and described in the _catalogue for advanced collectors_ and in _bartel's catalogue of united states envelopes_, edition. those under "dimensions" give the size of the envelope in millimetres.] second issue: . the th congress, by an act approved april , , reduced postage on drop letters, also the charge for the delivery of a letter by carriers, to one cent. we further learn from the report of the postmaster-general, dated december st, , that "the new one cent envelope is designed mainly for circulars and will also be used largely for city correspondence". in our days of cheap postage it strikes us as rather curious to be informed that the post office, to cover the expense of collecting letters, dropped into letter boxes attached to lamp posts, which letters were delivered by the mail carriers to the next post office, evolved the scheme of printing two entirely different stamps on the same envelope, i.e. a one cent (blue), and a new three cents (red). the one cent paying the carrier's fee, and the other stamp paying the postage. in addition to the one and three cent, the post office issued also a new six and ten cents. in reality the latter two appeared in october, , while the one and four cents were added in december of the same year. for the collector the most interesting novelty is, however, the invention of the wrapper now-a-days so commonly used that we can scarcely think of the time when this commodity did not exist. the sizes of the envelopes were also increased by the addition of a new one known as knife , bearing on the inside of the left flap the "patent lines." one cent: blue. head of franklin to the right, oval - / x - / mm. "one cent" above; "u. s. postage" below. twelve varieties. the easiest way of classifying the various dies is to extend the base line of the bust and note its position with regard to the letters "a" and "g" of "postage". by this simple method we obtain the following groups:-- ) bust points at g; ) " " between a and g; ) " " at a. next in importance is to note the position of the back of the bust with reference to the strokes of letter "u". calling the stroke next to the star ornament the first stroke, and that next to "s" the _second_, we have two additional distinctive features. finally, the distance from the back of the bust to inner oval line furnishes a third valuable clue. to the above we may add three mm. unit distance measurements, taken from the upper end of the first stroke of "u" towards "one"; from the right end of the horizontal stroke of "t" of "cent" towards the "e" of "postage"; and from the upper end of the final stroke of "n" of "cent" towards the "e" of "one", noting each time the end of the mm. line. the result is shown in the subjoined table:-- measured from upper extremity of "u" the end of the mm. line touches right side of "o"; strikes base of "n"; or falls between the strokes of "n"; measured from "t" the end of the mm. line touches end of "e" reaches to about the middle of the lower horizontal stroke; or falls behind "e". measured from "n" end of mm. line touches upper end of "e"; reaches to the middle of the upper horizontal stroke; or falls outside "e". we are now well prepared to take up the several varieties. period after "postage". bust points at "g". base line of bust touches "g" to the left. back of bust opposite nd bar of "u" in varieties , , , , , , , , , and . unless otherwise stated the stamp measures - / x - / mm. [illustration] variety :--"o" and "n" of "one" widely spaced. "sp" near at top. "cent": "cen" widely spaced at top. "nt" close. "postage": "ge" near to inner frame line. back of bust far from inner oval. mm. from "u" strikes first bar of "n". mm. from "n" touches "e". mm. from "t" strikes a little into the lower bar of "e" of "postage". variety :--widely spaced between "u. s." and inner frame line. "one": "one" near. wide space between "u" of "u.s." and "o" of "one". "cent": "en" close. distance between "one" and "cent" only mm. back of bust far from inner oval line. mm. from "u" touches right side of "o". " " " "n" touches middle of upper bar of "e" of "one". " " " "t" strikes a little into the lower bar of "e" of "postage". [illustration] variety :--"s" of "u. s." nearly touches inner frame line. "cent": "c" of "cent" near inner frame line. "nt" wide. back of bust far from inner oval line. mm. from "u" reaches to centre of "n". " " " "n" touches "e" of "one". " " " "t" strikes a little into the lower bar of "e" of "postage". [hw: distance from "e" to "c" is - / mm.] bust points between a and g. [illustration] [illustration] base line of bust passes through right bar of a. varieties , , , , . variety :--"o" of "postage" considerably above outer frame line; "tage" close, especially "ge", which are close to inner frame line and above level of the other letters. stamp measures x - / mm. "one": "ne" far apart. letters of "one" especially the "e" close to outer frame line. "cent": "c" far from "e." "postage": "po" close. "o" to "u": - / mm. from end of upper right point of "c" to top of left stroke of "o" of "one" is mm. variety :--"po" of "postage" wide; "os" and "age" near lower frame line: "ge" near. "one": "ne" wide. distance between "one" and "cent" widest. sometimes a spot under left star and also in central oval at back of head. a rare die. "o" to "u": mm. "c" to "e": mm. _falls considerably outside_ "e". variety :--distance between "s" of "u. s." and "p" of "postage" wide. "one": "ne" wide, and the latter tipped to right. "postage": "po" wide: "te" wide at foot: "ge" close. there is often a comma after the "s" of "postage", and a dot above the head in the central oval under the "n" of "one". "o" to "u": - / mm. "c" to "e": mm. is barely outside "e". mm. from "u" falls at centre of "n". " " " "t" touches middle of lower bar of "e". this die is found greatly worn, especially in the wrappers. variety :--"u" and "s" close. this is the only die in which back of bust nearly touches inner frame line. "e" of "one" equidistant from oval lines. "one": "ne" far apart. "postage": "po" wide; "st" wide at foot: "age" close. "o" to "u": mm. "c" to "e": mm. mm, from "t" touches "e" to the left; " " " "u" touches "n" " " " "n" touches middle of top stroke of "e" of "one". [illustration] variety :--similar to the last, but _back of bust is some distance from inner oval line_. "postage": "tage" closely spaced and near outer frame line. mm, from "t" strikes one-half mm. into the lower bar of "e". " " " "u" falls between "o" and "n". " " " "n" touches "e". - / mm. strikes "e". "o" to "u": - / mm. there is a dot under the left star, and sometimes, also, one above it. bust points at a. base line of bust cuts left bar of a. variety :--back of bust opposite first bar of "u". "s" of "u. s." and "p" of "postage" very close. "u. s." widely spaced. "postage": "os" close to lower frame line. mm. from "u" touches "n". point of bust between a and g. oval x mm. variety :--back and front of bust cut into inner frame line. no period after postage. oval x mm. bust points between a and g. [illustration] variety :--back of bust opposite second bar of "u". base of bust nearly touches inner frame line, and entire bust low in frame. "cent": "c" much nearer "e". "postage" close to outer frame line. bust points at g. variety :--same as last, but back of bust far from inner frame line, and entire bust lower in frame. "cent": "c" much nearer "e". "postage": "post" close to inner frame line. newspaper wrappers. by the act of feb. th, , chap. lvii, sec. , the postmaster-general was authorized "to adopt such improvements as may be deemed advisable from time to time in connection with postage stamps or stamped envelopes for letters or newspapers." under authority of this act the postmaster decided to introduce one cent wrappers and they were first issued in october, . by the act of march , , the rate for transient newspapers was changed to two cents, and accordingly, the post office issued what is known as the "two cent, jackson", newspaper wrapper. * * * * * collectors have often complained that the wrappers of this issue are troublesome. this is largely due to the fact that no one has undertaken the task of compiling a complete list of the fairly numerous varieties in existence. again, the various tints of paper used in this issue have justly caused a good deal of confusion. the catalogues distinguished between coarse and yellow buff, salmon, pale buff and amber buff, pale and dark manila, but it is safe to assume that no two collectors would agree in regard to color. it seems reasonable to distinguish between buff, salmon buff (a pinkish yellow) and yellow buff, while the manila paper used for the one cent wrappers may properly be called coarse manila. to give the philatelist a broader hold on this issue and a better insight, mr. j. m. bartels, together with the writer, has made a thorough study of the one cent wrapper, and the result of their united labor is embodied in the list which will follow this series of articles. for the identification of a wrapper of this issue it is well to observe the following method: note whether the paper is horizontally or vertically laid; whether or not the wrapper has a watermark; measure the distance between the top of the stamp and the horizontal edge of the wrapper; it will be found that this distance varies from to mm. and constitutes a valuable help for differentiation and identification of a wrapper; note the dimensions of the wrapper which may be: x to mm. x mm. x mm. x mm. in the absence of a watermark the paper may be either wove or laid. a noteworthy innovation in this issue is the introduction of orange paper used both for envelopes and wrappers. the one cent wrapper has also been found on a somewhat coarse, white paper, of which the writer has seen a single copy, contained in the magnificent collection of mr. g. h. worthington, of cleveland, ohio, but, as far as known, the white paper was not issued with the sanction of the post office authorities. an envelope on white paper, of a somewhat similar texture to the wrapper spoken of above, was in the collection of mr. van derlip, of boston, but, it is impossible to trace its present whereabouts, and, therefore, i have no means of ascertaining the die. three cents: red. head of washington to left. a small upright oval measuring x mm. "three cents" above; "u. s. postage" below. at each side is a six-rayed star between the inscriptions. nine varieties. it has already been mentioned that the new die was issued in accordance with the action of the th congress, and that this stamp is also used to form a compound value with the one cent die. the collector of entire envelopes finds in this issue two new shapes, knives and , of which the former was supposed to supply the needs of the gentler portion of humanity, and is officially known as "ladies' note size," while knife is styled "medium letter" and is for commercial correspondence. these envelopes have "patent lines." with the exception of variety , which measures - / mm., the vertical dimension of the die is mm. the several varieties may be grouped by observing the position of the back of the bust with relation to the letters "g" and "e" of "postage." group i.--back of bust points at "g." (vars. to .) group ii.--back of bust points between "g" and e." (var. .) group iii.--back of bust points almost at "e." (var. .) for the specialist the writer recommends the use of a mm. unit distance measurement to be applied as follows: measure mm. from the top of the highest ray of the left star towards the top of "p" of "postage." this measurement assists in the identification of varieties and . another measurement may be taken from the left end of the horizontal cross stroke of "n" of "cents" towards the "e" of "three," and reveals the different spacings between the latter and "cents." back of bust points at "g." [illustration] variety :--"po" close. "age" widely spaced. note that the distance between "t" and the left star is further in var. than in var. or . "c" of "cents" near "e." width of "u. s." at top - / mm. variety :--an additional period close to the upper end of "s." "o" further from "p." "s" nearer "t" than in var. . "u. s." wider than in var. , measuring mm. across the top. "ce" of "cents" wide. variety :--"po" spaced as in var. , and "u. s." as in var. ; but "po" and "ta" are spaced wider than in var. . [illustration] variety :--"o" far from "p." "s" of "postage" almost touches inner frame line. "age" near. variety :--"po" close, but "os" very wide. "age" wide. [illustration] variety :--"st" very widely spaced; "os" wide; "age" near. variety :--"a" of "postage" has no bar; "po" near; "os" wide. back of bust between "g" and "e." [illustration] variety :--this is the largest die of the series. its vertical measurement is - / mm. "po" close; "st" close; "age" widely spaced. back of bust points almost at "e." variety :--"postage" short and lettering very close. mm. measured from the top of "p," reaches "e." proof set. it may be of interest to collectors of entire envelopes to mention that a set of envelopes has been catalogued under the supposition that they were regularly issued, but they are now generally believed to be proofs. they are all buff paper and are var. . the following knives and sizes exist:[d] s. , knife , x mm. official. s. , " , x mm. " s. , " , x mm. extra official. s. , " , x mm. " " s. , " , x mm. " " s. , " . x mm. " " letter sheets on blue and white paper with this die are essays or trial printings. four cents. one cent blue (franklin) and three cents red (washington). the reason for the issue of this, the only compound stamp of the u. s. post office, has already been stated in the introduction to the one cent. the two stamps were impressed side by side, the one cent to the left and the three cents to the right. the department issued two sizes of these rather scarce compounds, officially called size and . of the first there exists but one knife, i.e. knife ( x mm), and of the second two knives, i.e. knives and , both measuring x mm. all envelopes exist on white and buff paper, except perhaps variety . there are five different combinations of these compounds, which are as follows: one cent. three cents. variety . x variety . x variety . x variety . x variety . x it will be noted that the same variety of the three cents is used with three different combinations of the one cent. by far the rarest of the entire series is variety which represents the franklin die, in which the back and front of the bust cut into the inner frame line. the writer has seen a few copies of this variety on white paper but none on buff. from the reports of the postmaster-general it has been ascertained that the compound stamp was issued only during fifteen months, ending june , . on account of the short time that these envelopes remained on sale but , were issued. this explains their rarity. six cents: red. head of washington: six rayed stars for side ornaments. oval x mm. this die, which was in use from october, , to august , , presents us with a new head, which was retained for the next higher denomination, the ten cents, green. why the head used for the three cents was abandoned by the die maker we do not know. the principal new feature is a very short heavy front-lock which ends far from the ear-lobe. in addition to the front-lock there are three long clusters of hair in the front and four in the rear, of which the two lowest reach into the queue. from the middle of the side-lock extends the wedge-shaped lowest front-lock. it slants but a little distance across the ear-lobe. a long straight lock, made up of three strands, runs from the ear-lobe into the queue. the size of this envelope is "official" or no. , measuring x mm. it is found both on white and buff paper and is very rare. ten cents: green. head of washington; six rayed stars for side ornaments. oval x mm. envelopes bearing the ten cent die were issued from october, , to august , . as has already been stated the head is the same as that of the preceding die, but the envelope is different. it is the common knife , or "full letter," measuring x mm. the paper is white or buff. of the two, the former is the rarer. before taking up the next issue it may be well to remind the collector that the three cents, six cents and ten cents have been reprinted, not on entire envelopes, but on pieces of paper vertically laid, while the originals are on diagonally laid paper. a reference list of entire envelopes and wrappers of the series of . envelopes. one cent, blue. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. gum. remarks. var. . b x u b " " g var. . b x u b " " g var. . b x u b " " g b " " g var. . b x u b " " u b " " g var. . b x u b " " g b " " g var. . b x u b " " g b " " u b " " g b " " u b " " g var. . a b x u b " " u b " " g var. . b x u var. . b x u b " " u y.b. " " u or " " u wove paper, no wmk. l.or " " u " " " var. . or x g var. . b x g var. . b x g three cents, red. var. . w x g w " " g b " " g w x g b " " g var. . w x g b " " g w " " g b " " g w x g b " " g var. . w x g w x g w x g b " " g var. . b x g w " " g b " " g w x g b " " g var. . w x g b " " g var. . w x g b " " g var. . w x g w x g w x g b " " g w x g b " " g var. . w x g b " " g w " " g b " " g w x g b " " g var. . w x g b " " g w " " g b " " g w x g b " " g four cents, red and blue. var. . w x g var. of c. and of c. b " " g " " " var. . w x g var. of c. and of c. b " " g " " " var. . w x g var. of c. and of c. b " " g " " " var. . w x g var. of c. and of c b " " g " " " var. . w x g var. of c. and of c. b x g " " " six cents, red. w x g b " " g ten cents, green. w x g b " " g wrappers. one cent, blue. horizon'ly dist'ce of or vertic'ly st'p from no. paper.[e] dimensions. laid. edge. remarks. var. . s.b. x h s.b. " " v s.b. " " h unwatermarked. a.b. x h " y.b. x h y.b. " " v or x h unwatermarked. or " " v " or " " wove " var. . b x v y.b. x v a c.m. " " v var. . b x h var. . b x h b " " v c.m. " " h - y.b. " " h - y.b. " " v w " " v very rare. but one copy known. var. . y.b. x h y.b. " " v c.m. " " h var. . b x h var. . c.m. x h - c.m. " " wove unwatermarked. b " " h b " " v b " " v or x unwatermarked. a or x h " var. . c.m. x var. . b x footnotes: [footnote d: the knives, nos. , , , and are those of the list in the catalogue for advanced collectors and are not referred to in the national society's list.] [footnote e: the abbreviations used to designate the papers are: w--white; b--buff; a.b--amber-buff; s.b--salmon-buff; y.b--yellow-buff; or.--orange and c.m--coarse manila.] third issue: . in the report of the postmaster-general for the fiscal year , it is stated that the three, six and ten cent dies would be changed, and the new ones were issued august th, . they remained in use till september, . another important change was the abolishing of the former ten cents, or california, rate which took place shortly after july st, . in addition to these new dies, the post office introduced the following new denominations: i.e. , , and cents. these latter appear on large sized envelopes, known to the cataloguers as knives --size , "official," --size , "extra official," and --size , "extra official." the report says that the large envelopes were intended for the purpose of mailing large packages and for foreign correspondence. the total issue amounted to , . three cents, rose. head of washington facing to left. inscriptions in outline, block letters. "united states" above: "three cents" below, separated on each side by a small circle containing a colorless numeral of value. the die is an oval measuring in die a:-- mm. or less in width. die b:-- / mm. or more in width. die a includes varieties to . die b includes varieties to . as in former issues, the engraver has presented the collector with various heads which differ in the arrangement of the hair but, as in addition to these minor details the lettering of the various dies is a far more essential feature, it has not been thought necessary to reproduce the heads. to find the main varieties the following system, based on line prolongation, has been adopted: draw a straight line along the outer vertical stroke of the final "e" of "three" and note its position with regard to letters "d," "s" and "t" of " united states." this establishes four main groups or classes. class i.--the line runs to the left of "s" of states. class ii.--the line passes through "s." class iii.--the line touches the upper bar of "t" to left. class iv.--the line runs through centre of "t" or beyond it. [illustration: i, ii, iii, iv] the varieties of this die are, furthermore, plainly differentiated by the size of the letters used for the inscription. there are three sizes:--very tall letters, medium size, and decidedly small letters. even a cursory observation reveals various shapes of the letter "c" of "cents," and "d" of "united." likewise, the spacing between the words and the distance from the words to the circles containing the numerals of value vary considerably. formerly the existence of a broken circle at the side was chronicled as one of the most noteworthy varieties, but this feature is of little value. the philatelist may, however, be interested to hear the opinion of messrs. tiffany, bogert and rechert: "we have concluded that only two varieties are worthy of a place in our list. the others, though existing, are too minute to interest the average collector." the above statement only proves that horace is right when he assures us "_quandoque bonus dormitat homerus_." now and then the best experts are asleep! in the writer's opinion all the varieties of the three cents rose cannot fail to interest the collector, and no two can be singled out as being of more or less importance. by using a mm. unit distance measurement, we detect numerous other varieties, of which some are shown in the subjoined diagram. [illustration] we are now prepared to study the several varieties of dies a and b. die a. class ii. [illustration] variety :--elongated "c" without dot in centre. the lettering is large. wide, open "u." "nite" widely spaced, especially "te." "ed" near. "u" far from " ." "ds" near. "s" of "states" near " ." "t" of "three" far from " ." "hr" wide. "re" wide at top. "nt" wide at base. "s" large and far from " ." uncommon on white, very rare on buff. variety :--open, short "u." large, wide open "c." small lettering. wide, open "u," and far from " ." "nite" widely spaced. "tat" well spaced at top. "s" near " ." "t" of "three" near " ." "ec" wide. "c" of "cents" is tall, well rounded, and its ends are far apart. "s" of "cents" far from " ." found on white and buff paper, quite rare. class iii. variety :--smallest letters; "s" of "cents" not so near as in var. . "u" very small, contracted at top, and far from " ." "unite" evenly spaced; "ed" wide at top and "d" in an almost vertical position. "ds" wide. "ta" of "states" wide at top. "t" of "three" near " ." "ec" wide. "c" small and wide open. "c" far from "e." "ts" close at top. common on both papers. [illustration] variety :--similar to variety . "s" of "states" nearer circle. the lettering of this variety is like that of variety , but "u" of "united" is nearer " " and "s" of "cents" close to " ." note also that the top stroke of the "t" of "three" is shorter on the left than on the right. found only on buff, but quite common. class iv. variety :--"u" very near circle. rather small letters. space between bars of "u" narrow. "ni" wide at top. "ds" near. final "s" of "states" near " ." "t" of "three" very far from " ." "c" small, open and end poorly rounded. "ec" wide. "s" of "cents" far from " ." perhaps the rarest of all the varieties. variety :--"c" large, well formed, and far from "e." similar to variety . "u" further from " ," more open, and larger than in variety . "c" well rounded and large. "s" of "states" large. [illustration] variety :--elongated "c" with dot in centre. large lettering. "u" nearly horizontal and near " ." this variety has several characteristic features. st:--"ts" of "cents" is very widely spaced at base; nd:--"c" of "cents" is tall, straight and oval shaped. rd:--the left cross stroke of "t" of "three" is very short, and the letter is out of proportion to those of the rest of the inscription. "ee" of "three" widely spaced. "d" is large and slants decidedly to the left. "ds" close. final "s" of "states" near " ." "ec" wide. "s" of "cents" far from " ." die b. excepting perhaps numbers and , the lettering of the varieties of this class is generally large. class i. [illustration] variety :--widest space between "s" of "cents" and circle. "u" narrow and tall, and in a nearly horizontal position; first bar much thicker than the second. "d" of "united" well rounded at top. "ds" near. "s" in vertical position. wide distance at base of letters "te" of "states." "es" close, and "s" near " ." "t" of "three" has a long crossbar and is far from " ." "hr" widely spaced, but "r" and "e," as well as "t" and "s" almost touch at top. "ec" near. "c" of "cents" is large, oval and open. class ii. [illustration] variety :--circular "c." smallest lettering in die b, "u" near circle. "u" small, short and near " ." "te" almost joined at top. "ds" close. "states" spaced closely, and final "s" far from " ." "t" of "three" slender and far from " ." "hr" wide. "ec" near. "c" of "cents" small, almost circular, and its end-curves close together. "s" far from " ." there is often a white dot over the centre of "r" of "three." variety :--"u" nearly touches circle. medium large lettering. "u" very close to " ;" it is long and wide open. "nt" widely spaced. "ds" wide at top. "t" of "three" far from " ." "re" widely spaced. "ec" near. "c" of "cents" round with a wide space between the end-curves. wide space between "c" and "e." "s" far from " ." "ents" appear smaller than the other letters. [illustration] variety :--"ec" very wide; "u" rather small. large lettering. "u" narrow and far from " ." "d" of "united" large and rounded, and "ed" close. "ds" close. note in "states" wide space between "t" and "e." "es" close at base. "s" far from " ." "t" of "three" near " ." "hre" well spaced. "c" of "cents" round; top curve, short. "s" near " ." variety :--"u" far from circle. large, round "c" close to "e." large lettering. second bar of "u" thinner than first. "unit" closely spaced; "ed" wide at top. "ds" near. "st" of "states" close. the entire word "states" is very closely spaced. "s" far from " ." "t" of "three" near " ." note that "re" are close at top. "ee" close. "n" is unusually broad. "ts" almost touch. "s" far from " ." [illustration] variety :--there is generally a dot under right circle. large lettering. "u" near " " "united" closely spaced. "ds" near. "states" is also closely spaced. "s" near " ." "t" of "three" short and near " ," and "th" wide at base. "ree" well spaced. "ec" near. "c" of "cents" elongated, tipped to the left, and its end curves wide apart. "ce" well spaced, but "ents" close. "s" near " ." there is frequently a dot after "s" of "cents." found on white and buff. class iii. [illustration] variety :--"u" very far from circle. small letters. "u" of "united" small and contracted. "united" is closely spaced, but "ed" is wide at top. "ds" near. excepting "st" the rest of "states" is also closely spaced. "s" near " ." "t" of "three" close to " ." "th" near. "hree" well spaced. "c" of "cents" is small and its curves short. "s" far from " ." class iv. [illustration] variety :--"s" of "states" very far from circle. "u" near circle. "uni" close. "t" has a long top stroke and "ted" wide at top. "ds" near. "s" large; "at" spaced, and base of "e" short. "t" of "three" small and near " ." "th" wide. "re" close at top, "ec" near. "c" of "cents" is tall and its end-curves wide apart. "ce" wide. "s" near " ." [illustration] variety :--largest "c." "re" and "ts" joined. large lettering. this variety has a wide color margin both above the upper inscription and below the lower one. "united" close. "ds" near. "states" close. "s" close to " ." "t" near " ." "re" nearly joined at top. "ec" near. "c" large, broad and the lower curve considerably longer than the upper one. "ce" close. "ts" touch at top. "s" far from " ." variety :--large square "d." "c" far from "e." "u" is close to " ," "u" contracted. "united" close and "te" touch at top. note that "d" is nearly square. "ds" near. "states" close. "t" near " ." "hr" well spaced. "c" rather small and far from "e." "nts" close; "ts" touch. "s" near. the subjoined tables are added merely to aid the collector in recognizing the different varieties: lettering. very small:--varieties , . medium:--varieties , , , . large:--varieties , , , , , , , . very large:--varieties , , . distance from "u" to left circle. ) close:--varieties , . ) medium:--varieties , , , , , , , , , . ) far:-- varieties , , , , . varieties , , , , , and are found on knife only. six cents, rose. the design of the six cents is very similar to the last one, but the numerals at sides are in ovals. the lettering is also in outline block capitals. no varieties of this die exist. in the beginning of the year , nesbitt produced new dies of the , , and cents values, and later, in august, the cents. no varieties of these dies exist. the design consists of an horizontal oval, - / x mm. showing the bust of washington in an upright, colored oval, surrounded by a broad, colorless band - / mm. wide, inscribed in colored block capitals, with the value above and "u. s. postage" below. at each side is a circle with colored numerals. the ornaments above and below the circles consist of branches with seven leaves each. with the exception of the ten cents, the new stamps are bi-colored: i.e. cents: brown and red. " blue and red. " green and red. " black and red. a reference list of the entire envelopes and letter sheets of the series of . envelopes. three cents, rose. no. class. die. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. var. . a b x " " w x " " " " " " b " var. . a w x a a b " var. . a w x " " w x " " b " var. . a b x var. . a w x " " b " var. . a w x " " b " var. . a w x " " b " var. . b w x " " w " wove paper, no wmk. " " w x " " b x " " w x " " w " no wmk. " " b " " " or. " " " w " " " b " " " w " " " b " " " w x " " w " no wmk. " " b " " " b " no wmk. " " or. " " " var. . b w x " " b " " " w " var. . b w x " " w x " " w x " " b " " " w x " " b " " " w " " " b " " " b x var. . b w x " " b " " " b " " " w x " " b " var. . b w x " " w x " " w x " " w x " " b " a " " w " var. . b b [hw: ] x a " " w [hw: ] x " " b " " " b " var. . b w x " " w x " " w x " " w x " " b " var. . b b x " " w " " " b " var. . b w x " " w x " " b " " " w " " " b " var. . b w x " " b " six cents, rose. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. w x w " no wmk. b " also left over right flap. b " no wmk. w x b " also horizontally laid. ten cents, green.[f] w x b " w " b " a " w " b " w " b " twelve cents, brown and red. a x twenty cents, blue and red. a x twenty-four cents, green and red. a x s.b. " forty cents, black and red. a x s.b. " * * * * * letter sheets. three cents, rose. no. class. die. paper. dimensions. remarks. var. . b blue x letter size. " " " x note " var. . b blue x letter size. " " " x note " footnotes: [footnote f: the shade of green varies greatly in these envelopes.] fourth issue: and . the act of march rd, , establishing a two cent rate for drop letters and abolishing the carrier's fee, made the issue of a two cent stamped envelope and wrapper imperative. the new die appeared about the middle of , and is a miserable caricature of jackson, facing the left. the inscriptions are "u. s. postage" above, and "two cents" below, in colorless, block letters. we may as well state at once that in the next year ( ), the design, though retaining jackson's bust, was altered, and the upper inscription changed to read "u. s. post." both of these issues have a number of varieties, but of the two the design inscribed "u. s. post" is by far the most interesting, and any philatelist who devotes some study to this, the "spoiled child" of the post office, will quickly be fascinated with it. indeed, a fine collection of these die varieties must be a revelation to those philatelists who have, so far, kept aloof from collecting them under the specious plea that such collection required too much study and labor, and the differences were mere gossamer threads woven by the overwrought imagination of some wild enthusiast. it is undeniable that until recently the multitude of jackson varieties--unclassified and jumbled together as they were--did not present an inviting field for the general collector. but that difficulty has now been overcome, and we have the various designs grouped into distinct classes, which even an untrained person can recognize at a glance. those who possess a number of jackson dies cannot have failed to observe that in various specimens the forward end of the bust points to different letters of the word "two" in the lower label. it required no great amount of ingenuity to examine all known varieties of this die, and to reach the conclusion that this important feature should be selected as one point of a line measurement which would subdivide the varieties into distinct classes. in carrying out this idea it was equally apparent that in order to draw a straight line we need two definite points, but the problem was: which point would serve our purpose best? luckily the design lent itself admirably to the construction of such a line and the second, or starting point, was found in the point of contact of the right hand oval with the inner frame line of the upper label. the line is, then, drawn from this point to the left extremity of the bust and prolonged until it strikes the letter "w" or "o" of "two." in this manner five definite and unmistakable classes are established, each of which may contain a number of varieties. while this system is indispensible for classification, the collector, after a very little training, may omit the actual line measurement, as the eye is sufficient to note the class to which any variety belongs. the five classes are: class i.--line cuts first stroke of "w" of "two." class ii.--line cuts second stroke of "w" of "two." class iii.--line cuts third stroke of "w" of "two." class iv.--line cuts last stroke of "w" of "two." class v.--line falls outside of "w" and sometimes cuts "o." [illustration: i. ii. iii. iv. v.] it may be well to state here that the die reading "u. s. postage" exists only in classes i., ii., iv., and v., and the reading "u. s. post" in classes ii., iii., iv. and v. dies inscribed "u. s. postage." the design consists of two concave and convex curves, of which the first two form the upper, and the second two the lower label. each of these two curves meet in a point. the sides of the design are a pointed oval consisting of the sections of a large circle. the inscription in the upper label is "u. s. postage"; in the lower "two cents" with the figure " " in the ovals at the sides. the design was issued with two shapes of the figure " ", which is probably due to an oversight of the engraver; but, as every collector knows, the design in which the lowest stroke of the figure " " starts sharply from the downstroke, and does _not_ curve back with it is a rarity possessed only by a few lucky mortals. in the general catalogues the common form is known as "die a," the latter as "die b." die a. (seven varieties). they are subdivided as follows: class i.--var. wrapper only. class ii.--var. wrapper only. class iv.--var. to envelope and wrapper. class v.--var. wrapper only. die a. class i. [illustration] variety ( - / x - / mm.). bust points to centre of "w," which touches line above. "o" of "postage" to left, but near the junction point of the inner frame line; "os" nearly on level. "w" of "two" near inner frame line, and touching the latter in deteriorated dies. "oc" near. a line drawn through the junction point of the upper and lower inner frame lines cuts the end curves of the "c" of "cents." "ce" well spaced, but "c" lower than "e." "s" far from the right oval line. figure " " in right oval nearly touches at left. in deteriorated dies both figures touch at left. the tip of nose is near the left oval. class ii. [illustration] variety ( - / x - / mm.). "pos" very near. "e" of "postage" touches frame. top of "two" far from left oval line, and distance between "o" of "two" and "c" of "cents" nearer than in var. . nose near left oval. class iv. [illustration] variety ( x mm.). "o" in the centre of label and highest letter. centre line passes through "o" and "c" of "cents." the downstroke of " " in the left oval touches inner frame. "c" of "cents" is the lowest letter, and "ent" is widely spaced. distance between "oc" wider than in var. . nose near left oval. variety ( - / x mm.). "os" on a level. "oc" very wide. "pos" wide and "o" to the left of the point. centre line touches "o" to the right, and passes through the centre of "c" of "cents." left numeral does not touch outer frame line. "s" of "cents" very far from right oval. nose far from left oval. variety ( - / x - / mm.). "s" is the highest letter, far from line below. a considerable margin between top of letters "s. pos" and the outer frame line. "po" close. "ge" wide at top. centre line touches "o" to right and passes through the curves of "c" of "cents." numerals in ovals do not touch. distance between "o" of "two" "and "c" of "cents" wide. "c" low. nose near left oval. variety ( x - / mm.). back of head close to right oval. the entire inscription in the upper label is close to the inner frame line and the letters are spaced closely. "u. s." is spaced closer than in any other variety. point of bust almost touches the frame line. distance between "o" of "two" and "c" of "cents" near. "ce" very close. "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. class v. [illustration] variety ( - / x mm.). bust points between "w" and "o." "u. s." widely spaced. "os" on level. "ge" close. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "oc" wide. "c" well under the point, and far from "e." "cents" well spaced, and "s" far from right oval. die b. class iv. [illustration] variety ( - / x mm.). in the numerals of value the end stroke does not curve back, but slants sharply from the downstroke. "s" of "u. s." and "p" of "postage" are spaced closely. "o" to left of point. top of "s" is a little above "o" and "t." distance between "o" of "two" and "c" of "cents" very wide. "c" by far the lowest letter. the hair projects beyond the forehead, and the nose is near left oval. this issue adds no new shapes of envelopes, only two knives are used, and they are no. and , both known as "full letter," size , measuring x mm. it has already been stated that the wrappers bearing the design of dies a. and b. were issued in accordance with the act of march , , which changed the rate of postage for "transient newspaper" to two cents. shortly after their issue the post office was informed that the wrapper, as issued with a marginal coating, infringed the patent issued to l. p. mara, and that the inventor would assert his rights. we do not know what step the department took to allay the ire of the famous patentee, but we do know that the issue of newspaper wrappers was suspended for about six months, to commence anew in april . of more interest to the collector is the paper of these wrappers which, generally speaking, is a rough manila, varying considerably in shade. the width of the wrapper varies also from to mm., the length from to mm., while the stamp is from to mm from the gummed top of the wrapper. dies inscribed "u. s. post." towards the end of , nesbitt (the contractor for furnishing the post office department with stamped envelopes and newspaper wrappers) had considerable financial trouble in living up to his obligations and, at his earnest request, congress passed a bill for his relief. as the then existing contract expired sept. , , the post office department entered into a new agreement with nesbitt, paying an advanced rate to the contractor and ordering a change of the dies of the two, three and six cents values. at present we are interested only in the change of the two cent die. in its new form the general features have been retained, but the inscription is altered to read "u. s. post" and the shape of the stamp is either narrow or broad. the narrow die is called by the cataloguer "die c" and the broad one "die d." using the system of line prolongation which has been already fully described, we are at once in a position to handle the large number of varieties and to collect them systematically. c dies. ( to mm. width) class ii var. and . bust points to intersection of nd and d stroke of "w." " iii " to . " " to last stroke of "w." " iv " to . " " to left line of "o." " v " to . " " to middle of "o." d dies. ( - / to - / mm. in width.) class iii var. to . " iv " to . " v " to . as these varieties have never been thoroughly described and classified and as there are but few collectors who have recognized the great philatelic value of the jackson dies, the writer desires to place himself on record with a prophecy; _i. e._ that as soon as the general collector knows how to find and to easily recognize the different varieties of "u. s. post," these dies are going to be sought after enthusiastically. to assist those who desire to become better acquainted with them it will do no harm to give some additional information, showing how the writer has studied the varieties and what means he has employed to differentiate the several varieties belonging to one class. although the description of the varieties accompanying the cuts, should be sufficient for the identification of any die variety, the writer has found that a system of line prolongation is very useful whenever, due to die deteriorations, a stamp appears to possess features which are not found in the descriptions. the system is based on the position of five letters which differ greatly in many varieties. these letters are:-- ) "u" of "u. s." ) "p" of "post." ) "t" of "post" ) "w" of "two." ) "e" of "cents." and the measurements are made as follows: the left stroke of "u" is prolonged downward. observe the line with regard to letters "o, c, e" and "n." the upright stroke of "p" is prolonged downward. observe line with regard to letters "c" and "e." the central stroke of "t" is prolonged downward. observe line with regard to letters "w, o, c" and "e." the left stroke of "w" is prolonged upward. observe line with regard to letters "s" of "u. s." and "p" of "post." the left stroke of "e" is prolonged upward. observe line with regard to letters "u." and "s." the student who employs these measurements will find that, taking the various dies belonging to one class, _one_ of the above mentioned five line prolongations is sufficient to clearly differentiate any variety of that group from any other. for instance, class one includes but two varieties. in var. , a line prolongation of the "t" of "post" cuts through the "o" of "two;" in var. it passes along the second stroke of "w." in case of doubt that single measurement is decisive. as an additional safeguard to the collector the characteristic line measurement is mentioned at the end of the description of each variety. class ii. bust points to intersection of second and third stroke of "w." [illustration] variety ( x - / mm.) narrow "u" far from oval line. buff and orange. "post" - / mm. there is generally a dot near top of left bar of "u." "u. s." close. "p" nearly vertical. "t" of "two" far from left oval; "wo" close; "oc near; "s" of "cents" near right oval. figures of value are exactly in centre of the side ovals. nose near left oval. "e" line through left stroke of "u." envelopes only. variety . ( x - / mm.) narrow "u" touching line below. dark manila. "post" fully mm. "p" vertical, much above level of "o." "o" turned to the right. "st" wide and "t" far from right oval; "wo" very close; "oc" close; "ce" close; "nts" near inner frame line. nose near left oval. "e" line to left of "s" of "u. s." wrapper only. class iii. bust points to last stroke of "w." [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) narrow "u." "po" on a level. "o" and "c" near. buff and orange. "post" - / mm. "p" slants to left. "post" evenly spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval; "wo" close; "c" considerably to left of the junction of the inner frame line. "en" spaced a little wider than "nts." "s" near right oval. nose further from oval line than in variety and . downstroke of right figure " " is slim. "u" line through "c." envelopes only. [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) narrow "u." "oc" and "en" very wide. dark manila. "post" mm. top of "p" near outer frame line. "po" near, but "os" widely spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. nose far from left oval. end of downstroke of right figure " " nearly touches inner oval line. "w" line passes through head of "p." wrapper only. variety . ( - / x mm.) "u" tall, wide open, and near inner frame line. buff and orange. "post" mm. "sp" near at base. "post" closely spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "w" narrow and close to "o." "oc" close. "ce" near at base. "s" near right oval. end of downstroke of right figure " " near inner oval line. nose far from left oval. "p" line passes through junction point of the two inner oval lines of lower label. envelopes only. variety . ( - / x mm.) "p" vertical and much above level of "o." buff orange and dark manila. outer frame line of upper label near to "u. s." and "ps" of "post" "post" mm. "u" wide and far from left oval. "sp" wide at top. "post" well spaced. "o" considerably to right of point and slanting to right. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near, but top of "c" some distance below the point. "ent" near. "s" near right oval. the left figure " " is well in the centre of the oval, but the right one is near the inner frame line. nose far from left oval. "e" line passes through center of "s" of "u. s." variety a. ( - / x mm.) "p" slanting to left over point. "o" far from lower frame line and far to right of point. buff. "post" mm. "u" large, wide open, tipped to left, and far from left oval. "o" slants to right. letters of "post" well spaced. "t" far from right oval line. "t" of "two" near left oval line. "wo" close. "oc" near. "cents" near; "s" close to right oval. nose near left oval. "u" line cuts "e" from left to right. similar to var. , except that "p" and "o" are nearly on a level and the entire upper inscription is well in center of label. [illustration] variety . ( x mm.) nose generally touches line. buff, orange and dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large, wide open, close to inner frame line and far from left oval. "p" well to left of junction of the two inner frame lines. "o" near the latter. "os" widely spaced and "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" close. "oc" near and base of "c" touches outer frame line. "en" far. "nt" wide at base. "s" close to right oval. end of down stroke of both figures far from their respective oval lines. "e" line passes through first stroke of "u." variety . ( - / x - / mm.) "o" above level of "p." "u. s." close. buff, orange and dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large, wide open equally far from outer and inner frame line, and far from left oval. "p" to left of junction point of the two inner frame lines. "po" closer than "os." "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval and base of "t" touches outer frame line. "wo" close. "oc" near. "c" low. "en" wide. "s" far from right oval. nose quite near left oval. end of down stroke of right figure " " nearly touches inner oval line. "u" line passes along downstroke of "e." [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) "u" almost vertical. "po" wide. buff and orange. "post" - / mm. "u" large, nearly touching outer frame line and far from left oval. wide space between "s" and "p." "o" well to the right of junction point of the two inner frame lines. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" close. "oc" near. "ce" close, but "c" lower than "e." "en" well spaced. "ts" close and "s" close to right oval. figure in left oval well centered, but end of downstroke of right figure " " near inner oval line. nose near left oval. "t" line touches "o" of "two" to the left. envelopes only. class iv. bust points to left line of "o." [illustration] variety . ( - / x mm.) narrow "u." pointed bust, often touching line below. buff and dark manila. "post" - / mm. "u" far from "s," and far from right oval. "sp" very widely spaced. "po" close. "ost" near. note that the outer frame line commencing above "t" is incorrectly drawn so that the width at the right end of the label is much smaller than it should be. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" close. "oc" very wide. "cents" close, far from inner frame line and letters in a straight line. "s" far from right oval. nose far from left oval. top of right figure " " near inner oval line. "e" line passes just behind the dot after "u" of "u. s." wrappers only. [illustration] variety . ( x - / mm.) outer frame line strongly pointed at top. buff and orange. "post" - / mm. "u" large, far from left oval and top of "u" far from outer frame line. top of "s" close to outer frame line. "post" closely spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" almost touches left oval. "wo" close. "oc" close. "cents" close and "ce" on level. "s" far from right oval. nose near left oval. both figures well in center of ovals. "u" line passes along middle of "n." envelopes only. variety . ( x - / mm.) "u" nearly touches line below, and "o" of "post" line above. buff, orange, amber and dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large and far from left oval. "s" and "p" near. the latter is in a nearly vertical position and stands well to the left of the point. "post" equally spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval; "wo" close. "oc" near. "c" vertical, and at top near point of inner frame line. "en" well spaced. "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. top of left figure " " near point of oval. "u" line passes close to head of "e" and touches the latter at base. variety . ( - / x - / mm.) hair projecting. "ce" on level and nearly touch at top. buff, orange and dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large and nearer to left oval than in var. . "u. s." near. "sp." near. "p" a little inclined to left and to left of the point. "post" spaced near. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" and "oc" close. "ent" close. "s" far from right oval. nose near left oval. "e" line passes near right stroke of "u". class v. point of bust over middle of "o." [illustration] variety . ( - / x mm.) "os" far apart. "s" of "cents" near oval line. buff, orange, dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large, far from left oval, and near inner frame line. "sp" wide at top. "po" near, but top of letters some distance from outer frame line. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "oc" near and top of "c" under the point. "ce" wide at base. "en" widely spaced. "nt" wide at base. "ts" near. nose near left oval. figures of value well centered in ovals. "w" line touches top of "p." a deterioration of this variety in which the nose almost touches left oval and "tw" touch upper and lower frame lines is called a. variety . ( x mm.) bust touches line over center of "o." buff, orange, amber, dark manila. "post" mm. "u" large, near left oval and at top far from outer frame line. "p" to left of point. "o" well to right of point and slanting to right. "ost" near. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" close. "oc" wide. "c" low and touching outer frame line. "ents" spaced near, but "s" far from right oval. nose near left oval. left figure " " well centered, but right figure " " much nearer to inner frame line. "w" line falls between base of "s" and the period. a deterioration of this die is var. a. variety . ( - / x - / mm.) bust nearly touches line to right of "o." buff, orange. "post" mm. "u" wide and far from left oval. "p" to left of point and close to outer frame line. "po" wide. "o" far to right of point. "ost" near. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. inner frame line is some distance from top of letters "wo" of "two" and "n" of "cents." "oc" wide. "ce" near but "en" wide. "s" far from right oval. nose far from left oval. left figure " " well centered, but right figure " " much nearer to inner oval line. d. dies. - / to - / mm. note:--in var. , , , , , and the word "post" is short and spaced closely. var. has the narrow "u," and var. , , , and show the widest spacing of "post." class iii. point of bust over last bar of "w." [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) "o" of "post" considerably above level of "p." wide space, after "s" of "cents." buff, orange and amber. "post" - / mm. "u" near left oval and near inner frame line. "u.s." close. "p" far to left of point; "o" near point. "ost" close. "t" very far from right oval. "t" of "two," far from left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near. "ce" close at top. "n" above level of "e." "nt" close to inner frame line. nose far from left oval. figures well centered. "u" line touches "o" at right. variety . ( x - / mm.) "oc" very near and "o" nearly touching line below. buff, orange and amber. "post" mm. "u" wide, slanting sharply to left and near left oval. "p" is to left of point and slants to the left. "pos" near, but "st" spaced wider. "t" very far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" close. "ce" close at top. "en" well spaced at top. "nts" near and "s" close to right oval. nose near left oval. "u" line touches base of "n." envelopes only. variety . ( x - / mm.) letters evenly spaced, those in upper label almost in vertical position. amber and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide, nearly vertical and far from left oval. "u.s." wide. "p" vertical and to left of point. "pos" widely spaced. "st" near. "t" very far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval and top stroke of "t" nearly touches "w." "wo" near. "oc" near. "c" vertical but a little below "e." "top stroke of "t" of "cents" close to inner frame line. "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. figures well in center of ovals. "t" line touches top of "e." [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) sharp point at base of right " ." amber and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide and near left oval. "p" nearly vertical and to left of point. top of "o" almost touches outer frame line. base of "s" and "t" close to inner frame line. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" very close. "oc" close. "cents" close and "s" far from right oval. nose far from left oval. "t" line touches "o" to right. variety . ( x - / mm.) "st" and "oc" extremely wide. point of bust far from line. sharply pointed nose. amber and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide, near left oval, and sharply slanting to left. "u.s." and "sp" very wide. "p" to left of point and slanting a little to the right. "po" very wide. "o" far to right of point and turned to right. "os" wide. "t" near right oval, "t" of "two" close to left oval. "tw" very wide at base. "wo" close. "c" low and nearly under the point. "ents" near and "s" close to right oval. nose pointed and far from left oval. figures well centered. "u" line passes from tip of "e" to base of "n." class iv. bust points to left line of "o." [illustration] variety . ( - / x mm.) narrow "u," the only one in die d. buff. extremely rare. "post" - / mm. "u" nearly vertical and far from left oval. "p" small near the point and at top far from outer frame line. "o" far to right of point. "post" equally spaced. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" close. "oc" wide, "c" slants sharply to right and at base is within the angle, formed by the outer curves. "cents" are on the same level. "s" near right oval. the inner curves are far from top of letters "wo" and "cents." nose near left oval. in both side ovals the downstroke of figure " " ends in a sharp point. "u" line touches "o" to left. buff envelope only. knife . variety . ( x mm.) extremely wide space before "u" and after "t" in upper label. bust pointed. amber and light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" wide. the inner curves of the label are close to the inscription. "p" nearly vertical. "pos" close. "st" near. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near but "c" slants from left to right and its base touches the outer frame line. top of vertical stroke of "e" close to inner point. "en" well spaced at top. "s" slants to right and is close to right oval. nose very far from right oval. figure in left oval is lower than figure " " in right oval. "w" line passes through middle of "u." variety . ( x mm.) "o" above level of "p," "c" sharply turned to left. buff orange and light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" wide, inclined to left and near left oval. "u.s." near. "sp" near. "p" slanting to left and near the point. "post" about equally spaced but "ost" high nearly touching outer frame line at top. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near. "ec" close at top. "ent" well spaced. "s" near right oval. nose close to left oval. figures in oval well centered. "c" line passes between "o" of "two" and "c" of "cents." [illustration] variety . ( - / x mm.) "p" tipped sharply to left and "o" to right. buff and orange. "post" mm. "u" wide and far from left oval. base of "u", close to inner frame line, but top of "s" close to outer frame line. "u s p" near. "p" far to left and "o" in line with point. "pos" near. "t" far from "s" and far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" close. "oc" close. "ce" on level but "e" slanting to right. "ts" close. "s" near right oval. nose some distance from left oval. figures in ovals well centered. envelopes only. [illustration] variety . ( x mm.) "p" nearly on a level with "o." "post" close. "oc" near. amber and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide slanting to left, and far from left oval. "us." wide. "sp" wide. "p" to left of point and nearly vertical. "t" very far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" close. "oc" near. "c" vertical. "ce" close. "en" near. "nts" close. "s" far from right oval. nose near oval. figures well centered in ovals. "t" line passes close to junction point of inner frame lines, and touches "c" to left. variety . ( - / x - / mm.) sharp point of bust high above left of "o." amber and light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" wide slanting considerably to left and near left oval. the entire inscription in upper label is widely spaced, but "os" widest. "t" slants sharply to right, nearly touches outer frame line and is far from right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" near. "oc" wide. the junction point of the inner frame lines is over the center of "c", which is low. "en" well spaced and close to inner frame line. "s" nearly horizontal and close to right oval. nose near left oval. downstroke of right figure " " near inner oval line. "t" line passes through first stroke of "w" of "two." variety a. ( - / x - / mm.) "post" - / mm. same as last variety, but appearing to be different. this is due to great deterioration of the die. it is found on a wrapper only and is rather scarce. [illustration] class v. bust points to middle of "o". variety . ( x mm.) "st" close. wide space after "s" of "cents". buff and orange. "post" - / mm. "u" wide, nearly vertical and near the left oval. "u.s." near. "po" near, but "o" slightly above "p". there is a wide space between "os". "t" near right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" very close. "oc near". "ce" close and top of "e" under the point. "en" wide, especially at top: "n" slightly above "e". "nts" close. nose near left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "u" line cuts top of "o" of "two" at right. envelopes only. variety . ( x - / mm.) space before "u" and after "t" extremely wide. light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" wide. "u.s." near and both letters close to inner frame line. "p" well to left of point and on a level with "o." "o" close to point. "pos" near, but "t" further from "s". "t" of "two" close to left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near and "c" under the point. "e" quite a distance to right of point. "en" wide. "nts" near right oval. nose far from left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "u" line passes through middle of "c" of "cents". point of bust very broad. wrappers only. variety . ( x - / mm.) nose far from oval line. amber and light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" wide, nearly vertical and near left oval "u.s." wide. "sp" widely spaced. "po" close and nearly on a level, "ost" near. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" near, but "oc" wide. "ce" on level and close at top. "en" well spaced. "ts" wide at base. "s" far from right oval. nose far from left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "e" line touches "s" of "u.s." at the right. [illustration] variety . ( - / x - / mm.) "p" considerably above "o". point of bust square and nearly touches line. buff and orange. "post" - / mm. "u" wide, inclined to left, and near left oval. "s" close to inner frame line. top of "p" close to outer frame line. "post" near. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval and base of "t" some distance from outer frame line. "wo" near. "oc" very wide. "c" low. back stroke of "e" almost touches the point. "en" wide and "n" high. "nt" wide at top. "ts" close. "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "t" line passes through center of "u" of "u. s." [illustration] variety . ( x - / mm.) bust ends in a sharp point, which nearly touches line over centre of "o" of "two". orange and light manila. "post" - / mm. "u" rather short, inclined to left and near left oval. "sp" wide at top. "p" near point and above level of "o". "po" near but "o" slanting to right. "os" well spaced, but "s" low. "st" wide. "t" far from left oval. "wo" close. "c" of "cents" almost touches outer frame line and "ce" close at base. "ents" close and "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "u" line passes slantingly from top of "e" to base. variety . ( - / x - / mm.) projecting hair. wide space after "s" of "cents." buff, orange and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide, close to inner frame line and near left oval. base of "s" some distance from inner frame line. "p" leans to the left. "po" close but "o" slants to the right and is near the point. "os" well spaced but "st" spaced wider. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" near. "oc" wide. "c" some distance to right of point but on level with "e." the backstroke of the latter nearly touches the point. "en" wide, and "ents" close to inner frame line. nose far from left oval. figures well centered in ovals. "p" line passes through back stroke of "e." [illustration] variety . ( - / x mm.) "s" of "u.s" touches line above. "oc" near. buff envelope and wrapper. "post" mm. "u" wide, inclined to left and near left oval. "sp" near, "p" far to left of point. "po" well spaced at top and "o" a little raised. "os" widely spaced. "st" low, so that top stroke of "t" is somewhat above top of "s." "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" near. "c" slants to left, and "e" to right, so that there is a considerable space between the letters at base. "ent" wide. "ts" close. "s" far from right oval. figure in right oval near inner frame line, but in left oval well centered. "u" line passes between "ce." [illustration] variety . ( x - / mm.) "o" of "post" slants sharply to left. hair far from frame line. buff, orange and light manila. "post" mm. "u" almost vertical and quite near to left oval. "u.s." near. "p" inclined to left. "o" near point. "ost" close. "t" near right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" near. "oc" near. "ce" wide at base. "n" higher than "e" or "t." "s" slants sharply to right and is far from right oval. nose far from left oval. figures well centered in oval. "t" line slants through "c" from right to left. bust ends in a rather short point. variety . ( x mm.) "p" tipped to left. "o" nearly touches outer frame line. point of bust short and over centre of "o." amber and light manila. "post" mm. "u" large, inclined to left and near left oval. "u. s." near and base of "s" some distance from inner frame line. "p" near point and slanting to left. "po" wide, "o" nearly vertical. "ost" wide. "t" far from right oval. "t" of "two" far from left oval. "wo" close. "oc" near. "c" is low and slants sharply to left. "ce" close at top. "ents" close. "t" almost touches line above. "s" near right oval. nose near left oval. figures in ovals well centered. "u" line touches ends of upper and lower stroke of "e." variety . ( - / x mm.) "p" nearly touches line at top. "post" near. orange and amber. "post" mm. "u" wide, inclined to left and near left oval. "us" wide. "p" nearly vertical and some distance to left of point. "po" on a level. "t" "of "post" very far from right oval. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" close. "oc" near. "c" nearly under the point and vertical. "en" well spaced at top. "nts" close, especially the last two letters, "s" near right oval. nose far from left oval. figures in ovals well centered. "t" line slants across top of "e." envelopes only. a common die. [illustration] variety . ( x mm.) bust point behind "o." "nt" wide. orange, amber, light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide, greatly inclined to left, and quite near left oval. "us" very wide. "p" near point and slanting to left. "o" some distance to right of point and inclined to right. "pos" wide but "st" widest. top stroke of "t" close to outer frame line. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" near. "oc" very wide. "c" almost vertical and close to point. top of "e" slightly above "c." "en" near. "ts" wide at base and "s" close to right oval. nose far from left oval. figures in ovals well centered. "u" line touches base of "t" of "cents." variety . ( - / x - / mm.) "p" considerably above level of "o." "post" wide. amber, and light manila. "post" mm. "u" wide, inclined to left, and near left oval. "us" wide. "sp" wide. "p" slants to left and is close to the point. "po" very wide. "o" far to right of point and but little slanting. "ost" wide. "t" near right oval. "t" of "two" close to left oval, "wo" close. the entire word is well above the outer frame line. "oc" very wide. "c" under the point and upright. top of "e" slightly above "c." "nt" close. "ts" wide. "s" close to right oval. nose near left oval. figures in ovals well centered. "w" line touches base of "u" at right. broad point to bust. envelope and wrapper. variety . ( x mm.) "nt" very near. "post" wide. buff, orange, amber, light manila. "post" - / mm. inscription in upper label much resembles that of the preceding variety, but "s" of "u.s." is low and "po" nearer. "t" of "two" near left oval. "wo" close. "oc" wide. "ts" close at top. nose far from left oval. figures in ovals well centered. "u" line passes along middle stroke of "n." one of the most common varieties. reference list of the two cent envelopes and wrappers of the series of and . envelopes. two cents, black. . inscribed: "u. s. postage." die a. var. . no. class. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. buff x gummed. " " " ungummed. var. . buff x ungummed. " " " gummed. var. . amber x gummed. " buff " ungummed. die b. var. . buff x ungummed. " orange " " . inscribed: "u. s. post." die c. var. . buff x ungummed. " " " gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed var. a. buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed " or. " ungummed var. . buff x gummed. var. . buff x gummed. a " " x " " or. x ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. generally "specimen." " or. " ungummed. generally "specimen." " buff x " generally "specimen." var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. " buff x " var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. " buff x " die d. var. . no. class. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. buff x gummed " or. " ungummed " buff x " var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. " buff x " a " " " gummed. var. . amber x gummed " " " [hw: gummed] var. . amber x ungummed var. . amber x gummed " " x ungummed var. . buff x ungummed. very rare. var. . amber x ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . amber x gummed. var. . amber x ungummed. var. a. amber x ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . amber x ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. a " buff x " var. . or. x gummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. " buff x gummed. var. . buff x gummed. var. . buff x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . amber x ungummed. var. . amber x gummed. " or. " ungummed. var. . or. x ungummed. var. . amber x gummed. " " x ungummed. var. . buff x gummed. " amber " " " or. " ungummed. wrappers. . inscribed: "u. s. postage." die a. var. . no. class. paper. dimensions. laid. remarks. d. m. x var. . d. m. x var. . d. m. x var. . d. m. x var. . d. m. x . inscribed: "u. s. post." die c. var. . no. class. paper. dimensions. laid. remarks. d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . buff x v " d. m. " v var. a. buff x h " d. m. " v var. . d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . d. m. x v var. . buff x v " d. m. " v var. . buff x v die d. var. . buff x v var. . l. m. x v var. . l. m. x v " " x -- var. . l. m. x h " " x h stamp mm. from top. var. . l. m. x h " " " v " " " wove var. . l. m. x v a " buff " v var. . buff x v var. . l. m. x h var. . l. m. x h var. a. l. m. x v var. . l. m. x h var. . l. m. x h var. . buff x v var. . l. m. x v var. . l. m. x v " buff " v var. . l. m. x v " buff " v " " x v " " " h var. . l. m. x v " buff " v var. . l. m. x v var. . l. m. x h var. . l. m. x h var. . a l. m. x h fifth issue: - . three cents, rose; three cents, brown; six cents, rose and six cents, purple. in the postmaster-general's report for it is stated that "during the last session of congress a bill was passed for the relief of the contractor for furnishing the department with stamped envelopes and newspaper wrappers, under the provisions of which the existing contract expired on sept. , ." with the renewal of the former contract nesbitt changed the dies of the two, three and six cents. the first we have already exhaustively treated. it is, of course, the two cents, black, "u. s. post". all these dies remained in use until june th, . as a matter of history it may be noted here that the three cents printed in brown, likewise the six cents rose, both on official size, were issued in july, . the dies have a portrait of washington facing to the left in a plain oval. it is enclosed in a frame of colorless lines. inscription above "united states"; below, "three cents" or "six cents", in block capitals. large numerals of value at each side. none of the nesbitt die varieties have given the writer so many anxious hours and have required such prolonged study as the three cents of . indeed, the final solution of the problem of classification of the various dies was only arrived at after more than two years continuous research. like the famous balancing of the egg of columbus, the problem, when solved, is extremely simple. looking backward on the long series of failures, it seems strange that the chief characteristics have so long escaped the attention of cataloguers. the fact, however, is patent. even as thorough and painstaking a student as the late gilbert harrison who, in , chronicled, as he thought, all of the existing die varieties of the three cents has failed to observe the most important differences. indeed, in the entire philatelic literature dealing with the nesbitt dies of there is but one allusion to the feature which constitutes the surest means for the identification of the die varieties, and this is only a single sentence contained in the historical notes of messrs. tiffany, bogert and rechert. it reads:-- "it is worth mentioning, however, that while dies , and (the latter the die under consideration) all have the small bust of washington, there are small differences in each which show them to be different engravings. * * in die the front hair shows only five locks and the back hair only four lines." we shall presently see that, like the three cents, red of , (die a) the diemakers have produced different groups of heads which, once known, are not only an absolute means of differentiating the varieties, but also protect the collector from acquiring a multitude of the same die. although, as stated above, the die of the three cents rose equals that of the three cents red in the use of various heads, it is, otherwise, quite dissimilar to the first issue, as will be seen presently. as in the varieties of the two cent dies the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the three cents vary greatly. after careful research and taking the advice of experienced philatelists, it was decided to adopt only two sizes for classification: i.e. size a:--to include all stamps measuring horizontally mm. but not exceeding mm. size b:--to include all stamps measuring horizontally - / mm. or more. in our study of the three cents red of we noted, in addition to the various heads, some minor differences in the spacing of the letters forming the inscription. referring now to the three cents of , even the unskilled eye of the layman will be struck with the surprising changes, not only in the spacing of the letters forming a word, but, also, in the relative position of the words to each other and their distance from a definite point, such, for instance, as the figure " ." the subsequent cuts well illustrate this point. [illustration] in the first the "s" of "cents" is several mm. distant from the right figure " ": in the second it is close to " ". the same remarks apply to the "u" of "united" in its relative position to the left figure " ". in the second cut there is also a square period after the final "e" of "three". [illustration] looking at cuts and the great variety of spacing between the letters of a word is strikingly apparent in the word "three." these differences are easily detected by the mm. unit distance measurement, which has been explained in the introductory chapter of this series of articles. the subjoined diagram proves that there are at least three forms of each word, and, with a little study, the collector will soon recognize the leading types. [illustration] it seems strange that such great and palpable differences remained unknown until . quoting from the work of messrs. tiffany, bogert & rechert, we are, however, informed: "heretofore it has _not_ been noticed that there are a large number of minor varieties of this die depending on the relative position of the parts." commenting on die (three cents rose) the writers make some valuable suggestions, but they discourage the would-be student from going deeper into the subject by the closing paragraph: "so few collectors would be interested in looking for these varieties that it has been thought unnecessary to devote space to them in a general work." in the writer's opinion the most valuable hint thrown out by messrs. tiffany, bogert & rechert is contained in the following sentence: "if a thread be laid along the lower stroke of the "u" it will pass at different distances from the tip of the nose and fall on different parts of the right numeral, of the space below it, or even as low as the "s" of "cents." why these experts stopped at the gate and did not enter is one of those freaks of the human mind that defies explanation. certainly the person who made this observation was on the very threshold of discovering a scientific classification of this elusive die. the writer confesses that, after having independently evolved this system of classification, nothing has given him greater satisfaction than to find that the basic idea had been chronicled as far back as . to-day it is well known that a line prolongation along the "u" of "united" establishes five distinct classes. as this system has been fully described in a lecture given by the writer before the boston philatelic society, (april , ) which lecture has also been published in pamphlet form, and, as this classification has been accepted by the writer of the latest scott catalogue, it seems unnecessary to go into the details, especially as the subjoined diagram is self-explanatory. [illustration] it is evident that we now possess various means for the classification of the three cents die varieties, but a system based solely on a line measurement, as has been stated heretofore, would not guard the collector sufficiently from acquiring a number of the same dies, due to unavoidable mistakes of measurement. to prevent duplication of dies it is imperative to know the various heads. luckily the distinctive features are quite plain and it is easy to divide the heads into five classes for, as in the first issue, the die cutters have adorned the head of washington with a variety of coiffures. in heads and there is a _triangular open space_ between the middle bunch of hair and the lowest strand which meets the queue. [illustration] [illustration] head .--the queue consists of three vertical strands extending from the top of the head to the neck. next to the queue are rear locks, of which the middle one is a large, pear-shaped bunch, consisting of five fine strands, while the second highest is by far the longest, and cuts into the queue, resembling the stem of a pear. head .--same as head , but the second lowest strand of hair in the pear-shaped bunch is the longest and does not extend into the queue. the triangular space below is slightly larger than in head . head .--the queue consists of either three or four strands which extend from the top of the head to the neck. next to the queue there are five locks in the rear row, the arrangement of which differs in the various specimens. the _main_ feature of head consists in the _absence of an open space_ between the middle bunch and the lowest lock. head .--the queue consists of three strands which extend from the top of the head to the neck. the back row of hair consists of five locks of which the lowest is very small and runs almost perpendicularly into the queue. there is a small space between the perpendicular lock and the next lowest. head .--generally found on the second quality of buff paper. the queue consists of three strands, which extend from the top of the head to the neck. the main feature is the middle bunch of hair, which is oblong shaped and consists of three heavy strands, all of which slant diagonally into the queue. immediately below this bunch is the lowest small lock, which also slants diagonally into the queue. of the five heads, the first is certainly the one which is most commonly found; especially on amber paper. knife is always head . head is less common, and head is most frequently found on the second quality buff paper. it is also useful to remember that head appears on knife . the subsequent table gives the knives and heads of the three cents, rose:-- k. x p. o. size heads , , , white " x " " white " x " " white " x " " , , , , white " x " " , , , , buff " x " " , amber " x " " , buff nd " x " " , , , white " x " " , , buff " x " " , amber " x " " , , , white " x " " , , buff " x " " , amber a similar table for the three cents, brown shows that the following heads exist:-- k. x size heads , , , white " " " " " " , , , buff " " " " " " , amber the six cents, rose and purple comes only on heads and . a systematic and rational classification of the three cents (both rose and brown) and their congener the six cents (purple and rose) is now ready. the collector of entire envelopes will proceed as follows:-- given a certain specimen, he first ascertains the knife, second the color of the paper. he then decides which head is represented, and finally ascertains whether it is an "a" or "b" die. the specialist, or any collector who is sufficiently interested to possess the various sub-varieties, goes a step further. having determined the head, he finds to which of the four classes of line measurement a given specimen belongs. thus the apparently bewildering number of varieties, through the knowledge of the heads and the "u" line measurement, are brought into perfect order, and all risk of confusion is avoided. it is evident that, henceforth, the collector of cut squares will try to obtain at least one specimen of the different heads of both die a and b, while the collector of entires may go to any length to satisfy his zeal and ambition. the large die (die b), measuring horizontally - / mm. or more, is comparatively scarce and it is found most commonly on the small envelope, knife . three cents, rose. k. heads , , white " " buff " " , white " " buff " " , white " " amber three cents, brown. k head white " " " , buff " " " amber with the issue of the three cents, rose, the contractor, at the order of the post office department, introduced a second quality of buff paper. this matter is of importance to all collectors and should be duly noted. in a circular letter from the finance office, dated "washington oct. ," signed "a. n. zevely, d asst. p. m. g.", it is stated:-- "letter size envelopes stamped cents, made of a _cheaper_ quality of paper than those hitherto furnished, are furnished by the department at $ . per , ." the schedule of gives the prices of three cent envelopes, etc., and of letter size _second quality buff_. a circular to the public of the same date says that "letter size _second quality_ are furnished only in buff." the white and colored paper of this issue exists in various qualities, of which the extremes may be called nearly cardboard paper and almost tissue. the texture is soft and highly surfaced. an interesting variety of the white paper is a decidedly brownish-white, which, as far as the writer knows, has not been mentioned heretofore. there are also various shades of buff and even a reddish toned orange paper. doubtless collectors would like to possess some information about the rarity of the various heads found in the three cents, rose, of this issue. from a study of some six thousand envelopes of this series the writer can give a fairly accurate estimate. calling the total number of envelopes examined one hundred per cent, the respective percentages of the five heads were: head -- % " -- % " -- % " -- . % " -- . % -------- . in regard to the sub varieties of the various heads it is also of interest to observe that a considerable number are "repeating dies," _i.e._, generally a die, say of head on white paper and on knife , is liable to be found on buff and amber paper not only on knife , but also on knife . only very few sub varieties of a given head exist on of this series. although it is evident that of all nesbitt issues the cent rose has by far the largest number of die varieties, it is by no means an impossible task to classify all existing varieties as has been done with the two cent jackson, and it is the intention of the writer to carry out this work at no distant day. probably due to the apparent similarity of many dies collectors have been apathetic and have considered one as good as the other, but a little study speedily convinces the student of this error. indeed, this issue contains a number of extremely rare dies, and as soon as proper information and classification is published, the cent rose of will be a favorite of all true philatelists. before leaving these interesting dies we must not fail to mention that, on the three cents and six cents, there is often a small dot on washington's face shaped like a mole, about one mm. under the ear. it is of little importance, and is evidently merely a flaw. in addition to the and cents, nesbitt produced, in , a new design for the , , and cents, while the old design of the former and cents was changed in december . the main difference between the new and the old design is that the oval band and small circular disks are with colored background bordered by colorless lines. the inscriptions and numerals are now colorless. the branches have eight leaves. of these values no die varieties are known; but, excepting the cents pink, there are several distinct shades of each stamp. commencing with the nine cents, we have a decided lemon-yellow and an orange; the twelve cents appears in dark brown and red-brown; the twenty-four cents in two shades of blue; the eighteen cents exists in red and dark red, and the thirty cents in yellow-green, dark green and olive-green. this concludes the nesbitt issues of united states envelopes. his connection with the postal department ceased march , , when a new contract was awarded to george h. reay, of new york. to the philatelists the nesbitt issues are by far the most interesting series of all the united states postal issues and, as the years pass on, the intrinsic value of these die varieties will increase rapidly. specialization is the watchword of the now growing class of collectors, and there is no field so inviting and which will repay a student so richly for his labor as a specialized collection of the nesbitt issues. what is wanted to-day is a special album for united states envelopes, which would insure to this prominent branch of united states philately that measure of official recognition for which collectors have long and earnestly contended. an equally valuable aid would be the formation of a society of collectors of united states envelopes. the writer confidently expects that this suggestion will soon assume a more tangible form. if this series of articles has, in even the slightest degree, helped collectors of united states envelopes to a wider knowledge and better appreciation of these hitherto unknown die varieties, the writer will feel well repaid for the many hours of labor. in closing, he again asserts; "variety is the spice of life!" * * * * * a reference list of the envelopes of the series of and . . three cents, rose. die a. head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. variety. remarks. white x " " " " " " " x " " unwatermarked. " " " " " " " " " " a " " without patent lines. " " " " " x " " " " buff x " " " " " " " " " " " " " x " " buff nd x " " amber " " " " " " " ungummed. " " " " " " " x " " " " amber nd x " " " " head ii. white x " " " " " x " " " " " " " " " " " x " " " " amber x " " " " " " " " " x " " head iii. white x " " " " " x ungummed. probably a proof. " " " " " " " " " " " x " " buff x ungummed. probably a proof. " " " " " " " " " " " " without patent lines. " " " " " " head iv. white x " " " " " " " x " " " " unwatermarked " " " " " " " x " " " " buff x " " " " a buff nd " buff " " " " " " x " " head v. white x buff " buff nd " " " die b. head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. variety. remarks. white x " x " x buff x " " head ii. white x " " " x " x amber x " x " " head iii. a white x head iv. white x " x " " " " " " " x " " buff x " x " " amber x . three cents, brown. die a. head i. white x buff " amber " " " head ii. white x buff " head iii. white x buff " " " head iv. white " " buff " die b. head i. white x buff " head ii. white x buff " a amber " b " " six cents, purple. head i. white x amber " head iii. white x buff " amber " six cents, rose. head i. white x amber " head iii. white x buff " amber " nine cents, yellow. buff x amber " nine cents, orange. buff x amber " twelve cents, brown. buff x amber " twelve cents, red-brown. buff x eighteen cents, red. buff x twenty-four cents, blue. buff x " " dark blue amber " thirty cents, green. buff x yellow-green. buff " dark green. buff " olive green. forty cents, rose. buff x appendix series of - . die i. since the publication of the early portion of the present work the writer has discovered two new varieties of this die, both with head i, which must be known as varieties a and a and which, therefore, necessitate his re-writing the descriptions of vars. and . he has, also, re-written the description of variety with the idea of enabling collectors to more easily differentiate between it and the other varieties. the following should, therefore replace the descriptions of these varieties on pages and of the journal for . head i. long side lock. var. . "cents" is near the frame line. "c" and "n" are in an almost vertical position. "n" is near "t." "s" is near curve. letters "th" are parallel and slant to left. a line drawn along the "e" of "cents" and prolonged upwards touches the right end of the top stroke of the first "e" of "three." var. a. the "c" of "cents" and "e" of "three" slant distinctly to the right. "en" close and near outer frame line. "n" and "t" are wide at base. a line drawn along "e" touches the left end of the top stroke of the final "e." var. . "th" of "three" widely spaced and "r" is almost in center of label and vertical. the "n" of "cents" slants to the right and is far from "t" at top and base. the top of "s" is some distance from curve. there is a flaw in the outer colored line nearly opposite the tip of nose. a line drawn along "e" touches right the end of the top stroke of the final "e." var. a. there is a flaw in the red outer frame line nearly opposite the junction of the queue with the garment. "cents" is near the inner frame line. "hr" wide at top and near at base. "c" is some distance from the curve. "en" near. "n" short and broad. the upper right curve is nearly a straight line. a line drawn along "e" touches the left end of the top stroke of the second "e" of "three." head a. short side lock. var. the "c" of "cents" is high and close to curve. "ce" very wide. "en" wide. "n" nearly vertical. "en" close at top. a line drawn along "e" touches the left end of the top stroke of the final "e." */ addenda. the following envelopes and wrappers have been discovered since the lists were published and should, therefore, be added to them. envelopes. - . three cents, red. die i. var. a. head i. no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. gum. remarks. a w x seal b b " " var. a. head i. a w x seal. b b " " die v. head xv. var. . a b x var. . a b x . one cent, blue. var. . a b x u var. . a l. or. x u var. . a b x u b b " u no watermark c y. b. " u " " wove paper var. . a b x g var. . a w x three cents, red. var. . no. paper. knife. size. dimensions. gum. remarks. a b x g var. . a w x g wrappers. var. . distance of stamp no. paper. dimensions. laid. from upper edge. remarks. a s. b. x h var. . a b x h . two cents. black. envelopes. die a. no. class. paper. knife. size. dimensions. remarks. a buff x gummed. . die d. var. . b buff x gummed. wrappers. die d. var. . no. class. paper. dimensions. laid. remarks. a buff x h errata. page , last line under head , read: _narrow_ for "norrow." " , add to description of var , head xi: _there is usually a flaw in the outer colored line opposite the lower left straight line near "c."_ page , head xviii, second line, after "eye-brow", read; _some distance_ instead of: "a considerable distance." " , no. should read: "w x ." " " " " " "b " " , no. and , under "remarks", add: "_reprints on white and buff vertically laid paper_." " , no. and , under "remarks", cancel: "_reprints on white and buff vertically laid paper_." " , variety , add: "_distance from "e" to "c" is_ - / _mm_." " " the cut marked " " should have its number changed to " ." " , the cut marked " " should have its number changed to " ." " , no. , read: "v" instead of "h". " " no. , dimensions should be: x . " , no. and a are: size . " , no. , is gummed. * * * * * transcriber's notes [hw:] contains handwritten errata notes, as listed above. roman and arabic numeral inconsistencies were retained. minor punctuation errors and the following typos were corrected: contents: changed the - series from page to . page : changed "humilation" to "humiliation". (it is an humilation to american philatelists) page : changed "unkown" to "unknown". (timorous traveler to proceed into the unkown country) page : deleted duplicate "the". (spacings between the the letters) page : changed "ascer" to "ascertained". (easy manner, we have ascer [end of line] three important classes.) page : changed "proceeed" to "proceed". (and the manufacture will at once proceeed.) page : changed "accordence" to "accordance". (in accordence with the instructions of the united states postal) page : changed "pecular" to "peculiar". (artists, had pecular ideas of the manly beauty) page : deleted duplicate "the". (expression runs the the gamut of meekness) page : changed "aquaintance" to "acquaintance". (die are concerned, a thorough knowledge of, or aquaintance) page : deleted duplicate "the". (together with the the side-lock) page : changed "realty" to "reality". (new six and ten cents. in realty the latter two appeared) page : changed "broarder" to "broader". (to give the philatelist a broarder hold on this issue) page : changed "bu" to "but". (the six cents is very similar to the last one, bu) page : changed "uts" to "cuts". (class v.--line falls outside of "w" and sometimes uts "o.") page : changed "luckly" to "lucky". (a rarity possessed only by a few luckly mortals.) page : changed "contracter" to "contractor". (the contracter for furnishing the post office department) page : changed "vareties" to "varieties". (five letters which differ greatly in many vareties.) page : changed "measurment(s)" to "measurement(s)". (and the measurments are made as follows:) (the student who employs these measurments) (in case of doubt that single measurment is decisive.) (the characteristic line measurment is mentioned) page : deleted duplicate "of". (top stroke of of "t" nearly touches "w.") page : changed "manilla" to "manila". (buff orange and light manilla.) page : changed "deteoriation" to "deterioration". (this is due to great deteoriation of the die.) page : changed "beheind" to "behind". (bust point beheind "o.") page : deleted duplicate "and". ("c" almost vertical and and close to point.) page : under var. : changed " " to " ". page : changed "discriptions" to "descriptions". (replace the discriptions of these varieties) transcriber's note: italic text is denoted by _underscores_. small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. * * * * * the waterways of the pacific northwest by clarence b. bagley seattle, washington reprinted from "the pacific ocean in history" by h. morse stephens and herbert e. bolton. the macmillan company, publishers, new york copyright, , by the macmillan company. the waterways of the pacific northwest clarence b. bagley recently, as i have studied this subject its magnitude has grown more apparent. the space allotted my paper will permit little more than a historical sketch. it has been my life work to gather together the written and printed history of the pacific northwest, but i am not a professional writer of it. for my purpose this caption refers to the columbia river and its tributaries, and puget sound and the rivers emptying into it, including the fraser, and their watersheds. the columbia and fraser are the only rivers that break through the great mountain ranges which parallel the shore of washington and oregon. with the pacific ocean only a few miles away, with its intricate network of great and lesser rivers, and its inland tidal waters whose aggregate littoral exceeds the distance between cape cod and cape flattery, it is remarkable how much of the exploration and industrial and commercial development of the pacific northwest has come from the east towards the west. alexander mackenzie in , when he discovered the upper reaches of the great river; lewis and clark in ; simon fraser and john stuart in - ; daniel w. harmon in ; david thompson in , and a little later wilson price hunt, and thereafter nearly all the leading men of the northwest company and the hudson's bay company, braved the hardships and dangers of the trip over the rocky mountains and down the turbulent waters of the columbia or the fraser. john mcloughlin, james douglas and peter skene ogden, nathaniel j. wyeth and the first missionaries, john c. frémont, b. l. e. bonneville, all led expeditions westward. astoria was founded from the sea, and the expeditions of astor's party to establish inland posts went up the river from the west, but they were all failures. for nearly seventy years the canoe and the bateau, the ox team or the horse team attached to the prairie schooner, were the instruments whereby the pioneers searched out the country and peopled its valleys and plains. during the period between and , old oregon was mostly peopled by immigrants from the mississippi valley, who came overland. after the completion of the railroad across the isthmus in , immigrants from near the atlantic seaboard took steamer at new york city for aspinwall, crossed the isthmus by rail, thence to san francisco by steamer and to oregon and washington by sailing craft or steamer. troubles with indians between the missouri and columbia, of frequence in the later 'fifties, followed closely by the great civil war period, materially checked the influx of population overland. in fact, not until the completion of the northern pacific in , and soon afterward of the oregon shortline, did the real development of oregon and washington begin. in there were in old oregon only , white settlers, of whom lived north of the columbia river; in oregon had , , washington, , ; in , oregon , , washington , ; in , oregon , , washington , ; in , oregon , , washington , . the northern pacific railroad had been completed in , quickly followed by the oregon shortline, and washington had gained nearly fivefold in a decade and had passed her older sister in population. in oregon had , , washington , ; in oregon had , , with washington , , , or a gain by the latter of more than per cent in ten years. oregon had an assessed valuation of millions and washington, millions. neither had a bonded debt. the canadian pacific, great northern, chicago, milwaukee & st. paul, northern pacific, oregon shortline and southern pacific railroads had all reached pacific coast terminals, and in consequence the great northwest had gained remarkably in population, wealth and volume of trade and commerce. in the willamette valley the water power afforded by the streams of the cascades and coast ranges served to operate the early wood working and flouring mills, the woolen mills and small manufacturing plants, but on puget sound it was more economical to operate the saw-mills by steam where the ships could reach the docks easily and quickly. almost immediately after their arrival at tumwater, the first american settlers began building a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the bank of the des chutes river. the irons were bought from the hudson's bay company and the millstones were made from a large granite boulder near by. both mills were run by water power. a few other small mills were constructed elsewhere on the sound, but all were financial failures. no large city has grown up in the northwest on the site of the great water powers of the columbia, fraser, willamette or smaller streams. also, excepting victoria and new westminster, no large city has grown up on the site of the trading posts of the hudson's bay company or the villages first started by the american settlers in the willamette valley or on puget sound. seattle, portland, spokane, tacoma, and vancouver in british columbia, appeared on the map years after a dozen of their early rivals had been thriving little towns, and the most successful were founded by farmers from the mississippi valley who, perhaps, had never seen a large city. a regular transportation line was established on the lower columbia in ; and in , deep sea vessels began to frequent the harbor of victoria and the columbia river. these included many war vessels of the united states and great britain. steamship communication, more or less irregular, began between san francisco and the columbia river in , and between the former city and puget sound about , though the _otter_ and other steamers had made occasional trips on the latter route long before that time. also, about , steamers began to operate on the lower willamette and on the columbia below the cascades. after vancouver's day little is reported of the puget sound region for about thirty years. as early as the schooners _vancouver_ and _cadboro_, owned and operated by the hudson's bay company, are known to have sailed from the columbia river to puget sound and engaged in traffic with the natives as far north as sitka. in the steamer _beaver_ arrived in the columbia river from england, but in a short time she left the columbia and began running up and down the coast in and out of the rivers, bays, and inlets between puget sound and alaska, carrying grain and other food stuffs northward and bringing back furs and skins and at times towing sailing vessels to and fro. during all the early years, down the waters of the willamette and columbia came considerable wheat and other grains, but freight rates were so high that little profit was realized by the grower and the acreage in consequence increased but slowly. the lumber exports of the columbia river region also were large. on puget sound, until metal supplanted wood in shipbuilding, numerous cargoes of ships' spars went to the atlantic seaboard and to europe, but sawed lumber and piles, with shingles and lath to complete the stowage, were the chief articles of export. good coal was mined on vancouver island earlier than on the american side of puget sound, but no considerable shipments abroad began until after . for more than thirty years thereafter the coal mining industry of the puget sound country ranked closely after the lumber business and a large fleet of seagoing vessels was constantly employed in the trade. during recent years the use of oil in competition with coal for fuel has curtailed greatly the output of the northern coal mines. it is more than miles from the mouth of the columbia to the uppermost point of navigation, but rapids and falls occur at frequent intervals. until quite recently no continuous navigation of more than three hundred and fifty miles was practicable. traffic between portland and lewiston, idaho, required the operation of three separate steamers on as many stretches of the stream and still another on the upper willamette. this made necessary artificial methods of getting freight and passengers around the breaks in the river, and it was not long before an absolute monopoly was held by one company on the columbia and by another on the upper willamette, though attempts at independent operation of boats on the latter were frequent. to-day, a steamer can run from lewiston to astoria, or, if of light enough draught, to eugene on the willamette. in a wooden tramroad was built on the north side and later another on the south side around the cascades of the columbia. late in the 's the oregon steam navigation company gained control of them and installed a steam railroad on the north side. about that company began the construction of a railroad from the dalles to celilo, which commenced operations in , during a period of intense mining activity in idaho, eastern oregon and northern washington. thereafter it practically owned the columbia above the cascades. the history of its operations and exactions and of the colossal fortunes it piled up for its stockholders reads like fiction. the first actual improvement of a waterway that i remember was at oregon city. in , at the west side of the willamette river, the local transportation company constructed basins above and below the falls, so that a long warehouse covered both landing places, making it a comparatively easy matter to transfer freight up and down, while passengers walked. about , the company replaced this system by a short canal with locks. for a great many years the united states has made liberal appropriations to be used in overcoming the difficulties of navigation of the columbia river and its main tributaries. under date of august , , major arthur williams, united states engineer of the first oregon district, furnished the following list of original expenditures: snake river, in oregon, washington and idaho, including $ , appropriated by the state of washington, $ , . ; columbia river and tributaries above celilo falls to the mouth of snake river, oregon and washington, including $ , from the state of washington, $ , . ; columbia river at the dalles, oregon and washington (dalles-celilo canal), $ , , . ; canal at the cascades of the columbia river, oregon and washington, $ , , . ; columbia river between vancouver, washington, and the mouth of the willamette river, $ , . ; oregon slough (north portland harbor), oregon, $ , . . in addition to the foregoing $ , . have been expended in operation and maintenance. in a letter of recent date from chas. l. potter, lieutenant colonel, corps of united states engineers, are tabulated the amounts heretofore expended in the second district on all river and harbor improvements to june , , as follows: willamette river above portland, and yamhill river, oregon, $ , . ; operating and care of lock and dam in yamhill river, oregon, $ , . ; willamette river at willamette falls, oregon, $ , . ; operating and care of canal and locks in willamette river, near oregon city, oregon, $ . ; columbia and lower willamette rivers below portland, oregon, $ , , . ; mouth of columbia river, oregon and washington, $ , , . ; clatskanie river, oregon, $ , . ; cowlitz river, washington, $ , . ; lewis river, washington, $ , . ; cowlitz and lewis rivers, washington, and clatskanie river, oregon, dredge and snagboat, $ , . ; grays river, washington, $ , . . had this opening up to navigation been completed prior to the building of the railroads along the banks of the rivers and across the mountains, it would have been of inestimable benefit to the tributary country, but until its present population shall have increased ten fold, perhaps twenty fold, and the railroads shall be unable to handle the traffic; when the waterway craft shall be aids to the railroads, not competitors, i believe transportation of freight by steamboats or by barges with tugs will be impracticable. steamboat service up the swift current with little cargo will fully offset any cheapening that may be possible down stream, so that most of the business will continue to be done by the railroads. however, the open river will undoubtedly be a check upon the railroads. a few weeks ago, at lewiston, during the rejoicings over the opening of the upper columbia to free navigation, one of the leading speakers remarked that the party in steaming up the river had seen but one other boat and she was tied to the dock. the state of washington was in some measure benefited jointly with oregon by the work in the columbia basin noted above. the actual expenditures by the united states in washington have been small in comparison. on willapa harbor they have been $ , . ; at gray's harbor, $ , , . ; on puget sound they have been, at olympia, $ , . ; at tacoma, $ , . ; at everett and snohomish, $ , . ; at bellingham, $ , . ; skagit river, $ , . ; swinomish, $ , . . in addition to the work done at tacoma by the united states, the railroads and the municipality have spent large sums in providing docks and other shipping facilities, and it is equipped to handle its full share of the sound and seagoing traffic. the foregoing figures were furnished me from the office of the resident united states engineer, major j. b. cavanaugh. portland is the overshadowing city of the columbia basin, and has always handled most of its business, while on puget sound trade and commerce have been divided. it is all a vast harbor and its cities have had access almost equally to the sea. seattle, tacoma, vancouver, victoria, new westminster, everett, bellingham, anacortes, olympia, and port townsend are credited with an aggregate of nearly three-quarters of a million of inhabitants. during the last ten years there has been expended in seattle more than fifteen millions of dollars in harbor improvements. by the operations of the seattle & lake washington waterway co. there have been acres of land filled, much of it now covered with buildings of a most substantial character. when this company began operations these lands were covered twice a day from six to sixteen feet with tidal water. through them it dug waterways forty and fifty feet deep at low tide two and one half miles long, feet wide, and two miles additional five hundred feet wide. this has required the construction of seven miles of bulkheads, all at a cost of a little more than five millions of dollars, all paid by the owners of the filled-in lands. some four hundred additional acres of land, at times covered by the tides or by high waters of the duwamish river, have been reclaimed. a ship canal between the waters of puget sound and lake union and washington is now nearing completion and is expected to be in use during the current year. it will admit the passage of ships drawing thirty feet of water, directly into the lakes. the locks at the outer entrance have been constructed by the united states government. the larger is feet long and is the second in size on the american continent, being exceeded in size by one of the locks of the panama canal. they cost $ , , . the state of washington, county of king and city of seattle contributed $ , , to pay for condemnation of the necessary land and dredging and digging of the canals. add to this $ , , , raised by the sale of longtime bonds voted by the people and expended by the port commission of seattle for docks and warehouses, refrigerator plants and other facilities for speedy and economical handling of cargoes of grain, fruit, fish, lumber, coal, etc., and the above aggregate of $ , , has been passed. john w. b. blackman, esq., city engineer of new westminster, b.c., has supplied information regarding victoria, vancouver, and new westminster, british columbia, as follows: expenditures in fraser river in opening, deepening, straightening, etc., $ , , . ; in vancouver, mostly in widening the narrows, $ , , . ; at victoria in recent years, $ , in round numbers, has been spent in blasting and removing rock from the inner harbor, and a new break-water is now being constructed at an estimated cost of $ , , . the canoe and bateau gave place to the steamboat, the steam cars took away from the steamboat much of its business, and in the last quarter century the city and interurban electric cars have taken over much of the short haul traffic, while to-day the motor car is dividing the passenger service and almost monopolizing the transportation of garden and dairy products into and about the cities. who shall predict how soon some other method of transportation shall make the land and water traffic of to-day seem as archaic as the ox team compared with a high power racing car? the streams of oregon and washington afford one-third of the available water power of the united states. a small part of this is now being used to develop electric energy, transmitted at long distances at high voltage, though not comparable with one line in california that is transmitting electricity at a voltage of , a distance of about miles. the potential possibilities are so vast they can scarcely be estimated. in the north one of the transcontinental railroad lines is formulating plans to operate its trains electrically between the rocky mountains and puget sound. the first cost will be great, but when the new service begins its greater economy and comfort will undoubtedly compel all competing lines to follow the lead of their rival. the panama canal has been in operation only a year and it is too soon even to predict its influence upon the ocean commerce of the north pacific, but so far little of the lumber, fish, or other commodities from the northwest have gone through it eastward. its influence has been almost negligible, and while considerable freight has gone from the middle states eastward fifteen hundred miles to atlantic ports and thence around by water, the railroads of the pacific northwest have not as yet seen cause to alter their tariffs because of it. doubtless, when the great war in europe is ended, and normal conditions are regained, the pacific northwest will enjoy in full measure the benefit of this great ocean waterway. to-day passenger ships leave puget sound for alaska ports on an average of every eighteen hours, and nearly as many freighters ply on the same route. the ocean commerce of the north pacific with eastern siberia, japan, china, the indies, and the philippines across the pacific, and with san francisco, hawaiian islands and through the panama canal has, in the last few years, reached enormous proportions. already the resources of six great transcontinental railroad systems are taxed to the uttermost to handle their part of it. on the floor of the united states senate, january , , in the course of debate upon "the oregon bill," participated in by senators archer, benton, calhoun, choate, linn, morehead, mcroberts and woodbury, calhoun gave utterance to the following: "but it may be asked, 'what then? shall we abandon our claim to the territory?' i answer, no. i am utterly opposed to that; but, as bad as that would be, it would not be as much so as to adopt a rash and precipitate measure, which, after great sacrifices, would finally end in its loss. but i am opposed to both. my object is to preserve and not to lose the territory. i do not agree with my eloquent and able colleague that it is worthless. he has under-rated it, both as to soil and climate. it contains a vast deal of land, it is true, that is barren and worthless; but not a little that is highly productive. to that may be added its commercial advantages, which will, in time, prove to be great. we must not overlook the important events to which i have alluded as having recently occurred in the eastern portion of asia. as great as they are, they are but the beginning of a series of a similar character, which must follow at no distant day. what has taken place in china, will, in a few years, be followed in japan, and all the eastern portions of that continent. their ports, like the chinese, will be opened; and the whole of that portion of asia, containing nearly half of the population and wealth of the globe, will be thrown open to the commerce of the world and be placed within the pales of european and american intercourse and civilization. a vast market will be created, and a mighty impulse will be given to commerce. no small portion of the share that would fall to us with this populous and industrious portion of the globe is destined to pass through the ports of the oregon territory to the valley of the mississippi, instead of taking the circuitous and long voyage around cape horn; or the still longer, around the cape of good hope. it is mainly because i place this high estimate on its prospective value that i am so solicitous to preserve it, and so adverse to this bill, or any other precipitate measure which might terminate in its loss. if i thought less of its value, or if i regarded our title less clear, my opposition would be less decided." the present witnesses the culmination of this remarkable prophecy made by one of america's ablest statesmen more than seventy years ago. * * * * * transcriber's note: minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. the cover for the ebook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain. railroads rates and regulation _by the same author_ railroads finance and organization = vo. pages xx + , with index. $ . net= table of contents chapter i railroad construction finance. ii capital and capitalization. iii railroad securities: capital stock, etc. iv railroad securities: mortgage indebtedness, etc. v the course of market prices. vi speculation. vii stock-watering. viii stock-watering (_continued_). ix state regulation of security issues. x the determination of reasonable rates. xi physical valuation: reasonable rates. xii receivership and reorganization. xiii intercorporate relations. xiv combination: eastern and southern systems. xv railroad combination in the west. xvi the anthracite coal arrangement. xvii dissolution under the anti-trust law. xviii pooling and inter-railway agreements. longmans, green, and co. railroads rates and regulation by william z. ripley, ph.d. nathaniel ropes professor of economics in harvard university with maps and diagrams new impression longmans, green and co. fourth avenue & th street, new york paternoster row, london bombay, calcutta, and madras copyright, , by longmans, green, and co. published, november, reprinted, november, september, the·plimpton·press [w·d·o] norwood·mass·u·s·a preface this treatise is the outcome of a continuous personal interest in railroads, practically coincident in point of time with the period of active participation of the federal government in their affairs. during these years, since when the act to regulate commerce was passed, as the problem of public regulation has gradually unfolded, opportunity has offered itself to me to view the subject from different angles. at the massachusetts institute of technology, as instructor of embryo engineers in the economic aspects of their callings; in service for the united states industrial commission in - , in touch alike with government officials and, travelling all about the country, with shippers and commercial bodies during a period of acute unrest; and finally ripening the practical experience, thus gained, in the favoring atmosphere of harvard university, seeking to imbue future citizens with a sense of their civic responsibilities; through all these years, the conviction has steadily grown that, as one of the most fundamental agents in our american economic affairs, the subjection of transportation to public control was a primary need of the time. an earnest effort has been made to set down the facts concerning this highly controversial subject with scientific rigor and with fairness to all three of the great parties concerned, the owners, the shippers and the people. if bias there be, it will in all likelihood be found to favor the welfare of the "dim inarticulate multitude,"--that so inert mass of interests and aspirations, too indefinitely informed as to details and too much occupied in earning its daily bread, to be able to analyze its own vital concerns, to give expression to its will, and even sometimes, as it seems, wisely to choose its spokesmen and representatives. it is this helpless and unorganized general public, always in need of an advocate, which, perhaps, most strongly appeals to the academic mind. if there be lack of judicial poise in this regard, it is, at all events, palliated by free confession in advance. nor is the history of the assumption by public authority of its inherent right to control railroads, as narrow an interest as it at first appears. transportation, as a service, is the commodity produced by common carriers. the manner in which the price of this commodity has been brought under governmental regulation has a direct bearing upon another problem just beginning to open up; namely that of the control by the state of the prices of other things. it is not unlikely, in my judgment, that the final solution of the so-called trust problem in the united states, whether for good or ill, may ultimately contain as one important feature, the determination by governmental authority of reasonable prices for such prime necessities of life as milk, ice, coal, sugar and oil, when produced under monopolistic conditions. this view is shared by my colleague professor taussig in his "principles of economics." it is also distinctly set forth by president van hise of the university of wisconsin, in his recent "concentration and control." when the seed of such an industrial policy is planted, as i believe it possible in time, the soil will have been richly prepared for its reception by our experience in the determination of reasonable charges for the services of railroads and other public utilities. a word of explanation may also be offered to the reader who finds in these pages an almost exuberant mass of illustrative material. possibly, even, it may be alleged that in places so thick are the circumstantial trees of evidence that one can scarcely perceive the wood of principle. but, under the circumstances, it is almost inevitable that this should be so. the method of inquiry adopted has been mainly inductive. text books and theoretical treatises have been used only by the way. i hold them to be merely of secondary importance. the principal reliance has been upon concrete data, painstakingly gathered through many years from original sources. in this present excursion in the far more complex domain of the social sciences, an endeavor has been made to adhere strictly to the same scientific method pursued in the field of natural science in writing "the races of europe." a search far and wide for every possible bit of raw material had to be made at the outset. to this succeeded the classification and realignment of the concrete data thus obtained. the last step of all, was the formulation of the governing economic principles. but an almost indispensable result of this mode of work is a plenitude of reference and example. one might almost say that under such circumstances it becomes second nature to demand concrete illustration for every economic theory or principle laid down. such a statement, however, would be fallacious. it would misrepresent the true sequence of events as above outlined. rather should it be affirmed, that, inasmuch as the concrete examples are the sources of the reasoning, no theory can be held valid for which somewhere or somehow, positive illustration drawn from practice cannot be found. such an ideal is, indeed, difficult to attain; but it may be stated as a cardinal principle to be always kept in mind. and it ought to excuse an author from the charge of over-elaboration of detail in illustration. the only crimes for which no verbal atonement will suffice are that the chosen illustration does not fit the principle, or else that the facts have been distorted to serve a preconceived idea. references throughout this work to a second volume will be noted. this will deal primarily with matters of finance and corporate relations. the general subject of railroad combination was necessarily relegated to another set of covers. this, however, is quite fitting, inasmuch as the connection between matters of finance and organization is at all times so intimate and necessary. the development of inter-railway relationships has been, perhaps, next to the establishment of government regulation, the most striking phenomenon of the last decade. it is absolutely essential to a comprehension of present day financial problems, to understand the nature and extent of the consolidation of interests which obtains. this second volume, now nearly completed, will, it is hoped, appear early in . this volume is also frequently linked by means of cross references to a set of reprints of notable interstate commerce cases or special articles which was published some years ago as "railway problems." (ginn & co.) much new material having accumulated since its original appearance in , it is the intention to prepare a new and revised edition, particularly designed as an accompaniment to this treatise. but the same chapter numbers will be preserved for all material taken over from the first edition. many friends and specialists, who shall be unnamed, have been of assistance in various ways for which i am duly grateful. but a few have been so peculiarly helpful that it is fitting to make more particular mention of my personal obligation. especially is this true of hon. balthasar h. meyer of the interstate commerce commission, from whom through many years of friendship and common interest in the subject, have come all sorts of aid and suggestion. prof. f. h. dixon of dartmouth college, statistician of the bureau of railway economics at washington, also a co-worker in the same field, has always without reserve freely shared the best he had to give. i have drawn liberally from his special contributions on transportation, particularly in the history of recent federal legislation. despite the difference in our point of view, the always friendly criticism of frederic a. delano, president of the wabash railroad, has been most welcome and serviceable. in matters of classification, mr. d. o. ives, traffic expert of the boston chamber of commerce, has extended a helping hand. and i have profited greatly from the published work of mr. samuel o. dunn, now editor of the _railway age gazette_. in this connection, acknowledgment should be made of my deep obligation to the other editors of that admirable technical journal, who have in series during a number of years afforded me an opportunity of reaching a class of readers and, it should be added, not infrequently of unsparing critics, whose intelligence and technical knowledge have held me to a strict accounting in all matters of fact or principle. without this critical oversight, many statements, happily now tested, would have held less secure place. then again, there is the entire staff of the interstate commerce commission to whom i have been a care and trouble for so many years. ungrudgingly have its members always given response to all sorts of requests, whether for documents, statistics or opinions. without the official stores of information at washington, this present volume would have been woefully incomplete. contents chapter i the history of transportation in the united states significance of geographical factors,  .--toll roads before ,  .--the "national pike,"  .--canals and internal waterways before ,  .--the erie canal,  .--canals in the west,  .--first railroad construction after ,  .--early development in the south,  .--importance of small rivers,  . the decade - ,  .--slow railway growth, mainly in the east,  .--rapid expansion - ; western river traffic,  .--need of north and south railways,  .--traffic still mainly local,  .--effect of the civil war,  .--rise of new york,  .--primitive methods,  . the decade - ,  .--trans-mississippi development,  .--pacific coast routes opened,  .--development of export trade in grain and beef,  .--trunk line rate wars,  .--improvements in operation,  .--end of canal and river traffic,  . the decade - ,  .--phenomenal railway expansion,  .--transcontinental trade,  .--speculation rampant,  .--growth of western manufactures,  .--rise of the gulf ports,  .--canadian competition,  .--general résumé and forecast,  . public land grants,  .--direct financial assistance,  .--history of state aid,  .--federal experience with transcontinental roads,  . chapter ii the theory of railroad rates analysis of railroad expenditures,  .--constant v. variable outlays,  .--fixed charges,  .--official grouping of expenses,  .--variable expenses in each group,  .--peculiarities of different roads and circumstances,  .--periodicity of expenditures,  .--joint cost,  .--separation of passenger and freight business,  . chapter iii the theory of railroad rates (_continued_) the law of increasing returns,  .--applied to declining traffic,  .--illustrated by the panic of ,  .--peculiarly intensified on railroads,  . growth of mileage and traffic in the united states since ,  .--increase of earnings,  .--operating expenses, gross and net income,  .--comparison with earlier decades,  .--density of traffic,  .--increase of train loads,  .--limitations upon their economy,  .--heavier rails,  .--larger locomotives,  .--bigger cars,  .--net result of improvements upon efficiency and earning power,  . the law of increasing returns due to financial rather than operating factors,  . chapter iv rate making in practice evolution of rate sheets,  .--terminal v. haulage costs,  .--local competition,  .--what the traffic will bear,  .--trunk line rate system,  .--complexity of rate structure,  .--competition of routes,  .--competition of facilities,  .--competition of markets,  .--ever-widening markets,  .--primary and secondary market competition,  .--jobbing or distributive business,  .--flat rates,  .--mississippi-missouri rate scheme,  .--relation between raw materials and finished products,  .--export rates on wheat and flour,  .--cattle and packing-house products,  .--refrigerator cars,  .--by-products and substitution,  .--kansas corn and minnesota flour,  .--ex-lake grain rates,  . chapter v rate making in practice (_continued_) effect of changing conditions,  .--lumber and paper rates,  .--equalizing industrial conditions,  .--protecting shippers,  .--pacific coast lumber rates,  .--elasticity and quick adaptation,  .--rigidity and delicacy of adjustment,  .--transcontinental rate system,  .--excessive elasticity of rates,  .--more stability desirable,  .--natural _v._ artificial territory and rates,  .--economic waste,  .--inelastic conditions,  .--effect upon concentration of population,  .--competition in transportation and trade contrasted,  .--no abandonment of field,  . cost _v._ value of service,  .--relative merits of each,  .--charging what the traffic will bear,  .--unduly high and low rates,  .--dynamic force in value of service,  .--cost of service in classification,  .--wisconsin paper case,  .--cost and value, of service equally important, checking one another,  . chapter vi personal discrimination rebates and monopoly, with attendant danger to carriers,  .--personal discrimination defined,  .--distinction between rebating and general rate cutting,  .--early forms of rebates,  .--underbilling, underclassification, etc.,  .--private car lines,  .--more recent forms of rebating described,  .--terminal and tap-lines,  .--midnight tariffs,  .--outside transactions, special credit, etc.,  .--distribution of coal cars,  .--standard oil company practices,  .--discriminatory open adjustments from competing centres,  .--frequency of rebating since ,  - .--the elkins law of ,  .--discrimination since ,  .--the grain elevation cases,  .--industrial railroads once more,  . chapter vii local discrimination concrete instances,  .--hadley's oyster case not conclusive,  .--two variants: lower long-haul rates by the roundabout route, as in the hillsdale, youngstown, and some southern cases, ; or by the direct route, as in the nashville-chattanooga and other southern cases,  .--complicating influence of water transportation,  .--market competition from various regions, a different case,  .--the basing point (southern) and basing line (missouri river) systems,  .--their inevitable instability and probable ultimate abandonment,  .--postage-stamp rates, illustrated by transcontinental tariffs,  .--which line makes the rate?  .--cost not distance, determines,  .--fixed charges v. operating expenses,  .--proportion of local business,  .--volume and stability of traffic important,  .--generally the short line rules, but many exceptions occur,  . chapter viii problems of routing neglect of distance, an american peculiarity,  .--derived from joint cost,  .--exceptional cases,  .--economic waste in american practice,  .--circuitous rail carriage,  .--water and rail-and-water shipments,  .--carriage over undue distance,  .--an outcome of commercial competition,  .--six causes of economic waste, illustrated,  .--pro-rating and rebates,  .--five effects of disregard of distance,  .--dilution of revenue per ton mile,  .--possible remedies for economic waste,  .--pooling and rate agreements,  .--the long and short haul remedy,  . chapter ix freight classification importance and nature of classification described,  .--classifications and tariffs distinguished, as a means of changing rates,  .--the three classification committees,  .--wide differences between them illustrated,  .--historical development,  .--increase in items enumerated,  .--growing distinction between carload and less-than-carload rates,  .--great volume of elaborate rules and descriptions,  .--theoretical basis of classification,  .--cost of service v. value of service,  .--practically, classification based upon rule of thumb,  .--the "spread" in classification between commodities,  .--similarly as between places,  .--commodity rates described,  .--natural in undeveloped conditions,  .--various sorts of commodity rates,  .--the problem of carload ratings,  .--carloads theoretically considered,  .--effect upon commercial competition,  .--new england milk rates,  .--mixed carloads,  .--minimum carload rates,  .--importance of car capacity,  .--market capacity and minimum carloads,  . uniform classification for the united states,  .--revival of interest since ,  .--overlapping and conflicting jurisdictions,  .--confusion and discrimination,  .--anomalies and conflicts illustrated,  .--two main obstacles to uniform classification,  .--reflection of local trade conditions,  .--compromise not satisfactory,  .--classifications and distance tariffs interlock,  .--general conclusions,  . chapter x the trunk line rate system: a distance tariff conditions prevalent in ,  .--various elements distinguished,  .--the macgraham percentage plan,  .--bearing upon port differentials,  .--the final plan described,  .--competition at junction points,  .--independent transverse railways,  .--commercial competition,  .--limits of the plan,  .--central traffic association rules,  . chapter xi special rate problems: the southern basing point system; transcontinental rates; port differentials, etc. contrast between the basing point and trunk line systems,  .--natural causes in southern territory,  .--economic dependence,  .--wide-spread water competition,  .--high level of rates,  .--the basing point system described,  .--its economic defences,  .--early trade centres,  .--water competition once more,  .--three types of basing point,  .--purely artificial ones exemplified,  .--different practice among railroads,  .--attempts at reform,  .--western _v._ eastern cities,  .--effect of recent industrial revival,  .--the texas group system,  .--an outcome of commercial rivalry,  .--local competition of trade centres,  .--possibly artificial and unstable,  .--the transcontinental rate system,  .--high level of charges,  .--water competition,  .--carload ratings and graded charges,  .--competition of jobbing centres,  .--canadian differentials,  .--"milling-in-transit" and similar practices,  .--"floating cotton,"  .--"substitution of tonnage,"  .--seaboard differentials,  .--historically considered,  .--the latest decision,  .--import and export rates,  - . chapter xii the movement of rates since ; rate wars contrast before and after ,  .--revenue per ton mile data,  .--their advantages and defects,  .--nature of the traffic,  .--low-grade traffic increasing,  .--growing diversification of tonnage,  .--present conditions illustrated,  .--length of the haul,  .--the proportion of local and through business,  .--effect of volume of traffic,  .--proper use of revenue per ton mile,  .--index of actual rates,  .--its advantages and defects,  .--difficulty of following rate changes since ,  .--passenger fares,  .--freight rates and price movements,  . improvement in observance of tariffs,  .--conditions in the eighties,  .--the depression of - ,  .--resumption of prosperity in ,  .--the rate wars of - ,  .--threatened disturbances in - ,  . chapter xiii the act to regulate commerce of its general significance,  .--economic causes,  .--growth of interstate traffic,  .--earlier federal laws,  .--not lower rates, but end of discriminations sought,  .--rebates and favoritism,  .--monopoly by means of pooling distrusted,  .--speculation and fraud,  .--local discrimination,  .--general unsettlement from rapid growth,  .--congressional history of the law,  .--its constitutionality,  .--summary of its provisions,  .--its tentative character,  .--radical departure as to rebating,  . chapter xiv - . emasculation of the law favorable reception,  .--first resistance from unwilling witnesses concerning rebates,  .--counselman and brown cases,  .--the brimson case,  .--relation to federal courts unsatisfactory,  .--interminable delay,  .--original evidence rejected,  .--the commission's court record examined,  .--rate orders at first obeyed,  .--the social circle case,  .--final breakdown in maximum (cincinnati) freight rate case,  .--other functions remaining,  .--the long and short haul clause interpreted,  .--the louisville and nashville case,  .--the "independent line" decision,  .--the social circle case again,  .--"rare and peculiar cases,"  .--the alabama midland (troy) decision,  .--attempted rejuvenation of the long and short haul clause,  .--the savannah naval stores case,  .--the dwindling record of complaints,  . chapter xv the elkins amendments ( ): the hepburn act of new causes of unrest in ,  .--the spread of consolidation,  .--the rise of freight rates,  .--concentration of financial power,  .--the new "trusts,"  .--the elkins amendments concerning rebates,  .--five provisions enumerated,  . more general legislation demanded,  .--congressional history - ,  .--railway publicity campaign,  .--president roosevelt's leadership,  .--the hepburn law,  .--widened scope,  .--rate-making power increased,  .--administrative v. judicial regulation,  .--objection to judicial control,  .--final form of the law,  .--broad _v._ narrow court review,  .--an unfortunate compromise,  .--old rates effective pending review,  .--provisions for expedition,  .--details concerning rebates,  .--the commodity clause,  .--history of its provisions,  .--publicity of accounts,  .--extreme importance of accounting supervision,  .--the hepburn law summarized,  . chapter xvi effects of the law of ; judicial interpretation, -' large number of complaints filed,  .--settlement of many claims,  .--fewer new tariffs,  .--nature of complaints analyzed,  .--misrouting of freight,  .--car supply and classification rules,  .--exclusion from through shipments,  .--opening new routes,  .--petty grievances considered,  .--decisions evenly balanced,  .--the banana and lumber loading cases,  .--freight rate advances,  .--general investigations,  . supreme court definition of commission's authority,  .--the illinois central car supply case,  .--economic v. legal aspects considered,  .--the baltimore and ohio decision,  .--the burnham, hanna, munger case,  .--the pacific coast lumber cases,  .--decisions revealing legislative defects,  .--the orange routing case,  .--the portland gateway order,  .--the commission's power to require testimony affirmed,  .--the baird case,  .--the "immunity bath" decision and the harriman case,  .--interpretation of the "commodity clause,"  .--means of evasion described,  . chapter xvii the mann-elkins act of prompt acquiescence by carriers,  .--opposition begins in ,  .--political developments, . president taft's bill,  .--three main features of the new law,  .--suspension of rate changes,  .--former defective injunction procedure remedied,  .--the new long and short haul clause,  .--provision for water competition,  .--the new commerce court,  .--congressional debates,  .--jurisdiction of the new court,  .--its defects,  .--prosecution transferred to the department of justice,  .--liability for rate quotations,  .--wider scope of federal authority,  .--the railroad securities commission, --its report analyzed,  .--the statute summarized,  . chapter xviii the commerce court: the freight rate advances of the commerce court docket,  .--the commerce court in congress,  .--supreme court opinions concerning it,  .--legal _v._ economic decisions,  .--law points decided,  .--the maximum (cincinnati) freight rate case revived,  .--real conflict over economic issues,  .--the louisville & nashville case,  .--the california lemon case,  .--broad _v._ narrow court review once more,  . the freight rate advances of ,  .--their causes examined,  .--weakness of the railroad presentation,  .--operating expenses and wages higher,  .--the argument in rebuttal,  .--"scientific management,"  .--the commission decides adversely,  . chapter xix the long and short haul clause: transcontinental rates "substantially similar circumstances and conditions" stricken out in ,  .--debate and probable intention of congress,  .--constitutionality of procedure,  .--nature of applications for exemption,  .--market and water competition,  . the intermountain rate cases,  .--the grievances examined,  .--the "blanket rate" system,  .--its causes analyzed,  .--previous decisions compared,  .--graduated rates proposed by the commission,  .--the commerce court review,  .--water v. commercial competition again,  .--absolute v. relative reasonableness,  .--legal technicalities,  .--minimum v. relative rates,  .--constitutionality of minimum rates,  . chapter xx the conflict of federal and state authority; open questions history of state railroad commissions,  .--the legislative unrest since ,  .--new commissions and special laws,  .--the situation critical,  .--particular conflicts illustrated,  .--the clash in ,  .--missouri experience,  .--the minnesota case,  .--the governors join issue,  .--the shreveport case,  . control of coastwise steamship lines,  .--panama canal legislation,  .--the probable effect of the canal upon the railroads, especially the transcontinental lines,  . index railroads chapter i the history of transportation in the united states[ ] significance of geographical factors,  .--toll roads before ,  .--the "national pike,"  .--canals and internal waterways before ,  .--the erie canal,  .--canals in the west,  .--first railroad construction after ,  .--early development in the south,  .--importance of small rivers,  . the decade - ,  .--slow railway growth, mainly in the east,  .--rapid expansion - ; western river traffic,  .--need of north and south railways,  .--traffic still mainly local,  .--effect of the civil war,  .--rise of new york,  .--primitive methods,  . the decades - ,  .--trans-mississippi development,  .--pacific coast routes opened,  .--development of export trade in grain and beef,  .--trunk line rate wars,  .--improvements in operation,  .--end of canal and river traffic,  . the decade - ,  .--phenomenal railway expansion,  .--transcontinental trade,  .--speculation rampant,  .--growth of western manufactures,  .--rise of the gulf ports,  .--canadian competition,  .--general résumé and forecast,  . public land grants,  .--direct financial assistance,  .--history of state aid,  .--federal experience with transcontinental roads,  . the possibility of a unified nation of ninety odd million souls, spread over a vast territory of three million square miles,--three-fourths of the area of europe,--was greatly enhanced at the outset by the geographical configuration of the continent of north america. it was fortunate, indeed, that the original thirteen colonies were strictly hemmed in along the atlantic seaboard, thus being protected against premature expansion. at the same time the north and south direction of this narrow coastal strip, with its variety of climates, soils, natural resources and products, brought about a degree of intercourse and mutual reliance of the utmost importance. the mere exchange of the dried fish and rum of new england, for the sugar, tobacco, molasses and rice of the southern colonies, paved the way for an acquaintance and intellectual intercourse necessary to the development of national spirit. throughout the colonial period, the protected coast waters and navigable rivers as far inland as the "fall line," rendered the problem of long distance transportation relatively easy. for everything went by water. population was compelled to develop the country somewhat intensively, by reason of the difficulty of westward expansion. but this population after the revolution began to press more and more insistently against the mountain barriers; so that the need of purely artificial means of transportation at right angles to the seaboard became ever more apparent. the period from the revolution down to , when stephenson's "rocket" made its first successful run between liverpool and manchester, attaining a speed of twenty-nine miles per hour, was characterized in the united states by increasing interest in canals and toll roads as means of communication. as involving less expenditure of capital, the highways were naturally developed first. in the first regular stage between new york and philadelphia covered the distance in three days, soon to be followed by the "flying machine," which made it in two-thirds of that time. six days were consumed in the stage trip from new york to boston. but by a considerable network of toll roads covered the northern territory,--systems which, as in kentucky by , attained a length of no less than four hundred miles. post roads linked up such remote points as st. louis, new orleans, nashville, charleston, and savannah by . pennsylvania had made an early beginning in ; and by had subscribed nearly two million dollars to fifty-six turnpike companies and wellnigh a fifth of that sum toward the construction of highway bridges. most of these roads throughout the country, however, were private enterprises, and, even where aided by the state governments, were imperfectly built and worse maintained, disjointed and roundabout. the need of a comprehensive highway system, especially for the connection of the coastal belt with the middle west, early engaged the attention of congress. washington seems to have fully appreciated its importance. ten dollars a ton per hundred miles for cost of haulage by road, necessarily imposed a severe restriction upon the extension of markets. the federal congress in appropriated one-twentieth of the proceeds from the sale of ohio lands to the construction of such highways. gallatin's interest in the matter five years later, led to his proposal of an expenditure of $ , , for the purpose. the cumberland road or "national pike" was the result. this great highway started from near the then centre of population in maryland and cut across the middle west, half-way between the lakes and the ohio river. from the upper reaches of the potomac it followed braddock's old road to uniontown, pennsylvania, then by wheeling over "zanes trace" to zanesville, ohio. from that point on it trended toward st. louis by way of columbus and indianapolis, ending at vandalia, illinois. during the space of thirty years about $ , , was expended upon it, and it undoubtedly did much to promote the settlement of the country. but the success of canals and railroads in the meantime sapped the vitality of the movement for further turnpike construction before st. louis was reached. by the close of the war of , in fact, it had become apparent that highways were destined to serve only as feeders after all; and not as main stems of communication. improved riverways and canals constituted the next advance in transportation method. so far as the latter were concerned, although the initial expense was great, the subsequent cost of movement as compared with turnpikes was, of course, low. especially was this cheapness of movement notable in river traffic. whereas it was said to cost one-third of the worth of goods to transport them by land from philadelphia to kentucky, the cost of carriage from illinois down to new orleans by water was reputed to equal less than five per cent, of their value. hence the steamboat, invented in and introduced on the ohio river in , opened up vast possibilities for enlarged markets. but it was not until the generation of sufficient power to stem the rapid river currents about that our internal waterways became fully utilized.[ ] from that period dates the rapid growth of pittsburg, cincinnati, and st. louis. the real interest of the east in western trade dates from the close of the war of . even then, however, the natural outlet for the products of the strip of newly settled territory west of the alleghanies, was still over the mountains to the atlantic seaboard. cotton culture in the south had not yet given rise to a large demand for food stuffs in the lower mississippi valley. it was a long and wellnigh impossible way around by the gulf of mexico. consequently the main attention of the people during the canal period between and was focussed upon direct means of communication between the coastal plain and the interior. a few minor artificial waterways, like the middlesex canal from boston to lowell, completed about , proved their entire feasibility from the point of view both of construction and profit. even earlier than this the dismal swamp canal and one along the james river in virginia had been projected and in part built. but the era of canal construction as such on a large scale cannot be said to begin until after the close of the war of . the most important enterprise, of course, was the building of the erie canal to unite the headwaters of the hudson river with the great lakes at buffalo. this waterway, began in , was completed in eight years and effected a revolution in internal trade. it was not only successful financially, repaying the entire construction in ten years, but it at once rendered new york the dominant seaport on the atlantic. philadelphia was at once relegated to second place. agricultural products, formerly floated down the susquehanna to baltimore, now went directly over the hudson river route. branch canals all over new york state served as feeders; and flourishing towns sprang up along the way, especially at junction points. the cost of transportation per ton from buffalo to new york, formerly $ , promptly dropped to less than one-fourth that sum. by wagon it was said to cost $ per hundred miles for transport, whereas charges by canal fell to one dollar. little wonder that the volume of traffic immensely increased, and that, moreover, the balance of power among western centres was at once affected. the future of chicago, as against st. louis, was insured; and the long needed outlet to the sea was provided for the agricultural products of the prairie west. the instant and phenomenal success of the erie canal immediately encouraged the prosecution of similar enterprises elsewhere. philadelphia pushed the construction of a complicated chain of horse railroads, canals and portages in order to reach the ohio at pittsburg. in an entire boat and cargo made the transit successfully. the cost of this enterprise exceeded $ , , ; but it was expected to provide a successful competitor for the erie canal. the latter in the meantime had been linked up with the ohio river by canals from cleveland to portsmouth, from toledo to cincinnati, and from beaver on the ohio, to erie on the lake. by the first of these routes in , no less than , barrels of flour, , bushels of wheat and , , staves were carried by canal on to new york. boston and baltimore were prevented from engaging in similar canal enterprises only by the advent of the railway. meantime the chesapeake and ohio canal was started in as a joint undertaking of maryland, virginia, and the federal government, to connect the potomac with the ohio. it was not completed in fact until , long after its potential usefulness had ceased. besides these through routes, canals for the accommodation of local needs were rapidly built in the east. boston was connected with lowell; worcester with providence; new haven with the connecticut river. in pennsylvania, especially, the anthracite coal industry, developing after , encouraged the building of artificial waterways. the delaware and hudson, the schuylkill, morris and lehigh canals were built between and along the natural waterways leading out from the hard coal fields. new jersey connected new york and philadelphia by the raritan canal in - at a cost of nearly $ , , ; and another canal to connect delaware and chesapeake bays was with difficulty, and only by the aid of the federal government, finally completed about at a cost of nearly $ , , . further south, many small canals and river improvements were made. the dismal swamp enterprise had already connected chesapeake bay and the coast waters and sounds of the carolinas; but provision for slack water navigation of the tennessee river at mussel shoals in alabama, and of the various branches of the ohio river in kentucky was not made until the middle of the thirties. the open prairies of the west offered the most inviting prospects for canal construction, both because of the dearth of roads and the ease of construction of artificial waterways. not only through routes to the east, as already described, but local enterprises of various sorts abounded on every side. chicago was connected with the mississippi system by way of the illinois and michigan canal; a route across the lower peninsula of michigan, and many feeders in indiana and ohio were built. the demands upon the capital of the country for these purposes during the twenty years after were enormous; and it was only by resort to state subventions and grants from the federal government out of the proceeds of sales of public lands, that so much was actually accomplished. state debts aggregating no less than $ , , for canal construction were incurred prior to . much of this investment proved ultimately unproductive; extravagance and fraud were rife. but the economic results were immediately apparent and highly satisfactory, as witnessed in the higher prices obtainable for all the products of the interior for transportation to the seaboard. flour, which could be had at three dollars a barrel at cincinnati in , rose to double that figure by ; and corn rose from twelve to thirty-two cents a bushel. the panic of and the subsequent depression, of course, put a severe check upon further canal building. but an even more potent force was the proved success of the newly invented mode of carriage by railroad. before the era of canal construction was definitely at an end. almost the only exception was the erie canal, which continued to prosper by reason of its strategic location. rates were reduced in ; and two years later the canal was widened and deepened to accommodate the ever increasing traffic. surplus revenues enabled the amortization of its debt; and by the revenue exceeded three million dollars annually. although the pressure of railway competition was increasingly felt; as late as , practically all the grain into new york was brought by canal barge. the movement of this canal tonnage, year by year, is shown by the diagram on page . as will be seen, it was not until the trunk line rate wars of - that the inferiority of the canal to the railroad, even in this favored instance, was finally demonstrated. the revival of interest in the erie canal which has occurred in recent years, leading to the expenditure of millions of dollars by the state of new york in still further enlarging it, is due to an effort to insure the supremacy of the port of new york in export trade against the growing competition of the gulf ports, which it originally gained when the canal was constructed. the first serious attempt at railroad operation in the united states was on the baltimore & ohio line in . the company, although chartered in , did not begin construction for seven years. it was three years later than this when peter cooper's "tom thumb" made a trial run out from baltimore with a record of thirteen miles per hour. a road from albany to schenectady was opened in ; and a series of connecting links was rapidly pushed westward across new york state, finally reaching buffalo in . but prior to , activity in railroad construction was most noticeable in pennsylvania: partly because of its lack of so admirable a water route to connect it with inland markets as was enjoyed by new york, and partly because of the growth of the coal business which caused the main lines of the reading railroad to be laid down as early as . the state of pennsylvania was busily engaged in improving her existing route over the mountains by replacing the canal and portage portions with rail lines. pittsburg, which formerly had been five and a half days distant, was thus connected by railroad in . cars built in the form of boat sections were to be transferred from the rails to canals along part of this route. the pennsylvania railroad aiming to provide continuous railway communication over the mountains, was not chartered until ; but, nevertheless, as early as pennsylvania had over two hundred miles of railway, about one-quarter of the mileage of the united states. new york and new jersey had about one hundred miles between them, while south carolina had one hundred and thirty-seven miles. the baltimore & ohio during this time was being slowly pushed westward; although it did not reach the ohio river until , two years after the erie had, by liberal state aid, been carried to the lakes at dunkirk, n.y. thus it appears that during the decade to railroad building had progressed unchecked by the panic of . this panic, in fact, by rendering the state construction of canals impossible, may actually have increased the interest in railroad building. the railways of this time were still mainly experimental. they were local and disconnected, serving rather as supplementary to, than as actual competitors of the existing water routes. in massachusetts and connecticut the lines radiating out from seaports were intended to serve only as feeders to coastwise traffic; just as short lines were built along the great lakes during the decade to to bring products out to a connection with the natural water routes. a notable exception was the continuous line which by was in operation lengthwise of the atlantic coast plain from new york south to wilmington, north carolina. the camden and amboy between philadelphia and new york was operated early in the thirties; about the same time that the philadelphia, wilmington & baltimore was completed. much interesting history centres about the first named road. it seems to have been a notoriously corrupting influence in new jersey politics from the outset. public opinion became so roused over its exactions, that a memorial from the merchants of new york to the thirtieth congress resulted. the enterprise was the most profitable of all the earlier companies, its net earnings in amounting to $ , . in it paid a twelve per cent. dividend. from washington south by way of fredericksburg and richmond, the southern states could be reached without undertaking the perilous passage round cape hatteras. by the only portions of the original colonies still isolated were new england, at one end, which was still obliged to depend upon long island transit to new york by boat; and in the far south, the back country behind charleston and savannah. several important economic causes conspired to stimulate railroad construction at a very early time in the southern states.[ ] they welcomed the new means of transportation even more eagerly than the wealthier, commercial and more densely populated north. ever since the invention of the gin in , the production of cotton had grown apace. profits were so high that all interest in other forms of agriculture waned. cotton production until about was mainly confined to the long narrow strip of piedmont territory, lying between the sandy "pine barrens" along the coast and the mountains in the rear. this fertile strip--the seat of the plantation system--thus geographically isolated, had only one means of communication with the outer world, namely the coast rivers debouching upon the sea at charleston, savannah, or, later on, upon the gulf at mobile. but these seaports were not conveniently situated to serve as local trade centres. they were separated from the cotton belt by the intervening pine barrens. the local business of buying the cotton from the planters, and in return supplying their imperative needs for supplies of all sorts, including even foodstuffs which they neglected to raise, was concentrated in a series of towns located at the so-called "fall line" of the rivers. from alexandria and richmond on the potomac and james, round by augusta, macon, and columbia to montgomery, alabama, such local centres of importance arose, each one just at the head of navigation. for some years profits were so large that heavy charges for transportation to the sea were patiently borne. but after the opening of the western cotton belt along the mississippi bottom lands after , the price of cotton experienced a severe decline, greatly to the distress of the older planters. for this reason an insistent demand for improved means of transportation had already brought about great interest in turnpike and canal building. south carolina at a very early date had expended about two million dollars for these purposes. steamboats on the smaller rivers were also used. immediately upon the successful demonstration of traction by steam the aid of the states, cities and individuals was invoked; so that a well planned system of railroads resulted even as early as  . the south carolina railroad between and most successfully operated a pioneer line, its securities being quoted at twenty-five per cent. above par. the charleston & hamburg line opened in , one hundred and thirty-seven miles long, was said to be the largest system under one management in the world. augusta & columbia were linked up with the coast. savannah also penetrated inland to the piedmont belt by a line finished in as far as macon. the interest in a through route to connect cincinnati and louisville with charleston was very keen; and had it not been for the tremendous fall in cotton prices in - , the project might have succeeded. as it was, a great railroad convention at knoxville in was attended by no less than four hundred delegates from nine different states. it was not so much the mileage of these roads which rendered them notable, as the fact of their intended reliance upon through freight instead of passenger business. roads in other parts of the country were as yet depending in the main upon passenger traffic or upon the carriage of what we would now call local or parcel freight. these southern lines were built to accommodate traffic in great staple agricultural products--cotton out and foodstuffs in. unlike the northern roads, also, they early adopted a uniform gauge and sought to promote long distance business. later developments in the south especially in the direction of improved service were very slow. the northern states speedily outstripped them; but the enterprise of this region in railroad building and operation at the outset has not been fully appreciated. the decade - was marked by slow growth of the railway net,--everywhere except in new england, where the main lines were being rapidly laid down. the doom of the canal as a competitor had been sealed, to be sure; but the dearth of private capital, except in new england, rendered progress slow until aid from the government was invoked. until this time private enterprise had been the main reliance. several important undertakings were now launched. the pennsylvania railroad was chartered in , but was not completed to pittsburg till . the boston & albany line was built; and buffalo had been reached. but neither the baltimore & ohio, nor the erie had yet been pushed to completion. the possibilities of the great northwest had not dawned upon the people. at the opening of the decade, st. louis was still almost three times as large as chicago. cincinnati was the most important western centre, its prestige being enhanced by the first all-rail line to the great lakes at sandusky, opened in . the relative importance of these inland centres is indicated by their populations. in these were as follows: cincinnati, , ; chicago, , ; st. louis, , ; and louisville, , . cincinnati retained its preëminence until after the civil war; but by had dropped to a low third in rank, only half the size of chicago and two-thirds the size of st. louis.[ ] during the decade to , the ann arbor line from detroit also was pushed on to chicago in , to cut off the roundabout trip by lake;[ ] but st. louis was still isolated; indianapolis was barely connected with the ohio river. the river trade thus still dominated the western situation. in the south one important enterprise monopolized all attention, namely the construction by the state of georgia of the western & atlantic road over the mountains from atlanta to chattanooga on the tennessee river.[ ] atlanta was to become the western terminus of the coast roads, built, as has been said, to provide an outlet to the sea for the piedmont cotton belt. this new enterprise was to open up a direct route, not alone to the new western south but to the entire northwest by connecting with a navigable branch of the ohio. it is an odd fact that at this time the southern ports were nearer the west than the cities of the north atlantic. part of the first rush of the forty-niners to california was by way of charleston and thence west over the charleston & hamburg line. from on, the western & atlantic line was under construction. in the meantime atlanta had been reached from the east; so that at the beginning of the next decade, two at least of the main arteries of the southern net were ready for business. the total mileage of the united states expanded in ten years after from , to upwards of , miles of line. for some time not over four or five hundred miles annually had been constructed; but suddenly the new mileage laid down in jumped to more than fourteen hundred miles. this was a presage of the great expansion to occur in the next few years,--an expansion made possible partly as a result of important mechanical improvements and inventions. notable among these was the substitution of the solid iron rail for the primitive method of plating beams with thin strips of iron. the manufacture of rails in the united states, begun in , did much to stimulate the subsequent growth. the repeal of the law of permitting free entry of railway iron which took place in , marks the beginning of a new era. during these eleven years almost five million dollars in duties on rails was refunded. the utmost activity in railroad building obtained from until the panic of , interrupted only by a minor disturbance in . the total mileage expanded more than threefold, attaining a total of , miles by . a veritable construction mania prevailed in the states of ohio, indiana, and illinois. not very much, relatively, was accomplished in new york and pennsylvania, and very little in new england, which was already well served. a dominant influence in promoting the new construction at this time was the imperative need of the south for foodstuffs. cotton culture was in full swing in the lowlands of alabama, mississippi and louisiana. an enormous steam and flat boat tonnage on the ohio and mississippi rivers had grown up to care for this trade.[ ] by the river shipping amounted to nearly two million tons. fifteen hundred out of four thousand steamboat arrivals at new orleans in , came from the ohio river and the upper mississippi. the vessels had also greatly increased in size. the flat boats which in carried only thirty tons of freight, were enlarged tenfold in tonnage and threefold in length by , and in that year first began to be towed back up the river. a rapid increase in coal shipments down stream from pittsburg also took place during the forties. from , bushels in , to , , bushels in and , , in , represents an enormous development of internal commerce. the lead mines of missouri shipping through st. louis had become important after and quadrupled in volume by , attaining a total of , , pigs of sixty pounds each. this traffic steadily dwindled, however, falling away by one half within the next ten years. memphis was rapidly growing, outstripping the city of natchez which had formerly played a more important part in the southern trade. but the most important element in this mississippi river business was the shipment down stream of food stuffs. produce received at new orleans was valued at $ , , in , $ , , in , and $ , , in . about thirty per cent. of this consisted of farm produce from the northwest, together with horses, mules, implements, and clothing. the need of ampler transportation facilities to accommodate all this business was apparent. a response came in plans for new north and south lines of railway. the difficulty of financing these enterprises was solved in part by the expedient of land grants by the different states. these amounted to no less than eight million acres under president fillmore, attaining a total of nineteen million acres under the pierce administration. by these grants, mainly in aid of railroads, had reached a total of no less than , , acres,--more than equal to the area of either of the states of ohio, or new york.[ ] the illinois central grant in was the largest among these. congress in had made over a tract of , , acres to the state of illinois to be used for this purpose. this gift was soon followed elsewhere by grants to aid the building of the mobile & ohio and the mississippi central, together with smaller roads in alabama and florida. the gulf of mexico was thus reached by through lines from the west in - . in other parts of the country railroads were pushed well out in advance of population. the mississippi was reached by the rock island system in , quickly followed by the alton, the burlington and the predecessor of the present northwestern system. the hannibal & st. joseph was the first to reach the missouri river in . there is no doubt that the discovery of gold in california greatly stimulated interest in all these far western enterprises. despite this remarkable record of growth, a corresponding development of long-distance communication between different parts of the country had not yet taken place. while the all-rail routes were open, they still consisted in large part of disconnected local lines. the new york central with difficulty in , and in spite of intense local opposition, succeeded in effecting a consolidation of what were originally eleven separate lines; but the union with the hudson river railroad was not to follow until . the boston & albany was still a local enterprise, although built with larger ends in view. at this time the possibility of long-distance carriage of grain was only very dimly appreciated. fast freight lines to operate without breaking bulk over independent roads, constituted the first step in this direction. such companies on the new york central in and on the erie two years later, were operating in the eastern trunk territory. the so-called green lines were engaging in long distance business by way of ohio river connections between the territory to the northwest and the great grain and pork consuming cotton belt. but railroad traffic as a whole was still relatively unimportant as compared with water carriage. the culmination of steadily increasing receipts on the erie canal did not occur until . river tonnage went on steadily increasing for another twenty years. the years just before the war seem to have marked the turning point in respect of canal competition; but the total volume of railroad shipments, nevertheless, still appears insignificant by comparison with the present day. the total traffic in on the pennsylvania railroad was only , tons east bound and , tons west bound; while on the new york central it was , and , tons, respectively. the important point was that the cost of shipment was steadily declining. according to h. c. carey, the passenger rate from chicago to new york had fallen from about seventy-five dollars to seventeen dollars in ; while the freight rate per bushel on wheat had fallen to twenty-seven cents; and per barrel of flour to eighty cents. nothing but the development of a large surplus production in the west was needed to create a great traffic; and this was dependent upon the spread of population and improvements in agricultural production which had not yet occurred. transportation as yet waited upon the progress of invention; not in instruments of transportation alone, but in all the other fields of industrial endeavor. the panic of and the increasing bitterness of the slavery question, followed by the outbreak of the civil war, quite diverted the attention of the country from internal development. railroad construction had already declined from , miles in to , miles in . it fell to less than miles in . brisk recovery set in after ; but it was not until that any rapid growth again ensued, or even a resumption of the activity of the preceding decade. all of the southern lines were prostrated; the north and south roads, like the illinois central system, stood still. the western railway net alone was slowly expanding. the burlington grew from miles in to over miles in ; and the chicago & northwestern then succeeded in bridging the mississippi. the erie was still a more important route by fifty per cent., measured by ton mileage, than the new york central; although its evil days, under the control of jim fiske and jay gould in - , were about to begin. the mecca of trade from the atlantic ports was still st. louis, although chicago outgrew it during the decade. the predominant direction of trade is shown by the widespread public interest in new york in the newly opened western & atlantic railroad, which by a spur from the erie road at salamanca, was to shorten the time of shipment of goods from new york to cincinnati from one month to a week. the commercial star of new york was steadily rising. a great aid thereto was, of course, the progress of consolidation among the connecting links to chicago. vanderbilt and scott were busily engaged in this constructive work. the former had shifted his interest from steamboats to railroads, and became dominant in the harlem and hudson river roads in - . three years later he secured control of the new york central from albany west, and consolidated it with the hudson river line. these trunk line roads, the pennsylvania and the new york central, both finally secured connections with chicago in . a channel for new through currents of trade merely awaited the growth of business. it is important to realize the relative primitiveness of transportation at the close of the civil war.[ ] the bessemer steel process was not perfected until the latter half of the decade.[ ] iron rails still rendered light rolling stock necessary. but after the price of steel rails rapidly declined, from about $ (currency) per ton in to $ in , and to $ in .[ ] this doubtless gave a tremendous impetus to the developments of later years, although its effects were not evident for some time. one of the most troublesome features of the time were the differences of gauge which rendered through traffic difficult. in new york and new england, the standard gauge was four feet eight and one-half inches. west and south of philadelphia it was four feet ten inches. in the far south it was five feet; and in canada and maine, either five feet six inches or six feet. between chicago and buffalo five different roads still had no common gauge. clumsy expedients of shifting car trucks, three rails or extra wide wheel flanges were adopted. even as late as albert fink refers to the celerity with which trucks could be changed at junction points, not over ten minutes being requisite.[ ] the first double tracking in the country, that of the new york central, was not accomplished until the war period. there was not even a bridge over the hudson at albany until , and no bridge at st. louis, although the northwestern had bridged the mississippi higher up. no night trains were run generally. no export grain trade existed, although feeble beginnings had been apparent at new york for some years. philadelphia did not even have a trunk line as late as the end of the war; and neither boston nor philadelphia had regular steamer lines to europe. for the great staples of trade, the canals and rivers were largely utilized. the erie canal during the war, took twice as much freight as the erie and new york central together. even in the ton mileage of the erie canal-- , , --compared with a ton mileage of , , for the new york central and , , for the erie railroad. and in , eighty-five per cent of the freight between new york and philadelphia still went by water. * * * * * railroad construction during the next decade to was extremely active. east of the mississippi developments were confined in the main to building branches and feeders. one new through line in the east was opened, by the entrance of the baltimore & ohio into new york in and into chicago in the following year. another important enterprise was the building of the air line route to connect atlanta with richmond by a road traversing the fertile piedmont belt. the completion by the state of massachusetts of the hoosac tunnel line, providing a new outlet to the west from boston, was also a notable achievement. this route was at last opened in after a painful experience extending over twenty years, involving an expenditure by the state of about $ , , . most of the new railroad building of the seventies took place in the upper mississippi valley. the states of wisconsin, minnesota, iowa, (eastern) nebraska and kansas were rapidly gridironed with new lines. much of this construction took place after , activity culminating in with the building of no less than , miles of line. the panic of put an end to all this, except in california where expansion went on unabated. nearly one thousand miles of new line were added to the systems of this state during the five years to ,--nearly doubling its mileage during this period. elsewhere in the country little was accomplished during the protracted hard times. in , for instance, only seventeen hundred miles were constructed. this cessation of development did not change for the better until the resumption of general prosperity in . the net result of ten years building was, nevertheless, considerable, represented by an expansion from , to upwards of , miles of line. railroad building, in fact, increased about two and one-half times as fast as population. so that by the united states was already more amply furnished with transportation mileage than any country in europe. among the important events to be associated with this period was the opening of the first transcontinental route, marked by the joining of the union and central pacific railroads in . the history of its construction under liberal land grants from the federal government belongs in another place. aside from the political effect, the economic results were immediate. population at once flowed over onto the pacific slope. and a large volume of trade was at once deflected from the sea route round cape horn. the value of goods shipped by water between new york and san francisco, which in amounted to $ , , , fell in the next year to $ , , , and in to less than $ , , . the success of the enterprise, together with growing interest in the pacific states, doubtless led to the opening of construction of the northern pacific as a transcontinental route in  . the rapid development of an export trade in grain to europe between and was a direct result of improvements in agriculture and the opening up of a surplus grain-producing area. as yet this territory lay mainly east and south of chicago. even as late as , over four-fifths of the eastbound trunk line traffic originated not further west than illinois. wisconsin and iowa contributed less than ten per cent. of this business. the methods of handling wheat were still quite primitive. during the civil war thousands of men were employed to unload the grain by hand, every tenth barrel being weighed. elevators had been used in chicago for some time but no eastern city had them until . prior to , when the first grain elevator was set up at baltimore, the cost of thus unloading grain by hand amounted to four or five cents per bushel. at boston until , all the export grain was still unloaded back of the city and hauled across to the waterfront. the volume of exportable surplus products of the country rose rapidly after . an increase from five or six bushels of wheat production _per capita_ in , to nearly nine bushels in , left a large margin for foreign sale. the growth of such traffic, big with importance for the carriers, is indicated by the opposite diagram. the large total of , , bushels of wheat and (equivalent) wheat flour reached in , partly as a result of the closing of markets in the southern states, was not again surpassed for more than a decade. the most notable increase ensued after , when the level rose about fifty per cent., to become established thereafter upon a permanently higher plane. a second sudden boost occurred again in when wheat exports rose rapidly to a total of , , bushels within three years. the disastrous failure of european crops in , with a coincident bumper yield in the united states, led to the immediate climax of the movement in . these exports, moreover, which fifty years earlier, owing to the cost of carriage, were almost exclusively in the form of flour, were now in about three-fourths constituted of raw wheat. examination of the diagram with its steep pyramid of development at this time is convincing as to the stimulus thereby given to the railway interests. foreign trade in cattle and beef products also enormously increased during these years. in only steers were exported, while in , , , and in , , head were shipped abroad. the value of preserved meats exported quadrupled in one year after , and grew eightfold by . doubtless part of this disposition of products abroad during the seventies was due to a cessation of demand at home owing to the prevalent hard times; but the important discovery was incidentally made that the demand abroad existed, and merely required cheap transportation for its successful development. [illustration: exports of domestic wheat and flour] the second step necessary for permanently developing railroad business was a lowering of the charges. this was first brought about during the seventies through unregulated competition between the trunk lines. the fiercest warfare occurred during the years immediately following the entrance of the baltimore and ohio and the grand trunk railroads into chicago in . this was some five years after the pennsylvania and the new york central had consolidated their through lines to the same point. these two original rivals had already slashed rates indiscriminately. charges of $ . and cents for first-and fourth-class freight from chicago to new york in , had already for a brief period in the following year dropped to a uniform rate of twenty-five cents for all business. as hadley justly observes, such rates could not long prevail; and for the next few years nominal rates of one dollar, and one dollar and fifty cents for first class, and sixty and eighty cents for fourth class obtained. the outbreak of open warfare between the baltimore & ohio and the pennsylvania over the charges made by the latter for the use of its lines between philadelphia and new york, occurred in . grain rates of sixty cents per hundred pounds from chicago to new york during fell to forty cents in and to thirty cents in . special or commodity rates were often as low as twelve cents. after a year's truce, only partially observed by the leading participants, discord again prevailed during . the commercial rivalries of seaboard cities now became involved. different or specially favorable rates had been accorded to baltimore and philadelphia as compared with new york since .[ ] rates finally fell lower than ever before. this was especially true of grain. the published rate in march, , was forty-five cents per hundred pounds from chicago to new york. in may it fell to twenty cents--a rate almost as low as prevails today with all modern improvements in methods of conducting the business. westbound rates dropped correspondingly. quotations from new york to chicago at twenty-five cents per hundred pounds first class, and sixteen cents fourth class were freely given. actual rates were often much lower than this. rival cities again intervened and finally the whole matter was of necessity referred for arbitration to a commission. even then both the erie and the baltimore & ohio roads were well advanced on the road to bankruptcy. for us, however, the immediate result of importance was a permanent reduction of the general level of freight rates, not alone for the trunk line territory but for the entire country. the diagram on page shows this plainly. from an average revenue per ton of freight moved one mile of . cents in , intermittently upheld until , the fall of over one-third to about . cents in was sudden and continuous. the end was not yet. the renewed outbreak of a rate war between the trunk lines in and again in led to further reductions. the decision in of the thurman commission on differentials settled nothing.[ ] all kinds of traffic were affected. immigrants were carried from new york to chicago for $ . a head. east-bound grain rates were as low as eight cents. at last, late in , the warfare was terminated by an elaborate pooling agreement. these struggles brought about great reductions in the revenue of the carriers concerned; but declines in rates after this period were, in the main, more gradual, with short intervals of relief interspersed. one immediate result of these lower freight rates was the impetus given to economy and systematic operation. this is the period when, as we have said, pooling as a device for restraint of competition first appeared in the "evening" contracts on beef shipments in the west, in the notable southern railway & steamship association in and in the trunk line pool in . agreement between the anthracite coal roads began about and has continued with increasing effectiveness ever since.[ ] this was also the heyday of the through freight lines which were now operating from every important western centre. in the first attempt at a systematic scheme of rate adjustment between competing localities was made in trunk line territory.[ ] order was indeed emerging out of chaos. in respect of operation, larger locomotives and cars and longer trains were rapidly coming into use. on the lake shore the average train load in was tons. nine years later it had risen to tons. the widespread substitution of steel for iron rails was not yet to follow for some time. for in only three-tenths of the mileage of the country was laid with steel. this proportion rose to eight-tenths in . it was doubtless this change during the eighties which made possible the heavy decrease in operating expenses which occurred during the five years subsequent to . it appears, indeed, as if the need of economy was enforced by the decline of rates in progress; but, as usual, the supply of economies waited upon the demand and, in fact, tarried well behind it. to this circumstance may be attributed some of the financial hardships suffered by the roads during the ensuing interval between the reduction of rates during the seventies and the mechanical improvements of the succeeding decade. an incidental result of the rate wars of this period, it may also be noted, was the readjustment of the relative shares of the great seaports in foreign business. philadelphia, especially, increased its quota of exports from about eleven per cent, in to over twenty per cent. in . much of this was gained, however, from the southern ports, as the relative status of baltimore, new york, and boston remained about the same. a second important consequence of the severe decline in railroad rates during the seventies, was the permanent supersession of canals and riverways in favor of railroads as means of transportation. the erie canal outlasted all the other artificial water routes, most of which had succumbed to rail competition by the close of the civil war. but even as late as , practically all of the grain arriving at new york came by canal. the change, when it occurred, came suddenly. [illustration: freight receipts at new york] no canal could meet the fierce slashing of rates which suddenly supervened on the rail lines. since , when the canal carried twice the traffic of all the trunk lines, until - when the rail and water lines were about even, the railroads had steadily gained in tonnage.[ ] the turning point was reached in when the canal traffic actually began to decline. between and the aggregate tonnage (both ways) on the new york canals fell away about half, spasmodically recovered during the great expansion of exports in - , held constant for five years, and thereafter steadily dwindled away. as the accompanying diagram shows, the rise of railroad tonnage was rapid up to . thereafter for several years during the actual panic, despite the railroad wars and low rates, no great change occurred. but by , eighty-three per cent. of all-grain receipts at atlantic ports came by rail; and over nine-tenths of all the commerce between east and west had left the water routes. at new york the three main railroads carried six times the traffic of all the state canals in . after that time the canal barges were loaded only with coal, lime, sand, cement, and similar low-grade traffic. so that in the rapid expansion of business, which, as our diagram shows, occurred after , the canal shared not at all. the disparity between east-and westbound tonnage was notably great. in this eastbound traffic was about three times as great as the tonnage west bound. in it was seven and one-half times as great, declining thereafter to a proportion of about . to during the late nineties. this inequality, of course, whetted the appetite of the carriers for back loads to fill the westbound trains, and undoubtedly gave an impetus to rate disturbance. the rate wars led by the new york central during were largely due to this fact. as for water carriage elsewhere, the rivers soon followed the canals in steady decline of relative importance. on the southern streams, such as the cumberland and tennessee, the principal diversion to the railroads of traffic in foodstuffs south bound from the west, took place in the five years subsequent to .[ ] high-water mark in the mississippi trade was reached in , the year of the completion of the jetties for the improvement of navigation at the mouth of the river. a steady decline thereafter has ensued down to the present day. new orleans had then only recently engaged in foreign trade in grain. exports of wheat and flour (equivalent) had suddenly risen from less than , , bushels in to over , , bushels in . at this time this came principally by river. it was nearly ten years later before the illinois central actively engaged in such export business. but when the railroads finally seized upon it, the river trade was doomed. the only exception to this decrease of inland water transportation occurred on the great lakes. the carriage of coal, iron ore, and lumber rapidly increased. through the detroit river, the tonnage grew from , , in to , , tons in ; and through the st. mary's canal from , in to , , tons in . inasmuch as a fair proportion of this rapidly growing business was ultimately destined to reach the seaboard either as raw material or in the form of manufactures, this water traffic contributed to, rather than lessened the prosperity of the trunk lines operating east of the lakes. the growing importance of railroads during the seventies was accompanied by collateral developments, which deserve mention in a general preliminary survey. the abuses of personal discrimination and favoritism, constantly recurring rate wars and disturbances, the financial scandals of construction companies and subsidiary corporations, the frauds perpetrated by unscrupulous financiers like gould and fiske, coupled with the arrogance of railroad managements, aroused widespread public hostility. this led to an insistent demand for public regulation and control. the granger movement formed its open expression in the western states. the searching inquiries of the famous hepburn committee of the new york legislature in voiced it in the east. the windom report of was called forth on behalf of the federal government. the first railroad commission, that of massachusetts in , was soon followed by others all over the country. and a campaign of education was set under way which finally led to the federal inquiries of the cullom committee of and the federal act to regulate commerce of the following year. * * * * * the decade of the eighties, so far as common carriers are concerned, was primarily characterized by new railroad construction. over , miles of line were built in ten years,--a mileage just about equal to the total new construction for both the ten preceding and the ten following years combined. the movement culminated in , and again in , in two veritable crazes of promotion and speculative activity, unequalled before or since in our railroad history. the first was suddenly stopped by a short, sharp railroad panic in  . jay gould's operations in union and kansas pacific set a pace for manipulation and fraud, which could have no other sequel. the second craze was doubtless in part restrained by the moral effect of the passage in of the act to regulate commerce; although, viewed in a larger way, it was more directly due to the exhaustion both of the supply of capital and of confidence among investors. these two outbreaks of railroad promotion are deserving of further comment, both by reason of their extent and character. prior to , new railroads constructed had averaged a little over two thousand miles annually. the figures for - , respectively, were , and , miles, rising finally to a total of , miles in . this record has never been surpassed but once: when, four years later at the height of the second "boom," , miles of new line were laid down. a large part of this building was in the far west and southwest, these regions being now opened up as the upper mississippi valley had been developed between and the panic of . a second transcontinental route was opened in , through the joining of the southern pacific and atchison topeka and santa fe roads at deming and el paso. within two years thereafter two direct routes to connect the southern pacific system with new orleans were completed. the pacific northwest was admitted to rail connection with the rest of the country in - , by two significant events. the northern pacific road was then opened, and the oregon short line to connect the columbia river basin with the union pacific system. the great northern road reached the pacific slope in the year , accompanied by the canadian pacific, constructed just over the border. this activity in far western railroad building was mainly due to the growth of the pacific slope; but it was also favored by the successful competition of railways with the water routes round cape horn. it was estimated that as late as , not over one quarter of the total tonnage moved into california went by rail. but the railroads then inaugurated a system of special contracts by which shippers who agreed to use the railroads exclusively, were given considerably reduced rates. by when the plan was discontinued, the percentage of tonnage carried to california by rail rose from twenty-five to between sixty and seventy-five percent. in the eastern states, the eighties was the period of speculative "parallelling" of existing lines of road, in order to dragoon the older lines into purchasing the new ones at extortionate prices. this was done under the guise of affording satisfaction to the popular outcry for competition as a means of reducing rates. two notable instances were the building of the west shore road, paralleling the new york central; and of the nickel plate line which similarly ran for miles within a few rods of the lake shore across northern ohio. the fact was that the prolonged period of depression during the seventies had brought about an accumulation of surplus capital awaiting investment. the rapid repayment of its debt by the united states government, also released a large supply of funds. general prosperity prevailed and prices were everywhere rising. this increase of prices, extending from commodities to all issues of stocks and bonds, reduced the rate of return upon investment for these new supplies of capital in all the older enterprises. the only alternative, in seeking for a liberal return on investments, was to risk it in new ventures. speculation ran riot. all sorts of projects were eagerly taken up, and among these, new railroads were most important. they were freely built, far in advance of population in the west or of prospective needs for enlargement in the east, not so much sometimes to develop the country, as to enrich the promoters. that they ultimately served the public interest was not the main concern in too many instances. this was also the heyday of the fraudulent construction company, already so ably utilized by the builders of the pacific roads.[ ] in short, speculation in every conceivable form ran riot in a way not repeated thereafter for nearly twenty years. aside from rampant speculation, american railroad history during the eighties must record various other economic events of importance. the city of new york and the new york central railroad were at the culmination of their relative importance in the export trade of the country. the volume of eastbound tonnage was enormous in the early eighties. in , , , tons of freight east bound were carried by the new york central alone, a figure surpassed in only two years until . another event of importance was the general westward drift of population and agriculture. this was accompanied by a corresponding migration of manufactures inland from the atlantic seaboard. the lines from the central west to the south, such as the illinois central and the cincinnati, new orleans & texas pacific road, had formerly relied almost entirely upon the carriage of grain or flour and packing-house products from the farms of ohio, indiana, and illinois to the cotton-raising south. during the latter half of the eighties they carried an ever increasing proportion of manufactured goods, such as boots and shoes, clothing, wooden ware, harnesses and groceries,--in fact everything denoted by the words general merchandise. more and more the supplies of grain, flour and packing-house products were being produced in iowa, nebraska, and kansas, while larger quantities of general merchandise originated in the middle west. the result was a need for new diagonal trunk lines from such points as kansas city and omaha into the lower mississippi valley. the decline of cincinnati as a great pork-packing centre dates from this time. memphis and vicksburg derived a new importance at the junction of such lines as the kansas city, memphis & birmingham with the older mississippi river roads. at about this time, in , also, occurred the opening of the gulf ports for the export of the surplus grain products of the territory west of the mississippi. the significance of this for the eastern trunk lines did not appear until later; but the occurrence forms a part of that westward trend of population above mentioned. these years were all characterized by the increasing importance of long-distance through business, as distinguished from mere local trade. the markets of the country as a whole, the areas of commercial competition, were steadily expanding. viewed in a large way, it was doubtless this economic phenomenon which at this time emphasized the need of centralized federal control, instead of state regulation, if control there were to be. this found its expression in the passage by congress of the interstate commerce act of  . a phenomenon of national importance was the rapid expansion of export trade in staple commodities, through new orleans, galveston and other gulf ports. this began in when the illinois central first engaged in export business in grain. it soon assumed considerable proportions, with the growth of population and agriculture in the southwestern part of the united states; and, with the completion of the panama canal in , will doubtless be even more notable in future. the opening of new railway connections with these gulf ports about led to still further expansion of this trade. an immediate result was of course a decline in the relative importance of the great atlantic seaports, particularly new york. a growing appreciation of this fact is accountable for the great interest in new york state in projects for enlarging the erie canal. a few figures, together with the diagram on the next page, illustrate the situation. a generation ago about nine-tenths of our exports of wheat and about seven-tenths of our exports of flour, went out through the port of new york. in less than one-half of our wheat and less than one-third of our flour was exported through the same city. the larger part of this loss ensued after , with the opening of new lines to the gulf ports as above mentioned. the new york commerce commission in its report for found that for , while the nation's total foreign shipments of wheat was larger than at any time since , new york actually exported twenty million bushels less than seven years earlier. exports in were the smallest in her history, forming, that is to say, the lowest proportion of the total exports of the united states. they were actually about a million bushels of wheat less than went out through the two principal gulf ports. an indirect result of this growth of new orleans and galveston was an intense competition between all the atlantic trunk lines interested in the eastern seaports and the railroads tributary to the gulf of mexico. the part of the country most affected by this competition, of course, was that portion about equidistant from the two sea coasts. this rivalry led to rate wars on a scale not witnessed before since the trunk line struggles during the seventies. st. louis, kansas city and all the region thereabouts, enjoyed the benefit of ruinously low rates as a consequence,--an advantage not accorded to other parts of the country. one cannot doubt that this factor was most influential in encouraging the growth of their population and trade. [illustration: export of wheat by seaports million bushels] the development of the gulf ports more recently, together with the situation respecting rate wars on export grain, is still further indicated by the chart. when new orleans in considerably increased its business through the activities of the illinois central railroad, it speedily developed that climatic conditions led to saturation of the grain with moisture in the vessels' holds. this fact, together with other difficulties, discouraged progress. but, for a time, with the revival of foreign commerce in , both the gulf and atlantic ports shared in the greatly increased business. galveston had now come into the field; and at times surpassed new orleans in importance by virtue of the development of wheat fields in the southwest. but the overweening ambition of these gulf ports, threatening as they did the supremacy of new york, led to intense rivalry. all the lines to the gulf became finally pitted against all the trunk lines serving the atlantic seaboard. the advantage for two or three years seemed to lie with the southern lines; and, as the chart indicates, in - grain exports through new orleans and galveston actually exceeded those of any other ports. after the utter collapse of export business in , trouble once more threatened to break out; but it was fortunately averted by a compromise effected in . the gulf lines on through freight demanded a substantial differential to offset certain disabilities, such as the longer haul, poorer service and climatic damage to which they were exposed. the trunk lines successfully met this contention in part, and finally brought about a peaceful settlement of the difficulty. under this arrangement of a small differential in favor of the gulf, new york, as the chart shows, has once more resumed its preëminence as compared with the rest of the country. but of late the ever-lessening volume of surplus american grain for export to europe[ ] has rendered the question of far less importance than at one time it threatened to assume. the rapid growth and development of the canadian railroads and ports has also been notable in recent years. the grand trunk railway was a factor in chicago business from the very first; and had to be reckoned with in all trunk line rate adjustments. the dressed beef rate war of proved this fact. but a new era of canadian competition was inaugurated with the opening by the canadian pacific of the so-called "soo" route in , across the straits of mackinac, thus opening a short line from st. paul and minneapolis to the east. persistent rate wars during the next few years, particularly - , finally led to recognition of the claims of this lien by the trunk lines. much business was undoubtedly diverted from chicago. between and the flour shipped from minneapolis increased over fifty per cent., yet the proportion going by way of chicago largely declined. much of this business, of course, ultimately reaches the seaboard by the combined lake and rail routes; but a large part goes out through canada during the open season. yet, on the other hand, it is equally true that the wonderful development of the canadian northwest since , contributes in many ways to the prosperity of american carriers and seaports. as for new railroad construction since , as shown by the statistical chart on page , it has been proportionately much slower than during the eighties. from about five thousand miles laid down in , a drop ensued to less than two thousand miles in each of the four years of depression after . and the former rate was not resumed until , since which time construction has ranged about six thousand miles annually. this slackened rate of growth during the last fifteen years is an indication of a fact of great importance. the country as a whole with almost , miles of line in seems to be fairly well supplied with transportation routes. it seems as if the main trunk lines and systems had now been provided, leaving for the future the problem of constructing branches and feeders and of increasing facilities upon the main lines already built by duplication of tracks and enlargement of terminals. a comparison of the rates of growth of mileage and traffic, or of density of traffic, shows how new construction is lagging behind the development of business. present conditions may best be shown by a few figures. the total mileage of the united states is nearly equal to a ten track railroad completely encircling the globe. the united states had already in about forty per cent. of the aggregate mileage of the world, considerably exceeding the total mileage of all the countries of europe combined. the situation may be illustrated in another way, by reference to the relation of mileage to population and area. europe in had about . kilometres of line to every , inhabitants, as compared with . kilometres (twenty-six miles) for the united states. this shows that proportionately to population the united states is about six times as well equipped with railroads as europe. similar results appear with reference to superficial area. as compared with europe alone, we have about two-thirds as much mileage to every square mile of territory, despite the fact that our density of population is only about one-seventh of that of austria hungary--one of the most sparsely populated countries in europe. these figures show conclusively that our railroad problems for the future will be mainly concerned with accommodating the huge volume of existing traffic along the routes already built, rather than in seeking to develop new ones to parallel the old. * * * * * several essential peculiarities of american railroad development stand out in sharp relief by comparison with the experience of europe. the most significant, perhaps, is the large amount of public participation in construction, evinced through liberal grants of aid in lands, credit and cash by both the state and federal governments. the huge aggregate of these state subventions is not generally appreciated. because our railroads are now private concerns, so far at least as legal title is concerned, it is too often assumed in public discussion that they owe their existence solely to private initiative and enterprise. with all credit to their sturdy builders, to whose vision and courage so much is due, the plain historical fact remains that the people of the united states have had a large share in the great task of creating our present railway net,--not indirectly alone, through settlement of the virgin territory, but immediately and directly through land grants and subventions.[ ] the total of land grants by state and federal governments in aid of railroads, according to the most careful estimates, is approximately, , , acres,--that is to say, about , square miles. the united states alone is believed to have given about , , acres or , square miles. for purposes of comparison, the following table of present-day areas is useful. german empire , sq. miles france , sq. miles texas , sq. miles new england states , sq. miles illinois , sq. miles belgium , sq. miles massachusetts , sq. miles it thus appears that a gift of territory greater by about one-fifth than the entire area either of the german empire or france, almost equal in size to the state of texas or four times the new england states, has, at one time or another, been made in aid of railroad construction. the federal grants equal about two-thirds of the area of the new england states, or, in other words, are about five times the size of the state of massachusetts. a large proportion of the area of the newer commonwealths was offered as a bonus to railroads. seven western states--including, for example, minnesota, iowa, and wisconsin--gave away from a fifth to a quarter of their birthrights. nebraska donated one-seventh, and california one-eighth. the lone star state discovered in that in her youthful ardor she had given away some , , acres more than she possessed.[ ] shall it ever be said, in the face of such evidence, that these common carriers are private concerns, to be administered solely in the interest of holders of their securities? as concerns aid in the form of funds or credit, that is to say, through subscription to railroad stocks or bonds, it is hazardous to venture statistics, particularly for the separate states and municipalities. but the statement[ ] of direct appropriations and subscriptions to securities on the next page is as reliable as any. the amount of municipal and local aid can only be a matter of guess work, even nominally, to say nothing of its real cash value. including everything from the heavy investments of such cities as baltimore ($ , , ) or cincinnati ($ , , ) down to those of little places like watertown, wisconsin,[ ] with its railroad debt of $ , on a population of , souls ($ _per capita_), the total for local aid as above stated seems conservative enough. for massachusetts alone no fewer than town and city bond issues for railroad construction were authorized in the forty years to . the municipalities in wisconsin by , despite its later settlement, issued about seven million dollars in bonds for similar purposes. as long as the state legislatures were free to appropriate moneys, they did so with a lavish hand; but when, as in illinois in , they were constitutionally prohibited from doing so, the enthusiasm shifted to the lesser governmental units. forty-three counties in nebraska, between and , voted subsidy bonds to railroads to the amount of $ , , . in the case of towns and cities, also, it was possible to play off one against another. no ambitious community could stand idly by and see a new railroad go to a rival place. there was no option but to vote bonds. and farmers, as in illinois, who had no cash, simply mortgaged their farms. it is clear that in the aggregate these local contributions greatly exceeded in amount those of the state and national governments. _amounts granted to railroads_ alabama $ , , arkansas $ , , delaware $ , florida $ , , georgia $ , , illinois $ , , indiana $ , , kentucky $ , louisiana $ , , maryland $ , , massachusetts $ , , michigan $ , , minnesota $ , , missouri $ , , new york $ , , north carolina $ , , ohio $ , pennsylvania. $ , , south carolina $ , , tennessee $ , , texas $ , , virginia $ , , ------------ total (approximately) $ , , united states: bonds $ , , interest to $ , , ------------ $ , , municipal and local $ , , ------------ $ , , a true estimate of the proportions of this public aid recognizes, of course, that many of these grants possessed only a nominal value. the eighty-mile line in texas, cited by potts as the recipient of , acres of land, was glad enough to dispose of them for sixteen cents an acre. stickney mentions a minnesota half-breed member of the legislature who took ten dollars in cash for his vote on a railroad bond subsidy, rather than $ , in capital stock. but, on the other hand, if the land or bonds had little value, the roads themselves were actually laid down at a very low cost. it was the proportion of public aid to total real investment which was significant. wisconsin to had officially subsidized its roads to the amount of over $ , , , including lands at three dollars per acre. this sum was sufficient to have met one-half the legitimate cost of construction of the properties then existent. reliable evidence[ ] tends to show that the state and national governments, up to , had pledged themselves one way or another for a sum equivalent to one-fifth of the cost of construction of the , miles of line then in the united states. and approximately another fifth, at the very least, must have been contributed from local and municipal sources. in point of time, public aid by the states was quite unevenly distributed.[ ] massachusetts and maryland, about , were the first to take notice. but in the northern states most of the activity was confined to the period of - ; whereas, in the south, governmental subsidies did not become frequent until . the whole movement, so far as the separate states were concerned, came to an end about ; after which time, with the exception of massachusetts and texas, little more financial encouragement of the sort is recorded. in many instances the hands of legislators were tied by constitutional prohibitions; and in other cases the railway net had been so far completed as to lessen the zeal of the public in the work. the centre of interest after the civil war, in fact, is to be found in the activities of the federal government. more than a broad-line sketch of the land grants and subsidies to railroads by the united states would be out of proportion.[ ] sporadic grants in the south were made directly as early as ; but the first considerable transfer was made by act of congress in . this statute ceded to the state of illinois the alternate, even-numbered sections of land for six sections in width on each side of the projected illinois central railroad and its branches. the state then promptly turned over these lands to the promoters of the line. the federal government lost nothing by the transaction. rather did it gain,--the lands having been long in the market,--through the sale of the odd sections at a more than doubled price. similar extensions of this grant soon followed down through alabama and mississippi. then other states demanded recognition. missouri, arkansas, iowa, louisiana, wisconsin and minnesota were in turn appeased. the last direct grant to a state was made to michigan in . with the rise of interest in the far west, the federal government during the civil war period inaugurated a new policy of direct charter and subsidy. under this plan most of the transcontinental lines were built. the union pacific railroad was the most notable beneficiary of the federal government. its experience may be offered as typical. by an act of , twenty alternate sections of land per mile were granted, together with a subscription to junior bonds to the amount of $ , , . with this substantial encouragement the road was soon completed. the following table gives details concerning the succeeding grants to other companies.[ ] _federal aid to railroads_ bonds lands ($ . per acre.) union pacific $ , , $ , , kansas pacific $ , , $ , , central branch (u.p.) $ , , $ , sioux city and pacific $ , , $ , central pacific $ , , $ , , western pacific $ , , $ , ----------- ----------- $ , , (about) $ , , the primary investment of the united states in this pioneer road was thus considerable. despite elaborate sinking-fund provisions, the combination of speculation, fraud and mismanagement in its affairs, rendered even the payment of current interest charges impossible. matters went from bad to worse, especially after when several new competitive routes were opened--the southern and northern pacific roads, the atchison and the burlington. bankruptcy ensued in , a state of affairs which, as it soon appeared, could not be bettered until provision should be made for settlement of the government's claim.[ ] various proposals for partial payment proved unsuccessful. until at last, in , under threat of foreclosure proceedings, the banking interests in charge of reorganization agreed to a settlement in full--$ , , principal and $ , , interest. the outcome a year later on the kansas pacific, was less fortunate. the united states received payment of the principal of its lien, $ , , ; but was obliged to forego the interest, amounting to about as much more. then, in turn, in , the central pacific claim, amounting to $ , , principal and $ , , interest was disposed of by being refunded in notes payable semi-annually over a period of ten years. thus, with unexpected ease and despatch, was the direct interest of the united states in railroad affairs brought to a brilliant conclusion. a striking characteristic of american transportation history, emphasized by the foregoing account of land grants and subsidies, is its essentially speculative character. railroads were more often constructed in advance of population and settlement than to accommodate traffic already in existence. speculation, as will appear in another volume, has permeated all of our railroad finance. in the early days the most extravagant visions of development were indulged in on all sides. in the words of a wisconsin legislative committee in protesting against the passage of further laws for the encouragement of railroad construction: "in imagination every acre of land from walker's point to snake hollow has been plowed, sowed, fenced, and is bearing forty bushels of wheat.--such estimates are quite delusive.--it takes money to make railroads. it takes money to make the mare go; much more the iron horse." true indeed, then and now! but a review of our transportation history makes it plain that without this national note of optimism and adventure, the vast capital creation in railroads of the present time could never have been called into being. public aid and private enterprise and sagacity were alike needed to accomplish the great work in hand. * * * * * the dominating events in our later economic history, so far as railroads are concerned, have been the period of severe distress and prostration following the panic of ; a subsequent revival of prosperity, with unprecedented demands for transportation during the ten years thereafter until ; and a movement toward consolidation of the railroad net into great territorial systems, notably during the two years after , as a result of which competition was practically eliminated from all railroad business. the long decline in freight rates was succeeded after by a steady rise of charges; the phenomenal prosperity and consolidations led to wild speculative outbreaks on the stock exchanges, especially in and ; and the spread of industrial consolidation enormously emphasized the evils and abuses of personal discrimination and favoritism. as a result of these influences there arose in turn, after , an irresistible demand for greater governmental supervision, both of rates and of finance. taken all in all, these later years have witnessed both a public and private interest in railroads, greater perhaps than at any earlier period of our history. but these later events, aside from being set in their proper relation to the whole in this preliminary general survey, require detailed analysis each one by itself. where not considered within these covers, they will be treated in a second volume dealing primarily with matters of finance and corporate organization. note no attempt at an exhaustive historical account is herein attempted. except as specially noted, the main reliance has been placed upon the following standard works:-- bogart, e. l. the economic history of the united states,  . callender, g. s. selections from the economic history of the united states, - ,  . cleveland, f. a. (and powell). railroad promotion and capitalization in the united states,  . coman, k. industrial history of the united states,  . gephart, w. f. transportation and industrial development in the middle west. columbia university studies, xxxiv, . (fine bibliography.) mcmaster, j. b. history of the people of the united states, vols, - . phillips, u. b. the history of transportation in the eastern cotton belt,  . poor, h. v. history of railroads and canals in the united states. . ringwalt, j. l. the development of transportation systems in the united states.  . tanner, h. s. railways and canals in the united states.  . many other authorities, such as the annual reports upon internal commerce (since ) have been consulted. the admirable catalogue of books on railway economics, , gives an exhaustive list. many special contributions to the forthcoming carnegie institution economic history of the united states have also been utilized. an admirable description in detail of early conditions in the west is reprinted in our railway problems, new edition, chap. ii. footnotes: [ ] for authorities, see note at end of chapter. [ ] f. h. dixon, traffic history of the mississippi river, prepared for the national waterways commission, , is best on this. [ ] u. b. phillips, a history of transportation in the eastern cotton belt to , , is a standard authority in this field. [ ] u. s. report on internal commerce, , p. _et seq._ [ ] h. g. pearson, an american railroad builder, john m. forbes, , for this field. [ ] _yale review_, , pp. - . [ ] dixon, _op. cit._ [ ] _cf._, p. , _infra_. [ ] e. d. fite, social and industrial conditions at the north during the civil war, , pp. - . [ ] _railway age gazette_, , p. , reprints statistics since of all sorts concerning rails. [ ] u. s. reports internal commerce, , app. . [ ] pp. and , _infra_. [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] pooling is discussed in vol. ii. [ ] chapter x, _infra_. [ ] report of committee on canals of new york state, , gives elaborate statistical data. cf. especially table . also rep. u. s. internal commerce, , p. , and , p. . [ ] u. s. reports on internal commerce, , app. p. . [ ] more fully treated in the chapters on speculation and finance in the second volume. [ ] _cf._ the diagram on p. , _supra_. [ ] the literature is considerable; in the form of special economic studies as well, of course, as in the standard histories and documents already named at the head of this chapter. the bibliography in cleveland and powell is to be commended. the long-promised economic history of the united states in preparation by the carnegie institution will doubtless add much. among special references, the following authors are typical; titles of others being given in the catalogue of the bureau of railway economics, , under the names of states. wisconsin. b. h. meyer, _bull univ. wis._, xii,  . texas. c. s. potts, _bull. univ. texas_, no. ,  . missouri. j. w. million, university of chicago,  . michigan. h. e. keith, university of michigan,  . southern states. u. b. phillips, history of transportation, etc.,  . pennsylvania. a. l. bishop, the state works of penn.,  . illinois. davidson and stuvé, history, etc. nebraska. _quarterly journal of economics_, vi, p. _et seq._ on typical city participations; j. h. hollander on the cincinnati southern, _johns hopkins university studies_, : u. b. phillips, _op. cit._, on the western and atlantic; on philadelphia, ringwalt, _op. cit._: on municipal aid in massachusetts, nd ann. rep. mass. r.r. com., etc. [ ] potts, _op. cit._, p. . [ ] thesis of miss ethel jenney at radcliffe college, under direction of professor a. b. hart. [ ] b. h. meyer, _op. cit._, p. . [ ] miss jenney, _op. cit._ [ ] bogart, p. ; coman, p. . [ ] for the federal land grants, the standard works of donaldson and sanborn are best. also, h. k. white, history of the union pacific railroad, : (the chapter on construction is reprinted in ripley, railway problems, chap. iii.) e. v. smalley, history of the northern pacific railroad, : etc. [ ] details are in the pacific railroad commission report; th cong., st sess., exec. doc. , vols. the final settlement is described in _quarterly journal of economics_, xiii, , pp. - . [ ] a more detailed account of the rise of the harriman system is in vol. ii. chapter ii the theory of railroad rates analysis of railroad expenditures,  .--constant v. variable outlays,  .--fixed charges,  .--official grouping of expenses,  .--variable expenses in each group,  .--peculiarities of different roads and circumstances,  .--periodicity of expenditures,  .--joint cost,  .-- separation of passenger and freight business,  . analysis of the theory of railroad rates begins naturally with a study of railroad expenditures. the examination of earnings is not feasible until a later time. for neither a railroad nor a factory can earn money until it has first liberally expended it. a physical plant must be provided, in the first place, which means the guarantee of interest on a large capital; and, secondly, it must often be operated unprofitably at the outset. this is especially true in a new and undeveloped country like the united states; where demand for transportation must be frequently created by the invasion of virgin territory, making it inviting for settlement. twenty years ago such an analysis of railroad expenditures with any approach to precision, owing to the absence of scientific data, would have been impossible. a few companies, such as the pennsylvania, the union pacific and the louisville & nashville, had indeed attempted to systematize their accounts; but there was no agreement as to details, despite a certain harmony in questions of principle. but since the passage of the act to regulate commerce in , and largely owing to the work of prof. henry c. adams as statistician to the interstate commerce commission, the matter may now be examined profitably in detail. the data is published annually in a volume entitled "statistics of railways in the united states." the amplified powers of the interstate commerce commission since have considerably changed the system in force since the original law of ; but the general principles remain unchanged.[ ] one feature of the new law, however, is important. not only must detailed reports be periodically and promptly made; but no company is now permitted to keep its books in any other form than the one officially prescribed. this standard was adopted after extended conference with the association of american railway accounting officers, which body has, in fact, officially approved of the form adopted in most regards. these accounts, therefore, may be said to represent the combined intelligence of the practical and theoretical analysts, of the operating and financial staffs, and of the governmental supervisory board. a great impetus to scientific railroad economics has undoubtedly resulted from this coöperation between government officials and private managements. the primary distinction in railroad expenses is between those which are constant and independent of the volume of traffic, and those which vary more or less directly in proportion to it. thus, of the total outlay, it may at once be premised that for a time, at least, certain capital expenditures are entirely unrelated to the volume of business transported. interest on bonded indebtedness is neither increased nor diminished, up to a certain point, by the number of tons of freight moved; whereas, on the other hand, other items of expenditure, such as wages of train hands and fuel cost, are more or less directly affected. the distinction above mentioned finds its clearest expression in the primary division of railroad accounts into so-called "operating expenses," which are variable; and "fixed charges," which, as the name implies, are constant. much of the direct wear and tear of equipment belongs to the first class, while, as we have said, interest on its own funded or floating debt, together with capital obligations on leased lines, naturally fall into the second group. this second class of constant expenses, which along with taxes is often denominated in railway reports "deductions from income," is a relatively large one. thus, in , out of a total expenditure by all the operating railroads of the united states of $ , , , , no less than $ , , , or about per cent., consisted of interest on debt and taxes. this proportion of absolutely fixed expenditures, moreover, shows a remarkable constancy throughout a series of years. it reached high-water mark during the hard times in , at . per cent. of all outlay. indebtedness had accumulated unduly, while at the same time the volume of traffic was so small that mere operating expenses dwindled in proportion. but since that time, largely as a result of the financial reorganizations of - , the percentage of fixed charges has reached its present low point. this improvement is also in part due to the growth of traffic, and thereby of operating expenses. the latter have indeed grown faster than the accumulation of debt, owing to the practice prevalent among american roads of paying for many improvements and additions out of surplus income, rather than by charging them to capital account,--that is to say, by borrowing money to pay for them. having at the outset deducted approximately one-quarter of our total expenditures to meet fixed charges, we may now proceed to analyze those outlays which remain. and this is to be done, always keeping in mind the fundamental distinction between constant and variable items. from until the operating expenses of american railroads were allocated in the four following groups: ( ) maintenance of way and structures ( ) maintenance of equipment ( ) conducting transportation ( ) general expenses this grouping under the new law of has been somewhat redistributed. but inasmuch as most of the statistical data as yet available is presented under the above-named heads, we shall adhere to that classification. this we may the more properly do, as our object is to show the general bearing of railroad expenditures upon rate making, rather than specifically to analyze cost accounts. for this simple purpose the above arrangement is entirely adequate. the general nature of each of these above named groups is roughly expressed by its title. under the first, maintenance of way, are segregated those outlays which have to do with the up-keep of the roadway and permanent structures in proper shape for the moving of trains. it includes, besides such obvious items as ballast, rails, ties and the wages of track men, every outlay on permanent structures, such as bridges and tunnels, stations, grain elevators, stock pens, gas, oil and water tanks, and even scrap bins and eating houses. to these are added scores of other minor items, such as maintenance of telegraph lines, fences and cattle guards, signal plants and docks and wharves. every kind of tool or appliance used, and all wages paid in connection with the maintenance of this part of the property are included. insurance and even the legal costs and damages incurred in connection with accidents, are all assigned to the appropriate property. the second group, maintenance of equipment expenses, includes, as the name implies, the proper care and preservation of all the rolling stock in good working order. repairs and renewals of all locomotives, cars and vessels, form the largest single items. but all shop machinery and power plants are included, with specification in detail of every appliance needed in connection with the work, as, for example, over one hundred and fifty possible items from "adze handles, ammonia and auger bits" down to "wire brushes, wrenches and zincs." conducting transportation expenses, the third group, are supposed to provide for the actual movement of traffic. the two former classes of expenditure having put the fixed plant and rolling stock in condition, it remains to operate the property. under this head is chargeable all costs of coal and supplies, wages of train hands from enginemen to car porters, yard, station, switch and signalmen and telegraph operators. to these are added such items as "purchased power," "cleaning cars," "clearing wrecks," and "losses and damages"; in short, every conceivable item of expenditure which can be assigned to the service as distinct from the mere property. a fourth group of expenditures remains, denominated general expenses. this includes all salaries of principal administrative officers from the president or receiver down to the real estate and tax agents, together with all their allowances for expenses, special cars or trains and the like. all clerical salaries in the general offices naturally belong here, as well as most of the legal expenses, outlay for pensions, relief departments and the like. a distinct improvement in the matter of principle has been made in the revised classification of operating expenses under the new law of , by the segregation of a fifth group, denominated traffic expenses.[ ] these cover all the work of soliciting business, making rates and accounting for freight and passenger traffic. such outlays were formerly grouped in the main under conducting transportation, but, as is quite evident, they are distinct in their nature from the expenses incidental to the actual handling of trains. administrative railroad organization has long recognized the peculiar and important nature of this work by constituting it a separate department, usually headed by one of the vice-presidents of the road. the main items under this special head are salaries and expenses of a large staff of officers and clerks, such as general passenger and freight managers, agents and travelling solicitors; rents and care of offices at home or abroad; advertising, membership in traffic associations, immigration and industrial bureaus, expenses for experimental farms, field demonstrators, donations to expositions, fairs and stock shows--everything, in brief, which tends to create or keep business, to be afterward actually handled by the transportation departments. in future the detailed official statistics will segregate these expenses; but at the present writing and in statistics down to they must be bulked in with conducting transportation. an important modification in accounting under the new law of has also been made in respect to depreciation charges. heretofore the practice of companies varied widely, as will hereafter be shown. under the new rulings a definite and uniform system of charging off for depreciation has to be provided, the details of which, however, need not concern us at this time.[ ] the following table based upon the returns for shows the relative importance of the principal items under railroad expenditures grouped under the proper headings: ====================================================================== | per cent. of | per cent. of | operating | total | expenses | expenditures -----------------------------------+--------------+------------------- maintenance of way and structures | . | . repairs of roadway | . | -- renewals of rails | . | -- renewals of ties | . | -- repairs, etc., of bridges, etc. | . | -- repairs, etc., of buildings, etc.| . | -- maintenance of equipment | . | . repairs & renewals of locomotives| . | -- repairs & renewals passenger cars| . | -- repairs & renewals freight cars | . | -- conducting transportation | . | . engine and roundhouse men | . | -- fuel for locomotives | . | -- train service (wages) | . | -- switchmen, flagmen, etc. | . | -- station service | . | -- general expenses | . | . |--------------| total operating expenses | | fixed charges | | . | | ------ total--all expenditures | | ====================================================================== [illustration: disposition of revenues and income for the fiscal year ending june , . (operating roads) . % maintenance of way and structures . % maintenance of equipment . % traffic expenses . % transportation expenses . % general expenses . % outside operations . % taxes . % interest . % rents . % other deductions . % dividends from current income . % additions and betterments . % reserves . % profit and loss] [illustration: percentage distribution of operating expenses, -- ] in the first two columns the percentages given relate to the operating expenditures alone, without reference to the total expenses--eliminating, that is to say, the large group of fixed charges, and treating these operating costs entirely by themselves as if the others were non-existent. in the third or right-hand column, it will be observed, the main groups are again given in percentages, not of the operating expenses alone, but of the total outgo, including capital expenditures in the nature of fixed charges. it should also be noted, of course, that only a few of the large or more important items are here included, and in the right-hand column no details, other than for the four main headings, have been computed. the constancy in the distribution of these groups of railroad expenditures over a term of years is graphically shown by the opposite diagrams.[ ] the perpendicular line for each year is divided proportionately to the relative importance of each designated item of expense for that year. thus the course of the horizontal lines, dividing the four main percentage zones, represents the ups and downs in the relative importance of each item. occasionally, as in the years following , the proportion of so-called general expenses decreased appreciably; but, in the main, all the items moved more or less in unison subject to the movements of wages and prices. this relative constancy proves how fundamental the arrangement of groups is. the attempt to differentiate the constant from the variable expenses of railroads on the basis of the foregoing operating statistics may now be made. what proportion of each item in the table for each of the large groups is fixed in amount; and what proportion fluctuates more or less in connection with the volume of traffic? under the first category, maintenance of way and structures, absorbing about one-fifth of operating expenses, over one-half is incurred for so-called "repairs of roadway." it is evident that a large part of this expense is due not to wear but to weather. a costly plant is exposed to every vicissitude of flood, fire, and waste. re-ballasting and realignment may be somewhat more expensive where traffic is heavy; but certainly all general repairs, the wages of track walkers, the removal of snow, ice, and weeds, must be attended to entirely irrespective of the number or size of passing trains. of the second item, renewals of rails, it is probable that this expenditure is directly traceable to wear and tear in large part. the more trains, the heavier the locomotive and cars or the higher the speed, the more rapidly must these rails be replaced. but even so, the proportionate amount is small, constituting generally between five and ten per cent. only of the group expenditure for maintenance of way. with ties, an item about twice as important as rails, the case is exactly the reverse. ties rot out rather than wear out. they have a natural life varying from four to fourteen years, as influenced by climate, ballast, and drainage. the necessary expenditure per mile for them by different roads varies greatly, as might be expected; but it seems to bear little relation to the density of traffic. as for the principal remaining items under maintenance of way, such as repairs of bridges and buildings; if properly designed to withstand their loads and strains, most expenses of their up-keep such as repainting and reroofing should be practically independent of the volume of business. a recent elaborate discussion of these matters in in the wisconsin two-cent fare decision, reached the conclusion that all of the cost of rails, one-third of the ties and ten per cent. of expenditures for roadway, track and bridges, are all that can properly be charged to wear from traffic, as opposed to natural depreciation. acworth illustrates this point by comparison of the midland & great western railway of ireland and the lancashire & yorkshire railroad. these two are of about equal length, approximately miles. the latter carries forty times the traffic of the former road, and yet its expenses for maintenance of way are only eight times as much. it seems safe, in general, to conclude that in this first large group of expenditures for maintenance of the fixed plant, probably not over one-third are variable to any considerable degree. acworth for england estimates this proportion at about two-fifths. the proportion of variable expenditures for maintenance of equipment--the second group--is probably higher than in that of maintenance of way. this is due to two causes. rolling stock is, of course, subjected more directly to wear and tear in service than are bridges, cuts and fills and buildings. rolling stock, moreover, is susceptible to change of type and improvement. its effective life is thus shortened both by use and by replacement. before being worn out it may have become antiquated. more powerful locomotives and larger cars suited to new requirements of the business may necessitate scrapping otherwise good equipment. this very fact, however, imposes upon the management the need of intensive service while it lasts. all the mileage possible must be extracted from each vehicle before it goes out of date, and this implies a higher proportion of wear-out than of mere rust-out. yet the fact is still true that many of the items in this class are unaffected by the mileage or tonnage performance. there is little difference in wear on a freight car as between light and moderately heavy loads; and as for passenger cars, the actual wear assignable to the paying load is a negligible quantity. we may, at all events, risk an estimate in the statement that probably not over half of all the expenditures of a railroad for maintenance of equipment vary with the volume of the business. the direct effect of a changing volume of business is most clearly seen in the third group of operating expenses, having to do with conducting transportation. this is very important, comprising as shown by the table on page , no less than fifty-five per cent. of operating outlay and forty per cent. of total expenditures including fixed charges. at first glance it would appear as if, at last, one had here to do with a direct relativity between cost and volume of business. surely the cost of fuel for motive power will vary with the tonnage moved! this item, amounting in to no less than $ , , for the railroads of the united states, was the largest in the budget, constituting eleven per cent. of all operating expenses. yet brief consideration shows that even here much of this expense is constant and invariable. a locomotive will burn fully one-third as much coal merely to move its own weight as to haul a loaded train. five to ten per cent. of its total daily consumption is required merely for firing up to the steaming point. twenty-five to fifty pounds of coal per hour go to waste in holding steam pressure while a freight train is waiting on a siding. every stop of a train going thirty miles per hour dissipates energy enough to have carried it two miles along a level road. in brief, expert evidence shows that of this important expenditure for coal, from thirty to fifty per cent. is entirely independent of the number of cars or the amount of freight hauled. the largest wage items in this group of conducting transportation expenses are for engine and roundhouse men, and conductors and brakemen. this expense is, of course, even more independent of the volume of business than the cost of coal. no more engine men or conductors are needed for a heavy through express or freight train than for a single car tram on a branch line. and the extra cost for service of more brakemen as the size of the train increases, is relatively unimportant when modern equipment with air brakes is used. appreciation of this fact is largely responsible for the great increase in train loads in recent years. train-mile costs can be economized most effectively by distributing the wages of a train crew over as large a tonnage as possible of paying freight. as for the wages of station men, switch and flag men, they are largely, and often entirely, independent of the amount of business. from all these considerations, it appears that at a conservative estimate, no less than fifty per cent. of the cost of conducting transportation constitutes a fixed charge upon the property once it is in operation, irrespective of the volume of business transacted. the group of general expenses, which alone remains for analysis, is relatively small in amount. it is obvious that these outlays are a constant burden but slightly influenced by the variation in traffic. salaries may indeed be reduced somewhat during hard times--a few clerks may be laid off; but, on the other hand, this being an expense of organization, the general staff must be maintained at about a certain standard of efficiency regardless of business. summarizing our estimates thus far, we may reconstruct a table, distributing expenditures theoretically according as they are constant or variable in somewhat the following way: ====================================================================== | per cent. of | per cent. of | operating expenses | total expenses |--------------------+---------------------- | | con- | vari-| | con- | vari- | both | stant| able | both | stant| able --------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+-------- maintenance of way | | . | . | | | maintenance of equipment | | | | | . | . conducting transportation | | | | | | general expenses | | | -- | | | -- |------+------+------| | | | | . | . | | | fixed charges | | | | | | -- | | | |------+------+-------- | | | | | . | . ====================================================================== thus one arrives at the general conclusion that approximately two-thirds of the total expenditure of a railroad and more than one-half of the actual operating expenses are independent of the volume of traffic. the remaining third of all expenditures, or what amounts to the same thing, the other half of the operating expenses, are immediately responsive to any variation in business. applied to the railroad net of the united states, this means that only about one-third of the $ , , , disbursed in --an amount equal to about two and one-half times the national debt--was susceptible of variation according as the traffic expanded or decreased. this provisional estimate, defective principally because of inadequacy of the returns as to depreciation and replacement, agrees in the main with computations based upon other data. the vice-president of the southern pacific railroad, in , after extended investigation, arrived at precisely the same general conclusion. the great german authority, sax, estimates that one-half of a road's operating outlay is constant and that this operating outgo equals about half the total expenditure, the other half being capital cost and hence constant. this calculation places the constant factors even higher than ours, viz., at about three-fourths of the total expenditure. eaton states that half of the operating expenses respond to changes in the volume of traffic. our estimate, above detailed, seems to be in accord therefore with good authority, and differs but little from any of the reliable writers. it should be observed in passing that the relative distribution of outgo above mentioned, varies greatly both as between different railroads and, on the same road, as between different years.[ ] during lean seasons the imperative need of reducing expenses generally induces the heaviest inroads on expenditure for maintenance of way. nearly one-third of these expenditures can probably be postponed for short periods without serious detriment to operation; but, of course, there is for each property an irreducible minimum at which economy must halt. on the other hand, the cost of moving each train, that is to say, the outlay for fuel and wages, cannot be greatly cut, although some discontinuance of freight trains may take place. the most readily postponable outlay is therefore found in the department of maintenance of way. two hundred ties per mile may be annually renewed instead of twice that number for a year or two. heavy decreases in the wage account for road and track men may be effected, sometimes at the cost of public safety perhaps, but none the less effectively from an immediate fiscal point of view. a series of hard years thus always results in heavy proportional curtailments of maintenance of way expenses. in , for instance, midway between the two worst years of the depression of - , only . per cent. of operating expenses was devoted to maintenance of way, with . per cent. expended for maintenance of equipment.[ ] six years later, in the full tide of prosperity, the outlay for maintenance of way had risen to . per cent. with over , freight cars idle on sidings, as during the spring of , expenditures on repairs of equipment may temporarily be postponed. depreciation rather than wear takes place. an economy of about five per cent. may temporarily be effected in this wise. it is only with the return of prosperity that the temporary postponement of this expenditure makes itself felt. economy at the expense of efficiency is poor business policy in the long run. with the revival of activity on the other hand, as in , there may be witnessed a sudden concentration of the postponed expenditures of the preceding years. the illinois central was spending $ , per mile on maintenance of way in , as against only $ , in . a succession of fruitful years may, however, find the property so thoroughly kept up that some measure of relaxation in expenditures may ensue. during these good years with heavy traffic, it is the maintenance of equipment charges which tend to rise. locomotives and cars are constantly in need of repair owing to hard usage. this was a noticeable feature during the four years after . the illinois central, expending only $ per mile for maintenance of equipment in , laid out $ , per mile for the same purpose in  . sometimes, as in january, , or november, , general wage increases all along the line take place. these, of course, affect all branches of the service. supplies of all kinds may also enhance in price. it was doubtless the rise in the price of coal which increased the proportionate importance of the fuel item in the railroad budget of the united states from . per cent. in to . per cent. in . the tremendous rise in expenses of all kinds in was not at first appreciated because of the large volume of traffic. it was only when the sharp decline in business following the panic in october of that year took place, that the full influence of this factor became apparent. as between different roads also, the relative proportion of the various elements of cost will vary according to circumstances. northern lines are exposed to heavy maintenance of way charges, owing to snow, ice, and frost. in rugged districts or with heavy grades, expensive operation is apparent in high conducting transportation expenses. on the pennsylvania trunk line, rising to , ft. above sea level and with many curves, the distribution of expenditures is quite different from that on the new york central, which operates a straighter line at about water grade. on the union pacific, movement expenses have been at times over fifty per cent. higher than on the st. paul road, which operates in level country. it is a combination of high grades and poor equipment, which undoubtedly keeps the relative cost of conducting transportation so high on the erie. the proportion of local to through business is of importance in this connection.[ ] railroads like the boston & maine or the st. paul system before , because they have so much local business, contrast strongly with others like the chicago great western, the erie or the old fitchburg railroad. on the latter roads the distribution of expenses is different, because their large volume of through traffic carried in bulk is so much cheaper to handle. obviously, the expense incident to frequent stops and loss of time, as well as in loading and unloading local business, will be much greater than in long haul trainload traffic. the cost of large items like fuel will vary greatly in different parts of the country from perhaps $ . per ton for coal in pennsylvania up to $ or more on the pacific coast. since the recent discoveries of petroleum in texas and california, economies have been effected upon the southern pacific, which by comparison with northern pacific, still using coal, may be of great importance. more than six-tenths of the cost of locomotive service is for fuel, so that a reduction of cost from $ a ton to an oil equivalent at $ per ton may aggregate a large sum. it has been estimated that such a saving on , , tons of coal would pay five per cent. on an additional capital of $ , , . similarly the character of the freight, whether it be like coal, iron ore or grain, cheaply handled, or merchandise which must be carefully housed and treated; its regularity, whether it flows evenly the year round like the dressed beef business, or as on the cotton and cattle range roads, is concentrated in a short season and all moves in one direction;[ ] the relative proportions of freight and passenger business--in new england about on an equality, while in the west and south nearly nine-tenths freight; and, finally, the efficiency of management, in the use of rolling stock, making up trainloads and keeping all equipment busy; all of these factors will influence the proportionate distribution of expenditures. the operation of each road thus constitutes an interesting problem in statistical analysis by itself.[ ] [illustration: _relation of traffic to maintenance of way costs on representative eastern and western roads-- _] the relation of course between density of traffic and the distribution of expenditures is direct. heavy and frequent trains increase the wear and tear as distinct from mere depreciation from age and weather. this is demonstrated graphically by the following diagram.[ ] the solid black horizontal belts to right of the centre show how low is the density of traffic on the five upper western roads by contrast with the five carriers in trunk line territory. the left hand horizontal belts show proportionally in dollars the outlay per mile of road for maintenance. naturally the expense of such maintenance is likewise less on the western lines. but when stated, not absolutely in dollars per mile of road but in terms of utilization, as by the shaded belts to right of the centre, the true state of things appears. density considered, in other words, the western roads are all as well kept up as those in the east. the necessity at all times of interpreting such expenditures, not in absolute figures but in terms of utilization, is obvious; and yet it is not always done in practice. up to this point it has appeared as if, in making distinction between the constant and variable expenditures of a railroad, it was the latter only which grew as the volume of traffic increased. this is not absolutely, but only relatively true, not only of the so-called constant operating expenses, but of fixed charges as well.[ ] everything depends upon the length of time under consideration. many expenses follow the fluctuations of business, not evenly but by jerks. up to the full limit of utilization of the existing plant, each increment of traffic seems to necessitate but a very small increase in the so-called variable expenses, with hardly any change at all in the constant ones. a branch road can haul more and more tons of freight with a given outfit of cars and locomotives by merely increasing slightly its outlay for fuel, train service, wages and supplies. but after a certain point more rolling stock must be provided to accommodate the growing business. as each of these additions to property occur, they contribute new quotas to the fixed charges and to the so-called constant expenses of operation, such as maintenance of roadway and the like. nor can these new expenses be allocated to the new business alone. the moment the old traffic has outgrown the existing plant, the new expenditure becomes chargeable to all the business alike. the new outgo must be distributed evenly over the entire volume of traffic thereafter handled. each ton, both of old and of new traffic, beyond the haulage capacity of the locomotives then in service, is equally responsible for the expense of new equipment purchased. although the old business could have been handled without a million dollars spent for double-tracking or terminal enlargement, this addition to the expense of maintenance of way or to the fixed charges is equally attributable to every ton of traffic hauled. a concrete example may aid in making this important principle clear. the new through-freight trunk line built by the pennsylvania railroad since , paralleling its old four-track one, represents both in the cost of maintenance and capital charges, a sudden jump in the expense of transporting each ton of freight on _both_ lines, until such time as the new business grows to a point where it can support the new line by itself alone. the relation between increasing returns and density of traffic is well illustrated in this instance. with six tracks in operation nearly all the way from pittsburg to philadelphia, the four old tracks are sometimes almost fully utilized for passengers and fast freight. the extraordinary density of traffic appears in the statement that this road in on miles of track handled one-third more ton miles than the union pacific--by far the most worked of all the western lines--handled on , miles of track. the two new low-grade pennsylvania freight tracks are used only for slow traffic; largely coal and westbound steel empties. not-withstanding the extraordinary density of traffic on this extra two track line, it probably does not meet the fixed charges on cost of construction of the line. yet the new double track was absolutely necessary, regardless of its profitableness, in order to relieve congestion on the old four tracks. in other words, the demands of the service forced an expenditure which in and of itself was not financially self-supporting. but the profit from the old lines would be sufficiently enhanced to take care of the whole. the bearing of such cases upon the capital needs of the future is obvious. a resolutely conservative policy of finance becomes imperative under such circumstances. in much the same way, the general condition of congestion reached in -' on the eastern trunk lines and in the west and south in -' , manifested mainly in the need for more tracks and terminals, represented the permanent outgrowth of the old plant; and necessitated a readjustment of capital expenses for the purpose of enlargement. viewed in a large way over a term of years, nearly every expenditure, even the fixed charges which appear constant or independent of the volume of business, thus become in reality imbued with more or less variability. the preceding considerations hold good not alone of increased facilities, but of their curtailment as well. this point is often neglected in respect of capital outlay, which once made cannot be recalled. rotting of ties we have held to be a constant expense of operation. it goes on steadily, whether traffic conditions be good or bad. but, on the other hand, those ties, if they be under a third or fourth track, would never have been laid had not there been a promise of business sufficient to render the added investment profitable. as lorenz observes, "the question is not, what expenditures would disappear if a certain proportion of the traffic should be discontinued? but what expenditure would not now be incurred if that traffic had never been called forth?" viewed in this way, even the necessary replacement of ties under a (temporarily) little used extra track, is an expense determined at some time, even if not always, by the volume of the business. in the long run, therefore, the percentage of total cost which we may assign to an increase in the volume of traffic, is higher than appears from a cross-section of expenses, taken, as was at first had, in a given year. lorenz has illustrated this steady expansion of all groups of expenditure in relation to expansion of traffic by the following table, in which the actual figures for each year [brought down to date] are replaced by an index number based upon for the year . it would have been highly suggestive to continue all of this data alike to the present time; but, as noted on the table, certain items have been so modified by changes in accounting practice, that this could not be done. ================================================================== |gross earnings from operation | |ton miles | | |passenger miles | | | |total operating expenses | | | | |maint. of way & structures | | | | | |maintenance of equipment | | | | | | |conducting | | | | | | |transportation | | | | | | | |gen'l | | | | | | | |expenses -----+-----+-------+-------+-----+-------+-------+-------+-------- | | | | | | | | | | . | | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | . | . | | . | . | . | . | | | . | | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | | . | | | . | | | | | | | --[ ]| --[ ]| --[ ]| --[ ] | | | | | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | | | -- | -- | -- | -- | | | | | -- | -- | -- | -- ================================================================== according to this showing, maintenance of equipment, which we held in our analysis to be about one-half a constant expense and independent of traffic, especially after , appears to have actually outrun the expansion of ton-mileage and passenger business. how largely this is due to actual purchases for the sake of future growth is not determinable. and maintenance of way outlay--one of our largely constant expenses--has increased, in fact, more rapidly than conducting transportation, which we held to be mainly variable. but these figures are confused by the failure to differentiate in the accounts, mere maintenance from actual improvements and additions to plant. expenditures for these latter purposes, charged to operating expenses rather than to capital account, have been so enormous during these years of prosperity that they confuse the true facts utterly. it is to be hoped that now with the revised statistics since , which will permit a clearer definition of these expenditures in detail, an analysis covering a series of years will bring out the real relationships. equally important is the fact that these years have been characterized by rapid and extensive rises, both of prices and wages. had our table covered a longer series of years the results would have been more clear. until such an analysis be made, it will suffice for our purpose, viz., the analysis of the principles of railroad rate making, that we adhere to our first general conclusion, namely--that of the total expenditures of a railroad _at any given time_ about two-thirds of them are constant, while only one-third vary with the ups and downs of the volume of traffic. comprehending in survey a long period of years, it might happen, as acworth concludes, that nearly one-half of the total expenditures were entirely fixed in character, leaving the other half as dependent upon the amount of transportation effected. the manner in which heavy capital outlay for maintenance accompanies as well as partly accounts for a decline in the cost of conducting transportation on american roads, is graphically shown by the diagram on the next page.[ ] during ten years a steady decline in direct operating costs has accompanied an equally marked upward tendency in expense of maintenance. the bearing of this on the problem of rate advances in future is direct. profitableness results from two separate sources; economical operation such as longer trains and better loading, and also from far heavier capital investment in plant, by which such operation is rendered possible.[ ] both alike, however, attend upon increased volume of business. heavy capital investment may lessen immediate maintenance charges,--lower grades and straighter alignment naturally wearing less; but, on the other hand, the burden of interest and other fixed expenses steadily grows. how will they stand toward one another by on the eastern trunk lines? will growth of business bring lower rates or not? a fine field for further analysis is as yet unworked. [illustration: _ratio of maintenance of property and conducting transportation to total operating expense._] one final relation between operating and fixed expenses is left for consideration. it is so well put by j. shirley eaton in an unpublished paper, that it can best be stated in his own words: "it is impossible to have an absolute and universal line of demarcation between the direct and the fixed expense, that shall be the same on all roads. one road chooses to reduce a grade and thereby increase the capital account in order to save in the current expense of a helper at a hill or the lost margin of efficiency of the loaded train on the level. the relation between a current expense and the annual charge of the capitalized cost on a fixed plant that performed the same service, was well illustrated in a case arbitrated by mr. blanchard in new orleans. one road which did not have access to the heart of the city undertook to compensate its disadvantage by trucking to and from its depot. the hire of a public truckman to perform the service for its patrons was very soon commuted to the practice of paying the amount of the truck expense to the consignee by deducting it from the freight bill rendered, the consignee or shipper performing the service. this, known as 'drayage equalization,' was claimed by competitors to be in the nature of a rebate to secure business. the arbitrator decided that the first roads had elected to buy their right of way into the heart of the city; and the road that had not built into the city elected to pay the expense of the same service in the shape of a current drayage bill instead of in the shape of interest on money invested in right of way. therefore he decided there was no cause for complaint."[ ] railroad expenditures, as taussig clearly pointed out a number of years ago,[ ] afford a prime illustration of the production of several commodities by a single great plant simultaneously at joint and indistinguishable cost. the classic economists illustrated this law by the joint production of wool and mutton and of gas and coke. in both of these instances neither commodity could conceivably be produced alone. nor was either one, so to speak, a by-product of the other. so nearly of equal importance are the two, in fact, that the cost of production for each may approximately be determined by dividing the total cost according to the relative worths of the two or more products. the law of joint cost with reference to the production of transportation is somewhat different. compare, for instance, the carriage by a railroad of thousands of passengers and different commodities in every direction, under varying conditions, singly or by wholesale, slowly or by express, over a given set of rails every day; with the operation of a great refinery producing simultaneously kerosene, gasoline, lubricating oils and greases as well as various odd chemicals. both are examples of production at joint cost, but with various important contrasts. in the refinery all the costs are joint. all the processes are interlocked. every increase in the output of kerosene produces _pari passu_ an increase of the other commodities. on the railroad not all, but only a part of the costs are joint, in such manner as has been shown. for, from the joint portion of its plant--roadway rails and locomotives--the railroad may produce transportation of different sorts quite independently. it may choose to especially cultivate its passenger traffic, or its cotton or coal business. after a certain point of congestion is reached, the various sorts of traffic on the railroad may even become actually competitive with one another so far as the joint use of the plant is concerned. it is plain that this could never happen in the refinery. the use of more stills for making kerosene would automatically produce more by-products of every sort. but on a railroad it might well happen that the coal and passenger business might come to interfere with one another. a choice of emphasis as between fast refrigerator beef or fruit traffic, and limited express service, may have to be made on a long single track line. nevertheless, in spite of these peculiarities of transportation, the general law of joint costs holds good, in that it is a demand for each service rather than its cost which finally determines the chargeable rate.[ ] this must be so, because of the fact that the cost of each shipment is so largely joint and indeterminate, and that a large part of the entire plant is indistinguishably devoted to the general production of transportation without reference to particular units of business. one concrete example may serve to illustrate this point. for years attempts have been unsuccessfully made by accountants to effect the primary separation between expenses of passenger and freight business,[ ] in order to determine the cost of transportation per unit in each case. some companies like the louisville & nashville and the burlington system, still divide up the two, usually on the basis of the engine mileage for each class of traffic. this may be serviceable enough for comparisons of costs from year to year in the same company, but it has no general value and it may, moreover, become highly misleading. the most absurd conclusions may result. thus at one time it appeared from such data, compiled by the interstate commerce commission, that the new york central, with five times the density of traffic of the illinois central, was actually conducting its freight business at a much higher cost per ton mile. such inconsistencies induced the interstate commerce commission in to abandon the attempt at any such primary separation of accounts.[ ] it has since been reattempted, in special cases, as by the wisconsin railroad commission in its notable "two-cent fare" decision in , the division being made according to a number of different criteria.[ ] but it is plain that a very large proportion--probably over half--of the expenditures for freight and passenger business are entirely joint, however distinct the revenues from each service may be. we have seen that approximately two-thirds of the outgo is incurred on behalf of the property as a whole. certain expenses, to be sure, such as train wages, coal consumption and the maintenance of rolling stock, are readily divisible; but with respect to the maintenance of way and structures--about forty per cent. of the total outgo--all guides fail. even in respect of the cost of rails, due to wear and tear of train movement, we are quite at sea in the allocation of expenses. freight trains may indeed be four times as heavy as passenger trains; but, on the other hand, they move at far slower speeds. and then, finally, how about the large item of capital cost, the proportion of outgo for fixed charges? this equals about twenty-seven per cent. of the total expenditures for the united states as a whole. we may, of course, divide these expenses arbitrarily on the basis of the relative gross revenue from freight and passenger business respectively. and yet how absurd it would be to attempt to allocate an expense of a million dollars for the abolition of grade crossings in this way. as between the new haven road, with passenger and freight revenues about equal, and a western road with only one-tenth of its income derived from passengers, the apparent cost of freight business on the eastern road would be absurdly reduced by any such process. the facts are plain. so many expenditures are incurred indiscriminately on behalf of the service as a whole--being an indispensable condition for operation of the property at all--that no logical distinction of expense even as between passenger and freight traffic is possible. this being so, how futile it is to expect to be able to set off the expenses due to any particular portion either of freight or passenger service, and especially to any individual shipment. it may oftentimes be possible to determine the _extra_ cost due to individual shipments. this, of course, mainly applies to what are called movement expenses. thus the haulage cost of a , -ton grain train from chicago to new york has been estimated at $ . but how small a part this is of the total cost, the preceding analysis must have made clear. in the texas cattle raisers' case, detailed analysis of the extra cost for the traffic in cattle was presented.[ ] the starting point in this attempt was necessarily an allocation of freight and passenger expenditures, which, if defective, would vitiate the entire subsequent calculation as to costs. in this instance, it was the judgment of the interstate commerce commission in its final decision in , that no such separation of expenditures was possible as a basis for the determination of cost of service. footnotes: [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, xxii, , p. _et. seq._ [ ] u. s. statistics of railways, , p. (and annually thereafter), gives an outline of these expense accounts for all railways over five hundred miles long. [ ] treated in vol. ii, chap. xv. begins in u. s. statistics of railways, , p. . [ ] changes in accounting rules in prevent its continuation to date; but the data for under the new system are reproduced alongside. [ ] u. s. statistics of railways, , p. , and annually thereafter gives data for all large roads. [ ] the sharp decline in traffic in , especially after the suspended advance of rates, as affecting maintenance expenditures per mile of road, is shown as follows: =================================== | | -------------------+-------+------- baltimore & ohio | $ | $ union pacific | | great northern | | new york central | | northern pacific | | pennsylvania | | multiplying these differences into thousands of miles of line shows the great economy resulting. [ ] _cf._ pp. and , _infra_. [ ] the provision of plant and equipment to carry the "peak of the load" is often a serious handicap. [ ] for an instance of detailed analysis of cost, the general investigation of soft coal rates to the lakes in is highly suggestive. two-thirds of revenue went for operation and maintenance, one-third for return upon plant. this was the first attempt to justify an advance in rates for a large volume of traffic on the ground that it did not contribute its proportionate share of earnings. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] from railroad operating costs; by suffern & co., new york, . [ ] lorenz in _quarterly journal of economics_, xxi, pp. - , is suggestive. [ ] change of accounting methods vitiates further comparisons of operating costs after . [ ] from railroad operating costs, by suffern & co., new york, . [ ] _cf. yale review_, , pp. -- ; with reference to the rate advances of that year. [ ] _cf._ the free cartage case, u.s., . [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, v, , pp. - . [ ] two important qualifications of this law, however, are set forth at p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ our railway problems, rev. ed., _circa_ pp. , . [ ] the first successful attempt, as to soft coal rates to the lakes, is in i.c.c. rep., . cf. _idem_, . [ ] wisconsin railroad commission report, , p. . compare also woodlock, p. ; u. s. statistics of railways, , p. ; _yale review_, , p. ; and record, cincinnati freight bureau case, ii, p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . compare _idem_, ; and _yale review_, , p. . chapter iii the theory of railroad rates (_cont'd_) the law of increasing returns,  .--applied to declining traffic,  .--illustrated by the panic of ,  .--peculiarly intensified on railroads, . growth of mileage and traffic in the united states since ,  .--increase of earnings,  .--operating expenses, gross and net income,  .--comparison with earlier decades,  .--density of traffic,  .--increase of train loads,  .--limitations upon their economy,  .--heavier rails,  .--larger locomotives,  .--bigger cars,  .--net result of improvements upon efficiency and earning power, . the law of increasing returns due to financial rather than operating factors,  . a railroad theoretically presents a clear example of an industry subject to the law of increasing returns--that is to say, an industry in which the cost of operation grows less rapidly than the volume of business done. each ton of freight added to the existing traffic costs relatively less to haul. from this it follows, obviously, that the net returns increase more than proportionately with the expansion of traffic. this may be demonstrated by a simple calculation. it has already been shown that only about two-thirds of the total expenditures of a railroad are applied to operation, the remaining third being devoted to capital account. moreover, of these two-thirds of the total applied to operating outlay, only about one-half responds to any change in the tonnage, the other half being constant up to a certain point. otherwise expressed, an increase of one per cent, in traffic and, therefore, of revenue, produces an increase in expense of only one-half of two-thirds of one per cent.[ ] two-thirds of the entire increment of revenue goes to profit. carry this increase further and the effect is more striking. suppose traffic to grow tenfold. the former outlay being $ for a given volume of business, would be divided according to our rule as follows: one-third for fixed charges, one-third for constant operating outlay and one-third for variable expenses. with ten times as much traffic, only the last group of outgoes will expand. one thousand dollars revenue would therefore become available under the new conditions, to pay the same fixed charges as well as constant operating costs. the total outgo would thus become $ plus $ plus $ , or $ in all. almost two-thirds of the increment of revenue still remains as profit. it might well happen that such an expansion could not ensue without large increases in the capital and plant, as has already been noted; but up to that point this calculation would hold good. the following statement varying but slightly from our foregoing assumptions, illustrates the principle.[ ] let the distribution of expenditures for given conditions, producing $ of revenue, be these, viz.: operating expenses $ fixed charges $ ---- $ profits for dividends $ ---- $ now assume an increase of ten per cent. in the traffic and consequently in the revenue; but assume also that the average _extra_ cost per unit, of the new business, is only forty per cent. as much as for the preëxisting tonnage. were the added cost of each ton mile as great as before, the operating expenses would rise by the full ten per cent. of $ . but on webb's assumption, they will rise by only forty per cent. of ten per cent. the new account would then stand thus: operating expenses ($ plus forty per cent. of ten per cent. of $ ) $ . fixed charges as before $ . ------- $ . income, increased by ten per cent. $ . ------- balance for profit or dividends $ . by an increase of ten per cent. in tonnage, balance for dividends has more than doubled. in this connection it will be noted that a constant rate of return per unit of business newly acquired has been assumed. attempts were made on behalf of the railroads, during the long period of decline of ton mile revenue down to , by newcomb and others, to show that this is an unreasonable assumption; in that increased traffic is presumably to be had only by a progressive lowering of the rates charged. this contention has been effectively demolished by the steady and remarkable growth of traffic since , even in the face of a substantial rise of rates all along the line. a necessary corollary to our proposition, beside that of the maintenance of a constant scale of charges, is, of course, also of the continuance of a given grade of service and of costs of operation. if more luxuriously appointed passenger trains or quicker freight service have to be given in order to produce the growth of business, the added costs of operation must, naturally, be taken into consideration. if widespread rise of wages follows an increase in the general cost of living, that too is an entirely extraneous factor. but with a given grade of service, constant rates and steady wage scales, there can be no question, up to the point of full utilization of the existing plant, that the operation of railroads affords clear demonstration of the law of increasing returns. the obverse side of the law of increasing returns is also of great importance. for the same reason that when traffic increases, only a portion of the expenses are affected, it follows that, when business declines, only a part of the costs can be lopped off. in other words, a reduction in the volume of traffic does not in itself alone lead to a corresponding reduction in the operating expenses. of course, many of these latter may, as we have seen, be temporarily postponed, as they were in - , especially in the group of maintenance-of-way expenses. in such an event they must ultimately be made good by extraordinary outlay at some later time. but, unless they be thus postponed and unless the rates charged for service be reduced in order to stimulate traffic, it is inevitable that the margin of profit will drop as rapidly as it tends to rise with increased volume of business. this may be illustrated by the following computation.[ ] assume the total revenue from a given business to be $ , and assume it to be distributed as before, viz.: operating expenses $ fixed charges $ ---- $ leaving profit $ ---- total $ a positive decline of ten per cent, in the tonnage, if the cost for operation per unit of the portion lost was the same as the rest, would obviously reduce the operating expenses also by ten per cent. let it next be assumed, as was done previously, that the average extra cost per unit of the latest increment of business was only forty per cent. as much as for the remainder of the tonnage. how closely this will approximate the facts in any particular instance will depend upon the density of traffic attained in relation to the capacity of the existing plant. if the addition of the last ten per cent. of business did not increase the large proportion of fixed expenses at all, and only added forty per cent. per unit more to the variable expenses; per contra, the loss of it would merely reduce the variable expenses and still leave the constant outlay the same. on this assumption, by the loss of ten per cent. of business the total amount of operating expenses under the new conditions would be lessened, not by ten per cent. of $ , but by only forty per cent. of ten per cent. of $ . the income would, however, decline by the full amount of ten per cent. the account, after a loss of ten per cent. of business, would then stand somewhat as follows: operating expenses ($ less forty per cent. of ten per cent. of $ ) $ . fixed charges, as before $ . ------ $ . income, reduced by ten per cent. $ . ------ leaving a deficit of $ . or, in other words, a decline of ten per cent. in tonnage has transmuted a five per cent. dividend condition into one involving an actual deficit nearly half as great as the former profit. the sudden reversal from apparent prosperity to very real distress, such as occurred during the fall of , is thus explained. its suddenness may be shown by the following table of monthly gross and net earnings, promulgated by the interstate commerce commission.[ ] the acute panic occurred during october, but its effect was not apparent until the following month. the total mileage included is shown by the first column: =============================================== | | | earnings | | | --per mile-- | | |------------------- | | mileage | gross | net -----+-----------+---------+---------+--------- | july | , | $ , | $ | august | , | $ , | $ | september | , | $ , | $ | october | , | $ , | $ | november | , | $ | $ | december | , | $ | $ | january | , | $ | $ =============================================== this table shows that whereas under full prosperity, up to and including the month of october, the net revenue was about thirty per cent. of gross; after the sharp decline in traffic, it dropped in november to twenty-six per cent., and progressively thereafter to twenty per cent. in january. in other words, a decline of about one-fourth in the gross revenue within four months, entailed a loss of over fifty per cent. in net earnings. higher operating expenses in the winter may have exaggerated this tendency, but, on the other hand, drastic economies were put into effect, which would more than offset the difference. the urgent need of at once meeting any loss of business by prompt reduction of operating expenses is apparent. but there is comfort to be found at this point in the fact that each one per cent. saved in operation at any given time, results in saving two per cent. for the net earnings. according to our estimates, and as a rule practically, operating expenses equal about two-thirds of gross revenue, leaving one-third to meet charges and pay dividends. every reduction from this two-thirds of gross revenue, therefore, transferred to the balance, increases the latter proportionately twice as much. this fact in turn explains the urgent pressure always brought to bear at such times to effect economies all along the line. these are too often indiscriminately made.[ ] such paring down of expenses should always be made with an eye to their ultimate effect upon the operating efficiency of the property in the long run. to postpone much-needed repairs of equipment during a period of depression, like that of - , when repair shop costs are at a low ebb, only to hamper operations and to effect repairs under pressure when business revives, is an instance of such wasteful economy. the qualification of the law of increasing returns as applied to railroads, arising from the distinction between long and short term production of its commodity--transportation--as above described, is of course by no means confined to carriers alone. it holds good of a factory or mercantile establishment as well. but in the case of railways, it is emphasized by the abruptness with which the condition of congestion of plant arises. the limit of full working capacity in a factory is elastic, by reason of the fact that under the "peak of load"--in busy seasons--it may prolong operations beyond the daylight hours or, at worst, work all night by double shifts. but a railroad, customarily working by night as well as by day and thus distributing its operations over the entire twenty-four hours, enjoys no such expansible limits upon utilization of its plant. when such full utilization is attained, the end comes suddenly. no postponement to a more favorable time for raising funds for better terminals or four tracking the main line is possible; nor does its character as a public servant permit a railroad to curtail service. the dead wall of congestion cannot be gotten around by either path. a crisis is presented, calling for the most heroic measures. this, of course, still further emphasizes the need for a long look ahead into the future with respect to railroad finance; not for the management alone, but for the government as well, charged as it is at present with control over rates for service. * * * * * the application of the law of increasing returns to railroads in actual practice is beset with difficulties. in order to make these clear, it will be necessary first to describe the phenomenal development of this country which has taken place during the last two decades. the freight service of the railroads of the united states, measured by weight, in , amounted to , , , tons. only since when the corresponding figure given by the interstate commerce commission was , , tons, have accurate data been obtainable. this would indicate a growth in ten years of about one hundred per cent. but this figure takes no account of the distance each ton of freight travels. this factor is included in what is known as ton mileage--that is to say, the equivalent of the number of tons of freight carried one mile. obviously, so far as the amount of service rendered is concerned, one ton carried a hundred miles is the equivalent of one hundred tons transported one mile. every carrier totalizes in this way each ton of freight movement by multiplying it into the distance transported. for the united states as a whole, this ton mileage in was , , , --that is to say, the service rendered would be represented by the carriage of that number of tons one mile. the appended diagram shows the phenomenal rapidity with which this transportation service has grown since . the scale on the left hand side of the chart serves this purpose. the right hand scale indicates the miles of line in operation. [illustration: relative growth of mileage and traffic] the rapid growth up to was suddenly interrupted by panic and subsequent industrial depression lasting for about four years. recovery began in , since which time the freight movement has increased by leaps and bounds from about , , , ton miles to , , , ton miles in . it is obvious that the growth of transportation in any country is bound to be more rapid than the increase either in population or in wealth. it appears, indeed, almost as if the volume of transportation in the united states increased more nearly as the square of population than in direct proportion. it has been estimated that we forward two and a half times as much freight _per capita_ as some of the leading european countries like france. our domestic population from to increased about fifty per cent. the railroad mileage grew at about the same rate. yet the freight service surpassed this rate of growth more than six times over; and the passenger service augmented nearly as much. both alike in were practically three times as great in volume as twenty years before. the diagram on page is intended to illustrate the relative rapidity of this development. while population and mileage increased about one half, the railroads in hauled the equivalent of three times the volume of freight traffic handled in . at the beginning of this period, the railroads had to seek the freight. now it appears that traffic normally will seek the railroads. at times, even, as in - , the railroads have actually sought to escape the flood of business presented. the magnitude and importance of the growth of tonnage, as above described, is revealed by the rapid increase in railroad earnings. the course of these is shown by the succeeding chart on page . gross revenues of american railroads in were about one billion dollars. in they amounted to $ , , , . thus it appears that gross earnings almost equalled three times the amount of twenty years ago. the net income available for dividends has grown even faster. the increase was, roughly speaking, about five fold; namely, from millions in to millions in . nearly three and one-half times as much money went annually to the owners of railroad securities as dividends and interest, besides leaving surplus earnings for of about millions available for improvements and surplus. but the limit of utilization seems to have been about reached on many roads in ; and an era of extensive new capital outlay to increase the existing plants and facilities ensued. indications are not lacking to show that at the height of activity before the industrial collapse of - , such a point of saturation had been reached, especially in trunk line territory and on the northern transcontinental lines.[ ] on the northern pacific, for instance, the ton mileage increased from . billions to . billions between and . the northwest was suddenly confronted at that time with the new issue of enlarging facilities, which had been slowly becoming apparent elsewhere in the country during the preceding decade. grain actually rotted on the ground, and an acute coal famine occurred, because of sheer inability of the roads to care for the new traffic. changes in methods of business also somewhat exaggerated this strain upon the carriers. merchants now expect quick delivery to order. they object to stocking up months ahead, even when conditions are auspicious; therefore, business, when especially stimulated, comes with an irresistible rush. all these causes, coupled with undiscriminating attempts by inadequately bedded roads to imitate the methods of progressive ones by prematurely increasing their train loads, led to a practical breakdown of the transportation business of the country in the autumn of . to the student of transportation, this congestion denoted the attainment of a point of saturation for the then-existing physical plant. the analogy to the case of the pennsylvania railroad, previously described, is obvious. such a predicament is bound to arise in the development of any carrier in a rapidly growing country. its fiscal significance will appear in due time. a comparison of the growth of business and of operating expenses for the entire railroad system of the united states over a series of years is given in the following table. the results are expressed by means of index numbers based upon the year , taken as .[ ] relative increase in traffic items, operating expenses and revenue from to , inclusive ====================================================================== | --average, from and inclusive-- items | | | | | | | | to | to | to | to | to | | | | | | ---------------------+-----+--------+--------+--------+--------+------ ton miles of freight | | . | . | . | . | . passenger miles of | | | | | | passengers. | | . | . | . | . | . operating expenses | | . | . | . | . | . gross income from | | | | | | operation | | -- | -- | . | . | . ====================================================================== from this table it appears that between and the ton mileage of freight increased about six fold, and the passenger business more than four fold. operating expenses, on the other hand, were in less than four times as great as in . increasing returns are quite evident. the period from down to - , before the recent general increases in prices and wages took place, shows this even more strikingly. in order to transport more than three times as much freight and two and one-quarter times as many passengers, it required a direct outlay for operation of little more than twice as much money.[ ] on the other hand, owing to the rapid rise of all operating costs since , a comparison of expenditures confined to the last ten years by themselves, affords an apparent contradiction. the results for this period have already been given, classified in greater detail. and yet, despite this disturbing factor and the one earlier mentioned that these later operating expenses have been heavily loaded with improvement expenditures, it appears by comparison of with , that passenger business has more than doubled, and freight business is two and a half times as great, while operating expenses in were not much over twice their amount ten years before. [illustration: earnings & expenses] a comparison of the movement of gross earnings with operating expenses introduces still another disturbing factor, namely, the changes from year to year in the level of freight rates as well as in the character of the traffic handled. the effect of fluctuating costs of production of transportation having just been considered, we may now turn to the fiscal returns as affected by the price obtainable for the service given. any long-time comparison of results reflects the influence of the steady decline of freight rates during the generation prior to . thus comparing with , as shown by the preceding table, operating expenses grew in the ratio of to , while gross income grew from to only . three fold the freight business produced less than twice the revenue. pushing the comparison later, down to , operating expenses grew after from to , while gross income rose to only . this reflects the influence during the last few years of the rapid rise in prices and wages. * * * * * according to the opposite diagram, comparing with , both operating expenses and gross income from operation seem to have moved together; the curve of gross revenue rising proportionately only a little faster than that for operating expenses. the latter have risen from a general figure of about $ , , before the depression of - , to $ , , , in ; the former from about $ , , , to over $ , , , . both alike somewhat more than doubled, therefore, in twenty years. at times, especially during the rapid revival of business after , before rising prices began to affect costs of operation, extraordinary increases in earnings appeared, outstripping the growth of expenditures. comparing the year with we find that the gross earnings of the railroads of the united states increased by twenty-two per cent. this involved an increased expense of operation, however, of only eighteen per cent. similar comparison year by year, there having been an enormous expansion of business, shows an increase in gross earnings somewhat more rapid than the growth of operating expenses. this differential advantage has progressively lessened since , and especially since the let-up in . the official returns for with the marked decline in gross, show an even more distinct drop in net earnings. whether the need of an increase of rates commensurate with the augmented operating costs is imperative, can only be ascertained after a return to more normal business conditions. these relationships would be the more striking could we exclude the enormous expenditures for betterments which have been charged to operating expenses during these years. comparisons of net earnings are vitiated by uncertainty upon this point. working over these results by comparison per mile of line, it appears that the rate of increase in earnings per mile of line for five years prior to , was approximately double the rate of increase of operating expenses per mile of line. the greatly lessened cost of performing additional business becomes at once apparent. but these latter conclusions, as has been said, cover only a brief period of time. judging by the results over many years, it appears that changes both in the level of freight rates and of wages and prices have operated to leave the railroads not much better off than they were some time ago. the only thing which has saved them whole in the face of rising prices and wages since , and especially since , has been the rise of freight rates and the enforced improvements in operation. with the methods of transportation, such as size of cars and locomotives and train loads, as they were a decade ago, very real distress would be more widely apparent than it is. on the whole, the public seems to have shared in the benefits of these improvements to a considerable degree. this statement, however true for the entire railroad system of the country as a whole, does not by any means represent the facts for any single system. moreover, it is not by any means clear how fully the railroad system of the country has been enlarged and improved out of surplus earnings. there is reason to think that foundations in some cases--the pennsylvania road, for example--have been laid during these prosperous years, for largely increased tonnage in the immediate future without a corresponding growth of expenses chargeable to plant; in other words, that the transition to a distinctly higher grade of operation has been effected out of surplus earnings. the comparison of gross and net earnings from operation, if expenditures have grown almost as fast as gross income, confirms the preceding conclusions. surveying the chart for the period since , it appears that net earnings for the railroads of the united states have more nearly trebled than doubled; the increase having been per cent. up to  . this takes no account whatever of the immense volume of new capital added to the system. the entirely distinct question of the relative rate of return upon the investment will engage our attention at a later time. examination of the years of rapid revival after by themselves, however, especially for individual companies, shows striking results. this is especially true of roads, not then developed up to a fair working capacity for their plants. an interesting comparison with the previous decade, to , exemplifies this relation still further. the gross earnings of the trunk lines of the united states decreased very greatly per mile of line from $ , in fact to $ , during the decade; but at the same time the net earnings steadily increased. this was due primarily to the great volume of business developed,--the ton mileage increasing more than three fold during these ten years. it happened despite the fact that the miles of line during the same period had more than doubled. the following decade, to , was represented by an increase of only . per cent. in mileage, while the number of tons of freight hauled one mile increased by per cent. density increasing in this way, a corresponding ability to carry at a lower rate per ton was a necessary result. so indisputably has this law--that an expanding volume of business up to a certain point, may profitably be carried at a continually lowered cost--been proved, that it is estimated by so competent an authority as the _engineering review_ that, provided sufficient tonnage be available for , -ton freight train loads, a cost of one mill per ton mile can be attained. its significance may be realized from the fact that the lowest revenue per ton mile reported for the united states is . mills per ton mile for the long haul soft coal business of the chesapeake & ohio.[ ] this, of course, does not imply that any railroad in actual operation, carrying all kinds of freight including a large proportion of local traffic, can in the immediate future hope to attain this result. it is intended only to show that, provided the volume of traffic be large enough, the cost of operation tends to decline as a matter of course, until a condition of congestion for the existing plant has been reached. at this point a new cycle of costs of operation and of profits makes its appearance. the most important single factor in the production of increasing returns upon a railroad is the density of traffic; that is to say, the amount of business which can be conducted with a given set of rails, terminals and rolling stock. in other words, it is the degree of effective utilization of the plant and equipment. it is too obvious to need demonstration, after what has been set forth concerning the nature of railroad expenditures, that economy of operation and, consequently, profits are more or less directly dependent upon this fact. such effective utilization of the property may be secured in two ways: either by a large tonnage per mile of its line, or else by a concentration of such traffic as it may have into large train loads, which can individually be transported at low cost. the first of these economizes the fixed expenses for roadway and line which respond but slowly to enlargement of traffic, by distributing them thinly over a large tonnage; the second economizes the mere movement expenses which tend to grow less rapidly than the size of the trains. for neither fuel consumption nor wages of train crews expands _pari passu_ with the paying load. fortunate the lot of the railroad which enjoys both these advantages, of density of traffic per mile of line and of tonnage capable of such concentration in heavy train units. traffic density--the tons of freight carried one mile per mile of line--is readily computed. the ton mileage, representing the total transportation service, is merely divided by the number of miles of line operated. the following graded table illustrates the wide range of this figure, according to the location of different companies and the nature of their business, as well as the change in the last few years.[ ] ======================================================================== | - | |--------------------------------------+--------- | |--percentage of tonnage-- | | |--------------------------| | traffic | agric'l|products| manu- | traffic | density |products|of mines|factures| density ---------------------+-----------+--------+--------+--------+--------- rock island company. | , | | | | , c. m. & st. p. | , | | | | , great northern | , | -- | -- | -- | , n. y., n. h. & h. | , | -- | -- | -- | , , wabash | , | | | | , , baltimore & ohio | , , | | | | , , new york central | , , | | | | , , lake shore (' ) | , , | -- | -- | -- | , , penn'a railroad (' )| , , | -- | -- | -- | , , ====================================================================== the first of these companies operates in a sparsely settled agricultural territory. the st. paul system lies nearer chicago, but is still largely dependent upon a local and rural constituency. the great northern--a great transcontinental trunk line--despite its sparsely settled western area, exchanges a large volume of through freight for the pacific coast for lumber and other bulky products carried east. the new haven serves perhaps the most densely settled area in the united states, but much of its traffic is on branch lines and is of a retail character. the wabash lies in well settled territory and hauls a heavy tonnage of low-grade freight. the last two are not only great trunk lines to the seaboard, but also tap the coal and iron fields. much of their tonnage is consequently of low grade. the pennsylvania enjoys a still further advantage, super-adding a rich local traffic in manufactures and merchandise. as compared with its rival trunk line, the new york central, it hauls relatively little grain; but, on the other hand, the new york central has a much smaller coal and iron business. some one has aptly characterized the difference between the two roads, describing the new york central as "operating between good points, but not through a good country" so far as local business is concerned. on the one, through traffic is supplementary to local business, while on the other it is the reverse. the high density of trunk line traffic is such that about two-thirds of all the tonnage of the united states is transported east of the mississippi and north of the ohio river. traffic density has enormously increased during the last two decades, as a result of the filling up of the country and the relative cessation of new construction. this is manifested by the growth since . in that year the density was less than , ton miles per mile of line, and during the depression of it fell well below that figure. the total of , , reported for represents, therefore, more than a doubling of the density in twenty years. this growth during and -' was notable. the latter period, especially, was a time when congestion upon all the roads of the country occasioned much distress. the fact is evident that the country has well grown up to the measure of its existing transportation facilities. the second measure of effective operation for the production of increasing returns, is concentration in the trainload. this is regarded by many as the supreme test of efficiency in management. great progress has been made during the past years in this regard in the united states--an improvement which has largely enabled the carriers to bear up under an increasing burden of expenditure. the trainload is generally adopted today as the unit of operation, measuring the cost of service.[ ] it is a fact that, within certain limits, the cost of handling a train does not vary greatly with its capacity. since the first application of air-brakes to freight trains in , a train crew sufficient to handle fifteen cars can care for thirty about as well in long haul wholesale business. fuel cost, also, as has been shown, lags well behind the rate of increase of the load. eaton in his railroad operations, concludes that from thirty to fifty per cent. of cost is independent of the trainload. the effect is that any increment in the paying load very materially decreases the cost of operation per ton. progress in the united states in increasing the average train load is shown by the lowest curve on the diagram on page  . the scale applicable is along the left hand side of the chart. from tons per train in to an average figure of . in is certainly a remarkable showing. the most rapid increase seems to have occurred after , with the first resumption of general prosperity. as for individual roads, the following table of average train loads is suggestive, as showing the gradation between roads of different type, as well as progress from year to year: average number of tons of freight per train (tons per train mile) ============================================================== road (fiscal years) | | | -----------------------------------------+------+------+------ pennsylvania railroad (east of pittsburg)| | | pennsylvania company (west of pittsburg) | | | pennsylvania system (both) | | | chesapeake & ohio | | | great northern | | | erie railroad | | | new york central & hudson river | | | northern pacific | | | atchison, topeka & santa fe | | | chicago & northwestern | | | new haven | | | southern | | | ============================================================== the great coal and iron roads, the trunk lines and the transcontinental lines all concentrate their business; while the granger roads, like the atchison and north western, the roads with much local business like the new haven or the southern, operating in sparsely settled regions, all have of necessity smaller trainloads. but all alike betray remarkable progress in this regard. in the average for the best roads was little above tons,--such as tons reported for the new york central and tons on the lake shore. from this level to results of or tons on the average represents a notable achievement. the lake shore for reports a revenue train load of tons. it should be observed, however, that such results come from longer trains, not, apparently, so much from larger cars. to raise the average trainload on the wabash from tons in to tons in is also worthy of note. the significance of these recent figures can be realized from the fact that the london & north western, one of the leading railroads in great britain, reports recently an average freight train load of only tons. this represents probably a fair average for european railroads as a whole, although in england the general practice of privately owned cars, of light locomotives, short freight sidings, etc., may reduce the figure slightly below the continental average. statistics not only show the notable improvement in recent years; they at the same time show how the trainload performance is affected by trade conditions. for nearly every road the trainloads for were distinctly lower than in the preceding years. this was a year of acute business depression. the movement of great staple commodities, such as iron ore, coal, steel and iron and lumber, was greatly curtailed. all business was conducted on a narrower basis. smaller trainloads were an almost inevitable consequence. the revival in the following year, however, immediately improved the conditions of operation, as the figures indicate. it will be noted that the figures for the american roads above given represent averages. these are compounded from local and through traffic taken together. it is apparent at once that local trains must average far lighter loads than are customary upon long hauls without breaking bulk. thus new england railroads report for an average trainload of only tons, while other parts of the country, such as the north central group, report tons of paying load. only by separation of local from through business can we adequately appreciate the enormous advances which have taken place in railroad operation in the united states, with corresponding reductions in the cost of transportation. while the new york central at one time reported an average trainload of tons, the average load of its through trains on the main line rose as high as tons. more than twice this figure is attained upon the pittsburg, bessemer & lake erie road in hauling ore from the lakes to the furnaces at pittsburg. the illinois central, for its low grade and long haul to the gulf, has recently built locomotives capable of hauling , tons of net paying load. a standard grain train on the lake shore in consisted of fifty cars holding forty tons each. even this figure has recently been surpassed by the new york central, which, with its monster new "mogul" engines, hauls eighty loaded -ton cars, giving , tons of revenue freight. the mallet locomotives with a tractive effort of , lbs., at present seem to have reached the limit of size and weight. seventy-five grain cars holding , bushels apiece are equivalent to the production of twenty bushels per acre of an area of six square miles. this is an ordinary trainload. it is not infrequent to transport a fifth more than this. eighty and even one hundred cars in a train since often bring the load up to , and even , tons of freight. such a train is over four-fifths of a mile long. from these figures it certainly appears that trainloads for long haul are standardized at not less than , tons, a figure which would have seemed absolutely impossible to railroad managers of fifteen or twenty years ago. the maximum trainload in germany on coal traffic, which, of course, greatly exceeds any general average for trains of all classes, is about five hundred tons. it has been regarded as a notable achievement that this represents an increase of about one hundred tons in the last decade. on the other hand, the extravagant promises of economy from large trainloads have been considerably abated of late. it has been effectively demonstrated that there is a limit to such growth. only low-grade and long haul carload traffic can profitably be concentrated. in , for instance, a general decrease in trainloads followed a reduction in the relative amounts of low as compared with high grade tonnage. less iron, coal, and raw materials and more merchandise and manufactures offered for carriage, necessitated a positive reduction in the trainloads as already mentioned. nor can local business in less than carload lots profitably be concentrated beyond a certain point. grades must be uniform to attain such economy. the trainload must not exceed the traction power on the heaviest inclines, or else expensive pusher engines or breaking up of trains will offset all other savings. moreover, too great trainloads even on the best roadbeds involve slower speeds. not only is other traffic thus impeded, but the economy in wages vanishes after a certain point with such slower movement. the fashion had been set by james j. hill, the master mind in the transcontinental field. his notable results, due to a careful working out of every detail, led to a frenzied imitation on all sides. many roads then discovered to their loss that while they had provided rolling stock for heavy loading, ampler terminals, longer sidings and heavier bridges also were a necessary accompaniment. part of the congestion of traffic in - , already mentioned, and a portion of the financial embarrassments of recent years, were undoubtedly due to too great haste in seeking economies of this sort in rolling stock, without at the same time making provisions for enlargement of other portions of the plant. a more discriminating policy has consequently resulted of late. traffic is being sorted according to its availability for concentration. the best utilization of the rails and terminals is being more considered. business demands for quick delivery also enter into the calculation. instead of a few huge slow-moving leviathans blocking other trains, the line may perhaps better be kept full of many smaller trains moving more nearly together. such are certain of the details now being worked out. none of them, however, weaken the main proposition that a discriminating concentration of traffic conduces very greatly to economy of operation. this concentration of traffic units is largely due to technical improvements of various kinds. foremost among these has been the development of the steel rail. in more than seven-tenths of our mileage was still equipped with iron rails. rapid progress ensued during the next ten years, upward of eighty per cent. being in steel rails by . at the present time, the proportion is above ninety-eight per cent. in fact, no iron rails have been made for many years, except for repairs and on insignificant branch lines in remote parts of the country. a steady increase in the weight of the rails has ensued. the standard rail for main lines until the civil war weighed fifty-six pounds to the yard. in the seventies this was increased to sixty-three and above; in the latter eighties the best practice was to use seventy-five pound sections. since , they frequently run as high as one hundred pounds, in regions of dense traffic. few main lines of track now average less than seventy-five pounds. it is this increase in the use and size of steel rails which has permitted improvements in rolling stock. but, on the other hand, grave dissatisfaction with the quality of the rails manufactured of late years, particularly since the establishment of practical monopoly under the united states steel corporation has become manifest. numerous accidents due to breakage of rails, especially since , have revealed either defects in manufacture or an undue load imposed by heavier rolling stock, too high speed, or both. the matter has become steadily worse. in the interstate commerce commission ascribed seventy-eight accidents to broken rails. nine years later the number had risen to . the need of improvement is now fully recognized on all sides. the power and efficiency of locomotives has increased, perhaps, more since , and particularly since , than in any previous period. superior materials particularly have contributed to this result, such as the substitution of cast steel for cast iron and of nickel steel for wrought iron in axles, crank pins, etc. some of the improvements which may be mentioned are, for instance, an increase in the average heating surface from , in to nearly , square feet at the present time, and an increase in the average steam pressure from pounds to pounds per square inch in the same period. the maximum weight has also increased very rapidly. the average weight of a locomotive at the close of the civil war was approximately , pounds. this has increased in somewhat the following proportions: to , , lbs.; to , , lbs.; to , , lbs.; to , , lbs.; rising in to , lbs. passenger locomotives since have almost doubled in weight, and freight engines have more than done so. compound and double or mallet locomotives are also supplanting those of simpler type for peculiarly heavy service. the first compound engine was built in , only one being constructed in that year. in a single locomotive works turned out --a number constituting two-thirds of the entire output of that company--for use in the united states. such locomotives cost more in first instance; but the greater weight and steam capacity, together with the considerable saving in fuel, amounting to perhaps twenty per cent., more than offset this objection. the traction efficiency of these improved locomotives may be shown by the statement that in the decapod baldwin locomotives, made to haul , tons on a level, represented the maximum capacity. five years later the same company built locomotives to haul , tons, not only on a level, but on any ordinary grade. as indicative of late advances in locomotive construction, we may instance those built about for the illinois central and the union railroad at pittsburg, both low-grade roads, carrying exceedingly heavy train loads. the first of these weighed, including its tender, , lbs., the union railroad consolidation engines weighing , lbs. such locomotives are stated to be twice as powerful as the best which were manufactured twenty-five years ago. this record is surpassed by engines which have just been built for pusher service on the soft-coal virginian railway. they are of the mallet type, weighing , pounds; with a train capacity of , tons. the evaporative surface is , square feet. as summarizing the increased efficiency of american locomotives, we may instance the figures of the interstate commerce commission, showing the average performance of locomotives for the united states. whereas in the average number of tons of freight carried per locomotive was about , tons, this rose to , tons in , and to , tons in . at the same time the number of tons of freight hauled one mile for each freight locomotive in the united states increased from , , in to approximately , , in , and to , , in . in other words, the average performance of each freight locomotive in the united states has increased by more than fifty per cent. in the last decade. the economy of large freight cars has been amply demonstrated. marked advances in the average capacity have taken place in the last few years. in the sixties a , pound freight car represented about the normal capacity. this has increased, as measured by maximum load, to , pounds in ; to , pounds in ; to , pounds in ; to , pounds in ; while at the present time , to , pound cars are in everyday use. cars of this latter type, built to carry forty to fifty tons, are necessarily of pressed steel construction, and are mainly useful for the carriage of coal and ore and similar low-grade commodities. it seems to be questionable whether a maximum capacity has not been about reached, in view of the exceedingly great wear and tear imposed upon track, bridges, etc. up to this point the economy of heavy loading is indisputably proved. increased size of cars far more than proportionately increases the paying load. thus, for instance, an , -pound car will carry , pounds load, while a , -pound car will carry a load twice as great. it is stated on good authority, for example, that a car of forty tons capacity can be built which will weigh but , pounds more than a thirty-ton car, and cost hardly fifty dollars more. this is undoubtedly the reason why at the present time the average load per car is at least one hundred per cent. greater than the maximum which was possible twenty years ago. a steady increase in the freight performance of american equipment is shown by official data of the interstate commerce commission. whereas in it required on an average , freight cars for every , , tons of freight transported their capacity has so increased that the same amount of traffic in was carried by only , cars. in other words, an enormous increase in the freight service had been attained. on the other hand, the actual mileage performance of much of this equipment is extraordinarily low. it averages only about , miles annually or an equivalent of thirty miles a day. at a speed of fifteen miles an hour, this means that actual movement under a paying load, allowing for one-third of its journeyings empty, occupies but little over an hour and a quarter a day. the actual performance is, however, not quite as poor as appears. for, of course, this average includes the non-movement of all cars in bad order (sometimes one-tenth of the total); and also all idle equipment. this latter consideration is of great moment. special cars, suitable only for seasonal business; and especially demurrage delays, often forty-eight hours or more, adversely affect the result. where separate mileage records of "foreign" cars are kept, as on the wabash system, it appears that their mileage is twice as high as for "home" cars. the difference is due to the fact that cars off their own rails, mainly are in actual demand and are kept moving. probably the daily performance of loaded cars is not less than miles. but a journey of this length, with two days' delay at each end at terminals, would bring the average down to about thirty miles. the public does not always appreciate these facts; and is often querulous. it is certain that the problem how to secure greater efficiency in the use of this equipment is as yet imperfectly solved.[ ] [illustration: revenue and cost per train mile.] the discussion of the nature of railroad expenditure may be concluded by a comparison of the net effects of the developments of the last few years; that is to say, of steadily expanding costs of operation and of slowly and tardily rising rates chargeable for service on the one hand, as over against the results obtained by mechanical improvements and increasing economy of operation coupled with growth of tonnage, on the other. the average cost of transportation has greatly increased. this, according to the statistics of the interstate commerce commission, is shown upon the diagram herewith by the middle curve.[ ] the average cost of running all trains per mile, which had fallen from cents in to . cents in , rose to $ . in , and in increased by more than one-third, to $ . per mile. against this should be set the fact that while the trains thus cost more to haul per mile, their paying load has increased in somewhat smaller proportion. this is shown by the upper curve on the diagram above mentioned. for freight trains the increase has been from $ . to $ . per mile. passenger revenues per train mile have increased less rapidly. this follows from the well-known fact that freight rates have been increased, while passenger rates have not changed for the better during this period; and also that economies in concentration of traffic are necessarily confined to the carriage of freight. the immense gain in trainloads has probably been the main element, among these, as already observed. among other things this diagram also brings out the effect upon revenue of the substantial rate increases after , coupled with the elimination of rebate losses. it will be observed how sharply the upper curve of revenue per train mile slants upward after , by comparison with the lower line denoting cost. the same thing apparently occurs again after the set-back of  . the interrelation between these various factors may be more readily shown by confining our attention to the period during which a practically uninterrupted development of business ensued, thus eliminating the confusion due to the four years of depression after . the data on our various charts for the years - demonstrate that during this period the ton mileage, measuring the freight traffic handled, has practically doubled. to transport this doubled tonnage, a growth in freight train mileage of only eighteen per cent. was necessary. this was due, of course, to the notable concentration of train loading, already described, as well as to a density of traffic per mile of line almost sixty per cent. greater. as a consequence of these economies in operation, the revenue per freight train mile has increased by about fifty per cent.; while the average cost of running all trains per mile has grown less rapidly, namely, by per cent. had we data for freight trains alone it would surely be lower than this. in the meantime during this period of eight years, the rate of return in revenue per ton mile received, remained practically unchanged.[ ] from all of which it would appear that even despite all these confusing factors, the law of increasing returns, so far at least as -' was concerned, was making itself appreciably felt. attentive consideration of the available figures, especially as shown by diagram on page , shows apparently that the various economies in operation, heavier trainloads and the like, have not since yielded any greater profit from mere operation, with the ever increasing volume of business. in other words, the increase in the margin between cost of operation and revenue per train mile,--measuring profitableness per unit of movement--has not kept pace with the augmentation of the size of that unit,--the trainload. thus it follows, as one would expect, even making allowance for all changes in rates, wages and other expenses, that the law of increasing returns as applied to railroads, does not arise primarily from economic considerations as to mere physical operation. the law originates primarily in the fiscal conditions attaching to the heavy capital investment,--the fact, namely, that fixed charges up to a given point of saturation tend to remain constant, absolutely; but become proportionately less, therefore, as the volume of business expands. from this fact, therefore, rather than because of any marked economies of large-scale production, may it be affirmed that railroads offer a notable example of the law of increasing returns. the important bearing of this distinction will appear in due time in connection with the problem of the determination of reasonable rates. added significance, also, is given to the relation between the cost of new capital, measured by the rates of interest on bonds and dividends on stocks, and the supply necessary to provide adequate extensions and improvements in future. _appendix_: the subjoined chart, reproduced by the _railway age gazette_ from a bulletin of the bureau of railway economics, brings out forcibly the manner in which, within the short time limits of full utilization of plant, a large increase of business can take place without a commensurate growth of expenses. the phenomenon for railroads is of course cyclical. annually, as here indicated for , the second half of the year is marked by a much heavier movement of traffic, principally, of course, the crops. but expenses never rise in proportion. this is most evident for the eastern group of roads, as here shown. this causes the net revenue curve, also, to vary much more than in proportion to the volume of traffic, in consequence. [illustration: monthly revenues and expenses per mile of line from and .] footnotes: [ ] illustrated by the seasonal variation of business. _vide_ appendix to this chapter at p. . [ ] webb, economics of railway construction; originally in wellington's economic theory of the location of railways. [ ] webb, _op. cit._; originally from wellington. [ ] _wall street journal_, march , . [ ] eaton, railroad operations, etc., pp. - . [ ] investigation in th ann. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] from report of commission to investigate the postal service, , p. ; brought down to when local disturbances in wages, other costs of operation and rates outweigh all general considerations. [ ] between and freight ton mileage rose three times over. operating expenses grew by about two and one-quarter times. [ ] _cf._ data as to revenue per ton mile on p. , _infra_. [ ] other data as to density on p. , _infra_. [ ] also known as "average tons per train mile." obtained by dividing the ton mileage by the sum of the freight and mixed train miles. [ ] _cf. quarterly journal of economics_, xviii, p. ; on _per diem_ reform. also, _railway age_, , p. ; th ann. rep., i. c. c., p. ; and circular letters, , chicago bureau of car performances. [ ] using the right hand scale. [ ] diagram on p. , _infra_. chapter iv rate making in practice evolution of rate sheets,  .--terminal v. haulage costs,  .--local competition,  .--what the traffic will bear,  .--trunk line rate system,  .--complexity of rate structure,  .--competition of routes,  .--competition of facilities,  .--competition of markets,  .--ever-widening markets,  .--primary and secondary market competition,  .--jobbing or distributive business,  .--flat rates,  .--mississippi-missouri rate scheme,  .--relation between raw materials and finished products,  .--export rates on wheat and flour,  .--cattle and packing-house products,  .-- refrigerator cars,  .--by-products and substitution,  .--kansas corn and minnesota flour,  .--ex-lake grain rates,  .-- the task of constructing a freight or passenger tariff is an eminently practical one. the process must be tentative and experimental. little can be calculated in advance. tariffs are not made out of hand; they grow. not until a rate has been put into effect, can its results be known. the lower limit of charges, however, is more or less fixed. obviously the rate must not be less than that portion of the variable expenses incident to each particular unit of business. this variable expense is divisible into two parts, one for loading and unloading, and the other for actual movement. the first step in constructing a tariff, therefore, is to separate these two portions of the variable outgo. general experience fixes the terminal outlay for loading and unloading at an average figure of about twenty or twenty-five cents per ton at each end of the line; that is to say, at an average of about two and one-half cents per hundred pounds as the total terminal cost.[ ] just where, above or below this average, the figure for any particular tariff will lie, depends upon a multitude of details. this terminal expense is obviously quite independent of the length of the haul. it costs no more to load for a carriage of , miles than for one between two adjoining stations. it is the second portion of the specific costs, namely, the movement expense, which varies with the distance. this movement cost is more difficult of determination, as affected by a multitude of variable factors, such as the grades, curvature, number of stops, the size of train load, and above all, the volume of the traffic. assuming the simplest physical conditions, one would expect the movement expense, aside from the initial cost of getting up steam in order to move at all, to rise proportionately to the distance traversed. graphically represented, the tariff would appear somewhat as follows: [illustration: relation of cost of carriage to distance.] in this diagram the distances of carriage are represented along the horizontal line, a b; while the rate charged is laid off vertically. the distances a c and e b represent the constant terminal cost; while the steadily rising rates with increasing distance, due to movement expenses, are shown by the sloping dotted line c d. this chart at once demonstrates why under the very simplest physical conditions a straight mileage tariff is unscientific and unreasonable. for the constant terminal expense, spread evenly over the mileage traversed as the movement expenses grow, becomes progressively less and less in proportion to the total of the two, which constitutes the real rate. the longer the haul, the lower the ton-mile cost as a matter of necessity. as chanute calculated on the new york central a generation ago,[ ] while the average cost per mile of hauling a ton ten miles was . cents, it descended progressively to less than one cent per mile for distances over five hundred miles. a common rule is that the rate rises as the square root of the distance, rather than in proportion to it. a hundred-mile haul represents a cost approximately only twice as great as one of twenty-five miles, instead of being four times as much. for thrice a given cost the haul may be increased nine times. the course of such a tariff with increasing distance would be represented by the parabolic curved lines on the preceding diagram.[ ] the particular curve would depend upon the commodity and local physical conditions. in territory where movement expenses were heavy or operation difficult, the curve would obviously rise more rapidly. such a mathematical tariff does not depart widely from the one traced by the heavy dotted line c d first described. the progressive decline of the per mile rate with increasing distance may be illustrated by the rough estimate of allowing two and one-half cents per hundred weight or fifty cents per ton for terminal cost, with one-half cent additional per mile for movement expenses. for a ten-mile haul this would cost fifty-five cents, or an average of . cents per mile. were the distance miles, the average cost would be only ( + )/ cents or . cents per ton mile. [illustration: diagram of belgian tariff sheets.] thus far the problem has been seemingly simple. the next step introduces new complications. our hypothetical railway line at a point one hundred miles out, may cross a navigable river or canal, or may intersect another railway. engineering considerations of absolute cost of operation now no longer predominate. relative costs by rival lines enter into the case. water lines or more direct railways compete for the traffic. one cannot even fall back upon the cost of carriage by any of these lines, either the weaker or the stronger. an entirely new principle comes into play. the alternative is presented of taking the business at a rate lower than, and out of line with, rates on general traffic, rather than to lose it to another line. at first sight it would appear that it were better to abandon the traffic than to take it for less than a fair average return or profit. this is a serious matter. the tonnage offered is large. the existence of active competition for it, is proof of its importance. railways meet at large towns, and large towns become larger because the roads meet there. the main reason for not abandoning the traffic, however, arises from that primary fact, to which one constantly recurs, that all expenses are not alike in their nature. a concrete example will make this plain. suppose, for instance, the normal rate to yield a fair average return, all expenses considered, be thirty cents per hundredweight. two-thirds of the cost of this, or twenty cents, would not cease as outgo, were this business abandoned. the rails would rust, the ties would rot, and trains would move but with lighter loads, and the fixed charges would still go on inexorably night and day. ten cents per hundredweight will meet the variable and extra cost incident to this particular business. a fifteen-cent rate would at least repay these extra outlays. it would do more. it would contribute five cents per hundred pounds to the twenty cents outgo per hundredweight, which, without the traffic, would have to be borne _in toto_. even a rate of eleven cents would contribute something to this end. for it would leave a surplus of one cent per hundredweight to lighten the other burden. adopting hadley's phraseology,[ ] if you take at eleven cents, freight that costs you thirty cents to handle, you lose nineteen cents on every hundredweight. if you refuse to take it at that rate, you lose twenty cents on every hundredweight you do _not_ carry. for your constant expenses go on, while the other road gets the business. there is only one course open. the rate at the competitive point must be cut; if not to make a profit, at least to stop a greater loss. and one comfort may be uncovered in so doing. the lowered rate may so stimulate new business and enlarge the volume of traffic, that it may be handled at much lower cost. in fact, this consideration alone in absence of all competition, may induce a lowering of rates at certain points out of line with the general schedule. this incentive, conditioned by the fact of increasing returns, is always in the background. the destiny of many places is manifested in terms beyond the control of the carrier. soil may be poor, climate or population adverse to progress. but some particular places enjoy peculiar advantages for growth. not to stimulate new business at these points where traffic might be cultivated, even without rivals in the field, is little better than allowing it to escape over a competitor's line of rails, were they present. [illustration: effect of competition at certain places on rates.] cutting the normal rate at competitive points or at important points in order to stimulate traffic, in conformity with the principle above stated, transforms our tariff diagram as shown herewith. the rate rises steadily with the increasing distance from a, except at e and f. at these points it is fixed at a lower point, determined not primarily by the cost of service at all, but by the available demand for it. traffic at these points is charged what it will bear; not as much but as little as it will bear: which, being translated, means that the charge is set as high as possible, still holding the volume of business constant, or even increasing it if that can be accomplished. the total profit is constituted of the profit per unit of freight multiplied into its volume. the centre of interest is here shifted from the average profit per unit considered alone, to the total profit thus obtained. at this point another difficulty presents itself. although, as set forth elsewhere, local discrimination,--charging a lower rate for a more distant point,--may sometimes not only be not injurious but actually beneficial to all parties concerned, it is the exception, not the rule.[ ] ordinarily to accord a remote point a lower rate without patent cause, is an economic anomaly, and, moreover, a political blunder. it violates the democratic principle of cost of service as underlying rate schedules. most legislative bodies have prohibited it by law. the united states and most of the american commonwealths do not permit it, other than in exceptional cases. the result is that on our hypothetical tariff, the rates from a to points intermediate between a and b and b and d must be cut to the levels, e and f, fixed for those latter places. such was the action taken by the trunk lines in in conformity with the requirements of the long and short haul clause of the federal act to regulate commerce. an original progressively rising tariff is thus at once transformed to a series of level grades or platforms, the shifts of level corresponding to the location of large towns or competitive centres; and the grade of each platform being fixed by the rate determined under competition at those points.[ ] this ascending series of grades may be most irregular, as conditioned by local circumstances. the general steepness of the gradation is low on eastern roads like the new york central, with a large volume of traffic and easy operating conditions. on western lines like the denver and rio grande, in rugged territory, with a sparse population and light tonnage, the per mile rate rises rapidly and the gradation of the general tariff is steep. but always it will be found that the changes in rates occur at competitive points, with transition to a new level of rates determined by the conditions at the next competitive point beyond. an important fact concerning this tariff thus far developed, is that, of course, the height of the upper level at the most remote point must never exceed what the particular traffic will bear. in other words, supposing that the traffic consist of grain or coal, not more than a certain amount could ever be charged, no matter how great the distance, without so far diminishing the profit in the transaction as to render the business impossible. this is shown by the diagram opposite the next page, whereon it appears that each commodity, coal, wheat, cement, lumber, or oil, having attained a certain level of rates, never rises thereafter, no matter what the distance. each attains the maximum of what it will bear. that level it can never exceed. this immediately leads to another consideration. no single tariff is applicable to any large number of commodities. each one must be regarded as a law unto itself. not only does the ultimate amount which each is able to bear depend upon the value of that commodity, but also the conditions determining competition with respect to it must be different all along the line.[ ] [illustration: rates between chicago and st. paul. distances in miles from chicago. rates in cents per lbs. [_facing page _]] thus it appears that the height of the extreme upper level in our diagrammatic series of rates is fixed by the highest charge which that particular traffic will bear.[ ] beyond a certain point, no matter how great the distance, the rate cannot be increased above this level. this maximum varies, of course, with each commodity. on cotton it may be fifty-five cents per one hundred pounds; on grain or coal it will be much lower, and on sand or cement lower still. the problem of the traffic manager is to attain this highest rate as speedily as possible with increasing distance, and to grade his rates with distance up to this level as quickly as possible, consistent, of course, with maintenance of a full volume of business. but not only may the final limit of what the traffic will bear be different for each commodity; the steps or stages by which the rate progresses up to this maximum, are quite independently determined. the actual tariffs of local class rates in general are much simpler than the commercial conditions of rate making often warrant. probably the major portion of tonnage on american railways moves under special or commodity rates. even in prussia over three-fifths of the traffic is of this exceptional sort. these special rates are made with a view to particular circumstances prevalent at the time. bids from a quarryman in vermont on stone for a public building in chicago, may be dependent upon the grant of a low rate on his marble in competition with a quarry in north carolina, also able to supply the particular stone required. the various ascending series of rates are thus rendered bewilderingly complex. this is also shown by the foregoing diagram of rates between st. paul and chicago.[ ] the rate on a cheap, heavy commodity like coal, probably rises rapidly at first, and soon attains a maximum beyond which it can never go. on this diagram, for instance, the freight rate on soft coal for points up to miles out is lower than that on flour. beyond that point the coal rate in turn exceeds that on flour. cement is higher than lumber for the first miles; but after that point the relatively greater value of lumber holds it steadily above cement. on heavy cheap commodities the relatively high cost of cartage in competition enables the railway to reap the full measure of its advantage and to charge well up to the maximum of what the traffic will bear, within a comfortably short distance. furthermore, variable costs for terminal charges have to be considered. wherever they are high the rate must rise at once sufficiently to cover these, no matter how short the distance; but thereafter the rate may not need to be increased greatly for some time. on light higher-grade goods the wagon is an effective competitor for longer distances.[ ] moreover, the competitive points at which rates rise from stage to stage are seldom the same for all classes of goods. a river crossing brings competition for coal, lime, or cement, but does not affect the rates chargeable on high-class freight which seldom goes by water in any event. a railway specially interested in the development of some particular industry, wherever it crosses our hypothetical line, effectively holds down the rate on the product of that business. junction points with other railways having no such interest may have no influence upon that rate, but may cause modifications in other directions. another railway being in need of back loads over its line, as the result of a predominant movement, let us say, of beef cattle at certain seasons of the year, may introduce competition in all the tonnage capable of being carried on cattle cars. such a road holds down the rates on this traffic wherever it happens to cross, but has no effect upon any other rate. thus it comes about in practice, as the last diagram well illustrates, that the tariff lines cross and recross one another, generally rising with increasing distance, but at all sorts of different times and places. few generalizations are possible in this connection. rate making must in a growing country ever be a matter of infinite detail. it is generally true, however, that beyond a certain point the tariff on different grades of commodities will separate more and more widely with increasing distance. for, obviously, after the low-grade goods have reached the maximum which they can bear--and this they tend to do speedily--they must remain practically constant; while those of higher grade continue progressively rising. and for very short distances the rate on the low-grade goods may even exceed that imposed upon higher-class tonnage. the coal rate for a ten-mile haul may exceed that upon some commodity worth twice as much; but for a -mile haul the coal rate may be only one-eighth of the rate on the other goods. long experience on the part of the carriers has, however, enabled them to arrange their tonnage in classes; for each of which the conditions are more or less uniform. by reserving the exceptional traffic for special treatment under commodity rates, a fairly consistent scheme of charges, rising by stages with increasing distance may be evolved. few standard railway tariffs in the united states develop beyond the point covered by the preceding paragraph. many of them are unable even to reach this stage of logical growth. in the south, for instance, they have never got beyond the stage of progressively rising local rates, with independent and often radically reduced charges at all large towns or competitive points.[ ] each traffic manager, particularly since the effective prohibition of working agreements between competing lines by the trans-missouri freight association decision of the supreme court in , has been left to work out his own salvation, not aided by, but in spite of, the efforts of his rivals. there is, nevertheless, one example of further development in the so-called trunk line territory, lying east of the mississippi and north of the ohio and potomac rivers. conditions here, in general, are most favorable by comparison with the west and south. both population and traffic are dense, and the state legislatures are conservative in making grants for the construction of new lines. the companies are historically mature. the good fruits of coöperation had already appeared in the evolution of a scientific and logical scheme, long before such coöperative action had been frowned upon by the law and the courts. all the railways in trunk line territory have worked in harmony, so far as general classified local tariffs are concerned--however much they may have fought one another over differentials to seaboard cities, or export and import rates. their system is comparatively simple in principle, although it has required the experience of many years to work out in detail. fully described elsewhere,[ ] it will suffice for present purposes to say that all rates from intermediate points between chicago and new york, are fixed at a definite proportion of the chicago-new york rate both for east-and westbound shipments. thus, for instance, as shown by the map of trunk line rate distribution, at page , the rate from detroit to new york is seventy-two per cent. of the chicago-new york rate. the percentages from the following points are as indicated, namely: cincinnati, eighty-seven per cent.; indianapolis, ninety-three per cent.; grand rapids, ninety-six per cent.; peoria, ill., one hundred and ten per cent.; louisville, ky., one hundred per cent.; milwaukee, one hundred per cent.; and even points in canada, such as toronto, seventy-eight per cent., etc. every place, no matter how small, has a certain percentage of the new york-chicago rate assigned to it. this rate changes with any variation of the standard or basic charge. thus when the chicago-new york rate, first-class, is seventy-five cents, the rate from indianapolis is ninety-three per cent. of that figure. any change of chicago-new york first-class rates modifies every intermediate rate in exactly the same proportion. this was well exemplified in the rate wars of . these percentages have been fixed after a long process of compromise among conflicting interests. another point of special interest is that these rates are adjusted on the basis strictly of the long and short haul principle, namely, that all intermediate points enjoy a somewhat lower rate than the terminal points, although the percentage may not be exactly upon a mileage basis. consideration of the distribution of these percentages points to many apparent inequalities in the adjustment; but, as a matter of fact, it will be found that the existence of competing routes, of water transportation or of other factors, offers a partial explanation in most instances. [illustration] such being the general character of this comprehensive trunk line system, the relation of it to the tariffs described heretofore is not difficult to demonstrate. each separate railway having developed a well-ordered rate schedule, they have all met and agreed upon a unified scheme; which as far as possible harmonizes all conflicting interests. the gradation of rates rising with increasing distance from new york on each separate road, is adjusted to the corresponding gradation of rates of its neighbors on either side. the result is a series of rate zones, lying more or less concentrically about the terminal point. these zones are highly irregular in width and area, but possess one feature in common. each remoter zone is one stage higher in rates than its predecessor. this relationship is indicated by the cross section diagram herewith. this cross section, of course, differs from the diagrams heretofore shown. it is purely geographical, being taken, not along one single railway but as the crow flies--straight across the whole trunk line territory. but in order to appreciate the significance of this elaborate scheme, one should imagine a whole series of such progressively rising rates, radiating out along the different lines of railway. connecting the corresponding levels or stages upon each one with those of its neighbors, the concentric zones are immediately outlined. the advantage of such a broad scheme is that it generalizes the single line tariff; taking into view every place, no matter how small and irrespective of its location whether upon a through line or merely a local transverse one. every town, no matter how insignificant, is assigned a place in a logically evolved plan. such would seem to be the ideal of rate construction, toward which all traffic managers should strive. * * * * * the foregoing description of the development of a mileage tariff is applicable to only a part of the traffic. a very large volume of tonnage,--said to be not less than seventy-five per cent. in america, sixty-three per cent. in prussia and fifty per cent. in the united kingdom,--moves under special rates made in quite another way in response to the exigencies of commercial competition. the making of these freight rates in practice is an extremely complicated matter. no single road is independent of rates made by its rivals--rates applicable not only to competing commodities and markets, but also as affected by apparently the most remote and disconnected contingencies. thus railway rates, as has well been said, are not a set of independent threads; they form a fabric. they are so interwoven everywhere that if one thread be shortened, it will cause a kink in the fabric that may run almost anywhere. in order to understand this it will be necessary to describe somewhat in detail the nature of competition as applied to transportation; and then to show by a few concrete illustrations, the various factors which actively enter into the determination of specific rates. laymen and legislators do not sufficiently appreciate the extremely delicate nature of the work. much discussion relative to railway competition seems to be based upon the assumption that it consists in the main of the competition of railway lines more or less parallel or else operating under substantially like conditions. as a matter of fact competition in transportation is to a large degree far more complex. railway competition is of three entirely distinct sorts. these may be denominated, respectively, competition of routes, competition in facilities and competition of markets.[ ] the first of these, competition of routes, as the name suggests, is limited to the activities of the carriers alone. it occurs whenever two railways are exposed to identical commercial conditions both at the point of origin and of destination. the rivalry is direct and physical. the only competition possible is that concerning the route by which traffic may move between those two points. such competition is most likely to arise between more or less parallel lines, as for instance between the various trunk roads from new york to chicago. the classic instances in our history are of the rate wars due to the west shore and the nickel plate, which were built for the express purpose of engendering competition with the then existing lines,--the new york central and the lake shore, respectively. the same sort of simple competition prevails, of course, between a railway and a parallel canal or other waterway, as, for instance, between the erie canal and the trunk lines, or the illinois central and the mississippi river. such simple competition as this, where confined to railways alone, almost inevitably leads to one of two results: the roads may remain independent, preventing ruinous rate wars by pooling; or else, as a result of long continued cut-throat competition, the bankrupt road may be bought up and merged with the solvent one. this was the fate of the old new york and new england railway, finally purchased by the new haven system; of the west shore and nickel plate lines; and of the kansas pacific, unloaded on the union pacific by jay gould. the nature of railway competition is indeed such that no other result than consolidation or pooling can ensue. weyl is right in his observation that,--"strictly speaking, permanent competition can exist, not between railroads struggling for the same traffic; but solely between those railroads which have no territory in common." this first form of competition of routes or, as it has been called, of alternative routes, often obtains where conditions of competition are more obscure than in these simple instances above named. in the rivalry for the imported plate glass or crockery traffic between the trunk lines and the gulf roads, the competition is none the less of routes between liverpool and chicago, although the water carriage by way of new orleans or galveston is so much more roundabout. freight actually moves from boston to chicago by a line miles long, via asheville, n. c., while the direct distance is only miles.[ ] from st. louis to meridian, miss., is miles by direct rail line; yet traffic may move over miles going to new york and then around.[ ] the map on p. , showing the various rail and water lines concerned in traffic between new york and the little town of troy, ala., shows how widespread are the ramifications of competition of this sort. manifold instances of such roundabout carriage have been elsewhere described in full.[ ] they differ from the competition of parallel routes, however, in the important regard that absorption of the long lines by the short ones becomes both physically and financially impossible. whenever a large area like the pacific slope is devoid of manufactures, and wherever the source of supplies is sufficiently concentrated, as, for instance, in the manufacture of agricultural implements which are almost exclusively made in or about chicago, we still have to do with a clear case of competition of routes, although a great number of carriers may participate in the business. when molasses or rice are only to be had from new orleans, the centre of such business, the carriers to all tributary consuming points compete for the routing of it over their own respective lines. these carriers may operate either by land or sea or by a combination of both; and they may transport commodities by the most roundabout ways.[ ] the determinant feature, however, distinguishing this class of competition is neither the mode or carriage nor its length; but is found in the fact that the commercial conditions at both ends of the line, points of origin and destination, are identical for each participant in the business. direct competition of routes, therefore, has to do with pure transportation,--the creation of place values,--and this being the case, the relative cost of service is always a factor of moment. competition of facilities, the second of the three phases of railway competition above mentioned, deals, as its name implies, not at all with the rates charged but with the facilities or conveniences afforded. such competition is confined solely to rivalry for business at the established rates. immediately on the appearance of any departure from these conditions the question becomes one of competition of either of the other two sorts. an instance of competition of facilities would be the introduction of reclining chairs or of a superior service in passenger business. when the rock island system offered such facilities without an extra charge, it became necessary at once for others to meet this competition in the same way that they would meet a reduction of rates. any reduction in time of transit for freight business between two given points without extra charge, would in the same manner give rise to competition of facilities. such facilities, however, as might have a distinct money value, as, for instance, free storage, cartage, demurrage or milling-in-transit, any one of which practically amounts to giving value without charge, are, of course, equivalent to a reduction of the rate; and do not belong in this class of considerations at all. only those conveniences or facilities, which, while attempting to secure business may not be compounded for money, should be classified in this group. it should also be observed that competition of facilities may as readily arise between parts of the same railway system or under pooling agreements to maintain rates, as between distinct and independent companies.[ ] and such competition between parent and child often arises. thus, for instance, business was as actively solicited as ever by the pennsylvania and the baltimore & ohio in competition during the several years of financial control of one by the other prior to . the new haven railway may compete with its own water lines around cape cod or on long island sound. but in all of these instances the cardinal feature to note is that the competition is always at the established rate. for new england, although the new haven system and the boston and maine do not compete on rates at their points of contact, there is constant rivalry in respect of facilities or service. the same thing is undoubtedly true of the atchison and the southern pacific in the carriage of california fruits. although operated under pooling agreements, yet they were competitors in the matter of the service offered. each sought an enlarged volume of tonnage, but not by cutting the agreed rate. the third form of competition in transportation is dependent upon the competition of markets; and is not in reality direct competition between carriers at all. this is the most difficult of all forms to understand.[ ] it is certainly in many cases more than a "euphemism for railway policy."[ ] yet although indirect and often obscure, it is of fundamental and conclusive importance in the determination of freight rates. commercial competition deals not with a mere choice of routes, but with alternative markets. the carriers act, not independently and of their own volition, but only as agents or representatives for their constituents, the shippers. they may become tools or weapons in the hands of merchants or manufacturers who are the real contestants. it is largely in this sense that it is so often alleged, and rightfully, that railway traffic managers oftentimes do not _make_ rates at all. their energies are bent to the analysis of those circumstances by which their rates are made for them. the production or preparation of commodities for final consumption falls naturally into two distinct parts; the creation of form value, succeeded by the conferring of place value. transportation is concerned alone with the latter process. of these two operations, the latter, the creation of place values, is by far the more elastic and adaptable process. the grower, the miner or the manufacturer has his first costs more or less rigidly fixed by natural or human conditions; such as the fertility of the soil, the grade of ore, the prevailing scale of wages, and so on. his proximity to the status of a marginal producer depends upon his relative position in these respects. with the carrier, matters are more contingent. including within its reach, as it does, many grades of producers and consumers, each more or less rigidly held bound by his own circumstances and conditions, as above said, the carrier is able to exercise a wide range of choice in fixing that margin of value created which it reserves for itself. and at all times, by reason of the factors set forth elsewhere, primarily its subjection to the law of increasing returns, this intermediate share of the carrier tends to adjust or accommodate itself to the end that it may discover or produce a wider margin between values in the hands of producer and consumer, respectively. this may be best accomplished by a progressive widening of its field of activities, that is to say, by an enlargement of its physical reach and scope. it is always striving to lower the cost of production made by the marginal producer. its motto must ever be, to get more business, if not right at home by search for it abroad--and this always with the chance that the greater the distance between the producer and the consumer, the greater the possible margin of place value remaining as its individual share. this ever-present incentive to widen the market carries with it a direct consequence. a market is a commercial area characterized by a prevalent equality of prices. phenomenal development in this respect is characteristic of the united states. for many commodities the market is coextensive with the national domain. it is the chosen function of transportation agents, by rail and water, to ensure this result; to preserve an equality of prices, despite the variety of producing and consuming conditions. the railway is the agent by which the market is thus widened and rivalries are thus equalized. in railway parlance this is what is known as "keeping everyone in business." the following quotation from the senate committee hearings of adequately describes the process: "i am interested in the erection of a mill that has just been completed, and sometime since i was figuring on the question of a smokestack. i wanted to have that stack built out of brick that is burned in new jersey, and that is several hundred miles away. it is a long way to ship freight from new jersey to north carolina. a quotation was made me by the stack builder, whose office is in new york, and i remarked to him, 'that price is prohibitive; i cannot pay that price for that stack.' he said, 'that is the best i can do; but if you will tell me what you can afford to pay for that stack, in competition with home-burned brick, i will see what i can do with the railway people.' he said, 'all right; i will take it up with the railway people.' his quotation included the delivery of the brick and the erection of the stack at my plant. it would require something like about fifty carloads of brick to build that stack. within a week he had his price revised, and gave me a satisfactory quotation and took my contract for the stack. of course he had to get a special rate from the railway people, because there is no regular tariff on brick from new jersey to north carolina." in this instance the railways actually created this new business by so adjusting the margin between the minimum cost of making brick in new york and in north carolina, as to make it possible for the traffic to move. the special rate here mentioned, however, should be carefully distinguished from a secret rebate offered to one contractor as against another in the same place. this commodity rate, while special to meet a particular contingency, was open to any other shipper similarly circumstanced. the student cannot too carefully discriminate between these two sorts of special rates. they are constantly confused in the public mind. the effect of these open commodity rates, is not to create difference of opportunity between individuals, but to generalize economic conditions and equalize prices throughout wide areas. the most satisfactory way to describe commercial competition as applied to carriers is by concrete illustrations. there are two distinct varieties or degrees of it, which may be denominated primary and secondary. these might as properly, perhaps, be called simple and complex, or direct and indirect. of these, the first concerns those cases wherein a commodity undergoes no physical transformation between producer and consumer. shipments are usually direct. only one rate is involved. shall st. louis and the south, for example, be supplied with salt from the kansas or michigan fields?[ ] this is a case of pure transportation,--the creation of place value, alone. the aroostook farmers of maine compete in prices with the potato growers of michigan in the new york market. each district is usually represented by a railway, dependent upon the prosperity of its particular constituency. competition of markets is usually more keen where a number of carriers are concerned, each representing its own clients; but it may conceivably arise as between several markets served by the same company, especially with the growth of great railway systems. the southern pacific must insure a rate from california on oranges to eastern markets, as compared with the rates over the southern roads from florida, sufficiently low to warrant the venture of capital in the industry.[ ] marble from the quarries of vermont and north carolina, and paving blocks from the lithonia district in georgia and from wisconsin or south dakota, must meet in chicago on even terms. such competition, although simple and direct, recognizes no national bounds. copper from montana must be laid down in liverpool at rates to permit of meeting the price on chili bars from south america. our entire grain and cotton crops must be transported at rates which will enable them to hold their own in european markets. the california raisin has, in this manner, had to make its way into eastern markets in the united states against the pressure of importations from spain, as described in another place.[ ] the cotton mills in new england and in the south must have their output carried to china under conditions which will enable them to meet the price made by the british manufacturer. this last instance, however, introduces us to the second form of competition; inasmuch as a double transportation is involved first from the fields to the mill, and thereafter from the mill to the consumer. secondary or indirect forms of commercial competition in transportation, concerning, as has been said, not one but two distinct carriages of entirely different goods, needs to be in turn subdivided still further. the products of agriculture and mines afford the best instances. the lumber business is peculiarly suggestive in this connection, owing to the fact that in the united states a vast treeless area in the middle west is surrounded with forest tracts available for development. the market again in this case is limited only by our national frontier. omaha is supplied with yellow pine and cypress from louisiana after a , -mile haul; oregon fir brought , miles in each instance for fifty cents per hundred pounds; and with michigan hemlock and pine transported less than miles for eleven and a half cents. these various sorts of lumber are all more or less competitive. and in each case the final cost of laying down the product in omaha is determined; first, by the rate from the stump to the mill, and then, as sawed lumber, thence on to destination. the eau claire, wisconsin, lumber case[ ] before the interstate commerce commission, fully describes the intricacies of adjustment needed to hold a number of such producers on a parity. in this instance eau claire, "next the stump," as an important lumbering centre was shown to be declining in importance relatively to mississippi river towns, which received their logs by raft down stream. a differential of a few cents was threatening the welfare of a considerable population. the wichita, kansas, cases are suggestive in a similar way.[ ] sugar is laid down at this market from every point of the compass. from hawaii it is shipped in the raw state to san francisco, and then brought east, like the oregon lumber, cheaply, as a back-load to counter-balance westbound shipments of grain and manufactures. from new orleans refineries comes the louisiana product, and from the atlantic sea ports the cuban sugar; but in each case the carriage is broken at an intermediate point, at which manufacture or jobbing ensues. a large class of operations analogous to this, known as "milling in transit" and "floating cotton," elsewhere described in detail, involve the same complexity and interrelation of rates.[ ] the point to carry forward is that commercial competition demands that in every case not single rates but the sums of all the connecting rates for each competing person or region shall be properly adjusted. if this be not done, some one will be excluded from the market and "put out of business." by this time in our ascending scale of complexities, it will be observed that manufacture now begins to outweigh mere transportation in importance. with low-grade products, like salt or sugar, the increment of value due to transportation is relatively high as compared with manufacturing costs. as the grade of product rises, however, the differences in value and in form between the raw and the finished product, render the problem of location of the manufacture more difficult as affected by the relative adjustment of rates of transportation for the two. according to the data of the federal bureau of corporations, the cost of refining crude petroleum, worth three to four cents a gallon at the wells in pennsylvania, should not exceed one-half cent a gallon. this sum would barely pay for the first hundred miles of its carriage by rail, as ordinarily shipped. the market is, of course, extraordinarily extensive; hence the persistent flagrancy of the practices of secret rebating by the standard oil co.[ ] to obtain such special favors in transportation outweighed in importance the incentive to introduce economies in production. in this industry, where little waste occurs in manufacture, the refineries may well be located at the consumers' door. the manufacture of furniture for the pacific states, on the other hand, must be located "next the stump," in north carolina or new england. the long carriage must be applied, not to the bulky lumber but to the finished product. the freight rate on lumber from oregon to pittsburg is just about equal to the value of the logs at the mill. obviously, the large proportion of waste or common lumber will not bear a high addition to its cost by carriage to any distance. in the manufacture of fur hats a shrinkage of weight occurs of one-half between the fur scraps and the finished product. in such a case it is imperative, either that the factory be near the source of supply or that the rate on the two distinct commodities be nicely adjusted. the decision of the united states steel corporation to build a large plant at duluth for supplying the northwestern market is the outcome of such considerations. the main point is that the adjustment of a number of rates may determine, not only the general welfare of the industry but even its specific geographical location with reference to the raw material on the one side and the market on the other. the jobbing or wholesale business of the united states exemplifies the most highly involved and complex details of commercial competition.[ ] in this field it appears most clearly that, as is so often alleged, railway traffic managers hold the welfare of entire communities, as it were, in the palms of their hands. in all the cases heretofore cited, great natural forces outweighed the purely personal and human ones. soil, climate and mineral resources more or less completely determined the final outcome of commercial competition. but the distributive business of a country is more largely artificial. it is more subject to human control, and may be influenced by personal considerations. shall the economically dependent southern planter be supplied with manufactures of all sorts,--from harnesses to tin dippers--from mid-western cities like cincinnati and chicago or from eastern centres, such as new york and baltimore? this is the underlying economic issue raised in the notable cincinnati freight bureau case in ; in the course of whose determination the supreme court of the united states raised the more immediate and pressing question of the authority of the interstate commerce commission to regulate rates at all. in the dust raised by the controversy over this purely legal question, the basic economic dispute was lost to view.[ ] shall the people of the pacific slope be supplied with hardware and analogous products from their own large cities which buy at wholesale from the east, break bulk at san francisco or seattle and ship out to smaller towns in less than carload lots; or shall the distribution take place at the hands of jobbing houses located several thousand miles away at chicago or st. louis? this is the economic dispute raised in the st. louis business men's league case.[ ] the very existence of san francisco as a commercial centre may depend upon it. for the primary and secondary operations of commerce are often complementary. at the large cities, concentration of raw staples moving inward naturally entails back loads outward at low rates for manufactured goods distributed by jobbers. or, taking the smaller places, the farmer will of necessity buy his cotton cloth, sugar and coal in the town to which he drives by wagon to deliver his cotton, corn or wheat.[ ] the entire puzzling class of cases dealing with the southern basing point system are primarily concerned with such issues as these.[ ] three distinct classes of cases arise. there is, first, the competition between cities of equal size, be they large or small, such as memphis, tenn., and little rock, ark.; danville, va., and lynchburg; or cleveland, and cincinnati, ohio: secondly, the rivalries between large cities and what may be called secondary local centres in the same part of the country,--such as seattle, wash., _v._ spokane; chicago _v._ burlington or dubuque, iowa; or atlanta, ga., _v._ macon: and thirdly, the intense rivalries between the great first-class cities, like new york, philadelphia, and chicago, and the rest of the field, big and little.[ ] the mail order houses, the express business and the parcels post intervene at this point. but in all of these issues, series of no less than three separate transportation costs have to be totalized and kept more or less on a parity. the intricacy is increased by reason of the fact that shipments must be made, first at wholesale to the jobbers, and thereafter usually in less-than-carload lots to retailers. if the carload rate be relatively too low, with reference to the rate on small lots, the jobbers near the market will be upbuilt and the jobbers at a distance cannot compete. if the opposite relation obtains, the jobber in a distant great city will be able to ship out small orders cheaper than the local dealer can obtain them by carload and, breaking bulk, peddle them from his own town. so narrow is the margin of profit on staple goods that a difference of a fraction of a cent per pound may exclude a dealer from the field entirely. this question of carload ratings is, however, treated elsewhere; impinging, as it does upon matters of freight classifications.[ ] the rivalries of jobbers and middlemen in different cities are inevitably borne into the offices of traffic managers. were all railways equally interested in all cities alike, the matter need not go further, engendering railway rivalries. but such is seldom the case. hardly a road can be named, whose interests are not more or less identified with some particular city. commercial rivalry thus at once leads to railway competition. four or five railways, like the chicago and northwestern, radiate out to the west from chicago, and have no interest in st. louis. almost as many, like the missouri pacific, go out from st. louis without entering chicago. others, like the old union pacific and, formerly, the atchison system, only come to the missouri river, and consequently wish to upbuild their eastern termini, omaha or kansas city. only a few, like the illinois central, reach them all. such a road is usually called upon to act as a mediator in all disputes. "it is a continual struggle between the line from kansas city to st. louis with no interest in chicago, and the line from kansas city to chicago with no interest in st. louis," as one witness before the industrial commission phrases it. compromise is the only outcome. and in this manner an involved structure of differentials is built up, oftentimes top heavy and always susceptible of collapse on the defection of any party to the agreement. when a truce was patched up between the trunk lines and the gulf roads after the sugar rate war of , it is said to have taken twenty experts three entire days merely to "line up" rates on a parity between the competing jobbing centres. [illustration] the simplest compromise in any dispute over rates between competing centres is the concession of absolute equality or, as it is called, of flat rates between all points irrespective of distance. this shifts the burden from the carriers and places competition entirely upon the shoulders of the merchants. oddly enough, also, this result of equal rates regardless of distance between various competing centres, especially when they are secondary distributing or concentrating points rather than original sources of traffic, may sometimes evolve naturally out of commercial conditions imposed by tariffs built up upon the basis of distance. the accompanying theoretical diagram, based upon actual traffic conditions prevalent in missouri river territory, serves to illustrate the way in which, under certain circumstances, such equalization of rates may take place. two groups of cities are here represented as though lying respectively along two river valleys north of their separation at a point g. let us call them the mississippi and the missouri for purposes of identification. the starting point is equality of rates from such a distant point as new york (o) to all places along the mississippi from a to g. such equality properly arises in theory from the substantially equal distance from new york. in practice also, under the trunk line rate system,[ ] such equality prevails, inasmuch as the rates from new york to such a series of mississippi river crossings is fixed at per cent. of the rate from new york to chicago. by a similar course of reasoning, namely, the approximately equal distance from new york (o), rates from that place to a second series of points along the missouri river should be and are in effect made equal. from these two facts it logically follows that the balances of the rates from all points on the mississippi river out along an extension of their lines from new york toward the west should also be equal. this is obviously in conformity with the mathematical principle that equals subtracted from equals leave equal balances. thus the rates b x, d y and f z are compelled to equality. from this relationship in turn follows still another. all rates from any point on the inner series of towns to any point whatsoever on the outer western series of places along the missouri river must remain equal regardless of distance. for each line from new york to a, b, c, d, etc., wishes, of course, to participate in business not only on the direct extension of its own line, but to as many other points as possible.[ ] without some agreement, however, it would normally enjoy traffic only on the direct extension of its own line. the point y would most naturally be reached by way of c, d or e, over the shortest routes. competitors on either side would similarly enjoy an advantage in more direct lines from new york to the places immediately beyond them. thus for business from new york to z, the more direct lines through e, f or g would obviously have an advantage over lines which passed around through a, b, c or d. an almost irresistible incentive to cut-throat competition would exist. the only way the lines east of the inner circle can peaceably partition business to the outermost western points is by an agreement to make all rates between the inner and outer circles the same. in this manner the rates from a to z or from g to x are reduced to an equality with the rates offered by the shortest route between the two rivers, which, in this case, is e z. the rate for this shortest line then becomes the basic one, upon which all the others depend. [illustration: traffic conditions in missouri river territory] the foregoing economic reasoning underlies the actual tariff system prevailing in what is known as missouri river territory.[ ] two great streams separating at st. louis form the eastern and western boundaries of missouri and iowa. all along the two edges of these states are located important river cities, each of which has more or less direct communication with every other crossing on the other river, over a complicated system of interlaced lines. there are no physical barriers, the country being plain and open. the starting point and basis of the whole scheme is the shortest direct distance between the two nearest points, namely hannibal on the mississippi, and st. joseph and kansas city on the missouri. the situation is shown by the map herewith. at these points the two rivers are approximately two hundred miles apart. for this distance the base rate of sixty cents per hundred pounds, first class, is fixed by common agreement. were local business only to be considered, and were the railways not competing, the rate between other points on the two rivers at greater distances apart, such as for instance, burlington on the mississippi and omaha on the missouri, might be determined on a relative distance basis, as in trunk line territory. but the commercial fact is that a large proportion of the business between all these points consists of long-distance traffic from the eastern seaboard which may cross the mississippi at any one of these gateways between dubuque and st. louis on its way to the cities on the missouri river. all of these through long-distance shipments must, of course, enjoy the same competitive rate to the ultimate western destination on the missouri river. and, inasmuch as the rate from the east to the mississippi crossings is everywhere the same, namely per cent. of the new york-chicago rate, it follows that the balance of the rate from these points on to the missouri river across iowa and missouri, irrespective of distance, must likewise be the same. in other words, the rates between all these mississippi and missouri river points must be equalized, irrespective of the length of the intervening route, whether it be two hundred miles by the shortest direct line from hannibal to kansas city across missouri, three hundred and fifty miles from burlington to omaha across iowa, or even seven hundred miles by the roundabout line of the illinois central skirting both states. in brief, every railway which touches both rivers, however circuitous its route, is compelled to quote the same rate from every point on the mississippi river to every other point on the missouri. this rate must be the one fixed, as already described, for the shortest direct line, namely sixty cents per hundred pounds first class. furthermore, in precisely the same way that these rates to missouri river points from the eastern seaboard are built up and equalized, the rates from chicago to the same missouri river points must be kept even. the rate through from any one of the long chain of mississippi gateways must be the same irrespective of distance. this figure, by common agreement, has for many years been twenty cents per hundred pounds higher than the rate across illinois to the mississippi river gateways from chicago alone. the dominant note of this whole tariff is equalization of rates between all points in competition with one another over all possible routes. freight thus moves freely in every direction and all markets are held on an absolute parity.[ ] it is one of the most remarkable features of american commercial organization, this practical elimination of the element of distance from interstate trade over wide areas. the possible evil lurking in too widespread an acceptance of the principle of the flat rate is clearly apparent in the reasoning of the eau claire, wisconsin, lumber case.[ ] this town complained of the disability under which it labored in shipping lumber to missouri river points by comparison with other places round about. it appeared in the evidence that as early as , under arbitration, all the rates from competing centres had been adjusted on the basis of differentials; and that, as interpreted by the carriers, the purpose of these differentials was to even up the differences between competing towns; to the end that all manufacturers should be put upon an equality in the consuming territory. but this necessarily involved the practice of penalizing or nullifying in a way the advantages of location. "if eau claire could produce lumber cheaper than winona or la crosse, then the latter points were to have a lower rate in order to enable them to compete." this practice the interstate commerce commission condemned at that time; and it has consistently adhered to the precedent then laid down. obviously, any other general course of action would be analogous to hobbling the fleetest horse in a race to bring him down to the rate of progress of the slowest laggard. the principle of the handicap applied within moderate limits makes for an exciting athletic contest; but if it be overdone, it eliminates all interest from the contest whatever. the race becomes one, not of skill or endurance in running, but of securing a sufficiently liberal handicap. competition to be of advantage in the way of progress must always have in view the survival of the fittest and the elimination of the unfit. the vast extent of the united states, the necessity of transporting commodities great distances at low cost and the progressiveness of railway managers, has led to an extraordinary development of the phase of rate making above-mentioned. the principle of the flat rate, based upon the theory that distance is a quite subordinate, if not indeed entirely negligible, element in the construction of freight tariffs under circumstances of competition, was fully accepted twenty-five years ago.[ ] j. c. stubbs, traffic manager of the harriman lines, speaking of transcontinental business in , clearly expressed it as "the traditional policy of the american lines as between themselves to recognize and to practise equality of rates as the only reasonable and just rule ... regardless of the characteristics of their respective lines, whether equal in length or widely different." it is the theory upon which the southern basing-point system is founded; and it is the common practice in making rates into and out of new england--being in fact vital to the continued prosperity of this out-of-the-way territory.[ ] president tuttle, of the boston & maine, has most ably supported this principle of equality of rates irrespective of distance. "it is the duty of transportation agents," he says, "to so adjust their freight tariffs that, regardless of distance, producers and consumers in every part of this country shall, to the fullest extent possible, have equal access to the markets of all parts of this country and of the world, a result wholly impossible of attainment if freight rates must be constructed upon the scientific principle of tons and miles." this is the principle of the blanket rate attacked in the famous milk producers' protective association case in ;[ ] and it is the practice which has been so fully discussed of late, as generally applied to lumber rates from the various forest regions of the united states into the treeless tract of the middle west. the principle, while applied thus generally in the construction of tariffs, is of far greater applicability in the making of special or commodity rates. wool rates afford one of the best examples. under such rates the bulk of the tonnage of american railways is at present moved. the essential principle of such special rates, constituting exceptions to the classified tariffs, is that of the flat rate; namely, a rate fixed in accordance with what the traffic will bear, without regard to the element of cost, that is to say, of distance. but a noticeable trend away from the flat rate is evident in recent decisions of the interstate commerce commission; especially in the intermountain case,[ ] revision of the wool and cattle rates,[ ] and the general disposition to lessen special tariffs all along the line. * * * * * the intricacy of freight rate adjustment in response to the subtleties of commercial competition depends only in small measure upon the absolute freight rate imposed. the main problem is really that of relativity. but this does not mean mere relativity as between directly competing commodities or places. a strict relativity based upon commercial conditions must often obtain as well between the rates on raw materials and their own finished products; between all the various by-products in an industry; and, of course, always as between goods capable of substitution one for another. a few illustrations will serve to make these details clear. the matter of properly correlating the freight rate on raw materials and the finished products made from them, is more far-reaching than it seems. the location and development of manufacturing depends upon it. the country may be broadly divided into agricultural and manufacturing sections. the first of these is ambitious to develop its resources; not only to feed, but to clothe itself and make other provision for its needs. no sooner does it seek to develop local manufacturing than it finds itself exposed to competition from the older established manufacturers at a distance. sometimes, even, these remote manufacturers draw their supplies of raw material from its own fields and forests. these supplies are then shipped long distances as raw material; manufactured and thereafter returned to sell in competition with the local product. the local market in relatively undeveloped areas is probably insufficient to provide support for manufactures on a profitable scale. it is essential to dispose of the surplus product over a wider area. thus there arise two classes of manufacturers: one "next the stump," manufacturing at the source of the raw material and desiring to ship the finished product; the other, remote perhaps from supplies of raw material, but favored by long experience, by abundant supplies of capital and of skilled labor and by other advantages.[ ] neither class of shippers can prosper without overflowing into the domain of the other. the outcome of this competition depends in part upon the policy of the carriers. if the rate on the raw material be relatively low, the remote manufacturer is aided. cotton mills and shoe factories in new england prosper in competition with establishments in the south or the middle west. if, on the other hand, the rate on raw materials be inordinately high, while at the same time low on outward-bound shipment of manufactures from the seat of the raw materials, the tendency is in favor of the upbuilding of manufactures, not near the historic centres of population and consumption, but near the sources of natural wealth, which are the potential homes of manufacturing. the long-standing controversy over relative rates on wheat and flour for export affords an interesting illustration of the difficulties of properly correlating charges of this sort.[ ] originally the rates on wheat and flour--the raw material and the manufactured product--were the same. in the railways leading to the gulf ports began to discriminate by giving lower rates on wheat, but the trunk lines until held to the original equality between the two. finally, however, the struggle between the trunk lines and the gulf roads for business forced the former to lower their rates on wheat, leaving the flour rates--not subject to gulf competition--undisturbed. at times the rate on wheat for export was as much as nine cents per hundred pounds lower than the rate on flour. thus the rate on wheat for export from the mississippi river to the seaboard was frequently twelve cents, while the rate on wheat from the same points to chicago added to the rate on flour there manufactured and sent on in barrels or bags to new york, was twenty-two cents--a clear discrimination against the domestic manufacturer in this instance of ten cents per hundred pounds. for his american-made flour, sent abroad in competition with flour made in liverpool from american wheat, would evidently cost that much more at delivery. in other words, wheat could be transported to england and there ground much cheaper than it could be ground here and then shipped. this bore with particular severity upon small millers, partly because their costs of manufacture were relatively high, and also because any limitation of export business forced the large millers to bid more keenly for local domestic trade. inasmuch as a fair margin of profit to the american manufacturer would not exceed two cents per hundredweight, it is apparent that this discrimination operated severely against the american miller. minneapolis fortunately was unaffected by this discrimination, much of its exports going out by canadian lines to the lakes. the carriers defended this difference in rates on the ground of water competition by the lakes or combined rail and water routes, which were alone open to wheat, and which thereby unduly lowered the rate on that commodity; and also on the basis of the lower cost of service in moving the raw material as compared with the finished product. it is apparent that issue was really raised in such a case between the interests of the farmer and of the manufacturer. the united states, producing a surplus of wheat the price of which is made on the liverpool market in competition with the world, is compelled to find an outlet for this product. it is obvious that any reduction of the freight rate--the prices in liverpool remaining fixed--would inure to the benefit of the farmer, who would thereby receive a higher price for his product. viewed in this way the railways by discriminating in favor of the rate on wheat were helping the farmers. but, at the same time, by moving this wheat more cheaply than flour the railways were encouraging the location of flour milling abroad and rendering it impossible to manufacture flour for export at a profit in the cities of the middle west. in these export cases it does not appear clearly why the rate on flour for export might not have been reduced somewhat. the interstate commerce commission finally rendered a decision to the effect that the existing difference in rates constituted an undue preference in favor of the foreign manufacturer, adding at the same time that these discriminations seemed to be due primarily not to a desire of the railways to aid the american farmer in disposing of this surplus wheat, but to the bitterness of competition between the gulf and trunk line railways.[ ] they decided that any discrimination greater than two cents per hundred pounds in favor of wheat for export as against flour was unreasonable. this difference was permitted, however, on account of the greater cost of handling the manufactured product. it is significant of the then state of the law that the railways paid no attention to this order, and, although conditions improved somewhat, there is still great complaint. the relative rates on wheat and flour, even when for domestic consumption, illustrate the same difficulty of commercial competition--the necessity of adjusting the rate on raw materials to that on the finished product.[ ] the rate on wheat from wichita, kan., for example, to california is fifty-five cents per hundred pounds, while the rate on flour between the same points is sixty-five cents. is this difference in rates economically justifiable? california wheat is soft, so that flour produced from it is much improved by the admixture of hard wheat, such as may be obtained in kansas. california, formerly a large wheat exporting state, has of late years relied to a considerable degree upon the middle west for part of its supplies. kansas flour sells for seventy-five cents a barrel more than california wheat flour. shall this kansas wheat, to be consumed in california, be ground in wichita or in california? here is material for controversy, not between one particular railway and another, but in reality between the millers in kansas and the millers in california. it is quite analogous to the issue raised over export wheat and flour between the miller in chicago and his rival in liverpool. in this instance, if milled in kansas, the railways enjoy the carriage of flour; while, if ground in california, the railways carry the commodity in the form of wheat. owing to certain practical conditions, such as the percentage of waste and relative differences in labor costs, the kansas miller appears to enjoy a certain advantage over his far western competitors. at this point the interest of particular railway companies appears. the rock island, if the milling industry in kansas develops, obtains the haul not only of the flour but also of the fuel and of supplies for the communities engaged in the business. on the other hand the southern pacific is more largely interested in the local development of manufactures in california. the rock island by maintaining a lower rate on flour than on wheat, would tend to hold its clients in the field. the southern pacific, on the other hand, by securing the reduced rate on the wheat from kansas would materially advance the welfare of its constituents. thus the rivalries of the competing localities immediately become the direct and immediate concern of rival railways. cases precisely analogous in principle to those concerning the relativity of rates on grain and grain products have troubled the carriers for years in respect to the rates upon cattle and packing house products.[ ] a low rate on cattle as compared with beef favors chicago today as against missouri river points, the latter being nearer the cattle ranges; just as a generation ago it enabled cattle to be brought to new york and boston to be there slaughtered and sold on the spot. the history of this controversy throws much light upon the difficulties of rate making in practice. originally the railways encouraged cattle raising by a rate which was only about one-third of the rate charged for beef. slaughtering was carried on in the east adjacent to the great markets. to this policy the western packers objected strenuously. they demanded a relatively low rate on their finished product in order to enable them to bid against the local eastern slaughter houses. the stockmen, on the other hand, naturally desired a continuance of the low rate on cattle, as it perpetuated competition between eastern and western buyers. the controversy between the stock raisers and the packers was thus shifted onto the shoulders of the traffic managers of the railways. the dispute culminated in when the trunk line association appointed a special committee to consider what the proper adjustment should be. this committee in turn referred the matter to commissioner albert fink, "seeking a relativity of rates so as to make the charges for transportation, including the expenses incident to the transportation of dressed beef, the same per pound as the charges per pound of dressed beef transported to the east in the shape of live stock." a difficult task this, considering the variety of by-products emerging into value year by year. cattle rates had been for some time fifty-two per cent., and then later sixty per cent. of the dressed beef rates. this was relatively higher for cattle than had been charged during the seventies. but the western packers demanded that the relativity in favor of the finished product be still further advanced until cattle rates should equal seventy-five per cent. of the rates on beef. this would effectually discourage the shipment of cattle to eastern centres, and would tend to upbuild kansas city and chicago at their expense. in , the matter being still in dispute, was referred to hon. t. m. cooley, afterward chairman of the interstate commerce commission. he decided that a fair compromise would be forty cents on cattle from chicago to new york with coincident rates of seventy cents on beef. this would make the cattle rate about fifty-seven per cent. of the beef rate. it was a victory for the stockmen as against the western packers, who at once raised a great outcry. it would have been difficult to predict the final outcome had not an entirely new factor appeared, which transformed the conduct of the beef packing industry.[ ] specially constructed stock cars owned by private companies began to be built. these favored the perpetuation of competition between eastern and western packers. to checkmate this, the western packers had already embarked in upon the ownership of privately owned refrigerator cars for the carriage of their finished products. the custom was adopted by the railways of paying for the use of these cars by making an allowance of so much a mile as a deduction from the established tariffs. this at once opened the way to secret rebates of all sorts. the refrigerator traffic in these private cars was large in volume, very regular and highly concentrated as to source. a large tonnage could be diverted at any time to that road which could best show its appreciation of the favor. the grand trunk, for instance, in swept the board, monopolizing this entire business for a brief time, obtaining it by secret and discriminating rates. the railways, jointly, sought to free themselves from the domination of the large packers; but the phenomenal growth of their business, both domestic and export, rendered them too powerful to resist. according to expert data, during nine months to may , , three shippers alone received from one line of road $ , for the use of their cars. this about equalled the initial cost of eighty new cars. for the fiscal year , $ , , was paid by the railways of the united states for the use of these cars--about $ , , of this being in the form of rental. at this rate, profits of from twenty-five to fifty per cent. upon the investment accrued to the great packers. these virtual rebates, of course, drove all competitors from the field. the story of the gradual extension of this system of private cars to include fruit and produce business belongs in another place. suffice it to say that the bondage was broken only by the passage of the hepburn act of . the growth of these private refrigerator car lines caused the disappearance of live stock shipments. packing and slaughtering on a large scale at the seaboard, either for domestic consumption or export, was doomed. meantime, however, the controversy over the relative rates on beef and cattle continued just as if anything really depended upon it. the issue was again submitted to the commissioner of the trunk line association in . in the following year a select committee of the united states senate was appointed at the urgent request of the cattle raisers. testimony before this committee showed in detail how eastern packers were striving to build up establishments near the points of consumption, but were driven out of the business by the relatively high costs of shipping cattle, as compared with the rates at which dressed beef could be actually delivered from chicago and missouri river points. this entire history, aside from its significance as a study of personal discrimination, illustrates the effect of a relatively increasing differential rate, partly open and partly secret, against the raw material of an industry as compared with the finished product. the result, at all events, has been to concentrate the packing industry in the middle west. nor is the controversy closed even yet.[ ] but this time it is a question, not between the seaboard and chicago, but between chicago and missouri river points, or those still nearer the southwestern ranges. fort worth and oklahoma city now become complainants against the missouri river points.[ ] always and everywhere the manufacture seeks to develop at or near the source of the raw material. whenever this tendency does not appear in an industry it is pertinent to inquire how far the relative adjustment of rates is responsible for the phenomenon. complexities in rate adjustment often arise from the fact that in the manufacture of many commodities the marketing of by-products is of increasing importance. the rate on the whole series of related commodities must be taken into account at once. thus in lumbering, a large amount of waste or very low-grade lumber is necessarily produced. this common lumber cannot bear long transportation; it must be utilized locally, if at all. on the other hand, the choicest specialties will command a price even in remote markets. a monopoly price is enjoyed in such a case. the pacific coast lumbermen can market their long timbers anywhere in the united states; but the demand for the common lumber, restricted to a sparsely populated region, tends to be exceeded by the supply.[ ] the real competition between the southern, the michigan, the wisconsin and the pacific coast manufacturers thus narrows down to the sale of the medium-grade product. and the cost of production of this is, of course, in part dependent upon the profit made upon the other two sorts, each of which in its own field appears to be a monopoly. a wide market and a good price for medium-grade lumber may so lessen the cost of the cheapest by-products that they in turn may be so reduced in price as to widen their reach to the consumer. each rate reacts upon the others. the situation can be successfully controlled only by adjusting them all at once. not only are rates competitive as between raw materials and the finished product made from them, but the circle of competition immediately widens to include all commodities capable of substitution one for another.[ ] coal rates, of course, are partly determined by rates on cordwood, and _vice versa_. during the great coal strike in pennsylvania in , soft coal rates and hard coal rates were sadly disturbed. such substitutions are always likely to occur. but the conditions are not always so simple as this. an instance in point is given by a witness before the senate (elkins) committee on interstate commerce in .[ ] this shows how a reduction in the rate for transportation of corn from kansas to texas brought about a corresponding reduction in the rate on flour from minneapolis to chicago. there was a large crop of corn in kansas; and the chicago lines anticipated brisk business in the carriage of this product. the traffic managers of lines from kansas to texas, however, discovered a large demand for corn in texas at a price higher than then prevailed in kansas. any rate less than the difference in prices between the two districts would cause shipments of corn to flow from kansas to texas, just as inevitably as water flows down hill. this rate would needs be low; but the corn could be loaded on empty southbound cars which had been used to haul cotton out of texas to the north. this, of course, entailed a diversion of corn from the chicago railways, which promptly reduced rates in order to hold their traffic. for years the rates upon wheat and corn had been fixed in a definite relation to one another, based upon commercial experience. any reduction of the corn rate compelled a reduction of the wheat rate. a fall in the wheat rate brought about a drop in the rate on flour. these reductions in corn started in southern kansas; but parallel lines in northern kansas were compelled to follow suit. grain in the territory between the two roads could be hauled by wagon either north or south corresponding to a fraction of a cent per bushel difference in the price. thus the reduction in rates spread from one line to another all over kansas, throughout nebraska up into dakota and finally to minnesota. it not only affected the corn rate everywhere but it caused a reduction in the rate on flour from minneapolis to chicago. the reliance of texas for a portion of its corn supply upon the surplus product of kansas sometimes leads to odd results. this commodity is sometimes shipped as corn meal and sometimes transported as corn to be afterwards ground in texas. the texas millers at one time demanded a relative reduction of the rate on grain as compared with corn meal, and the railway commission of that state upheld them in that demand. for ten years down to the differential in favor of the raw product had been three cents a hundred pounds. then the railways, in connection with a general advance of rates, increased the charge on corn meal until it amounted to about nine cents per hundred pounds more than the rate on corn. one cent a hundred pounds being a good profit in grinding corn meal, this change shut the kansas millers out of texas business. application was made to the interstate commerce commission for relief. it then appeared on investigation that the carriers had made use of the texas millers in order to prevent a general reduction of _both_ grain rates and rates on grain products. the texas millers on general principles had favored both these reductions. what happened is best described in the evidence before the senate committee on interstate commerce of . "the railways went to the millers of texas and they said to them, 'is there anything you want here?' 'why,' said the [texan] millers, 'yes; we would like to have that differential between corn and corn meal increased; we think you ought to put the rate on corn meal up.' the railway said, 'all right; you just stay away from that meeting down at austin so that there will not be any excuse for the texas commission, and if it undertakes to reduce these rates we will raise this differential; we will raise the rate on corn meal to the rate on flour.' the millers kept away from austin--they kept their part of the bargain--and they stayed away, and the texas commission was left without any support for their proposition to reduce the corn rates, and the railway kept their part of the bargain and lifted up the rate on corn meal so that the differential was from nine to seven and one-half cents, and that put the kansas mills out of business." apparently insignificant details often determine the outcome of commercial competition. thus in the milling business, where the margin of profit in the manufacture of flour may not be over three cents per barrel, an infinitesimal change in the freight rate may mean success or failure to long-established industries. and the conditions vary indefinitely. thus, as between flour milling in duluth and buffalo, duluth can buy its wheat from the farmer direct during the entire winter, but must ship its product mainly during the period of open water navigation on the lakes. the reverse is true with the buffalo miller who can ship out his flour during the entire season, but who must accumulate his whole stock of wheat before navigation closes. and then minneapolis as a milling centre has to be taken into account. eighty per cent. of the spring wheat grown in the united states is in territory from which the freight rates to minneapolis and duluth are the same. but the basic rate to the east and europe, fixing the all-rail rates, is the combined lake and rail. by this route duluth is one hundred and fifty miles nearer the market than is minneapolis, and consequently enjoys a lower rate on its flour shipped out. a three-cornered competitive problem exists, in which any change at one point entirely upsets the commercial equilibrium. the obligation on the part of a railway to protect its constituency, not only in respect of particular rates, but in general conditions as well, introduces still further complications. the freight business of new england, for example, consists, first, of the carriage of raw materials and supplies inwards; and, secondly, thereafter of the transportation of the finished product out to the consuming markets. narrowly considered, it may seem expedient to crowd the rate on coal as high as the value of service probably will permit; but viewed in a large way, it may prove to be a far better business policy to maintain the rate on coal, cotton, and other staple supplies so low, that the growth of population and production may in the long run yield far greater returns on the high-grade manufactures which the territory produces. turning to the southern field, where the economic conditions are reversed, it may be the better policy to hold down the rate on raw cotton in order thereby to stimulate this great basic industry and thereby enhance the demand for the merchandise and foodstuffs which depend upon general prosperity. a free hand afforded for the suitable adjustment of such apparently independent services may contribute far more to the general welfare than an insistence upon a petty and near-sighted policy of extorting from each individual service all the rate it can possibly endure. american railway managers are gradually but surely coming to take a more liberal view of these great possibilities and to consider the economic development of their territories, not narrowly, but in a generous way. footnotes: [ ] testimony before the hepburn committee, in , p. , is interesting on this point. [ ] u. s. reports on internal commerce, , p. . [ ] u. s. industrial commission, , ix, p. . _cf._ also diagram of european tariffs in senate (elkins) committee, , v, app. p. . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ chap. vii, _infra_. [ ] such a tariff on the illinois central is charted in reports, u. s. industrial commission, ix, p. . [ ] such are commodity as distinct from class rates, described in connection with classification in chap. ix. [ ] tapering rates are discussed by j. m. clark in columbia university studies in history, etc., xxxvii, , chaps. ix and x. _cf._ also hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , p. . [ ] from a. b. stickney, railroad problems, p. . [ ] _cf._ note on p. . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] chapter x, p. , _infra_. [ ] the voluminous record in _u. s._ v. _union pacific_, etc. (the merger case), u. s. supreme court, october term, , no. abounds in concrete illustrations of all three. _cf._ esp. appellant's brief of facts, p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app. ii, p. . [ ] cincinnati freight bureau case, , p. . [ ] chapter viii, _infra_. _cf._ also p. . which line has the advantage? [ ] albert fink's detailed description of the numberless alternative routes by which traffic moved into the south, is perhaps one of the best instances in print. u. s. reports internal commerce, , app. pp. - . the danville, va., case is an admirable instance. int. com. rep., ; reprinted in railway problems, chap. xvi. [ ] a notable instance between the southern and union pacific roads since their combination. described fully in our railway problems, rev. ed., chap. xxii. [ ] albert fink's description in u. s. reports internal commerce, , app. p. , is a classic. [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_. also the dialogue in i.c.c. rep., - ; and _ibid._, . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; or _idem_, . reprinted in railway problems. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; reprinted in our railway problems. [ ] discussed on p. , _infra_. [ ] chapter ix. [ ] details in chap. vi. [ ] _cf._ carload minimum in chap. ix and the texas system on p. , _infra_. the following cases best illustrate these principles: burnham, hanna, munger, etc., i.c.c., ; and _idem_, ; later in u. s. rep., . (p. , _infra_.) greater des moines committee, _idem_,  . indianapolis, kansas city and fort dodge, _idem_, , , and  . warnock, _idem_, and _idem_, . st. louis business men's league, _idem_, . and the wichita cases in chap. vii, p. , _infra_. [ ] pp. , , and . both cases are reprinted in our railway problems. [ ] pp. , , . also in railway problems. [ ] i.c.c. rep., no. ; decided aug. , . [ ] chapters vii and xi. [ ] read testimony on p. , _infra_. [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] described in chap. x. [ ] procedure is described at p. , _infra_. [ ] admirably described in _annals amer. acad. pol. science_, april , ; reprinted in our railway problems, rev. ed., chap. xx. [ ] similarly in the south, p. ; and also texas rates on p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; reprinted in railway problems, chap. viii. [ ] theoretical explanation of the flat rate is offered in chapters i and x. [ ] best described in mcpherson, railroad freight rates, , pp. - . the bitter opposition by new england senators in to amendment of the long and short haul clause is thus explained. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., and . also _ibid._, . [ ] _vide_ chapter on localization of industry in the twelfth census of manufactures, i, pp. - . [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in railway problems. a typical later one is i.c.c. rep., and opin. , , p. . also ann. rep., i.c.c., and . hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , p. ; also, p. . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., no. ; decided june , . later ones are in _idem_, and _idem_, . [ ] older cases in hammond railway rate theories, etc., , p. ; such as i.c.c. rep., , etc. later are _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, and ; and _idem_, . [ ] the best accounts are in connection with the history of private car abuses. _cf._ references on p. , _infra_. [ ] u. s. supreme court decision in the chicago live stock exchange case in ; u. s. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, . [ ] i.c.c. rep., - . [ ] _cf._ hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , pp. - , mainly with reference to classification, however. [ ] testimony, vol. ii, p. . i.c.c. rep., pp. and . chapter v rate making in practice (_continued_) effect of changing conditions,  .--lumber and paper rates,  .-- equalizing industrial conditions,  .--protecting shippers,  .-- pacific coast lumber rates,  .--elasticity and quick adaptation,  .--rigidity and delicacy of adjustment,  .--transcontinental rate system,  .--excessive elasticity of rates,  .--more stability desirable,  .--natural v. artificial territory and rates,  .-- economic waste,  .--inelastic conditions,  .--effect upon concentration of population,  .--competition in transportation and trade contrasted,  .--no abandonment of field,  . cost _v._ value of service,  .--relative merits of each,  .-- charging what the traffic will bear,  .--unduly high and low rates,  .--dynamic force in value of service,  .--cost of service in classification,  .--wisconsin paper case,  .--cost and value of service equally important, checking one another,  . not only must rates of all sorts be delicately adjusted to suit the immediate exigencies of trade; they must be constantly modified in order to keep pace with its ever changing conditions. this is peculiarly true of a rapidly growing country like the united states. an admirable instance is afforded by the complaint of the lincoln commercial club before the interstate commerce commission.[ ] lincoln, nebraska, lies about fifty-five miles southwest of omaha. originally all its supplies came from the east, as both cities were for a time outposts of civilization. the coal supply came from iowa and illinois, and the salt from michigan. on these and most other commodities the rates to lincoln were made up of a through rate from the east to the missouri river, plus the local rate on to destination. the city of lincoln thus paid considerably more than omaha for all of its supplies. gradually conditions have changed; until in it appeared that over half the soft coal consumed in lincoln was brought from kansas and missouri; four-fifths of the lumber from the south and nearly all the rest from the pacific coast; glass and salt from the gas belt and salt beds of kansas; and a great deal of beet sugar from the western fields. for a large proportion of these and other supplies, lincoln was actually as near or nearer the point of production than omaha, and yet the difficulties of effecting an adjustment between rival carriers had prevented any modification of rates corresponding to these changes in economic conditions. on every one of these commodities the rate to lincoln remained steadily higher than to omaha, regardless of the source of supply. unanimous consent was necessary for readjustment. so long as any single road refused assent, a general rate disturbance might be precipitated by any independent action. the beneficent effect of the exercise of governmental authority, powerful enough over all interested parties to compel acquiescence, has been clearly apparent in affording relief. a similar instance in the state of wisconsin is afforded by the compulsory readjustment of the freight rate on wood pulp, lumber and sawed logs.[ ] on investigation it appeared that, despite a very much lower commercial value for the raw material used in paper manufacture, the rates on pulp wood were more than double those on logs to be sawed up for lumber. it appeared, furthermore, that this apparent anomaly was due not so much to high rates on the pulp wood as to very low rates on sawed logs. these latter rates for many years had been fixed at a very low figure because originally the bulk of such logs, cut in the river bottoms, was floated down stream to mills along the mississippi river. competition with lumber raft rates originally determined the charges on lumber by rail. the paper industry did not begin until these conditions of water competition had quite disappeared. gradually, with the progress of deforestation, all the timber is now found on the uplands far from navigable water courses; so that the rates today are not at all influenced by competitive rates on the lumber rafts down river. nevertheless the old tariffs on lumber remained in force despite the changed conditions, while the new rates on pulp wood were fixed independently of any rates by water. it was only after careful investigation that the injustice to the paper manufacturers from the disparity in charges appeared. here again it was the rigidity and interlocked complexity of adjustment which placed it in the power of one road to block change of any sort.[ ] the compulsory exercise of governmental authority cut the gordian knot with the result that substantial justice now obtains.[ ] from the preceding statements it will be observed that carriers have another important commercial function beside that of equalizing industrial conditions.[ ] they also act in a protective or insurance capacity to the merchant or manufacturer. the policy of "keeping everyone in business" implies not only variety but variability of conditions. capital is proverbially timid. it will not venture into a new and uncertain enterprise unless either profits are immediate and high or, if moderate, likely to endure. in any event some guarantee of permanence is required. this guarantee the carrier is often able to offer. it may assume the obligation of protecting its clients; that is, of saving them harmless against the intrusion or irruption of hurtful competition. it thus exercises in a certain sense the function of an insurance company, but with this important difference: that while it has the strongest interest in protecting its established industries against ruinous competition from abroad, it may desire to share in some degree in their development and prosperity by way of reward. in this latter sense the relation of the carrier to its clients partakes of a profit-sharing arrangement. one of the broadest issues between american railways and the public at the present time is precisely this: whether the carriers are to share in business profits; or merely, in addition to furnishing transportation, are to collect a fixed fee for a service in the nature of industrial insurance. that it lies in their way to furnish such protection under modern economic practice is an indisputable fact. this nice question is almost daily pressing for solution at the hands of the interstate commerce commission. it arises every time an increase of freight rates occurs. take, for example, the pacific coast lumber cases of . the dissenting opinions of the commission show how debatable the proposition is.[ ] up to about the lumber interests of the pacific coast were quite undeveloped and entirely dependent upon water transportation for reaching markets. at this time low rates of forty to sixty cents per hundred pounds on forest products to markets in the middle west were introduced, partly to build up the industry and partly to create a back loading for the preponderantly westbound tonnage of all transcontinental lines. under these rates the business has enormously developed until, on the northern pacific road in , the shipments of lumber east bound amounted to one-third of its entire traffic both ways, and yielded nearly one-fifth of its freight revenue. so greatly had this traffic expanded that it aided, if not actually produced, a reversal of the direction of transcontinental empties. practically all these roads now have an excess of tonnage to the east whereas ten years ago much the larger volume of freight was moving westward. meantime the lumbermen under the stimulus of these lower rates, and of the phenomenal rise in the price of lumber, had been wonderfully prosperous. the price of logs had risen since from about $ . per , feet to $ . in ; partly in consequence of the extraordinary demand consequent on the valparaiso and san francisco earthquakes. the mills had moved in from the rivers and the coast, and had become absolutely dependent upon rail transportation for reaching markets. at this stage, and most unfortunately in november, , just at a time of industrial panic, the carriers raised their rates by about ten cents per one hundred pounds. the market price of logs had already dropped from $ . per thousand by approximately one-third. these two causes, commercial depression and the increased freight rate, brought about a complete collapse in the industry. and the increased freight rates were contested before the interstate commerce commission in the hope that, as in the southern field the rate increases from georgia points had been annulled,[ ] these might also be found unreasonable. the broad question concerns the obligation of carriers, once having brought about an investment of capital in the industry, to continue to give the same rates as those under which the ventures had been undertaken, due regard being had, of course, to such changes in costs of service as might have ensued. the lumbermen demand that all the increment of profit due to prosperous developments shall remain unto them; in other words, that the carriers' share of the increased values shall remain fixed. on the other hand, the railways defend their increases, partly upon the ground of increasing expenses of operation, and partly upon the broader ground that the freight rate being proportioned to the price of the product, should rise in harmony with it. upon this question the commission was divided, the majority holding in favor of annulling the increase, while the chairman and one other member decided that the increase was justifiable.[ ] elasticity and quick adaptation to the exigencies of business are peculiarities of american railway operation. our railway managers have always been most progressive in seeking, in and out of season, to develop new territory and build up traffic. the strongest contrast between europe and the united states lies in this fact. european railways more often take business as they find it. our railways _make_ it. much of this business is made possible only by special rates adapted to the case in hand. these need not be secret or discriminating, as has already been observed. for although offered with reference to particular cases, they may be open to all comers. the economic justification lies in the fact that the railway can afford to make a low rate, leaving a bare margin of profit above the _extra_ cost of adding this traffic to that which is already in motion. such rates cannot exceed a definite figure based upon what the traffic will bear. a higher rate than this would kill the business. something is contributed toward fixed charges by the new traffic, so far as the railway is concerned; and at the same time the shipper on his part is enabled to enlarge his operations. yet such a scale of rates if applied to the whole traffic of the railway might be ruinous in the extreme. the domestic shipper of wheat may conceivably be helped, rather than injured, by a special rate on grain for liverpool without which the railway would lose the business entirely. to transport california fruit for a mere fraction of the rate per ton mile which is laid upon other traffic may actually enable those other goods to be carried more cheaply than before. of course, if the other traffic be directly competitive, as for instance in this case, oranges from florida, that is an entirely different matter. railway representatives rightfully insist upon these special rates to develop new business as a boon to the commercial world. they contrast them with the hard and fast schedules of european railways. they allege that such elasticity loosens the joints of competition, "keeps everyone in business," equalizes prices over large areas, and is in fact the life of trade. one of the stock objections to railway regulation is that it may lessen this elasticity, "substitute mile posts for brains," and produce stagnation in place of activity. paradoxical as it may seem, a certain rigidity of rate schedules is a natural consequence of the very delicacy with which individual rates are adjusted to meet the demands of trade. each road is jealously and aggressively alert to protect its own constituency regardless of the rights of others. no single traffic manager is free to grant reductions of rates, even when considered to be just, by reason of the opposition of competing lines. the consent of every one of these interests is necessary in order to insure stability, and the penalty for acting independently may be a rate war, disastrously affecting relations with connecting lines. thus, for example, in the south the southern railway for some time was willing to concede, as a measure of justice, a reduction of rates on cotton from mississippi river points to the mills in north and south carolina.[ ] the growth of the textile industry had resulted in a demand for cotton far exceeding the production of the carolinas. at the same time the increasing attention devoted to manufacturing of a higher grade had forced the manufacturers to draw upon the long-staple supplies of the mississippi bottom lands. the piedmont cotton was too short in fibre for the finer sort of goods. the carolina mills were, however, compelled to pay a higher rate upon cotton from such points as memphis than was paid for the long haul up to new england. thus, for instance, as late as , rates were fifty-nine cents to south carolina, while they were only fifty-five and one-half cents per hundred pounds from the same points to new england mills. this was obviously unjust. but the southern railway alone, interested in the welfare of its carolina clients, was powerless to act without the consent of its competitors operating from memphis west of the alleghanies. these latter lines, having no interest in the southern mills and a unity of interest in the long haul traversed to new england, sought to prevent an equalization of the differences. controlling rates also on cotton for export to various seaports, they were for a long time able to prevent a change. on the other hand, in the same territory the railways operating south from cincinnati and louisville desired to reduce rates on manufactured products from the central west.[ ] these were the very lines which in the former instance prevented the reduction of cotton rates on the southern railway to carolina points, by threats to meet such reductions by cutting their own rates on cotton going north through the ohio gateways. yet a reduction of their rates on manufactures for building up western trade threatened the business of the southern railway, which had been mainly interested in the traffic from atlanta seaboard points. it may readily be seen that this situation, extending to practically every important point, "jacked up" all these rates, not because of their inherent reasonableness and not even because the railways independently acknowledged them to be just, but simply and solely because any disturbance of this house of cards might lead to a general downfall of the whole system. another interesting example of the difficulty of bringing about a change in rate adjustment is afforded in the transcontinental field. for some years a general agreement seems to have been adopted as a sort of a compromise between the various conflicting interests. under present conditions chicago and all points east of the mississippi from maine to florida enjoy precisely the same rate to the pacific coast.[ ] chicago has at various times contended before the interstate commerce commission for graded rates which should recognize, for instance, that being , miles nearer san francisco than boston on the basis of distance, it should have proportionately lower freight rates. apparently some of the transcontinental roads, such as the great northern, have been willing to make this concession. they could not, however, take any action without first obtaining the consent of every railway and steamship company with which they compete. inasmuch as almost every railway in the country participates in transcontinental business, an agreement was practically impossible. entirely aside from the merits of this particular intricate question, it must be borne in mind that there is no such thing as independence of action on behalf of any single carrier. it becomes exceedingly easy for one road to play a dog-in-the-manger part. the shipper may be subjected to an extortionate policy, not dictated by the road over which he ships, as a matter of fact, but by roads operating perhaps a thousand or more miles away. praiseworthy as is the elasticity of railway rates in the united states, there is, nevertheless, much to be said in support of the contention that at times this has been carried to an extreme. stability and certainty have been treated as of secondary importance. particular shippers have been aided, but the general interests of trade have suffered some injurious consequences. it is not entirely clear whether the advantage gained from elasticity has at all times been worth the cost. certain of the disadvantages of instability of rates seem to have been overlooked. in the first place railway tariffs have in the past undoubtedly been too voluminous and complex. the number of these filed with the interstate commerce commission is extremely large. eleven railways alone during the year to november , , filed , . the total schedules of all american railways filed during the year to november , , was , . one single carrier had , tariffs in force at the same time. the new york central & hudson river in december, , had no less than , special commodity rates in force. there were endless contradictions and conflicts. secret rates were hidden in devious ways in this mass of publications. special tariffs "expiring with this shipment"; rates quoted not numerically but by numbered reference to tariffs of other carriers and applicable by different routes; agreements to meet rates of any competing carriers, were among the irregular methods of concealment adopted. although literally complying with the law by publicly filing all tariffs, conditions were often such that not even an expert in rates could discover in this maze of conflicting evidence what the rate at any time actually was. the door was opened wide to personal discrimination and abuses of all kinds.[ ] those conditions are not necessary. they do not obtain on the best roads in other parts of the world. nor is such instability found in respect of some important lines of trade. no agricultural product fluctuates in price more abruptly or widely than raw cotton,--from five to seventeen cents a pound. yet the rates on that commodity have remained quite undisturbed throughout the southern states for many years. but the best proof of all that rates have been unduly numerous, is the great reduction in volume which has taken place since under compulsion of law. this feature will be especially considered in another connection.[ ] the second disadvantage of too great elasticity in freight rates is that it may, at times, promote rather than lessen that state of economic unrest inevitable in all business, especially in a new country. under a continual disturbance of rates, the merchant is unable with security to enter into long-time contracts. rates are sometimes changed, not to suit the shipper but to serve the railway's interests. sometimes traffic may be diverted from its natural channels. the spirit of initiative and self-reliance on the part of shippers may be undermined. persistent titillation of competition may be pleasant for a time, but its final results may be injurious. constant appeal to the traffic manager of his road for aid and comfort may quite naturally divert the shipper's attention from an aggressive commercial policy which would render him independent of minor changes in freight rates. the more responsibility the traffic manager assumes, the more may be put upon him. and it must always be remembered that each move by one road to protect a client, will probably be checkmated by the tactics of rival lines. economic peace, not warfare, should be encouraged by the services of common carriers. one of the positive advantages of governmental regulation of railway rates is that it contributes to stability. that this view is shared by experienced railway men, appears from the following testimony of president mellen of the new haven road.[ ] "i think that great trouble comes to the business of this country through the fact of these little breaks in rates. during november two new railways were opened into the city of denver. they sought to make themselves popular by lowering rates, and rates went down very low. they went down legally, but they went down very low. just before the rates went down the merchants of the city had stocked denver with goods and the lowering of the rates demoralized their prices; they lost a large amount of money, and dissatisfaction was caused from chicago to denver. lowering of rates demoralized business generally. i think if those roads had known that the rates which they made had to remain in force thirty days they would have hesitated before they lowered them. i would increase the time required before rates could be reduced." the foregoing consideration suggests still another argument in favor of stability of freight rates, even at the expense of a certain amount of flexibility. special rates which create new business should be carefully distinguished from special rates which merely wrest business from other carriers or markets. any expedient which will make two blades of grass grow where one grew before; which puts american wheat into liverpool in competition with india and argentina; which cheapens california fruit on the eastern markets; which offers a wider choice of building stone for chicago; which will establish new industries for the utilization of local raw materials, deserves the greatest encouragement. our country has been unprecedentedly developed in consequence of the energy and progressiveness of its railway managers. but thousands of other special rates have no such justification, even where they are public and open to all shippers alike. these are the expression of railway ambition to build up trade by invading territory naturally tributary to other railways or traders. a significant feature of commercial competition is the utilization of distant markets as available "dumping grounds" for the surplus products left over from the local or natural market. in the st. louis business men's league case[ ] the pacific coast jobbers complained that the large distributing houses in the middle west thus invaded their territory. having met their fixed charges from their own natural territory, they invaded the remotest districts by cutting prices to the level of actual production cost per unit of new business. the florida orange growers protest against the relatively lower rate on california fruit, which is carried twice the distance for less money per box. this, it is urged, enables the western grower, having glutted his natural market in the middle west, to "dump" his surplus into the eastern field, to which alone the florida orange is restricted. this line of argument is the same as that which upholds the systems under which lower rates are given for exported or imported commodities than those on goods for domestic consumption. it is always alleged that such sales at long reach actually benefit the consumer or producer near at hand, inasmuch as they contribute something toward the fixed expenses of the business, which must be borne in any event. this raises at once the much broader question as to what constitutes a "natural market" or the "natural territory" which rightfully belongs to any given economic agent. it is, however, too extended an issue to be discussed at this time.[ ] too many special commodity rates, intended to meet the needs of particular shippers instead of increasing new business, may merely bring about economic waste through exchange between widely separated markets or by causing an invasion of fields naturally tributary to other centres.[ ] whenever a community producing a surplus of a given commodity supplies itself, nevertheless, with that same commodity from a distant market, economic loss results. numerous instances could be cited where identical products are redistributed after a long carriage to and from a distant point in the very area of original production. dried fruits may be distributed by wholesale grocers at chicago in the great fruit-raising regions of the west and south. cotton goods made by southern mills may be shipped to new york or chicago, and then sent back again for final distribution with the addition of a middleman's commission and a double freight rate. the colorado fuel & iron company seeks special rates in order to sell goods over in pittsburg territory; while its great competitor, the united states steel corporation, has an equal ambition for the trade of the pacific slope. in another case it appeared that a sash and blind manufacturer in detroit was seeking to extend his market in new england. manufacturers of the same goods in vermont were simultaneously marketing their product in michigan. the detroit producer did not complain of this invasion of his home territory, but objected to the freight rate from boston to detroit, which, probably because of back loading, was only about one-half the rate on his own goods from detroit to the seaboard. is not this an economic anomaly? two producers, presumably of equal efficiency, are each invading the territory naturally tributary to the other and are enabled to do so by reason of the railway policy of "keeping everyone in business." the new england railways are compelled by reason of the remoteness to their territory to defend this policy. as president tuttle, of the boston & maine, expresses it, "i should be just as much interested in the stimulating of chicago manufacturers in sending their products into new england to sell as i would be in sending those from new england into chicago to sell. it is the business of the railways centering in chicago to send the products from chicago in every direction. it is our particular business in new england to send new england products all over the country. the more they scatter the better it is for the railways. the railway does not discriminate against shipments because they are east bound or west bound. we are glad to see the same things come from chicago into new england that are manufactured and sent from new england into chicago." no one questions for a moment that the widening of the sphere of competition by transportation agencies is a service of incalculable benefit to the country. but it should also be borne in mind that superfluous transportation is economic waste. the industrial combinations in seeking to effect a strategic location of their factories in order to divide the field have apparently come to a full recognition of this fact. a fourth objection to undue development of special commodity rates is that they may entail increased burdens upon the local constituency of each railway. the proportion of such special rates is fifty per cent greater in america than in the united kingdom. it is plain that each shipment which fails to bear its due proportion of fixed charges, even though contributing something thereto, leaves the weight of interest and maintenance charges upon the shoulders of the local shipper. to be sure, those special rates which permanently create new business, operate otherwise. but in the vast complex, each railway often wrests from competing carriers only about as much tonnage as it loses. it invades rival territory, but its own constituency is invaded in retaliation. thus there is rolled up an inordinately large proportion of such special traffic, leaving the regular shipments and the local trade to bear the brunt of fixed charges. momentous social consequences may result. not only the cost of doing business, but the expense of living in the smaller places is increased. one of the most dangerous social tendencies at the present time is the enormous concentration of population and wealth in great cities. increased efficiency and economy in production are much to be desired; but social and political stability must not be sacrificed thereto. is it not possible that a powerful decentralizing influence may be exerted by checking this indiscriminate and often wasteful long-distance competition, through greater insistence upon the rights of geographical location? finally, an abnormal disregard of distance, which is always possible in the making of special rates to meet particular cases, may bring about a certain inelasticity of industrial conditions. this may occur in either one of two ways. the rise of new industries may be hindered; or the well-merited relative decline of old ones under a process of natural selection may be postponed or averted. the difficult problem of fairly adjusting rates on raw materials to finished products in order that the growth of new industries may take place, while at the same time the old established ones shall not be cramped or restricted, has already been discussed. it is equally plain that at times there may be danger of perpetuating an industry in a district, regardless of the physical disabilities under which it is conducted. one cannot for a moment doubt the advantages of a protective policy on the part of railways; safe-guarding industry against violent dislocating shocks. an inevitable transition to new and perhaps better conditions may perhaps be rendered easier to bear. to new england, constantly exposed to the competition of new industries rising in the west, this policy has been of inestimable value. on the other hand, it is incontestable that in the long run the whole country will fare best when each industry is prosecuted in the most favored location, conditions of marketing as well as of mere production being always considered. if pittsburg is the natural centre for iron and steel production, it may not be an unmixed advantage to the country at large, however great its value to new england, to have the carriers perpetuate the barbed wire manufacturers at worcester. if california can raise a finer or more marketable variety of orange, and at a lower cost, than florida, it would be a backward step to counteract the natural advantage of the western field by compelling the southern railways to reduce their rates to an amount equal to the disability under which the florida grower works. the principle laid down by the so-called "bogue differentials" in the lumber trade[ ] bears upon this point. in order to equalize conditions between a large number of lumbering centres sending their products to a common market, certain differentials between them were allowed under arbitration, "to enable each line to place its fair proportion of lumber in the territory." did this mean that the disability of any place in manufacturing cost, should be compensated by a corresponding reduction in the ensuing transportation cost? this was the view of some of the carriers who were zealous to keep the market open to all on equal terms. yet it is evident that, carried beyond a certain point, such a policy would not only nullify all advantages of geographical location, but it would also reverse the process of natural selection and of survival of the fittest, upon which all industrial progress must ultimately depend. each particular case, however, must be decided on its merits. our purpose is not to pass judgment on any one, but merely to call attention to the possible effect of such practices upon the process of industrial development. centralization, or concentration of population, industry and wealth is characteristic of all progressive peoples at the present time. great economic advantages, through division of labor and cheapened production, have resulted; but, on the other hand, manifold evils have followed in its train. sometimes it appears as if american railway practices, in granting commodity and flat long-distance rates so freely, operated in some ways to retard this tendency. but the influence is not all in that direction. many staple industries, utilizing the raw material at their doors, might supply the needs of their several local constituencies, were it not that their rise is prevented by long-distance rates from remote but larger centres of production. denver, in striving to establish paper mills to utilize its own colorado wood pulp, is threatened by the low rates from wisconsin centres. each locality, ambitious to become self-supporting, is hindered by the persistency of competition from far away cities. this is particularly true of distributive business. the overweening ambition of the great cities to monopolize the jobbing trade, regardless of distance, has already been discussed. and it follows, of course, that the larger the city the more forcibly may it press its demands upon the carriers for low rates to the most remote hamlets. the files of the interstate commerce commission are stocked with examples of this kind. the plea of the smaller cities and the agricultural states--iowa, for example--for a right to share in the jobbing naturally tributary to them by reason of their location, formed no inconsiderable element in the recent popular demand for legislation by the federal government. the marked difference between competition in transportation and trade has long been recognized in economic writing, but has not as yet been accorded due weight in law. the most essential difference arises from the fact, already fully set forth, that a large proportion of railway expenditures are entirely independent of the amount of business done. this involves as a consequence, the exemption of carriers from the fundamental law of evolution. survival of the fittest does not obtain as a rule in railway competition. the poorest equipped, the most circuitous and most nearly insolvent road is often able to dictate terms to the standard and most direct trunk lines. this has been exemplified time and again in the history of rate wars the world over.[ ] the bankrupt road having repudiated its fixed charges has nothing to lose by carrying business at any figure which will pay the mere cost of haulage. the indirect line having no business at the outset has nothing to lose, and everything to gain. the canadian pacific, for example, was perhaps originally built without any expectation of being able to participate in san francisco business; and yet, like the grand trunk, it has always been an active factor in the determination of transcontinental tariffs. the fact is that cost of production, while in trade fixing a point below which people may refuse to produce or compete, in transportation may merely mark the point at which it becomes more wasteful to stop producing than to go on producing at a loss. hadley's classic statement is so admirable that it cannot be improved upon. "let us take an instance from railway business, here made artificially simple for the sake of clearness, but in its complicated forms occurring every day. a railway connects two places not far apart, and carries from one to the other (say) , tons of freight a month at twenty-five cents a ton. of the $ , thus earned, $ , is paid out for the actual expenses of running the trains and loading or unloading the cars; $ for repairs and general expenses; the remaining $ , pays the interest on the cost of construction. only the first of these items varies in proportion to the amount of business done; the interest is a fixed charge, and the repairs have to be made with almost equal rapidity, whether the material wears out, rusts out, or washes out. now suppose a parallel road is built, and in order to secure some of this business offers to take it at twenty cents a ton. the old road must meet the reduction in order not to lose its business, even though the new figure does not leave it a fair profit on its investment; better a moderate profit than none at all. the new road reduces to fifteen cents; so does the old road. a fifteen cent rate will not pay interest unless there are new business conditions developed by it; but it will pay for repairs, which otherwise would be a dead loss. the new road makes a still further reduction to eleven cents. this will do little toward paying repairs, but that little is better than nothing. if you take at eleven cents freight that cost you twenty-five cents to handle, you lose fourteen cents on every ton you carry. if you refuse to take it at that rate, you lose fifteen cents on every ton you do not carry. for your charges for interest and repairs run on, while the other road gets the business."[ ] another peculiarity of railway competition, distinguishing it from competition in trade, is that there is no such thing as abandonment of the field. this is tersely expressed by morawetz in his corporation law. "it should be observed that competition among railway companies has not the same safeguard as competition in trade. persons will ordinarily do business only when they see a fair chance of profit, and if press of competition renders a particular trade unprofitable, those engaged in that trade will suspend or reduce their operations, and apply their capital or labor to other uses until a reasonable margin of profit is reached. but the capital invested in the construction of a railway cannot be withdrawn when competition renders the operation of the road unprofitable. a railway is of no use except for railway purposes, and if the operation of the road were stopped, the capital invested in its construction would be wholly lost. hence it is for the interest of the railway company to operate its road, though the earnings are barely sufficient to pay the operating expenses. the ownership of the road may pass from the shareholders to the bond-holders, and be of no profit to the latter; but the struggle for traffic will continue so long as the means of paying operating expenses can be raised. unrestricted competition will thus render the competitive traffic wholly unremunerative, and will cause the ultimate bankruptcy of the companies unless the operation of their traffic which is not the subject of competition can be made to bear the entire burden of the interest and fixed charges." so profoundly modified in short are the conditions of railway competition by contrast with those in industry, that it is clear beyond a shadow of doubt that a railway is essentially a monopoly. this requires no proof so far as local business, in distinction from through or competitive traffic, is concerned. it is equally true in respect to all traffic of sufficient importance to bring about pooling agreements or a division of the business, in order to forfend bankruptcy and consolidation. to attempt to perpetuate competition between railways by legislation is thus defeating its own end. the prohibition of pooling agreements which refuses to recognize the naturally monopolistic character of the business, can have but one result, namely, to compel consolidation as a measure of self-preservation. such legislation defeats itself, bringing about the very result it was intended to prevent. * * * * * two general theories governing the rates chargeable by railways are entertained, known respectively as cost of service and value of service. according to the first, the proper rate for transportation should be based upon the cost for carriage of the persons or goods, with an allowance for a reasonable profit over and above the expenses of operation involved. this line of argument is commonly advanced by representatives of shippers and the public, who reason by analogy from other lines of business. in several european countries when railways were first built, and afterward, especially in germany in , attempts were made to apply this principle widely in the construction of tariffs. practical railway men, on the other hand, usually adhere to the second principle of value of service. this argument maintains that, while theoretically cost of service should determine minimum rates, owing to the nature of commercial competition, as a matter of fact rates must be based upon the principle of charging what the traffic will bear. this is accomplished by proportioning the rate to the commercial value of the service. practically the rate is found by charging as much as the traffic will stand without evidence of discouragement. thus if the price per bushel of wheat in new york is twenty-five cents higher than in chicago, it would obviously be absurd to charge a rate which would absorb all of that increment of place value due to transportation. enough margin must be left to the shipper who buys wheat in chicago and sells it in new york, to permit a reasonable profit on the transaction, after payment of the freight rate. these two principles of cost of service and value of service are directly opposed in one regard; inasmuch as the cost of service theory harks directly back to railway expenditure; while the value of service principle contemplates primarily the effect upon the railway's income account. any charge is justified according to the latter view, which is not detrimental to the shipper as indicated by a positive reduction in the volume of business offered. no charge, on the other hand, may be deemed reasonable according to the cost of service principle, which affords more than a fair profit upon the business, regardless of its effect upon the shipper. as a matter of fact neither of these views is entirely sound by itself. both have large elements of truth in them. each qualifies the other. in the first place, it is to be noted that between them they fix the upper and lower limits of all possible charges. less than the cost of service cannot be charged; else would a confiscatory rate result. this was the plea set up by the railways in the now celebrated texas cattle raisers' association case against the cancellation by the interstate commerce commission of an extra charge of $ per car for switching charges at chicago. at the other extreme, more than the traffic will bear cannot be charged without a disproportionate decline in volume of tonnage. this would be bad business policy, as it could at once entail loss of revenue. the railway could not submit to the former alternative; it would not conceivably resort to the latter. attempts have been made by various authors to account for the phenomena of rate making on other grounds. the german author, sax, has sought to trace an analogy between the imposition of taxes and railway charges, alleging that both should be proportioned to what the shipper "can afford to pay," from an ethical rather than an economic point of view. acworth interprets the phrase "charging what the traffic will bear" to mean something analogous to this. his allegation is that rate schedules are built up upon the principle of "equality of sacrifice," otherwise characterized as "tempering the wind to the shorn lamb." high class traffic contributes liberally of its abundance of value, while third class passengers and low grade tonnage are let off lightly on the ground of their poverty. taussig in his memorable contribution to the subject[ ] has, however, shown how untenable this theory of "equality of sacrifice" is. not ethical but purely economic considerations are applicable in such circumstances except, of course, in so far as common carriers, enjoying privileges by grant of the state, may be considered as imposing taxes for the performance of a quasi-public duty. this latter test of a reasonable rate has underlaid a long line of supreme court decisions since the granger case.[ ] nevertheless, as so frequently happens, legal and economic bases of judgment seem to be lacking in harmony. there can be no question that for an indispensable public service like transportation, conducted under monopolistic conditions, the ideal system of charges would be to ascertain the cost of each service rendered and to allow a reasonable margin of profit over and above this amount. to the application of this principle alone, however, there are several insuperable objections both theoretical and practical. such cost is practically indeterminate, being joint for all services in large part, as we have seen: it is highly variable, being perhaps never twice the same, as circumstances change from time to time; cost is unknown until volume is ascertained, and volume is ever fluctuating; the cost of service, obviously, could never be ascertained until after the service had been rendered, while, of course, the schedule of rates must be known in advance, in order that the shipper may calculate his probable profits; and finally the principle of increasing returns, flowing from the dependence of cost upon volume of traffic, imposes such an incentive for development of new business, which in turn depends for its volume upon the rate charged, that cost of service is subordinated at once to other considerations in practice. of these objections to rate making upon the principle of cost of service alone, it would indeed appear as if the first should be conclusive. if the cost is simply indeterminable, why bother about any further refutation of the principle at all? but the persistency of the idea that somehow railway operations are analogous to the business of an ordinary merchant; and that cost and profits are ascertainable; renders it necessary to pile proof upon proof of the limitations upon its applicability to real conditions in service. not only is the mere cost of service indeterminable; if it could be ascertained, it would not establish the chargeable rate in many instances. the freight service of a railway comprises the carriage of all kinds of goods simultaneously, from the most valuable high-priced commodities, such as silks and satins, down to lumber, coal, cement, and even sand.[ ] to compel each of these classes of goods to bear its proportionate share of the cost of carriage, would at once preclude the possibility of transporting low-priced goods at all. one dollar a hundred pounds may not be too much to add to the price of boots and shoes for transportation from boston to chicago. it would still form only a small part of the total cost of producing and marketing them. but to add anything like that sum to the cost of one hundred pounds of salt or cement would put an end to the business at once. only about so much can in practice be added to the price of any given commodity for freight without widely limiting the area of its available market. thus raw cotton seems to be able to bear an addition of about fifty cents per hundred pounds for freight to its total cost. experience demonstrates that anything more than this one-half cent per pound charged on cotton, entails more loss than gain. in the case of fancy groceries or fine furniture, there may be no considerable demand in any event above a certain ascertainable level of prices. for boots and shoes or cut building stone it may be that competition from some other centre of production nearby, precludes any great addition to the price for freight. the business simply will not bear more than a certain proportion of charge. not only would the rigid application of the cost of service principle hinder all transportation of low-grade traffic; it would also prevent any development of long distance business. it is indubitable that sole reliance upon cost of service as a basis for rate making is theoretically unsound, and impossible of practical application.[ ] cost of service, while unsound as a sole reliance, nevertheless affords an important check upon the value of service principle. without it there is always grave danger that traffic managers, seeking to enlarge their revenues, may push rates unreasonably high. at first sight it would appear as if this could not occur, inasmuch as an inordinately high rate would immediately reduce the volume of business offered. it is constantly alleged by railway men that this must of necessity occur. and it would indeed follow, were it not that the incidence of the rate is rarely upon the actual shipper. he merely pays it, and at once shifts it to the consumer. for low-grade or staple goods like cement or kerosene, where transportation charges form a large part of the total cost of production, it is conceivable that higher freight rates might so far increase the price as to check consumption. five cents a hundredweight higher freight means $ . per , ft. added to the price of soft lumber, $ to hard lumber; three cents per bushel added to the price of wheat, and $ to the ton of pig iron or coal. such substantial additions might readily reduce the demand. yet even this would not be true of necessities of life like anthracite coal or sugar, on which latter the freight rate amounts to about one-half cent per pound. is five cents a barrel added to the price of flour likely to decrease the consumption of that staple commodity? yet the enhancement of railway revenues would indeed be enormous from such an increase of freight rates. for these necessities of life, an increased freight rate might become an actual charge upon the people, without reducing their consumption, like a tax upon salt. only upon goods the use of which might be freely lessened, would higher freight rates be reflected in a corresponding decline in the volume of business. moreover, with all high grade traffic, the value of service principle fails utterly by itself alone to prescribe the upper level of a reasonable charge. competent testimony is ample upon this point. thus from the commissioner of the trunk line association;[ ] "the tonnage of the higher class articles is an extremely difficult matter for transportation companies to increase or decrease.... in that class of articles the carrier can do but little to increase the transportation." and the reason in part lies in the almost immediate diffusion of the burden in the processes of distribution. that no complaints are made--a defence often brought forward for higher rates--proves by itself the uncertain incidence of the burden imposed. that the principle of charging what the traffic will bear affords no protection to the consumer against exorbitant rates on many commodities, follows also from the relative insignificance of transportation charges as compared with the value of the goods. this, in fact, is naively conceded by railway managers themselves; when, as in the case of the widespread freight rate advances of - , publicity agents flooded the country with calculations as to the infinitesimal fraction which would be added to the price of commodities by a ten per cent, rise in rates.[ ] the rate from grand rapids to chicago on an ordinary dining room set of furniture, being $ . , a ten per cent. increase would add only sixteen cents to the cost. a harvester transported one hundred miles would be enhanced seventeen and a half cents in price; a kitchen stove carried from detroit to the mississippi would only cost twenty-five cents more; and the price of a michigan refrigerator sold in new york, would be only seven and one-half cents higher; were freight rates to be increased by ten per cent, in each instance. on wearing apparel the proportions were represented as even more striking. an ordinary suit of clothes transported three hundred miles, under similarly enhanced rates, would, it was alleged, cost only one-third of a cent more. for all their apparel, made in new england, consisting of everything from hats to shoes, each wearer in the middle west would be affected by a ten per cent. rise of rates by less than one cent apiece. true enough all this; and a striking testimonial to the effectiveness of the railway service of the country! but at the same time, if a ten per cent. increase of rates is inappreciable to the consumer, why not increase them by twenty per cent.[ ] and what becomes of the argument that charging rates according to what the traffic will bear, is an ample safeguard against extortion? many of these small changes in price are diffused in the friction of retail trade;[ ] some of them are unfortunately magnified to the consumer, especially under conditions of monopoly. when freight rates on beef go up ten cents per hundredweight, the consumers' price is more likely than not to rise by ten times that amount. but even assuming the final cost to follow the range of transportation charges closely, is it not evident that, so small relatively are many freight charges by comparison with other costs of production, that consumption is not proportionately affected by their movement one way or the other? and yet the entire argument that the value of service principle is a self-governing engine against unreasonable rates, is based upon this assumption. surely the increased income to the carriers when rates are raised must come from someone. because it is not felt, is no reason for denying its existence as a tax. but the very fact that it is not felt, undermines the argument that a safeguard against extortion obtains. the theorem that value of service in itself affords a reliable basis for rate making, pre-supposes that freight rates and prices move in unison; a supposition which a moment's consideration shows to be untenable in fact.[ ] such cases must be finally settled by some reference, indefinite though it be, to the cost of conducting that particular service; or rather, as lorenz puts it, to the extra cost incident to that service. this extra cost may oftentimes be segregated, where the total cost could not be ascertained.[ ] that the problem is, however, a most difficult one is evidenced by the periodic controversies over railway mail pay.[ ] of course in order that any change of rates should be reflected in prices, all carriers must of necessity agree upon the matter. the price is made by the least expensive source of supply. so that any carrier refusing to raise rates, might aid in the continuance of an already established price. under conditions of transportation prevalent in the united states twenty years ago, the likelihood of an increased freight rate becoming a tax upon the community, was lessened by the probability that either by means of secret rebates, or by special and perhaps open commodity rates, some roads might choose to protect their clients against enhancement of prices. markets were local--not reached by great systems operating from remote sources of supply. the policy of the northern transcontinental lines in making lumber rates from oregon to the middle west, might be quite independent of any policy in force on the southern hard pine carrying roads. but under present day conditions, the entire area of the united states is one great market. hence, with rebates eliminated and with practical monopoly established through actual consolidation, control or harmony of policy, the carriers have the consumers much more completely at their mercy. only two safeguards for the public interest remain. one is government regulation, or at all events supervision, of charges. the other is "enlightened self-interest"--which in transportation matters means a full appreciation of the possibilities and limitations in the application of the value of service principle to the determination of rates. considerations of cost of service afford protection, not only against unreasonably high rates, but also against unduly low charges. the evil in such cases is not only that the carriers operate at a loss, but that inequality and discrimination are inevitable concomitants of too low rates. no railway conceivably, of course, will charge unremunerative rates for a long time. but it sometimes happens that managements may be led to the adoption of policies of temporary expediency, not compatible with the long-time welfare of stockholders. during the presidency of charles francis adams on the northern pacific in an unaccountable and unnatural diversion of traffic from this road to the atchison, topeka & santa fe suddenly occurred.[ ] a large volume of freight from the east to oregon was diverted to the roundabout route _via_ southern california. on investigation it appeared that the english banking house of baring brothers, having become involved in unfortunate argentine speculation, and being obliged to force a market for its investments in atchison securities, demanded an immediate showing of large gross earnings regardless of the net profits. orders to get traffic at any price went forth. a market was made for atchison stock; although it was powerless to prevent the firm's final bankruptcy. in such a case the only safeguard against unreasonably depressed rates by the atchison road, which, of course, immediately compelled corresponding reductions by the natural routes to the northwest, should have been consideration of the actual cost of moving traffic by so long and roundabout a route. and yet this consideration was entirely ignored. another illustration of the same danger occurred in april, .[ ] a gang of western speculators unobtrusively acquired control of the louisville & nashville road, by taking advantage of the issue by that company of a large amount of new stock. this they did by the use of borrowed money. they had no intention, even had they been sufficiently well financed to do so, of permanently controlling the road as an investment. they bought the stock merely in order to resell it at a higher figure. they threatened the railway world with a general disturbance of rate conditions throughout the south. their plan was to cut rates and steal traffic from other roads in order to make a large show of gross earnings; and to unload their stock holdings on the market thus made, before the public learned the truth. this was prevented only by repurchase of their stock at very high prices. in such a case, what guidance would the principle of charging what the traffic would bear, afford? cost of service must be invoked in order to determine the reasonableness of the low rates in force. in any industry where rates are made under conditions of monopoly rather than of free competition, it is imperative that cost of service be constantly held in view. under conditions of free competition it is bound to obtrude itself automatically; but under monopoly it must oftentimes be forcibly invoked. the shipper whose manufacturing plant has once been located in a certain place is no longer free to accept or reject a certain rate. he can afford neither to move nor to abandon his works. in order to continue in business he must meet the prices made by competitors. this price may be made elsewhere under more favored circumstances. to a manufacturer an increase of freight rates instead of curtailing output, may lead to attempts to lessen the costs of production per unit by an enlarged output sold at cut prices. under such conditions an enhanced freight rate is a positive deduction from profits without any gain to the consumer. it is impossible to trace any safeguard against extortion in the operations of a value of service law under such circumstances. an instance in point is afforded by a complaint of the detroit chemical works in .[ ] this company imported iron pyrites through baltimore from spain; that being the source of the bulk of the material used here in the manufacture of sulphuric acid. the detroit company sold its product throughout the west in competition with companies at st. louis, chicago and buffalo. the companies at chicago and st. louis enjoyed low import rates by way of the gulf ports. the buffalo concern used to be favored by a low rate said to be due to canal competition on shipments from new york. since , however, the rate on pyrites from baltimore to detroit had been steadily increasing, from $ . to $ . per long ton. even this latter rate by itself does not seem absolutely excessive, yielding a revenue of less than four mills per ton mile. but here again, it was not the absolute but the relative rate upon which the continued welfare of the industrial concern depended. the question had to be decided, not on the basis of cost, but from the point of view of the value of the service to the user. the carriers after this petition was filed voluntarily reduced the rate fifty-one cents per ton in january, . the relative rate as compared with that to other competitive points was thus more equitably adjusted. the interstate commerce commission on a review of the evidence held that this increase to $ . was unreasonable and unjust so long as it had been in effect; and awarded reparation to the amount of fifty-one cents per ton on all shipments made during its continuance. it is indisputable that the great dynamic force in railway operation inheres in the value of service idea. the traffic manager who is always considering how much it will cost to handle business, will seldom adventure into new territory. the united states, as a rapidly growing country, is consequently the field in which charging what the traffic will bear, has been most ardently upheld as the only practicable basis for rate making. a few detailed illustrations will serve to show the results of its application in practice. not infrequently does it happen that rates are different over the same line for shipments between two given points in opposite directions. where this is due to a preponderance of traffic in one direction, and a consequent movement of "empties" which invite a back loading at very low rates, the difference of charges according to direction may actually be due to differences in the cost of carriage.[ ] an empty train, which must be returned from new york to chicago for another loading of grain, or to georgia or oregon for shipments of lumber, if loaded with merchandise, can be moved with no allowance for dead weight of cars or locomotives; inasmuch as the train must move in any event, whether loaded or empty. but even where this defence of difference in the cost of service fails, the practice may be entirely proper from every point of view. by increasing the total tonnage a special rate may ultimately contribute to lower charges all along the line. raisin culture began in california in . prior to that time the spanish product had supplied the american market. the first thing to do was to find a market for the california raisins in the east. they would not bear the freight rate which had previously been charged for spanish raisins moving over the transcontinental lines westward. a very low rate was all that the new traffic would bear. during the year therefore , lbs. of california raisins were carried east at one and three-fourths cents per lbs., while simultaneously , , lbs. of spanish raisins were carried west over the same lines at a rate of three cents. no such difference in the cost of service in opposite directions existed, although a preponderance of empties moving eastward undoubtedly cheapened the service from california. the aim of the commodity rate was to upbuild a new industry. how far this succeeded appears from the fact that in , no spanish raisins were carried west at all; while the eastbound shipments amounted to , , lbs.[ ] the preceding illustration leads us then to this further conclusion. the cost of service principle might most conceivably be applied to a railway in a purely static state. but, dynamically considered, as involving the growth and development of business, it fails utterly by itself to meet the necessities of the case. at times it is inevitable that cost of service and value of service considerations come flatly into opposition. usually, as in the california raisin case or in the grant of low rates on oregon lumber east bound about , they reinforce one another; that is to say, the lower rate given to build up business obtains on a service given at lower cost. but it sometimes happens that shipments of the same commodities over a line in opposite directions may occur and that the lower rate applies to the (presumably) more costly service. in a manufacturer in menasha, wis., complained to the interstate commerce commission[ ] that his rates on woodenware to the pacific slope were ten cents per lbs. higher than were rates on the same goods between the same points east bound, _notwithstanding_ the fact that the empty car mileage west bound was then three times as great as in the contrary direction. the movement of empties west bound would certainly seem to justify as low if not lower rates on the basis of comparative cost of operation, supposing that there was coincidence in time. only one satisfactory explanation for this apparent anomaly suggests itself; viz., that this low eastbound rate was given to build up a new industry in the west. in other words, the cost of service, a dependable guide for a road in a static condition, failed of effect upon a line possessed of great dynamic possibilities. occasionally opposition of principles like this may occur in questions of classification. it may temporarily be worth while, in order to build up a new industry, to accord a lower rating to a commodity actually more valuable or more expensive to handle than others. here again the dynamic force in the value of service principle out-weighs all other considerations of relative cost of service. the value of service principle in general fails, not only in the determination of absolutely reasonable rates, but it is inadequate also to the solution of perhaps the more difficult problem of relative rates. this question of relativity is twofold; first as between different places, and secondly as between different commodities. these are, in other words, the problems respectively of distance tariffs and of classification. the manner in which distance tariffs evolve, has already been discussed, and it is evident that the cost of service principle is of fundamental importance, even though it be tempered by considerations of commercial expediency, that is to say, by the necessity of at all times under stress of competition, charging only what the traffic will bear. but while the value of service principle--charging according to demand in other words--applies at the competitive points, the other principle of relative cost should be the fundamental one in fixing upon the scale of local non-competitive rates. the second phase of the problem of relativity arises in connection with classification.[ ] how shall goods be graded in respect of their freight charges for identical services in carriage? besides illustrating the interplay of the two fundamental principles, this topic serves also to clear up another possible confusion of terms. proportioning transportation charges to the value of the service must always be clearly distinguished from basing them upon the mere value of the goods. nothing is more certain than that no direct causal relation between freight rates and the intrinsic value of commodities is traceable. on wire the freight rate between two given points may be about one-fourth of the commercial value; on sheet iron one-third; on lumber somewhat more, and on hay two-fifths; while on cattle and hogs the freight rate may range as low as one-tenth to one-eighth of their commercial value. on coal, on the other hand, the freight rate often more than equals the price of the coal at the mine, and on very low grade commodities like bricks, the transportation charges may equal two or even three times the worth of the goods.[ ] for each locality or even direction, these percentages will change. positive reasons for these varying relationships are discernible in local trade conditions. while in general cheap goods are rated lower; if for any reason--bulkiness or risk--they cost relatively more to transport, they may very properly be advanced in grade. normally, raw products move at lower rates than finished products--for instance, wheat and flour or cattle and beef. this is in accord with charging what the traffic will bear in relation to value. but in the making of export rates, it may be to the interest of the carrier to reverse this order, actually according to the finished product the lower rate, thereby encouraging the development of manufactures at home rather than abroad.[ ] classification committees and regulative commissions are thus compelled to waver between the two opposing considerations of cost and value. one cannot avoid the conclusion, however, that, contrary to the usual rule, in this field of classification undue weight is often accorded by railway managers to that small element of total cost of service arising from risks of damage in transit--insurance cost, in other words--to the neglect of the financially more important consideration of what the traffic will bear. this emphasis upon the cost side of the account by classification committees, oddly enough is peculiarly characteristic of ratings in the higher class commodities. among low grade goods, like grain, lumber or coal, the risk of damage is small, so that insurance cost becomes almost negligible. the insistent consideration among these low grade commodities is much more apt to be that of relative demand; arising from the necessity of close and constant adjustment to the behests of trade. special or commodity rates, based directly upon what the traffic will bear, rather than upon the element of cost, are likely to prevail in these cases. but the very large revenue which could be obtained from increasing the rates upon the higher grade of goods seems not to be fully appreciated. a valuable instance of the play of opposing considerations of cost and value of service in the classification of freight rates is afforded by the complaint in of the pulp paper makers in wisconsin, already cited in another connection.[ ] it appeared that for similar service over the same roads, the rates per carload on saw logs for lumber were only about one-half those charged for carriage of logs to be ground into paper pulp. judged on the basis of commercial value, hemlock and spruce bolts, too short and often otherwise unfit for lumber, were worth much less than saw logs; and yet they paid double the freight rates. this was not because the pulp wood was less desirable as traffic. in many ways it was more so. the haul was twice as long as for saw logs. the paper mills brought relatively more supplementary tonnage in the form of coal, food stuffs and supplies for workmen and their families. fully as much of the finished product to be reshipped to consumers resulted. while smaller in volume, the pulp wood business was far more permanent. it was growing rapidly while the lumber business was declining. moreover, the actual cost of service in hauling pulp wood was fully as low as for lumber logs. carloads were much heavier, and were more regular in movement. in practice they involved no milling-in-transit obligation, that is to say, no obligation to re-ship the finished paper out over the same road; while all the saw log rates carried this obligation--a matter of some moment to the railways. and finally the value of the service to shippers of pulp wood was less than to mere lumbermen; in other words, the paper makers were operating under closer margins of profit; their plants were more costly, and depreciated more rapidly. the defence of the carriers in this case was not that the rates on pulp wood were too high in themselves, but that the rate on saw logs was perhaps unduly low--the latter having been crowded down to a minimum figure by competition in the early days of the business by the lumber raftsmen who floated the saw logs downstream from the forest to the saw mills. but of equal importance probably in perpetuating the higher rates on pulp logs, was the assumption that while the value of the bolts themselves was perhaps even less than that of saw logs, the value of the resultant product, paper, was much greater than that of lumber. but the wisconsin railroad commission, in entire harmony with the principle repeatedly laid down by the federal commission, held that the carriers must be guided by real distinctions of cost from a transportation standpoint and not by gradations of value. if the goods were bulky, awkward, or risky to handle, perhaps requiring special appliances or equipment, relatively high classification was permissible. but if they were substantially similar for purposes of carriage, no gradation in rates based upon differences in the ultimate uses to which the commodity might be put would be upheld. such was the reasoning of the interstate commerce commission in a decision, holding that fire, building and paving brick must be accorded equal rates, regardless of their differing values.[ ] that the element of value is, however, not negligible is brought out in a later federal case,[ ] wherein it was recommended that cheap china, to be given away as premiums in the tea trade, be rated nearer ordinary crockery or earthenware, even though shipped in the same manner as high grade china ware. under the official classification, chinaware is rated first class if in boxes, and second class in casks. earthenware or crockery is carried at twenty per cent, less than third class, in small packages (l. c. l.). on the basis of mere cost of service, it would seem as if boxes of chinaware should have a lower rating than casks. boxes stow better than casks, with less risk of breakage. but the commercial practice being to ship the finer grades of chinaware in boxes, such shipments are graded higher because the traffic will usually bear a higher rate. thus considerations of cost of service yield to those of value. the interstate commerce commission, however, noting the exceptional circumstances under which the tea company distributed its cheap chinaware, recommended a revision of the classification to meet the needs of the case; in other words ordering a greater emphasis upon the elements of the value of the service, even at the expense of relative cost of operation. our final conclusion, then, must be this: that both principles are of equal importance; and that both must be continually invoked as a check upon each other. the tendency to the elevation of cost of service to a position of priority--rather characteristic of regulative bodies and of legislators--is no less erroneous than the marked disposition of railway managers to insist upon the universal applicability of the principle of charging what the traffic will bear. neither will stand the test of reasonableness alone. whether the one or the other should take precedence can only be determined by a careful study of the circumstance and conditions in each case; and in practice, the instances where either principle becomes of binding effect to the entire exclusion of the other, are extremely rare. footnotes: [ ] i.c.c. rep., . the general investigation of wool rates is another admirable instance. _idem_, . [ ] wisconsin railroad commission, . _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] the diverse interests to be reconciled must also include the lumbering centres once "next the stump," but now placed at a relative disadvantage. the eau claire lumber case [reprinted in railway problems, pp. - ] should be read in this connection. [ ] the remarkable rise of the sash, door and blind industry in the south, as prejudiced by comparison with chicago under an outworn schedule of rates, is given in i.c.c. rep., . [ ] on the parity cases, consult hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , pp. and . [ ] i.c.c. rep., - and ann. rep. i.c.c., , p. . the later judicial history will be found at p. , _infra_. [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] rates must not vary with profits. i.c.c. rep., ; and consistently held ever since. [ ] arbitration of cotton rates, etc., nov. and , ; pamphlet arguments of southern v. illinois central railways. wool rates are the same. i. c. c. rep., . [ ] this was the gist of the complaint in the cincinnati freight bureau case; pp. , and , _infra_. [ ] chapters xi and xix, _infra_. [ ] now covered by law since . pp. and , _infra_. [ ] pp. and _infra_. [ ] senate committee on the transportation interests of the united states and canada, , p. . [ ] int. com. rep., ; in our railway problems, chap. xvii. [ ] hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , p. , cites cases. [ ] chapter viii, _infra_. [ ] int. com. rep., ; in our railway problems, chap. viii. [ ] _cf._ p. _et seq., infra_. [ ] a carload of bamboo steamer chairs from san francisco to new york for $ . in the course of a rate war, would seem to be rather below bed-rock. i. c. c. rep., . [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, v, , pp. - ; reprinted in railway problems, chap. v. [ ] _cf._ int. com. reports, , p. . [ ] the hepburn committee testimony in , p. , is eloquent upon this aspect of the question. [ ] st annual report, i.c.c., . _cf._ strombeck, freight classification, pp. - . [ ] c., n. o. & t. p. case, testimony, vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] _cf._ the freight rate primer, bearing no authors or publishers name, but largely compiled from addresses by president w. c. brown of the new york central & hudson river. similar arguments and computations occur in the testimony before the senate (elkins) committee of , pp. and . [ ] now who will say that it is unreasonable to charge - / cts. to carry a suit of clothes from chicago to new york.... railways could charge three or four times the cost of transportation for a pair of drawers and the rates would still be reasonable.... but all the first-class rates are of that nature.--albert fink, testimony, c., n. o. & t. p. case, p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , p. . [ ] in _re_ proposed advances in freight rates, i.c.c., april , . [ ] an interesting illustration of such determination of separable or extra cost was the computation by which the movement expenses of a train load of cars of grain, , lbs. to the car, from buffalo to new york were fixed at $ . i. c. c. reports, , p. . or again in the estimation of the costs of operation in the express service from new orleans to kansas city in the banana trade. i. c. c. rep., no. , . the able wisconsin railroad commission has carefully studied a number of such cases, notable in its two-cent fare decision of . [ ] _cf._ tunell, railway mail service, chicago, . [ ] personal correspondence. [ ] details in vol. ii. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] on raisins compared with citrus fruits: i.c.c. rep., . [ ] interstate commerce commission, no. . [ ] more in detail in chap. ix. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , testimony of mr. bird, traffic manager of the st. paul road. this is best measured, of course, by revenue per ton mile, chap. xii, _infra_. [ ] flour _v._ wheat, p. , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] more in detail at p. , _infra_. also hammond, rate theories of the i. c. c., , p. . [ ] u. p. tea co.; i.c.c. rep., no. , . chapter vi personal discrimination rebates and monopoly, with attendant danger to carriers,  .-- personal discrimination defined,  .--distinction between rebating and general rate cutting,  .--early forms of rebates,  .--underbilling, underclassification, etc.,  .--private car lines,  .--more recent forms of rebating described,  .--terminal and tap-lines,  .--midnight tariffs,  .--outside transactions, special credit, etc.,  .--distribution of coal cars,  .--standard oil company practices,  .--discriminatory open adjustments from competing centres,  .--frequency of rebating since ,  - .--the elkins law of ,  .--discrimination since ,  .--the grain elevation cases,  .--industrial railroads once more,  . the philosophy of rebating has perhaps never been better described than in the following quotation from the cullom committee investigation of : "mr. wicker. i am speaking now of when i was a railroad man. here is quite a grain point in iowa, where there are five or six elevators. as a railroad man, i would try and hold all those dealers on a 'level keel,' and give them all the same tariff rate. but suppose there was a road five or six or eight miles across the country, and those dealers should begin to drop in on me every day or two and tell me that that road across the country was reaching within a mile or two of our station and drawing to itself all the grain. you might say that it would be the just and right thing to do to give all the five or six dealers at this station a special rate to meet that competition through the country. but, as a railroad man, i can accomplish the purpose better by picking out one good, smart, live man, and, giving him a concession of three or four cents a hundred, let him go there and scoop the business. i would get the tonnage, and that is what i want. but if i give it to the five it is known in a very short time. i can illustrate that better by a story told by mr. vanderbilt when he and his broker had a deal in stocks. the broker came in and said, 'mr. vanderbilt, i would like to take in my friend john smith.' mr. vanderbilt said, 'let us see how this will work. here are you and myself in this deal now. we take in john smith; that makes a hundred and eleven. i guess i won't do it.' when you take in these people at the station on a private rebate you might as well make it public and lose what you intend to accomplish. you can take hold of one man and build him up at the expense of the others, and the railroad will get the tonnage." "senator harris. the effect is to build that one man up and destroy the others?" "mr. wicker. yes, sir; but it accomplishes the purposes of the road better than to build up the six." the force of this description of the underlying motive for personal discrimination, so far as the carrier is concerned; namely to build up one man at the expense of his competitors and to attach him in interest indissolubly to the company, is well exemplified in a case which occurred in at galveston, texas.[ ] practically all railway traffic entering galveston was destined for export. wharfage facilities were limited to two concerns, one of them being the southern pacific terminal co. a uniform charge of one cent per hundredweight for cotton seed meal and cake passing over the wharves of both companies had been the rule for a long time. yet it appeared on complaint that one merchant had been granted wharfage space under discriminatingly favorable conditions. exemption from demurrage charges, free storage room and other favors and a fixed rental of $ , per year irrespective of the amount of his shipments, had enabled him, having been in business only since , to build up a very large traffic. the export of cotton seed cake instead of meal had greatly increased since . the business of all other competitors since this contract was made had shrunk to insignificant proportions by comparison with that done by this favored merchant. the margin of profit in the business was so small that the difference between the charges and privileges enjoyed by this individual and his competitors, was forcing them all out of business. it was estimated by the interstate commerce commission that if the customary wharfage charges had been paid, the rental would have been nearly $ , for the year , irrespective of other favors. the cotton planters complained also that this monopoly limited their market and depressed business. it is clear that the larger the business, that is to say the more nearly it became a monopoly, the smaller became the wharfage charges per hundredweight under this system of a fixed rental; and, in consequence, the greater was the disability of the other shippers. the advantage to the railroad appeared in a contract entered into, which provided that all traffic for this individual should be routed over the southern pacific or its connecting lines. as he had practically gathered in all the cotton seed export business of texas and the adjoining states within two years, it is evident that this consideration was of great value to the railroad. the economic motive in this case and in the one previously cited was the same. it will be found in fact to underlie almost all cases of personal favoritism and discrimination. the supreme disadvantage in building up a great monopoly in order to win traffic for a railroad is, of course, that the moment the shipper becomes sufficiently powerful, he can play off one road against another, thus becoming practically master of the situation. sindbad is soon overwhelmed by the old man of the sea. and the weaker the road financially, the more powerful is the appeal, to which at last even the strongest lines must succumb. the history of the standard oil company during the eighties clearly exemplifies this. the rapid rise of the cattle "eveners" yet earlier, until, as the private refrigerator car companies they controlled the situation, was primarily traceable to the same causes. the late j. w. midgly[ ] gives a forcible illustration in the attempt in of ninety-five railroads to reduce the mileage allowance paid for use of oil tank cars owned by private companies from three-fourths to one-half cent per mile, loaded and empty. the union tank line promptly replied that it would in that event at once concentrate all its vast tonnage to points north and west of chicago, upon the single line--presumably the weakest one--which would continue the old rate. this argument was irresistible; and in the old days of unregulated competition was in the nature of things bound to be so. careful distinction must be made at this point, between personal discrimination and general rate cutting. rebating,--that is to say, departure from published tariffs,--occurs in both cases. the difference between the two is that in the one case it is special, particular and secret; while in the other it is so general, if not indeed universal, as to be matter of common knowledge. rebating, in other words, is a common feature of rate wars. but, on the other hand, general harmony in the rate situation by no means implies the absence of personal favoritism. during a wide-open rate war, indeed, the most iniquitous aspect of rebating,--inequality of treatment as between rival shippers,--may be quite absent. all may be getting the same rate, namely a cut rate; although the chances are of course that the bigger the shipper, the more substantial the concessions offered. it is important to keep this distinction clear, especially since the railways have awakened to the losses to themselves attendant upon rate wars. all parties concerned are probably agreed in the hope of eliminating the rate war forever. but there is not the same evidence of either an intent or desire on the part of railway officials to get rid of what, from a public point of view, is even more insidious and unjust; that is to say, the secret concession of favors to a few chosen large shippers. general rate wars, as will later appear, are probably a thing of the past.[ ] but secret rebating seems, on the other hand, to be an evil which must be combatted vigorously and un-intermittently in order to uproot it as a feature of american industrial life. and of course it must cease. for it is the most prolific source of evil known in transportation. it has probably had more to do with the creation of great industrial monopolies than any other single factor. the first feature of any reform of our intolerable "trust" situation, must be to keep the rails open on absolutely even terms to all shippers, large or small. the keynote of discrimination is, as we have said, the creation of monopoly, or, at all events, of so large an aggregation of shipments, that a profitable partnership between the shipper and the railroad results. this is clear in recent indictments which charge that the railroads concerned, having selected one large firm of forwarders in new york and chicago are giving them a monopoly in respect of all imports. in the case of the great beef packers, the railroad having once built up a shipper by favored rates, may continue in the enjoyment of this concentrated tonnage with greater security and profit than if it moved in a multitude of small shipments by numerous competitors. of course there is another less common form of rebating which, so far as its profit is concerned, is limited to the particular dishonest railway official who arranges the matter. such favoritism as this, however, represents a loss to the company; and has always been stamped out by the carriers when discovered. the principal form above described, is much more difficult to uproot. and yet for some reason, it is a distinctively american abuse. european countries seem never to have suffered from it, to any such degree as has the united states. it is, as has just been said, perhaps the most iniquitous, the most persistent and until very recently the most nearly ineradicable evil connected with the great business of transportation. rebating in the early days consisted in simply refunding by direct payment to the favored shipper, a certain proportion of the freight bill. this refund might be in cash, in presents to himself or his family, in salary allowances to clerks, in free passes, or in free transportation of other goods. in a recent case in new york it has taken the form of importer's "commissions." but, since at least, an inconvenience in all such transactions is their necessary entry in some form or other upon the books of the company. of course such rebates could be covered up as a fictitious charge to operating expenses; or, as in the case of the atchison in , might be carried as an asset, as if such refunds would ever be paid. nearly $ , , was thus entered as padding in atchison assets, when it went into a receiver's hands at that time.[ ] much of the flagrant standard oil rebating in the eighties was almost openly, and certainly boldly, carried on by these means. but public sentiment was always against it; and of course, it was a breach of good faith as between the railways themselves, in their endeavor to maintain agreed rates. secrecy, therefore, always attaches to these transactions; and the most ingenious devices were invented to confer favors without detection. underclassification of freight was a very common device in the old days. it has reappeared again since in much the same form. there is a great difference between the freight on a keg of nails and of fine brass hardware or cutlery. who is to know whether a shipment be billed as one or the other? is every box of dry goods to be examined in order to discover whether it contains silks or the cheapest cotton cloth? a carload of lumber or cordwood might easily by prearrangement be filled inside with high grade package freight. the utmost vigilance is in fact necessary on the part of carriers, to prevent such fraudulent practices by shippers. under the joint rate trunk line inspection bureau in , , such false descriptions or underweighings were detected on westbound shipments from seaboard cities alone.[ ] what the amount of such underclassification of freight by collusion between agent and shipper was, can only be conjectured. even more difficult to detect was the practice of under-billing.[ ] at a certain time, the rate on flour from minneapolis to new york was thirty cents per hundredweight, divided between connecting roads in the proportion of ten cents from minneapolis to chicago, and twenty cents from there on to destination. in the meantime, as against this ten cent proportion of the through rate to new york, the local rate from minneapolis to chicago was twelve and one-half cents. as between two rival shippers, the one sending to chicago on a new york through rate instead of a local one, would enjoy a clear advantage of twenty-five per cent. over his competitor. and who was to know whether a car billed through to new york, was really going beyond chicago or not? in one period of three months, cars thus through billed to new york were turned over at chicago to a belt line road; and only actually went on to that destination. about sixty per cent. of the traffic was being rebated by this means. very complicated arrangements of this sort were rife in the missouri river rate wars on grain in . this was known as the "expense-bill" system; or "carrying at the balance of the through rate."[ ] many services or facilities are worth as much to a merchant as a direct refund in cash. he may be given free cartage. this was a very common expedient in the early days; being fully considered by the interstate commerce commission.[ ] or free storage on wheels or in freight houses may be utilized as a cover for favoritism. a low carload rate might be given, and then the goods be held, storage free, by the railway at some central point; to be subsequently delivered piecemeal as sold. the dealer would be relieved of all expense for warehousing as well as of high less-than-carload rates from the initial point of shipment. the competitor who paid the less-than-carload rate on an equal volume of business would be sadly handicapped. cases are on record where fish was thus stored free from november to february, being reshipped on order in small lots. or an excessive allowance might be made by the railway for some service or facility afforded by the shipper. the beef interests first got their hold upon the carriers by demanding liberal rebates in return for acting as "eveners" in the partition of traffic between the trunk lines about  . complaint against excessive allowances to favored grain elevator owners, was common all through the west for years. the elevator allowance cases before the interstate commerce commission in - concerning practices on the union pacific lines illustrate the delicacy of the issues involved.[ ] deductions from the full tariff for the use of special equipment owned by shippers, has been one of the commonest means of building up great monopolies.[ ] the allowances to the standard oil company for the use of its tank cars, before the construction of pipe lines, and especially prior to , were a source of great unrest.[ ] but the construction of pipe lines has not lessened their importance. it is on record that the use of private cars in other lines of business has led to grave abuses. when stock cars and beef refrigerator cars, owned by private shippers, first began to be used about - , they were much sought after by the railroads as traffic. they moved regularly, not by seasons; the volume of business was large and rapidly growing; it was concentrated at a few large initial points; much of it was high class and very remunerative. with the enormous extension of refrigeration to cover the long-distance movement of fruit and vegetables, a still more powerful encouragement came into play. these latter businesses were highly seasonal. few roads could afford to maintain highly specialized equipment to care for a business of a few weeks length. but a private company operating all over the country, could utilize its cars first for early vegetables and fruits from the south, then from the middle west or the oregon-washington region, and finally in winter for oranges from california or florida. the number of these cars rapidly increased until by there were , in service,--in fact about one-eleventh of all the freight cars in the united states were privately owned. the so-called armour interests, primarily engaged in the packing business, were by far the largest single concern. the system of payment for the use of these cars consisted of an allowance, based upon the mileage performed. this used to be one cent per mile, loaded and empty, for refrigerator cars. in a determined effort was made by the carriers to reduce this below the point then reached of three-fourths of a cent per mile. but the extraordinary concentration both of ownership and traffic, rendered it easy for the car companies to defeat the proposition. in the meantime the steady increase in volume of traffic, making whole trainloads possible, together with the growth of very long distance business, made it imperative that these trains be operated at high speed with few stops. this at once enormously enhanced the earning power of each car, as based upon mileage. the performance was often as high as four times that of the ordinary freight cars. under these new conditions, at the current rate of earnings, a car would pay for itself in three years, besides paying all expenses of maintenance. the burden of these allowances became very great. the situation some years ago is well described by a former member of the interstate commerce commission, as follows:-- "investigations made by the interstate commerce commission at different times have disclosed to some extent the very large sums received by shippers as mileage for the use of such cars. "by an investigation made in it appeared that on a single line of road between chicago and an interior eastern point--a distance of miles--refrigerator cars owned by three shipping firms made in nine months, from august , , to may , , , miles, and earned for mileage $ , . , being about $ , a month or substantially at the rate of $ , a year. "by another investigation, made in , it appeared that private stock cars to the number of had been used upon a line made up of two connecting roads between chicago and new york, beginning with cars on september , , increased more a month later, more another month later, and reaching the total of in june, ; that the cars altogether had cost $ , , and had earned for mileage in two years, from september , , to september , , $ , . ; that the entire expense to be deducted during that period for car repairs and salaries for their management was $ , . , leaving net revenue to the amount of $ , . , being an excess of $ , above the whole cost of the cars. the cars were, therefore, paid for and a margin besides in two years, and, thereafter, under the same management and with a corresponding use of the cars, an income of upward of $ , a year was assured on an investment fully repaid, or, in effect, on no investment whatever." by the railroads were paying over $ , , annually for the use of such equipment. with the growth of their power, the extortionate demands of these private car lines, both upon the railroads and the shipper, steadily enlarged. from the roads they often compelled fictitious mileage allowances; and from the shipper the most outrageous charges were made for icing and other services en route. the reports of the interstate commerce commission for - and of the senate (elkins) committee of deal fully with these abuses. moreover the armour company gradually forced other competitors out of business, and with the growth of monopoly, its exactions became even more extreme. the following instance is typical. "in the armour car lines company was furnishing cars for the movement of michigan fruits from points on the pere marquette railroad to boston in competition with other private car companies, and its charge for refrigeration to boston was $ per car. its present charge to boston is $ per car. before the present exclusive contract was entered into between the armour car lines and the pere marquette railroad company the actual quantity of ice required was charged for at $ . per ton. under this system the cost of refrigerating cars from pawpaw, mich., to dubuque, iowa, averaged about $ per car, while the present schedule of the armour car lines is $ . . the cost of icing from mattawan, mich., to duluth was $ . , as shown by an actual transaction in the year , while the present refrigeration charge between those points is $ . the cost of icing pineapples from mobile to cincinnati under an exclusive contract with the armour car lines is $ , while the cost of performing the same service from new orleans to cincinnati over the illinois central is $ . per car." fortunately the progressive enlargement of federal powers of supervision has tended to check these exactions. but the system of special allowances for the use of privately owned equipment, is one which needs the most careful watching by the authorities. with the passage of time, and especially since , new and even more elaborate schemes for rebating have come to light. one of the most ingenious, which was discovered about to be very widespread, was the use of terminal or spur track railway companies.[ ] in hutchinson, kansas, for example, were salt works having a capacity of some barrels a day. two railways were available for shipments. a new company was incorporated, all its stock being held by the salt works owners, which constructed sidings to both railroad lines. the spur track was less than a mile long and cost only about $ to build. but the company was chartered as the hutchinson and arkansas river railroad. its officers were the owners of the salt mills. it owned neither engines nor cars. yet it entered into a traffic agreement with the atchison road for a division of the through rate to many important points, its share being about twenty-five per cent. so substantial a pro-rate was this, that in a few months the h. and a. r. r. received back some fifteen thousand dollars as its share of the through freight rates. and every dividend declared by it was, of course in effect a rebate enjoyed exclusively by this particular mill, as against less favored competitors. obviously, rebates assuming the above-described form are open only to very large shippers, to whom it is worth while to incur the considerable expense. but many concerns have already such trackage in or about their works. nothing is needed except to incorporate them separately, and then to enter into suitable traffic agreements with standard roads. many of the so-called trusts were implicated in such transactions, about - . the international harvester company at chicago had for years performed much of its own terminal service; and until was allowed as high as $ . per car for switching charges by connecting railroads. it then incorporated the illinois northern railroad, which was promptly conceded twenty per cent, of all through rates, with the missouri river rate as a maximum. on this traffic it would be allowed as high as $ per car, instead of $ . as before. the illinois steel company afforded in an even more flagrant example. apparently it had enjoyed extra-liberal proportions of through rates since , by means of its separately incorporated and, in fact, really important terminal road. but an allowance of $ to $ for hauling a trainload of coke some seven miles, yielded a profit on the business of perhaps ninety per cent. it was an advantage which no competitor could hope to equal. no doubt the practice of switching allowances was properly used at the start. but the large crop of cases discovered in - proved that they had come to be very widely used as a cover for rebating. it is not always easy, however, to decide when such an allowance ought to be made to a privately owned terminal company. the anheuser-busch case, decided in june, , with a dissenting opinion by commissioner harlan, shows how intricately involved such issues may become.[ ] the so-called "midnight tariff" was a strictly legal way of conferring favors upon certain shippers. it was much in evidence during the grain wars between lines serving the gulf ports about . and it seems to have been a device used at times all over the country. a traffic manager wishing to steal all the business of a large shipper from some competing road, and to build him up at the expense of his rivals, secretly agrees to put into effect a low rate on a given date. the shipper then enters into contracts calling for perhaps several hundred carloads of grain to be delivered at that time. this reduction is publicly filed, perhaps thirty days in advance, with the interstate commerce commission at washington. but who is to discover it, in the great medley of new tariffs placed on file every day? yet this is not all. a second tariff, restoring the full rate, is also filed to take effect very shortly,--perhaps only a day,--after the reduction occurs. all these are public, and open to all shippers alike. but only the one who was forewarned is able to take advantage of them. he rushes all his shipments forward while the reduced rates are in effect. before other competitors can assemble their grain or other goods, the brief reduction has come to an end; and rates are restored to their former figure. the president of the chicago great western railway has concisely described the commercial effect of one of these midnight tariffs. "a clean profit, he says, over all expenses of one half of a cent per bushel is a satisfactory profit to the middleman; and a guaranteed rate of transportation of even so small a sum as one-quarter of a cent per bushel less than any other middleman can get, will give the man possessing it a monopoly of the business of handling the corn in the district covered by the guaranty. why? such are the facilities of trade by means of bills of lading, drafts, telegraphs, banks, etc., that to do an enormous corn trade, the middleman requires only a comparatively small capital to use as a margin. a capital of $ , is ample thus to handle , , bushels, and with activity, double that amount, per annum. one quarter of a cent per bushel profit on , , bushels would amount to $ , which is equal to . per cent. per annum on the capital employed." a similar device was used by the burlington road in its dealings with the missouri river packing houses on export traffic. they signed an agreement making a rate to germany of twenty-three cents per hundred to last until december , . before the expiration of this time, however, the roads concerned, publicly filed an amended tariff presumably for all shippers of thirty-five cents per hundred. they nevertheless continued the old rate to the packers. this case went to the supreme court which decided in that the device was unlawful and discriminatory.[ ] and then again there are all the possibilities of the printer's art to be used, in connection with the preparation of elaborate tariffs.[ ] the tariff of " cents per hundredweight" may conceivably be a typographical error, to be speedily corrected in a supplementary hektograph sheet filed the next day. involved and elaborate rate sheets may be reprinted with only one little change among a thousand items left as before. different tariffs may interlock with complicated cross references. in one case in it took seven different tariffs to enable one to compute the rate for a given shipment. in twelve months, to december , there were filed with the interstate commerce commission , such tariffs, each containing changes in rates or rules. some "expire with this shipment,"--and some agree to "protect" any rate of any competing carrier, that is to say, to meet it if it happen to be lower. an entirely different plan of rebating,--and a most effective one,--has to do with apparently unrelated commercial transactions.[ ] many shippers are large sellers of supplies to the railroad. how easy then to make a concession in rates to an oil refinery for example, by paying a little extra for the lubricating oil bought from a subsidiary concern. the federal authorities in recent years and especially in connection with the prosecution of the standard oil company in - , have discovered the most extraordinary variations in the prices paid by railroads for supplies. independent concerns were often not allowed to compete in the sale of lubricants at all. it would be difficult to prove any connection between so widely separate sets of dealings; and yet it is clear that rebates are often given in this way. or even more fruitful as an expedient, especially in these later days when rebating is a serious offence, why not confer a favor by extra liberality in allowances for damages to goods in transit? in the so-called beef trust was specifically ordered by the attorney general of the united states to desist from such practices. positively the only way to detect such fictitious allowances for damages, is to ferret out each case by itself. this is a slow and necessarily expensive process. damage allowances and _quid pro quo_ transactions in the purchase of supplies, are indeed almost "smokeless rebates," as they have aptly been termed. personal discrimination may be as effective upon competition through denial of facilities to some shippers, as through conferring of special favors upon others. practices of this sort have been quite common in the coal business, especially in the matter of furnishing or refusing to furnish an ample supply of cars or suitable spur tracks to mines. in the well known red rock fuel company case in ,[ ] the railroad definitely announced its policy, "not to have a lot of little shippers on its line who would ship coal when prices were high and then shut up shop and go home and let the large shippers have the lean years." the development of over , acres of coal lands was thus denied in favor of the large companies, until the interstate commerce commission took the matter up. a year later came the startling revelations upon the pennsylvania railroad as to the practice of discrimination in furnishing cars to coal mines.[ ] a comprehensive investigation by the company itself resulted in the discharge of a number of high officials. it appeared, for example, that the assistant to president cassatt had acquired $ , in stock of coal companies without cost; that a trainmaster for $ had purchased coal mine stock which yielded an annual income of $ , ; and that one road foreman was given three hundred shares of the same company stock for nothing. in all these cases the object was to secure not only an ample supply of cars for the favored companies, but perhaps even the denial of suitable service to troublesome competitors. in this regard, the old practices of the standard oil company in the eighties are recalled. not only, as in the celebrated rice case,[ ] did it demand heavy refunds on its own shipments, but it also compelled the imposition of a surtax on its competitors' traffic which was to be added to its own special allowance. yet other means of favoring large shippers at the expense of small ones, are almost impossible to eradicate. certain of these may be illustrated by recently discovered practices of the standard oil company. they are fully described in a special report of the united states commissioner of corporations in . upon the basis of this evidence, extraordinary efforts were made by the federal authorities to secure convictions and to impose heavy fines for violation of the elkins law. but the company escaped heavy penalties, in the main, by reason of legal technicalities. the prosecutions of - , however, cannot be regarded as valueless, merely because the company escaped the imposition of fines aggregating millions of dollars. the moral effect of it was thoroughly good; and it is now clear that laws can be so drawn as to apply in future. nor can any student of the evidence doubt for a moment, that, whether strictly an infraction of the law or not, the net result of these practices was to confer an advantage upon this large shipper, not open to its smaller competitors. certain of its advantages, such as the ownership of pipe lines from the wells to the seaboard refineries and the strategic location of its plants, are the fruit of great resources and keen business acumen. but other advantages, particularly the relative rates on refined oil from standard oil plants and from centres of independent refining, are, according to the report of the bureau of corporations, due to pressure brought to bear upon the carriers. whether they are or not, the result is discriminatory just the same. the reason for the persistent pressure for low rates on petroleum products is, of course, that the cost of manufacture is so low relatively to the expense of transportation. an ample manufacturing profit is one-half cent per gallon of crude oil; and the average cost of refining does not exceed that amount. yet a half cent will scarcely pay freight for more than one hundred miles. hence it follows that for distances greater than this, the question of profit or loss may entirely depend upon the delicate adjustment of the freight rate. in this regard, a great company shipping all over the country has a great advantage over smaller competitors with a strictly local market, in that it can play off one rate against another. thus, in one notable case, cited by the bureau of corporations, the burlington road gave an absolutely unremunerative rate from the standard refinery at whiting near chicago to east st. louis, thereby enabling troublesome competition to be subdued; but it was recompensed by the payment of heavier charges on shipments to other points on the burlington system, where, there being no competition, the high freight rate could be shifted on to the consumer. the commissioner of corporations gives one instance on the northwestern road of a carload rate from whiting to milwaukee in order to meet water competition from independents at toledo, which netted the carrier just ninety-two cents for the carriage of , pounds of oil a distance of eighty-five miles, with free return of the empty car. the peculiarity of many of these rate adjustments of the standard oil company of late years was that they were publicly filed; and hence not open to legal attack. this does not however detract in the least from their discriminatory character. one example, right here in new england, now happily corrected, may be cited from the records of the interstate commerce commission for .[ ] the southern half of new england was mainly supplied with kerosene from the great standard refinery at bayonne, new jersey. the oil was brought there from the fields by pipe line; and, being refined, was distributed by tank vessels all along the coast, with a short rail haul thereafter to inland points. the total cost to the standard company was estimated by the bureau of corporations at between fourteen and sixteen cents per hundredweight. to meet this, the independent western refiners had to ship all the way by rail. this was more expensive in any event; but for some years they found their handicap greatly increased by the refusal of the new haven road to join in any joint through rate. the western independents, therefore, had to pay the sum of two local rates, up to and beyond the hudson river, thereby bringing their transportation up to approximately thirty cents per hundred pounds. in other words, their cost of carriage per gallon was enhanced more than enough to constitute a fair refining profit in itself. the result was the practical exclusion of competition from this source. fortunately, however, after this investigation the new haven was ordered to pro-rate with the western roads, thereby overcoming about half of this disability. this case clearly evinces the necessity of effective federal regulation of such matters as joint rates; and it also shows how possible it may be to so adjust tariffs, openly and even legally, as to favor one shipper over another. unlike the preceding instance, most of the standard's rebates have been, in fact if not technically, secret. perhaps the most flagrant case occurred in the rates from whiting to the southeastern states. the bureau of corporations estimated that $ , a year was saved by this device; and all competition from independent sources was eliminated within that territory. the illinois central and southern roads cross at an obscure point in tennessee known as grand junction. this was made a centre of distribution for the entire south.[ ] but the rate under which the oil moved,--and in one given month carloads were thus carried,--was given on a special tariff, publicly filed at washington, to be sure, but prescribing the rate, not from whiting but from dalton, illinois, to grand junction, tennessee. dalton was an almost unknown station, near the refinery. of course any other shipper who happened to know of it, and who happened to have oil to ship from dalton to grand junction, could have had the same rate of thirteen cents a hundred pounds. but he would find it moved over a roundabout route, over four different connecting lines, instead of over the rails of a single company. as against this rate of thirteen cents, the only routes known to the ohio independent producers charged from nineteen to twenty-nine and one-half cents per hundred pounds. meantime the standard's oil was by this devious means reaching every point in the south at prices which no competitor could hope to meet. in one case, the oil going by way of grand junction, travelled over one thousand miles when the direct route from chicago was only a little over five hundred miles. the adjustment was everywhere such that, even on the commonly known tariffs, whiting enjoyed a special advantage over the sources of independent oil. atlanta, georgia, is only miles by short line and miles by way of grand junction from whiting. toledo, with its independent refineries, is distant only miles. yet despite this fact, the commonly known rates were shown to be, from whiting, . cents as against . cents from toledo. so, even without the grand junction contrivance, the standard was seemingly favored more than enough. it should be added, in conclusion, that while the grand junction rate was publicly filed, its discriminatory character stands proven by the fact that all the actual shipments were "blind billed;" that is to say, no local agent knew what was the rate actually paid. such blind bills of lading are photographically reproduced in the report above named. moreover the ill repute of the transaction was indicated by the prompt cancellation of the rate when discovered in  . but in the meantime it had done its work, and fixed monopoly prices for an indispensable product over a quarter of the territory of the united states. aside from the palpably dishonest secret rebating, the real root of the difficulty with many of the other big shippers beside the standard oil company,--and an abuse moreover exceedingly hard to correct,--is the open adjustment of rates from competing centres of manufacture or distribution in such a way as to confer favors. the bureau of corporation's report on the transportation of petroleum products deals fully with this. relative rates, as above stated, always seem to favor chicago (whiting) as against the centres of independent refining such as cleveland, pittsburg, or toledo. formerly, before the great refinery was established in at whiting,--which, by the way, produces one-third of all the kerosene used in the united states,--the roads from these centres made joint through rates all over the country. they still do so on many other commodities. but on petroleum products they have been withdrawn. the result is that everywhere, except where they can secure entrance by water, the disability in rates against the independent refiner is most effective. that much the same conditions prevail in other lines of business is affirmed on the highest authority. the _railway age gazette_ has repeatedly protested against the pressure which is now brought to bear against the carriers by such organizations as the illinois manufacturers' association to substitute open but discriminatory local rates for the old secret favors upon which the great shippers throve for so many years. fortunately, however, this situation in some cases relieves the federal government of the burden of detection of maladjustments of this sort. for the communities aggrieved are constantly on the watch to protect their interests against rival cities. this factor clearly appears in the sugar and cement lighterage cases in .[ ] carriers at new york in order to equalize rates with carriers serving philadelphia refineries, grant "accessorial allowances" for the use of lighters or for cartage, in order, as they aver, to overcome the disability against their clients. but philadelphia shippers are ever on the alert to detect such favors given at new york; and substantially aid the government in eradicating the evil. in the grain elevator allowance cases, likewise, at omaha and council bluffs in - , not only unfavored shippers at these points but st. louis grain merchants as a body, intervened as complainants against the system. the powerful motive of self-interest thus invoked is of great service. before dismissing these recent and widely "muck-raked" oil cases, it may not be out of place to mention the new interpretation of the elkins law which has resulted therefrom. one concerns the definition of separate offences. in the notorious $ , , fine case, the federal circuit judge applied the maximum penalty of $ , for each offence to each separate carload in a large aggregate of shipments. on review of the case, each separate settlement of freight rates was defined as the unit of an offence. as entire train loads had been forwarded or paid for at one time, this materially reduced the aggregate of possible penalties. and, in the second place, the question of legally provable intent was raised. the turning point in the $ , , fine case, was the ruling of the judge on review, that it was necessary to prove that a standard rate, higher than the one actually paid, had actually been filed at washington; and that the defendant had knowingly accepted a concession from this figure. these points the government was unable in fact to establish; and this ended the case.[ ] while general rate cutting has been less common since , partly also because the roads were rapidly forming great combinations especially in order to eliminate it, subsequent developments have proved that personal and secret favoritism to large shippers was still very common. despite all they could do to withstand pressure, traffic managers seemed powerless without the aid of the law. perhaps the greatest revelation of the extent of personal rebating was afforded by the great wisconsin investigation under the leadership of governor la follette in .[ ] the original purpose of this inquiry was fiscal; namely, to examine into the subject of railroad taxation. but its scope speedily widened, and at last skilled accountants were put into the books of all the railroads traversing wisconsin. the facts elicited by the wisconsin investigation were startling. for the years - , the direct rebates appearing in the accounts of the wisconsin lines alone,--taking no account of other forms of rebates such as excessive damage allowances and the like,--were $ , , . the chicago and northwestern alone had allowed more than half of this amount. and from what is now known of other forms of allowance, the total must have been indeed very great. in one year recently, there was evidence to the effect that rebates on the new york central lines amounted to $ , , . according to its own admission, the michigan central road, in - , made allowances of $ , . the rebating to the beef packers, especially on export business during , was notorious. no wonder the progressive railroad leaders desired to put an end to this leakage of revenue. and at their request, the wise legislation known as the elkins amendments to the act to regulate commerce was passed in .[ ] the elkins law of not only came at a time when the carriers were in need of every cent of revenue to tide over a hard year, but it also followed demonstration under the test of judicial procedure, that convictions for rebating were practically impossible under the old law. to convict for unjust discrimination it was necessary to show, not merely the allowance to one favored shipper, but the fact also had to be proved that no such allowances were made to others on the same sort of traffic under similar conditions. this could scarcely ever be done. in fact, during almost twenty years, there had been less than a score of convictions. most of the prosecutions had failed utterly. both government and carriers pressed for legislation. this was promptly given in the act of february , . there were four important features of this law. railway corporations, not merely individuals as before, were now made directly liable to prosecution and penalties. the tariff filed became the lawful standard. the fact that all shippers got the same low rate was, therefore, no longer a defence. in the third place, the shipper as well as the carrier could be held accountable. in other words, accepting as well as giving rebates, became unlawful. and, finally, jurisdiction was conferred upon the federal courts to restrain any departure from published rates or any "discrimination forbidden by law" by writ of injunction. this fully legalized a rather doubtful course of procedure to which the interstate commerce commission had been compelled to resort as a last weapon in the rate wars on grain and beef since . it also abolished the penalty of adjustment; imposing fines instead. but this action was subsequently rescinded in the law of  . the record of the vigorous prosecutions against rebating under the elkins law,[ ] affords conclusive evidence, not only as to the widespread extent of the evil, but as to its identification with many of the large industrial combinations. the history of the activities of the interstate commerce commission is to be found in its file of annual reports. but little seems to have been done for the first two years; but great activity was displayed during . the ensuing year was rather notable by reason of the success in securing convictions. besides the standard oil cases, there was collected in fines for rebating between october, , and march, , the sum of $ , . several men were sent to jail, for from three to six months. among the trusts implicated were the beef packers, who have been indefatigable in concocting rebating devices; the tin plate combination; and, most notable of all, the american sugar refining company. nearly $ , in fines was imposed upon this concern alone. the secret allowances in these cases were most ingeniously arranged. some were "refund of terminal charges;" some were "lighterage demurrage;" some were allowances for damages. many were paid by drafts instead of checks so as to preclude identification of individuals; some were by special bank account; but the sums involved were very large. shipments of sugar on which rebates of four to six cents per hundred were given, amounted within a relatively brief period to upwards of , , pounds on one line alone. as sugar shipments westbound from new york constituted nearly one-third of the total tonnage, the importance of these prosecutions appear. the following quotation from a letter from an agent of the sugar trust accompanying a claim for overcharge of $ , on shipments of syrup, introduced in evidence in one of these cases, aptly describes the situation, both then, now, and always. "we hope to devise some means to enable us to conduct our freight matters with the transportation companies satisfactorily even under the new conditions imposed by the elkins bill; but there may be some cases that cannot be taken care of, in the event of which we will, like all other shippers, have to take our medicine and look pleasant." the interstate commerce commission reported as to the conditions in that "many shippers still enjoy illegal advantages." many convictions were, however, secured. and investigations in california showed the existence of an extensive system of preferential rates.[ ] a list of firms was discovered on the southern pacific road alone, who were enjoying "special inside rates" which often aggregated $ , per month. many of these assumed the form of refunds upon claims for damages. thus the rebate as an evil in transportation, even since amendment of the law in - , while under control, is still far from being eradicated. favoritism lurks in every covert, assuming almost every hue and form. practices which outwardly appear to be necessary and legitimate, have been shown to conceal special favors of a substantial sort. among the latest forms, undue extension of credit may be mentioned. it appeared, for instance, in that the hocking valley railroad was favoring the sunday creek coal company to the extent of credit for transportation on its books to the amount of $ , , .[ ] another device which amounted to favoritism whether so intended or not, has been brought into court upon prosecution of the so-called beef trust. substantial concessions in the rate from kansas city to various foreign countries prevailed by reason of the fact that long time contracts for shipments at an established rate continued after a new higher general tariff had been put into effect. this increase of rates in general, leaving the trust rates at the old figure, of course created an undue and unlawful preference.[ ] the chapter might be further amplified by details concerning "substitution of tonnage at transit points;"[ ] excessive allowance for claims, and, as in a recent important case against the new york central, exorbitant rates paid for advertising in a theatrical publication, in order to secure transportation for an itinerant troupe of travelling players.[ ] the extreme subtlety of personal favoritism was recently brought to light in connection with the selling price of coal in the little town of durham, north carolina.[ ] complaint was entered that a certain retailer was charging but five dollars a ton while his competitors were unable to dispose of theirs at a profit for less than six dollars. the explanation offered, that this person employing no bookkeeper and, paying no rent, was enabled to do this because of these savings, proved inadequate. investigation developed the fact that no direct preference from railroads existed, but that there were, nevertheless, various peculiar features as to division of rates which invited further examination. thus, for example, while the norfolk & western received $ . for hauling a carload of coal miles, the durham & south carolina railroad received $ . for hauling the same car one mile. this little railroad was owned by a lumber company which seemed in effect to have set up the defendant coal merchant in business. an arrangement between this little switching road and the seaboard air line, as well as the norfolk & western, also favored the durham & southern. the key to the situation lay in the fact that the dukes,--powerful financial interests controlling the american tobacco company, the southern power company and large cotton mills,--also controlled the durham & southern through the lumber company. the seaboard air line, therefore, when it gave to this little switching road for a twenty-mile haul, about forty per cent. of its division on through business, surreptitiously conferred a heavy bonus upon its little connection. it must have lost money under such a division of rates. the only conclusion possible is that this little railroad was specially favored in order to purchase the goodwill of financiers controlling a large traffic in other lines of business. the rebate, however, was not given to the american tobacco company, but constituted a comfortable profit "on the side" for powerful interests in its management. the elevation cases concerning the legitimacy of a special payment for unloading grain in private elevators, have been under dispute for years. their validity has recently been affirmed by the supreme court in an important decision in .[ ] this litigation illustrates the difficulty of defining rebates as an expression of personal favoritism. in , the union pacific railroad made a contract with peavey & company at council bluffs to erect an elevator and to transfer grain for a charge of one and one-quarter cents a hundred pounds. this arrangement was objected to by competing railroads on the ground that it gave compensation to a private concern, engaged in general grain business for the handling of its own property. the union pacific insisted that the expedient was necessary and proper as a means for promptly unloading its cars at omaha. the commission, after investigation, sanctioned the contract. in , the matter again came before the commission upon complaint of other railroads competing with the union pacific along the missouri river. it was alleged that the continuance of the elevator allowance by the union pacific would virtually compel all other roads to make similar allowances. still the commission adhered to its former conclusion that undue discrimination did not result. the practice, however, gradually spread until all the roads at missouri river points put in an allowance of three-fourths of one cent as an elevator charge. this brought forth a complaint from the lines at st. louis that traffic was being diverted from that point as a result; and the commission, once more considering the matter, held that the practice was prejudicial to public interest. conditions, in fact, had changed, mainly through the increase of through shipments to the east without transfer at the missouri river. the commission, therefore, held that when such transfer took place, it was for the accommodation of local grain merchants, who ought to pay for the service rendered. at this stage of the proceedings, the matter went to the supreme court of the united states upon appeal. the decision finally upheld the commission, in holding that the payment of an elevation allowance was not unlawful, but that if paid to one elevator, it must be paid to all. the bearing of this case upon the larger issue, of payments by railroads for special services rendered by, shippers cannot fail to be of great importance in the future. the use of the industrial railroad as a means of preferential treatment still occasions difficulty.[ ] the case is simple where but one shipper makes use of the terminal plant; but where a number of shippers may utilize it jointly, it becomes difficult to draw the line between pro-rating allowances and actual rebates. the manufacturers' railroad company, with twenty miles of track, four locomotives and one hundred and ten employees, serves a considerable manufacturing section in south st. louis. a majority of the stock of this terminal railroad is held by persons controlling the anheuser-busch brewery. the enormous traffic of this concern, equal to about one-thirtieth of the total tonnage of st. louis, is handled over the line of the manufacturers' railway. almost nine-tenths of its business consists of shipments of beer; but in some , carloads belonging to other patrons moved over its rails. for this terminal service the anheuser-busch company, through the manufacturers' railway, got a very substantial allowance for the service rendered. for example, in one month on ten carloads of beer, the louisville & nashville allowed $ out of a total revenue of $ . for moving the traffic something less than four thousand feet. the disparity is obvious between this allowance and the balance remaining as compensation for moving the traffic miles, including three first-class railroad tolls and terminal charges at the other end.[ ] a prime difficulty is to determine whether unduly low commodity rates amount practically to special favors granted to large shippers. much evidence recently tends to show that the trusts enjoy advantages of this sort not extended to other competitors. the steel corporation, through its ownership of railroads and steamships, certainly has a great advantage over its rivals.[ ] but other trusts not controlling common carriers of their own, are also accorded what seem to be unduly low rates upon their products. recent evidence before the interstate commerce commission seems to show that sugar, beef, and coffee do not bear their proper share of transportation costs.[ ] copper, the product of a powerful trust, enjoys a lower ton mile rate than grain,--a rate, despite its high intrinsic value, actually below that on soft coal.[ ] the discrimination is too palpable to be passed over without explanation. from the survey of rebating and rate wars,--which latter of course afford the most favored soil in which personal favoritism may flourish,--one cannot avoid the conclusion that a great improvement in conditions has been brought about. the strengthened arm of the federal government has come to the support of the carriers; and has assisted them to a material enhancement of their revenues, by putting a stop to serious leakages in income. but the carriers could undoubtedly do much on their own account, could they be granted the right to make traffic agreements, subject always, of course, to the approval and supervision of the interstate commerce commission. whether congress will ever permit this, remains to be seen. the most important result of all this federal activity so far, has been the moral stimulus toward fair business dealing which has been given. thousands of shippers today, quite apart from the fear of fines or imprisonment, would disdain to ask or accept favors which a decade since would have been regarded as entirely proper. no one can doubt that the morale of business is distinctly higher than it used to be. could such higher standards become universal, the department of justice would be relieved of a substantial part of its present duties. footnotes: [ ] i. c. c. rep., . upheld by the supreme court in ; u. s., . also _idem_, . [ ] circular letters of the chicago bureau of car performances; undated. [ ] the latter half of chap. xii. [ ] the chapter on reorganizations in vol. ii will afford other instances with full references. com. & fin. chron., lix, p. . [ ] th cong., st sess., sen. doc., , p. . [ ] ann. rep., i. c. c., , p. : and , p. . fine cases in i. c. c. rep., - . [ ] investigation of grain rates at missouri river points; th cong., nd sess., sen. doc. , pp. - , etc. [ ] u. s. rep., . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] on private car lines, columbia university studies, etc., lxxxi, , p. . j. w. midgley's circular letters as chief of the bureau of car performances in , costing him his position, by the way, are most significant. car service reform resulted nevertheless. _cf. quarterly journal of economics_, , p. . see pp. and , _supra_. [ ] u. s. bureau of corp., rep. on trans, of petroleum, pp. , , , . [ ] i. c. c. rep., , , and : th ann. rep., i.c.c., and : senate (elkins) committee, , pp. - . later cases discussed at p. , _infra_. [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] th ann. rep., i.c.c.; th _idem_, p. ; and st _idem_, p. . [ ] bureau of corp., rep. on trans, of petroleum, , p. _et seq._ [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _cf._ _idem_, ; and _idem_, . [ ] report on discriminations and monopolies in coal and oil; jan. , , pp. - . [ ] ripley, railway problems, chap. ii, fully described. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; u. s. bureau corp'ns rep., p. . [ ] routes shown by the map on p. , _infra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep., , with dissenting opinion. reviewed by the u. s. commerce court ; _railway age gazette_, chap. lii, p. . p. , _infra_. [ ] u. s. circuit court of appeals, decided march , . the history is in ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. ; pp. and ; and , p. . [ ] never published. outlined in wisconsin _assembly journal_, , chap. ii, pp. - . [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ th congress, st session, senate doc. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. . [ ] _idem_, , p. . circuit court of appeals decision, april , , ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] _boston transcript_, feb. , . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] u. s., . the system is described in the _railway age gazette_, june , . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . compare also before the u. s. commerce court; the stock yards case, fed. rep., ; the california switching case, fed. rep., ; and the crane iron works case, no. , april session, . the tap-line decision, i.c.c., , most fully discussed the general policy to be observed toward industrial roads in the lumber business. _cf._ also the use of boat lines. _idem_, . [ ] _railway age gazette_, lii, pp. and . [ ] evidence before the stanley house committee on steel corporation, feb. , , p. ; and bureau of corporations on u. s. steel corporation, ii, p. . [ ] _american economic review_, , p. . [ ] s. o. dunn, american transportation question, pp. , . chapter vii local discrimination concrete instances,  .--hadley's oyster case not conclusive,  .--two variants: lower long-haul rates by the roundabout route, as in the hillsdale, youngstown, and some southern cases, ; or by the direct route, as in the nashville-chattanooga and other southern cases,  .--complicating influence of water transportation,  .--market competition from various regions, a different case,  .--the basing point (southern) and basing line (missouri river) systems,  .--their inevitable instability and probable ultimate abandonment,  .--postage-stamp rates, illustrated by transcontinental tariffs,  .--which line makes the rate?  .--cost not distance, determines,  .--fixed charges v. operating expenses,  .--proportion of local business,  .--volume and stability of traffic important,  .--generally the short line rules, but many exceptions occur,  . any unreasonable departure from a tariff graded in some proportion according to distance is known as local discrimination. it constitutes one of the most difficult and perplexing problems in transportation. personal discrimination now happily having been practically eliminated since the enactment of the elkins amendments to the act to regulate commerce, this issue of local discrimination under the rehabilitated long and short haul clause, has recently assumed an added significance. a merchant of wilkesbarre, pennsylvania, purchased a carload of potatoes at rochester, new york, and had the freight bill made for a delivery to philadelphia, because the freight to philadelphia was less than it was to wilkesbarre, which is miles nearer. he stopped the potatoes at wilkesbarre, unloaded them, and paid the freight. a few days later he received a bill from the lehigh valley company for twelve dollars additional freight. if the potatoes had gone to philadelphia, he would have paid forty-eight dollars freightage. as they stopped at wilkesbarre, he had to pay sixty dollars; that is, twelve dollars for not hauling the carload miles.[ ] a merchant in montgomery, alabama, shipped two carloads of fruit jars from crawfordsville, indiana, to montgomery. he shipped them to mobile and then paid the local rate from mobile back, those fruit jars going through montgomery on the way out. by having them hauled miles farther, he saved seventy-five dollars on the two carloads. on first-class goods, at one time, the rate from louisville to montgomery, was $ . per hundredweight. on to mobile, miles further south, it was only ninety cents. in the same territory the rate on kerosene oil from cincinnati at times has been three times as much to interior points as to new orleans, three times as far. west of the missouri river and in the rocky mountain area similar complaints are common. denver, colorado, pays $ . per hundredweight on cotton piece goods, in small lots, hauled , miles from boston; while the rate to san francisco, , miles further away, on the same line, is only $ . . this discrepancy is even greater in wholesale rates. no carload rating is given to denver; while for similar shipments to the coast the rate is only one dollar per hundredweight. in the opposite direction, sugar is carried from san francisco through denver to kansas city for sixty-five cents per hundredweight, as compared with a rate of one dollar if the sugar is stopped at denver. smaller places in the west afford equally striking instances. the rate on rope from san francisco to independence, kansas, is seventy-five cents; while the same goods are hauled on through independence, kansas, much farther, to missouri river points for sixty cents per hundred pounds. wichita, kansas, complains that cotton piece goods from new york by way of galveston are rated at $ . ; while by the same route kansas city, miles longer haul by that route, the charge is only ninety-three cents. the southwestern lumberman's association complains,-- "that a train of cars of lumber starts from camden or other common point in texas via atchison, topeka and santa fe railway, and one car is dropped off in oklahoma at - / cents per pounds; one each also at wichita and emporia, kansas, at - / cents per pounds; one at kansas city at cents, and two cars also set off this same train at kansas city, destined for omaha and lincoln, nebraska, at and cents per pounds, respectively. the balance of this train, now at kansas city, runs on to chicago, and cents per pounds is the charge then for most of the train which is left there.... why should builders of homes in wichita and emporia, kansas, pay higher freight than builders in kansas city, omaha, and chicago when using yellow pine from texas?"[ ] such instances as these might be multiplied indefinitely. they are often striking in character. the first impression is of intolerable abuse. the simplest tenets of justice and fair dealing appear to be violated. careful analysis should, however, always be made before drawing such conclusions. railroad practice seldom departs so flagrantly from the fundamental consideration of cost of service without very substantial economic justification. the reasoning underlying local discrimination is admirably set forth by president hadley in the following passage from his _railroad transportation_:--[ ] "on the coast of delaware, a few years ago, there was a place which we shall call x, well suited for oyster-growing, but which sent very few oysters to market, because the railroad rates were so high as to leave no margin of profit. the local oyster-growers represented to the railroad that if the rates were brought down to one dollar per hundred pounds, the business would become profitable and the railroad could be sure of regular shipments at that price. the railroad men looked into the matter. they found that the price of oysters in the philadelphia market was such that the local oystermen could pay one dollar per hundred pounds to the railroad and still have a fair profit left. if the road tried to charge more, it would so cut down the profit as to leave men no inducement to enter the business. that is, those oysters would bear a rate of one dollar per hundred, and no more. further, the railroad men found that if they could get every day a carload, or nearly a carload, at this rate, it would more than cover the expense of hauling an extra car by quick train back and forth every day, with the incidental expenses of interest and repairs. so they put the car on, and were disappointed to find that the local oyster-growers could only furnish oysters enough to fill the car about half full. the expense to the road of running it half full was almost as great as of running it full; the income was reduced one-half. they could not make up by raising the rates, for these were as high as the traffic would bear. they could not increase their business much by lowering rates. the difficulty was not with the price charged, but with the capacity of the local business. it seemed as if this special service must be abandoned. "one possibility suggested itself. at some distance beyond x, the terminus of this railroad, was another oyster-growing place, y, which sent its oysters to market by another route. the supply at y was very much greater than at x. the people at y were paying a dollar a hundred to send their oysters to market. it would hardly cost twenty cents to send them from y to x. if, then, the railroad from x to philadelphia charged but seventy-five cents a hundred on oysters which came from y, it could easily fill its car full. this was what they did. they then had half a carload of oysters grown at x, on which they charged a dollar, and half a carload from y on which they charged seventy-five cents for exactly the same service. "of course there was a grand outcry at x. their trade was discriminated against in the worst possible way--so they said--and they complained to the railroad. but the railroad men fell back on the logic of facts. the points were as follows: . a whole carload at seventy-five cents would not pay expenses of handling and moving. . at higher rates than seventy-five cents they could not get a whole carload, but only half a carload; and half a carload at a dollar rate (the highest charge the article would bear) would not pay expenses. therefore, . on any uniform rate for everybody, the road must lose money, and . they would either be compelled to take the oyster car away altogether, or else get what they could at a dollar, and fill up at seventy-five cents. there was no escape from this reasoning; and the oyster men of x chose to pay the higher rate rather than lose the service altogether." the logic of this oyster case seems convincing in its simplicity. but it presents more complications than appear at the outset. [illustration] first of all, what is the nature of the competition at the more distant point which is alleged to "compel" the lower rate? is it merely of rival routes or of competing markets? it will be advisable to keep the two distinct so far as possible. under the first heading, competition of routes, the subjoined sketches represent two possible situations. in both instances, however, y, enjoying the lower rate, is more distant from philadelphia than x. the difference between the two arises from the fact that in the one case x is nearer philadelphia than y on a roundabout line; while in the other x is actually nearer than y by the shortest direct route. we may safely assume that the compelling competition alleged at y as justifying the lower rate is by rail; as, the commodity being a marine bivalve, both places presumably enjoy equal facilities for water carriage. at all events, assuming that we have to do with competing rail routes alone, what differences obtain between the two sets of circumstances above sketched? not insignificant inequalities in the length or power of the two routes are implied by the diagrams. they are supposed to represent substantially different lines, which may, for the purpose of the argument, be denominated strong, natural, or standard, and weak, unnatural, or abnormal, respectively, so far as the particular traffic in hand is concerned. that this distinction is not irrelevant, but frequently of determinant force, is shown by an analysis of concrete cases which have arisen for adjudication. this proposition is clear beyond dispute. the actual cost of service, which fixes an irreducible minimum rate between y and philadelphia, is less on the short line than by the roundabout one. for either road to accept less than the portion of the cost traceable to this particular traffic, that is to say, the extra cost incident to its acceptance, is economically inconceivable. from this it follows, other conditions being equal, that the shortest line between y and philadelphia rules the rate in the last instance. this is normally the case. the roundabout route thereafter merely accepts the rate thus compelled. to permit the roundabout line to rule the minimum rate would not only violate a fundamental principle of operation: it would inevitably lead to chaos. the analogy with cut-throat competition in business is obvious. it is equally plain that the mere acceptance of a short line rate by a roundabout road, so long as this rate is adequate to yield some profit over the extra cost, while of advantage to some, may not work positive injury to any one. this condition normally corresponds to the state of affairs represented by diagram a. the nearer point, x, as hadley avers, has no just grievance against y because the latter has the good fortune to have a direct service to philadelphia at a low rate. for y to withdraw shipments from the line via x might even destroy the only chance of x for a market. it would also deprive y of whatever benefit it might have derived from competition either of routes or of facilities. of course, we have expressly omitted market competition as a factor, reserving it for separate treatment. yet one objection arises. normally, the direct line ought to maintain a tariff conforming in some degree to the distance principle. the roundabout line can compete at y only by a violation of it, unless, indeed, its local tariffs be graded much more gradually. in other words, its progression towards the maximum must be distributed over a much longer line. even this would, on hadley's statement of fact, eliminate x from the philadelphia market. such reduction of local rates upon the roundabout route would in turn discriminate against places like z on the direct line, equally distant with x from philadelphia. for the latter places would necessarily be assessed at a higher rate per ton-mile.[ ] this would constitute another form of local discrimination, which will be discussed in due time. there is, therefore, at best, only a choice of adjustments, either of which leads to some form of inequality. but, upon the whole, balancing the evil with the good, the first variant of our oyster case appears to be best solved by according all shippers at y a somewhat lower rate than x enjoys. conditions corresponding to diagram a have frequently given rise to complaints before courts and administrative tribunals. an interesting illustration is afforded by the hillsdale ice case in michigan.[ ] ice was moved from this town to springfield and columbus, two neighboring ohio cities, over several different routes. (see map on next page.) to columbus the shortest road was by the hocking valley railroad directly through toledo. another route by way of sandusky existed; and even a third through sandusky, thence over to springfield, and in by the side door, so to speak, to columbus. this last routing was due to the fact that the big four road from sandusky diagonally across to springfield had no access to columbus except through a branch line from springfield. this last-named zigzag route was miles in length as against miles by the direct line through toledo. to springfield, on the other hand, no direct route from hillsdale existed; but freight might move either _via_ sandusky by the big four road or through sandusky and around by way of columbus. the shortest of any of these lines to springfield, however, was twenty-nine miles longer than the shortest line to columbus. this established columbus, therefore, as normally the nearer point. complaint arose from the fact that ice carried over the zigzag route to columbus actually passed through springfield and forty-five miles beyond to reach its destination. for such shipments over the big four road, springfield instead of columbus was the nearer point. but, contrariwise, for ice coming to springfield through columbus, the latter in turn became the intermediate point.[ ] the specific complaint was that the rate by all routes to springfield was one dollar per ton, while to columbus it was only eighty cents. originally, the rate was higher ($ . per ton), but was the same to both points. is this a case of local discrimination or not? [illustration] the big four road operating through springfield answered that it was not responsible for the eighty cent rate to columbus; that this was made by the direct line; and that it obviously must meet this rate or withdraw from the ice business. it alleged, moreover, that the rate of one dollar was reasonable in itself as compared with other rates in the same territory, and was in fact substantially less than it formerly was; nor would its withdrawal from columbus ice business evidently be of any advantage whatever to springfield, but would indeed deprive it of some small contribution to joint expenses of operation on all its tonnage. no evidence being offered that springfield was positively injured by this adjustment, the commission properly dismissed the complaint. the distinctive feature of this class of cases, as has been said, is that the intermediate point preferring the complaint is always on a roundabout route.[ ] st. cloud, minnesota, and wichita, kansas, whose contentions are described hereafter in detail, were thus situated. the so-called "rare and peculiar" case of youngstown, ohio, cited in the original louisville and nashville decision of , was in no sense different. it was a case of pure competition of routes.[ ] traffic to new york was starting its journey from pittsburg, over the rails of the same company, in exactly opposite directions. some of it went east by the direct line; while other freight first moved due west, thence north, by way of youngstown, ohio, until it reached the main line at erie, which took it on to new york. this traffic, therefore, described three sides of a rectangle in reaching its destination, traversing a route miles longer than by the direct line. the issue was raised by a demand for as low a rate to new york from youngstown as pittsburg enjoyed, on the ground that it was nearer new york by this indirect line; pittsburg traffic, in other words, passing through it _en route_ to the seaboard. the reply, of course, was that, although nearer by an indirect road, it was more distant by the natural and shortest route, and consequently should pay more for the service. what the roundabout line was really demanding was permission to compete at pittsburg for new york business, without being compelled to reduce its local rates from intermediate points like youngstown. in other words, the long line was demanding exemption from the long and short haul clause, while the direct short line conformed to it. without such exemption it could not continue to reach out for pittsburg business, as the loss incident to reduction of its local rates would outweigh the profit in the competitive tonnage. one side of the savannah freight bureau fertilizer case[ ]--namely, the complaints of local stations on a roundabout road--brings it within our first category. the roundabout line from charleston to valdosta, shown upon the map at p. , was miles long as against a direct route of only miles. kathleen, georgia, is only miles out from charleston on this indirect line,--approximately the same distance as valdosta, which thus corresponds to y in the oyster case. yet kathleen paid a rate of $ . per ton on fertilizer from charleston as against $ . charged to valdosta, miles beyond. but this excess distance is by an indirect route. most of the notable english cases concerning local discrimination appear to be of the same stamp.[ ] the complaints of a number of smaller places in the st. paul-milwaukee territory, like cannon falls, lacrosse, and northfield some years ago, reduce in part to the same thing.[ ] whether the troy, alabama, and wichita, kansas, cases belong here or in the next group is indeterminate, owing to the difficulty of comparing conditions of carriage by rail and by water, respectively. on the other hand, the set of circumstances shown in diagram b (page , _supra_) is of quite a different sort. the justification for the local discrimination is much less clear. here, as before, the distant point y enjoys a lower rate than x because of the presence of competition; but it is important to inquire both as to the nature and the amount of it. in the first case, competitive traffic from y was _extra_ rather than normal in character, so far as the line serving x was concerned. it was relatively small in amount. whatever surplus revenue resulted from it aided the local tariffs, including those at x, in supporting the burden of fixed expenses. this burden they were bound to bear entirely in the absence of competitive business picked up at y. the distant point y of course had no complaint in any event, and the chances are that x was benefited, as we have seen. but in the second case the great bulk of the traffic from y belongs naturally to the direct line through x. it constitutes the mainstay of its business. the direct line, unlike the roundabout one, cannot withdraw from the field when rates become unremunerative. it is in this business passing directly through x to stay. nine-tenths of the y traffic, perhaps, moves through x in this latter case; in the former one, one-tenth would perhaps measure the proportion of the indirect line. under this assumption, it is obvious that the question of the level of rates at y, as determined by the presence of competition, assumes a ninefold greater importance in the eyes of x, so far as the effect upon local rates in supporting the fixed and joint expenses of the road is concerned. in any event, even the line operating under a disability supposedly earns some small net return on competitive traffic, else it would withdraw from the field. this it is in fact free to do at any time; and, however small the net return, it is at least all gain. on the other hand, when the net return on a large volume of its natural business becomes unduly small, the financial stability of the direct line is put in jeopardy. the danger of local rates (as at x) being actually enhanced or at least prevented from reduction, because of an unduly low level of competitive rates at more distant points, is thus much greater when x is a way station on a direct line than when, as in our first instance, it is an intermediate point on a roundabout route. for this reason the direct line through x is at the outset put to a justification of its local tariffs, as to whether they are inherently reasonable or not; first, by comparison with the general level throughout the surrounding territory; and, secondly, as yielding a return on the capital actually invested. this seems to have been the line of reasoning which the interstate commerce commission adopted in the recent important spokane, washington, cases.[ ] the low through rates to the pacific coast were established as reasonable by the competition of sea routes round the horn, and especially by the newly-opened tehuantepec railroad. the only ground for finding there was discrimination against spokane was an inherent unreasonableness in its rate. this was, in fact, the outcome; the decision being rendered notable, further, by reason of the prominence given to the valuation of the railroads' property as a basis of judgment. the first important point to be established, then, in this second variety of the oyster case was as to the relative distribution of traffic from the more distant competitive point by the several lines open to it. the next concerned the absolute reasonableness of the rate at the intermediate point. in the third place, we must inquire whether the rate at the more distant point may not be unreasonably low. this was a contingency not possible, as we have just seen, in the spokane case. but others may be different in this regard. one is thus forced to consider the effect of the presence of roundabout competitive lines upon the level of rates at the more distant point. an indirect rival road may, as in the st. cloud case, carry only seventy-three carloads a day as compared with a daily movement of one thousand cars by the direct lines. on the other hand, as in the savannah freight bureau case, valdosta, georgia, may receive nine-tenths of its supply of fertilizer by indirect roads. but in any event it is the potential, not the actual, movement of tonnage, which may count in the long run. it is indisputable that the short line between two points never pares its rates down to an irreducible minimum except under compulsion. the presence of a roundabout route affords just this pressure to reduction. even allowing that in the last analysis the long line will strike bed-rock of no profit first, it is indisputable that such lines frequently, instead of merely meeting rates made for them by the direct routes, seek to divert business by actually undercutting those rates. having only a small share of the tonnage, they take risks which would be fatal to others. to transport at an absolute loss is of course no more defensible than the argument of the merchant that the only way to compensate for selling goods below cost was to enlarge the volume of his business. but, of course, there is always the chance that, by enlarging this volume sufficiently, operating expenses may be so far cut down that a loss may be transformed into a profit. the diversion of enough traffic from the direct railroad line to accomplish this end would, of course, reduce the volume of its traffic and thereby unduly burden it, to the manifest injury of all local points like x. suggestive illustrations of lower rates at the more distant point than are under the circumstances actually "compelled" by competition of routes are to be had. in a recent case[ ] the rates on bananas from charleston, south carolina, to danville and lynchburg, virginia, respectively, were called in question. the traffic moved through danville on its way to lynchburg, sixty-six miles beyond, at a rate of forty-three cents to danville as compared with a rate of twenty cents to lynchburg. the reason for the low rate at lynchburg was the presence of a rival route,--bananas, coming in through baltimore. but the lowest rate "compelled" by this competition was in fact thirteen cents higher than the danville line charged at lynchburg. in other words, the long-distance rate was that much lower than it need have been. this instance is analogous in another way to our oyster case, inasmuch as the demand at danville being limited, one-half of the same carload paid the danville rate of forty-three cents, while the other half went on at the lower rate of twenty cents enjoyed at the more distant point. it is in this connection, of rates unduly low at so-called competitive points, that the partial weakness in the railroad arguments in many of the southern basing point cases appears. since the supreme court of the united states had held that competition at the more distant point justified its lower rates, the interstate commerce commission was powerless to give effect to whatever opinion it might entertain that at times it is neither water nor commercial competition which actually brings about the low rate at the basing point; but merely a consensus of opinion among carriers that that place will respond quickly enough to favors granted, to make it worth while to try the experiment.[ ] this conviction is vastly strengthened, of course, since entire monopoly among all the southern railroad lines has become an established fact. it is an absurdity to speak longer of any competition between rail carriers existing in a large part of this territory.[ ] [illustration] actual illustrations of this second variant of the oyster case, free still from the complications of competition of markets, are not common, but occasionally arise. chattanooga, which aspires to be the commercial and industrial centre of eastern tennessee, is about miles southeast of nashville, as shown by the accompanying sketch map. owing to the southwestern trend of the appalachian mountain valleys, it is only miles from new york by rail, almost as the crow flies; while nashville has access to the north principally through ohio river gateways, over lines, at the best, , miles in length. by these lines, therefore, the latter is miles further from new york than chattanooga. but the two competitive places are only miles apart; whence it follows that the shortest possible all-rail line from new york to nashville, swings around to the south by way of chattanooga. the situation is complicated by other combined rail and water routes from new york through norfolk, savannah, and charleston. but all these lines also reach nashville by coming up through chattanooga. from every point of view, therefore, chattanooga, on the basis of mileage, is the nearer point to new york-- miles nearer by the direct line, all rail; equally nearer by all combined rail and water routes: and miles nearer than is nashville by the roundabout all-rail lines through louisville or cincinnati. its location corresponds to x in our second variation of the oyster case; namely, an intermediate point on the direct line to another more distant point y, which latter enjoys the competition of more roundabout routes. [illustration] the disability against chattanooga, against which it protested, was substantial.[ ] its first-class rate from new york was $ . per hundred pounds, while nashville paid only ninety-one cents. on various commodities the chattanooga rates were from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent, above those to nashville. the effect of such differences upon jobbing business at the places intermediate between nashville and chattanooga is shown by the subjoined chart. the two upper sloping lines represent the through rates from new york to each distributing centre, plus the local rates out to way stations. even at bolivar, the nearest place to chattanooga, the nashville combination is slightly lower than that based upon chattanooga. this disability steadily increases as nashville is approached, rates from chattanooga rising while those from nashville fall, until at kimbro the jobber located at chattanooga--the nearer point to new york on the direct line--must lay down his new york goods at a rate of sixty-three cents a hundred pounds higher than his competitor in nashville enjoys. this adjustment is partly an historical product. nashville, by the old river routes from pittsburg down the ohio and up the cumberland, was formerly nearer the eastern cities than chattanooga. then, the trunk lines through cincinnati with heavy traffic and low rates shortened the distance; and, finally, the louisville & nashville railroad, supplanting the river routes, undertook to build up nashville as against cincinnati and louisville. historically, on the other hand, chattanooga was long an unimportant point. it took, as it still does, the same rate from the north as prevailed at some twenty-three other southern cities from atlanta to memphis. here is the crux of the difficulty. the rates at nashville must be assumed as historically fixed. whatever remedy may apply must come from a reduction of the rates to chattanooga, the nearer point. this place has now become an important centre, the meeting point of a number of rail and water lines. the long prevalent grouping of all the southern cities with equal rates from the north must be replaced by a system of differentials, if the discrimination against chattanooga is ever to be ameliorated. by this time it will be observed that in the discussion of the chattanooga case we have drifted far beyond the mere competition of rival routes. commercial competition, which affords the justification for grouping all these twenty-three important southern cities together, is a topic to be treated elsewhere by itself. the difficulty in many of these cases is to distinguish between the really strongest line and the one which is merely the shortest. upon this point one's decision of the chattanooga case might actually depend. the louisville & nashville contends that nashville even today is, from an operating point of view, nearer new york than chattanooga, although the distance is miles more. all the trunk lines compete at ohio river points, and bring them relatively much closer to new york. the density of traffic on these lines is far heavier than on the air line to chattanooga. it happens that chattanooga meets this allegation of greater trunk line density and cheapness by proof of the still greater economy of operation by the coastwise steamers to southern ports, traffic coming thence north by rail through chattanooga. the appearance of water competition in any of these cases always introduces an almost insuperable difficulty in the way of comparison of long and short lines. shipment by vessel differs from rail carriage, primarily in the relatively high terminal costs, the absence of all maintenance of way costs, and the low cost of actual propulsion. with a cargo once securely stowed, the distance traversed by a vessel is of relatively little importance, much less so than in the case of carriage by rail. a powerful factor in determining water rates, moreover, especially by sea, is the absence of local traffic. wharves and terminals being expensive to build and maintain, and the method of loading in a ship's hold not being conducive to ease in access or assortment, vessels are confined largely to bulk traffic at a few important points. the expenses of operation must be more uniformly distributed over the cargo than in the case of a trainload. the water line, therefore, is deprived of one advantage in cutting rates. it cannot, so readily as a railroad, recoup itself for losses on competitive business or at competitive points by falling back upon its earnings from way stations. from all these considerations it not infrequently comes about that, unlike carriage by rail, the longest way round may indeed be the shortest way home. this is clear in the highly involved wichita, kansas, cases.[ ] wichita, a commercial centre of southern kansas, is odd miles southwest of kansas city. its all-rail rates from the east are higher than to kansas city. yet by the water route from new york to galveston and thence up by rail, as compared with kansas city, it is a nearer and intermediate point. the interstate commerce commission well expresses the difficulty: "it is quite probable that the actual cost of transporting cotton piece goods from new york to wichita _via_ galveston does not exceed that of carrying them from new york to kansas city via the cheapest route. the all-rail haul is to the latter point , miles and over. the ocean and rail movement involves a rail carriage of from , to , miles, depending upon the route selected. if the goods move through some gulf port, there is a rail carriage of not less than miles. if, therefore, the rate were to be measured by the expense of the service, it is probable that wichita would today enjoy as low a rate as the missouri river." the wichita complication, moreover, works both ways. wichita and kansas city form two angles of a narrow triangle with its apex at the gulf ports; but the distance from kansas city is longer than from wichita. railroad competition brought it about, however, that the rate on export grain from wichita _via_ kansas city to the gulf came to equal the rate from kansas city to the gulf _via_ wichita. but the former was a much longer and more roundabout haul; and, moreover, was less than the shorter haul rate from wichita to the gulf direct. the analogy to the hillsdale case, above-described, will appear clearly on inspection of the map. summarizing the results so far reached, in all that concerns the two sorts of cases considered in the preceding paragraphs, our conclusion is that, when competition by rail at the distant point is alone present, and when the nearer point is on a roundabout route, a railway "is entitled to carry the traffic past x to y (philadelphia) for considerably less than nothing"; but, when the nearer point is on a direct line, the case is debatable. proof that normal competition compels the lower rate at the remoter station must be uncommonly clear and conclusive. in other words, the facts that the rate at y is not unduly low and also that the rate at x is not unreasonably high must both be firmly established. a distinct class of cases of local discrimination is suggested by the recent case of montgomery, ala., in the united states commerce court.[ ] these like other cross line cases, akin to that of wichita, kansas, above-mentioned, arise in connection with practices as to the division of joint rates. they will be discussed in connection with pro-rating in our second volume. the question has forced itself forward constantly as to whether the existence of the alleged discrimination in rates is merely a matter of relativity in cost of operation or whether it inflicts positive injury upon the nearer point. would it benefit the nearer point if the lower rate beyond were withdrawn? it is here that the complexity of some of these cases of local discrimination becomes apparent. to understand this phase of the matter, the factor of commercial competition, as distinct from mere rivalry of routes, must be introduced. hadley's analysis of the oyster case is quite inadequate on this point. rates in that instance were on commodities (oysters) produced at practically uniform cost at both x and y. they were, moreover, rates _from_ two places out to a common market. would it, however, make any difference if the controversy concerned the rates in the opposite direction; or, in other words, from a common centre of distribution out to two competing consuming points? would it make any difference whether the goods were to be consumed at x and y; or were to be used as raw material in manufactures at those two points; or were to be distributed throughout the countryside from x and y as jobbing centres? it is at once evident that these issues are more complicated than in the first case. the two points x and y being commercial and industrial rivals, is it not possible that the growth of one may take place at the expense of the other? at any given time there is only a fixed demand for the goods consumed, manufactured in or redistributed from the two places. trade won by one is quite lost to the other. of course, in a measure, this might also have been true of the oyster production. but, inasmuch as in that case the rate from y was not affected by the entry of x, its prosperity would not probably be disturbed. the hillsdale ice case, above described, is also one where the commodity (ice) is of relative unimportance for columbus and springfield, respectively. how would matters stand if the rates in question were on lumber or coal for manufacturing purposes? the difference, no doubt, is merely of degree and not of kind. magnitudes, however, must not deceive us. the rights of kathleen or danville are just as sacred as those of youngstown and pittsburg. [illustration] st. cloud, minnesota, is located upon a line of the northern pacific railroad, seventy-six miles northwest of st. paul.[ ] it is a competitor not only with st. paul, but with other local centres in the vicinity, like elk river, princeton, and anoka, either for flour milling or for distributive jobbing business. it is about the same distance as these other places from duluth or superior; through which the entire district obtains its supplies, such as coal from the east by lake boats; and by way of which its flour must be shipped to the eastern markets and to europe. and yet the rate on flour made at st. cloud to new york in was twenty-eight and a half cents per hundredweight, as against a rate of twenty-one and a half cents from st. paul, this latter rate being enjoyed also by milaca, princeton, elk river, and anoka. the rates on coal and other supplies from the east were likewise proportionately higher than to st. paul and these neighboring towns. the specific complaint in this case is of local discrimination. the northern pacific railroad operates the long line between st. paul and the head of lake superior by way of brainerd. on this business, passing through st. cloud, it has to meet a rate compelled at st. paul by the competition of no less than three direct lines to duluth. it avers that this business, taken either way for longer distances and at lower rates than are accorded to st. cloud, in no way affects the rates at that point; and that whatever it can earn as a contribution to joint expenses decreases the burden of these upon st. cloud rates. this is all entirely true from the transportation point of view; but, viewed in a large way, the situation is altered. wheat of local production about st. cloud is rendered of less value by practically the excess of the st. cloud rate per hundredweight over the rate enjoyed from st. paul. the interstate commerce commission found that this was equivalent to a difference of fully $ per acre in the value of wheat lands tributary to st. cloud. and on the other hand, of course, the cost of all its supplies is enhanced above the level of rival manufacturing centres. on soft coal this equalled no less than eighty-five cents per ton. to this the northern pacific replied that the discrimination against st. cloud was not of its creation, but had existed before its entry into any st. paul business by its indirect route. the commission found, however, that in fact the participation of this indirect line on st. paul-duluth business did affect the short-line rate; and that its withdrawal would at least tend to prevent any further reduction of the st. paul and related rates. if the withdrawal did not remove the discrimination against st cloud it would not at all events aggravate it. the vital point, differentiating this case from that of the savannah freight bureau, previously stated, was the actual damage to the intermediate point due to the existence of commercial competition between it and the place more distant. an important feature in commercial competition is its entire dissociation from all considerations of cost of service by long or short routes. neither strong nor weak lines make the rate. the business is there. market conditions are fixed. the carriers are free to take traffic or leave it. single-handed, at least they cannot rule the price of transportation. the price of sugar at kansas city is made by competition of louisiana sugar coming from new orleans, of beet sugar and hawaiian sugar from colorado and san francisco, and of the world's sugar from new york. this is why kansas city, in the complaint stated in the opening paragraph, enjoys a lower rate on sugar from san francisco than the transcontinental lines can accord to denver. the only possible justification for the apparent anomaly in lumber rates from texas points, cited in the same paragraph, is that, as the heart of the middle west is approached, lumber supplies from every point of the compass converge upon common markets. as is so frequently averred in such cases, no carrier makes the rate. the rate is made for all of them by conditions beyond their control. the only rates, therefore, which it is in their power to fix in some accordance with average costs of operation, are the rates at local stations. for these rates alone can they be brought to book. just here another characteristic of commercial competition as distinct from rivalry of routes is to be noted. local discrimination, wherever it is alleged to occur, frequently assumes the form of complaint against rates to various places, not on the same line but by different and often widely separated lines. complaints of this class might arise, for instance, referring back to our diagrams of the oyster cases, between x and z. philadelphia, we will assume, as before, to be the common market. a multitude of different varieties of protest are distinguishable. point x equally distant from philadelphia with z may pay a higher rate than z. or x may be less distant than z, and yet be called upon to pay the same rate. it may even be less distant than z and yet actually be charged a higher rate than z. but in all these instances the two points (x and z) are not on the same route, but on divergent routes. the issue remains the same. the conditions imposed at the point of convergence being fixed, each line must exercise its own ingenuity in conforming thereto. methods in each case must differ, according to the length of line, the direction and composition of the traffic, and other factors. * * * * * three general schemes of rate-making are distinguishable in american practice. the most satisfactory one is that which obtains in trunk line territory, of zone tariffs with a gradation in some degree corresponding to distance.[ ] at the other extreme is the system of the flat or postage-stamp rate, exemplified in the missouri-mississippi river territory,[ ] and in pacific coast rates from all points east of the mississippi.[ ] intermediate between the two are the systems of basing lines and basing points. the first of these, the basing line system, prevails throughout the country west of the missouri river. the second, the basing point system, is found throughout the southern states east of the mississippi. in both the principle is the same. the two differ only in detail. through rates are made to certain designated places; and from there on, a local rate to all other places, large or small, is added. this local charge rises, of course, with distance. thus the first-class rate to denver, colorado, is made up of a rate of eighty cents from chicago to the missouri river, plus $ . for the balance of the haul. from chicago to a point in central nebraska the only difference would be a lower local. in southern territory the rate to troy, alabama, equals the sum of the through rate to the nearest basing point, montgomery, and of the local rate from there on to destination. the only difference in detail between these two systems is that in the western territory, all competing lines being parallel (until the routes around by sea and back from the pacific coast are met), rates rise in all cases progressively with distance. the complaint of local discrimination rests merely on the allegation that the rate of progression with increasing distance is too rapid. in the south, on the other hand, owing to the encircling seacoast with deeply penetrating navigable rivers, the competing routes from the east or north converge from different and even from directly opposite directions. hence it is impossible to base rates upon extended boundary lines, like the missouri river. rates must be based upon certain designated points. this introduces a serious complication. points, instead of lines, being used for basing purposes, in the south, local rates rise outward in every direction around each basing centre until the sphere of the next basing point is met. and local rates to points even back on the same line, through which the traffic has already passed to reach the basing point, are thus of necessity higher than rates to points beyond. [illustration] the economic anomaly of rates actually falling progressively as the length of the haul increases is graphically well illustrated in the accompanying diagram, based upon data in the georgia railroad commission cases.[ ] the charges from cincinnati to local points on all lines converging upon atlanta equal the sum of the rates to atlanta plus the local charges out. this holds good even on the direct line from cincinnati through chattanooga, as the diagram shows; yet of course it also follows that rates must again decline as the next basing point is approached in any direction; be it montgomery to the west, macon to the south, or even chattanooga to the north. the only condition analogous to this in the far west appears in those places whose rates are made up by a combination of the low water rates to the coast plus a local back eastward into the mountains. the transition from this pacific coast combination to the system based upon the missouri river occurs at those places where the aggregate charges from either direction become equal. viewed as a large matter of principle the whole western system is analogous to the southern system. it is inevitable in both that intermediate points should in all cases be assessed at a higher rate than those adopted as bases.[ ] the reason advanced in support of these basing point or basing line systems is that they are an outgrowth of commercial competition; in other words, that they are compelled by conditions beyond the carriers' control. sometimes it may be the competition of widely encircling water routes--as from new york around to galveston and up to kansas city in the southwestern field, or to mobile and up to montgomery, alabama, in the southeastern states. but, in many other cases, market competition from other centres of supply set the limit to the rate at the basing point. missouri river cities enjoy a great advantage over all competitors, as meeting places of the ways. generally, the low rates to the base points have been originally accorded in order to build up local distributive or industrial centres in the face of competition from older places. nashville undoubtedly owes a large measure of its present prominence to the fact that in the old days its principal railroad gave a foothold and made a clientage for its merchants as against older rivals in cincinnati and louisville. nor can it be said that this was an injury to that clientage, composed of consumers all through the adjacent countryside. rates for these consumers were not put up, in order to build up nashville. on the contrary, nashville was given perhaps inordinately low rates, in order that the sum of these low rates and of the local rates out to four corners should be at least as low as those from cincinnati and louisville direct. this last argument is the main economic defence of the southern basing point system.[ ] it applies equally to the advocacy of a low basing line at missouri river cities for rate making to points beyond.[ ] the main difficulty with any system of basing points or lines, which so flagrantly violates the distance principle, is first of all to determine at what points to base; and thereafter to accommodate the system to the normal growth and development of the country. the system is inelastic. it tends to break down of its own weight. it must enlarge, if at all, by fits and starts, in each case with violent dislocation of trade. a generation ago towns in iowa complained that the mississippi river was a basing line. then, when the missouri river line was substituted, an outcry rose from all the points in nebraska. the persistent complaint from denver against its rate adjustment as compared with kansas city,--a competitive distributing centre,--well exemplifies it. the denver chamber of commerce intervenes, and proposes that the basing line be moved from the missouri river out to colorado common points (like denver). indeed, in each case the argument in favor of the change is identical. each tier of complainants--thriving cities which have recently come to more or less commercial maturity--plead their inability to compete with the centres adopted some years ago for basing purposes. denver, for example, wishes to sell goods throughout utah. but its total charges there on goods purchased in the east amount to eighty cents from chicago to the missouri river, plus $ . on to denver, plus $ . on to destination,--a sum of $ . per hundred pounds. the kansas city dealer, on the other hand, gets a low base rate of only eighty cents with a single additional rate directly out to utah of $ . . in other words, the latter can lay down his goods in utah for $ . as against $ . paid by the denver competitor. the point to be carried forward, however, is not so much the disparity against denver, as the fact that the moment denver is promoted to be a basing point it becomes defendant in a complaint of precisely the same sort, brought by the places still further west. this inelasticity of basing point schemes, together with their inability to expand without abrupt dislocations of trade, is apparent everywhere in the south. just as chattanooga complains against nashville, so the little intermediate stations between chattanooga and atlanta, as our diagram on page showed, become restive under rates of $ . as compared with a rate twenty-one cents lower charged on to atlanta. the system of basing points or lines may be an inevitable concomitant of industrial immaturity; but it is none the less difficult to defend as a permanent system or as one inherently just. and its final relegation to the scrap heap, in favor of a system of rates graded more or less according to distance, is ardently to be desired.[ ] * * * * * does a constant rate applied over a long stretch on the same line constitute local discrimination? may the nearer points rightfully protest against the fact that equally low rates are accorded to remoter points? this is the gist of the controversy in the very suggestive milk rate cases in .[ ] here the conflict of interest between producer and consumer is obvious. the city of new york naturally desires a wide market from which to draw its supply. on the other hand, the nearby producers wish to enjoy the advantages of nearness to the market to the fullest degree. study of the evolution of rate sheets clearly shows how such grouping of charges over long distances may be in the nature of a compromise to avoid actual violation of the long and short haul principle. oftentimes places scattered along over a hundred miles of railroad enjoy absolute equality of charges. obviously, the ton-mile rate steadily falls within such a group with progressive remoteness. yet it is an inevitable feature of tariff building.[ ] it is the kernel of the admirable trunk line rate system. such an equalization of rates between points unequally distant from a given centre, not infrequently arises in connection with mere competition of transportation routes. referring back to the diagrams on page , it may happen that a complainant at x, the nearer point, recognizing the inevitableness of a low rate at y, may succeed in securing an agreement that, while its charges cannot be less than at y, at least they shall not be more. this was all that was asked in the "rare and peculiar" case of youngstown, ohio.[ ] but it is apparent that such a solution differs only in degree from those previously discussed. the question of principle remains the same. the roundabout route to new york up back by way of youngstown could continue to compete at pittsburg for as low a rate as on direct shipments, even if it observed the long and short haul principle to which the pennsylvania direct route was committed, only by charging much lower rates per ton mile on pittsburg traffic through youngstown than was levied on business there originating. this raises precisely the same question of distribution of joint expenses between local and competitive traffic, already discussed. in certain contingencies under the second variety of the oyster cases, such a solution might apply. would chattanooga, for example, assuming it to belong in the second class of oyster cases, be contented with an equality of through rates with nashville, leaving its local rates out to smaller towns as they are? the most extreme instance of uniform or postage-stamp rates applied over long distances occurs in the transcontinental tariffs from different points in the east. these differ radically from the adjustment of rates between different points on the pacific slope, already described. at the far western end the lowest rates are accorded to coast cities, because of water competition by sea. rates to interior points progressively rise by the addition of locals inward toward the interior. the rates thus compelled by water competition are accepted by the all-rail lines. thus the pacific coast end is practically built upon a basing line. it might be expected that in consequence of water competition by sea a similar system would prevail at the eastern end of the line; that rates to the pacific coast from interior cities would rise progressively according to distance inland, until at all events the direct all-rail charge became as low as by the combined rail-and-water rates. but such is not the case, and for two reasons. the first is that in the east interior cities are large and powerful factors in trade. there were no such interior cities in the far west, until spokane came into its own. these inland eastern cities, pittsburg, for example, demanded equality of opportunity with the seaboard cities in pacific coast trade. they succeeded in obtaining it by a grant of as low rates as new york or boston enjoyed. in the second place, all the pacific coast carriers enjoy monopoly as far east as the missouri river. but east of that line there are many routes interested in middle western cities, but having no interest in those in the east. they, too, have insisted upon giving their clients in such places as st. louis and chicago as low rates as philadelphia or new york. little by little the equality of rates was extended until for many years the blanket rate has covered the entire united states east of the mississippi river. does not this constitute local discrimination against the middle western cities? this was one of the main contentions in the st. louis business mens' league case. being one thousand miles nearer san francisco, it demanded recognition of that fact in its tariffs. the difficulty is accentuated when both eastern and western point rates are considered together. st. louis enjoys no lower rate than new york, although one thousand miles further east; and inland points in the rocky mountain area may be one thousand miles further east than san francisco and yet pay a higher rate. thus it is possible to lop off one thousand miles at each end of the line without affording any recognition of it in the tariffs. the situation is too involved to discuss in detail in this place; but one finds it difficult to avoid the conclusion that the whole system will demand revision before long. geographical conditions are immutable. trade conditions are not. perhaps it was inevitable that the former should by force of circumstances have been somewhat overlooked during a period of rapid growth. but, as commercial affairs approach a condition of stability and permanence, the matter will call for most careful examination. [illustration] constant rates applied over long distances on the same line almost inevitably tend to pass over into a system of equality of rates over _different lines_.[ ] the necessity was evident enough in the milk rate case. this phase of the matter may theoretically best be discussed by reference to the following diagram. suppose a, b, c, and d to represent any four inland "common points." it remains to show how it comes about that they all finally enjoy equal rates to all four seaports, regardless of location. each appears to be naturally tributary to some one of the seaports by a dominant or short-line route. in each instance this route properly rules the rate. moreover, the four seaports may be considered for traffic purposes as equally and interchangeably distant from one another without regard to location. this follows from the fact that, except in extreme instances, rates by water do not vary according to distance, so small is the cost of mere propulsion by comparison with the terminal costs. in other words, the rate is the same from wilmington to brunswick or savannah as to its next neighbor charleston. from this it follows, further, that wilmington, savannah, and brunswick can all reach b--the point to which charleston is nearest--on even terms. they may each have a direct line to b; but, as compared with a possible combined low water rate to charleston and a low direct rail rate inland to b, the charleston route may be at least able to hold its own. all three outside competitors, then, are on even terms with one another in respect of access to b. but how does charleston stand towards b as against the field? we have already concluded that a roundabout route must be allowed to meet, though not to undercut, the ruling rate. such a roundabout route from wilmington on this diagram to its own natural tributary a could be, and as a matter of fact is, made by passing around by way of charleston or any other seaport. charleston wishes to share in this trade at a, and may reach it by similar tactics. it stands towards a precisely as wilmington stands towards b. they finally agree to enjoy both a and b on even terms. but, as we have already seen, the admission of wilmington to b is equivalent to the admission of all the rest. whence it comes about that all four establish b as a "common point." and of course the same procedure fixes all the others, a, c, and d in the same way. in the savannah fertilizer case[ ] it appeared that there were no fewer than points in ten states from louisiana to kentucky, to which rates on fertilizers were absolutely the same from each of the four seaports. the degree of local discrimination of course was negligible at the remoter places; but it augmented in proportion as the immediate neighborhood of each seaport was approached. the apparent anomaly was greatest in a north and south direction along the seacoast. thus dinsmore, florida, was miles from charleston and only miles from savannah, yet the rates from both points were the same. the governing feature usually was the entire equality of coastwise water rates, regardless of distance, which in turn compelled the land lines to follow suit. the cincinnati freight bureau case, otherwise known as the maximum freight rate case,[ ] affords the best example of the difficulty in practice of adjusting rates over different and widely separated lines on a distance basis, in order to satisfy the demands of commercial competition. atlanta, georgia, the key to the southern market, is miles by rail from new york, but only miles from cincinnati and from chicago. in other words, cincinnati is fifty-four per cent. as far from atlanta as is new york; and even chicago is only eighty-four per cent. as remote. in general, this valuable southern territory, on the basis of mere distance, is really nearer to the leading middle western cities than to those on the atlantic seaboard. yet this geographical situation is not reflected in the railway tariffs. rates from the west, especially on manufactures, were much higher, always relatively and often absolutely. thus first-class goods in paid $ . per hundred from chicago ( miles), while from new york ( miles) the rate was only $ . . at points like chattanooga the disparity was even greater. this city is only miles from chicago as against , miles from boston. yet the rates were actually lower ($ . ) from new england than from chicago ($ . ). the principal reason for this of course was the cheap coastwise water competition by way of charleston and savannah. the eastern all-rail routes could charge no more than the combined rail-and-water lines. the difference in relative cost of operation by water was recognized by means of so-called "constructive mileage." from new york to savannah by sea is about miles; yet the allowance to the steamers was proportioned upon a distance of only miles. water cost was thus fixed by comparison with rail cost in the proportion of one to three. yet, even with this allowance in favor of eastern cities, new york remained more distant from atlanta than cincinnati; the "rate-making" distance from the former being miles as against only miles from cincinnati. the arbitrary reduction of the new york distance left chicago more remote ( miles), but not in so great degree as its tariffs implied. these tariffs were also peculiar in another regard. the handicap against the western cities was much higher in respect of manufactures and high-class freight than upon foodstuffs and raw produce. this in turn was clearly due to a long-established agreement between the lines east and west of the alleghanies, as to a division of the field. originally each set of lines was harassed by roundabout competition from the other. western foodstuffs and raw produce were reaching the south by way of the atlantic seaboard; and eastern manufactures from new york, for instance, were rambling about over western lines in order to reach places like atlanta and augusta, naturally served by direct routes from the east. the agreement to divide the field, dating from , steadily became more irksome, however, to the west, with the development of manufactures of its own. the problems raised by this change are too large to be considered here. the main question for the present inquiry is as to the relative fairness of rates from two widely separated centres to a common market, those rates not being proportioned to distance. the final settlement of this knotty question is suggestive of the extreme difficulty of attempting to apply mileage or distance rates over different railroads too rigidly. the complaint being as to relativity, there were only two possible solutions.[ ] one was to increase the eastern rates, the other to order a reduction of the charges from the west. the former course was impossible, owing to the presence of water competition by sea, not under control. the latter alternative was, therefore, chosen by the interstate commerce commission in its decision in . the rates from western cities were always composed of two parts. the charge from the ohio south was kept distinct as a local rate. the other portion of the rate applied from chicago, for example, down to the ohio river. of these two parts, the trunk line portion appeared reasonable enough. it was the southern local, often one hundred per cent. higher than the other, which seemed most unreasonable; and which, according to all appearances, had been used to bring about a closure of the market to western manufactured goods. consequently the commission ordered a reduction of the southern local rates, cutting them drastically, but leaving the northern locals unchanged. this decision was never carried into effect; as the supreme court of the united states held the commission to have no such rate-making power. nothing was done apparently to remedy the disparity in charges against the west, although the railroads serving that territory urgently pressed for action. every time they threatened a reduction of their western rates, the eastern line came down in proportion. this left the relative rates as before, although the general scale would be lower all round. at last, in , the eastern lines from baltimore south agreed to permit a reduction of five cents in the rates from western cities by lines _north_ of the ohio river; but they refused to accede to any change in the rates from the ohio south. this was the exact opposite of the interstate commerce commission's proposition, although both plans were intended to compass the same object; namely, to place western shippers more nearly on a parity with the east. the commission, in , laid all reduction upon the southern portion of the rate; the railroads, in , placed it all upon the northern part. this obviously afforded no relief to the original complainant, cincinnati. in fact, it actually operated to its great disadvantage, inasmuch as it let its two powerful rivals, chicago and st. louis, into the southern field on distinctly more favorable terms. such was the outcome as a result of the friction of railroad competition. the reasonableness of some reduction was clear. but to the layman, the fairness of laying the reduction entirely upon the northern locals, already relatively low, instead of upon the extremely high southern part of the rate is not by any means so clear.[ ] one further detail of this adjustment of southern rates raises a question: "rates between richmond, virginia, and atlanta, georgia, are less than the rates between richmond, virginia, and greenwood, south carolina (an intermediate point). this is due to indirect competition between richmond and western jobbing points; and in order to permit the jobber or manufacturer in richmond to do business as against his competitor in cincinnati, it has been necessary to fix the rates from richmond to atlanta with some reference to the rates from cincinnati to atlanta. at greenwood, south carolina, we find that the cincinnati shipper pays a very much higher rate than to atlanta, and that the rates from richmond are already sufficiently low to enable the richmond shipper to compete at greenwood with the cincinnati shipper."[ ] is this not in a measure well described in the passage, "unto him that hath shall be given; but from him that hath not, shall be taken away even that which he hath"? this railway argument contains dangerous possibilities. in effect, upon the theory of charging what the traffic will bear, it means that a railway (in this case the seaboard air line) may increase its own local rates, not in proportion to the length of its own haul (from richmond to greenwood), but according to the remoteness of that local point from another competing market. the inevitable effect of the general adoption of such a policy must be to erect arbitrary barriers to the free and widespread movement of commerce. the great advantage of the flat rate or of commodity rates is that, placing all competing centres upon an absolute parity irrespective of distance, they encourage the utmost freedom of trade. * * * * * certain general conclusions seem to be warranted by the analysis of these cases of local discrimination. the first is that they all show the extreme delicacy of commercial adjustment and the existence of conditions well beyond the control of the carriers, jointly or singly. trade jealousies in particular--the rivalry of producing and consuming centres--render relativity of rates of paramount importance to shippers. this class in the community is interested comparatively little in the absolute level of rates, that being more directly the concern of the general consuming public. to the public, as represented by state and federal legislatures, it is difficult to make these complicated matters of commercial competition clear. the only basis of rate making that is easily understood is one founded in general upon the distance principle, or, in other words, correlated with considerations of cost of operation. any departure from this basis is apt to breed suspicion, and at all events puts the carrier upon the defence. it is bad policy, in their own interest, for railroads to permit a continuance of such violations of the distance principle in their general tariffs (commodity rates as a special resource to meet the special needs of commercial competition may be set aside), except in extreme cases. this was recognized by the trunk lines when they almost unanimously acquiesced in the long and short haul provisions of the act of . the people of the united states have the same right that they had then, to expect that at the earliest possible moment the wise provisions of the trunk line rate adjustment shall be widely accepted in the west and south. whether those regions, and the railways that reach them, have yet sufficiently developed to warrant the change is a matter requiring careful consideration in detail. the necessity of some exercise of governmental control over these carriers of the country, in order to mitigate, if not to eliminate, local discrimination as far as possible, is evident. many of the instances previously cited have clearly shown how impossible it often is for any railroad, single-handed, to deal with an involved situation in a large way. take the cincinnati freight bureau case, for instance. conceding, as many would, the claim of western cities to some readjustment of tariffs in their favor, is it not an anomaly that the lines south from baltimore, several hundred miles away, should finally dictate the means to be employed to remedy the situation at cincinnati and chicago? who else but the federal government could ever hope to disentangle the almost hopeless snarl of competition involved in the controversy over differentials to and from the atlantic seaboard?[ ] this controversy is at bottom one of local discrimination. and yet how is the interstate commerce commission to aid in the solution of these intricate problems under present conditions? its hands formerly doubly tied, are now in part freed by rehabilitation of the long and short haul clause. but it cannot yet deal with minimum rates, nor is it clear that it can prescribe differential rates.[ ] true, the commission may, in some cases, accomplish by indirection its purpose of establishing a proper relativity between rates through the exercise of its newly granted power to fix maximum rates. this, as we shall see, was done in the recent spokane and denver decisions. holding that the charges at interior points were out of line with through rates to the pacific coast; and being unable to govern the long-distance tariffs, it simply ordered a reduction of certain rates at spokane and denver as inherently unreasonable. this solution is not, however, always practicable. not infrequently the lower rate at the remoter point will drop as soon as the intermediate rate is lowered. thus the former relativity of charges is re-established on a generally lower scale. the complaint in the eau claire lumber case required the exercise of such power over minimum rates, in order to remove the disability against a particular centre. and then, finally, it is indubitable that commercial competition as a "compelling" factor has been somewhat over-emphasized by the railroads. too often conditions in part brought about by themselves, or in which at least they have acquiesced, have been set up as a defence for rates favoring certain points. this is especially true of the southern basing point cases.[ ] whether any further grant of powers to the interstate commerce commission by congress is necessary at this time in order to enable progress to be made in this connection, it is as yet too soon to predict. the course of affairs for the next few years will at all events bear attentive watching. * * * * * in the case of competition between a direct and a longer, more roundabout line, which one "controls" or fixes the rate? it is an important matter, involving as it does the economic, if not the legal, right of a carrier to participate in any given traffic. concerning this question the greatest diversity of opinion prevails. on the one hand, both writers[ ] and practical railway men[ ] aver that the short line makes the rate, while the long line merely meets the rate thus made. this is probably the more prevalent opinion. yet expert evidence of an opposite sort is to be had for the seeking. the interstate commerce commission has repeatedly held that the short line is at the mercy of the longer line under certain circumstances;[ ] and traffic managers not infrequently plead their inability to control rate situations in the face of irrepressible, roundabout competition.[ ] there is evidently a confusion of thinking, or else a loose use of terms where statements are so conflicting. as a matter of voluntary agreement among roads, or of prescribed rates under government regulation, the issue often assumes the form of controversy as to whether a road operating under a physical disability shall be permitted to participate in a given business by a concession in rates or not. thus in the notable milk rate cases it was a question whether roads with heavy grades should be allowed to make concessions in rates. this issue really also underlies the question of enforcement of the long and short haul clause. in the recent spokane case the harriman lines to st. paul asked that they, being long lines, should not be compelled to reduce their rates to the figure prescribed for the direct hill roads. it is clear in the first place that "short line" and "long line" are merely used as convenient terms to designate differences in the cost of operation. this was well put by james j. hill before the elkins committee of  . "we will say that the distance from cincinnati to new york is miles, and that they haul tons behind one locomotive on one per cent. ruling grades. now somebody else builds a road with a . grade, and he can haul , tons--twice and a half the amount; but that line is miles longer. you can see readily that to move a given number of tons the second road runs less than half the train miles, so that the farthest way round is the nearest way home in that case." the problem should really be stated thus in terms of cost not of distance. suppose the roundabout line to be in part or wholly by water, as in competition between the transcontinental roads and the isthmian or cape horn routes, or as between the direct all-rail line from boston to nashville, tenn., and the steamer line from boston to savannah, and thence up to nashville by rail. in such cases the rail lines allow the water routes a differential or constructive mileage in recognition of their relatively cheaper per mile expenses of operation. the differential may sometimes exist, where, judging by the bulk of traffic the advantage, irrespective of the differential, lies with the line giving the lower rate. in other words, as measured by volume of business, the stronger line and not the weaker one enjoys the benefit of the differential. this is the case in the coastwise traffic between atlantic and gulf ports; where the bulk of the tonnage goes by steamer and at lower rates than by all-rail lines. the difficult point to settle in all such cases is whether the allowance is made as a voluntary _concession_ to the roundabout line because it _costs_ more to operate; or whether it is a toll or tribute, because, irrespective of the cost, the long line rate is made on the basis of value of service. the problem, then, resolves itself into this: how far in practice does cost of operation really "control" the rate in cases of competition between two lines differently circumstanced in this regard? if cost is of fundamental importance, the "short line," using the term as above said in a figurative sense, "controls" the rate. if cost is an entirely secondary matter, rates being made in accordance with considerations of value of service, the "long line" holds the upper hand, and the short one is at its mercy. it is important, moreover, in the comparison of costs of operation, to keep in view the interrelation between fixed charges and operating expenses. this point is often neglected. any well-considered outlay upon permanent improvements, of course, increases fixed charges according to the extent of the new capital investment; but at the same time it presumably lessens the direct cost of operation. the interest upon funds spent for heavier rails, reduction of grades, straightening of curves, better terminals or heavier rolling stock, must be set over against the direct economies resulting from heavier train loads, lessened expenditure for wear and tear, for accidents and claims or for wages. this relation between current expense and capital cost was clearly emphasized in an arbitration decision by the late s. r. blanchard, already cited in another connection. two roads were in competition for business at new orleans. one had costly but convenient terminal facilities. the other was so far from the heart of the city that the drayage expenses were an important item. this second railway began by offering free cartage to shippers in order to even up with its more favored competitor; but this soon gave way to the practice of private teaming by shippers with an allowance on the freight bill for "drayage equalization." the other road objected to this on the ground that it constituted a virtual rebate; that in other words the weaker line was taking business at an abnormally low rate. the arbitrator, however, upheld the practice, on the ground that the heavier operating expense for cartage was merely an alternative for increased interest charges, had the road elected to construct costly and more convenient terminals. one road virtually paid money for team hire, the other paid it in interest on bonds. analyzing the main question two propositions are certain. firstly, the long line can never charge _more_ than the short line; whence it follows that as the short line reduces its rate, the long one must accept that rate as made; and, secondly, the long line, costing more to operate, is, in the process of reduction of rates, bound to be the first to strike the bed-rock of cost incident to that particular service. to go below this point of particular cost would obviously be indefensible from every point of view. the general rule, then, is that "the short line rules the rate." this is accepted widely in practice, as for example throughout trunk line territory and between the so-called missouri-mississippi river points, where the short line from hannibal to st. joseph determines all rates by longer routes.[ ] but the problem yet remains unsolved. the long line may never be able to charge _more_ than the short line--may it, however, charge _less_ under certain conditions? the moment it is enabled to do so, the long line and not the short line, for the moment, "controls the rate." if, now, we use the technically proper terms, the question becomes this: under what circumstances is average cost of service in railway competition set aside in favor of other considerations; or, otherwise stated, when may a line, operated under a disability as to cost, properly give a lower rate than its competitors notwithstanding? does disability justify a handicap or the reverse? this was the form which the question assumed in the notable milk rate case: as to whether the weaker lines in respect of distance or grades should be allowed compensation therefor by permission to charge higher rates. one of the common instances of rate control by a line operating under a disability as to distance or normal cost is the competition of a bankrupt with a solvent property. the "roundabout" line, like the erie or the old new york and new england, having repudiated its fixed charges, undoubtedly "makes" the rate which the other roads must meet or lose the traffic. usually they prefer to absorb or control it otherwise, financially, thus substituting monopoly for a ruinous condition of competition. yet such instances resolve themselves, evidently, into questions of relative cost of operation after all. the bankrupt road holds the whip hand, because, having repudiated its fixed charges, its average costs of operation are correspondingly reduced. the validity of operating cost as a basis of charges is surely not shaken by this exceptional case. the relative proportions and the distribution of local and through traffic upon two lines of differing length in competition with one another are primary factors in determining the ability of either one to "make the rate." this is, of course, especially true under the operation of any long and short haul law, under which any reduction of the competitive rates would necessitate a lowering of the charges at intermediate points. no road is going to sacrifice lucrative rates upon a large volume of local traffic unless it can gain either a large volume of business or a very long haul from a competitive point. many of the notorious rate disturbers in our industrial history have been "short cut" roads--the shortest lines between given important points, regardless of the nature of the intervening territory--like the old new york and new england, the erie or the canada southern. other roads, like the chicago great western or the central vermont, were more roundabout, and yet enjoyed but little local business, depending almost exclusively for their livelihood upon long hauls between termini. on the central vermont at one time, through business constituted seventy-nine per cent. of the total; and only five per cent. was strictly local in origin. on the other hand, the louisville & nashville, in its original petition for exemption from the long and short haul clause, stated that eighty per cent. of its income was derived from local business. this consideration, as applied to competition between the two primary trunk lines, may not be without significance. as compared with the pennsylvania railroad, rich in local business, the new york central, running along the narrow mohawk and hudson valleys, has not inaptly been described as operating "between good points, but not through a good country." under a strict enforcement of the long and short haul clause, the dilemma on the former road would be more serious than on the latter. to choose between its rich local traffic in iron and steel or coal and the long haul business from the west, would be a more difficult matter for the pennsylvania, than for the new york central management to weigh its through grain business against the local traffic from interior new york points. in one way the persistence of locally high rates in the south and west, irrespective of the low charges at competitive points, is defensible on the ground that local business is scanty.[ ] the roads cannot live upon it. their mainstay is the long-distance traffic from important points.[ ] on the other hand, where there is no obligation to maintain a distance tariff, of course the road with rich local business enjoys a great advantage in making rates at competitive points. it can practically subsist upon its revenue from its own particular constituency, meeting all its fixed charges thereby; and can afford to cut rates on the competitive tonnage down to the bone. such a road, quite irrespective of the length of its line, would obviously "control" the rate at competitive points, as against any rival without such a subsidiary and independent source of income.[ ] volume of traffic is another fundamental element in the determination of cost of operation. no matter how short the line or how easy its curves and grades, unless it can handle its tonnage in large bulk it will operate at a disadvantage. hence a most important factor to be reckoned with, in deciding which of two competing lines is in a commanding position as to rates, is the volume of traffic, both in gross and as susceptible of concentration on either line. in the notable chattanooga case, for example, although the line from new york to nashville, passing around to the south by way of chattanooga, is miles shorter than the lines _via_ cincinnati or louisville, the latter, by reason of the density of traffic in trunk line territory, seem to stand at least on an even footing. on the other hand, the enjoyment of the bulk of the tonnage sometimes places its possessor at the mercy of a petty rival. the fall river water line to new york, carrying an overwhelming preponderance of the business, obviously could not afford to cut rates to prevent the joy line from stealing a small portion of the traffic. the same principle holds good in other lines of business. the standard oil company can better afford permanently to concede a small fraction of business to a small independent dealer, so long as he knows his place and refrains from ambition to enlarge, rather than to attempt to drive him out entirely by cutting prices on a huge volume of business. occasionally independents are shrewd enough to take advantage of this; and so to distribute their business that they shall in no single place menace a powerful rival, and yet comfortably subsist on the gleanings over a wide area.[ ] in no single locality are they important enough to exterminate, at the cost of cut rates applied to a large volume of business; and yet in the aggregate they may make quite a fair livelihood. the only difference between the status of a railway and other lines of business in this regard is that the railway may not be quite so free to deploy its forces. its territory and tonnage are more definitely circumscribed by physical conditions of location. a point to be noted in this same connection is the relative stability of the traffic. is it concentrated in a few hands or does it arise from many scattered sources? in the former case either road by making a bold stroke may so entirely capture the business that, by reason of the enhanced volume, a handicap in operation may be overcome. thus, in the notable instance of trunk line competition for the beef traffic some twenty years ago, the grand trunk, although much more roundabout, besides being handicapped in other ways, by securing _all_ the business, could afford to make rates impossible under other circumstances. whether the business in question is natural or normal to a road, or is an extra, diverted from other more direct lines, is still another factor of importance affecting ability to compete successfully for any given traffic. the best statement of this is found in the argument of j. c. stubbs before the arbitration board on canadian pacific differentials in .[ ] "these are differentials in favor of weaker lines--lines which upon the merits of their service cannot successfully compete for the business, but claim a share of it as the reward of virtue, the price of maintaining reasonable rates.... for example, the canadian pacific road was not projected or built for the purpose of developing, fostering, or sharing the carrying trade between san francisco and the eastern part of the united states.... after they were built and the various connections made, then, and not until then, it was seen that there was a business opened. the route having been opened, the newer and longer lines entered the field of competition against the older, shorter, and more direct lines by cutting the latter's rates.... in a fight of this kind, paradoxical as it may seem, the stronger line always got the worst of it.... the weaker or longer line, not having any business at the outset, had nothing to lose. everything was gain to it, which appeared to show an earning above the actual cost of handling the particular lot of freight. quite a distinction between that and the average cost of handling all business. such an unequal warfare could not long continue, and the common result was that the stronger line sought for terms, and ultimately bought the weaker line off, ... this class of differentials is and always has been obnoxious." our final conclusion must therefore be that the outcome in cases of unequal competition in respect of cost of operation can seldom be predicted with certainty. everything depends upon local circumstances and conditions. sometimes the long line and sometimes the short line will dominate. careful analysis of every feature of the business must be made before positive affirmation is possible. this result is at all events worth noting. a due appreciation of the complexity of the business of rate making may safeguard us against the cocksure statements of the novice, who has never closely examined into the subject. president taft has recently emphasized the need of expert service in the field of customs and tariff legislation. it is greatly to be hoped that a similar appreciation of the care with which railway legislation should proceed may prevail at washington during the present session of congress. footnotes: [ ] cullom committee, report, testimony, p. . _cf._ instances in hudson's railways and the republic; and parson's heart of the railway problem as showing popular misunderstanding. [ ] senate (elkins) committee report, , p. . [ ] pp. - . [ ] another instance is afforded by the savannah freight bureau case: int. com. rep., . see our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] interstate commerce commission reports, decided may ,  . _cf._ the extraordinary diversion of traffic over the long route in troy-chatham, n. y. case: i. c. c. rep., . [ ] this recalls traffic manager bird's testimony relative to wisconsin controversies before the senate (elkins) committee, . [ ] using this term technically as described on p. , _infra_. [ ] chapter xiv, p. , _infra_. the original correspondence setting forth these conditions is reprinted by the senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app. iii, p. . i. c. c. rep., , and _idem_, are analogous cases. [ ] int. com. rep., : reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] brief of ed. baxter, alabama midland railway case, u. s. supreme court, p. ; and acworth, p. . details in chap. xiv and xix, _infra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep., . [ ] details at pp. and , _infra_. [ ] interstate commerce reports, no. , decided june , . [ ] _cf._ the opinion in the savannah fertilizer case in our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] chapter xi, _infra_, also in volume ii. [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in full in our railway problems, chap. x. also the commerce court decision in chap. xvi, _infra_. [ ] the leading wichita cases are as follows: i.c.c. rep., , and  .-- _idem_, . (lehmann higginson co.).-- _idem_, . also u. s. rep.,  .--also senate (elkins) committee, , iv. p. _et seq._ [ ] chapter xviii, p. , _infra_. [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in full in our railway problems, chap. xi. [ ] chapter x, _infra_. [ ] chapter iv, _supra_, p.  . [ ] chapters xi and xix, _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ commissioner fifer's dissenting opinion in the st. louis business men's league case, int. com. rep., ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xvii. [ ] chapter xi, _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; u. s. industrial commission, iv, p. and ix, p. . also pp. , _supra_, and , _infra_. [ ] the feasibility of doing this in the south could all parties concerned be whipped into line, is demonstrated by the ingenious adaptation of the trunk line system to local conditions by a special committee of the southern railway and steamship association in . report of meeting august , , in proceedings, vii. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . the report and opinion is reprinted in full by the senate (elkins) committee, , as appendix h. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] pp. , _supra_; and , _infra_. [ ] similar cases are i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, on oranges; _idem_, ; _idem_, and ; and _idem_, ; are local but identical problems of distances. also the superior commercial club case, just handed down june , , on grain rates. _cf._ also hammond, railway rate theories, etc., p. . [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] chapter xiv, _infra_, discusses its legal aspect. reprinted in full in our railway problems, chap. vi. [ ] _cf._ testimony in elkins committee report, , p. . the commerce court case on page , _infra_, brings it to date. [ ] _cf._ answer of receivers' and shippers' association of cincinnati to statement of w. j. murphy, etc., march , . [ ] senate (elkins) committee report, , digest, appendix iii., p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., is a case of conceded injustice for fourteen years; yet of a complete deadlock between carriers, broken only by federal intervention. [ ] _infra._ [ ] chapter xi, _infra_. [ ] acworth, "elements of railway economics," p. . [ ] testimony of j. j. hill, senate (elkins) committee, , p. ; certainly in the missouri-mississippi river territory, the hannibal-st. joe distance rules. [ ] especially in the danville and st. cloud cases; int. com. rep., and . _cf._ the vermont central case, _idem_, and : and _idem_, . [ ] an especially notable instance was the canadian pacific differential arbitration in . proceedings, etc., p. , argument of j. c. stubbs. [ ] it is also the rule in france. senate (elkins) committee, v, p.  . _cf._ the superior grain case. i.c.c., decided june , . [ ] _cf._ mr. fink's testimony in hearings senate committee on interstate commerce, st cong. st session, sen. rep., , p. . [ ] solution of transcontinental dilemma depends upon this choice. _railway age gazette_, nov. , . _cf._ chaps. xi and xix, _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., affords an excellent example as between the union pacific and the denver and rio grande. also the montgomery, ala., case in the commerce court, p. , _infra_. also the union pacific merger case, brief of facts for appellants, , p.  . [ ] for an instance in the tobacco business: _cf. the atlantic monthly_, , p. . [ ] page . chapter viii problems of routing neglect of distance, an american peculiarity,  .--derived from joint cost,  .--exceptional cases,  .--economic waste in american practice,  .--circuitous rail carriage,  .--water and rail-and-water shipments,  .--carriage over undue distance,  .--an outcome of commercial competition,  .--six causes of economic waste, illustrated,  .--pro-rating and rebates,  .--five effects of disregard of distance,  .--dilution of revenue per ton mile,  .--possible remedies for economic waste,  .--pooling and rate agreements,  .--the long and short haul remedy,  . the general acceptance, both in practice and theory, of the principle that distance is a relatively unimportant element in rate making[ ] is significant at this time, in connection with the recent amendment of the act to regulate commerce. it is important also because of the marked tendency toward the adoption by various state legislatures of the extreme opposite principle of a rigid distance tariff. the old problem of effecting a compromise between these two extreme theories by some form of long and short haul clause--the original section of the act of having been emasculated by judicial interpretation--is again brought to the front. for these reasons it may be worth while to consider certain results which inevitably follow the widespread acceptance of this principle of the blanket rate. its benefits are indeed certain; namely, an enlargement of the field of competition, and an equalization of prices over large areas, and that too at the level of the lowest or most efficient production. but these advantages entail certain consequences--of minor importance, perhaps, but none the less deserving of notice. the subordination of distance to other factors in rate making is a logical derivation from the theory of joint cost. this theory justifies the classification of freight, namely, a wide range of rates nicely adjusted to what the traffic in each particular commodity will bear, while always allowing each to contribute something toward fixed and joint expenses. in the same way it explains a close correlation of the distance charge to what each commodity will bear. it assumes that any rate, however low, which will yield a surplus over expenses directly incidental to the increment of traffic and which thus contributes something toward indivisible joint costs, serves not only the carrier by increasing his gross revenue, but at the same time lightens the burden of fixed expenses upon the balance of the traffic. this principle of joint cost, so clearly set forth by professor taussig,[ ] is fundamental and comprehensive. it pervades every detail of rate making. but it rests upon two basic assumptions which, while generally valid, are not universally so. in the first place each increment of traffic must be new business, not tonnage wrested from another carrier and offset by a loss of other business to that competitor. and secondly, each increment of traffic must be _economically suitable_ to the particular carriage in contemplation. the first of these assumptions fails wherever two carriers mutually invade each other's fields or traffic. each is accepting business at a virtual loss, all costs including fixed charges on capital being taken into account, in order to secure the increment of business. each gain is offset by a corresponding loss. it is the familiar case of the rate war. a less familiar aspect of the matter is presented when traffic is disadvantageously carried by two competing roads, each diverting business from its natural course over the other's line. the sum total of traffic is not increased. each carries only as much as before but transports its quota at an abnormal cost to itself. this may, perhaps, swell gross revenues; but by no process of legerdemain can the two losses in operating cost produce a gain of net revenue to both. and each increase of _unnatural_ tonnage, where offset by a loss of natural business, instead of serving to lighten the fixed charges, becomes a dead weight upon all the remaining traffic. the commonest exemplification of this is found in the circuitous transportation of goods, instances of which will be given later. the second case in which the principle of joint cost fails to justify charges fixed according to what the traffic will bear may arise in the invasion of two remote markets by one another; or, as it might be more aptly phrased, in the overlapping of two distant markets. a railroad is simultaneously transporting goods of like quality in opposite directions. chicago is selling standard hardware in new york, while new york is doing the same thing in chicago. prices are the same in both markets. of course if the two grades of hardware are of unequal quality, or if they are like goods produced at different cost, an entirely distinct phase of territorial competition is created. but we are assuming that these are standard goods and that there are no such differences either in quality or efficiency of production. what is the result? is each increment of business to the railroad a gain to it and to the community? the goods being produced at equal cost in both places, the transportation charge must be deducted from profits. for it is obvious that the selling price cannot be much enhanced. the level of what the traffic will bear is determined not, as usual, by the value of the goods but by other considerations. the traffic will bear relatively little, no matter how high its grade. the result is that the carrier, in order to secure the tonnage, must accept it at a very low rate, despite the length of the haul. this is the familiar case of the special or commodity rate granted to build up business in a distant market. special rates confessedly form three-fourths of the tonnage of american railways, as has already been said. the assumption is usually made that such traffic is a gain to the railways, justified on the principle of joint cost as already explained. but does it really hold good in our hypothetical case? there is a gain of traffic in both directions, to be sure. but must it not be accepted at so low a rate that it falls perilously near the actual operating cost? it is possible that even here it may add something to the carriers' revenue, and thereby lighten the joint costs in other directions. but how about the community and the shipping producers? are any more goods sold? perhaps the widened market may stimulate competition, unless that is already keen enough among local producers in each district by itself. the net result would seem to be merely that the railroads' gain is the shippers' loss. there is no addition to, but merely an exchange of, place values. both producers are doing business at an abnormal distance under mutually disadvantageous circumstances. it may be said, perhaps, that the situation will soon correct itself. if the freight rates reduce profits, each group of producers will tend to draw back from the distant field. this undoubtedly happens in many cases. but the influence of the railway is antagonistic to such withdrawal. it is the railway's business to widen, not to restrict, the area of markets. "the more they scatter the better it is for the railroads." "keep everyone in business everywhere." and if necessary to give a fillip to languishing competition, do so by a concession in rates. is there not danger that with a host of eager freight solicitors in the field, and equally ambitious traffic managers in command, a good thing may be overdone, to the disadvantage of the railway, the shippers and the consuming public? an objection to this chain of reasoning arises at this point. why need the public or other shippers be concerned about the railways' policy in this regard? is not each railway the best judge for itself of the profitableness of long-distance traffic? will it not roughly assign limits to its own activities in extending business, refusing to make rates lower than the actual incidental cost of operation? and are not all low long-distance rates, in so far as they contribute something toward joint cost, an aid to the short haul traffic? the answer will in a measure depend upon our choice between two main lines of policy; the one seeking to lower _average_ rates, even at the expense of increasing divergence between the intermediate and the long distance points, the other policy seeking, _not so much lower rates as less discriminatory rates_ between near and distant points. in the constant pressure for reduced rates in order to widen markets it is not unnatural that the intermediate points, less competitive probably, should be made to contribute an undue share to the fixed sum of joint costs. the common complaint today is not of high rates but of relative inequalities as between places. it is a truism to assert that it matters less to a shipping point what rate it pays than that its rate, however high, should be the same for all competing places. this immediately forces us to consider the consumer. what is the effect upon the general level of prices of the american policy of making an extended market the touchstone of success, irrespective of the danger of wastes arising from overlapping markets? that the result may be a general tax upon production is a conclusion with which we shall have later to do. such a tax, if it exists, would go far to offset the profit which unduly low freight rates in general have produced. in short, the problem is to consider the possible net cost to the american people of our highly involved and most efficient transportation system. our markets are so wide, and our distances so vast, that the problem is a peculiarly american one. having stated the theory of these economic wastes, we may now proceed to consider them as they arise in practice. concrete illustration of the effect of disregard of distance naturally falls into two distinct groups. of these the first concerns the circuitous carriage of goods; the second, their transportation for excessive distances. both alike involve economic wastes, in some degree perhaps inevitable, but none the less deserving of evaluation. and both practices, even if defensible at times, are exposed to constant danger of excess. it will be convenient also to differentiate sharply the all-rail carriage from the combined rail and water transportation. for as between railroads and waterways, the difference in cost of service is so uncertain and fluctuating that comparisons on the basis of mere distance have little value. recent instances of wasteful and circuitous all-rail transportation are abundant. a few typical ones will suffice to show how common the evil is. president ramsay of the wabash has testified as to the roundabout competition with the pennsylvania railroad between philadelphia and pittsburg by which sometimes as much as fifty-seven per cent. of traffic between those two points may be diverted from the direct route. "they haul freight miles around sometimes to meet a point in competition miles away."[ ] chicago and new orleans are miles apart, and about equally distant-- , miles--from san francisco. the traffic manager of the illinois central states that that company "engages in san francisco business directly _via_ new orleans from the chicago territory, and there is a large amount of that business, and we engage in it right along."[ ] wool from idaho and wyoming may move west miles, to san francisco; and thence _via_ new orleans over the southern pacific route to boston.[ ] this case, therefore, represents a superfluous lateral haul of nearly a thousand miles between two points , miles apart. the canadian pacific used to take business for san francisco, all rail, from points as far south as tennessee and arkansas, diverting it from the direct way _via_ kansas city.[ ] goods moving in the opposite direction from san francisco have been hauled to omaha by way of winnipeg, journeying around three sides of a rectangle by so doing, in order to save five or six cents per hundred pounds.[ ] between new york and new orleans nearly one hundred all-rail lines may compete for business. the direct route being , miles, goods may be carried , miles _via_ buffalo, new haven (indiana), st. louis and texarkana.[ ] a generation ago conditions were even worse, the various distances by competitive routes between st. louis and atlanta ranging from to , miles.[ ] new york business for the west was often carried by boat to the mouth of the connecticut river, and thence by rail over the central vermont to a connection with the grand trunk for chicago. to be moved at the outset due north miles from new york on a journey to a point--montgomery, alabama--south of southwest seems wasteful; yet the new york central is in the field for that business.[ ] the map herewith, prepared in connection with the alabama midland case, shows the number of lines participating in freight carriage between new york and the little town of troy, alabama. it is nearly as uneconomical as in the old days when freight was carried from cincinnati to atlanta _via_ the chesapeake and ohio, thence down by rail to augusta and back to destination.[ ] it was common for freight from pittsburg to go by boat down to cincinnati, only to return by rail _via_ pittsburg to new york at a lower rate than on a direct shipment.[ ] even right in the heart of eastern trunk line territory, such things occur in recent times. the cincinnati, hamilton and dayton prior to its consolidation with the pere marquette divided its eastbound tonnage from the rich territory about cincinnati among the trunk lines naturally tributary. but no sooner was it consolidated with the michigan road than its eastbound freight was diverted to the north--first hauled to toledo, detroit and even up to port huron, thence moving east and around lake erie to buffalo.[ ] in the chicago field similar practices occur. formerly the northwestern road was charged with making shipments from chicago to sioux city via st. paul. this required a carriage of miles between points only miles apart; and the complaint arose that the roundabout rate was cheaper than the rate by the direct routes. i am privately informed that the wisconsin central at present makes rates between these same points in conjunction with the great northern, the excess distance over the direct route being miles. complaints before the elkins committee[ ] are not widely different in character. thus it appears that traffic is hauled from chicago to des moines by way of fort dodge at lower rates than it is carried direct by the rock island road, despite the fact that fort dodge is eighty miles north and a little west of des moines. the illinois central, having no line to des moines, pro-rates with the minneapolis and st. louis, the two forming two sides of a triangular haul. an interesting suggestion of the volume of this indirect routing is afforded by the statistics of merchandise shipped between american points which passes through canada in bond.[ ] the evidence of economic waste is conclusive. [illustration] a common form of wastefulness in transportation arises when freight from a point intermediate between two termini is hauled to either one by way of the other. such cases are scattered throughout our railroad history. one of the delegates to the illinois constitutional convention of , cites, as an instance of local discrimination, the fact that lumber from chicago to springfield, illinois, could be shipped more cheaply by way of st. louis than by the direct route.[ ] and now a generation later, it appears that grain from cannon falls, forty-nine miles south of st. paul on the direct line to chicago, destined for louisville, kentucky, can be hauled up to st. paul on local rates and thence on a through billing to destination, back over the same rails, considerably cheaper than by sending it as it should properly go.[ ] the hepburn committee reveals shipments from rochester, new york, to st. louis, minneapolis or california, all rail, on a combination of local rates to new york and thence to destination.[ ] presumably the freight was hauled three hundred miles due east and then retraced the same distance; as new york freight for southern california is today hauled to san francisco by the southern pacific and then perhaps three hundred miles back over the same rails. even if the rate must be based on a combination of low through rates and higher local rates, it seems a waste of energy to continue the five or six hundred miles extra haul. yet the practice is common in the entire western territory. from new york to salt lake city by way of san francisco is another instance in point.[ ] of course a short haul to a terminal to enable through trains to be made up presents an entirely different problem of cost from the abnormal instances above mentioned.[ ] carriage by water is so much cheaper and as compared with land transportation is subject to such different rate-governing principles, that it deserves separate consideration. mere distance, as has already been said, being really only one element in the determination of cost, a circuitous water route may in reality be more economical than direct carriage overland. yet beyond a certain point, regard being paid to the relative cost per mile of the two modes of transport, water-borne traffic may entail economic wastes not incomparable to those arising in land transportation. in international trade, entirely confined to vessel carriage, a few examples will suffice for illustration. machinery for a stamp mill, it was found, could be shipped from chicago to san francisco by way of shanghai, china, for fifteen cents per hundredweight less than by way of the economically proper route. were the goods ever really sent by so indirect a route?[ ] it would appear so when wheat may profitably be carried from san francisco to watertown, massachusetts, after having been taken to liverpool, stored there, reshipped to boston, thereafter, even paying the charges of a local haul of nearly ten miles;[ ] or when shipments from liverpool to new york may be made _via_ montreal to chicago, and thence back to destination.[ ] i am credibly informed that shipments of the american tobacco company from louisville, kentucky, to japan used commonly to go _via_ boston. denver testimony is to the effect that machinery, made in colorado, shipped to sydney, australia, can be transported _via_ chicago for one-half the rate for the direct shipment; and that on similar goods even kansas city could ship by the carload considerably cheaper by the same roundabout route. conversely straw matting from yokohama to denver direct must pay $ . per hundred pounds; while if shipped to the missouri river, five hundred miles east of denver, and then back, the rate is only $ . .[ ] as a domestic problem, water carriage confined to our own territory has greater significance in the present inquiry. purely coastwise traffic conditions are peculiar and in the united states, as a rule, concern either the south atlantic seaports or transcontinental business. as to the first-named class, the volume and importance of the traffic is immense. its character may be indicated by a quotation from a railroad man. "now a great deal has been said, chiefly on the outside, about the canadian pacific railway seeking by its long, circuitous and broken route to share in a tonnage as against more direct and shorter lines all rail, and i propose to show to you gentlemen that not only have we a precedent on which to claim differentials, many of them, and that we also have numerous precedents to show that there are numerous broken, circuitous water and rail lines operating all over the country that are longer and more circuitous than ours, and still they do operate with more or less success.... in saying this i do not wish to be understood as criticising the right of any road to go anywhere, even with a broken and circuitous line, to seek for business, so long as they are satisfied that taking all the circumstances into account such business will afford them some small measure of profit. * * * "the distance by the chesapeake & ohio road, boston to newport news, is miles by water; newport news to chicago, miles, total miles from boston to chicago, against miles by the shortest all-rail line from boston, showing the line _via_ newport news, per cent. longer. the distance by the chesapeake and ohio from new york to newport news is miles, to which add miles, newport news to chicago, total miles, against the shortest all-rail line of miles, . per cent. longer. again the distance between boston and duluth by all-rail is miles, against miles _via_ newport news and chicago, . per cent. longer by the broken route. "the southern pacific co., or system rather, in connection with the morgan line steamers, carries business, _via_ new york, new orleans and fort worth, to utah points at a differential rate. the distance from new york to denver _via_ water to new orleans thence rail to fort worth is miles, against miles by the direct all-rail line, showing it to be longer _via_ new orleans . per cent."[ ] allowing a constructive mileage of one-third for the last named water haul,[ ] many of these even up fairly well with the all-rail carriage; although a route from new york to kansas city by way of savannah, georgia, would appear to be an extreme case, owing to the relatively long haul by rail.[ ] the increasing importance of galveston and the necessity of a back haul to compensate for export business make it possible for that city to engage in business between new york and kansas city, although the roundabout route is two and one-half times as long as the direct one.[ ] as compared with these examples, it is no wonder that the competition for new york-nashville or new england-chattanooga business by way of savannah, mobile, or brunswick, georgia, is so bitter. the roundabout traffic thus reaches around by the southern ports and nearly up again to the ohio river.[ ] the second great class of broken rail and water shipments consists of transcontinental business. goods from new york to san francisco commonly go by way of new orleans or galveston,[ ] as well as by canadian ports and routes.[ ] in the opposite direction, goods are carried about miles by water to seattle or vancouver before commencing the journey east. but more important, as illustrating this point, is the traffic from the central west which reaches the pacific coast by way of atlantic seaports. as far west as the missouri, the actual competition of the trunk lines on california business has since [ ] brought about the condition of the "blanket" or "postage stamp" rate. the same competitive conditions which open up denver or kansas city to new york shippers by way of new orleans or galveston, enable the southern pacific railroad or cape horn routes to solicit california shipments in western territory to be hauled back to new york, and thence by water all or part of the way to destination. how important this potential competition is--that is to say, what proportion of the traffic is interchanged by this route--cannot readily be determined. transportation over undue distances--the carriage of coals to newcastle in exchange for cotton piece goods hauled to lancashire--as a product of keen commercial competition may involve both a waste of energy and an enhancement of prices in a manner seldom appreciated. the transportation of goods great distances at low rates, while economically justifiable in opening up new channels of business, becomes wasteful the moment such carriage, instead of creating new business, merely brings about an exchange between widely separated markets, or an invasion of fields naturally tributary to other centres. the wider the market, the greater is the chance of the most efficient production at the lowest cost. the analogy at this point to the problem of protective tariff legislation is obvious. for a country to dispose of its surplus products abroad by cutting prices may not involve economic loss; but for two countries to be simultaneously engaged in "dumping" their products into each other's markets is quite a different matter. in transportation such cases arise whenever a community, producing a surplus of a given commodity, supplies itself, nevertheless, with that same commodity from a distant market. it may not be a just grievance that iowa, a great cattle raising state, should be forced to procure her dressed meats in chicago or omaha;[ ] for in this case some degree of manufacture has ensued in these highly specialized centres. but the practice is less defensible where the identical product is redistributed after long carriage to and from a distant point. arkansas is a great fruit raising region; yet so cheap is transportation that dried fruits, perhaps of its own growing, are distributed by wholesale grocers in chicago throughout its territory. the privilege of selling rice in the rice-growing states from chicago is, however, denied by the southern railway association.[ ] an illuminating example of similar character occurs in the southern cotton manufacture, as described by a chicago jobber: "right in north carolina there is one mill shipping carloads of goods to chicago in a season, and a great many of these same goods are brought right back to this very section.... i might add that when many of these heavy cotton goods made in this southeastern section are shipped both to new york and chicago and then sold and reshipped south, they pay cents to cents per hundred less each way to new york and back than _via_ chicago. this doubles up the handicap against which chicago is obliged to contend and renders the unfairness still more burdensome."[ ] the overweening desire of the large centres to enter every market is well exemplified by recent testimony of the chicago jobbers.[ ] "a few years later, when the railroads established the relative rates of freight between new york and philadelphia and the southeast, and st. louis, cincinnati and chicago and the southeast, giving the former the sales of merchandise and the latter the furnishing of food products, the hardware consumed in this country was manufactured in england. at that time we, in chicago, felt that we were going beyond the confines of our legitimate territory when we diffidently asked the merchants in western indiana to buy their goods in our market. today, a very considerable percentage of the hardware used in the united states is manufactured in the middle west, and we are profitably selling general hardware through a corps of travelling salesmen in new york, pennsylvania and west virginia, and special lines in new england. "what we claim is that we should not have our territory stopped at the ohio river by any act of yours. it is not stopped, gentlemen, by any other river in america. it is not stopped by the greatest river, the mississippi. it is not stopped by the far greater river, the missouri. it is not stopped by the arkansas; it is not stopped by the rio grande. it is not stopped even by the columbia; and, even in the grocery business, it is not stopped by the hudson. there are chicago houses that are selling goods in new york city, groceries that they manufacture themselves. mr. sprague's own house sells goods in new york city, and chicago is selling groceries in new england. as i say, even the hudson river doesn't stop them." all this record implies progressiveness, energy, and ambition on the part of both business men and traffic officers. nothing is more remarkable in american commerce than its freedom from restraints. elasticity and quick adaptation to the exigencies of business are peculiarities of american railroad operation. this is due to the progressiveness of our railway managers in seeking constantly to develop new territory and build up business. the strongest contrast between europe and the united states lies in this fact. european railroads take business as they find it. our railroads make it. far be it from me to minimize the service rendered in american progress. and yet there are reasonable limits to all good things. we ought to reckon the price which must be paid for this freedom of trade. one further aspect of economic waste may be mentioned, especially as bearing upon federal regulation so far as it affects carload ratings and commercial rivalry between remote middlemen in the large cities and provincial jobbing interests. the actual cost of handling small shipments being about one-half that of carriage by carloads, the cheapest way in which to supply, let us say, the pacific slope or texas territory, is to encourage the local jobber who ships by carload over the long haul. for, obviously, distribution by less-than-carload lots from new york, or even chicago direct, direct to the cross-road store, is bound to be a wasteful process by comparison.[ ] but in addition there are also, of course, the social factors to be considered, which are of even greater weight. the causes of economic waste in transportation are various. not less than six may be distinguished. these are: ( ) congestion of the direct route; ( ) rate cutting by the weak circuitous line; ( ) pro-rating practices in division of joint through rates; ( ) desire for back-loading of empty cars; ( ) strategic considerations concerning interchange of traffic with connections; and ( ) attempts to secure or hold shippers in contested markets. these merit consideration separately in some detail. congestion of traffic upon the direct line is a rare condition in our american experience. few of our railways are over-crowded with business. their equipment may be overtaxed, but their rails are seldom worked to the utmost. yet the phenomenal development of trunk line business since sometimes makes delivery so slow and uncertain that shippers prefer to patronize railways less advantageously located, even at the same rates. the congestion on the main stem of the pennsylvania railway between pittsburg and philadelphia is a case in point. special rates or rebates often divert traffic. the weak lines, in that particular business, are persistently in the field and can secure tonnage only by means of concessions from what may be called the standard or normal rate. the differential rate is an outgrowth of this condition. the present controversy over the right of the initial line in transcontinental business to route the freight at will involves such practices. the carriers insist that they can stop the evil only by the exercise of choice in their connections. an interesting recent example is found in the elkins committee testimony. it appears that lumber from points in mississippi destined for cleveland instead of going by the proper ohio river gateways was diverted to east st. louis. the operation was concealed by billing it to obscure points,--jewett, ill., near east st. louis, and rochester, ohio,--and there issuing a new bill of lading to destination: senator dolliver. and these people carry it up to this little station near st. louis and then transfer it to another station near cleveland? mr. robinson. oh, no; to any point on the central traffic association territory. in other words, it may go to cleveland. senator dolliver. why do they bill it to rochester? mr. robinson. in order to get the benefit of keeping it in transit fifteen days without any extra cost, first. senator dolliver. i do not see how that would affect the question of billing it to rochester. mr. robinson. because that enables the wholesaler to have fifteen days extra time in which to sell the lumber. the chairman. why haul it all around the country and then reduce the rate on that long haul? mr. robinson. in order that roads that are not entitled naturally to this traffic may by this process get the traffic. senator dolliver. what roads from mississippi to east st. louis? mr. robinson. any of the trunk lines--the illinois central, the louisville or the southern railway lines. the roads in mississippi south of the river are not parties to this arrangement, you understand. in fact, as fast as they find it out they break it up, or try to. they do not want their traffic diverted. senator kean. does it not come down to this, that some road is trying to cheat another on the use of its cars? mr. robinson. not only that, but it is trying to get traffic that does not belong to it.[ ] wherever a large volume of traffic is moving by an unnatural route, the first explanation which arises therefore is that rebates or rate-cutting are taking place.[ ] [illustration] a third cause of diversion of traffic is akin to the second; and concerns the practices in pro-rating. much circuitous transportation is due to the existence of independent transverse lines of railway which may participate in the traffic only on condition that it move by an indirect route. this situation is best described by reference to the following diagram. let us suppose traffic to be moving by two routes passing through points b and c, and converging on a, which last-named point might be chicago, st. louis, new york or any other railroad centre. cutting these two converging lines of railway, we will suppose a tranverse line passing through b and c. obviously the proper function of this railway is as a feeder for the through lines, each being entitled to traffic up to the half-way point, d. but over and above serving as a mere branch, this road, desirous of extending its business, has a powerful incentive to extend operations. the longer the tranverse haul, the greater becomes its pro-rating division of the through rate with the main line. traffic from c is of no profit to the tranverse road so long as it is hauled directly to a. but if hauled from c to the same destination by way of b, the profit may be enhanced in two ways. in the first place the pro-rating distance is greater; and secondly, such traffic from c not being _naturally_ tributary to the main line b a but merely a surplus freight to be added to that already in hand, the main line a b is open to temptation to shrink its usual proportion of the through rate in order to secure the extra business. this same motive may on proper solicitation induce the other main line c a to accept traffic from b and its vicinity. the result is a greatly enhanced profit to the cross line and circuitous carriage of the goods in both directions around two sides of a triangle. only recently in a case in texas the interstate commerce commission found that two roads thus converging on a common point were each losing to the other traffic which rightfully was tributary to its own line. in a recent case, ninety-nine per cent. of the business from chatham to new york was moving over a route miles long, when it might have gone directly only miles, by pro-rating with another road.[ ] our illustrative examples are not fanciful in any degree.[ ] this roundabout carriage becomes of course increasingly wasteful in proportion to the width of angle between the main lines converging on the common point. and several cases indicate that in extreme instances the two main lines may converge on a common point from exactly opposite directions, while the transverse or secondary road or series of roads forms a wide and roundabout detour. the well known pittsburg-youngstown case, cited in the original louisville & nashville decision in , serves as illustration. the pennsylvania was competing from pittsburg directly eastbound to new york with certain feeders of the new york central lines which took out traffic bound for the same destination but leaving pittsburg westbound.[ ] other instances of the same phenomenon occur at chattanooga, where freight for new york may leave either northward or southward, at kansas city and in fact at almost any important inland centre. another extreme form may arise even in the competition between two parallel trunk lines cut transversely by two independent cross roads. one of these latter may induce traffic to desert the direct route, to cut across to the other trunk line, to move over that some distance and then to be hauled back again to a point on the first main line where it may find a "cut" rate to destination. grain sometimes used literally to meander to the seaboard in the days of active competition between the trunk lines. wheat from iowa and northern illinois finally reached portland, maine, by way of cincinnati in this manner, with a superfluous carriage of from to miles: "starting within miles of chicago, though billed due northeast to portland, wheat has travelled first miles due southwest to avail of the connection of the baltimore and ohio railroad for cincinnati, and thence north to detroit junction, a total of miles to reach the latter point and save cents in freight. the direct haul through chicago would have been miles less, or a total of miles only."[ ] another witness describes the route as follows: property billed for portland, me., started miles below chicago, although chicago is on a direct line, and took a southeasterly course, then to springfield, from springfield to flora, then to cincinnati, and then over the hamilton and dayton system to detroit, there to take the grand trunk road to portland. this was owing to the billing system adhered to here with great tenacity. property ran around three sides of a square, and i lost money on some of that property.[ ] this ruinous diversion of freight seems to have been dependent upon the existence of active competition at detroit and ceased when the grand trunk came to an agreement with the american lines. but there can be no doubt that wherever these cross lines exist there is a strong tendency toward diversion. in the recent hearings of the senate committee on interstate commerce on railway rate regulation, a railroad witness again describes the operation: mr. vining. well, for instance, take the time when i was on the grand rapids and indiana railroad. its connection at the south was at fort wayne, with the pittsburg, fort wayne and chicago road. we took lumber out of michigan and wanted to send it east. we had to compete with lines that went by way of detroit, that went perhaps through canada and that in some cases were shorter. of course, if we wanted to send lumber from grand rapids to new york we had to make at least as low a rate as was made by other lines leading from grand rapids to new york. that rate might be just the same from fort wayne as from grand rapids, so that we could not get any more than the low rate from fort wayne. we had to go in that case to the pittsburg, fort wayne and chicago railway and say: "here are so many carloads of lumber, or so much lumber, at grand rapids, a part of which could be shipped to new york if we had through rates that would enable us to move it. these other lines are carrying it for cents a hundred pounds to new york. you join us in a through rate of cents and we can give you some of that business." ... but if i were with a short line and wanted to negotiate with a long one, i should try to put my case just as strongly as possible before the long line. i should say to them: "we can not take per cent. of a rate of cents. it would not pay us. you know that; you can see that"; and they, as business men, would admit it. "well," i would say, "give us cents a hundred pounds and we will bring the business to you, and if you do not, we can not afford to do it." senator cullom. i think in some instances they have stated before us that they gave per cent. mr. vining. they might.[ ] whenever the cross road was financially embarrassed, the tendency to diversion was increased. for then, of course, having repudiated fixed charges, the cross line could accept almost any rate as better than the loss of the traffic. and that this was in the past almost a chronic condition in western trunk line territory appears from the fact that eighteen out of the twenty-two roads cutting the illinois central between chicago and cairo have been in the hands of receivers since .[ ] it not infrequently happens that the initial railroad may entirely control a roundabout route, whereas shipments by the most direct line necessitate a division of the joint rate with other companies. in such a case the initial line will naturally favor the indirect route, at the risk of economic loss to the community and even to its own shippers. an interesting illustration is afforded by a complaint of wheat growers at ritzville in the state of washington concerning rates to portland, oregon.[ ] by direct line with low grades along the columbia river the distance was miles. this was composed of several independent but connecting links. the northern pacific on the other hand had a line of its own, miles long, which moreover crossed two mountain ranges with heavy grades. it based its charges upon the cost of service by this roundabout and expensive line; and insisted upon its right to the traffic despite the wishes of the shippers. the commission upheld the shippers' contention for the right to have their products carried to market in the most efficient manner.[ ] another instance on the illinois central is suggestive, concerning shipments from panola, illinois, to peoria, a distance of about forty miles by the shortest line of connecting roads. yet the illinois central having a line of its own _via_ clinton and lincoln transported goods round three sides of a rectangle, a distance of miles, presumably in order to avoid a pro-rating division of the through rate.[ ] of course elements of operating cost enter sometimes, as in the case of back-loading;[ ] but in the main, the pro-rating consideration rules. rebates may or may not be given in connection with circuitous routing. sometimes the same result may be obtained when one carrier merely shrinks its proportion of a joint through rate, leaving the total charge to the shipper unaffected. of course it goes without saying that an implication of improper manipulation of rates does not always follow the diversion of freight from a direct line. the rate may be the same by several competitive routes, shipments going as a reward for energy, persistency, or personality of the agent. a recent case, concerning rates on lumber from sheridan, indiana, to new york illustrates this point.[ ] sheridan is twenty-eight miles north of indianapolis on the monon road. quoting from the decision: "in the division of joint through rates on percentages based on mileage, the defendant line naturally prefers arrangements with connections giving it the longest haul and largest percentages. therefore, it carries this freight at rates based on a carriage through indianapolis by a direct line eastward, while in fact it carries it in an opposite direction north and west by a longer route, the reduced ton mileage being accepted to secure the traffic." the iowa central, cutting across the four main lines between chicago and omaha, derives a large revenue from such diversion. coal from peoria west, instead of moving by the shortest line to omaha, is hauled across the first three to a connection with the devious great western line.[ ] the motive is obvious. a fourth cause of diversion of traffic has to do rather with the operating than the traffic department. an inequality of tonnage in opposite directions may make it expedient to solicit business for the sake of a back load. the canadian pacific may engage in san francisco-omaha business by way of winnipeg, because of the scarcity of tonnage east bound. the traffic to and from the southeastern states is quite uneven in volume. the preponderance of bulky freight is north bound to the new england centres of cotton and other manufacture; while from the western cities, the greater volume of traffic is south bound, consisting of agricultural staples and food stuffs. to equalize this traffic it may often be desirable to secure the most roundabout business. a disturbing element of this sort in the southern field has always to be reckoned with. a good illustration elsewhere occurs in the well known st. cloud case.[ ] the northern pacific accepted tonnage for a most circuitous haul to duluth, but seems to have done so largely in order to provide lading for a preponderance of "empties." in this case it did not lower the normal rate but accepted it for a much longer haul. not unlike the preceding cause, also, is a fifth, the desire to be in position to interchange traffic on terms of equality with powerful connections. mr. bowes, traffic manager of the illinois central, justifying the participation of this road in chicago-san francisco business by way of new orleans, well stated it as follows:[ ] "of course the southern pacific railroad, as you gentlemen know, originate and control a very large traffic, which they can deliver at various junctions; at new orleans, where they have their long haul to the missouri river, and we naturally want some of that business, a long haul traffic to new orleans, and in giving it to them we place them under obligations to reciprocate and give us some traffic. that is one of the things that occurs to a railroad man as to increasing the volume and value of his traffic for the benefit of his company." a sixth and final reason for diversion of traffic from the direct line may be partly sentimental, but none the less significant. it concerns the question of competition at abnormal distances. we may cite two railroad witnesses, who aptly describe the situation. "we can haul traffic in competition, and we frequently do, as i stated, at less than cost, or nearly so, in order to hold the traffic and our patrons in certain territory--kansas city for instance--but we do not like to do it."[ ] or again, "the charleston freight is not legitimately ours.... we make on these through rates from chicago to charleston, for instance, scarcely anything. but it is an outpost. we must maintain that or have our territory further invaded."[ ] in other words, the circuitous or over-long distance haul is a natural though regrettable outcome of railroad competition. * * * * * what are the effects of this american practice of unduly disregarding distance as a factor in transportation? not less than five deserve separate consideration in some detail. it inordinately swells the volume of ton-mileage; it dilutes the ton-mile revenue; it produces rigidity of industrial conditions; it stimulates centralization both of population and of industry, and it is a tax upon american production. one cannot fail to be impressed with the phenomenal growth of transportation in the united states, especially in recent years. it appears as if its volume increased more nearly as the square of population than in direct proportion to it.[ ] but do these figures represent all that they purport to show? every ton of freight which moves from chicago to san francisco over a line one thousand miles too long adds ton miles to swell a fictitious total. every carload of cotton goods hauled up to chicago to be redistributed thence in the original territory and every ton of groceries or agricultural machinery exchanged between two regions with adequate facilities for production of like standard goods contribute to the same end. how large a proportion of this marvellous growth of ton mileage these economic wastes contribute can never be determined with certainty. that their aggregate is considerable cannot be questioned. these practices must considerably dilute the returns per mile for service rendered by american carriers--in even greater degree than they enhance the apparent volume of transportation. long-distance rates must always represent a low revenue per ton mile, owing to the fixed maximum for all distances determined by what the traffic will bear. furniture made in north carolina for california consumption[ ] cannot be sold there in competition above a certain price. the greater the distance into which the possible margin of profit is divided, the less per mile must be the revenue left for the carrier. yet this is not all. such would be true of simply over-long distance carriage. but to this we must add the fact that some of this long-haul tonnage reaches its remote destination over a roundabout line, which increases the already over-long carriage by from twenty-five to seventy-five per cent. it is apparent at once that a still greater dilution of the average returns must follow as a result. from down to the long and almost uninterrupted decline of rates is an established fact. has the volume of this economic waste increased or diminished in proportion to the total traffic throughout this period? if it is relatively less today, at a time when ton mile rates are actually rising, it would be of interest to know how far such economies offset the real increases of rates which have been made. rates might conceivably rise a little, or at all events remain constant, coincidently with a fall in ton mile revenue produced through savings of this sort. the third result of undue disregard of distance is a certain inelasticity of industrial conditions. this may occur in either of two ways. the rise of new industries may be hindered, or a well-merited relative decline of old ones under a process of natural selection may be postponed or averted. the first of these is well set forth as follows:[ ] "it is always considered desirable to have a long haul, and the rates on a long haul should be much less, in proportion to distance, than on a short haul. this is a principle of rate-making which has grown up as one of the factors in the evolution of the railroad business in this country, and it has greatly stimulated the movement of freight for long distances, has brought the great manufacturing centres in closer touch with the consumer at a distance and the producer in closer touch with centres of trade. it has been of undoubted benefit to both, though it may oftentimes retard the growth of new industries by a system of rates so preferential as to enable the manufacturer a long distance from the field of production of raw material to ship the raw material to his mills, manufacture it and return the manufactured goods cheaper than the local manufacturer could afford to make it, and thus, while building up the centres of manufacture, have retarded the growth of manufacturing in the centres where the raw material is produced." the other aspect of industrial rigidity is manifested through the perpetuation of an industry in a district, regardless of the physical disabilities under which it is conducted. another quotation describes it well.[ ] senator carmack. is it the policy of the roads, wherever they find an industry established, to keep it going by advantages in the way of rates regardless of changes in economic conditions? mr. tuttle. i think in so far as it is possible for them to do so. it has not been possible in all cases. we could not keep iron furnaces running in new england; they are all gone. one cannot for a moment doubt the advantages of such a policy as a safeguard against violent dislocating shocks to industry. it may render the transition to new and better conditions more gradual and easier to bear. it has been of inestimable value to new england, as exposed to the competition of newer manufactures in the central west. but on the other hand, it is equally true that in the long run the whole country will fare best when each industry is prosecuted in the most favored location--all conditions of marketing as well as of mere production being considered. if pittsburg is the natural centre for iron and steel production, it may not be an unmixed advantage to the country at large, however great its value to new england, to have the carriers perpetuate the barbed wire manufacture at worcester.[ ] each particular case would have to be decided on its merits. my purpose at present is not to pass judgment on any of them but merely to call attention to the effect of such practices upon the process of industrial selection. in the fifth place, every waste in transportation service is in the long run a tax upon the productivity of the country. more men may be employed, more wages paid, more capital kept in circulation; but it still remains true that the coal consumed, the extra wages paid and the rolling stock used up in the carriage of goods, either unduly far or by unreasonably roundabout routes, constitute an economic loss to the community. in many cases, of course, it may be an inevitable offset for other advantages. in the savannah freight bureau case[ ] (map, p. , _infra_) valdosta, georgia, was miles from savannah, while it was and miles by the shortest and longest lines respectively from charleston. valdosta's main resource for fertilizer supplies, other things being equal, would naturally be savannah, the nearer city. yet in the year in question it appeared that nine-tenths of the supply was actually drawn from charleston; and much of it was hauled instead of a possible miles. no wonder the complainants alleged "that somebody in the end must pay for that species of foolishness." whenever the colorado fuel and iron company succeeds in selling goods of no better grade or cheaper price in territory naturally tributary to pittsburg, a tax is laid upon the public to that degree.[ ] when chicago and new york jobbers each strive to invade the other's field, the extra revenue to the carriers may be considerable; but it is the people who ultimately pay the freight. the analogy to the bargain counter is obvious. the public are buying something not necessary for less than cost; while the carriers are selling it for more than it is worth. economies would redound to the advantage of all parties concerned. * * * * * what remedy is possible for these economic wastes? both the carriers and the public have an interest in their abatement. the more efficient industrial combinations have taken the matter in hand, either by strategic location of plants or, as in the case of the united states steel corporation, by the utilization of a pittsburg base price scheme, with freight rates added.[ ] but probably the large proportion of tonnage is still shipped by independent and competing producers. to this traffic the railways must apply their own remedies. either one of two plans might be of service. the right to make valid agreements for a division either of traffic or territory, if conceded to the carriers by law under proper governmental supervision, would be an effective safeguard. this would mean the repeal of the present prohibition of pooling. the amendment of the long and short haul clause in (p. _infra_) seems likely to do much toward accomplishing the same result. agreements between carriers previous to were often employed to obviate unnecessary waste in transportation. the division of territory between the eastern and western lines into the southern states is a case in point. thirty years ago competition for trade throughout the south was very keen between the great cities in the east and in the middle west. direct lines to the northwest from atlanta and nashville opened up a new avenue of communication with ambitious cities like chicago, st. louis and cincinnati. the state of georgia constructed the western and atlantic railroad in for the express purpose of developing this trade. as western manufactures developed, a keen rivalry between the routes respectively east and west of the alleghany mountains into the south was engendered. a profitable trade in food products by a natural, direct route from the ohio gateways was, however, jeopardized by ruinous rates made by the warring trunk lines to the northern seaboard. corn, oats, wheat and pork came down the coast and into the south through the back door, so to speak, by way of savannah and other seaports. on the other hand the eastern lines into the south were injuriously affected by the retaliatory rates on manufactured goods made by the western lines for shipments from new york and new england. freight from each direction was being hauled round three sides of a rectangle. finally in a reasonable remedy was found in a division of the field and an agreement to stop all absurdly circuitous long hauls into one another's natural territory. a line was drawn through the northern states from buffalo to pittsburg and wheeling; through the south from chattanooga by montgomery, ala., to pensacola. eastern lines were to accept goods for shipment only from their side of this line to points of destination in the south also on the eastern side of the boundary. western competitors were to do the same. the result was the recognition of natural rights of each to its territory. this agreement has now formed the basis of railway tariffs into the southern states for almost a generation. similar agreements, on a less extensive scale, are commonly used to great advantage. thus in the "common point" territory formerly tributary to wilmington, savannah and charleston, the first named city insisted upon its right to an equal rate with the other two, no matter how great the disparity of distance. the southern railway and steamship association arbitrated the matter, fixing a line beyond which wilmington was to be excluded.[ ] obviously such agreements have no force in law at the present time. the only way to give effect to them is for connecting carriers to refuse to make a joint through rate. this effectually bars the traffic. moreover entire unanimity of action is essential. every road must be a party to the compact. otherwise the traffic will reach its destination by shrunken rates and a more circuitous carriage even than before. one cannot fail to be impressed in austria and germany with the economic advantages of an entirely unified system of operation. no devious routing is permitted. certain lines are designated for the heavy through traffic, and concentration on them is effected to the exclusion of all others. between berlin and bremen, for example, practically all through traffic is routed by three direct lines. no roundabout circuits occur because of the complete absence of railway competition. no independent lines have to be placated. the sole problem is to cause the tonnage to be most directly and economically transported. and this end is constantly considered in all pooling or through-traffic arrangements with the railway systems independently operated. the prussian pooling agreements with the bavarian railways are typical. each party to the contract originally bound itself not to route freight over any line exceeding the shortest direct one in distance by more than twenty per cent. compare this with some of our american examples of surplus haulage of fifty or sixty per cent! and within the last year, the renewal of these interstate governmental railway pools in germany has provided for a reduction of excessive haulage to ten per cent. the problem of economical operation in austria-hungary with its mixed governmental and private railways is more difficult. but no arrangements are permitted which result in such wastes as we have instanced under circumstances of unlimited competition in the united states. a more consistent enforcement of the long and short haul principle might provide a remedy almost as effective as pooling. the alabama midland decision nullified a salutary provision of the law of by holding that railway competition at the more distant point might create such dissimilarity of circumstances as to justify a higher rate to intermediate stations. turn to our diagram on page and observe the effect. traffic around two sides of a triangle from a to c by way of b is carried at a rate equal to the charge for the direct haul from a to c; or it may be even at a lower differential rate. complaint arises from the intermediate points y and x of relatively unreasonable charges. the roundabout route replies with the usual argument about a small contribution toward fixed charges from the long haul tonnage, which lessens the burden upon the intermediate rate. this is cogent enough up to a certain point. it might justify a lower rate to d, on the natural division of line territory. it might be defensible on principle to accord d a lower rate than x or possibly even than y. to deny the validity of lower rates to z or c would however at once follow from the same premises. under the new long and short haul clause, what may be done by the interstate commerce commission? this body roughly determining the location of d, a natural division point, would then refuse to permit a b, b c to charge less to either z or c than to any intermediate point, x, b or y. coincidently it would bar the other road a c, c b from any lower through rate to points beyond d, such as x, b or y than to any intermediate station. two courses would be open to the roads. they must either mutually withdraw from all business beyond d or reduce their rates to all intermediate points correspondingly. in a sparsely settled region with little local business, they might conceivably choose the latter expedient. but in the vast majority of cases the roads would prefer to withdraw from the unreasonably distant fields.[ ] simultaneously taken by each line, such action would put an end to the economic waste. at the same time it would terminate one of the most persistent causes of rebates and personal favoritism. to be sure it would generally operate in favor of the strong, direct lines as against the weak and roundabout ones. great benefit would accrue to the pennsylvania, the illinois central or the union pacific railroads. the activities of the parasitic roads and the scope of parasitic operations by the substantial roads would inevitably be curtailed. much justice would be done and much local irritation and popular discontent would be allayed. footnotes: [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, v, , p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee report, , iii, pp. - . the transverse buffalo, rochester and pittsburg seems to be the feeder for the new york central and the reading. [ ] _ibid._, iv, p. . [ ] u. p. merger case: supreme court, october term, no. , appellant's brief of facts, pp. - and also p. . [ ] question of canadian-pacific differentials, hearings, etc., oct. , , p. . privately printed. _cf._ also the sunset route, _ibid._, p. . [ ] st congress, st sess., sen. rep., no. , p. . [ ] _pubs. amer. stat. ass._, june, , p. . [ ] reports internal commerce, , pp. - . [ ] map in brief of ed. baxter, u. s. supreme court in the alabama midland case. [ ] windom committee, ii, p. . [ ] cullom committee, p. . hudson also cites similar cases from the hepburn committee. _cf._ also report on internal commerce, , app. p. . [ ] new york _evening post_, sept. , . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iii, p. . [ ] only once compiled in detail. u. s. treasury dept., circular no. , . the volume of traffic by tons between points in designated states by way of canada was as follows: from illinois to california , from illinois to new jersey , from illinois to pennsylvania , from kentucky to pennsylvania , from kentucky to new york , from missouri to pennsylvania , from pennsylvania to missouri , from new york to kentucky , from new york to missouri , from new york to tennessee from ohio to pennsylvania , from pennsylvania to ohio , from ohio to new york , from new york to ohio , [ ] debates, ii, p. , cited in university of illinois studies, march, , p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , i, pp. - . _cf._ also i. c. c. rep., . another good instance on arizona is in _idem_, . [ ] page . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , ii, p. . [ ] cullom committee, ii, p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , ii, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] question of canadian pacific freight differentials, hearings, etc., oct. , , p. . privately printed. see also pp. and on the same point. [ ] record cincinnati freight bureau case, ii, p.  . [ ] hearings, question of canadian pacific freight differentials, oct. , , p. . [ ] u. s. industrial commission, iv, p. . [ ] th cong., st sess., sen. doc. no. , p. . [ ] by water from new york, miles to new orleans, with miles by rail. or to galveston miles with miles by rail, a total of miles. the direct line, all rail, is about miles. allowing constructive mileage of to for water carriage, they are far from equal. [ ] texas cotton bound for yokohama by way of seattle. [ ] on these matters the record of the business men's league of st. louis case before the interstate commerce commission, int. com. rep., ; and the hearings on canadian pacific differentials are illuminating. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iii, p. . [ ] record before the i.c.c.; cincinnati freight bureau case, i, p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iii, pp. - . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iii, pp. and . [ ] briefly discussed in the st. louis business men's league case: int. com. rep., . [ ] testimony, iii, p. _et seq._ [ ] the report of the u. s. commissioner of corporations on the transportation of petroleum, , affords admirable examples. _vide_, pp. , , and the map at p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] similar triangular cross-road competition is in evidence in the wichita, kan., cases on export grain, p. , _supra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; and industrial commission, xix, p. . [ ] statements taken before the committee on interstate commerce of the u. s. senate with respect to the transportation interests of the u. s. and canada. washington, , p. . _cf._ chap. x, p. , _infra_; also the wichita cases, in chap. vii, p. , _supra_. [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , ii, p. . [ ] quoted from acworth, th cong., st sess., sen. doc. , p. . [ ] _newlands v. nor. pac. r. r. co._; int. com. rep., . [ ] _cf._ the case of the c. h. & d. r. r. on p. , _supra_. [ ] record, illinois railroad commission, concerning reasonable maximum rates, , p. . [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _boston transcript_, oct. , . [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xi. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iv, p. . [ ] president ramsey of the wabash; senate (elkins) committee, , iii, p. . [ ] windom committee, ii, p. . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iii, p. . [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , iv, p. . [ ] _idem_, ii, p. . [ ] specifically described in senate (elkins) committee, , ii, p. . [ ] int. com. rep., ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] "practically it may be declared that the public, considered as distinct from railway owners, must pay for all the transportation which it receives." ... h. t. newcomb in _pubs. am. stat. ass._, n. s. nr. , p. . [ ] agreements for a scale of cross freights by wholesalers' or jobbers' associations as in ohio for groceries or hardware are equally effective. [ ] int. com. rep., ; in our railway problems, chap. xii. [ ] this problem is involved in the youngstown-pittsburg case already mentioned. in the original louisville and nashville decision the commission apparently preferred to encourage competition even at the risk of its being roundabout and "illegitimate." but after the railway attorneys expanded the "rare and peculiar" cases to cover all kinds of competition, the commission apparently regretted its earlier position. _cf._ i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; and especially the brief of ed. baxter, esq., in the alabama midland case, u. s. supreme court, oct. term, , no. , p. . chapter ix freight classification[ ] importance and nature of classification described,  .--classifications and tariffs distinguished, as a means of changing rates,  .--the three classification committees,  .--wide differences between them illustrated,  .--historical development,  .--increase in items enumerated,  .--growing distinction between carload and less-than-carload rates,  .--great volume of elaborate rules and descriptions,  .--theoretical basis of classification,  .--cost of service _v._ value of service,  .--practically, classification based upon rule of thumb,  .--the "spread" in classification between commodities,  .--similarly as between places,  .--commodity rates described,  .--natural in undeveloped conditions,  .--various sorts of commodity rates,  .--the problem of carload ratings,  .--carloads theoretically considered,  .--effect upon commercial competition,  .--new england milk rates,  .--mixed carloads,  .--minimum carload rates,  .--importance of car capacity,  .--market capacity and minimum carloads,  . uniform classification for the united states,  .--revival of interest since ,  .--overlapping and conflicting jurisdictions,  .--confusion and discrimination,  .--anomalies and conflicts illustrated,  .--two main obstacles to uniform classification,  .--reflection of local trade conditions,  .--compromise not satisfactory,  .--classifications and distance tariffs interlock,  .--general conclusions,  . official (trunk line) a subject to uniform bill of lading conditions. l.c.l. c.l. academy or artists' board, in cases (c. l. min, weight, , lbs.) acetone, in iron drums acids: * * * * * acetic, liquid: in carboys, boxed (c. l., min. weight , lbs.) (subject to rule and note ) in bbls. or iron drums (c. l., min. weight , lbs.)-- in tank cars (see note ) -- boracic, in bags, boxes, bbls. or casks (c. l., min. weight , lbs.) * * * * * agricultural implements and machines: agricultural implements and machines, n. o. s.: s. u d -- k. d. flat -- min. weight , lbs. (subject to rule ) -- axes or hooks, bush: in bundles -- in boxes -- min. weight , lbs. (subject to rule ) -- * * * * * zinc: pig or slab (c.l., min. weight , lbs.) plates (not engravers' plates) boxed (c. l. min. weight , lbs.) scrap: in bags -- in bales -- in boxes, kegs, bbls. or casks (see note) -- min. weight , lbs. -- * * * * * zinc, sulphate of: in boxes or kegs -- in bbls. (c. l., min. weight , lbs.) zylonite goods, in packages -- * * * * * western a c.l. advertising matter } printed, n. o. s. } (exclusive of signs and } show cards), boxed or } in bundles prepaid (not } otherwise specified) } advertising matter } consisting of almanacs, } circulars, and pamphlets, } for advertising purposes } only and so stated on } shipping ticket and bill } min. wt. of lading, value not } , lbs. exceeding c. per lb. } and so receipted for, in } bundles or boxes prepaid } or guaranteed } chinese, japanese and } palm-leaf fans, with } advertisements printed } on the face, and } catalogues, boxed or in } bundles, prepaid } advertising racks (sheet iron) nested solid, boxed or crated, min. c. l. wt. , lbs. * * * * * agricultural implements: except hand: barrel carts: } set up, on wheels - / } k. d. flat } bean pickers, } s. u. crated - / } beet harvesters: } a set up } min. k. d., in bundles } wt. k. d., boxed or crated } , boll weevil machines k.d. } lbs. flat } blue grass strippers: } s. u. d } k. d., small parts boxed } * * * * * zinc: ashes, min. c.l. wt. , lbs. d batts or wainscoting enameled concentrates, in sacks, min. wt. , lbs. c dross, min. c.l. wt. , lbs. d flue dust, min. c. l. wt. , lbs. d } pigs or slabs } min. wt. sheet, in casks } , } lbs. shavings, min. c. l. wt. , lbs. r sheets, perforated for screens, boxed, min. c. l. wt. , lbs. sheet or roll, not packed strips (for weather strips), boxed or crated sweepings, min. wt. , lbs. e * * * * * southern item a. class if no. released accoutrements, military acids (carriers's option) viz: acetic, liquid, in bbls., or drums, l. c. l. same, c. l., min. wt. , lbs. carbolic, crude, in bbls. or drums carbonic, liquid in drums or tubes * * * * * agricultural implements c. l., owners to load and unload, viz: cleaners, tobacco, min. wt. , lbs. fodder shredders and corn huskers, min. wt. , lbs. fodder shredders and corn huskers, in mixed c. l., with other agricultural implements, min. wt. , lbs. harvesters and pickers, cotton, min. , lbs. * * * * * zinc, viz.: in boxes, casks, sheets or rolls in blocks or pigs, l. c. l. same, c. l., min. wt. , lbs. scrap, packed zinc, chloride of, viz.: in boxes, or in glass jugs, or carboys, packed, l. c. l. in kegs, or bbls., l. c. l. same, packed, or in tank cars, c. l. (see general rule ) zinc ashes or residue, l. c. l. same, c. l. zinc dust and zinc flue dust; same as paints. zinc oxide zinc paints; same as paints. zinc, sulphate of, in boxes same, in kegs, bbls. or drums zincs, battery, in crates, boxes, or bbls., l. c. l. same, c. l. imagine the encyclopædia britannica, a chicago mail-order catalogue and a united states protective tariff law blended in a single volume, and you have a freight classification as it exists in the united states at the present time! a few selections from the first and last items of such a document are reproduced on the preceding pages. they give some idea of the amazing scope of trade. such a classification is, first of all, a list of every possible commodity which may move by rail, from academy or artist's board and accoutrements to xylophones and zylonite. in this list one finds algarovilla, bagasse, "pie crust, prepared"; artificial hams, cattle tails and wombat skins; wings, crutches, cradles, baby jumpers and all; together with shoo flies and grave vaults. every thing above, on, or under the earth will be found listed in such a volume. to grade justly all these commodities is obviously a task of the utmost nicety. a few of the delicate questions which have puzzled the interstate commerce commission may give some idea of the complexity of the problem.[ ] shall cow peas pay freight as "vegetables, n. o. s., dried or evaporated," or as "fertilizer"--being an active agent in soil regeneration? are "iron-handled bristle shoe-blacking daubers" machinery or toilet appliances? are patent medicines distinguishable, for purposes of transportation, from other alcoholic beverages used as tonics? what is the difference, as regards rail carriage, between a percolator and an everyday coffee pot? are grandpa's wonder soap and pearline--in the light of the claims put forth by manufacturers, suitable either for laundry or toilet purposes--to be put in different classes according to their uses or their market price? when is a boiler not a boiler? if it be used for heating purposes rather than steam generation, why is it not a stove? what is the difference between raisins and other dried fruits, unless perchance the carrier has not yet established one industry while another is already firmly rooted and safe against competition? the classification of all these articles is a factor of primary importance in the making of freight rates both from a public and private point of view. attention has been directed of late to its significance and importance to the private shipper, by reason of the use made of it in the advances of freight rates which have taken place throughout the country within the past decade. its public importance has not been fully appreciated until recently as affecting the general level of railway charges. so little was its significance understood, that supervision and control of classification were not apparently contemplated by the original act to regulate commerce of . the anomaly existed for many years, therefore, of a grant of power intended to regulate freight rates, which, at the same time, omitted provision for control over a fundamentally important element in their make-up. the interstate commerce commission, however, assumed jurisdiction over the matter: and for more than twenty years, despite doubts expressed by the department of justice as to its legality, passed upon complaints as to unreasonable classification without protest even from the carriers themselves. control over it has now been assured beyond possibility of dispute by the specific provisions of the hepburn act of  . the freight rate upon a particular commodity between any given points is compounded of two separate and distinct factors: one having to do with the nature of the haul, the other with the nature of the goods themselves. two distinct publications must be consulted in order to determine the actual charge. although both of them usually bear the name of a railway and are issued over its signature, they emanate, nevertheless, from entirely different sources. the first of these is known as the freight tariff. it specifies rates in cents per hundred pounds for a number of different classes of freight, numerically designated, between all the places upon each line or its connections. thus the tariff of the new york central & hudson river railroad gives rates per hundred pounds from new york to several hundred stations, for first, second, third, etc., classes. this freight tariff, however, contains no mention whatever of commodities by name. the second publication which must be consulted supplies this defect. this is known as the classification. its function is to group all articles more or less alike in character, so far as they affect transportation cost, or are affected in value by carriage from place to place. these groups correspond to the several numerical classes already named in the freight tariff. thus dry goods or boots and shoes are designated as first class. turning back to the freight tariff, the rate from new york, for example, to any particular place desired, for such first-class freight, is then found in cents per hundred pounds. it thus appears, as has been said, that a freight rate is made up of two distinct elements equal in importance. the first is the charge corresponding to the distance; the other is the charge as determined by the character of the goods. consequently, a variation in either one of the two would result in changing the final rate as compounded.[ ] a concrete illustration or two may emphasize the commercial importance of classification. so far as it may be used to effect an increase of rates, the following case is typical, as given by a boston manufacturer, in evidence before the senate committee on interstate commerce in : "from july , , to january , of this year, the classification (of carbon black, basis of printers' ink) continued to be once and a half first class in less-than-carload lots, third class in carload lots, approximately twice the freight required between and . meanwhile, the price had declined.... on january the classification was again raised, to class , rule , an increase of about ten per cent, in carload lots. numerous efforts have been made by myself and others to have this commodity classified where it belongs, as dry color, but the only result has been the reverse of what we desired; and the industry has been and is in a somewhat precarious condition, as we have contracted for millions of pounds of black at prices fixed at the point of delivery, and had no notice of the raise in freight rate until subsequent to its going into operation."[ ] the spokane chamber of commerce, in these same senate committee hearings, gave an illustration of the use of classification to bring about a change of rates without modifying the individual railway tariff. "the pacific coast pipe company started to make wired wooden pipe in the spring of .... there was at that time but one factory of the kind on the north pacific coast, located at seattle.... the seattle factory, backed by the big lumber firms on the coast, finding a serious competitor in the spokane field, got the railways to put manufactured pipe under the lumber classification, thus reducing the rate from seattle to spokane from forty-six to twenty cents per pounds.... the spokane factory at once filed a vigorous protest, with the result that the railways put back the rate from seattle to spokane to forty-six cents, but established a maximum rate of fifty cents for seattle pipe, which, of course, shut off all territory east of spokane from the spokane factory.... the remnant of the spokane factory ... has been compelled to shut down, and the entire plant is being removed to ballard." whether these facts are exactly as thus informally stated or not, is by the way. if not done at this time, it is certain that similar manipulation of classification rules often enters into commercial competition.[ ] freight tariffs and classifications are as distinct and independent in source as they are in nature. tariffs are issued by each railway, by and for itself alone and upon its sole authority. classifications, on the other hand, do not originate with particular railways at all; but are issued for them by coöperative bodies, known as classification committees. these committees are composed of representatives from all the carriers operating within certain designated territories. in other words, the united states is apportioned among a number of committees, to each of which is delegated by the carriers concerned, the power over classification; that is to say, the right to assign every commodity which may be shipped or received to any particular group of freight ratings. this delegation of authority is always subject, however, to the right of filing whatever exceptions to the classification any railway may choose independently to put in force. these exception sheets contain the so-called commodity tariffs, to be subsequently described, which stand out in sharp relief against the so-called class rates. such exceptions are independently filed by each railway at washington and do not generally form integral parts of the volume issued by the classification committee, except in the southern states. new editions of these classifications are published from time to time as called for by additions or amendments, the latest, of course, superseding all earlier ones. thirty-seven such issues have already appeared in series in trunk line and southern territory, while fifty have been put forth in western territory, since the practice was standardized in  . at the present time freight classification for all the railways of the united states is performed mainly by three committees, known as the official, the southern and the western, with headquarters, respectively, in new york, atlanta and chicago. each of these three committees has jurisdiction over a particular territory. thus the official classification prevails east of chicago and north of the ohio and the potomac; the southern, over the remaining part of the country east of the mississippi; and the western, throughout the rest of the united states. in addition to these three primary classifications there is also another, issued by the transcontinental freight bureau, with headquarters at chicago. this committee has supervision over classification upon the pacific coast business. a number of the states also, notably illinois, iowa and most of the southwestern commonwealths, promulgate state classifications having relation, however, only to local business within their several jurisdictions. these are prescribed by law and represent modifications to suit peculiar exigencies or to foster local trade ambitions. there are also a number of other coöperative local railway committees, each dealing with the special concerns of its own territory, and representing the joint interests of the railways therein included to all the world outside. thus, for instance, southern classification territory is subdivided into local units, known, respectively, as the southeastern mississippi valley association, the southeastern freight association, and the associated railways of virginia and the carolinas.[ ] but for all practical purposes, so far as the larger problems of classification are concerned, our attention may be concentrated upon the three principal committees above mentioned. some impression of the wide differences between these three main classifications in different parts of the country may be derived from the set of excerpts at the head of this chapter. in three parallel columns the alpha and omega of each are reproduced, together with bits of one of the most complicated schedules, viz., that dealing with agricultural implements. even where the same commodities occur in each classification, the diversity in description, mode of packing, carload and other requirements, renders any direct comparison almost impossible. the mere fact that the class assignment, as shown at the right in each column, happens to be the same, as in the case of acetic acid in barrels or drums which moves both in official and southern classification territory, third class in less-than-carload lots (_l. c. l._) and fifth class in carloads (_c. l._), shows nothing at all as far as equality of charges is concerned. for, as has been said, this is only half the statement of the rate. the spread between charges for different classes yet remains to be determined. the actual relativity between third-class and fifth-class rates, moreover, may be very different in the two places. in the new york board of trade case[ ] this point was well exemplified. comparative conditions as to rates in the three main sections of the country, as they then existed, were as follows: rates in cents per hundredweight canned class goods ------ ----------- miles i. iv. l.c.l. c.l. new york to chicago (official class'n) chicago to omaha (west'n class'n) . louisville to selma (south'n class'n) on the trunk lines fourth-class rates were thus less than half those charged for the first class; in the west they were even lower, relatively; while in the south fourth-class rates were about two-thirds as high as the first-class rates. these differences in the spread between classes, as will be seen, interlocking as they do with a multitude of other considerations, are a serious bar to any partial modification in the direction of uniformity for the united states as a whole. only by consideration of every factor entering into any given rate may comparisons safely be entertained. * * * * * historically considered, the development of freight classification has been much the same in england and the united states. early railway practice was an outgrowth of the tariffs in force upon canals and toll roads.[ ] in america, freight charges were at the outset often arbitrarily fixed by the state legislatures, as conditions precedent to the grant of charter. in many instances they were based upon the customary performance by wagon, distinguishing between light-weight articles paying by the cubic foot, and heavy ones for which the tariff was based upon weight. thus in the charter of the south carolina railroad established its tolls at one half the usual wagon charge. the southern pacific in local rates on ore into san francisco followed along just below the charges by ox cart. the freight was proportioned also according to the length of haul by an arbitrary mileage rate. it soon developed, however, that railway rates were unique in the fact that not only was there a great increase in the volume of trade, but also in the diversity of articles offered for transportations as well. far more elaborate classifications were soon seen to be necessary. the south carolina railroad tariff of , described by mcpherson,[ ] exemplified the primitive traffic conditions then prevalent. goods were divided into four classes. the first consisted of articles of light weight or high value, including, for example, such incongruities as bonnets, tea, and pianos. the remaining three classes paid by weight with a descending scale of charges. it is difficult to explain why coffee and sugar should be rated lower than stoves and feathers; or why dry hides and rice should be charged a higher rate than cotton yarn and bacon; but it is evident that a rough classification according to weight, value, use and cost of service was being attempted. there was in addition a considerable collection of special rates on chosen commodities according to the method of packing them, whether by barrel, bale or case. and there were also what corresponded to modern commodity rates upon cordwood, lumber, bricks, and similar goods. this tariff, though primitive, including no less than three hundred items, was far more elaborate than those commonly used at the time. the louisville & nashville originally distinguished but three classes: one by bulk, another by weight and a third applicable to live stock. poultry was rated by the dozen long after the civil war, with a higher charge for muscovy than for ordinary ducks. the traffic manager of the chicago, milwaukee & st. paul testified before the elkins committee in , that the classification in illinois in his youth was printed on the back of a bill of lading no greater than the size of an ordinary sheet of letter paper, and the page was not full. from these modest beginnings the development of classification in the united states was rapid, responding to the ever-increasing intensity of competition and the spread of markets, particularly after . by the middle of the eighties most of the large railways were working under six or eight different classifications. it began to be apparent that some check must be placed upon such increasing complexity. for conditions were wellnigh intolerable, with one set of rules for illinois, and yet another west of buffalo, divided into eastbound and westbound sections, with still a third on westward shipments local to territory between chicago and the missouri river. the first attempt at a systematic scheme was made in , but the agreements then made proved unstable. by conditions had become insupportable, so great was the number and the diversity of the classifications throughout the country.[ ] some applied to local business only, and were peculiar to each road. some applied only to westbound business, others to eastbound traffic. the traffic manager of the new york central & hudson river testified before the interstate commerce commission that there were at one time distinct classifications in trunk line territory alone. the case of the wabash in was typical. a shipper desiring to determine freight rates over that road might be compelled to consult a classification for the middle and western states in six classes; one for the southern railway & steamship association territory in eighteen classes; one for mississippi valley business in five classes; one known as the revised western in nine classes; the trunk line east in thirteen classes; the trunk line west in five classes; a classification for texas points in eight classes; and two for the pacific coast, according to direction, in eight and nine classes, respectively. this situation, rendering it almost impossible for any shipper to determine in advance what his freight rates were going to be, as well as what his competitor was paying, early impressed itself upon the interstate commerce commission. and it was doubtless due in part to its initiative that classifications were shaken down into substantially their present general form in  . number of ratings in [ ] less than carload carload southern classification , western classification , , official classification , , the natural growth of classification in a rapidly developing country like the united states, has manifested itself in three distinct ways: there has been a steady increase in the number of items of freight separately enumerated; a growing distinction in rates between carload and less-than-carload shipments; and a steadily enlarging volume of the most elaborate special rules and descriptions. as for the mere increase in distinct commodities enumerated, in the east in there had come to be about , . the first official classification in the following year increased to , items; and by , in the eleventh issue, there were twice that number. the latest official classification, no. in , contained approximately , separate enumerations--not many more, in fact, than fifteen years earlier. the point of saturation, or else the limit of human ingenuity, seems to have been about reached some years ago. the same thing was true of the western classification. in this contained , items, representing an increase of about , over the number of commodities classified by name in . by , as the above figures show, it comprehended , , almost as many separate items, in fact, for less-than-carload lots as were recognized in trunk line territory. only in carload ratings is the western classification less extensive. the southern classification reflected somewhat simpler trade conditions prevalent south of the ohio river, by the relatively smaller number of articles enumerated; but it should be added that the number of exceptions--filling no less than pages in the latest issue--is indicative throughout of a lesser degree of standardization than is found elsewhere. perhaps the most striking feature of the southern system is the very small proportion of carload rates. but it should be noted in this connection that the basing point system afforded preference to market towns in any event; so that jobbers in such places did not need wholesale rates to the same degree. this phase of the matter will be elsewhere discussed.[ ] the second natural tendency in the development of classification above mentioned, is an increase in the number of separate ratings for large and small shipments. the normal growth of trade ought to make possible a steady increase in shipments by the carload, rather than by the box, barrel, or case; and the increase in the number of separate carload ratings--always, of course, at a reduced rate by comparison with less-than-carload lots--conforms territorially to the growth in the volume of trade. in , even in trunk line territory, only twenty-four commodities were accorded a special carload rate.[ ] by the number had increased to , and seven years later to . just before the passage of the act to regulate commerce there was no distinction between carload and small lots in eighty-five per cent. of the articles enumerated. a sudden change supervened in the first official classification issued after the federal act. the number of carload ratings was suddenly raised to , provoking a storm of protest from eastern shippers who resented this advantage accorded to jobbers in the west and south, because it enabled the latter to buy their supplies directly at wholesale. the dispute between dealers in the older and newer commercial centres came to a head in the so-called new york board of trade and transportation case of , elsewhere discussed. yet notwithstanding this protest of jobbers and manufacturers in eastern trade centres, who insisted that they should be permitted to compete on even terms with provincial jobbers by making their shipments direct from new york or boston in small lots as cheaply as the local jobber could buy them by the carload, the number of separate carload ratings steadily augmented year after year. by more than half of the articles enumerated in the official classification were allowed a lower rate for large shipments. present conditions are set forth by the statistics in the preceding paragraph. from these it appears that in trunk line territory nearly three-fourths of the commodities now enjoy carload ratings; while in the south, on the other hand, only about one-fifth of them make such distinction between carload and less-than-carload lots.[ ] one reason is evident; namely, that throughout a large part of the south few jobbers command a business of sufficient magnitude to make use of carload shipments. it is but recently, to take a specific illustration, that business has developed in volume sufficient to permit of the shipment of fly paper in carload lots. until such time no distinction between large and small shipments could well be made. conditions in the west, according to these figures, are intermediate between those in the east and the south. on the other hand, transcontinental business, as carried on in competition with ocean steamers, is almost entirely confined to shipment by the carload. the transcontinental classification is unique, therefore, in offering but very few opportunities for shipment by package, except under specially onerous conditions. the spread, in other words, between the two sorts of carriage operates most unfavorably by contrast upon the intermountain centres. denver, for example, under the western classification enjoys no carload rates, while competitors at san francisco have a large number.[ ] a much more elaborate code of rules and regulations having reference to local practices and conditions is the third accompaniment of the growth of trade.[ ] prior to , and again before the recent revival of interest in uniform classification, conditions had become intolerable in this regard. all sorts of details, covering relatively unimportant differences in conditions of carriage, bill of lading contracts, marking and packing, led to constant confusion and annoyance, especially in cases of shipment from one classification territory to another. an eastern shipper of iron bolts, having in mind that a gunny sack is equivalent to a box or barrel in the east, orders a small shipment in a bag to a far western point. he finds that bolts in bags under the rules of the western classification, are specially enumerated only for carload lots, and that he must pay a rate one class higher for such shipment than if contained in a barrel, box or keg. this difference in classification may more than absorb his profit. recent evidence before the interstate commerce commission,[ ] contained a striking illustration of such local diversity in rules and descriptions as applied to furniture. "_western class_: 'bank, store, saloon and office furniture, consisting of arm rails, back bar mirrors, bottle cases, chairs, counter-fittings, desk, foot rails, metal brackets for arm and foot rails, refrigerators, tables and work boards. note--door, window and bar screens, partitions, prescription cases, patent medicine cases, show cases, wall-cases, wainscoting, office railing and wooden mantels may be shipped with bank, store, saloon or office furniture in mixed carloads at third-class, minimum weight , lbs. "there is no such provision as this in the official classification. on the contrary, a shipment of that kind can only be made by figuring out the less-than-carload rate on each article, many of which take first, double first and even three times first ratings. "for example, mirrors over five feet in length are classified double first class in the official classification, while show cases, set up, take three times first. the natural result of this difference in classification has been to shut out competition of eastern dealers in these articles entirely in western classification territory." only in a customs tariff of the united states would one expect to find any such complexity as is discoverable in railway documents of this sort. the mere interpretation of such classification rules is often difficult; especially with reference to the mode of packing. suppose a tariff provides a certain rate on stamped metal ware in boxes, barrels or crates and, furthermore, fixes the charge fifty per cent, higher for shipment in bales, bags or bundles. if the consignment is encased in corrugated straw-board, which of the two rates applies? the difference in rates being so great, it becomes quite an item on a shipment of fifteen carloads from buffalo to the pacific coast.[ ] or it may be a question as to whether a crate for colorado cantaloupes is actually of such dimensions as to come in under a specially favorable commodity rate.[ ] the growing diversification of manufactures and trade is, of course, responsible for all three of the developments above indicated. not only the increasing refinement of commerce, but the technical nomenclature or trade jargon, necessary for the specific and accurate description of so many thousands of articles, have conspired to render these documents extremely cumbersome in the absence of a general revision and simplification. it is but natural that one item after another should be added, each bearing a particular name or being classified upon some new basis. a striking example of this increase of complexity was afforded by the cotton goods schedule in the southern classification. by there were upwards of thirty different names under which cotton cloth might be shipped. great complaint was occasioned, as well as the possibility of fraud, by underclassification, etc. most of these thirty names did not represent different values of goods, but in many instances were merely trade-marks of particular manufacturers. at the urgent request of the shippers this complicated schedule was superseded in by one comprehensive title of "cotton goods in the piece" irrespective of color, particular method of weaving or other subordinate details. * * * * * from the point of view of economic theory, the warrant for a differentiation of charges between various classes of commodities offered for transportation, may be considered primarily from two distinct points of view. the first is that of operation, which determines cost. the second is from the standpoint of traffic whereby the value of service, so-called, is measured. the reasonableness of making a distinction in freight rates according to the character of goods is easily apparent, as judged on the basis of cost of service. a multitude of factors enter into consideration at this point. the railway ought in self-protection to charge more for hauling a thing, if it actually costs it more in the long run to perform that service. some of the factors which enter into this cost were well put by the interstate commerce commission in .[ ] "whether commodities were crude, rough, or finished; liquid or dry; knocked down or set up; loose or in bulk; nested or in boxes, or otherwise packed; if vegetables, whether green or dry, desiccated or evaporated; the market value and shippers' representations as to their character; the cost of service, length and direction of haul; the season and manner of shipment; the space occupied and weight; whether in carload or less-than-carload lots; the volume of annual shipments to be calculated on; the sort of car required, whether flat, gondola, box, tank, or special; whether ice or heat must be furnished; the speed of trains necessary for perishable or otherwise rush goods; the risk of handling, either to the goods themselves or other property; the weights, actual and estimated; the carrier's risk or owner's release from damage or loss." instances of approval of classification on the basis of such cost of operation are frequently found in the decisions of the interstate commerce commission. for example, special service or equipment, as in the rapid transport of fresh vegetables and fruit from the south, justify the carriers in a specially high classification.[ ] rates on live hogs by comparison with rates on hog products, as well as on live cattle and dressed beef, have likewise been adjusted in terms of cost of carriage. a classification on hogs yielding a rate equal to two-thirds of that on hog products has been held equitably to represent the relative expense.[ ] even the indefinite element of risk has been accepted as justifying a higher classification for live stock as compared with other commodities.[ ] classification is less easy to defend from the standpoint of the traffic manager alone, than from that of the vice-president in charge of operation. value of service is at times difficult to understand. it is not at first sight reasonable, that of two commodities which cost the railway exactly the same amount to transport, one should be charged twice as much as the other. for example, the rate on anthracite coal is very much higher than upon soft coal; the rate upon wheat is higher than the rate upon some other foodstuffs; the rate upon fine woollen goods is very much higher than upon coarse cotton cloth, etc.[ ] it has been urged frequently that any discrimination in the freight rate on the basis of difference, either in the value of the commodity itself or in the value of the service rendered, is unreasonable and unjust. the case, however, is entirely analogous to that of discrimination between a long and short haul of the same goods. the principle is perfectly defensible in both cases, and has been accepted in legal decisions as well as by economic writers for many years. it is based upon the fact, which confronts one at every turn in a discussion of railway economics, that a large proportion of the expenses of a railway is independent of the amount of traffic. these fixed expenses must be met at all cost if the road is to remain solvent. they constitute a charge upon the entire traffic of the line, and are not susceptible of apportionment to each unit of transportation. any rate which will contribute a surplus, small or large, above the mere cost of transportation,--that is to say, above the expenses incident to this particular carriage,--and which thereby lessens by the amount of that excess the burden of the fixed charges remaining upon other traffic, is justifiable. but it is defensible only under two conditions. the first is that the goods at any higher rate will go by another route or not at all; and the second is that the effect may not be detrimental to the general course of business,--that is to say, that it is not opposed to the public welfare. thus a long haul at a lower rate than the rate charged for a shorter haul, if it must be lower in order to secure the business, constitutes no injustice to the local shipper; for the surplus remaining above the cost of haulage of that particular increment of freight lessens thereby the charge which must be made upon local freight for meeting interest on bonds, maintenance of way, and equipment expenses, etc., all of which charges, as we have seen, go on more or less independently of the traffic. on precisely the same grounds a discrimination of freight rates in favor of the cheaper commodity or the less valuable service may be defended. coal or sand may reasonably be carried at two and one-fourth mills per ton mile, while the road is coincidently charging three or four times as much for hauling dry goods or fine hardware. for if a quarter of a mill per ton mile can be earned above the expenses incident to hauling that sand or coal, it enables the rates on the dry goods or hardware to be maintained at a lower point than they otherwise would be. it is unnecessary to elaborate this principle further. it is everywhere accepted as valid. and it in a measure substantiates mavor's statement that "freight rates, like rent, are rather the effect of price movements than the cause of them." when tariffs are high because prices are high, we are afforded a fair illustration of value of service as an element in rate making. value of service, therefore, as affording a warrant for classification, has also been recognized in a number of interstate commerce decisions since . a relation between the grade of the charge and fluctuations in the market price of the commodity--in other words, charging what the traffic will bear--is at times discernible. it is to the interest of the public that carriers should be satisfied with relatively smaller profits from the transportation of commodities of low price which are in general demand.[ ] under these circumstances changes in price of such staple commodities as iron and steel or the lower priced grains, should be reflected in a corresponding modification of rates.[ ] akin to this is recognition of a relation in general between the value of a commodity and its classification. where, for example, articles representing different stages of manufacture have to be graded, it is but fair that the raw material, or the partly-made product should be graded lower than the finished article.[ ] similarly, articles which may fairly be substituted for one another ought to be classified with reference to their common market value.[ ] the relative value of commodities, as controlling classification, clearly governs the treatment of hard and soft coal.[ ] the practical difficulty, of course, is to know where to stop in admitting such considerations. shall "small-vein" soft coal, because it cannot compete on even terms with the "big-vein" product, be accepted for carriage on a more favored basis?[ ] some rather nice questions, both of business and public policy, would be suggested by such a precedent. different classification of the same commodity according to the use to which it may be put, is evidently an attempt to grade according to value rather than cost of service. automobile parts may come in from the wheel-maker at second-class rates, but when they go out to jobbing houses they are rated three times first class.[ ] a number of cases of this sort have come before the commission. shall cow peas, for example, be classed with corn and oats as agricultural products in one case, while according them a rating with commercial fertilizers in another, inasmuch as they may become an active agent in nitrogenizing soil?[ ] more recently the commission has declined to recognize the validity of classification on this basis. thus brick is always to be charged the same without regard to whether it is for fire, building or paving purposes.[ ] unusually low rates for steam coal used by carriers and open only to certain shippers for this or other particular purposes, likewise have been forbidden.[ ] the carriers have attempted to distinguish in grade between dried fruit and raisins. for the two industries call for relatively different protection against old-established competitors.[ ] as actually effected in practice, classification of freight seems to have been largely empirical--the result of long experience in sympathetically feeling the pulse of the business community. in the main, despite their denial of the validity of cost as an element in rate making, traffic managers and the interstate commerce commission seem to have been swayed more commonly by this consideration in the make-up of schedules. nevertheless, charging what the traffic will bear, as a principle, will suffice alone to explain many of the details of classification now in force. rates have been adjusted so as to secure the largest amount of business possible at the highest rate compatible with that volume. in other words, traffic managers have been mainly influenced by the consideration well stated by a witness before the united states industrial commission: that, "a freight tariff is made as it is, not because it ought to be that, but because it must be that." the procedure of classification committees seems, in other words, to have been mainly based upon considerations of revenue, and that, too, without any very positive evidence as to details.[ ] rule-of-thumb experience, therefore, is mainly represented in classifications of the present time; that is to say, an adjustment of freight rates upon different commodities to suit the commercial conditions which have happened to prevail at any given time. all of which emphasizes still further the need of scientific revision of these most important schedules, preferably by the carriers themselves, but by public authority if commercial inertia be too powerful to be overcome. the spread of a classification,--that is to say, the graduation of rates as between all kinds of goods, from fine silks to lime and sand, or from aeroplanes, "set up," to pig iron, "knocked down,"--is not constant. how shall this be theoretically justified? at first sight it would appear as if the relativity of charges between different things, as determined by cost or value of service, ought to remain fixed; that is to say, for example, that rates on raw hides fairly standing at one-half of the charge for shoes, ought to remain always and everywhere at this ratio. advocates of a rigid classification prescribed by public authority seem often to assume that this could be brought about. but a moment's consideration of the nature of a tariff as it has already been described will show that this is impossible. the spread or gradation, far from being fixed, must in the nature of things ever vary from place to place with change of trade conditions. the rate on raw hides relatively to that on shoes in new england--the centre of manufacture for footwear--should be very different at kansas city or chicago, whence the raw hides are derived: different alone, if for no other reason than because hides, moving east, progressively add the cost of carriage the farther they go; while with shoes the augmentation of value goes on in the opposite direction, geographically. true as between commodities, the same inconstancy of ratio also holds good as between different points along a given line. the rate from new york to durham, north carolina, for example, on first-class freight may be fifteen per cent. above that for freight of the second class; the second class maybe twenty per cent. above that of third class for this distance, etc.; yet the divergence between these same classes for another distance, as between new york and jacksonville, florida, may be quite different,--twenty per cent. between first and second class, twenty-seven per cent. between second and third, and so on. this is indeed rather a difficult matter to understand. this ever-changing spread of rates from place to place, as between different commodities and with all possible combinations of the two, may be clearly explained by reference to the diagram at page , showing the gradation of charges by distance for different goods. is it not plain that the spread between commodities at any given place is indicated by taking a vertical cross section of the diagram at that point? we have already seen that the curves, rising with increase of the distance, do so by different degrees. they cross and recross, making an intricate lace work of lines, because of the fact that while cost, in general, may increase more or less proportionately to distance, competition in its ever-varying forms, plays all sorts of pranks with the rates from point to point. the rate at any station is shown by the height of the curve on the vertical line for that place. even, however, if the curves never crossed, but rose by evenly spraying out from the point of shipment at one end of the line, as in the case of those for the three upper classes, their relative heights would constantly change with distance. but owing to the complexities of competition the onward and upward movement of the curves for particular commodities is usually much more erratic than this. some goods, like children, "get their growth" early. they soon attain the level of all the charge they can ever bear. others distribute their development over a much greater distance. sometimes, as we have observed, the coal curve will be above the wheat curve; sometimes it will be below. in other words, the vagaries of these sloping lines cause the vertical cross sections, indicative of spread, to vary from point to point all along the line. such a thing as constancy of ratio between classes or particular goods is, in the nature of transportation things, impossible. this is a matter of fundamental importance, especially in its bearing upon the proposition, soon to be considered, of substituting a single uniform classification under government authority for the present threefold system. moreover, it demonstrates the great commercial disturbance which might ensue from a general advance of freight rates by an indiscriminate transfer of commodities from lower to higher classes, such as was attempted in . such procedure is altogether illogical, and economically as upsetting to trade as a general "horizontal" increase or reduction of a customs tariff. * * * * * commodity rates as a means for enabling shippers to reach beyond their immediate territory and gain an entrance to new markets, form an entirely distinct variety of charges from those quoted in the classified tariffs. these are special rates made to suit particular contingencies,[ ] although, of course, under the law they must be filed with the interstate commerce commission in the same manner. such commodity rates, however, do not apply to persons but to localities. although granted to shippers in a particular place to build up an industry, the privilege of shipment under the same conditions is theoretically open, of course, to all others at that point. such commodity rates naturally apply to three sets of commercial conditions: they either govern large shipments for long distances, as in the case of live stock; or, if for short distances, they are confined to commodities of the very lowest grade, such as lime, sand or paving blocks; or else they are introduced to meet special conditions, such as an irregular market or rapidly fluctuating competitive circumstances, as in the case of goods for import or export. such special rates are almost invariably granted for carload lots alone. the reason is, naturally, that it would not be worth while to make an exception to the classified schedules for less than that amount. moreover, it should be observed, special rates of this sort are often introduced in order to meet changeable competition, such as by steamship lines engaged in export or import business. the classified ratings change but little, and oftentimes remain the same for many years. but in all cases where fluctuating conditions have to be met, commodity rates by the carload are likely to appear. this is one reason why the transcontinental tariffs, exposed to competition either by the cape horn or panama water routes, contain so large a proportion of commodity or carload ratings.[ ] exceptional or commodity rates are also commonly found in a territory like the southern states, where manufactures are struggling to maintain a foothold. if it appear that a new industry can maintain itself in competition with already established industries elsewhere only by a concession in charges, the traffic manager may elect to grant a commodity rate until such time as the industry has been placed firmly upon its feet. the tonnage moving under commodity rates in such circumstances may be much greater than that included under the classified schedules. attention has already been drawn to this fact, but it merits still further comment. probably three-fourths of the business of american railways is done under such special rates. this is apparently a higher proportion than rules in foreign countries with the possible exception of england. yet it is important to notice that the revenue obtained from such traffic is relatively much less than the tonnage, inasmuch as most commodity rates are confined to low-grade goods. whether such exceptions to the classified tariffs are on the increase or not is open to question. the evidence tends to show that special rates granted in connection with industrial development tend to increase up to a certain point. commodity rates, for example, are said to be much more important in the west than they were fifteen years ago.[ ] but, on the other hand, industrial conditions having once become standardized and assured, the natural disposition of the railways is to substitute regular schedules for a multiplicity of special rates. the dilemma is that such a special rate once allowed, is exceedingly difficult to withdraw. an earnest attempt was made by the trunk lines in to retire a large number of these commodity rates. it then appeared that the new york central & hudson river railroad had no less than , on file. opposition naturally arose to the cancellation of these--an opposition less easily overcome because of the complication that the withdrawal of commodity rates meant practically the abolition of carload ratings. such action, therefore, looking toward simplification of tariffs, threatened substantially to disturb all the existing commercial adjustments. nevertheless it is encouraging to note that a distinct reduction in the number of separate and independent rates put into effect is apparent since the recent extensions of federal authority. the following table, covering the tariffs officially filed at washington since , is proof positive of great improvement in this regard: freight schedules filed with the interstate commerce commission , , , , , , , a reduction of more than one half within five years is matter for public congratulation.[ ] special or commodity rates for the maintenance of equilibrium between competing markets fall naturally into several distinct groups.[ ] in the first of these, concerning commodity rates on grain and grain products and cotton, production takes place over a vast extent of territory and the products are marketed in places widely remote from one another. the problem under such circumstances is mainly that of securing equalization through different gateways.[ ] in the case of wheat it is a question first of concentration at primary markets, such as st. paul, kansas city, or chicago; and thereafter of carriage by competitive routes whether by the way of the gulf, by any of the various atlantic seaports or by the st. lawrence river. commodity rates are thus determined in this first class of cases mainly with references to competition of routes. on the other hand, when production is spread over a considerable territory, but when transportation is thereafter effected along converging lines to a fairly localized centre of manufacture, the problem of equalizing conditions, competitively, by the resort to commodity rates, has mainly to do with competitive conditions at the place of production. rates on wool to the highly localized markets of the world afford illustration of this second type of commodity rate problem.[ ] commodity rates upon fruits and vegetables to common markets from such widely separated sources of supply as florida and california or the equilibration of conditions of production for coal or lumber from the most widely scattered sources of supply, are perhaps the most difficult of all to settle satisfactorily. * * * * * the amount of reduction to be allowed on shipments by carload as against consignments in small lots is a nice and most perplexing problem in classification. attention has already been directed to the great increase in distinct carload ratings which has accompanied the development of trade. as affecting the interests of shippers in different parts of the country, the question came up almost immediately after the passage of the act to regulate commerce. in the so-called new york board of trade case,[ ] complaint was entered by eastern merchants against a great increase in the number of wholesale ratings in . more than five times as many commodities as before were abruptly given lower rates when shipped out of new york by the carload. inasmuch as a very large proportion of groceries and other supplies went by box or package, this reduction accorded on carload shipments greatly benefited the jobbers all through the west and south. under new conditions provincial middlemen could buy in carloads; and then re-distribute from local centres much more advantageously than before. the commission, called upon to decide as to the relative rights of these two classes of jobbers, attempted to bring about an adjustment which should, in the main, conform to the existing trade conditions; and yet should take into consideration the relative cost of service in the two cases. the competitive struggle between eastern and both southern and western dealers revealed in these early proceedings, has cropped out continually in official proceedings ever since that time. in a modified form the same question came to the front in connection with the general advance of freight rates in .[ ] the changes at this time were twofold--not only modifications in the number of carload ratings, but also an altered differential or spread between the charges for the two sorts of shipments. the question is a vital one to all the shipping interests of the country. it is one of the most troublesome elements in the establishment of a uniform classification for the united states as a whole. for inability to standardize reasonable differences between carload and small shipments, under the widely different trade conditions and practices in various sections of the country, is an almost insuperable difficulty in the way of that reform. the economic justice of allowing a carload shipper lower rates than one who ships in small lots is apparent, on account of the difference in the cost of such service to the railways. this has been recognized by the interstate commerce commission and the courts as beyond question. not only the amount of paying freight in relation to dead weight; but the cost of loading and unloading, of billing or collection and of adjusting damages--all of these elements of cost are noticeably less in the case of a full carload. turning from these considerations of cost to those prescribed by what may be called traffic principles, the difficulty in arriving at a just determination may be easily appreciated. glass battery jars in less-than-carload lots were at one time charged from new york to atlanta, georgia, second-class rates, namely ninety-eight cents per one hundred pounds. the same commodity when in carload shipments (not less than , pounds) was rated as fifth class; in which case the charge from new york to atlanta became sixty cents. here was a plain difference of thirty-eight cents per one hundred pounds--upward of sixty per cent. greater charge--to the small shipper whose business or capital was insufficient to warrant shipments to such an amount. two results of such discrimination are possible. in the first place, the large shipper is enabled to undersell his smaller competitor and perhaps to drive him out of that class of business. this may take place as between two dealers, both located in the south and buying their supplies from new york. the second result is that under such rates it is impossible for the manufacturer or northern jobber to sell direct from new york to the retailer in the south in competition with the provincial jobber there located, who ships his goods in at the cheap carload rate and distributes them thereafter. the problem thus concerns at the same time both the small local shipper or dealer, as against a more formidable provincial competitor; and also the remote jobbers as a class against the whole group of local middlemen. in the latter case, sometimes, as in the south, the question is still further complicated by a basing point system, under which the provincial jobber re-distributes to the country stores the goods which have already been shipped in on a low carload rate.[ ] and, locally, there is also the immanence in the south of water competition by sea and river to be kept in mind. boat charges are based upon space requirements rather than weight. this introduces further important considerations in fixing the spread of charges. the problem as it affects the manufacturer is akin to that concerning the jobber. originally, as a matter of fact, the carload reduction was essentially a manufacturers' rating, especially for goods in which the cost of raw material formed a large part of the price of the finished product. the relations of the carload rate on the former to the less-than-carload rate on the latter, it is obvious, may readily become an important element in industrial success. it is plain enough that carload charges under such circumstances should be substantially less than those upon small consignments; but that is far from affording a satisfactory answer to the question as to the proper spread or difference in charge to be allowed between the two. obviously, in any representation as to the reasonableness of the discount which shall be allowed on carloads, either on the basis of cost or of traffic principles, the interests of localities are commercially pitted one against another. the new york or chicago jobbing house desiring to sell its goods directly to the retailers throughout the west, wishes to have a relatively low rate on such small shipments as the retailers in lesser places alone can afford to purchase. participation in this distributing business, however, is resented by the middlemen located in western centres--omaha, denver, kansas city, etc.--who all insist that there should be so wide a difference between carload and less-than-carload rates that they may ship in their wholesale purchases at a low rate, and thus compete in their own territory with the manufacturer in the east or the jobber in new york who desires to sell direct.[ ] comparison of the classifications in different parts of the country reveals the influence of these local interests. the railways in official classification territory desire, of course, to build up the manufacturing and jobbing cities tributary to them. this can best be done by encouraging the growth of eastern jobbing centres, stimulated by as low rates for retail as for wholesale shipments. the railways in the western and southern territory, on the contrary, are obliged to consider the claims of their constituents, and to correspondingly minimize the advantages which foreign competitors of their local wholesale dealers enjoy. another consideration must also be kept in view, namely, that carload ratings can only be accorded when business has developed a magnitude sufficient to permit shipments of that size. the growth of the volume of business in general, therefore, might be normally expected to produce an increase in the proportion of carload ratings. experience, as we have seen, confirms this view. the normal development, then, is toward an increase in the number of lower rates quoted for carload lots. this is retarded only by the influence of the jobbers and manufacturers in the eastern trade centres, who insist that they shall be permitted to compete on even terms with provincial middlemen by making their shipments direct in small lots at rates approximately as low as the local jobbers pay on carload lots. this question is an exceedingly important one, requiring the balance of opposing interests to a nicety. not unfamiliar aspects of the problem of carload rating are revealed in a recent case before the interstate commerce commission, concerning milk rates in new england.[ ] and yet the normal order is reversed. usually, complaint is made of the denial of carload ratings. in this instance a plea was entered for a useable small unit rate as against the wholesale charge. the dispute was precipitated by a deadlock in between the three large boston milk contractors and the farmers' associations of several states. the producers, failing in their demand for an increased price, declined to furnish milk at the old figure. a famine resulted, which drew the attention of the public sharply to the system under which the metropolitan district of boston was supplied. the belief prevailed that the peculiar transportation conditions known as the "leased car system" which had existed for half a century, was mainly responsible for the tight monopoly of the milk supply. under this arrangement specially low charges were allowed to those who made shipments regularly by the carload. the massachusetts legislature, after an investigation, finally passed a law providing that no carrier should charge more for the transportation of milk by the can than was charged for larger quantities; and also that the same facilities, icing, for example, should be furnished in the one case as in the other. this settled the intrastate charges; but it left matters as before for all the other new england states contributing to the market. in this form the controversy was brought before the federal authorities, which exhaustively considered the methods of transportation as affecting all parties concerned. the contrast with the older elastic situation as to milk ratings in new york was sharp in many respects.[ ] this earlier controversy had to do mainly with the relative rights of nearby and distant producers. it was a question of the element of distance as affecting a local or territorial monopoly. the boston case, on the other hand, was rather a matter of carload ratings than of graduation of charges according to the length of the haul. the monopoly in this instance was that of contractors who had succeeded in getting entire control of the business by reason of the wide spread between charges for milk by the can and by the "leased car." shipments by the can from the independent farmer were rendered practically impossible since they had to be carried in the baggage car and were liable to spoil through lack of refrigeration. by contrast with the new york "open car system," the new england plan from the standpoint of cost of service alone seemed to offer several advantages. a caretaker, hired by the milk contractor and in constant personal touch with the farmers, exercised supervision both over milk and cans; this insured a heavier loading and more prompt service at terminals; resulted in the operators providing the best facilities for handling the supply; and allowed surplus milk to be directed to other uses without waste. a large investment had been made under this system, dependent upon its continuance for a reasonable return. on the other hand, denial of equally low rates with the same facilities for refrigeration to the single-can shipper, had undoubtedly fostered monopoly. the railways, conforming to the new massachusetts law above mentioned, offered to furnish and operate a car suitable for independent shippers on condition that six hundred cans should be tendered for shipment. but they denied obligation to furnish icing facilities, which latter, of course, were absolutely necessary for the success of the competitive service. to be sure, the leased car controlled by the contractors had been theoretically open to all, on condition of a small charge for icing; but the farmers contended that independent shippers ought not to be compelled thus to deliver over their property into the hands of competitors, with the accompanying exposure of their business relations. in the light of all these complications the commission decided that a _per_ can rate with the necessary refrigeration, and bearing a proper relation to the carload rate, ought to be established. and there the matter rests at this time. the problem of mixed carloads, also, is a difficult one to adjust to the needs of primary and secondary distributing points.[ ] it is oftentimes of vital importance to a small jobber to be able to make up a carload of miscellaneous packages. his business may not be large enough to permit him to enjoy the advantage of a carload rate on any single commodity. or the independent meat packer may be greatly benefited by a rule which permits him to bulk his soap and other by-products with other goods in securing a wholesale rate. why may a paper manufacturer not combine paper bags and wrapping paper in one territory as well as another? in this regard the rules in the west and south are naturally much less liberal than in the east. the privilege of mixture has been given only to a limited extent to jobbing and manufacturing centres by means of commodity tariffs. such mixture is usually restricted to analogous articles, such as agricultural implements, furniture or commodities intended to serve a joint purpose. the recent bitter protest against the discontinuance of the right to ship binder twine with agricultural implements is a case in point. on the other hand, eastern railways are a unit in opposing the bulking of separate shipments in carloads when owned by different shippers. the western and southern roads do not specially forbid it. all such differences come to the fore in any attempt to unify the practice of all the carriers of the country under a single set of regulations. * * * * * assuming the reasonableness of a difference in charges between carload and small shipments, where shall the dividing line as to size be drawn? this is the important and perplexing problem of minimum carload rates. turning to our excerpt from the western classification on page , it appears that , pounds of advertising matter, n. o. s. (not otherwise specified), must be shipped at one time in order to warrant a carload rate. under such circumstances a consignment of , pounds would be classified first instead of third class--the difference in rate varying according to distance, but in all cases being substantial. between st. louis and st. joseph, missouri, for example, the charge would be sixty instead of thirty-five cents per hundredweight. were the minimum weight for carloads but , pounds, as in the case of harvesters under the southern classification, this particular shipment of advertising matter would have enjoyed the full benefit of wholesale charges.[ ] from this instance it is apparent that the point at which the minimum carload weight falls, is of great importance in the determination of the actual rate--an importance also dependent, of course, upon the spread between carload and less-than-carload charges. it is also evident that minimum carload ratings may readily be used as a means of advancing charges. if, as appeared in a recent case,[ ] the minimum carload for wool in sacks was advanced between and from , to , pounds, the effect upon the shipper of a consignment of , pounds, for example, would be as truly an increase of charges as if the freight rates themselves had been actually advanced. for under the new schedule, he would be compelled to pay less-than-carload charges instead of the lower carload rates formerly granted. moreover, it is apparent that minimum carload weights may enter seriously into commercial competition in a number of ways. if , pounds of raw cotton by a special round-bale process can be loaded upon a standard car; when but , pounds of the ordinary square bales could be carried by the same equipment; it is evident that tariffs based upon the higher minimum would especially favor one set of competitors as against another.[ ] they might, in fact, be sufficient to turn the scale entirely in favor of the round-bale system throughout the south. granted, however, that such heavy loading makes for economy in operation, it is clear, nevertheless, that the carload minima must be so established as not to discriminate against the great bulk of shipments of the more common sort. all along the line one meets with such illustrations of the bearing of the minimum carload upon rivalry in business. large shippers are continually striving for a high minimum. the small shippers oppose it for the same reasons. in a similar way the interest of the manufacturer distributing his goods direct, in competition with middlemen, is vitally affected.[ ] car capacity, both as regards ability to load and carry economically, is the principal factor in the determination of minimum carload rates. it is largely a question of relative cost of operation.[ ] reference has already been made to the great economy incident to the use of large cars, whereby the paying load becomes less in proportion to the deadweight. this, of course, largely accounts for the steady increase in carload capacity in recent years. but the question is even more complicated. an adjustment must be made between two main groups of freight: first, that which is sufficiently heavy to be readily loaded to the minimum weight in ordinary cars; and, secondly, light and bulky goods of which the common car will contain but a small proportion in bulk of its truck capacity by weight. fortunately, we may evade the moot point, theoretically, as to whether a carrier is entitled to the same revenue from a given vehicle, whether it be loaded with heavy or light goods; that is to say, whether the rate ought properly to decrease per pound with increase in the density of the lading. this is a technical matter as to cost. but it carries certain implications of considerable importance commercially, as will shortly appear. the difficulty of conforming carload minima upon light and bulky articles to those on heavier goods has appeared with each attempt to standardize equipment. widely divergent rules in the three main classification territories still cause great confusion in this regard. there is a constant temptation to construct extra long or wide cars, particularly in the western states, in order to assist the manufacturers of such light and bulky products as furniture and agricultural machinery in their competition with dealers in the east, shipping under official classification requirements. in other words, the penalty carried under the rules as to minimum carloads, for the use of cars larger than the standard, has been much less in the west than in the east and south. the situation has been further complicated in some instances by the arbitrary action of state railway commissions. the experience in this regard is illuminating, as again showing the extreme delicacy of adjustment in such matters under the stress of commercial competition. the short-line distance between the missouri and mississippi rivers lies entirely within the state of missouri. it governs, as we have already seen,[ ] the entire rate structure in this part of the country. this commonwealth some years ago by law fixed a carload minimum of , pounds for furniture, agricultural implements and wagons.[ ] as it is not practicable to attain this minimum load on an ordinary standard car, the missouri shipper was stimulated to demand larger equipment in order that he might avail himself of the lower rate for carload lots. the local railways, accordingly, built such cars, which, of course, travelled far beyond the limits of this single commonwealth. this forced other western roads, in order to protect their clients in the same markets, to adopt a similar policy. the result is that extra large equipment is relatively more common throughout this territory; thereby conferring a distinct advantage over their eastern competitors upon western shippers of such light and bulky freight. in pursuance of this same protective policy, the western roads have also enforced distinctly favorable rules as to carload lots applied to several small cars instead of one large one.[ ] these troublesome details are given in the hope that they may show how far the ramification of trade competition extends. they re-enforce the conviction that any reform of classification is a matter of extreme difficulty; and, if undertaken at all, must be done under governmental compulsion and by a single universal reform, rather than by any attempt at piecemeal improvement. next to ability to load and carry, as a determinant factor in fixing minimum carload weights, the consuming capacity of the market must be considered. a reasonable minimum carload in the east might well be unfair in the west or south. an old-established factory in new england might satisfactorily use a quantity of raw material which in a carload lot would overwhelm a western or southern plant. thus it comes about that minimum weights on the same goods quite properly vary widely in different territories; being higher in the east than in the west, and least of all in the south. the problem, therefore, of standardizing carload rates throughout the country, unfortunately becomes exceedingly difficult. a compromise will fail to satisfy anybody; and, moreover, such a change of minimum carload weights at once necessitates a remodelling of the particular distance tariff to which it applies. this point was well illustrated in a recent case.[ ] a railway accepted for the same carriage at different times two carload shipments of lime from a given concern. on the one, a rate of thirty-four cents per one hundred pounds was based upon a minimum carload weight of , pounds. on the other twenty-nine cents was assessed upon a minimum of , pounds. the carrier alleged that these differences in rates per pound were entirely compatible in view of the difference in carload minima. it then appeared that these minima, especially with a perishable commodity like lime, varied considerably according to destination. large distributing centres were given low rates on high minima, while small towns, consuming relatively less, were best served by a lower carload minimum to which a higher rate per pound was applied. in other words, the close interrelation between the rate and the minimum was a matter of great commercial importance. the relation of carloads to consuming capacity of the market is an element in the trade policy of protection to clients extended by the railway. the difficulty of properly relating rates upon raw and finished products has already been discussed. carload minima must also be considered in this connection. why should , pounds be prescribed as the carload limit on corn to texas points, when the limit on corn-meal is only , pounds? evidently differences in loading capacity are inadequate as an explanation. nor can this be accounted for on the ground of any difference in mere cost of carriage. the explanation is purely commercial--springing from the competition between northern mills and mills located in texas, both making use of raw material from the same fields. a heavy carload minimum is entirely practicable on corn for the texas miller; but an equally heavy carload requirement on corn-meal would shut out the northern miller entirely from many local points. for the market at these small places is, of course, relatively restricted.[ ] there can be no doubt that every feature of classification, even down to the last minute details of carload minima, stands in such intimate relation to commercial competition, that to disturb it in one regard may entail the most far-reaching consequences. * * * * * ever since the constantly increasing elaboration of the three main classifications in force, with all the resulting inconsistencies and overlappings, has led to a persistent demand for the introduction of a single uniform classification for the entire country. soon after the passage of the original act to regulate commerce in , a resolution passed the house of representatives directing the prescription of such a classification. apparently the interstate commerce commission was fully alive to the difficulties of such an undertaking. the railways were induced to move in the matter, but to no purpose.[ ] this first abortive attempt reflected the mutual jealousies of competing roads, as well as the difficulties of suiting a single classification to the variety of local conditions existing throughout the country. all that was done was the recommendation of a "board of uniform freight classification," comprising two members from each of the important territorial bodies and including both the mexican and canadian carriers. changes were to be made by a two-thirds vote. jurisdiction over the tripartite division of territory, east, south and west, was to be assigned to district chairmen. final authority for the country at large was to be vested solely in the whole board. the absolute refusal of the new york central & hudson river to accede to this plan prevented its acceptance. apparently too many special or commodity rates were in force upon its line, in order to hold its powerful clients in markets all over the country, to make it practicable to adopt the scheme. efforts toward uniformity were renewed in , confined this time, however, to an attempt to merge the official and western classifications. but the same jealous regard of local interests in each territory, especially with reference to the treatment of carload ratings, once more proved an insuperable obstacle. the trunk lines insisted upon such specially low charges on small shipments as would enable manufacturers and jobbers in the east to hold their markets in remote districts in competition with rivals in the middle west. the issue raised in the new york board of trade case, previously discussed, led to the defeat of this plan. a notable revival of interest in uniform classification under governmental authority has taken place since the enactment of the mann-elkins amendments to the interstate commerce law in . an independent bill in congress to authorize the enforcement of such a schedule failed. the railways were stimulated, however, to make a further attempt to solve the difficulty.[ ] protracted sessions during - by a conference of five representatives from different parts of the country, known as the uniform classification committee, led to many concessions and compromises in favor of harmony. the committee expressed its belief that a uniform classification could be drawn up in time; but it emphasized the important point that all changes in classification must be accompanied by such advances or reductions in the distance tariffs as to insure the prevailing commercial adjustments. the latest advertisement of the difficulties of uniform classification took place in connection with the attempted introduction in of various amendments and reforms proposed by this uniform classification committee.[ ] acting in conjunction with the national association of railway commissioners, an earnest attempt seems to have been made to eliminate differences between the three great schedules. few articles were actually shifted from one class to another, the effort being concentrated upon the establishment of more uniform rules and descriptions. it was alleged by shippers that more often than otherwise, these changes had brought about an advance rather than a reduction of charges. it is difficult to decide as to this. but it is clear that progress in the direction of uniformity is taking place. for example, the minimum carload weight for paper, once varying greatly in different parts of the country, was fixed at an intermediate figure which fairly satisfied conflicting interests. many opportunities for personal discrimination were also eradicated. grading according to value, for instance, has in the past been a prolific source of abuse. candy at less than fifteen cents a pound rated third class, but if of higher value moving on first-class rates, offered an incentive to false declaration on the part of unscrupulous shippers which was very properly eliminated. abolition of the distinction between finished stationery and flat paper, put an end to possible underclassification in the same way. naturally the carriers in abolishing such fine distinctions, grade upward rather than downward. much objection was also made at this time to beneficial modification of the rules for mixed carload shipments. binder twine had for years been classified with ploughs and harvesters rather than with ropes and cordage. half a carload of agricultural machinery, therefore, with half a carload of twine, formerly moving under carload rates, was no longer, as proposed, to be allowed the privilege of mixing. similarly, abolition of the right to bunch wood-working and iron-working machinery naturally aroused protest. such details are here offered, not because of their intrinsic importance, but as illustrating the opposition on behalf of shippers to any movement toward uniformity, even in these minor details. what the force of this opposition would become, were propositions advanced for shifting thousands of articles bodily from one class to another, may be readily imagined. the experience thus far obtained, emphasizes the point that any considerable improvement must be carried through, if at all, by direct pressure from governmental authority, not upon the carriers alone _but upon the shippers as well_. the degree of complexity at the present day incident to overlapping and conflicting jurisdiction of the several state and railway classification committees and associations, may be best described by means of a few examples.[ ] traffic originating in southeastern freight association territory, except florida, destined to cities in trunk line territory is governed by the southern classification all the way if moving on through rates; if on local rates, the official classification applies north of the ohio river. from "green line territory"[ ] to pacific coast terminals, the southern classification governs to the mississippi or other gateways; the western classification beyond. but if it originate in louisiana or mississippi, the western classification governs all the way. from most places in tennessee, western classification rules govern all the way, "subject to commodity rates or less-than-carload consignments, classified not lower than fourth class." to wisconsin from points throughout the south, the southern classification governs all the way. but to minnesota, generally, southern rules govern to the ohio river crossing, while western rules apply to the balance of the trip; unless the goods move through trunk line territory by way of the virginia gateways, in which case the official classification is effective. these are only a few samples chosen from a large collection. is it any wonder that to the uninitiated, rate making under such conditions appears to be almost a superhuman task; and is it surprising that to the unscrupulous, such complicated conditions give rise to more or less successful attempts at evasion of published rates? the present threefold territorial division of the country, for the purposes of classification, naturally affords all sorts of possibilities in the way of veiled discrimination, not merely as between persons but as affecting the interests of different competing markets. not only is there liability to confusion, but the way is paved for all sorts of favoritism. wherever shipment is made from one classification territory to another, it is always possible to adjust the rates with a view to local advantage. for instance, one of the principal causes of complaint in the south is the advantage which nashville, tennessee, enjoys through having all of its rates from eastern and northern centres made upon the official classification. inasmuch as the rates under the southern classification are considerably higher, this operates to place other competing cities in the south under a distinct disability in competition with nashville. it is possible, therefore, for the louisville & nashville by this means to build up one community at the expense of another. the same device gives richmond, norfolk and the other virginian cities a great advantage over their competitors.[ ] again, rates from new york to memphis and new orleans are made upon the official classification, by whatever route; while to intermediate points, such as vicksburg, natchez, and baton rouge, they go on the rates prescribed by the southern classification, which are considerably higher. from new york to st. paul through chicago, shipments are made on the low rate basis of the official classification; while from chicago to st. paul they go under the western classification. from birmingham, alabama, to st. paul, the rates as far as chicago are based upon the southern schedule, and from thence on under the western. from san francisco to st. paul, the western classification prevails, unless the freight is carried under the commodity rates of the transcontinental schedule. the peculiar situation of nashville on shipments from the northeast has already been stated. this immediately complicates the rates from so-called cook county junctions--that is to say, from chicago territory. all consignments for the entire distance are governed by the southern classification. this, in face of the low official classification rates from trunk line territory, operates as a discrimination against chicago. even more complicated still are the combinations by which rates are made from local points in the north into the far southwest. and still farther complexity results from the existence, as already mentioned, in several parts of the country, such as iowa, illinois, georgia, etc., of state classifications, prescribed by the railway commissions. these, to be sure, are intended for application only to local rates. but by this means, the jobbing interests of the localities are protected, without at the same time giving consideration to an equitable adjustment as between all the remoter interests concerned.[ ] one of the primary advantages, therefore, from the unification of the three systems now existing, would be the possibility of readjusting not only definitely, but also equitably, the conflicting interests of various shippers and communities now tied up by these local arrangements. a recent case[ ] illustrates the bearing of classification rules upon competition in trade as between rival cities. chicago and most of the ohio river gateways enjoy a so-called "two-for-one-rule," permitting the application of carload rates on part carloads in excess of full car ladings. the complaint alleged that the denial of this privilege to indianapolis, whereby less-than-carload rates were charged on excess fractional carloads, unjustly discriminated against this city in the transportation of various light and bulky articles, such as vehicles and furniture, in competition for trade throughout the southwest. the difficulty arose from a conflict between rules in the western classification and the southwestern tariff committee, the latter being a subordinate body having jurisdiction over local practices in texas and the neighborhood. the rule in one case provided that where a car of sufficient capacity to accommodate light and bulky shipments could not be promptly furnished, two smaller cars would be provided, subject to wholesale rates, however the consignment was divided between the two cars. the commission declined to interfere in this case, anticipating the necessity for a thoroughgoing revision of all such rules which, it is obvious, almost invite manipulation of rates and improper discrimination. even a cursory examination of the classification a few years ago would bring to light all sorts of petty anomalies and inexplicable conflicts both of description and rates. most of these doubtless had some warrant originally, but it seems, indeed, as if many differences might be eliminated.[ ] for instance, "excelsior spring beds k. d. (knocked down), sawdust, and leather belting, are all in the second class of the official classification, when shipped in less-than-carload lots. in the western, only the belting and beds are in the second class, excelsior is third and sawdust fourth; while in the southern, beds are first class, belting second class, excelsior fifth class, and sawdust sixth." the recent complaint of the greater des moines committee[ ] disclosed an odd state of affairs under which old shoes were given a carload rating to des moines--an advantage not extended to new and unused footwear. why should axes be given carload rating in trunk line territory when the freight rate on hatchets is the same whether the shipments are in pound or , pound lots? is it logical that cotton piece goods from atlanta to boston should be differently classified from the same commodity exchanged between the same two cities in the opposite direction; or that goods should enter richmond, virginia, on one classification and go out on another? such anomalies are sometimes difficult to account for. their existence, however, despite the efforts of the carriers to eliminate them and to keep them eliminated, emphasizes strongly the need for such continual revision as shall more generally standardize practice. few carriers alone are able to withstand pressure from powerful shippers. it is difficult, in fact, even for the classification committees to oppose them. the strong hand of the government should enforce harmonious action to the fullest degree compatible with the growth of trade and conflicting commercial interests. it would help the railways even more than the shippers. and yet, bearing in mind all the disadvantages and evils of the present threefold system, the obstacles incident to the substitution of a single uniform classification for the united states grow more impressive as one examines them in detail. our vast territory and the extreme diversity of agricultural and industrial conditions render the problem far more difficult than in the compact and more homogeneous communities abroad. the primary advantage of the present system is that each of the three existing classifications more or less clearly reflects local trade conditions in its own territory. from the point of view of transportation, the same commodity may well be able to yield widely different proportions of the total revenue levied upon the traffic of that section. for example, cotton piece goods may be rated first class in western territory, fourth class in southern, second class less fifteen per cent. in official territory, and one-third of first class in the transcontinental tariffs. the reason for this diversity of treatment is that such cotton piece goods both in the south and the east are a staple product of the district. the rates, therefore, in each case are intended to foster the manufacture of cotton by according a relatively low freight rate upon its output. in the west, on the other hand, where no cotton is raised and no cotton mills exist, these goods become much more valuable, as classified, relative to other commodities. oranges or lemons in southern california are favored by almost commodity rates in order to foster the industry in that locality. but these citrus fruits reaching new england as a luxury, may consequently there be made to contribute a much larger proportion of the railways' revenue. the east, as a rule, classifies manufactured products relatively low, inasmuch as it is the home territory for industry of this sort. but these products, when they pass beyond the mississippi, rise almost automatically to a higher class as they increase in value to the community in which they are consumed. how different are the commercial conditions under which wool is rated east and west! in one territory it is distributed to manufacturers in small lots at way stations; in the other it moves long distances in solid carload lots. one further illustration may make our point clear. at first sight it is anomalous that in the east the rates on cattle and shoes between new york and boston are not widely different, namely nineteen cents and twenty-five cents, respectively, per one hundred pounds; while as between montana and chicago, the rate on shoes west bound is almost four times as great as the rate on cattle over the same haul eastward. in other words, rates on shoes in the east are at bed-rock, whereas in the west it is the cattle rates which are held at the lowest possible point. ton-mile rates on shoes, in other words, increase progressively toward the west, while ton-mile rates on cattle rise, contrariwise, in the direction of the stronghold of manufactures. the difference between the two, however, is in the fact that the upper level of what the traffic will bear is very much greater in the case of one than of the other. cattle, possibly, may never support more than seventy-five cents per hundredweight; while shoes can be moved under rates four times as high. obviously any mere compromise between divergent classifications, each based upon the protection of a local constituency against competition from outside its own territory, can hardly prove satisfactory. cotton piece goods, already instanced in this regard, if grouped as first class in the west, second class less fifteen per cent. in the east, and fourth class in the south, would hardly be adequately treated in a uniform classification for the entire country by averaging these different figures. for neither the west nor the south would be satisfied--the rating being too high to fully protect the southern mills against competitors in new england; nor, on the other hand, would the classification be sufficiently high in the west to yield the roads proportionately the revenue which goods of that character ought properly to contribute. the east, alone, lying intermediate between the other two, would not be greatly disturbed. the necessary outcome, it is predicted, of the adoption of any such average or uniform classification would be the quotation of exceptional commodity rates wherever the uniform classification was at variance with local interests. the increase in commodity ratings after --now happily reversed--may perhaps be in part accounted for in this way. any such stimulation of exceptional ratings would be a primary objection to any uniform classification for the united states as a whole. as one witness before the interstate commerce commission testified, "if ever there is a uniform classification, it will take a warehouse to hold the commodity tariffs." were such the case, far greater complexity and possible discrimination might exist than at the present time. a second equally important disadvantage of the prescription of a uniform classification arises from the fact, already noted, that classifications and distance tariffs are interlocking and interdependent. any change of the one involves a change of the other. therefore, a unification of the three existing classifications would render it necessary to overhaul from top to bottom the distance tariffs under which it was to be applied all over the country. for example, the rate from new york to atlanta, first class, being $ . , while the rate from new york to chicago, about the same distance, first class, was cents; to choose a first-class rating which should apply on both these lines would involve, not only a re-classification of the commodities, but also that the new rates applying upon first-class goods should be somewhere between $ . and cents. inasmuch as it had taken many years to reach the present adjustment, it seems hardly possible that a new arrangement could be made which would yield the railways a satisfactory return upon their traffic. the difficulty herein suggested was clearly instanced in the case of a comparison made between the southern classification and the uniform classification proposed in . the difficulty, and always a prominent one, was that the uniform classification was largely for carload lots, while the practice was entirely different in the old southern classification. moreover, most of the southern rates were given for goods "released"; that is to say, at the owner's risk. cotton piece goods, non-released, in less-than-carload lots from new york to atlanta, were charged sixty cents a hundredweight under the old southern classification. as reclassified in the suggested uniform classification, the rate was ninety-eight cents; and was given only for "released," that is to say, at owner's risk. the difference for the same commodity from louisville to atlanta was as fifty-six cents in the old southern, to ninety-two cents under the uniform. canned goods, not otherwise specified, "non-released," in less-than-carload lots from louisville to atlanta, were charged sixty-eight cents under the old southern classification. the new uniform classification, in order to yield the same revenue, made it necessary to charge a rate of eighty-one cents. differences of this kind were manifest in every one of the thousands of commodities. in other words, the adoption of a uniform classification meant to abolish by a stroke of the pen all the old rates which formerly existed. an entirely new schedule of rates would have had to be worked out; with the most uncertain results upon revenue and upon the rival commercial interests concerned. the magnitude of such a task can be scarcely appreciated. years would be required to reach a condition of relative stability once more. the close interdependence of classification and distance tariffs, as well as, incidentally, the differing spread of rates between various groups of goods under the three existing classification systems, are so fundamental in their bearing on reform that yet another illustration may not be out of place. it is given in the following table. this shows the rates from st. louis--standing at the meeting point of the main classification territories--for approximately equal distances out in three different directions. rates cents per lbs. southern classification-- st. louis to nashville a b ------------------------------ ( miles) official classification-- st. louis to louisville ---------------------- ( miles) ½ ½ ½ western classification-- st. louis to st. joseph a b c d e -------------------------------------- ( miles) ½ ½ ½ illinois classification-- st. louis to chicago ---------------------------------------------- ( miles) . . . . . . . . . one line penetrates southern territory miles to nashville; another goes eastward miles to louisville under official ratings; and the third extends westward miles to st. joseph, according to the schedules of the western classification. to these three there is also added a set of rates north bound under the illinois classification which applies between st. louis and chicago, miles. this last schedule, of course, is prescribed by the state railway commission. the first point to notice is the widely different number of groups in the four schedules. one is divided into eight classes; another into six; while the last two are each spread over ten subdivisions. secondly, bearing in mind that the three upper schedules govern approximately the same mileage, it will be noted that the official rate, first class, is only about two-thirds of that in the other two classes. if one then compares the sixth group in each case, an even greater divergence appears--the official rate being only about one-half of that in the other two cases. or, taking the lowest rates of all in the three upper schemes--always, be it noted, for equal mileages--it now appears that the official and the western descend to about the same figure, while the southern is arrested at a point more than twice as high. the primary significance of this showing is, of course, that a single uniform classification in which all of these three systems should be merged, means not merely a reassignment of all possible commodities in a given number of classes; but also a complete recasting of the distance tariffs as well. in other words, as aforesaid, freight rates being compounded of the two factors, distance charge and classification, all the delicate adjustments based upon commercial competition throughout the country, would be thrown into utter confusion; unless every modification of the grouping of classes were accompanied by a corresponding change in the rates per mile. a task sufficient indeed to appall the best of traffic experts! to complete the demonstration of the complexity of present arrangements, and yet of the danger incident to rudely disturbing them, one should apply the classified rates in the preceding paragraph for these equal hauls to particular commodities. take household goods in carloads, for example:-- cents per cent. of per lbs. first-class rate. st. louis to nashville st. louis to louisville . st. louis to st. joseph . st. louis to chicago . examination of the classification volumes thus assigns these the following rates in the three directions for equal distances out of st. louis. going east the charge would be . cents, going west . cents, and going south cents per pounds, respectively. the hodgepodge is made more manifest by the right hand column in this table, in which the percentage of first-class rates levied upon household goods in carloads under the four classifications is shown. under the official system, with the lowest first-class rates, as above noted, the rate on household goods is higher than under any of the other three. the result is that the relation between the rate on household goods and first-class goods is eighty-three per cent.; whereas in the other two cases it is substantially less than half this percentage. this single illustration, it is hoped, may drive home the conclusion that there is an immense mass of fortuitous and utterly unreasonable allocation under the classification systems as they are at present established.[ ] but whether that may be used as an argument in favor of substituting a single uniform classification is open to serious doubt. rather does it serve to emphasize the fact that rigid revision of the present scheme under federal control, perhaps, is more necessary than an experiment in uprooting the entire system. a few general conclusions may be drawn from this rather over-elaborate description of present conditions as to classification in the united states. it has been necessary, however, to reiterate details in order to make clear the extremely unsatisfactory situation at the present time. in fact, in this domain of classification, standardization of practice so characteristic of american rate making and operation in general, has noticeably lagged behind. whether it will be possible, in view of the wide extent of the country and the diversity of its climatic and commercial conditions, ever to devise a single uniform classification is open to serious doubt. even the interstate commerce commission, once a leader in the demand for uniformity, now concedes this fact in particular instances.[ ] thus:--"wool east of the mississippi is taken up at numerous points and is carried under comparatively light loading. what would be a fair classification there, would not be just in the far west, where the movement is almost entirely in carloads and where the actual loading is from two to three times that in official classification territory. we are of the opinion that wool should be classified under the western classification as second class, l. c. l., and fourth class, c. l.," etc. the experience of england is, of course, commonly cited as a precedent.[ ] in that little country the ever-increasing complexity of classification was precisely parallel to our own. from simple schedules for a few hundred articles, the number of items steadily increased until there were over , . at this point the government intervened; and after tedious and protracted sessions under the auspices of the board of trade in the whole schedule was brought down to , separate items. all the complicated and confusing rules were harmonized and many anomalies were cut out. certain it is that matters should be firmly taken in hand in this country in the same manner. the separate state classifications and hundreds of conflicting rules and jurisdictions should be eradicated. even if a single uniform classification be proved impracticable, as seems to me likely, it might still be possible to greatly simplify the present intolerable mix-up. there should be a representative of the interstate commerce commission on each of the classification committees, ready at all times to exert pressure for simplification and uniformity.[ ] the three main classification committees, supposing that they shall continue to exist, should interlock by exchange of representatives. the greater the reform flowing from the initiative of the carriers themselves, the better. thus, in time, matters may become sufficiently standardized as between the three main committees so that, under legal compulsion or otherwise, the final problem of uniformity may be tackled by recasting the whole body of tariffs and classifications together. but such a task at this writing appears almost superhuman. conditions may, of course, so shape themselves ultimately that it may be brought about. but, in the meantime, steady and persistent pressure should be exercised in the direction of this final goal. reform of classification practice is certainly the greatest need of the time in the transportation field. footnotes: [ ] . ripley, w. z.; report u.s. industrial commission, xix, pp. - . . interstate commerce commission, railways in the u. s. in . part ii. [fine data.] . acworth, w, m.; elements of railway economics, pp. - . . dunn, s. o.; uniform classification, _railway age gazette_, xlvii, pp. , , ,  . . hammond, m. b.; railway rate theories of the interstate commerce commission. . strombeck, j. f.; freight classification. (limited to classified schedules.) [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, . [ ] railways in the united states in , by the interstate commerce commission, . part ii, p. , gives much data on changes of classification of specific articles since . [ ] for the rate advances of , mainly effected by this means; u. s. industrial commission, ix, p. , and xix, p. . [ ] _cf._ underclassification as a means of rebating; p. , _supra_. [ ] the official railway guide of the united states gives the personnel of scores of these associations annually, with a definition of the territory of each. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] acworth's elements of railroad economics, p. , is best on england. _cf._ mcpherson's railroad freight rates, p. . [ ] _op. cit._, p. . [ ] cullom committee, testimony, p. . [ ] _railway age gazette_, september , , p. . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] railways in the united states in , i.c.c., , part ii, p. ; in the south in only per cent. of items had carload ratings; while in , per cent. were so favored, as compared with per cent. in trunk line territory and per cent. in the west. [ ] the intermountain rate cases are fully discussed at p. , _infra_. [ ] samuel o. dunn, _railway age gazette_, september , , p. , is best on this. cf. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] proposed rate advances november , . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . cf. also _idem_, , on articles too large to be loaded through the side door or too long to be loaded through the end window. [ ] hammond, railway rate theories, etc., , p. , analyzes interstate commerce decisions as to these. strombeck, freight classification, , pp. - , also discusses the various factors entering into cost. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, . but compare _idem_, , fixing the rate on stock cattle at per cent. of that for beef or fat cattle. how about cost of service here? [ ] _idem_, . [ ] _cf._ revenue per ton mile by commodities, p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_, on the significance of revenue per ton mile. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; _idem_, . on freight rates and prices compare rep. u. s. industrial commission, xix, p. , and chap. x, _infra_. [ ] hammond, railway rate theories, p. _et seq._ [ ] _ibid._, pp. and . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _freight_, february, , p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . but compare _idem_, , on stock and fat cattle; and _idem_, , on "big-vein" and "small-vein" coal, as above. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, . [ ] _idem_, . [ ] evidence before the interstate commerce commission and the industrial commission as to freight rate advances in proves this point. [ ] pp. , , etc., _supra_. [ ] sixteenth annual report i.c.c., ; i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, and . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ annual report, i.c.c., , p. . [ ] mcpherson, railroad freight rates, pp. - , is good on this. [ ] cotton pools in the south; _cf._ vol. ii. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , investigating the transportation of wool affords a fine example. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] united states industrial commission, xix, , p. . [ ] p. , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ testimony of wicker before the cullom committee in . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] samuel o. dunn, _railway age gazette_, september , , p.  . cf. i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; and _idem_, . [ ] the following wide variations as between the different classifications appear in these excerpts alone, varying from , to , lbs. in the southern classification, for instance. official classification-- scrap zinc , lbs. acetic acid in carboys , lbs. western classification-- advertising matter , lbs. advertising racks, iron , lbs. southern classification-- zinc concentrates , lbs. fodder shredders , lbs. harvesters , lbs. search through the entire list would doubtless disclose a far wider range, with coal or iron at , lbs. or more, and feathers at the foot of the list. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] changes in minimum carloads since by commodities are fully described in "railways in the united states in ," i.c.c., , part ii, p. . their relation to rate increases is evident. [ ] strombeck, classification, p. _et seq._; _railway age gazette_, june , , p. . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _railway age gazette_, september , , p. , samuel o. dunn, best treats this topic. [ ] _cf._ the "two-for-one" rule in the indianapolis case; i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; also _idem_, . [ ] i.c.c., . _cf._ also p. , _infra_. [ ] nothing was accomplished, beyond the preparation of a comprehensive report, under the chairmanship of j. w. midgley in june, . [ ] _railway age gazette_, may , , p. ; , p. . the whole movement is reflected in the proceedings of the national convention of state railroad commissioners year by year. [ ] _railway age gazette_, , pp. , , and . [ ] lectures by o. m. rogers, la salle extension university, chicago, . also railway traffic maps by w. a. shelton, chicago, . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] well brought out in the danville case, i.c.c. rep., and ; and in the complaint of wilmington, _idem_, . [ ] notable recent instances are afforded in the state rate cases now pending before the u. s. supreme court, and in the shreveport case, i.c.c. rep., ; both discussed in chapter xx. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] some are described in the reports of the u. s. industrial commission, ; and the senate (elkins) committee, . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] "in the southern classification plate glass, all sizes, in carloads, is rated third class; window glass and rough or ribbed glass, fifth class. in the western classification plate glass, outside measurement not exceeding united inches (that is, length and width added), is rated fourth class in carloads; window glass, and rough, rolled, or ribbed glass, fifth class. in the official classification plate glass, outside measurement not exceeding united inches, is rated fourth class in carloads; window glass and rough and ribbed glass, fifth class. thus it appears that in southern classification territory plate glass of ordinary size is rated higher than in official or western classification territories; and while in the two latter territories plate glass is rated one class higher than window glass, or rough or ribbed glass, in southern classification territory, plate glass is rated two classes higher than rough, ribbed, or window glass. as applied to the transportation from st. louis territory to memphis it results in payment by the consignee at memphis of rates on plate glass which are per cent. higher than the rates on window glass."-- i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] acworth, elements, etc., p. ; mcdermott, railways, p. ; ripley, railway problems, chap. xxv. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , is a fine instance of rectification of unjust classification rules on vehicles into the south from toledo, ohio. chapter x the trunk line rate system: a distance tariff conditions prevalent in ,  .--various elements distinguished,  .--the macgraham percentage plan,  .--bearing upon port differentials,  .--the final plan described,  .--competition at junction points,  .--independent transverse railways,  .--commercial competition,  .--limits of the plan,  .--central traffic association rules,  . the trunk line freight rate system effectively demonstrates certain principles in railway economics which are of great importance. the danger of arbitrary administrative interference without a full understanding of the intricacies of rate making, and at the same time the essential soundness of american railway practice in seeking independently to solve these complex problems by equitable means, are amply illustrated. the fallacy of certain objections to governmental control, on the other hand, is revealed with corresponding clearness. three principles in particular deserve mention in this connection. these are: ( ) that the element of distance should be a prime factor in the final adjustment of rates as between competing localities;[ ] ( ) that coöperation and agreement between competing carriers are essential to any comprehensively fair system; and ( ) that permanency and stability of rates are of equal importance with elasticity. that all three of these results have been voluntarily worked out in practice by the trunk lines is a tribute at once to the ability and fairness of their traffic officials. standards are thus established toward which the carriers in the west and south should strive, as soon as their local traffic conditions will permit, in an endeavor to promote good relations with the shipping and consuming public. that distance tariffs, modified in part to suit commercial conditions, are not only theoretically sound, but entirely practicable, this study aims to prove. the bogey of german rate schedules vanishes into thin air when it appears that the greatest railway companies in the united states have for years adopted the same principles in working out their tariffs. the long and short haul rule is here enforced, not alone as between various points on the _same_ line, but also as between points equally distant from a common destination on _different_ roads. thirty years ago the trunk lines conceded the principle, for the recognition of which the shippers of the west and south are now so vociferously clamoring before congress and the federal courts. this desirable end could never have been attained if the several competing companies had not been able to act in coöperation. the erroneous popular opinion that railway competition must be preserved in the public interest, had it been legally enforced in this territory a generation ago, would have prevented absolutely any comprehensive solution of the problem. until congress abandons this theory, and treats railways as essentially monopolistic, thereafter to be protected and maintained as _beneficent_ monopolies through adequate governmental supervision, the lesson of trunk line experience will not have been learned. and, finally, the interesting fact that for almost thirty years it has not been necessary to change either the main system or, in many instances, the actual rates charged thereunder, is an offset to the contention that success in railway operation is to be judged by the instability of rates, seeking to follow constantly the ups and downs of commercial conditions. certain modifications, especially in export and import traffic, or wherever water rates have to be made or met, are, of course, inevitable. but it is absurd to reason from this that railway tariffs in the main need to be continually jostled about at the behest of the shipping public. of course, if one railway changes its rates, all the rest must follow. that is the principal reason why many of our rate schedules have been as uncertain as the weather. but there is no reason why, if all parties in competition keep good faith and observe their tariffs, a schedule of class rates for domestic shipments should not remain practically constant. take the rates on raw cotton from mississippi river points like memphis to new england cities, for example. was any staple product ever subject to greater fluctuations in price than raw cotton, varying as it has in the last few years, from five to fifteen cents a pound? yet through it all, good years and bad, whether for the planter or the manufacturer, the freight rate has stood unchanged at fifty-five cents per hundredweight. in the same way, within the limits hereafter to be described, the trunk line rate system has endured for a generation. founded upon sound and, consequently, defensible principles, it has promoted good feeling between railway and shipper. and, if the changes of classification since had not been made, one may reasonably doubt whether the demand for federal legislation would have been any more insistent throughout the eastern central states than it now is in new england. * * * * * the causes leading to the adoption of a systematic rate scheme by the trunk lines acting jointly[ ] can be understood only in the light of the conditions existing about . the baltimore & ohio railroad had entered chicago in , after which time the most furious rate wars between the four trunk lines had been in progress. the main dependence of all these lines was still upon the grain traffic, and all of this was moving in one direction toward the seaboard. as late as , seventy-three per cent. of the trunk line tonnage east bound consisted of such commodities.[ ] moreover,--and this is a point of especial importance,--the bulk of this grain originated in the territory east of the mississippi and south of chicago. over four-fifths of the eastbound traffic came from the states of illinois, indiana, ohio, michigan, and pennsylvania. the great northwest and trans-mississippi territory was not yet opened up. wisconsin and iowa contributed only about ten per cent. of the eastbound tonnage, while over two-thirds of the westbound business did not pass beyond illinois.[ ] nor was the traffic concentrated as yet in the larger cities. mr. fink makes it clear that most of the business was gathered up by the trunk lines and their connections from small towns along the way. the modern problem of the great city in competition with the small towns was as yet unknown. the trunk lines had few feeders. only the main stems to chicago had been built. consequently these central states were served by a host of little cross lines, built as local enterprises, many of them radiating from chicago, cincinnati, toledo, or cleveland at right angles with the trunk lines, and, for the main part, engaged in an endeavor to open up their territories to water communication with the east by way of the lakes and the erie canal. rail rates, nominally at least, were still high, the rate first-class chicago to new york, for example, being about double its present figure; and the conditions of railway operation were such that water competition was a matter for grave concern. every change in the lake situation was at once reflected in the rail rates, violent dislocations at the opening and closing of navigation in the spring and fall being of especial importance. among these confusing elements in the problem of trunk line rate adjustment five distinct phases were prominent. in the first place the four trunk lines were a unit in opposition to the diversion of traffic to the great lakes and the erie canal. however much they might bicker with one another afterward,--apportionment of the rail business being a distinct feature of the problem,--their interests at the outset were identical respecting the necessity of holding the business on land. water competition by way of the lakes or the ohio river was a danger common to them all. the intensity of this pressure may be understood from the statement that the trunk lines were not even consulted in making the chicago-new york rate on which the western lines pro-rated. they had no voice in it, merely accepting the figure offered them by their connections into chicago.[ ] the second feature of the problem, namely, the division of the all-rail traffic among the competing carriers, is immaterial to the main question before us. thirdly, it was essential to the trunk lines to restrict and control the activities of the subsidiary cross lines and feeders, most of which, as has been said, were independent. many of these, aside from having a direct interest in their longest haul to a terminus on the lakes or the ohio river, had been built by local capital, and were administered in the interests of the lake cities or cincinnati and louisville. there was no unity whatever in their policies, and the most ridiculous wastes of transportation resulted. grain was literally meandering toward the east instead of moving by a direct route.[ ] joint through rates would be made by the most extraordinary chain of connecting links leading to the seaboard by very circuitous ways.[ ] a fourth evil, akin to this, consisted of the difficulty of maintaining through rates, not as among the trunk lines who might be made parties to a pool, but by reason of cut-throat competition between their western connections.[ ] the agents of these western lines would indiscriminately cut rates to or from points on their lines, and then expect their trunk line connections to accept a proportionate shrinkage of the joint through rate for their part of the haul. the weaker companies would, of course, be susceptible to such temptations in order to secure the business. no stable apportionment of this western traffic among the eastern lines would be possible until they could agree upon a fair rate for the trunk line haul, and rigidly adhere to it. and, finally, water competition, causing constant fluctuations in the lake and ohio river rates, while directly potent only at waterway points, was continually putting the through rates from these points out of line with the local rates from non-competitive inland centres. or, perhaps, the ohio river and lake rates would be out of joint with one another. the chicago basis, if applied to paducah, would make a rate on tobacco that would send it _via_ new orleans.[ ] products would go down the mississippi after the lakes had been closed by ice. a considerable amount of corn was certainly moved to new york by that route.[ ] some device for coordination of the through and local rates--or, as one might put it, for the distribution of the localized shock of water rate changes--was imperatively necessary. an ingenious rate clerk named macgraham, in the offices of the pennsylvania railroad, proposed a comprehensive scheme for meeting these difficulties which was first used for westbound rates on december, , . the chicago-new york rate was to constitute a basis, upon which all other rates were to be made in percentages, according to their relative distance from new york.[ ] thus, assuming chicago to be odd miles from new york, the rate from a point miles inland would be about sixty-six and two-thirds per cent. of the chicago rate, whatever that might be. whenever the lake rate at chicago changed, every other rate throughout trunk line territory would vary in due proportion. relativity of charges would thus be preserved. moreover, the shortest route, "worked or workable," was to be used in calculating the rates, the basic distance being about miles by the lake shore from chicago to dunkirk, ohio, and thence by the erie to new york. this would give compelling effect to distance as a factor, and would tend to penalize the roundabout carriage of goods. more than this, however, it would render the inland territory directly tributary to new york. from a point, for example, fifty or one hundred miles south of chicago, toledo, or cleveland, the local rate into those towns plus the through rate east to new york would always exceed the rate by a direct route east. for the hypothenuse of a triangle is clearly always shorter than the sum of the other sides. all shipping points equidistant from new york would enjoy equal rates, those rates at any time being determined by the state of water competition. this was a manifest advantage to the small inland centres, while the rate on the lake front was not affected. the trunk lines lost something, perhaps, through lower rates at intermediate points; but the gain through diversion of traffic from the lake to the rail lines more than compensated. for conditions were such in the summer of that the lake boats were prepared to carry grain for almost nothing. the railroads were helpless in such cases.[ ] the only real sufferers were the short, independent cross lines and the lake and river cities. of these, the former were reduced to a status of mere feeders or branches of the trunk lines. they were compelled to accede to the plan, however, by threatened refusal of the trunk lines to turn over business to them westbound, unless they reciprocated with their grain shipments eastbound.[ ] many of these lines became bankrupt later, and were absorbed by the larger companies.[ ] and, as for the cities unfavorably affected, the scheme based upon distance was so obviously fair that their protests were of no avail.[ ] the great contest between the trunk lines over the granting of differentials to philadelphia and baltimore, as against new york and boston, played a not unimportant part in the diplomacy leading to the acceptance of the macgraham system. the new york central, the lake shore, and the boston & albany roads, of course eagerly accepted it, because it promised aid in meeting the lake competition to which they were peculiarly exposed. the pennsylvania and the erie, lying considerably further from lake erie, would also be benefited, operating as they did in a territory naturally tributary to them, but exposed to drainage to the lakes by lateral lines. but the baltimore & ohio, ever since its entry into chicago in , had been a thorn in the flesh of the others. the territory along its line was so far from the lakes that it had little to fear from water competition at intermediate points between chicago and the seaboard. would it accept a plan primarily intended to meet a danger which, while injuring its powerful rivals, was of less consequence to itself? fortunately for the scheme, it was based upon the solid principle that distance was of preponderating influence in the adjustment of rates. the entire contention of the baltimore & ohio and the pennsylvania for a differential rate to baltimore and philadelphia below new york rested upon this same principle. the distance from chicago to the southern ports was less. consequently, they insisted, they were entitled to offer a lower rate. the macgraham scale and the port differentials were thus logically connected. they stood or fell together. the macgraham plan materially aided the baltimore & ohio in making good its demands.[ ] it was acceptable, therefore, by reason of this collateral advantage. another factor in the situation appealed to the pennsylvania and the baltimore & ohio. their lines to tide water were about seventy-five and one hundred miles shorter, respectively, than the shortest line to new york.[ ] in the division of the joint through rate between a chain of connecting railway lines this was of great advantage. it always aids the shorter line if pro-rating is based upon mileage. a feeder one hundred miles long pro-rating with a trunk line one thousand miles in length would be entitled to only one-eleventh of the total rate. were the trunk line only eight hundred miles long, the neutral road might claim one-ninth. this seemingly slight difference might mean several hundred thousand dollars more earnings to the neutral road or feeder, if it turned over its business to the short line.[ ] any emphasis upon distance as a general principle strengthened the baltimore & ohio in securing patronage from other roads by this means. the other trunk lines, through acceptance of the macgraham scale, conceded the distance principle, and with it, coincidently, the pro-rating practice. after three years' experience, the macgraham scale was readjusted to conform more closely to the cost of service principle. the plan, as thus revised, is the one still in force.[ ] it recognizes that railway charges should be proportioned to the length of haul, so far as actual costs of haulage are concerned; but it first eliminates those constant elements in cost which do not vary with distance. the original macgraham scale made no such distinctions. the expenses at terminals, such as loading and unloading, are, of course, entirely independent of the distance covered by the shipment. these, being determined roughly by experimentation, are first deducted from an assumed chicago rate. from the remainder the rate per mile by the shortest route to new york ( miles) is then calculated by simple division. this rate per mile is then applied to the distance to any intermediate point, and the terminal charge is again added. thus a rate is found which is reduced to a percentage of the original chicago base rate. for illustration[ ] cents per lbs. chicago to new york less fixed charges on both ends of the line -- the basis of rate for computation being the remainder, or using short line mileage miles, chicago to new york, would yield a rate per mile . short line mileage indianapolis to new york, miles, yields a rate of . plus six cents fixed charges, as above, makes . the percentage of new york rate being per cent. which is the present percentage basis indianapolis to new york short line mileage frankfort, indiana, to new york is miles, which would yield at the rate of . cents per mile plus terminal charges -- which is per cent. of cents [illustration: [_facing page _]] the revised system provides in theory for an absolutely constant rate per ton mile. it is a rigid mileage tariff in every respect. the original macgraham scale had been so in theory, but not in practice. as amended in conformity with a sound economic principle, it had, moreover, one important practical advantage over the original scale. it yielded more revenue at all the intermediate points.[ ] local rates would be higher as thus calculated than they were originally. it would be unjust to ascribe undue importance to this motive on the part of the roads in the adoption of the new system. that the plan yielded additional revenue, while obviously more just in theory, was naturally no objection to its acceptance. the fruits of all this process of adjustment are depicted upon the accompanying diagram. viewing it in a large way, and reserving details for later consideration, we may compare it to a topographical contour map. the several rate zones are thus analogous to a series of levels or steps rising from east to west. our cross section of these along a line from pittsburg to burlington, iowa, makes this relation plain. another cross section at right angles to the first from louisville, kentucky, to lansing, michigan, and beyond, shows how these levels are arranged in a plane from north to south. these steps form a sort of irregular amphitheatre opening toward the east, with its main axis lying in a direction slightly south of west toward st. louis. or, more correctly, these rate zones, pursuing our analogy to a topographical contour map, indicate a broad valley opening toward the east. along the bottom of this freight-rate valley lie the great direct trunk lines converging from chicago and st. louis. throughout the state of illinois the valley opens up onto a plateau, somewhat grooved in the middle at peoria, where the direct lines from the west cross a neutral field tributary neither to chicago nor st. louis exclusively. [illustration: cross-section through louisville and lansing] [illustration: cross-section from burlington to pittsburgh] this general description harmonizes with the apt figure used by that master mind in railway economics, albert fink. speaking of this situation, he says, "the trunk lines are nothing but great arteries of commerce, like rivers, only with this difference: the rivers never run across each other, the territory from which they draw their supplies is distinct and well defined." since his time, by reason of coöperative action for a generation, the confusing maze of railway lines has now been reduced to a single comprehensive system. cross-currents of trade hither and thither have been united or articulated in such a way as, speaking in terms of freight charges, to cause the great internal commerce of the country to flow downhill toward the seaboard in an orderly and reasonable way. the inequalities incident to commercial competition have been modified, or, to revert to our original figure, eroded; so that one may literally speak of the products of the country as flowing, like rivers, in more or less natural channels over the railway lines from the great interior basin towards the atlantic seaboard. the mathematical precision of the method of computation heretofore described, while theoretically applicable to a series of parallel roads in a flat country, free from either water competition, the competition of cross railway lines, or the competition of towns and cities of unequal size and importance, obviously requires modification to suit the actual traffic conditions in this densely populated trunk line territory. the process of adjustment has been gradual and necessarily tentative. every influence brought to bear has been subversive of systematic arrangement, tending, that is to say, to amend the scheme out of all semblance to mathematical order. after reading volumes of the proceedings of the joint rate committee, filled with petitions of railways, towns, and individuals for exception to the general rules, one is surprised to find that, after all, the scheme is so well ordered as it is. it has been held true only by rigid adherence to the rule that by the shortest "workable and worked route" no intermediate place shall be charged more than is charged to any point beyond. in other words, the long and short haul principle is consistently observed. space does not permit a discussion of all of the factors which have tended to modify the original simple scheme. three alone may be considered as illustrative of the rest. these are: ( ) the effect of railway competition at the important junction points; ( ) the influence of the independent cross lines of railway; and ( ) commercial competition between producing or distributing centres. the effect of railway competition at junction points is revealed at once, upon inspection of the map, by the general law that the boundary line of zones lies immediately west of the large cities. notice the location of cleveland; warren, pennsylvania; newark, ohio; dayton, fort wayne, detroit, port huron, cincinnati, indianapolis, louisville, lansing, logansport, terre haute, peoria, and decatur. columbus, toledo, and evansville, indiana, are about the only exceptions. in nearly every case the theoretical zone boundary has been shifted in such a way that the rate rises just west of the important competitive point. the reason is obvious. rates being held down at these points, and no greater rate being possible at any other point further east, conditions must be equalized _upwards_, immediately the depressing influence of competition is removed. each zone level is of necessity an average of a theoretic constantly rising scale from east to west. places immediately west of an important junction point are raised somewhat above their theoretical grade as a compensation for those places on the westerly side of each zone whose rate is held down below their theoretical level by the exigency of competition at the next large town. or, to be specific, indianapolis may hold down the rate to ninety-three per cent. of the chicago rate farther west than otherwise would be the case. in fact, by reason of its paramount importance as a railway centre, it has held down the rate so far west that for purposes of equalization the rate west of it immediately jumps to one hundred per cent. for, as will be observed, on inspection of the map, the - per cent. zone is interrupted at this point; the - per cent. zone being extended unduly far west and the one hundred per cent. zone being extended inordinately far east, until the two meet just west of indianapolis. detailed study of the schedules and maps will reveal many similar instances. the converse of the proposition that important junction points lie near the western zone boundaries is found in the fact that, where competition is absent, the zones sweep much farther east than mathematically would be prescribed. in other words, wherever competition is less keen, the percentage rates remain high. were competition entirely uniform in its geographical distribution, the several zones would be parallel, sweeping evenly clear across the map. illustration of this circumstance will be found in the extension of the per cent. zone far to the east, along the ohio river, in fact nearly to parkersburg, west virginia; or, again, in the per cent. territory which extends nearly to louisville. this latter rate has been recently amended, as will be shown later; but for many years continued, as here represented, abnormally far to the east. in both these instances the railway facilities along the river are monopolized by the baltimore & ohio as a trunk line. the only competition is due to the cincinnati, hamilton & dayton and norfolk & western, both of which work their traffic from new york north. the population and traffic density being at the same time low, a relatively high level of rates has resulted. sometimes, also, it may happen that in these outlying regions the shortest line "workable and worked" to the seaboard may not be due east, but may proceed north until a junction with a trunk line can be effected.[ ] the influence of independent transverse lines of railway has been of great importance in shifting the zone boundaries from their theoretical location to conform to practical requirements. study of the map permits a second important generalization. not only does the boundary of the zones usually lie just west of large cities, the course of the boundary at the same time frequently follows the location of important independent transverse railways. the zone boundary, in other words, lies just west of the cross railway line. for example, the western boundary of the per cent. chicago zone, after leaving a point on the illinois central, is defined from north to south by the course of the chicago & eastern illinois railroad, and below terre haute by the line of the terre haute & evansville. similarly, practical exigencies determined the odd shape of the per cent. zone, formed like a great distorted boot leg. the western boundary of this per cent. zone from peoria south closely follows the peoria, decatur & evansville road nearly to the ohio river. similarly conditioned by railway lines are the boundaries north and south of indianapolis, and especially north and south of fort wayne, indiana. in other cases where the transverse lines do not cross nearly at right angles with the trunk line, the zone boundary will follow one railway for some distance, and then skip across to another railway whose general direction is more nearly perpendicular to the trunk lines. thus, from toledo to lima, ohio, the western boundary of the - per cent. zone follows the cincinnati, hamilton & dayton, cutting the baltimore & ohio and pennsylvania trunk lines at right angles; and then it jumps across to the east until it strikes the sweep of the toledo & ohio central, which carries it down almost to columbus. similarly, the western boundary of the - / per cent. zone follows the line of the pittsburg & western north from warren, in order that that line may participate in new york business by working its line north _via_ painesville on the lake shore. why is it apparently necessary that these zone boundaries should follow along just west of the cross railway lines? the reason may be made clear by a concrete instance. originally and until about , louisville, kentucky, instead of having the per cent. chicago rate, as at present, enjoyed, on the base of its distance from new york, about or per cent. of the chicago rate. in other words, the - per cent. zone shown on our map as interrupted at indianapolis, partly for reasons already mentioned, originally swept across the map all the way from grand rapids to the ohio river. this territory from chicago south is served by the monon railway (chicago, indianapolis & louisville), whose line, not fully indicated on the map, thus lay partly in per cent., partly in per cent., and partly in per cent. territory. an important part of the traffic of the monon, as well as of the other independent north and south lines, consists of business coming in from the east at the north and worked south, or coming in from the east at the south and worked north. or, in other words, this line subsisted in part upon indirectly routed tonnage from new york, let us say, destined for louisville, but reaching it by way of chicago junction points. freight thus hauled around two sides of a triangle, instead of by a direct line, as described in chapter viii,[ ] constitutes one of the important sources of waste of transportation energy. the monon by such tactics is able to participate in, and to profit by, a much larger volume of through business. that is to say, its proportion of the entire haul is much greater than it would be if the business moved by the shortest line. moreover, when indirectly routed, the monon, often securing for its trunk line connections tonnage for the east which would naturally go to other competitive trunk lines, is able to exact a higher pro-rating than even its extended lateral haul would justify on a strictly distance basis. such circumstances always greatly enhance the profitableness of lateral hauls to minor connecting roads. it is obvious that much of this transverse haulage would be impossible wherever the lateral railway lines traverse different zones of rates. it might haul traffic from its per cent. end to connect at its per cent. end with a trunk line for the east, but not in the opposite direction. the monon, always in a position to disturb the rate situation, through connection with all the competing trunk lines, insisted upon equality of rates all along its lines. to do this, the per cent. zone had to be extended east to indianapolis. thereafter the monon could profitably "work its line in both directions." this illustration will serve to show why ordinarily the zone boundaries conform as closely as possible to the course of the lateral roads. the confusion which would be engendered, were the peoria, decatur & evansville to be partly in the per cent. and partly in higher percentage territory, while still insisting upon its right to work its line both ways, can readily be imagined. to avoid such difficulties, the present modification of strictly distance percentages had to be adopted. the third dominant influence, above mentioned, in modifying the mathematical precision of percentages based alone upon the distance from new york, has been the commercial competition of traders and cities one with another. the aim of all rate adjustment should be, and in fact, so far as possible in american railway practice, is to equalize conditions, so that the widest possible market shall result. producers or traders in each city demand access on even terms to all territory naturally tributary to them by reason of their geographical location. each particular railroad sees to it that its own patrons and cities are "held" in all parts of these markets, as against the efforts of competing railways to promote the welfare of their own constituencies. consequently, the proceedings of the joint rate committee are filled with discussions as to the advisability of amending general rules here and there to suit local conditions. minor changes are continually being effected. grand rapids, michigan, once in per cent. territory, asked for a per cent. rate, and in secured a reduction to per cent.[ ] louisville, once in per cent. territory, is now a per cent. point. shifts in both directions have frequently occurred, as the following table of percentages shows:[ ]-- -------------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------- basis | detroit | toledo | sandusky | cleveland -------------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------- april , | | | | june , [ ] | . | . | | . april , | . [ ]| . | . | present ( ) | | | | -------------------------+---------+--------+----------+----------- a number of changes were made in in order to conform to the long and short haul clause. flint, michigan, for example, was reduced from to per cent.; ashtabula, ohio, from to ; while springfield, ohio, was raised from to per cent.[ ] detroit has been most active in prosecuting its claims for a reduced percentage.[ ] but the interstate commerce commission in upheld the present status. a recent minor change is indicative of the forces which must be dealt with. evansville, indiana, on the ohio river, according to our map, is a per cent. point. vincennes, indiana, lies just north of it in the per cent. triangular zone. since this plate was made, evansville has been reduced to and vincennes to per cent., respectively. this is substantially, i am told, on a mileage basis. the reason for the amendment is that certain important industries are located at these points. either to favor them specially or to remove a pre-existing disability in competition with other towns, this change was insisted upon by the railways interested in their prosperity. by tentative processes of adjustment like this the present general relations have been established.[ ] they have been kept constant only by the steady resistance of the majority of carriers to action which is in the interest of a few. judged by results, it would appear that the broad view has, in the main, prevailed. the actual situation resulting from the above-named causes, it should be observed, is not quite as simple as our map makes it appear. most of the zones are in fact subdivided into minor gradations. thus the closely dotted zone designated " - incl." is constituted of an per cent. area up as far as the railway from dayton to indianapolis; while the rest of it is broken up into little , , and per cent. areas, respectively. the same thing occurs elsewhere. our map generalizes the results, in an effort to bring out the zone relationships as fully as is technically possible in a single diagram. certain of the zones, however, such as the , - / , , and per cent. territories, are bounded exactly as here represented. as for direction, the original scale was intended only for eastbound traffic. westbound rates were lower and more regular. but the system worked so well that it was soon extended to cover the westbound business. owing to difficulties of routing, in order to transport by the shortest line into chicago, these westbound percentages were often quite different from those in the opposite direction.[ ] detroit, for instance, for some time prior to , enjoyed a per cent. rate west bound, while its percentage in the opposite direction was .[ ] but, after the passage of the act to regulate commerce in , efforts were made to harmonize the differences.[ ] at the present time the rates east and west are in most cases the same. at this point it is essential to understand the limitations within which this percentage system is confined. it does not necessarily determine the exact rate to be applied in practice from every little station in trunk line territory. for, in the first place, it concerns only the so-called common points; that is to say, points where competition of two or more carriers is effective. purely local stations are charged an "arbitrary" into the nearest common point.[ ] but, inasmuch as throughout this much be-railroaded country most shippers are less than twenty miles from the next line,[ ] and since, moreover, the arbitrary can never raise the local rate above the rate to the next common point beyond,[ ] the scale is practically effective everywhere. a more important consideration is the fact that this scale, even for common points, does not positively fix the rate. it merely provides a minimum below which rates shall not be reduced, except by authority of the roads acting jointly. it is a minimum, not a maximum, schedule in every sense. its provisions are never promulgated in the form of tariffs as such. they are rarely known to shippers, but serve only as a guide to traffic officials. the interstate commerce commission, in sanctioning the system, has expressly recognized this fact.[ ] moreover, these percentage rates applied at first to "classified" tonnage. they were soon, however, extended to include the great bulk of commodity or special rates which are independently made. and i am informed by the chairman of the trunk line association that the macgraham table was applied to special rates--such as sugar, coffee and molasses--as early as  . other exceptions to the applicability of this percentage system deserve mention, although they are of relative unimportance. principal among these is the confusion engendered in illinois territory through the entry of the western lines into chicago. throughout their constituencies, by reason of the sparse population, freedom from competition, inequality of east, and westbound tonnage, and low-grade freight, western railroad rates per ton mile are very much higher than on the trunk lines. moreover, they are naturally desirous of as long a haul as possible, namely into chicago. to turn over their local illinois traffic to the trunk line feeders exposes them financially to the same losses as those above mentioned in the case of lateral independent lines further east. but these western lines, being stronger, have insisted upon recognition of their claims to a proportion of the through rate which would at least "pay for their axle grease."[ ] the result is that throughout illinois, especially in the north and toward the mississippi, the distance principle is considerably distorted, as our map clearly shows. the percentage system practically excludes freight "from beyond," the rates on that being determined by other rules.[ ] east of the central traffic association territory shown on our map the same percentage system is extended to points in new york and pennsylvania.[ ] suppose, for example, the rate were desired from columbus, ohio, to albany, new york, or any other point between buffalo and new york city. the rate from columbus to new york city would first be determined as a percentage of the chicago-new york rate, under the system already described. then from columbus to albany the rate would be prescribed as a new percentage of this percentage. the initial western points, however, are not determined individually, but are comprehended in large groups. thus the rate from all points in the - per cent. territory, shown on our map, to albany, new york, is per cent. of what the rate would be from those points to new york city. syracuse has and utica per cent., respectively, of the rate from any point in this - per cent. territory. from points beyond chicago, taking, that is to say, more than per cent. of the new york-chicago rate, the percentages of the rate to new york city applying to albany, syracuse, and utica are correspondingly modified to , , and , respectively. other complications, such as the addition of arbitraries to boston and new england points or the subtraction of differentials to baltimore and philadelphia, follow. but, in the main, conforming always to the long and short haul principle,[ ] rates to all local stations are prescribed within narrow limits by means of a small number of these fixed points. the system is the same, although details may vary. everything interlocks and is harmoniously related on the distance basis. rates from one point to another within the central traffic association territory shown on our map now alone remain for consideration. these cannot, of course, be adjusted on a percentage basis, inasmuch as such traffic may not be east or west bound at all, but may consist of shipments in any direction. there is no logical reason why they should interlock with east or westbound through rates when the traffic is, perhaps, moving locally north and south. nevertheless, the long and short haul principle is observed with the same fidelity. a rigid distance tariff for short hauls, the limits of which are prescribed by the rates for long hauls under the macgraham schedule, prevails.[ ] for distances up to miles this conforms closely to the rates originally prescribed by the ohio legislature. for greater distances it is much lower than the ohio tariff.[ ] thus the ohio rate for miles is . cents, while the c. f. a. (central freight association) scale is only cents. the ohio scale for miles is cents, the c. f. a. rate for the same distance is only cents. thus it appears that this c. f. a. tariff, applicable to interstate business and beyond control of any state legislature, has, in reality, been voluntarily adopted by the interested railroads. the tariff is only a minimum scale, below which the roads agree not to reduce rates, and above which the actual rates often rise.[ ] nevertheless, the fact remains that these rates, according to distance, are so much lower than the illinois railroad commission's tariff that chicago and other distributing centres throughout the state of illinois claim that it works great hardship to them. the situation in illinois is geographically peculiar. its great commercial centre is in the extreme northeastern corner, while, at the same time, the greatest extension of the state is north and south. these circumstances, coupled with an interstate (c. f. a.) tariff lower than the illinois official tariff under which chicago merchants must ship out their goods, enable detroit, indianapolis, and cincinnati to undersell chicago in its own state. chicago can be equalized there only by special or secret rates.[ ] other local centres, like quincy, illinois, joined with chicago in this complaint to the illinois railroad commission that their rates were too high.[ ] think of it! shippers complaining that a government rate was too high, and requesting that the railway tariff (c. f. a. schedule) be adopted in its place! is that not evidence that reasonable treatment of its shippers by railway companies is appreciated by the public? without undue extension further details of this interesting controversy cannot be given. it will suffice to state that in december, , the illinois railroad commission ordered a reduction of its official schedule by per cent., in an attempt to reduce its rates to conform more nearly to the c. f. a. railway tariff. the evils incident upon two conflicting governmental authorities, state and federal, each attempting to regulate rates independently, are clearly indicated in the preceding paragraph. the interstate commerce commission has been brought flatly up against them in one of its recent texas cases.[ ] local and interstate rates must inevitably be adjusted with reference to one another, so complex are the conditions of commercial competition. while the plain people remained unsatisfied that any real federal regulative power existed, it was inevitable that the number of arbitrary state tariffs, like those of illinois and, more recently, of missouri, should tend to increase. but now since the amplified federal powers under the laws of and , any clash between the two must result in limitations placed upon state activity. footnotes: [ ] compare chap. iv, p. , _supra_. [ ] the literature on the subject is scanty. much of the material has necessarily been gathered in the field by conference with traffic officials and others. my hearty thanks are due primarily to paul p. rainer, esq., chief of the joint rate inspection bureau at chicago, for his willingness to impart such explanation of this complicated matter as the delicate responsibilities of his important post permit. the map published herewith, while in part prepared from the actual percentage tables, with his permission and that of several important trunk line officials concerned, has been checked and corrected by his official copyright map of january , . while the scheme of graphic representation is entirely different, the facts represented are the same. i am also especially indebted to h. c. barlow, esq., formerly president of the terre haute & evansville railroad and now director of the chicago commercial association, and to j. w. midgley, esq., for many years one of the trunk line commissioners, for assistance in many ways. the principal references consulted are included in the following list: . windom committee report, officially known as report of the select committee on transportation routes to the seaboard, d congress, st session, senate report no. , vol. i, pp. - ; vol. ii, pp. , ,  . . hepburn committee report, new york state, special committee on railroads, vols., pp. - , - . . cullom committee report, th congress, st session, senate report no. , vol. ii, p.  . . typewritten record, opinion, etc., of the interstate commerce commission in detroit board of trade _v._ grand trunk, etc., railways. also the toledo case ( ) and that of pratt lumber company ( ), i.c.c. reports, vol. ii, p. ; vol. v, p. ; and vol. x, p.  . . senate report on the transportation interests of the united states and canada, st congress, st session, senate report no. , pp. , - . . cincinnati freight bureau case. copy of record before the interstate commerce commission, etc., united states circuit court for southern district of ohio, in equity no. , vol. i, pp. - . (reprint.) . report of united states industrial commission, vol. iv, pp. - . . elkins committee, officially known as hearings before the committee on interstate commerce, united states senate, vols., vol. ii, p. , and vol. iii, p.  . . record of proceedings before the illinois railroad and warehouse commission in the matter of revision of the schedule of reasonable maximum rates, etc., springfield, especially pp. _et seq._ (reprint.) - . proceedings and circulars, joint executive committee and joint rate committee of the trunk line, etc., associations. [ ] fink, adjustment of railroad transportation rates, etc., p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. and . [ ] windom committee report, ii, p. . [ ] waste of transportation as an economic problem has already been discussed in chap. ix, _supra_. [ ] this persisted even in . consult st cong., st sess., sen. rep., no. , p. . [ ] hepburn committee, pp. - . [ ] hepburn committee report, p. . [ ] windom committee report, ii, p. . [ ] this was adopted officially by the trunk lines april , . [ ] hepburn committee report, p. . [ ] record proceedings railroad commission of illinois in revision of maximum freight rates, , pp. and . [ ] th cong. st ses., sen. doc. no. , p. . the hepburn committee (p. ) describes the local jealousies which prevailed. [ ] chicago has never become reconciled to it, however, alleging that it injures her commercially. compare windom committee, , vol. i, p. ; st cong., st ses., sen. rep. no. , , p. _et seq._; elkins committee, , pp. , _et seq._; and record proceedings illinois railroad commission on revision of maximum rates, . _cf._ p. , _infra_. seaport differentials are discussed in chap. xi, _infra_. [ ] hepburn committee, p. . [ ] distances are given in the thurman-washburne-cooley advisory commission on differentials, etc., of . [ ] hepburn committee, pp. , . "taking the indianapolis & st. louis railroad, for example, running to indianapolis, where they can connect with all the trunk lines.... assume that company had only cars of business per day; if the property went to baltimore, that company would receive $ per day more than if it came to new york, pro-rating the rates by mileage to both places; now $ a day, there being working days in the year, is a difference of $ , a year." [ ] the revised table of percentages is reprinted in full in hepburn committee report, p. _et seq._ [ ] the official rule from proceedings of the joint executive committee, june and , , is as follows: "first.--that from all points being less distant from new york than chicago new percentages be adopted for making up rates on eastbound freight upon the following basis: the percentages from points of the same, or no greater distance than chicago, to continue as heretofore. "second.--that six cents per pounds be first deducted from an assumed rate of cents per pounds, chicago to new york, said deduction to represent the fixed charges at both ends of long or short hauls. "third.--that, after such deduction, the rate per mile, which the remainder, or cents per pounds, produces from chicago to new york, shall be charged per mile from all common points named in the first section, according to the percentages of distance shown by the table adopted at chicago, april , , to which result so computed the cents per pounds of fixed charges first above deducted shall be again added, and the percentage of the chicago rate of cents, produced by such additions, shall thereafter constitute the percentage of the chicago rate, which shall be subsequently charged from the points named in first section. for illustration chicago to new york, per lbs. c. less fixed charges, per lbs. -- basis of rate for computation columbus, ohio, as at present per cent. of chicago net rate, will be . c to which add the fixed charges ---- and the new percentage from columbus will hereafter be - / per cent. of chicago, . c in lieu of per cent., as at present." [ ] hepburn committee, p. . a hypothetical instance will serve as illustration. suppose a point with an per cent. rate on the old schedule. when chicago paid cents, the rate to this point would be cents. under the new scheme the intermediate rate would be per cent. of cents, or . cents, plus cents terminal charge, making a total of . cents. this is . per cent. of the chicago rate instead of per cent. as before. compare table, p. , _infra_. [ ] thus from ironton, in the per cent. zone south of columbus, ohio, the distance to columbus is miles, added to miles from columbus to new york makes a total of miles. multiplying this by . makes it per cent. of the chicago rate. [ ] page , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ industrial commission, iv, p. . [ ] record, detroit board of trade case. [ ] consult p. , _supra_. [ ] computed apparently by regular rules, but on the basis of only cents terminal charges instead of the usual . [ ] joint rate circular, no. . [ ] demanding a per cent. rate on a strict mileage basis, and also, because the pro-rating basis with western lines is that figure. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , on wool from detroit, for example. _idem_, concerns evansville rates and those across in kentucky. [ ] trunk line association circular no. , issued july , , gives tables of these percentages in each direction. present westbound percentages are given in _ibid._, no. , issued april , . [ ] typewritten record, detroit board of trade case, - , interstate commerce commission office, pp. - . [ ] under a committee headed by the late j. t. r. mckay, of cleveland. the official classification and the cent new york-chicago rate first-class were then adopted for good. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , on points about new york, for example. [ ] i am told that rivers intervening, to cut off cartage by wagon to competing lines, have sometimes effectively influenced the charges. [ ] the long and short haul principle has always been given great weight here. all exceptions to it were removed in good faith by the carriers when the act of was passed. _cf._ windom committee, vol. i, p. ; vol. iii, pp. , , and . [ ] _g. c. pratt lumber co. v. chicago, ind. & louisville railway co._, decided january , . [ ] u. s. industrial commission, vol. iv, p. . [ ] _cf._ int. com. rep., , on grain rates from minnesota and trans-missouri points; as also i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ joint committee information no. of january , , giving all these rules in detail. [ ] _cf._ windom committee, vol. ii, pp. and . [ ] known as the c. f. a. scale. full text is printed in illinois railroad commission proceedings in maximum freight rate case, record, etc., , p. . see also p. . [ ] detailed comparison is made in _ibid._, p. . see also p. . [ ] illinois railroad commission proceedings in maximum freight rate case, record, etc., , p. . [ ] exhibit a , _ibid._, shows this by means of a map. see also senate (elkins) committee, , vol. iii, p. . [ ] the double disability of these smaller places is stated in _ibid._, p. . [ ] chapter xviii, _infra_. chapter xi special rate problems: the southern basing point system; transcontinental rates; port differentials, etc. contrast between the basing point and trunk line systems,  .--natural causes in southern territory,  .--economic dependence,  .--wide-spread water competition,  .--high level of rates,  .--the basing point system described,  .--its economic defences,  .--early trade centres,  .--water competition once more,  .--three types of basing point,  .--purely artificial ones exemplified,  .--different practice among railroads,  .--attempts at reform,  .--western _v._ eastern cities,  .--effect of recent industrial revival,  .--the texas group system,  .--an outcome of commercial rivalry,  .--local competition of trade centres,  .--possibly artificial and unstable,  .--the transcontinental rate system,  .--high level of charges,  .--water competition,  .--carload ratings and graded charges,  .--competition of jobbing centres,  .--canadian differentials,  .--"milling-in-transit" and similar practices,  .--"floating cotton,"  .--"substitution of tonnage,"  .--seaboard differentials,  .--historically considered,  .--the latest decision,  .--import and export rates,  - . the rate system in the southern states contrasts sharply with that of trunk line territory.[ ] its most unsatisfactory feature is its complete violation of the distance principle. public dissatisfaction was long voiced by a large number of complaints before the interstate commerce commission in the early days,--a cessation of these complaints since , however, was the result of the nullification of the law by judicial interpretation, rather than an indication of any acquiescence of the public in the scheme. next to settlement of the problem of transcontinental rates, a reasonable adjustment of the southern situation is one of the important tasks confronting the federal authorities. certain natural features of southern territory are connected with its peculiar rate system. the first of these is its scattered and relatively thin settlement. density of population varies between one-third and one-fourth of that in the northern states. this greatly limits the volume of local business. in the second place, the largely agricultural character of the country, yielding a traffic predominantly of low grade, has had a great effect. much attention being devoted to cotton, there is little local interchange of freight. the business, moreover, is largely seasonal in character. in the early days, at least, practically all of the profits of the carriers had to be made between september and january. this concentration of interest in the movement of the cotton crop is now rapidly being supplanted by a much more general movement of traffic; but the rate system in force is an outgrowth of the conditions prevalent in the early days. the entire dependence of this territory for manufactured goods upon the northeastern states, and for foodstuffs upon the west, has had a profound effect, we have seen, upon its railway development.[ ] the predominant direction of traffic is rendered quite peculiar by contrast with trunk line territory. in the north, the principal railroads lie parallel, east and west; in the south, they are radially distributed outward from atlanta like the spokes of a wheel. imagine a triangle with its apex at this city,--the focus of all transportation interests in the south,--and with its other two angles lying at new york and chicago respectively. the hollow centre of this triangle, as appears by the accompanying map, is occupied by the allegheny mountain chain. the movement of traffic historically along the western side of this triangle has been overwhelmingly southward; at one time the disproportion southbound from western territory being as thirteen to one.[ ] along the eastern side of this triangle,--that is to say parallel with the atlantic seaboard,--the preponderance of tonnage, by bulk and probably by value as well, has been toward the north. in this direction cotton in the early days, and latterly lumber, have moved from southern fields and forests to northeastern markets. in virginia-carolina territory, today, about three-fifths of the loaded mileage is north bound. the uneven distribution of traffic is still further complicated by the excess of tonnage eastbound in trunk line territory along the northern side of our triangle, above mentioned. this general description explains many of the abnormalities in freight rates throughout this territory. bulky staples moving one way, while manufactured goods, high in value but more concentrated in weight, go the other, greatly complicate the problem of economical operation. another omnipresent complication in the southern states is the widespread existence of water competition. the situation in the south in this regard is not unlike that of england. its entire territory is threaded with a series of more or less navigable watercourses which penetrate from the seaboard or the mississippi river, far into the interior. here again is a physical peculiarity of the southern territory, which historically explains, even if it does not fully justify, as we shall see, certain peculiarities of its freight rate system. [illustration: map showing principal railroad systems in the southern states [facing page ]] the first general characteristic of the southern system is the relatively high level of freight rates. bearing in mind that the distance from new york to chicago is practically the same as from new york to atlanta, the freight rate, first-class, on the trunk lines was, in , cents per hundredweight as against $ . to atlanta. sixth-class rates then stood to one another as cents and cents respectively, the relatively high ones being in the south. reference, for example, to the table on page , will bring out this contrast at the present time in another way. according to this the rates in the south are not higher than in the west for the same distance. the disproportionately high charges in the south, however, occur mainly in the field of local rates. and it is the local, rather than the through, charges, which cause the present dissatisfaction. the principal complaint concerning through rates is that they are made up principally as the sum of locals based upon ohio or mississippi gateways.[ ] whenever such sums of locals have given place to unbroken through rates, a large measure of satisfaction to shippers has resulted. and then, finally, it should be observed that certain peculiarities of the classification system somewhat increase the relatively high grade of charges throughout this territory,[ ] tending to support the allegation that rates are unreasonably high. the so-called basing point system is the second fundamental peculiarity of southern rate adjustment. it has already been discussed in connection with local discrimination.[ ] this basing point system, although not absolutely confined to the south, has been more highly developed here than elsewhere. in principle it is simply this: certain cities are established as basing points,[ ] and rates to all other places in that neighborhood are made by adding to the through rate into the basing point, the local from that city to the final destination. since local rates in the south, based upon slender local traffic, are always exceedingly high, this appears to confer a very great advantage in the matter of charges on the cities thus favored. the way in which this system is opposed to the long and short haul principle in law has also been discussed in another connection.[ ] on the face of things it certainly appears unjust that goods should be transported directly through the place to which they are ultimately to go; and after being hauled to the basing point with a heavy charge for that haul, should thereafter be brought back again with the addition of a second high local rate for the service. and yet that very commonly occurs. a number of economic defences for the basing point system have been urged by the carriers at different times. the most substantial one is that the basing points, historically, were originally important trade centres and are still intimately related to the business customs of the south.[ ] these trade centres, it is alleged, were not made by the railroads: they were in existence before the railroads were constructed. they are an outgrowth of the agricultural system of the region. in the west a farmer may take a sample of his grain to the nearest town and sell the whole crop by that sample. no such transaction is possible with cotton and tobacco. each shipment must be sampled, weighed and classified on its own merits. such grading cannot take place at local stations. convenient commercial centres are, therefore, a necessity, serving for the proper concentration of products. these trade centres, moreover, arising in connection with the sale of staple products of the soil, became natural distributing or jobbing points. the planters naturally buy in the places to which they resort to sell their crops, often employing the same merchant.[ ] as such natural trading centres, these southern towns are forced to compete with the older established distributing cities up north. at this point a second defence of the basing point system arises.[ ] it is urged that a decentralization of jobbing trade in a sparsely settled or newly developed territory can be effected only by means of encouragement through peculiarly favorable rates to offset the strength of the remoter great cities. the plausibility of this defence, however, is considerably weakened by the fact that under the peculiar southern classification system, carload ratings are largely absent.[ ] therefore, as it appears, the local jobber in the south competes under a disability as compared with new york and cincinnati which is no less at the basing point than in the small town. still a third, and probably a valid, defense of this violation of the distance principle by the use of basing points, is the paucity of local business. it is alleged that in the north the competitive points are so near together, and the volume of competitive business is so large, that it pays to reduce the charges at immediate points. in the south, on the other hand, competitive points are so far apart and, relatively speaking, the local tonnage is so small, that the adoption of such a policy would be ruinous.[ ] the most prominent defence of the basing point system brought forward at all times, and greatly emphasized in proceedings before the interstate commerce commission, is the widespread existence of water competition. carriers allege that in order to secure any portion of the traffic at many points, low rates must be offered, quite irrespective of the charges to intermediate inland stations. they affirm that to lower all rates to this "compelled" competitive level, would deplete their revenues and lead to bankruptcy. this has been the main excuse for the persistent violation of the long and short haul clause by carriers in the southern states down to the present time. the evidence goes to show, however, that on the lesser streams, at least, the steamers are so small, their service so irregular, and the incidental risk of damage, cost of insurance and other expenses of transhipment are so great, that the railroads practically control the business.[ ] furthermore, in many places it appears that the water lines were either owned by the railroads or appeared in league with them; or else that a division of the business had been effected by which the little river steamers were accorded a certain proportion of the low grade freight.[ ] such facts have been established before the interstate commerce commission, for example, in the so-called dawson case concerning the chattahoochee river; on the ocmulgee at macon in the griffin and hawkinsville cases; at montgomery in the troy case; and on the st. johns river at palatka, florida, in the hampton case. a competent witness has declared in fact that there is "no more real water competition at many of these places than in the rocky mountains."[ ] probably the potentiality of competition is somewhat greater today with improvement of the larger navigable waterways. it seems to be real at chattanooga since the construction of the mussel shoals canal; but that it has in late years been effective at nashville seems open to question. the practical disappearance of the mississippi river traffic also points to the decline in importance of the great rivers as rate regulators, except in respect of the carriage of ore, lumber, and coal. whether the national waterways movement will ever succeed in its revival is, it seems to me, open to serious question.[ ] analyzing these several grounds of defence, a distinction should be made at the start between three varieties of basing point. this is not clearly brought out in the numerous decisions upon rates in southern territory. in the first group are the old natural trading centres, usually once blessed with effective competition by water, even if at the present this is of limited character. savannah and montgomery, alabama, are of this type. then, secondly, there are the great railroad centres like atlanta and birmingham. these are modern creations without water competition of any sort, although the rivalry of railroads with one another is exceedingly keen. until recently, moreover, this competition has been over such widely divergent routes that agreement has been difficult and consolidation impossible.[ ] and, then, in the third place, there are the basing points which seem to be absolutely artificial. a number of these are to be found in the southeastern part of georgia, such as cordele, americus, albany, etc. in these cases the only criterion which seems to have been adopted is that the place shall have attained sufficient importance to enable it to compel some carrier to give it special privileges in the matter of rates. as was tersely stated in a leading case--cordele at that time not having been made a basing point:[ ] "cordele is not treated by defendant roads as a competitive point, because it is not a sufficiently large distributing point, and it is not such a distributing point because it is not treated as a competitive point. hence it appears that the roads seek to excuse their wrong-doing by offering the results of the wrong in justification. judged by its results, this system of rate making is at variance with all the equality provisions of the act to regulate commerce." the subsequent experience in this last case is significant. one of the carriers at cordele having afterwards discovered the advantage to itself in making this town a basing point, all the other railroads were compelled to acquiesce. such a thing has happened frequently throughout the south; with the result that many places have been given strongly preferential rates for no other reason than the arbitrary decision of some one of the carriers. even the railroads themselves recognize this fact. they often deplore the necessity for reducing rates because of action by competitors at some particular point; but no option remains. it is with reference to this third class of purely artificial basing points that the most dissatisfaction among shippers arises. the awkward and unreasonable situation is well exemplified in a very recent case,--important, also, because it was the first to be decided by the interstate commerce commission under its new and enlarged powers. the location of ashburn in southeastern georgia, a county seat with a population of about , , is shown with references to surrounding places by the map on opposite page.[ ] it lies in the centre of an irregular quadrilateral, the corners of which are occupied by cordele, albany, tifton and fitzgerald. it has no commercial standing at present, but, being as large at least as tifton, aspires to become a distributing centre in its immediate neighborhood. yet from every direction its rates are made by a combination upon these surrounding towns. the disparity is illustrated by the charges from new york, which are $ . per hundredweight, first class, as compared with $ . to all the neighboring places. examination of the history of these favored towns shows, however, that they have acquired their favored status as basing points, neither because they were originally important trading centres, nor because they enjoyed water competition. two of them, actually, are as remote from streams as is ashburn. the fact is that the competition of western and eastern dealers with one another, backed in each case by local railroads having routes or affiliations either northeast or northwest, has brought about their establishment as basing points. neither is ashburn today more of a local point than either tifton or cordele when they were first granted lower rates. as one examines further, it appears that this keenness of trade competition between east and west,--that is to say, from baltimore and new york as against cincinnati and chicago, etc.,--which has brought atlanta into prominence and made it finally the key to the entire southern rate arch,[ ] has in the same manner led to the special favors granted to one town as against another. [illustration] in this case the interstate commerce commission ordered an equalization between all five points. it is to be hoped that this special case may be a point of departure for a general reform in the immediate future of the entire iniquitous scheme of local favoritism which has too long been allowed to exist. the entire artificiality and even at times iniquity of the basing point system is admitted in the following brief for the railways in the alabama midland case before the supreme court of the united states. "there may be," it is conceded, "a few mere 'railroad junctions' in the south, which, owing to the ignorance or corruption of certain railroad officials, have been arbitrarily 'called' competitive points and which 'receive' certain arbitrary 'concessions' in rates to which they are not justly entitled. there may be also a few strictly local stations in the south, which are not even 'railroad junctions,' where arbitrary and unfair 'concessions' in rates have been made by certain corrupt railroad officials, to enhance the value of property owned at such stations by said officials, or by their relatives or friends ... [but they are] the offspring of ignorance or corruption and should not be recognized by the courts." this artificiality is also proven by the difference of practice which exists on the various southern roads.[ ] the worst offender and most defiant opponent of the government from the inception of federal regulation, has been the louisville & nashville railroad. the southern railway introduced the long and short haul principle in the main on its through line to atlanta long ago. on the atlantic coast line few violations of the distance principle exist, and the condition is improving. no basing points whatever exist in south carolina; and the state railroad commissions in general are working for betterment. neither the chesapeake & ohio nor the norfolk & western, operating alike in sparsely settled regions, find it necessary to violate the distance principle. one of the curses of the scheme, however, is that irregularity of one carrier may compel its neighbors to adopt a policy which they recognize as unjust. only by compulsion applied to all alike can a just solution be had. a determined effort was made in by the carriers themselves to apply the trunk line rate system, based upon the distance principle, to the southern states.[ ] a thoroughgoing scientific readjustment was proposed. the situation is significantly described in the following extract from this report: "your committee entered upon the performance of their duty entertaining the sentiment that experience and observation have rendered generally potent among those in charge of the revenue interest of transportation lines, namely, the necessity for more intelligent and defensible methods of making competitive freight rates than the following of figures, descending to us from tariffs named on arbitrary bases or conditions now obsolete, or by the assumption of differences between centres of trade now changed or junction points now no longer such, or other methods for which there are no reasons capable of satisfactory explanation." representatives of most of the important lines subscribed to this plan; but it fell through at the last because of the opposition of others, selfishly viewing their own particular interests rather than the general welfare of all. it is clear that while minor improvements may be introduced, no widespread reform can be effected without the interposition of federal authority. it is to be hoped that this exercise of authority under the larger powers now conferred by congress since may not long be withheld. a third and essentially different problem respecting southern rates concerns the discrimination against western cities in favor of those along the atlantic seaboard. this has been for years before the interstate commerce commission in the cincinnati and chicago freight bureau cases.[ ] the amount of this discrimination appears in the fact that at the time of the original complaint, the rate from cincinnati to atlanta was ninety-four per cent. of the rate from new york to the same point; although the distance from cincinnati was scarcely more than half of that from new york. it appears as if this difference were largely the result of keen water competition by coastwise steamers,--a competition which affects rates for a considerable distance inland all along the coast as far as new orleans. where such water competition is absent, there seems to be a general arrangement as between east and west which is standardized by distance. atlanta gives the keynote; and all rates from outside southern territory change with its fluctuations. the disability against western cities may be expressed, therefore, in another way, by the fact that new york, although so much farther north than baltimore,--supposed theoretically to be kept on a par with louisville as to rates,--reaches atlanta on lower charges than are made to cincinnati. fortunately an attempt at improvement of the southern rate system will be greatly aided by the wonderful industrial revival which has been under way during the last decade. the growth of population, and especially the development of manufactures, may render it possible for the carriers to endure the hardship which any traffic readjustment always entails. the growth of manufactures, measuring in a way the degree to which the south is learning to supply its own needs, appears in the fact that in it converted one-fifth of its cotton production into cloth, and reduced from its own ores one-half of its consumption of pig iron in its own local factories. furniture shipments to the south were once large. at the present time high point, north carolina, is second only to grand rapids in this line of manufacture. every new mill and mercantile establishment which springs up, is bound to help to a degree in the transition from a mediaeval scheme of rate making to a more defensible system. the texas "common point" system affords a valuable illustration of the influence of competitive forces in trade in bringing about an equalization of transportation charges over a wide area.[ ] it also shows the danger of localization of interest through the exercise of piecemeal control by state commissions rather than the enforcement of broad-gauge regulation by the federal government. the settlement of the great area of texas naturally first took place by extension inland from the gulf coast. all supplies came by sea from the north. freight schedules were scaled from the seaboard according to distance, more or less, in competition with stage and wagon. gradually, however, with the growth of st. louis as a rival centre of distribution, railroads serving that city penetrated directly from the northeast. the st. louis jobbers were at once brought into keen rivalry with merchants in north atlantic states, served by coastwise steamship lines. this competition beginning at the points of contact of the two different sets of railroads, gradually extended all over the state. st. louis lines, acting for local jobbers whose goods came from new york, might not charge more at any point in the aggregate than the total rate from the same initial city which applied by way of the gulf steamers. nor could the railroads in from the gulf ask more for both steamer and rail carriage than the entire double charge from new york around by way of st. louis. the natural stronghold of the gulf lines was in the centre and the south; northern texas was more naturally tributary to st. louis; but gradually a compromise was effected whereby equality of rates was accorded either from new york or st. louis to all stations throughout the state. thus arose the so-called texas common point territory, to all parts of which kansas city, chicago, and finally all other distant cities were admitted on even terms. another feature of the texas rate adjustment is suggestive. a vast territory, uniform in products and needs, might either be served by a few great distributing centres or by a larger number of smaller ones, each forming the natural focus of trade within a given district. believing the latter arrangement to be better suited to local conditions, the texas railway commission has arbitrarily prescribed such intrastate tariffs as to foster the development of a number of such jobbing points or mercantile centres. local rates, more or less proportioned according to distance, are graded up to a maximum, all based principally upon the needs of the principal city, houston, as served by its seaport, galveston. the significant feature of these texas local rates, however, is the fact that beyond a fixed maximum,--say miles on classified tonnage, or miles on cotton,--no further increase of rate occurs with extension of the haul. that is to say, beyond a certain radius fixed by the maximum rate, distributing centres are placed upon an entire parity with one another. fort worth, for example, within a distance of about two hundred miles, naturally has an advantage over all other competing centres, more distantly located; but outside of this zone, naturally tributary to it as a provincial trade centre, all others such as dallas, waco, or san antonio enjoy equal opportunity. in only one respect is the distance principle violated: namely, in the preferential rates from the north to houston and galveston as compared with the higher charges to intermediate texas points. these primary centres are encouraged by standing in a class by themselves. this theoretically admirable texas system is, however, unstable in several regards. it is artificial in that it is primarily adjusted to the needs of the state, without reference to the rights of other places lying beyond its borders.[ ] the railroads naturally desire to contract the common point territory; the forces of trade rivalry seek to enlarge it. the growth of middle western cities and manufactures, supplying texas from their own domestic plants rather than merely redistributing goods manufactured in the east, also tends to modify the scheme. whether the common point system, therefore, can long withstand the force of these disintegrating influences remains to be seen. the conditions are not compact and homogeneous as they are in new england, which enjoys a similar flat rate system. and it may well be that ambitious cities along the northwestern border of the state, like fort worth, may finally succeed in forcing concessions in rates from the middle west on the ground of their relative nearness as compared with competitors further south. on the other hand, distributing centres farthest away from the main sources of supply, like san antonio, would naturally resist any infraction of the rule of parity. and then, again, it is becoming apparent that the decentralization of distribution through a number of second-rate jobbing towns rather than from one preëminent centre, is hindering the growth of a metropolis, able to compete on even terms in high grade products with the older centres of the east. few dealers in texas cities are able to purchase dry goods or boots and shoes in carload lots, that is to say, on the lowest terms as concerns freight rates; and the combination of shipments of different goods to make up a miscellaneous carload rate, thus overcoming this disadvantage, is open to serious objection.[ ] all told, therefore, the experience of texas is well worth attentive consideration, as a study in the intimate relationship between trade and transportation. the sharpness of contrast between such a common point scheme and the basing point system of the other southern states, brings the relative advantages and defects of each into strong relief. * * * * * transcontinental freight rates have been brought into prominence of late in direct connection with the wonderful growth of population and trade on the pacific slope.[ ] our territorial possessions in the pacific and the development of oriental trade, together with the general interest in the panama canal since , have all conspired to direct attention to this complicated problem. the first point to notice is the relatively high level of rates, averaging very much more per mile than anywhere else in the united states. the following table of rates in is significant: ------+---------------------------------------+------------------ miles | | class ------+---------------------------------------+---------+-------- | from | | ------+---------------------------------------+---------+-------- | chicago to new york | $ . | $ . | chicago to new orleans | . | . | chicago to san francisco | . | . ------+---------------------------------------+---------+-------- these distance tariffs, however, as already explained in our chapter on classification, need to be supplemented by additional details in order to bring into relief the relative amount of the charge. so far as these figures go, it will be observed that for a distance about two and one-half times as great as from chicago to new york or the gulf of mexico, the rates to san francisco are very much higher in proportion. the unrest among shippers in far western territory is not due to the relatively high tariffs in force. it arises primarily from the nullification of the distance principle in rates. and, in the second place, it hinges upon the relation between carload ratings and the development of local jobbing business. the primary factor in the making of rates to the coast has always been the existence of water competition, either by way of cape horn or the isthmus of panama.[ ] the facilities for cheap transportation over these routes have compelled the all-rail lines to make low through rates which would enable them to secure a portion of the business. inasmuch, also, as most of the competition of the steamships over these very long routes involves shipments in large quantity, competition with the railroads has mainly been felt in making rates by the carload. the result has been the existence for many years of a special transcontinental tariff, more or less uniformly adopted by all the roads, which consists in the main of commodity rates for carload shipments, the scale of these rates being sufficiently low to meet steamship competition as above described. this simple situation has been complicated by the fact that all of the transcontinental lines, except the southern pacific with its eastern terminus at new orleans, have had a particular interest in building up both manufacturing and jobbing business at their eastern terminals at chicago or missouri river points. for such a policy enabled them to secure the entire charge for the transportation of commodities to the pacific coast, without the necessity of a pro-rating division, as when goods are hauled from the atlantic seaboard cities. the situation then resolved itself practically into a competition of markets. chicago, st. louis, and st. paul were pitted against new york, philadelphia, and other atlantic ports in rivalry for the trade of the pacific coast. in order to benefit the cities in which they had a peculiar interest, the all-rail lines, therefore, gradually introduced what is known as the system of "postage-stamp rates."[ ] that is to say, they gradually extended to one city after another east of the mississippi river, the same rates to the pacific coast as were enjoyed by the seaboard cities. as a consequence, for some years every city east of the mississippi has been able to ship goods to san francisco at the same rate which is paid from boston and new york, which may be more than a thousand miles farther away. this system is justified in theory, even for rates from chicago and st. louis, as due to water competition; and it has been said that commodities are sometimes shipped from as far inland as this to the atlantic seaboard, and thence to san francisco by water. the latest phase of the controversy reveals the weakness of this argument. the inland cities, such as chicago and st. louis, having been accorded the same rate to san francisco as new york and philadelphia, demand lower rates than the atlantic cities in proportion to their relative nearness to san francisco. in other words, they demand that the rates, instead of being made upon the "postage-stamp basis"--absolutely the same from all cities, however remote--shall be graded. this would give chicago, st. louis, and st. paul an advantage in laying down manufactures or in distributing products secondarily, in competition with the older centres at the east. to this policy the jobbing interests of the pacific coast strenuously object. from their point of view, any grading of rates will enable the western cities to compete with them directly in local distributive business. they do not object to the low rates from the eastern seaboard, nor would it avail to do so because the natural conditions of water competition are beyond control. moreover, the low rates from atlantic points are all, as above said, on carload lots, and such low carload rates operate distinctly to the advantage of the pacific coast jobber, enabling him to obtain goods in wholesale lots, and then to break bulk in order to distribute them up and down the coast. the intimate relationship between the carload question and the grading of rates to interior centres, is plain from the foregoing paragraph. viewed by itself alone, the carload question is not dissimilar to that presented in the southern states. rivalry between jobbers in the east and provincial middlemen in a little developed territory is in evidence in either case. the st. louis business men's league case best exemplifies this issue.[ ] trade interests in this interior city wished to abolish all distinction between carload and less-than-carload lots, for the patent purpose of enabling them to sell direct throughout the pacific coast territory in competition with san francisco jobbers. the latter, on the other hand, demanded that all less-than-carload ratings should be abolished on transcontinental shipments; so that they might purchase their goods by the carload and resell them in parcels. the commission, after fully weighing the evidence, decided that, so far as carload differentials were concerned, the existing scheme in was not abnormal as compared with other portions of the country. on the other aspects of the matter, such as the relativity of rates to rocky mountain and pacific terminal points, no ruling was made. but the dissenting opinion upon this point is significant, as we shall see, in that it put forth the suggestion of a scheme of rates graded according to distance,--a plan ten years later to be enforced by the commission under its amplified powers at law. the welfare of the entire rocky mountain belt of population, and particularly its commercial centres, constitutes a second phase of the problem of transcontinental rates.[ ] the whole chain of cities from spokane on the north to the mexican border has been long and vitally interested in this matter. rates to these cities, elsewhere described,[ ] as well as from these cities out in either direction, are very much higher than the rates for longer distances through them and beyond. thus, for instance, in the case of pueblo, it has been shown that bar iron was hauled , miles from chicago to san francisco, for fifty cents per one hundred pounds, and rails were hauled the same distance for sixty cents; while for the haul from pueblo, colorado, to san francisco, only , miles, the rate on both commodities was $ . . cotton piece goods were shipped from boston to omaha for fifty-two cents per one hundred pounds, with the added rate on to denver of $ . , giving an aggregate of $ . . in face of this, the rate through denver to california is only one dollar. the railways' defence for this situation was that the low through rates were compelled by water competition. but it is certainly difficult on this ground to justify lower rates to missouri river points than to denver or salt lake city. in other words, as urged in our chapter on local discrimination,[ ] having once recognized the principle of blanket rates as far west as kansas city, there seemed to be no reason why the limit should not be pushed further west. all of these allied cases, however, were left unsettled for years, owing to the lack of power on the part of the interstate commerce commission to enforce its decisions under the law as then interpreted. with the new legislation since , as will be shown,[ ] a permanent and just solution of the matter is promised at last. the relations between the canadian railways and the transcontinental lines in the united states were for many years unsatisfactory; and were oftentimes a source of serious disturbance in the matter of rates. the canadian pacific claimed, and was in fact accorded for some years, a differential or a lower rate, in order to offset its disability in the matter of distance, extra-territoriality, etc. thus, for instance, in the canadian pacific was allowed to quote rates thirty cents per one hundred pounds below those by the standard lines. the rates were afterwards increased on first-class traffic. the other roads refused, after a time, to continue differentials at this figure, and after a year the differential was reduced to twenty-eight cents from the atlantic seaboard. the question was bitterly contested after that until , when all agreements were abandoned. since that time the canadian pacific has acted independently, taking, as a rule, rates about ten per cent. less than its competitors in american territory. the whole question was submitted to arbitration in , and by a divided opinion two out of three of the arbitrators decided that the canadian pacific railway was not, nor should it be, entitled to a differential under the rates made by the united states lines.[ ] the intricacy of the question is indicated by the non-concurrence in this conclusion of so well recognized an authority as j. w. midgley. the railroads concerned having all agreed to acquiesce in this decision, the situation has been far more harmonious in this respect than for many years previous. * * * * * a difficulty often arises in connection with the interruption of a shipment of goods in order to subject it to some simple process of manufacture. shall the entire journey from producer to consumer be considered as a unit in determination of the rate; or shall the two parts, before and after the change of form by manufacture, be considered as separate and distinct in this regard? this problem arises in connection with the so-called "milling-in-transit" system for grain.[ ] logs likewise may be stopped at some convenient point en route for cutting into lumber.[ ] cattle or hogs must sometimes be stopped on the way to market in order to fatten or otherwise prepare them for sale;[ ] structural iron may be halted for the purpose of fitting, shearing, or punching;[ ] transit privileges on wool or concentration points for other commodities may be involved;[ ] or other goods may be substituted at an intermediate point.[ ] and then, finally, there are the so-called "floating cotton" cases.[ ] the principle at bottom is practically the same in all of these sets of cases. it may be worth while briefly to consider two of them. the "milling in transit" system is simply that of according to grain which is unloaded and milled at an intermediate point, the low through rate from the point of origin to that of consumption. thus, for instance, wheat grown in north dakota may be unloaded and ground into flour at minneapolis and thence shipped to new york at the through rate from its point of origin to new york. oftentimes a very small charge, as, for instance, one cent per one hundred pounds, is made for the privilege. this system prevails throughout the southern states also. grain is brought, for instance, from kansas city to nashville or birmingham, milled there, and shipped farther south for consumption. the rate charged is based upon the entire haul from kansas city to the local point where the flour is consumed. obviously this system stimulates very greatly the development of the milling industry at intermediate points. it is opposed correspondingly by the large cities which otherwise enjoy special privileges in the matter of low rates. precisely the same principle is involved in what are known as "floating cotton" rates. in this case the system has developed of permitting cotton to be unloaded in transit and compressed at an intermediate point, it being thereafter reshipped to the point of destination at a through rate from its point of origin. thus, for example, cotton may be hauled twenty to thirty miles to one of the larger towns. there it is unloaded, sorted and compressed, reloaded, and sent on as if it had not been interfered with at all. obviously one rate for the entire shipment is much less than the local rate into the town--which is always very high--plus a second rate from that town on to destination. the system in respect to cotton has developed even further than that of milling in transit of grain; for in the latter case the grain must be unloaded at some point on the line to destination; whereas in the case of cotton it may, under rulings of the interstate commerce commission, be actually hauled _away_ from its ultimate destination a number of miles and then reshipped back over the same line though at a lower rate than it could otherwise have enjoyed. thus, in a leading case decided in it was held by the interstate commerce commission that cotton could be hauled from gattman, mississippi, forty-one miles northwest to tupelo, compressed there, and then hauled back again through gattman and birmingham to new orleans. important centres, such as memphis, which formerly enjoyed almost a monopoly of the compressing business, have strenuously opposed the development of this system. on the other hand, it offers a distinct advantage to the grower, because in place of selling the cotton through cotton factors at memphis or other centres, it may be sorted and compressed at local stations. by this means much expense in the matter of drayage, handling and commissions is saved. this system is particularly advantageous because it tends to break up the pernicious basing point system, which tends to centralize all business at a few important points in the southern states. almost a complete revolution in the matter of handling cotton has been effected during the last few years by the growth of this practice. not only has the floating cotton system developed further than that of milling in transit by according the right of shipping even backward, away from the ultimate destination; it has also permitted of liberality in the handling of the product itself. it has been held that it is not even necessary for the same cotton to be reshipped from the point of compression. a carload started from the initial point for boston, for example, may never reach there, other cotton being substituted for it. the destination of the car may be, and frequently is, changed. a few dozen grades of cotton being on the market, the original shipment into the point of compression may be entirely resorted and distributed to a dozen different points. even the ownership of the cotton may change while it is in transit. nevertheless, the system has been held as valid under the law, and its beneficial effects during the last few years have been observable, especially in the southern states. of late the danger lurking in these systems of gross personal favoritism, have led to their careful examination in a number of cases. what the final policy regarding them is to be, cannot at this writing be affirmed.[ ] * * * * * a problem of considerable difficulty, involving the relative shares of the various seaports in american export business, has occupied the attention of experts for more than a generation; and at this present writing, although before the interstate commerce commission for the third time, seems to be almost as far from a satisfactory solution as ever.[ ] it originated at the time of the rate wars in . the first agreement between all the trunk lines concerning it was entered into in the following year. by this an attempt was made to equalize the aggregate cost of ocean and rail transportation between competing points in the west and all foreign and domestic points reached through baltimore, philadelphia, new york, and boston. under this agreement, baltimore was allowed a rate of three cents below the rate from chicago to new york; philadelphia enjoyed a concession of two cents; while boston had its rate fixed at a certain percentage of the chicago-new york figure. there was considerable dissatisfaction expressed at various times with these differentials, and the whole matter was submitted to arbitration in . the commercial interests of new york, as well as of the railroads centering in that city, have complained bitterly that these differences, once adjusted upon a very much higher scale of rates than at present, have become increasingly burdensome now that the chicago-new york rate is perhaps not more than a third or a quarter of what it formerly was, while the differential has remained at a fixed figure. the recent decline of the export commerce of new york is, in fact, ascribed in a large measure to the operation of these differentials; and a leading case before the interstate commerce commission, instituted by the produce exchange of new york, endeavored to secure their abolition. the commission held, however, that the differentials--recognized by the joint traffic association of --were legitimately based upon competitive relations of the carriers; and that consequently no unlawful preference or advantage had been accorded to the cities competing with new york for export business. the result of pressure for a larger division of export business, particularly from boston, led, in , to a reduction by one-half of the differentials. the matter was finally submitted for arbitration to the interstate commerce commission, which very fully examined the question and rendered a decision in .[ ] by this decision rates _via_ philadelphia on traffic for export were to be one cent less than by way of new york, while to baltimore they were to be two cents less. this arrangement still left boston subject to its former substantial disability. it was contended that the original purpose of the differentials, namely, equilibration of rates from western centres of production through the various ports to liverpool, had been practically nullified. for a time the phenomenal development of the gulf exports diverted attention, forcing all the atlantic seaports to make common cause against their southern rivals.[ ] but the passing of this danger once more revived interest in the struggle between the atlantic cities. opportunity for the collection of full data under the strengthened federal law in , made it possible to reopen the case in before the interstate commerce commission. but, in the meantime, both in and , after an interval of twenty years, trunk line rate wars threatened to break out for the protection of boston against its rivals. the latest decision by the commission, just handed down,[ ] still fails to satisfy boston. no differential rate on export grain on the ground of distance as against new york is conceded; but those already in effect at philadelphia and baltimore are sanctioned. what the effect will be, remains for the future to determine. * * * * * the principle involved in the so-called import and export cases[ ] is that of the reasonableness of charging lower rates on goods originally shipped from or destined to domestic points, than are charged for similar goods, over the same lines and for the same distances, when brought from or destined to foreign countries. thus, for instance, in the case of cotton cloth shipped by way of pacific ports to the orient, the practice is not uncommon of charging a less rate to san francisco for the transportation of goods ultimately destined for export, than is charged on similar goods which are to be unloaded for consumption at san francisco or other california points. or, reversing the case, this question touches the reasonableness of transporting goods from new york to chicago at a lower rate, if they have been brought in from europe, than is charged for similar service in the case of goods that have originated at or near new york. cases of this description have become increasingly frequent during the last twenty years. the first and most important one, upon which both the interstate commerce commission and the united states supreme court have passed, originated in proceedings before the interstate commerce commission, brought by the new york board of trade of transportation against the pennsylvania and other railroad companies. the case practically raised the general question whether, in the carriage of goods from american seaports, carriers subject to the act could lawfully charge less for the transportation of imported than of domestic traffic of like kind to the same destination. the commission, after careful examination, held that such differences in rates constituted discrimination as against the domestic shipper. according to its view, the circumstances and conditions pertaining to the carriage of freight from a foreign port to the united states could not be considered as creating the dissimilarity of conditions which alone would justify a different rate for like service in the two cases. the commission held that: "one paramount purpose of the act to regulate commerce, manifest in all its conditions, is to give to all dealers and shippers the same rates for similar services rendered by the carrier in transporting similar freight over its line. now, it is apparent from the evidence in this case that many american manufacturers, dealers, and localities, in almost every line of manufacture and business, are the competitors of foreign manufacturers, dealers, and localities for supplying the wants of american consumers at interior places in the united states, and that under domestic bills of lading they seek to require from american carriers like service as their foreign competitors.... the act to regulate commerce secures them this right. to deprive them of it by any course of transportation business or device is to violate the statute." the commission thereupon ordered the carriers to cease and desist from making such discrimination. this order, while obeyed by a number of carriers, was disregarded by the texas and pacific railway, which operated an import line from new orleans to san francisco. upon application by the commission this case was carried to the supreme court of the united states for final adjudication. the supreme court decided that the interpretation of the law by the commission was defective, although three members of the court, including the chief justice, dissented from this opinion. as an illustration of the discrimination which existed in this case it appeared that the domestic rate on books, buttons, carpets, etc., from new orleans to san francisco was $ . per one hundred pounds, while the total through charge on the same articles from liverpool to san francisco was only $ . . the supreme court distinctly refrained from an opinion as to the reasonableness of these rates, and contented itself with passing upon the propriety of any difference in rates whatever. it held that the contention of the railroads was sound, namely, that all circumstances and conditions, whether within the united states or having regard for ocean rates and foreign competitive conditions, must be considered. in other words, they recognized the validity of the claim of the railroads that this import traffic must be taken at an extremely low rate if at all, since otherwise the goods would go by water around cape horn, or by another route. on the basis of such reasoning it would appear that any contribution from low import rates to the fixed charges of the railroad would enable that road to transport its domestic traffic at a lower rate than it otherwise might. what, however, the majority of the court did not add, although it was developed by the dissenting justices, was the fact that these conditions might exclude domestic purchasers entirely from certain markets, giving them over to importers who could control the market by reason of the low rates accorded. since this decision in the railroads have still further developed this system of discrimination. the only safeguard for the domestic producer must lie, obviously, in some decision by a competent tribunal as to the amount of such differences which may reasonably exist. the supreme court has upheld their validity as a system, but it still remains for the amount of such difference which may be deemed reasonable, to be determined. identical in principle with the above described case, although presenting reversed conditions, are the so-called export rate cases. these have to do mainly with the rates charged on products for domestic consumption as against like products for export. as an illustration of the extent of such differences, it was clearly shown before the industrial commission that at times the freight rate on wheat from kansas city to galveston was twenty-seven cents per one hundred pounds if for domestic consumption, while the proportion of an export rate for a similar service was ten cents.[ ] the rate on wheat from the mississippi river to new york for domestic consumption was at times twenty or twenty-one cents per one hundred pounds, while for the same service when the goods were to be exported, the rate would be thirteen cents per one hundred pounds. this system of stimulating foreign business by discriminatingly low rates seems to have attained large proportions only since . the interstate commerce commission took cognizance of the system in a decision rendered in .[ ] it was enabled to do so by virtue of the import rate decision above cited, whereby the united states supreme court authorized it to consider not only circumstances and conditions within the united states, but also those relating to ocean transport and foreign competition. the railroads justify their action on the ground that only by making such concessions in export rates could they lay down grain in foreign markets in competition with other parts of the world. on the other hand, it was not made clear why such competition from foreign markets had become any more acute in the last few years than prior to that time. there appears to be much force in the argument of many shippers, and also of some railroad men, that this anomalous condition of rates was due, not so much to the keenness of foreign competition, as to the rivalry among the american carriers themselves. in other words, it was said that the competition between the gulf ports and the atlantic ports was responsible for the abnormally low rates on export business. in line with this argument would seem to be the fact that it is the rates upon wheat and not upon flour for export, which have decreased more than in proportion to the decrease upon similar commodities for domestic consumption. the passing of the acutest phase of competition from the gulf ports since , has rendered these questions of lesser interest of late years. they may at any time be revived, but seem unlikely to regain the importance which they formerly assumed. footnotes: [ ] among the best references on the subject are the following: mcpherson, railway freight rates, pp. - , especially on the virginia-carolina cities; rep. u. s. internal commerce, , app., pp. - ; u. s. senate (elkins) committee hearings, , digest, app., iii. the principal i.c.c. cases are as follows: . social circle; i.c.c. rep.,  .-- . georgia r. r. com.; _idem_,  .-- . troy, ala.; int. com. rep., . in railway problems.-- . summerville, ga.; _idem_,  .-- . cordele, ala.; i.c.c. rep.,  .-- . tifton, ga.; int. com. rep.,  .-- . lagrange, la.; _idem_,  .-- . griffin, ga.; _idem_,  .-- . dawson, ga.; _idem_, . in railway problems.-- . aberdeen, s. c.; i.c.c. rep.,  .-- . wilmington, s. c.; _idem_,  .-- . piedmont; int. com. rep.,  .-- . hampton, fla.; _idem_,  .-- . danville, va.; _idem_, . in railway problems. [ ] chapter i affords a historical review of railway development in the united states. [ ] rep. internal commerce, , app., p. ; senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app. iii, p. . [ ] _cf._ the commerce court case; february session, , no. . also _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] page , _supra_. [ ] pp. - , _supra_. [ ] a list of these on the louisville and nashville r. r. is given in u. s. senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app. iii, pp. - . there is a distinction between a basing and a common point. the latter is a competitive junction, to which rates are made on combination of locals. the basing point enjoys a still further advantage in that it gets even lower than the combination rates. [ ] page , _infra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee hearings, digest, app. iii, pp. and . [ ] _cf._ chap. iv, p. , _supra_. also i.c.c. opinion, no. , . [ ] h. r. meyer's, government regulation of railroad rates, pp. and - . [ ] page , chap. ix, _supra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , p. : per cent. of net earnings on the louisville & nashville in were from local business. [ ] _cf._ pp. , , and , _infra_, for example. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , for bowling green, ky., clearly establishes such a community of interest between rail and water lines. [ ] senate interstate commerce committee, hearings, . twelfth annual rep. i.c.c., p. , well describes the situation. [ ] compare chap. xx, p. , _infra_. other references on internal waterways are as follows: . senate (elkins) committee, digest, app. iv.-- . report inland waterways commission, vols.-- . reports u. s. national waterways commission, especially document . traffic history of the mississippi river. _cf._ also, _railway age gazette_, june and , and jan. , : bulletin , bureau of railway economics; and the bulletins of the u. s. census. [ ] compare vol. ii, on railroad consolidation in this territory, since . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app., iii p. ; gives a list of new basing points created since . [ ] southern railway and steamship association proceedings; meeting of aug. , . [ ] fully discussed at pp. _supra_ and _infra_. [ ] mcpherson, railroad freight rates, p. , is best on this. _cf._ pp. and , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ chap. xx on the conflict of state and federal powers. [ ] _cf._ chap. ix on carload rates as a problem in classification. [ ] this problem is discussed as a form of local discrimination at p. , chap. vii, _supra_, and as a long and short haul question at p. , chap. xix, _infra_. the voluminous record in the pending union pacific-southern pacific merger case before the u. s. supreme court, no. , october term, , is a primary source of material. it is outlined and examined in detail in our railway problems, rev. ed., chap. xxii. [ ] best described in i.c.c. rep., p. ; and _idem_, pp. - , - . [ ] historically discussed in int. com. rep., p. and i.c.c. rep., p. with map; both reprinted in our railway problems; and _idem_, pp. and . [ ] int. com. rep., p. ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xvii. [ ] i.c.c. rep., p. with map, reprinted in our railway problems, voicing the complaint of the nevada railroad commission, is thoroughly typical. the leading kindel cases are in i.c.c. rep., p. ; _idem_, p. and _idem_, p. (with a highly suggestive map); the san bernardino cases are in _idem_, p. ; and _idem_, p. ; and for salt lake city, _idem_, p. . _cf._ also university of colorado, economic studies, dec. . [ ] page _infra_. [ ] page , _supra_. [ ] chapter xix, _infra_. [ ] board of arbitration on question of canadian pacific differentials proceedings and decision, oct. , . [ ] typical cases int. com. rep., p. ; and i.c.c. rep., p. . [ ] the central yellow pine case, no. , ; and op. ,  . also in , i.c.c. rep., p. . [ ] best described by bowes, senate (elkins) committee, , p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., and . [ ] _idem_, p. ; _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] int. com. rep., p. , is typical of a large number. [ ] i.c.c. rep., p. : u. s. commerce court, april session, , no. . ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. . extensive investigations concluded july , . [ ] the literature upon this subject, aside from the decisions specifically noted below, is voluminous. the senate (elkins) committee, , vol. v, devotes much attention to it as a constitutional difficulty in the way of amendment of the law. the admirable catalogue prepared by the bureau of railway economics, , at p. , well covers the field. _cf._ chap. x, p. , _supra_. [ ] int. com. rep., . [ ] page with diagram, _supra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., p. . [ ] the leading references are as follows: i.c.c. rep., p. ; _idem_, p. ; _idem_, p. ; rep. to the senate by i.c.c., feb. , ; senate (elkins) committee, , digest, app. v. the leading export rate case, i.c.c. rep., p. , is reprinted in our railway problems. johnson and huebner, railroad traffic and rates, vol. i, pp. - . in this instance i have reproduced a portion of my report prepared for the u. s. industrial commission in . [ ] _cf._ ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. . [ ] int. com. rep., p. ; reprinted in our railway problems, chap. xviii. chapter xii the movement of rates since ; rate wars contrast before and after ,  .--revenue per ton mile data,  .--their advantages and defects,  .--nature of the traffic,  .--low-grade traffic increasing,  .--growing diversification of tonnage,  .--present conditions illustrated,  .--- length of the haul,  .--the proportion of local and through business,  .--effect of volume of traffic,  .--proper use of revenue per ton mile,  .--- index of actual rates,  .--its advantages and defects,  .--difficulty of following rate changes since ,  .--passenger fares,  .--freight rates and price movements,  . improvement in observance of tariffs,  .--conditions in the eighties,  .--the depression of - ,  .--resumption of prosperity in ,  .--the rate wars of - ,  .--threatened disturbances in - ,  . the course of freight rates in the united states during the last generation divides naturally into two periods, before and after , respectively.[ ] prior to that date an almost uninterrupted decline took place, which has been followed by a strongly marked upward tendency during the last decade. in respect of freight rates this movement is commonly judged in either of two ways; by comparison of actual rates charged for specified service between given points through a series of years; or, secondly, by means of what is called the revenue per ton mile. considering first the use of this latter index, the course of events is shown by means of the diagram opposite the next page, covering the period between and . but before conclusions may safely be drawn from this showing, it is imperative that the true significance of revenue per ton mile statistics should be set forth. for a generation, and particularly in connection with the roosevelt legislation in , volumes of written and oral evidence upon moot questions were based upon such figures. specious and misleading reasoning upon a public question was perhaps never more common in the course of our history.[ ] it is most important to understand clearly the real significance of this common statistical unit. we shall then, only, be in position to interpret the diagram properly. the revenue per ton mile for a given road, or for the railway system of the united states, is computed by dividing the total freight revenue for that service, whatever it may be, by the number representing the amount of freight in tons hauled one mile. thus, for example, if the total freight revenue of a system of roads be $ , , , this having been received as compensation for hauling an equivalent of , , , tons of freight one mile, the compensation actually received for each ton hauled one mile is obviously one cent. all that is necessary in order to compute the average revenue per ton mile, then, is to know the total freight revenue and the amount of ton mileage service. computed in this way the average revenue per ton per mile for the railways of the united states in was . cents. from this level a decline took place in to . cents--that is to say, the average amount received for each ton of freight hauled one mile had declined about one half. since about there has been no considerable change, the corresponding figure for being . cents. in other words, at the present time the carriers of the united states receive about three-fourths of a cent for each ton-mile service. from a revenue point of view this unit may seem insignificant in amount; but it should be borne in mind, of course, that it is applied to an immense volume of traffic. even the slight increase between and the present time, if applied to the volume of traffic now existing, would make a difference in freight revenue for the entire railway system of the united states of approximately $ , , . [illustration: movement of freight rates - ] measurement of the course of freight rates by means of revenue per ton mile possesses one great advantage. it measures the _actual_ return received by the railway without regard to the published tariff, showing accurately, therefore, the degree to which any departures from the published rates take place. for this reason the foregoing diagram probably under-indicates the extent, relatively, of the decline before . for it is indubitable that the published rates have been very much more nearly observed with the passage of time during this decade.[ ] on the other hand, revenue per ton mile, as thus used for general purposes, is open to a number of very serious objections. obviously, like any statistical average it fails to represent the actual payment for any given service. but its disadvantages are more deeply seated than this. entirely irrespective of any change in the level of rates, revenue per ton mile is affected fundamentally by three distinct sets of conditions. it varies according to the nature of the traffic, whether high grade or low; it is affected by the length of the haul and the proportion of local as distinct from through business; and it is modified profoundly according to the volume of traffic handled. before proceeding to the consideration of the above mentioned factors, attention may be directed to the following table, which gives the extreme range of ton-mile revenue for a number of different railways arranged in groups according to the nature of their business. each group is graded, moreover, within itself according to the revenue per ton mile. from this showing it appears that for the range above and below the average for the united states is considerable--being upwards of three times as great for the new haven system as for the chesapeake & ohio, which comes at the foot of the list. it will now be in order to explain the reasons for these wide variations, which are by no means, as is customarily assumed in public discussion, conditioned even primarily by the level or reasonableness of the freight rates charged. until these attendant circumstances are fully understood, any conclusions as to relative freight rates for a given service based upon revenue per ton mile, are entirely misleading. revenue per av. haul ton mile. freight per ton. (_cents_) density. (_miles_) new england-- new york, new haven & hartford . , , . boston & maine . , , . southern-- atlantic coast line . , southern r.r. . .. .. louisville & nashville . , , illinois central . , , western and transcontinental-- denver & rio grande . , southern pacific . , union pacific . , , northern pacific . , great northern . , . granger-- chicago & north western . , chicago, milwaukee & st. paul . , =united states, all roads= . , , trunk lines-- erie . , , new york central & hudson river . , , pennsylvania railroad . , , baltimore & ohio . , , lake shore & michigan southern . , , coal and ore-- philadelphia & reading . , , lehigh valley . , , hocking valley . , , bessemer & lake erie . , , norfolk & western . , , chesapeake & ohio . , , the nature of the traffic handled by a carrier is the most important consideration to be kept in mind in interpreting revenue per ton mile data. this is most clearly shown by comparison in the table between the group of coal and ore roads and the new england systems. the revenue per unit of service on a road whose traffic is largely of low grade most necessarily be low. probably the lowest average ever reported in the united states was for the chesapeake & ohio in --the low point in the general movement of freight rates--when its ton-mile revenue touched o. cents. whenever the business of a carrier consists largely of coal, grain, lumber or other low-grade commodities on which the freight charges must necessarily be exceedingly low in order that the freight shall move at all, the revenue per ton mile must consequently stand at a low figure. bald comparison of any such revenue with a corresponding figure for high-grade roads is obviously misleading and fallacious. it does not mean that the latter necessarily charges more for the same service; but its higher revenue per ton of freight moved one mile may be, and very likely is, merely due to the fact that much of its tonnage is capable of bearing higher charges. from this circumstance it also follows that comparisons from year to year either for single roads or for the entire railway net, must be made in the light of variations in the proportion of high and low grade tonnage. the trend seems to have been steadily downward in this regard year by year. a steady increase, relatively, in the volume of low-grade traffic has long been under way.[ ] the development of the last twenty years in the united states has certainly been in favor of a great increase in low-grade traffic. this is shown by the following table, giving the per cent. of tonnage in various classes upon the trunk lines from new york to and beyond chicago. per cent. of tonnage in each class of freight on trunk lines, westbound[ ] class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . special . . . .. .. ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- . . . . . from this it appears that "sixty per cent. of the tonnage is now ( ) carried in fourth, fifth and sixth classes.... prior to no considerable number of articles were permanently assigned to the fifth and sixth classes; they embraced usually a few commodities which had been assigned a special rate." further consideration of this table shows that first-class freight, forming thirty per cent. of the tonnage in , declined to less than twenty per cent. in ; while at the same time sixth-class freight ran up from nothing to . per cent. in  . fourth-class freight declined during the same period from . to . per cent. these figures simply mean that a great deal of traffic is now carried upon american railways for long distances which a generation ago it was believed could not be profitably moved at all. the utility of the railway service, once supposedly confined entirely to freight of the higher classes, has been gradually extended until today there is no commodity too cheap to be handled with the improved facilities. this vast increase in the amount of low-grade traffic is undoubtedly responsible to some degree for the apparent decline of freight rates so often instanced. fortunately upon this point we have the specific testimony of traffic managers of long experience. on the other hand, in justice to the railways it must be admitted that the proportion of local business at high rates, which would tend to increase the average revenue per ton mile, has steadily increased with the growth of the country; and, moreover, as has already been shown, in times of exceptional prosperity the movement of high-grade freight has increased in more than its due proportion.[ ] nor are these facts adduced in criticism of american railway policy. they are simply intended to draw attention to the fact that, while changes of freight rates have undoubtedly been considerable, they have not been as great as is oftentimes plausibly stated. as for comparisons with foreign countries, they are practically invalidated by the difference in local conditions, as, for instance, in england where local delivery is involved. in the united states such service is charged in addition, either as drayage or express. the increased diversification in the freight tonnage of american railways, always in the direction of a larger proportion of traffic from general business rather than from the movement of staple commodities, is also of great fiscal significance. it means not only more business, but better and more permanent traffic. the difference, moreover, between the charge which high-grade freight, such as merchandise, will bear by comparison with the highest rate upon grain or coal, is much greater than any difference in the cost of service. the profit, therefore, attendant upon the movement of traffic other than low-grade commodities is strikingly great; although, of course, profitableness is a question of relativity between operating cost and revenue. heavy train loads of coal at mills per ton mile may be better business than merchandise in light carloads at a rate five times as high. at all events the tendency toward higher grade tonnage has been notable, especially since . many western roads and even the trunk lines, formerly dependent in a great measure upon the movement of crops, are now affected only indirectly in this regard, by reason of their influence upon general business. the growing diversification of traffic because of its financial importance merits more concrete illustration. the lake shore & michigan southern, during the calendar year , increased its freight traffic by , , tons. of this only , tons were specified as products of agriculture and animals, while products of the forests actually declined by , tons. in other words, nearly all of this phenomenal increase in business in was due to the movement of manufactures, minerals and merchandise. a comparison made for the last three decades makes this point still more clear. since there has been very little increase in agricultural tonnage upon this trunk line, with an actual decrease in the movement of grain. this, perhaps, may be in part explained by the great development of grain traffic upon the lakes, which, of course, absorbs much business formerly carried by this road. in other words, farm products and provisions transported by the lake shore rose from , , tons in to only , , tons in . the movement of petroleum and lumber actually decreased, owing to the construction of pipe lines and the clearing of the forests. on the other hand, manufactures and merchandise increased threefold in volume, rising from , , tons in to , , tons in . whereas agricultural products in formed over forty per cent. of the traffic upon the lake shore, they constituted in less than twenty per cent. much the same tendency is manifested by other routes. thus for the fiscal year , the chesapeake & ohio reported substantial decreases in the actual tonnage of flour, grain, sand, stone, iron, etc.; but a largely augmented movement of general merchandise of the higher classes. many of the soft-coal roads, such as the cleveland, lorain & wheeling, which used to carry nearly two-thirds of their tonnage in the form of coal, now carry less than forty per cent. a feature of importance in the great prosperity of the anthracite coal roads has been a steady increase in the volume of their general traffic as distinct from coal tonnage. all over the country, in short, the steady growth of population and the decline in the proportion of grain for export is reducing, relatively, the importance of low-grade tonnage, supplanting it by a movement of supplies and merchandise in the contrary direction. the classification of tonnage for the united states, as a whole and by main divisions, is shown by the following excerpt from _statistics of railroads for _: freight traffic movement -------------------+------------------+------------------ | united states | trunk line | | territory class of +-----------+------+-----------+------ commodity | tonnage | per | tonnage | per | _tons_ | cent | _tons_ | cent -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ products of | | | | agriculture | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | animals | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | mines | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | forests | , , | . | , , | . manufactures | , , | . | , , | . merchandise | , , | . | , , | . miscellaneous | , , | . | , , | . -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ grand total | , , | . | , , | . -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ -------------------+-----------+------+------------------ | southern | western | territory | territory class of +-----------+------+-----------+------ commodity | tonnage | per | tonnage | per | _tons_ | cent | _tons_ | cent -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ products of | | | | agriculture | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | animals | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | mines | , , | . | , , | . products of | | | | forests | , , | . | , , | . manufactures | , , | . | , , | . merchandise | , , | . | , , | . miscellaneous | , , | . | , , | . -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ grand total | , , | . | , , | . -------------------+-----------+------+-----------+------ conclusions from these figures are well worth noting. the importance, measured by traffic rather than revenue, of low-grade freight classed as products of mines, is notable. this forms more than half the aggregate tonnage for the united states, and has appreciably increased within the last ten years. in it constituted almost two-thirds of the business in trunk line territory and almost one-half in the west. products of agriculture, on the other hand, even in western territory, amount to less than one-fifth of the total tonnage. these facts indicate clearly the diverse conditions under which railways operate in different parts of the country. the next table,[ ] besides incidentally throwing more light upon the relative tonnage of staple commodities, will suffice to establish our main point--namely, that the nature of the traffic vitally affects all ton mile revenue statistics. it entirely, in fact, overshadows mere changes in the general level of freight rates. any argument concerning the movement of such charges, which fails to correct fully for this factor, may be dismissed at once as valueless. summary of selected commodities for the year ending june , [ ] average receipts per ton-mileage revenue ton per mile freight of freight from freight from freight carried in carried in carried in carried in commodity carload lots carload lots carload lots carload lots _tons_ _ton miles_ _cents_ grain , , , , , $ , , . hay , , , , , , . cotton , , , , , , . live stock , , , , , , , . dressed meats , , , , , , . anthracite coal , , , , , , , . bituminous coal , , , , , , , . lumber , , , , , , , . a second consideration in the interpretation of ton mile data, of equal importance with the nature of the traffic, is the length of the haul and the proportion of local as distinct from through business. this necessarily follows from the nature of a distance tariff. only on condition that the rate augmented in direct proportion to the increase of distance, would the revenue per ton mile remain constant. the diagram at page is instructive in this connection. the charges--denoted by the height of the curve at any given point--tend to grow much less rapidly than distance. in other words, the rate curve approaches a parabolic form, until after a certain point it becomes practically a flat rate, independent of distance. this fact of necessity causes ton-mile revenue to decrease steadily with the length of the haul. for ton-mile revenue is but the ratio of the abscissa to the ordinate of the curve at any given point; the former being the rate charged, the latter the distance. in practice, therefore, the longer the haul in general, the lower is the revenue per ton mile.[ ] this is clearly shown by comparison of the two items for given roads, otherwise similarly circumstanced, in the table already discussed on page  . closely akin to the length of haul in affecting ton-mile revenue, is the proportion of local traffic. this also is in practice vital. obviously it costs much more to handle local business, the terminal expenses being far greater in proportion. and at the same time a larger proportion of the freight moves in small lots locally. this difference between revenue per ton mile for local business and through traffic is very great. on the louisville & nashville, for example, in , it was . cents for the former, as against . cents for through business.[ ] the illinois central in reported an average revenue per ton mile on through freight of . cents, while for local freight the corresponding figure was . cents, the average of both being . cents. it is apparent, therefore, that any accurate determination of the level of charges in general must take account of such facts as these. any carrier like the southern pacific, the chesapeake & ohio or the erie, with relatively little local traffic and a business dependent largely upon the long haul, will conduct transportation for a materially lower figure than roads in a densely settled territory. this consideration was recently illustrated in massachusetts experience.[ ] the fitchburg railroad, devoted to long distance, low-grade business by the hoosac tunnel route, was consolidated with the boston & maine in . its revenue per ton mile was formerly . cents based upon such traffic. when it was merged with the boston & maine,--considerably blessed as it is with local traffic,--the latter's ton-mile revenue fell from . cents in to . cents in the following year. there had been no change whatever in freight rates. a word may be interposed in this connection as to the peculiar movement of local as distinguished from through rates through a series of years. local charges have decreased relatively little, probably because of the absence of competition in such cases. they have, moreover, decreased very unevenly in different parts of the country. apparently one of the first and most beneficent results of the enactment of the act to regulate commerce in , was a reduction of local rates in various parts of the country, in order to bring the rate adjustment into conformity with the long and short haul clause. this was peculiarly the case in the northeastern or trunk line territory. it does not seem to have occurred in the southern states, where the long and short haul principle has never been accepted in its entirety. the most comprehensive report upon the subject concludes that local rates have in various parts of the country, during the last quarter century, been reduced from ten to fifty per cent.[ ] returns from various railway commissions interrogated by the industrial commission in upon the subject showed highly variable results. from mississippi it appeared that "local freight rates in this state have been materially lowered in the last four years, especially in the lettered classes"; while in the adjoining state of alabama "local rates on freight have decreased very little in the last five or six years, and have not decreased in proportion to the decrease made in interstate rates." in new england, comparison of actual freight rates did not indicate any very considerable reduction, the absence of competition in this section being, perhaps, in part responsible for this result. a comparison of published freight rates in southern territory, without making allowance for departures from such tariffs, apparently showed a very much smaller reduction than in other parts of the country. it is also apparently true that the reduction of cotton rates in this section, while considerable, had been much less rapid than that of the rates upon grain from chicago to the seaboard in either direction. a few instances of an actual rise of local charges since may be cited.[ ] but the fact that competition has been substantially eliminated in consequence of widespread consolidation since , has rendered the movement of local and through freight rates more nearly alike all over the country than they were prior to that time. the third consideration which must always be kept in mind in the interpretation of revenue per ton mile is the volume of the traffic handled. any comparison of freight rates which is not made in the light of increase in the business transacted, is bound to be misleading. a reduction of cost of operation per unit, attending a growth in volume, has already been fully described in connection with the theory of rates. and it is but natural that a reduction in the rate should follow any lessening of cost. moreover, a large volume of business usually implies a relatively greater amount of low-grade tonnage. in order to bring out this relationship the second column in the table on page has been added. this permits a correlation between freight density--that is to say, ton miles per mile of line and revenue per unit of service. it will be noted that, in general, the revenue unit falls as the volume of traffic, measured by freight density, rises. this is strikingly shown by comparison of the groups of western and transcontinental roads with those concerned mainly with the carriage of coal and ore. the soft coal hocking valley road with its enormous density and very low revenue per ton mile, affords an excellent example. it is indubitable that the trunk lines and the coal roads are able to transact business for relatively low rates, not only because their tonnage is of low grade, long haul or both; but also because of its immense concentration per mile of line, permitting all of the economies incident to large-scale operation. in this connection, however, it should be noted as a general principle, that oftentimes it is not the mere increase in the traffic of a particular sort which is significant; but rather the growth in the total volume of business of all kinds.[ ] the foregoing criticism of the use of revenue per ton mile as a means of showing the course of freight rates in general has been mainly destructive. this figure, nevertheless, will in many cases be found highly serviceable in the examination of particular rates. it may properly be used to determine whether a given commodity is contributing its due proportion to the general budget of the carrier. revenue per ton mile can, of course, be computed for each particular service; inasmuch as both the income and the volume of that service are matters of independent record. the table on page brings out this point. or take a division of the illinois central for . its revenue per ton mile was . cents on wheat, . cents on flour, . cents on sugar-cane, . cents on soft coal, . cents on stone and sand, . cents on furniture, . cents on merchandise. on this basis one may properly inquire as to whether under all the circumstances wheat, coal or merchandise are doing their part, in the light of the particular expenses attached to their carriage, in maintaining the general burden of indivisible costs. when copper yields a revenue per ton mile of only . cents, the rate being only . per cent. of its market value, while on wheat for the same haul the corresponding unit of return is . cents per ton mile--equal to one-fifth of its worth--there is evidently a maladjustment favoring one commodity over another.[ ] in a number of recent cases questions of this sort have been rather satisfactorily answered by resort to this unit of measurement.[ ] the curve of revenue per ton mile, as shown by diagram at the head of this chapter, certainly gives no indication of the considerable increase of freight rates which has ensued since . this follows from the fact that in at least two of the three respects, above mentioned, the trend of events, independent of any change in the level of freight rates, has operated to greatly dilute the revenue per ton mile. the growth of low-grade traffic and the immense augmentation in tonnage have both conspired to render this unit entirely useless for purposes of comparison year by year. the average length of haul alone seems to have remained much the same during the decade. although the curve does not show it, there has been a notable upward movement all along the line, responsible, as we shall see, for much of the new federal legislation. how may we, then, estimate the amount of these increases? under such circumstances, it is necessary to turn to the movement of actual rates.[ ] the course of these down to is best shown upon the same diagram above mentioned by means of the dotted curve, entitled actual rate index, the scale for which is given at the right. this rate index is simply the average of the actual published rates for a number of specific commodities between certain given points. it differs in principle from the ton mileage revenue curve, in that it concerns merely the _published_ rates, taking no account of rebates or departures from those rates in actual practice. a comparison of its course with that of the ton mileage curve shows a more abrupt decline from about to , since which year the course of both lines is about parallel. its irregularity is also significant as illustrating the violent fluctuations to which the published rates were subjected jected prior to . judged by this curve, the situation has been more settled since the enactment of the act to regulate commerce in  . were data at hand for a continuation of this line to it would undoubtedly afford a fairly reliable measure, in general, of the substantial increase of rates which has taken place during the decade. the main objection to it would be that it did not weight the average according to the volume of the business carried for each of the thirty-seven concrete rates chosen.[ ] tracing the rise of actual rates since is rendered peculiarly difficult, also, by reason of the fact that few of the changes took the form of an outright advance in charges. the end in view was more often accomplished surreptitiously. the substantial increases in [ ] which inaugurated the upward movement were mainly accomplished by changes of classification. modification of the carload ratings brought about the same result. a notable instance appeared in the complaint of the dairy men in wisconsin in . an annual shipment of , , lbs. of cheese to chicago before moved at twenty cents per one hundred pounds, irrespective of the size of the consignment. ten years later the rate had become twenty-eight cents for less-than-carload lots, and twenty-two and one-half cents for wholesale shipments. the relative disability of the small shipper under the new circumstances is as significant as the rise of rate for all.[ ] the increase of charges might be brought about in another way without actually advancing rates by a withdrawal of commodity ratings, thereby subjecting the shipper to the higher scale of classified commodities. and, finally, a practical elimination of the rebate and the cessation of general rate wars has usually resulted in a very substantial increase in the revenue of the carriers as well as in the scale of charges imposed upon most shippers. evidence upon this point is officially given in connection with the rate increases of .[ ] it thus appears that to follow step by step the movement of actual rates is an extremely complicated matter. every factor entering into the determination of the charge must be considered; the distance tariff, the classification, minimum carload rules and a host of other specifications which enter into the final result. for our purposes it must suffice that the fact of a substantial rise of charges since the turning point in is beyond question.[ ] on the other hand, it is indubitable that such increases as have occurred, arousing vehement protest among shippers, have been more widely advertised than changes in the opposite direction. substantial reductions, especially on low-grade staples, have sometimes occurred. one is almost at a loss to strike a fair balance between the two, in the absence of dependable data. the movement of passenger fares has been quite different from that of freight rates.[ ] no marked decline during the last quarter of the nineteenth century took place. growth in the volume of traffic was not accomplished by a reduction of charges. this is in consonance with the experience of foreign countries. passenger business, while steadily growing, has increased less rapidly than freight tonnage. generally, in other words, as measured by volume, freight business has become relatively more important with the progress of time. fiscally the same thing is true. only in new england does the revenue from this service approximate one-half of the total net earnings. the nature of railway competition explains why passenger fares have not decreased as rapidly as freight rates. persons must necessarily be more or less directly transported from one point to another; while experience shows that competition in freight traffic may be exceedingly circuitous in route, goods even going hundreds of miles out of the direct line for transportation by water. this narrowing of the sphere of competition in the case of passengers has consequently operated to lessen the rate of decline. another point to be considered in this connection is that no such increasing economies in the handling of passengers are possible as in the case of freight. instead of decreasing the proportion of dead weight, which for passengers amounts to upward of ninety per cent., by any of the economies recently applied to freight traffic, it appears rather that the proportion of dead weight of equipment per passenger is increasing, owing to the necessity of providing more sumptuous accommodations. bearing in mind all these facts, it appears not unreasonable that the progressive decline of passenger fares has continually lagged behind the decrease of freight rates. but the natural lethargy in the movement of passenger fares was rudely interrupted in in connection with the wave of legislation accompanying the roosevelt campaign which culminated in the mann-elkins law. a widespread demand for lower passenger fares found expression in the passage by twenty-two states within five years of maximum fare laws. eleven legislatures fixed the charge at two cents per mile, the others establishing it at less than three cents. many appeals to the courts in connection with these statutes took place on the ground of confiscation, and sharp conflicts of authority between federal and state governments arose.[ ] whether passenger rates would ever have declined without such exercise of authority is open to question, but the disturbance of established conditions at this time was extreme. one further question with relation to the movement of rates merits consideration. in how far has the rise since been commensurate with the general upward movement of prices of other commodities than transportation--the particular commodity produced by railways? the evidence tends to show that prices in general have moved upward during the last ten years by approximately one-fourth, and it may be even one-third.[ ] have railway charges in general surpassed this rate or not? some activity of railway experts has been devoted of late to the elucidation of this question.[ ] but, after all, is this inquiry of basic importance as bearing upon the general reasonableness of railway rates? here, as so often elsewhere in the discussion of these questions, the need is for the analysis of such problems with reference to particular services and not in connection with matters in general.[ ] it is conceivable that railway rates might and properly ought to increase under certain circumstances much more than in proportion to the general change in freight rates; or that, on the other hand, they might fairly be compelled to lag behind. this introduces the larger question of reasonable rates in general which must remain for discussion in our second volume. * * * * * the general level of rates affects the ultimate consumer more than the shipper. steadiness of rates, on the other hand, is vital to a healthy state of trade. it is important to examine the evidence from this point of view. the history of railroad rates shows a steady improvement in the direction of more general observance of published tariffs. periods of abject demoralization incidental to the most furious rate wars, have alternated with periods of peace, characterized by more or less faithful observance of agreed rates. viewed in a large way the intervals of disturbance have become less frequent and less intense with the passage of time. present conditions are more satisfactory than any which have prevailed since  . rate wars are almost as old as railroading and are coincident with the appearance of competition. among the earliest of note were the struggles between the erie and the new york central as soon as the former road was constructed to dunkirk, ohio, on the great lakes. but the most notorious rate wars were those which prevailed between the trunk lines in respect of the carriage of grain to the seaboard. these wars began with the entrance of the trunk lines into chicago in .[ ] the baltimore and ohio from the outset was the disturbing factor. having no entry into new york except over the lines of the pennsylvania railroad, the refusal of the latter in to give proper facilities led to immediate retaliation by rate cutting on the baltimore and ohio. the details of these wars and their economic significance have become classics in our american industrial history. suffice it to say that for intensity and persistence these contests which lasted for ten years after , have been unequalled in our history since that time. a brief period of calm ensued after . but soon the struggle broke out again in , intensified by the construction of new parallel trunk lines like the west shore and the nickel plate. these latter rate disturbances lasted for about three years. the passage of the act to regulate commerce in greatly improved the rate situation for a time;[ ] but harmonious relations were rudely shaken by a bitter rate war in between the grand trunk railway and the american lines with reference to the rates upon dressed beef. trouble over this traffic had occurred as far back as , when the rate from chicago to new york had been cut from one dollar to forty-five cents. in , however, the rate on dressed beef for weeks was as low as six cents per hundred pounds. the grand trunk which had carried almost half of this business in , had its proportion reduced to twenty-eight per cent. in the following year. at this time also extensive rate wars prevailed in the far western territory. the failure of the atchison road brought to light accumulated rebates for the four years prior to to the amount of $ , , . the prosperity of the early nineties led to a considerable improvement in rate observances. the only exception was the persistence of trouble from the canadian carriers. the soo line across the straits of mackinac, opening a short route from st. paul and minneapolis to the seaboard, was acquired by the canadian pacific railroad in . combined lake-and-rail grain rates were sadly disturbed and the controversy over so-called ex-lake grain between the lines from buffalo to new york, which afterward cropped out in , took its beginning. these canadian pacific rate wars were severe while they lasted. in , for instance, the rate on boots and shoes from boston to st. paul dropped from one dollar and fifteen cents per hundredweight to forty-five cents. the panic and subsequent depression of caused serious and widespread rate wars all over the country. grain rates from chicago to new york were openly reduced from twenty-five to fifteen cents. two peculiarities of this rate war deserve mention. in the first place, every concession was publicly made,--that is to say, the cut rates were filed with the interstate commerce commission; and, consequently, owing to the percentage-basis system to intermediate points, the rate war on chicago-new york business automatically induced a rate war to every intermediate point in central traffic association territory. transcontinental rates were also badly upset at the same time. this was due not only to the prevalent hard times, but to complications arising from the independence of the panama railway. this line had been controlled since by the union pacific railroad. the arrangement under which the pacific mail steamship company was also controlled came to an end in , when the field was again opened to competition. the merchants of san francisco established an independent line of steamships and for two years the most bitter and reckless rate war prevailed. during this conflict freight was carried from new york to san francisco as low as thirty cents per hundredweight.[ ] matters were finally settled in ; but in the meantime the union pacific railroad had gone into bankruptcy. entire demoralization in freight rates throughout the southern states occurred in . every carrier in this section was involved. rates were cut for two months by as much as two-thirds. the first-class rate from new york to atlanta dropped from $ . to forty cents per hundred pounds. the years - for the country as a whole were exceedingly unfortunate. better conditions then supervened except for a rate war on grain at missouri river points, so important that it was made the subject of special investigation.[ ] the chicago great western railroad through the agency of a corporation known as the iowa development company actually purchased on its own account large amounts of grain in order to secure its carriage. grain was carried from kansas city to chicago under the system of rebating known as "protecting the through rate" for as low as two cents, when the open published rate was seventeen cents per hundredweight. conditions then bettered somewhat largely through the activities of the joint traffic and trans-missouri freight associations. the prospect of legalization of pooling by congress was bright. rates seem to have been observed with more than usual faithfulness throughout the country, the only exception being another brief conflict in the southern states. but the trans-missouri decision by the united states supreme court in , declaring these traffic associations illegal, once more precipitated most unsatisfactory conditions. and these were accentuated by the budding prosperity of the following year. with the return of activity in business and agriculture in a frenzy for participation in the rapidly expanding traffic once more brought about extreme disorganization. the interstate commerce commission reported that "a large part of the business at the present time is transacted upon illegal rates ... in certain quarters the observance of the published rate is the exception." the commissioner of the st. louis traffic bureau testified before the united states industrial commission that "there were fewer rates maintained in than at any other time within my knowledge of the railroad business, and i have been in the railroad business for twenty-eight years." at this point the interstate commerce commission intervened by the proffer of its good offices. conferences with the heads of the principal railroads were held. a decided change in the attitude of the commission toward the carriers became evident. it wisely sought to arouse the railroads themselves to the enormity of the existing evils, being absolutely unable itself under the law either to prevent or correct the existing abuses. the result fully justified all expectations. the following year witnessed an almost complete restoration of published rates, although business continued to expand in volume. naturally there was ample for all the railroads to handle. this condition lasted for some time. but during rate cutting again developed upon a large scale in westbound business. the great increase of eastbound shipments and the demand for return lading at any price was undoubtedly the cause. this condition lasted for some months. rate cutting between the trunk lines again broke out in the spring of , grain being hauled as low as eleven cents per hundred pounds from chicago to new york. competition between the lake line railroads seems to have been the cause. the problem of adjusting ex-lake grain rates dates from this period. the community-of-interest plan of trunk line control was ineffective to prevent disturbance. in the same year a passenger rate war from the missouri river to california was also threatened. the united states industrial commission sent out a number of inquiries concerning conditions in the summer of . this indicated a firm and stable rate condition in the east but some disturbance on lines between chicago and the ohio river points. trouble soon broke out, however. the atchison road suspecting its competitors of bad faith, cut its rates first-class from chicago to the missouri river from eighty cents to fifty cents per hundredweight. agreements were repeatedly made and almost immediately violated, some of the strongest lines being the worst offenders. during the fall of that year export rates on flour and grain were badly slashed. the traffic manager of the new york central lines testified that grain rates for export were not maintained for a number of months. apparently the general situation in was more satisfactory than at any previous time in the history of railroading in the united states. with few exceptions the published rates were observed. this commendable situation seems to have been due to several causes. primarily an adequate appreciation by the railroads themselves of the losses of revenue to which they had voluntarily subjected themselves prevailed. an enormous volume of traffic incident to general prosperity, also, almost overtaxed the facilities of the carriers. and, in the third place, the spread of consolidation and the community-of-interest idea undoubtedly contributed to the same end. the determined attitude taken by important roads, notably the southern railway, contributed to the maintenance of rates. even in the far west and northwest, rate conditions seemed to be in better shape than at almost any previous time. but it was too good to last; trouble soon broke out again. grain rates from kansas to chicago during the summer dropped from nineteen cents to seven cents. rates on packing-house products became utterly demoralized. so bad did conditions become that in march of the interstate commerce commission intervened, seeking injunctions in the federal courts against any departure from the published tariffs. this immediately bettered conditions; and in february of the passage of the elkins law, as we shall see, contributed still further to this end. the enactment of this statute, passed at the solicitation of the carriers themselves and imposing much severer penalties upon departure from published rates, brought about conditions during the spring of unsurpassed for stability. the only exception was a minor disturbance concerning the carriage of ex-lake grain from buffalo to new york. tariffs seem to have been faithfully maintained throughout the country with one exception, that is to say, concerning traffic to and from missouri river points. since the passage of the elkins amendments in , the phenomenal development of export trade through the gulf ports, principally new orleans and galveston,[ ] has been mainly responsible for recurring and often ferocious rate wars, particularly during the years - . these rate wars were usually precipitated in the first instance by struggles between the gulf railroads and the trunk lines for the carriage of export corn. in , for example, after a long period during which little surplus corn was available for export from iowa, kansas and nebraska, much of it being locally consumed for stock feeding, a large surplus was left over. rates were promptly cut during by both sets of lines. thus the rate on export corn from omaha to new orleans was reduced from eighteen to eleven cents per hundred pounds. this cut was promptly met by a reduction of rates from missouri river points to chicago from twenty-four to thirteen cents. the rate from omaha to new york dropped to the extraordinarily low figure of thirteen cents per hundred pounds. the burlington and missouri pacific railroads were particularly active in this contest; together securing over eighty per cent. of the corn traffic, although five other important roads were operating in this territory. all through the winter and spring of the struggle went on unabated. the gulf ports during this period increased their exports of corn two and one-half times over. the struggle was not alone confined to the carriage of grain; although export flour being manufactured so far north, seems to have been immune from disturbance. the trouble extended over into the field of packing-house products for export. it was long thought that this could not be shipped over the roundabout southern route, but its practicability was demonstrated at this time. the demand of the gulf roads for a ten per cent. differential rate in their favor as an offset for the greater time requisite for transit, not being accorded, rates were again cut by one-third, sometimes being as low as twenty cents per hundred pounds. the rate wars of in the carriage of export traffic immediately spread into the field of imports. competition for transcontinental and far western business has always been keen by the gulf routes. the notable import rate case already discussed, offers a good illustration of this fact. the great volume of tonnage moving outward through galveston and new orleans necessitated a correspondingly heavy northern and northwestern movement of empty cars. hence the railroads leading from the gulf ports, actively bid both against one another and in connection with the steamship lines against the trunk lines. competition was particularly keen for the carriage of the large volume of sugar to the middle west, particularly missouri river points like st. louis and omaha. carriers from every point of the compass were interested in this traffic. the trunk lines brought refined sugar from the seaboard cities where the west indian product is concentrated. the gulf lines brought the louisiana product, partly as a back-load against exported grain. and the transcontinental lines brought the hawaiian sugar, also as a back-load against a predominance of westbound tonnage. all hands thus directly took part.[ ] for three years this sugar war persisted despite all attempts at harmony. rates were constantly cut by fifty per cent., always of course to the profit of the large sugar refiners. coffee, also constituting an important part of our import trade, and of course particularly adapted to entry through the gulf ports, was carried at ruinous rates. thus on green coffee during , the rate from new orleans to st. paul was cut from forty to fifteen cents per hundred pounds, while coincidently the rate on sugar dropped from thirty-two to ten cents. the struggle for import business extended finally to all imports of merchandise from europe. the illinois central, for example, actively bid for the imported plate glass business about this time. at a meeting of parties concerned in , the fact developed that every one of the important lines had entered into contracts for the carriage of this traffic at rates approximately one-half those normally prevalent. the trunk lines of course had to meet this competition or lose the business. the pennsylvania railroad cut the rate on crockery from forty to eighteen cents; on imported seeds the rate dropped from fifty to twenty cents and on toys from seventy-five to twenty-five cents per hundred pounds. these rate wars it will be observed differed neither in extent nor degree from those of a generation earlier. one cannot avoid the conclusion that the utter demoralization of rates was ended only by the intervention of the federal government; first by the sturdy and determined application of the elkins law under president roosevelt's personal direction, and later by extension of the principle of supervision and regulation by the hepburn act of  . the principal breach since the sugar wars was a rather persistent and locally interesting disturbance of westbound import rates, precipitated in the spring of by the boston & maine railroad. its object was to overcome the disability against the port of boston in the matter of imports, due to the differentials allowed at philadelphia and baltimore.[ ] this led to a general trunk line upset lasting about four months, in the course of which rates from boston to chicago were reduced from sixty-nine to fifty-eight cents. this obviously left little profit in the business. yet it was a mild concession as compared with the struggles of earlier years. two years later, in june, , trouble threatened to break out again. this time it was the delaware & hudson and erie roads which filed reduced rates to the interior. but the solidarity of feeling between the trunk lines was such that an open breach was prevented at the last moment. the prompt intervention of the federal authorities was a noticeable feature on this occasion. it may somewhat safely be predicated that further serious disturbance in future is unlikely to occur. footnotes: [ ] u. s. industrial commission, xix, , pp. - ; _annals of the american academy of political science_, , pp. - . [ ] revenue per ton mile in index to the senate (elkins) committee hearings, , vol. iv. [ ] compare conclusions as to rebating in ; u. s. industrial commission, xix, p. . when, as in , a general departure of per cent. from published rates characterized transcontinental traffic, the difference between the theoretical and actual revenue, as measured by the published rates, is very great. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] the movement of average trainloads in connection with ton-mile revenue bears upon this point. thus in , the increased trainload, accompanied by a lower ton-mile revenue, points specifically to an increase in low-grade traffic. [ ] senate finance committee report on prices, , part i, p. . [ ] the effect of periods of depression, such as and , upon the proportion of low-grade tonnage is a moot point. [ ] _u. s. statistics of railways_, , p. . [ ] mileage of roads represented on june , -- , . miles. [ ] _cf._ ripley railway problems, p. . _cf._ also p. , _supra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, digest, app. iii, p. , brings out the high proportion of local business in the south. on the l. &. n. per cent. is thus classed. [ ] mass. commission on commerce and industry, , p. . [ ] mccain, in senate finance committee report on prices, . [ ] i.c.c., annual rep., , p. . [ ] emphasized in the case of wool rates. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] samuel o. dunn, _the american transportation question_, p. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, ; _idem_, , etc. [ ] j. r. commons, _bulletin, bureau of economic research_, no. , july, ; unfortunately not continued to date. the best data giving actual rates and classifications is the _forty year review_, etc., published by the interstate commerce commission, as "railways in ," part ii, ; continued in senate (elkins) committee, digest, app. ii, ; and cong., nd sess., senate doc. no. , savagely attacked in bull. ii, chicago bureau of railway news and statistics, . the largest collection of material is in the senate (aldrich) committee report on prices, , i. pp. - , covering the period - . also bulletin , misc. series, div. of statistics, u. s. dept. of agriculture, , pp. - . [ ] the continuation of commons' index number of freight rates to date, seemed inadvisable on account of the changes in traffic conditions which have taken place. originally well selected, the thirty-seven rates chosen in are not now representative. there are, for instance, no transcontinental quotations at all; none from the southern states, such as on raw cotton; none for the great staples elsewhere moving under commodity ratings, such as iron ore, chemical fertilizers, lumber, citrus fruit, etc. moreover, twelve of the thirty-seven items chosen by commons were rates on petroleum which now moves in bulk in pipe lines except locally. several of the quotations for coal, and for all the other carload rates, as a matter of fact, have been so affected by changes in carload minimum rules, that the mere rate by itself has little significance. rejecting commons' particular index number by reason of its inherent defects does not, however, lessen the desirability of choosing some other combination of rates which may be used as a standard for measurement of rate changes year by year. yet the selection of such an index number is open to all the difficulties attaching to a similar index number of prices. is the object, for example, an academic determination of rate changes _per se_; or is it intended to ascertain the financial burden of such charges upon the community? in the former case the volume of traffic affected would not be an important consideration. local rates on indigo or millinery would be given the same weight as similar changes in the rate on wheat between chicago and the atlantic seaboard. the latter mode of approaching the question, on the other hand, would correspond to an index number of prices, weighted according to the volume of consumption. a doubled freight rate on hard coal to perth amboy would outweigh an equal change in the charge on castile soap in exact proportion to its commercial importance as measured by the total tonnage transported. many such details would call for careful consideration before the final adoption of the rate items chosen to constitute the index number; but the interstate commerce commission might well consider the initiation of such a statistical project, endeavoring to do for railroad rates what the federal commissioner of labor performs so satisfactorily in officially recording current changes in the price of commodities. such a record of railroad rates extending over a series of years, supplemented by data for ton mileage revenue, would be invaluable in the determination of the reasonableness of rate advances in future; even as the rate increases of clearly pointed to the need of a similar standard for purposes of comparison from year to year in the past. [ ] u.s. industrial commission, xix, pp. - ; th cong., nd sess., sen. doc. . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . for other instances compare i.c.c. rep., , and i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] for further examples supplementing our concrete instances above, the following citations are significant; for cattle, i.c.c. rep., , and ; i.c.c. rep., ; i.c.c. rep., ; for soft coal, i.c.c. rep., ; for hay, i.c.c. rep., ; for transcontinental rates in general, _u. s. v. union pacific railroad_, etc., supreme court,  . october term, , p. . the record, so far as the general advances of are concerned, will be considered in connection with the legislation of that date, in chapter xviii. [ ] _annals of the american academy of political science_, , pp. - . [ ] discussed in chap. xx. [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, , p. . [ ] calculations of c. c. mccain on the diminished ratio of railway rates to wholesale commodity prices, in connection with the increases in . [ ] well expressed in a recent soft coal case; i.c.c. rep., . [ ] further details in our historical summary in chap. i. [ ] the main sources of the following chronicle have been the files of annual reports of the interstate commerce commission and of the _railway age_ and _age-gazette_. [ ] a carload of bamboo steamer chairs across the continent for $ . is a cut to the bone indeed. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] th cong., nd sess., sen. doc. , is as fine a picture of utter rate demoralization as can be found. [ ] shown by diagram at p. , _supra_. [ ] senate (elkins) committee, , pp. and . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. chapter xiii the act to regulate commerce of [ ] its general significance,  .--economic causes,  .--growth of interstate traffic,  .--earlier federal laws,  .--not lower rates, but end of discriminations sought,  .--rebates and favoritism,  .--monopoly by means of pooling distrusted,  .--speculation and fraud,  .--local discrimination,  .--general unsettlement from rapid growth,  .--congressional history of the law,  .--its constitutionality,  .--summary of its provisions,  .--its tentative character,  .--radical departure as to rebating,  . due appreciation of the significance of the great body of federal legislation concerning railroads which has accumulated during the last quarter century in the united states, depends upon a clear understanding of the economic events of the period. great laws are not the figments of men's minds, conjured up in a day. they are a response to the needs of the time. their true causes are thus immeasurably complex. nor does a wholesale public demand for legislation arise overnight. from small beginnings the pressure steadily grows, oftentimes for years; until, perhaps through a conjuncture of particularly aggravating events, matters are at last brought suddenly to a head. yet while this culmination of industrial or social pressure may finally result in legislation under some particularly strong political leadership, to assign such personal influence as even the remote cause of legislation, is to belie all the facts and experience of history. no clearer illustration of the close relationship between economic causes and statutory results could perhaps be found, than in the field of our federal legislation concerning common carriers. it forms one of the most important chapters in our industrial history. several of the economic causes of the act to regulate commerce of , are deep-rooted in the preceding decade. a few even run back to civil war times. foremost among these was the rapid expansion of the railway net; and particularly, as outlined in our introductory historical chapter, its phenomenal growth during the eighties. more new mileage was laid down in the year of the act itself than at any other time in our entire history within a single twelvemonth. of equal significance, however, was the far more than commensurate development of long distance, that is to say, interstate business. the through carriage of livestock and grain to the seaboard for export attained immense importance; and the settlement of the middle west called for a corresponding westward movement of manufactured goods. the windom committee of on "transportation routes to the seaboard"[ ] bears eloquent testimony to the growing importance of this through traffic as a factor in legislative activity. according to the cullom committee report twelve years later,[ ] approximately three-fourths of the railway traffic of the country was already at that time interstate in character. on the trunk lines, excepting the pennsylvania railroad which still relied more largely on pittsburg-philadelphia tonnage, more nearly nine-tenths of the traffic consisted of through, as distinct from local, business. obviously, this pointed to the assumption of authority by the federal government, if any were to be exercised; inasmuch as the separate states, as will shortly appear, were held by the supreme court of the united states in to be powerless to deal with interstate commerce. the growing disposition of congress to assume control over interstate business had already been evinced in the passage of two federal statutes. one in had dealt with abuses in the carriage of livestock. and another, even earlier, had sought to remove obstacles set up by local jealousy and monopoly to the through carriage of goods. some railway charters actually prohibited railroads from making connections with other lines; or from allowing cars to leave their own rails. the erie, for example, was thus hampered; lest the trade of southern new york be diverted to rival seaports. but the military necessity of through transport of troops, and the impediments to speedy and cheap carriage of mails and goods through delays at junction points, impelled congress to authorize, though not as yet to compel, the formation of through routes and the issue of through bills of lading by the act of . the immediate response to this permissive legislation was the rise of the private car lines, elsewhere described, in connection with personal discrimination and also in the general historical review.[ ] no widespread demand for a general reduction of railroad rates seems to have existed in . in this regard the situation is strikingly in contrast with that which prevailed during the protracted hard times succeeding the panic of . acute industrial depression during that period had aroused deep public feeling against the "extortions of soulless railway corporations." it was but natural that all the farmers in the newly settled states should actively participate in the granger movement. the popular war cry in this agitation was lower freight rates. this demand is voiced in the president's message of , calling for "more certain and cheaper transportation, of the rapidly increasing western and southern products, to the atlantic seaboard." the proposals of the senate to attain these objects are contained in the above-mentioned windom committee report of . competition is to be stimulated by the development of waterways and new trunk lines. a bureau of commerce is proposed. the long and short haul principle in rate making is to be enforced. stock-watering is to be prohibited; and publicity of rates to be brought about. on the whole, reduced charges are to be secured rather by means of natural competition among carriers than through legislation. but the keynote of the windom report of is cheaper carriage of goods,--a general reduction of rates all along the line. many things happened during the next twelve years to modify this demand. by , according to the cullom committee, "the paramount evil chargeable against the operation of the transportation systems of the united states, as now conducted, is unjust discrimination between persons, places, commodities, or particular descriptions of traffic." purely economic events had brought about this change of opinion. the rate wars of the seventies; a revival of general prosperity in ; and great mechanical improvements and economies in operation, had brought about the desired decline of freight rates.[ ] for the time the bogey of extortionate charges was laid at rest. the act of , elaborate as it was in form, seems not to have been intended to deal with rates in any general way. it was in the main aimed at the prevention of specific abuses. "the practice of discrimination in one form or another is the principal cause of complaint." consequently, the long succession of bills introduced in the house of representatives year after year for more than a decade by judge reagan of texas and others, made no attempt to provide administrative machinery by which to fix rates in general; but sought merely to prohibit these specific abuses by statute.[ ] the proposition for a permanent commission to deal with rates in a more comprehensive way, seems, as we shall see, to have emanated from the senate at a later time. but this more statesman-like proposition from the upper chamber was essentially different from the response in the house of representatives to popular feeling against discriminatory practices, which slowly gathered force during more than a decade of agitation and debate. what now were some of the specific "discriminations" which these various bills in congress aimed to prevent? and why did the movement come to a head in ? the evidence is conclusive that personal favoritism as between rival shippers took first place. the indiscriminate and cut-throat competition of the carriers, particularly in connection with the trunk line rate wars, offered a golden opportunity to those in search of secret and preferential rates.[ ] the chief offender, of course, was the standard oil company under the direction of john d. rockefeller. the cassatt revelations in as to exclusive contracts with the great trunk lines for the carriage of oil, greatly stirred public opinion. congressional attention had been directed to the subject some years before by complaints from the pennsylvania field. but the abortive results of the investigation of demonstrated nothing beyond the shameful impudence of the chief offenders. according to the new york (hepburn) committee investigation in , few shippers had ever seen printed tariffs. the assistant general freight agent of the new york central testified that one-half the business out of new york, and nine-tenths out of syracuse went on special rates. at this time there was also unrest in the anthracite coal trade. moreover, the activity of the "eveners" in the cattle business in - [ ] had laid the foundation for still other monopolies built up by means of rebates. but the constant irritant in the public eye was the standard oil company.[ ] the lake shore case, fought through every ohio court and then on appeal up to the supreme court of the united states in , widely advertised the discriminatory practices of the railroads. but the most spectacular disclosures of all took place in - in the george rice cases in ohio. the cullom committee in recommending publicity of rates as its primary remedy for the evils of the time, specifically cites "this most impudent and outrageous" proceeding.[ ] in the protracted struggle in conference committee upon the provisions of the act, elimination of rebates was the only subject upon which both house and senate conferees were in thorough accord from the start. whatever the commercial crimes chargeable to the founder of the standard oil company, he should, at least, be credited with the performance of a great public service in finally crystallising public opinion in in favor of railroad legislation for the prevention of rebating. distrust of monopoly has always loomed up large in the public eye. the dread of it is voiced in every public document of the time. the windom committee in , as we have seen, looked to the stimulation of railway competition as its chief remedy against high rates. five years later, the hepburn committee in new york vehemently denounced railroad monopoly as an evil to be sternly repressed. but, in the meantime, the carriers, almost prostrated by the excesses of their rate wars, were slowly learning how to coöperate for the maintenance of more stable charges. railroad pools and traffic agreements, first essayed about , were gradually elaborated; until by nearly all parts of the country were covered by them.[ ] from small beginnings in , the trunk line association under albert fink was in its heyday of activity. the southern railway association was restoring order out of chaos, south of the ohio river. by all competitive traffic north and west of chicago was pooled. this was especially true of the highly competitive business between the missouri and mississippi rivers. even in remoter regions, such agreements threatened to deprive the public of the benefits of rival railroad construction. in colorado and new mexico public sentiment was deeply aroused over the tripartite division of territory between the carriers then in the field.[ ] the helplessness of independent railroads was made evident in connection with the attempt of the (now) colorado & southern road to gain a foothold. its suits in both state and federal courts, and the attempted remedial legislation by colorado in , disclosed the great power of monopoly over the public welfare in that region. in texas, the gould-huntington apportionment of the field between the two systems in ,[ ] was doubtless perceived as to its results, even if its precise terms were secret. the texas traffic association, also, organized in , embraced all the lines in that vicinity. may it not well be that the final inclusion in the act of of the prohibition of pooling, upon direct insistence of the texas representative in congress against the protest of the senate, had some connection with these events? it seems clear that the marked interest of the railways in eliminating competition all over the country at this critical time, carried great weight with congress in shaping the law. the years since the civil war had witnessed an ever increasing volume of speculation and fraud in railway affairs, which reached its climax in the frenzied construction period of the eighties.[ ] jay gould, "jim" fisk and their successors who contributed to the "railway panic" of , had done their work well in arousing public hostility to the railroads. the hepburn committee report in new york is symptomatic of the state of feeling in its vehement denunciation of these practices.[ ] the windom committee, five years earlier, had officially registered its opinion that of all the abuses of the time, "none have contributed so much to the general discontent and indignation as the increase of railway capital by _stock watering_ and _capitalization of surplus earnings_. the murmurs of discontent have swollen into a storm of popular indignation. your committee believe the evil to be of such magnitude as to justify and require for its prevention the coöperation of both congress and the states."[ ] nor is the cullom committee less emphatic in ; although its condemnation is shifted from the trunk lines, particularly the new york central and the erie, to the newly constructed "unnecessary roads." "this practice (of stock watering) has unquestionably done more to create and keep alive a popular feeling of hostility against the railroads of the united states than any other one cause."[ ] all were agreed that the remedy must be applied by the states, from which the companies derived their charters. but a powerful impulse toward publicity of accounts and operating details as well as of rates, to be enforced by the hand of the federal government, was unquestionably imparted by the financial scandals of the time. it was hoped that fraudulent construction concerns, subsidiary companies for "milking" the main corporation, unnecessary paralleling of existing lines for purposes of blackmail, speculative bankruptcies and all similar practices of the period might be restrained in part by letting in the light of day upon their affairs. then again, there were the discriminations in rates, so vehemently denounced, against the small towns and local business, in favor of the large cities mainly interested in long distance traffic. such jealousies and rivalries of course antedate the railroad. they are almost as old as trade. and yet the course of affairs since the panic of , had lent peculiar force to them by the middle of the eighties. it had been a period of ruinous railroad competition all over the land, but especially in trunk line territory. through rates had fallen tremendously; without any corresponding change in local charges.[ ] the great western cities and the remote farmers were the immediate beneficiaries, of course. but there were the older communities of the east to be reckoned with,[ ]--the farmers of new england and middle new york and the secondary cities which had once been terminal points but were now become way stations. in the south, new towns were springing up, anxious to divide distributive trade with the older cotton concentration points. nashville, soon to take first place in a celebrated case, was being built up by a favoring railway; and atlanta, a purely railroad town, was in rapid growth at the expense of older rivals. the separate states had long sought to deal with this ancient evil of local discrimination in rates by means of long and short haul clauses; but to little effect. what wonder that the cullom committee in , heads its long list of "complaints against the railroad system of the united states" by two forms of this alleged evil! in brief, the contemporary evidence all goes to show that,--quite aside from evil intent,--the railroad business of the united states in the middle of the eighties, was in a highly disorganized state. phenomenal economic development since the resumption of specie payments in , had perhaps outstripped the capacity of managements to scientifically order their affairs. collateral evidence as to this is the extraordinary wastefulness, of operation which prevailed. competition had run mad. all of the tricks and vagaries of roundabout routing of freight found place.[ ] to keep pace with mere operating demands was a heavy enough task,--to say nothing of constructing well-ordered tariffs, keeping straight accounts, and providing adequate funds for growth. and out of this unsettled condition of affairs there had sprung the usual mushroom crop of speculation, fraud and corruption which is bound to flourish at such times. and then, finally, in seeking to understand the economic situation in , the intolerable arrogance of great railway managers must be kept in mind. honorable exceptions there must have been, to be sure. but the "public be damned" attitude of the old commodore vanderbilt was evidently a general, although perhaps a somewhat exaggerated one. it is certain that there was no well-defined sense of responsibility to the public. all attempts at investigation or reform were treated as "interference with private business." the rising tide of popular feeling was increased by evidence of corrupt political practices, as well as of mere crude contempt for the rights of patrons. read the congressional debates upon the camden and amboy monopoly in new jersey; the special laws "jammed" through the state legislature by the new york central railroad;[ ] and the revelations as to corruption in the credit mobilier and other proceedings in congress.[ ] such things added fuel to the flames in the east, kindled and kept alive in the west by the granger movement. the time for an attempt to curb the second great manifestation of corporate power in the united states was indeed at hand. the only question was as to the form which it should assume. * * * * * the congressional history of the act of extends over a period of nearly fifteen years. the first general bill to pass the house of representatives in , had for its object a reduction of rates; but the movement for the elimination of discriminatory practices did not begin until two years later. then in , came the first of the long series of bills which finally led up to the statute in its final form, prepared by representative reagan of texas. but it was not until that the senate, ever tardy in its response to public sentiment, began to take the matter seriously. its earlier interest in reduced rates had dissipated, ten years before, with the windom committee report. now, however, under the leadership of the senator from illinois, the cullom committee brought in a bill, the distinctive feature of which was provision for a permanent administrative commission. the various house bills, in their distrust of executive appointments and authority, had favored leaving the elimination of abuses, once clearly defined by law, to the federal courts. a legislative deadlock between the two chambers resulted upon this point; as well as concerning the status of pooling. for the house sought to prohibit all traffic agreements; while the senate would permit them under proper administrative supervision. at this critical juncture the supreme court decision in the wabash, st. louis, and pacific railway case[ ] was handed down. it specifically denied to the individual states, power to regulate the ever-increasing volume of interstate traffic. this decision put the match to the long train of influences making for action. the senate and house bills were therefore taken up in conference committee, with the usual outcome of give and take. the senate gained its point of administrative, rather than judicial, control. a commission was provided; but the courts were accorded power to entertain appeals. on the other hand, the house conferees insisted upon the prohibition of pooling and a more stringent long and short haul clause. all were agreed in respect to the publicity features. the series of votes at different times with steadily growing majorities, leading up finally to the passage of this compromise statute by both houses, is significant of the progress of public opinion upon the matter. _house of representatives_ _senate_ passed to -- " to -- " to to " to to " to to the constitutionality of the act to regulate commerce of need not long concern us.[ ] everything depended upon the interpretation of the clause in the constitution conferring upon congress power over commerce with foreign nations and among the states. a generation earlier the regulation of railroads by federal statute might not have been sanctioned. but lincoln and grant had dealt a death blow to the old states' rights idea. and the positive legislation after the civil war prior to this time, had already denoted a much more progressive and liberal point of view. the far-reaching decisions of the supreme court following _munn v. illinois_ in had clearly upheld the power of the several states to regulate commerce. the situation called only for definition of the dividing line between state and federal authority. this was accorded in the wabash case, which, as has already been stated, terminated the congressional deadlock, and brought about an agreement upon the terms of the law. nor is it without significance, in the light of subsequent events, that the wabash case was an appeal by a common carrier to federal authority for protection against a state statute. a brief summary of the main provisions of the act to regulate commerce, at this point, will be convenient for future reference. section . it applies to freight and passengers by land; or by land and water in cases of continuous or through shipment, even to foreign countries. all charges shall be reasonable and just; and every unjust and unreasonable charge is prohibited. section . rebates and personal discrimination of every sort forbidden. section . local discrimination forbidden; equal facilities for interchange of traffic with connecting lines prescribed. section . long and short haul clause: "that it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act, to charge or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers or of like kind of property, under substantially similar circumstances and conditions, for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line, in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance; but this shall not be construed as authorizing any common carrier within the terms of this act to charge and receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: _provided_, _however_, that upon application to the commission appointed under the provisions of this act, such common carrier may, in special cases, after investigation by the commission, be authorized to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property; and the commission may from time to time prescribe the extent to which such designated common carrier may be relieved from the operation of this section of this act." section . all pooling and traffic agreements prohibited. section . all rates and fares to be printed and posted for public inspection at all stations; and filed with the commission at washington. no advance in rates except after ten days notice. all charges, other than as published, forbidden. section . procedure by complaint before the commission or federal courts. power to compel testimony and production of papers. section . penalty of $ for each offence in violation. (amended in , adding imprisonment.) section . interstate commerce commission of five members established; by presidential appointment; term six years. section . powers of commission to inquire, with right to obtain full information necessary to exercise of its authority. power over witnesses and production of papers, to be sustained by u. s. circuit courts. sections - . procedure before commission by complaint. parties competent to appear. decisions to include findings of fact upon which based, for courts on appeal. section . duty of commission to notify carriers to "cease and desist" from violation, or to make reparation for injury done. section . to enforce obedience, procedure by petition of commission in federal courts, which may issue writs. section . annual detailed reports from carriers as to finance, operation, rates or regulations in prescribed forms as desired by the commission. such is the substance of the statute which marks the real, beginning of subjection of the railroads to control by the federal government. it was avowedly tentative in character. it was a compromise, entirely satisfactory to no one. many of its provisions were not new. administrative commissions had already been in existence some time in several of the states. pooling had also commonly been condemned. the long and short haul clause in the statute constitutes no innovation. it was based specifically upon a number of state laws, more or less similar to it in tenor.[ ] in vermont, for example, since ; in virginia, since ; and in massachusetts, since , long and short haul clauses had been in force. some seventeen states, prior to the enactment of the interstate commerce act in , had conceded the wisdom of such an adjustment between local and long hauls. nor were such statutes disregarded, as a rule. thus, in massachusetts they were enforced to the extreme degree of prohibiting any concession in rates at provincetown, on the point of cape cod, one hundred and twenty miles from boston by land, while only thirty-six miles in a direct line by water, below the rates at any of the intermediate points on the roundabout rail line along the cape. the debates in congress at the time this section of the act was under discussion show that the bill as finally passed was a compromise between an absolutely inflexible prohibition, in the house, and a more elastic measure, providing for exceptions, in the senate. in one respect the law of marks a profound revolution in both commercial theory and practice. its provisions concerning equality of rates to all classes of shippers denote a great moral uplift in the business standards of the country. prior to this time the english common law, while requiring reasonableness of charges by common carriers, by no means insured that such charges should be stable and uniform. this flowed perhaps from the circumstance that rebating was an essentially american abuse. neither in england, nor on the continent for that matter, had business rivals ever made such use of the services of carriers to suppress fair competition in trade. with us, on the other hand, in the early free-and-easy days, entire freedom of contract between shipper and carrier had been the rule. published tariffs were only the starting point for "higgle" and "dicker." it was not bad form for a shipper to "go shopping" freely among the freight agents of competing lines. the location of new enterprises, new opportunities for the expansion of old ones, were all more or less conditioned by the special favors which were so readily obtainable on demand. nor was the accompaniment of secrecy necessarily due to fear of moral condemnation by the community. secrecy was an economic essential of the device, as has elsewhere been shown.[ ] by this new statute all was suddenly changed. rebating was made a crime, punishable as such. is it any wonder that, almost from the outset and for nearly fifteen years, this part of the law was the storm centre of litigation; and that in respect of rebating, the need of supplementary legislation should first become apparent? footnotes: [ ] the following references are best:-- . hudson, j. f. the railways and the republic.-- . seligman, e. r. a. _political science quarterly_, ii, pp. - and  - .-- . nimmo, j. legislative history in _the railway news_, currently reported.-- . painter, u. h. compilation from the congressional record. privately published.-- - . hadley, a. t. _quarterly journal of economics_, ii, pp. - ; iii, pp. - . in addition, the general works of hadley, charles francis adams and haney; and the extensive list of magazine articles in the bibliography on railways of the library of congress, . [ ] d congress, st session, senate report no. , pts. [ ] th congress, st session, senate report no. , pts: pt. , pp. and - . [ ] pp. and . [ ] in detail at pp. and , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ haney, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _cf._ pp. , and , _supra_. [ ] select senate committee on transportation of meat products, , p. , etc. [ ] _cf._ the chapter from miss tarbell's history of the standard oil company, reprinted in our railway problems. hudson, pp. - , well summarizes the hepburn committee testimony. [ ] _op. cit._; vol. i, p. . [ ] pooling is discussed in detail in volume ii. [ ] university of colorado studies, v, , pp. - . [ ] bulletin, university of texas, no. , , p. . [ ] details in chapter i and in the discussion of speculation in volume ii. [ ] hudson, _op. cit._, pp. - , uses much of this testimony. [ ] pp. _et seq._ [ ] pp. _et seq._ [ ] pages , , _supra_, and , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ hudson, _op. cit._, pp. - . [ ] _cf._ chap. viii. [ ] chapters of erie reprinted in part in our railway problems. [ ] _cf._ haney, congressional history of railways, vol. ii, p. . the credit mobilier is also described by reprint in our railway problems. [ ] u. s. . [ ] _cf._ cullom committee, , pp. - ; and the summary of congressional debates by haney, _op. cit._, vol. ii, p. _et seq._ [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] chapter xx. chapter xiv - . emasculation of the law favorable reception,  .--first resistance from unwilling witnesses concerning rebates,  .--counselman and brown cases,  .--the brimson case,  .--relation to federal courts unsatisfactory,  .--interminable delay,  .--original evidence rejected,  .--the commission's court record examined,  .--rate orders at first obeyed,  .--the social circle case,  .--final breakdown in maximum (cincinnati) freight rate case,  .--other functions remaining,  .--the long and short haul clause interpreted,  .--the louisville and nashville case,  .--the "independent line" decision,  .--the social circle case again,  .--"rare and peculiar cases,"  .--the alabama midland (troy) decision,  .--attempted rejuvenation of the long and short haul clause,  .--the savannah naval stores case,  .--the dwindling record of complaints,  . the first response to the new federal law by the railroads was entirely favorable.[ ] they sought to obey its mandates both in letter and spirit. the commission reports in that the railroads "conformed promptly" to their orders; although in the south and west they were "moving more slowly." on the other hand, the new commission under the leadership of judge cooley, an able jurist trusted by all parties concerned, was equally conciliatory in spirit. many desirable changes were brought about in railway practice. attempts were made to remodel tariffs all over the country, particularly in the east, to conform to the long and short haul clause.[ ] the immediate effect of acquiescence in section was to compel, in many parts of the country, a reduction of the local rates in order to reduce them below the rates charged to terminal and competitive points. thus, for example, throughout trunk line territory, they were almost uniformly adjusted to meet this requirement. even in the southern states, where in some quarters the most persistent opposition to the law has from the first existed, there was a patent disposition shown to recognize the justice of such legislation. the southern railroad modified its tariff all along the line as far as atlanta, although it claimed inability to make changes beyond that point. for nearly three years, in fact, the carriers conformed in an increasing degree to this requirement of the law.[ ] a sincere effort toward uniform classification of freight, with substantial results in the direction of simplification of schedules, extended over several years. many pools were disbanded; all were reorganized in conformity with the statute. and in the matter of uniformity and publicity of statistical returns, friendly coöperation between the railroads and the commission, brought about great improvements in accounting practice. no considerable popular interest in the new commercial tribunal, to be sure, is indicated by the volume of its business. after five years experience, only thirty-nine formal complaints were filed in . but this may have been due in part to the natural hesitancy of shippers to antagonizing the roads by coming out into the open with their grievances. or, perhaps, it was merely because the people at large were as yet quite unfamiliar with the law and with the ease of procedure under it. the earliest intimation of determined resistance by the carriers came in connection with prosecutions for rebating in . this abuse was still widely prevalent. the commission complained in that year of the "general disregard" of the law against personal discrimination; and set out to prosecute with vigor. but witnesses called upon to testify before grand juries as to such practices, proved recalcitrant.[ ] corporations could be made amenable to the law only through the instrumentality of persons in their employ. and guilt in such matters could be detected only by the testimony of those who had directly witnessed, or participated in, the unlawful acts themselves. as one writer has put it, "rebate contracts are not usually negotiated before large audiences nor are rebate payments commonly made upon street corners. an essential element in these practices, quite aside from their legality, is the secrecy with which they are conducted." it soon became apparent that unless this mantle of secrecy could be stripped off in preliminary proceedings, not even indictments could be had,--to say nothing of the proof needed for subsequent conviction. the first ground for contesting the right of the government to extort testimony from unwilling witnesses arose, oddly enough, from an amendment of the law intended to increase its effectiveness. originally punishable only by heavy fine, on recommendation of the commission, congress added in an amendment whereby departure from the published rate was made punishable also by imprisonment. by this change criminal, as well as civil, procedure was thus brought into play. the amendment, moreover, extended the punishment to shippers; the railroad official who gave rebates having alone been liable hitherto. an unexpected result speedily followed. in one counselman, a shipper, questioned concerning his enjoyment of less than the open rate upon grain, declined to answer, taking refuge under the fifth amendment to the constitution of the united states. this declared that "no person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." the witness persisted in his refusal to testify even before a district judge: and the case went on appeal through the circuit court which decided in favor of the commission, up to the supreme court of the united states. this tribunal in held that the revised statutes of the united states which for twenty-five years had been held to protect the constitutional rights of witnesses when called upon to give testimony, against criminal proceedings based upon such evidence, did not in fact adequately afford such protection. counselman was ordered discharged from the custody of the united states marshal. it was held, furthermore, "that a statutory enactment to be valid, must afford absolute immunity for the offence to which the question relates."[ ] congress promptly passed a law to this effect in the following year. the matter did not, however, rest here. the validity of this later statute had now to be upheld. and, with discouraging defeat in in an illinois circuit court, the issue had to be raised again a year later elsewhere, to be then carried on appeal a second time to the supreme court. this took place in the so-called brown case.[ ] the final outcome in was a complete denial of the right of witnesses to withhold material testimony. but it required six years of litigation to bring about the desired result. during the pendency of the proceedings above described, a second line of resistance to the government developed. not the merely negative personal right of witnesses to withhold testimony, but the positive legal authority of the commission to exact it, was called in question. this struck at the very roots of all procedure. for it challenged the validity of the act itself. in how far might an administrative body, independently, have power, hitherto resident alone in the courts and congress, to compel the attendance and testimony of witnesses as well as the production of papers? section of the act was evidently intended to confer such powers as were possessed and might be delegated by the congress. but then there was the constitution again to be considered! certain witnesses declined to produce books and answer questions in . one brimson was selected for a test case. the first decision by the circuit court held these sections of the statute to be unconstitutional on the ground that "congress cannot make the judicial department the mere adjunct or instrument of the other departments." but the supreme court of the united states in reversed this judgment; and, unreservedly, although by a bare majority opinion, affirmed the constitutionality of the procedure under the act.[ ] this brimson opinion, together with the brown decision two years later, were confidently believed to have so strengthened the arm of the government that rebating might at last be eliminated. but, as will shortly appear, an entirely new law was yet needed to eradicate the evil. for the moment, however, the right of congress to legislate and of the commission to act, had been upheld. * * * * * the relation of the interstate commerce commission as an administrative body to the federal courts under the provisions of the act of , proved unsatisfactory from the first. in order to understand the situation, it may be well to review the ordinary procedure. formal complaint having been filed, the commission heard the case and promulgated its decision in the form of an order to the carriers. if they chose to comply with it, well and good. otherwise, the commission must apply to a federal court for the issuance of a judicial writ to compel obedience to the order. thereupon the court proceeded to review the case; and upon the findings to issue an order of its own. from this order, however, appeal might be taken even up to the supreme court. then, and then only, did the original mandate of the commission have the force of law. practically, two results followed, as shown by the experience of the succeeding years. there was intolerable delay in the redress of grievances; and, in the second place, all definitive proceedings were postponed until the case had gone on appeal to the courts. in other words the commission instead of being a coördinate body with the courts, was reduced to an entirely subordinate position. its function became merely to institute proceedings, and thereafter to appear as a complainant before other tribunals competent alone to decide the case. intolerable delay in procedure was the constant complaint of shippers. years elapsed before final judgments were rendered. the average duration of cases appealed was not less than four years. sometimes they extended over twice that period. often, as in the charleston, s. c., case in , several years elapsed before the commission itself rendered a decision. knotty cases were sidetracked. but the main source of delay was in the carriage of cases on appeal up to the supreme court of the united states. they had to await their turn in regular order, being given no priority on the crowded dockets. the social circle and import rate cases, soon to be discussed, consumed five years in litigation, even after the commission had rendered its opinion. the florida fruit exchange case involving rates on oranges, originally decided by the commission in , was for six years thereafter before the federal courts. the georgia railroad commission cases were not settled for nine years. nor did the tedious process end here. after the judicial review, which usually covered the law points, the entire question had to be remanded to the commission for a new order in conformity with the findings of the court. after nine years of litigation in the chattanooga case, back it went to the commission to be re-tried after consideration of other commercial factors. first decided in , it was reopened in .[ ] is it any wonder that the number of formal proceedings instituted on complaint of shippers steadily dwindled year by year? in only nineteen petitions were filed. business of this sort was almost at a standstill. a second unsatisfactory feature of the relations of the commission to the courts, lay in the refusal of the latter to accept the evidence taken before the commission in the original proceedings as final. trouble began in on the first appeal, known as the kentucky and indiana bridge case.[ ] the court treated it as an original proceeding, even as to questions of fact; and proceeded to consider it _de novo_. this of course involved a duplication of all expenses; which, in causes sufficiently important to appeal, were very heavy. ten volumes of typewritten testimony, each as large as the congressional record, were taken, for instance, in the san bernardino case.[ ] both shipper and railroad, therefore, commonly came to regard the proceedings before the commission as merely a necessary formality to be observed prior to the conclusive adjudication of the matter by the courts. this placed the commission in a most awkward predicament. it was compelled by law to render a decision upon an entirely imperfect presentation of facts. and this decision was thereafter liable to be reviewed upon the basis of entirely new testimony. thus in the leading alabama midland case, involving the reasonableness of rates to troy, alabama, as compared with adjacent towns, much depended upon the existence of effective competition with the railroads from boat lines on the rivers at other places.[ ] before the commission the evidence adduced by the carriers dwelt upon the navigability of the chattahoochee river as compelling lower rates at columbus and eufaula than at troy, an inland town. yet, when the case was really opened up in appeal proceedings, it appeared that this magnificent waterway was really dry about half the year; that the channel was never deeper than three feet; and that boats were at all times of the year "embarrassed by the overhanging trees." how could the commission be expected to pass upon vital questions wisely under such circumstances? whether wilfully done or not,--and evidence is not lacking of a deliberate policy adopted in some cases,--the inevitable effect was to bring the commission and the law itself into discredit. so accentuated did this evil become, that in the social circle case the supreme court distinctly discountenanced the practice, declaring it to be the intention of the law that all material facts should be disclosed in the original proceedings.[ ] but it was not until that the mode of procedure on appeal was by statute clearly defined. in the meantime public interest in the work of the commission was bound to wane. in this connection it may not be out of place to refer to the persistent use made of the record of the commission in court proceedings under these adverse circumstances, as a plausible argument by the railroads in later years against any augmentation of its powers. one brief, for example, recites that "since , forty-three suits have been instituted to enforce final orders of the commission as to rates. the net result of the action of the courts shows two affirmances and thirty reversals." it continues later, "as over ninety per cent. of the commission's orders as to rates which have gone before the courts have been overruled, it is impossible to foretell what havoc would follow from the exercise of such powers." this statement is entirely true, but it is not the entire truth. we may profitably consider the cases of sufficient importance to have been passed upon by the supreme court of the united states. between and , sixteen such decisions were rendered on cases appealed for enforcement by the interstate commerce commission. fifteen of these were decided in favor of the carriers, while only one sustained in part the contention of the commission. at first sight, this record certainly appears to warrant the condemnation of the commission. a body so persistently on the wrong side of great questions as this record indicates, would surely invite distrust. there were two answers to this contention, however, which merit consideration before a final judgment can be rendered. one of these was the irregularity of procedure, above described. the other was that these court cases had nearly all involved, not so much the administrative application of the law to economic abuses, as the purely judicial interpretation of the law itself. only by means of concrete cases decided by the commission as an administrative body, could the scope and meaning of the original law be determined. this was a most difficult task hinging upon the utmost legal technicalities and refinements. even the most learned judges failed to agree among themselves. thus in eight of the sixteen cases above mentioned, the decisions in the lower federal courts failed of agreement with the final decree of the supreme court. in the cartage case,--involving the legality of a railway giving one shipper free cartage of goods to a railway station as an inducement to ship over its line, while withholding the privilege from another,--the commission was sustained in the circuit court and reversed in the two higher tribunals. in other instances, like the social circle case,--turning upon the discrimination in freight rates against small towns in favor of large competitive centres,--the first court ruled adversely, while the circuit court of appeals and the supreme court sustained the commission in part. or yet again, as in the chattanooga case,--wherein this city complained against a higher freight rate from new york than the rival city of nashville enjoyed, although the goods for nashville passed through chattanooga and were hauled one hundred and fifty-one miles further,--both lower tribunals sustained the commission only to be finally overruled by the supreme court. the fact that in only eight of these most important cases the courts could agree among themselves indicates the nicety of the legal issues comprehended. all parties were in fact working much in the dark, both as to the intention of the original law and as to the possible effects of its interpretation. the charge of incompetence, if it held good for the commission, applied equally well to a large number of the most learned judges in the federal courts. another indication of the extreme delicacy of the legal issues involved, is found in the lack of unanimity even among the justices of the supreme court itself. in nine of the sixteen supreme court cases the final decision was not rendered without dissent. as the lower courts were divided among themselves, so the justices of the supreme court were apparently somewhat at sea. the minority, to be sure, was small, in most cases being due to the failure of justice harlan to concur. but in the far-reaching import rates case,[ ] the court was more evenly divided. the issue raised, concerned the legality of lower through rates on imports from liverpool to san francisco _via_ new orleans, than were granted on domestic shipments from new orleans to the same destination. thus the rate on books, buttons, and hosiery, from liverpool to san francisco through new orleans was $ . per hundred pounds. at the same time the domestic shipper was compelled to pay $ . , or two and one-half times as much, for a haul from new orleans to san francisco alone. in another important instance, tin plate was carried from liverpool by steamer and rail through philadelphia to chicago for twenty-four cents per hundred pounds. for the american merchant in philadelphia the rate to the same market was twenty-six cents. for the inland haul alone the pennsylvania railroad was receiving sixteen cents on the foreign goods, while coincidently charging american merchants ten cents more for the same service. discrimination against the american merchant in favor of foreign competition, not infrequently more than sufficient to overbalance any supposed protection afforded by the tariff, has been repeatedly proved in such cases as this. the duty on imported cement was eight cents per hundredweight. in one instance, this duty with the total freight rate added amounted to only eighteen cents, as against a rate of twenty cents for the domestic producer from new york to the same point. there were reasons for this grievous discrimination against the domestic shipper, mainly concerned with the vagaries of ocean freight rates. steamers must have ballast for the return trip to equalize out-going shipments of grain and other exports, and they will carry heavy commodities, such as salt, cement, crockery, and glass, at extremely low rates. nevertheless, such imported commodities can be sold to advantage in competition with domestic goods only when the railways will contribute equally low rates to complete the shipment. the interstate commerce commission in these import rate cases originally held that such discriminations were unlawful. two appellate courts, in turn, sustained this view. finally, however, the supreme court decided, with three members, including the chief justice, dissenting, that the interstate commerce law as phrased did not expressly prohibit the practice. everything turned upon the interpretation of certain clauses in the law. no question was ever raised as to the economic issues involved, nor was it competent to these tribunals to pass upon such issues. the question was simply and solely this: when the act to regulate commerce forbade inequality or discrimination between shippers, did it contemplate competition between shipments originating within the country and others from foreign ports? was the interstate commerce commission, in other words, empowered, in interpreting this act, to consider circumstances and conditions _without_ as well as _within_ the boundaries of the united states? if it was entitled to consider solely domestic conditions, it was certainly right and economically sound in forbidding such practices; if, on the other hand, it was required to take account of commercial conditions the world over, irrespective of the effect upon the domestic producer and internal trade, its decision should have been favorable to the railroads. to appreciate fully the extreme nicety of the legal points involved and the delicacy of the economic interests at issue, one must needs read the extended opinions both of the majority of the supreme court and of the three dissenting justices, including chief justice fuller. but to interpret the reversal of the original decision of the interstate commerce commission by this tribunal as in the slightest degree involving incompetence or judicial unfairness is a misrepresentation of all the facts involved. as in the preceding cases touching the interpretation of the long and short haul clause, it may fairly be said that the consensus of opinion among business men, and certainly among the professional economists of the country, was on the side of the commission in condemning such practices. as to the law, that was decided otherwise by a narrow majority. the final breakdown of the law of came, however, not from mere defects in procedure, but from the adverse construction placed by the supreme court of the united states upon its fundamental clauses, viz., those concerning the exercise of rate-making power by the commission. whether or not it was the intention of congress to delegate such power, seems not to have been considered for some years. at all events, within two months after the law was passed the commission certainly interpreted the law as giving it, not only power to investigate but to prescribe remedies for what it conceived to be unreasonable charges. the right to exercise general rate-making power in first instance was distinctly disclaimed.[ ] but the right to prescribe a modification of existing rates on complaint was repeatedly affirmed, without question either by the carriers or the federal courts.[ ] the first order of the commission in _evans vs. the oregon navigation company_ directed a reduction of the rate on wheat from walla walla, washington, to portland, ore., from thirty to twenty-three and one-half cents. it was promptly complied with. then came the farmington-red wing, minn., wheat case, touching not absolute but relative rates between two competing places. the order that the charge to one town should not exceed that to the other by more than one-third was likewise obeyed. even freight classification, not specifically mentioned in the act, was supposed to be fully subject to the commission's control. in the reynolds case, railroad ties and lumber were ordered to be grouped together, without contest. the activity of the commission at this time in promoting uniform classification elsewhere discussed,[ ] was evidently based upon a similar belief in its legal competency to act. for nearly a decade attention seems to have been so concentrated upon matters of judicial procedure, that this more fundamental proposition was neglected. moreover, all this time was needed to secure a final pronouncement from the supreme court, which was alone competent to settle it as a matter of law. it was not, then, until almost ten years after the institution of the commission, in fact, that its rate-making power was denied. the first shadow of doubt seems to have been expressed in the decision of the supreme court in the so-called social circle case.[ ] this involved the reasonableness of rates from cincinnati to the town of social circle, georgia, as related to the rates to atlanta and augusta on either side. disregarding other phases of the case which concerned the interpretation of the long and short haul clause, the commission had, when the case was first decided in , ordered a reduction of the rate from cincinnati to atlanta from $ . to $ per hundred pounds. this case was carried to the supreme court, where decision was finally rendered in . purely as an _obiter dictum_ the court discussed briefly the interpretation of the original act in respect to rate-making power. it expressed a reasonable doubt in the premises, even going further and confessing inability to find any provision of the act "that expressly or by necessary implication confers such powers." it does not seem clear whether by this statement the court had reference to the arbitrary prescription of rates in first instance to the carriers, or merely to action of the commission in prescribing rates after complaint, in order to redress grievances. several decisions of circuit courts during reënforced the judicial doubt as to the validity of the rate-making power of the commission. thus, for example, in the case of coxe brothers,[ ] involving rates upon anthracite coal, which, by the way, had been pending since , the circuit court of appeals expressly declined to enforce an order of the commission, stating that it "is not clothed with the power to fix rates which it undertook to exercise in this case." the court's reasoning in the social circle case was followed and expressly cited. during the same year, , other cases, such as that of the truck farmers' association, were decided in the same spirit. the final adjudication of this point, however, was reserved for the decision in the so-called cincinnati freight bureau case. this had its origin in an application from the commission to enforce an order issued in against the cincinnati, new orleans and texas pacific railroad company.[ ] the case involved the adjustment of rates from eastern and western centres, respectively, into the southern states; and the commission had decided that a reduction of the rates from the western cities was reasonable and necessary. this leading case, also known as the maximum freight rate decision of , is characterized by the commission itself as perhaps "the most important since the enactment of the act to regulate commerce." it merits consideration in some detail. the reasoning in the maximum freight rate case[ ] cannot be better put than by the following excerpts from the opinion of the supreme court. "it is one thing to inquire whether the rates which have been charged and collected are reasonable,--that is a judicial act; but an entirely different thing to prescribe rates which shall be charged in the future,--that is a legislative act. * * * * * "we have, therefore, these considerations presented: first. the power to prescribe a tariff of rates for carriage by a common carrier is a legislative, and not an administrative or judicial, function, and, having respect to the large amount of property invested in railroads, the various companies engaged therein, the thousands of miles of road, and the millions of tons of freight carried, the varying and diverse conditions attaching to such carriage, is a power of supreme delicacy and importance. second. that congress has transferred such a power to any administrative body is not to be presumed or implied from any doubtful and uncertain language. the words and phrases efficacious to make such a delegation of power are well understood, and have been frequently used, and, if congress has intended to grant such a power to the interstate commerce commission, it cannot be doubted that it would have used language open to no misconstruction, but clear and direct. third. incorporating into a statute the common-law obligation resting upon the carrier to make all its charges reasonable and just, and directing the commission to execute and enforce the provisions of the act, does not by implication carry to the commission, or invest it with the power to exercise, the legislative function of prescribing rates which shall control in the future. fourth. beyond the inference which irresistibly follows from the omission to grant in express terms to the commission this power of fixing rates is the clear language of section , recognizing the right of the carrier to establish rates, to increase or reduce them, and prescribing the conditions upon which such increase or reduction may be made, and requiring, as the only conditions of its action--first, publication; and, second, the filing of the tariff with the commission. the grant to the commission of the power to prescribe the form of the schedules, and to direct the place and manner of publication of joint rates, thus specifying the scope and limit of its functions in this respect, strengthens the conclusion that the power to prescribe rates or fix any tariff for the future is not among the powers granted to the commission. "these considerations convince us that under the interstate commerce act the commission has no power to prescribe the tariff of rates which shall control in the future, and therefore cannot invoke a judgment in mandamus from the courts to enforce any such tariff by it prescribed." the immediate effect of this decision was to put an end to any enforcement of decisions relative to rates by the commission. the carriers immediately refused to obey any orders which the commission issued for the redress of grievances. this policy was manifested with increasing clearness during the five years subsequent to the decision. it became more and more certain that the denial of the right, not only to pass upon the reasonableness of a particular rate, but to prescribe what rate should supersede it, meant the abolition of all control whatever over the scale of charges. the entire inadequacy of making rate regulation dependent upon the mere determination of rates as applied _in the past_, without reference to the rates which should prevail _in the future_, was apparent on all sides. more than this, all remedy for the parties who had borne the burden of an unreasonable rate would seem to have been removed. this was clearly described in the report of the commission for . it was illustrated by the rates upon oranges. in there had been a sudden advance on rates from florida to new york from thirty to forty cents. the commission after investigation ordered that the rate be reduced to thirty-five cents. as a matter of fact, how could this action redress grievances of those who had already paid forty cents per box? it was difficult in the first place to discover who bore the burden of the unreasonable charge; and in the second place it was certain that some of those who suffered could not legally sue in court. the actual shipper who alone could sue for repayment of unreasonable charges was a middleman who recouped himself in any event, either from the grower, the consumer, or both. he lost nothing by reason of the unreasonable rate. as a matter of fact, not any single individual but the locality, had been mulcted by five cents per hundred pounds, supposing that a rate of forty cents were unreasonable. experience showed that almost no shippers or other parties injured, actually attempted to secure the restitution of moneys already paid for unreasonable charges. in only five out of cases down to was a refund actually sought; and in those cases $ was the maximum sought to be recovered. as a matter of fact the damage inflicted by the existence of such an unreasonable rate could not be measured by hundreds or perhaps by hundreds of thousands of dollars. the bearing of this citation is to show that any effectual protection to the shipper must proceed from adjudication of the reasonableness of rates _before_, and not _after_, they have been paid; that is to say, in advance of their exaction by the carrier. power to pass upon the reasonableness of such rates prior to their enforcement, as a consequence, constitutes practically the only safeguard which the shipping public may enjoy. it will be observed that in this discussion reference is made simply and solely to that class of cases where complaint is made against the unreasonableness of a rate _per se_ as applied to all shippers alike, entirely distinct from the exercise of powers by the commission in respect of unreasonable discrimination as between two or more persons or places. that other question of relative rates was to come up in another connection. despite this denial by the maximum freight rate decision of power to prescribe future rates, in substitution for others held to be unreasonable, there were still certain things which the commission might do in the matter of rate determination. the only question was as to whether they afforded an adequate remedy for the redress of grievances. were they really worth while? complaint as to a rate, once paid, might still be made. the commission might still hold it unreasonable; and even pass upon the degree of its unreasonableness. and the complainant shipper might then institute proceedings for repayment of the excessive charges under that particular rate. but the difference between this range of powers and those which had been claimed by the commission for ten years was simply this: that under the original interpretation of the law the commission had not only decided whether rates were wrong; it had also prescribed a remedy by issuing an order as to what rates were right, believing that these would be enforced by the courts. not even the power to prescribe maximum rates remained to the commission after this interpretation. the only action open to it would be to declare one rate after another unreasonable until the carriers had been brought to terms. its inadequacy as a practical remedy was the main factor in bringing about the passage of the new law of  . it must not be assumed that the supreme court in the maximum freight rate decision intended to render the commission an entirely superfluous body. but its functions, as set forth in the following quotation from the opinion, proclaimed the adoption of an entirely different policy concerning public control of rates from the one hitherto pursued. whether it was adequate for the purpose in view will appear, as has just been observed, from the subsequent course of events. "but has the commission no functions to perform in respect to the matter of rates, no power to make any inquiry in respect thereto? unquestionably it has, and most important duties in respect to this matter. it is charged with the general duty of inquiring as to the management of the business of railroad companies, and to keep itself informed as to the manner in which the same is conducted, and has the right to compel complete and full information as to the manner in which such carriers are transacting their business. and, with this knowledge, it is charged with the duty of seeing that there is no violation of the long and short haul clause; that there is no discrimination between individual shippers, and that nothing is done, by rebate or any other device, to give preference to one as against another; that no undue preferences are given to one place or places or individual or class of individuals, but that in all things that equality of right, which is the great purpose of the interstate commerce act, shall be secured to all shippers. it must also see that that publicity which is required by section is observed by the railroad companies. holding the railroad companies to strict compliance with all these statutory provisions, and enforcing obedience to all these provisions, tends ... to both reasonableness and equality of rate, as contemplated by the interstate commerce act." the nadir of government regulation for the time being was reached in november, ,--six months after the maximum freight rate decision. a second opinion from the supreme court of the united states in the alabama midland (troy) case, with one blow practically nullified the long and short haul clause.[ ] the first opinion had put an end to control over the reasonableness of rates in and of themselves. this second one denied the right to establish their reasonableness _relatively_ as between competing places or markets. in order fully to appreciate the significance of this decision it will be necessary to review cursorily the tedious litigation which led up to this result,--the entire emasculation of the fourth section. the final outcome may be best described by justice harlan in his dissenting opinion in this leading case: "taken in connection with other decisions defining the powers of the interstate commerce commission, the present decision, it seems to me, goes far to make that commission a useless body for all practical purposes, and to defeat many of the important objects designed to be accomplished by the various enactments of congress relating to interstate commerce. the commission was established to protect the public against the improper practices of transportation companies engaged in commerce among the several states. it has been left, it is true, with power to make reports, and to issue protests. but it has been shorn, by judicial interpretation, of authority to do anything of an effective character." the interpretation of the long and short haul clause[ ] as applied to concrete cases by the interstate commerce commission, was first enunciated in the decision known as the louisville & nashville case.[ ] immediately after the enactment of the law, a multitude of petitions were received from carriers all over the country praying that they be exempted from the operation of this clause, which prohibited a greater charge for a lesser haul than for one over the same line between points more distant. the policy outlined in the louisville & nashville case, delivered by judge cooley, has practically remained unchanged to the present time. this railroad company operating a line parallel to the mississippi, as well as intersected at various points by its tributary rivers, claimed that the existence of water competition compelled a rate to all competitive points, lower than rates which could be made to local and intermediate stations. it alleged that an adjustment of its local rates to the low level necessitated at competitive points, would prove disastrous from the point of view of revenue. the point at issue was as to the interpretation of the phrase "under substantially similar circumstances and conditions"; which, in the words of the act, was necessary in order that the prohibition of the lesser charge for the longer haul should become operative. without entering into the details of this decision, in the course of which the nature of railroad competition and of rate making were fully discussed, as well as the legislative history of this clause of the act, it will suffice to note the conclusions. these were; firstly, that the prohibition against a greater charge for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance, was limited to cases in which the circumstances and conditions were substantially similar; secondly, that carriers might judge in the first instance as to the similarity or dissimilarity of circumstances; but, thirdly, that this judgment was not final but was subject to review by the commission and the courts. perhaps the most important point, however, was the determination of the conditions which constituted such dissimilar circumstances and conditions as entitled the carrier to charge less for the longer than for the shorter haul. these conditions were the existence of water competition; the existence of other railroads not subject to the statute; and "rare and peculiar" cases of competition between railroads which were subject to the law. the commission also held as a guiding principle in the interpretation of this clause that no distinction would be recognized between local traffic and so-called through business; and also that the expense to the carrier involved would not be recognized as a factor unless it happened to come under the case already cited as "rare and peculiar." furthermore, the desire to encourage manufactures or to build up business or trade centres, was not recognized as a competent reason for claiming exemption from the prohibition in the act. the leading decision of the interstate commerce commission, above mentioned, was rendered in . it was not until october of that the first serious interference arose through judicial interpretation in the united states courts. the first was the so-called "separate and independent line" decision.[ ] this case arose respecting a suit for the repayment of $ as overcharges on corn shipped by one osborne from scranton, iowa, to chicago. it was claimed that the charges were unjust and unreasonable, inasmuch as they were in excess of rates charged from blair, nebraska, a point more remote from chicago. the united states circuit court of appeals at st. paul reversed the decision of the lower court, holding that the lesser rate from blair with which the scranton rate had been compared, was not a rate to chicago, but part of an agreed through rate to new york and other eastern points. under this interpretation, the aggregate charge for the longer distance from blair to new york was not less than the charge for the shorter distance from scranton to chicago. to this point the decision was in conformity with the previous interpretation by the courts and the commission; which had uniformly held that a portion of a joint through rate cannot be compared with local or individual rates in the determination of what constitutes the rate for the shorter or the longer haul. this decision went further, however, and therein profoundly affected the subsequent interpretation of the law. it proceeded to define the word "line" as used in the act, by holding that the joint line formed by two roads is wholly independent of the two lines represented by the several roads taken separately and apart. interpreted in this way, the decision held furthermore that the total joint rate over two roads, not being over the "same line," might for anything in the fourth section of the act, not only be as low but even lower than the local rate of either. the effect of this decision was obviously to permit a railroad to engage in traffic agreements for through carriage of freight; and by so doing, legally to become a line separate and independent from the same physical property when engaged in the transportation of freight over its own line. moreover, by every contract for through carriage of freight with different carriers, the road became a separate and independent line in the eyes of the law. as many lines could exist over one set of rails as there were traffic agreements for through haulage of freight between its terminal points.[ ] the apprehension of the interstate commerce commission that this interpretation of the word line might render the fourth section of the act inoperative, was realized in the following year. several decisions not only adopted the _obiter dictum_ of the osborne case, above described, but proceeded to expand upon it. thus, for example, in the georgia federal court, a case arose involving rates from the north to atlanta as compared with the higher rates to intermediate points. the court held that traffic from cincinnati to augusta or atlanta was carried over a different line than that which was used for transportation to points intermediate between atlanta and augusta; inasmuch as the several carriers agreeing upon the joint rate as far as atlanta from the north, were different. moreover it held that the road from atlanta to augusta being wholly within the state of georgia, might by making a local rate from atlanta which was added to the through rate into atlanta, constitute itself merely a state road, and therefore be exempted from the prohibition of the act. thus it appeared, to quote from the report of the commission for , "that in addition to the embarrassments proposed by the original 'line' decision, the very jurisdiction of the law itself is invaded by the extension of the line theory indulged in by the georgia federal court." the interpretation put upon the fourth section of the act by the decision above cited, remained in force and largely nullified application of the act itself until . the next important interpretation came, in the decision by the supreme court of the united states in the so-called "social circle" case.[ ] this decision fully discussed the interpretation placed upon the word "line" in the act. the rates involved were those on buggies from cincinnati, ohio, to social circle, a local station between augusta and atlanta, georgia. following the practice of the carriers for some years, the georgia railroad company, which alone served the town of social circle, had requested its connections at atlanta not to name through rates to that place or any other local station on its road. the circuit court following the line of argument already described, had held that under such circumstances the georgia railroad was only a local carrier and not a party to a joint or common arrangement, which would make it subject to the control of the federal commission. the supreme court reversed this opinion, however; and held that when goods are shipped on a through bill of lading, they constitute an interstate carriage subject to federal supervision and control. the court held further that this state road became part of a continuous line, not by consolidation with other companies, but by a traffic arrangement for continuous carriage or shipment. the supreme court interpreted the original osborne decision as merely affirming that a railroad company doing business in one state could not be compelled to enter into any agreement with connecting carriers. for by so doing, it continued, the carrier might be deprived of its rights and powers to make rates on its own road. viewed in this way a carrier might agree to form a continuous line for carrying foreign freight at a through rate without being prevented from charging ordinary local rates for state traffic. stripped of legal verbiage, this interpretation by the supreme court, virtually overruled the previous decisions by lower courts, and rehabilitated the original interpretation of the word "line" by the commission; namely, that when a continuous line for through traffic is formed by several railroads, the roads constituting that line and making use of it are merely parts of one through route and are not separate lines. in short, not being able to constitute themselves as separate lines by reason of traffic contracts, they must continue to conform their through charges to the rates which they have made upon local business. so far as the enforcement of the fourth section was concerned, therefore, developments to this point had upheld the law as originally passed.[ ] it remained, however, for a separate and distinct course of judicial interpretation to once more jeopardize both the practical operation of the law and the power of the commission. reverting to the original louisville & nashville decision in , it will appear that the commission held at that time that competition between carriers subject to the act, did not constitute such dissimilarity of circumstances and conditions as would justify the carriers in making their long distance rates lower than the rates between intermediate points. the only exception recognized at that time was to be found in certain "rare and peculiar" cases.[ ] one of these will suffice as an illustration. there are two routes by which traffic from youngstown, ohio, may reach the east. one is by way of pittsburg and the pennsylvania railroad; the other by an outlet to the north, at ashtabula upon the lake shore and new york central trunk lines. between youngstown, ohio, and pittsburg, two parallel lines exist, each having an interest in forwarding freight to the east by the two routes above mentioned. the peculiarity of the situation is that competitive traffic for the east may leave pittsburg in either direction. if it goes around by youngstown, that place becomes an intermediate point between pittsburg and new york. if, on the other hand, it goes from pittsburg directly east, youngstown becomes not an intermediate point, but one more remote than pittsburg from new york. inasmuch as the pennsylvania route from pittsburg is the shorter, it makes the rate.[ ] the other roundabout route is obliged to accede to this compelled rate or lose the business. the result is that the smaller indirect road is obliged to give a lower rate from pittsburg round by way of youngstown to new york than it gives to youngstown itself. any other course of action would deprive it of any participation in pittsburg business. such, then, is one of those "rare and peculiar" cases under which the commission from the first recognized the necessity of exempting carriers, even where all are subject to the act, from the prohibition of charging less for a shorter than for a longer haul over the same line. the carriers from the outset had made a determined effort to show that the competition of carriers among themselves was sufficient to produce that dissimilarity of circumstances and conditions which would justify exemption from the act. this contention the commission refused to recognize, and did so particularly in the important decisions of known as the georgia railroad commission cases.[ ] these again, like the maximum freight rate case, involved rates from cincinnati to various points throughout the south; and had reference particularly to the prevalent practice of granting low rates to certain important centres known as basing points. in this decision the commission re-affirmed the principles set forth in the louisville & nashville case, except in one detail; namely, as to whether the carriers were justified in deciding for themselves in first instance whether a case of railroad competition was of that type already defined as "rare and peculiar" which would permit exemption from the long and short haul prohibition. experience of five years had shown that the right of decision in this respect had led to manifold abuses; inasmuch as a strong disposition on the part of the carriers all over the country was shown to interpret all cases of railroad competition, however simple, as "rare and peculiar." the commission, therefore, proceeded to overrule its earlier decision; and denied the right on the part of carriers to determine for themselves as to what constituted dissimilarity of circumstances and conditions, affirming that that right was its own. all of the foregoing judicial interpretation is secondary in importance to the final decision of the united states supreme court in in what is known as the alabama midland case.[ ] this once and for all overruled the interpretation placed upon the law by the commission, that railroad competition did not constitute that dissimilarity of circumstances and conditions which would entitle a carrier to exemption from the prohibitions of the statute. this case, like almost all the others involving the interpretation of the fourth section, arose upon complaint of a small town in the southern states that more important trade centres were securing advantages in the matter of rates which were denied to it. the board of trade of troy, alabama, complained that it was compelled to pay $ . a ton on phosphate rock from florida and south carolina points, whereas the rate to montgomery, a longer distance, was only $ . per ton. the rock was carried through troy. it was also complained that rates on cotton discriminated against troy as compared with montgomery and other points; and that, thirdly, rates from baltimore and new york were higher to troy than to montgomery, which was fifty-two miles further away. the case was carried on appeal to the supreme court of the united states, where an opinion was handed down in . the gist of this decision was that competition, whether of trade centres or of railroads, must be recognized as a factor in the determination of the similarity of circumstances and conditions under which the fourth section of the clause should be applied. in other words, it recited that montgomery being a larger place than troy; and having been an important trade centre on a navigable river for many years, it was competent to the railroads centering at montgomery to determine in part for themselves whether the existence of effective competition would warrant them in granting lower rates to montgomery than to local stations like troy. the court held, however, that such competition was only one of the elements which must be considered. it did not define it as the dominating one. the railroads, nevertheless, seized upon this interpretation of the law at once, making use of it to justify whatever departure they pleased to make from the practice originally contemplated in adjusting long and short haul charges. [illustration] after the discouraging reverse in the alabama midland decision, which the commission interpreted to mean that if circumstances and conditions were different at the more distant point, that fact, of itself, removed the case from the inhibition of the fourth section; certain inferior federal court opinions somewhat modified this view.[ ] the question as to whether the discrimination at bar was or was not justifiable, was permitted to be considered; in addition to inquiring merely whether circumstances and conditions were different at the more distant point. the commission somewhat reanimated by these decisions, sought to apply this judicial modification of the alabama midland reasoning to several then pending complaints as to local discrimination. both in the danville[ ] and hampton cases[ ] the carriers were ordered to desist from discriminating against the nearer point under this interpretation of the law. but the supreme court put an end to it all by condemning this line of reasoning in its last leading decision upon the fourth section rendered in , finally disposing of the so-called chattanooga case. this dealt the final death blow to the long and short clause.[ ] the complaint in this case arose from the fact that freight rates to chattanooga, tennessee, from eastern cities were higher than to nashville, although the latter was the more distant point. the commission found that there was no water competition at nashville compelling the lower rate; but that there was competition of railways and of markets. the supreme court reversed the commission in its final attempt thus to revivify the moribund fourth section, and fully confirmed its original view as to the meaning of the alabama midland decision. if such circumstances and conditions as competition of markets or railways at the two points were dissimilar, carriers might without restraint depart from the long and short haul rule. thus the fourth section of the law was to all intents and purposes repealed. complaint after complaint was perforce set aside by the commission. for practical purposes this part of the law was rendered absolutely nugatory. the chapter was closed. for twenty years, in face of the litigation above outlined, no order of the commission respecting local discrimination was enforced. only with its amendment in , as subsequently described,[ ] did the long and short haul clause once more resume its due importance upon the statute books. one special case may be cited in this general connection, as typical of the arbitrary action of carriers particularly in the south. it was this sort of thing which went far to arouse public opinion and focus attention upon the need for real regulation.[ ] the situation appears upon the accompanying map. the planters in a certain southern territory served by the louisville & nashville railway had been accustomed to ship out their cotton to the north by various routes. it might go by way of new orleans, _via_ pensacola, up the main line along the mississippi valley, or be hauled eastward to savannah and other atlantic ports, and thence go by vessel to new england. inasmuch as the through rate was the same by all routes, no monetary issue to the planter was involved. but not so to the railway. for by the first routes it secured a long haul; while by the last it not only was limited to short carriage of the goods, but was compelled to accept an even smaller fraction of the joint through rate. in this case the louisville & nashville railway--which, by the way, more persistently denied the existence of abuses than any other road in the country--advanced the savannah cotton rate arbitrarily in from $ . to $ . a bale. this effectually dammed up the eastern outlet and jeopardized the interests of the port of savannah to that degree. doubtless the louisville & nashville was not oblivious to the welfare of that great seaport. it could not afford to be, for savannah's growth must indirectly accrue to its benefit. it did not love savannah less; but it loved its own particular seaport, pensacola, or the long haul _via_ louisville, more. maybe it was better that traffic should go out this way--who knew best? the real point to be made is that no competent tribunal or process for impartially determining the question was provided by the now emasculated law. [illustration] the work of the commission during these discouraging years was naturally affected most profoundly by these limitations placed upon its activity by the federal courts. the number of formal complaints, never large, steadily dwindled year by year. thirty-nine were filed in ; but in and the following year only nineteen were presented annually.[ ] the commission persisted in its statistical work with marked success. important independent investigations continued to be made, in pursuance of the only policy remaining open to it, that of publicity. but even the informal complaints, representing mainly the grievances of individual shippers rather than of competing cities or commercial bodies, were few in number, as the following official figures show. ===================================================================== | | | | total ----------------------------------------+------+------+------+------- informal complaints: | | | | settled by payment of amount claimed | | | | settled by change of rates | | | | settled in other ways | | | | pending | | | | suggesting formal complaints | | | | +------+------+------+------- | | | | ===================================================================== but better times were coming. the return of commercial prosperity brought with it new problems. old abuses, quiescent during the long industrial depression of - , once more made their appearance. new constructive legislation followed, based as before upon the economic needs of the time, as they made themselves manifest; but a great campaign of education, led by the vigorous personality of theodore roosevelt, was necessary, as we shall see, to compel congress to act. footnotes: [ ] _cf._ simon sterne, railways in the united states, . [ ] _cf._ appendix c, int. com. com. annual report, . [ ] _cf._ brief of counsel for int. com. com. in the danville case, p. . [ ] _cf._ account in _yale review_, , pp. - . [ ] u. s., . [ ] _brown v. walker_, u. s., . [ ] u. s., . [ ] the history of these cases up to will be found in th congress, st session, senate document . five years later they were more fully treated in hearings before the senate (elkins) committee on interstate commerce, , vol. v, appendix f, part , pp. - . [ ] federal reporter, . [ ] u. s., . [ ] _cf._ pp. , _supra_, and , _infra_; reprinted in full in our railway problems. [ ] u. s., . [ ] u. s., . late data as to the extent of the practice are in app. v, digest, hearings (senate) committee on interstate commerce, , pp. - . _cf._ also p. , _supra_. [ ] delaware and hudson canal case; i.c.c. rep., . [ ] hearings before committee on interstate commerce, u. s. senate, feb. , and may , , vol. iv, pp. and . [ ] chapter ix, _supra_. [ ] u. s., : i.c.c. rep., . [ ] federal reporter, . [ ] chapter vii, _supra_. [ ] int. com. rep., : u. s., . both the original opinion and final decision with a map are in our railway problems. _cf._ also, p. , _supra_. the case revived in is in i.c.c. rep., . _vide_ p. , _infra_. [ ] the congressional history of section , is in haney, _op. cit._, p. ; especially good in brief for appellees, by ed. baxter in the alabama midland case, u. s. sup. court, oct. term, , no. , p. . all the leading english cases are reprinted (gov. printing office) in "extracts from the parliamentary papers relating to the long and short haul clause," , pp. - ; with an "analysis of american cases" (national publishing co., washington), , pp. - ; both issued in connection with the c., n. o. and t. p. case, u. s. sup. court, nos. and . the complicated legal history is best detailed step by step in annual reports of the commission; references are in judson on interstate commerce. app. f, part ii (elkins), senate committee hearings, , pp. - , gives a garbled outline, convenient for citations. i. c. c. rep., p. , summarizes well. several of the leading cases are reprinted in our railway problems, as indicated by footnotes hereafter. [ ] for a few pages, i follow closely the line of my report on the subject for the u. s. industrial commission in . [ ] i. c. c. rep. ; first annual report, int. com. com.; also digest (elkins) committee, . to be distinguished from the supreme court decision affirming the validity of the kentucky long and short haul clause, u. s., . [ ] federal reporter, ; ann. rep., i.c.c., , p. . [ ] the significance of this decision is fully discussed in the sixth and seventh reports of the interstate commerce commission, which early in had already defined the word "line" in the central vermont case, as meaning the physical line, and not mere traffic agreements or routing arrangements. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; u. s., . _vide_, also, p. , _supra_. [ ] amendment of the law in , precluded any further misunderstanding, also, by adding the word "route." p. , _infra_. [ ] discussed, as an economic proposition in chap. vii, _supra_. baxter's brief in the troy case, p. , proves it not peculiar. [ ] which line makes the rate? _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . decided by the supreme court in ; u. s., ; after the alabama midland decision. [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; overruled by the supreme court in u. s.,  . both reprinted in our railway problems. decisions of secondary importance down to are abbreviated in app. f, senate elkins committee hearings, . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . elkins committee digest. judson on interstate commerce, etc. [ ] reprinted in our railway problems. sustained by the lower courts in ; fed. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; fed. rep., . [ ] facts are given in chap. vii, p. , _supra_; and in full in our railway problems. the law is in u. s., . the only later decisions, not changing the law, are in u. s., . [ ] pp. and , _infra_. [ ] known as the savannah naval stores case. int. com. rep., . it is reprinted in full in our railway problems. [ ] _cf._ the chart at p. , _infra_. chapter xv the elkins amendments ( ): the hepburn act of new causes of unrest in ,  .--the spread of consolidation,  .--the rise of freight rates,  .--concentration of financial power,  .--the new "trusts,"  .--the elkins amendments concerning rebates,  .--five provisions enumerated,  . more general legislation demanded,  .--congressional history - ,  .--railway publicity campaign,  .--president roosevelt's leadership,  .--the hepburn law,  .--widened scope,  .--rate-making power increased,  .--administrative _v._ judicial regulation,  .--objection to judicial control,  .--final form of the law,  .--broad _v._ narrow court review,  .--an unfortunate compromise,  .--old rates effective pending review,  .--provisions for expedition,  .--details concerning rebates,  .--the commodity clause,  .--history of its provisions,  .--publicity of accounts,  .--extreme importance of accounting supervision,  .--the hepburn law summarized,  . the new incentives to rehabilitation of the interstate commerce law by congress, becoming year by year more insistent after , were four in number. most of the old long-standing grievances were still on the docket. new sources of dissatisfaction and danger were now added in plenty as a result of important industrial changes. the most far-reaching of these was the spread of consolidation among railroads. this, as we shall see,[ ] led within a few years to a partition of the entire railway net of the country into a few large systems, each controlled financially, although seldom by actual majority investment, by powerful individuals or banking groups, mainly located in new york. many small local roads, long closely identified with the welfare of particular communities, were now merged in great systems under entirely different and probably absentee ownership and management. boston, baltimore, new orleans, st. paul, cincinnati, not to mention a host of other smaller places, seemed commercially cast adrift. the welfare of railroads and of the particular communities in which they lay,--long supposed to be indissolubly linked together,--was now seen by concrete experience to be separable, often into conflicting parts. the new haven monopoly in new england might be managed rather in the interest of new york than of the port of boston. the illinois central, once devoted whole-heartedly to the upbuilding of new orleans, must now, as a part of the union pacific system, comprehend san francisco and even savannah within the scope of its plans. new systems implied new traffic arrangements. railroad policy must of necessity involve a choice, not between two evils, perhaps, but between a resultant good and a necessarily attendant evil. all these corporate changes made inevitably for much commercial readjustment. and each readjustment left a trail of real or alleged grievances; for the settlement of which no competent tribunal existed. there can be no doubt, therefore, that the significant changes in the railroad map after had much to do with the demand for new legislation. the second new and general cause of dissatisfaction among the public was the great and almost continuous rise of freight rates which began about . this was of course a direct outcome of the spread of railroad consolidation. the movement of freight rates has been elsewhere described in detail.[ ] it has appeared that the steady decline which ensued for almost a generation after the panic of , was sharply reversed when combination succeeded competition as a fundamental policy of railroading. this striking reversal of the course of railway charges was not, of course, an isolated phenomenon. it took place in a period of marked and general rise of prices, not unconnected with changes in the value of gold. the upward trend was at first more striking, and apparently more irresistible, in the charges for transportation than in the prices of commodities. prior to , not even the most astute railroad managers ever anticipated any such change. the boston & maine railroad even permitted the inclusion of a prohibition of any higher rates in future than were then in force, to be incorporated in the acts of the new hampshire legislature authorizing its leases of important lines. attorneys sought to prove that railroads were not subject to the law of increasing returns, because it was _inevitable_ as an economic law that with growth in the volume of business, rates should progressively decline.[ ] if there was often public dissatisfaction at the scale of charges under these conditions, how irresistible might the unrest among shippers become when rates actually began to move so strongly upwards! a single illustration of the class of complaints thus engendered may not be out of place.[ ] it concerned the reasonableness of an increase of two cents per hundred pounds on lumber from georgia points to the ohio river. from to these rates had been already raised by three or four cents, to a level of thirteen or fourteen cents; so that prosperity had been already discounted by a rise of thirty or forty per cent. on top of this, and despite an enormous increase in the tonnage, came a further raise of two cents per hundred pounds in april, . this was too much. to this exaction, involving not less than $ , per year additional freight rates, the lumbermen of georgia objected. the interstate commerce commission upheld their contention; and in july, , more than two years afterward, the circuit court sustained the commission. appeal was then taken to the supreme court which rendered a decision in , more than four years after the increase had occurred; and during which time the railroads had been collecting the added charge. the shippers had naturally at once shifted the burden upon the public so far as the competition of other lumber-producing centres, each championed by its own railroad or set of roads, would permit. no recovery of this tax, now held to be unjust by the highest court in the land, could possibly be had. the loss was irreparable. the frequency of complaints of this sort, involving the absolute reasonableness of rates, proves conclusively how potent a factor in furthering legislation the rise of the scale of charges had become. the demonstration of the menace to public welfare of an inordinate concentration of financial power in the hands of a few privileged individuals, served a useful end in bringing about new legislation. the general rise of rates had been a direct outcome of the substitution of combination for competition among railroads. the danger of absolute dominion over all trade, commerce and finance without accountability to the law, was a concomitant of the growth of great railroad systems.[ ] a special investigation in showed, for example, that the majorities of the boards of directors of practically all of the roads east of the mississippi river might be selected from a group of only thirty-nine persons. the spectacular career of edward h. harriman with the union pacific and other companies was a convincing argument in itself. the disclosures in the new york insurance investigation of as to the intricate ramifications of financial power came, as will shortly appear, at a most opportune time for promoting congressional activity. the need of it was, perhaps, never more clearly shown than in the following frank admission by mr. harriman in december, ,--only a few months after the law had been amended,--made in the course of a general investigation of railroad consolidations by the interstate commerce commission.[ ] questioned as to where his policy of acquisition was to end, the following colloquy ensued: "a. i would go on with it. if i thought we could realize something more than we have got from these investments i would go on and buy some more things. * * * * * "q. supposing that you got the santa fe? "a. you would not let us get it. "q. how could we help it? "a. how could you help it? i think you would bring out your power to enforce the conditions of the sherman anti-trust act pretty quick. if you will let us, i will go and take the santa fe to-morrow. "q. you would take it to-morrow? "a. why, certainly i would; i would not have any hesitation; it is a pretty good property. "q. then it is only the restriction of the law that keeps you from taking it? "a. i would go on as long as i live. "q. then after you had gotten through with the santa fe and had taken it, you would also take the northern pacific and great northern, if you could get them? "a. if you would let me. "q. and your power, which you have, would gradually increase as you took one road after another, so that you might spread not only over the pacific coast, but spread out over the atlantic coast? "a. yes." was there ever a clearer case of megalomania, menacing the welfare of a great people? but it was not alone the dangers incident to monopoly in transportation which excited popular alarm. there was the ever increasing danger of abuse of monopolistic power by the newly created industrial combinations. most of these had sprung up overnight in the great promotion movement of - . the general public had long been aware of the gross favoritism in transportation, which had created the standard oil company. it knew something of the power of the beef packers' monopoly, built up by the use of private car lines. but with the publication of miss tarbell's history of the standard oil company in - , followed by the reports of the united states commissioner of corporations in , its attention was newly directed to the evil.[ ] even the carriers themselves were now roused to protest by the pressure for secret favors by large shippers. the elkins amendments to the law in , as we shall see, enabled the government to convict many offenders. but even this new law was not enough. the rebating still went on, under new and ingenious forms. if the united states steel corporation, the "sugar trust," the international harvester company, the colorado fuel and iron company and a host of others were not restrained, monopoly in transportation would soon be followed by monopoly in manufacture. each new disclosure verified the suspicions of the public as to the magnitude of these abuses. the necessity of a special corrective was first applied to rebating; but this action in turn only served to reënforce the popular conviction that more general legislation was necessary. the elkins amendments of surely paved the way for the hepburn law three years thereafter. * * * * * the so-called elkins amendments to the act of ,--the first changes of importance in its substantive clauses,--were made in , in response to a demand of the carriers. educated to a sense of the grave losses of revenue incident to rebating and general rate cutting, prominent railroad men united in urging congress to act. the ease and decorum with which this legislation was passed is, in itself, eloquent testimony to the organized influence of the railroads over congress, which made itself felt during the next few years in opposition to further changes in the law for the benefit of the public. the entire inadequacy of the original act to prevent rebating had been proven time and again. the interstate commerce commission had done its best. the department of justice had attempted to apply the equity processes of injunction without much result. other federal laws had been invoked in vain. when the carriers themselves asked for more stringent legislation, it was accorded by congress with commendable despatch. no opposition whatever appeared. nor was there much debate. the machinery of legislation moved expeditiously and almost without noise to the desired end. these elkins amendments dealt solely with the provisions of law concerning observance of published tariffs. they in no wise affected the determination of what those tariffs should be. that problem of reasonableness was the bone of contention in the great struggle in congress, hardly as yet under way but soon to follow. the changes in , therefore, had mainly to do with penalties and legal procedure. they were, as elsewhere outlined, five in number. the railroad corporation itself,--and not merely its officers and agents as heretofore,--was made liable to prosecution and penalty. this put an end to the anomalous immunity hitherto enjoyed by the principal and beneficiary of a guilty transaction. secondly, the penalty of imprisonment for departure from the published tariff,--added to the law in in the hope of rendering it more effective,--was removed. it had been hoped that the reluctance of witnesses to become parties to such condign punishment of associates might thus be somewhat overcome; especially since the liability to fines now ran to the corporation rather than to the individual. the third change in the law was of great importance, as it had been construed by the courts. preferential treatment of shippers had been made to depend upon proof; first, that rates lower than as published in the tariff had actually been allowed; and, in the second place, that these full tariff rates, or, at least, higher rates, had been paid by others on like shipments at the same time. such proof had turned out to be practically impossible in any general rate war; inasmuch as, at such times, rates were cut more or less substantially for all shippers alike. in other words, there might well be departure from the published rates, without preferential treatment. and it was the object of the law to put a stop to both of these abuses. the elkins law, therefore, explicitly made the published tariff the standard of lawfulness. any departure from it, proven by itself alone, was declared a misdemeanor. in the fourth place, the new law made shippers or any other interested parties defendants; whereas formerly only the giver of rebates, not the recipient, could be prosecuted. this change rendering the guilty shipper liable, was an eminently proper one. and then, finally, the new law provided for the issuance of injunctions,--viz., peremptory orders punishable by contempt of court,--by any federal judge whenever the interstate commerce commission had reasonable ground for belief that any common carrier was deviating from the published tariff, "or is committing any discrimination forbidden by law." a summary prohibition from this judicial source, it was hoped, would act as a powerful deterrent. * * * * * the enactment of more general remedial legislation than the elkins amendments was a far more serious matter. that statute has not inaptly been described as "not even a preliminary skirmish. it was a truce of the principals to abolish piracy." the original law of was avowedly experimental and imperfect. with this in view the statute had specifically directed that there should be transmitted to congress in its annual reports "such recommendations as to additional legislation ... as the interstate commerce commission may deem necessary." this duty was conscientiously performed year by year. one may find, therefore, in these documents, especially after , the most convincing presentation of the need for amendment of the law. yet despite its importance, congress was for some years so intent upon more pressing public business, that no action was taken in the matter. currency legislation, the spanish war and the philippines, the isthmian canal, pure food and the trusts quite engrossed public attention. and, oddly enough, when the campaign opened seriously in , activity was for a time confined mainly to the senate. this was in sharp contrast with the situation both before and after , when the upper house was the obstructive member. as early as the senate committee on interstate commerce had reported favorably a bill; but nothing came of it. five years later, both senators cullom of illinois,--sponsor for the original law,--and chandler of new hampshire introduced bills. all these measures aimed to confer rate-making power upon the commission and to expedite judicial procedure upon appeal. in the meantime important organizations, especially in the west, such as the national board of trade and the conventions of state railroad commissioners, had taken the matter up. much evidence was heard by the united states industrial commission which dealt with it in an elaborate report in .[ ] the chances seemed favorable for action. the senate committee on interstate commerce in that year added several progressively inclined members. the general freight rate increases of had greatly stirred the people. but at this juncture the powerful new financial influences, concerned with the formation of the great transportation systems, came into play. effective regulation might interfere with some of these plans. the matter was becoming serious. railroad opposition began to organize. it became clear that a bitter contest would be needed to secure legislation. renewed pressure from the public came in . senator chandler had been retired by direct railroad influence in new hampshire. but senator cullom again brought in a bill,[ ] which was consolidated with another by senator nelson of minnesota. public interest was plainly rising; yet these measures all died in committee. and the house of representatives was too busy with other concerns. but in , for the first time, the lower house devoted some attention to the so-called cooper-quarles bill;[ ] although no vote was taken. it did, however, with little debate, as we have seen, grant what the railroads asked for the suppression of rebating in the passage of the elkins amendments. the necessity of general legislation on the subject was not yet strongly felt. the trusts, floundering in the panic of , seemed more threatening to public order than the railroads. only in a few communities like wisconsin under the able leadership of governor la follette, had public opinion become sufficiently aroused to achieve definite results. matters were finally brought to a head by the determined attitude of president roosevelt. in his annual message to congress in he made railroad regulation "a paramount issue." the remedies proposed differed little from those of the bills above mentioned. the cardinal point was that the interstate commerce commission was to be given power to prescribe actual rates, to be effective until reversed by the courts. under this spur, the house of representatives passed the so-called esch-townshend bill--an administration measure--by the impressive majority of to . it was now the senate's turn to delay. it, however, authorized its interstate commerce committee to sit during the spring and summer, and to report in december.[ ] a mass of testimony was taken, which despite the activity of a powerful body of paid railroad attorneys, proved to be most convincing. but even more cogent proof of the need of control was the outrageous attempt of the carriers to influence popular opinion through so-called publicity bureaus.[ ] an extensive service, regardless of cost, was set up with headquarters at washington and with branches in all the leading cities, headed by the president of the southern railway. bogus conventions, packed for the purpose,--such as the "alabama commercial and industrial association,"--passed resolutions unanimously, to be scattered broadcast by free telegraphic despatches all over the country. "associations for the maintenance of property" held conventions; the fact being duly advertised. palpably garbled news items from washington were distributed without cost, especially during the hearings of the senate committee. even more insidious and misleading methods were employed. an elaborate card catalogue of small newspapers throughout the united states was made; in which was noted all of the hobbies, prejudices, and even the personal weaknesses of the editors. one of the cards is reproduced on this page. magazine sections or "ready to print" insides were also made up, in which appropriate and subtle references to railroad issues were concealed in a mass of general reading matter. two or three weekly letters were sent gratis to minor newspapers without regular washington correspondents, containing "good railroad doctrine," together with spicy local news items. dakota farmers got suggestions as to the danger of the proposed legislation affecting their rates. kentucky planters were warned of the probable effect upon tobacco prices. as an indication of the formidable proportions of this campaign of education, the chicago office, alone, employed some forty highly paid experts. regular reports were rendered by this news service to the railroads' committee, as to the results achieved; setting forth the number of columns of news matter distributed and the changes effected in the proportion of "pro" and "con" items published. it was indeed a most astounding demonstration of the lengths to which organized corporate power would go to defeat regulative legislation. that it proved upon exposure to be a boomerang for the railroad cause, is to be inferred from the entire absence of all such political methods from the succeeding campaigns dealing with further amendment of the law. [illustration: town name of paper circulation date of issue politics ........................................................................ : | | | wkly | dem : :---------+------------+-------------+----------------+----------------: : | xxxxxxxx | infl. small | sat | anti-beef : : | | | | anti-oil : : xxxxxx | owner & nd | nd paper | - | anti-harvester : : | | | | anti-corp : : | | farmers | | anti-rep : : | | | | machine : :c m st p | | weak eds | | pro-r r : : | | | | pro-roosevelt : : | | | | : :---------+------------+-------------+----------------+----------------: : s. d. xxxx is weak and bibulous man. tractable to r r suggestions. : : : : many bohemians in region. rich county. junction town. : :......................................................................: duplicate copied from a card in the chicago publicity bureau's index of newspapers. these cards furnish, in the last column, detailed information as to the position of the editor on public questions. at the bottom they indicate by what opening he could be persuaded to accept railroad "doctrine." the data which would identify the paper and editor on this card have been erased.] the president again insisted upon action in the annual message of , this time recommending control over maximum, not absolute, rates.[ ] executive pressure was brought to bear heavily upon congress. the public was plainly becoming insistent; with the result that the so-called hepburn bill was passed by votes to . whether the senate, under the influence of one of the most powerful lobbies ever let loose upon a legislative body, would have yielded even then, had it not been for an extraordinary conjuncture of economic events, one dare not surmise. the general causes of dissatisfaction, already described, such as the spread of combination, the growth of autocratic power, the steady rise of freight rates and the abuses of personal favoritism had been long at work. but now at the psychological moment came the general breakdown and congestion of railroad service all over the country;[ ] the insurance investigation in new york; the pennsylvania railroad coal car scandal;[ ] the atchison rebate disclosures, with "barefaced disregard of the law," besmirching a member of the president's cabinet;[ ] and the exposure of the outrageous publicity campaign methods of the carriers. the evidence was cumulative and overwhelming as to the need of action. the senate was forced to acquiesce in a conference committee bill, passing it at the end with only three dissenting votes.[ ] on june , , the hepburn bill became law. the fundamental principle of governmental control over the most powerful corporations in the country had been fully affirmed. it was an historic event,--the most important, perhaps, in theodore roosevelt's public career,--and a not insignificant one in our national history. * * * * * the hepburn law of , in the first place, greatly broadened the field of federal regulation.[ ] this was now extended to cover both express and sleeping-car companies. pipe lines,--such powerful factors in the creation of monopoly in the oil business as opportunely showed by the report of the commissioner of corporations in ,--were expressly included. "transportation" was now broadly defined as comprehending among other things, "all services in connection with the receipt, delivery, elevation, and transfer in transit, ventilation, refrigeration or icing, storage, and handling of property transported." whether certain of these powers, especially over pipe lines, are practically enforcible as well as legally sound, remains yet to be seen. the inclusion of all switches, spurs, and terminal facilities, with appurtenances of all sorts, was an added detail of importance, in view of the complicated uses made of them in connection with rebating, as elsewhere described. and the express power to require facilities for shipment, as well as to regulate joint rates and services in every detail, was yet another notable extension of federal authority. part-rail and part-water transportation was included; but coastwise and inland traffic exclusively by water, was left out. in view of its intimate relation to rates and services by rail, this omission was unfortunate. the notorious instability of water rates and the difficulties incident to the enforcement of the long and short haul clause, render such water-borne traffic of great importance in the proper regulation of carriers on land. the significance of the hepburn law, however, was not primarily in the wider scope of federal control. the heart of it consisted of its more intensive character. the rate-making power of the commission was greatly increased. two other points were contested with equal vigor, viz., the scope of judicial review of decisions of the commission, and the question as to whether its orders in cases appealed should take effect at once, or only upon final judgment by the federal court. viewed in a large way, however, all three of these propositions depended upon the determination of a basic issue. a clear separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government was a fundamental principle in our federal constitution. it was generally agreed that a considerable confusion of functions, laid upon the commission by the original law, must in future be avoided. here, it was said, was a body which, if empowered to make rates, would be exercising a legislative function; if applying and enforcing them, would be acting administratively; and if hearing complaints, would be serving as a court. it was generally conceded, nevertheless, except by a few extremists, that the time had now come when some competent tribunal must be provided for the effective and prompt settlement of transportation disputes. to which one of these three branches of the government should this important duty be assigned? in other words, disregarding mere matters of detail, should the interstate commerce commission or the federal courts be charged with the real control of the common carriers of the country? the alignment upon this question was clearly defined. the administration and the representatives of the shippers and the general public, were unanimously agreed that control of rates and regulations, to be effective must be through an administrative agency,--a body, that is to say, attached to the executive branch of the government. their reasons will be set forth in due time. on the other hand every railroad proposition was based upon the exercise of real control by the judiciary. the commission, as an administrative body, was not to be abolished; but in all matters of rate regulation it was to be subordinated to the courts. the motives for this policy will also appear shortly. senator foraker of ohio,--soon retired because of his uncompromisingly pro-railroad attitude,--proposed to strip the commission of all rate-making power whatsoever; and to reduce it to an initiating body which should merely certify all complaints to the federal courts for settlement. senator elkins of west virginia,--an equally ardent railroad representative,--introduced a bill to create a special transportation court, subordinate only to the supreme court of the united states on questions of law. until this tribunal had heard the cause, and had sanctioned interference on the ground of unreasonableness, the interstate commerce commission might not intervene.[ ] and in any event its functions were to be mainly connected with the enforcement, not the promulgation, of orders as to rates or service. these plans favoring the carriers' interests, as we shall see, were all based upon the proposition that congress could not constitutionally delegate general rate making, that is to say, legislative power to an administrative body. the constitutionality of clothing an administrative body with large regulative power by act of congress, was, of course, essential to the administration's plan. it was urged that there was one exception to the general rule that power delegated to congress to legislate under the constitution could not be further delegated. "there may be such delegation where the purpose in the original conferring of the power can be subserved only by its delegation to an agent. obviously congress cannot spend time and labor upon rate making, even were it economically competent to do so. if the power is to be exercised at all, practically, it can be done only through an agency like the commission." congress certainly could not delegate such legislative power, viz., power to make rates, to the courts. that would even more flagrantly transgress the constitutional rule. in brief, any plan for judicial control meant the exclusion of rate regulation in any thoroughgoing way. and that, of course, was the reason why the "railroad senators" all insisted upon such a plan. other support for the administration plan was found in the _dictum_ of the court in the maximum rate case;[ ] and in opinions cited by the attorney-general in a special message on the subject to the senate.[ ] these and other points, such as the bearing of the so-called "preference clause" of the federal constitution requiring equality of treatment in commerce between all ports of the united states, need not detain us further. the constitutionality of the amendments have now been duly upheld. but, inasmuch as the particular form which the law assumed was the outcome of these debates, it is essential that they be reviewed. other questions of interpretation at a later time, also follow the same line of cleavage in debate. judicial regulation of common carriers, as proposed by the railroad advocates, was open to many objections; so controlling that they fortunately turned the scales in favor of the administration plan. the first of these was in itself so fatal that it is almost a work of supererogation to state the others. judicial control, as we have seen, had been the outcome under the old law. it was the desperate plight from which escape was sought. no decisions could be rendered until the rate or practice had been put into effect. the denial of power to make rates for the future had broken down the old law. the stable door might indeed be closed, but only some years after the horse had been stolen. therein lay the primary defect of all judicial processes. when the bituminous coal-carrying roads and water lines were collecting fifty cents a ton additional on , , tons of coal annually, destined for new england alone, as a result of the practical elimination of monopoly since , the only effective way to prevent irreparable loss to consumers, would be to veto the increase before it went into effect. for a federal judge to hold it an unreasonable exaction, four years or even six months after it had been paid, would be of no benefit to the coal-consuming public, upon which the incidence of the tax really fell. the entire futility of judicial control was well exemplified in the colorado fuel and iron company case of . this corporation complained of excessive rates from pueblo, colorado, to san francisco on iron and steel. the interstate commerce commission ordered the rates on steel rails not to exceed forty-five cents per one hundred pounds, or seventy-five per cent. of the chicago-san francisco rate on the same commodity, whatever that might be. the southern pacific, under pressure, complied with this order for about two years; and then in advanced the rate one-third, to sixty cents per one hundred pounds. thereupon the iron company obtained an injunction from the united states circuit court prohibiting the violation of the commission's order. the case went to the circuit court of appeals, which reversed this decree. meantime, proceedings before a master had fixed the amount of damages under the rate increase at $ , . the court held that these damages, if due, could be recovered before a jury which should establish the unreasonableness of the rates in force. but while this was being done, what became of the california business of the colorado fuel and iron company? the pacific coast was one of its most important markets. the price of steel rails for competitors from pittsburg or europe, who ship by water, would remain quite undisturbed. it would be difficult to recover trade when once lost. no damages, based upon mere increased freight rates, actually paid, would begin to measure the possible loss. and, moreover, even if this sum were recovered after prolonged litigation, the situation would not be remedied. precisely the same rates which gave rise to the damages would still be in effect. an indefinite series of litigations might result, which would harass the company and perhaps drive it from the field altogether. the outcome of this southern pacific case sufficiently proves, even where the shipper is a powerful corporation, the futility of seeking redress through judicial proceedings. again and again one is forced back to the same conclusion: that the only remedy for an unjust rate is not to continue an unfair one and pay damages, but as speedily as possible to substitute a reasonable charge. how much greater force has this conclusion for the small shipper, if the remedy fails even for an industrial combination, powerful enough to extort secret rebates of $ , a day from the atchison railroad, as proved in the now celebrated morton case of ! other serious objections to judicial control may be briefly stated. the functions of a court, acting judicially, permit of reliance as to reasonableness upon only one standard, viz., that the rate or practice under consideration will lead to confiscation of property. the courts can set this maximum limit to charges; but above that point they are powerless to intervene. rates for the future must be judged with the same freedom exercised by the traffic officials who promulgated them in first instance. correction can be applied only by an expert tribunal, possessed of the same sort of knowledge had by those who issued the tariff or ordered the practice at the outset. of course, the objection of lack of technical knowledge on the part of judges, might be readily enough overcome by means of a specialized professional personnel. but the objection that judicial control, in contradistinction to administrative regulation, is necessarily intermittent rather than steady and constant is one not so easily met. as has been recently well said of our federal policy toward the trusts, "government by a series of explosions is rarely effective." there are too many and too long intervals between decisions. and then again, there is the slowness of formal court proceedings and the necessarily conservative attitude of judges, in matters concerning vested property rights. these arguments were all unanswerable in the end. it was inevitable that control should be exercised by a distinct enlargement of the powers of the interstate commerce commission, as an adjunct of the executive arm of the government. the law of [ ] authorized the commission upon complaint to "determine and prescribe" just and reasonable maximum rates, regulations or practices to be thereafter observed; and to order conformity thereto. such orders, except for money payments, were to become effective after thirty days; and were to remain in force for two years, unless suspended, modified, or set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction. in addition the commission might order an apportionment of joint rates, when the carriers are unable to agree upon a division; establish through routes; and fix reasonable charges for services or instrumentalities rendered or provided by shippers. this covers the case of charges for icing refrigerator cars or for the use of special equipment. fairly general rate-making power was thus conferred upon the commission; limited, however, to the adjudication of specific complaints. but the carriers being routed at this point, promptly fell back upon a second line of defences. their representatives took a stand upon the directly consequent point of broad review by the federal courts of the commission's orders. it was yet possible to practically nullify administrative control by according indefinite limits to the appellate jurisdiction of these courts. might they pass upon law points alone; or were they to be empowered to review the entire order of the commission? a most brilliant constitutional debate again took place in the senate.[ ] the first detail concerned the power of congress to restrict the right of the lower federal courts to suspend the commission's orders by writ of injunction. any limitation upon this power would, of course, lessen interference with the commission's mandates, and greatly promote a speedy settlement of transportation disputes. were these injunctions to be freely issued, holding up the commission's orders and thereby leaving the old rate or practice in effect pending final adjudication, the carriers would, of course, then have everything to gain and nothing to lose by their issuance. every order might be attacked, not with any serious expectation of final success, but merely to secure the benefit of the delay. and if, after this delay, the widest possible scope of review were allowed in the formal trial of the case, judicial instead of administrative regulation might still be brought about. the first essential in the conservative programme, then, was to ensure the most comprehensive right of review for all cases appealed. but could congress by statute limit or define the exercise of this judicial power on the equity side? there was no doubt as to its right under the constitution to create or abolish federal courts, other than the supreme court. but could it restrict their judicial functions, legal or equitable, including primarily the power to issue injunctions? practically, the alternative lay either in omitting all reference to the subject in the amended act, leaving the scope of the courts' powers to be determined by judicial construction of the statute; or in attempting to define it specifically, item by item. the carriers' representatives would not agree to the former course, lest silence upon this matter, as they averred, might imperil the constitutionality of the law. nor could the progressive reformers refuse a definition of the matter, under suspicion of bad faith. for if, as they had so stoutly maintained, the constitution amply safeguarded the rights of appellants without further prescription, a mere re-affirmation of these rights could do no harm. the result was a clause so worded as virtually to satisfy the conservatives; while ostensibly being a compromise. power is expressly conferred upon the circuit courts,[ ] by suit to "enjoin, set aside, annul or suspend" orders or requirements of the commission. but this power is limited by the condition that five days' notice must be given to enable the commission to prepare its case for protest. and the hearing must be had before three federal judges instead of one. these details were intended to prevent the issuance of restraining orders for frivolous or merely obstructive reasons. the unfortunate feature of this compromise, arrived at only after weeks of bitter controversy, was its entire indefiniteness as to the grounds upon which the courts might base their review of the commission's orders. it thus stopped short of conferring more liberal powers of review for railroads than those enjoyed under the constitution by all other classes of persons and property.[ ] in so far the railroads lost their case. it is evident that congress intended to create a really competent administrative board, with whose orders the courts might interfere only when those orders were _ultra vires_, or unconstitutional. the courts under the law must accord the same consideration to such decisions, "if regularly made and duly served," as to an act of congress, with the presumption always in favor of validity. judicial interference might be expected only when the railroads had a good case. this, at least, was a clear gain. there was yet another even more important one. under the old law the burden of initiative or proof on all cases appealed, rested upon the commission. this might now be reversed. penalties formerly did not begin to run until the final decision of the highest court to which appeal was taken, had affirmed the validity of the commission's order. carriers might continue to disobey with impunity throughout the period of protracted litigation. but now a penalty of $ , a day for each day's violation of the order, began at the expiration of thirty days. the initiative to secure relief from this order must now come from the carrier. it, and not the commission, became the petitioner before the courts. a speedier adjudication of contested cases might far more confidently be expected under such conditions. but the grounds, legal or economic, upon which such determination of the reasonableness of the commission's orders must rest, were, unfortunately, as we have seen, left open for judicial interpretation in the course of time. the railroads won a decided victory in one other bitterly contested detail of the relation of the commission to the courts. the new law still left the old rate or practice of which complaint had been made, in effect without penalty pending the review of the case. the administration bill would not have permitted restraining orders to issue until the commission's decision had been held unreasonable in formal review. the point appears to have been decided by congress upon economically unjustifiable grounds. the interval of time between the commission's decision and the final settlement of the case might be considerable. under the old conditions, the carriers had imposed the burden of disputed rates upon the public. the importance of this point may be illustrated by the fact that during the protracted litigation in the chicago terminal charge case, finally settled in , the sum involved for this period alone amounted to $ , , . was this fair? the real disputants after all were not the government and the railway company. the commission was supposedly acting impartially as an umpire. such being the case, unless it were shown that greater injustice would result from the change, the natural condition would seem to be this; that in cases of dispute the decision of the umpire, and not of the bigger contestant, should prevail until final settlement of the cause. this would seem to be the obvious, the natural and the just conclusion from the premises. but, the railroads contended, suppose the commission should order a rate reduced, as in the maximum freight rate case; put a lower tariff into effect; and then the courts should ultimately decide that the original rate ought not to have been disturbed at all. the railroad meantime would have suffered a corresponding loss of revenue on all traffic carried at the low rate. this would certainly be a hardship, and incontrovertibly unjust. but would it be more so than that the shipper should unjustly have borne the burden in the contrary case? as matters then stood, the public was compelled to pay the high rate, even if the courts afterward decided it to have been unreasonable. the railway as an interested party enjoyed the benefit of the doubt, and imposed the burden of proof upon the public at all times. would it not have been more in consonance with justice, that the government, an impartial umpire, should temporarily lay the burden upon that party against whose contention the greatest reasonable doubt existed? the only just remedy would seem to be one which would insure final recovery for unreasonable rates, by whichever party paid, during the uncertain period of adjudication. one of the principal objections of the railways to the proposed change arose at this point. large corporations are more responsible parties at law than most individual shippers. suppose, through an unjustly low rate, a railway had suffered loss of revenue; could it as readily recoup itself by suits for damages against scores of shippers, large and small, as could the latter, in the contrary case, recover back from the railway company? this cogent argument suggested a compromise measure. why not permit the original railroad rate to continue in force, as before, pending final adjudication; but require the carriers to give bond for prompt repayment of any surplus charges over those finally sanctioned by the courts?[ ] this would have left the business of rate making in railway hands; and yet have afforded a substantial remedy for the disputatious shipper. the railways would not accede to such a compromise measure, with all the financial burdens thereby entailed. unfortunately even this scheme is woefully short of a just solution. the whole matter looms up larger at this point. enter again the interests of the real consumer! in most cases freight rates to some degree affect the price of commodities. has the shipper, having paid a freight bill afterward adjudged unreasonably high, any right to sue for recovery of the amount? has he not, with his fellow merchants, probably shifted the burden upon the public? evidence shows that carload rates on cattle from texas to south dakota have been increased within ten years after , from sixty-five dollars to one hundred dollars. probably part of this thirty-five dollars increase has been taken from the profits of the cattlemen; but can there be doubt that a part of it has been added to the price of beef?[ ] no, tackle it as you will, from whatever point of view, you return to the same proposition: that the damage of an unreasonable freight rate, once paid, is irreparable. particular shippers may recover what seem to be damages; but which are likely not to have been so to them individually at all.[ ] by standards of abstract justice, the real solution should distribute the temporary burdens incident to the delays of legal procedure, as nearly evenly as the laws of chance will permit. a compilation in showed that, of freight rate cases decided by the interstate commerce commission, fifty-four per cent.--practically one half--turned in favor of the complainant. inasmuch as these complaints were practically all brought on behalf of shippers against the railroads, this shows how evenly balanced the issues have been. were the orders of the commission to become effective at once, the losses incident to errors afterward corrected by the courts, would be distributed in about equal proportions. under the law even as amended in , all the penalty of a mistake falls upon the shipper and the public; the railway always goes scot free. an impartial commission should be clothed with power to distribute these onerous burdens by prescribing the temporary rate. quite possibly the limitation of the equity power of federal judges to protect the railroads in their constitutional rights, might have been overthrown by the supreme court; but the advantage in the contrary case would have been well worth the risk. the only remedy left for the public under the circumstances of compromise above outlined, was to forward the course of judicial procedure in every way. the expedition act of had done much. the new amendments went still further, by providing for appeal directly to the supreme court with the privilege of precedence upon its docket. other details served the same purpose. formerly it had taken much time for the commission to prepare its formal orders and its _prima facie_ case for the courts. all the evidence had to be duly set forth.[ ] except for damage suits, all this was now changed. the commission in its orders need only state its conclusions in the premises, without the delays, labor and expense incident to formal re-examination of witnesses and the preparation of extended records of evidence. this has materially expedited the settlement of contested cases. it has yet another advantage. the commission was stripped of one of its semi-judicial functions; always an anomaly under our plan of government. and the assignment of the duty of formal prosecution of cases on appeal to the attorney-general of the united states, was yet another improvement along the same line. in the matter of personal discrimination, the disheartening persistence of illegal practices, despite the provisions of the elkins law of , rendered it necessary to specifically extend jurisdiction of the commission over private car lines; and to confer authority over all incidental services at terminals. separate publication of storage, icing and other charges was called for; and railroads were held responsible for the provision of special equipment when requested. industrial railroads, "tap lines," spurs and sidings, so ingeniously employed in discrimination,[ ] were expressly included under the commission's authority. passes for individuals, a fruitful source of favoritism and political corruption in the past, were even more particularly prohibited. the only exceptions were for employees and their families, the poor or unfortunate, and persons engaged in religious or philanthropic work. in this connection, it may be added that the law of somewhat modified this rule by enlarging the meaning of "employees" to include caretakers of milk and other commodities. it also dealt with the issuance of franks by express, telegraph and telephone companies in some detail. superannuated or pensioned employees and the bodies of persons killed in service might also be carried free. such details are significant as illustrating the extreme nicety of definition required by the drastic character of the prohibitions. an important change was also made by the law of in re-imposing the penalty of imprisonment, as well as of fine, for departure from the published tariff. its removal from the original law of , in the interest of effective enforcement, was recognized as a mistake. with the complete affirmance by the courts of power to compel the production of evidence, recalcitrant witnesses were now under control. it was hoped that vigorous prosecution with this criminal punishment added, might put an end to the abuse. an entirely new feature was added to the law by the so-called "commodity clause." this sought to divorce transportation entirely from all other lines of business. the experience of years had shown that corporations, especially in the coal-fields, by combining both the service of carrier and shipper, might most effectively stifle competition of independent producers. rank discrimination might be concealed by means of ingeniously framed systems of inter-company accounts. and denial of equal facilities such as cars or sidings might operate to drive competitors out of the business. while the hepburn law was before congress, several events drew attention forcibly to the existence of such abuses. the interstate commerce commission in april, acting under the tillman-gillespie resolution, uncovered flagrant violations of law on the pennsylvania system.[ ] equally important was the decision handed down in february by the supreme court in the chesapeake and ohio railroad case.[ ] this dealt with discriminatory rates on soft coal for the new haven road, given by means of manipulation of the pro-rating division between the various companies interested. the general public was also greatly concerned over the growth of monopoly in the anthracite fields and the coincident rise in the price of coal. the independent producers in the soft coal regions were at the same time roused over the grievous discriminations practised against them, especially in west virginia.[ ] senator elkins of that state,--usually a strong railroad partisan,--introduced the amendment under pressure from his constituents. it was warmly supported by the most radical administration representatives. for it was apparent at once that a withdrawal of railroads from all such correlated businesses was not only proper in itself, but would also greatly promote the enforcement of many other provisions of the law. yet the radical character of the proposition was perhaps scarcely appreciated. some railroads, like the lackawanna, were dependent for nearly three-fourths of their tonnage upon the anthracite coal traffic; much of it from their own mines. the chesapeake and ohio in the eastern fields and the 'frisco in the middle west, relied upon soft coal for more than half of their tonnage. a great many other carriers were interested to a lesser degree. to compel them all to give up their coal properties was indeed a serious matter. the "commodity clause" provided that "after may , , it shall be unlawful for any railroad company to transport from any state ... to any other state ... any article or commodity other than timber and the manufactured products thereof, manufactured, mined, or produced by it, or under its authority, or which it may own in whole or in part, or in which it may have any interest, direct or indirect, except such articles or commodities as may be necessary and intended for its use in the conduct of its business as a common carrier." the original proposition was even more drastic. it was to apply to all common carriers, such as the pipe lines in the oil business. but it was soon considerably modified in the course of passage.[ ] first, it was limited to railroads. then the western senators, on behalf of the lumber industry, secured its special exception. and, finally, an attempt to prohibit specifically the control of subsidiary industrial companies through stock ownership was defeated. but, as thus limited, the clause finally passed the senate,--the stronghold of the railroad interests,--by a vote of to . this affords a good indication of the extent of popular feeling on the subject. it was fortunate indeed that the prohibition was not to take effect for two years, in view of the litigation necessary for its precise interpretation. for in any event it was bound to lead to much corporate readjustment. the course of these proceedings will be considered in the next chapter. * * * * * there remains for consideration one of the most important provisions of the hepburn law, namely that dealing with publicity of accounts.[ ] section twenty of the law of called for the filing by all carriers of annual reports with the interstate commerce commission. these reports were to be standardized; and the commission was empowered, in addition, to demand specific information whenever it was so desired. but the absence of express authority to enforce these orders, except by means of tedious equity proceedings in the courts, made improvements in accounting almost entirely dependent upon the tact and resourcefulness of the statistician. the commission was most fortunate in the services of prof. henry c. adams, who succeeded in bringing about cordial coöperation between the accounting officials of the railroads and the government. great improvements in the line of uniformity resulted; but the need of positive control became increasingly apparent. many officials were unwilling to certify by oath to the correctness of their returns. with the increasing size of the roads, it became more and more difficult to secure promptness. the annual statistics of railways had almost to await the pleasure of the carriers in filing their statements. and vitally important information was often withheld. in the case of the lake shore road, for example, which for years had charged all its improvements to operating expenses, it positively declined to state what portion of those improvements were permanent additions to the property, properly chargeable to capital account, and what were in the nature of renewals and repairs. and the supreme court had found no authority in the law to compel the furnishing of this information.[ ] with the growth of extended systems of railroads, characterized by the most involved methods of inter-corporate accounting, the need of precise data became ever more imperative. something more was evidently necessary than a mere expression by congress of an opinion favorable to publicity. the mandatory provisions added in to the twentieth section are, therefore, vital, not only in themselves; they are essential to the administrative enforcement of nearly every other part of the regulative law. a determined effort was made in to defeat the purpose of this clause by restricting appropriations for carrying it into effect.[ ] but it emerged unscathed--thanks to president roosevelt--and stands today as one of the best features of the new statute. one may readily distinguish no less than five distinct and important special services to be rendered by full publicity of accounts. the earliest to be fully appreciated was its serviceableness in securing equality of treatment of all shippers. in the good old freebooters' days, rebates were probably openly entered as such on the books. but with the need of concealment, they came to be covered up in all sorts of ways; oftentimes under such guises, as in the notable atchison case, in such manner that not even the directors knew what they meant. with full standardization of accounts, such abuses may readily be detected and the offenders traced and punished. in the second place, open standardization of the books makes strongly for more efficient and honest operation.[ ] the comparative method in statistics may be readily applied; so that the president of a railroad may have at command a complete statement of operations in detail, which is comparable not only with his own results in preceding years but with other roads similarly circumstanced. the haphazard and unscientific methods of operation in the british isles are largely a resultant of the absence of any logical and uniform system of public accounts.[ ] detailed cost keeping in the management of great systems of inter-related railroads, being absolutely essential to efficiency, makes also for honesty in operation. such gross frauds as developed upon the illinois central in , variously estimated to have cost the road from $ , , to $ , , through overcharges for equipment repairs, might readily enough have been detected under an efficient and honest management. this instance immediately suggests a third advantage of full publicity of accounts, namely the protection of investors. flagrant manipulation of maintenance accounts, "skinning" or "fattening" roads in the interest of inside speculators, has always been dependent upon secrecy. assurance of a stable market for railroad securities, based upon entire frankness as to the degree to which these properties are being kept whole or improved, is one of the prime advantages which may be expected to flow from such governmental prescription of accounts. and general public confidence in railway investments cannot conceivably be better encouraged than by such publicity. in no other detail than this, does the act to regulate commerce more directly benefit the general body of stockholders in railroads, as well as the corporations themselves. the three foregoing advantages of publicity had been long appreciated. these recent changes introduced in the federal law brought two others into special prominence. one is the newly assumed responsibility by the government in the matter of rate making. the other is its intervention in cases of dispute between the carriers and their employees. in both cases it is imperative that there should be available data for a just determination of the issues at stake. there must be assurance that every essential feature of the situation is fully and fairly set forth upon the books. otherwise, as in disputed rate cases, every fact as to cost of service,--a primary basis of measurement,--is vitiated. absurd and misleading calculations may be presented in evidence, which greatly hamper the government in deciding the case.[ ] and now with the projected physical valuation of properties as an element in rate making, all of the factors of maintenance, betterment and depreciation, of joint facilities, rentals and sinking funds must be taken into account. in labor disputes, the same considerations apply.[ ] under the requirements of the erdman act, every mediation,--and the need for it is more frequent every year,--calls for critical analysis by the chairman of the commission and the federal commissioner of labor of the statements from both sides as to the reasonableness of the action to be taken respecting wages or conditions of employment.[ ] the notable arbitration in is the most important instance as yet. having all of these services in mind, it seems likely that the accounting provisions added to the law in will be second to none in bringing about the elimination of existing evils, and in standardizing and improving operation, finance and traffic practice. under the new law monthly and special as well as annual reports, might be required under oath; with appropriate penalties of fine and imprisonment for delay or mis-statement. all accounts must be kept according to forms, general and detailed, prescribed by the interstate commerce commission. such rules applied of course to all carriers subject to the law, such as express and sleeping-car companies, pipe lines and even water carriers where operated in connection with railroads. moreover, the commission was to have access to the books at all times. for this purpose, it might employ special examiners.[ ] in other words, the system employed for years in connection with the regulation of national banks, was now extended to the interstate carriers. an additional safeguard was provided in the clause which made it unlawful to keep any other accounts books or memoranda than those approved; with the same penalties for violation. in brief, the policy was now perfectly definite. carriers were rendered public service companies in every sense of the word. mere indefinite publicity was replaced by specific regulation. this policy was not only clearly written in the law; but the commission in promulgating its orders relative to accounting, laid upon every officer concerned, full personal responsibility for the statements rendered. minor officials, made scapegoats for chief offenders, were no longer to be tolerated. the relation between agent and principal was clearly defined. it was assumed that so far as accounts were concerned, such officials were representatives of the commission in carrying out the law. a new principle was introduced in the regulation of carriers which could not fail to be productive of great good. in this respect the hepburn amendments granted all that the most ardent advocates of publicity demanded.[ ] * * * * * a summary view of this important legislation,--in form merely an amendment of the original law of , but in reality constituting an entirely new departure,--may now be had. the gains for effective regulation were considerable. among them may be noted its enlarged field, the separation of transportation from other businesses, elimination of the iniquitous railroad passes, control over joint rates and pro-rating, the expedition of judicial procedure, full publicity of accounts, enhancement of the dignity and compensation of the commission, and, most important of all, the grant in so many words of administrative rate-making power. the carriers--and the administration also--failed to obtain the much-desired repeal of the prohibition of pooling. on the other hand, as against these gains for reform should be set the following concessions to the railroads. rate-making control was still subject to broad court review. no one as yet knew what this might bring forth. maximum rates only might be prescribed. and much as to the proper relativity of rates, involved both in matters of freight classification and of enforcement of the long and short haul clause, was left untouched. rate advances were still possible without determination of their reasonableness in advance. suspension of orders pending judicial review, still remained. there was as yet no control over physical operation, such as furnishing cars, although switches might be ordered. many of the states had long since undertaken this work. and the great body of independent carriers on our inland waters were still left beyond the reach of the federal law. in the main, the administration had won a notable victory, although at some considerable cost. the principle of effective regulation of public-service carriers had been, indeed, vigorously affirmed in no mistakable terms. but the task was not yet completed. many details of law were needed to "clinch the roosevelt policies." nevertheless, it was probably better that a brief experience with the new law, both among the people and in the courts, should precede further legislation. great reforms should not be too suddenly effected, else reaction is certain to take place. for the time being a positive step forward had been taken. footnotes: [ ] exhaustively described in volume ii. [ ] chapter xii, _supra_, and chap. xviii, _infra_. [ ] _journal of political economy_, vi, , pp. - . [ ] central yellow pine association, etc., i.c.c. rep., and ; u. s., . other cases dating from this time are given in chap. xvi as they reached the supreme court. [ ] _cf._ data on concentration of railway control in the united states app. vi, digest of hearings before senate (elkins) committee on interstate commerce, , pp. - . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] chapter vi gives details as to these events. [ ] the evidence is in vols. iv and ix. our final report on the subject is in vol. xix. [ ] b. h. meyer, railway legislation in the united states, , is best on this period. [ ] fully discussed in haines, restrictive railroad legislation, , p. _et seq._ [ ] hearings before the committee on interstate commerce, senate of the united states, dec. , to may , ; vols., appendices, digests, etc.; commonly known as the elkins committee. [ ] the _chicago tribune_ and the _record-herald_ effectively exposed the affair. _cf. colliers weekly_, may , , for a good résumé. [ ] senator la follette in his autobiography, _american magazine_, june, , p. , avers that the president's main insistence at first was upon discriminations, not absolutely unreasonable charges; but the consumer is mainly interested in the latter point. the claim is made that the suggestion of thorough going control came from this personal source. la follette's three-day speech on april - was certainly the ablest presentation made of the progressive policy of regulation. [ ] chapter ii, pp. and , _supra_. [ ] chapter vi, p. , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _munsey's magazine_ for march, , has a good review of the congressional battle; with details of the defeat of the aldrich-cannon contingent. [ ] the best references on the hepburn act are as follows: dixon, f. h., _quarterly journal of economics_, xxi, , pp. - ; smalley, h. s., _annals american academy of political science_, , pp. - . the course of events is currently well reported in the file of the _railway age gazette_. _cf._ also, _review of reviews_, may and july, ; and the magazine references in the bibliography on railroads of the library of congress. [ ] compare this with the plans proposed by w. c. noyes, american railroad rates, , p. ; and a. n. merritt, federal regulation of railway rates, , p. . [ ] chapter xiv, p. , _supra_. [ ] hearings, senate committee on interstate commerce, , ii, pp. - . _cf._ also digest, pp. - ; and _review of reviews_, may, . [ ] amendment of section of the law of ; see p. , _supra_. [ ] professor dixon in the _quarterly journal of economics_, xxi, , p. , has succinctly reviewed this. _cf. american political science review_, iv, , p. . [ ] by amendment of section ; see p. , _supra_. the attempt to insert the words "fairly remunerative" in place of "reasonable" so as to invoke new judicial tests is discussed by smalley, _op. cit._, , p. . [ ] _annals, american academy of political science_, march, , p. , deals with this point. also, the able discussion by professor smalley, reprinted in our railway problems, chapter xxiv. [ ] this procedure has been actually adopted in several cases, ann. rep., i.c.c., , . [ ] i.c.c. rep., , is a case in point where cotton-oil mills refused to protect an advance in rates. [ ] _cf._ int. com. com. rep., ; fed. rep. ; and u. s. commerce court, , fed. rep., . [ ] _cf._ conditions under the old law; p. , _supra_. [ ] see pp. and , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s., : th ann. rep. i.c.c., p. . [ ] _cf._ i.c.c. rep., and p. ; _idem_ rep., ; _idem_ rep., p. ; _idem_ rep., . [ ] an excellent account of the debates and early litigation is in the _journal of political economy_, vol. xvii, , pp. - . [ ] fully described in _quarterly journal of economics_, vol. xxii, , pp. - . for comparison with foreign countries; _ibid._, vol. xxiv, , pp. - . [ ] u. s., . [ ] _munsey's magazine_, march, , well outlines it. [ ] _cf._ scientific management in railroad operation; _quarterly journal of economics_, vol. xxv, , pp. - . our second volume, it is hoped, will afford some idea of this comparative method. [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, , p. , outlines the new law. [ ] the meeker case in , concerning the cost of transporting coal to tidewater by the lehigh valley, is a good illustration. i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ bulletin u. s. bureau of labor, no. , . [ ] _cf._ standardization of wages of railroad trainmen; _quarterly journal of economics_, xxv, , pp. - . [ ] _munsey's magazine_, march, , p. , outlines the attempt in to defeat this provision by withholding appropriations. [ ] the affirmance of these powers by the supreme court in is described at p. , _infra_. chapter xvi effects of the law of ; judicial interpretation, -' large number of complaints filed,  .--settlement of many claims,  .--fewer new tariffs,  .--nature of complaints analyzed,  .--misrouting of freight,  .--car supply and classification rules,  .--exclusion from through shipments,  .--opening new routes,  .--petty grievances considered,  .--decisions evenly balanced,  .--the banana and lumber loading cases,  .--freight rate advances,  .--general investigations,  . supreme court definition of commission's authority,  .--the illinois central car supply case,  .--economic _v._ legal aspects considered,  .--the baltimore and ohio decision,  .--the burnham, hanna, munger case,  .--the pacific coast lumber cases,  .--decisions revealing legislative defects,  .--the orange routing case,  .--the portland gateway order,  .--the commission's power to require testimony affirmed,  .--the baird case,  .--the "immunity bath" decision and the harriman case,  .--interpretation of the "commodity clause,"  .--means of evasion described,  . [illustration] the first direct effect of the new law was a great increase in the volume of business of the interstate commerce commission. within two years over nine thousand appeals were made to it in one form or another for the adjustment of transportation disputes. the overwhelming majority of these complaints were settled informally out of court; and in this work of conciliation one of the most conspicuous and beneficial functions of the new commission appears. but, nevertheless, an increasing number of grievances seem to have required a formal hearing and decision of record. some indication of the public relief sought is afforded by the fact that within approximately the first two years and a half,--up to august , ,-- cases on the formal docket were disposed of, leaving over five hundred issues still undecided. as compared with this total of over fifteen hundred formal complaints under the new law, the number filed under the old statute amounted to only throughout the long period of eighteen years.[ ] moreover, the number of complaints filed, steadily increased for several years. the accompanying diagram well illustrates the great revival of interest which took place. the two curves show respectively the number of formal complaints by administrative years since , and the total of both formal and informal ones since  . the sudden increase after the new law went into effect in , is, of course, presaged by some accession of business during the preceding two years of public discussion. but the results for the year first fully reflect the new conditions. from formal complaints and informal ones filed in , the numbers in each class rose within two years to and , , respectively. it appears, however, that the climax was soon attained. since , the number of formal complaints considerably declined; and the informal ones seemed to be about stationary in number. this was of course to be expected. the accumulated grievances of past years had been largely cared for. and the improved conditions brought about were less productive of new sources of trouble. delay in settlement of claims for damages by shippers has long been a great source of discontent. the commission has grappled with this problem vigorously. the following table shows what has already been accomplished. the figures are for administrative years, as covered by the annual reports to congress. ====================================================================== | number of claims filed | number denied | reparation awarded --------+------------------------+---------------+-------------------- | | -- | $ , | | | , | | | , | | | , | | | , ====================================================================== here, again, it appears as if the maximum load had been reached, so far as the commission is concerned. testimony of shippers is emphatic upon this point.[ ] one railroad traffic manager stated that the number of overcharge claims against his line,--one of the most important in the country,--was twenty-five per cent. less in than two years earlier; and that loss and damage claims were reduced approximately one-third. a very large shipper compared his former "claims suspense account," sometimes amounting to $ , , with $ , for . the number of such overcharge claims was , in . for nine months of it was . and yet these damages paid are but a trifle, as compared with the aggregate of claim settlements made by the roads directly. for the fiscal year to june , , such settlements made to shippers directly by steam roads amounted to $ , , . how much of this sum was a legitimate allowance for loss or damage incurred in transit, one cannot discover. but it appears likely that an appreciable fraction served as a cover for personal discrimination. compulsory reference to the government of all such claims would speedily determine the true facts. in the meantime it is a satisfaction to know that a competent tribunal now exists, to which appeal with a minimum of expense may be made by aggrieved shippers. furthermore, it should also be noted in this connection, that the situation as respects claims has been benefited by a detail of the law of , not heretofore mentioned. the so-called carmack amendment provided that carriers must issue a through receipt or bill of lading, and thereby become liable for the shipment throughout its entire journey; that is to say, whether upon the initial road or a later connection. the legal principles accepted in england since are thus adopted. there is no doubt that great improvement in the relation between the roads and the shipping public may be anticipated as a result. the great improvement in respect of standardization of rates, evidenced primarily through reduction in the number of separate tariffs issued by the railroads, has been elsewhere described[ ] in connection with classification. from , separate schedules in to less than half that number five years later is a notable achievement,--so notable indeed that it merits repetition in this connection. the course of complaints, of claims and of new rates filed at washington, affords cumulative evidence of the great improvement in conditions which the new legislation has brought about. this activity of the interstate commerce commission, it is almost needless to mention, affords no true measure of the benefits resulting from the law. like every other sound piece of legislation, it was intended to be preventive, not punitive. the number of arrests by the police affords no indication of the effectiveness of a criminal statute. not the violations of law, but the breaches forestalled, are of real significance. and similarly in this instance, one surely finds the primary benefit of legislation, not in the complaints preferred, but in the fact that, under the improved relationship between the principals concerned, many long-standing causes of irritation and misunderstanding are being removed. the real gain, not to be measured by figures, is to be found in the improved spirit of the intercourse now prevalent between railway officials and their customers. the shipper--especially if he be a small one--having business to transact, may now be sure of courteous treatment and a prompt and probably just outcome. in the old days he was too often made to feel his utter economic dependence. as a high traffic official recently put it: "one reason we do not like this law is because we have to stop and think twice what we are about. we must be ready to explain and show a warrant for every act. an attack of indigestion cannot any longer serve as an excuse for an arbitrary, off-hand ruling." this improved spirit has permeated the whole staff of railway officials who have seen a new light on the public aspect of their calling.[ ] the nature of the complaints before the interstate commerce commission, with its amplified powers under the new law, affords the best indication of the most important feature of its work, namely the settlement of disputes between the railroads and their clients.[ ] and it will be apparent that a large number of these only indirectly raise the issue of the actual freight rate. oftentimes they concern rather the manner of conducting business. an attentive perusal of these decisions of the commission offers interesting evidence of the range of a carrier's activities. every little station all over the country between aaron and zuwash, and every conceivable commodity, from "mole-traps in crates" to "jewelers' sweepings," is comprehended. the fact that these disputes, often pecuniarily insignificant, could not be amicably adjusted by the good offices of the commission informally, but necessitated formal hearing and decision, is the strongest possible proof that some competent tribunal of this sort was greatly needed in the interest of industrial peace. one of the commonest petty complaints is of misrouting of freight. goods are carried by a roundabout way, or by one not enjoying the lowest through rate. thus, to be specific, in six carloads of print-paper were shipped from little falls, minnesota, to boise, idaho.[ ] three routes were open, the rates being respectively $ . , $ . , and $ . per hundred pounds. the northern pacific road, in absence of instructions, sent the goods by the third route,--presumably the one most profitable to itself,--the result being a freight rate $ , . greater than it otherwise might have been. reparation to this amount was granted within three months by order of the commission. another frequent difficulty concerns the supply of suitable cars for the needs of the shipper. carload rates are always proportionately lower than charges for package shipment.[ ] the carriers very properly prescribe a certain minimum lading as a requisite for the grant of these proportionately lower wholesale rates. the shipper at carload rates must, however, pay for the full capacity of the car, whether his shipment fills it or not. no exception can be taken to this practice, unless the carrier is unable or unwilling to supply cars of a suitable size. this sometimes happens. for instance, in a lumber-man in oregon, having a shipment of , pounds to make to a point in pennsylvania, requested of the southern pacific a car of , pounds capacity.[ ] not having one at hand, a much larger car was furnished, having a minimum capacity of , pounds. following the standing rule as to carload rates, the shipper was compelled to pay sixty-two and one-half cents per hundred pounds on the marked capacity of the car, that is to say, on , pounds more freight than he actually shipped. this made a difference of $ . in the freight bill--nearly fifty per cent. in excess of the charge based upon the actual shipment. the commission issued its order for reparation within five weeks of the filing of the complaint. a flagrant case of the misapplication of similar rules was recently decided.[ ] a retail druggist at douglas, north dakota, bought a sheet of plate glass eight feet square at st. paul for forty-six dollars. usually such large sheets have to lie flat on the car floor; and, occupying so much space, are properly assessed at a minimum weight of five thousand pounds, regardless of the actual lading. but in this instance the glass was carried upright, screwed to the end of the car, along with a lot of miscellaneous freight. applying the standard rule made the freight bill for a distance of miles, $ . more than the _entire cost_ of the glass at st. paul. it appears strange that the carrier should have permitted so clear a case to come to a formal hearing at all. presumably it contested it as much for the protection of its standard rules as for the sake of the actual revenue involved. no exception can be taken to these shipping rules as a whole; but these cases make it evident that their application may be at times too harsh and rigid. the tribunal established by the new law performs a much-needed service to the community in tempering their application in exceptional instances. attempts at arbitrary exclusion from participation in through shipments, in order to stifle competition, not infrequently crop out in these decisions. in the enterprise line, capitalized at four hundred thousand dollars, put three steamers into commission from fall river to new york.[ ] this independent line was of the utmost importance to the cotton manufacturers, as it was expected that at new york connection could be made with competing rail and water lines to every part of the united states. but all these lines, presumably at the behest of the new york, new haven and hartford railroad, which had hitherto enjoyed a monopoly of the business and which, with its enormous tonnage of high-grade freight to be parcelled out among connecting lines at new york, was a formidable factor, promptly declined to join in making any through rates. all their local rates from new york on, were, of course, prohibitory. in one instance, while the through rate accorded to the shipper over the new haven road was sixteen and five-eighths cents per hundredweight from new york on, the patron of the enterprise line was charged twenty-five and one-half cents for the same service. this case recalls a similar one in , when the independent miami line of steamers from new york tried to break the monopoly held by the steamship lines owned by the railroads out of galveston, texas. the roads not only refused to pro-rate, but actually demanded prepayment of freights from galveston on, as local rates. the federal courts tinkered with the subject for a while, until the circuit court of appeals, while recognizing a probable violation of law, affirmed that suit could be legally instituted only by the united states.[ ] meantime, of course, the company was forced out of that business; and rates have steadily risen ever since. in this later instance of the enterprise line, the commission promptly ordered an extension of the same privileges to the independent line that were enjoyed by its powerful rival.[ ] the frequency of complaints as to the supply of equipment needed for the regular operation of mills or mines, has already been noted. there may be enough cars; but they may be supplied too irregularly.[ ] and petitions for the issuance of through rates or the opening of new routes became so common that a substantial amplification of the law in , as we shall see, was effected in this regard. the carriers, of course, always prefer in case of a choice of routes, to take the longest possible haul over their own lines. this operates to close the more direct way. the northern transcontinental lines got more revenue from traffic which went east over their lines a thousand miles by way of spokane, than when it was turned over to a rival line at portland, oregon, after a haul by them of only one hundred and fifty miles.[ ] even in , at the time of extreme congestion of the northern pacific main line, when it was literally overwhelmed with business, the lumbermen complained that they could find no relief by these other routes.[ ] much the same question was raised in another way in , by a complaint from growers and shippers of grain against the rate adjustment which forced or attracted kansas grain to the kansas city market, instead of permitting it to move on lower rates directly from the point of origin to the gulf ports for export, and to texas milling and consuming points.[ ] in this instance, however, the shippers failed to make out a good case; so that the complaint was dismissed. no grievance is too petty to receive consideration. a peachcanner in martinsdale, georgia, is awarded reparation of $ . on a shipment of three cars of his wares.[ ] the sum of $ . is awarded to a complainant for an overcharge on eleven rolls of old worn-out canvas, assessed for freight rates as cotton goods instead of junk, which it properly was.[ ] or in another case, where a small boiler was shipped from kalamazoo to blue mounds, michigan, on a combination of local rates, when it was properly entitled to a joint through rate, an award of $ . to the shipper followed.[ ] it makes no difference whether the welfare of a great territory or the smallest dealer is concerned. it is all one to the government. the hope cotton seed oil company[ ] in the south, shipped seventeen carloads of one season's product in out over a certain road, on a low through rate. the railroad agent was then informed that these shipments interfered with the policy of establishing new industries of this sort on another line; and the through rate was cancelled. this jumped the charges from seventeen and one-half cents per hundredweight to sixty-seven cents,--almost the entire worth of the cotton-seed. since the new law went into effect, the commission has prescribed a new rate of thirty cents; and industrial peace is the result. thus has the work of this tribunal gone on, with its daily grist of opinions on almost every conceivable phase of the transportation business. it might be to prescribe that, even though inflammable, small-lot shipments of petroleum must be accepted by a carrier at least twice every week, instead of on only one day; that structural iron might be stopped off _en route_ at indianapolis,[ ] as it is at chicago and st. louis, to be sheared, fitted and punched, without losing the benefit of a low through rate, just as cotton is halted at the compressor, or grain is milled in transit; that a definite rate must be quoted on jewelers' sweepings,[ ]--the dirt and waste laden with particles of gold destined to the smelter,--even though it expose the carrier to the risk of exorbitant claims for damage in case of accident; that the railroad was properly entitled to charge storage after six months on brewer's rice left on a wharf pending piecemeal shipment to purchasers;[ ] or that two different rates were contemporaneously charged on nitrate of soda, according to whether it was to be used in the manufacture of fertilizer or gunpowder.[ ] but whatever the issue, one has the satisfying conviction, after reading the _pros_ and _cons_ in the decisions, not only that the matter has been settled by a disinterested and supposedly impartial third party, but that the decision is endowed with the beneficent force of public authority. as one reads these decisions, there is no evidence of political log-rolling, or of legal quibbling. they go straight to the point on the economic and common-sense issues involved. it is gratifying, moreover, to note occasionally that the dispute has already been informally settled before the commission has time to render its opinion. by no means are all these decisions in favor of the shipper. in fact, during the first fourteen months, only forty-six out of one hundred and seven formal cases were thus settled. the railroads enjoy no monopoly of unfair practices. indeed, many of the rules, the exceptional application of which works hardship, were originally provided to meet some attempt at fraud by shippers. they might be under-classifying; seeking free storage on wheels pending sale of their goods; claiming exorbitant damages; or perpetrating any one of a thousand petty meannesses to which human nature is liable. one or two instances of shippers' complaints set aside as unreasonable may not be out of place. the topeka banana dealers in complained that bananas _en route_ from new orleans were subject to an appreciable shrinkage in weight, amounting to about six hundred pounds per car.[ ] inasmuch as about fourteen thousand cars were being moved annually, it is clear that the aggregate loss of weight was considerable. the practice had been to weigh the bananas when transferred from the steamers at new orleans to the cars, and to levy the freight rate upon this weight. to this the dealers objected, instancing among other things the practice, long prevalent in the cattle business where a similar loss of weight in transit occurs, of charging according to the weight of the shipments, not at the initial point, but at the point of delivery. at first sight the complaint appears to be well founded. surely one should not be compelled to pay freight on a greater lading than is carried. but the commission on examination decided in favor of the roads. it was shown that the service was most exceptional as to the shipment, handling and speed; and it was held that the charges were on the whole reasonable and just. one of the most important issues in which the railroads have won their contention concerned the loading of lumber on flat cars.[ ] for half a century the practice has been that the shipper should provide his own lumber-stakes and pay freight on them as on the lumber itself. in the national lumbermen's association tried to change all this, and to impose upon the carriers the legal duty of securing the loads in place as they do with many other commodities. the carriers offered a compromise, agreeing to allow five hundred pounds per car free for the weight of the stakes; but refused to accept responsibility for safely stowing the goods. the commission, finally, after prolonged inquiry by experts, relieved the carriers of this care and expense. it is undeniable also that the carriers have found solace in certain unforeseen ways under the amended law. the rigid prohibition of all favors and rebates has substantially raised the general level of charges, so general was the practice of cutting rates a few years ago. to be sure, this increase has affected principally the large shippers, thus tending to equalize opportunity between all grades of competitors. but over and above this, the prohibition of any act tainted with favoritism has enabled the carriers successfully to withstand many leakages of revenue. claims for damages can be plausibly denied on the ground that their settlement might arouse suspicion, and possibly lead to prosecution for the grant of individual favors. many roads have also actually augmented their revenues by this same line of argument. the custom of charging a merely nominal rental of one dollar for freight-sheds, other buildings or land used for side-tracks or elevators, was formerly general. it would have been awkward to place these contracts on a strictly commercial basis, especially where the tenants were shippers with the option of resorting to a rival line. but on the plea that a continuance of these nominal rentals might be considered a criminal act of favoritism, substantial increases of revenue have been obtained. on one road alone over three thousand of these nominal rentals have been raised to strictly commercial figures. the aggregate increase of revenue from this source has been by no means inconsiderable. a very important group of cases brought before the interstate commerce commission under the new law concerned the reasonableness of the various freight-rate advances which were occurring all along the line.[ ] this raised a question as to the absolute fairness of the new rates as against the interest of the general public. one conclusion is certain. the new law did not prevent the carriers from persisting in a policy, adopted nearly ten years earlier, after a generation of steadily declining rates, of quite generally putting up their charges. unfortunately, the law of was defective in making no provision for dealing adequately with such cases. the interstate commerce commission was limited in its scope to the consideration only of specific complaints. it could not on its own initiative pass upon the reasonableness of an entire new schedule of rates in advance of its taking effect. it must take the matter up, if at all, bit by bit, as individual shippers chanced to complain, after the rates have become operative. this abridgment of its power to pass upon the reasonableness of tariffs as a whole was effected in the senate. it was not contemplated either by president roosevelt or by the house of representatives. the result, as predicted, was that little protection was afforded to the public in any large way. judging by results, the railroads were as free as they ever were, to increase their tariffs whenever they saw fit so to do. the imperative need of amending the law, and of granting power to suspend such rate advances, not merely in particular cases on complaint, but as to entire schedules of rates prior to their taking effect, was in fact met by the next set of amendments in . the experience of the intervening years amply proved the need of some such amendment. the extent of the changes after the new law went into effect may be indicated by a few typical instances. few commodities are of greater importance to the united states than chemical fertilizers, used in enormous quantities all over the country. the basis of these is phosphate rock. the freight rate on this from tennessee to chicago in was $ . per ton. it was increased to $ . , until the commission ordered its reduction to the old figure.[ ] at the same time the oregon lumbermen had their rates to the east increased about one quarter, after a period of quiescence of six years. from the willamette valley to san francisco--a test case soon to run a long course before the courts[ ]--lumber rates were $ . . in they were put up to five dollars. the commission held that $ . was an adequate rate. the last general increase had occurred in january, , particularly in transcontinental rates, where the fruit of the harriman monopoly made itself felt. not unduly great in the east, considering the increased cost of operation,--twenty-five cents per ton on pig iron and iron pipe, for instance,--the pacific coast rates from new york rose often as high as fifty per cent. the rate on dry goods went up by one-third. therein lay a part of the motive power for union pacific speculative finance.[ ] among the most persistently contested schedules was that concerning rates from the southwestern cattle ranges to the markets of the middle west.[ ] in the rate on steers was twenty-seven cents per hundredweight. step by step it went up to the level of thirty-six and one-half cents in ,--a rise of more than one-third within six years. occasionally one strikes an exorbitant rise in the east, however, as in one instance where on imported iron pyrites used in making sulphuric acid, the rate, which in was $ . , became $ . four years later.[ ] and the hardship often lay in the fact that these increases were most marked in the case of the small shipper,--the very one who, in these days of large enterprises, we can least afford to spare. the rate on cotton goods from the south to the pacific coast rose only fifteen per cent, between and by the carload; for smaller lots it rose sixty-five per cent.[ ] in , , , pounds of cheese were produced in southwestern wisconsin. the shipper to chicago by carload paid only about ten per cent, more in than eight years earlier; but the shipper in smaller lots was compelled to pay forty per cent. more.[ ] as always, the change was along the line of least resistance. such a policy made for larger dividends; but did it tend to the perpetuation of equality of opportunity as between great and small concerns? that was a social question of the very first importance, which had much to do with the demand for still further increase of the regulative power of the federal government in  . under the new powers conferred by law, it was now possible to investigate scientifically many matters which heretofore had been privately governed by rule of thumb. for instance the reasonableness of the charges for refrigeration in the movement of citrus fruit is dependent in practice upon the methods employed in gathering and packing them for market.[ ] was it better business practice to ship oranges and lemons in ice-cooled refrigerator cars, or was it better to adopt the so-called pre-cooling process, combined with great care in handling? the former was the long-standing practice of the fruit-growers, while the latter, substantially supported by the investment of more than a million dollars in plant, was advocated by the carriers. one had been tested in practice, the other was yet in the experimental stage. but aside from rivalry of method, were not the shippers entitled to pre-cool or refrigerate their fruit privately if they so desired? the determination of this question meant an elaborate investigation with careful records in detail as to the results obtained in either case. the decision upheld the carriers in their charges for the older methods of treatment; but pre-cooling charges had to be reduced by seventy-five per cent. it appears, therefore, that authority to deal with one of the most serious grievances voiced before the elkins committee in , may now be fairly and scientifically exercised for the public benefit. a similar technical investigation concerned the methods of transporting the products of "creameries."[ ] shall dairy products be centralized at favored points, possessed of a sufficient supply from the surrounding territory to permit of large-scale manufacture; or shall the older local creamery method prevail, whereby the product is taken directly from country stations to the great centres of consumption like chicago? the particular rate adjustment makes all the difference between creameries scattered throughout the countryside or, on the other hand, located in the great cities. one of the prime difficulties is in the sparsity and uneven distribution of the cow population. here was an order requiring a very careful investigation of the entire business, followed by a nice judgment as to the economic merits of the case. the history and development of the dairy business in the west had to be thoroughly looked into. quite irrespective of the resulting order, it is apparent that the public is certain to benefit from an exhaustive inquiry. yet other general investigations of the same sort might be cited to the same end. the wool business was examined thoroughly in .[ ] the entire new england rate system as well as the conditions of operation were overhauled in the following year, and a general inquiry into the hard coal situation is just now under way. a general improvement of conditions is bound to flow from the free exercise of such general powers. * * * * * the leading supreme court decision construing the hepburn law,--and, constitutionally, one of the most important in recent years,--was rendered in with reference to the relation between the exercise of power over transportation by the interstate commerce commission and the right of review of such action by the courts.[ ] the details of the controversy are indicative of the nicety of economic adjustment required in such cases. there was a shortage of equipment for the carriage of soft coal on the lines of the illinois central railroad. this commodity, practically speaking; cannot be stored. it must be disposed of at once, so that the available supply of cars determines the output of each mine. if, in this case, all the cars had belonged to the illinois central railroad to be used indiscriminately by the mine owners, it would have been a simple matter to have allotted the equipment among all the operators along its lines upon the basis of the established capacity of each. unfortunately, diversity of ownership of these cars had brought about, all over the country, special rules for effecting the allotments. some cars belonged to the railroad; others to the mine company, to other private parties, or to foreign railways. certain railroads first deducted all fuel carried by other equipment than their own from the estimated capacity of each mine, and then divided up their own available cars _pro rata_ among all the mines according to the net capacity thus fixed. others allotted their cars according to the gross mine capacity, taking no account of the private or outside equipment which any particular coal mine possessed or might obtain. this second practice evidently favored the larger concerns, supplied with abundant capital for investment in cars or for renting equipment. for, in addition to their own cars, they could still demand as many more from the railroad on daily allotment as if they were entirely dependent upon it for the movement of all their coal. which was the fairer practice? a nice economic question was thus raised. has a shipper the right to exclusive use of all his own fuel cars, and, in addition thereto, a full share of the system cars of the railroad? disputes of this sort have been before the commission and the courts for years. in this illinois central case, a colliery company complained of even a more minute detail of the rule employed by the railroad in making its daily allotment, affirming it to be discriminatory in effect. there was a shortage of cars and of coal. the railroad was employing many of its own cars in the special service of carrying fuel for its own use. the particular grievance was its insistence upon treating these special illinois central cars, for the purposes of allotment, as if they were merely ordinary private cars; that is to say, by supplying them in practice regardless of and outside of the daily allotment, otherwise agreed upon. it thus appears that the economic issue was highly technical in character. similar complaints had been already variously decided by other tribunals. the commission, moreover, was bound to consider this complaint with several others of a like sort. exercising its best business judgment under all the circumstances, it decided against the practice, ordering the illinois central, under the powers conferred by the new law of , to include all cars, however owned or for whatever purpose used, in figuring its daily allotments in time of shortage of equipment. the case went to the supreme court upon petition of the railroad to set aside the order of the commission. by contrast with the economic intricacy of this case, the fundamental legal question was simple. how broad was the right of review of the commission's order, as conferred by the amendments adopted in ? were the courts to rest content merely to pass upon the regularity and lawfulness of the forms of procedure adopted by the commission, or might they go further, and, hearing all the evidence as to fact, proceed to settle the economic controversy as well as the law points, in entire independence of the commission? in the former case administrative control would result. in the latter, regulative power would really reside in the judicial branch of the government. it was the same old controversy which by adoption of the second alternative had practically emasculated the law of , and had necessitated its amplification by amendment in .[ ] a momentous issue was presented. to go forward would make for logical definition and separation of the powers of the federal government; to retreat would be to precipitate anew the inevitable conflict in congress, from which, it was hoped, we had emerged for good! the importance of the illinois central decision is such that the conclusion should be stated by direct quotation, with our italics as to the main point. "beyond controversy, in determining whether an order of the commission shall be suspended or set aside, we must consider, _a_, all relevant questions of constitutional power or right; _b_, all pertinent questions as to whether the administrative order is within the scope of the delegated authority under which it purports to have been made; and, _c_, a proposition which we state independently, although in its essence it may be contained in the previous one, viz., whether, even although the order be in form within the delegated power, nevertheless it must be treated as not embraced therein, because the exertion of authority which is questioned has been manifested in such an unreasonable manner as to cause it, in truth, to be within the elementary rule that the substance, and not the shadow, determines the validity of the exercise of the power. _postal telegraph cable co. v. adams_, u. s., , . plain as it is that the powers just stated are of the essence of judicial authority, and which, therefore, may not be curtailed, and whose discharge may not be by us in a proper case avoided,[ ] _it is equally plain that such perennial powers lend no support whatever to the proposition that we may, under the guise of exerting judicial power, usurp merely administrative functions by setting aside a lawful administrative order upon our conception as to whether the administrative power has been wisely exercised. power to make the order and not the mere expediency or wisdom of having made it, is the question._" on this cogent reasoning the supreme court, therefore, quite independently of its opinion upon the economic merits, declined to permit interference with the order of the commission. immediately following the illinois central decision another was rendered concerning somewhat the same economic issue, namely methods of supplying coal cars on the baltimore and ohio.[ ] the following quotation is significant of what promises to be the line of reasoning in future. "in ... the ... case just decided, it was pointed out that the effect of the section was to cause it to come to pass that courts, in determining whether an order of the commission should be suspended or enjoined, were without power to invade the administrative functions vested in the commission, and, therefore, could not set aside an order duly made on a mere exercise of judgment as to its wisdom or expediency. under these circumstances it is apparent, as we have said, that these amendments of add to the cogency of the reasoning which led to the conclusion in the abilene case, that the primary interference of the courts with the administrative functions of the commission was wholly incompatible with the act to regulate commerce. this result is easily illustrated. a particular regulation of a carrier engaged in interstate commerce is assailed in the courts as unjustly preferential and discriminatory. upon the facts found, the complaint is declared to be well founded. the administrative powers of the commission are invoked concerning a regulation of like character upon a similar complaint. the commission finds, from the evidence before it, that the regulation is not unjustly discriminatory. which would prevail? if both, then discrimination and preference would result from the very prevalence of the two methods of procedure. if, on the contrary, the commission was bound to follow the previous action of the courts, then it is apparent that its power to perform its administrative functions would be curtailed, if not destroyed. on the other hand, if the action of the commission were to prevail, then the function exercised by the court would not have been judicial in character, since its final conclusion would be susceptible of being set aside by the action of a mere administrative body. that these illustrations are not imaginary is established not only by this record, but by the record in the case of the _illinois c. r. co. v. interstate commerce commission_." these opinions, expressly recognizing the constitutionality of the free and full exercise of legislative power delegated by congress beyond the power of the courts to review, are of fundamental importance. had they been rendered a few days earlier, as we shall see, they might have prevented the supposed necessity of setting up a new commerce court by law in . they would certainly have abridged the congressional debates over points of law. under these decisions, only authority and constitutional rights may be reviewed. the same issues were raised in the portland gateway opinion in , soon to engage our attention, concerning the commission's right to designate through routes for passenger travel. over-ruling the commission in this instance, however, the narrow right of review by the courts, as laid down in the illinois central case, is somewhat widened by an apparent refusal to treat the commission's findings as to fact as conclusive in determining its jurisdiction; however conclusive it may regard them in other respects. a shady byway of judicial encroachment is thus rather surreptitiously indicated. a more satisfactory re-affirmation of the disposition of the supreme court to allow a wide field and a free hand to the commission in the exercise of its offices, is to be found in a third opinion, the so-called burnham, hanna, munger case, also rendered in .[ ] certain missouri river cities complained that rates from the atlantic seaboard were unduly high by comparison with those to cities in central traffic territory, namely between the mississippi river and buffalo. the commission held the complaint well founded; and ordered a readjustment, by reduction of that portion of the rate west of the mississippi. thus, by leaving the rates to the central traffic association cities unchanged, it materially benefited those along the missouri river by comparison. omaha and kansas city were brought substantially closer to the seaboard as compared with chicago and similar trade centres. the western roads, alone affected by this order, attacked it in the courts as an assertion by the commission of power "artificially to apportion out the country into zones tributary to given trade centres to be pre-determined by the commission, and non-tributary to others." the supreme court, in upholding the order, held that it would indeed be an abuse of power to raise or lower rates for the sole purpose above-outlined. nevertheless, if the commission were seeking primarily to correct rates inherently unreasonable, such action would not be invalidated by incidental effects upon trade conditions. the supreme court found, therefore, that the order in question was within its power, as thus defined, and, governed by the reasoning in the illinois central case, held that the commission's decision could not be judicially reviewed upon the merits. the line of judicial interpretation preceding the mann-elkins law of has been even more rigidly followed by the supreme court since that time. the most important decision, perhaps, was rendered in . this concerned the absolute reasonableness of rates on fir lumber from the northern pacific forests to the middle west.[ ] but it involved the additional consideration that the transcontinental roads had in a measure guaranteed an economic status to lumbermen under which they had made large investments, which, as they claimed, were jeopardized by an increase of freight rates in . two points were raised. one concerned the reasonableness of the new rates _per se_; the other their reasonableness in the light of their effects upon an established yet dependent industry. it was the old issue, in brief, between cost of service and value of service. a decision upon the latter basis alone might have resulted, as in a similar action, in the burnham, hanna, munger case, just outlined, in decreeing an extension of authority over commerce by the commission. fortunately the court found otherwise in these lumber cases. it was able to uphold the order of the commission, without deviation from the path of reasoning laid down in the illinois central opinion. the decision concludes as follows: "considering the case as a whole, we cannot say that the order was made because of the effect of the advance on the lumber industry, nor because of a mistake of law as to presumptions arising from the long continuance of the low rate when the carrier was earning dividends, nor that there was no evidence to support the finding. if so, the commission acted within its power, and, in view of the statute, its lawful orders cannot be enjoined." the unsatisfactory element in this decision is its implication that the commission must be governed by cost of service principles in fixing reasonable rates. for to admit the plea of the lumbermen, that their industry could not stand the increase, would obviously lend an ear to the principle of value of service. may the railroads properly adopt either of the two principles in fixing their tariffs, while the commission is confined to cost of service alone? any such conclusion would tend to paralyze regulation. and congress would certainly in a moment fly to the rescue with amplification of the statute. this pacific coast lumber opinion also contains the following succinct statement of the grounds upon which alone the federal courts may review the orders of the commission: "there has been no attempt to make an exhaustive statement of the principle involved, but in cases thus far decided, it has been settled that the orders of the commission are final unless ( ) beyond the power which it could constitutionally exercise; or ( ) beyond its statutory power; or ( ) based upon a mistake of law. but questions of fact may be involved in the determination of questions of law, so that an order, regular on its face, may be set aside if it appears that ( ) the rate is so low as to be confiscatory and in violation of the constitutional prohibition against taking property without due process of law; or ( ) if the commission acted so arbitrarily and unjustly as to fix rates contrary to evidence, or without evidence to support it; or ( ) if the authority therein involved has been exercised in such an unreasonable manner as to cause it to be within the elementary rule that the substance, and not the shadow, determines the validity of the exercise of the power." quite like the preceding case was another concerning the reasonableness of advances of rates upon fir lumber from the willamette valley to san francisco. the commission had ordered a reduced rate, from which the southern pacific appealed to the supreme court.[ ] this tribunal set aside the order on the ground that, while seeking to protect an investment in lumber mills, it had not been governed by considerations as to the intrinsic reasonableness of the rates. the lumbermen then went back to the commission with a new complaint, in response to which a slight advance was permitted to the railroad, apparently as a token of compliance with the opinion of the supreme court. but the southern pacific, not yet content, promptly appealed a second time under the mann-elkins law to the new commerce court. on june , , this tribunal fully sustained the commission in a most suggestive declaration of the obligation of a carrier, having once induced capital to embark in a new enterprise under promise of low rates, being subsequently estopped from charging to the full limit of what the traffic will bear.[ ] this is a gratifying evidence of acquiescence of this new tribunal in the main line of interpretation laid down by the supreme court. federal decisions construing the law of during this period under review, revealed various shortcomings and defects which could be repaired only by additional legislation. they are to be considered among the causes contributing to the passage of the mann-elkins act of , shortly to engage our attention. two in particular, the orange routing case and the portland gateway order, merit discussion. neither directly involved monetary considerations, but a conflict between the rights of shippers and carriers. and both alike went on appeal to the supreme court of the united states. the orange routing case against the southern pacific railroad touched the right of the shipper to name the particular railways over which his fruit should reach eastern markets.[ ] rates were the same by whatever route; but the railways denied the right of the shipper not only to name, but even to know, the route taken by his goods in transit. the same issue came up some years ago, concerning the right of cotton shippers at memphis to designate the particular connecting railroads which should haul their goods. the purpose of the carriers in seeking to control this matter is obvious, and may be praiseworthy. secret rebates cannot often be secured by shippers from the initial carriers, especially if, as in california, no railway competition exists. for the atchison and the southern pacific have done away with that by pooling their fruit business. secret rebates, if secured by shippers at all, must be wrung from the connecting lines, which bid for it at the great junction points, like kansas city and chicago. the initial road, by reserving the right to route the freight, is able most effectively to nullify all such pernicious contracts. but, on the other hand, this practice denies to the owner of the goods, control, or even supervision, over his own. market conditions may easily change while the goods are in transit. it may be desirable to stop them off at chicago, or divert them to new orleans. and, moreover, damages for delay on such perishable goods as fruit are refused by the terms of the contract. the routing road exercises power without assuming responsibility. on these grounds, and in consonance with the long-established principles of common law, the interstate commerce commission held that the shippers' rights were jeopardized. it was shown that freight was often diverted from one road to another in order to secure more valuable percentages of the through rate for the initial carrier. the circuit court in september, , provisionally sustained the commission; but its opinion was reversed by the supreme court in . the court of last resort failed to find in the law any prohibition of such regulations concerning routes by the railroads. incidentally it held that the federal courts might enforce orders of the commission, even although for reasons differing from those which governed the original order.[ ] the portland gateway case in , before the supreme court,[ ] also disclosed a defect in the law of . it dealt with the right of the commission to designate through passenger routes. seattle, washington, may be reached from the middle west either by various lines to st. paul and from thence due west by the "hill lines," or by various railroads to kansas city and thence by the burlington and the northern pacific, also "hill lines." there are also many routes first proceeding westward _via_ the union pacific to portland, oregon, and from thence up to seattle. by these latter routes most of the journey would be over the "harriman lines," whereas by the former it would be by way of their competitors for the control of the northwest. passengers all the way over the "hill lines" were afforded every facility for through travel in the way of tickets and baggage; but if they chose the portland route, great inconvenience followed from the refusal of the hill lines to coöperate in facilities at the transfer point. in brief the "hill lines" were working for the long haul over their own rails, as against the merely local haul from portland to seattle, which would follow the choice of the harriman route. the commission upon its own motion investigated this situation, and, as a result, ordered the northern pacific to join with its rivals in establishing through routes _via_ portland to seattle. this was done under authority in the law of to establish through routes and joint rates, provided "no reasonable or satisfactory through route exists." the northern pacific claimed, and was upheld therein by a dissenting opinion from the commission, that there was already in existence such a route. quick and comfortable travel _via_ st. paul already existed. some eight thousand persons annually for one reason or another preferred, nevertheless, to go through portland. the commission held that this preference was reasonable, and that accordingly, with respect to such travellers, there was indeed no reasonable through route in effect. passenger traffic, involving the element of personal choice, in other words, was different in law from freight business. the circuit court set aside this order upon the ground that a satisfactory alternative route over the northern pacific did actually exist. this decree was affirmed by the supreme court of the united states in . but it was a hard-won victory for the carriers, inasmuch as congress within six months specifically authorized the commission to regulate such matters in future, without limitation as to the existence of other satisfactory routes. the bitter rivalry between the hill and harriman systems for the control of the northwest, as affecting the routing of freight traffic as well as of passengers through portland, resulted in carrying a second case of the same sort before the supreme court. may temporary delay and congestion of business by way of any given line afford the commission authority to designate another through route! in this instance, the supreme court has affirmed the order of the commission.[ ] it would appear, therefore, that this issue, for the present at least, is closed. the regulative power of the federal government over routes and the division of joint rates is satisfactorily upheld. * * * * * several supreme court decisions defining the power of the commission to require testimony, both oral and documentary, in relation to matters which came before it, were rendered about this time. its prestige and authority in this regard,--already affirmed in the late nineties,[ ]--were considerably enhanced by an opinion delivered in april, .[ ] in the course of the proceedings, upon complaint of william r. hearst against the reading and other coal roads, certain contracts between the lehigh valley coal company and independent operators were called for. one baird and others, including president baer of the reading company, declined to produce these coal purchase contracts. others refused to testify concerning methods of fixing the price for anthracite coal at tidewater. disregarding certain purely legal details, these refusals were based upon the contention that neither the commission nor hearst,--a well-known owner of various newspapers,--had shown any legal interest in the complaint. the court held, however, that the want of direct damage to the complainant was not essential to his standing before the commission. moreover, in this case, the supreme court overruled the federal circuit court, which had held that the details of the contracts for purchase of coal by railroads from independent operators related wholly to intrastate transactions,--that, in other words, the selling of coal in pennsylvania had nothing to do with interstate commerce. the supreme court adjudged that all the details of these transactions had a bearing upon the general question of the degree of monopoly in the coal business, and could not properly be withheld from examination as evidence by the commission. in conclusion the court said: "to unreasonably hamper the commission by narrowing its field of inquiry beyond the requirements of the due protection of rights of citizens, will be to seriously impair its usefulness and prevent a realization of the salutary purposes for which it was established by congress." this sweeping decision by the court of last resort well buttressed the former decisions of that tribunal in the brimson and brown cases. the so-called "immunity bath" federal court decision in materially affected, not so much the scope of authority of the commission as its mode of procedure in eliciting testimony in railroad cases.[ ] a resolution of the house of representatives in had directed the commissioner of corporations to conduct an investigation into the affairs of the so-called "beef trust." in the course of this inquiry, federal officials from the bureau held interviews in chicago with prominent members of the beef-packing establishments. important evidence was obtained, with the understanding that this was merely a general investigation having no relation to the department of justice, nor intended to be used in the prosecution of any suits at law. at the same time, agents examined the books of these companies. the accountants, however, in all cases refused to certify to their accuracy under oath. the material thus secured was incorporated in a report of the bureau in the following year. not long afterward, when the prosecution of this combination was undertaken by the department of justice, the attorneys for the government made use of data in this report of the bureau of corporations in presenting their case. consequently, on behalf of the packers under indictment under the provisions of the sherman anti-trust act, it was urged that the interdictions of this law were inoperative as to them, inasmuch as they had virtually been made to testify against themselves. the district court affirmed this immunity from prosecution under the provision of the constitution forbidding any person from being compelled in a criminal case to be a witness against himself.[ ] the direct bearing of this decision upon subsequent prosecutions for rebating, as in the notable chicago and alton case in the following year, is apparent. no general investigation of any subject, evidently, could be undertaken either by congress or the interstate commerce commission, in the course of which testimony had been elicited under pressure, if it was intended that criminal prosecution by the department of justice was subsequently to take place. the eagerness of witnesses to secure the privileges of the "immunity bath" by frank avowal of material facts might otherwise thwart the government in the pursuance of its ends. another important decision of the supreme court touching the right of the commission to compel testimony was rendered in in connection with the investigation of the union pacific system.[ ] mr. harriman, the dominant factor in the management of this system, had caused the union pacific to purchase certain stocks of the atchison and a number of other railroads in different parts of the country. the purchase price being known, the witness was asked whether he had a personal interest in the securities thus acquired by the road under his control. he declined to answer, on the ground that the power to require testimony was limited to the only cases where the sacrifice of privacy was necessary, namely those where the investigation concerned a specific breach of the law. the court, with three justices dissenting, sustained harriman in his refusal, on the ground that this particular investigation was undertaken, not in pursuance of a complaint of specific violation of the law, but merely for the sake of general information as to the manner and method in which the business of common carriers was being conducted. no question was raised as to the right of the commission to undertake general investigations of this sort; it was merely held that in the course of such investigations there was a limit to the inquisitorial power of this administrative body. it may be added in this connection that the amendments added by the mann-elkins act of most specifically defined the authority of the commission in this regard. * * * * * the "commodity clause" of the hepburn amendments to the interstate commerce law, because of its unfortunate ambiguity, has already twice been before the supreme court.[ ] the first interpretation was given in a decision concerning the delaware and hudson railroad, handed down in may, .[ ] this affirmed the constitutionality of the statute at all points; but, at the same time, emasculated it most effectually. for, in order to harmonize the opinion with prior ones holding that ownership of stock in a corporation did not constitute legal ownership of the property of the company, it was necessarily held that a railroad by owning the share capital of a coal company did not thereby possess an interest, direct or indirect, in the coal mined. moreover, a railroad which was the legal owner of coal at the mine might escape the interdiction of the law by selling the coal before transportation began. a handy means of evading the intent of the law could not have been more plainly indicated. an attempt specifically to prohibit stock ownership in coal mines by railroads,--thus meeting in part the situation arising out of the foregoing decision,--was made in connection with the mann-elkins act in ; but to no avail. the senate, by a vote of twenty-five to thirty-one, rejected an amendment proposed by senator bailey of texas, to prohibit stock ownership so clearly "that not even a judge of the supreme court could fail to understand it." the negative votes were all cast by the so-called "regular" republicans. in the meantime, the clause had been carried to the supreme court for further interpretation in a suit against the lehigh valley railroad.[ ] the government in the lower court had already been defeated in an attempt to raise questions of fact as to the pecuniary interest of the road in the coal transported, irrespective of the technicalities as to legal ownership. the outcome in this case was more satisfactory. the circuit court was held to have erred in ruling out these considerations. it was unanimously decided by the supreme court that it was in violation of the law to use stock ownership for the purpose of destroying the entity of a producing corporation, while still so "commingling" its affairs in administration with the affairs of the railroad as to make the two corporations virtually one. this was a distinct gain for the government. it necessitated a compliance with the law in good faith. upon the basis of this decision the department of justice instituted a new action against the lehigh valley road, which was promptly met, however, by a readjustment of its corporate affairs. the economic results under the "commodity clause" have been quite different from those doubtless anticipated by congress. a salutary separation of coal mining from transportation is being effected; but in the case of the anthracite properties at least, in such manner as to hold out small hope of any direct benefit to the general public. absolute alienation of their coal properties by the railroads was subject to two difficulties. some roads, like the reading and the lehigh valley, had heavy issues of bonds outstanding, based upon the security, jointly, of both the railroad and the coal properties. the two could not readily be separated without retirement of these general mortgage bonds. in the second place, the operating relations between the railroads and their subsidiary coal companies, had for years been fixed upon the general principle of concentrating all profit from the two conjoined transactions of mining and carriage upon the transportation service alone. in other words, freight rates were established at so high a percentage of the selling price of coal that mining was necessarily conducted at a nominal profit, if any. this made no difference to the carriers, owning both mines and roads, but it had the desired effect of making it impossible for coal operators, independent of the railroads, to engage in the business. without a modification of this plan the coal companies, already separately organized for the business by most of the railroads, could hardly be disposed of to advantage, either to the general public or even to their own shareholders. the only coal companies controlled by railroads which independently showed a considerable book-keeping profit were those owned by the jersey central and the delaware and hudson roads. the lehigh valley coal company had never paid dividends to its railroad corporation, but had contented itself with providing a very profitable tonnage. the philadelphia and reading coal and iron company had likewise never been allowed to show a book-keeping profit sufficient to meet the interest upon its bonds and to provide for a sinking fund against exhaustion of its assets under ground. despite these practical obstacles, a general legal separation of hard-coal mining from transportation is in a fair way to be effected.[ ] the delaware, lackawanna, and western in was the first to act. with no joint mortgages and a charter right to mine coal directly, it merely organized a separate corporation, the delaware, lackawanna and western coal company. the capital stock of this concern was then distributed gratis as a special dividend among its own shareholders. this coal company at once purchased all of the railroad's coal in stock, leased its mining appurtenances, and agreed henceforth to purchase all of its coal at the mine mouth for sixty-five per cent. of the tidewater price. the railroad continued to mine coal, but thus disposed of it before accepting it again for carriage. the delaware and hudson likewise entered into a contract with a coal company organized in , which, after june, , agreed to purchase all of its future output. the lehigh valley railroad rearrangement was more complicated. it already had a coal company of the same name, the capital stock of which was pledged under its general railroad mortgage. ownership was thus indissoluble. so the lehigh valley _coal sales_ company was organized in january, . its capital of $ , , was provided by the railroad, which declared a stock dividend to its own shareholders, sufficient in amount to enable them to subscribe to the capital of the new concern. this company, then, like the others above mentioned, thereupon agreed to purchase all the coal mined by the railroad's subsidiary coal corporation. at this writing great speculative interest attaches to the probable plan to be adopted by the reading. its intricate organization,[ ] whereby both the railroad and the coal companies are owned by a purely finance or holding company, renders the problem of dissociation unique. a large volume of joint bonds are outstanding, with complicated provisions for sinking funds. the railroad actually owns no coal lands. the coal company, independently, is not profitable under existing traffic arrangements. its operating ratio in was . per cent. it is "land poor"; carrying vast reserves of coal purchased by bond issues. the only asset sufficiently profitable by itself to make it attractive as a gift to shareholders, is the subsidiary coal company of the jersey central railroad, which is itself controlled by means of stock ownership. the formation of a third coal sales company, whose stock could be distributed to shareholders of the reading, as was done by the lehigh valley, would seem to be the only feasible plan. but is there not danger, financially, for these and other railroads, that they may place this lucrative traffic in jeopardy by thus distributing their coal properties among shareholders by means of stock dividends? while, for a time, community of interest between railroad and coal mine may be assured through lodgment of stock ownership of both companies in the same persons, is it not likely that the two may become widely dissociated in the course of time? this contingency has been guarded against by an ingenious provision. the contracts providing for purchase and shipment of coal by the coal sales companies are terminable at the will of the railroad. so that if conflict of interest should arise in future, through transfers of stock of the coal sales company to outsiders, the carriers would be free to cancel the arrangement; create another corporation; distribute its shares among their stockholders once more; and thereafter go on as before. manifold and ingenious, indeed, are the devices of the law for purposes of circumvention! whether the "commodity clause" is to bring about a further separation of transportation from activities of carriers in other lines of business remains to be seen. it was doubtless intended to have a general application. some roads, other than those in the anthracite coal fields, have taken steps to set off their subsidiary concerns. the louisville & nashville, for example, has distributed among its stockholders all the shares of the louisville properties company. this is a kentucky corporation to which the railroad had transferred its holdings of coal and other lands. it was expected at the time that its capital stock of $ , would be worth par. the union pacific has done even better. it voluntarily reconveyed to the united states considerable tracts of coal lands, where title had been called in question in the course of investigations as to such railroad ownership. while there has been no sign of the pennsylvania railroad disposing of its investments in the cambria and pennsylvania steel companies, made prior to , it is clear that the interdiction of the law will render any further outside operations of this sort difficult if not impossible. footnotes: [ ] _cf._ the record for - at p. , _supra_. [ ] annual report i.c.c., , p. . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , is a typical instance of voluntary correction of a maladjustment of rates, as soon as attention was officially called to it. also, _idem_ where several railroads being unable to agree upon the classification of live and dead locomotives, appeal to the commission to decide the matter. [ ] l. g. mcpherson, railroad freight rates, , pp. - , examines these topically, but without individual detail. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_, on classification. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . another case of this sort decided for the railroad is in i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] st annual report, i.c.c., p. : i.c.c. rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., ; is an odd instance of a broken deadlock between carriers as to furnishing equipment for completing a shipment. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , and _idem_, . [ ] i. c. c. rep., . [ ] i. c. c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] economic review, , pp. - , reviews this whole movement. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] u. s., : _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] much data is in _u. s. v. union pacific_, etc., supreme court, no. , oct. term, , appellants brief of facts, p. _et seq._ [ ] all the cattle raisers association of texas cases, especially i.c.c. rep., p. . _cf._, also, pp. and , _supra_, and , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] u. s., ; also _ibid._, . the original order of the commission is in i.c.c. rep., . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _italics are ours._ [ ] u. s., . [ ] u. s., ; i.c.c. rep., . also, _idem_, ; _idem_, ; and _idem_, . ann. rep. i.c.c., , p. , discusses it fully. [ ] supreme court rep., . economic details in chap. v, p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s., ; i.c.c. rep., . economic details at p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s. commerce court, no. , april session, . [ ] u. s., . [ ] the resulting change in the law at p. , _infra_. [ ] u. s., . [ ] rendered january, . the commission's order is in i.c.c. rep., . [ ] pp. - , _supra_. [ ] u. s., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] this immunity was expressly limited to natural persons. corporations had been made directly liable by the act of . this point was brought out in the henkel and nelson cases; u. s., , , . [ ] u. s., . this decision is critically examined with reference to the policy of the commission in its annual report, , p. . [ ] congressional history at p. , _supra_. the coal combination will be fully described in vol. ii. [ ] _united states v. delaware and hudson railroad_, etc.; u. s., . [ ] u. s., ; decided april, . [ ] a monograph by mr. eliot jones of harvard university on the anthracite coal business, soon to be published, will afford every detail of these transactions. [ ] intercorporate relations of railways, special report, int. com. com., , p. . chapter xvii the mann-elkins act of prompt acquiescence by carriers,  .--opposition begins in ,  .--political developments,  .--president taft's bill,  .--three main features of the new law,  .--suspension of rate changes,  .--former defective injunction procedure remedied,  .--the new long and short haul clause,  .--provision for water competition,  .--the new commerce court,  .--congressional debates,  .--jurisdiction of the new court,  .--its defects,  .--prosecution transferred to the department of justice,  .--liability for rate quotations,  .--wider scope of federal authority,  .--its report analyzed,  .--the railroad securities commission,  .--the statute summarized,  . the course of events after , so far as acquiescence in the law was concerned, was precisely like that of twenty years earlier. for some time the railroads seemed submissive,--in almost a chastened mood. the commission also exercised its new powers rather timidly. up to july , , only a single appeal to the federal courts had been taken by the carriers against orders of the commission. a sudden change of front supervened at this time. during the second half of that year, sixteen suits to set aside orders of the commission were filed. nine more were entered in the following year, and thirteen during ; with the result that the dockets were greatly congested with proceedings of this sort. no less than thirty-six were before the circuit courts, when in they were all transferred to the newly constituted commerce court, soon to be described. this accumulation of unfinished business, with the consequent delay in settlement of important transportation disputes, contributed greatly to the movement in congress in favor of further amendment of the law. there were several reasons for this sudden shift of attitude toward the law in on the part of the carriers. the political atmosphere had suddenly cleared so far as popular hostility to railroads was concerned. a change of administration had ensued, with a marked preponderance of professional legal talent in the cabinet. and several important decisions of the supreme court, once threatening, had now been rendered in favor of the carriers. among these may be mentioned the first interpretation of the "commodity clause,"--on the one hand upholding the constitutionality of the law, and on the other, pointing the broad and easy way to its evasion; the harriman decision, protecting witnesses from disclosure of details as to their personal participation in the finances of companies under their control; and the exculpation of the standard oil company by the aid of eminent counsel and the technicalities of the law, with escape from the extreme penalties of the statutes for rebating and personal favoritism. things seemed indeed to be going at last the railroads' way. the brightening financial outlook also gave better heart to the carriers. the panic of , with its forced postponement of ambitiously constructive plans, seemed to have passed. the revival of these projects might be hampered by a further extension of government regulation and publicity. railroad labor, moreover, was becoming restive. demands for increased wages were imminent; and the carriers evidently proposed to shift the incidence of these wage increases, if granted, upon the public by means of an advance of rates. such increases were bound to be disputed. it was deemed important to test the law at every point. this need was the more imperative as the commission itself was bound to pass upon several questions of fundamental importance, such as the adjustment of transcontinental freight schedules and others soon to be described. a presidential campaign took place in . both political parties committed themselves in their platforms to still further amendment of the interstate commerce law. the republican party, however, modestly confined its recommendations to authorization of traffic agreements and the regulation of stock and bond issues by railroads for the prevention of over-capitalization. the democrats offered a much broader program providing for real amplification of the power of the commission over rates. president taft,--well in advance of his party, controlled as it was by the so-called "regulars,"--offered soon after election a more definite policy. its main feature was the establishment of a court of commerce to which all judicial review of orders of the commission should be submitted, in lieu of revision by the regularly constituted federal judiciary. he evidently proposed to seriously amend the law; but, beyond the foregoing proposition, most of the other details of his plan seemed to be either half-way measures or else ill-designed to meet the real difficulties of the case. thus the proposal to give power over mere rules and regulations in advance of their taking effect, without at the same time conferring a like power to pass upon the reasonableness of rates themselves, seemed to miss the main point. the same criticism was applicable to the plan of conferring authority to postpone the taking effect of a new classification until it had been approved by the commission. other excellent details were such as conferred authority to compel through routes and to forbid stockholding by one road in other competing lines, set forth in speeches in the fall of  . a special presidential message of january , , contained the specific program recommended for legislation to congress. it consisted merely of a tentative bill, which was introduced in both houses and properly referred.[ ] by this time the influence of the interstate commerce commission in strengthening the proposals was apparent. more positive provisions were added, such as the right to suspend rate increases pending determination of their reasonableness. serious consideration was given this bill in appropriate committees both of the house and senate. it was, in fact, with the consent of the attorney-general, amended out of all semblance to its original form. the most serious changes were made in the committee on interstate commerce of the house of representatives. the coalition of democrats and "insurgent" or "progressive" republicans, succeeded in striking out the authorization of traffic agreements, as well as a proposition permitting a railroad owning a majority of stock in other non-competing lines to purchase the balance of their shares. several radical amendments of the commerce court plan were likewise effected, especially those giving the power of appointment to the chief justice instead of the president. the hands of the "progressives" in all this work were considerably strengthened, without doubt, by the course of events during the spring months of , especially the impending general increase of freight rates all over the country. the strength of political sentiment in favor of the measure appears in the fact that the radical house bill was passed unanimously; while the senate bill was adopted by a solid republican vote with the aid of six democrats,--the total vote being fifty to eleven. reference to a conference committee, which considered it for ten days, still further modified the original plan. pooling was dropped entirely; stock-watering and details of inter-corporate finance between non-competing lines were also thrown but as favoring the carriers unduly. physical valuation, as provided in the house bill, was considerably restricted. prompt approval of the conference bill followed in both houses. and the signature of the president was added on june . thus did the mann-elkins "amendments" become law. * * * * * the three most important features of the mann-elkins act[ ] were: the grant of power to suspend changes in rates for examination as to their reasonableness; resuscitation of the long and short haul clause; and the creation of the commerce court for review of the commission's orders. of these, the first two represent substantial extension of the regulative power of the government; the third being a mere modification of procedure on appeal. the proposition to so amend section [ ] of the act of as to confer power upon the commission to suspend proposed changes in rates, seems to have been a feature added at the behest of the insurgent-democratic coalition in congress. it was neither in the president's first unofficial program nor in the formal bill drawn up by the attorney-general. the intolerable obstructions in the way of prompt determination of transportation disputes incident to the practical working of the law, even since , had created a renewed demand for relief. great force was added to this demand among shippers by the rate advances which had been occurring all along the line for two years; and particularly by the rumors of a general rate advance by the western and trunk line roads during the progress of the debate upon the bill. the president, to be sure, blocked this advance by means of a clever legal and political move. on may an injunction was issued against twenty-four carriers, temporarily restraining them from putting into effect higher tariffs, as they had planned on june . this action was taken upon the allegation that the simultaneous action of all these roads in so doing constituted a violation of the anti-trust law. the injunction, which as a weapon had been turned mainly by the carriers against enforcement of the orders of the commission, was now invoked against the railroads. regardless as to whether a _bona fide_ prosecution was contemplated, the effect of these equity proceedings was to secure postponement of the advance in rates; and, of course, at the same time forcibly to attract the attention of congress to the necessity of control. the carriers withdrew their tariffs in some discomfiture; the injunctions were dissolved; and all proceedings were stopped. it is unnecessary, perhaps, to repeat the demonstration that a loss by shippers once incurred through payment of an unreasonable rate, is irretrievable. the manner in which transportation costs enter into the profitableness of contracts by the shipper for future delivery is well known.[ ] any change of rates during a period for which shippers have contracted to deliver at fixed prices, must seriously affect the chances of profit. it was recognized as essential, therefore, that adequate protection for the shipper could be given only through suspension of any change in rates until the reasonableness of that change had been determined. the extent to which the aid of the courts had been invoked by the carriers to set aside orders of the commission has already been described. proceedings on the equity side in the courts had also, although in a most unsatisfactory manner, been undertaken to restrain advances in rates. but in all cases the exercise of this power had been bitterly contested, and proved at best to be so cumbersome as to be almost futile. the utmost confusion resulted in some cases. for example, in the carriers filed notice of an advance in rates on boots and shoes from new england to the south. an injunction was obtained prohibiting such advance, on condition that application be immediately made to the commission for a ruling upon the reasonableness of the proposed change. this would have left the carriers without choice except to collect one rate while continuing to publish another. they therefore withdrew their schedules, leaving the old rates in effect. as a result no complaint could be filed with the commission, the new rate not having come into operation. to meet this situation, the court then so modified its injunction that carriers might publish the advanced schedule, but were restrained from collecting it. this was manifestly an absurd situation. moreover, supposing that the commission could immediately take up the question, no order could become effective until after thirty days. in the meantime, the whole matter must remain in suspense. considering that , tariffs advancing rates in trunk line territory alone, were filed in july, , the necessary delay incident to such roundabout procedure would render it intolerable. other complications might be mentioned, such as the localization of injunctions within the territorial jurisdiction of the enjoining court; legal technicalities touching the filing of bonds; and the status of non-petitioning shippers. speedy relief must be had: that was clear beyond question. aside from the practical unworkableness of the injunction process as a protection against unreasonable rate advances, reform might well be demanded on grounds of fairness. no reduction of rates ought to be compelled without opportunity for protest by the carrier. contrariwise, no new burden should be laid upon the shipper without a hearing. the burden of proof against disturbance of a long-standing adjustment ought properly to rest upon the party responsible for the change. such delay as was requisite for determination of the reasonableness of the change could not constitute a serious burden; and even if it did, it was but just under the attendant circumstances. the new law yielded to these arguments by a radical extension of the authority of the commission. it was authorized to suspend the taking effect of any new rate or regulation for not more than one hundred and twenty days, to afford opportunity for hearing and decision as to its reasonableness. if necessary, a further period of six months' suspension might be had. moreover, the burden of proof that the change was just and reasonable was laid upon the carrier. beyond the ten months' period thus allowed, postponement might not extend. thereafter the rates became effective automatically. this control fell short of the demand of the "insurgents" that downright approval of the commission for all changes should be required; but it was, nevertheless, a substantial increase of power. it remains to be seen what the practical result of this great extension of government control may be. it was predicted that its greatest benefit would come from those suspensions of rate advances which ultimately brought about their withdrawal.[ ] this prophecy was fulfilled, as will be seen in the next chapter, in the first great test to which the law was put, almost immediately after its passage. resuscitation of the long and short haul clause of the act of was the second important feature of the new legislation. the long and tedious process of judicial interpretation, by means of which this section of the statute was nullified for so many years, has already been set forth.[ ] dissatisfaction with the local discrimination prevalent throughout the southern states and in the rocky mountain region had been steadily increasing for a long time. public opinion in these districts urgently demanded the relief which the original law sought to afford. chairman knapp fairly described the situation in before the elkins committee as follows:[ ]--"no one, i think, can read the fourth section ... and be in doubt that congress intended to provide some actual and potential restraint upon that particular form of discrimination. and, i may say, it remains today much as it was then, not the greatest evil, but the most irritating and obnoxious form of discrimination that has been encountered." no distributing business could hope to become established in the west or south without vitalizing this section of the law. the larger cities, and particularly the manufacturing districts in the east, on the other hand, viewed with alarm any encroachment upon the far distant markets which they were able to hold by reason of peculiarly low rates. the railroads' coöperation with eastern representatives in congress had successfully prevented any change in  . but four years later it became apparent early in the debates that something would have to be done for the relief of the west and south. the long and short haul clause was amended by the influence of the progressive republicans in the house.[ ] four changes were made. the first was the total elimination of the clause "under substantially similar circumstances and conditions," which had been responsible for almost all of the trouble in the courts. this change made it necessary in all cases in future for permission to be secured in advance from the commission for any lesser charge for a long haul than for a shorter one, no matter what the local circumstances might be. secondly, the prohibition was specifically made to cover "routes" as well as "lines." although the osborne case[ ] had already virtually made it clear that the clause applied to a series of connecting railways as well as to a single company, this addition placed the matter beyond dispute. the third change, practically legalizing a standing rule of the commission for many years, prohibited a higher through rate than the sum of the local charges over the same line.[ ] an addition covering an entirely new point constituted the fourth modification of the section. it is suggestive as an indication of the determined spirit which animated congress. this last detail was borrowed from the then recently submitted report of the national waterways commission, which in turn had borrowed it from the state constitution of california. it was intended to meet the tactics so often adopted by land carriers in competition with water lines, of drastically reducing rates until the competition by water had been killed, after which the losses were recouped by even higher tariffs than before.[ ] under the new law, no railroad, having once reduced its rates in competition with a water route, was permitted to increase those charges until the interstate commerce commission should have found that such proposed increase rested upon changed conditions other than the elimination of water competition. * * * * * improvement of the procedure on appeal, by the establishment of the commerce court, was the third important feature of the new law. it was not only the delay of which complaint was made, but the illogical process of review as well. for this permitted the orders of a technically expert commission of seven men to be set aside by the order of a single judge who, in fact, relied upon subordinates for an examination of the evidence as to economic fact. this may be illustrated by two recent cases. in the transcontinental railroads substantially increased their rates on lumber. the commission held that this advance was unreasonable; but permitted one half of it to take place. the carriers appealed to the federal circuit court. all the evidence, involving great money and commercial considerations, was taken for the court by a master. upon the findings of this single individual, without opportunity for the court to critically examine the evidence, the deliberate judgment of the interstate commerce commission was set aside. the same thing happened in the texas cattle raisers' case in , involving rates on live stock from the southwest to northern ranges. in this instance, to be sure, the circuit court declined to enjoin the commission. that did not, however, alter the fact that the decision was based upon hearings by a master, extending over sixty-three days and rolling up a voluminous record which the court did not have time even to peruse cursorily. to standardize procedure, as well as to eliminate delay, was the purpose of the president in the plan for the commerce court. many objections were advanced in the course of debate in congress against the creation of a special tribunal. it was urged that such a court with limited jurisdiction would be open to political influence, as well as exposed to the danger of narrowness. it was said to be foreign to our judicial organization, which heretofore had known only courts of general jurisdiction. it was stated that no necessity for a commerce court existed, so small would be the number of cases which might be brought before it. objection was also raised to it on the ground of expense. the problem of court review was, of course, complicated rather than made more simple by the hepburn act of . prior to that time no administrative orders took effect other than through enforcement by the courts. but this law provided that rates and regulations of the commission should take effect _proprio vigore_ within thirty days. the contest over broad _v._ narrow court review has already been described, with the outcome at the time regarded as a victory for broad review. the situation was entirely changed, however, by the illinois central decision in ,[ ] which appeared to put a restraint upon judicial review, except when the order of the commission was either beyond its legal powers or else unconstitutional. this decision did not, as might have been expected, put an end to the plan for a new transportation court; but it did bring about a specific restriction of the powers of this tribunal to those possessed by the regular circuit courts. the commerce court, as finally constituted in , was composed of five judges, each to serve for five years, designated and assigned thereto by the chief justice of the supreme court from among the circuit judges of the united states. no member might serve continuously for more than one term, but might be reappointed after an interval of one year. the court was to sit at washington, and was to be always open for the transaction of business. from it, direct appeal to the supreme court might be taken, with as simple a mode of procedure as possible to eliminate delay. the original record, for example, was to be transmitted; and agents of every carrier must be designated at washington upon whom process might at any time be served. whatever may be said of other details of this judicial experiment, it certainly sought in good faith to promote promptness in procedure. the jurisdiction of this commerce court was expressly conferred over four kinds of cases:[ ] _first_, those for enforcement of any order of the interstate commerce commission, other than the payment of money. _second_, cases brought to enjoin, set aside, annul or suspend, in whole or in part, any order of the commission. _third_, all proceedings on appeal under the elkins amendments of with reference to rebates or departure from the published tariffs. _fourth_, all proceedings concerning the enforcement of the law in respect of publicity of accounts, the furnishing of facilities, or compulsion in the movement of traffic. proceedings in the first class above mentioned, for enforcement of orders of the commission, remained practically unchanged in form, except that they were to be prosecuted in the commerce court instead of in the ordinary circuit courts. cases of the second sort, wherein the carrier sought to enjoin or set aside orders of the commission, were somewhat modified in procedure. the administration bill provided that the commerce court should not issue injunctions, except in cases where irreparable damage would follow. in this regard, the senate succeeded in somewhat amplifying judicial control. five days' preliminary notice to the commission, secured in after a bitter contest, was now cut down to three days; and the full court might extend the temporary stay of sixty days granted by a single judge, over the entire period necessary for final decision by the supreme court. with this exception, the new law held all the ground gained by the hepburn act as judicially interpreted in the illinois central case. the principal criticism which may be directed against the commerce court, as thus organized, is that, instead of being an unchanging body of judges, becoming expert in the details of transportation by long experience, its membership must change year by year. fortunately, at the outset the court was favored by the appointment, as presiding justice, of the chairman of the interstate commerce commission; but it seems likely that the lack of experience and technical knowledge in this ever-changing body may render it an obstruction rather than an assistance in fixing the responsibility for the settlement of these important cases. specialization ought to be as beneficial here as in all other departments of government. it is a pity that the original plan of a permanent court should finally have been changed, through the insistence of the carriers' representatives, to a tribunal, each of whose members no sooner becomes proficient in the details of his work than he is marked for transfer to other fields of activity. next to the creation of the commerce court, the most important change in procedure introduced in was the transfer of the task of prosecuting suits on appeal cases from the interstate commerce commission to the federal department of justice. the confusion of governmental powers in the past, through permitting the commission to prosecute cases in the federal courts in which it already had an interest, has already been described. it was obviously illogical that a body having once rendered an opinion should then appear in court in defence of its own order. the jealousy of the department of justice in this regard was probably responsible also for the change effected in the law. the amendment of provides that hereafter all cases and proceedings, either in the commerce court or the supreme court, shall be brought in the name of the united states under the charge and control of the attorney-general. it was provided also that the commission or "any party or parties in interest" might appear of their own motion and as of right, and might be represented by counsel. communities, associations, or individuals interested in the controversy were authorized to intervene, and the attorney-general was forbidden to discontinue any proceedings over the objection of such parties in interest.[ ] this apparently reasonable procedure was authorized after vehement protest of shippers against the original administration program. the senate objected to it on the ground that it "would introduce intolerable confusion in legal proceedings and subordinate the general interests of all the people to the selfish concerns of one or more parties." and the commission insisted throughout that it must participate in such suits, else no competent parties would be at hand to guide the prosecution in complicated proceedings. several provisions in the law were aimed at specific abuses which had been revealed in the course of prosecutions under the criminal provisions of the act. the original law provided for the posting of tariffs in public places, in order that shippers might inform themselves as to the scheduled rates. but the possibilities of concealment of special favors, as well as the mere mechanical difficulty of ascertaining the facts in so complicated a maze of descriptions and rules with all sorts of exceptions, made it necessary that the shipper should rely upon information obtained from the agent. nor could the shipper recover for losses incurred through misquotation of the rate by this agent inasmuch as the carriers must collect according to the tariff, under severe penalties for departure therefrom. even a mistake by the agent in quoting the wrong rate did not permit of recovery. the new law met this contingency by the requirement that the railroad should quote the rate upon written request; and should be liable to a penalty of $ for mis-statement from which loss to the shipper should result. the requirement that both the request and the reply as to rates should be written, it was hoped, would facilitate detection of rebating in the future. another clause added a penalty of $ and made it a misdemeanor for any carrier or its agent to disclose information concerning either the route or destination of any shipment, when such information might be used to the injury of a competing shipper. solicitation of such information was also penalized. the abuse against which this provision of law was directed is well illustrated in the prosecution of the so-called powder trust in . it appeared in one instance that a freight agent had been paid from $ to $ a month for furnishing weekly statements of the shipments, with addresses of consignees, made by a competing concern in chattanooga.[ ] such outrageous espionage, long practised by the standard oil company, it is to be hoped will be eliminated in future by this provision of law. certain details of the act may be dismissed with mere mention. the scope of regulation was extended to include telegraph, telephone, and cable companies. the commission was specifically authorized to establish and enforce reasonable classification of freight. such authority, to be sure, had been continuously exercised for years; but this clause put it beyond dispute. a leaf was taken from the experience before the supreme court in interpretation of the authority over through routes and joint rates in the "portland gateway" case, described in the preceding chapter. other "reasonable or satisfactory routes" were more specifically defined; although the complicated phraseology adopted was of doubtful value. it may well be that the clause, under judicial interpretation, limited rather than amplified the commission's power as compared with the law of . but the added requirement that every carrier must provide reasonable facilities for the operation of through routes, proper rules for the interchange of cars, etc., was bound to promote the efficiency of through business. the experience in the "orange routing" cases, also, brought about a clear affirmation in the new statute of the right of a shipper to designate the route which he preferred for shipment over connecting lines. the shipper might also demand a bill of lading conformable to his instructions. whether this freedom of choice to the shipper, with the incidental assumption of responsibility for all consequences, regardless of strikes, blockades, or acts of god, will work to his advantage in the long run remains to be seen. he may probably rely upon strict enforcement of the so-called carmack amendment of , which makes the initial carrier liable for damage, even if it occurs off its own line. and, finally, among the minor changes in was the authorization of the commission to institute inquiries upon its own initiative. such power had frequently been exercised; but in the enactment of the hepburn act four years before, certain verbal inconsistencies were introduced into section . it was deemed best to remedy this error by complete authorization to undertake investigations either with or without complaint.[ ] * * * * * in place of regulation of the issues of stocks and bonds by federal authority, as pledged in the political platforms, the almost unanimous opposition in the senate to such a plan, brought about the substitution of a railroad securities commission to investigate the subject. this, after all, was probably wise; inasmuch as many details as to conflicting state and federal powers in such matters, were yet to be determined judicially. moreover, the plans proposed, as it appeared, were so complicated that their adoption might result in the validation of all capitalization then outstanding without reference to its real value. the question certainly merited further investigation at the hands of experts. under the authority above mentioned, the president appointed an able although distinctly conservative commission, headed by president hadley of yale university. this body rendered its report in november, .[ ] the document was concise, cogent in reasoning (with the exceptions noted below), wise in its general conclusions and eminently conciliatory in spirit. it was obviously intended to promote good relations between the government and the carriers. the dominant note was complete publicity as a corrective for all financial abuses of the time. the adequacy of this remedy was probably exaggerated. the wise accounting provisions of the acts of - [ ] were certainly already far-reaching in effect. the securities commission proposed, however, that they be elaborated to cover fully all phases both of promotion and of subsequent finance. not less important and wise than the insistence upon financial publicity, was the recommendation that, until the supreme court had clearly defined the relations between federal and state authority, the federal government should refrain from attempting to regulate the issue of securities. too many difficult legal complications remained to be cleared up. there certainly should have been a more enthusiastic commendation of the efforts of states like massachusetts, wisconsin, texas and new york to cope with their local problems of financial control.[ ] the apparent absence of a due appreciation of the importance of the work of the various public service commissions all over the country may perhaps be accounted for on the ground that it lay outside the scope of the work of a purely federal commission. yet a word of encouragement to these state administrations would have done something to offset the rather negative character of its conclusions. someone must exercise financial control. if inadvisable for the federal government to undertake it at this time, as might well be, then it was important to emphasize the fact that the states must do it as best they could. on the other hand, the recommendations concerning physical valuation as an element in rate regulation were sufficiently progressive to impart an aspect of judicial balance and general fairness to the report as a whole. two specific conclusions of the securities commission, however, were surely open to debate. one was the contention that little relation obtains between capitalization and rates. the statement is, of course, largely true; but like most generalizations of the sort fails to state the whole truth. it is probably absolutely true as to _particular_ rates. no one would claim for a moment that the heavily capitalized wabash, operating in trunk line territory alongside the pennsylvania system, could charge any higher rates because of its financial disabilities. rather the reverse. but while true of particular rates, capitalization does exert an _indirect_ but nevertheless a very appreciable influence upon the _general_ level of rates. for this point i have argued elsewhere at some length.[ ] was it surprising that the pressure for advanced rates in - in trunk line territory should come from the heavily capitalized new york central, with substantial aid and comfort from the erie? was it a mere coincidence that the lackawanna road, with its stock quoted above $ , was a less prominent factor in the agitation than some of its neighbors? true enough, no direct relation between rates and capitalization exists; but that a positive incentive to higher charges in general may be found in the need of supporting a large capitalization seems reasonably clear in the light of experience. this point was certainly neglected or glossed over in the report. a most debatable and, as i hold it, dangerous proposition in this report was the proposed abolition of the "dollar mark" upon capital stock. however desirable it might be for mining companies and the lesser industrials, as in germany, to do away with any stated par value for share capital in order to disabuse the public mind of its purely artificial character, the proposition is quite different when applied to an industry like a railroad. there is all the difference in fact between purely private and competitive conditions of a more or less speculative character, and those under which monopoly privileges are conferred by gift of the public. space does not permit a criticism of this proposition in detail. i have elsewhere discussed it more at length.[ ] many objections occur at once, none of them mentioned in this report which, almost jauntily, as it seems, proposed to revolutionize all of our customary habits of financial thought. among these objections there is the fact that abolition of par value removes the restraint upon the promoter or management, for liability to creditors in case of part-paid shares. the experience of the asphalt company of america is illuminating in this regard. may we trust mere publicity to provide corresponding safeguards for honest promotion with this liability removed? then again, how about the issue of stock in exchange for property acquired, as had frequently occurred in the course of railway consolidation? was it immaterial whether the absorbing company put out , "participating shares," with a market value of $ each, or twice that number of "certificates of participation" commanding half that figure per unit in exchange for the property acquired? and still further, there is the inevitable effect upon speculation. one of the primary needs of the time was to effect a separation of our common carriers from wall street influence. did it make no difference whether the southern railway "participating shares" were traded in around $ ; or those of the louisville & nashville commanded a price of $ ? low quotations always offer a great stimulus to speculative manipulation--as any student of rock island affairs must concede. to do away with par, which means permission to emit, without reproach, at any figure "below par"--how hard it is, indeed, to get rid of that conception of some standard of normality--could not but exert a malign influence. and then, finally, over and above all other considerations there was the need of some general standard of comparison for all sorts of purposes--some base from which to judge of normality. the proposal to wipe out all such standards, with the mere warning to public and investors alike to beware, seemed like a step backward. this brings us to the insistence of the commission upon the need of the railroads for more capital for development; and the difficulty of financing new enterprises under regulative provisions of law, such as the prohibition of the issue of shares at a discount. massachusetts had recently passed through an experience of probably excessive regulation. but simple modifications of its anti-stock-watering laws seemed to have solved the difficulty. of course the developmental problems of the west and south are quite different from those of new england. yet there was the experience of texas to fall back upon. complaint had been made, of course, especially by the gould roads, of the insufficiency of capital for new work. but the growth of mileage seemed, nevertheless, to compare not unfavorably with progress in other states. were the gould roads, for example, any better off in other states where greater liberality of laws prevails? the fact was that much new construction and improvement remained to be done all over the country, as this report duly emphasized; but much of it would probably have to be done by companies already in the field. not many new steam railroad companies are now needed even in the west. it must be confessed that the recently authorized extension of the grand trunk railway into the heart of new england shows how persistent is the demand for new roads even in the east. but whoever may build, let them learn the lesson, so often forgotten, that honest management and conservative financing, to the end that solid credit be first established, has far more to do with facilitating development than non-interference by law. this was probably a time when encouragement to the railroads in a period of stress should properly be given. but let it not be forgotten that good faith to the public and to stockholders, together with prudent financing, must be the primary source of credit. many admirable features of this report deserve mention, did space permit. the clear exposition of the distinction between stocks and bonds, and especially the discussion of inter-corporate financing, occupied a prominent place. the document promised to play a large part in the determination of governmental policy in future. it well merited the most careful perusal by legislators, financiers and economists. in the nature of things so conservative a document could never hope for a popular reception. but many of its financial platitudes were probably in need of reiteration for the good, both of the carriers and the public. the hepburn act of , despite the agitation over its enactment in congress, "came in like a lion and went out like a lamb," imitating thereby the month of march in which its crucial changes were effected. in the end it proved to be a much less drastic measure than the railroads feared. this mann-elkins law, four years later, on the other hand, introduced by the presidential bill as a merely supplementary piece of legislation,[ ] "rounding out the roosevelt policies," emerged from congress really radical in character. every change made was "progressive"; and yet there was little public interest manifested on either side. no publicity campaign was carried on by the carriers. no extended discussion took place in the press. there were several reasons for this contrast. it is partly true, as one writer has suggested, that "the marrow had already been extracted from railroad regulation as a political issue; and that it had become merely a bone of contention in a factional strife." moreover, the fundamental principle of effective governmental regulation had been indisputably affirmed in . the act of had for its purpose a firmer intrenchment of the position already occupied. debate centred largely upon uninteresting technical questions. the broader issues were relegated to second place. even the carriers on their part were extremely reserved in stating their position. it was conceded on all sides that the less public opinion in general was aroused, the lighter would be the sentence passed upon the prisoners at bar. it is difficult to determine in how far the marked advance made in this statute was due to contemporary happenings, like the general advances of freight rates, the illinois central scandals and the like; or to a deep-seated conviction on the part of the progressive element in congress. but that the law, as a whole, was a surprise in the end even to its proponents is beyond doubt. a word may be added concerning the omissions in the mann-elkins law. the most important was the elimination of the administration plan for authorizing agreements between carriers as to rates, subject to supervision by the commission. the republican platform had definitely promised relief of this sort to the railroads. the democratic party had somewhat equivocally promised an amendment of the law prohibiting pooling "to make it unlawful, unless approved by the commission." the plan, however, met with persistent opposition on all sides, largely on the ground that it conflicted with the sherman anti-trust law. other details which fell by the way concerned proposals to extend jurisdiction over water carriers on inland waterways.[ ] whether the commission might exercise any control over those which formed parties to a through line still remained an open question.[ ] and then at the last there was the omission of congress to deal with the question of fixing minimum rates or differentials between rates. this was responsible, as will shortly appear, for much of the difficulty encountered in the application of the long and short haul clause to the transcontinental rate problem. footnotes: [ ] characterized somewhat heatedly by senator la follette in his autobiography (_american magazine_, , p. ), as "in all the history of railroad legislation, the rankest, boldest betrayal of public interest ever proposed in any legislative body." [ ] the best references are the following:--f. h. dixon, _quarterly journal of economics_, vol. xxiii, , pp. - ; reprinted in the _railway age gazette_, vol. xlix, p. _et seq._; _american political science review_, vol. iv, , pp. - . our other sources are the files of the annual reports of i. c. c.; the congressional record, _railway age gazette_, and daily press reports. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] concrete instance in i. c. c. rep., p. . also p. , _supra_, and , _infra_. [ ] the suspension of increased rates on maine potatoes in october, , long enough to permit the entire season's crop to be marketed on the old tariffs is a case in point. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] volume iv, p. . [ ] the following is the form in which the fourth section now stands: "section . that it shall be unlawful for any common carrier subject to the provisions of this act to charge or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transportation of passengers, or of like kind of property, for a shorter than for a longer distance over the same line or route in the same direction, the shorter being included within the longer distance, or to charge any greater compensation as a through route than the aggregate of the intermediate rates subject to the provisions of this act; but this shall not be construed as authorizing any common carrier within the terms of this act to charge or receive as great compensation for a shorter as for a longer distance: provided, however that upon application to the interstate commerce commission such common carrier may in special cases, after investigation, be authorized by the commission to charge less for longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers or property; and the commission may from time to time prescribe the extent to which such designated common carrier may be relieved from the operation of this section: provided, further, that no rates or charges lawfully existing at the time of the passage of this amendatory act shall be required to be changed by reason of the provisions of this section prior to the expiration of six months after the passage of this act, nor in any case where application shall have been filed before the commission, in accordance with the provisions of this section, until a determination of such application by the commission. whenever a carrier by the railroad shall in competition with a water route or routes reduce the rates on the carriage of any species of freight to or from competitive points, it shall not be permitted to increase such rates unless after hearing by the interstate commerce commission it shall be found that such proposed increase rests upon changed conditions other than the elimination of water competition." [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ the example on p. , _infra_. [ ] the following account, by w. m. acworth in the _railway age gazette_, of a conversation with the late collis p. huntington illustrates the possible abuse: "the southern pacific built two fine steamers to run between san francisco and sacramento, cal. they gave a daily service, each boat running up one day, and down the next, and the passenger fare was $ . a private individual thought he saw his way to compete with advantage, and bought a smaller boat, which only gave a service every other day, but, on the other hand, only charged $ for this service. "the southern pacific began to lose money, and when mr. huntington next came to california the position was put before him. 'would you like to leave me to run this fight?' said he to the local manager. 'certainly, sir,' was the reply. 'is there an old boat you can buy that could give a service?' being told that there was, mr. huntington bought it, ordered the two first-class boats to be laid up, and announced that the new purchase would run alongside the rival boat at a fare of cents. 'why, sir,' said the local manager. ' cents won't pay for the coal.' 'no, i do not suppose it will,' was the answer, 'but when you go to war you have got to fight!" "before long the owner of the rival boat came to mr. huntington and asked him what he was prepared to do about it. mr. huntington replied that he would buy his boat for $ , --i think the sum was. 'but, mr. huntington, the boat cost me $ , , and she is worth it.' 'very likely, but i am only going to give you $ , .' so the fight went on for a while longer. when the spring came mr. huntington was on the point of returning to new york. he sent word to his rival that he was leaving california the following week, and that if the matter was not settled before he left, his -cent boat would continue to run till his return the following winter. whereupon his competitor at once threw up the sponge and then sold his boat for $ , . 'since then,' concluded mr. huntington, 'there has been no competition with the southern pacific on the sacramento river.'" [ ] page , _supra_. [ ] opinion no. , , is the first commerce court case to interpret this jurisdiction. _cf._, also, p. , _supra_. [ ] fed. rep., , first interprets this clause. p. , _infra_. [ ] _quarterly journal of economics_, xxvi, , p. . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] report of the railroad securities commission, nov. , . [ ] page , _supra_. [ ] these will be fully described in our second volume in connection with stock-watering, valuation and allied financial problems. [ ] volume ii, in the chapter on valuation. [ ] volume ii, in the chapter on capital stock. [ ] _cf._ senator la follette's characterization of it. footnote, p. , _supra_. [ ] the national waterways commission report of urged this strongly. and the attempts in connection with fixing the tolls for the panama canal in the same year, to prohibit all railway ownership or interest in coastwise steamships, were significant of legislation yet to come. _cf._ pp. and , _infra_. [ ] _cf._ the goodrich transit co. case. page , _infra_. chapter xviii the commerce court: the freight rate advances of the commerce court docket,  .--the commerce court in congress,  .--supreme court opinions concerning it,  .--legal _v._ economic decisions,  .--law points decided,  .--the maximum (cincinnati) freight rate case revived,  .--real conflict over economic issues,  .--the louisville & nashville case,  .--the california lemon case,  .--broad _v._ narrow court review once more,  . the freight rate advances of ,  .--their causes examined,  .--weakness of the railroad presentation,  .--operating expenses and wages higher,  .--the argument in rebuttal,  .--"scientific management,"  .--the commission decides adversely,  . the three vital features of the mann-elkins law of were: the creation of the commerce court, for the purpose of expediting the judicial review of cases appealed from the interstate commerce commission; the grant of power to suspend rate advances pending examination as to their reasonableness; and the rehabilitation of the long and short haul clause. the law was passed on june , . within the brief period of two years it successfully emerged from a supreme test respecting rate advances; enough experience had already been had with the new commerce court to warrant an opinion as to its merits as a special tribunal for the review of transportation decisions; and, finally, an opinion by the interstate commerce commission was rendered, and is at this writing under review by the supreme court of the united states, in the most important case ever likely to arise under the long and short haul clause. predictions were freely made in that certain shortcomings in the revised law, particularly the failure to grant control over minimum rates and the establishment of differentials between rates, would soon have to be remedied. experience promptly threw light upon these questions also. the present is thus an opportune time to review the entire situation respecting federal railroad regulation. * * * * * when the commerce court was created, fears were entertained that there would not be enough business to employ its time. this prediction was far from being realized, judging by the record of the first year.[ ] including thirty-six cases transferred to it from the various federal circuit courts, a total of fifty-seven suits were placed upon its docket up to december , . fifty-four of these cases directly concerned orders of the interstate commerce commission, the large majority--forty-four--being suits brought by carriers to set aside such orders. the commission appealed to the court but once for enforcement of its mandates, the remaining nine cases being appeals of shippers for relief. but a number of these suits were withdrawn or dismissed, or else lay outside the class of what may fairly be called contested cases. only thirty-eight of them were in reality of significance as throwing light upon the function of the court as an appellate tribunal, standing between the interstate commerce commission and the supreme court of the united states. thirty of these were disposed of up to december , . that the court took itself seriously as a check upon, rather than a coördinate body with the commission, was evidenced by the fact that restraining orders or final decrees in favor of the railroads and against the shippers and the commission were issued in all but three really important cases out of the entire thirty. and even of these three cases the commerce court held two to be outside its jurisdiction, while in the third the carriers had already joined in the view of the commission, so that there was really no contest.[ ] a bitter campaign for the abolition of the commerce court, as a result of the tendency of its decisions, was waged in congress during the session of - . the house of representatives, in response to popular feeling, promptly passed a bill abolishing it forthwith, the vote standing to , with many republicans joining the democrats in its condemnation. a sharp contest was precipitated in the senate over "the legislative recall of judges," as the matter was not inaptly termed. the administration, through the attorney-general, ably defended the imperilled court.[ ] evidence was adduced to show that the commission had been sustained in a larger proportion of cases than under the old circuit court system;[ ] that injunctions had not issued with greater freedom than formerly and that none of them turned upon questions of fact; and, finally, that the administration plan had been very much more expeditious. but so far as congress was concerned this evidence seems not to have been convincing. the senate soon followed the house of representatives, by a vote of thirty-six to twenty-three defeating an amendment to the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill that made provision for further maintenance of the court. so strong was the feeling that only by a close vote was an amendment prevented which sought to legislate the justices out of office as well as out of the commerce court. for without such provision, of course, they would, under the law of , be reassigned to service in the circuit courts, from which most of them were drawn. the final conference agreement between the two houses, appended to the appropriation bill above mentioned, definitely abolished the court, but followed the house plan of reassignment of the justices to duty in the circuit courts. this bill was twice vetoed by the president; but the second time, it failed of re-passage in the senate over his veto by a narrow margin. in the house the popular view was expressed by re-passing the abolition measure by a vote of to . these details are highly significant as indicating the impatience of congress with any attempt at interference with the positive program of administrative control of railroads decreed in - . the fate of the court then rested in the hands of the president, its original sponsor. a delicate situation, concerning the relations between congress and the executive in the matter of legislative "riders" to appropriation bills, resulted. whether such summary proceedings as those initiated by congress were warranted by the facts, depended upon the final disposition of the contested cases by the supreme court, before which tribunal most of them were then pending on appeal. if it appeared that the court had in reality, as alleged, sought to usurp powers legitimately exercised by the commission, the case for abolition would be greatly strengthened. but in any event, the certainty of a presidential veto of any law affecting this pet project of the administration rendered the attack upon the commerce court for the time being abortive. as the matter was finally left, congress acceded to the president's wishes, continuing the appropriation for maintenance of the court until march , . what will happen in the meantime after congress reassembles, remains to be seen. the determination of the proper scope and function of judicial review was substantially forwarded by several decisions of the supreme court of the united states in june,  . the general effect of these was substantially to curtail the overweening ambition of the commerce court as an intermediate judicial body. following the goodrich transit company opinion[ ] which first reversed the commerce court, all three of these latest opinions on appeal again favored the interstate commerce commission as against its judicial reviewer. in two instances, the assumed jurisdiction of the new court was denied; while in the third, although jurisdiction was recognized, its decision was reversed. because of their bearing upon subsequent developments, a brief review of these cases may not be out of place. the proctor and gamble company, well-known soap manufacturers, had complained of certain regulations concerning demurrage upon their tank cars. the commission upheld the carriers, affirming that their rules were proper and lawful. the complainants thereupon appealed to the commerce court, which claimed jurisdiction to award pecuniary relief, although in this instance it declined so to do, on the ground that the commission had rightfully decided the matter in the first instance. appeal then followed to the supreme court, with the odd circumstance that the commission and the railways joined issue against the shippers. the question was largely a legal one, involving definition of the jurisdiction of the new tribunal. the supreme court in this instance,[ ]--and, it may be added, in the cincinnati freight bureau case,[ ] which similarly involved the relative powers of the court and the commission,--unanimously affirmed the right of the commission to decide such matters of fact finally. to recognize the existence in the court below [the commerce court] of the power which it deemed it possessed, would result in frustrating the legislative public policy which led to the adoption of the act. the act creating the commerce court was intended to be but a part of the existing system for the regulation of interstate commerce.... it was not intended to destroy the existing machinery or method of regulation, but to cause it to be more efficient.... wholly irrespective of the general considerations stated, we think the conclusion of the [commerce] court, as to its possession of jurisdiction over the subject referred to, was clearly repugnant in other respects to the express terms of the act. such a pronouncement, following the line of decisions headed by the illinois central car distribution case,[ ] must make for concentration of responsibility and more effective regulation in the years to come. the third decision of the supreme court, above referred to, was known as the "restrictive rate case."[ ] might railway companies--the baltimore & ohio and others--charge a different rate for the carriage of coal to railways than to other shippers, the coal being intended for the use of the railways as fuel? in this instance the commission forbade the practice. its order was then promptly enjoined by the commerce court. jurisdiction of the commerce court was conceded by the supreme court in this instance also, but its opinion was again flatly reversed. the issue at bottom was really one of value of service as against cost of service in the determination of reasonable rates. obviously the cost of carrying railway-fuel coal between two given points is practically the same as that of carrying commercial coal. the commission, supported now by the supreme court in frowning upon any difference in the charge, was thus according priority to this consideration of cost. the view of the commerce court, which was here reversed, tended, on the other hand, to emphasize such facts as that the two sorts of coal were intended for different purposes and did not come in competition with one another as to price. in other words, value of service--what the traffic would bear--was given greater weight than mere considerations of cost. the supreme court declined to accept this view, preferring to regard transportation as a matter of physical carriage of goods, rather than to look beyond this essential service "to the greater or less inducement to seek the service"--that is to say, to regard its commercial aspects. the last of this batch of supreme court decisions was mainly a question at law, namely the right of the commerce court to enjoin the enforcement of an order of the commission concerning certain allowances for lighterage and terminal service on sugar in new york harbor.[ ] the judicial poise of the supreme court was here evidenced in its affirmation of the right of the commerce court to issue the injunction. the plain purpose of the law in setting up this intermediate tribunal as a safeguard against abuse of administrative authority was given effect; but it was ordered, nevertheless, that the case be remanded, to be disposed of on its merits before the interstate commerce commission, the forum selected by congress for that purpose. the grist of cases appealed to the commerce court may profitably be divided for discussion into two groups, namely, those which clearly concerned questions of law and those in which matters of fact, or economic conclusions based thereon, were primarily at stake. the first group of purely law cases need detain us but briefly. there could be little doubt about the necessity of judicial review of law findings of the commission. the best illustration is afforded by the first decision of the commerce court to be reviewed by the supreme court of the united states.[ ] inland water carriers were not placed under the jurisdiction of the act to regulate commerce by the mann-elkins amendments of , except in so far as they were joined in control with railroads or might enter into arrangements for continuous shipments with carriers by land. but the commission, having always required railroads to file accounts covering both their local and interstate business, called upon the carriers on the great lakes to render similar statements as to their entire traffic, whether subject to federal control or not. this the water lines refused to do. the commerce court, in overruling the commission, did not question the power of congress to require such accounts, but held that it was its intention to confine publicity to that portion of the lake traffic over which the jurisdiction of the commission actually extended. it thus appears that the law point was doubly important; inasmuch as its determination affected not alone the enforcement of publicity for water lines but also of all carriers by land, so far as their intrastate business was concerned. fortunately the supreme court, in sustaining the commission, held that the commerce court had erred in confusing "knowledge" of intrastate business with its "regulation." as to the former, the authority of the commission was fully upheld. this and the important question upon which the entire intermountain rate controversy rested, namely, as to the authority of the commission to prescribe relativity of rates,[ ] were the most important points of law at first raised before the new tribunal. other legal questions decided by the commerce court--generally in favor of the railroads, be it observed--were: whether reparation might be claimed for an unreasonable rate when the burden had been already passed on to the consumer;[ ] whether the nashville grain exchange might lawfully intervene in proceedings before the commission under the liberal terms of the law of ;[ ] whether "separately established rates" applied by a carrier to through traffic when there is a through rate but no joint rate are matters of interstate commerce or not;[ ] as to the limitations by law of the right of carriers to refund overcharges to shippers;[ ] and whether the union stockyards company was a common carrier engaged in interstate commerce, and thus subject to control as to preferential treatment of shippers.[ ] however these cases might be finally decided by the court of last resort, there could be no conflict of powers between the commerce court and the commission in regard to such matters of law. the real bone of contention between the two bodies--administrative and judicial, respectively--was the question of their respective powers outside the field of law. before leaving the disputes over law points, we may profitably consider one further case, important because of its bearing upon the determination of reasonable rates. this occurred in through a revival of the old maximum (cincinnati) freight rate case of .[ ] it will be recalled that this involved the relative rates to southern centres from eastern and middle western cities.[ ] in the original case in , the commission held that the rates from cincinnati were too high by comparison with the rates from new york; ordering those for first-class freight, for example, to be reduced from seventy-six cents to sixty cents per hundred pounds. the supreme court directed a dismissal of the bill of complaint, on the ground that the commission had no authority to establish rates for the future. this defect in the law being remedied by the amendment of , the commission, upon a new complaint, made a second order in . this differed from its earlier decision in prescribing a reduction of the rate from cincinnati from seventy-six cents to only seventy cents, whereas the first decision had ordered it reduced to sixty cents per hundred pounds. the cincinnati shippers, not content with this reduction, then promptly appealed to the commerce court for a review of the case. the proceeding was unique, therefore, in that the appeal to the commerce court was taken, not by the carriers but by shippers who complained that the rates _established by the commission were too high_. the commerce court in sustaining the order of the commission, therefore, in reality acted in favor of the railroads, being thereby consistent with its general attitude of conservatism. but its right to take cognizance of such questions was denied by the supreme court. thus, in all probability, this famous and protracted litigation was brought to a close. the specific law point in this cincinnati case was as to whether the reasonableness of a rate should be determined in the light solely of its effect upon the particular carrier concerned; or whether the result for other competing lines and for the entire territory served, should also be taken into consideration. the cincinnati southern railroad extended as a short and direct route miles due south to chattanooga. it was neither expensive to construct, to maintain or to operate. it was the first in the field; having been constructed by the city of cincinnati to reach the southern markets. it was not burdened by unremunerative branch lines. its net earnings amounted to over forty per cent. upon the capital stock. other competing railroads between the same points were one-third longer and were otherwise burdened by the necessity of maintaining unprofitable branches. these other roads could not be so economically operated. but they had voluntarily entered the field in competition _after_ this direct line was constructed, and they had elected to continue therein. the rates established, however, for the cincinnati southern,--the short line,--naturally fixed the rates at which these others had to participate in the traffic. at the rate of seventy cents, prescribed in this second order of the commission, all the carriers concerned could make a living. the short line alone, presumably, could have endured the rate of sixty cents as prescribed at first. was it lawful, however, to decide a complaint preferred against a particular most-favored railroad by a city which built it to attain a certain object, upon the basis of the effect of such rates, not upon this road but upon others subsequently built and less fortunately situated? to do so would, of course, enable the most-favored carrier to prosper exceedingly; even more so than it did then. but these higher rates would, most unfortunately, thwart the very purpose animating its construction. the commission, sustained by the majority of the commerce court, adopted the latter view.[ ] a dissenting minority, on the other hand, presented strongly the opinion that under such special circumstances, in the determination as to reasonableness, no right existed for considering the effect of a rate upon other roads than the particular one against which the complaint lay. the supreme court in affirming the sole authority of the commission to pass upon such issues, nevertheless, left this detail concerning the determination of reasonableness of rates for possible reargument in future. [illustration] attention may be now directed to the controversy as to the seat of authority, not over law points, but concerning distinctly economic issues. a typical case before the commerce court concerned rates from new orleans to several competing cities on the line of the louisville & nashville railroad.[ ] an interesting phase of local discrimination appeared. the accompanying map discloses the situation. normally the through rate from new orleans to montgomery (the long-distance point) would be less than the sum of the local rates from new orleans to mobile (the intermediate point) and then from mobile on to montgomery. this would conform to the general rule, which is based on the simple fact that through rates, being competitive, are usually forced below the level of local charges, commonly unaffected by such competition. in this case the situation was reversed. water competition affected the local rates, both into mobile from new orleans by sea on the one side, and then up the alabama to montgomery by river steamer on the other. but such water competition did not apply to the through rate, probably because through shipment by water would necessitate a transfer _en route_ from a gulf steamer to a river boat at mobile. thus in this case it came about that local competition was keener than the rivalry as to through traffic. the louisville & nashville, nevertheless, had secured the bulk of the business to mobile by reason of the low local rates by rail which had been in effect for many years, even after practical elimination of the water lines. the situation was certainly anomalous, from the viewpoint of cost of service by rail alone; in that the freight rate was higher on goods sent to montgomery direct than when shipped on a combination of local rates on mobile. this situation, it is apparent, enabled mobile jobbers to buy goods in new orleans and actually lay them down in montgomery for less than the freight charges to the montgomery dealers who were on the spot. the same situation prevailed at pensacola. the immediate cause of dispute was the promulgation by the commission in , under the new powers conferred by the hepburn act, of a rule that through rates must not exceed the combination of locals between the same points. to comply with this rule, the louisville & nashville, in this instance, faced the alternative either of reducing the through rate from new orleans to montgomery to the sum of its local charges or else of raising one or both of the latter. the railroad naturally chose the latter course--now enabled to do so with safety as the boat lines had long since been put out of business. it advanced its local rates from new orleans to mobile sufficiently to make the new combination of local charges equal the through rate to montgomery. the commission, on complaint of montgomery, suspended this advance,--seeking to compel the railroad to even things up, not by advance of the local charges but by a reduction of the through rate. this, it is obvious, would relieve montgomery of the discrimination as against mobile of which it complained. as to none of the facts above outlined, was there dispute between the court and the commission. the controversy turned solely upon which of the two remedies should be chosen to meet the situation. were the through rates unreasonably high? this was the commission's contention. if so, equalization should be attained by their reduction. or, on the other hand, were the local rates unreasonably low? if so, they might be evened upward with propriety. this was the contention of the commerce court, leading it to set aside the order of the commission. which was the body competent to pass upon such an issue? the supreme court had to be called upon to decide. and in the meantime there was the same old story of delay, while irreparable loss to shippers went on. in another instance,--the california lemon case,--[ ] the issue was even more sharply drawn between the commission and the commerce court. the latter, it was averred, not even content to draw its own conclusions in matters of fact, had made an "attempt to look into the mind of the commission for the purpose of ascertaining the reasons on which its order was based." the case dated from , when the blanket rate from the entire territory east of the rocky mountains was advanced by the railroads from $ . to $ . . this action followed the imposition of a high protective duty on lemons in the payne-aldrich tariff. after careful investigation the commission, reviewing the whole matter of rates upon citrus fruits, ordered the lemon rate to be reduced once more to $ . . appeal was promptly taken to the commerce court, which set aside the order as beyond the scope of authority delegated by congress. the court held that the commission had sought so to adjust rates as to afford protection to the california lemon industry against foreign competition, especially from the growers in sicily; in place of confining its attention to the "intrinsic reasonableness" of the transportation charge. the gage thus thrown down was promptly taken up by the commission in a second opinion, rendered within two months of the injunction granted by the commerce court. this time it exhaustively considered all phases of the cost and manner of transportation for oranges and lemons and re-affirmed its opinion that the rate of one dollar per hundred pounds was reasonable. at this writing the matter rests there. what the commerce court will do, remains to be seen. the case, as re-stated by the commission, is masterly in its discussion of the responsibilities laid upon it by the law. "is the country to be treated as a whole for commercial purposes, or shall it be infinitely divided?" the intermountain rate cases, discussed in the next chapter as a phase of the long and short haul question, illustrate even more clearly these conflicts between the court and the commission on matters of economics. but they introduced no new legal technicalities. they merely emphasized the critical nature of the controversy, so far as it concerned the larger constitutional question of separation of powers between the three main branches of our government. the situation, as revealed by these typical cases, reduced itself, in brief, to this: it was the same old question of broad _versus_ narrow court review all over again. the commerce court held it to be its proper function, as a court of law, to review in the broadest way all cases which came before it on appeal. the commission, on the other hand, maintained that not only all matters of fact, but all inferences as to economic facts, of necessity lay solely within the range of its own authority, and it was certainly true that, without some such limitation upon the right of review, the commission might about as well have retired from the field of regulation entirely, and contented itself with enforcing the safety appliance laws, collecting statistics and serving as a general publicity office.[ ] fortunately the situation promised to be saved by the line of supreme court decisions flowing from the illinois central case.[ ] the making of a rate for the future being a legislative and not a judicial function, the power to determine that a particular rate was or was not reasonable for the future, or that a particular discrimination was or was not undue, was a discretionary legislative power which could not be reviewed by the judiciary. if the supreme court in due time applied this reasoning to these later cases, the commerce court might confidently be expected to take its proper place in the federal scheme of things. until it was forced to do so, much of the railroad legislation of recent years would fail to ensure that full measure of certainty and promptitude of relief to which the country was entitled, and which it was bound to have. * * * * * the decision of the interstate commerce commission in in the matter of freight rate advances[ ] was of prime importance; not alone because of the great monetary and commercial interests involved, but also because it might afford a forecast of the policy of the government in such matters in future. public interest was quickened also because of the novelty of resting the burden of proof upon the railroads rather than upon the shippers, as in the past. the effect of this change in procedure was apparent throughout. the representatives of the shippers were, in most cases, content to point out the inadequacy of the reasons advanced by the carriers. the railroads, on the other hand, were forced to come forward aggressively with positive arguments favoring their side of the case. the only exception to the negative task of appearing in rebuttal against the carriers' arguments was in the somewhat spectacular presentation of the novel issue of "scientific management," shortly to be discussed. the movement of freight rates since was insistently upward. on two separate occasions prior to , as we have seen,[ ] general advances by concerted action of the carriers took place, namely in and . these earlier changes had been mainly confined to commodity rates. all the great staples, such as iron and steel, grain, coal and coke, glass, brick and cement, were affected. the rate increases of , on the other hand, which gave rise to the first important test of the mann-elkins law, were mainly confined to advances in class rates,--that is to say, the rates upon merchandise and the better grades of freight. it was doubtless true, as alleged, that the steady decline throughout a generation before had unduly depressed the scale of charges for transportation service; and that prices in general, and especially wages and costs of operation, had greatly enhanced since that time. to meet this situation, the carriers had proceeded either to get together by an understanding not to compete; or else they had permanently put an end to competition by downright consolidation. after the first upward movement which paused about , some time elapsed without further efforts in this direction. then, after postponement of a concerted attempt in matters went on quietly enough until . many changes were unostentatiously made in individual instances by modification of traffic rules or classification;[ ] but no widespread action took place. the occasion for the renewal of the upward movement in was an insistent demand of railroad employees all over the country for a rise in wages. and the acquiescent attitude of the railroad managers toward their employees, suggested a tacit understanding that wages were to be raised on condition that the brotherhoods support the movement to recover this advance from the public through an increase in freight rates. the trunk lines filed their new tariffs in , even while congress was in the throes of debate over the mann-elkins act. these schedules substantially increased all class rates,--by from eight to twenty per cent;--and affected about half the commodity rates, mainly of the lesser sort. the western railroads promptly followed suit, filing higher tariffs by about ten per cent, for approximately commodities. in response to vehement protest from all over the country, congress, as we have seen,[ ] promptly conferred authority upon the interstate commerce commission by the mann-elkins amendments to suspend such rate advances temporarily for examination as to their reasonableness. by virtue of this authority the commission took testimony for several months and rendered its decisions both for the eastern and western railroads on february , .[ ] the strongest impression which one gains from examination of the testimony, is that the case for the railroads was imperfectly organized and inadequately presented. there was no division of the field in argument, with intensive cultivation in each case; but all of the railway representatives traversed much of the same ground, so widely scattering their effort that but superficial treatment of each point was possible. the shippers, on the other hand, evidently laid out their plan of campaign with more system and had correspondingly better results. the railroads in the presentation of their case were somewhat embarrassed by several complications, some applicable to all the roads alike, while others arose from the diversity of financial and operating conditions on different lines. all alike were denied resort to the main argument advanced in favor of the general rate advances in earlier years, particularly in . it had been expected that stress might be laid upon the increased cost of materials used in construction or operation; but the fact that, largely as an aftermath of industrial depression, prices of many commodities were actually lower in than they had been on the average for a decade, deprived the railroads of this powerful argument. the main exceptions in this respect were in the prices of fuel and lumber. owing to the diversity of operating conditions among the carriers, difficulty was also experienced in adducing the wage increases of as a warrant for advancing freight rates. considering the entire railroad net affected, it appeared that the augmentation in revenue from the proposed advances would be $ , , ; whereas the already conceded wage increases were in excess of $ , , ,--in each case calculations being based upon the same volume of traffic and employment as in the preceding year. the wage argument, generally applied, was thus valid. but taking the carriers one by one, it appeared that the changes in wages and revenue which might result, varied greatly. on the new york central, the increase in revenue would just about cover the rise in wages; on the pennsylvania, it was less than half of the enlarged payroll. it was thus apparent that emphasis upon the increase in wages would not be equally valid for argument by all roads alike. the possible advantage of a united front was thereby denied. broader ground for rate increases was taken by the carriers, in the argument that operating expenses had greatly augmented in recent years, not so much because of higher prices or even wages, but because of the exactions of the public in the way either of better facilities and service or of greater safety. it was alleged that vast expenditures had been necessarily made for such purposes without a commensurate increase in revenue.[ ] the main proof of this point lay in statistical presentation of the greatly increased operating ratio within recent years; that is to say, the higher percentage of gross revenue which it was necessary to expend in operation. here again, the carriers failed to agree in the particular margin of safety above a reasonable return upon the investment, paid in dividends, which should be put back into the property. it was also urged by the carriers that the necessary funds for constructive development in future could be obtained only by such improvement in railroad credit as would result from a substantial margin of net earnings above reasonable dividends. such were, in the main, the arguments presented by the railroads on behalf of their plea that the proposed rate advances should not be suspended. the case in rebuttal, as presented by representatives of commercial organizations, was carried aggressively into the enemy's territory in only one line of argument. it was alleged that sufficient economy in operation could be effected by means of "scientific management" to more than offset the increase in wages together with the general demand for better service and improvements by the public.[ ] on the whole the arraignment of the carriers in this regard failed to establish its point. whatever results from "efficiency" had been obtained in manufacturing establishments, the limited experience in railroading outside of shop management, while generally satisfactory, had not been altogether convincing. essential differences between railroads and factories, particularly in respect of minute supervision of labor scattered over hundreds of miles of line, tended to render impracticable many of the improvements in process advocated by efficiency engineers. the demands incident to the operation of public-service companies are also different from those applicable in private business. railroads must consider not only profit-making, but adequate and satisfactory service. and, finally, the thorough organization of labor among carriers was a bar to the untrammelled introduction of new methods. nevertheless, the publicity which was derived from the presentation of this case before the commission could not fail to draw attention to the need of determined and general application of such sound and businesslike methods as were found practicable. the shippers attempted, in general, to meet the railway arguments point by point. thus the plea of steadily increasing operating ratios absorbing an ever larger proportion of gross earnings, was met by statistical evidence showing that gross revenues had so rapidly augmented during the decade as, nevertheless, to permit of a steady increase in net revenue year by year. in this regard, the time was certainly opportune for establishing this point. recovery from the depression following was actively under way during - . not even the indications that a less rosy future was to ensue in ,--judged by the then course of net earnings,--sufficed to offset statistical evidence in this regard. even if for all the roads taken together the wage increases would more than absorb the increasing revenues, the fiscal year had produced so large an increase in net earnings,--$ , , ,--as to still leave the carriers better off than they were before, even without the increased freight rates for which they were asking.[ ] the decisions of the commission in both cases, covering advances east and west, was unanimously against the railroads.[ ] it was held that the carriers had failed to prove their case at practically every point. while it was true that cost of operation had increased for various reasons, it was also plain that the growth of the business had more than absorbed these additional outlays. and as to the contention that a fair return upon the value of the property was not being earned, the entire field of argument concerning the reasonableness of railroad rates as related to investment, was necessarily held in abeyance pending more positive data than was then at hand. the decisions, however, contained a ray of hope for the carriers in the promise that while this general increase would not be upheld, particular changes in future would be considered on their merits in each case.[ ] the railroads accepted the decision as final, and withdrew the proposed tariffs with surprisingly little protest.[ ] whether the great increase in prices in over preceding years, operating indirectly through insistent pressure for wage increases to enhance costs of operation, will necessitate a reopening of this issue in a large way, seems likely to depend upon the rate at which the volume of traffic augments in the immediate future. it is clear, in any event, that a sufficient surplus earning power must be permitted to insure a continuance in favor of railway securities as compared with other forms of investment. footnotes: [ ] interstate commerce commission, annual report , pp. , , and . [ ] since this time a number of decisions have been rendered, on the whole more favorably to the commission. notably in the willamette lumber case, for example, it was fully upheld: no. , april session, ; and also concerning southern rates: no. , february session, . in june several petitions were dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. in the shreveport case, notable as involving conflict of federal and state authority, the commission's order was enjoined in june on the ground of confiscation of property. [ ] nd cong., nd sess., house rep., no. : hearings on h. r. - before the house committee on interstate commerce, march , : hearings on h. r. and , july-august, , pp. - . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] discussed _infra_, p. . [ ] supreme court rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . at p. , _infra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] supreme court rep., . [ ] supreme court rep., . [ ] _goodrich transit company v. i.c.c._; commerce court, nos. - , april term, . decided by the supreme court, april , ; supreme court rep., ; fed. rep., . [ ] _cf._ p. , _infra_. [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] supreme court rep., . [ ] pp. and , _supra_. [ ] other cases similarly decided are as follows: i.c.c. rep., ; _idem_, and . [ ] fed. rep., , _l. & n. r. r. v. i. c. c_. in this case there was no dispute as to facts, but only as to the conclusion to be drawn therefrom. a straight difference on points of fact was raised in the pacific coast switching cases ( fed. rep., ). the dissenting opinion as to usurpation of the rights of the commission is significant. [ ] fed. rep., . second opinion in i. c. c. rep., . [ ] precisely like the situation following the earlier emasculation of the law. p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s., . p. , _supra_. [ ] st cong., rd sess., senate doc., p. , , vols. admirably summarized in _american economic review_, i, , pp. - . _yale review_, , pp. - . haines problems in railway regulation, , pp. - ; and files of the _railway age gazette_, especially , p. . h. a. bullock in _boston transcript_, nov. , , and , , offers suggestive comment. [ ] pp. and , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep., and . [ ] this point has since been well presented in suffern, _railroad operating cost_, new york, . _cf._ chap. ii, _supra_. [ ] this argument is critically examined in the _quarterly journal of economics_, xxv, , pp. - . _cf. railway age gazette_,  , p. . [ ] data as to gross and net earnings at this time by comparison with former years will be found at p. , _supra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep., and . [ ] _cf. railway age gazette_, liv, , pp. - , and . a peculiarly suggestive instance is the allowance of increases on soft coal. not a mere motive,--the need of more revenue,--but proof of reasonableness in detail was offered in evidence. i. c. c. rep., . chapter xix the long and short haul clause: transcontinental rates "substantially similar circumstances and conditions" stricken out in ,  .--debate and probable intention of congress,  .--constitutionality of procedure,  .--nature of applications for exemption,  .--market and water competition,  . the intermountain rate cases,  .--the grievances examined,  .--the "blanket rate" system,  .--its causes analyzed,  .--previous decisions compared,  .--graduated rates proposed by the commission,  .--the commerce court review,  .--water _v._ commercial competition again,  .--absolute _v._ relative reasonableness,  .--legal technicalities,  .--minimum _v._ relative rates,  .--constitutionality of minimum rates,  . the original long and short haul clause, as we have seen, forbade a greater charge for a short than for a long distance over the same line under "substantially similar circumstances and conditions." the principal amendment in was the elimination of this troublesome clause, "substantially similar circumstances and conditions";--responsible, as experience had shown for the practical nullification of the entire fourth section of the law of through the interpretation placed upon it in by the courts.[ ] the insertion of a new provision in prohibiting carriers from charging "any greater compensation as a through route than the aggregate of the intermediate rates," concerned a somewhat different question, and may be omitted from consideration in this connection. the commission was given authority under the amended law to relieve carriers from the prohibition of the statute, which, in this regard, did not become effective until february , . it was uncertain at the time how extensive was the violation of the distance principle; although a comprehensive investigation by the elkins committee in [ ] showed the existence of many irregular tariffs all over the country. within the first ten months after the law took effect, applications for relief under this section were filed. of this number only two hundred and ninety concerned passenger fares: making it clear that the problem was mainly one of adjustment of freight rates. inasmuch as the commission held that each application should be treated as a formal complaint to be separately passed upon, it will be seen that these applications for relief considerably outnumbered the total of formal complaints which had otherwise been filed since . amendment of the fourth section obviously imposed a heavy additional burden upon this administrative arm of the federal government. the proposition to amend the long and short haul clause in called forth the same divergence of opinion in congress as to regulation which characterized the original debate twenty years before. one party wanted an absolute long and short haul clause, permitting of no departure from the distance principle. the other stood for a more elastic plan, whereby carriers under certain economic justification should be allowed to make a higher charge at the intermediate point. the prime difficulty lay in defining these exceptional cases. had congress left this solely to the discretion of the commission without such definition, the law might be held unconstitutional, as involving a complete delegation of legislative power. the situation was clearly stated at the time by the chairman of the house committee on interstate commerce. "practically what we do here is to give the commission power to say what, in a particular case, shall be a just and reasonable rate; although we declare as a general proposition that it shall be unjust and unreasonable to charge more for a short haul than for a long haul." in brief, it is clear that congress intended that the general language of the statute should furnish the rule which the commission was to adopt in applying this section of the law. was there any further intention of congress in thus amending the long and short haul clause? the carriers contended that the only effect was to deny the railways the right to decide for themselves whether they might disregard the rule of the section: in other words, that they must conform to the interpretation laid down by the commission itself in the georgia railroad commission cases in .[ ] the commission, on the other hand, at once interpreted the amendment, as defining the purpose of congress differently. it held that the railroads must assume the burden of justification. the carriers, therefore, must become the advancing party in proving that violation of the distance principle was warranted by the necessities of the case. it is obvious that, without this interpretation placed upon the amendment, congress would not be providing a remedy for local discrimination, but would be merely giving power to declare the existence of a wrong. the constitutionality of the amended section seemed likely to depend upon the manner in which it was applied administratively. if construed as conferring unrestricted power to grant or deny applications for relief, it would probably be held void, as already observed, as an unfettered delegation of legislative authority. rate making being a legislative function, this attribute of the congress could not constitutionally be vested in entirety in an administrative body. the commission must, in other words, be restricted and guided by certain rules and standards set by the legislature. this point had been well established respecting the exercise of control over the issue of capital stock by railroads by the state commissions. it was clear, also, that the long and short haul clause did not impose an inviolable rule to be enforced against all carriers. this had been the contention of complainants against the railroads in the spokane case, soon to be considered. it seemed clear that the proper function of the commission under the law, was to investigate each case by itself in the light of the first three sections of the act in general. after such investigation, if it appeared that a departure from the distance principle would result neither in unreasonable rates nor in undue discrimination, permission therefore must be granted. under such circumstances it could not lawfully be withheld. and in the contrary case deviation from the long and short haul principle must likewise be refused. the commission in enforcing the new long and short haul clause, in the first place laid down certain general rules for its own guidance.[ ] perhaps the most important of these was that the different rates or fares to be compared, must apply to the same classes of transportation. it would be obviously unjust to compare a one-way fare with either excursion or commutation rates. export and import freight rates, usually lower than regular domestic rates, must each be dealt with in a class by themselves, in determining whether the more distant point by having a higher rate prejudiced the rights of intermediate ones. congress certainly did not intend to make the charging of a commodity or carload rate in transcontinental traffic unlawful, merely because it happened to be lower than local rates or less-than-carload classified shipments from intermediate points. violation of the distance principle must properly always be determined by comparison between rates of the same kind. a number of similar rules were promulgated for the sake of duly standardizing practice. applications from the carriers for exemption from the long and short haul clause in freight tariffs fell into four distinct groups. the largest number of petitions,--more than one-fourth of the total filed,--had to do with the necessities of circuitous lines in meeting through rates made over more direct routes.[ ] in such cases the lowest through rate was often made by the longer line, which might, at the same time, conceivably be operated at a lower cost. permanent relief was granted by the commission in comparatively few of such instances; and then only when it appeared either that the short line had observed the distance principle throughout, or else that the intermediate rates upon the long line were apparently reasonable and just, in and of themselves. under such conditions the commission sometimes permitted the circuitous route, especially if it were manifestly so, to meet, not only the prevailing rate over the short line, but also any future rate which it might put into effect. next in importance, measured by the number of applications for relief from the long and short haul clause in freight tariffs, were those based upon the exigencies of market competition. the familiar case of the rivalry of florida and california orange growers in the eastern markets may illustrate the situation.[ ] the growers must be put into that market and held there in each case in competition with one another, each served by the carriers who profited by their traffic. should it be said that because such market competition compelled a low through rate, irrespective of distance, that no higher rate at any intermediate point where such market competition did not exist, should be allowed? the difficulty and danger, however, of accepting the justification of market competition was, of course, the fact that exemption from the distance principle might deny to the intermediate points the advantage to which they were justly entitled by reason of their geographical location.[ ] the compelling force of market competition is exemplified also in the transportation of pine lumber from all along the southern tier of states to the consuming territory of the treeless middle west. the mills in mississippi, louisiana, arkansas, and texas are so much nearer than those in florida or georgia, that exceptionally low rates per mile must be put in from these latter states to enable them to hold their own. such exceptionally low rates, if applied to all intermediate points, would, of course, prove ruinously unprofitable to the railroads concerned. there were certainly contingencies of this sort entitled to relief. closely akin to market competition in compelling departure from the long and short haul clause, were the practices arising in connection with commodity rates to meet special circumstances in production or consumption. a public building, perhaps, was to be erected at a given point; and active competition arose from quarrymen in different parts of the country for supplying the cut stone. a carrier serving such a quarry put in a special carload rate in order to enable the shipper on its line to compete for the contract. no similar commodity rates, as a fact, were called for from intermediate stations, inasmuch as no other quarries on the line were interested in this particular job. the commission ruled in such cases that no tariffs from intermediate points need be filed, unless desired for the benefit of some other shipper. such cases are obviously analogous in principle to those above mentioned under the heading of market competition. the third and perhaps, as it may appear in the future, the most substantial ground for seeking relief from the long and short haul clause in freight rates was the force of water competition. for example, all along the atlantic seaboard the low rates of coastwise steamships were absolutely compelling in their effect upon through rates by rail. obviously the railroads could not share in the business, unless they met the low water rate,--a low water rate which, very properly, ought not to affect the higher charges at interior intermediate points not enjoying such competition by water. on the other hand, it was evident that the utmost care needed to be exercised in accepting this excuse for the lower rate at the more distant point; or, otherwise stated, for higher rates at the intermediate points not in the enjoyment of water competition. it was unquestionable, as experience all over the country had demonstrated, that the force of such competition upon internal waterways had been greatly exaggerated by the railroads for their own purposes. the steamboats had disappeared from the mississippi and all its branches, and from the smaller rivers of the southern states, not because they were surpassed either in speed or in economy, but by reason of the superior organization and certainty of through shipments by land.[ ] the railroad always beat the steamboat, mainly because it was not hampered by the difficulty of breaking bulk at transfer points. the river boat served relatively few places, while the railroad could make connections everywhere. and, finally, the water lines, being open at all times to competition for the worth-while business from rivals who needed merely to assemble enough capital to buy a boat, could not distribute their margin of profit according to the pressure of competition at different points along every line.[ ] whether a revival of commerce upon our inland waterways will ever change the nature of this competition between water and land transportation remains to be seen. but, in the meantime, it was indubitable that the plea of competition by water required careful examination before being accepted at its face value. the importance of this consideration appears clearly in connection with the intermountain rate cases, soon to be discussed. [illustration] the petition of the southern pacific railroad for exemption from the prohibition of the amended long and short haul clause in ,[ ] as to rates between san francisco points and portland, oregon, presented a concrete problem in the fair adjustment of distant and intermediate rates under the force of coastwise water competition. there was no question as to the force of this rivalry; more than three-fourths of the traffic between the distant seaports moving by boat. the geographical situation is shown by the map herewith. but the difficult point to decide was as to whether the intermediate rates were not too high by comparison,--being made, in other words, to compensate unduly for the low rates and loss of traffic at the two ends of the line. the high intermediate point was talent. the first-class san francisco-portland rate for miles was cents per hundred pounds, as against a san francisco-talent rate for miles of $ . ,--more than three times the charge for about one-half the haul. moreover, the inadequacy of water competition as a full explanation appeared at many points. albany, for example, was no farther from portland than sacramento was from san francisco. yet while sacramento enjoyed the low water rate north bound, neither albany nor other places much nearer portland were given the same advantage in southerly shipments. this case, left open for further examination as to facts, is also interesting as to points at law. the carrier, as in the intermountain rate cases, contended that under the amended long and short haul clause, the commission need consider only the force of water competition; and need not concern itself with the reasonableness of the intermediate rates. the commission held this not to be a right construction of the law. the reasons for seeking exception from the long and short haul clause in passenger business, judging by the petitions filed by carriers under the new law, had to do mainly with complications following the establishment of mileage schedules by law in the different states. some of these states had also enacted two-cent fare laws, in which case it often happened that intrastate fares were arbitrarily higher than those which applied on interstate business. but the main reason for seeking exemption from the fourth section was the desire of circuitous routes to meet the charges made by the short lines. obviously, as in freight traffic, the long line could not charge more than the short line, and usually the short line made the rate. practically under such circumstances, the long line carrier could not well maintain a higher fare to the intermediate point, since in passenger traffic, unlike freight, the traveller could if he pleased buy his ticket to the more distant point and then get off at the intermediate one. the commission, in view of this fact, naturally found less flagrant violations of the distance principle in passenger fares than in freight rates. what economic reasons among all these advanced by the railroads, should be accepted by the commission as warranting a departure from the distance principle? originally, as we have seen, it was held that competition either with carriers by water, with railroads not subject to the act, or other rare and peculiar cases, created such dissimilarity of circumstances and conditions as to warrant a modification of the distance principle.[ ] in the first great case under the amended law, the commission held, more broadly, that other factors than these might properly be taken into account. it considered itself authorized not merely to decide whether circumstances in respect of competition at the two points were dissimilar, but also whether, and to what extent, that dissimilarity justified a departure from the rule. in other words, as interpreted by the commission, modification of the rule might be permitted to just the degree which would seem to be called for by consideration of the whole situation. the best way to understand the bearing of these considerations, however, will be to examine this first great case in detail. * * * * * the intermountain rate cases, affording the first crucial test of the long and short haul amendments of , were doubly significant. they afforded a prime example of the struggle for supremacy between the administrative and the judicial branches of the government. and they also stood foremost among all the transportation controversies of the last generation.[ ] the grievances were long-standing. they had been before the interstate commerce commission since .[ ] they comprehended geographically a range of interests covering the entire northern half of the united states. while the rocky mountain territory and the pacific coast terminals were most directly concerned, the rights in trade of every factory and distributing point east of denver were indirectly involved, in so far as they participated in commerce with the far west. not even the inevitable conflict over remodelling the southern basing point system by enforcement of the new fourth section of the mann-elkins law, was equal to this one, either in geographical scope or commercial importance. and at the same time the fact that the new commerce court was in on trial for its life--this being one of its leading cases on appeal--endowed the controversy with an even greater significance. both in the eyes of the law and of commerce and finance, the issue was plainly of the first importance. the transportation grievance of the tier of rocky mountain communities from washington to arizona, although simple, divided naturally into two parts.[ ] the first was that the freight rates from all eastern territory to these localities were from one-quarter to over one hundred per cent higher than to the pacific coast, although the goods in transit passed their very doors and might be hauled a distance greater by one-fourth. a carload of glassware from pittsburg to spokane, washington, paid a freight rate of $ . ; while the charge to seattle, four hundred miles farther west, was only $ . . a first-class commodity (carload) rate from omaha to reno, nevada, was $ . if the goods were delivered miles farther west, at sacramento, passing through reno _en route_, the freight bill amounted to but six hundred dollars. but this discrimination was less than half the indictment, inasmuch as the compelling force of ocean competition at the coast was conceded by all. it might well be that san francisco and its sister terminal points were unreasonably favored, rather than that the intermountain rates were unduly high in themselves. the carriers by land might indeed be, as they alleged, powerless in the face of a water competition beyond their control. and if they were thus impotent, surely the government could not account their tariffs unlawful, however irregular they might be. the second item in the complaint of the intermountain cities showed the cloven hoof of the transcontinental carriers. these mountain rates, relatively so high by comparison with more remote terminals, were equally high from every point east of denver over a territory two thousand miles in width.[ ] in other words, entirely regardless of distance, the freight rate to spokane or reno, whether from new york, chicago, st. paul, omaha, or even denver, was the same. it was indeed a blanket rate, like the fixed charge of two cents for postage. and it made no difference how near any point in this wide zone might be, the disparity in rates against the intermountain points was relatively the same. thus our two concrete examples, above cited, were for shipments from pittsburg and omaha, respectively; but in any case, were the point of origin as remote as portland, maine, or even as near as colorado "common points," the disparity of rates was unchanged. they were always very much higher to the intermountain cities than on to the pacific coast; although the carriers east of the missouri river got no more for their portion of the haul when the goods were bound for spokane than if they went on to seattle for a much lower through charge. this latter fact, of course, narrowed the complaint down to the policy of the western lines. the discrimination, if it were one, was clearly of their making. whatever trouble there was, originated west of the missouri river. however much the other railroads all over the country might have joined in transcontinental business, they remained impartial onlookers in this particular contest. some of the causes of the apparently abnormal western rate adjustment are perfectly plain. the low rates to the coast were due to water competition, which, while now under some measure of railroad control--partially "neutralized" in fact[ ]--was always present and potentially great. it will be even more controlling when the panama canal is opened.[ ] to meet this situation, the carriers had established a series of through commodity rates which practically covered all transcontinental business. for all this traffic exposed to water competition, it was averred, the intermountain territory was more remote, if not geographically, at least for purposes of rate making. the railroads consequently added the charge for the local haul back from the coast to the low transcontinental or through rate in determining the charge to all the intermediate cities. thus, they alleged, a discrimination was forced upon them, not of their own creation. they could not grade all their intermediate rates down to a through tariff thus fixed at the farther end. it would mean bankruptcy. thus far the situation is analogous to hadley's classic oyster car case.[ ] the main difficulty arose in satisfactorily explaining the second half of the scheme. how did the blanket or "postage stamp" rate zone arise, permitting exactly the same rates, whether to spokane or seattle, from points scattered over a territory covering practically two-thirds of the united states? was it an artificial scheme, modifiable at the will of the carriers or of the government; or, like the law of gravitation, was it beyond the control of either? the truth was that westbound rates from new york, chicago, omaha and st. paul had come to be fixed at the same level, not by water competition primarily, but by the forces of commercial rivalry between centres bidding for the far western market. they were originally graded somewhat according to distance in the early days.[ ] and it is plain that water competition, at first confined to the atlantic seaboard, gradually extended inland. in order to secure the business to san francisco by steamer or clipper ship, rail charges from pittsburg or buffalo back to philadelphia or new york had been absorbed in the through rate, thus gradually extending the benefits of water competition farther and farther west from the seaboard cities.[ ] and, of course, as population and manufactures grew in the middle west, the narrow fringe of such competition steadily and inexorably spread in from the atlantic coast over a wide zone of blanket rates, all based on new york. the direct all-rail carriers, naturally, met this competition at all points. manufactures and population continued to spread toward the west; but, imperceptibly, a new competitive factor appeared. as the force of direct water competition lessened with ever-widening distance inland from the atlantic, market competition began to gather strength. one need not go so far as to concede that "market competition is a euphemism for railroad policy," in order to realize that artificial rather than natural influences gradually came to bear in the westward extension of the blanket rate. the trans-missouri lines, getting the _whole_ rate on shoes made in st. louis for the pacific slope, while only getting a part of it if the goods came from new england, had a direct motive to put st. louis into the western market and thereafter to hold it there at all cost. every increment in the st. louis traffic, moreover, was surely theirs for ever. it could not be stolen away by canadian railways or ocean steamship lines, as it might if it originated at boston. it became a settled policy of these western lines, therefore, to meet even the water-compelled seaboard rates at all points, no matter how far inland. the blanket zone thus steadily widened, out of all semblance to its originally modest proportions as based upon water competition alone. a competition originally natural, gradually merged into another of an entirely artificial sort. the importance of both the intermountain and pacific coast traffic originating along the western confines of the blanket zone, steadily increased. one record showed that three-fourths of the business at reno, nevada, originated west of chicago.[ ] it all moved on the same rate as freight from portland, maine, whether destined to nevada or to the pacific coast. the disparity against nevada remained absolutely the same in either case. it was to hold this traffic, originating west of chicago, against all eastern competitors, that the blanket zone was so abnormally widened by the trans-missouri railroads. for years the transcontinental rate scheme had been before the interstate commerce commission. a number of decisions[ ] were rendered prior to , under the old long and short haul clause, emasculated as it was by the alabama midland decision of . the hepburn amendments of had so far strengthened the hands of the commission that it made several attempts to deal with the question. but the orders in these cases were confined to classified tonnage, although it was clear that most of the transcontinental business moved under commodity rates. such carload or wholesale tonnage, of course, was the only sort actually affected by the competition by sea. this fact greatly aggravated the discrimination against which the intermountain cities complained. for, in absence of such water competition, they enjoyed relatively fewer commodity ratings. and their youthful, though ambitious, jobbing trade was dependent upon just such special carload rates in competition with middlemen on the pacific coast. if "tin boxes and lard pails, nested" moved in carloads, seattle got them from "anywhere east" for a commodity rate of eighty-five cents, as against the regular fourth-class rate to spokane of $ . per hundred pounds. the commission grappled with the problem of such discrimination manfully; but made little headway until the new law of put it in better case. then for the first time it tackled the heart of the matter, in revising the commodity rates in the great cases now under review. there is evidence that the railroads were already endeavoring to remodel their tariffs, under pressure in some degree from the commission even before the amendment of the law in . it was recognized that some modification of the existing scheme was needed.[ ] and it was relatively easy to re-arrange mere class rates.[ ] they were little affected by water competition. but the commodity schedules, concerned in these later cases, were far more important commercially. two plans were possible to mitigate the violation of the distance principle.[ ] the rates to intermediate points might be lowered conformably to the long-distance standard. this would enable the railroads to hold the coast traffic against the water lines, but would decrease the revenues from "way" business. or, on the other hand, the coast rates might be put up, regardless of water competition, in the expectation that much through business would still go by rail. tariffs by land were already considerably higher than by the sea routes. possibly the rail rates might be increased somewhat further. some coast business would be lost to the water lines, but on what remained a higher return would accrue. moreover, a considerable development of interior distributing centres would be bound to ensue. and, best of all, the grievances of the interior places would be somewhat mitigated.[ ] unfortunately the pacific coast points were in an uproar at this threat against their supremacy in the jobbing business. and, in the meantime, the new powers under which the present proceedings were taken had been conferred by the mann-elkins law. the carriers unaided could probably not have greatly bettered matters. but the government, at all events, chose to deal with it; so that these private attempts came to naught. subsequently such action as the carriers took, naturally assumed the form of increases at terminals rather than reductions at intermediate points. the new orders[ ] were radically different from the preceding ones, not only in applying to commodity rates, under which most of the tonnage really moved, but also in respect of the form of remedy proposed. in order to correct the discrimination, the previous decisions prescribed the absolute rates to be put into effect at various points. the new orders did not establish absolute rates at all, but endeavored, instead, to set up a system of relative rates or differentials. all the former decisions had held the intermountain rates inherently unreasonable. the new opinions treated them as only relatively so. a clear distinction was drawn between real water competition and that _pseudo_ water competition which, as has been said, resolved itself practically into a mere competition of markets with one another. the guiding principle adopted was that the force of water competition,--the only one entirely beyond the carriers' control,--of necessity increased with the proximity of the shipping-point to the atlantic seaboard. business from new york to seattle by rail had to go at rates compelled by the rivalry of steamship lines. traffic from omaha to reno, nevada, was surely free from it. yet under the then existing system no distinction whatever was made between the two sets of circumstances. all rates were blanketed, regardless of remoteness from the eastern seaports. the new governmental order substituted a series of zones suggestive of those so long prevalent in trunk line territory.[ ] these are shown by the map on page . as one passed westward from zone iv, with water competition under full pressure at new york, the influence of the roundabout carriers by sea progressively diminished; until, at last, beyond the missouri it became _nil_. such water competition affording the only pretext for a grant of lower rates to the pacific terminals than to intermountain points, it followed, logically, that the disparity in charges between such interior and coastal places should decrease _pari passu_ with the westward movement of the originating point. a substantially lower rate from new york to san francisco than from new york to nevada might be permitted; but no such difference, relatively, ought to obtain from st. paul or omaha to san francisco as compared with rocky mountain territory. for these inland initial points were practically beyond the range of steamship rivalry. [illustration] specifically, the commission in these orders forbade any higher charge to the mountain points from any part of zone i than applied to the pacific terminals. from zone ii, lying four hundred miles more to the east, there would probably never be any considerable traffic coming back to new york in order to go round by sea, but in rare instances there might be some. from this zone, therefore, intermountain rates might be not more than seven per cent. above those to the pacific terminals. and so on as one went east. rates from zone iii might be not more than fifteen per cent. higher to spokane than to seattle. from zone iv to rocky mountain territory they might be twenty-five per cent, above those to san francisco; but the disparity against the intermountain territory, even from here with water competition in full effect, must never exceed this percentage. this ingenious plan certainly commends itself in principle to the economic student. it restored in a measure the gradations existing in .[ ] it did not create the zones out of whole cloth. it utilized a scheme for division of territory already adopted by the transcontinental lines for other purposes.[ ] and, most important of all, it was elastic, not prescribing absolute rates, but resting content with laying emphasis upon the need of gradation. yet it granted a substantial measure of relief from the present disparity of rates. for, whereas the former intermountain tariffs from the east were from fifty to one hundred per cent, above those to the pacific coast, the difference under this order might never exceed twenty-five per cent. the new scheme was cleverly planned, also, from a legal-strategic point of view. it could scarcely be attacked under the fourteenth amendment as confiscatory, inasmuch as it left so much latitude to the carriers in the readjustment of their tariffs.[ ] to overset it on this ground, they must prove that disaster would result from the particular rates which they had chosen to adopt. this would be an impossible task. the only choice remaining to the carriers, therefore, would be to attack the order on the ground that the commission was exceeding its powers, delegated by congress. this, in effect, was what was done.[ ] the opinion of the commerce court,[ ] setting aside the intermountain rate orders of the interstate commerce commission, will shortly be reviewed by the supreme court of the united states, to which tribunal appeal was promptly taken.[ ] disregarding the dissenting opinion that the entire long and short haul clause, as amended in , was unconstitutional, there were three significant differences between the two tribunals. the first point at issue between the court and the commission concerned the differentiation of water competition from so-called market competition.[ ] the commerce court refused to recognize any distinction between the cause of lower rates to the pacific coast from omaha or from new york, respectively. it ascribed the disparity in all cases to competitive forces entirely beyond the railroads' control "if the carrier from st. paul, in order to meet new water competition from new york," etc. the commission, on the other hand, clearly set apart market competition, applicable to western cities, from that due to carriage by water, which controlled rates from the atlantic seaboard. the railways, it said, must conform in their rate-making policies to the latter. they were not bound by the former. for market competition (as already quoted) "is a euphemism for railroad policy."[ ] and, speaking as an economist, ignorant of the technicalities of the law, i venture to affirm that the commission in this contention was absolutely right.[ ] even as far west as south bend, indiana, wagons may go to california by the direct rail route; or, with a change of ten cents in the rate, they may come back to new york and thence go round by sea. such is the delicacy of adjustment even as far west as chicago. hence the failure to recognize that low rates to the pacific coast from points west of the missouri river were due to an entirely different cause--namely, the arbitrary determination of the transcontinental lines to hold the fort for their local clients against all odds--was to commit an egregious economic blunder. furniture goes from chicago to san francisco on rates as low as if compelled by water competition.[ ] but steamships never carry commodities of this bulky sort, even from new york. how much less, then, could water competition apply so far inland? the carriers were bent on keeping chicago in the pacific market. that was the real reason. the commerce court clearly missed the main point. equally sound economic evidence that water competition alone was not responsible for the entire present transcontinental rate system, was afforded by the fact that the wide blanket zone, already described, covering two-thirds of the united states for westbound rates, found no counterpart in the scheme under which rates were made up in the opposite direction.[ ] it is a poor rule which will not work both ways. and surely water competition, when present, should be potent in either direction. it was undeniable that the absence of pushing cities along the pacific slope, desirous of developing trade relations with the atlantic states, discouraged even the slightest extension of terminal rates inland. the ironclad monopoly enjoyed by the harriman and hill lines would probably have prevented this in any event. but the significant point was that there was no demand for a blanket zone for eastbound traffic. hence water-compelled rates staid where they belonged; that is to say, closely confined to the pacific seaboard cities. thus it would also have been in the eastern half of the country, had it not been for "market competition"--this artificial factor which the commerce court failed utterly to recognize as in a class by itself. the second vital difference of opinion between the commerce court and the commission was economico-legal. the economist in the office of critic here stands upon less firm ground. and yet, whatever the law may be, the reasoning rests upon the interpretation of the facts.[ ] the commerce court held that "when the rate for the longer haul is forced unreasonably low by competition, the only elements that can enter into the consideration of the rate for the shorter haul are its reasonableness," etc.[ ] the controlling idea, in other words, in the reviewing judicial mind, was that, so long as the rate at spokane or reno was reasonable _in itself_, it was a matter of indifference to that locality what rate might be made to seattle. all that the commerce court needed to do, therefore, was to consider the "intrinsic reasonableness"[ ] of the intermediate rate. not so, held the commission. whether this charge was reasonable or not was a question of relativity. it depended upon what rate was made to other points all around it and competitive with it. in other words, the intermediate could not be dissociated from the long-distance point. railroads as public carriers owed a common duty to both points. no intermediate rate, however low _per se_, could be reasonable, if the carrier was voluntarily offering a lower rate to points beyond. if its lower rate beyond was accorded under compulsion, that of course was a different matter. but in so far as these low pacific terminal rates were due to an artificial railroad policy, any discrimination against the nearer points was unwarranted. the analogy is clear between this difference of opinion of commission and court and that between the two schools which would base judicial determination of rates in general upon inherent or relative reasonableness, respectively. the "remuneration" test, which the carriers' representatives sought to insert in the law of , seeks to discover innate reasonableness of rates; not affected, that is to say, by the revenue which may accrue from them in the aggregate. the other standard declares such reasonableness to be always dependent upon circumstances; notably upon the amount of the investment and the resultant earning power arising out of the volume of business carried at the rates in question.[ ] the third difference of opinion between court and commission was purely one of law.[ ] had the latter exceeded its powers delegated by congress in attempting to fix a _relation_ of rates, instead of prescribing certain maximum rates applicable to particular points?[ ] the reasoning followed was apparently derived from the supreme court opinion in the chattanooga case.[ ] this reasoning, the government now contended in its argument on appeal to that tribunal, was inapplicable to the since amended law. limits of space and the natural diffidence of an economist, alike forbid extended discussion of this nice point at law. the commission alleged that, except by the exercise of such authority to prescribe relativity of rates, it would be powerless to remedy such discriminations in future. in consequence, inasmuch as congress evidently intended to enable it to afford such remedy, authority over relativity of rates must be derived by necessary implication. and it is certain, economically speaking, that in this position the commission was once more perfectly right. whether it was legally so remained yet to be decided.[ ] in this connection, it seems odd that none of the briefs for the government mentioned an important instance of the undisputed exercise of such power to establish relativity of rates. the commission had for years, even in absence of any express authorization by law until , freely prescribed details of freight classification in a large number of important cases.[ ] it had never done more than to fix relativity; and the constitutionality of its orders had never been attacked. an entirely new issue arose at this point. prescribing relativity of rates implied determination of minimum rates. for if, as in this transcontinental case, the freight rate to nevada points from new york might never be more than twenty-five per cent. greater than to san francisco, a lower limit as well as an upper one was thereby prescribed for the latter point, and _vice versa_. the rate to one point once fixed by the carrier, voluntarily if you please, the minimum rate to the other might be necessarily determined thereby. if a dollar rate prevailed at spokane, the seattle rate must not fall below seventy-five cents. was this not something new? did it not suggest fixing, not maximum rates alone, but absolute rates as well? and if an attempt to fix absolute rates, was it not unconstitutional? there could be no two minds about the need of conferring power upon the interstate commerce commission over minimum or differential rates, if effective government regulation were ever to be attained. this had been my contention for years.[ ] it had the best possible expert support from the side of the carriers.[ ] discriminatory rates could never be corrected until such power was delegated by congress or conferred by judicial interpretation of the law. kansas city now enjoys lower rates to chicago on packing-house products than are accorded to omaha. on every sound principle of rate making, the two cities ought to be placed on a parity. but the commission could not rectify the abuse; for the roads from kansas city promptly reduced their rates _pari passu_ with any reduction of the charge at omaha.[ ] there was no bed rock below which rates could not go. the omaha railroads as well as the government were powerless in face of the situation. may power to fix minimum rates, so necessary to an adequate program of control, be constitutionally delegated by congress? the question has never been squarely presented to the supreme court.[ ] but the language in many cases has been such as to indicate that maximum rates alone may be lawfully established. is the reiteration of the word "maximum" intentional? or may it be that the judicial mind has never yet contemplated the need of regulating the minimum rate? surely it seems an anomaly that the government should ever seek to fix such a lower limit, _below_ which compensation may not be had. and yet many cases show that it is absolutely necessary, to the end that justice may be done. or may the unconstitutionality of fixing minimum rates depend upon the fact that, if thus prescribed along with maximum rates, it will amount, practically, to determination of the absolute rate--the bogey which the carriers seem most of all to hold in dread? interesting and inviting possibilities of judicial interpretation are indeed suggested along this line, were there opportunity to pursue them further. footnotes: [ ] the history of the clause will be found at pp. and , _supra_. [ ] digest of the hearings, appendix iii, dec. , , pp. - . an excellent body of unworked economic data on rate making is here afforded. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] th ann. rep. i.c.c., , discusses the matter fully. [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_, as to which line makes the rate. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ instances cited by judge knapp before the senate (elkins) committee, , iv, p. . hammond, rate theories of the i.c.c., also marshals these cases. [ ] _cf._ f.h. dixon, a traffic history of the mississippi river; doc. , report national waterways commission, . [ ] _cf._ pp. , , _supra_, and , _infra_. [ ] i.c.c. rep., . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] already discussed in other connections in chapters vii and xi. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , . [ ] for spokane, i. c. c. rep., ( ); _idem_, ( ); _idem_, ( ). for nevada: _idem_, ( ) and _idem_, ( ). the latest denver case is _idem_, . for salt lake city _idem_, . [ ] shown by a map in i. c. c. rep., . [ ] i. c. c. rep., ; _idem_, , - ; dunn, the american transportation question, pp. - . _railway age gazette_, liii, p. . [ ] _cf._ chap. xx, _infra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep., _et seq._ reprinted in our railway problems. [ ] _cf. u. s. v. u. p._, etc., evidence, i, p. . [ ] _cf. railway age gazette_, liii, p. . [ ] best reviewed in brief for the united states in _u.s. v. atchison, topeka and santa fe railway_, etc.: supreme court, october term, , p. . [ ] _railway age gazette_, may , , and november , . [ ] brief for u.s., _loc. cit._, p. . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] the plan is in _railway age gazette_, june , , p. . new tariffs are described in _ibid. cf._ also _boston transcript_, november , , for other plans. [ ] i.c.c. rep., , . both the spokane and nevada cases are combined in the appeal to the supreme court; as is also the independent order of the commission denying relief from the fourth section to the union pacific and other roads. [ ] chap. x, _supra_, especially the map facing p. . [ ] i. c. c. rep., . the first suggestion i find of graded rates is in the dissenting opinion in this st. louis business men's league case. reprinted in our railway problems. [ ] brief for u. s., _loc. cit._, p. . annual report i. c. c., , p. . [ ] a compromise offered by the railways and accepted by commercial bodies pending the supreme court decisions was filed june , . it is estimated to save spokane shippers alone about $ , annually. class rates are the commission's from the seaboard, but from interior points are somewhat lower. the acceptance of the distance principle is the significant point. "as the distance, st. paul to spokane, approximately miles, is per cent. of the distance omaha to salt lake, approximately miles, a reasonable rate from st. paul to spokane would not be less than per cent. of the rate from missouri river to salt lake, and in the proposed tariff rates from st. paul to spokane would be made accordingly. "from mississippi common points as defined by current tariffs, the rates would be - / per cent. of the st. paul rates. "from chicago and common points, the rates would be - / per cent. of st. paul rates. "from detroit and common points, per cent. of the st. paul rates. "from buffalo, pittsburg and common points, per cent. of st. paul rates. "from new york, boston and common points, per cent. of st. paul rates. "from colorado common points, per cent. of st. paul rates." [ ] _cf. railway age gazette_, july , , p. . [ ] fed. rep., . [ ] decided favorably to the i. c. c., ; u. s. , . [ ] market competition as such is discussed at p. , _supra_. [ ] i. c. c. rep. , : the transcript of testimony in the supreme court record is especially illuminating. _cf._ also twenty-fifth annual report i. c. c., pp. - . [ ] s. o. dunn in _railway age gazette_, november, , . [ ] _railway age gazette_, , p. . [ ] i. c. c. rep., - is best on this. _cf._ also p. , _supra_. [ ] as analyzed in chapter vii, _supra_. [ ] brief for the u. s., _loc. cit._, p. ; annual report i. c. c., , p. . [ ] in the lemon rate cases also; fed. rep., . _cf. supra_, p. . [ ] h. s. smalley in _annals of the american academy of political science_, march, , pp. - . _cf._ also our railway problems, chap. xxiv. the point will be more fully discussed in vol. ii, dealing with matters of finance, valuation, etc. [ ] annual report i. c. c., , p. . brief for u. s. supreme court, no. _et seq._, pp. - . also brief for i. c. c. in the same case. [ ] commerce court opinion, p. . _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s., i. _cf._ also p. , _supra_. [ ] of significance on this point is commissioner lane's dissent in the lemon rate case. p. , _supra_. [ ] for details, _cf._ hammond, rate theories of the interstate commerce commission ( ) and j. strombeck, freight classification ( ). also p. , _supra_. [ ] _atlantic monthly_, september and october, . on shortcomings of the later amendments of the law, _cf._ f. h. dixon, in _quarterly journal of economics_, vol. xxiii, , p. . [ ] _railway age gazette_, editorial, january , , p. ; and s. o. dunn, the american transportation question, . [ ] _cf._ the fort worth case decided june , ; also the eau claire case, i. c. c. rep., . the latest case in which the commission held that it had power to suspend a proposed reduction in rates arose from just such a condition of affairs, i. c. c. rep., . [ ] i am indebted to professor smalley of ann arbor, certainly the best authority among economists, for many citations on this point; as well as to professor f. h. dixon for suggestions. _cf._ also i. c. c. rep., ; annual report i. c. c., , p. ; and the commerce court opinion under discussion. commissioner harlan in his dissent in the shreveport case asserts a clearer right over minimum than over maximum rates as against state authority. i. c. c. rep., . chapter xx the conflict of federal and state authority; open questions history of state railroad commissions,  .--the legislative unrest since ,  .--new commissions and special laws,  .--the situation critical,  .--particular conflicts illustrated,  .--the clash in ,  .--missouri experience,  .--the minnesota case,  .--the governors join issue,  .--the shreveport case,  . control of coastwise steamship lines,  .--panama canal legislation,  .--the probable effect of the canal upon the railroads, especially the transcontinental lines,  . historically, the attempt of the separate american states to control railways began with a law after the english model in new hampshire establishing a commission in .[ ] three other new england states then followed suit prior to the civil war.[ ] but these early experiments were mainly concerned with matters of safety rather than of rates. the first real step was taken by massachusetts in . the railroad commission created in that year has served ever since as a model of the so-called "weak" or "advisory" type of regulation. others of this sort were more common in the eastern states. such commissions, in massachusetts for example, rely mainly upon public opinion for the enforcement of their decisions. they possess very limited authority over rates, although they are empowered to recommend such changes as may be deemed advisable. back of this authority, of course, lies the legislative power of the general court, invoked on special occasions. but, in general, the activities of the massachusetts type of commission have been mainly confined to supervision, either of construction or of capitalization.[ ] new york and several other states conformed in the main to this type, although none of them had any authority over matters of finance. a second variety of the older railroad commissions dates from the period of the granger movement in the west. maximum rate laws were passed by a number of commonwealths in the seventies, notably illinois, minnesota, iowa, and wisconsin. the outcome of this legislation was the decision of the supreme court of the united states, elsewhere discussed,[ ] holding that state legislatures had the power to fix rates. the so-called "strong" commissions had their rise in connection with these events. railway boards of this second type exercised control over rates in two ways; namely, by means of the promulgation of freight classifications and the prescription of maximum distance tariffs. for the purposes of such regulation most of the western states grouped the carriers according to their earning capacity, with a different schedule in each case. in certain of the southern states these older commissions adopted even more drastic policies which brought about prolonged litigation. the peculiar case of texas, adding financial legislation to the direct prescription of rate schedules, has been discussed by itself.[ ] a new chapter in railroad regulation by the separate states dates from the general public unrest and congressional activity of the roosevelt period. an almost frenzied activity after culminated in in a legislative wave which swept over the entire country. no less than fifteen new or remodelled commissions were created in the two years - , bringing the total number by to thirty-nine. practically all of these were of the so-called "strong" type; that is to say, possessing the most extensive powers over all matters of rate operation and in many cases of finance as well. the most notable of these, of course, were the so-called public utility commissions of wisconsin ( ) and new york ( ). the subjugation of the formerly dominant railway interests in new jersey and pennsylvania was also highly significant.[ ] the movement even invaded the new england states,--so long a sanctuary of the "weak" or advisory commission. vermont and new hampshire set up powerful boards, and massachusetts, in , amplified the powers of its commission in harmony with the general movement. several features of this new lot of state commissions contrast markedly with even the old-fashioned "strong" type. many of them permit the fixing of absolute rates. the majority now provide for appointment rather than election of the commissioners; and also by salary and in other ways enhance the dignity of the office. this operates naturally to lift these boards out of a semi-political atmosphere formerly too characteristic in many cases; and to bring them more to a par with the state courts. the "wisconsin idea," achieving its full flower under the remarkable leadership of governor la follette in , ably seconded by a number of prominent university of wisconsin men, notably hon. b. h. meyer, now a member of the interstate commerce commission, most completely realizes the progressive policy of sane state regulation.[ ] the principle is laid down "that it was as much the duty of the state to furnish transportation facilities as it ever had been to make roads or build bridges; and that if the function was delegated to any one, it was the duty of the state to regulate it so that the agent should be required to furnish adequate service, reasonable rates, and practise no discrimination." and, it is added, that this procedure should be "so simple that a man can write his complaint on the back of a postal card, and if it is a just one, the state will take it up for him." the three fundamental principles of the wisconsin programme, now happily incorporated in the federal law, were full authority over future rates; secured without expense to the complainant; and with the burden of proof laid upon the railroad in cases of appeal. in short, the wisconsin plan provided for thoroughgoing administrative control, that is to say, with strict limitation of judicial review to the determination of points at law. the issues were in no wise different from those already discussed heretofore in connection with the development of the recent federal policy; except possibly in respect of the persistency of opposition, which has had to be overcome more gradually in the senate of the united states,--the natural stronghold of corporate influence. the creation of powerful state commissions since has, oddly enough, been accompanied by a great activity of the state governments in the enactment of statutes aiming independently to regulate common carriers. laws of this class are not new. as far back as there were twenty-two maximum rate and fare statutes. a period of quiescence, marked by only four such laws in twelve years, was followed by the passage within five years to of no less than twenty-two maximum fare laws and nine maximum rate schedules.[ ] to these may be added a large grist of statutes dealing with almost every detail of operation or service. demurrage, provision for terminals, train service and connections, distribution of cars, industrial and spur tracks, and hours of labor, may be cited among a host of others. the activities of state governments in recent years in the creation of powerful railroad commissions, with the added grist of drastic independent statutes, have greatly emphasized the eternal conflict of authority between the state and federal governments, as well as between the different states. problems akin to those raised by the diversity of our laws respecting marriage, labor, and bankruptcy have been forced upon the attention of congress and the federal courts. reasonable coöperation might be counted upon to accomplish something; but the course of events since points to the necessity of a final settlement of this important issue as far as common carriers are concerned, so authoritatively that a greater measure of political and industrial peace may prevail in future. the situation respecting railroads was well described by justice mckenna of the united states supreme court in an opinion annulling the north carolina law requiring railroads to receive goods for interstate transportation whether they had published rates for the proposed shipment or not;--"if the carrier obeys the state law, he incurs the penalty of the federal law; if he obeys the federal law, he insures the penalty of the state law. manifestly, one authority must be paramount, and when it speaks, the other must be silent." it may be added that in this recent case, following the inevitable trend of events it was the state law upon which the penalty of silence was visited. the ultimate ramifications of a state law under the complexities of modern railway rate adjustment and operation can never be foreseen. it is not simply a question of avoiding conflict between distance tariffs and classifications.[ ] oftentimes the most modest rules and regulations may lead to results affecting commerce over a wide area. the great increase in large cars throughout the west, by contrast with other parts of the country, as traceable to the establishment by missouri of minimum carloads,[ ] is a case in point. we have also already observed how the revised milk laws of massachusetts opened up an issue covering all of new england.[ ] and then there are the various attempts of the railroad commissions, notably texas[ ] and minnesota, to set up schemes of rates which shall concentrate the distributive business of the community in local cities as against the competition of jobbers at a distance. the extreme confusion introduced in matters of classification by conflicting authorities has already reached a point where demand for the substitution of a single uniform schedule for the united states has become wellnigh irresistible.[ ] there are also conflicts respecting laws regulating service, illustrated by the supreme court decision in , holding that the attempt of north carolina to require through fast mail trains to stop at small way stations, was unconstitutional;[ ] and finally, some agreement as to division of accounts between interstate and intrastate business will at once be recognized as an essential to the determination of reasonable rates for through and local service respectively.[ ] from every side, in short, the need of a clear separation of state and federal powers is becoming more and more insistent. the conflict between general and local authority came to a head in , resulting in a violent clash between the federal and state courts.[ ] the worst complication arose in the south, particularly in north carolina and alabama. certain railroads brought suit in the federal courts to annul rates fixed by the state legislatures; and temporary federal injunctions were at once issued suspending the statutes until determination of their constitutionality. popular feeling was much aroused, and local officials sought vigorously to defend states' rights. ticket agents collecting more than the state-prescribed fare, were condemned to the chain gang and the president of the railroad company was arrested. federal judges promptly released all parties by writs of _habeas corpus_. a truce was finally patched up, pending determination of the matter at issue by the supreme court of the united states. the final and inevitable outcome, of course, was a decision by this tribunal, upholding the authority of the general government.[ ] technically, the question in these cases concerned the power of the federal courts to issue temporary injunctions suspending state laws; or, in other words, raising the nice distinction as to whether a suit against a state officer was a suit against the state or not. various other legal technicalities were involved both in north carolina and alabama. the main issue has been dealt with for the future by a special clause of the mann-elkins law of . this provides that a petition for an injunction suspending a state law, shall be heard by three federal judges, one at least of a superior court. five days' notice is required; and there is a direct appeal to the supreme court of the united states. but an injunction, thus issued, is given clear precedence over any statute regarding common carriers emanating from authority of an individual state. the state of missouri has had a trying experience. this occurred in connection with a statute of reducing passenger rates from three to two cents a mile. federal judges promptly granted injunctions against the enforcement of this statute. the state's attorney-general in the meantime cited the railroads into the state courts to show cause for failing to obey. the compromise in this case took the form of an agreement to give the new law a trial of several months in order to test the financial effect of the reduction in fares. then followed an interchange of injunctions, quite characteristic of the old days of the erie railroad, save for the integrity of the judges concerned. to this there then succeeded a decision by the federal circuit court that the rates were confiscatory; although for some reason the two-cent fares and other reduced charges remained practically in effect. controversies similar to this have arisen since in some seven different states. oregon and west virginia took issue as to the validity of two-cent passenger fare laws. in the latter case, the state supreme court held that the statute was not confiscatory. in oregon the lower federal court upheld the state law. the contest from kentucky involved the constitutionality of a state railroad commission act, already held unconstitutional in the united states circuit court. the arkansas appeal had mainly to do with maximum rate laws in relation to physical valuation of property; and in ohio, the validity of a state rate on coal to lake erie was in dispute. the railroad contended that the traffic was interstate commerce, a contention denied by the state authorities.[ ] the minnesota case,--perhaps the most voluminous in its record of all,--had primarily to do with the confiscatory nature of reductions of intrastate rates: and this in turn hinged upon the mode of separating accounts.[ ] a distinct affirmation of federal supremacy has also been had by a circuit court opinion in . all these cases are at this writing ( ) before the supreme court of the united states for decision. the main issue is pooled by agreement between the governors of the seven commonwealths concerned. the outcome cannot fail to be of the utmost importance,--far-reaching in its effect not only upon the regulation of railways but throughout the entire field of constitutional law. such decisions as the supreme court has already rendered in connection with these matters having been entirely favorable to federal authority, undoubtedly in this instance induced the joint action of the state executives for mutual protection and support. there can be no doubt that a sweeping decision, upholding federal authority, will go far to solidify control by the interstate commerce commission. it will also clear the air and greatly simplify the problem of operation by the managements of the railroads, not only in these seven states but all over the united states as well. the delicate balance between state and federal authority over commerce is also in a way to be tested in what promises to become an historic case before the interstate commerce commission,--historic in the sense that its final adjudication by the supreme court of the united states will add a positive contribution to the body of our fundamental law.[ ] it may best be understood by first gaining a clear idea of the nature of the economic grievance. shreveport, louisiana, is situated on the red river, an important tributary of the mississippi, some miles distant from dallas and miles from houston,--both of the latter being important and ambitious provincial distributing points in texas. shreveport, enjoying the benefits of water competition,--probably more keen historically than at present,--was granted correspondingly low carload rates by rail on merchandise from the north and east. these favorable rates were not extended to the two texas cities, inasmuch as water competition was entirely absent. naturally, therefore, an advantage was given to the louisiana city in competition for distributive business in all the intermediate territory and even over in the _hinterland_ in texas. in pursuance of a long-standing policy of encouraging the growth of provincial jobbing points within its own borders,[ ] the texas railroad commission proceeded to overcome this disability by prescribing relatively low rates out of dallas and houston as compared with the rates from shreveport to the same points. it seems even to have gone further and to have interposed positive barriers against the competition of shreveport jobbers in texas territory, by somewhat more than compensating for the low water rates at shreveport. the disparity thus set up may be best illustrated by the following table of charges for approximately equal distances. _rates in cents per hundredweight_ class e ------ from dallas to big sandy, texas miles from shreveport, la., to crow, texas. miles from houston to renova, texas miles from shreveport, la., to angeline, texas miles stated in another way, sixty cents would carry one hundred pounds of first-class traffic some miles out of dallas into eastern texas; while an equal rate out of shreveport into the same texas territory, west bound, was exacted for a haul of only fifty-five miles,--about one-third the distance. the commission decided upon the evidence by a bare majority that these texas tariffs were unduly preferential; and ordered them to be so readjusted that the charges should be the same for equal distances from all three cities regardless of state lines. concerning the minor point that it was lawful for a carrier to equalize conditions as between two competing places by imposing high local rates upon one point in order to offset the advantages as to inbound through rates enjoyed by the other, the commission merely re-affirmed its belief that natural advantages of geographical location could not lawfully thus be nullified.[ ] the opinion rendered in this case is remarkable, less in its economic aspects, concerning which there seems not to have been any great diversity of view, than as regards the divergent views expressed as to the legal authority of the commission to interfere in the matter at all. was undue preference and advantage in the eyes of the law,--the decision being rendered under the third section of the act,--created by the set of circumstances above described? at this point the commission divided, with no fewer than two concurring and two dissenting opinions added to the majority view. according to this last, not only was the power of congress to legislate in such matters paramount, but it was also held that this supreme power to put an end to all forms of local discrimination,--even those created by the act of state authorities,--had been delegated by congress to the interstate commerce commission. and in such instances, wherein conflict arose between federal and state authority, the only rational and possible course, it was held, was for the national government through its administrative agent "to assume its constitutional right to lead." the three separate dissenting opinions are of interest as expressing the need of a definitive pronouncement upon this great question by the supreme court of the united states. not alone as to whether congress intended to delegate authority to the commission to settle such issues, but even the right of congress itself to pass upon them under the federal constitution, were called in question by the members of this administrative board. two dissenters were content to submit the matter to "the august tribunal of the people which is continually sitting" to choose between submitting to such grievances as an alternative for virtually legislating state authority out of existence. the third dissentient view was more thoroughgoing. it not only discovered, legally speaking, no undue discrimination in the circumstances. it pointed out that on reducing the shreveport local tariff "we fix interstate rates by the texas yardstick," whereby "the national government therefore _leads_ by _following_." it concluded by affirming that the commission "should confine itself within the four corners of the law of its creation, usurping neither the legislative function of the congress nor the judicial power of the courts." from all of which it is clear, first, that the supreme court of the united states, having once clearly defined the jurisdiction of the federal government in such matters, it may, in the second place, well be that further amendment of the act to regulate commerce will be in order. * * * * * in conclusion, it is pertinent, apropos of the approaching completion of the panama canal and the intensified interest in a more complete utilization of our internal waterways, to discuss briefly the relation between railroads and carriers by boat. the most stupendous canal projects are being brought forward, in the expectation that they will not only provide for a vast amount of low-grade traffic in themselves, but also that through the forces of competition they will bring about a substantial lowering of charges by railway. the most ambitious of these enterprises is the plan for a "lakes to the gulf" ship canal, even comprehending the dream of a twenty-four foot channel down the course of the mississippi. another and more modest proposition, probably practicable, is the construction of a canal from lake erie to the ohio river. altogether it has been credibly estimated[ ] that the entire scheme for internal improvements of this sort would call for an outlay of not less than $ , , , . before engaging in any experiments upon such a magnificent scale, it is certainly proper to enquire whether the results will be in any way commensurate with their cost. the cost of water carriage, like that of transportation by rail, should at the outset be divided into two distinct parts; one of which varies more or less in proportion to the volume of traffic, while the other, concerned with fixed charges on the investment, maintenance and depreciation, is constant. the latter in other words bears little or no relation to the tonnage transported.[ ] a careful distinction between these two great groups of expenditures is of fundamental importance in any comparison between rail and water carriage. the failure to so distinguish is responsible for much of the fallacious reasoning upon the subject both in and outside of the halls of congress. it is indisputable that mere operating expenses are very much less by boat than by rail, especially when the economies of large craft can be had. the phenomenal development of commerce upon the great lakes, especially for the carriage of iron ore, coal and lumber, is due to this fact.[ ] but, on the other hand, it is equally clear that the second great group of expenditures, particularly the fixed charges due to the enormous first cost of construction, are very much greater by artificial waterways than by rail. the balance between low operating costs and heavy fixed charges, of course, will be struck according to the nature of the particular enterprise. and canals, being entirely artificial, offer the least advantageous opportunity for realization of the economies incident to movement of freight by water.[ ] improved riverways are economical by comparison with canals just in proportion to their lessened first cost; but, on the other hand, mere movement expenses, maintenance and depreciation are apt to be higher according to the strength of the current. in each instance everything depends upon first cost and the consequent burden of fixed charges. this point is almost totally neglected in popular discussion of the subject. internal waterways being, without exception, public enterprises, the burden of interest charges is generally put aside as of no consequence. naturally therefore, these being eliminated, the apparent economy of carriage by water is mirrored forth with great effect.[ ] the experience of germany, so often adduced in favor of water carriage, when examined in the light of the foregoing economic principles, is peculiarly illuminating. much traffic, to be sure, moves apparently with greater cheapness than by rail upon both canals and rivers. considering the tariffs which are based upon movement expenses alone, excluding, that is to say, any adequate return upon the total investment, such methods of transportation seem very economical and highly effective. but when _total_ costs, rather than merely partial ones, are considered, the picture is completely reversed. the dortmund-ems canal, for instance, certainly the most important in germany, represents an investment per mile fifty per cent. greater than the average for german railways.[ ] for the single year , the contributions from the states and cities interested, amounted to a subsidy of about $ , . this financial burden, if distributed over the total tonnage, would make the entire cost of operation nearly one-fourth greater than the average by rail. rivers, as we have seen, possess certain advantages over canals, mainly in proportion to the lessened first cost of their improvement. the rhine is often cited as an example of what the mississippi should be as a great channel of commerce; but again that fatal objection of the first cost and, in the case of the mississippi, of maintenance must always be kept in mind. the rhine like the hudson river or the st. lawrence is, indeed, naturally adapted for carriage by water. its firm banks, gentle gradient and constancy of level, are all elements in its favor. but it is certainly futile to anticipate similar results on the mississippi or its tributaries,--huge and inconstant leviathans as they are, traversing a great alluvial plain devoid of solid foundations of any sort. the fact that today with a nine foot channel, pittsburg makes no use of the ohio river for its shipments of iron and steel, but sends them to the pacific coast by way of new york, certainly does not augur well for the success of even an enlarged riverway in future, except possibly as to coal. of course, if the government is to write off all the original investment, shifting the incidence to the general taxpayers of the country, that is a different matter. but unless the state thus chooses to subsidize the enterprise entirely, the total cost of transportation by rail will continue to be in future as it has been in the past, substantially lower than by the older and now antiquated methods of transportation. if the end in view be the attainment of the lowest possible rates, why not subsidize the railroads directly by this same amount? or even buy them up and operate them for cost? the expense to the taxpayers would be no more; and this plan would unquestionably give far better results. even the electrically-towed canal boat is not to be compared for efficiency in reaching all parts of the country without transhipment, with giant locomotives, low grades, heavy rails and large train loads. the ownership or control of water carriers by railroads constitutes a troublesome feature of present day conditions. peculiar prominence, legislatively speaking, was given to it because of the attempt in to combine legislation dealing with this possible evil with the matter of panama canal tolls and regulations. such control of water lines in competition with railways is matter of public record.[ ] much of the coastwise traffic is thus tied up. the long island sound service of the new haven system, the old dominion company, jointly owned by eastern railroads, and the morgan line and pacific mail company, both parts of the southern pacific system, are notable instances. the same thing is true upon the great lakes, where a practical monopoly of eastbound transportation has been long held by the trunk lines. by refusal to grant through routes and joint rates to the lake lines at buffalo, these railroads have practically throttled the independent water service.[ ] even on the lesser rivers this phenomenon of neutralization of water competition occurs. oftentimes where the bulk of the tonnage, as in transcontinental business, moves by rail, the water lines simply follow the railroads as to rates with a modest differential dependent upon circumstances. but the fact of practical elimination of competition by boat line is well recognized. the concrete shape in which this matter arose in congress was in the form of amendments to the panama canal law of . in the house a bill providing for free passage of all american coastwise vessels was passed by a vote of to , this measure at the same time prohibiting all railroads from owning stock in or otherwise controlling directly or indirectly, any competing steamship lines. the overwhelming non-partisan majority is significant of public sentiment on the question. the senate took a less radical stand in limiting the prohibition of railroad ownership to vessels making use of the panama canal. after prolonged discussion in the conference committee, the more drastic measure was, fortunately, eliminated. from several points of view absolute prohibition of financial relationship between railway and water carriers seems unwise. a practical objection is that it may seriously handicap american roads in competition with canadian carriers. the grand trunk, for example, reaching tidewater on long island sound might lawfully operate a boat line extending its service into new york; whereas the new haven railroad would be forced to dispose of its water lines to the same point, because they were in competition with its railroad service. and it is indisputable that similar injustice to american railroads might elsewhere be brought about. moreover, the undoubted evil of water competition thus neutralized by railroads, might be remedied in other ways. one of these, embodied in recommendations of the port directors of boston in , opposing the more drastic legislation above mentioned, is the prevention of monopoly through public ownership or control of docks and wharfs. for railway ownership or lease of these, as at philadelphia, san francisco, boston and elsewhere, is one of the easiest methods of preventing water competition. the water lines find it physically impossible to secure suitable terminals. and then, finally, there is always the possibility under the now amplified interstate commerce law, of enforcing both reasonable rates and facilities for through shipments, part rail and part water, as exemplified in the flour city case above mentioned. it is not improbable that further amplification of the law, as recommended by the national waterways commission in , may be necessary. probably, in the light of bitter southern pacific experience, it was wise to restrict panama canal traffic to water lines not under railroad control. but any attempt to go farther and absolutely to divorce rail and water lines without provision, even, for the approval of the interstate commerce commission in exceptional cases, might be productive of great harm both to the railroads and the public. * * * * * what will be the probable effect of the opening of the panama canal upon the railroads of the united states? one must consider the nature and volume of transcontinental traffic. the most important fact is that nearly nine-tenths of all transcontinental business at the present time moves by rail.[ ] the tonnage by vessel west bound either around cape horn or by the isthmian routes has, to be sure, doubled within five years to . but by far the larger proportion of the business moves by railroad direct. secondly, it is important to note that a large part of transcontinental traffic consists of an exchange of commodities between the middle west and the pacific coast. over one-half of the rail shipments west bound to pacific terminals comes from west of chicago. less than one-quarter of the through traffic of one of the principal transcontinental roads originated at atlantic coast points. and, inasmuch as water competition is still mainly confined to eastern seaboard territory, the diversion of this middle western business from the rail routes will not be disastrous in amount. in the opposite direction probably an even higher proportion of business is carried by rail, the principal reason being that much of the bulky freight of the pacific slope,--lumber for example,--is consumed throughout the treeless mississippi valley. none of this traffic naturally ever moves by water. it is apparent, therefore, that the effect of opening the panama canal, although great, will be for the most part localized as to results. specifically stated, four distinct changes seem likely to be brought about in the transcontinental situation. the first will probably be a considerable stimulation to the merchants and cities along the atlantic seaboard throughout a zone extending inland, perhaps, as far as cleveland and pittsburg. a substantial drop in steamship rates will be followed, of course, by a corresponding reduction in through rates to the pacific coast. but, on the other hand, it must be borne in mind that at best this tonnage is even today relatively unimportant to the transcontinental railroads. more than two-thirds of their through traffic, as we have just seen, now comes from the middle west. these railways will probably prefer to lose a portion of this atlantic seaboard business rather than to reduce their rates upon perhaps four-fifths of the other traffic, as they would otherwise have to do under the present system of postage stamp rates, from the atlantic seaboard to the west of the missouri river.[ ] the eastern trunk lines, moreover, may probably be relied upon to extend the low seaboard rates somewhat farther inland than at present, rather than to divide low or even lower through all-rail rates from the atlantic to the pacific. next to the atlantic seaboard territory, the so-called intermountain or rocky mountain region, may be expected to benefit substantially from the opening of the canal. it will surely get lower direct rates than at present on all its supplies from the east. atlantic seaboard cities will doubtless also seek to regain some of the business throughout this region, which has been lost to them because of the growth of manufactures in the middle west. the transcontinental railroads will seek to protect their clients in st. louis and chicago as against the merchants in new york and boston, who gain an entrance to denver and spokane through the backdoor, so to say. not only will lower rates prevail, therefore, but there will also probably be a larger proportion of supplies for these mountain states drawn directly from the eastern seaboard. the foregoing prognostication, at first glance, seems to indicate that the middle west is likely to profit less by the opening of this great waterway than other parts of the country. but it should be borne in mind that their hold upon west coast trade is now most firmly established. a part, but certainly only a part, of pacific terminal business may be lost, but this will be more than offset by the growth of intercourse with the intermountain states. surely the transcontinental railroads west from st. paul, chicago, and st. louis may be relied upon to protect the direct exchange of goods of their constituents with the intermountain communities. transcontinental railway rates will, of course, be lowered somewhat. the railways will, however, probably prefer to surrender the lesser portion of their present traffic in order to maintain profitable charges upon the major share of their tonnage. the profit of these railways will doubtless for the moment be lessened; but there can be little question that an enhancement of their prosperity will follow in the long run. the opening of this great new avenue of commerce by sea is bound to stimulate immensely the growth and prosperity of the entire country. and it is beyond question that in any such large development in future, they will all share to a large degree. footnotes: [ ] on state commissions and the conflict with the federal government, consult as follows: . hendrick, f., railway control by commissions. . mclean, s. j., _economic journal_, pp. - . . meyer, b. h., railway legislation in the united states. . railways in the united states in , part ii. united states interstate commerce commission. . dixon, f. h. _political science quarterly_, xx, pp. - . . huebner, g. g. _annals amer. acad. pol sci._, pp. - . in a list of references on railways, published by the congressional library, , special articles on experience by states, such as dixon on nebraska, meyer on wisconsin, million on missouri, etc., will be found under the names of states. even more comprehensive is the collective catalogue prepared by the bureau of railway economics, chicago, . [ ] financial regulation will be discussed in vol. ii. [ ] p. , _supra_. also chaps. xxiii _et seq._ in our railway problems. [ ] vol ii, in connection with capitalization and stock-watering. [ ] on the new pennsylvania commission consult the _quarterly journal of economics_, august, . [ ] "the wisconsin idea," by charles mccarthy, described by van hise in "concentration and control," , p. . [ ] huebner, _op. cit._, p. has carefully tabulated all these laws. [ ] the effect of missouri distance tariffs upon rates over a large part of the middle west is best instanced in the missouri-mississippi rate scheme. _cf._ p. , _supra_, and especially chap. xx in our railway problems, rev. ed. _cf._ also local and through tariffs at p. , _supra_; the wabash decision, p. , _supra_; and the two-cent fare laws, p. , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_, the texarkana, i. c. c. case, may, ; and _idem_, , for arkansas. also _idem_, ; and _idem_, . for later cases, _idem_, ; and _idem_, and . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] u. s., . [ ] p. , _supra_. [ ] _economic bulletin_, of the amer. econ. ass., i; annual rep. i. c. c., , p. ; and _idem_, , pp. and . [ ] u. s., , . [ ] the similar controversy in minnesota regarding iron ore shipments seems to have been settled by voluntary abandonment of the claim to regulate by the state on nov. , . _cf._ minn. r. r. com., rep. [ ] decision reprinted in our railway problems, rev. ed., chap. xxv. see also volume ii. [ ] railroad commission of louisiana, etc.; i.c.c. rep., . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] _ibid._, p. . a number of other cases are cited and compared by hammond, rate theories, etc., , p. _et seq._ [ ] the most careful examination of this subject is in h. g. moulton's waterways _versus_ railways, . [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_. [ ] _cf._ the final report of the u. s. industrial commission, , vol. xix. [ ] _cf._ the data published by the bureau of railway economics, in _bulletin _, , on the relative cost of transportation upon the erie canal. [ ] _cf._ p. , _supra_, on competition by river in the south. [ ] _cf._ moulton, _op. cit._ [ ] _cf._ pp. , and , _supra_. data will be found in the u. s. industrial commission report, - , and the senate (elkins) committee, . [ ] the so-called flour city case, recently decided in by the i. c. c. (not yet reported), held it to be the duty of these railroads to provide facilities for the handling of flour on through shipments of this sort. [ ] an excellent review of the situation in _railway age gazette_, liii, pp. and . [ ] _cf._ pp. and , _supra_. appendix i [illustration: _standard oil routing --via-- grand junction, tenn._] appendix ii [illustration] appendix iii the following good references on the subject-matter of chapter i will be found serviceable: . bishop, a. l. the state works of pennsylvania; trans., connecticut academy of arts and sciences, xiii, pp. - ; and _yale review_, , pp. - . . paine, a. e. the granger movement in illinois (bibliography); studies, university of illinois, i, pp. - . with this should be compared, the effects of the granger acts, _journal of political economy_, , pp. - . index a accounts, , (_see also_ publicity) act to regulate commerce (_see_ contents of chapters as follows: original law, xiii; emasculation, xiv; hepburn amendments, xv and xvi; mann-elkins act, xvii; and subsequent details, xviii, xix), congressional history, ; outline, acworth, , adams, h. c., , agreements (_see_ pools) alabama, and federal laws, alabama midland case, (map), , , , , (map) anthracite coal (_see also_ coal), tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , ; federal case, arkansas, and federal laws, ashburn case, (map), atchison, rebates, attorney-general, average train load (_see_ train load) b back loading (_see also_ direction), baltimore, baltimore & ohio, railroad, , ; car supply case, banana rates, basing point system (_see also_ contents of chapter xi, south, etc.), compared with transcontinental basing line system, ; main objections to, ; citation of cases, ; economic defence, basing points, enumerated and defined, ; distinction between natural and artificial, , beef, exports in , ; and cattle rates, beef trust, betterments, bishop, a. l., bituminous coal (_see also_ coal), tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , blanchard, s. r., blanket rates (_see_ postage stamp rates, flat rates, etc.), board of uniform freight classification, bogue differentials, bond, bonds, , books and papers (_see_ witnesses) boston, boston & albany railroad, brimson case, brown case, buffalo, competition with duluth, burnham, hanna, munger case, by-products, marketing of, c california, wheat and kansas flour, ; raisin culture and rates, ; fruits, ; lemon case, ; coastwise competition, camden and amboy, canadian pacific differentials, canadian railroads, , canals (_see also_ contents of chapter xx), early interest in, ; early construction of, ; in the west, , supersession in ' s, , capital investment, as affecting operating costs, , capitalization, and rates, capital stock, carload rates (_see_ contents of chapter ix), few in south, ; theoretical basis, ; mixed, , ; in transcontinental system, carmack amendment, cars, larger in ' s, ; economy of large, ; capacity and classification, ; complaints as to supply, car supply cases, , cartage case, , , cattle (_see texas_, etc.), exports in , , ; and beef rates, ; legislation as to carriage, ; eveners, ; rates, , centralization, central pacific, central traffic association, central yellow pine association case, chandler, chanute, charging what the traffic will bear (_see_ value of service) chattanooga case, (map), , , , cheese, chesapeake and ohio canal, chesapeake & ohio railroad case, chicago terminal charge case, china, rates on, cincinnati freight bureau case, (_see also_ maximum freight rate case), ; as a part of southern problem, ; supreme court opinion, ; commerce court revival, circuitous competition, cities, relative size in , ; rivalry between, ; competition of large, ; location in trunk-line zones, citrus fruit, civil war, effect on transportation, ; primitive conditions, classification (_see_ contents of chapter ix), and relativity of rates, ; and use of commodity, ; cost _v._ value of service, ; historical development, ; according to use, ; in practice empirical, ; and tariffs interlock, classification committees, conflicting rules and territory, coal (_see also_ commodity clause), early shipments by river, ; rates, , , coal car cases, coastwise traffic, , colorado fuel and iron case, commerce court (_see_ contents of chapters xvii, xviii), ; jurisdiction, ; docket, ; congressional history, ; intermountain rate decision, commercial competition (_see_ competition of markets), in the oyster case, ; in trunk-line system, commission, federal _v._ state, commodities, increase in ratings, commodity clause, , commodity rates, ; and law of joint cost, , , , ; _v._ class rates in transcontinental traffic, common point system, company cars, competition, as affecting rate sheets, ; three sorts of, ; of routes, ; of facilities, ; of markets, ; differences between trade and transportation, ; hadley's illustration, ; no abandonment of field, ; nature of, in local discrimination, ; of routes, which line makes the rate? ; between eastern and western cities, ; less for passenger fares, competition of markets, two varieties of, ; as applied to jobbing business, ; as distinct from rivalry of routes, ; in transcontinental rates, , complaints decline in number, ; under hepburn act, ; nature under hepburn act, ; none too petty, concentration points, conducting transportation, in operating costs, , ; declining cost of, as related to capital investment, conflict (_see_ contents of chapter xx), of state and federal authority, congestion of traffic, in -' and in -' , , , consolidation, constitutional questions, as to act of , ; in hepburn act, , ; as to amended long and short haul clause, ; as to minimum rates, constructive mileage, cooley, t. m., , cordele, alabama case, corn, and flour rates, cost keeping, cost of carriage, by highway heavy, ; declining by , ; as affected by distance , cost of service, and value of service compared, - ; objections to, ; but essential, ; not mere distance important, ; in coal cases, cotton piece goods, rates, , , , , cotton, rate controversy in , ; rates, , , ; tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , counselman case, courts, relation to commission in , ; original law, ; unsatisfactory after as to evidence, ; record in appeal cases, ; judicial review in , ; objections to judicial control, ; indefinite basis of review, ; futility of procedure, ; new mode of procedure on appeal, ; broad _v._ narrow review again, coxe brothers coal case, creameries, credit mobilier, cullom committee, , , , cullom, s. m., cumberland road, d dairy products, damage claims, , danville case, , decade -' , ; -' , decentralization, delaware and hudson, delaware, lackawanna and western coal company, density of traffic, denver, des moines committee, detroit, differentials (_see also_ contents of chapter xi), ; bogue, , , ; canadian, , , ; in intermountain rate cases, direction of traffic, , discriminations (_see_ contents of chapters vi and vii), complaints in , distance, as a factor in tariff construction, ; subordinated in united states, ; disregard of, produces inelasticity, ; subordinated to cost of service, ; relative unimportance, ; excessive transportation, ; attempt to reform southern system, ; nullified in transcontinental rates, distributing business (_see also_ jobbing business), in texas, dixon, f. h., , , dollar mark, dortmund-ems canal, dressed meats, tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , duluth, competition with buffalo, dumping, durham, n. c., case, e earnings, during panic of , ; statistics of gross and net since , ; as affected by level of rates, ; gross and net compared, ; comparison with decade -' , ; monthly variation, eaton, j. s., eau claire lumber case, , economic wastes, theory and practice, elkins, s., elkins committee, elkins law (_see_ contents of chapter xv), application to standard oil cases, ; prosecutions under, ; main provisions, equipment, supply, erie canal, , , ; still important in , ; decline after , ; plans for enlargement, , erie railroad, early importance, esch-townshend bill, eveners, evidence (_see also_ witnesses), powers as to, ; as to rebates, ; immunity bath, ex-lake grain, expedition act, in , expenditures (_see also_ fixed charges, maintenance of way, etc.), earliest classification of, ; primary division into constant and variable, , ; revised grouping in , ; statistical distribution, ; as affected by seasons and circumstances, - ; according to nature of road, ; dependent on density of traffic, ; constant and variable ever changing, ; under curtailment of traffic, ; inseparable as between freight and passengers, ; affected by betterment charges, expenses, ; separation of freight and passenger, ; comparison with tonnage and revenue, export grain, beginning after civil war, ; after , ; _via_ gulf ports, export rates, on wheat and flour, , - exports (_see_ beef, cattle, wheat, etc.) f facilities, competition of, federal authority (_see_ contents of chapter xx) federal courts (_see_ courts) fertilizer rates, fines, , , fink, albert, , , fixed charges, ; _v._ operating expenses, flat rates, example, ; evils in, , - flour, and wheat rates, ; for export, ; domestic, ; and corn, foraker, j. h., fort worth, fourteenth amendment, freight tonnage (_see_ tonnage) fuel cost, furniture rates, g galveston, , , , , ; cotton meal case, general expenses, , georgia railroad commission cases, germany, unified operation in, , glass, , goodrich transit co., case, gould-huntington, agreement, gould, jay, in - , , grain elevator cases, grain rates (_see_ corn, wheat, etc.), grain, tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , grand junction, tennessee, case, grand trunk railway, , granger movement, , , great western railroad, green lines, , gross revenue (_see_ earnings), gulf ports, h hadley, a. t., , , , harlan, justice, harriman, e. h., , harriman system, hay, tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , hearst case, hepburn act (_see_ contents of chapters xv and xvi), congressional history, ; provisions, ; effects, (hepburn) committee, , hides, highways, early interest in, hill lines, hillsdale ice case, (map) hogs, hoosac tunnel, household goods, houston, huebner, , hutchinson salt case, i illinois central car supply case, , illinois central railroad, construction, immunity bath, import rates, , , , imprisonment, , , improvements, in operation, increasing returns, law as applied to railroads, - ; law of, qualified, ; as tested practically, ; law of, obscured since , ; final conclusion as to, industrial combinations, and rebates, , industrial railroads (_see also_ terminal railroads), , - , injunction, , , , , , ink, intermountain rate case (_see also_ transcontinental rates and contents of chapter xix), ; history, ; new orders, ; commerce court opinion, internal waterways (_see also_ contents of chapter xx, canals, rivers, etc.), international harvester case, interstate commerce act (_see_ act to regulate commerce) interstate commerce commission (_see also_ chapters xiv, xv, xvi, xvii, xviii, xix, courts, procedure, etc.), reduction in tariffs filed, ; created by law, ; record on appeal cases, ; rate-making power demanded, ; complaints analyzed since , ; dissenting opinions in shreveport case, intrinsic reasonableness, iowa development company, iron pyrites, iron rates, j jobbing business, market competition in, ; car load rates, - ; in the south, ; decentralization, ; in transcontinental rates, ; and pacific rates, joint cost, ; two limitations upon the law, joint rate committee, joint rates, judicial review (_see_ courts) k kansas, wheat and california flour, ; meal and texas corn, keeping everyone in business, , kentucky and indiana bridge case, kindel case, l la follette, , , lake shore road, lake traffic, lakes to the gulf canal, land grants, illinois central, ; others, lemons, rates on, , ; rate case, lighterage cases, lime, rates, lincoln, nebraska, case, live stock (_see also_ cattle, etc.), tonnage and ton-mile revenue, , local discrimination (_see_ contents of chapters vii and xix and _also_ long and short haul clause), definition, ; before , local rates, in the south, ; in texas, ; and revenue per ton mile, ; reduced after , , ; the shreveport case, local traffic, as affecting averages, ; proportion of, ; in basing point system, locomotives, ; increased power of, logging in transit, long and short haul clause (_see_ local discrimination and _also_ contents of chapter xix), tariff structure, obviating waste, ; final text, , ; congressional history, ; english cases, ; emasculation by courts, ; amendment in , long line, defined, ; competition, louisiana rates, louisville & nashville, louisville & nashville case, , , , , louisville properties company, lumber, competitive rates for, ; and wood pulp rates, , ; tonnage and ton-mile revenue, ; stakes, lumber rates, pacific coast cases, , , , ; tap line case, ; logging in transit, ; from georgia, m macgraham, maintenance of equipment, , , maintenance of way, expenses analyzed, , , mann-elkins act (_see_ contents of chapter xvii), congressional history, ; provisions, manufactures, westward drift in ' s, market, definition of, markets, competition of, , ; consuming capacity as affecting carload rules, massachusetts railroad commission, , maximum freight rate case (_see also_ cincinnati freight bureau case), , - , maximum rates, constitutionality of, ; state laws, memphis, meyer, b. h., , meyer, h. r., middlemen (_see_ jobbing business) midnight tariffs, mileage, statistics since , milk rate cases, in new york, , ; in new england, milling in transit, minimum carload rates (_see_ contents of chapter ix), minimum rates, , minnesota, and federal laws, misquotation of rates, misrouting, mississippi river, tonnage on , ; declining traffic in ' s, missouri, carload minimum rates, ; and federal laws, missouri-mississippi rate scheme, , , mixed carloads, , monopoly, resulting from rebates, ; distrust of, in , montgomery, alabama, case, (map) morawetz, v., munn case, n nashville, nashville grain exchange, natural market and territory, net earnings (_see_ earnings), nevada, newcomb, h. t., new england, oil rates, ; milk rates, ; common point system, new orleans, , , , new york board of trade case, , , new york central railroad, construction, ; importance in ' s, ; compared with pennsylvania railroad, new york city (_see also_ differentials, exports, etc.), importance in export trade, ; supremacy threatened, nickel plate line, north carolina, and federal laws, northern pacific railroad, o official classification committee, ohio river, tonnage in , open car system, operation (_see also_ expenditures, etc.), improvement in ' s, ; recent technical improvements in, ; in , orange rates, , , orange routing case, , osborne case, oyster case, p pacific coast (_see also_ transcontinental rates, etc.), early trade with, ; rapid development in ' s, ; lumber cases, ; routes by sea and rail, panama canal, , panic, of , ; of , ; of , par value, parallelling, passenger traffic, , passes, pennsylvania, internal improvements, ; state works, pennsylvania railroad, , ; illustration of theory of rates, ; coal supply scandals, ; and steel companies, performance, of equipment improved, periodicity of expenditures, personal discrimination (_see_ contents of chapter vi), ; philosophy of, ; as creating monopoly, - ; distinction from general rate cutting, philadelphia (_see_ differentials, exports, etc.), physical valuation, pools, before , , ; obviating waste, ; prohibited, , ; after , population, westward drift in ' s, portland gateway case, , portland, oregon, "postage-stamp rates" (_see_ flat rates), , powder trust, prices, and rates, , , , , , primary commercial competition, private car lines, , procedure (_see_ courts, witnesses, etc., and _also_ commerce court), under hepburn act, , proctor and gamble case, produce exchange case, pro-rating, , , , , public aid, publicity, , pueblo, pulp rates, r railroad construction, early in southern states, ; sudden expansion in , ; new north and south lines, ; decline during civil war, ; rapid during the ' s, ; climax in ' s, ; since , ; comparison with europe, railroad mileage (_see_ mileage) rails, steel introduced, , , rate advances, complaints since , ; suspension in , rate-making power, , ; under hepburn law, ; constitutional aspects, , ; suspension of tariffs, rates (_see also_ prices, etc., and contents of chapter xii), decline in ' s, ; intricacy of, ; on raw and finished materials, ; export wheat and flour, ; domestic wheat and flour, ; beef and cattle, ; as between by-products, ; cases of substitution, ; general protective policy, ; under changing conditions, ; insurance function, ; elasticity of, ; rigidity, ; as promoting economic unrest, ; stability desirable, ; use of classification in advances, ; growing distinction between c. l. and l. c. l., ; lime, ; glass, ; trunk line system, ; cotton, ; high level in the south, ; no demand for reduction in, , ; movement since , ; actual index, ; and prices, , , , ; rise of, , ; and capitalization, ; advances of , ; absolute _v._ relative, ; prescribing minimum, rate wars (_see_ contents of chapter xii), during the ' s, ; during the ' s, ; dressed beef, ; historical survey of, reagan, judge, , reasonable rates (_see_ contents of chapter vii), ; in intermountain rate case, rebates (_see_ personal discrimination and _also_ elkins amendments), , , ; standard oil cases, ; novelty of prohibition, ; first prosecutions after , , red rock fuel case, refrigerator cars, rentals, reports (_see_ accounts), restrictive rate case, revenue (_see_ earnings), and rates in , revenue per ton mile (_see_ contents of chapter xii), decline during rate wars, ; as related to earnings and expenses, , ; dilution of, ; how computed, ; advantages, ; on different roads, ; as influenced by nature of traffic, ; as affected by distance, ; and volume of traffic, review by courts (_see_ courts) rice cases, rivers (_see_ contents of chapter xx), early improvement of, ; still important in , ; tonnage in , ; declining importance in ' s, , ; competition in the south, , rockefeller, john d., roosevelt, president, , roundabout routing, , routes, competition of, ; new law as to, routing (_see also_ contents of chapter viii), complaints, , rules, growing complexity in classification, s st. cloud case, (map), st. louis business men's league case, , , , st. louis, rates under three classifications, salt lake city, , savannah fertilizer case, savannah naval stores case, (map), sax, scientific management, , seaboard differentials (_see_ differentials), secondary commercial competition, securities commission, sherman anti-trust act, , shoes, short line, defined, shreveport, louisiana, case, "similar circumstances and conditions" (_see_ long and short haul clause), smalley, h. s., , , social circle case, , , , , south (_see_ contents of chapter xi), system of rates into, ; high local rates, ; classification conditions, ; commodity rates, ; jobbers in, south carolina railroad tariff, southern basing point (_see_ basing point system) southern classification (_see_ contents of chapter ix) southern classification committee, southern pacific railroad, construction, ; water competition, , southern railway & steamship association, special rates (_see also_ commodity rates), as distinct from class rates, ; and joint cost, , speculation, rampant in ' s, spokane, , , standard oil company, rebates on tank cars, ; allowances on sale of supplies, ; later forms of rebates, , , - , , state railroad commissions, , stock, , stock-watering, , stock-watering laws, storage, subsidies and public appropriations, sugar, rate war, ; rates, sunday creek coal case, supreme court (_see also_ courts), delay in appeal cases, ; divided opinions, surplus, statistics since , suspension of rates, t taft, president, tank cars, tap line decision, tarbell, miss, tariffs, construction of, ; too complex and numerous, ; concealment of rebates in, ; as distinct from classification, ; classification as affecting, ; reduction in number filed, ; as interlocked with classification, ; and rates, ; new law concerning, taussig, f. w., tax, economic waste, telegraph companies, telephone companies, terminal cost, terminal railways, as means of rebating, ; complicated phases of, , testimony (_see_ witnesses) texas cattle raisers case, , , texas, corn-meal and kansas corn, ; rate system, , theory (_see_ contents of chapters ii and iii), of classification, through freight lines, through rates, , , , , tobacco, tobacco trust, ton mileage, statistics since , ton-mile revenue (_see_ revenue per ton mile), tonnage, statistics since , ; distribution by years, ; increasing diversification, ; classified for , traffic density (_see_ density of traffic), traffic expenses, traffic (_see_ tonnage), trunk line conditions in , ; nature of, as affecting ton-mile revenue, ; by panama canal, train load, ; limit to economy of, train mile, cost and revenue per, transcontinental classification committee, transcontinental rates (_see_ contents of chapters xi and xix), rigidity, ; compared with basing point system, , ; general high level, ; demoralization after , ; commodity _v._ class rates, ; future traffic, troy case (_see_ alabama midland case), (map), , , , (map), trunk line rate system (_see_ contents of chapter x), as related to separate line tariffs, trusts, and rebates, ; , two-for-one-rule, u under classification, uniform classification (_see_ contents of chapter ix), ; objections and advantages, uniform classification committee, union pacific railroad, , union stockyards company, v valuation, value of service, and cost of service compared, - ; objection to, ; dynamic force in, ; inadequate alone, ; in classification, ; in coal cases, vanderbilt, commodore, volume of traffic (_see_ tonnage, etc.), as an element in cost, w wabash, st. louis, & pacific railway case, wages, wagons, , wars (_see_ rate wars) waste (_see_ contents of chapter viii), in transportation, ; six causes of, ; five results, ; remedy for, water carriage, circuitous routing, ; cost compared with rail, ; controlled by railways, water carriers, failure to regulate, water competition, by coastwise steamers to chattanooga, , , ; in the south, , , , ; by sea in pacific coast traffic, ; new law covering, , ; and new long and short haul clause, ; neutralized in pacific rates, ; _v._ market competition in pacific cases, waterways (_see_ contents of chapter xx and _also_ canals, rivers, etc.), west, classification conditions, western & atlantic road, western classification committee, west shore railroad, what the traffic will bear (_see_ value of service), illustrated by rate sheets, wheat, and flour rates, for export, ; domestic, ; rates, wichita cases, willamette lumber case, , windom committee, , , , wisconsin, two cent fare decision, ; investigation as to rebates, ; the "wisconsin idea," witnesses, , , , wooden pipe rates, wool rates, , , y youngstown case, , , , z zone rates, trunk line territory, (map), ; transcontinental, (map) transcriber's notes: simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were silently corrected. anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed. italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_. bold markup is enclosed in =equals=. p. sections , , , , & were skipped in original. [illustration: the "switzerland of america" lehigh valley railroad.] the "switzerland of america" lehigh valley railroad. copyright j. murray jordan s. penn square philadelphia, pa. [illustration: musconetcong curve.] [illustration: lehigh valley from piccadilly hill.] [illustration: lehigh university, south bethlehem.] [illustration: rockdale cut.] [illustration: mauch chunk.] [illustration: onoko falls, glen onoko.] [illustration: switchback curve, quakake.] [illustration: cliff view, summit of alleghenies.] [illustration: rocky bluff, near falls station.] [illustration: view east of standing stone.] [illustration: red rocks, near allen's.] [illustration: towanda from table rock.] [illustration: cavern cascade, watkins glen.] [illustration: cornell university and cayuga lake, ithaca.] [illustration: lake front, geneva.] [illustration: pierce's pavilion, clifton springs.] [illustration: main street, rochester.] [illustration: lower genesee falls, near rochester.] [illustration: hemlock lake.] [illustration: longwood excursion grounds.] [illustration: brink of american falls, niagara.] [illustration: niagara falls from the bridge.] * * * * * transcriber's notes: this work presents a series of full page black-and-white photographs depicting various scenes along the lehigh valley railroad (in the eastern parts of the u.s. states of pennsylvania and new york), bound with an illustrated front cover. in the html version the "full-size" linked illustration files are % of the size as scanned, otherwise they would each be approximately m each, and not well-suited for many mobile devices. a list of illustrations has been added as a convenience. aside from the title on the cover--and the publisher and copyright information on its verso--the only text contained within is the illustration captions. there is no body text. [a transcriber's note follows the text.] the british state telegraphs [illustration: macmillan company logo] the british state telegraphs a study of the problem of a large body of civil servants in a democracy by hugo richard meyer sometime assistant professor of political economy in the university of chicago, author of "government regulation of railway rates;" "municipal ownership in great britain" new york the macmillan company london: macmillan & co., ltd. _all right reserved_ copyright, by the macmillan company set up and electrotyped. published october the mason-henry press syracuse, new york to my brother preface in order to keep within reasonable limits the size of this volume, the author has been obliged to reserve for a separate volume the story of the telephone in great britain. the series of books promised in the preface to the author's _municipal ownership in great britain_ will, therefore, number not four, but five. contents chapter i introduction scope of the inquiry. chapter ii the argument for the nationalization of the telegraphs the indictment of the telegraph companies. the argument from foreign experience. the promise of reduced tariffs and increased facilities. the alleged financial success of foreign state telegraphs: belgium, switzerland and france. the argument from english company experience. chapter iii the alleged break-down of laissez-faire early history of telegraphy in great britain. the adequacy of private enterprise. mr. scudamore's loose use of statistics. mr. scudamore's test of adequacy of facilities. telegraphic charges and growth of traffic in great britain. the alleged wastefulness of competition. the telegraph companies' proposal. chapter iv the purchase of the telegraphs upon inadequate consideration the disraeli ministry estimates at $ , , to $ , , the cost of nationalization. political expediency responsible for government's inadequate investigation. the government raises its estimate to $ , , ; adding that it could afford to pay $ , , to $ , , . mr. goschen, m. p., and mr. leeman, m. p., warn the house of commons against the government's estimates, which had been prepared by mr. scudamore. the gladstone ministry, relying on mr. scudamore, estimates at $ , , the "reversionary rights" of the railway companies, for which rights the state ultimately paid $ , , to $ , , . chapter v none of mr. scudamore's financial forecasts were realized the completion of the telegraph system costs $ , , ; mr. scudamore's successive estimates had been respectively $ , , and $ , , . mr. scudamore's brilliant forecast of the increase of traffic under public ownership. mr. scudamore's appalling blunder in predicting that the state telegraphs would be self-supporting. operating expenses on the average exceed . % of the gross earnings, in contrast to mr. scudamore's estimate of % to %. the annual telegraph deficits aggregate . % of the capital invested in the plant. the financial failure of the state telegraphs is not due to the large price paid to the telegraph companies and railway companies. the disillusionment of an eminent advocate of nationalization, mr. w. stanley jevons. chapter vi the party leaders ignore their fear of an organized civil service mr. disraeli, chancellor of the exchequer, opposes the enfranchisement of the civil servants. mr. gladstone, leader of the opposition, assents to enfranchisement, but expresses grave apprehensions of evil results. chapter vii the house of commons is responsible for the financial failure of the state telegraphs sir s. northcote, chancellor of the exchequer in mr. disraeli's ministry of to , is disillusioned. the state telegraphs become self-supporting in - . the house of commons, under the leadership of dr. cameron, m. p., for glasgow, overrides the ministry and cuts the tariff almost in two. in - the state telegraphs would again have become self-supporting, had not the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, increased wages and salaries. the necessity of making money is the only effective incentive to sound management. chapter viii the state telegraphs subsidize the newspaper press why the newspaper press demanded nationalization. mr. scudamore gives the newspaper press a tariff which he deems unprofitable. estimates of the loss involved in transmitting press messages, made by responsible persons in the period from to . the state telegraphs subsidize betting on horse races. chapter ix the post office employees press the house of commons for increases of wages and salaries british government's policy as to wages and salaries for routine work, as distinguished from work requiring a high order of intelligence. the fawcett revision of wages, . lord frederick cavendish, financial secretary to the treasury, on pressure exerted on members of parliament by the telegraph employees. sir s. a. blackwood, permanent secretary to the post office, on the fawcett revision of . evidence as to civil servants' pressure on members of parliament presented to the royal commission on civil establishments, . the raikes revision of - ; based largely on the report of the committee on the indoor staff, which committee had recommended increases in order "to end agitation." the earl compton, m. p., champions the cause of the postal employees in ; and moves for a select committee in . sir james fergusson, postmaster general in the salisbury ministry, issues an order against post office servants "endeavoring to extract promises from any candidate for election to the house of commons with reference to their pay or duties." the gladstone ministry rescinds sir james fergusson's order. mr. macdonald's motion, in , for a house of commons select committee. mr. kearley's motion, in . the government compromises, and appoints the so-called tweedmouth inter-departmental committee. chapter x the tweedmouth committee report the government accepts all recommendations made by the committee. sir albert k. rollit, one of the principal champions in the house of commons of the postal employees, immediately follows with a motion "intended to reflect upon the report of the tweedmouth committee." mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, intimates that it may become necessary to disfranchise the civil servants. the treasury accepts the recommendations of the so-called norfolk-hanbury committee. the average of expenses on account of wages and salaries rises from . cents per telegram in - , to . cents in - , concomitantly with an increase in the number of telegrams from , , to , , . chapter xi the post office employees continue to press the house of commons for increases of wages and salaries the post office employees demand "a new judgment on the old facts." mr. s. woods' motion, in february, . mr. steadman's motions in february and june, . mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, points out that the postal employees are demanding a house of commons select committee because under such a committee "the agitation and pressure, now distributed over the whole house, would be focussed and concentrated upon the select committee." mr. steadman's motion, in april, . mr. bayley's motion, in june, . mr. balfour, prime minister, confesses that the debate has filled him "with considerable anxiety as to the future of the public service if pressure of the kind which has been put upon the government to-night is persisted in by the house." captain norton's motion, in april, . the government compromises by appointing the bradford committee of business men. mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, states that members from both sides of the house "seek from him, in his position as postmaster general, protection for them in the discharge of their public duties against the pressure sought to be put upon them by employees of the post office." he adds: "even if the machinery by which our select committees are appointed were such as would enable us to secure a select committee composed of thoroughly impartial men who had committed themselves by no expression of opinion, i still think that it would not be fair to pick out fifteen members of this house and make them marked men for the purpose of such pressure as is now distributed more or less over the whole assembly." chapter xii the bradford committee report the bradford committee ignores its reference. it recommends measures that would cost $ , , a year, in the hope of satisfying the postal employees, who had asked for $ , , a year. lord stanley, postmaster general, rejects the bradford committee's report; but grants increases in wages aggregating $ , , a year. chapter xiii the house of commons select committee on post office servants, the post office civil servants' unions demand the adoption of the bradford committee report. lord stanley, postmaster general, applies the words "blackmail" and "blood-sucking" to the postal employees' methods. captain norton moves for a house of commons select committee. mr. austen chamberlain, chancellor of the exchequer, in vain asks the opposition party's support for a select committee to which shall be referred the question of the feasibility of establishing a permanent, non-political commission which shall establish general principles for settling disputes between the civil servants and the government of the day. captain norton's motion is lost, nine ministerial supporters voting for it, and only two opposition members voting against it. mr. j. henniker heaton's appeal to the british public for "an end to political patronage." the post office employees, in the campaign preceding the general election of january, , induce nearly of the parliamentary candidates who succeeded in being elected, to pledge themselves to vote for a house of commons select committee on post office wages. immediately upon the opening of parliament, the sir h. campbell-bannerman liberal ministry gives the post office employees a house of commons select committee. chapter xiv the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, curtails the executive's power to dismiss incompetent and redundant employees the old practice of intervention by members of parliament on behalf of individual civil servants with political influence has given way to the new practice of intervention on behalf of the individual civil servant because he is a member of a civil service union. the new practice is the more insidious and dangerous one, for it means class bribery. the doctrine that entrance upon the state's service means "something very nearly approaching to a freehold provision for life." official testimony of various prominent civil servants, especially of mr. (now lord) welby, permanent secretary to the treasury from to ; and mr. t. h. farrer, permanent secretary to board of trade from to . the costly practice of giving pensions no solution of the problem of getting rid of unsatisfactory public servants. chapter xv the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, curtails the executive's power to promote employees according to merit the civil service unions oppose promotion by merit, and demand promotion by seniority. testimony presented before: select committee on civil services expenditure, ; select committee on post office, ; royal commission to inquire into the civil establishments, ; from statement made in house of commons, in , by mr. raikes, postmaster general; and before the so-called tweedmouth committee, . instances of intervention by members of house of commons on behalf of civil servants who have not been promoted, or are afraid they shall not be promoted. chapter xvi members of the house of commons intervene on behalf of public servants who have been disciplined evidence presented before: the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, ; and the tweedmouth committee, . instances of intervention by members of parliament. mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, in april, , states that at a low estimate one-third of the time of the highest officials in the post office is occupied with petty questions of discipline and administrative detail, because of the intervention of members of parliament. he adds that it is "absolutely deplorable" that time and energy that should be given to the consideration of large questions must be given to matters that "in any private business would be dealt with by the officer on the spot." sir john eldon gorst's testimony before the committee on national expenditure, . chapter xvii the spirit of the civil service the doctrine of an "implied contract" between the state and each civil servant, to the effect that the state may make no change in the manner of administering its great trading departments without compensating every civil servant however remotely or indirectly affected. the hours of work may not be increased without compensating every one affected. administrative "mistakes" may not be corrected without compensating the past beneficiaries of such mistakes. violation of the order that promotion must not be mechanical, or by seniority alone, may not be corrected without compensating those civil servants who would have been benefitted by the continued violation of the aforesaid order. the state may not demand increased efficiency of its servants without compensating every one affected. persons filling positions for which there is no further need, must be compensated. each civil servant has a "vested right" to the maintenance of such rate of promotion as obtains when he enters the service, irrespective of the volume of business or of any diminution in the number of higher posts consequent upon administrative reforms. the telegraph clerks demand that their chances of promotion be made as good as those of the postal clerks proper, but they refuse to avail themselves of the opportunity to pass over to the postal side proper of the service, on the ground that the postal duties proper are more irksome than the telegraph duties. members of parliament support recalcitrant telegraph clerks whom the government is attempting to force to learn to perform postal duties, in order that it may reap advantage from having combined the postal service and the telegraphs in . special allowances may not be discontinued; and vacations may not be shortened, without safeguarding all "vested interests." further illustrations of the hopelessly unbusinesslike spirit of the rank and file of the public servants. chapter xviii the house of commons stands for extravagance authoritative character of the evidence tendered by the several secretaries of the treasury. testimony, in , of lord welby, who had been in the treasury from to . testimony of sir george h. murray, permanent secretary to the post office and sometime private secretary to the late prime minister, mr. gladstone. testimony of sir ralph h. knox, in the war office since . testimony of sir edward hamilton, assistant secretary to the treasury since . testimony of mr. r. chalmers, a principal clerk in the treasury; and of sir john eldon gorst. mr. gladstone's tribute to joseph hume, the first and last member of the house of commons competent to criticize effectively the details of expenditure of the state. evidence presented before the select committee on civil services expenditure, . chapter xix conclusion index the british state telegraphs chapter i introduction scope of the inquiry the story of the british state telegraphs divides itself into two parts: the purchase of the telegraphs, in , from the companies that had established the industry of telegraphy; and the subsequent conduct of the business of telegraphy by the government. the first part is covered by chapters ii to vi; the second part by the remaining chapters. both parts contain a record of fact and experience that should be of service to the american public at the present moment, when there is before them the proposal to embark upon the policy of the municipal ownership and operation of the so-called municipal public service industries. the second part, however, will interest a wider body of readers than the first part; for it deals with a question that is of profound interest and importance at all times--the problem of a large body of civil servants in a democracy. chapters ii to vi tell of the demand of the british chambers of commerce, under the leadership of the chamber of commerce of edinburgh, for lower charges on telegraphic messages; the appointment by the government of mr. scudamore, second secretary of the post office, to report upon the relative merits of private telegraphs and state telegraphs; the character of the report submitted by mr. scudamore; and the reasons why that report--upon which rested the whole argument for nationalization--was not adequately considered either by the select committee of the house of commons, to whom the bill for the purchase of the telegraphs was referred, or by the house of commons itself. the principal reason was that the agitation carried on by the chambers of commerce and the newspaper press[ ] proved so successful that both political parties committed themselves to nationalization before mr. scudamore's report had been submitted to searching criticism. under the circumstances, the disraeli ministry was unwilling to go into the general election of without having made substantial progress toward the nationalization of the telegraphs. in order to remove opposition to its bill in the house of commons, the disraeli ministry conceded practically everything asked by the telegraph companies, the railway companies and the newspaper press.[ ] the result was that the government paid a high price absolutely for the telegraphs. whether the price was too high, relatively speaking, is difficult to say. in the first place, the price paid--about $ , , --was well within the sum which the government had said it could afford to pay, to wit, $ , , to $ , , . in the second place, the government acquired an industry "ready-made," with an established staff of highly trained men educated in the school of competition--the only school that thus far has proved itself capable of bringing out the highest efficiency that is in men. in the second place, the government acquired the sole right to transmit messages by electricity--a right which subsequent events have proved to cover all future inventions, such as the transmission of messages by means of the telephone and of wireless telegraphy. finally, in spite of the wastefulness that characterized the government's operation of the telegraphs from the day the telegraphs were taken over, the telegraph department in the year - became able to earn more than the interest upon the large capital invested in the telegraphs. but from that year on the government not only became more and more wasteful, but also lost control over the charges made to the public for the transmission of messages. it is instructive to note, in this latter connection, that the control over the rates to be charged to the public was taken out of the hands of the government by dr. cameron, who represented in the house of commons the people of glasgow, and that another scotch city, edinburgh, had initiated and maintained the campaign for the nationalization of the telegraphs. one of the most extraordinary of the astounding incidents of the campaign and negotiations that resulted in the purchase of the telegraphs, was the fact that in the debates in the house of commons was not even raised the question of the possibility of complications and dangers arising out of the multiplication of the civil servants. that fact is the more remarkable, since the leaders of both political parties at the time apprehended so much danger from the existing civil servants that they refused to take active steps to enfranchise the civil servants employed in the so-called revenue departments--the customs, inland revenue and post office departments--who had been disfranchised since the close of the eighteenth century. the bill of , which gave the franchise to the civil servants in question, was a private bill, introduced by mr. monk, a private member of the house of commons; and it was carried against the protest of the disraeli ministry, and without the active support of the leading men in the opposition. in the debates upon mr. monk's bill, mr. gladstone, sitting in opposition, said he was not afraid that either political party ever would try to use the votes of the civil servants for the purpose of promoting its political fortunes, "but he owned that he had some apprehension of what might be called class influence in the house of commons, which in his opinion was the great reproach of the reformed parliament, as he believed history would record. whether they were going to emerge into a new state of things in which class influence would be weaker, he knew not; but that class influence had been in many things evil and a scandal to them, especially for the last fifteen or twenty years [since the reform of parliament]; and he was fearful of its increase in consequence of the possession of the franchise, through the power which men who, as members of a regular service, were already organized, might bring to bear on members of parliament." chapters vii and following show that mr. gladstone's apprehensions were well-founded; that the civil servants have become a class by themselves, with interests so widely divergent from the interests of the rest of the community that they do not distribute their allegiance between the two great political parties on the merits of the respective policies of those parties, as do an equal number of voters taken at random. the civil servants have organized themselves in great civil service unions, for the purpose of promoting their class interests by bringing pressure to bear upon the house of commons. at the parliamentary elections they tend to vote solidly for the candidate who promises them most. in one constituency they will vote for the liberal candidate, in another for the conservative candidate. thus far neither party appears to have made an open or definite alliance with the civil servants. but in the recent years in which the conservative party was in power, and year after year denied--"on principle" of public policy--certain requests of the civil servants, the rank and file, as well as some of the minor leaders of the liberal, or opposition party, evinced a strong tendency to vote rather solidly in the house of commons in support of those demands of the civil servants.[ ] at the same time the chiefs of the liberal, or opposition party, refrained from the debate as well as from the vote. it may be that the opposition party discipline was not strong enough to enable the opposition chiefs to prevent the votes on the momentous issue raised in the house of commons by the civil servants from becoming for all practical purposes party votes; or, it may be that the liberal party leaders did not deem it expedient to seek to control the voting of their followers. be that as it may, the fact remains that the conservative ministry that was in power, repeatedly called in vain upon the house of commons to take out of the field of party politics the issue raised by the civil servants in the period from to . the conservative ministry year after year denied the request of the post office employees for a house of commons select committee on the pay and position of the post office employees. on the other hand, the support of that request came steadily from the liberal opposition. in the general election of january, , the post office employees threw their weight overwhelmingly on the side of the liberal party; and immediately after the opening of the new parliament, the newly established liberal government announced that it would give the post office employees the house of commons select committee which the late conservative ministry had "on principle" of public policy refused to grant. shortly after the general election of january, , the president of the postal telegraph clerks' association, a powerful political organization, stated that nearly of the members of the house of commons had pledged themselves, in the course of the campaign, to vote for a house of commons select committee. at about the same time, lord balcarres, a conservative whip in the late balfour ministry, speaking of the members who entered parliament for the first time in , said "he thought he was fairly accurate when he said that they had given pretty specific pledges upon this matter [of a select committee] to those who had sent them to the house." sir acland-hood, chief whip in the late balfour ministry, added: "... nearly the whole of the supporters of the then [ ] government voted against the appointment of the select committee [in july, ]. no doubt many of them suffered for it at the general election; they either lost their seats or had their majorities reduced in consequence of the vote." and the new prime minister, sir h. campbell-bannerman, spoke of the "retroactive effect of old promises extracted in moments of agony from candidates at the general election." and finally, at the annual conference of the postal telegraph clerks' association, held in march, , mr. r. s. davis, the representative of the metropolitan london telegraph clerks, said: "the new postmaster general had made concessions which had almost taken them [the postal clerks] off their feet by the rapidity with which one had succeeded another and the manner in which they were granted." * * * * * chapters xiv to xvii describe the efforts made by the civil servants to secure exemption from the ordinary vicissitudes of life, as well as exemption from the necessity of submitting to those standards of efficiency and those rules of discipline which prevail in private employment. they show the hopelessly unbusinesslike spirit of the rank and file of the public servants, a spirit fostered by the practice of members of the house of commons intervening, from the floor of the house as well as behind the scenes, on behalf of public servants who have not been promoted, have been disciplined or dismissed, or, have failed to persuade the executive officers to observe one or more of the peculiar claims of "implied contract" and "vested right" which make the british public service so attractive to those men whose object in life is not to secure full and untrammeled scope for their abilities and ambitions, but a haven of refuge from the ordinary vicissitudes of life. members of the house of commons intervene, in the manner indicated, in mere matters of detail of administration, because they have not the courage to refuse to obey the behests of the political leaders of the civil service unions; they do not so interfere from the mere desire to promote their political fortunes by championing the interests of a class. they recognize the fact that the art of government is the art of log-rolling, of effecting the best compromise possible, under the given conditions of political intelligence and public spirit, between the interests of a class and the interests of the country as a whole. their views were forcibly expressed, on a recent occasion, by captain norton, who long has been one of the most aggressive champions in the house of commons, of the civil servants, and who, at present, is a junior lord of the treasury, in the sir h. campbell-bannerman liberal ministry. said captain norton: "as regarded what had been said about undue influence [being exercised by the civil servants], his contention was that so long as the postal officials ... were allowed to maintain a vote, they had precisely the same rights as all other voters in the country to exercise their fullest influence in the defense of their rights, privileges and interests. he might mention that all classes of all communities, of all professions, all trades, all combinations of individuals, such as anti-vaccinationists and so forth, had invariably used their utmost pressure in defense of their interests and views upon members of the house...." the problem of government in every country--irrespectively of the form which the political institutions may take in any given country--is to avoid class legislation, and to make it impossible for any one class to exploit the others. some of us--who are old-fashioned and at present in the minority--believe that the solution of that problem is to be found only in the upbuilding of the character and the intelligence of the individual citizen. others believe that it is to be found largely, if not mainly, in extending the functions of the state and the city. to the writer, the experience of great britain under the experiment of the extension of the functions of the state and the city, seems to teach once more the essential soundness of the doctrine that the nation that seeks refuge from the ills that appear under the policy of _laissez-faire_, seeks refuge from such ills in the apparently easy, and therefore tempting, device of merely changing the form of its political institutions and political ideals, will but change the form of the ills from which it suffers. footnotes: [ ] the reason for the opposition of the newspaper press to the telegraph companies is discussed in chapter viii. [ ] the concession made to the newspaper press is described in chapter viii. [ ] the efforts of the civil servants culminated in the debate and vote of july , . upon that occasion there voted for the demands of the civil servants eighteen liberalists who, in - , became members of the sir h. campbell-bannerman liberal ministry. two of them, mr. herbert gladstone and mr. lloyd george, became members of the cabinet, or inner circle of the ministry. chapter ii the argument for the nationalization of the telegraphs the indictment of the telegraph companies. the argument from foreign experience. the promise of reduced tariffs and increased facilities. the alleged financial success of foreign state telegraphs: belgium, switzerland and france. the argument from british company experience. in the chambers of commerce of great britain, under the leadership of the chamber of commerce of edinburgh, began an agitation for the purchase by the government of the properties of the several british telegraph companies. in , the telegraph companies, acting in unison, withdrew the reduced rate of twenty-four cents for twenty words, address free, that had been in force, since , between certain large cities. that action, which will be described further on, caused the chambers of commerce to increase the agitation for state purchase. in september, , lord stanley of alderley, postmaster general, commissioned mr. f. i. scudamore, second secretary of the post office, "to inquire and report whether, in his opinion, the electric telegraph service might be beneficially worked by the post office--whether, if so worked, it would possess any advantages over a system worked by private companies--and whether it would entail any very large expenditure on the post office department beyond the purchase of existing rights." in july, , mr. scudamore reported, recommending the purchase of the telegraphs. in february, , he submitted a supplementary report; and in and , he acted as the chief witness for the government before the parliamentary committees appointed to report on the government's bills proposing to authorize the state to acquire and operate the telegraphs.[ ] the extent to which the government, throughout the considerations and negotiations which finally ended in the nationalization of the telegraphs, relied almost exclusively upon evidence supplied by mr. scudamore, is indicated in the statement made by the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. g. w. hunt, on july , , that mr. scudamore "might be said to be the author of the bill to acquire the telegraphs."[ ] [sidenote: _indictment of the telegraph companies_] mr. scudamore reported that the chambers of commerce, and the various writers in the periodical and newspaper press who had supported the proposal of state purchase, had concurred in the following general propositions: "that the charges made by the telegraph companies were too high, and tended to check the growth of telegraphic correspondence; that there were frequent delays of messages; that many important districts were unprovided with telegraphic facilities; that in many places the telegraph office was inconveniently remote from the centre of business, and was open for too small a portion of the day; that little or no improvement could be expected so long as the working of the telegraphs was conducted by commercial companies striving chiefly to earn a dividend and engaged in wasteful competition with each other; and, finally, that the growth of telegraphic correspondence had been greatly stimulated in belgium and switzerland by the annexation of the telegraphs to the post offices of those countries, and the consequent adoption of a low scale of charges; and that in great britain like results would follow the adoption of like means, and that from the annexation of the british telegraphs to the british post office there would accrue great advantage to the public, and ultimately a large revenue to the state." subsequently, before the select committees of parliament, mr. scudamore maintained that in the hands of the state the telegraphs would pay from the start. mr. scudamore continued his report with the statement that he had satisfied himself that in great britain the telegraph was not in such general use as upon the continent; that "the class who used the telegraphs most freely were stock brokers, mining agents, ship brokers, colonial brokers, racing and betting men, fruit merchants and others engaged in business of a speculative character, or who deal in articles of a perishable nature. even general merchants used the telegraphs comparatively little, compared with those engaged in the more speculative branches of commerce." he added that from to the annual increase in the number of telegraphic messages had ranged pretty evenly from per cent. to per cent., indicating merely a gradual increase in the telegraphic correspondence of those classes who had been the first to use the telegraphs. he said there had been none of those "sudden and prodigious jumps" that had occurred on the continent after each reduction in the charges for telegraphic messages, or after each extension of the telegraph system to the smaller towns. mr. scudamore held that it was a serious indictment of the manner in which the telegraph companies had discharged their duties to the public, that the small tradesman had not learned to order goods by telegraph, and had not thereby enabled himself to get along with a smaller stock of goods kept constantly on hand; that the fishing villages on the remote coasts of scotland that had no railways, had no telegraphs; that the public did not send "millions of messages" of this kind: "i shall not be home to dinner;" "i will bring down some fish;" "you can meet me at four;" and that the wife and children, away from their home in the country village, did not telegraph to the husband and father: "send me a money order." mr. scudamore's notions of the uses to which the telegraphs ought to be put were shared by the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. hunt, who looked forward to the day when "persons who have a difficulty in writing letters will have less difficulty in going to a telegraph office and sending a message to a friend than writing a letter."[ ] [sidenote: _argument from foreign experience_] mr. scudamore supported his position with the subjoined reports from countries in which the state operated the telegraphs. the danish government had reported that the telegraph was used by merchants generally and for social and domestic purposes. prussia had reported that in the early days, when the charges had been high, the use of the telegraph had been confined almost exclusively to bankers, brokers, large commercial houses and newspaper correspondents, but that with each reduction in the charges, or extension of the telegraphs to small towns, the number of those who regularly sent out and received messages had increased considerably. switzerland had reported that messages relating to personal business and family affairs formed as important a part of the whole traffic as the messages of banking interests and other trading interests. france had reported that per cent. of the messages related to personal business and family affairs; and belgium had reported that nearly per cent. of the messages related to personal business and family affairs. to indicate the manner in which the use of the telegraph increased with reductions in the charges made, mr. scudamore reported that in belgium, in , a reduction of per cent. in the charge had been followed by an increase of per cent. in the number of telegrams; and that, in , a reduction of per cent. in the charges had been followed by an increase of per cent. in the traffic. in france, in , a reduction of per cent. in the charge, had led to an increase of per cent. in the number of messages. in switzerland, in , a reduction of per cent. in the charge had been followed, in the next three months, by an increase in business of per cent. in prussia, in , a reduction of the charge by per cent. had, in the first month, increased the number of messages by per cent. the increase in business always had followed immediately, said mr. scudamore, showing that new classes of people took up the use of the telegraphs. finally, mr. scudamore stated that in , the proportion borne by the total of telegrams sent to the aggregate of letters sent, had been: in belgium, one telegram for every letters; in switzerland, one telegram for every letters; and in the united kingdom, one telegram for every letters. the relative failure of the people of the united kingdom to use the telegraph freely, mr. scudamore ascribed to the high charges made by the telegraph companies, and to the restricted facilities offered by the companies. in , the british companies were charging cents for a twenty-word message, over distances not exceeding miles; cents for distances between and miles; and cents for distances exceeding miles. for messages passing between great britain and ireland, the charge ranged from $ . to $ . . in all cases the addresses of the sender and of the sendee were carried free. [sidenote: _promise of lower charges and better service_] the government proposed to make a uniform charge of cents for twenty words, irrespective of distance. mr. scudamore stated that he fully expected that in two or three years the government would reduce its charge to cents. the only reason why the government did not propose to adopt immediately the last mentioned rate, was the desire not to overcrowd the telegraphs at the start before there had been the chance to learn with what volume of traffic the existing plant and staff could cope.[ ] in there was in the united kingdom one telegraph office for every , people. the government promised to inaugurate the nationalization of the telegraphs by giving one office for every , people.[ ] in the shortest time possible, the government would open a telegraph office at every money order issuing post office. at that time the practice was to establish a money order office wherever there was the prospect of two money orders being issued a day; and in some instances such offices were established on the prospect of one order a day. the contention that the public interest demanded a great increase in the number of telegraph offices, mr. scudamore supported by citing the number of offices in belgium and france. in the former country there were upward of telegraph offices which despatched less than one telegram a day. in fact, some offices despatched less than one a month. the belgium government, in figuring the cost of the telegraph department, charged that department nothing whatever for office rent, or for fire, light and office fittings; nor did it charge the smaller offices anything for the time given by the state railway employees and the postal employees to the telegraph department. in france there were telegraph offices that took in less than $ a year; offices that took in from $ to $ ; and offices that took in from $ to $ . mr. scudamore over and again assured the parliamentary select committee of that the telegraphs in the hands of the state would be self-supporting from the start, and that ultimately they would be a considerable source of revenue. but he supported his indictment of the telegraph companies of the united kingdom by drawing upon the experience of the state telegraphs of belgium, switzerland, and france, under very low rates on inland telegrams, as distinguished from telegrams in transit, or telegrams to and from foreign countries. in taking that course, mr. scudamore ignored the fact that the inland rates in question were not remunerative. [sidenote: _belgium's experience_] the belgium state telegraphs had been opened in . in the years to , they had earned, upon an average, . per cent. a year upon their cost. in the period to , they had earned, upon an average, . per cent. in to , the annual earnings fell to an average of . per cent.; and in to , they reached an average of . per cent. only. the reasons for that rapid and steady decline of the net earnings were: the opening of relatively unprofitable lines and offices; increases in wages which the government could not withhold; a slackening in the rate of growth of the profits on the so-called foreign messages and transit messages; and a rapid increase in the losses upon the inland messages, which were carried at low rates for the purpose of stimulating traffic. at an early date the belgium government concluded that the first three of the four factors just enumerated were beyond the control of the state, and therefore permanent. it resolved, therefore, to attempt to neutralize them by developing the inland traffic to such proportions that it should become a source of profit, that traffic having been, up to that time, a source of loss. accordingly, on january st, , the government lowered the charge on inland messages from cents for words, addresses included, to cents. as that reduction did not prove sufficiently effective, the charge on inland messages was reduced, on december st, , to cents for words. under that reduction the loss incurred upon the inland messages rose from an annual average of $ , in to , to an annual average of $ , in to ; and the average annual return upon the capital invested fell to . per cent. this evidence was before mr. scudamore when he argued from the experience of belgium in favor of a uniform rate, irrespective of distance, of cents for words, not counting the addresses. mr. scudamore shared the opinion of the belgium government that the rate of cents would so stimulate the traffic as to become very profitable. as a matter of fact, things went from bad to worse in belgium, and for many years the belgian state telegraphs failed to earn operating expenses.[ ] by way of explanation it should be added that the so-called transit messages and foreign messages were profitable for two reasons. in the first place, the belgian government kept high the rates on those messages. in the second place, those messages are carried much more cheaply than inland messages. the transit messages, say from germany to england, have only to be retransmitted; they are not received across the counter, nor are they delivered across the counter and by messenger. the foreign messages are burdened with only one of the two foregoing relatively costly operations. in the belgian government stated that, if the cost to the telegraph department of a given number of words transmitted as a message in transit be represented by two, the corresponding cost of the same number of words received and transmitted as a foreign message would be represented by three, while the cost of the same number of words received and transmitted as an inland message would be represented by five. [sidenote: _swiss experience_] the swiss state telegraphs, the experience of which mr. scudamore also cited in support of his report, were opened in ; and in the period from to they earned, on an average, per cent. upon their cost. throughout that period the average receipts per inland messages were cents, and the average receipts per foreign message were cents. in the year the average receipts per message were cents for inland messages, and cents for foreign and transit messages, which constituted per cent. of the traffic. in the following year, , the average receipts upon the inland traffic remained unchanged; while those upon the foreign and transit traffic, per cent. of the total traffic, fell to cents. this reduction of per cent. in the average receipts upon the foreign and transit traffic, caused a decline of per cent. in the total net receipts, and reduced the earnings upon the capital from . per cent. in , to . per cent. in . thus far the receipts from the inland messages had not covered the operating expenses incurred on account of those messages. the profits, which had been very large, had come from the foreign messages and messages in transit.[ ] the government, alarmed at the decline in profits resulting from the fall in the average receipts per message in the foreign and transit traffic, resolved upon a special effort to stimulate the growth of the inland traffic. accordingly, on january st, , it lowered the rates on inland messages of words, address counted, from cents to cents. the inland traffic immediately doubled; but the cost of handling it more than doubled. the increase in the traffic necessitated the stringing of additional wires, and the employment of more instruments, linemen, telegraphers and office clerks. at the same time the government was obliged to concede all round increases of wages and salaries, in consequence of the general increase in the cost of living which accompanied the world-wide revival of trade ushered in by the discovery of gold in california and australia, the introduction of steamships upon the high seas, and the building of railways in all parts of the world. the inland messages increased by leaps and bounds from , in to , , in ; and still the receipts from them did not cover the operating expenses. in and , for example, those expenses averaged cents per message. accordingly, in , the government adopted a new scale of charges on inland messages, to wit: an initial charge of cents per message, to which was added . cent for every word transmitted. the government assumed that the average length of the inland messages would be words; and that the average receipts per message would be cents. it hoped soon to reduce the average cost per message below cents, and hoped thus to make the inland traffic remunerative. but those expectations never were realized; and to this day the inland messages have been carried at a loss.[ ] [sidenote: _french experience_] in , the french state telegraphs reduced the rate for messages of words, counting the address, to cents for intradepartmental[ ] messages, and to cents for interdepartmental messages. in the average receipts per message were: cents on the inland traffic; $ . on the foreign traffic; and . cents on the traffic as a whole. with these average receipts per message, the earnings were $ , , ; while the operating expenses were $ , , . in other words, the state telegraphs lost $ , on the working, besides failing to earn any interest on the capital invested in them, $ , , . in making the foregoing statement, no allowance is made for the value of the messages sent "on public service," messages for which the state would have been obliged to pay, had the telegraphs been owned or operated by companies. no such allowance can be made, because the several official french statements submitted by mr. scudamore as to the number of messages sent "on public service" applied to the years and , years for which the operating expenses were not given. furthermore, the messages sent on public service in and were so numerous as to indicate so loose a construction of the term "on public service" as to make the returns worthless for the purpose of determining the commercial value of the saving resulting to the state from the public ownership of the telegraphs. for , the number of messages "on public service" was returned as , , the equivalent of per cent. of the number of messages sent by the public. for , the number was returned as , , the equivalent of . per cent. of the messages sent by the public. that those figures represented an unreasonable resource to the telegraph for the transaction of the state's business, is proved by the fact that in the united kingdom, in the period to , the value of the messages sent "on public service" was equivalent to less than per cent. of the sums paid by the public for the transmission of telegraphic messages. on the basis of any reasonable use of the telegraphs "on public service," the financial results of the french state telegraphs would not have been altered materially. the deficit, in , on account of operating expenses, $ , , was sufficient to permit of the sending of , messages "on public service," the equivalent of per cent. of the messages sent by the public. it would be unreasonable to assume that the state could have need of such recourse to the telegraphs. [sidenote: _summary of foreign experience_] to sum up the evidence from belgium, switzerland, and france, submitted by mr. scudamore in to : this evidence was that rates of cents and cents for words, applied to inland messages, developed an enormous inland traffic, but that that traffic was unremunerative. so long as the rates on foreign messages and transit messages had remained very much higher than the rates on inland messages, the belgian and swiss state telegraphs had paid handsomely. but as soon as the latter rates had approached the level of the former rates, the net revenue had tumbled headlong; and there was, in and , no certainty that it would not disappear entirely, or be reduced to such proportions as no longer to afford an adequate return upon the capital invested in the telegraphs. in the case of france, no evidence was presented that the state telegraphs ever had paid their way, though the prices obtained for the transmission of foreign messages and transit messages were between three and four times the returns obtained from the transmission of inland messages. [sidenote: _english companies' experience_] while the evidence from belgium, switzerland and france, presented by mr. scudamore, did not support the proposition of a low uniform rate, irrespective of distance, the evidence furnished by the experience of the telegraph companies of the united kingdom pointed strongly to the conclusion that a uniform rate, irrespective of distance, of cents for words, addresses not counted, was not remunerative in the then state of efficiency of the telegraph. in this connection it must be borne in mind that at this time messages had to be retransmitted at intervals of or miles; and that, while the maximum distance a message could travel was only miles in belgium, and miles in switzerland, it was miles in the united kingdom. in the telegraph business of the united kingdom was in the hands of two companies which had been organized in and respectively: the electric and international telegraph company, and the british and irish magnetic telegraph company. in that year, , a new company, the united kingdom electric telegraph company, invaded the field with a uniform tariff, irrespective of distance, of cents for words, addresses free. the established companies had been charging cents for distances up to miles; cents for distances up to miles; cents for distances up to miles; cents for distances up to miles; cents for distances up to miles; and $ . for distances up to miles.[ ] the united kingdom company began operations in with a trunk line between london, birmingham, manchester, liverpool and intermediate and neighboring towns. shortly afterward it opened a second trunk line from london to northampton, leicester, nottingham, sheffield, barnsley, wakefield, leeds and hull; and across through bradford, halifax, rochdale, and huddersfield to manchester and liverpool. subsequently the company extended its line to edinburgh and glasgow, thus lengthening to upward of miles, the distance over which messages were transmitted for cents.[ ] in july , the board of directors reported as follows to the stockholders: "the directors much regret to state that, notwithstanding their earnest efforts to develop telegraphic communication so as to render the shilling [ cent] rate remunerative, the company has been unable to earn a dividend. the system of the company consists of trunk lines almost exclusively embracing nearly all the main centres of business, telegraphically speaking, of the country. seeing that the company was working under the greatest possible advantages, and that upward of four years had elapsed since the formation of the company without the payment of any dividend to the proprietary, the directors conceived that they would not be justified in continuing the shilling [ cent] system, and arrangements were therefore agreed to for its alteration. the directors waited until the last moment before reluctantly adopting this step, but having sought publicity in every way, having persistently canvassed in every department of business, and having endeavored by personal solicitations of numerous active agents to attract trade, they at last saw themselves compelled to agree to a measure that was greatly antagonistic to their personal wishes, but absolutely essential for the well-being of the company, and requisite, as they believe, for the permanent interests of the telegraphing community." in , the united kingdom telegraph company joined with its competitors, the electric and international telegraph company, and the british and irish magnetic telegraph company, in the following rates for words, addresses free: cents for distances up to miles; cents for distances between and miles; and cents for distances beyond miles. in july, , the directors of the united kingdom telegraph company reported that in the last half-year "the company earned an amount of profit equal to per cent. dividend over the whole of its share capital." when the united kingdom company had entered the field, in , with the cent rate, the old established companies, the electric and international and the british and irish magnetic, had been compelled to adopt the cent rate between all points reached by the united kingdom company. in february, , the directors of the electric and international company reported that the cent circuit between london, liverpool, manchester and birmingham still was unremunerative. the company was losing money on every message transmitted, though the cent rate had increased business to such an extent that the company had been obliged to add two wires to the circuit in question. since the business done by means of the additional wires did not pay, the directors had charged the cost of those wires to operating expenses, not to capital account. the company did not care for the business, but could not refuse to take it. in july, , the directors reported: "after a trial of four years, the experiment of a uniform shilling rate [on certain circuits] irrespective of distance, has not justified itself." the half yearly reports of the british and irish magnetic company from to reported that "for any but very short distances," the cent tariff was "utterly unremunerative." the effect of the rate was to absorb in unavoidable additional expenses a very large portion of the increase in revenue coming from the increase in business. in the london district telegraph company was organized for the purpose of transmitting telegraph messages between points in metropolitan london. in the company had stations and . miles of line; and it carried , messages. in it had offices and miles of line, and it carried , messages. in the company reached its highest point, carrying , messages. the company at that time had miles of line and offices. the london district telegraph company began with a tariff of cents for words, and cents for a message of words with a reply message of words. it soon changed its tariff to cents for words, experience having shown that words was an insufficient allowance.[ ] subsequently the company added porterage charges for delivery beyond a certain distance. in , the company raised its tariff to cents. the company never earned operating expenses; and in november, , its shares, upon which $ had been paid in, fluctuated between $ . and $ . .[ ] mr. robert grimston, chairman of the electric and international telegraph company, in commented as follows upon the experience of the london district telegraph company. "a very strong argument against the popular fancy that the introduction of a low rate of charge in towns and country districts would induce the shopkeepers and the lower classes to use the telegraph is furnished by the example of the london district telegraph company. a better or a wider field than the metropolitan for an illustration of this theory could not surely be furnished. the facts, however, being, that after several years of struggling existence, the tariff being first fixed at cents, and then at cents, the company has never paid its way." footnotes: [ ] _a report to the postmaster general upon certain proposals which have been made for transferring to the post office the control and management of the electric telegraphs throughout the united kingdom, july, _; _supplementary report to the postmaster general upon the proposal for transferring to the post office the control and management of the electric telegraphs, february, _; _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill, _; and _report from the select committee on the telegraphic bill, _. unless otherwise stated, all the material statements made in this chapter are taken from the foregoing official documents. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill, _; q. and . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill, _; q. ; and _report from the select committee on the telegraphic bill, _; q. . [ ] _report from the select committee on the telegraphic bill, _; q. ; and _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill, _; q. . [ ] _supplementary report to the postmaster general upon the proposal for transferring to the post office the control and management of the electric telegraphs_, ; and sir james anderson, in _journal of the statistical society_, september, . belgian state telegraphs ====+====================+====================+==================== | inland messages | foreign messages |messages in transit ----+-----+--------+-----+-----+--------+-----+-----+--------+----- | cost|receipts| loss| cost|receipts| gain| cost|receipts| gain | per| per| per| per| per| per| per| per| per | mes-| mes-| mes-| mes-| mes-| mes-| mes-| mes-| mes- | sage| sage| sage| sage| sage| sage| sage| sage| sage ====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+===== cents ====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+===== | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+=====+=====+========+===== [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] _archiv für post und telegraphie_, , p. . [ ] for administrative purposes france is divided into so-called "departments." [ ] _journal of the statistical society_, march, . the tariff of the electric and international co., for words (addresses not counted after ), was as follows: in , and for some years after, the charge was cents a mile for the first miles; cent a mile for the second miles; and cents for each mile beyond miles. in the maximum charge for words was reduced to $ . ; early in it was reduced to $ . ; and in november, , it was reduced to cents for miles, and $ . for distances beyond miles. --------------+--------------+--------------+--------------+ | | | | -------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+------+ miles | $ | miles | $ | miles | $ | miles | $ | -------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+------+ | . | | . | | . | | | | . | | . | | | | | | . | | . | | . | | . | and| . | | . | | . | to | | beyond| | | . | and| | | . | | | and| . | beyond| . | and| . | | | beyond| | | | beyond| | -------+------+-------+------+-------+------+-------+------+ -----------------------------------+--------+--------------+ | | | -----------------------------------+--------+--------------+ | $ | $ | to ireland, by marine cable | . | . to . | ===================================+========+==============+ in february, , two years after the uniform rate of cents, irrespective of distance, had been put in force by the government, the telegraph department made a careful examination of , messages sent from the large cities to all parts of the united kingdom. the average charge per message was found to be cents; under the rates enforced by the telegraph companies in , the average charge would have been cents.--_report of the postmaster general_ for . [ ] the united kingdom telegraph co. ========+=============+=============+=========+===========+ | | |number of| number of | |miles of line|miles of wire| offices | messages | --------+-------------+-------------+---------+-----------+ | | | | , | | | | | , | | | | | , | | | | | , | | | | | , | ========+=============+=============+=========+===========+ [ ] _journal of statistical society_, march, . [ ] _miscellaneous statistics for the united kingdom_, , , and - ; _parliamentary paper_ no. , session of - ; and _journal of the statistical society_, march, . london district telegraph co. =======+========+========+=========+========== |miles of|miles of|number of|number of | line | wire | offices | messages -------+--------+--------+---------+---------- | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | , | | | | =======+========+========+=========+========== chapter iii the alleged break-down of _laissez-faire_ early history of telegraphy in great britain. the adequacy of private enterprise. mr. scudamore's loose use of statistics. mr. scudamore's test of adequacy of facilities. telegraphic charges and growth of traffic in great britain. the alleged wastefulness of competition. the telegraph companies' proposal. upon the foregoing evidence, taken from the experience of the state telegraphs of belgium, switzerland, and france, and from the experience of the telegraph companies of the united kingdom, mr. scudamore reached the conclusion that in telegraphy, in the united kingdom, private enterprise had broken down. he stated his conclusion in these words: "it is clearly shown, i think, ... that the cardinal distinction between the telegraph system of the united kingdom and the systems of belgium and switzerland is this: that the latter have been framed and maintained solely with a view to the accommodation of the public, whilst the former has been devised and maintained mainly with a view to the interests of shareholders, and only indirectly for the benefit of the public." these words were intended to convey, and they did convey, the meaning that the policy of _laissez-faire_ had broken down. that policy rests on the assumption that in the long run, and upon the whole, the public interest is conserved and promoted by the activities of the individual citizens who are seeking to promote their personal fortunes--by the activities of "the mere speculator and dividend seeker"--to employ the phrase that came into common use in to , and ever since, has been made to do yeoman service. let us test by the evidence--of which a large part is to be found tucked away in the appendices to mr. scudamore's reports--this conclusion that in telegraphy, in the united kingdom, private enterprise had broken down, and the policy of _laissez-faire_ had been discredited. the first thing to note in this connection is, that in the case of telegraphy, as in the case of so many other british industries, public ownership has been a parasite. it has been unwilling to assume the risk and burden of establishing the industry, and has contented itself with purchasing "ready-made" the industry after it had been developed by private enterprise. when mr. ronalds attempted to interest the british government in telegraphy, he was told "that the telegraph was of no use in times of peace, and that the semaphore in time of war answered all the required purposes."[ ] in , british individuals and companies began to stake their money upon the telegraph in great britain; and in they even carried the telegraph industry to continental europe, notably to belgium. in and , the governments of france, belgium and switzerland, profiting by the losses suffered, and the technical advances made, by british individuals and companies, appropriated, so far as their countries were concerned, the new industry. [sidenote: _history of british telegraphy_] the electric and international telegraph company was formed in , out of the reorganization of properties, that in had embarked in telegraphy in england, and in had carried the telegraph industry to belgium.[ ] at this time the use of the telegraph was confined almost exclusively to railway purposes, such as train signalling. the possibility of use for commercial purposes was so little appreciated by the public, that the electric and international company, after purchasing, in , messrs. cooke and wheatstone's inventions, was looked upon as a complete commercial failure. the shares of the company for several years were almost valueless; the chief source of revenue then being contracts obtained from railway companies for the construction and maintenance of railway telegraphs. between and great improvements were made in telegraphy, and the public gradually learned to use the telegraph. in the electric and international declared its first dividend, mainly the result of the contracts with the railway companies. in november, , a cable was laid between dover and calais; for the first time the prices of the stock exchange securities in paris were known the same day within business hours on the london stock exchange; and the financial and trading interests became convinced of the value of the telegraph.[ ] the electric and international company began in with a capital, paid in, of $ , , which had been increased, by the close of , to $ , , . the company grew steadily, and in it had , miles of line, and , miles of wire. in march, , when the company had a record of five years for dividends ranging from to . per cent. on the capital paid in, the stock of the company was selling at , which showed that the investing public deemed the returns inadequate, considering the risks attaching to the business. in january, , when the company had a record of three years as a per cent. company, the stock still stood under par--at . . in the company paid per cent., in it paid per cent., and in to it paid per cent.[ ] the british and irish magnetic telegraph company was formed in by amalgamation of the magnetic telegraph company, organized in , and the british telegraph company, organized in . in march, , the magnetic had a paid up capital of $ , , , which was worth cents on the dollar; and the british company had a paid up capital of $ , , , which was worth . cents on the dollar. in january, , the amalgamated company was paying . per cent., and its shares were worth . . in the british and irish raised the dividend to per cent.; in to per cent., and in to . per cent. in the stock sold at to ; and in at to . in the company had , miles of line, and , miles of wire. the united kingdom telegraph company was organized in , and began operations in . in november, , its shares were worth from cents to cents on the dollar. at that time the company had , miles of line, and about , miles of wire. the london district telegraph company, which subsequently became the london and provincial, began business in with offices in metropolitan london. in it increased the number of its offices to ; and at the time of its sale to the state, it had offices. the company never earned operating expenses. it began by charging cents for words; later on it charged cents for words; and in it raised its charge to cents. very little new capital was invested by the telegraph companies after , because of "the very natural reluctance of the companies to extend the systems under their control so long as the proposal of the acquisition of those systems by the state was under consideration," to use the words of mr. scudamore. [sidenote: _adequate results of private enterprise_] the foregoing facts show that private enterprise was ready throughout the period beginning with to incur considerable risks in establishing the new industry of telegraphy, and in giving to the public facilities for the use of that industry. private enterprise did not at any time adopt the policy of exploiting the public by confining itself to operations involving little or no risk, while paying well. it is true that once a company had reached the position of paying , , , , or more, per cent., it tried to maintain that position, and refrained from making extensions at such a rate as to cause a decrease in the dividend. but that fact does not warrant the charge that the companies neglected their duty to the public. until the threat of purchase by the state arrested extensions, and the dividends rose unusually rapidly, the earnings of the companies were moderate; and finally, though the companies tried to maintain whatever rate of dividend had once been attained, the investing public never believed that even the electric and international would maintain indefinitely the per cent. rate. that is shown by the fact that until the public began to speculate on the strength of the prospect of the state paying a big price for the property of the electric and international, the stock of that company never sold for more than years' purchase.[ ] had the public believed that the per cent. dividend would be maintained indefinitely, the stock would have risen to years' purchase, the price of the best railway shares. * * * * * [sidenote: _mr. scudamore's statistics_] in order to show that the people of the united kingdom suffered from a lack of telegraphic facilities, when compared with the people of belgium and switzerland, mr. scudamore stated in his reports of and , that there were: in belgium, . miles of telegraph line to every square miles; in switzerland, . ; and in the united kingdom, . . he stated, also, that there were in belgium . telegraph offices to every , people; in switzerland, . ; and in the united kingdom, . . mr. scudamore obtained the figures with regard to the united kingdom from the board of trade returns.[ ] for to , those returns were very incomplete; but in they became very full. mr. scudamore's reports of and were not ordered, by the house of commons, to be printed, until april, , when the completed board of trade returns were available. but neither in the reports as laid before parliament, nor in the testimony given before the select committee of parliament in , did mr. scudamore draw attention to the fact that the statement that the united kingdom had only . miles of telegraph line to every square miles of area, and . telegraph offices to every , people, was based on incomplete returns. the board of trade return for stated that the lancashire and yorkshire railway company had miles of telegraph lines and that various other companies not enumerated in , had, in , , miles of line. if it be assumed that in the period from to the lancashire and the other railway companies not enumerated in , increased their net at the same rate as did the three railway companies that were enumerated in , namely, per cent., there must have been, in , not less than , miles of telegraph line of which mr. scudamore took no account in fixing the total mileage at , miles. if it be further assumed that one-third of the , miles in question paralleled telegraph lines of the telegraph companies, there were left out of account in by mr. scudamore , miles of telegraph line, the equivalent of . miles per square miles of area. on the foregoing assumptions the mileage that should have been assigned to the united kingdom in was not . , but . . considerations similar to the foregoing ones, when applied to mr. scudamore's statement that there were, in , , telegraph stations, show that there probably were , telegraph stations in , a full allowance being made for duplication. the last named figure would have been equivalent to . telegraph offices for every , people as against . reported by mr. scudamore. the foregoing corrections probably err in the direction of understating the telegraph facilities existent in the united kingdom in . these corrected results show that in the matter of telegraph line per square miles of area, the united kingdom was abreast of switzerland in , though considerably behind belgium; and that, in the matter of telegraph offices per , people, it was almost abreast of switzerland, and considerably in advance of belgium. in this connection it is helpful to note that in , after the british government had spent about $ , , in rearranging and extending the telegraph lines, as against mr. scudamore's estimate of that $ , , would suffice for all rearrangements and extensions, the number of miles of telegraph line per square miles of area was, in the united kingdom, and . in belgium.[ ] [sidenote: _mr. scudamore's standards of service_] mr. scudamore submitted several other arguments in support of the statement that private enterprise had failed to provide the public with sufficient telegraphic facilities. he submitted a list of english and welsh towns, ranging in population from , to , , and stated in each case whether or not the town was a telegraph station; and if it was one, whether the telegraph office was, or was not, within the town limits. mr. scudamore summarized the facts elucidated, with the statement that per cent. of the towns were well served; that per cent. were indifferently served; that per cent. were badly served; that per cent. were not served at all; and that the towns not served at all had an aggregate population of more than , .[ ] mr. scudamore did not define his standards of good service, indifferent service, bad service, and absence of service; but examination of his data shows that his standards were so rigorous that the state of affairs revealed in his summary was by no means so bad as might appear at first sight. mr. scudamore took as the standard of good service, the presence of a telegraph office within the town limits. he characterized as indifferent the service of towns in which the telegraph office was within one-quarter of a mile of the post office, though outside of the town limits; as well as the service of towns in which the telegraph office was within one-half a mile of the post office, though outside of the town limits. he called the service bad in the case of towns in which the telegraph office was within three-quarters of a mile of the post office; as well as in the case of towns in which the telegraph office was one mile from the post office. he said there was no service whenever the distance of the telegraph office from the post office exceeded one mile. in this connection it should be added that the telegraph lines followed the railway; and that in consequence of the prejudice against railway companies in the early days, very many cities and towns refused to allow the railway to enter the city or town limits. mr. scudamore's data showed that there had been in not less than towns in which the distance between the post office and the nearest telegraph office exceeded one mile. in a foot-note, in the appendix, mr. scudamore stated that in , not less than of the towns had been given a railway telegraph office; but no mention of that fact did he make in the main body of the report, the only part of the document likely to be read even by the comparatively small number of the members of parliament who took the trouble to read the document at all. as for the writers of the newspaper press, and the general public, they accepted without exception the statement that in not less than per cent. of the towns in question, with an aggregate population of over , , had no telegraphic service. as a matter of fact the statement applied only to . per cent. of the towns, with an aggregate population of , ;[ ] and many of the towns that still were without service in would not have been in that condition, had not the agitation for the nationalization of the telegraphs arrested the investment of capital in telegraphs in the years to . distance of the telegraph station number of range of aggregate from the post towns population population office, miles . , to , , . , to , , . , to , , . , to , , . , to , , . , to , , . , , . , to , , . , , . , , . , , . , to , , . , to , , . , , . , to , , . , , . , to , , . , to , , . , , . , to , , . , , . , , . , , ? , , , mr. scudamore also submitted a table giving the total number of places with money order issuing post offices in england and wales, scotland and ireland; and stated what number of those places had respectively perfect telegraph accommodation, imperfect telegraphic accommodation, and no telegraphic accommodation.[ ] mr. scudamore contended that the public interest demanded that each one of those places should have at least one telegraph office, that office to be located as near the centre of population as was the post office. he submitted no argument in support of that proposition. but parliament and the public accepted the proposition with avidity, since mr. scudamore promised that the extension required to give such a service would not cost more than $ , , , about / or / of the total sum invested by the several telegraph companies. mr. scudamore also promised that, after the service had been thus extended, the total operating expenses of the state telegraphs would be less than per cent. of the gross receipts; that the state telegraphs would at least pay their way, and that they probably would yield a handsome profit. but when mr. scudamore came to extend the state telegraphs, he spent upon extensions, not $ , , , but about $ , , , and when the state came to operate the telegraphs, the operating expenses quickly ran up to per cent. of the gross receipts in three years, to . these errors of mr. scudamore justify the statement that he made no case whatever against the system of _laissez-faire_, or private ownership, on the ground of the extent of the facilities offered to the public, under the system of private ownership. for obviously it was one thing to condemn the telegraph companies for not building certain extensions, those extensions being estimated to cost only $ , , , and a different thing altogether to condemn the telegraph companies for refusing to build out of hand extensions that would cost $ , , and would be relatively unremunerative, if not absolutely unprofitable. [sidenote: _tariffs and growth of traffic_] it remains to consider whether the facts as to the charges made by the telegraph companies for the transmission of messages, and the facts as to the rate of increase in the number of messages transmitted, supported mr. scudamore's contention that the system of private ownership of the telegraphs had failed to conserve and promote the public interest. in , the electric and international telegraph company carried , messages, receiving on an average $ . per message. in , the year in which the scotch chambers of commerce began the agitation for nationalization, the company carried , messages, receiving on an average $ . per message. in , the year in which the telegraph companies abolished the rate of cents, irrespective of distance, that had been in force between the leading cities, and the chambers of commerce increased the agitation for purchase by the state, the electric and international carried , , messages, receiving on an average $ . a message. in the period from to , the messages carried by the company increased on an average by . per cent. a year; the average receipts per message decreased on an average by . per cent. a year; and the gross receipts of the company increased on an average by . per cent. a year. in the period to , the messages carried annually by the british and irish magnetic company grew from , to , , , an average annual growth of . per cent. at the same time the average receipts per message fell from $ . in , to $ . in . in the period from to , the number of messages carried annually by all of the telegraph companies of the united kingdom increased from , , , to , , , an average annual increase of . per cent. in the same period, from to , the telegrams sent in switzerland increased on an average by . per cent. each year; those sent in belgium increased on an average by . per cent.; and those sent in france increased on an average by . per cent. when one takes into consideration that in belgium, in , only per cent. of the messages transmitted related to stock exchange and commercial business, and that in france in the same year only per cent. of the messages sent related to industrial, commercial, and stock exchange transactions, there is nothing in the comparison between the rate of growth in the united kingdom on the one hand, and in the countries of continental europe on the other hand, to indicate that the use of the telegraphs for the purposes of trade and industry was held back in the united kingdom by excessive charges or by lack of telegraphic facilities. so far as the united kingdom lagged behind, it did so because the public had not learned to use the telegraphs freely for the transmission of personal and family news. and when, in , under state owned telegraphs, the public of the united kingdom had learned to use the telegraphs as freely as the public of continental europe used them, mr. w. stanley jevons, the eminent british political economist, in the course of a review of the price paid for this free use of the telegraphs, said: "a large part of the increased traffic on the government wires consists of complimentary messages, or other trifling matters, which we can have no sufficient motive for promoting. men have been known to telegraph for a clean pocket handkerchief"--mr. jevons, in to , had been an ardent advocate of nationalizing the telegraphs.[ ] * * * * * mr. scudamore in to caused many people to believe that the united kingdom was woefully behind the continental countries in the use of the telegraphs. he did so by publishing a table which showed that in there had been sent: in belgium, telegram to every letters carried by the post office; in switzerland, telegram to every letters; and in the united kingdom, telegram to every letters. that table, however, really proved nothing; for in , there were carried: in belgium, letters for every inhabitant; in switzerland, letters; and in the united kingdom, letters. had the people of belgium and switzerland written as many letters proportionately as the people of the united kingdom, the table prepared by mr. scudamore would have read: belgium, telegram for every letters; switzerland, telegram for every letters; and the united kingdom, telegram for every letters. mr. scudamore could, however, have prepared a table showing that the people of switzerland and belgium used the telegraph more freely than did the people of the united kingdom, but not so much more freely as to call for so drastic a remedy in the united kingdom as the nationalization of the telegraphs. the table in question would have shown that in , there was transmitted: in switzerland, telegram to every . inhabitants; in belgium, telegram to every . inhabitants; and in the united kingdom, telegram to every . inhabitants. the table in question would also have indicated the necessity of care in the use of the several kinds of statistics just put before the reader. the table placed switzerland in advance of belgium, while the other sets of statistics had placed belgium in advance of switzerland. * * * * * [sidenote: _alleged wastefulness of competition_] mr. scudamore's concluding argument was that little or no relief from the evils from which the public was suffering could be expected "so long as the working of the telegraphs was conducted by commercial companies striving chiefly to earn a dividend, and engaged in wasteful competition." in support of the charge of wasteful competition he stated "that many large districts are provided with duplicate and triplicate lines, worked by different companies, but taking much the same course and serving precisely the same places; and that these duplicate or triplicate lines and duplicate or triplicate offices only divide the business without materially increasing the accommodation of the districts or towns which they serve." but when mr. scudamore sought to substantiate this charge of waste arising out of competition, he could do no more than state that not less than , miles of line in a total of , miles were redundant, and that perhaps to offices in a total of , offices were redundant. * * * * * the evidence presented by mr. scudamore failed to reveal a situation that called for so drastic a remedy as the nationalization of the telegraphs. it revealed no evils or shortcomings that it was unreasonable to expect would be sufficiently mitigated, if not entirely removed, by the measures proposed by the telegraph companies. mr. robert grimston, chairman of the electric and international telegraph company, stated that the telegraph companies long since would have asked parliament to permit them to consolidate, had there been the least likelihood of parliament granting the request. consolidation would have made the resulting amalgamated company so strong that the company would have been justified in adopting a bolder policy in the matter of extending the telegraph lines to places remote from the railways. no single company could afford to assume too large a burden of lines that would begin as "suckers" rather than "feeders." a company with a large burden of that kind would be in a precarious position, because any of the other existing companies, or some new company, might take advantage of the situation and cut heavily into that part of the company's business that was carried on between the large cities and was bearing the burden of the non-paying extensions. but if the existing companies were to consolidate, the resulting company would become so strong that it need not fear such competition from any company newly to be organized. that there was much strength in that argument appears from the fact that, in , mr. scudamore as well as the government adopted it in support of the request that the state be given the monopoly of the business of transmitting messages by electricity. mr. scudamore argued that since the state was going to assume the burden of building and operating a large number of unprofitable, or relatively unprofitable, extensions, it should not be exposed to the possibility of competition from companies organized for the purpose of tapping the profitable traffic between the large cities, "the very cream of the business." mr. scudamore added that he had been told that a company was on the verge of being organized for the purpose of competing for the business between the large towns as soon as the properties of the existing companies should have been transferred to the state.[ ] [sidenote: _the companies' proposal_] the telegraph companies proposed to give the public substantial safeguards against the possibility of being exploited by the proposed amalgamated company. they proposed that parliament should fix maximum charges for the transmission of messages, in conjunction with a limit on dividends that might be exceeded only on condition that the existing charges on messages be reduced by a stated amount every time that the dividend be raised a stated amount beyond the limit fixed. the companies proposed also that shares to be issued in the future should be sold at public auction, and that any premiums realized from such sales should be invested in the plant with the condition that they should not be entitled to any dividend. provisions such as these, at the time, were in force in the case of certain gas companies and water companies. they have for years past been incorporated in all gas company charters; and they have worked well. there was no reason, in to , why the proposals of the telegraph companies should not be accepted; that is, no reason from the view-point of the man who hesitated to exchange the evils and shortcomings incident to private ownership for the evils and shortcomings incident to public ownership. footnotes: [ ] _the edinburgh review_, july, . [ ] _annales télégraphiques_, , p. . the company obtained a concession covering the whole of belgium. in september, , it opened a line between brussels and antwerpen. the tariff charged was low, but the line was so unprofitable that, in , the company declined to build from brussels to quiévrain, where connection was to be made with a proposed french telegraph line. [ ] _journal of statistical society_, march, . [ ] _statistical journal_, september, , and current issues of _the economist_ (london). [ ] _journal of the statistical society_, september, . [ ] _miscellaneous statistics for the united kingdom_, - , and _parliamentary paper_, no. , session - . length of electric telegraphs belonging to railway companies and telegraph companies respectively. in placing the total mileage of telegraph line at , , in , mr. scudamore excluded the mileage of the london, chatham, and dover railway company. ===============================+========+========+========+========+ railway companies: | | | | | -------------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+ lancashire & yorkshire | not | stated | | | london, brighton & south coast | | | | | london, chatham & dover | | | | | south eastern railway | | | | | other railway companies | not | stated | ... | , | +--------+--------+--------+--------+ total returned | | | , | , | -------------------------------+ | | | | electric telegraph companies: | | | | | | | | | | electric & international | , | , | , | , | british & irish magnetic | , | , | , | , | the united kingdom | , | , | , | , | the london district | | | | | so. western of ireland | not | stated | ... | | +--------+--------+--------+--------+ total of companies | , | , | , | , | +--------+--------+--------+--------+ grand total returned | , | , | , | , | ===============================+========+========+========+========+ [ ] in the _fortnightly review_, december, , mr. w. s. jevons, the eminent british statistician and economist, stated that the telegraph mileage was , miles. this statement is accepted in the absence of any official information. from to neither the _reports of the postmaster general_, nor the _statistical abstracts_, nor the _board of trade returns_ stated the mileage of telegraph lines; only the total mileage of telegraph wires was published. [ ] mr. scudamore's percentage figures, in some instances, were only roughly correct. [ ] see table on page . [ ] england and wales scotland ireland number of places having post offices that issued money orders , number of such places having: perfect telegraph accommodation imperfect accommodation no accommodation [ ] _the fortnightly review_, december, ; and _transactions of the manchester statistical society_, - . [ ] _report from the select committee on the telegraphic bill_, : q. to . in , mr. scudamore and the government had said that the state ought not to be given the monopoly of the telegraph business. _special report from the select committee on the telegraphs bill_, ; q. and following, and , and , and following. chapter iv the purchase of the telegraphs upon inadequate consideration the disraeli ministry estimated at $ , , to $ , , the cost of nationalization. political expediency responsible for government's inadequate investigation. the government raises its estimate to $ , , ; adding that it could afford to pay $ , , to $ , , . mr. goschen, m. p., and mr. leeman, m. p., warn the house of commons against the government's estimates, which had been prepared by mr. scudamore. the gladstone ministry, relying on mr. scudamore, estimates at $ , , the "reversionary rights" of the railway companies, for which rights the state ultimately paid $ , , to $ , , . on april , , the disraeli government brought into parliament a "bill to enable the postmaster general to acquire, work, and maintain electric telegraphs in the united kingdom."[ ] at this time the government still was ignorant of the precise relations existing between the telegraph companies and the railways; and it did not foresee that the purchase of the assets of the telegraph companies would lead to the purchase of the reversionary rights of the railways in the telegraphs, the telegraphs having been, for the most part, erected on the lands of the railways, under leases of way-leaves that still had to run, on an average, . years. at this time, therefore, the government contemplated only the purchase of the electric and international company, the british and irish company, the united kingdom company, and the london and provincial, the successor of the london district telegraph company. [sidenote: _purchase price estimated at $ , , to $ , , _] in the course of the debate upon the order for the second reading of the bill, the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. g. w. hunt, said that "if the house would excuse him, he would rather not enter fully into details with respect to the purchase at present. but he would say that, speaking roughly, it would take something near $ , , , or, at all events, between $ , , and $ , , for the purchase and the necessary extensions of the lines." he added that if the purchase should be made, the telegraphs would yield a net revenue of $ , , a year; and that sum would suffice to pay the interest on the debt to be contracted, and to clear off that debt in twenty-nine years.[ ] parliament was to be prorogued in august; and a general election was to follow prorogation. the government naturally was anxious to avoid having to go into the general election without having achieved the nationalization of the telegraphs; particularly, since the opposition party also had committed itself to state purchase. then again, the government believed that the value of the telegraphs was increasing so rapidly that the state would lose money by any postponement of the act of purchase. for these reasons the government entered into negotiations with the various interests that evinced a disposition to oppose in parliament the government's bill, until finally all opposition was removed. [sidenote: _politics forces government's hand_] the bill, as introduced, proposed that the state pay the four telegraph companies enumerated, the money actually invested by them--about $ , , --together with an allowance for the prospective increase of the earnings of the companies, and an additional allowance for compulsory sale. the last two items were to be fixed by an arbitrator who was to be appointed by the board of trade. the companies flatly rejected this offer, pointing, by way of precedent, to the act of , which fixed the terms to be given to the railways, should the state at any time resolve upon the compulsory purchase of the railways. the act in question prescribed: "twenty-five years' purchase of the average annual divisible profits for three years before such purchase, provided these profits shall equal or exceed per cent. on the capital; and, if not, the railway company shall be at liberty to claim any further sum for anticipated profits, to be fixed by arbitration." the government next offered the companies the highest market price reached by the stock of the companies on the london stock exchange up to may , , plus an allowance for prospective profits, to be fixed by arbitration. the companies rejected that offer, but accepted the next one, namely, twenty years' purchase of the profits of the year that was to end with june , .[ ] mr. w. h. smith, one of the most highly esteemed members of the house of commons, who was himself a director in the electric and international, subsequently spoke as follows of these negotiations: "in the telegraph companies were by no means desirous to part with their property, but the question whether the government should be in possession of the telegraphs having been forced on their consideration, the three principal companies very reluctantly came to an arrangement with the government of the day. he did not wish to express any opinion on the bargain which had been made, and would only say for himself and those with whom he was associated, that they very deeply regretted to be obliged to part with property which had been profitable, and which they had great pleasure in managing."[ ] mr. smith added that the net earnings of the electric and international had increased from $ , in , to $ , in ; and that the average annual increase per cent. had been . per cent. the state of the public mind at the time when the government introduced its bill, was indicated in the issue of april , , of _the economist_, the leading financial newspaper of great britain. said the journal in question: "even if the companies resist, they will not be very powerful opponents--firstly, because the leaders of both parties have already sanctioned the scheme; and, secondly, because the companies are exceptionally unpopular. there is, probably, no interest in the kingdom which is so cordially disliked by the press, which, when united, is stronger than any interest, and which has suffered for years under the shortcomings of the private companies. the real discussion in parliament, should there be any, will turn upon a very different point, and it will be not a little interesting to observe how far the current of opinion on the subject of state interference with private enterprise, has really ebbed within the last few years. twelve or fourteen years ago it would have been useless for any chancellor of the exchequer to propose such an operation.... it was [at that time] believed on all sides that state interference was wrong, because it shut out the private speculators from the natural reward of their energy and labor." before the select committee of the house of commons to which was referred the government's bill, mr. scudamore argued that if parliament could not make a reasonable bargain with the telegraph companies, it could authorize the post office to build a system of telegraphs. but that measure ought to be adopted only as a last resource. it was of paramount importance to avoid shaking the confidence of the investors that private enterprise would be allowed to reap the full benefits of its enterprise, and that it would be exposed to nothing more than the ordinary vicissitudes of trade. that the possibility of competition by the state, by means of money taken from the people by taxation, never had been included within the ordinary vicissitudes of trade. coming to the question of paying twenty years' purchase of the profits of the year - , mr. scudamore said: "the telegraphs are so much more valuable a property than we originally believed, that if you do not buy them this year, you unquestionably will have to pay $ , , more for them next year.... their [average] annual growth of profit is certainly not less than ten per cent. at present. if you wait till next year and only give them nineteen years' purchase, you will give them more than you will now give. if you wait two years, and give them eighteen years' purchase, you will still give them more than you will now give, assuming the annual growth of profit to be the same. if you wait four years, and give them sixteen years' purchase, you will again give them more, and in addition you will have lost the benefit accruing in the four years, which would have gone into their pockets instead of coming into the pockets of the nation."[ ] [sidenote: _purchase price estimated at $ , , _] in the house of commons, the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. g. w. hunt, said: "the terms agreed upon, although very liberal, were not more liberal than they should be under the circumstances, and did not offer more than an arbitrator would have given. the companies had agreed to sell at twenty years' purchase of present net profits, although those profits were increasing at the rate of per cent. a year. he was satisfied the more the house looked into the matter, the more they would be satisfied with the bargain made."[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer continued with the statement that mr. scudamore estimated that the postmaster general would obtain from the telegraphs a net revenue of $ , , at the minimum, and $ , , at the maximum. the mean of those estimates was $ , , , which sum would pay the interest and sinking fund payments-- . per cent. in all--on $ , , . the government, therefore, could afford to pay $ , , for the telegraphs. indeed, on the basis of the maximum estimate of net revenue, it could pay $ , , . but mr. scudamore confidently fixed at $ , , at the maximum, the price that the government would have to pay. mr. scudamore's estimates of net revenue "would stand any amount of examination by the house, as they had stood very careful scrutiny by the select committee, and for the government to carry out the scheme would not only prove safe but profitable." by this time the government had learned that it would be necessary to purchase the reversionary rights of the railway companies in the business of the telegraph companies. the government had agreed with the railway companies upon the terms under which it was to be left to arbitration how much should be paid for those reversionary rights. the chancellor of the exchequer stated that he was unwilling to divulge the government's estimates of what sums would be awarded under the arbitration; for, if he did divulge them, they might be used against the government before the arbitrators. "but mr. scudamore, whose ability with regard not only to this matter, but also to other matters, had been of great service to the government, had given considerable attention to the matter, and mr. scudamore believed that $ , , would be the outside figure" to be paid to the telegraph companies and the railway companies. the chancellor of the exchequer added that mr. scudamore's "calculations had been submitted to and approved by mr. foster, the principal finance officer of the treasury." in passing, it may be stated that mr. foster had stated before the select committee of the house of commons that he had given only "two or three days" to the consideration of the extremely difficult question of the value that the arbitrators would be likely to put upon the railway companies' reversionary rights.[ ] [sidenote: _parliament warned against government's estimates_] mr. goschen, of the banking firm of frühling and goschen, who had been a member of the select committee, and had taken an active part in its proceedings, replied that "the inquiry [by the committee] had been carried on under great disadvantages. an opposition, organized by private interests [the telegraph companies and the railway companies], had been changed into an organization of warm supporters of the bill pending the inquiry. before the committee there appeared counsel representing the promoters [_i. e._, the government], and, at first, counsel representing the original opposition to the bill [_i. e._ the telegraph and railway companies]; but in consequence of the change in the views of the opposition, who during the proceedings became friendly to the bill, there was no counsel present to cross-examine the witnesses. consequently, in the interests of the public, and in order that all the facts might be brought to light, members of the committee [chiefly mr. goschen and mr. leeman] had to discharge the duty of cross-examining the witnesses. the same causes led to the result that the witnesses produced were all on one side." ...[ ] mr. goschen emphasized the fact that upon the expiring of the telegraph companies' leases of rights of way over the railways, the reversionary rights of the railways would come into play, and that the government, after having paid twenty years' purchase to the telegraph companies, "would probably have to pay half as much again to the railways." "the railways had felt the strength of their position so much, that they had pointed out to the committee that they would not only be entitled to an increase in the rate which they now received [as rent from the telegraph companies] as soon as the leases expired, but they would also be entitled to an indemnification [from the state] for the loss they would sustain in not being allowed [in consequence of the nationalization of the telegraphs] to put the screw on the telegraph companies." mr. goschen said "he felt very strongly on this point because he was convinced that it was impossible to find an instance of any private enterprise which, while it returned a profit of per cent. to its shareholders, enjoyed a monopoly for any great length of time." if the government purchased the assets of the telegraph companies, the railway companies would succeed in compelling the state to share with them the great profits to be obtained from the business of telegraphy. they would do so by compelling the government to pay a big sum for their reversionary rights in the telegraph companies, as the price for abstaining from building up a telegraph business of their own, upon the expiry of the telegraph companies' leases. no business that yielded a return of per cent. could be worth twenty years' purchase, for such returns were very insecure, because of the certainty that competition would arise from persons who would be content with ten per cent., or less.[ ] mr. leeman, who had sat on the select committee, and had, with mr. goschen, done all of the cross-examining directed to bring out the points that told against the government's proposal, followed mr. goschen in the debate. he began by stating that he spoke with "twenty years' experience as a railway man;" and he directed his argument especially against the terms of the agreements made by the government to purchase the reversionary rights of the railways in the telegraph companies' businesses. "mr. scudamore, who was what he had already been described to be--a most able man--had not known, up to the time of the second reading of the bill [june , ], what were the existing arrangements between the telegraph companies and the railway companies; and, subsequently, while still without the requisite knowledge on that point,[ ] he went and agreed on the part of the government to buy the interest of the telegraph companies at years' purchase of their profits. in addition it was to be remembered that the railway companies had reversionary interests which would come into operation after comparatively short time for which their arrangements with the telegraph companies were to continue. in july, , mr. scudamore estimated the necessary outlay on the part of the government at $ , , . in february, , another officer of the government raised the estimate to $ , , ; but it was not until the bill came before the committee [july, ], that mr. scudamore said that $ , , would be required.... he [mr. leeman] undertook to say that mr. scudamore was as wide of the mark in his estimate of $ , , , as he had been in his estimate of $ , , . at the expiration of their agreements with the telegraph companies, several [all] of the railway companies would have it in their power to compete with the post office in the transmission of telegraphic messages. no doubt this fact would be brought under the notice of the arbitrators when the value of their reversion was being considered, and at what price would the arbitrators value this reversionary power of competition? had mr. scudamore made any estimate on the subject? owing to the position in which mr. scudamore had placed the government, the railway companies had demanded and had been promised terms in respect of their reversions, which he, as a railway man, now said it was the duty of any government to have resisted." ...[ ] [sidenote: _railway companies' reversionary rights_] for the better understanding of this question of reversions, it must be stated that the telegraph companies, for the most part, had erected their poles and wires on the permanent way of the railway companies, under leases of way-leaves, which, in , still had . years to run, on the average.[ ] as the leases should expire, the railway companies would have an opportunity to try to obtain better terms, or to order the companies to remove their plant, and then to erect their own plant, and themselves engage in the telegraph business. but the railway companies were handicapped by the fact that the leases did not expire together, and that it would be difficult to build up a new telegraph system piecemeal out of the parts of line that would become free in the next three years to twenty-nine years. there was, therefore, much room for difference of opinion on the question how far the railway companies would be able "to put the screw" on the telegraph companies upon the successive expirations of leases. the stock exchange doubtless took the contingency into consideration, that being one reason why the electric and international shares did not rise above fourteen years' purchase of the annual dividends. mr. scudamore, before the select committee, expressed the opinion that the railway companies could force the telegraph companies "to give them somewhat better terms; that would be the extreme result of any negotiations between the telegraph companies and the railway companies." to mr. foster, principal officer of the finance division of the treasury, whom the government called to support mr. scudamore's evidence, mr. leeman put the question: "looking at it as a financial question, do you suppose all the railways in the country, having power to work their telegraphs at the end of ten years, but for this bill, will not put in a claim for a very large sum in respect of that reversion?" the witness replied: "i do not think it would be of very great value in the first place, and in the next place it would be a value deferred for ten years, which would very much diminish it." to the further query: "you do not take the view that we shall have to pay the railway companies and also the telegraph companies for the same thing," he replied in the negative.[ ] shortly after the government's bill had been referred to the select committee, the government made the railway companies this proposition, which was accepted. the government was to acquire perpetual and exclusive way-leaves for telegraph lines over the railways, and the price to be paid therefor was to be left to arbitration. the railway companies were to have the choice of presenting their claims either under the head of payment for the cession of perpetual and exclusive way-leaves to the government; or, under the head of compensation for the loss of right to grant way-leaves to any one other than the government, as well as for the loss of right themselves to transmit messages, except on their own railway business. the government was of the opinion that the sums to be paid to the railways under this agreement would not be large enough to raise above $ , , , the total sum to be paid to the telegraph companies and the railways. parliament enacted the bill of authorizing the government to purchase the property of the telegraph companies and the rights of the railways; but it provided that the resulting act of should not take effect, unless, in the session of , parliament should put at the disposal of the postmaster general such monies as were required to carry out the provisions of the act of . the government immediately appointed a committee to ascertain the profits earned by the telegraph companies in the year that had ended with june, . the committee, which consisted of the receiver and accountant general of the post office, and other gentlemen selected from the post office for their general ability, but especially for their knowledge of accounts, in june and july, , reported that the aggregate of the sums to be paid to the six telegraph companies was $ , , ,[ ] the companies having put in claims aggregating $ , , . while the bill had been before the select committee, the government had agreed to purchase the properties of reuters telegram company (norderney cable), as well as of the universal private company. the price paid for those properties absorbed the margin on which mr. scudamore and the government had counted for the purchase of the reversionary rights of the railways. in the meantime, the disraeli ministry, which had carried the measure of , had been replaced, on december , , by the gladstone ministry. on july , , the marquis of hartington, postmaster general, laid before parliament a bill authorizing the post office department to spend $ , , for the purpose of carrying out the act of . the marquis of hartington said that $ , , would be required for the purchase of the assets of the telegraph companies; that $ , , would cover the claims of the railways, which had not yet been adjusted; and that $ , , would suffice to rearrange the telegraph lines and to make such extensions as would be required to give government telegraph offices to , places, towns, and cities, the present number of places having telegraph offices being , . the marquis of hartington stated that parliament "was quite competent to repudiate the bargain of , if they thought it a bad one.... having given the subject his best consideration, he must say, without expressing any opinion as to the terms of the bargain, that if they were to begin afresh, he did not think they could get the property on better terms." he added that the "government would take over the telegraphs of the companies on january , , on the basis of paying twenty times the profits of the year - . but that in consequence of the increase of the business since - , the $ , , which the state would pay the telegraph companies, would represent, not twenty years' purchase of the profits in , but considerably under seventeen years' purchase of those profits. the trade of the electric and international had been found to be growing at the rate of per cent. a year; that of the british and irish at the rate of per cent."[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. robert lowe, was by no means so sanguine. he spoke of the "immense price" which the government was asked to pay, "a price of which he, at all events, washed his hands altogether. the right honorable gentlemen opposite [mr. hunt, chancellor of the exchequer in ], had accused them of appropriating the honor of this measure. he had not the slightest desire to contest the point with the right honorable gentleman, who was welcome to it all. the matter was found by the present government in so complicated a state that it was impossible for them to recede; but unless the house was prepared to grant that [_i. e._ a government monopoly] without which they believed it would be impossible to carry on the business effectively, it would be better that they should reject the bill altogether."[ ] mr. torrens moved an amendment adverse to the bill, but his motion was defeated by a vote of to . before the vote was taken, mr. w. fowler, of the firm of alexander & company, lombard street, speaking of the reversionary rights of the railway companies, had said: "therefore, for what the house knew, there might be contingent liabilities for hundreds of thousands or millions of pounds sterling more."[ ] the measure became a law in august, ; and on february , , the telegraphs of the united kingdom were transferred to the post office department. in the course of the year , the government bought the properties of the jersey and guernsey company and of the isle of man company. those purchases, together with a large number of minor purchases made in , but not previously mentioned, raised the total sum paid to the telegraph companies to $ , , . [sidenote: _reversionary rights estimated at $ , , cost $ , , _] not until were the last of the claims of the railway companies adjusted. the writer has not succeeded in finding a specific official statement of the aggregate sum paid to the railway companies for their reversionary rights and for the grant to the post office of perpetual and exclusive way-leaves over their properties, but he infers that that sum was $ , , or $ , , . that inference is based on testimony given in by mr. c. h. b. patey,[ ] third secretary to the post office, and on information given by the postmaster general in .[ ] it will be recalled, that in , the marquis of hartington, postmaster general, had told the house of commons that the payments for the rights in question would not exceed $ , , . the postmaster general doubtless spoke on the strength of assurances given by mr. scudamore. it will be remembered also that mr. leeman, in , had warned the house in strong terms that mr. scudamore's estimates were not to be trusted. finally, it will be remembered that in , mr. w. fowler, a financier of high standing, had warned the house of commons that "there might be contingent liabilities of thousands or millions of pounds sterling more." footnotes: [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , the chancellor of the exchequer. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, . mr. scudamore: q. , and following, , to , , , and , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; q. , and following, , and following, and , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following. [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; mr. foster, q. , , _et passim_. [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, . mr. leeman cross-questions mr. scudamore. , . "did you agree with the telegraph companies till after this bill was sent to the select committee?"--"no." , . "at the time this bill was sent to this committee you had petitions against you, had you not, from or different interests?"--"yes; quite that." , . "since that time, have you, with the exception of the interest which mr. merewether now represents [universal private telegraph co.], bought up every interest, or contracted to buy up every interest, which was represented by those petitioners?"--"yes, subject to arbitration and the approval of the committee." , . "they had largely, upon the face of their petitions, controverted the views you have been expressing to this committee?"--"they had endeavored to do so." , . "they had in fact?"--"they had endeavored to put forward a case against me. i do not say it was a good case." , . "in direct opposition to the information you have been supplying to the committee?"--"undoubtedly." , . "the electric and international telegraph company was the company most largely interested, was it not?"--"yes." , . "that company had put forth its views controverting in detail what you have been stating to the committee in the course of your examination?"--"attempting to controvert it." , . "by your arrangements, since the time at which this bill was submitted to this select committee to inquire into, you have in truth shut the mouths of all these parties?"--"they are perfectly welcome to speak; i am not shutting their mouths." , . "do you propose to call them?"--"no, but they are here to be called." , . "you do not propose to call them. this is the fact, is it not, that this bill was sent to the select committee, with special instructions to make inquiries into various matters raised by petitions from to different interests, and you have, since that time, subsidized every interest that could give any information to this committee; is not that the fact?"--"not quite." [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following. [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, . mr. leeman examines mr. scudamore. question , . "when the bill was read a second time in the house of commons, had you knowledge of the contents of the terms of the agreement between the telegraph companies and the railway companies, which enabled you to form any judgment financially as to what you might ultimately have to pay in respect of the railway companies?"--"no, i had not." [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following. [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; appendix, no. . leases to expire in: number of miles of telegraph line to years , " " , " " , " " , average unexpired length of all leases: . years. [ ] special _report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; q. , , , , and , . [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session . =======================================+===============+============== |sums to be paid|capitalization ---------------------------------------+---------------+-------------- electric and international co | , , | , , british and irish magnetic co | , , | , , united kingdom co | , , | , , [a]london and provincial co | , | , reuter's telegram co. (norderney cable)| , , | , , universal private co | , | ? =======================================+===============+============== [a] this company was paid the highest market value of its shares on the stock exchange in the first week of june, , plus an allowance for prospective profits. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following, and july , p. and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue department estimates_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the postmaster general_, , p. . chapter v none of mr. scudamore's financial forecasts were realized the completion of the telegraph system cost $ , , ; mr. scudamore's successive estimates had been respectively $ , , and $ , , . mr. scudamore's brilliant forecast of the increase of traffic under public ownership. mr. scudamore's appalling blunder in predicting that the state telegraphs would be self-supporting. operating expenses on the average exceed . % of the gross earnings, in contrast to mr. scudamore's estimate of % to %. the annual telegraph deficits aggregate . % of the capital invested in the plant. the financial failure of the state telegraphs is not due to the large price paid to the telegraph companies and railway companies. the disillusionment of an eminent advocate of nationalization, mr. w. stanley jevons. [sidenote: _estimated expenditure_ versus _actual expenditure_] as soon as the telegraphs had been transferred to the government, the post office department set to work to rearrange the wires wherever competition had caused duplication or triplication; to extend the wires into the centre of each town or place "imperfectly" served; to build lines to all places with money order issuing post offices that had no telegraphic service; to enlarge the local telegraph system of metropolitan london from telegraph offices in , to offices at the close of ; to give cities like birmingham, leeds, edinburgh, glasgow and manchester, from to telegraph offices each;[ ] to provide additional wires to meet the anticipated growth of traffic; and to release some , or , miles of wire for the exclusive use of the railway companies in the conduct of transportation. for these several purposes the post office department, in the course of the three years ending with september, , erected , miles of posts, and , miles of wire; strengthened , miles of line; laid miles of underground pipes and miles of pneumatic pipes; and laid miles of submarine cable. by september, , the post office department had spent upon the rearrangement and extension of the telegraphs, the sum of $ , , .[ ] something over $ , , [ ] of that sum represented the cost of repairing the depreciation suffered by the plant in the years and , a depreciation for which full allowance had been made in fixing the purchase price. the balance, $ , , , represented new capital outlay. in mr. scudamore had stated before the select committee of the house of commons that it would cost $ , , to rearrange the telegraphs and give perfect telegraphic service to , places.[ ] in , the postmaster general, the marquis of hartington, had told the house of commons that $ , , would cover the cost of rearranging the telegraphs and giving perfect accommodation to , places.[ ] in april, , on the other hand, mr. w. stanley jevons, an eminent economist, had estimated at $ , , the cost of "the improvement of the present telegraphs, and their extension to many villages which do not at present possess a telegraph station."[ ] mr. scudamore's estimate of the cost of extending the telegraphs to places that had no telegraphic accommodation, was based on the assumption that each such extension would require, on the average, the erection of three-quarters of a mile of telegraph line. but when the post office department came to build to "new" places, it found that "the opening of upward of , additional telegraph offices necessitated the erection of not less than , miles of telegraph line."[ ] the results have shown that mr. scudamore's other estimates of the cost of rearranging and extending the telegraphs, presented by himself in , and by the postmaster general, the marquis of hartington, in , were equally wide of the mark. numerous _committees on the public accounts_ sitting in the years to , together with the _committee on post office telegraph department_, , attempted to inquire into the enormous discrepancy between the estimated cost and the actual cost of rearranging and extending the telegraphs. but none of those attempts were rewarded with any success whatever.[ ] the representatives of the post office and of the treasury always attributed the discrepancy "to the purchase of undertakings which were not contemplated at the time when the original measures were submitted to the house, and to unforeseen expenses for extensions." but the state, as a matter of fact, made no purchases beyond those contemplated in --excepting the purchase of the jersey and guernsey cable for $ , , and the purchase of the isle of man cable for $ , . as for unforeseen extensions, in , the marquis of hartington had counted on carrying the telegraphs to , places, and in there were but , postal telegraph offices, counting the offices in london, and the numerous offices in the several large principal cities.[ ] * * * * * mr. scudamore, aided by the state of public opinion created by the agitation of the british chambers of commerce under the leadership of the chamber of commerce of edinburgh, carried away the disraeli ministry and the gladstone ministry. even more powerful than mr. scudamore's argument from the extensive use made of the telegraphs on the continent of europe, was mr. scudamore's promise that the state telegraphs should begin by paying a profit sufficient to cover the interest on $ , , at the lowest estimate, and $ , , at the highest estimate; and that the profit should increase with the advancing years. [sidenote: _penny postage precedent_] before examining the evidence upon which mr. scudamore predicted such large profits, it will be well to consider briefly the nature of the evidence afforded to mr. scudamore by sir rowland hill's epoch-making "invention of penny postage." this is the more necessary, since mr. scudamore himself cited the success of penny postage in support of his proposal for a uniform rate of cents for telegraph messages. upon the introduction of the penny postage, the letters carried by the post office of the united kingdom jumped from , , in to , , in , and to , , in . but the net revenue obtained by the post office department from the carriage of letters fell from $ , , in to $ , , in . though the net revenue increased each year beginning with , not until did it again reach the point at which it had been in . in , the number of letters carried was , , --almost four times the number carried in , and eight times the number carried in .[ ] in short, the evidence from the penny postage was, that care must be used in arguing from an increase of business to an increase of net revenue; and that the prospect of a great increase in business did not necessarily justify the incurrence of indefinitely large charges on account of interest on capital invested. [sidenote: _mr. scudamore's revenue forecasts_] mr. scudamore began by assuming that the post office would take charge of the telegraphs on july , ; and that by that time the telegraph companies would have developed a business of , , messages a year. on the basis of the traffic of , and under the companies' charges, per cent. of the business would consist of messages carried miles or less, which would be charged cents each; per cent. would be messages carried from to miles, being charged cents each; per cent. would be messages carried beyond miles, which would be charged cents; and, finally, per cent. would consist of messages to and from ireland, which would be charged from cents to cents. the adoption of the uniform rate of cents, irrespective of distance, would reduce by per cent. the charge on the messages sent from to miles, and would increase those messages by per cent.; it would reduce by per cent. the charge on the messages carried more than miles, and would increase those messages by per cent.; and, finally, it would increase by per cent. the number of messages between great britain and ireland. the introduction of the uniform cent rate, therefore, would increase the total number of messages from , , to , , . that last number would be further increased by per cent. in consequence of the general increase of facilities, and a material reduction in the charges made for the delivery of messages to points outside of the free delivery areas. thus the total number of messages that the post office telegraphs would carry in the first year would be , , , or, say, in round numbers, , , . since the average message would be somewhat over words in length, one might count on average receipts per message of cents; so that the , , messages in question would bring the post office a gross revenue of $ , , . mr. scudamore next proceeded to estimate what it would cost to earn the $ , , just mentioned. he began with the total working expenses, in , of the four leading companies, namely $ , , . he stated that the companies had said that if permitted to consolidate, they could reduce expenses by $ , a year. but if the post office were to take over the telegraphs, it would reduce the expenses by more than the last mentioned sum, for it could use the existing post office buildings, the existing staff, and so forth. deducting numerous other items representing expenses that the companies had incurred on account of the operation of foreign cables and the conduct of other forms of business that the post office would discontinue, mr. scudamore reached the conclusion that the post office, in , could have operated at a total cost of $ , , the plants of the four telegraph companies. mr. scudamore added per cent. to the last mentioned sum, in order to cover the cost of maintaining and operating the extensions that the state proposed to make at a cost of $ , , . he took per cent. because $ , , was / or / of the capital invested in the plants of the telegraph companies. that raised to $ , , mr. scudamore's estimate of the cost of operating the telegraphs on the supposition of a business of , , messages. mr. scudamore then allowed per cent. or $ , , for the assumed increase in the number of messages from , , to , , . he said the post office might safely assume that it could increase its business by per cent. at an increase of per cent. in the operating expenses, since the electric and international telegraph company recently had increased its business by per cent. at an increase of per cent. in the operating expenses. mr. scudamore's conclusion was that the post office could carry , , messages, yielding an income of $ , , , at a cost of $ , , , thus obtaining a net revenue of $ , , . to that sum must be added the net revenue to be obtained from the carriage of messages for the newspaper press, $ , ; and $ , to be obtained from the rental of the state's cables to the several foreign cable companies. thus mr. scudamore counted on a maximum net revenue of $ , , . by similar reasoning, under the supposition that the total number of messages should not exceed , , , mr. scudamore arrived at a minimum estimated net revenue of $ , , . taking the average of the two foregoing estimates, he said the government "might with almost entire certainty rely upon a net revenue within a range of from $ , , to $ , , , the mean of which was $ , , ." that was for the first year; in the subsequent years the net revenue would increase rapidly. he said: "it is the experience of all people who have worked a large business of this kind that the cost does not by any means increase in proportion to the increase of business; you can always do a greater amount of business at a less proportionate cost than you can do a smaller amount." mr. goschen repeatedly asked mr. scudamore whether he would stand by his estimates, and whether he deemed them moderate, adding that the select committee was taking the matter almost exclusively on his [mr. scudamore's] evidence. mr. goschen always received the strongest assurances that the committee might rely on the estimates submitted.[ ] mr. scudamore's predictions as to the growth of traffic that might be expected from the great increase in the facilities for telegraphing, and from the reduction of the charges by fully one-half, turned out to be brilliant indeed. they were fully realized. the number of messages increased from about , , in , to , , in - , to , , in - , and to , , in - .[ ] but mr. scudamore's predictions as to the net revenue to be obtained from the state telegraphs turned out to be appalling blunders. in only thirteen out of thirty-six years, from - to - , did the net revenue reach mr. scudamore's minimum estimate; in only two of those thirteen years did it reach the maximum estimate; and in only seven of the thirteen years did it reach the average estimate. in the period - to - , the operating expenses aggregated $ , , , while the gross receipts aggregated $ , , . in the latter sum are included $ , , , the proceeds of the royalties paid the government by the british national telephone company for the privilege of conducting the telephone business in competition with the state telegraphs.[ ] if that sum be excluded from the postal telegraph gross revenues, as not having been earned by the telegraphs, it will be found that in the period, - to - , the operating expenses exceeded the gross revenue by $ , , . [sidenote: _operating expenses under-estimated by one-half_] mr. scudamore, in , predicted that the operating expenses would be per cent. to per cent. of the gross revenue, in the first year of the working of the telegraphs by the post office; and that they would continue to be correspondingly low. in , a committee appointed by the treasury reported that in consequence of the great extension of facilities effected since , "it would be difficult for the government to work the telegraph service as cheaply as did the companies, but a reasonable expectation might be entertained that the expenses might be kept within per cent. or per cent. of the gross revenue. that would leave a margin sufficient to pay the interest on the debt incurred in purchasing the telegraphs."[ ] as a matter of fact, the operating expenses only once have come within the limits fixed by the committee of ; and at the close of - , they had averaged . per cent.[ ] here again, the telephone royalties are included in the gross receipts. on march , , the capital invested in the telegraphs was $ , , .[ ] to raise that capital, the government had sold $ , , three per cent. bonds at an average price of about . ;[ ] and for the rest, the government had drawn upon the current revenue raised by taxation. [sidenote: _aggregate telegraph deficit_] the net revenue earned by the telegraphs covered the interest on the bonds outstanding, in - , and in the years - to - . on march , , the sums annually paid by the government by way of interest that had not been earned by the telegraphs, had aggregated $ , , , or . per cent. of the capital invested in the telegraphs.[ ] upon the sums invested since , aggregating $ , , , the government has received no interest. [sidenote: _parliament responsible for deficits_] the statement is commonly made, and widely accepted, that the financial failure of the state telegraphs is due to the excessive price paid for the plant. but that statement overlooks two facts: that since - the telegraphs have not earned operating expenses; and that in - the telegraphs became abundantly able to earn the interest even upon their immoderate capitalization.[ ] the statement in question also overlooks the fact that the telegraphs easily could have maintained the position reached in - , had not the house of commons taken the reins out of the hands of the successive governments of the day. the house of commons after fixed the wages and salaries to be paid the government telegraph employees in accordance with the political pressure those employees were able to bring, not in accordance with the market value of the services rendered by the employees. the house of commons also reduced the tariff on telegrams from cents for words, to cents for words. it took that course against the protests of the government of the day, and cut deep into the margin of profit of the telegraph department. the fact that the house of commons after - took the reins out of the hands of the successive governments of the day, in no way diminished mr. scudamore's responsibility for the appalling errors into which he fell when he forecast the financial outcome of the nationalization of the telegraphs. mr. leeman, of the parliamentary select committee of , expressly asked mr. scudamore: "you do not think there is any fear of the cost being increased by the salaries being much increased under the management of the post office?" mr. scudamore without hesitation replied in the negative, though he had just stated that in the post office and in all government departments the pay of the lower grades of employees was somewhat higher than it was in commercial and industrial life.[ ] moreover, mr. scudamore, as one of the two chief executive officers of the post office, must have been aware that the government was neither perfectly free to promote men according to their merit, and irrespective of length of service, nor free to discharge men who were comparatively inefficient and lax in the discharge of their duties. he must have known that those disabilities made it impossible for the post office to work as cheaply as private enterprise worked. as for the house of commons forcing on the government the cent rate for messages of words, that action was due largely to the expectations raised by mr. scudamore himself in and , that the nationalization of the telegraphs would soon give the public a twelve cent rate. * * * * * [sidenote: _mr. w. s. jevons' disillusionment_] mr. w. stanley jevons, the eminent statistician and economist, who, in to , had warmly supported the proposal to nationalize the telegraphs, in pointed out that while the postal telegraph traffic had increased per cent. in the period to , the operating expenses had increased per cent. he said: "the case is all the more hopeless, since the introduction of the wonderful invention of duplex telegraphy has doubled at a stroke, and with very little cost, the carrying power of many of the wires."[ ] in each wire afforded one channel for communication; in it afforded two channels under the duplex system, four channels under the quadruplex system, and six channels under the multiplex system. in the maximum speed per minute was to words. in the fixed standard of speed for certain circuits was words, while a speed of words was possible of attainment. the "repeaters" used for strengthening the current on long circuits also were greatly improved after .[ ] footnotes: [ ] _report by mr. scudamore on the reorganization of the telegraph system of the united kingdom_, january, . number of telegraph offices before and after the transfer of the telegraphs to the state: +================+========+========+ | | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |london | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |birmingham | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |edinburgh | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |leeds | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |glasgow | | | +----------------+--------+--------+ |manchester | | | +================+========+========+ this table does not indicate fully the expense incurred by the state in providing local telegraph systems. under the companies the offices were all concentrated in the heart of the city; under the post office administration the offices were spread throughout the city and suburbs. [ ] _first report from the committee on public accounts_, ; appendix, p. ; and _report from the committee on public accounts_, ; appendix, p. and following. [ ] _report by mr. scudamore on the reorganization of the telegraph system of the united kingdom_, january, , p. . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _transactions of the manchester statistical society_, session - . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; q. , and ; and _first report from the committee on public accounts_, ; appendix, p. . [ ] _report from the select committee on post office (telegraph department)_, , p. xi. "the committee have not received any full and satisfactory explanation of these great differences between the estimated expenditure of and the actual expenditure incurred up to ." [ ] _miscellaneous statistics of the united kingdom_, current issues from to . telegraph stations open to the public: ===================+======+======+======+=======+=======+=======+======= | | | | | | | -------------------+------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+------- telegraph companies| , [a] | | | | | post office | | | | | | | telegraphs | | , | , | , | , | , | , railway stations[b]| , | , | , | , | , | , | , |------+------+------+-------+-------+-------+------- | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | | | | | | | miles of line | , | ? | , [c] ? | , [d] ? [e] , miles of wire | , | , | , | , | , | , | , ===================+======+======+======+=======+=======+=======+======= [a] in , places. [b] for the benefit of the traveling public, and of persons residing in the immediate vicinity of railway stations, the post office made arrangements whereby the railway companies received messages from the public for transmission to the postal telegraphs, and received messages from the postal telegraphs for delivery to the public. [c] _report of the postmaster general_, , p. . [d] _the fortnightly review_, december, , w. s. jevons. [e] _report of the postmaster general_, , p. . [ ] the penny postage was introduced on december , . ==========+===============+==============+=========== |letters carried| gross revenue|net revenue[a] | | $ | $ ----------+---------------+--------------+----------- | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , | , , ==========+===============+==============+=========== [a] the british post office does not charge itself with interest upon the capital invested in the postal business; it charges itself only with interest upon the capital borrowed on account of the telegraphic business. [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; appendix, pp. and ; and q. , and following, and , and following. compare: _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following, the marquis of hartington, postmaster general. [ ] number of messages. , , (estimated) - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , in mr. scudamore revised his estimate of the number of messages in - , reducing it to , , . _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , , the marquis of hartington, postmaster general. [ ] garcke: _manual of electrical undertakings_. the current issues report the amount of these royalties. _the report of the postmaster general_, , p. , and _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of , state that these royalties are included in the gross revenue of the telegraphs. [ ] _report of a committee appointed by the treasury to investigate the causes of the increased cost of the telegraphic service since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the state_, , p. . [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of . proportion borne by operating expenses to gross revenue, after excluding from operating expenses all expenses properly chargeable to capital account. the capital account of the telegraphs having been closed in september, , the post office, since that date, has charged to operating expenses all expenditures on account of extensions, the purchase of sites, and the erection of buildings. average percentage of operating expenses range - . - . - to - . . to . - to - . . to . - to - . . to . - to - . . to . - to - . . to . _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of . lord john manners, postmaster general: "in the first two years after the transfer the expenditure was kept down, because no charge was raised for maintenance, as it took the form of renewal of the plant of the late companies, which, between and , had, in some instances, been allowed to fall into decay, and was therefore considered properly chargeable against capital." [ ] that sum was made up as follows: telegraph companies $ , , railway companies , , extensions: to , , extensions: to , , ----------- $ , , [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of . [ ] the subjoined table gives, for successive periods, the average capital sums upon which the net revenue earned by the telegraphs would have paid the interest; and also the average sums actually invested in the telegraphs in those periods. the first column of the table is constructed on the assumption that the interest paid by the state for borrowed money was . per cent. from - to - ; per cent. from - to - ; and . per cent. from - to - . the ten million dollars paid to the railway companies some time between and are not included in the sum put down for the average capital investment in - to - , since it has been impossible to assign that payment to specific years. the results of the year - should be ignored, since the cost of the maintenance of the telegraphs was charged to capital account in the year in question. the net revenue the average sufficed to pay capital actually interest on: invested was: $ $ - , , , , - to - , , , , - to - , , , , - to - , , , , - to - , , , , - to - , , , , - to - nil , , [ ] the net revenue sufficed to pay the interest on: $ - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _the fortnightly review_, december, . [ ] _report of the postmaster general_ for ; historical outline of the telegraph service since . chapter vi the party leaders ignore their fear of an organized civil service mr. disraeli, chancellor of the exchequer, opposes the enfranchisement of the civil servants. mr. gladstone, leader of the opposition, assents to enfranchisement, but expresses grave apprehensions of evil results. one of the most extraordinary of the numerous astounding episodes in connection with the nationalization of the telegraphs was the fact that in the debates in the house of commons was not even raised the question of possible danger arising from increasing enormously the number of civil servants. that is the more astounding, since, in and , prominent men in both political parties had grave misgivings as to the future relations between the state and its employees, even though those employees who were in the customs department, the inland revenue department, and the post office were at the time disfranchised. [sidenote: _mr. disraeli on civil servants_] in july, , while the house of commons was passing the "representation of the people bill," sir harry verney, a private member, moved the addition of a clause to enable public officers connected with the collection of the revenue to vote at elections.[ ] the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. disraeli, asked the house not to accept the amendment. he said: "he wished also to recall to the recollection of the committee a treasury minute which had been placed on the table, in which minute the government had drawn attention to the impropriety and impolicy of officers in those branches of the public service to which the honorable baronet [sir harry verney] had referred, exercising their influence over members of parliament, in order to urge upon the government an increase of their salaries. even at the present time an influence was exerted which must be viewed with great jealousy, and every government, however constituted, would find it necessary to use its utmost influence in restricting overtures of that description. but what would be the position of affairs if these persons--so numerous a body--were invested with the franchise. from the experience of what was passing in this city--and he wished merely to intimate, and not to dwell upon the circumstance--he was led to believe the result would be that there would be an organization illegitimately to increase the remuneration they received for their services--a remuneration which, in his opinion, was based upon a just estimate. he did not deny that the class referred to by the honorable baronet were entirely worthy of public confidence, but the conferring the franchise upon them would place them in a new position, and would introduce into public life new influences which would not be of a beneficial character. he trusted therefore that the committee would not sanction the proposal of the honorable baronet." the amendment was lost; and in the following year, , mr. monk, a private member, carried against the government of the day, a bill to enfranchise the revenue officers.[ ] [sidenote: _the chancellor of the exchequer on civil servants_] the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. g. w. hunt, said he felt bound to move that the bill be committed this day three months--_i. e._, be rejected. he said it was an anomaly in the laws that the dockyard laborers were not disfranchised. "if the matter were inquired into calmly and dispassionately, he was not at all sure that a good case might not be made out for affixing to them the same disability that is now attached to the revenue officers. the fact did not at all tend to the purity or the impartiality of electors in places where many of these men were employed, and strenuous efforts were made by members representing them to increase the privileges of the dockyard men and the number of persons employed, which did not tend to economy or the proper husbanding of the national resources. continual applications were made by these gentlemen [the employees in the revenue departments] respecting their position and salaries, and these applications had of late years taken a very peculiar form, being not merely made through the heads of departments, or by simple memorial to the treasury, but in the form of resolutions at public meetings held by them, and communications to members of parliament by delegates appointed to represent their interests. he put it to the house, whether, in the circumstances supposed, the influence possessed by them would not be very considerably increased, and whether the government of the day would not have far greater difficulty in administering these departments with respect to the position and salaries of the officers concerned, if the measure were carried."[ ] [sidenote: _mr. gladstone's warning_] mr. gladstone said: "the suggestion he would make would be that parliament should give the vote, and, at the same time, leave it in the discretion of the government of the day to inhibit any of these officers from taking any part in politics beyond giving their simple vote.... again, before they proceeded to lay down the principle of general enfranchisement, one thing to be considered was the very peculiar relations between the revenue officers and the members of that house. there it was necessary to speak plainly. he was not afraid of government influence in that matter, nor of an influence in favor of one political party or another; but he owned that he had some apprehension of what might be called class influence in that house, which in his opinion was the great reproach of the reformed parliament, as he believed history would record. whether they were going to emerge into a new state of things in which class influence would be weaker he knew not; but that class influence had been in many things evil and a scandal to them, especially for the last fifteen or twenty years; and he was fearful of its increase in consequence of the possession of the franchise, through the power which men who, as members of a regular service, were already organized, might bring to bear on members of parliament. what, he asked, was the civil service of this country? it was a service in which there was a great deal of complaint of inadequate pay, of slow promotion, and all the rest of it. but, at the same time, it was a service which there was an extraordinary desire to get into. and whose privilege was it to regulate that desire? that of the members of that house...." footnotes: [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , and following; june , p. , and following; and june , , , p. and following. compare also: _parliamentary paper_, no. , session - : _copy of report to the treasury by the commissioners of customs and inland revenue upon the revenue officers' disabilities bill_. [ ] the measure was carried against the government by a vote of to . chapter vii the house of commons is responsible for the financial failure of the state telegraphs sir s. northcote, chancellor of the exchequer in mr. disraeli's ministry of to , is disillusioned. the state telegraphs become self-supporting in - . the house of commons, under the leadership of dr. cameron, m. p. for glasgow, overrides the ministry and cuts the tariff almost in two. in - the state telegraphs would again have become self-supporting, had not the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, increased wages and salaries. the necessity of making money is the only effective incentive to sound management. the consideration of the reasons for the financial failure of the state telegraphs may begin with the discussion of the effect of the building of unremunerative extensions. in the treasury department forced the post office department to abandon the doctrine that every place with a money order issuing post office was of right entitled to a telegraph office. the treasury in that year adopted the policy of demanding a guarantee from private individuals whenever it did not care to assume the risk of a telegraph office failing to be self-supporting.[ ] the new policy, of course, applied only to places not yet provided with telegraphic service, for the withdrawal of an established service would have led "to an immense amount of public inconvenience and agitation that the government would have been unable to resist."[ ] [sidenote: _sir s. northcote's disillusionment_] in speaking of the policy of requiring guarantees in order to check the pressure brought by the house of commons for additional telegraphic services, the chancellor of the exchequer, sir stafford northcote, in , said: "the government cannot give the answer that private companies could, and i am sure did, give. this is a point worthy of consideration, not so much in regard to the telegraph service itself, in which we are now fairly embarked, and of which we must make the best we can, as in reference to suggestions of acquisitions of other forms of property, and the conduct of other kinds of business, in which i hope the house will never be led to embark without very carefully weighing the results of this remarkable experiment."[ ] the guarantee in question, which had to be given by private individuals, covered: the annual working expenses; interest on the capital investment; sinking fund payments which should repay in seven years the capital invested; and a margin for certain contingencies.[ ] in august, , was abolished the provision requiring a guarantee of the repayment of the capital in seven years.[ ] at the same time, the local governments were authorized to give the guarantee that continued to be required.[ ] in , upon the occasion of her late majesty's diamond jubilee, the treasury authorized the post office to assume one-half of the burden of non-paying telegraphic services; and since may , , the post office assumes two-thirds of that burden.[ ] the guarantees demanded after proved an effective check upon log-rolling. for example, in , catrine, in ayrshire, with a population of , , still was without telegraph service, while tarbolton, in ayrshire, population , had acquired such service previous to .[ ] in the period from to the number of postal telegraph offices increased only from , to , . before leaving this subject, it is necessary to warn the reader against misleading tables published in several official documents, and purporting to show that non-paying offices rapidly became self-supporting.[ ] those tables are constructed on the basis of including in the cost of telegraph offices only the allowance to the local postmaster for telegraph work, and the cost of maintaining the instruments in the office, and of excluding the cost of maintaining the wire, the cost of additional force required at the central station in london and at the district centres because of the large number of outlying branches, as well as the interest on the capital invested. those omissions led the treasury committee of to say: "we fear the full cost of working these numerous and unremunerative offices is not realized [appreciated]." in , mr. c. h. b. patey, third secretary to the post office, was asked by a select committee of parliament: "where you have established telegraph offices at money order offices under guarantee from individuals interested, do you find that eventually these offices pay?" he replied: "no; in exceedingly few instances do they pay. the guarantee has continued, and after seven years we have got a fresh guarantee in order to continue the office."[ ] mr. patey's testimony is corroborated by the continued, and successful, agitation of the house of commons for the reduction of the guarantee demanded by the treasury. the second reason for the financial failure of the state telegraphs is, that while the precipitate reductions made in the rates charged to the public led to a great increase in the number of messages transmitted, that very increase of business was accompanied by such augmented operating expenses, that some years elapsed before the reduced average margin of profit per message carried sufficed to pay the interest on the immoderate capitalization of the state telegraphs. the increase in the operating expenses was in part inevitable; in part it was due to the waste inherent in all business operations conducted by executive officers who hold office, either at the pleasure of legislative bodies elected by manhood suffrage, or at the pleasure of large bodies of voters. in , mr. c. h. b. patey, principal clerk in the post office department, stated that the average of the operating expenses per telegraphic message transmitted was cents to cents.[ ] at that time, with a traffic of , , messages a year, and average receipts per message of cents, the net revenue of the telegraphs was $ , , , while the interest on the bonds outstanding was $ , , . in - , with a traffic of , , messages, average receipts per message of cents, the telegraphs yielded a net revenue of $ , , , while the interest on the bonds outstanding was $ , , . and in - , with a traffic of , , messages, the net revenue rose to $ , , , while the interest on the bonds outstanding remained at $ , , . a large part of that improvement was due to a diminution in the waste with which the telegraphs had been conducted in to . the nature and the extent of that waste are indicated in the fact that the number of clerks, telegraphists, and subordinate engineers was reduced from , in , to , in ,[ ] at the same time that the number of telegraph offices was increased from , to , , and the number of messages was increased from , , to , , . [sidenote: _the telegraphs become self-supporting_] in - , the telegraphs earned . per cent. on $ , , ,[ ] which was $ , , in excess of the total capital invested in them. under conditions which shall be described on a subsequent page, the government, "very much at the instance of the house of commons,"[ ] raised wages and salaries, so that, in the period from - to - , the expenses on account of salaries and wages increased $ , , , while the gross receipts increased only $ , . in - , the net revenue sufficed to pay the interest at . per cent. on $ , , only. in the meantime, on march , , the house of commons had carried against the government of the day, the resolution of dr. cameron, member of parliament from glasgow: "that the time has arrived when the minimum charge for inland postal telegrams should be reduced to cents."[ ] dr. cameron said: "he brought forward the motion--and he did so last year[ ]--because he was absolutely opposed to the taxation of telegrams [_i. e._, to raising more revenue from the telegraphs than was requisite to paying the interest on the bonds outstanding]; and he believed that taxation could be levied in no other manner that would be so prejudicial to the commerce, intercourse, and convenience of the country. at the present moment there was practically no taxation of telegrams, or, at all events, the principle of the taxation of telegrams had not been affirmed. the surplus revenue [above the interest on the debt outstanding] earned up to the present time had been so small that it was impossible by sacrificing it to confer any substantial advantage upon the public. but the telegraph revenue was increasing; and it appeared to him that they had now arrived at a point where a remission of taxation must be made in the shape of extra facilities [_i. e._, reduced charges] for the public, or the vicious principle of the taxation of telegrams for the purpose of revenue must be affirmed. they had, it might be contended, not yet exactly arrived at that point, but they were remarkably near it; and his object in bringing forward the motion from year to year had been to afford the government no excuse for allowing the point to be passed, but to bring up the subject every year; and the moment it was admitted that a change could be made without loss to the taxpayers he should ask the house to indicate its opinions that the change might be made.... he maintained that the principle of taxing telegrams was most erroneous. it was one of the worst taxes on knowledge[ ]--a tax on economy, on time, and on the production of wealth. instead of maintaining a price which was prohibitory not only to the working classes but also to the middle classes, they ought to take every means to encourage telegraphy. they ought to educate the rising generation to it; and he would suggest to the government that the composing of telegrams would form a useful part of the education in our board schools." the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. childers, "hoped the house would not agree to the motion" even if it were ready to accept dr. cameron's estimate that the immediate reduction in the net revenue would not exceed $ , . "he had heard with surprise in the course of the debate some of the statements which had been made in regard to the unimportance of large items of expenditure [and of revenue]; and he was all the more surprised when he remembered the great anxiety which had been expressed during the present session in regard to the public expenditure, and the care which ought to be taken over it."[ ] dr. cameron, in the course of his speech in , quoted a statement recently made by mr. fawcett, postmaster general, to the effect that there was an average of , telegrams a day for , offices, or telegrams per office. the representative from glasgow added: "the state of things which they now had, therefore amounted to this--that from each telegraph office was sent a number of messages which afforded a little over half an hour's work per day for the operator. it would, therefore, at once be seen that there was ample room for increased business, without any increase of expenditure."[ ] the foregoing argument overlooked the fact that the wires between the large cities were being worked to something like their full capacity; and that the low average of messages per office was due solely to the existence of hundreds of offices in small places that had very little traffic. and shortly after the house of commons had passed dr. cameron's resolution, in , against the protest of the government, the treasury authorized the post office to spend $ , , in putting up , miles of additional wires, and in otherwise preparing for the great increase in business that would arise between the larger towns in consequence of the reduction of the tariff.[ ] and by july , , three months before the date set for putting into force the reduced rate, the post office had engaged , additional telegraphists and learners,[ ] to assist in doing the business which dr. cameron in , had said could be done "without any great increase of expenditure." [sidenote: _tariff is cut almost in two_] on march , , mr. shaw-lefevre, postmaster general, brought in a bill to give effect to dr. cameron's resolution of march , .[ ] the measure provided for a rate of cents for not exceeding words, address to be counted, and one cent for each additional word. the postmaster general began by reminding the house of commons that dr. cameron's resolution had been carried against the government, and by a considerable majority. that the post office has spent $ , , in preparing for the increase of business anticipated from the cent tariff. that the loss of net revenue was estimated at $ , for the first year; and that it would take four years to recover that loss. that since dr. cameron's resolution had been passed, the financial position of the telegraph department had grown "decidedly worse," the net revenue having fallen from $ , , to $ , , , the latter sum yielding barely . per cent. on the capital invested in the telegraphs, $ , , . mr. shaw-lefevre said the decrease in the net revenue had been due "to the very considerable additions to the salaries of the telegraphists and other officers made two or three years ago very much at the instance of honorable members of the house, and which mr. fawcett [the then postmaster general] considered to be absolutely necessary," and also to increased cost of maintenance[ ] arising from the necessity of replacing worn-out plant. the postmaster general also drew attention to the fact that a new and dangerous factor had appeared: the competition of the telephone.[ ] the bill became law; and the cent tariff went into effect on october , , the close of the first half of the fiscal year - . the number of messages jumped from , , to , , , while the net revenue dropped from $ , , to $ , . in the next three years, - to - , the number of messages increased to , , , and the net revenue rose to $ , , , or within $ , of the interest on the capital invested, $ , , . in the following year, - , the messages continued to increase at the rate at which they had increased in the three preceding years, and the net revenue would once more have sufficed to pay the interest on the capital invested, had the operating expenses not been swollen by increases in wages and salaries granted under pressure brought by the telegraph employees upon the house of commons. the raising of salaries and wages continued through the subsequent years; and in the thirteen years - to - , the state telegraphs have earned the operating expenses in five years only.[ ] in , the _select committee on revenue departments estimates_ reported as follows: "your committee are of the opinion that the reasons urged against treating the post office as a commercial business are not applicable in anything like the same degree to the telegraph department; and that the increasing annual deficit in the accounts of the latter cannot be viewed otherwise than with grave concern. looking to the increasing costliness of the service as a whole, and to the constant pressure upon it of demands for increased and unprofitable expenditure, your committee deem it their duty to call attention to the fact that the department of the postmaster general, in all its branches, is a vast government business, which is most likely to continue to be conducted satisfactorily, if it should also continue to be conducted with a view to profit [beyond the payment of interest on the debt outstanding], as one of the revenue yielding departments of the state. excessive expenditure appears to your committee to be sooner or later inevitable in a great government business which is not administered with a view to an ultimate profit to the state." =========+============+============++=========+============+=========== year | number of |net revenue,|| year | number of |net revenue | messages | $ || | messages | $ ---------+------------+------------++---------+------------+----------- - | , , | , , || - | , , | - , - | , , | , || - | , , | , - | , , | , || - | , , | , - | , , | , || - | , , | , - | , , | , , || - | , , | - , - | , , | , , || - | , , | - , - | , , | , , || - | , , | - , , - | , , | , || - | , , | - , - | , , | , || - | , , | - , =========+============+============++=========+============+=========== the minus sign denotes an excess of operating expenses over receipts. had the house of commons permitted the successive governments of the day to act upon the doctrine contained in the foregoing quotation, the state telegraphs would have been self-supporting ever since the year - . they would have paid the full interest upon the whole capital invested in them; in spite of the high prices paid to the telegraph companies and the railway companies for the sale of those companies' plants and rights. footnotes: [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue estimates_, ; q. , , mr. c. h. b. patey, third secretary to the post office. [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue estimates_, ; q. , sir s. a. blackwood, secretary to the post office. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , , the marquis of salisbury, prime minister. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , , mr. a. morley, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, may , , p. , sir james fergusson, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general; and may , , p. , , mr. sydney buxton, postmaster general. [ ] _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), , mr. c. h. b. patey, principal clerk in the post office; q. , and following, and , . [ ] _report of a committee appointed by the treasury to investigate the causes of the increased cost of the telegraph service since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the state_, , p. ; and _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of , p. . non-paying telegraph offices ========+========+===========+========+=======+======= | |the rest of| | | | london | england |scotland|ireland| total | | and wales | | | --------+--------+-----------+--------+-------+------- | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ========+========+===========+========+=======+======= [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue departments estimates_, ; q. , . [ ] _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , , , and , . average operating expenses per telegram: cents at office where handed in for receipt at transmitting office for forwarding from transmitting office for receipt at delivery office for delivery to addressee stationery forms used rent of offices, way-leaves, and maintenance of wires and instruments to -------- to [ ] _miscellaneous statistics of the united kingdom_, current issues. [ ] the net revenue messages paid . per cent. interest on: $ - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , and following, mr. shaw-lefevre, postmaster general, - . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , dr. cameron moves the resolution: "that the working of the postal telegraph service, with a view to the realization of profit, involves a tax upon the use of telegrams; that any such tax is inexpedient, and that the profits derived from the service is now such that the charges for inland telegrams should be reduced." [ ] ever since the nationalization of the telegraphs the newspaper press messages had been carried at special rates which did not cover operating expenses. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. . [ ] _treasury minute_, june , , _with regard to reduction of the minimum charge for post office telegrams_; and _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , the chancellor of the exchequer; and april , p. , and august , p. , mr. fawcett, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , , lord john manners, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , and following. [ ] the increase in salaries and wages in - to - was $ , , , and the increase in the cost of maintenance was $ , . [ ] compare also _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , , mr. shaw-lefevre. [ ] see table on page . chapter viii the state telegraphs subsidize the newspaper press why the newspaper press demanded nationalization. mr. scudamore gives the newspaper press a tariff which he deems unprofitable. estimates of the loss involved in transmitting press messages, made by responsible persons in the period from to . the state telegraphs subsidize betting on horse races. before proceeding with the further discussion of the intervention of the house of commons in the details of the administration of the state telegraphs, it is necessary to review briefly the tariff on messages for the newspaper press. before the telegraphs had been acquired by the state, the telegraph companies maintained a press bureau which supplied the newspapers with reports of the debates in parliament, foreign news, general news, a certain amount of london financial and commercial intelligence, and the more important sporting news. while parliament was in session, the messages in question averaged about , words a day; during the remainder of the year they averaged about , words daily. the annual subscription charges for the aforesaid services ranged from $ to $ , . before the select committee of , the representatives of the newspapers asserted that those subscription charges yielded the telegraph companies, on an average, cents per words. they further asserted that the telegraph companies ascribed . per cent. of the cost of the press bureau to the transmission of the news; and . per cent. to the collecting and editing of the news.[ ] but neither the representatives of the press, nor the select committee itself, called any representatives of the telegraph companies to testify upon these latter points. the subscribers to the companies' press bureau service also were allowed to send messages at one-half the rate charged to the general public; and in case the same newspaper message was sent to several newspapers in the same town, the charge for each address after the first one was per cent. of the sum charged the first addressee. by coöperation, therefore, the newspapers in the larger towns were able to obtain considerable reductions from the initial charge, which, as already stated, was per cent. of the tariff charged the general public.[ ] apparently, however, little use was made of these privileges. in , for instance, the subscriptions to the press bureau aggregated $ , , whereas the sums paid for messages to individual newspapers aggregated only $ , .[ ] [sidenote: _the newspapers' grievance_] the newspaper proprietors admitted that the charges for the press bureau service were entirely reasonable; but they desired to organize their own press bureaux on the ground that they were the better judges of what news the public wanted. since the telegraph companies would not give up their press bureau, the newspaper proprietors joined in the agitation for the nationalization of the telegraphs.[ ] as soon as the government began to negotiate with the telegraph companies for the purchase of their plants, the newspaper proprietors organized a committee to protect their interests and to represent them before the select committee to which had been referred the electric telegraphs bill of . that bill had said that the tariff was to be uniform, irrespective of distance, and was not to exceed cents for words, address not to be counted. it had said nothing on the subject of the tariff to be charged to the newspaper press. on may , , mr. scudamore had written the committee of the newspaper proprietors: "as a matter of course the post office would not undertake to collect news any more than it would undertake to write letters for the public, but the news being collected, it could, and i submit, ought, to transmit it at rates at least as low as those now charged, and which though they are unquestionably low, are still believed to yield the companies a considerable profit.... it seems to me, indeed, that the transmission of news to the press throughout the united kingdom should be regarded as a matter of national importance and that the charge of such transmission should include no greater margin of profit than would suffice to make the service fairly self-supporting."[ ] thereupon the newspaper proprietors demanded: "that the maximum rate for the transmission of telegraphic messages [for newspapers] should not exceed that which is now paid by each individual proprietor [as a subscriber to the companies' press bureau], which is, for transmission, exclusive of the cost of collection, cents per words."[ ] this demand assumed that the companies' charge of cents per words was remunerative; that it was made up of two separable parts: a charge for transmission, and a charge for collecting and editing; and that the charge ascribed to transmission still would remain remunerative even after the charge ascribed to collecting and editing had been withdrawn. upon none of these several points were the officers of the telegraph companies asked to testify, the statements of the newspaper proprietors being allowed to stand unsupported. [sidenote: _mr. scudamore yields to the newspapers_] in order to insure the payment of an average sum of cents or cents per words, the newspaper proprietors proposed that messages be transmitted for the newspapers "at rates not exceeding cents for every words transmitted at night, and at rates not exceeding cents for every words transmitted by day, to a single address, with an additional charge of cents for every words, or for every words, as the case may be, of the same telegram so transmitted to every additional address." by way of compromise, mr. scudamore proposed a charge of cents for words or words for each separate town to which each message might be sent, and the limitation of the cent copy rate to copies delivered by hand in the same town. mr. scudamore, however, withdrew that proposal, and accepted the proposition of the newspaper proprietors, which became the law. it is needless to add that the opposition of the newspaper press to the bill of would have delayed the passage of that bill even more than any opposition on the part of the telegraph companies and railway companies could have done. indeed, it is probable, that the newspaper press could have defeated the bill. in the treasury appointed a "_committee to investigate the causes of the increased cost of the telegraphic service since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the state_." that committee consisted of three prominent officers taken from the post office department and other departments of state. upon the newspaper tariff fixed by the act of , the committee reported: "the consequences of such a system must be obvious to every one. even at ordinary times the wires are always largely occupied with press work, and at extraordinary times they are absolutely flooded with this most unremunerative traffic, which not only fills the wires unduly to the exclusion of better paying matter, but necessitates a much larger staff than would be necessary with a more reasonable system [of charges].[ ] after very careful consideration of these points, mr. weaver [one of the members of the committee, and the former secretary of the electric and international telegraph company], has no hesitation in expressing his opinion that the principle of the stipulations of the tariff authorized by the telegraph act, , both as regards messages transmitted for the public, and those forwarded for the press, is essentially unsound, and has been the main cause of the large percentage of expenditure as compared with the gross revenue. in order to provide for the prompt and efficient transmission of the vast amount of matter produced by such a system, a considerable extension of plant was necessary, involving a large original cost, besides a regular yearly outlay for maintenance and renewal, and not only so, but a large and constantly increasing staff had to be provided to work lines, which, if taken separately, would not be found to produce anything approaching to the cost entailed for erecting, working, and maintaining them. it will be obvious, therefore, that, unless a retrograde step be taken in order to amend the principles upon which the stipulations of the tariff are made up, it would be unreasonable to expect that the revenue derived for telegraph messages under the present system can ever be made to cover the expenses of working, the interest upon capital, and the ultimate extinction of the debt."[ ] in may, , mr. c. h. b. patey, principal clerk in the post office department, testified that the post office was losing $ , a year by transmitting , , words for the newspaper press at an average price of cents per words. mr. patey said , , words were being carried at the rate of cents per words, or for $ , in the aggregate; and , , were being transmitted at the rate of cents per words, or, for $ , in the aggregate.[ ] mr. patey submitted no calculations in support of his statement that there had been a loss of $ , on newspaper messages yielding $ , . but he cited two illustrations from hull and the nottingham-sheffield-leeds-bradford group of towns. he stated that the post office received $ , a year for messages transmitted to six newspapers in hull, and spent $ , on the transmission of those messages. he added that the service supplied to nineteen towns included in the nottingham-sheffield-leeds-bradford group of towns yielded $ , , and cost the post office $ , .[ ] in , the postmaster general, through mr. s. a. blackwood, financial secretary to the post office,[ ] asked the select committee on the post office (telegraph department) to recommend to parliament that the tariff on newspaper press messages be made " cents for words or words for each separate town to which each message may be sent, and that the cent copy rate be limited to copies delivered by hand in the same town." that, it will be remembered, was the proposal made and withdrawn in by mr. scudamore. the select committee recommended that the amount of the loss on the newspaper press messages be clearly ascertained, and that the copy rates be raised sufficiently to cover that loss. but parliament failed to act on the recommendation. mr. patey had supported mr. blackwood's request with the statement, based upon inquiry of postmasters throughout the united kingdom, that "in a very large number of towns only a small part of the telegraphic news transmitted was inserted in the newspapers. in many cases, on inquiry of the proprietors, it was stated that it was not inserted inasmuch as it was not of interest to the readers. in other cases, because the amount of local news was more than would admit of the special telegraphic news being inserted." mr. patey also had quoted from a recent issue of the _glasgow herald_ the statement, that "there was not a leading provincial paper in the kingdom, the sub-editorial room of which was not littered in the small hours of the morning ankle deep with rejected telegraph flimsy;" and from a recent issue of the _freeman's journal_: "the fact is, that the post office, and the better class of papers as well, are both over-pressed with these cheap duplicate telegrams. we suppose we pay for about ten times as many as we print. though we get them, and pay for them, so as to insure having the best news from every quarter, we regard them rather as a nuisance, and would be glad to have them reduced in quantity." and finally, mr. patey had argued that the newspaper press was able to pay much more than it did pay, "inasmuch as there had been a tendency on the part of the papers generally, not confined only to the large papers," to get their news by special messages prepared by their own agents and not sent in duplicate to any extent.[ ] before the _select committee on the revenue departments estimates_, , mr. c. h. b. patey, third secretary to the post office, stated: "we believe that the tariff under which the press messages are sent in this country causes a loss amounting to nearly $ , , a year."[ ] in august, , in the house of commons, mr. cochrane-baillie asked the postmaster general "whether in view of the _report of the committee on the revenue departments estimates_, he could state that the government would bring in further legislation to relieve the country from the loss incurred by the present arrangement in connection with press telegrams?" the postmaster general replied that "he was quite in accord with the committee on revenue departments but he feared it would be difficult to effect any change, since the newspaper press tariff was fixed by the act of , and had been in force for upward of eighteen years."[ ] [sidenote: _annual loss on newspaper messages estimated at $ , , _] in november, , mr. arnold morley, postmaster general, stated in the house of commons that "the best estimate that can be formed by the officials at the post office points to the loss on the newspaper press telegrams being at least $ , , a year; and it probably is still more."[ ] in april, , mr. arnold morley, postmaster general, repeated the foregoing statement, and "maintained it in spite of various statements to the contrary in the newspapers." he added: "and i should be quite willing to arrange for an impartial investigation such as is suggested by the right honorable gentleman, if i were to receive satisfactory assurances that the press would abide by the result of an inquiry, and would undertake not to oppose the passage of the necessary legislation for a corresponding revision in the charges, if it should be shown that they are insufficient to provide for the cost of the service."[ ] the assurances were not forthcoming; and the newspaper press tariff remained unchanged. in april, , mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, a member of the house of lords, said: "the penny postage realizes an enormous revenue and brings in a profit, but every other part of the post office work is carried on at a loss. the whole profit is on the penny letter."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _betting on horse races subsidized_] the telegraph act of provided that newspaper rates should be given to "the proprietor or occupier of any news room, club, or exchange room."[ ] the clubs or exchange rooms in question are largely what we should term "pool-rooms," places maintained for the purpose of affording the public facilities for betting on horse races.[ ] in mr. saunders, proprietor of the central news press association, testified that his association would send in the course of a day to the same list of addressees the results of a number of races. the words in the several messages might not aggregate words, and thus his association would be charged for the transmission of one message only. in that way a number of messages would be transmitted "gratuitously." mr. saunders added that, in , the post office had transmitted gratuitously for his association , sporting messages. mr. patey, third clerk in the post office, added that while the post office received cents for transmitting from to sporting messages, it had to make to separate deliveries, by messenger boy, on account of those messages which were counted as one; and that each such delivery cost the post office on an average two cents. thus, on a recent date, the post office had delivered the results of the lichfield races to addressees by means of , separate deliveries, and had received for the service, on an average, one-half a cent per separate message.[ ] in january, , the post office discontinued the "continuous counting" of sporting messages.[ ] it took the department six years to summon the courage to make this change whereby was effected some diminution of the burden cast upon the general body of taxpayers for the benefit of the sporting element among the voters of the united kingdom. it would seem, however, that the practice of "continuous counting" had been resumed at some subsequent date. for, in march, , in reply to a question from mr. sloan, m. p., the postmaster general, mr. sydney buxton, said: "clubs are, under section of the telegraph act of , entitled to the benefit of the very low telegraph rates accorded to press messages; and i have no power to discriminate against a legitimate club because it is used for betting purposes. i propose to consider whether the section ought not to be amended in certain respects."[ ] on december , , the post office discontinued entirely the practice--voluntarily assumed--of transmitting sporting messages to so-called hotels, in reality saloons. the waste of the public funds that the post office had incurred in response to pressure from the publicans, is illustrated in mr. patey's statement that the post office had received from a certain liverpool hotel $ . a week for messages which had entailed a weekly expenditure of $ . for messenger service alone. footnotes: [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), , j. e. taylor, proprietor of the _manchester guardian_; q. , to , , and , ; and c. h. b. patey, principal clerk in the post office department; q. , and following, , , , , and , ; and _report by mr. scudamore on the re-organization of the telegraph system of the united kingdom_, , pp. and . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; dr. cameron, editor and manager of the _north british daily mail_; q. , and following. [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), , c. h. b. patey, principal clerk in the post office department; q. , and , . [ ] _special report from the select committee on the electric telegraphs bill_, ; j. e. taylor, proprietor of the _manchester guardian_; wm. saunders, proprietor of the _western morning news_; dr. cameron, proprietor of the _north british daily mail_; and f. d. finlay, proprietor of the _northern whig_. [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; j. e. taylor, proprietor of the _manchester guardian_; q. , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; g. harper, editor _huddersfield chronicle_, and representative of the provincial newspaper society, which embraced about newspapers. [ ] compare: _report by mr. scudamore on the re-organization of the telegraph system of the united kingdom_, , pp. and . daily number of words transmitted for the newspapers: parliament parliament in session not in session , , , , [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; j. e. taylor, proprietor of the _manchester guardian_; q. , and , ; and g. harper, editor _huddersfield daily chronicle_, and representative of the provincial newspaper society; q. , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , , , , , , , , and , to , ; and jno. lovell, manager of the press association; q. , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , and following, , , , , , , and , . receipts from messages sent to individual newspapers, and not duplicated to any extent: $ , , , , , , [ ] questions , and , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, november , , p. , . compare also june , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , , , , , to , , and , to , . [ ] _report by mr. scudamore on the re-organization of the telegraph system of the united kingdom_, , pp. and ; and _report from the select committee on revenue departments estimates_, ; mr. c. h. b. patey, third secretary to the post office, in appendix no. . =======+=======+========+============+===========+============= | | news- | newsrooms | messages | words | towns | papers | and clubs | delivered | delivered | | |(pool-rooms)| | -------+-------+--------+------------+-----------+------------- | | | | ? | ? | | | | ? | , , | | | | , , | , , | | | | , , | , , | | | | , , | , , =======+=======+========+============+===========+============= [ ] _report from the select committee on the post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , , , , , and , . [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of ; copy _of the regulations relating to press telegraph messages issued by the postmaster general_ in . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . chapter ix the post office employees press the house of commons for increases of wages and salaries british government's policy as to wages and salaries for routine work, as distinguished from work requiring a high order of intelligence. the fawcett revision of wages, . lord frederick cavendish, financial secretary to the treasury, on pressure exerted on members of parliament by the telegraph employees. sir s. a. blackwood, permanent secretary to the post office, on the fawcett revision of . evidence as to civil servants' pressure on members of parliament presented to the royal commission on civil establishments, . the raikes revision of - ; based largely on the report of the committee on the indoor staff, which committee had recommended increases in order "to end agitation." the earl compton, m. p., champions the cause of the postal employees in ; and moves for a select committee in . sir james fergusson, postmaster general in the salisbury ministry, issues an order against post office servants "endeavoring to extract promises from any candidate for election to the house of commons with reference to their pay or duties." the gladstone ministry rescinds sir james fergusson's order. mr. macdonald's motion, in , for a house of commons select committee. mr. kearley's motion, in . the government compromises, and appoints the so-called tweedmouth inter-departmental committee. at the time of the transfer of the telegraphs to the state, february, , the average weekly wages paid by the telegraph companies to the telegraphists in the seven largest cities of the united kingdom, was $ . for the male staff, and $ . for the female staff. that average for the male staff includes the salaries of the supervisors; if the latter be excluded, the average for the rank and file of the male employees will fall to $ . .[ ] in , two years after the transfer, the average wage of the male telegraphists in the offices of metropolitan london was $ . , while the average wage of the female clerks was $ . . for the united kingdom exclusive of london, the average wage of the telegraphists was $ . for the male employees, and $ . for the female employees.[ ] the latter averages record a larger increase of wages in the period to , than would appear at first blush upon comparison with the average of , namely: $ . for men telegraphists and $ . for women telegraphists. for while the figures for record the averages for the whole united kingdom exclusive of london, those for record the averages of the seven largest cities only. the increases in wages and salaries in the years to were due mainly to the all round rise in wages and salaries that occurred in the united kingdom in the period from to . in the case of the telegraphists the rise in wages was postponed until to , for the reason that the telegraph companies, as much as possible, adhered to the past scale of wages and salaries on account of the pending transfer of their properties to the state.[ ] the companies were able to pursue the policy in question by refraining from increasing their forces materially, working their old staff over-time. in part, however, the increase in the wages of the telegraphists after the transfer of the telegraphs to the post office was due to the fact that the government was obliged to pay the employees in the telegraph department something more than the rates of wages prevailing in the open market. for, previous to the acquisition of the telegraphs, the government had established the policy of paying its employees more than the open market rate for work requiring only fidelity and diligence in the performances of routine duty, as distinguished from work requiring a high order of intelligence and discretion. shortly after the post office had acquired the telegraphs, it was compelled to extend the aforesaid policy to the new body of state employees. as a matter of everyday politics, it proved impossible for the government to discriminate between the several classes of public servants, paying one part of them "fancy" wages, and the rest of them wages determined by demand and supply.[ ] an episode from the reorganization of the civil service in , in accordance with the recommendation of the so-called playfair commission, affords insight into the british practice of paying the public servants something more than the market rate of wages and salaries. the playfair commission had recommended that the pay of the lower division of government clerks begin with $ , and rise by annual increments to $ , , for seven hours' work a day. thereupon the government had fixed the rate at $ , to rise by annual increments to $ , . the playfair commission had stated that if it had been guided by the "voluminous" evidence which it had taken, it would have fixed at $ , the maximum to which should rise the salaries of the lower division clerks. but it had desired to attract "the elite" of the classes that the government could draw from, and therefore it had fixed the maximum at $ , .[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _fawcett revision of wages, _] in august, , the house of commons accepted the proposal of mr. fawcett, postmaster general, to increase the pay of the telegraph operators, to count seven hours of night attendance a day's work, and to grant various other minor concessions.[ ] those several changes raised the average sum spent for salaries and wages in the transmission of a telegraphic message, from . cents in - , to . cents in - .[ ] mr. fawcett stated in the house of commons that inquiry of "leading employees of labor, such as bankers, railway companies, manufacturers, and others" had led him to conclude that the telegraph operators were underpaid. he also mentioned the fact that while he was considering the arguments that the telegraphists had made before him in support of the proposition that their pay was inadequate, "outside influence" was brought to bear repeatedly upon the telegraphists, and that the aforesaid outside influence "went so far as to recommend the employees to resort to the last extremity of a strike."[ ] mr. maciver replied that "he wished to say a word with regard to the imputation contained in the statement of the right honorable gentleman, that he [mr. maciver] had exercised outside influence upon the telegraphists. in common with other members of the house, he had heard[ ] the complaints of the telegraphists, and had thought it his duty to bring complaints before the house and the right honorable gentleman, the postmaster general, so that, if he had erred, he had erred in common with many others." [sidenote: _the treasury on civil service pressure_] in the course of the debate in the house of commons, lord frederick cavendish, financial secretary to the treasury, said: "with respect to the telegraph clerks, since they had received the franchise, they had used it to apply pressure to members of parliament for the furtherance of their own objects.... if, instead of the executive being responsible, members of the house were to conduct the administration of the departments, there would be an end of all responsibility whatever. in the same way, if the treasury was not to have control over expenditure, and members of the house were to become promoters of it, the system [of administering the national finances] which had worked so admirably in the past would be at an end.... with regard to the position of the telegraphists in the government service as compared with their former position under private companies, what had taken place would be a warning to the government to be careful against unduly extending the sphere of their operations by entering every day upon some new field, and placing themselves at a disadvantage by undertaking the work of private persons. he pointed out that the government service was always more highly paid than that of the companies and private persons, and in the particular case of the telegraph clerks [operators] the men themselves received higher pay than they had before."[ ] before the postmaster general had introduced into parliament his scheme for improving the positions of the telegraphists, sorting clerks and postmen,[ ] lord frederick cavendish, in his position as financial secretary of the treasury,[ ] had written the postmaster general as follows: ... "admitting, as my lords [of the treasury] do, that when discontent is shown to prevail extensively in any branch of the public service, it calls for attention and inquiry, and, so far as it is proved to be well founded, for redress, they are not prepared to acquiesce in any organized agitation which openly seeks to bring its extensive voting power to bear on the house of commons against the executive government responsible for conducting in detail the administration of the country. the persons who are affected by the change now proposed are, as you observe, no fewer than , , and the entire postal service numbers nearly five times as many. other branches of the civil service employed and voting in various parts of the united kingdom, are at least as numerous in the aggregate as the servants of the post office. all this vast number of persons, not living like soldiers and sailors outside ordinary civil life are individually and collectively interested in using their votes to increase, in their own favor, the public expenditure, which the rest of the community, who have to gain their living in the unrestricted competition of the open market, must provide by taxation, if it is provided at all. my lords therefore reserve to themselves the power of directing that the execution of the terms agreed to in the preceding part of the letter be suspended in any post office of which the members are henceforth known to be taking part in extra-official agitation. they understand that you are inquiring whether the law, as declared in the existing post office acts, does not afford to the public similar protection in respect of postal communication, including telegraphs, as is afforded by the act and victoria, c. , s. , to municipal authorities and other contractors, against breaches of contracts of service in respect of gas or water, the wilful interruption to the use of which [by means of a strike] is hardly of more serious import to the local community than is that of postal communications to the national community. if the existing post office acts do not meet this case, it will be for my lords to consider whether the circumstances continue to be such as to make it their duty to propose to parliament an extension to the post office of provisions similar to those cited above from the act and victoria, c. , s. ."[ ] in june, , mr. fawcett, postmaster general, said in the house of commons: "the house would remember how, last session, he was pressed by honorable members on both sides of the house to increase the pay of the telegraph employees ... in spite of all that was done for the telegraph employees, he noticed that they were constantly saying that what they received was worse than nothing. all he could say was that if $ , [ ] a year out of public funds was worse than nothing, he, for one, deeply regretted that that sacrifice of public money was ever made."[ ] in march, , mr. fawcett, postmaster general, said: "the salaries of the telegraph employees have--i will not say by the pressure of the house, but certainly with the approval of the house--been increased [in ]. i do not regret that increase; i think the extra pay they receive was due to them, and if i had not thought so, no number of memorials would have induced me to recommend the treasury to make such a large sacrifice of revenue."[ ] in april, , mr. fawcett, postmaster general, said: "$ , a year has been spent [of late] in improving the position of the telegraphists and letter sorters, and i say there never was an expenditure of public money which was more justifiable than that. if we had yielded to mere popular demands and thrown away the money we should deserve the severest censure; but i believe that if an increase of wages had not been conceded, it would have been impossible to carry on the administration of the department; and i think there is no economy so unwise as refusing to increase remuneration when you are convinced that the circumstances of the case demand the increase."[ ] in july, , the following questions and answers passed between the chairman of the select committee on revenue departments estimates, and sir s. a. blackwood, secretary to the post office. "with respect to the increase of salaries at the time when mr. fawcett was postmaster general, i presume that those recommendations of his were founded upon recommendations addressed to him by the [permanent officers of the] department?" "i can hardly say that they were. mr. fawcett held very strong views himself as to the propriety of making an increase to the pay of the lower ranks of the department, and he carried out that arrangement." "but the department, i take for granted, was not excluded from expressing an opinion upon the subject?" "certainly not. i became secretary at the time [ ] when mr. fawcett became postmaster general.[ ] i never should have initiated such a movement, but i saw great force in many of the reasons which mr. fawcett urged in favor of such an increase; and, at any rate, the department, as represented by me, saw no reason to raise a serious opposition, if it were at liberty to do so, to the postmaster general's views and determinations."[ ] before the tweedmouth committee, , mr. e. b. l. hill, "practically commander-in-chief of the provincial postmen," testified as follows upon that part of the fawcett revision of that applied to the postal service proper. he said that previous to all the revisions of the wages of the postmen had been made on the basis of demand and supply; but that the fawcett revision had departed from that policy.[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _evidence, in , as to civil service pressure_] the royal commission on civil establishments, , took up at some length, the question of the pressure brought by the civil servants upon the house of commons for increases of wages and salaries. before that commission, sir reginald e. welby, who had entered the treasury in , had become assistant financial secretary in , and had been made permanent secretary to the treasury in , testified that many members of the house of commons had recently attended meetings of the civil servants for the purpose of endorsing the claims of the civil servants for increases of pay; and that they had taken that action without having made a close examination of the grounds upon which the civil servants had put forward their claims. he added: "it is utterly impossible for us [the treasury] to ignore these symptoms that make it very difficult to keep within reasonable bounds the remuneration of such a body." thereupon one of the members of the royal commission said to sir r. welby: ... "but are you not aware that there is a general feeling throughout the country among the people who are employed by private individuals and public bodies [other than the state], that government servants receive higher pay than they do, and that when these persons are called upon to exercise the franchise they bring pressure to bear upon their members just the other way [_i. e._, against the increase of government wages and salaries]?" sir r. welby replied: "of course, i have no means of testing that. i am very glad to hear that parliamentary influence is not all in one direction. we do not see the proof of it at the treasury."[ ] sir algernon e. west, chairman inland revenue commissioners,[ ] said he wished for a greater spirit of economy, "not in the offices so much as outside." thereupon the chairman of the royal commission said: "i do not quite understand what you mean by outside." sir algernon e. west replied: "i say it with all possible deference, particularly parliament." to the further query: "has there been on the part of members of parliament, an increase of intervention on behalf either of the individual officers of the inland revenue or on behalf of classes of the inland revenue since the enfranchisement in ?" sir a. west replied: "a large increase on behalf of classes, not of individuals.... i should like to add ... that i think last year the lower division clerks succeeded in getting two hundred members of parliament to attend a meeting which was held to protest against their grievances."[ ] sir lyon playfair, who had been chairman of the royal commission on the civil service, to , and the author of the playfair reorganization of the civil service, , testified as follows before the royal commission of . "unfortunately members of parliament yield to pressure a great deal too much in that direction, and they are certainly pressing the exchequer to increase the wages and salaries of the employees of the crown.... in a private establishment a man looks after his own interests, and if a person came to him and said: 'now you must increase the salaries of these men by $ or $ all round,' he would say: 'you are an impertinent man, you have no business to interfere,' but you cannot say that to members of parliament, and there is continual pressure from members of parliament to augment the salaries of the civil servants."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _raikes revision of - _] with the increase of the number of telegraphic messages transmitted, from , , in - , to , , in - , the average sum spent on wages and salaries per message transmitted, fell from . cents in - , to . cents in - . in the following year, - , mr. raikes, postmaster general, inaugurated an extensive scheme of increases in wages, reductions in the hours of work, and other "improvements in the condition" of the telegraph employees, that again raised to . cents per message in - , the average sum spent on wages and salaries. mr. raikes, postmaster general, raised the wages of the supervising staff, as well as the wages of the rank and file;[ ] he granted payment at one and one-quarter rates for over time, granted payment at double rates for all work done on sunday, gave extra pay for work done on bank holidays, and increased from half pay to full pay the sick-leave allowance. the annual cost of those concessions mr. raikes estimated at $ , a year. the cost of the concessions granted at the same time to the employees in the postal branch of the post office department, he estimated at $ , a year.[ ] mr. raikes' schemes were based largely upon the _report of committee of the indoor staff_. that report has not been published; but in , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office, london, stated before the so-called tweedmouth committee,[ ] that the majority of the committee on the indoor staff had signed the report because they believed that if the concessions recommended in the report were granted, "that would be the end of all agitation." mr. hill added: "i remember myself saying [to the committee] whatever else happens, that will not happen. do not delude yourselves with the notion that the men will cease to ask." he continued: "mr. raikes' improvements were received with the greatest gratitude, and there were any number of letters of thanks from the staff; but the ink was scarcely dry when the demands began again, and they have been going on ever since, and will go on.... there is, unfortunately, a growing habit among the main body of post office servants to use their voting power at elections to get higher pay for themselves, and it is well known that in constituencies in which political parties are at all evenly balanced, the post office servants can turn the election." [sidenote: _earl compton demands a select committee_] the committee on the indoor staff appointed by mr. raikes in march, , had not had the approval of the rank and file of the civil servants, nor had it had the approval of the representatives of the civil servants in the house of commons, on the ground that it consisted of government officials, who were not responsible directly to the voters. therefore one of the leading representatives in the house of commons of the post office employees, earl compton,[ ] on april , , had moved: "that, in the opinion of the house, the present position of the telegraphists in london and elsewhere is unsatisfactory, and their just grievances require redress."[ ] in the course of his argument, earl compton said: "perhaps the right honorable gentleman [the postmaster general] has been cramped [in the administration of his department] by what is called officialism. in that case, if the present motion is passed, the right honorable gentleman's hands will be strengthened [against his permanent officials], and he will be able to redress the grievances which have been brought under his attention." baron f. de rothschild followed earl compton, with the statement: "the postmaster general may well say it is no business of ours to interfere between the civil servants and himself, but here i would venture to ask him whether the civil servants are not quite as much our [_i. e._, the public's] servants as they are those of the postmaster general?" baron de rothschild went on to say that through an error made in the course of the transmission of a telegram his betting agent had placed his money on the wrong horse, causing him to lose a considerable sum of money. such mistakes would not occur if the telegraphists were better paid. sir a. borthwick regretted "the increasing tendency to invoke the direct interposition of parliament between the executive government and the civil service." the postmaster general concluded his statement with the words: "i hope that after the statement which i have been able to make, the house will recognize the claim of every government that the house shall not interfere with matters of departmental administration, except where it thinks fit to censure the minister in charge. so long as a minister occupies his position at the head of a department, he ought to be allowed to occupy it in his own way. i venture to hope that the house will leave questions of this sort in the hands of those who are directly and primarily responsible for them, in the belief that grievances of the servants of any department are not likely to lack careful consideration, and, i believe, just and fair treatment." a few months later, the postmaster general made this statement in the house of commons: "i wish to correct one misapprehension. it is supposed that the position of the government is that only the market value should be paid for labor of this sort [the nonestablished post office servants]. those who sat in the committee [of supply] will remember that i laid down a different doctrine the other day. my own view is, that while the market value must be the governing consideration, because we are not dealing with our own money, but with the money of the taxpayers, the taxpayers would wish that, in applying that standard to those in the public service, we should always bear in mind that a great government should treat its employees liberally."[ ] * * * * * earl compton failed to carry his motion in ; and in the following year he made another unsuccessful attempt, moving: "that, in the opinion of this house, it is desirable that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the administration of the post office."[ ] mr. ambrose, speaking against the motion, said: "questions between capital and labor and between the government and its employees should not be influenced by motions in the house. we are all subjected as members of this house to all manner of whips from employees of the civil service and the post office, and i know that when the _status_ of the civil service clerks was being settled some time ago, there was, among members generally, a feeling of disgust at the telegrams and letters being received almost very minute from people seeking to influence our votes on some particular question of interest to them." mr. raikes, postmaster general, enumerated in detail the concessions made to the telegraphists and letter sorters in and , at a cost of $ , , a year, and added: "and to all this, not one single reference has escaped those who have spoken." he concluded with the words: "it would never do if, in order to encourage the vaporings of three or four of those gutter journals which disfigure the metropolitan press, members of this house were to make the grave mistake of throwing discredit upon a body of men like the permanent officials [executive officers] of the post office, of whom any country might be proud, with whom, i believe, any minister would be delighted to work, and of diminishing the authority in his own department of a minister, who, whatever may be his personal deficiencies, at heart believes that he has done nothing to forfeit the confidence of this house." a few months later, when the house was considering the estimates of the post office department, the postmaster general said: "economists [advocates of economy] of former days would have been interested and surprised by the general tenor of the debate to which we have just listened. the great point used to be, as i understand, to show a large balance of revenue to the state [from the post office], and to make a defense against charges of extravagance in the past. but we have now arrived at a time when the opposite course is to be taken, and the only chance a minister has of enjoying the confidence of this house is to point to a diminished balance of revenue and to a greater expenditure on the part of the department." ... in - our telegraph expenditure will increase by $ , , , while our revenue will increase by $ , , ; "the reason is to be found in the very comprehensive measures framed in the course of the last year for the improvement of the position of the staff."[ ] [sidenote: _civil servants circularize members of parliament_] mr. raikes died in august, ; and in june, , sir james fergusson, his successor, asked the house of commons to permit him to call attention to a circular addressed to candidates at the [impending] general election, and also sent to members of the [present] house. the circular had been issued by "the provincial postal telegraph male clerks" to "candidates at the general election," and contained the following statement: "we have, in addition, to ask you whether you will, if elected, vote for the appointment of a parliamentary committee to inquire into the working of the telegraph service, as we believe such an investigation would be of great utility, and could not but tend to the improvement of the service, the state of which is causing great public dissatisfaction, as will be seen from the subjoined newspaper extracts. in conclusion, we beg to state that we await your reply to these few questions of vital importance with considerable anxiety, and trust that you will give them your careful consideration." sir james fergusson added that another branch of the post office servants was issuing similar circulars.[ ] he said, "i think that there would be an end to the discipline which should characterize members of the public service if encouragement were given to such attempts to bring pressure to bear on members of the house and candidates on the eve of a general election.... i have to say that the leading members of the opposition, including the right honorable member for midlothian [mr. w. e. gladstone], and the right honorable member for derby [sir wm. harcourt], fully concur in the observations i have made."[ ] a few days later, the postmaster general issued the following notice: "the postmaster general at the same time warns post office servants that it would be improper for them, in combination or individually, to endeavor to extract promises from any candidate for election to the house of commons with reference to their pay or duties." in the house of commons sir james fergusson defended this notice in these words: "i in no way deny the right of members of the public service to appeal to members of this house to get their case represented here, but there is all the difference between members being asked to represent a _prima facie_ case, and candidates being asked to pledge themselves upon an ex-parte statement to support a revision [of wages and salaries] or a commission of inquiry--in fact, to prejudge the case. to ask for such a promise as a condition of giving a vote does seem to me inconsistent with the duties of a public servant, and to go beyond his constitutional privileges. in that view the warning has been issued. by what law or right has this been done, the honorable member asks? by the right and duty which belongs to the head of a department to preserve proper discipline."[ ] in august, , the salisbury government was succeeded by the gladstone government, and mr. arnold morley became postmaster general. on august , , mr. w. e. gladstone, first lord of the treasury, in reply to a question from mr. macdonald, said: "questions may be raised, on which i have no judgment to give on the part of the government, as to how far, for example, it is desirable for the public functionaries to make use of their position as voters for the purpose of obtaining from candidates promises or engagements tending directly to the advantage of public servants in respect of pay and promotion. these are matters which we deem not undeserving of consideration; but still they do not form the subject of any decision on the part of her majesty's government in the nature of a restraint."[ ] in accordance with the policy thus announced, the gladstone ministry rescinded sir james fergusson's order of june , .[ ] [sidenote: _mr. macdonald demands a select committee_] in september, , while the house was in committee of supply, mr. macdonald[ ] moved "a reduction of $ in respect of the salary of the postmaster general", in order to bring before the committee the demand of the post office employees for "an independent inquiry by a parliamentary committee." he stated "that in the present postmaster general [mr. arnold morley] voted in favor of an inquiry such as that for which he [mr. macdonald] now asked, and he wished to know whether anything had occurred to cause the right honorable gentleman to change his view since that time."[ ] the postmaster general, mr. morley, replied: "he was asked how he could account for his vote in when he had supported the motion of the noble earl, the member for barnsley [earl compton]? he accounted for it on two grounds: he had supported the proposal, which was an unprecedented one, because there was an unprecedented condition of discontent prevailing throughout the postal and telegraph service--or, he confessed, he was under that impression at the time. the condition of things in various branches of the service was serious. there had been an _émeute_ in the savings bank department, and whether with reason or without reason, the whole of the services were discontented with their position. the condition of things at present, however, did not bear out the idea that there was anything like general discontent prevailing. he accounted for his action on another ground. since large concessions had been made, with enormous additional expense to the country, and that made the state of things very different to what it was when he supported the noble earl's motion." earl compton said: "he had several times in past years stood up and spoken for the telegraph clerks, and as the amendment before the committee related practically to them, it would be dishonest and mean on his part, if, having taken a strong course [while sitting] in opposition, he did not take the same course now his friends were in power." mr. macdonald's motion was lost. [sidenote: _mr. kearley demands a select committee_] in may, , mr. kearley[ ] moved: "that in the opinion of this house, it is highly desirable that the terms and conditions of employment in the post office should be made the subject of competent and immediate inquiry, with a view to the removal of any reasonable cause of complaint which may be found to exist."[ ] the motion was seconded by sir albert k. rollit.[ ] mr. kearley stated at the outset, that his remarks would be directed to the advisability of granting some inquiry. he was not in a position to assert that any particular alleged grievance really existed as stated by the employees; but there could be no doubt that there was general discontent. mr. kearley next stated that the most serious grievance alleged by the post office employees was inadequacy of pay arising from stagnation of promotion. it was true that at the time the blocking extended only to the more highly paid portions of the rank and file, but it must soon extend to the general body of employees unless relief were afforded. in , and in , parliament had sanctioned respectively the fawcett revision of wages, and the raikes revision, for the purpose of correcting inadequacies of pay arising from stagnation of promotion. the employees now demanded the abolition of the classes into which were divided the various grades of the rank and file of the post office employees; they demanded assured promotion to a definite maximum wage or salary. that demand rested on the assumption that the employees had a vested right to the rate of promotion that had obtained under the extraordinary increase of telegraphic business that had followed the transfer of the telegraphs to the state in , and had followed the adoption of the cent tariff in october, .[ ] mr. kearley supported his argument by reference to the telegraphists, who enter the service between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, as second class telegraphists, and in the course of fourteen years rise by annual increments from the wage of $ a week to $ a week. at the latter wage they remain, unless they are promoted to be first class telegraphists, whose wages rise by annual increments, from $ a week to $ a week--payment for over-time, and so forth, being excluded in all cases. mr. kearley argued that promotion from the second class to the first class was blocked, stating that in birmingham, in the last - / years, only men in had been promoted from second class telegraphists to first class telegraphists; and that in belfast and edinburgh the annual rate of promotion had been respectively . per cent. and per cent. those instances, said the speaker, were typical of the larger cities; the conditions in the smaller cities and in the towns being still worse. mr. arnold morley, postmaster general, replied to this part of mr. kearley's argument with the statement that there were in london and in the provinces , second class male telegraphists, and that out of that number only were both eligible for promotion and in receipt of the maximum wage of the second class, namely $ a week. he added that the average wage of the men telegraphists who had been promoted from the second class to the first in had been $ . . that meant that, on an average, the men in question had been promoted three years before they had reached the maximum wage of the second class. the postmaster general characterized as "extraordinarily misleading" the source from which mr. kearley had taken his statements of fact, namely, a table in a pamphlet issued by the telegraphists in support of their contention that promotion was blocked. the compilers of the table had left out promotions "due to causes other than what were termed ordinary causes, namely promotions due to appointments to postmasterships and chief clerkships, to transfers from provincial offices to the central office in london, and to reductions of officers on account of misconduct." thus at birmingham there had been, not promotions, but ; at liverpool, not , but ; at belfast, not , but ; at newcastle, not , but ; at bristol, not , but ; at southampton, not , but . the second alleged grievance brought forward by mr. kearley related to the so-called auxiliary staff, which consisted of men who supplemented their earnings in private employment by working for the post office in the mail branch. it was stated that the post office was paying the auxiliary staff from $ . to $ . a week, whereas it should pay at least $ . a week. the third grievance related to the so-called split duties, which involved in the course of the hours of the day more than one attendance at the office. the abolition of those duties was demanded. the fourth grievance was that some of the younger employees were obliged to take their annual three weeks' vacation [on full pay] in the months of november to february. sir albert rollit,[ ] in seconding the motion, termed "reasonable" the demand of the telegraphists that the wages of the london telegraphists should rise automatically to $ , a year; and those of the provincial telegraphists to $ , a year. at the time the maximum wage attainable in london was $ , while the maximum attainable in the provinces was $ . sir albert rollit added that the recent order of the post office that first class telegraphists must pass certain technical examinations or forego further promotion and further increments in pay, "amounted almost to tyranny," and he further reflected that "where law ended, tyranny began." sir albert rollit, an eminent merchant and capitalist, contended that when the existing body of telegraphists had entered the service, no knowledge of the technics of telegraphy had been required, and that therefore it would be a breach of contract to require the present staff to acquire such knowledge unless it were specifically paid for going to the trouble of acquiring such knowledge. that contention of sir albert rollit was but one of many instances of the extraordinary doctrine of "vested rights" developed by the british civil service, and recognized by the british government, namely, that the state may make no changes in the terms and conditions of employment, unless it shall indemnify by money payments the persons affected by the changes. if the state shall be unwilling to make such indemnification, the changes in the terms and conditions of employment must be made to apply only to persons who shall enter the service in the future; they may not be made to apply to those already in the service. this doctrine is supported in the house of commons by eminent merchants, manufacturers and capitalists. sir albert k. rollit, for instance, is a steamship owner at hull, newcastle and london; a director of the national telephone company, and he has held for six years and five years respectively the positions of president of the associated chambers of commerce of the united kingdom and president of the london chamber of commerce. when sir albert rollit argued that the government had broken faith with the telegraphers, those public servants, acting under instructions from their leaders, were neglecting to avail themselves of their opportunities to learn the elementary scientific principles underlying telegraphy, and were even repudiating the obligation to acquire knowledge of those principles. the state of affairs was such that the engineer-in-chief of the telegraphs, mr. w. h. preece, began to fear that before long he would be unable to fill the positions requiring an elementary knowledge of the technics of telegraphy.[ ] mr. arnold morley, postmaster general, began his reply to mr. kearley's motion with the statement that "he understood the mover of the motion spoke on behalf of those in the post office service who had taken an active part in the promoting what he might call an agitation, and that his [mr. kearley's] position was that, in the condition of feeling in the service, some steps ought to be taken which would enable the real facts to be brought not only before the public, but before parliament." ... he [mr. morley] had made a careful examination of most of the alleged grievances during the three years he had been at the post office, and though he had satisfied himself that in the main they were not well founded, he recognized that a very strong feeling existed not only among a portion of the staff, but also among the public, and among members of the house. [sidenote: _the civil servants' campaign of education_] the feeling in question the postmaster general attributed largely to the manner in which the case of the telegraphists had been presented by the telegraphists in the house of commons, and in the newspaper press. he spoke of the "extraordinarily misleading" table of promotions published by the telegraphists. he then went on to state that recently the postmaster at bristol had reorganized the local telegraph office. by reducing the amount of over-time work, and by abolishing four junior offices, he had effected a saving of $ , to $ , a year. thereupon a local newspaper had come out with the heading: "a premium on sweating;" and had made the statement, which was not true, that the local postmaster had received a premium of $ for effecting a saving of $ , at the expense of the staff.[ ] mr. morley continued with the statement that in june, , a deputation from the london trades council had complained to the postmaster general that skilled electric light men were often employed by the post office at laborer's wages at its factory at holloway, citing the case of one turner. upon inquiry the postmaster general had learned that turner had been employed as a wireman, had been "discharged from slackness of work," and, upon his own request in writing, had been taken back "out of kindness" as a laborer. the same deputation had mentioned the case of one harrison, alleged to be earning on piece work, at the holloway factory, $ . , $ . , and $ . a week. on inquiry the postmaster had ascertained that harrison was able to earn $ a week and more, but that "for the purpose of agitation, he had deliberately lowered the amount of his wages by abstaining from doing full work." after the postmaster general had informed the london trades council of the facts of the case, that body had passed resolutions denouncing the postal authorities at the holloway factories. again, mr. churchfield, secretary of the postmen's federation, in an interview with the representative of a london newspaper had stated that the shortest time worked by the men on split duties was - / hours, while the longest was hours [in the course of one day and night]. a duty of seven hours lasting from p. m. to p. m., and from p. m. to a. m., mr. churchfield had called a continuous duty of twenty-two hours, lasting from p. m. to p. m. the public also was "grossly misled" as to the condition of the auxiliary postmen. for example, one mears was alleged to earn, after years' service, only $ a week. inquiry showed that mears worked in a warehouse during the day, and received from the post office $ a week for duties performed between the hours of p. m. and p. m. other cases had been reported, but in not one instance had the figures been correct. one man in receipt of $ . a week, had been put down at $ . . the london auxiliary postmen received from cents to cents an hour; they were mainly small tradesmen, shop assistants, and private watchmen. in the country, the auxiliary postmen received from cents to cents an hour. the postmaster general continued with the statement that the increases in wages and the concessions granted by mr. fawcett and mr. raikes had augmented the combined expenditures of the postal branch and telegraph branch by $ , , a year.[ ] "in , the wages formed . per cent. of the gross expenditure, whereas now they formed . per cent.... he did not think that he need add to those figures, except to say that in addition to salaries there were a large number of allowances for special duties. in the circulation office in london were , sorters, of whom had each an allowance of $ . a week, while a very large number had allowances of $ . , $ . and $ . , of which never a word was said when complaints were made about salaries." the demands made by the telegraphists would increase the state's expenditures by $ , , a year, "taking into account the consequential advances which other classes in the public service, treated on the same footing, would naturally receive." similarly, the letter sorters made an application involving a direct increase of $ , , and an indirect increase of another $ , , . mr. morley next recited some statistics to show, "first of all, the desire among people outside to come into the post office service, and secondly, the disinclination of those inside to go out." the post office recently had called for male letter sorters, and had received , applications. a call for "telegraph learners," had brought out , candidates. in london, in , there had been no resignations among , first class sorters, and resignations among , second class sorters. out of , london postmen, had resigned in ; and in the years ending with , a total of , telegraphists had furnished resignations, including the resignations of women who left the service in order to marry.[ ] "he could not help thinking that when the working men got to know to the full extent the terms and prospects of postal service, the sympathy which they had so freely bestowed on post office employees would be largely withdrawn." [sidenote: _the government compromises with the civil servants_] mr. morley, postmaster general, summed up with the statement that "he should be the last to deny that change and amelioration might be required in certain respects, but, having examined all the cases, he believed the men of the postal service, the telegraph staff as well as the postal staff, were better treated than people from the same class in private employment. but that opinion was not altogether shared by the public, or by certain members of the house of commons, and therefore the government was prepared to appoint a strong committee, composed of men who would have special and practical knowledge and experience of administration, and who would, he hoped, be assisted by a member of the labor department of the board of trade.... there must be upon the committee one official of the post office in order to assist the committee, but apart from that one appointment, he proposed that the committee should be appointed from executive officers of the government not connected with the post office." sir james fergusson, who had preceded mr. morley as postmaster general, said: "he could not shut his eyes to the fact that there was no difficulty whatever in finding candidates for employment in the post office. in fact, it was impossible to meet the wishes of many of those who desired to enter the department. in those circumstances he thought it could hardly be contended seriously that the remuneration offered was grossly inadequate, or that the conditions of service were unduly onerous." the house of commons accepted the compromise offered by the government. lord tweedmouth, lord privy seal and a member of the cabinet, was made chairman of the committee, which consisted, in addition, of sir f. mowatt, permanent secretary of the treasury; sir a. godley, under secretary of state for india; mr. spencer walpole, permanent secretary to the post office; and mr. llewellyn smith, of the labor department of the board of trade.[ ] footnotes: [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , ; mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary, general post office, london. [ ] _return to an order of the honorable, the house of commons_, dated march th, . [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of , lord john manners, postmaster general; and _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , mr. l. hill, assistant secretary, general post office, london; appendix, pp. , and , . [ ] _report of a committee appointed by the treasury to investigate the causes of the increased cost of the telegraph service since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the state_, , p. ; _first report of the civil service inquiry commission_, , p. ; and _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; mr. e. graves, divisional engineer; q. , and following. [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; sir lyon playfair; q. , to , ; sir reginald e. welby, permanent secretary to the treasury, , to , ; and appendix, p. and following. [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of . [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue departments estimates_, ; appendix no. , mr. c. h. b. patey, third secretary to the post office. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. . [ ] that is, he had given the telegraphists an interview. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. . [ ] _the narrative ignores the parts of the scheme affecting the_ letter carriers and letter sorters. [ ] for an account of the organization and the duties of the treasury, as well as of the position and the duties of the financial secretary to the treasury, see chapter xvii. [ ] _parliamentary paper_, no. , session of . [ ] in consequence of the fact that wages and salaries rise by annual increments from the minimum to the maximum, some years must elapse before the full effect of the increase in pay granted in would be felt. it was assumed that in the first year the total increase in expenditure would be $ , , and that ultimately it would be $ , . in that connection it was common to speak of a mean increase of $ , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. and . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] from to sir s. a. blackwood had been financial secretary to the post office. [ ] _report from the select committee on revenue departments estimates_; q. and . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , - , , to , , and , to , . [ ] _who's who_, , west, sir algernon e.; was a clerk in the admiralty: assistant secretary to sir c. wood and duke of somerset; secretary to sir c. wood at india office, and to mr. gladstone when prime minister; chairman of board of inland revenue. [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary, general post office, london; q. , and , . the subjoined table shows the changes made in the wages of the second class provincial telegraphists, who enter the service as boys and girls, from fourteen years upward, and are taught telegraphy at the cost of the department. ========================+=================+================ | wage under the | wage under the age of the telegraphist | fawcett scheme | raikes scheme years | $ | $ ------------------------+-----------------+---------------- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ========================+=================+================ [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , and following; april , , p. ; and august , , p. , and following. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _who's who_, , compton, family name of marquis of northampton. northampton, th marquis of, wm. geo. spencer scott compton; was in diplomatic service; private secretary to lord lieutenant of ireland (earl cowper), to ; member of parliament (g. l.) to ; owns about , acres. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. , . s. woods quotes as follows from the circular issued by the fawcett association in june, : "will you, in the event of being elected a member of parliament, support a motion for the appointment of a parliamentary committee of inquiry into the post office service, such as was advocated by earl compton, and largely supported during the recent session of the house of commons?" [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, may , , p. , , sir a. k. rollit, one of the most aggressive champions of the demands of the civil servants. [ ] _who's who_, . macdonald, j. a. m.; member of parliament for bow and bromley, to ; member of the london school board for marylebone since ; education: edinburgh and glasgow universities. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, september , , p. , and following. [ ] _who's who_, , kearley, h. e., j. p., d. l., member of parliament (g. l.), devenport, since . director of kearley and tonge, l't'd., tea importers and merchants; owns , acres. in mr. kearley became political secretary of the board of trade in the campbell-bannerman ministry. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, may , , p. , and following. [ ] _who's who_, , rollit, sir albert kaye, j. p., ll. d., d. c. l., d. l., member of parliament, south islington, since . partner in bailey and leatham, steamship owners at hull, newcastle and london; director of national telephone co.; mayor of hull, to ; president associated chambers of commerce of the united kingdom, to ; president london chamber of commerce, to ; chairman inspection committee trustee savings bank since ; president of association of municipal corporations. [ ] in - to - the number of telegrams transmitted had remained practically stationary. number of telegrams - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , [ ] _who's who_, , rollit, sir albert kaye, j. p., ll. d., d. c. l., d. l., m. p., south islington, since . partner in bailey and leetham, steamship owners at hull, newcastle and london; director of national telephone co.; mayor of hull, to ; president associated chambers of commerce of the united kingdom, to ; president london chamber of commerce, to ; chairman inspection committee trustee savings bank since ; president of association of municipal corporations. [ ] _report of bradford committee on post office wages_, ; q. , ; mr. e. trenam, controller london central telegraph office; and q. , , mr. w. g. kirkwood, a principal clerk in secretary's department, general post office. [ ] compare also, _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , . mr. cunninghame-grahame: "i beg to ask the postmaster general whether it is the custom of the post office to give bonuses to inspectors or other officials for cutting down working expenses, and whether continual complaints are being made of the arbitrary stoppage of payment for over-time?" "no," was answered to both questions. [ ] in april, , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary to general post office, stated that on the basis of the staff of , the fawcett and raikes schemes were costing the post office department $ , , a year in increased expenditure. the postmaster general's statement of an increase of $ , , in the expenditure had been made on the basis of the members actually employed in and respectively. _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] compare _report of inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary to general post office; q. , . on april , , there were employed at of the largest post offices in the united kingdom, , first class and second class male letter sorters. in the next years there resigned, in all, sorters. twelve of that number resigned in order to avoid dismissal. on april , , there were employed at of the largest telegraph offices, , first class and second class male telegraphists. in the next years there were resignations. of the men who resigned, avoided dismissal, left because of ill health, went to south africa, obtained superior appointments in the civil service, by open competition, enlisted with the royal engineers, entered the service of an electric light company, became a bank clerk, became commercial travelers, went to sea, emigrated to the united states, and entered the service of the british cable companies, which pay higher salaries than the post office, but work their men much harder and demand greater efficiency than does the post office. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , is the official title of the committee's report. chapter x the tweedmouth committee report the government accepts all recommendations made by the committee. sir albert k. rollit, one of the principal champions in the house of commons of the postal employees, immediately follows with a motion "intended to reflect upon the report of the tweedmouth committee." mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, intimates that it may become necessary to disfranchise the civil servants. the treasury accepts the recommendations of the so-called norfolk-hanbury committee. the average of expenses on account of wages and salaries rises from . cents per telegram in - , to . cents in - , concomitantly with an increase in the number of telegrams from , , to , , . in the preceding chapter the narrative was brought down to the appointment in , of the so-called tweedmouth committee.[ ] that committee consisted of lord tweedmouth, lord privy seal and a member of the cabinet; sir f. mowatt, permanent secretary of the treasury; sir a. godley, under secretary of state for india; mr. spence walpole, permanent secretary of the post office; and mr. llewellyn smith, of the labor department of the board of trade. in the "terms of reference to the committee on post office establishments," the postmaster general included this paragraph: "in conducting this inquiry, i can have no doubt you will recollect that the post office is a great revenue department; and that, in the words of the _select committee on revenue departments estimates_ in , it 'is most likely to continue to be conducted satisfactorily, if it should also continue to be conducted with a view to profit, as one of the revenue yielding departments of the state.'"[ ] [sidenote: _no service like the public service_] before the tweedmouth committee mr. lewin hill, who, as assistant secretary general post office, was the executive officer who had general charge of all the postal and telegraph employees outside of london, testified as follows: "my own view is that the time has come for telling the postmen, in common with the members of the rest of the manipulative staff [the telegraphists] in answer to their demand for a general rise of wages, that the post office department is satisfied that the wages already paid are in excess of the market value of their services; that this being so, no general addition to pay will be given, and that if the staff are dissatisfied, and can do better for themselves outside the post office, they are, as they know, at perfect liberty to seek employment elsewhere." the chairman, lord tweedmouth, asked mr. hill: "do you think there is any other particular class of employment which is comparable with that of the postmen [and telegraphists]?" mr. hill replied: "i thought of railway servants, whose work in many ways resembles the work of our employees. if they have not the same permanence [of tenure] as our own people have, they have continuous employment so long as they are efficient, but our people have continuous employment whether they are efficient or not.... in that respect all of us in the postal service stand in a unique position, from top to bottom our men are certain as long as they conduct themselves reasonably well to retain their maximum pay down to the last day they remain in the service, and whatever their class may be, whether postmen, or sorting clerks, or telegraphists, or officers of higher grade, they continue, failing misconduct, to rise to the maximum pay of their class, quite regardless of whether they are worth the higher pay that they get from year to year." the only concession that mr. hill was willing to recommend was, that in the larger towns the time required for postmen and telegraphists to rise from the minimum scale of pay to the maximum be reduced from years to years.[ ] mr. j. c. badcock, controller of the metropolitan postal service other than the service in the london central post office, and mr. h. c. fischer, controller of the london central post office, joined in mr. lewin hill's recommendation. mr. fischer added that the london telegraphists should be given better chances of passing from the second class to the first class than they had enjoyed in the last three or four years,[ ] and that the pay of the london senior telegraphists, who were a kind of assistants to the assistant superintendents, ought to be raised above the existing scale of $ . mr. c. h. kerry, postmaster at stoke-on-trent, stated that if the post office department "was willing to act, not only the part of the model employer, but of an exceptionally liberal employer; and it was thought after all that had been done for the staff so recently, that still a little further should be done," the department might reduce from years to years the period that it took the rank and file to pass from the minimum salary of their class to the maximum salary. but there was no necessity of doing anything for any one, "on a general consideration of the pay given elsewhere to persons performing duties requiring about the same amount of intelligence." there was "absolutely no justification" for increasing the existing maximum of pay. mr. kerry had entered the post office telegraph service in , after having served with the electric and international company from to . he said: "the speed at which the telegraphists had to work present, that is the speed per man,[ ] because the telegraph companies kept only enough force for the minimum work, and when the work increased you had to catch that up by increased effort.... as a previous witness said, one of the laws of the service is that there must be no delay, but i think there is a well understood law, also, that there must be no confusion, and the arrangements made are now such that the maximum of work, as a rule, can be dealt with without undue pressure.... from to , i was constantly in the telegraph branch and witnessing from day to day, and almost from hour to hour, the work which the telegraphists performed." ...[ ] this testimony from mr. kerry must be borne in mind when reading the complaints of the post office telegraphists that the salaries paid by the eastern telegraph [cable] company rise to $ , a year, whereas the salaries of first class telegraphists in london rise only to $ . the employees of the eastern telegraph company have to work under so much greater pressure than the state telegraphists, that mr. fischer, controller of the london central telegraph office, was able to state: "i have never known a telegraphist in the first class to leave our service for that of any of the [cable] companies. the cable companies draw very few men from us, and those drawn away as a rule, are young men in the second class who are receiving about $ or $ , and are attracted by the prospect of an immediate increase of some $ upon entrance into the service of the cable companies."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _the tweedmouth committee's recommendations_] those telegraph offices which are not sufficiently important to justify the employment of telegraphists of the first class, are divided into four groups: b, c, d and e. the tweedmouth committee recommended that the maximum salary of the telegraphists in the offices of group e be raised from $ a week to $ . : in offices of group d from $ . to $ ; in offices of group c from $ . to $ ; and in offices of group b from $ to $ . it recommended furthermore that all provincial telegraphists should rise automatically and without regard to efficiency, to a salary of not less than $ a week. beyond $ they should not go, unless fully competent. the committee added that it placed "the efficiency bar at the high figure of $ a week,[ ] for the special reason that it may be rigorously enforced, and that all inducements to treat it as a matter of form, liable to be abrogated for the reason of compassion, may be removed." as for the telegraphists employed in metropolitan london, the tweedmouth committee recommended that all telegraphists should rise at least to "the efficiency bar" of $ a year; and that those who could pass the efficiency bar, should rise automatically to $ , the maximum salary of first class telegraphists. in the past, telegraphists in london had been promoted from the second class to the first class, only upon the occurrence of vacancies. in this case, also, the committee added to its recommendation the words: "this efficiency bar has been placed at the high figure of $ for the special reason that it may be rigorously enforced, and that all inducements to treat it as a matter of form, liable to be abrogated for reasons of compassion, may be removed."[ ] these recommendations the tweedmouth committee made in order to meet the complaints advanced by the post office employees that the falling off in the rate of increase of the business of the telegraph branch had caused a slackening in the flow of promotion. the remaining recommendations of the tweedmouth committee it is not necessary to enumerate; suffice it to say, that the postmaster general, the duke of norfolk, advised the government to accept all of the committee's recommendations, with the statement that, on the basis of the staff of , the cost of carrying out the recommendations would begin with $ , a year, and would rise ultimately to $ , , . that estimate related to both branches of the post office, the postal branch and the telegraph; no separate estimates were made for the several branches. [sidenote: _the government accepts the committee's recommendations_] the lords commissioners of her majesty's treasury accepted the postmaster general's recommendations, and directed the financial secretary of the treasury, mr. r. w. hanbury, to write as follows to the postmaster general. "it has, of course, been necessary for my lords to consider very carefully proposals involving so large an increase of expenditure in a single department at one time, and they have duly weighed the reasons which the committee adduces in support of its conclusions. while many of the proposals appear to be abundantly justified by the considerations put forward, there are others which my lords would have hesitated to accept on any authority less entitled to respect than that by which they are supported. but, my lords readily acknowledge the exceptional competence of the committee to pronounce a judgment on the question which came before it, and the great care with which the inquiry has been conducted. they also note that the conclusions represent the unanimous opinion of the committee, and that they are, in all cases, endorsed by your grace. they have therefore decided, in view of the weight of authority by which your recommendations are supported, to accept them as they stand, and they authorize you to give effect to them as from the first of april next. they have adopted this course from a strong desire to do full justice to one of the largest and most important services of the state, and because they feel that the settlement now effected must be accepted as permanently satisfying all reasonable claims on the part of the classes included in its terms. the only condition which my lords desire to attach to their acceptance of your proposals is that the annual increments of pay should, in all cases, be dependent on the certificate of a superior officer, that the conduct of the recipient during the preceding year has been satisfactory." * * * * * [sidenote: _sir a. k. rollit demands a committee of business men_] the recommendations of the tweedmouth committee went into effect on april , . on july , , while the house of commons was in committee of supply, sir albert k. rollit moved the reduction of the salary of the postmaster general by $ , .[ ] sir albert rollit said: "the amendment was intended to reflect upon the report of the tweedmouth committee, rather than upon either the government or the post office department, for he thought more might be done to remedy the abuses which were known [shown?] to exist in the course of the report itself. to speak of the post office as a revenue earning machine was, in his opinion, not a full or adequate description. he shared to the full the opinion that its first object was to give facilities to the public rather than merely to earn profits, and also to do justice to its employees.... there were grievances which had not been redressed by the report, and the house had a great deal more to do in that direction. it was no answer to say that the treasury had appropriated a large sum of $ , for that very purpose, for after all, what did the appropriation amount to? it only amounted to a rectification of the inadequacies of the past. it was not in london alone, but throughout the united kingdom, that something like chronic discontent existed. the complaints were loud and widespread. he did not at all agree as to the propriety of the course intimated [by the telegraphists] by way of notice to the postmaster general, that if the grievances were not redressed, over-time work at night would be suspended [_i. e._ the telegraphists would refuse to work over-time in order to compel the government to redress their grievances]. that was an extreme remedy in cases where the public convenience and service were concerned; but, after all, every man's labor was his own right, and if there were no disposition to remedy present grievances, even that extreme way of trying to bring about a remedy might possibly have to be resorted to. the treasury was, of course, a barrier to a good deal. he did not say the heads of a department did not value as much as he might do pecuniarily the services of those who contributed to the joint effect which he and they made for the public advantage, and if we had a splendid civil service in this country, he thought it had one great defect, and that was too glaring disproportion between the salaries of the highest officials and those of the lower, and this proportion might well be redressed." sir albert rollit said he could not enumerate all the grievances, he would have to confine himself to the enumeration of the worst ones. he began by endorsing the contention of the telegraphists that everybody should rise automatically to a salary of $ , a year. the establishment of the "efficiency bars" he said, "was really a violation of the contract with the telegraph operators, and was a grave and gross injustice to them." he maintained, also, that the committee's recommendation that the payment for sunday labor be reduced from double rates to a rate and a half was "a material alteration of the contract under which servants entered the department." he supported the contention of the state employees that it was a grievance that some of the employees had to take their annual vacation in the winter months. "the postmen had asked that the christmas boxes [contributions from the public] be abolished, $ a year being added to the wages as a compromise. evidence had been given that $ . a year was the real value of the christmas boxes, but the committee said there should be no solicitation for christmas boxes, and no compensation for their loss." "he hoped that a statement of grievances, which were provoking the strongest possible feeling, with disadvantage to the efficiency of the post office, would be listened to. he was extremely glad to recognize that the postmaster general had been willing to receive two deputations--one on june , which had not yet been replied to, and one yesterday. but he would urge upon the department and the government that the real remedy for this strong and wide discontent was the appointment of an independent committee, because the decision of such a tribunal composed not of officials, but of practical business men, who would perhaps have more sympathy with men in the lower grades of the service, would be loyally accepted, and thus the public would be advantaged and contentment restored to a service which was of great value to the country." ["hear, hear."] mr. r. w. hanbury, who, as financial secretary to the treasury, represented in the house of commons the postmaster general, the duke of norfolk, replied: "that throughout the discussion some facts had been more or less left out of sight. honorable members ought to recollect, in the first place, that the tweedmouth committee gave universal satisfaction when it was appointed. it was then agreed that it was the right kind of committee; and that the right kind of men were appointed to serve upon it. there was no preponderance of treasury opinion upon the committee. in fact, the only treasury official sitting upon it was sir francis mowatt. there was on it a high representative of the post office, and the officials of a department were not as a rule anxious to cut down the salaries of their subordinates. their tendency would rather be to recommend an increase in salaries. there was also on the committee a representative of the labor department of the board of trade, who was particularly well qualified to give an opinion as to the proportion which the wages of the postal and telegraph employees bore to the wages of persons doing corresponding work outside the post office. therefore the committee was a very efficient body, and through its recommendations the salaries of the officials had already been increased by $ , a year, and the increase would amount to something like $ , , a year in the next few years. the treasury had accepted every recommendation of the committee, whose suggestions had been adopted wholesale. there was no ground for complaint, therefore, in that direction." [sidenote: _disfranchisement of civil servants suggested_] "another fact which members ought not to overlook was the political pressure which was far too frequently exercised by civil servants upon those who also represented them." ["hear, hear."] "that was a great and growing danger. it was chiefly in london that this pressure was brought to bear.... he would give an instance of the way in which these civil servants spoke of the expediency of political pressure. at one of the great meetings which had been held, a speaker said there were , postmen in london, and that he hoped every one would have his name upon the register [of voters], so that at election times they could exercise their influence upon candidates and advocate the cause of higher wages. he was of the opinion that political pressure ought not to be brought to bear in that way." ["hear, hear."] "ordinary workmen could not exercise the same power, but civil servants could, and, whether their agitation succeeded or not, their position was secure, so that it was a case of 'heads, i win; tails, i don't lose'.... before the royal commission [of ], which had inquired into the civil service establishments, evidence was given with regard to the way in which pressure was brought to bear in certain constituencies upon members, and he thought that the almost unanimous feeling of the commission was that, if this state of things continued, it would be necessary to disfranchise the civil service." ["hear, hear."][ ] sir albert rollit replied: "they had to acknowledge a very sympathetic speech from the secretary to the treasury. perhaps if some honorable members went to the treasury in regard to this matter, accompanied by one person who might represent practically the views which were entertained by those concerned, the matter might be further gone into. he begged leave to withdraw his amendment." the secretary to the treasury replied: "there was no objection on the part of the treasury to hearing communications from members of parliament on the subject, but with regard to officials of the post office coming to the treasury, he should not like to give any pledge without first consulting with the postmaster general." [sidenote: _the norfolk-hanbury committee_] shortly afterward the postmaster general, the duke of norfolk, and the financial secretary to the treasury, mr. hanbury, constituted themselves a committee to investigate the grievances that the tweedmouth committee had left unredressed. all members of the house of commons were invited to attend the meetings of the norfolk-hanbury committee, and to take part in examining the witnesses. sir albert rollit presented the case of the post office employees. the norfolk-hanbury committee recommended further concessions involving an additional outlay of $ , a year; and the treasury accepted the recommendations. the report of the postmaster general for the year - stated that the concessions granted would entail a total increase of expenditure of $ , , a year. the duke of norfolk concluded his reference to the foregoing episodes with the words: "since that time i have declined, and i shall continue to decline, to allow decisions which have been considered by the tweedmouth committee, and which have been revised by mr. hanbury and myself, to be reopened. it is my belief that those decisions have been liberal, but whether they are liberal or not, it is for the interest of all parties that it should be understood that they are final." in april, , mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, stated the concessions granted by the tweedmouth and norfolk-hanbury committees were costing $ , , a year. in april, , mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, said they were costing $ , , a year; and in april, , he stated that they were costing $ , , a year.[ ] those figures related to the combined postal and telegraph service. so far as the latter service alone is concerned, the average expenses on account of wages and salaries rose steadily from . cents per telegram in - , to . cents in - , under an increase in the number of messages from , , in - , to , , in - . in - , the average in question rose to . cents, partly in consequence of the increases in wages made in response to the demands of the civil servants, partly in consequence of the drop in the number of telegrams to , , --as a result of the growing competition from the telephone. in - the receipts of the telegraph department proper exceeded the operating expenses by $ , ; in - , the operating expenses exceeded the receipts by $ , ; in - the deficit rose to $ , , , and in - it was $ , . in - , the gross revenue exceeded the operating expenses by $ , .[ ] footnotes: [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , is the official title of the committee's report. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, , , , , , , , to , , , to , , , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , , , to , , , to , and , to , . [ ] mr. kerry probably meant that the employees of the companies worked under greater pressure. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, and , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] compare: _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, , p. xvi. in the salaries of the lower division clerks of the civil service ranged from $ to $ , . the royal commission recommended that in the future the salaries in question should range from $ to $ , , with an efficiency bar at $ at the end of seven years' service, and a second efficiency bar at $ at the end of nineteen years' service. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , pp. , and , ; and q. , and following, , to , , , to , , and , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. and following. [ ] compare also _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , mr. r. w. hanbury: "he had sat for some years as a member of the royal commission upon civil service establishments, and the members of that commission had been greatly struck by the enormous pressure that civil servants in particular constituencies were able to bring to bear upon candidates, and in his view the house ought not to adopt any line of action that would encourage that pressure being brought into operation. so great, indeed, had been the abuses that it had even been suggested that civil servants ought to be disfranchised altogether.... another great danger that had to be provided against was that in certain london constituencies, and in some of the large towns, it was quite possible that the civil servants might, by combining together, succeed in turning the balance at an election in the event of one of the candidates refusing to pledge himself with regard to raising the scale of wage, or an increase in the amount of pensions, or similar advantages which the civil servants might desire to obtain." [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. ; april , , p. , ; and april , , p. , . [ ] _report of the postmaster general_, . chapter xi the post office employees continue to press the house of commons for increases of wages and salaries the post office employees demand "a new judgment on the old facts." mr. s. woods' motion, in february, . mr. steadman's motions in february and june, . mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, points out that the postal employees are demanding a house of commons select committee because under such a committee "the agitation and pressure, now distributed over the whole house, would be focussed and concentrated upon the unfortunate members of the select committee." mr. steadman's motion, in april, . mr. bayley's motion, in june, . mr. balfour, prime minister, confesses that the debate has filled him "with considerable anxiety as to the future of the public service if pressure of the kind which has been put upon the government to-night is persisted in by the house." captain norton's motion, in april, . the government compromises by appointing the bradford committee of business men. mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, states that members from both sides of the house "seek from him, in his position as postmaster general, protection for them in the discharge of their public duties against the pressure sought to be put upon them by employees of the post office." he adds: "even if the machinery by which our select committees are appointed were such as would enable us to secure a select committee composed of thoroughly impartial men who had committed themselves by no expression of opinion, i still think that it would not be fair to pick out fifteen members of this house and make them marked men for the purpose of such pressure as is now distributed more or less over the whole assembly." [sidenote: _civil servants demand right to agitate_] on february , , in the house of commons, mr. s. woods[ ] moved: "and we humbly represent to your majesty that your servants in the post office are not permitted to exercise the franchise, generally allowed to other departments in the state; nor to serve on electoral committees; nor to take part in political agitation; and are otherwise deprived of the privileges of citizenship in defiance of the letter and spirit of the law; that the officials of the post office refuse to recognize the postmen's trade union; their officials are illegally and unjustly dismissed for circularizing parliamentary candidates; and we humbly beg your majesty to instruct the postmaster general to remedy these grievances."[ ] sir james fergusson, a former postmaster general, said mr. woods' motion had been brought "by the direction of the central committee of the postal union, or some such party." he continued with the statement that the motion was the outcome of the agitation carried on since he, sir james fergusson, had dismissed from the post office service messrs. clery and cheeseman, the ringleaders of a political campaign carried on in violation of sir james fergusson's order of june , . he said the employees in the revenue departments had been disfranchised in by the marquis of rockingham, prime minister, but that the franchise had been restored to them in . that in that year both mr. disraeli and mr. gladstone had approved the policy of enfranchising the employees of the revenue departments, subject to the limitation that the ministerial heads of the departments were to have the power to determine the limits within which the employees were to take an active part in politics. that an attempt had been made in to remove that limitation, but that the house had supported the government of the day in resisting the attempt.[ ] [sidenote: _house of commons is civil servants' court of appeal_] mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, the duke of norfolk, said, in the course of his reply to mr. woods: "we must recognize the fact that in this house of commons, public servants have a court of appeal such as exists with regard to no private employee whatever. it is a court of appeal which not only exists with regard to the grievances of classes, and even of individuals, but it is a court of appeal which applies even to the wages and duties of classes and individuals, and its functions in that respect are only limited by the common sense of members, who should exercise caution in bringing forward cases of individuals, because, if political influence is brought to bear in favor of one individual, the chances are that injury is done to some other individual.... i think it is only reasonable to expect that, as both [political] parties in the state have dropped party politics with regard to their employees, the employees should in turn recognize that fact, and drop party politics with regard to their employers." mr. hanbury enforced this point by stating that, upon the request of the civil servants themselves, lord rockingham, prime minister, in had disfranchised the civil servants in the revenue departments. at that time the party in power, through the public service, controlled seats in parliament. lord north, who had been in power twelve years, had sent out notices to certain constituencies where the civil servants were able to turn the scale, saying, that unless the civil servants supported the government, it would go hard with them. thereupon the opposition had sent out counter notices, and thus had put the civil service in an awkward position. the result had been that the civil servants themselves had requested lord rockingham to disfranchise them. mr. hanbury continued with the statement that, in , sir james fergusson had dismissed mr. clery for ignoring his order forbidding civil servants to "circularize" parliamentary candidates. thereupon mr. clery, at newcastle-on-tyne, had said to a political meeting of postmen: "they must approach the house of commons on its weak side; they must influence members through their susceptibilities as opportunity presents itself when candidates appeal to their respective constituencies. a man is never more amenable to reason than when making a request." mr. hanbury continued: "what private employee is able to say: 'i am the permanent servant of my employer; i have a share in declaring who that employer shall be; i will attack him on his weak side when he comes up for re-election, and then i will use my power? i will bring organized pressure to bear throughout the constituencies, and i will make this bargain: that if he will not vote for an increase in my pay, or diminish my duties, then i will not give him my vote.' we have done away with personal and individual bribery, but there is still a worse form of bribery, and that is when a man asks a candidate to buy his vote out of the public purse. there are three great things which distinguish our permanent public service. there is, in the first place, the remarkable loyalty with which they serve both parties in the state. then there is the permanency of their employment. again, a great feature of that service is that no longer is it a question of favoritism, but promotion by merit is the rule. those three great features have been slowly built upon this foundation--the elimination altogether of the element of political partisanship from the service. i hope nothing will be done to break down those foundations, on which alone the public service can rest--a service which, for its efficiency, its loyalty, and its high sense of public duty, i do not think is surpassed. i doubt whether it is equalled or even approached." mr. woods' motion was lost by a vote of to . it was supported almost exclusively by the opposition, only three government supporters voting for it.[ ] [sidenote: _mr. steadman demands a select committee_] in the house of commons, on february , , mr. steadman[ ] moved: "and we humbly represent to your majesty that, in view of the great discontent existing among employees of the postal and telegraph services, immediate inquiry should be made into the causes of complaint."[ ] mr. steadman had been elected to the house of commons by a majority of twenty votes. [sidenote: _parliament not competent to judge_] mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, replied that no new facts had been brought to light since the tweedmouth committee and the norfolk-hanbury committee had made concessions entailing an annual expenditure of $ , , a year. the post office servants were demanding "a new judgment on the old facts." he continued: "i confess, i am not quite sure that we did not go too far [in ], because by increasing these salaries we are bringing into this service an entirely new social class; you are bringing in men who perhaps are socially a little above their work, and these men naturally have a standard of living and requirements which are not essential to men doing this kind of work. if we are going to raise the salaries more and more, you will get a higher social class into the service, and there will be no limit to the demands made upon us." mr. hanbury continued: "you have got to trust the heads of the departments, or get new heads; it is quite impossible for the house of commons to go into all these technicalities, and i know no department where the work is more technical and more complicated than the post office. the treasury work is supposed to be hard to learn [by the members of the house of commons working for promotion to the ministry], but the technicalities of the post office is about the most difficult job i ever had, and i do not think a select committee would be really able to get to the bottom of this matter. but, after all, we must recollect another fact, and it is this: that the civil service is a great deal too much inclined to attempt to put pressure upon members of parliament. that is a very bad system, upon which we ought to put our foot. it is bad enough when it is brought to bear upon the house as a whole, but what would happen with a select committee of this house? you would have the resentment of the civil service focussed and concentrated upon the unfortunate members of the committee, and i do not think it would act more independently or more impartially than those two bodies which have sat already." mr. steadman's motion was lost by a vote of to . eighty-six members of the opposition and two government supporters voted for the motion.[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _civil servants have "friends" in the commons_] on june , , mr. steadman moved the reduction of the postmaster general's salary by $ , by way of asking the house of commons to instruct the government to appoint a select committee of the house of commons to investigate the grievances of the post office employees.[ ] he said: "it stands to reason that a departmental committee [tweedmouth committee] composed of officials, which contained only one impartial member--a member of the house of lords--could not be satisfactory to the , male and female employees in the post office service.... every department of the post office service now has its organization. all these organizations right through the departments have their coaches and organizers; true, they are not yet directly represented here in this house, but they have friends here who are prepared to take up their quarrels." captain norton[ ] seconded the motion. he spoke of the fact that any telegraphist could obtain $ a year extra pay by making himself competent to discharge the duties of a letter sorter, and another $ by passing an examination on the technical questions of telegraphy. he asserted that it was a grievance that the men had to acquire, in their leisure hours, the additional proficiency in question; and that only per cent. of the men were able to pass the examinations on the technical questions involved in telegraphy. mr. maddison[ ] supported mr. steadman's motion with the words: "for my part, i have always had some hesitation in taking up the cases of men employed by the state, because undoubtedly there is a sort of notion that, because they are employed by the state, they can make such demands as they like, because they are paid out of a very full treasury. i know that every half penny of that money comes out of the general taxation of the country, and i agree that we are here as the guardians of the public purse. the right honorable gentleman has never denied that we are here as the guardians of these men's interest, and it has not been shown that the public interest is of greater importance than the interest of these men, who do so much for the prosperity of the country.... in this case we want a non-official committee, although i confess that i do not think such an inquiry will put an end to disputes in the future." mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, said that if the government yielded to the demand for a house of commons committee in this case, there would be a house of commons committee sitting practically every session of parliament. the points now under discussion had been under agitation for four, five, or six years. before the tweedmouth committee entered upon its duties, and before the norfolk-hanbury conference with members of the house of commons, the government had a distinct understanding with members of the house that the decisions come to should be accepted. mr. hanbury continued: "it is somewhat difficult, no doubt, to draw a comparison between what the post office pays and what is paid by private firms. but i will give one comparison, at any rate, and i think it is the only one possible. a few years ago we took over from the national telephone company the employees, principally women, who were engaged on the [long-distance] trunk wires, and i venture to say that, counting in the pensions we pay, these people are receiving from per cent. to per cent. larger salaries than when they were in the employment of the company. honorable members who draw comparisons between servants of the state and others, are too apt to forget the great facilities post office servants get, such as constant employment, large pensions, good holidays, for which they are paid, and large sick-pay and sick-leave. if these are added together, it will be found that the post office is paying wages considerably above the level of those paid by outside employers. i should like to say one further word with regard to this application for a committee of this house. why should we have it at all? let me speak with perfect frankness about this thing. we have already had two committees; we have also had a great deal of pressure brought to bear upon members; that pressure is becoming almost intolerable. the honorable member for newington posed as the just judge and said: 'i am weary of all this agitation; let us try to put an end to it.' well i am not weary of the agitation; so long as i am satisfied, as i am now, that everything has been done that ought to be done for the men, i will not yield to agitation. i say at once that i do myself believe that, considering everything, and that full inquiry has already been held, the only advantage these men could derive from a house of commons committee would be that the agitation and pressure, now distributed over the whole house, would be focussed and concentrated upon the select committee. i, for one, am not prepared to grant a committee of that kind." mr. steadman's motion was lost by a vote of to ; ninety-seven members of the opposition and nine government supporters voting for the motion.[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _mr. steadman's third demand for a select committee_] on april , , mr. steadman moved the reduction of the postmaster general's salary by $ , .[ ] he said: "i rise for the purpose of advocating the claims of the , persons employed in the post office for a fair and impartial committee of inquiry to be elected by this house to look into their grievances." the contention that there were grievances, mr. steadman supported with the following arguments. from to , the civil service commissioners, in issuing notices that they would hold competitive examinations for intending entrants into the telegraph service, had stated that in london telegraphists had "a prospect of obtaining [ultimately] $ a year." that, argued mr. steadman, was a contract between the government and the telegraphists who entered the london service between and , that every such telegraphist should rise to $ . the government therefore had committed a breach of contract when, in , it had announced that good character and good skill as an operator would not secure a telegraphist promotion to the senior class, in which the salary rose from $ a year to $ . to be eligible for promotion to the senior class, a man must be not only an excellent telegraphist, but must, in addition, possess such executive ability as would enable him to act as an overseer, or as assistant to the assistant superintendent. mr. steadman continued: "now i come to the question of the postmen. goodness knows where all that $ , , a year has gone to. you cannot get away from the fact that the postman to-day in london commences [at the age of years to years] with a minimum wage of $ . a week.... fancy that, mr. chairman, a man commencing on $ . a week, and employed by the state in a department that has a clean profit of between $ , , and $ , , ." mr. steadman next contended that a good conduct stripe--worth $ a year--should be given every three years; that the present period of five years was too long. moreover, the department was altogether too rigorous in withholding good conduct stripes for breaches of discipline. mr. steadman cited the following instances to prove the necessity of an inquiry by members of the house of commons into the discipline enforced by the department. a man who had served nine years as an auxiliary postman had been arrested on the charge of stealing a postal money order. though found not guilty by the court, he had been dismissed, without a certificate of good character. postman taylor, of stirling, after suffering an accident, was unable to cover his route in the time fixed by the post office. thereupon the local postmaster had asked taylor to retire on a pension. "the latest information that i have in regard to that case is that the man who is now doing taylor's duties, in order to get through his round in the time allotted, has his son to help him." again, the annual increment had been withheld from one lacon, a telegraphist at birmingham, and the local secretary of the postal telegraph clerks' association. the secretary to the treasury, mr. hanbury, had told mr. steadman that the superintendent at birmingham reported that lacon's increment had been withheld because lacon had been insubordinate while on duty. lacon had told mr. steadman that he had been disciplined because of his connection with the union. mr. steadman added: "i will not for one moment attempt to stand up in the house and attack permanent officials who are not able to defend themselves; it would be unmanly for me to do so. but i do say that i have as much right to believe the statement of lacon, as the right honorable gentleman [the secretary to the treasury] has to believe the statement of the birmingham superintendent. there is only one way of proving these cases, and that is for a committee of impartial members of this house to be appointed before which the permanent official can state his case and the men theirs. if that is done, the members, if their minds are unbiased, will very soon be able to judge as to who is telling the truth." [sidenote: _commons reminded of civil servants' votes_] sir albert rollit seconded mr. steadman's motion, saying: "and we ought not to overlook the fact, that, rightly or wrongly, these men now have votes, and if they cannot obtain redress for their grievances here in the house of commons, they will try to obtain it from our masters, the electorate." mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, the duke of norfolk, "on principle" opposed the request for a select committee. "well, i say that the house of commons is the last body which ought to interfere in these questions of the payment of our public servants. it is the last body which ought to be appealed to as regularly as it is by civil servants to raise their salaries, because that, after all, is the real object of this proposed committee. already i think the pressure brought to bear on individual members, and especially on members who have a large number of civil servants in their constituencies, has become perfectly intolerable, and civil servants may depend upon it that it is the general opinion in this house, although they may have their cause advocated by members upon whom they may be able to bring particular pressure, because large numbers of them happen to live in the constituencies of those members; i repeat that they may depend upon it that in the opinion of the great body of the members of this house they are taking a highly irregular course, and are in no way making their position more favorable in the minds of the great majority of members. nothing will induce me personally to agree to any committee such as has been suggested. and while i object on principle, i object also because absolutely no necessity has been shown for the committee.... the duke of norfolk and i, because we were so desirous that no case of the slightest grievance should be left untouched, inquired into every grievance which was said to have been left unredressed by the tweedmouth committee.... every member of the house had a right to attend our [norfolk-hanbury committee] meetings, and to cross-examine the witnesses.... it is the intention of the post office and of the treasury to carry out the recommendations of the tweedmouth committee to the very fullest extent, and if the honorable member [mr. steadman] is able to show me any case whatever in which that has not been done, even in the case of an individual postman, or sorter, or telegraphist, i will go into it myself, and i will do more: i will promise that the grievance shall be redressed." mr. steadman's motion was lost by a vote of to . it was supported by forty-one members of the opposition and by four supporters of the government.[ ] * * * * * on june , , while the house of commons was in committee of supply, mr. thomas bayley[ ] asked for a select committee of the house of commons to investigate the grievance of the post office servants.[ ] he said: "this house shows a want of moral courage by throwing the responsibility for redressing the grievance of the post office servants on the other house [lord tweedmouth] or the permanent officials of any department whatsoever." mr. bayley had begun his political career as a town councillor in nottingham. [sidenote: _the prime minister's anxiety_] after many members had supported the request for a select committee, the prime minister, mr. a. j. balfour, said: "i have listened with great interest to this debate, and, i confess frankly, with considerable anxiety as to the future of the public service if pressure of the kind which has been put upon the government to-night is persisted in by this house. this house is omnipotent. it can make and unmake governments. it can decide what, when, and how public money is to be spent. but with that omnipotence i would venture to urge upon members their great responsibility with a subject like this. everyone knows that a great organized body like the post office service has in its power to put great pressure upon members, but i earnestly urge upon honorable gentlemen that unless we take our courage in both hands, and say that, although most desirous that all legitimate grievances shall be dealt with, we cannot permit the government as a great employer of labor to have this kind of pressure put upon it, i think the future of the public service is in peril. i assure the committee that i speak with a great sense of responsibility. in this very case the post office employees have brought forward their grievances year after year. two commissions have been appointed, and no one ever ventured to impugn the ability or impartiality of the members of those commissions. these commissions made the fullest examination into the case put before them, and reported at length, and as a consequence of that report the british taxpayers are now paying $ , , more of money than they paid before.... in none of the speeches has any specific complaint been brought forward, or any point urged which suggests the necessity for further inquiry, but only the statement that there is a feeling of uneasiness, and a desire for further examination, and that when such a desire is expressed, the house should listen to it. we cannot keep the civil service in a sound and healthy condition if we are going to examine into it by a committee every five years. if the house of commons were to yield to the very natural temptation of granting a committee such as had been asked for, though we might escape an inconvenient division, we should be unworthy, in my opinion, of bearing any longer the great responsibility of being the enormous employer of labor that we are. we should not be carrying out our duty to the public, and, worst of all, we should aim a blow at the civil service, which is the boast of this country and the envy of the civilized world, because we should become the parliamentary creatures of every organized body of public servants who chose to use the great power which the constitution gives, for ends which i am sure they believe to be right, but which this house could not yield to in the manner now suggested without derogating from the high functions and spirit of pure impartiality which the house must maintain if members are to do their duty by their constituents." mr. bayley's motion was lost by a vote of to ; it being supported by ninety-one members of the opposition and nine government supporters.[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _captain norton demands a select committee_] on april , , while the house of commons was in committee of supply, captain norton[ ] moved the reduction by $ of the item: salaries and working expenses of the post office telegraph service: $ , , .[ ] he said: "the case briefly was this, that the government had been guilty of a distinct breach of faith in connection with a certain number of worthy government officials. he knew that to make this statement of breach of faith was what must be called a strong order, but he was prepared to prove that he was not exaggerating in the smallest degree." he went on to state that the telegraphists who entered the service in london in to , when the civil service commissioners had advertised that entrants had "a prospect of obtaining $ ," had a contract with the government that the possession of "ordinary manipulative ability, with regular attendance and good conduct" would insure advancement to a position paying $ . the government had broken that contract by prescribing, in , that men "must be equal to supervising duties" in order to be promoted to the positions carrying $ . sir albert rollit[ ] supported captain norton with the words: "for a long time past there had been a very strong and general feeling in the service that many of the men had been the victims of something amounting almost to an imposition, however unintentional, on the part of a public department. strong terms had been used in the course of the debate, but he should endeavor to deal with the matter on the basis of what he believed to have been a contract between those employees and the post office. it was not difficult to show that that implied--or, he might even say, express--contract had induced many to enter the service, only to find that the contract was afterward departed from by one of the contracting parties, the state." mr. keir hardie supported captain norton's motion with the argument that the concessions made by the tweedmouth committee had imposed no additional burdens upon the taxpayers, for that committee merely had allocated a small portion of the extra profit made by the post office to the post office servants who made that profit. mr. keir hardie at one time has held the office of chairman of the independent labor party,[ ] an organization that brings to bear upon the british municipal governments a pressure similar to that here shown to be brought upon the house of commons. [sidenote: _members of parliament coerced_] mr. gibson bowles said: "he was aware that many honorable members who brought forward the position of servants of the state, did so against their own desires, because of the almost irresistible pressure placed upon them by the servants of the state, who were at the same time electors.... he supported the secretary to the treasury in resisting this particular amendment, because it was one of many which tended to illustrate a form of tyranny that was becoming unbearable, and which tended seriously to injure the character of this house as making its members the advocates of classes, sections, and little communities, instead of being trustees not for them alone, but for the whole community." mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, the marquis of londonderry, said he "supposed it would not be unfair to say that an officer joining the british army had a prospect of becoming a field marshal." as to the telegraphists, "all that the government ever had held out to them was a prospect of a certain number of them attaining something beyond the ordinary maximum" of $ , to which any man could rise by the display of ordinary manipulative ability and the observance of good conduct. under mr. fawcett, in to , one telegraphist out of every . telegraphists had risen beyond $ . in the proportion in question had been exactly the same. in , the proportion was one in six, or, "practically the same." mr. austen chamberlain continued: "when i consider the great concessions that were made [by the tweedmouth committee], and the great burden that was placed upon the taxpayers, the care that was given to that inquiry, and the opportunity that was afforded to every one to have their grievances heard, i cannot pretend to think that a case has been made out for trying, not fresh matters, but for retrying the same matters and changing the tribunal, merely because all its decisions [_i. e._, some of its decisions] were not agreeable to one of the parties concerned. i hope the house will not do anything so fatal to the efficiency and the organization of our civil service, as to allow any large body of civil servants to think that they have only to be importunate enough to secure in this house repeated inquiries into their grievances, no matter what previous care has been given to their consideration. i trust this house will have confidence in the desire of the postmaster general to deal fairly with all his employees, and believe me when i say that there is nothing easier for us to do than to give way; and that it is only because we believe it to be our duty to the taxpayers that we find it necessary to refuse these recurring and increasing demands." captain norton's motion was lost by a vote of to . it was supported by one hundred and twenty-three opposition members, and by seven government supporters.[ ] a few hours later, mr. thomas bayley[ ] moved a reduction of $ on the salary of the postmaster general, in order to call attention to the grievances of the officials of the post office.[ ] he said there should be a court of appeal for the civil servants, and that court should be the house of commons alone; whenever a dispute arose between the government of the day and its servants, the house should constitute itself the court of appeal. mr. bayley added: "it had been distinctly laid down that it was no part of the duty of the post office to make a profit, but it should be worked for the future convenience of the public and not reduced to the level of a mere profit making machine. it was this desire on the part of the post office officials to make profit which lay at the root of all the troubles which the house had been discussing in the debate that evening." mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative, in the house of commons, of the postmaster general, replied: "i refuse to resign one particle of my responsibility, or to accept the suggestion that the government should wash their hands of their responsibility, and throw the subject, as an open question, before the house of commons, and ask a committee of this house, without aid or guidance from responsible ministers, to judge upon the multitude of conflicting interests and details incident to the administration of so great a service as the post office. i, for one, will not be party to putting off that responsibility on to the house of commons.... but we consider that it would be a grave dereliction of duty on our part to throw this great service into the turmoil and confusion of a parliamentary inquiry, with the knowledge that such an inquiry would not be final--honorable gentlemen who have supported this amendment have declared that to talk about finality in this matter is absurd--with the knowledge that what is done to-day for the post office, must be done to-morrow for every other department employing a large number of government servants, until elections to this house will depend more and more on the willingness of members to purchase the support of those who are in public employment by promises of concessions at the public expense, instead of securing their support, like that of other citizens, on public grounds and national interests." * * * * * [sidenote: _the government's compromise_] on april , , while the house was in committee of supply, mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, prefaced the discussion by the committee of the post office vote, with the following statement:[ ].... "the demand is that a select committee of this house should be appointed to examine into the grievances of the post office staff. i have made it my business since i have been at the post office to see that every memorial from the staff dealing with their grievances, addressed to me, should come before me personally.... even though i have felt that many of the matters thus brought to my notice were very small details of administration. i am determined that an official [employee] of the post office, going to the head of his service, should receive as fair and careful consideration of his appeal, if he applies to me direct, as if he sought parliamentary influence to urge his claim. and i venture to think that nothing has occurred during the time that i have been responsible which can justify any servant of the post office in saying that he is unable, except by parliamentary influence, or by parliamentary exposure, to obtain the attention of the head of the department. the other day at the request of several members on both sides of the house, i met the members themselves, and consented that if they wished, they should be accompanied by members of the post office staff, who should make before them, and in my presence, a statement of the grounds on which they asked for this inquiry by a select committee, in order that then and there i might discuss it with my honorable friends. the vote comes on to-night, and i intend to take this opportunity of making a few observations on the grounds for this parliamentary inquiry as put forth by the staff. there are three main grounds alleged by the spokesman for the staff for a parliamentary inquiry--wages, sanitation [_i. e._, the sanitary condition of certain offices], and meal reliefs, or the time allowed out of working hours for taking refreshment. if a person does eight hours' continuous work he is allowed half an hour out of that time for a meal, reducing his actual working hours to seven and a half hours.... i only wish to draw the attention of the committee to what was described to me as a typical grievance by the spokesman of a deputation which waited on me shortly before christmas. certain men are on duty from a. m. to p. m., and from p. m. to p. m., and complain because they are not allowed minutes for tea. in the judgment of any impartial person, was that a reasonable grievance?... i myself have come to the conclusion, ... that while a great number of the complaints made have no foundation in justice, and that a great number of the men who think themselves aggrieved would find it difficult to get, elsewhere than in the public service, such good employment as they have now, there are other cases which are open to improvement and for which further inquiry is needed to fix exactly what should be done. the government is unalterably opposed to a select committee of the house of commons for the decision of this question. honorable members know, and it is no use blinking it, the kind of pressure which is brought to bear, or is attempted to be brought to bear, upon members in all parts of the house by the public servants, servants of the post office, i am afraid, especially, though not entirely [exclusively], at election times. i have had members come to me, not from one side of the house alone, to seek from me, in my position as postmaster general, protection for them in the discharge of their public duties against the pressure sought to be put upon them by the employees of the post office. even if the machinery by which our select committees are appointed were such as would enable us to secure a select committee composed of thoroughly impartial men who had committed themselves by no expression of opinion, i still think that it would not be fair to pick out fifteen members of this house and make them marked men for the purposes of such pressure as is now distributed more or less over the whole assembly. but if i am opposed to the appointment of a house of commons committee for fixing wages in the post office, i am still more opposed to thrusting upon it, or, indeed, on any committee, the duty of regulating in all its details the daily administration and work of the post office. the wages paid are not in all respects satisfactory, some are too low, others are too high. advice from men of practical and business experience would help me, the minister in this matter. therefore, i propose to take such advice--of men as free from any kind of political and electoral pressure, as they should be free from any departmental influence. i should suggest a body of five to report for my advice and information on the wages paid in the post office department to the four great classes of employees, the letter sorters and the telegraphists in london, and the letter sorters and the telegraphists in the provinces." after reiterating that he proposed to get the advice of business men only on the question of the scale of wages paid in the post office department, and that he in no way proposed to surrender to any committee of any sort the general duties of the postmaster general, mr. austen chamberlain closed with the words: "i ask the committee [of supply] to give me all the confidence it can, and when it is unable to give me that confidence, i say that that is no reason for granting a select committee to do my work, but only a reason for transferring the office of postmaster general to someone who is more competent." mr. thomas bayley replied that "he was not willing to give up the rights and privileges of the house of commons, whose duty it was to remedy the grievances of the public service.... and although he had been assured by those whom he represented [_i. e._, post office servants] that the post office officials would loyally abide by the decision of a committee of the house of commons, the right honorable gentleman [the postmaster general] could not expect the same loyalty with regard to the decision of the committee he proposed to appoint." sir albert rollit said: "the tweedmouth committee was a one-sided tribunal; the officials were represented on it, but the men not at all...." captain norton replied: "the right honorable gentleman had also referred to the question of members on both sides of the house coming to him for protection. that was very startling, because the reason they were there at all was that they might represent every section of their constituents,[ ] ... but presuming the post office servants were organized, he submitted they were within their rights to appeal to their members.... if the postal officials were such terrible tyrants he hoped they would take note that they could never hope for fair play from the present government. the right honorable gentleman had appointed a packed jury of five individuals to deal with a fraction of the question.... in other words, he was going to take shelter behind this bogus committee.... he was going to appoint five members, possibly sweaters, to determine the rate of wages.... it would be astounding if the postal officials accepted any such bogus arbitration. if it was to be a board of arbitration, why should not they have five postal servants added to the five employers of labor?" captain norton is a junior lord of the treasury in the present sir henry campbell-bannerman ministry. * * * * * on may , , the national joint committee of the postal association unanimously resolved: "that this national joint committee views with extreme dissatisfaction the appointment of a court of inquiry which is not composed of members of parliament, but is an altogether irresponsible body, and protests against the scope of the inquiry being limited to a single grievance and to a minority of the staff. it pledges itself to continue to use every legitimate endeavor to obtain an impartial parliamentary committee of inquiry into the causes of discontent in the postal and telegraph service."[ ] in august, , the postmaster general appointed a "committee to inquire into the adequacy of the wages paid to certain classes of the postal servants." the committee consisted of: sir edward bradford, until lately chief commissioner of the metropolitan police; mr. charles booth, a liverpool merchant, and the author of "the life and labor of the people in london;" mr. samuel fay, general manager of the great central railway; mr. thomas brodrick, secretary of the co-operative wholesale society, manchester; and mr. r. burbridge, managing director of harrod's stores.[ ] footnotes: [ ] _who's who_, , woods, sam'l., m. p. for s. w. lancashire, to ; m. p. (r.) for walthamstow, essex, to ; president of lancashire miners' federation; vice-president of miners' federation of great britain; secretary of trade union congress since . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. , and following. [ ] compare also _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following, and june , , p. and following. _parliamentary papers_, , vol. iv: a bill to relieve revenue officers from remaining electoral disabilities; and and victoriæ, c. : an act to relieve revenue officers from remaining electoral disabilities. [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions -- --- [ ] _who's who_, , steadman, w. c., m. p. (r.) stepney, tower hamlets, to --returned by a majority of twenty, defeated ; stood for parliament, mid-kent, defeated, ; hammersmith, defeated, . is secretary barge builders' trade union. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , ; p. , and following. [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions -- --- [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. and following. [ ] _who's who_, , norton, c. w., m. p. (l.) w. newington, london, since . late captain th royal irish lancers, ... some years in india; selected to report upon italian cavalry, ; brigade-major of cavalry, aldershot, - . in captain norton was made a junior lord of the treasury in the campbell-bannerman liberal government. [ ] _who's who_, , maddison, f., m. p., sheffield, brightside division, to . three years chairman of the hull branch of typographical association; first labor member of the hull corporation; offered post of labor correspondent to the board of trade in ; editor of the _railway review_, official organ of the amalgamated society of railway servants (resigned, ); ex-president of the labor association for promoting co-operative production. [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions --- --- [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following. [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions --- --- [ ] _who's who_, , bayley, thos., j. p., m. p. (l) chesterfield division, derbyshire, since . many years on nottingham town council; alderman, nottingham county council; contested barkston ash division of yorkshire, ; chesterfield, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , and following. [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions --- --- [ ] _who's who_, , norton, c. w., m. p. (l.) west newington (london), since ; late captain th royal irish lancers; selected to report upon italian cavalry, ; brigade-major of cavalry, aldershot, - . in captain norton was made a junior lord of the treasury in the campbell-bannerman liberal government. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following. [ ] _who's who_, . rollit, sir albert kaye, j. p., ll. d., d. c. l., d. l., m. p., islington, since . partner in bailey and leetham, steamship owners; director of national telephone co.; mayor of hull to ; president of associated chambers of commerce of the united kingdom, to ; president london chambers of commerce to ; chairman inspection committee, trustee savings bank since ; president municipal corporations' association. [ ] _who's who_, . [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions --- --- [ ] _who's who_, , bayley, thos., j. p., m. p. (l.), chesterfield division derbyshire since ; many years on nottingham town council. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , and following, and may , p. and following. [ ] according to _the times_, may , , captain norton said: "the right honorable gentleman had told a startling story of how members on both sides of the house had appealed to him to protect them from the postal servants. members of the house represented all sections in their constituencies and surely postal servants as voters had the right to approach their representatives, and apply the same kind of pressure that other organized bodies applied." [ ] _the times_, may , . [ ] _the times_, august , . chapter xii the bradford committee report the bradford committee ignores its reference. it recommends measures that would cost $ , , a year, in the hope of satisfying the postal employees, who had asked for $ , , a year. lord stanley, postmaster general, rejects the bradford committee's report; but grants increases in wages and salaries aggregating $ , , a year. in the preceding chapter it was stated that the government in august, , appointed sir edward bradford, mr. charles booth, mr. thomas brodrick, mr. r. burbidge, and mr. samuel fay a committee "to inquire into the scales of pay received by the undermentioned classes of established post office servants, and to report whether, having regard to the conditions of their employment and to the rates current in other occupations, the remuneration of (a) postmen, (b) sorters (london), (c) telegraphists (london), (d) sorting clerks and telegraphists (provincial) is adequate." no further question was submitted to the committee. the committee, in may, , reported: "we have not seen our way to obtain any specific evidence as to the comparative rates of wages current in other occupations. so far as regards this portion of the reference to us,[ ] we came to the conclusion that no really useful purpose would be served by asking employers of labor to furnish precise details of the wages paid by them. certain official information is already available, being obtained and published from time to time by the board of trade. this information, supplemented by our own experience, affords more reliable data than any particulars we could hope to obtain in the way of evidence within the limits of an inquiry of reasonable duration." [sidenote: _business methods not applicable in state service_] "moreover, it is difficult to make any valid comparison between a national postal service and any form of private industrial employment, the entire conditions being necessarily so different; payment by results and promotion or dismissal according to the will of the employer being inapplicable if not impossible under the state."[ ] the committee's report covers nineteen pages, but only these two paragraphs are in answer to the reference given to the committee. in them the committee reports its failure; and with that report of failure the committee should have contented itself, under all of the rules of procedure governing committees and commissions appointed by the british government. but the committee ignored the established rules of procedure, roamed about at will, and reopened many of the questions settled by the tweedmouth committee, which had sat two years, and had taken upward of a thousand closely printed folio pages of evidence. the bradford committee did this in violation of the established usage of the country, as well as in spite of the fact that mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, had closed the speech in which he announced his resolve to appoint the committee, with the words that he wanted advice on the question of comparative wages only and that he refused to transfer to "any committee the duty of regulating in all its details the daily administration and work of the post office." upon the report of the committee, _the economist_[ ] (london) commented as follows: "this committee was asked to compare the wages of post office servants with those paid for corresponding work outside. their answer was, in effect, that no such comparison could be instituted. why, when postal servants are taken from various ascertained classes [of society], it should be impossible to compare their pay with that ordinarily received by the same classes in other employments is not obvious. what is obvious is that the committee either mistook the inquiry entrusted to them, or did not choose to enter upon it." _the times_[ ] said: "the reference here is explicit, ... the specific question they were asked was the question to which, as our correspondent says, the taxpayer really wants an answer--namely, are postal servants fairly paid ...? this question the committee has neither answered nor attempted to answer. passing by the terms of reference altogether, the report declares that 'it is difficult'.... but, as an answer to the specific question addressed to the committee; it is, in our judgment, in the literal sense of the word, impertinent. however, having rejected the criterion propounded to them by the postmaster general, the committee proposed to apply a criterion of their own...." the committee made some general statements as to the rates of wages that should prevail in the public service. they were: "we think that postal employees are justified in resting their claims to remuneration on the responsible and exacting[ ] character of the duties performed and on the social position they fill as servants of the state. the state, for its part, does right in taking an independent course guided by principles of its own, irrespective of what others may do; neither following an example nor pretending to set one. it must always be remembered that in the working of a monopoly by the state, the interest of the public as a whole is the paramount consideration, and every economy consistent with efficiency must be adopted. the terms offered by the state should, however, be such as to secure men and women of the requisite character and capacity and ought to be such as will insure the response of hearty service." if one seeks to find in the foregoing statements an answer to the very matter-of-fact question whether the postal servants' wages are too high or too low, compared with wages in outside employment, he will have to conclude, with _alice in wonderland_, that "it seems very pretty, but it's rather hard to understand; somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas, only i don't know exactly what they are." the committee concluded with the statement that the adequacy of the wages obtaining among the postal employees could be tested by the numbers and character of those who offered themselves; by the capacity they showed on trial; and finally, by their contentment. it found that there was no lack of suitable candidates; that there was no complaint as to their capacity; but that there was widespread discontent. it added that the tweedmouth and norfolk-hanbury settlements did not give satisfaction at the time; and that that dissatisfaction had been "aggravated by the general rise in wages and prices and in the standard of life which took place to some extent even during the two years occupied by the tweedmouth inquiry ( and ) and had continued since, culminating, however, in , since when there has been some slight reaction. the same period has seen a great development of postal and telegraph business, causing greater pressure of work. this has been combined with lower charges to the public and a considerable increase in postal revenue. we therefore consider there is a just claim for revision." taking these statements in their order, one finds, first of all, that the committee took no evidence on the question how post office wages had compared with wages in outside employment previous to the rise in wages and prices in the period from to , nor on the question of the rise in wages in the post office service in to , compared with the rise in wages in outside employment and in prices in to . the first statement of the committee, therefore, was supported by no evidence, it was a mere assertion. the second statement, namely, that the growth of the postal and telegraph business had caused greater pressure of work, also was not supported by evidence. on the other hand, it was absolutely essential that such a statement should be supported by evidence, because it is a fact that in both branches of the postal service the policy obtains of having so large a body of employees "that the maximum of work, as a rule, can be dealt with without undue pressure."[ ] as to the post office having lowered its charges to the public in the period from to , it is to be said, first, that it does not follow therefrom that wages should be raised; and second, that the penny rate on domestic letters was not lowered, and that the carriage of penny letters is the only work upon which the post office makes a profit.[ ] finally, as to the statement that there had been, in to , "a considerable increase in postal revenue," the facts are, first, that the net revenue of the post office as a whole increased from $ , , in , to $ , , in , and to $ , , in ; but that in the subsequent years, to , it did not again reach the high-water mark of , and averaged $ , , . second, that in the period, from to , the telegraph branch did not earn operating expenses, the expenses on account of wages and salaries having risen from . cents per telegram in , to . cents in . that is a matter of importance, for the recommendations of the committee extended to the telegraph branch as well as to the postal branch proper. again, the committee had stated that "in the working of a monopoly by the state, the interest of the public as a whole is the paramount consideration, and every economy consistent with efficiency must be adopted." in the years ending with , the proportion of the post office's gross revenue available for defraying the general expenses of the state had declined steadily from per cent. to per cent.[ ] still, again, in the year , the expenses of the post office had been increased by $ , , through the tweedmouth and norfolk-hanbury settlements.[ ] in the face of those facts, the bradford committee made recommendations that lord stanley, postmaster general, said would cost $ , , a year.[ ] the bradford committee sought to justify its recommendations with the simple statement that there was "widespread discontent" among the postal employees. the postal employees themselves had made demands before the committee that would have called for the expenditure of an additional $ , , a year. their attitude to the committee's amiable proposal to conciliate them by giving them $ , , a year, is shown in the subjoined extract from the official organ of the telegraph staff. "it is perfectly plain, ... that the recommendations of the committee, well-meaning as we frankly admit them to be, cannot be accepted as a full settlement of the case of the post office workers, or as one carrying with it the character of finality. they can only be accepted as an instalment of a long overdue account; and postal telegraphists, even if they have to fight alone for their own hand in the future as they did for many long years in the past, will combine for the payment of the balance."[ ] that a body of five men, of whom four were respectively a liverpool merchant and ship owner, a general manager of a railway, a manager of a large wholesale coöperative society, and a manager of a large department store, could make a report such as the foregoing one, affords a melancholy illustration of the fact that no matter how far popular governments may go in assuming the conduct of great business enterprises, they never will succeed in creating a public opinion that will sustain them in their efforts to conduct their business ventures on the commonly accepted principles of the business world. * * * * * in the house of commons, lord stanley, the postmaster general, said: "as to the committee's report, it did not comply with the reference, because no comparison was made with the rates of pay in other occupations ... but they conclude that as there was discontent there ought to be an increase of wages. that was a direct premium on discontent, a direct encouragement to the employees to say among themselves that if they were to be discontented and to agitate, they would get more in the future. the committee, on the other hand, went outside the reference, because they proposed a complete reorganization of the post office, including overseers, who were not referred to in the reference. on this particular subject they took no evidence.... since the employees of the post office had said in a circular: 'we wish to make it perfectly clear that we do not regard the committee as in any sense an arbitration board,' that was rather against the argument that the report ought to be accepted as an arbitration award. he did not complain of the ordinary circulars of the employees [sent to members of parliament], but he did object to one circular [sent to every member of the house of commons], at the bottom of which was a paragraph, which could be torn off, for members to sign [and mail to the postmaster general], informing him [the postmaster general] that he ought to do this or that.[ ] that [circular] he [lord stanley] would not receive.... coming to the main question, he thought it was obvious that it was impossible for either side when in power to go on for long being swayed in all these questions of increases of wages by any pressure, political or otherwise, that might be put upon them. [cheers.] the post office was not the only party concerned. there was not a class employed by the government, who, if it saw another class getting an increase of wages by agitation, would not try the same method. he supported cordially the suggestion which had been made in the debate that all questions of pay of employees of the government should not be referred to the house, but referred to some judicial body on whom no outside influence could be brought to bear, who would look at the matter in dispute as between employer and employee with the object of giving to the employee the wages which in the open market a good employer would give, while at the same time protecting the master--in this case the state--from any outside influence."[ ] in conclusion, lord stanley made the statement that the adoption of the committee's report would cost "well over $ , , a year." sir albert rollit acted as the spokesman of the postal employees. he is a solicitor in mincing lane and at hull; a steamship owner at hull, newcastle and london; and a director in the national telephone company, which pays its employees materially less than the post office pays the employees of the post office telephone system.[ ] he has been president of the associated chambers of commerce of the united kingdom, as well as of the london and hull chambers of commerce. he was mayor of hull from to ; and for several years past he has been the president of the association of municipal corporations. sir albert k. rollit was not re-elected to parliament in the general election of january, ; and in the following march, the postal telegraph clerks' association passed a resolution "expressing appreciation of the services rendered to the postal movement in and out of parliament by sir albert k. rollit, and regret that they were no longer able to command his championship in the house of commons."[ ] after the balfour government had rejected the report of the bradford committee, in the interest of the taxpayers, lord stanley, postmaster general, instituted "a careful comparison between post office wages and those current in other employments; and, as the result of the comparison, he felt justified in recommending to the lords commissioners of his majesty's treasury certain improvements of pay" aggregating $ , , a year.[ ] the improvements of pay were granted to sorters, telegraphists, sorting clerks and telegraphists, postmen, assistant and auxiliary postmen, and various smaller classes throughout the united kingdom. footnotes: [ ] there was no reference but that one. [ ] _report and appendices of the committee appointed to inquire into post office wages_, . [ ] september , . [ ] september , . [ ] _report of the bradford committee on post office wages_, , p. . dr. a. h. wilson, chief medical officer of the post office, testified: "when cases of breakdown have been brought to my notice i have invariably found the primary origin of the illness to have been due to causes outside post office life. these causes are generally drink, financial worry, domestic troubles, etc." [ ] compare chapter xi, testimony of mr. kerry. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , pp. and ; mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, may , p. ; mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , ; mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , ; lord stanley. [ ] _the times_, september , : correspondence. [ ] _the times_, september , , denominated this episode "a melancholy and even ominous illustration of the process of democratic degeneration." in the same issue mr. s. w. belderson writes that members of the house signed the paragraph in question. [ ] _the times_, august , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , ; mr. s. walpole, permanent secretary of the post office. [ ] _the times_, march , ; and _who's who_, . [ ] _fifty-first report of the postmaster general_, . chapter xiii the house of commons select committee on post office servants, the post office civil servants' unions demand the adoption of the bradford committee report. lord stanley, postmaster general, applies the words "blackmail" and "blood-sucking" to the postal employees' methods. captain norton moves for a house of commons select committee. mr. austen chamberlain, chancellor of the exchequer, in vain asks the opposition party's support for a select committee to which shall be referred the question of the feasibility of establishing a permanent, non-political commission which shall establish general principles for settling disputes between the civil servants and the government of the day. captain norton's motion is lost, nine ministerial supporters voting for it, and only two opposition members voting against it. mr. j. henniker heaton's appeal to the british public for "an end to political patronage." the post office employees, in the campaign preceding the general election of january, , induce nearly of the parliamentary candidates who succeeded in being elected, to pledge themselves to vote for a house of commons select committee on post office wages. immediately upon the opening of parliament, the sir h. campbell-bannerman liberal ministry gives the post office employees a house of commons select committee. on september , , the postal telegraph clerks' association unanimously resolved: "that this conference expresses its indignation that the postmaster general, having appointed a committee of his own choosing to inquire into the post office wages ... now, for no good reason, has rejected the report. this conference, therefore, calls upon the postmaster general to adopt immediately, as dated from may , , the whole of the ameliorative recommendations contained in the bradford committee's report; but the postal telegraph clerks' association reserves to itself the right to object to, and protest against, any recommendations which may be considered by this association to be of a restrictive and retrograde character."[ ] [sidenote: _a merchant in politics_] in the evening of the same day a mass meeting was addressed by mr. w. w. rutherford, m. p., the head of the firm of miller, peel, hughes and rutherford, liverpool. mr. rutherford had been lord mayor of liverpool in . he said: "he ventured to think that the great postal and telegraph service was suffering because its position and its grievances had not been made thoroughly intelligible to the general public.... that was not a matter touching a few hundreds of people in a hole and corner of the country, but was one of extreme importance affecting no less than , people.... the real foes of the employees were the highly paid officials at the head of the department, who were quite content to draw their salaries and show that the government was making four or five million pounds sterling[ ] out of the public and the postal service." mr. rutherford's speech recalls to mind the fact that the australian cousins of the british civil servants have learned to deal with their "foes" by compelling the popular branches of the australian parliaments to reduce the salaries of offensive officials, or to drive them out of the service by means of "fishing" parliamentary committees, appointed to report on--and to condemn--the offending officials. on august , , the london branch of the postal telegraph clerks' association held a meeting, at which mr. c. h. garland,[ ] the secretary, spoke of mr. thomas bayley, m. p., as one who "had rendered valuable service to their cause in the house of commons." the presiding officer, mr. r. h. davis, said: "in burking the recommendations of the committee they could not help feeling that the post office authorities had been guilty of a breach of faith. were they going to take the rebuff lying down? the london committee were determined to fight the matter harder than ever. by the time parliament assembled next year, they would have an effective organization at their disposal, and the enemy would feel their pressure very considerably."[ ] the special conference of the postal telegraph clerks' association held on september , , resolved to hold mass meetings in all the district centres between then and next february [opening of parliament] to protest against the action of the postmaster general. the series to conclude with a "monster" demonstration in london immediately before the opening of parliament.[ ] * * * * * on july , , while the house of commons was in committee of supply, and was considering the vote upon the post office, there was a long and instructive debate upon the report of the bradford committee.[ ] lord stanley, postmaster general, opened the debate with a quotation from _the post_,[ ] the post office employees' organ. the statement quoted read: "not only do we object to the composition of the [bradford] committee, but we take the strongest exception to its terms of reference. the inquiry as to whether our wages are adequate or otherwise becomes a farce if their adequacy is to be judged by the standard of wages of the open labor market. no such comparison would be reasonable or fair. there is no other employer who fixes his own prices or makes an annual profit of $ , , . there is no other class of work which can be compared to the post office work, neither any other employee who can be compared with the post office servants.... surely mr. chamberlain does not think we should regard such an inquiry as final. if he does, the sooner his mind is disabused the better." lord stanley next discussed the manner in which the bradford committee had made recommendations which were based on no evidence whatever. for instance, in order to improve the chances of promotion, the committee had recommended the creation of additional higher posts--"for which there was no work." in one department of the post office that recommendation would mean the increase in the number of overseers from to . lord stanley next made lengthy comparisons between the wages received by letter sorters and telegraphists on the one hand, and employees of equal intelligence and attainments in the service of private companies on the other hand. he showed that in london the maximum wage of the sorters and telegraphists was equal to the salary of the "non-college-trained certified teacher," and that in such provincial cities as hull, swansea and exeter it was larger. "the only comparison which was not entirely upon his [the postmaster general's] side was that with the clerks in the cable companies, who were paid more than the post office cable room operators. but the work of the cable companies' operators was more arduous, and there was liability to be sent abroad at any moment. but he had granted the post office cable room operators an increase of pay." he added that the ultimate aggregate cost of the increases in pay made since the publication of the bradford committee's report would be $ , a year.[ ] [sidenote: _the postmaster general applies the terms "blackmail" and "blood-sucking"_] lord stanley, postmaster general, concluded as follows: "but he would ask the house just to consider what was going to be the end of all these demands. this was really a question worthy of consideration on both sides of the house. what were the demands on the public purse for this particular office? it would be within the recollection of the committee of supply that at a deputation to his right honorable friend and himself, one of the men stated that he thought the whole of the $ , , profit, as he regarded it, made by the post office employees, ought to be devoted to the payment of those employees ... that man made a deliberate statement, not on his own account, but as representing a particular section or organization in the department. it was repudiated by others present".... lord stanley next stated that the demands made by the post office employees before the bradford committee would have called for $ , , a year. he continued: "honorable members knew better than he how they were being bombarded with applications from post office employees and other classes of civil servants for increases of wages. this had taken a form which was not illegal, but which he could not help thinking was an abuse of their rights, to wit, the form of a political threat. they had circulated an appeal in which they expressed very clearly and very frankly their intention, and it was one of which the committee would have to take note now, or it would be much worse in the future. they said: 'two-thirds at least of one political party are in great fear of losing their seats. the swing of the pendulum is against them, and any member who receives or such letters will under present circumstances have to consider very seriously whether on this question he can afford to go into the wrong lobby. this is taking advantage of the political situation.' it was indeed, but it was abusing, as it seemed to him, their rights as voters. it was nothing more nor less than blackmail. it was nothing more nor less than asking members to purchase votes for themselves at the general election[ ] at the expense of the public exchequer. both sides would have to make up their minds that some means should be devised by which there should not be this continual blood-sucking on the part of the public servants." [sidenote: _a permanent non-political tribunal suggested_] "how it was to be done, was not for him to say, but he had suggested, and he still thought that there would have to be some organization outside party politics altogether, and unconnected with and unmoved by parliament and political considerations, to whom such questions should be referred and by whom an impartial opinion should be given.... he wanted now rather to anticipate a request that would probably be made by honorable members opposite--that he should appoint a parliamentary committee. to that request he would have to give a negative reply, and he would say why. first, too great political pressure would be brought to bear on the committee; second, the whole case of the post office employees was before the house in the evidence taken by the bradford committee, and everybody could make up his mind as well as he would be able to if appointed to a select committee. third, he would not throw the responsibility on to a committee; it was his place to bear it himself." on july , lord stanley, postmaster general, stated that he would neither withdraw nor modify the epithets "blackmail" and "blood-sucking" which he had used. he stated that those epithets applied "only to those who by speeches, letters or circulars, attempt unduly to influence the votes of honorable members with regard to the questions affecting post office wages, and to those who associate themselves with such action."[ ] [sidenote: _captain norton on civil service agitation_] after the postmaster general had spoken, captain norton moved a reduction of the post office vote, for the purpose of drawing attention to the grievances of long standing of the post office employees. he said: "as regarded what had been said about undue influence, his contention was that so long as the postal officials, or should he say the members of the civil service, and for that matter the members of the fighting services were allowed to maintain a vote, they had precisely the same rights as all other voters in the country to exercise their fullest influence in the defense of their rights, privileges and interests. he might mention that all classes of all communities, all professions, all trades, all combinations of individuals, such as anti-vaccinationists and so forth, had invariably used their utmost pressure in defense of their interests and views upon members of the house...."[ ] sir albert k. rollit supported captain norton's motion. [sidenote: _chancellor of the exchequer asks for non-party vote_] the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. austen chamberlain, spoke as follows: "the question at issue was not one between the two political parties. it was above parties. it was whether there was to be good economical government in the country at all, or whether the civil servants in the employment of the crown could make such use of their votes, as citizens, for the purely selfish purpose of forcing the public to pay more for their services and so increase the expenditure of a great department of state. he did not know how long they could go on in the position they had now reached, under which pressure was brought to bear on honorable members of all parties by their constituents. he was certain that if any scheme could be devised ... so that they might take this question altogether out of the region of political life--not merely out of party life, but out of parliamentary life--it would be a great advantage. it would tend to preserve the civil service free from that political influence and independent of the changing fortunes of party which had been their great boast and security in the past. if there were a general feeling in the house that an object of that kind was one on which all parties might well coöperate, then his majesty's government, while maintaining as resolutely as they had in past years their objection to referring these specific grievances to a select committee appointed in the ordinary way for that particular purpose, would be prepared to assent to the appointment of a committee of this house to consider the state of affairs which had arisen; to see if they could devise some remedy for it; to lay down the principles by which they should be governed in these matters; and to advise whether it would be possible to establish some permanent body or commission, outside the sphere of electoral pressure and above and beyond any of our party conflicts, which might advise the government in applying those principles to particular cases. such a committee could, of course, only be successfully conceded with the good will of all parties in the house, and if the whole house were animated by a desire, if possible, to set this question at rest. with that good-will, he thought, it might serve a useful purpose. the object to be attained was of such vast importance that he, for one, would not refuse any method by which they might hope successfully to compass it and to maintain the civil service in that high position of which, with its great traditions, they had such just cause to be proud and such good reason to be grateful for."[ ] captain norton's motion was lost by a vote of to . the house divided on party lines, only two members of the opposition voting with the government, and only nine supporters of the government voting with the opposition.[ ] of the members of the opposition who voted in support of captain norton's motion, two shortly afterward became members of the cabinet in sir henry campbell-bannerman's liberal ministry, and fifteen others became members of the ministry, but not of the cabinet, or inner circle.[ ] captain norton himself became one of the four junior lords of the treasury. the latter functionaries "are expected to gather the greatest number of their own party into every division [of the house of commons], and by persuasion, promises, explanation, and every available expedient, to bring their men from all quarters to the aid of the government upon any emergency. it is also their business to conciliate the discontented and doubtful among the ministerial supporters, and to keep every one, as far as possible, in good humor."[ ] * * * * * in _the nineteenth century and after_, for april, , mr. j. h. heaton, in an article entitled: _wanted! an end to political patronage_, discussed at length some of the after effects of the memorable debate of july , . mr. heaton had been returned to parliament from canterbury in , , , , and ; the last four occasions as an unopposed candidate. he had carried the imperial penny postage scheme in ; he had introduced telegraph money orders in england; the parcel post to france, etc.; and the freedom of the city of london in a gold casket had been conferred on him in . [sidenote: _a prime minister on the civil service_] mr. heaton opened his article with the statement: "many years ago a great prime minister wrote to me as follows: 'there can be no doubt that the organized attempts of servants of the state to use their political influence at the cost of the taxpayer is likely to become a serious danger. i agree with you in thinking that it can only be effectually met by agreement between the two sides of the house.'" mr. heaton continued: "the civil servants of the crown are, taken as a whole, an admirable and efficient body of workers, of whom england is justifiably proud, and whom--as was held, i think, by the late mr. gladstone--she rewards on a generous scale.... it is the more to be regretted that large classes of them should have fallen into the hands of agitators, who incite to the systematic intimidation of members of parliament with a view to the extortion of larger and larger votes [appropriations] for salaries. this evil is rapidly becoming formidable.... any official raising the cry of 'higher wages' is sure of popularity among his fellows, who instantly regard him as a born leader. the pleasant prospect of an increase of income without working for it is a bait that never fails to appeal most strongly to the least energetic and deserving. a postman or dockyard hand finds that he can win promotion and increased pay only by strenuous hard work, just as if he were a mere artisan or shop assistant. but the agitators point out that he can attain an equivalent result by bullying the local m. p., and so he joins the league or union formed for the purpose." [sidenote: _sir william harcourt on post office employees_] "where is this to stop? the late sir w. harcourt[ ] wrote (to me) that the demands of the postal employees reached a depth, or abyss, which no plummet would fathom. we know now that they claim the postal surplus, which amounts to nearly five millions [sterling].... there are , of them, and of these probably , have votes. adding these to the dockyard, arsenal, and stores factory hands, and other government employees, we have a political force that may turn the scale at a general election. candidates are tempted to bid against one another with the taxpayer's money. 'let us be charitable!' said sydney smith, and put his hand into a bystander's pocket. our legislators were proof against the hectoring of the tudors, the violence of the stuarts, and the blandishments of the georges; surely they will never yield to the menaces of demagogues." [sidenote: _thirty m. p.'s threatened with loss of seat_] "at this point i would like to state briefly my own experience.... last year great pressure was brought to bear in the house of commons on members of parliament, and, with thirty other members, i was threatened with the loss of my seat unless i voted to meet the demands of the postal servants. it was further intimated to me that the postal servants' vote, , strong, would turn out any government. a few minutes afterwards it fell to my lot to address the house on the question of increase of postmen's wages.... i ended my speech by declaring that civil servants who threatened members of parliament for refusing to vote them increased salaries ought to be disfranchised. result--a meeting called in my constituency, my opponent placed in the chair, and a vote of censure passed on me. the london postmen came to canterbury and addressed my constituents at the meeting. it is not surprising, therefore, that at the recent election my agents informed me that postmen voted solid against me.[ ] i do not blame the postmen; they were perfectly justified in using their power; but if i had not had at my back one of the most intelligent bodies of electors in the united kingdom, i should have been defeated through the postmen's action. "it was some consolation to me to receive in the house of commons, after my speech, hearty, though private, congratulations from hard-working, earnest workingmen representatives, who expressed their entire approval of what they were pleased to call my courage. but something ought to be done to prevent a recurrence of such a scandal." in view of mr. heaton's closing remarks, it is interesting to note that four of the eight[ ] labor members voted, and that all of them favored the appointment of a house of commons select committee. * * * * * [sidenote: _post office employees and the general election of _] in the campaign preceding the general election of january, , the several associations of postal and telegraph employees addressed letters to the candidates for parliament, asking those candidates whether they would "support the claims of the postal and telegraph employees and vote for the appointment of a select committee of the house of commons for the purpose of inquiring into their conditions of pay and service; and stating that on their part the workers pledged themselves to accept as final the decision of such a tribunal." at the annual conference of the postal telegraph clerks' association, held in march, , the president of the association said that nearly of the members of the house of commons[ ] had pledged themselves to support a motion for a parliamentary inquiry into the position of the post office employees.[ ] in the third sitting of the new parliament, held on february , the postmaster general, mr. sydney buxton, announced that the government had decided to appoint a select committee of the house of commons.[ ] and on march , the postmaster general introduced a motion for a committee of seven to be nominated by the committee of selection. in response to the wishes of the house, the postmaster general subsequently changed his motion to one calling for a committee of nine, to be appointed by the whips of the several parties in the house.[ ] [sidenote: _the prime minister on election pledges_] the motion was carried without debate upon the question whether a committee should be appointed. in the course of the debate whether the committee should be appointed by the committee of selection, or by the party whips, lord balcarres, who had been a junior lord of the treasury in the balfour government, used these words: "as regards those honorable gentlemen who had entered parliament for the first time,[ ] he thought he was fairly accurate when he said that they had given pretty specific pledges upon the matter [of the appointment of a select committee] to those who had sent them to the house." sir a. acland-hood, who had been chief whip and patronage secretary to the treasury in the late balfour government, said: "there was a debate and a division [upon this question, last year,] and nearly the whole of the supporters of the government voted against the appointment of the committee. no doubt many of them suffered for it at the general election; they either lost their seats or had their majorities reduced in consequence of the vote." and, finally, sir henry campbell-bannerman, the new prime minister, expressed himself as follows in the course of an argument in favor of a committee appointed by the committee of selection rather than by the house itself through the agency of the party whips. the prime minister said: "there was a great deal of force in what the right honorable gentleman [sir a. acland-hood] had said as to the fears that were entertained in many quarters of the effect on the committee if appointed under pressure and insistence, and the retroactive effect of old promises extracted in moments of agony from candidates at the general election."[ ] the select committee on post office servants consists of: liberals, messrs. barker, edwards, hobhouse and sutherland; conservatives, the honorable claude hay and sir clement hill; liberal and labor members, messrs. john ward and g. j. wardle; and nationalist, mr. p. a. meechan.[ ] the reference to the committee is: "to inquire into the wages and position of the principal classes of post office servants, and also of the unestablished postmasters. to examine, so far as may be necessary for the purpose of their report, the conditions of employment of these classes. to report, whether, having regard to the conditions and prospects of their employment, and, as far as may be, to the standard rate of wages and the position of other classes of workers, the remuneration they receive is adequate or otherwise." in the spring of , the committee reported that it had not had time to perform its task, and asked for reappointment. the evidence thus far taken by the committee had not been published at the date of this writing, march , . * * * * * [sidenote: _lord stanley congratulated_] lord stanley was one of the many conservative candidates defeated in the general election of january, . when his defeat became known, hundreds of telegrams were showered upon him by postal and telegraph employees located in all parts of the united kingdom. the telegram sent by liverpool postal and telegraph employees was typical of the lot. it congratulated lord stanley upon his retirement to private life, and assured him that the senders at all times would do all in their power to make the retirement a permanent one. footnotes: [ ] _the times_, september , . [ ] the apparent net profits of the post office department average about $ , , a year. those profits are subject to the correction that the post office does not charge itself with interest and depreciation upon its capital investment, which cannot be ascertained, but must be very large. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . mr. mccartan asks the postmaster general "on what grounds messrs. c. hughes and c. h. garland were recently punished." ... the intervention was repeated on march , p. . [ ] _the times_, august , . [ ] _the times_, september , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , and following. [ ] august , . [ ] in his annual _report_, dated july , , lord stanley stated that the ultimate cost would be $ , , a year. [ ] to be held in january, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] ayes noes conservatives } government liberal unionists } supporters liberals } the nationalists } opposition various factions --- --- [ ] name office mr. herbert gladstone home secretary mr. lloyd george president of board of trade mr. thos. lough parliamentary sec'y of board of education mr. r. mckenna financial secretary to treasury mr. j. a. pease junior lord of treasury mr. j. herbert lewis junior lord of treasury captain cecil norton junior lord of treasury mr. f. freman-thomas junior lord of treasury mr. j. m. fuller junior lord of treasury mr. r. k. causton paymaster general mr. geo. lambert civil lord of admiralty mr. edward robertson secretary to admiralty mr. herbert samuel under home secretary mr. j. e. ellis under secretary for india mr. h. e. kearley secretary of board of trade sir jno. l. walton attorney-general mr. thos. shaw lord advocate [ ] a. todd: _on parliamentary government in england_. [ ] chancellor of the exchequer, and - . [ ] at the election of mr. heaton received , votes, while his opponent received , . [ ] _the house of commons poll book_, - , issued by the liberal publication department. [ ] composition of the house: liberal and labor members, ; conservatives, ; liberal unionists, ; and nationalists, . [ ] _the times_, march , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates._ [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. and following. [ ] in number. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . chapter xiv the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, curtails the executive's power to dismiss incompetent and redundant employees the old practice of intervention by members of parliament on behalf of individual civil servants with political influence has given way to the new practice of intervention on behalf of the individual civil servant because he is a member of a civil service union. the new practice is the more insidious and dangerous one, for it means class bribery. the doctrine that entrance upon the state's service means "something very nearly approaching to a freehold provision for life." official testimony of various prominent civil servants, especially of mr. (now lord) welby, permanent secretary to the treasury from to ; and mr. t. h. farrer, permanent secretary to board of trade from to . the costly practice of giving pensions no solution of the problem of getting rid of unsatisfactory public servants. the difficulty of dismissing incompetent persons extends even to probationers. the cost of "reorganizing" incompetent persons out of the public service. [sidenote: _personal bribery replaced by class bribery_] the intervention of the house of commons in the details of the administration of the post office department and the other state departments, is by no means confined to the raising of salaries and wages. it extends to practically every kind of question that arises out of the conflicts of the interests of the state servants and the interests of the public treasury. the intervention is due to the organized action of the "civil service unions;" and it is exercised primarily on behalf of classes of employees, but not exclusively. the latter day spirit of the civil service unions is to make the cause of the individual the cause of the class, and that brings about much intervention through the house of commons, by the organized civil service, on behalf of individual state servants. the ancient form of intervention on behalf of the individual who had claims that were based on personal influence or family influence, on family ties, or on friendship, has been abolished. in its place has been developed intervention on behalf of the individual, prompted by the fact that the individual in question is a member of a civil service union that seeks to enforce certain ideals as to the terms and conditions that shall prevail in the public service. of the two forms of intervention, the latter is the more pernicious and demoralizing, partly because it is--or will become--more pervasive, partly because it rests on class bribery and class corruption, as distinguished from the individual bribery and the individual corruption upon which rested the old form of intervention. of those two forms of corruption, the bribery of classes is the more difficult to eradicate. [sidenote: _state employment means life employment_] one of the most important results of this intervention on behalf of individuals has been the establishment of the doctrine that once a man has landed in the employ of the state, he has "something very nearly approaching to a freehold of provision for life," to employ the words of the chairman of the select committee on the civil services expenditure, .[ ] before that committee, sir wm. h. stephenson, chairman of the inland revenue commissioners, said: "... if a man was reported to be hopelessly inefficient, i should dismiss him; but even then you must act with a great deal of forbearance. for the simple reason that you are amenable to many opinions beside your own. you cannot act absolutely upon your own judgment without being liable to be compelled to give your reasons for that judgment; and these reasons, though perfectly clear in your own mind, may not always be easy to give to the satisfaction of another man.... i am afraid we should have a very bad time of it out of doors if we exercised a little more freedom in dismissing incompetent clerks and promoting deserving ones; i judge very much by what i see; as it is, there is a great disposition, i think, to exclaim against anything like an act of tyranny, and the exercise of such freedom would be called tyranny.... i have no doubt that if a public department had the power of absolute dismissal, it would have a considerable effect in increasing efficiency; but what i say is, that you cannot give them that power in the same way that it is held by a man in private employment. you have too many critics; you have the public newspaper press; you have members of the house of commons who are personally interested in these people; and you would be surprised, i am sure, if you knew the numerous instances in which, for the smallest thing [inflictions of punishment], applications are made, pressing that this man is an excellent man, a good brother, a kind father, and all that kind of thing which influences men individually, but which cannot [does, but should not] influence the judgment of the heads of a public office." sir william h. stephenson was asked: "do you not think that it might be made a rule in your office, as in the customs, that any interference through a member of parliament should lead to dismissal?" he replied: "yes; but you must prove that a man knows it. you cannot dismiss a man if some injudicious friend takes up his case; and if a man has a friend, it is always an injudicious one under these circumstances."[ ] before this same committee of , mr. stanfeld, m. p., third lord of the treasury, who, in to had been financial secretary to the treasury, said: ... "the great difference between the public establishment and the private establishment is this: that practically speaking, in a public establishment, you have a large proportion of established clerks who can do no more than a moderate amount of service.... because you have not the faculty which men in private business have, without any particular fault, of saying to a man: 'on the whole, you do not suit me, and i mean to get somebody else.' when you get a clerk on a public establishment, he remains on that establishment with very rare exceptions, and you have to make the best of your bargain; the result naturally is that, with the exception of men of ability and energy, you have not so much stimulus for their effort as you have in private employment, and you have not by any means the same power of dealing with them." ...[ ] in , before the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, this question of the great difficulty of getting rid of incompetent or undesirable men, was threshed out at great length. sir charles ducane, chairman of the commissioners of customs, said: "but it is an invidious thing, i do not mean to say as regards myself, but invidious rather as regards the [political] head of a department [the minister], to come and make complaints against men whom one cannot perhaps accuse of any overt act of negligence or carelessness, but who are merely rather below the level of ordinary efficiency.... i think it would be a most desirable thing that we should have the power of getting rid of incapable and inefficient men who have yet managed to keep themselves out of any positive scrape or offence, for which they would be charged before a member of the board of commissioners of customs."[ ] to sir s. a. blackwood, secretary to the post office since , the chairman of the royal commission put the question: "do you think it is a real evil in the public service that there should not be the same power to remove inefficient men as exists outside the public service, of course i mean within certain limits, because the public service must be different from private service, but in your experience, have you found it to be a real evil in the way of efficiency as well as of wise economy to be obliged to keep men whom you would be glad to get rid of if you could have sent them away with something in their pocket, [_i. e._, a pension]?" the answer was: "yes, it is a serious objection." sir s. a. blackwood even asserted that the act of , giving the treasury discretionary power to pension men unable to discharge efficiently the duties of their office,[ ] would not help much. "we should always be asking an officer to relinquish his full pay, and to retire upon a lesser pension than he would be entitled to if he served his full time, and there is always a disinclination on the part of heads of departments to do that."[ ] sir reginald e. welby, who had entered the treasury service in , and had been made permanent secretary in , said there was full power to dismiss idle or incompetent persons without granting pensions or allowances of any sort. thereupon, mr. f. mitford, one of the members of the royal commission, asked: "is not really the sole difficulty that public departments have to contend with in exercising that full power, the fact that parliament is behind them, and a member of parliament always asks questions [in the house] and brings interest [pressure] to bear upon the head of the department, which practically annuls that power? the difficulty lies not with the public officer, but practically with the difficulties that are thrown in his way outside his department by individual members of parliament?" the permanent secretary of the treasury answered: "there is always before the heads of departments the fact that pressure may be brought to bear by members of parliament, and it requires, therefore, that a case must be very strong, that it must be a very good case before you would dismiss. probably you would be much more long-suffering in a government department, than you would be in a private establishment." sir reginald welby just previously had said: "i have known men dismissed from the treasury.... perhaps i had better say, i have heard of men being dismissed from the treasury for simple idleness, but it was before my time." thereupon the chairman had queried: "it is the fact, speaking generally, is it not, that mere idleness and mere incompetence, without very gross negligence of duty or gross misbehavior, does not bring about dismissal from the service, either in the treasury or anywhere else that you are aware of?" the reply was: "i would rather put it in this way: i think that government offices are very long-suffering in that matter. if the man was reported as distinctly very idle and not doing his work he would be warned, and i think if it was repeated after that (i am speaking of any fairly managed government department), he would be dismissed. but i think that a government department is, for one reason or another, more long-suffering than a private establishment would be.... while i am admitting the possibility of there being bad officers, i should like to add that both in the upper and lower division clerks, we have got, on the whole, a very satisfactory set of men under the present regulations of the treasury, and that they do their work well. i am happy to say that very few cases of complaint come before me." [sidenote: _the house of commons is master_] mr. lawson, a member of the royal commission, asked sir reginald welby: "but you would hardly plead the interference of members of parliament as a justification for not getting rid of an unworthy servant, would you?" sir reginald welby replied: "it is not a good reason, but as a matter of fact it is powerful. the house of commons are our masters."[ ] sir t. h. farrer, who had been permanent secretary of the board of trade from to , and had been a member of the so-called playfair commission, of , on the civil service, was asked by mr. r. w. hanbury, a member of the royal commission of , whether the failure to dismiss incompetent men could not be attributed to "soft heartedness" on the part of heads of departments? sir t. h. farrer replied: "yes, that is another aspect of the case, and it is no doubt theoretically perfectly true; but i think it overlooks what is the real difficulty of getting rid of useless men. there is a certain difficulty in the soft heartedness of heads of departments and of ministers. but there is a very much greater difficulty in the pressure which is put upon them by members of the house of commons. that is the real difficulty; the real difficulty of the public service is getting rid of bad men; and the real difficulty of getting rid of bad men is that no minister will face the pressure which is put upon him from outside.... i have had much personal experience of the matter; i have been plagued all my life at the board of trade with inefficient men that i wanted to get rid of, but have been unable to do so.... parliamentary pressure is the main difficulty.... members are economical in general [protestations]; but in particular cases they think more of their constituents than of the public service. no doubt with a little thinking i could recall a very great number of instances, but two or three occur to me." [sidenote: _you may dismiss but you must not_] "not very many years ago there was a clerk of whom perpetual complaints were made to me. he was in a hard-worked department, and the heads of it told me repeatedly: 'we can do nothing with him.' at last we got it arranged that he should go [with a large pension, on the theory that his office was abolished, because no longer required]. my back was turned--i was away on a holiday--and when i came back, i found that parliamentary pressure, by which i mean applications from members, had been put on, and in spite of us all, the man was back in the place to the detriment of our credit. let me mention another case. i was engaged upon a reorganization of the department under one of the strongest men [ministers] i have ever served. what the president of the board of trade said to me, in effect was: 'we must have new blood; we are getting crowded up with effete men; i will back you in anything you do, only you must undertake not to get me into a difficulty in the house of commons. i cannot afford it; the government cannot afford time for it; they cannot afford strength to fight battles of that kind.' we set to work about the reorganization with our hands tied, and we were obliged to say to these men: 'well, if you stay here, we will make it very uncomfortable for you; we will put you in the very worst places in the office,' the treasury offered good terms of retirement [pensions], and in that way, after a good deal of fighting, we got rid of most of them.... we had to give them very high terms [that is, very liberal pensions]. i may mention a case which happened even since then. i refer to the official receivers in bankruptcy. they were men who were appointed only a few years ago, under the most stringent conditions imposed by the treasury and the board of trade, and without the slightest reference to personal considerations or to politics. they were told that they were appointed on trial, that they might be removed at any moment if the board of trade desired it for the good of the service. fortunately, most of them have turned out extremely well. one, perhaps more, turned out bad, but one certainly turned out very bad. perpetual complaints were made to me by the head of that department that he could do nothing with this man, and that the business was being badly conducted. after a good deal of trouble, after i left, it was determined to remove this man. the members of parliament for the county, as i am told, came and put pressure upon the president of the board of trade [the minister], till he was obliged to say: 'i cannot remove him; he must stay.'" [sidenote: _pension system no remedy_] to the foregoing testimony from the permanent secretary of the board of trade, the chairman of the royal commission replied: "i gather from what you say, that, supposing it was possible, under this new system of pensions and allowances, to give a man who was sent away from the service the money which he had himself contributed toward his ultimate pension, either with or without the addition of a government grant, you do not think that would get over the difficulty in getting rid of incompetent men?" sir t. h. farrer replied: "no, i do not think it would, unless the house of commons passes a self-denying ordinance, and refuses to interfere with the ministers in the management of their departments."[ ] later in the examination, lord lingen, who had been permanent secretary of the treasury from to , said to sir t. h. farrer: "you have given a good deal of evidence as to the difficulties which the relation of the public departments to parliament creates. i think we might hold there is nothing in private service analogous to what you may call the triennial change of government, that [when] everybody who has been passed over [not promoted], who thinks he has any grievance, considers that he has a fresh chance on a change of ministry?" the secretary of the board of trade replied: "yes, i remember distinctly one particular case in which on every change of government a fresh appeal was made to the new ministers on behalf of men who had been retired for good reasons." lord lingen continued: "it revived questions which had been supposed to be settled?" "yes, it does, not infrequently." on august , , in the house of commons, the postmaster general, mr. raikes, in speaking of a post office employee who had been disciplined, said: "the case is one to which i have given a great deal of personal attention; indeed, i may say that in cases of dismissal or punishment i have always endeavored to satisfy myself thoroughly as to the facts, and to mitigate, if i can, the effect of the regulations of the department." on that same day the postmaster general stated--in reply to mr. conybeare,[ ] who was intervening on behalf of one cornwell, dismissed from the postal service--that cornwell had been dismissed for the second time. after the first dismissal, the postmaster general himself had reinstated cornwell. the second dismissal had been necessary "in the interest of the service at large, but especially in that of the other men employed on the same duty, his case should be dealt with in an exemplary manner."[ ] in march, , the chairman of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments, asked mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office: "do you think there is any other particular class of employment which is comparable with that of the postmen?" mr. hill replied: "i thought of railway servants, whose work in many ways resembles the work of our employees. if they have not the same permanence as our people have, they have continuous employment so long as they are efficient, but our people have continuous employment whether they are efficient or not."[ ] several months later, mr. hill testified as follows before this same committee: "our inquiries have proved that the telegraph staff at liverpool is excessive, and it has been decided, on vacancies [occurring], to abolish the ten appointments."[ ] the meaning of this statement is, that if a mistake is made, and too many men are appointed to a certain office; or, if the business of an office falls off, the government cannot correct the redundancy of employees by dismissing, or by transferring to some other office, the redundant employees. it must wait until promotion, retirement on account of old age, or death shall remove the redundant employees. before this same committee, mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service, testified that in theory there were no first class letter sorters in the foreign newspaper department of the london post office, since there had been, since , no work that called for first class newspaper sorters. but as a matter of fact there were thirty-seven "redundant first class sorters, who, upon resignation, or pensioning, or death, would be replaced by second class sorters."[ ] in , sir edgar vincent,[ ] a member of the select committee on national expenditure, , asked lord welby, who had been permanent secretary to the treasury from to : "it is, i presume, extremely difficult for the minister at the head of a department to dismiss, or place on the retired list incompetent officers?" lord welby replied: "it is very difficult. of course there are different degrees of incompetency. it is not so difficult in the case of a notoriously incompetent officer, but there are many people, as the honorable member is aware, against whom nothing whatever can be said, who are still the very reverse of competent." sir edgar vincent continued: "can you suggest any means of substituting for a minister whom it is almost impossible to expect to perform the duty, some authority who should revise establishments and exclude the bad bargains?" lord welby, of course, replied that the remedy suggested would be inconsistent with the principles of parliamentary government,[ ] in that it would substitute for the minister, who holds office at the pleasure of the house of commons, some permanent officer or officers appointed by the ministry. * * * * * [sidenote: _difficult to dismiss probationers_] oftentimes the difficulty experienced in dismissing unsatisfactory public servants, extends even to persons appointed on probation. in april, , the chancellor of the exchequer, in the course of the financial statement, said: "we now appoint young men upon probation, and the understanding of that probationary employment is that if the person is found after six months or a year to be unfit, he is told that he must look elsewhere. this is a very invidious duty for the head of an office to perform, and it is very often not performed."[ ] in , mr. harvey, a member of the royal commission on the civil establishments, said: "the tendency in a government office is for the man to regard his probationary period as practically a '_nominis umbra_' [the mere shadow of a name], nothing else."[ ] the chairman of the royal commission of asked sir reginald welby, the permanent secretary to the treasury: "is there anything like a real probation in any one of the divisions of the clerks at the treasury, so that you can find out [whether they are likely to prove competent]?" "yes, i think so. the principal clerk of the division to which the probationer is attached makes a report at the end of six months; and i have known a principal clerk to make a doubtful report. in that case, if i remember rightly, the term of probation was extended."[ ] the boys employed by the post office department for the delivery of telegrams, are, in a way, on continuous probation. if they serve satisfactorily, they are, at the age of , taken in training for the position of postmen. in , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office, said: ... "in london, in the past, the weeding out of messenger boys at years has not been carried out so far, i think, owing to the paternal feelings of the department. every effort seems to have been made to keep in the service anybody who could possibly scrape through. but the country postmasters were, as a rule, careful to weed out unsatisfactory lads." he continued: ... "we could have got better postmen [in london], if we had had a free hand."[ ] * * * * * in the opposition made in parliament to the system of pensions, led to the appointment of a committee to inquire into the operation of the superannuation act, . that committee stated as follows the argument "from the public point of view" in favor of pensions. "though it is strictly the duty of heads of departments to remove from the public service all those who have become unfit to discharge their duties, yet experience shows that this duty cannot be enforced. it is felt to be hard--and even unjust--and inefficient men are, therefore, retained in the service to the detriment of efficiency. they, therefore, were unhesitatingly of opinion that the public interest would be best consulted by maintaining a system of superannuation allowances."[ ] in accordance with the foregoing recommendation parliament, in , enacted that the treasury might give "abolition terms" to persons whose offices should be abolished in consequence of the "reorganization" of their department, or branch of service. under that act, inefficient persons who are "reorganized out of the service" are given "pro rata" pensions, plus an allowance for "abolition of their office." for example, a man aged , with years of service, who would become entitled to a pension at the age of , will be retired at years, with a pro rata pension on the basis of years' service, plus an allowance of or years' service for abolition of his office.[ ] [sidenote: _cost of pensions to the incompetent_] in , before the select committee on civil services expenditure, sir william h. stephenson, chairman of the commissioners of inland revenue, illustrated the working of this system with the statement that in - , the salaries paid in the inland revenue department would aggregate $ , , . an additional $ , would be required for pensions; and a further $ , would be required on account of the abolition terms given to men who had been reorganized out of the inland revenue department. thus the "non-effective," or non-revenue producing, charges of the department were equivalent to per cent. of the effective, or revenue producing, charges.[ ] in the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments reported that the burden on the state for pensions was equivalent to per cent. to per cent. of the working salaries, and that the payment of the abolition terms raised the percentage in question to per cent. of the working salaries. sir reginald e. welby, secretary to the treasury, stated before the commission, that even the past liberal expenditure on account of pro rata pensions with abolition terms, had not enabled the state to get rid of "inefficient and incapable men." the chairman of the royal commission spoke of the abolition terms as amounting "almost to a scandal." sir r. e. welby and lord lingen, a former secretary to the treasury, contrasted the state's system of pensions with the system of the london and north western railway. the railway's pension system was maintained out of a fund raised by a . per cent. reduction from the salaries of the employees, and a . per cent. contribution from the treasury of the railway. sir r. e. welby, secretary to the treasury, and other witnesses, spoke of the abolition terms often acting as a premium on inefficiency. mr. robert giffen, the eminent statistician and political economist, who also was an officer of the board of trade, said: "when a man is reorganized out of the service, as a rule he gets so many years' service added [to his actual service], that is to say, at years, if he has served years, he may have or years' service added, and thus get two-thirds of his salary as a pension; and he begins to get his pension at once, instead of waiting until he is years of age. a man who thus gets a pension at years, really gets more than double what he would get if he waited until years of age. the present value of $ a year, beginning at once at the age of years, is a good deal more than double the present value of $ a year to be paid to a man when he reaches years. the difference in favor of the man who is reorganized out of the service, as against the man who remains until he is years of age, is simply overwhelming to my mind." sir algernon e. west, chairman of the inland revenue commissioners, illustrated the working of the practice of getting rid of inefficient men by reorganizing an office, by citing the following instance of "successful" reorganization. sir algernon west had retired upper division clerks, permanently reducing the number of the staff by . he had thus effected a saving in salaries of $ , a year. but he had incurred an annual expenditure of $ , on account of pensions, and an annual expenditure of $ , on account of abolition terms. therefore his net saving was not $ , but only $ , . yet sir algernon west denominated his reorganization successful. in the course of this reorganization, sir algernon west had increased the hours of work from hours to hours. the reorganization, also, had necessitated certain promotions. sir algernon had made it a condition of promotion, that the man promoted should consent to work hours a day. men not promoted he gave $ a year "as a personal allowance in consideration of the extra hour they were called to serve." one man, aged years, declined to work more than hours on any terms, saying that the government had made a contract with him for six hours' work a day. in order to get rid of this man, sir algernon west gave him a pension on the basis of years' service. legally, of course, the man had no claim to any pension or abolition allowance whatever, for he was in reality dismissed for refusing to perform the duties demanded of him.[ ] footnotes: [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , , , and following, and , to , . [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , , , , and , . [ ] the act of reads: "where a civil servant is removed from office on the ground of his inability to discharge efficiently the duties of his office, and a superannuation allowance cannot lawfully be granted to him under the superannuation acts of and , and the treasury thinks that the special circumstances of the case justify the grant to him of a retiring allowance, they may grant to him such retiring allowance as they think just and proper." ... [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , to , , and , a. [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , , , to , , and , . [ ] _who's who_, , conybeare, c. a. v., m. p., n. w. div. of cornwall, to ; member london school board, to ; education: christ church, oxford; publications: _treatise on the corrupt and illegal practices acts_, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , ; and q. , , mr. g. e. rably. [ ] _who's who_, , vincent, sir edgar; m. p. since ; president of council of ottoman public debt, ; financial adviser to egyptian government, to ; governor of imperial ottoman bank, constantinople, to . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, , p. xx. [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , , mr. robert giffen, the eminent statistician and economist, who was also an officer in the board of trade. [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, , pp. xx and xxv, and q. , , , and , , , , , to , , , , , to , , , , , and following, , and following, and , to , . chapter xv the house of commons, under pressure from the civil service unions, curtails the executive's power to promote employees according to merit the civil service unions oppose promotion by merit, and demand promotion by seniority. testimony presented before: select committee on civil services expenditure, ; select committee on post office, ; royal commission to inquire into the civil establishments, ; from statement made in house of commons, in , by mr. raikes, postmaster general; and before the so-called tweedmouth committee, . instances of intervention by members of house of commons on behalf of civil servants who have not been promoted, or are afraid they shall not be promoted. in the matter of promotion, also, the civil servants' unions compel the members of parliament to intervene, on behalf of individual employees, in the details of the administration of the several departments of state. the organized civil service is not content that every man should have an equal chance of promotion, so far as his industry and capacity shall qualify him for advancement; it evinces a marked tendency to demand equal promotion in fact, that is, the elimination of the effects of the natural inequality among men. the house of commons, in yielding in this matter to the pressure from the organized civil service, is tending to reduce the public service to a dull level of mediocrity, which action at one and the same time impairs the efficiency of the public service and makes the service of the state unattractive to able and ambitious men. in this matter of promotion, the permanent heads of the departments are hampered also by the unbusinesslike attitude toward the conduct of the public business that characterizes large sections of the newspaper press as well the great mass of the voters. that unbusinesslike frame of mind, in turn, is the outgrowth of that untrained sympathy which makes every one tend to sympathize with the individual, whenever the interest of the individual clashes with that of the state. to illustrate, in , before the select committee on civil services expenditure, sir william h. stephenson, chairman of the commissioners of inland revenue, stated that in his department promotion was mainly by seniority in the two lowest classes, to some extent by seniority in the third class, but beyond that entirely by merit. but he hastened to add: "indeed, if i may judge by the complaints that i have heard out of doors, occasionally in the newspaper press, and elsewhere, the system of promotion by merit is supposed to be carried to rather an excessive extent in the inland revenue."[ ] [sidenote: _the glasgow postmaster's "mistake"_] in , before the select committee on post office, mr. hobson, postmaster at glasgow, stated that he could not promote his telegraph operators according to their dexterity, he was obliged to promote according to seniority. mr. gower, a member of the select committee queried: "therefore, there is no encouragement whatever to superior dexterity?" mr. hobson replied: "i should not recommend a clerk for promotion ... if i were satisfied that he was not doing all he could to improve himself ... and was only an indifferent operator. i should mention that in submitting the report, and recommend him to be passed over." mr. gower continued: "but suppose he took every sort of pains to improve himself, but did not improve?" the answer came: "i would then recommend him to go forward [_i. e._ for promotion]." mr. gower then asked: "have you any power to exchange a clerk who is a slow operator for another quicker operator in a district where it would not signify?" the postmaster at glasgow replied: "none whatever."[ ] the reader will recall that there are numerous telegraph stations in glasgow. in april, , the postmaster general, lord john manners, replied to the report of the select committee of , in a letter to the lords commissioners of the treasury. he concluded the letter with the statement: "in conclusion, i beg leave to say that it is, i think, hardly worth while to attempt to contradict the mistakes as to promotion into which the postmaster of glasgow was accidentally betrayed in giving his evidence before the committee of last session, and to which no reference is made in their report."[ ] before the same committee, mr. edward graves, divisional engineer, recommended that the head of the post office establish the rule, "that, other things being equal as to seniority and general business capacity, preference for promotion shall always be given to the telegraph clerk who has shown himself possessed of technical knowledge, and who is desirous of obtaining technical information."[ ] passing over a period of years, that is, from the year to the year , we find mr. e. trenam, controller london central telegraph office, testifying that because of danger that in the immediate future there would be a lack of telegraph clerks who had a knowledge of the technics of telegraphy, mr. w. h. preece, engineer-in-chief, had caused a special increase in pay--$ a year--to be offered to men who should acquire such knowledge. the witness added that "unfortunately many of the men who have [acquired] this knowledge are comparative juniors, and we are compelled to put them to work which those receiving higher pay are incompetent to perform. it will take some years to adjust the anomaly ... [that is, before the incompetent men receiving higher pay shall have been pensioned or shall have died]".[ ] [sidenote: _promotion by seniority, not jobbery, the public service's weak point_] before the royal commission of , appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, sir thomas h. farrer, who had been a member of the playfair royal commission of , and had been permanent secretary of the board of trade from to , said: "i should like to say that in the discussion which led [in ] to the adoption of mr. lowe's [chancellor of the exchequer] scheme[ ] [for the reform of the civil service] a mistake was often made, and is still made, in supposing that the great evil of the service is jobbery. that is not the case, and i say so with great confidence, having regard to what has been done by ministers whom i have served of both parties. the real evil of the service is promotion by routine, and not jobbing in the selection for superior places.[ ] but make your regulations what you will, the _sine qua non_, to make any regulations work well, is that the men at the head of the different offices shall have discretion, honesty, and courage, and shall not be afraid to put up the good men and to keep the inferior men in their place. i am quite confident from my own experience that it can be done, but i am certain that it can be done only if the men at the head of the offices will take a good deal of trouble about it." lord lingen, a member of the royal commission, and a former permanent secretary to the treasury, interpolated: "a good deal of trouble and a good deal of disagreeable interference." mr. farrer continued: "it requires tact, because of course you must not put a man up for mere merit. you cannot take a lad of and put him over a man of without a very strong reason; but taking the different sub-heads of the department into counsel; by a little give and take; by care, discretion, and confidence in the perfect honesty with which the thing is done, i believe it can be perfectly well managed.... the key of the whole thing is to put the proper men at the top of the offices." lord lingen and mr. farrer then went on to state that with every change of the government of the day, some civil servants who had been passed over, or had some other grievance, made the attempt to have their cases reopened.[ ] sir charles ducane, chairman of the commissioners of customs, said: "we promote strictly by merit; we never allow seniority to weigh with us."[ ] sir algernon e. west, chairman of the commissioners of inland revenue, said that he promoted by merit within the limits allowed him by the treasury ruling that no clerk could pass out of the second class into the first class without years' service in the second class. subsequent testimony established the fact that the treasury had made that ruling in order to prevent the second class clerks from bringing pressure on members of parliament with the view to securing automatic promotion from the second class into the first.[ ] just before making the foregoing statement, sir algernon west had said: "if you take the whole civil service, i think you will find a general concord of opinion that the man receiving from $ , to $ , a year is the weakest part of the civil service. i am not speaking of a young man who is in process of going higher, but of an elderly man who has risen to that kind of high salary, and has no prospect of getting anything more.... an ordinary middle aged man, who has got to $ , or $ , or $ , , generally is far too highly paid." mr. r. w. hanbury, a member of the royal commission, queried: "how would he get such a position?" the answer came: "by natural progression," _i. e._ promotion by routine.[ ] sir lyon playfair, a man of vast experience in the administration of the british civil service, said: "promotions by merit hardly take place in most offices, i think; at all events, there are very few instances brought before us."[ ] [sidenote: _promotion by seniority the great evil_] the royal commission itself reported: "we think that promotion by seniority is the great evil of the service, and that it is indispensable to proceed throughout every branch of it strictly on the principle of promotion by merit, that is to say, by selecting always the fittest man, instead of considering claims in order of seniority, and rejecting only the unfit. it is no doubt true that objections on the score of favoritism may arise in the application of such a rule in public departments, and the intervention of members of parliament also presents an obvious difficulty, but we think that such constant vigilance, tact, and resolution as may fairly be expected on the part of heads of branches and of offices, will meet these objections, and we believe that the certain advantages of promotion by merit to the most deserving men, and therefore to the public service, are so great as to be sure, in the long run, to command public support." [sidenote: _able men must "wait their turn"_] shortly before the royal commission had made this recommendation, in words which seemed to place the responsibility for past failure to promote by merit, on the permanent officers of the departments, as distinguished from the political heads of the departments, the ministers, mr. raikes, the postmaster general, and the representative in the house of commons of the university of cambridge, had refused to accept the advice of the permanent secretary of the post office, mr. s. a. blackwood, in filling a post of some importance in the secretary's office. on march , , the postmaster general, mr. raikes, in reply to questions put to him in the house of commons, said: ... "it is also the fact that i have recently declined to adopt the secretary's recommendation to promote to the first class [in the secretary's office] one of the junior officers in the second class over the heads of several clerks of much longer standing. the gentleman whom i have promoted was, in my judgment, fully qualified for promotion, and was senior clerk in the class, with the exception of one officer who, on the secretary's recommendation, has been passed over on sixteen occasions.... what was i asked to do? i was asked to promote a gentleman who was much lower down in the class, a gentleman who was third or fourth in the class, and to place him over the heads of his colleagues. this i declined to do. i made inquiries in the office, and i found that the gentleman who was promoted was a meritorious officer who had discharged his duties with adequate ability, and therefore i thought there was no reason for promoting over his head and over the heads of one or two other competent officers, a junior officer who could well afford to wait his turn. i acted in the interests of the public service, and especially in the interests of the department itself."[ ] * * * * * no post office official in the united kingdom has power to make a promotion. no one has power to do more than recommend for promotion. each recommendation for promotion is examined by the surveyor, and is then sent to headquarters, where "a most vigilant check is always exercised, not from the suspicion that there has been favoritism, but in order to secure that favoritism shall not be practised."[ ] ultimately the postmaster general passes upon every recommendation. sometimes the action of the postmaster general is merely formal, and is limited to the mere affixing of the postmaster general's signature to the recommendation made by the permanent officers of the department; at other times it is independent, and is preceded by careful consideration of the case by the postmaster general himself. whether or not the postmaster general shall give his personal attention to a recommendation for promotion, is determined largely by the presence or absence of the political element, that is, the temper of the house of commons. the postmaster general is not a mere executive officer with a single aim: the efficient administration of his department. he is first of all an important minister, that is, one of the aids of the prime minister in keeping intact the party following. he must know to a nicety how any given administrative act in the post office will affect his party's standing, first in parliament, and then among the constituents of the members of parliament. it is true that no british postmaster general would convert the post office into a political engine for promoting the interests of his party; but it is equally true that no british postmaster general would for a moment lose sight of the fact that governments have not their being in either a vacuum or a utopia, but that they live in a medium constituted of members of parliament and the constituents of members of parliament. in the course of a protest against the postmaster general being a member of the house of lords, sir h. h. fowler[ ] recently said: "no man who has sat in the house of commons for years can be ignorant of the fact that there is a tone in the house; that there are occasions in the house when, in dealing with votes [of supply] and administrative questions, a minister is required, who, with his finger on the pulse of the house, can sweep away the red tape limits and deal with the questions at once on broad general public grounds." to make the statement complete, sir h. h. fowler should have added the words: "and grounds of political expediency." in the course of his reply to sir h. h. fowler, mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, said: "when i undertook the representation of the post office in the house of commons, the first rule i laid down was that [in replying to questions put by members as to the administrative acts of the post office] i would take no answer from a permanent official, and that all answers [framed in the first instance by permanent officials] should be seen and approved by the postmaster general [a member of the house of lords]. i also reserved to myself full discretion to alter the answers if i saw any necessity so to do."[ ] [sidenote: _the anxieties of postmasters general_] in , before the tweedmouth committee, mr. h. joyce, third secretary to general post office, london, said: "i well remember mr. fawcett's[ ] address to the head of a large department [of the post office] who, ... having a large number of promotions to recommend, had told the officers concerned whom he had recommended, and whom he had not, and what made the matters worse, he had in his recommendations taken little account of seniority, whereas mr. fawcett, like mr. arnold morley,[ ] had a perfect horror of passing anyone over. i only saw mr. fawcett angry on two occasions, and that was one of them."[ ] a moment before giving this testimony, mr. joyce had said: "it is always a matter of deep regret to the postmaster general--every postmaster general under whom i have served--when he is constrained to pass anyone over. i have seen mr. arnold morley in the greatest distress on such occasions."[ ] again, in defending the action of the post office in promoting one bocking, a second class sorting clerk at norwich, over the heads of men in his own class, and men in the first class, to a full clerkship, mr. joyce said: "it is a matter of the greatest regret to the postmaster general to feel constrained to pass over so many officers, all of whom were thoroughly respectable and zealous, and performed the duties on which they were employed very well, but the lamentable fact remains that they were not fit for a higher position; every endeavor was made at headquarters to what i might call squeeze them through, but it was no use." mr. badcock, controller london postal service, corroborated this testimony with the words: "the statement is absolutely correct. the reports on which it was based can be produced."[ ] in passing it may be added that in february, , mr. r. j. price, m. p., for norfolk, east, sought to intervene from the floor of the house of commons in this case of promotion. in and , mr. price had been returned to parliament from norfolk, east, with majorities of respectively votes and votes. still, again, at the barry dock post office, a branch office in cardiff, one arnold had been promoted from position number , by seniority, among the second class telegraph clerks, to a full clerkship, skipping class of the telegraphists. of this action, mr. joyce said: "it was a matter of great regret to the postmaster general, as expressed at the time, to pass so many officers, many of them most deserving men, but above mr. arnold there was actually no one competent to fill this important post. some had a knowledge of postal work, and some a knowledge of telegraph work, but none [beside mr. arnold] were conversant with work of both kinds, and some were otherwise objectionable. barry dock had suddenly shot into existence as a large town, which has now a population of about , , and so painful was it to the postmaster general to pass over all these deserving officers, that, rather than do so, he seriously contemplated raising barry dock to the level of a post town, and giving it a separate establishment of its own."[ ] again, one robinson was transferred from the post office at pontefract to a clerkship in the office of blackpool, being made to pass over the heads of two young men at blackpool, by name of eaton and butcher. mr. joyce said: "the case was specially put before the postmaster general, and with all his horror of passing people over, he decided that the two young men eaton and butcher were not qualified for promotion."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _"a strong order"_] in , one robinson, a postman at liverpool, and number in his class, was jumped to the position of assistant inspector. "he had, when a young postman, been selected by his inspector as a superior and promising officer. he had been temporarily employed [by way of tests] as assistant inspector, and had discharged the duties so efficiently that, on a vacancy occurring, he had been promoted to it." this case, as well as those previously mentioned, were cited as "grievances," before the tweedmouth committee, by the men selected by the post office employees to act as their spokesmen before the committee. lord tweedmouth, chairman of the committee, commenting on the case, said to mr. joyce: "still, it seems to have been rather a strong order to appoint an assistant postman to such an office and to give him such a great promotion." mr. joyce replied: "yes, it certainly does seem so; but for the position of inspector or assistant inspector of postmen there is no doubt that qualifications are required which are not ordinarily to be found in postmen.... for the positions of inspectors and assistant inspectors, i think i may say that the local authorities, and also headquarters, are more particular than they are about any other promotion, and they are most anxious to select actually the best man. in almost every other promotion, very great allowance is made for seniority; but in the case of inspectors it is not so, on account of the somewhat rare qualities required of inspectors, and because the post is a most invidious one."[ ] the reader will note that in the post office employees were complaining of a promotion made in . [sidenote: _the ablest man in the sheffield office_] it was established before the tweedmouth committee that in instances the post office employees, with the aid of members of the house of commons, have succeeded in forcing the post office to revoke promotions, or to promote men that have been passed over. for example, mr. joyce, third secretary, general post office, said: "wykes is unquestionably a very able man--probably the ablest man in the sheffield office--and it is quite true that he was promoted [from a second class sortership] to be an assistant superintendent; but for reasons quite unconnected with his ability and qualifications, that promotion has been cancelled. having said that, i trust the committee will not press me further upon the point, inasmuch as it is very undesirable that i should say more." mr. spencer walpole, a member of the committee and the secretary of the post office, added: "except, perhaps, that the cancelling of that promotion had nothing to do with the evidence that has been quoted?" mr. joyce replied: "it had nothing to do with that; the matter is still in a certain sense _subjudice_."[ ] [sidenote: _an m. p. promotes eleven men_] in , one m'dougall, a second class sorter in liverpool, was made a first class sorter, being promoted over the heads of men whom the liverpool postmaster had reported to be "not qualified for the duties of the higher class." on march , , mr. bradlaugh brought the matter up in the house of commons, by means of a question addressed to the postmaster general. he was not satisfied with the answer that the men passed over had been reported "not qualified for promotion."[ ] therefore, on june , , in committee of supply, on the post office vote, mr. bradlaugh again brought up the case of the liverpool sorters who had been passed over. he said he had personally investigated the qualifications of the men, and had found "that none of them warranted the answer given by the postmaster general" [on march ].[ ] mr. bradlaugh also brought up the case of one hegnett, who had been made assistant superintendent over the heads of persons "who were his seniors by many years." also the case of one helsby, promoted over the heads of persons. also the case of one miller, promoted over one richardson, "who had been acting as assistant superintendent for years with the salary of a supervising clerk only." mr. bradlaugh spoke of the committee of supply as "the only tribunal that can overrule the postmaster general." on june , mr. bradlaugh again intervened on behalf of the men who had been passed over. before the tweedmouth committee, mr. f. t. crosse, a sorting clerk at bristol, and one of the spokesmen of the post office employees, said: "macdougall, liverpool, a second class sorting clerk, was promoted to the first class over the heads of men, his seniors. mr. bradlaugh, m. p., brought the matter up in parliament during the discussion on the estimates. the result of mr. bradlaugh's intervention was that of the men passed over were promoted in a batch six months later." mr. joyce, third secretary to general post office, london, said it was true that "very soon afterward," of the men were promoted.[ ] "a great point was stretched" in favor of of the men. those men were technically called single duty men, and since no sorting clerk had been promoted to the first class [at liverpool] who could not perform dual duty. although these five men were single duty men, and therefore unable to rotate with others, which was a "great disability," they were promoted by reason of mr. bradlaugh's intervention. in explanation of the bradlaugh episode, it should be added, that dual duty men are those who are able to act as letter sorters as well as telegraphists; while single duty men are able to act only as sorters, or as telegraphists. in order to reap full advantage from the consolidation of the telegraph business with the postal business, the post office for years has been seeking to induce as many as possible of its employees to make themselves competent to act both as sorters and as telegraphists. at offices where it would be particularly advantageous to have the men able to act both as sorters and as telegraphists, the post office has sought to establish the rule that no sorter or telegraphist shall be promoted to the first class, unless able to act both as sorter and as telegraphist. mr. crosse was not the only witness before the tweedmouth committee whose testimony illustrated "the stimulus" conveyed by questions in the house of commons. mr. c. j. ansell, the representative of the second class tracers in london, stated that in two vacancies among the first class tracers in a london office had been left open for respectively months and months. he added: "in march, , the postmaster general's attention had to be called to this disgraceful state of affairs [by the tracers' union]. it required, however, the stimulus of a question in the house of commons. we do not know how far the postmaster general is responsible for this state of affairs, but it is only fair to state that his attention being drawn to this matter by the question, we were successful in getting those promotions ante-dated."[ ] * * * * * the limitations upon the postmaster general's power to promote men in accordance with the advice tendered him by his official advisers by no means is confined to the cases of promotion among the rank and file. for instance, it was established by the testimony given before the tweedmouth committee, that the postmaster cannot freely promote, to offices of more importance, postmasters who show that they have more ability than is required to administer the offices over which they happen to preside. for if a postmaster proves to be not equal to the demands of his office, the postmaster general cannot always remove him to a smaller office, promoting at the same time the more able man who happens to be in charge of the smaller office. the department tries to meet the situation by sending to the aid of the relatively incompetent postmaster "a smart chief clerk," taking care, however, that the inefficient postmaster shall receive less than the full salary to which the volume of business of the office would entitle him. if that expedient fails, the department will transfer the postmaster. mr. uren, postmaster at maidstone, and president of the postmasters' association, even asserted that nothing short of misconduct would lead to the transfer of a postmaster.[ ] it should be added, however, that mr. uren's testimony related to the small and medium sized places only, not to the larger cities.[ ] it must not be inferred, however, that the postmasters of the small and medium sized places appeared before the tweedmouth committee to demand unrestricted promotion by merit. on the contrary, with the great bulk of the public service of all descriptions,[ ] they held that promotion is "slow and uncertain" and that the system of promotion by merit "is thoroughly uncertain in its practical working." they protested also against the uncertainty and inequality inseparable from the system of making postmasters' salaries dependent upon the volume of business done by the several and individual post offices. they held that no postmaster should be made to suffer by reason of the fact that he happened to be stationed in a town or city that was not growing, or was not growing so rapidly as were other cities. by way of relief from the foregoing "uncertainties" and "inequalities" they demanded a reorganization of the postal service which should secure to the postmasters regular annual increments of pay, and should "regularize" promotion.[ ] [sidenote: _rank and file oppose promotion by merit_] it will be remembered that the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, , expressed the belief: "that the certain advantages of promotion by merit to the most deserving men, and therefore to the public service, are so great as to be sure, in the long run, to command public support." but the fact remains that a large part of the rank and file of the british civil service is growing more and more intolerant of promotion by merit, and demands promotion by seniority. it will not accept as a fact the natural inequality of men; it asserts, with its cousins at the antipodes, the australasian civil servants, that it is the opportunity that makes the man, not the man that makes the opportunity. this impatience of the rank and file of the civil servants of promotion by merit was brought out in striking manner by many of the "grievances" cited by the men who appeared before the tweedmouth committee as the accredited representatives of the post office employees. some of those allegations of grievance have just been recorded, but this matter is of sufficient importance to warrant the recording of still others. mr. joseph shephard, chairman of the metropolitan districts board of the postal telegraph clerks' association, complained before the tweedmouth committee that one west, who had entered the telegraph service as a learner in , one month after one ward had entered as a learner, in was receiving $ , whereas ward was receiving only $ . it was true that ward had "had the misfortune to fail in the needle examination," the first time he had tried to qualify as a telegraphist, but "that little failure" ought not to have made the difference which existed in . mr. shephard also complained that one morgan, after years and months of service, was receiving only $ , whereas one kensington, after years and months of service, was receiving $ . he brushed aside as of no consequence, the fact that kensington had "qualified" in four months, whereas ward had taken twelve months to "qualify."[ ] one richardson, a telegraphist, at his own request had been transferred from horsham to east grinstead, and thence to redhill, because of the small chances of vacancies at the first two places. but the staff at redhill was weak and therefore the post office could not follow its usual practice of promoting a man, "not because he is a good man, but because he is not a bad one," to use the words of mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service.[ ] the authorities had to promote the best man at redhill, and thus richardson was passed over. mr. james green, who appeared as the representative of the postal telegraph clerks' association, referred to richardson's case as "the case of a learner who with some years' service is, according to my information, sent here and there relieving, presumably as a sort of recompense, though what his future will be remains a mystery. what surprises me in this matter is the spirit of indifference displayed by the heads of our department regarding the hopelessness of these learners' positions."[ ] one j. r. walker was an indoor messenger until october, , when he was apprenticed a paid learner. shortly before october, two lads had been brought in as paid learners; and, after a short service, they were appointed sorting clerks and telegraphists. they were promoted over walker, because of their superior education and intelligence. mr. green, the representative of the postal telegraph clerks' association, admitted the superior education of the lads in question, but complained that they had been preferred to walker.[ ] [sidenote: _the crompton episode_] one crompton, a letter sorting clerk at liverpool, in his leisure moments had made himself a telegraph instrument, had taught himself to telegraph, and had acquired a considerable technical knowledge of electricity. he had attracted the attention of the superintending engineer at liverpool; had been promoted, in , to the office of the superintending engineer; and, by , he had become one of the best engineers in the service. in , mr. tipping, the accredited spokesman of the postal telegraphists' association as well as of the telegraph clerks' association, complained of the promotion of crompton, which had occurred in . he said: "it seems most unreasonable that men who have, in some cases, not the slightest acquaintance with telegraphic apparatus and methods of working, should be preferred to those whose whole period of service has been passed in immediate connection therewith. it is apparent that such an absence of method is open to very serious objections, and allows great freedom of choice to those upon whose recommendations the appointments are made. in order, therefore, to safeguard, on the one hand, the interests of the department, and, on the other, to encourage those members of the telegraph staff who desire, by energy and ability, to improve their official _status_, the following suggestions are humbly submitted: that vacancies for junior clerkships in the offices of the superintending engineers, and for clerks at relay stations, should be filled by open competitive examination, held under the control of the civil service commissioners, and that telegraphists only be eligible."[ ] the crompton episode shows what minute supervision over the administration of the post office the civil service unions seek to exercise. the same minute supervision was attempted as recently as - by mr. nannetti, m. p. for the college division of dublin, and also a member of the corporation of dublin, as well as a member of the dublin port and docks board.[ ] on march , , mr. nannetti spoke as follows, in the house of commons: "i beg to ask the postmaster general whether his attention has been directed to the fact that two female technical officers, appointed in connection with the recently introduced intercommunication switch system in london, were selected over the heads of seniors possessing equal qualifications, and whether, seeing that in one case the official selected was taught switching duties by a telegraphist who is now passed over, he will state the reason for the selection of these officers?" the postmaster general, mr. austen chamberlain, replied: "the honorable member has been misinformed. there is no question of promoting or passing over any officer. all that has been done is to assign to particular duties, carrying no special rank or pay, two officers who were believed to be competent to perform them." on may , , mr. nannetti followed up the question with another one, namely: "i beg to ask the postmaster general whether his attention has been called to the fact that two women telegraphists were selected to perform technical duties in reference to the intercommunication switch in london, who were juniors in service and possessed of less technical qualifications than other women telegraphists who were passed over; and whether, seeing that, although official information was given that such selection was not a question of promotion and no special rank or pay would result, one of the two officers concerned has been appointed to a superior grade on account of her experience gained by being selected for these duties, he will explain why the more senior and experienced women were passed over in the first place?" the postmaster general replied: "i have nothing to add to the answer i gave on march , beyond stating that the officer to whom he is supposed to refer has not been appointed to any superior grade. she has merely been lent temporarily to assist at the central telephone exchange in work for which she has special qualifications."[ ] on april and may , , mr. nannetti again protested against the promotion of the woman in question to the position of first class assistant supervisor, saying: "this girl was appointed because she had strong friends at court." ... on the latter date mr. nannetti also intervened on behalf of a telegraphist at north wall, whose salary had been reduced from $ a week to $ , as well as on behalf of one wood, who had been retired on a reduced pension, by way of punishment. the case of wood, mr. nannetti had brought up in , when the post office vote was under discussion. for the purpose of bringing these several matters before the house, he now moved the reduction of the salary of the postmaster general by $ .[ ] on march , , mr. nannetti asked whether the statement of the controller that there was not a man qualified for promotion in the [dublin letter sorting] branch had had any influence "with the department in the filling of a certain vacancy in the dublin post office."[ ] that question illustrated a type of intervention that suggests the possibility of great britain reaching the stage that has been reached in australia, where members of parliament have been known to move reductions in the salaries of officers who had offended the rank and file by attempting to introduce businesslike methods and practices. if that stage ever is reached, there will be a great multiplication of cases like the following one. before the tweedmouth committee appeared mr. j. shephard, chairman metropolitan districts board of postal clerks' association, to champion the cause of mr. ----. said mr. shephard: "i have it here on his word that his postmaster has recommended him for a vacant clerkship at the district office. mr. ---- has served for many years under the eyes of this postmaster who recommends him for promotion, and i take it that that is full and sufficient evidence of mr. ----'s fitness to perform the duties of the clerk." mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service, testified in reply that he had summoned the postmaster in question, who had admitted that mr. ---- had discharged "minor clerical duties" in a perfectly satisfactory manner, but that his recommendation that mr. ---- should be promoted to a clerkship, "was made more out of sympathy with the man than with any hope that he would be qualified to undertake the higher duties which he would have to succeed to if appointed to a clerkship."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _m. p.'s act in advance_] in march, , mr. bradlaugh, m. p., intervened in the house of commons on behalf of two telegraph clerks at liverpool who feared they were about to be passed over in favor "of a young man who entered the engineering department nine months ago as a temporary foreman."[ ] in april, , captain norton intervened on behalf of two letter sorters, r. h. brown and h. johnson, who feared they were going to be passed over in the filling of certain vacancies among the overseers.[ ] in , captain norton was made a junior lord of the treasury in the campbell-bannerman liberal government. in march, , mr. m. joyce, m. p. for limerick as well as an alderman, asked the postmaster general: "whether it is his intention to promote a local official to the assistant superintendentship now vacant at the limerick post office, and, if not, will he assign the reason?... may i ask whether the duties of this office have not been performed in the most satisfactory manner by a local officer during the absence of the assistant superintendent, and will he give this matter due consideration, as every class of the community would be pleased at such an appointment."[ ] in april, , mr. shehan asked the postmaster general: "whether his attention has been directed to an application from dennis murphy, at present acting as auxiliary postman, for appointment to the vacant position of rural postman from mill street to culler, county cork; and whether, in view of the man's character and qualifications, he will consider the advisability of appointing him to the vacancy?"[ ] in february, , mr. nannetti asked the postmaster general "whether he is aware that a telegraphist named mercer, of the bristol post office, has applied for vacant postmaster ships since ; whether, seeing that during these periods clerks of less service, experience, ability and salary have been the recipients of these positions, he will make inquiry into the case?"[ ] in july, , mr. o'brien,[ ] m. p. for kilkenny, asked the secretary to the treasury, as representing the postmaster general, "whether he is aware that a postman named jackson, in kilkenny, has been in the post office service over years and that his wages at present are only s. per week; and whether jackson was given the increment of s. d. per week fixed by the new wages scale which came into operation in april, ; and if not, whether he will cause inquiry to be made into the case, with the view of giving jackson the wages to which he is entitled by the rules of the service?" mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, replied: "the rural postman at kilkenny to whom the honorable member refers was transferred, on june , to another walk at that place, carrying wages of s. a week. his previous duty was not sufficient to warrant higher wages than s. a week."[ ] in april, , sir george newnes, m. p. for swansea, protested against the promotion out of order, according to seniority, of one a. e. samuel, a sorter and telegraphist at swansea.[ ] sir george newnes is the founder of george newnes, limited, proprietors _strand magazine_, _tit-bits_, etc.; and proprietor of the _westminster gazette_, the london evening newspaper of the liberal party. in february and march, , mr. c. e. schwann, m. p. for manchester, protested against the promotion out of order of two men at manchester, who had been respectively numbers and in their class.[ ] mr. schwann is president of the manchester reform club, and has been nine years president of the national reform union. he has held successively the offices of secretary, treasurer and president of the manchester liberal association. in he was elected to parliament by a majority of twenty-six votes. in july, , mr. keir hardie asked the financial secretary to the treasury: "whether the overseer's vacancy in the south eastern metropolitan district, created by the death of mr. feldwick, and recently filled by a suburban officer, will now be restored to the town establishment, seeing that the appointment properly belongs to this establishment?" mr. austen chamberlain replied: "the vacancy in question has been filled by the transfer of an overseer from a suburban office in the same postal district, but the vacancy thus created in the suburbs has been filled by the promotion of an officer in the town district office." in august, , mr. keir hardie asked the financial secretary to the treasury: "whether he is aware that the overseer's vacancy which occurred in the town establishment of the south eastern metropolitan district by the promotion of mr. may to an inspectorship at another office, has been filled by the transfer of an officer in the suburban establishment, thus diverting a town vacancy to the suburbs; and whether, in view of the fact that the chances of promotion in the suburban establishments are per cent. better than in the town establishment, he will cause the vacancy to be restored to the establishment in which it originally occurred?" mr. austen chamberlain replied: "the postmaster general is aware of the effect of the promotion in question, and has already arranged that the balance of promotion shall be readjusted on an early opportunity by the transfer of a town [officer] to a suburban vacancy."[ ] [sidenote: _a member of the select committee on post office servants, _] on march , , mr. charles hobhouse, m. p. for bristol, asked the postmaster general "why a number of men with unblemished character and with service ranging from to years have, in the recent promotions in the bristol post office, been passed over in favor of a junior postman?" in , mr. hobhouse was made a member of the select committee on post office servants.[ ] on march , ,[ ] mr. sloan, m. p. for belfast, intervened on behalf of the men who had recently been passed over in the selection of three men to act as "provincial clerks" in the post office at belfast. on the same day, mr. sloan asked the postmaster general "under what circumstances the junior head postman at belfast is retained permanently on a regular duty while his seniors, equally capable men, are compelled to rotate on irregular duties with irregular hours." on august , , the postmaster general, mr. sydney buxton, replied to mr. sloan: "i cannot review cases of promotion decided by my predecessor eighteen months ago." in mr. sloan had voted for a select committee on postal servants' grievances. the foregoing quotations could be extended indefinitely, but they illustrate sufficiently the several kinds of intervention in matters of mere administrative detail, as well as the high political and social standing of some of the members of parliament who lend themselves to those several kinds of intervention. but these quotations may not be brought to an end without mention of the qualifying fact that lord stanley, postmaster general from to , repeatedly stated in the house of commons that he did "not select the senior men unless they were best qualified to do the work."[ ] footnotes: [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , , and , . [ ] _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , . [ ] _correspondence relating to the post office telegraph department_: letter of april , , postmaster general, lord john manners, to the lords commissioners of the treasury. [ ] _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , . [ ] _report of the bradford committee on post office wages_, ; q. , and , . [ ] mr. lowe, chancellor of the exchequer, divided the service into three classes, in such a way that it was difficult, if not impossible, to pass from one class to the other. that was done with the object of preventing individuals from bringing pressure on members of parliament for promotion from class to class. [ ] compare also: _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , , mr. t. h. farrer, permanent secretary of the board of trade. "the salt of the service is the staff appointments.... since i have been in the board of trade there have been almost forty higher staff appointments, and on not more than four could i put my finger and say they had been made from any other motive than the desire to get the best man. on some occasions the good appointments have been made in the teeth of strong political motives to the contrary." [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , , and , to , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , , , to , , , , , and , ; and _first report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, , p. . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. ; march , p. , ; may , p. , ; and april , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , , mr. h. joyce, third secretary to general post office. compare also: q. and , , and appendix, p. , . extract from the "postmaster's book of instructions," p. . "except to clerkships of first class, all promotions from class to class, whether in the major or minor establishments, are governed by seniority, combined with full competency and good character. thus, on a vacancy occurring in a higher class, not being the first class of clerks, recommend for promotion that officer of highest standing [according to seniority] in the class next below who is qualified for the efficient performance of the duties of the higher class, and has conducted himself with diligence, propriety and attention in his present class to your satisfaction. if on the other hand you feel it incumbent on you to recommend some officer other than the one of highest standing [according to seniority] in his class, furnish a tabular statement after the following specimens, giving the names and dates of appointment of those you propose to pass over, and your reasons. these reasons must be stated with precision in the column set apart for observations. such entries as: 'scarcely qualified,' 'has not given satisfaction,' being insufficient in so important a matter." [ ] _who's who_, , fowler, rt. hon. sir h. h., m. p. (l.), wolverhampton, to , and since ; under secretary home department, - ; financial secretary to treasury, ; president local government board, - ; secretary of state for india, - . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , sir h. h. fowler, and mr. r. w. hanbury. [ ] mr. fawcett, postmaster general. [ ] mr. arnold morley, postmaster general, - ; chief liberal whip, - . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . compare, for example, _hansard's parliamentary debates_, september , . mr. a. morley, postmaster general, states that men had been passed over, after having been found wanting upon a trial on higher duties. he added: "i am, however, making further inquiries." [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , , and appendix, p. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , and following. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on the post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on the post office establishments_, ; mr. j. g. uren, president postmasters' association; q. , and following; and mr. e. b. l. hill, assistant secretary general post office; q. , . [ ] "but i do not think i ought to conceal the fact that the majority of our members are the postmasters of small and medium sized places who have very likely got, according to our ideas, more grounds for grievance than the postmasters of larger towns." [ ] that the peculiar demands and ideals described in these chapters are by no means confined to the post office employees, is shown by the subjoined quotation from a treasury minute of march, , relative to an inquiry by the chancellor of the exchequer, and the financial secretary to the treasury into the administration of the outdoor department of the customs revenue department, to wit: "besides the alleged loss of promotion through a reduction in the higher appointments, and the various arrangements by which they considered that they were injured in their emoluments or as to the hours of working, the officers of all grades complained of the existing system of promotion. they contended that it was unfair and fortuitous in its operation, and did not pay sufficient regard to seniority."--_report of the inter-departmental committee on the post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on the post office establishments_, . testimony of the representatives of the postmasters' association: mr. j. g. uren, mr. w. e. carrette (queenstown), mr. john macmaster; and appendix, p. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , mr. joseph shephard; q. , to , , and testimony of mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office, london; and , , mr. jas. green. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , , mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office, london; and , to , , mr. jas. green. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , , mr. w. h. preece, engineer-in-chief at the post office; and , , mr. e. j. tipping. [ ] _who's who_, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , ; and may , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , and may , , p. , and , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on the post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. . [ ] _who's who_, , o'brien, p., m. p. since ; mechanical and marine engineer. in mr. o'brien had been elected to parliament by a majority of fourteen votes. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. ; and march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , ; and august , , p. , . [ ] _who's who_, , hobhouse, c. e. h., m. p. (r.), east bristol since ; recorder of wills since . education: eton; christ church, oxford. m. p. (l), east wilts, - ; private secretary at colonial office, - ; county alderman, wilts, to present time. clubs: brooks', naval and military. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. , ; april , and may , , p. , . chapter xvi members of the house of commons intervene on behalf of public servants who have been disciplined evidence presented before: the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, ; and the tweedmouth committee, . instances of intervention by members of parliament. mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, in april, , states that at a low estimate one-third of the time of the highest officials in the post office is occupied with petty questions of discipline and administrative detail, because of the intervention of members of parliament. he adds that it is "absolutely deplorable" that time and energy that should be given to the consideration of large questions must be given to matters that "in any private business would be dealt with by the officer on the spot." sir john eldon gorst's testimony before the committee on national expenditure, . [sidenote: _m. p.'s and the rank and file_] in , mr. harvey, a member of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, asked sir s. a. blackwood, secretary to the post office since : "now i should like to ask you ... whether you consider there is a distinct tendency among the clerical establishments [_i. e._, the clerks above the rank and file], especially the lower division clerks, to develop what for want of a better term i will call trades union spirit?" "yes, i believe there is a good deal of evidence of that." "have you, yourself, found it difficult to deal with that; is it a factor in your administration [of the post office]?" "not with regard to the lower division clerks [above the rank and file]; it is with regard to the subordinate ranks of the service, the rank and file; amongst them there is a very strong tendency in that direction." "a growing tendency?" "it is certainly growing." "a growing tendency then we may say to introduce the coöperation of members of parliament to deal with individual grievances?" "a very strongly growing tendency." at this point mr. lawson interrupted: "individual or class grievances?" "class grievances, but there are a great many instances in which individual grievances are brought forward [by members of parliament]." "the point of the question was whether this spirit of trades unionism was evoked for the sake of bringing forward individual grievances, and you said yes; and then i asked whether it was class grievances or individual grievances?" "i mean class grievances, but it is made use of in respect of individual grievances." mr. harvey resumed: "and you think it is growing?" "i think it is strongly growing." "so we may say, to repeat the question i put just now, that it makes a factor in your administration of the post office, and you have always to be prepared to meet this growing tendency?" "it is continuously raising difficulties, and very serious ones." mr. lawson queried: "you said something about trades unionism; do you think it is possible by any regulation to stop trades unionism of a great class such as the senior division, or the classes which are the subordinate part of your establishment?" "i think it would be very difficult." "you would have to reckon with that as a permanent factor?" "yes."[ ] this intervention on behalf of individual employees is managed as follows. members of parliament first interview the postmaster general; if they fail to obtain satisfaction, they bring the grievance of their constituent before the house of commons, by means of a question addressed in the house to the postmaster general. it will be remembered that mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury, in stated that he had agreed to represent the postmaster general in the house of commons only on condition that he should be given full freedom to answer such questions in any way he saw fit, and that he should not be bound by any answers furnished him either by the permanent officers of the post office or by the postmaster general. and that sir h. h. fowler protested against the postmaster general sitting in the house of lords, on the ground that the questions asked by members of the house of commons often demanded to be answered by a man who had his finger on the pulse of the house, and was able to cut through the red tape of officialism on public grounds, which meant, to set aside the rules of the department in response to the exigencies of political expediency. if the answer given by the postmaster general is unsatisfactory, the member of parliament gives notice that he will bring the matter up again on the discussion of the estimates of expenditure. in the meantime he brings to bear, behind the scenes, what pressure he can command. and he often learns to appreciate the grim humor of the reply once given by a former minister of railways in victoria, australia, to a victorian royal commission, to the query whether political influence was exercised in the administration of the state railways of victoria. the reply had been: "i should like to know how you can have a politician without political influence?" of course not all cases of intervention by members of parliament are as successful as was the intervention of mr. bradlaugh, which resulted in the promotion of eleven men out of fourteen who had been passed over as "not qualified for promotion," or, as was the intervention of the member of parliament whose name was not revealed, which brought about the revocation of the promotion of the ablest man in the post office at sheffield. indeed, the principal effect of these interventions is not to force the post office to retrace steps already taken, it is to prevent the post office from taking certain steps. these interventions modify the entire administration of the british post office. they compel the postmaster general and his leading officers to consider the political aspect of every proposal coming from the local postmasters, and other intermediate officers, be it a proposal to promote, to pass over, to discipline, or to dismiss. it was this possibility of intervention by members of parliament, acting under pressure from civil servants' unions, that gave the late mr. fawcett "a perfect horror of passing over," that caused mr. arnold morley "the greatest distress" whenever he had to pass anyone over, and that led mr. raikes to state in the house of commons, that, "in the interests of the public service, and especially in the interests of the post office itself," he had declined to follow the advice of his officers that he promote a certain clerk in the secretary's office; as well as that he made it his practice to try to mitigate the rules of the department governing punishment and dismissal. it was with the thought of parliamentary intervention in mind, that mr. austen chamberlain,[ ] postmaster general, said, in february, : "the selection of officers for promotion is always an invidious task." * * * * * [sidenote: _typical grievances_] the testimony given before the tweedmouth committee, , contains a number of incidents which show how leniently the post office department is obliged to deal with men who violate the rules. these incidents were brought before the committee by the representatives of the employees of the post office, for the purpose of proving by individual cases, that the department's rulings were unduly severe, and afforded just cause for grievance. one webster, a letter carrier at liverpool, in july, , failed to cover his whole walk, and brought back to the office, letters which he should have delivered. these letters he surreptitiously inserted among the letters of other carriers. mr. herbert joyce, third secretary to general post office, said dismissal would not have been harsh punishment for the offence; but webster was merely deprived of one good conduct stripe, worth cents a week. in and webster's increment of salary was arrested for unsatisfactory conduct. in july, , webster was removed from his walk, and reduced to the "junior men" on the "relief force," for having been under the influence of drink while on duty. in , webster complained to headquarters of harsh treatment, stating that though he had served years, he had not received three good conduct stripes. and in , mr. j. s. smith, the official representative of the provincial postmen, deemed it expedient to cite the case to the tweedmouth committee in the course of an argument to the effect that there was too great a difference "between the punishment meted out to postmen and the punishment meted out to sorters; not that i say the punishment is too slight for sorters, but it is, i might say, too severe for postmen," it may be added that, in , webster was recommended for three good conduct stripes, though the regulation says that a good conduct stripe shall be awarded only for five clear and consecutive years of good conduct. non-observance of that regulation led the tweedmouth committee to report: "the practice which has grown up in the department of awarding two stripes at the same time to a man whose service exceeds years, but whose unblemished service extends over only years, is, we think, a bad one, and should be discontinued."[ ] the foregoing recommendation of the tweedmouth committee was not endorsed by the government. on march , , the postmaster general, mr. sydney buxton, in reply to mr. thomas smyth, m. p., who was intervening on behalf of one thomas reilly, said: "i find that thomas reilly would have been entitled to an increase of one shilling and six pence a week in his wages as from april , , if his conduct during the preceding twelve months had been satisfactory. unfortunately the necessary certificate to that effect could not be given, but the question of granting the increase to reilly will come up again for consideration shortly.... it will be necessary to postpone for a time the award of a second stripe."[ ] in october, , one roberts, an auxiliary postman was warned that he would be dismissed unless his conduct improved. he had been reported for "treating parcel receptacles in a rough and reckless manner, and smashing the parcels." in november, , he altered the address on a parcel in order to save himself the trouble of delivering the parcel on the day on which he made the alteration. the parcel was given to a carrier on another route, who returned it as not deliverable. after some delay the parcel finally was delivered by roberts. when mr. s. walpole, secretary of the post office, heard this testimony, he exclaimed: "and was roberts dismissed on the spot?" mr. badcock, controller london postal service, replied: "no. the overseer described him as totally unreliable, and he was warned for the last time." mr. walpole continued: "why was he not dismissed?" mr. badcock replied: "well, he ought to have been." in january, , roberts was again cautioned; on february , , he failed to attend his morning duty; and he was seriously cautioned again. in march, , he was guilty of "gross carelessness," and was told to look for other employment. thereupon roberts wrote his postmaster that he was a member of the postmen's federation. shortly afterward, mr. churchfield, secretary of the postmen's federation, brought roberts' case before the tweedmouth committee, alleging that the post office department had dismissed roberts because he had supplied evidence to the representatives of the postal employees who had appeared before the tweedmouth committee.[ ] in , one woodhouse, a postman at norwich, was suspended for two days for irregular attendance, having been late times in three months. in , he was suspended for three days, having been late times during the year. woodhouse also had been very troublesome to the inspector, setting a bad example to the younger men. in , he was absent from duty because of intoxication, was grossly insubordinate to the local postmaster, whom he set at defiance, and also grossly insubordinate to the surveyor. the local postmaster recommended that he be dismissed. "at headquarters, however, with a large, and some people think a very undue, leniency, it was decided to give him one more trial." in , woodhouse was cautioned by the postmaster for insubordinate conduct to the inspector. in and , the postmaster refused to recommend him for good conduct stripes. in there was a marked improvement in woodhouse's conduct. the improvement was maintained, and in , woodhouse was recommended for good conduct stripes. of this man, mr. j. s. smith, the official representative of the provincial postmen, said, in , before the tweedmouth committee: "the last or years of woodhouse's career have been of a most exemplary description, a good time-keeper and zealous in the discharge of his duties, and yet, though he had been a postman for years, he has never been the recipient of a good conduct stripe. by this means he has been deprived of about $ , truly a great loss for a postman to suffer through having this vast sum deducted from his wages. it needs no words of mine to point out the great injustice that has been inflicted upon woodhouse. any little irregularity that may have occurred (such as bad time-keeping, which is admitted) in the first or years of his service, has been amply atoned for by or years' punctuality and excellent behavior."[ ] in november, , a letter carrier at manchester came "under the influence of drink," and reached at . p. m. a point in his walk which he should have reached at . p. m. "on the following day he was again under the influence of drink and unfit to make his delivery." the punishment was the deprivation of one good conduct stripe.[ ] in december, , a postman at newcastle, while off duty, but in uniform, "was reeling along [one of the principal streets] intoxicated at p. m." the case was sent up to the postmaster general, who decided that the man should lose one good conduct stripe. mr. spencer walpole, a member of the tweedmouth committee, and the permanent secretary to the post office, said dismissal would not have been too severe a punishment; and mr. h. joyce, third secretary general post office, london, assented to the statement.[ ] mr. badcock, controller london postal service, in replying to the testimony of mr. a. f. harris, the official representative of the london postmen, said that it was true that while one worth for some years past had off and on been made an acting head postman, he had not been recommended for promotion to the position of head postman, because his postmaster had reported that he was "shifty, unreliable, and careless." mr. walpole, secretary of the post office, thereupon queried: "is that not a reason for not employing him to act as head postman?" mr. badcock replied: "it was thought better to give him a chance, instead of letting him have the grievance of complaining that he had not had an opportunity of showing whether he was qualified." mr. walpole continued: "but if he showed himself shifty, unreliable, and careless for several years, ought not his trial as a head postman to cease?" mr. badcock replied: "i must confess that i think so."[ ] in february, , mr. marum intervened in the house of commons on behalf of one ward, a telegraphist, who had been dismissed in because he had discharged his duties unsatisfactorily.[ ] in february, , mr. lawson, a member of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, intervened on behalf of one harvey, a letter carrier who had been dismissed in .[ ] in march, , mr. bartley[ ] intervened on behalf of one canless, who had been dismissed because the postmaster general "was of the opinion that mr. canless was not a fit person to be retained in the service." on dismissing the man, the post office had deducted from his pay the value of a postal money order--$ . --alleged to have been stolen by him.[ ] canless' case was brought up again in august, , upon the occasion of the debate upon the report of the bradford committee. in july, , mr. c. seale-hayne intervened on behalf of one j. c. kinsman, dismissed for insubordination and delegation of his duties to unauthorized persons.[ ] in august, , mr. sloan, m. p. for belfast, intervened on behalf of one templeton, of the belfast post office, dismissed for emptying ink on the head of a workman engaged in the post office.[ ] in march, , mr. john campbell, m. p., tried to induce the postmaster general to reopen the case of one m'cusker, who had been disciplined in .[ ] in april, , mr. lenty asked for a pension for one wright, whose "conduct had been such as to render him unfit for further employment in the public service."[ ] in august, , mr. crean asked for a pension for w. h. allshire, "who was reported for certain irregularities for which he would probably have been dismissed. while the matter was under consideration he sent in his resignation, which was accepted."[ ] in august, , mr. l. sinclair intervened on behalf of b. j. foreman, "who was not qualified for the award of a pension, as he was neither years of age nor incapacitated from the performance of his duty" when his service was terminated.[ ] in march, , earl compton intervened on behalf of a first class sorter who had been reduced to the second class after having been sentenced to a fine by a police magistrate.[ ] in december, , mr. keir hardie asked the postmaster general to modify the rules governing fines for being late at duty. in february, , mr. maddison made a similar request.[ ] in october, , mr. palmer intervened on behalf of some "learners" at reading, who had been punished "for careless performance of their duties, leading to serious delay in the delivery of telegrams."[ ] mr. palmer, a biscuit manufacturer, was the member for reading. in the past he had been an alderman as well as the mayor of reading. in july, , mr. groves intervened on behalf of a postman at manchester from whom annual increments of pay had been withheld under the rules governing irregular attendance.[ ] mr. groves is chairman of the south salford conservative association. in april, , mr. steadman said: "i honestly admit that this question business might be overdone; but at the same time, if anyone, postman or anyone else, thinks i can do his case any good by putting down a question, i shall always do so as long as i am a member of this house." mr. steadman proved as good as his boast; and in july, , he intervened on behalf of a man from whom the post office department had withheld two good conduct stripes "because he had absented himself frequently on insufficient plea of illness." mr. steadman stood ready to shield any malingerer who might apply to him, though malingering is a serious evil in the post office service. for example, in the average number of days' absence on sick-leave was . days for the men in that part of the staff that receives full pay during sick-leave, as against . days for the men in that part of the staff that receives only half-pay during sick-leave.[ ] mr. steadman had been elected to parliament by a majority of votes. he is at present a member of the london county council.[ ] in june, , mr. sydney buxton, who had become postmaster general, upon the formation of the sir henry campbell-bannerman ministry, in december, , expressed himself as follows:[ ] "he was informed a little while ago by his private secretary that in the ordinary way or applications of various sorts were made by honorable members in the course of a calendar month, but that for some months past, in consequence perhaps of there being a new government, a new parliament, new members, and a new postmaster general, the number of applications of all sorts had amounted to between and per month." [sidenote: _a member of the select committee on post office servants, _] in may, , mr. j. ward, a member of the select committee on post office servants, , asked the postmaster general "whether his attention had been called to the dismissal of e. c. feasey, of walsall, who had been an efficient officer in the postal service for years ... and whether he will reconsider the question of the man's reinstatement?" mr. buxton replied: "i have looked into the circumstances connected with the dismissal by my predecessor of e. c. feasey, formerly a town postman at walsall. i find that feasey had a most unsatisfactory record.... i am not prepared to consider the question of reinstatement."[ ] in march, , the postmaster general, in reply to mr. nannetti, m. p., said: "the reports and statements in the corcoran case were fully considered at the time [ ], and i can see no good purpose in reopening the matter after a lapse of five years."[ ] in april, , mr. wiles,[ ] m. p., intervened on behalf of the head messenger in the secretary's office at the general post office, london. under the administration of lord stanley, postmaster general, an allowance of shillings a week given the head messenger at the time of his appointment, had been withheld from october, , to october, . mr. sydney buxton replied: "i have already had this case under my consideration. the allowance of shillings a week is being granted, but unfortunately the allowance cannot be made retrospective." mr. wiles had been elected to parliament in january, , having defeated sir albert k. rollit, who, for many years, had made a specialty of championing the cause of post office employees who had a grievance. * * * * * [sidenote: _deplorable waste of executive ability_] in april, , mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, and representative in the house of commons of the postmaster general, the marquis of londonderry, said: "in a great administration like this there must be decentralization, and how difficult it is to decentralize, either in the post office or in the army, when working under constant examination by question and answer in this house, no honorable member who has not had experience of official life can easily realize. but there must be decentralization, because every little petty matter cannot be dealt with by the postmaster general or the permanent secretary to the post office. their attention should be reserved in the main for large questions, and i think it is deplorable, absolutely deplorable, that so much of their time should be occupied, as under the present circumstances it necessarily is occupied, with matters of very small detail, because these matters of detail are asked by honorable members, and because we do not feel an honorable member will accept an answer from anyone but the highest authority. i think a third of the time--i am putting it at a low estimate--of the highest officials in the post office is occupied in answering questions raised by members of this house, and in providing me with information in order that i may be in a position to answer the inquiries addressed to me" concerning matters which, "in any private business, would be dealt with by the officer on the spot, without appeal or consideration unless grievous cause were shown."[ ] in march, , mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, read the following post office rule: "a postmaster is to address to his surveyor, and a subordinate officer is to address to the postmaster (who will forward it to his surveyor), any application from himself having reference to his duties or pay, or any communications he may desire to make relating to official matters; and if the applicant is dissatisfied with the result he may appeal direct to the postmaster general. but it is strictly forbidden to make any such application or other communication through the public, or to procure one to be made by members of parliament, or others; and should an irregular application be received, the officer on whose behalf it is made will be subject to censure or punishment proportionate to the extent of his participation in the violation of the rule." mr. chamberlain added: "but it has been my practice [as well as that of mr. chamberlain's predecessors] to treat the rule as applying only to applications so made in the first instance, and i have raised no objection to an officer who had appealed to me, and was dissatisfied with my decision, applying subsequently to a member of parliament."[ ] * * * * * the post office is not the only british department of state which is obliged to consider with care how far it may go counter to individual interests in enforcing rules and standards adopted for the preservation of the public interest. before the select committee on national expenditure, , sir john eldon gorst, m. p., and vice-president of the committee of council on education, to , said: "what i want to impress upon the committee is that parliament has never an influence which goes for economy of any kind in the expenditure of public money on education [about $ , , a year]. then i hope i have now shown the committee that the only security the public has that what it spends will be efficiently spent is the system of inspection. earlier in my evidence i also pointed out the two systems which are in vogue for inspection, namely the south kensington system and the whitehall system. the whitehall system, which deals with the larger amount of public money, is extremely inefficient. the elementary education inspectors have before their eyes the fear, first of all, of the managers of the schools which they visit. the managers of the schools are often important school boards like the school board of london, which is not a body to be trifled with, which has very great influence, both in parliament and in the education department, and which the inspectors are very much afraid of offending. but it is not only powerful school boards, but any managers [of schools] can take the matter up. if an inspector goes into a school and sees [reports] that the children are dirty, or that the school is dirty, or that the teacher is inefficient, the manager is up in arms at once, and writes a letter to the board of education, and comes up and sees the secretary, and protests against the inspector for having dared to make an unfavorable report of his or her school. besides that, the inspectors have before their eyes the fear of the national union of teachers. almost every teacher now is a member of the national union of teachers, and if an inspector is supposed to be severe, a teacher complains at once to the national union, and the case is taken up, possibly even in parliament, by some of the officials of the national union of teachers in parliament, and it is made very uncomfortable for the inspector. then, lastly, they [_i. e._, the inspectors] have the office--that is not, say, their own chief inspector, but the officials of the office, who do not like an inspector who makes trouble. the great art of an inspector is to get on well with the managers [of schools] and teachers, and to make no trouble at all. i have known cases of adverse reports which were not liked at the office being sent back to the inspector to alter," not by the chief inspector, or senior inspector of the district, but by some other person in the office.[ ] sir john eldon gorst was solicitor-general in - , under secretary for india in to , financial secretary to the treasury in - , deputy chairman of committees of the house of commons in to , and vice-president of council on education in to . he was a member of the house of commons in to , and has been a member continuously since . since he has sat as representative of the university of cambridge. sir john eldon gorst was by no means unwilling to take his share of blame for the mismanagement in the various departments of state arising out of the intervention of the house of commons--under pressure from the constituencies, or organized groups in the constituencies--in the administrative details of the departments of state. he said: "i have been as great a sinner as anyone in the days when i represented chatham,[ ] before i was a member of the government; i was perpetually urging the secretary of the admiralty for the time being to increase the expenditures at the dockyards"[ ] [in the interest of the laborers in the dockyards and of the merchants and manufacturers who have raw materials to sell to the dockyards]. footnotes: [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; sir s. a. blackwood, secretary to the post office since ; q. , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , p. ; q. , and following, mr. j. s. smith; and q. , , mr. h. joyce, third secretary to the general post office. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. churchfield, secretary postmen's federation; q. , and following; and mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service; q. , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. h. joyce, third secretary to general post office; q. , ; and mr. j. s. smith; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. h. joyce, third secretary general post office; q. , ; and mr. j. s. smith; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. h. joyce, third secretary general post office; q. , to , ; and mr. j. s. smith, representative of the provincial postmen; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, and , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. , . [ ] _who's who_, , bartley, sir g. c. t., k. c. b., cr. ; m. p. north islington since ; assistant director of science division of science and art department till ; resigned to stand for parliament; established national penny bank to promote thrift, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, august , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, december , , p. ; and february , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, october , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. ; july , p. , ; and mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general, april , , pp. , and , . [ ] _who's who_, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, may , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , _et passim_. [ ] to . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , . chapter xvii the spirit of the civil service the doctrine of an "implied contract" between the state and each civil servant, to the effect that the state may make no change in the manner of administering its great trading departments without compensating every civil servant however remotely or indirectly affected. the hours of work may not be increased without compensating every one affected. administrative "mistakes" may not be corrected without compensating the past beneficiaries of such mistakes. violation of the order that promotion must not be mechanical, or by seniority alone, may not be corrected without compensating those civil servants who would have been benefitted by the continued violation of the aforesaid order. the state may not demand increased efficiency of its servants without compensating every one affected. persons filling positions for which there is no further need, must be compensated. each civil servant has a "vested right" to the maintenance of such rate of promotion as obtains when he enters the service, irrespective of the volume of business or of any diminution in the number of higher posts consequent upon administrative reforms. the telegraph clerks demand that their chances of promotion be made as good as those of the postal clerks proper, but they refuse to avail themselves of the opportunity to pass over to the postal side proper of the service, on the ground that the postal duties proper are more irksome than the telegraph duties. members of parliament support recalcitrant telegraph clerks whom the government is attempting to force to learn to perform postal duties, in order that it may reap advantage from having combined the postal service and the telegraph service in . special allowances may not be discontinued; and vacations may not be shortened, without safeguarding all "vested interests." further illustrations of the hopelessly unbusinesslike spirit of the rank and file of the public servants. upon a preceding page has been mentioned the contention of the civil servants that there is an implied contract between the state and the civil service that the conditions of employment obtaining at any moment shall not be changed to the disadvantage of the civil servants, except upon payment of compensation to all persons disadvantageously affected; and that unless such compensation is paid, any change in the conditions and terms of employment must be limited to future entrants upon the service of the state, or to persons who shall accept promotion on the express condition of becoming subject to the altered terms of employment. [sidenote: _implied contract for six hour day_] before the select committee on civil services expenditure, , mr. w. e. baxter, financial secretary to the treasury, said: "i am not an advocate for long hours; and in the mercantile business with which i am connected, i have years ago reduced the hours both of the clerks and of the workmen, but i am inclined to think the six hours given to their work by the government officials [that is, upper and lower division clerks], rather too short a period, and that it might with advantage be somewhat lengthened. at the same time we must always keep in mind that the effect of lengthening the hours would be to cause an immediate demand for an increase of pay. however i have a very strong impression that in most of the government offices there are too many clerks, and that there might be considerable economy in a reduction of numbers and an increase of hours." the chancellor of the exchequer stated to the committee that it would be inexpedient to try to raise the hours of clerks from hours to, say, hours. he said: "i suspect that my one-seventh more time would be more than compensated by my having to pay them a great deal more than one-seventh more salary; and i think it would be very perilous to take up the floodgates in that way."[ ] before the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments, , sir reginald e. welby, permanent secretary to the treasury, stated that he was in favor of extending the hours of the upper and lower division clerks from hours to . the chairman queried: "but can it be done with existing clerks without a breach of faith?" sir r. e. welby replied: "with regard to lower division clerks, it is provided that in consideration of an extra payment, which is according to the regulation, a hour office can be turned into a hour office.... there is no provision of that kind for the upper division, and, of course, any change would have to be made a matter of consideration.... the arrangement made between the authorities of the inland revenue and the treasury, in those departments of the inland revenue which have adopted the hours system, has been that the clerks who were under no stipulation to do hours' work, should have an extra allowance until promotion. as soon as they are promoted to another class, we have assumed that we have the right to put our conditions upon the promotion, and, therefore, from that time they fall into the ordinary scale of salary without addition." at this point mr. h. h. fowler, a member of the commission, queried: "i understand you to say there is no provision made for altering the period of service of an upper division clerk from hours to hours. i want to know where is the document by which the state binds itself over to accept hours' work ...?" "nowhere. the only thing is that when he enters the office he is told that the hours are from to , or from to ." mr. fowler continued: "i consider this is a question of vital importance, and i want to have it very distinctly from you: i want to know where is the contract between the state and any upper division clerk in any department, that he is only to work hours a day?" "there is no such document that i know of, and no such understanding further than the statement upon his entering the office that the hours are such and such." "but i want to ascertain whether there would be even an approach to a breach of faith (if such a term may be used) if the state says: 'we insist upon our servants working for us hours a day?'" "none in my mind, and i may add that it is generally known that the hours are so and so, but longer hours when required" [on exceptionally busy days]. to sir t. h. farrer, permanent secretary to the board of trade, to , the chairman of the royal commission said: "what is your view with reference to its being fair or necessary to increase the pay if seven hours' work be asked from an upper division clerk. do you think there is any contract to do only hours' work?" "no, there is no contract whatever; theoretically the rule is that civil servants are to do the business that is required of them. the practical difficulty remains that if you do it you may have a great uproar. you may cause discontent, and you may have, as i said before, pressure in the house of commons; but theoretically, and as a matter of right, i can see no reason why every officer should not be obliged to give hours for the existing pay." "have you not to some extent recognized it[ ] by creating a different scale of pay in the lower division for hours than for hours?" "yes, you have, and i am very sorry for it; when i say you have, i was a party to it,[ ] but i am sorry that we did it." "but you are of course of opinion that when you announce that the office hours are from to , it means that these are the hours of public attendance, but that it does not in any way prevent the head of the office from asking the clerks to stop until the work is done?" "no; but the larger your class of lower division clerks, the more you will find that the hours become fixed hours, and if they are asked to attend beyond them [because of unusual pressure of work], they will ask for extra pay for attendance."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _clerks are clerks_] in , mr. fawcett, postmaster general, created for the provincial towns the class of "telegraph clerks," who are recruited from the first class of telegraphists, and act as assistants to the assistant superintendents. since the men in question were styled clerks, they immediately contended that their hours of work should be reduced from hours a day to hours a week, the hours of the clerks proper. the department always has refused to recognize that claim. but mr. beaufort, postmaster at manchester, acting on a misreading of the rules, from to granted the telegraph clerks at manchester the hours a week. in the hours were raised to the correct number, namely hours a day, with half an hour for a meal. in , telegraph clerks from manchester sent a spokesman to the tweedmouth committee to state that they had become telegraph clerks in , when the hours were a week, and that they deemed it a "hardship" to be compelled to work hours a day.[ ] in november, , mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, stated in the house of commons: "the town postmen at newton abbot were formerly paid on too high a scale [in consequence of an error of judgment made by a departmental officer]. the wages were accordingly reduced some years ago, but the postmen then in the service were allowed to retain their old scale of payment so long as they should remain in the service, and the new scale was applied only to postmen who entered the service subsequently. this will account for there being temporarily two scales for postmen at newton abbott."[ ] [sidenote: _standard of efficiency should not be raised_] in , mr. fawcett, postmaster general, established for metropolitan london the class of "senior telegraphists," with a salary rising by annual increments of $ , from $ to $ . he intended that this class should be filled by the promotion of men from the first class of telegraphists who possessed exceptional manipulative efficiency as well as sufficient executive ability to act as assistants to the assistant superintendents. but as a matter of fact many men were promoted to this class by mere seniority and without reference to their qualifications. in , however, under mr. raikes, postmaster general, the department resolved to promote to the senior class no more men who were not fully qualified.[ ] and in , the department imposed a technical examination[ ] between the first class of telegraphists and the senior class, in order to insure that all men promoted to the senior class should have the qualifications required of them. mr. h. c. fischer, controller of the london central telegraph office, said of this examination: "it is not considered unjust that this should have been enforced in the case of men who had always been employed on instrument duties, and who had only themselves to blame if they neglected to acquire some knowledge of technical matters, which all skilled telegraphists are expected to possess.... even before the institution of the examination it was always held that the possession of technical knowledge gave the man an additional claim to promotion to the senior class."[ ] before the tweedmouth committee the representatives of the first class telegraphists complained of the technical examination as a "grievance." they said: "the regulation came into operation at once, an act which is regarded as exceptionally unjust toward men of more than years' service, who, up to that time had understood from the general practice of the department, that, other things being equal, good conduct and manipulative efficiency would secure promotion. now, however, the possession of technical knowledge is added as a necessary qualification before promotion to the senior class, and this without a coincident rise in the maximum [salary] of the first class as compensation for the additional demand upon the capacity of the staff." as the alternative to the raising of the maximum salary of the first class [$ ], "it was earnestly contended that the scale to which the officer is raised on passing the examination should be materially enhanced [beyond the present maximum of $ ] in recompense for the further additional demand upon his time, and for his pecuniary outlay in preparing himself for the requirements of the department."[ ] prior to november, , special intelligence was required of the sorters of foreign letters in the london central post office, who were correspondingly well paid. the wages of the first class of sorters of foreign letters began at $ . a week, and rose to $ . , by triennial increments of $ . a week. those of the second class began at $ . , and rose to $ . , by annual increments of $ . a week. but in consequence of a material simplification of the duties of the foreign letter sorters, consequent upon the changes in the international postage charges, the department resolved, in november, , to replace the two classes of sorters of foreign letters by one class, with wages ranging from $ . a week to $ .[ ] it was provided, however, that the existing sorters of the first class should retain the old scale of wages; and that the existing sorters of the second class should have the option of immediate promotion to the new class, with wages rising from $ . to $ , or, "of being advanced to the $ . to $ . scale, in the order in which they would have attained to that scale if the old first class scale had not been abolished." in other words, the men who, prior to november, , had been in line for ultimate promotion to a class carrying wages of $ . to $ . , were offered the option "of being regarded as having a vested interest to rise to $ . a week, as vacancies should occur."[ ] [sidenote: _claim of exemption from vicissitudes of life_] in , mr. h. b. irons, a second class sorter in london, appeared before the tweedmouth committee to present the grievance of himself and colleagues, who, prior to , had given up the position of first class letter carriers to become second class letter sorters in order to improve their prospects of promotion. the grievance was that the prospects of promotion of letter sorters had been curtailed by the abolition of the sorterships of foreign letters in , and the abolition of the sortership of the first class of inland and foreign newspapers in . mr. irons alleged that he would have remained a letter carrier had he foreseen the changes in question.[ ] his argument was that the civil servant must be exempt from the ordinary chances and vicissitudes of life. * * * * * in some senior telegraphists protested that they ought to be made assistant superintendents, alleging that they were performing the duties of assistant superintendents. mr. raikes, postmaster general, found that some of the duties of the complainants were of the nature alleged, but not all of them. therefore, he made the complainants, forty-nine in number, second class assistant superintendents. by , this new class had come to number sixty-five. from to , the proportion borne by the senior telegraphists to the first class and second class telegraphists had ranged between to . and to . . the promotion of forty-nine senior telegraphists in , and of the others in subsequent years, raised the proportion in question to to , in . but counting senior telegraphists and second class assistant superintendents, there was, in , one of these superior officers to each . of first class and second class telegraphists. in other words, the rate of promotion of first class and second class telegraphists to appointments superior to the first class of telegraphists, but inferior to the position of assistant superintendent, had been more rapid in to , than it had been in to . in , mr. nicholson, chairman london branch of the postal telegraph clerks' association, appeared before the tweedmouth committee to voice the grievance of the first class and second class telegraphists, which was, that the rate of promotion from the second class and first class had decreased, as shown by the fact that there was only one senior telegraphist to each ten first class and second class telegraphists. mr. nicholson contended that the increase of telegraphic messages consequent upon the introduction of the charge of cents for words had necessitated the creation of a new class, the second class superintendents; and that the first class and second class telegraphists had a right to demand that they should derive benefit from that increase of traffic and that necessity of creating a new class of officers. that the department's failure to fill the vacancies created in the senior class of telegraphists by promotions to the class of second class superintendents, had deprived the first class and second class telegraphists of all advantage arising out of the creation of a new class of officers, the second class assistant superintendents.[ ] [sidenote: _right to fixed rate of promotion_] the nature of the claim made by the chairman london branch of the postal telegraph clerks' association is forcibly illustrated by the following incident from the proceedings of the royal commission on civil establishments, . mr. h. a. davies, the official representative of the clerks in the receiver and accountant general's office of the general post office, had made a similar demand on behalf of the men whom he represented. the chairman asked him: "does a man enter the public service on the assumption that all the upper places are to remain the same as when he enters.... if you and i enter the public service finding a certain department, the post office or any other, with twenty posts above to which we had a reasonable hope, if we behaved well, and showed merit; if administrative reform takes away five of these posts, are we entitled to compensation, because that is what it [your allegation of grievance] comes to? can you say, there being no contract whatever between me and the state when i entered the office as a clerk, no contract whatever that i should attain to a higher post, except when there is a vacancy, that i have a claim [to compensation] when administrative reform takes away some of the other places?" the spokesman of the post office clerks replied: "if i were defending that [position] to parliament, i think i should say that the country has a certain duty toward men who, when they entered the service, had, judging by the precedents of their office, a fair prospect of reasonable promotion, and that if any economy is effected by subsequent administrative reforms, the sufferers deserve some consideration."[ ] * * * * * from to mr. lawson, m. p.,[ ] was a member of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments. in march, , he intervened in the administration of the post office by asking the postmaster general how many vacancies there were in the first class of telegraphists at the central telegraph office, london; how long those vacancies had been open, and whether the postmaster general had received a petition from the second class telegraphists for their promotion; and whether there was anything to prevent him from complying with the request. the postmaster general replied that on january , , there had been vacancies. "to thirty-four of those vacancies i have made promotions within the last few days; and this, practically, is an answer to the petition of december, ."[ ] the reader will recall that in february, , mr. lawson had intervened on behalf of a letter carrier who had been dismissed in . in to , and to , mr. lawson was a member of the london county council. in june, , mr. hay, m. p.,[ ] asked the postmaster general, through the financial secretary to the treasury: "with reference to the fact that the proportion of appointments above $ a year in the central telegraph office, london, now bears the same relation to the staff below that salary as during the period when the circular [ to ] was issued promising a prospect of $ , whether he is aware that during the years to the proportion was one appointment above $ to . below [that salary], and that the proportion at the present time is one appointment above $ to . below; and, seeing that this difference of proportion represents nearly forty appointments, above $ , whether he will take steps to readjust that proportion on the basis of to . ?"[ ] in , mr. hay was made a member of the select committee on post office servants. in april and in august, , captain norton asked the postmaster general, through the financial secretary to the treasury, to appoint so many additional senior telegraphists that it should no longer be necessary to call on men in the class below to act as substitutes for the senior telegraphists who were taking their annual leave of one month.[ ] in , captain norton became a junior lord of the treasury in the sir campbell-bannerman ministry. in february, , mr. plummer[ ] stated that at newcastle-on-tyne thirty-eight telegraphists, who had, on an average, served years each, were waiting for promotion. "will the postmaster general facilitate promotion by enforcing in the future the civil service regulation with reference to retirement[ ] at the age of sixty years?" mr. austen chamberlain, financial secretary to the treasury, replied: "the postmaster general would not feel justified in enforcing the retirement of any efficient officers for the purpose of accelerating the promotion of others." on august , , captain norton repeated the request.[ ] on november , , mr. o'brien asked the postmaster to create more rapid promotion at liverpool by retiring all men who had qualified for the maximum pension [two-thirds of salary], irrespective of the fitness of such men to continue to serve.[ ] on june , , mr. keir hardie asked the secretary to the treasury, as representing the postmaster general: "whether he will state the special qualifications which necessitate the retention in the postal service of the assistant superintendent, mr. napper, and the inspector, mr. graham, at the west central district office, after reaching years of age; and if the probable date of retirement can be given?" on july , , mr. keir hardie asked: "if he will state what are the special qualifications which necessitate the retention of the inspector, mr. e. stamp, at the north western district office, after attaining the age of years; and if he can give the probable date of this officer's retirement?"[ ] any officer who is retired with a pension, on account of ill health, before he is sixty years of age, may, if he recovers his health, be recalled to duty at the discretion of the head of his department or of the treasury. under such circumstances the officer receives the salary of his new office and so much of his pension as shall be sufficient to make his total income equal to the original pension. under the foregoing rule two officers were made respectively postmaster at bristol and postmaster at hastings. before the tweedmouth committee, mr. uren, president of the postmasters' association, protested against such "blocking of some of the best offices by pensioners.... here are two good offices, one with $ , a year, and the other with $ , , which are taken up by pensioners who recover their health, and so block a line of promotion.... i only mention these as the two most recent cases with which this sort of thing has happened, but they are not the only occasions by a good many, which i am instructed to bring before your committee as a fair subject for consideration." mr. crosse, another witness, added: "the postal clerks' association also desire to endorse the evidence put forward by the postmasters' association as to the anomaly and injustice of certain postmasters being retained in the service who are in the receipt of pension and salary from the department."[ ] [sidenote: _mechanical equality demanded_] prior to august, , the postmen of metropolitan london were divided into two classes: the second class, with wages rising from $ . a week to $ , by annual increments of $ . a week; and the first class, with wages rising from $ a week, to $ . , by annual increments of $ . a week. in consequence of the rapid growth of the postal business, however, the postmen frequently passed through the second class into the first class, not in six years, but in from two to five years. but the rate of promotion from the second class into the first differed materially in the several metropolitan branch offices, because of the unequal growth of business at those several offices. that inequality of promotion violated the ideal[ ] of the civil servants, which is, that all should fare alike; and therefore, the postmen demanded that the division into two classes be abolished, and that every postman should rise, by stated annual increments, from the initial wage of $ . to the final wage of $ . . but the abolition of classification would put an end to the possibility of those rapid passings through the stages between $ . and $ that had been of frequent occurrence in the past in some of the metropolitan branch offices. by way of compensation for the loss of that chance the postmen demanded that the annual increment be increased beyond $ . a week. the department, in august, , abolished the classification of the postmen, but it refused to raise the annual increment. it said that the rapid promotion from $ . to $ that had characterized the past had been an accident, that it had not been foreseen, and that the men who had entered the service while it had obtained had not acquired a vested right to it. in the men who had been postmen prior to the abolition of classification appeared before the tweedmouth committee with the statement that they "were under the impression that it was an official principle that no individual should suffer by the introduction of a new scale of promotion or wages." they demanded compensation for the fact that they had lost, in , the possibility of passing in less than the regular time from the wage of $ . to that of $ . they stated that they were prepared to show that "they had suffered material pecuniary loss ... amounting in some cases to about $ ."[ ] all of which goes to show that in the british post office service the abolition of a grievance can in turn become a grievance. [sidenote: _equality, not opportunity_] before the tweedmouth committee appeared also the representatives of the telegraphers, to demand the abolition of the division of the telegraphers into classes, with promotion by merit between the classes. they demanded amalgamation into a single class, in which each one should pass automatically from the minimum pay to the maximum, provided he was not arrested by the efficiency bar, to be placed at $ a year. mr. e. b. l. hill, assistant secretary, general post office, london, began his discussion of this demand by quoting with approval the conclusion of the telegraph committee of , which was: "we have taken great pains to investigate this matter. almost without exception the provincial postmasters and telegraph superintendents were opposed to an amalgamation of the classes, and gave the strongest testimony to the value of the present division [into classes] as a means of discouraging indifference, and encouraging zeal and efficiency. we think ... that for purposes of discipline it is desirable to maintain the division of the establishment into two classes." mr. hill continued by saying that in the course of the last three or four years he had changed his opinion, and had come to the conclusion that amalgamation into one class must come. "the staff seems to desire, first of all, equality, and the abolition of classification seems to insure the fulfillment of that wish. at the same time classification is a valuable incentive to exertion and efficiency...."[ ] [sidenote: _opportunities rejected; increased pay demanded_] in the proportion borne by the supervising officers above the rank of first class sorting clerks to the total staff of sorting clerks was . per cent., whereas the proportion borne by the officers above the rank of first class telegraphists to the total staff was . per cent. at the same time the proportion borne by the first class clerks to the total of first and second class clerks was . per cent. on the postal side of the service, and . per cent. on the telegraph side. in other words, the chances of promotion to a supervising position are much better in the postal branch than in the telegraph branch; so much so, that to an able and energetic man, the postal branch is more attractive than the telegraph branch, even though the chances of reaching a first class clerkship are somewhat better in the telegraph branch than in the postal branch. but the letter sorting clerk's work is more irksome than the work of the telegraphist, and therefore "the telegraphists are usually reluctant, notwithstanding the better prospects of promotion, to accept work on the postal side." for example, in the four years ending with , only ten telegraphists at birmingham had themselves transferred to the postal side, and three of those ten had themselves re-transferred to the instrument room, because the work on the postal side proved too hard for them. again, on march , , mr. harley, the postmaster at manchester, issued the following notice: "i should like to afford an opportunity to telegraphists in this office of becoming acquainted with letter sorting duties, and, with this view, if a sufficient number of officers apply, i will arrange an evening duty of from to hours in the sorting office for a month in every three, such duty to form a portion of their hours' duty. about officers would be required to enable me to carry this suggestion into effect, and i shall be glad if all officers who are disposed to avail themselves of this opportunity of acquiring postal knowledge will submit their names." at the end of three weeks mr. harley had not had a single response, though he had in person explained to a number of "representative telegraphists the advantage which a knowledge of postal work would give them." the telegraphists, as a body, decline to avail themselves of the opportunities offered them to improve their chances of promotion; none the less they allege they have a grievance in the fact that their chances of promotion are not so good as are the chances of the sorting clerks. they demand that the post office redress their grievance, either by increasing the number of telegraph supervising officers, or by raising the salaries of the first and second class telegraphists sufficiently to compensate the telegraphists for their smaller chance of becoming supervising officers.[ ] [sidenote: _parliamentary intervention_] the telegraphists even try to bring pressure on the government to stop the post office from forcing them to learn letter sorting. for example, in , the post office required the telegraphists and sorters employed in the oxford central post office to work at the pleasure of the oxford postmaster at letter sorting or at telegraphing. the oxford telegraph clerks argued that they had contracts with the government to work as telegraph operators, and that the government had no right to force them either to do sorting, or to suffer transfer to some other office where the convenience of the government would not be affected by their refusal to act as sorters. the clerks kept up their agitation for years, and in december, , they induced mr. samuel,[ ] m. p., to champion their cause in the house of commons.[ ] mr. samuel, in and , had contested unsuccessfully south oxfordshire. he took "first class honors" at oxford, and he has published: _liberalism, its principles and purposes_. in , mr. samuel became under home secretary in the campbell-bannerman ministry. in june, , mr. william jones asked the postmaster general: "whether he is aware that for some time past endeavors have been made to compel the telegraph staff at oxford to perform postal duties, and that they have been informed that they would be removed compulsorily to other offices in the event of the men declining to perform those duties; and whether, in view of the declaration of previous postmasters general, that telegraphists who had entered the service before are exempt from the performance of postal work, he will explain the reasons for his action?" lord stanley, postmaster general, replied: "the telegraph work at oxford has of late considerably fallen off [in consequence of the competition from the telephone], and there is consequently not sufficient work to keep the officers in the telegraph office fully occupied. their services have therefore been utilized for the benefit of the department in such manner as the exigencies of the service require. all officers of the department are expected loyally to perform any work required of them which they are capable of undertaking; and unless some means can be found of utilizing the services of redundant telegraphists at the offices where they are at present employed, a transfer to another office is the only alternative."[ ] mr. jones had sat in parliament since . he is a private tutor at oxford; has been assistant schoolmaster at anglesey; and has served under the london school board.[ ] within ten days of the jones episode, mr. dobbie,[ ] who had just been sent to parliament to represent ayr burghs, scotland, intervened on behalf of the glasgow post office clerks, who objected to being compelled to do dual duties.[ ] at about the same time mr. henderson, who, before entering parliament, had been a member of the newcastle town council, intervened on behalf of one chandler, a sorting clerk and telegraphist at middlesbrough, who had been informed that his increment would be withheld because of his ignorance of telegraphy. the postmaster general replied: "all the circumstances of his case have already been examined more than once both by my predecessor and myself, and i am quite satisfied that he has received proper treatment."[ ] in october, , mr. parker, m. p., intervened on behalf of some telegraph clerks at halifax who were being made to sort letters.[ ] the bradford committee on post office wages, , reported: "... it was pointed out that in the larger offices promotion is better on the postal side.... this is admitted, though we understand that it is open to any telegraphists to acquire a knowledge of postal business, and so qualify for promotion on either side. it is found that this is not done, however, as the men prefer the telegraph work to the more irksome postal duties." [sidenote: _sundry vested rights_] the post office gives those counter men of london and dublin who receive or pay money over the counter, a risk allowance, for the purpose of reimbursing them for any errors that they may make in dealing with the public. no such allowance is given to the postal clerks in any other city; nor are such allowances paid by railway companies or other private employers. upon the provincial post office clerks making a demand for equal treatment with the london and dublin clerks, the department decided to discontinue the allowances in london and dublin "as to future entrants to the postal service," and under "the most sacred preservation of all existing interests."[ ] the tweedmouth committee endorsed this resolution, with the statement that "the rights of existing holders of risk allowances should, of course, in all cases be maintained." the tweedmouth committee suggested a new scale of pay for the several kinds of letter sorters in london. that new scale was suggested for two reasons: for the purpose of discontinuing the complex system of special allowances that had sprung up; and for the purpose of reducing the pay of several classes of sorters, the existing scale of payment being too high. the committee proposed that all existing rights be safeguarded, saying: "present holders of allowances should enter the [new] scale of salary at a point equal to their previous salary and allowances combined, and wherever the maximum of the present scale together with the allowances exceeds the maximum of the new scale, that, but no further excess, should be granted."[ ] the tweedmouth committee also reported: "we think that the holidays of the dublin and edinburgh [telegram] tracers should for the future be week days, the same period as london men performing the same duties, instead of weeks as at present, the change as to holidays of course not applying to present members of the class."[ ] the tweedmouth committee concluded that the holidays given to the letter sorters and the telegraphists in london and in the provincial towns were excessive. it proposed that the annual vacation of week days during the first years of service and of one month after years of service, be reduced, to respectively week days and week days. it added: "it is not, however, suggested that this change should apply to those officers already in the service who receive a leave of weeks during the first years, nor is it proposed to curtail the leave granted to those officers who have already served years, and are, therefore, in enjoyment of a month's holiday."[ ] before the royal commission on civil establishments, , sir reginald e. welby, secretary to the treasury, testified that throughout the civil service the upper division clerks had working days' vacation a year, besides the usual holidays. he said that but for custom, which had become "almost common law," there was no reason for giving such a "very liberal" annual vacation. but he added that any change should be made to apply only to future entrants to the public service.[ ] in the department increased from week days, to one calendar month, the annual leave of all men in the central post office, london, who were in receipt of $ a year, or more. in the following year, , the department gave the same increase to men with $ a year, or more, in the branch offices of metropolitan london, and in the offices of the provincial towns. in the representatives of the men who had not obtained the increase of annual leave until , appeared before the tweedmouth committee with the demand for ten days' pay by way of compensation for the fact that, in , they had "lost ten days."[ ] the tenacity with which the civil servants resist any change in the conditions of service that is to their advantage, is further illustrated by the following incidents. down to , the overseers in the postal service, who are on their feet all day, had one day a week of relief from duty. in that allowance was reduced to half a day; and in it was discontinued altogether. in each case the change was made to apply only to the future entrants upon the office of overseer. in the new entrants upon the office still were complying under protest only with the requirement of the department that they sign a paper stating that they were not entitled to any weekly "relief leave of absence."[ ] there are four monday bank holidays in the year; and for several years prior to , the telegraph branch, as an act of grace, gave a saturday holiday to those "news distributors" whose services could be spared on the saturdays preceding monday bank holidays. in it ceased to be possible to continue this act of grace without employing men on over-time, and therefore the practice was discontinued. in the news distributors complained before the tweedmouth committee that the withdrawal of "the days of grace was a grievance with which they would like the committee to grapple." the spokesman of the news distributors said: "after having enjoyed the privilege for [several] years it was withdrawn, an arbitrary course, almost, it is thought, without precedent. to grant a privilege, and then take it away, displayed a lamentable want of that courtesy that we think should be inseparable qualities of power and position."[ ] [sidenote: _intervention by members of parliament_] in june, , mr. shackleton[ ] intervened in the house of commons on behalf of some men in the liverpool post office, whose grievance was that an interval of minutes, given as "an act of grace," had been reduced to minutes.[ ] in july, , mr. james o'connor, m. p. for wicklow, intervened in a similar matter on behalf of the men at the london west central district office.[ ] * * * * * before the royal commission on civil establishments, , sir lyon playfair was asked whether it would not be better to replace by boy clerks the "writers" employed in the past. sir lyon replied: "i think that would be better for the civil service and better for the boy clerks themselves. of course, regard should be had to the writers who are employed now, and the change should be made by not taking on more, and not by dispensing with those that are now employed." a moment before, sir lyon playfair had been asked: "the writers are now a very large and very important body in the public service, are they not?" he had replied: "yes, and they make you feel their largeness and importance by parliamentary pressure."[ ] sir lyon playfair had been chairman of the royal commission on the civil service which had sat from to ; and he had been the author of the playfair reorganization of the civil service in . before the committee on civil services expenditure, , mr. w. e. baxter, financial secretary to the treasury, said: ... "but i may say at once in regard to the matter of the travelling expenses of county court judges, that i think the whole thing has hitherto been in such an unsatisfactory state that it would be very difficult to defend the action of the treasury in various matters connected with it." thereupon mr. west, a member of the committee, queried: "acting in accordance with that view last year, the chancellor of the exchequer endeavored to reform the system as to existing judges and as to future judges, did he not?... is that reform being now pursued with regard to the existing judges?" the financial secretary to the treasury replied: "not in regard to existing judges. i have always been of opinion that it is very difficult to go back upon arrangements which have been made in the past, however injurious to the public service and uneconomical they may have been, and that it would be better for economists [persons desiring to effect economy] to direct their attention to preventing new arrangements of a similar character."[ ] * * * * * [sidenote: _unbusinesslike spirit further illustrated_] the thoroughly unbusinesslike spirit of the postal employees is illustrated still further in the following "grievance" laid before the tweedmouth committee by the official representatives of the postal employees, who spoke, not as individuals, but as the instructed representatives of their respective classes of public servants. mr. g. mcdonald presented the grievance of the "news distributors," who "are the picked men of the telegraph service, chosen on the ground of exceptional merit." he complained that there was not sufficient opportunity for promotion, since [the automatic] promotion was limited to postmasterships worth from $ , to $ , a year, and there were not enough postmasterships of that kind. mr. mcdonald admitted that men under years "by competitive examination," could rise out of the class of news distributors to surveyors' clerkships; but he argued that since such promotion was attained by competitive examination, "it must be credited to the man himself who wins his position, and i therefore beg to suggest that it cannot count as promotion in the ordinary sense."[ ] another grievance of the news distributors was that they were not "treated and classed" as major division clerks, though they were paid on the scale of such clerks. they were compelled to work hours a week, whereas major division clerks worked only hours a week.[ ] mr. alfred boulden presented the telegraphists' grievances as to pensions. he demanded that retirement on pension should be optional at the age of fifty; and that if a man died in harness, such deduction as had been made from his salary toward the pension fund, should be paid to his heir-at-law. mr. h. c. fischer, controller london central telegraph office, replied that "optional retirement at years of age would result in the more healthy members of the staff retiring at that age, and seeking other employment to add to their income, leaving the less healthy and less useful persons to hang on in the service as long as they could."[ ] mr. a. w. north presented another grievance, namely, that a female telegraph clerk can become a female superintendent in years, whereas a male telegraph clerk can reach the corresponding position only after years of service.[ ] [sidenote: _the malingerers' grievance_] mr. j r. lickfold appeared as the representative of the postal employees to demand that in the case of an employee having failed to appear for duty, the department should accept without any inquiry whatever the medical certificate of any physician. at this time it was the practice of the department to doubt the genuineness of the illness and the _bona fides_ of a medical certificate only in case "the man had a bad record for frequent short sick absences," "though it was a well known fact that private [physicians' as distinguished from departmental physicians'] certificates could be obtained for cents without even the doctor seeing the patient, but on a mere statement of his symptoms from somebody else." in support of this request, mr. lickfold, as the instructed representative of the postal employees, could make no better argument than to cite the dismissal, early in , of two railway post office sorters, w---- and j----. in the evidence in rebuttal, mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service, gave the following account of the episode in question. w---- and j---- were absent from duty from january to inclusive. on january they sent in medical certificates dated the th, but the date of one of the certificates had apparently been changed from the th. w----'s landlady testified that w---- and j---- had returned to w----'s lodgings on the th, shortly after the departure of the mail train, saying that they had missed the mail, but saying nothing of illness. she added that both men had been repeatedly at w----'s lodgings on the th and th. both w---- and j---- were absent from their lodgings during the greater part of the three days from the th to the th. the post office inspector found j---- in bed on the night of the th. j---- told him he had not seen w---- since the th, gave evasive answers, and contradicted himself. the inspector also found w---- on the night of the th, and gave an equally unfavorable report upon w----'s answers. on the th, the departmental medical officer found both men in w----'s room, and reported there was no reason why both men should not have been on duty from the th to the th. mr. spencer walpole, permanent secretary of the post office and a member of the committee, said to the witness: "have you any doubt that the department would not have taken the extreme course of dismissing any of its servants on the divided opinion of two medical men, if there had been no previous cases against them?... these men are described as deliberate malingerers?" the chairman of the committee added: "do you not think it would be wise that before bringing forward a particular case of this sort, you should inform yourself thoroughly as to the nature of the case, and as to the character of the men to whom you refer?"[ ] * * * * * avery large portion of the evidence presented before the tweedmouth committee, which evidence covered upward of a thousand closely printed folio pages, affords a melancholy comment upon the theory which is rapidly spreading from the german universities over the english speaking countries, to wit, that the extension of the functions of the state to the inclusion of business enterprises automatically creates a public spirit which strengthens the hands of the political leaders in charge of the state, even to the point of enabling those leaders to reject the improper demands made upon them by organized bodies of voters, and to administer the state's business ventures with an eye single to the welfare of the community as a whole, particularly the long-run interest of the taxpayers. the so-called norfolk-hanbury compromise, the appointment and report of the bradford committee, and the appointment, in , of the select committee on post office servants--the last act not having the support, by speech or by vote, of a single man of first rate importance in the house of commons--are melancholy instances of what that most discerning of statesmen, the late marquis of salisbury, used to call "the visible helplessness of governments." footnotes: [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , and , . [ ] that is, the claim to additional pay for seven hours' work. [ ] that is, the civil service inquiry commission, - , of which sir t. h. farrer was a member. [ ] _second report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the civil establishments_, ; q. , and following, and , and following. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , , , and following. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, november , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . mr. r. w. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury and representing the postmaster general: "but there were in the senior class certain men who, owing to the fact that they had been promoted by seniority without passing any examination, were not quite up to the normal average of the senior class." the reader will note that in no effort was made to remove the men not up to the standard of the senior class. the government had to await the retirement or the death of the incompetent men. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. h. c. fischer, controller london central telegraph office; q. , . the examination covers: ( ) "crossing and looping wires with facility and certainty. ( ) tracing and localizing faults in instruments. ( ) tracing and localizing permanent and intermittent earth contact and disconnection faults on wires. ( ) methods of testing the electro-motive force and resistance of batteries, and a general knowledge of the essential features of the various descriptions of batteries. ( ) system of morning testing, both as regards sending and receiving currents, with the necessary calculations in connection with the same. ( ) making up special circuits in cases of emergency. ( ) joining up and adjusting single-needle, single-current, and double-current morse, both simplex and duplex, and wheatstone apparatus. ( ) fitting a wheatstone transmitter to an ordinary key-worked circuit. ( ) a general knowledge of the principles of quadruplex and multiplex working. ( ) measuring resistance by wheatstone bridge." these subjects are the same as those prescribed for superintendents and assistant superintendents, but the examination is less severe. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; appendix, p. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; appendix, p. , ; and q. , , mr. nicholson, chairman london branch, postal telegraph clerks association. see also: q. , , , , , , , , , , , , and appendix, p. , . [ ] the wages of the sorters of inland letters at the time were: $ to $ for the first class, and $ . to $ for the second class. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service; q. , _et passim_, and appendix, pp. , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. and following. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , , and , and following. [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _who's who_, , lawson, hon. h. l. w.; lieutenant-colonel and honorable-colonel commanding royal bucks hussars; e. s. of st baron burnham. education: eton; balliol college, oxford. m. p. (l.) west st. pancras, - ; east gloucestershire, - ; l. c. c. west st. pancras, - , and whitechapel, - . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , , p. , . [ ] _who's who_, , hay, honorable c. g. d., m. p. (c.) since ; partner in ramsford & co., stock-brokers; founder, manager, and director of the fine art and general insurance co., ltd. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, april , , p. ; and august , , p. . [ ] _who's who_, , plummer, sir w. r., kt. cr. ; m. p. (c.) newcastle-on-tyne since ; merchant; member of city council; director of newcastle and gateshead gas co. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, march , ; mr. austen chamberlain, postmaster general: "the regulation is that all pensionable officers of whatever grade whose conduct, capacity, and efficiency fall below a fair standard shall be called upon to retire at sixty; but retirement at sixty is not enforced in the case of officers whose conduct is good, and who are certified by their superior officers to be thoroughly efficient." [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , and august , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, november , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. , ; and july , , p. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , ; and appendix, p. , . see also: _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, , p. xxiii; and _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; mr. r. e. welby, principal clerk for financial business in the treasury; q. to . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. e. b. l. hill, assistant secretary general post office, london; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. h. symes, representative of the london postmen; q. , to , ; and mr. j. c. badcock, controller london postal service; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , _et passim_. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. lewin hill, assistant secretary general post office, london; q. , to , ; mr. t. d. venables, general secretary postal telegraph clerks' association; q. , _et passim_; and mr. jno. christie, first class telegraphist at edinburgh; q. , _et passim_. [ ] _who's who_, , samuel, herbert, (l.) m. p., cleveland division of n. riding, yorkshire, since . contested unsuccessfully, south oxfordshire, and . education: university college school; balliol college, oxford. first class honors, oxford, . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, december , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. . [ ] _who's who_, . [ ] at the by-election of january , , mr. dobbie was elected by a majority of ; at the general election of january, , he was defeated by votes. the number of electors in the ayr district is , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, october , , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; mr. e. b. l. hill, assistant secretary general post office, london; q. , ; and mr. s. walpole, secretary to the post office; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , p. . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, , p. . [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_; q. , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , , , , and , and following. [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _who's who_, , shackleton, d. j., m. p. (lab.), since . secretary of darwen weavers' association; vice-president of the northern counties weavers' amalgamation; member of blackburn chamber of commerce. [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, june , , p. . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, july , , p. . [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _third report from the committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, and , to , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , and following, and appendix, pp. , and , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , . [ ] _report of the inter-departmental committee on post office establishments_, ; q. , to , and to . chapter xviii the house of commons stands for extravagance authoritative character of the evidence tendered by the several secretaries of the treasury. testimony, in , of lord welby, who had been in the treasury from to . testimony of sir george h. murray, permanent secretary to the post office and sometime private secretary to the late prime minister, mr. gladstone. testimony of sir ralph h. knox, in the war office since . testimony of sir edward hamilton, assistant secretary to the treasury since . testimony of mr. r. chalmers, a principal clerk in the treasury; and of sir john eldon gorst. mr. gladstone's tribute to joseph hume, the first and last member of the house of commons competent to criticize effectively the details of expenditure of the state. evidence presented before the select committee on civil services expenditure, . before proceeding to the subject proper of this chapter, it is desirable to say a word about the organization and the work of the treasury.[ ] the treasury consists of the first lord of the treasury, who is almost invariably the prime minister; the chancellor of the exchequer; and three junior lords of the treasury. "the treasury is pre-eminently a superintending and controlling office, and has properly no administrative functions." its duty is to reduce to, and maintain at, the minimum compatible with efficiency, the expenditures of the several departments of state. the treasury has three secretaries: the financial secretary, the parliamentary, or patronage secretary, and the permanent secretary. the financial secretary, after the chancellor of the exchequer, is the political head and conductor of the treasury. he is one of the hardest worked officers of the government. his duties were well described, recently, by mr. austen chamberlain, in the course of a brief sketch of his official career. said mr. chamberlain: "from the admiralty he was transferred to the position of financial secretary to the treasury, where, as his chief explained to him, he was in the position of an old poacher promoted to be gamekeeper, and his first duty was to unlearn the habits of five years and save money where previously it had been his pleasure to spend it." the parliamentary, or patronage secretary is the principal government whip. "he is a very useful and important functionary. his services are indispensable to the leader of the house of commons in the control of the house and the management of public business." "it devolves upon him, under the direction of the leader of the house, 'to facilitate, by mutual understanding, the conduct of public business,' and 'the management of the house of commons, a position which requires consummate knowledge of human nature, the most amiable flexibility, and complete self-control.'" as "whipper-in," the parliamentary secretary is generally assisted by two of the junior lords of the treasury, who are, at the same time, government whips. "those useful functionaries are expected to gather the greatest number of their own party into every division [of the house of commons], and by persuasion, promises, explanation, and every available expedient, to bring their men from all quarters to the aid of the government upon any emergency. it is also their business to conciliate the discontented and doubtful among the ministerial supporters, and to keep every one, as far as possible, in good humor." "an estimate of the importance of the duties which would naturally devolve upon these functionaries--from the increasing interference of the house of commons in matters of detail, and the necessity for the continual supervision of some member of the government conversant with every description of parliamentary business, in order to make sure that the business is done in conformity to the views entertained by the house--induced sir charles wood,[ ] to declare, in , that the reduction of the number of junior lords from four to three was a very doubtful advantage." the financial secretary and the parliamentary secretary are political officers, that is, they sit in the house of commons, and they change with every change in the government. the permanent secretary, on the other hand, is a non-political officer, or civil servant, who retains office through the successive changes of government, and secures the continuity of the office. he is the official head of the department, and of the whole civil service. the foregoing facts make it clear that for the purposes of this present discussion, one can cite no more authoritative personages than the several secretaries of the treasury. * * * * * the select committee on national expenditure, , took a great deal of evidence on the effect of the intervention of the house of commons in the administrative details of the several departments of state, particularly on the impairment of the power of the treasury to control the expenditure of the several departments. [sidenote: _lord welby on change in public opinion_] the most important witness was lord welby, who, as mr. welby, had entered the treasury in ; had been head of the finance department from to ; and had been permanent secretary from to . lord welby said that in theory the treasury had full power of control over the expenditures of the several departments, but that in practice that power of control was limited by the state of public opinion as reflected in the house of commons. as soon as the treasury became aware that it had not public opinion at its back, that fact "would have a certain influence on many of its decisions." then again, as soon as the other departments of state became aware that the treasury was not supported by public opinion, the authority of the treasury over those departments was impaired. "if an idea gets abroad that the house of commons does not care about economy, you will not find your servants economical." lord welby then went on to say that in all the political parties in the house of commons, "the old spirit of economy had been very much weakened." he put the change of public opinion at about the middle of the seventies, or, perhaps, rather later, say, in the eighties. previous to that change the influence of the chancellor of the exchequer had been "paramount, or very powerful, in the cabinet." but with the change in public opinion, "the effective power of control in the chancellor of the exchequer had been proportionately diminished." lord welby concluded: "i constantly hear it said now by people of great weight that economy is impossible, that you cannot get the house of commons to pay attention [to counsels of economy].... the main object [to be striven after], i think, is that there should be some correlation both in the minds of the government of the day and in the minds of the house of commons between resources and expenditure; i think that ought to exist, but i do not think it does exist at present. i see no evidence of it."[ ] mr. hayes fisher,[ ] a member of the committee, and financial secretary to the treasury, in to , replied to lord welby: "but is not the business of the treasury, and the main business of the treasury, to check that expenditure and keep it within reasonable bounds, outside of questions of policy?" lord welby replied: "quite so; but might i venture to ask the honorable member, who occupies one of the most important posts in the government, whether he would not be glad of support in the house of commons?" "most certainly we should on many occasions," was the answer. [sidenote: _sir george h. murray on change in public opinion_] sir george h. murray,[ ] permanent secretary to the post office, was called as a witness because "in the official posts he had held, particularly as private secretary to the late prime minister, mr. gladstone, he had had frequent opportunities for observation not only of the reasons for expenditure, but of the control exercised over it in parliament." he said: ... "but i think the whole attitude of the house itself toward the public service and toward expenditure generally, has undergone a very material change in the present generation.... of course, the house to this day, in the abstract and in theory, is very strongly in favor of economy, but i am bound to say that in practice members, both in their corporate capacity and, still more, in their individual capacity, are more disposed to use their influence with the executive government in order to increase expenditure than to reduce it.... that is the policy of the house--to spend more money than it did, to criticize expenditure less closely than it did, and to urge the executive government to increase expenditure instead of the reverse."[ ] [sidenote: _the commons the champion of class interests_] sir ralph h. knox,[ ] who had been in the war office from to , and who, for forty years, had listened to the discussions in parliament of the estimates of expenditure, said: ... "the mass of speeches that are made in supply before the house of commons, are speeches made on behalf of those who have grievances, their friends or constituents, or those with whom they work, or in whom they are particularly interested. if you take speech after speech, you find they are simply to the effect: 'we want more'--and they get more.... in former days there were more members who were willing to get up with some pertinence and some knowledge to criticize those proposals. but i cannot say there has been any very great tendency in that direction when details are being discussed.... what i want, is [someone] to nip in the bud, new proposals which are made by members of parliament very often on behalf of their constituents. a member, for instance, represents what i should call a labor borough; he gets up and proposes that the pay of every man employed in certain [government] factories or dockyards should be increased by so much a week, what i want is somebody to get up and say: 'that is not the view of the country, you must not accept that;' but instead of that the matter goes _sub silentio_, and the government, which is naturally interested in economy and in keeping the expenditure down, is induced to think if there is any feeling in the house at all, it is in favor of doubling everybody's pay." sir r. h. knox said he desired more opposition to unwarranted proposals, "because i know what extreme weight is attached to the speeches in supply by the minister in charge of a department, and by the department itself; but if they find that there is not a single man interested in economy when the details of the estimates are discussed, it places them in an exceedingly difficult position."[ ] [sidenote: _commons debates weaken treasury's hands_] sir edward hamilton, assistant secretary to the treasury since , said that the treasury could depend less than formerly upon the support of the house of commons, and that often-times the tendency of the debates in the house was to weaken the hands of the treasury.[ ] sir edward hamilton had entered the treasury in ; had served as private secretary to mr. lowe, chancellor of the exchequer, in - ; and as private secretary to mr. gladstone, first lord of the treasury, in to . he had been made successively principal clerk of the finance division in ; assistant financial secretary in ; and assistant secretary in . in he was made permanent financial secretary. mr. austen chamberlain, a member of the select committee, asked mr. r. chalmers,[ ] a principal clerk at the treasury: "is it within your experience as an official of the treasury that ministers of other departments not infrequently represent, as the reason for allowing expenditure, the strong pressure that has been put upon them in the house of commons?" "yes; i have seen repeated instances of that." "and their inability to resist that pressure for another year?" "yes."[ ] sir john eldon gorst, m. p., a man of large experience of the public service, said he had no doubt that in all offices there were officers who had ceased to have anything to do; and that was particularly true of the education department, where there was much reading of newspapers, and much literary composition. he had "even heard of rooms where ping pong was played, there being nothing else to do at the moment." sir john eldon gorst continued: "the treasury has power to make an inquiry into every office, it could institute an inquiry to see whether the office was or was not economically managed, but so far as i know that power never has been exercised. it would be very difficult indeed for the parliamentary head of a department to call in the treasury for such an investigation. it would make the parliamentary head extremely unpopular. the only person who, in my opinion, as things are, can really influence the expenses of an office, is the civil service head.... but although the civil service head of the office has a very great motive to make his office efficient, because his own credit and his own future depend on the efficiency of his office, he has comparatively little motive for economy. parliament certainly does not thank him; i do not know whether the treasury thanks him very much; certainly his colleagues do not thank him; ... and the natural disposition of a man to let well enough alone renders him reluctant to take upon himself the extremely ungrateful task of making his office, not only an efficient one, but also an economical one. i think anybody who has any experience of mercantile offices, such as a great insurance office, or anything of that kind, would be struck directly with the different atmosphere which prevails in a mercantile office and a government office.... i have no hesitation in saying that any large insurance company, or any large commercial office of any kind, is worked far more efficiently and far more economically than the best of the departments of his majesty's government."[ ] sir john eldon gorst's statement that he knew of no instance of the treasury exercising its power of instituting an inquiry conducted by treasury officers, into the administration of a department of state, recalls to mind some testimony given by sir r. e. welby, permanent secretary to the treasury, before the royal commission on civil establishments, . mr. cleghorn, a member of that commission, asked sir r. e. welby: "is there anybody at the treasury, for instance, who could say to the board of trade, or any other particular department: 'you have too many clerks, you must reduce them by ten?' is there anybody at the treasury with sufficient power and knowledge of the work to be in a position to say that, and to take the responsibility of it?" sir r. e. welby replied: "no." thereupon mr. r. w. hanbury, another member of the commission, asked: "there is not?" once more the answer was: "no."[ ] again, in , before the select committee on post office telegraph departments, mr. julian goldsmid, a member of the committee, asked mr. s. a. blackwood, financial secretary to the post office: "you would not like, perhaps, to give the reasons for that enormous overmanning which existed in some of the [telegraph] offices [in to ]?" mr. blackwood replied: "i am not acquainted with the reasons myself."[ ] sir ralph h. knox, in the course of his testimony, had quoted mr. bagehot's statement: "if you want to raise a certain cheer in the house of commons, make a general panegyric on economy; if you want to invite a sure defeat, propose a particular saving." he had continued: "i should like to add, 'if you want to lose popularity, oppose the proposals for increase.' there ought to be some members in the house of commons who would undertake that line." [sidenote: _gladstone's tribute to hume_] this wish of sir ralph h. knox recalls to mind the tribute paid, in , by mr. gladstone, to the memory of joseph hume, the first as well as the last member of the house of commons to acquire a knowledge of the expenditures of the government which was sufficient to enable the possessor to criticize with intelligence the details of the expenditures of the government. said mr. gladstone: ... "and in like manner, i believe that mr. hume has earned for himself an honorable and a prominent place in the history of this country--not by endeavoring to pledge parliament to abstract resolutions or general declarations on the subject of economy, but by an indefatigable and unwearied devotion, by the labor of a life, to obtain complete mastery of all the details of public expenditure, and by tracking, and i would almost say hunting, the minister in every department through all these details with a knowledge equal or superior to his own. in this manner, i do not scruple to say, mr. hume did more, not merely to reduce the public expenditure as a matter of figures, but to introduce principles of economy into the management of the administration of public money, than all the men who have lived in our time put together. this is the kind of labor, which, above all things, we want. i do not know whether my honorable and learned friend [mr. vernon harcourt], considering his distinguished career in his profession, is free to devote himself to the public service in the same way as mr. hume did. if, however, he is free to do so, i would say to him: 'by all means apply yourself to this vocation. you will find it extremely disagreeable. you will find that during your lifetime very little distinction is to be gained in it, but in the impartiality of history and of posterity you will be judged very severely in the scales of absolute justice as regards the merits of public men, and you will then obtain your reward.'"[ ] the british public, needless to say, still is waiting for the man, or men, who shall take upon themselves the invidious but honorable task of stemming the tide to extravagant expenditure, which, in great britain, as elsewhere, is the besetting sin of popular government. the british people still are waiting, though, since , they have vastly increased the functions of the government by nationalizing a great branch of industry, and therefore are more than ever in need of persons who shall emulate the late joseph hume. * * * * * in conclusion, let us compare with the testimony given in , the testimony given in , before the select committee on civil services expenditure. a member of the select committee of asked mr. w. e. baxter, financial secretary to the treasury: "am i right in thinking that you do not agree with the chancellor of the exchequer's declaration with regard to the treasury? i asked him this question: 'then it is a popular delusion to believe that the treasury does exercise a direct control over the expenditure of the department?' and the chancellor replied: 'i do not know that it is popular, but it is a delusion; i think that it would be much more popular that the treasury should exercise no control at all.'" mr. baxter replied: "i think that the chancellor stated it too broadly, and would, probably, if he had been secretary to the treasury for two or three years, have found that the treasury did, in point of fact, go back to some extent over the old expenditure as well as try to stop increases." a moment before, mr. baxter had said: "the most unpleasant part, as i find it, of the duty of the financial secretary to the treasury is to resist the constant pressure brought day by day, and almost hour by hour, by members of parliament, in order to increase expenditure by increasing the pay of individuals, increasing the pay of classes, and granting large compensations to individuals or to classes." the chairman of the committee queried: "and that pressure, which is little known to the public, has given you, and your predecessors in office, i presume, a great deal of thought and a great deal of concern?" mr. baxter replied: "as i said before, it is the most unpleasant part of my duties, and it occupies a very great deal of time which probably might be better spent." at this point mr. sclater-booth asked: "you spoke of the constant parliamentary pressure which has been exercised with a view to increasing salaries or compensations, do you allude to proceedings in parliament as well as private communications, or only to the latter?" mr. baxter replied: "i did in my answer only allude to private communications by letter and conversation in the house, because that was in my mind at the time. but of course my answer might be extended to those motions in the house which are resisted without effect by the government, and which entail great expenditure upon the country." mr. herman queried: "when you speak of the pressure put upon you by members of parliament for the increase of pay to classes, and the other points that you named, i suppose that you mean that it is partly party pressure, and that you are more subject to it at the present time than you would be if a conservative government were in power?" mr. baxter replied: "in my experience it has very little to do with party; men from all quarters of the house are at me from week to week." "do you mean to say that men opposed to you in political principles apply to you for that sort of thing now?" "certainly i should wish it to be distinctly understood that they do not ask this as a favor; they do not ask favors of me. they simply wish me to look into the question of the pay of individuals and of classes of individuals, as they put it, with a view of benefitting the public service.... in very few instances since i have been financial secretary to the treasury have i been asked by anyone to advance a friend, or to do anything in the shape of a favor. the representations are of this sort: 'here are a class of public officers who are underpaid. we wish you to look into the matter, and to consider whether or not it would be advantageous to the public service that their salary should be increased.' i look into it, and i say that i am not at all of that opinion, upon which my friend tells me that he will bring the matter before the house, and show us up." "and the other evil is one which is rapidly diminishing, and, in fact, is very small now, namely, interference in favor of individuals?" "very small indeed." to a question from mr. rathbone, mr. baxter replied: "i do not think that the representations in question have much effect; i only stated that the most unpleasant part of my duties was resisting the pressure brought to bear in that way." thereupon mr. rathbone continued: "they may not have an effect when the government has a majority of one hundred or so, or when there is no election impending, but do you think they have no effect when, as we have seen in former years for long periods, the government is carried on, whether by one side or the other, by a very small majority, or when an election is impending?" mr. baxter replied: "i have no doubt that they have had the effect in former times in those circumstances." "do you think they would be liable to have that effect again if either party should be reduced to that condition?" "it may be so." "can you suggest any mode of abating the parliamentary pressure to which you have alluded, whether it be exercised by public motions or by private influence?" the financial secretary to the treasury replied: "no; it is an evil very difficult to remedy. i think the better plan would be to inform the constituencies on the subject and let them know the practice which so widely prevails, in order that, if inclined to take the side of economy, they may look after their members of parliament." a moment later, mr. sclater-booth asked: "do you not think from what you have seen of the public service, that the treasury, existing particularly for that purpose, is the body which must be permanently relied upon to keep down expenditure?" "decidedly so." "even the constituencies can scarcely, as a rule, be appealed to in that sense, can they?" "no; i attach very much more importance to the power of the treasury than either to the action of the house of commons, or, i am sorry to say, to the voice of the constituencies."[ ] footnotes: [ ] the subjoined statements, excepting the quotation from mr. austen chamberlain, are taken from a. todd: _on parliamentary government in england_. [ ] sir charles wood, first viscount of halifax. private secretary to earl grey, to ; financial secretary to the treasury, to ; secretary to the admiralty, to ; chancellor of the exchequer, to ; president of the board of control, to ; first lord of the admiralty, to ; secretary of state for india, to ; raised to peerage as viscount halifax in ; lord privy seal, to . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _who's who_, , fisher, wm. hayes, m. p., financial secretary to the treasury, - ; junior lord of the treasury, and a ministerial whip, to ; hon. private secretary to sir michael hicks-beach, to ; and to right honorable a. j. balfour, to . [ ] _who's who_, , murray, sir g. h., joint permanent under secretary to the treasury since . entered the foreign office, ; transferred to treasury, ; private secretary to right honorable w. e. gladstone and to earl of rosebery, when prime minister; chairman board of inland revenue, to ; secretary to the post office, to . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , to , , and , to , . [ ] _who's who_, , knox, sir ralph h., entered war office in ; accountant-general, war office, to ; permanent under secretary of state for war, to ; a member of the committee which worked out lord cardwell's army reform, and of the royal commission on indian financial relations, ; civil service superannuations, ; and militia and volunteers, . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , to , , and , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , to , . [ ] in mr. chalmers was made assistant secretary to the treasury. [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. to . [ ] _report from the select committee on national expenditure_, ; q. , to , , and , . [ ] _second report of the royal commission on civil establishments_, ; q. , to , . [ ] _report from the select committee on post office_ (_telegraph department_), ; q. , to , . [ ] _hansard's parliamentary debates_, february , , p. and following. [ ] _third report from the select committee on civil services expenditure_, ; q. , to , . chapter xix conclusion a large and ever increasing number of us are adherents of the political theory that the extension of the functions of the state to the inclusion of the conduct of business ventures will purify politics and make the citizen take a more intelligent as well as a more active part in public affairs. the verdict of the experience of great britain under the public ownership and operation of the telegraphs is that that doctrine is untenable. instead of purifying politics, public ownership has corrupted them. it has given a great impetus to class bribery, a form of corruption far more insidious than individual bribery. with one exception, wherever the public ownership of the telegraphs has affected the pocket-book interests of any considerable body of voters, the good-will of those voters has been gained at the expense of the public purse. the only exception has been the policy pursued toward the owners of the telephone patents; and even in that case the policy adopted was not dictated by legitimate motives. the nationalization of the telegraphs was initiated with class bribery. the telegraph companies had been poor politicians, and had failed to conciliate the newspaper press by allowing the newspapers to organize their own news bureaux. the government played the game of politics much better; it gave the newspapers a tariff which its own advisor, mr. scudamore, said would prove unprofitable. no subsequent government has attempted to abrogate the bargain, though the annual loss to the state now is upward of $ , , . the promise to extend the telegraphs to every place with a money order issuing post office was given in ignorance of what it would cost to carry out that promise. but the adherence to the policy until an anticipated expenditure of $ , , had risen to $ , , was nothing more nor less than the purchase of votes out of the public purse. not until did the government abandon the policy that every place with a money order issuing post office was entitled to telegraphic service. when the house of commons, in march, , against the protests of the government passed the resolution which demanded that the tariff on telegrams be cut almost in two, the government should have resigned rather than carry out the order. the government's obedience to an order which the government itself contended would put a heavy burden on the taxpayer for four years, was nothing more nor less than the purchase of parliamentary support out of the public purse. no serious argument had been advanced that the charge of cents for words was excessive. the argument of the leader of the movement for reduction, dr. cameron, of glasgow, was a worthy complement to the argument made in by mr. hunt, chancellor of the exchequer, to wit, that telegraphing ought to be made so cheap that the illiterate man who could not write a letter would send a telegram. dr. cameron argued that "instead of maintaining a price which was prohibitory not only to the working classes but also to the middle classes, they ought to take every means to encourage telegraphy. they ought to educate the rising generation to it; and he would suggest to the government that the composing of telegrams would form a useful part of the education in our board schools." parliament after parliament, and government after government has purchased out of the public purse the good-will of the telegraph employees. organized in huge civil servants' unions, the telegraph employees have been permitted to establish the policy that wages and salaries shall be fixed in no small degree by the amount of political pressure that the telegraph employees can bring to bear on members of the house of commons. with the rest of the government employees they have been permitted to establish the doctrine that once a man has landed himself on the state's pay-roll, he has "something very nearly approaching to a freehold of provision for life," irrespective of his fitness and his amenableness to discipline, and no matter what labor-saving machines may be invented, or how much business may fall off. to a considerable degree the state employees have established their demand that promotion be made according to seniority rather than merit. in more than one postmaster general have they instilled "a perfect horror of passing anyone over." turning to one part of the service, one finds the civil service unions achieving the revocation of the promotion of the man denominated "probably the ablest man in the sheffield post office." turning to another part of the service, one finds the postmaster general, mr. raikes, "for the good of the service" telling an exceptionally able man that "he can well afford to wait his turn." the civil servants, in the telegraph service and elsewhere, to a considerable degree have secured to themselves exemption from the rigorous discipline to which must submit the people who are in the service of private individuals and of companies. finally, the civil servants have been permitted to establish to a greater or a lesser degree a whole host of demands that are inconsistent with the economical conduct of business. among them may be mentioned the demand that the standard of efficiency may not be raised without reimbursement to those who take the trouble to come up to the new standard; that if a man enters the service when the proportion of higher officers to the rank and file is to , he has "an implied contract" with the government that that proportion shall not be altered to his disadvantage though it may be altered to his advantage. public opinion has compelled the great political parties to drop party politics with regard to the state employees, and to give them security of tenure of office. but it permits the state employees to engage in party politics towards members of parliament. the civil service unions watch the speeches and votes of members of the house of commons, and send speakers and campaign workers into the districts of offending members. in the election campaigns they ask candidates to pledge themselves to support in parliament civil servants' demands. their political activities have led mr. hanbury, financial secretary to the treasury in to , to say: "we must recognize the fact that in this house of commons, public servants have a court of appeal such as exists with regard to no private employee whatever. it is a court of appeal which exists not only with regard to the grievances of classes, and even of individuals, but it is a court of appeal which applies even to the wages and duties of classes and individuals, and its functions in that respect are only limited by the common sense of members, who should exercise caution in bringing forward cases of individuals, because, if political influence is brought to bear in favor of one individual, the chances are that injury is done to some other individual.... we have done away with personal and individual bribery, but there is still a worse form of bribery, and that is when a man asks a candidate [for parliament] to buy his vote out of the public purse." the tactics employed by civil servants have led the late postmaster general, lord stanley, to apply the terms "blackmail" and "blood-sucking." the conduct of the house of commons under civil service pressure has led mr. a. j. balfour, the late premier, to express grave anxiety concerning the future of great britain's civil service. it has led mr. austen chamberlain, representative of the postmaster general, to say that members of both parties had come to him seeking protection from the demands made upon them by the civil servants. on another occasion it has led mr. chamberlain to say: "in a great administration like this there must be decentralization, and how difficult it is to decentralize, either in the post office or in the army, when working under constant examination by question and answer in this house, no honorable member who has not had experience of official life can easily realize. but there must be decentralization, because every little petty matter cannot be dealt with by the postmaster general or the permanent secretary to the post office. their attention should be reserved in the main for large questions, and i think it is deplorable, absolutely deplorable, that so much of their time should be occupied, as under the present circumstances it necessarily is occupied, with matters of very small detail because these matters of detail are asked by honorable members and because we do not feel an honorable member will accept an answer from anyone but the highest authority. i think a third of the time--i am putting it at a low estimate--of the highest officials in the post office is occupied in answering questions raised by members of this house, and in providing me with information in order that i may be in a position to answer the inquiries addressed to me" about matters which "in any private business would be dealt with by the officer on the spot, without appeal or consideration unless grievous cause were shown." the questions of which mr. austen chamberlain spoke, at one end of the scale are put on behalf of a man discharged for theft, at the other end of the scale on behalf of the man who fears he will not be promoted. the practice of putting such questions not only leads to deplorable waste of executive ability, it also modifies profoundly the entire administration of the public service. lord welby, the highest authority in great britain, in testified that it was the function of the treasury to hold the various departments up to efficient and economical administration. but that the debates in the commons not only weakened the treasury's control over the several departments, but also made the treasury lower its standards of efficiency and economy. he added that in the last twenty or twenty-five years both parties had lost a great deal of "the old spirit of economy," and that at the same time "the effective power of control in the chancellor of the exchequer had been proportionately diminished." in former times the chancellor of the exchequer had been "paramount, or very powerful in the cabinet." upon the same occasion, sir george h. murray was called to testify, because "in the official posts he had held, particularly as private secretary to the late prime minister, mr. gladstone, he had had frequent opportunities for observation not only of the reasons for expenditure, but of the control exercised over it in parliament." sir george h. murray said: "but i think the whole attitude of the house itself toward the public service and toward expenditure generally, has undergone a very material change in the present generation.... of course, the house to this day, in the abstract and in theory, is very strongly in favor of economy, but i am bound to say that in practice members, both in their corporate capacity and, still more, in their individual capacity, are more disposed to use their influence with the executive government in order to increase expenditure than to reduce it." sir john eldon gorst testified in : "but although the civil service head of the office has a very great motive to make his office efficient, because his own credit and his future depend on the efficiency of his office, he has comparatively little motive for economy. parliament certainly does not thank him; and i do not know whether the treasury thanks him very much; certainly his colleagues do not thank him.... i think anybody who has any experience of mercantile offices, such as a great insurance office, or anything of that kind, would be struck directly with the different atmosphere which prevails in a mercantile office and a government office.... i have no hesitation in saying that any large insurance company, or any large commercial office of any kind is worked far more efficiently and far more economically than the best of the departments of his majesty's government." sir john eldon gorst might have added that the civil service head of a department really had only rather moderate power to enforce economy. before the royal commission of , lord welby [then sir welby], permanent secretary to the treasury, was asked: "but you would hardly plead the interference of members of parliament as a justification for not getting rid of an unworthy servant, would you?" lord welby, who had been in the treasury since , replied: "it is not a good reason, but as a matter of fact it is powerful. the house of commons are our masters." * * * * * in the hands of a commercial company, the telegraphs in the united kingdom would yield a handsome return even upon their present cost to the government. that is proven beyond the possibility of controversy by the figures presented in the preceding chapters. in the hands of the state, in the period from - to - , the operating expenses alone have exceeded the gross receipts by $ , , . if one excludes, as not earned by the telegraphs, the $ , , paid the government by the national telephone company in the form of royalties for the privilege of conducting the telephone business in competition with the state's telegraphs, the excess of operating expenses over gross receipts will become $ , , . that sum, of course, takes no account of the large sums required annually to pay the interest and depreciation charges upon the capital invested in the telegraph plant. on march , , the capital invested in the telegraphs was $ , , . to raise that capital, the government had sold $ , , of per cent. securities, at an average price of about . ; and for the rest the government had drawn upon the current revenue raised by taxation. on march , , the unearned interest which the government had paid upon the aforesaid $ , , of securities had aggregated $ , , , the equivalent of . per cent. of the capital invested in the telegraphs. upon the $ , , taken from the current revenue, the government never has had any return whatever. * * * * * the nationalization of the telegraphs has corrupted british politics by giving a great impetus to the insidious practice of class bribery. it also has placed heavy burdens upon the taxpayers. but that is not all. the public ownership of the telegraphs has resulted in the state deliberately hampering the development of the telephone industry. that industry, had the government let it alone, would have grown to enormous proportions, promoting the convenience and the prosperity of the business community, as well as giving employment to tens of thousands of people. in the year , only one person in each persons in the united kingdom was a subscriber to the telephone; and the total of persons employed in the telephone industry was only some , . on january , , one person in each persons in the united states was a subscriber to the telephone. under the telephone policy pursued by the government, the national telephone company down to the close of the year for all practical purposes had no right to erect a pole in a street or lay a wire under a street. as late as , not less than , miles of the company's total of , miles of wire were strung from house-top to house-top, under private way-leaves which the owners of the houses had the right to terminate on six months' notice. inadequate as it was, the progress made by the national telephone company down to was a splendid tribute to british enterprise. the necessarily unsatisfactory service given by the national telephone company, down to the close of , created a prejudice against the use of the telephone which to this day has not been completely overcome. again, the government to this day has left the national telephone company in such a position of weakness, that the company has been unable to brave public opinion to the extent of abolishing the unlimited user tariff and establishing the measured service tariff exclusively. on the other hand, it is an admitted fact that the telephone cannot be brought into very extensive use except on the basis of the measured service exclusively. the british government embarked in the telegraph business, thus putting itself in the position of a trader. but it refused subsequently to assume one of the commonest risks to which every trader is exposed, the liability to have his property impaired in value, if not destroyed, by inventions and new ways of doing things. in that respect the british government has pursued the same policy that the british municipalities have pursued. the latter bodies first hampered the spread of the electric light, in large part for the purpose of protecting the municipal gas plants; and subsequently they hampered the spread of the so-called electricity-in-bulk generating companies, which threatened to drive out of the field the local municipal electric light plants. very recently the british government has taken measures to protect its telegraphs and its long distance telephone service from competition from wireless telegraphy. it has refused an application for a license made by a company that proposed to establish a wireless telegraphy service between certain english cities. the refusal was made "on the ground that the installations are designed for the purpose of establishing exchanges which would be in contravention of the postmaster general's ordinary telegraphic monopoly." in order to protect its property in the submarine cables to france, belgium, holland and germany, the government has inserted in the "model wireless telegraphy license" a prohibition of the sending or receiving of international telegrams, "either directly or by means of any intermediate station or stations, whether on shore or on a ship at sea." in short, the commercial use of wireless telegraphy apparatus the government has limited to communication with vessels. * * * * * in one respect the nationalization of the telegraphs has fulfilled the promises made by the advocates of nationalization. it has increased enormously the use of the telegraphs. but when the eminent economist, mr. w. s. jevons, came to consider what the popularization of the telegraphs had cost the taxpayers, he could not refrain from adding that a large part of the increased use made of the telegraphs was of such a nature that the state could have no motive for encouraging it. "men have been known to telegraph for a pocket handkerchief," was his closing comment. mr. jevons had been an ardent advocate of nationalization. had he lived to witness the corruption of politics produced by the public ownership of the telegraphs, his disillusionment would have been even more complete. * * * * * from whatever viewpoint one examines the outcome of the nationalization of the telegraphs, one finds invariably that experience proves the unsoundness of the doctrine that the extension of the functions of the state to the inclusion of the conduct of business ventures will purify politics and make the citizen take a more intelligent as well as a more active part in public affairs. class bribery has been the outcome, wherever the state as the owner of the telegraphs has come in conflict with the pocket-book interest of the citizen. one reason has been that the citizen has not learned to act on the principle of subordinating his personal interest to the interest of the community as a whole. another reason has been that the community as a whole has not learned to take the pains to ascertain its interests, and to protect them against the illegitimate demands made by classes or sections of the community. there is no body of intelligent and disinterested public opinion to which can appeal for support the member of parliament who is pressed to violate the public interest, but wishes to resist the pressure. the policy of state intervention and state ownership does not create automatically that eternal vigilance which is the price not only of liberty but also of good government. one may go further, and say that the verdict of british experience is that it is more difficult to safeguard and promote the public interest under the policy of state intervention than under the policy of _laissez-faire_. under the degree of political intelligence and public and private virtue that have existed in great britain since , no public service company could have violated the permanent interests of the people in the way in which the national government and the municipalities have violated them since they have become the respective owners of the telegraphs and the municipal public service industries. no public service company could have blocked the progress of a rival in the way in which the government has blocked the progress of the telephone. no combination of capital could have exercised such control over parliament and government as the association of municipal corporations has exercised. finally, no combination of capital could have violated the public interest in such manner as the civil service unions have done. index abolition terms given to persons reorganized out of service, , ; premium on inefficiency, absolute dismissal, power of, in a public department would increase efficiency, - acland-hood, sir a., on election losses to supporters of conservative ministry, ; on loss of seats and votes, , administration, interference of members of the house with, , , - administrative acts, how answers to questions about, are framed, allshire, w. h., pension asked for, by mr. crean, m. p., ambrose, w., disgusted at civil service pressure, ansell, c. j., complaint by, applications or communications, post office rule for making, - arnold, ----, promoted by merit, - association of municipal corporations controls parliament more than capital, australia, offensive officials forced out of office in, ; promotion in, auxiliary staff, grievance of the, badcock, j. c., before tweedmouth committee, - , ; on redundant first class newspaper sorters in post office, - ; on squeezing through, ; on promotion, ; on roberts case, ; on worth case, ; on the malingerers' grievance, - balcarres, lord d. l., on election pledges, ; on specific pledges, balfour, a. j., anxiety of, for the public service, - bartley, sir g. c. t., intervened for one canless dismissed as unfit, baxter, w. e., on a six-hour day, - ; on travelling expenses of county court judges, ; on pressure brought by members of parliament on financial secretary, - bayley, thomas, asks for a select committee, ; motion lost, ; second motion of, ; on rights of the house, beaufort, ----, postmaster at manchester, error of, in granting hours of work, belgian state telegraphs run at a loss, ; rate table, n belgium, percentage of personal and social messages in, ; number of offices in, ; figuring cost in, ; experience of, - , ; telegraph introduced in, by british company, ; government of, appropriates the new industry, ; statistics, ; increased use in, ; telegrams to inhabitants, betting on horse races subsidized, - birmingham, extension of service in, - blackmail and blood-sucking methods employed, , , blackwood, sir s. a., recommends new newspaper tariff, - ; answers questions on increase of salaries under fawcett, - ; on removal of inefficient employees, - ; advice from, refused by mr. raikes, ; on trades union spirit among clerks, - booth, charles, member of bradford committee, , bortlewick, sir a., on parliamentary interposition, boulden, alfred, presented telegraphists' grievances as to pensions, bowles, gibson, on pressure on members, bradford, sir edward, chairman of bradford committee, , bradford committee, report, - , ; question submitted to it, ; ignores its reference, - ; reports its failure, ; ignored rules of procedure, ; declared comparison impossible, ; reported widespread discontent, , ; greater pressure of work, ; statements unsupported by evidence, ; recommended large increase of expenditure, ; not acceptable to post office workers, ; lord stanley on, - ; rejected by balfour government, ; before the house, bradlaugh, charles, intervenes for promotion of eleven men passed over, - , , breakdown, causes of, n bribery, personal, replaced by class, , british and irish magnetic company reported shilling rate unremunerative, british and irish magnetic telegraph company formed, - ; messages carried by, and receipts, - ; government purchase of, british telegraph company, - british telegraphy, history of, - brodrick, thomas, member of bradford committee, , brown, r. h., interference for, burbridge, r., member of bradford committee, , business methods not applicable in state service, , , - business ventures, state control of, an untenable doctrine, , - buxton, sydney, moved a select committee on post office servants, - ; on case of t. reilly, ; on number of applications by members of the commons, cable between dover and calais, cameron, dr. charles of glasgow, and rates for messages, ; resolution offered by, n; remarks on, - ; opposed, ; on increase of business without increase of cost, - ; his resolution passed, ; increase of mileage and operators under, ; bill to give effect to, and results, - ; argument of, campbell, john, intervention by, to reopen case eight years old, campbell-bannerman, sir henry, on election pledges, , - capital, very little new, invested after , - capital invested, how raised, ; sums on which revenue would have paid interest, , cavendish, lord frederick, debate on fawcett revision of wages, ; letter on agitation in postal service for increased wages, - chamberlain, joseph austen, on promotions and concessions, - ; would not throw responsibility on house of commons, - ; had personally considered all complaints made to him, ; petty grievances, - ; members had asked him to protect them from pressure of employees, ; opposed to thrusting details on a committee, ; proposed to get advice of business men on scale of wages of four classes, ; names the bradford committee, ; asks for a non-party vote, - ; replies to mr. nannetti's interventions, - ; on decentralization of administration in post office, - , - ; rule for making applications, - ; on wages of postmen at newton abbott, ; refuses to force retirements, ; on duties of secretaries of the treasury, - ; on pressure for expenditure, - chambers of commerce, british, demands of, for lower charges on telegraphic messages, - , ; agitation by, for state purchase of telegraph properties, chancellor of the exchequer, influence of, weakened, , - charges, lower, and better service, promise of, ; irrespective of distance, cheeseman, ----, dismissed for political activity, childers, h. c. e., opposed reduction of charges for telegrams, churchfield, charles, misrepresentations made by, - ; on the roberts case, - citizen, upbuilding the character and intelligence of the individual, civil establishments, royal commission on, testimony of sir charles du cane before, on dismissal of incompetent public employees, - civil servants, problem of a large body of, in a democracy, ; in revenue departments, enfranchised, , ; organized for political influence, ; culmination of demands of, on house of commons, ; on efforts of, to secure exemption from business standards of efficiency and discipline, - ; undue influence of in house of commons, - ; danger from increasing number of, not considered, , ; disfranchised in three departments, ; g. w. hunt on, - ; mr. gladstone on, - ; circularize members of parliament, ; warned by postmaster general, ; right of appeal conceded to, ; campaign of education, - ; positions as, sought and retained, - ; government compromises with, ; too much political pressure from, , - ; disfranchisement of suggested, ; concessions to by norfolk-hanbury committee, ; demand right to agitate, - ; commons the court of appeal for, - , ; disfranchised at their own request, ; ask new judgment on old facts, ; have friends in the commons, ; commons reminded of their votes, ; pressure from, intolerable, , , - ; hosts of non-economical demands granted to, ; political activities of, civil service should be kept out of politics, - ; a prime minister on the, - ; spirit of the, - ; implied contract between the state and the, , civil service head of an office can alone influence expenses, ; not thanked for services, , , civil service pressure, the treasury on, - ; evidence as to in , - ; earl compton's part in, - , ; w. ambrose disgusted at, civil service unions, intervention of, in behalf of the individual, , ; opposed promotion by merit, - ; active in election campaigns, ; more injurious to public interest than any combination of capital, civil services expenditure, select committee on, , testimony of sir wm. h. stephenson before, on dismissal of state servants, ; testimony given before, claims of the telegraph companies, class, r. w. hanbury on a new social, class bribery displacing personal, ; a result of public ownership, , , class grievances, spirit of trades unionism evoked for, class influence in house of commons the great reproach of the reformed parliament, - , - class interests, the commons the champion of, - class legislation to be avoided, cleghorn, j., on power of the treasury, - clerks, lower division, salaries of, n clery, ----, dismissed for political activity, , ; on political pressure, cochrane-baillie, c. w. a. n., query of, on press telegrams, commission on civil establishments, the royal, on pressure for increased wages, - committee of the indoor staff, report of, the basis for the raikes' revision of wages, ; not approved by civil servants, - committee on revenue department estimates, questions of chairman of, on salary increase under fawcett, - committee to ascertain profits of telegraph companies, competition, alleged wastefulness of, - compton, earl w. g. s. s., a representative of post office employees, ; demands a select committee, , , ; intervened for a sorter reduced for cause, consolidation of telegraph companies, argument for, - ; the companies' proposal, continuous counting of sporting messages, - cooke and wheatstone's inventions purchased, cornwell, ----, case of, cost, no explanation of discrepancies between estimates and actual, counter men, risk allowance for, crompton episode, the, - crosse, f. t., complains against promotion by merit, - ; on retention of pensioners in service, customs revenue department, complaints about promotion in, n danish government reports on users of telegraph, davies, h. a., on right to fixed rate of promotion, - davis, r. h., on action of post office authorities, davis, r. s., announces concessions made by postmaster general, day, implied contract for six hour, - ; w. e. baxter on, - ; sir r. e. welby on, - ; h. h. fowler on, ; sir t. h. farrer on, - decentralization of administration, necessity of, in post office, - , depreciation of plant, cost of, discipline, proper, should be preserved, ; typical cases of enforced leniency in, - discontent in postal and telegraph service, - , ; emphasized by a. k. rollit, - ; widespread, ; premium on, disfranchisement of civil servants suggested, disraeli, benjamin, on civil servants, - , disraeli ministry, concessions of the, ; made inadequate investigation of cost of nationalization, - ; replaced by the gladstone ministry, ; protest of, against enfranchising civil servants in revenue departments, , - dobbie, joseph, intervenes against dual duty at glasgow, - dockyard laborers not disfranchised, dual duty men, - du cane, sir charles, on getting rid of incompetent public employees, - ; on promotion by merit in the customs, duplex telegraphy, eastern telegraph cable company, work required by, _economist, the_, on nationalization, ; on bradford committee report, economy, parliament has never an influence for, in expenditure for education, ; change of public opinion toward, - ; a voice in defence of, wanted, - , edinburgh, extension of service in, edinburgh chamber of commerce leads in demand for lower charges, , , electoral disabilities, acts for relief of, n electric and international telegraph company, rates, - n; organized, ; first dividend declared, ; growth of, and prices ; paid ten per cent., ; messages carried by, and receipts, ; government purchase of, ; earnings of the, , , ; shares of, did not rise, electric light, spread of the, hampered, english companies, experience of, - equality, mechanical, demanded, ; not opportunity, examination of first class telegraphists for promotion, - executive ability, deplorable waste of, by intervention, - , - executive's power of dismissal, curtailment of, - ; power of promotion curtailed, - expense, enormous increase of, , , - , , expenses, operating, cost of, to state, ; estimated cost of, - ; under-estimated by one-half, - ; proportion of, to gross revenue, n; augmented, ; average per telegram, n; increase through raise in wages, extension of telegraph service, - ; estimated cost of, ; estimated _vs._ actual expenditure for, - ; effect of, unremunerative, farrer, sir t. h., on real difficulty of public service in getting rid of bad men, - , ; declared promotion by routine the real evil, ; put proper men at the top, ; on a six or seven hour day, - fawcett, henry, increased pay of telegraph operators, ; on increased salaries of telegraph employees, - ; horror of passing over any one, , ; created class of telegraph clerks, ; class of senior telegraphists, fawcett association, pledge contained in circular issued by the, n fawcett revision of wages, , , , ; increased expenditures from, - fay, samuel, member of bradford committee, , feasey, e. c., intervention for, by j. ward, - fergusson, sir james, on political circulars issued by civil servants, - ; issues a warning, ; on proper discipline, ; on conditions in the civil service, ; on employees taking part in politics, - financial failure of state telegraphs, reasons for, , - financial secretary, duties of the, , fischer, h. c., before tweedmouth committee, - , - ; on examination of telegraphists, - ; on optional retirement at fifty, fisher, hayes, on public expenditure, foreign experience in state operation, ; summary, foreign messages profitable in belgium, ; in switzerland, foreman, b. j., pension asked for, by l. sinclair, foster, m. h., on claims for reversionary rights, - fowler, sir h. h., on the tone in the house, ; protests against postmaster general sitting in house of lords, ; on a six or seven hour day, fowler, w., on contingent liabilities, , france, government of, appropriates the telegraph, ; increased use in, france, percentage of personal and social messages in, ; number of offices in, , freehold of provision for life, employee of the state has, , french experience, , french state telegraphs run at loss, garland, c. h., on service rendered by t. bayley, giffen, robert, on pensions to men reorganized out of service, gladstone, w. e., on class influence in house of commons, - , - ; on securing pledges from candidates, ; rescinds fergusson's warning, ; tribute of, to joseph hume, - a gladstone ministry, glasgow, extension of service in, glasgow postmaster's mistake, - godley, sir a., member of tweedmouth committee, , goldsmid, j., on overmanning offices, gorst, sir john eldon, on expenditure of public money on education, ; on mismanagement arising from intervention of house of commons, ; on power of treasury to make inquiries not exercised, ; on efficiency in business and government offices, , - goschen, g. j., on the evidence before select committee, - ; on reversionary rights of the railways, - ; questioned mr. scudamore on his estimates, - government, the problem of, and its solution, government, the, ignorant of relations between telegraph companies and railways, - ; obliged to purchase reversionary rights, ; should have resisted demands of railways, ; its estimate of total sum, . government clerks, scale of wages for, recommended by playfair commission, governments, the visible helplessness of, gower, g. g. leveson, questions of, on promotion, graves, edward, on promotion for ability, green, james, on cases of richardson and walker, - grievance, abolition of a, in turn a grievance, grievances, typical, - grimston, robert, on consolidation of telegraph companies, - groves, j. g., intervention by, guarantees required for new telegraph offices, , - ; check on log-rolling, ; agitation for reduction of, - hamilton, sir edward, on support of treasury in house of commons, hanbury, r. w., on penny postage, ; to postmaster general, - ; on political pressure, - ; cost of concessions, ; on political influence and pressure, - , ; on steadman's motion, - ; on wages of employees, ; opposed new committee, , ; denounces civil service pressure as intolerable, ; on "soft heartedness" on the part of heads of departments, ; on framing answers to questions from members, ; would represent postmaster general in house of commons only conditionally, harcourt, sir w., on post office employees, - hardie, j. keir, on concessions of tweedmouth committee, - ; intervention by, - , ; for specific retirements, harley, h., offers telegraphers chance to learn postal work, - harrison, ----, case of, hartington, marquis of, presents a bill for purchase money, ; on the bargain, - , ; erroneous estimates of, , , - , n harvey, a. s., on probationary period of service, ; on trades union spirit, hay, c. g. d., intervention by, for telegraphists, - heaton, j. h., on political patronage, - ; censured by constituents, hegnett, ----, promoted by merit. interference in case of, helsby, ----, promoted by merit. interference in case of, henderson, a., intervened for one chandler, hill, e. b. l., testimony before tweedmouth committee, ; against and for amalgamation of telegraphers into one class, hill, lewin, on yielding to civil service pressure, ; on increased expenditures, n; on civil service positions, n; no service like the public service, - ; recommendation to tweedmouth committee, ; on comparison of postmen with other classes of employment, - ; on messenger boys in post office department, hobhouse, c. e. h., intervention by, hobson, mr., postmaster at glasgow, obliged to promote by seniority, ; mistake of, holidays, tweedmouth committee on, ; sir r. e. welby on, ; news distributors' complaint about, - horse races, betting on, subsidized, - house of commons, intervention of members of, on behalf of public servants, - ; the court of appeal for civil servants, - , , ; reminded of civil servants' votes, ; omnipotent, ; responsibility resting on, ; members of coerced, ; asked to purchase votes, ; thirty threatened with loss of seats, - ; majority of members pledged, ; under pressure from the civil service unions, curtails executive's power to dismiss incompetent and redundant employees, - ; intervention of on behalf of individuals through civil service unions, ; is master of public departments, - ; pressure of members on heads of departments, - ; the tone in the, ; stimulus of a question in the, ; stands for extravagance, - ; the champion of class interests, ; debates in, weaken hands of treasury, , ; constant pressure from, on financial secretary for class interests, - hume, joseph, w. e. gladstone's tribute to, as a defender of economy in expenditure, - hunt, g. w., calls mr. scudamore author of bill to acquire telegraphs, ; on uses of telegraph, ; on estimated cost of and revenue from the telegraphs, ; on the terms of purchase, ; on purchase of reversionary rights, ; on civil servants, - incompetents, difficulty of removing, - , ; reorganized out of service on pensions, - ; cost of pensions to, ; juniors doing work of, indictment against telegraph companies, individual grievances, interference for, industry, a ready-made, acquired, inland messages, loss on, in belgium, - ; in switzerland, - inland telegrams, low rates on, ; losses incurred by, inland traffic, attempt to develop in belgium, - ; in switzerland, inquiry, scope of the, - inspection of education, - inspectors, educational, difficulties of, - inter-departmental committee on post office establishments named, - intervention through house of commons on behalf of individuals, - , ; in matters of promotion, - ; by members an obvious difficulty, ; types of, - ; on behalf of individual employees, how managed, - ; special cases of, by members of house of commons, - , - ; number of, ; waste of executive ability from, - ; mismanagement arising from, irons, h. b., complains of prospects for promotion, isle of man cable bought, jackson, ----, of kilkenny, interference for, jersey and guernsey cable bought, jevons, w. s., on the increased use of telegraphs, ; on cost of extension, ; disillusionment of, , jobbery not the great evil of the service, johnson, h., interference for, jones, w., intervenes for telegraph clerks at oxford, - ; lord stanley's reply to, joyce, h., on promotions for merit over men not qualified, - ; on case of robinson, - ; on wykes case, ; on the bradlaugh episode, ; on the webster case, joyce, michael, intervention by, - judges, county court, travelling expenses of, kearley, h. e., demands a select committee, - ; declares promotion of telegraphists blocked, ; statement of, declared misleading by mr. morley, - ; grievances of the auxiliary staff, kensington, ----, case of, kerry, c. h., before tweedmouth committee, ; on wages and speed of telegraphists, - knox, sir ralph h., on extravagance in house of commons, - ; defenders of economy needed, lacon, telegraphist at birmingham, case of, - _laissez-faire_, ; alleged breakdown of, - ; a better policy for the public interest than state intervention, lawson, h. l. w., on interference of members of parliament in dismissals from service, ; on spirit of trades unionism among clerks, - ; interventions by, ; for telegraphists, - learners, promotion of, leeds, extension of service in, - leeman, g., cross-questions mr. scudamore, - n, n, ; on mr. scudamore's estimates of cost of reversionary rights of railways, - , letter sorters, scale of wages for, - letter sent, scudamore's misleading comparison of telegrams with, - liberal party supported demands of civil servants, - lickfold, j. r., on medical certificates, - lingen, lord r. r. w., on difficulties in public departments due to triennial change of government, - ; on trouble to secure efficiency, log-rolling by members of house of commons, - london and provincial telegraph company, ; rates charged by, ; government purchase of, london central telegraph office, employees not drawn from, - london district telegraph company unsuccessful as result of low rates charged, - ; rate table, n; notice of, london local telegraph system enlarged, london trades council, complaints from, lowe, robert, on the immense price paid, - ; division of the service under, mcdonald, g., on grievances of news distributors, macdonald, j. a. m., questions mr. gladstone on civil service pressure, ; demands a select committee, ; motion for, lost, m'dougall, ----, promoted by merit, - maciver, david, on complaints of telegraphists, - maddison, f., on a non-official committee, magnetic telegraph company, - malingerers' grievance, j. r. lickfold on the, ; j. c. badcock on, - ; s. walpole to witness on, manchester, extension of service in, manners, lord john, on glasgow postmasters' mistake, - mears, ----, case of, member of parliament, should interference of, in behalf of public employee, lead to dismissal? ; influence of, may annul power of dismissal in public departments, members of house of commons intervene in cases of discipline, - members of parliament and the rank and file, mercer, ----, interference for, merchants, general, used telegraphs little, messages, annual increase in, ; relating to personal affairs an important part of traffic - ; annual increase of, in united kingdom, ; mr. scudamore's estimated increase of, - ; fully realized ; traffic of, ; increase in number of, , ; sent to individual newspapers, n; annual loss on newspaper, - , , ; delivered to newspapers, n; remained nearly stationary, n; increase of, mileage of telegraph lines in united kingdom, - , n; of extension, , n; increase of, through reduction of tariff, mitford, f., power of dismissal in public departments may be annulled by pressure from individual members of parliament, money order issuing post office, a telegraph office promised at every, money order post offices and telegraph facilities compared, monk, charles james, introduced and carried bill to enfranchise revenue officers, , ; mr. gladstone on the bill, - morgan, ----, case of, morley, arnold, postmaster general, ; on a select committee, - ; reply to mr. kearley on promotions, - , - ; on civil service positions, - ; on make up of select committee, - ; on the post office for revenue, ; lords commissioners of the treasury to, - ; on passing over men not qualified, , mowatt, sir f., member of tweedmouth committee, , , municipalities and national government as violators of permanent interests of the people, - murphy, dennis, interference for, murray, sir george h., on change in attitude of house of commons on expenditures, , nannetti, j. p., questions promotion of two female telegraphists, - ; interventions by, , , national expenditure, select committee on, evidence before in , on intervention of house of commons in departments of state, national joint committee of the postal association, resolution of, against the bradford committee, national telephone company, obstacles to development by, - national union of teachers, brings influence against inspectors, nationalization of the telegraphs, ; scotch as leaders in, , ; argument for, - ; has increased the use of telegraphs, newnes, sir g., intervention by, news distributors complain about saturday holiday, - ; other grievances laid before tweedmouth committee, - newspaper sorters, no work for first class, since , - newspapers, subscription charges to, for press bureau, - ; favored nationalization, ; maximum rate demanded by, ; yielded by scudamore, ; report of committee on, - ; loss on service to, - , , ; messages delivered to, n; given an unprofitable tariff, nicholson, a. s., on grievances of telegraphists, - non-paying telegraph offices, guarantees required for, , - ; misleading tables regarding, - norfolk-hanbury committee recommended further concessions, - ; work done by, ; did not give satisfaction, ; increased expenses from, norfolk-hanbury compromise, north, a. w., grievance of, as to female telegraphist, north, lord frederick, ordered civil servants to support the government, northcote, sir stafford, disillusionment of, norton, capt. c. w., an aggressive champion of civil servants, ; on technical examination of telegraphists, ; moves a reduction in expenses, ; charges government with breach of faith, - ; motion lost, ; on rights of postal servants as voters, - ; moved reduction of post office vote, ; on civil service agitation, - ; motion lost, ; vote, n; made a junior lord of the treasury, ; intervention by, ; for senior telegraphists, , o'brien, p., intervention by, - ; for retirements, o'connor, james, intervention by, official documents, list of, used as authorities, n operators, increase in number of, to meet reduction of tariff, overseers in postal service, relief from duty of, oxford telegraph clerks secure intervention against dual duty, - palmer, g. w., intervened for learners punished for carelessness, parliament warned against government's estimates, - , ; enacted purchase bill, ; responsible for telegraph deficits, - ; reduced tariff on telegrams, ; not competent to judge, - ; has never an influence for economy, . _see also_ house of commons parliamentary committees, titles of reports of, n parliamentary secretary, duties of the, - parties, both political, committed to nationalization, party, neither, in open alliance with civil servants, patey, c. h. b., on guaranteed offices, ; on operating expenses, ; on loss for newspaper service, - , ; on telegraph flimsy, - penny postage precedent, cited by mr. scudamore, - ; profit from, , pensioners, retired, recalled to service, ; protest against before tweedmouth committee, pension system no remedy for getting rid of incompetents, pensions, state's system of, contrasted with system of london and north western railway, pensions to the incompetent, cost of, permanent secretary, duties of the, personal bribery replaced by class bribery, playfair, sir lyon, testimony of, before royal commission on civil establishments, - ; on infrequency of promotion by merit, ; on writers, - playfair commission, scale of wages for government clerks recommended by, pledge contained in circular issued by the fawcett association, n plummer, sir w. r., intervenes for retirements, - political influence, effect of, on post office administration, - political pressure not all in one direction, ; too much from civil servants, , - , - politics forces the government's hand, - post office, the, a revenue department, ; denied by a. k. rollit, ; technical work of the, ; no part of its duty to make a profit, ; net revenue from, ; expenses increased, post office department, complaint of stagnation of promotion in, ; tweedmouth committee on, ; apparent net profits of, n; compelled to deal leniently with violators of rules, - post office employees denied by the conservative ministry a select committee on their pay and position, ; vote with liberals, ; and secure the committee, ; press house of commons for increase of wages and salaries, - ; circular of, objected to by lord stanley, post office officials can only recommend for promotion, post office servants, select committee on, postal clerks and telegraphists, comparative chances for promotion of, - ; bradford committee on, postal servants, are, fairly paid, ; expenditure demands of, called for, ; not satisfied with bradford committees' recommendations, , ; demands were "blackmail" and "blood-sucking," - , ; largely in hands of agitators, - ; and the general election of , - postal telegraph clerks' association, a powerful political organization, ; concessions granted to, ; demands adoption of the bradford committee report, - ; meetings of, - , postal telegraph offices, increase of, ; misleading tables regarding, - postmaster general, concessions made by, ; and the party following, ; limitations of power of, to promote or to remove, - ; interviewed first in cases of intervention by a member of parliament, postmasters general, anxieties of, regarding promotions, , , postmasters, demands of, from tweedmouth committee, ; salaries of, and volume of business, postmen, w. c. steadman on grievances of the, - ; thos. bayley asks for a committee on, postmen, london, abolition of classification of, - preece, w. h., on ignorance of telegraphers, ; offers increased pay for technical knowledge, press bureau maintained by telegraph companies, ; charges for service, - press hampers heads of departments in matter of promotions, price, r. j., sought to intervene in house in a case of promotion, private enterprise, adequate results of, - private enterprise in telegraphy broken down, , ; mr. scudamore's arguments to prove, ; his errors show his failure, probationers, difficult to dismiss, problem of government, the, and its solution, promotion, employees claim a vested right to, ; misleading table of, , ; tweedmouth committee, on, - ; bradford committee on, ; e. graves on preference for, ; by routine the real evil, , ; tact and honesty needed in, ; selection of officers for, an invidious task, ; right to fix rate of, claimed, - promotion by merit hardly takes place, ; recommended by the royal commission, ; regulations for, n; political element in, ; anxieties of postmasters general regarding, ; cases of, cited, - ; opposed by rank and file, ; complaints against, - promotion by seniority the great evil, ; demand for, widely established, promotions revoked through pressure from members, ; secured for men reported as "not qualified" by influence of c. bradlaugh, - prussia, effect of reduced rates on increase of messages in, , public interest promoted by activities of speculator and dividend seeker, public opinion, change of, in matters of public expenditure, - ; no body of intelligent and disinterested, public ownership a parasite, public service, british, an attractive haven of refuge, - ; no service like the, - , ; three distinguishing features of the, - ; prime minister balfour's anxiety for the, - ; future of the, in peril, ; reduced to a dull level of mediocrity, "public service" messages, allowance for value of, - purchase by the state, threat of, arrested extensions, purchase of the telegraphs, - ; bill introduced for, ; estimated price, ; provisions of bill, ; the _economist_ on, ; scudamore on the terms of, ; hunt on, ; amount asked for, ; robert lowe on government monopoly, - purchase price of telegraphs estimated, , ; of reversionary rights of railways, raikes, h. c., scheme of increased wages for telegraph employees, - ; rebukes the house for interference, ; on the management of his department, - ; on personal attention of postmaster general given to cases of dismissal, ; explains a case of promotion by seniority, - , raikes' revision of wages and salaries, - , - , ; increased expenditures from, - railway companies, m. h. foster's views on reversionary rights of, - ; government's proposition to, ; cost of the reversionary rights, - ; wires released to, railways, reversionary rights of the, in the telegraphs, ; purchase of the, necessary, ; mr. goschen on, - ; mr. scudamore's estimates for, erroneous, - ; leases of way-leaves, - rates for messages, control of, lost by the government, , , ; effect of reduction of, on increase of telegrams, ; charged by british companies, ; irrespective of distance, not remunerative, , - ; mr. scudamore's forecasts on, - reformed parliament, class influence the great reproach of the, - , - reilly, thomas, case of, reorganization out of service, - representation of the people bill, reuter's telegram company, property of, purchased, revenue, estimated gross, ; net, ; proved appalling blunders, ; receipts, - ; and interest on capital, - n; net from messages, ; large loss in, - , ; a diminished balance of, and increased expense, - , revenue department estimates, select committee on, report on deficit in telegraph department, - revenue officers, enfranchisement of proposed, ; opposed by disraeli, ; carried by mr. monk, ; g. w. hunt on, - ; favored by gladstone, , reversionary rights of railway companies, - ; sum paid for, ; estimate of, and cost, richardson, ----, case of, - right, the sole, to transmit messages by electricity acquired by the government, roberts, ----, auxiliary postman, case of, - robinson, postman at liverpool, appointed inspector, ; case cited as a grievance to tweedmouth committee, rockingham, marquis of, disfranchised revenue servants at their own request, , rollitt, sir albert k., on demands of telegraphists, ; on examinations for promotion, ; moved reduction of salary of post master general, ; endorses complaints, - ; demands a committee of business men, ; withdrew amendment, ; reminds commons of civil servants' votes, ; charges breach of contract, ; record of, ; supported norton's motion, ronalds, mr., attempts to interest british government in telegraphy, rothschild, baron f. de, on civil servants, royal commission of declared promotion by seniority the great evil, rutherford, w. w., a merchant in politics, salary, _see_ wages salisbury government succeeded by the gladstone, samuel, h., intervenes for telegraph clerks at oxford, saunders, mr., on gratuitous sporting messages, - schackleton, d. j., intervention by, school board of london, influence of, schwann, c. e., intervention by, - scudamore, f. i., commissioned to report on private and state telegraphs, , ; report of, - ; reports based on incomplete returns, - ; errors in his figures, - , , ; standards of service, - ; errors of estimate of cost of extension and operation, ; misleading comparison of telegrams with letters, - ; failure of his evidence, ; argued for state monopoly, - ; previously opposed the same, n; on a post office system of telegraphs, - ; on the terms of purchase, ; estimated cost, , ; cross-examination of, - n, n; ignorant of relations between telegraph and railway companies, ; report on reorganization of telegraphs, n; estimate of revenue, , - ; influence over two ministries, ; argues from penny postage, ; revenue forecasts, - ; increase of messages, ; gross revenue, ; working expenses, - ; stood by his estimates, - ; revenue predictions of, appalling blunders, ; responsible for, ; to committee of newspaper proprietors, - ; yields to newspaper demand, select committee on post office servants, composition of, and reference to, ; asks for reappointment, service, mr. scudamore's standards of, - service, change in conditions of, resisted, - shares, proposed way of selling, shaw lefevre, g. j., on the reduction of the tariff on telegrams, - shehan, d. d., intervention by, shephard, j., complaints of, before tweedmouth committee, - , - sloan, t. h., intervention by, - , smith, j. s., on the webster case, ; on woodhouse case, - smith, llewellyn, member of tweedmouth committee, , , smith, w. h., on the purchase of the telegraphs, smyth, thomas, intervention of, for thomas reilly, sorters of foreign letters, option of vested interest for, - ; complaint from second class, speculator and dividend seeker, the mere, split duties, complaint about, sporting messages sent gratuitously, ; to so-called hotels, staff appointments the salt of the service, n staff of men highly trained in the school of competition, stanley (of alderly), lord e. j. s., ordered report on post office telegraph service, ; on bradford committee's report, - , - ; would not receive circulars from members of house, ; cost of recommendations, , ; made own investigation and granted increased pay, , ; would bear responsibility, ; congratulated on his retirement, ; on promotion for merit, ; on dual duty, stansfeld, james, on difference between public and private establishment, - state, result of extending the functions of the, state employment means life employment, statistics of telegraph lines and facilities, - steadman, w. c., demands a select committee on causes of complaint, ; motion lost, ; moved reduction of postmaster general's salary, ; lost, ; third demand, ; lost, ; cites special cases of grievance, - ; on this question business, - stephenson, sir wm. h., on dismissal of state servants, - ; on cost of pensions of incompetents, ; on promotions, superannuation act, committee on operation of, swiss experience, - , switzerland, reports on users of telegraph in, ; effect of reduction of rates, ; telegraph introduced in, ; appropriated by the government, ; statistics, ; increased use in, ; telegrams to inhabitants in, table of ages and wages of provincial telegraphists, n tariff on telegrams reduced, , ; cut almost in two, ; government should have resisted vote to cut in two, tariffs and growth of traffic, - taylor, postman of sterling, case of, telegrams, proportion of, to letters sent, ; tariff on, reduced by house of commons, , ; cut almost in two, telegraph of no use in times of peace, telegraph clerks, lack of knowledge of technics by, - ; demanded reduction of hours, ; intervention for at halifax, telegraph companies, indictment of, ; proposal of the, ; unpopular, ; sums to be paid to, n telegraph deficit, aggregate, ; parliament responsible for, - telegraph department, report on deficits in, with statistics, - , ; not earning operating expenses, telegraph employees, good-will of, purchased out of public purse, telegraph lines, cost of rearranging and extending, , ; estimated, telegraph messages, and revenue from, - , n telegraph offices in united kingdom, ; non-paying, n telegraph service, extension of, - ; actual cost, telegraph stations, number of, in , ; distances from post office, ; open to the public, n; number of increased, telegraph systems of united kingdom and those of belgium and switzerland, distinction between, ; comparative use of, - telegraphists, average weekly wages paid to, by companies, - ; wages increased after transfer to post office, ; lord cavendish on organized agitation by, - ; table of ages and wages of, n; earl compton on grievances of the, ; cost of concessions to, , ; promotion of, blocked, - ; demand of, - ; neglected to improve themselves, ; false statements by, - ; c. h. kerry on work required of, - ; maximum salary of, raised, - ; complaints of, endorsed by a. k. rollit, - ; threaten to strike, ; concessions to, ; grievance of examination, ; charge of breach of contract, , - ; senior, promoted from first class, ; by examination, - ; first class complained of grievance, , ; increase in promotions, ; complaint, - ; intervention for second class by h. l. w. lawson, - ; capt. norton intervenes for, ; demand amalgamation into a single class, - ; reject opportunities and demand more pay, - ; seek intervention to prevent transfer as sorters, - ; grievances as to pensions, telegraphs, purchase of the, , - ; high price paid, - ; estimated cost and revenue, ; terms of the purchase, - ; scudamore and hunt on, - ; estimated revenue, , ; transferred to post office department, ; actual cost of to government, ; cost of extension and rearrangement, - ; earnings, - , ; become self-supporting, - ; failed to earn operating expenses, ; might have remained self-supporting, ; subsidize newspaper press, - ; rate charged, ; committee on increased cost of service, - ; subsidize pool-rooms, - ; extension of, a purchase of votes out of the public purse, ; would yield a profit in hands of a commercial company, telegraphs more freely used in switzerland and belgium than in the united kingdom, , telephone, competition from, telephone industry hampered by the state, - , telephone royalties included in gross receipts, _times, the_, on bradford committee report, - tipping, e. j., on the crompton case, towns, english and welsh, telegraphic facilities in, , - trades union spirit, development of a, - tradesman, small, did not use telegraph, traffic, growth of, and tariffs, - transit messages profitable in belgium, ; in switzerland, treasury, the, on civil service pressure, ; organization and work of the, - ; power of public opinion on, - ; power of, not exercised, , - ; importance of, , treasury, lords commissioners of the, on accepting recommendations of tweedmouth committee, - trenan, e., on lack of knowledge of technics in telegraph clerks, tribunal, a permanent non-political suggested, turner, ----, case of, tweedmouth committee, testimony before, , - ; membership of, - , ; report, - ; l. hill before the, - ; h. c. fischer, - ; c. h. kerry, - ; recommendations of, - ; recommendations of accepted, ; sharply criticized by a. k. rollit, - ; a one-sided tribunal, ; did not give satisfaction, ; increase of expenses by, ; testimony showing leniency of post office department with offenders, - ; special grievances cited to the, - ; on risk allowances, ; on pay for letter sorters, - ; on holidays, ; grievances laid before, - ; evidence before, shows the visible helplessness of governments, - united kingdom, telegraph facilities in , - ; telegrams to inhabitants in, united kingdom electric telegraph company, organized with uniform tariff irrespective of distance, ; extent of lines, ; shilling rate abandoned, - ; rates, n; rates increased, united kingdom telegraph company, ; government purchase of, universal private company, property of, purchased, uren, j. g., on transfers of postmasters, ; on blocking officers by pensioners, vacancy, suburban, interference in the filling of a, - verney, sir harry, moves enfranchisement of revenue officers, vested rights doctrine of the civil service, , ; sundry, - ; vincent, sir edgar, on dismissal of incompetent officers, - wages and salaries of employees raised by political pressure, - , , , - ; caused decrease of revenue, ; average weekly, paid to telegraphists by companies, - ; increase in after transfer to post office, ; fawcett revision of, ; lord cavendish on, - ; raikes revision of, - ; increased expenditures from, - , , ; no justification for raising maximum, ; tweedmouth committees' recommendations on, - ; adopted, ; further raise of, by norfolk-hanbury committee, ; cost of, - ; continued pressure for increase, - ; comparative, walker, j. r., passed over, walpole, spencer, member of tweedmouth committee, , , ; on punishment of a postman for intoxication, ; on roberts case, ; on worth case, ; on the malingerers' grievance, ward, j., member of select committee, intervention by, - wastefulness of the government's operation, ; inherent, ; diminution of, weaver, h., on the newspaper tariff, - webster, letter carrier, disciplined for misconduct, - welby, sir reginald e., testimony of, before royal commission on civil service pressure, - ; on power to remove incompetent employees, - , ; on probationary period, - ; on pensions, ; on abolition terms, ; on a six or seven hour day, - ; on vacations, ; on power of public opinion on treasury control of expenditures, - ; on power of treasury to limit number of clerks, - west, sir algernon e., testimony of, before royal commission on civil service pressure, - ; result of reorganization made by, ; on promotion by merit, - whips, government, - whitehall system of inspection inefficient, - wiles, t., intervention by, wireless telegraphy restricted from competition with government telegraph monopoly, - women telegraphists, promotion of, questioned, - wood, ----, interference in behalf of, - wood, sir charles, on reduction in number of junior lords, woodhouse, ----, postman at norwich, case of, - woods, samuel, motion of, for right to agitate, - ; lost, work, maximum of, provided for, writers and their importance, - wykes, ablest man in sheffield office, displaced after promotion, , , transcriber note: italics are rendered between underscores, e.g. _italics_. small caps are rendered as all caps. other changes made by the transcriber are listed below. transcriber's change table +------+---------------+---------------+ |image |as printed |changed to | |------+---------------+---------------+ | |premanent |permanent | | |augumented |augmented | | |extraordinarly |extraordinarily| | |unbiassed |unbiased | | |indefinately |indefinitely | | |commissoin |commission | | | | n | +----------------------+---------------+ transcriber's note: italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed. [illustration: cover] [illustration: title page] notes on railroad accidents by charles francis adams, jr. author of "railroads: their origin and problems." new york g. p. putnam's sons and west d street copyright by g. p. putnam's sons contents. chapter. page. i the death of mr. huskisson ii the angola and shipton accidents iii the wollaston accident iv accidents and conservatism v telescoping and the miller platform vi the versailles accident vii telegraphic collisions viii oil-tank accidents ix draw-bridge disasters x the norwalk accident xi bridge accidents xii the protection of bridges xiii car-couplings in derailments xiv the revere catastrophe xv rear-end collisions xvi novel appliances xvii the automatic electric block system xviii interlocking xix the westinghouse brake xx the battle of the brakes xxi the railroad journey resulting in death xxii the railroad death-rate xxiii american as compared with foreign railroad accidents preface. this volume makes no pretence whatever of being either an exhaustive or a scientific study of the subject to which it relates. it is, on the contrary, merely what its title signifies,--a collection of notes on railroad accidents. in the course of ten years service as one of the railroad commissioners of massachusetts, i was called upon officially to investigate two very serious disasters,--that at revere in , and that at wollaston in ,--besides many others less memorable. in connection with these official duties i got together by degrees a considerable body of information, which i was obliged to extract as best i could from newspapers and other contemporaneous sources. i have felt the utmost hesitation in publishing so crude and imperfect a performance, but finally decide to do so for the reason that, so far as i know, there is nothing relating to this subject in print in an accessible form, and it would, therefore, seem that these notes may have a temporary value. during my term of public service, also, there have been four appliances, either introduced into use or now struggling for american recognition, my sense of the value of which, in connection with the railroad system, to both the traveling and general public, i could not easily overstate. these appliances are the miller platform and buffer, the westinghouse brake, and the interlocking and electric signal systems. to bring these into more general use through reports on railroad accidents as they occurred was one great aim with me throughout my official life. i am now not without hopes that the printing of this volume may tend to still further familiarize the public with these inventions, and thus hasten their more general adoption. c. f. a. jr. _quincy, october , ._ notes on railroad accidents. it is a melancholy fact that there are few things of which either nature or man is, as a rule, more lavish than human life;--provided always that the methods used in extinguishing it are customary and not unduly obtrusive on the sight and nerves. as a necessary consequence of this wastefulness, it follows also that the results which ordinarily flow from the extinguishment of the individual life are pitiably small. any person curious to satisfy himself as to the truth of either or both of these propositions can do so easily enough by visiting those frequent haunts in which poverty and typhoid lurk in company; or yet more easily by a careful study of the weekly bills of mortality of any great city. indeed, compared with the massive battalions daily sacrificed in the perpetual conflict which mankind seems forever doomed to wage against intemperance, bad sewerage and worse ventilation, the victims of regular warfare by sea and land count as but single spies. the worst of it is, too, that if the blood of the martyrs thus profusely spilled is at all the seed of the church, it is a seed terribly slow of germination. each step in the slow progress is a golgotha. in the case of railroad disasters, however, a striking exception is afforded to this rule. the victims of these, at least, do not lose their lives without great and immediate compensating benefits to mankind. after each new "horror," as it is called, the whole world travels with an appreciable increase of safety. both by public opinion and the courts of law the companies are held to a most rigid responsibility. the causes which led to the disaster are anxiously investigated by ingenious men, new appliances are invented, new precautions are imposed, a greater and more watchful care is inculcated. and hence it has resulted that each year, and in obvious consequence of each fresh catastrophe, travel by rail has become safer and safer, until it has been said, and with no inconsiderable degree of truth too, that the very safest place into which a man can put himself is the inside of a first-class railroad carriage on a train in full motion. the study of railroad accidents is, therefore, the furthest possible from being a useless one, and a record of them is hardly less instructive than interesting. if carried too far it is apt, as matter for light reading, to become somewhat monotonous; though, none the less, about these, as about everything else, there is an almost endless variety. even in the forms of sudden death on the rail, nature seems to take a grim delight in an infinitude of surprises. chapter i. the death of mr. huskisson. with a true dramatic propriety, the ghastly record, which has since grown so long, began with the opening of the first railroad,--literally on the very morning which finally ushered the great system into existence as a successfully accomplished fact, the eventful th of september, ,--the day upon which the manchester & liverpool railroad was formally opened. that opening was a great affair. a brilliant party, consisting of the directors of the new enterprise and their invited guests, was to pass over the road from liverpool to manchester, dine at the latter place and return to liverpool in the afternoon. their number was large and they filled eight trains of carriages, drawn by as many locomotives. the duke of wellington, then prime minister, was the most prominent personage there, and he with his party occupied the state car, which was drawn by the locomotive _northumbrian_, upon which george stephenson himself that day officiated as engineer. the road was laid with double tracks, and the eight trains proceeded in two parallel columns, running side by side and then again passing or falling behind each other. the duke's train gaily led the race, while in a car of one of the succeeding trains was mr. william huskisson, then a member of parliament for liverpool and eminent among the more prominent public men of the day as a financier and economist. he had been very active in promoting the construction of the manchester & liverpool road, and now that it was completed he had exerted himself greatly to make its opening a success worthy an enterprise the far-reaching consequences of which he was among the few to appreciate. all the trains had started promptly from liverpool, and had proceeded through a continued ovation until at eleven o'clock they had reached parkside, seventeen miles upon their journey, where it had been arranged that the locomotives were to replenish their supplies of water. as soon as the trains had stopped, disregarding every caution against their so doing, the excited and joyous passengers left their carriages and mingled together, eagerly congratulating one another upon the unalloyed success of the occasion. mr. huskisson, though in poor health and somewhat lame, was one of the most excited of the throng, and among the first to thus expose himself. presently he caught the eye of the duke of wellington, standing at the door of his carriage. now it so happened that for some time previous a coolness had existed between the two public men, the duke having as premier, with the military curtness for which he was famed, dismissed mr. huskisson from the cabinet of which he had been a member, without, as was generally considered, any sufficient cause, and in much the same way that he might have sent to the right-about some member of his staff whose performance of his duty was not satisfactory to him. there had in fact been a most noticeable absence of courtesy in that ministerial crisis. the two now met face to face for the first time since the breach between them had taken place, and the duke's manner evinced a disposition to be conciliatory, which was by no means usual with that austere soldier. mr. huskisson at once responded to the overture, and, going up to the door of the state carriage, he and his former chief shook hands and then entered into conversation. as they were talking, the duke seated in his car and mr. huskisson standing between the tracks, the _rocket_ locomotive--the same famous _rocket_ which a year previous had won the five hundred pounds prize, and by so doing established forever the feasibility of rapid steam locomotion--came along upon the other track to take its place at the watering station. it came up slowly and so silently that its approach was hardly noticed; until, suddenly, an alarm was given, and, as every one immediately ran to resume his place, some commotion naturally ensued. in addition to being lame, mr. huskisson seemed also under these circumstances to be quite agitated, and, instead of quietly standing against the side of the carriage and allowing the _rocket_ to pass, he nervously tried to get around the open carriage door, which was swinging out across the space between the two tracks in such a way that the approaching locomotive struck it, flinging it back and at the same time throwing mr. huskisson down. he fell on his face in the open space between the tracks, but with his left leg over the inner of the two rails upon which the _rocket_ was moving, so that one of its wheels ran obliquely up the limb to the thigh, crushing it shockingly. as if to render the distressing circumstances of the catastrophe complete, it so happened that the unfortunate man had left his wife's side when he got out of his carriage, and now he had been flung down before her eyes as he sought to reënter it. he was immediately raised, but he knew that his hurt was mortal and his first exclamation was, "i have met my death!" he was at once placed on one of the state carriages, to which the _northumbrian_ locomotive was attached, and in twenty-five minutes was carried to eccles, a distance of seventeen miles, where medical assistance was obtained. he was far beyond its reach, however, and upon the evening of the same day, before his companions of the morning had completed their journey, he was dead. some time after this accident a great public dinner was given at liverpool in honor of the new enterprise. brougham was then at the height of an unbounded popularity and just taking the fatal step of his life, which led him out of the house of commons to the wool-sack and the lords. among the excursionists of the opening day he had on the th, occasion to write a brief note to macvey napier, editor of the _edinburgh review_, in which he thus alluded to the fatal accident which had marred its pleasure:--"i have come to liverpool only to see a tragedy. poor huskisson is dead, or must die before to-morrow. he has been killed by a steam carriage. the folly of seven hundred people going fifteen miles an hour, in six carriages, exceeds belief. but they have paid a dear price." he was one of the guests at the subsequent dinner, and made a speech in which there was one passage of such exquisite oratorical skill, that to read it is still a pleasure. in it he at once referred to the wonders of the system just inaugurated, and to the catastrophe which had saddened its opening observances. "when," he said, "i saw the difficulties of space, as it were, overcome; when i beheld a kind of miracle exhibited before my astonished eyes; when i saw the rocks excavated and the gigantic power of man penetrating through miles of the solid mass, and gaining a great, a lasting, an almost perennial conquest over the powers of nature by his skill and industry; when i contemplated all this, was it possible for me to avoid the reflections which crowded into my mind, not in praise of man's great success, not in admiration of the genius and perseverance he had displayed, or even of the courage he had shown in setting himself against the obstacles that matter afforded to his course--no! but the melancholy reflection, that these prodigious efforts of the human race, so fruitful of praise but so much more fruitful of lasting blessings to mankind, have forced a tear from my eye by that unhappy casualty which deprived me of a friend and you of a representative!" though wholly attributable to his own carelessness, the death of so prominent a character as mr. huskisson, on such an occasion, could not but make a deep impression on the public mind. the fact that the dying man was carried seventeen miles in twenty-five minutes in search of rest and medical aid, served rather to stimulate the vague apprehension which thereafter for a time associated itself with the new means of transportation, and converted it into a dangerous method of carriage which called for no inconsiderable display of nerve on the part of those using it. indeed, as respects the safety of travel by rail there is an edifying similarity between the impressions which prevailed in england forty-five years ago and those which prevail in china now; for, when as recently as it was proposed to introduce railroads into the celestial empire, a vigorous native protest was fulminated against them, in which, among other things scarcely less astounding, it was alleged that "in all countries where railroads exist they are considered a very dangerous mode of locomotion, and, beyond those who have very urgent business to transact, no one thinks of using them." on this subject, however, of the dangers incident to journeys by rail, a writer of nearly half a century back, who has left us one of the earliest descriptions of the manchester & liverpool road, thus reassured the public of those days, with a fresh quaintness of style which lends a present value to his words: "the occurrence of accidents is not so frequent as might be imagined, as the great weight of the carriages" (they weighed about one-tenth part as much as those now in use in america) "prevents them from easily starting off the rails; and so great is the momentum acquired by these heavy loads moving with such rapidity, that they easily pass over considerable obstacles. even in those melancholy accidents where loss of life has been sustained, the bodies of the unfortunate sufferers, though run over by the wheels, have caused little irregularity in the motion, and the passengers in the carriages have not been sensible that any impediment has been encountered on the road." indeed, from the time of mr. huskisson's death, during a period of over eleven years, railroads enjoyed a remarkable and most fortunate exemption from accidents. during all that time there did not occur a single disaster resulting in any considerable loss of life; an immunity which seems to have been due to a variety of causes. those early roads were, in the first place, remarkably well and thoroughly built, and were very cautiously operated under a light volume of traffic. the precautions then taken and the appliances in use would, it is true, strike the modern railroad superintendent as both primitive and comical; for instance, they involved the running of independent pilot locomotives in advance of all night passenger trains. through all the years between and , nevertheless, not a single really serious railroad disaster had to be recorded. this happy exemption was, however, quite as much due to good fortune as to anything else, as was well illustrated in the first accident at all serious in its character, which occurred,--an accident in its every circumstance, except loss of life, almost an exact parallel to the famous revere disaster which happened nearly forty years later in massachusetts. it chanced on the manchester & liverpool railway on december , . the second-class morning train had stopped at the rainhill station to take in passengers, when those upon it heard through the dense fog another train, which had left manchester forty-five minutes later, coming towards them at a high rate of speed. when it first became visible it was but one hundred and fifty yards off, and a collision was inevitable. those in charge of the stationary train, however, succeeded in getting it under a slight headway, and in so much diminished the shock of the collision; but, notwithstanding, the last five carriages were injured, the one at the end being totally demolished. though quite a number of the passengers were cut and bruised, and several were severely hurt, one only, strange to say, was killed. indeed, the luck--for it was nothing else--of those earlier times was truly amazing. thus on this same manchester & liverpool road, as a first-class train on the morning of april , , was moving at a speed of some thirty miles an hour, an axle broke under the first passenger coach, causing the whole train to leave the track and throwing it down the embankment, which at that point was twenty feet high. the cars were rolled over, and the passengers in them tumbled about topsy-turvey; nor, as they were securely locked in, could they even extricate themselves when at last the wreck of the train reached firm bearings. and yet no one was killed. here the corporation was saved by one chance in a thousand, and its almost miraculous good fortune has since received numerous and terrible illustrations. among these two are worthy of a more than passing mention. they happened one in america and one in england, though with some interval of time between them, and are curious as illustrating very forcibly the peculiar dangers to which those travelling by rail in the two countries are subjected under almost precisely similar circumstances. the american accident referred to was that popularly known on account of its exceptionally harrowing details as the "angola horror," of december , , while the english accident was that which occurred at shipton-on-cherwell on december , . chapter ii. the angola and shipton accidents. on the day of the angola accident the eastern bound express train over the lake shore road, as it was then called, consisted of a locomotive, four baggage, express and mail cars, an emigrant and three first-class passenger coaches. it was timed to pass angola, a small way station in the extreme western part of new york, at . p.m., without stopping; but on the day in question it was two hours and forty-five minutes late, and was consequently running rapidly. a third of a mile east of the station there is a shallow stream, known as big sister creek, flowing in the bottom of a ravine the western side of which rises abruptly to the level of the track, while on the eastern side there is a gradual ascent of some forty or fifty rods. this ravine was spanned by a deck bridge of feet in length, at the east end of which was an abutment of mason work some fifty feet long connecting with an embankment beyond. it subsequently appeared that the forward axle in the rear truck of the rear car was slightly bent. the defect was not perceptible to the eye, but in turning round the space between the flanges of the wheels of that axle varied by three-fourths of an inch. as long as the car was travelling on an unbroken track, or as long as the wheels did not strike any break in the track at their narrowest point, this slight bend in the axle was of no consequence. there was a frog in the track, however, at a distance of feet east of the angola station, and it so happened that a wheel of the defective axle struck this frog in such a way as to make it jump the track. the rear car was instantly derailed. from the frog to the bridge was some feet. with the appliances then in use the train could not be stopped in this space, and the car was dragged along over the ties, swaying violently from side to side. just before the bridge was reached the car next to the last was also thrown from the track, and in this way, and still moving at considerable speed, the train went onto the bridge. it was nearly across when the last car toppled off and fell on the north side close to the abutment. the car next to the rear, more fortunate, was dragged some feet further, so that when it broke loose it simply slid some thirty feet down the embankment. though this car was badly wrecked, but a single person in it was killed. his death was a very singular one. before the car separated from the train, its roof broke in two transversely; through the fissure thus made this unfortunate passenger was partly flung, and it then instantly closed upon him. the other car had fallen fifty feet, and remained resting on its side against the abutment with one end inclined sharply downward. it was mid-winter and cold, and, as was the custom then, the car was heated by two iron stoves, placed one at each end, in which wood was burned. it was nearly full of passengers. naturally they all sprang from their seats in terror and confusion as their car left the rails, so that when it fell from the bridge and violently struck on one of its ends, they were precipitated in an inextricable mass upon one of the overturned stoves, while the other fell upon them from above. a position more horrible could hardly be imagined. few, if any, were probably killed outright. some probably were suffocated; the greatest number were undoubtedly burned to death. of those in that car three only escaped; forty-one are supposed to have perished. this was a case of derailment aggravated by fire. it is safe to say that with the improved appliances since brought into use, it would be most unlikely to now occur under precisely the same circumstances on any well-equipped or carefully operated road. derailments, of course, by broken axles or wheels are always possible, but the catastrophe at angola was primarily due to the utter inability of those on the train to stop it, or even greatly to check its speed within any reasonable distance. before it finally stood still the locomotive was half a mile from the frog and , feet from the bridge. thus, when the rear cars were off the track, the speed and distance they were dragged gave them a lateral and violently swinging motion, which led to the final result. though under similar circumstances now this might not happen, there is no reason why, circumstances being varied a little, the country should not again during any winter day be shocked by another angola sacrifice. certainly, so far as the danger from fire is concerned, it is an alarming fact that it is hardly less in than it was in . this accumulative horror is, too, one of the distinctive features of american railroad accidents. in other countries holocausts like those at versailles in and at abergele in have from time to time taken place. they are, however, occasioned in other ways, and, as their occurrence is not regularly challenged by the most risky possible of interior heating apparatus, are comparatively infrequent. the passenger coaches used on this side of the atlantic, with their light wood-work heavily covered with paint and varnish, are at best but tinder-boxes. the presence in them of stoves, hardly fastened to the floor and filled with burning wood and coal, involves a degree of risk which no one would believe ever could willingly be incurred, but for the fact that it is. no invention yet appears to have wholly met the requirements of the case. that they will be met, and the fearful possibility which now hangs over the head of every traveller by rail, that he may suddenly find himself doomed without possibility of escape to be roasted alive, will be at least greatly reduced hardly admits of question. turning now from the american to the english accident, it is singular to note how under very similar circumstances much the same fatality resulted from wholly different causes. it happened on the day immediately preceding christmas, and every train which at that holiday season leaves london is densely packed, for all england seems then to gather away from its cities to the country hearths. accordingly, the ten o'clock london express on the great western railway, when it left oxford that morning, was made up of no less than fifteen passenger carriages and baggage vans, drawn by two powerful locomotives and containing nearly three hundred passengers. about seven miles north of oxford, as the train, moving at a speed of some thirty to forty miles an hour, was rounding a gentle curve in the approach to the bridge over the little river cherwell, the tire of one of the wheels of the passenger coach next behind the locomotive broke, throwing it off the track. for a short distance it was dragged along in its place; but almost immediately those in charge of the locomotives noticed that something was wrong, and, most naturally and with the very best of intensions, they instantly did the very worst thing which under the circumstances it was in their power to do,--they applied their brakes and reversed their engines; their single thought was to stop the train. with the train equipped as it was, however, had these men, instead of crowding on their brakes and reversing their engines, simply shut off their steam and by a gentle application of the brakes checked the speed gradually and so as to avoid any strain on the couplings, the carriages would probably have held together and remained upon the road-bed. instead of this, however, the sudden checking of the two ponderous locomotives converted them into an anvil, as it were, upon which the unfortunate leading carriage already off the rails was crushed under the weight and impetus of those behind it. the train instantly zig-zagged in every direction under the pressure, the couplings which connected it together snapping, and the carriages, after leaving the rails to the right and left and running down the embankment of about thirteen feet in height, came to a stand-still at last, several of them in the reverse order from that which they had held while in the train. the first carriage was run over and completely destroyed; the five rear ones were left alone upon the road-bed, and of these two only were on the rails; of the ten which went down the embankment, two were demolished. in this disaster thirty-four passengers lost their lives, and sixty-five others, besides four employés of the company, were injured. at the time it occurred the shipton accident was the subject of a good deal of discussion, and both the brake system and method of car construction in use on english roads were sharply criticised. it was argued, and apparently with much reason, that had the "locomotives and cars been equipped with the continuous train-brakes so generally in use in america, the action of the engine drivers would have checked at the same instant the speed of each particular car, and probably any serious accident would have been averted." yet it required another disaster, not so fatal as that at shipton-on-cherwell but yet sufficiently so, to demonstrate that this was true only in a limited degree,--to further illustrate and enforce the apparently obvious principle that, no matter how heavy the construction may be, or what train-brake is in use, to insure safety the proportion between the resisting strength of car construction and the train-weight momentum to which it may be subjected must be carefully preserved. on this point of the resisting power of modern car construction, indeed, it seemed as if a result had been reached which did away with the danger of longitudinal crushing. between and a series of accidents had occurred on the american roads of which little was heard at the time for the simple reason that they involved no loss of life,--they belonged in the great category of possible disasters which might have happened, had they not been prevented. trains going in opposite directions and at full speed had come in collision while rounding curves; trains had run into earth-slides, and had been suddenly stopped by derailment; in every such case, however, the westinghouse brake and the miller car construction had, when in use, proved equal to the emergency and the passengers on the trains had escaped uninjured. the american mechanic had accordingly grown firm in his belief that, so far as any danger from the crushing of cars was concerned,--unless indeed they were violently thrown down an embankment or precipitated into an abyss,--the necessary resisting strength had been secured and the problem practically solved. that such was not the case in america in any more than in england in , except within certain somewhat narrow limits, was unexpectedly proven by a disaster which occurred at wollaston near boston, on the old colony road, upon the evening of october , . chapter iii. the wollaston accident. a large party of excursionists were returning from a rowing match on a special train consisting of two locomotives and twenty-one cars. there had been great delay in getting ready for the return, so that when it neared wollaston the special was much behind the time assigned for it. meanwhile a regular freight train had left boston, going south and occupying the outward track. at wollaston those in charge of this train had occasion to stop for the purpose of taking up some empty freight cars, which were standing on a siding at that place; and to reach this siding it was necessary for them to cross the inward track, temporarily disconnecting it. the freight train happened to be short-handed, and both its conductor and engineer supposed that the special had reached boston before they had started out. accordingly, in direct violation of the rules of the road and with a negligence which admitted of no excuse, they disconnected the inward track in both directions and proceeded to occupy it in the work of shunting, without sending out any signals or taking any precautions to protect themselves or any incoming train. it was after dark, and, though the switches were supplied with danger signals, these were obscured by the glare of the locomotive head-light. under these circumstances the special neared the spot. what ensued was a curious illustration of those narrow escapes through which, by means of improved appliances or by good luck, railroad accidents do not happen; and an equally curious illustration of those trifling derangements which now and again bring them about. in this case there was no collision, though a freight train was occupying the inward track in front of the special. there should have been no derailment, though the track was broken at two points. there would have been no accident, had there been no attempt made to avert one. seeing the head-light of the approaching special, while yet it was half a mile off, the engineer of the freight train realizing the danger had put on all steam, and succeeded, though by a very narrow margin, in getting his locomotive and all the cars attached to it off of the inward track and onto the outward, out of the way of the special. the inward track was thus clear, though broken at two points. the switches at those points were, however, of the safety pattern, and, if they were left alone and did their work, the special would simply leave the main track and pass into the siding, and there be stopped. unfortunately the switches were not left alone. the conductor of the freight train had caught sight of the head-light of the approaching locomotive at about the same time as the engineer of that train. he seems at once to have realized the possible consequences of his reckless neglect of precautions, and his one thought was to do something to avert the impending disaster. in a sort of dazed condition, he sprang from the freight car on which he was standing and ran to the lever of the siding switch, which he hastened to throw. he apparently did not have time enough within perhaps five seconds. had he succeeded in throwing it, the train would have gone on to boston, those upon it simply knowing from the jar they had received in passing over the first frog that a switch had been set wrong. had he left it alone, the special would have passed into the siding and there been stopped. as it was, the locomotive of the special struck the castings of the switch just when it was half thrown--at the second when it was set neither the one way nor the other--and the wreck followed. it was literally the turning of a hand. as it approached the point where the disaster occurred the special train was running at a moderate rate of speed, not probably exceeding twenty miles an hour. the engineer of its leading locomotive also perceived his danger in time to signal it and to reverse his engine while yet feet from the point where derailment took place. the train-brake was necessarily under the control of the engineer of the second locomotive, but the danger signal was immediately obeyed by him, his locomotive reversed and the brake applied. the train was, however, equipped with the ordinary westinghouse, and not the improved automatic or self-acting brake of that name. that is, it depended for its efficiency on the perfectness of its parts, and, in case the connecting tubes were broken or the valves deranged, the brake-blocks did not close upon the wheels, as they do under the later improvements made by westinghouse in his patents, but at best remained only partially set, or in such positions as they were when the parts of the brake were broken. as is perfectly well understood, the original westinghouse does not work quickly or effectively through more than a certain number of cars. twelve is generally regarded as the limit of practical simultaneous action. the feet of interval between the point where the brakes were applied and that where the accident occurred,--a distance which, at the rate at which the train was moving, it could hardly have passed over in less than twenty-two seconds,--should have afforded an ample space within which to stop the train. when the derailment took place, however, it was still moving at a considerable rate of speed. both locomotives, the baggage car and six following passenger cars left the rails. the locomotives, after going a short distance, swung off to the left and toppled over, presenting an insuperable barrier to the direct movement of the cars following. those cars were of the most approved form of american construction, but here, as at shipton, the violent application of the train-brakes and reversal of the locomotives had greatly checked the speed of the forward part of the train, while the whole rear of it, comparatively free from brake pressure, was crowding heavily forward. including its living freight, the entire weight of the train could not have been less than tons. there was no slack between its parts; no opportunity to give. it was a simple question of the resisting power of car construction. had the train consisted of ten cars instead of twenty-two a recent experience of a not dissimilar accident on this very road affords sufficient evidence of how different the result would have been. on the occasion referred to,--october , ,--a train consisting of two locomotives and fourteen cars, while rounding a curve before the randolph station at a speed of thirty miles an hour came in sudden collision with the locomotive of a freight train which was occupying the track, and while doing so, in that case also as at wollaston, had wholly neglected to protect it. so short was the notice of danger that the speed of the passenger train could not at the moment of collision have been less than twenty miles an hour. the freight train was at the moment fortunately backing, but none the less it was an impassable obstacle. the three locomotives were entirely thrown from the track and more or less broken up, and three cars of the passenger train followed them, but the rest of it remained in line and on the rails, and was so entirely uninjured that it was not found necessary to withdraw one of the cars from service for even a single trip. not a passenger was hurt. this train consisted of fourteen cars: but at wollaston, the fourteen forward cars were, after the head of the train was derailed, driven onward not only by their own momentum but also by the almost unchecked momentum of eight other cars behind them. the rear of the train did not leave the rails and was freely moving along them. by itself it must have weighed over tons. the result was inevitable. something had to yield; and the six forward cars were accordingly either thrown wholly to the one side or the other, or crushed between the two locomotives and the rear of the train. two of them in fact were reduced into a mere mass of fragments. the disaster resulted in the death of persons, while a much greater number were injured, more than seriously. in this as in most other railroad disasters the surprising thing was that the list of casualties was not larger. looking at the position of the two cars crushed into fragments it seemed almost impossible that any person in them could have escaped alive. indeed that they did so was largely due to the fact that the season for car-warming had not yet arrived, while, in some way impossible to explain, all four of the men in charge of the locomotives, though flung violently through the air into the trees and ditch at the side of the road were neither stunned nor seriously injured. they were consequently able, as soon as they could gather themselves up, to take the measures necessary to extinguish the fires in their locomotives which otherwise would speedly have spread to the _débris_ of the train. had they not done so nothing could have saved the large number of passengers confined in the shattered cars. chapter iv. accidents and conservatism. the four accidents which have been referred to, including that of april , , upon the manchester & liverpool road, belong to one class. though they covered a period of forty-two years they were all due to the same cause, the sudden derailment of a portion of the train, and its subsequent destruction because of the insufficient control of those in charge of it over its momentum. in the three earlier cases the appliances in use were much the same, for between and hardly any improvement as respects brakes had either forced its own way, or been forced by the government, into general acceptance in great britain. the wollaston disaster, on the other hand, revealed a weak point in an improved appliance; the old danger seemed, indeed, to take a sort of pleasure in baffling human ingenuity. the shipton accident, however, while one of the most fatal which ever occurred was also one of the most fruitful in results. this, and the accident of april , , upon the manchester & liverpool road were almost precisely similar, though no less than thirty-eight years intervened between them. in the case of the first, however, no one was killed and consequently it was wholly barren of results; for experience has shown that to bring about any considerable reform, railroad disasters have, as it were, to be emphasized by loss of life. this, however, implies nothing more than the assertion that those responsible for the management of railroads do not differ from other men,--that they are apt, after some hair-breadth escape, to bless their fortunate stars for the present good rather than to take anxious heed for future dangers. at the time the shipton accident occurred the success of the modern train-brake, which places the speed of each of the component parts of the train under the direct and instantaneous control of him who is in charge of the locomotive, had for years been conceded even by the least progressive of american railroad managers. the want of such a brake and the absence of proper means of communication between the parts of the train had directly and obviously caused the murderous destructiveness of the accident. yet in the investigation which ensued it appeared that the authorities of the great western railway, being eminently "practical men," still entertained as respected the train-brake "very grave doubts of the wisdom of adopting [it] at all;" while at the same time, as respected a means of communication between the parts of the train, it appeared that the associated general managers of the leading railways "did not think that any [such] means of communication was at all required, or likely to be useful or successful." though quite incomprehensible, there is at the same time something superb in such an exhibition of stolid conservatism. it is british. it is, however, open to but one description of argument, the _ultima ratio_ of railroad logic. so long as luck averted the loss of life in railroad disasters, no occasion would ever have been seen for disturbing time-honored precautions or antiquated appliances. while, how ever, a disaster like that of december , , might not convince, it did compel: in spite of professed "grave doubts," incredulity and conservatism vanished, silenced, at least, in presence of so frightful a row of corpses as on that morning made ghastly the banks of the cherwell. the general, though painfully slow and reluctant, introduction of train-brakes upon the railways of great britain may be said to have dated from that event. in the matter of communication between those in the train and those in charge of it, the shipton corpses chanced not to be witnesses to the precise point. accordingly their evidence was, so to speak, ruled out of the case, and neither the utility nor the success of any appliance for this purpose was held to be yet proven. what further proof would be deemed conclusive did not appear, but the history of the discussion before and since is not without value. there is, indeed, something almost ludicrously characteristic in the manner with which those interested in the railway management of great britain strain at their gnats while they swallow their camels. they have grappled with the great question of city travel with a superb financial and engineering sagacity, which has left all other communities hopelessly distanced; but, while carrying their passengers under and over the ebb and flow of the thames and among the chimney pots of densest london to leave them on the very steps of the royal exchange, they have never been able to devise any satisfactory means for putting the traveller, in case of a disaster to the carriage in which he happens to be, in communication with the engine-driver of his train. an english substitute for the american bell-cord has for more than thirty years set the ingenuity of great britain at defiance. as long ago as the year , in consequence of two accidents to trains by fires, a circular on this subject was issued to the railway companies by the board of trade, in which it was stated that "from the beginning of the year , down to the present time (december, ) there have been twenty-six cases in which either the accidents themselves or some of the ulterior consequences of the accidents would probably have been avoided had such a means of communication existed."[ ] as none of these accidents had resulted in any considerable number of funerals the railway managers wholly failed to see the propriety of this circular, or the necessity of taking any steps in consequence of it. as, however, accidents from this cause were still reported, and with increasing frequency, the authorities in july, , again bestirred themselves and issued another circular in which it was stated that "several instances have occurred of carriages having taken fire, or having been thrown off the rails, the passengers in which had no means of making their perilous situation known to the servants of the company in charge of the train. recent occurrences also of a criminal nature in passenger railway trains have excited among the public a very general feeling of alarm." the last reference was more particularly to the memorable briggs murder, which had taken place only a few days before on july th, and was then absorbing the public attention to the almost entire exclusion of everything else. [ ] the bell-cord in america, notwithstanding the theoretical objections which have been urged to its adoption in other countries, has proved such a simple and perfect protection against dangers from inability to communicate between portions of trains that accidents from this cause do not enter into the consideration of american railroad managers. yet they do, now and again, occur. for instance, on february , , a passenger coach in a west-bound accommodation train of the great western railroad of canada took fire from the falling of a lamp in the closet at its forward end. the bell-cord was for some reason not connected with the locomotive, and the train ran two miles before it could be stopped. the coach in question was entirely destroyed and eight passengers were either burned or suffocated, while no less than thirteen others sustained injuries in jumping from the train. as no better illustration than this can be found of the extreme slowness with which the necessity for new railroad appliances is recognized in cases where profit is not involved, and of the value of wholesale slaughters, like those at shipton and angola, as a species of motive force in the direction of progress, a digression on the subject of english accidents due to the absence of bell-cords may be not without value. in the opinion of the railway managers the cases referred to by the board of trade officials failed to show the existence of any necessity for providing means of communication between portions of the train. a detailed statement of a few of the cases thus referred to will not only be found interesting in itself, but it will give some idea of the description of evidence which is considered insufficient. the circumstances of the briggs murder, deeply interesting as they were, are too long for incidental statement; this, however, is not the case with some of the other occurrences. for instance, the board of trade circular was issued on july th; on july th, a year earlier, the following took place on the london & north western road. two gentlemen took their seats at liverpool in one of the compartments of the express train to london. in it they found already seated an elderly lady and a large, powerfully built man, apparently irish, respectably dressed, but with a lowering, suspicious visage. though one of the two gentlemen noticed this peculiarity as he entered the carriage, he gave no thought to it, but, going on with their conversation, he and his friend took their seats, and in a few moments the train started. scarcely was it out of the station when the stranger changed his seat, placing himself on the other side of the carriage, close to the window, and at the same time, in a menacing way, incoherently muttering something to himself. the other passengers looked at him, but felt no particular alarm, and for a time he remained quietly in his seat. he then suddenly sprang up, and, with a large clasp-knife in his hand, rushed at one of the gentlemen, a mr. warland by name, and struck him on the forehead, the knife sliding along the bone and inflicting a frightful flesh wound. as he was in the act of repeating the blow, warland's companion thrust him back upon the seat. this seemed to infuriate him, and starting to his feet he again tried to attack the wounded man. a frightful struggle ensued. it was a struggle for life, in a narrow compartment feebly lighted, for it was late at night, on a train running at full speed and with no stopping place for eighty miles. the passenger who had not been hurt clutched the maniac by the throat with one hand and grasped his knife with the other, but only to feel the blade drawn through his fingers, cutting them to the bone. the unfortunate elderly woman, the remaining occupant of the compartment, after screaming violently in her terror for a few moments, fainted away and fell upon the floor. the struggle nevertheless went on among the three men, until at last, though blinded with blood and weak from its loss, the wounded mr. warland got behind his assailant and threw him down, in which position the two succeeded in holding him, he striking and stabbing at both of them with his knife, shouting loudly all the time, and desperately endeavoring to rise and throw them off. they finally, however, got his knife away from him, and then kept him down until the train at last drew up at camdentown station. when the ticket collector opened the compartment door at that place he found the four passengers on the floor, the woman senseless and two of the men holding the third, while the faces and clothing of all of them, together with seats, floor, windows and sides of the carriage were covered with blood or smeared with finger marks. the assailant in this case, as it subsequently appeared upon his commitment for an assault, was a schoolmaster who had come over from ireland to a competitive examination. he was insane, of course, but before the magistrate he made a statement which had in it something quite touching; he said that he saw the two gentlemen talking together, and, as he thought, making motions towards him; he believed them to be thieves who intended to rob him, and so he thought that he could not do better than defend himself, "if only for his dear little ones at home." this took place before the board of trade circular was issued, but, as if to give emphasis to it, a few days only after its issue, in august, , there was a not dissimilar occurrence in a third class carriage between london and peterborough. the running distance was in this case eighty miles without a stop, and occupied generally an hour and fifty minutes,--the rate being forty-three miles an hour. in the compartment in question were five passengers, one of whom, a tall powerful fellow, was dressed like a sailor. the train was hardly out of london when this man, after searching his pockets for a moment, cried out that he had been robbed of his purse containing £ , and began violently to shout and gesticulate. he then tried to clamber through the window, getting his body and one leg out, and when his fellow passengers, catching hold of his other leg, succeeded in hauling him back, he turned savagely upon them and a desperate struggle ensued. at last he was gotten down by main force and bound to a seat. meanwhile, notwithstanding the speed at which they were running, the noise of the struggle was heard in the adjoining compartments, and almost frantic efforts were made to stop the train. word was passed from carriage to carriage for a short distance, but it proved impossible to communicate with the guard, or to do anything but thoroughly alarm the passengers. these merely knew that something was the matter,--what, they could only imagine,--and so the run to peterborough was completed amid shouts of "stop the train," interspersed with frantic female shrieks. the man was suffering from _delirium tremens_. about a year later, in december, , a similar case occurred which, however, had in it strong elements of the ludicrous. a clergyman, laboring under great indignation and excitement, and without the slightest sense of the ridiculous, recounted his experience in a communication to the _times_. he had found himself alone in a compartment of an express train in which were also a young lady and a man, both total strangers to him. shortly after the train started the man began to give unmistakable indications of something wrong. he made no attempt at any violence on either of his fellow passengers, but he was noisy, and presently he proceeded to disrobe himself and otherwise to indulge in antics which were even more indecent than they were extraordinary. the poor clergyman,--a respected incumbent of the established church returning to the bosom of his family,--was in a most distressing situation. at first he attempted remonstrance. this, however, proved worse than unavailing, and there was nothing for it but to have recourse to his umbrella, behind the sheltering cover of which he protected the modesty of the young lady, while over its edges he himself from time to time effected observations through an apparently interminable journey of forty and more miles. these and numerous other cases of fires, murders, assaults and indecencies had occurred and filled the columns of the newspapers, without producing the slightest effect on the managers of the railway companies. no attention was paid by them to the board of trade circulars. at last parliament took the matter up and in an act was passed, making compulsory some "efficient means of communication between the passenger and the servants of the company in charge" of railroad trains. yet when six years later in the shipton accident occurred, and was thought to be in some degree attributable to the absence of the very means of communication thus made compulsory, it appeared, as has been seen, that the associated general managers did not yet consider any such means of communication either required or likely to be useful. meanwhile, as if in ironical comment on such measured utterances, occurrences like the following, which took place as recently as the early part of , from time to time still meet the eye in the columns of the english press:-- "a burglar was being taken in a third-class carriage from london to sheffield. when about twelve miles from sheffield he asked that the windows might be opened. this was no sooner done than he took a dive out through the aperture. one of the warders succeeded in catching him by a foot, and for two miles he hung head downward suspended by one foot and making terrific struggles to free himself. in vain he wriggled, for although his captors were unable to catch the other foot, both held him as in a vise. but he wore spring-sided boots, and the one on which his fate seemingly depended came off. the burglar fell heavily on the foot-board of the carriage and rolled off on the railway. three miles further on the train stopped, and the warders went back to the scene of the escape. here they found him in the snow bleeding from a wound on the head. during the time he was struggling with the warders the warder who had one hand free and the passengers of the other compartments who were witnessing the scene from the windows of the train were indefatigable in their efforts to attract the attention of the guards by means of the communication cord, but with no result. for two miles the unfortunate man hung head downward, and for three miles further the train ran until it stopped at an ordinary resting place." a single further example will more than sufficiently illustrate this instance of british railroad conservatism, and indicate the tremendous nature of the pressure which has been required to even partially force the american bell-cord into use in that country. one day, in the latter part of , a mr. a. j. ellis of liverpool had occasion to go to chester. on his way there he had an experience with a lunatic, which he subsequently recounted before a magistrate as follows:-- "on friday last i took the . a.m., train from lime street in a third-class carriage, my destination being chester. at edge hill station the prisoner and another man, whom i afterward understood to be the prisoner's father, got into the same compartment, no one else being in the same compartment. the other person was much under the influence of drink when he entered, and was very noisy during the journey. the prisoner had the appearance of having been drinking, but was quiet. i sat with my back to the engine, on the getting-out side of the carriage; prisoner was sitting on the opposite side, with his right arm to the window, and the other person was sitting on the same side as prisoner, about the middle of the seat. i was engaged reading, and did not exchange words with the prisoner. "after we had passed over runcorn bridge and through the station, i perceived the prisoner make a start, and looking toward him saw a white-hafted knife in his hand, about five inches long, with the blade open. he held it in his right hand in a menacing manner. drawing his left hand along the edge of the blade, he said, "this will have to go into some ----." at that moment he looked at me across the carriage; he was on his feet in an instant, and looking across to me, he said, "you ----, this will have to go into you," and made a bound toward me. the other jumped up and tried to prevent him. the prisoner threw him away; he made a plunge at my throat. i caught his wrist just as he advanced, and struggled with him, still holding fast to his wrist with both hands. we fell over and under one another two or three times, and eventually he overpowered me. i had fallen on my side on the seat, but still retained my hold upon his wrist. while lying in that position he held the knife down to within an inch of my throat. i called to the other man to hold the prisoner's hand back which contained the knife, and by that means he saved my life. i was growing powerless, and as the other man restrained the prisoner from using the knife, i jerked myself from his grasp, and knocked the knife out of the prisoner's hand with my left hand. "the prisoner eluded the grip of his father, and falling on his knees began to seek for his knife. failing to find the knife, he was instantly on his feet, and made a spring upon me. if i recollect aright, he threw his arms around my neck, and in this manner we struggled together up and down the carriage for some minutes, during which time he got my left thumb (with a glove on at the time) in his mouth, and bit it. still retaining my thumb in his mouth, the other man struck him under the chin, when he released it, and fell on his knees seeking the knife, which he did not find. he was immediately on his feet, and again made a spring upon me. we had then a very long and desperate struggle, when he overpowered me and pinned me in a corner of the compartment. at last he got my right thumb into his mouth, holding my hand to steady it with both his hands while he bit it. with a great effort he then bit my thumb off, clean to the bone. i had no glove on that hand. i called to the other man to help me, but he seemed stupefied. he called two or three times to the prisoner, 'leave the poor man alone. the poor man has done thee no harm.' though sitting within nine inches of my knees he rendered me no help. "when the prisoner bit my thumb off, he held it in his mouth; he pushed his head through the glass, spat the thumb into his hand and flung it out through the window. i then stood up and put my left hand in my pocket, took out my purse and cried out: 'if it is money you want take all i have.' he made a grab at the purse and flung it through the window, on the same side as the thumb was thrown out. from this act i inferred that i was struggling with a maniac. i retreated to the other end of the compartment, holding the other man between me and the prisoner, but he passed the other man by jumping over the seat and again got hold of me. then he forced his head through the other window, breaking the glass, and, loosing me for a moment, with his fists smashed the remaining glass in the window. addressing me he said: 'you ----, you will have to go over;' at the same time he flung both his arms around my waist. i put my leg behind his and threw him on his back. i called upon the other man to help me and he did so. "we held him down for some time, but he overpowered us and flung us back some distance. he then laid hold of my travelling rug and threw it through the window. laying his hand on the bottom of the window he cried out, 'here goes,' and made a leap through the window. i and the other man instantly laid hold of his legs as he was falling over. i got my four fingers into his right shoe, and, his father assisting me, we held him through the window, hanging head downward for about half a mile. i then fainted, and as i was losing my hold on his heels i have some faint recollection that the prisoner's father lost his hold at the same time, and i can't say what happened afterward. as i was coming to myself the train was stopping, and i heard the other man say, 'oh, my son, my son.' when the train stopped i walked from the carriage to the station, and dr. robinson, who was sent for, came in about an hour and amputated my thumb further back." while thus referring, however, to this instance of british railroad conservatism, which with a stolid indifference seems to ignore the teachings of every day life and to meet constantly recurring experience with a calm defiance, it will not do for the american railroad manager to pride himself too much on his own greater ingenuity and more amenable disposition. the angola disaster has been referred to, as well as that at shipton. if the absence of the bell-cord had indeed any part in the fatality of the latter, the presence in cars crowded with passengers of iron pots full of living fire lent horrors before almost unheard of to the former. the methods of accomplishing needed results which are usual to any people are never easily changed, whether in europe or in america; but certainly the disasters which have first and last ensued from the failure to devise any safe means of heating passenger coaches in this country are out of all proportion to those which can be attributed in england to the absence of means of communication between the passengers on trains and those in charge of them. there is an american conservatism as well as an english; and when it comes to a question of running risks it would be strange indeed if the greater margin of security were found west of the atlantic. the security afforded by the bell-cord assuredly has not as yet in this country off-set the danger incident to red-hot stoves. chapter v. telescoping and the miller platform. the period of exemption from wholesale railroad slaughters referred to in a previous chapter and which fortunately marked the early days of the system, seems to have lasted some eleven years. the record of great catastrophes opened on the great western railway of england, and it opened also, curiously enough, upon the th of december, a day which seems to have been peculiarly unfortunate in the annals of that corporation, seeing that it was likewise the date of the shipton-on-cherwell disaster. upon that day, in , a train, while moving through a thick fog at a high rate of speed, came suddenly in contact with a mass of earth that had slid down upon the track from the slope of the cutting. instantly the whole rear of the train was piled up on the top of the first carriage, which happened to be crowded with passengers, eight of whom were killed on the spot while seventeen others were more or less injured. the coroner's jury returned a verdict of accidental death, and at the same time, as if to give the corporation a forcible hint to look closer to the condition of its roadway, a "deodand" of one hundred pounds was levied on the locomotive and tender. this practice, by the way, of levying a deodand in cases of railroad accidents resulting in loss of life, affords a curious illustration of how seldom those accidents must have occurred. the mere mention of it now as ever having existed sounds almost as strange and unreal as would an assertion that the corporations had in their earlier days been wont to settle their differences by wager of battle. like the wager of battle, the deodand was a feature of the english common law derived from the feudal period. it was nothing more nor less than a species of fine, everything through the instrumentality of which accidental death occurred being forfeited to the crown; or, in lieu of the thing itself, its supposed money value as assessed by a coroner's jury.[ ] accordingly, down to somewhere about the year , when the practice was finally abolished by act of parliament, we find in all cases of english railroad accidents resulting in death, mention of the deodand assessed by coroner's juries on the locomotives. these appear to have been arbitrarily fixed, and graduated in amount as the circumstances of the particular accident seemed to excite in greater or less degree the sympathies or the indignation of the jury. in november, , for instance, a locomotive exploded on the manchester & liverpool road, killing its engineer and fireman: and for this escapade a deodand of twenty pounds was assessed upon it by the coroner's jury; while upon another occasion, in , where the locomotive struck and killed a man and horse at a street crossing, the deodand was fixed at no less a sum than fourteen hundred pounds, the full value of the engine. yet in this last case there did not appear to be any circumstances rendering the corporation liable in civil damages. the deodand seems to have been looked upon as a species of rude penalty imposed on the use of dangerous appliances,--a sharp reminder to the corporations to look closely after their locomotives and employés. as, however, accidents increased in frequency it became painfully apparent that "crowner's 'quest law" was not in any appreciable degree better calculated to command the public respect in the days of victoria than in those of elizabeth, and the ancient usage was accordingly at last abolished. certainly the position of railroad corporations would now be even more hazardous than it is, if, after every catastrophe resulting in death, the coroner's jury of the vicinage enjoyed the power of arbitrarily imposing on them such additional penalty not exceeding the value of a locomotive, in addition to all other liabilities, as might seem to it proper under the circumstances of the case. [ ] "_deodand._ by this is meant whatever personal chattel is the immediate occasion of the death of any reasonable creature: which is forfeited to the king, to be applied to pious uses, and distributed in alms by his high almoner; though formerly destined to a more superstitious purpose. * * * wherever the thing is in motion, not only that part which immediately gives the wounds (as the wheel which runs over his body,) but all things which move with it and help to make the wound more dangerous, (as the cart and loading, which increase the pressure of the wheel) are forfeited."--_blackstone, book i, chap. , xvi._ recurring, however, to the accident of december , , the numerous casualties in that case were due to the crushing of the rolling stock which was not strong enough to resist the shock of the sudden stop. under these circumstances the light, short english carriages rode over each other and were broken to pieces; under similar circumstances the longer and heavier cars then in use in america would have "telescoped;" that is, the platforms between the cars would have been broken off and the forward end of each car riding slightly up on its broken coupling would have shot in over the floor of the car before it, sweeping away the studding and other light wood-work and crushing stoves, seats and passengers into one inextricable mass, until, if the momentum was sufficiently great, the several vehicles in the train would be enclosed in each other somewhat like the slides of a partially shut telescope. crushing in other countries and telescoping in america were formerly the greatest, if not the worst, dangers to which travel by rail was liable. as respects crushing there is little to be said. it is a mere question of proportions,--resisting strength opposed to momentum. so long as trains go at great speed it is inevitable that they will occasionally be brought to a dead-stand by running upon unexpected obstacles. the simple wonder is that they do this so infrequently. when, however, now and again, they are thus brought to a dead-stand the safety of the passenger depends and can depend on nothing but the strength of the car in which he is sitting as measured by the force of the shock to which it is subjected. this matter has already been referred to in connection with the shipton and wollaston accidents,[ ] the last of which was a significant reminder to all railroad managers that no matter how strongly or with how careful a regard to scientific principles cars may be constructed, just so long as they are made by human hands it is easy to load on weight sufficient, when combined with only a moderate momentum, to crush them into splinters. [ ] ante pp. - . telescoping, however, was an incident of crushing, and a peculiarly american incident, which is not without a certain historical interest; for the particular feature in car construction which led directly to it and all its attendant train of grisly horrors furnishes a singular and instructive illustration of the gross violations of mechanical principles into which practical, as opposed to educated, mechanics are apt constantly to fall,--and in which, when once they have fallen, they steadily persist. the original idea of the railroad train was a succession of stage coaches chained together and hauled by a locomotive. the famous pioneer train of august , , over the mohawk valley road was literally made up in this way, the bodies of stage coaches having been placed on trucks, which "were coupled together with chains or chain-links, leaving from two to three feet slack, and when the locomotive started it took up the slack by jerks, with sufficient force to jerk the passengers, who sat on seats across the tops of the coaches, out from under their hats, and in stopping they came together with such force as to send them flying from their seats." on this trip, it will be remembered, the train presently came to a stop, when the passengers upon it, with true american adaptability, set their wits at once to the work of devising some means of remedying the unpleasant jerks.[ ] "a plan was soon hit upon and put in execution. the three links in the couplings of the cars were stretched to their utmost tension, a rail, from a fence in the neighborhood, was placed between each pair of cars and made fast by means of the packing yarn from the cylinders." here was the incipient idea of couplers and buffers improvised by practical men, and for a third of a century it remained almost unimproved upon, except by the introduction of a spring upon which coupler and buffer played. the only other considerable change made in the earlier days of car construction was by no means an improvement, inasmuch as it introduced the new and wholly unnecessary danger of telescoping. [ ] railroads: their origin and problems, p. . the original passenger cars, however frail and light they may have been, were at least, when shackled together in a train, continuous in their bearings on each other,--that is, their sills and floor timbers were all on a level and in line, so that, if the cars were suddenly pressed together, they met in such a way as to resist the pressure to the extent of their resisting power, and the floor of one did not quietly slide under or over that of another. the bodies of these cars were about thirty-two inches from the rails. this was presently found to be too low. in raising the bodies of the cars, however, the mechanics of those days encountered a practical difficulty. the couplings of the cars built on the new model were higher than those of the old. they at once met, and, as they thought, no less ingeniously then successfully overcame this difficulty, by placing the couplings and draw-heads of their new cars below the line of the sills. this necessitated putting the platform which sustained the coupling also beneath the sills, and in doing that they disregarded, without the most remote consciousness of the fact, a fundamental law of mechanics. with a possible pressure, both sudden and heavy to be resisted, the line of resistance was no longer the line of greatest strength. during thirty years this stupid blunder remained uncorrected. it was as if the builders during that period had from force of habit insisted upon always using as supports pillars which were curved or bent instead of upright. at the close of those thirty years also the railroad mechanics had become so thoroughly educated into their false methods that it took yet other years and a series of frightful disasters, the significance of which they seemed utterly unable to take in, before they could be induced to abandon those methods. the two great dangers of telescoping and oscillation were directly due to this system of car construction and of train coupling,--and telescoping and oscillation were probably the cause of one-half at least of the loss of life and the injuries to persons incident to the first thirty years of american railroad experience. the badly built and loosely connected coaches of every train going at any considerable rate of speed used then to swing and roll about and hammer against each other after a fashion which made the infrequent occurrence of serious disaster the only fair subject for surprise. in case of a sudden stoppage or partial derailment, the train stopped or went on, not as a whole, but as a succession of parts, while the low platforms and slack couplings fearfully increased the danger;--for, if the train held together, the cars in stopping were likely to break off the platforms, making of what remained of them a sort of inclined plane over which the car-bodies rode into each other at different levels; or, if the couplings, as was more probable, held and the train did not part, the swaying and swinging of the loosely connected cars was almost sure to throw them from the track and break them in pieces. the invention through which this difficulty was at last overcome, simple and obvious as it was, is fairly entitled, so far as america at least is concerned, to be classed among the four or five really noticeable advances which have of late years been made in railroad appliances. it contributed unmistakably and essentially to the safety of every traveller. known as the miller platform and buffer, from the name of the inventor, it was, like all good work of the sort, a simple and intelligent recurrence to correct mechanical principles. miller went to work to construct cars in such a way as to cause them to come in contact with each other in the line of their greatest resisting power, while in coupling them together in trains he introduced both tension and compression;--that is he, in plain language, brought the ends of the heavy longitudinal floor timbers of the separate cars exactly on a line and directly bearing on each other, and then forced them against each other until the heavy spring buffers which played on those floor timbers were compressed, when the couplers sprung together and the train then stood practically one solid body from end to end. it could no more swing or crush than a single car could swing or crush. it then only remained to increase the weight and to perfect the construction of the vehicles to insure all the safety in this respect of which travel by rail admitted. simple as these improvements were, and apparently obvious as the mechanical principles on which they were based now seem, the opposition for years offered to them by practical master-mechanics and railroad men would have been ludicrous had it not been exasperating. there was hardly a railroad in the country whose officers did not insist that their method of construction was exceptional, it was true, but far better than miller's. it was maintained that the slack couplings were necessary in order to enable the locomotives to start the trains,--that a train made up without the slack, on miller's plan, could not be set in motion, and that if it was set in motion it must twist apart at every sharp curve etc. the ingenuity displayed in thus inventing theoretical objections to the appliance far exceeded that required for inventing it, and indeed no one who has not had official experience of it can at all realize the objecting capacity of the typical practical mechanic whose conceit as a rule is measured by his ignorance, while his stupidity is unequalled save by his obstinacy. even when miller's invention for one reason or another was not adopted, the principles upon which that invention was founded,--the principles of tension, cohesion and direct resistance,--at last forced their way into general acceptance. the long-urged objection that the thing was practically impossible was slowly abandoned in face of the awkward but undeniable fact that it was done every day, and many times a day. consequently, as the result of much patient arguing, duly emphasized by the regular recurrence of disaster, it is not too much to assert that for weight, resisting power, perfection of construction and equipment and the protection they afford to travellers, the standard american passenger coach is now far in advance of any other. as to comfort, convenience, taste in ornamentation, etc., these are so much matters of habit and education that it is unnecessary to discuss them. they do not affect the question of safety. a very striking illustration of the vast increase of safety secured through this improved car construction was furnished in an accident, which happened in massachusetts upon july , . as an express train on the boston & providence road was that day running to boston about noon and at a rate of speed of some forty miles an hour, it came in contact with a horse and wagon at a grade crossing in the town of foxborough. the train was made up of thoroughly well-built cars, equipped with both the miller platform and the westinghouse train-brake. there was no time in which to check the speed, and it thus became a simple question of strength of construction, to be tested in an unavoidable collision. the engine struck the wagon, and instantly destroyed it. the horse had already cleared the rails when the wagon was struck, but, a portion of his harness getting caught on the locomotive, he was thrown down and dragged a short distance until his body came in contact with the platform of a station close to the spot of collision. the body was then forced under the cars, having been almost instantaneously rolled and pounded up into a hard, unyielding mass. the results which ensued were certainly very singular. next to the locomotive was an ordinary baggage and mail car, and it was under this car, and between its forward and its hind truck, that the body of the horse was forced; coming then directly in contact with the truck of the rear wheels, it tore it from its fastenings and thus let the rear end of the car drop upon the track. in falling, this end snapped the coupling by its weight, and so disconnected the train, the locomotive going off towards boston dragging this single car, with one end of it bumping along the track. meanwhile the succeeding car of the train had swept over the body of the horse and the disconnected truck, which were thus brought in contact with its own wheels, which in their turn were also torn off; and so great was the momentum that in this way all of the four passenger cars which composed that part of the train were successively driven clean off their rolling gear, and not only did they then slide off the track, but they crossed a railroad siding which happened to be at that point, went down an embankment three or four feet in height, demolished a fence, passed into an adjoining field, and then at last, after glancing from the stump of a large oak-tree, they finally came to a stand-still some two hundred feet from the point at which they had left the track. there was not in this case even an approach to telescoping; on the contrary, each car rested perfectly firmly in its place as regarded all the others, not a person was injured, and when the wheel-less train at last became stationary the astonished passengers got up and hurried through the doors, the very glass in which as well as that in the windows was unbroken. here was an indisputable victory of skill and science over accident, showing most vividly to what an infinitesimal extreme the dangers incident to telescoping may be reduced. the vast progress in this direction made within twenty years can, however, best perhaps be illustrated by the results of two accidents almost precisely similar in character, which occurred, the one on the great western railroad of canada, in october, , the other on the boston & albany, in massachusetts, in october, . in the first case a regular train made up of a locomotive and seven cars, while approaching detroit at a speed of some twenty miles an hour, ran into a gravel train of fifteen cars which was backing towards it at a speed of some ten miles an hour. the locomotive of the passenger train was thrown completely off the track and down the embankment, dragging after it a baggage car. at the head of the passenger portion of the train were two second-class cars filled with emigrants; both of these were telescoped and demolished, and all their unfortunate occupants either killed or injured. the front of the succeeding first-class car was then crushed in, and a number of those in it were hurt. in all, no less than forty-seven persons lost their lives, while sixty others were maimed or severely bruised. so much for a collision in october, . in october, , on the boston & albany road, the regular new york express train, consisting of a locomotive and seven cars, while going during the night at a speed of forty miles an hour, was suddenly, near the brimfield station, thrown by a misplaced switch into a siding upon which a number of platform freight cars were standing. the train was thoroughly equipped, having both miller platform and westinghouse brake. the six seconds which intervened, in the darkness, between notice of displacement and the collision did not enable the engineer to check perceptibly the speed of his train, and when the blow came it was a simple question of strength to resist. the shock must have been tremendous, for the locomotive and tender were flung off the track to the right and the baggage car to the left, the last being thrown across the interval between the siding and the main track and resting obliquely over the latter. the forward end of the first passenger coach was thrown beyond the baggage car up over the tender, and its rear end, as well as the forward end of the succeeding coach, was injured. as in the foxborough case, several of the trucks were jerked out from under the cars to which they belonged, but not a person on the train was more than slightly bruised, the cars were not disconnected, nor was there even a suggestion of telescoping. chapter vi. the versailles accident. going back once more to the early days, a third of a century since, before yet the periodical recurrence of slaughter had caused either train-brake or miller platform to be imagined as possibilities, before, indeed, there was yet any record of what we would now consider a regular railroad field-day, with its long train of accompanying horrors, including in the grisly array death by crushing, scalding, drowning, burning, and impalement,--going back to the year , or thereabouts, we find that the railroad companies experienced a notable illustration of the truth of the ancient adage that it never rains but it pours; for it was then that the long immunity was rudely broken in upon. after that time disasters on the rail seemed to tread upon one another's heels in quick and frightful succession. within a few months of the english catastrophe of december , , there happened in france one of the most famous and most horrible railroad slaughters ever recorded. it took place on the th of may, . it was the birthday of the king, louis philippe, and, in accordance with the usual practice, the occasion had been celebrated at versailles by a great display of the fountains. at half past five o'clock these had stopped playing, and a general rush ensued for the trains then about to leave for paris. that which went by the road along the left bank of the seine was densely crowded, and so long that two locomotives were required to draw it. as it was moving at a high rate of speed between bellevue and meudon, the axle of the foremost of these two locomotives broke, letting the body of the engine drop to the ground. it instantly stopped, and the second locomotive was then driven by its impetus on top of the first, crushing its engineer and fireman, while the contents of both the fire-boxes were scattered over the roadway and among the _débris_. three carriages crowded with passengers were then piled on top of this burning mass and there crushed together into each other. the doors of these carriages were locked, as was then and indeed is still the custom in europe, and it so chanced that they had all been newly painted. they blazed up like pine kindlings. some of the carriages were so shattered that a portion of those in them were enabled to extricate themselves, but the very much larger number were held fast; and of these such as were not so fortunate as to be crushed to death in the first shock perished hopelessly in the flames before the eyes of a throng of lookers-on impotent to aid. fifty-two or fifty-three persons were supposed to have lost their lives in this disaster, and more than forty others were injured; the exact number of the killed, however, could never be ascertained, as the piling-up of the cars on top of the two locomotives had made of the destroyed portion of the train a veritable holocaust of the most hideous description. not only did whole families perish together,--in one case no less than eleven members of the same family sharing a common fate,--but the remains of such as were destroyed could neither be identified nor separated. in one case a female foot was alone recognizable, while in others the bodies were calcined and and fused into an indistinguishable mass. the academy of sciences appointed a committee to inquire whether admiral d'urville, a distinguished french navigator, was among the victims. his body was thought to be found, but it was so terribly mutilated that it could be recognized only by a sculptor, who chanced some time before to have taken a phrenological cast of the skull. his wife and only son had perished with him. it is not easy now to conceive the excitement and dismay which this catastrophe caused throughout france. the railroad was at once associated in the minds of an excitable people with novel forms of imminent death. france had at best been laggard enough in its adoption of the new invention, and now it seemed for a time as if the versailles disaster was to operate as a barrier in the way of all further railroad development. persons availed themselves of the steam roads already constructed as rarely as possible, and then in fear and trembling, while steps were taken to substitute horse for steam power on other roads then in process of construction. the disaster was, indeed, one well calculated to make a deep impression on the popular mind, for it lacked almost no attribute of the dramatic and terrible. there were circumstances connected with it, too, which gave it a sort of moral significance,--contrasting so suddenly the joyous return from the country _fête_ in the pleasant afternoon of may, with what de quincey has called the vision of sudden death. it contained a whole homily on the familiar text. as respects the number of those killed and injured, also, the versailles accident has not often been surpassed; perhaps never in france. in this country it was surpassed on one occasion, among others, under circumstances very similar to it. this was the accident at camphill station, about twelve miles from philadelphia, on july , , which befell an excursion train carrying some eleven hundred children, who had gone out on a sunday-school picnic in charge of their teachers and friends. it was the usual story. the road had but a single track, and the train, both long and heavy, had been delayed and was running behind its schedule time. the conductor thought, however, that the next station could yet be reached in time to meet and there pass a regular train coming towards him. it may have been a miscalculation of seconds, it may have been a difference of watches, or perhaps the regular train was slightly before its time; but, however it happened, as the excursion train, while running at speed, was rounding a reverse curve, it came full upon the regular train, which had just left the station. in those days, as compared with the present, the cars were but egg-shells, and the shock was terrific. the locomotives struck each other, and, after rearing themselves up for an instant, it is said, like living animals, fell to the ground mere masses of rubbish. in any case the force of the shock was sufficient to hurl both engines from the track and lay them side by side at right angles to, and some distance from it. as only the excursion train happened to be running at speed, it alone had all the impetus necessary for telescoping; three of its cars accordingly closed in upon each other, and the children in them were crushed; as in the versailles accident, two succeeding cars were driven upon this mass, and then fire was set to the whole from the ruins of the locomotives. it would be hard to imagine anything more thoroughly heart-rending, for the holocaust was of little children on a party of pleasure. five cars in all were burned, and sixty-six persons perished; the injured numbered more than a hundred.[ ] [ ] a collision very similar to that at camphill occurred upon the erie railway at a point about miles west of port jervis on the afternoon of july , . the train in this case consisted of eighteen cars, in which were some confederate soldiers on their way under guard to the prisoner's camp at elmira. a coal train consisting of loaded cars from the hanch took the main line at lackawaxen. the telegraph operator there informed its conductor that the track was clear, and, while rounding a sharp reversed curve, the two trains came together, the one going at about twelve and the other at some twenty miles an hour. some of the soldiers, besides a number of train hands were killed on the spot, and more were seriously injured, some of them fatally. this disaster occurred in the midst of some of the most important operations of the rebellion and excited at the time hardly any notice. there was a suggestive military promptness in the subsequent proceedings. "t. j. ridgeway, esq., associate judge of pike county, was soon on the spot, and, after consultation with mr. riddle [the superintendent of the erie road] and the officer in command of the men, a jury was impanneled and an inquest held; after which a large trench was dug by the soldiers and the railway employés, feet long, feet wide and feet deep, in which the bodies were at once interred in boxes, hastily constructed--one being allotted to four rebels, and one to each union soldier." there were sixteen of the latter killed. of this disaster nothing could be said either in excuse or in extenuation; it was not only one of the worst description, but it was one of that description the occurrence of which is most frequent. an excursion train, while running against time on a single-track road, came in collision with a regular train. the record is full of similar disasters, too numerous to admit of specific reference. primarily of course, the conductors of the special trains are as a rule in fault in such cases. he certainly was at camphill, and felt himself to be so, for the next day he committed suicide by swallowing arsenic. but in reality in these and in all similar cases,--both those which have happened and those hereafter surely destined to happen,--the full responsibility does not rest upon the unfortunate or careless subordinate;--nor should the weight of punishment be visited upon him. it belongs elsewhere. at this late day no board of directors, nor president, nor superintendent has any right to operate a single track road without the systematic use of the telegraph in connection with its train movements. that the telegraph can be used to block, as it is termed, double-track roads, by dividing them into sections upon no one of which two trains can be running at the same time, is matter of long and daily experience. there is nothing new or experimental about it. it is a system which has been forced on the more crowded lines of the world as an alternative to perennial killings. that in the year excursion trains should rush along single-track roads and hurl themselves against regular trains, just as was done twenty-three years ago at camphill, would be deemed incredible were not exactly similar accidents still from time to time reported. one occurred near st. louis, for instance, on july , . the simple fact is that to now operate single-track roads without the constant aid of the telegraph, as a means of blocking them for every irregular train, indicates a degree of wanton carelessness, or an excess of incompetence, for which adequate provision should be made in the criminal law. nothing but this appeal to the whipping-post, as it were, seems to produce the needed mental activity; for it is difficult to realize the stupid conservatism of ordinary men when brought to the consideration of something to which they are not accustomed. on this very point of controlling the train movement of single-track roads by telegraph, for instance, within a very recent period the superintendent of a leading massachusetts road gravely assured the railroad commissioners of that state, that he considered it a most dangerous reliance which had occasioned many disasters, and that he had no doubt it would be speedily abandoned as a practice in favor of the old time-table and running-rules system, from which no deviations would be allowed. this opinion was expressed, also, after the revere disaster of , it might have been supposed, had branded into the record of the state the impossibility of safely running any crowded railroad in a reliance upon the schedule.[ ] such men as this, however, are not accessible to argument or the teachings of experience, and the gentle stimulant of a criminal prosecution seems to be the only thing left. [ ] chapter xiv, xvi. chapter vii. telegraphic collisions. and yet, even with the wires in active use, collisions will occasionally take place. they have sometimes, indeed, even been caused by the telegraph, so that railroad officials at two adjacent stations on the same road, having launched trains at each other beyond recall, have busied themselves while waiting for tidings of the inevitable collision in summoning medical assistance for those sure soon to be injured. in such cases, however, the mishap can almost invariably be traced to some defect in the system under which the telegraph is used;--such as a neglect to exact return messages to insure accuracy, or the delegating to inexperienced subordinates the work which can be properly performed only by a principal. this was singularly illustrated in a terrible collision which took place at thorpe, between norwich and great yarmouth, on the great eastern railway in england, on the th of september, . the line had in this place but a single track, and the mail train to norwich, under the rule, had to wait at a station called brundell until the arrival there of the evening express from yarmouth, or until it received permission by the telegraph to proceed. on the evening of the disaster the express train was somewhat behind its time, and the inspector wrote a dispatch directing the mail to come forward without waiting for it. this dispatch he left in the telegraph office unsigned, while he went to attend to other matters. just then the express train came along, and he at once allowed it to proceed. hardly was it under way when the unsigned dispatch occurred to him, and the unfortunate man dashed to the telegraph office only to learn that the operator had forwarded it. under the rules of the company no return message was required. a second dispatch was instantly sent to brundell to stop the mail; the reply came back that the mail was gone. a collision was inevitable. the two trains were of very equal weight, the one consisting of fourteen and the other of thirteen carriages. they were both drawn by powerful locomotives, the drivers of which had reason for putting on an increased speed, believing, as each had cause to believe, that the other was waiting for him. the night was intensely dark and it was raining heavily, so that, even if the brakes were applied, the wheels would slide along the slippery track. under these circumstances the two trains rushed upon each other around a slight curve which sufficed to conceal their head-lights. the combined momentum must have amounted to little less than sixty miles an hour, and the shock was heard through all the neighboring village. the smoke-stack of the locomotive drawing the mail train was swept away as the other locomotive seemed to rush on top of it, while the carriages of both trains followed until a mound of locomotives and shattered cars was formed which the descending torrents alone hindered from becoming a funeral pyre. so sudden was the collision that the driver of one of the engines did not apparently have an opportunity to shut off the steam, and his locomotive, though forced from the track and disabled, yet remained some time in operation in the midst of the wreck. in both trains, very fortunately, there were a number of empty cars between the locomotives and the carriages in which the passengers were seated, and they were utterly demolished; but for this fortunate circumstance the thorpe collision might well have proved the most disastrous of all railroad accidents. as it was, the men on both the locomotives were instantly killed, together with seventeen passengers, and four other passengers subsequently died of their injuries; making a total of twenty-five deaths, besides fifty cases of injury. it would be difficult to conceive of a more violent collision than that which has just been described; and yet, as curiously illustrating the rapidity with which the force of the most severe shock is expended, it is said that two gentlemen in the last carriage of one of the trains, finding it at a sudden standstill close to the place to which they were going, supposed it had stopped for some unimportant cause and concluded to take advantage of a happy chance which left them almost at the doors of their homes. they accordingly got out and hurried away in the rain, learning only the next morning of the catastrophe in which they had been unconscious participants. the collision at thorpe occurred in september, . seven months later, on the th of april, , there was an accident similar to it in almost every respect, except fatality, on the burlington & missouri road in iowa. in this case the operator at tyrone had telegraphic orders to hold the east-bound passenger express at that point to meet the west-bound passenger express. this order he failed to deliver, and the train accordingly at once went on to the usual passing place at the next station. it was midnight and intensely dark, with a heavy mist in the air which at times thickened to rain. both of the trains approaching each other were made up in the way usual with through night trains on the great western lines, and consisted of locomotives, baggage and smoking cars, behind which were the ordinary passenger cars of the company followed by several heavy pullman sleeping coaches. those in charge of the east-bound train, knowing that it was behind time, were running it rapidly, so as to delay as little as possible the west-bound train, which, having received the order to pass at tyrone was itself being run at speed. both trains were thus moving at some thirty-five miles an hour, when suddenly in rounding a sharp curve they came upon each other. indeed so close were they that the west-bound engineer had no time in which to reverse, but, jumping straight from the gangway, he afterwards declared that the locomotives came together before he reached the ground. the engineer of the east-bound train succeeded both in reversing his locomotive and in applying his airbrake, but after reversal the throttle flew open. the trains came together, therefore, as at thorpe, with their momentum practically unchecked, and with such force that the locomotives were completely demolished, the boilers of the two, though on the same line of rails, actually, in some way, passing each other. the baggage-cars were also destroyed, and the smoking cars immediately behind them were more or less damaged, but the remaining coaches of each train stood upon the tracks so wholly uninjured that four hours later, other locomotives having been procured but the track being still blocked, the passengers were transferred from one set of cars to the other, and in them were carried to their destinations. so admirably did miller's construction serve its purpose in this case, that, while the superintendent of the road, who happened to be in the rear sleeping car of one of the trains, merely reported that he "felt the shock quite sensibly," passengers in the rear coaches of the other train hardly felt it at all. at tyrone the wrecks of the trains caught fire from the stoves thrown out of the baggage cars and from the embers from the fire-boxes of the locomotives, but the flames were speedily extinguished. of the train hands three were killed and two injured, but no passenger was more than shaken or slightly bruised. this was solely due to strength of car construction. heavy as the shock was,--so heavy that in the similar case at thorpe the carriages were crushed like nut-shells under it,--the resisting power was equal to it. the failure of appliances at one point in the operation of the road was made good by their perfection at another. chapter viii. oil-tank accidents. similar in some of its more dramatic features to the versailles accident, though originating from a wholly different cause, was the abergele disaster, which at the time occupied the attention of the british public to the exclusion of everything else. it occurred in , and to the "irish mail," perhaps the most famous train which is run in england, if, indeed, not in the world. leaving london shortly after a.m., the irish mail was then timed to make the distance to chester, miles, in four hours and eighteen minutes, or at the rate of miles an hour. for the next miles, completing the run to holyhead, the speed was somewhat increased, two hours and five minutes only being allowed for it. abergele is a point on the sea-coast of wales, nearly midway between chester and holyhead. on the day of the accident, august , , the irish mail left chester as usual. it was made up of thirteen carriages in all, which were occupied, as the carriages of that train usually were, by a large number of persons whose names at least were widely known. among these, on this particular occasion, was the duchess of abercorn, wife of the then lord lieutenant of ireland, with five children. under the running arrangements of the london & north western road a freight, or as it is there called a goods train, left chester half an hour before the mail, and was placed upon the siding at llanddulas, a station about a mile and a half beyond abergele, to allow the mail to pass. from abergele to llanddulas the track ascended by a gradient of some sixty feet to the mile. on the day of the accident it chanced that certain wagons between the engine and the rear end of the goods train had to be taken out to be left at llanddulas, and in doing this it became necessary to separate the train and to leave five or six of the last wagons in it standing on the tracks of the main line, while those which were to be left were backed onto a siding. the employé, whose duty it was, neglected to set the brakes on the wagons thus left standing, and consequently when the engine and the rest of the train returned for them, the moment they were touched and before a coupling could be effected, the jar set them in motion down the incline towards abergele. they started so slowly that a brakeman of the train ran after them, fully expecting to catch and stop them, but as they went down the grade they soon outstripped him and it became clear that there was nothing to check them until they should meet the irish mail, then almost due. it also chanced that the cars thus set in motion were oil cars. the track of the north western road between abergele and llanddulas runs along the sides of the picturesque welsh hills, which rise up to the south, while to the north there stretches out a wide expanse of sea. the mail train was skirting the hills and laboring up the grade at a speed of thirty miles an hour, when its engineer suddenly became aware of the loose wagons coming down upon it around the curve, and then but a few yards off. seeing that they were oil cars he almost instinctively sprang from his locomotive, and was thrown down by the impetus and rolled to the side of the road-bed. picking himself up, bruised but not seriously hurt, he saw that the collision had already taken place, that the tender had ridden directly over the engine, that the colliding cars were demolished, and that the foremost carriages of the train were already on fire. running quickly to the rear of the train he succeeded in uncoupling six carriages and a van, which were drawn away from the rest, before the flames extended to them, by an engine which most fortunately was following the train. all the other carriages were utterly destroyed, and every person in them perished. the abergele was probably the solitary instance of a railroad accident in which but a single survivor sustained any injury. there was no maiming. it was death or entire escape. the collision was not a particularly severe one, and the engineer of the mail train especially stated that at the moment it occurred the loose cars were still moving so slowly that he would not have sprung from his engine had he not seen that they were loaded with oil. the very instant the collision took place, however, the fluid seemed to ignite and to flash along the train like lightning, so that it was impossible to approach a carriage when once it caught fire. the fact was that the oil in vast quantities was spilled upon the track and ignited by the fire of the locomotive, and then the impetus of the mail train forced all of its leading carriages into the dense mass of smoke and flame. all those who were present concurred in positively stating that not a cry, nor a moan, nor a sound of any description was heard from the burning carriages, nor did any one in them apparently make an effort to escape. the most graphic description of this extraordinary and terrible catastrophe was that given by the marquis of hamilton, the eldest son of the duke of abercorn whose wife and family, fortunately for themselves, occupied one of those rear carriages which were unshackled and saved. in this account the marquis of hamilton said:--"we were startled by a collision and a shock which, though not very severe, were sufficient to throw every one against his opposite neighbor. i immediately jumped out of the carriage, when a fearful sight met my view. already the whole of the three passengers' carriages in front of ours, the vans, and the engine were enveloped in dense sheets of flame and smoke, rising fully twenty feet high, and spreading out in every direction. it was the work of an instant. no words can convey the instantaneous nature of the explosion and conflagration. i had actually got out almost before the shock of the collision was over, and this was the spectacle which already presented itself. not a sound, not a scream, not a struggle to escape, not a movement of any sort was apparent in the doomed carriages. it was as though an electric flash had at once paralyzed and stricken every one of their occupants. so complete was the absence of any presence of living or struggling life in them that as soon as the passengers from the other parts of the train were in some degree recovered from their first shock and consternation, it was imagined that the burning carriages were destitute of passengers; a hope soon changed into feelings of horror when their contents of charred and mutilated remains were discovered an hour afterward. from the extent, however, of the flames, the suddenness of the conflagration, and the absence of any power to extricate themselves, no human aid would have been of any assistance to the sufferers, who, in all probability, were instantaneously suffocated by the black and fetid smoke peculiar to paraffine, which rose in volumes around the spreading flames." though the collision took place before one o'clock, in spite of the efforts of a large gang of men who were kept throwing water on the tracks, the perfect sea of flame which covered the line for a distance of some forty or fifty yards could not be extinguished until nearly eight o'clock in the evening; for the petroleum had flowed down into the ballasting of the road, and the rails themselves were red-hot. it was therefore small occasion for surprise that, when the fire was at last gotten under, the remains of those who lost their lives were in some cases wholly undistinguishable, and in others almost so. among the thirty-three victims of the disaster the body of no single one retained any traces of individuality; the faces of all were wholly destroyed, and in no case were there found feet, or legs, or anything at all approaching to a perfect head. ten corpses were finally identified as those of males, and thirteen as those of females, while the sex of ten others could not be determined. the body of one passenger, lord farnham, was identified by the crest on his watch; and, indeed, no better evidence of the wealth and social position of the victims of this accident could have been asked for than the collection of articles found on its site. it included diamonds of great size and singular brilliancy; rubies, opals, emeralds, gold tops of smelling-bottles, twenty-four watches, of which but two or three were not gold, chains, clasps of bags, and very many bundles of keys. of these the diamonds alone had successfully resisted the intense heat of the flame; the settings were nearly all destroyed. of the causes of this accident little need or can be said. no human appliances, no more ingenious brakes or increased strength of construction, could have averted it or warded off its consequences once it was inevitable. it was occasioned primarily by two things, the most dangerous and the most difficult to reach of all the many sources of danger against which those managing railroads have unsleepingly to contend:--a somewhat defective discipline, aggravated by a little not unnatural carelessness. the rule of the company was specific that all the wagons of every goods train should be out of the way and the track clear at least ten minutes before a passenger train was due; but in this case shunting was going actively on when the irish-mail was within a mile and a half. a careless brakeman then forgot for once that he was leaving his wagons close to the head of an incline; a blow in coupling, a little heavier perhaps than usual, sufficed to set them in motion; and they happened to be loaded with oil. a catastrophe strikingly similar to that at abergele befell an express train on the hudson river railroad, upon the night of the th of february, . the weather for a number of days preceding the accident had been unusually cold, and it is to the suffering of employés incident to exposure, and the consequent neglect of precautions on their part, that accidents are peculiarly due. on this night a freight train was going south, all those in charge of which were sheltering themselves during a steady run in the caboose car at its rear end. suddenly, when near a bridge over wappinger's creek, not far from new hamburg, they discovered that a car in the centre of the train was off the track. the train was finally stopped on the bridge, but in stopping it other cars were also derailed, and one of these, bearing on it two large oil tanks, finally rested obliquely across the bridge with one end projecting over the up track. hardly had the disabled train been brought to a stand-still, when, before signal lanterns could in the confusion incident to the disaster be sent out, the pacific express from new york, which was a little behind its time, came rapidly along. as it approached the bridge, its engineer saw a red lantern swung, and instantly gave the signal to apply the brakes. it was too late to avoid the collision; but what ensued had in it, so far as the engineer was concerned, an element of the heroic, which his companion, the fireman of the engine, afterwards described on the witness stand with a directness and simplicity of language which exceeded all art. the engineer's name was simmons, and he was familiarly known among his companions as "doc." his fireman, nicholas tallon, also saw the red light swung on the bridge, and called out to him that the draw was open. in reply simmons told him to spring the patent brake, which he did, and by this time they were alongside of the locomotive of the disabled train and running with a somewhat slackened speed. tallon had now got out upon the step of the locomotive, preparatory to springing off, and turning asked his companion if he also proposed to do the same:--"'doc' looked around at me but made no reply, and then looked ahead again, watching his business; then i jumped and rolled down on the ice in the creek; the next i knew i heard the crash and saw the fire and smoke." the next seen of "doc" simmons, he was dragged up days afterwards from under his locomotive at the bottom of the river. but it was a good way to die. he went out of the world and of the sight of men with his hand on the lever, making no reply to the suggestion that he should leave his post, but "looking ahead and watching his business." dante himself could not have imagined a greater complication of horrors than then ensued: liquid fire and solid frost combined to make the work of destruction perfect. the shock of the collision broke in pieces the oil car, igniting its contents and flinging them about in every direction. in an instant bridge, river, locomotive, cars, and the glittering surface of the ice were wrapped in a sheet of flame. at the same time the strain proved too severe for the trestlework, which gave way, precipitating the locomotive, tender, baggage cars, and one passenger car onto the ice, through which they instantly crushed and sank deep out of sight beneath the water. of the remaining seven cars of the passenger train, two, besides several of the freight train, were destroyed by fire, and shortly, as the supports of the remaining portions of the bridge burned away, the superstructure fell on the half-submerged cars in the water and buried them from view. twenty-one persons lost their lives in this disaster, and a large number of others were injured; but the loss of life, it will be noticed, was only two-thirds of that at abergele. the new hamburg catastrophe also differed from that at abergele in that, under its particular circumstances, it was far more preventable, and, indeed, with the appliances since brought into use it would surely be avoided. the modern train-brake had, however, not then been perfected, so that even the hundred rods at which the signal was seen did not afford a sufficient space in which to stop the train. chapter ix. draw-bridge disasters. it is difficult to see how on double track roads, where the occurrence of an accident on one line of tracks is always liable to instantly "foul" the other line, it is possible to guard against contingencies like that which occurred at new hamburg. at the time, as is usual in such cases, the public indignation expended itself in vague denunciation of the hudson river railroad company, because the disaster happened to take place upon a bridge in which there was a draw to permit the passage of vessels. there seemed to be a vague but very general impression that draw-bridges were dangerous things, and, because other accidents due to different causes had happened upon them, that the occurrence of this accident, from whatever cause, was in itself sufficient evidence of gross carelessness. the fact was that not even the clumsy connecticut rule, which compels the stopping of all trains before entering on any draw-bridge, would have sufficed to avert the new hamburg disaster, for the river was then frozen and the draw was not in use, so that for the time being the bridge was an ordinary bridge; and not even in the frenzy of crude suggestions which invariably succeeds each new accident was any one ever found ignorant enough to suggest the stopping of all trains before entering upon every bridge, which, as railroads generally follow water-courses, would not infrequently necessitate an average of one stop to every thousand feet or so. only incidentally did the bridge at new hamburg have anything to do with the disaster there, the essence of which lay in the sudden derailment of an oil car immediately in front of a passenger train running in the opposite direction and on the other track. of course, if the derailment had occurred long enough before the passenger train came up to allow the proper signals to be given, and this precaution had been neglected, then the disaster would have been due, not to the original cause, but to the defective discipline of the employés. such does not appear to have been the case at new hamburg, nor was that disaster by any means the first due to derailment and the throwing of cars from one track in front of a train passing upon the other;--nor will it be the last. indeed, an accident hardly less destructive, arising from that very cause, had occurred only eight months previous in england, and resulted in eighteen deaths and more than fifty cases of injury. a goods train made up of a locomotive and twenty-nine wagons was running at a speed of some twenty miles an hour on the great northern road, between newark and claypole, about one hundred miles from london, when the forward axle under one of the wagons broke. as a result of the derailment which ensued the train became divided, and presently the disabled car was driven by the pressure behind it out of its course and over the interval, so that it finally rested partly across the other track. at just this moment an excursion train from london, made up of twenty-three carriages and containing some three hundred and forty passengers, came along at a speed of about thirty-five miles an hour. it was quite dark, and the engineer of the freight train waved his arm as a signal of danger; one of the guards, also, showed a red light with his hand lantern, but his action either was not seen or was misunderstood, for without any reduction of speed being made the engine of the excursion train plunged headlong into the disabled goods wagon. the collision was so violent as to turn the engine aside off the track and cause it to strike the stone pier of a bridge near by, by which it was flung completely around and then driven up the slope of the cutting, where it toppled over like a rearing horse and fell back into the roadway. the tender likewise was overturned; but not so the carriages. they rushed along holding to the track, and the side of each as it passed was ripped and torn by the projecting end of the goods wagon. of the twenty-three carriages and vans in the train scarcely one escaped damage, while the more forward ones were in several cases lifted one on top of the other or forced partly up the slope of the cutting, whence they fell back again, crushing the passengers beneath them. this accident occurred on the st of june, ; it was very thoroughly investigated by captain tyler on behalf of the board of trade, with the apparent conclusion that it was one which could hardly have been guarded against. the freight cars, the broken axle of which occasioned the disaster, did not belong to the great northern company, and the wheels of the train had been properly examined by viewing and tapping at the several stopping-places; the flaw which led to the fracture was, however, of such a nature that it could have been detected only by the removal of the wheel. it did not appear that the employés of the company had been guilty of any negligence; and it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that the accident was due to one of those defects to which the results of even the most perfect human workmanship must ever remain liable, and this had revealed itself under exactly those conditions which must involve the most disastrous consequences. the english accident did, however, establish one thing, if nothing else; it showed the immeasurable superiority of the system of investigation pursued in the case of railroad accidents in england over that pursued in this country. there a trained expert after the occurrence of each disaster visits the spot and sifts the affair to the very bottom, locating responsibility and pointing out distinctly the measures necessary to guard against its repetition. here the case ordinarily goes to a coroner's jury, the findings of which as a rule admirably sustain the ancient reputation of that august tribunal. it is absolutely sad to follow the course of these investigations, they are conducted with such an entire disregard of method and lead to such inadequate conclusions. indeed, how could it be otherwise?--the same man never investigates two accidents, and, for the one investigation he does make, he is competent only in his own esteem. take the new hamburgh accident as an example. rarely has any catastrophe merited a more careful investigation, and few indeed have ever called forth more ill-considered criticism or crude suggestions. almost nothing of interest respecting it was elicited at the inquest, and now no reliable criticism can be ventured upon it. the question of responsibility in that case, and of prevention thereafter, involved careful inquiry into at least four subjects:--first, the ownership and condition of the freight car, the fractured axle of which occasioned the disaster, together with the precautions taken by the company, usually and in this particular case, to test the wheels of freight cars moving over its road, especially during times of severe cold.--second, the conduct of those in charge of the freight train immediately preceding and at the time of the accident; was the fracture of the axle at once noticed and were measures taken to stop the train, or was the derailment aggravated by neglect into the form it finally took?--third, was there any neglect in signaling the accident on the part of those in charge of the disabled train, and how much time elapsed between the accident and the collision?--fourth, what, if any, improved appliances would have enabled those in charge of either train to have averted the accident?--and what, if any, defects either in the rules or the equipment in use were revealed? no satisfactory conclusion can now be arrived at upon any of these points, though the probabilities are that with the appliances since introduced the train might have been stopped in time. in this case, as in that at claybridge, the coroner's jury returned a verdict exonerating every one concerned from responsibility, and very possibly they were justified in so doing; though it is extremely questionable whether captain tyler would have arrived at a similar conclusion. there is a strong probability that the investigation went off, so to speak, on a wholly false issue,--turned on the draw-bridge frenzy instead of upon the question of care. so far as the verdict declared that the disaster was due to a collision between a passenger train and a derailed oil car, and not to the existence of a draw in the bridge on which it happened to occur, it was, indeed, entitled to respect, and yet it was on this very point that it excited the most criticism. loud commendation was heard through the press of the connecticut law, which had been in force for twenty years, and, indeed, still is in force there, under which all trains are compelled to come to a full stop before entering on any bridge which has a draw in it,--a law which may best be described as a useless nuisance. yet the grand jury of the court of oyer and terminer of new york city even went so far as to recommend, in a report made by it on the d of february, ,--sixteen days after the accident,--the passage by the legislature then in session at albany of a similar legal absurdity. fortunately better counsels prevailed, and, as the public recovered its equilibrium, the matter was allowed to drop. the connecticut law in question, however, originated in an accident which at the time had startled and shocked the community as much even as that at versailles did before or that at abergele has since done. it occurred to an express train on the new york & new haven road at norwalk, in connecticut, on the th of may, . chapter x. the norwalk accident. the railroad at norwalk crosses a small inlet of long island sound by means of a draw-bridge, which is approached from the direction of new york around a sharp curve. a ball at the mast-head was in the signal that the draw was open and the bridge closed to the passage of trains. the express passenger train for boston, consisting of a locomotive and two baggage and five passenger cars, containing about one hundred and fifty persons, left new york as usual at eight o'clock that morning. the locomotive was not in charge of its usual engine-driver but of a substitute named tucker; a man who some seven years before had been injured in a previous collision on the same road, for which he did not appear to have been in any way responsible, but who had then given up his position and gone to california, whence he had recently returned and was now again an applicant for an engineer's situation. this was his third trip over the road, as substitute. in approaching the bridge at norwalk he apparently wholly neglected to look for the draw-signal. he was running his train at about the usual rate of speed, and first became aware that the draw was open when within four hundred feet of it and after it had become wholly impossible to stop the train in time. he immediately whistled for brakes and reversed his engine, and then, without setting the brake on his tender, both he and the fireman sprang off and escaped with trifling injuries. the train at this time did not appear to be moving at a speed of over fifteen miles an hour. the draw was sixty feet in width; the water in the then state of the tide was about twelve feet deep, and the same distance below the level of the bridge. although the speed of the train had been materially reduced, yet when it came to the opening it was still moving with sufficient impetus to send its locomotive clean across the sixty foot interval and to cause it to strike the opposite abutment about eight feet below the track; it then fell heavily to the bottom. the tender lodged on top of the locomotive, bottom up and resting against the pier, while on top of this again was the first baggage car. the second baggage car, which contained also a compartment for smokers, followed, but in falling was canted over to the north side of the draw in such a way as not to be wholly submerged, so that most of those in it were saved. the first passenger car next plunged into the opening; its forward end crushed in, as it fell against the baggage car in front of it, while its rear end dropped into the deep water below; and on top of it came the second passenger car, burying the passengers in the first beneath the _débris_, and itself partially submerged. the succeeding or third passenger car, instead of following the others, broke in two in the middle, the forward part hanging down over the edge of the draw, while the rear of it rested on the track and stayed the course of the remainder of the train. including those in the smoking compartment more than a hundred persons were plunged into the channel, of whom forty-six lost their lives, while some thirty others were more or less severely injured. the killed were mainly among the passengers in the first car; for, in falling, the roof of the second car was split open, and it finally rested in such a position that, as no succeeding car came on top of it, many of those in it were enabled to extricate themselves; indeed, more than one of the passengers in falling were absolutely thrown through the aperture in the roof, and, without any volition on their part, were saved with unmoistened garments. shocking as this catastrophe was, it was eclipsed in horror by another exactly similar in character, though from the peculiar circumstances of the case it excited far less public notice, which occurred eleven years later on the grand trunk railway of canada. in this case a large party of emigrants, over in number and chiefly poles, germans and norwegians of the better class, had landed at quebec and were being forwarded on a special train to their destination in the west. with their baggage they filled thirteen cars. the grand trunk on the way to montreal crosses the richelieu river at beloeil by an iron bridge, in the westernmost span of which was a draw over the canal, some feet below it. both by law and under the running rules of the road all trains were to come to a dead stand on approaching the bridge, and to proceed only when the safety signal was clearly discerned. this rule, however, as it appeared at the subsequent inquest, had been systematically disobeyed, it having been considered sufficient if the train was "slowed down." in the present case, however--the night of june , ,--though the danger signal was displayed and in full sight for a distance of , feet, the engine-driver, unfamiliar with the road and its signals, failed to see it, and, without slowing his train even, ran directly onto the bridge. he became aware of the danger when too late to stop. the draw was open to permit the passage of a steamer with six barges in tow, one of which was directly under the opening. the whole train went through the draw, sinking the barge and piling itself up in the water on top of it. the three last cars, falling on the accumulated wreck, toppled over upon the west embankment and were thus less injured than the others. the details of the accident were singularly distressing. "as soon as possible a strong cable was attached to the upper part of the piling, and by this means two cars, the last of the ill-fated train, were dragged onto the wharf under the bridge. their removal revealed a horrible sight. a shapeless blue mass of hands and heads and feet protruded among the splinters and frame-work, and gradually resolved itself into a closely-packed mass of human beings, all ragged and bloody and dinted from crown to foot with blue bruises and weals and cuts inflicted by the ponderous iron work, the splinters and the enormous weight of the train. * * * a great many of the dead had evidently been asleep; the majority of them had taken off their boots and coats in the endeavor to make themselves as comfortable as possible. they lay heaped upon one another like sacks, dressed in the traditional blue clothing of the german people. * * * a child was got at and removed nine hours after the accident, being uninjured in its dead mother's arms." the accident happened at a.m., and before sundown of the next day bodies had been taken out of the canal; others were subsequently recovered, and yet more died from their hurts. the injured were numbered by hundreds. it was altogether a disaster of the most appalling description, in extenuation of which nothing was to be said. it befell, however, a body of comparatively friendless emigrants, and excited not a tithe of the painful interest which yet attaches to the similar accident to the boston express at norwalk. these terrible disasters were both due, not alone to the carelessness of the two engine-drivers, but to the use of a crude and inadequate system of signals. it so happened, however, that the legislature of connecticut was unfortunately in session at the time of the norwalk disaster, and consequently the public panic and indignation took shape in a law compelling every train on the railroads of that state to come to a dead stand-still before entering upon any bridge in which there was a draw. this law is still in force, and from time to time, as after the new hamburg catastrophe, an unreasoning clamor is raised for it in other states. in point of fact it imposes a most absurd, unnecessary and annoying delay on travel, and rests upon the connecticut statute book a curious illustration of what usually happens when legislators undertake to incorporate running railroad regulations into the statutes-at-large. it is of a par with another law, which has for more than twenty-five years been in force in connecticut's sister state of massachusetts, compelling in all cases where the tracks of different companies cross each other at a level the trains of each company to stop before reaching the crossing, and then to pass over it slowly. the danger of collision at crossings is undoubtedly much greater than that of going through open draws. precautions against danger in each case are unquestionably proper and they cannot be too perfect, but to have recourse to stopping either in the one case or the other simply reveals an utter ignorance of the great advance which has been made in railroad signals and the science of interlocking. in both these cases it is, indeed, entitled to just about the same degree of respect as would be a proposal to recur to pioneer engines as a means of preventing accidents to night trains. the machinery by means of which both draws and grade crossings can be protected, will be referred to in another connection,[ ] meanwhile it is a curious fact that neither at grade crossings nor at draws has the mere stopping of trains proved a sufficient protection. several times in the experience of massachusetts' roads have those in charge of locomotives, after stopping and while moving at a slow rate of speed, actually run themselves into draws with their eyes open, and afterwards been wholly unable to give any satisfactory explanation of their conduct. but the insufficiency of stopping as a reliable means of prevention was especially illustrated in the case of an accident which occurred upon the boston & maine railroad on the morning of the st of november, , when the early local passenger train was run into the open draw of the bridge almost at the entrance to the boston station. it so happened that the train had stopped at the charlestown station just before going onto the bridge, and at the time the accident occurred was moving at a speed scarcely faster than a man could walk; and yet the locomotive was entirely submerged, as the water at that point is deep, and the only thing which probably saved the train was that the draw was so narrow and the cars were so long that the foremost one lodged across the opening, and its forward end only was beneath the water. at the rate at which the train was moving the resistance thus offered was sufficient to stop it, though, even as it was, no less than six persons lost their lives and a much larger number were more or less injured. here all the precautions imposed by the connecticut law were taken, and served only to reveal the weak point in it. the accident was due to the neglect of the corporation in not having the draw and its system of signals interlocked in such a way that the movement of the one should automatically cause a corresponding movement of the other; and this neglect in high quarters made it possible for a careless employé to open the draw on a particularly dark and foggy morning, while he forgot at the same time to shift his signals. an exactly similar instance of carelessness on the part of an employé resulted in the derailment of a train upon the long branch line of the central road of new jersey at the shrewsbury river draw on august , . in this case the safety signal was shown while the draw fastening had been left unsecured. the jar of the passing train threw the draw slightly open so as to disconnect the tracks; thus causing the derailment of the train, which subsequently plunged over the side of the bridge. fortunately the tide was out, or there would have been a terrible loss of life; as it was, some seventy persons were injured, five of whom subsequently died. this accident also, like that on the boston & maine road in , very forcibly illustrated the necessity of an interlocking apparatus. the safety signal was shown before the draw was secured, which should have been impossible. [ ] chapters xvii and xviii. prior to the year there is no consecutive record of this or any other class of railroad accidents occurring in america, but during the six years - there occurred twenty-one cases of minor disaster at draws, three only of them to passenger trains. altogether, excluding the shrewsbury river accident, these resulted in the death of five employés and injury to one other. no passenger was hurt. in great britain not a single case of disaster of any description has been reported as occurring at a draw-bridge since the year , when the present system of official board of trade reports was begun. the lesson clearly to be drawn from a careful investigation of all the american accidents reported would seem to be that a statute provision making compulsory the interlocking of all draws in railroad bridges with a proper and infallible system of signals might have claims on the consideration of an intelligent legislature; not so an enactment which compels the stopping of trains at points where danger is small, and makes no provision as respects other points where it is great. chapter xi. bridge accidents. great as were the terrors inspired by the norwalk disaster in those comparatively early days of railroad experience, and deep as the impression on the public memory must have been to leave its mark on the statute book even to the present time, that and the similar disaster at the richelieu river are believed to have been the only two of great magnitude which have occurred at open railroad draws. that this should be so is well calculated to excite surprise, for the draw-bridge precautions against accident in america are wretchedly crude and inadequate, amounting as a rule to little more than the primitive balls and targets by day and lanterns by night, without any system of alarms or interlocking. electricity as an adjunct to human care, or a corrective rather of human negligence, is almost never used; and, in fact, the chief reliance is still on the vigilance of engine-drivers. but, if accidents at draws have been comparatively rare and unattended with any considerable loss of life, it has been far otherwise with the rest of the structures of which the draw forms a part. bridge accidents in fact always have been, and will probably always remain, incomparably the worst to which travel by rail is exposed. it would be impossible for corporations to take too great precautions against them, and that the precautions taken are very great is conclusively shown by the fact that, with thousands of bridges many times each day subjected to the strain of the passage at speed of heavy trains, so very few disasters occur. when they do occur, however, the lessons taught by them are, though distinct enough, apt to be in one important respect of a far less satisfactory character than those taught by collisions. in the case of these last the great resultant fact speaks for itself. the whole community knows when it sees a block system, or a stronger car construction, or an improved train brake suddenly introduced that the sacrifice has not been in vain--that the lesson has been learned. it is by no means always so in the case of accidents on bridges. with these the cause of disaster is apt to be so scientific in its nature that it cannot even be described, except through the use of engineering terms which to the mass of readers are absolutely incomprehensible. the simplest of railroad bridges is an inexplicable mystery to at least ninety-nine persons out of each hundred. even when the cause of disaster is understood, the precautions taken against its recurrence cannot be seen. from the nature of the case they must consist chiefly of a better material, or a more scientific construction, or an increased watchfulness on the part of officials and subordinates. this, however, is not apparent on the surface, and, when the next accident of the same nature occurs, the inference, as inevitable as it is usually unjust, is at once drawn that the one which preceded it had been productive of no results. the truth of this was strongly illustrated by the two bridge accidents which happened, the one at ashtabula, ohio, on the th of december, , and the other at tariffville, connecticut, on the th of january, . there has been no recent disaster which combined more elements of horror or excited more widespread public emotion than that at ashtabula bridge. it was, indeed, so terrible in its character and so heart-rending in its details, that for the time being it fairly divided the attention of the country with that dispute over the presidential succession, then the subject uppermost in the minds of all. a blinding northeasterly snow-storm, accompanied by a heavy wind, prevailed throughout the day which preceded the accident, greatly impeding the movement of trains. the pacific express over the michigan southern & lake shore road had left erie, going west, considerably behind its time, and had been started only with great difficulty and with the assistance of four locomotives. it was due at ashtabula at about . o'clock p.m., but was three hours late, and, the days being then at their shortest, when it arrived at the bridge which was the scene of the accident the darkness was so great that nothing could be seen through the driving snow by those on the leading locomotive even for a distance of feet ahead. the train was made up of two heavy locomotives, four baggage, mail and express cars, one smoking car, two ordinary coaches, a drawing-room car and three sleepers, being in all two locomotives and eleven cars, in the order named, containing, as nearly as can be ascertained, human beings, of whom were passengers. ashtabula bridge is situated only about , feet east of the station of the same name, and spans a deep ravine, at the bottom of which flows a shallow stream, some two or three feet in depth, which empties into lake erie a mile or two away. the bridge was an iron howe truss of feet span, elevated feet above the bottom of the ravine, and supported at either end by solid masonwork abutments. it had been built some fourteen years. as the train approached the bridge it had to force its way through a heavy snow-drift, and, when it passed onto it, it was moving at a speed of some twelve or fourteen miles an hour. the entire length of the bridge afforded space only for two of the express cars at most in addition to the locomotives, so that when the wheels of the leading locomotive rested on the western abutment of the bridge nine of the eleven cars which made up the train, including all those in which there were passengers, had yet to reach its eastern end. at the instant when the train stood in this position, the engineer of the leading locomotive heard a sudden cracking sound apparently beneath him, and thought he felt the bridge giving way. instantly pulling the throttle valve wide open, his locomotive gave a spring forward and, as it did so, the bridge fell, the rear wheels of his tender falling with it. the jerk and impetus of the locomotive, however, sufficed to tear out the coupling, and as his tender was dragged up out of the abyss onto the track, though its rear wheels did not get upon the rails, the frightened engineer caught a fearful glimpse of the second locomotive as it seemed to turn and then fall bottom upwards into the ravine. the bridge had given way, not at once but by a slowly sinking motion, which began at the point where the pressure was heaviest, under the two locomotives and at the west abutment. there being two tracks, and this train being on the southernmost of the two, the southern truss had first yielded, letting that side of the bridge down, and rolling, as it were, the second locomotive and the cars immediately behind it off to the left and quite clear of a straight line drawn between the two abutments; then almost immediately the other truss gave way and the whole bridge fell, but in doing so swung slightly to the right. before this took place the entire train with the exception of the last two sleepers had reached the chasm, each car as it passed over falling nearer than the one which had preceded it to the east abutment, and finally the last two sleepers came, and, without being deflected from their course at all, plunged straight down and fell upon the wreck of the bridge at its east end. it was necessarily all the work of a few seconds. at the bottom of the ravine the snow lay waist deep and the stream was covered with ice some eight inches in thickness. upon this were piled up the fallen cars and engine, the latter on top of the former near the western abutment and upside down. all the passenger cars were heated by stoves. at first a dead silence seemed to follow the successive shocks of the falling mass. in less than two minutes, however, the fire began to show itself and within fifteen the holocaust was at its height. as usual, it was a mass of human beings, all more or less stunned, a few killed, many injured and helpless, and more yet simply pinned down to watch, in the possession as full as helpless of all their faculties, the rapid approach of the flames. the number of those killed outright seems to have been surprisingly small. in the last car, for instance, no one was lost. this was due to the energy and presence of mind of the porter, a negro named steward, who, when he felt the car resting firmly on its side, broke a window and crawled through it, and then passed along breaking the other windows and extricating the passengers until all were gotten out. those in the other cars were far less fortunate. though an immediate alarm had been given in the neighboring town, the storm was so violent and the snow so deep that assistance arrived but slowly. nor when it did arrive could much be effected. the essential thing was to extinguish the flames. the means for so doing were close at hand in a steam pump belonging to the railroad company, while an abundance of hose could have been procured at another place but a short distance off. in the excitement and agitation of the moment contradictory orders were given, even to forbidding the use of the pump, and practically no effort to extinguish the fire was made. within half an hour of the accident the flames were at their height, and when the next morning dawned nothing remained in the ravine but a charred and undistinguishable mass of car trucks, brake-rods, twisted rails and bent and tangled bridge iron, with the upturned locomotive close to the west abutment. in this accident some eighty persons are supposed to have lost their lives, while over sixty others were injured. the exact number of those killed can never be known, however, as more than half of those reported were utterly consumed in the fire; indeed, even of the bodies recovered scarcely one half could be identified. of the cause of the disaster much was said at the time in language most unnecessarily scientific;--but little was required to be said. it admitted of no extenuation. an iron bridge, built in the early days of iron-bridges,--that which fell under the train at ashtabula, was faulty in its original construction, and the indications of weakness it had given had been distinct, but had not been regarded. that it had stood so long and that it should have given way when it did, were equally matters for surprise. a double track bridge, it should naturally have fallen under the combined pressure of trains moving simultaneously in opposite directions. the strain under which it yielded was not a particularly severe one, even taken in connection with the great atmospheric pressure of the storm then prevailing. it was, in short, one of those disasters, fortunately of infrequent occurrence, with which accident has little if any connection. it was due to original inexperience and to subsequent ignorance or carelessness, or possibly recklessness as criminal as it was fool-hardy. besides being a bridge accident, this was also a stove accident,--in this respect a repetition of angola. one of the most remarkable features about it, indeed, was the fearful rapidity with which the fire spread, and the incidents of its spread detailed in the subsequent evidence of the survivors were simply horrible. men, women and children, full of the instinct of self-preservation, were caught and pinned fast for the advancing flames, while those who tried to rescue them were driven back by the heat and compelled helplessly to listen to their shrieks. it is, however, unnecessary to enter into these details, for they are but the repetition of an experience which has often been told, and they do but enforce a lesson which the railroad companies seem resolved not to learn. unquestionably the time in this country will come when through trains will be heated from a locomotive or a heating-car. that time, however, had not yet come. meanwhile the evidence would seem to show that at ashtabula, as at angola, at least two lives were sacrificed in the subsequent fire to each one lost in the immediate shock of the disaster.[ ] [ ] the angola was probably the most impressively horrible of the many "stove accidents." that which occurred near prospect, n. y., upon the buffalo, corry & pittsburgh road, on december , , should not, however, be forgotten. in this case a trestle bridge gave way precipitating a passenger train some thirty feet to the bottom of a ravine, where the cars caught fire from the stoves. nineteen lives were lost, mostly by burning. the richmond switch disaster of april , , on the new york, providence & boston road was of the same character. three passengers only were there burned to death, but after the disaster the flames rushed "through the car as quickly as if the wood had been a lot of hay," and, after those who were endeavoring to release the wounded and imprisoned men were driven away, their cries were for some time heard through the smoke and flame. but a few days more than a year after the ashtabula accident another catastrophe, almost exactly similar in its details, occurred on the connecticut western road. it is impossible to even estimate the amount of overhauling to which bridges throughout the country had in the meanwhile been subjected, or the increased care used in their examination. all that can be said is that during the year no serious accident due to the inherent weakness of any bridge occcurred on the , miles of american railroad. neither, so far as can be ascertained, was the tariffville disaster to be referred to that cause. it happened on the evening of january , . a large party of excursionists were returning from a moody and sankey revival meeting on a special train, consisting of two locomotives and ten cars. half a mile west of tariffville the railroad crosses the farmington river. the bridge at this point was a wooden howe truss, with two spans of feet each. it had been in use about seven years and, originally of ample strength and good construction, there is no evidence that its strength had since been unduly impaired by neglect or exposure. it should, therefore, have sufficed to bear twice the strain to which it was now subjected. exactly as at ashtabula, however, the west span of the bridge gave way under the train just as the leading locomotives passed onto the tressel-work beyond it: the ice broke under the falling wreck, and the second locomotive with four cars were precipitated into the river. the remaining cars were stopped by the rear end of the third car, resting as it did on the centre pier of the bridge, and did not leave the rails. the fall to the surface of the ice was about ten feet. there was no fire to add to the horrors in this case, but thirteen persons were crushed to death or drowned, and thirty-three others injured.[ ] [ ] of the same general character with the tariffville and ashtabula accidents were those which occurred on november , , upon the pacific railroad of missouri at the bridge over the gasconade, and on july , , upon the northern pacific at the bridge over the mississippi near brainerd. in the first of these accidents the bridge gave way under an excursion train, in honor of the opening of the road, and its chief engineer was among the killed. the train fell some thirty feet, and persons lost their lives while over suffered serious injuries. at brainerd the train,--a "mixed" one,--went down nearly feet into the river. the locomotive and several cars had passed the span which fell, in safety, but were pulled back and went down on top of the train. there were but few passengers in it, of whom three were killed. in falling the caboose car at the rear of the train, in which most of the passengers were, struck on a pier and broke in two, leaving several passengers in it. in the case of the gasconade, the disaster was due to the weakness of the bridge, which fell under the weight of the train. there is some question as to the brainerd accident, whether it was occasioned by weakness of the bridge or the derailment upon it of a freight car. naturally the popular inference was at once drawn that this was a mere repetition of the ashtabula experience,--that the fearful earlier lesson had been thrown away on a corporation either unwilling or not caring to learn. the newspapers far and wide resounded with ill considered denunciation, and the demand was loud for legislation of the crudest conceivable character, especially a law prohibiting the passage over any bridge of two locomotives attached to one passenger train. the fact, however, seems to be that, except in its superficial details, the tariffville disaster had no features in common with that at ashtabula; as nearly as can be ascertained it was due neither to the weakness nor to the overloading of the bridge. though the evidence subsequently given is not absolutely conclusive on this point, the probabilities would seem to be that, while on the bridge, the second locomotive was derailed in some unexplained way and consequently fell on the stringers which yielded under the sudden blow. the popular impression, therefore, as to the bearing which the first of these two strikingly similar accidents had upon the last tended only to bring about results worse than useless. the bridge fell, not under the steady weight of two locomotives, but under the sudden shock incident to the derailment of one. the remedy, therefore, lay in the direction of so planking or otherwise guarding the floors of similar bridges that in case of derailment the locomotives or cars should not fall on the stringers or greatly diverge from the rails so as to endanger the trusses. on the other hand the suggestion of a law prohibiting the passage over bridges of more than one locomotive with any passenger train, while in itself little better than a legal recognition of bad bridge building, also served to divert public attention from the true lesson of the disaster. another newspaper precaution, very favorably considered at the time, was the putting of one locomotive, where two had to be used, at the rear end of the train as a pusher, instead of both in front. this expedient might indeed obviate one cause of danger, but it would do so only by substituting for it another which has been the fruitful source of some of the worst railroad disasters on record.[ ] [ ] "the objectionable and dangerous practice also employed on some railways of assisting trains up inclines by means of pilot engines in the rear instead of in front, has led to several accidents in the past year and should be discontinued."--_general report to the board of trade upon the accidents on the railways of great britain in , p. ._ chapter xii. the protection of bridges. long, varied and terrible as the record of bridge disasters has become, there are, nevertheless, certain very simple and inexpensive precautions against them, which, altogether too frequently, corporations do not and will not take. at ashtabula the bridge gave way. there was no derailment as there seems to have been at tariffville. the sustaining power of a bridge is, of course, a question comparatively difficult of ascertainment. a fatal weakness in this respect may be discernable only to the eye of a trained expert. derailment, however, either upon a bridge, or when approaching it, is in the vast majority of cases a danger perfectly easy to guard against. the precautions are simple and they are not expensive, yet, taking the railroads of the united states as a whole, it may well be questioned whether the bridges at which they have been taken do not constitute the exception rather than the rule. not only is the average railroad superintendent accustomed to doing his work and running his road under a constant pressure to make both ends meet, which, as he well knows, causes his own daily bread to depend upon the economies he can effect; but, while he finds it hard work at best to provide for the multifarious outlays, long immunity from disaster breeds a species of recklessness even in the most cautious:--and yet the single mishap in a thousand must surely fall to the lot of some one. many years ago the terrible results which must soon or late be expected wherever the consequences of a derailment on the approaches to a bridge are not securely guarded against, were illustrated by a disaster on the great western railroad of canada, which combined many of the worst horrors of both the norwalk and the new hamburg tragedies; more recently the almost forgotten lesson was enforced again on the vermont & massachusetts road, upon the bridge over the miller river, at athol. the accident last referred to occurred on the th of june, , but, though forcible enough as a reminder, it was tame indeed in comparison with the des jardines canal disaster, which is still remembered though it happened so long ago as the th of march, . the great western railroad of canada crossed the canal by a bridge at an elevation of about sixty feet. at the time of the accident there were some eighteen feet of water in the canal, though, as is usual in canada at that season, it was covered by ice some two feet in thickness. on the afternoon of the th of march as the local accommodation train from hamilton was nearing the bridge, its locomotive, though it was then moving at a very slow rate of speed, was in some way thrown from the track and onto the timbers of the bridge. these it cut through, and then falling heavily on the string-pieces it parted them, and instantly pitched headlong down upon the frozen surface of the canal below, dragging after it the tender, baggage car and two passenger cars, which composed the whole train. there was nothing whatever to break the fall of sixty feet; and even then two feet of ice only intervened between the ruins of the train and the bottom of the canal eighteen feet below. two feet of solid ice will afford no contemptible resistance to a falling body; the locomotive and tender crushed heavily through it and instantly sank out of sight. in falling the baggage car struck a corner of the tender and was thus thrown some ten yards to one side, and was followed by the first passenger car, which, turning a somersault as it went, fell on its roof and was crushed to fragments, but only partially broke through the ice, upon which the next car fell endwise, and rested in that position. that every human being in the first car was either crushed or drowned seems most natural; the only cause for astonishment is found in the fact that any one should have survived such a catastrophe,--a tumble of sixty feet on ice as solid as a rock! yet of four persons in the baggage car three went down with it, and not one of them was more than slightly injured. the engineer and fireman, and the occupants of the second passenger car, were less fortunate. the former were found crushed under the locomotive at the bottom of the canal; while of the latter ten were killed, and not one escaped severe injury. very rarely indeed in the history of railroad accidents have so large a portion of those on the train lost their lives as in this case, for out of ninety persons sixty perished, and in the number was included every woman and child among the passengers, with a single exception. there were two circumstances about this disaster worthy of especial notice. in the first place, as well as can now be ascertained in the absence of any trustworthy record of an investigation into causes, the accident was easily preventable. it appears to have been immediately caused by the derailment of a locomotive, however occasioned, just as it was entering on a swing draw-bridge. thrown from the tracks, there was nothing in the flooring to prevent the derailed locomotive from deflecting from its course until it toppled over the ends of the ties, nor were the ties and the flooring apparently sufficiently strong to sustain it even while it held to its course. under such circumstances the derailment of a locomotive upon any bridge can mean only destruction; it meant it then, it means it now; and yet our country is to-day full of bridges constructed in an exactly similar way. to make accidents from this cause, if not impossible at least highly improbable, it is only necessary to make the ties and flooring of all bridges between the tracks and for three feet on either side of them sufficiently strong to sustain the whole weight of a train off the track and in motion, while a third rail, or strong truss of wood, securely fastened, should be laid down midway between the rails throughout the entire length of the bridge and its approaches. with this arrangement, as the flanges of the wheels are on the inside, it must follow that in case of derailment and a divergence to one side or the other of the bridge, the inner side of the flange will come against the central rail or truss just so soon as the divergence amounts to half the space between the rails, which in the ordinary gauge is two feet and four inches. the wheels must then glide along this guard, holding the train from any further divergence from its course, until it can be checked. meanwhile, as the ties and flooring extend for the space of three feet outside of the track, a sufficient support is furnished by them for the other wheels. a legislative enactment compelling the construction of all bridges in this way, coupled with additional provisions for interlocking of draws with their signals in cases of bridges across navigable waters, would be open to objection that laws against dangers of accident by rail have almost invariably proved ineffective when they were not absurd, but in itself, if enforced, it might not improbably render disasters like those at norwalk and des jardines terrors of the past. chapter xiii. car-couplings in derailments. wholly apart from the derailment, which was the real occasion of the des jardines disaster, there was one other cause which largely contributed to its fatality, if indeed that fatality was not in greatest part immediately due to it. the question as to what is the best method of coupling together the several individual vehicles which make up every railroad train has always been much discussed among railroad mechanics. the decided weight of opinion has been in favor of the strongest and closest couplings, so that under no circumstances should the train separate into parts. taking all forms of railroad accident together, this conclusion is probably sound. it is, however, at best only a balancing of disadvantages,--a mere question as to which practice involves the least amount of danger. yet a very terrible demonstration that there are two sides to this as to most other questions was furnished at des jardines. it was the custom on the great western road not only to couple the cars together in the method then in general use, but also, as is often done now, to connect them by heavy chains on each side of the centre coupling. accordingly when the locomotive broke through the des jardines bridge, it dragged the rest of the train hopelessly after it. this certainly would not have happened had the modern self-coupler been in use, and probably would not have happened had the cars been connected only by the ordinary link and pins; for the train was going very slowly, and the signal for brakes was given in ample time to apply them vigorously before the last cars came to the opening, into which they were finally dragged by the dead weight before them and not hurried by their own momentum. on the other hand, we have not far to go in search of scarcely less fatal disasters illustrating with equal force the other side of the proposition, in the terrible consequences which have ensued from the separation of cars in cases of derailment. take, for instance, the memorable accident of june , , near port jervis, on the erie railway. as the express train from new york was running at a speed of about thirty miles an hour over a perfectly straight piece of track between otisville and port jervis, shortly after dark on the evening of that day, it encountered a broken rail. the train was made up of a locomotive, two baggage cars and five passenger cars, all of which except the last passed safely over the fractured rail. the last car was apparently derailed, and drew the car before it off the track. these two cars were then dragged along, swaying fearfully from side to side, for a distance of some four hundred feet, when the couplings at last snapped and they went over the embankment, which was there some thirty feet in height. as they rushed down the slope the last car turned fairly over, resting finally on its roof, while one of its heavy iron trucks broke through and fell upon the passengers beneath, killing and maiming them. the other car, more fortunate, rested at last upon its side on a pile of stones at the foot of the embankment. six persons were killed and fifty severely injured; all of the former in the last car. in this case, had the couplings held, the derailed cars would not have gone over the embankment and but slight injuries would have been sustained. modern improvements have, however, created safeguards sufficient to prevent the recurrence of other accidents under the same conditions as that at port jervis. the difficulty lay in the inability to stop a train, though moving at only moderate speed, within a reasonable time. the wretched inefficiency of the old hand-brake in a sudden emergency received one more illustration. the train seems to have run nearly half a mile after the accident took place before it could be stopped, although the engineer had instant notice of it and reversed his locomotive. the couplings did not snap until a distance had been traversed in which the modern train-brake would have reduced the speed to a point at which they would have been subjected to no dangerous strain. the accident ten years later at carr's rock, sixteen miles west of port jervis, on the same road, was again very similar to the one just described: and yet in this case the parting of the couplings alone prevented the rear of the train from dragging its head to destruction. both disasters were occasioned by broken rails; but, while the first occurred on a tangent, the last was at a point where the road skirted the hills, by a sharp curve, upon the outer side of which was a steep declivity of some eighty feet, jagged with rock and bowlders. it befell the night express on the th of april, . the train was a long one, consisting of the locomotive, three baggage and express, and seven passenger cars, and it encountered the broken rail while rounding the curve at a high rate of speed. again all except the last car, passed over the fracture in safety; this was snapped, as it were, off the track and over the embankment. at first it was dragged along, but only for a short distance; the intense strain then broke the coupling between the four rear cars and the head of the train, and, the last of the four being already over the embankment, the others almost instantly toppled over after it and rolled down the ravine. a passenger on this portion of the train, described the car he was in "as going over and over, until the outer roof was torn off, the sides fell out, and the inner roof was crushed in." twenty-four persons were killed and eighty injured; but in this instance, as in that at des jardines, the only occasion for surprise was that there were any survivors. accidents arising from the parting of defective couplings have of course not been uncommon, and they constitute one of the greatest dangers incident to heavy gradients; in surmounting inclines freight trains will, it is found, break in two, and their hinder parts come thundering down the grade, as was seen at abergele. the american passenger trains, in which each car is provided with brakes, are much less liable than the english, the speed of which is regulated by brake-vans, to accidents of this description. indeed, it may be questioned whether in america any serious disaster has occurred from the fact that a portion of a passenger train on a road operated by steam got beyond control in descending an incline. there have been, however, terrible catastrophes from this cause in england, and that on the lancashire & yorkshire road near helmshere, a station some fourteen miles north of manchester, deserves a prominent place in the record of railroad accidents. it occurred in the early hours of the morning of the th of september, . there had been a great _fête_ at the bellevue gardens in manchester on the d, upon the conclusion of which some twenty-five hundred persons crowded at once upon the return trains. of these there were, on the lancashire & yorkshire road, three; the first consisting of fourteen, the second of thirty-one, and the last of twenty-four carriages: and they were started, with intervals of ten minutes between them, at about eleven o'clock at night. the first train finished its journey in safety. not so the second and the third. the helmshere station is at the top of a steep incline. this the second train, drawn by two locomotives, surmounted, and then stopped for the delivery of passengers. while these were leaving the carriages, a snap as of fractured iron was heard, and the guards, looking back, saw the whole rear portion of the train, consisting of seventeen carriages and a brake-van, detached from the rest of it and quietly slipping down the incline. the detached portion was moving so slowly that one of the guards succeeded in catching the van and applying the brakes; it was, however, already too late. the velocity was greater than the brake-power could overcome, and the seventeen carriages kept descending more and more rapidly. meanwhile the third train had reached the foot of the incline and begun to ascend it, when its engineer, on rounding a curve, caught sight of the descending carriages. he immediately reversed his engine, but before he could bring his train to a stand they were upon him. fortunately the van-brakes of the detached carriages, though insufficient to stop them, yet did reduce their speed; the collision nevertheless was terrific. the force of the blow, so far as the advancing train was concerned, expended itself on the locomotive, which was demolished, while the passengers escaped with a fright. not so those in the descending carriages. with them there was nothing to break the blow, and the two hindmost carriages were crushed to fragments and their passengers scattered over the line. it was shortly after midnight, and the excursionists clambered out of the trains and rushed frantically about, impeding every effort to clear away the _débris_ and rescue the injured, whose shrieks and cries were incessant. the bodies of ten persons, one of whom had died of suffocation, were ultimately taken out from the wreck, and twenty-two others sustained fractures of limbs. at des jardines the couplings were too strong; at port jervis and at helmshere they were not strong enough; at carr's rock they gave way not a moment too soon. "there are objections to a plenum and there are objections to a vacuum," as dr. johnson remarked, "but a plenum or a vacuum it must be." there are no arguments, however, in favor of putting railroad stations or sidings upon an inclined plane, and then not providing what the english call "catch-points" or "scotches" to prevent such disasters as those at abergele or helmshere. in these two instances alone the want of them cost over fifty lives. in railroad mechanics there are after all some principles susceptible of demonstration. that vehicles, as well as water, will run down hill may be classed among them. that these principles should still be ignored is hardly less singular than it is surprising. chapter xiv. the revere catastrophe. the terrible disaster which occurred in front of the little station-building at revere, six miles from boston on the eastern railroad of massachusetts, in august , was, properly speaking, not an accident at all; it was essentially a catastrophe--the legitimate and almost inevitable final outcome of an antiquated and insufficient system. as such it should long remain a subject for prayerful meditation to all those who may at any time be entrusted with the immediate operating of railroads. it was terribly dramatic, but it was also frightfully instructive; and while the lesson was by no means lost, it yet admits of further and advantageous study. for, like most other men whose lives are devoted to a special calling, the managers of railroads are apt to be very much wedded to their own methods, and attention has already more than once been called to the fact that, when any new emergency necessitates a new appliance, they not infrequently, as captain tyler well put it in his report to the board of trade for the year , "display more ingenuity in finding objections than in overcoming them." [illustration: map] the eastern railroad of massachusetts connects boston with portland, in the state of maine, by a line which is located close along the sea-shore. between boston and lynn, a distance of eleven miles, the main road is in large part built across the salt marshes, but there is a branch which leaves it at everett, a small station some miles out of boston, and thence, running deviously through a succession of towns on the higher ground, connects with the main track again at lynn; thus making what is known in england as a loop-road. at the time of the revere accident this branch was equipped with but a single track, and was operated wholly by schedule without any reliance on the telegraph; and, indeed, there were not even telegraphic offices at a number of the stations upon it. revere, the name of the station where the accident took place, was on the main line about five miles from boston and two miles from everett, where the saugus branch, as the loop-road was called, began. the accompanying diagram shows the relative position of the several points and of the main and branch lines, a thorough appreciation of which is essential to a correct understanding of the disaster. the travel over the eastern railroad is of a somewhat exceptional nature, varying in a more than ordinary degree with the different seasons of the year. during the winter months the corporation had, in , to provide for a regular passenger movement of about seventy-five thousand a week, but in the summer what is known as the excursion and pleasure travel not infrequently increased the number to one hundred and ten thousand, and even more. as a natural consequence, during certain weeks of each summer, and more especially towards the close of august, it was no unusual thing for the corporation to find itself taxed beyond its utmost resources. it is emergencies of this description, periodically occurring on every railroad, which always subject to the final test the organization and discipline of companies and the capacity of superintendents. a railroad in quiet times is like a ship in steady weather; almost anybody can manage the one or sail the other. it is the sudden stress which reveals the undeveloped strength or the hidden weakness; and the truly instructive feature in the revere accident lay in the amount of hidden weakness everywhere which was brought to light under that sudden stress. during the week ending with that saturday evening upon which the disaster occurred the rolling stock of the road had been heavily taxed, not only to accommodate the usual tide of summer travel, then at its full flood, but also those attending a military muster and two large camp-meetings upon its line. the number of passengers going over it had accordingly risen from about one hundred and ten thousand, the full summer average, to over one hundred and forty thousand; while instead of the one hundred and fifty-two trains a day provided for in the running schedule, there were no less than one hundred and ninety-two. it had never been the custom with those managing the road to place any reliance upon the telegraph in directing the train movement, and no use whatever appears to have been made of it towards straightening out the numerous hitches inevitable from so sudden an increase in that movement. if an engine broke down, or a train got off the track, there had accordingly throughout that week been nothing done, except patient and general waiting, until things got in motion again; each conductor or station-master had to look out for himself, under the running regulations of the road, and need expect no assistance from headquarters. this, too, in spite of the fact that, including the saugus branch, no less than ninety-three of the entire one hundred and fifteen miles of road operated by the company were supplied only with a single track. the whole train movement, both of the main line and of the branches, intricate in the extreme as it was, thus depended solely on a schedule arrangement and the watchful intelligence of individual employés. not unnaturally, therefore, as the week drew to a close the confusion became so great that the trains reached and left the boston station with an almost total disregard of the schedule; while towards the evening of saturday the employés of the road at that station directed their efforts almost exclusively to dispatching trains as fast as cars could be procured, thus trying to keep it as clear as possible of the throng of impatient travellers which continually blocked it up. taken altogether the situation illustrated in a very striking manner that singular reliance of the corporation on the individuality and intelligence of its employés, which in another connection is referred to as one of the most striking characteristics of american railroad management, without a full appreciation of which it is impossible to understand its using or failing to use certain appliances. according to the regular schedule four trains should have left the boston station in succession during the hour and a half between . and eight o'clock p.m.: a saugus branch train for lynn at . ; a second saugus branch train at seven; an accommodation train, which ran eighteen miles over the main line, at . ; and finally the express train through to portland, also over the main line, at eight o'clock. the collision at revere was between these last two trains, the express overtaking and running into the rear of the accommodation train; but it was indirectly caused by the delays and irregularity in movement of the two branch trains. it will be noticed that, according to the schedule, both of the branch trains should have preceded the accommodation train; in the prevailing confusion, however, the first of the two branch trains did not leave the station until about seven o'clock, thirty minutes behind its time, and it was followed forty minutes later, not by the second branch train, but by the accommodation train, which in its turn was twenty-five minutes late. thirteen minutes afterwards the second saugus branch train, which should have preceded, followed it, being nearly an hour out of time. then at last came the portland express, which got away practically on time, at a few minutes after eight o'clock. all of these four trains went out over the same track as far as the junction at everett, but at that point the first and third of the four were to go off on the branch, while the second and fourth kept on over the main line. between these last two trains the running schedule of the road allowed an ample time-interval of forty-five minutes, which, however, on this occasion was reduced, through the delay in starting, to some fifteen or twenty minutes. no causes of further delay, therefore, arising, the simple case was presented of a slow accommodation train being sent out to run eighteen miles in advance of a fast express train, with an interval of twenty minutes between them. unfortunately, however, the accommodation train was speedily subjected to another and very serious delay. it has been mentioned that the saugus branch was a single track road, and the rules of the company were explicit that no outward train was to pass onto the branch at everett until any inward train then due there should have arrived and passed off it. there was no siding at the junction, upon which an outward branch train could be temporarily placed to wait for the inward train, thus leaving the main track clear; and accordingly, under a strict construction of the rules, any outward branch train while awaiting the arrival at everett of an inward branch train was to be kept standing on the main track, completely blocking it. the outward branch trains, it subsequently appeared, were often delayed at the junction, but no practical difficulty had arisen from this cause, as the employé in charge of the signals and switches there, exercising his common sense, had been in the custom of moving any delayed train temporarily out of the way onto the branch or the other main track, under protection of a flag, and thus relieving the block. the need of a siding to permit the passage of trains at this point had not been felt, simply because the employé in charge there had used the branch or other main track as a siding. on the day of the accident this employé happened to be sick, and absent from his post. his substitute either had no common sense or did not feel called upon to use it, if its use involved any increase of responsibility. accordingly, when a block took place, the simple letter of the rule was followed;--and it is almost needless to add that a block did take place on the afternoon of august th. the first of the branch trains, it will be remembered, had left boston at about seven o'clock, instead of at . , its schedule time. on arriving at everett this train should have met and passed an inward branch train, which was timed to leave lynn at six o'clock, but which, owing to some accident to its locomotive, and partaking of the general confusion of the day, on this particular afternoon did not leave the lynn station until . o'clock, or one hour and a half after its schedule time, and one half-hour after the other train had left boston. accordingly, when the boston train reached the junction its conductor found himself confronted by the rule forbidding him to enter upon the branch until the lynn train then due should have passed off it, and so he quietly waited on the outward track of the main line, blocking it completely to traffic. he had not waited long before a special locomotive, on its way from boston to salem, came up and stopped behind him. this was presently followed by the accommodation train. then the next branch train came along, and finally the portland express. at such a time, and at that period of railroad development, there was something ludicrous about the spectacle. here was a road utterly unable to accommodate its passengers with cars, while a succession of trains were standing idle for hours, because a locomotive had broken down ten miles off. the telegraph was there, but the company was not in the custom of putting any reliance upon it. a simple message to the branch trains to meet and pass at any point other than that fixed in the schedule would have solved the whole difficulty; but, no!--there were the rules, and all the rolling stock of the road might gather at everett in solemn procession, but, until the locomotive at lynn could be repaired, the law of the medes and persians was plain; and in this case it read that the telegraph was a new-fangled and unreliable auxiliary. and so the lengthening procession stood there long enough for the train which caused it to have gone to its destination and come back dragging the disabled locomotive from lynn behind it to again take its place in the block. at last, at about ten minutes after eight o'clock, the long-expected lynn train made its appearance, and the first of the branch trains from boston immediately went off the main line. the road was now clear for the accommodation train, which had been standing some twelve or fifteen minutes in the block, but which from the moment of again starting was running on the schedule time of the portland express. this its conductor did not know. every minute was vital, and yet he never thought to look at his watch. he had a vague impression that he had been delayed some six or eight minutes, when in reality he had been delayed fifteen; and, though he was running wholly out of his schedule time, he took not a single precaution, so persuaded was he that every one knew where he was. the confusion among those in charge of the various engines and trains was, indeed, general and complete. as the portland express was about to leave the boston station, the superintendent of the road, knowing by the non-arrival of the branch train from lynn that there must be a block at the everett junction, had directed the depot-master to caution the engineer to look out for the trains ahead of him. the order, a merely verbal one, was delivered after the train had started, the depot-master walking along by the side of the slowly-moving locomotive, and was either incorrectly transmitted or not fully understood; the engine-driver supposed it to apply to the branch train which had started just before him, out of both its schedule time and schedule place. presently, at the junction, he was stopped by the signal man of this train. the course of reasoning he would then have had to pass through to divine the true situation of affairs and to guide himself safely under the schedule in the light of the running rules was complicated indeed, and somewhat as follows: "the branch train," he should have argued to himself, "is stopped, and it is stopped because the train which should have left lynn at six o'clock has not yet arrived; but, under the rules, that train should pass off the branch before the . train could pass onto it; if, therefore, the 'wild' train before me is delayed not only the . but all intermediate trains must likewise be delayed, and the accommodation train went out this afternoon after the . train, so it, too, must be in the block ahead of me; unless, indeed, as is usually the case, the signal-master has got it out of the block under the protection of a flag." this line of reasoning was, perhaps, too intricate; at any rate, the engine-driver did not follow it out, but, when he saw the tail-lights immediately before him disappear on the branch, he concluded that the main line was now clear, and dismissed the depot-master's caution from his mind. meanwhile, as the engine-driver of this train was fully persuaded that the only other train in his front had gone off on the branch, the conductor of the accommodation train was equally persuaded that the head-light immediately behind him in the block at the junction had been that of the portland express which consequently should be aware of his position. both were wrong. thus when they left everett the express was fairly chasing the accommodation train, and overtaking it with terrible rapidity. even then no collision ought to have been possible. unfortunately, however, the road had no system, even the crudest, of interval signals; and the utter irregularity prevailing in the train movement seemed to have demoralized the employés along the line, who, though they noticed the extreme proximity of the two trains to each other as they passed various points, all sluggishly took it for granted that those in charge of them were fully aware of their relative positions and knew what they were about. thus, as the two trains approached the revere station, they were so close together as to be on the same piece of straight track at the same time, and a passenger standing at the rear end of the accommodation train distinctly saw the head-light of the express locomotive. the night, however, was not a clear one, for an east wind had prevailed all day, driving a mist in from the sea which lay in banks over the marshes, lifting at times so that distant objects were quite visible, and then obscuring them in its heavy folds. consequently it did not at all follow, because the powerful reflecting head-light of the locomotive was visible from the accommodation train, that the dim tail-lights of the latter were also visible to those on the locomotive. here was another mischance. the tail-lights in use by the company were ordinary red lanterns without reflecting power. the station house at revere stood at the end of a tangent, the track curving directly before it. in any ordinary weather the tail-lights of a train standing at this station would have been visible for a very considerable distance down the track in the direction of boston, and even on the night of the accident they were probably visible for a sufficient distance in which to stop any train approaching at a reasonable rate of speed. unfortunately the engineer of the portland express did not at once see them, his attention being wholly absorbed in looking for other signals. certain freight train tracks to points on the shore diverged from the main line at revere, and the engine-drivers of all trains approaching that place were notified by signals at a masthead close to the station whether the switches were set for the main line or for these freight tracks. a red lantern at the masthead indicated that the main line was closed; in the absence of any signal it was open. in looking for this signal as he approached revere the engine-driver of the portland express was simply attending closely to his business, for, had the red light been at the masthead, his train must at once have been stopped. unfortunately, however, while peering through the mist at the masthead he overlooked what was directly before him, until, when at last he brought his eyes down to the level, to use his own words at the subsequent inquest, "the tail lights of the accommodation train seemed to spring right up in his face." when those in charge of the two trains at almost the same moment became aware of the danger, there was yet an interval of some eight hundred feet between them. the express train was, however, moving at a speed of some twenty-five or thirty miles an hour, and was equipped only with the old-fashioned hand-brake. in response to the sharply given signal from the whistle these were rapidly set, but the rails were damp and slippery, so that the wheels failed to catch upon them, and, when everything was done which could be done, the eight hundred feet of interval sufficed only to reduce the speed of the colliding locomotive to about ten miles an hour. in the rear car of the accommodation train there were at the moment of the accident some sixty-five or seventy human beings, seated and standing. they were of both sexes and of all ages; for it was a saturday evening in august, and many persons had, through the confusion of the trains, been long delayed in their return from the city to their homes at the sea-side. the first intimation the passengers had of the danger impending over them was from the sudden and lurid illumination of the car by the glare from the head-light of the approaching locomotive. one of them who survived the disaster, though grievously injured, described how he was carelessly watching a young man standing in the aisle, laughing and gayly chatting with four young girls, who were seated, when he saw him turn and instantly his face, in the sudden blaze of the head-light, assumed a look of frozen horror which was the single thing in the accident indelibly impressed on the survivor's memory; that look haunted him. the car was crowded to its full capacity, and the colliding locomotive struck it with such force as to bury itself two-thirds of its length in it. at the instant of the crash a panic had seized upon the passengers, and a sort of rush had taken place to the forward end of the car, into which furniture, fixtures and human beings were crushed in a shapeless, indistinguishable mass. meanwhile the blow had swept away the smoke-stack of the locomotive, and its forward truck had been forced back in some unaccountable way until it rested between its driving wheels and the tender, leaving the entire boiler inside of the passenger car and supported on its rear truck. the valves had been so broken as to admit of the free escape of the scalding steam, while the coals from the fire-box were scattered among the _débris_, and coming in contact with the fluid from the broken car lamps kindled the whole into a rapid blaze. neither was the fire confined to the last car of the train. it has been mentioned that in the block at everett a locomotive returning to salem had found itself stopped just in advance of the accommodation train. at the suggestion of the engine-driver of that train this locomotive had there coupled on to it, and consequently made a part of it at revere. when the collision took place, therefore, the four cars of which the accommodation train was made up were crushed between the weight of the entire colliding train on one side and that of two locomotives on the other. that they were not wholly demolished was due simply to the fact that the last car yielded to the blow, and permitted the locomotive of the express train fairly to imbed itself in it. as it was, the remaining cars were jammed and shattered, and, though the passengers in them escaped, the oil from the broken lamps ignited, and before the flames could be extinguished the cars were entirely destroyed. this accident resulted in the death of twenty-nine persons, and in more or less severe injuries to fifty-seven others. no person, not in the last car of the accommodation train was killed, and one only was seriously injured. of those in the last car more than half lost their lives; many instantly by crushing, others by inhaling the scalding steam which poured forth from the locomotive boiler into the wreck, and which, where it did not kill, inflicted frightful injuries. indeed, for the severity of injuries and for the protractedness of agony involved in it, this accident has rarely, if ever, been exceeded. crushing, scalding and burning did their work together. it may with perfect truth be said that the disaster at revere marked an epoch in the history of railroad development in new england. at the moment it called forth the deepest expression of horror and indignation, which, as usual in such cases, was more noticeable for its force than for its wisdom. an utter absence of all spirit of justice is, indeed, a usual characteristic of the more immediate utterances, both from the press and on the platform, upon occasions of this character. writers and orators seem always to forget that, next to the immediate sufferers and their families, the unfortunate officials concerned are the greatest losers by railroad accidents. for them, not only reputation but bread is involved. a railroad employé implicated in the occurrence of an accident lives under a stigma. and yet, from the tenor of public comment it might fairly be supposed that these officials are in the custom of plotting to bring disasters about, and take a fiendish delight in them. nowhere was this ever illustrated more perfectly than in massachusetts during the last days of august and the early days of september, . grave men--men who ought to have known better--indulged in language which would have been simply ludicrous save for the horror of the event which occasioned but could not justify it. a public meeting, for instance, was held at the town of swampscott on the evening of the monday succeeding the catastrophe. the gentleman who presided over it very discreetly, in his preliminary remarks, urged those who proposed to join in the discussion to control their feelings. hardly had he ceased speaking, however, when mr. wendell phillips was noticed among the audience, and immediately called to the platform. his remarks were a most singular commentary on the chairman's injunction to calmness. he began by announcing that the first requisite to the formation of a healthy public opinion in regard to railroad accidents, as other things, was absolute frankness of speech, and he then proceeded as follows:--"so i begin by saying that to my mind this terrible disaster, which has made the last thirty-six hours so sad to us all, is a deliberate murder. i think we should try to get rid in the public mind of any real distinction between the individual who, in a moment of passion or in a moment of heedlessness, takes the life of one fellow-man, and the corporation that in a moment of greed, of little trouble, of little expense, of little care, of little diligence, takes lives by wholesale. i think the first requisite of the public mind is to say that there is no accident in the case, properly speaking. it is a murder; the guilt of murder rests somewhere." mr. phillip's definition of the crime of "deliberate murder" would apparently somewhat unsettle the criminal law as at present understood, but he was not at all alone in this bathos of extravagance. prominent gentlemen seemed to vie with each other in their display of ignorance. mr. b. f. butler, for instance, suggested his view of the disaster and the measure best calculated to prevent a repetition of it; which last was certainly original, inasmuch as he urged the immediate raising of the pay of all engine-men until a sufficiently high order of ability and education should be brought into the occupation to render impossible the recurrence of an accident which was primarily caused by the negligence, not of an engineer, but of a conductor. another gentleman described with much feeling his observations during a recent tour in europe, and declared that such a catastrophe as that at revere would have been impossible there. as a matter of fact the official reports not only showed that the accident was one of a class of most frequent occurrence, but also that sixty-one cases of it had occurred in great britain alone during the very year the gentleman in question was journeying in europe, and had occasioned over six hundred cases of death or personal injury. perhaps, in order to illustrate how very reckless in statement a responsible gentleman talking under excitement may become, it is worth while to quote in his own language captain tyler's brief description of one of those sixty-one accidents which "could not possibly," but yet did, occur. as miscellaneous reading it is amusing. "as four london & north-western excursion trains on september , , were returning from a volunteer review at penrith, the fourth came into collision at penruddock with the third of those trains. an hundred and ten passengers and three servants of the company were injured. these trains were partly in charge of acting guards, some of whom were entirely inexperienced, as well in the line as in their duties; and of engine-drivers and firemen, of whom one, at all events, was very much the worse for liquor. the side-lamps on the hind van of the third train were obscured by a horse-box, which was wider than the van. there were no special means of protection to meet the exceptional contingency of three such trains all stopping on their way from the eastward, to cross two others from the westward, at this station. and the regulations for telegraphing the trains were altogether neglected." chapter xv. rear end collisions. the annals of railroad accidents are full of cases of "rear-end collision," as it is termed.[ ] their frequency may almost be accepted as a very accurate gauge of the pressure of traffic on any given system of lines, and because of them the companies are continually compelled to adopt new and more intricate systems of operation. at first, on almost all roads, trains follow each other at such great intervals that no precaution at all, other than flags and lanterns, are found necessary. then comes a succeeding period when an interval of time between following trains is provided for, through a system of signals which at given points indicate danger during a certain number of minutes after the passage of every train. then, presently, the alarming frequency of rear collisions demonstrates the inadequacy of this system, and a new one has to be devised, which, through the aid of electricity, secures between the trains an interval of space as well as of time. this last is known as the "block-system," of which so much has of late years been heard. [ ] in the nine years - , besides those which occurred and were not deemed of sufficient importance to demand special inquiry, cases of accidents of this description were investigated by the inspecting officers of the english board of trade and reported upon in detail. in america, cases were reported as occurring during the six years - , and cases in alone. the block-system is so important a feature in the modern operation of railroads, and in its present stage of development it illustrates so strikingly the difference between the european and the american methods, that more particular reference will have presently to be made to it.[ ] for the present it is enough to say that rear-end collisions occur notwithstanding all the precautions implied in a thoroughly perfected "block-system." there was such a case on the metropolitan road, in the very heart of london, on the th of august, . it happened in a tunnel. a train was stalled there, and an unfortunate signal officer in a moment of flurry gave "line clear" and sent another train directly into it. [ ] chapter xvii. a much more impressive disaster, both in its dramatic features and as illustrating the inadequacy of every precaution depending on human agency to avert accident under certain conditions, was afforded in the case of a collision which occurred on the london & brighton railway on august , ; ten years almost to a day before that at revere. like the eastern railroad, the london & brighton enjoyed an enormous passenger traffic, which became peculiarly heavy during the vacation season towards the close of august; and it was to the presence of the excursion trains made necessary to accomodate this traffic that the catastrophes were in both cases due. in the case of the london & brighton road it occurred on a sunday. an excursion train from portsmouth on that day was to leave brighton at five minutes after eight a. m., and was to be followed by a regular sunday excursion train at . or ten minutes later, and that again, after the lapse of a quarter of an hour, by a regular parliamentary train at . . these trains were certainly timed to run sufficiently near to each other; but, owing to existing pressure of traffic on the line, they started almost simultaneously. the portsmouth excursion, which consisted of sixteen carriages, was much behind its time, and did not leave the brighton station until . ; when, after a lapse of three minutes, it was followed by the regular excursion train at . , and that again by the parliamentary train at . . three passenger trains had thus left the station on one track in seven minutes! the london and brighton railway traverses the chalky downs, for which that portion of england is noted, through numerous tunnels, the first of which after leaving brighton is known as the patcham tunnel, about five hundred yards in length, while two and a half miles farther on is the croydon tunnel, rather more than a mile and a quarter in length. the line between these tunnels was so crooked and obscured that the managers had adopted extraordinary precautions against accident. at each end of the croydon tunnel a signal-man was stationed, with a telegraphic apparatus, a clock and a telegraph bell in his station. the rule was absolute that when any train entered the tunnel the signal-man at the point of entry was to telegraph "train in," and no other train could follow until the return signal of "train out" came from the other side. in face of such a regulation it was difficult to see how any collision in the tunnel was possible. when the portsmouth excursion train arrived, it at once entered the tunnel and the fact was properly signaled to the opposite outlet. before the return signal that this train was out was received, the regular excursion train came in sight. it should have been stopped by a self-acting signal which was placed about a quarter of a mile from the mouth of the tunnel, and which each passing locomotive set at "danger," where it remained until shifted to "safety," by the signal-man, on receipt of the message, "train out." through some unexplained cause, the portsmouth excursion train had failed to act on this signal, which consequently still indicated safety when the brighton excursion train came up. accordingly the engine-driver at once passed it, and went on to the tunnel. as he did so, the signal-man, perceiving some mistake and knowing that he had not yet got his return signal that the preceding train was out, tried to stop him by waving his red flag. it was too late, however, and the train passed in. a moment later the parliamentary train also came in sight, and stopped at the signal of danger. now ensued a most singular misapprehension between the signal-men, resulting in a terrible disaster. the second train had run into the tunnel and was supposed by the signal-man to be on its way to the other end of it, when he received the return message that the first train was out. to this he instantly responded by again telegraphing "train in," referring now to the second train. this dispatch the signal-man at the opposite end conceived to be a repetition of the message referring to the first train, and he accordingly again replied that the train was out. this reply, however, the other operator mistook as referring to the second train, and accordingly he signaled "safety," and the third train at once got under way and passed into the tunnel. unfortunately the engineer of the second train had seen the red flag waved by the signal-man, and, in obedience to it, stopped his locomotive as soon as possible in the tunnel and began to back out of it. in doing so, he drove his train into the locomotive of the third train advancing into it. the tunnel was twenty-four feet in height. the engine of the parliamentary train struck the rear carriage of the excursion train and mounted upon its fragments, and then on those of the carriage in front of it, until its smoke-stack came in contact with the roof of the tunnel. it rested finally in a nearly upright position. the collision had taken place so far within the tunnel as to be beyond the reach of daylight, and the wreck of the trains had quite blocked up the arch, while the steam and smoke from the engines poured forth with loud sound and in heavy volumes, filling the empty space with stifling and scalding vapors. when at last assistance came and the trains could be separated, twenty-three corpses were taken from the ruins, while one hundred and seventy-six other persons had sustained more or less severe injuries. a not less extraordinary accident of the same description, unaccompanied, however, by an equal loss of life, occured on the great northern railway upon the th of june, . in this case the tube of a locomotive of a freight train burst at about the centre of the welwyn tunnel, some five miles north of hatfield, bringing the train to a stand-still. the guard in charge of the rear of the train failed from some cause to go back and give the signal for an obstruction, and speedily another freight train from the midland road entered and dashed into the rear of the train already there. apparently those in charge of these two trains were in such consternation that they did not think to provide against a further disaster; at any rate, before measures to that end had been taken, an additional freight train, this time belonging to the great northern road, came up and plowed into the ruins which already blocked the tunnel. one of the trains had contained wagons laden with casks of oil, which speedily became ignited from contact with the coals scattered from the fire-boxes, and there then ensued one of the most extraordinary spectacles ever witnessed on a railroad. the tunnel was filled to the summit of its arch and completely blocked with the wrecked locomotives and wagons. these had ignited, and the whole cavity, more than a half a mile in length, was converted into one huge furnace, belching forth smoke and flame with a loud roaring sound through its several air shafts. so fierce was the fire that no attempt was made to subdue it, and eighteen hours elapsed before any steps could be taken towards clearing the track. strange to say, in this disaster the lives of but two persons were lost. rear-end collisions have been less frequent in this country than in england, for the simple reason that the volume of traffic has pressed less heavily on the capacity of the lines. yet here, also, they have been by no means unknown. in two occurred, both of which were accompanied with a considerable loss of life; though, coming as they did during the exciting scenes which marked the close of the war of the rebellion, they attracted much less public notice than they otherwise would. the first of these took place in new jersey on the th of march, , just three days after the second inauguration of president lincoln. as the express train from washington to new york over the camden & amboy road was passing through bristol, about thirty miles from philadelphia, at half-past-two o'clock in the morning, it dashed into the rear of the twelve o'clock "owl train," from kensington to new york, which had been delayed by meeting an oil train on the track before it. the case appears to have been one of very culpable negligence, for, though the owl train was some two hours late, those in charge of it seem to have been so deeply engrossed in what was going on before them that they wholly neglected to guard their rear. the express train accordingly, approaching around a curve, plunged at a high rate of speed into the last car, shattering it to pieces; the engine is even said to have passed completely through that car and to have imbedded itself in the one before it. it so happened that most of the sufferers by this accident, numbering about fifty, were soldiers on their way home from the army upon furlough. the second of the two disasters referred to, occurred on the th of august, , upon the housatonic road of connecticut. a new engine was out upon an experimental trip, and in rounding a curve it ran into the rear of a passenger train, which, having encountered a disabled freight train, had coupled on to it and was then backing down with it to a siding in order to get by. in this case the impetus was so great that the colliding locomotive utterly destroyed the rear car of the passenger train and penetrated some distance into the car preceding it, where its boiler burst. fortunately the train was by no means full of passengers; but, even as it was, eleven persons were killed and some seventeen badly injured. chapter xvi. novel appliances. the great peculiarity of the revere accident, and that which gave a permanent interest to it, lay in the revelation it afforded of the degree in which a system had outgrown its appliances. at every point a deficiency was apparent. the railroads of new england had long been living on their early reputation, and now, when a sudden test was applied, it was found that they were years behind the time. in august, , the eastern railroad was run as if it were a line of stage-coaches in the days before the telegraph. not in one point alone, but in everything, it broke down under the test. the disaster was due not to any single cause but to a combination of causes implicating not only the machinery and appliances in use by the company, but its discipline and efficiency from the highest official down to the meanest subordinate. in the first place the capacity of the road was taxed to the utmost; it was vital, almost, that every wheel should be kept in motion. yet, under that very exigency, the wheels stopped almost as a matter of necessity. how could it be otherwise?--here was a crowded line, more than half of which was equipped with but a single track, in operating which no reliance was placed upon the telegraph. with trains running out of their schedule time and out of their schedule place, engineers and conductors were left to grope their way along as best they could in the light of rules, the essence of which was that when in doubt they were to stand stock still. then, in the absence of the telegraph, a block occurred almost at the mouth of the terminal station; and there the trains stood for hours in stupid obedience to a stupid rule, because the one man who, with a simple regard to the dictates of common sense, was habitually accustomed to violate it happened to be sick. trains commonly left a station out of time and out of place; and the engineer of an express train was sent out to run a gauntlet the whole length of the road with a simple verbal injunction to look out for some one before him. then, at last, when this express train through all this chaos got to chasing an accommodation train, much as a hound might course a hare, there was not a pretence of a signal to indicate the time which had elapsed between the passage of the two, and employés, lanterns in hand, gaped on in bewilderment at the awful race, concluding that they could not at any rate do anything to help matters, but on the whole they were inclined to think that those most immediately concerned must know what they were about. finally, even when the disaster was imminent, when deficiency in organization and discipline had done its worst, its consequences might yet have been averted through the use of better appliances; had the one train been equipped with the westinghouse brake, already largely in use in other sections of the country, it might and would have been stopped; or had the other train been provided with reflecting tail-lights in place of the dim hand-lanterns which glimmered on its rear platform, it could hardly have failed to make its proximity known. any one of a dozen things, every one of which should have been but was not, ought to have averted the disaster. obviously its immediate cause was not far to seek. it lay in the carelessness of a conductor who failed to consult his watch, and never knew until the crash came that his train was leisurely moving along on the time of another. nevertheless, what can be said in extenuation of a system under which, at this late day, a railroad is operated on the principle that each employé under all circumstances can and will take care of himself and of those whose lives and limbs are entrusted to his care? there is, however, another and far more attractive side to the picture. the lives sacrificed at revere were not lost in vain. seven complete railroad years passed by between that and the wollaston heights accident of . during that time not less than two hundred and thirty millions of persons were carried by rail within the limits of massachusetts. of this vast number while only , or about one in each four and a half millions, sustained any injury from causes beyond their own power to control, the killed were just two. this certainly was a record with which no community could well find fault; and it was due more than anything else to the great disaster of august , . more than once, and on more than one road, accidents occurred which, but for the improved appliances introduced in consequence of the experience at revere, could hardly have failed of fatal results. not that these appliances were in all cases very cheerfully or very eagerly accepted. neither the miller platform nor the westinghouse brake won its way into general use unchallenged. indeed, the earnestness and even the indignation with which presidents and superintendents then protested that their car construction was better and stronger than miller's; that their antiquated handbrakes were the most improved brakes,--better, much better, than the westinghouse; that their crude old semaphores and targets afforded a protection to trains which no block-system would ever equal,--all this certainly was comical enough, even in the very shadow of the great tragedy. men of a certain type always have protested and will always continue to protest that they have nothing to learn; yet, under the heavy burden of responsibility, learn they still do. they dare not but learn. on this point the figures of the massachusetts annual returns between the year and the year speak volumes. at the time of the revere disaster, with one single honorable exception,--that of the boston & providence road,--both the atmospheric train-brake and the miller platform, the two greatest modern improvements in american car construction, were practically unrecognized on the railroads of massachusetts. even a year later, but locomotives and cars had been equipped even with the train-brake. in september, , the number had, however, risen to locomotives and cars; and another twelve months carried these numbers up to locomotives and cars. finally in the state commissioners in their report for that year spoke of the train-brake as having been then generally adopted, and at the same time called attention to the very noticeable fact "that the only railroad accident resulting in the death of a passenger from causes beyond his control within the state during a period of two years and eight months, was caused by the failure of a company to adopt this improvement on all its passenger rolling-stock." the adoption of miller's method of car construction had meanwhile been hardly less rapid. almost unknown at the time of the revere catastrophe in september, , in october, , when returns on the subject were first called for by the state commissioners, eleven companies had already adopted it on cars out of a total number of reported. in it had been adopted by twenty-two companies, and applied to cars out of a total of . in other words it had been brought into general use. chapter xvii. the automatic electric block system. a realizing sense of the necessity of ultimately adopting some system of protection against the danger of rear-end collisions was, above all else, brought directly home to american railroad managers through the revere disaster. in discussing and comparing the appliances used in the practical operation of railroads in different countries, there is one element, however, which can never be left out of the account. the intelligence, quickness of perception and capacity for taking care of themselves--that combination of qualities which, taken together, constitute individuality and adaptability to circumstance--vary greatly among the railroad employés of different countries. the american locomotive engineer, as he is called, is especially gifted in this way. he can be relied on to take care of himself and his train under circumstances which in other countries would be thought to insure disaster. volumes on this point were included in the fact that though at the time of the revere disaster many of the american lines, especially in massachusetts, were crowded with the trains of a mixed traffic, the necessity of making any provision against rear-end collisions, further than by directing those in immediate charge of the trains to keep a sharp look out and to obey their printed orders, seemed hardly to have occurred to any one. the english block system was now and then referred to in a vague, general way; but it was very questionable whether one in ten of those referring to it knew anything about it or had ever seen it in operation, much less investigated it. a characteristic illustration of this was afforded in the course of those official investigations which followed the revere disaster, and have already more than once been alluded to. prior to that disaster the railroads of massachusetts had, as a rule, enjoyed a rather exceptional freedom from accidents, and there was every reason to suppose that their regulations were as exact and their system as good as those in use in other parts of the country. yet it then appeared that in the rules of very few of the massachusetts roads had any provision, even of the simplest character, been made as to the effect of telegraphic orders, or the course to be pursued by employés in charge of trains on their receipt. the appliances for securing intervals between following trains were marked by a quaint simplicity. they were, indeed, "singularly primitive," as the railroad commissioners on a subsequent occasion described them, when it appeared that on one of the principal roads of the state the interval between two closely following trains was signalled to the engineer of the second train by a station-master's holding up to him as he passed a number of fingers corresponding to the number of minutes since the first train had gone by. for the rest the examination revealed, as the nearest approach to a block system, a queer collection of dials, sand-glasses, green flags, colored lanterns and hand-targets. the climax in the course of that investigation was, however, reached when some reference, involving a description of it, was made to the english block. this was met by a protest on the part of one veteran superintendent, who announced that it might work well under certain circumstances, but for himself he could not be responsible for the operation of a road running the number of trains he had charge of in reliance on any such system. the subject, in fact, was one of which he knew absolutely nothing;--not even that, through the block system and through it alone, fourteen trains were habitually and safely moved under circumstances where he moved one. this occurred in , and though eight years have since elapsed information in regard to the block system is not yet very widely disseminated inside of railroad circles, much less outside of them. it is none the less a necessity of the future. it has got to be understood, and, in some form, it has got to be adopted; for even in america there are limits to the reliance which, when the lives and limbs of many are at stake, can be placed on the "sharp look out" of any class of men, no matter how intelligent they may be. the block system is of english origin, and it scarcely needs to be said that it was adopted by the railroad corporations of that country only when they were driven to it by the exigencies of their traffic. but for that system, indeed, the most costly portion of the tracks of the english roads must of necessity have been duplicated years ago, as their traffic had fairly outgrown those appliances of safety which have even to this time been found sufficient in america. there were points, for instance, where two hundred and seventy regular trains of one line alone passed daily. on the london & north-western there are more than sixty through down trains, taking no account of local trains, each day passing over the same line of tracks, among which are express trains which stop nowhere, way trains which stop everywhere, express-freight, way-freight, mineral trains and parcel trains. on the midland road there are nearly twice as many similar trains on each track. on the metropolitan railway the average interval is three and one-third minutes between trains. in one case points were mentioned where regular trains of one line alone passed a given junction during each twenty-four hours,--where trains passed a single station, the regular interval between them being but five-eighths of a mile,--where trains entered and left a single station during three hours of each evening every day, being one train in eighty-two seconds. in there daily reached or left the six stations of the boston roads some trains; while no less than trains a day were in the same year received and despatched from a single one of the london stations. on one single exceptional occasion , trains, carrying , persons, were reported as entering and leaving this station in the space of eighteen hours, being rather more than a train a minute. indeed it may well be questioned whether the world anywhere else furnishes an illustration so apt and dramatic of the great mechanical achievements of recent times as that to be seen during the busy hours of any week-day from the signal and interlocking galleries which span the tracks as they enter the charing cross or cannon street stations in london. below and in front of the galleries the trains glide to and fro, coming suddenly into sight from beyond the bridges and as suddenly disappearing,--winding swiftly in and out, and at times four of them running side by side on as many tracks but in both directions,--the whole making up a swiftly shifting maze of complex movement under the influence of which a head unaccustomed to the sight grows actually giddy. yet it is all done so quietly and smoothly, with such an absence of haste and nervousness on the part of the stolid operators in charge, that it is not easy to decide which most to wonder at, the almost inconceivable magnitude and despatch of the train-movement or the perfection of the appliances which make it possible. no man concerned in the larger management of railroads, who has not passed a morning in those london galleries, knows what it is to handle a great city's traffic. perfect as it is in its way, however, it may well be questioned whether the block system as developed in england is likely to be generally adopted on american railroads. upon one or two of them, and notably on the new jersey central and a division of the pennsylvania, it has already been in use for a number of years. from an american point of view, however, it is open to a number of objections. that in itself it is very perfect and has been successfully elaborated so as to provide for almost every possible contingency is proved by the results daily accomplished by means of it.[ ] the english lines are made to do an incredible amount of work with comparative few accidents. the block system is, however, none the less a very clumsy and complicated one, necessitating the constant employment of a large number of skilled operators. here is the great defect in it from the american point of view. in this country labor is scarce and capital costly. the effort is always towards the perfecting of labor-saving machines. hitherto the pressure of traffic on the lines has not been greater than could be fairly controlled by simpler appliances, and the expense of the english system is so heavy that its adoption, except partially, would not have been warranted. as barry says in his treatise on the subject, "one can 'buy gold too dear'; for if every possible known precaution is to be taken, regardless of cost, it may not pay to work a railway at all." [ ] an excellent popular description of this system will be found in barry's _railway appliances, chapter v_. it is tolerably safe, therefore, to predict that the american block system of the future will be essentially different from the present english system. the basis--electricity--will of course be the same; but, while the operator is everywhere in the english block, his place will be supplied to the utmost possible degree by automatic action in the american. it is in this direction that the whole movement since the revere disaster has been going on, and the advance has been very great. from peculiarities of condition also the american block must be made to cover a multitude of weak points in the operation of roads, and give timely notice of dangers against which the english block provides only to a limited degree, and always through the presence of yet other employés. for instance, as will presently be seen, many more accidents and, in europe even, far greater loss of life is caused by locomotives coming in contact with vehicles at points where highways cross railroad tracks at a level therewith than by rear-end collisions; meanwhile throughout america, even in the most crowded suburban neighborhoods, these crossings are the rule, whereas in europe they are the exception. the english block affords protection against this danger by giving electric notice to gatemen; but gatemen are always supposed. so also as respects the movements of passengers in and about stations in crossing tracks as they come to or leave the trains, or prepare to take their places in them. the rule in europe is that passenger crossings at local stations are provided over or under the tracks; in america, however, almost nowhere is any provision at all made, but passengers, men, women and children, are left to scramble across tracks as best they can in the face of passing trains. they are expected to take care of themselves, and the success with which they do it is most astonishing. having been brought up to this self-care all their lives, they do not, as would naturally be supposed, become confused and stumble under the wheels of locomotives; and the statistics seem to show that no more accidents from this cause occur in america than in europe. nevertheless some provision is manifestly desirable to notify employés as well as passengers that trains are approaching, especially where way-stations are situated on curves. again, it is well known that, next to collisions, the greatest source of danger to railroad trains is due to broken tracks. it is, of course, apparent that tracks may at any time be broken by accident, as by earth-slides, derailment or the fracture of rails. this danger has to be otherwise provided for; the block has nothing to do with it further than to prevent a train delayed by any such break from being run into by any following train. the broken track which the perfect block should give notice of is that where the break is a necessary incident to the regular operation of the road. it is these breaks which, both in america and elsewhere, are the fruitful source of the great majority of railroad accidents, and draw-bridges and switches, or facing points as they are termed in the english reports, are most prominent among them. wherever there is a switch, the chances are that in the course of time there will be an accident. four matters connected with train movement have now been specified, in regard to which some provision is either necessary or highly desirable: these are rear collisions, tracks broken at draw-bridges or at switches, highway grade crossings, and the notification of agents and passengers at stations. the effort in america, somewhat in advance of that crowded condition of the lines which makes the adoption of something a measure of present necessity, has been directed towards the invention of an automatic system which at one and the same time should cover all the dangers and provide for all the needs which have been referred to, eliminating the risks incident to human forgetfulness, drowsiness and weakness of nerves. can reliable automatic provision thus be made?--the english authorities are of opinion that it cannot. they insist that "if automatic arrangements be adopted, however suitable they may be to the duties which they have to perform, they should in all cases be used as additions to, and not as substitutions for, safety machinery worked by competent signal-men. the signal-man should be bound to exercise his observation, care and judgment, and to act thereon; and the machine, as far as possible, be such that if he attempts to go wrong it shall check him." it certainly cannot be said that the american electrician has as yet demonstrated the incorrectness of this conclusion, but he has undoubtedly made a good deal of progress in that direction. of the various automatic blocks which have now been experimented with or brought into practice, the hall electric and the union safety signal company systems have been developed to a very marked degree of perfection. they depend for their working on diametrically opposite principles: the hall signals being worked by means of an electric circuit caused by the action of wheels moving on the rails, and conveyed through the usual medium of wires; while, under the other system, the wires being wholly dispensed with, a continuous electric circuit is kept up by means of the rails, which are connected for the purpose, and the signals are then acted upon through the breaking of this normal circuit by the movement of locomotives and cars. so far as the signals are concerned, there is no essential difference between the two systems, except that hall supplies the necessary motive force by the direct action of electricity, while in the other case dependence is placed upon suspended weights. of the two the hall system is the oldest and most thoroughly elaborated, having been compelled to pass through that long and useful tentative process common to all inventions, during which they are regarded as of doubtful utility and are gradually developed through a succession of partial failures. so far as hall's system is concerned this period may now fairly be regarded as over, for it is in established use on a number of the more crowded roads of the north, and especially of new england, while the imperfections necessarily incident to the development of an appliance at once so delicate and so complicated, have for certain purposes been clearly overcome. its signal arrangements, for instance, to protect draw-bridges, stations and grade-crossings are wholly distinct from its block system, through which it provides against dangers from collision and broken tracks. so far as draw-bridges are concerned, the protection it affords is perfect. not only is its interlocking apparatus so designed that the opening of the draw blocks all approach to it, but the signals are also reciprocal; and if through carelessness or automatic derangement any train passes the block, the draw-tender is notified at once of the fact in ample time to stop it. in the case of a highway crossing at a level, the electric bell under hall's system is placed at the crossing, giving notice of the approaching train from the moment it is within half a mile until it passes; so that, where this appliance is in use, accidents can happen only through the gross carelessness of those using the highway. when the electric bell is silent there is no train within half a mile and the crossing is safe; it is not safe while the bell is ringing. as it now stands the law usually provides that the prescribed signals, either bell or whistle, shall be given from the locomotive as it approaches the highway, and at a fixed distance from it. the signal, therefore, is given at a distance of several hundred yards, more or less, from the point of danger. the electric system improves on this by placing the signal directly at the point of danger,--the traveller approaches the bell, instead of the bell approaching the traveller. at any point of crossing which is really dangerous,--that is at any crossing where trees or cuttings or buildings mask the railroad from the highway,--this distinction is vital. in the one case notice of the unseen danger must be given and cannot be unobserved; in the other case whether it is really given or not may depend on the condition of the atmosphere or the direction of the wind. usually, however, in new england the level crossings of the more crowded thoroughfares, perhaps one in ten of the whole number, are protected by gates or flag-men. under similar circumstances in great britain there is an electric connection between a bell in the cabin of the gate-keeper and the nearest signal boxes of the block system on each side of the crossing, so that due notice is given of the approach of trains from either direction. in this country it has heretofore been the custom to warn gate-keepers by the locomotive whistle, to the intense annoyance of all persons dwelling near the crossing, or to make them depend for notice on their own eyes. under the hall system, however, the gate-keeper is automatically signalled to be on the look out, if he is attending to his duty; or, if he is neglecting it, the electric bell in some degree supplies his place, without releasing the corporation from its liability. in america the heavy fogs of england are almost unknown, and the brilliant head lights, heavy bells and shrill high whistles in use on the locomotives would at night, it might be supposed, give ample notice to the most careless of an approaching train. continually recurring experience shows, however, that this is not the case. under these circumstances the electric bell at the crossing becomes not only a matter of justice almost to the employé who is stationed there, but a watchman over him. this, however, like the other forms of signals which have been referred to, is, in the electric system, a mere adjunct of its chief use, which is the block,--they are all as it were things thrown into the bargain. as contradistinguished from the english block, which insures only an unoccupied track, the automatic blocks seek to insure an unbroken track as well,--that is not only is each segment into which a road is divided, protected as respects following trains by, in the case of hall's system, double signals watching over each other, the one at safety, the other at danger,--both having to combine to open the block,--but every switch or facing point, the throwing of which may break the main track, is also protected. the union signal company's system it is claimed goes still further than this and indicates any break in the track, though due to accidental fracture or displacement of rails. without attempting this the hall system has one other important feature in common with the english block, and a very important feature, that of enabling station agents in case of sudden emergency to control the train movement within half a mile or more of their stations on either side. within the given distance they can stop trains either leaving or approaching. the inability to do this has been the cause of some of the most disastrous collisions on record, and notably those at revere and at thorpe. the one essential thing, however, in every perfect block system, whether automatic or worked by operators, is that in case of accident or derangement or doubt, the signal should rest at danger. this the hall system now fully provides for, and in case even of the wilful displacement of a switch, an occurrence by no means without precedent in railroad experience, the danger signal could not but be displayed, even though the electric connection had been tampered with. accidents due to wilfullness, however, can hardly be provided for except by police precautions. train wrecking is not to be taken into account as a danger incident to the ordinary operation of a railroad. carelessness or momentary inadvertence, or, most dangerous of all, that recklessness--that unnecessary assumption of risk somewhere or at some time, which is almost inseparable from a long immunity from disaster--these are the great sources of peril most carefully to be guarded against. the complicated and unceasing train movement depends upon many thousand employés, all of whom make mistakes or assume risks sometimes;--and did they not do so they would be either more or less than men. being, however, neither angels nor machines, but ordinary mortals whose services are bought for money at the average market rate of wages, it would certainly seem no small point gained if an automatic machine could be placed on guard over those whom it is the great effort of railroad discipline to reduce to automatons. could this result be attained, the unintentional throwing of a lever or the carelessness which leaves it thrown, would simply block the track instead of leaving it broken. an example of this, and at the same time a most forcible illustration of the possible cost of a small economy in the application of a safeguard, was furnished in the case of the wollaston disaster. at the time of that disaster, the old colony railroad had for several years been partially equipped on the portion of its track near boston, upon which the accident occurred, with hall's system. it had worked smoothly and easily, was well understood by the employés, and the company was sufficiently satisfied with it to have even then made arrangements for its extension. unfortunately, with a too careful eye to the expenditure involved, the line had been but partially equipped; points where little danger was apprehended had not been protected. among these was the "foundry switch," so called, near wollaston. had this switch been connected with the system and covered by a signal-target, the mere act of throwing it would have automatically blocked the track, and only when it was re-set would the track have been opened. the switch was not connected, the train hands were recklessly careless, and so a trifling economy cost in one unguarded moment some fifty persons life and limb, and the corporation more than $ , . one objection to the automatic block is generally based upon the delicacy and complicated character of the machinery on which its action necessarily depends; and this objection is especially urged against those other portions of the hall system, covering draws and level crossings, which have been particularly described. it is argued that it is always liable to get out of order from a great multiplicity of causes, some of which are very difficult to guard against, and that it is sure to get out of order during any electric disturbance; but it is during storms that accidents are most likely to occur, and especially is this the case at highway grade-crossings. it is comparatively easy to avoid accidents so long as the skies are clear and the elements quiet; but it is exactly when this is not the case and when it becomes necessary to use every precaution, that electricity as a safeguard fails or runs mad, and, by participating in the general confusion, proves itself worse than nothing. then it will be found that those in charge of trains and tracks, who have been educated into a reliance upon it under ordinary circumstances, will from force of habit, if nothing else, go on relying upon it, and disaster will surely follow. this line of reasoning is plausible, but none the less open to one serious objection; it is sustained neither by statistics nor by practical experience. moreover it is not new, for, slightly varied in phraseology, it has been persistently urged against the introduction of every new railroad appliance, and, indeed, was first and most persistently of all urged against the introduction of railroads themselves. pretty and ingenious in theory, practically it is not feasible!--for more than half a century this formula has been heard. that the automatic electric signal system is complicated, and in many of its parts of most delicate construction, is undeniable. so also is the locomotive. in point of fact the whole railroad organization from beginning to end--from machine-shop to train-movement--is at once so vast and complicated, so delicate in that action which goes on with such velocity and power, that it is small cause for wonder that in the beginning all plain, sensible, practical men scouted it as the fanciful creation of visionaries. they were wholly justified in so doing; and to-day any sane man would of course pronounce the combined safety and rapidity of ordinary railroad movement an utter impossibility, did he not see it going on before his eyes. so it is with each new appliance. it is ever suggested that at last the final result has already been reached. it is but a few years, as will presently be seen, since the westinghouse brake encountered the old "pretty and ingenious" formula. going yet a step further, and taking the case of electricity itself, the bold conception of operating an entire line of single track road wholly as respects one half of its train movement by telegraph, and without the use of any time table at all, would once have been condemned as mad. yet to-day half of the vast freight movement of this continent is carried on in absolute reliance on the telegraph. nevertheless it is still not uncommon to hear among the class of men who rise to the height of their capacity in themselves being automaton superintendents that they do not believe in deviating from their time tables and printed rules; that, acting under them, the men know or ought to know exactly what to do, and any interference by a train despatcher only relieves them of responsibility, and is more likely to lead to accidents than if they were left alone to grope their own way out. another and very similar argument frequently urged against the electric, in common with all other block systems by the large class who prefer to exercise their ingenuity in finding objections rather than in overcoming difficulties, is that they breed dependence and carelessness in employés;--that engine-drivers accustomed to rely on the signals, rely on them implicitly, and get into habits of recklessness which lead inevitably to accidents, for which they then contend the signals, and not they themselves, are responsible. this argument is, indeed, hardly less familiar than the "pretty and ingenious" formula just referred to. it has, however, been met and disposed of by captain tyler in his annual reports to the board of trade in a way which can hardly be improved upon:-- it is a favorite argument with those who oppose the introduction of some of these improvements, or who make excuses for the want of them, that their servants are apt to become more careless from the use of them, in consequence of the extra security which they are believed to afford; and it is desirable to consider seriously how much of truth there is in this assertion. * * * allowing to the utmost for these tendencies to confide too much in additional means of safety, the risk is proved by experience to be very much greater without them than with them; and, in fact, the negligence and mistakes of servants are found to occur most frequently, and generally with the most serious results, not when the men are over-confident in their appliances or apparatus, but when, in the absence of them, they are habituated to risk in the conduct of the traffic. in the daily practice of railway working station-masters, porters, signalmen, engine-drivers or guards are frequently placed in difficulties which they have to surmount as best they can. the more they are accustomed to incur risk in order to perform their duties, the less they think of it, and the more difficult it is to enforce discipline and obedience to regulations. the personal risk which is encountered by certain classes of railway servants is coming to be more precisely ascertained. it is very considerable; and it is difficult to prevent men who are in constant danger themselves from doing things which may be a source of danger to others, or to compel them to obey regulations for which they do not see altogether the necessity, and which impede them in their work. this difficulty increases with the want of necessary means and appliances; and is diminished when, with proper means and appliances, stricter discipline becomes possible, safer modes of working become habitual, and a higher margin of safety is constantly preserved.[ ] [ ] reports; , page , and , page . in great britain the ingenious theory that superior appliances or greater personal comfort in some indefinable way lead to carelessness in employés was carried to such an extent that only within the last few years has any protection against wind, rain and sunshine been furnished on locomotives for the engine-drivers and stokers. the old stage-coach driver faced the elements, and why should not his successor on the locomotive do the same?--if made too comfortable, he would become careless and go to sleep!--this was the line of argument advanced, and the tortures to which the wretched men were subjected in consequence of it led to their fortifying nature by drink. they had to be regularly inspected and examined before mounting the foot-board, to see that they were sober. it took years in great britain for intelligent railroad managers to learn that the more protected and comfortable a man is the better he will attend to his duty. and even when the old argument, refuted by long experience, was at last abandoned as respected the locomotive cab, it, with perfect freshness and confidence in its own novelty and force, promptly showed its brutal visage in opposition to the next new safeguard. for the reasons which captain tyler has so forcibly put in the extracts which have just been quoted, the argument against the block system from the increased carelessness of employés, supposed to be induced by it, is entitled to no weight. neither is the argument from the delicacy and complication of the automatic, electric signal system entitled to any more, when urged against that. not only has it been too often refuted under similar conditions by practical results, but in this case it is based on certain assumptions of fact which are wholly opposed to experience. the record does not show that there is any peculiar liability to railroad accidents during periods of storm; perhaps because those in charge of train movements or persons crossing tracks are under such circumstances more especially on the look out for danger. on the contrary the full average of accidents of the worst description appear to have occurred under the most ordinary conditions of weather, and usually in the most unanticipated way. this is peculiarly true of accidents at highway grade crossings. these commonly occur when the conditions are such as to cause the highway travelers to suppose that, if any danger existed, they could not but be aware of it. in the next place, the question in regard to automatic electric signals is exactly what it was in regard to the westinghouse brake, with its air-pump, its valves and connecting tubes;--it is the purely practical question,--does the thing work?--the burden of proof is properly on the inventor. the presumption is all against him. in the case of the electric signals they have for years been in limited but constant use, and while thus in use they have been undergoing steady improvement. though now brought to a considerable degree of comparative perfection they are, of course, still in their earlier stage of development. in use, however, they have not been found open to the practical objections urged against them. at first much too complicated and expensive, requiring more machinery than could by any reasonable exertions be kept in order and more care than they were worth, they have now been simplified until a single battery properly located can do all the necessary work for a road of indefinite length. as a system they are effective and do not lead to accidents; nor are they any more subject than telegraph wires to derangement from atmospheric causes. when any disturbance does take place, until it can be overcome it amounts simply to a general signal for operating the road with extreme caution. but with railroads, as everywhere else in life, it is the normal condition of affairs for which provision must be made, while the dangers incident to exceptional circumstances must be met by exceptional precautions. as long as things are in their normal state, that is, probably, during nineteen days out of twenty, the electric signals have now through several years of constant trial proved themselves a reliable safeguard. it can hardly admit of doubt that in the near future they will be both further perfected and generally adopted. chapter xviii. interlocking. in their management of switches, especially at points of railroad convergence where a heavy traffic is concentrated and the passage of trains or movement of cars and locomotives is unceasing, the english are immeasurably in advance of the americans; and, indeed, of all other people. in fact, in this respect the american managers have shown themselves slow to learn, and have evinced an indisposition to adopt labor-saving appliances which, considering their usual quickness of discernment in that regard, is at first sight inexplicable. having always been accustomed to the old and simple methods, just so long as they can through those methods handle their traffic with a bearable degree of inconvenience and expense, they will continue to do so. that their present method is most extravagant, just as extravagant as it would be to rent two houses or to run two steam engines where one, if properly used, could be made to suffice, admits of demonstration;--but the waste is not on the surface, and the necessity for economy is not imperative. the difference of conditions and the difference in results may be made very obvious by a comparison. take, for instance, london and boston--the cannon street station in the one and the beach street station in the other. the concentration of traffic at london is so great that it becomes necessary to utilize every foot of ground devoted to railroad purposes to the utmost possible extent. not only must it be packed with tracks, but those tracks must never be idle. the incessant train movement at cannon street has already been referred to as probably the most extraordinary and confusing spectacle in the whole wide circle of railroad wonders. the result is that in some way, at this one station and under this single roof, more trains must daily be made to enter and leave than enter and leave, not only the beach street station, but all the eight railroad stations in boston combined.[ ] [ ] "it has been estimated that an average of , persons were, in , daily brought into boston and carried from it, on three hundred and eighty-five trains, while the south eastern railway of london received and despatched in , on an average, six hundred and fifty trains a day, between a.m. and p.m. carrying from , to , persons, and this too without the occurrence of a single train accident during the year. on one single exceptional day eleven hundred and eleven trains, carrying , persons, are said to have entered and left this station in the space of eighteen hours."--_third annual report, [ ] of massachusetts railroad commissioners, p. ._ the passenger movement over the roads terminating in boston was probably as heavy on june , , as during any twenty-four hours in their history. it was returned at , persons carried in trains. about twice the passenger movement of the "exceptional day" referred to, carried in something more than half the number of trains, entering and leaving eight stations instead of one. during eighteen successive hours trains have been made to enter and leave this station at the rate of more than one in each minute. it contains four platforms and seven tracks, the longest of which is feet. as compared with the largest station in boston (the boston & providence), it has the same number of platforms and an aggregate of , (three-fifths) more feet of track under cover; it daily accommodates about nine times as many trains and four times as many passengers. of it barry, in his treatise on railway appliances (p. ), says: "the platform area at this station is probably minimised but, the station accommodates efficiently a very large mixed traffic of long and short journey trains, amounting at times to as many as trains in and trains out in a working day.[ ]" [ ] the grand central depot on d street in new york city, has nearly twice the amount of track room under cover of the cannon street station. the daily train movement of the latter would be precisely paralleled in new york, though not equalled in amount, if the d street station were at trinity church, and, in addition to the trains which now enter and leave it, all the city trains of the elevated road were also provided for there. the american system is, therefore, one of great waste; for, being conducted in the way it is--that is with stations and tracks utilized to but a fractional part of their utmost capacity--it requires a large number of stations and tracks and the services of many employés. indeed it is safe to say that, judged by the london standard, not more than two of the eight stations in boston are at this time utilized to above a quarter part of their full working capacity; and the same is probably true of all other american cities. both employés and the travelling public are accustomed to a slow movement and abundance of room; land is comparatively cheap, and the pressure of concentration has only just begun to make itself felt. accordingly any person, who cares to pass an hour during the busy time of day in front of an american city station, cannot but be struck, while watching the constant movement, with the primitive way in which it is conducted. here are a multiplicity of tracks all connected with each other, and cars and locomotives are being passed from one to another from morning to night. a constant shifting of switches is going on, and the little shunting engines never stand still. the switches, however, as a rule, are unprovided with signals, except of the crudest description; they have no connection with each other, and during thirty years no change has been made in the method in which they are worked. when one of them has to be shifted, a man goes to it and shifts it. to facilitate the process, the monitor shunting engines are provided with a foot-board in front and behind, just above the track, upon which the yard hands jump, and are carried about from switch to switch, thus saving the time they would occupy if they had to walk. a simpler arrangement could not be imagined; anyone could devise it. the only wonder is that even a considerable traffic can be conducted safely in reliance upon it. turning from beach to cannon street, it is apparent that the train movement which has there to be accommodated would fall into inextricable confusion if it was attempted to manage it in the way which has been described. the number of trains is so great and the movement so rapid and intricate, that not even a regiment of employés stationed here and there at the signals and switches could keep things in motion. from time to time they would block, and then the whole vast machine would be brought to a standstill until order could be re-established. the difficulty is overcome in a very simple way, by means of an equally simple apparatus. the control over the numerous switches and corresponding signals, instead of being divided up among many men stationed at many points, is concentrated in the hands of two men occupying a single gallery, which is elevated across the tracks in front of the station and commanding the approaches to it, much as the pilot-house of an american steamer commands a view of the course before it. from this gallery, by means of what is known as the interlocking system, every switch and signal in the yard below is moved; and to such a point of perfection has the apparatus been carried, that any disaster from the misplacement of a switch or the display of a wrong signal is rendered impossible. of this cannon street apparatus barry says, "there are here nearly seventy point and signal levers concentrated in one signal house; the number of combinations which would be possible if all the signal and point levers were not interlocked can be expressed only by millions. of these only combinations are safe, and by the interlocking apparatus these combinations are rendered possible, and all the others impossible."[ ] [ ] _railway appliances_, p. . it is not proposed to enter at any length into the mechanical details of this appliance, which, however, must be considered as one of the three or four great inventions which have marked epochs in the history of railroad traffic.[ ] as, however, it is but little known in america, and will inevitably within the next few years find here the widest field for its increased use, a slight sketch of its gradual development and of its leading mechanical features may not be out of place. prior to the year the switches and signals on the english roads were worked in the same way that they are now commonly worked in this country. as a train drew near to a junction, for instance, the switchman stationed there made the proper track connection and then displayed the signal which indicated what tracks were opened and what closed, and which line had the right of way; and the engine-drivers acted accordingly. as the number of trains increased and the movement at the junctions became more complicated, the danger of the wrong switches being thrown or the wrong signals displayed, increased also. mistakes from time to time would happen, even when only the most careful and experienced men were employed; and mistakes in these matters led to serious consequences. it, therefore, became the practice, instead of having the switch or signal lever at the point where the switch or signal itself was, as is still almost universally the case in this country, to connect them by rods or wires with their levers, which were concentrated at some convenient point for working, and placed under the control of one man instead of several. so far as it went this change was an improvement, but no provision yet existed against the danger of mistake in throwing switches and displaying signals. the blunder of first making one combination of tracks and then showing the signal for another was less liable to happen after the concentration of the levers under one hand than before, but it still might happen at any time, and certainly would happen at some time. if all danger of accident from human fallibility was ever to be eliminated a far more complicated mechanical apparatus must be devised. in response to this need the system of interlocking was gradually developed, though not until about the year was it brought to any considerable degree of perfection. the whole object of this system is to render it impossible for a switchman, whether because he is weary or agitated or actually malicious or only inexperienced, to give contrary signals, or to break his line in one way and to give the signal for its being broken in another way. to bring this about the levers are concentrated in a cabin or gallery, and placed side by side in a frame, their lower ends connecting with the switch-points and signals by means of rods and wires. beneath this frame are one or more long bars, extending its entire length under it and parallel with it. these are called locking bars; for, being moved to the right or left by the action of the levers they hold these levers in certain designated positions, nor do they permit them to occupy any other. in this way what is termed the interlocking is effected. the apparatus, though complicated, is simplicity itself compared with a clock or a locomotive. the complication, also, such as it is, arises from the fact that each situation is a problem by itself, and as such has to be studied out and provided for separately. this, however, is a difficulty affecting the manufacturer rather than the operator. to the latter the apparatus presents no difficulty which a fairly intelligent mechanic cannot easily master; while for the former the highly complicated nature of the problem may, perhaps, best be inferred from the example given by mr. barry, the simplest that can offer, that of an ordinary junction where a double-track branch-road connects with its double-track main line. there would in this case be of necessity two switch levers and four signal levers, which would admit of sixty-four possible combinations. "the signal might be arranged in any of sixteen ways, and the points might occupy any of four positions, irrespective of the position of the signals. of the sixty-four combinations thus possible only thirteen are safe, and the rest are such as might lure an engine-driver into danger." [ ] a sufficiently popular description of this apparatus also, illustrated by cuts, will be found in barry's excellent little treatise on _railway appliances_, already referred to, published by longmans & co. as one of their series of text-books of science. originally the locking bar was worked through the direct action of certain locks, as they were called, between which the levers when moved played to and fro. these locks were mere bars or plates of iron, some with inclined sides, and others with sides indented or notched. at one end they were secured on a pivot to a fixed bar opposite to and parallel with the movable locking bar, while their other ends were made fast to the locking bar; whence it necessarily followed that, as certain of the levers were pushed to and fro between them, the action of these levers on the inclined sides of the locks could by a skilful combination be made to throw other levers into the notches and indentations of other locks, thus securing them in certain positions, and making it impossible for them to be in any other positions. the apparatus which has been described, though a great improvement on anything which had preceded it, was still but a clumsy affair, and naturally the friction of the levers on the locks was so great that they soon became worn, and when worn they could not be relied upon to move the switch-points with the necessary accuracy. the new appliance of safety had, therefore, as is often the case, introduced a new and very considerable danger of its own. the signals and switches, it was true, could no longer disagree, but the points themselves were sometimes not properly set, or, owing to the great exertion required to work it, the interlocking gear was strained. this difficulty resulted in the next and last improvement, which was a genuine triumph of mechanical ingenuity. to insure the proper length of stroke being made in moving the lever--that is to make it certain in each case that the switch points were brought into exactly the proper position--two notches were provided in the slot, or quadrant, as it is called, in which the lever moved, and, when it was thrown squarely home, and not until then, a spring catch caught in one or other of these notches. this spring was worked by a clasp at the handle of the lever, and the whole was called the spring catch-rod. by a singularly ingenious contrivance, the process of interlocking was transferred from the action of the levers and the keys to these spring catch-rods, which were made to work upon each other, and thus to become the medium through which the whole process is effected. the result of this improvement was that, as the switchman cannot move any lever until the spring-catch rod is fastened, except for a particular movement, he cannot, do what he will, even begin any other movement than that one, as the levers cannot be started. on the other hand, it may be said that, by means of this improvement, the mere "intention of the signal-man to move any lever, expressed by his grasping the lever and so raising the spring catch-rod, independently of his putting his intention in force, actuates all the necessary locking.[ ]" [ ] in regard to the interlocking system as then in use in england, captain tyler in his report as head of the railway inspecting department of the board of trade, used the following language in his report on the accidents during . "when the apparatus is properly constructed and efficiently maintained, the signalman cannot make a mistake in the working of his points and signals which shall lead to accident or collision, except only by first lowering his signal and switching his train forward, then putting up his signal again as it approaches, and altering the points as the driver comes up to, or while he is passing over them. such a mistake was actually made in one of the cases above quoted. it is, of course, impossible to provide completely for cases of this description; but the locking apparatus, as now applied, is already of enormous value in preventing accidents; and it will have a still greater effect on the general safety of railway travelling as it becomes more extensively applied on the older lines. without it, a signalman in constantly working points and signals is almost certain sooner or later to make a mistake, and to cause an accident of a more or less serious character; and it is inexcusable in any railway company to allow its mail or express trains to run at high speed through facing points which are not interlocked efficiently with the signals, by which alone the engine-drivers in approaching them can be guided. there is however, very much yet to be effected in different parts of the country in this respect. and it is worth while to record here, in illustration of the difficulties that are sometimes met with by the inspecting officers, that the midland railway company formally protested in june, , against being compelled to apply such apparatus before receiving sanction for the opening of new lines of railway. they stated that in complying with the requirements in this respect of the board of trade, they '_were acting in direct opposition to their own convictions, and they must, so far as lay in their power, decline the responsibility of the locking system_.'" to still further perfect the appliance a simple mechanism has since been attached to the rod actuating the switch-bolt, which prevents the signal-man from shifting the switch under a passing train in the manner suggested by captain tyler in the above extract. in fact it is no exaggeration to say that the interlocking system has now been so studied, and every possible contingency so thoroughly provided for, that in using it accidents can only occur through a wilful intention to bring them about. in spite of any theoretical or fanciful objections which may be urged against it, this appliance will be found an indispensable adjunct to any really heavy junction or terminal train movement. for the elevated railroads of new york, for instance, its early adoption proved a necessity. as for questions of temperature, climate, etc., as affecting the long connecting rods and wires which are an essential part of the system, objections based upon them are purely imaginary. difficulties from this source were long since met and overcome by very simple compensating arrangements, and in practice occasion no inconvenience. that rods may break, and that wires are at all times liable to get out of gear, every one knows; and yet this fact is urged as a novel objection to each new mechanical improvement. that a broken or disordered apparatus will always occasion a serious disturbance to any heavy train movement, may also be admitted. the fact none the less remains that in practice, and daily subjected through long periods of time to incomparably the heaviest train movement known to railroad experience, the rods of the interlocking apparatus do not break, nor do its wires get out of gear; while by means of it, and of it alone, this train movement goes unceasingly on never knowing any serious disturbance.[ ] [ ] "as an instance of the possibility of preventing the mistakes so often made by signal men with conflicting signals or with facing points i have shown the traffic for a single day, and at certain hours of that day, at the cannon street station of the south eastern railway, already referred to as one of the _no-accident_ lines of the year. the traffic of that station, with trains continually crossing one another, by daylight and in darkness, in fog or in sunshine, amounts to more than trains in three hours in the morning, and a similar number in the evening; and, altogether, to trains, conveying more than , passengers in the day as a winter, or , passengers a day as a summer average. it is probably not too much to say, that without the signal and point arrangements which have there been supplied, and the system of interlocking which has there been so carefully carried out, the signalmen could not carry on their duties _for one hour without accident_." _captain tyler's report on accidents for , p. ._ it is not, however, alone in connection with terminal stations and junctions that the interlocking apparatus is of value. it is also the scientific substitute for the law or regulation compelling trains to stop as a measure of precaution when they approach grade-crossings or draw-bridges. it is difficult indeed to pass from the consideration of this fine result of science and to speak with patience of the existing american substitute for it. if the former is a feature in the block system, the latter is a signal example of the block-head system. as a device to avoid danger it is a standing disgrace to american ingenuity; and, fortunately, as stopping is compatible only with a very light traffic, so soon as the passage of trains becomes incessant a substitute for it has got to be devised. in this country, as in england, that substitute will be found in the interlocking apparatus. by means of it the draw-bridge, for instance, can be so connected with the danger signals--which may, if desired, be gates closing across the railroad tracks--that the one cannot be opened except by closing the other. this is the method adopted in great britain not only at draws in bridges, but frequently also in the case of gates at level road crossings. it has already been noticed that in great britain accidents at draws in bridges seem to be unknown. certainly not one has been reported during the last nine years. the security afforded in this case by interlocking would, indeed, seem to be absolute; as, if the apparatus is out of order, either the gates or the bridge would be closed, and could not be opened until it was repaired. so also as respects the grade-crossing of one railroad by another. bringing all trains to a complete stop when approaching these crossings is a precaution quite generally observed in america, either as a matter of statute law or running regulation; and yet during the six years - no less than collisions were reported at these crossings. in great britain during the nine years - but nine cases of accidents of this description were reported, and in both the years and under the head of "accidents or collisions on level crossings of railways," the chief inspector of the board of trade tersely stated that,--"no accident was inquired into under this head.[ ]" the interlocking system there affords the most perfect protection which can be devised against a most dangerous practice in railroad construction to which americans are almost recklessly addicted. it is, also, matter of daily experience that the interlocking system does afford a perfect practical safeguard in this case. every junction of a branch with a double track road involves a grade-crossing, and a grade-crossing of the most dangerous character. on the metropolitan elevated railroad of new york, at d street, there is one of these junctions, where, all day long, trains are crossing at grade at the rate of some twenty miles an hour. these trains never stop, except when signalled so to do. the interlocking apparatus, however, makes it impossible that one track should be open except when the other is closed. an accident, therefore, can happen only through the wilful carelessness of the engineer in charge of a train;--and in the face of wilful carelessness laws are of no more avail than signals. if a man in control of a locomotive wishes to bring on a collision he can always do it. unless he wishes to, however, the interlocking apparatus not only can prevent him from so doing, but as a matter of fact always does. the same rule which holds good at junctions would hold good at level crossings. there is no essential difference between the two. by means of the interlocking apparatus the crossing can be so blocked at any desired distance from it in such a way that when one track is open the other must be closed;--unless, indeed, the apparatus is out of order, and then both would be closed. the precaution in this case, also, is absolute. unlike the rule as to stopping, it does not depend on the caution or judgment of individuals;--there are the signals and the obstructions, and if they are not displayed on one road they are on the other. so superior is this apparatus in every respect--as regards safety as well as convenience--to the precaution of coming to a stop, that, as an inducement to introduce an almost perfect scientific appliance, it would be very desirable that states like massachusetts and connecticut compelling the stop, should except from the operation of the law all draw-bridges or grade-crossings at which suitable interlocking apparatus is provided. surely it is not unreasonable that in this case science should have a chance to assert itself. [ ] "as affecting the safe working of railways, the level crossing of one railway by another is a matter of very serious import. even when signalled on the most approved principles, they are a source of danger, and, if possible, should always be avoided. at junctions of branch or other railways the practice has been adopted by some companies in special cases, to carry the off line under or over the main line by a bridge. this course should generally be adopted in the case of railways on which the traffic is large, and more expressly where express and fast trains are run." _report on accidents on railways of the united kingdom during , p. ._ in any event, however, the general introduction of the interlocking apparatus into the american railroad system may be regarded as a mere question of the value of land and concentration of traffic. so long as every road terminating in our larger cities indulges, at whatever unnecessary cost to its stockholders, in independent station buildings far removed from business centres, the train movement can most economically be conducted as it now is. the expense of the interlocking apparatus is avoided by the very simple process of incurring the many fold heavier expense of several station buildings and vast disconnected station grounds. if, however, in the city of boston, for instance, the time should come when the financial and engineering audacity of the great english companies shall be imitated,--when some leading railroad company shall fix its central passenger station on tremont street opposite the head of court street, just as in london the south eastern established itself on cannon street, and then this company carrying its road from pemberton square by a tunnel under beacon hill and the state-house should at the crossing of the charles radiate out so as to afford all other roads an access for their trains to the same terminal point, thus concentrating there the whole daily movement of that busy population which makes of boston its daily counting-room and market-place,--then, when this is attempted, the time will have come for utilizing to its utmost capacity every available inch of space to render possible the incessant passage of trains. then also will it at last be realized that it is far cheaper to use a costly and intricate apparatus which enables two companies to be run into one convenient station, than it is to build a separate station, even at an inconvenient point, to accommodate each company. chapter xix. the westinghouse brake. in march, , there appeared in the pages of the _quarterly review_ an article in which the writer discussed that railway system, the first vague anticipation of which was then just beginning to make the world restless. he did this, too, in a very intelligent and progressive spirit, but unfortunately secured for his article a permanence of interest he little expected by the use of one striking illustration. he was peculiarly anxious to draw a distinct line of demarcation between his own very rational anticipations and the visionary dreams of those enthusiasts who were boring the world to death over the impossibilities which they claimed that the new invention was to work. among these he referred to the proposition that passengers would be "whirled at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour by means of a high pressure engine," and then contemptuously added,--"we should as soon expect the people of woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of congreve's _ricochet_ rockets, as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine, going at such a rate; their property perhaps they may trust." under the circumstances, the criticism was a perfectly reasonable one. the danger involved in going at such a rate of speed and the impossibility of stopping in time to avoid a sudden danger, would naturally suggest themselves to any one as insuperable objections to the new system for any practical use. some means of preserving a sudden and powerful control over a movement of such unheard of rapidity would almost as a matter of course be looked upon as a condition precedent. yet it is a most noticeable fact in the history of railroad development that the improvement in appliances for controlling speed by no means kept pace with the increased rate of speed attained. indeed, so far as the possibility of rapid motion is concerned, there is no reason to suppose that the _rocket_ could not have held its own very respectably by the side of a passenger locomotive of the present day. it will be remembered that on the occasion of the manchester & liverpool opening, mr. huskisson after receiving his fatal injury was carried seventeen miles in twenty-five minutes. since then the details of locomotive construction have been simplified and improved upon, but no great change has been or probably will be effected in the matter of velocity;--as respects that the maximum was practically reached at once. yet down to the year the brake system remained very much what it was in . improvements in detail were effected, but the essential principles were the same. in case of any sudden emergency, the men in charge of the locomotive had no direct control over the vehicles in the train; they communicated with them by the whistle, and when the signal was heard the brakes were applied as soon as might be. when a train is moving at the rate of forty miles an hour, by no means a great speed for it while in full motion, it passes over fifty-eight feet each second;--at sixty miles an hour it passes over eighty-eight feet. under these circumstances, supposing an engine driver to become suddenly aware of an obstruction on the track, as was the case at revere, or of something wrong in the train behind him, as at shipton, he had first himself to signal danger, and to this signal the brakemen throughout the train had to respond. each operation required time, and every second of time represented many feet of space. it was small matter for surprise, therefore, that when in they experimented scientifically in england, it was ascertained that a train of a locomotive and thirteen cars moving at a speed of forty-five miles an hour could not be brought to a stand in less than one minute, or before it had traversed a distance of half a mile. the same result it will be remembered was arrived at by practical experience in america, where both at angola and at port jervis,[ ] it was found impossible to stop the trains in less than half-a-mile, though in each case two derailed cars were dragging and plunging along at the end of them. [ ] _ante_, pp. , . the need of a continuous train-brake, operated from the locomotive and under the immediate control of the engine-driver, had been emphasized through years by the almost regular recurrence of accidents of the most appalling character. in answer to this need almost innumerable appliances had been patented and experimented with both in europe and in america. prior to , however, these had been almost exclusively what are known as emergency brakes;--that is, although the trains were equipped with them and they were operated from the locomotives, they were not relied upon for ordinary use, but were held in reserve, as it were, against special exigencies. the hudson river railroad train at the hamburg accident was thus equipped. practically, appliances which in the operation of railroads are reserved for emergencies are usually found of little value when the emergency occurs. accordingly no continuous brake had, prior to the development of westinghouse's invention, worked its way into general use. patent brakes had become a proverb as well as a terror among railroad mechanics, and they had ceased to believe that any really desirable thing of the sort would ever be perfected. westinghouse, therefore, had a most unbelieving audience to encounter, and his invention had to fight hard for all the favor it won; nor did his experience with master mechanics differ, probably, much from miller's. his first patents were taken out in , and he early secured the powerful aid of the pennsylvania road for his invention. the pullman car company, also, always anxious to avail themselves of every appliance of safety as well as of comfort, speedily saw the merits of the new brake and adopted it; but, as they merely furnished cars and had nothing to do with the locomotives that pulled them, their support was not so effective as that of the great railroad company. naturally enough, also, great hesitation was felt in adopting so complicated an appliance. it added yet another whole apparatus to a thing which was already overburdened with machinery. there was, also, something in the delicacy and precision of the parts of this new contrivance,--in its air-pump and reservoirs and long connecting tubes with their numerous valves,--which was peculiarly distasteful to the average practical railroad mechanic. it was true that the idea of transmitting power by means of compressed air was by no means new,--that thousands of drills were being daily driven by it wherever tunnelling was going on or miners were at work,--yet the application of this familiar power to the wheels of a railroad train seemed no less novel than it was bold. it was, in the first place, evident that the new apparatus would not stand the banging and hammering to which the old-fashioned hand-brake might safely be subjected; not indeed without deranging that simple appliance, but without incurring any very heavy bill for repairs in so doing. accordingly the new brake was at first carelessly examined and patronizingly pushed aside as a pretty toy,--nice in theory no doubt, but wholly unfitted for rough, every-day use. as it was tersely expressed during a discussion before the society of arts in london, as recently as may, ,--"it was no use bringing out a brake which could not be managed by ordinary officials,--which was so wonderfully clever that those who had to use it could not understand it." a line of argument by the way, which, as has been already pointed out, may with far greater force be applied to the locomotive itself; and, indeed, unquestionably was so applied about half a century ago by men of the same calibre who apply it now, to the intense weariness and discouragement no doubt of the late george stephenson. whether sound or otherwise, however, few more effective arguments against an appliance can be advanced; and against the westinghouse brake it was advanced so effectively, that even as late as , although largely in use on western roads, it had found its way into massachusetts only as an ingenious device of doubtful merit. it was in august, , that the revere disaster occurred, and the revere disaster, as has been seen, would unquestionably have been averted had the colliding train been provided with proper brake power. this at last called serious attention there to the new appliance. even then, however, the mere suggestion of something better being in existence than the venerable hand-brakes in familiar use did not pass without a vigorous protest; and at the meeting of railroad officials, which has already been referred to as having been called by the state commissioners after the accident, one prominent gentleman, when asked if the road under his charge was equipped with the most approved brake, indignantly replied that it was,--that it was equipped with the good, old-fashioned hand-brake;--and he then proceeded to vehemently stake his professional reputation on the absolute superiority of that ancient but somewhat crude appliance over anything else of the sort in existence. nevertheless, on this occasion also, the great dynamic force which is ever latent in first-class railroad accidents again asserted itself. even the most opinionated of professional railroad men, emphatically as he might in public deny it, quietly yielded as soon as might be. in a surprisingly short time after the exhibition of ignorance which has been referred to, the railroads in massachusetts, as it has already been shown, were all equipped with train-brakes.[ ] [ ] page . in its present improved shape it is safe to say that in all those requisites which the highest authorities known on the subject have laid down as essential to a model train brake, the westinghouse stands easily first among the many inventions of the kind. it is now a much more perfect appliance than it was in , for it was then simply atmospheric and continuous in its action, whereas it has since been made automatic and self-regulating. so far as its fundamental principle is concerned, that is too generally understood to call for explanation. by means of an air-pump, attached to the boiler of the locomotive and controlled by the engine-driver, an atmospheric force is brought to bear, through tubes running under the cars, upon the break blocks, pressing them against the wheels. the hand of the engine-driver is in fact on every wheel in the train. this application of power, though unquestionably ingenious and, like all good things, most simple and obvious when once pointed out, was originally open to one great objection, which was persistently and with great force urged against it. the parts of the apparatus were all delicate, and some injury or derangement of them was always possible, and sometimes inevitable. the chief advantage claimed for the brake was, however, that complete dependence could be placed upon it in the regular movement of trains. it was obvious, therefore, that if such dependence was placed upon it and any derangement did occur, the first intimation those in charge of the train would have that something was wrong might well come in the shape of a failure of the brake to act, and a subsequent disaster. both in massachusetts and in connecticut, at the crossing of one railroad by another at the same level in the former state and in the approach to draws in bridges in the latter, a number of cases of this failure of the original westinghouse non-automatic brake to act did in point of fact occur. fortunately they, none of them, resulted in disaster. this, however, was mere good luck, as was illustrated in the case of the accident of november , , at the communipaw ferry on the new jersey central. the train was there equipped with the ordinary train brake. it reached jersey city on time shortly after p.m., but, instead of slacking up, it ran directly through the station and freight offices, carrying away the walls and supports, and the locomotive then plunged into the river beyond. the baggage and smoking car followed but fortunately lodged on the locomotive, thus blocking the remainder of the train. fortunately no one was killed, and no passengers were seriously injured. again, on the metropolitan elevated railroad in new york city, on the evening of june , , one of the trains was delayed for a few moments at the franklin street station. meanwhile the next train came along, and, though the engine-driver of this following train saw the danger signals and endeavored to stop in time, he found his brake out of order, and a collision ensued resulting in the injury of one employé and the severe shattering of a passenger coach and locomotive. it was only a piece of good fortune that the first of these accidents did not result in a repetition of the norwalk disaster and the second in that of revere. it so chanced that it was the smith vacuum brake which failed to work at communipaw, and the eames vacuum which failed to work at franklin street. this, however, was wholly immaterial. it might just as well have been the original westinghouse. the difficulty lay, not in the maker's name, but in the imperfect action of the brake; and such significant intimations are not to be disregarded. the chances are naturally large that the failure of the continuous brake to act will not at once occur under just those circumstances which will entail a serious disaster and heavy loss of life; that, however, if such intimations as these are disregarded, it will sooner or later so occur does not admit of doubt. but the possibility that upon some given occasion it might fail to work was not the only defect in the original westinghouse; it might well be in perfect order and in full action even, and then suddenly, as the result of derailment or separation of parts, the apparatus might be broken, and at once the shoes would drop from the wheels, and the vehicles of the disabled train would either press forward, or, on an incline, stop and run backwards until their unchecked momentum was exhausted. this appears to have been the case at wollaston, and contributed some of its most disastrous features to that accident. to obviate these defects westinghouse in invented what he termed a triple valve attachment, by means of which, if the thing can be so expressed, his brake was made to always stand at danger. that is, in case of any derangement of its parts, it was automatically applied and the train stopped. the action of the brake was thus made to give notice of anything wrong anywhere in the train. a noticeable case of this occurred on the midland railway in england, when on the november , , as the scotch express was approaching the heeley station, at a speed of some sixty miles an hour, the hind-guard felt the automatic brake suddenly self-applied. the forward truck of a pullman car in the middle of the train had left the rails; the front part of the train broke the couplings and went on, while the rear carriages, acted upon by the automatic brakes, came to a stand immediately behind the pullman, which finally rested on its side across the opposite track. there was no loss of life. on the other hand, as the scotch express on the north eastern road was approaching morpeth, on march , , at a speed of some twenty-five miles an hour, the locomotive for some reason left the track. the train was not equipped with an automatic brake, and the carriages in it accordingly pressed forward upon each other until three of them were so utterly destroyed as to be indistinguishable. five passengers lost their lives; the remains of one of whom, together with the wheels of a carriage, were afterwards taken out from the tank of the tender, into which they had been driven by the force of the shock. the theoretical objection to the automatic brake is obvious. in case of any derangement of its machinery it applies itself, and, should these derangements be of frequent occurrence, the consequent stoppage of trains would prove a great annoyance, if not a source of serious danger. this objection is not sustained by practical experience. the triple valve, so called, is the only complicated portion of the automatic brake, and this valve is well protected and not liable to get out of order.[ ] should it become deranged it will stop the working of the brake on that car alone to which it belongs; and it will become deranged so as to set the brake only from causes which would render the non-automatic brake inoperative. when anything of this sort occurs, it stops the train until the defect is remedied. the returns made to the english board of trade enable us to know just how frequently in actual and regular service these stoppages occur, and what they amount to. take, for instance, the north eastern and the caledonian railways. both use the automatic brake. during the last six months of the first ran , train miles with it, in the course of which there were eight delays or stoppages of some three to five minutes each occasioned by the action of the triple-valve; being in round numbers one occasion of delay in , miles of train movement. on the caledonian railway, during the same period, four brake failures, due to the action of the triple-valve, were reported in runs aggregating over , miles, being about one failure to , miles. these failures moreover occasioned delays of only a few minutes each, and, where the cause of the difficulty was not so immediately apparent that it could at once be remedied, the brake-tubes of the vehicle on which the difficulty occurred were disconnected, and the trains went on.[ ] one of these stoppages, however, resulted in a serious accident. as a train on the caledonian road was approaching the wemyss bay junction on december th, in a dense fog, the engine driver, seeing the signals at danger, undertook to apply his brake slightly, when it went full on, stopping the train between the distant and home signals, as they are called in the english block system. after the danger signal was lowered, but before the brake could be released, the signal-man allowed a following train to enter upon the same block section, and a collision followed in which some thirteen passengers were slightly injured. this accident, however, as the inspecting officer of the board of trade very properly found, was due not at all to the automatic brake, but to "carelessness on the part of the signal-man, who disregarded the rules for the working of the block telegraph instruments," and to the driver of the colliding train, who "disobeyed the company's running regulations." it gives an american, however, a realizing sense of one of the difficulties under which those crowded british lines are operated, to read that in this case the fog was "so thick that the tail-lamp was not visible from an approaching train for more than a few yards." [ ] speaking of the modifications introduced into his brake by westinghouse since , mr. thomas e. harrison, civil engineer of the north eastern railway company in a communication to the directors of that company of april , , recommending the adoption by it of the westinghouse, and subsequently ordered to be printed for the use of parliament, thus referred to the triple valve: "as the most important [of these modifications] i will particularly draw your attention to the "triple-valve" which has been made a regular bugbear by the opponents of the system, and has been called complicated, delicate, and liable to get out of order, etc. * * * it is, in fact, as simple a piece of mechanism as well can be imagined, certain in its action, of durable materials, easily accessible to an ordinary workman for examination or cleaning, and there is nothing about it that can justify the term complication; on the contrary, it is a model of ingenuity and simplicity." [ ] during the six months ending june , , some stops due to some derangement of the apparatus of the westinghouse brake were reported by ten companies in runs aggregating about two million miles. being one stop to , miles run. very many of these stops were obviously due to the want of familiarity of the employés with an apparatus new to them, but as a rule the delays occasioned did not exceed a very few minutes; of stoppages, for instance, reported on the london, brighton & south coast road, the two longest were ten minutes each and the remainder averaged some three or four minutes. after the application of the triple valve had made it automatic, there remained but one further improvement necessary to render the westinghouse a well-nigh perfect brake. a superabundance of self-acting power had been secured, but no provision was yet made for graduating the use of that power so that it should be applied in the exact degree, neither more nor less, which would soonest stop the train. this for two reasons is mechanically a matter of no little importance. as is well known a too severe application of brakes, no matter of what kind they are, causes the wheels to stand still and slide upon the rails. this is not only very injurious to rolling stock, the wheels of which are flattened at the points which slide, but, as has long been practically well-known to those whose business it is to run locomotives, when once the wheels begin to slide the retarding power of the brakes is seriously diminished. in order, therefore, to secure the maximum of retarding power, the pressure of the brake-blocks on the revolving wheels should be very great when first applied, and just sufficient not to slide them; and should then be diminished, _pari passu_ with the momentum of the train, until it wholly stops. familiar as all this has long been to engine-drivers and practical railroad mechanics, yet it has not been conceded in the results of many scientific inquiries. in the report of one of the royal commissions on accidents, for instance, it was asserted that the momentum of a train was retarded more by the action of sliding than of slowly revolving wheels; and again, as recently as in may, , in a scientific discussion in london at one of the meetings of the society of arts, a gentleman, with the letters c. e. appended to his name, ventured the surprising assertion that "no brake could do more than skid the wheels of a train, and all continuous brakes professed to do this, and he believed did so about equally well." now, what it is here asserted no brake can do is exactly what the perfect brake will be made to do,--and what westinghouse's latest improvement, it is claimed, enables his brake to do. it much more than "skids the wheels," by measuring out exactly that degree of power necessary to hold the wheels just short of the skidding point, and in this way always exerts the maximum retarding force. this is brought about by means of a contrivance which allows the air to leak out of the brake cylinders so as to exactly proportion the pressure of the blocks on the wheels to the speed with which the latter are revolving. in other, and more scientific, language the force with which the brake-blocks are pressed upon the wheels is made to adjust itself automatically as the "coefficient of dynamic friction augments with the reduction of train speed." it hardly needs to be said that in this way the power of the brake is enormously increased. in america the superiority of the westinghouse over any other description of train-brake has long been established through that large preponderance of use which in such matters constitutes the final and irreversible verdict.[ ] in europe, however, and especially in great britain, ever since the shipton-on-cherwell accident in , the battle of the brakes, as it may not inappropriately be called, has waxed hotter and hotter; and not only has this battle been extremely interesting in a scientific way, but it has been highly characteristic, and at times enlivened by touches of human nature which were exceedingly amusing. [ ] in massachusetts, for instance, where no official pressure in favor of any particular brake was brought to bear, out of locomotives equipped with train-brakes have the westinghouse, which is also applied to , out of , cars. of these, however, locomotives and cars are equipped with both the atmospheric and the vacuum brakes. chapter xx. the battle of the brakes. the english battle of the brakes may be said to have fairly opened with the official report from captain tyler on the shipton accident, in reference to which he expressed the opinion, which has already been quoted in describing the accident, that "if the train had been fitted with continuous brakes throughout its whole length there is no reason why it should not have been brought to rest without any casuality." the royal commission on railroad accidents then took the matter up and called for a series of scientifically conducted experiments. these took place under the supervision of two engineers appointed by the commission, who were aided by a detail of officers and men from the royal engineers. eight brakes competed, and a train, consisting of a locomotive and thirteen cars, was specially prepared for each. with these trains some seventy runs were made, and their results recorded and tabulated; the experiments were continued through six consecutive working days. of the brakes experimented with three were american in their origin,--westinghouse's automatic and vacuum, and smith's vacuum. the remainder were english, and were steam, hydraulic, and air brakes; among them also was one simple emergency brake. the result of the trials was a very decided victory for the westinghouse automatic, and upon its performances the commission based its conclusion that trains ought to be so equipped that in cases of emergency they could be brought to rest, when travelling on level ground at miles an hour, within a distance of yards; with an allowance of distance in cases of speed greater or less than miles nearly proportioned to its square. these allowances they tabulated as follows:-- at miles per hour, stopping distance within yards. " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " to appreciate the enormous advance in what may be called stopping power which these experiments revealed, it should be added that the first series of experiments made at newark were with trains equipped only with the hand-brake. the average speed in these experiments was miles, and with the train-brake, according to the foregoing tabulation, the stop should have been made in about yards; in reality it was made in a little less than five times that distance, or yards; in other words the experiments showed that the improved appliances had more than quadrupled the control over trains. it has already been noticed that in the cases of the angola and the port jervis disasters, as well as in that at shipton, the trains ran some , feet before they could be stopped. under the english tabulations above given, in the results of which certain recent improvements do not enter, a train running into the d street station in new york, at a speed of forty-five miles an hour when under the entrance arches, would be stopped before it reached the buffers at the end of the covered tracks. the royal commission experiments were followed in may and june, , by yet others set on foot by the north eastern railway company for the purpose of making a competitive test of the westinghouse automatic and the smith's vacuum brakes. at this trial also the average stop at a speed of miles an hour was effected in seconds, and within a distance of feet. other series of experiments with similar results were, about the same time, conducted under the auspices of the belgian and german governments, of which elaborate official reports were made. the result was that at last, under date of august , , the board of trade issued a circular to the railway companies in which it called attention to the fact that, notwithstanding all the discussion which had taken place and the elaborate official trials which the government had set on foot, there had "apparently been no attempt on the part of the various companies to take the first step of agreeing upon what are the requirements which, in their opinion, are essential to a good continuous brake." in other words, the board found that, instead of becoming better, matters were rapidly becoming worse. each company was equipping its rolling stock with that appliance in which its officers happened to be interested as owners or inventors, and when carriages thus equipped passed from the tracks of one road onto those of another the result was a return to the old hand-brake system in a condition of impaired efficiency. the board accordingly now proceeded to narrow down the field of selection by specifying the following as what it considered the essentials of a good continuous brake:-- _a._ "the brakes to be efficient in stopping trains, instantaneous in their actions, and capable of being applied without difficulty by engine-drivers or guards. _b._ "in case of accident, to be instantaneously self-acting. _c._ "the brakes to be put on and taken off (with facility) on the engine and on every vehicle of a train. _d._ "the brakes to be regularly used in daily working. _e._ "the materials employed to be of a durable character, so as to be easily maintained and kept in order." these requirements pointed about as directly as they could to the westinghouse, to the exclusion of all competing brakes. not more than one other complied with them in all respects, and many made no pretence of complying at all. then followed what may be termed the battle royal of the brakes, which as yet shows no signs of drawing to a close. as the avowed object of the board of trade was to introduce, one brake, to the necessary exclusion of all others, throughout the railroad system of great britain, the magnitude of the prize was not easy to over-estimate. the weight of scientific and official authority was decidedly in favor of the westinghouse automatic, but among the railroad men the smith vacuum found the largest number of adherents. it failed to meet three of the requirements of the board of trade, in that it was neither automatic nor instantaneous in its action, while the materials employed in it were not of a durable character. it was, on the other hand, a brake of unquestioned excellence, while it commended itself to the judgment of the average railroad official by its simplicity, and to that of the average railroad director by its apparent cheapness. any one could understand it, and its first cost was temptingly small. the real struggle in great britain, therefore, has been, and now is, between these two brakes; and the fact that both of them are american has been made to enter largely into it, and in a way also which at times lent to the discussion an element of broad humor. for instance, the energetic agent of the smith vacuum, feeling himself aggrieved by some statement which appeared in the _times_, responded thereto in a circular, in the composition of which he certainly evinced more zeal than either judgment or literary skill. this circular and its author were then referred to by the editors of _engineering_, a london scientific journal, in the following slightly _de haut en bas_ style:-- "it is not a little remarkable, and it is a fact not harmonious with the feelings of english engineers, that the two brakes recommending themselves for adoption are of american origin. * * * now we cannot wonder, considering what our past experience has been in many of our dealings with americans, that this feeling of distrust and prejudice exists. it is not merely sentimental, it is founded on many and untoward and costly experiences of the past, and the fear of similar experiences in the future. and when we see the representative of one of these systems adopting the traditional policy of his country, and meeting criticism with abuse--abuse of men pre-eminent in the profession, and journals which he apparently forgets are neither american nor venal--we do not wonder that our railway engineers feel a repugnance to commit themselves." the superiority of the british over the american controversialist, as respects courtesy and restraint in language, being thus satisfactorily established, it only remained to illustrate it. this, however, had already been done in the previous may; for at that time it chanced that captain tyler, having retired from his position at the head of the railway inspectors department of the board of trade, was considering an offer which mr. westinghouse had made him to associate himself with the company owning the brakes known by that name. before accepting this offer, captain tyler took advantage of a meeting of the society of arts to publicly give notice that he was considering it. this he did in a really admirable paper on the whole subject of continuous brakes, at the close of which a general discussion was invited and took place, and in the course of it the innate superiority of the british over any other kind of controversialist, so far at least as courtesy and a delicate refraining from imputations is concerned, received pointed illustration. no sooner had captain tyler finished than mr. houghton, c. e., took occasion to refer to the paper he had read as "an elaborate puff to the westinghouse brake, with which he [tyler] was, as he told, connected, or about to be." subsequently mr. steele proceeded to say that:-- "on receiving the invitation to be present at the meeting, he had been somewhat afraid that captain tyler was going to lose his fine character for impartiality by throwing in his lot with the brake-tinkers, but it came out that not only was he going to do that, but actually going to be a partner in a concern. * * * the speaker then proceeded to discuss the westinghouse brake, which he called the westinghouse and tyler brake, designating it as a jack-in-the-box, a rattle trap, to please and decoy, and not an invention at all. no engineer had a hand in its manufacture. it was the discovery of some philadelphia barber or some such thing. he had spoken of honest brakes. this was a brake which had all sorts of pretensions. it had not worked well, but whenever there was any row about its not working well, they got the papers to praise it up, and that was how the papers were under the thumb, and would not speak of any other. * * * he thought it would not do for railway companies to take a bad brake, and captain tyler and mr. westinghouse be able to make their fortunes by floating a limited company for its introduction. they had heard of emma mines and lisbon tramways, and such like, and he felt it would not be well to stand by and allow this to be done." all of which was not only to the point, but finely calculated to show the american inventors and agents who were present the nice and mutually respectful manner in which such discussions were carried on by all englishmen. though the avowed adhesion of sir henry tyler to the westinghouse was a most important move in the war of the brakes, it did not prove a decisive one. the complete control of the field was too valuable a property to be yielded in deference to that, or any other name without a struggle; and, so to speak, there were altogether too many ins and outs to the conflict. back door influences had everywhere to be encountered. the north western, for instance, is the most important of the railway companies of the united kingdom. the locomotive superintendent of that company was the part inventor and proprietor of an emergency brake which had been extensively adopted by it on its rolling stock, but which wholly failed to meet the requirements laid down in its circular by the board of trade. immediately after issuing that circular the board of trade called the attention of the company to this fact in connection with an accident which had recently occurred, and in very emphatic language pointed out that the brakes in question could not "in any reasonable sense of the word be called continuous brakes," and that it was clear that the circular requirements were "not complied with by the brake-system of the london & north western railway company;" in case that company persisted in the use of that brake, the secretary of the board went on to say, "in the event of a casualty occurring, which an efficient system of brakes might have prevented, a heavy personal responsibility will rest upon those who are answerable for such neglect." this was certainly language tolerably direct in its import. as such it was calculated to cause those to whom it was addressed to pause in their action. the company, however, treated it with a superb disregard, all the more contemptuous because veiled in language of deferential civility. they then quietly went on applying their locomotive superintendent's emergency brake to their equipment, until on the th of june, , they returned no less than , carriages fitted with it; that being by far the largest number returned by any one company in the united kingdom. a more direct challenge to the board of trade and to parliament could not easily have been devised. to appreciate how direct it was, it is necessary to bear in mind that in its circular of august , , in which the requirements of a satisfactory train-brake were laid down, the board of trade threw out to the companies the very significant hint, that they "would do well to reflect that if a doubt should arise that from a conflict of interest or opinion, or from any other cause, they [the companies] are not exerting themselves, it is obvious that they will call down upon themselves an interference which the board of trade, no less than the companies, desire to avoid." in his general report on the accidents of the year , the successor of captain tyler expressed the opinion that "sufficient information and experience would now appear to be available, and the time is approaching when the railway companies may fairly be expected to come to a decision as to which of the systems of continuous brakes is best calculated to fulfil the requisite conditions, and is most worthy of general adoption." at the close of another year, however, the official returns seemed to indicate that, while but a sixth part of the passenger locomotives and a fifth part of the carriages in use on the railroads of the united kingdom were yet equipped with continuous brakes at all, a concurrence of opinion in favor of any one system was more remote than ever. during the six months ending december , , but additional locomotives out of about , and , additional carriages out of some , were equipped; of which locomotives and carriages had been equipped with the smith vacuum, which in three most important respects failed to comply with the board of trade requirements. under these circumstances the board of trade was obviously called upon either to withdraw from the position it had taken, or to invite that "interference" in its support to which in its circular of august, it had so portentously referred. it decided to do the latter, and in march, the government gave an intimation in the house of lords that early parliamentary action was contemplated. as it is expressed, the railway companies are to "be relieved of their indecision." in great britain, therefore, the long battle of the brakes would seem to be drawing to its close. the final struggle, however, will be a spirited one, and one which americans will watch with considerable interest,--for it is in fact a struggle between two american brakes, the westinghouse and the smith vacuum. of the locomotives hitherto equipped with the continuous brakes no less than are equipped with one or the other of these american patents, besides over , of the , passenger carriages. the remaining , locomotives and , carriages are the prize of victory. as the score now stands the vacuum brake is in almost exactly twice the use of its more scientific rival. the weight of authority and experience, and the requirements of the board of trade, are, however, on the opposite side. as deduced from the european scientific tests and the official returns, the balance of advantages would seem to be as follows:--in favor of the vacuum are its superficial simplicity, and possible economy in first cost:--in favor of the westinghouse automatic are its superior quickness in application, the greater rapidity in its stopping power, the more durable nature of its materials, the smaller cost in renewal, its less liability to derangement, and above all its self-acting adjustment. the last is the point upon which the final issue of the struggle must probably turn. the use of any train-brake which is not automatic in its action, as has already been pointed out, involves in the long run disaster,--and ultimate serious disaster. the mere fact that the brake is generally so reliable,--that ninety-nine times out of the hundred it works perfectly,--simply makes disaster certain by the fatal confidence it inspires. ninety-nine times in a hundred the brake proves reliable;--nine times in the remaining ten of the thousand, in which it fails, a lucky chance averts disaster;--but the thousandth time will assuredly come, as it did at communipaw and on the new york elevated railway, and, much the worst of all yet, at wollaston. soon or late the use of non-automatic continuous brakes will most assuredly, if they are not sooner abandoned, be put an end to by the occurrence of some not-to-be forgotten catastrophe of the first magnitude, distinctly traceable to that cause. meanwhile that automatic brakes are complicated and sometimes cause inconvenience in their operation is most indisputable. this is an objection, also, to which they are open in common with most of the riper results of human ingenuity;--but, though sun-dials are charmingly simple, we do not, therefore, discard chronometers in their favor; neither do we insist on cutting our harvests with the scythe, because every man who may be called upon to drive a mowing machine may not know how to put one together. but what sir henry tyler has said in respect to this oldest and most fallacious, as well as most wearisome, of objections covers the whole ground and cannot be improved upon. after referring to the fact that simplicity in construction and simplicity in working were two different things, and that, almost invariably, a certain degree of complication in construction is necessary to secure simplicity in working,--after pointing this out he went on to add that,-- "simplicity as regards the application of railway brakes is not obtained by the system now more commonly employed of brake-handles to be turned by different men in different parts of the train; but is obtained when, by more complicated construction an engine-driver is able easily in an instant to apply ample brake-power at pleasure with more or less force to every wheel of his train; is obtained when, every time an engine-driver starts, or attempts to start his train, the brake itself informs him if it is out of order; and is still more obtained when, on the occasion of an accident and the separation of a coupling, the brakes will unfailingly apply themselves on every wheel of the train without the action of the engine-driver or guards, [brakemen], and before even they have time to realize the necessity for it. this is true simplicity in such a case, and that system of continuous brakes which best accomplishes such results in the shortest space of time is so far preferable to all others." chapter xxi. the railroad journey resulting in death. one day in may, , as the queen of belgium was going from verviers to brussels by rail, the train in which she was journeying came into collision with another train going in the opposite direction. there was naturally something of a panic, and, as royalty was not then accustomed to being knocked about with railroad equality, some of her suite urged the queen to leave the train and to finish her journey by carriage. the contemporaneous court reporter then went on to say, in that language which is so peculiarly his own,--"but her majesty, as courageously as discreetly, declined to set that example of timidity, and she proceeded to brussels by the railway." in those days a very exaggerated idea was universally entertained of the great danger incident to travel by rail. even then, however, had her majesty, who was doubtless a very sensible woman, happened to be familiar with the statistics of injuries received by those traveling respectively by rail and by carriage, she certainly never on any plea of danger would have been induced to abandon her railroad train in order to trust herself behind horse-flesh. by pursuing the course urged upon her, the queen would have multiplied her chances of accident some sixty fold. strange as the statement sounds even now, such would seem to have been the fact. in proportion to the whole number carried, the accidents to passengers in "the good old days of stage-coaches" were, as compared to the present time of the railroad dispensation, about as sixty to one. this result, it is true, cannot be verified in the experience either of england or of this country, for neither the english nor we possess any statistics in relation to the earlier period; but they have such statistics in france, stretching over the space of more than forty years, and as reliable as statistics ever are. if these french statistics hold true in new england,--and considering the character of our roads, conveyances, and climate, their showing is more likely to be in our favor than against us,--if they simply hold true, leaving us to assume that stage-coach traveling was no less safe in massachusetts than in france, then it would follow that to make the dangers of the rail of the present day equal to those of the highway of half a century back, some eighty passengers should annually be killed and some eleven hundred injured within the limits of massachusetts alone. these figures, however, represent rather more than fifty times the actual average, and from them it would seem to be not unfair to conclude that, notwithstanding the great increase of population and the yet greater increase in travel during the last half-century, there were literally more persons killed and injured each year in massachusetts fifty years ago through accidents to stage-coaches than there are now through accidents to railroad trains. the first impression of nine out of ten persons in no way connected with the operations of railroads would probably be found to be the exact opposite to this. a vague but deeply rooted conviction commonly prevails that the railroad has created a new danger; that because of it the average human being's hold on life is more precarious than it was. the first point-blank, bald statement to the contrary would accordingly strike people in the light not only of a paradox, but of a somewhat foolish one. investigation, nevertheless, bears it out. the fact is that when a railroad accident comes, it is apt to come in such a way as to leave no doubt whatever in relation to it. it is heralded like a battle or an earthquake; it fills columns of the daily press with the largest capitals and the most harrowing details, and thus it makes a deep and lasting impression on the minds of many people. when a multitude of persons, traveling as almost every man now daily travels himself, meet death in such sudden and such awful shape, the event smites the imagination. people seeing it and thinking of it, and hearing and reading of it, and of it only, forget of how infrequent occurrence it is. it was not so in the olden time. every one rode behind horses,--if not in public then in private conveyances,--and when disaster came it involved but few persons and was rarely accompanied by circumstances which either struck the imagination or attracted any great public notice. in the first place, the modern newspaper, with its perfect machinery for sensational exaggeration, did not then exist,--having itself only recently come in the train of the locomotive;--and, in the next place, the circle of those included in the consequences of any disaster was necessarily small. it is far otherwise now. for weeks and months the vast machinery moves along, doing its work quickly, swiftly, safely; no one pays any attention to it, while millions daily make use of it. it is as much a necessity of their lives as the food they eat and the air they breathe. suddenly, somehow, and somewhere,--at versailles, at norwalk, at abergele, at new hamburg, or at revere,--at some hitherto unfamiliar point upon an insignificant thread of the intricate iron web, an obstruction is encountered, a jar, as it were, is felt, and instantly, with time for hardly an ejaculation or a thought, a multitude of human beings are hurled into eternity. it is no cause for surprise that such an event makes the community in which it happens catch its breadth; neither is it unnatural that people should think more of the few who are killed, of whom they hear so much, than of the myriads who are carried in safety and of whom they hear nothing. yet it is well to bear in mind that there are two sides to that question also, and in no way could this fact be more forcibly brought to our notice than by the assertion, borne out by all the statistics we possess, that, irrespective of the vast increase in the number of those who travel, a greater number of passengers in stage-coaches were formerly each year killed or injured by accidents to which they in no way contributed through their own carelessness, than are now killed under the same conditions in our railroad cars. in other words, the introduction of the modern railroad, so far from proportionately increasing the dangers of traveling, has absolutely diminished them. it is not, after all, the dangers but the safety of the modern railroad which should excite our special wonder. what is the average length of the railroad journey resulting in death by accident to a prudent traveler?--what is the average length of one resulting in some personal injury to him?--these are two questions which interest every one. few persons, probably, start upon any considerable journey, implying days and nights on the rail, without almost unconsciously taking into some consideration the risks of accident. visions of collision, derailment, plunging through bridges, will rise unbidden. even the old traveler who has enjoyed a long immunity is apt at times, with some little apprehension, to call to mind the musty adage of the pitcher and the well, and to ask himself how much longer it will be safe for him to rely on his good luck. a hundred thousand miles, perhaps, and no accident yet!--surely, on every doctrine of chances, he now owes to fate an arm or a leg;--perhaps a life. the statistics of a long series of years enable us, however, to approximate with a tolerable degree of precision to an answer to these questions, and the answer is simply astounding;--so astounding, in fact, that, before undertaking to give it, the question itself ought to be stated with all possible precision. it is this:--taking all persons who as passengers travel by rail,--and this includes all dwellers in civilized countries,--what number of journeys of the average length are safely accomplished, to each one which results in the death or injury of a passenger from some cause over which he had no control?--the cases of death or injury must be confined to passengers, and to those of them only who expose themselves to no unnecessary risk. when approaching a question of this sort, statisticians are apt to assume for their answers an appearance of mathematical accuracy. it is needless to say that this is a mere affectation. the best results which can be arrived at are, after all, mere approximations, and they also vary greatly year by year. the body of facts from which conclusions are to be deduced must cover not only a definite area of space, but also a considerable lapse of time. even great britain, with its , miles of track and its hundreds of millions of annual passenger journeys, shows results which, one year with another, vary strangely. for instance, during the four years anterior to , but one passenger was killed, upon an average, to each , , carried; while in the proportion, under the influence of a succession of disasters, suddenly doubled, rising to one in every , , ; and then again in , a year of peculiar exemption, it fell off to one in every , , . the percentage of fatal casualties to the whole number carried was in - five fold what it was in . if such fluctuations reveal themselves in the statistics of great britain, those met with in the narrower field of a single state in this country might well seem at first glance to set all computation at defiance. during the ten years, for example, between and , about , , passengers were returned as carried on the massachusetts roads, with cases of injury to individuals. then came the year of the revere disaster, and out of , , carried, no less than were killed or injured. seven years of comparative immunity then ensued, during which, out of , , carried, but two were killed and forty-five injured. in other words, through a period of ten years the casualties were approximately as one to , , ; then during a single year they rose to one in , , or a seven-fold increase; and then through a period of seven years they diminished to one in , , , a decrease of about ninety per cent. taking, however, the very worst of years,--the year of the revere disaster, which stands unparalleled in the history of massachusetts,--it will yet be found that the answer to the question as to the length of the average railroad journey resulting in death or in injury will be expressed, not in thousands nor in hundreds of thousands of miles, but in millions. during that year some , , passenger journeys were made within the limits of the state, and each journey averaged a distance of about miles. it would seem, therefore, that, even in that year, the average journey resulting in death was , , miles, while that resulting either in death or personal injury was not less than , , . the year , however, represented by no means a fair average. on the contrary, it indicated what may fairly be considered an excessive degree of danger, exciting nervous apprehensions in the breasts of those even who were not constitutionally timid. to reach what may be considered a normal average, therefore, it would be more proper to include a longer period in the computation. take, for instance, the nine years, - , during which alone has any effort been made to reach statistical accuracy in respect to massachusetts railroad accidents. during those nine years, speaking in round numbers and making no pretence at anything beyond a general approximation, some , , passenger journeys of miles each have been made on the railroads and within the state. of these have resulted in death and in injuries to persons from causes over which they had no control. the average distance, therefore, traveled by all, before death happened to any one, was about , , miles, and that travelled before any one was either injured or killed was about , , . the revere disaster of , however, as has been seen, brought about important changes in the methods of operating the railroads of massachusetts. consequently the danger incident to railroad traveling was materially reduced; and in the next eight years ( - ) some , , passenger journeys were made within the limits of the state. the wollaston disaster of october, , was included in this period, during which persons were injured and were killed. the average journey for these years resulting in any injury to a passenger was close upon , , miles, while that resulting in death was , , . but it may fairly be asked,--what, after all, do these figures mean?--they are, indeed, so large as to exceed comprehension; for, after certain comparatively narrow limits are passed the practical infinite is approached, and the mere adding of a few more ciphers after a numeral conveys no new idea. on the contrary, the piling up of figures rather tends to weaken than to strengthen a statement, for to many it suggests an idea of ridiculous exaggeration. indeed, when a few years ago a somewhat similar statement to that just made was advanced in an official report, a critic undertook to expose the fallacy of it in the columns of a daily paper by referring to a case within the writer's own observation in which a family of three persons had been killed on their very first journey in a railroad car. it is not, of course, necessary to waste time over such a criticism as this. railroad accidents continually take place, and in consequence of them people are killed and injured, and of these there may well be some who are then making their first journey by rail; but in estimating the dangers of railroad traveling the much larger number who are not killed or injured at all must likewise be taken into consideration. any person as he may be reading this page in a railroad car may be killed or injured through some accident, even while his eye is glancing over the figures which show how infinitesimal his danger is; but the chances are none the less as a million to one that any particular reader will go down to his grave uninjured by any accident on the rail, unless it be occasioned by his or her own carelessness. admitting, therefore, that ill luck or hard fortune must fall to the lot of certain unascertainable persons, yet the chances of incurring that ill fortune are so small that they are not materially increased by any amount of traveling which can be accomplished within the limits of a human life. so far from exhausting a fair average immunity from accident by constant traveling, the statistics of massachusetts during the last eight years would seem to indicate that if any given person were born upon a railroad car, and remained upon it traveling miles a day all his life, he would, with average good fortune, be somewhat over years of age before he would be involved in any accident resulting in his death or personal injury, while he would attain the highly respectable age of years before being killed. even supposing that the most exceptional average of the revere year became usual, a man who was killed by an accident at years of age should, unless he were fairly to be accounted unlucky, have accomplished a journey of some miles every day of his life, sundays included, from the time of his birth to that of his death; while even to have brought him within the fair liability of any injury at all, his daily journey should have been some miles. under the conditions of the last eight years his average daily journey through the three score years and ten to entitle him to be killed in an accident at the end of them would be about miles. chapter xxii. the railroad death rate. in connection with the statistics of railroad casualties it is not without interest to examine the general vital statistics of some considerable city, for they show clearly enough what a large degree of literal truth there was in the half jocose proposition attributed to john bright, that the safest place in which a man could put himself was inside a first-class railroad carriage of a train in full motion. take the statistics of boston, for instance, for the year . during the four years - , it will be remembered, a single passenger only was killed on the railroads of massachusetts in consequence of an accident to which he by his own carelessness in no way contributed.[ ] the average number of persons annually injured, not fatally, during those years was about five. [ ] this period did not include the wollaston disaster, as the massachusetts railroad year closes on the last day of september. the wollaston disaster occurred on the th of october, , and was accordingly included in the next railroad year. yet during the year , excluding all cases of mere injury of which no account was made, no less than persons came to their deaths in boston from falling down stairs, and more from falling out of windows; seven were scalded to death in alone. in the year seventeen were killed by being run over by teams in the streets, while the pastime of coasting was carried on at a cost of ten lives more. during the five years - there were more persons murdered in the city of boston alone than lost their lives as passengers through the negligence of all the railroad corporations in the whole state of massachusetts during the nine years - ; though in those nine years were included both the revere and the wollaston disasters, the former of which resulted in the death of , and the latter of persons. neither are the comparative results here stated in any respect novel or peculiar to massachusetts. years ago it was officially announced in france that people were less safe in their own houses than while traveling on the railroads; and, in support of this somewhat startling proposition, statistics were produced showing fourteen cases of death of persons remaining at home and there falling over carpets, or, in the case of females, having their garments catch fire, to ten deaths on the rail. even the game of cricket counted eight victims to the railroad's ten. it will not, of course, be inferred that the cases of death or injury to passengers from causes beyond their control include by any means all the casualties involved in the operation of the railroad system. on the contrary, they include but a very small portion of them. the experience of the massachusetts roads during the seven years between september , , and september , , may again be cited in reference to this point. during that time there were but cases of injury to passengers from causes over which they had no control, but in connection with the entire working of the railroad system no less than , cases of injury were reported, of which , were fatal; an average of deaths a year. of these cases, naturally, a large proportion were employés, whose occupation not only involves much necessary risk, but whose familiarity with risk causes them always to incur it even in the most unnecessary and foolhardy manner. during the seven years of them were killed and were reported as injured. nor is it supposed that the list included by any means all the cases of injury which occurred. about one half of the accidents to employés are occasioned by their falling from the trains when in motion, usually from freight trains and in cold weather, and from being crushed between cars while engaged in coupling them together. from this last cause alone an average of casualties are annually reported. one fact, however, will sufficiently illustrate how very difficult it is to protect this class of men from danger, or rather from themselves. as is well known, on freight trains they are obliged to ride on the tops of the cars; but these are built so high that their roofs come dangerously near the bottoms of the highway bridges, which cross the track sometimes in close proximity to each other. accordingly many unfortunate brakemen were killed by being knocked off the trains as they passed under these bridges. with a view to affording the utmost possible protection against this form of accident, a statute was passed by the massachusetts legislature compelling the corporations to erect guards at a suitable distance from every overhead bridge which was less than eighteen feet in the clear above the track. these guards were so arranged as to swing lightly across the tops of the cars, giving any one standing upon them a sharp rap, warning him of the danger he was in. this warning rap, however, so annoyed the brakemen that the guards were on a number of the roads systematically destroyed as often as they were put up; so that at last another law had to be passed, making their destruction a criminal offense. the brakemen themselves resisted the attempt to divest their perilous occupation of one of its most insidious dangers. in this respect, however, brakemen differ in no degree from the rest of the community. on all hands railroad accidents seem to be systematically encouraged, and the wonder is that the list of casualties is not larger. in massachusetts, for instance, even in the most crowded portions of the largest cities and towns, not only do the railroads cross the highways at grade, but whenever new thoroughfares are laid out the people of the neighborhood almost invariably insist upon their crossing the railroads at a grade and not otherwise. not but that, upon theory and in the abstract, every one is opposed to grade-crossings; but those most directly concerned always claim that their particular crossing is exceptional in character. in vain do corporations protest and public officials argue; when the concrete case arises all neighborhoods become alike and strenuously insist on their right to incur everlasting danger rather than to have the level of their street broken. during the last seven years to september , , persons have been injured, and of them fatally injured, at these crossings in massachusetts, and it is certain as fate that the number is destined to annually increase. what the result in a remote future will be, it is not now easy to forecast. one thing only would seem certain: the time will come when the two classes of traffic thus recklessly made to cross each other will at many points have to be separated, no matter at what cost to the community which now challenges the danger it will then find itself compelled to avoid. the heaviest and most regular cause of death and injury involved in the operation of the railroad system yet remains to be referred to; and again it is recklessness which is at the root of it, and this time recklessness in direct violation of law. the railroad tracks are everywhere favorite promenades, and apparently even resting-places, especially for those who are more or less drunk. in great britain physical demolition by a railroad train is also a somewhat favorite method of committing suicide, and that, too, in the most deliberate and cool-blooded manner. cases have not been uncommon in which persons have been seen to coolly lay themselves down in front of an advancing train, and very neatly effect their own decapitation by placing their necks across the rail. in england alone, during the last seven years, there have been no less than cases of death reported under the head of suicides, or an average of each year, the number in rising to . in america these cases are not returned in a class by themselves. under the general head of accidents to trespassers, however, that is, accidents to men, women and children, especially the latter, illegally lying, walking, or playing on the tracks or riding upon the cars,--under this head are regularly classified more than one third of all the casualties incident to working the massachusetts railroads. during the last seven years these have amounted to an aggregate of cases of injury, no less than of which were fatal. of course, very many other cases of this description, which were not fatal, were never reported. and here again the recklessness of the public has received further illustration, and this time in a very unpleasant way. certain corporations operating roads terminating in boston endeavored at one time to diminish this slaughter by enforcing the laws against walking on railroad tracks. a few trespassers were arrested and fined, and then the resentment of those whose wonted privileges were thus interfered with began to make itself felt. obstructions were found placed in the way of night trains. the mere attempt to keep people from risking their lives by getting in the way of locomotives placed whole trains full of passengers in imminent jeopardy. undoubtedly, however, by far the most effective means of keeping railroad tracks from becoming foot-paths, and thus at once putting an end to the largest item in the grand total of the expenditure of life incident to the operation of railroads, is that secured by the pennsylvania railroad as an unintentional corollary to its method of ballasting. that superb organization, every detail of whose wonderful system is a fit subject for study to all interested in the operation of railroads, has a roadway peculiar to itself. a principal feature in this is a surface of broken stone ballast, covering not only the space between the rails, but also the interval between the tracks as well as the road-bed on the outside of each track for a distance of some three feet. it resembles nothing so much as a newly macadamized highway. that, too, is its permanent condition. to walk on the sharp and uneven edges of this broken stone is possible, with a sufficient expenditure of patience and shoe-leather; but certainly no human being would ever walk there from preference, or if any other path could be found. not only is it in itself, as a system of ballasting, looked upon as better than any other, but it confounds the tramp. its systematic adoption in crowded, suburban neighborhoods would, therefore, answer a double purpose. it would secure to the corporations permanent road-beds exclusively for their own use, and obviate the necessity of arrests or futile threats to enforce the penalties of the law against trespassers. it seems singular that this most obvious and effective way of putting a stop to what is both a nuisance and a danger has not yet been resorted to by men familiar with the use of spikes and broken glass on the tops of fences and walls. meanwhile, taken even in its largest aggregate, the loss of life incident to the working of the railroad system is not excessive, nor is it out of proportion to what might reasonably be expected. it is to be constantly borne in mind, not only that the railroad performs a great function in modern life, but that it also and of necessity performs it in a very dangerous way. a practically irresistible force crashing through the busy hive of modern civilization at a wild rate of speed, going hither and thither, across highways and by-ways and along a path which is in itself a thoroughfare,--such an agency cannot be expected to work incessantly and yet never to come in contact with the human frame. naturally, however, it might be a very car of juggernaut. is it so in fact?--to demonstrate that it is not, it is but necessary again to recur to the comparison between the statistics of railroad accidents and those which necessarily occur in the experience of all considerable cities. take again those of boston and of the railroad system of massachusetts. these for the purpose of illustration are as good as any, and in their results would only be confirmed in the experience of paris as compared with the railroad system of france, or in that of london as compared with the railroad system of great britain. during the eight years between september , , and september , , the entire railroad system of massachusetts was operated at a cost of , lives, apart from all cases of injury which did not prove fatal. the returns in this respect also may be accepted as reasonably accurate, as the deaths were all returned, though the cases of merely personal injury probably were not. the annual average was lives. during the ten years, - , , cases of death from accidental causes, or a year, were recorded as having taken place in the city of boston. in other words, the annual average of deaths by accident in the city of boston alone exceeds that consequent on running all the railroads of the state by eighty per cent. unless, therefore, the railroad system is to be considered as an exception to all other functions of modern life, and as such is to be expected to do its work without injury to life or limb, this showing does not constitute a very heavy indictment against it. chapter xxiii. american as compared with foreign railroad accidents. up to this point, the statistics and experience of massachusetts only have been referred to. this is owing to the fact that the railroad returns of that state are more carefully prepared and tabulated than are those of any other state, and afford, therefore, more satisfactory data from which to draw conclusions. the territorial area from which the statistics are in this case derived is very limited, and it yet remains to compare the results deduced from them with those derived from the similar experience of other communities. this, however, is not an easy thing to do; and, while it is difficult enough as respects europe, it is even more difficult as respects america taken as a whole. this last fact is especially unfortunate in view of the circumstance that, in regard to railway accidents, the united states, whether deservedly or not, enjoy a most undesirable reputation. foreign authorities have a way of referring to our "well-known national disregard of human life," with a sort of complacency, at once patronizing and contemptuous, which is the reverse of pleasing. judging by the tone of their comments, the natural inference would be that railroad disasters of the worst description were in america matters of such frequent occurrence as to excite scarcely any remark. as will presently be made very apparent, this impression, for it is only an impression, can, so far as the country as a whole is concerned, neither be proved nor disproved, from the absence of sufficient data from which to argue. as respects massachusetts, however, and the same statement may perhaps be made of the whole belt of states north of the potomac and the ohio, there is no basis for it. there is no reason to suppose that railroad traveling is throughout that region accompanied by any peculiar or unusual degree of danger. the great difficulty, just referred to, in comparing the results deduced from equally complete statistics of different countries, lies in the variety of the arbitrary rules under which the computations in making them up are effected. as an example in point, take the railroad returns of great britain and those of massachusetts. they are in each case prepared with a great deal of care, and the results deduced from them may fairly be accepted as approximately correct. as respects accidents, the number of cases of death and of personal injury are annually reported, and with tolerable completeness, though in the latter respect there is probably in both cases room for improvement. the whole comparison turns, however, on the way in which the entire number of passengers annually carried is computed. in great britain, for instance, in , these were returned, using round numbers only, at , , , and in massachusetts at , , . by dividing these totals by the number of cases of death and injury reported as occurring to passengers from causes beyond their control, we shall arrive apparently at a fair comparative showing as to the relative safety of railroad traveling in the two communities. the result for that particular year would have been that while in great britain one passenger in each , , was killed, and one in each , injured from causes beyond their control, in massachusetts none were killed and only one in each , , was in any way injured. unfortunately, however, a closer examination reveals a very great error in the computation, affecting every comparative result drawn from it. in the english returns no allowance whatever is made for the very large number of journeys made by season-ticket or commutation passengers, while in massachusetts, on the contrary, each person of this class enters into the grand total as making two trips each day, trips on each quarterly ticket, and trips on each annual. now in more than , holders of season tickets were returned by the railway companies of great britain. how many of these were quarterly and how many were annual travelers, does not appear. if they were all annual travelers, no less than , , journeys should be added to the , , in the returns, in order to arrive at an equal basis for a comparison between the foreign and the american roads: this method, however, would be manifestly inaccurate, so it only remains, in the absence of all reliable data, and for the purpose of comparison solely, to strike out from the massachusetts returns the , , season-ticket passages, which at once reduces by over , , the number of journeys to each case of injury. as season-ticket passengers do travel and are exposed to danger in the same degree as trip-ticket passengers, no result is approximately accurate which leaves them out of the computation. at present, however, the question relates not to the positive danger or safety of traveling by rail, but to its relative danger in different communities. allowance for this discrepancy can, however, be made by adding to the english official results an additional nineteen per cent., that, according to the returns of and , being the proportion of the season-ticket to other passengers on the roads of great britain. taking then the board of trade returns for the eight years - , it will be found that during this period about one passenger in each , , carried in that country has been killed in railroad accidents, and about one in each , injured. this may be assumed as a fair average for purpose of comparison, though it ought to be said that in great britain the percentage of casualties to passengers shows a decided tendency to decrease, and during the years - the percentages of killed fell from one in , , to one in , , and those of injured from one in , to one in , . the aggregates from which these results are deduced are so enormous, rising into the thousands of millions, that a certain degree of reliance can be placed on them. in the case of massachusetts, however, the entire period during which the statistics are entitled to the slightest weight includes only eight years, - , and offers an aggregate of but , , journeys, or but about forty per cent. of those included in the british returns of the single year . during these years the killed in massachusetts were one in each , , and the injured one in each , , ;--or, while the killed in the two cases were very nearly in the same proportion,--respectively one in . , and one in , speaking in millions,--the british injured were really three to one of the massachusetts. the equality as respects the killed in this comparison, and the marked discrepancy as respects the injured is calculated at first sight to throw doubts on the fullness of the massachusetts returns. there seems no good reason why the injured should in the one case be so much more numerous than in the other. this, however, is susceptible on closer examination of a very simple and satisfactory explanation. in case of accident the danger of sustaining slight personal injury is not so great in massachusetts as in great britain. this is due to the heavier and more solid construction of the american passenger coaches, and their different interior arrangement. this fact, and the real cause of the large number of slightly injured,--"shaken" they call it,--in the english railroad accidents is made very apparent in the following extract from mr. calcroft's report for ;-- "it is no doubt a fact that collisions and other accidents to railway trains are attended with less serious consequences in proportion to the solidity of construction of passenger carriages. the accomodation and internal arrangements of third-class carriages, however, especially those used in ordinary trains, are defective as regards safety and comfort, as compared with many carriages of the same class on foreign railways. the first-class passenger, except when thrown against his opposite companion, or when some luggage falls upon him, is generally saved from severe contusion by the well-stuffed or padded linings of the carriages; whilst the second-class and third-class passenger is generally thrown with violence against the hard wood-work. if the second and third-class carriages had a high padded back lining, extending above the head of the passenger, it would probably tend to lesson the danger to life and limb which, as the returns of accidents show, passengers in carriages of this class are much exposed to in train accidents."[ ] [ ] _general report to the board of trade upon the accidents which have occurred on the railways of the united kingdom during the year , p. ._ in the passenger journeys made in the second and third class carriages of the united kingdom were thirteen to one of those made in first class carriages;--or, expressed in millions, there were but of the latter to of the former. there can be very little question indeed that if, during the last ten years, thirteen out of fourteen of the passengers on massachusetts railroads had been carried in narrow compartments with wooden seats and unlined sides the number of those returned as slightly injured in the numerous accidents which occurred would have been at least three-fold larger than it was. if it had not been ten-fold larger it would have been surprising. the foregoing comparison, relates however, simply to passengers killed in accidents for which they are in no degree responsible. when, however, the question reverts to the general cost in life and limb at which the railroad systems are worked and the railroad traffic is carried on to the entire communities served, the comparison is less favorable to massachusetts. taking the eight years of - , the british returns include , cases of injury, and , of death; while those of massachusetts for the same years included , deaths, with only , cases of injury; in the one case a total of , casualties, as compared with , the other. it will, however be noticed that while in the british returns the cases of injury are nearly three-fold those of death, in the massachusetts returns the deaths exceed the cases of injury. this fact in the present case cannot but throw grave suspicion on the completeness of the massachusetts returns. as a matter of practical experience it is well known that cases of injury almost invariably exceed those of death, and the returns in which the disproportion is greatest, if no sufficient explanation presents itself, are probably the most full and reliable. taking, therefore, the deaths in the two cases as the better basis for comparison, it will be found that the roads of great britain in the grand result accomplished seventeen-fold the work of those of massachusetts with less than eight times as many casualties; had the proportion between the results accomplished and the fatal injuries inflicted been maintained, but deaths instead of , would have appeared in the massachusetts returns. the reason of this difference in result is worth looking for, and fortunately the statistical tables are in both cases carried sufficiently into detail to make an analysis possible; and this analysis, when made, seems to indicate very clearly that while, for those directly connected with the railroads, either as passengers or as employés, the massachusetts system in its working involves relatively a less degree of danger than that of great britain, yet for the outside community it involves very much more. take, for instance, the two heads of accidents at grade-crossings and accidents to trespassers, which have been already referred to. in great britain highway grade-crossings are discouraged. in massachusetts they are practically insisted upon. the results of the policy pursued may in each case be read with sufficient distinctness in the bills of mortality. during the years - , of , casualties to persons on the railroads of massachusetts, no less than occurred at highway grade crossings. had the accidents of this description in great britain been equally numerous in proportion to the larger volume of the traffic of that country, they would have resulted in over , cases of death or personal injury; they did in fact result in such cases. in massachusetts, again, to walk at will on any part of a railroad track is looked upon as a sort of prescriptive and inalienable right of every member of the community, irrespective of age, sex, color, or previous condition of servitude. accordingly, during the six years referred to, this right was exercised at the cost of life or limb to persons,--one in four of all the casualties which occurred in connection with the railroad system. in great britain the custom of using the tracks of railroads as a foot-path seems to exist, but, so far from being regarded as a right, it is practiced in perpetual terror of the law. accordingly, instead of some , cases of death or injury from this cause during these six years, which would have been the proportion under like conditions in massachusetts, the returns showed only , . these two are among the most constant and fruitful causes of accident in connection with the railroad system of america. in great britain their proportion to the whole number of casualties which take place is scarcely a seventh part of what it is in massachusetts. here they constitute very nearly fifty per cent. of all the accidents which occur; there they constitute but a little over seven. there is in this comparison a good deal of solid food for legislative thought, if american legislators would but take it in; for this is one matter the public policy in regard to which can only be fixed by law. when we pass from great britain to the continental countries of europe, the difficulties in the way of any fair comparison of results become greater and greater. the statistics do not enter sufficiently into detail, nor is the basis of computation apparent. it is generally conceded that, where a due degree of caution is exercised by the passenger, railroad traveling in continental countries is attended with a much less degree of danger than in england. when we come to the returns, they hardly bear out this conclusion; at least to the degree commonly supposed. take france, for example. nowhere is human life more carefully guarded than in that country; yet their returns show that of , , passengers transported on the french railroads during the eleven years - , no less than were killed and , injured from causes beyond their control; or one in each , , killed as compared with one in , , in great britain; and one in every , injured as compared with one in each , in the other country. during the single year , about , , passengers were carried on the french lines, at a general cost to the community of , casualties, of which were fatal. in massachusetts, during the four years - , about , , passengers were carried, at a reported cost of , casualties. this showing might well be considered favorable to massachusetts did not the single fact that her returns included more than twice as many deaths as the french, with only a quarter as many injuries, make it at once apparent that the statistics were at fault. under these circumstances comparison could only be made between the numbers of deaths reported; which would indicate that, in proportion to the work done, the railroad operations of massachusetts involved about twice and a half more cases of injury to life and limb than those of the french service. as respects great britain the comparison is much more favorable, the returns showing an almost exactly equal general death-rate in the two countries in proportion to their volumes of traffic; the volume of great britain being about four times that of france, while its death-rate by railroad accidents was as , to . with the exception of belgium, however, in which country the returns cover only the lines operated by the state, the basis hardly exists for a useful comparison between the dangers of injury from accident on the continental railroads and on those of great britain and america. the several systems are operated on wholly different principles, to meet the needs of communities between whose modes of life and thought little similarity exists. the continental trains are far less crowded than either the english or the american, and, when accidents occur, fewer persons are involved in them. the movement, also, goes on under much stricter regulation and at lower rates of speed, so that there is a grain of truth in the english sarcasm that on a german railway "it almost seems as if beer-drinking at the stations were the principal business, and traveling a mere accessory." limiting, therefore, the comparison to the railroads of great britain, it remains to be seen whether the evil reputation of the american roads as respects accidents is wholly deserved. is it indeed true that the danger to a passenger's life and limbs is so much greater in this country than elsewhere?--locally, and so far as massachusetts at least is concerned, it certainly is not. how is it with the country taken as a whole?--the lack of all reliable statistics as respects this wide field of inquiry has already been referred to. we have no trustworthy data. we do not know with accuracy even the number of miles of road operated; much less the number of passengers annually carried. as respects accidents, and the deaths and injuries resulting therefrom, some information may be gathered from a careful and very valuable, because the only record which has been preserved during the last six years in the columns of the _railroad gazette_. it makes, of course, no pretence at either official accuracy or fullness, but it is as complete probably as circumstances will permit of its being made. during the five years - there have been included in this record , accidents, resulting in , deaths and , cases of injury;--being an average of accidents a year, resulting in deaths and cases of injury. these it will be remembered are casualties directly resulting either to passengers or employés from train accidents. no account is taken of injuries sustained by employés in the ordinary operation of the roads, or by members of the community not passengers. in massachusetts the accidents to passengers and employés constitute one-half of the whole, but a very small portion of the injuries reported as sustained by either passengers or employés are the consequence of train accidents,--not one in three in the case of passengers or one in seven in that of employés. in fact, of the , accidents to persons reported in massachusetts in the nine years - , but , or less than twelve per cent., belonged to the class alone included in the reports of the _railroad gazette_. in england during the four years - the proportion was larger, being about twenty-five instead of twelve per cent. for america at large the massachusetts proportion is undoubtedly the most nearly correct, and the probabilities would seem to be that the annual average of injuries to persons incident to operating the railroads of the united states is not less than , , of which at least , are due to train accidents. of these about two-thirds may be set down as sustained by passengers, or, approximately, a year. it remains to be ascertained what proportion this number bears to the whole number carried. there are no reliable statistics on this head any more than on the other. nothing but an approximation of the most general character is possible. the number of passengers annually carried on the roads of a few of the states is reported with more or less accuracy, and averaging these the result would seem to indicate that there are certainly not more than , , passengers annually carried on the roads of all the states. there is something barbarous about such an approximation, and it is disgraceful that at this late day we should in america be forced to estimate the passenger movement on our railroads in much the same way that we guess at the population of africa. such, however, is the case. we are in this respect far in the rear of civilized communities. taking, however, , , as a fair approximation to our present annual passenger movement, it will be observed that it is as nearly as may be half that of great britain. in great britain, in , there were , injuries to passengers from accidents to trains, and in . the average of the last eight years has been , . if, therefore, the approximation of a year for america is at all near the truth, the percentage would seem to be considerably larger than that arrived at from the statistics of great britain. meanwhile it is to be noted that while in great britain about cases of injury are reported to each one of death, in america but four cases are reported to each death--a discrepancy which is extremely suggestive. perhaps, however, the most valuable conclusion to be drawn from these figures is that in america we as yet are absolutely without any reliable railroad statistics on this subject at all. taken as a whole, however, and under the most favorable showing, it would seem to be a matter of fair inference that the dangers incident to railroad traveling are materially greater in the united states than in any country of europe. how much greater is a question wholly impossible to answer. so that when a statistical writer undertakes to show, as one eminent european authority has done, that in a given year on the american roads one passenger in every , was killed, and one in every , was injured, it is charitable to suppose that in regard to america only is he indebted to his imagination for his figures. neither is it possible to analyze with any satisfactory degree of precision the nature of the accidents in the two countries, with a view to drawing inferences from them. without attempting to do so it maybe said that the english board of trade reports for the last five years, - , include inquiries into out of , accidents, the total number of every description reported as having taken place. meanwhile the _railroad gazette_ contains mention of , reported train accidents which occurred in america during the same five years. of these accidents, , in america and in great britain were due to causes which were either unexplained or of a miscellaneous character, or are not common to the systems of the two countries. in so far as the remainder admitted of classification, it was somewhat as follows:-- great britain. america. accidents due to defects in permanent way per cent. per cent. " " rolling-stock " " " " misplaced switches " " " " collisions between trains going in opposite directions " " " " between trains following each other " " " " at railroad grade crossings[ ] . " " " " at junctions " " at stations or sidings within fixed stations " " " " unexplained " " [ ] during these five years there were in great britain four cases of collision between locomotives or trains at level crossings of one railroad by another; in america there were . the probable cause of this discrepancy has already been referred to (_ante pp. - _). the above record, though almost valueless for any purpose of exact comparison, reveals, it will be noticed, one salient fact. out of english accidents, no less than came under the head of collisions--whether head collisions, rear collisions, or collisions on sidings or at junctions. in other words, to collisions of some sort between trains were due considerably more than half ( per cent.) of the accidents which took place in great britain, while only , or less than per cent. of the whole, were due to derailments from all causes. in america on the other hand, while of the , accidents recorded, , , or but one-third part ( per cent.) were due to collisions, no less than , or per cent., were classed under the head of derailments, due to defects in the permanent way. during the the six years - there were in all cases of collision of every description between trains reported as occurring in america to in the united kingdom; but while in america the derailments amounted to no less than , or more than twice the collisions, in the united kingdom they were but , or a little more than half their number. it has already been noticed that the most disastrous accidents in america are apt to occur on bridges, and ashtabula and tariffville at once suggest themselves. this is not the case in great britain. under the heading of "failures of tunnels, bridges, viaducts or culverts," there were returned in that country during the six years - only accidents in all; while during the same time in america, under the heads of broken bridges or tressels and open draws, the _gazette_ recorded no less than . these figures curiously illustrate the different manner in which the railroads of the two countries have been constructed, and the different circumstances under which they are operated. the english collisions are distinctly traceable to constant overcrowding; the american derailments and bridge accidents to inferior construction of our road-beds. finally, what of late years has been done to diminish the dangers of the rail?--what more can be done?--few persons realize what a tremendous pressure in this respect is constantly bearing down upon those whose business it is to operate railroads. a great accident is not only a terrible blow to the pride and prestige of a corporation, not only does it practically ruin the unfortunate officials involved in it, but it entails also portentous financial consequences. juries proverbially have little mercy for railroad corporations, and, when a disaster comes, these have practically no choice but to follow the scriptural injunction to settle with their adversaries quickly. the revere catastrophe, for instance, cost the railroad company liable on account of it over half a million of dollars; the ashtabula accident over $ , ; the wollaston over $ , . a few years ago in england a jury awarded a sum of $ , for damages sustained through the death of a single individual. during the five years, - , the railroad corporations of great britain paid out over $ , , in compensation for damages occasioned by accidents. in view, merely, of such money consequences of disaster, it would be most unnatural did not each new accident lead to the adoption of better appliances to prevent its recurrence.[ ] [ ] the other side of this proposition has been argued with much force by mr. william galt in his report as one of the royal commission of on railway accidents. mr. galt's individual report bears date february , , and in it he asserts that, as a matter of actual experience, the principle of self-interest on the part of the railway companies has proved a wholly insufficient safeguard against accidents. however it may be in theory, he contends that, taking into consideration the great cost of the appliances necessary to insure safety to the public on the one side, and the amount of damages incident to a certain degree of risk on the other side, the possible saving in expenditure to the companies by assuming the risk far exceeds the loss incurred by an occasional accident. the companies become, in a word, insurers of their passengers,--the premium being found in the economies effected by not adopting improved appliances of recognized value, and the losses being the damages incurred in case of accident. he treats the whole subject at great length and with much knowledge and ability. his report is a most valuable compendium for those who are in favor of a closer government supervision over railroads as a means of securing an increased safety from accident. to return, however, to the subject of railroad accidents, and the final conclusion to be drawn from the statistics which have been presented. that conclusion briefly stated is that the charges of recklessness and indifference so generally and so widely advanced against those managing the railroads cannot for an instant be sustained. after all, as was said in the beginning of the present volume, it is not the danger but the safety of the railroad which should excite our special wonder. if any one doubts this, it is very easy to satisfy himself of the fact,--that is, if by nature he is gifted with the slightest spark of imagination. it is but necessary to stand once on the platform of a way-station and to look at an express train dashing by. there are few sights finer; few better calculated to quicken the pulse. it is most striking at night. the glare of the head-light, the rush and throb of the locomotive,--the connecting rod and driving-wheels of which seem instinct with nervous life,--the flashing lamps in the cars, and the final whirl of dust in which the red tail-lights vanish almost as soon as they are seen,--all this is well calculated to excite our admiration; but the special and unending cause for wonder is how, in case of accident, anything whatever is left of the train. as it plunges into the darkness it would seem to be inevitable that something must happen, and that, whatever happens, it must necessarily involve both the train and every one in it in utter and irremediable destruction. here is a body weighing in the neighborhood of two hundred tons, moving over the face of the earth at a speed of sixty feet a second and held to its course only by two slender lines of iron rails;--and yet it is safe!--we have seen how when, half a century ago, the possibility of something remotely like this was first discussed, a writer in the _british quarterly_ earned for himself a lasting fame by using the expression that "we should as soon expect people to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of congreve's _ricochet_ rockets, as to trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine, going at such a rate;"--while lord brougham exclaimed that "the folly of seven hundred people going fifteen miles an hour, in six trains, exceeds belief." at the time they wrote, the chances were ninety-nine in a hundred that both reviewer and correspondent were right; and yet, because reality, not for the first nor the last time, saw fit to outstrip the wildest flights of imagination, the former at least blundered, by being prudent, into an immortality of ridicule. the thing, however, is still none the less a miracle because it is with us matter of daily observation. that, indeed, is the most miraculous part of it. at all hours of the day and of the night, during every season of the year, this movement is going on. it never wholly stops. it depends for its even action on every conceivable contingency, from the disciplined vigilance of thousands of employés to the condition of the atmosphere, the heat of an axle, or the strength of a nail. the vast machine is in constant motion, and the derangement of a single one of a myriad of conditions may at any moment occasion one of those inequalities of movement which are known as accidents. yet at the end of the year, of the hundreds of millions of passengers fewer have lost their lives through these accidents than have been murdered in cold blood. not without reason, therefore, has it been asserted that, viewing at once the speed, the certainty, and the safety with which the intricate movement of modern life is carried on, there is no more creditable monument to human care, human skill, and human foresight than the statistics of railroad accidents. index. abergele, accident at, . accidents, railroad, about stations, . at highway crossings, . level railroad crossings, , , , . aggravated by english car construction and stoves, , , , . comments on early, . damages paid for certain, . due to bridges, , , . broken tracks, . car couplings, . collisions, . derailments, , , , , , . in great britain, . america, . draw-bridges, , . fire in train, . oil-tanks, . oscillation, . telegraph, . telescoping, . want of bell-cords, . brake power, , . increased safety resulting from, , , , . precautions against early, . statistics of, in america, . belgium, . france, . great britain, , , , . massachusetts, - . general, - . _list of accidents specially described or referred to_:-- _abergele, august , , ._ _angola, december , , ._ _ashtabula, december , , ._ _brainerd, july , , ._ _brimfield, october, , ._ _bristol, march , , ._ _carr's rock, april , , ._ _camphill, july , , ._ _charlestown bridge, november , , ._ _claypole, june , , ._ _communipaw ferry, november , , ._ _croydon tunnel, august , , ._ _des jardines canal, march , , ._ _foxboro, july , , ._ _franklin street, new york city, june, , ._ _gasconade river, november , , ._ _on great western railway of canada, october, , ._ _on great western railway of england, december , , ._ _heeley, november , , ._ _helmshire, september , , ._ _on housatonic railroad, august , , ._ _huskisson, william, death of, september , , ._ _lackawaxen, july , , ._ _morpeth, march , , ._ _new hamburg, february , , ._ _norwalk, may , , ._ _penruddock, september , , ._ _port jervis, june , , ._ _prospect, n. y., december , , ._ _rainhill, december , , ._ _randolph, october , , ._ _revere, august , , ._ _richelieu river, june , , ._ _shipton, december , , ._ _shrewsbury river, august , , ._ _tariffville, january , , ._ _thorpe, september , , ._ _tyrone, april , , ._ _versailles, may , , ._ _welwyn tunnel, june , , ._ _wemyss bay junction, december , , ._ _wollaston, october , , ._ american railroad accidents, statistics of, , - . locomotive engineers, intelligence of, . method of handling traffic, extravagance of, . angola, accident at, , , . ashtabula, accident at, , . assaults in english railroad carriages, , , . automatic electric block, , reliability of, , objections to, . train-brake, essentials of, . necessity for, , . bell-cord, need of any, questioned, . accidents from want of, . assaults, etc., in absence of, - . beloeil, canada, accident at, . block system, american, . automatic electric, . objections to, . cost of english, . english, why adopted, . accident in spite of, . ignorance of, in america, . importance of, . boston, passenger travel to and from, . possible future station in, . some vital statistics of, , . boston & albany railroad, accident on, . boston station of, . boston & maine railroad, accident on, . boston & providence railroad, accident on, . boston station of, . brainerd, accident at, . brakes, original and improved, . the battle of the, . true simplicity in, . inefficiency of hand, , . emergency, . necessity of automatic, continuous, , . _see train-brake._ bridge accidents, , . bridges, insufficient safeguards at, . protection of, . bridge-guards, destroyed by brakemen, . bristol, accident at, . brougham, lord, comments on death of mr. huskisson, , . buffalo, correy & pittsburg railroad, accident on, . burlington & missouri river railroad, accident on, . butler, b. f., on revere accident, . calcoft, mr., extract from reports of, , . caledonian railway, accident on, return of brake stoppages by, . camden & amboy railroad, accident on, . car construction, american and english, . carr's rock, accident at, . central railroad of new jersey, accident on, . charlestown bridge, accident on, . claypole accident, . collisions, head, - . in america, . great britain, . occasioned by use of telegraph, . rear-end, - . communipaw ferry, accident at, . cannon street station in london, traffic at, , , . connecticut law respecting swing draw-bridges, , , . connecticut western railroad, accident on, . conservatism, british railroad, . american railroad, , , , , . coupling, accidents due to, . the original, . crossings, level, of railways, accidents at, . need of interlocking apparatus at, . stopping trains at, , . croydon tunnel collision, . deodand, . derailments, accidents from, , , , , , . statistics of, . des jardines canal accident, . draw-bridge accidents, , , . stopping as a safeguard against, . need of interlocking apparatus at, . eames vacuum brake, . eastern railroad, accident on, . economy, cost of a small, . at risk of accident, . employés railroad, casualties to, . engineering, on american inventions, . english railways, train movement on, , . erie railroad, accidents on, , , . france, statistics of accidents in, . panic produced in, by versailles accident, . franklin street, new york city, accident at, . galt, william, report by, on accidents, . gasconade river accident, . germany, railroad accidents in, . grand trunk railway, accident on, . great eastern railway, accident on, . great northern railway, accidents on, , . great western railway, accidents on, , , . of canada, accidents on, , . hall's system of electric signals, . harrison, t. e., extract from letter of, . heeley, accident at, . helm shire accident, . highway crossings at level, accidents at, , , , . interlocking at, . housatonic railroad, accident on, . hudson river railroad, accident on, . huskisson, william, death of, , . inclines, accidents upon, , , . interlocking, chapter relating to, . at draw-bridges, , . level crossings, . practical simplicity of, . use made of in england, . investigation of accidents, no systematic, in america, . english, . lake shore railroad, accident on, . lake shore & michigan southern railroad, accident on, . lancashire & yorkshire railroad, accident on, . legislation against accidents, futility of , . as regards use of telegraphs, . interlocking at draws, . level crossings, . london passenger traffic, , . london & brighton railway, accident on, . london & north western railway, assaults on, , . accidents on, , . train brake used by, . manchester & liverpool railway, accidents on, , , . opening of, . massachusetts, statistics of accidents in, , - . train-brakes in use in, , . metropolitan elevated railroad, accident on, . interlocking apparatus used by, . midland railway, accident on, . protests against interlocking, . miller's platform and buffer, chapter on, - . accidents avoided by, , , , . in massachusetts, . mohawk valley railroad, pioneer train on, . morpeth, accident at, . murders, number of, compared with the killed by railroad accidents, . new york city, passenger travel of, . new york, providence & boston railroad, accident on, . new york & new haven railroad, accident on, . newark, brake trials at, in , . north eastern railway, accident in, . brake trials on, . returns of brake-stoppages by, . northern pacific railroad, accident on, . norwalk accident, . oil-tank accidents, , . old colony railroad accidents on, , , . oscillation, accidents occasioned by, . pacific railroad of missouri, accident on, . pennsylvania railroad, ballasting of, . english block in use on, . penruddock, accident at, . phillips, wendell, on revere accident, . port jervis accident, , , . _quarterly review_ of , article in, , . _railroad gazette_, records of accidents kept by, . rear-end collisions in america, , . europe, . necessity of protection against, . revere accident, , . improvements caused by, . lessons taught by, . meeting in consequence of, , . richelieu river, accident at, . shipton accident, , . shrewsbury river draw, accident at, . smith's vacuum brake, , , . popularity of in great britain, , . compared with westinghouse, , . statistics of railroad accidents, - . stopping trains, an insufficient safeguard at draw-bridges and level crossings, , , . stage-coach travelling, accidents in, . stoves in case of accidents, , , . suicides on railroads, . tariffville accident, . telegraph, accidents occasioned by use of, . use of, should be made compulsory, . telegraphic signals, chapter on, . telescoping, accidents from, . thorpe, collision at, , . train-brake, chapters on, , . board of trade specifications relating to, . doubts concerning, . failures of, to work, in great britain, . introduced on english roads, , . kinds of, used in massachusetts, , . sir henry tyler on, , . want of, occasioned shipton accident, , . trespassers on railroads, accidents to, . means of preventing, , . tunnels, collisions in, , . tyler, captain h. w., investigated claypole accident, . on penruddock accident, . train-brakes, , . extracts from reports by, , , . union safety signal company, . united states, accidents in, . no investigation of, . vermont & massachusetts railroad, accident on, . versailles, the, accident of , . wellington, duke of, at manchester & liverpool opening, . welwyn tunnel, accident in, . wemyss bay junction, accident at, . westinghouse brake, chapter on, . accidents avoided by, , . in newark, experiments, . objections urged against, . stoppages by, occasioned by triple valve, . use of, in great britain, . massachusetts, , . wollaston accident, , , , , . * * * * * transcriber's note: the following has been moved from the beginning of the book to the end. =by the same author.= =railroads and railroad questions.= mo, cloth, $ . the volume treats of "the genesis of the railroad system," "accidents," and the "present railroad problem." the author has made himself the acknowledged authority on this group of subjects. if his book goes only to those who are interested in the ownership, the use, or the administration of railroads, it is sure of a large circle of readers. "a most interesting and important work."--_railway world._ "characterized by broad, progressive, liberal ideas."--_railway review._ "the entire conclusions are of great value."--_n.y. journal of commerce._ british canals [illustration: aqueduct at pontcysyllte (in the distance). (constructed by telford to carry ellesmere canal over river dee. opened . cost £ , . length, feet.) [_frontispiece._ ] british canals: is their resuscitation practicable? by edwin a. pratt author of "railways and their rates," "the organization of agriculture," "the transition in agriculture," etc. london john murray, albemarle street, w. preface the appointment of a royal commission on canals and waterways, which first sat to take evidence on march , , is an event that should lead to an exhaustive and most useful enquiry into a question which has been much discussed of late years, but on which, as i hope to show, considerable misapprehension in regard to actual facts and conditions has hitherto existed. theoretically, there is much to be said in favour of canal restoration, and the advocates thereof have not been backward in the vigorous and frequent ventilation of their ideas. practically, there are other all-important considerations which ought not to be overlooked, though as to these the british public have hitherto heard very little. as a matter of detail, also, it is desirable to see whether the theory that the decline of our canals is due to their having been "captured" and "strangled" by the railway companies--a theory which many people seem to believe in as implicitly as they do, say, in the multiplication table--is really capable of proof, or whether that decline is not, rather, to be attributed to wholly different causes. in view of the increased public interest in the general question, it has been suggested to me that the appendix on "the british canal problem" in my book on "railways and their rates," published in the spring of , should now be issued separately; but i have thought it better to deal with the subject afresh, and at somewhat greater length, in the present work. this i now offer to the world in the hope that, even if the conclusions at which i have arrived are not accepted, due weight will nevertheless be given to the important--if not (as i trust i may add) the interesting--series of facts, concerning the past and present of canals alike at home, on the continent, and in the united states, which should still represent, i think, a not unacceptable contribution to the present controversy. edwin a. pratt. london, _april _. contents chap. page i. introductory ii. early days iii. railways to the rescue iv. railway-controlled canals v. the birmingham canal and its story vi. the transition in trade vii. continental conditions viii. waterways in the united states ix. english conditions x. conclusions and recommendations appendix--the decline in freight traffic on the mississippi index list of illustrations and maps half-tone illustrations aqueduct at pontcysyllte (in the distance) _frontispiece_ what canal widening would mean: cowley tunnel and embankments _to face page_ locks on the kennet and avon canal at devizes " " warehouses and hydraulic cranes at ellesmere port " " what canal widening would mean: shropshire union canal at chester " " "from pit to port": prospect pit, wigan " " the shipping of coal: hydraulic tip on g.w.r., swansea " " a cargo boat on the mississippi " " successful rivals of mississippi cargo boats " " water supply for canals: belvide reservoir, staffordshire " " maps and diagrams independent canals and inland navigations " " canals and railways between wolverhampton and birmingham " " some typical british canals " " british canals chapter i introductory the movement in favour of resuscitating, if not also of reconstructing, the british canal system, in conjunction with such improvement as may be possible in our natural waterways, is a matter that concerns various interests, and gives rise to a number of more or less complicated problems. it appeals in the most direct form to the british trader, from the point of view of the possibility of enabling him to secure cheaper transit for his goods. every one must sympathise with him in that desire, and there is no need whatever for me to stay here to repeat the oft-expressed general reflections as to the important part which cheap transit necessarily plays in the development of trade and commerce. but when from the general one passes to the particular, and begins to consider how these transit questions apply directly to canal revival, one comes at once to a certain element of insincerity in the agitation which has arisen. there is no reason whatever for doubt that, whereas one section of the traders favouring canal revival would themselves directly benefit therefrom, there is a much larger section who have joined in the movement, not because they have the slightest idea of re-organising their own businesses on a water-transport basis, but simply because they think the existence of improved canals will be a means of compelling the railway companies to grant reductions of their own rates below such point as they now find it necessary to maintain. individuals of this type, though admitting they would not use the canals themselves, or very little, would have us believe that there are enough of _other_ traders who would patronise them to make them pay. in any case, if only sufficient pressure could be brought to bear on the railway companies to force them to reduce their rates and charges, they would be prepared to regard with perfect equanimity the unremunerative outlay on the canals of a large sum of public money, and be quite indifferent as to who might have to bear the loss so long as they gained what they wanted for themselves. the subject is, also, one that appeals to engineers. as originally constructed, our british canals included some of the greatest engineering triumphs of their day, and the reconstruction either of these or even of the ordinary canals (especially where the differences of level are exceptionally great), would afford much interesting work for engineers--and, also, to come to commonplace details, would put into circulation a certain number of millions of pounds sterling which might lead some of those engineers, at least, to take a still keener interest in the general situation. there is absolutely no doubt that, from an engineering standpoint, reconstruction, however costly, would present no unsurmountable technical difficulties; but i must confess that when engineers, looking at the problem exclusively from their own point of view, apart from strictly economic and practical considerations, advise canal revival as a means of improving british trade, i am reminded of the famous remark of sganerelle, in molière's "l'amour médecin"--"vous êtes orfévre, m. josse." the subject strongly appeals, also, to a very large number of patriotic persons who, though having no personal or professional interests to serve, are rightly impressed with the need for everything that is in any way practicable being done to maintain our national welfare, and who may be inclined to assume, from the entirely inadequate facts which, up to the present, have been laid before them as to the real nature and possibilities of our canal system, that great results would follow from a generous expenditure of money on canal resuscitation here, following on the example already set in continental countries. it is in the highest degree desirable that persons of this class should be enabled to form a clear and definite opinion on the subject in all its bearings, and especially from points of view that may not hitherto have been presented for their consideration. then the question is one of very practical interest indeed to the british taxpayer. it seems to be generally assumed by the advocates of canal revival that it is no use depending on private enterprise. england is not yet impoverished, and there is plenty of money still available for investment where a modest return on it can be assured. but capitalists, large or small, are not apparently disposed to risk their own money in the resuscitation of english canals. their expectation evidently is that the scheme would not pay. in the absence, therefore, of any willingness on the part of shrewd capitalists--ever on the look-out for profitable investments--to touch the business, it is proposed that either the state or the local authorities should take up the matter, and carry it through at the risk, more or less, either of taxpayers or ratepayers. the association of chambers of commerce, for instance, adopted, by a large majority, the following resolution at its annual meeting, in london, in february :-- "this association recommends that the improvement and extension of the canal system of the united kingdom should be carried out by means of a public trust, and, if necessary, in combination with local or district public trusts, and aided by a government guarantee, and that the executive council be requested to take all reasonable measures to secure early legislation upon the subject." then sir john t. brunner has strongly supported a nationalisation policy. in a letter to _the times_ he once wrote: "i submit to you that we might begin with the nationalisation of our canals--some for the most part sadly antiquated--and bring them up to one modern standard gauge, such as the french gauge." another party favours municipalisation and the creation of public trusts, a bill with the latter object in view being promoted in the session of , though it fell through owing to an informality in procedure. it would be idle to say that a scheme of canal nationalisation, or even of public trusts with "government guarantee" (whatever the precise meaning of that term may be) involving millions of public money, could be carried through _without_ affecting the british taxpayer. it is equally idle to say that if only the canal system were taken in hand by the local authorities they would make such a success of it that there would be absolutely no danger of the ratepayers being called upon to make good any deficiency. the experiences that metropolitan ratepayers, at least, have had as the result of county council management of the thames steamboat service would not predispose them to any feeling of confidence in the control of the canal system of the country by local authorities. at the manchester meeting of the association of chambers of commerce, in september , colonel f. n. tannett walker (leeds) said, during the course of a debate on the canal question: "personally, he was not against big trusts run by local authorities. he knew no more business-like concern in the world than the mersey harbour board, which was a credit to the country as showing what business men, not working for their own selfish profits, but for the good of the community, could do for an undertaking. he would be glad to see the mersey boards scattered all over the country." but, even accepting the principle of canal municipalisation, what prospect would there be of colonel walker's aspiration being realised? the mersey harbour board is an exceptional body, not necessarily capable of widespread reproduction on the same lines of efficiency. against what is done in liverpool may be put, in the case of london, the above-mentioned waste of public money in connection with the control of the thames steamboat service by the london county council. if the municipalised canals were to be worked on the same system, or any approach thereto, as these municipalised steamboats, it would be a bad look-out for the ratepayers of the country, whatever benefit might be gained by a small section of the traders. then one must remember that the canals, say, from the midlands to one of the ports, run through various rural districts which would have no interest in the through traffic carried, but might be required, nevertheless, to take a share in the cost and responsibility of keeping their sections of the municipalised waterways in an efficient condition, or in helping to provide an adequate water-supply. it does not follow that such districts--even if they were willing to go to the expense or the trouble involved--would be able to provide representatives on the managing body who would in any way compare, in regard to business capacity, with the members of the mersey harbour board, even if they did so in respect to public spirit, and the sinking of their local interests and prejudices to promote the welfare of manufacturers, say, in birmingham, and shippers in liverpool, for neither of whom they felt any direct concern. under the best possible conditions as regards municipalisation, it is still impossible to assume that a business so full of complications as the transport services of the country, calling for technical or expert knowledge of the most pronounced type, could be efficiently controlled by individuals who would be essentially amateurs at the business--and amateurs they would still be even if assisted by members of chambers of commerce who, however competent as merchants and manufacturers, would not necessarily be thoroughly versed in all these traffic problems. the result could not fail to be disastrous. i come, at this point, in connection with the possible liability of ratepayers, to just one matter of detail that might be disposed of here. it is certainly one that seems to be worth considering. assume, for the sake of argument, that, in accordance with the plans now being projected, ( ) public trusts were formed by the local authorities for the purpose of acquiring and operating the canals; ( ) that these trusts secured possession--on some fair system of compensation--of the canals now owned or controlled by railway companies; ( ) that they sought to work the canals in more or less direct competition with the railways; ( ) that, after spending large sums of money in improvements, they found it impossible to make the canals pay, or to avoid heavy losses thereon; and ( ) that these losses had to be made good by the ratepayers. i am merely assuming that all this might happen, not that it necessarily would. but, admitting that it did, would the railway companies, as ratepayers, be called upon to contribute their share towards making good the losses which had been sustained by the local authorities in carrying on a direct competition with them? such a policy as this would be unjust, not alone to the railway shareholders, but also to those traders who had continued to use the railway lines, since it is obvious that the heavier the burdens imposed on the railway companies in the shape of local rates (which already form such substantial items in their "working expenses"), the less will the companies concerned be in a position to grant the concessions they might otherwise be willing to make. besides, apart from monetary considerations, the principle of the thing would be intolerably unfair, and, if only to avoid an injustice, it would surely be enacted that any possible increase in local rates, due to the failure of particular schemes of canal municipalisation, should fall exclusively on the traders and the general public who were to have been benefited, and in no way on the railway companies against whom the commercially unsuccessful competition had been waged. this proposition will, i am sure, appeal to that instinct of justice and fair play which every englishman is (perhaps not always rightly), assumed to possess. but what would happen if it were duly carried out, as it ought to be? well, in the chapter on "taxation of railways" in my book on "railways and their rates," i gave one list showing that in a total of eighty-two parishes a certain british railway company paid an average of · per cent. of the local rates; while another table showed that in sixteen specified parishes the proportion of local rates paid by the same railway company ranged from · per cent. to · per cent. of the total, although in twelve parishes out of the sixteen the company had not even a railway station in the place. but if, in all such parishes as these, the railway companies were very properly excused from having to make good the losses incurred by their municipalised-canal competitors (in addition to such losses as they might have already suffered in meeting the competition), then the full weight of the burden would fall upon that smaller--and, in some cases, that very small--proportion of the general body of ratepayers in the locality concerned. the above is just a little consideration, _en passant_, which might be borne in mind by others than those who look at the subject only from a trader's or an engineer's point of view. it will help, also, to strengthen my contention that any ill-advised, or, at least, unsuccessful municipalisation of the canal system of the country might have serious consequences for the general body of the community, who, in the circumstances, would do well to "look before they leap." but, independently of commercial, engineering, rating and other considerations, there are important matters of principle to be considered. great britain is almost the only country in the world where the railway system has been constructed without state or municipal aid--financial or material--of any kind whatever. the canals were built by "private enterprise," and the railways which followed were constructed on the same basis. this was recognised as the national policy, and private investors were allowed to put their money into british railways, throughout successive decades, in the belief and expectation that the same principle would be continued. in other countries the state has ( ) provided the funds for constructing or buying up the general railway system; ( ) guaranteed payment of interest; or ( ) has granted land or made other concessions, as a means of assisting the enterprise. not only has the state refrained from adopting any such course here, and allowed private investors to bear the full financial risk, but it has imposed on british railways requirements which may certainly have led to their being the best constructed and the most complete of any in the world, but which have, also, combined with the extortions of landowners in the first instance, heavy expenditure on parliamentary proceedings, etc., to render their construction per mile more costly than those of any other system of railways in the world; while to-day local taxation is being levied upon them at the rate of £ , , per annum, with an annual increment of £ , . this heavy expenditure, and these increasingly heavy demands, can only be met out of the rates and charges imposed on those who use the railways; and one of the greatest grievances advanced against the railways, and leading to the agitation for canal revival, is that these rates and charges are higher in great britain than in various other countries, where the railways have cost less to build, where state funds have been freely drawn on, and where the state lines may be required to contribute nothing to local taxation. the remedy proposed, however, is not that anything should be done to reduce the burdens imposed on our own railways, so as to place them at least in the position of being able to make further concessions to traders, but that the state should now itself start in the business, in competition, more or less, with the railway companies, in order to provide the traders--if it can--with something _cheaper_ in the way of transport! whatever view may be taken of the reasonableness and justice of such a procedure as this, it would, undoubtedly, represent a complete change in national policy, and one that should not be entered upon with undue haste. the logical sequel, for instance, of nationalisation of the canals would be nationalisation of the railways, since it would hardly do for the state to own the one and not the other. then, of course, the nationalisation of all our ports would have to follow, as the further logical sequel of the state ownership of the means of communication with them, and the consequent suppression of competition. from a socialist standpoint, the successive steps here mentioned would certainly be approved; but, even if the financial difficulty could be met, the country is hardly ready for all these things at present. is it ready, even in principle, for either the nationalisation or the municipalisation of canals alone? and, if ready in principle, if ready to employ public funds to compete with representatives of the private enterprise it has hitherto encouraged, is it still certain that, when millions of pounds sterling have been spent on the revival of our canals, the actual results will in any way justify the heavy expenditure? are not the physical conditions of our country such that canal construction here presents exceptional drawbacks, and that canal navigation must always be exceptionally slow? are not both physical and geographical conditions in great britain altogether unlike those of most of the continental countries of whose waterways so much is heard? are not our commercial conditions equally dissimilar? is not the comparative neglect of our canals due less to structural or other defects than to complete changes in the whole basis of trading operations in this country--changes that would prevent any general discarding of the quick transit of small and frequent supplies by train, in favour of the delayed delivery of large quantities at longer intervals by water, however much the canals were improved? these are merely some of the questions and considerations that arise in connection with this most complicated of problems, and it is with the view of enabling the public to appreciate more fully the real nature of the situation, and to gain a clearer knowledge of the facts on which a right solution must be based, that i venture to lay before them the pages that follow. chapter ii early days it seems to be customary with writers on the subject of canals and waterways to begin with the egyptians, to detail the achievements of the chinese, to record the doings of the greeks, and then to pass on to the romans, before even beginning their account of what has been done in great britain. here, however, i propose to leave alone all this ancient history, which, to my mind, has no more to do with existing conditions in our own country than the system of inland navigation adopted by noah, or the character of the canals which are supposed to exist in the planet of mars. for the purposes of the present work it will suffice if i go no further back than what i would call the "pack-horse period" in the development of transport in england. this was the period immediately preceding the introduction of artificial canals, which had their rise in this country about - . it preceded, also, the advent of john loudon mcadam, that great reformer of our roads, whose name has been immortalised in the verb "to macadamise." born in , it was not until the early days of the nineteenth century that mcadam really started on his beneficent mission, and even then the high-roads of england--and especially of scotland--were, as a rule, deplorably bad, "being at once loose, rough, and perishable, expensive, tedious and dangerous to travel on, and very costly to repair." pending those improvements which mcadam brought about, adapting them to the better use of stage-coaches and carriers' waggons, the few roads already existing were practically available--as regards the transport of merchandise--for pack-horses only. even coal was then carried by pack-horse, the cost working out at about s. d. per mile for as much as a horse could carry. it was from these conditions that canals saved the country--long, of course, before the locomotive came into vogue. as it happened, too, it was this very question of coal transport that led to their earliest development. there is quite an element of romance in the story. francis egerton, third and last duke of bridgewater (born ), had an unfortunate love affair in london when he reached the age of twenty-three, and, apparently in disgust with the world, he retired to his lancashire property, where he found solace to his wounded feelings by devoting himself to the development of the worsley coal mines. as a boy he had been so feeble-minded that the doubt arose whether he would be capable of managing his own affairs. as a young man disappointed in love, he applied himself to business in a manner so eminently practical that he deservedly became famous as a pioneer of improved transport. he saw that if only the cost of carriage could be reduced, a most valuable market for coal from his worsley mines could be opened up in manchester. it is true that, in this particular instance, the pack-horse had been supplemented by the mersey and irwell navigation, established as the result of parliamentary powers obtained in . this navigation was conducted almost entirely by natural waterways, but it had many drawbacks and inconveniences, while the freight for general merchandise between liverpool and manchester by this route came to s. per ton. the duke's new scheme was one for the construction of an artificial waterway which could be carried over the irwell at barton by means of an aqueduct. this idea he got from the aqueduct on the languedoc canal, in the south of france. but the duke required a practical man to help him, and such a man he found in james brindley. born in , brindley was the son of a small farmer in derbyshire--a dissolute sort of fellow, who neglected his children, did little or no work, and devoted his chief energies to the then popular sport of bull-baiting. in the circumstances james brindley's school-teaching was wholly neglected. he could no more have passed an examination in the sixth standard than he could have flown over the irwell with some of his ducal patron's coals. "he remained to the last illiterate, hardly able to write, and quite unable to spell. he did most of his work in his head, without written calculations or drawings, and when he had a puzzling bit of work he would go to bed, and think it out." from the point of view of present day board school inspectors, and of the worthy magistrates who, with varied moral reflections, remorselessly enforce the principles of compulsory education, such an individual ought to have come to a bad end. but he didn't. he became, instead, "the father of inland navigation." james brindley had served his apprenticeship to a millwright, or engineer; he had started a little business as a repairer of old machinery and a maker of new; and he had in various ways given proof of his possession of mechanical skill. the duke--evidently a reader of men--saw in him the possibility of better things, took him over, and appointed him his right-hand man in constructing the proposed canal. after much active opposition from the proprietors of the mersey and irwell navigation, and also from various landowners and others, the duke got his first act, to which the royal assent was given in , and the work was begun. it presented many difficulties, for the canal had to be carried over streams and bogs, and through tunnels costly to make, and the time came when the duke's financial resources were almost exhausted. brindley's wages were not extravagant. they amounted, in fact, to £ a week--substantially less than the minimum wage that would be paid to-day to a municipal road-sweeper. but the costs of construction were heavy, and the landowners had unduly big ideas of the value of the land compulsorily acquired from them, so that the duke's steward sometimes had to ride about among the tenantry and borrow a few pounds from one and another in order to pay the week's wages. when the worsley section had been completed, and had become remunerative, the duke pledged it to messrs child, the london bankers, for £ , , and with the money thus raised he pushed on with the remainder of the canal, seeing it finally extended to liverpool in . altogether he expended on his own canals no less than £ , ; but he lived to derive from them a revenue of £ , a year. the duke of bridgewater's schemes gave a great impetus to canal construction in great britain, though it was only natural that a good deal of opposition should be raised, as well. about the year numerous pamphlets were published to show the danger and impolicy of canals. turnpike trustees were afraid the canals would divert traffic from the roads. owners of pack-horses fancied that ruin stared them in the face. thereupon the turnpike trustees and the pack-horse owners sought the further support of the agricultural interests, representing that, when the demand for pack-horses fell off, there would be less need for hay and oats, and the welfare of british agriculture would be prejudiced. so the farmers joined in, and the three parties combined in an effort to arouse the country. canals, it was said, would involve a great waste of land; they would destroy the breed of draught horses; they would produce noxious or humid vapours; they would encourage pilfering; they would injure old mines and works by allowing of new ones being opened; and they would destroy the coasting trade, and, consequently, "the nursery for seamen." by arguments such as these the opposition actually checked for some years the carrying out of several important undertakings, including the trent and mersey navigation. but, when once the movement had fairly started, it made rapid progress. james brindley's energy, down to the time of his death in , was especially indomitable. having ensured the success of the bridgewater canal, he turned his attention to a scheme for linking up the four ports of liverpool, hull, bristol, and london by a system of main waterways, connected by branch canals with leading industrial centres off the chief lines of route. other projects followed, as it was seen that the earlier ventures were yielding substantial profits, and in a canal mania began. in no fewer than eighteen new canals were promoted. in and the number of canal and navigation acts passed was forty-five, increasing to eighty-one the total number which had been obtained since . so great was the public anxiety to invest in canals that new ones were projected on all hands, and, though many of them were of a useful type, others were purely speculative, were doomed to failure from the start, and occasioned serious losses to thousands of investors. in certain instances existing canals were granted the right to levy tolls upon new-comers, as compensation for prospective loss of traffic--even when the new canals were to be or miles away--fresh schemes being actually undertaken on this basis. the canals that paid at all paid well, and the good they conferred on the country in the days of their prosperity is undeniable. failing, at that time, more efficient means of transport, they played a most important rôle in developing the trade, industries, and commerce of our country at a period especially favourable to national advancement. for half a century, in fact, the canals had everything their own way. they had a monopoly of the transport business--except as regards road traffic--and in various instances they helped their proprietors to make huge profits. but great changes were impending, and these were brought about, at last, with the advent of the locomotive. the general situation at this period is well shown by the following extracts from an article on "canals and rail-roads," published in the _quarterly review_ of march :-- "it is true that we, who, in this age, are accustomed to roll along our hard and even roads at the rate of or miles an hour, can hardly imagine the inconveniences which beset our great-grandfathers when they had to undertake a journey--forcing their way through deep miry lanes; fording swollen rivers; obliged to halt for days together when 'the waters were out'; and then crawling along at a pace of or miles an hour, in constant fear of being set down fast in some deep quagmire, of being overturned, breaking down, or swept away by a sudden inundation. "such was the travelling condition of our ancestors, until the several turnpike acts effected a gradual and most favourable change, not only in the state of the roads, but the whole appearance of the country; by increasing the facility of communication, and the transport of many weighty and bulky articles which, before that period, no effort could move from one part of the country to another. the pack-horse was now yoked to the waggon, and stage coaches and post-chaises usurped the place of saddle-horses. imperfectly as most of these turnpike roads were constructed, and greatly as their repairs were neglected, they were still a prodigious improvement; yet, for the conveyance of heavy merchandise the progress of waggons was slow and their capacity limited. this defect was at length remedied by the opening of canals, an improvement which became, with regard to turnpike roads and waggons, what these had been to deep lanes and pack-horses.[ ] but we may apply to projectors the observation of sheridan, 'give these fellows a good thing and they never know when to have done with it,' for so vehement became the rage for canal-making that, in a few years, the whole surface of the country was intersected by these inland navigations, and frequently in parts of the island where there was little or no traffic to be conveyed. the consequence was, that a large proportion of them scarcely paid an interest of one per cent., and many nothing at all; while others, judiciously conducted over populous, commercial, and manufacturing districts, have not only amply remunerated the parties concerned, but have contributed in no small degree to the wealth and prosperity of the nation. "yet these expensive establishments for facilitating the conveyance of the commercial, manufacturing and agricultural products of the country to their several destinations, excellent and useful as all must acknowledge them to be, are now likely, in their turn, to give way to the old invention of rail-roads. nothing now is heard of but rail-roads; the daily papers teem with notices of new lines of them in every direction, and pamphlets and paragraphs are thrown before the public eye, recommending nothing short of making them general throughout the kingdom. yet, till within these few months past, this old invention, in use a full century before canals, has been suffered, with few exceptions, to act the part only of an auxiliary to canals, in the conveyance of goods to and from the wharfs, and of iron, coals, limestone, and other products of the mines to the nearest place of shipment.... "the powers of the steam-engine, and a growing conviction that our present modes of conveyance, excellent as they are, both require and admit of great improvements, are, no doubt, among the chief reasons that have set the current of speculation in this particular direction." dealing with the question of "vested rights," the article warns "the projectors of the intended railroads ... of the necessity of being prepared to meet the most strenuous opposition from the canal proprietors," and proceeds:-- "but, we are free to confess, it does not appear to us that the canal proprietors have the least ground for complaining of a grievance. they embarked their property in what they conceived to be a good speculation, which in some cases was realised far beyond their most sanguine hopes; in others, failed beyond their most desponding calculations. if those that have succeeded should be able to maintain a competition with rail-ways by lowering their charges; what they thus lose will be a fair and unimpeachable gain to the public, and a moderate and just profit will still remain to them; while the others would do well to transfer their interests from a bad concern into one whose superiority must be thus established. indeed, we understand that this has already been proposed to a very considerable extent, and that the level beds of certain unproductive canals have been offered for the reception of rail-ways. "there is, however, another ground upon which, in many instances, we have no doubt, the opposition of the canal proprietors may be properly met--we mean, and we state it distinctly, the unquestionable fact, that our trade and manufactures have suffered considerably by the disproportionate rates of charge upon canal conveyance. the immense tonnage of coal, iron, and earthenware, mr cumming tells us,[ ] 'have enabled one of the canals, passing through these districts (near birmingham), to pay an annual dividend to the proprietary of £ upon an original share of £ , and as such has enhanced the value of each share from £ to £ , ; and another canal in the same district, to pay an annual dividend of £ upon the original share of £ , and the shares themselves have reached the value of £ , each.' "nor are these solitary instances. mr sandars informs us[ ] that, of the only two canals which unite liverpool with manchester, the thirty-nine original proprietors of one of them, the old quay,[ ] have been paid for every other year, for nearly half a century, the _total amount of their investment_; and that a share in this canal, which cost only £ , has recently been sold for £ , ; and that, with regard to the other, the late duke of bridgewater's, there is good reason to believe that the net income has, for the last twenty years, averaged nearly £ , per annum!" in regard, however, to the supersession of canals in general by railways, the writer of the article says:-- "we are not the advocates for visionary projects that interfere with useful establishments; we scout the idea of a _general_ rail-road as altogether impracticable.... "as to those persons who speculate on making rail-ways general throughout the kingdom, and superseding all the canals, all the waggons, mail and stage-coaches, post-chaises, and, in short, every other mode of conveyance by land and water, we deem them and their visionary schemes unworthy of notice." chapter iii railways to the rescue it is not a little curious to find that, whereas the proposed resuscitation of canals is now being actively supported in various quarters as a means of effecting increased competition with the railways, the railway system itself originally had a most cordial welcome from the traders of this country as a means of relieving them from what had become the intolerable monopoly of the canals and waterways! it will have been seen that in the article published in the _quarterly review_ of march , from which i gave extracts in the last chapter, reference was made to a "letter on the subject of the projected rail-road between liverpool and manchester," by mr joseph sandars, and published that same year. i have looked up the original "letter," and found in it some instructive reading. mr sandars showed that although, under the act of parliament obtained by the duke of bridgewater, the tolls to be charged on his canal between liverpool and manchester were not to exceed s. d. per ton, his trustees had, by various exactions, increased them to s. d. per ton on all goods carried along the canal. they had also got possession of all the available land and warehouses along the canal banks at manchester, thus monopolising the accommodation, or nearly so, and forcing the traders to keep to the trustees, and not patronise independent carriers. it was, mr sandars declared, "the most oppressive and unjust monopoly known to the trade of this country--a monopoly which there is every reason to believe compels the public to pay, in one shape or another, £ , more per annum than they ought to pay." the bridgewater trustees and the proprietors of the mersey and irwell navigation were, he continued, "deaf to all remonstrances, to all entreaties"; they were "actuated solely by a spirit of monopoly and extension," and "the only remedy the public has left is to go to parliament and ask for a new line of conveyance." but this new line, he said, would have to be a railway. it could not take the form of another canal, as the two existing routes had absorbed all the available water-supply. in discussing the advantages of a railway over a canal, mr sandars continued:-- "it is computed that goods could be carried for considerably less than is now charged, and for one-half of what has been charged, and that they would be conveyed in one-sixth of the time. canals in summer are often short of water, and in winter are obstructed by frost; a railway would not have to encounter these impediments." mr sandars further wrote:-- "the distance between liverpool and manchester, by the three lines of water conveyance, is upwards of miles--by a rail-road it would only be . goods conveyed by the duke and old quay [mersey and irwell navigation] are exposed to storms, the delays from adverse winds, and the risk of damage, during a passage of miles in the tide-way of the mersey. for days together it frequently happens that when the wind blows very strong, either south or north, their vessels cannot move against it. it is very true that when the winds and tides are favourable they can occasionally effect a passage in fourteen hours; but the average is certainly thirty. however, notwithstanding all the accommodation they can offer, the delays are such that the spinners and dealers are frequently obliged to cart cotton on the public high-road, a distance of miles, for which they pay four times the price which would be charged by a rail-road, and they are three times as long in getting it to hand. the same observation applies to manufactured goods which are sent by land-carriage daily, and for which the rate paid is five times that which they would be subject to by the rail-road. this enormous sacrifice is made for two reasons--sometimes because conveyance by water cannot be promptly obtained, but more frequently because speed and certainty as to delivery are of the first importance. packages of goods sent from manchester, for immediate shipment at liverpool, often pay two or three pounds per ton; and yet there are those who assert that the difference of a few hours in speed can be no object. the merchants know better." in the same year that mr sandars issued his "letter," the merchants of the port of liverpool addressed a memorial to the mayor and common council of the borough, praying them to support the scheme for the building of a railway, and stating:-- "the merchants of this port have for a long time past experienced very great difficulties and obstructions in the prosecution of their business, in consequence of the high charges on the freight of goods between this town and manchester, and of the frequent impossibility of obtaining vessels for days together." it is clear from all this that, however great the benefit which canal transport had conferred, as compared with prior conditions, the canal companies had abused their monopoly in order to secure what were often enormous profits; that the canals themselves, apart from the excessive tolls and charges imposed, failed entirely to meet the requirements of traders; and that the most effective means of obtaining relief was looked for in the provision of railways. the value to which canal shares had risen at this time is well shown by the following figures, which i take from the _gentleman's magazine_ for december, :-- +-------------------------------+----------------------+--------+ | canal. | shares. | price. | +-------------------------------+----------------------+--------+ | | £ _s._ _d._ | £ | |trent and mersey | | , | |loughborough | | , | |coventry | (and bonus) | , | |oxford (short shares) | " " | | |grand junction | " " | | |old union | | | |neath | | | |swansea | | | |monmouthshire | | | |brecknock and abergavenny | | | |staffordshire & worcestershire | | | |birmingham | | | |worcester and birmingham | | | |shropshire | | | |ellesmere | | | |rochdale | | | |barnsley | | | |lancaster | | | |kennet and avon | | | +-------------------------------+----------------------+--------+ these substantial values, and the large dividends that led to them, were due in part, no doubt, to the general improvement in trade which the canals had helped most materially to effect; but they had been greatly swollen by the merciless way in which the traders of those days were exploited by the representatives of the canal interest. as bearing on this point, i might interrupt the course of my narrative to say that in the house of commons on may , , mr morrison, member for ipswich, made a speech in which, as reported by hansard, he expressed himself "clearly of opinion" that "parliament should, when it established companies for the formation of canals, railroads, or such like undertakings, invariably reserve to itself the power to make such periodical revisions of the rates and charges as it may, under the then circumstances, deem expedient"; and he proposed a resolution to this effect. he was moved to adopt this course in view of past experiences in connection with the canals, and a desire that there should be no repetition of them in regard to the railways then being very generally promoted. in the course of his speech he said:-- "the history of existing canals, waterways, etc., affords abundant evidence of the evils to which i have been averting. an original share in the loughborough canal, for example, which cost £ , s. is now selling at about £ , , and yields a dividend of £ or £ a year. the fourth part of a trent and mersey canal share, or £ of the company's stock, is now fetching £ , and yields a dividend of about £ a year. and there are various other canals in nearly the same situation." at the close of the debate which followed, mr morrison withdrew his resolution, owing to the announcement that the matter to which he had called attention would be dealt with in a bill then being framed. it is none the less interesting thus to find that parliamentary revisions of railway rates were, in the first instance, directly inspired by the extortions practised on the traders by canal companies in the interest of dividends far in excess of any that the railway companies have themselves attempted to pay. reverting to the story of the liverpool and manchester railway--the projection of which, as mr sandars' "letter" shows, represented a revolt against "the exorbitant and unjust charges of the water-carriers"--the bill promoted in its favour was opposed so vigorously by the canal and other interests that £ , was spent in the parliamentary proceedings in getting it through. but it was carried in , and the new line, opened in , was so great a success that it soon began to inspire many similar projects in other directions, while with its opening the building of fresh canals for ordinary inland navigation (as distinct from ship canals) practically ceased. there is not the slightest doubt that, but for the extreme dissatisfaction of the trading interests in regard alike to the heavy charges and to the shortcomings of the canal system, the liverpool and manchester railway--that precursor of the "railway mania"--would not have been actually constructed until at least several years later. but there were other directions, also, in which the revolt against the then existing conditions was to bring about important developments. in the pack-horse period the collieries of nottinghamshire and leicestershire respectively supplied local needs only, the cost of transport by road making it practically impossible to send coal out of the county in which it was raised. with the advent of canals the coal could be taken longer distances, and the canals themselves gained so much from the business that at one time shares in the loughborough canal, on which £ had been paid, rose, as already shown, to £ , , and were looked upon as being as safe as consols. but the collapse of a canal from the leicestershire coal-fields to the town of leicester placed the coalowners of that county at a disadvantage, and this they overcame, in , by opening the leicester and swinnington line of railway. thereupon the disadvantage was thrown upon the nottinghamshire coalowners, who could no longer compete with leicestershire. in fact, the immediate outlook before them was that they would be excluded from their chief markets, that their collieries might have to be closed, and that the mining population would be thrown out of employment. in their dilemma they appealed to the canal companies, and asked for such a reduction in rates as would enable them to meet the new situation; but the canal companies--wedded to their big dividends--would make only such concessions as were thought by the other side to be totally inadequate. following on this the nottinghamshire coalowners met in the parlour of a village inn at eastwood, in the autumn of , and formally declared that "there remained no other plan for their adoption than to attempt to lay a railway from their collieries to the town of leicester." the proposal was confirmed by a subsequent meeting, which resolved that "a railway from pinxton to leicester is essential to the interests of the coal-trade of this district." communications were opened with george stephenson, the services of his son robert were secured, the "midland counties railway" was duly constructed, and the final outcome of the action thus taken--as the direct result of the attitude of the canal companies--is to be seen in the splendid system known to-day as the midland railway. once more, i might refer to mr charles h. grinling's "history of the great northern railway," in which, speaking of early conditions, he says:-- "during the winter of - a strong desire arose among the landowners and farmers of the eastern counties to secure some of the benefits which other districts were enjoying from the new method of locomotion. one great want of this part of england was that of cheaper fuel, for though there were collieries open at this time in leicestershire, nottinghamshire, and derbyshire, the nearest pits with which the eastern counties had practicable transport communication were those of south yorkshire and durham, and this was of so circuitous a character that even in places situated on navigable rivers, unserved by a canal, the price of coal often rose as high as s. or even s. a ton. in remoter places, to which it had to be carted , , or even miles along bad cross-roads, coal even for house-firing was a positive luxury, quite unattainable by the poorer classes. moreover, in the most severe weather, when the canals were frozen, the whole system of supply became paralysed, and even the wealthy had not seldom to retreat shivering to bed for lack of fuel." in this particular instance it was george hudson, the "railway king," who was approached, and the first lines were laid of what is now the great northern railway. so it happened that, when the new form of transport came into vogue, in succession to the canals, it was essentially a case of "railways to the rescue." chapter iv railway-controlled canals both canals and railways were, in their early days, made according to local conditions, and were intended to serve local purposes. in the case of the former the design and dimensions of the canal boat used were influenced by the depth and nature of the estuary or river along which it might require to proceed, and the size of the lock (affecting, again, the size of the boat) might vary according to whether the lock was constructed on a low level, where there was ample water, or on a high level, where economy in the use of water had to be practised. uniformity under these varying conditions would certainly have been difficult to secure, and, in effect, it was not attempted. the original designers of the canals, in days when the trade of the country was far less than it is now and the general trading conditions very different, probably knew better what they were about than their critics of to-day give them credit for. they realised more completely than most of those critics do what were the limitations of canal construction in a country of hills and dales, and especially in rugged and mountainous districts. they cut their coat, as it were, according to their cloth, and sought to meet the actual needs of the day rather than anticipate the requirements of futurity. from their point of view this was the simplest solution of the problem. [illustration: what canal widening would mean. (cowley tunnel and embankments, on shropshire union route between wolverhampton and the mersey.) [_to face page ._ ] but, though the canals thus made suited local conditions, they became unavailable for through traffic, except in boats sufficiently small to pass the smallest lock or the narrowest and shallowest canal _en route_. then the lack of uniformity in construction was accompanied by a lack of unity in management. each and every through route was divided among, as a rule, from four to eight or ten different navigations, and a boat-owner making the journey had to deal separately with each. the railway companies soon began to rid themselves of their own local limitations. a "railway clearing house" was set up in , in the interests of through traffic; groups of small undertakings amalgamated into "great" companies; facilities of a kind unknown before were made available, while the whole system of railway operation was simplified for traders and travellers. the canal companies, however, made no attempt to follow the example thus set. they were certainly in a more difficult position than the railways. they might have amalgamated, and they might have established a canal clearing house. these would have been comparatively easy things to do. but any satisfactory linking up of the various canal systems throughout the country would have meant virtual reconstruction, and this may well have been thought a serious proposition in regard, especially, to canals built at a considerable elevation above the sea level, where the water supply was limited, and where, for that reason, some of the smallest locks were to be found. to say the least of it, such a work meant a very large outlay, and at that time practically all the capital available for investment in transport was being absorbed by new railways. these, again, had secured the public confidence which the canals were losing. as mr sandars said in his "letter":-- "canals have done well for the country, just as high roads and pack-horses had done before canals were established; but the country has now presented to it cheaper and more expeditious means of conveyance, and the attempt to prevent its adoption is utterly hopeless." all that the canal companies did, in the first instance, was to attempt the very thing which mr sandars considered "utterly hopeless." they adopted a policy of blind and narrow-minded hostility. they seemed to think that, if they only fought them vigorously enough, they could drive the railways off the field; and fight them they did, at every possible point. in those days many of the canal companies were still wealthy concerns, and what their opposition might mean has been already shown in the case of the liverpool and manchester railway. the newcomers had thus to concentrate their efforts and meet the opposition as best they could. for a time the canal companies clung obstinately to their high tolls and charges, in the hope that they would still be able to pay their big dividends. but, when the superiority of the railways over the waterways became more and more manifest, and when the canal companies saw greater and still greater quantities of traffic being diverted from them by their opponents, in fair competition, they realised the situation at last, and brought down their tolls with a rush. the reductions made were so substantial that they would have been thought incredible a few years previously. in the result, benefits were gained by all classes of traders, for those who still patronised the canals were charged much more reasonable tolls than they had ever paid before. but even the adoption of this belated policy by the canal companies did not help them very much. the diversion of the stream of traffic to the railways had become too pronounced to be checked by even the most substantial of reductions in canal charges. with the increasing industrial and commercial development of the country it was seen that the new means of transport offered advantages of even greater weight than cost of transport, namely, speed and certainty of delivery. for the average trader it was essentially a case of time meaning money. the canal companies might now reduce their tolls so much that, instead of being substantially in excess of the railway rates, as they were at first, they would fall considerably below; but they still could not offer those other all-important advantages. as the canal companies found that the struggle was, indeed, "utterly hopeless," some of them adopted new lines of policy. either they proposed to build railways themselves, or they tried to dispose of their canal property to the newcomers. in some instances the route of a canal, no longer of much value, was really wanted for the route of a proposed railway, and an arrangement was easily made. in others, where the railway promoters did not wish to buy, opposition to their schemes was offered by the canal companies with the idea of forcing them either so to do, or, alternatively, to make such terms with them as would be to the advantage of the canal shareholders. the tendency in this direction is shown by the extract already given from the _quarterly review_; and i may repeat here the passage in which the writer suggested that some of the canal companies "would do well to transfer their interests from a bad concern into one whose superiority must be thus established," and added: "indeed, we understand that this has already been proposed to a very considerable extent, and that the level beds of certain unproductive canals have been offered for the reception of rail-ways." this was as early as . later on the tendency became still more pronounced as pressure was put on the railway companies, or as promoters, in days when plenty of money was available for railway schemes, thought the easiest way to overcome actual or prospective opposition was to buy it off by making the best terms they could. so far, in fact, was the principle recognised that in parliament expressly sanctioned the control of canals by railway companies, whether by amalgamation, lease, purchase, or guarantee, and a considerable amount of canal mileage thus came into the possession, or under the control, of railway companies, especially in the years , , and . this sanction was practically repealed by the railway and traffic acts of and . by that time about one-third of the existing canals had been either voluntarily acquired by, or forced upon, the railway companies. it is obvious, however, that the responsibility for what was done rests with parliament itself, and that in many cases, probably, the railway companies, instead of being arch-conspirators, anxious to spend their money in killing off moribund competitors, who were generally considered to be on the point of dying a natural death, were, at times, victims of the situation, being practically driven into purchases or guarantees which, had they been perfectly free agents, they might not have cared to touch. the general position was, perhaps, very fairly indicated by the late sir james allport, at one time general manager of the midland railway company, in the evidence he gave before the select committee on canals in . "i doubt (he said) if parliament ever, at that time of day, came to any deliberate decision as to the advisability or otherwise of railways possessing canals; but i presume that they did not do so without the fullest evidence before them, and no doubt canal companies were very anxious to get rid of their property to railways, and they opposed their bills, and, in the desire to obtain their bills, railway companies purchased their canals. that, i think, would be found to be the fact, if it were possible to trace them out in every case. i do not believe that the london and north-western would have bought the birmingham canal but for this circumstance. i have no doubt that the birmingham canal, when the stour valley line was projected, felt that their property was jeopardised, and that it was then that the arrangement was made by which the london and north-western railway company guaranteed them per cent." the bargains thus effected, either voluntarily or otherwise (and mostly otherwise), were not necessarily to the advantage of the railway companies, who might often have done better for themselves if they had fought out the fight at the time with their antagonists, and left the canal companies to their fate, instead of taking over waterways which have been more or less of a loss to them ever since. considering the condition into which many of the canals had already drifted, or were then drifting, there is very little room for doubt what their fate would have been if the railway companies had left them severely alone. indeed, there are various canals whose continued operation to-day, in spite of the losses on their wholly unremunerative traffic, is due exclusively to the fact that they are owned or controlled by railway companies. independent proprietors, looking to them for dividends, and not under any statutory obligations (as the railway companies are) to keep them going, would long ago have abandoned such canals entirely, and allowed them to be numbered among the derelicts. as bearing on the facts here narrated, i might mention that, in the course of a discussion at the institution of civil engineers, in november , on a paper read by mr john arthur saner, "waterways in great britain" (reported in the official "proceedings" of the institution), mr james inglis, general manager of the great western railway company, said that "his company owned about miles of canal, not a mile of which had been acquired voluntarily. many of those canals had been forced on the railway as the price of securing acts, and some had been obtained by negotiations with the canal companies. the others had been acquired in incidental ways, arising from the fact that the traffic had absolutely disappeared." mr inglis further told the story of the kennet and avon canal, which his company maintain at a loss of about £ , per annum. the canal, it seems, was constructed in at a cost of £ , , , and at one time paid per cent. the traffic fell off steadily with the extension of the railway system, and in the canal company, seeing their position was hopeless, applied to parliament for powers to construct a railway parallel with the canal. sanction was refused, though the company were authorised to act as common carriers. in the canal owners approached the great western railway company, and told them of their intention to seek again for powers to build an opposition railway. the upshot of the matter was that the railway company took over the canal, and agreed to pay the canal company £ , a year. this they have done, with a loss to themselves ever since. the rates charged on the canal were successively reduced by the board of trade (on appeal being made to that body) to - / d., then to d., and finally / d. per ton-mile; but there had never been a sign, mr inglis added, that the reduction had any effect in attracting additional traffic.[ ] to ascertain for myself some further details as to the past and present of the kennet and avon navigation, i paid a visit of inspection to the canal in the neighbourhood of bath, where it enters the river avon, and also at devizes, where i saw the remarkable series of locks by means of which the canal reaches the town of devizes, at an elevation of feet above sea level. in conversation, too, with various authorities, including mr h. j. saunders, the canals engineer of the great western railway company, i obtained some interesting facts which throw light on the reasons for the falling off of the traffic along the canal. dealing with this last mentioned point first, i learned that much of the former prosperity of the kennet and avon navigation was due to a substantial business then done in the transport of coal from a considerable colliery district in somersetshire, comprising the radstock, camerton, dunkerton, and timsbury collieries. this coal was first put on the somerset coal canal, which connected with the kennet and avon at dundas--a point between bath and bradford-on-avon--and, on reaching this junction, it was taken either to towns directly served by the kennet and avon (including bath, bristol, bradford, trowbridge, devizes, kintbury, hungerford, newbury and reading) or, leaving the kennet and avon at semmington, it passed over the wilts and berks canal to various places as far as abingdon. in proportion, however, as the railways developed their superiority as an agent for the effective distribution of coal, the traffic by canal declined more and more, until at last it became non-existent. of the three canals affected, the somerset coal canal, owned by an independent company, was abandoned, by authority of parliament, two years ago; the wilts and berks, also owned by an independent company, is practically derelict, and the one that to-day survives and is in good working order is the kennet and avon, owned by a railway company. another branch of local traffic that has left the kennet and avon canal for the railway is represented by the familiar freestone, of which large quantities are despatched from the bath district. the stone goes away in blocks averaging tons in weight, and ranging up to tons, and at first sight it would appear to be a commodity specially adapted for transport by water. but once more the greater facilities afforded by the railway have led to an almost complete neglect of the canal. even where the quarries are immediately alongside the waterway (though this is not always the case) horses must be employed to get the blocks down to the canal boat; whereas the blocks can be put straight on to the railway trucks on the sidings which go right into the quarry, no horses being then required. in calculating, therefore, the difference between the canal rate and the railway rate, the purchase and maintenance of horses at the points of embarkation must be added to the former. then the stone could travel only a certain distance by water, and further cost might have to be incurred in cartage, if not in transferring it from boat to railway truck, after all, for transport to final destination; whereas, once put on a railway truck at the quarry, it could be taken thence, without further trouble, to any town in great britain where it was wanted. in this way, again, the kennet and avon (except in the case of consignments to bristol) has practically lost a once important source of revenue. a certain amount of foreign timber still goes by water from avonmouth or bristol to the neighbourhood of pewsey, and some english-grown timber is taken from devizes and other points on the canal to bristol, reading, and intermediate places; grain is carried from reading to mills within convenient reach of the canal, and there is also a small traffic in mineral oils and general merchandise, including groceries for shopkeepers in towns along the canal route; but, whereas, in former days a grocer would order tons of sugar from bristol to be delivered to him by boat at one time, he now orders by post, telegraph, or telephone, very much smaller quantities as he wants them, and these smaller quantities are consigned mainly by train, so that there is less for the canal to carry, even where the sugar still goes by water at all. speaking generally, the actual traffic on the kennet and avon at the western end would not exceed more than about three or four boats a day, and on the higher levels at the eastern end it would not average one a day. yet, after walking for some miles along the canal banks at two of its most important points, it was obvious to me that the decline in the traffic could not be attributable to any shortcomings in the canal itself. not only does the kennet and avon deserve to rank as one of the best maintained of any canal in the country, but it still affords all reasonable facilities for such traffic as is available, or seems likely to be offered. instead of being neglected by the great western railway company, it is kept in a state of efficiency that could not well be improved upon short of a complete reconstruction, at a very great cost, in the hope of getting an altogether problematical increase of patronage in respect to classes of traffic different from what was contemplated when the canal was originally built. [illustration: locks on the kennet and avon canal at devizes. (a difference in level of feet in - / miles is overcome by locks. of these, immediately follow one another in direct line, "pounds" being provided to ensure sufficiency of reserve water to work boats through.) _photo by chivers, devizes._] [_to face page ._ ] within the last year or two the railway company have spent £ , or £ , on the pumping machinery. the main water supply is derived from a reservoir, about acres in extent, at crofton, this reservoir being fed partly by two rivulets (which dry up in the summer) and partly by its own springs; and extensive pumping machinery is provided for raising to the summit level the water that passes from the reservoir into the canal at a lower level, the height the water is thus raised being feet. there is also a pumping station at claverton, near bath, which raises water from the river avon. thanks to these provisions, on no occasion has there been more than a partial stoppage of the canal owing to a lack of water, though in seasons of drought it is necessary to reduce the loading of the boats. the final ascent to the devizes level is accomplished by means of twenty-nine locks in a distance of - / miles. of these twenty-nine there are seventeen which immediately follow one another in a direct line, and here it has been necessary to supplement the locks with "pounds" to ensure a sufficiency of reserve water to work the boats through. no one who walks alongside these locks can fail to be impressed alike by the boldness of the original constructors of the canal and by the thoroughness with which they did their work. the walls of the locks are from to feet in thickness, and they seem to have been built to last for all eternity. the same remark applies to the constructed works in general on this canal. for a boat to pass through the twenty-nine locks takes on an average about three hours. the - / miles from bristol to devizes require at least two full days. considerable expenditure is also incurred on the canal in dredging work; though here special difficulties are experienced, inasmuch as the geological formation of the bed of the canal between bath and bradford-on-avon renders steam dredging inadvisable, so that the more expensive and less expeditious system of "dragging" has to be relied on instead. altogether it costs the great western railway company about £ to earn each s. they receive from the canal; and whether or not, considering present day conditions of trade and transport, and the changes that have taken place therein, they would get their money back if they spent still more on the canal, is, to say the least of it, extremely problematical. one fact absolutely certain is that the canal is already capable of carrying a much greater amount of traffic than is actually forthcoming, and that the absence of such traffic is not due to any neglect of the waterway by its present owners. indeed, i had the positive assurance of mr saunders that, in his capacity as canals engineer to the great western, he had never yet been refused by his company any expenditure he had recommended as necessary for the efficient maintenance of the canals under his charge. "i believe," he added, "that any money required to be spent for this purpose would be readily granted. i already have power to do anything i consider advisable to keep the canals in proper order; and i say without hesitation that all the canals belonging to the great western railway company are well maintained, and in no way starved. the decline in the traffic is due to obvious causes which would still remain, no matter what improvements one might seek to carry out." the story told above may be supplemented by the following extract from the report of the great western railway company for the half-year ending december , showing expenses and receipts in connection with the various canals controlled by that company:-- great western railway canals, for half-year ending st december . canal. to canal expenses. by canal traffic. bridgwater and taunton £ , £ grand western kennet and avon , , monmouthshire , stourbridge extension stratford-upon-avon , swansea , , -------------- -------------- £ , £ , -------------- -------------- the capital expenditure on these different canals, to the same date, was as follows:-- brecon £ , bridgwater and taunton , grand western , kennet and avon , stourbridge extension , stratford-on-avon , swansea , -------------- total, £ , --------------- these figures give point to the further remark made by mr inglis at the meeting of the institution of civil engineers when he said, "it was not to be imagined that the railway companies would willingly have all their canal property lying idle; they would be only too glad if they could see how to use the canals so as to obtain a profit, or even to reduce the loss." on the same occasion, mr a. ross, who also took part in the debate, said he had had charge of a number of railway-owned canals at different times, and he was of opinion there was no foundation for the allegation that railway-owned canals were not properly maintained. his first experience of this kind was with the sankey brook and st helens canal, one of wide gauge, carrying a first-class traffic, connecting the two great chemical manufacturing towns of st helens and widnes, and opening into the mersey. early in the seventies the canal became practically a wreck, owing to the mortar on the walls having been destroyed by the chemicals in the water which the manufactories had drained into the canal. in addition, there was an overflow into the sankey brook, and in times of flood the water flowed over the meadows, and thousands of acres were rendered barren. mr ross continued (i quote from the official report):-- "the london and north-western railway company, who owned the canal, went to great expense in litigation, and obtained an injunction against the manufacturers, and in the result they had to purchase all the meadows outright, as the quickest way of settling the question of compensation. the company rebuilt all the walls and some of the locks. if that canal had not been supported by a powerful corporation like the london and north-western railway, it must inevitably have been in ruins now. the next canal he had to do with, the manchester and bury canal, belonging to the lancashire and yorkshire railway company, was almost as unfortunate. the coal workings underneath the canal absolutely wrecked it, compelling the railway company to spend many thousands of pounds in law suits and on restoring the works, and he believed that no independent canal could have survived the expense. other canals he had had to do with were the peak forest, the macclesfield and the chesterfield canals, and the sheffield and south yorkshire navigation, which belonged to the old manchester sheffield and lincolnshire railway. those canals were maintained in good order, although the traffic was certainly not large." on the strength of these personal experiences mr ross thought that "if a company came forward which was willing to give reasonable compensation, the railway companies would not be difficult to deal with." the "shropshire union" is a railway-controlled canal with an especially instructive history. this system has a total mileage of just over miles. it extends from wolverhampton to ellesmere port on the river mersey, passing through market drayton, nantwich and chester, with branches to shrewsbury, newtown (montgomeryshire), llangollen, and middlewich (cheshire). some sections of the canal were made as far back as , and others as recently as . at one time it was owned by a number of different companies, but by a process of gradual amalgamation, most of these were absorbed by the ellesmere and chester canal company. in this company obtained acts of parliament which authorised them to change their name to that of "the shropshire union railways and canal company," and gave them power to construct three lines of railway: ( ) from the chester and crewe branch of the grand junction railway at calveley to wolverhampton; ( ) from shrewsbury to stafford, with a branch to stone; and ( ) from newtown (montgomeryshire) to crewe. not only do we get here a striking instance of the tendency shown by canal companies to start railways on their own account, but in each one of the three acts authorising the lines mentioned i find it provided that "it shall be lawful for the chester and holyhead railway company and the manchester and birmingham railway company, or either of them, to subscribe towards the undertaking, and hold shares in the shropshire union railways and canal company." experience soon showed that the shropshire union had undertaken more than it could accomplish. in the company obtained a fresh act of parliament, this time to authorise a lease of the undertakings of the shropshire union railways and canal company to the london and north-western railway company. the act set forth that the capital of the shropshire union company was £ , , represented by shares on which all the calls had been paid, and that the indebtedness on mortgages, bonds and other securities amounted to £ , . under these adverse conditions, "it has been agreed," the act goes on to say, "between the shropshire union railways and canal company and the london and north-western railway company, with a view to the economical and convenient working" of the three railways authorised, "that a lease in perpetuity of the undertaking of the shropshire union railways and canal company should be granted to the london and north-western railway company, and accepted by them, at a rent which shall be equal to ... half the rate per cent. per annum of the dividend which shall from time to time be payable on the capital stock of the london and north-western railway company." [illustration: warehouses and hydraulic cranes at ellesmere port. [_to face page ._ ] we have in this another example of the way in which a railway company has saved a canal system from extinction, while under the control of the london and north-western the shropshire union canal is still undoubtedly one of the best maintained of any in the country. there may be sections of it, especially in out-lying parts, where the traffic is comparatively small, but a considerable business is still done in the conveyance of sea-borne grain from the mersey to the chester district, or in that of tinplates, iron, and manufactured articles from the black country to the mersey for shipment. for traffic such as this the canal already offers every reasonable facility. the shropshire union is also a large carrier of goods to and from the potteries district, in conjunction with the trent and mersey. so little has the canal been "strangled," or even neglected, by the london and north-western railway company that, in addition to maintaining its general efficiency, the expenditure incurred by that company of late years for the development of ellesmere port--the point where the shropshire union canal enters the manchester ship canal--amounts to several hundred thousand pounds, this money having been spent mainly in the interest of the traffic along the shropshire union canal. deep-water quay walls of considerable length have been built; warehouses for general merchandise, with an excellent system of hydraulic cranes, have been provided; a large grain depôt, fully equipped with grain elevators and other appliances, has been constructed at a cost of £ , to facilitate, more especially, the considerable grain transport by canal that is done between the river mersey and the chester district; and at the present time the dock area is being enlarged, chiefly for the purpose of accommodating deeper barges, drawing about feet of water. another fact i might mention in regard to the shropshire union canal is in connection with mechanical haulage. elaborate theories, worked out on paper, as to the difference in cost between rail transport and water transport, may be completely upset where the water transport is to be conducted, not on a river or on a canal crossing a perfectly level plain, but along a canal which is raised, by means of locks, several hundred feet on one side of a ridge, or of some elevated table-land, and must be brought down in the same way on the other side. so, again, the value of what might otherwise be a useful system of mechanical haulage may be completely marred owing to the existence of innumerable locks. this conclusion is the outcome of a series of practical experiments conducted on the shropshire union canal at a time when the theorists were still working out their calculations on paper. the experiments in question were directed to ascertaining whether economy could be effected by making up strings of narrow canal boats, and having them drawn by a tug worked by steam or other motive power, instead of employing man and horse for each boat. the plan answered admirably until the locks were reached. there the steam-tug was, temporarily, no longer of any service. it was necessary to keep a horse at every lock, or flight of locks, to get the boats through, so that, apart from the tedious delays (the boats that passed first having to wait for the last-comers before the procession could start again), the increased expense at the locks nullified any saving gained from the mechanical haulage. as a further illustration--drawn this time from scotland--of the relations of railway companies to canals, i take the case of the forth and clyde navigation, controlled by the caledonian railway company. this navigation really consists of two sections--the forth and clyde navigation, and the monkland navigation. the former, authorised in , and opened in , commences at grangemouth on the firth of forth, crosses the country by falkirk and kirkintilloch, and terminates at bowling on the clyde. it has thirty-nine locks, and at one point has been constructed through miles of hard rock. the original depth of feet was increased to feet in . in addition to the canal proper, the navigation included the harbours of grangemouth and bowling, and also the grangemouth branch railway, and the drumpeller branch railway, near coatbridge. the monkland canal, also opened in , was built from glasgow _viâ_ coatbridge to woodhall in lanarkshire, mainly for the transport of coal from the lanarkshire coal-fields to glasgow and elsewhere. here the depth was feet. the undertakings of the forth and clyde and the monkland navigations were amalgamated in . prior to , the caledonian railway did not extend further north than greenhill, about miles south of falkirk, where it joined the scottish central railway. this undertaking was absorbed by the caledonian in , and the caledonian system was thus extended as far north as perth and dundee. the further absorption of the scottish north-eastern railway company, in , led to the extension of the caledonian system to aberdeen. at this time the caledonian railway company owned no port or harbour in scotland, except the small and rather shallow tidal harbour of south alloa. having got possession of the railway lines in central scotland, they thought it necessary to obtain control of some port on the east coast, in the interests of traffic to or from the continent, and especially to facilitate the shipment to the continent of coal from the lanarkshire coal-fields, chiefly served by them. the port of grangemouth being adapted to their requirements, they entered into negotiations with the proprietors of the forth and clyde navigation, who were also proprietors of the harbour of grangemouth, and acquired the whole undertaking in , guaranteeing to the original company a dividend of - / per cent. since their acquisition of the canal, the caledonian railway company have spent large sums annually in maintaining it in a state of efficiency, and its general condition to-day is better than when it was taken over. much of the traffic handled is brought into or sent out from grangemouth, and here the caledonian railway company have more than doubled the accommodation, with the result that the imports and exports have enormously increased. all the same, there has been a steady decrease in the actual canal traffic, due to various causes, such as (_a_) the exhaustion of several of the coal-fields in the monkland district; (_b_) the extension of railways; and (_c_) changes in the sources from which certain classes of traffic formerly carried on the canal are derived. in regard to the coal-fields, the closing of pits adjoining the canal has been followed by the opening of others at such a distance from the canal that it was cheaper to consign by rail. in the matter of railway extensions, when the caledonian took over the canal in , there were practically no railways in the district through which it runs, and the coal and other traffic had, perforce, to go by water. but, year by year, a complete network of railways was spread through the district by independent railway companies, notwithstanding the efforts made by the caledonian to protect the interests of the canal-efforts that led, in some instances, to parliament refusing assent to the proposed lines. those that were constructed (over a dozen lines and branches altogether), were almost all absorbed by the north british railway company, who are strong competitors with the caledonian railway company, and have naturally done all they could to get traffic for the lines in question. this, of course, has been at the expense of the canal and to the detriment of the caledonian railway company, who, in view of their having guaranteed a dividend to the original proprietors, would prefer that the traffic in question should remain on the canal instead of being diverted to an opposition line of railway. other traffic which formerly went by canal, and is now carried on the caledonian railway, is of a character that would certainly go by canal no longer, and for this the caledonian and the north british companies compete. the third factor in the decline of the canal relates to the general consideration that, during the last thirty or forty years, important works have no longer been necessarily built alongside canal banks, but have been constructed wherever convenient, and connected with the railways by branch lines or private sidings, expense of cartage to or from the canal dock or basin thus being saved. on the forth and clyde canal a good deal of coal is still carried, but mainly to adjoining works. coal is also shipped in vessels on the canal for transport to the west highlands and islands, where the railways cannot compete; but even here there is an increasing tendency for the coal to be bought in glasgow (to which port it is carried by rail), so that the shippers can have a wider range of markets when purchasing. further changes affecting the forth and clyde canal are illustrated by the fact that whereas, at one time, large quantities of grain were brought into grangemouth from russian and other continental ports, transhipped into lighters, and sent to glasgow by canal, the grain now received at glasgow comes mainly from america by direct steamer. that the caledonian railway company have done their duty towards the forth and clyde canal is beyond all reasonable doubt. it is true that they are not themselves carriers on the canal. they are only toll-takers. their business has been to maintain the canal in efficient condition, and allow any trader who wishes to make use of it so to do, on paying the tolls. this they have done, and, if the traders have not availed themselves of their opportunities, it must naturally have been for adequate reasons, and especially because of changes in the course of the country's business which it is impossible for a railway company to control, even where, as in this particular case, they are directly interested in seeing the receipts from tolls attain to as high a figure as practicable. i reserve for another chapter a study of the birmingham canal system, which, again, is "railway controlled"; but i may say here that i think the facts already given show it is most unfair to suggest, as is constantly being done in the press and elsewhere, that the railway companies bought up canals--"of malice aforethought," as it were--for the express purpose of killing such competition as they represented--a form of competition in which, as we have seen, public confidence had already practically disappeared. one of the witnesses at the canal enquiry in even went so far as to assert: "the railway companies have been enabled, in some cases by means of very questionable legality, to obtain command of , miles of canal, so adroitly selected as to strangle the whole of the inland water traffic, which has thus been forced upon the railways, to the great interruption of their legitimate and lucrative trade." the assertions here made are constantly being reproduced in one form or another by newspaper writers, public speakers, and others, who have gone to no trouble to investigate the facts for themselves, who have never read, or, if they have read, have disregarded, the important evidence of sir james allport, at the same enquiry, in reference to the london coal trade (i shall revert to this subject later on), and who probably have either not seen a map of british canals and waterways at all, or else have failed to notice the routes that still remain independent, and are in no way controlled by railway companies. [illustration: independent canals and inland navigations in england which are not controlled by railway companies] . river ouse navigation (yorkshire). . river wharfe navigation. . aire and calder navigation. . market weighton navigation. . driffield navigation. . beverley beck navigation. . leven navigation. . leeds and liverpool canal. . manchester ship canal. . bridgewater portion of manchester ship canal. . rochdale canal. . calder and hebble navigation. . weaver navigation. . idle navigation. . trent navigation co. . aucholme navigation. . caistor canal. . louth canal (lincolnshire). . derby canal. . nutbrook canal. . erewash canal. . loughborough navigation. . leicester navigation. . leicestershire union canal. . witham navigation. . witham navigation. . glen navigation. . welland navigation. . nen navigation. . wisbech canal. . nar navigation. . ouse and tributaries (bedfordshire). . north walsham canal. . bure navigation. . blyth navigation. . ipswich and stowmarket navigation. . stour navigation. . colne navigation. . chelmer and blackwater navigation. . roding navigation. . stort navigation. . lea navigation. . grand junction canal. . grand union canal. . oxford canal. . coventry canal. . warwick and napton canal. . warwick and birmingham canal. . birmingham and warwick junction canal. . worcester and birmingham canal. . stafford and worcester canal. . severn (lower) navigation. . gloucester and berkeley ship canal. . lower avon navigation. . stroudwater canal. . wye navigation. . axe navigation. . parrett navigation. . tone navigation. . wilts and berks canal. . thames navigation. . london and hampshire canal. . wey navigation. . medway navigation. . canterbury navigation. . ouse navigation (sussex). . adur navigation. . arun and wey canal. . portsmouth and arunder canal. . itchen navigation. [to face page . i give, facing p. , a sketch which shows the nature and extent of these particular waterways, and the reader will see from it that they include entirely free and independent communication (_a_) between birmingham and the thames; (_b_) from the coal-fields of the midlands and the north to london; and (_c_) between the west and east coasts, _viâ_ liverpool, leeds, and goole. to say, therefore, in these circumstances, that "the whole of the inland water traffic" has been strangled by the railway companies because the canals or sections of which they "obtained command" were "so adroitly selected," is simply to say what is not true. the point here raised is not one that merely concerns the integrity of the railway companies--though in common justice to them it is only right that the truth should be made known. it really affects the whole question at issue, because, so long as public opinion is concentrated more or less on this strangulation fiction, due attention will not be given to the real causes for the decay of the canals, and undue importance will be attached to the suggestions freely made that if only the one-third of the canal mileage owned or controlled by the railway companies could be got out of their hands, the revival schemes would have a fair chance of success. certain it is, therefore, as the map i give shows beyond all possible doubt, that the causes for the failure of the british canal system must be sought for elsewhere than in the fact of a partial railway-ownership or control. some of these alternative causes i propose to discuss in the chapters that follow my story of the birmingham canal, for which (inasmuch as birmingham and district, by reason of their commercial importance and geographical position, have first claim to consideration in any scheme of canal resuscitation) i would beg the special attention of the reader. chapter v the birmingham canal and its story what is known as the "birmingham canal" is really a perfect network of waterways in and around birmingham and south staffordshire, representing a total length of about miles, exclusive of some hundreds of private sidings in connection with different works in the district. [illustration: map of the canals & railways between wolverhampton & birmingham [_to face page ._ ] the system was originally constructed by four different canal companies under acts of parliament passed between and . these companies subsequently amalgamated and formed the birmingham canal navigation, known later on as the birmingham canal company. from march to march the company paid £ per annum per share on , shares, and in the following year the amount paid on the same number of shares rose to £ per annum. in £ per annum per share was paid on , shares, in £ to £ on , , in £ on , , and from may to december £ per annum per share on , shares. the year was a time of great activity in railway promotion, and the birmingham canal company, who already had a canal between that town and wolverhampton, proposed to supplement it by a railway through the stour valley, using for the purpose a certain amount of spare land which they already owned. a similar proposal, however, in respect to a line of railway to take practically the same route between birmingham and wolverhampton, was brought forward by an independent company, who seem to have had the support of the london and birmingham railway company; and in the result it was arranged among the different parties concerned ( ) that the birmingham canal company should not proceed with their scheme, but that they and the london and birmingham railway company should each subscribe a fourth part of the capital for the construction of the line projected by the independent birmingham, wolverhampton, and stour valley railway company; and ( ) that the london and birmingham railway company should, subject to certain terms and conditions, guarantee the future dividend of the canal company, whenever the net income was insufficient to produce a dividend of £ per share on the capital, the canal company thus being insured against loss resulting from competition. the building of the stour valley line between birmingham and wolverhampton, with a branch to dudley, was sanctioned by an act of , which further authorised the birmingham canal company and the london and birmingham railway company to contribute each one quarter of the necessary capital. the canal company raised their quarter, amounting to £ , , by means of mortgages. in return for their guarantee of the canal company's dividend, the london and birmingham railway company obtained certain rights and privileges in regard to the working of the canal. these were authorised by the london and birmingham railway and birmingham canal arrangement act, , which empowered the two companies each to appoint five persons as a committee of management of the birmingham canal company. those members of the committee chosen by the london and birmingham railway company were to have the same powers, etc., as the members elected by the canal company; but the canal company were restricted from expending, without the consent of the railway company, "any sum which shall exceed the sum of five hundred pounds in the formation of any new canal, or extension, or branch canal or otherwise, for the purpose of any single work to be hereafter undertaken by the same company"; nor, without consent of the railway company, could the canal company make any alterations in the tolls, rates, or dues charged. in the event of differences of opinion arising between the two sections of the committee of management, the final decision was to be given by the railway representatives in such year or years as the railway company was called upon to make good a deficiency in the dividends, and by the canal representatives when no such demand had been made upon the railway company. in other words the canal company retained the deciding vote so long as they could pay their way, and in any case they could spend up to £ on any single work without asking the consent of the railway company. in course of time the stour valley line, as well as the london and birmingham company, became part of the system of the london and north-western railway company, which thus took over the responsibilities and obligations, in regard to the waterways, already assumed; while the mortgages issued by the birmingham canal company, when they undertook to raise one-fourth of the capital for the stour valley railway, were exchanged for £ , of ordinary stock in the london and north-western railway. the birmingham canal company was able down to (except only in one year, , when it required £ from the london and north-western company) to pay its dividend of £ per annum on each share, without calling on the railway company to make good a deficiency. in , however, there was a substantial shortage of revenue, and since that time the london and north-western railway company, under the agreement already mentioned, have had to pay considerable sums to the canal company, as the following table shows:-- year £ , nil. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , the sum total of these figures is £ , , s. d. it will have been seen, from the facts already narrated, that for a period of over twenty years from the date of the agreement the canal company continued to earn their own dividend without requiring any assistance from the railway company. meantime, however, various local, in addition to general, causes had been in operation tending to affect the prosperity of the canals. the decline of the pig-iron industry in the black country had set in, while though the conversion of manufactured iron into plates, implements, etc., largely took its place, the raw materials came more and more from districts not served by the canals, and the finished goods were carried mainly by the railways then rapidly spreading through the district, affording facilities in the way of sidings to a considerable number of manufacturers whose works were not on the canal route. then the local iron ore deposits were either worked out or ceased to be remunerative, in view of the competition of other districts, again facilitated by the railways; and the extension of the bessemer process of steel-making also affected the staffordshire iron industry. these changes were quite sufficient in themselves to account for the increasing unprofitableness of the canals, without any need for suggestions of hostility towards them on the part of the railways. in point of fact, the extension of the railways and the provision of "railway basins" brought the canals a certain amount of traffic they might not otherwise have got. it was, indeed, due less to an actual decrease in the tonnage than to a decrease in the distance carried that the amount received in tolls fell off, that the traffic ceased to be remunerative, and that the deficiencies arose which, under their statutory obligations, the london and north-western railway company had to meet. the more that the traffic actually left the canals, the greater was the deficiency which, as shown by the figures i have given, the railway company had to make good.[ ] the condition of the canals in , when the responsibilities assumed by the london and north-western railway company began to fall more heavily upon them, left a good deal to be desired, and the railway company found themselves faced with the necessity of finding money for improvements which eventually represented a very heavy expenditure, apart altogether from the making up of a guaranteed dividend. they proceeded, all the same, to acquit themselves of these responsibilities, and it is no exaggeration to say that, during the thirty years which have since elapsed, they have spent enormous sums in improving the canals, and in maintaining them in what--adverse critics notwithstanding--is their present high state of efficiency, considering the peculiarities of their position. one of the greatest difficulties in the situation was in regard to water supply. at birmingham, portions of the canal are feet above ordnance datum; wolverhampton, wednesfield, tipton, dudley, and oldbury are higher still, for their elevation is feet, while walsall, darlaston, and wednesbury are at a height of feet. on high-lands like these there are naturally no powerful streams, and such is the lack of local water supplies that, as every one knows, the city of birmingham has recently had to go as far as wales in order to obtain sufficient water to meet the needs of its citizens. in these circumstances special efforts had to be made to obtain water for the canals in the district, and to ensure a due regard for economy in its use. the canals have, in fact, had to depend to a certain extent on water pumped from the bottom of coal pits in the black country, and stored in reservoirs on the top levels; the water, also, temporarily lost each time a canal boat passed through one of the many locks in the district being pumped back to the top to be used over again. to this end pumping machinery had already been provided by the old canal companies, but the london and north-western railway company, on taking over the virtual direction of the canals for which they were financially responsible, substituted new and improved plant, and added various new pumping stations. thanks to the changes thus effected--at, i need hardly say, very considerable cost--the average amount of water now pumped from lower to higher levels, during an average year, is , , gallons per day, equal to , locks of water. on occasions the actual quantity dealt with is , , gallons per day, while the total capacity of the present pumping machinery is equal to about , , gallons, or , locks, per day. there is absolutely no doubt that, but for the special provisions made for an additional water supply, the birmingham canal would have had to cease operations altogether in the summer of --probably for two months--because of the shortage of water. the reservoirs on the top level were practically empty, and it was solely owing to the company acquiring new sources of supply, involving a very substantial expenditure indeed, that the canal system was kept going at all. a canal company with no large financial resources would inevitably have broken down under the strain. then the london and north-western company are actively engaged in substituting new pumping machinery--representing "all the latest improvements"--for old, the special aim, here, being the securing of a reduction of more than per cent. over the former cost of pumping. an expenditure of from £ , to £ , was, for example, incurred by them so recently as at the ocker hill pumping station. in this way the railway company are seeking both to maintain the efficiency of the canal and to reduce the heavy annual demands made upon them in respect to the general cost of operation and shareholders' dividend. for reasons which will be indicated later on, it is impossible to improve the black country canals on any large scale; but, in addition to what i have already related, the london and north-western railway company are constantly spending money on small improvements, such as dredging, widening waterway under-bridges, taking off corners, and putting in side walls in place of slopes, so as to give more space for the boats. in the latter respect many miles have been so treated, to the distinct betterment of the canal. all this heavy outlay by the railway company, carried on for a series of years, is now beginning to tell, to the advantage alike of the traders and of the canal as a property, and if any scheme of state or municipal purchase were decided on by the country the various substantial items mentioned would naturally have to be taken into account in making terms. another feature of the birmingham canal system is that it passes to a considerable extent through the mining districts of the black country. this means, in the first place, that wherever important works have been constructed, as in the case of tunnels, (and the system passes through a number of tunnels, three of these being , yards, , yards, and , yards respectively in length) the mineral rights underneath have to be bought up in order to avoid subsidences. in one instance the railway company paid no less than £ , for the mining rights underneath a short length ( yards) of a canal tunnel. in other words, this £ , was practically buried in the ground, not in order to work the minerals, but with a view to maintain a secure foundation for the canal. altogether the expenditure of the company in this one direction, and for this one special purpose alone, in the black country district, must amount by this time to some hundreds of thousands of pounds. actual subsidences represent a great source of trouble. there are some parts of the birmingham canal where the waterway was originally constructed on a level with the adjoining ground, but, as more and more coal has been taken from the mines underneath, and especially as more and more of the ribs of coal originally left to support the roof have been removed, the land has subsided from time to time, rendering necessary the raising of the canal. so far has this gone that to-day the canal, at certain of these points, instead of being on a level with the adjoining ground, is on an embankment feet above. drops of from to feet are of frequent occurrence, even with narrow canals, and the cost involved in repairs and restoration is enormous, as the reader may well suppose, considering that the total length of the birmingham canal subject to subsidences from mining is about miles. i come next to the point as to the comparative narrowness of the birmingham canal system and the small capacity of the locks--conditions, as we are rightly told, which tell against the possibility of through, or even local, traffic in a larger type of boat. such conditions as these are generally presented as one of the main reasons why the control should be transferred to the state, to municipalities, or to public trusts, who, it is assumed, would soon get rid of them. the reader must have fully realised by this time that the original size of the waterways and locks on the birmingham canal was determined by the question of water supply. but any extensive scheme of widening would involve much beyond the securing of more water. during the decades the birmingham canal has been in existence important works of all kinds have been built alongside its banks, not only in and around birmingham itself, but all through the black country. there are parts of the canal where almost continuous lines of such works on each side of the canal, flush up to the banks or towing path, are to be seen for miles together. any general widening, therefore, even of the main waterways, would involve such a buying up, reconstruction of, or interference with extremely valuable properties that the expenditure involved--in the interests of a problematical saving in canal tolls--would be alike prodigious and prohibitive. there is the less reason for incurring such expenditure when we consider the special purposes which the canals of the district already serve, and, i may even say, efficiently serve. the total traffic passing over the birmingham canal system amounts to about , , tons per annum,[ ] and of this a considerable proportion is collected for eventual transport by rail. every few miles along the canal in the black country there is a "railway-basin" put in either by the london and north-western railway company, who have had the privilege of finding the money to keep the canal going since , or by the great western or the midland railway companies. here, again, very considerable expenditure has been incurred by the railway companies in the provision alike of wharves, cranes, sheds, etc., and of branch railways connecting with the main lines of the company concerned. from these railway-basins narrow boats are sent out to works all over the district to collect iron, hardware, tinplates, bricks, tiles, manufactured articles, and general merchandise, and bring them in for loading into the railway trucks alongside. so complete is the network of canals, with their hundreds of small "special" branches, that for many of the local works their only means of communication with the railway is by water, and the consignments are simply conveyed to the railway by canal boat, instead of, as elsewhere, by collecting van or road lorry. the number of these railway-basins--the cost of which is distinctly substantial--is constantly being increased, for the traffic through them grows almost from day to day. the great western railway company, for example, have already several large transhipping basins on the canals of the black country. they have one at wolverhampton, and another at tipton, only miles away; yet they have now decided to construct still another, about half-way between the two. the matter is thus referred to in the _great western railway magazine_ for march, :-- "the directors have approved a scheme for an extensive depôt adjoining the birmingham canal at bilston, the site being advantageously central in the town. it will comprise a canal basin and transfer shed, sidings for over one hundred and twenty waggons, and a loop for made-up trains. a large share of the traffic of the district, mainly raw material and manufactured articles of the iron trade, will doubtless be secured as a result of this important step--the railway and canal mutually serving each other as feeders." the reader will see from this how the tendency, even on canals that survive, is for the length of haul to become shorter and shorter, so that the receipts of the canal company from tolls may decline even where there is no actual decrease in the weight of the traffic handled. in the event of state or municipal purchase being resorted to, the expenditure on all these costly basins and the works connected therewith would have to be taken into consideration, equally with the pumping machinery and general improvements, and, also, the purchase of mining rights, already spoken of; but i fail to see what more either government or county council control could, in the circumstances, do for the birmingham system than is being done already. far more for the purposes of maintenance has been spent on the canal by the london and north-western railway company than had been so spent by the canal company itself; and, although a considerable amount of traffic arising in the district does find its way down to the mersey, the purpose served by the canal is, and must necessarily be, mainly a local one. that birmingham should become a sort of half-way stage on a continuous line of widened canals across country from the thames to the mersey is one of the most impracticable of dreams. even if there were not the question of the prodigious cost that widenings of the birmingham canal would involve, there would remain the equally fatal drawback of the elevation of birmingham and wolverhampton above sea level. in constructing a broad cross-country canal, linking up the two rivers in question, it would be absolutely necessary to avoid alike birmingham and the whole of the black country. that city and district, therefore, would gain no direct advantage from such a through route. they would have to be content to send down their commodities in the existing small boats to a lower level, and there, in order to reach the mersey, connect with either the shropshire union canal or the trent and mersey. one of these two waterways would certainly have to be selected for a widened through route to the mersey. assume that the former were decided upon, and that, to meet the present-day agitation, the state, or some trust backed by state or local funds, bought up the shropshire union, and resolved upon a substantial widening of this particular waterway, so as to admit of a larger type of boat and the various other improvements now projected. in this case the _crux_ of the situation (apart from birmingham and black country conditions), would be the city of chester. for a distance of - / miles the shropshire union canal passes through the very heart of chester. right alongside the canal one sees successively very large flour mills or lead works, big warehouses, a school, streets which border it for some distance, masses of houses, and, also, the old city walls. at one point the existing canal makes a bend that is equal almost to a right angle. here there would have to be a substantial clearance if boats much larger than those now in use were to get round so ugly a corner in safety. this bend, too, is just where the canal goes underneath the main lines of the london and north-western and the great western railways, the gradients of which would certainly have to be altered if it were desired to employ larger boats. [illustration: what canal widening would mean. (the shropshire union canal at the northgate, chester, looking east.) [_to face page ._ ] the widening of the shropshire union canal at chester would, in effect, necessitate a wholesale destruction of, or interference with, valuable property (even if the city walls were spared), and an expenditure of hundreds of thousands of pounds. such a thing is clearly not to be thought of. the city of chester would have to be avoided by the through route from the midlands to the mersey, just as the canals of birmingham and the black country would have to be avoided in a through route from the thames. if the shropshire union were still kept to, a new branch canal would have to be constructed from waverton to connect again with the shropshire union at a point half-way between chester and ellesmere port, leaving chester in a neglected bend on the south. on this point as to the possibility of enlarging the shropshire union canal, i should like to quote the following from some remarks made by mr g. r. jebb, engineer to the shropshire union railways and canal company, in the discussion on mr saner's paper at the institution of civil engineers:-- "as to the suggestion that the railway companies did not consider it possible to make successful commercial use of their canals in conjunction with their lines, and that the london and north-western railway company might have improved the main line of the shropshire union canal between ellesmere port and wolverhampton, and thus have relieved their already overburdened line, as a matter of fact about twenty years ago he went carefully into the question of enlarging that particular length of canal, which formed the main line between the midlands and the sea. he drew up estimates and plans for wide canals, of different cross sections, one of which was almost identical with the cross section proposed by mr saner. after very careful consideration with a disposition to improve the canal if possible, it was found that the cost of the necessary works would be too heavy. bridges of wide span and larger headway--entailing approaches which could not be constructed without destroying valuable property on either side--new locks and hydraulic lifts would be required, and a transhipping depôt would have been necessary where each of the narrow canals joined. the company were satisfied, and he himself was satisfied, that no reasonable return for that expenditure could be expected, and therefore the work was not proceeded with.... he was satisfied that whoever found the money for canal improvements would get no fair return for it." the adoption of the alternative route, _viâ_ the trent and mersey, would involve ( ) locking-up to and down a considerable summit, and ( ) a continuous series of widenings (except along the weaver canal), the cost of which, especially in the towns of stoke, etruria, middlewich, and northwich, would attain to proportions altogether prohibitive. the conclusion at which i arrive in regard to the birmingham canal system is that it cannot be directly included in any scheme of cross-country waterways from river to river; that by reason alike of elevation, water supply, and the existence of a vast amount of valuable property immediately alongside, any general widening of the present system of canals in the district is altogether impracticable; that, within the scope of their unavoidable limitations, those particular canals already afford every reasonable facility to the real requirements of the local traders; that, instead of their having been "strangled" by the railways, they have been kept alive and in operation solely and entirely because of the heavy expenditure upon them by the london and north-western railway company, following on conditions which must inevitably have led to collapse (with serious disadvantages to the traders dependent on them for transport) if the control had remained with an independent but impoverished canal company; and that very little, if anything, more--with due regard both for what is practical, and for the avoidance of any waste of public money--could be done than is already being done, even if state or municipal authorities made the costly experiment of trying what they could do for them with their own 'prentice hands. chapter vi the transition in trade of the various causes which have operated to bring about the comparative decay of the british canal system (for, as already shown, there are sections that still retain a certain amount of vitality), the most important are to be found in the great changes that have taken place in the general conditions of trade, manufacture and commerce. the tendency in almost every branch of business to-day is for the trader to have small, or comparatively small, stocks of any particular commodity, which he can replenish speedily at frequent intervals as occasion requires. the advantages are obvious. a smaller amount of capital is locked up in any one article; a larger variety of goods can be dealt in; less accommodation is required for storage; and men with limited means can enter on businesses which otherwise could be undertaken only by individuals or companies possessed of considerable resources. if a draper or a grocer at plymouth finds one afternoon that he has run short of a particular article, he need only telegraph to the wholesale house with which he deals in london, and a fresh supply will be delivered to him the following morning. a trader in london who wanted something from dublin, and telegraphed for it one day, would expect as a matter of course to have it the next. what, again, would a london shopkeeper be likely to say if, wanting to replenish his limited stock with some birmingham goods, he was informed by the manufacturer:--"we are in receipt of your esteemed order, and are sending the goods on by canal. you may hope to get them in about a week"? with a little wider margin in the matter of delivery, the same principle applies to those trading in, or requiring, raw materials--coal, steel, ironstone, bricks, and so on. merchants, manufacturers, and builders are no more anxious than the average shopkeeper to keep on hand stocks unnecessarily large, and to have so much money lying idle. they calculate the length of time that will be required to get in more supplies when likely to be wanted, and they work their business accordingly. from this point of view the railway is far superior to the canal in two respects, at least. first, there is the question of speed. the value of this factor was well recognised so far back as , when, as i have told on page , mr sandars related how speed and certainty of delivery were regarded as "of the first importance," and constituted one of the leading reasons for the desired introduction of railways. but speed and certainty of delivery become absolutely essential when the margin in regard to supplies on hand is habitually kept to a working minimum. the saving in freight effected as between, on the one hand, waiting at least several days, if not a full week, for goods by canal boat, and, on the other, receiving them the following day by train, may be more than swallowed up by the loss of profit or the loss of business in consequence of the delay. if the railway transport be a little more costly than the canal transport, the difference should be fully counterbalanced by the possibility of a more rapid turnover, as well as the other advantages of which i have spoken. in cases, again, where it is not a matter of quickly replenishing stocks but of effecting prompt delivery even of bulky goods, time may be all-important. this fact is well illustrated in a contribution, from birmingham, published in the "engineering supplement" of _the times_ of february , , in which it was said:-- "makers of wheels, tires, axles, springs, and similar parts are busy. of late the south african colonies have been larger buyers, while india and the far eastern markets, including china and japan, south america, and some other shipping markets are providing very good and valuable indents. in all cases, it is especially remarked, very early execution of contracts and urgent delivery is impressed by buyers. the leading firms have learned a good deal of late from german, american, belgian, and other foreign competitors in the matter of rapid output. by the improvement of plant, the laying down of new and costly machine tools, and by other advances in methods of production, delivery is now made of contracts of heavy tonnage within periods which not so long ago would have been deemed by these same producers quite impossible. in no branch of the engineering trades is this expedition more apparent than in the constructional engineering department, such as bridges, roofs, etc., also in steam boiler work." now where, in cases such as these, "urgent delivery is impressed by buyers," and the utmost energy is probably being enforced on the workers, is it likely that even the heavy goods so made would be sent down to the port by the tediously slow process of canal boat, taking, perhaps, as many days as even a goods train would take hours? alternatively, would the manufacturers run the risk of delaying urgent work by having the raw materials delivered by canal boat in order to effect a small saving on cost of transport? certainty of delivery might again be seriously affected in the case of canal transport by delays arising either from scarcity of water during dry seasons, or from frost in winter. the entire stoppage of a canal system, from one or other of these causes, for weeks together, especially on high levels, is no unusual occurrence, and the inconvenience which would then result to traders who depended on the canals is self-evident. in holland, where most of the goods traffic goes by the canals that spread as a perfect network throughout the whole country, and link up each town with every other town, the advent of a severe frost means that the whole body of traffic is suddenly thrown on the railways, which then have more to get through than they can manage. here the problem arises: if waterways take traffic from the railways during the greater part of the year, should the railways still be expected to keep on hand sufficient rolling stock, etc., not only for their normal conditions, but to meet all the demands made upon them during such periods as their competitors cannot operate? there is an idea in some quarters that stoppage from frost need not be feared in this country because, under an improved system of waterways, measures would be taken to keep the ice on the canals constantly broken up. but even with this arrangement there comes a time, during a prolonged frost, when the quantity of broken ice in the canal is so great that navigation is stopped unless the ice itself is removed from the water. frost must, therefore, still be reckoned with as a serious factor among the possibilities of delay in canal transport. secondly, there is the question of quantities. for the average trader the railway truck is a much more convenient unit than the canal boat. it takes just such amount as he may want to send or receive. for some commodities the minimum load for which the lowest railway rate is quoted is as little as tons; but many a railway truck has been run through to destination with a solitary consignment of not more than half-a-ton. on the other hand, a vast proportion of the consignments by rail are essentially of the "small" type. from the goods depôt at curzon street, birmingham, a total of , tons dealt with, over a certain period, represented , consignments and , packages, the average weight per consignment being cwts. qr. lbs., and the average weight per package, qrs. lbs. at the liverpool goods depôts of the london and north-western railway, a total weight of , tons handled consisted of , consignments and , packages, the average weight per consignment being cwts. qr. lbs., and the average weight per package qrs. lbs. from the depôt at broad street, london, tons represented , consignments and , packages, with an average weight per consignment of cwts. qrs. lbs., and per package, qrs. lbs.; and so on with other important centres of traffic. there is little room for doubt that a substantial proportion of these consignments and packages consisted partly of goods required by traders either to replenish their stocks, or, as in the case of tailors and dressmakers, to enable them to execute particular orders; and partly of commodities purchased from traders, and on their way to the customers. in regard to the latter class of goods, it is a matter of common knowledge that there has been an increasing tendency of late years to eliminate the middleman, and establish direct trading between producer and consumer. just as the small shopkeeper will purchase from the manufacturer, and avoid the wholesale dealer, so, also, there are individual householders and others who eliminate even the shopkeeper, and deal direct with advertising manufacturers willing to supply to them the same quantities as could be obtained from a retail trader. for trades and businesses conducted on these lines, the railway--taking and delivering promptly consignments great or small, penetrating to every part of the country, and supplemented by its own commodious warehouses, in which goods can be stored as desired by the trader pending delivery or shipment--is a far more convenient mode of transport than the canal boat; and to the railway the perfect revolution that has been brought about in the general trade of this country is mainly due. business has been simplified, subdivided, and brought within the reach of "small" men to an extent that, but for the railway, would have been impossible; and it is difficult to imagine that traders in general will forego all these advantages now, and revert once more to the canal boat, merely for the sake of a saving in freight which, in the long run, might be no saving at all. here it may be replied by my critics that there is no idea of reviving canals in the interests of the general trader, and that all that is sought is to provide a cheaper form of transport for those heavier or bulkier minerals or commodities which, it is said, can be carried better and more economically by water than by rail. now this argument implies the admission that canal resuscitation, on a national basis, or at the risk more or less of the community, is to be effected, not for the general trader, but for certain special classes of traders. as a matter of fact, however, such canal traffic as exists to-day is by no means limited to heavy or bulky articles. in their earlier days canal companies simply provided a water-road, as it were, along which goods could be taken by other persons on payment of certain tolls. to enable them to meet better the competition of the railways, parliament granted to the canal companies, in , the right to become common carriers as well, and, though only a very small proportion of them took advantage of this concession, those that did are indebted in part to the transport of general merchandise for such degree of prosperity as they have retained. the separate firms of canal carriers ("by-traders") have adopted a like policy, and, notwithstanding the changes in trade of which i have spoken, a good deal of general merchandise does go by canal to or from places that happen to be situated in the immediate vicinity of the waterways. it is extremely probable that if some of the canals which have survived had depended entirely on the transport of heavy or bulky commodities, their financial condition to-day would have been even worse than it really is. but let us look somewhat more closely into this theory that canals are better adapted than railways for the transport of minerals or heavy merchandise, calling for the payment of a low freight. at the first glance such a commodity as coal would claim special attention from this point of view; yet here one soon learns that not only have the railways secured the great bulk of this traffic in fair and open competition with the canals, but there is no probability of the latter taking it away from them again to any appreciable extent. some interesting facts in this connection were mentioned by the late sir james allport in the evidence he gave before the select committee on canals in . not a yard, he said, of the series of waterways between london and derbyshire, nottinghamshire, part of staffordshire, warwickshire and leicestershire--counties which included some of the best coal districts in england for supplying the metropolis--was owned by railway companies, yet the amount of coal carried by canal to london had steadily declined, while that by rail had enormously increased. to prove this assertion, he took the year as one when there was practically no competition on the part of the railways with the canals for the transport of coal, and he compared therewith the year , giving for each the total amount of coal received by canal and railway respectively, as follows:-- received by canal , tons , tons " " railway , " , , " the figures quoted by sir james allport were taken from the official returns in respect to the dues formerly levied by the city of london and the late metropolitan board of works on all coal coming within the metropolitan police area, representing a total of square miles; though at an earlier period the district in which the dues were enforced was that included in a -mile radius. the dues were abolished in , and since then the statistics in question have no longer been compiled. but the returns for show that the imports of coal, by railway and by canal respectively, into the metropolitan police area for that year were as follows:-- by railway tons. cwts. midland , , london and north-western , , great northern , , great eastern , , great western , london and south-western , south-eastern , ------------------ total by railway , , ------------------ by canal grand junction , ---------------------- difference , , ---------------------- if, therefore, the independent canal companies, having a waterway from the colliery district of the midlands and the north through to london (without, as already stated, any section thereof being controlled by railway companies), had improved their canals, and doubled, trebled, or even quadrupled the quantity of coal they carried in , their total would still have been insignificant as compared with the quantity conveyed by rail. [illustration: "from pit to port." (prospect pit, wigan coal and iron company. raised to the surface, the coal is emptied on to a mechanical shaker, which grades it into various sizes--lumps, cobbles, nuts, and slack. these sizes then each pass along a picking belt--so that impurities can be removed--and fall into the railway trucks placed at the end ready to receive them. the coal can thus be taken direct from the mouth of the pit to any port or town in great britain.) [_to face page ._ ] the reasons for this transition in the london coal trade (and the same general principle applies elsewhere) can be readily stated. they are to be found in the facilities conferred by the railway companies, and the great changes that, as the direct result thereof, have taken place in the coal trade itself. not only are most of the collieries in communication with the railways, but the coal waggons are generally so arranged alongside the mouth of each pit that the coal, as raised, can be tipped into them direct from the screens. coal trains, thus made up, are next brought to certain sidings in the neighbourhood of london, where the waggons await the orders of the coal merchants to whom they have been consigned. at willesden, for example, there is special accommodation for , coal waggons, and the sidings are generally full. liberal provision of a like character has also been made in london by the midland, the great northern, and other railway companies in touch with the colliery districts. an intimation as to the arrival of the consignments is sent by the railway company to the coal merchant, who, in london, is allowed three "free" days at these coal sidings in which to give instructions where the coal is to be sent. after three days he is charged the very modest sum of d. per day per truck. assuming that the coal merchant gives directions, either within the three days or later, for a dozen trucks, containing particular qualities of coal, to be sent to different parts of london, north, south, east and west, those dozen trucks will have to be picked out from the one or two thousand on the sidings, shunted, and coupled on to trains going through to the stated destination. this represents in itself a considerable amount of work, and special staffs have to be kept on duty for the purpose. then, at no fewer than one hundred and thirty-five railway stations in london and the suburbs thereof, the railway companies have provided coal depôts on such vacant land as may be available close to the local sidings, and here a certain amount of space is allotted to the use of coal merchants. for this accommodation no charge whatever is made in london, though a small rent has to be paid in the provinces. the london coal merchant gets so many feet, or yards, allotted to him on the railway property; he puts up a board with his name, or that of his firm; he stores on the said space the coal for which he has no immediate sale; and he sends his men there to fetch from day to day just such quantities as he wants in order to execute the orders received. with free accommodation such as this at half a dozen, or even a score, of suburban railway stations, all that the coal merchant of to-day requires in addition is a diminutive little office immediately adjoining each railway station, where orders can be received, and whence instructions can be sent. not only, also, do the railway companies provide him with a local coal depôt which serves his every purpose, but, after allowing him three "free" days on the great coal sidings, to which the waggons first come, they give him, on the local sidings, another seven "free" days in which to arrange his business. he thus gets ten clear days altogether, before any charge is made for demurrage, and, if then he is still awaiting orders, he has only to have the coal removed from the trucks on to the depôt, or "wharf" as it is technically called, so escaping any payment beyond the ordinary railway rate, in which all these privileges and advantages are included. if canal transport were substituted for rail transport, the coal would first have to be taken from the mouth of the pit to the canal, and, inasmuch as comparatively few collieries (except in certain districts) have canals immediately adjoining, the coal would have to go by rail to the canal, unless the expense were incurred of cutting a branch of the canal to the colliery--a much more costly business, especially where locks are necessary, than laying a railway siding. at the canal the coal would be tipped from the railway truck into the canal boat,[ ] which would take it to the canal terminus, or to some wharf or basin on the canal banks. there the coal would be thrown up from the boat into the wharf (in itself a more laborious and more expensive operation than that of shovelling it down, or into sacks on the same level, from a railway waggon), and from the wharf it would have to be carted, perhaps several miles, to final destination. under this arrangement the coal would receive much more handling--and each handling means so much additional slack and depreciation in value; a week would have to be allowed for a journey now possible in a day; the coal dealers would have to provide their own depôts and pay more for cartage, and they would have to order particular kinds of coal by the boat load instead of by the waggon load. this last necessity would alone suffice to render the scheme abortive. some years ago when there was so much discussion as to the use of a larger size of railway waggon, efforts were made to induce the coal interests to adopt this policy. but the -ton truck was so convenient a unit, and suited so well the essentially retail nature of the coal trade to-day, that as a rule the coal merchants would have nothing to do with trucks even of or tons. much less, therefore, would they be inclined to favour barge loads of or tons. exceptions might be made in the case of gas works, or of factories already situated alongside the banks of canals which have direct communication with collieries. in the black country considerable quantities of coal thus go by canal from the collieries to the many local ironworks, etc., which, as i have shown, are still actively served by the birmingham canal system. but these exceptions can hardly be offered as an adequate reason for the nationalisation of british canals. the general conditions, and especially the nature of the coal trade transition, will be better realised from some figures mentioned by the chairman of the london and north-western railway company, lord stalbridge, at the half-yearly meeting in february . notwithstanding the heavy coal traffic--in the aggregate--the average consignment of coal, he showed, on the london and north-western railway is only - / tons, and over per cent. of the total quantity carried represents consignments of less than tons, the actual weights ranging from lots of tons cwts. to close upon , tons for shipment. "but," the reader may say, "if coal is taken in , -ton lots to a port for shipment, surely canal transport could be resorted to here!" this course is adopted on the aire and calder navigation, which is very favourably situated, and goes over almost perfectly level ground. the average conditions of coal shipment in the united kingdom are, however, much better met by the special facilities which rail transport offers. of the way in which coal is loaded into railway trucks direct from the colliery screens i have already spoken; but, in respect to steam coal, it should be added that anthracite is sold in about twelve different sizes, and that one colliery will make three or four of these sizes, each dropped into separate trucks under the aforesaid screens. the output of an anthracite colliery would be from to tons a day, in the three or four sizes, as stated, this total being equal to from to truck-loads. an order received by a coal factor for , or , tons of a particular size would, therefore, have to be made up with coal from a number of different collieries. the coal, however, is not actually sold at the collieries. it is sent down to the port, and there it stands about for weeks, and sometimes for months, awaiting sale or the arrival of vessels. it must necessarily be on the spot, so that orders can be executed with the utmost expedition, and delays to shipping avoided. consequently it is necessary that ample accommodation should be provided at the port for what may be described as the coal-in-waiting. at newport, for example, where about , , tons of coal are shipped in the course of the year (independently of "bunkers,") there are miles of coal sidings, capable of accommodating from , to , tons of coal sent there for shipment. a record number of loaded coal trucks actually on these sidings at any one time is , . the daily average is , . now assume that the coal for shipment from newport had been brought there by canal boat. to begin with, it would have been first loaded, by means of the colliery screens, into railway trucks, taken in these to the canal, and then tipped into the boats. this would mean further breakage, and, in the case of steam coal especially, a depreciation in value. but suppose that the coal had duly arrived at the port in the canal boats, where would it be stored for those weeks and months to await sale or vessels? space for miles of sidings on land can easily be found; but the water area in a canal or dock in which barges can wait is limited, and, in the case of newport at least, it would hardly be equal to the equivalent of , truck-loads of coal. there comes next the important matter of detail as to the way in which coal brought to a port is to be shipped. nothing could be simpler and more expeditious than the practice generally adopted in the case of rail-borne coal. when a given quantity of coal is to be despatched, the vessel is brought alongside a hydraulic coal-tip, such as that shown in the illustration facing this page, and the loaded coal trucks are placed in succession underneath the tip. raised one by one to the level of the shoot, the trucks are there inclined to such an angle that the entire contents fall on to the shoot, and thence into the hold of the ship. brought to the horizontal again, the empty truck passes on to a viaduct, down which it goes, by gravitation, back to the sidings, the place it has vacated on the tip being at once taken by another loaded truck. [illustration: the shipping of coal: hydraulic tip on g.w.r., swansea. (the loaded truck is hoisted to level of shoot, and is there inclined to necessary angle to "tip" the coal, which falls from shoot into hold of vessel. empty truck passes by gravitation along viaduct, on left, to sidings.) [_to face page ._ ] substitute coal barges for coal trucks, and how will the loading then be accomplished? under any possible circumstances it would take longer to put a series of canal barges alongside a vessel in the dock than to place a series of coal trucks under the tip on shore. nor could the canal barge itself be raised to the level of a shoot, and have its contents tipped bodily into the collier. what was done in the south wales district by one colliery some years ago was to load up a barge with iron tubs, or boxes, filled with coal, and placed in pairs from end to end. in dock one of these would be lifted out of the barge by a crane, and lowered into the hold, where the bottom would be knocked out, the emptied tub being then replaced in the barge by the crane, and the next one to it raised in turn. but, apart from the other considerations already presented, this system of shipment was found more costly than the direct tipping of railway trucks, and was consequently abandoned. although, therefore, in theory coal would appear to be an ideal commodity for transport by canal, in actual practice it is found that rail transport is both more convenient and more economical, and certainly much better adapted to the exigences of present day trade in general, in the case alike of domestic coal and of coal for shipment. whether or not the country would be warranted in going to a heavy expense for canal resuscitation for the special benefit of a limited number of traders having works or factories alongside canal banks is a wholly different question. i take next the case of raw cotton as another bulky commodity carried in substantial quantities. at one time it was the custom in the lancashire spinning trade for considerable supplies to be bought in liverpool, taken to destination by canal, and stored in the mills for use as required. a certain proportion is still handled in this way; but the lancashire spinners who now store their cotton are extremely few in number, and represent the exception rather than the rule. it is found much more convenient to receive from liverpool from day to day by rail the exact number of bales required to meet immediate wants. the order can be sent, if necessary, by post, telegraph, or telephone, and the cotton may be expected at the mill next day, or as desired. if barge-loads of cotton were received at one time, capital would at least have to be sunk in providing warehousing accommodation, and the spinner thinks he can make better use of his money. the day-by-day arrangement is thus both a convenience and a saving to the trader; though it has one disadvantage from a railway standpoint, for cotton consignments by rail are, as a rule, so small that there is difficulty in making up a "paying load" for particular destinations. as the further result of the agitation a few years ago for the use of a larger type of railway waggons, experiments have been made at liverpool with large trucks for the conveyance especially of raw cotton. but, owing to the day-by-day policy of the spinners, it is no easy matter to make up a -ton truck of cotton for many of the places to which consignments are sent, and the shortage in the load represents so much dead weight. consignments ordered forward by rail must, however, be despatched wholly, or at any rate in part, on day of receipt. any keeping of them back, with the idea of thus making up a better load for the railway truck, would involve the risk of a complaint, if not of a claim, against the railway company, on the ground that the mill had had to stop work owing to delay in the arrival of the cotton. if the spinners would only adopt a two- or three-days-together policy, it would be a great advantage to the railways; but even this might involve the provision of storage accommodation at the mills, and they accordingly prefer the existing arrangement. what hope could there be, therefore, except under very special circumstances, that they would be willing to change their procedure, and receive their raw cotton in bulk by canal boat? passing on to other heavy commodities carried in large quantities, such as bricks, stone, drain-pipes, manure, or road-making materials, it is found, in practice, that unless both the place whence these things are despatched and the place where they are actually wanted are close to a waterway, it is generally more convenient and more economical to send by rail. the railway truck is not only (once more) a better unit in regard to quantity, but, as in the case of domestic coal, it can go to any railway station, and can often be brought miles nearer to the actual destination than if the articles or materials in question are forwarded by water; while the addition to the canal toll of the cost of cartage at either end, or both, may swell the total to the full amount of the railway rate, or leave so small a margin that conveyance by rail, in view of the other advantages offered, is naturally preferred. here we have further reasons why commodities that seem to be specially adapted for transport by canal so often go by rail instead. there are manufacturers, again, who, if executing a large shipping order, would rather consign the goods, as they are ready, to a railway warehouse at the port, there to await shipment, than occupy valuable space with them on their own premises. assuming that it might be possible and of advantage to forward to destination by canal boat, they would still prefer to send off or tons at a time, in a narrow boat (and to tons would represent a big lot in most industries), rather than keep everything back (with the incidental result of blocking up the factory) until, in order to save a little on the freight, they could fill up a barge of or tons. so the moral of this part of my story is that, even if the canals of the country were thoroughly revived, and made available for large craft, there could not be any really great resort to them unless there were, also, brought about a change in the whole basis of our general trading conditions. chapter vii continental conditions the larger proportion of the arguments advanced in the press or in public in favour of a restoration of our own canal system is derived from the statements which are unceasingly being made as to what our neighbours on the continent of europe are doing. almost every writer or speaker on the subject brings forward the same stock of facts and figures as to the large sums of money that are being expended on waterways in continental countries; the contention advanced being, in effect, that because such and such things are done on the continent of europe, therefore they ought to be done here. in the "engineering supplement" of _the times_, for instance--to give only one example out of many--there appeared early in two articles on "belgian canals and waterways" by an engineering contributor who wrote, among other things, that, in view of "the well-directed efforts now being made with the object of effecting the regeneration of the british canal system, the study of belgian canals and other navigable waterways possesses distinct interest"; and declared, in concluding his account thereof, that "if the necessary powers, money, and concentrated effort were available, there is little doubt that equally satisfactory results could be obtained in great britain." is this really the case? could we possibly hope to do all that can be done either in belgium or in continental countries generally, even if we had the said powers and money, and showed the same concentrated effort? for my part i do not think we could, and these are my reasons for thinking so:-- taking geographical considerations first, a glance at the map of europe will show that, apart from their national requirements, enterprises, and facilities, germany, belgium, and holland are the gateways to vast expanses producing, or receiving, very large quantities of merchandise and raw materials, much of which is eminently suitable for water transport on long journeys that have absolutely no parallel in this country. in the case of belgium, a good idea of the general position may be gained from some remarks made by the british consul-general at antwerp, sir e. cecil hertslet, in a report ("miscellaneous series," ) on "canals and other navigable waterways of belgium," issued by the foreign office in . referring to the position of antwerp he wrote:-- "in order to form a clear idea of the great utility of the canal system of belgium, it is from its heart, from the great port of antwerp, as a centre, that the survey must be taken.... antwerp holds a leading position among the great ports of the world, and this is due, not only to her splendid geographical situation at the centre of the ocean highways of commerce, but, also, and perhaps more particularly, to her practically unique position as a distributing centre for a large portion of north-eastern europe." thus the canals and waterways of belgium do not serve merely local, domestic, or national purposes, but represent the first or final links in a network of water communications by means of which merchandise can be taken to, or brought from, in bulk, "a large portion of north-eastern europe." much of this traffic, again, can just as well pass through one continental country, on its way to or from the coast, as through another. in fact, some of the most productive of german industrial centres are much nearer to antwerp or rotterdam than they are to hamburg or bremen. hence the extremely keen rivalry between continental countries having ports on the north sea for the capture of these great volumes of trans-continental traffic, and hence, also, their low transport rates, and, to a certain extent, their large expenditure on waterways. comparing these with british conditions, we must bear in mind the fact that we dwell in a group of islands, and not in a country which forms part of a continent. we have, therefore, no such transit traffic available for "through" barges as that which is handled on the continent. traffic originating in liverpool, and destined say, for austria, would not be put in a canal boat which would first go to goole, or hull, then cross the north sea in the same boat to holland or belgium, and so on to its destination. nor would traffic in bulk from the united states for the continent--or even for any of our east coast ports--be taken by boat across england. it would go round by sea. traffic, again, originating in birmingham, might be taken to a port by boat. but it would there require transhipment into an ocean-going vessel, just as the commodities received from abroad would have to be transferred to a canal boat--unless birmingham could be converted into a sea-port. if belgium and holland, especially, had had no chance of getting more than local, as distinct from through or transit traffic--if, in other words, they had been islands like our own, with the same geographical limitations as ourselves, and with no trans-continental traffic to handle, is there the slightest probability that they would have spent anything like the same amount of money on the development of their waterways as they have actually done? in the particular circumstances of their position they have acted wisely; but it does not necessarily follow that we, in wholly different circumstances, have acted foolishly in not following their example. it might further be noted, in this connection, that while in the case of belgium all the waterways in, or leading into, the country converge to the one great port of antwerp, in england we have great ports, competing more or less the one with the other, all round our coasts, and the conferring of special advantages on one by the state would probably be followed by like demands on the part of all the others. as for communication between our different ports, this is maintained so effectively by coasting vessels (the competition of which already powerfully influences railway rates) that heavy expenditure on canal improvement could hardly be justified on this account. however effectively the thames might be joined to the mersey, or the humber to the severn, by canal, the vast bulk of port-to-port traffic would probably still go by sea. then there are great differences between the physical conditions of great britain and those parts of the continent of europe where the improvement of waterways has undergone the greatest expansion. portions of holland--as everybody knows--are below the level of the sea, and the remainder are not much above it. a large part of belgium is flat; so is most of northern germany. in fact there is practically a level plain right away from the shores of the north sea to the steppes of russia. canal construction in these conditions is a comparatively simple and a comparatively inexpensive matter; though where such conditions do not exist to the same extent--as in the south of germany, for example--the building of canals becomes a very different problem. this fact is well recognised by herr franz ulrich in his book on "staffeltarife und wasserstrassen," where he argues that the building of canals is practicable only in districts favoured by nature, and that hilly and backward country is thus unavoidably handicapped. much, again, of the work done on the continent has been a matter either of linking up great rivers or of canalising these for navigation purposes. we have in england no such rivers as the rhine, the weser, the elbe, and the oder, but the very essence of the german scheme of waterways is to connect these and other rivers by canals, a through route by water being thus provided from the north sea to the borders of russia. further south there is already a small canal, the ludwigs canal, connecting the rhine and the danube, and this canal--as distinct from those in the northern plains--certainly does rise to an elevation of feet from the river main to its summit level. a scheme has now been projected for establishing a better connection between the rhine and the danube by a ship canal following the route either of the main or of the neckar. in describing these two powerful streams professor meiklejohn says, in his "new geography":-- "the two greatest rivers of europe--greatest from almost every point of view--are the danube and the rhine. the danube is the largest river in europe in respect of its volume of water; it is the only large european river that flows due east; and it is therefore the great highway to the east for south germany, for austria, for hungary, and for the younger nations in its valley. it flows through more lands, races, and languages than any other european river. the rhine is the great water-highway for western europe; and it carries the traffic and the travellers of many countries and peoples. both streams give life to the whole continent; they join many countries and the most varied interests; while the streams of france exist only for france itself. the danube runs parallel with the mighty ranges of the alps; the rhine saws its way through the secondary highlands which lie between the alps and the netherlands." the construction of this proposed link would give direct water communication between the north sea and the black sea, a distance, as the crow flies, and not counting river windings, of about , miles. such an achievement as this would put entirely in the shade even the present possible voyage, by canal and river, of miles from antwerp to strasburg. what are our conditions in great britain, as against all these? in place of the "great lowland plain" in which most of the continental canal work we hear so much about has been done, we possess an undulating country whose physical conditions are well indicated by the canal sections given opposite this page. such differences of level as those that are there shown must be overcome by locks, lifts, or inclined planes, together with occasional tunnels or viaducts. in the result the construction of canals is necessarily much more costly in great britain than on the aforesaid "great lowland plain" of continental europe, and dimensions readily obtainable there become practically impossible here on account alike of the prohibitive cost of construction and the difficulties that would arise in respect to water supply. a canal connecting the rhine, the weser, and the elbe, in germany, is hardly likely to run short of water, and the same may be said of the canals in holland, and of those in the lowlands of belgium. this is a very different matter from having to pump water from low levels to high levels, to fill reservoirs for canal purposes, as must be done on the birmingham and other canals, or from taking a fortnight to accomplish the journey from hull to nottingham as once happened owing to insufficiency of water. [illustration: some typical british canals. [_to face page ._ ] there is, also, that very important consideration, from a transport standpoint, of the "length of haul." assuming, for the sake of argument ( ) that the commercial conditions were the same in great britain as they are on the continent; ( ) that our country, also, consisted of a "great lowland plain"; and ( ) that we, as well, had great natural waterways, like the rhine, yielding an abundant water supply;--assuming all this, it would still be impossible, in the circumscribed dimensions of our isles, to get a "length of haul" in any way approaching the barge-journeys that are regularly made between, say, north sea ports and various centres in germany. the geographical differences in general between great britain and continental countries were thus summed up by mr w. h. wheeler in the discussion on mr saner's paper at the institution of civil engineers:-- "there really did not seem to be any justification for government interference with the canals. england was in an entirely different situation from continental countries. she was a sea-girt nation, with no less than eight first-class ports on a coast-line of , miles. communication between these by coasting steamers was, therefore, easy, and could be accomplished in much less time and at less cost than by canal. there was no large manufacturing town in england that was more than about miles in a direct line from a first-class seaport; and taking the country south of the firth of forth, there were only - / square miles to each mile of coast. france, on the other hand, had only two first-class ports, one in the north and the other in the extreme south, over a coast-line of , miles. its capital was miles from the nearest seaport, and the towns in the centre of the country were to miles from either havre or marseilles. for every mile of coast-line there were square miles of country. belgium had one large seaport and only miles of coast-line, with square miles of country to every square mile. germany had only two first-class ports, both situated on its northern coast; frankfort and berlin were distant from those ports about miles, and for every mile of coast-line there were square miles of country. the necessity of an extended system of inland waterways for the distribution of produce and materials was, therefore, far more important in those countries than it was in england." passing from commercial and geographical to political conditions, we find that in germany the state owns or controls alike railways and waterways. prussia bought up most of the former, partly with the idea of safeguarding the protective policy of the country (endangered by the low rates charged on imports by independent railway companies), and partly in order that the government could secure, in the profits on railway operation, a source of income independent of parliamentary votes. so well has the latter aim been achieved that a contribution to the exchequer of from £ , , to £ , , a year has been obtained, and, rather than allow this source of income to be checked by heavy expenditure, the prussian government have refrained from carrying out such widenings and improvements of their state system of railways as a british or an american railway company would certainly have adopted in like circumstances, and have left the traders to find relief in the waterways instead. the increased traffic the waterways of germany are actually getting is mainly traffic which has either been diverted from the railways, or would have been handled by the railways in other countries in the natural course of their expansion. whatever may be the case with the waterways, the railways of prussia, especially, are comparatively unprogressive, and, instead of developing through traffic at competitive rates, they are reverting more and more to the original position of railways as feeders to the waterways. they get a short haul from place of origin to the waterway, and another short haul, perhaps, from waterway again to final destination; but the greater part of the journey is done by water. these conditions represent one very material factor in the substantial expansion of water-borne traffic in germany--and most of that traffic, be it remembered, has been on great rivers rather than on artificial canals. the latter are certainly being increased in number, especially, as i have said, where they connect the rivers; and the government are the more inclined that the waterways should be developed because then there will be less need for spending money on the railways, and for any interference with the "revenue-producing machine" which those railways represent. in france the railways owned and operated by the state are only a comparatively small section of the whole; but successive governments have advanced immense sums for railway construction, and the state guarantees the dividends of the companies; while in france as in germany railway rates are controlled absolutely by the state. in neither country is there free competition between rail and water transport. if there were, the railways would probably secure a much greater proportion of the traffic than they do. still another consideration to be borne in mind is that although each country has spent great sums of money--at the cost of the general taxpayer--on the provision of canals or the improvement of waterways, no tolls are, with few exceptions, imposed on the traders. the canal charges include nothing but actual cost of carriage, whereas british railway rates may cover various other services, in addition, and have to be fixed on a scale that will allow of a great variety of charges and obligations being met. not only, both in germany and france, may the waterway be constructed and improved by the state, but the state also meets the annual expenditure on dredging, lighting, superintendence and the maintenance of inland harbours. here we have further reasons for the growth of the water-borne traffic on the continent. where the state, as railway owner or railway subsidiser, spends money also on canals, it competes only, to a certain extent, with itself; but this would be a very different position from state-owned or state-supported canals in this country competing with privately-owned railways.[ ] if then, as i maintain is the case, there is absolutely no basis for fair comparison between continental and british conditions--whether commercial, geographical, or political--we are left to conclude that the question of reviving british canals must be judged and decided strictly from a british standpoint, and subject to the limitations of british policy, circumstances, and possibilities. chapter viii waterways in the united states in some respects conditions in the united states compare with those of continental europe, for they suggest alike powerful streams, artificial canals constructed on (as a rule) flat or comparatively flat surfaces, and the possibilities of traffic in large quantities for transport over long distances before they can reach a seaport. in other respects the comparison is less with continental than with british conditions, inasmuch as, for the last half century at least, the american railways have been free to compete with the waterways, and fair play has been given to the exercise of economic forces, with the result that, in the united states as in the united kingdom, the railways have fully established their position as the factors in inland transport best suited to the varied requirements of trade and commerce of to-day, while the rivers and canals (i do not here deal with the great lakes, which represent an entirely different proposition) have played a rôle of steadily diminishing importance. the earliest canal built in the united states was that known as the erie canal. it was first projected in , with the idea of establishing a through route by water between lake erie and the river hudson at albany, whence the boats or barges employed would be able to reach the port of new york. the act for its construction was not passed, however, by the provincial legislature of the state of new york until . the canal itself was opened for traffic in . it had a total length from cleveland to albany of miles, included therein being some notable engineering work in the way of aqueducts, etc. at the date in question there were four north atlantic seaports, namely, boston, new york, philadelphia, and baltimore, all of about equal importance. boston, however, had appeared likely to take the lead, by reason both of her comparatively dense population and of her substantial development of manufactures. philadelphia was also then somewhat in advance of new york in trade and population. the effect of the erie canal, however, was to concentrate all the advantages, for the time being, on new york. thanks to the canal, new york secured the domestic trade of a widespread territory in the middle west, while her rivals could not possess themselves of like facilities, because of the impracticability of constructing canals to cross the ranges of mountains separating them from the valley of the mississippi and the basin of the great lakes--ranges broken only by the hudson and the mohawk valleys, of which the constructors of the erie canal had already taken advantage. so new york, with its splendid harbour, made great progress alike in trade, wealth, and population, completely outdistancing her rivals, and becoming, as a state, "the empire state," and, as a city, "the financial and commercial centre of the western hemisphere." while, again, the erie canal was "one of the most efficient factors" in bringing about these results, it was also developing the north-west by giving an outlet to the commerce of the great lakes, and during the second quarter of the nineteenth century it represented what has been well described as "the most potent influence of american progress and civilisation." not only did the traffic it carried increase from , , tons, in , to , , tons in , but it further inspired the building of canals in other sections of the united states. in course of time the artificial waterways of that country represented a total length of , miles. with the advent of the railways there came revolutionary changes which were by no means generally appreciated at first. the cost of the various canals had been defrayed mostly by the different states, and, though financial considerations had thus been more readily met, the policy pursued had committed the states concerned to the support of the canals against possible competition. when, therefore, "private enterprise" introduced railways, in which the doom of the canals was foreseen, there was a wild outburst of indignant protest. the money of the taxpayers, it was said, had been sunk in building the canals, and, if the welfare of these should be prejudiced by the railways, every taxpayer in the state would suffer. when it was seen that the railways had come to stay, the demand arose that, while passengers might travel by rail, the canals should have the exclusive right to convey merchandise. the question was even discussed by the legislature of the state of new york, in , whether the railways should not be prevented from carrying goods at all, or, alternatively, whether heavy taxes should not be imposed on goods traffic carried by rail in order to check the considerable tendency then being shown for merchandise to go by rail instead of by canal, irrespective of any difference in rates. the railway companies were further accused of conspiring to "break down those great public works upon which the state has spent forty years of labour," and so active was the campaign against them--while it lasted--that one new york paper wrote:--"the whole community is aroused as it never was before." some of the laws which had been actually passed to protect the state-constructed canals against the railways were, however, repealed in , and the agitation itself was not continued beyond , from which year the railways had free scope and opportunity to show what they could do. the contest was vigorous and prolonged, but the railways steadily won. in the first instance the erie canal had a depth of feet, and could be navigated only by -ton boats. in it was deepened to feet, in order that boats of tons, with a capacity of , tons of wheat, could pass, the cost of construction being thus increased from $ , , to $ , , . then, in , all tolls were abolished, and the canal has since been maintained out of the state treasury. but how the traffic on the new york canals as a whole (including the erie, the oswego, the champlain, etc.) has declined, in competition with the railroads, is well shown by the following table:--[ ] +-------------+---------------------------+-------------------+ | year. | total traffic on new york | percentage on | | | canals and railroads. | canals only. | +-------------+---------------------------+-------------------+ | | tons. | per cent. | | | , , | | | | , , | | | | , , | | | | , , | . | | | , , | . | | | , , | . | +-------------+---------------------------+-------------------+ the falling off in the canal traffic has been greatest in just those heavy or bulky commodities that are generally assumed to be specially adapted for conveyance by water. of the flour and grain, for instance, received at new york, less than per cent. in , and less than per cent. in , came by the erie canal. the experiences of the new york canals have been fully shared by other canals in other states. of the sum total of , miles of canals constructed, , had been abandoned by on the ground that the traffic was insufficient to cover working expenses. since then most of the remainder have shared the same fate, one of the last of the survivors, the delaware and hudson, being converted into a railway a year or two ago. in fact the only canals in the united states to-day, besides those in the state of new york, whose business is sufficiently regular to warrant the inclusion of their traffic in the monthly reports of the government are the chesapeake and delaware (connecting chesapeake and delaware bays, and having an annual traffic of about , tons, largely lumber); and the chesapeake and ohio (from cumberland to georgetown, owned by the state of maryland, and transporting coal almost exclusively, the amount depending on the state of congestion of traffic on the railroads). it is new york that has been most affected by this decline in american canals. when the railways began to compete severely with the erie canal, new york's previous supremacy over rival ports in the eastern states was seriously threatened. philadelphia and baltimore, and various smaller ports also, started to make tremendous advance. then the gulf ports--notably new orleans and galveston--were able to capture a good deal of ocean traffic that might otherwise have passed through new york. not only do the railway lines to those ports have the advantage of easy grades, so that exceptionally heavy train-loads can be handled with ease, and not only is there no fear of snow or ice blocks in winter, but the improvements effected in the ports themselves--as i had the opportunity of seeing and judging, in the winter of - , during a visit to the united states--have made these southern ports still more formidable competitors of new york. while, therefore, the trade of the united states has undergone great expansion of late years, that proportion of it which passes through the port of new york has seriously declined. "in less than ten years," says a pamphlet on "the canal system of new york state," issued by the canal improvement state committee, city of new york, "pennsylvania or some other state may be the empire state, which title new york has held since the time of the erie canal." so a movement has been actively promoted in new york state for the resuscitation of the erie and other canals there, with a view to assuring the continuance of new york's commercial supremacy, and giving her a better chance--if possible--of competing with rivals now flourishing at her expense. at first a ship canal between new york and lake erie was proposed; but this idea has been rejected as impracticable. finally, the legislature of the state of new york decided on spending $ , , on enlarging the erie and other canals in the state, so as to give them a depth of feet, and allow of the passage of , -ton barges, arrangements being also made for propulsion by electric or steam traction. in addition to this particular scheme, "there are," says mr f. h. dixon, professor of economics, dartmouth college, in an address on "competition between water and railway transportation lines in the united states," read by him before the st louis railway club, and reported in the _engineering news_ (new york) of march , , "many other proposals for canals in different sections of the country, extending all the way from projects that have some economic justification to the crazy and impracticable schemes of visionaries." but the general position in regard to canal resuscitation in the united states does not seem to be very hopeful, judging from a statement made by mr carnegie--once an advocate of the proposed pittsburg-lake erie canal--before the pittsburg chamber of commerce in . "such has been the progress of railway development," he said, "that if we had a canal to-day from lake erie through the ohio valley to beaver, free of toll, we could not afford to put boats on it. it is cheaper to-day to transfer the ore to -ton cars, and bring it to our works at pittsburg over our railway, than it would be to bring it by canal." turning from artificial to natural waterways in the united states, i find the story of the mississippi no less instructive. [illustration: a cargo boat on the mississippi. [_to face page_ . ] this magnificent stream has, in itself, a length of , miles. but the missouri is really only an upper prolongation of the same river under another name, and the total length of the two, from mouth to source, is , miles, of which the greater distance is navigable. the mississippi and its various tributaries drain, altogether, an area of , , square miles, or nearly one-third of the territory of the united states. if any great river in the world had a chance at all of holding its own against the railroads as a highway of traffic it should, surely, be the mississippi, to which british theorists ought to be able to point as a powerful argument in support of their general proposition concerning the advantages of water over rail-transport. but the actual facts all point in the other direction. the earliest conditions of navigation on the mississippi are well shown in the following extract from an article published in the _quarterly review_ of march , under the heading, "railroads and locomotive steam-carriages":-- "as an example of the difficulties of internal navigation, it may be mentioned that on the great river mississippi, which flows at the rate of or miles an hour, it was the practice of a certain class of boatmen, who brought down the produce of the interior to new orleans, to break up their boats, sell the timber, and afterwards return home slowly by land; and a voyage up the river from new orleans to pittsburg, a distance of about , miles, could hardly be accomplished, with the most laborious efforts, within a period of four months. but the uncertain and limited influence, both of the wind and the tide, is now superseded by a new agent, which in power far surpassing the raging torrent, is yet perfectly manageable, and acts with equal efficacy in any direction.... steamboats of every description, and on the most approved models, ply on all the great rivers of the united states; the voyage from new orleans to pittsburg, which formerly occupied four months, is accomplished with ease in fifteen or twenty days, and at the rate of not less than miles an hour." since this article in the _quarterly review_ was published, enormous sums of money have been spent on the mississippi--partly with a view to the prevention of floods, but partly, also, to improve the river for the purposes of navigation. placed in charge of a mississippi commission and of the chief of engineers in the united states army, the river has been systematically surveyed; special studies and reports have been drawn up on every possible aspect of its normal or abnormal conditions and circumstances; the largest river dredges in the world have been employed to ensure an adequate depth of the river bed; engineering works in general on the most complete scale have been carried out--in fact, nothing that science, skill, or money could accomplish has been left undone. the difficulties were certainly considerable. there has always been a tendency for the river bed to get choked up by the sediment the stream failed to carry on; the banks are weak; while the variation in water level is sometimes as much as feet in a single month. none the less, the mississippi played for a time as important a rôle in the west and the south as the erie canal played in the north. steamboats on the western rivers increased in number from , in , to , , in , and there was a like development in flat boat tonnage. with the expansion of the river traffic came a growth of large cities and towns alongside. louisville increased in population from , , in , to , , in , and st louis from , to , in the same period. with the arrival of the railroads began the decline of the river, though some years were to elapse before the decline was seriously felt. it was the absolute perfection of the railway system that eventually made its competition irresistible. the lines paralleled the river; they had, as i have said, easy grades; they responded to that consideration in regard to speedy delivery of consignments which is as pronounced in the united states as it is in great britain; they were as free from stoppages due to variations in water level as they were from stoppages on account of ice or snow; and they could be provided with branch lines as "feeders," going far inland, so that the trader did not have either to build his factory on the river bank or to pay cost of cartage between factory and river. the railway companies, again, were able to provide much more efficient terminal facilities, especially in the erection of large wharves, piers, and depôts which allow of the railway waggons coming right alongside the steamers. at galveston i saw cargo being discharged from the ocean-going steamers by being placed on trucks which were raised from the vessel by endless moving-platforms to the level of the goods station, where stood, along parallel series of lines, the railway waggons which would take them direct to chicago, san francisco, or elsewhere. with facilities such as these no inland waterway can possibly compete. the railways, again, were able, in competition with the river, to reduce their charges to "what the traffic would bear," depending on a higher proportion of profit elsewhere. the steamboats could adopt no such policy as this, and the traders found that, by the time they had paid, not only the charges for actual river transport, but insurance and extra cartage, as well, they had paid as much as transport by rail would have cost, while getting a much slower and more inconvenient service. [illustration: successful rivals of mississippi cargo boats. ( ) illinois central freight train; cars; , tons. ( ) " " banana express, new orleans to chicago; cars; tons of bananas. [_to face page ._ ] the final outcome of all these conditions is indicated by some remarks made by mr stuyvesant fish, president of the illinois central railroad company (the chief railway competitors of the mississippi steamboats), in the address he delivered as president of the seventh session of the international railway congress at washington, in may :-- "it is within my knowledge that twenty years ago there were annually carried by steamboats from memphis to new orleans over , bales of cotton, and that in almost every year since the railroads between memphis and new orleans passed under one management, not a single bale has been carried down the mississippi river from memphis by boat, and in no one year have bales been thus carried; the reason being that, including the charges for marine and fire insurance, the rates by water are higher than by rail." to this statement mr fish added some figures which may be tabulated as follows:-- tonnage of freight received at or despatched from new orleans. +----------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+ | | | | +----------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+ | by the mississippi river (all sources) | , , | , | | by rail | , , | , , | +----------------------------------------+-------------+-------------+ decline of river traffic in ten years , , tons increase of rail " " " , , " these figures bear striking testimony to the results that may be brought about in a country where railways are allowed a fair chance of competing with even the greatest of natural waterways--a chance, as i have said, denied them in germany and france. looking, too, at these figures, i understand better the significance of what i saw at memphis, where a solitary mississippi steamboat--one of the survivals of those huge floating warehouses now mostly rusting out their existence at new orleans--was having her cargo discharged on the river banks by a few negroes, while the powerful locomotives of the illinois central were rushing along on the adjoining railway with the biggest train-loads it was possible for them to haul. on the general position in the united states i might quote the following from a communication with which i have been favoured by mr luis jackson, an englishman by birth, who, after an early training on british railways, went to the united states, created there the rôle of "industrial commissioner" in connection with american railways, and now fills that position on the erie railroad:-- "when i was in the west the question of water transportation down the mississippi was frequently remarked upon. the mississippi is navigable from st paul to new orleans. in the early days the towns along the mississippi, especially those from st paul to st louis, depended upon, and had their growth through, the river traffic. it was a common remark among our railroad people that 'we could lick the river.' the traffic down the mississippi, especially from st paul to st louis (i can only speak of the territory with which i am well acquainted) perceptibly declined in competition with the railroads, and the river towns have been revived by, and now depend more for their growth on, the railroads than on the river.... figures do not prove anything. if the erie canal and the mississippi river traffic had increased, doubled, trebled, or quadrupled in the past years, instead of actually dwindling by tonnage figures, it would prove nothing as against the tremendous tonnage hauled by the trunk line railroads. the erie railroad company, new york to chicago, last year carried , , tons of revenue freights. it would take a pretty good canal to handle that amount of traffic; and the erie is only one of many lines between new york and chicago. "a canal, paralleling great railroads, to some extent injures them on through traffic. the tendency of all railroads is in the line of progress. as the tonnage increases the equipment becomes larger, and the general tendency of railroad rates is downwards; in other words, the public in the end gets from the railroad all that can be expected from a canal, and much more. the railroad can expand right and left, and reach industries by side tracks; with canals every manufacturer must locate on the banks of the canal. canals for internal commerce, in my mind, are out of date; they belong to the 'slow.' nor do i believe that the traffic management of canals by the state has the same conception of traffic measures which is adopted by the modern managers of railroads. "canals affect rates on heavy commodities, and play a part mostly injurious, to my mind, to the proper development of railroads, especially on the continent of europe. they may do local business, but the railroad is the real handmaid of commerce." by way of concluding this brief sketch of american conditions, i cannot do better than adopt the final sentences in professor dixon's paper at the st louis railway club to which i have already referred:-- "two considerations should, above all others, be kept in mind in determination of the feasibility of any project: first, the very positive limitations to the efficiency of rivers and canals as transportation agencies because of their lack of flexibility and the natural disabilities under which they suffer; and secondly, that water transportation is not necessarily cheap simply because the government constructs and maintains the channels. nothing could be more delusive than the assertion so frequently made, which is found in the opening pages of the report of the new york committee on canals of , that water transportation is inherently cheaper than rail transportation. such an assertion is true only of ocean transportation, and possibly also of large bodies of water like the lakes, although this last is doubtful. "by all means let us have our waterways developed when such development is economically justifiable. what is justifiable must be a matter of judgment, and possibly to some extent of experimentation, but the burden of proof rests on its advocates. such projects should be carried out by the localities interested and the burden should be borne by those who are to derive the benefit. only in large undertakings of national concern should the general government be called upon for aid. "but i protest most vigorously against the deluge of schemes poured in upon congress at every session by reckless advocates who, disregarding altogether the cost of their crazy measures in the increased burden of general taxation, argue for the inherent cheapness of water transportation, and urge the construction at public expense of works whose traffic will never cover the cost of maintenance." chapter ix english conditions i have already spoken in chapter vii. of some of the chief differences between continental and english conditions, but i revert to the latter because it is essential that, before approving of any scheme of canal restoration here, the british public should thoroughly understand the nature of the task that would thus be undertaken. the sections of actual canal routes, given opposite page , will convey some idea of the difficulties which faced the original builders of our artificial waterways. the wonder is that, since water has not yet been induced to flow up-hill, canals were ever constructed over such surfaces at all. most probably the majority of them would not have been attempted if railways had come into vogue half a century earlier than they did. looking at these diagrams, one can imagine how the locomotive--which does not disdain hill-climbing, and can easily be provided with cuttings, bridges, viaducts, and tunnels--could follow the canal; but one can hardly imagine that in england, at least, the canal would have followed the railway. the whole proposition in regard to canal revival would be changed if only the surfaces in great britain were the same as they are, say, between hamburg and berlin, where in miles of waterway there are only three locks. in this country there is an average of one lock for every - / mile of navigation. the sum total of the locks on british canals is , , each representing, on an average, a capitalised cost of £ , . instead of a "great central plain," as on the continent of europe, we have a "great central ridge," extending the greater length of england. in the miles between worcester and tardebigge on the worcester and birmingham canal, there are fifty-eight locks to be passed through by a canal boat going from the severn to birmingham. at tardebigge there is a difference in level of about feet in miles or so. this is overcome by a "flight" of thirty locks, which a -ton boat may hope to get through in four hours. between huddersfield and ashton, on the huddersfield narrow canal, there are seventy-four locks in miles; between manchester and sowerby bridge, on the rochdale canal, there are ninety-two locks in miles, to enable the boats to pass over an elevation feet above sea level; and at bingley, on the leeds and liverpool canal, five "staircase" locks give a total lift of feet inches. between london and liverpool there are three canal routes, each passing through either ten or eleven separate navigations, and covering distances of from to miles. by one of these routes a boat has to pass through such series of locks as ninety in miles on the grand junction canal, between paddington and braunston; forty-three in miles on the birmingham canal, between birmingham and aldersley; and forty-six in miles on the shropshire union canal, between autherley and ellesmere port. proceeding by an alternative route, the boat would pass through fifty-nine locks in miles on the trent and mersey; while a third route would give two hundred and eighty-two locks in a total of miles. the number of separate navigations is ten by routes i. and ii., and eleven by route iii. between london and hull there are two routes, one miles with one hundred and sixty-four locks, and the other miles with one hundred and forty-eight locks. on the journey from london to the severn, a boat would pass through one hundred and thirty locks in miles in going to the avonmouth docks (this total including one hundred and six locks in miles between reading and hanham, on the kennet and avon canal); and either one hundred and two locks in miles, or two hundred and thirty in miles, if the destination were sharpness docks. between liverpool and hull there are one hundred and four locks in miles by one route; one hundred and forty-nine in miles by a second route; and one hundred and fifty-two in miles by a third. in the case of a canal boat despatched from birmingham, the position would be--to london, one hundred and fifty-five locks in miles; to liverpool ( ) ninety-nine locks in miles, ( ) sixty-nine locks in miles; to hull, sixty-six locks in miles; to the severn, sharpness docks ( ) sixty-one locks in miles, ( ) forty-nine locks in miles. early in a correspondent of _the standard_ made an experimental canal journey from the thames, at brentford, to birmingham, to test the qualities of a certain "suction-producer gas motor barge." the barge itself stood the test so well that the correspondent was able to declare:--"in the new power may be found a solution of the problem of canal traction." he arrived at this conclusion notwithstanding the fact that the motor barge was stopped at one of the locks by a drowned cat being caught between the barge and the incoming "butty" boat. the journey from london to birmingham occupied, "roughly," six and a half days--a journey, that is, which london and north-western express trains accomplish regularly in two hours. the - / miles of the warwick and birmingham canal, which has thirty-four locks, alone took ten hours and a half. from birmingham the correspondent made other journeys in the same barge, covering, altogether, miles. in that distance he passed through three hundred and twenty-seven locks, various summits "several hundred feet" in height being crossed by this means. at anderton, on the trent and mersey canal, there is a vertical hydraulic lift which raises or lowers two narrow boats feet to enable them to pass between the canal and the river mersey, the operation being done by means of troughs feet by - / feet. inclined planes have also been made use of to avoid a multiplicity of locks. it is assumed that in the event of any general scheme of resuscitation being undertaken, the present flights of locks would, in many instances, be done away with, hydraulic lifts being substituted for them. where this could be done it would certainly effect a saving in time, though the provision of a lift between series of locks would not save water, as this would still be required for the lock below. hydraulic lifts, however, could not be used in mining districts, such as the black country, on account of possible subsidences. where that drawback did not occur there would still be the question of expense. the cost of construction of the anderton lift was £ , , and the cost of maintenance is £ a year. would the traffic on a particular route be always equal to the outlay? in regard to inclined planes, it was proposed some eight or ten years ago to construct one on the birmingham canal in order to do away with a series of locks at a certain point and save one hour on the through journey. plans were prepared, and a bill was deposited in parliament; but just at that time a board of trade enquiry into canal tolls and charges led to such reductions being enforced that there no longer appeared to be any security for a return on the proposed expenditure, and the bill was withdrawn. in many instances the difference in level has been overcome by the construction of tunnels. there are in england and wales no fewer than forty-five canal tunnels each upwards of yards in length, and of these twelve are over , yards in length, namely, standidge tunnel, on the huddersfield narrow canal, , yards; sapperton, thames and severn, , ; lappal, birmingham canal navigations, , ; dudley, birmingham canal, , ; norwood, chesterfield canal, , ; butterley, cromford, , ; blisworth, grand junction, , ; netherton, birmingham canal, , ; harecastle (new), trent and mersey, , ; harecastle (old), trent and mersey, , ; west hill, worcester and birmingham, , ; and braunston, grand junction, , . the earliest of these tunnels were made so narrow (in the interests of economy) that no space was left for a towing path alongside, and the boats were passed through by the boatmen either pushing a pole or shaft against the roof or sides, and then walking from forward to aft of the boat, or else by the "legging" process in which they lay flat on their backs in the boat, and pushed with their feet against the sides of the tunnel. at one time even women engaged in work of this kind. later tunnels were provided with towing paths, while in some of them steam tugs have been substituted for shafting and legging. resort has also been had to aqueducts, and these represent some of the best work that british canal engineers have done. the first in england was the one built at barton by james brindley to carry the bridgewater canal over the irwell. it was superseded by a swing aqueduct in , to meet the requirements of the manchester ship canal. but the finest examples are those presented by the aqueducts of chirk and pontcysyllte on the ellesmere canal in north wales, now forming part of the shropshire union canal. each was the work of telford, and the two have been aptly described as "among the boldest efforts of human invention of modern times." the chirk aqueduct ( feet long) carries the canal over the river ceriog. it was completed in and cost £ , . the pontcysyllte aqueduct, of which a photograph is given as a frontispiece, carries the canal in a cast-iron trough a distance of , feet across the valley of the river dee. it was opened for traffic in , and involved an outlay of £ , . another canal aqueduct worthy of mention is that which was constructed by rennie in , at a cost of £ , , to carry the lancaster canal over the river lune. these facts must surely convince everyone who is in any way open to conviction of the enormous difference between canal construction as carried on in bygone days in great britain--involving as it did all these costly, elaborate, and even formidable engineering works--and the building of canals, or the canalisation of rivers, on the flat surfaces of holland, belgium, and northern germany. reviewing--even thus inadequately--the work that had been already done, one ceases to wonder that, when the railways began to establish themselves in this country, the canal companies of that day regarded with despair the idea of practically doing the greater part of their work over again, in order to carry on an apparently hopeless struggle with a powerful competitor who had evidently come not only to stay but to win. it is not surprising, after all, that many of them thought it better to exploit the enemy by inducing or forcing him to buy them out! the average reader who may not hitherto have studied the question so completely as i am here seeking to do, will also begin by this time to understand what the resuscitation of the british canal system might involve in the way of expense. the initial purchase--presumably on fair and equitable terms--would in itself cost much more than is supposed even by the average expert. "assuming," says one authority, mr thwaite, "that , miles of the canal system were purchasable at two-thirds of their original cost of construction, say £ , per mile of length, then the capital required would be £ , , ." this looks very simple. but is the original cost of construction of canals passing through tunnels, over viaducts, and up and down elevations of from to feet, calculated here on the same basis as canals on the flat-lands? is allowance made for costly pumping apparatus--such as that provided for the birmingham canal--for the docks and warehouses recently constructed at ellesmere port, and for other capital expenditure for improvements, or are these omitted from the calculation of so much "per mile of length"? items of this kind might swell even "cost of construction" to larger proportions than those assumed by mr thwaite. that gentleman, also, evidently leaves out of account the very substantial sums paid by the present owners or controllers of canals for the mining rights underneath the waterways in districts such as staffordshire or lancashire. this last-mentioned point is one of considerable importance, though very few people seem to know that it enters into the canal question at all. when canals were originally constructed it was assumed that the companies were entitled to the land they had bought from the surface to the centre of the earth. but the law decided they could claim little more than a right of way, and that the original landowners might still work the minerals underneath. this was done, with the result that there were serious subsidences of the canals, involving both much loss of water and heavy expenditure in repairs. the stability of railways was also affected, but the position of the canals was much worse on account of the water. to maintain the efficiency of the canals (and of railways in addition) those responsible for them--whether independent companies or railway companies--have had to spend enormous sums of money in the said mining districts on buying up the right to work the minerals underneath. in some instances the landowner has given notice of his intention to work the minerals himself, and, although he may in reality have had no such intention, the canal company or the railway company have been compelled to come to terms with him, to prevent the possibility of the damage that might otherwise be done to the waterway. the very heavy expenditure thus incurred would hardly count as "cost of construction," and it would represent money sunk with no prospect of return. yet, if the state takes over the canals, it will be absolutely bound to reckon with these mineral rights as well--if it wants to keep the canals intact after improving them--and, in so doing, it must allow for a considerably larger sum for initial outlay than is generally assumed. but the actual purchase of canals _and_ mineral rights would be only the beginning of the trouble. there would come next the question of increasing the capacity of the canals by widening, and what this might involve i have already shown. then there are the innumerable locks by which the great differences in level are overcome. a large proportion of these would have to be reconstructed (unless lifts or inclined planes were provided instead) to admit either the larger type of boat of which one hears so much, or, alternatively, two or four of the existing narrow boats. assuming this to be done, then, when a single narrow boat came up to each lock in the course of the journey it was making, either it would have to wait until one or three others arrived, or, alternatively, the water in a large capacity lock would be used for the passage of one small boat. the adoption of the former course would involve delay; and either would necessitate the provision of a much larger water supply, together with, for the highest levels, still more costly pumping machinery. the water problem would, indeed, speedily become one of the most serious in the whole situation--and that, too, not alone in regard to the extremely scanty supplies in the high levels. the whole question has been complicated, since canals were first built, by the growing needs of the community, towns large and small having tapped sources of water supply which otherwise might have been available for the canals. even as these lines are being written, i see from _the times_ of march , , that, because the london, brighton and south coast railway company are sinking a well on land of their own adjoining the railway near the carshalton springs of the river wandle, with a view to getting water for use in their victoria station in london, all the public authorities in that part of surrey, together with the mill-owners and others interested in the river wandle, are petitioning parliament in support of a bill to restrain them, although it is admitted that "the railway company do not appear to be exceeding their legal rights." this does not look as if there were too much water to spare for canal purposes in great britain; and yet so level-headed a journal as _the economist_, in its issue of march , , gravely tells us, in an article on "the new canal commission," that "the experience of canada is worth studying." what possible comparison can there be, in regard to canals, between a land of lakes and great rivers and a country where a railway company may not even sink a well on their own property without causing all the local authorities in the neighbourhood to take alarm, and petition parliament to stop them![ ] [illustration: water supply for canals. (belvide reservoir, staffordshire, shropshire union canal.) [_to face page ._ ] on this question of water supply, i may add, mr john glass, manager of the regents canal, said at the meeting of the institution of civil engineers in november :-- "in his opinion mr saner had treated the water question, upon which the whole matter depended, in too airy a manner. considering, for instance, the route to birmingham, it would be seen that to reach birmingham the waterway was carried over one summit of feet, and another of feet, descended feet, and eventually arrived at birmingham, which was about feet above sea level. the proposed standard lock, with a small allowance for the usual leakage in filling, would consume about , cubic feet of water, and the two large crafts which mr saner proposed to accommodate in the lock[ ] would carry together, he calculated, about tons. supposing it were possible to regulate the supply and demand so as to spread that traffic economically over the year, and to permit of twenty-five pairs of boats passing from birmingham to the thames, or in the opposite direction, on days in the year, the empty boats going into the same locks as the laden boats, it would be necessary to provide , , cubic feet of water daily, at altitudes of to feet; and in addition it would be necessary to have water-storage for at least days in the year, which would amount to about , , cubic feet. when it was remembered that the districts in which the summit-levels referred to were situated were ill-supplied with water, he thought it was quite impossible that anything like that quantity of water could be obtained for the purpose. canal-managers found that the insufficiency of water in all districts supplied by canals increased every year, and the difficulty of acquiring proper water-storage became enhanced." not only the ordinary waterway and the locks, but the tunnels and viaducts, also, might require widening. then the adoption of some system of mechanical haulage is spoken of as indispensable. but a resort to tugs, however propelled, is in no way encouraged by the experiments made on the shropshire union, as told on p. . an overhead electrical installation, with power houses and electric lighting, so that navigation could go on at night, would be an especially costly undertaking. but the increased speed which it is hoped to gain from mechanical haulage on the level would also necessitate a general strengthening of the canal banks to avoid damage by the wash, and even then the possible speed would be limited by the breadth of the waterway. on this particular point i cannot do better than quote the following from an article on "canals and waterways" published in _the field_ of march , :-- "among the arguments in favour of revival has been that of anticipated rapid steam traffic on such re-opened waterways. any one who understands the elementary principles of building and propulsion of boats will realise that volume of water of itself fixes limits for speed of vessels in it. any vessel of certain given proportions has its limit of speed (no matter what horse-power may be employed to move it) according to the relative limit (if any) of the volume of water in which it floats. our canals are built to allow easy passage of the normal canal barge at an average of to - / miles an hour. a barge velocity of even miles, still more of or , would tend to wash banks, and so to wreck (to public danger) embankments where canals are carried higher than surrounding land. a canal does not lie in a valley from end to end like a river. it would require greater horse-power to tow one loaded barge miles an hour on normal canal water than to tow a string of three or even four such craft hawsered or more feet apart at the pace of - / miles. the reason would be that the channel is not large enough to allow the wave of displacement forward to find its way aft past the advancing vessel, so as to maintain an approximate level of water astern to that ahead, unless either the channel is more than doubled or else the speed limited to something less than miles. it therefore comes to this, that increased speed on our canals, to any tangible extent, does not seem to be attainable, even if all barges shall be screw steamers, unless the entire channel can be reconstructed to far greater depth and also width." what the actual cost of reconstruction would be--as distinct from cost of purchase--i will not myself undertake to estimate; and merely general statements, based on the most favourable sections of the canals, may be altogether misleading. thus, a writer in the _daily chronicle_ of march , , who has contributed to that journal a series of articles on the canal question, "from an expert point of view," says:-- "if the aire and calder navigation, which is much improved in recent years, be taken as a model, it has been calculated that £ , , per miles would fit the trunk system for traffic such as is dealt with on the yorkshire navigation." how can the aire and calder possibly be taken as a model--from the point of view of calculating cost of improvements or reconstruction? let the reader turn once more to the diagrams given opposite p. . he will see that the aire and calder is constructed on land that is almost flat, whereas the rochdale section on the same trunk route between the mersey and the humber reaches an elevation of feet. how can any just comparison be made between these two waterways? if the cost of "improving" a canal of the "model" type of the aire and calder be put at the rate of £ , , per miles, what would it come to in the case of the rochdale canal, the tardebigge section of the worcester and birmingham canal, or the series of independent canals between birmingham and london? that is a practical question which i will leave--to the experts! supposing, however, that the canals have been purchased, taken possession of, and duly improved (whatever the precise cost) by state, municipalities, or public trust, as the case may be. there will then be the almost exact equivalent of a house without furniture, or a factory without machinery. before even the restored canals could be adapted to the requirements of trade and commerce there would have to be a very considerable expenditure, also, on warehouses, docks, appliances, and other indispensable adjuncts to mere haulage. after all the money that has been spent on the manchester ship canal it is still found necessary to lay out a great deal more on warehouses which are absolutely essential to the full and complete development of the enterprise. the same principle would apply to any scheme of revived inland navigation. the goods depôts constructed by railway companies in all large towns and industrial centres have alone sufficed to bring about a complete revolution in trade and commerce since the days when canals were prosperous. there are many thousands of traders to-day who not only order comparatively small quantities of supplies at a time from the manufacturer, but leave even these quantities to be stored locally by the railway company, having delivered to them from day to day, or week by week, just as much as they can do with. a certain "free" period is allowed for warehousing, and, if they remove the goods during that period, they pay nothing to the railway company beyond the railway rate. after the free period a small "rent" is charged--a rent which, while representing no adequate return to the railway company for the heavy capital outlay in providing the depôts, is much less than it would cost the trader if he had to build store-rooms for himself, or pay for accommodation elsewhere. other traders, as mentioned in the chapter on "the transition in trade," send goods to the railway warehouses as soon as they are ready, to wait there until an order is completed, and the whole consignment can be despatched; while others again, agents and commission men, carry on a considerable business from a small office, leaving all the handling of the commodities in which they deal to be done by the railway companies. in fact, the situation might be summed up by saying that, under the trading conditions of to-day, railway companies are not only common carriers, but general warehousemen in addition. if inland canals are to take over any part of the transport at present conducted by the railways, they will have to provide the traders with like facilities. so, in addition to buying up and reconstructing the canals; in addition to widenings, and alterations of the gradients of roads and railways passed under; and in addition to the maintenance of towing paths, locks, bridges, tunnels, aqueducts, culverts, weirs, sluices, cranes, wharves, docks, and quay walls, reservoirs, pumping machinery, and so on, there would still be all the subsidiary considerations in regard to warehousing, etc., which would arise when it became a question with the trader whether or not he should avail himself of the improved water transport thus placed at his disposal. for the purposes of reasonable argument i will assume that no really sensible person, knowing anything at all of actual facts and conditions, would attempt to revive the entire canal system of the country.[ ] i have shown on p. , that even in the year it was recognised that some of the canals had been built by speculators simply as a means of abstracting money from the pockets of foolish investors, victims of the "canal mania," and that no useful purpose could be served by them even at a time when there were no competing railways. yet to-day sentimental individuals who, in wandering about the country, come across some of these absolutely useless, though still, perhaps, picturesque survivals, write off to the newspapers to lament over "our neglected waterways," to cast the customary reflections on the railway companies, and to join their voice to the demand for immediate nationalisation or municipalisation, according to their individual leanings, and regardless of all considerations of cost or practicability. derelicts of the type here referred to are not worth considering at all. it is a pity they were not drained and filled in long ago, and given, as it were, a decent burial, if only out of consideration for the feelings of sentimentalists. much more deserving of study are those particular systems which either still carry a certain amount of traffic, or are situated on routes along which traffic might be reasonably expected to flow. but, taking even canals of this type, the reader must see from the considerations i have already presented that resuscitation would be a very costly business indeed. estimates of which i have read in print range from £ , , to £ , , ; but even these omit various important items (mining rights, etc.), which would certainly have to be added, while the probability is that, however high the original estimate in regard to work of this kind, a good deal more would have to be expended before it was finished. the remarks i have here made are based on the supposition that all that is aimed at is such an improvement as would allow of the use of a larger type of canal boat than that now in vogue. but, obviously, the expenditure would be still heavier if there were any idea of adapting the canals to the use of barges similar in size to those employed on the waterways of germany, or craft which, starting from an inland manufacturing town in the midlands, could go on a coasting trip, or make a journey across to the continent. here the capital expenditure would be so great that the cost would be absolutely prohibitive. whatever the precise number of millions the resuscitation scheme might cost, the inevitable question would present itself--how is the money to be raised? the answer thereto would be very simple if the entire expense were borne by the country--that is to say, thrown upon the taxpayers or ratepayers. the problem would then be solved at once. the great drawback to this solution is that most of the said taxpayers or ratepayers would probably object. besides, there is the matter of detail i mentioned in the first chapter: if the state or the municipalities buy up the canals on fair terms, including the canals owned or controlled by the railways, and, in operating them in competition with the railways, make heavy losses which must eventually fall on the taxpayers or ratepayers, then it would be only fair that the railway companies should be excused from such direct increase in taxation as might result from the said losses. in that case the burden would fall still more heavily on the general body of the tax or ratepayers, independently of the railway companies. it would fall, too, with especial severity on those traders who were themselves unable to make use of the canals, but might have to pay increased local rates in order that possible competitors located within convenient reach of the improved waterways could have cheaper transport. it might also happen that when the former class of traders, bound to keep to the railways, applied to the railway companies for some concession to themselves, the reply given would be--"what you suggest is fair and reasonable, and under ordinary circumstances we should be prepared to meet your wishes; but the falling off in our receipts, owing to the competition of state-aided canals, makes it impossible for us to grant any further reductions." an additional disadvantage would thus have to be met by the trader who kept to the railway, while his rival, using the canals, would practically enjoy the benefit of a state subsidy. the alternative to letting the country bear the burden would be to leave the resuscitated canal system to pay for itself. but is there any reasonable probability that it could? the essence of the present day movement is that the traders who would be enabled to use the canals under the improved conditions should have cheaper transport; but if the twenty, fifty, or any other number of millions sterling spent on the purchase and improvement of the canals, and on the provision of indispensable accessories thereto, are to be covered out of the tolls and charges imposed on those using the canals, there is every probability that (if the canals are to pay for themselves) the tolls and charges would have to be raised to such a figure that any existing difference between them and the present railway rates would disappear altogether. that difference is already very often slight enough, and it may be even less than appears to be the case, because the railway rate might include various services, apart from mere haulage--collection, delivery, warehousing, use of coal depôt, etc.--which are not covered by the canal tolls and charges, and the cost of which would have to be added thereto. a very small addition, therefore, to the canal tolls, in order to meet interest on heavy capital expenditure on purchase and reconstruction, would bring waterways and railways so far on a level in regard to rates that the railways, with the superior advantages they offer in many ways, would, inevitably, still get the preference. the revival movement, however, is based on the supposition that no increase in the canal tolls now charged would be necessary.[ ] canal transport, it is said, is already much higher in this country than it is on the continent--and that may well be so, considering ( ) that canals such as ours, with their numerous locks, etc., cost more to construct, operate and maintain than canals on the flat lands of continental europe; ( ) that british canals are still supposed to maintain themselves; and ( ) that canal traffic as well as railway traffic is assessed in the most merciless way for the purposes of local taxation. in the circumstances it is assumed that the canal traffic in england could not pay higher tolls and charges than those already imposed, and that the interest on the aforesaid millions, spent on purchase and improvements, would all be met out of the expanded traffic which the restored canals would attract. again i may ask--is there any reasonable probability of this? bearing in mind the complete transition in trade of which i have already spoken--a transition which, on the one hand, has enormously increased the number of individual traders, and, on the other, has brought about a steady and continuous decrease in the weight of individual consignments--is there the slightest probability that the conditions of trade are going to be changed, and that merchants, manufacturers, and other traders will forego the express delivery of convenient quantities by rail, in order to effect a problematical saving (and especially problematical where extra cartage has to be done) on the tedious delivery of wholesale quantities by canal? nothing short of a very large increase indeed in the water-borne traffic would enable the canals to meet the heavy expenditure foreshadowed, and, even if such increase were secured, the greater part of it would not be new traffic, but simply traffic diverted from the railways. more probably, however, the very large increase would not be secured, and no great diversion from the railways would take place. the paramount and ever-increasing importance attached by the vast majority of british traders to quick delivery (an importance so great that on some lines there are express goods trains capable of running from to miles an hour) will keep them to the greater efficiency of the railway as a carrier of goods; while, if a serious diversion of traffic were really threatened, the british railways would not be handicapped as those of france and germany are in any resort to rates and charges which would allow of a fair competition with the waterways. in practice, therefore, the theory that the canals would become self-supporting, as soon as the aforesaid millions had been spent, must inevitably break down, with the result that the burden of the whole enterprise would then necessarily fall upon the community; and why the trader who consigns his goods by rail, or the professional man who has no goods to consign at all, should be taxed to allow of cheaper transport being conferred on the minority of persons or firms likely to use the canals even when resuscitated, is more than i can imagine, or than they, probably, will be able to realise. the whole position was very well described in some remarks made by mr harold cox, m.p., in the course of a discussion at the society of arts in february , on a paper read by mr r. b. buckley, on "the navigable waterways of india." "there was," he said, "a sort of feeling current at the present time in favour of spending large amounts of the taxpayer's money in order to provide waterways which the public did not want, or at any rate which the public did not want sufficiently to pay for them, which after all was the test. he noticed that everybody who advocated the construction of canals always wanted them constructed with the taxpayer's money, and always wanted them to be worked without a toll. why should not the same principle be applied to railways also? a railway was even more useful to the public than a canal; therefore, construct it with the taxpayer's money, and allow everybody to use it free. it was always possible to get plenty of money subscribed with which to build a railway, but nobody would subscribe a penny towards the building of canals. an appeal was always made to the government. people had pointed to france and germany, which spent large sums of money on their canals. in france that was done because the french parliamentary system was such that it was to the interest of the electorate and the elected to spend the public money on local improvements or non-improvements.... he had been asked, why make any roads? the difference between roads and canals was that on a canal a toll could be levied on the people who used it, but on a road that was absolutely impossible. tolls on roads were found so inconvenient that they had to be given up. there was no practical inconvenience in collecting tolls on canals; and, therefore, the principle that was applied to everything else should apply to canals--namely, that those who wanted them should pay for them." chapter x conclusions and recommendations taking into consideration all the facts and arguments here presented, i may summarise as follows the conclusions at which i have arrived:-- ( ) that, alike from a geographical, physical, and economic point of view, there is no basis for fair comparison between british and continental conditions; consequently our own position must be judged on its own merits or demerits. ( ) that, owing to the great changes in british trade, manufacture, and commerce, giving rise to widespread and still increasing demands for speedy delivery of comparatively small consignments for a great number of traders of every possible type, canal transport in great britain is no longer suited to the general circumstances of the day. ( ) that although a comparatively small number of traders, located in the immediate neighbourhood of the canals, might benefit from a canal-resuscitation scheme, the carrying out of such scheme at the risk, if not at the cost, of the taxpayers, would virtually amount to subsidising one section of the community to the pecuniary disadvantage of other sections. ( ) that the nationalisation or the municipalisation of british canals would introduce a new principle inconsistent with the "private enterprise" hitherto recognised in the case of railways, in which such large sums have been sunk by investors, but with which state-aided canals would compete. ( ) that, in view both of the physical conditions of our land (necessitating an extensive resort to locks, etc., to overcome great differences in level) and of the fact that many of the most important of the canals are now hemmed in by works, houses, or buildings, any general scheme of purchase and improvement, in regard even to main routes (apart from hopeless derelicts), would be extremely costly, and, in most instances, entirely outside the scope of practicability. ( ) that such a scheme, involving an expenditure of many millions, could not fail to affect our national finances. ( ) that there is no ground for expecting so large an outlay could be recouped by increased receipts from the canals, and that the cost would thus inevitably fall upon the community. ( ) that the allegation as to the chief canals of the country, or sections thereof, having been "captured" and "strangled" by the railway companies, in the interests of their own traffic, is entirely unsupported by evidence, the facts being, rather, that in most cases the canals were more or less forced upon the railway companies, who have spent money liberally on such of them as offered reasonable prospect of traffic, and, in that way, have kept alive and in active working condition canals that would inevitably have been added to the number of derelicts had they remained in the hands of canal companies possessed of inadequate capital for the purposes of their efficient maintenance. ( ) that certain of these canals (as, for example, the birmingham and the shropshire union canals) are still offering to traders all reasonable facilities within the limitations of their surroundings and physical possibilities; and that if such canals were required to bear the expense of extremely costly widenings, of lock reconstruction, of increased water supply, and of general improvements, the tolls and charges would have to be raised to such a point that the use of the canals would become prohibitive even to those local traders who now fully appreciate the convenience they still afford. ( ) that, in effect, whatever may be done in the case of navigable rivers, any scheme which aimed at a general resuscitation of canals in this country, at the risk, if not at the expense, of the community, is altogether impracticable; and that, inasmuch as the only desire of the traders, in this connection, is to secure cheaper transport, it is desirable to see whether the same results could not be more effectively, more generally, and more economically obtained in other directions. following up this last conclusion, i beg to recommend:-- (_a_) the desirability of increasing the usefulness of the railway system, which can go anywhere, serve everybody, and carry and deliver consignments, great and small, with that promptness and despatch which are all-important to the welfare of the vast majority of industries and enterprises, as conducted under the trading conditions of to-day. this usefulness, some of the traders allege, is marred by rates and charges which they consider unduly heavy, especially in the case of certain commodities calling for exceptionally low freight, and canal transport is now asked for by them, as against rail transport, just as the traders of wanted the railways as a relief from the waterways. the rates and charges, say the railway companies, are not unreasonable in themselves, considering all the circumstances of the case and the nature of the various services represented, while the actual amount thereof is due, to a certain extent, not so much to any seeking on the part of the companies to pay dividends of abnormal proportions, akin to those of the canal companies of old (the average railway dividend to-day, on over one thousand millions of actual capital, being only about - / per cent.), but to a combination of causes which have increased unduly capital outlay and working expenses, only to be met out of the rates, fares, and charges that are imposed on traders and travellers. among these causes may be mentioned the heavy price the companies have had to pay for their land; the cost of parliamentary proceedings; various requirements imposed by parliament or by government departments; and the heavy burden of the contribution that railway companies make to local rates. (see p. .) these various conditions must necessarily influence the rates and charges to be paid by traders. some of them--such as cost of land--belong to the past; others--like the payments for local taxation--still continue, and tend to increase rather than decrease. in any case, the power of the railway companies to concede to the traders cheaper transport is obviously handicapped. but if, to obtain such cheaper transport, the country is prepared to risk (at least) from £ , , to £ , , on a scheme of canal reconstruction which, as i have shown, is of doubtful utility and practicability, would it not be much more sensible, and much more economical, if the weight of the obligations now cast upon railways were reduced, thus enabling the companies to make concessions in the interests of traders in general, and especially in the interests of those consigning goods to ports for shipment abroad, for whose benefit the canal revival is more particularly sought? (_b_) my second recommendation is addressed to the general trader. his policy of ordering frequent small consignments to meet immediate requirements, and of having, in very many instances, practically no warehouse or store-rooms except the railway goods depôts, is one that suits him admirably. it enables him either to spend less capital or else to distribute his capital over a larger area. he is also spared expense in regard to the provision of warehouse accommodation of his own. but to the railway companies the general adoption of this policy has meant greater difficulty in the making up of "paying loads." to suit the exigencies of present-day trade, they have reduced their _minima_ to as low, for some commodities, as -ton lots, and it is assumed by many of the traders that all they need do is to work up to such _minima_. but a -ton lot for even an -ton waggon is hardly a paying load. still less is a -cwt. consignment a paying load for a similarly sized waggon. where, however, no other consignments for the same point are available, the waggon goes through all the same. in continental countries consignments would be kept back, if necessary, for a certain number of days, in order that the "paying load" might be made up. but in great britain the average trader relies absolutely on prompt delivery, however small the consignment, or whatever the amount of "working expenses" incurred by the railway in handling it. if, however, the trader would show a little more consideration for the railway companies--whom he expects to display so much consideration for him--he might often arrange to send or to receive his consignments in such quantities (at less frequent intervals, perhaps) as would offer better loading for the railway waggons, with a consequent decrease of working expenses, and a corresponding increase in the ability of the railway company to make better terms with him in other directions. much has been done of late years by the railway companies to effect various economies in operation, and excellent results have been secured, especially through the organisation of transhipping centres for goods traffic, and through reductions in train mileage; but still more could be done, in the way of keeping down working expenses and improving the position of the companies in regard to concessions to traders, if the traders themselves would co-operate more with the railways to avoid the disadvantages of unremunerative "light-loading." (_c_) my third and last recommendation is to the agriculturists. i have seen repeated assertions to the effect that improved canals would be of great advantage to the british farmer; and in this connection it may interest the reader if i reproduce the following extract from the pamphlet, issued in , by mr t. g. cumming, under the title of "illustrations of the origin and progress of rail and tram roads and steam carriages," as already mentioned on p. :-- "to the farming interests the advantages of a rail-way will soon become strikingly manifest; for, even where the facilities of a canal can be embraced, it presents but a slow yet expensive mode of conveyance; a whole day will be consumed in accomplishing a distance of miles, whilst by the rail-way conveyance, goods will be carried the same distance in three or four hours, and perhaps to no class of the community is this increased speed of more consideration and value than to the farmer, who has occasion to bring his fruit, garden stuff, and poultry to market, and still more so to such as are in the habit of supplying those great and populous towns with milk and butter, whilst with all these additional advantages afforded by a rail-way, the expense of conveyance will be found considerably cheaper than by canal. "notwithstanding the vast importance to the farmer of having the produce of his farm conveyed in a cheap and expeditious manner to market, it is almost equally essential to him to have a cheap conveyance for manure from a large town to a distant farm; and here the advantages to be derived from a rail-way are abundantly apparent, for by a single loco-motive engine, tons of manure may be conveyed, at a comparatively trifling expense, to any farm within the line of the road. in the article of lime, also, which is one of the first importance to the farmer, there can be no question but the facilities afforded by a rail-way will be the means of diminishing the expense in a very material degree." if railways were desirable in in the interests of agriculture, they must be still more so in , and the reversion now to the canal transport of former days would be a curious commentary on the views entertained at the earlier date. as regards perishables, consigned for sale on markets, growers obviously now want the quickest transport they can secure, and special fruit and vegetable trains are run daily in the summer season for their accommodation. the trader in the north who ordered some strawberries from kent, and got word that they were being sent on by canal, would probably use language not fit for even a fruit and vegetable market to hear. as for non-perishable commodities, consigned to or by agriculturists, the railway is a much better distributer than the canal, and, unless a particular farm were alongside a canal, the extra cost of cartage therefrom might more than outweigh any saving in freight. if greater facilities than the ordinary railway are needed by agriculturists, they will be met far better by light railways, or by railway road-motors of the kind adopted first by the north-eastern railway company at brandsby, than by any possible extension of canals. these road-motors, operated between lines of railway and recognised depôts at centres some distance therefrom, are calculated to confer on agriculturists a degree of practical advantage, in the matter of cheaper transport, limited only by the present unfortunate inability of many country roads to bear so heavy a traffic, and the equally unfortunate inability of the local residents to bear the expense of adapting the roads thereto. if, instead of spending a large sum of money on reconstructing canals, the government devoted some of it to grants to county councils for the reconstruction of rural highways, they would do far more good for agriculture, at least. as for cheaper rail transport for agricultural commodities in general, i have said so much elsewhere as to how these results can be obtained by means of combination that i need not enlarge on that branch of the subject now, further than to commend it to the attention of the british farmer, to whom combination in its various phases will afford a much more substantial advantage than any possible resort to inland navigation. these are the alternatives i offer to proposals which i feel bound to regard as more or less quixotic, and i leave the reader to decide whether, in view of the actualities of the situation, as set forth in the present volume, they are not much more practical than the schemes of canal reconstruction for which public favour is now being sought. appendix the decline in freight traffic on the mississippi whilst this book is passing through the press, i have received from mr stuyvesant fish, president of the illinois central railroad company--whom i asked to favour me with some additional details respecting the decline in freight traffic on the mississippi river--the following interesting notes, drawn up by mr t. j. hudson, general traffic manager of the illinois central:-- the traffic on the mississippi river was established and built up under totally different conditions from those now obtaining, and when the only other means of travel and transportation was on horseback and by waggon, methods not suitable in view of the great distances and the general impassibility of the country. in those days the principal source of supply was st louis--and points reached through st louis--for grain, grain products, etc., excepting that vehicles, machinery, and iron were brought down the ohio river from pittsburg and cincinnati by boat to cairo, and trans-shipped there, or to memphis, and trans-shipped or re-distributed from that place. the distributing points on the lower mississippi river were memphis, vicksburg, natchez, bayou sara, baton rouge and new orleans. goods were shipped to these points and re-shipped from there over small railroads to short distances, and also hauled by waggon and re-shipped on boats plying in local trade on the mississippi river and tributary streams. for example, there were boat lines making small landing points above and below memphis, and above and below vicksburg; also boat lines plying the yazoo and tallahatchie rivers on the east, and the white, arkansas and red rivers on the west, etc. all the goods shipped by steamboat were hauled by waggon or dray to the steamboat landing, and, when discharged by the boats at destination, were again hauled by waggon from the landing to the stores and warehouses, even in those cases in which re-shipment was made from points like memphis, vicksburg, etc. when re-shipped by river, the goods were again hauled to the steamboat landing, and, when reaching the local landing or point of final consumption, after being discharged on the bank, were again hauled by waggon or dray, perhaps for considerable distances into the interior. while the cost of water transportation is primarily low, the frequent handling and re-handling made this mode of transportation more or less expensive, and in some instances quite costly. river transportation again is slow, taking longer time in transit. the frequent handlings, further, were damaging and destructive to the packages in the case of many kinds of goods. transportation on the rivers was also at times interrupted or delayed from one cause or another, such as high water or low water, and the service was, in consequence, more or less irregular, thus requiring dealers to carry large stocks on which the insurance and interest was a considerable item of expense. with the development of the railroads through the country, not only was competition brought into play to the distributing points along the river, such as memphis, vicksburg, etc., from st louis, cincinnati, and pittsburg, but also from other initial sources of supply which were not located on rivers, but were enabled by reason of the establishment of rail transportation to consign direct; whereas under the old conditions it was necessary for them to consign to some river point and trans-ship. what was still more important and effective in accomplishing the results since brought about was the material benefit conferred by the railroads on most of the communities situated back from the river. these communities had previously been obliged to send their consignments perhaps many miles by road to some point on the river, whence the commodities were carried to some other point, there to be taken by waggon or dray to the place of consumption--another journey of many miles, perhaps, by road. progress was slow, and in some instances almost impossible, while only small boats could be hauled. then the construction of railroads led to the development of important distributing points in the interior, such as jackson, (tennessee), and jackson, (mississippi), not to mention many others. goods loaded into railroad cars on tracks alongside the mills, factories and warehouses could be unloaded at destination into warehouses and stores which also had their tracks alongside. by this means drayage was eliminated, and the packages could be delivered in clean condition. neither of these conditions was possible where steamboat transportation was employed. interior points are now enabled to buy direct, either in large or small quantities, from initial sources of supply, and without the delay and expense incident to shipment to river-distributing points, and trans-shipment by rail or steamboat or hauling by waggon. rail transportation is also more frequent, regular, rapid and reliable; not to mention again the convenience which is referred to above. the transportation by river of package-freight, such as flour, meal, meat, canned goods, dry goods, and other commodities, has been almost entirely superseded by rail transportation, except in regard to short-haul local landings, where the river is more convenient, and the railroad may not be available. there is some south-bound shipment of wire, nails, and other iron goods from the pittsburg district to distributing points like memphis and new orleans, but in these cases the consignments are exclusively in barge-load lots. the only other commodity to which these conditions apply is coal. this is taken direct from the mines in the pittsburg district, and dropped into barges on the monongahela river; and these are floated down the river, during periods of high water, in fleets of from fifty to several hundred barges at a time. there is no movement of grain in barges from st louis to new orleans, as was the case a great many years ago. the grain for export _viâ_ new orleans is now largely moved direct in cars from the country elevators to the elevators at new orleans, from which latter the grain is loaded direct into ships. there is, also, some movement north-bound in barges of lumber and logs from mills and forests not accessible to railroads, but very little movement of these or other commodities from points that are served by railroad rails. lumber to be shipped on the river must be moved in barge-load quantities, and taken to places like st louis, where it has to be hauled from the barge to lumber yards, and then loaded on railroad cars, if it is going to the interior, where a considerable proportion of the quantity handled will be wanted. mills reached by railroad tracks can, and do, load in car-load quantities, and ship to the final point of use, without the delay incident to river transportation, and the expense involved by transfer or re-shipment. it is not to be inferred from the foregoing that all the distributing points along the river have dried up since the development of rail transportation. in fact, the contrary is the case, because the railroads have opened up larger territories to these distributing points, and in regard to many kinds of goods these river points have become, in a way, initial sources of supply as well as of manufacture. memphis, for example, has grain brought to its elevators direct from the farms, the same as st louis, and can and does ship on short notice to the many towns and communities in the territory surrounding. there are, also, flour and meal mills, iron foundries, waggon and furniture factories, etc., at memphis, and at other places. many of the points, however, which were once simply landings for interior towns and communities have now become comparatively insignificant. to sum up in a few words, i should say that the railroads have overcome the steamboat competition on the mississippi river, not only by affording fair and reasonable rates, but also because rail transportation is more frequent, rapid, reliable, and convenient, and is, on the whole, much cheaper. footnotes: [ ] that canals also played their part in the transport of passengers a hundred years ago is shown by the following items of news, which i take from _the times_ of :-- friday, _december_ , . "the first division of the troops that are to proceed by the paddington canal for liverpool, and thence by transports for dublin, will leave paddington to-day, and will be followed by others to-morrow and sunday. by this mode of conveyance the men will be only seven days in reaching liverpool, and with comparatively little fatigue, as it would take them above fourteen days to march that distance. relays of fresh horses for the canal boats have been ordered to be in readiness at all the stages." monday, _december_ , . "saturday the th regiment embarked at the paddington canal for liverpool, in a number of barges, each containing men. this regiment consists of men. the th regiment embarked at the same time in eighteen barges: they are all to proceed to liverpool. the dukes of york and sussex witnessed the embarkation. the remainder of the brigade was to follow yesterday, and friday next another and very considerable embarkation will follow." [ ] illustrations of the origin and progress of rail and tram roads, and steam carriages, or locomotive engines. by t. g. cumming, surveyor, denbigh, . [ ] a letter on the subject of the projected rail-road between liverpool and manchester, pointing out the necessity for its adoption, and the manifest advantages it offers to the public; with an exposure of the exorbitant and unjust charges of the water-carriers. by joseph sandars, esq., liverpool, . [ ] mersey and irwell navigation. [ ] another of the speakers, mr gordon c. thomas, engineer to the grand junction canal company, said that "notwithstanding the generous expenditure on maintenance, and the large sums recently spent upon improvements, the through traffic on the grand junction was only one-half of what it was fifty years ago, and now the through traffic was in many cases unable to pay as high a rate as the local traffic." [ ] in the evidence he gave before the royal commission on canals and waterways on st march , sir herbert jekyll, assistant secretary to the board of trade, said (as reported in _the times_ of nd march):--"one remarkable feature was noticeable--that, although the tonnage carried rather increased than diminished between and , the receipts fell off enormously, pointing to the conclusion that the railway competition had brought about a large reduction in canal companies charges. it was also noteworthy that on many canals the decrease in receipts had continued out of all proportion to the decrease, if any, in the tonnage carried." [ ] in mr saner's paper the birmingham canal navigations are classed among the "independently-owned canals," and mr saner says:--"there are , miles owned by railway companies, which convey only , , tons per annum, and produce a net profit of only £ per mile of navigation. this," he adds, "appears to afford clear proof that the railways do not attempt to make the most of the canals under their control." but when the birmingham canal, with its , , tons of traffic a year, is transferred (as it ought to be) from the independently-owned to the railway-controlled canals, entirely different figures are shown. [ ] the fact that coal tipped into a canal boat would have a longer drop than coal falling from the colliery screen into railway waggons is important because of the greater damage done to the coal, and the consequent decrease in value. [ ] fuller information respecting traffic conditions in continental countries will be found in my book on "railways and their rates." [ ] the figures for the years to are taken from the "report of the committee on canals of new york state," , general francis v. greene, chairman; and those for and from the "annual report of superintendent of public works, new york state," . [ ] "the st lawrence river and the great lakes whose waters flow through it into the atlantic form a continuous waterway extending from the fond du lac, at the head of lake superior, to the straits of belle isle, a distance of , miles.... emptying into the st lawrence ... are the ottawa and richlieu rivers, the former bringing it into communication with the immense timber forests of ontario, and the latter connecting it with lake champion in the united states. these rivers were the thoroughfares in peace and the base lines in war for the indian tribes long before the white man appeared in the western hemisphere.... the early colonists found them the convenient and almost the only channels of intercourse among themselves and with the home country.... the st lawrence was navigable for sea-going vessels as far as montreal, but between montreal and the foot of lake ontario there was a succession of rapids separated by navigable reaches.... the head of navigation on the ottawa river is the city of ottawa.... between this city and the mouth of the river there are several impassable rapids. the richlieu was also so much obstructed at various points as to be unavailable for navigation.... the canal system of canada ... has been established to overcome these obstructions by artificial channels at various points to render freely navigable the national routes of transportation."--_"highways of commerce," issued by the bureau of statistics, department of state, washington._ [ ] the use of a larger type of canal boat is generally regarded as an essential part of the resuscitation scheme. but of the narrow boats now in active service in the canals of the united kingdom there are from , to , . what is to be done with these? if they are scrap-heaped, and fresh boats substituted, we increase still further the sum total of the outlay the scheme will involve. [ ] at the society of arts' conference on canals, in , mr l. f. vernon-harcourt said:--"the statistics show that great caution must be exercised in the selection of canal routes for improvement, if they are to prove a commercial success, and that the scope for such schemes is strictly limited. any attempt at a general revival and improvement of the canal system throughout england cannot prove financially successful, as local canals, through thinly populated agricultural districts, could not compete with railways. these routes alone should be selected for enlargement of waterway which lead direct from the sea to large and increasing towns like the proposed canal from the bristol channel to birmingham, or which, like the aire and calder navigation and the leeds and liverpool canal, are suitably set for the conveyance of coal and general bulky goods to populous districts. one or two through routes to london from manufacturing centres, or from coal-mining districts, might have a prospect of success, provided the existing canals along the route could be acquired at a small cost, and the necessary improvement works were not heavy." [ ] there are even those who argue that the resuscitated canals should be toll free. index agriculture and canals, , - aire and calder navigation, , , allport, sir james, , aqueducts, association of chambers of commerce, , barnsley canal, belgium, waterways in, - , birmingham canal, , , - , , boats, size of, , , brecknock and abergavenny canal, brecon canal, bridgewater canal, - , , - , bridgewater, duke of, - , bridgwater and taunton canal, brindley, james, - , , brunner, sir john t., buckley, mr r. b., caledonian railway company, - canada, waterways in, - canals, earliest, in england, - ; canal mania, ; passenger traffic, - ; shares and dividends, , , ; tolls and charges, - , - ; handicapped, ; attitude towards railways, - ; kennet and avon, - ; shropshire union, - ; forth and clyde, - ; "strangulation" theory, - ; birmingham canal, - ; coal traffic, - ; canals and waterways on the continent, - ; in the united states, - ; in england, - ; in canada, - ; conclusions and recommendations, - capitalists, attitude of, carnegie, mr, chesapeake and delaware canal, chesapeake and ohio canal, chesterfield canal, , child, messrs, coal, , , - , , - , - consignments, sizes of, continental conditions, , - , , , cost of reconstruction, - cotton, raw, - coventry canal, cox, m.p., mr harold, cromford canal, cumming, mr t. g., , - dixon, professor f. h., , dredging, electrical installations, ellesmere canal, , , engineers and canal question, erie canal, the, - , fish, mr stuyvesant, - forth and clyde navigation, - france, waterways in, , frost on canals, , , _gentleman's magazine_, geographical conditions, , - , - germany, waterways in, , , - glass, mr john, government guarantee, grand junction canal, , , , grand western canal, great northern railway, , great western railway company, - , , , grinling, mr c. h., hertslet, sir e. cecil, holland, waterways in, , , huddersfield narrow canal, , hudson, george, inglis, mr j. c., - , jackson, mr luis, - jebb, mr g. r., jekyll, sir herbert, kennet and avon canal, , - , lancashire and yorkshire railway company, lancaster canal, , languedoc canal, leeds and liverpool canal, , leicester and swinnington railway, lift at anderton, - liverpool and manchester railway, , - , liverpool merchants, petition from, - local taxation, - , , - locks, , , , , , - , london and north-western railway company, , , - , - london, brighton and south coast railway company, london county council, loughborough canal, , , macclesfield canal, manchester and bury canal, manchester ship canal, mcadam, j. l., - mechanical haulage, - , - , - meiklejohn, professor, mersey and irwell navigation, , , , mersey harbour board, midland railway, , , , mining operations and canals, , - , - mississippi, the, - monmouthshire canal, , morrison, mr, - manchester, sheffield and lincoln railway company (great central), municipalisation schemes, - , nationalisation of canals, , , neath canal, north british railway, north-eastern railway, old union canal, oxford canal, packhorse period, the, , , paddington canal, - physical conditions, , - , political conditions, - principle, questions of, - private enterprise, , , profits on canals, , , , , public trusts, - pumping machinery, - , _quarterly review_, - , railways, position of companies as ratepayers, - ; cost of railway construction and operation, - ; effect on railway rates, ; advent of, - ; liverpool and manchester railway, , , ; leicester and swinnington railway, ; midland railway, ; great northern railway, ; attitude of canal companies towards, - ; control of canals, - , - ; railways in germany, - ; in france, ; recommendations, - ratepayers, liability of, - , rates, regulation of, on railways and canals, - regents canal, rennie, road-motors, rochdale canal, , , ross, mr a., - royal commission on canals and waterways, sandars, mr joseph, , - , , saner, mr j. a., , , sankey brook and st helen's canal, saunders, mr h. j., , select committee on canals ( ), sheffield and south yorkshire navigation, shropshire union canal, - , - , somerset coal canal, speed, , staffordshire and worcestershire canal, stalbridge, lord, stephenson, george, stephenson, robert, stourbridge extension canal, "strangulation" theory, , stratford-upon-avon canal, swansea canal, , taxpayers, how affected, , , telford, thames and severn canal, thames steamboat service, thomas, mr g. c., thwaite, mr, trade, changes in, , - , - , , - , - traders, advice to, - trent and mersey navigation, , , , , , , , troops, transport of, by canal, - tunnels, canal, ulrich, herr franz, united states, waterways in, - vernon-harcourt, mr l. f., walker, colonel, f. n. t., water-supply for canals, , , , - , - , , , , - wheeler, mr w. h., widenings, , , wilts and berks canal, worcester and birmingham canal, , , , works by edwin a. pratt the transition in agriculture _crown vo. pp. illustrations and plans. s. net._ "a book of great value to all interested in farming. discusses, as correctly as possible, the hopeful development of subsidiary branches of agriculture, the prospects of co-operation, and the principles on which small holdings may be increased."--_the outlook._ the organization of agriculture _cheaper and enlarged edition. paper covers. s. net._ "the first impression produced on the mind of the thoughtful reader by a perusal of mr pratt's book is that, in one form or another, agricultural co-operation is inevitable.... to attempt to stand against the pressure of cosmopolitan conditions is as futile as mrs partington's attempt to keep back the atlantic with a mop."--_guardian._ railways and their rates with an appendix on the british canal problem _cheap edition. paper covers. s. net._ "a valuable book for railwaymen, traders, and others who are interested, either theoretically or practically, in the larger aspect of the economic problem of how goods are best brought to market."--_scotsman._ our waterways a history of inland navigation considered as a branch of water conservancy by urquhart a. forbes of lincoln's inn, barrister-at-law; and w. h. r. ashford _with a map especially prepared to illustrate the book. demy vo. s. net._ "the history of these canals and waterways, and of the law relating to them, is clearly set forth in the excellent work. should become _the_ standard work of reference upon the subject."--_the standard._ municipal trade the advantages and disadvantages resulting from the substitution of representative bodies for private proprietors in the management of industrial undertakings by major leonard darwin author of "bimetallism." _demy vo. s. net._ "this work should be carefully studied, for there cannot be a better guide to the understanding and solution of a difficult problem."--_local government chronicle._ modern tariff history showing the origin and growth of tariffs in germany france, and the united states by percy ashley, m.a. lecturer at the london school of economics in the university of london with an introduction by the rt. hon. r. b. haldane, ll.d., k.c., m.p. _demy vo. s. d. net._ "... a careful, fair, and accurate review of the modern fiscal history of three countries."--_times._ local and central government a comparative study of england, france, prussia, and the united states by percy ashley, m.a. the british trade year-book covering the years - , and showing the course of trade by john holt schooling _with tables, each containing several sections of british or of international trade. diagrams and various abstract tables. s. d. net._ this is the only book that shows the course of trade. "we believe, after careful examination, that mr schooling has dealt in a strictly honest and impartial fashion with the material at his disposal. readers of the book cannot fail to get much insight into the course of trade from mr schooling's clear-sighted methods."--_times._ the principles and methods of taxation by g. armitage smith principal of birkbeck college. _crown vo. s._ chapter i.--the grounds and nature of public expenditure. ii.--sources of imperial revenue, and theories of taxation. iii.--principles of taxation. iv.--direct taxation--taxes on property and income. v.--indirect taxation--taxes on commodities and acts. vi.--incidence of taxation. vii.--national debts. viii.--some other revenue systems. ix.--local taxation. the railways and the traders a sketch of the railway rates question in theory and practice by w. m. acworth, m.a. (oxon.), and of the inner temple, barrister-at-law. _new impression. crown vo. in paper covers. s. net._ london: john murray, albemarle street, w. printed at the edinburgh press, and young street * * * * * transcriber's notes minor punctuation and printer errors repaired. italic text is denoted by _underscores_ transcriber's note italic text is denoted by _underscores_. bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. fractions have been left in the form a/b except for ¼ ½ ¾. a dozen or so occurrences of 'nn a-b' have been changed to 'nn-a/b', mainly on pages - , for consistency. footnote anchors in a table are of the form (a) and the corresponding footnote is placed at the bottom of that table. other footnote anchors are of the form [a] with placement at the end of that chapter. to save table space some column headings use the following abbreviations: pass. for passenger mill. for millions prop. for proportion many wide tables have been split into two or more parts. each part after the first is labelled at the top with {table continued}. obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. more detail can be found at the end of the book. the railway library a collection of noteworthy chapters, addresses and papers relating to railways, mostly published during the year. compiled and edited by slason thompson manager of the bureau of railway news and statistics chicago chicago the gunthorp-warren printing co table of contents page introduction pre-railway era in america by f. a. cleveland and f. w. powell. first annual report of the chief engineer of the pennsylvania railroad company by j. edgar thomson. railways and the pacific northwest by james j. hill. southern railways and their needs by john f. wallace. problems confronting american railways by daniel willard. the railroad situation of to-day by frank trumbull. transportation charge and prices by logan g. mcpherson. the freight rate primer issued by the n. y. c. & h. r. r. r. co. progressive safety in railway operation by a. h. smith. railway mail pay by julius kruttschnitt. the diminished purchasing power of railway earnings by c. c. mccain. the railroads and public approval by edward p. ripley. railroads and the public by john c. spooner. railroad problems of to-day by j. b. thayer. the relation of the railroads to the state by w. m. acworth, m. a. railway nationalization by sir george s. gibb. concerning advances in railway rates by the senate committee on interstate commerce, . statistics of american railways for by slason thompson. i mileage in ii equipment iii employes and their compensation iv capitalization v cost of construction vi ownership of american railways vii public service of the railways viii earnings and expenses ix taxes x damages and injuries to persons xi locomotive fuel xii the safety of american railways xiii railway receiverships in xiv cost of railway regulation xv statistics of foreign railways xvi growth of railways recommendations index introduction in the following pages is presented a number of the more timely papers and addresses of the year on the present railway situation, together with chapters from two books of current interest on the same subject. as the object of the compilation has been to present in permanent and accessible form information in regard to american railways worthy of more than the ephemeral life of newspaper or pamphlet publication, it has been thought well to accompany the messages of today with a brief glance at the conditions on this continent before the days of railways. happily for this purpose the first two chapters of messrs. cleveland and powell's "railroad promotion and capitalization in the united states," fresh from the press, afforded the very background needed, and the first report of the engineer of the pennsylvania railroad provided the glasses through which the reader can look forward from the small beginnings to what is now known as the greatest railway system on the globe. after this study of conditions as they were, and of the opportunities that invited the railway pioneers of , it is instructive to read the utterances of the latest of our empire builders, whose foresight and indomitable will anticipated the development of our pacific northwest with railway facilities that already lag behind the necessities of its amazing growth. of the other addresses and papers it is unnecessary to say more than that they reflect the prevailing sentiments of all thoughtful railway officials respecting conditions of the gravest import to the great industry upon which the entire fabric of our national prosperity and well-being depends. only the shallowest student of our social, economic and political system can view the persistent attacks upon the american system of transportation without serious alarm for the results. this alarm is the prevailing note of these papers and it comes from men who are at the helm and who see the financial breakers upon which the fierce blasts of political exigency are driving the railways. the papers by sir george s. gibbs and mr. a. m. acworth, the leading authorities on british railways, discuss the alternative to wisely regulated railways--nationalization of railways. with a continuance of unwise and burdensome regulation of railways, which strips responsibility of all discretion, nationalization is inevitable. the bureau's statistics of american railways for the year ending june , , is included in the railway library because it affords the latest data not only as to the railways of the united states but for the world. acknowledgments are made to the authors and publishers of the various papers, and especially to the publishers of the two works from which important chapters have been extracted by their courteous permission, as well as that of their authors. if this publication fulfils the purpose of its compilation, it will be succeeded by annual volumes of like character under the same title. s. t. chicago, june , . pre-railway era in america from chapters i and ii of "railroad promotion and capitalization in the united states," by f. a. cleveland and e. w. powell. longmans, green & co., . (by permission of the authors.) inland transportation, as we know it, is the product of the last century. it had its beginning in the industrial revolution. in england at the close of the eighteenth century the manor as a productive agency had been supplanted by a system of domestic production, and this in turn was giving place to the factory. the combined influences of increasing capital and invention had operated to centralize the industrial population in the towns. ocean commerce was comparatively well developed, and manufacture was fast being established upon a modern basis; but inland transportation was still encumbered by such primitive methods as to make difficult the utilization of the resources of the interior. a century and a half before, lord bacon had called attention to the three great elements necessary to make a nation great and prosperous--"a fertile soil, busy workshops, and easy conveyance of men and things from one place to another,"--but the significance of this reflection was not appreciated until after the middle of the eighteenth century. the controlling force of custom--social inertia--had stood in the way of progress. in england. until about the opening of the nineteenth century the principal manufacturing towns of great britain were situated on or near the coast; for in the inland country goods were still carried on the backs of men, or hauled in carts over heavy roads. said lardner: "the internal transport of goods in england was performed by wagon, and was not only intolerably slow, but so expensive as to exclude every object except manufactured articles, and such as, being of light weight and small bulk in proportion to their value, would allow of a high rate of transport. thus the charge for carriage by wagon from london to leeds was at the rate of £ ($ . ) a ton, being ½d. ( cents) per ton per mile. between liverpool and manchester it was s. ($ . ) a ton, or d. ( cents) per ton per mile. heavy articles, such as coal and other materials, could only be available for commerce where their position favored transport by sea, and, consequently, many of the richest districts of the kingdom remained unproductive, awaiting the tardy advancement of the art of transport." in america. before the revolution the american colonists lived in almost complete isolation. travel by land was limited, for water communication presented fewer obstacles to progress. population was arranged along the seaboard, or in isolated groups a short distance inland. living narrow, self-centered lives, each community developed a distinct dialect and characteristic customs and dress. social activities were limited to going to mill, market and church, or exchanging friendly calls; traveling on foot or on horseback along wooded trails. even between seacoast towns there was little interchange of products or population; and a citizen of one colony going to another was at once struck with the many local peculiarities. it was less than twenty years before the revolutionary war when the first stage line was opened between new york and philadelphia, and three days were then required for a single trip. it was ten years later when the first stage line was established between philadelphia and baltimore. methods of travel and transport. between towns of considerable size there were country roads over which vehicles could pass when the weather would permit. the stage coach, which was the only public land conveyance, plied along the coast and between a few inland centers, but the coaches of that day were rude boxes swung on wheels by leathern straps instead of springs, with seats for a dozen or more and accommodations for a limited amount of baggage. the rate of travel was from two to six miles an hour, according to the condition of the roads and the importance of the route. on the farm the mud-boat or stone sledge was in common use, and at times it was even employed to carry produce to local markets. in more progressive communities two-wheeled carts and wagons were to be found. the best of roads, however, were nothing but "mud roads"; and the wagons, commonly of the linchpin type, were clumsy and awkward. some of the more primitive wagons had wheels made of cross sections of trees, trimmed and centered to roll on axles of wood. those who traveled had little thought of time; companionship found expression in story-telling, gossip and tippling; and an emergency which required all to get out and "take a wheel" only added spice to the trip. we have the following description of the roads about philadelphia, the metropolis and commercial center of the new world: "on the best lines of communication the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous. * * * near the great cities the state of the roads was so bad as to render all approach difficult and dangerous. out of philadelphia a quagmire of black mud covered a long stretch of road near the village of rising sun. there horses were often seen floundering in the mud up to their bellies. on the york road, long lines of wagons were every day to be met with, drawn up near logan's hill, while the wagoners unhitched their teams, to assist each other in pulling through the mire. at some places, stakes were set up to warn teams of the quicksand pits; at others, the fences were pulled down, and a new road made through the fields." transportation facilities were either entirely lacking or such as to make travel both expensive and hazardous. it is difficult to realize that as late as the roads over a large part of pennsylvania were narrow paths which had been made through the woods by indians and traders. absence of roads in the interior. the isolation of interior settlements finds apt illustration in the wyoming valley. this rich region along the susquehanna had been until almost completely cut off from the outer world. a small colony had moved in from the east, and taking color of title from connecticut, disclaimed the sovereignty of the quaker proprietary. war consequently broke out between this isolated settlement and the pennsylvania government. several military expeditions were sent out to reduce the "yankees" to submission; but the absence of roads and the necessity of carrying provisions on horseback left the determined pioneers masters of the situation when the larger issue, the revolutionary war, suspended local strife. the spring after burgoyne's surrender at saratoga the settlers of the wyoming valley learned that a detachment of johnson's "royal greens" and butler's "rangers," with a company of tories, had allied themselves with the seneca indians, and were preparing to descend upon the valley. a courier was despatched to congress, and appeals for aid were made to the neighboring states, but the isolation which had before served for defense now brought disaster. with the june freshet the british allies came down from tioga, and nothing but ruins were left to mark the scene. one of the reasons urged for the removal of the state capitol from philadelphia to harrisburg in was the cost of travel, which bore heavily upon legislators from the interior. the roads of new england. the early settlers of springfield, massachusetts, were obliged to send their household goods from roxbury around by way of long island sound and the connecticut river, but they themselves were able to proceed on foot along an indian trail. in time this trail was widened, and as the "bay path" and the "boston road" occupied an important place among the transportation routes of the colonies. it was, however, little more than a narrow wagon path until after the revolution, and so indistinct was it that travelers frequently wandered off the route. a curious stone post marks the place near the national armory at springfield, where in a western massachusetts merchant lost his way, and set up a guide for other travelers. even as late as there were but two stages between boston and new york, and a week was required for the journey. john bernard, the english actor, thus described a typical new england road in : "though far better than in any other quarter of the union, the frequent jolts and plunges of the vehicle brought it into sad comparison with the bowling-greens of england. very often we surprised a family of pigs taking a bath in a gully of sufficient compass to admit the coach. as often, such chasms were filled with piles of stones that, at a distance, looked like indian tumuli. the driver's skill in steering was eminent. i found there were two evils to be dreaded in new england traveling--a clayey soil in wet weather, which, unqualified with gravel, made the road a canal; and a sandy one in summer, which might emphatically be called an enormous insect preserve." such testimony makes real the difficulties which attended travel over the important routes, and enables one to understand how it could have required washington nearly two weeks to make the trip from philadelphia to cambridge at the outbreak of the revolution. after the revolutionary war. before the revolution the subject of road improvement was seldom considered in public assemblies, and the early laws contain few provisions even for common roads. those who proposed measures for general improvement met with little encouragement. as early as william penn suggested the practicability of a waterway from the schuylkill to the susquehanna. in david rittenhouse of philadelphia, and provost smith of the university of pennsylvania, proposed a similar project, and made surveys of the route by the swatara and the tulpehocken; in the american philosophical society interested itself in a canal survey between chesapeake bay and the delaware, recommending the enterprise to the public. in governor moore of new york projected a canal around the canajoharie falls of the mohawk. but to none of these suggestions was there any active response, for the time was not ripe for such undertakings. contributing to the road-making impulse immediately after the war of independence was a newly awakened community interest. at the time of the adoption of the constitution there were two distinct classes in the united states: a highly localized class of the seaboard and of the inland trade routes, and a widely distributed agricultural class. american commerce was largely confined to american products. england, france and holland monopolized the trade of their colonies, and in other ways favored their own merchantmen in foreign trade. such being the condition, our commercial advantage lay in the development of our own resources. the settlement of the middle atlantic states and of the valleys of the interior only served to strengthen the interdependence of the people, who found a common interest in internal improvements. to the agriculturist, cheap conveyance to market was a prerequisite to profitable industry. to the commercial class on the seaboard and on the leading trade routes, inland improvement was at that time no less important. first era of road making. there was a notable change in the popular attitude toward road making after the war, and all public-spirited men now saw in better means of communication an instrument for the establishing of american supremacy over the western continent. legislatures made generous appropriations for highways. an active migration set in from new york and northern pennsylvania to the west. in the first regular mail service was established between albany and schenectady. in the horse path from albany to the connecticut valley was widened to a wagon road. like activity in road making was shown throughout southern and western new york, middle pennsylvania, maryland and virginia. in pennsylvania appropriated $ , to lay out a road from a point near the mouth of the juanita to pittsburgh. in an act was passed appropriating $ , "to view and open a road from lehigh water gap to wyoming," which was the first road into that valley from the delaware. in another road was authorized between the susquehanna and the delaware. activity in opening communication with the interior increased until by the movement had assumed proportions to be styled a "mania." by a single act over $ , was appropriated for the improvement of eleven rivers and over a score of roads in different parts of the state. other acts were passed at the same session, granting charters and appropriations for various transportation enterprises. new york in authorized the raising by _lotteries_ of $ , for the improvement of various roads throughout the state. as if by common impulse, all the states now became interested in road improvement, and congress was asked to aid by this means the opening up of the resources of the interior. beginning of the canals and pikes. the low cost of water transportation had early directed popular attention to canals as a means of overcoming obstructions in natural water courses, thereby serving the needs of the inland population, and also providing the means for diverting trade from one seaport to another. the revolutionary war was hardly over when charles carroll organized a company to open a canal about the obstructions in the lower susquehanna. those who took the most active interest in canal construction at this time were men who, like washington, viewed the future with patriotic interest. this interest, however, was one which did not appeal to the private investor. an enterprise based upon such public consideration required government support. this period also marked the beginning of turnpike construction. the first turnpike road in this country of which we have a record was built between alexandria and the lower shenandoah. it was begun in - , and its completion was the cause of great satisfaction to jefferson and other public-spirited men of virginia, who had labored in the cause of a "broader national life." alexandria was at that time an important competitor of the other seaboard cities. across the maryland peninsula on the chesapeake lay baltimore, a commercial rival of both alexandria and philadelphia. in the grand jury sitting at baltimore called attention to the deplorable condition of the roads leading to that city, and urged the authorities to take immediate action. as a result, the county government ordered the old frederick, reistertown and york roads turnpiked at public expense. to the west of philadelphia lay the susquehanna valley. the natural outlet of this growing region was down the chesapeake to baltimore. to attract traffic to the quaker city a company was organized in philadelphia in to build the lancaster pike, which was the first turnpike in this country built by voluntary subscription. effect of european wars on american situation. the outbreak of the european wars in was followed by a marked change in the american industrial situation. the immediate effect upon the grain growing of the west was to increase the demand for wheat. prices of cereals rose to twice their former height. the average price of flour during the seven years from to had been about $ . a barrel; the average price from to (the two years of peace, and , excluded) was $ . . such was the inducement to grain growing during this period. back from the north atlantic coast radiated rich valleys--large tracts of agricultural lands which were well adapted to grain growing. a rush set in for the unclaimed resources of new york, pennsylvania and maryland, and for a time the tide of migration moved to the westward along the ohio, and the border of the great lakes. those who cultivated lands near the coast shared in the increased prosperity due to the european disturbance, but unless they could obtain better means of transportation, those who had located inland soon found that they could profit little. grain as compared with cotton and tobacco was a low priced product. at best, the cost of transportation was ten dollars a ton for each hundred-mile haul; in many places it was much higher. americans turn to home markets. before the country had come to be divided into three sections: the commercial, shipbuilding east, the cotton and tobacco exporting south, and the isolated grain growing interior, linked with which was a languishing manufacturing interest on or near the seaboard. beyond a limited range the producing proportion of our population could not participate in the profits of the european trade. the grain growers demanded a market, and the manufacturers saw their profits swept away by an influx of foreign goods. these were the interests which suffered from the diversion of capital to shipbuilding and foreign trade. both looked to internal improvements as a solution of their troubles; their only hope was in a _home market_--in better roads, and in the development of the resources about them. in the united states agriculturist and manufacturer turned to the national government for relief. but so long as the administration remained in the hands of the foreign trade party, the way was blocked to internal improvements. during the first three administrations after the adoption of the constitution, the individualistic republicans had been unable to gain control of the government; but with the admission of kentucky, tennessee and ohio and the settlement of the parts of the sea coast states remote from transportation facilities, the anti-commercial constituency gained the balance of power. it was to the voters of these new regions that jefferson owed his success. it was to satisfy the demands of the west for an outlet to the gulf that louisiana was purchased. to satisfy the insistent demand for internal improvements the national government also built the cumberland road, and contributed to many other transportation projects. it was the open hostility of the west and south toward the commercial east which forced the embargo, and broke down the domination of the seaboard interests in national affairs. river traffic developed by private capital. the inland routes which required the least capital to utilize in a primitive way were the rivers. here the chief obstacle was the current. in the early nineteenth century long lines of rafts, flat-boats and "arks" might be seen floating down the connecticut, the hudson, the susquehanna and the potomac. there were , miles of rivers tributary to the atlantic seaboard which were navigable, or which needed only to be cleared of snags and rocks to render them available for use by small craft. it was estimated that on the eastern slope there were about , miles of streams which might be utilized by the construction of locks and canals. in the mississippi valley there were , miles of navigable rivers, and about , more which were considered possibilities. but with a three or four-mile current it was impracticable to row, pole or warp a boat and cargo upstream for a long distance. the result was that along those streams which nature had provided as highways the producer first built his boat out of the timbers of the forest, then loaded it with the produce of his farm or mill, and floated down stream to market. upon reaching his destination, he abandoned his craft and returned by stage or on foot. this was indeed an expensive process--expensive in time, expensive in funds and expensive in human effort. it was an expense of production, however, and one which did not require capitalization. it was not until that the steamboat became a commercial success. at this time new york was becoming well settled, and as the hudson was a natural highway a boat which could drive against wind and stream had every promise of success. robert fulton, who had been interested in the problem of steam navigation since , returned from europe after several years of investigation, and brought back one of watt's engines. he obtained the financial co-operation of chancellor livingston, and together they obtained a monopoly of steam navigation in new york waters. a boat was fitted with the watt engine, and a successful trip was made from new york to albany and return. the route yielded large profits from the start, and other boats were built. by six boats were doing a profitable business on the hudson. the success of fulton and livingston proved attractive to others. crowded out of new york's waters by the monopoly, john stevens, in , took a steamboat around from hoboken into the delaware. the phoenix now found business so good in those waters where fitch had failed that it was soon followed by two other boats. soon the whole atlantic seaboard, including the st. lawrence, was supplied with steam craft. but enterprise in steamboat navigation was not confined to the coast. business opportunities in the mississippi valley attracted the attention of one nicholas roosevelt, who proposed to fulton and livingston that he would make a trip to new orleans to survey the prospects for an inland water route, with the understanding that they should finance a steamboat line if his report was favorable. so favorable was it that he was placed in charge of the construction of a river boat at pittsburg, and in the _new orleans_ made her maiden trip down the mississippi. thereafter roosevelt's boat took a regular route between new orleans and natchez. other boats were added, but it was not until that a voyage was made upstream from new orleans to louisville and cincinnati. after assisting jackson in the campaign about new orleans, the _enterprise_, taking advantage of high water, steamed to louisville in _twenty-five days_. in the _washington_ accomplished the same feat while the river was within her banks, and the public became convinced of the practicability of upstream navigation. the same year the _shelby_ reduced the time to twenty days, and by _fifteen days sufficed_. with the success of the steamboat, the middle west was opened to rapid communication with the gulf. wagon roads into the interior. from to two changes had a marked effect upon the national attitude toward internal improvements. before the outbreak of the european wars manufactures had made some progress in new england and in pennsylvania. during the first struggle, and before the peace of amiens, the only serious obstacle to american industry was the tendency to divert capital to wheat raising, shipbuilding and foreign trade. prices were high, and the makers of goods found encouragement in large profits. with the cessation of hostilities american manufacturers looked to congress for protection, for foreign goods poured into the country in such quantities and at such prices as to threaten the destruction of domestic production. at the most, however, the manufacturing population was relatively small, but the disturbances to industry from to were such as to throw many out of employment, and to bring to the verge of bankruptcy and starvation those who had been engaged in shipbuilding and foreign trade. a great exodus to the interior was the result. in wagons, on horseback, or on foot--sometimes using handcarts, sleds and wheelbarrows to carry their provisions and light luggage--emigrants crowded the wooded paths that led to the west, where they might find conditions more favorable to independent livelihood. all these conditions conspired to increase the depression in the east, and drive her people into agriculture and the development of the interior; while the opening of the mississippi by the steamboat added to the attractions of the rich valleys in the middle west. but upon his arrival in the west the newcomer found himself beyond the range of any market except new orleans. to reach this market he "would produce or get together a quantity of corn, flour, bacon and such articles. he would build a flat-bottomed boat on the shore of some river or large creek, load his wares into it, and, awaiting the rise, with a few of his negroes to assist him, would float down to new orleans. the voyage was long, tedious and expensive. when he arrived there he found himself in a strange city, filled with sharpers ready to take advantage of his necessities. everybody combined against him to profit by his ignorance of business, want of friends or commercial connections, and nine times out of ten he returned a broken merchant. his journey home was performed on foot, through three or four nations of indians inhabiting the western parts of mississippi, tennessee and kentucky. he returned to a desolate farm, which had been neglected whilst he had been gone. one crop was lost by absence and another by taking it to market. this kind of business was persevered in astonishingly for several years, to the great injury and utter ruin of a great many people." it was the demand for safe transportation arising out of this situation which made roosevelt's steamboat enterprise a success. development of coastwise commerce. the british blockade of our coast during the war of had a marked effect upon the development of inland routes of transportation, as may be seen from the following: "the interruption of the coasting trade was indeed a very serious affair. for years past that trade had given occupation to thousands of coasters and tens of thousands of sailors. the shoes made at lynn, the yankee notions of connecticut, the cotton cards, the domestic cottons, the playing cards produced in new england, the flour of the middle states, the east india goods brought in from abroad had found a ready market at charleston, savannah and augusta, whence great quantities of rice and cotton were brought north. on the arrival of the british fleet this trade, no longer to be carried on in safety by water, began of necessity to be carried on by land. at first some merchants at boston, having chartered a few wagons, despatched them with loads to philadelphia, and even to baltimore. this was enough. the hint was taken. a new industry sprang up, and by early summer the roads leading southward exhibited one continuous stream of huge canvas-covered wagons tugged along by double or triple teams of horses or of oxen. no distance was then too great, and hundreds of them would make their way from salem and boston to augusta and savannah. an estimate made towards the close of the year ( ) places the number of wagons thus employed at four thousand, and the number of cattle, horses and oxen at twenty thousand; nor does this seem excessive, for a traveler who drove from new york to richmond declares that he passed two hundred and sixty wagons on the way." the capitalization of turnpikes. both overland trade and westward migration drew attention to the importance of good roads, both swelled the receipts of turnpike companies, and gave encouragement to investment of local capital in transportation improvement. by the lancaster road had been extended to pittsburg, and a regular stage line established which made a trip each way once a week. state governments lent every encouragement to the building of turnpike roads, _even to the extent of subscribing to their stock_. from contemporary writings and charter grants, it is estimated that nearly eight hundred turnpike companies were organized before the end of the war of . pennsylvania was pre-eminent in granting liberal charters, and toll rights, thereby encouraging the people of the more thickly settled districts to make such improvements for themselves. the corporations thus formed had little difficulty in obtaining capital subscriptions, whether for the construction of turnpikes or bridges, or for the operation of ferries. to the stock of these corporations several of the states subscribed in varying amounts. although a few toll roads were constructed before that time, the turnpike movement may be said to date from the opening of the nineteenth century. turnpikes (so called from the revolving, or turning bar, or pike which, when set across a toll road, prevented passage until charges were paid) were macadamized or otherwise improved at a cost varying from $ to $ , per mile. almost without exception they followed in a general way the old lines which had been worked out when travel on foot or on horseback was the chief method of communication, but wherever possible they were made straight, going over and not around hills and other obstacles. when the boston and salem turnpike was built a small but deep pond was encountered, but instead of going around the road crossed on a floating bridge. the construction of bridges and the operation of ferries were parts of this larger turnpike movement, and like the turnpikes themselves, they were usually disappointing to those who had invested with the hope of large dividends. at best, this movement did but little to supply the great need for improved transportation. to passenger service it was a great boon, in that it added much to personal comfort, though the time and cost of travel were little reduced. _it required five dollars and fifty cents to pay tolls from philadelphia to new york, besides the hotel bills and other expenses of the road._ it took a week to go from philadelphia to pittsburg. what the country most needed--a cheap method of handling the bulky products of the interior--was not supplied. freight was carried upon the turnpike with great difficulty and expense, and heavy goods were compelled to remain untouched on account of the high tolls. revival of canal construction. to meet this situation, canals had been proposed long before the period of turnpike building, and some surveys had been made, but because of lack of capital, construction was deferred. the earliest projects were for short cuts around rapids or falls, or between neighboring waters, but bolder plans followed. the first canal of any importance actually begun in the united states was the two-mile cut through the rocks about the south hadley falls of the connecticut. the massachusetts legislature passed an act in incorporating the "proprietors of the locks and canals on connecticut river." work was begun at once with dutch capital, and in two years the canal was completed. the santee canal in south carolina was the first large work of this kind constructed in the united states. it connected the santee river with the cooper river at charleston, and it was opened in . its length was twenty-two miles, and its cost $ , . a much more important project was the middlesex canal in massachusetts, a charter for which was obtained in . this canal extended from the charles river to the merrimac, twenty-seven miles, and was designed to attract to boston the trade normally tributary to portsmouth. work was begun in , and ten years later the canal was opened for traffic, though it was not entirely completed until . the successful completion of the erie canal, which became an assured fact long before its actual accomplishment in , stimulated similar projects all over the country. the local strife between trade centers, combined with the local demand for outlet, set a number of private projects in motion. boston, philadelphia, baltimore and georgetown were successfully appealed to for support for transportation routes which would enable them to compete with new york for the trade of the west. the blackstone canal company, chartered by rhode island and massachusetts in , began the construction of a canal along the blackstone river to connect providence and worcester, and this route was opened for traffic in . another new england project started at about the same time was for a canal to extend from new haven northwards to northampton, and on up the connecticut valley into vermont. two companies were chartered for this purpose, the farmington canal in connecticut in and the hampshire and hampden canal in massachusetts in . the farmington canal was completed in ; but the work on the hampshire and hampden project was for a time abandoned for want of funds, and the canal was not cut through to northampton until . while carrying a large traffic this canal, like the blackstone canal, was more beneficial to the general business of the section traversed than to those who held its stock. other private works of this period upon which large sums were expended were: the delaware and raritan canal, connecting philadelphia with new york; the james river and kanawha, an unfinished canal project in virginia; and the chesapeake and ohio canal, which was not extended further west than cumberland. scarcity of capital for canals. on account of local needs, few canal or navigation companies had difficulty in obtaining their first subscriptions, but most of them experienced trouble in collecting assessments and in obtaining additional subscriptions. this timidity of investors, it now appears, was not without ground, for few of the private canal companies were able to bring their construction work to completion, and fewer still paid any dividends to their stockholders. the middlesex canal was profitable until the building of a parallel line of railroad; the montague canal, also in massachusetts, yielded a fair return during the first twenty years that followed its completion in . the delaware and schuylkill canal may be cited as a third exception. but it early became evident that public works of the number and magnitude required could be constructed only at national expense. as the constitution contains no direct provision for internal improvements, the subject became a party question. from the first congress had appropriated money for lighthouses, public piers, buoys and other aids to navigation, and about such action there had been no dispute, for it was agreed that these matters lay strictly within federal jurisdiction. from the first, also, congress had been petitioned for appropriations for internal improvements. most of these demands were local in character, and so were easily disposed of; but when the directors of the chesapeake and delaware canal asked congress to supply the funds which they had been unable to obtain from sales of shares, the question was forced to an issue. two facts were incontestable, the general importance of the work, and the ability of the national government to carry it on in view of the revenue surplus in the treasury. in another way congress had already committed itself to the support of public works. so long as the country was made up of states bordering on the atlantic seaboard, improvements were matters of interest to all alike, but with the admission of new states in the interior, and the prospect of future accessions to the westward as the country expanded, an element of injustice seemed to enter these appropriations, which benefited the seaboard states at the expense of all. the feeling of discontent was intensified by the fact that the favored states were more thickly settled, and therefore better able to incur the expense. with the admission of ohio, however, this was remedied by the establishment of the five per cent. land fund, and the self-interest of the seaboard was appealed to by the argument that the building of roads into the west would so stimulate sales of the public lands as to increase the national revenues. the matter of national aid to internal improvements was again brought before congress in by calhoun, who presented a bill providing for the direct construction of roads and canals and the improvement of waterways out of a fund to be created by setting apart the bonus and dividends received by the government from the united states bank. this bill, which was drawn up by clay, passed through congress in , but it was vetoed by madison, who, though favorably disposed toward public works, had inherited from jefferson a doubt as to the rights of congress to participate in their construction without a constitutional amendment specifically granting the authority. and monroe, holding the same opinion, vetoed a bill for the repair of the cumberland road, and submitted to congress a long statement of the principles involved in his decision. in the meantime, weary of waiting, new york had succeeded in building the erie canal. its success shifted the whole plan of promotion. with credit established abroad, internal improvements were taken up by the states, and for the next two decades transportation interest centers in state funding. it was during this period of struggle for means of transportation facilities adequate to meet the demands of those whose fortunes had been cast in the remote interior that the railroad became the subject of serious economic interest. * * * * * (in subsequent chapters, messrs. cleveland & powell trace the beginnings of the railroad, the physical and financial difficulties that beset them at every turn; the indomitable spirit with which they were projected, promoted and built into every quarter of the union, until through the investment of billions of private capital the united states has been furnished with the best system of internal transportation in the world. to their pages the reader is referred for the continuation of this most interesting narrative.) first annual report of the chief engineer of the pennsylvania railroad company june , . by j. edgar thomson. chief engineer. engineer department, pennsylvania r. r. co. _philadelphia, june , ._ to the president and directors of the pennsylvania railroad company: gentlemen--i have the honor to communicate to you the following report of the operations of this department since it was committed to my charge, now something more than a year. under the organization of the engineer department, as adopted previous to my acceptance of the office you have conferred upon me, the road was to be divided into three divisions, eastern, western and middle: edward miller, esq., as associate engineer, was assigned to the western, and w. b. foster, jr., to the eastern division. these gentlemen had entered upon the survey of their respective lines, previous to my arrival, under instructions from the president, each with two full corps of assistants. the middle, or mountain division, not having been provided for, i concluded after a full consideration of the subject that the interest of the company would be best promoted by so altering the organization as to abolish it altogether, and extend the eastern and western divisions to the summit of the allegheny mountains, the natural boundary between them. under this arrangement, the surveys have since been prosecuted. the board having directed me to cause a location of the whole line, from harrisburg to pittsburg, to be made at the earliest practicable period, i at once commenced a reconnoissance of that portion of the intervening country, over which it seemed--from an inspection of a map of the state--that the road would probably pass, for the purpose of determining the best plan of operations to carry out their views. the legislature, in their grant to the company, wisely left the choice of a route for the road, between its termini, entirely free, throwing upon the board the responsibility of selecting, upon the wide field that was opened to them, a line for their great work, which would offer the cheapest railroad conveyance for the transportation of freight and the most expeditious for travel that could be selected between the west and the northern atlantic cities. such a route, it was believed from previous surveys, lay within the borders of pennsylvania, an expectation which has been fully justified by the results obtained from our examinations. of the several routes proposed, i found no difficulty--after a careful inspection of the plans of the various surveys, made under the authority of the commonwealth, and my reconnoissance of the country--in coming to the conclusion that the valley of the juniata offered advantages for a line which, whether we consider the low gradients that may be obtained along it or its general directness, the desiderata required, is without a rival. this stream has its source in the alleghenies, and consequently severs, as it flows towards the atlantic, all the secondary mountain ranges that lie east of them, and it heads opposite to the black lick and conemaugh rivers, both of which sever those on the west, leaving the main allegheny only to be surmounted, which would have to be encountered upon any other _direct_ route, in addition to many of the inferior mountain ranges. a more northern route, by the west branch of the susquehanna (which has its source beyond the allegheny mountains), would have encountered less elevation at the principal summit, but its great increased length precluded its adoption; while, on the other hand, a southern route, though not indirect, was equally objectionable on account of the rugged character of the country, and the high gradients necessary to overcome the numerous summits upon it. a partial examination of one of the proposed southern routes was made, which followed the cumberland valley railroad to near shippensburg, and thence, crossing to the west side of the valley at roxbury, it passed through the blue mountain, by a long tunnel, into path valley; thence, following around the point of dividing mountain, it crossed this valley and passed through tuscarora, by another tunnel, to the valley of augwick creek. thence it would have been traced between broad top and sideling mountains, and up dunning and bob's creeks to the summit of the alleghenies at bob's creek gap; or, turning west by bedford, crossed the alleghenies at the head waters of the tributaries of castleman's river, where the mountain is still much more elevated. a line leaving the cumberland valley railroad at chambersburg, and turning the end of blue mountain, thence seeking the low depression at cowan's gap in tuscarora, would be too circuitous to compare favorably with the bolder line from shippensburg, already described. but that line would encounter engineering difficulties of the most formidable character; leaving out of view its objectionable gradients, and considering it in reference to its cost, and the local accommodations it would extend to a large portion of the state--at present in a great measure deprived of the advantages of the state improvements--(the strongest argument in favor of the route), it will be found that equal accommodations could be extended to that region with a _less_ expenditure of _capital_ by placing the main stem of the road on the juniata, and running a branch along one of the comparatively level valleys that lie between most of the parallel mountain ranges that we pass. the facilities that railroads offer for extending their benefits to remote districts by means of lateral lines constitute one of their chief advantages over canals, and should prevent the error, too frequently committed in locating leading routes, of turning from a direct course to accommodate local interests to the injury of the great object intended to be accomplished. other modifications of the juniata route have been suggested, and their merits fully considered, but, upon examination, all of them tended to confirm our preference in favor of the river line. these conclusions were communicated to the board, and the general route recommended having been adopted by them, i proceeded at once to make arrangements to have the line surveyed throughout. for this purpose three additional corps of engineers were organized--one for mr. miller's division, under the immediate direction of mr. g. w. leuffer, to operate on the summit and western slope of the mountain, and two upon mr. foster's, the first of which was placed in charge of edward tilghman, esq., to whom was assigned the district between lewistown and the confluence of the raystown branch and main juniata rivers. the other corps was given in charge to s. w. mifflin, esq., a gentleman of well-known professional skill and experience, to whom we committed the surveys of the region from the raystown branch to the summit of the alleghenies, embracing the most important and difficult district upon the whole route to pittsburg. these parties did not take the field until the close of july, but they prosecuted their examinations with so much energy and success that we were enabled to determine the general line of the eastern division in season to place the most difficult points upon it under contract in november of last year. while these arrangements were in progress, the parties previously in the field were actively engaged in examining the country between harrisburg and lewistown. at the instance of a number of gentlemen from perry county, a line was tried up little juniata creek, leaving the susquehanna at petersburg, thence near bloomfield and along sherman's valley to concord gap, where it passed the tuscarora mountain, thence it followed tuscarora valley to shade creek, and down that stream to augwick creek, along the valley of which it was carried to drake's ferry on the juniata. the advantage promised for this route was a considerable saving of distance. the result, however, demonstrated that not only would we have had to encounter gradients running up as high as sixty feet per mile, but the length of the line would be increased four miles by its adoption. it was consequently abandoned. after a careful examination of the country bordering on the susquehanna and juniata rivers, a line has been located as far up as huntingdon, which is believed to be the best that can be obtained. if the valleys of these streams had not been preoccupied by other improvements, a route would have been selected differing somewhat in its details from that adopted. even for the short distance that we are brought into close proximity with them, the cost of the grading of the road has been greatly enhanced by the confined ground we have been forced upon. the located line commences at the harrisburg and lancaster railroad depot; thence, passing through harrisburg, it follows the sloping ground between the canal and the capitol ridge four miles, when it crosses the canal and, touching the point of blue mountain, recrosses and passes to the west side of the susquehanna river by a bridge , feet in length, and feet above low water at grade line, which enables us to place the road on the top of the bridge. thence we pursue this bank of the river through the villages of duncannon and petersburg to the juniata, along the southern side of which it is continued through newport and perrysville to a point a short distance above lewistown. here the line crosses to the north side of the river, and within a short distance recrosses, to save nearly a mile of road, and one hundred and eighty degrees of curvature, together with some difficult ground along the bluff shores on the south side of the stream. after regaining the southern side we follow the river slopes, over favorable ground, to mr. harvey's, about seven miles above waynesburg, where the line again crosses to the north side, and passing back of newton hamilton, cuts through the neck of land in the great bend of that stream, feet in depth at the summit and , feet in length at grade. descending along the eastern slope of the river, we once more cross it at shaeffer's aqueduct, and continue upon its southwestern bank through jack's narrows, without meeting any serious difficulties, and finally pass to its north side, along which it is continued through huntingdon to the little juniata, above petersburg. above huntingdon, a preliminary location has been carried up the little juniata to logan's narrows, at which point this stream divides bald eagle and brush mountains in its passage from tuckahoe valley. along the little juniata, from dorsey's forge to the narrows, the line encounters much difficult ground, owing to the circuitous character of the stream, and the high hills and mountains which bound its course. to obtain a route with easy curves we are forced, within this distance, to tunnel the point of tussey's mountain, and to cross the river twelve times. to follow the line recommended by mr. schlatter through this region curves of feet radius would have had to be resorted to, which i deem wholly inadmissible upon a road of the importance of that you have in view. at logan's narrows we reach the valley that skirts the whole eastern base of the allegheny mountains. here it becomes necessary to determine the plan to be adopted to overcome the great barrier that separates us from the west. if it is to be surmounted by a road, with the gradients of the western division, the ascent must commence at this point, and gradually wind its way to the summit, by an almost continuous gradient, along the declivities of the mountains for nearly thirty-two miles, crossing the several streams that issue from it, by high bridges, and cutting through or tunneling their dividing summits. mr. schlatter, in his report to the canal commissioners, estimates the cost of grading the road, on this ascent, at $ , , , which i consider too low for a line with the gradient he adopted, but with the increased maximum grade found necessary on the western division, and a somewhat lengthened line, it would probably prove sufficient. upon my first reconnoissance of this portion of the country it occurred to me that its peculiar topographical features were lost sight of in the adoption of this plan of ascent, which seemed to look to the single object of obtaining a line with a particular gradient, without regard to the magnitude of the obstacles to be overcome to procure it; while, by pursuing a course from the narrows, nearly in a direct line to sugar run gap (which we shall hereafter show is the best point to cross the mountain), the line would pass through a beautiful valley over comparatively favorable ground, gradually gaining elevation through its whole course, without exceeding the maximum inclination required on the line below, until it reaches the summit of the valley at robinson's, a distance of fifteen miles. at this point we attain an elevation of , feet above tide, leaving but feet to be overcome to reach the height found most suitable for passing the mountain, which is attained by a continuous gradient of feet per mile, encountering no _very_ formidable difficulties. a resort to a gradient of or more feet per mile is by no means an unusual expedient on leading railroads. upon the western railroad, in massachusetts, their maximum gradient is ½ feet per mile. on the baltimore & ohio railroad they now have, between the waters of the patapsco and potomac, on each side of parr's ridge, gradients of feet per mile, and from the greater elevation of the allegheny mountains at the place they must cross, it is to be presumed that their gradients at that point will still be increased to a higher rate. many other instances might be cited, some running up to feet per mile, but it seems unnecessary to extend the list. theoretically, the power necessary to overcome a given height is the same at all inclinations of the plane of ascent, but in practice, it is to some extent dependent upon the kind of power to be applied. in the case under consideration, the locomotive steam engine will be the medium used, where the power is carried with the train, and forms part of the load to be moved, consequently, the cost of power on a plane ascending feet per mile is greater than upon one of a more moderate inclination of equal height, by the difference between the gravity of the engines required to carry the same load on both planes. as a general principle this would be true when the lengths of the roads to overcome the same height are equal, and it is necessary to carry the locomotives, required for the high gradient, over the same distance that they must run upon the low gradient. but in one of these cases the maximum gradient due to the line below logan's narrows is carried to within ¼ miles of the summit of the mountain--requiring extra power for that distance only--and in the other it ends miles from it. to explain more fully the relative value of the maximum gradients used on the different divisions of our road, i have prepared the following table: table headings: col a: division of road. col b: maximum gradient, ascending westwardly, per mile. col c: maximum gradient, ascending eastwardly, per mile. col d: gross load of a ton freight locomotive, exclusive of engine, and a tender of tons. friction ½ lbs. per t. adhesion ½. col e: load of merchandise for a ton freight engine, the cars being estimated at / ths of their weight and load. col f: relative load of locomotive on each gradient, level being unit. col g: number of locomotives of equal power necessary to carry the same load up each gradient. ====================+========+========+=======+=======+=======+===== a | b | c | d | e | f | g --------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+----- from harrisburg | { | | . | . | . | . to lewistown, | { | | | | | - / miles | { | | . | . | . | . --------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+----- from lewistown | { | | | | | to foot of | { | | . | . | . | . allegheny mts., | { | ½ | . | . | . | . miles | { | | | | | --------------------+--------+--------+-------+-------+-------+----- from foot to summit | { | | | | | of allegheny | { | | . | . | . | . mountains, | { | level | . | . | . | . - / miles | { | | | | | --------------------+--------+--------|-------+-------+-------+----- from summit to | { | | . | . | . | . pittsburg, | { | | . | . | . | . miles | { . | . | . | . | . | . --------------------+--------+----------------+-------+------------- it will be perceived from the foregoing table that three locomotives are fully sufficient to transport the same load up the feet gradient that two will carry on the gradient of the western division, and one on the eastern; hence the practical working of the road on the two methods of ascent would be to run two locomotives with the load brought from below from logan's narrows to the summit, say ¾ miles, up the feet gradient; while, on the other, the same engine that brought the load from harrisburg would continue with it to robinson's ( miles), where it would accompany the two destined for pittsburg to the summit of the mountain and return. in the first case the engines together will have traveled ½ miles, and, in the other, the three ¾, leaving a difference in distance to be traveled by the moving power due to each full train, from the east, ¾ miles in favor of the feet gradient. in practice it will therefore be seen--chiefly on account of the actual distance saved--that transportation can be afforded cheaper, in this case, on the feet gradient than on the , without bringing into the estimate the interest on $ , that the latter would cost to obtain it more than the former. under these circumstances we did not hesitate when the choice of routes was reduced to a selection between these two methods of overcoming the mountain, to decide in favor of the line by robinson's, which has the additional advantage of bringing us within - / miles of hollidaysburg, where a connection may be made with the allegheny portage by a branch line, passing over favorable ground. the distance from harrisburg to robinson's summit is - / miles; upon the whole of this line, the only extraordinary impediments to the easy graduation of the road bed are the bridge over the susquehanna, a deep and long cut near newton hamilton, and a tunnel , feet in length through a point of tussey's mountain, and in this distance the maximum ascending gradient to lewistown is feet per mile, and descending feet. thence, to robinson's summit, they are increased to feet ascending, and - / feet descending. the descending gradients are generally so short that they will not be found, in practice, to decrease the load going east much below what is due to a fair _working_ load for a locomotive on a level. the maximum ascending gradient above lewistown is determined by the deep cut near newton hamilton. the ascent of the little juniata seems, however, to require--to obtain an economical line--the use of this inclination, without much intermission, from dorsey's forge to robinson's summit. below lewistown the gradients are fixed to accommodate the increased trade that would fall upon the line between that place and harrisburg, without increasing the number of trains. these low gradients insure to us the important advantages of a single pair of drivers for the passenger engines, upon the eastern division, and, with these rates of inclination, we are enabled to make the line conform to the natural features of the country (above high water mark) without decreasing the curvature below feet radius, except at the east end of the susquehanna bridge, where a radius of feet has been admitted. all of our efforts to save distance, by deviating, temporarily, from the immediate valley of the river, involved either the use of high gradients, not justified by the distance saved, or an increased cost that was equally unwarranted. the beautiful valley of the kishacoquillas offered the greatest temptation to leave the river route; but here we would have had to encounter gradients, in both directions, of - / feet per mile, a bridge over mill creek, , feet long, high; another over a small tributary of the juniata, feet long and feet in height, together with several others, or embankments of great magnitude, across ravines in the north slope of the river hills. these difficulties, added to feet of additional elevation to be surmounted at the allentown summit, so greatly overbalanced the small increase of curvature and distance ( / of a mile), by the river route, that it could not be adopted. it was also ascertained that by the _use of the maximum gradients_ required on the valley route, the shortest line could have been procured by the river, and at the least cost. a fact, conclusive in itself, as to the proper route. i deemed it unnecessary to make further instrumental examinations of the stone mountain route, feeling satisfied that even if a line could be obtained in that direction which would approximate to an equality, in an engineering point of view, with the route selected--which, from a reconnoissance of a portion of the line and an examination of the plots of mr. schlatter's surveys, i should consider _quite_ improbable--that its additional cost would entrench so much upon the means of the company as to place it entirely out of the question. a line was traced from huntingdon to the frankstown branch of the juniata, below williamsburg, across tussey's mountain, by which a saving of distance could have been made nearly equal to the stone mountain route, but its high gradients, cost, and the length of time that it would require to build the road over it rendered it equally objectionable. the valley of the frankstown branch was also surveyed; the route by it joining the little juniata line at robinson's ridge, but it proved both longer and more expensive than the latter. the searching examinations made of the whole region offering any chance for a more practicable route, on the north or south of the juniata, leaves no doubt upon my mind but that the best line has been procured for the eastern division. its comparatively easy curvature and low gradients, adapted in their inclination to the direction of the largest business, and extending from the eastern terminus of our road to the foot of the great barrier that divides us from the west, give it advantages that are not equaled by any other route proposed, between the east and west, and can not be too highly appreciated by the company. before determining the point to pass the mountain, a full examination of its crest was made, from cedar swamp summit on the south, to three springs gap at the head of moshannon creek on the north, embracing a distance of miles. the following table will show the elevation, above tide, of each summit within that distance; also, that at emigh's gap, on the northern route, and at the head waters of castleman's river on the southern: _tabular statement of depressions of allegheny mountain._ ===================+=============================+================ | | name. | waters divided. | authority. | | -------------------+-----------------------------+---------------- summit of chesa. & | | ohio canal | castleman's and potomac | u. s. engineers albright's summit | do. do. | sand patch do. | do. do. | j. knight chambersburg and | | pittsburg survey | | h. hage cedar swamp gap | raystown branch of juniata | | and s. fork of conemaugh | s. h. long bob's creek do. | raystown b. and conemaugh | do. big spring do. | juniata and conemaugh | do. laurel do. | do. do. | do. adams do. | do. do. | do. portage and summit | juniata and clearfield | c. l. schlatter sugar run gap | | s. h. long burgoon's do. | do. do. | c. l. schlatter kittanning do. | do. do. | do. dry do. | do. do. | do. hamer's do. |little juniata and clearfield| do. schultz do. | do. do. | e. miller cock run do. | do. do. | do. maple do. | do. do. | do. bell's do. | do. do. | do. three springs gap | little juniata and moshannon| do. emigh's do. | do. do. | c. l. schlatter -------------------+-----------------------------+---------------- {table continued} ===================+============+============+====== | feet above | feet below | feet name. | sugar run | sugar run | above | gap. | gap. | tide. -------------------+------------+------------+------ summit of chesa. & | | | ohio canal | | | albright's summit | | | sand patch do. | | | chambersburg and | | | pittsburg survey | | | cedar swamp gap | | | | | | bob's creek do. | | | big spring do. | | | laurel do. | | | adams do. | | | portage and summit | | | sugar run gap | | | burgoon's do. | | | kittanning do. | | | dry do. | | | hamer's do. | | | schultz do. | | | cock run do. | | | maple do. | | | bell's do. | | | three springs gap | | | emigh's do. | | | -------------------+------------+------------+----- it will be perceived that the lowest point in the mountain, except at emigh's, is maple gap, from which issues bell's run (a branch of the little juniata), on the east, and sandy run of clearfield, on the west. this point is feet below sugar run gap and could be further reduced feet by a tunnel yards in length. if the ground had been favorable beyond the summit, this route would probably have offered the greatest advantages to cross the mountain, but it opens westwardly upon the deep valley of clearfield, a descent into which would involve the necessity of a resort to as steep a gradient on the west side of the mountain as that required on the east; and the elevation thus lost would have to be regained by following up the valley to laurel swamp or munster summits, in the ridge that separates clearfield from the conemaugh, which is here the true backbone of the country. any attempt to carry a line along the west slope of the mountain, to avoid the descent to clearfield, would, from the rugged character of the ground, prove impracticable, without a vast increase in its cost, length and curvature. no other point offers equal advantages to cross the mountain until we reach sugar run gap, which is feet below the portage railroad summit, and may be reduced feet more by a tunnel , feet in length. emigh's gap, which is still lower than maple gap, could not, on account of its gradual slope, be reduced by a tunnel of moderate cost, and it is also too far north for a direct route to pittsburg. south of the portage the alleghenies become the watershed of the union, dividing the streams that flow into the gulf from those that empty into the atlantic. they here assume a more elevated character than while separating only the tributaries of the susquehanna, affording no opportunity to pass them by a line adapted to locomotive power--unless by a tunnel of immense extent--until we reach bob's creek gap. the accompanying profile, which exhibits the crest line of the mountain (for miles) will give a more definite idea of the relative height of these summits. the mountain on each side of bob's creek gap rises to a considerable height, making it appear, to a casual observer, a very deep depression; and, from this circumstance, it has generally been considered by the residents of the adjoining country to be the lowest pass in the alleghenies, and, as it falls off rapidly on either side, it has also been supposed that it could be farther reduced by a tunnel of moderate extent. the several surveys of the mountain, however, prove it to be feet higher than sugar run gap, and, to reduce it to a level with the surface of the ground at the latter point, which is feet above the grade of the adopted line, it would require a tunnel ¼ miles in length, to be constructed under very disadvantageous local circumstances. cedar swamp gap, still farther south, is feet lower than bob's creek gap, but it falls off on each side so gradually that it could not be reduced conveniently more than feet. neither of these points, therefore, which are the only passes worthy of notice south of the portage railroad that lie within the region over which a direct line to pittsburg must necessarily traverse, afford depressions that will compare favorably with those farther north; nor does the ground leading to them, east or west of the mountains, offer equal facilities to obtain a line of uniform ascent to the summit. the distance from the conemaugh is too short to overcome the elevation with the gradient used on the western division, and, from the juniata, the greater height to be ascended would continue the line so long upon the mountain steeps that it would be exceedingly expensive to procure a roadbed with a gradient even higher than feet per mile. from the foregoing description of the most favorable mountain passes, it will be seen that sugar run gap offers the greatest facilities to cross the allegheny. it now becomes necessary to consider in what direction the road can be carried thence to pittsburg. from an inspection of a map of the state it will be seen that a straight line, drawn from this gap to pittsburg, will fall on munster, beulah, and follow the valley of black lick for nearly its whole extent, and intersect the conemaugh near blairsville; thence it crosses the country lying within the elbow formed by the kiskeminetas and allegheny rivers, passing the loyalhanna and crabtree waters, and following, generally, the high and broken ridge parting the allegheny and monongahela rivers. that line, which would approximate most nearly to this course, would--all other things being equal--be the most desirable for the road. the operations of the different corps, on this division, have been confined to surveys that were necessary to determine the point of crossing the mountain and to the regions between the conemaugh and pittsburg, west of the chestnut ridge. our examinations have not yet been sufficiently extensive to enable me to give a full description of that part of the country between the mountain and blairsville, and i shall therefore leave it for a future report, with the simple remark that, from the information before me, i am satisfied that a practicable line may be obtained by the valleys, either of the black lick or conemaugh, within the maximum gradient used upon the western division. the district of country over which it will be necessary to carry the road from the conemaugh to pittsburg is one of remarkable intricacy. it lies wholly within the coal measures, and has, at some period, evidently been nearly a level plane of vast extent, covered by the ocean. the discharge of the waters from this wide spread field seems to have been sudden, forming numerous circuitous channels in every direction, cutting deeply into the soft horizontal strata of this region, in their descent to the tributaries of the ohio, leaving the intervening ridges washed into so uneven a surface as to render the passage of a railroad along them entirely out of the question. a line following the conemaugh--which bears northwest from blairsville--to the allegheny would avoid this difficult country, but the length of the route would be increased fully per cent., and it is, therefore, inadmissible. a route with higher gradients than those adopted on the juniata throughout this division seems to be called for by the topography of the country. in his report upon the western division, mr. miller gives the following account of the surveys, conducted under his direction by messrs. day and pemberton, his principal assistants: "if a straight line be drawn from blairsville to pittsburg, it will be seen that turtle creek is the only stream that approximates to the proper course of the road, whilst the loyalhanna, the chief tributary of the conemaugh, crosses it nearly at right angles, and spruce run, roaring run, porter's run, beaver run and others intersect it at various angles of obliquity. much time and labor were bestowed by mr. schlatter and his principal assistant, mr. roebling, upon the investigation of this district, and their maps and profiles, loaned to us by the canal commissioners, have been of much service in our examinations. from a careful investigation of mr. schlatter's preferred route on the ground, it appeared possible to avoid some of the most formidable obstacles which he encountered by adopting a higher gradient than his maximum of feet per mile, and by a reasonable increase of distance at a few points. "our trial lines confirmed this, and, in the location made, a maximum of . in , or - / feet per mile, has been used at several places. the cheapness of fuel throughout the whole extent of the western division renders this increase of gradient less objectionable than elsewhere. bituminous coal, of the best quality, is everywhere abundant, and can be delivered at the depots at from to cents per ton." the principal changes made in the route referred to in mr. schlatter's report mr. miller describes as follows: "upon the white thorn our line keeps the left bank, entirely to its mouth, avoiding a tunnel of feet, leading into the valley of buck run, and a high bridge over white thorn creek, and reducing that over the loyalhanna, from to feet in height. west of buchanan's summit we run level round the hill, between porter's run and beaver run, avoiding the still house summit entirely, where a tunnel of , feet was proposed, with a cut of feet at its western end, running out to grade in a distance of , feet. "passing burnt cabin summit, by a deep cut, the line descends along turtle creek to the monongahela. "below murraysville the creek makes a double bend, like the letter s. the former line crossed one of these bends, by a tunnel feet long, whilst ours crosses the other by a short, deep cut, following a remarkable pass by which the hill is nearly cut through. these changes have reduced many of the deep cuts, avoided several bridges, saved three tunnels, and reduced the length of a fourth, amounting in all to a reduction of , feet of tunneling." after reaching the monongahela, two routes present themselves, one following the bank of the stream to pittsburg, and the other ascending along the slope of the river hills, enters a valley leading by wilkinsburg and east liberty. thence, following this valley, it descends two mile run, and enters the city on the allegheny side. the latter, though the longest route, and requiring gradients of feet per mile, has been adopted as it presented the only apparently feasible route by which a connection could be formed with a road extending towards the great west. the comparative cost of grading and damages, upon the two lines, would be rather in favor of the route adopted. a line has also been located from the junction of turtle and bush creeks, which passes up bush creek and through greensburg to bernhard's summit, thence by the valleys of fourteen mile run, sauxman's and magee's runs, to the conemaugh, at the gap through chestnut ridge. if the conemaugh route, by johnstown, should be adopted, the line by greensburg will be about ¾ miles longer than that by turtle creek, but passes east of the loyalhanna, over much more favorable ground than any other line examined. its advantages, in relation to the local trade of a rich and populous section of country, west and east of chestnut ridge, through the gap formed by the loyalhanna, give it strong claim for consideration. whether the increased length of the line and the difficulties west of greensburg will be sufficient to counterbalance these local advantages we will leave undecided until the comparative estimates have been fully made out. another line was traced, leaving greensburg and passing into ligonier valley, through chestnut ridge, at the loyalhanna gap, thence north of this ridge along coalpit and kendrick's runs, to the conemaugh, which resulted unfavorably. further examinations will be made through ligonier valley, striking the conemaugh higher up. the black lick and the country between it and the conemaugh will also be examined during the season. the following summary statement will exhibit the estimated cost and distances of a continuous railroad from harrisburg to pittsburg, via johnstown and blairsville, graded for a double track, and a single track and turnouts laid. the estimate is based on prices that are believed to be ample to finish the road in a substantial manner. if the work should be pushed with _cautious energy_, it may be completed for a somewhat less sum. the width of the roadbed at grade line in thorough cuts of earth is feet, in rock feet and on embankments feet. ================+===================================+=======+========== | | dist. | items. | places. | in | cost. | | miles.| dollars. ----------------+-----------------------------------+-------+---------- | {between harrisburg and lewistown | . | , | { " lewistown and huntingdon | . | , | { " huntingdon and robinson's | . | , graduation | { " robinson's and sugar run gap | . | , | { " sugar run gap and johnstown | . | , | { " johnstown and blairsville | . | , | { " blairsville and brush creek | . | , | { " brush creek and pittsburg | . | , | |-------+---------- | amount | . | , , | +-------+ | superintendence, &c. | , | contingencies | , | | |{single track, including an average of | superstructure. |{ feet of turn-outs, per mile | , , | interest account | , | land damages and fencing | , | +---------- | grand total | , , ----------------+-------------------------------------------+---------- that part of the line below huntingdon has been located permanently; thence to logan's narrows the calculations are based on a preliminary location, and between this point and blairsville upon an experimental survey, with liberal allowances for contingencies. between blairsville and pittsburg the road has been carefully located. upon that portion of it, between blairsville and turtle creek, gradients of - / feet per mile have been admitted, which may be reduced to feet per mile, by the expenditure of an additional sum of $ , . our measurements of distances commence at the depot of the harrisburg and lancaster railroad company, ¾ miles from the corner of vine and broad streets, in the city of philadelphia, and terminate at the intersection of liberty street, in the city of pittsburg. those made for the commonwealth, under the direction of mr. schlatter, began at state street, in harrisburg, and ended at two mile run, on the monongahela river, giving a difference in favor of mr. schlatter's line of about - / miles in the points of starting. between blairsville and pittsburg our distance has been actually increased - / miles over that proposed by mr. s., after making allowance for about / of a mile of an unaccountable discrepancy in the two measurements. this increased distance is incurred to save three tunnels, and other expensive work, amounting, together, to $ , , or $ , per mile. the whole difference between mr. schlatter's and mr. miller's measurements, supposing the points of starting and ending to have been the same, is - / miles. the difference between the points of starting of the two surveys, on mr. foster's division, is about / of a mile. from harrisburg to huntingdon we lose, by following the river route. / of a mile[a] on mr. schlatter's line, and save, from thence to the summit of the mountain, about four miles. as a connection with the allegheny portage railroad would insure to us most of the advantages of an independent road to the western base of the mountain, it is evidently the policy of the company to make it at the earliest practicable moment. our location falling within - / miles of that road, it becomes a very small matter to effect a junction with it. if the present means of the company, however, would justify the expenditure, the connection could readily be made at the foot of plane no. , on the west side of the mountain, thus saving out of of the inclined planes. this could be effected for the additional sum of $ , , , or for $ , a junction might be made at the summit of the portage, avoiding the five eastern planes. the branch to, or above, hollidaysburg is, however, the cheapest and most speedy way of effecting the connection, and when our road is carried over the mountain it will remain a good feeder to the main line, and a fair investment of the capital of the company. the following is an estimate of the cost of a continuous road from harrisburg to pittsburg, in connection with the allegheny portage railroad, graded for a double track throughout, except the branch to hollidaysburg: ================+===================================+=======+========== | | dist. | items. | places. | in | cost | | miles.| dollars. ----------------+-----------------------------------+-------+---------- | {from harrisburg to robinson's | . |$ , , | { " robinson's to hollidaysburg | . | , graduation | { " hollidaysburg to johnstown | . | | { " johnstown to pittsburg | . | , , | |-------|---------- | total | . | , , | +-------| | superintendence and contingencies | , | | superstructure. | including turn-outs on miles | , , | |---------- | cost of road |$ , , | interest account | , | land damages and fencing | , | |---------- | grand total |$ , , ----------------+-------------------------------------------+---------- to the above amount should be added, for the purchase of depot grounds, erection of warehouses and shops, and the construction of cars and locomotives, as follows: warehouses, including ground at depots $ , . shops and machinery , . locomotives , . passenger and burden cars , . ------------ total $ , , . making the whole cost of the road, graded for a double and a single track laid, including outfit, $ , , . . it will not be necessary to expend the whole of this amount until some time after the road is in use to pittsburg. as the business increases the turnouts must be lengthened, depots and shops enlarged, and the number of locomotives and cars added to. these will not reach the sum estimated until probably four years after the road is completed, in connection with the allegheny portage. we shall also reduce the cuttings and embankments to a single track width, wherever the character of the excavations or a deficiency of material for embankment will justify the curtailment. this will effect a saving, in the first outlay, of about $ , , which will not be required until the business demands a double track. the expenditure for the outfit, when the road is opened through, will not exceed $ , , , leaving $ , of the estimate for this item to be disbursed after the road is finished, to meet the demands of the increased business for the _time_ stated. this will leave the cost of the road and outfit, when opened for use, in connection with the portage road to pittsburg, as follows: cost of road, with single track and turn-outs, as estimated $ , , . less estimated cost of unfinished grading required to prepare the road for double track , . ------------- leaving cost of grading and superstructure of road $ , , . to this add interest account $ , and land damages and fencing , -------- , . also, cost of locomotives, shops, depots and cars , , . ------------- total $ , , . the board having wisely determined in no event to enter into engagements beyond their ascertained means, i have thought it best, thus early, to present an estimate of the cost of the whole work for their guidance. it will be recollected that the estimate for the grading is made, in part, upon experimental surveys, with full allowances for contingencies. by the close of the year we hope to be able to give an estimate of the whole road, in detail, from actual location, which may show a somewhat reduced cost. under the contemplated connection with that road, the allegheny portage becomes an important part of our line, and, for the information of the board, i insert the following description of it, extracted from a pamphlet written by s. w. roberts, civil engineer: "the portage railroad consists of eleven levels, or graded lines, and ten inclined planes. the ascent from johnstown to the summit is , . feet, in a distance of . miles, and the descent, from the summit to hollidaysburg, is , . feet in a distance of - / miles. there are five inclined planes on each side of the mountain, varying, in inclination, from ° ´ to ° ´, or from . feet to . feet elevation to each feet base. they are numbered eastwardly, the one nearest johnstown being no. ; that nearest hollidaysburg, no. . the following table shows the length, rise and fall of each 'level' or grade line, and each inclined plane." ============+=============================+=============+============ | | | feet level no. |from johnstown to plane no. | . miles|rise, . plane |ascending | . feet | . level |long level | . miles| . plane |ascending | . feet | . level |ascending | . miles| . plane |ascending | . feet | . level |ascending | . miles| . plane |ascending | . feet | . level |ascending | . miles| . plane |ascending | . feet | . level |summit of mountain | . miles| . | | | -------- | |total rise | . ------------+-----------------------------+-------------+------------ | | | feet plane no. |descending | . feet |fall . level |descending | miles| . plane |descending | . feet | . level |descending | . miles| . plane |descending | . feet | . level |descending | . miles| . plane |descending | . feet | . level |descending | . miles| . plane |descending | . feet| . level |to hollidaysburg | . miles| . | | | -------- | |total fall | . ------------+-----------------------------+-------------+----------- in conformity with resolutions of the board, eighteen miles of the grading on the eastern and fifteen on the western ends of the road were placed under contract in july last. in november the contracts upon the eastern division were extended to lewistown, and on the th ult., to huntingdon, together with a few miles of heavy work along the little juniata, embracing altogether miles. very little of the grading, on the western division, has been executed, as there appeared to be no sufficient reason for pressing that portion of the road until the means of the company would justify a larger expenditure upon it than they have heretofore. the work upon the eastern division has been retarded from the scarcity of labor. time seems to be required to collect the necessary force upon the line. with the exception, however, of the susquehanna bridge, the grading will be prepared for the superstructure, to lewistown, this year. the masonry of that important job was first allotted to contractors. the principal of the firm, though highly recommended by the officers of the reading railroad, proved unequal to the task he had undertaken, and their contract was abandoned. in consequence, the remnant of last season, after the contract was let, was mostly lost. the work has been re-let to holman, simons and burke, who have carried it forward satisfactorily. the prevalence of high water, since the season for laying masonry commenced, has prevented as much progress, at this time, as could have been desired; but we still entertain hopes that it will be completed before the ensuing winter. if this is accomplished, the road can be opened to lewistown next spring. under any ordinary circumstances it will be finished to huntingdon ( ½ miles) by the close of navigation in --a point as low down as we may anticipate a profitable use of the road from. our arrangements have been made with a view to the completion of the road to the allegheny portage, early in the spring of . an earlier period could not be fixed, owing to the magnitude of some of the work on the little juniata; a portion of which, embracing the tunnel, through a point of tussey's mountain, was located and contracted for last december, to avoid delay and a premature expenditure of capital on the lighter work, which would have followed a general letting of the whole road at that time, or since, even if it could have been prepared for contract in season. if sufficient means shall be obtained to prosecute the western division, i would recommend that the heavy portions of the work, between the conemaugh and the confluence of brush and turtle creeks, should be placed under contract, together with the grading, continuously from the portage road to the point of divergence of the line from that river towards pittsburg, if the conemaugh route is adopted. when the connection is made with the portage railroad, from the east, there will then be a continuous railroad from philadelphia to johnstown, miles in length, and, if opened at the same time to near blairsville, it will be extended to miles, with only miles of turnpike thence to pittsburg, or miles of canal navigation, giving a line of communication, with the ohio river, far superior to any railroad route existing, or any that will at that time be built. on freight destined to the interior of ohio but one transshipment will then be necessary. the canal boats, loaded at the terminus of the road, can be conveyed to any point upon the ohio canal. if your road possesses no other source of revenue than the local travel and transportation of the rich and populous region to be traversed by it--secured, as it will be, from competing lines by _natural barriers_ stretching out on either side from the susquehanna to the potomac--they would be sufficient to justify its construction. the influence of the pennsylvania canal has called into activity all the elements necessary to render the enterprise profitable, and, in consequence, it will be more successful with that improvement, as a pioneer rival, than if it was now to enter upon an unoccupied field. whatever may be the effect of your work upon the business of the canal--and i do not believe it will be injurious--there can be no doubt but that it will add very materially to the revenues of the commonwealth. important as the local sources of revenue are to the company, they will afford but a limited amount of business compared with that to be derived from the great west. the route of your improvement is directly on the line that would be most desirable for a railroad to pass from st. louis, or the confluence of the mississippi and missouri rivers, through the center of the wealth and enterprise of the mississippi valley to the atlantic. with a map of the union before you, it will be found to be impossible to draw a line upon it that would accommodate so large an amount of population, or an equal extent of fertile country. through the broad bed of mountains that divide the atlantic from the western states--traversed by our route for miles--natural gorges are found, cutting all of them to their bases, except the allegheny, which is passed with comparatively easy gradients, and without encountering difficulties of a very unusual character. these favorable features of the country give to us a line which is the shortest and best that can be obtained between these sections of the union, and insures to the company the whole of the travel and light transportation, with much of the heavy trade, destined to philadelphia and points north of this city, of the vast region between a line along the southern shores of lake erie, touching lake michigan, and extending to the far west, and the immediate valley of the ohio river. the distance from cleveland to new york being miles shorter by this route than by the new york and erie railroad, much of the travel embarked upon the lakes for that city from the north and west must also be diverted to this line. in view of these circumstances, can a reasonable doubt be entertained by any one as to the profitableness of the stock of the pennsylvania railroad company? its natural position must give to it more than sufficient business to make it yield large profits. indeed, i confidently advance the opinion that when the road shall have been completed that it will not be a question "whether it will pay an interest on its cost," _but to what point the rates of freight and passage shall be reduced to give the company ample revenues and at the same time make the work most extensively useful to the public_. dividends from its revenue can be made of , or per cent. by changing the rates of freight and passage, at the discretion of the directors. from some experience in the management of the business of other roads, much less favorably situated than this, i feel no hesitation in making this prediction. i look upon the result as one upon which there can be no doubt entertained. the inquiry may be made, "if this road must prove a profitable investment, why other works in pennsylvania, favorably located, have not yielded remunerating dividends to their proprietors?" in reply it can be stated that there is no important work, leading from philadelphia, that ought not now to divide large profits, if their stock and funded debts exhibited a fair cash value of the property represented. most, if not all, of these works, were commenced with inadequate capital, for the object in view, and from the anxiety of the stockholders to realize the large profits promised on their completion, and the _public_ to _enjoy the use_ of the improvement, they have been pressed forward faster than true economy, or the funds of the company, would justify. engagements were made, relying upon fortune, or accident, to provide the means to meet them. these resources failing, they were thrown upon the mercy of either the contractors or the money lender. and, in consequence, the cost of the works has been rolled up to an amount not anticipated, and, in many cases, debts incurred, under the pressure of the moment, in the most objectionable shape, to meet which the whole of the receipts of the companies have necessarily been mortgaged. in new england, and also in new york--where railroads have, in many cases, been deprived of the privilege of carrying freight--judiciously located roads have invariably paid well. their success has not been caused by the exercise of any peculiar skill or economy in their management, as generally supposed, for, in this respect, though they stand deservedly high, there is none that conduct their business, under all circumstances, with as much economy as the baltimore and ohio railroad, or some other southern companies. in closing this communication it gives me much pleasure to acknowledge the zealous and cordial co-operation that i have received from my associate and assistant engineers in carrying on the important work that you have committed to our charge. respectfully submitted, by your obedient servant, j. edgar thomson, _chief engineer_. note.--by way of "then and now" contrast, the income account of the pennsylvania railroad company for the year ending june , , from interstate commerce commission bulletin no. is subjoined. revenues and expenses of the pennsylvania railroad company for the year ending june , . miles operated , operating revenues $ , , from freight $ , , passengers , , other transportation , , non-transportation , operating expenses , , for maintenance of way and structures $ , , maintenance of equipment , , traffic , , transportation , , general , , net operating revenue , , taxes(a) , , (a) exclusive of some $ , , taxes paid on leased lines. observe that the amount expended on maintenance of way and structures in was more than double the total estimated cost of the road from harrisburg to pittsburg in . the amount expended during the calendar year in revision of grades and alignment, and for additional tracks, yards and other terminal facilities, abolition of grade crossings and improvement of equipment was $ , , , exclusive of $ , , applied towards construction of new york terminal extension. this road as it exists today is a living monument to the sound policy of the american railway practice of a dollar for improvements for every dollar of dividends. s. t. footnote: [a] by an alteration of the line, since made, the distance lost by the river route is reduced to four-tenths of a mile. railways and the pacific northwest by james j. hill. [on the occasion of the completion of the spokane, portland & seattle ry., connecting portland with british columbia, mr. hill delivered three noteworthy addresses at portland, november , , at tacoma november and seattle november . the speech at portland was an earnest plea for a more intelligent and economical cultivation and conservation of the vast agricultural resources of the pacific northwest; the other two related largely to the part played by the railways in the development of that territory. the portions of these addresses which follow are taken from the full reports which appeared in the seattle and tacoma newspapers the next days.] mr. hill at seattle. after mr. hill had been introduced and warmly applauded as the "empire builder," who had been intimately associated with the development of the northern tier of states from the lakes to the pacific ocean, and he had acknowledged his obligation to the indomitable spirit of seattle and its people, he began his address by disclaiming the ownership of the great northern railway. "fifteen thousand people own it." said he. "the average holding is about shares. over , women are owners in the great northern railway, and i have to manage their affairs." then he proceeded: "it is three years since i was here, and i never expected that three months would pass without my coming to seattle, but three years have passed and what do i find? i think the city in three years has doubled. i think it has doubled in everything that goes to make a city. just look at the streets lined with commercial houses which would be a credit to any city in the world. it is far beyond what i expected to find, and i think that seattle has a future. seattle is entitled to her growth, and if the same spirit that has moved her citizens in the past continues, if the mantle of the older men falls on the shoulders of the younger men, seattle cannot help but thrive. you have behind you one of the richest states in the union; one of the very richest. * * * * * development of railways. "now, to come back to the relation of the railway to the development of the country. next to the cultivation of the soil itself, in the amount of money invested and in the importance to all the people, is the railway property of this country. it is on a little different basis, i am sorry to say, from the general attitude of the public, from any other property. from what judge burke says as to the golden rule, if you can have it fairly applied, it would make our hearts glad. "we frequently hear about railroad watered stock. it is a hackneyed phrase which is used with which to catch gudgeons, and it has caught a great many. now, let us see. you can open a bank--five of us sitting here, if we had the money, could open a bank, put up the building and draw our checks, and that is disposed of. we have a million or a million and a half of capital, and, conducting the business of the bank within the law applied to bankers, we can earn any dividend we like, and we can divide it, even up to or per cent., and it has been done, and nobody finds any fault. now, we might start a manufacturing establishment and we can divide any profits that we can legally make up to or or per cent., or we can start a mercantile establishment and conduct it so as to bring any profit--there is no limit so long as we are within the laws of trade. but take the railroad. "now, remember, you can run your manufacturing establishment twenty-four hours a day, or you can run it one day in the week, or you can run it half the time and you can close it and it will not affect you, or you need not run it at all; and if you do not like the business you can dispose of it. you can liquidate your bank and go out of business; and so with the mercantile establishment, you can close it at any time. but when you have invested your money in a railway, you have undertaken an obligation to serve the public; you have taken a business risk that is greater than the business risk of any other business in the world. if you do not run it, move your trains with regularity, move your trains so as to accommodate the business, the courts will appoint a receiver and will issue receiver's certificates to an extent that would wipe out your investment. if there were anything left they would hand it back, but the chances are altogether that if you could not make it pay the receiver could not. railroad biggest risk. "now, i mention this simply to show that the business risk in building or operating a railway is greater than it is in any other business. there is nothing guaranteed, and sometimes you are told what appliances you may use; you are told what you must not use; you are told whom you can hire, and you are told when you can discharge him, and it has been at least hinted as to what you should pay him--what his wages and condition of work shall be. so that the only privilege that was left for the railroads was to pay the bills. that they are always expected to do, and it would be a great disappointment if they were not able to. "in the section of this country, the portion of this country east of chicago, i do not know anywhere north of the ohio river, where a railroad, built with the greatest care and economy, could pay one per cent. on its cost; that is, a new road, built between any of the large cities of the west to the large cities of the east, paying the present price of real estate and terminals and the cost of construction, the cost of eliminating great profits, the cost of the necessary expenditure of money to make life and limb safe. "take, for instance, a railroad from new york to chicago. i had curiosity enough to inquire from the leading real estate man who was getting the additional property for the new york central, their terminals, what it would cost from thirty-eighth street to harlem river, a narrow strip of blocks on the east side, say ten blocks, from thirty-eighth to forty-eighth street, to be used as a terminal. he told me it ought to be secured for $ , , , but he would not like to take the contract. now, follow that up through albany and syracuse, rochester and buffalo and erie and cleveland and on to chicago, and if you can get into chicago and get out of new york with any reasonable cost i want to say that when your road was finished, at the present rate, it could not pay per cent. on what it cost in money. no room for more roads. "now, what chance is there for more roads between new york and chicago, or between any atlantic city and any large city in the west? during the ten years from to the railroad mileage in the united states increased about ½ per cent., the passenger business increased per cent., and the freight business increased per cent. the additional burden was placed on the railways, with an increase of over per cent. in the tons moved. what is it costing the pennsylvania road to get into the city of new york? i do not know the exact figures, but i have seen it estimated from time to time at one hundred millions of dollars to secure passenger facilities in the city of new york. when i think of these things and see what you have here i think that we have reason to congratulate ourselves, and i think that we had a narrow escape from being compelled to do our business west of commercial street in place of where we are today. there are no places that i know of today where there is any room or any use for any other large railway enterprise. "the milwaukee & st. paul are coming to the coast--and we are glad they are there. at different times, when people largely interested in that enterprise talked with me, i said, 'by all means build to the coast; extend your road--if you do not, somebody who has more enterprise than you will take the business and will keep it on their own rails and you will not get a share of it.' but when that enterprise is finished, i do not know, north of the platte river, where there is room for another railroad or occasion for one. there will be branches built, and they are necessary for the development of the country. you had expended, and there is being expended now, a very large sum during the last two years. "the northern pacific and the great northern, within the state of washington, have spent millions of dollars between portland and spokane. it ought not to frighten you; it will not wipe you out; you have your roots deep in the ground and they will stay there. tacoma is waking. "now, i find in summing up the present population of the new country between blaine and vancouver--portland is on the other side of the columbia, although, fortunately, the state line does not limit our commerce or our right to trade with each other--there are over , people living on the line of the railway between blaine and vancouver. portland claims , , and i feel sure that she must be near that figure. portland has grown rapidly, and i think possibly the young men have taken a sheet out of your book. there was a time when they were altogether too wealthy in portland. every man had business of his own to attend to and was so deeply engaged in it that he overlooked the business of the city. they did not take hold. you could come there if you were willing to bear all the expense and take what you could get. but portland has had an awakening, and i believe that portland, notwithstanding its remoteness from the sea, will have a good growth. it has a good country behind it and there is no reason why it should not have a good growth. "another city down here where we were beautifully entertained last night, tacoma--i remember when we came out here they really did not need us and we did not want to force ourselves on them, and so we stayed right here. but i think, and i hope, that tacoma is getting its eyes open and that it wants more railways. we don't ask much; we want the privilege of a place for foothold, a place to do our business at our own expense; and i think that we will probably succeed in getting it--i hope so. growth pleases him. "i wanted to come back to your city here. i was more than surprised at your growth and i am more than gratified. i rather gathered that you had grown fast and that possibly you wanted a resting spell, but i don't see that there is any rest for you now. i think that you will go on as you have begun, and i was more than glad to see what you are doing in the way of adjusting your street grades. it is inexpensive; the burden may be hard upon some people, and difficult to carry, but it will cost infinitely less to do it now than in five or ten years, after those streets were lined with buildings that had cost a great deal of money and you could not afford to throw them away. lay your foundations right and the structure will take care of itself. "it will grow by degrees, and, when it is finished it will be part of a complete whole and you will be glad you did it. we have a good many communities to take care of along our railway, and with every one of them we have always the feeling that their prosperity means our prosperity. they have to earn the money before they can pay it to us, and what they do pay us we think is a small part; but we expect the railway business must depend upon close management and small savings. "take the dividend of the great northern railway. _three copper cents in moving a ton of freight ten miles pays our dividends._ a ton of freight on a country road would be a fair load for a farmer's wagon, and ten miles would be a fair day's work if he returned the same night. we do that. our dividend amounts to about cents--a little less than three copper cents--for moving that load of freight. we find that we have neither poisoned the air nor the water and you have all the highways that you had before we came, but we give you a better one and a cheaper one. must have money. "and remember that you never can injure the railway without injuring yourselves. the railway has only two sources from which to get money. it must either earn it or borrow it, and if it borrows, and borrows judiciously, the rate of interest ought not to be high, but whatever it is, high or low, you pay it. sometimes people who do not know better think that they are serving a good cause to stick the railway--the company is rich--a personal injury case or something of that kind--but it is a railway and they can afford it--stick them. now, who pays the bill? can we charge that up to the construction of a station? "it is a part of the expense, and the law says that you must pay us for the use of our property enough to pay our expenses and our taxes, and a reasonable return upon the investment, so that all is charged in your bills. "we had in one thriving city on the great northern, i recall, a suit for $ , . a young brakeman stumbled against a pile of cinders that it was represented the trackmen threw out from between the rails and poured water upon it, and it froze in the winter and was solid, and as he was running alongside of his train he stumbled and fell and was injured--some great injury to the spine that wrecked his entire nervous system, and we inquired and found out how the coal got there, and our experience and education have made us suspicious; we took the cinders to the laboratory and had them analyzed and absolutely they were anthracite, and there never was a ton of anthracite coal burned in a locomotive in the state of minnesota; we followed it up and we found that the man who brought the suit--a professional suit bringer--had, with a brakeman and his own son, taken the cinders from his own office and piled them there and poured water on them. now, i speak of that just as an illustration of some applications of that golden rule. compares railway cost. "your future growth will depend on yourselves hereafter, as it has largely depended upon your own efforts in the past. the commerce going to and from the pacific coast cities by the sea is being largely carried in foreign bottoms. there was a time when the american nation was a nation of seafaring men, but that does not apply any longer, and i am sorry that that is so. i believe that the people of the united states, i believe that the genius of the country is just as able to carry upon the sea as upon the land. as matters stand today, any bay or inlet where a foreign flag can force its way inland into our country they can call to us to drop the bundle and they take it from us and we can't help ourselves. now, we ought to be able to help ourselves, for on the land we have so far surpassed the others that there is no comparison. "in great britain their average railway cost is $ , per mile. in the united states it is a little less than $ , per mile. in germany it is about $ , , in france about $ , , in austria about the same. now let us see what they do with their two hundred and thirty-four thousand dollar machine and their one hundred and ten and one hundred and forty. in great britain they move an average of five hundred thousand ton miles to the mile of road at a cost of $ . for every hundred miles. in germany they move about seven hundred thousand ton miles at a cost of a trifle under $ . for every hundred miles. in france , ton miles at a cost of $ . for every hundred miles. in austria the cost is $ . for moving a ton of freight a hundred miles, and in the united states the cost is cents and a fraction. against ship subsidy. "now we in the united states move the business for less than half the average cost of europe. we pay from twice to four times the rate of wages, and we do it with an investment of about a third of their average. if we can do that on land, why can't we do it on the sea? i know that if the ships of the united states had the same care and the same opportunity that the ships of other nations have they would do it, and until then no subsidy, no ship subsidy, will ever enable them to compete with other business, because in principle it is wrong to tax all the business of the country--to put your hand into the public treasury and hand out to one particular business a cash subsidy in order that it may live. "i want to tell you that a steamship line that cannot live without a cash subsidy will make a mighty, mighty lean race with one. it ought to rest on a business foundation. that is the only reason for running ships, because they can be made to pay, and if we can make our railways pay and work at the low rates that the railways in the united states do carry and pay the scale of wages that they do pay, why can't we succeed on the high seas? if we can't, let us hand that business over to somebody who will do it cheaper and better; but i don't feel that the case is a hopeless one, but, on the other hand, i do feel that it would only limit the efforts of those who were trying to make and to build up a merchant marine for the united states; it would only limit their efforts to extend a subsidy to a few ships engaged in the business. foreigners get subsidy. "i remember on one occasion that i went home from here and there was no tonnage to move the stuff we had to send to the orient. absolutely no tonnage was available, and when i got home there was a reception to one of our public men, and the late senator mark hanna was there. i took up in a few remarks the question of a subsidy, and i said. 'if we are going to have one, let us pay a subsidy for something that is going to do us some good. let us pay a tonnage on the actual products that reach a new market.' "that would have done some good. the tonnage of the products that does not reach a new market, we wouldn't have anything to pay on that, and on that that does we could afford to pay. now, we were driven out of the business on the atlantic, but we might retain a hold upon the business of this ocean. immediately there was a scheme for congress for an appropriation, i think of $ , , , for ship subsidies, and they found that per cent. of it would go to one line, under the bill that was being then drawn--and that line on the atlantic ocean--and i know that the men and most of the officers lived on the other side of the atlantic, and the stock was owned on the other side of the atlantic. now that would not build up a merchant marine for us. "a company over there has disposed of this old boat to our people and taken what new money they got and built new boats. that was all and that was celebrated--a portion of that was celebrated as the inauguration of a new merchant marine for the united states. think of it! "but some of our statesmen were wise enough to believe that it was going to succeed, but it did not. it fell ingloriously. when we have a merchant marine it will be because there is a reason for it. but until that time comes, just put up with the business that we can get, and let the others carry it who can carry it lower and better than we can in this country. "but bear this in mind: that all your great harbors in the country when compared with the railroad yards sink into insignificance in the tonnage that they move. i think that, in seattle, i would be safe in saying that twenty tons are moved by rail where one goes by water, unless you can count saw logs. and i had occasion to look up st. louis. the mississippi at st. louis has from eight to twelve feet of water for nearly nine months in the year and boats run in and out of st. louis, and we are all anxious to make a deep water channel from there to new orleans. "now, in looking up the amount, i found that, notwithstanding they had from eight to twelve feet of water for nine months in the year, or about nine months, less than per cent. of the tonnage that came into st. louis moved by water; and out of over , , tons of coal--and if there is any article among all the shipments that could be moved by water easily and cheaply it would be coal--not one ton of coal moved out of st. louis by water last year. "there is a scheme to spend the public money and create a channel fourteen feet deep to the levees at the mouth of the mississippi, and there are plans to lath and plaster the bottoms of a great many other streams throughout the country, and so many that in order to get any appropriation for an enterprise of great national merit, it is necessary to divide up and load it down with a lot of appropriations. these make what is known as the pork barrel, the river and harbor bill. they load it down with the various enterprises that have no value to anybody, streams on which the government is called to spend more money than all the boats would bring if sold at auction, and in some cases where there have been no boats run for ten years. leads world in tonnage. "they say they ought to regulate the railroads. now, when you come to consider the matter practically, i would rather have a railroad alongside of a navigable river, or a river with six or eight or ten feet of water in it, than to have it far away from the river. a box car will beat any ten-foot channel in the world, but when we get twenty or twenty-five-foot channels, the box car is not in it in bulky freight. you have got to have depth of water. "some years ago i built six freight steamers on the great lakes and they were considered whales in their day. they could carry , tons. today a lake steamer and a double channel through the soo canal carries , tons, and has two additional firemen and one deckhand, and that is all the additional crew. "sometime i would like to have the city council of the city of seattle, if they had the time, run down to the head of lake superior, and see what is the greatest port in the matter of tons moved in the world. london was, and duluth and superior a few years ago were trailing along fifth or sixth place; but last year it took first place with the cities of the world, and it handled more tonnage than any other city. london had , , tons and duluth had , , . "now, to show the enormous importance of that load of tonnage, that tonnage that is greater than any other city in the world, i undertake to say, and do say, that there are not , people, men, women and children, connected directly or indirectly, with moving that traffic between the land and the water in both directions. there is such a thing as doing a very large business without a harbor at all. seattle spirit wins. "although as far as foreign commerce is concerned, as far as business is concerned, when we get to the seaside, we have to hand it over to the ships. it must be done. but the great business is done in the railroad yards. i would not be without the harbor--far from it, but don't feel that the harbor is going to make you, and don't feel as a gentleman in public life in washington, when a friend of mine talking with him said, 'you won't get any more railways built along the policies you advocate.' 'oh, well,' he said, 'we have got them, we have got them.' and he was a member of the house committee of interstate commerce, a rather dangerous statement for him to make." at tacoma. in his address at the banquet of the tacoma chamber of commerce on the preceding evening (november ), mr. hill dwelt especially on the intimate relation of railway and agriculture interests. among other things he said: "the question of terminals means a great deal to a railroad and it is getting to be more and more full of meaning every year. some cities, and large cities, today have all the railroads they will ever get, simply on account of the difficulty in getting terminals. i think the northern pacific terminals today--i think to buy them on the entire system--would cost more money than to grade the whole road, and i do not know but what it would cost more than to grade and put the rails down. that is a condition and, remember, that you pay the freight. * * * * * will soon need all the wheat we raise. "within a comparatively short time, i will say that within six years, i will go on record, you won't send many cargoes of wheat from tacoma by sea, simply because the united states wants every bushel that will be raised within the united states to feed her own people, and will pay you more money for it. if they didn't pay you more money for it, it would go to the foreigner, but our own people will pay more money for it and take it somewhere and grind it into flour. if you look for greater avenues or greater economy in transportation, but it will cease to go out as wheat. i will give you an illustration and you can draw your own conclusions as well as i can: in the united slates raised , , bushels of wheat and we had , , people and we exported somewhere between , , and , , bushels. twenty-five years later, in , we raised , , bushels. we increased in that twenty-five years a little less than per cent. in our wheat yield, or , , bushels. "our population increased per cent., and converging lines meet somewhere. now, if we had , , of people--and we have between , , and , , this year--and use six and a half bushels per capita, it would take , , bushels for bread and seed. professor rogers, of the minnesota agricultural college, puts our consumption for bread and seed for the last few years at a trifle over or a trifle under seven bushels. i think he uses ten years for his average, and i use twenty-five to get an average of about six bushels and forty pounds, and i call it six and one-half bushels. "on last year's crop, with , , , we have had about , , bushels to sell and we sold about , , . what is the result? after the th of january wheat was higher in minneapolis than it was in chicago, even up to the first of august, and part of the time it was higher than it was in new york, because they wanted it to make a loaf of bread to feed our people at home. "we have not the great margin that we used to have. the seed on last year's crop went down to , , bushels and, if my figures are equal to professor rogers'--and he is a professor of agriculture in the agricultural college and maybe he has more time to look these questions up more carefully--but with his figures we hadn't a bushel to sell. suppose we had , , bushels to sell, and we are increasing in population at the rate of , , per year, our natural figure is between , , and , , , and allow , for immigration, not eleven, twelve, thirteen or fourteen as we have been having, but say seven and by you will have in the united states, it figures out to be accurate, , , , but suppose we have , , , it might come by , or , or it might be in , but about that time we will have , , people, and if they use six and a half bushels per capita for bread and seed, it would take , , , bushels to feed them. problem of the wheat. "that is a little more than twice what you are raising today, and you haven't any new fields to put a new plow in. from , when we raised , , bushels of wheat, following that time more than half of minnesota, all the northern part of minnesota, was brought under the plow, all of north dakota, all of south dakota, all of the state of washington and all of oregon, except , , or , , bushels raised in , more than half of california, two-thirds or three-quarters in kansas and nebraska, a large part, practically all of oklahoma or the indian territory and a large part of texas, and take what was raised in on the new fields that were opened up, any new territory after , and you will find that it is approaching , , bushels, but the increase in the whole country in that twenty-five years was only , , bushels, so that the old fields fell off about , , bushels. "are we increasing our yield per acre? by no manner of means. it has been a steady and uniform decline for the past thirty years. now, we have as good wheat fields as there are anywhere on the continent, and they will be made better. i am not a disciple of malthus, because malthus was an honest man no doubt, but when he wrote he did not understand the science of modern agriculture or the adaptation of the soil or of the seed to the soil, or the commercial value of a correct analysis of the soil and the adaptation of the soil nor its commercial value as suited to the crop it is best fitted for. all these things we have learned, and while you are teaching your young people let me advise you that the school that is most entitled to your care and the school that will do the most for the state in every place and will turn out men and women as they have always in industry and intelligence and everything else that goes to make good citizenship, the school attended by the boy on the farm is certainly as good as the best. "when your forests are cut and hauled away, and sold to somebody else you have then, and we will give you a perennial forest, a crop every year of great value too. but we ought to be able to take care of our land and we will. i have no doubt about the future. we will do what other people have been compelled to do. in , great britain was down to fourteen bushels. we are down to thirteen and nine-tenths now, average. they took the question up and it was much easier for them to control, as far as territory was concerned, because the territory was small, in the hands of a few land owners, mostly rented, and they faced conditions compelling the land owner to sub-fallow, and fertilize and carry one crop year after year. they appointed a royal commission and that royal commission went to work jointly. we have a royal commission, too, and they are able men. one is a professor at cornell and another is a publisher of books in new york, and another is mr. pinchot, who is doing a great deal of work, but he is overrun with the work he has to do. this commission is to report in time for the meeting of congress. now, bear this in mind, great britain started in trying to keep the people on the land. the landlord was afraid of the great drift of the agricultural people to the colonies and the new republic, the united states at that time. the new republic was going to impoverish them, and leave them without any rent rolls. they went to work intelligently and in and sir humphrey david, the foremost scientist of his time, delivered most intelligent lectures on the qualities of the soil. in forty or fifty years after they started they had gotten their yield up to an average of twenty-five bushels per acre. last year, it was . . starting at fourteen we ought to get up in place of . or , we ought to be able to get up to or , and if we do we will have grain to feed our , , people and to spare, and what do i hear? 'some more, and then some?' now in going over those questions, i am not worrying about the future of the country. i have more confidence in it today, the day for cheap wheat has left the united states, not to return, and we can stand that. this land, this side of the range, you can devote to better uses than raising wheat. i do not know why you should not get returns, as i said, that would equal per cent. on $ , per acre. you can do it. there is no question as to that." southern railways and their needs by john f. wallace. abstract of address before southern commercial congress washington, d. c., dec. and , . this question has been extensively treated by leading railroad men, statesmen and press of the south, and admirably covered by addresses on numerous occasions before various audiences throughout the south. i therefore feel that the southern railroad situation is gradually becoming better understood, not only by the public at large, but by the railway men of the south, who are jointly appreciative of the fact that the greatest need of southern railroads is the confidence and support of the communities through which they run and serve. therefore, my remarks will be few, and are made in order that certain fundamentals may be read into the record of this convention. for the purposes of this address the south is described as that portion of the united states lying south of the potomac and ohio rivers and east of the mississippi. shortly after the close of the civil war, the south realizing the changed order of things, accepted the situation in the spirit of american manhood and started on a new era of industrial and commercial development. one of the first necessities was a comprehensive system of transportation facilities. the railroads, which prior to the civil war had compared favorably with those in the north, at its close were practically bankrupt financially and physically, and were more the shadow than the substance of what they should have been. southerners with brains and energy, starting with , miles of detached, dilapidated and crippled railways, immediately commenced to lay the foundation of the present industrial and commercial prosperity in the south by constructing its lines of railway. the efforts of these men and the confidence they were able to inspire in northern and foreign capital are best illustrated by the fact that today the south is served with , miles of railroad, serving eleven states, twenty million people, and representing a total investment in round numbers of two billion dollars. of these , miles of railroads only , miles approximately, or ½ percent, are double track. it is possible that the next ten years will see at least one-fourth, or over ten thousand, additional miles of second track. it must be borne in mind that while transportation is the burden bearer of both production and commerce, it is only able to perform the full and complete measure of its functions when properly nourished and assisted by finance. in ancient days the birth of civilization started with the ability to preserve food products. this grew from the temporary necessity of accumulating sufficient food to last from one chase to another, or to enable journeys to be performed or winter climates endured, to the storage of vast quantities of food to enable nations to survive years of famine, as was exemplified by the storage of grain in egypt in the days of joseph, which period history shows us was the crowning epoch of egyptian civilization. today the measure of our modern civilization is our transportation facilities. safe, efficient and rapid communication, and the economy of the world's transportation systems, are binding the nations of the earth closer together day by day, and helping to create the conditions which will ultimately place the crown of accomplishment upon our modern civilization. coming back to the south, from which we have been temporarily led astray, it is self-evident to the careful observer that all the diverse interests of this section--agriculture, mining, manufacture, commerce and banking--are unavoidably and irrevocably bound up with the transportation facilities furnished and to be furnished by the railway systems ramifying its territory and performing a service for the south similar to that performed by the arteries and blood-vessels in the body of corporeal man. it is also apparent to the impartial observer that if the south is to reach its highest state of development its transportation facilities should not lag, but should lead the march of progress, and that this development should be stimulated in every possible way; and men of the south should never forget for a single moment that _the needs of the railroads are the needs of the south_. it has been our custom in america to anticipate future needs in transportation, and in a measure attempt to forestall and provide for them. the policy of foreign countries has been practically the reverse. the railway systems of england have been constructed to take care of and supply a demand for transportation facilities that already existed. the railroads of the united states in the south and west have been projected and constructed, and to a great extent financed, by men whose inspiration was a firm belief in an unseen future and whose assets were largely composed of hope and an undying faith in the future development of their country. now, the future demands for increased transportation facilities in the south are plainly indicated by past records, showing the growth of productive activities and the constant increase of tonnage to be moved. if these requirements are to be met, demand and supply must move forward hand in hand. additional tonnage will justify increased facilities and increased facilities will stimulate still greater tonnage. during the past years the total products of the south, from agriculture, forest, mines and manufactures, have increased in valuation over per cent. during the last five years of this period, ending in , the increase has been per cent. the common fallacy that a railroad is completed when opened for traffic has long since passed away, at least in the minds of intelligent men. the railroad of today is no sooner completed as a single track, than it becomes necessary to provide industrial spurs; additional or enlarged terminals; replace its temporary structures by permanent ones; widen its excavations; strengthen its embankments; provide passing tracks, additional shop facilities, enlarged passenger and freight stations, warehouses, elevators, docks and wharves at water terminals, additional tracks, heavier rail, rock ballast, elimination of curves, reduction of grades, block signals, elimination of grade crossings, heavier engines, larger and better cars, to the end that the constantly growing requirements and exactions of modern traffic conditions may be met; all of which requires increased expenditures, which it is easily seen could not in any event be provided for out of earnings. during the next ten years the railroads of the south will require $ , , , to enable them to fully provide for the increased demands for transportation facilities, an average of $ , , per annum. including the estimated increased mileage and the present capital investment, the resulting average capitalization would amount to $ , per mile, being $ , per mile under the present average capitalization of all the railroads of the united states today, which is $ , per mile.[b] meeting the requirements of the railroad situation in the south by the expenditure of a round billion dollars during the next ten years, as outlined herein, would make the total investment in southern railways at the end of that period three billions of dollars on an estimated mileage of , . it would require average earnings of $ , gross per mile per annum, with operating expenses at per cent of the gross, to yield sufficient net income to provide a return of per cent on this total investment. when these figures are compared with the present average gross earnings of the railroads of the united states, $ , per mile per annum, with an average cost of operation of $ , per annum, resulting in a ratio of operating expenses to gross earnings of per cent, the above estimates appear reasonable and conservative. even if this expenditure is made and the results predicted obtained at the end of the ten-year period, southern railroads will still fall approximately per cent short of yielding the present average gross earnings per mile per annum of the railroads of the united states today. to provide funds to meet these ever-growing and incessant demands for additional facilities, the railroad companies must necessarily be large borrowers. the prosperity of the south in the next decade, and in those to follow after, depends upon the ability of the owners and managers of southern railways to foresee and provide for future necessities, and upon the promptness with which the work is accomplished. the ability of railroads to construct these improvements, which are so essential to the future prosperity of the south, depends upon the willingness of capital to furnish the necessary funds for the purpose. while legislation may control and regulate the returns upon invested capital, there is no process by which it can compel that investment originally. while investment is easily retarded it is difficult to attract. there is probably no form of capital investment more open to attack or more liable to depreciation through unfair or unwise legislation than the railway investments of today. while the speaker is a firm believer in the principles of governmental control and supervision over the corporate entities which have been created by the people and for the people, it must not be forgotten that every shield has its reverse, and that the exercise of such control and supervision must necessarily be along the lines of right and justice, which no mere legislative enactment can change. any variance brings its own reward, which frequently spells disaster. the power to control, regulate and supervise necessarily carries with it responsibilities from which there can be no escape. every tax, every restriction, every requirement which costs money or reduces revenue to our southern railroads is a tax which must ultimately be paid by the communities which they serve. the prosperity of the southern railroads and the prosperity of the south are irrevocably bound together, and the _needs of the south are identical with the needs of the railroads_. the basis of securing capital must necessarily be the ability of the borrower to inspire confidence in the lender that his capital will ultimately be returned to him intact, and that he will receive regularly and promptly adequate hire therefor. no section of our great country has such reputation for united action as the south. in political matters this unity of action for years has led to the designation "the solid south." what the railroads in this section need today is _a solid south behind and beneath them_; a solid south taking a calm and rational view of the immense factor the railways have been and always will be in the development of its future greatness. the recent reversion of sentiment in the state of georgia, brought about by a calm and deliberate analysis of the present situation by the business men of that state, should be the keynote of the future action of the solid south. _the adoption of a policy of fairness and liberality towards the railroad interests on behalf of all the southern states, and the ability to convince the financial world that this action is sincere and genuine and will be permanent, is the great paramount need of the railroads of the south today._ prompt action along these lines will enable the railroad companies of this section to successfully compete in the markets of the world for the capital needed to carry out the improvements outlined, and thus provide the facilities which will enable the producers of the south to ride the crest of the wave of coming prosperity. in its calls for capital the southern railroads must come into competition in the markets of the world, not only with the railroad requirements of the north, of the east and the west, but with all the lines of human industry and endeavor throughout the wide world. the difference between the five or six per cent paid by southern railroads for the money which goes into their additional facilities or equipment, and the three or four per cent which may be yielded by the high-class world investments, is merely the gauge by which the confidence of the capitalist is measured in the integrity of his investments. today it is difficult to secure money for railroad development, either south or north, at any ordinary rate of interest. why? is it because money is scarce? no. i can best answer this by a story of the panic of ' , when a citizen of chicago dropped into the office of lyman gage, of the first national bank of that city, and inquired of mr. gage if money was tight. he replied, "no, the bank had plenty of money." the citizen said, "that's fine; can i secure a loan of $ , ?" mr. gage replied, "yes, you can have it; we will loan it to you. what is your collateral, what security can you give?" it is needless to say that the loan was not made. the customer afterwards remarked to a friend that he had found that the trouble was not that money was tight, or that money was scarce, but was due to the scarcity of collateral or security, which is only another designation for guaranteed confidence. this is the situation today. there is not a railroad in the south, north, east or west that could not secure all of the funds necessary for any development it might desire to make provided it could show the capitalists to whom application for the loan was made that it could furnish security which would insure the repayment of the loan and the interest thereon as due. i doubt if there is a single southern railway system, the officers of which would not gladly today take up, consider and block out a scheme for the improvement and betterment of their property, and commence preparations to enable their system to fully perform the increased functions of a common carrier, which the abundant years of the immediate future promise to require, if they could be sure, and in turn could assure their financial backers, that the earnings of their road would be amply and safely sufficient to provide for, and take care of, the investment necessary. therefore, _remember that the needs of the railroads are the needs of the south_. i presume there is no planter, miner, manufacturer, producer of any sort, banker, merchant or professional man in the wide south who would not say in a moment that every thousand dollars of capital invested in his vicinity, or in his town, or in his state, would be gladly welcomed and eagerly sought for, by the planter paying eight per cent and the merchant and miscellaneous producer from six to eight per cent, and that approximately one billion of dollars injected into the commercial channels of the southern states during the next ten years would bring a relative measure of prosperity to every man, woman and child within its borders. when it is considered that this amount of money could be invested in additional railroad improvements and facilities; that under proper conditions it could be secured at a rate not in excess of five per cent; that approximately eighty per cent or more would be spent for southern labor and southern material, and would find its way through every artery and vein of southern trade and commerce, it would seem that the solid south would be thoroughly alive to the burning fact that--_the needs of the railroads are the needs of the south_. i might talk to you for hours about the evil and unfairness of legislative enactments to retard and make unproductive railway investments; of the injustice of any body of men attempting by legislation, without giving the railroad corporations proper hearing, to arbitrarily adjust their rates of toll for either passenger or freight simply because politicians consider it a popular thing to do. i might suggest a multitude of things which could be done to increase the credit of railroads throughout your section. i might mention a multitude of things which have been done to injure and impair and prevent railroads securing the necessary capital to provide for their needs. i might also attempt to enumerate the ill-advised actions of railroad managers and employees toward the public. i might expatiate upon the foolishness and unwisdom of a corporation--the creature of the public--attempting to dictate to its master or declining to obey its commands. it is doubtful, however, if the enumeration of the errors and shortcomings of the fellow-members of the same family ever tends to a better understanding or more harmonious relationships. the need of the hour is a recognition of the interdependent relations which exist between us all, and to remember--intensely, actively, potently remember--that an "injury to one is an injury to all," and that "united we stand, divided we fall." footnote: [b] this includes $ , per mile of duplicated capital.--s. t. problems confronting american railways by daniel willard, president of the baltimore & ohio railroad. [an address delivered at galesburg, illinois, to burlington railroad employes, february , , by mr. willard, then second vice-president of the chicago, burlington & quincy railroad company.] a short time ago i had occasion to explain to some of your associates who happened to be in my office, some of the difficulties the railroads had been contending with during the two years just past, and i was asked if i would be willing to come to galesburg and explain to other burlington employes the things i had endeavored to make clear to them. i replied that i would be very glad to do so, and i suppose that is how i happen to be here tonight. i understand that this audience is composed largely of employes of the burlington railroad company, and i am glad that that is so, and what i shall say will be addressed particularly to them. so much has been said and written about railroads during the last two years, and by many well qualified to do both, as well as by some not qualified to do either, that it can hardly be possible that any new thing remains to be said, and i fear i shall only be able this evening to repeat to you collectively the same things i have already said to many of you individually. under the burlington plan of organization the second vice-president has direct charge of the operation of the line (responsible, of course, to the president), and for the last five years i have had the privilege and honor of holding that office. i refer to this only that i may by so doing establish my relationship with the various matters to which i shall later specifically refer, because i propose to confine my remarks chiefly to home matters; that is to say, to matters pertaining directly to the burlington company. i feel that i ought to be qualified to speak clearly on that subject, and while i have naturally read much concerning the general railroad question as a whole, the same sources of information have also been open to you, i have no doubt many of you have given the general subject as much or even more study than i have. in october, -- months ago--the burlington company did the largest business in its entire history--ran the most trains, earned the most money and employed the most men. during that month the names of , men appeared upon its pay-rolls; and the same condition existed quite generally throughout the entire united states. there was a well-nigh universal complaint of car shortage and lack of motive power. four months later, reports from the car efficiency bureau in chicago showed a surplus of over , freight cars on the american railroads. in the meantime the burlington company had reduced its force by nearly , men and it was estimated that the transportation business of the country had fallen off more than per cent. what caused this unprecedented change? men far abler than i have undertaken to explain, and many reasons have been given, all, i presume, more or less in harmony with the facts, but influenced no doubt by each man's point of view. i say, candidly, i do not know what caused it; that is, assuming that there _was any one cause_, but i think i can point out to you _some_ of the _contributing_ causes, at least so far as the burlington company is concerned. a railroad, as you all well know, is a living, growing thing. it is never finished, or if we think we have finished some certain part, as was probably thought when the original stone engine houses were built here some years ago, or when the first bridge was built across the mississippi river at burlington, it always happens that heavier, larger, and longer engines come along in course of time, forced upon us by the changed conditions, and our engine house which was built for all time becomes too short, and our bridge is too light, and both must be rebuilt. the same thing is going on in every department of railroad operations--ballast, ties, rails, coaches, station buildings, even grades and curvature, all come within the changing influence of time and progress. i referred to the engine house specifically simply to illustrate my point. because of the constant change or evolution which is going on, it is necessary that railroad companies, if they expect to keep abreast of the times, should make annually large expenditures for such improvements as from time to time become desirable or necessary, if the standard of service is to be raised, or even maintained. these are called extraordinary expenditures, and it is customary on this line to prepare each year, as of january st, what is called a budget, being in effect a list of the more important improvements considered necessary by the officers of the road. the budget shows the separate items, with description of each, and also estimated cost. it may and does include such items as new cars or engines needed, additional sidetracks, new terminal yards, such as you have here, water treating plants, new coal chutes, etc. on january , , the sum total of the burlington budget, as it stood approved by the president on that date, amounted to something over $ , , . . it included some new equipment and also some quite large improvements, such as new yard at lincoln, grade reductions between galesburg and savanna, etc. the burlington system is over , miles in length, and goes through parts of eleven different states. on the st of january, , the legislatures in all of the eleven states, i think, were in session. the federal congress was also in session at washington. bills having special reference to railroads were being introduced daily in some of the legislative bodies above mentioned. i cannot say now that all of them were against the railroads, but i feel i am justified in saying that while perhaps some of them if passed might not have injured the railroads much, none, or at most very few, were intended to help the roads. in fact, the attitude of the federal congress as well as of most of the state legislatures was considered by nearly all railroad owners, and officers as well, as distinctly hostile. this belief may or may not have been justified by the facts--at any rate it existed. the owners of the burlington company believed it. its executive officers believed it. i believed it. the number of bills affecting railroads introduced in the legislatures of the eleven states above referred to, and in the federal congress, during the session of winter of - was over --at least, over such bills were actually laid upon my desk. among these were bills reducing the passenger fares in several states; others about reciprocal demurrage--if any one can explain how such a matter can be made reciprocal; still others fixing the speed of stock trains, and the size of caboose cars; fixing the hours of labor for men in certain branches of the service (and i wish to say here that that part of the federal law fixing limit of hours for men in train and engine service has my hearty support); bills having reference to the liability of the railroads to their patrons and employes, etc., etc. i do not wish you to understand that i criticise all, or for that matter, any, of the bills by this enumeration. i am now simply reciting the facts. but whether the bills were good or bad, desirable or undesirable, it was clear if some of them became laws that the expenses of the railroads would in consequence be largely increased, and no way was provided whereby the revenue or earnings would be correspondingly raised--in fact, there seemed to be a demand from all directions that rates should be reduced, and they were reduced in many states. another important movement was also under way at the same time, and that was in the direction of a general wage increase in practically all departments. this one item alone cost the burlington company $ , , . a year. now, what effect do you suppose all these things had upon the budget and similar questions? just the same effect that the same kind of questions in a personal way would have had upon you and your personal affairs. you will remember that i said the budget amounted to $ , , on january , . that was just before this wave of anti-railroad legislation referred to had fully developed; but when we saw what was happening, when we read the bills that were being passed daily, and the others that were under consideration, we became very much concerned. it seemed clear to us that even if business continued good--and remember this was ten months before the panic of november--that our earnings would probably be considerably reduced by the reduction of freight and passenger rates in various states, and our expenses were certain to be much increased by some of the legislation and also by the advance in wages, and it was necessary to consider where the money was coming from to pay the large bills that would come due in connection with the budget program. after considering the matter very carefully early in january, we decided, first, not to authorize anything further in the way of improvements unless actually necessary; and, second, to stop as many things already authorized as it was possible to get along without. among the things so put off or deferred were the building of a new engine house and necessary shop buildings at clyde; the construction of a new line about miles in length from herrin to the ohio river; double track between galesburg and bushnell; new passenger depots at monmouth and several other places; work on new terminals at lincoln, etc. of course, it may not have seemed to you at the time that we were stopping, because we still had so many things under way, and you cannot prudently stop large undertakings all at once--for instance, we could not stop work on the new yard at galesburg when it was half done, and you will recall that it required more than two years to complete the plan, but we did slow up as much as possible; that is to say, we tried to finish up such things as were authorized before january , , and which were still considered necessary, but we did not start any new things. the effect of this is best shown by the size of the budget on january , --it was then a little over $ , , . , or about one-half what is was twelve months before. in the meantime the november panic of had come upon us, and it seemed not only best, but necessary, to continue the policy decided upon in january of that year, and on the st of january, , the budget, as it then stood, and as it now stands, amounts to a little less than $ , , . ; and this brings us up to the present time. in february, , i had the honor to be invited to the annual banquet of the commercial club at clarinda, iowa, and i was asked to speak about the railroad situation. after referring to some of the proposed laws that were then under consideration in the various states, i continued as follows: "i will not speak of the probable effect of such a public policy as i have referred to, on the general railroad situation, as others are much better qualified to do that, but speaking for the company which i represent, we view the situation with much concern, and we have done, i think, what any prudent manager would do if he saw confronting him conditions which he was certain would increase his cost of operation a large but unknown amount and at the same time reduce his revenues--we have planned to curtail our expenditures wherever possible. i do not mean that we shall let the property suffer, or lower the character of the service, but we will not undertake extensions or large improvements until we can see more clearly where the money is coming from, or if it comes at all. how far reaching this policy of retrenchment, or perhaps i should say curtailment, will be, i, at least, cannot say; it will depend upon the future. certain it is that our expenditures in that direction will be much less this year than last, which means, of course, fewer men employed and less material purchased." it is two years since that was written, and i regret to say that circumstances have not yet seemed to justify any considerable change of policy. the burlington company has on its pay-rolls today about , men, , less than in october, , and , less than in february, . we are doing all the things that we consider necessary for the safe operation of the trains, and for the proper maintenance of the property, but conditions so far have not seemed to us to justify a resumption of the policy of betterments and extension followed during and the preceding years. i do not know absolutely that it is so, but i imagine that the other railroad companies have been pursuing much the same course as we have here. the latest reports indicate that the total railroad mileage of the united states is about , , so that the burlington's mileage is about one-twenty-fifth of the whole, and if you multiply what has happened on this road by twenty-five, you will get a result for the whole country which will probably not be far from the truth. in fact the eastern roads suffered much more from the actual business depression than we did in the west. it has been stated by men who should be competent judges that from one-third to one-half of all manufactured steel and iron is used either directly or indirectly by the railroads, and that fully one-half of all the lumber manufactured is so used. when it became necessary for the railroads to stop buying new cars and engines, and also to stop all new construction and improvements, when possible to do so, you can well understand the effect that that course must have had upon the two particular lines of business just mentioned. of course, many other lines were similarly affected, and it would seem logical that no full and real resumption of business can be expected until the railroads are again able to resume the policy which they were forced to abandon early in . when will that time come? i do not know. what will bring it about? i do not know that either, but i do know what will help matters greatly, at least so far as the burlington company is concerned; but before saying what i have in mind in that connection, i will digress a little, and briefly explain something of the financial responsibilities of a large railroad company, because in spite of all we hear about corrupt management, stock watering, etc., it is still a fact that the railroads did cost something, and the money that was used for that purpose was all, or very nearly all, furnished by private persons like yourselves, and it was furnished by them for investment because they thought or hoped such an investment would be profitable to them, for there is, there can be no other reason for investing money in anything, unless it be invested for charitable purposes. the burlington system today, as i have said, is over , miles in length. it has large terminals in chicago, st. louis, kansas city, and the other great cities it reaches. it owns , locomotives, , passenger cars, and , freight cars. the last annual report shows that its bonded debt (or the size of its mortgage) amounts in round numbers to $ , , . , equal to about $ , . a mile. this mortgage is legally entitled to interest at the average rate of . per cent per annum, because it is so specified in the bond, and that interest must be paid, or the mortgage would be foreclosed just as would happen if you failed to pay the interest on a mortgage, in case you happened to have one on your home. in addition to the bonded debt above referred to, there is outstanding $ , , . of stock in round figures, or about $ , . a mile, making a total capitalization of $ , . per mile. we are constantly told that the american railroads are overcapitalized, and yet the burlington road could not be replaced today for twice its capitalization. i doubt if it could be duplicated for three times its outstanding capital. the stock, as you know, receives as interest or dividends whatever sum the directors may decide to pay, out of what is left after paying the operating expenses, taxes, and interest on the mortgage. if there is nothing left after paying the other items mentioned above, the stockholders receive nothing, so that there is a certain risk connected with an investment in railroad stock that does not apply to railway or government bonds. for a number of years the burlington company has paid per cent dividends to its stockholders. it has earned more than that, as the annual reports show, and the directors might legally and properly have paid larger dividends, but they did not, and all the money earned in excess of per cent on the stock has been spent for betterments, new equipment, etc. this policy, pursued through a long period of years, as it has been, explains how it is that the burlington is in such good physical condition as it is today, and with such a low capitalization. with this explanation, you will understand, i am sure, that with an increase per year in wages alone of $ , , . , together with other increases due to legislation, such as $ , . per year because of the nine-hour law for operators, and a smaller income because of rates reduced (freight and passenger) in many states, the surplus, if any, after paying dividends would be much less than formerly, and if any new work was undertaken it would be necessary to keep its cost within such surplus as might be available, or else borrow the money with which to pay for such work. i hope i have now made clear why it was that we became worried about the budget in january, , and why for the last two years we have been trying, so to speak, to get our house in order. it will perhaps be said that we could have borrowed money for new extensions, betterments, etc., and that is actually what we were compelled to do, in order to complete the budget plans above referred to; but what prudent man would want to borrow beyond his forced necessities, at a time when the future seemed so uncertain, and when the interest on the money so borrowed would add that much more to his existing burdens? the same sound principles should and do underlie railroad operations that you should and do apply to your own personal affairs. the items are larger in the case of the railroad--that is all. i will now repeat the question--what will bring about a resumption of business on railroads? and if i have succeeded in making clear what i sought to explain, i think you can answer the question just as well as can, but i will give you my views, and you will now be in position to judge whether they seem sound or otherwise. in my opinion, railroad business, which really means all business, will recover its former proportions when the influences and forces at work during the last two or three years shall have ceased doing the things that have contributed so largely towards bringing about the depression which we all deplore. perhaps that is not quite clear. i do not mean that laws already made must necessarily be unmade, that wages raised must be reduced, but we must have a rest. we must be given time and opportunity to work out the new problems that have been forced upon us during the last two years. we must be given a chance to find out what it is going to cost to meet the new requirements, and also how much our revenues are going to be reduced by reduction of rates. perhaps it will be found that by new methods growing out of the exigencies of the case we will still be able to earn a surplus sufficient to justify the resumption of extraordinary expenditures as formerly. if not, then, either rates must be advanced, or wages be reduced, or improvements must wait or be carried on with borrowed money and railroads will be slow to increase their interest-bearing debt under such circumstances. as i have said, two years ago during the legislative period, bills affecting railroads were introduced in states reached by the burlington system, including those proposed at washington. so far this season, such bills have been presented. it is too early now to venture even a guess as to how many of them will become laws, but until we know just what to expect, you can clearly see, i am sure, that we will not feel like incurring any new or unnecessary obligations. among the bills so far introduced are two in illinois, called the full-crew bills. these two bills, if passed, will increase the cost of operation on the burlington road alone $ , . a year, on basis of present business. in nebraska a similar bill is under consideration. it is true that the two illinois bills if they become laws will not necessarily make our operations in illinois unprofitable, but that class of legislation will do much to discourage new developments, by making such developments more difficult, or rather, less profitable; and besides, in my opinion, such laws are not necessary. as burlington employes, you may be interested in what i am now going to tell you about the development of the coal business north through galesburg. i need not tell you how much it has increased during the last four years, for you have seen it grow from practically nothing up to its present proportions. some six or seven years ago the burlington officers gave careful consideration to the problem of increasing the company's business, and you must bear in mind that freight shipments do not just _happen_ to go this way or that. well, they finally decided that the most promising opening was to try and develop a coal movement from southern illinois to the cities of st. paul and minneapolis, and the northwest generally, where the winters are severe and fuel supply limited. it was found that if coal from illinois was taken to the twin cities it would have to be sold in competition with coal from pennsylvania and other eastern states shipped by water to duluth. it was also found that the coal from franklin and williamson counties in the southern part of the state, while of very good quality, would not bring the same price on the market in st. paul as the eastern coal. it was also found that in order to be sold at a sufficient profit to the dealer, in competition with the eastern coal, the railroad would have to carry it from herrin, ill., to st. paul, miles, for not more than $ . per ton, or . mills per ton mile. it was also found that it was impossible to do this at a profit to the railroad, as conditions then were; that is to say, we could not haul coal at that rate and make money on a road full of one per cent grades. the engineers were put to work, however, and an estimate was prepared showing what it would cost to put the line from savanna to herrin all to a standard grade not exceeding sixteen feet per mile, the line above savanna being all right. it was believed that it would pay to make the improvement--and you know the rest. the line was built from centralia to herrin, the fenton-thompson cut-off was built, grades were cut, and, altogether, more than $ , , were spent to put the road in shape to haul coal to st. paul in , -ton trains. of course, many new engines were bought, as well as new and high capacity cars suitable for the coal trade. it is a low rate business, and as you know, the cars as a rule return empty, but handled over low grades and in full trains it pays a fair profit; but every additional item of cost, of course, reduces the profit. now to show the effect of proposed legislation. in nebraska a bill has been introduced placing the limit of cars that can be legally handled in one train at fifty. if this bill becomes a law, how long will it be before somebody will want a similar one in illinois, and if you are going to fix a limit so as to make it necessary to run more trains, and consequently employ more men, and that is the undoubted purpose of the bill, how long will it be before the limit will be reduced to forty, or even twenty-five? where will the thing end, and when? with the mere possibility of such legislation looming up in the future, can you expect improvements such as i have just described to continue? would you recommend them if in my place? how long will such legislation find favor in our halls of congress? just as long as your representatives think you want it--by you i mean the majority of their constituents--and no longer. your representatives and senators are human. they seek to obtain political preferment at the polls, and desire to remain in office. they must have a majority of the votes to be elected, and naturally they will shape their course so as to meet your wishes, as they understand them, because by so doing they hope to retain your support. no one today questions the right of the properly constituted authorities to supervise the railroads. no one defends the rebate, or discrimination of any kind, but, as the supreme court of the united states has recently well said, "_it must be remembered that railroads are the private property of their owners; that, while from the public character of the work in which they are engaged, the public has the power to prescribe rules for securing faithful and efficient service and equality between shippers and communities, yet in no proper sense is the public a general manager_." no doubt there may be much in connection with railway management in the past (and for that matter at the present time as well) to criticise; but please tell me what line of human undertaking since the world began, be it industrial, educational or religious, has been free from criticism; and, granting all that is said against the railroads, then what? this is what we find: that the railroad rates in this country are the lowest in the world, with few minor exceptions not worth considering; that the wages paid railroad employes in the united states are higher than anywhere else in the world, and that the capitalization of american railroads per mile, as reported by the interstate commerce commission, is but one-fourth as much as that of english railroads, and one-half that of the railroads of germany and france, and one-third that of belgium; and this has all been accomplished in a country where a high protective tariff obtains, and where everything the railroad uses costs more on that account. it is claimed that our manufacturers must have the protection of a high tariff in order to enable them to meet the prices of their foreign competitors and pay american wages; but the american railroad sells its product, that is, transportation, for less than any other nation and still pays higher wages. a locomotive engineer, for instance, receives $ . per day here as against $ . per day in england, and $ . per day in belgium. it is sometimes said that railroads have received great help from the people in the shape of land grants, and on that account should give much in return. let me give one instance of how this has worked with the burlington company. in order to induce the original projectors of this line to extend the road through iowa, this company was given , acres of government land in that state, selling at that time at $ . per acre, amounting to less than $ , cash value. by an act of congress, passed over thirty-two years ago, a reduction is made of per cent from the mail pay on all land grant roads. at the present time the amount so deducted from the burlington, because of the iowa grant, amounts to over $ , a year, and since the law was passed has amounted in the aggregate to over $ , , , or more than three times the original value of the entire grant. not only that, but it goes on without end. do you think that is fair? we do not ask for favors. we wish to be treated fairly; that is all. no one can possibly be more interested in the prosperity of the railroads than the railroad employes. from every dollar earned by the railroad forty-two cents go directly to pay wages of railway employes, while only twenty-one cents, or one-half that amount, go to pay interest and dividends. in no other country in the world does the railroad employe get so large a share and the security holder so little. why should not the man who invests his money in railroad stock receive as much return in shape of dividends as the man who invests his in a farm or factory? the last census report of the government, that for , showed that money invested in farm lands in the united states earned an average return of over per cent, and money invested in manufactures earned over per cent. the governor of iowa, in a printed article over his own signature, appearing in the february, , number of "farming," gave a number of specific instances where money invested in farm lands in iowa earned from to per cent, and he referred to such cases as typical. the last report of the interstate commerce commission shows total earnings of all railroads in the united states for year ending june , , to have been $ , , , . it also shows total capitalization as $ , , , , and money paid as interest and dividends $ , , , equal to . per cent on capitalization. certainly this does not seem excessive when compared with profits in farming and manufacturing as given above. we are glad to know that our farmers and manufacturers are prosperous, because we have long since learned that when they are not prosperous the railroads cannot prosper. i fear they have not yet fully realized that it is better for them, also, that the railroads should prosper. we hear no complaints in congress or elsewhere because our farmers and manufacturers are prosperous; in fact, we are all inclined to boast about it. the last annual report of the interstate commerce commission gives the aggregate capitalization of the railroads in the united states as over $ , , , , showing that the railroad investment in our country is second in amount only to that in agriculture. it is estimated that the number of railroad stockholders today is over , . we know that in over , , men were employed on american railroads. do you know of any good reason why this army of railroad men, together with the , stockholders, should not receive as fair consideration from government and people at large as the farmer and manufacturer receive? and yet the government in effect lets the one have money without interest to buy his land, and by means of a tariff makes you pay more for much that you buy, so that the other can pay his employes good wages. personally i make no complaint because of either of these things; but so far as i can learn no one in congress has suggested that railroads should raise their rates so that you might receive higher wages, and yet the two things, rates and wages, are very closely related. if anything i have said has helped you to a better understanding of the railroad problem, i am glad. if it has caused you to take a renewed or deeper interest in the subject, i am glad. i could go on and multiply cases in confirmation of what i have said had i the time, but what i have said already is perhaps sufficient. do you intend to make railroading your life business? are you interested in the prosperity of railroads, and particularly of the burlington? do you clearly see the relation between rates and wages? do you think wages are too high? if not, perhaps you do not agree with one of your congressmen in washington, who has just recently, on the floor of the house, urged that the interstate commerce commission be given more power over rates, which means power to reduce them still more, because they have never, so far as i have heard, exercised their power over rates in any other way. personally, i am glad i can claim to be a railroad man, and not only glad, but proud of it as well. i think the american railway is the one great institution above all others that americans should be proud of. mr. w. r. lawson, an englishman, who investigated our railroads in , wrote upon his return, in his book on american industrial problems: "the science of transportation is going to be the special contribution of the american people to political economy." mr. neville priestley, an english gentleman and under secretary to the government of india, railway department, came to this country in for the purpose of investigating our american railroads. his report was submitted to the english government and printed.[c] among other things he said: "american railway men are quick to see a new idea. they are quicker still to try it. they take a great pride in their profession and are striving to get at the science of it. that their methods are not always perfect is what might have been expected, but they have managed to do what no other country in the world has done, and that is, carry their goods traffic profitably at extraordinarily low rates, notwithstanding the fact that they pay more for their labor than any other country. it is in the study of how they do this that much benefit can be derived by other countries." mr. leroy beaulieu, a distinguished french economist, who visited this country in and made a careful examination of american economic conditions, wrote as follows upon his return to his native country: "all in all, the prosperity of the american railway system as well as the excellence of service it renders, is undeniable. if, therefore, one were in search of model railway methods, it would be wise to turn to those practiced under the free american system, not to those illustrated by a system operated under the debilitating control of the state." it has been well said that "a prophet is not without honor save in his own country and in his own house." footnote: [c] a condensation of mr. priestley's able report was made for the bureau of railway news and can be had on application. the railroad situation of today by frank trumbull president of the colorado & southern railway company. an address to the western society of engineers at their annual dinner, chicago, jan. , . _mr. president and gentlemen of the society_: i shall not attempt to deal with any technical phase of the railroad industry, and in saying this i am emboldened by a declaration which i find in the constitution of your society, to-wit: "this society shall neither endorse nor recommend any individual or any specific or engineering production, but the opinion of the society may be expressed on such subjects as affect public welfare." the american railroad administration of today has abundantly demonstrated its ability to solve all engineering and mechanical problems, and we may rely upon it that the same american enterprise and valor which have gridironed the continent with shining bands of steel will solve any technical problem that may be ahead of us for which money may be had. i therefore proceed at once to engage your thought for a few minutes, if i may, upon what seems to me to be the great problem of the american railroad situation of today; that is, how to satisfactorily settle the relations between private capital and the users of the railroads. four years' retrospect. during the last four years the american railroad has been in a seething cauldron of publicity; a good deal of refuse has risen to the surface and has needed to be skimmed off,--but i think i do not violate any confidence in saying that not all of it has come from the body of the railroad. part of it seems to consist of political bacteria and defunct statutes which attempted to violate the voice of the people,--the constitution which legislators had sworn to support. and in this connection, perhaps i ought, in passing, to say a word which has rarely been spoken in defense of the railroads, by pointing out the shame of putting them to the great cost of proving in the courts the unconstitutionality of statutes which ought never to have been enacted because they were never valid. in the last four years there has been much noise; the air has been filled with shouts and cries, and more or less dust. hysteria and virtue, although really not at all alike, became confused, and a very large percentage of the public absorbed the idea that the railroad highways are public property, forgetting that all of us are absolutely dependent upon private capital for the american railroad of today. again, we seem to have been upon a storm-tossed ocean. fortunate are we that through it all has run the gulf stream of our wonderful american resources. if it were not for that, we should all have been ruined. we have survived, but the pity of it is to think how much better off we might be, if "we, the people of the united states," would, in financial legislation, railroad regulation and other matters, only exercise our wisdom as much as we do our power. legislation has been restrictive, not constructive. there is very little in it, thus far, to help the railroad. nearly everything seems to have been thought of, except provision for money or for improving credit so as to command cheap money. the country has been flooded with conflicting laws and still the cry goes up for more bureaucratic power and more statutes. it reminds me of an immigration meeting in mississippi: the court-house was filled with an assemblage of white people, and when the meeting adjourned an old darkey asked one of the gentlemen who came out of the court-house what the meeting was for. the reply was that it was an immigration meeting. "what is dat?" asked the darkey, to which the gentleman responded, "we want to get more white people from the north and east to settle here." whereupon the darkey said, "foh de lawd's sake, majah, dars moh white people in dis county now dan us niggahs can support!" i admit there have been many evils in railroad administration, but i modestly affirm that there have been no more than in other lines of business. the railroad industry of this country is young and it acquired some children's diseases. many people think the railroads would have recovered from measles, mumps and whooping cough without prescriptions from forty-seven varieties of doctors--forty-six states plus the federal government. it has seemed many times that the railroad patient has been like the man who fell ill in some mysterious way. the consulting surgeons determined that an operation was necessary. they could not locate any definite malady, but they found five hundred dollars on him so they operated on him for that! of one thing, however, we may be absolutely sure--that is that the law of compensation is always at work. if we have an excess of regulation, there is less of something else. it is entirely probable that if there had been no political regulation of railroads, the people of this country would have more roads, far better and safer roads, and a greater distribution of wealth than they have today. but i must not forget that, according to the subject assigned me, we are here not to look backward, but to look at the present, and then perhaps take a little look forward. some contradictions. from a mechanical and traffic standpoint the american railroad of today is one of the wonders of the age. i give one illustration only: compare its splendid performance with a report i have here of the northeastern railway of england, which has a large mineral traffic. this report shows average contents of loaded freight cars to be . tons, and average contents of freight trains to be . tons.[d] on the other hand, the american railroad situation in its political and governmental relations is a bundle of contradictions. if you were to engage your money in merchandising or manufacturing, you would no doubt be appalled if you should discover that some one entirely outside of your line of business could fix the prices at which you must sell your product, and that the burden of proof that the prices so fixed are confiscatory, is upon you,--and that you could not abandon your operations. yet this is precisely what may happen if you invest your money in a railroad. the contradiction is that there are no reciprocal assurances in your behalf. neither the state nor the federal government will give you any financial aid, nor will they guarantee you anything, nor will they even protect you against competition, as france has long since been wise enough to do. a second contradiction is that although there was a four years' war to prevent a division of this country, and although thereafter our american genius connected up remote sections of our common country, and although the work of the railroads has been splendidly national, the attempt to regulate them has been lamentably local and lilliputian. i need only cite the conflicts between the enactments and rate-making of different states and those of the federal government. we hear more or less these days about the "twilight zone" between the states on the one hand and the federal government on the other; but for those who administer the affairs of a great railroad system, the phrase "twilight zone" is too polite a term. it is instead a jungle in which the wayfaring railroad man may easily lose his way, and possibly be actually devoured by "laws with teeth in them." we hear a great deal about the simple desire that the railroads shall obey the law; but who is wise enough to say what the law is, when only yesterday the supreme court of the united states left an important case unsettled, so far as it was concerned, because it was divided four to four. these uncertain and conflicting laws and changes in rates confuse the railroad manager more than the public has ever realized. a third contradiction is the attempt, by anti-trust laws, to maintain the competitive idea alongside regulation, as if unrestricted competition were compatible with compulsory uniformity in rates and service. the president of the united states and other high officials have spoken in no uncertain terms concerning the absurdity of a situation like this, and yet thus far there is no relief. a fourth contradiction is found in the great increase in cost of producing transportation without the corresponding increases in selling prices which have taken place in other kinds of business in which private capital is engaged. the erroneous impression seems to prevail that the supply of capital for the railroad industry is an inexhaustible reservoir, regardless of the compensation which it shall receive and the conditions under which it shall perform its work. a fifth contradiction is the effort to connect up rate-making with physical valuations. if it will be a satisfaction to the politicians to have a physical valuation of all the railroads in the united states, and the people are willing to be taxed to pay the great expense of obtaining it, perhaps no great harm will be done; but i believe all of us here would concede that valuations by the ablest engineers, if separately made, would not agree, and that before such valuations could be finished, they would be out of date. some of us probably think that for rate-making purposes the government may as well be employed in making a physical valuation of farms and farm improvements in order to ascertain what is a fair price for wheat; or, for that matter, perhaps be as well employed in adding up car numbers. i know something of a piece of railroad out west, which in a great mining excitement was built through rocky and tortuous gorges, and with four per cent grade hung upon the precipitous sides of awful mountains in a climate described by one of the inhabitants as consisting of three seasons--july, august and winter. later the boom evaporated and the business of the road got down to one train a day. in the low ebb of traffic a brakeman one day "sifted" into the trainmaster's office and asked for a job. the trainmaster put him through the catechism, and among other things inquired, "what would you think if you saw a train carrying green signals?" to which the applicant promptly responded, "i'd think business was picking up." now, can any of us tell what they would do in washington with a physical valuation of a road like that? its rates today are only about one-fifth what they were at first. a sixth contradiction is the wide-spread desire to regulate capitalization. now it may be that there have been abuses; but if one asks any of these critics what is the grievance to be remedied, great silence usually falls upon them, for they are unable to show any more relation between rate-making and either physical valuation or capitalization than there is between the price of a pair of suspenders and the physical valuation or capitalization of a department store. railroads are continually importuned to make rates that will "move the business," as in the case of the western road just cited, and those parts of the united states which have the highest railroad capitalization have the lowest average freight rate. if you will look at the _american review of reviews_ for the month of june, , you will find a very interesting article by interstate commerce commissioner lane on "railroad capitalization and federal regulation." his program is a very simple one, and while pointing out that there should be some way of insuring that the proceeds of all railroad securities shall be actually invested in "acquisition of property, construction, completion, extension, or improvement of facilities, the improvement or maintenance of service and the discharge or lawful refunding of obligations," he says: "fundamentally, there is at present no inter-dependence of capitalization and rate--the latter is not in law, nor in railroad policy, the child of the former--though railroad men have sometimes expediently urged the claim, and courts have sometimes too kindly given it their nod of sanction." also, "the most potent kind of regulation is that which casts the burden upon the individual to do the regulating himself and makes him responsible to the law for dereliction; and the plan for the regulation of capitalization here presented is founded upon that theory--to require the directors of the railroad companies to make public announcement of their security issues, to publish the objects for which such issues are made, and be responsible for the use of the proceeds in the precise and limited manner announced. this is far too modest a program to please those who delight in elaborate methods of procedure involving much filing of forms and petitions and many hearings, appraisements, viseings, and solemn givings of consent; and without question it is not nearly as thoroughgoing a plan as others which have been devised. but the simpler the plan is, the better, if it may effect its purpose." he further says that his program "does not guarantee the prospective purchaser of the stock that the stock certificate which bears a printed par value upon its face does in fact represent property of the full value so designated; _but this is not a duty which the government for any reason is bound to assume_, and i know of no motive arising out of national policy which compels the assumption of such responsibility--certainly not at present." if our complex government shall control all future issues of railroad capitalization, we may rely upon it that most of the new railroad construction in this country, instead of being independent, will be fathered by existing railroad systems, because their established credit, whatever it may be, will be required. reconciliation. is it not evident that these contradictions never can be reconciled by untrained men? i believe that for the american railroad the time has gone by when illiterate men will be put in charge of millions of dollars' worth of machinery and other property. we are in a new era. railroading is rapidly coming to be a profession. we are necessarily in all things doing more and more specializing. why not insist that the regulation also shall be in accordance with ethical principles and not determined by political expediency? the great over-shadowing problem of reconciling private capital and the users of railroads, and the contradictions which i have mentioned, are the inheritance of this generation of railroad men; and i have no doubt that this generation, like all previous ones, will be equal to the task put upon it. out of the painful processes of the last four years, we have emerged with some gains. in the first place, the country now realizes that the one million, five hundred thousand employes and officers of american railroads are not surpassed in integrity by any other similar number of business men. during the four years hardly a voice has been lifted to say this, and so i am glad to have this opportunity to raise my own in their commendation. in the second place, it is easier for shippers and railroad traffic men to be honest than it ever was before. the stoppage of rebates is a distinct gain, morally as well as financially. in the third place, it has been demonstrated, i think, that our government _ought_ always to be bigger than any corporation, or any man, or any set of men, and this is a good thing for us never to forget. already publicity has brought about a friendlier feeling between the people and the railroads, and along certain paths i have no doubt we shall find our way out of our difficulties, for the american people are _not_ unfair when they understand a situation. upon one occasion i was making a trip over a division of road where there was no competition and where we therefore enjoyed one hundred per cent of the business. there was an unexpected stop for something and a brakeman went to the rear to protect the train. presently a wagon-load of girls came in sight. the brakeman took out his handkerchief and initiated a flirtation. then discovering that i had seen the performance and evidently desiring to square himself, he said without hesitation, "if we make friends of these people they ride on our road." one could hardly convey better than that brakeman did to me, an idea which we should never abandon, namely, that one of the best assets a road can have is friends, and i suggest that probably our first duty is to keep in good humor and be considerate one for another. that involves and includes good service to the public, and nothing will help more to keep the public in good humor. the people of this country already have the lowest rates and the highest wages in the world. they are the best people in the world and are entitled to the best service in everything. i believe they should insist upon having the best railroads, and when they so insist, and realize that our population has thus far doubled every thirty years and will soon be one hundred million, and not very long after that one hundred and twenty-five million, and that our transportation necessities double faster than our population does, they will set about finding out what is necessary to obtain adequate railroads, and then we shall probably hear less about rates and more about efficiency and safety. when the people do this they will soon discover that it is no more disgraceful to make money in building railroads than in selling land or in merchandising or in manufacturing or in mining. they will also discover that although the courts have said railroad investors are entitled to a reasonable return upon a fair value, no court--not even that great tribunal, the supreme court of the united states--can finally say what is a reasonable return. this question would still be unsettled because we have not yet gotten away from our dependence upon private capital. what is a reasonable return must be answered by the investor as well as by the commissions or the courts, because it always takes two to make a bargain, and money, like its human owners, will go where it has the best prospective reward and the greatest liberty. the people will find that what we need in this country is not more bureaucratic government by untrained officials with brief tenures of political office, or more power to commissions, but more responsibility upon boards of directors. if statutes are necessary to insure this, well and good; but if regulation is general in character and national in scope, is directed against oppression and discrimination, and designed to promote safety and efficiency and faithful accounting, the people will get better results from intelligent and honest directors than they will from the best governmental management which can be devised; and so long as the railroads are owned by private investors, those investors will doubtless insist upon their directors having more and more to do. i am aware that there is a socialistic trend all over the world. there is more and more disposition to prescribe medicine for other people to take, but no amount of legislation will change the fundamental laws of the universe. the fact is,--notwithstanding our declaration of independence,--men are not created equal. it is a fine thing for all of us that they are not. there is a diversity of gifts; money-making is one of them, but a man may have the talent for making money and be totally unable to build a bridge or paint a portrait or lead an orchestra or an army, and if fortunes are acquired under the laws which we ourselves have made, why should we be envious? unless a rich man hoards money like a miser, it is--if not alarmed--continuously at work for all of us, through the banks or otherwise, in spite of anything he can do, and the cheaper it can be had, the greater the economy to society as a whole. it is impossible to reduce everybody to a dead level, and how monotonous it would be if we could! we don't satisfy everybody even in our form of government, which we are prone to think is the best in the world. for example, at the last election six and a half million people did not get what they voted for. part of them got what they really wanted, but on the face of the returns, six and a half million were disappointed, and yet the country goes happily on, apparently to greater prosperity than ever. but how much happier and how much more prosperous we might be if there were not so much untrained meddling--if there were not so many brakes upon the wheels of our progress! a brake, we all admit, is a good thing in its place, but it has no _propulsive_ power, and the efforts of the time to combine in one man or in any one body of men the four functions of prosecuting attorney, judge, jury and executioner, must sooner or later give way. first, because it is un-american, and where such a condition exists, as alexander hamilton pointed out to the people of new york, "there is no liberty." second, because it will not work practically. reconciliation of private capital and the users of railroads might, of course, be brought about by government ownership, because if there were a deficit the people could pay it in their taxes. even then railroad rates could not be made mathematically consistent, for government is never mathematically consistent. for example, if i mail a letter to san francisco or london, i pay two cents, and if you mail a letter to evanston you pay two cents. but nobody seems to want government ownership, although many people contend that that would be much fairer and more honest than governmental control of railroads without financial responsibility. perhaps a middle ground may sometime be worked out by a profit-sharing arrangement, as in chicago between the city and the street railway companies. that would have its advantages. among the advantages would be cheaper money for railroads, if the government would guarantee a minimum return on agreed valuations. but of course this would be much more complex than to work out an arrangement with corporations like street railways, which do a single kind of business at one rate, instead of a business affecting every commodity of human consumption and stretching through forty-six states and two territories. however, i think there is food for thought for all of us in what has been accomplished here in chicago, and the professional intellect present tonight may well think it over. finally,--while a man has as good a right to increase his fortune by investing in railroads as in any other manner, no matter what it may be, i believe we shall find a solution for some of the puzzles that beset us,--not through the gospel of tyranny on the one hand, nor the gospel of equality on the other hand, but through a gospel of stewardship. let us all feel that although the acquisitive faculty is undoubtedly planted in the human breast for some wise purpose, we are not here primarily for personal aggrandizement. we are here for service, and the greater our talents or our wealth or our opportunities the greater our responsibility. we are trustees--for the users of our railroads, for our employees, and for investors; and let us welcome all the additional responsibility which may be put upon us as directors or salaried officials. i am sure this sentiment will commend itself to all of you, because there is no body of men in the world which has a higher code of ethics and which has demonstrated personal fidelity in a higher degree than the engineers of america. footnote: [d] in the united states in the average contents of loaded freight cars was . tons and the average of a freight train was . . on some of the mineral roads the averages were much greater.--s. t. transportation charge and prices by logan g. mcpherson, lecturer on transportation, johns hopkins university. author of "the working of the railroads." chapter vi. reprinted by permission from "railway freight rates in relation to the industry and commerce of the united states," by logan g. mcpherson. copyright by henry holt and company, new york. vastly the greater proportion of the commodities moved by the railroads are in the processes of commerce; that is, the conveyance from the place of consignment to place of receipt in the majority of cases is sequent to a transfer of ownership. the seller cannot continue in business unless he obtain a market for his material, or his merchandise, and the purchaser can not continue in business unless he secure the material, or the merchandise, which he needs. the margin within which the added charge for transportation may be adjusted is therefore limited in one direction by the amount which the seller of a commodity will accept and the purchaser will pay and continue in business. if the seller or the purchaser cannot make a profit at least approximately as great as from other operations in which it might be feasible for him to engage he will, other things equal, change his business, and the railroad will no longer have the traffic that flowed from his operations. a railroad, therefore, must adjust its transportation charges that production may continue. this includes the adjustment of rates that products may be sent to markets, that the products of the region tributary to one railroad may reach markets in competition with similar products of other regions, and in competition with other products that will answer the same purpose. the wider the markets that the producers can reach, the greater is the encouragement to production. the more numerous and varied the sources of supply of which the purchaser has choice, the more likely that his requirements will be met to his satisfaction. this is the case whether the sale or purchase be of food, whether it be of raw material to feed the processes of mill or factory, whether it be of wares for wholesale distribution, or whether the purchase be of merchandise by the retail dealer, or the final consumer. it has long been claimed by the railroads of the united states that their rates of freight are lower than those of any other country, and that the nation's progress in industry and commerce has in large measure been due to the cheapness and the efficiency of its transportation service. by way of proof has been instanced the proportion that the transportation charge bears to the selling price of the staple commodities. it is said that the rate charged for the transportation of food products does not affect their selling price in any market of the united states--that price being fixed by the processes of supply and demand which the amount of the freight rate does not influence. in the spring of inquiry was made upon this point among the produce dealers of the city of new york, who gave the information contained in the following paragraphs. the price paid by the housekeeper per dozen for eggs during the season of shipment seldom exceeds by more than five cents the price received by the western farmer who takes them to the country store. that is, the railroads bring eggs a thousand miles to new york for a cent or a cent and a half a dozen, and two thousand miles or so for about two cents and a half a dozen, the dealers taking the remainder of the five cents as payment for handling. the net difference between the price paid per pound for butter at the creamery, whether in new york city or in the mississippi valley, and that paid by the new york retail dealer averages about one and one-half cents for commission and one cent for freight. in december, january and february turkeys are taken from the texas ranches to marketing centers, the transportation charge on ten birds weighing one hundred and twenty pounds being about cents. after these ten birds have been dressed and packed they weigh about one hundred and two pounds, and the freight rate from texas to new york is $ . for pounds. that is, a texas turkey that retails in the new york market for cents a pound will have paid one and three-fourths cents per pound to the railroads that took it from the ranch to the concentration point and thence to the market. the farmer in texas received about nine cents per pound, leaving a trifle over nine cents to be divided between the packing house, the produce merchant and the retail dealer. chickens and other dressed poultry that come from chicago pay a freight rate of about three-fourths of a cent a pound, the railroad company supplying a refrigerator car, and keeping them iced while in transit. the rail rate from chicago to new york on grain and grain products for domestic consumption has been about ½ cents per pounds; that is, a bushel of oats or corn or wheat, that may bring in new york anywhere from cents to $ , has been brought from the western farm for from eight to fifteen cents. hay that has yielded the farmer $ or $ a ton and sells in new york at about $ has paid the railroads somewhere from $ to $ per ton, according to whether it came from the meadows of the ohio or the mississippi valleys. a bullock that weighs , pounds will, at chicago, bring on an average $ . per pounds, which includes an average of five cents per pounds for freight from the grazing grounds. its total value at the stock yards, therefore, is $ . when it has passed through the packing house its weight will have been reduced to pounds. from chicago to new york it will pay cents per pounds freight or, in other words, the -pound carcass, which, if retailed at an average of cents a pound would bring $ , has paid the railroads between $ . and $ from the far west to the metropolis. on potatoes the freight rate per barrel containing about two and a half bushels is $ . from florida, cents from south carolina, cents from north carolina, cents from virginia, and from this cents per bushel the rate scales down to five or six cents per bushel from nearby regions. the freight rate on tomatoes from florida is cents per package of six baskets, from texas cents for twelve quarts, from mississippi cents per pounds, and from the nearby farms eight cents per bushel of twenty-eight quarts. the freight rate on cantaloups to new york ranges from less than a cent for a melon from the carolinas to about two and a half cents for that from california. oranges from florida to new york pay the railroads from four to nine cents a dozen, and those from california six to twelve cents a dozen, as they may be large or small. a three-pound can of tomatoes from maryland pays the railroad about one-half cent per can. the freight rates to new york on foodstuffs have been selected as typical of the transportation charges applying on such commodities in the main channels of traffic from the west to the east; and, in so far as fruits and vegetables are concerned, from the south to the east. the transportation charge per consumer's unit on these foodstuffs is a trifle less to philadelphia and adjacent delaware and new jersey; another fraction lower to the great pittsburg district, and still lower to the cities of the west and south that are nearer the places of production. as prices of food products fluctuate within a fairly wide range and freight rates also fluctuate, though within but a very narrow range, the rates and prices specified in the foregoing, as well as in the succeeding paragraphs of this chapter, cannot be considered as of specific application at any given time in the future. they were exact at the time they were collated and will very closely approximate accuracy at any period. as new york may be considered representative of the places to which edible products of the west and south are consigned, so also may st. louis be considered a typical center of reception of the manufactured products of the east. the information given in the immediately following paragraphs was obtained from merchants and manufacturers of that city. the transportation charge on the material entering into a pair of shoes made in a st. louis factory averages one and one-quarter cents. the transportation charge required to place that pair of shoes in the hands of a consumer in any part of the united states averages between two and three cents. the material entering into an ordinary bedstead, such as retails in st. louis for $ , will have paid the railroad about cents. from ten pounds of nails made in pittsburg and retailed in st. louis the railroad will have obtained a trifle over two cents, and from ten pounds of wire two and one-half cents. an axe made in the pittsburg district that retails in st. louis for $ will have paid the railroads one and one-fourth cents. at kansas city that same axe will have paid freight of a fraction over four cents and at denver, where the retail price will have advanced to $ . , it will have paid cents freight. a padlock retailing in st. louis at cents will have paid the railroads a little more than one-half cent; at kansas city it will have paid one cent, and at denver, where the retail price advances to cents, it will have paid two cents to the railroads. an eighteen-gallon galvanized iron tub that retails in st. louis at cents will have paid the railroad from place of manufacture two and three-tenths cents; to kansas city the freight rate will have been six and one-fourth cents, and to denver cents, but here the retail price of that tub is $ . a stove that weighs two hundred pounds and retails in st. louis for $ will, in carload lots, pay cents to kansas city or omaha, and retail there for $ ; $ . to denver, and retail there for $ ; $ . to seattle, and retail there for $ . when a housewife of st. louis buys a dozen clothespins she has paid the railroad five ten thousandths of a cent. if she buys a washboard at cents she has paid the railroad forty-two one-hundredths of a cent. in denver she would pay for that washboard cents, of which the railroad would have received two cents. the higher rates and prices that have been specified as applying in kansas city and denver may also be taken as applicable to cities in the interior south and southwest, such as oklahoma, fort worth and san antonio. in response to inquiries made concerning certain staple articles of daily and general use in various of the smaller cities and towns extending from massachusetts to georgia and illinois, and from michigan to mississippi, it has been ascertained that throughout this region the transportation charge on such articles ranges as follows: on a man's suit of clothes, from two to eight cents; on calicos and ginghams, from one-fiftieth of a cent to one-fifth of a cent a yard; the freight charge paid on the entire apparel of a fully dressed man or woman in this section would range perhaps from six or seven to or cents. the rate on an ordinary dining room suite consisting of table, sideboard, six chairs and a china closet would average from cents to $ , on a parlor suite of sofa and four chairs from cents to $ , on a bedstead and its equipment from cents to $ . , in each case from the factory to the home. the lumber used in the ordinary eight-room house will have paid the railroads from $ to $ , and the brick from $ or $ to $ or $ , as the kiln may be near or remote. a fifty-pound sack of flour from the mill, even at minneapolis, in but a few cases has paid a freight rate of over eight or nine cents to the consumer. products of the beef or the hog are carried from the western packing houses throughout this territory at rates that vary from a fifth of a cent to not exceeding a cent per pound. it has not been difficult to secure such information as applies in the main to the transportation charge borne by a manufactured article from the place of making to the final market, or on foodstuff from the place of growth to the place of sale to the consumer. data as to the amount of transportation charge carried by the various kinds of raw material entering into a manufactured product has not in many cases been so easy of ascertainment. a principal reason has been that the manufacturers in numbers of instances do not know what it is themselves. many kinds of material are bought at a price which includes delivery at the factory, the freight rate not coming under the cognizance of the purchaser. the different materials used in a product may have come from such diverse sources, and paid such varying rates of freight, that the ascertainment of the total freight charge in any given unit of manufacture would be too difficult to be worth while. in numerous other cases the freight charge is confessedly so small an item that no attempt is made to apportion it as an item of expenditure per unit of product, the total simply being grouped in the aggregate of expense. the statement that the transportation charge borne by the material entering into an ordinary pair of men's shoes averages one and a quarter cents is the result of a definite calculation made by one of the largest shoe manufacturers of the country. a leading woolen manufacturer estimates that the price of wool at boston will average perhaps cents a pound "in the grease," including a transportation charge that will average one cent a pound. the loss in cleaning and scouring is about forty-five per cent., and the price of a pound of scoured wool will average about cents at the mill. of this about two cents is chargeable to transportation. one hundred pounds of wool will make about seventy pounds of straight woolen cloth, on which the transportation charge has therefore been a fraction less than three cents a pound. on cloth that is mixed with cotton the transportation charge is less. the rates on woolen goods from any of the new england mills are so low that a yard of cloth which will sell from $ . upwards in any of the western markets will not have paid the railroads more than five cents from the sheep's back in colorado to massachusetts and back again to the mississippi river. the following information as to the extent of the transportation charge borne by divers materials of various industries has been obtained in each instance from an authority in that industry. the transportation charge on raw cotton to the mills in massachusetts will average from one-half to two-thirds of a cent a pound, not exceeding one cent per pound even from plantations so remote as those of texas. cotton loses from fifteen to twenty per cent. in the cleaning, one hundred pounds of cotton making from eighty to eighty-five pounds of cotton goods. as ordinary calico will run about six yards to the pound and sell for about five cents, the cotton that has paid a freight rate of from cents to $ is woven into $ worth of calico. the transportation charge on a pair of rubber overshoes, including the rubber from south america, the cotton stock, and the shipment to the western markets, averages about two and one-half per cent. of the cost of those markets. that is, a pair of rubber overshoes retailing for cents will have paid for transportation, all told, less than one and nine-tenths cents. in no one of these examples, which, perhaps, are typical of the entire clothing industries in so far as the use of leather, wool and cotton are concerned, is the transportation charge an appreciable factor in the price either of the material to the manufacturer or of the finished article to the consumer. a barrel of flour made in minneapolis and transported to boston is sold at the time of this writing by the milling company to a dealer of that city, or any other place in new england, for $ . of that $ accrues to the transportation agencies, for carrying the wheat of which that flour was made from the western farm to the minneapolis mill, and for carrying the flour from the mill to boston, an amount that averages cents. the proportion of the transportation charge to price at different markets varies with the freight rate. at new york the milling company would sell that barrel for $ . , which would include a total transportation charge of cents; at philadelphia the selling price would be $ . , the transportation charge cents; at buffalo or pittsburg the selling price $ . , and the total transportation charge cents; at atlanta the price $ . , the transportation charge $ . ; at new orleans the price $ . , the transportation charge cents. typical rates on leaf tobacco, averaging in value $ per pounds from plantation to warehouse in virginia and the carolinas, are from cents to cents per pounds; on the smoking tobacco into which this leaf is converted, and which sells at $ per pounds, from richmond, virginia, to new york city cents, to chicago cents, to kansas city $ . . rates from the plantation to the warehouse on the leaf tobacco of the kentucky and tennessee region, which also brings an average of $ per pounds, are from cents for short to cents for longer distances. the plug tobacco into which this leaf is converted is sold at $ per pounds, being distributed on such rates as these: st. louis to louisville, ½ cents; to new york city, ½ cents; to kansas city, cents; to seattle, $ . . manufactured tobacco in all cases is sold at a price which includes delivery from the factory to the place of consignment, wherever it may be, in the united stales. the freight rate on cane sugar from the "central" in the louisiana district to the final refinery ranges from to cents per pounds, the refinery paying from $ . to $ . for the sugar. sugar that is sold by the refining company at ½ to ½ cents a pound retails at cents, the dealer making little or no profit. as a town of five to ten thousand people at the average per capita consumption of seventy-five pounds a year will consume a carload of sugar in about a week, the jobbing of sugar is greatly decentralized. contrasting with this retail price of $ per hundred pounds typical distributive rates are, from new york to chicago cents, to st. paul cents, to kansas city cents; from new orleans to chicago cents, to atlanta cents, to kansas city cents. the freight charge on sugar beets raised in colorado and utah from the farm to the refinery is always paid by the sugar company. it averages from to cents per ton, or for a distance of fifty miles is as much as cents. a ton of beets contains about three hundred pounds of sugar, which, allowing for an average loss during extraction, would produce two hundred and forty pounds of refined sugar. this is sent from the factories to the principal places of storage--kansas city, omaha and st. louis. the aggregate freight charge from the farm to st. louis on these two hundred and forty pounds is about $ . , and the aggregate revenue to the refinery at five cents a pound, $ . while the price of bananas is subject to great fluctuation, a fair average at new york, philadelphia, baltimore, charleston, mobile and new orleans, the ports of import, is $ . per pounds. the average rail charge for carload lots from port to market is from to cents per pounds. about one-third of the bananas consumed in this country are received at the north atlantic ports, whence they are distributed throughout the eastern and middle states. the remaining two-thirds, which supply the south and west, are received at the southern ports. immediately upon receipt at new orleans, for example, shipments are made to the north in train loads that they may be taken out of the warm climate before they spoil, and cars are re-consigned en route at the instance of the company which has very thoroughly organized the banana business, an allied company having about sixty agencies with men who devote their entire time to extending the sale of the fruit. for hides that pay a freight rate from the packing houses at chicago to new york of cents per pounds, the butcher receives, according to quality, from $ or $ to $ or $ per pounds. the butchers remote from market have the freight rate deducted from the price paid them for hides, but it is a trifle, seldom exceeding five cents per pounds. the hide loses from twenty-five to thirty-five per cent. in the process of tanning; the price of leather is fixed by measure and not by weight. the rate on tanned leather, however, between chicago and boston is cents per pounds. the railroads make low rates on fertilizer to encourage its use by the farmers, it being, of course, to the interest of a railroad to encourage the production of larger crops that its traffic may be augmented. fertilizer of different grades brings from $ and $ to $ and $ a ton. typical rail rates from the places of manufacture are from jersey city to trenton, new jersey, $ . per ton, and from boston to portland $ . per ton--both rates applying in carload lots. in the south, where fertilizer is extensively utilized, representative rates are from atlanta to thomasville $ . , from charleston to columbia $ . per ton. when allowance is made for the elimination of water from pulp and the shrinkage in its manufacture into paper, the average freight rate borne by the material entering into paper at the northern new england mill is about ½ cents per pounds. the manufacturers consider cents per pounds to be the average freight rate on the paper from the mill to places north of the ohio and east of the mississippi rivers. the aggregate freight charge borne on the average by the pounds of paper which sells at the factory for $ . is therefore cents. as with all things else, the rates on the ores of the far western region have been adjusted under the necessity of the transportation agencies to so serve the mines that their products may be marketed. the rate upon the ore from the mine to the smelter, upon the metal from the smelter to the refinery, and upon the refined lead or refined copper from chicago to the seaboard market, are all determined by this prime factor. the freight charges, for example, from the coeur d'alene district in northern idaho on the ores from which the extraneous material has been roughly separated, to the puget sound refineries, reach a maximum of $ per ton for a distance of four or five hundred miles, and the rate from puget sound to new york is $ . , the average transportation charge, therefore, being about $ per ton. the value of a ton of copper at cents a pound is $ , and a ton of lead at four cents a pound is $ . copper passes through manifold and expensive processes and its extensive consumption has followed the development of electricity. lead does not require so many or so expensive workings, and it has long been a great staple of general use. the mine farther from a smelter naturally has to pay a higher rate of freight than a mine nearer to it, receiving, therefore, a lesser net price for its product, _but the railroads are obliged to so adjust rates that practically every mine can reach a market_. the rate on refined petroleum between new york and chicago is ½ cents per pounds, the average rate paid north of the ohio and east of the mississippi rivers being from eight to ten cents per pounds. from toledo to atlanta the rate is cents, from whiting ½ cents, from new orleans cents. the rate from chicago to the missouri river is cents, to st. louis cents; while the rate from the kansas field to st. louis is cents. one hundred pounds of refined oil contain approximately sixteen gallons which, at an average price of ½ cents a gallon at the refinery, would aggregate $ . the price per gallon to the consumer is increased one cent with each increment of seven cents in the freight charge. the principal biscuit company receives from $ to $ per pounds for its crackers and cakes, averaging $ per pounds for its leading brand. from its new york plant to boston the freight rates are cents per pounds, to atlanta cents. the rate from chicago to montgomery is cents, to houston cents, to denver cents. from either new york or chicago to the pacific coast the rate is $ . . these rates apply to carload lots, all goods being sold delivered, the company absorbing the freight. the retail price is the same all over the united states as it is with shoes, cigars, soap, proprietary medicines and dozens of other familiar articles. on cotton, the great staple product of the south, the freight rate structure has been in process of development even a longer time than that affecting the movement of grain from the west. from the plantation into memphis, the largest inland cotton center of the united states, a typical rate is cents per pounds for one hundred and fifty miles. from memphis to boston the rate is ½ cents, and from memphis to the gulf cents per pounds. from augusta, ga., a central market of the eastern cotton growing district, the rate to charleston and savannah is cents, to brunswick cents and to norfolk cents per pounds. a bale of cotton contains five hundred pounds and is therefore worth, at cents a pound, $ . the aggregate transportation charge on this bale from the plantation, one hundred and fifty miles from memphis, to boston, is $ . . mainly because of the rapid shifting of the sources of supply, there has not yet been developed a stable structure of rates for the movement of lumber in all parts of the united states. by way of illustration, however, it may be said that a fair average rate on lumber into memphis from the forests of arkansas is six cents per pounds, or $ . per , feet. lumber going from memphis to new orleans for export will pay $ . , or a total transportation charge from the forest of $ . per , feet. a fair average rate to the markets in ohio and indiana is $ per , feet, a total transportation charge from the forest of $ . . this is on the kind of lumber that in and sold at about $ . the rate on yellow pine from new orleans to chicago is cents per pounds. there is an equalization of rates on the iron ore from the upper lakes in that the rates of the boat lines from the ore mines are the same to each of the lake erie ports. from thence to the furnaces they are adjusted under the policy of the railroads to make the transportation charge on the raw material required to make a ton of pig iron approximate the same amount at each of the competing furnaces of southern ohio, pittsburg, wheeling, in the mahoning and shenango valleys, and even as far as the schuylkill valley. how closely this equalization is effected is shown by the fact that the transportation charge on the ore, coke and limestone required to produce one ton of pig-iron is as follows in these respective districts: at the furnaces on the monongahela river in the pittsburg district, $ . ; at the furnaces of the mahoning and shenango valleys, $ . ; at the furnaces of the wheeling district, $ . . these charges compare favorably with those at the furnaces on the lake shore in the chicago district, which aggregate $ . per ton of pig-iron, but are higher than at the furnaces on the lake shore in the cleveland district, where they aggregate but $ . . the rates on coal, which gives return loads to the cars that take the ore south front the lake erie ports, are maintained at established differences between the coal fields of ohio, pittsburg and west virginia. the rates in effect in the spring of were $ per ton from southern ohio, cents from southeastern ohio, $ per ton from the pittsburg field and $ . a ton from west virginia. the claim of the railroads that the rates on foodstuffs are not high enough to enter as a factor in fixing the selling price is fully substantiated by the statements of the dealers in such products. that is, the conditions are, with negligible exceptions, such that if the price obtainable in the markets be sufficient to encourage the growing of livestock, grains, dairy products, fruits or vegetables, the rate of freight, from whatever locality to whatever market, is sufficiently low to allow the producer to enter that market. his profits are, however, as a matter of course, diminished by the amount of freight which he pays, and, as a rule, the farther the place of production from the markets the greater is the freight charge. the differences in the net return to the producer are almost invariably reflected in the value of the land, which is lower as the distance from the markets is greater. largely because of the defective system of mercantile distribution the grower of foodstuffs obtains a smaller proportion of the price paid by the consumer than accrues to the grower of any other agricultural product. where, as in this country, the opportunity for the extension of cultivation is practically unlimited, a good market one season leads the farmers of any district to increase their production up to the point of minimum profit and the railroads are then besought for lower rates; when unfavorable weather or other conditions reduce their output they are also disgruntled. it therefore rarely happens that the grower, especially of the quickly perishable foodstuffs, is entirely satisfied with the freight rates. a controversy, that it is scarcely an exaggeration to designate as typical, occurred several years ago between the growers of watermelons in a southwestern state and the railroads conveying the melons to the primary markets. in comparatively a few years that region had become so productive that the shipments of watermelons over one road alone ranged from , to , cars during a watermelon season, deliveries being made all over ohio and indiana through dealers from those states who came down and bought the melons at the farms. the contention for lower rates had waxed so warm that a reduction in the watermelon rate became the issue upon which a legislative campaign was fought. the candidate pledged to secure a reduction in the rate was elected, and introduced a bill, which was enacted by the legislature, making the rate to the nearest primary market ½ cents per pounds. the railroad companies put this rate in effect and used it as a basis for the lowering of rates to the territory beyond. during the year of this rate reduction the traffic department of the railroad company referred to sent word to the farmers that the company had handled , cars of melons that season, the prompt shipment of which had been highly satisfactory to the growers. it furthermore said that the movement of these melons from that territory was a one-way traffic entirely, it being necessary to send special cars empty for the crop. these were necessarily stock cars that there might be ample ventilation, but they had to be supplied with extra slats in order that the melons might not fall out. it was necessary for them to be switched in requisite number on side tracks especially built adjoining the farms where the fruit was grown; that switching engines be kept at work, putting cars in and taking cars out all night and all day. the cars of melons, moreover, had to be hauled on special trains at a high rate of speed to get them to the markets before they spoiled. this reduced the tonnage per train fifteen or twenty per cent below the maximum that could be hauled at the normal freight train speed. a car with the average allowable load of , watermelons would contain but about twelve tons, although its capacity would be eighteen or twenty tons; the weight of the car exceeded the weight of the load. the switching and other special movements necessitated the employment of night telegraph operators and other extra help at the melon fields. all of these conditions led the assistant to the general manager of the company to make an analysis of the expenditure as compared with the earnings. waybills were abstracted and the receipts listed. a tabulation was made of the revenue tonnage, the gross tonnage, the tare weight, and the expenses incurred in behalf of the traffic. he found that the handling of the , cars of watermelons involved a loss to the company of $ , if the expenses of operation alone were considered. the results of this investigation were brought to the attention of the traffic department and the next spring it sent a circular to the farmers in the truck region urging that the watermelon acreage be reduced, as the rates on that business were not remunerative, and stating that the railroad would not undertake to handle it except in the regular cars that were brought into the territory in the ordinary course of traffic; that there would be no special trains, nor special service of any character. the melon growers at once notified the state railroad commission, which, in turn, requested the railroad company and the melon growers to attend a meeting to discuss the whole subject. when the meeting convened the chairman called upon the railroads to say why they had caused so much trouble. the railroad representative, who was the aforesaid assistant to the general manager, stated that as he had been invited to attend the meeting it might be proper for whomsoever instigated it to open the discussion. several shippers made statements of their complaints, all admitting, however, that the melon business had become very profitable,--one grower saying that $ to $ per car was being made out of a crop. the railroad representative then made a reply, showing the loss to the company from handling the business for the previous year, and stated that unless cost for the handling and something by way of profit could be obtained, the company would prefer to move other crops. he showed that it had been necessary to park to especially prepared stock cars in the melon territory; that it had taken a month or six weeks to gather these cars, which had to be hauled empty to the melon fields. he then pointed out that the rate per melon was less than a cent and a quarter, whereas it had cost the farmer four or five cents per melon to bring it by wagon the one or two or three miles to the railroad track. the chairman objected to some of the analyses, especially to the contrast of four or five cents per melon for the wagon haul from the farm with the cent or a cent and a half per melon for the railroad haul of two hundred miles. when the railroad man had finished, farmers from all over the room began to ask questions directly of him. they wanted to know how much they should pay to afford the railroad some slight profit. they were told or ½, cents. the chairman said: "the rate cannot be changed. it has been fixed by law at ½ cents and that is the rate. i am here to protect the people of these counties." the railroad man suggested that his company might be willing in addition to affix the necessary slats to the stock cars and perform the switching for $ to $ per car. the farmers were willing to accept this, but the chairman insisted that it was contrary to law, and finally said in his wrath, "if you men here are going to deal with the railroad company you can do it without me. this meeting is adjourned." with one exception the farmers remained in the hall and expressed a willingness to pay a rate of cents per pounds. returning to the main discussion, we have found that the rates on raw materials are so adjusted as to permit the manufacture of any staple article at any logical place of manufacture. on the raw material of wearing apparel the freight rate is entirely unimportant. on the lumber that enters into building material, on the ore, coke, and limestone used in the manufacture of iron and steel the freight rate is sufficient to become an appreciable factor in the cost of manufacture. on brick, coal and cement the selling price is the higher by the amount of the freight charge, which for distances sometimes not considerable exceeds the value of the commodity at the place of production. the freight charge, even on those heavier commodities, however, is far less in proportion to the wage of the day laborer as well as to the incomes and salaries received in the united states than in any other country. this is obviously a better test of comparison than that based upon rates of freight as expressed in money. to say that a specific rate is twenty cents in the united states, a shilling in great britain, a franc in france, or a mark in germany, conveys an inadequate idea. when it is ascertained that the average wage of the day laborer in the united states is higher in comparison with the average rate of transportation than in any other country, the comparison is significant. in this country a continually increasing amount of railroad transportation can be purchased with the wage of the day laborer. with the sum of money representing the value of a given unit of any of the staple commodities of commerce, also can a continually increasing amount of railroad transportation be purchased. that which makes possible the low freight rate of the american railroads is the magnitude of the scale upon which the transportation is conducted. the large cars, with a capacity of from thirty to fifty tons, and the powerful locomotives that draw a score or more of these loaded cars in one train, permit an almost infinitesimal freight charge per pound or per yard that, however, yields by the carload or by the trainload no inconsiderable revenue. for example, the average weight of the carload of food products is about , pounds. if the freight on such a carload be $ the rate per pound would be only one cent, and there is scarcely a commodity upon which a freight rate of one cent per pound makes any difference in the retail price. as a matter of fact a carload of food products does not bring to the railroad so much revenue as $ unless it has been moved from a far region; for instance, from the dakotas or texas to new york. specific complaint in regard to the freight rates of the united states for many years has not, except in a small minority of cases, been based on the ground that they have prevented foodstuffs from finding a market, raw material from reaching places of manufacture, or finished products from distribution. while the difference of a cent or two in the rate of freight may not in the least interfere with the conduct of industry or commerce in the aggregate, such a slight difference, may perhaps determine whether a manufacturer obtain his raw material from this or that source of supply, whether a wholesale dealer obtain his stock from the manufacturer in one, or the manufacturer in another city, whether a retail dealer make his purchases from the wholesale dealer in this city or in that city. that is, for example, the prices of the products at the sources of supply being equal, a difference in the rate of freight may determine whether cleveland, ohio, obtain potatoes from michigan or from upper new york; whether a factory in louisville obtain coal from the fields of southern indiana or central kentucky. a carpenter in des moines may perhaps pay a dollar for twenty pounds of nails without knowing or caring what the freight rate may have been, or where they may have come from. a difference, however, of a few cents a hundred pounds in the rate of freight may have led the hardware dealer to have purchased the nails in chicago or st. louis or even directly from pittsburg. as the purchase of raw material tends toward the prosperity of the region where it is produced, as the operation of a factory tends to the increase of population, to appreciation in the value of real estate and the augmentation of business at the place of its location, so also does the growth of a wholesale business or of a retail business aid in the development of its surroundings. producers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers naturally all desire to extend their sales, to reach further markets in competition with their rivals, and are supported in this desire by the communities to whose welfare they contribute. any difference in freight rates that gives a producer of raw material, a manufacturer, a wholesale distributer, or a retail merchant an advantage over a competitor of another locality is therefore promptly made the subject of complaint. the pressure brought upon the railroads by such competing producers, manufacturers and dealers has been a very important factor in the development of certain arrangements of freight rates, which we shall term the regional rate structures, each of which has grown out of the various characteristics of a traffic region and has become adapted to those characteristics. other arrangements of freight rates which have grown out of the needs entailed by the production and marketing of certain of the principal articles entering into commerce we shall designate as the commodity rate structures. (end of chapter vi.) the freight rate primer adapted from the illustrated pamphlet, so entitled. issued by the new york central and hudson river railroad company. the a. b. c. of the matter. "there has been much wild talk as to the extent of the over-capitalization of our railroads. the census reports on the commercial value of the railroads of the country, together with the reports made to the interstate commerce commission by the railroads on their cost of construction, tend to show that, as a whole, the railroad property of the country is worth as much as the securities representing it, and that, in the consensus of opinion of investors, the total value of stock and bonds is greater than their total face value, notwithstanding the 'water' that has been injected in particular places. the huge value of terminals, the immense expenditures in recent years in double-tracking and improving grades, roadbeds and structures, have brought the total investments to a point where the opinion that the real value is greater than the face value is probably true." (from president roosevelt's decoration-day address at indianapolis, may , .) the x. y. z. of the situation. "an army of more than , , men is employed directly in the operation and maintenance of the railroads in the united states, and millions of other men are furnished employment indirectly in the mines, the forests and the factories, supplying the railroads with approximately one and one-quarter billions of dollars' worth of material and equipment annually consumed. "these are wonderfully interesting and impressive facts; but the fact of greater interest and worthy of the most careful thought of every citizen of this country is that this vast army of men engaged in producing the commodity of transportation at an average cost more than _ per cent lower_ than is shown by any other country is paid an average wage more than _ per cent higher_ than is paid in any other country where railroads exist." (w. c. brown, before the michigan manufacturers' association, june , .) lesson i. freight rates and the clothes we wear. whom have we here? eleven different types of american citizens, standing in a row, clad in the varied uniforms or togs of their several occupations or leisure from hod-carrier to the dude in dress suit and opera hat. these men all live in the mississippi valley. their clothes were made in new england. they paid the railroads _nine cents_ apiece for transporting their clothes, including shoes and hats, from the point of manufacture to the mississippi valley. the combined freight charges on _all_ the clothes worn by the eleven men in the group, including shoes and hats, was _less than one dollar_. if freight rates were advanced per cent the increased price to these men on their entire wearing apparel would be _less than one cent each_. if they have to pay more than that per cent it will not be because freight rates are advanced. lesson ii. freight rates and agricultural implements. consider the mccormick harvester. it mows, gathers, binds and stacks the bearded grain, while its proud possessor cracks his whip above the backs of his three-horse team. it has banished the nightmare of farm mortgages from the great prairies of the west. this particular harvester we are considering is cutting grain one hundred miles west of the mississippi river. it was built in chicago and sold for $ . the farmer paid $ . to have it brought to him from chicago, three hundred miles away. if freight rates were advanced per cent the cost of the harvester would be increased _seventeen and one-half cents_. lesson iii. freight rates and cooking utensils. next to the harvester the modern kitchen cooking range has added more joys and years to the farmer's life than anything in the cornucopia of modern civilization. here is a standard range. it is a thing of beauty as well as a means for cooking everything your mother used to cook and much more. the freight on a steel range, weighing from to pounds, from detroit to points in the mississippi valley, approximates from $ to $ . per stove on stoves which retail at from $ to $ each. an increase of per cent would add from twenty to _twenty-five cents_ to the cost of the stove, which, divided by the life of the stove, taking the low average of ten years, would add one and one-half to _two cents_ per year to the cost. on heating stoves the increase would be about _one-third less_. lesson iv. freight rates and refrigerators. what are the cold facts about refrigerators? what cold storage is to the whole people, the modern refrigerator is to the individual family. it preserves all things sweet and clean and wholesome. now the freight on a refrigerator, such as is used by the ordinary family, from belding, mich., where they are manufactured in large quantities, to new york is approximately seventy-five cents. an increase of per cent would add _seven and one-half cents_ to the cost of the refrigerator, delivered in new york city. lesson v. freight rates and household furniture. ever since grand rapids became the furniture hub of the union there has been no excuse for any american family being without its antique or modern dining room set. look at this suite consisting of a solid table, six chairs, sideboard and china closet, etc. it could be bought f. o. b. at grand rapids for from $ to $ , according to the wood and finish. it weighs approximately pounds and the freight from the factory to chicago would be $ . . an increase of per cent would add _sixteen cents_ to the cost of all this furniture. lesson vi. freight rates and a business suit. behold this business suit which no one would be ashamed to wear. it might cost anywhere from $ up to $ , according to the reputation of the tailor or the rent and advertising rates he pays. the freight rate on such a suit of clothes, including hat and shoes, for a distance of miles from any of our large jobbing or distributing centers is approximately _three and one-half cents_. a per cent increase would add a little more than _one-third of one cent_ to the cost of this suit, and it would add no more if it cost $ or $ . lesson vii. freight rates and "king cotton." "befo' de wah" cotton was king. of our exports it still leads all our domestic products, having no second in sight. if the entire cotton crop of the united states was compressed into one bale its value would be about $ , , . of this bale in the railways got a little "jag" worth according to the interstate commerce commission $ , , , or less than per cent. an advance of per cent in rates on cotton could not add more than one-fiftieth of a cent per pound to the price of cotton. lesson viii. freight rates and a sack of flour. minneapolis, as all good little school children know, is the seat of the flour industry of the united states. if they do not learn this at school it is impressed upon their receptive minds by every illuminated billboard and painted rock that meets their gaze from eastport to california. there are half a dozen brands of flour ground at minneapolis and every one is better than all others. the rate on this incomparable product in carloads from minneapolis to new york is cents per hundred pounds. that is ½ cents per fifty-pound sack. this flour is sold to the consumer in new york at approximately $ . per fifty-pound sack (or it was when this was written). an increase of per cent in freight rates would add but one and one-quarter cents to the price of a fifty-pound sack, or a little less than two one-hundredths of one cent per pound. the freight rate on a fifty-pound sack of flour from minneapolis to chicago is five cents per sack. an increase of per cent in rates would add only five mills per sack between these points, or _one one-hundredth of one cent per pound_. lesson ix. freight rates and dressed beef. the reason cattle are butchered and carried to the consumer as dressed beef rather than driven to market on foot or hauled as live stock, is that the freight charge is less and the beef arrives in better condition. little children in new york and boston appreciate this, if the wise grown-ups of the west sometimes seem to doubt it. the rate on dressed beef from chicago to new york is forty-five cents per hundred pounds. the average price of this beef to the consumer in new york is (or was) approximately twenty-five cents per pound. a per cent increase in freight rates would add _less than five one-hundredths of one cent per pound_. if freight rates were advanced per cent, the increased cost in new york city of a two-rib roast of the best quality, weighing eight pounds, retailing for $ . , would be _less than one-half cent_. surely this is not an excessive price to pay for _national prosperity and industrial peace_. lesson x. freight on eggs, butter and poultry. eggs were cheaper when columbus experimented with them than they are now, but it cost more to carry a dozen eggs or a firkin of butter ten miles in than it would to carry them miles now. the rate on butter and eggs from points in eastern iowa to new york--a distance of approximately , miles--is eighty-four cents per hundred pounds. on dressed poultry from the same points to new york the rate is ninety-six and one-half cents. the eggs are sold to the consumer by the dozen and the other commodities by the pound; _and the consumer pays every farthing of freight that has accrued from the time the egg is laid, which he buys in the "original package," or as dressed poultry, or from the time the cow is milked, from which the butter is made_. an increase of per cent would add eight one-hundredths of one cent per pound to the price the consumer pays for butter and eggs, and it would add nine and one-half one-hundredths of one per cent per pound to the cost of dressed poultry, for which he pays from twenty to thirty cents per pound. lesson xi. freight rates and leather belting. some little children and many of their mothers do not know that a great deal of the power that makes the wheels go round in this industrial beehive is transmitted by belting. the shops of the lake shore & michigan southern railway at elkhart, indiana, are equipped with , running feet, or _practically two and one-half miles_, of leather belting. this belting cost the railroad company $ , , or an average of . cents per running foot. the belting was shipped from boston to elkhart, a distance of miles. the total freight charges amounted to $ . , or fourteen one-hundredths of one cent per running foot. an increase of per cent would add $ . to this cost, or _fourteen one-thousandths of one cent per running foot_. this belting, moreover, cost the railroad company $ , more than it would have cost at the prices prevailing in , representing an increase of per cent. during this same period there was no change whatever in the freight rate. lesson xii. the railways and national development. now listen to the sober words of the one man who has perhaps given more official attention to the subject than any other citizen of the republic: "without regard to the personnel of railroad officials, without regard primarily to the interest of stockholders, but in the interest of public welfare and national prosperity, we must permit railway earnings to be adequate for railroad improvement at advantage and profit. "to my mind it is a most impressive fact, so great as to elude the grasp of imagination, that the railway traffic of the country fully doubled in the first seven years of this twentieth century. this enormous addition to the volume of transportable goods overtaxed, as you know, the existing facilities, and the resulting condition perhaps accounts for much of the hostility which has been manifested in various quarters. for the man who has raised something by hard labor or made something with painstaking skill, which he could sell at a handsome profit in an eager market, and finds that he cannot get it carried to destination, and so sees his anticipated gains turned into a positive loss, is naturally exasperated and unthinkingly 'blames it' on the railroads, and is ready to hit them with anything he can lay his hands to; and as the state legislature seemed to be the most convenient weapon he wielded it for all it was worth. "i dwell upon this a moment further, because it seems plain to me that the prosperity of the country is measured and will be measured by the ability of its railroads and waterways to transport its increasing commerce. with a country of such vast extent and limitless resources, with all the means of production developed to a wonderful state of efficiency, the continued advancement of this great people depends primarily upon such an increase of transportation facilities as will provide prompt and safe movement everywhere from producer to consumer; and that we shall not secure unless the men who are relied upon to manage these great highways of commerce have fitting opportunity, and the capital which is required for their needful expansion is permitted to realize fairly liberal returns." (hon. martin a. knapp, chairman interstate commerce commission, in "annals of the american academy of political and social science.") lesson xiii. look upon this picture. what is this i see? smokeless chimneys! closed factories. spiders' webs across the doors of opportunity. grass growing rankly in the streets of industrial towns. dejection on the face of nature and of man. what does it mean? the railways have ceased to earn enough to meet expenses and provide for the progressive maintenance of their equipment and plant. why, are not their receipts greater than ever? true, but their expenses have increased more rapidly than their earnings and their net revenues have only been maintained by postponing purchases that must be made some time or the railways will be incapable of performing their public service with safety, dispatch and economy. in and the railways scrimped maintenance $ , , and this will have to be made good some time, some how, before they are on as sound an operating basis as they were before the panic of . what must be done to avert the consequences described above? a readjustment of freight rates, involving a reasonable increase applied to such articles and commodities as can stand it, without any appreciable hardship either to manufacturer, merchant or consumer, means the difference between grinding economy and a fair degree of prosperity. the reverse of the picture. would a per cent increase in freight rates mean such a difference? it most certainly would. it would mean the difference between closed shops and suspended improvements and the resumption of improvements with the ability to resume the large purchases of material and equipment, giving full employment to labor and furnishing improved transportation facilities, which, within a very short time the commerce of the country is going to demand more insistently than ever. to hundreds of thousands of workingmen it means the difference between steady, well-paid employment and walking the streets looking in vain for work. lesson xiv. narrow margin between earnings and expense. "i have looked up the statement of about per cent of the principal railroads of the country and find that during the last half of the year , after the tremendous increase in expenses had become effective, while the gross earnings of the railroads increased $ , , over the same period of the preceding year, their expenses increased $ , , , showing a net loss for the period, despite the tremendous business handled, of $ , , . "the converging lines of cost and compensation in railroad operation, which for years have been steadily approaching each other, are now separated by so narrow a margin that in order to pay fixed charges, taxes and operating expenses, with even a very moderate return to shareholders, there must be either _a moderate increase in freight rates_ or a very _substantial reduction in the wages of railroad employes_." (w. c. brown, before the mich. mfrs. assn., - - .) lesson xv. which shall it be? "is it not better, mr. president, that you and i, and tens of thousands of people who buy and use automobiles, should pay a dollar or two more freight on our machines than that the family of the engineer, the conductor, the brakeman, the switchman or the humble section hand shall be deprived of the actual necessities and comforts of life, which we know they must give up if the monthly pay check is reduced? "no question of greater importance confronts the people of the country today, for upon its righteous solution hangs the momentous issue of an early return of prosperity or a continuance of the depression of the past six months, emphasized and darkened by a struggle with organized labor such as this country has never experienced." (w. c. brown, before the mich. mfrs. assn., - - .) lesson xvi. moral. "_our prosperity came with the prosperity of the railroads; it declined when adversity struck the railroads. we do not believe we can have the full measure of prosperity again until the railroads are prosperous._" (national prosperity association of st. louis.) progressive safety in railway operation by a. h. smith, vice-president of the n. y. c. & h. r. r. co. an address delivered before the national association of railroad commissioners, at their annual convention, held in washington, d. c., november , . in examining into the state of an art of such far-reaching importance and such diversified nature as that of transportation by rail, it seems necessary to acquaint ourselves with its beginnings and growth; to determine the elements upon which its development relies and the necessity which has invoked the various steps of improvement in the plant devoted to transportation and the art of employing and controlling it in the performance of a public service. the lay observer will scarcely appreciate, in the absence of the actual analysis, that there exists so many branches of this subject, each branch of which, by itself, may be considered the object of a separate professional science and a distinct human industry. early railroad history. railways had their origin in tramways laid over years ago in the mineral districts of england, which conveyed coal to the sea. animal motive power was used. by the discovery, in , of the adhesion of a smooth wheel to a smooth rail, it became possible to consider the employment of the tractive power of a rolling locomotive, and for some time subsequent to this, to the trial trip of the "rocket," in , which may be described as the first successful steam locomotive, the experiments were along these lines. while industrial railroads similar in character to the english existed in this country, the baltimore & ohio was the pioneer american railroad built for public use. on july , , the first rail was laid by charles carroll, the only surviving signer of the declaration of independence, and thirteen miles were opened for traffic in . in the same year the west point foundry began building locomotives, producing the "de witt clinton," in . it weighed three and one-half tons, and was built for the mohawk & hudson railroad, the pioneer company of the present new york central lines, which had been chartered in , four years before actual construction was begun. the line was opened from albany to schenectady in ; to utica in , and to buffalo in . connections to new york and boston were built in rapid succession. about this time, in pennsylvania, the columbia railroad was built from philadelphia to columbia, on the susquehanna river, forming the pioneer division of the present pennsylvania system. several companies were chartered about the same time in massachusetts. following the panic of there was little industrial development and a lull in railroad construction, but with begins the era of rapid extension and the welding of short connecting lines under single ownerships. the consolidation was vigorously objected to at first. originally there were eleven companies owning and operating the line between albany and buffalo. between buffalo and cleveland, changes of passengers and freight were made at dunkirk and erie. the latter change was made necessary by the difference in gauge; to the east six feet and to the west four feet ten inches. plans for the consolidation of some of these lines made in entailed for through operation the change of the gauge east to conform to that west of erie, to obviate transfer. this proposition so aroused the inhabitants of erie that they resorted to violence. in december, , they tore down the railroad bridge, no trains going through until february, . this same bridge was rebuilt in , but again torn down and burned by a mob. finally a compromise ended what is known as the erie war and the gauge was changed, from which time dates the beginning of definite through operation. in the erie railroad joined new york with lake erie. the baltimore & ohio reached the ohio river. two years later the atlantic seaboard and chicago were connected by rail, which the following year reached the mississippi river. these extensions to the western frontier opened the traffic between the ohio and mississippi rivers. in the early days the public desire for rail transportation facilities led to numerous enterprises securing public financial support, but owing to the disaster that was experienced in some of these enterprises the ohio law prohibited any town, county or state from rendering such assistance. when the louisville & nashville railroad was built, cincinnati found it imperative to have railroad communication to the south, but the prohibition of the aforesaid law prevented public assistance, and the scheme was devised of building and owning a line. this line went south through kentucky to chattanooga, was built and operated, and eventually leased to the cincinnati, new orleans & texas pacific. the railroads played an important part in the conduct of the civil war, many of them being practically devoted to the transportation of government troops and supplies. great damage was done to the many lines in the south owing to the military operations. by the close of the war there had been no pronounced advance in protection by the appliances which are now commonly employed in the control of train operation. this was largely due to the light equipment, slow speeds and sparse traffic. the first pacific railroad was begun, with government aid, in the ' s. with the opening up of the west and the return to industrial pursuits of the people after the close of the war dates a remarkable era in railroad extension. in the decade from to , , miles were built in the central and western districts, opening vast unoccupied agricultural, grazing and mineral sections to immigration and development. the panic of exerted considerable influence on railroad construction during the following decade. the period since has been more one of reconstruction and improving existing lines; the growth of industries and population tributary to existing lines necessitating this course. the vastness of the railroad industry may be imagined when one considers that from fifteen to twenty per cent of the capital of the united states is invested in railroads. as an exhibit of the growth and importance let me quote the following statistics of railroad growth by decades since the first operation: miles , " , " , " , " , " , " , " about , " such is the exhibit of progress in the extent of railroads, broadly viewed. with the growth in extent the elements of safety have multiplied and have become very numerous; in fact, an almost indefinite subdivision of railroad property and operation in respect of safety might be conceived. we will consider, however, the beginnings and the growth of a few of the more important and striking items and their relationship to the state of the art, as portraying in a more graphic manner the adjustment, if you may call it such, of safety to progress, or, as the subject has been assigned to me, "progressive safety." air brakes. as the density of traffic, and the speed, together with the weight of equipment, developed, following upon the greater transportation to be undertaken, the question of brakes was an important factor. more efficient brakes were needed; the essential characteristics being that they should be continuous throughout the length of the train, simultaneously applied and released, with a single point of control. in george westinghouse, jr., brought forth what is known as the straight air brake, consisting of a pump, main reservoir, three-way valve, brake cylinder and train line. application was made by admitting air from the main reservoir into the train line. the brakes were released by reducing the train-line pressure into the atmosphere through the three-way valve. the brakes were useless if there was a leak, a burst in the air line or a parted train. with these shortcomings in mind, the automatic air brake was produced in , in which the method was reversed. with the addition of an auxiliary reservoir under each passenger car and a triple valve, application of brakes was secured by reducing the train-line pressure, while admitting air from the main reservoir raised the pressure and released the brakes. on the application of the automatic air brake to freight cars it was found the reduction of pressure was not quick enough to set the rear brakes promptly, and in consequence accidents occurred from the bunching of the cars. the consideration of the brake question by the master car builders' association in , and public tests under their auspices in , at which time the manufacturers were represented, did not succeed in stopping freight trains without violent and disastrous shocks. so discouraging did these tests seem for the time being, that a report was made, suggesting that the successful application of such brakes on long trains could only be accomplished by electricity. however, the following january witnessed the introduction of the westinghouse quick-action air brake, which corrected the previous trouble and made practicable the application of air brakes to long freight trains. continuing from this time there has been marked improvement and development in all features of the apparatus, without, however, modifying the essential elements of which it is constituted. with the solution of a means of train control came a further growth in their size and weight; sooner or later this had to emphasize the necessity for efficient coupling devices. not only were there accidents due to the primitive link and pin couplers, but the various standards in existence both complicated the operations of coupling and uncoupling of cars and involved the question of interchange and safety. automatic couplers. owing to the large number of accidents, mr. f. d. adams, of the boston & albany railroad, recommended to the master car builders' association, at its third convention, in , that a uniform height should be established for couplers; their failure to meet when cars came together being considered the cause of numerous accidents. in that convention adopted inches as the standard height for standard-gauge cars. at the convention of mr. m. n. forney urged that a committee investigate the cause of accidents and make recommendation. this committee in the following year gave as the principal cause the same as reported by mr. adams eight years before. they pronounced the tests of automatic couplers to date a failure. another committee at this same convention gave the first recognition to automatic couplers by reporting that a great advantage would be derived from a uniform drawbar, such as would be accepted as a standard and which would be a self-coupler. during several years following various models were examined, but nothing was found to meet the demands. in mr. john kirby, of the lake shore, reported that his company intended to equip cars with self-couplers, and at the same meeting mr. garey, of the new york central, told of having been waited upon by a committee of yardmasters, asking for dead blocks or some such safety device. this turned the attention of the association from the coupler to the dead block. in the year following they invited the yardmasters' association to act in concert with their committee in reporting upon means of safety for protection of yard and train men in the performance of their duties. this was the situation when on march , , the massachusetts legislature instructed the railroad commission to investigate and report with recommendation as to means of prevention of accidents in the coupling of cars. they reported that they preferred to be guided by the action of the railroad companies, and any device made standard by them would, in their opinion, be the best recommendation for such device. in the connecticut railroad commissioners recommended to the legislature that automatic couplers be required on all new cars. in the massachusetts commissioners expressed the hope that the master car builders' association would at its convention agree upon some type of coupler for freight cars. in the association selected mr. m. n. forney to conduct tests of automatic couplers and report. attention was called at that time to less than a dozen varieties that were worthy of consideration. with this action of the association as a guide, the massachusetts commissioners undertook to solve the problem, and announced that they would not prescribe any coupler that had not been tested in actual traffic, but notified the railroad companies in the state that all new cars, and cars requiring new couplers, should be provided with one of five kinds specified. it happened that the kinds specified would not couple with each other. in public tests were held at buffalo by mr. forney. forty-two couplers were tested, twelve of which were recommended for further tests. in the following year the trials made of power brakes on freight trains made it very evident that the link and pin type of coupling would not suffice, and it was eliminated from further consideration. in the executive committee reported in favor of the janney type of coupler and all other forms that would automatically couple with it under all conditions of service. this report was adopted in by a vote of for and against. the executive committee then undertook to establish contour lines, drawings and templates as standard, but found that the janney patents covered the contour of vertical plane couplers. this was remedied in , when the janney coupler company waived all claims for patents on contour lines of coupling surfaces of car couplers used on railroads members of the master car builders' association, which enabled the association to formally adopt in all respects this type of coupler as standard. at the convention of such action was taken, on motion of mr. voorhees, general superintendent of the new york central railroad, and since that time this type of coupler has been the standard, and called the "master car builders' coupler." in congress enacted a law requiring all railroads engaged in interstate commerce to provide on all cars and locomotives a continuous power brake capable of being controlled by the engineman in the locomotive cab, and also automatic couplers which would operate by impact. january , , was the date set by which these changes must be made--subsequently extended two years. we now have uniformity in height and contour to insure perfect contact between all classes of equipment, and a positively locked knuckle. the design and attachments to car body are prescribed of a strength in excess of the power of locomotives, and in modern friction draft gear the strength reaches , pounds. signaling. the need of indicating the conditions of the road to trains came with the increasing traffic and speed. as these conditions developed in england before they did here, the first steps were taken in that country. in the liverpool & manchester introduced the first system of fixed signals, consisting of an upright post with a rotating disk at its top, showing red for danger and the absence of indication by day and a white light by night for clear. on the opening of the great western railway this method was improved. experiments by messrs. chappe, the inventors of optical telegraphy, showed that under certain conditions of illumination the color of any body would disappear. this demonstrated that the form, and not the color, of the day signal could be relied on. it was also found that a long, narrow surface could be seen further as projected against the horizon or landscape than the same area in a square or circle. making use of these results, sir charles gregory, in , designed and erected at new cross the first semaphore signal. there was no communication between stations; each signalman displaying his signal at danger after the passage of a train until a certain time had elapsed, when it was cleared. the only information conveyed to the engineman was that the preceding train had passed the station at least the required time before him. the failure or inability to act with sufficient promptness at the display of the danger position, and the consequent collisions, led to the installation of additional signals to give advance information to the engineman of the position of the signal he was to obey. thus we have clearly portrayed the inception of the present block and caution signals. mr. c. v. walker, of the southwestern company, introduced the "bell code," which was the first audible method of communication between signal stations. the same year mr. tyer supplemented this with electric visual signals, the object being to give the operator indication of the signal having been received and given, and at all times to show the exact position of the signal itself. this suggested the space interval between trains, in place of the time interval, making signal indications definite. in the positive block system was established in england, based on the space interval system. making use of telegraph communication, mr. ashbel welch, chief engineer of the united new jersey canal and railroad company, devised and installed during and the first block system of signals in this country, on the double-track line between philadelphia and new brunswick. signal stations were suitably spaced, and at each station a signal was provided, visible as far as possible each way. the signal itself was a white board by day and a white light by night, indicating "clear," shown through a glass aperture two feet in diameter in front of the block signal box. for the "danger" indication a red screen fell to cover the white board or light. on a train's passing a station the signalman released the screen, which fell by gravity, and did not raise it until advised by telegraph that the preceding train had passed the next station, thereby maintaining a space interval. thus was evolved the telegraph block system, still generally used, with modifications of apparatus and signals, on lines of light traffic. elaborations of this system were later installed following more closely the english practice, perhaps reaching the most complete development upon the new haven and new york central lines, where it is still in use. notwithstanding numerous improvements in apparatus, the same practice of fixing a positive space interval by means of communication between block stations still holds. the addition of track circuits for locking and indicating purposes and interlocking between stations, more fully effected by the introduction of the "coleman block instrument," in , has thus evolved the controlled manual block system as now used. automatic signals. in thomas s. hall patented an electric signal and alarm bell, used in connection with a switch or drawbridge. its shortcoming lay in the fact that a break in the circuit or failure of the latter gave no danger indication. to correct this a closed circuit was necessary, although more expensive. in mr. wm. robinson devised the plan of having the circuit closed at the point of danger, if conditions were favorable, and opened a short distance in advance of the signal. the wheels of the approaching train depressed a lever, which closed the circuit and cleared the signal, unless interrupted at the point of danger. subsequent modifications were made, whereby the circuit once completed remained so through the agency of an electromagnet, and reopened when the train passed out of that portion of the track governed by the signal. in mr. hall put in operation the first automatic electric block system, on the new york & harlem railroad, between the grand central station and mott haven junction. it was normal "safety." the wheels of a passing train striking a lever completed a circuit, which put the signal to danger, after the train, and held it so until the succeeding signal went to danger, when a separate circuit was completed, which released the former signal, allowing it to return to clear. the disadvantage in having the wheels of a train strike a lever to complete the circuit led mr. f. l. pope to experiment. after a successful attempt in transmitting an electric circuit through an ordinary track with fishplate joints, he made a signal test at east cambridge, mass. a section of track was insulated from the rest, with a wire circuit, including a battery and electromagnet for operating the signal, fastened at either end to the opposite rails. the metal wheels and axles completed the circuit, throwing the signal to danger against following trains. a detent served to keep the circuit closed until the next signal was reached, when a separate circuit released the detent, permitting the signal to clear. in this system was put in service, and, with some alterations, still remains in some localities. following the original manual semaphore and the controlled manual system of operation came the pneumatic and electric systems, for localities which required a great number of signal movements. with the development of motors and batteries capable of economic operation, automatic signals of the semaphore type have been successfully and widely installed. in the semaphore system numerous failures have occurred, due to the formation of ice and sleet upon the blades. this has led to the introduction of the so-called "upper quadrant" operation; that is, the motion of the signal being from horizontal to an upwardly inclined position and back. on account of the widespread prevalence of electric lighting and the building up of the territory adjacent to railroads, changes in the color indication of night signals have been adopted, generally in such localities using green instead of white for the safety indication. interlocking. developing with the manual operation of signals, and as a safeguard against mistakes of the signalmen, interlocking grew up as a means for preventing conflicting signals being given at the same time. as with signals, so with interlocking, england led at first. after a trip to that country in , mr. ashbel welch recommended the advantage derived from the english method of operating switches and signals in large yards and terminals, where the entire control fell to one man so located as to be in touch with the whole situation and equipped with a machine that would not permit of setting up conflicting routes. the plea resulted in the order of a twenty-lever saxby & farmer interlocking machine, which was installed in on the new jersey division of his line. railroads were prompt to see its advantage, and in a short time machines performing the functions were made and installed in this country, not only for the protection of railroad intersections, but for the control of large terminal layouts. in the first power-operated interlocking system was perfected, which was the pneumatic type. in an all-electric interlocking system, advantageous where distant functions were to be embraced within the operation of the plant, and applicable to localities where electric traction was in use, was devised. the more recent development of power-operated interlocking systems, with complete electric indication of the conditions on all tracks, has made it possible for larger systems to be consolidated under the control of a central plant, and thus under the direction of a central authority; these machines, being of a completely interlocked character, insure greater safety by the central control, as well as greater facility of operation. train dispatching. in this country the first radical departure from the time interval and flagging method of operation came in . the new york & erie railroad had established a single line of telegraph between piermont, on the hudson river, and dunkirk, on lake erie, for company business. the superintendent of telegraph, mr. luther c. tillottson, and the division superintendent were together in the elmira depot on an occasion and learned that the westbound express from new york was four hours late. at corning an eastbound stock train and a westbound freight at elmira waited for the express. with this information, mr. tillottson suggested that the freight train at elmira could be sent to corning and the stock train at that point ordered to elmira, with perfect safety, before the arrival of the express. the move was successful and encouraged similar operation, which shortly led to the adoption, with some modifications, of this train-dispatching method on the susquehanna division of the erie. its adoption over the entire line followed, in spite of the great opposition which mr. charles minot, the general superintendent, met when planning for its introduction. some of the conductors and enginemen went so far as to resign rather than run on telegraphic orders against the time of another train. this system spread rapidly to other lines and, in company with other features of railroad operation, has been progressively developed and improved. one of the important elements of safety in the dispatching practice has been the tendency to the same words in the same sequence to convey the same instructions, insuring a uniform understanding of the instructions instead of permitting a discretionary phraseology in originating or a misunderstanding in construing the order transmitted. the rules for train dispatching now prescribe the use of standard forms of expression for orders governing the movement of trains. within the past few years experiments have been made with a system of train dispatching by telephone, now in successful operation upon some important lines, and growing in extent. advantage lies in the ability to use trained railroad employes who cannot work under the telegraph system, not being telegraph operators. the telephone-dispatching system not only insures a rapid distribution of information, but by its greater capacity enables a more complete knowledge of the state of the line to be had in the controlling office, as well as in all the offices tributary to the dispatching system. development of the locomotive. while it is not our intention to take up your time with the recital, even in condensed form, of the development of all the items which go to make up the parts of a railroad, we cannot forego the opportunity to speak briefly about the locomotive, the motive power, giving action and effect to transportation. as early as sir isaac newton predicted steam-propelled carriages, and even made suggestions bearing on their design. through the eighteenth century various types of steam vehicles appeared, more as curiosities than anything else, some of them forerunners of the locomotive and others of the automobile. it was not until that anything really deserving the name "locomotive" was built. richard trevithick, a cornish miner, constructed the locomotive bearing his name, curiously enough as the result of a wager. on trial this machine did convey ten tons of iron for nine miles on a cast-iron tramway by steam power, winning the wager. the desire of christopher blackett, a mine owner, to use steam motive power in place of animals led to the practical demonstration of adhesion. on this principle, blackett's superintendent, william hedley, built his "puffing billy," a complicated affair of levers, beams and gears. on the completion of the liverpool & manchester railroad, the directors, being undecided as to the motive power, offered a prize of five hundred pounds for a locomotive that would fulfill certain conditions. the test came off at rainhill, in october, , on a level piece of track about one and one-half miles long, between four competitors. stephenson's "rocket" won and gave the world the mechanical combination essentially represented in locomotive practice since that time. american locomotive practice followed the stephenson model. among the early builders were phineas davis, ross winans and matthias baldwin. the four-wheel engines of the english type proved injurious to the light rail and sharp curves on our early roads, and to overcome this mr. john b. jervis, chief engineer of the mohawk & hudson railroad, introduced the four-wheel "bogie" truck. for some twenty years this design remained, until in the ' s the demand for more tractive power brought about the addition of another pair of coupled drivers, thus evolving the well-known "american" type. additional drivers were added with the demand for increased tractive power, leading in turn to the development of the "mogul" and "consolidated" types. in the decade between and more drivers, such as in the ten-wheel type, began to be used in high-speed service, and the adaptation of wide fire-boxes to the american type necessitated the addition of a trailer truck to support the rear end of the locomotive frame, and brought about the "atlantic" type, in . the "pacific" type, or the most modern high-speed passenger locomotive, is a development of this. in anatole mallett designed the articulated locomotive. in the first one of this type was placed in operation on an american railroad, and since that time has gained favor where maximum tractive power on heavy grades is required. there is perhaps no more striking illustration of the progress of the art than can be obtained from an examination of the illustrations of the various types of locomotives built and operated since . it all bespeaks a tremendous growth, based on a tremendous necessity. we can point to the strengthening of all parts commensurate with the work to be done; to the perfection of detail in materials; manufacture, maintenance and inspection; and possibly observe with pride that the motive power of the railroads of the present contributes an almost negligible part of the difficulties of modern railroad operation, due to features of design or control. car construction. one of the early problems in transportation was to secure the carrying capacity of cars as well as safety. we have pointed out how it was necessary to add a guiding truck to the english locomotive, designed to adapt the same locomotive safely to american conditions. both the excessive wheel loads on four-wheel freight cars and the greater liability to accident or derailment led at an early time to the use of four-wheel trucks under cars. between and mr. ross winans, of baltimore, made improvements on cars on the baltimore & ohio railroad. he applied the swivel four-wheel truck, the outside bearing for axles, and the application of the draft gear to the car body and not to the trucks. the increase in lengths of passenger cars, with corresponding increases in weight, led, about , to the quite general employment of a six-wheel truck instead of a four-wheel truck, and even eight-wheel trucks were used for a time, but rejected on account of the excessive length of wheel base and other complications. in the allen wheel, consisting of built-up construction with forged-steel tire, was introduced and rapidly became applied to cars in the most exacting service. originally the tires were imported from the krupp works, in germany, but later were manufactured here. great interest attaches itself at the present time to the manufacture of solid-steel forged wheels, on account of the reduction in parts. in the latter ' s experiments were made in the development of steel framing for car construction, and built-up steel underframes were introduced shortly after; at first on cars for mineral traffic, where excessive weights and capacities were required. the success of this type of construction has led to its adaptation at the present time to all classes of equipment, and not only steel underframes, but complete steel construction in certain classes of service where the conditions require. with the increase in through passenger service we note the appearance of the vestibule, protecting the communication between cars. originally this vestibule was narrow, about the width of the car door, and was introduced about , although experimented with as far back as . the equipment of the "exposition flyer," operated from new york to chicago during the world's fair, was the first, we believe, to appear with full-width vestibules, these being originally designed as offering less atmospheric resistance to high-speed trains, but having subsequently been found a more economical, attractive and safer form of construction. the question of steel cars and composite steel and wooden cars is having very careful investigation and experiment at the present time. while considerably used, the results of the use of these cars must be awaited. after the factor of safety has been determined the question of tare weight per passenger carried will naturally arise. in this country our weights are now far in excess of all foreign railroad practice. this enters into the resistance and cost to produce the service. car heating. the original method of heating passenger cars by direct radiation from coal or wood stoves was a source of discomfort to the passengers as well as a menace in case of disaster. this brought about in the late ' s the introduction of the "baker hot-water heater," which was a great improvement for the comfort of passengers, but still left a fire in the car. in many instances of collisions and derailments during this period, especially in winter, the cars were set on fire and the wreckage consumed from the fire scattered from the stoves or heaters. experimentally, steam from the locomotives was used, but the difficulties in securing satisfactory couplings between the cars, the drain on the boiler, and the fact that the locomotive was sometimes detached from the train, were obstacles. one of the western roads even attached a separate car for the sole purpose of supplying heat and light. the growth in the capacity of locomotive boilers, and the perfection of the couplings between cars, have led to the present practice of car heating, which entirely eliminates the presence of any fire or source of danger from that source. car lighting. car lighting has passed through the same stages as house lighting, possibly more gradually, on account of the greater difficulties. the old low-roofed passenger cars were illuminated by candles about two inches in diameter, placed in racks along the sides of the car. with the advent of mineral oil, just before the civil war, the candles gave place to oil lamps. great difficulty was experienced in maintaining a steady flame, until the principle of the student lamp was adopted. the flame was shielded from the outside air by a chimney, and the central draft to the burner provided the air necessary, at the right point, to insure combustion. for more than fifteen years this method prevailed, and while the presence of oil lamps in wrecks contributed fuel to the flames, the proof that they were in any way the principal cause was lacking. still, to eliminate this contributory feature, attempts were made to use ordinary coal gas, compressed in tanks on each car. this, however, proved unsatisfactory. in a system of compressed gas made from crude petroleum had been invented by julius pintsch, of berlin, and by had been put into a number of cars on european railroads. the light was too dim to satisfy american conditions. it was only a question of time, however, for its proper and adequate development to our needs, when its use became general, on the perfection of the lamp and burner. for the last fifteen years electric lighting of various types has been in use on cars in an experimental way. while possessing advantages, perhaps, in safety, owing to low voltages and small quantity of current, its general use has not yet been entirely practicable, owing to the complications involved, either in generating and satisfactorily controlling the current upon the cars, or in supplying it at terminals through storage batteries. so far we have been considering largely features either of equipment or train control. perhaps more important than these is the permanent way. compared with engines, cars, signals and dispatching, the variety of problems presented in the construction and maintenance are many. we perhaps owe to the ancient beginnings and highly scientific development of the profession of civil engineering and its branches the fact that these problems of construction and maintenance are so well met and the source of so little anxiety in connection with railroad transportation at the present time. american engineering ingenuity and courage have devised structures to meet every requirement of railroad development. in bridge construction for centuries the simple beam or the arch were the only spans employed. the natural barriers to construction of railroads required something more than either. between and many wooden trusses were built in the eastern and middle states after the design of burr and palmer. s. h. long's introduction of counter-braces in truss construction in was a long step in advance, and after ten years the celebrated howe truss was brought out by the inventor. four years later came the pratt truss. in several riveted lattice trusses were built for the new york central, varying from to feet in length, by howard carroll. the lehigh valley built a whipple-murphy pin-connected bridge of -foot span. this progress in truss construction enabled the railroads to bridge streams and secure continuous roadway. as an interesting historical note in connection with railroad bridges, we find that the first railroad bridge was built across the mississippi river at rock island in . it had hardly been completed, at great expense, before st. louis steamboat interests demanded its removal as a nuisance and an obstruction to navigation. the united states district court so adjudged it, and ordered its removal within six months. the presiding judge in his opinion stated that "if one railroad is able to transfer freight and passengers without delay and expense of changing at the river, financial necessity will compel competing roads to provide themselves with the same facilities," which led him to foresee great interference to river traffic and great mischief in the establishment of such a precedent. the case was appealed, and abraham lincoln was the counsel for the bridge company before the united states supreme court. he argued that both the river and the railroad were great highways for the people, and while at the immediate time the water traffic was possibly greater, he predicted that the time might come when the railroads might equal or exceed the traffic on the river, and he consequently felt that each interest was entitled to equal consideration. his broad grasp of the subject secured for his company a reversal of the decision of the lower court, and the bridge remained. with the advent of steel the possibilities of bridge construction may be said to have become almost unlimited, and their design exceedingly simplified and standardized. evolution of the rail. equally important is the evolution of the rail and its fastenings. the type of metal rails of which the bottom served as the running surface for flat wheels guided by a flange on the rail gave place to "edge" rails on which flanged wheels used the upper surface of the rail before the day of the steam locomotive. of the edge type, the first were cast iron, fish-bellied, in sections about three feet in length. they were supported by stone blocks or in cast-iron chairs which were in turn made secure to the stone. later the same type was made of wrought iron by john birkinshaw, in england, who rolled it up to or feet in length. from to the flat strap rail, spiked to longitudinal timbers, in turn supported by cross-ties, was largely used in this country, as it was the only shape that could be rolled here. in mr. strickland designed the bridge, or "u"-shaped section, which was used on some of our earlier roads and was the first style of edge rail rolled in this country, in . the present "t" section was invented in by colonel stevens, chief engineer of the camden & amboy railway, and until , when it was first rolled in this country, had to be imported from england. the poor quality of the iron at this time required such a broad support, in the design of the rail, for the head, that no satisfactory plate fastening could be secured. iron shoes, into which the rail ends fitted, were the means of connection. the greatest improvement dates from , when the first steel rails were rolled in england. ten years later they were experimentally rolled here. in , through the introduction of the bessemer process, which made possible their manufacture at a greatly reduced cost, began a revolution in track construction. while the decade from to witnessed the greatest rate of railroad building in this country, it also witnessed the substantial substitution of steel rails on our lines. the earlier rails weighed from to pounds per yard. the increasing weight of equipment brought out a heavier section, and fifteen years ago there was a large percentage of mileage on which weights of pounds and over--and even pounds--per yard had been introduced. under special conditions rails weighing as high as pounds per yard are used. with the increasing weights of rails, and the development of steel manufacture, greater attention has been paid to details of analysis, process of manufacture, shape and laying, and it may be briefly stated that all these matters are uniformly prescribed at the present time. our rail fastenings, ties and ballast have kept pace with the development of the rail and equipment. an orthodox part of the rules governing the maintenance of railway property places in the hands of the maintenance force standard plans and specifications, not only for the elements, such as rail and ties, but for the complete make-up of the finished track structure and roadbed, and these plans are the result of current experience and study of the several railroads, and of the various associations of engineers, maintenance officers and manufacturers, and it is safe to say that these plans, specifications and standard practices represent the best known state of the art. grade-crossing elimination. in the early days both the railroads and public ways used the natural surface of the ground, as a matter of economy. the public question then was how they were to get the railroads, and _not_ how they were to restrict them in the manner of their construction. the districts traversed were sparsely settled and trains were few and slow in their movement; the highways were little used; all of which made for freedom from accident where the two crossed. the conditions in england were vastly different. there the country was thickly settled and an assured traffic was evident from the inception of the enterprise, which would warrant expenditures on original construction that could not be entertained by the promoters of our first companies. so it was not through any blindness that made grade crossings grow up in this country, but it was purely the result of economic conditions which precluded their elimination. with the increase in population and the development of the country came the need of increased transportation facilities. more frequent, faster and heavier trains were moving up the railroads and a greater number of people came to use the highways. the inevitable result followed, and at length the great number of accidents occurring at the grade crossings attracted public attention. the legislature of massachusetts took the first action in , when it provided for the appointment of a railroad commission, to investigate and report upon "safer and better methods of construction and operation." they very promptly took up the grade-crossing question. at this time in massachusetts there was mile of track to . square miles new york there was mile of track to . square miles united states there was mile of track to . square miles great britain there was mile of track to . square miles this showed that the railroad network in massachusetts was more extensive in proportion to the area of the state than existed in great britain. in their report the commission suggested the avoidance of future crossings of railroads and highways at grade, and the propriety of the railroads changing some existing crossings which presented no great difficulty or expense. in a law was passed providing for the separation of grade when a town and railroad effected an agreement. the cost was to be apportioned by a commission appointed by the superior court. this law did accomplish something, but hardly abolished existing crossings as fast as new ones were built. under it the fitchburg railroad did away with twenty-five between and , bearing varying portions of the expense. in an act provided that the county commissioners could order the abolition of a grade crossing on a petition of twenty legal voters if the cost would not exceed $ , . again, in the legislature asked the governor to appoint another commission to investigate and report upon a scheme for gradual abolition and the method of apportioning the expense. in february, , this commission, composed of kimball, weber and locke, submitted systematic plans, with estimates, etc., in which they fixed forty years as not an unreasonable length of time for the completion of the work. the next step came in with the passage of the grade crossing law, which provided that the directors of a railroad or the authorities of a town or city could petition the supreme court for a commission on the abolition of a grade crossing. this commission was to determine the manner of the separation and by whom the work was to be done, and how the expense was to be divided as between the railroad, city and state. before the report was presented to the court for approval it was incumbent upon the commissioners to ascertain that the aggregate proportion of the state's liability in this connection would not exceed $ , per year for ten years. while on the one hand the legislature authorized this expenditure of $ , , to abolish the crossings of highways with railroads at grade, they granted charters indefinitely to electric lines to cross steam roads at grade. the new york state board of railroad commissioners was created in and its membership appointed by the governor. among the functions which they immediately assumed was the question of public safety in connection with crossings at grade of railroads and highways. the consideration which this received and the complaints of unsafe conditions, as well as the complications and adjudications involved, led to the passing of the grade crossing law, which went into effect july , . not only by the new york state law, but by the massachusetts law, the method of elimination, as well as the apportionment of expense, is specific. the initiative is open to both the railroad and to the community, and the rapid progress of eliminations in these two states may be taken as an endorsement of the wisdom of such legislation, paving the way, as it does, for more progress on the question of eliminations than it is believed would ordinarily take place where no specific rule existed for the undertaking. while the exact conditions throughout the country are not definitely known, it is believed that progress is being made quite generally in this direction. the influence of grade-crossing elimination upon the safety of operation is of such importance as to deserve serious consideration, as i will further suggest. perhaps the elimination of grade crossings, thereby separating the public from the railroad except as authorized in connection with their patronage of it, is one of the most important factors as safety. human element in operation. notwithstanding the great improvements in roadbed, track, bridges, signals, equipment and other respects, all securing increased service and safety in railroad operation, the human element is a vital factor. with a view of raising the standard of individual service, a system of physical and educational examinations has been adopted. in the early days of railroads the individual service was possibly less definitely classified and qualified than must prevail under the exactions of modern conditions. in keeping with the progress in mechanical and safety devices and the necessity of a better system, we have today a preliminary examination, both physical and as to fitness. employes must pass examinations as to vision, color sense and hearing, and their knowledge of the fundamental rules and regulations, as well as the fundamental knowledge of road, appliances and equipment. these examinations are repeated from time to time as the class of service and further advancement of the employes may require. many of the large railroads have established schools, with capable instructors, where employes may receive instruction upon the performance of their duties, as well as affording them an opportunity to fit themselves for promotion. beginning with the general time convention some thirty years ago, the need to standardize railroad practices and systematically qualify employes began to be realized. the convention, largely through the efforts of mr. w. f. allen, saw that, as time is the term in which railroad schedules are expressed, it was a fundamental necessity that there should be standard time, and that the timepieces of employes which should govern their observance of instructions and schedules must conform to the standard. this led to the present system of standard time; to the system whereby employes must compare watches with standard clocks; must have watches inspected regularly and record taken of same; must compare watches and register before trips. the general time convention led to the formation of the american railway association, consisting of the executive and operating officers of the railroads of the united states and canada. the association considers problems of railroad operation, construction and equipment, and recommends practices for their solution. their investigations, conclusions and recommended practices embrace train operation, dispatching, block-signal operation, air-brake operation, physical and educational qualifications of employes, regulations for the transportation of dangerous articles, clearances, rail manufacture, safety appliances, inspection, car construction, track gauge, train heating and lighting, methods of loading, etc. marked progress has been made in co-ordinating the work of the various organizations of railroad officers with the work of the association, to secure the benefit of the broadest and most careful consideration of the subjects. assurance, therefore, exists that the experience and knowledge of railway management and officers will be brought from time to time into the text and fact of standard practices, promoting convenience by close interline relationships and uniformity of regulation, and causing a uniform, systematic and careful regard for safety. by way of recapitulation. so, to recapitulate: from a few miles of crude tramways the world has in a century built , miles of steam operated and , miles of electrically operated roads; instead of spragging the wheels we rely on the automatic high-speed brake; the coupling of cars has become an imitation of the action of human hands instead of risking their destruction; each train finds the condition of road ahead and protects itself by the agency of electric circuits and semaphores, the sequence of whose operation discloses on behalf of safety any obstruction of the route; four-wheel barrows are replaced by steel cars, larger than the miner's cabin, and carrying more than his month's output; instead of traveling on a tramway stage coach, the passenger finds available for his comfort a modern hotel on wheels, with every luxury known to-day--electrically lighted, steam heated, weather-proof; the old strap iron, which became detached and penetrated the car floor, frequently impinging passengers to the roof, is replaced by the bar of steel weighing pounds to the yard, whose manufacture, installation and maintenance is prescribed with every degree of refinement known to the chemist and engineer; we have learned to treat sub-grade, drainage and ballast as an architectural science, and our bridges, from the single-log span, now make continuous roadbed for high-speed operation, even over the continental rivers. some one has said that the builders' art consisted in making the structure proclaim the purpose for which designed, and to my mind there is nothing which quite so dramatically fulfils this as the modern steam locomotive. how many of you have seen a huge pacific locomotive, drawing a train of tons at a speed of miles an hour, yet under control of one man, just the same as stephenson's "rocket," which could have been lifted off its track and set on the ground by four strong men, and which was a world-wonder when for a short distance it attained a speed of twenty miles an hour? we know that our engineman with a pacific locomotive and the high-speed train can stop his train with the air brake in a definite distance. these comparisons, briefly as might be, between, we will say, the beginnings of the nineteenth and of the twentieth centuries, show how the commercial growth and increase of trade have produced a demand for transportation to be performed, and with the performance an economic revolution. we have, in a general way, though with far less than the thoroughness of which the subject is worthy, outlined what might be called the "state of the art," of railroad plant and operation, in a relative sense. progress of a pronounced character has occurred. that this progress has been accomplished by increased safety is demonstrated by common knowledge and confirmed by the records, both of the railroads and the public authorities. as an illustration, take the statistics of the interstate commerce commission. the increased safety of railroad operation is indicated in part by the following figures: for the decade following the beginning of the records, namely, to , the fatalities were in , , ; for the next decade, bringing it down to the present time, the fatalities were in , , ; the gain in ratio being, for the nation at large, fully per cent. looking at the conditions in the state of new york, where the density of travel is considerably in excess of that of the country as a whole, we find a report of the state engineer in the year showing ratio of fatalities of in , , ; the average for six years, to , inclusive, shows in , , ; an increase in relative safety of per cent. we may assume that never before in the history of railroad transportation was there presented a bigger problem than to-day. the weights are greater; the distances are greater; the speed is greater; the population is more dense; prices and wages are higher, and the public service more exacting. a gathering of the official representatives of the nation and of every state, possibly with a desire for uniform and concerted action, even though it may be unofficial, points with emphasis to the attitude from which the public contemplates the employment of the railways in their behalf. it is, i believe, an accepted fact of our political constitution at the present time that the public, through its authorized representatives and through lawful channels, has a right to be reasonably assured in this respect. i believe that the co-operation manifested, as well as the inquiries by the various railway boards, has in a great sense aided in reaching our present standard of excellence, to which we can point with pride in comparison with any other national railway system of the globe. we are becoming more familiar--the railroad management and employes--with the standpoint of the public, and the public is becoming more familiar with the problems of the railroads. the mutual aim is: first, safety and service; and, second, economy. the public concern for the safety and service is for its own protection, and the railroad management must give both with economy. so far we have been dealing largely with the progressive safety of railroad operation as furthered by the action of the railways, either initiatively or responsively, as the case might be. we have described the improvement in roadway, equipment and appliances; the standardizing of regulations for operation; the selection of employees and their government. with the better understanding of the problem of the railroad by the public through and in connection with the special boards represented here today, it might not be amiss to express the hope that such needs as cannot be met without the active support of public opinion and perhaps legislation will be clearly brought out. one of the thoughts that occurs to me was suggested by a recent exhibit, from the records, of the loss of life, damage to railroad property, as well as injury to persons and property conveyed, due to the presence of unauthorized persons upon railroad property, whether wilfully or carelessly trespassing. as an illustration of its seriousness: during last year over , trespassers lost their lives on railroads besides a large number injured. numerous mishaps have been traced to acts of trespassers, which may be the secret of many unexplained casualties. the railroads are a highway for the migration of tramps and unemployed persons, who commit petty depredations, jeopardize the safety of trains and the lives of employees and passengers. it seems of no avail that thousands of the worst class are arrested by railroad police forces and convictions secured, as the sentences in the majority of cases serve rather to aggravate, than to mitigate, the evil. one line arrested over , trespassers during the past year, and secured convictions in per cent of the cases; but in half of them sentence was suspended, which usually meant that the offender used the railroad to escape from the scene. i do not wish to be understood to asperse the administration of justice, nor to insist that offences of a serious character are always committed by railroad trespassers, but the hazard involved is one that should not be permitted to exist, the railroad property destroyed or damaged bearing no relation to the risk of persons and property transported, and to the enormous loss of life involved. i feel that the attention of those accustomed to broadly viewing problems of public concern should be brought to bear upon these facts, with the hope that measures may be taken to insure greater safety in this respect, as well as to save the waste of life and property now resulting from or incident to the practice. i might venture to suggest that the loss of life is far greater than entailed through decades by boiler explosions or rear-end collisions, the seriousness of which i do not wish to deprecate; and the situation might warrant special record of the facts being obtained in behalf of the public through the regular channels. wherein lies the increased safety of the future may perhaps be the query in many minds. it is universally sought. it would be mere conjecture on my part, and, with your indulgence, i am not inclined to prophesy. as i see it, the great problem is to make our progress sure, taking no doubtful measures, adopting no specious devices which may appeal to us at first blush until we have satisfied ourselves that no greater risk is involved by the change. the multiplication of rules enjoining obedience, together with devices for additional protection, may yield a false sense of security if fundamental obedience to existing rules and efficiency of existing appliances is one bit impaired by the addition. we must not embrace paper reforms, even though clamor and pressure be great. an "ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure," we grant, but reverse the proverb, and the pound of prevention may over-whelm us. the public official would seem to be in a judicial position, mindful of public justice and safety, basing his judgment and acts upon facts alone. improvement in general safety and character of railroad operation must be the product not only of an enlightened public opinion and the conservative wisdom of public representatives, but progressive and careful management, coupled with a sense of discipline and responsibility and industry of railroad employees, who must jointly share the obligations of the problem. speaking of the compliance we have cheerfully made to the suggestions of the public representatives--the commissions--in regard to improvements of service, facilities and conditions of operation, etc., we believe in the long run that these things mean a better standard and greater security for railroad property, as well as the enormous benefit that accrues to the public by reason of proper and efficient railway service, and we have only thoughts of admiration for the attitudes of the commissions as we have found them. they have a large problem. we are glad to avail ourselves of their wisdom, and believe it to be the means whereby the responsibility of the carriers to the public is secured, and through whom the responsibility of the public to the railroads must be voiced. gentlemen, i thank you for your kind attention, and the favor, which i acknowledge, of being permitted to address you as best i may upon a subject to which we are all devoted. in the absence of a distinct literature on the subject that your worthy president assigned to me, my efforts are perhaps a bit crudely devised, having no pattern. in another generation we may perhaps evolve a distinct species of railroad statesman and an encyclopedia from which we will be able to point back to the beginnings and the efforts at mutual advice, and to the growth and knowledge that have ensued, just as we have seen the day of small things in railroads to be the beginning of a constant growth to the wonders of today. i am sure that the american people can congratulate themselves upon an institution of the character of your convention and of your several honorable bodies, and trust that this meeting will be such that you will feel that you have made definite progress in your concurrent aims. railway mail pay by julius kruttschnitt, director of maintenance and operation of the union pacific system and southern pacific company. the question of compensation to the railroads of the united states for carrying the mails has been under review before congress at different times during the past ten years. the subject was exhaustively investigated by a joint commission of the senate and house of representatives in and , which reached the following conclusion after full consideration and taking of a mass of testimony on all sides of the question: "upon a careful consideration of all the evidence and the statements and arguments submitted, and in view of all the services rendered by the railroads, we are of the opinion that the prices now paid to the railroad companies for the transportation of the mails are not excessive, and recommend that no reduction thereof be made at this time." (see report , house of representatives, th congress, d session.) this commission also concluded as to the pay for railway postoffice cars: "taking in view all these facts as disclosed by the testimony filed herewith, we are of the opinion that the prices paid as compensation for the postal car service are not excessive, and recommend that no reduction be made therein so long as the methods, conditions and requirements of the postal service continue the same as at present." since the above recommendations were made, the operating costs on railroads, and, consequently, the cost of handling the mail, as hereafter shown, have been largely increased, through higher prices for both material and labor, so that if the railways were not over-paid ten years ago, the present rates, being lower than those paid at that time, would be too low and should really be increased to give the railroads a reasonable return. far from doing this, legislation enacted in the past few years has had the effect of cutting down the mail pay of the railroads, whilst the special requirements as to service and equipment have been made more severe and exacting. recent acts of congress or orders of the postoffice department, which have the force of law, that have caused reduction of railroad revenues, are the following: . act of congress of march , , reduced pay on all routes moving in excess of , pounds per day. this reduced the pay for handling mails $ , , . , or ½ per cent. of the total earnings. the same act reduced the rental rates for railway postal cars $ , . per annum, or per cent. the total reduction in pay to the railroads under this act was $ , , . , or per cent. of the total compensation for both classes of service. . act of congress of june , , effective july , , withdrew from the mails empty mail bags and certain supplies, to be thereafter shipped as freight or express. it may be conservatively estimated that the annual loss in mail revenue to the railroads by withdrawing these shipments from the mails is at least $ , , , with practically no reduction in space furnished because of this change. . order of postmaster-general of june , , changing with each mail weighing thereafter the method of computing average weights on which pay is based from that always previously used and theretofore regarded as the proper interpretation of the law. the effect of this on the mail weighings of and was to reduce railway mail pay in two sections of the country, $ , , . , or ½ per cent., or at the rate of $ , , per annum for all roads of the country. . orders of postmaster-general reducing railway postal car pay by allowing "shorter-car" pay on certain lines than heretofore authorized and changing certain full lines to half lines; that is, reducing pay for return movement, thus causing an annual loss to the railroads of $ , . . (second assistant postmaster-general's annual report , page .) the effect of all of these reductions on the mail revenue of the railroads aggregate $ , , per annum, or per cent. of the total pay received by them in the year ending june , , for handling the mail and furnishing railway postal cars. these reductions were made without justification and for the purpose of reducing railroad revenues--and, incidentally, the expenses of the postoffice department, at a time when the net earnings of the carriers seemed large to the public mind, although under these favorable conditions the returns to the shareholders approximated but per cent., whilst farmers were receiving per cent., manufacturers per cent. and national banks to per cent. it is true that there has been a large increase in the gross revenue of the railroads in the last ten years, but this has accrued from traffic other than carriage of the mails and has been accompanied by great increase in operating expenses. in fact, were it not for the economies of the carriers, effected by the use of more powerful locomotives and larger freight cars, the increase in operating expenses would, without doubt, have fully neutralized the growth in revenue. in the months preceding the panic of october, , the railroads were quite generally showing decreases in net earnings in face of the largest gross earnings in their history. it was costing them much more than a dollar to handle every dollar increase in gross earnings. since the hasty enactment of ill-considered legislation reducing mail pay, the revenues of the roads have been seriously affected by a change in business conditions which has reduced traffic without reducing prices of materials and labor. at the same time, legislation has increased labor costs by reducing hours of service. in rates for transporting the mails were too low to cover the cost of service, they are much too low now, and the losses on the mail service as a whole--there are some routes that pay--are borne by freight traffic entirely. receipts from mail and other railroad traffic. the latest statistics of operations of all railroads of the united states are for the year ending june , , issued by the interstate commerce commission, july , . from them we compile the following exhibit comparing results of with --when a commission of congress, after complete investigation of the subject, recommended that mail rates be not reduced. pct. pct. year ending june th-- . . inc. dec. earnings from passengers $ , , $ , , -- earnings from express $ , , $ , , -- earnings from mails $ , , $ , , -- earnings from freight $ , , , $ , , -- operating expenses $ , , , $ , , -- passenger train mileage , , (a) , , -- freight train mileage , , (a) , , -- (a) including mixed trains. earnings per passenger train mile (cents): pct. pct. . inc. dec. from passengers . . -- from express . . -- from mails . . ----- ---- -- -- total . . -- number passengers carried per train -- tons of mail carried per train . . -- earnings per freight train mile (cents): earned from freight . . -- tons of freight carried per train . . -- operating expenses per total train mile (cents) . . -- net earnings per train mile (cents): passenger trains . (loss) . freight . . -- passenger earnings per passenger mile (cents) . . -- mail earnings per mail ton mile (cents) . . -- freight earnings per freight ton mile . . -- (cents) note.--bear in mind these figures do not, of course, show effect of cut of $ , , in mail pay effective july , , or losses in net revenue through depression in business conditions commencing in latter part of . as an index of the latter, the commercial and financial chronicle of september , , showed that roads, aggregating , miles or per cent. of all roads in the country, had suffered a loss of $ , , , or . per cent., in net earnings in the first half of the calendar year , as compared with same period of previous year. the foregoing statement clearly shows the difference between the revenue obtained from passenger trains as compared with freight trains. the control of the former is largely out of the hands of railroad operating officers, as to meet competitive and traffic conditions, heavier and more luxurious passenger cars must constantly be furnished, which, of course, means largely increased expense with very little increase in the paying train load. in fact, as to the mails, notwithstanding an increase in tonnage carried on the average train, the mail earnings per passenger train mile were actually less in than in , due largely to the automatic reduction of railway mail pay per ton mile. considering the freight train mile, the composition of which is almost entirely within the control of the railroads, which institute methods for reducing cost of transportation, it will be observed that by such methods the railroads have been enabled to place per cent. more tonnage in a train, bring them per cent. more earnings, which can be applied as an offset to the increase of per cent. in the cost of running a train one mile. this increase in operating expenses per train mile last referred to has been brought about largely because of the increased cost of labor and materials, which, as is well known, has been general throughout the country. comparing results of operation of all railroads of the united states for the year ending june , , with , when this question was last up, it is shown by reports of the interstate commerce commission that gross revenue from operations, as well as income from investments, increased $ , , , . this is a very large sum, but let us see what becomes of it. increased wages paid to employes consumed $ , , , or per cent., purchase of material included in operating expenses, $ , , , or per cent. of the increased income, and these material purchases represented largely labor involved in their production. increases in betterments and miscellaneous deductions consumed $ , , , or per cent. of the increased income. larger payments for interest on funded debt and current liabilities consumed $ , , , or per cent., and larger taxes . per cent., leaving $ , , , or . per cent. of the increased income for the owners of the properties, the stockholders. in dividends were less than per cent. of the capital stock, and in , even with the large increase noted, they were only per cent. contrast this with the manufacturers' returns of per cent., the farmers' of per cent., and the national banks' of to per cent. on their capitalization. reduction in railway mail pay was not justified in ; it was far less justified in . on the contrary, there has been a large fall in mail pay per ton mile, and conditions under which mails are transported are becoming more and more onerous. the cost of building a railway postoffice car to the present plans and specifications of the postoffice department is at least per cent. more than it was in , although pay received for handling these cars, that weigh from to per cent. more than formerly, has been arbitrarily cut over per cent. by the act of congress of , and has since been further cut through readjustment of routes. for the year ending june , , the railroads received gross $ , , , including railway postoffice pay, for carrying per cent. greater tonnage of mails than in , a sum $ , , less than it would have been but for the reduction of rate from . cents in to . cents in . in face of this, as we have shown, arbitrary cuts of $ , , more have been made, a grand total of over $ , , less paid now than ten years ago. about eighteen months ago the conclusion was reached that heavier and stronger cars were demanded by changed conditions resulting in heavier trains, greater speed and increased frequency and consequent risk of accident to clerks and mail in collisions and wrecks. after careful investigation and expert testimony the specifications were revised so that full -foot cars would weigh about , pounds instead of , pounds, and be greatly strengthened by the free use of steel plates and oak timbers. to meet the views of car builders, east and west, two plans and specifications, slightly differing, were adopted as standard, and railroads were given the option of conforming to one or the other. the best known anti-telescoping features were adopted in both plans, producing in the judgment of responsible car builders a car of exceptional resisting and carrying power. when new lines of cars are authorized by the department, or new cars are ordered to take the place of old cars in service, companies operating the routes are furnished copies of these specifications and the superintendent of division is instructed to see that cars are built in conformity therewith. inspections are made while the car is in the shop, and when it is completed a full report is made and forwarded to the department. a decision is then reached as to whether the car is satisfactory and can be accepted. (annual report postmaster-general for .) this increase in weight of a postal car might not be thought of much moment, but it means to the railroads the movement of , , additional gross ton miles per car per year, costing them $ , per annum in operating expenses, whilst, as shown, they receive per cent. less railway postoffice pay now than formerly. united states postal laws and regulations, section , provide that the average weight of the mails used in fixing rates shall be established by the actual weighing of the mails for a period of not less than thirty days and "_not less frequently_ than one in every four years." the construction placed upon this by the department has been the one which reduced to the minimum the pay which the railroads receive for services rendered. if mail traffic were stationary, weighing every four years would not matter much, but the increase of mail matter throughout the united states has been very great, and, because of the policy of the department, to weigh the mails not more frequently than every four years, heavy losses have resulted through the railroads having to haul tonnage for three successive years following each weighing for which they receive no pay. as a result of this policy of quadrennial weighings, the roads in interstate commerce groups , , and (including the territory west of the missouri river and the mississippi below st. louis) between and suffered a loss of $ , , , or per cent. of the aggregate railway mail pay, compared with what they should have received if the mails had been weighed annually. in other words, this loss is equivalent to a reduction in the rate received per ton mile in these groups of states of per cent. the loss to roads in the western part of the united states is most striking, due as it is to the rapid growth of that section. the same reduction, though to a slightly less degree, obtains in other parts of the united states. comparative returns to the railroads from conducting mail. passenger and freight service in the united states. in order to make a fair comparison of operating results from different classes of traffic, it is necessary to consider them under substantially similar conditions. the best measure of railroad service is work done, or weight multiplied by distance carried; in other words, the ton mileage. a comparison of services differing so widely as the mail, passenger and freight on the basis of ton mileage of such business is, however, unfair, because in the two former an excessive proportion of dead weight must be transported for each ton of paying load, whilst with freight traffic the proportion of dead weight is small. the hauling power of a locomotive is measured not by revenue ton miles, but by ton miles of gross weight, it making little difference to the locomotive as to what this gross ton mileage is composed of, the gross tonnage and the speed at which it must be moved being the factors that consume the energy of the locomotive. a computation has been made of ton mileage on each individual mail route by multiplying weight carried by length of route; to the sum of these we add the dead weight of cars. the report of the second assistant postmaster-general for year ending june , , page , gives the number of cars engaged in mail service, which we have multiplied by the average mileage made by the average car, based on experience of the union pacific and southern pacific systems, to ascertain total car mileage for the united states. multiplying this by the dead weight of a car gives the ton mileage of dead weight, which, added to the ton mileage of mails, gives the gross ton mileage, measure of work and cost imposed on the railroads in return for the pay they receive for handling the mails. these computations are shown in the following statements, the results being conservative, as for want of accurate data it has been necessary to omit some work which the railroads do, which, if ascertainable, would increase the cost. for example, we have made no charge for the dead weight of that portion of baggage cars devoted to the handling of pouch mail, such pouch service, according to the postmaster-general's report, covering annually on railroads and express trains , , miles; nor for the dead weight of storage mail cars provided by the railroads. neither has any account been taken of the value of transportation given mail clerks, which, based on the postmaster-general's report of , amounted to , , miles, which at cents a mile would be $ , , ; nor for the value of transportation or postal commissions of postoffice department officials; nor does it take into account special service rendered by the railroads, such as delivering mail at stations, value of space furnished by the railroads and required of them by the postoffice department at important junction and terminal points for mail distribution and accommodation of government transfer clerks. the statistics of passenger service in the following statements are based on the annual report of statistics of railways published by the interstate commerce commission ( figures, which would show higher operating cost, not available), with the exception that the average mileage per car per annum run by passenger cars is based on the experience of the union pacific and southern pacific systems. statistics of freight service are likewise based on the report of statistics of railways, freight car mileage being actually reported by the interstate commerce commission, dead weight per car being computed from all freight cars handled on union pacific and southern pacific systems. mail service. year ending june , . paid to the railroads for railway postoffice cars $ , , paid to the railroads for mail transportation , , ----------- total $ , , ton mileage of mails handled by railroads , , pay per revenue ton mile, including railway postal pay car . c pay per revenue ton mile, excluding railway postal car pay . c r.p.o. apartment. total. number of cars (postoffice department report) , , , average length (special mail weighing ), feet of mail apartment -- equivalent full r.p.o. cars , , , miles run per car per annum (experience of u. p. system and southern pacific company) , , -- total equivalent r.p.o. car miles , , , , , , miles traveled by r.p.o. clerks (miles reported as traveled by crews multiplied by average number of men per crews) -- , , gross ton mileage-- equivalent railway postal clerks, , , miles, at tons per car , , , ton miles of clerks at pounds per man , , revenue ton miles of mail, including pouch mail , , -------------- total gross ton miles(a) , , , average weight of mail per equivalent full r.p.o. car (tons)(a) . average weight of clerks per equivalent full r.p.o. car (tons) . average weight of car per equivalent full r.p.o. car (tons) . rate of mail and r.p.o. car pay per gross ton mile (cents) . ratio of paying to dead load(a) to . (a) no portion of mileage or weight of storage cars or cars handling pouch mail has been considered. passenger service other than mails. miles run total car number per car miles run of cars. per annum. per annum. (a) (b) baggage and express, excluding , equivalent postal cars , , , , sleepers, diners and parlor cars , , , , coaches, etc. , , , , , ------ ------------- total , , , , passenger train miles, including mixed trains , , cars per train mile-- mail . others . ---- total . gross ton mileage-- baggage and express cars, , , x tons , , , sleepers, diners and parlor cars, , , x tons , , , coaches, etc., , , , x tons , , , -------------- total ton miles dead weight , , , -------------- ton miles of passengers, , , (a) passenger miles at pounds per passenger , , , ton miles of baggage and express, , , car miles estimated at only tons average load in a car , , , ------------- total ton miles revenue load , , , total gross ton miles , , , total revenue received from passengers and express $ , , total revenue received per gross ton mile (cents) . total revenue received per revenue ton mile (cents) . ratio of paying weight to dead load to . freight service. total miles run by freight cars (a) , , , total ton miles dead weight, each car estimated at tons (b) , , , total ton miles revenue freight (a) , , , --------------- total gross ton miles , , , ratio of paying to dead load to . total revenue received for transporting freight $ , , , total revenue received per gross ton mile (cents) . total revenue received per revenue ton mile (cents), (a) . tons per car revenue freight (loaded and empty) . revenue per car mile (cents) . (a) statistics of railways of united states, . (b) experience of union pacific and southern pacific systems. relative cost of service. to determine the relative costs to the railroads of performing mail, passenger and freight service, we must allocate the expenses to freight and passenger service as a whole, afterwards apportioning the latter to mails and other service. railroad operating expenses apply jointly to both passenger and freight trains, so that, with few exceptions, it is impossible to determine exactly from any published statistics the cost of passenger train service as distinguished from freight. there are some items of train mile expense directly connected with movement which are less for passenger than for freight trains, whilst, on the other hand, many other expenses are greater for passenger than for freight, such as danger from casualties, necessity of expensive terminals, delays to other traffic through preference given to passenger trains, additional main tracks, and, particularly, higher standards of maintenance of roadbed required for high speed passenger train movement. on account of the impossibility of separating the expenses, we assume that the above factors about balance each other and that the average cost of running _all_ trains can be taken as either passenger or freight train mile cost, respectively, without serious error. we allocate a proportion of the passenger train cost to the mails on the basis of the gross ton miles handled in each class of passenger traffic. the relative revenues and expenses are shown on opposite page, mail revenues being as shown by report of postoffice department, and other statistics as given in the statistics of railways of the united states, published by the interstate commerce commission, or are computed therefrom. all railroads in united states. summary of mail, passenger and freight service. other total mails. passenger. passenger. freight. gross revenue $ , , , , , , , , , operating expenses $ , , , , , , , , taxes and interest on bonds $ , , , , , , , , total expenses $ , , , , , , , , , surplus -- -- -- , , deficit $ , , , , , , -- ton mileage (thousands)-- revenue weight , , , , , , , dead weight , , , , , , , , total gross , , , , , , , , tons dead weight per ton revenue . . . . per gross ton mile (cents)-- gross earnings . . . . operating expenses . . . . earnings over operating expenses -- -- -- . operating expenses over earnings . . . -- taxes and interest on bonds . . . . surplus -- -- -- . deficit . . . -- per cent of operating expenses to earnings gross expenses to earnings figures exclude dividends, betterments and additions, etc. the above shows that whilst passenger service as a whole is unremunerative, the mail earnings are hardly what they should be to pay a fair share of the railroad operating expenses only, regardless of taxes and interest. or, put in another way, our computations have shown that in each passenger train run the railroads haul an average of / of a mail car, and the contents of this car yielded average earnings of . cents for each mile run. the computation just made shows that each freight car run, loaded or empty, yields a revenue to the carrier of . cents per mile. incredible as this may seem, it is understandable when we reflect that the railroads transport . tons of dead weight for each ton of freight for which they are paid; with mail they transport . tons, or twenty times as much. the freight rate is . c per ton mile, the mail rate . c, or only thirteen times as much. arguing in still another way: average number of cars in each passenger train handled in united states is . , of which mail cars amount to . , or per cent. eleven per cent. of the average earnings of a passenger train is . cents, but mail contributed only . cents. that is, it should pay per cent. more than it does to be made to contribute a fair share to the insufficient earnings of a passenger train. mails are fairly responsible on basis of space used for per cent. of the cost of running a passenger train, or . cents, and as dead weight per foot of space is greater with mails, their proportion of train mile cost is even larger. they pay little more than one-half this cost. by building larger capacity cars and larger engines, the cost of handling freight traffic, entirely in the control of the carrier, has been reduced to follow rate reductions and increased expenses. on the other hand, because methods of conducting passenger traffic are largely--and mail traffic entirely--beyond their control the cost of handling mail and passengers has been steadily increasing, and, as revenue has not increased, the net revenue or margin of profit has been cut to a point where it is unremunerative. the argument advanced by advocates of reduced mail pay, that increasing density permitted economies and that lower rates would yield more net, is not applicable when the carriers' hands are tied and measures of economy so successfully applied to handling freight are prohibited. the following will illustrate this: on routes where pouch service is used mail is handled with express and baggage without much increase of cost over other passenger traffic. a somewhat greater mail traffic obliges the railroads to furnish apartment cars, at increased expense and dead weight for the postoffice feature, but still permitting the railroads to carry other traffic in the same car. a still further increase in weight means the establishment of full r. p. o. lines for which the railroads receive extra, but inadequate, compensation, these cars being used for no other class of traffic and adding largely to the weight and cost of train service. even after the route has been made an r. p. o. route, the railroads are not permitted to economize by carrying more mail in the car, and as traffic density grows the roads must under the requirements of the department add more cars, almost in proportion to the business, as the loads carried in r. p. o. cars, as shown by recent special weighing, average only ¾ tons, and many of them return empty--for which empty haul the railroads often receive no pay. when the mail business has assumed very large proportions and the r. p. o. cars have multiplied in ratio therewith, special trains are then added to carry the bulk of the mail, being run at very high speed and adding to the railroad expense account in a far higher degree per unit of business than any other class of traffic. in contrast to the above, baggage and express are very generally hauled in the same and a much lighter and less costly car than the mail car, and increase in tonnage is accommodated by hauling greater loads per car. in the case of freight, increased density means larger car and train loads and greatly reduced costs of operating per ton mile. despite these differences in conditions, the automatic scale has secured to the government a larger reduction in mail rates per ton mile in the last ten years than the percentage of fall in freight rates, despite higher labor and material costs of railroad operating. as a result, the mail business--which, according to evidence introduced before the congressional committee of , was unprofitable at that time, has been made more unprofitable at the present time by the heavy rate reductions of - . as the greatest reduction made deals with mail routes on which traffic is heaviest, a consideration should be given to the following conditions of handling mail on such routes: heavy traffic mail routes. on very many of the heavy traffic routes where the principal reduction in pay occurred a large part of the mail is now handled in special mail trains run at excessively high rates of speed. such trains introduce the following conditions: . a very much greater liability to accident. a large proportion of the deplorable accidents that have occurred on the american railroads in recent years have occurred to excessively high speed trains, accidents to such trains being almost invariably destructive to life and property. an examination of serious accidents on the union pacific system and southern pacific company for the calendar year shows that per cent. of the property damage from all causes, including negligence, as traceable to trains not under control and excessive speed, whilst per cent. additional damage was due to causes that might prevent inferior trains getting out of their way, such as keeping main line on time of superior trains, failure to observe signals or orders, etc. . mail trains run at excessive high speed are much more expensive to operate than other trains, for the following reasons: (_a_) fuel consumption per traffic unit is very much greater at high speed because of diminished tractive power of locomotives. (_b_) a relative greater hauling capacity of locomotives must be consumed in moving trains at higher speeds. (_c_) excessive speed requires higher standards of track maintenance, double-tracking, block signals, heavy rail, better ballasted roadbed, etc., etc. (_d_) high speed means increased wear and tear on equipment and track. (_e_) high speed trains are expensive, delaying and adding to the cost of other traffic. . speed of trains carrying mails has been constantly increased, a study made of the speed per hour made on fastest trains on which r. p. o. cars are handled on seventeen of the principal mail routes giving the following results: average of fastest train on seventeen mail routes: speed year. (miles per hour.) relative. . . . . average increase per year . with the above increase in speed, rates paid the railroads have automatically decreased whilst expenses have largely increased to provide for the above greater speed and because of increase in prices of labor and materials of all kinds in the past five or six years. this increase in speed has been made coincident with growth of freight traffic, which is the railroads' profitable business, _the non-profitable high speed trains delaying the profitable ones, increasing their cost and incurring liability to accident_. . earnings of mail trains supposedly high are not higher than other passenger trains, which, as a whole, earn very much less per mile run than freight, relative figures being as shown by last report of the interstate commerce commission--as is to , whilst the cost of running passenger trains is as much, if not more. this is particularly the case with high speed passenger trains, which is the most unprofitable business in which railroads are engaged. (on union pacific system last year earnings per passenger train mile were $ . , per freight train mile $ . .) . passenger engines in hauling fast passenger trains on principal main lines at the present time have assumed, on account of increased weight of equipment and excessive speed required, enormous proportions. we now have in such service on our lines engines weighing exclusive of tender , pounds, this power being per cent. heavier and twice as costly as locomotives used in the same class of service ten years ago, burning double the amount of fuel. engineers running these locomotives receive higher pay because of the greater size of these engines--to say nothing of recent increases made in their schedules. such heavy power moving at fast speed is extremely destructive to the roadbed, requiring a much higher standard of maintenance than formerly, maintenance of way cost in the past few years having gone up per cent. engine failures are largely confined to fast passenger trains, and, in general, expenses are increased all along the line because of their introduction. . as illustrating the additions to expenses because of increased track maintenance on account of fast passenger and mail trains, we have made a study of statistics, using the interstate commerce report of as a basis, of seven roads having a large proportion of fast passenger service and seven roads having a moderate speed passenger service, but with a large proportion of freight service. on the roads first named the average cost of maintenance of way per mile was $ , , and on roads in the latter class $ , . the operating expenses per train mile in the former class were $ . , and in the latter $ . . the roads in the former class, on account of large number of excessively high-speed trains, were obliged to double-track their lines, which directly increased maintenance expenses. pay for railway postal cars. the large reduction made by act of march , , in pay for railway postal cars was made in face of large increase in the cost of constructing such cars, due to higher prices of labor and material and greater cost of meeting the more exacting specifications of the postoffice department. changing to steel construction, increases in weight, and generally heavier operating expenses, have created an extremely large increase in cost of moving these cars. the standard railway postal car of only a few years ago, feet long, weighed , pounds and cost about $ , . the standard railway postoffice cars, feet long, of wooden construction, used on the railroads with which i am connected, weigh over , pounds each, or one-fourth more weight, and costs per cent. more, whilst our new standard postal cars of steel construction weigh , pounds and cost over $ , , or per cent. more than the car of a few years ago. an argument sometimes made in favor of a lowering of r. p. o. car pay is that for apartment cars used in runs where mail density does not require a full car, no additional compensation is allowed. but we feel that a fair consideration of the circumstances under which mail is handled as compared with other traffic will justify the conclusion that this is not an argument in favor of reducing r. p. o. pay, but rather for allowing the railroad additional compensation for the apartment cars as well. both services require the furnishing of special features in the way of traveling postoffices not required except for the convenience of the postoffice department to enable it to do work while mail is in transit, such as ordinarily performed in office buildings. the full postal car is more expensive to the roads, as it always means additional car service, whilst in some cases of apartment cars the space not occupied by the traveling postoffice is adequate to take care of baggage and express, though very frequently this service also means additional car movement that would not be necessary but for the postoffice feature. the saving to the railroads from reduction in car mileage that would be possible if it were not obliged to furnish traveling postoffices, but could use the space occupied by racks and other postoffice features by loading additional mail in cars, would be many times the revenue allowed by the railway postal cars. to illustrate: the car mileage of postal cars (changing apartment cars to full cars on basis of length) is , , per annum; the ton mileage of mail , , , or . tons per car. from figures obtained from the postoffice department, average car weights shown on page , table "ee," special mail weighing of , it is ascertained that storage mail cars, which, of course, contain no postoffice features, carry an average of . tons of mail. at this rate the whole mail business could be carried by the movement of , , car miles, or , , less than actually employed, due to the postoffice features. the total railway postal car pay is only $ , , , or only . cents per additional car mile, whilst the operating expenses chargeable to running these , , car miles, of per cent. of the total movement, amount to $ , , . but for the postoffice feature, the combined weight of an entire route could many times be handled in a single car such as is used for express instead of several heavy and expensive postoffice cars, whilst often extra cars for storage mail must be added, for which no extra pay is allowed, the cost of running these storage cars also not being included in the computation of cost of service, as no accurate statistics of their number or car mileage are available. in addition to the furnishing of storage cars, although many r. p. o. routes are paid for on a basis of foot cars, it is not economical for the railroads to construct such cars which are not interchangeable with other equipment and which would have to be thrown aside if through growth of traffic larger cars are afterwards required. as a result, full -foot r. p. o. cars have for years been furnished on many and -foot routes, the railroad getting no credit for this, whilst on many other routes r. p. o. cars have been run in advance of the fixing of r. p. o. pay for them. on a number of routes postal car pay has been allowed for running full cars in one direction only, classing such routes as half-lines. this obliges the railroads to move the car in the opposite direction without pay, the small additional compensation of less than cents per mile run received in one direction being entirely inadequate to compensate the road for the empty haul--to say nothing of allowing anything for moving it in direction for which pay is received. to illustrate: the union pacific railroad in one case between council bluffs, iowa, and ogden, utah, , miles, receives no pay for handling east-bound a -foot mail car, which is paid for west-bound only, six mail cars being required on this line. the r. p. o. pay per car mile, including movement in both directions, is only . cents, or about what would be received for transporting a single passenger, although a standard passenger coach has a capacity for passengers. in connection with the railway postoffice, an item not often considered is the value of transportation furnished clerks in the railway mail and compartment cars. figuring this at cents per mile, which is about the lowest passenger fare, the total value of this transportation for clerks in railway postoffice cars would be $ , , per annum, or $ , , more than the railroads receive for the handling of these cars, and the value of transportation in the case of apartment cars would be $ , , per annum additional. in addition to this, a large amount of free transportation is required annually by the postoffice department for inspectors and other officers of the department. the postoffice department issues annually about six hundred traveling commissions to postoffice inspectors and other postal officials, and requires railroad companies to honor such commissions for free transportation on all trains on all lines on which mails are carried. in some cases these commissions are issued to government officials whose official duties are in no way connected with the transportation of mails on railroads. the railroads have no control whatever over the issuance of these commissions and can not even secure from the postoffice department a list of them, the department holding that the list is confidential. these commissions are frequently used for personal travel in violation of the rulings of the interstate commerce commission. in brief, the postoffice department in effect arbitrarily issued about six hundred annual passes over every mail carrying railroad in the united states, which is equivalent to about , annual passes. postal deficit. in investigating the subject of railway mail pay, we have been struck very forcibly with changes which have taken place in the revenues and expenditures of the postoffice department since , when this subject was last reviewed. although postal operations still show a deficit, it is a fact that its revenues have increased in a remarkable degree, and the deficit is certainly not due to the amounts paid to the railroads for hauling mail, as these payments are relatively far less now than formerly. revenues of the postoffice department have grown from $ , , in to over $ , , in , or per cent., this increase in revenue in eight years being as great as the entire increase in the previous thirty-five years. but in this same period of eight years there was an increase of $ , , , or per cent., in postoffice department expenditures, of which only $ , , , or per cent., was paid to the railroads, $ , , , or per cent., going to rural free delivery, $ , , , or per cent., to postmasters and their clerks, and the balance to other items. the following statement shows for the year and for the years to , inclusive, postal revenue and postal expenditures divided between amounts paid the railroads, cost of rural delivery and other expenditures: revenue. expenditures. paid rural year. railroads. delivery. other. total. $ , , $ , , (a) $ -- $ , , $ , , (a) , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , (a) includes $ , , accrued in favor of pacific railroads in , but not charged to postal expenditures. the railroads are themselves large contributors to the revenues of the postoffice department. it is ascertained that nine roads, covering , miles, pay annually $ , for postage stamps, or at the rate of $ , , for the entire railroad mileage of the country. the next statement shows clearly that the ratio of expenses to receipts of the postoffice department would in have been but per cent. and no deficit but for the expenditures made for rural free delivery, the amount paid the railroads being now only per cent. of the total revenue as compared with per cent. in . ratio of expenses of postoffice department to postal revenues - . percentage percentage percentage of postal rev. paid to paid to year. paid to r'ys. rural free del. other expenses. total. in order to avoid a deficit, attention has been concentrated on this per cent. of the postal expenditure, which we contend is at least not an unfair compensation to the railroads for services rendered. though the proportion of the total revenue going to the railroads has fallen one-third in ten years, the deficit still remains, and is it reasonable to suppose that any reduction in railway mail pay would not be speedily absorbed in other directions? on the contrary, ought not efforts be concentrated to bring within reasonable figures the other expenses of the department, which now absorb per cent. of its revenue as compared with only per cent. in --despite an actual growth in postal revenue in the same time of $ , , , or per cent.? it will be noted from these figures that a reduction of per cent. in the ratio of railway mail pay to total revenue can be entirely wiped out by an increase of only per cent. in other postal expenses, whilst a retrenchment of per cent. in the latter would have put the department almost on a paying basis, notwithstanding the heavy cost of rural free delivery. from to actual totals show that the railroads' pay has increased per cent. for handling per cent. more mail tonnage, whilst in the same period other expenses of the postoffice department have grown per cent., revenues increasing per cent. increased mail business means a direct increase in postal revenue, as postage remains the same regardless of tonnage, but carrying this increased business on the part of the railroads means less proportionate revenue to them according to volume of tonnage, so that the proportion of the postal revenue they now receive is very much less than formerly. labor, material, and the price of everything sold in commerce have advanced materially, as we all know, in the past seven or eight years; railway mail pay being practically the only thing that has decreased in the face of conditions that should have raised it. as a large increase in mail tonnage means to the postoffice department about an equal increase in revenue with a decreased payment per ton to the railroads through lower rates, the avoidance of a deficit would seem not a difficult matter if other postal expenses were kept at least within sufficient control, so they would not increase faster than the increase in volume of mail handled. the postoffice department enjoys this peculiar advantage of receiving with the growth of the country an increase in revenue directly in proportion to the increase in business handled. in disbursing this revenue, it must pay less to the railroads in proportion to the density of business, thus retaining to apply on other expenses a larger net revenue year by year. it is reasonable to suppose that the cost of many branches of the department should not increase in the same ratio as tonnage of mail (for example, that expenses of individual postoffices and administrative and general expenses should not grow in this proportion). yet, regardless of these favorable influences, expenditures in other directions have absorbed the great net revenues after paying the railroads, and it is in these directions that the cause of the postal deficit must be looked for. the growth of these expenditures, which since has been much faster than the rise in mail tonnage, is shown in the following comparison of with : . . increase. pct. ton mileage of mails handled by railroads , , , , , , postal revenues $ , , $ , , $ , , less paid to railroads , , , , , , net applicable to other expenditures , , , , , , other expenditures , , , , , , deficit , , , , , , per ton of mail handled by railroads (cents)-- postal revenues . . + . paid to railroads . . - . ---- ---- ---- net applicable to other items . . + . other expenditures . . + . ---- ---- ---- deficit . . + . note.--the increase in gross postal revenue per unit of mail handled by railroads is no doubt due to increase in city mail not handled by railroads. chicago, ill., march , . the diminished purchasing power of railway earnings by c. c. mccain. chairman of the trunk line association, new york, ; formerly auditor interstate commerce commission. introduction. the ten years or more which have elapsed since the resumption of industrial activity that began some time in have been characterized by changes in rates of wages for substantially all kinds of labor, and in the prices of most commodities which amount to a profound and material alteration in the value of money. wages of railway labor, prices of railway materials and supplies and prices of commodities carried by railways and of those produced by the purchasers of railway transportation have rapidly increased. this is equivalent to a decrease in the value of the money in which railway charges are paid _for the appreciation of commodities is the depreciation of money_. commodities cannot have generally augmented value without money having diminished value. railway rates have not been adjusted to this diminished value of money. the involuntary and unsolicited reduction in railway rates has gone so far as seriously to threaten the stability of railway wages and that of the whole railway industry. some adjustment through compensatory advances in money rates (_i. e._, nominal rates) is, therefore, absolutely necessary. the extent of the changes which have taken place, their relation to the problem of railway rates and the adjustments which they have made necessary are set forth in the following pages. typical unchanged rates. a fifteen-ton car-load of fourth class freight carried all-rail between chicago and new york at any time during the year would have brought the railways transporting it $ . in gross receipts. there has been no change in the class-rates between chicago and new york since and the same quantity of freight, classified in the same way, produces the same gross receipts now that it did in .[e] the rates between chicago and new york, as is very well known, are the basis of all rates in the region north of the james, potomac and ohio rivers, and east of the mississippi river and of a large proportion of the rates applicable to traffic originating or destined to any point in that region. without a change in rates between chicago and new york there could have been, during the continuance of the system of rate adjustment that has been in force since long prior to the year , no general change in the rates based upon those in force between those cities. wages of railway employees. more than forty per cent. of the gross receipts of the railways of the united states are expended in the payment of employees, the sums annually paid out for that purpose since being as follows: amount paid to year. employees. $ , , , , , , , , , , , , (a) , , , , , , (a) , , , , , --------------- total $ , , , (a) includes $ , , estimated for chicago, milwaukee & st. paul in and $ , , for the southern pacific in . it is a matter of common knowledge and of frequent comment that a given sum of money will now buy very much less in labor or commodities than it would in . the change has been gradual but substantially continuous and the aggregate result has been enormous. the consequence of this change has worked great hardship to those whose incomes have not been adjusted to the changed purchasing power of money but fortunately the rates of wages of nearly all workmen and the prices of practically all products of labor expended upon farms or in factories or otherwise have been raised sufficiently to more or less completely offset it. the principal sufferers are those salaried employees whose salaries have not been readjusted and those whose incomes are received under contracts covering long periods of time or are derived from the marketing of commodities or services at prices more or less effectively controlled by custom or statute. many of the owners of railway bonds are in the second class and all interstate railways are, as to the disposal of their services, in the third class. as already noted, the gross revenue derivable by the railways from the transportation of a carload consisting of fifteen tons of fourth class freight between chicago and new york is the same now that it was in --_i. e._, $ . . but $ . is worth much less to any railway now than it was in for money is worth at any time what it will buy at that time. the reports of the interstate commerce commission show the following increases in rates of average daily wages paid to railway employees: wages per day. class of employees. ------------------------- increase, . . per cent. station agents $ . $ . . other stationmen . . . enginemen . . . firemen . . . conductors . . . other trainmen . . . machinists . . . carpenters . . . other shopmen . . . section foreman . . . other trackmen . . . switchmen, flagmen and watchmen . . . telegraph operators and despatchers . . . employees, account floating equipment . . . all other employees and laborers . . . the foregoing affords a means of ascertaining the real value of $ . of railway gross receipts in and and the decrease from the earlier to the later year. the following table shows the number of days labor of each of the different classes of railway labor which $ . would buy in each of the years indicated: number of days labor purchasable for $ . . class of employees. ------------------------ decrease, . . per cent. station agents . . . other station men . . . enginemen . . . firemen . . . conductors . . . other trainmen . . . machinists . . . carpenters . . . other shopmen . . . section . . . other trackmen . . . switchmen, flagmen and watchmen . . . telegraph operators and despatchers . . . employees, account floating equipment . . . all other employees and laborers . . . ---- ---- ----- average -- -- . the foregoing shows that on the average the gross railway receipts derived from the service assumed as the basis of the calculation would purchase . per cent. less of the necessary services of railway employees, in than in and what is true of the receipts from this service is true of every dollar received by a railway--that is, no railway dollar will pay for more than eighty-four per cent., on the average, as much railway labor as it would in . the change in railway rates necessary fully to offset this decrease in the value of the money in which rates are paid would amount to an apparent advance of . per cent, of the money rates now in force. cost of fuel for locomotives. next to labor the principal single item of expense incurred in the operation of the railways of the united states is for the fuel used in their locomotives. the expenditures for this purpose now constitute about eleven per cent. of the cost of operation and since have been as follows: cost of fuel year. for locomotives. $ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , -------------- total $ , , , thus, from to , the cost of fuel for locomotives, in spite of the economies in its use partially suggested by the contemporaneous increase in the train-load of freight from . to . tons, or . per cent., increased . per cent., while passenger traffic increased but . per cent. and freight traffic by . per cent. thus while there was one dollar spent for locomotive fuel in for each $ . of gross railway receipts the ratio had declined by to one dollar for locomotive fuel for each $ . of gross receipts--a difference which must plainly be productive of profound changes in the proportion of gross receipts remaining after the payment of necessary operating expenses. the average prices of coal, per ton of , pounds, at the mines, in the several states, in the years and , as given by the united states geological survey, were as follows: price per ton. ----------------------------- increase, state. . . per cent. alabama $ . $ . . arkansas . . . california (a) . (a) . . colorado . . . georgia (b) . (b) . . idaho (c) . (c) . . illinois . . . indiana . . . iowa . . . kansas . . . kentucky . . . maryland . . . michigan . . . missouri . . . montana . . . new mexico . . . north dakota . . . ohio . . . oklahoma . . . oregon . . decrease pennsylvania-- bituminous . . . anthracite . . . tennessee . . . texas . . . utah . . . virginia . . . washington . . . west virginia . . . wyoming . . . (a) includes alaska. (b) includes north carolina. (c) includes nebraska. it will be noted that the cost of coal increased in every state of considerable production. in california much of the locomotive fuel used consists of petroleum, and the same fuel is used to some extent in oregon and new mexico. the number of tons of coal purchasable at the mines in the several states with $ . , the gross revenue from the typical shipment which has been used for illustrative purposes, in and in , would have been as follows: tons of coal purchasable for $ . . ------------------------ decrease, state. . . per cent. alabama . arkansas . california . colorado . georgia . idaho . illinois . indiana . iowa . kansas . kentucky . maryland . michigan . missouri . montana . new mexico . north dakota . ohio . oklahoma . oregon increase pennsylvania-- bituminous . anthracite . tennessee . texas . utah . virginia . washington . west virginia . wyoming . in this connection it should be noted that the united states department of labor reports an increase, between and , in the price of anthracite of . per cent., and in bituminous coal from the georges creek region of . per cent. cost of railway supplies. bulletin no. , of the united states bureau of labor, shows average prices for the following articles used by railways, or, as raw materials, for the manufacture of railway supplies: price. ------------------------------- articles. increase, unit. . . per cent. axes, m. c. o. yankee each . . . coke, connellsville, furnace ton . . . bar iron, best refined, from mill pound . . . barbed wire, galvanized cwt. . . . copper wire, bare pound . . . doorknobs, steel, bronze, plated pair . . . files, -inch dozen . . . hammers, magdole, no. ½ each . . . lead pipe cwt. . . . locks, common, mortise each . . . nails, cut, -penny, fence and common cwt. . . . nails, wire, -penny, fence and common cwt. . . . pig iron, bessemer ton . . . pig iron, foundry no. ton . . . pig iron, foundry no. ton . . . pig iron, gray, forge, southern, coke ton . . . steel billets ton . . . steel rails ton . . . steel sheets, black, no. pound . . . tin, pig pound . . . tin, plates, domestic, bessemer, coke cwt. . . . zinc, sheet cwt. . . . brick, common domestic m . . . cement, rosendale bbl. . . . doors, pine each . . . lumber, hemlock m feet . . . lime, common bbl. . . . linseed oil, raw gal. . . . lumber, maple, hard m feet . . . lumber, oak, white, plain m feet . . . lumber, oak, white, quartered m feet . . . lumber, pine, yellow m feet . . . lumber, poplar m feet . . . shingles, cypress m . . . lumber, spruce m feet . . . window glass, american, single, firsts, by to by inch sq. ft. . . . window glass, american, single, thirds, by to by inch sq. ft. . . . the bulletin indicates that putty, portland cement and ames shovels are about the only exceptions to the general rule of greatly increased prices of railway supplies. it is plain that as to all of the important supplies and materials included in the foregoing list the $ . of gross receipts from the typical shipment heretofore used as an example would show the same, or a greater, loss in purchasing power which has characterized the comparisons previously shown. evidence from official sources thus shows that in purchasing the same quantities either of labor or of supplies the railways have now to expend much larger sums than they did ten years ago. the official statistics already quoted are fully supported and their pertinence to the problem in hand is fully proven by the accounting records of the purchasing departments of the several railways. the trunk line association has obtained detailed information concerning purchases in and , by important railways represented in its organization, and this information has been carefully and accurately tabulated. a table showing the largely increased cost of articles which this tabulation reveals has been made appendix b and will be found at pages to of this pamphlet. an examination of this appendix and, particularly of the classes of labor and of the articles shown to have greatly increased in cost, discloses the unquestionable fact that the increased cost pervades the whole aggregate of operating expenses and that there is no considerable exception to the rule that every item of operating expenditure is now very much greater than it was in . other costs of supplying railway services. the cost of railway transportation which must be borne out of the receipts for railway services includes operating expenses, interest on capital and taxes. before discussing the increase in the rate of interest demanded it is worth while to note that the exactions made by the taxing power upon the railways have also notably increased. the sums annually paid as taxes on railway property since follow: taxes paid. miles operated ---------------------- and included average in reports amount. per mile of taxes paid. operated. , . $ , , $ . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . , . , , . ---------- ------------ ------ * * $ , , * * thus in the years from to railway taxation per mile of line has increased from $ . to $ . , or no less than . per cent. cost of regulation. closely akin to taxation of railway property are the additional expenses which have to be met out of railway revenues on account of public regulation. the increased and, in many cases, minute regulation imposed by the hepburn law of and the rules and requirements established thereunder by the interstate commerce commission and by various state enactments have caused the railways many new and augmented expenditures. among the many purposes for which these expenditures have become necessary are those enumerated below: . preparation, publication, filing, posting, etc., of rate schedules. . compilation and tabulation of statistics, preparation and filing of annual reports of operation and finance. . litigation under regulatory statutes including cases before national and state commissions and including legal and incidental expenses thereof. . appliances and special equipment required by safety appliance laws. . additional employees and additional wages paid on account of laws regulating the hours of labor. besides these and other positive additions to the expenses of operation there have been considerable reductions in revenue brought about by the various regulative statutes. thus there have been reductions in revenue caused by the following: . orders, or suggestions having practically the force of orders, requiring changes in the classification of freight. . orders, or suggestions having practically the force of orders, requiring reductions in rates. . statutory reduction in the rates of compensation for carrying the mail. . reduction of compensation for carrying the mail made by executive order. a painstaking effort to secure accurate statistics concerning recent increases in these expenditures and losses has been made and data for that purpose have been supplied by many of the railways operating east of the mississippi river. these data are necessarily incomplete and fragmentary, the accounts of many of the companies not being kept in such form as fully to disclose the items desired. in few cases were the data which could be obtained for any line complete--some companies were able to report particular items while other companies could not give these, but could supply others. generally speaking, it should be realized that the tabulation of these reports makes a showing which is incomplete mainly in the form of omissions. a conservative computation discloses that the costs due to increases in expenses or reductions in revenue imposed by statutes or by commissions acting under federal and state regulatory laws costs the railways of the united states approximately $ , , in two years. that this is not an exaggerated estimate will be appreciated by reference to the principal general items of expenditures as enumerated on the preceding pages. until these items shall have been assigned a proper classification in the accounts of the railroads the accurate results may not be ascertained, but it will at once occur to those in any measure informed that there has been an enormous increase of work and expense placed upon the carriers to conform to the innumerable requirements of state and federal laws and the rulings of the commissions thereunder, and that this burden has extended to all departments of the carriers. litigation and miscellaneous expenses appear as a large part of these new costs, and in addition the carriers' revenues have been greatly depleted either directly by the laws, orders of commissions or suggestions having practically the force of orders, resulting in reductions of freight and passenger charges. cost of obtaining new capital. in the matter of interest on the capital employed the railways have apparently enjoyed an advantage which would seem to offset the natural tendency of interest rates to rise in response to the stimulus of augmented cost, in dollars and cents, of the commodities entering into the budget of expenditures of the average recipient of interest--that is to say, the advantage growing out of the fact that a large proportion of railway capital is secured under long-time contracts and that many of the contracts now in force unquestionably run back to a time before the extensive depreciation of the american dollar began. this advantage is a real one, but its extent is easily exaggerated. for the purpose of throwing light upon the effect upon the cost of railway transportation of the rise in interest rates which has characterized recent years an analytical study of railway indebtedness (including guaranteed dividends) amounting, in the aggregate, to $ , , , has been made. this sum represents indebtedness now outstanding and includes some duplication owing to the fact that certain of the securities represented in the aggregate are themselves based upon other securities deposited as collateral or held in the treasuries of the corporations making the secondary issues; duplication which could not be eliminated without adding vastly to the difficulty of the inquiry with no corresponding gain in the accuracy of the result. these data are also subject to the qualification necessarily due to the fact that all of the issues included were not sold at par. in some cases a small premium was doubtless obtained and in other cases a slight discount was required, but, nevertheless, it is believed that the data fairly indicate the general change in interest rates on capital loaned to railways. of the total outstanding indebtedness of $ , , , the portion incurred during the years to , inclusive, amounts to $ , , , , or . per cent. the following table shows the amounts incurred at the different rates during each of the years named: rate of interest and amount incurred during year and outstanding. year. ½ per cent. per cent. per cent. ½ per cent. -- $ , , $ , , $ , , -- , , , , -- , , , , , , -- , , , , , , -- , , , , , , -- -- , , , , -- , , , , , , -- , , , , , -- , , , , , , $ , , , , , , , -- , , , , , , (a) -- , , , , , , -------- ------------ ------------ ------------ total $ , $ , , $ , , $ , , rate of interest and amount incurred during year and outstanding. year. per cent. ¾ per cent. ½ per cent. per cent. $ , , $ -- $ , , , , , , -- , , -- , , -- , , , , , , -- , , , , , , , , , -- , , -- , , -- , , -- , , , , , , -- , , -- , , -- , , , , , , , , , , -- , , -- , -- (a) , , -- -- -- ------------- ----------- ------------- ------------ total $ , , , $ , , $ , , $ , , (a) january to july, only. even a cursory examination of the foregoing statement shows that the average rate of interest demanded by those who supply railway capital has greatly increased. in and the largest aggregate of new indebtedness was incurred at the rate of three and one-half per cent. per annum; in , , , , , and the preponderating portion was at four per cent.; in the largest aggregate was at five per cent., while in the months of for which data are available the greater portion was obtained at six per cent. loans at three and three and one-half per cent., which supplied a considerable aggregate during all of the years to and including and particularly in the earlier years of the period, had substantially disappeared before and no funds were procured at less than four per cent. during the portion of which is included. the increased volume of loans at five and six per cent. is equally marked. the following table makes this analysis clearer by showing the total borrowings of each year and the percentage at each rate: ======================================================================== rate of interest and proportion of total indebtedness incurred during year and outstanding. year. borrowed. ----------------------------------------------------- ½ ½ ¾ ½ per per per per per per per per cent. cent. cent. cent. cent. cent. cent. cent. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ $ , , -- . . . . -- . . , , -- . . . . -- . -- , , -- . . . . -- . . , , -- . . . . -- . . , , -- . . . . . . -- , , -- -- . . . -- . -- , , -- . . . . -- . . , , -- . . . . -- . -- , , -- . . . . -- . . , , . . . . . . . -- , , -- . . . . -- . -- (a) , , -- . . . . -- -- -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------ total , , , . . . . . . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------ (a) january to july, only. the foregoing table shows that while, in , the railways borrowed . per cent. and in , . per cent. of the new capital obtained in the form of loans at four per cent. or better, they were compelled, in , to promise more than four per cent. on . per cent. and in the first six months of to promise six per cent. on . of their borrowings. the significance of these figures is made still more apparent by the following table, which shows opposite the aggregate borrowings of each year, the interest charges thereon and the average rate upon the portion of the capital which it represents: year. aggregate interest av. rate borrowed. charges. interest. $ , , $ , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . (a) , , , , . -------------- ------------ ---- total $ , , , $ , , . (a) january to july, only. the foregoing shows an increase, in the average interest rate demanded upon new loans to railway corporations, from . per cent. in to . in and . in . the increase in the rate from to was equal to . per cent. and from to it was . per cent. in other words, one dollar would pay interest on as much of the new capital secured by loans in as $ . would of the loans of . the gross revenue of $ . obtained in both years from the typical shipment of fourth class freight between chicago and new york, at the unchanged rate applicable to such a shipment in both years, would pay interest on $ , . secured in the earlier year and on only $ , . secured in the later year. the loss in power to purchase loaned capital therefore amounts to . per cent. in order fully to appreciate the importance of this rise in the cost of capital it is necessary to realize that very great sums of new capital are annually required for the necessary augmentation and improvement of railway facilities. this is made evident by the total yearly borrowings as shown in the foregoing tables, but it should be borne in mind that further sums, certainly not less extensive in the aggregate, have been raised through issues of stock, which promise no certain rate of interest, although these sums could not have been obtained unless the subscribers had considered it probable that they would, in the long run, receive returns in dividends at least equal to the "going rate" of interest. it is interesting to note that the aggregate of new capital secured by loans in each year has very largely exceeded the total interest payments to all capital obtained by borrowing. this is shown by the following table, the data in which, except those as to the sums obtained by loans, are from the reports of the interstate commerce commission: per ct. int. new capital interest on paym'ts new year.(a) borrowed. funded debt. borrow'gs. $ , , $ , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . -------------- -------------- ----- total $ , , , $ , , , . (a) accurate data for payments to capital in are not available. from the viewpoint of the purchaser of the services. so far the extent and significance of the changes in the value, or purchasing power, of money have been considered from the point of view of those who produce and sell railway transportation. but equally striking changes will appear and similar conclusions are inevitable when recent history is reviewed in the aspect which it presents to those whose earnings are devoted, in part, to the purchase of the services which the railways supply. for the important consideration to the wage-earner who wishes to travel by rail or who buys commodities that have been so carried, or to the producer whose products must go to market over railway routes, is not, how much money must be paid for the railway services, but, rather, how much labor must be expended, or what quantity of his goods must be produced, in order to obtain that sum of money. if the earnings of a particular wage-earner have increased from fifty to seventy-two cents per hour, a railway service is cheaper, to him, if it costs twelve cents than it was at ten cents when his earnings were on the fifty-cent basis, for he now procures with the fruit of ten minutes' toil what formerly cost the result of twelve minutes' labor. in bulletin no. , just issued by the united states bureau of labor, the official statistician presents data showing the relative wages per hour of many different classes of wage-earners, not including railway employees, in and . while these data show that wages have almost uniformly advanced (there are ten somewhat questionable exceptions among the classes) the data supplied by the interstate commerce commission show that during the same period average railway freight rates have declined from . mills to . mills per ton per mile, or . per cent. a table presenting and based upon these official statistics and showing the relative wages per hour of the various classes of labor, in and , the percentage increase in wages rates per hour and the increased command over railway freight services which these wage-earners have obtained through the combined effect of higher wages and lower ton-mile rates is given in appendix c[f]. in studying the data presented in this appendix it should be borne in mind that the wages are relative and not absolute. they mean, for example, that the average male blacksmith in the agricultural implement industry was paid, in , $ . for the same quality and period of labor for which he was paid a little less than ninety-six cents, in . this increase amounted to . per cent. of the wages rate of , and, combined with a decreased cost of railway freight service of . per cent., which made . cents go as far in purchasing the latter in as one dollar would go in , gave him . per cent. greater command over railway freight services. in an earlier bulletin, no. , published during the current year, the bureau of labor continued its "index numbers," which show, in similar manner, the average relative wholesale prices of the commodities entering into the ordinary budget of family expenditures. for the purpose of presenting the changes in these prices on a uniform basis the bureau represents the averages for the ten years from to , inclusive, as one hundred per cent. and reduces the averages for each year to percentages of the averages for the basic period. the following table presents these figures for the year to , inclusive: relative wholesale prices. cloths fuel metals farm and and and year. products. food. clothing. lighting. implements. - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lumber and house building drugs and furnishing miscell- all com- year materials. chemicals. goods. aneous. modities. - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . from the data in the foregoing table, which show advances averaging nearly forty-five per cent., the following table, indicating the present purchasing power over railway freight service of each class of articles, in a manner similar to that adopted to measure the increased power of labor to buy railway freight transportation, has been derived: increased relative prices. power to pur- ---------------------- chase railway commodities. increase freight services . . per cent. per cent. farm products . . . . food . . . . cloths and clothing . . . . fuel and lighting . . . . metals and implements . . . . lumber and building materials . . . . drugs and chemicals . . . . house furnishing goods . . . . miscellaneous . . . . all commodities . . . . agricultural products and freight rates. the statistician to the united states department of agriculture obtains annually a very large number of reports from farmers as to prices obtained for their products and these are carefully tabulated. the results show the average prices, at the farms, of the principal agricultural products. the following table shows the increased prices obtained for such products, and the increased power which these producers enjoy, per unit of their products, to purchase railway freight services: increased power to purchase price. railway ------------------------- freight product. value of increase service crop of . unit. . . per cent. per cent. corn $ , , , bushel $ . $ . . . wheat , , " . . . . oats , , " . . . . barley , , " . . . . rye , , " . . . . buckwheat , , " . . . . potatoes , , " . . . . hay , , ton . . . . cotton , , pound . . . . -------------- total $ , , , detailed tables presenting the data from which the foregoing averages for the whole country have been derived and showing prices and purchasing power over freight service are given in appendix d[g]. these tables disclose the uniformity, throughout the united states, of the advance in agricultural prices and of the augmented command of agricultural producers over railway freight service. farm animals and freight rates. the department of agriculture of the united states also collects data concerning the value of farm animals and annually publishes the average values reported for the first day of each successive year. all classes of farm animals have increased in value since and each represents a great command over railway freight services, for the sum representing the average value of each animal will now buy much more freight transportation than it would in . this is shown by the following table: increased power to purchase average price, each. railway -------------------------------- freight january , january , january , increase, service, . . . per cent. per cent. horses $ , , , $ . $ . . . mules , , . . . . milch cows , , . . . . cattle, except milch cows , , . . . . sheep , , . . . . swine , , . . . . -------------- ----- ------ ------ ------ total $ , , , -- -- -- -- in considering the foregoing the fact that the prices relate solely to animals on farms should be borne in mind. they are doubtless somewhat lower than for animals elsewhere located, but prices of the latter have probably moved in the same direction and in about the same extent.[h] railway rates in and at present measured in money. throughout the foregoing discussion reference has frequently been made to what has been assumed to be a typical shipment, that is, a fifteen-ton carload of fourth class freight transported between chicago and new york. the typical service rendered in moving this shipment would have brought the railways gross receipts of $ . , in or in any of the intermediate years, and would bring the same amount now. the period in question, however, has witnessed many thousands of changes in railway rates on particular commodities and between particular points, and, confining the discussion for the present to the mere expression of rates in terms of money, it is necessary to inquire whether the general level of all rates has been raised or lowered and how far the change, if any is discovered, has gone in either direction. now, it is manifestly impossible to correlate all rates in a single tabulation, and, giving to each its proper weight in the determination of a final average, thus establish definitely and with complete precision the relation between the money rates of and those at the present time. the number of different articles shipped and the great number of different points at which each article may enter into the aggregate of traffic movement or to which it may be destined, as well as the elusive character of the factors which would indicate the relative weight properly to be allowed to each separate rate, wholly preclude the adoption of such a method. fortunately, however, american railway accountants long ago adopted a measure of traffic movement, which was later officially sanctioned by its adoption for the same purpose by the interstate commerce commission, and which, when compared with the gross receipts from freight service, results in an average that throws great light upon the movement or absence of movement in the general level of the rates charged. when the weight of any shipment, expressed in tons, is multiplied by the distance which it is carried, expressed in miles, the resulting product gives a measure of the service performed, in units which are designated as "ton-miles." when the ton-miles (or ton-mileage) of all shipments are aggregated the total represents the sum of all services. the result of dividing the revenue from a particular shipment by its ton-mileage is the average rate per ton per mile for that shipment and if the sum representing the aggregate gross receipts from all railway freight services is divided by the aggregate ton-mileage of those services the quotient obtained is the average ton-mile rate for all services. during the period from to these data have been compiled annually by the interstate commerce commission under the direction of professor henry c. adams, its statistician. the average rates thus established are given both for the united states as a whole and for each of ten districts or groups. the following table shows these averages as they are given in the successive annual statistical reports of the commission: table legend region: a == maine, new hampshire, vermont, massachusetts, rhode island and connecticut. b == new jersey, delaware, maryland, new york, east of buffalo, pennsylvania, east of pittsburgh, west virginia, north of parkersburg. c == new york, west of buffalo, pennsylvania, west of pittsburgh, michigan, lower peninsula, ohio, indiana. d == west virginia, south of parkersburg, virginia, north carolina and south carolina. e == kentucky, tennessee, georgia, florida, alabama, mississippi, louisiana, east of mississippi river. f == illinois, wisconsin, minnesota, iowa, missouri, north of st. louis and kansas city, south and north dakota, east of missouri river, michigan, upper peninsula. g == nebraska, wyoming, montana, north and south dakota, east of missouri river, colorado, north of denver. h == arkansas, indian territory, oklahoma territory, kansas, colorado, south of denver, texas, panhandle, new mexico, north of santa fe. i == texas, except panhandle, louisiana, west of mississippi river, new mexico, north of santa fe. j == washington, oregon, idaho, california, arizona, nevada, utah, new mexico, western portion. ============================================================== year and average rate in mills per ton per mile. ----------------------------------------------- group. region. -------------------------------------------------------------- i. a . . . . . . ii. b . . . . . . iii. c . . . . . . iv. d . . . . . . v. e . . . . . . vi. f . . . . . . vii. g . . . . . . viii. h . . . . . . ix. i . . . . . . x. j . . . . . . -------------------------------------------------------------- united states . . . . . . -------------------------------------------------------------- {table continued} =============================================================== year and average rate in mills per ton per mile. ------------------------------------------------ group. region. (a) --------------------------------------------------------------- i. a . . . . . . ii. b . . . . . . iii. c . . . . . . iv. d . . . . . . v. e . . . . . . vi. f . . . . . . vii. g . . . . . . viii. h . . . . . . ix. i . . . . . . x. j . . . . . . --------------------------------------------------------------- united states . . . . . . --------------------------------------------------------------- (a) average for added from st annual report of prof. adams. s. t. the foregoing shows that the average rates per ton per mile, expressed in money, were lower in every group but one, as well as in the whole country, in than they were in . the average for the whole country was lower in than in any other year shown except the years to , inclusive, and for three of those years the difference was less than one-tenth of one mill. the decrease in the general average from to was . per cent. and the increase from , the year of the lowest average, was . per cent. so far as the quality of the ton-mile unit is affected by changes in the geographical distribution of traffic the tendency between and was toward a higher quality, for traffic movement grew more rapidly in the regions where rates are normally higher than it did in the regions of lower rates. in the following statement the groups used by the interstate commerce commission are arranged with the group in which ton-mileage increased most rapidly from to at the top, the group that increased next most rapidly in the second line, and so on to the group that increased least rapidly at the bottom: average rate per ton tons of freight carried one mile. increase, per mile in mills. group. . . per cent. in . in . x , , , , , , . . . vii , , , , , , . . . viii , , , , , , . . . iii , , , , , , . . . v , , , , , , . . . vi , , , , , , . . . ix , , , , , , . . . iv , , , , , , . . . ii , , , , , , . . . i , , , , , , . . . -------------- --------------- ------ ----- ----- u. s. , , , , , , . . . it will be noted from the foregoing that the group in which the average rates were highest in both and shows the most rapid increase in traffic movement and that, with few exceptions, the regions of higher rates show more rapid augmentation of ton-mileage. this is exactly what might have been anticipated, for the highest average rates are usually to be found in the regions most scantily populated and, as these regions are filling up and are therefore those most rapidly growing in population and industry, they naturally show the greatest relative increases in freight tonnage. the only notable exception is furnished by new england, a region of high development, but where traffic movement is largely of a character which imposes higher average rates. in the following table the traffic increase is given for the regions that had ton-mile rate averages above and below the average for the whole country, in : ton mileage. increase. in . in . per cent. ton mile rates above the average , , , , , , . ton mile rates below the average , , , , , , . -------------- --------------- ------ total , , , , , , . the region with rates above the average in had . per cent. of the total ton-mileage in that year, and . per cent. in the year . of the total increase in traffic movement . per cent. was in this region. the precise effect that these changes in the geographical distribution of ton-mileage would have had upon the average ton-mile rate for the whole country is shown by the computation set forth in the following table: product of ton-mileage of ton mileage ton-mile rates of and ton-mile group of . in mills. rates of . i , , , . $ , , . ii , , , . , , . iii , , , . , , . iv , , , . , , . v , , , . , , . vi , , , . , , . vii , , , . , , . viii , , , . , , . ix , , , . , , . x , , , . , , . --------------- ----- ----------------- united states , , , -- $ , , , . by dividing the aggregate of the products in the last column of the foregoing by the total ton-mileage shown in the second column, an average is obtained which represents the ton-mile rate that would have resulted in had the traffic of each group in that year moved in precisely the same volume in which it actually moved and had the average rates in each group been exactly the same as they were in . this shows that, under the conditions assumed, the average ton-mile rate for the whole country would have been . mills or . mill higher than in . this advance of . per cent. would have been wholly due to the more rapid growth of traffic in the regions of normally higher rates. the chief significance of so small a change in so long a period is, really, to indicate that the ton-mile unit, so far from being of rapidly changing character, is actually, at least as far as it might be assumed to be affected by changes in the location of traffic movement, a fairly stable unit and thus an excellent measure of the rise or fall in rates. whether the same conclusion is to be derived from a study of the changes in the proportion of the total movement made up of commodities of different grades and naturally taking different rates is now to be made the subject of inquiry. publication of the classified statistics of tonnage necessary for such an inquiry was begun by the interstate commerce commission with the report for the year . consequently it is not practicable to extend the inquiry to a period prior to that year. the following statement shows the number of tons of freight of each of the classes of commodities named which were received by the railways for transportation in , and and the proportion of the tonnage in each class to the total number of tons carried: tons. class of commodity. . . . products of agriculture , , , , , , products of animals , , , , , , products of mines , , , , , , products of forest , , , , , , manufactures , , , , , , merchandise , , , , , , miscellaneous , , , , , , ----------- ----------- ----------- total , , , , , , {table continued} percentage of total tonnage. class of commodity. . . . products of agriculture . . . products of animals . . . products of mines . . . products of forest . . . manufactures . . . merchandise . . . miscellaneous . . . ------ ------ ------ total . . . it should be observed that the foregoing statement represents tons received for shipment regardless of the distance carried and, in consequence, does not throw the light upon traffic movement that would be available if it were possible to know the ton-mileage of each class of commodities. nevertheless, the data undoubtedly convey some information as to the character of the ton-mile unit during the different years and the nature of the changes in its quality which are in progress. this will be made more evident by the following table showing comparisons for the years and : tons. increase. class of commodity. . . amount. per cent. products of agriculture , , , , , , . products of animals , , , , , , . products of mines , , , , , , . products of forest , , , , , , . manufactures , , , , , , . merchandise , , , , , , . miscellaneous , , , , , , . ----------- ----------- ----------- ------ total , , , , , , . obviously the effect of the increases shown in the foregoing upon the quality of the average ton-mile must be in proportion as they have exceeded or fallen short of the average increase shown at the foot of the last column. there is no question that, in general, products of agriculture, animals, forests and mines are low-grade commodities, or that, on the other hand, the commodities classed as manufactures, merchandise and miscellaneous are high-grade articles. an increase in excess of the general average increase in the first four classes named would tend to lower the quality of the average ton-mile while the opposite effect, that is, a raising of the quality, would result if the last three classes should increase more rapidly than the increase in all tonnage. adopting this classification, the following shows the respective increases in high-grade and low-grade tonnage: tons. increase. class of commodity. . . amount. per cent. high-grade , , , , , , . low-grade , , , , , , . ----------- ----------- ----------- ------ total , , , , , , . the considerably greater increase in the tonnage of high-grade articles indicated by the foregoing is scarcely within the possible margin of error in the classification, but, in any event, what the figures certainly prove is the absence of any actually far-reaching change in the typical or average unit of traffic. that this conclusion extends to traffic movement is clearly probable. prices and actual rates. comparisons between actual prices of commodities shipped by rail and typical freight charges on the same articles, for and , demonstrate the fact that while prices have almost uniformly advanced the greater number of rates have remained stationary while among those which have changed the reductions are as numerous as the advances and exceed the latter in extent and importance. [mr. mccain here presents a table compiled from reports of the bureau of labor of the actual prices of commodities and the rates between principal points of shipment, occupying pp. - of his pamphlet.] examination of prices collected and reported by the bureau of labor, giving the prices in and of articles, shows that among these prices or . per cent. of the total were increased. the rates on forty-nine of these articles were advanced an average of . per cent. and the rates on forty-eight of them were reduced an average of . per cent. other conclusions are shown in the following summary table: aggregate average per cent. percentage changes, item. number. of total. of changes. per cent. prices-- advanced . , . reduced . . unchanged . -- -- total . -- -- rates advanced-- prices advanced . . prices reduced . . prices unchanged . . total . . rates reduced-- prices advanced . . prices reduced . . prices unchanged . . total . . rates unchanged-- prices advanced . -- -- prices reduced . -- -- prices unchanged . -- -- total . -- -- the foregoing shows that while prices were advanced for out of articles, or . per cent. of the entire number included in the table, the freight rates on the same articles, as expressed in money, were advanced in but forty-nine instances, or . per cent. of the total, money rates were reduced in forty-eight instances, or . per cent. of the total, and remained stationary in instances, or . per cent. of the total. of the rates advanced forty-four were in cases in which the prices had also advanced, and of the rates reduced forty-two applied to articles which had advanced in price. even as to the commodities which had advanced in price, the average advance being over fifty-five per cent., money rates were advanced in but forty-four instances out of and the average advance was but . per cent. and there were forty-two reductions in money rates, such reductions averaging . per cent. significance of the depreciation of money. it has now been fully demonstrated (first) that the railways have to pay much more, probably not less on the average than twenty-five per cent. more, for everything they require in the conduct of their business, including labor, than they did ten years ago, (second) that those who make use of railway services receive much more, probably not less on the average than twenty-five per cent. more, for their labor or for the commodities which they produce than they did ten years ago, (third) that average rates per ton per mile for railway freight transportation, expressed in money, that is to say, in dollars and decimal fractions of dollars, are now somewhat lower than they were in or formerly, and (fourth) that the ton-mile unit is a highly stable one as to quality and that in consequence of this stability the ton-mile rates accurately answer the question whether rates, expressed in money, have remained stationary, have advanced or have declined. the latter conclusion has been supplemented and re-enforced by data from the classifications and rate schedules which tend strongly to prove the same fact. therefore, it has been made plainly apparent that there has been a decline in money rates since . but railways require money only to remunerate the highly skilled labor they employ, to purchase necessary materials and supplies, to pay taxes and to compensate the capital they use. consequently money is worth to the railway corporation, as to the wage-earner, only what it will buy for the satisfaction of wants. a dollar which will pay for less labor or buy less fuel for locomotives is worth less to the railway just as a dollar that will buy less bread or clothing is worth less to the man who works for wages or receives it as interest on his savings. it has long been realized that any effort to study the question of wages, throughout an extended period, which fails to take into consideration the purchasing power of the money received is worse than valueless, because it is deceptive and misleading. it has been generally recognized also that any effort to consider the condition of particular classes of producers by comparisons of the prices obtained for their products at different periods, as that of farmers by the prices of corn and wheat, is similarly dangerous unless these prices are turned into quantities of the commodities which such producers must purchase. [in elucidating this obvious point mr. mccain cites such authorities as adam smith, john stuart mill, president hadley of yale, professor frank w. taussig of harvard, and then continues.] a rapid decrease in the purchasing power of the money they receive has brought about, within a single decade, a reduction in railway freight rates that cannot be less than twenty-five per cent. this reduction began almost imperceptibly at a time when american railway rates were already lower than ever before in the history of railways and lower than anywhere else in the world. it has proceeded, concurrently with the fall in the real value (that is in the purchasing power) of the american dollar, but in such subtle form that only when its consequences threaten the stability of the american railway system, the wages of railway employes and the prosperity of the great rail-manufacturing, car-building and other allied industries is its real significance and extent perceived even by those most immediately interested. that such a threat now hangs over the railway industry of america and every employe and industry dependent upon it is too plain for argument. the situation is acute and nothing but a prompt adjustment of the rates obtained for the services rendered to offset, partially, at least, the loss in the value of the money received will prevent disaster. that such an adjustment, if effected now, will, at best, be tardy and belated is evident from the facts herein presented, which show that prices in every other industry and the wages of all artisans were long ago adjusted to this fundamental condition. appendix b statement showing prices of railway supplies purchased in and as disclosed by the records of various eastern railways. it should be noted that the quality of the supplies, made the basis of this statement, may have changed somewhat between and , but in few instances would the allowance for this source of variation materially affect the results. prices. increase. class. . . per cent. locomotives-- mogul $ , . $ , . . -wheel passenger , . , . . atlantic not built , . -- pacific not built , . -- prairie not built , . -- -wheel passenger , . , . . -wheel switcher , . , . . cars ( - )-- hopper . , . -- box . , . -- . . -- . . -- note.--the prices of cars shown above are typical prices paid by different roads in the respective years and employed in the same service. as the cars purchased in are of more modern construction, better quality and larger capacity than those purchased in , no accurate comparison can be made or percentage of increased cost shown. ( - )-- , lbs. capacity box car with steel underframe and wood superstructure $ , . $ , . . , lbs. capacity composite gondola car with steel under- frame and wood superstructure , . , . . , lbs. capacity composite flat car with steel underframe and wood floor . , . . , lbs. capacity, all steel hopper cars , . , . . angle bars cwt. . . . axles-- locomotive cwt. . . . cwt. . . . tender cwt. . . . car cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . bar iron cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . brick-- common m . . . paving m . . . castings-- brass lb. . . . brass lb. . . ¾ . steel cwt. . . . m. iron cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . gray cwt. . . . cwt. . . . coal ton . . . ton . . . ton . . . ton . . . run of mine ton . . . ¾ ton . . . couplers-- freight set . . . passenger set . . . tender set . . . fencing m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . flues ft. . . ½ . ft. . . . forgings-- axles lb. . . . crank pins lb. . . . piston rods lb. . . . main rods lb. . . . side rods lb. . . . lead-- white cwt. . . . lumber-- large bridge timbers m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . car sidings m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . stringers m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . car flooring m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . piles (soft) ft. . . . ft. . . . (hard) ft. . . . heavy planks m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . m. ft. . . . cross ties (hardwood) each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . softwood each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . nails cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . wire cwt. . . . cwt. . . . oil-- kerosene gal. . . ½ . signal gal. . . . gal. . . . degree gal. . . . paint-- gal. . . . gal. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . pipe-- cast iron ton . . . ton . . . ton . . . ton . . . copper lb. . . . lb. . . . lb. . . . rails-- steel gross ton . . . gross ton . . . gross ton . . . rubber hose-- inch ft. . . . ¼ inch ft. . . . springs-- loco. cwt. . . . switches-- comp. . . . frogs . . . switch lamps doz. . . . tile rod . . . track bolts cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . track spikes cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . cwt. . . . track tools-- axes doz. . . . drills each . . . ratchets doz. . . . shovels doz. . . . lamp bars each . . . waste-- colored lb. . . . white lb. . . . wheels-- car each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . each . . . -in steel each . . . each . . . -in. steel each . . . each . . . wire-- barbed cwt. . . . iron cwt. . . . copper lb. . . . lb. . . . footnotes: [e] a partial list of the articles in each class in which are still in the same class, as shown by official classifications nos. and , is given in appendix a to mr. mccain's pamphlet. there were approximately , various articles bearing the same classification or rating in as in . [f] appendix c occupies pages to of mr. mccain's pamphlet. [g] appendix d occupies pages to of mccain's pamphlet. [h] details from which the table was derived are given in appendix e to mr. mccain's pamphlet, pp. - . the railroads and public approval by edward p. ripley, president atchison, topeka and santa fe railway company. address delivered at the annual dinner of the railway business association, new york, november , . circumstances over which i had no control caused me to be born with a distinct inability to think consecutively, or talk coherently, in a standing position and before an audience. seated on the small of my back with my feet on the desk i sometimes think i am thinking, but when i get before an audience i am like the little steamer plying on the sangamon river that had a -foot boiler and a -foot whistle--when she whistled she stopped. but my weakness, or rather one of my weaknesses, is susceptibility to flattery, and when one of your officers represented in honeyed phrase the importance of your organization and of this meeting, and laid particular stress upon the importance of my saying something, i weakly yielded. i know the result will be disappointment, but the responsibility is only partly mine, and you know we railroad men get so little flattery that when properly administered the result is intoxicating. also, let me state in extenuation of the crime i am about to commit that the subject was not my own selection, but was chosen for me. my natural disposition in discussing railroads and the public is to growl, while, if i understand your officers' wishes, i am here expected to "purr." but while a better man might have been selected to say it, there is much to be said as to the railroads and public opinion. in this country the people rule--and in the long run that system, that method or that personality that does not meet the approbation of the public can not succeed. true, the public is often fooled; true, it "gets on the wrong feet," as often perhaps as on the right; true, it has to be guided, controlled, and at times abruptly stopped by those authorities which it has selected for that purpose; yet the fact remains that the government of the people, that congress, the legislatures and even the courts are keenly alive to public sentiment and anxious not to stray far from the line of public opinion. our forefathers recognized the danger that the majority would not necessarily be right, but might often be wrong, and sought to provide safeguards for the rights of the minority. but these safeguards are obviously growing less efficient; obviously growing weaker; obviously more sensitive to the public clamor which for the moment stands for public opinion, and when all safeguards have been exhausted it is to public opinion that we must look at last. there are two things about which the public is most critical--one is the management of the newspaper, the other the management of the railroad. in his heart the average citizen believes that he could operate either his daily newspaper or the railroad passing through his town much better than it is being operated; he would perhaps hesitate to announce this opinion, but his attitude is coldly critical, and it is to be remembered that the railroad is all out of doors--all out in the weather, everything about it exposed to the limelight and visible to anybody's naked eye. there is no human activity the operation of which is attended with so much publicity. all our earnings and expenses are published; all our charges and all our methods the subject of regulation, intelligent or otherwise. many years ago mr. w. k. vanderbilt, journeying to chicago, was met on the outskirts of the city by an enterprising reporter for a daily paper, who boarded the train and forced himself into the presence of mr. vanderbilt and his party, and demanded news on behalf of "the public." probably mr. vanderbilt, resenting the intrusion, said something uncomplimentary to the reporter and possibly to the "public" he claimed to represent, and the next issue of that paper quoted him in scare headlines as using the phrase, "the public be damned." mr. vanderbilt subsequently denied having said it, but whether he did or not and whatever may have been his provocation, the phrase has for nearly forty years been used as indicative of the railway man's attitude toward his patrons. many years ago also the late george b. blanchard, being on the witness stand at albany, was asked what was the correct basis for making freight rates, and replied, "what the traffic will bear"--a most excellent answer, but a most unfortunate one--for it has passed into history as meaning "all the traffic will bear," which is a very different thing. such things as these, distorted as they have been, conspired to inflame public opinion, but that is not all. it is the custom and privilege of men past middle age to be reminiscent and i ask your indulgence for a very brief history of the events that have led us to our present status. my railroad experience began about forty years ago and the railroad business was then much like any other business--it had its price list as did the merchant; but, like the merchant, it had its discounts for large shippers and for special conditions, and the discounts were irregular and various. the larger shippers demanded concessions as a right, and the principle was generally admitted. naturally the result was favoritism, not because the railroads desired especially to favor one as against another, but because in the nature of things secret rates could not well be given to everybody. nobody regarded these secret rates as criminal or objectionable. but as time passed and these discriminations became more frequent and greater there arose a demand from the less favored portion of the shipping community for legislation forbidding the discrimination and providing for like opportunity for all. this was strenuously opposed by the favored shippers and by those railroad men who believed the railroad to be purely a private institution and not amenable to law as to its charges. it was common enough to hear it seriously argued that the larger shipper was entitled to the lower rate--this view was held by many shippers and, i believe, by most railroad managers. they argued that the business was like any other business--that each interest must look out for itself, and that competition between the roads would prevent rates from ever being too high. for myself i may say that i realized from an early period that discrimination as to rates was unjust and at no time objected to laws forbidding it. the interstate commerce law was passed in . it was crude in its provisions and was the result of compromises between radicals and conservatives; it sought both to foster competition and to abolish it, and in that respect remains still contradictory and impossible. upon the passage of the law, that which had been looked upon as perfectly proper and as the working of natural competitive forces became illegal and criminal. the railroads generally accepted the law and made an honest effort to observe it--the mercantile community did not--indeed, they openly defied it, soliciting rebates unblushingly and threatening with the loss of their tonnage those roads who would not succumb. the interstate commission, new to its duties, contented itself with comparatively unimportant decisions and practically did nothing to help those railroads who desired honestly to carry out the provisions of the law; and, as a result, within a year of the passage of the law it was quite generally disregarded. a few railroad men were fined, a few shippers convicted--and almost immediately pardoned--and the law fell into disrepute, a condition disgraceful alike to the government, the shippers and the railroads and especially distasteful to the latter, but exactly what was to be expected. the result was the passage of the so-called elkins bill, and later the hepburn bill, which, while amateurish and in many ways vicious, have effectually stopped the rebate system--a result for which we may all be thankful. in all the controversies that have led up to this almost complete control of railroad earnings and railroad policies by governmental agencies, the railroads have, as a rule, acted in active opposition. they have not been unanimous--some of us were willing to accept it long before it became a fact, but the majority could see nothing in it but disaster--it is too early to say which was right--perhaps an earlier acceptance of control would have made the control more lenient; perhaps its earlier acceptance would, on the other hand, have bound the chains more tightly. but the fact remains that while the basic principle of absolute equality as to rates has been accepted by the railroads gladly and in all good faith, and they have also accepted the principle of government regulation, the scars of the conflict remain and a large section of the public still suspects and misjudges us. it is true, of course, that in the rapid development of our business and in the exigencies of a most exacting profession there have been abuses and lapses, but i am here to maintain that the standards of fair dealing and commercial honesty in our business have been as high as in any other, and i appeal to you who sit around this table to say if it be not so. but whatever sins may be laid at our door, however much we may have once believed that ours was a private business to be controlled exclusively by its owners, however much we have resented or still resent the interference of the public as manifested in the various governing bodies, it is, after all, the public that is master and we must all recognize it. it is, however, still our privilege to exercise our right as citizens and members of the body politic to use our efforts to guide it. acknowledging as we must that the public is all-powerful, the question is, how may we satisfy our masters and thus mitigate our woes and preserve our properties? first. we must realize, as i think we all do (after a series of very hard knocks), that the railroads are not strictly private property, but subject to regulation by the public through its regularly constituted authorities--that the government may reduce our earnings and increase our expenses has been sufficiently proved. second. to meet this situation we must endeavor to get in touch with public opinion. perhaps you will smile when i say that for years i have read every article on railroad matters in each of the papers published along our ten thousand miles of road--not an easy task for a busy man--but while i have waded through much chaff i am sure it has resulted in some reforms. third. the avoidance of action seriously counter to public opinion, except for compelling reasons. fourth. the disposition to explain these reasons through officers and employes of all grades. generally, the loudest criticisms come from those who are not anxious to know the truth. fifth. efforts to improve service in many cases without hope of reward and for the deliberate purpose of winning public approval, such as better stations, improved heating and lighting devices, better equipment, better terminal facilities, separation of grades, etc.--all with due regard to the rights of those whose money we are spending. as we do all these things, meet us half way. encourage the habit of not rushing into abuse. try to consider the facts and the difficulties--this is for the public interest as well as ours. oppose unnecessary and restrictive legislation and give us a chance. most of our railroads are mere imitations of what a railroad should be, and what it must be to keep abreast of the country--yet even the poorest serves a useful purpose and can not be spared. an eminent authority has said that five thousand millions of dollars would be required to supply the transportation needs of the next decade, and i do not believe it is an over-estimate. can private capital be found to that amount unless "public sentiment" is willing to assure it of return? a portion of the public is clamoring for facilities involving great additions to expenses; another portion for limitation of earnings; will the investor consent to accept the risks while strictly limited as to his return? since the public may do as it will with us and since we are necessary to the public, we may properly call attention to the fact that railway investments already pay less than any other line, and to ask what is to be done--really, it is quite as much the public's affair as ours. is it certain that the mixture of private ownership and public regulation which is now prevalent will succeed? is it not contrary to all rules of political economy and to all the teachings of history? starting as a purely private industry it has been appropriated in part and other parts are apparently to follow. granting whatever may be claimed for the advantages of regulation by government, do not equity and ordinary commercial decency require that such close restriction and supervision should be accompanied by some guaranty of return? i have endeavored to sketch briefly what should be the attitude of the railway man _as_ a railway man toward the public. i am sure i voice the sentiment of all managing railroad officers when i say that our great desire is to please the public and to give it the best possible service for the least possible compensation consistent with reason. discriminations have long since passed away and nobody is better pleased than the railroad man that it is so. there is no desire to escape either responsibility or regulation. we desire to accord only justice and we ask in return only justice. may i now, as a citizen, appeal to the railway employe, to the members of this association, and to all other good citizens, to resist to the utmost of their powers the encroachment of government on private rights? mr. elbert hubbard, of east aurora, n. y., recently remarked that "when god sent a current of common sense through the universe most of the reformers wore rubber boots and stood on glass." our troubles are with this class--well-meaning men who have zeal without knowledge and enthusiasm without sanity; these we may not reach, but the great mass of the solid and substantial citizenship may perhaps be induced to stop and consider whither we are drifting and whether this greatest of all the country's industries is being fairly treated. railroads and the public by hon. john c. spooner. from the address delivered at the annual dinner of the railway business association, new york, november , . the topic which has been assigned to me is brief, but very large: "railroads and the public." it suggests nothing of humor, but everything of gravity and involves considerations which affect the prosperity of our whole people. the railroads, often berated in legislatures and in congresses as leechlike and piratical, are, after all, vital to the happiness of our people and to the progress of our industries and commerce. the people are apt to forget that they have been the greatest factors--i say the _greatest_ factors--in the development of our resources and the enlargement of our commerce, both in times of war and in times of peace. if one would stop to think of what would have happened if, during the war for the preservation of the union, we had been without railroads, ready and willing to serve the government upon its demand and at prices fixed by it, how long would the war have continued? and what might not have been its result? they carried troops from the north to the places of rendezvous in the fields; they enabled the government to transfer quickly from the east to the west, or the west to the east, as emergency demanded, troops essential to successful military operations. they carried munitions of war, they carried the mail to our soldiers, they carried food and raiment to those who were fighting under our flag. and in time of peace, what would this country have been without the railroads? the railroad has been the advance courier of progress, of settlement, of production, of commerce. it is absolutely, and has been, indispensable to the government, to the commerce and to the happiness and comfort of our people. its mission is not performed or fulfilled. considered solely with reference to construction, there are new fields to be penetrated by them. today men of courage and men of means are building railways with characteristic american energy in far off alaska, to bring the gold mines and the coal mines and the timber and the unknown resources of that distant territory into the markets of the united states. if there is one instrumentality which above another has been a factor, appreciable by all thoughtful men, in making this country what it is, it is the railroad. and the railroad has kept abreast with the demands of commerce. every device which ingenuity or invention has presented has been promptly adopted by the railway companies of the country. they have kept abreast of invention and improvement, until today the railway system of the united states is the most luxurious, the safest, the best managed railway system under the bending sky. the first thing that would occur to one from this toast, the railroads being first mentioned, is what do the railroad companies owe to the public? that is easily defined. they owe it to the public to furnish safe roadbeds and equipment; they owe it to the public to furnish prompt service; they owe it to the public to treat all men, with obvious limitations, passengers and shippers under the same circumstances, equally and without unjust discrimination, and they owe to the public the duty of, as far as it is possible, so maintaining their roads and their equipment as to be able to meet in a fair way all the demands of commerce and traffic at reasonable rates. that excludes the rebate which never had any justification in logic or in fair play. i think those who hated it most were those who felt obliged to adopt it. when one railway company gave rebates it is quite manifest that the competitor was obliged to, or go out of business. and i believe that railway companies of the united states were glad, and their officers were glad, when it was made a penal offense for railway companies to give rebates. i think a railway company owes to the public to be careful in the selection of its employes; they should be capable, of course, and they should not only be capable, but they should be courteous and polite. to sum it up, you would say that what the railway in the enlarged sense--which includes details--owes to the public is just and fair treatment. what does the public owe to the railway companies? precisely, as i view it, the same thing, just and fair treatment. only that and nothing more. everybody knows that the railway companies of the united states--i won't put it that way--that the railway system of the united states never could have been created without the utilization of corporate entities. partnerships never could have concentrated the capital necessary to that end. only corporations could have achieved it. that was true in the past and it always will be true. now, why is the railway company different from other corporations, most other corporations? one trouble with the general public is that they don't seem to understand--and they are not perhaps to be chided for it--their relation to the railway company. they think, and they are told, they have been told it in congress, and they have been told it where one would least have expected it, that railway corporations are public corporations, and they have been taught to believe that their power over public corporations was supreme, which is not far from the truth; but the railway corporation is not a public corporation. the supreme court has many times decided that a railway company is a private corporation, that its property is private property, under the protection and safeguards of the constitution of the united states against the public as well as against individuals who attack it. then, wherein lies the difference between a private corporation engaged in manufacture and a railway corporation? right here: a railway corporation can not construct its railway without being clothed with a power which is not given to the usual private corporation, a power which inheres in the sovereignty of the state, the ultimate power of the people delegated to the railway corporations and very few others, and that is the power to take your land without your will at a price fixed not by you but by a jury. why? because it is for the public use, and private interest and private sentiment can not be permitted to obstruct the interest of the state, and therefore the property of a railway company while it is private property is, as the supreme court of the united states has said, affected with the public interest. a railway company serves the public, that is what it is organized to do. those who apply for the corporate franchises do not apply for an altruistic purpose. they wish it because they think they can make profit out of it, and that is legitimate, but the state grants it for the public use. and so it comes about that the state has the power to regulate it. mark what i say, to regulate it, to prevent it from exacting extortionate rates from the people; to prevent it from putting upon the people abuses in its management, but that does not mean that the state may take its property. that does not mean that the state may take its management out of the hands of its owners. it means simply that the state may protect the public from any abdication by it or violation by it of its duty as a common carrier, and this principle is too often forgotten. in these days regulation has apparently achieved a wider field for operation, and is deemed to be broad enough to regulate not only the property and the management of the property, but the management of everybody connected with it. that won't do. why, i see it is stated in the report of your business association that commissions which have been organized by the states and the commission organized under the act of congress, have come to stay. of course they have come--we know that, and we know another thing, that whenever a governmental commission comes, it stays. the commissions in the states, most of the states--god knows i wish i could say all the states, but i can not truthfully--have subserved a useful purpose. the state lays down the rule and the commission administers the law. there is one thing about a commission in the regulation under the law of railway carriers which places it in respect of proprietary, fairness and fitness for that function, far above congress or any other legislative body, and that is this: that they have time to listen, to investigate, to get at the truth, which a legislative body does not have time to do in the very nature of things. i do not know, but i think nothing added more to the reputation of governor charles e. hughes, of new york, than the fact that he refused to sign a bill, but vetoed it, reducing the rates which railway companies might charge, upon the ground that there had been no investigation which enabled fair judgment as to what was fair treatment to the railway corporations. i was in public life a good many years and i am a firm believer in the sober second thought of the american people, for it represents the average judgment of every class of our people; but they get wrong, they get wrong about men, and they get wrong about policies and measures. they are subject, en masse, as men are individually, to moments of passion and excitement, and they know it. as mr. webster said, and as the supreme court of the united states has said, the fundamental object of a constitution adopted by the people is that they may protect themselves against themselves in moments of excitement and passion. and the american people will always give heed to the popular translation of the phrase, "due process of law," that is, hear before you strike. now the commission, the interstate commerce commission, was intended by the congress which created it to be an absolutely independent body. it was to report to the congress, it was not to be subject to the command of either house of congress, or of the executive of the united states. it was intended to be a quasi-judicial body. i know all of its members, and i do not depreciate to the slightest extent the services which it has rendered. the only criticism i would have of it, and that does not arise from its membership, but it is inherent in the system, is that it is never satisfied with the powers it has got. it is as insatiable as death for power. it has been proposed that they shall have the power to regulate the issue of stocks and bonds by railway corporations created by the states, that is, if the state which creates the railway company authorizes it, desiring it to utilize its privileges for the construction of a new railroad, to issue stock, or issue bonds, that it shall not be permitted to do that thing until the act of the legislature and the approval of the governor shall have been supplemented by the approval of the interstate commerce commission. now i am getting along in years, and i am a little old-fashioned, and i have not yet been able to satisfy myself that where one government creates a stock corporation, another government shall regulate the amount of its capital stock and its bonded indebtedness. i have seen it proposed lately that the commission should have the power to fix a rate, and that that rate should be final until a final judgment setting it aside was reached. what becomes of the constitution under such a law as that? a railway company, as i have said, owns its property. it renders a compulsory service to the public over its own property, with its own equipment, with its own employes, and at its own risk, and is entitled to a fair compensation, based upon the fair value of the property which it devotes to the public convenience, and the supreme court has held that that property can not be taken--because the use of property is the property--can not be taken for the public use without just compensation, and if the state, the legislature, or the congress may authorize a commission to fix a rate as reasonable and fair, beyond which the railway company may not charge for services it renders, and require it to observe that rate until the final adjudication as to whether the rate is reasonable or not, and after the lapse of months it is decided that it was unreasonable, how can the railway company recover the great sum in unreasonable rates which it had lost? it is a taking of a private property for a public use without just compensation, and i deny the constitutional power of congress to do that thing. i admit the power, and the exercise of it to the fullest extent to so far regulate railway corporations as to secure to the public a faithful discharge of all their duties to the public at reasonable rates, and under fair regulations; beyond that i believe that the owners of the property ought to be permitted to manage the property. the business of railway management has become one of the learned professions. it calls for some of the brightest intellects in the country. it calls for the exercise of powers which, if devoted to the law or to finance or to any other business, would place those who exercise it among those at the head. it is one of infinite complication, and it is not to be supposed that railway commissions can manage railway properties as well as the men who have been trained from boyhood to that business. i have never questioned that the interstate commerce commission, the commission in wisconsin, and other commissions, earnestly set out to do the just and fair thing, but the trouble with this whole question is, and has been through many a year, that it gets too often into politics. i do not believe myself that questions of business ever ought to find their way into the political platform of the party, any more than i believe that the relations of the employer to the employe, whatever the business may be, ought to become the football of party politics. this association was born out of a happy inspiration. i think these troublesome problems are approaching solution. the railway companies must obey the law. the people ought to see to it that the law which the railway corporations are obliged to obey is a just law, and that is to be ascertained only on painstaking inquiry, and not through the speeches of enthusiastic orators or on the floors of congress. it has got to be at times that where there was no other issue upon which a political contest could be fought out, the easy, obvious and last resort was "let us go for the railroads," or, as a governor of minnesota once expressed it, "let's shake the railroads over hell." the truth is that the interest of the railroads is the interest of the people. the railroad company is dependent upon the people for its life and its sustenance, and the people are no less dependent upon the railway company, and between the two there should be even-handed justice. they should be dealt with calmly, and legislation should only follow deliberation and investigation, and a law once enacted should be impersonally enforced, not enforced against some and left to fall into innocuous desuetude as to others. railroad problems of today by j. b. thayer, vice-president pennsylvania railroad company. address delivered before the traffic club of new york, saturday evening, february , . problems--both many and varied--have always confronted the railway manager. particular problems come to the front from time to time that tax all of our resources. they differ with different periods of our history. today one of the most serious depends more for its solution upon our lawmaking bodies, both state and national, than upon the railroad men, and for the present, at least, we must feel like the old arkansas darky, who said he was "in the hands of an all-wise and unscrupulous providence." in the early days of railroads the chief problem was that of construction and equipment; later, when more railroads had been built than there was traffic to feed, there came the traffic problem, and all the abuses which followed in its train. these, in turn, led to the legislative problem accompanied by the interstate commerce law of , and through the ' s all sorts of problems--including bankruptcy for many. now, within the past few years has come the great problem of enlargement--the construction period again, but in a different shape. not experimental, for we had learned how to build and how to equip; not the building so much into new country, but to take care of the traffic which was overflowing our rails. events of the past year have proved the absolute necessity for almost all the large railroads in this country to enlarge their trackage, their terminals, and their equipment; and yet, here again, when in considering where to obtain the necessary funds for such purposes,--which must, of course, come from the public,--the railroad managers find themselves confronted with great difficulties. this, of course, is largely due to the tremendous demands for capital, in the development that is going on in all parts of the world, but it is increased, at the moment, by the natural timidity of capital to invest its funds in railroad securities, in view of the violent attacks that are being made against corporations through congress and the state legislatures. popular hostility to the railroads. this brings us, then, to our greatest and most perplexing problem--that of how to restore a state of reciprocal understanding and fairness between the carriers and the public. many railroad officials believe that so deep-seated is the apparent hostility of the people that the management of the railways will be taken practically out of the hands of their owners, and that great disasters are to follow. i do not share this view, principally for the reason that whatever may have been the faults in the past, the methods and practices of railroad management are now based upon a decent regard for their public responsibilities. sooner or later the people will recognize this--as i believe they are already beginning to do. but by no means can we minimize the actual situation of today. it is, indeed, a time of great anxiety to all those entrusted with railroad management, and who have the interests of their country at heart as well. with the old rebates and secret discriminations things of the past, with all kinds of business in a most prosperous condition, we all know that within the past three years, suddenly, out of an almost cloudless sky, there has burst forth upon the railroads of this country a torrent of the most bitter and violent attacks--by political orators upon the stump; in magazines and newspapers; in congress and state legislatures. it is fair to say, i think, that this onslaught had its origin in the agitation of for changes in the interstate commerce law. it was based upon a misunderstanding of existing railroad conditions and the position of the railroad in regard to the points at issue, which i shall presently explain. following the agitation surrounding the passage of the rate bill has come a swarm of bills in congress and state legislatures, which, if they become laws, and are enforced, will prove disastrous to the railroads, and, equally so, to the public at large. the question is, what is to be done to prevent it? the old method of influence has been abandoned, and, i hope, forever. has it left us unequipped to meet the issue? to answer this question let us get a perspective. railroads not blameless. we must not imagine, to begin with, that we are entirely blameless. we are in some respects only realizing the wages of past sins. we have done many of "those things which we ought not to have done," and we have left undone many of "those things we ought to have done." most of the evils date back many years and many of them might have been prevented had the government done its duty and enforced the law. yet even in most recent years we can find some mistakes with which to concern ourselves. it is not strange that many men who have suffered loss through delays in their traffic, or in their personal transportation, or who saw themselves deprived of profitable business because they could not secure cars, should have become exasperated and, not having time to properly analyze the difficulty, thought that the railroads were lacking in foresight and management. but let us go back a few years. it is a great mistake to hold the railroads responsible for such practices as rebating in those days, when it would have been impossible to throw a stone in a commercial community without hitting somebody who was taking rebates and wanting more. many men are today running for office on anti-railroad platforms who if you were to say "rebates" would duck their heads very much as david harum said his newport friends would do if he called out "low bridge!" that rebates were wrong nobody questions, but to pillory a man today for accepting rebates at that time is a farce. many persons believe that the so-called discriminations, resulting in the secret arrangements, were largely influenced by the desire upon the part of railroad officials to favor one man against another, but no thoughtful man who has at all studied the problem believes this. rebates and other forms of discrimination,--whatever may have been the result in specific instances,--had their origin mainly in the competition between carriers for the traffic. incidentally, in transacting railroad business through secret arrangements, as became the custom in that period, there were many cases of discrimination in favor of the strong and against the weak. there was a strong feeling upon the part of many men, both in and out of railway service, that the larger shipper, under the ordinary rules of business, was entitled to a lower rate, and they could not conceive the real principle which should govern the making of railroad rates,--which, however, has come clearly to be realized since that time. the railroad systems, generally, were not more anxious to pay rebates than they were to pay higher prices for their supplies, and simply pursued the course of their competitors because, otherwise, they saw nothing but loss and probable bankruptcy staring them in the face. the railroads were forbidden by law to meet and make formal agreements for the maintenance of rates, and by another law were required to compete. we all thought that the old plan _was_ competition. had the government, through its interstate commerce commission, vigorously undertaken to enforce the law--passing if necessary, long before it did, the elkins act--i think we should have seen a correction of these abuses long before the reform came; but, as a matter of fact, neither the government authorities nor many of those managing the railroads had yet reached a clear conception of the significance of the abuses which existed and of the proper legal method of uprooting those evils. getting away from old abuses. upon the resumption of business activity, in and , and, later, following the passage of the elkins act, the opportunity was presented,--and in general accepted by the railroads,--to get away from the old methods. while since then there have been some cases of violation of the law, in the matter of secret arrangements, yet i think that, at least within the last four or five years, it is safe to say that they have been of small importance, and perhaps, in many of the cases--while a technical violation of the law--were actually not discriminations. i say this advisedly, so far as the eastern situation is concerned, because i know that the pennsylvania railroad company has not paid a rebate for years, and it is fair to believe that as that company held its traffic,--in fact, largely increased it,--without the necessity for such arrangements, its competitors must have to a large extent pursued the same policy. but not alone in reference to freight rates was there more or less complicity in evil between the people and the railroads, but let me ask you to consider, for a moment, the question of free transportation, or passes,--whether political or business. it is only within the last year or two that the public conscience has been awakened on this subject. it is true, the railroads have been abused for several years by those who did not enjoy such favors, but is the railroad more responsible for the conditions that existed than the government of the people, either in the national congress or in the state legislatures, and how could it be expected that the legislators in one state could feel that they were doing very wrong in accepting passes, when the legislators of another state enjoyed them by law of the state? how could members of congress be criticised for accepting such privileges, or the railroads for extending them, when the presidents of the united states and member of their cabinets, and other important officers of the government not only accepted them, but practically exacted them, and, further, expected that private cars and private trains should be furnished without charge? upon one occasion within the past two years i called upon the interstate commerce commission to ask its assistance in eliminating the pass abuse, and was very frankly told that it could make no move, nor take any interest in the subject, in view of the fact that important public officials including senators and the members of congress felt that it was not improper for them to accept them. out of this situation grew a large part of the pass abuse, because, following the national government and the legislatures, the large men of business felt that they could properly accept similar privileges. therefore, i repeat, that while there were great abuses--especially during the period referred to--embittering a large portion of people, yet the railroads were no more responsible than the people themselves; and yet, without doubt it was during this period that the foundation was laid for the feeling of the present day. railways welcome just regulation. but, as i stated, we were forced to bear the brunt of our past sins--and more--in the campaign for increasing the powers of the interstate commerce commission. do not misunderstand me. many thoughtful railroad men believed always, in the value, both to the railroads and the public, of an interstate law, and, further, considered it wise to strengthen the power of the commission. the distinction, however, between what railroad men did and did not believe in, is very clear. we felt and we feel now that the government is perfectly justified in regulating railroad practices to the extent of preventing discriminations. indeed, the government should act as a sort of policeman to see to it that the weak and the helpless are protected. if reasonably administered, the railroads need the law. but the government should not have the right to interfere with the proper play of the natural commercial forces of the nation. the great distinction between police and commercial powers should never be lost sight of. the danger does not lie in the provisions of the new national law. there is no substantial difference between its provisions and those of the old law, except in respect to the powers of the commission. there was no necessity for the new law, so far as the prevention of the old abuse of secret rates and discrimination was concerned. the operation of this law does not involve any material change in traffic operations of the railroads; the only danger is as to how the commission may exercise their power in influencing reductions in rates, but even in that respect the railroads have the right of appeal to the courts. it is from various other bills being presented in congress in which the immediate danger lies, showing possible interference by the national government with the operation of railroads, with respect to the hours of labor of its employes, systems of signals, and other methods of operation, which should properly be left to the railroads themselves. this threatened interference of the federal government is having a powerful and dangerous influence upon the legislatures of the various states, who apparently are--in a slang term--"seeing congress and going them five or six better"--in the bills for reduction of state rates, both passenger and freight; for increase in taxation, and all sorts of measures which tend to reduce the earnings and increase the expenses, and hamper and delay the actual development necessary. it was unfortunate that in the agitation and discussion following the president's recommendations, until the present law was finally adopted, there was a total misunderstanding upon the part of the public at large as to this attitude of the railroads. it was most unfortunate in that campaign that the principal point of contest upon the part of the railroads was lost sight of--and that is--the objection upon their part not to reasonable amendments to the law, and not--if the people wanted it--to some increase of power to the commission, but to the attempt to make a commission of five or seven men--in many respects a political body--the final arbiters as to the rates and fares of the railroads. difficulties under the present law. yet even with the new law on the statute books, our traffic problems are still with us. we are forbidden by law to make formal agreements as to rates, yet it is universally recognized that in order to secure an equitable adjustment of rates, it is absolutely necessary that the traffic managers of the railroads shall confer frequently. it is well known that such conferences are held and must be held to prevent discriminations, yet no definite agreements can be made. the present law stipulates that there shall be no discrimination by railroads against persons or communities. right here, however, the railroads are face to face with a problem all their own, which is a very serious one, and that is: how shall a particular railroad prevent discrimination against a community on its own line by some other railroad seeking to specially favor a community on its line? is it not absolutely essential that there should be both an understanding and a virtual agreement on the part of the two railroads concerned for the purpose of protecting both communities? cases of dispute between railroads as to proper rate adjustments have, indeed, been referred to interstate commerce commissioners as arbitrators and their findings have been observed. this shows how absolutely vital to all business is the necessity for that co-operation which can only be secured by agreement and conference between all interested parties. the president of the united states recognized the necessity for this fact in his last annual message and recommended that some legislation be passed which would permit agreements between railroads as to rates. we are thus in the presence of this ridiculous situation; that on the one hand we are being threatened with prosecution by the government for violation of the sherman act in respect to methods which on the other hand the president of the united states and the interstate commerce commissioners agree must be followed in order to properly discharge our responsibility to the public--in other words, we are "between the devil and the deep sea," or we are damned if we do, or we are damned if we don't. so much for the moment, for our national problem. as to state regulation: while not believing--now that we have a national law--that it is necessary or desirable for the public to establish state commissions and special railroad laws, at the same time, if the people desire such commissions, we have no right to look upon such a demand as "anarchistic," but we feel that the working of such commissions will be unsatisfactory to the business interests. confidence and justice needed. these are but a few of our problems and difficulties. while i do not wish to minimize the dangers of the present situation, while i recognize that it is now to some extent, by adding to the timidity of investors, retarding our ability to secure funds necessary to make extensions and buy equipment required for the ever-increasing traffic of the country, and if continued will make it impossible, yet i am firmly of the opinion that the good sense of the people will prevail and the unjust attacks cease. confidence of investors both here and abroad is needed to furnish funds, and, if this is seriously shaken, the prosperity of the railroads, which are the keystone of the arch of business, will be destroyed. to avoid these dangers a regime of confidence and fairness on the part of the public toward the railroads must be restored, and to accomplish this we must place our case, as it were, before the legislators and the people and make clear our difficulties and the complications which beset us. few, after all, understand the railroad problem, and we have not made it plain to the people, either because it was the fashion not to do so, or because we could not realize that things simple to us were not understood by the public. we must not stop at one statement, but discourse upon and elucidate every subject which the public misunderstands. let us be frank and take the public into our confidence as fully as is consistent with the proper conduct of our business. let us approach the subject with the feeling that the railroads are not absolutely perfect, that we have to some extent brought this condition of affairs upon ourselves, and that we should govern ourselves in the future accordingly. let us undertake to go frankly before the people and present the actual facts in connection with our affairs. the pennsylvania as an illustration. let me illustrate: the pennsylvania legislature is in session. numerous bills have been presented, of a most radical nature. it is our purpose to appear before every committee that will hear us, and tell our side of the story. i doubt very much if the average legislator--and certainly not the average citizen--understands whom he is injuring in unjust acts towards the railroads. take our company, for example. it is not a small group of rich capitalists; it is not mr. mccrea and myself and a few others; the pennsylvania railroad is owned by more than , people, per cent of whom live in pennsylvania. forty-seven per cent of our shareholders are women; and in many cases the dividend is their only source of income. then there are thousands of bondholders; beyond them are nearly , employes in the state of pennsylvania dependent upon the prosperity of the pennsylvania railroad for their livelihood. therefore, by the usual computation, it is safe to say that approximately half a million people--men, women and children--are actually dependent upon the welfare of this company in the state of pennsylvania alone. upon the pennsylvania railroad's prosperity depends the prosperity of the other lines in its system, and including the employes of these lines, there are , men, who, with their families, constitute an army of a million or more. behind them, again, are the thousands of men, with their families, who produce the coal and other materials which the railroads use. anything that cripples the railroads injures every one of these people. when we make these and other facts plain, i cannot but feel that no injustice will be done. in the meantime, let us keep our minds well balanced, and not allow ourselves to believe that chaos is coming; let us meet the issue fairly and squarely and frankly. while, therefore, necessary for the present, at least, to suspend many improvements, let us keep our courage, trusting to the ultimate good sense of the lawmakers and the people for that sympathy and support to which we feel that we are entitled. the relation of railroads to the state. by w. m. acworth, m. a. delivered before the british association at dublin, ireland, september , . i propose to treat the subject in two aspects; first, the history in outline of the relations between railroads and the state in different countries, and, second, the question of the factors which are of primary importance in any consideration of the matter. ever since the year , when the dramatic success of the liverpool & manchester railway first revealed to a generation less accustomed than our own to revolutionary advances in material efficiency the startling improvements in transport that railroads were about to effect, theorists have discussed the question whether state or private ownership of railroads be in the abstract the more desirable. but it is safe to say that in no country has the practical question, "shall the state own or not own the railroads?" been decided on abstract considerations. the dominant considerations have always been the historical, political and economic position of the particular country at the time when the question came up in concrete shape for decision. belgium. the belgian railroads have belonged to the state from the outset, because they were constructed just after belgium separated from holland, and (the available private capital being in holland and not in belgium) king leopold and his ministers felt that, if the railroads were in private hands, that would mean in dutch hands, and the newly acquired independence of belgium would be thereby jeopardized. within the last few years this history has repeated itself, and the fact that the bulk of the swiss railroad capital was held in france and germany was one main reason, if not _the_ main reason, which induced the swiss people to nationalize their railroads. germany. in germany years ago the smaller states were regarded as the personal property of their respective sovereigns, almost as definitely as sutherlandshire is the property of the duke of sutherland. and it was therefore as natural that the dukes of oldenburg or mecklenburg should make railroads for the development of their estates as that the duke of sutherland should build a railroad in sutherland. australasia. take, again, australasia. in that region the whole of the railroads, with negligible exceptions, now belong to the different state governments, and the public sentiment that railroads ought to be public property is today so strong that it is impossible to imagine any serious development of private lines. but at the outset the traditional english preference for private enterprise was just as strong there as it was at home, and it was only the fact that the whole of the available private capital was absorbed in the development of the gold fields and that, therefore, if railroads were to be built at all, public credit must be pledged and english capital must be obtained, that caused the state to go into the railroad business. italy. take, once more, the case of italy. in the days when italy was only a geographical expression, the various italian states experimented with railroad management of all sorts and kinds. when, after , italy was unified, it was necessary to adopt a national railroad policy, and the italian government instituted an inquiry whose exhaustiveness has not since been approached. the force of circumstances has indeed already compelled the government to acquire the ownership of the railroads, but the commission reported that it was not desirable that the government should work them. the railroads were accordingly leased for a period of years, running from , to three operating companies, and it was provided that the leases might be broken at the end of the th or the th year. from the very outset a condition of things developed which had not been contemplated when the leases were granted, and for which the leases made no provision. constant disputes took place between the government and their lessees. capital for extensions and improvements was urgently needed; neither party was bound to find it; and agreement for finding it on terms mutually acceptable was impossible of attainment. in the end the government has been forced to cut the knot, to break the lease at the end of the first years' period, and for the last two years the italian government has operated its own railroads. but it is safe to say that an _a priori_ preference for state management over private management played but scant part in the ultimate decision. general increase of state control. it is impossible to review, even in the merest outline, the railroad history of all the countries in the world, but the instances already given will serve to illustrate my proposition that the position in each country depends not on abstract considerations, but on the practical facts of the local situation. yet one cannot look round the world and fail to recognize that the connection between the railroads and the state is everywhere becoming more intimate year by year. whatever have been the causes, the fact remains that italy and switzerland have converted their railroads from private to public. in germany the few remaining private lines are becoming still fewer. in belgium the process is practically completed. in austria it is moving steadily in the same direction; four-fifths of the total mileage is now operated by the state. in russia the story would have been the same, had it not been for the war with japan. even in france, whose railroads have a very definite local and national history of their own, an act for the purchase of the western railway by the state was passed last year by the chamber of deputies, and has now, after much contention, been passed by the senate within the last few weeks. but it is not without interest to note that, though a majority both of deputies and of senators supported the bill, the representatives of the district served by the company were by a large majority opposed to it, while the commercial community of the whole of france, as represented by the chambers of commerce, were almost unanimously hostile.[i] so far as can be seen at present, the purchase of the western railway by the state is not likely to be made a precedent for the general nationalization of the french railroads. still, the broad fact remains that a series of railroad maps of the continent of europe, constructed at intervals of ten years, would undoubtedly show an ever-increasing proportion of state lines, and that the last of the series would exhibit the private lines as very far below the state lines both in extent and in volume of traffic. a word ought to be said of holland, not only because holland is a country with free institutions like our own, but because the railroad position of holland is unique. the railroads of that country were built partly by the state and partly by private enterprise, but the working has always been wholly in private hands. some ten years ago, however, the dutch government bought up the private lines and rearranged the whole system. the main lines of the country are now leased to two operating companies, so organized that each company has access to every important town, and railroad competition is now practically ubiquitous throughout holland. so far there are no signs that the dutch people are otherwise than satisfied with their system. now compare this with france. the french government, though it has hitherto, except on the comparatively unimportant state railroads in the southwest of the country, stood aloof from the actual operation, has always kept entire control of railroad construction and of the allocation of new lines between the several companies. and the french government has proceeded on a principle diametrically opposed to the dutch principle. in france railroad competition has, as far as possible, been definitely excluded, and the various systems have been made to meet, not, as in holland, at the great towns, but at the points where the competitive traffic was, as near as might be, a negligible quantity. now that questions of competition and combination are to the fore in england, and seem likely to give very practical occupation to parliament in the session of , the precedents on both sides are perhaps not without interest. america. when we turn from the continent of europe to the continent of america the position of affairs is startlingly dissimilar. the railroads of america far surpass in length those of the continent of europe, while in capital expenditure they are equal. state ownership and operation of railroads on the continent of america is as much the exception as it is the rule in europe. in canada there is one comparatively important state railroad, the intercolonial, about , miles in length. though its earnings are quite considerable--about £ per mile per week--it barely pays working expenses. i may add that in all the voluminous literature of the subject i have never seen this line cited as an example of the benefits of state management. there is another small line, in prince edward island, which is worked at a loss; and a third, the temiskaming & northern ontario railway, owned not by the dominion but by the provincial government, which is too new to afford any ground for conclusions. the federal government of the united states has never owned a railroad, though some of the individual states did own, and in some cases also work, railroads in very early days. they all burnt their fingers badly. but the story is so old a one that it would be unreasonable to found any argument on it today. in mexico, of which i shall have more to say directly, the state owns no railroads. as for central america, costa rica and honduras have some petty lines, which are worked at a loss. guatemala had a railroad till , when it was transferred to a private company. nicaragua has also leased its lines. colombia owns and works at a profit, all of which is said to be devoted to betterment, miles of line. in south america, peru and argentina own, as far as i am aware, no railroads. the chilian government owns about , miles out of the , miles in the country. needless to say private capital has secured the most profitable lines. the government railroad receipts hardly cover the working expenses. the brazilian government formerly owned a considerable proportion of its railroad network of nearly , miles. financial straits forced it some years ago to dispose of a large part to private companies, to the apparent advantage at once of the taxpayer, the shareholder and the railroad customer. about , miles of line are still operated by the government, the receipts of which, roughly speaking, do a little more than balance working expenses. but it may be broadly said that the present brazilian policy is adverse to state ownership and in favor of the development of the railroad system by private enterprise. the united states situation. the question of public ownership and operation was, however, raised very definitely in the united states only two years ago, when mr. bryan made a speech stating that his european experience had convinced him that it was desirable to nationalize the railroads of the united states. for many weeks after, mr. bryan's pronouncement was discussed in every newspaper and on every platform, from maine to california. practically, mr. bryan found no followers, and today, though he is the accepted candidate of the democratic party for the presidency, the subject has been tacitly shelved. to some extent this may have been due to the ludicrous impossibility, if i may say so with all respect for a possible president, of mr. bryan's proposals. in order, presumably, not to offend his own democratic party, the traditional upholders of the rights of the several states, he seriously suggested that the federal government should work the trunk lines, and the respective state governments the branches. even if anybody knew in every case what is a trunk line and what is a branch, the result would be to create an organism about as useful for practical purposes as would be a human body in which the spinal cord was severed from the brain. mr. bryan's proposal was never discussed in detail: public sentiment throughout the union was unexpectedly unanimous against it, and it is safe to say that the nationalization of the railroads of the united states is not in sight at present. but though nationalization is nowhere in america a practical issue, everywhere in america the relations between the railroads and the state have become much closer within the last few years. canada a few years ago consolidated its railroad laws and established a railway commission, to which was given very wide powers of control both over railroad construction and operation and over rates and fares for goods and passengers. argentina has also moved in the same direction. in the united states, not only has there been the passage by the federal congress at washington of the law amending the original act to regulate commerce and giving much increased powers to the interstate commerce commission, besides various other acts dealing with subsidiary points, such as hours of railroad employes, but scores, if not hundreds, of acts have been passed by the various state legislatures. with these it is quite impossible to deal in detail; many of them impose new pecuniary burdens upon the railroad companies, as, for instance, the obligation to carry passengers at the maximum rate of a penny per mile. all of them, speaking broadly, impose new obligations and new restrictions upon the railroad companies. not a few have already been declared unconstitutional, and therefore invalid, by the law courts. and when the mills of american legal procedure shall at length have finished their exceedingly slow grinding, it is safe to prophesy that a good many more will have ceased to operate. but for all that, the net result of state and federal legislation in the sessions of and will unquestionably be that even after the reaction and repeal, which, thanks to the wall street panic of last year, is now in progress, the railroads of the united states will in the future be subject to much more rigid and detailed control by public authority than there has been in the past. the reign of railroad despotism, more or less benevolent, is definitely at an end; the reign of law has begun. it is only to be regretted that the quantity of the law errs as much on the side of excess as its quality on the side of deficiency. the mexican situation. apart from its interest as a quite startling example of how not to do it, the recent railroad legislation of the united states is only valuable as an indication of the tendency, universal in all countries, however governed, for the state to take a closer control over its railroads. much more interesting as containing a definite political ideal, worked out in detail in a statesmanlike manner, is the recent railroad legislation of mexico. one may be thought to be verging on paradox in suggesting that england, with seven centuries of parliamentary history, can learn something from the republic of mexico. but for all that i would say, with all seriousness, that i believe the relation between the state and the national railroads is one of the most difficult and important questions of modern politics, and that the one valuable and original contribution to the solution of that question which has been made in the present generation is due to the president of the mexican republic and his finance minister, señor limantour. broadly, the mexican situation is this: the mexican railroads were in the hands of foreign capitalists, english mainly so far as the older lines were concerned, american in respect to the newer railroads, more especially those which constituted continuations southwards of the great american railroad systems. the foreign companies, whether english or american, naturally regarded mexico as a field for earning dividends for their shareholders. the american companies further, equally naturally, tended to regard mexico as an annexe and _dépendance_ of the united states. if they thought at all of the interest of mexico in developing as an independent self-contained state, they were bound to regard it with hostility rather than with favor, and such a point of view could hardly commend itself to the statesmen at the head of the mexican government. yet mexico is a poor and undeveloped country, quite unable to dispense with foreign capital; and, further, it was at least questionable whether mexican political virtue was sufficiently firm-rooted to withstand the manifold temptations inherent in the direct management of railroads under a parliamentary _régime_. under these circumstances the mexicans have adopted the following scheme: for a comparatively small expenditure in actual cash, coupled with a not very serious obligation to guarantee the interest on necessary bond issues, the mexican government have acquired such a holding of deferred ordinary stock in the national railroad company of mexico as gives them, not, indeed, any immediate dividend on their investment, but a present control in all essentials of the policy of the company, and also prospects of considerable profit when the country shall have further developed. the organization of the company as a private commercial undertaking subsists as before. a board of directors, elected in the ordinary manner by the votes of shareholders, remains as a barrier against political or local pressure in the direction of uncommercial concessions, whether of new lines or of extended facilities or reduced rates on the old lines; but--and here is the fundamental difference between the new system and the old--whereas under the old system the final appeal was to a body of shareholders with no interest beyond their own dividend, the majority shareholder is now the government of mexico, with every inducement to regard the interests, both present and prospective, of the country as a whole. irrefragable theory of public ownership. public ownership of railroads is in theory irrefragable. railroads are a public service; it is right that they should be operated by public servants in the public interest. unfortunately, especially in democratically organized communities, the facts have not infrequently refused to fit the theories, and the public servants have allowed, or been constrained to allow, the railroads to be run, not in the permanent interest of the community as a whole, but in the temporary interest of that portion of the community which at the moment could exert the most strenuous pressure. the mexican system, if it succeeds in establishing itself permanently--for as yet it is only on its trial--may perhaps have avoided both scylla and charybdis. faced with a powerful but local and temporary demand, the government may be able to reply that this is a matter to be dealt with on commercial lines by the board of directors. if, on the other hand, permanent national interests are involved, the government can exercise its reserve power as a shareholder, can vote the directors out of office, and so prevent the continuance of a policy which would in its judgment be prejudicial to those interests, however much it might be to the advantage of the railroad as a mere commercial concern. state control or ownership. the history whose outline i have now very briefly sketched shows, i think, that whereas there is everywhere a tendency towards further state control, the tendency towards absolute state-ownership and state-operation is far from being equally universal. i shall have a word to say presently as to the reasons why america shows no signs of intention to follow the example of continental europe. meanwhile it is well to notice that american experience proves also the extreme difficulty of finding satisfactory methods of control. sir henry tyler said some five-and-thirty years ago in england, in words that have often been quoted since, "if the state can't control the railroads, the railroads will control the state"; and president roosevelt has again and again in the last few years insisted on the same point. "the american people," he said in effect, "must work out a satisfactory method of controlling these great organizations. if left uncontrolled, there will be such abuses and such consequent popular indignation that state-ownership will become inevitable, and state-ownership is alien to american ideas, and might cause very serious political dangers." perhaps some of my hearers may remember macaulay's graphic description of the passion that was aroused by charles james fox's proposed india bill; it was described as a bill for giving in perpetuity to the whigs, whether in or out of office, the whole patronage of the indian government. the objection felt by american statesmen to handing over their railroads to the national government--for i think it may be taken for granted that if they were nationalized it would have to be wholly under federal management, and that the separate states could take no part in the matter--is in principle the same. there are something like a million and a half men employed on the railroads of the united states, say roughly or per cent. of the voters. americans feel that rival political parties might bid against each other for the support of so vast and homogeneous a body of voters; that the amount of patronage placed at the disposal of the executive government for the time being would be enormous; and that the general interests of the nation might be sacrificed by politicians anxious to placate--to use their own term--particular local and sectional interests. how far this fear, which is undoubtedly very prevalent in the states, is justified by the history of state railroads in other countries is a question exceedingly difficult to answer. dealing with state railroads in the lump, it is easy to point to some against which the charge would be conspicuously untrue. to take the most important state railroad organization in the world, the prussian system, no one, i think, can fairly deny that it has been operated--in intention at least, if not always in result--for the greatest good of the greatest number. but then prussia is prussia, with a government in effect autocratic, with a civil service with strong _esprit de corps_ and permeated with old traditions, leading them to regard themselves as the servants of the king rather than as candidates for popular favor. an american statesman, charles francis adams, wrote as follows more than years ago: "in applying results drawn from the experience of one country to problems which present themselves in another, the difference of social and political habit and education should ever be borne in mind. because in the countries of continental europe the state can and does hold close relations, amounting even to ownership, with the railroads, it does not follow that the same course could be successfully pursued in england or in america. the former nations are by political habit administrative, the latter are parliamentary. in other words, france and germany are essentially executive in their governmental systems, while england and america are legislative. now the executive may design, construct or operate a railroad; the legislative never can. a country therefore with a weak or unstable executive, or a crude and imperfect civil service, should accept with caution results achieved under a government of bureaus. nevertheless, though conclusions cannot be adopted in the gross, there may be in them much good food for reflection." control by democracy, or ownership by autocracy. i am inclined to think that the effect of the evidence is that the further a government departs from autocracy and develops in the direction of democracy, the less successful it is likely to be in the direct management of railroads. belgium is far from being a pure democracy; but compared with prussia it is democratic, and compared with prussia its railroad management is certainly inferior. popular opinion in belgium seems at present to be exceedingly hostile to the railroad administration; official documents assert that, while the service to the public is bad, the staff are scandalously underpaid, and yet that the railroads are actually not paying their way. there was, it is true, till recently an accumulated surplus of profits carried in the railroad accounts, but the official figures have been recently revised, and the surplus is shown to be non-existent. the swiss experiment is too new to justify any very positive conclusions being drawn from it; but this much is clear: the state has had to pay for the acquisition of the private lines sums very much larger than were put forward in the original estimate; the surplus profits that were counted on have not been obtained in practice; the economies that were expected to result from unification have not been realized; the expenditure for salaries and wages has increased very largely; and so far from there being a profit to the federal government, the official statement of the railroad administration is that, unless the utmost care is exercised in the future, the railroad receipts will not cover the railroad expenditure. the italian experiment is still newer. it would not be fair to say that it proves anything against state management; but i do not think that the most fervid _etatist_ would claim that, either on the ground of efficiency or on the ground of economy, it has so far furnished any argument in favor of that policy. if we wish to study the state management of railroads by pure democracies of anglo-saxon type, we must go to our own colonies. my own impressions, formed after considerable study of the subject and having had the advantage of talking with not a few of the men who have made the history, i hesitate to give. it is easy to find partisan statements on both sides; for example, in a recent article in the _nineteenth century_, entitled "the pure politics campaign in canada," i find the following quotation from the _montreal gazette_--a paper of high standing--dated may , : "every job alleged against the russian autocracy has been paralleled in kind in canada. first, there is the awful example of the intercolonial railway, probably as to construction the most costly single-track system in north america, serving a good traffic-bearing country, with little or no competition during much of the year, and in connection with much of its length no competition at all, but so mishandled that one of its managers, giving up his job in disgust, said it was run like a comic opera. some years it does not earn enough to pay the cost of operation and maintenance (i may interpolate that its gross earnings per mile are equal to those of an average united states railroad), and every year it needs a grant of one, two, three or four million dollars out of the treasury to keep it in condition to do at a loss the business that comes to it. when land is to be bought for the road, somebody who knows what is intended obtains possession of it, and turns it over to the government at , and per cent advance. this is established by the records of parliament and of the courts of the land." african cape government railroads. probably no one outside the somewhat heated air of canadian politics is likely to believe this damning accusation quite implicitly; but even if there were not a word of truth in it--and that the management of the intercolonial railway is, for whatever cause, bad, appears, i think, clearly from the public figures--it is bad enough that such charges should be publicly made and apparently believed. let me quote now from a document of a very different type referring to a colony very far distant from canada: "a memorandum relative to railroad organization, prepared at the request of the railroad commissioners of the cape government railways, by sir thomas r. price, formerly general manager of those railroads, and now general manager of the central south africa (_i. e._, transvaal and orange river) railways, dated johannesburg, february , ." "the drawbacks in the management of the railroads in the cape that call for removal arise from the extent to which, and the manner in which, the authority of parliament is exercised. they are twofold in their character, viz.: "( ) the practice of public authorities, influential persons, and others bent on securing concessions or other advantages which the general manager has either refused in the conscientious exercise of his functions, or is not likely to grant, making representation to the commissioner (as the ministerial head of the government), supplemented by such pressure, political influence, or other means as are considered perfectly legitimate in their way, and are best calculated to attain the end applicants have in view. "(many members of parliament act similarly in the interests of the districts, constituents, or railroad employes in whom they happen to be interested. it is by no means unknown for the requests in both classes of cases to coincide somewhat with a critical division in parliament--present or in prospect--or otherwise something has occurred which is regarded as irritating to the public or embarrassing to the government, and the desire to minimize the effect by some conciliatory act is not unnatural.) "( ) the extent to which the fictitious, and often transitory, importance which a community or district manages to acquire obscures (under the guise of the colony's welfare) the consideration of the railroad and general interest in the colony as a whole." (during the earlier period of my railroad service in the cape colony few things impressed me more, coming as i had from a railroad conducted on strictly business lines, than the extent to which the conduct of railroad affairs was influenced by certain conditions. nor was this impression lessened afterwards when, in the course of a conversation on the matter, sir charles elliott mentioned to me that he had more than once told a late railway commissioner, "the government is powerful, but [mentioning the town and authority] is more powerful still.") "i do not regard it as open to doubt that the colony as a whole has suffered severely in consequence, the inland portions of the colony particularly so; and that the need for a remedy is pressing if the railroads are to be conducted as a business concern for the benefit of the colony. "the necessity for the railroads and their administration being removed from such an atmosphere, and treated as a most valuable means of benefiting the colony as a whole, while not neglecting the interests of a district (but not subordinating the welfare of the whole colony thereto), is pressing. that there should be an authority to refer to in case of real necessity, where the decision or action of the general manager is not regarded as being in the public interests, is also clear. but it is equally manifest that the commissioner or the government of the day, with political or party consideration always in view, is not the proper court of reference. "there can be little doubt that in the cape colony political considerations have influenced the adoption of new lines and their construction--many, if not most of them of an unprofitable character--without sufficient inquiry or information, often with scanty particulars, and possibly contrary to the advice of the officer afterwards entrusted with the construction and working of the line. "a material change is imperatively necessary in this respect, if only to insure the solvency of the colony." victorian (australia) railroads. it is sometimes conceded that improper exercise of political influence may be a real danger where railroads are managed under a parliamentary _régime_ by a minister directly responsible to parliament; but that difficulty, it is said, can be got over by the appointment of an independent commission entirely outside the political arena. history does not altogether justify the contention. the last report of the victorian state railways gives a list of seven branches, with an aggregate length of miles, constructed under the commissioner _régime_ at a cost of £ , , which are now closed for traffic and abandoned because the gross receipts failed even to cover the out-of-pocket working expenses. it is not alleged, nor is it a fact, that those lines were constructed in consequence of any error of judgment on the part of the commissioners. but in truth it is inherently impossible to use a commission to protect a community against itself. in theory a commission might be a despot perfectly benevolent and perfectly intelligent; in that case, however, it can hardly be said that the nation manages its own railroads. but of course any such idea is practically impossible, because despots, however benevolent and intelligent, cannot be made to fit into the framework of an anglo-saxon constitution. in practical life the railway commission must be responsible to someone, and that someone can only be a member of the political government of the day. competition has ceased to regulate. i have indicated what in america, where the subject is much more carefully considered than here, is regarded as a great obstacle to a state-railroad system; but i have pointed out also that it is quite possible that statesmen fully alive to the dangers may yet find themselves constrained to risk them unless some satisfactory method of controlling private railroad enterprise can be found. i do not think it can be considered that this has been done in england at the present time. in the main we have relied on the force of competition to secure for us reasonable service at not unreasonable rates; and as i still cherish a long-formed belief that english railroads are on the whole among the best, if not actually the best, in the world, i am far from saying that competition has not done its work well. but competition is an instrument that is at this moment breaking in our hands. within quite a few years the south eastern railway was united with the chatham; the great southern has obtained a monopoly over a large part of ireland; in scotland the caledonian and the north british, the highland and the great north have in very great measure ceased to compete. if the present proposals for the working union of the great eastern, the great northern and the great central go through, competition in the east of england will be absolutely non-existent from the channel to the tweed. and one can hardly suppose that matters will stop there. in fact, since this address was in type a comprehensive scheme of arrangement for a long term of years between the london & north western and the midland has been announced. we must, i think, assume that competition, which has done good work for the public in its day, is practically ceasing to have any real operation in regulating english railroads. how shall government regulate? for regulation, therefore, we must fall back on government; but how shall a government exercise its functions? regulation may be legislative, judicial, executive, or, as usually happens in practice, a combination of all three. but we may notice that, as mr. adams points out, in anglo-saxon countries it is the legislature and the judicature that are predominant; whereas in a country like france, which though a democracy is bureaucratically organized, it is executive regulation that is most important. now, the capacity of the legislature to regulate is strictly limited; it can lay down general rules; it can, so to speak, provide a framework, but it cannot decide _ad hoc_ how to fit into that framework the innumerable questions that come up for practical decision day by day. the capacity of the law courts to regulate is even more strictly limited. for not only is it confined within the precise limits of the jurisdiction expressly conferred upon it by the legislature, but further, by the necessity of the case, a court of law can only decide the particular case brought before it; a hundred other cases, equally important in principle, and perhaps more important in practice, may never be brought before it at all. even if the court had decided all the principles, it has no machinery to secure their application to any other case than the one particular case on which judgment was given. there was a case decided years ago by our railroad commission, the principle of which, had it been generally applied throughout the country, would have revolutionized the whole carrying business of great britain. it has not been so applied, to the great advantage, in my judgment, of english trade. further, the great bulk of the cases which make up the practical work of a railroad: "what is a reasonable rate, having regard to all the circumstances, present and prospective, of the case? would it be reasonable to run a new train or to take off an old one? would it be reasonable to open a new station, to extend the area of free cartage, and the like?"--all these are questions of discretion, of commercial instinct. they can only be answered with a "probably on the whole," not with a categorical "yes" or "no," and they are absolutely unsuitable for determination by the positive methods of the law court with its precisely defined issues, its sworn evidence, and its rigorous exclusion of what, while the lawyer describes it as irrelevant, is often precisely the class of consideration which would determine one way or other the decision of the practical man of business. it seems to me, therefore, that both in england and in america we must expect to see in the near future a considerable development of executive government control over railroads. this is not the place to discuss in detail the form that control should take, but one or two general observations seem worth making. the leading example of executive control is france; in that country the system is worked out with all the french neatness and all the french logic. but it is impossible to imagine the french principle being transplanted here. for one thing, the whole french railroad finance rests upon the guarantee of the government. the french government pays, or at least is liable to pay, the piper, and has, therefore, the right to call the tune. the english government has not paid and does not propose to pay, and its claim to call the tune is therefore much less. morally the french government has a right--so far at least as the railroad shareholders are concerned--to call on a french company to carry workmen at a loss; morally, in my judgment at least, the english government has no such right. but there is a further objection to the french system; the officers of the french companies have on their own responsibility to form their own decisions, and then the officers of the french government have, also on their own responsibility, to decide whether the decision of the company's officer shall be allowed to take effect or not. the company's officer has the most knowledge and the most interest in deciding rightly, but the government official has the supreme power. the system has worked--largely, i think, because the principal officers of the companies have been trained as government servants in one or other of the great engineering corps, des mines or des ponts et chaussées. but it is vicious in principle, and in any case would not bear transplanting. what we need is a system under which the responsibility rests, as at present, with a single man (let us call him the general manager), and he does what he on the whole decides to be best, subject however to this: that if he does what no reasonable man could do, or refuses to do what any reasonable man would do, there shall be a power behind to restrain, or, as the case may be, to compel him. and that power may, i think, safely be simply the minister--let us call him the president of the board of trade. for, be it observed, the question for him is not the exceedingly difficult and complicated question, "what is best to be done?" but the quite simple question, "is the decision come to which i am asked to reverse so obviously wrong that no reasonable man could honestly make it?" and even this comparatively simple question the president would not be expected to decide unaided. he will need competent advisory bodies. railroad history shows two such bodies that have been eminently successful--the prussian state railway councils and the massachusetts railroad commission. wholly unlike in most respects, they are yet alike in this: their proceedings are public, their conclusions are published, and those conclusions have no mandatory force whatever. and it is to these causes that, in my judgment, their success, which is undeniable, is mainly due. let me describe both bodies a little more at length. there are in prussia a number (about ten i think) of district railway councils, and there is also one national council; they consist of a certain number of representative traders, manufacturers, agriculturists, and the like, together with a certain number of government nominees; and the railroad officials concerned take part in their proceedings, but without votes. the councils meet three or four times a year, their agenda paper is prepared and circulated in advance, and all proposed changes of general interest, whether in rates or in service, are brought before them, from the railroad side or the public side, as the case may be. the decision of the council is then available for information of the minister and his subordinates, but as has been said, it binds nobody. the massachusetts railroad commission is a body of three persons, usually one lawyer, one engineer and one man of business, appointed for a term of years by the governor of the state. originally the powers of this commission were confined to the expression of opinion. if a trade, or a locality, or indeed a single individual, thought he was being treated badly by a massachusetts railroad, he could complain to the commission; his complaint was heard in public; the answer of the railroad company was made there and then; and thereupon the commissioners expressed their reasoned opinion. the system has existed now for more than years, and it is safe to say that, with negligible exceptions, if the commission expresses the opinion that the railroad is in the right, the applicant accepts it; if the commission says that the applicant has a real grievance, the railroad promptly redresses it on the lines which the commission's opinion has indicated. the success of the commission in gaining the confidence of both sides has been so great that of late years its powers have been extended, and it has been given, for example, authority to control the issue of new capital and the construction of new lines. but on the question with which we are specially concerned here, the conduct of existing railroad companies as public servants, it can still do nothing but express an opinion; and it may be added that the commission itself has more than once objected to any extension of that power. mr. adams, from whom i have already quoted, was the first chairman of the commission. he has described their position as resting "on the one great social feature which distinguishes modern civilization from any other of which we have a record, the eventual supremacy of an enlightened public opinion." that public opinion is supreme in this country, few would be found to deny; that public opinion in railroad matters is enlightened, few would care to assert. but given the enlightened public opinion, one can hardly doubt that it will secure not merely eventual but immediate supremacy. in truth, as bagehot once pointed out, a great company is of necessity timorous in confronting public opinion. it is so large that it must have many enemies, and its business is so extended that it offers innumerable marks to shoot at. it is much more likely to make, for the sake of peace, concessions that ought not to be made than it is to resist a demand that reasonable men with no personal interest in the matter publicly declare to be such as ought rightly to be conceded. to sum up in a sentence the lesson which i think the history we have been considering conveys, it is this: closer connection than has hitherto existed between the state and its railroads has got to come, both in this country and in the united states. hitherto in anglo-saxon democracies neither state ownership nor state control has been over-successful. the best success has been obtained by relying for control, not on the constable, but on the eventual supremacy of an enlightened public opinion. nearly years ago, in the pages of the _economic journal_, i appealed to english economists to give us a serious study of what the americans call the transportation problem in its broad economic and political aspects. since then half-a-dozen partisan works have appeared on the subject, not one of them in my judgment worth the paper on which it is printed; but not a single serious work by a trained economist. and yet such a work is today needed more than ever. let me once more appeal to some of our younger men to come forward, stop the gap, and enlighten public opinion. footnote: [i] further, it is common knowledge that the senate only passed the bill (and that by a majority of no more than three) because m. clemenceau insisted that he would resign if it was not passed, and, though they disliked nationalization much, they disliked m. clemenceau's resignation more. railway nationalization by sir george s. gibb. a paper read at a meeting of the royal economic society, on th november, . railway nationalization has for many years occupied the minds of economic and political students and the practical activities of statesmen in many countries and in english colonies. it has been regarded here as a remote possibility which might some day or other come to the front for practical discussion. but quite recently it would have been thought to be as incredible that any responsible politicians should be considering proposals for purchasing our railways for the state as that any substantial number of persons could be found who would advocate an abandonment of the fundamental principle that there should be no taxation of imports into england except for revenue purposes. in these days, however, public opinion moves suddenly and rapidly. the despised fallacy of yesterday rises as the creed of to-day. there are already many indications that, before long, there will be a numerous and influential, though perhaps a somewhat heterogeneous party, who will urge that immediate steps should be taken to nationalize our railways. the test, and the only test, to be applied to proposals for railway nationalization is whether railways owned by the state and worked directly by government officials would be better and more efficient than railways owned and worked by private corporations, and whether, after taking account of all the effects of the change, upon each class, each district, each interest, the net result would increase the wealth and well-being of the community, and be a permanent benefit to the public. we may, i think, start from the assumption that railway proprietors as such have no interest in opposing nationalization. the value of their property, whether measured in terms of capital value or in terms of future income, estimated on a fair basis, would, it is assumed, be fully provided for in the gigantic financial operation which railway purchase would involve. there is no legal flaw in the title of railway proprietors. they enjoy the fundamental rights attached by our law to absolute property, subject only to the performance of obligations definitely prescribed by acts of parliament. i think, therefore, that we may discuss this subject of railway nationalization without apprehension that the change, if it were adopted by the deliberate judgment of the community, would be accompanied by anything in the nature of confiscation of existing rights. this might not be the intention or the wish of all who think that our railways should be nationalized. probably some extreme socialists would like to transfer railways to the state without giving what, in our judgment, would be adequate compensation to existing owners. their aim is the substitution of a new social polity for that which exists, in which antiquated ideas of private property would have no place. but that is only a phase of their creed which condemns it to sterility. it is not the small band of socialist zealots, but the majority of the nation that we have to consider in estimating the risk of anything being done in the nature of confiscation. those who join the party for nationalizing will, no doubt, find themselves in strange company. there can be little doubt that the movement up to the present has been mainly socialistic. a trader, who advocates nationalization because he hopes that he might be able to transfer to somebody else, perhaps he does not very much care whom, some part of the burden of the charges which he has to pay for railway carriage, will find that his next neighbor at a meeting of the party is a man who has joined for quite other reasons, with the object, indeed, of ultimately seizing for the state some part of his neighbor, the trader's, property, which the latter was reckoning to increase at the expense of, amongst others, his neighbor the socialist, through the plan of railway nationalization. but the homogeneity of the party need not concern us, nor the question whether each and every member of it would be actuated by a single-minded desire for the public good. the forces making for honesty and equity in the treatment of existing interests would, i think, so overwhelmingly outweigh the influences tending in a contrary direction that we need not complicate the question by importing into it a discussion as to whether adequate compensation should or would be paid to existing owners in the event of the state deciding to acquire their property. fair and adequate compensation for existing interests may be taken for granted. but although compensation can be paid for property, it cannot be paid to the general community who would suffer in the event of the administration and operation of railways under state management being less efficient than under private management. if a mistake be made, all would suffer, and their sufferings would not, and could not, be mitigated by compensation in any form. it may be useful at the outset to consider what has led to the question of railway nationalization in this country being discussed. the origin and the causes of those movements in public opinion which bring about great constitutional and social changes are frequently most difficult to trace, especially by contemporary observers. for a full understanding of such movements, it is necessary to wait for the historian's point of view, and to survey a wider field than is possible whilst the events are occurring, when much of the material for final judgment as to the causes in operation is concealed in an undisclosed future. that there is a movement in progress tending to the nationalization of railways in england is apparent to every thoughtful observer of the times. but whence does this movement come, and what are its principal causes? we are able to identify some of them, less able to weigh the relative importance of each, still less able to foretell the ultimate share which each will have on the future course of development, which will depend on the direction taken by other movements in public opinion which, at the moment, may seem to be entirely independent of all connection with the particular movement we are considering. i will refer to a few of the causes which seem to me to be most prominently at work, but i will not attempt to state them in the order of their importance. i will merely enumerate those which are plainly discernible as existing in some shape or other. the first i will name, though it may not be the most influential, is the existence of a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the present state of railway administration. i suppose that if railway services were as good as possible, charges as cheap as possible, profits as high as possible, and the management as perfect as it is possible for railway management to be, and these conditions were generally admitted to exist, the natural instinct to leave well alone would prevent any proposal for nationalization from obtaining a hearing. it must be conceded that there is a certain feeling of dissatisfaction, superficial and indefinite though it be, to which advocates of nationalization, whose schemes originate in considerations which have no relation either to the excellence or to the imperfections of railway arrangements, are able to appeal in the pursuit of their aims. it is not that many people really think that our railways do not, as a whole, serve the public well, whatever individuals may say in moments of haste. hut complaints are sufficiently numerous to have a real importance as an influence on public opinion. and, unfortunately, their influence is to a large extent independent of their justice. the existence of criticism, which, after all, is only another name for difference of opinion, is inevitable, and probably would be inevitable under the most perfect system of railway management which the world has seen or ever can see. state railways would not be immaculate. the nature of railway business lays it open, to an exceptional extent, to the unpopularity which unavoidably gathers round every institution on which there is universal dependence. providence itself does not wholly escape unpopularity. no other industry is comparable with the railway industry in the close dependence upon it of the vast majority of the people. the necessity for transport services penetrates more frequently and more deeply into the lives and habits of the people than any of the other prime necessities of civilization. the need for transport is a tyranny. all tyrants are unpopular. and the tyranny of a need is apt to beget, by an illogical transposition of ideas, a dislike of those who are responsible for supplying the need. people are conscious of grievances, or, let us say, unsupplied wants. they cannot measure the range of possibility which limits the supply of those wants or remedies for those grievances. they constantly wish for the impossible, but have not sufficient knowledge to distinguish between the possible and the impossible. defects which cannot be remedied are generally condemned with more emphasis than those which are due to mismanagement. it is irrelevant to consider whether the dissatisfaction to which i have referred is justified or not. whether well or ill founded, it must be set down as one of the causes of the movement for nationalization. the second cause i would mention is a belief, growing from a suspicion into a conviction under the stimulus of repeated failures in control experiments, that it is impossible for any government, by any legislative or executive action in any form, to exercise useful and effective control over railways. people turn in despair from ideas of regulation and control to ideas of ownership. the third cause is the prevalence of that feeling which, for want of a better name, i will call district jealousy. the competition of privately-owned railways undoubtedly does create inequalities. it would be mere affectation to pretend that the railway accommodation and facilities afforded to all places and all districts are equal in merit and value. the less favored districts see other districts enjoying superior facilities. they do not allow for differences in conditions which, in some cases, explain and justify the differences of service. i say in some cases, because it would be impossible to deny that in other cases the comparative inferiority of railway facilities cannot be explained away by inevitable determining conditions. hence district jealousy arises and a desire for uniformity, such uniformity as it is hoped a state system of railways would give. the fourth cause i would name is the example of other countries. this is affecting men's judgments with great force. we are slow to be moved by foreign example. but there is an increasing tendency to submit to international influences, and foreign example in this matter does, on the whole, point to national railways becoming the generally accepted system. the fifth cause is the one which, i think, has more to do with the initiation of the discussion of nationalization schemes than any other cause. this is the general tendency of the time to socialistic experiments. if there were no socialists, and no socialism in the thought of the age, there would, we may safely conclude, be no talk of nationalization of railways. it is the socialistic propaganda, and the influence which that propaganda has had on many minds, which more than anything else has brought the question of the nationalization of railways within the range of practical discussion. the sixth cause is the anxious search for more revenue for the state. national expenditure has grown to such enormous and alarming dimensions that the provision of revenue to meet it has become a serious and urgent difficulty. a chancellor of the exchequer on the lookout for cash has not been able to resist the attraction of railways as a source of revenue for the state. he has noted the various influences at work which are tending to bring the question of railway nationalization to the front, has looked with envy at the large revenue which prussian railways yield to the state, and has at least gone the length of asking himself the question, within the hearing of reporters, whether he ought not to encourage and to take advantage of a state of opinion which might conceivably be worked upon so as to create a majority prepared to approve the principle of state ownership of what might be a highly lucrative state monopoly. the mileage of railways open for traffic in the united kingdom at the end of each of the last four decades up to is shown in the following table: mileage open increase in average increase year. for traffic. ten years. per annum. , -- -- , , . , , . , , . the growth has been slow and decreases with each decade. it is probably true that the period of construction has nearly come to an end. future additions to the mileage are not likely to be either large or of substantial importance. this rather indicates the present as a suitable time for considering a change of system. the considerations which are applicable to what i may call the age of construction are very different from those which become most important in the age of operation. it would probably be accepted as indisputable that in a country like england, where capital is plentiful and enterprise active, the system of leaving the construction of railways to private enterprise is the best system. whatever may be thought as to the respective merits of private and public ownership, it cannot be denied that private enterprise does take more risk than any government is likely to do, except under pressure of military necessities. the hope of gain is the strongest motive for enterprise, and this desire operates more strongly on the private citizen than it does on the state. the growth of railway mileage during the age of construction in any country is promoted by the constant influence and moving force of those incentives which act on capitalists. the spur of competition is always in active operation. then there are the very powerful professional influences which are constantly at work to induce capitalists to spend their money on works and enterprises which afford professional work, even if they do not subsequently provide dividends. theoretically; no doubt, railways promoted by private enterprise tend to the favoring of particular localities at the expense of other localities. perhaps it is right that the stronger should grow at the expense of the weaker, but, at all events, it is inevitable. you cannot expect private competitors to think of anything but their own interests. and if this be so, you cannot expect from a system in which private interests predominate the same consideration of general design, from the point of view of the interests of the whole country, as from a system which places public in front of private interests. it is difficult to deny that the miscellaneous and unequal activities of private enterprise fail in the absence of some central guidance to produce the best results so far as harmony and completeness of design are concerned. in england railway construction has not been, as in america, almost entirely free from any public control. we have had the control, i think the most salutary and useful control of parliament, so far as it has gone, both over location and capitalization. but it has not gone far. although there has been a certain amount of control, there has been practically no guidance. the control, under the system of private bill legislation, has been very ineffectual except as regards capitalization. it has been mainly negative; never constructive. all that parliament could practically do was to prohibit the making of particular railways which aroused opposition from some landowning or railway interests powerful enough to oppose and wealthy enough to pay the heavy costs of opposition. private interests have been protected, but the general interest has, in the main, been ignored. but whilst conceding that it would have been a great advantage if the vagaries of private enterprise had been more restrained by some prudent, general guidance, i think that the chief public requirement during the age of construction is that as much mileage as possible should be constructed; and i submit, as a true conclusion on the point i am discussing, that, as regards the age of construction, at all events, england has derived incalculable benefit from the fact that the railway system has been made by private enterprise. but the problem of working the railway system after it has been constructed is, i admit, essentially different from the problem of securing its construction. my subject is not one which admits of discussion except on very general lines. our views on it must necessarily be formed under the influence of the opinions we hold as to the legitimate functions of the state. it has been truly said that no country has ever adopted state ownership of railways from theoretical considerations. in each and every instance there were some practical reasons, based on military necessities or concrete and pressing economic conditions to meet which state ownership was accepted, not as a system desirable in itself, but as an expedient which, in the circumstances, was considered to be the best practical solution of difficulties which stood in the way of the satisfactory development of railways. but whilst agreeing with this as a true historical statement, i doubt whether theory can be entirely excluded from a statement of the genesis of national railway systems. in a country where individualist opinions prevail, as i think at the present time they do in england, no temptations, no pressure of circumstances short of extreme national emergency, would induce people to face the evils which the individualist knows must result from the intrusion of state action into matters of trade. this is theory, although those who are influenced by it may think that it is founded on practical experience. on the other hand, those persons who wish to secure trading profits for the state even at the cost of taking commercial risks, or who, when difficulties and obstacles arise in commercial development, resort to the powers of the state to overcome them, either by the imposition of taxes on the general community in the interests of a class, or by handing over to state officials the direction of an industry, instead of relying on the skill, self-reliance, enterprise, energy, and character of the people, are socialists at heart, whether they know it or not, and are actuated by the radical theory of a creed which, perhaps, most of them would disavow. but, after all, the question is not whether state purchase would be a step in the socialist direction, but whether it would be a step in the right direction. why should we change? are we suffering from intolerable evils from which there is no other way of escape, or is there some great national benefit to be derived from the change? the general case for nationalization, as put forward by its advocates, rests on very few arguments, and it is not, i think, unfair to describe these as being mainly assumptions, the accuracy of which it is impossible to verify. i may summarize a few of these:-- ( ) government management would be more efficient and less costly than private management. ( ) government management would primarily regard the interests of the community and of the country as a whole, and the substitution of that condition for the existing system under which the interests of private trading concerns take first place in the thoughts and efforts of those responsible for management would have the effect of securing a more equal and more satisfactory development of the resources of the country, and, as one writer expresses it with more than the usual proportion of assumption in his statement, trade would be stimulated under equitable, reasonable, and uniform systems of rates. ( ) the change would result in the removal of most of the serious complaints made against the existing administration of railways. ( ) those who refuse to look upon the matter as mainly a commercial problem think and hope that new means would be found for the satisfaction of the social needs of the nation if the railways were at the disposal of the government. ( ) experience of the economy resulting from large combinations in other industries is invoked in support of the proposal to get rid of the separate administrations of private railways. it is said that the advantage of production on the largest scale by a single corporation in place of production by a number of smaller units is being verified by the experience of nearly every important trade and industry. the principle has been recognized in the history of railway development in this country by the amalgamation of large numbers of small railways into the great railway systems which we now see, and it is argued that a further step should now be taken in the same direction. but a step involving the creation of so great a monopoly as further large amalgamations would involve can only, it is thought, be taken by the state. in this country the largest railway system under one management is no greater than about , miles in length, whereas in the united states of america railway systems covering about , miles are now under the control of a single president and a board of directors. it is said, therefore, that modern methods of administration have made it feasible to direct the , miles of railway in the united kingdom efficiently and successfully by means of one comprehensive organization, and probably if there is to be one organization there would be no difference of opinion that the single organization to own, control, and manage the railways must be the state. most of the principal objections are, i think, covered by the following list:-- ( ) state management would be less efficient than management under private enterprise. ( ) the extension of government patronage, by placing at the disposal of government such a vast number of appointments to lucrative offices. ( ) the risk of political corruption, not only in connection with the exercise of patronage, but also in ordinary administration in the settlement of questions relating to charges, wages, and services. ( ) the danger that interested parties would, by political pressure, compel the state to expend public money on unremunerative lines and unremunerative services. ( ) the contraction of the available field for private enterprise, and hence the weakening of the foundation of all individual and national progress. ( ) the introduction of serious dangers in connection with labor disputes between the government and the large body of railway servants. the subject has not been sufficiently long under public discussion to make it easy to state fully the hopes of its supporters and the fears of its opponents. probably both are exaggerated. if one examines the complaints made against the existing railway system, it is obvious that many of these must exist under any system, whilst some are the necessary accompaniments of every system into which competition enters. but if competition is discarded in favor of monopoly it does not need argument to show that this merely means a change from the evils of competition to the evils of monopoly. no one would deny that each system contains inherent and characteristic evils. the evil of competition is waste; the evils of monopoly are stagnation and the restriction of freedom. hitherto, for the regulation of railways, reliance has been placed on two factors--competition and control. parliamentary action and public opinion have veered about from one to the other, and the absence of clear principle in the policy of the legislature has introduced evils which a more logical and consistent adherence either to the policy of free competition on the one hand, or to the policy of strict control on the other, would have avoided. that some regulation is necessary all would admit. railways sell transportation as a commodity, but the nature of the business makes it impossible to secure the conditions of absolutely free competition as in the case of other industries. hence the necessity for control, but every plan of control that has been tried has proved practically inoperative and ineffective mainly because it has endeavored to leave competition in operation, and it is the evils which necessarily arise from competition which lead to most of the complaints against railways. the inevitable weakness of the dual system of competition and control is that control checks competition just where it would be useful in the public interest, and competition nullifies control just where it could be advantageously applied. under no system could we expect railways to be free from complaints. they arise equally from the nature of the business and the nature of the customers. but with a view to seeing whether state ownership would remedy the complaints that exist, let us try to understand as clearly as possible what the complaints are. the chancellor of the exchequer (mr. lloyd-george), speaking to a deputation of traders in , when he was president of the board of trade, said that he was impressed with the "great and growing discontent with the whole system." now what are the causes of the present discontent? is it great? is it growing? these are questions very difficult to answer. but there are some useful data available for the answer. the way has been made plain and easy for complainants against railways. every encouragement and every facility has been afforded to them. a special court has been created--the railway and canal commission--the constitution of which was carefully framed so as to encourage anyone with a grievance against railways to hope that he would get a sympathetic hearing of his case. the applications to that court were so few that those people who cannot bring themselves to believe that the number of real, as distinct from imaginary, grievances against railways are remarkably few, said that the public were deterred from bringing complaints forward by the expense of litigation before the railway commissioners. so, to render the path of the complainant still easier, a procedure was introduced which is unique for simplicity and cheapness. all, without distinction, who had any complaint or grievance of any sort or kind against any railway or canal company, were invited to come and lay the same before a department of government, the board of trade, who practically promised to use their influence to secure an amicable adjustment of any differences. this procedure is so simple, so sweeping, so all-embracing, so encouraging to complainants, and has, on the whole, been exercised by the board of trade with so much tact and success, that its records should supply the information we are seeking. in view of these efforts to get every aggrieved or discontented person to come forward and disclose his complaint, is it possible to imagine that there are now any concealed complaints? it is often said that traders will not complain, that they are afraid of rousing the hostility of those terrible tyrants, the railways, whose power in england, at any rate, whatever it may be in america, is ludicrously exaggerated. it is true that a sensible trader who has a fair case does not fly with it to the board of trade. he submits it to the railway officers in the ordinary daily course of business, and almost invariably gets the matter adjusted. but i do not believe that there is any trader who would be deterred from submitting a complaint to the board of trade by any feeling of fear. on the contrary, traders in these days suffer from an excess of boldness. if a trader is dissatisfied with any railway charge, he simply refuses to pay, and only those who have experience of the daily conduct of railway business can know how common, and unfortunately how effective, this remedy is. the board of trade make an annual report to parliament of all complaints made to them under their conciliation jurisdiction, and i think the contents of these reports may fairly be relied on as presenting a complete view of the kind of complaints that exist against railways. a useful table is given in the tenth report of the board of trade, issued in july last, showing the total number of complaints for ten years, classified according to their nature as follows: no. per total. annum. . rates unreasonable or excessive in themselves or which were unreasonably increased . . undue preference . . sundry complaints ----- ----- , . of the total number forty-eight were complaints against canal companies, but these are not separated in the classification. surely the above is a remarkable table, considering the vast aggregate of business and the facilities offered for complaints. only , complaints against railways, or an average of about per annum, have been found to exist. then look at the results of these complaints. these are given in another table, and only complaints, or an average of per annum, are entered as resulting in the complainants finally expressing themselves as dissatisfied. services for which the aggregate payment amounts to millions sterling per annum are rendered, and yet there are only an average of fifty-seven cases per annum of dissatisfied complainants to the most open, most favorable, and least costly tribunal in the world for hearing complaints against railways. now let us look at the nature of the complaints made. would state ownership remedy any of these complaints? i set aside the cases of miscellaneous complaints about delay in transit and other minor matters, because it is obvious that complaints about such matters would not disappear under any conceivable system of railway management. practically all other complaints group themselves under two heads: . excessive rates. . undue preference. the complaint that railway rates are excessive generally takes the shape of a comparison of the charges on some foreign railway. now, i confess that it is very difficult to meet such allegations, because of the difficulty of presenting all the conditions of which account must be taken in order to make a fair and sound comparison, and also owing to the absence of adequate data or materials in the published statistics of english railways. a general allegation that english rates are higher than those charged in some countries cannot even be discussed, because the factors needed for the comparison are not available. are they in fact higher is a question the answer to which must precede discussion as to reasons and explanations. the facts in regard to the average length of haul, the average rate per ton mile for different kinds of traffic, or the average charge per passenger mile, and general information as to the nature of commodities carried, speed of transit, and services rendered for the rates charged must be ascertained before any comparison is possible, and these facts are not ascertainable for english railways. my belief is that having regard to the capital expended on construction of railways, english railway rates are not excessive for the services rendered, and i greatly doubt whether, after making proper allowances for differences in capital cost of railway accommodation, and for other essentially different conditions, rates in any country are lower, comparing like with like, than railway rates in england. this is an issue of fact. it lies at the threshold of any inquiry into the subject of railway rates, and i confess i do not see how much progress can be made with any discussion which turns on assertions as to the relative dearness of english railway rates until adequate materials are available for a sound comparison. it is true beyond question that english railways have cost more to construct than the railways of any other country. the capital expenditure of all railways in england is represented by the figure of about £ , per mile as compared with about £ , , which is the corresponding figure for german railways, and about £ , per mile for american railways. railway proprietors in england are not responsible for the high capital cost. they were forced by law, and by custom powerful as law, to pay monstrously inflated values for their lands. burden upon burden has been heaped upon them by the action of the legislature, by the requirements of government departments, and by the exactions of public opinion. they have borne heavy losses in being compelled to spend capital without regard to their ability to secure adequate return upon it, and assuredly no reckoning is due from them to the public in this matter. the reverse would be more true. the total capitalization of railways in the united kingdom in the year , as given in the board of trade returns, was , millions sterling, of which millions represents nominal additions. the net earnings (some of which, however, arose from miscellaneous sources independent of the operation of the railways) amounted to £ , , , or . per cent on the nominal capital. out of a total of , millions sterling, millions of loan and preferential capital received interest or dividends in excess of per cent. this presumably arose from the insecurity of capital, involving the payment of a high rate of interest or dividend. one hundred and eighty-one millions of ordinary capital received dividends in excess of per cent. per annum. the capital receiving interest or dividends in excess of per cent. per annum is, therefore, millions, or . per cent. of the total. it cannot be said on these figures that the interest received by those who provided the capital for the railways is excessive. but would it be possible for state railways to reduce the amount included in railway rates for interest and dividends? it cannot be denied that our present system does involve the needless duplication of railway accommodation--the inevitable waste of competition. there is the constant endeavor to divert traffic, the corresponding effort to keep it. capital is wasted, but public facilities are increased. the public could certainly secure by monopoly the saving of waste, but only at the cost of losing the advantages, such as they are, of getting more than they pay for. i suspect that on a broad and comprehensive view these advantages are not worth to the community the waste of capital involved in providing them. but it is rather late in the day to adopt this view. enormous waste has already been incurred, and it must be remembered that this drain on the resources of the nation is not likely to be so serious in the future as it has been in the past, even if the system of leaving railways to private enterprise is not abandoned. the private ownership of railways provides for the absorption of the wastage of capital in a manner which would be impossible under state ownership. eighty-eight millions of the capital expenditure on railways goes without dividend, and millions has to be content with a return less than per cent per annum. although this undoubtedly represents a loss to the community, the loss is distributed. it falls on those who voluntarily spent their money in the hope of gain, and lost it. the state cannot lose capital in this way. all expenditure incurred by the state would be represented by money borrowed on the public credit, and the interest would have to be paid in full, whether the expenditure proved remunerative or the reverse. that there would be savings, and large savings, under state management i would not deny, but that is because the railways would be worked as a monopoly, and not because they would be worked by the state. the same and still larger economies in working could be effected under private enterprise if competition were abandoned in favor of universal combination or monopoly. the whole question depends on the waste of competition. each railway company works for its own route. the result is that unnecessary train mileage is run, and train loads are lessened. the secret of success, the foundation of all economy in railway working, lies in securing the largest possible train loads. this is a simple rule, but it embodies a universal truth. if those responsible for the handling and carriage of railway traffic could work with a single eye to economical results, and in all cases forward traffic by the routes which yielded the best working results, great economies could undoubtedly be effected. this consideration does indicate that a source of improvements in railway results would be open to a railway system under government management which is not available for privately owned railways competing with one another. and in fairness one must admit that this source of economy obtainable only under the conditions of monopoly must be set down as a point to the credit of state ownership. many of the complaints against railway rates as excessive are really, when analyzed, complaints of undue preference. they are based on comparisons with other rates, and, in nearly every case, it is the factor of competition which lies at the root of the difficulty. this is the natural result of our mixed system of competition and control. in principle all would admit that there should be equal treatment on railways. but what is and what ought to be equality are questions in regard to which there is much room for difference of opinion. to what extent does the law really require equality? the railway and canal traffic act, , enacts in substance that a railway company shall not make any difference in the treatment of traders which shall amount to an undue preference. it permits the grouping of places situated at various places from any point of destination or departure of merchandise, provided that the distances shall not be unreasonable, and that the rates charged and the places grouped together shall not be so grouped as to create an undue preference. now, in this legislation there is no definite or tangible principle. the legislature has not really made up its mind how traders should be treated. it simply says that any preference given to one trader over another shall not be undue, but the interpretation of the word undue is left open. the prohibition of undue preference only applies to the actions of one company on its own railway, and, therefore, covers but a small part of the matter. a trader desiring to have his goods sent to some market which is prejudiced by the competition of goods carried to the same market from some other place by some other railway which, for some reason or other, good or bad, gives better treatment to its customers--a prejudice far more likely to happen, in fact, than one arising from differences in treatment on the same railway--is not protected or assisted by any legislation. the question may be asked whether national railways would or could cure this somewhat indefinite position? if railways were nationalized, would it not be necessary, and would it be practicable to settle the principles to be applied in treating different districts in competition with one another? at present there are no principles if the districts are served by different railways. if one railway serves two districts, the law provides that such railway shall not mete out unequal treatment so as to constitute undue preference, whatever that may mean, but if these two competing districts are served by different railways, the law shrinks from any interference. now, in practically every case the favorable treatment complained of, due or undue, as the case may be, is forced upon the railway company by competition in some shape or other. it may be competition of other carriers by sea or by land, or it may be the necessity for enabling one district to compete with another less favorably situated. such consideration for the commercial needs of districts in relatively advantageous positions is permitted and encouraged when it is afforded by different railways, though rendered difficult when one railway serves the competing districts. what would state railways do? if the law of undue preference now operative within the limits of particular railway systems became, by reason of state ownership, applicable to all railways, there would be a stupendous disturbance of existing trading conditions. instead of state purchase diminishing the complaints of undue preference, it would be the signal for the commencement of fierce conflicts between districts. it would be necessary to face the question whether and to what extent geographical advantage of position should be recognized in fixing railway rates. the centers of production and consumption in england have been fixed away back in commercial history, and from a railway point of view these have largely to be taken as facts beyond control. facilities for reaching the populous centers of consumption are of vital importance to producers and importers. would state railways be compelled by the pressure of interested landowners and others to fix rates for agricultural produce and manufactured articles and for import and export trade rigidly in proportion to distance? it is probable that a bitter controversy would arise on the question, and discontent with the railway arrangements which have gradually, and with very general approval, been established in england, instead of being lessened, would be greatly extended if we embarked on the experiment of state ownership. would the management of railways by government officials be, on the whole, better than management by the officers of private corporations working for profit? that is the question which lies at the root of the subject which we are discussing. so far as i am concerned, i have no inclination to jibe at the management of those enterprises which are conducted by the state and municipal bodies. i do not think that the postal services would be better managed if they were under private control, probably not so well. municipal tramways show the weakness of public management, chiefly in the tendency towards fixing charges at figures which sacrifice the interests of ratepayers to the interests of the working classes who possess votes, but who generally occupy houses in respect of which they do not directly pay rates. that there would be very grave risks in substituting state management for commercial management of railways must, i think, be generally admitted. but some of the principal arguments against municipal trading do not seem to me to apply to the working of railways by the state. of course, the objection of those who think that no public authority should become directly responsible for the management of any commercial undertaking is as valid against state working of railways as against municipal working of tramways, or municipal supply of electricity for light and power. in both cases there is a restriction of the field of private enterprise, and that is enough for the out-and-out individualist. he is convinced, on general grounds, that all commercial undertakings should be left exclusively to private enterprise. but those who are not prepared to settle such matters on any general theory, and who prefer to weigh the advantages and disadvantages in each case, see that many of the reasons against municipal trading cannot fairly be urged against the national ownership of railways. municipal trading is indefensible because it unfairly competes with private traders. competition in commerce must be fair competition on equal terms, otherwise it fails to secure any of the economic advantages which do undoubtedly flow from the free competition of private traders. a commercial undertaking must be worked for a commercial profit. a municipality raises money on public credit, and thus gains an advantage over every private competitor. it also fixes scales of charges and rates of wages without reference, or, at all events, without exclusive reference, to considerations of profit, and thus makes it impossible for any competing trader to earn a legitimate commercial profit. and to make it possible to do this it uses the power of taxation, and levies rates on the competing traders themselves, so that the municipal business can be carried on without the commercial profit which the private trader must earn in order to live. no one can say that this is fair competition. then municipal bodies are, from their composition, unsuitable for carrying on commercial business. their organization cannot be adapted to commercial management. the individuals who serve on these bodies have neither the time nor, as a collective body, the capacity for managing the business on which they embark with efficiency and success. the difference in results due to the difference between good and bad management is paid for out of the rates. these considerations do not, however, apply with equal force to the state management of railways. the state would have a complete and universal monopoly. there would be no private competition left, except, of course, competition by sea or by tramway or any other mode of conveyance which can compete with railways. then there would not be, it may be assumed, any body like a municipal council who would practically interfere with the management. there might be advisory councils, like the prussian state railway councils, and, of course, there would be a minister of state responsible to parliament for the railway administration, and parliament itself, already, one may remark in passing, clogged and overburdened with work. but it is certain that whatever the details of the organization adopted might be, the whole of the management would practically be left to the expert permanent officials of the railways. there is no reason to doubt that railway officers would serve the state with as much loyalty and with as great a measure of success as they now serve the proprietors. instead of being responsible to boards of directors and shareholders, they would be responsible to a certain number of officers of state, probably, indeed necessarily, to a large extent recruited from their own ranks, and i do not think that the change would result in much practical difference so far as the work of those who really carry out the duties of management are concerned. the only difference would be that these officers would have in view that they were working for the state instead of for shareholders. there can be little doubt that if railways were nationalized they would be used as a field for many kinds of social experiments. the combination of philanthropy with business is generally regarded with suspicion, but the conversion of the railway manager into a social reformer would, i think, arouse serious and legitimate alarm. the certainty which we now possess that the action of any railway company, whether it be wise or foolish in itself, is wholly commercial in its motives and its aims, is a valuable safeguard. but if railway policy were to become the medium for the promotion of social or even economic theories under the guidance of politicians, would not this be a most alarming peril to trading and industrial interests? one group might insist, by political pressure, that the standard of wages should be maintained at a higher level than could be commercially justified. another group, or many groups, might devote their efforts to securing the construction of railways in districts which could not support them with sufficient traffic, with the result of burdening the railway system with many unremunerative branches for which either traders, passengers, or the taxpayers throughout the country would have to pay. the policy of others would be to make suburban railways at enormous cost, and run cheap trains to serve the population resident in large cities, regardless whether such railways or trains were self-supporting or not. in this policy they would have the ardent and influential support of the owners of suburban land, who would rejoice in the increase of their rents, brought about by the expenditure of public money in creating railway facilities on uncommercial terms. these are not fanciful dangers. they are the results which we may feel sure would inevitably follow the nationalization of our railways, and the advantages to be gained from state management would need to be very great to compensate for these burdens. another aspect of the question which requires the gravest consideration is that which concerns the position of the state as an employer of labor. there are upwards of , railway officers and servants. the state would become the direct employer of that huge army, and would have to settle all questions relating to hours, wages, and other conditions of service. if a railway company is unable to settle differences with its men the ultimate resort of the men is the withdrawal of their labor, whilst the company are free to employ other men who are willing to accept their conditions of employment. any railway strike on a large scale is a dire calamity to trade and to the public, but if one were compelled to consider the possibility of a general strike on a national railway system, even the deplorable results which accompany strikes on privately-owned railways would seem comparatively insignificant. probably a railway department of government would not urge the adoption of compulsory arbitration, if they were themselves concerned, with as much equanimity as they do in the case of strikes on private railways. it is true that in this matter the advocates of state railways can point to the comparative absence of labor conflicts in connection with the services now under government control, but municipal undertakings have not been so successful in avoiding labor disputes, and in many cases have secured even the degree of immunity from such conflicts which they enjoy by the concession of terms of employment which constitute heavy burdens on the ratepayers. it seems to me that the danger of serious labor disputes cannot be put aside, and i confess that i am unable to see any safe way of meeting the objection to state ownership on the ground that the state ought to limit, as far as possible, its liability to become directly concerned in such disputes. in conclusion, i would say that i have felt unable to take up a partisan attitude on the question. for many years past both my studies on railway subjects and my practical experience have led me to a convinced belief in the advantages of well-regulated monopoly, and i am unable wholly to disapprove of a scheme which would secure for the country the advantages of a system of well-regulated monopoly in which i believe, even although it should come in the guise of state ownership. competition, in my judgment, creates more evils than it cures, especially the half-hearted and imperfect competition which exists in england so far as railways are concerned, which cannot be regarded as free competition on a commercial basis. i recognize that it is impracticable to secure unification or any very extensive or far-reaching combinations of railways under our system of private ownership. the public would not tolerate uncontrolled railways under private management, and i doubt whether any form of control which has yet been devised, or is likely to be devised, combined with partial competition, can give entirely satisfactory results. that there are grave dangers and risks in the public ownership of railways i fully admit; indeed, so grave are they, that i think he would be a very bold minister who would venture to bring forward, under government sanction, a proposal for the nationalization of our railways. the existence of such a huge amount of government patronage would open the door to political corruption. the existence of such an enormous body of government servants possessing the franchise--and i confess it seems to me impracticable to hope that any measure could be carried subject to disfranchisement of government servants--would imperil the financial stability of the railway system, and introduce new and very serious sources of weakness and danger into the body politic. the risk of loss from the charging of unduly low rates under pressure from the influential body of traders seeking to enrich themselves at the expense of the general community seems to me a risk which no thoughtful man can ignore. no expedients for checking and restraining political influence so that it could not reach or sway the decision of the officers of state responsible for railway management seem to me practicable under our democratic constitution. if the nation owns the railways, the nation must take all the risks of state ownership, and we could only trust that the existing purity of our politics and the common sense, honorable character, and long experience in self-government of the english people would suffice to protect the commonwealth from these perils resulting in serious harm. but whatever may be the issue of the consideration of the question of state purchase of railways, i am prepared to believe that english railways will continue, whether under state management or under private management, to deserve the praise which mr. w. m. acworth expressed in his recent address as president of the economic section of the british association in dublin, by saying that in his judgment--after, i may remind you, a fuller study of railway conditions in all countries of the world than has been given to the subject of many men in england--that "english railways are, on the whole, among the best, if not actually the best, in the world." concerning advances in railway rates february , .--ordered to be printed. mr. elkins, from the committee on interstate commerce, submitted the following adverse report. [to accompany s. .] the committee on interstate commerce, to which was referred senate bill "to amend section of an act entitled 'an act to regulate commerce,' approved february fourth, eighteen hundred and eighty-seven, and acts amendatory thereof," respectfully reports said bill adversely, and recommends its indefinite postponement. the amendment proposed to section will be found on page , commencing on line , and ending on page , on line , of the bill, as follows: _provided further_, that at any time prior to the expiration of the notice herein required to be given of a proposed increase of rates, fares, or charges, or of joint rates, fares, or charges, any shipper or any number of shippers, jointly or severally, may file with the commission a protest, in writing, against the proposed increase in whole or in part, stating succinctly the grounds of his or their objections to the proposed change. the filing of such protest shall operate to continue in force the then existing rate or rates, fare or fares, charge or charges, proposed to be changed and protested against as aforesaid, until the reasonableness of the rate or rates, fare or fares, charge or charges, proposed to be substituted shall have been determined by the commission. upon the filing of such protest, a copy thereof shall be mailed by the secretary of the commission to the carrier or carriers proposing the change and thereafter the commission shall proceed to hear and determine the matter in all respects as it is required to do by sections thirteen and fifteen of this act, in case of a complaint made because of anything done or omitted to be done by any common carrier, as provided in said section thirteen; but throughout the proceeding, the burden of proof shall be on the carrier proposing the change to show that the rate, fare or charge proposed to be substituted is just and reasonable. an amendment was offered in the committee which would modify the original proposition of the amendment, by leaving it to the discretion of the interstate commerce commission, upon the filing of a protest against the proposed increase of rates, to determine whether the schedule filed should go into effect at the end of thirty days or should be suspended by order of the commission until after final hearing, upon the question as to whether the advance was reasonable. this proposed amendment to the amendment of the th section, although somewhat modifying its effect, did not alter the principle upon which the original amendment rested, or remove the objections that influenced the committee in reporting the bill adversely. the reasons which control the action of the committee may be briefly stated as follows: review of question before committee. . from congress, by the act then passed "to regulate commerce" through all of its amendments to that act, including the act of june , (which was passed after the most elaborate investigation of the entire subject and the fullest debate), has adhered to a fixed policy in its legislation upon this subject. it has declared its constitutional right to regulate the transportation of persons and property in interstate and foreign commerce, while, at the same time, it has recognized the right of the owners of the instrumentalities of commerce to control and manage their properties subject to the supervision and limitation imposed by the regulating statute, that the charges, fares and rates must be fair, just, and reasonable; that neither discrimination as to person or place must be found in the schedules; and that no device of any character should result in unlawful preference between shippers. it has in all these acts recognized the right of the responsible managers of the transportation interests of the country to fix the rates for transportation, as upon its revenue must rest the efficiency of its service to the public and the value of its property to its holders, subject only to those wise limitations which prohibit the exercise of these property rights to the injury of the public. congress has appreciated the magnitude of the vast interest affected by such legislation. with , miles of track, with millions of rates published in accordance with the statute, with changes of rates numbering between and a day, and reaching the enormous sum of , a year, it has, with the practical experience of twenty-two years, refused to take the initiation of rates from the carrier and impose it upon its administrative tribunal. congress and the supreme court have adopted the construction of the act to regulate commerce, announced by judge jackson (interstate commerce commission _v._ b. & o. r. r. co., fed. rep., , and affirmed, u. s., ): subject to the two leading prohibitions that their charges shall not be unjust or unreasonable, and that they shall not unjustly discriminate, so as to give undue preference or disadvantage to persons or traffic similarly circumstanced, the act to regulate commerce leaves common carriers as they were at the common law, free to make special contracts looking to the increase of their business, to classify their traffic, to adjust and apportion their rates so as to meet the necessities of commerce, same principles, which are regarded as sound, and adopted in other trades and pursuits. this policy, we believe, has been approved by the country during that period. pending the elaborate investigation of this subject prior to the passage of the act of june , , no crystallized sentiment was manifested, either in the press or during the hearings, that indicated a public sentiment that this policy should be departed from. since this bill has been before your committee no such public sentiment has been shown to exist by those who appeared before it. the conferring upon the commission the power to suspend a rate advanced, either upon the filing of a protest by a shipper or in the discretion of the commission, taken in connection with the provision of the statute which gives to the commission the power to fix a rate and to designate the time, not longer than two years, that it should remain in force, would ultimately turn over to that administrative body the function of initiating the rates of the entire country. it would offer a premium to every shipper to enter a protest to the advance of rates, whether they were reasonable or unreasonable, even if discretion was vested in the commission. the protest, prepared by skilled attorneys, presenting a prima facie case of unreasonable advance of the rate, with no opportunity for an investigation before it must be acted upon, an official body, on which was imposed the responsibility to act would be constrained to suspend the rate until a final determination of the complaint. the existing law permits any shipper to protest any rate that has gone into effect, the hearing on the protest is made without formal pleadings, and the commission is authorized then to determine the question whether the rate put in effect by the carrier was a reasonable rate or not, and, if not, to make the rate reasonable. so far, in the practical operation of the act of june , , this provision of law has worked satisfactorily, and but comparatively few of the decisions of the commission have been contested by the carriers. under existing law both parties are protected. if the decision is that the rate is unreasonable a judgment may be rendered in favor of the protestant for the difference between what the commissioners determine is a reasonable rate and the rate fixed by the carrier, with per cent interest from the date of the overcharge. if, on the other hand, this amendment should receive the approval of congress and the rate filed by the carrier should be protested and then suspended by the commission (in the multiplicity of duties imposed upon that tribunal), considerable time would elapse before a final determination of the question could be reached. during that period the carrier would be receiving only the old rate, and if the commission finally decided that the advance was reasonable no reparation in any way could be awarded. it was alleged before the committee that this last result would not be very injurious to the carrier, for the reason that it would be receiving the rate which it had fixed as a fair compensation for the service performed prior to the change. the answer to this seems reasonable, which was, that conditions had so changed that it required an advance of the rate to meet those new conditions. otherwise the advanced rate would have no justification. that traffic officials fully appreciate the fact that, with the watchful eyes of every shipper affected by an advanced rate and the authority of the commission to determine and fix a just and reasonable rate (as a general rule), rates would not be advanced by such officials without a belief upon their part that there were sufficient reasons to sustain them, if protested. the attention of the committee has been called to the attitude of the commission in its rulings upon the advance of rates, even where the facts have shown that the rates have been lowered with a view of developing a particular industry. in the case of the new albany furniture company against mobile, jackson and kansas city railroad company, etc., decided june , , the commission held: "the rates were low before the increase, but having been established, after prolonged negotiations, especially for the purpose of permitting complainant to reach a particular market, and in preference to making a readjustment in some other direction or territory, and complainant having adjusted its business thereto, defendants may not by an arbitrary advance in those rates destroy complainant's business, there being no evidence that the rates advanced were less than the cost of service." a similar decision was rendered on the st of june in the case of western oregon lumber manufacturers' association against the southern pacific company. knowledge of the views held by the commission by the traffic officials and shippers will serve as the most effective check upon the part of the carrier in advancing rates over those which have been in existence for any considerable period of time, unless they can support the advance by the most satisfactory reasons. would the amendment proposed be in conflict with the fifth amendment to the constitution? . an objection urged to the approval of this amendment, even though modified as suggested in committee, was that it conflicted with the fifth amendment in depriving the carrier of its property without due process of law. the existing law authorizes carriers to make reasonable rates. congress recognizing the right of control by the carrier has provided reasonable regulations to safeguard the interests of the public in the exercise of that right. it authorizes a protest after the rate had gone into effect; it provides for a full hearing after notice by the commission; it has further extended the time when the rate shall be made effective to thirty days from the filing of the schedule with the commission. these were held to be reasonable regulations, but it is claimed that under the amendment proposed to the sixth section, that if the rate is suspended from going into effect at the end of the thirty days by a protest, there is no limitation in the act fixing the time when the commission shall determine the question of the reasonableness of the advance; that the period is therefore indefinite, depending upon numerous considerations which might extend the time when the rate would be effective, if it was finally held to be reasonable, to six months or a year. that the act of suspension either by the operation of the statute or by the commission is without notice or hearing to the carrier; that congress has no greater right to authorize an administrative tribunal to suspend indefinitely the taking effect of a reasonable rate without notice or hearing than it has the right to provide that an administrative tribunal may authorize a rate which would yield less than the cost of the service. it was decided in the case of chicago, m. & st. p. r. r. co. against minnesota, u. s., , that the right to make a reasonable rate was a property right. in the case of interstate commerce commission _v._ chicago great western ry., u. s., , the supreme court said: "it must be remembered that railroads are the private property of their owners; that while from the public character of the work in which they are engaged the public has the power to prescribe rules for securing faithful and efficient service and equality between shippers and communities, yet in no proper sense is the public a general manager." justice brewer, in the above case, page , speaking for the court said: "it must also be remembered that there is no presumption of wrong arising from a change of rate by a carrier. the presumption of honest intent and right conduct attends the action of carriers as well as it does the action of other corporations or individuals in their transactions in life. undoubtedly when rates are changed the carrier making the change must, when properly called upon, be able to give a good reason therefor, but the mere fact that a rate has been raised carries with it no presumption that it was not rightfully done. those presumptions of good faith and integrity which have been recognized for ages as attending human action have not been overthrown by any legislation in respect to common carriers." it is claimed that the indefinite suspension of the rate until final hearing is to deprive the carrier, if the rate advanced is reasonable, of its right of property during the period of suspension, without having given it any opportunity to be heard prior to the act of suspension. due process of law must precede, and should not follow, the suspension. to set aside the carrier's act in fixing the rate pending the investigation required by due process of law is to deprive the carrier, pro tanto, of its property right to charge a reasonable rate. the fact that the statute requires an investigation after the suspension of the rate does not avoid the constitutional inhibition, as that provision can only be satisfied when the investigation precedes any disturbance of property rights. the carrier is entitled to the investigation before it is restrained in the _exercise_ of its property rights; the theory of the amendment suggested is that the shipper is entitled to an investigation before the carrier can _exercise_ its property rights. those contending for this objection to the amendment assumed that the indefinite suspension without hearing of the act of the carrier which deprived it, beyond a reasonable time, of the benefit of the advanced rate, was in effect the same as that which was condemned by the supreme court in the case of the chicago, m. & st. p. r. r. co. against minnesota. under the statute of that state, a carrier had the right to initiate the rate, and to put it in effect, and, under the law, the commission was authorized to make such changes as it deemed proper in the schedule so filed, and to direct the carrier to modify or change the schedule in accordance with the decision of the tribunal. in the one case the going into effect of the rate is suspended indefinitely without notice or hearing; in the other, the rate is changed or modified without hearing. on page the court condemns this in the following language: "no hearing is provided for, no summons or notice to the company before the commission has found what it is to find and declared what it is to declare, no opportunity provided for the company to introduce witnesses before the commission, in fact, nothing which has the semblance of the process of law." on page the court said: "if the company is deprived of the power of charging reasonable rates for the use of its property, and such deprivation takes place in the absence of an investigation by judicial machinery, it is deprived of the lawful use of its property, and thus, in substance and effect of the property itself without due process of law and in violation of the constitution of the united states." this view of the law as announced in u. s. was affirmed by the supreme court in the case of louisville and nashville co. against kentucky, u. s., . it was further suggested that if this amendment was incorporated in the sixth section, that it was so fundamental in its character, that if the court should hold that it was an unconstitutional exercise of power by congress, that it might have the effect of destroying the entire value of this remedial legislation, as it would be impossible to separate the clause from those provisions of the law directly controlling the subject of rates. the committee, without expressing any opinion upon the constitutional questions suggested, feels that it is of sufficient importance and gravity to cause it to hesitate to incorporate such amendment into the sixth section, especially in view of the other objections to such legislation. could the commission, under the amendment, fix a reasonable rate, if it held the proposed advance rate unreasonable? . one of the most serious objections to this measure, if the contentions of those who oppose it are well founded, is the assertion that the adoption of this amendment would, in reference to advanced rates that were protested, deprive the commission of the power conferred upon it by the fifteenth section of the act of june , , empowering it, if on protest and hearing it found a rate to be unreasonable, to fix a reasonable rate. the authority to the commission proposed in the amendment "to hear and determine the matter in all respects as it was required to do by sections and of this act," can only be construed to refer to the procedure as provided in the thirteenth and fifteenth sections of the interstate commerce law. there is no attempt to amend the provisions of section , which confers upon the commission the right to declare a rate unreasonable, and when so declared to fix a reasonable rate. there are no provisions found in the amendment suggested to the sixth section conferring upon the commission the power, when it finds a rate proposed to be advanced unreasonable, that it may then proceed to fix a reasonable rate. an examination of section in reference to the power of the commission to fix a rate depends upon a condition precedent that is clearly set forth in said section. it is, that before the commission has the authority to fix a rate it must first reach the opinion that-- "the rates, or charges whatsoever, demanded, charged, or collected by any common carrier or carriers, * * * or that any regulation or practice whatsoever of such carrier or carriers affecting such rates, are unreasonable, or unjustly discriminatory, or are unduly preferential or prejudicial, or otherwise in violation of the provisions of this act." when this conclusion has been reached as to existing rates the section then authorizes the commission-- "to determine and prescribe what will be the just and reasonable rate or rates, charge or charges, to be thereafter observed in such cases as the maximum to be charged; and what regulations or practice in respect to such transportation is just, fair and reasonable to be thereafter followed." to leave no doubt of the true construction of this section, an examination of the order required to be entered by the commission is conclusive of the meaning and intention of congress in the enactment of this portion of the fifteenth section. it provides: "and to make an order that the carrier shall cease and desist from such violation to the extent to which the commission finds the same to exist, and shall not thereafter publish, demand, or collect any rate or charge for such transportation in excess of the maximum rate or charge so prescribed." an analysis of this order of the commission which requires it to provide "that the carrier shall cease and desist from such violation, to the extent to which the commission finds the same to exist," recognizes the fact that the rate is an existing rate, is an effective rate, is a rate in full operation, and cannot, therefore, be applied under the provisions of the amendment suggested to the sixth section, as no rate has gone into effect and become operative. the subject we are considering as affected by the proposed amendment and the provisions of the fifteenth section, do not rest upon any principle of the common law, but are purely statutory enactments to carry out a policy in reference to interstate commerce deemed wise by congress. the construction, therefore, of the statute in this respect cannot be aided by any principles of the common law, and the conclusion as to its meaning must rest entirely upon the intention of the legislature as expressed by the language of the act. if this view of the fifteenth section is correct, the adoption of the amendment to the sixth section would change one of the most effective provisions of the act of june , , and which was contended for with such earnestness in its passage through congress. under the amendment to the sixth section, if adopted, and a protest was made to the advanced rate, or the commission under a protest was authorized in its discretion to suspend the advanced rate, until hearing as to its reasonableness, the only decision that could be made under that amendment would be, that the rate proposed to be advanced was either reasonable or unreasonable, but there would exist no power in the commission, if they found the rate unreasonable, to fix what in its judgment would be a reasonable rate. the committee does not believe that it is the desire of congress, in view of the sentiment of the country as expressed in the press and before it, to pass additional legislation which would invite and suggest such confusion and legal difficulties in the construction of an act which has not yet been put in full operation by the tribunal charged with that duty. could the decision of the commission, condemning an advance of rates, be reviewed by the courts? . it was suggested to the committee that the incorporation of this amendment to the sixth section of the act of june , , would deprive the carrier of the right to review by a bill in equity a decision of the commission which denied to the carrier the right to advance a rate. this contention is based upon the ruling of the courts, that the making of a future rate is a legislative act, and not a question for judicial review, and that until the rate is fixed and becomes effective it is purely one within the legislative function, and presents no subject cognizable by the court. under the amendment proposed a carrier would file a schedule of advanced rates; a shipper enters a protest to the rate taking effect; either by operation of the statute or the exercise of discretion by the commission, the rate is suspended until final hearing; subsequently there is a notice of the hearing and a decision rendered adverse to the contention of the carrier seeking an advance of the rate. under these circumstances there is no remedy of review of that act of the commission provided for by existing law or under the principles of equity. existing law, providing for a review of a decision of the commission, does not by its terms enlarge the subject of equitable jurisdiction. the provision of the statute confers upon the court the right to take jurisdiction of a case against the commission and to review its decision when based upon an existing rate. there is no provision of the statute that contemplates the exercise of a jurisdiction by the courts in a case arising under a provision of law similar to the amendment sought to the sixth section of the act of june , . in the decision rendered by the commission denying the right to advance the rate, the question of the reasonableness of the former rate or of any existing rate is not involved in the order to be entered by the commission. under this proposed amendment the carrier submits a proposition to advance the rate, which has never become effective. the order of the commission would simply approve the proposition or deny the advance of the rate. this, under the proposed amendment, would be the extent of the authority and act of the commission. in the case of mcchord _v._ l. & n. r. r. co. ( u. s., ), followed by the case of l. & n. r. r. co. _v._ ky. ( u. s., ), the court sustains the doctrine announced, and held that before a court of equity can intervene, the administrative body must do some act that advances beyond the legislative function. (reagan _v._ farmers' loan & trust co., u. s., ; interstate commerce commission _v._ railway co., u. s., .) it is contended that the decision of the commission prohibiting the advance is a legislative act, and that under the decisions of the courts the order simply prohibiting the taking effect of a proposed advance could not be the subject of equitable cognizance. if this view is not correct, it is contended that the courts by overruling the order of the commission would in effect be putting in force a future rate. under existing law, however, if the rate has taken effect its reasonableness is a matter of judicial review, and should the commission after protest and hearing declare it to be an unreasonable rate and set the same aside in its order, that decision is reviewable by the courts, as it presents a judicial question. the statute conferring upon the commission the power to determine whether an existing rate is reasonable or unreasonable has fixed the standard which must determine the jurisdiction of the administrative tribunal, and the courts have a right to review the act of the commission, with a view of ascertaining whether it has acted within the limitations of the power conferred upon it. in the case of the state corporation commission of virginia against railways, decided by mr. justice holmes november , , speaking of the power of the commission to fix a rate and the appeal from its decision to the court of appeals of virginia, the court said: "a judicial inquiry investigates, declares, and enforces liabilities as they stand on present or past facts and under laws supposed already to exist. that is its purpose and end. legislation, on the other hand, looks to the future and changes existing conditions by making a new rule to be applied thereafter to all or some parts of those subject to its power. the establishment of a rate is the making of a rule for the future, and therefore is an act legislative, not judicial, in kind. * * * "proceedings legislative in nature are not proceedings in a court within the meaning of the revised statutes, section , no matter what may be the general or dominant character of the body in which they may take place. * * * that question depends not upon the character of the body, but upon the character of the proceedings. (ex parte va., ; u. s., - .) they are not a suit in which a writ of error would lie under revised statutes, section , and act of february , . (c. stat., .) * * * litigation can not arise until the moment of legislation is passed. * * * we may add that when the rate is fixed a bill against the commission to restrain the members from enforcing it will not be bad as an attempt to enjoin legislation or as a suit against a state, and will be the proper form of remedy." the recent decision of the supreme court in the case of public service commission _v._ consolidated gas co. of new york, in which the opinion was delivered by mr. justice peckham, in deciding what is known as the eighty-cent gas case from the southern district of new york, is instructive upon the question discussed in this objection. in that case, the parties had gone to issue upon the question as to whether the rate of cents enjoined by the court from taking effect was confiscatory. after deciding the case upon the merits in favor of the commission, the court was unwilling, upon the supposed effect of a rate which had never been in operation, to bar the parties of their right when the same became effective from asking the protection of the court against its practical results. the memorandum announcing the position of the court upon that question is as follows: "as it may possibly be that a practical experience of the effect of the acts by actual operation under them might prevent the complainant from obtaining a fair and just return upon its property used in its business of supplying gas, the complainant, in that event, ought to have the opportunity of again presenting its case to the court. therefore, the decree is reversed, with direction to dismiss the bill without prejudice." this case simply illustrates the fact that the court was unwilling to decide the question finally until the rate contested had become effective. this was a suit involving a schedule of rates, and the question made by the record was that these rates would result in the confiscation of the property of the complainant in violation of the federal constitution. where that question can be properly made, the courts have intervened upon clear proof and sustained their jurisdiction to prevent such a violation of the constitutional protection. in this case, although the court held that the evidence developed the fact that this allegation of the bill was not sustained, it was so reluctant to give effect to testimony as to what might be the effect of the rates before they were made operative that it preserved the rights of the parties by authorizing a new suit after the rate should become effective. under the act to regulate commerce, such a constitutional question could hardly be practically raised, and the rights of the court to intervene must depend upon the limit placed upon the power of the commission by congress in the enactment of the law, in fixing the standard which should guide the commission in its action. burden imposed on the commission.--conflict of jurisdiction.--how rates are made. . your committee has deemed it proper that it should report to the senate the legal objections to the incorporation of this amendment in the sixth section of the act of the th of june, , but although giving due weight to these objections, the committee has been more strongly influenced in its adverse report upon this bill because of the strong and forcible practical objections which have been urged to the adoption of this amendment as a part of the interstate commerce law. should this amendment become a part of the law, it would be in the power of any shipper, whether interested or not in the result, to file a protest against the advance of the rate which under the proposed amendment would at once suspend its going into effect, and under the amendment offered in committee would place it in the power of the commission to order its suspension, if a prima facie case was presented in the protest. the shipper in filing a protest assumes no responsibility, either as to the effect of his action upon the carrier or liability in any way for cost accruing during the proceeding. considering the thousands of articles transported by the carriers of the country, the hundreds of thousands of rates published for the transportation of these articles, and the thousands of shippers interested in their movement, some idea of the number of protests that probably would be filed on the advance of rates can be imagined. the burden that would be thrown upon the commission in its effort to meet this responsibility would, as judge cooley well remarked, require "superhuman" efforts on its part. he said: "moreover, an adjudication upon a petition for relief would in many cases be far from concluding the labors of the commission in respect to the equities involved, for questions of rates assume new forms, and may require to be met differently from day to day; and in those sections of the country in which the reasons or supposed reasons for exceptional rates are most prevalent the commission would, in effect, be required to act as rate makers for all the roads and compelled to adjust the tariffs so as to meet the exigencies of business while at the same time endeavoring to protect relative rights and equities of rival carriers and rival localities. this in any considerable state would be an enormous task. in a country so large as ours, and with so vast a mileage of roads, it would be superhuman. a construction of the statute which should require its performance would render the due administration of the law altogether impracticable, and that fact tends strongly to show that such a construction could not have been intended." if the advance of rates was ultimately decided to be reasonable, the carrier would have been deprived during the period of suspension of the additional earnings to which it was entitled, and under such a provision of law would be required to maintain, at enormous expense, a large force of attorneys to answer and defend these protests. it would confer upon the commission the powers now exercised by the courts, and the jurisdictions over the same subject by both the courts and the commission would necessarily produce conflict and confusion. the supreme court in the case of texas pacific r. r. co. _v._ abilene cotton oil co. ( u. s., ), construing the ninth and twenty-second sections on the right of a shipper to apply to the courts for pecuniary redress for an alleged unreasonable rate held that, until the protested rate was condemned by the commission, there was no relief in the courts. this decision avoided a conflict of jurisdiction between the courts and the commission. it would lessen very greatly the value of the amendment of the act of june , , which requires thirty days' notice in a change of rate, which was adopted, with a view of investing rate conditions with a greater degree of stability than formerly. under existing law, the shipper is assured of that degree of stability, and can predicate his sales and purchases accordingly. under the amendment, shippers would never know whether or not a rate is to become effective on schedule time, or at any future time. the effect of the amendment would, therefore, be to a considerable degree to nullify the permanency which this amendment to the act to regulate commerce sought to impress upon the law. we must remember in considering this question that the majority of advances have resulted from the practice of the roads in the reduction of rates to meet certain commercial and economic conditions at the time, which have usually been the result of appeals from shippers and suggestions from commercial organizations. we desire to direct attention to the statement filed before the committee on interstate and foreign commerce upon a similar bill to this by the chairman of the committee of the southwestern traffic association, which is as follows: "a very small percentage of the changes in freight rates, either reductions or advances, is evolved by railroad officials. practically every change in rates is the result of suggestion from one or more shippers, who find that by some modification in the existing schedules their business in a certain territory can be increased by enabling them to meet competition which they encounter from other sources of supply, which are in most cases served by rival railroads. their representation is that by the proposed change their profit or business will be increased, and consequently the railroad serving them will share in an augmented traffic which, at the time of the suggestion, is being handled by the rival shipper and carrier. "ninety or more per cent. of these suggestions are for reductions in rates or for changes in rules and regulations beneficial to shippers and classed as reductions. the railroad company is anxious at all times to increase its traffic and gives a keen ear to such pleas of the shipper. the railroad official to whom such requests are made carefully investigates the conditions recited by the shipper and, by correspondence with such railroad's representatives at the points of origin and destination, confirms, if possible, the views of the shipper and the effect of the proposed change on the tonnage and revenue of the company. the traffic official of the railroad thus being daily engaged in investigations of this kind becomes very proficient in his knowledge of the factors surrounding the movement of the principal articles of commerce and becomes, after experience, a ready judge of the merit of such propositions. when thus convinced, he becomes the agent of the shipper in securing the proposed adjustment. this may take the form of suggesting to a rival railroad that the advantage which its shippers have enjoyed is unjust and that he should be permitted, without any corresponding reduction on the part of such rival railroad, to reduce his rate that the complaining shipper may profitably secure an increased share of the competitive traffic in question. being unable to thus persuade the competing railroad of the merits of such a contention he is forced to proceed by reducing his own rate without regard to the possible change which may follow on the part of other railroads as a consequence of his reduction. "it will, therefore, naturally be seen that the railroad official and the shipper are constantly planning to increase the business in which they are jointly interested, to the disadvantage of the rival railroad and shipper. sometimes these efforts result in serious rate wars until the point in controversy has been adjusted and the competitive rates placed on a basis which is more nearly equitable to all concerned. in many instances these disputes result in arbitration either by the interstate commerce commission or by individuals who may be agreed upon by the contending interests. "bearing in mind, therefore, that practically all rate reductions are the result of the effort of the railroad company to serve the shipper, it can easily be seen what the result will be if no advances in rates can be made without practically the approval of the interstate commerce commission. where it is difficult to restore rates to normal figures, the carrier will be loath to reduce them in order that the shipper dependent upon such carrier may increase, for the time being, his share in the competitive traffic in which he is interested." adjustment of rates.--interrelation of rates.--practical operation of amendment. . the subject of rate adjustment, even upon a single system of transportation, is one involving great difficulty and perplexity. when this adjustment is considered in its relation to the entire country, to the diversified commercial conditions, as affected by commercial competition, and as controlled by the interrelation of rates, it stands forth as one of the most difficult of all the problems which must be mastered that the transportation agencies may not be injuriously crippled in the performance of their quasi public functions, or the prosperity and development of the commercial interests be retarded by the failure to enact proper, reasonable, and just governmental regulations. rates which can be considered alone are comparatively few in number. in the large majority of cases they are interrelated with other rates, and frequently this interrelation exists as between areas widely separated. the rates upon iron and steel from mills within to miles of new york, philadelphia and baltimore, whose relations to each other are established by long custom and usage, are based primarily upon the necessity of preserving a fair comparative charge between the different shipping points and destinations. rates upon coal from central pennsylvania to tide water have close relations with the rates upon coal from west virginia to tide water, competing as such coal does, in the same markets. the rates upon lumber from the michigan markets must bear some relation to the rates on lumber from louisiana and georgia to the same market of distribution, although separated by hundreds of miles. the rates upon grain from western farms to eastern points bear a relation to the other, and upon export grain the rates to the atlantic seaboard bear a close relation to the rates to the gulf. the rates upon fruit and vegetable traffic from the various shipping districts, as california on the west and florida on the south, must be considered in the making of rates. the structure of rates between the territory east of the mississippi and north of the ohio river, and the territory east of pittsburg and buffalo, including new england, is closely interrelated; as an example, the rates between chicago and new york take a percentage of the chicago rate from all points west of pittsburg and buffalo. the principle of the interrelation of rates has frequently been recognized in the decisions of the interstate commerce commission. in the interest of the manufacturer there is a very important relationship between rates upon different products entering into the manufacture of a given article. in the great steel-producing districts of the shenango and mahoning valleys and pittsburg for many years the rates upon raw material to the furnaces for the production of pig iron have been adjusted upon a basis, so far as possible, of making the freight cost of assembling the raw materials that enter into this product the same to each furnace. in the one case the rate upon coke may be higher and the rate upon ore or limestone lower; in other cases the reverse. the adjustment of rates upon these different raw materials is so made that when assembled at the different furnaces the aggregate cost is relatively the same. this illustrates the contention that such rates cannot be considered separately, but must be taken as a whole. bearing these facts in mind it is manifest that if an advance in rates is made and the protest of one shipper shall operate as a stay to the advance of a particular rate in which he may be interested the result would be to burden thousands of other shippers who have made no objection. the protesting shipper would thus secure an advantage, enjoying for a time, at least, a rate relatively lower than that to which he was entitled. it might be urged that it would be open to all other shippers to file similar protests, but under the provisions of the bill, or of the amendments suggested in committee, the protesting shipper might wait until the last day of the thirty-day period, thus giving no opportunity to other shippers, who would be ignorant of his purpose, to file their protest. it would be possible if this amendment became a law that many individual shippers would take advantage of their competitors by making contracts upon the basis of a lower rate and at the last moment file the protest, suspend the advance rate, and deliver their product under such contracts within the period of the suspension of the advanced rates and thus profit at the expense of their competitors. the effect of this amendment becomes more serious where the relation of rates is between wide areas, and these relative rate adjustments cannot be made simultaneously. the rates upon grain for export, from the west to the gulf, as compared with the atlantic seaboard, will illustrate this statement. the protest of one shipper between two specific points would not only result in throwing out of relation the rates from all points in that section, but would also affect the competitive rates from other sections. such a result would necessarily render the rate situation in reference to the grain rates "confusion worse confounded." rates in a country like the united states, which is comparatively young, and the development of which attracts the attention of the world, must, necessarily, be elastic, not only in the interest of the carrier, but of the shipping public. the principle is sound and has received the approval of the interstate commerce commission, that rates must be fixed with regard to their relations one with the other, and not entirely upon the cost of service. this relation is because of the competition between shippers, between sections of shippers, and between localities, and as (because of the rapid development of our country in the production of new sources of supply, in the opening up of new grain fields, flour mills, mines, and factories, etc.) this competition is constantly changing. it is manifest that rates must constantly fluctuate, so as to be adjusted to the new condition; it is essential in the development of the country, even in the older sections, that rates must be elastic, which means constant reductions and advances. this is in the interest of communities and the individual shipper. there must be elasticity for other reasons, in the interest of communities as of the railroads; in meeting changes in commercial conditions that necessitates reductions in rates for shorter or longer periods, as an illustration, to enable our grain and other products of the farm to reach foreign markets, which would be impossible in one period unless rates were lowered, whereas in other periods higher rates could be charged without injurious results. understanding the conditions that surround this complex subject, it is manifest that if a single shipper, or even the interstate commerce commission, is to have the power to prevent at any time that elasticity which involves an advance in rates, the natural result will be that reductions will not be made by the carrier, and the elasticity will be lost. the fear would be ever presented to the mind of the traffic official that the rate once reduced could not--at least, until after exhaustive and long-drawn-out hearings before the commission--be advanced. the necessary fluctuation in rates to meet the changing conditions of commerce, when examined in the light of the reports of the interstate commerce commission, is startling to one not familiar with the rapid change of commercial conditions in this country. there were , tariff publications filed with the commission in one year, all containing changes of rates, either reductions or increases, and rules governing transportation. these publications--many of them--contained a great number of different tariffs. the pennsylvania lines, east of pittsburg, issued , tariffs and , supplements. about - / per cent of these covered advances, and - / per cent were reductions. as the law exists today, there was no special inducement to the shipper to file protests against the advances. suppose, however, that this amendment had been a part of the act to regulate commerce, how many protests would have been filed, and what length of time would it have taken the commission to have disposed of them? what uncertainty would have resulted to the commercial interests while waiting for the adjudication of these questions? opportunity for fraud and discrimination under the amendment. . one of the most serious objections urged to the passage of this amendment is the opportunity which such a law would present for the perpetration of frauds under it, and in the case of even honest protest to the advance of rates, where rates rest on a differential basis, in producing thousands of instances of unfair discrimination. an example under the first proposition may be stated briefly, as follows: there are two men engaged in the same line of trade; they are both called upon to bid on a contract involving a large amount of a given commodity in which both deal. the carrier has given notice of an advance in rate, effective thirty days from the filing and publication of the schedule; the commodity is not to move for some days; one of the bidders files his bid, based upon the advanced rate, assuming that the notice of the carrier will be made effective; the other shipper and bidder waits until two or three days before the date the rate is to be made effective, files a protest, confident that it will take three or four months to have the matter adjudicated, files his bid against his competitor, based on the current rate, and being the lowest, secures the contract. an example under the second proposition would be in case of a rate published from st. louis to be followed differentially from chicago by a number of competing roads. a shipper on one of the lines, just prior to the taking effect of the rate, would file his protest as to the rate east of chicago. the differential adjustment that has been made by all these roads will at once be destroyed, and the shipper on the road against which the protest was filed would have the advantage over all of his competitors on the other lines in shipping east. these discriminations between shippers would be the direct result of the power placed by congress in the hands of shippers and would have received the sanction of legislative approval, and, therefore, be lawful. the statute has taken it out of the power of the carrier to meet such a condition and to prevent the discrimination. it cannot change its rate under thirty days without a special order of the commission, and that order, it must be assumed, cannot be granted without a reasonable hearing. congress since has sought by the most stringent measures of legislation to prevent discrimination and preserve equality among shippers. the original act was demanded more to accomplish that purpose than for any other. the elkins act was confined almost entirely to the subject, and the act of june , , increased the penalties for the violation of these provisions. should this policy, which has been followed for more than twenty years, be modified and an act passed, the tendency of which is to tempt the cupidity of the shipper to accomplish results which it has earnestly and vigorously fought to stamp out? would prevent reductions, as well as advances, in rates, and destroy their flexibility. . on the face of this amendment, it seems only to give to the commission the authority to prevent an increase in rates, but the practical result of such a law would be far more reaching. such a law would mean a rigid freight tariff in place of the present flexible and elastic system of rates which exists alone in this country. stability of freight rates is important, but not to the extent that the carrier shall not feel warranted in promptly applying remedies for the relief or assistance of shippers who find themselves no longer able to compete, due to advantages which other shippers have secured, or changes which have occurred in the conditions surrounding the marketing of their products. a law which tends to minimize the commercial or competitive conditions existing at the present time will necessarily result to the disadvantage of shippers, to the carrier, and to the communities they serve. it is not necessary here to again refer to the presentation of the importance of the flexibility of rates, which is so clearly shown in the discussion of the influences which control in making reductions, as well as advances of rates by the chairman of the southwestern traffic committee, as quoted under section of this report. the more the committee has reflected upon the probable tendency of the principle announced by this amendment, if incorporated into the law, the more definite has become its conviction that it would ultimately result in destroying that important factor in american railroad management, "the flexibility of their tariffs--their adaptability to the changing commercial and economic conditions." one of the most distinguished and skilled traffic officials in the country, mr. henry fink, in considering this amendment uses the following language: "railroad officials are constantly engaged in the work of adjusting rates so as to meet as far as practicable the requirement of their patrons. in times of depression of business they make reduction in rates in order to enable shippers to send their commodities to certain markets, and keep industrial establishments from being closed. these reduced rates are often so low as to barely cover the cost of transportation. but they are meant to be temporary in their operation, and to be advanced when business conditions have become more favorable. "it must be obvious that when the restoration of such rates is obstructed, so that railroad officials are not permitted to advance rates except by permission of a government bureau after an investigation which must consume considerable time, railroad officials will naturally hesitate, and often decline, to make reductions in rates which involve considerable loss of revenue without any compensating benefits to their companies, either in the present or future. "it is easy to see the effect of this. railroads would no longer be able to afford the desired assistance to shippers, however anxious they might be to do so. the rates would in a large measure lose their elasticity, and become rigid, and a condition similar to that existing in france would be created, where state controlled rates prevent railroads from building up the territory." in considering this question, we must not forget that when we destroy elasticity and flexibility in our rates, we prevent reductions of rates, as well as the raising of rates. its tendency is not only to prevent the reduction in particular instances that has resulted in great advantage to the shippers and the country in the past, but it prevents the lowering of the general average of rates. there have been comparatively few complaints, as to the unreasonableness of the rates of this country per se. the vast majority of complaints, against the reasonableness of rates, is the claim that they are relatively unreasonable. under the american system of rate adjustment, with its freedom to meet commercial and economic conditions, the general average of rates per ton per mile has voluntarily been reduced by the carriers of the country from ; not so strikingly since as previously, but substantial reduction as follows:[j] the leaders of railroad management and the ablest experts on railroad economics in foreign countries have approved in the most enthusiastic language, the wisdom which has preserved to the american railway system its freedom of management and its flexibility of rates, subject only to the limitations of reasonable rates, equality among shippers, and the avoiding of all devices that might result in discrimination among those who use these public means of transportation. the view of m. emile heurteau, president of the orleans railroad, speaking of the american system of roads, said: "we would be only too glad to adopt the american system of fixing the lowest rates proper, and making up the loss of profit on each shipment out of the increased volume of business they make the railways available to, which is the only economically and commercially right and sensible way of doing. we would be glad to build up our territory as the american railways do, by encouraging its industries, by opening its markets, by enabling it to compete with other territory contributing to the same markets. "but we can not do that; the state-controlled rates prevent it, however strong our desire or the people's may be. * * * * * "railroads under government supervision must set their rates close to the maxima then, and maintain them there, for their own salvation. there are many times when, if it were possible, we would like to lower freight charges to meet some special emergency, such as the necessities of a district suffering from a crop failure, for example. "that is not philanthropy, but commercial sense, to help the man who creates business for you, when he is hard pressed, and to increase the volume of traffic that is falling because people have not the money to pay the price they have been accustomed to pay easily. but if we should once lower our rates--possibly to the point of loss, as american railways have done frequently in crises--we would not be allowed to restore them later, when they could be fairly restored. * * * * * "the wonderful growth and development of the united states is the admiration of the whole world. i have no doubt it is to be attributed largely to the freedom you have always enjoyed in your commercial and industrial life. "opportunity is given here for railways and communities to be mutually helpful, and splendid use has been made and is being made of it. the few cases of complaints against your railways, the expansion of trade through the opening of european markets to the producers of your central and western states, who are enabled to deliver their products abroad, the low cost of transportation that enables them to compete there with the foreign producer near at hand, whose railways are in no position to help him--all these things seem to me sufficient evidence of the success and desirability of the american practice in the management and regulation of railway matters. "any economist, any business man, any transportation manager will tell you that the present american method of fixing freight rates is the only logical and rational one." in the investigation of railways by the senate committee in , mr. w. m. acworth, who is regarded as one of the leading experts in england on railroad transportation and railroad economics, was invited to appear before the committee, with the request to give a review of the historical facts bearing on the control and management of the railways of england. after complying with the request of the committee, certain questions were asked him that were of great importance at that time in the consideration of the questions then being investigated by the committee. one of these questions involved the effect of the provision of the new canal and traffic act of parliament, which for the first time embodied the provision that "railway companies must make no increase except for good cause, if anybody objects," and which, as construed by the courts, prevented any increase of a rate where objection was made, until after hearing by the board of trade. his examination will be found in the third volume of the hearings of that investigation, pages , , and , and was as follows: "since it has been decided that no rate can be put up once it has been put down, without appeal to the law courts, the railway companies have practically arrived at the conclusion that they will not put them down because they do not know whether they will have an opportunity to put them up again. "senator cullom: do you think it works to the advantage of the people that the railways will not put the rates down for fear they will not get a chance to put them up again? "mr. acworth: personally, i have no doubt it does not. it is fair to remember always that it may protect the weaker in commercial strife. it is rather hard on the weaker man to be crowded to the wall by a wholesale concern in any walk of life. but if it be true in ordinary business that, on the whole, the public gains by the wholesaling method, it is probably true in railway business also. i think that, so to speak, the heart has been taken out of the railway man. the railway men understand this business; they know how to manage it in their own way. the railway men think 'the responsibility has ceased to be ours; we must maintain the status quo,' and that is what they do. "the chairman: you think that dividing responsibility impairs the administrative power of the officials of the roads as well as the service they render to the public? "mr. acworth: from the operating point of view, i do not think our railways have been sufficiently interfered with to prevent them developing the goodness of the service. but as to rate making, i have no doubt that the interference of parliament, the courts, and the executive has all tended to stereotype and keep rates at an unnecessarily high level. "the chairman: would you say that, on the whole, the power to make rates generally and primarily should be left to the railroads and to the free play of the forces of the business world? "mr. acworth: speaking as an individual student, i have no doubt that that is the process that will arrive at the best results for the community, with this exception: that i fully think it is necessary that the community in some way should interfere to protect all customers from unfair treatment. "the chairman: you think that the power should reside somewhere to correct excessive and extortionate rates by summary and proper proceedings? "mr. acworth: i am not sure that i should go so far as to say excessive rates regarded as excessive in themselves. i am myself inclined to think that excessive rates will correct themselves. the wise men will discover that it does not pay to charge excessive rates. but i think the law should interfere to prevent unfair rates to a as compared with the rates given to b. it seems to me that the state is bound to insist that the rates shall be public, and that practically will settle it, for if they are public they have got to be fair; i am inclined to think the law should confine itself to securing that, where there is a difference made as between a and b, the difference should be a difference for a commercial reason, and not for any reason of personal favoritism. "senator foraker: and i understand you to say that the effect of fixing maximum rates is to lessen the tendency to reduce rates, which railroads had practiced before this legislation was enacted? "mr. acworth: i am not quite sure that the maxima have really had very much effect at all. it has been a tendency, but i do not think an important tendency. but the interpretation by the courts of the undue preference law, and the recent limitation that having once reduced you can not subsequently increase, have had that effect markedly, i believe. "senator foraker: so that the rates for the transportation of freight on railroads in england have not been declining, i take it from your statement, in recent years, but have remained practically stationary? "mr. acworth: i do not know what the average rate is, because there are no statistics in england; but my own impression would be that it had probably not declined to an appreciable extent, whereas in an earlier period it certainly did decline pretty fast." the effect of a similar law, passed in england, as shown by the testimony of mr. acworth, confirms the views of the committee which have been expressed in this report, that with such a provision embodied in the present interstate commerce law, there would be few reductions or advances in american rates. if it had the effect in england of destroying the flexibility of the rates of the carrier and interfered with the development of england's commerce, as well as her railroads, how much more serious would be the result in this country, that is in the process of rapid development, both as to its commerce and territory? it has been credibly stated that the board of trade of england is now seriously considering a recommendation for the repeal of that provision of the statute. an analysis of the communication to the commission--many of its objections apply to the amendment offered in committee. . when this bill was referred to your committee for its consideration the chairman addressed a letter to the interstate commerce commission, inclosing the bill, and requested the opinion of the commission as to the wisdom of incorporating the amendment into the interstate commerce law. the chairman replied in the following communication: "interstate commerce commission, "_washington, january , ._ "hon. stephen b. elkins, "_chairman committee on interstate commerce_, "_united states senate, washington, d. c._ "dear sir: the interstate commerce commission has the honor to submit the following in response to your communication of th instant, transmitting a bill (s. ) to amend section of the act to regulate commerce, introduced by senator fulton december , , and requesting the commission to 'advise the committee before its next meeting, january , their opinion of said bill and what action they would suggest thereon.' "whilst the views of the entire commission can not be definitely ascertained within the time named, because of absences on official business, a majority of the commissioners and probably all of them would not be disposed to favor the enactment of this measure. "to give to the protest of a single shipper the effect of preventing the advance of any rate until the reasonableness of that advance was affirmatively determined by the commission would establish a hard and fast rule of doubtful fairness to the railroads and questionable advantage to the public. under existing conditions we are of the opinion that it would be unwise to adopt the arbitrary limitation which this bill proposes, whatever may be found desirable or necessary in this regard in the future. "it is further to be observed that the passage of such a bill at this time would impose a burden upon the commission which it ought not to be asked to undertake. if every proposed advance had to be investigated by the commission and officially sanctioned before it could take effect, the number of cases to be considered would presumably be so great as to render their prompt disposition almost impossible. in instances of justifiable increase the necessary delay resulting from the probable volume of cases would work injustice to the carriers. until conditions become more stable and the substantive provisions of the act are more completely observed in railway tariffs and practices we entertain the belief that a wider latitude of discretion on the part of carriers than this measure allows should be permitted. "it is also suggested that the practical effect of the proposed amendment might be to prevent voluntary reductions of rates by the carriers. if no rate could be increased without the approval of the commission after affirmative showing by the carrier it might happen that many reductions now voluntarily accorded would not be made. "this subject of rate advances was discussed in our recent annual report to the congress, and that portion of the report is transmitted herewith for the information of your committee. it concludes with a recommendation relating to the matter in question in which the entire commission concurred, and that recommendation is now respectfully renewed. "very respectfully, "martin a. knapp, _chairman_." it will be observed by an examination of this communication from the commission that it deemed it unwise to recommend the adoption of the amendment to the sixth section as offered in senate bill , but the letter refers to its former report as expressive of its views upon this subject, which recommended a somewhat similar provision, but differing in this respect. in senate bill the filing of a protest would suspend the taking effect of the rate until after full hearing as to the merits of the advance. the recommendation of the commission in its former report, referred to in the communication, recommended the adoption of a provision that would confer upon the commission, upon the filing of a complaint, the discretion to suspend the rate until final hearing. the amendment to the bill before your committee offered during its consideration, and which has been fully discussed in this report, was in substance the recommendation of the commission. an analysis of the letter of the chairman of the commission, stating the objections to the enactments of the proposed amendment into law, sustains many of the reasons which have been urged in this report against the approval of the principle announced by that amendment. the committee quotes from the letter, as follows: "(a) to give to the protest of a single shipper the effect of preventing the advance of any rate until the reasonableness of that advance was affirmatively determined by the commission, would establish a hard and fast rule of doubtful fairness to the railroads and questionable advantage to the public. "(b) under existing conditions we are of the opinion that it would be unwise to adopt the arbitrary limitation which this bill proposes. "(c) if every proposed advance had to be investigated by the commission and officially sanctioned before it could take effect the number of cases to be considered would presumably be so great as to render this prompt disposition almost impossible. "(d) it is further to be observed that the passage of such a bill at this time would impose a burden upon the commission, which it should not be asked to undertake. "(e) in instances of justifiable increase all necessary delay resulting from probable volume of cases would work injustice to the carriers. "(f) until conditions become more stable and the substantive operations of the act are more completely observed in railway tariffs and practices, we entertain the belief that a wider latitude of discretion on the part of carriers than this measure allows would be permitted. "(g) it is also suggested that the practical effect of a proposed amendment might be to prevent voluntary reductions of rates by the carriers. "(h) if no rate could be increased without the approval of the commission after affirmative showing by the carrier, it might happen that many reductions now voluntarily accorded would not be made." the nine reasons suggested by the commission why the original amendment offered to section should not be adopted, fully sustain the committee in reporting the bill adversely, and to a great extent, fully justify the views which it has expressed in this report as influencing the actions of the committee in its adverse report upon the amendment proposed in the committee. the committee is unable to appreciate the force of the suggestion of the modification proposed to the original amendment, as in any way changing the principle embodied in it, or the practical results which would flow from its adoption. if the power was conferred upon the commission, when a rate was advanced, upon complaint to suspend the going into effect of that rate until a final hearing, every objection urged by the commission to the adoption of the bill, but the first two, would be applicable to the modification proposed by the commission to the original amendment. under the modification suggested by the commission the burden imposed upon it would be greater, if possible, than under the original amendment. under the original amendment, by force of the statute, the filing of the protest would suspend the advanced rate, and the hearing upon the merits would take place after the thirty days had expired. under the suggestion of the commission conferring upon it the discretionary authority upon complaint to determine whether the rate should go into effect at the time prescribed by law or be suspended, there is imposed an official quasi judicial duty upon the commission, which it should not perform except upon proof that probably the rate sought to be advanced would ultimately be determined to be unreasonable. remembering the large number of changes of rates daily, and the fact that under the law the complaint could be filed at any time within the thirty days, would it not be an impossible undertaking for the commission to hope to perform this official act with justice to the public or to the carrier? in the multiplicity of duties now demanding its most earnest attention, would not the practical operation of such a law compel it to enter a pro forma order of suspension until the final hearing, when the commission, upon an examination of the complaint, is satisfied that it presented a prima facie case of unreasonable advance? an official tribunal charged with the duty of preventing an unreasonable advance in rates would be constrained, on the presentation of such a complaint, to issue the order of suspension. if the slightest doubt was raised in its mind as to the reasonableness of the advance, its official obligation would require it to enter the order of suspension. is there any question that such a prima facie case could be made where the consideration of the protest would, of necessity, be ex parte? the committee is not, therefore, able to draw a distinction between the original amendment and that proposed in committee. in the opinion of the committee the reasons stated in the letter of the chairman of the commission, and the reasons given in this report, not only justify it but compel an adverse report. conditions confronting congress. . the act of june , , took effect august , . it has been operative only about twenty-eight months. during half of that period of time the country has experienced the effects of a severe commercial panic; business has been prostrated; transportation paralyzed; thousands of cars have been stored on the sidings, and hundreds of engines have been placed in the shops, awaiting the revival of business. from conditions existing today, we have a right to assume that before many months we shall be approaching normal conditions. the commission has not had sufficient time to interpret and construe the recent law and to promulgate its orders in reference to the action of the carriers under it. many of the traffic questions involved, under the provisions of that law, are yet to be construed and put in force by orders of the commission. is it wise, under these conditions, to begin amending that statute by introducing provisions inconsistent with the basis of the act? it has been shown that under the power conferred by that recent enactment, the commission is vested with the power to change an existing unreasonable rate and to fix for the future a reasonable rate. it has also the authority conferred upon it to award reparation to the extent of any injury resulting to a shipper, by reason of the existence of an unreasonable rate. attention has been called to the opinion of the commission, as expressed in its decisions, narrowing very greatly the right of the carrier to advance a rate that would meet with its approval upon hearing. the committee must assume, in considering this question, that both the shippers and traffic officials, with knowledge of the views entertained by the commission upon the question of an advance of rates, will in the one case be prompt to avail themselves of that attitude of the commission, and in the other that they will seek to so adjust their rates as to bring their schedules within the rulings of that tribunal. the committee believes the highest duty of the commission is to bring together shippers and carriers, to the end that each may see that neither can be permanently prosperous at the expense of the other. it further believes that in many instances this effort has been made by the commission, and successfully made. it cannot be accomplished by statutes causing rigidity of rates. the most sensitive spot in the great business dealings of the country is the railroad rate. this rate must be raised or lowered, not in obedience to a rigid statutory law, but in obedience to the varying conditions of trade and commerce. the national board of trade, one of the most important commercial organizations in the country and one of the most influential, met in washington on tuesday, january , . two proposed resolutions were submitted to that convention. first, by the philadelphia press league, urging an amendment to the interstate commerce law, to permit railroads engaged in interstate traffic to enter into the making of agreements under the supervision and control of the interstate commerce commission. the second proposition was submitted by the scranton board of trade, embodying the provisions of the amendment offered in the committee upon the consideration of senate bill , and approved in the report of the interstate commerce commission as to the advance of rates. these resolutions were referred to the committee on resolutions having charge of interstate commerce matters. that committee, through its chairman, made the following report, which was unanimously indorsed by the convention of the national board of trade: "the committee on interstate commerce law respectfully reports that, in its judgment, the national board of trade ought not at this time to recommend any change in the laws relating to interstate commerce." the convention was not satisfied with the passage of this resolution, but the chairmen of the several committees of that association were subsequently authorized and directed by resolution to urge the conclusions of the board in its name whenever possible. the country is now demanding repose in its industrial upbuilding. it is not a time to experiment and to change the basis upon which the former acts to regulate commerce have been predicated. the recent law passed by congress so greatly enlarging the authority of the commission should, before changes are sought, have the opportunity of at least a fair trial as to the value of its provisions in the regulation of interstate commerce. when trial has been given and normal conditions have been restored, any defect in the regulating statute can then, in the light of experience, be promptly remedied. footnote: [j] the average rate per ton mile in was . mills. statistics of american railways for the year ending june prepared by slason thompson manager of the bureau of railway news and statistics introduction "the function of accounts is to record facts. true accounting is nothing more, nor nothing less, than the correct statement of what in fact has taken place, and the measurement of that fact in an appropriate figure."--prof henry c. adams. to be of the highest value, statistics must be accurate, uniform and continuous. nothing in the nature of statistics under official authority more confusing and misleading has ever been issued from the government printing office than those portions of the twenty-third annual report of the interstate commerce commission for the year ending june , , purporting to deal with the financial results of the railways of the united states for the fiscal years and . on the first page of the report the financial results of the last two fiscal years are set down thus: =================================================================== | operating | operating | | operating | revenues | expenses | taxes | income -----+----------------+----------------+-------------+------------- | $ , , , | $ , , , | $ , , | $ , , | , , , | , , , | , , | , , -----+----------------+----------------+-------------+------------- the mileage operated in is stated as , . and in as , . miles. on page of the report the summary compiled from the monthly reports gives the following comparative figures for the same years: =================================================================== | total | total | | | operating | operating | net revenue | taxes | revenues | expenses | | | $ , , , | $ , , , | $ , , | $ , , | , , , | , , , | , , | , , -----+----------------+----------------+--------------+------------ the mileage is the same as above, with the added information that the mileage operated at the end of the fiscal year was , . ; and at the end of , , . . it will be observed that the taxes in both summaries are identical, but in one they are subtracted from net revenues and in the other they are not. an insert facing page , giving the details of the monthly reports from which the table on that page is compiled, reveals the common source of both sets of returns and gives the key to the discrepancy between them. this is no less than the inclusion in the former of the revenues and expenses from "outside operations," which are excluded from the summary on page , in which the "net revenue" only from such outside source is mentioned and added to the net revenue from rail operations. the impropriety and inaccuracy of such accounting becomes manifest when its effect is seen to vary the ratio of operating expenses to earnings from . % to . % in , and from . % to . % in . on pages and appears another set of income figures for the year ending june , . this is compiled from the annual reports of the carriers operating , miles of line, from which _the mileage of switching and terminal companies is excluded_. it supplies the following summary: year ending june , . ===========================================+================= rail operations: | operating revenues | $ , , , operating expenses | , , , net operating revenue | , , taxes | , , net revenue from outside operations | , , operating income | , , ratio of operating expenses to earnings | . -------------------------------------------+----------------- as these figures are compiled from the only returns which furnish data respecting all the various phases of railway operation in the united states, they will be accepted in subsequent pages as the official returns for . the above figures are exclusive of returns from switching and terminal companies, whose earnings, according to the monthly reports in , were $ , , ; expenses, $ , , , and taxes, $ , , . grossly exaggerated dividends. but these are venial variations compared to the deliberate misrepresentation as to dividends on page of the report, where it is stated: "the amount of dividends declared during the year was $ , , , being equivalent to . per cent on dividend-paying stock. for the year ending june , , the amount of dividends declared was $ , , ." this statement is the more reprehensible because the inaccuracy of the reference to dividends in was exposed a year ago, and $ , , of the total is proved to be fictitious by the line in the condensed income statement of the report (page ) reading: "dividends declared from current income, $ , , ." it takes dividends from surplus, dividends by leased companies, and dividends from surplus of leased companies to make up that gross deception as to the dividends declared in . and all these "several dividends" are only made statistically possible by including in current income $ , , "other income" not derived from transportation. it is impossible to overestimate the harmful popular effect of exaggerating the dividends paid by the railways by $ , , in and $ , , in . the public mind does not stop to distinguish between dividends "declared," dividends paid out of "income" and net dividends actually paid out of net earnings of railway traffic. this whole statistical structure of fictitious dividends has been built up in successive reports upon the false premise of including intercorporate payments on both sides of the income account. what the public is entitled to know is the disposition of the gross sum paid by it for transportation services--those services which the act to regulate commerce was passed to regulate. bewildering changes in nomenclature. scattered through the official reports for the student is confronted with numerous changes in terminology, many of which are for the better, but nearly all impair that continuity of names and phrases which is so desirable in comparative statistics. for instance, the public has been taught, by official practice, to speak of the revenues of the railways derived from the transportation of passengers, freight, mail and express, as "gross earnings from operation." the phrase is descriptive, definite and clear. for this the commission has substituted "rail operations, operating revenues." former reports spoke of "income from operation," which now gives place to "net operating revenue." to this is added the "net revenue from outside operations," making a "total net revenue," from which "taxes accrued" are deducted, the remainder being "operating income." it will be perceived that this last phrase, which covers revenues from which operating expenses and taxes have been deducted and to which the net revenues from outside operations (sometimes they involve a deficit) have been added, comes perilously near the "income from operation" of preceding reports. the exclusion of the reports from switching and terminal companies in some instances, while they are included in others, introduces an element of perplexing uncertainty at every turn and really vitiates all comparisons with former reports. the commission itself seems to realize the bog into which the official statistician has plunged its accounts, when it says: "the changes in the income account submitted in the report under consideration _are so far reaching in their results_, in a number of instances, as to impair direct or close comparison with figures for similar items in previous statistical reports." and now it is proposed to throw all the accumulated statistics of twenty-two years out of consecutive gear by substituting the calendar for the fiscal year. * * * * * the writer has deemed the foregoing comments necessary to clear the atmosphere before proceeding to the introductory summary showing the salient features of the railway industry in compared with similar items in and . the data for is compiled from the annual reports to this bureau covering , miles of operated line, together with the monthly reports to the commission of earnings and expenses of all classes of roads for that year, covering an average operated mileage of , . summary of railway results in , and , with percentages of increase for each item by decades. (m = , ; d = decrease.) ====================================+============+============ | | item | | | | | | ------------------------------------+------------+------------ miles of line | , | , miles of all track | , | , | | net capitalization (m) | $ , , | $ , , net capitalization per mile of line | , | , net capitalization per mile of track| , | , | | gross earnings from operation (m) | , | , , gross earnings per mile of line | , | , expenses of operation (m) | , | , expenses of operation per mile of | | line | , | , net earnings from operation (m) | , | , net earnings per mile of line (m) | , | , ratio of expenses to earnings | . | . | | receipts from freight (m) | $ , | $ , receipts from passengers (m) | , | , receipts from mail (m) | , | , receipts from express (m) | , | , | | passengers carried (m) | , | , passengers carried one mile (m) | , , | , , receipts per passenger per mile | | (cents) | . | . | | freight tons carried (m) | , | , freight tons carried one mile (m) | , , | , , receipts per ton per mile (mills) | . | . | | locomotives, number | , | , locomotives, weight (tons) | , , | , , | | passenger cars (number) | , | , | | freight cars, number | , | , , freight cars, capacity (tons) | , , | , , | | average tons in train | | | | employes, number | , | , employes, compensation |$ , , |$ , , proportion of gross earnings | . | . proportion of operating expenses | . | . | | taxes | $ , , | $ , , per mile of line | | proportion of gross earnings | . | . ------------------------------------+------------+------------ {table continued} ====================================+==============+================= | |increase|increase item | | over | over | | | | | % | % ------------------------------------+--------------+--------+-------- miles of line | , | . | . miles of all track | , | . | . | | | net capitalization (m) | $ , , | . | . net capitalization per mile of line | , | . | . net capitalization per mile of track| , | . | . | | | gross earnings from operation (m) | , , | . | . gross earnings per mile of line | , | . | . expenses of operation (m) | , , | . | . expenses of operation per mile of | | | line | , | . | . net earnings from operation (m) | , | . | . net earnings per mile of line (m) | , | . | . ratio of expenses to earnings | . | d . | . | | | receipts from passengers (m) | $ , | . | . receipts from freight (m) | , , | . | . receipts from mail (m) | , | . | . receipts from express (m) | , | . | . | | | passengers carried (m) | , | . | . passengers carried one mile (m) | , , | . | . receipts per passenger per mile | | | (cents) | . | d . | d . | | | freight tons carried (m) | , , | . | . freight tons carried one mile (m) | , , | . | . receipts per ton per mile (mills) | . | d . | . | | | locomotives, number | , | . | . locomotives, weight (tons) | , , | . | . | | | passenger cars (number) | , | . | . | | | freight cars, number | , , | . | . freight cars, capacity (tons) | , , | . | . | | | average tons in train | | . | . | | | employes, number | , , | . | . employes, compensation |$ , , , | . | . proportion of gross earnings | . | . | . proportion of operating expenses | . | . | . | | | taxes | $ , , | . | . per mile of line | | . | . proportion of gross earnings | . | . | . ------------------------------------+--------------+--------+-------- there is not a line or figure of this table, with its percentages of increase, that does not testify at once to the amazing growth of american railways and to the equally amazing economical basis upon which they render incalculable services to the american people on terms that challenge the admiration of less favored peoples. review of the last three calendar years. where the twenty-second annual report of the interstate commerce commission minimized the loss inflicted on the railways by the business depression of , the twenty-third annual report naturally, and by reason of the same cause, minimizes the substantial recovery of . where the former showed a loss in gross earnings of only $ , , below the preceding year, when the actual result of the depression was nearly $ , , ($ , , ), the latter shows a recovery of only $ , , , when it was approximately $ , , ($ , , ). the explanation of this discrepancy is, of course, the commission's adherence to its own fiscal periods of statistics, which do not happen, in this instance, to coincide with the ebb and flow of adversity and prosperity. the true movement of railway traffic before, during and after the recent business depression is more nearly reflected in the following figures for the calendar years , and , compiled from the monthly returns to the interstate commerce commission, divided into periods of six months: summary of gross earnings of the railways during the calendar years , and , by months and half-yearly divisions. ======================+================+================+=============== | | | ----------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------- january | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , february | , , | , , | , , march | , , | , , | , , april | , , | , , | , , may | , , | , , | , , june | , , | , , | , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- half year | $ , , , | $ , , , | $ , , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- july | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , august | , , | , , | , , september | , , | , , | , , october | , , | , , | , , november | , , | , , | , , december | , , | , , | , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- half year | $ , , , | $ , , , | $ , , , total | , , , | , , , | , , , average mileage | , | , | , earnings per mile | $ , | $ , | $ , | | | ----------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------- summary of operating expenses of the railways during the calendar years , and , by months and half-yearly periods, with ratios to gross earnings. ======================+================+================+=============== | | | ----------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------- january | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , february | , , | , , | , , march | , , | , , | , , april | , , | , , | , , may | , , | , , | , , june | , , | , , | , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- half year | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , ratio | . % | % | . % +----------------+----------------+--------------- july | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , august | , , | , , | , , september | , , | , , | , , october | , , | , , | , , november | , , | , , | , , december | , , | , , | , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- half year | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , ratio | % | . % | . % +----------------+----------------+--------------- total | $ , , , | $ , , , | $ , , , ratio | . % | . % | . % +----------------+----------------+--------------- net operating revenue | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , taxes | , , | , , | , , +----------------+----------------+--------------- net operating income | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , ----------------------+----------------+----------------+--------------- through these tables the reader is able to trace the upward course of railway receipts in to their culmination in october of that year; their rapid drop to february, ; through the hard summer following to the gradual recovery of , until in october last they reached the highest monthly total on record. concurrently with this story of the depression of , the tale of railway distress and of the drastic measures adopted to meet the emergency can be read in the half-yearly ratios. the ratio for the fiscal year -' was . %, and the shadow of approaching trouble was shown in an increase of this ratio to . % for the first six months in the table. by december this ratio had risen to . %. the enormous receipts of the autumn months held the ratio for the six months down to %. in february, , it marked the high and ruinous figure of . , and from that point the trend, due to severe retrenchments, was steadily downward until it touched . % in october, . the ratio of . % for the second half of is the true measure of the ability of the railways to cut their expenditures to fit the times. but they were on bed rock, as the succeeding months of small receipts proved, when the ratio went up to . % in january, and averaged the high figure of . % for the first six months of . the heavy receipts of october and november without a corresponding expansion of expenditures resulted in the phenomenally low ratios of these months. but the severity and necessities of operating conditions in december, , ran the ratio of expenses up to . %. the net earnings for the three years under consideration are apt to lead to erroneous conclusions as to the effect of the depression. neither the loss in nor the recovery in reflects the true swing of the pendulum. the one minimizes the loss, because it conceals the cessation of all constructive work, the curtailment of betterments and improvements, and the postponement of all purchases for replacements except of the most immediate and imperative nature; the other exaggerates the recovery because of heavy receipts without the resumption of the concurrent expenditures that should attend them. the railways in the fall of were simply doing business on the margin of facilities provided during the fat months of in anticipation of a continuation of prosperous times. some idea of the extent of this margin may be gained from the parking of , freight cars in the yards with , in the shops in april, . at no time since has this margin been wholly exhausted. but a continuation of traffic on the scale of the past six months will necessitate an immediate expenditure of $ , , to $ , , for the replacement of freight cars alone. income account for the calendar year . the monthly summaries issued by the interstate commerce commission from time to time afford the details for the construction of the following statement of the transportation revenues and expenses of the railways for the calendar year , from which the averages per mile and the ratios have been computed on the basis of , miles of operated line. statement of operating receipts and expenses of the railways of the united states for the calendar year ending december , , with amounts per mile and ratios. (average miles of line operated, , .) (a) ====================================+================+=========+======== | | |ratio to | amount |per mile | gross | | |earnings ------------------------------------+----------------+---------+-------- receipts from: | | | freight | $ , , , | $ , | . passengers | , , | , | . other transportation revenues | , , | | . non-transportation sources | , , | | . +----------------+---------+-------- total revenues | $ , , , | $ , | . | | | expenses: | | | maintenance of way and structures | $ , , | $ , | . maintenance of equipment | , , | , | . traffic expenses | , , | | . transportation | , , | , | . general expenses | , , | | . unclassified | , | -- | -- +----------------+---------+-------- total expenses | $ , , , | $ , | . net operating revenues | , , | , | . profit from outside operations | , , | | +----------------+---------+-------- net revenues | $ , , | -- | -- taxes | , , | | . +----------------+ | net income | $ , , | $ , | ------------------------------------+----------------+---------+-------- (a) at the close of the year the reports covered , miles of operated line. unfortunately there are no similar figures for the calendar year with which comparisons may be made, but the official returns for the year ending june , , when railway earnings reached their maximum before the panic of that year, afford the following instructive comparisons: ===============================+=====================+================ | year to | year to | june , | dec. , -------------------------------+---------------------+---------------- gross earnings | $ , , , | $ , , , per mile | , | , operating expenses | , , , | , , , per mile | , | , ratio | . | . net revenues | , , | , , per mile | , | , taxes | , , | , , per mile | | -------------------------------+---------------------+---------------- it will be perceived that while the earnings in exceeded those of by over ½ millions they were almost $ less per mile, while the operating expenses were actually $ less per mile. the decreased operating ratio in bears unmistakable testimony as to where the increase in net revenues came from. with an increase of nearly , miles of line only $ , , was spent on maintenance of way and structures in against $ , , in , and the urgent demands of returning activity made the expenditures on this account liberal in comparison with those for the year ending june , , i. e. $ , , , or $ , per mile. it will be years before the railways recover from the economies forced on them by the loss of $ , , in revenues in . unregulated regulation of american railways. today the railways of the united states are "cribb'd, cabin'd and confined" in their services to the american people, not so much by the laws for their regulation as by the spirit in which those laws are administered. to the general tenor and purposes of statutory regulation the railways have become largely reconciled; but from the spirit in which the laws are sought to be enforced, there has to be continuous appeal to the courts and to the public sense of justice. regulation of railways has been persistently interpreted by political commissions to spell reduction of rates and exacting conditions that would drain the purse of fortunatus. between , when the interstate commerce commission's statistics first became a valuable index of railway operation, and , the average rate per ton mile has fallen from . to . mills. on the freight tonnage of this meant a reduction of over $ , , in the yearly revenues of the railways. the railways suffered that loss from their income when they needed every cent of it to maintain the people's highway in a condition to transport the people's ever-growing traffic. the railways lost it, but who got it? the people? search the market reports of the land, from eastport to san diego, and you will find incontestable proof that not one cent of these millions reached the pockets of the people, in whose name all regulation of railways is demanded and for whose benefit all reductions are claimed. the average rate on all commodities has gone down, the price of every commodity transported by the railways has gone up. who has pocketed the difference? there can be only one answer--the producers, the shippers and the traders. today nine-tenths of the increased cost of living in the united states is chargeable to this ever vigilant and aggressive coalition. for everything the railways must buy--labor, supplies, money--they have to pay the advanced prices of the day. but the protests of the shippers and the rulings of the commission forbid their raising a rate or adopting a money-saving economy. they attempted to readjust freight rates in one-fiftieth of a cent per ton mile above a ruinously low average and the outraged shippers secured the passage of the hepburn act! how the federal commission and shippers work together for the so-called regulation of the railways is evidenced in the unbroken tenor of the decisions handed down by the commission. out of decisions printed during the year - , no less than , or . %, were orders granting reductions of rates or reparation for charges found comparatively excessive or unreasonable. in not one case in a score was the rate found excessive or unreasonable per se. in only one case out of the was an increased rate ordered, and this was done reluctantly and as unavoidable. although the decisions are for the most part the unanimous finding of the commission, the following table distributes the opinions of the year among its members into dismissals and reductions or reparations among the commissioners writing them: =================================+============+============== | | granting opinion by | dismissing | reductions or | complaints | reparation ---------------------------------+------------+-------------- chairman knapp | | commissioner clement | | " prouty | | " cockerill | | " lane | | " clark | | " harlan | | +------------+-------------- total | | per cent | . | . ---------------------------------+------------+-------------- some of the cases upon which the commission is called on to pass are so trivial as to be beneath the notice of a justice's court, while others involve issues so momentous as to threaten the whole structure of railway rates by which the unparalleled prosperity of the country has been made possible. but the number of cases reaching the commission for adjudication is insignificant compared with the grist of informal reparation orders that runs an endless stream through its regulating rollers. in the twelve months from december , , to november , , these aggregated no less than , separate orders involving amounts all the way from cents to $ , . , as seen in the following orders: . _larabee flour mills company_ v. _atchison, topeka & santa fe railway company_. september , . refund of $ . on shipment of cotton bags from kansas city, mo., to hutchinson, kas., on account of excessive rate. . _lackawanna steel company_ v. _central railroad company of new jersey_. june , . refund of $ , . on shipments of spiegeleisen from newark, n. j., and hazard, pa., to buffalo, n. y., on account of excessive rates. multiplying these awards by the number of orders enables the reader to imagine the range of their respective pettiness or portentous possibilities. it is doubtful if the american people, or even the interstate commerce commissioners themselves, realize how the formal decisions and informal orders of the commission are slowly but surely whittling away the safe margin of american railway profits. at the rate of two decisions every three days and forty informal orders per week, the work of incipient confiscation proceeds with remorseless enthusiasm. with the best intentions in the world the present interstate commerce commission is so enmeshed in its own anti-railway traditions, so enamored of the administrative control theories of its statistician, so covetous of unbridled, irresponsible authority to tear down where it has no constructive capacity, that anything like co-operation between the commission and the railway management for the public good seems out of the question. to the writer it appears that only blind rejection of facts can find any conserving element in the regulation of railways as at present administered. signs of a helpful disposition in official acts are entirely lacking. the senate and house calendars groan under bills for the further regulation and restriction of the railways, but not one contains a promise of relief. for not one is there a genuine public demand. and what is the situation as this is written? it can be stated in a few lines. as a consequence of the drop of $ , , in gross earnings in , the railways in and cut $ , , out of their expenditures. this was done mainly at the expense of maintenance of way and structures and in a cessation in the purchase of equipment, but the so-called economies of postponed expenditures permeated every line of railway extension, operation and replacement. in , with , more miles of track to maintain, $ , , less was spent for maintenance than in , and in with , more miles of track $ , , less was expended. between and the expenditures for maintenance of way increased from $ , , to $ , , , or over %. this means an increase of approximately % a year, or at least $ , , on present plant. therefore at least $ , , was withheld from this essential line of railway maintenance in and fully $ , , in , a total of $ , , . the saving on equipment was nearly as great and is dealt with in the body of the report. a comparison of the income accounts for the month of october, and , corroborates the foregoing statement as to the economies forced on the railways by the adverse winds of regulation and business depression. =================================+===============+============= month of october | | ---------------------------------+---------------+------------- earnings from operation | $ , , | $ , , operating expenses | , , | , , +---------------+------------- net earnings | $ , , | $ , , operating ratio | . | . ---------------------------------+---------------+------------- the canker worm in this, the most promising flower of returning prosperity, is revealed in the abnormal ratio of . for october, , or nearly % below the american average. now this % on the revenues of last october means that in some way over $ , , less than normal was expended on american railways in that month alone. and october, , was only a sample of how railways had cut expenses for consecutive months. that this should be so, with no reduction in the scale of wages or the price of supplies, is, in the view of the writer, a situation of serious national concern. happily he is not charged with any commission to suggest how or where the deferred debt of nearly $ , , to efficient railway road and equipment is to be met. but that it must be met, to place the railways in as good condition as they were before the panic of , when the cry was for more, not less facilities, does not admit of question. if it, together with the advance in wages now being adjusted, is to be met out of income, only an advance in freight rates can take care of it. if out of fresh capital, it can only be coaxed from the pockets of shrewd investors by rates of interest that discount the risk attendant on the unregulated and irresponsible regulation of railway revenues, resources and responsibilities. and it is proposed to make an irresponsible commission, unfamiliar with the necessities of the situation and unversed in the ways and means of raising capital arbiters of these necessities, ways and means. all attempts to meet such a situation by legislation, unless it be directed to a reform of the instrumentalities of regulation, must prove ineffectual. in a broader, saner, more helpful administration of the laws already on the federal and state statute books lies the hope for the future of the great american transportation industry. "whate'er is best administered is best." the bureau's statistics for . thus far what has been written has related almost wholly to the financial aspect of the transportation industry as presented through the monthly reports of the railways. while these in their way serve as an admirable barometer in keeping the public informed as to general business conditions throughout the union, they throw little light upon the railway operations behind the financial results. they are absolutely dumb on the main question upon which all railway legislation and regulation should hinge--adequate and efficient public service. in the following pages the bureau attempts to remedy this omission, in the essential particulars for the year ending june , . the reports from which its summaries have been compiled were received almost a month earlier this year than last, but the publication of the bureau's statistics has been delayed in order to make the usual comparisons with the official statistics for . the writer is advised from washington that the fault for this unusual delay rests with the government printer--whose office is overwhelmed with congressional and departmental work--and not with the interstate commerce commission or its bureau of statistics and accounts. for the first time, the reports to this bureau cover the division of freight movement into the seven chief commodities; the separation of revenues from mail and express; the distribution of expenses for injuries and damages, and the summaries of expenses for maintenance of way and equipment, traffic expenses, transportation expenses and general expenses. it is believed that with the addition of these accounts the annual report of the bureau has become so comprehensive as to warrant its publication hereafter at an earlier date, without waiting on the publication of the official statistics for the preceding year. this year the bureau has received reports from roads operating , miles of line or approximately . % of the mileage and carrying over % of the traffic of the country. last year reports were received covering , miles. the increase of , miles fairly represents the actual increase of railway mileage in the united states for the twelve months. in presenting these statistics, the writer has endeavored to make them as colorless summaries of facts as an earnest desire to arrive at the truth permits. such comment as accompanies them will be confined to comparisons and elucidation and not to the furtherance of any personal theories. for the sake of brevity, the interstate commerce commission will be referred to herein as the "commission"; the commission's "statistics of railways in the united states" as "official statistics" and "the year ending june th" will be implied before the year named unless otherwise specified. the statements as to foreign railways are compiled from the latest official sources available. here the writer wishes to record his personal appreciation of the assistance rendered by the executives and accounting officials of the railways, whose co-operation has made this report possible. in the midst of increasing burdens imposed on them in reporting to federal and state commissions and legislatures, the requests for information from this bureau might have seemed excusably negligible. the completeness of the report itself testifies to the cordiality with which the bureau's work is viewed. acknowledgments are also due to federal and state officials for their uniform courtesy in responding to the many requests from this bureau, and the writer has been much gratified to receive from the chief government railway official of one foreign country the assurance that he considers its annual report "one of the most comprehensive and useful compilations of statistical matter relating to railways that has come into his hands." slason thompson. chicago, april , . i mileage in according to the preliminary income report of the interstate commerce commission for the year ending june , , compiled from the monthly returns, the average railway mileage operated in the united states during the year was , . miles; and the total mileage operated at the end of the year was , . . ============================================+================= the former total is made up of: | large roads operating miles or more | , . miles small roads " " or less | , . " switching or terminal companies | , . " +----------------- total | , . miles --------------------------------------------+----------------- the returns to this bureau, compiled from the annual reports for the same year, cover , miles, against , in , an increase of , miles. reports to the commission for december, , showed a total operated mileage of , miles. in its report dated december , , the commission stated that for the year ending june , , substantially complete returns had been received for , miles of line operated, including , . miles used under trackage rights. these are the official figures of mileage for , which will be used in all subsequent comparisons with the bureau's figures for --the latter, however, may include some switching and terminal mileage excluded from the former. of the mileage reporting to this bureau, , miles were operated under trackage rights, leaving a net of , miles of line covered by capitalization and rental. assuming that the total operated mileage in the united states at the close of the fiscal year was , , the complete returns to this bureau cover approximately . % of the mileage and % of the traffic of all the railways in the united states. no attempt has been made, or will be made, to segregate the returns of switching and terminal companies from the bureau's figures, of which they are an integral part. the first summary under this table presents the _operated_ mileage reported to this bureau in and , classified by states and territories in comparison with the official figures of mileage owned in , with relation to area and population of the respective territorial divisions: summary of railway mileage in the united states by states and territories in , and and its relation to area and population. ================|=================|==========|============|=========== |bureau's figures | | miles of | +--------+--------+ (a) | line |inhabitants | | | owned | per | per |operated|operated|(official)|sq. miles of| mile of | miles | miles | miles | territory | line ----------------+--------+--------+----------+------------+----------- alabama | , | , | , | . | arkansas | , | , | , | . | california | , | , | , | . | colorado | , | , | , | . | connecticut | | | , | . | delaware | | | | . | florida | , | , | , | . | georgia | , | , | , | . | idaho | , | , | , | . | illinois | , | , | , | . | indiana | , | , | , | . | iowa | , | , | , | . | kansas | , | , | , | . | kentucky | , | , | , | . | louisiana | , | , | , | . | maine | , | , | , | . | maryland | , | , | , | . | massachusetts | , | , | , | . | , michigan | , | , | , | . | minnesota | , | , | , | . | mississippi | , | , | , | . | missouri | , | , | , | . | montana | , | , | , | . | nebraska | , | , | , | . | nevada | , | , | , | . | new hampshire | , | , | , | . | new jersey | , | , | , | . | new york | , | , | , | . | north carolina | , | , | , | . | north dakota | , | , | , | . | ohio | , | , | , | . | oklahoma | , | , | , | . | oregon | , | , | , | . | pennsylvania | , | , | , | . | rhode island | | | | . | , south carolina | , | , | , | . | south dakota | , | , | , | . | tennessee | , | , | , | . | texas | , | , | , | . | utah | , | , | , | . | vermont | | | , | . | virginia | , | , | , | . | washington | , | , | , | . | west virginia | , | , | , | . | wisconsin | , | , | , | . | wyoming | , | , | , | . | arizona | , | , | , | . | new mexico | , | , | , | . | district of | | | | | columbia | | | | . | , canada(b) | , | , | | | +--------+--------+----------+------------+----------- united states | , | , | , | . | ----------------+--------+--------+----------+------------+----------- (a) official mileage by states not available for . (b) mileage operated in canada by american roads. summary of railway mileage in the united states by states and territories in and and its relation to area and population--continued. =================================+===========+============+=========== | | miles of | | owned | line |inhabitants |(official) | per | per | miles |sq. miles of| mile of | | territory | line ---------------------------------+-----------+------------+----------- united states, | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | " " | , | . | ---------------------------------+-----------+------------+----------- the column of operated mileage in testifies to the comprehensive character of the reports to this bureau, while the last two columns demonstrate how railway extension has kept pace with the growth of the country. territorially the united states now has % more railway mileage than it had in , and the last column proves that the mileage is greater proportionately to the population than it was twenty years ago. the contrast in the density of population per mile of line between rhode island and nevada is illustrative of the startling diversity of conditions under which railways are operated in the united states. railways built in . the new mileage reported as constructed in tallies more nearly than usual with the increase in mileage for which operating reports are received. as reported in the _railway and engineering review_, february , , the new mileage by states was as follows: miles of line constructed during the calendar year by states and territories. ==============================+======== | miles state | built | ------------------------------+-------- alaska | alabama | . arkansas | . arizona | . california | . colorado | . district of columbia | . florida | . georgia | . idaho | . illinois | . indiana | . kansas | . kentucky | . louisiana | . maine | . maryland | . michigan | . minnesota | . mississippi | . missouri | . montana | . nebraska | . nevada | . new hampshire | . new jersey | . new mexico | . new york | . north carolina | . ohio | . oklahoma | . oregon | . pennsylvania | . south carolina | . tennessee | . texas | . utah | . virginia | . washington | . west virginia | . wisconsin | . wyoming | . ------------------------------+-------- total | , . second track, sidings, etc. | , . |-------- total all tracks | , . ------------------------------+-------- railway mileage of foreign countries. the ratios of railway mileage to area and population in the table on page may be compared with those of foreign countries for in the following statement: summary of the world's railways and ratio of the mileage to the area and population of each country in . _from archiv fur eisenbahnwesen_, may-june, . ===================================+=========+============+=========== | | miles of |inhabitants | miles | line per | per countries | | square | mile of | | miles | line -----------------------------------+---------+------------+----------- europe: | | | germany | , | . | , austria-hungary | , | . | , great britain and ireland | , | . | , france | , | . | , russia in europe and finland | | | ( , miles) | , | . | , italy | , | . | , belgium | , | . | , netherlands and luxemburg | , | . | , switzerland | , | . | , spain | , | . | , portugal | , | . | , denmark | , | . | , norway | , | . | , sweden | , | . | servia | | . | , roumania | , | . | , greece | | . | , turkey in europe, bulgaria and | | | rumelia | , | . | , malta, jersey and isle of man | | . | , +---------+------------+----------- total for europe, | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | , " " " | , | . | -- " " " | , | . | -- " " " | , | . | -- +---------+------------+----------- increase in eleven years | , | -- | -- | | | other foreign countries in : | | | canada | , | . | mexico | , | . | brazil | , | . | , argentine republic | , | . | peru | , | . | , uruguay | , | . | chili | , | . | . central russia in asia | , | . | , siberia and manchuria | , | . | , japan | , | . | , china | , | . | , british india | , | . | , new zealand | , | . | victoria | , | . | new south wales | , | . | south australia | , | . | queensland | , | . | egypt | , | . | , cape colony | , | . | natal | | . | transvaal | , | . | recapitulation: | | | total for europe | , | . | , " " america | , | . | " " asia | , | . | , " " africa | , | . | , " " australia | , | . | " " the whole world | , | -- | -- -----------------------------------+---------+------------+----------- of the above total railway mileage for the whole world, no less than , miles, or nearly %, is operated in english speaking countries, the mileage of the united states alone being over % of the whole. to the most casual student the disparity between the density of population to railway mileage in the united states and europe of one to five, is as apparent as it is significant of our necessity for so much greater provision of transportation facilities per capita. if our per capita mileage were relatively the same as that of europe, the united states would be set back to the transportation facilities of , when the completion of the union pacific raised its total mileage to , miles. but even then it had a ratio of one mile of railway to inhabitants, which was higher than europe's ratio today. clearly there is nothing in the statistics of the railway mileage of the world to account for the epidemic of railway phobia that periodically convulses the people and legislatures of the united states of america. mileage of all tracks in . of almost equal importance to the mileage of american railways are the auxiliary tracks upon which the extent and efficiency of their public service so largely depends. as the next statement shows, these continue to increase more rapidly than the miles of line. summary of mileage of single track, second track, third track, fourth track and yard track and sidings, in the united states, to . ==============+===========+========+=======+=======+========+========= | | | | | | total | single | second | third |fourth | yard | mileage year | track | track | track |track | track | operated | | | | | and | (all | | | | |sidings | tracks) --------------+-----------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------- ( . %) | | | | | | bureau | , | , | , | , | , | , official |(a) , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | , | | , | , | , | , | | | , | , --------------+-----------+--------+-------+-------+--------+--------- (a) to the figures for should be added the , miles of main track and , of yard track and sidings of switching and terminal companies, excluded by the official statistician, raising the total of all tracks to , . by adding the auxiliary trackage reported to this bureau for to the , miles of operated line reported to the interstate commerce commission for june of that year, it appears that the total of all tracks on that date was _upwards of , miles_. it will be observed that in every instance the mileage of second, third and fourth track and yard track and sidings reported to this bureau in , the year of comparative stagnation in railway construction, exceeded the complete mileage of these tracks in reported to the commission. the above table (with the commission's figures for single track) shows that where there has been an increase of only , miles of single track, or . %, in twelve years, all trackage has increased over , , or %, during the same period. it also shows that during the same twelve years second track has increased %; third track %; fourth track %, and yard track and sidings %. mileage and track of british railways. as english railways are so often brought into comparison with american railways, it is well to know the total of all tracks in the united kingdom as well as the mileage. both are given in the following statement, compiled from returns to the british board of trade for the years ending december , to : ---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+------- description of track | | | | | ---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+------- single track (miles) | , | , | , | , | , second track | , | , | , | , | , third track | , | , | , | , | , fourth track | , | , | , | , | , fifth track | | | | | sixth track | | | | | seventh track | | | | | eighth to twentieth tracks | | | | | sidings | , | , | , | , | , +--------+--------+--------+--------+------- total trackage | , | , | , | , | , ---------------------------+--------+--------+--------+--------+------- here it will be perceived the mileage of british roads increased only miles and the trackage only , miles in four years. during the same period, as shown in the preceding table, the mileage of american railways increased , miles and their total trackage , . it is this continuous demand for increased mileage and trackage in the united states, to say nothing of equipment, that differentiates the problem confronting american railway management from british. in the united states we need more railways and still more railways, and the problem is to get the capital on reasonable terms to provide the facilities. in railroad mileage alone we have over ten times that of the united kingdom and we have more than six times as many miles of track. we have enough trackage in our yards and sidings to double track all the british railways, with enough over to put four tracks where they have only two tracks now. ii equipment an object lesson in equipment. no car shortage occurred to interrupt the orderly movement of railway traffic during the fiscal year - . on the contrary, there was an unprofitable surplus of cars throughout the year, ranging from , in september, , to , in january, . from this high figure the surplus was slowly reduced by the demands of traffic until subsequent to the close of the fiscal year, in september last, it reached a practical level of shortages and surpluses. during the year there was an average of , freight cars in the shops, where in times of ordinary activity the mean would be in the neighborhood of , . these conditions, which prevailed since november, , account for the greatly reduced purchases of rolling stock during the years and shown in the following record of locomotives and cars built in the united states during the past eleven years: eleven years' output of cars and locomotives. _from the railroad age-gazette._ ========================+=============+===========+========== | | number | year | locomotives | passenger | freight | | cars | cars ------------------------+-------------+-----------+---------- (a) | , | , | , (a) | , | , | , (a) | , | , | , (a) | , | , | , (a) | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , +-------------+-----------+---------- total | , | , | , , ------------------------+-------------+-----------+---------- (a) includes canadian output. between and the interstate commerce commission reported an increase of , locomotives, , passenger cars, and , freight and company cars. allowing for the canadian output in the above table, this would show , more locomotives, , more passenger cars, and , more freight cars built in ten years than are accounted for in the official returns. roughly speaking, these last figures represent the number of locomotives and cars worn out beyond repair or destroyed that have to be replaced annually. it means that provision has to be made every year for the purchase of new equipment amounting to approximately % of locomotives and passenger cars and % of freight cars in order to maintain the equipment numerically, irrespective of the sums spent on maintaining the remainder in serviceable condition. on the equipment reported by the commission for this would necessitate the following outlay for replacement alone: ======================+===========+=============+=========+============= | number | needed for | average | total | | replacement | cost | cost ----------------------+-----------+-------------+---------+------------- locomotives | , | % = , | $ , | $ , , passenger cars | , | % = , | , | , , freight cars | , , | % = , | , | , , company cars | , | , | | , , | | | +------------- total cost for | | | | replacing equipment | | | | $ , , ----------------------+-----------+-------------+---------+------------- it is probable that the computed percentage for the replacement of locomotives and passenger cars is too high and that for freight cars too low. this is the opinion of operating officials. if so, it would amount to a set off and the aggregate would still be approximately $ , , to be expended annually for new equipment to take the place of old, worn out and discarded rolling stock. conditions forbade the expenditure of any such sum in and . number and capacity of locomotives for eight years, to . next follows a summary giving the number and capacity of locomotives for the seven years since the commission has included capacity in the published returns: ==========================+========+===========================+======== | | | weight | | | tractive | without | average year | number | power | tender | weight | | (pounds) | (tons) | (tons) --------------------------+--------+---------------|-----------+-------- ( . % represented) | , | , , , | , , | . final returns | , | , , , | , , | . | , | , , , | , , | . | , | , , , | , , | . | , | , , , | , , | . | , | , , , | , , | . | , | , , | , , | . | , | , , | , , | . +--------+---------------+-----------+-------- increase seven years | | | | to | . % | . % | . % | . --------------------------+--------+---------------+-----------+-------- complete returns will raise the totals for approximately to , locomotives of , , , pounds tractive power and , , tons weight, exclusive of tenders. these figures bear out the conclusion expressed above that the purchase of new locomotives in was barely sufficient to replace those abandoned or destroyed during the year. the loss, however, was in a measure made good by the greater weight of the new engines. as the average weight of locomotives in was approximately tons, the figures just given indicate an increase of nearly % in the weight of all locomotives during the decade. in connection with the estimate of $ , put on locomotives in this report, it is of interest to reproduce the return to the legislature of new south wales of the cost of engines built in the railway shops at sydney recently. the figures refer to -wheel-coupled heavy mail and express engines weighing, with tender, , pounds, as published in the _railway age-gazette_, december , : details of locomotive costs. ====================================+=============+============+======== | engines | cost | per | | per engine | ton(a) ------------------------------------+-------------+------------+-------- direct charges: | | | materials | $ , . | $ , . | $ . wages | , . | , . | . +-------------+------------+-------- total | $ , . | $ , . | $ . | | | indirect charges: | | | percentage of shop charges | | | (exclusive of superintendence) | | | on wage basis in each shop, | | | . % | , . | , . | . superintendence, on wage basis, | | | % | , . | . | . interest on capital cost of new | | | shop and machinery, including | | | land | , . | . | . proportion of interest on capital | | | cost of old shops on locomotive | | | work produced for new engines | , . | . | . depreciation of machinery and | | | plant, % on capital cost | , . | . | . +-------------+------------+-------- total indirect charges | $ , . | $ , . | $ . | | | total charges | $ , . | $ , . | $ . ----------------------------------+-------------+------------+-------- (a) ton of , lbs. applied to a mallet articulated compound locomotive, such as that built for the erie weighing , pounds on the drivers, the rate per ton paid by the government of new south wales would make it cost over $ , . it did not cost any such sum, but the australian experience is a straw which shows how the cost of locomotives is soaring. american railways find it necessary economy to build engines whose average weight is well above that built in the government shops at sydney. passenger and freight cars. during the same period, to , covered in the table relating to locomotives, for which alone full data is available, the increase in the number of passenger cars and freight cars, and in the capacity of the latter, is shown in the following statement: ===================+=========+========================+=======+========= | | freight service | | | +-----------+------------+ |company's year |passenger| number | capacity |average| service | service | | (tons) | tons | number -------------------+---------+-----------+------------+-------+--------- | | | | | ( % represented) | , | , , | , , | . | , | | | | | (final returns) | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , | , | , , | , , | | , +---------+-----------+------------+-------+--------- seven years' | | | | | increase(a) | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % -------------------+---------+------------------------+-------+--------- (a) final returns for will raise these percentages materially. it is in the increased capacity of locomotives and cars rather than in their numbers that the seeker after truth will find the explanation of how american railways have been able to handle freight traffic that has increased in volume over % in ten years where numerically the increase of equipment has been less than %. during that period the average capacity of the freight car has increased from to nearly tons, accounting for an aggregate increase of . %. between and the population of the united states increased from , , to , , , or . %. (on april , , the treasury estimate was an even , , .) in the same ten years the number of passenger cars increased over %, accompanied by a steady advance in their size, strength and conveniences. between and the official statistics furnish the following information showing the gradual transformation taking place in the number and capacity of freight cars: number and capacity of different sizes of freight cars, - . ===========+==========+=========+===========+============ | capacity | | | increase or class | pounds | | | decrease | | | | per cent -----------+----------+---------+-----------+------------ i | , | , | , | dec. . ii | , | , | , | " . iii | , | , | , | " . iv | , | , | , | " . v | , | , | , | " . vi | , | , | , | inc. . vii | , | , | , | " . viii | , | , | , | " . ix | , | | , | " , . x | , | , | , | " . xi | , | | , | " . xii | , | | | " . all over | , | | | -----------+----------+---------+-----------+------------ the line of cleavage between former and modern railway methods of handling freight is clearly shown in the above table to lie between cars of and ton capacity. the former and all of less capacity are on the decline, whereas the latter and all of greater capacity are on the increase. numerically the -ton cars still exceed those of and tons, but already they are exceeded by the combined capacity of the latter. the surplus of freight cars. for two years ( months as this is written) the reports of the committee on car efficiency of the american railway association show that the supply of freight cars has been in excess of the demand. in other words, the railways during that period were paying interest on a considerable percentage of unremunerative equipment, besides the cost of its maintenance. the rise and fall of this surplus of freight cars is set forth below: freight car shortages and surplus by months from january, , to april, . ===========================+==========+=========+=========+======== | | | | month | shortage | surplus | surplus | surplus ---------------------------+----------+---------+---------+-------- january | , | , | , | , february | , | , | , | , march | no data | , | , | , april | , | , | , | , may | , | , | , | -- june | , | , | , | -- july(a) | , | , | , | -- august(a) | , | , | , | -- september | , | , | , | -- october | , | , | , | -- november | , | , | , | -- december (surplus) | , | , | , | -- ---------------------------+----------+---------+---------+-------- (a) in july and august, , there was a net surplus. at the date of one report in october, , a surplus of cars in one territory was practically offset by a shortage in another territory. freight car performance. according to statistical bulletin no. of the committee on relations between railroads of the american railway association, the average performance of the freight cars of american and canadian railways during the year ending june , , including and excluding surplus cars, was as follows: ==================+=======================+====================== | average miles | average ton miles | per day | per car per day +-----------+-----------+-----------+---------- month | including | excluding | including | excluding | surplus | surplus | surplus | surplus | cars | cars | cars | cars ------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------- july, | . | . | | august, " | . | . | | september, " | . | . | | october, " | . | . | | november, " | . | . | | december, " | . | . | | january, | . | . | | february, " | . | . | | march, " | . | . | | april, " | . | . | | may, " | . | . | | june, " | . | . | | ------------------+-----------+-----------+-----------+---------- these figures of the average miles per day of freight cars are the delight of demagogues and other detractors of american railways who ignore, or have never been able to comprehend, that the average performance of a car per day depends from six to nine times more on the time allowed for shippers to load and unload cars than on its speed in transit. this speed runs all the way from ten to forty miles and over an hour. but if freight trains averaged miles an hour it would make little impression on the per day average of cars so long as hours has to be allowed as a minimum at either end for loading and unloading and almost as much more for placing notices and disposing of cars, to say nothing of time consumed in making up trains. the salient and significant feature of this table is the proof it affords that each car of those in commission averages the movement of one ton miles per day. this means an average load of tons per car. it would take at least three english or european freight cars to average such a load. safety appliances. of all the locomotives and cars in railway service in , aggregating , , , less than % were not fitted with train brakes, and less than three quarters of % were unprovided with automatic couplers. block signals. while the gain in mileage protected by some form of block signals in is only slightly more than half the increase in , it shows a healthy revival of this most important constructive work. at the close of the last calendar year, according to the _railroad age-gazette,_ the mileage on which some system of block signals had been installed was as follows: ====================+===============+=============+========+======= system | single track | two or | total | total | | more tracks | | --------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+------- automatic block | | | | signals (miles) | , | , | , | , non-automatic block | | | | signals (miles) | , | , | , | , +---------------+-------------+--------+-------- total miles | , | , | , | , --------------------+---------------+-------------+--------+-------- miles of line operated by the companies, , the second annual report of the government block signal and train control board shows that little advance has been made in the search after the perfect system of automatic mechanical operation. since the organization of the board in no less than plans and descriptions of inventions designed to enhance the safety of railway operation have been submitted for its consideration. of these were examined and reported upon in and were found worthy of further investigation. during the past year others have been reviewed with a net result that again have been found to possess enough merit to warrant the board in conducting further tests. it finds that the vast majority of the proposed devices are unsound either in principle or design. with regard to some form of automatic stop, the board says that it is not yet prepared to make a definite and positive recommendation, but it thinks it reasonable to expect that several forms of automatic train controlling devices will be found available for use. in this connection it very sensibly concludes: "it is not to be expected that trials or tests conducted by the government will, independently of extended use by railways, result in the production of devices or systems fully developed to meet all the exacting conditions of railway operation." iii employes and their compensation number , , compensation $ , , , the railway companies reporting to this bureau had , , persons in their employ june , , and their pay roll for the twelve months to that date amounted to $ , , . experience has shown that these roads employ over % of the labor and pay % of the compensation earned by railway employes. from which it appears that the employes of all the railways in numbered , , , whose compensation for that year was approximately $ , , , . this would show an increase of , men employed and a decrease of $ , , in compensation--a discrepancy accounted for by the fact that the pay roll in june, , was numerically at low tide while the aggregate compensation was swelled by the large pay rolls of the first six months of the fiscal year. the conditions were nearly reversed in , for the pay roll was at the ebb during the first half of the year whereas the number on it did not begin to show the demands of increasing traffic until the very close of the fiscal year. these statistics would be more enlightening if the number of employes was determined by the average from the monthly pay rolls throughout the year and not as at present "from the pay rolls on june ." the discrepancies noted are liable to increase if the commission succeeds in getting the permission of congress to substitute december st for june th as the end of its statistical year. under the present practice, the summary which follows reflects the improvement of business in the increase of employes, while their aggregate compensation continues to show the effect of the depression that prevailed throughout the greater part of the year. when, however, that compensation comes to be divided by the "aggregate number of days worked by all employes" during the year, the daily average which results is found to be within a fraction of a cent the same as for the preceding year. the aggregate number of days worked by the employes of the roads reporting to this bureau was , , days in against , , for the preceding year. the first summary under this title gives the number, compensation and average pay of the several classes of employes of the roads reporting for the year , together with the aggregates as reported to the interstate commerce commission for the preceding years: summary of railway employes, compensation and rates of pay by classes in and aggregates from to . ======================+=========+=====+==============+=======+======== class | |per | |average|per cent ( , miles | number | miles | compensation| pay |of gross represented) | |of line| |per day|receipts ----------------------+---------+-----+--------------+-------+-------- general officers | , | . | $ , , | . | . other officers | , | . | , , | . | . general office clerks | , | | , , | . | . station agents | , | | , , | . | . other station men | , | | , , | . | . enginemen | , | | , , | . | . firemen | , | | , , | . | . conductors | , | | , , | . | . other trainmen | , | | , , | . | . machinists | , | | , , | . | . carpenters | , | | , , | . | . other shopmen | , | | , , | . | . section foremen | , | | , , | . | . other trackmen | , | | , , | . | . switch tenders, | | | | | crossing tenders | | | | | and watchmen | , | | , , | . | . telegraph operators | | | | | and dispatchers | , | | , , | . | . employes, account | | | | | floating equipment | , | | , , | . | . all other employes | | | | | and laborers | , | | , , | . | . +---------+-----+--------------+-------+------ total ( . % mileage| | | | | represented) | , , | | $ , , | . | . | | | | | official figures | , , | |$ , , , |(b) . | . | , , | | , , , | . | . | , , | |(a) , , | . | . | , , | | , , | . | . | , , | | , , |no data| . | , , | | , , |no data| . | , , | | , , |no data| . | , , | | , , |no data| . | , , | | , , |no data| . | , | | , , |no data| . | , | | , , |no data| . | , | | , , |no data| . | , | | , , |no data| . | , | | , , |no data| . | , | | no data |no data| -- | , | | no data |no data| -- | , | | no data |no data| -- | , | | no data |no data| -- | , | | no data |no data| -- | , | | no data |no data| -- ----------------------+---------+-----+--------------+-------+------ (a) includes $ , , estimate pay-roll of southern pacific, whose records were destroyed in the san francisco disaster. (b) bureau computations. this table brings out clearly the effect of the depression of on railway labor. while there was a decrease in numbers employed in of , or nearly %, coincident with a proportionate decrease in gross revenues, the reduction in compensation amounted to less than %. this anomaly was due to the fact that the increased scale of pay adopted in the winter of - was only effective during six months of the fiscal year , whereas it was in full operation throughout , as it still is, with demands, negotiations and arbitrations regarding wages all tending upward. unremunerative expenditures. last year attention was called to the unremunerative burdens imposed on the railways by the multiplying demands of legislatures and commissions for reports on every conceivable feature of their multifarious affairs. this year with the compensation of every other class showing the effects of the enforced retrenchments of the period, that of the several classes especially affected by these requirements and the enactments relating to the hours and conditions of employment continue to be the only ones marked by advances over the record figures of , as appears from the following comparison: compensation of classes especially affected by multiplying demands of commissions and legislatures in and . =====================================+==============+============== | | class | , miles| , miles | represented | represented -------------------------------------+--------------+-------------- other officers | $ , , | $ , , general office clerks | , , | , , station agents | , , | , , telegraph operators and dispatchers | , , | , , employes, account floating equipment | , , | , , +--------------+-------------- total | $ , , | $ , , -------------------------------------+--------------+-------------- add % for unreported mileage, | , , total | $ , , increase over | , , ----------------------------------------------------+-------------- moreover, had the aggregate compensation of these five classes followed the general trend of all other railway compensation, the expenditure on this account would have been at least $ , , less than it was. this sum represents only a part of what the railways have to pay for a system of accounting and reporting out of all proportion to its published results. the public has no idea of the onerous and unprofitable burdens imposed on the railways by the impractical theory of administering railways through the medium of arbitrary and theoretical accounts. average daily compensation - . where the data in regard to total compensation of railway employes has been kept since , that of their daily average pay runs back to , thus covering the period of the last preceding severe panic. under instructions of the official statistician, these averages are computed by dividing the compensation paid by the actual days worked throughout the year in the several classes as nearly as it has been practicable to do so. although the formula is more or less arbitrary, the system has been continuous and so the results are reliable for comparative purposes. in the statement following, figures for , and have been omitted to economize space, and because they present no significant variations from the years preceding them. comparative summary of average daily compensation of railway employes for the years ending june , to . ======================+=======+========+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== class | (a)| (a)| | | | | ----------------------+-------+--------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- general officers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other officers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . general office clerks | . | . | . | . | . | . | . station agents | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other station men | . | . | . | . | . | . | . enginemen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . firemen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . conductors | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other trainmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . machinists | . | . | . | . | . | . | . carpenters | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other shopmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . section foremen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other trackmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . switchmen, flagmen | | | | | | | and watchmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . telegraph operators | | | | | | | and dispatchers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . employes account | | | | | | | floating equipment | . | . | . | . | . | . | . all other employes and| | | | | | | laborers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------------------+-------+--------+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- {table continued} ======================+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+=====+===== class | | | | | | | | ----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- general officers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other officers | . | . | . | . | . | . | -- | -- general office clerks | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . station agents | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other station men | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . enginemen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . firemen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . conductors | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other trainmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . machinists | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . carpenters | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other shopmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . section foremen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . other trackmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . switchmen, flagmen | | | | | | | | and watchmen | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . telegraph operators | | | | | | | | and dispatchers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . employes account | | | | | | | | floating equipment | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . all other employes and| | | | | | | | laborers | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------------------+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- (a) averages for and are calculated from the returns to the bureau of days worked and compensation of the several classes of roads representing % of the traffic. the average pay of general officers for and in this summary is out of proportion, for the reason that the returns to the bureau cover only % of the class numerically and include all the larger systems. before , this class included "other officers," so the returns for and are not comparable with those for this class in subsequent years. comparing the average daily compensation of the four great classes most intimately associated in the public mind with railway operations in and , it appears that during the decade the average wages of enginemen increased approximately %; of firemen %; of conductors %; and of other trainmen, including switchmen, brakemen and baggagemen--the most numerous body-- %. an estimate based on the number employed and their aggregate compensation in , allowing working days to the year, would place the increase for all employes during the decade at %. the relation of the compensation of railway employes to the gross earnings of the railways, which furnish the fund from which they are paid, and also to the sum of the expenses incurred in producing those earnings for the past ten years, is shown in the next summary, in conjunction with the operating ratio: summary showing proportion of compensation of employes to gross earnings and operating expenses, and of operating ratio ten years, to . ===============+==============+==================+================== | ratio | ratio | ratio of | compensation | compensation |operating expenses | of labor to | of labor to | to |gross earnings|operating expenses| gross earnings ---------------+--------------+------------------+------------------ | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | | | increase | | | to | . % | . % | . % ---------------+--------------+------------------+------------------ the significance of this statement is that in spite of all the labor saving devices and economies of operation--reduced grades, modified curves and more efficient equipment--adopted by the railways during the past decade, the proportionate cost of labor to earnings and to expenses has increased. it reached an abnormally high ratio in because of the unprecedented recession in revenues during the second half of the year. the fact that it has been above % persistently since proves that labor continues to receive its full proportion of the receipts of american railways. pay of employes on british railways. although the statistics of british railways are singularly barren of details respecting the compensation of british railway "servants," as they are termed, the reports of boards of conciliation afford data as to the rates of pay of several classes as follows: scale of wages of drivers and firemen on north british railway, . ======================================================+=============== |rate per day of | hours +-------+------- |drivers|firemen ------------------------------------------------------+-------+------- passenger engines, main line, long road | $ . | $ . passenger engines running into chief terminal station | . | . passenger engines, branch lines | . | . goods engines, main line, long road, trip men | . | . goods engines, main line, other than long road | . | . goods and mineral engines running into depots and | | terminal stations | . | . goods and mineral engines working branch lines and | | collieries | . | . mineral pilot, pilot and shunting engines | . | . ------------------------------------------------------+-------+------- in his award in the case of the north eastern railway, sir james woodhouse fixed the following scales: firemen.--first year, cents per day; d year, cents; d year, cents; th and th years, $ . ; th year, $ . ; th year, $ . ; th year, and subsequent years, $ . . firemen to pass for drivers during the th year. cleaners.--age to years, $ . per week; to years, $ . ; to years, $ . ; to years, $ . ; to years, $ . ; and an advance of cents per week for each subsequent year up to a maximum of $ . per week. "that the wages of all goods and mineral guards be increased as follows: "(a) the wages of those who have been in receipt of $ . (the maximum of the existing scale) for not less than two years shall be increased to $ . per week. "(b) the wages of those who have been in receipt of the said maximum for not less than five years shall be increased to $ . per week. "the bonus for working with large engines on freight trains discontinued when any guard becomes entitled to the maximum wages of $ . per week." men working in the london district get from to cents more per day than those in outside districts. the award in the case of the great northern made an addition of cents to the weekly scale of the following grades: signalmen $ . , $ . , $ . and $ . ; passenger guards and brakemen $ . up to $ . ; goods guards and brakemen $ . up to $ . ; ticket collectors $ . up to $ . ; horse shunters $ . up to $ . ; parcels porters $ . to $ . ; carriage cleaners $ . to $ . ; plate layers, second men and under men $ . and less up to $ . ; ballast train guards, flagmen and greasers rates less than $ . per week. an additional allowance of cents per week is made to men stationed in the london district. from these figures a fair idea is gained of the average pay of british railway labor. they support the statement that there are over , railway men in the united kingdom working for less than one pound ($ . ) a week. the total compensation paid british railway employes in was $ , , against $ , , for the preceding year. but whether the decrease was due to a reduction in pay or in numbers employed cannot be told, as there has been no census of railway "servants" since . the average pay may be safely approximated at $ per year per man, boy and porter, who two years ago numbered , . in , special agent ames, of the interstate commerce commission, reported wages on the railways of the united kingdom as follows: =================+================= enginemen | $ . per week firemen | . " " conductors | . " " brakemen | . " " shunters | . " " examiners | . " " signalmen | . " " trackmen | . " " -----------------+----------------- pay of railway employes in other countries. the contrast between the wages of american and european railway employes is emphasized by those paid on the continent. the official statistics of the empire show an increase of % in the average yearly compensation of german railway employes in . their number and pay for that year to december st in the four main classes into which they are divided were as follows: number and pay of german railway employes by principal divisions for the year ending december , . ==========================+==========+==============+=========+======== division | employes | compensation |average |increase | number | (total) |per year|over --------------------------+----------+--------------+--------+--------- general administration | , | $ , , | $ | $ maintenance and guarding | | | | road | , | , , | | station service and train | | | | crews | , | , , | | switching crews and shops | , | , , | | +----------+--------------+--------+--------- total | , | $ , , | $ | $ | | | | increase over | , | , , | -- | -- --------------------------+----------+--------------+--------+--------- combined with a falling off in revenues and an increase in the cost of materials this increase in the compensation of employes had the effect of raising the operating ratio of german railways from . in to . in . it also increased the proportion of wages to gross earnings from . to . % and had the effect of reducing the net revenues from . % to . % on the cost of construction. how railway labor fares under government ownership in a republic as compared with its pay in an empire may be judged from a comparison of the following statement as to the number and pay of the railways of switzerland with the like classes in the preceding table for germany. number and pay of swiss railway employes by principal divisions in . ==================================+==========+==============+========= division | employes | compensation | average | number | (total) | per year ----------------------------------+----------+--------------+--------- general administration | , | $ , | $ maintenance and inspection of way | , | , , | transportation and train service | , | , , | porters and laborers | , | , , | +----------+--------------+--------- total | , | $ , , | $ ----------------------------------+----------+--------------+--------- the wages paid the employes of swiss railways in amounted to only . per cent. of the gross earnings, and yet they added enough to the cost of operation to help increase the telltale ratio of expenses to revenues from . in to . in . the result was increased operating expenses per mile and a decrease in the amount available for interest in dividends from . % in to . % in . as the swiss republic has to pay ½% on government loans its investment in railways does not appear to be a very profitable one. employes of french railways. the employes of the railways of france are divided into the following classes: ================================================== general administration | , transportation and traffic | , traction and material | , way and structures | , auxiliaries | , female employes | , |--------- total | , -------------------------------------------------- the official statistics only give the compensation of employes in the division of traction and material, where the , men employed get an average of $ per year. on the state railways of belgium, firemen receive from $ . to $ . per month, the higher wage only after years' service; enginemen begin at $ . per month and at the end of years' service work up to $ . per month; conductors earn from $ . per month up to a maximum of $ . ; brakemen, beginning as shunters (switchmen) at cents a day, when promoted get a minimum of $ . per month, from which they are slowly advanced to a maximum of $ . . the average railway worker in belgium gets . francs ( cents) a day. whole classes of american railway employes get more in a month than belgian railway employes average in a year. the cost of living. what and how great the virtue and the art, to live on little with a cheerful heart.--pope. not because it has any legitimate place in fixing the standard of railway wages, which should be relative to the part capacity, intelligence, industry, loyalty and experience play in railway service, but because in recent years the steady increase in the cost of living has been made the fulcrum on which every lever to advance wages works, is it proper to refer to the subject in this report. now there is nothing in the whole wilderness of economics so utterly illusive and misleading as this same cost of living. it is as incapable of statistical expression as the airy imaginings of a dream and yet it broods over the domestic happiness of nations with all the disquieting effects of a nightmare--and like every nightmare it comes from eating too much and wanting to eat more. in economics, beyond the barest subsistence, the cost of living is not ruled by necessity but by individual choice. each person and family settles it along the lines of abstinence or indulgence. it ranges from the "dinner of herbs where love is" and the virtues of self-denial are nourished, to the feasts of lucullus and pompeian profligacy in whose indulgence whole peoples have perished. in every discussion of the subject first consideration is given to the price of food. this amounts to measuring the cost of living with an elastic string. the proportion of the cost of food to the cost of living varies in every land, in every occupation and in every household. it amounts to less than % in an average american family, but each family fixes it for itself. following certain well recognized economic laws the percentage for subsistence increases as the income decreases. for instance, in france families with an income of under $ . per week spend % of it for food alone, whereas those with $ . a week spend %. in england, families averaging $ . a week spend % on food, while those of $ . spend % or less. in germany, a similar inquiry showed that families with an average income of $ . per week spent . % on food (excluding beer), or . % (with beer); whereas families with an income of $ . per week spent less than % on food "excluding beer." the exhaustive investigation made by commissioner carroll d. wright when head of the bureau of labor in anticipated for the united states these results of more recent european inquiries, as appears from the following table showing the per cent of total expenditure made for various purposes in normal families according to classified incomes: per cent of expenditure for various purposes in , normal families, by classified incomes, . ========================+======+=====+========+======+========+======== classified income |rent |fuel |lighting| food |clothing|sundries ------------------------+------+-----+--------+------+--------+-------- under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or under $ | . | . | . | . | . | . $ or over | . | . | . | . | . | . +------+-----+--------+------+--------+-------- all classes | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------------+------+-----+--------+------+--------+-------- while it is scarcely believable that many american families with incomes under $ spent less than $ a year on food--the european percentage in such cases being more credible--there is no reason to question the general economic law reflected in this table, that "the proportion of income spent on food diminishes as the income increases." but it is governed more by individual tendencies, character and taste than by any rule or principle. each family works out the problem on its own account. according to the evidence presented at recent arbitration hearings in this city, american switchmen, as a body, belong in the classes whose family expenditures are $ , or over. irrespective of the incomes of other members of their families, the arbitrators found "that the actual monthly earnings of switchmen in the chicago district, for those who worked full time _runs from about $ to $ per month_." this means over $ , yearly compensation. therefore they are in the class which spends less than % of its income on food. the average income for all railway employes engaged in train service, that is, enginemen, firemen, conductors and other trainmen, is probably above the highest figure in the foregoing table and therefore the proportion of their income spent for food would be approximately %. but accepting % as approximately the proportion of the pay of all railway employes spent on food, it follows that it takes only two-fifths of one per cent increase in wages to take care of an increase of one per cent in the price of food. with this in mind it becomes instructive to follow the retail prices of the various articles of food as selected by mr. wright in his inquiry into the cost of living in and adopted by the bureau of labor in subsequent bulletins. these for thirty articles of food for the eighteen years to , as given in bulletin no. of the bureau of labor, and for the two years - as computed from bradstreet's index and other sources of commodity prices, are given in the following statement relatively to the average price for to == : relative retail prices of the principal articles of food in the united states, to . (average price for - == . .) =====+======+======+======+======+======+======+======+======+======+====== | | | | | | | | |chickns| | | | | | | | | | (year | |apples|beans,|beef, |beef, |beef, |bread,|butter|cheese|or more|cof- year |evapo-| dry |fresh,|fresh,|salt |wheat | | | old) | fee | rated| |roasts|roasts| | | | |dressed| -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | |milk, | | | year | corn | eggs |fish, |fish, |flour | lard |fresh,|mola- |mutton|pork, | meal | |fresh | salt |wheat | |unski-| sses | |fresh | | | | | | |mmed | | | -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ |pork, |pork, | pork,|potat-| | | | | | year |salt, |salt, | salt,| oes, |prunes| rice | sugar| tea | veal |vine- |bacon |dry or| ham |irish | | | | | | gar | |pickled| | | | | | | | -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | -- | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | -- | . | . | . | . | . | | | | | | | | | | -----+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ no authority is claimed for the prices in these tables for the years and . they merely represent the tendencies in those years, as found in official and unofficial wholesale prices of the several commodities, and there are often striking divergences between wholesale and retail prices over short periods. eventually they follow the same course, although not always in the same proportion. now let us see how the average retail price of these articles of food compares with the average daily pay of the four representative classes of railway employes in train service for the ten years to . =====================+========================================+========= | average daily compensation |relative +---------+---------+----------+---------+prices of | | | | other | food, year |enginemen| firemen |conductors| trainmen| - | | | | | = ---------------------+---------+---------+----------+---------+--------- | $ . | $ . | $ . | $ . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . +---------+---------+----------+---------+--------- per cent. increase | . | . | . | . | . ---------------------+---------+---------+----------+---------+--------- here it will be observed the percentage of increase in the average daily compensation of "other trainmen" exceeds the relative increase in the price of food, that of firemen almost equals it, while that of enginemen and conductors is below it by approximately points. but, as demonstrated in the table from the eighteenth annual report of the commissioner of labor ( ), a smaller percentage of the income of enginemen and conductors is spent on food than of those employes receiving lower pay. moreover as only two-fifths of all expenditures is spent on food an increase of % in wages would take care of a % advance in the average price of food--provided the increase in wages was not attended by a corresponding increase in every other item entering into the cost of living. and right here's the rub with any attempt to measure wages by the cost of living. which is the egg and which is the hen, in the matter of precedence. does the cost of living lay the income or does the income hatch the cost of living? economically and theoretically it is not up to the railways to solve this world old conundrum. practically they are called on to meet every advance in the cost of living of their employes to which in twenty years they have not added a nickel, and they are denied the privilege, enjoyed by every other employer of labor, to add its increased cost to the price of their only commodity or service--transportation. today the advances in the scale of railway wages awarded, proposed and demanded mean an increase of from $ , , to $ , , in the annual "cost of living" of the railways. the advance made in - added $ , , to the pay roll of . combined, these two advances within three years mean an increase of approximately $ , , a year to the operating expenses of the railways without adding a single unit to efficiency of the labor factor in railway operation. _this is equal to an annual first charge of % on $ , , , !_ imagine the hue and cry from the press, the immediate injunctions from washington, the despondent wail from wall street, if the railways proposed to pour that much "water" into their own cost of living without getting a mile of track, a single engine, car, or coach, a cubic yard of ballast, one untreated tie or any semblance of improvement or new facility to show for the vast expenditure! and yet the railways have their increased cost of living to meet just as the rest of us. nothing they need and must have can be purchased at the prices of a few years back. when you mention steel rails you have named about the only railway necessity that has not advanced its cost of living in recent years, and the railways have to buy -pound rails where five years ago -pound rails sufficed, and ten years ago pounds was heavy enough for the lighter cars and engines of the time. but at the first suggestion of advancing rates to meet advancing prices of commodities the commissions were overwhelmed with protests from shippers and the paring of freight rates down went on as the prices of the goods they carried went up. in ten years the price of lumber advanced nearly %. as a cheap bulky commodity it had enjoyed a low rate in order to move it and it was moved at the expense of other commodities. when it was able to pay a little more toward the cost of getting it to market the proposal of an advance was met with indignant protests from lumber shippers and dealers and reversed thumbs by the sympathetic commissions. the railways pay more for their lumber and other material today than they did ten years ago but they will have to fight for any advance in rates to meet this part of their cost of living. it is said to be a poor rule that will not work both ways--but the cost of living seems to have only one way of working so far as railway economics are concerned. just as a straw to indicate that high prices of food are the result and not the basis of high wages the following table of comparative prices in london and new york from the new york _times_ of march , , is instructive: comparative retail prices of articles of food in london and new york in march, . =====================================+============+============= | london. | new york. | cents. | cents. -------------------------------------+------------+------------- apples, lb | to | bread, lb | | butter, lb | to | to cheese, lb | to | to cocoa, lb | to | to coffee, lb | to | to currants, lb | to | to eggs, to | | to -- codfish, lb | to | to fish (general), lb | to | to flour, lbs | to | meats: | | bacon, lb | to | to beef, lb | to | to pork, lb | to | to milk, pint | | to oatmeal, lb | to | to onions, lb | | oranges, doz | to | to potatoes, lb | to | to prunes, lb | to | to raisins, lb | to | to rice, lb | | syrup, lb | | sugar white, lb | | sugar, yellow, lb | | tapioca, lb | | tea, lb | to | to . tomatoes, lb | | -------------------------------------+------------+------------- the amazing feature of this statement is that the united states produces and exports to the united kingdom enormous quantities of breadstuffs, meat and provisions, which constitute the chief articles of food in london and which are sold there at prices from % to % lower than in new york. clearly it is the high scale of wages that fosters the high cost of living in the united states and there can be little question but it breeds the high wages it feeds on. it is humanly certain, though economically unsound, that wages will continue to advance with the cost of living and will not recede proportionately as prices of food fall. but both will decline together when for any considerable period there is a surplus of efficient labor for the requirements of american industry. even railway labor in the most stable of all employments yielded to this influence in and ; and the prices of food receded to the low mark in the following years , and . not until wages took their upward turn in did the cost of food begin to show above the index average of - . iv capitalization according to the twenty-third annual report of the interstate commerce commission the amount of railway capital, including stocks and bonds "outstanding in the hands of the public on june , , was $ , , , , which, if assigned on a mileage basis, shows a capitalization of $ , per mile of line." in the face of all the fustian about over-capitalization of american railways, this is a most remarkable admission, not only of their moderate, but of their decreasing capitalization per mile. in its report on the intercorporate relationships of railways, dated march , , the commission found that as the result of its investigation the figure for railway capital outstanding in the hands of the public, "measuring the claim of railway securities on railway revenues," reduced the amount "from $ , per mile of line ( ) to $ , per mile of line." of course there was never any justification for using the larger sum as a true measure of railway capitalization, for it was known to contain at least % duplicated capital. in its statistics of railways for the year ending june , , the commission gave the net amount of railway capital outstanding in the hands of the public at that date, "assigned on a mileage basis as $ , per mile of line," or $ , more than the figure reported for . as the computation for was made on a basis of , miles of line, this would indicate a shrinkage of no less than $ , , in the par value of railway capital. it is needless to say there was no such shrinkage. net capitalization in . following the earlier judgment of the official statistician, this bureau seeks to arrive at a fair approximation of the capitalization of the railways of the united states through the reports of operating roads and the capitalization of the rentals paid for leased roads. this, in the more recent language of the statistician, furnishes the only capitalization that "measures the claim of railway securities on railway revenues." applied to the returns received by this bureau from , miles of operated line, this formula yields the following result for the year ending june , : summary showing capitalization of companies operating , miles of line for the year ending june , . ======================================+================================= | capitalization | | ( , miles owned) --------------------------------------+----------------+---------------- capital stock | $ , , , | funded debt | , , , | receivers' certificates | , , | |----------------+ $ , , , rental of , miles, $ , , , | | capitalized at %. | | , , , | +---------------- total | | $ , , , | | deduct:(a) | | railway stocks owned (actual value) | $ , , , | other stocks owned (actual value) | , , | railway bonds owned (actual value) | , , , | other bonds owned (actual value) | , , | |----------------+ , , , | | net capitalization, | | $ , , , net capitalization per mile operated | | , --------------------------------------+----------------+---------------- (a) the par value of these stocks and bonds owned is given as $ , , , . an estimate of $ , per mile for the , miles of line not reporting to this bureau would add $ , , to the above total. from this should be deducted $ , , for the sum assigned by the official statistician "to other properties," and we arrive at the following close approximation of the true measure of the capital employed in the transportation industry of the united states: =======================================================+=============== net capitalization, , miles operated line, |$ , , , net capitalization per mile of line | , net capitalization per mile of track | , -------------------------------------------------------+--------------- in computing the average capital per mile last given, no allowance has been made for the , miles operated under trackage rights for the sufficient reason that the rental paid therefor is represented in the total capitalization just as fully as if so much capital had been expended in the construction of that many miles of line. it is worthy of note that the net capitalization thus arrived at through a straightforward analysis of the returns of the operating companies is in substantial agreement with the commission's report on the intercorporate relationship of railways in . the construction of , miles of line since would undoubtedly account for the difference between $ , and $ , per mile of line. summary showing net capitalization of the railways of the united states, - . ==================+==================+========= year | net | per mile | capital | of line ------------------+------------------+--------- | $ , , , | $ , | , , , | , | , , , | , | , , , | , | , , , | , | , , , | , ------------------+------------------+--------- owing to the intercorporate ownership of stocks and bonds and the consequent intercorporate payments of interest and dividends, it is no easy matter to make an entirely satisfactory estimate of the return paid to capital out of the purely transportation revenues of the railways. but the persistent reiteration by the official statistician of the fictitious aggregate of all the dividends paid by operating and non-operating companies, covering in , by his own admission, $ , , , duplicated capital, justifies the attempt. the operating income of the roads reporting to this bureau for the year is arrived at thus: ===============================================+=============== gross earnings ( , miles operated) | $ , , , operating expenses | , , , +--------------- net earnings from operation | $ , , less taxes | , , +--------------- net operating income | $ , , -----------------------------------------------+--------------- this $ , , is the balance in the hands of the companies of the moneys received by them from transportation, or, as the official statistician now calls it, "rail operations," for the payment of interest, rent, other deductions, dividends, additions and betterments, reserves, surplus and deficits. but before proceeding to this distribution these companies received $ , , income from other sources, principally interest and dividends on stocks and bonds owned and for rent of track, and a net balance of $ , , from outside operations. the total of these two sums, $ , , , may be arbitrarily applied first to offset the item of rent, $ , , , paid for leased lines and track, and the balance in payment of interest and dividends in proportion to the value of bonds and stocks owned as above, viz.: % and %, respectively. this enables us to make the following distribution of the net operating income of the railways reporting to this bureau, as follows: ===============================+=============+========================== net operating income, as above | | |$ , , disposition of same: | | | interest on funded debt |$ , , | | less paid from "other income"| , , |$ , , | interest on current liab- | | | ilities | | , , | other deductions | | , , | dividends preferred stock | , , | | dividends common stock | , , | | +-------------+ | |$ , , | | less paid from "other income"| , , | , , | +-------------+ | dividends on other securities| | , | additions and betterments | | | charged to income | | , , | appropriations to reserves | | , , | miscellaneous | | , , | deficits of weak lines | | , , | surplus available for adjust-| | | ments and improvements | | , , |$ , , -------------------------------+-------------+-------------+------------ this table shows the actual disposition made of the net income from operation of the roads reporting to this bureau, representing % of the railway business of the united states, except that $ , , of the income from other sources has been eliminated from the account and applied to offset the rental paid by the reporting roads. it will be observed that the gross dividends declared were only $ , , , which is . % on the par value of the stock of the reporting companies. misrepresentations as to dividends. the discrepancy between this condition and the official statement as to dividends declared in calls for an analysis of the latter. this reads, "the amount of dividends declared during the year ( ) was $ , , , being equivalent to . % on dividend-paying stock. for the year ending june , , the amount of dividends declared was $ , , ." two income accounts--one of operating roads and the other of leased roads--for the year ending june , , give a clew as to how the official statistician more than doubles the dividends actually paid out of transportation revenues. the gross total is made up of these four items: ===================================================+============= operating roads: | dividends declared from current income | $ , , dividends declared out of surplus | , , | leased roads: | dividends declared from current income | , , dividends declared out of surplus | , , +------------- total | $ , , ---------------------------------------------------+------------- as these income accounts show that the operating companies received $ , , "other income" from outside operations and sources other than transportation, and the leased roads received $ , , "income from lease of road," the source of the major part of this fictitious dividend is revealed. the $ , , from other sources would pay the entire income of the leased roads and leave nearly $ , , to extinguish so much of the dividends declared by the operating roads. modified as to details, this is what actually occurs every year. in the year the total amount paid out of transportation revenues on account of capital of the % of the railways of the united states reporting to this bureau was represented in the sums: ===================================================+============= net interest on funded debt | $ , , interest on current liabilities | , , rent paid for lease of roads | , , net dividends | , , +------------- total | $ , , ---------------------------------------------------+------------- this total was equivalent to . % on the net capitalization of the roads represented. the rental paid the lessor roads constituted the fund from which those roads paid their interest and dividends. further remark on the misleading and harmful statement of the official statistician as to dividends declared in is unnecessary. v cost of construction incomplete as are the figures of the cost of the railways of the united states, and exclusive as they are of the millions put back into the properties out of income for additions, betterments and reconstruction in the process of operation, yet the statistics of the cost of construction and equipment afford a complete answer to all charges that american railways are over-capitalized. upon the question of the cost of road and equipment in , the returns of the roads reporting to this bureau furnish the following data: summary of cost of road and equipment covering , miles of operated line for . =====================================================+================ item | amount -----------------------------------------------------+---------------- cost of road ( , miles owned) | $ , , , cost of equipment | , , , undistributed cost of road and equipment | , , , cost of , miles leased lines rental capitalized | , , , +---------------- total | $ , , , -----------------------------------------------------+---------------- adding to this $ , , to represent the , miles of road not reporting to this bureau at $ , per mile, we obtain =$ , , , = as the cost of road and equipment of the , miles of line employed in the transportation industry of the united states in , or =$ , per mile of line.= this is an underestimate by reason of the failure of a few lines to furnish even approximate figures on the accumulated cost of their properties. averaging the cost of locomotives at $ , , of passenger cars at $ , , of freight cars at $ , and of company's cars at $ apiece--their present cost rates much higher--the equipment of american railways represents an investment of over $ , , , , and its bare maintenance alone involves an expenditure of nearly $ , , annually. physical valuation of the railways. it is worthy of passing note that just as the railway companies have shown their indifference to a physical valuation of their property, the clamor of regulators and agitators in its favor has subsided. the proposal lost its attractiveness to them the moment they became convinced that such an investigation would put a valuation on the roads so high as to take not only the wind out of their sails but the last drop of water out of their mouths. to-day the only insistent demand for this futile undertaking comes from quarters interested in the distribution of the appropriation of several millions it would cost. credit for the reversal in the popular and political attitude on this subject is largely due to the valuations attempted by the states of minnesota, washington and wisconsin. the results in these states may be briefly summarized as follows: ===============================+========+==============+=============== | miles |capitalization| valuation by | of line| per mile |state, per mile -------------------------------+--------+--------------+--------------- minnesota, | , | $ , | $ , | | | washington, : | | | great northern | | , | , northern pacific | | , | , oregon r. r. & navigation co | | , | , | | | wisconsin, | , | , | , -------------------------------+--------+--------------+--------------- even senator albert b. cummins of iowa has seen such a bright light on this subject that in his speech before the traffic club of chicago last february he said that he would not be willing to make a present valuation of railroad property a basis for determining rates, "for the reason that it was more than probable that the present capitalization of between fifteen and sixteen billions would be increased to twenty billions." in the bureau's statistics for it was said: "if the valuations in minnesota and washington, made by none too friendly commissions, are any criterions of what a national valuation made under presumably unbiased federal authority would be, the present cost to reproduce the railways of the united states would be nearer $ , , , than any sum within the anticipations of those agitating for such valuation." capitalization of foreign railways. with both sides of the balance sheet testifying to a capital investment in american railways of under $ , , and official valuation abandoned _because it would demonstrate that they could not be reproduced for less than $ , per mile_, the reader is asked to compare the american figures with those of the capitalization, or cost of construction, of the principal foreign countries set forth below. these have been compiled from the latest available official returns. summary of railway capitalization of the principal foreign railways from latest data. ======+===========================+==========+=================+========= year | country | miles of | capital or cost | per | | line | of construction | mile ------+---------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------- |europe: | | | | united kingdom | , | $ , , , | $ , | germany | , | , , , | , | russia in europe (excl- | | | | usive of finland) | , |(a) , , , | , | france |(b) , | , , , | , | austria | , | , , , | , | hungary | , | , , | , - | italy (state roads only) | , | , , , | , | spain ( roads) | , | , , | , | sweden | , | , , | , | belgium (state only) | , | , , | , | switzerland | , | , , | , | | | | |other countries: | | | | canada | , | , , , | , | british india | , | , , , | , | argentine republic | , | , , | , | japan | , | , , | , | united states of america | , | , , , | , ------+---------------------------+----------+-----------------+--------- (a) russian capitalization, including railways in asia, covers a total of , miles, from which the capital per mile is computed. (b) this is exclusive of , miles of local interest. the most striking feature in this table is the steady advance it shows in the capital cost of german railways. in ten years this has increased from , marks per kilometer in to , in , _i. e._ , marks per kilometer or $ , per mile. this means an increase of $ , , in capital cost for an increase of only , miles of line. vi ownership of american railways returns to this bureau place the number of stockholders of record at the date of the last election of directors prior to june , , of the roads reporting at , . as only , of the , miles operated by these roads was covered by the capital stock, this would show ¾ stockholders for each mile of road and would indicate that there are at least , stockholders in all the railways of the united states. owing to the incompleteness of the returns on this subject and the fact that large blocks of stock are held in the names of associations and trustees, it is safe to estimate that the actual ownership of railway stock is distributed among at least , persons. in the commission reported the number of stockholders of record prior to june , , as , , but has given no later figures. it may be of interest to compare these figures with the partial reports to this bureau since then. ===================+=================+============== year | number | number of | reporting | stockholders -------------------+-----------------+-------------- | , roads | , | " | , | " | , | " | , | " | , -------------------+-----------------+-------------- if the ownership of railway bonds, which is even more widely distributed than that of stocks, could be traced, it would be found that over a million investors are interested in the financial welfare of the railways. this would give to each an interest of $ , , from which the average income is not over $ a year. the attempt of the commission in to secure evidence that the control of the railways was concentrated in a few hands by calling for a statement of the "ten largest holders of voting securities" of the reporting companies having established that nowhere did they _own_ a majority or an approach to a majority of the controlling stock, inquiry along that line was dropped in . in railways, as in any republic, the latent power is widely distributed among the many, while the administrative responsibility is necessarily entrusted to the few. vii public service of the railways it is the reproach of our system of government statistics of railways that their first concern is financial results, which the government takes no thought to improve, and the harrowing roll of accidents, and not the adequacy of the service and the steady development of the means of transportation. every month, almost every week, the public is informed of the volume of traffic, and every quarter the record of casualties is told in sensational head lines. it is left for belated annual reports to record the public service of this great industry upon whose progressive efficiency every other industry in the united states depends. it is not upon what the railways earn, but upon what they do that the whole industrial fabric of the republic rests. it is not upon the dividends they pay but upon the traffic they carry, the net income withheld from dividends and put into improvements, that their success as carriers depends. the passenger traffic. in considering the public service of the railways it is customary to give first attention to the passenger traffic. this is not because it is the most important branch of the service but because passengers are numbered by millions, where thousands suffice in the enumeration of the shippers, who frequently mistake themselves for the entire american people. in twenty years between june , , and june , , the population of the united states increased from , , to , , , or nearly %. in the meantime the passenger cars provided by the railways increased from , to , , or over %. but this does not measure the liberal provision made by the railway for the travelling public, which is more fully and accurately expressed by the amazing growth of the number of passengers carried one mile from , , , in to approximately , , , in , or nearly %. here is shown an increase of cars not far short of double the increase in population and an increase in passengers carried proportionately greater than the numerical increase in cars. in the meantime the average receipts of the traffic have declined from . cents per passenger mile in to . in --a decline of over %, although every item involved in the service, locomotives, cars, track, stations, labor, etc., cost more. the passenger service, except as precursor to the freight service, and in certain densely populated sections, was unremunerative in and is more so now. it is maintained at the expense of the freight service by what the railroad commission of wisconsin has characterized as "a species of piracy practiced upon the shippers of freight." the salient features of the passenger service reported to this bureau for the year , as compared with the final official returns for the preceding year, are shown in the following statement: ======================================+================+================ item | bureau figures |official figures | | --------------------------------------+----------------+---------------- miles of line represented | , | , passengers carried. | , , | , , passengers carried mile | , , , | , , , passenger revenue | $ , , | $ , , mileage of passenger trains | , , | , , average number of passengers in train | | average cars to a train | . | passenger car miles | , , , | , , , average passenger journey (miles) | . | . average receipts per passenger mile | | (cents) | . | . --------------------------------------+----------------+---------------- according to the monthly reports to the interstate commerce commission covering an average of , miles of line, the passenger revenues in were $ , , , or $ , , less than the above revenues for only , miles of line in . the average receipts per passenger mile in are the lowest ever reported for american railways. taken in connection with the official returns covering the period since , the above figures afford evidence of the confiscatory effect of the -cent passenger laws on railway revenues, as appears from the following statement: summary of passenger mileage, revenue and receipts per passenger mile, to . ============+================+===========+==============+========== | | increase | | | passengers | over | | receipts year | carried | preceding | passenger | per | one mile | year | revenue | passenger | |(per cent) | | mile ------------+----------------+-----------+--------------+---------- | , , , | | $ , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | , , , | . | , , | . | | | | increase, | | | | per cent | . | -- | . | -- ------------+----------------+-----------+--------------+---------- here it is shown that the passenger service rendered has increased % more than the passenger revenues. but more significant than this is the column of yearly increases in service by percentages. this utterly explodes the theory that passenger travel is greatly stimulated by low fares--aside from some positive incentive to increased travel, such as periodical expositions, the louisiana purchase exposition for instance, the effect of which is clearly traceable in the increased service in , which includes the heavy travel during the months of heavy attendance, july to december , . the -cent passenger laws were passed so as to become generally effective july , , and their effect on passenger receipts during the following year was such that these receipts were actually less in than in , although the service performed by the railways was over % greater. had the railways received the same rate in that they did in their revenue from passengers would have been nearly $ , , more than it was. passenger traffic - . in the next statement the salient facts in regard to the passenger traffic since the commission began collecting the data is passed under review. ======+==========+==========+=======+========+=======+=======+======== | | | | | | |average |passengers|passengers|mileage|average |average|pass. |receipts year | carried | carried | pass. | pass. |journey|revenue| per |(millions)| one mile | trains|in train| miles |(mill.)|pass. | |(millions)|(mill.)| | | |mile | | | | | | |(cents) ------+----------+----------+-------+--------+-------+-------+------- | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . ------+----------+----------+-------+--------+-------+-------+------- increase to | | | | | | % | % | % | % | % | % | decrease | | | | | | . ------+----------+----------+-------+--------+-------+-------+------- the several increases shown in the first, second, third and sixth columns of the table reflect the general advancement in passenger traffic. that of % in the average passengers to a train marks the progress in density of that traffic which may eventually place it on a profitable basis. in massachusetts, where this density yields an average of passengers to a train there is no demand for a two-cent rate statute, for the conditions have made a rate of . cents profitable. in the group of states consisting of ohio, indiana, michigan, illinois, iowa, wisconsin and minnesota, where the density of traffic yields only passengers by train, a statutory two-cent fare becomes confiscatory because it costs at least one dollar to operate a passenger train one mile and times two cents is only cents. moreover the passengers per train is only an average and there are as many trains that average less as more. the average has to be raised above to yield any margin of profit on passenger traffic. if it were not for the density of traffic in the new england and north atlantic group of states the average for the entire united states would be well below passengers per train. the steady increase in the distance traveled per passenger reflects the effect of trolley competition in diverting the short haul passenger traffic. the most noteworthy feature of the seventh column is the decline of / ths of a cent in the average receipts per passenger mile between and , making a new low record after hovering around the two cent mark for fourteen years. as noted above, this reduction in the average cost the railways nearly $ , , on the passenger traffic of . in this connection it is interesting to recall that between and the official statistician, then as now professor adams, made the following computation of the average cost of carrying one passenger one mile for the whole united states: ============================+======+======+======+======+======+====== | | | | | | ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------ average cost of carrying a | | | | | | passenger one mile, cents | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------ it will be observed that the average receipts per passenger mile in are below the computed cost in every one of the years above named, except . when the advance in the cost of everything necessary to the service--track, labor, equipment, conveniences, speed, terminal facilities--is considered, the practical coincidence of average cost and receipts leaves no margin for legitimate profits. receipts from mail and express. closely associated with the passenger traffic of the railways are the mail and express services. although principally carried by passenger trains, each has a special service of its own by mail and express trains. but all are included under the passenger service. the receipts from these two branches of the service during the last decade are shown in the following statement: summary of receipts from mail and express, to . ====================+=====================+===================== | mail | express +------------+--------+--------------------- year | revenues |percent-| revenues |percent- | | age of | |age of | |earnings| |earnings --------------------+------------+--------+------------+-------- |$ , , | . |$ , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | | | | increase, per cent | . | -- | . | -- --------------------+------------+--------+------------+-------- aside from the striking contrast in the percentages of increase of revenues from these two sources, the most significant feature of this table is the reversal it shows in their respective importance from the railway revenue point of view. prior to , carrying the mails brought larger, if not more profitable, returns to the railways. since then the returns from express have increased so much more rapidly that they are now nearly % more than those from mails. if proof were needed of the absolute falsity of the charge that the railways are receiving an exorbitant rate for carrying mail, the above table of their receipts from the service in connection with the following statement of mail handled and revenues in view of the finding of the joint commission of congress in would furnish it. after a thorough investigation of the subject lasting from august, , to july, , the commission came to the following conclusion: "upon a careful consideration of all the evidence and the statements and arguments submitted, and in view of all the services rendered by the railroads, we are of the opinion that the prices now paid to the railroad companies for the transportation of the mails are not excessive, and recommend that no reduction thereof be made at this time." the increase in the railroad service since this report was made is shown in the following statement of miles of mail transportation by railroads, the postal revenues and the number of clerks in the railway mail service since : ===============================+==============+=============+========= | annual | | |transportation| |number of | of mail | postal | railway | by railroads | revenues | mail | (miles) | | clerks -------------------------------+--------------+-------------+--------- | , , | $ , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | , , | , , | , | | , , | , | | | increase in years, per cent | . | . | . -------------------------------+--------------+-------------+--------- compared with the increase of only . % in the revenues from mail received by the railways during the same period, each one of the above percentages testifies to a positive reduction in the rate received by the railways for the service. and if the increase in weight of mail carried in were known, the contrast between the service and the pay would be more striking. in the total weight of all mail was reported as , , pounds. in the estimates made from the special weighing placed the weight of mail carried that year at , , , pounds, or an increase of nearly % in eight years. by reference to the above table it will be seen that the railway revenues from mail between and increased only %. the contrast is illuminating. in its light the charge that the railways are in any way responsible for the postal deficit is grotesque. freight traffic according to the monthly returns to the interstate commerce commission, the proportion of revenues from freight of the railways of the united states to total earnings from operation, for the years and , receded to the unusually low figures of . % and . % respectively. the official summary for , based on the annual returns, shows a proportion of . % for that year, which probably is nearer the mark. the annual reports to this bureau for yield a proportion of . % for last year. accepting this proportion taken from the annual returns as being based on the same character of reports as those from which former ratios were derived, the preponderance of freight traffic is shown in bold relief in the following statement of the ratio of its revenues to total earnings from operation, to : ===========+================= | proportion of | freight revenues year | to total | earnings -----------+----------------- | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % | . % -----------+----------------- the average proportion for the nine years preceding is seen to be slightly above %, and the fact that it was almost one point below % in and indicates that it was the freight traffic that bore the brunt of the business depression which curtailed railway revenues during those years. in no other of the leading countries of the world does the freight traffic assume the overwhelming relative proportion that it does in the united states. in the united kingdom it amounts to . %; in france to . %; and in germany, including express and mail, to %. if these were classed with freight in the united states, it would raise the proportion for that traffic here to over %. freight traffic and . the next statement presents the significant items of the freight traffic in for the roads reporting to this bureau compared with those of the final official returns for the preceding year. ================================+=================+================ | | item | | | bureau figures |official figures --------------------------------+-----------------+---------------- miles operated | , | , number of tons carried | , , , | , , , tons carried mile | , , , | , , , freight revenue | $ , , , | $ , , , mileage of freight trains | , , | , , number of cars in train | . | . average number of tons in train | | . average haul per ton (miles) | . | . average receipts per ton mile | | (mills) | . | . --------------------------------+-----------------+---------------- experience has shown that in comparing these statements of averages for passenger and freight traffic, allowance has to be made for the fact that the bureau's figures include all the great systems and are exclusive of some , miles of minor lines. it is difficult to estimate the effect of these discrepancies with anything like exactness. but complete returns invariably show a shorter mean haul and journey for the entire country than the bureau's figures indicate and also a less train load of passengers and freight, the result being a slightly higher average for passenger and freight ton receipts per mile. last year from its returns the bureau computed the passenger mile receipts at . cents and the ton mile receipts at . mills. the commission's final figures were . cents and . mills respectively. freight traffic to . in the next summary is presented a condensed statement of the significant data relating to the freight traffic for the twenty-two years that the commission has been compiling statistics. summary of tons carried, ton mileage, mileage of freight trains, average tons in train, freight revenues and average receipts per ton mile. =====+==========+==========+========+=======+========+========+======== | | tons |mileage | | average| |receipts | tons | carried |freight |average|haul per|freight |per ton year | carried | one mile |trains |tons in| ton |revenue | mile |(millions)|(millions)|(mill.) | train |(miles) |(mill.) |(cents) -----+----------+----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------- |(a) , | , | | | | $ , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | , | , | | | | , | . | | , |(b) | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . | | , | | | | | . +----------+----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------- increase to| | | | | | % | % | % | % | % | % | =decrease= | | | | | | = . =% ----------------+----------+--------+-------+--------+--------+-------- (a) figures for computed on basis of returns to this bureau. (b) includes % of mixed train mileage, that being the practice prior to . mark the one column which shows a decrease. this means a remission of almost exactly a quarter of a cent per ton mile in the average receipts from freight. on the tonnage carried in it meant a saving of over $ , , to the shippers. in the presence of the present high price of everything carried by the railways, there is no ground for assuming that any portion of this half billion dollars withheld from the railways ever reached the ultimate consumer. on the contrary the presumption is unavoidable that it has been absorbed by the shippers and consignors, whose profits are greater than ever. proportion of commodities moved - . referring to the movement of different classes of commodities in his report for , the official statistician said: "a slight change in the ratio of freight carried for any one of the classes named may have decided results, not only upon the earnings of the roads, _but upon the average rate per ton mile_." but without knowing the length of the haul of the respective classes, any estimate of the effect of such variation must be largely speculative. in , for the first time the bureau undertook to collect the information as to the tonnage of the main divisions of commodities carried. its inquiries were limited to the tonnage originating on the several roads, and the next statement presents the results in comparison with the official figures for , which are the last available: tonnage and proportion of different classes of commodities moved and . =======================+=======================+======================= | | +-------------+---------+-------------+--------- class of commodity | tonnage | | tonnage | | reported as |per cent | reported as |per cent | originating | of | originating | of | on line |aggregate| on line |aggregate -----------------------+-------------+---------+-------------+--------- products of agriculture| , , | . | , , | . products of animals | , , | . | , , | . products of mines | , , | . | , , | . products of forests | , , | . | , , | . | | | | manufactures | , , | . | , , | . merchandise | , , | . | , , | . miscellaneous | , , | . | , , | . +-------------+---------+-------------+--------- total | , , | . | , , | . -----------------------+-------------+---------+-------------+--------- note.--these tables fail to include nearly , , tons unassigned. the most significant feature of this statement is the marked decrease, absolutely and relatively, in the tonnage of manufactures carried. great as was the decrease in the tonnage of animals carried there was an increase relatively. the next statement shows the percentages of commodity tonnage moved since the commission has compiled the information divided between low and high rate freight. summary showing percentage of freight traffic movement by classes of commodities, to . table headings: col a: products of agriculture col b: animals col c: mines col d: forest col e: total col f: manufactures col g: merchandise col h: miscellaneous col i: total =====+======================================+============================ | low rate freight | high rate freight | percentage of aggregate | percentage of aggregate year +-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+------+------ | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | h | i -----+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+------+------ | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . | . -----+-------+------+-------+-------+-------+-------+------+------+------ it will be observed that the percentage of low rate freight carried in was greater than for any other year covered by these statistics. this was due more to the falling off in manufactures and miscellaneous freight than to any increased movement of low class freight. car service operations. what the department of commerce and labor calls "a convenient index to the traffic activities of the country" is found in the following comparative statement of cars handled by the various car service associations and demurrage bureaus, - . number of cars handled by car service associations and demurrage bureaus during twelve months ending december, - . ==========================+===================================== | twelve months ending december +------------+------------+----------- names of associations and | | | bureaus | | | --------------------------+------------+------------+----------- alabama | , | , | , central new york | , | , | , central (st. louis) | , | , | , chicago | , , | , , | , , cincinnati | , | , | , | | | cleveland (a) | , | , | , , colorado | , | , | , columbus | , | , | , east tennessee | , | , | , indiana | , | , | , , | | | intermountain | , | , | , lake superior | , | , | , louisville car | , | , | , memphis | , | , | , michigan | , | , | , | | | missabe range | , | , | , missouri valley | , , | , , | , , nashville | , | , | , new york and new jersey | , | , , | , , north carolina | , | , | , | | | northeastern pennsylvania | , | , | , northern | , , | , , | , , pacific | , | , | , , pacific northwest | , | , | , philadelphia | , , | , , | , , | | | pittsburg | , , | , , | , , southeastern | , | , | , southern | , | , | , texas | , | , | , toledo | , | , | , | | | virginia and west virginia| , | , | , western new york | , | , | , western (omaha) | , | , | , wisconsin | , , | , , | , , +------------+------------+----------- total reported by | | | associations and | | | bureaus (b) | , , | , , | , , +------------+------------+------------ baltimore and washington | | | demurrage bureau | (c) , | (c) , | (c) , | | | illinois and iowa | | | demurrage bureau | (d) | , , | , , --------------------------+-------------------------+------------ {table continued} =================================================== | twelve months ending | december +------------+----------- names of associations and | | bureaus | | --------------------------+------------+----------- alabama | , | , central new york | , | , central (st. louis) | , | , , chicago | , , | , , cincinnati | , | , | | cleveland (a) | , | , colorado | , | , columbus | , | , east tennessee | , | , indiana | , , | , , | | intermountain | , | , lake superior | , | , louisville car | , | , memphis | , | , michigan | , | , | | missabe range | , | , missouri valley | , , | , , nashville | , | , new york and new jersey | , , | , , north carolina | , | , | | northeastern pennsylvania | , | , northern | , , | , , pacific | , , | , , pacific northwest | , | , philadelphia | , , | , , | | pittsburg | , , | , , southeastern | , | , southern | , | , texas | , , | , , toledo | , | , | | virginia and west virgini | , | , western new york | , | , western (omaha) | , | , wisconsin | , , | , , +------------+----------- total reported by | | associations and | | bureaus (b) | , , | , , +------------+----------- baltimore and washington | | demurrage bureau | , | , | | illinois and iowa | | demurrage bureau | (d) | , , ---------------------------------------+----------- (a) cleveland reported , lake coal cars for december, . (b) the butte terminal association was superseded by the montana demurrage bureau in may, . the returns of the new bureau for the twelve months ending december, is , cars. (c) figures apply to larger territory; change and revision of , and figures made october , . (d) not reported. viii earnings and expenses having in the preceding pages given the facts as to the provision made by the railways for fulfilling their obligations as common carriers, it is now in order to present a brief review of their receipts and expenditures in relation to their public service. for the second successive year the bureau has to warn the reader that innovations in the forms of keeping railway accounts prescribed by the commission preclude the making of strictly accurate comparisons of the returns for with those of any preceding year. in submitting its report for the commission made the following explanation: "a number of important changes have been made in the annual report forms for , particularly in the grouping of certain items in connection with the income account and the profit and loss account. the figures which follow do not include returns applying to carriers classed as switching and terminal. the changes in the income account submitted in the report under consideration are so far reaching in their results, in a number of instances, as to impair direct or close comparison with figures for similar items contained in previous statistical reports." in the comparative income account below, which aims to present the situation as it would result from the actual operations had such operations been conducted by a single corporation, the bureau has sought to make the returns for and conform as nearly as possible to "previous statistical reports." it should be premised, however, that the official figures for exclude the returns from switching and terminal companies, whereas the bureau's figures for include some portion of these returns, which are as much an integral part of the transportation service of american railways as any they perform. the official figures for do not correspond absolutely to the preliminary figures for the same year compiled from the monthly reports as reviewed in the introduction to this report. with this by way of explanation, the comparative income account for the years and is submitted: comparative income account of the railways in the united states considered as a system for the years ending june , and . ====================================================================== | amount item | | | | ( , miles | ( , miles | operated) | operated) ---------------------------------+-------------------+---------------- passenger revenue | $ , , | $ , , mail revenue | , , | , , express revenue | , , | , , freight revenue | , , , | , , , other earnings from operation | , , | , , +-------------------+---------------- gross earnings from operation | $ , , , | $ , , , | | operating expenses | $ , , , | $ , , , taxes | , , | , , +-------------------+---------------- total | $ , , , | $ , , , +-------------------+---------------- net earnings from operation | , , | , , net revenue from outside | | operations | , , | , , | | operating income | $ , , | $ , , | | disposition: | | net interest on funded debt | $ , , | $ , , interest on current liabilities| , , | , , rent paid for lease of road | , , | , , additions and betterments | | charged to income | , , | , , appropriations to reserves | | and miscellaneous items | , , | , , other deductions | , , | , , +-------------------+---------------- total deductions | $ , , | $ , , +-------------------+---------------- surplus available for dividends, | | adjustments and improvements | , , | , , net dividends | , , | , , +-------------------+---------------- balance to profit and loss | $ , , | $ , , ---------------------------------+-------------------+---------------- in the "income account" of the railways was swelled and confused by including therein $ , , of intercorporate payments, while that for includes $ , , "other income" which, as has been formerly noted by the official statistician, swells the totals to a fictitious figure. it is out of this fictitious income that fictitious interest and dividends are paid, fictitious deductions made, and fictitious surpluses accumulated. if "other deductions" in the above statement had been charged against "other income" instead of being deducted from earnings from operation the balance to profit and loss for each year would have been so much larger. what becomes of the rent paid by operating roads for leased roads is well shown in the statement included in the commission's preliminary report of statistics for in which the amount received by the latter mentioned in the table just submitted is disposed of. condensed income account and profit and loss account of leased roads for the year ending june , . =============================================+=============+============ income account | | ---------------------------------------------+-------------+------------ gross income from lease of road |$ , , | salaries and maintenance of organization | , | taxes accrued | , , | +-------------+ net income from lease of road | |$ , , other income | | , , | +------------ gross corporate income | |$ , , deductions from gross corporate income | | , , | +------------ net corporate income | |$ , , | | disposition of net corporate income: | | dividends declared from current income |$ , , | additions and betterments charged to income| , , | appropriations to reserves and | | miscellaneous items | , | +-------------+ total | |$ , , balance carried forward to credit of | | profit and loss | | , , ---------------------------------------------+-------------+------------ profit and loss account -----------------------------------------------------------+------------ credit balance in profit and loss account, june , |$ , , credit balance brought from income account, june , | , , +------------ total |$ , , | dividends declared out of surplus | , , other profit and loss items--debit balance | , , +------------ balance credit june , , carried to balance sheet |$ , , -----------------------------------------------------------+------------ included under the blind item of "deductions from gross corporate income, $ , , " in this statement may be mentioned rents of other roads and facilities of which these leased roads are the lessees, interest on funded debt and other interest, sinking funds chargeable to income and other deductions not specifically provided for elsewhere. in case of operating roads this item also includes the balance of hire of equipment, to which, of course, there is a credit with other operating roads. the significant feature in this statement is the decrease in the profit and loss credit balance of $ , , . but this does not alter the fact that what becomes of rent paid for lease of road is no more a concern of interstate commerce than what becomes of the rent paid for warehouses or office space in any terminal. the operating roads pay all the cost of maintenance of way and equipment. the leased roads are not common carriers in any sense. they are simply distributing mediums of the rents paid them--this rent being the equivalent of interest on so much capital. as appears from the foregoing table, the expense of maintaining the organization of these leased properties amounted in to / ths of per cent. distribution of gross earnings. how the gross earnings of the railways reporting to this bureau in ($ , , , ) were distributed is shown in the next statement in comparison with a similar division of earnings in and . statement of distribution of gross earnings of , miles of line in compared with the percentages for and . (gross earnings , $ , , , .) ======================================================================= item | amount |per cent|per cent|per cent | | | | -----------------------------+--------------+--------+--------+-------- operating expenses: | | | | maintenance of way and | | | | structures | $ , , | . | . | . maintenance of equipment | , , | . | . | . traffic expenses | , , | . | . | transportation expenses | , , | . | . | . general expenses | , , | . | . | . +--------------+--------+--------+-------- total |$ , , , | . | . | . | | | | disposition of same: | | | | pay of employes | $ , , | . | . | . fuel for locomotives | , , | . | | . oil and water for | | | | locomotives | , , | . | | . material and supplies | , , | . | | . hire and rent of equipment | | | | and facilities | , , | . | | . loss and damage | , , | . | | . miscellaneous(a) | , , | . | | . +--------------+--------+--------+-------- total expenses |$ , , , | . | . | . taxes(b) | , , | . | . | . rentals of leased roads | , , | . | . | . interest on funded debt and | | | | current liabilities | , , | . | . | . dividends | , , | . | . | . deficits of weak companies | , , | . | . | . betterments, reserves and | | | | sundries | , , | . | . | . surplus | , , | . | . | . +--------------+--------+--------+-------- total (gross earnings) |$ , , , | . | . | . gross earnings | , , , | | | gross earnings | , , , | | | -----------------------------+--------------+--------+--------+-------- (a) legal expenses, advertising and insurance are included under "miscellaneous"; stationery and printing under "material and supplies." (b) includes taxes paid by leased lines and deducted from rent. owing to the fact that interest on funded debt and dividends are paid out of the common fund derived from operation and investments, the amounts devoted to these items in the above statement are necessarily computations. that they are not underestimates is proved by the fact that the surplus would not permit of larger charges for interest and dividends paid out of net earnings. any interest or dividends materially greater than the amounts stated above, not paid out of the rents accruing to leased roads as given, must necessarily be derived from other sources than transportation revenues, and has no place in railway accounts coming under the provisions of the act to regulate commerce among the several states. ix taxes so far as taxes are concerned, seasons of prosperity, depression and marking time are alike to american railways. the burden of their taxation knows no recession but mounts steadily, absolutely, per mile and in proportion to gross earnings. the roads reporting to this bureau owning , miles of line and operating , miles, of which , miles were leased, paid $ , , taxes in . the commission's report for shows that the leased roads paid $ , , taxes out of their rents. putting a conservative estimate of $ a mile on the , miles of line not represented in this report would add $ , , to the above figures and bring the aggregate taxes paid by the railways of the united states in up to the striking total of $ , , . how railway taxation has increased absolutely and relatively to earnings and mileage during the past twenty-one years is shown in the following statement: taxes annually and relatively, to . ============================+=============+==========+=========== | | | percentage year | taxes paid | per mile | of | | | earnings ----------------------------+-------------+----------+----------- (official figures) | $ , , | $ | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . | , , | | . ----------------------------+-------------+----------+----------- in this table the figures for are based on the monthly reports to the commission and are subject to revision, but they are in substantial agreement with the estimate on the returns to the bureau. observe that the highest ratio of taxes to gross earnings shown in this table was . per cent in , when everything relating to railways, except taxes, was prostrated under the reign of receiverships that followed the panic of . it was of that the official statistician recorded the fact that " . per cent of outstanding stock paid no dividends, and . per cent of outstanding bonds, exclusive of equipment trust obligations, paid no interest." there is instruction and warning behind the remarkable increase in the ratio of taxation shown in the figures for to . there is the reflection of similar conditions in the rising ratios of and . x damages and injuries to persons there are two items in railway accounts connected with the expense of operation that give the management most serious concern, because no means has been devised to limit or control them. in a leaflet issued by this bureau in september last, it was estimated that the payments of american railways on account of "injuries to persons" and "loss and damage" for the year would approximate $ , , , or more than . per cent of their gross earnings. the commission has not yet made public the final figures for , but the returns on these accounts of the roads reporting to this bureau for the year , aggregate $ , , , or . per cent of their gross earnings. divided according to the new system of accounting adopted by the commission, these returns show the following figures: summary of payments on account of injuries to persons and loss and damage during the year . ===========================================+=============+========= | | per cent account | amount | of | | earnings -------------------------------------------+-------------+--------- injuries to persons | $ , , | . maintenance of way $ , , | | maintenance of equipment , , | | transportation , , | | | | loss and damage | , , | . to freight $ , , | | to baggage , | | to property , , | | to live stock, etc. , , | | +-------------+--------- total | $ , , | . -------------------------------------------+-------------+--------- unlike many of the other expenses of american railways, the burden of this "cost of operation" does not fall heaviest on the large systems. in the case of one road of moderate importance payments on these two accounts amounting to . per cent of gross earnings were enough to tip the balance into a deficit after paying interest on funded debt; one minor but prosperous road, after paying per cent of gross receipts to meet these two accounts, had nothing left for dividends after paying interest, which amounted to less than per cent of its earnings; and a small third road after being called on to pay . per cent of its earnings for injuries and damages had only per cent of its operating revenue left to pay interest on funded debt, which called for per cent of the earnings, and taxes reduced the net operating revenue to less than per cent. these are extreme cases but they illustrate how the "injury and damage" claims strike roads that can ill afford to pay them as well as the great systems which are the common prey of every claimant with enough of a grievance to interest an attorney who scents a contingent fee. that the claims behind these expenses are largely meretricious is indicated, if not proved, by their disproportionate increase in the past ten years, during which the railways have expended millions in providing safeguards for their trains and employes. this increase absolutely and relatively to gross earnings is shown in the following statement: payments on account or "loss and damage" and "injuries to persons" during the decade to and proportion to gross earnings. ======================+=======================+====================== | loss and damage | injuries to persons +------------+----------+------------+--------- year | | per cent | | per cent | amount | of | amount | of | | earnings | | earnings ----------------------+------------+----------+------------+--------- |$ , , | . |$ , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | , , | . | -- | -- | -- | -- | , , | . | , , | . | | | | increase in years, | | | | per cent | . | . | . | . ----------------------+------------+----------+------------+--------- startling as are these increases absolutely, those relatively to earnings present a condition truly alarming, for which there is no apparent relief except through a revulsion in the popular tolerance of blackmail at the expense of the railways. in no other country in the world are the railways held up on bogus claims for damages to the extent they are in the united states. under the strict laws of the united kingdom, as to compensation for damages and injuries, the british railways paid less than / ths of per cent of their earnings for all damages, losses and injuries, or less than one-third the proportion paid by american railways on the same account. xi locomotive fuel despite the continuous improvements in the steam-producing capacity of railway locomotives per ton of coal, the steady advance in the cost of coal during the past ten years has more than offset the economies of locomotive construction. this is shown in the next statement, which gives the cost of locomotive fuel and its relative proportion to gross earnings and operating expenses, and also the average price per short ton of coal in the united states since : summary of cost of locomotive fuel and proportion to earnings and expenses of american railways, to , with price of bituminous coal per ton during the same period. ======+=========+==============+==========+==========+========== | | |proportion|proportion|price of |miles of | cost of | to | to | coal at year | line | locomotive | operating| gross | mines | | fuel | expenses | earnings |per ton(a) ------+---------+--------------+----------+----------+---------- | , | $ , , | . | . | -- | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . | , | , , | . | . | . ------+---------+--------------+----------+----------+---------- (a) these figures are from the latest report of the united states geological survey. the significance of this table is that it cost the railways almost one-third more for fuel per dollar earned in than it did in , the increase in the proportion of fuel cost to gross earnings having been %, due to the advance of % in the price of coal at the mines during that period. the effect of the anthracite coal strike and the commission's award of date march , , upon the cost of bituminous coal is seen in the sharp advances in and . the railways have not escaped the advance in their cost of living due to the increased price of fuel any more than the public at large, and so far they have not been able to shift any portion of that cost, as manufacturers and shippers have done. xii the safety of american railways never before in the history of railways has such a record for comparative safety been made as that recorded of american railways during the year ending june , . following its custom the interstate commerce commission has published the report of accidents. it remains to set forth here the more remarkable record of safety. of the companies reporting to this bureau, no less than , operating , miles of line and carrying , , passengers, went through the year without a single fatality to a passenger in a train accident. of the remaining companies, no less than , operating , miles and carrying , , passengers, only missed such perfect immunity by a single fatality each in accidents to trains. this leaves roads whose misfortune it was to bear the burden of train accident fatalities to passengers during the year. the invariable rule of the bureau precludes the publication of the honor roll of safety. and it is well so, for it would lead to invidious comparisons, where, in such matters as accidents, all comparisons are as irrelevant as they are invidious. but it may be stated that the roll of immunity includes roads in every section of the union, from maine to california, several great systems operating over , miles of line each, as well as little branch lines of below ten miles of single track; lines operated with all the safety appliances known to twentieth century progress and lines operated under as primitive conditions as prevailed on this continent more than half a century ago. this record of complete immunity, stretching over , miles of operated line, represents a mileage nearly seven times that of all british roads, and equals the aggregate of all europe, excluding russia but including the british isles. what immunity to fatalities to passengers over such a vast mileage means may be partly realized from the fact that only twice in half a century has it occurred on the , miles of british railways, and never, to the writer's knowledge, so far as statistics reveal, on the railways of any of the great divisions of europe. certainly it has never occurred on the aggregate railways of europe. it would take seven consecutive years of immunity from fatalities to passengers in train accidents on british railways to equal this phenomenal record of american roads. in presenting similar returns for , it was said that "considering the myriad units of risk involved, the record for immunity from fatal accidents to passengers is without parallel in the history of railway operation." how that record has been not only equalled but surpassed is shown in the following statement for the last two years: summary of mileage and traffic of roads on which no passenger was killed in a train accident during the years and . =====================================+=================+================ | | -------------------------------------+-----------------+---------------- number of operating companies | | mileage of these companies | , | , passengers carried | , , | , , passengers carried mile | , , , | , , , tons of freight carried | , , , | , , tons of freight carried mile | , , , | , , , passengers killed in train accidents | none | none passengers injured in train accidents| , | , -------------------------------------+-----------------+---------------- this table proves that the area of perfect safety, so to speak, was extended over from % to % more units of risk in than in , which already held the palm for immunity in train accident fatalities to passengers. the figures given above as to passengers injured in train accidents are equally illuminating as to the safety of american railways, for they demonstrate that with the multiplication of risks in the number of injured was less by %. the fact that no passenger is killed in train accidents is more or less adventitious, but a reduction in the number injured testifies to a reduction in the opportunities for fatalities. during the past ten years the average of passengers injured in train accidents on british railroads has been , which, considering the difference in the units of risk, is % higher than the above record for , miles of american railway in . the following table, which includes no less than six great systems of over , miles each, presents similar data in respect to the ten roads whose record for safety to passengers in train accidents is marred by a single fatality: summary of mileage and traffic of roads on which only one passenger was killed in a train accident during the year . =========================================+=============== | -----------------------------------------+--------------- number of operating companies | mileage of these companies | , passengers carried | , , passengers carried mile | , , , tons of freight carried | , , tons of freight carried mile | , , , passengers killed in train accidents | passengers injured in train accidents | -----------------------------------------+--------------- these figures show a mileage of , miles greater than all the railways of the united kingdom, approximately one-half the passenger mileage, and over three times the ton mileage, with only passengers killed in train accidents, to an average of on british railways during the past ten years. further analysis of the returns to the bureau, since data along this line has been compiled, affords the following statement of the number of roads and their mileage that have records of entire immunity from fatalities to passengers in train accidents of from one up to six years: statement showing number of railways and mileage on which no passenger has been killed in a train accident, to . =======================================+===========+========= | number of | miles of | companies | line ---------------------------------------+-----------+--------- six consecutive years, - | | , five " " - | | , four " " - | | , three " " - | | , two " " - | | , one year, | | , ---------------------------------------+-----------+--------- gratifying and remarkable as was the immunity from fatalities of the class under consideration in , the fact that for a period of five years american roads with a mileage practically double that of all british railways have carried hundreds of millions of passengers without a fatality to one of them is so at variance with the popular impression regarding the dangers of american railway travel as to seem little short of marvelous. the impressive character of this showing will be better appreciated when it is understood that the immunity from fatalities in train accidents represents consecutive years counting back from . no road has been admitted to the list where the immunity has been interrupted by a single accident. with this fact in mind, the clean slate of the roads for six years challenges admiration, especially as the bureau's reports in covered less than two-fifths of the operated mileage of the united states. railway accidents in . having thus shown the gratifying immunity from fatalities to passengers in train accidents during the year , and on , miles of line since , it remains to present the reverse side of the picture, which is so invariably thrust forward in official documents. accident bulletin no. of the interstate commerce commission furnishes the following data as to the number killed and injured on the railroads of the united states during the last two fiscal years: summary of casualties to persons in railway accidents for the years ending june , and . ================================+================================ | +---------------+---------------- class of accident | passengers | employes +------+--------+-------+-------- |killed| injured| killed| injured --------------------------------+------|--------+-------+-------- collisions | | , | | , derailments | | , | | , miscellaneous train accidents, | | | | including locomotive | | | | boiler explosions | -- | | | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total train accidents | | , | | , +------+--------+-------+-------- coupling or uncoupling | -- | -- | | , while doing other work | | | | about trains or while | | | | attending switches | -- | -- | | , coming in contact with | | | | overhead bridges, structures | | | | at side of track, etc | | | | , falling from cars or engines | | | | or while getting on or off | | , | | , other causes | | , | , | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total (other than train | | | | accidents) | | , | , | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total (all classes) | | , | , | , | | | | totals in : | | | | in train accidents | | , | , | , in other than train accidents | | , | , | , +------+--------|-------+-------- all classes of accidents | | , | , | , --------------------------------+------+--------+-------+-------- {table continued} ================================+================================ | +---------------+---------------- class of accident | passengers | employes +------+--------+-------|-------- |killed| injured| killed| injured --------------------------------+------|--------+-------+-------- collisions | | , | | , derailments | | , | | , miscellaneous train accidents, | | | | including locomotive | | | | boiler explosions | -- | | | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total train accidents | | , | | , +------+--------+-------+-------- coupling or uncoupling | -- | -- | | , while doing other work | | | | about trains or while | | | | attending switches | -- | -- | | , coming in contact with | | | | overhead bridges, structures | | | | at side of track, etc | | | | , falling from cars or engines | | | | or while getting on or off | | , | | , other causes | | , | , | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total (other than train | | | | accidents) | | , | , | , +------+--------+-------+-------- total (all classes) | | , | , | , | | | | totals in : | | | | in train accidents | | , | , | , in other than train accidents | | , | , | , +------+--------|-------+-------- all classes of accidents | | , | , | , --------------------------------+------+--------+-------+-------- the same cause which accounted for the remarkable recession of railway casualties in was still operative in a more marked degree throughout , as evidenced in the above table. here is shown a reduction from of % in fatalities to passengers in train accidents and of nearly % in those to employes. even in all classes of accidents the decrease is almost as striking. a drop from to in fatalities to passengers and from , to , in fatalities to employes, resulting from whatever cause, should be a matter for national congratulation and thanksgiving. that the facts herein set forth should have no lesson for national authorities beyond moving them to appeal for additional control of safety appliances is nothing short of a national scandal. as for safety devices, the railways in were practically as well equipped as in . the percentage operated under the protection of block signals was . % in against . % in , a difference inappreciable as compared with the recorded difference in fatalities. the government inspectors reported the equipment in better condition in than for any previous year by fully %, and yet that was the worst year in the annals of railway accidents. an english writer (h. raynor wilson), his vision unobscured by the propinquity of patent devices, has placed his finger on the true cause of the reduction in railway accidents in the united states in and when writing in "the safety of british railways" he says: "experience in america during the period of depression that has prevailed since the summer of shows that fewer accidents occur during such times. there are not so many goods trains, the men are less 'pushed,' they work fewer hours, and the careless and indifferent are weeded out." but we do not have to go to england for a convincing analysis of the causes of the remarkable decrease in accidents on american railways in and . in the presence of similar conditions statistician adams in his official report for penned the following: "another explanation may be suggested for this decrease in casualties to railway employes. the character of equipment used during the year covered by this report was undoubtedly of a higher grade than in previous years. a large number of old cars of abandoned type were destroyed during the year, while there was an increase in the better grades of cars equipped with train brakes and automatic couplers. this, however, is a suggestion merely, there being no statistical proof of any relation between a higher grade equipment and the decrease of accidents to employes. it is also probable, in view of the fact that liability to accident is increased by the employment of the shiftless and unskilled, that the grade of labor was raised through the discharge of so large a number of employes. this latter suggestion finds support in the fact that the ratio of casualties in the southern states, where the grade of labor is somewhat inferior, has for a series of years been higher than in the northern and eastern states." with a continuation of similar conditions as to traffic and labor throughout , the official statistician, having not yet accepted the theory that violation of rules, carelessness and negligence are amenable to patent appliances, emphasized the concluding suggestion of his report in these terms: "from the above comparative statement it is clear that the year ending june , , is more satisfactory, so far as accidents are concerned, than any previous year. reference was made in last year's report to the fact that the marked reduction in the pay roll of the railways, by which the incompetent and inefficient were dropped from the railway service, and the consignment to the scrap heap of equipment worn out or out of date, were largely responsible for the greater safety in railway travel and railway employment shown by the statistics of the year. the result of raising the character of the railway service and grade of railway equipment is yet more marked during the present year, and to this must be added the fact that the demands upon the passenger service during the present year have been somewhat decreased. it is also worthy of suggestion, although the facts yet at command are not adequate for confident assertion, that the fitting of equipment with automatic devices is beginning to show beneficial results." from that year to this the fitting of equipment with automatic devices has proceeded with uninterrupted despatch. where in only . % of it was equipped with train brakes and . % with automatic couplers, in the commission reported . % equipped with train brakes and % with automatic couplers. in every form of mechanical safety device the railway equipment of was incomparably better than in , and yet the number of fatal accidents to employes in exceeded those in seven to three and to passengers three and four-fifths to one. in the matter of deaths in coupling accidents alone are "beneficial results" traceable to automatic safety devices. the character of the men in the service, their automatic observance of regulations, intelligence and alert devotion to duty are the best preventives of railway accidents, and the conditions prevalent after the panics of and are conducive to these conditions. it is not likely, however, that the american people will welcome experiences, even in homeopathic doses, such as we knew in , as the cure for railway accidents. but from the lessons of every depression, as read in the statistics of railway fatalities, the american people have a right to expect their representatives in federal and state legislatures to learn that the prevention of railway accidents rests on the intelligence, vigilance and experience of the man and not with the multiplication of devices. automatic obedience to rules will prevent more accidents than all the safety devices that cumber the shelves of the patent office at washington. invention, however, is easier to the average american than plain everyday observance of rules. besides the selling of devices to railways is a profitable business. accidents increase in - . accident bulletin no. for the first quarter of the current fiscal year shows the unfavorable turn in casualties always attendant on reviving business. given in brief the figures are as follows: casualties to persons, july, august and september, . -----------------------------------+--------+-------- | killed | injured -----------------------------------+--------+-------- to passengers: | | from accidents to trains | | , by accidents from other causes | | , | | to employes: | | from accidents to trains | | , by accidents from other causes | | , +--------+-------- total classes | | , corresponding quarter | | , -----------------------------------+--------+-------- as this report goes to press, the commission, through the associated press, has issued a summary of accident bulletin no. which states that there were , persons ( passengers and employes) killed and , injured on the steam railways of the united states during the three months ending december , . this shows an increase over the corresponding quarter last year of killed and , injured. for the same quarter in the killed were , ; in , , ; and in , , . as the quarter ending december , , saw railway traffic at its highest pressure, it shows an improvement over the records of , ' and ' . the number injured is the highest ever recorded for three months, surpassing the quarter ending september , , however, by only . but as explained elsewhere, "injuries" is too elastic a term for comparative statistics. accidents to other persons. where the quarterly bulletins of the commission make no mention of the accidents to persons other than passengers and employes, the annual reports of the carriers supply the missing data as to "other persons." these include casualties at highway crossings, to trespassers, persons walking, standing or sleeping on the track, workmen in railway shops and all other accidents directly or indirectly connected with the transportation industry. accidents to "other persons" cover over % of all fatalities charged to the railways and of these over % are to trespassers. the returns to this bureau show the following casualties to persons other than passengers and employes during the year ending june , : ==================================+========+======== class | killed | injured ----------------------------------+--------+-------- trespassers (including suicides) | , | , not trespassing | | , +--------+-------- total other persons | , | , ----------------------------------+--------+-------- these figures warrant the estimate that the total number of trespassers and other persons killed and injured in the united states in through the operation of railways was approximately , and , respectively. this marks a decrease from , but not nearly so great as in the case of passengers and employes. fatalities in railway accidents since . we are now enabled to present a complete statement of the fatalities connected with the transportation industry since the commission began compiling casualty statistics in . the figures in this summary are confined to fatalities, for the reason given by the commission that it "is well known the term 'injury,' as used in statistics of this character, is elastic." as a matter of fact the terms injury and casualty are so individually or locally indefinite and variable as to have little or no statistical value. passengers, employes and other persons killed in railway accidents from to . =========+==========+=========+===========================+======= | | | other persons | year |passengers|employes +-----------+---------------+ total | | |trespassers|not trespassing| ---------+----------+---------+-----------+---------------+------- | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | , | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | , | | , | | , | not | (a) , | , | | , | given | (a) , | , ---------+----------+---------+-----------+---------------+------- (a) includes trespassers. to the most casual student this table illustrates how railway accidents increase and decline with periods of business activity and recession. the effect of the panic of - is seen in the decrease in accidents in and . the temporary slowing up in is reflected in fewer fatalities in , and a drop of % in the business of was followed by a decreased death roll of % for that year and % in . relation of accidents to passenger traffic. the relation of railway accidents to passenger travel is most accurately measured in the following statement of the number of passengers carried one mile to one killed in train accidents during the years for which these statistics have been compiled: passengers carried one mile to one killed. ==========+===================+====================+=================== | passengers killed | passengers carried | passengers carried year | in | one mile | one mile | train accidents | | to one killed ----------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------- | (a) | , , , | , , | (b) | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , | | , , , | , , ----------+-------------------+--------------------+------------------- (a) of these only were passengers in the ordinary sense of the term. (b) of these only were passengers in the ordinary sense of the term. the student has to go back to the years of continued business paralysis, and , to find any record of immunity to passengers from fatalities in train accidents at all comparable with the conditions that prevailed in . decreased hazard to train crews. never in the history of american railways has the occupation of the men directly engaged in the operation of trains been as free from fatalities as during the year . this is proved by the following statement showing the number of trainmen killed in all descriptions of accidents since the figures have been compiled, with the ratio to the number employed: summary showing number of trainmen killed in railway accidents to , with ratio to number employed. ==========+==========+==========+===========+==========+========== | | | yard | | number of | trainmen | trainmen | trainmen | all | trainmen | | in yards | switching | trainmen | for one | | | crews | | killed ----------+----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------- | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | | | | | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | , | | | , | | | | | , | ----------+----------+----------+-----------+----------+---------- the figures of the interstate commerce commission have only made the division of trainmen shown above since . here again the last column proves the relation of accidents to the ebb and flow of traffic. freight traffic and accidents. the preponderating part played by the immense freight traffic of american railways as a cause of accidents is shown in the following analysis of the sixty "prominent collisions" described in the commission's quarterly accident bulletins for the year : =================================+============+========+======== kind of train in accident | number of | killed | injured | collisions | | ---------------------------------+------------+--------+-------- passenger and passenger | | | freight and passenger | | | freight and freight | | | +------------+--------+-------- total | | | ---------------------------------+------------+--------+-------- here it will be observed freight trains were involved in . % of the prominent collisions of the year and shared in responsibility for . % of the fatalities. the proportion of injured in accidents to freight trains is not so great for the obvious reason that the number of persons exposed in collisions involving only freight trains is generally limited to train crews. causes of train accidents. an examination of the causes given for the prominent collisions and derailments in the accident bulletins of the commission since the passage of the act of march , , requiring the railway companies to make full monthly reports of all accidents affords the following general statement: =========================================================+========== cause | number of | accidents ---------------------------------------------------------+---------- negligence, error or forgetfulness of some member of | train crew | recklessness, carelessness, overlooking or disregarding | orders or taking chances | disobedience | incompetence or inexperience | defect of equipment, tires, wheels, etc. | defect of roadway | malicious acts | misadventure, washouts, landslides, cyclones, etc. | undiscovered | +---------- total | ---------------------------------------------------------+---------- among the prominent derailments charged against the railways in the bulletin for april, may and june, , is the following, resulting in one killed and three injured. "automobile running on track, derailed by running over a dog, one guest killed." through the inclusion in these bulletins of accidents on trolley lines, their value as records of railway accidents is being greatly impaired. without any information as to the number of passengers carried by the electric cars it is impossible to arrive at an accurate idea of the relation of accidents to traffic, and without this the mere record of accidents has little information value. accidents on british railways. for a second time in their history, in the year ending december , , british railways went through a twelvemonth without killing a single passenger in a train accident, thus paralleling their record of in this respect. in the matter of passengers injured, the year showed a remarkable improvement, not only over but over any other year in the history of british railways. when it comes to the totals of casualties, however, shows little variation from the average record. the following table shows the total number of persons killed and injured in the working of british railways, as reported to the board of trade for the calendar year as compared with : ======================================+================+=============== | | class +-------+--------+-------+------- |killed |injured |killed |injured --------------------------------------+-------+--------+-------+------- passengers: | | | | in accidents to trains | -- | | -- | by accidents from other causes | | , | | , +-------+--------+-------+-------- total passengers | | , | | , | | | | employes: | | | | in accidents to trains | | | | by accidents from other causes | | , | | , +-------+--------+-------+-------- total employes | | , | | , | | | | other persons: | | | | accidents to trains | -- | | | while passing over railways at | | | | level crossings | | | | while trespassing on line | | | | (including suicides) | | | | not coming under above | | | | classification | | | | +-------+--------+-------+-------- total other persons | | | | | | | | grand total all classes, | , | , | , | , " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | " " " " | , | , | | +-------+--------+-------+-------- total, ten years | , | , | | --------------------------------------+-------+--------+-------+-------- as one year of traffic on american railways approximates ten years on british railways, the above totals for ten years on the latter may be compared with killed and , injured on the former last year, or with , killed and , injured in , the darkest year in the annals of american railway accidents. attention is asked to the apparently startling increase in injuries on british railways since . the increase is absolutely fictitious, having resulted from "a change in the definition of a reportable accident," and not from any greater hazard in the working of british roads. this confirms the objection, expressed in the report of the british board of trade in , to any changes in the form of tables extending over a long series of years that "admit of comparisons, which any change of form would invalidate if not destroy." it will be perceived that the mere change in the definition of what constitutes a reportable accident increased the number of injuries reported against british railways fully %. this justifies the writer's view that comparisons of injuries in railway accidents are of little value. even the same injury does not affect two persons in the same degree. one "hollers" and cries for a doctor where the other whistles and goes on with his work. the inquiries of the board of trade into the causes of british railway accidents in confirm former findings that, exclusive of train accidents, in the case of passengers "they mostly arise from carelessness of the passengers themselves," and the same is true of the vast majority of accidents to employes. overwork and railway accidents. at last the statistics of the british board of trade furnish what well nigh amounts to demonstration that long hours play very little part as an actual cause of railway accidents. under the statute the board requires reports of all instances of periods of duty in excess of twelve hours worked on british railways. for the month of october, , the returns show , excess hours worked out of , , ; and for october, , , out of , , , or an excess of . % in and . %, in . now, out of accidents investigated in , only , or . %, occurred to men working in excess of hours; and out of investigated in only , or . %. this bears out the opinion of a high english official, that experience "does not show any close connection between long hours and accidents." the following statement shows the relation of accidents to the hours the persons involved have been on duty on british railways for a period of five years: hours when british accidents occur. ====================================================================== | | hours on duty when accidents occurred three months |off +----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- to |duty| st| d | d | th| th| th| th| th| th| th ---------------|----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- sept. , | | | | | | | | | | | dec. , | | | | | | | | | | | march , | | | | | | | | | | | june , | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- year | | | | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- five years | | | | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---- {table continued} ============================================================== | | hours on duty when accidents occurred three months |off +-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- to |duty| th| th| th| th| th| th| th ---------------|----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- sept. , | | | | | | | | dec. , | | | | | | | | march , | | | | | | | | june , | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- year | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | year | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- five years | | | | | | | | ---------------+----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+----- it will be observed that out of these , accidents investigated and reported on by british inspectors during the years to , inclusive, a majority happened during the first half of the twelve hours for which the men were booked and . % when they were working overtime. in no instance was the accident attributed to long hours. railway accidents in europe. excluding the returns of injured, for the reason that no two countries have a common definition of a reportable injury, the accidents on european railways, according to the latest reports, resulted in the following fatalities: killed in european railway accidents. (total mileage represented , .) -----------------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+--------- country | year |passengers|employes| other | total |preceding | | | |persons| | year -----------------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+--------- united kingdom | | | | | , | , germany | | | | | , | , russia in europe | | | | , | , | , france | | (a) | |(b) | | austria | | | | | | hungary | | | | | | italy | - | (c) | | | | spain | | | | | | portugal | | | | | | sweden | | | | | | norway | | | | | | denmark | - | (c) | | | | belgium | | | | | | holland | | | | | | switzerland | | | | | | roumania | - | | | | | +--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+-------- totals | | | , | , | , | , -----------------+--------+----------+--------+-------+-------+-------- (a) train accidents only; other accidents to passengers included under "other persons." (b) excluding suicides. (c) statistics cover state railways only. these figures, representing a european mileage of , , may be compared with those of the united states in when it had , miles of line and an accident record of fatalities to passengers, , to employes and , to other persons; or even with the american record for , when with a mileage % greater the record stood fatalities to passengers, , to employes and , to other persons. the excess of fatalities to other persons in this country is due to the notorious indifference to danger and law of all classes of citizens in using railway right of way as a common thoroughfare for adults and playground for children. despite the elevation of the tracks in chicago, the writer has seen scores of youngsters scarcely able to walk playing on those raised tracks and laughing at the locomotives as they went shrieking by. in all comparisons of accidents on american railways with those on foreign roads, it should be remembered that our excess of mileage and freight traffic more than balance their density of passenger traffic and that nowhere else on earth is railway right of way common to foolhardy pedestrians and creeping children. the railroad commission of indiana is to be commended for its efforts to enlist public sentiment against trespassing on railway tracks. xiii railway receiverships in only five railway companies, operating miles of line, went into the hands of receivers during the calendar year , as compared with companies, operating , miles, for the preceding year. the capitalization of these five roads was $ , , , against $ , , for those financially involved in . the following statement gives the names, mileage, funded debt and capital stock of the roads for which receivers were appointed in : ===============================+=========+=============+============ | mileage | funded debt | stock -------------------------------+---------+-------------+------------ atlanta, birmingham & atlantic | | $ , , | $ , , alabama terminal | -- | , , | , , georgia terminal | -- | , , | , , yellowstone park | | , | , chicago, peoria & st. louis | | , , | , , -------------------------------+---------+-------------+------------ total | | $ , , | $ , , -------------------------------+---------+-------------+------------ the number, mileage and capitalization of the railways that have failed since are as follows, the figures being from the _railroad age gazette_: receiverships since . =====+=======+=========+=========== | | | bonds and | roads | miles | stock -----+-------+---------+----------- | | , | $ , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | | , | | | , | | | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | , | , | | | , | | | , | | | , | | | , | | , | , | | | , | | | , | | , | , | | | , -----+-------+---------+----------- total, years | | | , | $ , , -----+-------+---------+----------- [three figures omitted in bonds and stock column.] xiv cost of railway regulation nothing in the record of railway development in the united states has increased with the rapidity of the cost of their regulation under the act creating the interstate commerce commission. since the first commission, composed of judge thomas m. cooley, of michigan, chairman, william r. morrison, of illinois, augustus schoonmaker, of new york, aldace f. walker of vermont, and walter l. bragg, of alabama, commissioners, and edward e. moseley, secretary, and prof. henry c. adams, statistician, to date the yearly expenditures on its account have been as follows: ============================+======== five commissioners | $ , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , " " | , seven commissioners | , " " | , " " | , ----------------------------+-------- from this it appears that the cost of regulating american railways has increased tenfold in twenty years. of this only $ , is chargeable to the increase in number and compensation for the commission under the hepburn act. of the balance it was charged by representative adair of indiana in a speech in congress last january that $ , annually was for "interstate commerce detectives." xv statistics of foreign railways in the following review of the mileage and traffic statistics of the principal divisions of europe and other countries, the information has been derived from the latest official sources wherever available, and where estimates have been resorted to as noted they have been computed from ascertained facts. ====================================================================== | | miles | | | | covered | capitalization | passenger country | year | by | or cost of | revenues | |capitalization| construction | -----------------+------+--------------+-----------------+------------ united kingdom | | , | $ , , , |$ , , german empire | | , | , , , | , , france | | , | , , , | , , russia in europe | | , | (b) , , , | , , austria | | , | , , , | , , hungary | | , | , , | , , italy(a) | - | , | (c) , , , | , , spain | | , | , , | , , portugal | | , | , , | , , sweden | | , | , , | , , norway | | , | , , | , , denmark(a) | - | , | , , | , , belgium | | , | (d) , , | , , holland | | , | , , | , , switzerland | | , | , , | , , roumania | - | , | , , | , , canada | | , | , , , | , , argentine | | , | , , | , , japan(a) | | , | , , | , , british india | | , | , , , | , , new south wales | | , | , , | , , |------+--------------+-----------------+------------ total | | , | $ , , , |$ , , | | | | united states | | , |(e) , , , | , , | | | | -----------------+------+--------------+-----------------+------------ (a) state only. (b) including siberian. (c) - . (d) state only. , miles. (e) exclusive of switching and terminal companies ( , miles). {table continued; part } =================================================================== | | | | | | freight | other | total country | year | revenues | revenues | earnings | | | | -----------------+------+--------------+------------+-------------- united kingdom | | $ , , |$ , , | $ , , german empire | | , , | , , | , , france | | , , | , , | , , russia in europe | | , , | , , | , , austria | | , , | , , | , , hungary | | , , | , , | , , italy(a) | - | , , | , , | , , spain | | , , | , , | , , portugal | | , , | , | , , sweden | | , , | , | , , norway | | , , | , | , , denmark(a) | - | , , | , | , , belgium | | , , | , | , , holland | | , , | , , | , , switzerland | | , , | , , | , , roumania | - | , , | , | , , canada | | , , | , , | , , argentine | | , , | , , | , , japan(a) | | , , | , , | , , british india | | , , | , , | , , new south wales | | , , | , , | , , |------+--------------+------------+-------------- total | |$ , , , |$ , , |$ , , , | | | | united states | | , , , | , , | , , , | | | | -----------------+------+--------------+------------+-------------- (a) state only. {table continued; part } ======================================================================== | | | | | | | | |per cent| | | country | year | operating |expense | |average | | | expenses | to | passengers|journey | | | |revenue | carried | miles | | | | | | | -----------------+------+--------------+--------+-------------+--------+ united kingdom | | $ , , | . | , , , | . | german empire | | , , | . | , , , | . | france | | , , | . | , , | . | russia in europe | | , , | . | , , | . | austria | | , , | . | , , | . | hungary | | , , | . | , , | . | italy(a) | - | , , | . | , , | . (f)| spain | | , , | . | , , | . (f)| portugal | | , , | . | , , | . (f)| sweden | | , , | . | , , | . | norway | | , , | . | , , | . | denmark(a) | - | , , | . | , , | . | belgium | | , , | . | , , | . | holland | | , , | . | , , | . | switzerland | | , , | . | , , | . | roumania | - | , , | . | , , | . | canada | | , , | . | , , | . | argentine | | , , | . | , , | . | japan(a) | | , , | . | , , | . | british india | | , , | . | , , | . | new south wales | | , , | . | , , | . | |------+--------------+--------|-------------+--------+ total | |$ , , , | . | , , , | . | | | | | | | united states | | , , , | . | , , | . | | | | | | | -----------------+------+--------------+--------+-------------+--------+ (a) state only. (f) estimated. {table continued; part } ========================================================== | | | | | | | | |per cent| country | year |freight tons | average | net | | | carried | haul |revenues| | | | (miles) | to | | | | |capital | -----------------+------+-------------+---------+--------+ united kingdom | | , , | . | . | german empire | | , , | . | . | france | | , , | . | . | russia in europe | | , , | . | . | austria | | , , | . | . | hungary | | , , | . | . | italy(a) | - | , , | . (f)| . | spain | | , , | . | . | portugal | | , , | . (f)| . | sweden | | , , | . | . | norway | | , , | . | . | denmark(a) | - | , , | . | . | belgium | | , , | . | . | holland | | , , | . | . | switzerland | | , , | . | . | roumania | - | , , | . | . | canada | | , , | . | . | argentine | | , , | . | . | japan(a) | | , , | . | . | british india | | , , | . | . | new south wales | | , , | . | . | |------+-------------+---------+--------+ total | | , , , | . | . | | | | | | united states | | , , , | . | . | | | | | | -----------------+------+-------------+---------+--------+ (a) state only. (f) estimated. from the data here furnished it is possible to arrive at a close approximation of the passenger and freight rates in the countries named. the average passenger journey and freight haul in the united states is nearly twice as long as the average for the rest of the world. in comparing net results it should be remembered that rentals and taxes should be deducted from the american figures. for further details of the railways of canada, the united kingdom and the german empire, for which complete statistics are available, the reader is referred to succeeding pages. here the writer would acknowledge the courtesy of the railway department of canada for advance copies of the dominion railway statistics for . railways of canada. statistics of the railways of the dominion for the years ending june , , and . =========================+===============+===============+============== | | | -------------------------+---------------+---------------+-------------- miles of line operated | , | , | , second track | , | , | , yard track and sidings | , | , | , +---------------+---------------+-------------- all tracks | , | , | , capital cost: | | | stock | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , funded debt | , , | , , | , , government railways | , , | , , | , , subsidies | , , | , , | , , +---------------+---------------+-------------- total capital cost |$ , , , |$ , , , |$ , , , per mile of line | , | , | , passenger traffic: | | | passengers carried | , , | , , | , , pass. carried mile | , , , | , , , | , , , average journey (miles)| | | average pass. per train| | | mileage of pass. trains| , , | , , | , , mileage of mixed trains| , , | , , | , , receipts from pass. | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , receipts per pass. mile| | | (cents) | . | . | . freight traffic: | | | tons carried | , , | , , | , , tons carried mile | , , , | , , , | , , , average haul (miles) | | | freight train mileage | , , | , , | , , average tons per train | | | receipts from freight | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , receipts per ton mile | | | (mills) | . | . | . miscellaneous receipts | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , total receipts | , , | , , | , , | | | expenses of operation: | | | way and structures | , , | , , | $ , , maintenance of | | | equipment | , , | , , | , , conducting | | | transportation | , , | , , | , , general expenses | , , | , , | , , traffic expenses | -- | -- | , , +---------------+---------------+-------------- total expenses | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , ratio to earnings | . % | . % | . % | | | net receipts | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , percentage to | | | capital cost | . % | . % | . % gross receipts per mile | $ , | $ , | $ , gross expenses per mile | , | , | , number of employes | , | , | , compensation | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , prop. of gross earnings | . % | . % | . % prop. of operating | | | expenses | . % | . % | . % average per employe | | | per year | $ | $ | $ -------------------------+---------------+---------------+-------------- railways of the united kingdom. statistics of mileage, capitalization, and traffic for the years and . ========================================+===============+=============== | | ----------------------------------------+---------------+--------------- length of railways: | | double track or more (miles) | , | , single track | , | , |---------------|--------------- total length of line | , | , total length, all tracks, | | sidings, etc. | , | , | | total capitalization (paid up) | $ , , , | $ , , , capitalization per mile of line | , | , | | passenger traffic: | | passengers carried | , , , | , , , season ticket journeys | , , | , , passengers carried one mile | , , , | , , , average journey (miles) | . | . receipts from passengers | $ , , | $ , , average receipts per passenger | | per mile (cents) | . | . mail and other passenger train | | receipts | $ , , | $ , , | | freight traffic: | | minerals, tons carried | , , | , , general merchandise | , , | , , total freight, tons | , , | , , tons carried one mile | , , , | , , , average haul (miles) | | receipts from freight | $ , , | $ , , average receipts per ton mile (cents) | . | . | | miscellaneous receipts | $ , , | $ , , |---------------|--------------- total receipts | $ , , | $ , , | | expenses of operation | , , | , , ratio of expenses to earnings | . | . | | net receipts | $ , , | percentage to total paid-up capital | . | | | gross receipts per mile | $ , | $ , gross expenses per mile | , | , | | number of employes | , | (a) , total compensation | $ , , | $ , , proportion of gross earnings | . | . proportion of operating expenses | . | . average per employe per year | $ . | $ . ----------------------------------------+---------------+--------------- (a) no enumeration of employes has been made since , the last preceding, in , gave a total of , . railways of germany. statistics of mileage, cost of construction, and traffic for the years , and . ===========================+==============+==============+============== | | | ---------------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------- length of state railways | | | (miles) | , | , | , length of private railways | , | , | , |--------------|--------------|-------------- total | , | , | , | | | cost of construction |$ , , , |$ , , , |$ , , , cost per mile | , | , | , | | | passenger traffic: | | | passengers carried | , , , | , , , | , , , passengers carried (one | | | mile) | , , , | , , , | , , , average journey (miles) | . | . | . receipts from passengers | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , receipts per passenger | | | per mile (cents) | . | . | . | | | freight traffic: | | | fast freight and express:| | | tons carried | , , | , , | , , tons carried mile | , , | , , | , , average haul (miles) | . | . | . receipts from same | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , receipts per ton mile | | | (cents) | . | . | . | | | all freight: | | | tons carried | , , | , , | , , tons carried one mile | , , , | , , , | , , , average haul (miles) | . | . | . receipts from freight | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , receipts per ton mile | | | (cents) | . | . | . | | | miscellaneous receipts | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , |--------------|--------------|-------------- total receipts | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , | | | expenses of operation | , , | , , | , , ratio expenses to earnings| . | . | . | | | net receipts | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , percentage on cost of | | | construction | . | . | . | | | gross receipts per mile | $ , | $ , | $ , gross expenses per mile | , | , | , | | | number of employes | , | , | , total compensation | $ , , | $ , , | $ , , prop. of gross earnings | . | . | . prop. of operating expenses| . | . | . average per employe | | | per year | $ . | $ . | $ . ---------------------------+--------------+--------------+-------------- mark the increased capital cost per mile and in proportion of wages to earnings, and the increased ratio of net earnings to cost of construction. then figure how long it will take at this rate before the german people are taxed to support their railways or by increased rates because the railways have been run for politics and not for the people. xvi growth of railways in three-quarters of a century american railways, from small beginnings in pennsylvania in , maryland in , south carolina in , and new york and massachusetts in , show the following remarkable growth by decades: progress of railways in the united states since . --------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------ | | | | | | | | | states | | | | | | | | |incom- | | | | | | | | |plete --------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------ alabama | | | | | , | , | , | , | , arkansas | | | | | | | , | , | , california | | | | | | , | , | , | , colorado | | | | | | , | , | , | , connecticut | | | | | | | , | , | , delaware | | | | | | | | | florida | | | | | | | , | , | , georgia | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , idaho | | | | | | | | , | , illinois | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , indiana | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , iowa | | | | | , | , | , | , | , kansas | | | | | , | , | , | , | , kentucky | | | | | , | , | , | , | , louisiana | | | | | | | , | , | , maine | | | | | | , | , | , | , maryland and | | | | | | | | | d.c. | | | | | | , | , | , | , massachusetts | | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , michigan | | | | | , | , | , | , | , minnesota | | | | | , | , | , | , | , mississippi | | | | | | , | , | , | , missouri | | | | | , | , | , | , | , montana | | | | | | | , | , | , nebraska | | | | | , | , | , | , | , nevada | | | | | | | | | , new hampshire | | | | | | , | , | , | , new jersey | | | | | , | , | , | , | , new york | | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , north carolina| | | | | , | , | , | , | , north dakota | | | | | | | , | , | , ohio | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , oklahoma | | | | | | | , | , | , oregon | | | | | | | , | , | , pennsylvania | | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , rhode island | | | | | | | | | south carolina| | | | | , | , | , | , | , south dakota | | | | | | | , | , | , tennessee | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , texas | | | | | | , | , | , | , utah | | | | | | | , | , | , vermont | | | | | | | | , | , virginia | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , washington | | | | | | | , | , | , west virginia | | | | | | | , | , | , wisconsin | | | | | , | , | , | , | , wyoming | | | | | | | | , | , arizona | | | | | | | , | , | , new mexico | | | | | | | , | , | , --------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------ total | , | , | , | , | , | , | , , -- --------------+-----+-----+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------ the most striking feature of this statement is the number of states devoid of railway mileage previous to , which since then the railways have converted into mighty commonwealths whose resources have been multiplied "some thirty fold, some sixty and some an hundred". and those to which the railways have made the greatest prosperity possible are the states whose politicians today are trying the hardest to muzzle the ox that treads out the corn for their people. growth of railways of the world. in the following table is given the mileage of the principal countries in the world from the earliest date available to the latest: ============+============================================================== | miles of road completed country +------+-----+-----+------+------+------+-------+------+------- |opened| | | | | | | | (b) ------------+------+-----+-----+------+------+------+-------+------+------- great | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , | , britain | | | | | | | | | united | | , | , | , | , | , | , | | , states | | | | | | | | | canada | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , france | | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , germany | | | , | , | , | , | , | , | , belgium | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , austria | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , (proper) | | | | | | | | | russia in | | | | | , | , | , | , | , europe | | | | | | | | | italy | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , holland | | | | | | , | , | , | , switzerland | | | | | | , | , | , | , hungary | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , denmark | | | | | | | , | , | , spain | | | | , | , | , | , | , | , chili | | | | | | , | , | , | , brazil | | | | | | , | , | , | , norway | | | | | | | | , | , sweden | | | | | , | , | , | , | , argentine | | | | | | , | , | , | , republic | | | | | | | | | turkey in | | | | | | | , | , | , europe | | | | | | | | | peru | | | | | | , | | , | , portugal | | | | | | | , | , | , greece | | | | | | | | | uruguay | | | | | | | | | , mexico | | | | | | | , | , | , roumania | | | | | | | , | , | , australia(a)| | | | | | | , | , | , japan | | | | | | | | , | , british | | | | | , | , | , | , | , india | | | | | | | | | china | | | | | | | | | , africa | | | | | | | , | , | , ------------+------+-----+-----+------+------+------+-------+------+------- (a) including new zealand. (b) or latest figures. recommendations in conclusion i would reiterate the following recommendations: railway statistics. that the bureau of railway statistics and accounts, now a division of the interstate commerce commission, be transferred to the department of commerce and labor. that its statistics be confined to the affairs of operating railway companies, the only carrier companies engaged in interstate commerce. that its inquiries be confined to the data necessary to furnish the public with a comprehensive knowledge of railway conditions and operations in the united states from year to year. that these statistics be devoted to publicity and not to the promotion of personal or official theories. accidents. that congress provide for an official investigation of all railway accidents in the united states along the lines so successfully adopted in the united kingdom, and not in a spirit of hostility to the railways, as proposed in pending legislation. this investigation should be through a bureau of the department of commerce and labor, composed as follows: one chief inspector. ten district inspectors, one for each interstate commerce group, appointed from engineer service of the united states army, with the rank of major. this would insure fitness and impartiality for the work and valuable experience in regard to railway operations to the army engineers. three deputy inspectors for each group. three assistant inspectors for each group. several groups might require four inspectors of each class, and as many could get along with two. enough money could be deducted from the interstate commerce commission appropriation to pay these officials liberally, so as to secure competent service, without crippling the legitimate work of the commission. respectfully submitted, slason thompson. index page abuses, old, reformed, accidents, decrease in , accidents, effect of freight traffic on, accidents, fatalities in, since , accidents on british railways, accidents on european railways, accidents, overwork seldom cause of, accidents, train, causes of, acworth, w. m., on relations of railroads to the state, acworth, w. m., testimony before senate committee, additional lines, little room for, advances in railway rates, concerning, african cape government railroads, agricultural implements, freight rates on, agricultural products and freight rates, air brakes, introduction of, allegheny mountains, elevations, american railways by states, to , area, number of miles to, in , australian railways under government ownership, , automatic couplers, automatic mechanical stop, automatic signaling, bacon, lord, on the necessity of easy transportation, bananas, relation of freight rate to price, beaulieu, leroy, on american railways, belgian railroads owned by the state, bills, multitude of, affecting railways, block signaling, evolution of, block signals, miles protected by, , , brewer, judge, on the right to change rates, british railway commission discussed, british railways, slow growth of, british railways, statistics of, brown, w. c., on the freight rate situation, business suit, freight rates on a, butter, freight rates on, butter, price of, little affected by freight charge, canada railways, statistics of, canals, beginnings of american, canal construction, revival of, canals, scarcity of capital for, capital expenditure of british, german and american railways, capital for improvements the railway problem of to-day, capital, increased cost of, capital needed for southern railways, capital, private, develops river traffic, capitalization, , capitalization, foreign railways, capitalization, net, - , capitalization of turnpikes, capitalization, pres. roosevelt rejects claims of over, car construction, car service operation, cars, number and capacity, to , chicago, burlington and quincy r. r., condition of, civil war, importance of railways during, class rates, no change in certain, since , coastwise commerce first developed, clothes we wear, freight rates on, commission, interstate commerce, its creation and purpose, commissions have advantages over legislatures, commodities, proportions of various, moved, comparison of american and english loads, competition has ceased to regulate, competition, public facilities increased by, conflict between competitive and uniform rates, congress, conditions confronting, in , construction, cost of, control by democracy, cooking utensils, freight rates on, cooley, judge, on superhuman task of fixing rates by commission, cost of american and foreign railways compared, cost of living, cost, original, of penn r. r., harrisburg to pittsburg, corporate entities necessary to railway construction, cotton, effect of freight charge on, - cotton, freight rates on, crackers, relation of freight charge to price, cummins, senator, on physical value of railways, daily compensation of employes, average, to , damages and injuries to persons, dead weight hauled in mail service excessive, decisions of i. c. c. reducing rates, depreciation of money, significance, development of railways, depression, , effect of, depression of , effect on c. b. & q. pay roll, - difficulties under the present law, diminished purchasing power of railway earnings, discriminations once the rule without objection, , distribution of gross earnings, , dividends, , exaggerated, , dollar purchases less labor or commodities now than , dressed beef, freight rates on, early history of railroads, early methods of travel, earnings and expenses, - , earnings, gross, calendar years , , , eggs, freight rates on, eggs, price slightly affected by freight charge, employes, average daily compensation, - , employes, number and compensation, , employes, pay of foreign, enlightened public opinion the hope of the railways, equipment cost, - , equipment of american railways, , equipment, output, to , equipment requirements for replacement, erie railroad completed to lake erie, ethics of railroad operation high and just, european wars, effect on american development, expenses, calendar years , , , express, receipts from carrying, farm animals and freight rates, farms better investments than railways, fatalities, proportion of, to traffic, fink, henry, on the right to increase rates, flour, effect of freight charge on price, flour, freight rates on a sack of, food stuffs, relation of freight charge to price, foreign railways, mileage of, foreign railways, ratio to area and population, foreign railways, statistics of, freight car performance, - , freight car shortages and surplus, - , freight cars, number and capacity, - , , freight moved ten miles for three cents, freight rate primer, freight rates decrease in - , freight rates, low, encourage production, freight service compared with mail service, freight traffic, - , freight traffic, statistics of, to , french railway employes, number of, french system vicious, fuel, cost of, to , fuel, cost of, in several states, fuel for locomotives, cost of, german railway employes, number and pay of, german railways owned and operated by the state, germany, railway statistics of, gibb, sir george s., on railway nationalization, government assistance sought, government may not usurp management of railways, government ownership must assume all risks, gradients on first pennsylvania railroad, - grade crossings, elimination of, growth of the railways, - harbors insignificant compared to railroad yards, harrisburg to pittsburg, location of road from, hazard, decreased, to train crews, heating cars, heurteau, emile, on american railway system, hides, relation of freight rates to price, high grade tonnage, increase in, highways in the th century, hill, james j., speeches at seattle and tacoma, home markets, americans turn to, hostility to railroads, reasons therefor, household furniture, freight rates on, human element in operation, improvements, demand for, imperative, improvements, postponement of, income account, , income account, calendar year , income account of leased roads, increasing cost of railway maintenance and operation, injuries to persons and damages, interrelation of rates, interlocking signals, interstate commerce law contradictory, iron ore, relation of freight charge on, to industry, isolation of interior settlements, italian railways owned by the state, knapp, chairman i. c. c., letter to senate committee, knapp, chairman i. c. c., analysis of same, knapp, chairman i. c. c., on fair returns for railway investments, kruttschnitt, julius, on railway mail pay, land grants unremunerative to railways, lane, commissioner i. c. c., on relation of capitalization to rates, leather belting, freight rates on, legislation adds to expense of railways, lighting cars, lincoln, abraham, in mississippi bridge case, living, cost of, living, cost of, for normal families, , locomotives, cost, - , locomotives, cost to build in australia, locomotives, development, locomotives, hauling power measured by weight, not revenues, locomotives, number and capacity, to , low freight rates, how made possible, lumber, relation of freight charge to price, mail carrying made unremunerative, mail cars stronger and cost more, mail pay, railway, mail, receipts for carrying, mail, receipts from, compared with other receipts, mail routes, effect of heavy traffic on, management, railway, a learned profession, manufactures earn more than railways, margin between earnings and expenses narrow, massachusetts railroad commission commended, meat, effect of freight charge on price, mexican railway situation, mileage by states, , and , mileage of american railways, , mileage, ratio to area and population, mileage, to , miles built in - , by states, mississippi river, first bridge across, money for improvements must be earned or borrowed, municipal bodies unfitted for business enterprises, mccain, c. c., on diminished purchasing power of railway earnings, mcpherson, logan g., on transportation charge and prices, national aid for internal improvements, national board of trade opposes changes in i. c. law, national development and the railways, nationalization, arguments for, nationalization, arguments against, nationalization of the railways, nationalized railways a field for social experiments, new england, early railways of, nomenclature, changes in, ores, relation of freight rates to values, ownership of american railways, ownership of the great northern, owners of railways not opposed to nationalization, pacific northwest, railways of, panic of , effect on railways, passenger cars, number, - , passenger service compared with mail service, passenger traffic, , passenger traffic, relation of accidents to, passenger traffic, statistics concerning, to , pay, increase in average daily compensation, pay of british railway employes, pay of foreign railway employes, pay roll, proportion to gross earnings, - , pennsylvania r. r. co., first report of engineer, pennsylvania r. r. co., how located, pennsylvania r. r. co. in and , pennsylvania r. r. co. owned by , people, petroleum, relation of freight charge to price of, physical valuation and rate making, physical valuation, senator cummins on, policy of fairness and liberality needed, popular hostility to the railroads, postal cars, increasing cost of, postal cars, pay for, postal deficit, cause of, potatoes, effect of freight charge on price, poultry, freight rates on, preference, undue, would increase under nationalization, pre-railway era in america, pre-railway era in england, prices and actual rates, prices, relative, wholesale, prices, retail, london and new york, prices, retail, of principal articles, - , priestley, neville, on american railways, private capital, dependence on, private corporations, railway companies are, private property, railways are, problems confronting railways, daniel willard on, problems of construction and operation essentially different, problems, railroad, of to-day, j. b. thayer on, property rights involved in fixing rates, proportion of pay roll to gross earnings, - , prosperity of the country depends on prosperous railways, public and the railroads, john c. spooner on, public approval and the railroads, e. p. ripley on, "public be damned," origin of saying, public control and private ownership, are they compatible?, public sentiment rules in the united states, public service of american railways, rails, their evolution, railway mail pay in reported not excessive, railways, american, are private property, railways essential to happiness of american people, railways, situation of, to-day, frank trumbull on, rates before the era of railways, rates by i. c. c., groups, - , rates, discussion of how made, rates in united states must be elastic, rates made to get the business, rates measured in money, - , rates must fluctuate to meet conditions, rates, true principle of making, recognized from the first, raw materials, how rates are adjusted on, reasonable rates, right to make, fundamental, rebates past, receiverships, railway, since , reduction in railway mail pay not warranted in , reductions, no, without the right to advance, relations of railways to the state, relative cost of mail, freight and passenger service, refrigerators, freight rates on, regulate, how shall government, regulation, cost of, regulation, cost of, increase since , regulation of american railways, regulation, just, welcomed by the railways, results, comparative, , and , retrospect of four years, returns from mail, freight and passengers compared, revolution, highways before and after, right of railways to fix rates recognized, ripley, e. p., on the railways and public approval, risk in railway investments, roosevelt, president, rejects over-capitalization theory, safety appliances, safety in railway operation progressive, safety of american railways, seattle, james j. hill at, senate committee concerning advance in railway rates, shareholders, number of railway, ship subsidy criticised, shippers protected under existing law, shoes, effect of freight charge on price of, signaling, development of railway, smith, a. h., on progressive safety in railway operation, socialistic aspect of nationalization of railways, southern products increase in years, southern railways and their needs, southern railways crippled by the civil war, southern railways, mileage of, spooner, john c., on railroads and the public, stage line, first, between new york and philadelphia, state control or state ownership, state ownership by autocracy, state ownership not favored in america, state ownership widely extended, standard time, adoption of, statistics of american railways, , statistics of foreign railways, steamboat, when first a commercial success, sugar beets, relation of freight rate to industry, sugar, effect of freight charge on price of, supplies, cost of railway, - supreme court gives control of rates to carriers, surplus of freight cars in - , swiss railway employes, number and pay of, tacoma, james j. hill at, tacoma waking up, taxes, - , taxes, increase, - , terminals, increased cost of, thayer, j. b., on railroad problems of to-day, tobacco, effect of freight charge on price of, tolls on turnpikes, tonnage, classified, tonnage, water, at duluth leads the world, tracks, all, mileage of, in the united states, tracks, all, mileage of, in the united kingdom, train despatching, transportation charge and prices, logan g. mcpherson on, transportation needs anticipated in america, trespassers, fatalities to, trumbull, frank, on railroad situation of to-day, turnpikes, capitalization of, turnpikes, the early american, united kingdom railways, statistics of, valuation, physical, vastness of railway industry, wages, effect of increase on c. b. & q., wages, railway, in the united states and abroad, wages, railway employes, - , wages, railway, per day, - , wages, railway, , wages, railway, per day, - , wagon roads into interior of america, wallace, john f., on needs of southern railroads, "watered stock" discussed by james j. hill, watermelons, relation of freight charge to the industry, wearing apparel, effect of freight charge on price, "what the traffic will bear" misconstrued, wheat margin between production and consumption, wheat, the problem of, discussed by james j. hill, willard, daniel, on american railway problems, world railways, mileage of, to , transcriber's note italic text is denoted by _underscores_. bold text is denoted by =equal signs=. fractions have been left in the form a/b except for ¼ ½ ¾. a dozen or so occurrences of 'nn a-b' have been changed to 'nn-a/b', mainly on pages - , for consistency. footnote anchors in a table are of the form (a) and the corresponding footnote is placed at the bottom of that table. other footnote anchors are of the form [a] with placement at the end of that chapter. to save table space some column headings use the following abbreviations: pass. for passenger mill. for millions prop. for proportion many wide tables have been split into two or more parts. each part after the first is labelled at the top with {table continued}. obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources. the table of contents has been expanded to include the seventeen sections under the 'statistics' chapter at page . except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. for example: employes, employees; pay roll, pay-roll; reconnoissance; asperse. pg , 'would built' replaced by 'would build'. pg , 'incontestible' replaced by 'incontestable'. pg , column headings, copied from the earlier similar table on pg , have been added to this table for clarity. pg , 'transhipment' replaced by 'transshipment'. pg , 'oamha' replaced by 'omaha'. pg , 'remainding' replaced by 'remaining'. pg , 'uniformily' replaced by 'uniformly'. pg , 'r. p. o.' in the table replaced by 'r.p.o.' to save space. pg , some $ signs removed from the table to save space. pg , missing table footnote '(a) january to july, only.' added. pg footnote [f], ' and ' replaced by ' to '. pg , 'correst' replaced by 'correct'. pg , 'leachlike' replaced by 'leechlike'. pg , 'inocuous' replaced by 'innocuous'. pg , 'parlimentary' replaced by 'parliamentary'. pg , 'is practical' replaced by 'its practical'. pg , '(m = , .)' replaced by '(m = , ; d = decrease.)'. pg , 'phenomenonally' replaced by 'phenomenally'. pg , 'direct charges' replaced by 'indirect charges'. pg , '$ , . ' replaced by '$ , . '. pg , table th row, 'xii' replaced by 'xi'. pg , 'arbitraters' replaced by 'arbitrators'. pg , 'desponding' replaced by 'despondent'. pg , table note (b), 'bureau ' replaced by 'bureau in'. pg , table note (b), 'december, in ' replaced by 'december, is'. pg , to save space in the table, the two columns with totals have been merged into the columns with their constituent data. no data has been omitted. produced from scanned images of public domain material from the google print project.) railroad accidents their cause and prevention by r. c. richards published by the association of railway claim agents copyright, by r. c. richards gift of o. a. moore introduction railroad accidents their cause and prevention much has been said and written during recent years about the increasing number of railroad accidents in this country--their cause and what action should be taken by the government, the railroads and the employees to reduce them and the consequent loss of life and limb resulting therefrom. believing that if the cause of our many accidents were properly understood more care would be taken by the corporations, employees and persons at fault to reduce the number, i shall try to point out in the following pages what investigation has shown me to be the cause of many accidents and how their reoccurrence could, i think, be prevented. in the transaction of the business of a railroad its first and highest duty is to the passengers, to carry them safely and speedily; next, to take care of the property entrusted to it for transportation, and for which it is practically an insurer against everything but the act of god or the public enemy, and deliver it with reasonable dispatch to the consignee in practically the same condition as that in which it is received. it is a self-evident proposition that the nearer the railroads come to performing this duty, the fewer losses and claims for damages they will have to pay, and, as a matter of course, the more money there will be left with which to pay wages, interest, dividends, and make improvements. so it behooves all, who are working for those wages, to do everything they can to help carry on the business properly and correctly in order that the interest of the companies hiring them, as well as their individual interest, will be subserved, and for the more important reason of causing as little suffering, pain, and sorrow to those who by accident may be maimed or killed, which always brings trouble and sorrow to the victim as well as to his family, and frequently results in untold suffering and privation to the widows and children. the report of the interstate commerce commission shows that for the year ending june , , there were passengers killed. , employees killed. not trespassers killed. , trespassers killed. , passengers injured. , employees injured. , not trespassers injured. , trespassers injured. making , killed and , injured, or a total of killed and injured of , , many times over the casualties of our last war, and all the roads seem to have done their share of this havoc. we should strive to see if in the coming year we cannot reduce the number, so that the casualties reported, and consequent loss to the companies, will be reduced, considering the number of employees, mileage, earnings, number of trains run, persons and property transported, and the territory traversed, and for the purpose of bringing this matter before you in a proper light i will call attention to a few of the many accidents which have recently occurred, which, with proper care and the use of good judgment, would have been avoided and fewer persons left to go through life crippled, fewer homes made desolate and fatherless, and sometimes motherless, and at the same time the money which has been necessarily paid out to settle the claims saved to the companies, and, consequently, just so much more money left in the treasury to pay for wages, interest, dividends, and betterments. taking into consideration the safety appliances installed by the railroads since , the improvement in track and equipment, and the increase in wages paid, with even the same degree of care on the part of employees, the number of accidents should have decreased, but on the contrary they show an actual percentage of increase higher than that of earnings, and if the employees are onto their jobs they ought to and must find a way to reduce the number of such cases and consequent expense to the companies. for the purpose of showing that the employees are the persons most vitally interested in this matter, as upon them falls the major part of the fatalities and injuries resulting from such accidents and upon themselves and families the suffering and pain which always comes after them, while upon the companies falls the immense and increasing financial drain, following their wakes, as well as loss of prestige and public criticism which necessarily follow, and which is increasing every day, i have prepared the following statement. . the percentage of employees to the number of passengers transported during the year ending june , , was one for each . . the percentage of passengers killed ( ) to the whole number of persons reported killed in all classes ( , ) was per cent. . the percentage of passengers injured ( , ) to the whole number of persons reported injured in all classes ( , ) was per cent. . the percentage of passengers injured ( , ) to the number transported ( , , ) was about one in each , . . the percentage of passengers killed ( ) to the number transported was about one in every , , . . the percentage of employees injured ( , ) to the whole number of employees ( , , ) was about one in every . . the percentage of employees killed ( , ) to the whole number employed ( , , ) was about one in . . the percentage of employees killed ( , ) to the whole number reported killed in all classes ( , ) was about per cent. . the percentage of employees injured ( , ) to the whole number reported injured in all classes ( , ) was per cent. . the percentage of employees ( , ) engaged in the hazardous part of the business such as train, engine and yardmen to the whole number employed ( , , ) was per cent. . percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work, who were killed ( , ), to the whole number of employees reported killed ( , ), was per cent. . the percentage of those engaged in the hazardous part of the work who were injured ( , ) to the whole number of employees injured ( , ) was per cent. an examination of the statistics published by the commission also shows that the number of accidents depends not so much on the actual length of track of a railroad in miles, but upon the density of its traffic and of the population of the territory through which it runs, for illustration take one division on a system that runs through a thickly settled country, that has five per cent of the actual mileage of the system and fifteen per cent of the train mileage, and another division in the same system that runs through a sparsely settled country, that has ten per cent of the actual mileage of the system and five per cent of the train mileage, and it is a well-known fact that the percentage of accidents on the former will be many times that on the latter; that the heavier the traffic the greater need there is of more care being taken in employing and educating the right kind of men to operate the trains; and that with denser traffic there should come more and better supervision to insure observance of the rules adopted for the safe operation of trains and that the increase in quantity and quality of that supervision should at least equal in ratio the increase in traffic. indeed, i believe that when this is done many of the troubles and difficulties the railroads now labor under will pass away, and that the additional expense caused by such increase will be saved many times over by a general reduction in operating expenses, especially in waste and damage. accidents should be divided into four classes: _first._ unavoidable accidents, or those caused by the act of god, the public enemy, or by some miscreant who takes up a rail, misplaces a switch, or puts an obstruction on the track. _second._ accidents to passengers, outsiders trespassing or not trespassing, caused by the carelessness or wantonness of the injured or some other person for whose act the railroad is not liable, or by the failure on the part of the state or municipality to make and enforce proper laws and ordinances to prevent stoning trains and trespassing on the premises and cars of the companies. _third._ those caused by the want of care, foresight, or supervision on the part of the management of the company. _fourth._ those caused by the carelessness, thoughtlessness, or neglect of employees. neither employees nor company can be held to blame or can prevent accidents resulting from the first and second causes, and fortunately for the reputation as well as the treasury of the companies over one-half of all the fatalities and a large proportion of the seriously injured come under the second class, and until the life and limb of a trespasser ( per cent or , of the , killed and injured on the railroads of this country every year being children under fourteen years of age) are considered to be of some value to their families and to the state, they will not only continue to occur, but will increase each year as our population and traffic grow. accidents caused by carelessness, thoughtlessness, or neglect of employees are the large majority of all that happen, and if we could eliminate them, or one-half of them, there would be little cause for complaint on the part of the management of the companies, or criticism on the part of the public, and the claim agent would have a bed of roses instead of the busiest and hardest worked office on the road, and i believe that when the employees really understand the matter many of them will be eliminated. we should bear in mind that it is not the great train accidents that make the large majority of the total deaths and injuries on the railroads of this country, about which so much is said in the public press, but it is the little cases that are unheralded in the press, or in the courts, that make the totals so large; the little things that are happening every day, on every railroad in the country, which go on happening every year in the same old way, and they are the cases which could and should be avoided by the exercise of greater care and thoughtfulness--more of them come from thoughtlessness than any other cause. my experience leads me irresistibly to the conclusion that after all it is the _man_, not the safety appliance, that we must depend on to prevent accidents, as has been demonstrated by any number of cases that have occurred at points where the track has been lined with safety appliances. the cause injuries to passengers injuries to passengers for which employees are at fault, and which could and should be avoided, result from collisions, derailments, improper handling and management of trains and stations, and i will, by way of illustration, cite a few cases which have occurred and tell you how, in my opinion, they might have been avoided. we will first take those caused by collisions: at forest station, april , in which passengers were killed and injured, caused by train no. , upon which they were riding, being run into by engine no. , hauling train no. , engineman jackson, at p.m. charles early and ten other passengers injured may , at a.m., caused by engine , hauling train , colliding with engine backing a train to yards; latter train had been stopped five minutes, engine standing under th street viaduct, contrary to rule . smoke blew down on track, hiding engine and train. in a dense fog and on a part of the division and at a time when trains were thick, with a knowledge that he had followed no. all the way from thornton, the engineman was so careless as to run by two automatic signals set at danger, a flagman, and into no. , and three lives go out and odd are injured. could anything be more reckless? do any of you want to ride behind that kind of runner or be on a train in front of him, even if you have your life insured and your home paid for? will we not all agree that such a man is unsafe and unfit for the service? and in view of the dense fog and the number of trains moving, should not trains have been blocked a station apart? it is an absolute protection against accident, which the time interval is not. and when you enginemen see a signal against you, think of the wrecks you have known of since you entered the service, and stop; take no chances. if you can't see the signal, if your view is obstructed by smoke or steam so that you can't see the track beyond the smoke or steam, stop or slow down until you know it safe to proceed. and don't do as was done in the second case mentioned above, but slow down to such a speed that you can stop within the range of your vision. in case of doubt always take the safe course. if you know a man with defective vision and so little regard for the lives of others as to try to remain in the service with that defect, you owe it as a duty to yourself, to your family, the passengers, and other employees, as well as to the company, to report him to the proper officer before and not after an accident occurs. some day there will be a law requiring frequent examination of the vision of trainmen, but until that time comes we should all do the best we can to guard against such men. next we come to accidents caused by making a switch of cars containing passengers without the engine being attached to the car: thomas h. norton, injured oct. , in sixtieth st. yards; caused by the pullman car winona, in which he was traveling, being kicked down against a coach standing at the other end of track, by switch engine ; and when switch crew tried to stop the car they claimed they could not do so with hand brakes, although they were in good condition. everyone knows that it is unsafe to handle a car containing passengers without the engine being coupled to it and air-brake in use, and that rule [ ] expressly prohibits such work, yet in this case it was done by men long in the service, who probably had done the same thing before without accident and without being caught, so they chanced it once too often, and the cost in this case would pay many times over for the time they had saved before. it is just as unsafe to switch caboose cars in which train crews are resting or cars loaded with horses and cattle or emigrant movables in that way, and it ought to be stopped. if it was, there would not be the injuries to trainmen or damages to live stock that we have now from that cause. [ ] copies of all rules referred to will be found in the appendix. we all have no end of trouble with circuses and theatrical troupes traveling in their own cars, many of which ought to be in the scrap heap. these cars should never be accepted, no matter who is in them or what notice you may have received about the runs to be made with them, unless the brakes, running gear, and everything connected with them are in good repair, but when you do take them, handle them as carefully as if they contained dynamite, and get them off the line without accident. when you find such a car on a track which you are obliged to use--it should when possible be set on a track not used for switching--either to move it or some other car, handle it with the greatest care; don't do as was done at harrison just a short time ago when laura jameson, with a theatrical troupe, was in car "pomfret," nov. th, which was coupled onto by engine no. with such force that she was thrown from the chair in which she was sitting, bruising and injuring her. neither would any of the following cases, caused by careless handling, have happened: mrs. r. a. storrs, passenger injured at whiteford, aug. th, at : a.m. engine was pulling train back in the yard and ran in on track that had some cars on it and collided with them, the switch having been left open. w. r. thomas, injured at winton, at : p.m., dec. , by reason of standing up near stove in way-car when two cars were coupled on train, he was thrown against stove and onto floor. john a. klohs, stockman, was riding in the caboose of extra stock train east, at yale, june th; got up to take off his coat; the train was coupled up with so much force that he was thrown over the stove and his ankle injured. now we will take up cases caused by careless loading and unloading of freight from mixed trains: it would not seem necessary to have to tell anyone that timbers or telegraph poles ought not to be unloaded from moving trains carrying passengers, or from any moving train, and yet that is exactly what was done, when john a. owen, w. a. stead, martin kjoelseth, andrew thorsen, and c. g. strombeck, passengers on train no. , were injured at wallace, aug. , by reason of the caboose in which they were riding colliding with some cars on the side track, caused by anderson, a telegraph lineman, unloading some poles from a car in the train upon which they were riding while it was moving, one of which struck a switch target, opened switch, and caboose ran into side track and collided with cars. and when you have a car loaded with logs in your train see that they are secure. if you do an accident like the one near hamlin, january th, won't occur: julius lewinsky, passenger, was injured while riding in coach; chain on one of the cars gave away, and logs fell off and were forced through bottom of the coach, striking his left leg. it would seem to be a simple matter to see that logs, water pipes, machinery, or other property liable to fall from cars are properly secured before car is taken in the train, and so avoid such accidents. why not do it? when in a terrible rain-storm you are running with a slow order over a track which is being repaired, don't do it at a speed of or miles an hour, if you value your life and the lives of those in the cars behind you. if you don't value them, don't do it because it is dangerous and your orders tell you not to, and because your family will suffer if you get killed in the attempt and the company's property will be damaged, and don't, under such, or any other, circumstances, run by a station five minutes ahead of time contrary to rule , and yet that is just what was done on the night of july , when james williams, engineman; charles jones, fireman; and two tramps were killed; and f. c. stodmeister, brakeman; w. w. mcallister, baggageman; c. w. h. brown, charles brown, and a. parsons, porters; w. j. smith, telegraph operator; mrs. miller, alice eager, and mrs. david, passengers, and thomas king, a tramp, were injured, - / miles west of janeway by train no. running off derail and knocking down the tower. when you get a bulletin prohibiting your running down certain hills or around curves faster than miles an hour, don't do it at or miles an hour, as it is unsafe, and yet that is exactly what was done may near wilkes, and resulted in the derailment of freight train no. , and william little, brakeman, was killed, m. j. mcwheeney, geo. orneson, jr., o. a. dalseth, c. f. shoelkopf, geo. v. hickock, and c. w. doner, passengers, injured. a bulletin was issued by superintendent davis prohibiting trains going down this hill faster than miles an hour. from the statements of the train crew it would appear that no attention had been paid to this bulletin, and, from what the passengers say, it has been customary for a long time for trains coming into wilkes from notman and guilford, if in sight of each other, to make a race to see which train could get there first, so as to get out of wilkes for joppa without delay. now, there was no excuse for the engineman and conductor not complying with the order. they both got off without injury, as the parties to blame for such accidents generally do. neither was there any excuse for the train dispatcher not knowing that the order was being disregarded daily, as the train sheets would tell him that, and he should have stopped it. to my mind, he was just as guilty as the engineman and conductor, and should have received the same punishment. and when disregard of such orders and bulletins are not winked at, until an accident happens, there will be fewer cases of failure to observe them. don't try to run around curves or miles an hour, as a train i was riding on a few weeks ago did and went in the ditch; neither should freight or passenger trains run over interlocking switches faster than and miles an hour, respectively, because it is not safe to do so, and rule says you must not. conductors, who are in supreme command of the train, should pull the air on any engineman who is running too fast around curves, over bad places, or through stations, and when you get in, report the matter to your superintendent, as reckless running should not and will not be tolerated. next we have the accidents resulting from occasional derailments, which were not serious, but might have been, and it is the cause, as well as the result, we want to eliminate, such as: mrs. k. smith and four other passengers, train no. , which was derailed at heilprin, sept. . the train was very crowded and these women were standing up at the time of the accident and were injured. mrs. jessie doan and five other passengers, injured oct. , caused by train no. being derailed one-half mile east of morse station, caused by reason of a brake-shoe on the tank of the engine coming off; this brake-shoe had an old defect. j. e. fitzsimmons, passenger, injured near hedley, by derailment of train no. , on which he was riding. none of which would have happened if some one had not failed to perform his duty, and when every accident, no matter how slight, is investigated by an expert--who reports not to the officer who may be primarily at fault, but to the chief operating officer--to ascertain the actual cause and find a remedy, such cases will be largely eliminated. the same is true of injuries like the following, resulting from trains breaking in two: r. b. janeway, passenger, and j. p. mitchell, baggageman, injured jan. th near gray. train no. broke in two and rear end ran into head end. george burgan and w. l. smith and two other stockmen, injured at newport, neb., nov. st; train broke in two, and when the two parts came together these men, who were sitting on the locker in way-car, were knocked down. another class of accidents which are of altogether too frequent occurrence are injuries caused by trains not stopping long enough for passengers to alight. frequently the persons injured are old people not accustomed to traveling, who are necessarily slow in their movements, and of whom we should take greater care. think how you or i would feel if our mother or grandmother, if we were fortunate enough to have them with us still, were injured just because a conductor or brakeman didn't have forethought or decency enough to give them time to get off. if you will do that, there will not be a procession of such cases as the following, and the companies will be so much ahead. mrs. a. j. denman, passenger from norwood to avon, injured at garwin, sept. th; caused by the train not stopping long enough for her to alight. mrs. c. e. collinwood and c. collinwood, passengers on train no. , from omaha, injured at hamburg, oct. th; caused by train starting before they had an opportunity to get off. p. j. wilkins, passenger, injured at johnsport, at : a.m., oct. , getting off train no. , while in an intoxicated condition; brakeman gave signal for train to start as the man was coming down the steps, thinking as he claims, that the man would have gotten off before train started; both the brakeman and the conductor of train knew that the man was intoxicated. sarapino guiseppi, injured at engletown, sept. , at : p.m. when train stopped at engletown a number of passengers crowded onto it and, before this man had an opportunity to get off, the train started, and, while alighting, he fell and was run over and lost his left arm. it seems to me that if the instructions contained in rule , requiring the announcing of stations by brakemen, were complied with and thereby passengers given ample notice of the approach of the train to their destination, they would be prepared to get off instead of in the present method, or, rather, lack of method, as the rule is so seldom observed as to cause comment when it is complied with, and if, before giving the signal to start, trainmen would get upon the car platform and look into the cars to see that there was no one else to get off, especially should this be done at night when passengers are tired and sleepy, when platform lights are not any too numerous, and with excursionists, and picnickers who are often none too sober and who are not accustomed to moving quickly, and if at division terminals trainmen would pay more attention to assisting passengers off instead of being in such a hurry to cut off a car, getting their markers, or getting away from the train, not only would such accidents as those last enumerated be avoided, but the journey would be made much more comfortable to passengers; and the road doing this would increase its traffic. deadheads, who mostly ride in pullmans or private cars, do not realize how annoying and exasperating to paying passengers is the present method of trainmen, going into the cars and pretending to call stations in some dead language, or by talking to themselves. in transferring passengers from express to local trains trainmen must bear in mind that the passenger is frequently unaccustomed to the surroundings, is generally overanxious about getting off so as not to miss connections, and coming from a lighted car out into the darkness, in his hurry and excitement may not notice that the train is running; in these cases the train is always moving so smoothly the passenger thinks (or says he does) that it has stopped, and off he goes, and it is necessary, to prevent such accidents occurring, to exercise the greatest care, and by proper announcement make it plain to all such passengers that ample time will be given them to alight, and that the train they are to take cannot pull out until after your train does. and when you are receiving passengers, especially on mixed or freight trains, don't start until they have a chance to get seated, and then such cases as the following won't occur: mrs. a. l. bishop, passenger on freight train from milton to jessop, had gotten into caboose, but had not time to get seated before train started with a jerk; she was thrown down and injured. mrs. mary hanson, passenger from grant to portsmouth, on train , june th, : p.m. before she had time to get to her seat, train started, and she was thrown down and injured. when you are making your station stop, don't jerk your train, after it has stopped, or is about to stop, and while the passengers are getting off, as they surely will commence to do so as soon as (if not before) the train is stopped. don't pull up or back up a few feet to get to the standpipe or coal chute, because if you do, some one is liable to get hurt, as the following did: dr. h. q. johnson, passenger, injured at dale, sept ; train no. , stopped at station platform and then started to move ahead again. dr. johnson stepped from platform onto steps of coach and, as he did so, brakes were set to emergency and train stopped suddenly; he was thrown against the edge of vestibule. helen kennedy, a child - / years old, with its parents, was on train no. , bound for stratford; had gotten up for the purpose of getting off at henderson, march . train stopped and as passengers were on the platform it was backed up without notice, and this child was thrown, and her arm went between the car platforms, badly bruising and cutting it, just missed taking it off. and when you are pulling into a station and intend to take water and are going to run by the pipe a few feet, don't use the emergency brake to stop with, because, if you do, some one is liable to get hurt. nearly every one has been on a train when this has been done contrary to rules and , and if you enginemen could hear some of the uncomplimentary remarks that are made about you and the company on such occasions, you would feel like thirty cents. and when it is raining to beat the band, stop your trains so that the passengers can get off opposite the station building and avoid getting wet, do not pull them by a couple of hundred feet just because the locomotive is thirsty. pull up to the tank after the passengers get on and off, so says rule , and the women, and men, too, for that matter, will think you are a dandy and vote for you the next time you run for school trustee; and perhaps, by so doing, you may prevent your best girl spoiling her dress. and when you are running an engine you want to know that its grease-cups are screwed on tight and that its brake-shoes are not cracked, if you do not want to have cases like the following: fred. c. mitchell, while waiting for a train on station platform at lucian, feb. st, was struck and fatally injured by a grease-cup plug from engine no. . chas. c. wilson, standing on the platform at newton, june th, to take passage on a train; brake-shoe on engine no. , running through the station at or miles an hour, broke, and part of it struck him on the foot. one of the rules most frequently disregarded is no. , prohibiting a train on the double track pulling through a station while another one is standing there unloading passengers. about nine times out of ten you can do it without an accident, but the tenth time some one will get hurt and you will get a vacation from days to life. i know it is tantalizing, when you are pulling a fast train and are, perhaps a little late, to be compelled to stop and wait until the other train has pulled out, and its last car passed the end of the platform nearest you, when you could sneak through the station and save a little time, and perhaps no harm be done and no one be the wiser; but don't do it, because the rule says you must not. if that part of the rule which says, "when two trains are nearing a station from opposite directions at the same time, and only one of them is scheduled to stop, the train making the stop must reduce speed and let the other through the station before it arrives" was complied with, the trouble would be largely overcome. you men who are running stations should see that your platform lamps are not only kept clean and properly filled, but that after dark they are burning so that passengers won't get hurt falling off platforms in the dark, and that the platforms are kept clear of freight as per rule ; that baggage and express trucks are placed where patrons won't fall over them, and, if there is a fast train coming, especially a mail or newspaper train, notify the passengers and get them inside the depot, the only safe place at such times. especially is this necessary on the double track. if there is a broken plank or a hole in the station platform, nail a board over it until the carpenters can get around to fix it. see that the platforms are kept clear of snow and ice; but when there is ice on the platform throw ashes or sand over the ice so that people won't slip on it. and if you have people waiting for trains at your station, especially in the night-time, see that the fire in the stove in the waiting-room is kept going so that they will be comfortable and not catch cold. it will take you less time to do these things than it will to make a report of an injury, and then cases like these won't be put up to your claim agent to guess at: mrs. j. p. gedney, injured at ontario, june , : p.m., was at station to take passage on train no. , went out of a lighted waiting-room onto a dark platform and fell. mrs. mollis schmella and dr. cleveland, injured, passengers on train , arrived at altruria : p.m., saturday, aug. st; raining; got off train, no lights on platform; doors of depot locked, and fell from platform to track. m. o. hudson, passenger from elton to woodbridge, on train no. , arriving at latter place aug. th, at : a.m., got off coach and ran up to baggage car to get baggage; in doing so ran against train signal on platform, was thrown down and injured; no lights on platform or in signal. s. w. thomas, passenger on train no. , injured at harkrader, oct st, at : p.m., was getting off chair car, which stood ft. south of the platform; there were no lights, and the porter had no lantern, and when he stepped from the car step to the porter's box he slipped and fell. and sweep the car platforms, so passengers won't slip on banana peels, and then such a case as the following won't happen: h. t. witheridge, injured at wingate, aug. , , caused by his slipping on a banana peeling left on the platform of a coach in train no. by the car cleaners. when passengers are carried on freight trains rule says the car in which they are riding must stop at the platform to unload them. don't do it out in the yard, and, if you have to do switching after unloading the passengers, stop at the station platform as you are pulling out and give the passengers a chance to get on and not compel them to go into the yard in order to do so. if at night, they might fall into a culvert or over some obstruction alongside the track and get hurt, and, if the platform at the station is short, arrange your work so as to make one stop where the passengers can get off safely, and notify them, so they will know when they can do so; and be sure to assist them in getting on and off, especially the old men and women, the children, and the cripples (that is what rule says, you always do it for the young and pretty girls) and then we won't be trying to conjure up excuses for cases like the following, or pay for them either: miss belle saunders, injured at milwood, dec. , was a passenger on train no. from homer to milwood. a mixed train. it was stopped some distance from the passenger station; the passengers were allowed to alight, and in getting from the track to the street going down the embankment she fell and sprained her left ankle. it has been the custom to stop this train at this point for some time and allow the passengers to get off there, the busses coming up as near as they could to take them to the hotel. mrs. a. zuehlke, injured at granby, oct. th, at : p.m., in getting off a train on which she had been riding as a passenger; the station platform is so short that only the platform of one car in train can be stopped at it. mrs. mary h. crawford, passenger, injured at beulah, oct. th, getting off train no. ; porter allowed her to fall, and she stepped between platform and car steps. many of the roads have the steps on coaches that come near enough to the ground so that such accidents are practically impossible, but on the pullmans and on cars of some of the roads they are so high from the station platform as to require a ladder to get on them. why they are not all made on a proper and safe standard no one seems to know. another cause of injury to passengers, especially children, who always want the windows open, is by the windows falling and injuring them. nearly always their little hands or fingers get hurt; or by ventilators falling on their heads. when you have an accident caused by a window falling examine it immediately and, if the catches are all right, show the injured person or, if a child, the man or woman in whose charge it is traveling, that is was not the fault of the window catch, and at the same time call the attention of some intelligent passenger and of your brakeman to the matter and have them try the window catch, and send in their names and addresses with your report. if, however, the catch is defective report the fact, but don't advertise it, and whenever you find any defective catches or anything else wrong about a car in your train call the attention of the first car repairer you meet to the matter and have it repaired, and report it to your superintendent. if the car repairers would make an examination of the windows, their catches, and of the ventilators, for the purpose of finding out their actual condition, we would get rid of many such cases. do the same thing with the matting in the aisles, and when there is a hole in it get it fixed, or get a new one. if you can't do that, take the matting up and so prevent any one falling on it. ruth darman, child five years old, injured december th, near correctionville, was riding in coach , train no. ; caused by ventilator window falling and striking her, injuring her head. j. e. wills, passenger on train no. , january th, stumbled over the zinc at end of matting, which was out of condition, in coach no. . mrs. jones, passenger, injured september d, at junction, was riding in coach , train , when train stopped at junction. she walked to rear end of coach and in doing so caught her foot in a hole in the aisle matting and fell forward on her face. nora holm, years of age, injured near henshaw, july th; caused by a window in coach , train , falling on her arm, on account of a defective spring. and, speaking of aisles, so far as possible get passengers to keep their valises, suit cases, and bundles out of the aisles so that other passengers won't fall over them. if the glass in a door gets broken, when the train is running, be sure that the glass is taken out of the frame, so that passengers won't catch their hands on it. take pains to see that your passengers, especially the old and infirm, the women, and children, are provided with seats, and when some passenger, whether man or woman, who has paid for only one seat or is riding on a pass, is occupying three or four seats, have them make room for those standing. pay some attention to ventilation--in cold weather open the ventilators on the side the smoke trails on, and then there won't be any draught. in other words, comply with rule and then cases like the following, which seem to be on the increase, won't happen: mrs. alice gahriels, passenger from clinton, iowa, to lincoln, neb., on train no. , june d, while returning from the dining car between cedar rapids and belle plaine stumbled over a valise which was left in the aisle of the chair car and fell and was injured. mrs. little, passenger, injured at van buren street depot at : p.m., march th, was alighting from train no. , and in doing so took hold of frame of vestibule door of coach. the glass in door had been broken and this lady's hand was seriously cut on the broken pieces which had not been taken out of the frame. ejectment of passengers and others from trains everyone is supposed to know that neither passengers or tramps should be ejected from a train when it is in motion, and, in the case of passengers, the ejectment must only be made at an open station, so that the person ejected will have a place of shelter if at night or if it is storming; that women and children of tender years must not be ejected at all; and that if a person refusing to pay his fare is in such condition as to be unable to care for himself, he must be placed in custody of the nearest station agent. so says rule , which also tells you to make a report of the ejectment, giving the cause thereof and names of the witnesses on form , a blank which every conductor running a train that carries passengers should have in his set of blanks, and use it when he puts anyone off. the principal trouble in ejectment cases is when passengers are put off away from a station or when tramps are put off while the train is in motion, resulting often in a serious injury, and, while very frequently the patience of trainmen is severely tried by these "hoboes," don't put them off when the train is moving. after all, they are human beings and we don't want to maim or kill them. so stop the train; and don't shoot them unless in self-defense. i mention the following as a few sample cases: charles williston, while in an intoxicated condition, attempted to get on train no. while same was in motion, at alger, march th. baggageman and express messenger was standing inside door of car and saw this man getting on; went to the front door, had the cross bar in his hands, and ordered the man off. in getting off, williston fell and his leg was run over. edw. hock, injured at smithville, march th, by being ejected from extra freight train, while same was running six or seven miles an hour. hock had got on train, having been told by someone that he could ride on it--having mileage--and conductor made him get off while train was in motion, and in getting off he was injured. louis nelson, colored boy, had been stealing a ride on train no. extra ; was ordered off by conductor at avon, may th; after he got off conductor shot him in the arm. james mills, injured at pewaukee, october st, got on milk train for the purpose of stealing a ride. was ordered off by brakeman while train was in motion. in getting off he fell and was run over. when passengers are injured _by stones or anything else thrown through or at the windows of cars_ render them such assistance as you can; have the company's surgeon called to treat them, and if the stone or object which broke the glass or which caused the injury comes in the car pick it up and mark it so that you can identify it in the future and send it in with your report, as per rules and . it is as unfortunate that so many such cases occur as it is that there is no way by which railroads can prevent them, and until the state and municipal authorities take a hand in the matter they will continue to happen and passengers will continue to lose their vision. injuries to patrons and damage to their property next come the accidents in which patrons are injured and their property damaged. it is generally understood, and has been the custom on all railroads, and rule requires, that before going onto a track on which cars are placed to be loaded or unloaded by patrons or employees it is the duty of the person in charge of the crew to go along the track to ascertain if there is anyone in the cars, loading or unloading them, or wagons close enough to the cars to be injured or damaged by their movement, and, if so, to give ample warning in order that such persons, wagons, and gang planks may be moved to a safe place. in the mining district especial care should be exercised in handling cars being loaded or unloaded by the mining companies' employees, many of whom do not understand our language or the danger of the business, in order that ample opportunity be given them to get off the car before it is moved. how often that rule and custom is violated is shown by the following cases: ludwig hoffmeister, injured at montmorency, july ; some cars were switched down against the car from which he was unloading apples, without notice to him, and he was thrown down and injured. h. schurmann, laborer, injured april at hennessy. he was in car piling tile when the car was struck by a car of coal dropped in on that track, knocking the tile down on schurmann. foster & roberts co., for value of building at lewiston, may . engineman and fireman left engine and went into factory to get a drink; the engine with car ran away and knocked building down. car loaded with salt; was being kicked down main line at hawkins, october , brakes broke, car ran in on side track and struck another car, knocking it against side of building belonging to blumenthal & co., breaking in the walls and damaging machinery. june , switching crew at kempshall backed a box car against the ammonia pipe which carries ammonia from the brewery to the bottling works of the kempshall brewing company, knocking down the pipe, which was only twelve feet high, allowing the ammonia to escape. no one will pretend that these accidents and consequent injuries and losses could not have been avoided by the exercise of a little forethought and care. why not do it and stop them in the future, avoid the injuries and save the money they cost? accidents to travelers on the highway the increasing frequency of accidents to travelers crossing the tracks at highways, one-third of which the country over are fatal, are caused by the increased number and speed of trains, increase in the population of the territory through which the roads run, by the failure to always give the required signal of the approach of the train, frequently by freight trains passing through stations at a speed prohibited by rule , by failure to have gates or flagmen at crossings where they are needed, by failure of gatemen and flagmen, when provided, to properly perform their duties on account of ignorance or carelessness, generally the former; but chiefly is the increase caused by failure on the part of the persons crossing the track to exercise any care whatever. gates and flagmen are generally disregarded by adults and, as a natural consequence, by children, and the result is death and injury. i think that as a matter of dollars and cents it would be profitable to the companies to increase the number and quality of flagmen and have greater supervision given to this class of the service, as it seems to me a self-evident proposition that the lower the grade of labor the more supervision there is needed. among the many cases of this kind, i have selected some which will illustrate the matter. they are selected for the purpose of calling the attention of employees to accidents which might be avoided by the exercise of care on their part, and do not include any cases caused by such negligence on the part of the person injured as should bar a recovery. herbert janson, wife, daughter, son and george griffith killed; morris peck and henry blume injured, december , at : p.m., while driving across the tracks at haskell; caused by sleigh being struck by engine running forty miles an hour. headlight not burning, as required by rule . no flagman at this crossing at night. h. s. sorner, who was riding in an automobile across the tracks at morton, april , was struck by engine; automobile was demolished but occupants not seriously injured. no gates or flagman at this crossing. jacob reich and elbert harris struck and killed while driving on th st., montgomery, may , at : p.m., by engine. gates up. the piano wagon on which these men were riding was demolished as well as the piano, and the horse killed. k. l. manson, injured, rural mail carrier, struck by switch engine no. , at woodmont ave., custer, june . there are gates at this crossing, but they had not been operated for a year on account of being out of repair. gertrude schiff, aged sixteen years, and gustave schiff, aged twenty years, were injured while driving across the tracks at first crossing east of granton, august , at : p.m., by being struck by engine. no whistle was blown for the station and bell not rung. the station employee, whose duty it was to be on the crossing to flag same when trains were passing, had left there only an instant before the accident in order to go to the station house to assist in loading and unloading baggage for another train. h. l. connors, driving across the tracks near lowell, november , was struck by engine. no whistle sounded or bell rung for the crossing. whistling post not in right place. m. a. graves, while crossing the tracks at th avenue and wilbert street, ontario, may , was struck by switch engine. no one on the engine knew that the accident had occurred. edward langdon struck and killed by engine at : p.m., august , at water and orchard streets, berlin. no one on the engine knew that an accident had occurred; train traveling twenty-five miles an hour. ordinance provides speed limit of twelve miles an hour; gates at this crossing, but not in operation. if rule had been complied with this accident would not have occurred. wagon belonging to the empire novelty company struck at calkins at : a.m., october ; wagon and contents badly damaged. flagman at crossing claims to have been sick at the time of the accident, was in his shanty sitting down. he could not speak or understand english. driver injured. many of these crossing accidents occur and no one on the engine knows that they happen. whether it is because of the kind and position of the headlight now used or because the men on the engine are not keeping a proper lookout or by reason of the recent manner of construction of the large engines, making it impossible for the men in charge always to see an object on the track, i do not know, but i notice that some of the class g- engines have the air cylinder and pump on top of the running board. while riding on a train the other day, i asked an old runner whether they obstructed the view. his answer was an object lesson. he took his hat and placed it in front of the window opposite which i was riding and asked me if that obstructed my view. the cylinder could, i think, be put on the tank and the pump below the running board, which is now made wide enough to hold a political meeting on. formerly they were narrow, just wide enough for a man to walk on, the old theory of construction being, as i understand it, that there should be nothing protruding from the sides of the boiler which would prevent the man in the cab seeing the bunting beam. if it were practicable to so construct the running boards and place air cylinders, pumps, etc., so that this could now be done, the engineman would certainly have a much better chance to see, and possibly some of these accidents be avoided. and while the public insist upon our running trains at a high rate of speed and guarding the crossings with gates, flagmen, or warning bells, they, at the same time, for some inexplicable as well as unconscionable reason, attempt to hold railroads liable for all deaths and injuries, no matter how great the care and foresight the companies have exercised, or how gross the neglect of the injured party. it therefore behooves us to do everything possible to prevent such accidents, not only that we may thereby save life, but also money. if gatemen and flagmen were uniformed and given authority to arrest persons crossing the track when gates are down and a penalty provided and enforced against people attempting to cross or walk upon a railroad track when the gates are down or they are warned by a flagman, accidents at crossings would be greatly reduced. as it is now the public compels the erection of the gates and then almost universally disregards them. before leaving this subject of accidents at highway crossings i want to call attention to rule , which says that when cars are being pushed by an engine (except when shifting or making up trains in yards) a flagman must be on the leading car, and rule , which requires that when cars are being switched over highway or street railway crossings a man must be stationed on the ground to act as flagman. too much importance cannot be placed upon the observance of these rules, not occasionally, but always. if employees would comply with them fewer people would be injured. try it and see. in municipalities, run as slowly and carefully as you can and see that the engine bell is always ringing. rule . freight trains in going through stations should reduce their speed and do so under control, as per rule . the fireman, as well as the engineman, should be on his seat keeping a lookout, and not engaged in waving a signal to some one on another train or elsewhere, or putting in a fire, and the engineman should see that he does this. on the double track when you are going to meet another train at a crossing, try to get the engine over the highway before the tail end of the other train gets by it. if you can't do that, slow up a little, so as to give the people who may be waiting a chance to see you, and, if you think there is danger, open your whistle to let them know that you are coming; that is what the whistle is for. in the country be sure to sound the whistle; not once, but four times as required by rule , and see that the bell is kept ringing until the crossing is passed, at dangerous and obscure crossings where you can neither see the travelers approaching nor they you; if you are running at a high rate of speed, sound the whistle before you get to the post, as well as at it. the law requiring the giving of this warning eighty rods from the highway was enacted when few trains exceeded twenty-five miles an hour. now, when few passenger trains make less than forty, and many over seventy, in the open country, so little time elapses between the sounding of the whistle and the reaching of the highway that when possible more timely notice should be given. and i want to say here that one of the difficulties met with in this class of cases, is the fact that sometimes engineers fail to blow the whistle and ring the bell, and as long as men are human i suppose such things will happen; but let us commence now and try to do it every time. the greater the storm of rain, snow, or wind, the denser the fog, or the darker the night, the more important it is to give the warning. in most of the states the law provides penalties for failure to sound whistle or bell. some day they will be enforced. if there is any way to discover whether the engineman and trainmen are observing the signals, which are located along the track for the protection of the passengers, other employees, travelers on the highways, themselves, and the property in their care, other than having inspectors observe their action on approaching signals, and ascertain if they give the required warning of their approach to highway crossings, etc., and you will advise the managements what it is, i am sure they will be glad to adopt such a plan. it has always been customary to have auditors examine the accounts of officers and agents handling money to see that not only are their accounts correct, that the money collected is remitted, but also to ascertain if the business of the company is done in accordance with the rules and a correct record kept of the transactions. no one for an instant thinks that the fact that the officers' and agents' accounts are examined is any discredit to them; most of us are not only willing but anxious that it should be done, as it is a protection to us as well as to the company. and if it is necessary to check up the officers and agents who handle money, is it not much more necessary to check up men who handle human beings and property of immense value, to see that they observe signals and rules before, instead of after, an accident? and as it sometimes happens that an engineman will not notice that his headlight has gone out, especially when there is snow on the ground, any employee who sees an engine moving after dark without the headlight burning should stop it and tell the engineman; if you can't do it yourself call up the train dispatcher, so he can do it at the next station. trespassers occasionally we have an accident in which trespassers are killed or injured while walking or playing on the tracks, which might be avoided by greater care and watchfulness to discover their danger, by warning them of the approaching train, either by continuous sounding of the whistle, by slowing up, or by stopping when you have reason to think they do not know a train is coming, especially on the double track when trains are moving on both tracks. the most heartrending of them all are injuries to children, and, sometimes, to women. let me cite you several of such cases: albert jennings, ten years old, was sitting on the tracks north of lampton, july , at : a.m., where he was struck by a work train of twenty-two empty flats backing north and both legs crushed. air not coupled in as required by rule ; no hand brakes on the cars. conductor was on the front car; claims he was keeping a lookout, and although he had a clear view for over a quarter of a mile says he did not see the boy until he was within three or four car lengths of him. charles west, aged eighteen months, struck and killed , feet south of savannah station, june , by train. child came on track through a break in the right of way fence. margaret kennedy, struck and killed on june , at : p.m., while walking on the tracks inside the city limits of utopia, by engine running about twenty-five miles an hour; although the engineman saw her in time to have stopped, he did not realize that she did not see or hear the train coming, and failed to do so. mrs. helen boston, eighty-four years old, struck and killed on a bridge near lenox, september , at : p.m., by engine. track is straight for about two miles and a half east of place of accident, and the woman wore a bright pink dress skirt. no one on the engine knew the accident had happened. december , engine ran over g. p. krauss, at : p.m., a quarter of a mile south of slazenger. engineman says he saw something lying on the track and thought it was a bough of evergreen. he did not know until he reached the station that anybody had been struck. as the traffic and population increase, cases of this kind grow in number, and, for some unknown reason, the public think that, while they must keep off the property of private individuals, where there is no danger, they are privileged to go onto a railroad track where everyone knows there is great danger, and after doing so a few times, the courts say they have a license to do so, and that we must look out for them and see that they don't get hurt. on the same theory i suppose the courts would say after a man burglarizes your house six or seven times that he has a license to try it again, and if he gets hurt because too much force was used in throwing him out, that you must respond in damages. so when you discover that people, old or young, are making a custom of walking through the yards or on the track, report it to your superintendent before, not after, someone is killed or injured, and he will try to stop it. and if you find a child or a drunken man on the track, drive him off, because if you don't they are likely to get killed; and your company will not only back you up but thank you for your thoughtfulness. injuries to outsiders rule says that cars must be placed so as not to project over highway crossings, and yet any one going over a railroad will see any number of them so left, and the result is that about once in so often a wagon strikes a car in an attempt to get across, a horse is frightened, and a runaway results, someone is hurt, and money paid to settle the claim. a serious case of this kind occurred at warburton, july , in which mrs. jansen was fatally injured, caused by her horse being frightened by a freight car which was left standing fifteen feet in the highway, the end of the car being on the crossing plank. horse ran away and she was thrown out. when cars are left in such position they not only frighten horses and cause accidents similar to the one last mentioned, but also obstruct the view of approaching trains. both the law and rules of the company prohibit this, and the practice should be stopped. and right here i want to call attention to rule , which prohibits engines standing within feet of a highway crossing, under a bridge, or near cars occupied by passengers, when it can be avoided, and yet the rule is so often disregarded that one wonders whether any one knows of its existence. especially is this so with engines hauling passenger trains stopping at stations and occupying half of the highway, when they could just as conveniently be back some distance from it. the stoppage of trains with the rear car standing in the highway should also be avoided so far as possible, particularly in the winter time, when there is always more or less steam leaking from the hose, as it is likely to frighten horses waiting to get by or in crossing the track. rules and say that trains must not block highway crossings more than five minutes. the failure to observe these rules is the cause of as much, if not more, criticism and profanity on the part of the public than almost any other one thing that train and switchmen do. no one but the person who is waiting to get across the track, and sometimes it is a doctor answering an emergency call, can realize how tantalizing and annoying it is, so, for goodness sake, observe the rules in the future. lock turntables turntables should be locked (that is what rule says), and yet they are often left unlocked. the result is that children are attracted to the place, and sooner or later one of the little ones gets hurt as did the following, which are cited as examples: anthony young, a ten-year-old boy, had his foot caught at grandison, march , while playing on turntable which was unlocked. phillip chartres, eight years old, injured at alvin, august , : p.m., while playing on turntable, which is about , feet north of roundhouse. turntable was not locked. now, it wouldn't take but an instant to lock the turntable. why not do it and prevent some child, perhaps your own, from going through life a cripple? be careful not to leave any torpedoes around that are not attached to the rail, as required by rule , and never put them on a rail in a highway; if you do children may pick them up and in playing with them get injured as did john newton, aged nine years, june , about two miles north of walker. this little boy with his sister and another boy were returning from school, walking along the track. they picked up a torpedo lying alongside the track, and after trying to open it with a knife young newton placed the torpedo on the rail and struck it with a stone, the torpedo exploded and pieces of the tin striking him in the eyes and face, badly injuring him. damage by fire to adjacent property one of the great risks that every railroad that uses coal for fuel runs is the risk of fire to adjacent property started by sparks or ashes from engines. any man running an engine ought to know from the sparks thrown out and fires started whether the engine is in good or bad order. rule says that the enginemen must report defects in netting and ash pans; this is required so that if the inspector overlooks the defect, or if one occurs between the regular inspections, it will be remedied before any damage is done, and if an engine is throwing more fire than she ought to, it is up to the engineer to report it and get it fixed. it will take less time than to make a report about the fire and condition of the engine, and, at the same time save both the owner of the property and the company a loss. in the lumber and sawmill country it is especially important that this be done, and where engines are working in or around sawmills, lumber yards, powder and tie plants, and other places where danger of fire is great, the apparatus for preventing the escape of fire should be absolutely perfect, and it ought to be the personal business of the engineman to know that fact; he should be present when the inspection is made, and see that it is done thoroughly, the same as he would if he and not the company had to foot the bill if the engine started a fire. on the outlying divisions where traffic is light and trains are few, if an engine starts a fire, stop and put it out. if conditions are such that you can't do that with safety, drop a note off to the first section crew or agent, so that they can send men out to extinguish the fire. if you don't the lord only knows where it may run to (on the western prairies i have known it to go twenty-five miles) or how much damage it will do in the lumber country. if the precautions suggested here, which are neither new nor original, but can be found in the rules and on the bulletin boards, had been adopted, none of the following cases would have occurred: june , engine no. started a fire at hansel & woods company's powder plant at myron valley; netting on this engine was in bad order; the hood provided by the company to be placed over the smokestacks of engines going into the plant of this company also in bad condition. a house and contents burned april , one-half mile south of fort andrew, started by engine no. . this engine was inspected and reported to be in good condition, but upon re-examination was found to be defective. on august , engine no. set out three fires between selkirk and belmont. fires were observed by train crew, but train was not stopped, and no effort was made to extinguish the fires, which burned over , acres of ground, destroyed about , tons of hay in stack, one building, a large acreage of winter feed, fence posts, etc. injuries to employees caused by the carelessness of other employees and, first, as in the case of passengers, those caused by collisions. from the number of collisions on the main track and in yards one would almost think that the general and fundamental customs and rules on railroads that "in case of doubt always adopt the safe course," and that "speed must always be sacrificed to safety" were seldom observed; on the contrary, i believe it to be the exception and not the rule, else the number of accidents resulting from such failure, though many times what they should be (and as long as men are human we will have some accidents), would be so much greater in number that people would be unwilling to travel at all. i believe that in the near future the number of such cases will be so greatly reduced that the least thoughtful of us will stand aghast at the record of and , and that these fundamental rules and the instructions contained in what are known as the "flag rules" and "caution card," will be so strictly observed and enforced _and that blocking of trains by space_, not time, intervals will become so general as to practically eliminate this class of accidents, which are caused: by failure to watch for and observe block and other signals. by trains following each other too closely. by trains following at too high a rate of speed. by failure to protect trains stopped on the main track. by cars not being left in to clear at sidings. by switches being left wrong. by lack of caution in time of storm or fog; and by general carelessness and failure to realize the terrible result which is bound to follow any lack of care, failure to comply with the rules and _the uncertainty of detection and punishment if such carelessness and failure to comply with rules does not cause an accident_. every man in the train, engine, and switching service ought to have every requirement of these rules by heart, understand exactly what they mean, and be ready at any instant, and in any weather, to execute them to the letter, and no punishment should be too severe for failure to observe them to the very letter, for on their faithful observance depend the lives of passengers--it may be some of your own loved ones--of employees, and the safety of the property entrusted to the companies for transportation, as well as their own. and yet, if the instructions contained in the two fundamental rules and those known as the "flag rules" had been observed, none of the following cases and many others that help fill the records and the daily press would have happened. it is a standing disgrace that such accidents happen, and the sooner employees help get the careless and reckless men and the drones out of the service, as it is your duty to yourself and the companies to do, the quicker the traveling public, yourselves, the property in transit, and that belonging to your employer and yourselves, will be safe and the greater your certainty of getting to the end of your run to be welcomed by the wife and children awaiting you. in this connection i want to suggest to the enginemen that when you discover a cause for the sending out of a flagman give him a chance to go back before you get stopped, so that he can cover the required distance quicker. and as these rules are among the most important, if not the most important, in the book, i call especial attention to them. the following cases will illustrate how much room there is for improvement in this regard: joseph atkinson, brakeman, injured september , at muggleton. he was standing on top of way-car in train which stopped just west of the depot and then started up and ran into side of freight train. alexander peabody, engineer, george f. smivins, fireman, injured at p.m., october , on track , near penryn ave., peltonville; engine no. was backing down track , and collided with engine no. standing on that track. instructions require engines running on this track must run at slow rate of speed, so as to be able to stop within their vision. the engine was running so fast that it could not stop, although engineer peabody saw engine no. when feet distant. j. l. mcpherson, yardmaster, and jacob gonorowski, brakeman, injured at peeweezle, july , were in caboose of extra engine no. , which was stopping for drawbridge, when engine no. , engineman isidore guggenheimer, ran into the rear of train. luke m. peters, engineer, injured april at aromintap, was in charge of engine no. , backing around y, when train no. backed into extra no. , to which engine no. was attached. l. p. jarvis, engineer, and samuel minns, fireman, injured november , at : a.m., one-half mile east of peeble's corners; engine no. had just backed in on side track with work train, and switch had not yet been closed; engine no. , train no. , engineer tibbits, conductor perry, came along at a high rate of speed, and ran into this open switch just east of the home signal, colliding with engine no. . february , at : p.m., one mile north of indianapolis, ohio division, extra freight engine, packard conductor, collided with ohio division passenger train no. . this freight train had an order to run from indianapolis to cameron as an extra. indiana division passenger train , due at indianapolis at p.m., was minutes late. conductor packard of the extra was on station platform when this train pulled in. he supposed it was ohio division no. and so told his engineer, and pulled out and met no. a mile from the station. two engineers and one fireman were killed and five trainmen injured. if rule requiring conductors and engineers of trains at meeting points to ascertain by word of mouth what trains they are had been complied with accident would have been avoided. nov. freight train no. slowed down to take side track at park rapids when extra freight moving in same block, on caution card, ran into caboose and rear brakeman was killed. if rules , or had been complied with accident would not have occurred. rule a says: when you get a train order the conductors must read it aloud and then sign it and show it to the engineman, the rear brakeman or flagman, and the engineman must show it to the fireman and in case of freight train to the head brakeman, who are required to read it, the object being that every employee on the train will know what the order is and if the engineman or conductor forget it the brakeman or fireman may remember and by remembering prevent an accident. derailments next come injuries caused by derailments, which generally result from running into open switches, off derails, too fast running at bad places in the track, defective equipment or track. nearly all of the cases would be avoided by careful running, proper inspection of track and equipment, and by compliance with the rules. oct. . a.m. passenger train derailed near venice while running around a reverse curve fifty miles an hour. engineer killed; fireman and twenty passengers injured. april . way car jumped track at middle lead switch in pewaukee yard and switchman jno. williams killed; jas. grant and robert riley injured. lemuel izzard and l. wackles, killed; r. p. bownes, engineman, roderick bloke, stockman, robert castel, fireman, c. plympton, brakeman, injured, four miles west of beadleston, july . train no. had broken air hose or axle, derailing and throwing third car from engine onto westbound track just as train no. was coming. train no. ran into derailed car and cars of time freight burned up. izzard and wackles were stealing a ride on train no. . accidents caused by defective equipment i shall next call your attention to accidents caused by defects in the equipment, especially in that of freight cars and engines. they are of such frequent occurrence as to no longer attract attention, but when the time comes _that the man who inspects reports not to the foreman, whose duty it is to keep the equipment in repair, but to a superior, whose duty it is to find defects_, there will be a material reduction in such cases. train and enginemen should report defects discovered by them on form and attach card to truss rod of car or locomotive tank. and first we will take up those caused by defective cars: j. i. smindorf, brakeman, killed at snook's junction, by falling from car, september , at : p.m. the running board was rotten and full of holes; the brake at the north end of the car would not hold on account of having a loose ratchet wheel. p. l. merritt, conductor, injured at pencost, november , was climbing down side of car; screw pulled out of top handhold, allowing merritt to fall to the ground, striking on a rail. randolph smuck, brakeman, injured at parrott, april , was going down side car; stirrup was gone and he fell to the ground. matthew brummage, switchman, injured january , at keewahtah, was riding on car which was being switched; he tightened the brake, but the dog was in bad order and he had to hold brake with his hand. there was two inches of slack on the bottom brake rod, the chain slipped, and he was thrown from the car and his left foot run over. how many of the accidents caused by defective running boards, handholds, ladders and brakes would have been avoided had rules , , and , requiring trainmen to examine cars, brakes, and ladders and to set out bad order cars been complied with, i leave you to guess. and why when such defects are discovered by train and yard men they do not report them to the next crew taking the car, so as to prevent any of the latter being injured, i never could understand. one cause of the great increase in accidents by trains breaking in two and by defective couplers is probably on account of the fact that many of the automatic couplers are commencing to wear out and are not repaired or renewed promptly enough, and, also, because the levers and chains of the coupling apparatus do not receive sufficient attention. another reason is because of the unnecessarily hard usage given the couplers, especially in the yards where trains are made up. just why an appliance to save life and limb should be abused by the employees, for whose benefit it was put on the cars and engines, is one of the things which it would take a mind-reader to answer. but the truth of the matter is, as every experienced adjuster knows, that the automatic coupler has cost the railroads for equipment and freight damaged many times over what it cost them to settle claims for personal injuries caused by the old link and pin coupler; and when the brotherhoods take up such matters as this and try to remedy them, they will not have so many crippled members drawing insurance for permanent disabilities, which would have been avoided by the proper handling of cars. another class of injuries which has come with the safety appliance is that caused by the bursting of air hose, and it is surprising how many of them there are. some day a man will get up a hose which won't burst, or which will give notice of its intention so to do, and we will all rise up and bless him. the following are samples taken from a job lot of such cases: g. a. graham, conductor, injured june , three-quarters of a mile north of bogle; caused by air hose on car bursting, causing graham to fall against stove in way-car. k. l. grobbet, brakeman, injured one mile north of brandon; caused by the air hose bursting, throwing on emergency brakes. this man, who was in front end of way-car, was thrown to the ground. now let us see the result to persons by reason of improper loading of cars: r. puddles, switchman, injured at grammaton, march , was hanging on side of car loaded with lumber, engineman shut off suddenly, and when car stopped the lumber slid and caught his hand between lumber and stake on car. lumber was loaded in two piles ft. lengths, leaving a space of about six or eight inches between the piles. george brownell, brakeman, injured july , one and one-half miles south of cranton. at cranton train extra, picked up a car loaded with logs; two stake pockets broke; logs fell under way-car, which tipped over. and it is just as important to properly unload packages of newspapers and mail from moving trains, and to exercise a little care in throwing coal from engines, as it is to see that freight is securely loaded. the number of accidents caused in this way since the running of the fast mail and newspaper trains commenced would fill a book and could all have been avoided by the exercise of that care which employees or postal clerks would have exercised if they, instead of the company, had to foot the bills caused by their carelessness. to me, it seems not a difficult or unreasonable precaution to look, before you throw out a heavy bag of mail or half a dozen packages of newspapers, to see that no one will be hit by them, and that they could and should be dropped just beyond the far end of the station platform, but never in a street or public highway; and don't throw your clinker bars or ash bars off engines, or anything else for that matter, without looking to see if anyone is passing and when through with them put them in a safe place so they won't project and strike anyone on the next track or fall off and injure someone. if this had been done cases like the following would not have happened: henry forbes, roadmaster, injured november , at marionette, was walking west on station platform, when mail sack was thrown from train struck him on the legs and knocked him down. paul rhelips, injured at dragitt, may , at : p.m.; caused by his being struck with a block of hard wood which was tied to a letter thrown from train by the baggageman, while passing through the station at miles per hour. accidents caused by defective engines during the last two years there has been an epidemic of accidents caused by defective grate-shaking rigging and defective shoveling sheets on engines, especially of the former. a few years ago they were practically unknown. now they come so often as to create no remark. the following cases will demonstrate the necessity either of some different apparatus for shaking grates of engines, of greater care in using the apparatus, or of some better method of inspection and repair: a. g. kenly, fireman, injured near windermere; caused by the shovel which he was using catching on the shoveling sheet of engine no. . james cooney, fireman, injured june , in caster yard, was shaking grates on engine no. , and connecting rod broke, catching his hand between shaker rod and quadrant. h. d. porter, fireman, injured near mansfield, may ; caused by grate rod breaking as he was shaking the grates on engine no. . next we come to a class of accidents which is also on the increase and which is of comparatively recent origin, and which, i believe, could and should be absolutely prevented by the exercise of a little mechanical ingenuity or which, even under present conditions of engine construction, would be avoided by greater care on the part of the engineman. and some day when an injector breaks or a blow-off cock is opened as some mechanical superintendent is passing an engine, and his legs are scalded, i will bet my next month's salary against an bird nest that they will find a way to prevent such injuries, which are as painful as they are unnecessary and expensive, either by putting the blow-off cocks under or on top of the engines, instead of having them project from the side. w. p. willard, engineman, injured july , miles west of janesville; injector on engine no. broke, and willard was scalded about face and head. henry jennings, conductor, injured october , at : p.m., north of rathburn; was walking by engine, engineman started the injector and threw hot water on jennings. edward sterns, night engine inspector, injured at granby roundhouse, january , at : p.m.; he told engine dispatcher to open valve to see if sand was running properly; dispatcher opened the blow-off cock instead of sand valve, and steam and hot water scalded sterns' right hand and leg. every year a number of accidents occur to employees caused by defects in engines and appliances furnished enginemen, nearly all of which could and should be avoided if there was a more thorough inspection, greater care taken in repairs and, what is just as necessary, more care taken by enginemen in reporting defects; and when you report defects, and repairs are not made, call the attention of your master mechanic or division roundhouse foreman to the matter and i doubt not that not only will the defects be repaired but greater pains will be taken in the future to see that your engine is kept in good condition. william curbin, stripper, injured at elmwood shops on the th of march, was taking boiler front off engine no. ; removed all bolts except one, and while waiting for crane to be attached to the door to lift it away, the door fell on curbin's leg, who was standing on the pilot beam of engine. investigation showed that the bolt which had not been removed, and which had been left to hold door, was a "dummy." g. m. cramer, fireman, injured, september , at huntingdon, was climbing up on cab of engine no. , to get coal chute down, when brake released, and on account of leaky throttle, engine started back, and caught his leg between cab of engine and chute. j. b. olsen, fireman, overcome by heat on engine no. ; caused by absence of lagging on side of engine. m. h. woodrow, engineman, and douglas evans, fireman, injured half mile east of peverly, june , caused by whistle valve on engine no. becoming stuck, they being unable to fix it, and they were almost deafened by the continuous whistling. whistle had been reported on the trip before by the engineman, but was not repaired. henry winterson, a boiler washer, injured on may , at kendrick, was using a -ft. nozzle to wash out boiler of an engine, when the collar of nozzle came off, and he was thrown against cab of engine, injuring his back. the thought has often occurred to me that if the master mechanic or some one other than the foreman, whose duty it is to inspect and repair, would check up the work slips form no. and inspection records to see that the repairs called for on them were made, we would not have so many engine failures or accidents of this kind. before leaving the subject of engines i want to say a few words about accidents caused by the breaking of lubricator glasses and water gauges; they grow more frequent every year and until somebody invents something to take the place of glass--possibly the celluloid glass now used on automobiles may be available--which will not burst, as you value your eyesight, which becomes more necessary every day as the number, speed of trains, and signals increase, carry the shields, which the company has provided for your, not its, protection, over the glass, not in your seat box as many enginemen do now, and then when the glass breaks, and no one can tell when it will do so, there is little danger of your vision being impaired or lost by your eyes being struck by flying particles of glass. defective scaffolds, derricks, etc. accidents caused by use of defective derricks, scaffolds, and the careless handling of derricks are comparatively new and are one of the recent surprises in the business. i venture to say that the companies have paid out during the last months in the investigation and settlement of accidents caused by defective scaffolds enough money, not only to furnish the most approved scaffold now known, but to nickel plate them as well. the following cases will show what is going on in this way: r. b. babcock, bridgeman, injured at ferncliff, a mile and a half north of whiteston, jan. , while standing near derrick mast, which was being raised and put in position on abutment; the mast suddenly slipped, and knocked this man off the abutment to concrete foundation feet below, breaking his leg in two places and his arm, and bruising his hip. h. r. roberts, bridgeman, killed near red creek, march , at a.m.; derrick car in rounding curve an attempt was made to swing the boom of derrick to outside of curve, but it suddenly swung over to the other side of car and tipped the derrick car over; roberts was standing on front end of car and jumped, falling back onto the track, and the derrick tender, which did not leave the track, ran over him. a Ã� cleat, nailed on side of mast to hold sling-lines in place came off, allowing ropes, which control swinging of boom, to slacken so that movement of boom could not be controlled. b. h. jackson, seriously injured at leicester, dec. ; caused by the plank on which he was standing, used for scaffolding, slipping out of the hooks, on account of its being covered with ice and snow, and allowing him to fall ft. to the ground. within the last few years injuries caused by defective jacks and drop cables, which, when i commenced to investigate accidents, were unknown, have become very frequent. i mention the following to show what they are. all of them would have been prevented by proper inspection--not by inspections made to find things o.k., but by inspections made to find defects; and if not made for that purpose they had better be discontinued. l. m. lumpkins, section foreman, injured feb. , at graves; he was helping car repairer, and had jacked up a car in order to move the trucks, but when ready to let the car down the jack would not work, and all at once gave way, and lumpkins was struck on the head by the lever and knocked down, injuring him. r. j. hopkins, laborer, injured june , at osazi, was giving signals to have train, loaded with ties, moved, when cable broke and hit him in the face. in the same category, while perhaps not of the same class, come accidents at coal chutes and water tanks, roundhouses, stations, and other places. had inspectors, repairmen and employees using the appliances, done as they would have done if the loss occasioned by neglect was to be theirs, none of the following accidents would have happened: will flanigan, cinder pitman, injured may , at cranby shops, was raising cinder bucket with hoist; chain broke, and the bucket fell on his foot. frank hogan, fireman, injured in colby yard, march ; had just finished coaling engine and pushed up lever to shut off the coal, when the pulley, over which cable works, dropped and struck him on the head. w. r. brady, fireman, injured at quarton, june ; was standing on tank of engine to take water; rope was frozen and coiled up and he could not reach it; got the ash hoe and caught the rope and pulled the spout down; when it was part way down it fell and struck brady in the back. d. w. dalmann, operator and leverman, injured aug. , at hampton; was in interlocking plant throwing distant signal, when chain connecting lever with counterbalance weight broke and he was thrown to the floor. stanley lord, freight brakeman, injured at rembrandt, may ; was unloading freight from a car; the skid which was being used was broken off at one end, causing it to slip, and allowing lord and the boxes to fall to the ground, injuring lord. accidents caused by defective floors, platforms, etc. another class of accidents which might also be avoided is that caused by defective floors and platforms in roundhouses and at stations, the failure to keep tools in repair, lack of light, and failure to properly secure lights on switches. while, fortunately, they are not so great in number, yet they go to swell the total, as well as the expense, and ought to be cut out, as they could be with proper care and supervision. l. n. corbey, brakeman, injured at calton, nov. ; went into coal shed to get coal for caboose. in coming out he stepped on a broken board in the floor of coal shed and sprained his left knee and left hand. h. l. minturn, injured at acworth, jan. , while running to throw a switch, he ran into a three-throw switch upon which there was no light. jacob paley, boiler-maker helper, injured july , at hinsdale; was striking punch knocking out rivet; the punch came off the handle and struck him in the eye. a. d. yarrow, injured april , at alberon, while throwing switch near roundhouse, the switch light fell and struck him on the head. albert kaufmann, machinist helper, injured july , at hamburg; was in roundhouse working near dynamo belt, which became unlaced and loose end of belt came round and struck him on the left arm. accidents caused by obstructions next in order, i wish to call your attention to accidents caused by overhead obstructions, drawbars, lumber, poles, cinders, and other obstructions left too near the rail, holes and trenches left uncovered, and failure to block guard-rails and frogs, etc. everybody is or should be familiar with rules and , which require blocking of frogs and guard-rails and a clear space of six feet from the rail, and yet one would sometimes think, from the appearance of some yards, side tracks and switches, that the rules, like the midnight closing ordinance, were dead letters. it, however, is the intention and desire of the managements that they, like all other rules, should be enforced, and no one is so much interested in that enforcement as the train and yard men, who work in the yards and on side tracks and switches. if they had been observed, or if their non-observance had been reported by the men who must have known of their violation, none of the following accidents would have occurred: p. b. montgomery, brakeman, fatally injured at mason, while attempting to uncouple car g., p. & a. no. from o., m. & c. no. ; chain on pin being broken; blocking gone from guard-rail. john lenahan, switchman, killed at juniper, june ; footboard of switch engine on which he was riding struck a telephone pole lying in the grass alongside the track, throwing lenahan under the engine. p. d. kendrick, brakeman, injured at bentley, jan. , : p.m.; was riding on the side of a box car, when he was struck by a spike sticking in a board, which was part of the fence around the cellar which was being excavated for the new depot at bentley. it was necessary to amputate two fingers of kendrick's right hand, his right leg, and he also received a very bad scalp wound. peter alton, brakeman, was climbing up the side of a., b. & c. car no. , at hackley, when he was struck and knocked off the car by a highway crossing sign at that place, and so badly injured that it was necessary to amputate both his legs below the knee, and his right shoulder blade was also broken. this crossing sign cleared this car only ft. k. g. purdy, switchman, killed in walton yards, dec. ; caused by his being knocked off the top of a car by the avery street viaduct and run over and killed. i want to call especial attention to the alton, montgomery, purdy and kendrick cases. in the former the crossing sign had been in the same place for over years. the man who put it there, roadmasters, and section foremen, who should have discovered its dangerous proximity to the track and moved it to a safe distance, the one required by rule , were grossly careless, and the injured man and other trainmen who had passed it daily for years must have discovered that it was too close to the track, and if they had reported it, as they should have done, this accident would not have happened, and they were blamable for not doing so. in the montgomery case the section foreman was at fault for not properly blocking the frog, as required by rule , the roadmaster for not seeing it was done, and the car inspector and repairer for not discovering that the coupling apparatus was defective and repairing it. in the purdy case the management was at fault for not seeing that warning whips were up for the viaduct--they are now; and in the kendrick case the man who hung up the lamp too close to the track to warn people, instead of making it a protection, increased the danger, and the division engineer who allowed it to be done was inexcusably careless. such cases not only swell the total number, but account in a large measure for the total increase in personal injury accounts of the railroads. section foremen do not seem to realize the importance of examining the whip guards for overhead obstructions every time they pass them to see that they are in proper position and if not, pull them down with the hook provided for that purpose. if the roadmasters would be more particular to see that this is done we would have fewer accidents of this kind in the future. and in removing hand cars in yards, place them far enough away from the rails so that a man riding on the side of a freight car won't be struck by them, as happened to a. t. swanson, brakeman, injured at tracy, aug. ; he was hanging on the side of a car, and was struck by the handle of a hand car, which had been left too near to clear a man on a car. accidents caused by carelessness of enginemen i shall next call your attention to accidents caused by carelessness of enginemen which should not have happened and with proper care and thoughtfulness will not occur in the future: george bowman, engineman, killed at holstein, on sept. ; caused by engine running off the track, this being the end of the road, and the first time bowman or any of the crew on the train, other than one brakeman, had been over the line. a section foreman, who was sent along as pilot, claims to have told bowman when he came to the y, north of the depot, but bowman paid no attention to the warning, and made no effort to stop. this engineman had been on duty for hours when he got to creever, at about o'clock midnight, and asked for hours' sleep, but was sent out again in four hours and a half. michael o'neill, turntable man, injured oct , at patten; he was pushing turntable with engine on it, and while doing so engine ran off before he got it to the stall where it was to go in; struck him on left shoulder. ralph burnham, rear brakeman, train no. , seriously injured at bradley, night of dec. , by being caught between the tender of engine no. and the mail car. this man was standing on east side of track and started to cross over to the west side to help couple the air, steam hose and whistle. he knew the engine was coming back, but owing to the amount of steam escaping from it did not realize it was so close, and before he could get over was caught. the steam was escaping from the steam hose at the back of the tender. it is customary for some engineers to have this steam blowing off as they are backing up to make couplings; others shut off the steam, as when it is blowing off it is almost impossible for the brakeman to see. why should not all enginemen shut it off? in a double track district, if you are running on the wrong track and there are any section men working on the track or employees or others walking or running on the track, you should act upon the theory that even if they know you are coming they will think you are on the track usually occupied, and until you know that they actually understand the conditions you must be prepared to stop in time to prevent injuring them. and if two trains are passing on the double track and there is anyone around, don't let it be your fault that an injury occurs because ample warning was not given of the approach of two trains instead of one. john cooper, section laborer, struck and killed by engine no. , april , at : a.m., near steuben, while working on the track, cleaning the crossing, engine was running on south-bound track. although running on the wrong track, engineman is unable to say whether or not he whistled for the crossing. no one on the engine saw the man. accidents caused by moving cars on or under which men are working injuries caused by the moving of cars being iced or on or under which men are working seem to me of a class so inexcusable as to merit the discharge of the party at fault. think how you would feel if you or your boy was under, on, or in, a car with a flag out and someone moved the car without notice and you or he was run over. the following are a few such cases: philip elder, car cleaner, injured at armstrong, july ; caused by train being moved by switch engine while he was on the ladder filling the water cooler. patrick connelly, car repairer, injured nov. , at falesburg, was under end of car on repair track; switchman moody backed train no. on no. track, and cars did not clear coach no. ; it struck the car under which connelly was working, moving it about ft. and dragging connelly, who caught hold of brake-beam. flag out as required by rule . a. f. brown, car cleaner, injured at perryville yards, may , at : a.m., was working in smoker no. ; engine no. coupled onto the car and pushed it down track and it collided with some other cars, knocking this woman down. no switchman riding on the car at the time of the accident. injuries caused by carelessness in throwing switches and derails we all know ought not to occur, and yet they are of frequent occurrence. the following are samples. g. m. claney, engineman; alfred dolan, fireman; injured about a.m., june , at peronia; after going in on side track to get some cars, got signal from brakeman to come ahead. brakeman failed to throw derailing switch, and while going to main line engine left the track, went down embankment, and turned over. richard jones, brakeman, injured may , at nelson. foreman brinson told him to cut off two cars and ride them out onto main line, and after he had started the foreman noticed an engine coming up the main line, and threw switch for side track, the cars collided and he was thrown down in car. accidents caused by kicking cabooses accidents caused by kicking caboose cars in which men are resting are of altogether too frequent occurrence, and are as inexcusable as they are frequent. rule no. should, i think, prohibit the practice, as it does of moving cars containing passengers unless coupled to the engine and air-brakes in use. had this been done, the following cases would not have happened: k. m. simpson, brakeman, injured dec. , at albion, was in way-car cleaning ashes out of stove, when the way-car was struck by another car kicked onto it by switchman, throwing him against end of car. paul o'connor and e. putnam, brakemen, injured feb. , at dodworths, were asleep in caboose no. , on caboose track. switch engine went in and got caboose and kicked it out on lead. it did not clear the switch track, and as other cars were kicked back on caboose track it was struck by them throwing these men to the floor. indeed, i believe that if the practice of kicking freight cars in yards and at stations was prohibited the saving in the cost of repairs of equipment and for damage to contents of cars would be greater than the increase in pay-roll caused by necessary increase in the number of men in the crews. speaking of accidents of this kind brings to mind those resulting from careless handling of boarding cars, which are now so common during the summer season. we all know the class of people who inhabit boarding cars, how little they appreciate the danger, that they are on the sides, top, under, and in the cars. so handle them, not as some brakemen do egg cases, but carefully; never move the cars without going to see that no one is under them cooking his dinner, that the occupants of cars are all in a place of safety, and never make a fly or kick with them, always have the engine coupled up, and don't uncouple it until the car has got to the place it is to be left. roadmasters and foremen should see that the opening for ingress and egress from the cars is on the side away from the traffic. the switch to the track on which the cars stand should be locked and the key in the foreman's pocket, or else a rail taken up so that no one can get in on the track without notice. if you run across any cases where this is not done, report them before, not after, some one is hurt. motor and hand car accidents and injuries to section men before leaving the subject of injuries to employees caused by the carelessness of other employees, i want to mention some motor and hand car accidents and injuries to section men caused by the use of defective cars, by fast running, overloading, and by failure to comply with the rules. why men on motor cars and hand cars coming in from work want to run faster than is safe (they never do it on the way out), why they should overload, use defective cars, run closer together than feet, be out after dark without a light, leave their cars on the highways to obstruct the same and frighten horses, contrary to rules , , and , we may perhaps guess. and yet we can see no good reason for failure to comply with the rules which are made for their own protection, as well as that of the company, and if more careful instructions were given them by the roadmasters and more supervision exercised, many of the accidents mentioned below would not have happened. and on account of the class of men now employed on the track, such instruction and supervision is more necessary than ever, as the records show that we have many more such cases in proportion to the mileage and business than we did a few years ago. g. botticelli, laborer, injured march , south of yerkesville, was riding on the front end of hand car, which was being followed by another hand car; section foreman signaled to the rear car not to come too close to first car, signal was not heeded and the second car ran into the first, derailing it. h. p. dennis, laborer, injured may , west of orion; caused by the handle of a hand car breaking. n. r. forbes, injured near larkin, june , with four other men, was riding on a hand car going home from work. while going down grade, trying to get to station before train pulled out, car jumped track, all the men were thrown off, and forbes injured. in passing over highway crossings, especially in cities and in running past stations, hand and motor cars should be so run that the man in charge could stop the car in its own length. injuries to employees caused by their own carelessness lastly, i shall call your attention to a few of the accidents in which employees are injured by their own carelessness, thoughtlessness or recklessness, and frequently it is the latter. if we could eliminate them and one-half of those caused by the carelessness of other employees much of the unfavorable criticism of railroads would cease, as the cause would no longer exist. we will take up some of the most common accidents of this class, caused by coupling cars, getting on or off, or falling from, trains or engines, moving or standing. the following cases will serve to illustrate how frequently unnecessary chances are taken and the result. can anyone imagine a reason why a man of common sense who is old enough to be out of school should stand on a footboard and when the couplers are almost together put his hand in between them to pull them over or try to kick them over with his foot, walk backwards, contrary to rule , between the rails fixing a jenney to get ready to couple, instead of stopping the car or engine and getting the coupler in position; why they should stand in the middle of the track and wait for an approaching engine or car to reach them and then step onto the footboard or brake-beam, when they could just as well get on the side or other end, and do it with safety; why men jump on an engine pilot, which rule prohibits, or on a moving car to ride a few feet to a switch, when the same is going so fast as to make it dangerous, unless they want to show how expert they are; why they should get off moving cars or engines under the same circumstances; why a man should not get off a standing car or engine without getting hurt; undertake to climb from car to car when unnecessary; cross the track in front of moving cars or engines, when they are so close to them that to the uninitiated it looks like suicide; or cross between cars, when they could just as well climb over? but rather than take the time, which the company pays for, they take the chances, and then if they get across, like the man who drove over in front of the engine at the last highway crossing and waited on the other side to see the train go by, they wait until the tail end comes along and get on there, but if they get caught blame the engineman for coming too fast, or the company for not having the track nickel plated, or for having a handhold in the wrong place. why they should allow themselves to be struck frequently in broad daylight by overhead obstructions, for which tell-tales are erected to warn them; by building close to the track, with the location of which they are familiar. yet rather than work their gray matter a little, they get hurt. why a man sent out to look after broken rails or defects in the track shouldn't watch for trains from both directions or take the trouble to ascertain before starting whether trains are on time. and yet we all know that just such chances are taken every day with results shown in the following cases, which are such as happen all the time; the only reason or excuse that can be given for them, that i can imagine, is, that the men injured never should have been employed; that instead of being employed on trains and engines and drawing--not earning--more pay than principals of schools, and frequently than school superintendents, they should be working in a barn or shoveling dirt instead of on a railroad, where their recklessness, carelessness, and failure to realize the dangers of the business and the necessity of complying with the rules and taking no unnecessary chances, not only endanger their own lives, but those of others. they are of the same class that the railroad organizations, for the protection of their desirable membership, ought to help get out of the service, not try to keep in until someone is seriously injured or killed, and then complain and say the company is liable because they kept such a grossly careless, incompetent man in the service; and if you will think for a minute, you will know that none of the careful, forehanded men--the men who own homes and have a little money in the bank--are in this class. i will first refer you to some cases caused in coupling cars, and by getting on and off cars, of which the following are fair samples, each of which not only could but should have been avoided by the exercise of a little common sense by the injured person: g. l. penston, collector, injured at wanley, may ; went in to uncouple hose after getting train onto track; did not tell anyone he was going in between the cars; other cars were switched onto train and his head was caught between the cars. henry kendrick, switchman, injured at mertonville, march ; was standing on front footboard of engine, which was about to couple onto a car; draw-bar on engine was too far to one side to make the coupling and kendrick attempted to kick it over with his foot, but missed it and his foot was caught and crushed. m. t. bowers, fireman, fairmill, jan. , was trying to jump from the running board of engine to footboard, when he fell and was injured. l. b. gorky, conductor, panitoca, aug. ; was standing on top of car, gave engineer a stop signal, and when slack came back, fell off car. p. f. newton, conductor, injured oct. , at durham; got off head end of train, and tried to get on way-car as it came along, and was thrown to the ground and badly injured. train was moving about miles an hour. then comes the class of injuries caused by crossing between or going between moving cars or in front of moving cars or engines, and those caused frequently in broad daylight by obstructions with the location of which employees are perfectly familiar, but fail to take any care to avoid, such as the following: h. m. tupper, switchman, injured at murferton, march , ran ahead of moving car to throw switch; after throwing the switch he attempted to cross the track again ahead of the car, was struck and badly injured. david spurton, switchman, olivia, dec. ; while hanging on side of car, was caught between car and viaduct, and severely injured. l. q. lafflin, switchman, rutherville, oct. ; was sitting on top of car riding backward his head struck viaduct, and he was knocked off and injured. among other classes, altogether too frequent, as well as unnecessary, are those caused by leaving cars too near a switch to clear a man on a car on the next track; by going under cars to repair them, or under engines to clean the fires, without putting out a flag; by cutting steam hose without first knowing the steam is turned off. now why a man switching cars will not take the trouble to put them far enough in on the track to clear himself riding the next cut in on the adjacent track, or why a man will go under an engine or car to repair it or for any other purpose, without protecting himself from injury by putting out a flag as required by rule i, passes my understanding. whenever you find the rule disregarded, report it, so that it will not happen with the same man in the future; why a man should undertake to cut the steam hose before he knows the steam has been turned off, the devil himself could not tell, and yet the following cases would seem to show that a man with a big stick is needed on the railroads as well as elsewhere. william jacobson, switchman, injured at delavia, may ; he left caboose on side track too near the lead, and then rode some cars down the lead, and was struck by the caboose. h. j. calpine, car repairer, killed at mestigo, june ; was under car making repairs; did not put out flag or tell anyone that he was going under the car; the car was moved and he was killed. j. p. alton, switchman, injured at wolton, july ; cut hose between sleeper and coach and failed to turn steam shut-off cocks; was badly burned by steam. and lastly i will refer to a few cases of injuries which cannot well be classified, so we will say from other causes. they are a miscellaneous lot, none of which ought to have happened, or indeed would have happened if the first rule of nature, self-preservation, had been observed. but i will give you several examples: a f. ford, brakeman, injured at lenopa, sept. ; hanging on side of stock car instead of ladder, cow kicked him and broke his wrist. b. l. pomeroy, brakeman, fatally injured at schuyler, oct ; in attempting to oil a hot box while train was running, he fell under the wheels. john leveridge, fireman, injured at worthington, may ; passing through town, waved hand at trainmen standing on side track, struck mail crane, and injured his arm. richard manville, switchman, injured at poulsville, june ; stood on top of car giving signals and when slack ran out fell off of car; left leg broken. k. t. morrison, brakeman, homerton, april ; went back along the track, to flag his train, went to sleep on track, was struck and killed by another train. prevention suggestions and so i might go on detailing the various accidents that have occurred from the carelessness of employees, but i believe i have enumerated enough of them to illustrate the point i wish to make; that is, the employee is too careless, thoughtless and negligent; and i hope also to demonstrate that the larger part of them could be avoided and that a united effort should be made by all to prevent them in the future. it does not require any argument to prove that the many accidents occurring every day, and the resulting injuries and destruction of property, ought to be reduced, and that, if the rules were complied with and proper care and supervision exercised in transacting the business of the companies, their number and consequent money loss would be materially reduced; and it is up to the employees to do their share to bring about this necessary result. railroads that advertise that they have the best of everything--including men--that have spent not thousands but millions for safety devices and appliances, as many of the lines have, ought to be able to make a better record; and i believe when the employees really understand the matter such roads will be where they belong--at the head of the procession, not only so far as freedom from accident is concerned, but in everything else. blackstone, in his commentaries on the common law of england, said that the great beauty of the common law was that under it "there was no wrong without a remedy," and so i say that there must be some remedy which, if properly applied, would prevent the happening of a large proportion of these casualties; and i suppose that the man who says there is a wrong or criticises results ought to be able to suggest some remedy which will sound plausible, even if it is not practicable. in addition to the suggestions which i have made in discussing the different classes of accidents herein mentioned, there are several others which, in a general way, i submit. the most necessary thing in securing good results and as few casualties as possible is to hire good, competent, careful and sober men to do the work, and when the railroads have bureaus of employment properly conducted to secure the best men and schools in which to instruct them as to the rules under which railroads are operated, what their duties are, and how to perform them, in conjunction with the physical examination of applicants for employment they will have taken the most important step to do away with accidents; and when they clear their roundhouses, repair yards, coal stations, gate houses and all other branches of the service connected with the transportation of persons and property of men with whom neither other employees nor the public can communicate because of their inability to understand or talk the english language, they will have taken the next one. when labor organizations and employees generally do what they can to keep incompetent, careless men out of the service, not in it, and when they are discovered in some careless act, or cause some accident, and are discharged or suspended, instead of trying, through the influence and power of their organization, to have the discharge or suspension set aside, do all they can to sustain the order of suspension or discharge, we will not have the list of casualties staring us in the face that we do now, and the organizations will not have so many crippled members asking for assistance, and the proportion of employees killed and injured to the whole number won't be and per cent respectively. employees should read the newspapers, railroad as well as brotherhood, so that they will get some of the theory of the business to fit them for a better place. familiarize yourselves with the advertisements of the company, train schedules, maps, names of the officers and where they are located, so that you can answer questions of patrons and others. treat everybody politely and decently, as by your conduct and manners the corporation and management will be judged. take advantage of what others have learned by the greatest of all teachers--experience. after getting good competent men we need good track and equipment and sufficient and intelligent inspection to see that not only the track and equipment are kept in good repair, but also that the men keep in good physical and mental condition. a method of inspection and repair by which the man who inspects will be required to have some mechanical experience, who can talk and understand english and comprehend what the result will be if he fails to discover defects and have them remedied, and who will report, not to a foreman whose duty it is to repair the defect, but to a superior whose business it is to find them. this is the sort of inspection necessary to prevent injury and loss. and when we do this the record will be different. then we want good rules and instructions (the fewer and simpler the better) telling how the trains shall be run and the business of the companies conducted, and if it is true that one of the worst evils from which our country is now suffering is the failure to enforce all the laws on the statute books, i am afraid the same saying will apply to the operation of railroads. too many rules, orders and bulletins are disregarded by employees, and that disregard not discovered or is overlooked until some accident occurs. if there are any rules that are impracticable they should be cancelled, but until they are their observance by officers and employees should be insisted upon. the quickest and best way to get a bad rule or law cancelled or repealed is to enforce it. and last but not least, we want sufficient and efficient supervision. poor richard, the philosopher, never said a truer thing than that "_the eyes of the master will do more work than both his hands_." and as the business of a railroad increases and grows more complicated every day, it requires more and better, and not less, supervision. if the number of employees and the tonnage of trains increase fivefold, so should the supervision increase, in order that the business be conducted in accordance with the rules and that safe and economical operation be secured, and there should always be enough supervision to obtain this necessary result. after we get the men, the track, the equipment, rules and supervision, we should see that all employees know and understand the rules and their duties and how to perform them. some day we will have a training school for this purpose, just as the government has for its soldiers and sailors, and many municipalities for their police. employees should study and familiarize themselves with the time-tables and rules, the same as they do with their pay schedule--they all understand that. the rules were made by men who have come from the ranks, who know from actual experience what the failure to observe them means to passengers, to yourselves, and the companies, and if you don't understand them, have someone who does explain them to you until you know them by heart and exactly what they mean, and when you have done this, comply with them and things will go better; there will then be few accidents, suspensions and discharges. do the company's business the same as you would your own. if the time ever comes when you are unwilling to do this, quit. think before you act, not afterwards, as then it will be too late. and remember that other lives, perhaps that some one near and dear to you, may depend upon your acting and doing immediately, and not to-morrow, the right thing and in the prescribed way. make it your first duty to protect the lives and property entrusted to your company, as well as the lives of those crossing over its tracks and those of your fellow employees, then will come to you not only the knowledge of duty performed, but promotion in position and increase in salary. that is why your president, general manager, and the whole push are where they are now, instead of working in the ranks. never go out without sufficient rest. don't try to get in too many miles or hours for the pay there is in it, as you may get hurt or killed doing so, or injure some one else. when an order is given you in writing, or verbally, if you don't understand it, ascertain exactly what it means before you undertake to execute it, and if you understand what is wanted, but don't know how to do the thing, find out from someone who does before, not after, you have made a mistake, as it will take you less time to learn to do it right than it will to explain why you did it wrong, and by so doing you may prevent yourself or someone else getting hurt. with additional care on your part and that of your fellow workers, together with more and better supervision, based on the theory that it is equally as important to see that rules and orders are observed as it is to issue them, that men are more important in the running of a railroad than _things_, accidents and consequent losses will, i believe, be reduced one-half. appendix the following operating rules are referred to in the foregoing: in case of doubt, adopt the safe course. speed must always be sacrificed for safety. . a _blue_ flag by day and a _blue_ light by night, displayed at one or both ends of an engine, car, or train, indicates that workmen are under or about it. when thus protected it must not be coupled to or moved. workmen will display the _blue_ signals, and the same workmen are alone authorized to remove them. other cars must not be placed on the same track, so as to intercept the view of the _blue_ signals, without first notifying the workmen. train, engine or switchmen going between or under cars or engines to make repairs, chain up or examination must protect themselves in the same way by use of red flag or red light. . the engine bell must be rung on approaching the whistling post at every public road crossing at grade, and kept ringing until the crossing is passed; and the whistle must be sounded at all whistling posts, two long and two short blasts. . the engine bell must be rung upon approaching and passing through stations, cities, towns, and villages. . it must be understood that a train is due to arrive at a station upon its schedule departing time at preceding station. a train must not leave a station in advance of its schedule leaving time. . passenger trains will not exceed twenty-five miles, and freight trains fifteen miles per hour, passing over interlocking switches. . all regular freight trains, extras, and work extras will pass into and through all stations and will approach all isolated side tracks, and also all water tanks and coal sheds with train under full control, expecting to find trains at such points. speed must be reduced; enginemen and trainmen must commence to get their train under control one mile from all such specified points, so that under no circumstances whatever shall it be possible for them to strike any train, car, or engine that may be within the switches of any regular station, or that may be taking coal or water at any coal shed or water tank. trains occupying main track at stations, as an additional precaution, must protect themselves as per rule no. . protection of trains by flagmen. . _for this purpose flagmen shall have for_ day signals _not less than two torpedoes and a red flag._ _for_ night signals _not less than two torpedoes, two red fusees, and red and white lanterns._ conductors _shall see that flagmen have these signals when they go on duty._ unscheduled stops. _when any train makes an_ unscheduled stop _(whether at a station or between stations, or whether such stop be caused by accident to the train, or by signal, or in any other way), the train shall be protected as follows_: _a._ _in the_ night-time _the flagmen shall immediately place a lighted_ red fusee _in center of track about five hundred feet behind the rear of train._ _he shall then go back as rapidly as possible with_ red _and_ white lanterns _to a point less than three-fourths of a mile (twenty-four telegraph poles) distant from rear of train and until he reaches a point where the danger signal can be seen not less than one-fourth of a mile (eight telegraph poles) by the engineman of any approaching train. when the character of the road or weather makes it necessary the flagman shall go a greater distance with signals, so as to_ insure absolute safety. _b._ _in the_ daytime _he shall carry a red flag and proceed to a like point._ _c._ _when he reaches such point, whether in the night-time or daytime, he shall at once place_ one torpedo _on the rail on the engineman's side and shall remain at that place until recalled. if a train approaches he shall flag it and remain until the train stops._ _d._ _when recalled, if no train is approaching, he shall place a_ second torpedo _on the rail feet nearer his train and return with all possible dispatch._ scheduled stops longer than usual. _e._ _when any train makes a_ scheduled stop _at any station and occupies the main track_ longer than usual at that station, _whether on account of baggage, passengers, or for any other reason whatever_, the flagman must protect his train in the same manner. stoppage by preceding trains. _f._ _when any train has been stopped by a preceding train in the manner above mentioned, the flagman of the last train must protect his train in the same manner._ protection of front end. _g._ _when it is necessary to protect the front of a train, it shall be done in the same manner._ both conductor and flagman responsible. _h._ _in all cases above mentioned it shall be the_ first and immediate duty of conductors _to see that flagmen_ obey this rule. _i._ _both_ conductor _and_ flagman _will be held responsible._ _j._ _when a flagman goes out, the next brakeman or baggageman must take his place on the train, as required by paragraph s._ _k._ _the engineman on approaching train, on_ seeing flagman's signal, _shall immediately indicate it by one short blast of the whistle, and immediately reduce the speed of his train and find out the purpose of the signal, and if he does not hear the second torpedo he will bring his train to a stop._ _l._ _if the engineman on approaching train sees no signal (the flagman having been recalled), but_ hears the first torpedo; _he shall reduce the speed of his train and thereafter proceed cautiously, and prepared to stop within vision, until the track is clear._ _m._ _on_ hearing the second torpedo, _the engineman will know that the flagman has been recalled and will_ proceed cautiously, _keeping a sharp lookout for train ahead and prepared to stop within vision, until he is notified by signal or otherwise that the track is clear._ _n._ _if a_ fusee _is seen, the engineman shall_ not pass _it until it is burned out, and thereafter shall_ proceed cautiously _and prepared to stop within vision, until notified by signal or otherwise that the track is clear._ recall of flagman. _o._ _when the whistle is sounded recalling the flagman if there is not a clear view to the rear for one-fourth of a mile ( telegraph poles) the train should be_ moved ahead _at a speed of not less than_ six miles _per hour, until a point is reached where the track is straight for one-fourth of a mile in the rear of the train_, always bearing in mind that the time of the flagman's return is the period of greatest risk. _p._ _should a train for any cause be required to gradually reduce its speed between stations or at unusual points the engineman will sound one long and three short blasts of the whistle, as notice to the conductor to drop off a flagman with the proper signals to protect rear of train._ _q._ _in addition to the above protection a red fusee will be considered an extra precaution, and will be used under circumstances requiring the same. should a train, for any cause, be required to reduce its speed between stations or at unusual points a red fusee must be lighted and placed upon the track as an additional protection for following trains, to insure a time limit between trains of not less than five minutes._ _r._ _if a train be obliged to back up, a flagman must be sent back in advance of the rear end of the train, and kept far enough in advance to insure absolute safety against a collision with any train that may be approaching._ _s._ _when the flagman goes back to protect the rear of his train, the head brakeman or baggageman must, in the case of passenger trains, and the next brakeman in the case of other trains, take his place on the train._ . when cars are pushed by an engine (except when shifting and making up trains in yards), a flagman must occupy a conspicuous position on the front of the leading car and signal the engineman in case of need. if such signal cannot be seen by the engineman or fireman, the engineman will bring the train to a stop immediately, and not proceed till signal is visible. . when switching is being done over highway or street railway crossings by yard or trainmen, a man must be stationed at that crossing to act as flagman. . cars must not be moved over highway crossings or in front of passenger stations detached from engine, other than at terminals, where express authority has been given so to do by the division superintendent. cars containing passengers must not be switched unless coupled to the engine and air-brake in use. . in approaching a station where a passenger train is due or past due, and where the view is not clear, trains must be under perfect control, so that they may be stopped, if necessary, before reaching station. trains on the double track must not, under any circumstances, pull into a station at which a passenger train in the opposite direction is standing or into which it is pulling to receive or discharge passengers, until such train has started up and the rear coach thereof has passed the end of the station platform nearest the approaching train, excepting where tracks are divided by fences. when two trains are nearing a station from opposite directions at the same time and only one of them is scheduled to stop, the train making the stop must reduce speed to let the other through the station before it arrives. when two trains going in opposite directions arrive at a station and both are scheduled to stop, the inferior train will not pull up to platform until superior train has departed. at stations on single track, all trains will reduce to a speed of four miles per hour in passing a point where a passenger train is receiving or discharging passengers, and pass such trains with the engine bell ringing constantly. . passengers will not be allowed to ride on freight, extra, or work extra, except upon such regular freight trains as may be designated in the division time-tables. freight trains that carry passengers will be particular to have the caboose stop at the depot platform to receive and discharge them. before the arrival of train at any station where they stop, the conductor will distinctly call out the name of station. this rule applies to employees of the company not actually on duty, as well as to other persons. it is, however, understood that persons accompanying live stock or perishable freight shall be allowed to ride on the same trains therewith, for the purpose of taking care of the same, upon the presentation of proper transportation. a. conductors must show their orders to rear brakeman or flagman, and the engineman to the fireman, and (in case of a freight train) to the head brakeman, who are required to read them. the copy for the engineman must be delivered to him personally by the conductor and the engineman must read it aloud to the conductor before proceeding. . dispatchers must not authorize operators to issue caution card to any train or engine to enter a block occupied by a passenger train, except in case of accident. if from the failure of telegraph line or other cause a signalman be unable to communicate with the next block station in advance, he must stop every train approaching in that direction. should no cause for detaining the train be known, it may then be permitted to proceed, provided ten minutes have elapsed since the passage of the last preceding train, using caution card. . trains moving on caution card must do so with great care. as block is not clear enginemen must be prepared to stop within their vision. . trains moving on caution card must expect to find main track occupied at all stations regardless of the position of block signal. . agents are required to see that cars are properly loaded, to obtain, if possible, the maximum capacity, and not permit an overload to exceed per cent of marked capacity. it is important that the load be distributed evenly, securely staked, and that no projections extend over the ends of cars. . freight, baggage, and other articles must not be allowed to stand on the depot platforms where they might cause accident or inconvenience to passengers or employees, or receive damage from the weather. united states mail pouches must not be left unprotected upon the platforms or in the waiting-rooms and other exposed places at stations. . agents will see that conductors of freight trains do not block public crossings longer than five minutes. . on leaving a station passenger brakeman will pass through the train, from the front to the rear, and when about one-third the length of the car from forward end, with closed doors, will announce in a clear and distinct voice the name of the next station, then proceed to within the same distance from the rear end of the car and make the same announcement. if the train is to stop for meals the brakeman will so state, giving the length of time the train will stop. conductors of all trains stopping at stations at which lunch counters or eating-houses are located will announce in the lunch or dining room notice of departure of the train in ample time to allow passengers to get aboard before it starts. upon approaching a station located at or in the vicinity of a railroad crossing, when it is necessary for a train to stop at such crossing, before reaching the crossing brakemen must give warning of the fact by calling out distinctly in each car, "the next stop is for railway crossing, not a station." junction points, railroad crossings where a stop is made, and terminals will be announced, passengers notified when to change cars, and attention directed to their parcels and other belongings. . passenger train employees will pay particular attention to the comfort of their passengers and will see that proper lighting, ventilation, and temperature are maintained and sufficient drinking water is provided. they will not allow passengers to violate any rules of the company (such as riding on the platforms, etc.), and, while avoiding unnecessary conversation with passengers, will answer all questions courteously. they will see that passengers are properly seated. they will pass through sleeping cars only when necessary and then as quickly as possible, exercising special care at night to avoid disturbing the occupants. . conductors must collect the proper fare from every passenger not provided with a ticket or pass in proper form. in all cases, on the refusal of any passenger to produce a proper ticket or pass, or to pay the fare, the conductor shall cause the train to be brought to a full stop at a regular open station and shall require such person to leave the train, and, on refusal, shall remove him therefrom, and must procure and report the names and addresses of persons who were present and witnessed the controversy. each conductor will be held responsible for the exercise of a reasonable discretion in the performance of this duty, being careful that no unnecessary force is used, that the company may not be subjected to unnecessary litigation or annoyance. they must not eject women or children of tender years, and any person unattended in such a condition of body or mind as to be incapable of caring for himself must be placed in the custody of the nearest station agent, who will wire the superintendent for instructions regarding such person's final disposition. in removing a person from the train, the conductor must use extreme care to avoid controversy and not indulge in abusive language or in any manner insult or maltreat the person to be removed, or use unnecessary force in so doing, unless in a clear case of self-defense, when an assault is made upon the conductor or his men, and then the infliction of unnecessary injury must be carefully avoided. a sufficient force must be brought into requisition to overcome resistance and to place the person on the ground without inflicting injury, the law being that conductors may command employees or any of the passengers to assist in such removal. in all cases except where passengers shall be ejected for refusal to produce proper ticket or pass, or to pay the proper fare, the conductor, before so doing, must tender such passenger such proportion of the fare he has paid as the distance he then is from the place to which he has paid his fare bears to the whole distance for which he has paid his fare. in case of such ejectment a report must be sent to the superintendent by first mail with full particulars. . passenger trainmen will be required to securely close vestibule doors and platform traps of all passenger cars when in motion; and after departure from a station will observe whether or not there are any passengers clinging to the hand-rails of the vestibules. . passenger brakemen will place themselves at the steps of coaches at stations, and will assist passengers in entering or leaving the cars. special care must be taken with children and aged and infirm passengers, assisting them to and from trains, giving them ample time to insure safety. they will prevent passengers boarding or leaving the train while in motion, see that passengers are provided with proper tickets, and that they take the right train. . when a passenger train has stopped at a station platform, it must not move to take coal or water or do other work until the conductor permits by the usual signal. . freight conductors and brakemen must be on hand not less than thirty minutes before the leaving time of their trains. they shall examine their trains while stopping at stations on the road and see that everything is in proper order. . freight train employees are required to examine very carefully the condition of all brakes and ladders that they are to use, and to know that they are safe and in good condition before using them. if brakes are unsafe, or ladders out of order, brakemen will report them to the conductor at once. . conductors leaving cars on side tracks will see that they are properly secured and sufficiently clear of the main line. in leaving loaded cars at any station they will place them most conveniently for unloading. the cars must be so placed as not to project over line of highway crossings. if a car be set out without a brake, conductors must securely block the wheels. cutting off engine and cars before a train has stopped and allowing the balance of train to follow is prohibited. . conductors must call the attention of the repairer of cars, or that of the station agent in his absence, to any damage which may have been done to the cars, or to any which may come to their knowledge, that they may be promptly repaired, and they must note these in their reports. cars in bad order, set out at stations, will be reported at once by the conductor, by telegraph, to the train dispatcher, stating number and initials of car, contents, nature and extent of damage, and will note the nature of defect on waybills. . enginemen must use every precaution to prevent damage by fire from their engines. they should report all defects in netting, ash pans, etc., at the end of their run. ash pans or front ends must only be cleaned at designated points. . no person will be allowed to ride upon the pilot of a locomotive, either in the discharge of duty or otherwise, and they are prohibited from getting on the front end of engines or cars approaching them. . turntables must be locked with a switch-lock by enginemen and others immediately after use, except when in charge of employees. when turntables are found unlocked, and when tables or locks are out of order, report at once to the superintendent by wire. . engines must not be permitted to stand nearer than feet to a street or highway crossing, or under any bridge, when it can be avoided, nor in the vicinity of waiting-rooms, offices, or near cars occupied by passengers, where the noise or smoke will disturb occupants. . agents are instructed to make a personal inspection of all special loadings and where same do not comply with these requirements and illustrations and where there is any question in their minds as regards the safety or proper loading of the same they should at once communicate with the superintendent of car department, who will send a man, competent to judge, for the purpose of inspection and passing on same before car is forwarded. (a). yardmen, conductors, and trainmen must familiarize themselves with these instructions and will not take cars into their trains unless they come within the requirements of these rules and illustrations. where defects occur in loading of cars in transit, unless they can remedy the same, they will set the car out and notify the train dispatcher. . whenever passengers or employees are injured, see that everything is done to care for them properly, calling the company's nearest surgeon to treat them, or, if prudent, remove to the nearest place at which the company has a surgeon, and leave them with such surgeon for care and treatment. if the injury be serious call the nearest competent surgeon obtainable to attend until the company's surgeon arrives. . whenever an accident happens to any train on which passengers are carried, whether collision or derailment, of whatever nature, on main line or siding, or within the yard limits where trains are reconstructed, conductors must take down the name and address of every passenger on the train, and ascertain from the passenger, and note opposite his or her name, what injury, if any, they received. in such cases, conductors, after first making everything safe, must give their undivided attention to the care and comfort of their passengers, especially to those who are injured. bedding and linen may be taken from the sleepers for this purpose, the conductor keeping a careful account of all material so taken, and its return or safe keeping attended to; and when deemed necessary, injured persons may be put in the sleepers. when a number of persons are injured the service of competent surgeons in the vicinity should be at once secured, and every possible effort made to care for the injured, the company's surgeon in each direction being notified by wire to come immediately to the place of the accident. . when persons (other than employees) by reason of climbing on or jumping from moving trains, or walking or lying on the track, are injured, they should be sent to their homes or placed in charge of the local city, village, or township authorities and no expense incurred on the part of the company in the matter. . a report of all accidents must be telegraphed immediately to the superintendent or his assistant by the conductor, engineman, agent, yardmaster, foreman, or person in charge, by wire, giving the names of the injured persons and witnesses, the extent of injuries, and the names of the owners of the property damaged and the extent of damage, and as soon as possible a full and detailed report made and forwarded to the superintendent or his assistant, a separate report being made for each person injured. if the person injured is an employee he should also make and sign a statement of facts in relation to the accident in his own handwriting on the same form; should he be unable to write, the statement should be written at his dictation, and after being read over to him he should sign it by making his mark, the person writing and reading statement signing same as a witness. . whenever an employee, whether on duty or not, witnesses an accident in which a person is injured or property damaged, in which the company is in any way concerned, he must report it immediately. every effort must be made to procure the names and addresses of all persons, particularly outsiders, who witnessed the accident, especially when persons are injured within the corporate limits of any city, town, or village, or when crossing the tracks at a public highway. . when an accident occurs on an engine, or is caused by an engine striking any person or conveyance, or when cars are being coupled or uncoupled, a full report must be made by the engineman, as well as by the conductor or the person in charge of the train. . when persons are injured while coupling or uncoupling cars or in getting on or off cars, whether passenger or freight, or in any other way, in which the accident may have been caused by defective appliances or machinery, the cars or appliances must be immediately examined by the person in charge, or by the agent, to ascertain their condition, and report made of the inspection, giving the numbers and initials of cars examined and the names of the persons making the inspection. the superintendent or his assistant will then notify the inspector at the first division terminal, who will also examine the machinery, cars, or appliances and make report. when an accident is caused by defective machinery or by the breaking of machinery, tools, appliances, or rails, the broken or defective parts must be so marked as to be readily identified and immediately turned over to the superintendent or his assistant. . when an accident occurs which results in the death of any person, the remains of the deceased must be immediately picked up and carefully conveyed to the nearest station building, care being taken not to remove the body outside the limits of county and state in which the accident happened. the agent at such station will then notify the superintendent by wire, as well as the family or friends of the deceased. . apply the brakes lightly at a sufficient distance from the stopping point, and increase the braking force gradually as may be found necessary, so as to make the stop with one application, or at the most two applications of the brakes. . in making a service stop with a passenger train, always release the brakes a short distance before coming to a dead stop, except on heavy grades, to prevent shocks at the instant of stopping. even on moderate grades it is best to do this, and then, after release, to apply the brakes lightly to prevent the train starting. this does not apply to freight trains, upon which the brakes must not be released until the train has stopped. . a train must, at all times, have not less than per cent of its cars equipped with air-brakes, which must be operated. . they must see that all switches are in perfect order and that frogs, guard-rails, and switch-rails are properly blocked and spaces in planked crossings kept clean. . they must permit their hand cars to be used only in the service of the company, and no one will be allowed to ride on these cars except employees in the performance of duty, unless provided with a written order from the proper authority. when two or more hand cars are following each other they will keep at least feet apart. hand or velocipede cars belonging to private parties will not be allowed on the track except by order of the superintendent. . when obliged to run hand and velocipede cars after dark, two red lanterns must be so displayed on the car as to be visible to trains in both directions. . hand, dump cars, and velocipedes must not be attached to moving trains, nor shall they be used upon the main track in foggy weather, unless properly protected, and they must not be taken from the track at public or private crossings, except to avoid an approaching train. . no wood, ties, or property of any description must be piled within six feet of the main or side track, or elsewhere, in such manner as to obstruct the view of, or from, approaching trains. old ties, fencing, and similar property, also links, pins, draw-bars, spikes, and all other material and iron work that is found on the section must be picked up at once, piled neatly, or disposed of as directed by the roadmaster. rails and other material must _not_ be left scattered about station grounds. . while at station conductors will do such switching as may be required by the station agent. trainmen and switchmen must not couple to or move cars that are being loaded or unloaded on side tracks without first ascertaining whether anyone is in or about such cars and giving them ample notice that same are to be moved. they must not obstruct street or public crossings with their trains and be particular when at junction points not to allow any part of their train to stand on railway crossings or interlocking plants. . all employees are prohibited from going between cars or between car and engine for any purpose or in front of any moving car to fix couplers while same are in motion. . enginemen must keep the headlights of their engines in good order, and when running after dark, or when storms, fogs or other causes render it necessary, they must be lighted. when trains are waiting on side tracks, clear of main track, or on the end of double track, headlights of engines must be covered. . when trains meet by special order or time-table regulations, conductors and enginemen must inform each other by word of mouth what trains they are. transcriber's note: no copyright date is indicated in the source material, but the last date mentioned is november, . found at the end of the text is a list of corrections of discovered publisher's typographic errors. the bristol royal mail. [illustration: the postmaster's office, bristol. _from a photograph by mr. protheroe, wine st., bristol._] _all rights reserved._ the bristol royal mail. post, telegraph, and telephone. by r. c. tombs, _postmaster of bristol, ex-controller of the london postal service._ bristol: j. w. arrowsmith, quay street. contents. chapter i. _page_ development of the mail services. ralph allen. - chapter ii. mail coach era. john palmer. - chapter iii. onwards. chamber of commerce. old mail guards chapter iv. victorian era, - . mail transport by railway. travelling post offices chapter v. bristol postmasters. - chapter vi. notable post office servants of bristol origin chapter vii. post office buildings chapter viii. the local post office in early days. sir rowland hill. recent progress chapter ix. bristol as a mail port chapter x. postal service. staff: its composition, duties, responsibilities. volume of work chapter xi. christmas and st. valentine seasons chapter xii. public office: its business. the savings bank. public communications chapter xiii. telegraphs. telephones. express delivery chapter xiv. telegraph messengers chapter xv. letter delivery system. postmen: their duties and recreations chapter xvi. post letter boxes: position, violation, peculiar uses chapter xvii. rural district sub-postmasters. rural postmen. incidents chapter xviii. general free delivery of letters chapter xix. returned letter office illustrations. the postmaster's office, bristol preface iv ralph allen of cross post fame _page_ " his residence at prior park, bath " his town house in bath " his tomb at claverton john palmer, introducer of mail coaches old english "flying" mail coach mail coach. plate dedicated to palmer the west country mail coaches about to leave piccadilly the last of the mail guards arrival of the bath and bristol mail coach at roadside inn start of mail coaches from bush inn, bristol the old passage, aust john gardiner thomas todd walton, senior thomas todd walton, junior edward chaddock sampson sir francis freeling, bart the bristol head post office in the "great western" r.m.s. "monterey" the public hall of the bristol post office the telegraph instrument room, bristol cribbs causeway post office mr. edward biddle letter box at winterbourne hannah brewer, the bitton postwoman preface. in these days when books on every conceivable subject are written in their thousands annually; when monthly journals are produced by scores, and daily newspapers in hundreds, to supply the public with a record of the world's doings; and when readers are found for them all, it may not be thought unfitting that each large mail centre in the united kingdom which contributes by its postal and telegraph organisation to the dissemination of much of this literature, should in its turn have some record of its own doings. this present compilation has, therefore, been undertaken with that object in view, as regards the bristol post office, and in the hope that the facts, figures, and incidents contained in it relating to past doings and present days and present ways may prove of interest to the inhabitants of the county and city, and its surrounding districts, and in an unpretentious way commence, or add to, local post office history, and demonstrate that though bristol is not, unfortunately, the leading provincial seaport, as of yore, she has not lagged one step behind her competitors in respect of postal progress. the profit which may accrue from the publication of _the bristol royal mail_ will be devoted exclusively to the rowland hill memorial and benevolent fund, the chief patron of which is her most gracious majesty the queen-empress, who is about to show her great interest in works of the kind by visiting our ancient city to open the new convalescent home. the object of the fund is the relief of all post office servants throughout the united kingdom, who, through no fault of their own, have fallen into necessitous circumstances. it also affords assistance to their widows and orphans, for whom no provision is made under the superannuation acts. the fund is managed by a body of trustees, who are assisted by a committee of recommendation composed of officers of the post office. the trustees are well-known gentlemen of high standing and repute in the city of london, to whose benevolent efforts on behalf of the department the fund owes its origin. the superannuation acts afford pensions to those who have been in the post office not less than ten years. sometimes a deserving and distressed post office servant has not served long enough to qualify for a pension, and sometimes help is needed by persons whose time has been partly spent in the postal service, but who, because they have been permitted to carry on some other occupation, are not entitled by law to any pension at all. a pension, even if it should prove to be sufficient for the pensioner's own support, ceases at death, and the widow and orphans are often left destitute. there are more than eighty-one thousand, and, counting those employed only a portion of their time, nearly one hundred and fifty thousand servants in the post office; and in comparison with the number of persons amongst whom cases needing relief may arise, the assured income at the disposal of the trustees of the fund is still inadequate. in the period since the trustees have granted to necessitous cases in the bristol district £ , so that any proceeds from the sale of this book will be bestowed where such bestowal is certainly due. it is right to state that some of the information in these pages has been derived from _the history of the post office_, by the late mr. herbert joyce, c.b.; _forty years at the post office_, by mr. f. e. baines, c.b.; _the royal mail_, by mr. j. wilson hyde; and from _st. martin's-le-grand magazine_, also latimer's _annals of bristol_. thanks are due also to mr. norris mathews, the bristol city librarian, for his courtesy in permitting and facilitating access to old records in the public library; to mr. h. j. spear, secretary to the chamber of commerce; to the proprietors of the _times and mirror_, for allowing inspection of their old files; and for illustrations to mr. a. f. walbrook, of the _bath chronicle_; to the proprietor, _black and white_, and many others whose kindness is hereby acknowledged. the bristol royal mail. chapter i. - . development of the mail services. ralph allen. it appears that before post offices were established special messengers were employed to carry letters. it is recorded that such a special messenger was paid the sum of one penny for carrying a letter from bristol to london in the year , but the record affords no further particulars as to the service, and the assumption is that the special messenger was, in his own person, a rough-and-ready "post." later on, a post would be suddenly established for a particular purpose, and as soon abandoned when no longer specially required. thus in the year a post to ireland--irish firms being then considered to require "oftener despatches and more expedition"--was set up by way of bristol, only to be discontinued in a few years. there was in a direct but irregular post between london and some of the larger provincial towns, but there were no cross posts between two towns not being on the same post road. letters could only circulate from one post road to another through london, and such circulation through london involved additional rates of postage. bristol and exeter are less than eighty miles apart, but, not being on the same post road, letters from one place to the other passed through london, and were charged, if single, d., thus:--one rate of d. from exeter to london, and another rate of d. from london to bristol. this was in conformity with a system established in the reign of charles ii. that system went on until when a post was established between bristol and exeter, that being the first cross post in the kingdom authorised by the monarch's own personal assent. from bristol the posts went on mondays and fridays, starting at . in the morning. the posts left exeter on wednesdays and saturdays at . in the afternoon, and arrived at bristol at the same hour on the following days. under this cross post plan, the two towns being less than eighty miles apart, the charge was reduced to d. for a single letter. in three or four years the new post produced a profit of £ a year. in provost campbell established a coach to run from glasgow to edinburgh, "drawn by sax able horses, to leave edinboro' ilk monday morning, and return again (god willing) ilk saturday night." in the service between bristol and london became fixed, and on alternate days at irregular hours, depending upon the state of the weather and the roads, the extent of the journey and the caprices of the postboys and the sorry nags that carried them, the mail arrived in bristol. there were, however, only a mere handful of letters and newspapers. at the end of the same year, the post office authorities in london, after being earnestly petitioned by local merchants, counselled the government to establish a "cross post" from this city to chester. up to that time the bristol letters to chester, shrewsbury, worcester, and gloucester had been carried round by london under the system already described, involving double postage and great delay. the effect of this system, as on the bristol and exeter road, had been to throw nearly all the letters into the hands of public carriers, by whose wagons they were conveyed more quickly than by the postboys through london, and at a cheaper rate. moved by the success of the new cross posts from bristol to exeter, the treasury consented to the starting of the chester service. the post office reported to the treasury in march, , that the profit for the first eighteen months of the chester service had been about £ . the accounts of henry pyne, the bristol postmaster, appended to the report in the state papers, show that so far as this part of the service was concerned, he had received £ for letters by this post, whilst his expenses had been £ . the people of cirencester and exeter, hearing of the chester concession, hastened to complain of shortcomings affecting themselves. the devon clothiers had a considerable trade with the wool dealers of the district of cirencester, which town was served by the postboys riding between gloucester and london, with a branch postboy mail to wotton-under-edge. by there being no direct postal service of any kind between bristol and wotton-under-edge, correspondence between exeter and cirencester had to be sent _viâ_ london, and a fortnight elapsed between the despatch of a letter and the receipt of an answer, the result being that not one letter in twenty was sent through the post. all that was needed to shorten the transit from fourteen days to four was to put bristol in direct communication with wotton, the expense being estimated at only £ a year. the government declined to comply with this reasonable request, and nothing was done! [illustration: ralph allen. _by permission of the proprietor of "the bath and county graphic."_] soon after this time a post office reformer arose in our immediate district in the person of ralph allen. he, unlike later reformers, passed all his working days in the post office service. born at the "duke william inn," at st. blazey highway, in cornwall in about , he went as a boy to help his grandmother, who was postmistress at st. columb. in he was transferred as a clerk to bath, and on the th march, , he became postmaster of that city, in succession to one mary collins, and in that year appears to have taken over the management of the bristol and exeter cross road post, previously farmed by joseph quash, postmaster of exeter. in ralph allen contracted to farm the cross-country posts throughout the country generally, and to carry the mails by what were subsequently known as "allen's postboys," who were supposed to travel on horseback at a pace averaging five miles an hour. a robbery from these postboys carrying the mails between london and bristol was a common occurrence. two men were executed in april, , for having twice committed that crime, yet the letter bags were again stolen seven times during the following twelve months. the _london journal_ of august th remarked: "it is computed that the traders of bristol have received £ , damages by the late robberies of the mail." in the postboys were robbed twice in a single week, and for the crimes three men were executed in london. another incident of the kind worthy of mentioning occurred in september, . the bag then carried off by three highwaymen contained a reprieve for a man lying under sentence of death in newgate, and a second reprieve despatched after the robbery became known would have arrived too late to save the man's life, had not the magistrates postponed the execution for a day or two in order that it might not clash with the festivities of a new mayor's inauguration. [illustration: prior park, bath. (_formerly residence of ralph allen._) _by permission of the proprietor of "the bath and county graphic."_] about the bristol riding boys were deprived of their perquisite of d. a letter for "dropping of letters" at the towns and villages through which they passed. this was done because the postboys not only carried letters which they picked up on the road and did not account for at the next post office of call, but even went to the length of taking out letters from the mail bags when those bags were, as was the case sometimes, not properly chained and sealed. in connection with ralph allen's "by-posts," in the year arrangements were made so that the mails sent from manchester, liverpool, or any other place in lancashire, to worcestershire, gloucestershire, somerset, devon, etc., might be answered four days sooner than they could possibly have been answered before. in a new branch by-post was established from bristol and bath to salisbury, through bradford, trowbridge, devizes, lavington, tinhead, westbury, warminster, heytesbury, and wilton. in the growth of trade and population encouraged the bristol citizens to appeal to the ministry for an improvement in the postal communication with london, which was still limited to three days per week. yielding to this pressure, allen converted the tri-weekly posts into six-day posts in june, . the post began to run every day of the week, except sunday, between london and bristol, and all intervening towns participated in the benefit. in a further extension took place, whereby letters were conveyed six days in every week, instead of three days, at mr. allen's expense, between london and wells, bridgwater, taunton, wellington, tiverton, and exeter, through bristol. the mail service is not in further evidence in local history until , when the bristol merchants again showed themselves tenacious of their rights, and waged a bitter war against the postmasters-general in respect of the imposition of a double rate of postage on letters which, although under an ounce in weight, contained patterns of silk or cotton or samples of grain. there was a lawsuit, and the bristol merchants won it. a government notification in the local newspapers of the th september, , announced an acceleration of the mails between the southern counties and bristol. in future a postboy was to leave salisbury on mondays at six o'clock in the morning, to arrive at bath (a distance of about thirty-nine miles) at eight or nine at night, and to leave bath for bristol at six next morning. on wednesdays and fridays the departure from salisbury was in the evening, the journey occupying about nineteen hours. by this arrangement letters from portsmouth were received in this city two days earlier than before. [illustration: ralph allen's town house in bath. _by kind permission of the proprietor of the "bath and county graphic."_] ralph allen's improvements had great influence in the post office services in this western city. the profits on the contracts enabled allen to take up his residence at prior park, bath, one of the finest italian houses in england, in addition to having a grand house in the city. it is said that the profits which accrued to him from his long contracts amounted to about half a million of money. mansions so lordly are not for the hardest and best workers in the post office field of present times, for the nation does not reward its great men so liberally as then. nowadays an introducer of the inland parcel post service, the foreign parcel post service, an improver of the telegraph service, and leader in bringing about vastly accelerated mail services throughout the country,--works of great moment, even if not comparable with ralph allen, john palmer, or rowland hill's great achievements,--has, after forty years at the post office, to be contented on retirement with no more than the modest pension due to him, which will not even be continued to his nearest and dearest relative. allen benefited the bristol postal district in another way than by his improved post office services when he built the bridge over the avon at newton-st.-loe at a cost of £ , . he was buried in claverton churchyard, near bath. the inscription on his tomb runs thus:--"beneath this monument lieth entombed the body of ralph allen, esqr., of prior park, who departed this life y^e th day of june, , in the st year of his age. in full hope of everlasting happiness in another state thro' the infinite merit and mediation of our blessed redeemer, jesus christ." ralph allen did not hoard up his money or spend it on riotous living, but bestowed a considerable portion of his income in works of charity, especially in supporting needy men of letters. he was a great friend and benefactor of fielding, and in _tom jones_ the novelist has gratefully drawn mr. allen's character in the person of squire alworthy. he enjoyed the friendship of chatham and pitt; and pope, warburton, and other men of literary distinction were his familiar companions. pope has celebrated one of his principal virtues--unassuming benevolence--in the well-known lines: "let humble allen, with an awkward shame, do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame." derrick has thus described allen's personal appearance shortly before his death: "he is a very grave, well-looking man, plain in his dress, resembling that of a quaker, and courteous in his behaviour. i suppose he cannot be much under seventy. his wife is low, with grey hair, and of a very pleasing address." kilvert says that he was rather above the middle size and stoutly built, and that he was not altogether averse to a little state, as he often used to drive into bath in a coach and four. his handwriting was very curious; he evidently wrote quickly and fluently, but it was so overloaded with curls and flourishes as to be sometimes scarcely legible. the lack of all show about his garb seems to have somewhat annoyed philip thicknesse, the well-known author of one of the bath guides, for he speaks of allen's "plain linen shirt-sleeves, with only a chitterling up the slit." allen's son philip became comptroller of the "by-letter" department in the london post office. [illustration: ralph allen's tomb in claverton churchyard, near bath. _by kind permission of the proprietor of the "bath and county graphic."_] chapter ii. - . mail coach era.--john palmer. notwithstanding ralph allen's innovations, the conveyance of letters between the principal towns was carried on in a more or less desultory fashion. speaking of the want of improvement in , and the haphazard system under which post office business was conducted, a local newspaper gave this instance of unpunctuality: "the london mail did not arrive so soon by several hours as usual on monday, owing to the mailman getting a little intoxicated on his way between newbury and marlborough, and falling from his horse into a hedge, where he was found asleep, by means of his dog." mr. weeks, who entered upon "the bush," bristol, in , after ineffectually urging the proprietors to quicken their speed, started a one day coach to birmingham himself, and carried it on against a bitter opposition, charging the passengers only s. d. and s. d. for inside and outside seats respectively, and giving each one of them a dinner and a pint of wine at gloucester into the bargain. after two years' struggle his opponents gave in, and one day journeys to birmingham became the established rule. the mail service was carried on chiefly by means of postboys (generally wizened old men), who continued to travel on worn-out horses not able to get along at a speed of more than four miles an hour on the bad roads. on the london and bristol route, indeed, it had been found necessary to provide the postboys with light carts, but that method of conveyance of the mail bags brought about no acceleration in time of transit,--from thirty to forty hours, according to the state of the roads. a letter despatched from bristol or bath on monday was not delivered in london until wednesday morning. on the other hand a letter confided to the stage coach of monday reached its destination on tuesday morning, and the consequence was that bristol traders and others sent letters of value or urgency by the stage coach, although the proprietors charged s. for each missive. at this period john palmer, of bath, came on the scene. he had learnt from the merchants of bristol what a boon it would be if they could get their letters conveyed to london in fourteen or fifteen hours, instead of three days. it is said, however, that it was the sight of ralph allen's grand place at prior park, and the knowledge of how allen's money had been made, which first suggested to palmer the attempt to bring a scheme for a mail coach system to the notice of the postal authorities. john palmer was lessee and manager of the bath and bristol theatres, and went about beating up actors, actresses and companies in postchaises, and he thought letters should be carried at the same pace at which it was possible to travel in a chaise. he devised a scheme, and pitt, the prime minister of the day, who warmly approved the idea, decided that the plan should have a trial and that the first mail coach should run between london and bristol. on saturday, the st july, , an agreement was signed in connection with palmer's scheme under which, in consideration of payment of d. a mile, five inn-holders--one belonging to london, one to thatcham, one to marlborough, and two to bath--undertook to provide the horses, and on monday, the nd august, , the first "mail coach" started. on its first journey it ran from bristol,--not from london as generally supposed,--and palmer was present to see it off. a well-armed mail guard in uniform was in charge of the vehicle, which was timed to perform the journey from bristol to london in sixteen hours. only four passengers were at first carried by each "machine," and the fare was £ s. the immediate effect was to accelerate the delivery of letters by a day. the coaches were small, light vehicles, drawn by a pair of horses only, but leaders were subsequently added, and four-horse coaches soon became the order of the day, and more passengers were carried. an old painting represents the bath and bristol mail trotting along close to a wall, the guard receiving one bag and handing another to the postmaster without the coachman pulling up. one coach left bristol at . in the afternoon, reached bath a couple of hours later, and arrived at the general post office, london, before . the next morning. the down coach started from london at . in the evening, was at the "three tuns," bath, at a few minutes before . the next morning, and pulled up at the "rummer tavern," bristol, at noon. palmer gave up his theatrical enterprises and entered the service of the post office as comptroller at a salary of £ , a year, and certain emoluments, which, after a year or two, brought him in an annual sum of more than £ , . before palmer's mail coaches were at work the post left london at all hours of the night, but it was part of his scheme that the mails should all leave at the same time, . ; and as the number of mails increased so there was more and more bustle in the vicinity of the general post office at that hour. in london the arrival of all the mails was awaited before any one of them was delivered; and this led to the delivery sometimes not taking place until . or . in the afternoon, or even later. palmer, with his regard for the bristol coach, occasionally had the bristol mails distributed immediately on reaching st. martin's-le-grand, but all other mails if behind were kept waiting as before. [illustration: john palmer. the founder of the mail coach system. _by kind permission of the proprietor of the "bath and county graphic."_] upon the beginning of palmer's system on the bristol road a marvellous superstructure was raised. coaches were at once applied for by the municipalities of the largest towns, liverpool being the first to aim at equality with bristol, and york claiming what was due to the great highway to the north. palmer's plan made rapid progress and was attended with complete success. a splendid mail service was eventually set up all over the country. one result was that the "expresses" to bristol, which before had been as many as two hundred in the year, ceased altogether. in july, , the mails from bristol to birmingham and the north, previously three per week, were ordered to be run daily. the london to bristol coach was stopped by other means than those employed by highwaymen, the service having at one time in been suspended for several days by palmer, in defiance of the postmaster-general. in bonner and middleton's (weekly) _journal_ for the th february, , is an announcement to the effect that the irish mails arrived in bristol on the th instant instead of on the first of the month. the bare fact was stated, and the assumption is, therefore, that it was not an unusual circumstance. five days' delay would be thought intolerable now, as, indeed, is the present length of time occupied by the irish night mails on their journey to bristol. after being conveyed by fast boat to holyhead and express train to birmingham, they come on from that city by a "crawler" and do not reach bristol until nearly the mid-day hour. [illustration: old english "flying" mail coach.] in the same year ( ) sixteen mail coaches worked in and out of london every day. there were fifteen cross-country mail coaches, as, for instance, the coach between bristol and oxford, or, as it was commonly called, mr. pickwick's coach. during winter, in frosty weather, at this period, some of the mail coaches did not run at all, but were laid up for the season, like ships during arctic frosts. there is a model of an old mail coach at the general post office, st. martin's-le-grand, london, popularly supposed to be the model of the first mail coach which was built, but such is not the case, for, as already stated, the first mail coach ran between bristol and london, and the model has upon it the inscription "royal mail from london to liverpool." the expense of horsing a four-horsed coach running at the speed of from nine to ten miles an hour was reckoned at £ a double mile. mails were exempt from turnpike tolls. with the introduction of the mail coaches with well-armed, resolute guards, there was a cessation of mail robberies on the main roads. pilfering, however, was occasionally carried on; for instance, in the early winter of one thomas thomas travelled day after day up and down on the london and bristol coach. at last his opportunity came when the guard temporarily left his coach with the mailbox unlocked, and then thomas thomas looted the mails. on the cross roads the saddle horse and cart posts were frequently stopped and robbed ( ). one of the worst roads in this respect was that between bristol and portsmouth. proposals for the postboys to be furnished with pistols, cutlasses, and caps lined with metal, like hunting caps, for the defence of the head, fell through on account of the expense which their supply would have entailed. there exists a popular belief that the mail coaches were driven up and down the steep queen street in bristol now known as christmas steps. the belief is erroneous, for an inscription over the recessed seats at the top of the passage tells us that-- "this streete was steppered done & finished, september, . the right worpfl thomas stevens, esqr. mayor. named qveene streete." probably, however, the postboys who carried the mails in earlier days rode up the steep incline. a gentleman now writing in the _bristol times and mirror_ under the _nom-de-plume_ of "old file," delving in the historical garden of _felix farley's journal_, has unearthed the following very interesting announcements and advertisements, which throw light on the mail services of the time:-- "milford and brecknock mail coach. "a coach sets out from the 'white hart,' broad street, bristol, over the old passage (aust), every sunday, wednesday, and friday, at noon, and joins the above coach at ragland the same day; and a corresponding coach returns from milford on certain days." the chief point in the advertisement was in the paragraph: "n.b.--this road is nineteen miles nearer to carmarthen and milford than the lower one," that is, by the new passage. this was replied to by another advertisement, as follows: "a caution.--the public will please to observe that no other mail coach whatever does now, or ever has, run from bristol to milford haven, excepting the royal london, bath, bristol, and milford haven mail coach, which sets out from the 'bush inn and tavern,' corn street, every monday, tuesday, thursday, and saturday, and the mail coach to swansea every day from the same inn, notwithstanding the flaming advertisement of a certain set of men to deceive and mislead the public, by their asserting that the road over the old passage is nineteen miles nearer than that over the new passage, which is so far from being a fact that the road of the new passage is seven and three-quarters nearer, as was proved by admeasurement by orders of the office, making a difference of twenty-six miles and three-quarters nearer the lower (that is, the new passage) than the upper road." on august th the proprietors of the new passage coach came out with a larger announcement, and produced figures to prove their assertion-- "n.b.--this road is nineteen miles nearer to milford than the lower one, viz:-- upper road. | lower road. miles. | miles. old passage | new passage across the water | across the water ragland | newport abergavenny | cardiff brecknock | cowbridge trecastle | pill llandovery | neath llandilo | ponterdilas carmarthen | kidwelly st. clare's | carmarthen narberth | st. clare's haverford-west | narberth milford | haverford-west | milford --- | --- total | total in favour of the upper road, miles." "bristol, _ th january, _. "lost, on monday morning, small letter-bag, marked on it 'worcester and bristol.' whoever has found the same shall, on delivering it at the post office, receive five guineas reward; and whoever detains it after this notice will be prosecuted." * * * * * "general post office, _friday, th february, _. "george evans, of steep street, st. michael's, in the city of bristol, grocer, having been committed to the gaol of newgate, in the said city, charged with feloniously negotiating two bills of exchange contained in the bag of letters from worcester for bristol of the th december last, which was lost or stolen, and there being great reason to believe that one or more person or persons is or are privy to or concerned with him in the said felony: whoever will give information at the council chamber in bristol within one month from the date hereof, so that the said george evans may be convicted of the offence with which he is charged, shall be entitled to a reward of fifty pounds. and if an accomplice shall make discovery he will also receive his majesty's most gracious pardon. "by command of the postmaster-general. "francis freeling, secretary." * * * * * _june th, ._ "we understand that a bill for £ , drawn by the worcester bank on messrs. harfords, davis and co., of this city, and which was one of the bills contained in the worcester bag lost on the st december last, has been presented within these few days for payment--a circumstance which may probably lead to the discovery of the party who found the said bag." * * * * * _august th._ "last week george evans, who was tried at the old bailey in june last on a charge of forging endorsements on two bills (which, with many others, were contained in the worcester bag destined for this city that was lost on the st december last, and of which intelligence has since been obtained), but who was acquitted for want of sufficient evidence, was again apprehended, and was committed to gaol on a charge of having stolen a promissory note, drawn by messrs. harfords, davis and co., of this city, value fifty pounds, which note was likewise sent by the same conveyance from worcester, and being attempted to be negotiated, was stopped and traced back into the hands of the said evans, against whom a detainer was lodged on account of a similar charge for another bill of the same value, and precisely under all the circumstances attending the former." * * * * * "general post office, "_october th, _. "the postboy carrying the mail from bristol to salisbury on the th instant was stopped between the hours of eleven and twelve o'clock at night by two men on foot within six miles of salisbury, who robbed him of seven shillings in money, but did not offer to take the mail. whoever shall apprehend the convict, or cause to be apprehended and convicted both or either of the persons who committed this robbery, will be entitled to a reward of fifty pounds over and above the reward given by act of parliament for apprehending highwaymen. if either party will surrender himself and discover his accomplice he will be admitted as evidence for the crown, receive his majesty's most gracious pardon, and be entitled to the said reward. "by command of the postmaster-general. "francis freeling, secretary." * * * * * there is no record that anyone claimed the reward. this, so far, is the end of "old file's" researches. as the bristol mail coach was going through reading on the night of thursday, the th january, , the coachman was shook off the box, and, through his hands having been so benumbed by the cold, was unable to save himself. the guard jumped down and endeavoured to stop the horses, but without effect. they ran as far as hare hatch (four miles), where the coach changed horses, and then stopped, having met with no accident whatever, though they passed two wagons. the passengers in the coach did not know anything of it at the time. according to the _bristol directory_ for , the "bush tavern" office in corn street, conducted by john townsend, played an important part in the mail coach system of the country. its announcement ran thus: "royal mail coach to london at . every afternoon; comes in at half-past every morning. 'loyal volunteer' to london at . every day. royal mail coach to newport, cardiff, cowbridge, neath, swansea, and carmarthen every day on the arrival of the london mail. royal mail coach through newport, cardiff, cowbridge, swansea, carmarthen, to haverford-west and milford haven every monday, tuesday, thursday, and saturday on the arrival of the london mail. the 'cambrian,' a light post coach, the same route as the mail, to swansea every monday, wednesday, and friday morning at o'clock; returns every tuesday, thursday, and saturday evenings. "royal mail coach to birmingham through gloster, tewkesbury, worcester and bromsgrove every evening at . ; comes in every morning at . . a post coach to birmingham every day. royal mail coach through bath to tetbury, cirencester, and oxford, every morning at quarter-past , comes in at . every evening. royal mail coach through bath, warminster, and salisbury to southampton and portsmouth at . every day; comes in at . in the morning. coach to salisbury, romsey, southampton, and gosport every day at . (saturdays excepted), comes in at half-past . at night. exeter, _original_ 'duke of york' coach, through bridgwater, taunton, wellington, and cullompton every tuesday, thursday." in the london to bristol mail coach was robbed of the bankers' parcel, value £ , or upwards. this was made known in the form of a warning to the mail guards who travelled in charge of the post office bags. when in - the great frost occurred, the bristol mail coaches were obstructed by the heavy snowdrifts on the roads, and they came in day after day drawn by six horses each when they could struggle into the city. the literature of the period yields nothing of interest again for some time. the "bristol guide" in stated that--"bristow is the richest city of almost all the cities of this country, receiving merchandize from neighbouring and foreign places with the ships under sail." and again, "bristow is full of ships from ireland, norway and every part of europe, which brought hither great commerce and large foreign wealth." there was no mention of their carrying mails. the year is memorable in postal annals as that in which john palmer died. his decease took place at brighton, but not before he had lived long enough to see mail coaches splendidly turned out. palmer, on the conclusion of his connection with the post office, was awarded a pension of £ , a year, equal to his full salary, which sum he declared did not represent the amount of his salary and emoluments. further difficulties ensued, and his son, colonel palmer, fought his father's battles right manfully in the house, and eventually, in , the government gave john palmer a sum of £ , . in recognition of palmer's great invention, the chamber of commerce of glasgow not only made him an honorary member, but voted him fifty guineas for a piece of plate. the fifty guineas was spent on a silver cup, which bore the following inscription:-- to john palmer, esq., surveyor and comptroller-general of the posts of great britain, from the chamber of commerce and manufacturers in the city of glasgow, as an acknowledgment of the benefits resulting from his plan to the trade and commerce of this kingdom, . [illustration: to john palmer, esq., surveyor and comptroller-general of the post office this plate of the mail coach is respectfully inscribed by his obedient humble servant, james fittler.] chapter iii. onwards. chamber of commerce intervenes in mail affairs. old mail guards. a new coach, from "the bush hotel" to exeter, was put on the road on the th of april, , the time allowed for the journey-- - / miles--being fourteen hours--less than - / miles an hour. in june, a new coach started for manchester, performing the journey in two days, the intervening night being spent at birmingham. to accomplish the first half of the task, the vehicle left bristol at half-past in the morning and reached birmingham-- - / miles--in thirteen hours. an advertisement, published in december, , headed "speed increased," informed the public that the "regulator" coach left london daily at a.m. and arrived at the "white hart," bristol, at five minutes before at night, the speed being barely seven miles an hour. no fewer than twenty-two coaches were by this time utilised daily between this city and london. the start of the west country mail coaches from piccadilly at this period was an interesting sight. the continued wretched condition of the highways was not conducive to quick travelling; but in about matters were improved in that respect in our district by mr. john loudon macadam, who studied and practised road-making. mr. macadam was general surveyor of bristol turnpike roads, and although he found the trustees' funds only one remove from bankruptcy and their roads almost impassable, he succeeded so well that the finances flourished, and his highways became an object lesson to the world. mr. latimer, the bristol historian, mentions that although macadam was shabbily treated by members of the old unreformed corporation, and had many opponents, bristol deserves the credit of being the first to appreciate the value of his labours, which were recognised later by a parliamentary grant. he left bristol for london, and died in ; but his son became surveyor of the bristol roads, and continued to hold the appointment till his death in . [illustration: the west country mail coaches about to leave piccadilly with "go cart," bringing up late mails from the g.p.o.] the _gentlemen's magazine_, november, , announced: "a steam coach company are now making arrangements for stopping places on the line of road, between london, bath and bristol, which will occur every six or seven miles, where fresh fuel and water are to be supplied. there are fifteen coaches built." the turnpike trustees, who imposed extraordinary tolls on steam carriages, frustrated this scheme; but the threatened competition stirred up the coach proprietors, who increased the speed of their vehicles from the jog-trot of six or seven miles an hour, although not to such an extent as desired by the bristol chamber of commerce, which in this year made a suggestion to the post office for bringing the london mail to the city in twelve hours. the postmaster-general was also memorialised to accelerate the arrival of the west mail, so as to effect its delivery before the departure of the london mail,--a convenience of no little moment to the west india trade of the port, since it was thought that it would save one day in the conduct of business with the metropolis. at a general meeting in january, , it was announced that the president had a conference on the subject with the leading officer of the post office department, with the result that the latter proposed alterations which were carried out, and were held to be proofs of the postmaster-general's disposition to consult the accommodation of the bristol public. the former proposal was not adopted at the time, for at the accession of his late majesty king william iv. ( ) the london mail coach took hours minutes on its journey _viâ_ reading. it departed at p.m., reached bath . a.m., and arrived in bristol at . a.m., leaving again at . p.m. for the g.p.o. the bristol and brighton coach ( miles) was bound to a speed of . miles per hour. in january, , there were further post office matters on the agenda of the chamber of commerce, for it was resolved--"that this meeting recommends to the board the instituting an enquiry into the exact distance between the post office of london and bristol, with a view to ascertain whether the rate of postage at present demanded is correct." the enquiry was prosecuted with vigour, for at the january annual meeting in the following year reference was made to the turnpike commissioners for the several districts on the line of road between london and bristol having supplied a statement of the precise extent of ground over which the mail coach travelled, comprised in their respective trusts. in several instances measurements were expressly made. in the result it appeared that the route exceeded in distance miles, and the post office department was therefore entitled legally to obtain the rate of d. per letter as the amount fixed by the provisions of the act of parliament. it was thought by taking the route from chippenham through marshfield instead of bath the distance would be considerably shorter, and consequently bring about a reduced rate of postage. it was reported in the next year (january, ) that the requisition for changing the route had been pursued, and the president held a conference with sir f. freeling on the subject; but though every due consideration was promised, the alteration had not yet been acceded to. there was the significant addition that the application would nevertheless be renewed. a new royal mail direct from bristol to liverpool was established in , leaving the "white lion," broad street, bristol, at . p.m., reaching liverpool at twenty minutes past a.m. the new service was notified to mr. samuel harford, the president of the commerce chamber, by sir francis freeling, in the following terms:-- "g.p.o., _ th august, _. "sir,--having brought under consideration the memorial from the board of directors of the chamber of commerce of bristol, and from the bankers, merchants, and other inhabitants of liverpool, transmitted in your letter of the nd may last, i have the satisfaction to acquaint you that his grace the postmaster general (duke of richmond) has consented to try the experiment of a mail coach between those towns, through chepstow, hereford, and monmouth, and i flatter myself that it may commence about the middle of next month. "i have the honour to be, sir, your most obedient servant, f. freeling, secretary. "samuel harford, esq." * * * * * in the next year the chamber learnt with satisfaction that the direct liverpool mail through chepstow, monmouth, hereford, shrewsbury and chester, which was started as an experiment, had been continued, to the decided advantage of the public, particularly to all connected with the line of country through which it passed. as compared with the former route, the saving of time was equal to one day; the rate of postage was likewise reduced. the starting and arriving were at the most convenient hours the distance and circumstances, with reference to the passage of the two rivers, severn and medway, would permit. the coach had to run over the flat parts of the ground at a great pace, to make up for time lost at the hills. the contract time was miles furlongs in the hour. one of the chief mail coaches in the kingdom in was the bristol, carmarthen and milford ( miles _viâ_ passage, one hour allowed for ferry), cardiff and swansea. its down journey occupied hours minutes, and its up journey hours. the liverpool and milford mails were conveyed across the severn at aust passage, where the ferry had been located since the lord protector's time. a moderate expenditure on the piers at aust passage, though little regarded by the citizens at the time the work was in progress, with the introduction there of a steam vessel, was one of the principal means of bringing about the establishment of the additional communication with the districts over the severn, the uncertainty and inconvenience of crossing its estuary being then to a large extent removed. mr. oliver norris, now nearly years of age, and who has lived in the district adjoining the severn tunnel from his boyhood, can call to mind the time when the liverpool and milford coaches were running. they had to make their way from pilning through northwick, up to the old passage at aust, and in rough weather the passengers must have had a cold ride on the bleak river banks over which they had to journey. when the bristol and south wales railway was opened in , the aust passage was abandoned, and the ferry steamers commenced to cross from the revived new (or pilning) passage, to connect with the new train services at portskewet. when the penny post was introduced, mr. morris says that as the coaches passed through the villages the inhabitants in his district adopted a primitive way of posting their letters, which was to place the letter and penny in a cleft stick, and so hand up to the mail guard as the coach was driven by, and who, if the penny was not forthcoming, promptly threw the letter to the ground. the mail coach system was attended with many adventures. mr. moses james nobbs, the last of the mail coach guards, recounted in the history of his career how, in the winter of , when guard of the bristol to portsmouth coach, there were terrible snow-storms towards christmas time, and many parts of the country were completely blocked. after leaving bristol one night at p.m. all went well until the coach was nearing salisbury, at about midnight. snow had been falling gently for some time before, but after leaving salisbury it came down so thick and lay so deep that the coach had to be brought to a standstill, and could proceed no further. consequently nobbs had to leave the coach and go on horseback to the next changing place, where he took a fresh horse and started for southampton. there he procured a chaise and pair, and continued his journey to portsmouth, arriving there about p.m. the next day. he was then ordered to go back to bristol. on reaching southampton on his return journey the snow had got much deeper, and at salisbury he found that the london mails had arrived, but could not go any further, the snow being so very deep. not to be beaten, he took a horse out of the stable, slung the mail bags over his back, and pushed on for bristol, where he arrived next day, after much wandering through fields, up and down lanes, and across country--all one dreary expanse of snow. by this time he was about ready for a rest. but there was no rest for him in bristol, for he was ordered by the mail inspector to take the mails on to birmingham, as there was no other mail guard available. at last he arrived at birmingham, having been on duty for two nights and days continuously without taking his clothes off. for his exertions and perseverance in getting the mails through mr. nobbs received a special commendation from the postmaster-general. [illustration: moses nobbs. the last of the mail guards.] mr. nobbs tells that one night when the bristol coach was between bath and warminster, two men jumped out of the hedge; one caught hold of the leaders, and the other the wheelers, and tried to stop the coach. the coachman, immediately whipped up the horses, and called out, "look out! we are going to be robbed!" mr. nobbs took the blunderbuss out of the arms case (which was a box just in front of the guard's seat); but, just as he did so, he saw the fellows making towards the hedge, and then lost sight of them altogether. to let them know that he was prepared, he fired off into the hedge. he didn't know whether he hit anything, but he heard no cries or groans. the recoil of the blunderbuss, however, nearly knocked him off his seat. the blunderbuss, he said, kicked like a mule. it had no doubt been loaded to the muzzle, as was usual with those weapons. in the memorable storm of christmas, , alluded to by mr. nobbs, the bath and bristol mail coach, due in london on tuesday morning, was abandoned eighty miles from the metropolis, and the mails taken up in a post-chaise and four by the two guards, who reached st. martin's-le-grand at . on the wednesday morning. for seventeen miles of the distance the guards had from time to time to go across the fields to get past the deep snowdrifts. in the annual procession of mail coaches round london, at the head thereof was "the oldest established mail,"--the bristol mail, probably with guard nobbs in charge. some twenty-seven to thirty coaches took part in the procession thus headed. the old mail guards had a literature of their own. as an example, one report on a guard's way-bill ran as follows (it was a note to account for loss of time on north road):--"as we wos comin' over brumsgroove lickey won of the leaders fell, and wen we com to him he was ded." one old fellow used to laugh, as the men said, down in his boots, or like a pump losing its water. another used facetiously to say that he had better than a dozen children. "oh, mr. ----," said a barmaid to him one day, "what can you do with so many?" "well, my dear," he replied, "you see i've got but two, and they be, you must confess, a good deal better than a dozen." it is said that, with the exception of a single instance, no guard was ever convicted of a breach of trust while performing his duties. in the year of her majesty's accession ( ) there were no fewer than twenty-seven coaches running daily between bristol and london, and twenty-seven others passed between this city and bath every twenty-four hours. the times of the london coach were as follow: london depart . p.m., bath . a.m., bristol arrive . a.m., depart . p.m., arrive g.p.o. . a.m.,--a slight acceleration over . where now is the fashionable roadside "ostrich inn" on durdham down of a century ago, approached by a rough and winding track from black boy hill? at this inn the coaches called on their way to the passage. where now are the old four-horsed coaches rattling up to "the bush," "white hart," and "white lion" hostelries, and the old jolly dozen-caped coachmen and scarlet-liveried mail guards, with blunderbuss and horn? where now the bath and bristol mail pulling up at the roadside "king's head inn"? the inns are gone, the coaches gone, the jolly guards all gone too. what happiness their smiling faces brought to many who watched for their arrival by the mail coach from the west of england, and how gladdening the sight of their colonial mail bags to the merchants of the city and to the sailors' wives looking out anxiously for the monthly mail of those days! though single-sheet letters cost s. d. each, what of that? did they not contain accounts of sugar and rum cargoes, and of good news from absent ones. letters were letters in those days, and not the notes and cards and "flimsies" of to-day. [illustration: arrival of the bath and bristol mail coach at a roadside inn.] chapter iv. victorian era, - . mail transport by railway.--travelling post offices. although the world's railway system was inaugurated by the opening of the stockton and darlington railway in , it was not until that any attempt was made by a great railway to open up the traffic to the west from the metropolis. it was in that year that the great western company made a line between paddington and maidenhead, and mails were sent by it. the section from bristol to bath was opened in the same year. _woolmer's gazette_ of january, , speaks of the . a.m. "exquisite" coach for bristol, cheltenham, birmingham, manchester, and liverpool, with part of the service by rail. intermediate sections of the railway were completed from time to time, and, finally, on the th january, , the western line was opened throughout, and the coaches which had formed so striking a feature both of town and country life generally disappeared. one coach, however, obstinately held its ground in spite of the railway, and continued to carry passengers from and to london and bristol at the rate of d. per mile until october, . in consequence of the completion of the great western railway to bristol, extensive mail alterations had to be made, and they were commenced on the th july, , affecting the whole district right through somersetshire and devonshire into cornwall. some towns were made post towns and others were reduced from the rank of post towns to that of sub-post offices. to meet the altered circumstances, revised sacking of bags had to be resorted to. the instructions given by the president to the staff in st. martin's-le-grand ended thus: ".... any bags in addition to the ordinary number must be reported to the road officers by the clerks of the divisions, that they may be entered under the head of 'extra,' also any agents or portmanteaus for falmouth; and they must instruct the men carrying out the sacks and bags first to report them to the check clerk, and then take them through the letter carriers' office to the devonport or gloucester omnibus, as the case may be, as the guards will not for the future come into the office." it was at this time that the villages of hallatrow, high littleton, paulton, harptree (east and west), farrington gurney, temple cloud, cameley, and hinton blewett were transferred from the postal control of bath to that of bristol, under which they still remain. for several years the only trains carrying third-class passengers from bristol started at . o'clock in the morning and . o'clock at night, offering the travellers, who were wholly unprotected from the weather, an alternative of miseries, and at first travellers were not much better off in point of speed when travelling by railway, as third-class passengers were - / hours on the railway between bristol and london. the coach at the time of its being taken off performed the journey under hours. the "bush" coach office was closed in march, . the bristol and gloucester railway was opened to the public on the th july, . of the seven coaches which had been running between the two cities six were immediately withdrawn, and on the nd july the time-honoured "north mail" left bristol for the last time, the horses' heads surmounted with funereal plumes and the coachman and guard in equally lugubrious array. as late as her majesty's mails were conveyed between bristol and southampton in a closed covered cart, "proper for the purpose," as set forth in an advertisement inviting tenders for a new contract. the whole journey had to be performed at the rate of eight miles within the hour, stoppages included. the hours of despatch were: from bristol at about . p.m., and from southampton about . p.m. [illustration: "the old bush hotel," corn street, bristol. _from a picture in the possession of e. g. clarke, esq._] in a great mail robbery took place, which was committed with very much daring. the robbers, who booked from starcross station on the st january, left a compartment of the up night mail train (which left bridgwater at . p.m. and reached bristol at midnight); they crept along the ledge, only - / inch wide, to the mail-brake at the rear of the post office sorting carriage, and effected an entrance, having previously possessed themselves of a key of the lock. after having rifled the mail bags they crept back to their compartment, and alighted from the train at the bristol station, giving up their tickets to the great western railway policeman. not contented with robbing the up mail, they got into the night mail train from london to the west, which left bristol at . a.m., and actually had the daring to pursue the same tactics with regard to the mail bags in the locked brake. this further audacity brought about their capture, for the news of the robbery of the up mail reached the ears of the officers at bristol who were in the down mail, and so they were on the alert. on arrival, therefore, at bridgwater the second robbery was at once detected, all exit from the station was stopped, and the train searched. two men were discovered in a first-class compartment near the travelling post office, and registered letters and money letters were found upon them. in addition to the letters, masks, and false moustache found, a woolstapler's hook, which it is supposed was used by the thieves to hang on to the tender when leaving the first-class carriage, was also discovered. one of the registered letters stolen, it was stated, contained £ , , and the loss, as far as it was known, unquestionably amounted to _fifty times_ that sum. the robbers turned out to be henry poole, a discharged great western guard, and edward nightingale, a london horse dealer. the case excited a great deal of interest in the west of england, and when the trial took place at exeter the court was crowded to excess, and the avenues and approaches thereto were very inconveniently crowded. mr. rogers, q.c., and mr. poulden appeared for the prosecution, and mr. slade, mr. cockburn, q.c., and mr. stone defended. evidence was given by clerks in the lombard street post office, messengers and letter-carriers in the g.p.o., "register" clerks, clerk at charing cross post office, the clerk of the devonport road, guard of the mail from st. martin's-le-grand to paddington, and by letter-sorters in the travelling post office. jane crabbe, barmaid at the "talbot inn," bath street, bristol, recollected the two men entering the bar and calling for two small glasses of brandy-and-water. they were shown to an adjoining room, where they remained until o'clock, and then went to the bar to pay. they appeared impatient, and looked at the clock. it was suspected that all the property which, had been abstracted from the up mail was secreted somewhere in bristol, and a most rigid search was instituted, but without success. mr. cockburn's speech to the jury for the defence occupied over two hours. lord justice denman, the judge of the spring assize, sentenced the culprits to fifteen years' transportation. a select committee was appointed in to inquire into the causes of irregularity in the conveyance of mails by railways, and to consider the best means of securing speed and punctuality; also to consider the best mode of fixing the remuneration of the various railway companies for their services. the local witnesses, mr. james creswell wall and mr. j. b. badham, secretary and superintendent respectively of the late bristol and exeter railway company, and bristol residents, gave evidence before the committee, composed of mr. wilson patten (chairman), mr. james macgregor, mr. h. g. liddell, mr. h. herbert, mr. c. fortescue, mr. cowan, mr. thompson, mr. philipps, and mr. milner. replying to questions, witnesses considered two hours forty minutes, as fixed by the post office department, insufficient time for the down night mail to travel from bristol to exeter, including six stoppages. the delivery of mail bags at certain stations by apparatus without stopping the train was suggested, but witnesses considered the plan dangerous and that it could not with safety be adopted. the secretary of the south wales railway company, mr. f. g. saunders, gave evidence as to the frequent loss of time sustained by the south wales night mail through the late receipt of the bristol and west of england mails at chepstow. at that time the bags for south wales were still conveyed from bristol to the aust passage, thence by ferry to the opposite bank of the severn and on to chepstow. the conveyance of mails for south wales _viâ_ gloucester was subsequently adopted. all the witnesses complained of the reduction of railway parcel traffic through the then recent establishment of book postage and consequent falling off of receipts, also that the remuneration awarded for the carriage of mails was insufficient, although decided by mutually-appointed umpires. [illustration: the old passage, aust.] for many years the night mails were conveyed between paddington and bristol by a special train, which did not carry passengers. it was the only train of its kind in the kingdom, but so useful was it held to be in securing a regular delivery of letters that the government introduced a clause in a postal bill in rendering it compulsory for all railways to provide similar trains. on the st june, , the post office special great western train commenced to be a mail train limited to carry a certain number of passengers, so that opinion had by that time become altered as regards the value in relation to cost of a train exclusively for post office purposes. the travelling post office service assists greatly in the speedy distribution of letters, and by its agency remote places are put on an equality with the country generally in respect of deliveries and despatches. two of the most important travelling post office systems in the kingdom are conducted through, or to, bristol--the gate to the western country--viz.: the great western railway, with a travelling post office annual mileage of , ; and the midland and north-eastern lines from newcastle, with a mileage of , . travelling post offices, with a combined coach length of from feet on the day mails to feet on the night mails, are attached to the great western down trains which arrive at bristol at . a.m. and . a.m.; to the up trains, at . a.m. and . p.m.; to the trains leaving bristol for the west at . a.m. and . p.m., and for the north at . p.m. the midland travelling post office carriages are attached to the . a.m. inward train and to the . p.m. outward train. there is living at midford, about fifteen miles distant from bristol, a gentleman (mr. coulcher) who--now pensioned from the post office--was the clerk in charge of the midland travelling post office on its first run from bristol to derby in . he well recollects the night, and what impressed it upon his memory more than anything else was the fact that on reaching bristol, after he and his two subordinate clerks and his mail-guard (samuel bennett) had made almost superhuman efforts to get the work completed, he had to send , letters unsorted into the bristol post office, there to await despatch by day mails to towns in the west of england, instead of going at once in direct travelling post office bags by the connecting early morning train. samuel bennett, the old mail guard mentioned, and contemporary of moses nobbs, was frequently injured on road and rail. in he was much shaken when a birmingham-to-bath train by which he was travelling ran off the line. a few years later he nearly came to an untimely end, having been regarded as dead after being much knocked about when two trains between bristol and birmingham collided. on that occasion, after he recovered consciousness, he got together some of his mail bags and carried them on to bristol. the _gloucester journal_ said of the occurrence:--"samuel bennett, the guard of the mail bags, appeared dead when found, and was dreadfully cut; but on recovering, he manifested great anxiety for the bags. when the special train arrived in which the wounded passengers were conveyed onward, bennett, with great courage, determined to take the bags by this train, which was done." and the _bristol mercury_ wrote of him as follows:--"the mail guard, samuel bennett, was very much cut over the face and head, and bled profusely. happily, he was not rendered long unconscious or disabled, and with a conscientious and self-denying attention to duty not often met with, he refused any attention to his hurts until he had gathered up the mutilated letter bags and their contents, and made provision for bringing them on to this city." in the bristol district there is a railway post office apparatus station at fishponds, on the midland railway, bags being deposited thereat by the train due at bristol at . a.m., and taken up by the train ex bristol at . p.m. on the great western railway, the apparatus arrangement is in operation at flax bourton, nailsea, yatton, and hewish, chiefly in connection with the . a.m. train ex bristol. it rarely happens that any failures occur at fishponds or hewish, but vagaries of the apparatus are more frequent at yatton. about once a year something or other goes wrong, the pouch usually being dropped and carried along by the train, with mutilation of the mail bags and a general scattering of the letters. on the last occasion, after the line had been searched up and down, the embankment closely looked over, and the ground on the other side of the hedge on the down side closely scrutinized, all unavailingly, some two or three days after the accident a bundle of letters was picked up which, such was the force of the impact, had been "skied" into a field over two hedges of an intervening lane. on another similar mishap, a post office remittance letter containing £ in gold was burst open and the coins scattered over the line. after diligent search in every direction, £ s. was recovered. one half sovereign, bent in an extraordinary manner, was found between the metals three-quarters of a mile from the apparatus standard. the apparatus has to be adjusted with mathematical nicety, and if not so arranged failures are liable to occur. it is well that the public should bear in mind that packets sent by mails which are exchanged by apparatus are in more or less danger, and any article of a fragile or costly nature should, if possible, be forwarded by mails carried by stopping-trains. the places so affected in this neighbourhood are:--alveston, bitton, blagdon, burrington, clevedon, congresbury, downend, fishponds, flax bourton, frampton cotterell, frenchay, glastonbury, hambrook, hewish, iron acton, langford, mangotsfield, nailsea, oldlands common, portishead, pucklechurch, rudgeway, sandford, staple hill, thornbury, tockington, warmley, west town, willsbridge, winterbourne, wrington, and yatton. until lately mails for bristol were forwarded by the midnight train from euston (l. & n. w. r.) and reached this city by way of birmingham in time for the north mail delivery. it was on that railway that in a sad occurrence happened at watford, when a young man whilst in the discharge of his duties as fireman lost his life. the deceased was leaning over the side of his engine, which was stationary, watching for the signals to be turned, when the day mail train from london dashed by. the travelling post office apparatus net which had picked up a pouch at a point a few score yards away was still extended and it struck the unfortunate young man on the head, completely severing it from the body. the poor fellow's cap was torn from his head by the apparatus net and fell into the travelling post office carriages with the mail pouches much to the consternation of the travelling sorters, who found evidence of the mutilation on the apparatus framework. the net was only down for the short space of ten seconds. the travelling officials first heard full details of the accident on their arrival at tring, where the train next stopped. "once upon a time," writes mr. a. w. blake in the _st. martin's-le-grand magazine_, "the london afternoon mail was made up at a provincial office down west (chippenham), and despatched to be taken off by apparatus. all proceeded as usual up to the actual point of transfer, when a strange thing happened. instead of falling soberly into the net, the man in charge was astonished to see the pouch leap high into the air and descend he knew not whither. search was carefully made along the track of the departed train, but not a vestige of the missing pouch could be seen, and a local inspector who was travelling up the line promised to keep a look-out for it. just at this time an 's.g.' was received from the officer in charge of the sorting tender notifying the non-receipt of the pouch. as the mystery seemed to deepen, word was received that a signalman at a level crossing two miles away had noticed the missing article on the top of the train. quoth the worthy apparatus man: 'if it'll ride two miles, it'll ride two hundred'; and accordingly a wire was sent to the sorting-tender people asking them to search the top of the train, and soon came the reply that the pouch had been found on the roof of the guard's van at didcot. the train had stopped the regulation time at that hub of the great way round, swindon, and proceeded on its way without the extraordinary position of her majesty's mails being discovered." the occurrence was attributed to the swaying of the carriage, and to the apparatus-net not working quite steadily in consequence. at a later period than the mishap narrated by mr. blake, the bags for oxford and abingdon, due to be picked up at wantage by the up night mail travelling post office apparatus, and to have been delivered by the same process at steventon, were not found when the net was drawn in, and it was thought they had been missed; but at didcot it was discovered they had been thrown over the end of the net and were hanging outside it. since the opening of the severn tunnel in it has not often been found an absolute necessity to make use of it for the conveyance of mails diverted from the route from south wales through gloucester to london; but such was the case in february of the present year ( ), when a tidal wave of forty feet was experienced in the bristol channel, which caused serious damage by displacing the railway line between lydney and wollaston. the effects of the high tide were disastrous. a wave dashed on to the great western railway with huge force, and so disintegrated the ballasting of the permanent way that the lines were twisted into all manner of shapes. the mails to and from paddington to south wales were circulated _viâ_ bristol and the tunnel for some time. bristol is at a disadvantage as compared with london in respect of its continental correspondence, but is far better situated than many other provincial towns. the letters from the continent by night mails reach bristol by the train leaving london at . a.m. and, arriving at temple meads at . a.m., are on delivery in the private box renters' office at about . p.m. the postmen start out with the letters at . p.m. as the hour of posting for the outward continental night mails is . p.m., it is only the private box renters who have time, brief though it be, to reply to their correspondence on the day of receiving it. an appeal to the hon. member for bristol east was made by the writer at a chamber of commerce dinner to exercise his influence as a director of the great western railway in the direction of obtaining the use of a goods train for the conveyance to bristol of a midnight mail from london. in the end the railway company afforded the post office the means of bringing down a midnight mail, not by goods train as was originally contemplated, but by new and fast passenger train, with the result that half a million letters a year now fall into the first delivery throughout the town, instead of into the second delivery as heretofore. the letters posted in london up to . p.m. reach the head office in small street in time to be delivered throughout the city and suburbs by the postmen on their first round. under the old system, when "routed" _viâ_ birmingham, the arrival was often so late and irregular that the letters missed even the second delivery. the letters for the rural districts having no day mail deliveries had to lie at bristol for twenty-four hours, while now they are delivered on the morning of receipt from london. the advantages o£ the new system apply to parcels as well as letters, and the acceleration in delivery is particularly serviceable as regards parcels containing perishable articles. the railway company recently gave the department another opportunity of improving the mail services by establishing a merchandise train from cornwall and the west to london, reaching the metropolis in time for the letters sent by it to be delivered some three or four hours earlier than when conveyed by the first passenger train in the morning. strangely enough, the establishment of this new mail service was the means of enabling the hon. baronet (sir w. h. wills), the member for bristol east, to take his seat in the house of commons on the day of his last election, for the writ and return were sent by that mail to london in time to reach the crown office for all formalities to be gone through in connection with the seat being taken at once. chapter v. - . bristol postmasters. official records at st. martin's-le-grand show that postmasters of bristol were appointed as follows; viz., thomas gale, ; wm. dickinson, ; daniel parker, ; henry pine, september, ; thomas pine, senior, ; thomas pine, junior, th january, ; william fenn, ; mrs. fenn, ; mr. fry managed the office for mrs. penn from to december, , when he died, and mrs. fenn retired on an allowance in ; mr. cole, march, , died whilst holding office; john gardiner, th june, ; thomas todd walton, senior, st february, ; thomas todd walton, junior, rd may, , succeeded his father; edward chaddock sampson, st june, ; robert charles tombs, th april, , after having been invalided from controllership of the london postal service. in his history of the post office, mr. joyce tells us that in the postmaster-general himself settled applications for salary. thus when thomas gale, postmaster of bristol, applies for an increase of salary, frowde the governor satisfies the earl of rochester, the postmaster-general, that the increase will be proper. forthwith issues a document, of which the operative part is as follows:-- "you are therefore of opinion that the said salary (£ ) is very small considering the expense the petitioner is att, and his extraordinary trouble, bristoll being a greate citty, but you say that you doe not think all the things he setts downe in the aforesaid accompt ought to be allowed him, the example being of very ill consequence, for (as you informe me) you doe not allow either candles, pack-thread, wax, ink, penns or paper to any of the postmasters, nor office-rent, nor returns of mony, you are therefore of opinion that tenn ponnds per annum to his former salary of £ will be a reasonable allowance, and the petitioner will be therewith satisfied, these are therefore to pray and require you 'to raise his salary from £ to £ accordingly.' "rochester. whitehall treasury chambers, _december th, _." the office of postmaster was in the hands of the pine family, grandfather, father, and son, from till . in an old manuscript in the public library it is stated that there was a portrait in the possession of a descendant of the family, then residing on kingsdown, representing the older pine in the midst of his official duties, a bracket supporting a bust of mercury, and in his hand a letter thus addressed:--"on his majesty's service. to mr. pine, postmaster of bristol," and in the corner, "p. express. t. strickland." endeavours to trace the descendants and the portrait have proved fruitless. [illustration: mr. john gardiner. _postmaster of bristol, - ._] there is little history obtainable of the postmasters until the time of mr. john gardiner, of whom it is related that, born october th, , he held the office of postmaster of bristol from till his death in . it is believed that he obtained his appointment in a great measure through friendship with mr. francis freeling. mr. gardiner had to bear the brunt of the bristol riots ( ), in so far as they affected the post office administration of the city. in order to save the mails and belongings which were portable, such as the books, post dating stamps, etc., he set off with them in a coach and four for bath post office. he got safely through the mob and reached bath, where the bristol post office business was carried on until the riots had been quelled. mr. gardiner, in addition to being postmaster, was also an exporter of woollen and manchester goods, chiefly to the west indies until the slave trade was abolished. he then traded with newfoundland. he was high sheriff of the city in the year , residing at that time in berkeley square. later, however, he was enabled to live quietly at the old manor house, easton-in-gordano. he was buried at st. peter's church, bristol. [illustration: mr. thomas todd walton. _postmaster of bristol, - ._] mr. anthony todd, the secretary to the post office, - and - , seems to have been attracted to todd walton, of cheshunt, herts, either by relationship or from his name, and took him in hand. born in , mr. todd walton entered the post office in (fourteen years old). he had the long spell of service of forty-six years in the foreign post office and ten years as postmaster of bristol. he was five times selected for foreign missions, which compelled his residence in holland, sweden, spain, and portugal during the most disturbed state of those countries. mr. walton is described as having been a fine old english gentleman, one of the olden time, who wore hair powder, blue coat with gilt buttons, and shoes and gaiters; one who used to express his meaning distinctly, and mean what he said too. this description is borne out by his appearance in his portrait. he used to visit the bristol post office after his retirement, especially to have a morning glass of water from the old well on the premises. he died in july, , at his residence, king's parade, clifton, in his eighty-fifth year, and was buried in the adjacent church of st. john's. on his tombstone is this inscription: "here rests the body of thomas todd walton, late of cheshunt, herts, and of the foreign post, london, esquire. a quarter of a century an inhabitant of this parish, and for some years head postmaster of the bristol district. deceased th july, . aged . also of catherine elizabeth, his wife, elder daughter of thomas todd, of durham, esquire. she died april th, , aged years." on mr. walton's retirement, in , in view of his services, lord viscount lowther, the postmaster-general of the day, conferred the appointment of postmaster of bristol on his son, thomas todd walton, who had been employed as chief clerk in the bristol post office for ten years. mr. todd walton, it seems, was properly initiated into the mysteries of the post office art by his father, who decreed that he should commence at the bottom of the ladder and work his way up thence, so that young todd walton was in his day to be found at mail-bag opening, letter sorting and other routine work of the kind, which will account for the thorough knowledge of his business which he is said to have possessed when called upon to take the reins of office handed over to him by his popular parent. [illustration: mr. thomas todd walton (junior). _postmaster of bristol, - ._] in connection with the recent selection of the port of bristol as a mail station, alluded to in later pages, it may be mentioned that mrs. todd walton well remembers how, when the _great western_ steamship, which carried the american mails between bristol and new york for several years, was first due ( ) to reach this port, her husband organised his small staff for a night encounter with the pressure of work which the heavy mail would inevitably occasion, and obtained auxiliary aid. the little staff was at "attention" for two or three days, and when the news came by means of the runner from pill that the ship was coming up the avon, mr. walton turned out at a.m., rallied his little band, and went manfully to the work, which lasted for many hours before the letters were fully sorted and sent off to their respective destinations or delivered through the streets and lanes of the old city. in the autumn of the _great western_ happened to arrive on the same day that a large ship mail from australia by the _ruby_ was received, and the whole staff available--then only ten men for all duties--had to work night and day continuously to get off the letters by the mails to other towns. as many as , letters and newspapers were brought by these two vessels on that occasion. it is recorded that every available space in the premises was filled with letters piled as high as they could be got to stand, and great was the joy of the sorters when the flood of letters subsided. mr. todd walton had many other night reminders of the mail services besides those respecting the arrival of direct mails from america, as the rattling of the horses' hoofs, the clang of the pole-chains and the twang of the mail guard's horn as the coaches dashed past his house on their way to the passages must have frequently reminded him of his responsibilities as "mail master" of bristol. he would have blessed bristol's very able general manager of the tramways company had he been to the fore in those days to procure the benefit of freedom from the noise of traffic by the use of wood paving in our principal thoroughfares. mr. todd walton had the interests of the staff of the post office at heart, and, as an exemplification of his sympathy with them, it may be mentioned that when a promising officer in the heyday of youth met with an accident which eventually necessitated the amputation of his right leg, mr. walton did not allow the misfortune to stand in the way of the young man's continuing in remunerative employment in the post office, but found for him a suitable sedentary duty which he performed for fourteen years. mr. todd walton the second counted amongst his contemporaries and personal friends those post office literary stars, anthony trollope and edmund yates. mr. walton retired from the post office in . his death occurred at the clifton down hotel on the morning of christmas day, . he was in the act of dressing to attend the early morning service at all saints' church, when he fell into a fit of apoplexy, from which he did not rally. the _times and mirror_ of january nd, , gives the following memoir of him:--"the death of this estimable gentleman calls for more particular notice than the necessarily brief one given in last saturday's impression; for although mr. walton had for some time past ceased to be a citizen of bristol, he continued to feel an interest in the old city and its surroundings, and was remembered by many bristolians as one who had obtained, as he deserved, their affectionate esteem. succeeding his father--a gentleman of the 'old school'--as postmaster of bristol, mr. todd walton, through the long series of years in which he occupied that public position, evinced unwearied industry, keen intelligence, and singular courtesy in discharging the multifarious duties connected with it, and when on his retirement (carrying with him into private life the respect of his fellow-citizens) he was called upon to fulfil the duties of high sheriff of bristol, those duties were discharged by him for two years successively in a manner distinguished by great public spirit and generous hospitality. he was a man of considerable culture and taste, an extensive reader, and a reader who, happily, remembered what he had read. he possessed also a sense of humour and a ready wit which made him an agreeable and intelligent companion; whilst to those who enjoyed his friendship he was ever a friend, courteous and kind. blessed with abundant means, he helped without ostentation the poor and needy, many of whom in our own city will share in the general regret his loss has occasioned." in the centre of the church garden at all saints', clifton, stands a cross, which mrs. walton erected in to the memory of her husband. it was designed by mr. j. l. pearson, r.a. it is of granite, and stands on three steps. in the centre of the shaft is a figure of the good shepherd, and at the top are four sculptures, beautifully executed, of the annunciation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the ascension. over these rises a crocketed finial, and the whole is surmounted by a cross. at the base are inscribed the words: "in loving memory of thomas todd walton, sometime churchwarden of the church of all saints, and a most generous benefactor to that church." by the death of edward chadwick sampson, the next postmaster, which occurred at clevedon, december th, , the post office lost one of its most gentlemanly and genial pensioners. for many years postmaster of bristol, mr. sampson was well known throughout the city, and held in high esteem by all with whom he was brought into contact. he had a long service in the postal department, dating, as it did, from to the last day of . in he began his connection with the bristol post office. he went to manchester as chief clerk in , but was away only six years, and returned in to assume the postmastership of his native city. it is interesting, as showing the enormous increase in the postal traffic, to recall the fact that when mr. sampson joined the corn street office in the premises were only twenty feet square, there were only fifteen clerks and postmen all told, and no one was allowed to have his letters from the boxes whilst a mail was being sorted. for his wide experience, his ability, and high integrity his work was greatly valued by leading officials in the postal service; whilst his sincerity and kindliness of disposition endeared him to employés of every grade over whom he had control. as the postman came to mr. sampson's door one morning, it was seen that the man was too ill to discharge his duties. mr. sampson thereupon begged the man to come into his house and rest, and he himself, with the aid of his son, delivered every one of the letters at its destination, afterwards seeing the poor man safely home. that kind act was indicative of mr. sampson's general consideration for those over whom he ruled. [illustration: edward chaddock sampson. _postmaster of bristol, - ._ _from a photograph by mr. abel lewis, bristol._] on the resignation of mr. sampson, it was generally felt that he should not be allowed to retire into private life without taking with him tangible evidence of the goodwill and respect of those with whom he had been associated. this feeling found expression in a gratifying manner, and the services he had rendered the commercial community during his postmastership were gracefully recognised by the chamber of commerce presenting him with an address illuminated and engrossed on vellum. exactly at midnight on the last night of he was invited, as his last official act, to seal what is known to post office employés as the "london and exeter t.p.o., going west"--that is, the mail bag of the travelling post office bound for exeter. mr. sampson discharged the slight duty devolving upon him, and received the new year greetings of his former colleagues, "auld lang syne" being afterwards sung. chapter vi. notable post office servants of bristol origin. probably the most illustrious man of the post office service who had bristol for a birthplace was sir francis freeling. sir francis was born in redcliffe parish, bristol, in , and was educated partly at colston school and in part by the master of queen elizabeth's grammar school. in an ancient city record it is stated that he commenced his official career as "an apprentice" at the bristol post office, where the combined results of his education, probity, and talents were soon discovered. on the establishment of the new system of mail coaches in , he was appointed to aid the inventor, palmer, in carrying his improvements into effect. two years later he was transferred to the general post office, london, where, in course of time, he successively filled the offices of surveyor, principal and resident surveyor, joint-secretary, and secretary from - . in a debate in the house of lords, in , the duke of wellington stated that the english post office under freeling's management had been better administered than any post office in europe, or in any other part of the world. he possessed "a clear and vigorous understanding ... and the power of expressing his thoughts and opinions, both verbally and in writing, with force and precision." for his public services a baronetcy was conferred upon him on march th, , a meet reward for his long, arduous, and valuable services. he was a warm supporter of pitt, but he suffered no political partisanship to affect his administration of the post office. freeling's leisure was devoted to the formation of a curious and valuable library. he was elected a fellow of the society of antiquaries in , and was one of the original members of the roxburgh club, founded in . he died while still at his post on the business of the country which he had so faithfully served, and was buried in the church of st. mary redcliffe, bristol. [illustration: sir francis freeling, bart. _secretary to the g.p.o., - ._] the inscription on the memorial tablet runs thus: "to the memory of sir francis freeling, baronet, who was born in this parish the th august, , and who died in bryanston square, in the county of middlesex, the th july, . for more than half a century his life was devoted to the public service in the general post office, in which for thirty-eight years he discharged the arduous duties of secretary. by unwearied industry in the employment of great talents, and by unblemished integrity, grounded upon christian principles, he acquired and retained the favour of three successive sovereigns, and the approbation of the public. he has left a name which will be remembered with honour in his birthplace, and which is cherished with affection and veneration by his children, who have raised this monument." sir francis freeling was thrice married. by his first wife, jane, daughter of john christian kurstadt, he had two sons. he was succeeded in the baronetcy by the elder, sir george henry freeling, born in , who matriculated at new college, oxford, th march, , and was for some time assistant-secretary at the post office, and subsequently commissioner of customs ( - ). there is a descendant of sir francis in the service, and the name may again be read of in post office history. the editor of _felix farley's journal_ (mr. j. m. gutch), of small street, bristol, wrote many letters on "the impediments which obstruct the trade and commerce of the city and port of bristol," under the signature of "cosmo," in the years - . the letters were afterwards published in book form, and the dedication was--"to francis freeling, esq., secretary to the general post office, f.a.s., etc., a native of bristol, than whom, whenever opportunity has occurred, no citizen has exerted himself more in the promotion of the public and private welfare of this city, the following letters are dedicated, and this humble opportunity gladly embraced of testifying the obligations and sincere respect of his obedient servant, the author." a postmaster-general has not emanated from our western city, but mr. arnold morley, late general-in-chief, is the son of one who worthily represented bristol in parliament for many years, the late highly-respected mr. samuel morley, the legend on whose statue near bristol bridge tells us--"samuel morley, member of parliament for this city from to . to preserve for their children the memory of the face and form of one who was an example of justice, generosity, and public spirit, this statue was given by more than , citizens of bristol."--"i believe that the power of england is to be reckoned not by her wealth or armies, but by the purity and virtue of the great men of her population."--s. morley. although sir francis stands out pre-eminently, there is a long list of bristol officers who have gone forth and gained post office laurels. first on that honourable roll may be mentioned j. d. rich, who, over half a century ago, first hung up his hat in the bristol post office, a "furry" hat of the old stovepipe kind, as he tells the story. mr. rich showed so much ability in meeting the requirements of the times at bristol that he rose to the position of president clerk. in , on the recommendation of the surveyor general, he was removed to bath, as peculiarly fitted to assist mr. musgrave, who from his advanced age was unequal to the duties, and the result was apparent in a great improvement of the local service. that mr. rich won golden opinions was proved by a memorial for his appointment to succeed mr. musgrave, addressed to the postmaster-general, and signed in a short time by more than a thousand citizens. the memorial was, however, unavailing. mr. rich, after performing various services under five other provincial postmasters, found himself at last in the enviable position of lord of postal matters in liverpool, and surveyor of the isle of man. on retiring from the service recently, he was made a justice of the peace in recognition of his distinguished services to the city. mr. kerry, telegraph superintendent, became postmaster of warrington, mr. harwood of southport, mr. carter (chief clerk) of southampton, mr. brown (telegraph assistant-superintendent) of king's lynn, mr. rogers (postal assistant-superintendent) of newton abbot, mr. walton of teignmouth, mr. righton of penzance, and mr. barnett (chief clerk for twenty years) of swansea. several officers of the bristol post office have entered telegraph services abroad. mr. j. wilcox is in the service of the western australian government at perth, and mr. w. a. devine in that of the british south africa chartered company at fort salisbury. mr. c. harrison is employed at pretoria, and was carrying on his vocation of telegraph operator at that town at the time of the jameson raid. mr. keyte has become assistant storekeeper under the british government in chinde, on the east coast of africa. chapter vii. post office buildings. there is record of a post office having been established in bristol by the convention parliament in , but the site is unknown, and probably the postmaster had post horses--not letters--to attend to. in the year mr. henry pine, the postmaster of the day, was one of the parties to an agreement for leasing a piece of land "with liberty to build upon the same for the conveniency of a post office." the wording of the said agreement shows that the old-fashioned form of building was not in every instance (as it now seems to us to have been) so grotesquely shaped from fancy, or, perhaps, from a desire to economise ground space, for it is therein expressly stated that the building to be used for a post office was to have the second storey extended to a truss of eighteen inches over the lane, for the purpose of enabling people to stand in the dry; for there was no indoor accommodation for the public provided in those days. "let the imaginative reader," wrote an imaginative writer years ago, "picture to himself our great-great-grandfathers in doublet and ruff, standing in a row under the eighteen-inch truss, while the worthy postmaster, pine himself, with perhaps one assistant, was sorting the contents of the mail bag. doubtless," wrote he, "they grumbled when it rained that the said truss was not half a dozen inches wider, and many a person as he became saturated in his time of waiting for his letters growled out his intention of doing something very desperate to the powers that were." in the "bargain" books of the corporation is the following memorandum relating to the foregoing:-- "_ nd june, ._ then agreed by the surveyors of the city lands with henry pine, deputy postmaster, that he, the said henry pine, shall have, hold, and enjoy the ground whereon now stands a shedd having therein four severall shopp seituate in all saints' lane, and as much more ground at the lower end of the same shedd as that the whole ground shall contain in length twenty-seven foot, and to contain in breadth from the outside to the churchyard wall five foot and a half outward into the lane, with liberty to build upon the same for conveniency of a post office (namely) the first storey to go forth into the said lane to the extent of that ground and no farther, and the second storey to have a truss of eighteen inches over the lane or more as the said surveyors shall think fitt that persons coming to the post office may have shelter from the rain and stand in the dry. to hold the same from michaelmas next for fifty years absolute in the yearly rent of s. clear of taxes...." this agreement must have been afterwards modified. for some reason or other, pine paid no rent until michaelmas, , when a sum of s. was received by the chamberlain, and "the post house produced the same yearly sum until when the rent was raised to £ ." the site of the little post office alluded to was required in in connection with the building of the exchange, and the post office was transferred to a house in small street, in later days occupied as the printing office of the _times and mirror_ newspaper. there seems to have been some informal understanding that when the exchange was finished a suitable site would be provided by the corporation for postal business, and in august, , a committee reported to the council that they had contracted for the erection of "a house intended to be made use of as a post office, certain workmen having agreed to build and find all the materials at the rate of £ per square (_sic_); while mr. thomas pine (nephew to henry, the former postmaster) had offered to become the tenant at £ a year, which he alleged is the highest rent he is able at present to pay." the council approved of the proposal, recommending the committee to get as much rent as was practicable. the house, which was of scanty dimensions, cost £ exclusive of a ground rent of £ a year given for the site. only the ground floor was set apart for postal business, mr. pine residing on the premises. the first year's rent (£ ) was paid in . between and the building must have been considerably enlarged, for in the latter year the post office is spoken of as a handsome and convenient building of freestone, near to the western end of the exchange, to which it has a wing projecting forward into the street; and there is another building, exactly similar to it, at the eastern end, which is occupied for a stamp office. in there was a contemplated removal of the post office, and it was deemed proper by the chamber of commerce to come on the scene by presenting a memorial to the postmaster-general; it is stated that the timely remonstrance no doubt contributed to relieve the public of the inconvenience of such removal. colonel maberly, the secretary to the post office, advised lord lichfield in that as the ground-floor portion of the post office premises occupied by the solicitors was necessary for the extension and improved accommodation of the office, no time should be lost in giving the several sub-tenants notice to quit, and mr. hall or the postmaster should be instructed to communicate with the corporation as to the means of effecting such alterations as might be requisite. his lordship gave authority to that effect. in the corporation granted the government a new lease of the premises and of additional ground behind for the purpose of having the post office enlarged. the annual rent previous to this new arrangement had risen to £ . the building alluded to is that now rented by messrs. corner and co. as a tea warehouse. few indeed, even of the oldest citizens will remember the bristol post office as located there, and the old square open public lobby where the letters were given out through barred windows. only the ground floor was utilised, and the area, of the site was but ft. by ft. a door opened from the passage by the exchange into a very small public lobby. in this lobby was the letter-box, and here all business with the public--viz., giving out private letters, taking in letters prepaid in money, and the issuing and paying of money orders--was transacted by clerks standing in the office behind a glass partition. the prepayment of letters by means of postage stamps was not introduced till some months after penny postage was established. there was not at the time a continuous attendance of clerks at the glass partition. at two of the slides in the partition there were small brass door-knockers, and on the public knocking a clerk appeared; from the inside office and attended to the wants of the applicants. when letters for the private box renters were being sorted a blind was drawn down. when the mail was ready the blind was drawn up, and three clerks attended to disperse the crowd which had gathered during the half-hour or so while the office was closed. the small space behind the public lobby sufficed for the stamping, sorting, and other necessary duties. one man, history saith, amongst the crowd generally got to the front without difficulty; he was a flour-dusted messenger from the welsh back! in the money order department had grown amazingly, and a separate room had to be provided for its accommodation. this caused the removal of certain solicitors from the first floor to make room for the postmaster's office, the one formerly held by him on the ground floor being converted into a money order office. in the shop on the north side of the entrance to albion chambers from small street was taken by the post office and converted into a money order office, it being found that the department devoted to this purpose at the general office in exchange buildings was not sufficiently commodious or convenient. it is on record that in the post office authorities offered £ , towards erecting a new post office if the citizens would consent to contribute £ , more. a meeting of some gentlemen took place in the committee-room of the council house to take the proposition into consideration, but owing to the small number of persons that attended further deliberation was postponed to a day not named. some of the leading citizens were of opinion that it would be wise to defer any decision on the subject until the intention of the government as to granting a criminal assize for bristol was known; for should the answer from head-quarters be in the affirmative, it would be necessary to build a new court somewhere, in which case the guildhall would perhaps suit as a post office. nothing appears to have come of the negotiations, and the business of the post office was removed on the th of march, , to the new office erected in small street on the site where it is now carried on. this original portion of the structure covers , square feet. the purchase of the site was completed on the st december, . it is stated in a legal document that the bricks, stones, and material on part of the site belonged to the bristol chambers co. limited. where the sorting office stands there formerly flourished a fine mulberry tree. there appears to have been no ceremonial in the way of laying a foundation stone, and the antiquarian of the distant future may be disappointed in not discovering the usual coins deposited on such occasions. in fifteen years the need arose for more space, and that then the bristol public manifested a keen interest in the position of the bristol post office was indicated by an animated debate which took place in our council chamber; and as this book affects to be in part a history as well as a narrative, it is thought well to give the report of the proceedings a full record herein, under permission from the proprietors of the _bristol times and mirror_:-- _friday, january nd, ._ "the site for the post office. "the town clerk said that as the next part of the report referred to the site for the post office, he would read a letter he had received from mr. lewis fry, m. p., which was as under:-- "'goldney house, clifton hill, _ th december, _. "'my dear sir,--as i observe that the question of the site of the new post office will come before the council on thursday, i think it best, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, to ask you to state to the council that the matter is not to be considered as a proposal made by the postmaster-general or the first commissioner of works. the exact position of the matter is this, that mr. shaw-lefevre, soon after his visit to bristol, requested me to intimate to the corporation that in case they desire the change of situation to baldwin street, he is ready to entertain any proposal which they may make to him with that object, provided it be upon the basis of an exchange of properties as mentioned in the report of the finance committee. "'i am, yours truly, lewis fry. the town clerk of bristol.' "mr. robinson said he would like to say a word or two on the subject of a new post office, as the wording in mr. fry's letter referred to the subject of the proposed change in the position of the post office. they did not want change for change's sake (applause), and if they could do without it they would be glad to do so, but sometimes change became a necessity (applause). he would wish to say a word or two with reference to the provisions for the postal arrangements in bristol, as to the inconvenience that the officials and the public were subject to, and a word as to the great increase in postal matters in the city and in the country generally. he wished to convey to them the magnitude of the question and the very growing character of the communications by letters, parcels, and newspapers, which were being circulated through the medium of the government and through the post office. he the previous day called upon mr. sampson, the head official of the bristol post office, and he might say that his ability was only exceeded by his courtesy (applause). he gave him all the information he had asked for, and he showed him over a considerable part of the building. in the course of the interview he gave him no opinion as to the site, and he did not think it wise to ask him. all he asked him, was as to facts--as to the present accommodation. he described the condition of the office as being one of congestion, and that they were put to all kinds of shifts, and that the sorting and minor offices were inadequate for their respective purposes (hear, hear). he saw a room where eighty postmen were engaged in partial sorting. it was upstairs and was approached by winding stairs with only a -inch tread, and the room was utterly inadequate for the purpose. letters had to be sent to clifton to be sorted because of the want of space in the post office. mr. sampson said more particularly that a large hall was necessary on the ground floor for an entrance, from which the various subsidiary offices should be entered. then he said that a good frontage was desirable. some people had suggested tunnelling and going to the other side of the street, and others had suggested a viaduct. offers of property had come from different people, so that the want of further accommodation seemed to be recognised not only by the post office itself, but outside. the present office was erected in , and had the officials been sanguine, or known that the business would have increased as it had, they probably would not have selected the present site. the work of the office had perfectly outgrown the capacity of the place. since new departments had been opened, and new duties had been created, and they wanted more room. the telegraph work was added in february, , and the sale of revenue stamps and payment of stamps as money had also been added. the parcel post came into operation in . they did not desire an extravagant outlay. the increase of the population was per cent., and the letters increased per cent. they were not asked to buy a whole street. he felt it would be admitted that the telegraphic despatches formed the essential, if not the primary, part of the arrangements of the post office. he was informed that the site in baldwin street was more convenient and closer to the warehouses and offices which greatly used the present telegraphic advantages than the present site in small street (a voice: 'no'). well, he gave his word for what he had heard. he maintained that the council had a supreme moment at the present time. they had a gentleman at the head of the post office who had viewed the new site, and now they found that the post office authorities were in the humour to make the outlay they had better embrace the opportunity. his resolution was: 'that, considering the want of adequate space in small street for postal and telegraphic arrangements, it is desirable that a new post office be erected in baldwin street, on the site recently viewed by the postmaster-general, if equitable arrangements can be made with the government for the transfer of the property.' if the government were not prepared to lay out money for the site, they could let them have the property on a ground-rent, without an outlay being made. it would not cost less than £ , to £ , to enlarge and improve the present post office, and he maintained that that sum would go a great way towards erecting a new post office in baldwin street. they would not always be able to get sites; and they could not always buy sites as they could oranges and nuts (laughter). in america people ran after him and asked him to buy land. not so here. he repeated that they had mr. shaw-lefevre looking favourably upon the new site, and he thought it desirable that they should take a bold step--such a step as indicated in the resolution--and put up a building which not alone should be noble, but commodious (applause). "mr. alderman edwards seconded the resolution. he was glad that the matter had been laid before the postmaster-general. a great deal had been said about the present site being more useful and convenient than the proposed, but he felt that the difference was very small indeed. the sites were within a minute or two of each other. in baldwin street they had a road ft. wide, and if small street were altered, however much, they would not widen it half as much as that. as to the positions of the banks, some of the important ones were nearer baldwin street than the other street. at any rate, the old bank, stuckey's, and the national provincial banks were nearer baldwin street than small street. the speaker then named several large warehouses which were, he urged, closer to the proposed site than small street. at baldwin street they had an acre of ground for the present or future. he would not give the land to the post office authorities, but he suggested that they should be liberal towards them in their offer. if the post office authorities wished to give them the old office in exchange for the site, it might be utilised by the corporation. "mr. c. wills supported the resolution. he would advance one or two reasons why they should make the best terms they could with the postmaster-general. that the present post office was inconveniently small was generally admitted, and he maintained that if the proposed additions were made to the existing building, the extra facilities would not meet the ever-increasing demands on the post office for more than six or eight years. the various departments of the present building were too small for development and carrying on the important work of a post office. personally, he would as soon for the post office to be in one street as the other, but he felt it would redound to the credit of the city to see a fine building erected in baldwin street. if they had the post office there it would enhance the value of the other sites in the thoroughfare. very shortly they would have the sixpenny telegrams, and then the increase in telegraphic communication would be very great indeed, and the present building would soon become inadequate to the demand. then, again, they saw that the present postmaster-general did not intend to give up the parcels post, and the development of this branch of the post office work would be very great indeed. then, again, there would be increased vehicular traffic to the post office; and could this, he asked, be carried out to the comfort of the citizens in small street? the turning point arose from mr. shaw-lefevre visiting the chamber of commerce recently. that gentleman visited the site in baldwin street, and he, no doubt, saw that the site would be better and superior to the one in small street. "mr. pethick said that they had come to a turning point in the history of the city of bristol. the question was whether they should continue the system of compression that they had suffered from for so many years. small street was a narrow thoroughfare; it was only a back lane to broad street. ('oh! oh!') it was called small street and had a carriage way of only ft. ('no, no.') he must repeat that at one point in small street the carriage way was only ft. wide. "mr. daniel protested against mr. pethick saying that small street was the back lane to broad street, and that the carriage road was only ft. (hear, hear). the narrow part of small street would come down when the improvements to the post office took place. "mr. pethick: i state facts--what the street is to-day. "mr. daniel: but is the narrow part you speak of the entrance to small street? "mr. pethick: it is the approach from bristol bridge, _viâ_ the exchange, for mail carriages and other traffic, and all must pass through the narrow part, which is only ft. wide. even if this were taken away, mr. pethick continued, they would still have a narrow space to pass through. the whole would not be , superficial feet; and above all, with so bad an access, they proposed to enlarge the present building. "mr. alderman proctor baker: it is not proposed. "mr. pethick observed that in baldwin street they had a good carriage way, and they would have a front and back entrance to a new building. he hoped no little or narrow parochial spirit would be put forward in this matter. the difference of the distance of the two sites was so small as to be insignificant, and he trusted they would endeavour to get a handsome and commodious building erected on the baldwin street side of the city. "mr. alderman proctor baker said they were indebted to mr. robinson for his interesting details, but he did not think they were details for the council to study, but for the study of the government. the post office was a government undertaking, and carried on for profit by the government, and it was on their shoulders, and theirs alone, to provide proper premises. there were two questions involved in the resolution before them, and if it could be so arranged he should like a separate opinion being taken. one question was the actual position of the future post office--whether it was to be in small street or baldwin street. the other question was whether the council was prepared to sell to the post office the land in baldwin street and receive in exchange the building in small street. as regarded the question of convenience there was very little to be said on either side; but with regard to the other matter he thought they should not agree to exchange the land for the present post office building. if they took over the existing building, it could only he pulled or used for public offices. already they had a population of , persons, and the area of the city was to be extended; and if they believed in the progress of the city they must expect it by-and-by to be the centre of a quarter of a million of people. it would be impossible, as it would be discreditable, for them to attempt to carry on that great municipality in such buildings as they now had. the chamber in which they were assembled was in a bad condition; the air at that moment was as foul as it could be; and if they took over the present post office and applied it for the purposes of the municipality, they would perpetuate the present discomfort, inconvenience, etc., of having divided offices, and postpone for half a century the erection of a large municipal building, in which all their offices would be. as to baldwin street and small street sites, there was much to be said on both sides; but if it was proposed to take in exchange the post office building for their land the council should vote against it (hear, hear). he sincerely trusted they would not take over a building which would keep up the inconvenience they now suffered from (hear, hear). "mr. lane said it seemed to him that they were simply asked the question whether the council were desirous that there should be such a change in the position of the post office. every argument for the change was a thoroughly good one which should weigh with them. selfish considerations and every consideration should be banished (applause), and they should consider it in the interest of the city and in the interest of the development of the trade of the future. the opinion of the postmaster was a great argument in favour of larger premises. "mr. inskip argued that the representatives of the ratepayers were not there to carry out the bidding of the postmaster. it might be wise and proper for him to communicate his views to the department with which he was connected, but it seemed unreasonable to ask members of the council to vote for what he was in favour of. he ventured to suggest that the arrangement proposed by the report would be unlawful, and to enter into the exchange would be an unlawful proceeding. they acquired land in baldwin street under the public health act for carrying out improvements, and he could not see how it could be said that the buildings in small street would be required for the purpose of improvements. before they entered into the exchange they ought to obtain power by act of parliament. if they entered into a speculation of that sort they would be transgressing the law of the land. with regard to the matter of convenience, if they took the outlying districts of the city they would see that the people who lived there went to the post office after the branch offices were closed, and they would see that small street was appreciably more convenient for the outlying population than the baldwin street site could possibly be (applause). then as to the piece of land which would be obtained, the argument of mr. pethick was a strong one to retain it. the guildhall was there, and it had been promised for years that small street should be improved, and that improvement would be accomplished if the government had no. , small street, which would be set back, and they would have done a great deal to redeem the promise made some years ago (applause). "mr. dix said he was very much obliged to mr. robinson for his figures. they all felt that there had been a great growth in the postal arrangements of the country, and that there would be a great growth in the future; and if it had been shown to him that they could not have a good building in small street by having the one there altered by the authorities, and that they could have a proper one in baldwin street, he would say let them go to baldwin street; but it did not come before them in that light. they were anticipating that the postal authorities could not make a proper building in small street; but he could not see how mr. robinson and those who advocated the baldwin street site came to such a conclusion. if they had the buildings in small street, that street would be improved, which had been anticipated for years, and they would have the post office close to the guildhall and that great place of commerce--the commercial rooms (applause). he argued that the city did not want the property in small street--it would be useless to them; and he hoped they would pronounce against it going forth to the postmaster-general that it was the wish of the council to alter the site (applause). "mr. s. g. james said he did not think that they should be saddled with a building that would not be any good to them. he suggested that it should be represented to the government that the building would be a good one for a stamp and excise office, and that it would be convenient to have those offices moved from queen square to the building in small street. he thought that would be a very wise suggestion to make to the government. "mr. daniel said he viewed the proposition to shift the post office as one of the most solemn and weighty that had been considered by the town council for years (hear, hear). by common consent, and by the development of the city trade, where the post office now was the centre of commerce, and they should hesitate very much before they changed it (hear, hear); and the council, being trustees of the property owned by the city, and looking at the extent of that property in the neighbourhood of the post office, and the outlay made on it by the city, he could not understand why they made the suggestion to run away from small street (applause). they had under arbitration paid to the bank £ , for a piece of land, and that was surely not to keep the street as a narrow lane. if the present post office were retained, the authorities would take the houses that would be put in a line with the post office, and two-thirds of small street would be converted into a wide street--and it was only to shave off the water works offices and adjoining building, and then they would have a good wide street (hear, hear). the corporation during the last twenty years had spent in the neighbourhood not less than £ , , and if by establishing the post office in baldwin street they would enhance the value of the adjoining property, so taking it away from the centre of the city would depreciate the property there. it would not be doing justice to the citizens to take it away from small street and remove it to a remote spot like baldwin street. ('oh, oh!' and laughter.) it was a remote spot, and he did not know that a street through which were a tram line and continual cab traffic was the best place for a post office. he believed a quiet street would be the better place. he farther argued that the proper place for the post office was where it was--in the neighbourhood of the assize courts, where the county court was held all the year round, and the assizes and sessions were held, and at the back of the commercial rooms, to which there were upwards of subscribers. "mr. alderman naish said that what weighed with him was that the government had not applied for a better site. he apprehended that mr. shaw-lefevre was perfectly satisfied with the accommodation he could get on the present site. he had seen the draft of the bill promoted by the government for taking possession of a building under the compulsory powers at a fair valuation. someone in bristol wished them to go somewhere else. all mr. shaw-lefevre said was that if the citizens wanted to go elsewhere they must take the old building. the postmaster-general did not suggest the removal, but somebody else did (hear, hear). the postmaster-general knew his business, and he probably considered that the present office could be enlarged so as to provide all the accommodation necessary. they could thus have a good public improvement in the centre of the city, and at the same time provide for the postal requirements. they were simply asked to go to a street in which certain people were interested, which, although a large thoroughfare, had two lines of tramways running through it. he hoped the council would not agree to the proposal. "mr. matthews said if the question was put to them simply, did they require more postal accommodation?--they would unhesitatingly say that they did; but the question of site was a totally different matter. they had not gone into the question whether another site would not be a better one than the baldwin street one. he moved that the question of a site be remitted to a committee, with instructions to report to the council, and that the committee consist of the mayor, aldermen spark, harvey, and naish, and messrs. townsend, c. f. hare, barker, and inskip. "mr. levy considered that the city was indebted to those who suggested the baldwin street site. there could be no two opinions about the matter (cries of 'oh,' and laughter). they had seen an amusing correspondence in the papers about it. he would not do anything to injure the _times and mirror_ for a moment (laughter). in baldwin street a constitutional club had been established, and the _times and mirror_ might consider that institution (laughter). "mr. whitwill thought they should simply confine themselves to an expression of opinion as to the desirability of baldwin street site, for he should be strongly opposed to the exchange (hear, hear). "mr. h. g. gardner said the position in small street was preferable to him, but they ought to sink personal convenience. the chamber of commerce suggested the matter, and he looked on that body as young bristol. "mr. robinson said he only meant that the property should be taken over if an equitable arrangement could be come to. he would drop the last part of his resolution, and it would now read as follows:--'that, considering the want of adequate space in small street for the postal telegram arrangements, it is desirable that a new post office be erected in baldwin street on the site recently viewed by the postmaster-general.' "the motion was then put with the following result:--_for_: aldermen lucas, edwards, jose, spark; messrs. moore, robinson, james, pethick, wills, bartlett, fear, bush, townsend, c. gardner, jefferies, h. g. gardner, low, lane, levy, garton, derham, whitwill, barker-- . _against_: the mayor; aldermen morgan, smith, naish, fox, jones, hathway, harvey, cope-proctor; messrs. terrett, dix, gibson, alsop, francis, bastow, a. baker, c. f. hare, c. b. hare, harvey, c. nash, hall, lockley, daniel, matthews, follwoll, sibly, inskip-- . aldermen proctor baker and george and mr. dole did not vote. "mr. levy asked if the postmaster-general made an offer it would be entertained. "the town clerk said he supposed that any offer from the postmaster-general or anybody else would be considered." the council dropped the matter of removal, and an enlargement of the post office was commenced in on , square feet of ground on which the rectory house of st. mary werburgh formerly stood. the enlargement was completed in . the structure was designed by the surveyor of her majesty's office of works. in making his plan in no doubt the surveyor thought he was building for, at least, fifty years; and so he set back his building to form a square structure, instead of following the line of street as laid down by the city authorities in their act of parliament. the new part of the building had to conform to the city line, and had, therefore, to be built at an angle with the old office, which detracts from the general appearance. the post office building in small street stands on a site , square feet in extent; and now, thirty-one years from the opening of the new office and ten years from its enlargement, further extension is necessary, and the erection of a second or supplementary office larger in dimensions than the present structure is about to be proceeded with. as the work in the post office goes on through the whole day and night, the air in the working rooms became vitiated and over-heated when lighted with gas. in the effectual remedy of abandoning the use of gas and adopting electric light was carried out. the corporation provides the current. the lamps used are arc lamps, of approximately candle-power each, and glow lamps of , , or candle-power. two million gallons of water a year are used to keep the buildings clean. [illustration: the bristol head post office in . _from a photograph by mr. protheroe, wine street, bristol._] as the post office, from its size, if not from its architectural beauty, dominates small street in some measure it may be well here to introduce particulars from an ancient manuscript in the city library, which show that small street has been a street ever since anglo-saxon times. about small street and st. leonard's lane lived some of bristol's greatest merchants. for hundreds of years there was not within the walls of bristol a more fashionable street than small street. many of the mansions there had good gardens. in the reign of charles ii. there were only six houses on the west, or post office, side of the street. amongst the worthies who resided there were the colstons, the creswicks, the kitchens, the seymours, the esterfields, the codringtons, the haymans, the kilkes; john foster, the founder of the almshouse on st. michael's hill; nicholas thorne, one of the founders of our grammar school; and thomas fenn, attorney, who in succeeded to the earldom of westmoreland. it is not indicated whether he was related in any way to william fenn, who was postmaster, - , but it might have been so, for william fenn must have been a person of some note or the appointment would not at his death have been conferred on his widow. in small street, too, more royal and noble visitors have lodged and received hospitality than in any other street in bristol. the earl of bedford and his son were received there in , and robert dudley, earl of leicester, one of queen elizabeth's favourites, and the earl of warwick, in ; the latter lodged at robert kitchen's. in king charles i., with prince charles and the duke of york, lodged there, so did oliver cromwell and his wife in ; and james ii., with george, prince of denmark, and the dukes of grafton, beaufort, and somerset, in . queen catherine was entertained at sir henry creswick's house in , where sir henry, the lord lieutenant of ireland, the good and great duke of ormonde, lodged for several days in . we learn that small street was selected for the reception of these illustrious visitors "by reason of the conveniency of the street for entertaining the nobility." chapter viii. the local post office in early days. sir rowland hill.--recent progress. it is pleasing to look back to the time, little more than one hundred years ago, when bristol was the premier provincial post town. it had long ranked next to london in wealth, in population, and in its post office. bristol has, however, in a postal sense, yielded place to other towns, and now ranks after birmingham, glasgow, liverpool, and manchester. dipping into history, it is found that there was a post office at clifton a hundred years since. at about the time of the battle of waterloo it was situated near saville place, in a small tenement. the post keeper was a knight of the shears, who sat cross-legged at his work on a shop-board in the window, whilst his better-half sold "goodies." the "staff" consisted of this pigeon pair, and the work of carrying the bags to and from bristol, and of delivering the missives, was undertaken by them conjointly. the year was signalised by the extension to bristol of the penny post for local letters, that is, letters for bristol city, its suburbs, and neighbouring villages. that post covered a wide area ranging from thornbury and wotton-under-edge in the north, to temple cloud, chewton-mendip, and oakhill in the south; eastward in the direction of box, and westward to portishead. this institution had until then been established nowhere else but in london and in dublin; but birmingham, edinburgh, and manchester were granted the privilege at the same time as bristol. during the year - the penny post brought a clear gain to the revenue:--in bristol of £ , in manchester of £ , and in birmingham of £ . notwithstanding these gains, the post office authorities concluded that neither at liverpool nor at leeds, nor at any other town in the kingdom, would a penny post defray its own expenses. there is little more on record about local post office details for some years; but we learn that in april, , an evening delivery of post letters was ordered to kingsdown, montpelier, wellington place, and catherine place, stoke's croft, all the year round; and to lawrence hill, west street, gloucester lane, in the parish of st. philip and jacob, from st of march to st of november in each year. a receiving house for letters was established at the corner of west street on may th, ; and also one in harford street, new cut. in december, , the population of bristol was estimated at , persons; and in august, , the number of persons the post office had to serve was , . evans's _new guide; or, pictures of bristol_, published in , furnishes the next record. it stated that "the london mail goes out every afternoon at twenty minutes past , and arrives every day at . in the morning. bath: out every morning at . and . , and at twenty minutes past in the evening; arrives at . morning, and a quarter before and a quarter before in the evening. sodbury, through stapleton, hambrook, winterbourne, and iron acton: goes out at twenty minutes before in the morning; arrives at half-past in the evening. thornbury, through filton, almondsbury, and rudgeway: goes out twenty minutes before in the morning; arrives at half-past in the evening. bitton, through new church, kingswood, hanham, and willsbridge: goes out at . in the morning; arrives at half-past in the evening. exeter and westward: out every morning between . and . ; arrives every evening between . and . . portsmouth, chichester, salisbury, etc.: out at half-past in the afternoon; arrives every day previously to the london mail. tetbury and cirencester: out every morning at half-past ; arrives every evening at . . birmingham and northward: out every evening at . ; arrives every morning between . and . . milford and south wales: out every day at half-past ; arrives at half-past in the afternoon. the irish mail is made up every day, and letters from ireland may be expected to arrive every day at half-past . jamaica and leeward islands, first and third wednesday in the month; lisbon, every week; gibraltar and mediterranean, every three weeks; madeira and brazils, first tuesday in each month; surinam, berbice, and demorara, second wednesday in each month; france and spain, sundays, mondays, wednesdays, and thursdays; holland and hamburgh, mondays and thursdays; guernsey and jersey, sundays, tuesdays, and thursdays. letters for all parts may be put into the post office at any time, but should be delivered half an hour before the mail is made up. letters delivered later than half an hour previous to the departure of the respective mails to be accompanied with one penny. payment of postage will not be received unless tendered full half an hour before the time fixed for closing the bags. letters for axbridge, weston-super-mare, and adjacent places are sent and received by the western mail. letter bags are made up daily, after the sorting of the london mail, for bourton, wrington, langford, churchill, nailsea, clevedon, and their respective deliveries. the letters must be put in by . o'clock. the return to bristol is at . in the afternoon. letters may be put into the receiving offices for all parts of the kingdom, and the full postage, if desired, paid with them. letter carriers are despatched regularly every day (sundays not excepted) with letters to and from durdham down, westbury, stapleton, frenchay, downend, hambrook, and winterbourne; and also to brislington, keynsham, and other places. the delivery of letters at clifton is each day at . and . . letters should be in the offices at clifton and the wells for the london and the north mails by . ." it may be interesting to state, what the rates of postage from this city were in . thus: australia, d.; buenos ayres, s. d.; canary islands, s. d.; cape de verde islands, s. d.; chili, s. d.; china, d.; colombo, s.; cuba, s.; east indies, d.; havana, s.; st. helena, d.; south america, s. d.; van dieman's land, d.; whilst for the continent the rates were considerably higher, thus: austria, s. d.; belgium, s. d.; corsica, s. d.; denmark, s. d.; flanders, s. d.; france--calais, s. d.; germany, s. d.; gibraltar, s. d.; holland, s. d.; italy, s. d.; malta, s. d.; poland, s. d.; prussia, s. d.; russia, s. d.; spain, s. d.; turkey, s. d. at that period the inland rates were very high, and the cost was regulated thus: from any post office in england or wales, to any place not exceeding miles from such office, d.; above to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d.; to miles, d. and one penny in addition on each letter for every miles beyond . thus a letter from bristol to cirencester cost d.; cheltenham, d.; banbury, d.; leeds, d.; hull; d., and so on. now a letter four ounces in weight can be sent from one end of the land to the other for a penny, and a parcel one pound in weight for threepence. the bristol ex-postal superintendent, mr. h. t. carter, carrying his mind back over his forty years of diligent and zealous service, recalls the time when the mails for the not far-distant village of shirehampton were conveyed in a cart drawn by a dog, the property of rural postman ham. the cart was not large, but of sufficient size to carry postman and mail bags. the dog, of newfoundland breed, got over the ground at a rapid pace. ham was addicted to drink, but nevertheless, whether he was drunk or sober, asleep or awake, in stormy or fine weather, the dog took him and the mails to their proper destination. a venerable man now living at earthcott green, a hamlet within ten miles of our great city, well recollects the time when he received his letters through iron acton, at a special cost to him of d. each, with a delivery only every other day. the plan was for an additional penny to be charged on all letters sent out by rural posts for delivery, and in addition to this penny an extra charge was levied on all letters delivered from sub-post offices to bye houses or places beyond the several village deliveries. in some cases recognised men or women attended at the head office, bristol, once or twice a week to take out letters for delivery in the remote country regions--of course for a "consideration." the bristol district shared in the representations in of the hardships borne by poor people in respect of the heavy charges for the conveyance of letters. the postmaster at congresbury deposed thus:--"the price of a letter is a great tax on poor people. i sent one, charged eightpence, to a poor labouring man about a week ago; it came from his daughter. he first refused it, saying it would take a loaf of bread from his other children; but, after hesitating a little time, he paid the money, and opened the letter. i seldom return letters of this kind to bristol, because i let the poor people have them, and take the chance of being paid; sometimes i lose the postage, but generally the poor people pay me by degrees." then the postmaster of yatton stated as follows:--"i have had a letter waiting lately for a poor woman, from her husband who is at work in wales; the charge was d.,--it lay many days, in consequence of her not being able to pay the postage. i at last trusted her with it." of the desire of the poor to correspond, a mr. emery gave evidence, stating "that the poor near bristol have signed a petition to parliament for the reduction of the postage. he never saw greater enthusiasm in any public thing that was ever got up in the shape of a petition; they seemed all to enter into the thing as fully and with as much feeling as it was possible, as a boon or godsend to them, that they should be able to correspond with their distant friends." uniform penny postage came in . the bristol citizens, of course, found it no cheaper than before to send a single letter to places in their own neighbourhood, but a light enclosure could be put in without extra charge, though the weight had to be brought down from four ounces to half an ounce. it may not be out of place to mention in these pages that one of the penny postage stamps of the very earliest issue after the penny postage system came into operation in was made use of for the prepayment of a letter sent by his grace the duke of wellington to h. nuttall tomlins, esq., of the hotwells, bristol. it was sent six days before stamps and stamped covers were first used by the general public, the duke, as prime minister, having no doubt been supplied in advance with stamps, one of which he attached to his letter, to give a surprise to his friend nuttall tomlins. the envelope, with the stamp still upon it, is now in the possession of a well-known philatelist in london. the allusion to the "penny post" naturally calls to mind its originator. on the hill slope of the still pleasant rural village of stapleton, four miles from bristol post office,--once a roman settlement, and in later days the head-quarters of oliver cromwell during the siege of bristol,--the great postal reformer, sir rowland hill, frequently spent some of his leisure time with his brother, the late recorder of bristol, mr. matthew davenport hill. there is in the bristol postal service at the present time a mail officer who recalls that, in his very young days, it was his mission to set out from heath house to fetch the morning letters for sir rowland from the stapleton post office. he tells how he had to ride the old pony at a rapid rate, as, even in those days, sir rowland's time was valuable, and if his letters were late he had to curtail his "constitutional," which usually consisted of a three-mile sharp walk, with cap in hand instead of on head, over purdown, past stoke house, returning through frenchay. in december, , sir rowland hill, in connection with the national testimonial to him as the author of penny postage, recorded the circumstance that he had received a letter from mr. estlin, an eminent surgeon of bristol, giving an account of proceedings in that important city anterior to any movement in london. sir rowland believed it was in bristol, and from mr. estlin, that the testimonial had its origin. the sum presented from bristol to the national collection amounted to about £ . the celebration of the jubilee of penny postage in took the practical turn in one respect of increasing the rowland hill benevolent fund. bristol contributed its quota of £ s. d., made up in great measure of public subscriptions. when the grand celebration took place on july nd, at the south kensington museum, with the duke and duchess of edinburgh present at the conversazione, bristol took its part, and immediately after a signal from south kensington was received over the telegraph wire at o'clock three hearty cheers for her majesty were given, the postmaster leading. the post office band then struck up the national anthem, and cheers for the queen were at once taken up by a body of about postmen who had assembled in the post office yard. as in the state of things at the provincial offices generally was not regarded as satisfactory, sir rowland hill, in accordance with the wish of the postmaster-general, visited bristol on april st in that year. he found that the first delivery of the day, by far the most important of all, was not completed until o'clock; the letter-carriers, as he was informed, often staying after departure from the office to take their breakfast before commencing their rounds. he was able to show how at a small cost (only £ a year) it might be completed by . . the office itself he found small, badly lighted, and ill ventilated. the day mail bag to london was nearly useless, its contents for london delivery being on the morning of his inquiry only sixty-four letters, thirty-seven of which might have been sent by the previous mail on the mere payment of the extra penny. his impression regarding this mail, both in and out of the office, agreed exactly with his evidence in ; viz., that all day mails, to be efficient for their purpose, should start as late as was consistent with their reaching london in time for their letters to be forwarded by the outgoing evening mails. the satisfaction sir rowland felt in such improvements as he had been able to make on the spot was much enhanced by his receiving at the termination of his visit the thanks of both clerks and letter-carriers for the new arrangements. it should be said that sir rowland hill did not by his action cast any reflection upon mr. todd walton, junior, as he was at pains to say that, regarded as a specimen of the administration of provincial post offices at the time the bristol specimen was by no means an unfavourable one. at that time there were only about , letters, etc., delivered in a week. the bristol chamber of commerce took no notice of the post office for nearly twenty years ( - ), but in the latter year it did so, for its records of the annual meeting of st january, , with john salmon, president, in the chair, shew the following, viz.:-- "the post office questions of salaries, internal arrangements, and local inquiry, are still in the same position as they were six months ago, except that, after repeated further applications to the postmaster-general, your committee extracted, on the th december last, a renewed promise from his lordship that 'no time should be lost in making the enquiry at the bristol post office.' as the inefficiency of the public service arises from the unjust treatment of the employés and defective internal arrangements of the local office, your committee cannot desist, notwithstanding the tedious and disagreeable nature of the task which they have undertaken, from insisting on these repeated promises being redeemed." then, under the same presidency, at the next half-yearly meeting in the same year, it was stated that "subsequent to the date of the last report, your committee discovered that the postmaster-general had caused a private local enquiry to be made with respect to the classification and salaries of the officers of the bristol post office." there was this further remonstrance:-- ".... it would have been more satisfactory to your committee if the postmaster-general had fulfilled his promise to the deputation who waited upon him on the th of january, , to hold a local enquiry at which they should be present, as there were several other matters connected with the internal arrangements of the bristol post office (particularly the money order department, which is still very defective) with respect to which they were desirous of making some suggestions." then followed a copy of the report made to the postmaster-general by mr. tilley, who conducted the enquiry, also a statement of the proposed establishment. at the chamber's next annual meeting on th january, , with james hassell, the president, in the chair, the post office is again reproved thus:-- "no further reply than the official printed acknowledgment and promise of attention has yet reached your committee respecting the memorial on the subject of the welsh mail, the west india mails, etc.; but past experience and general repute do not lead them to anticipate prompt redress from the post office authorities. it required repeated applications, extending over a period of about eighteen months, to obtain a remedy for the grievances set forth in our former memorial; and even now the money order department is not completed, and probably similar perseverance will again be required, as it is now more than a month ago the memorial relating to the west india mail was presented." it was thought worthy of note in the _bristol mirror_ of november th, , that " letters were brought yesterday from clifton for the general post." in demonstration of the strides which the post office has made, it may be mentioned that in the "fifties," in addition to the post office at clifton, the only offices were the branches at haberfield crescent and phippen street, with four collections a day, and the receiving houses at ashley road, bedminster, hotwells, and redland, with three collections a day. the city only boasted at that time of pillar letter boxes at arley chapel, armoury square, bedminster bridge, bristol bridge, castle street, christmas steps, college green, freemantle square, kingsdown, milk street, railway station, st. philip's police station, kingsland road, whiteladies road, and woodwell crescent, with three collections daily. now there are post offices in the district. on the gloucestershire side there are , at of which telegraph business is carried on; and on the somersetshire side , of which are telegraph offices. in addition telegraph business is carried on for the postmaster-general at five railway stations on the gloucestershire side and five on the somersetshire side. licenses to sell postage stamps are held by over a hundred shopkeepers. there are now pillar and wall letter boxes provided for public convenience. it may be mentioned in passing that during the strike amongst the deal-runners in bristol, when men were brought from other towns and housed and fed at "huntersholm" (a large wooden building erected specially in one of the timber yards), and allowed out under police supervision, a stamp license was applied for and granted, to meet a large demand for postage stamps which these men made in consequence of having to send their wages home weekly to their families. in detail, but without complication by mention of the names of all the districts, the local improvements for the seven years from march, , to february, , inclusive, were as follows:--new post offices established, ; telegraph offices opened, ; money order and savings bank business extended to offices; postal orders sold at additional offices; new pillar and wall boxes erected, ; new or additional day mails from districts; and out to districts; new extra deliveries established in districts, and two extra deliveries in districts. free delivery extended in rural districts, and the ordinary second or third delivery extended in rural districts; morning delivery accelerated in , and the day delivery in , rural districts. a later posting for north mail in , and for the night mail in , rural districts. new collections established in , and a later collection in , rural districts. increased facilities in the postal world are almost invariably followed by augmentation of business. it certainly has been so in the bristol district, for there has been a marvellous development in the last seven years. the letters delivered have increased by per cent., and those posted have grown at the rate of per cent. parcels have increased by per cent. there has been a similar marked increase in all branches of business. the three preceding periods of seven years were comparatively "lean" periods, for the increase in the number of letters during the whole twenty-one years was actually less than during the seven last years. the increase is altogether out of proportion to the growth of population, and it is far in excess of the general increase of letter correspondence throughout the country generally, which has been only at the rate of per cent. during the period as against bristol's per cent. it is hoped that this may be taken as a sure indication of the well-being of the trade of bristol, and as a sign that there is quickened life in the commerce of the good old city. at all events, it shows that the local post office organization is quite abreast of the times, and that the facilities afforded are appreciated and are fully taken advantage of. chapter ix. bristol as a mail steamer station for ireland, west indies, america, and canada. from the archives of the bristol chamber of commerce it transpires that from the very first constitution of the chamber in , it had before it a scheme for the conveyance of mails between this port and the south of ireland by direct steam packet. it was considered that such a service would be highly advantageous to the city, and correspondence on the subject from time to time took place with the post office department. allusion is made to it in the chamber's annual report in january, ; again in , when the president of the chamber, mr. joseph cookson, had a conference with the leading officer of the post office; and once more in . the case is so fully and ably set forth in the board's annual report of the th january, , that its reproduction _in extenso_ cannot fail to be of deep interest to the citizens of the present day as their attention is often drawn to the steamship traffic. it ran thus:-- "the transmission of the mails direct from bristol was earnestly pressed upon the attention of the postmaster-general in the year , on which occasion the chamber minutely investigated the practicability, safety, and general advantages of the measure, the material points of which were embodied in a memorial, accompanied by a list of queries and replies. the civic corporation, the society of merchant venturers, and the bristol dock company each presented similar memorials. "in resuming the enquiry, the board have resorted to the channels best calculated to convey accurate information. the managing proprietor of the steam packet establishments at this port, captain dungey, an individual on whose experience and judgment reliance may be placed, and other persons of practical knowledge, have been consulted on the subject. all concur in establishing the fact that the voyage to and from dunmore may, with general certainty, be accomplished by efficient steamboats in from to hours during the eight summer months, and in from to hours in the four months of winter; that the instances of exceeding this scale would not be more frequent than at the present station, the navigation of the bristol channel being protected by the coast on either side, and consequently less influenced by severe weather than the irish sea. "the earlier arrival of the london mail and its later departure, as altered some time since, accords materially with the proposition for making bristol a packet station. by the present regulations, the london mail arrives in bristol at five minutes past in the morning; and leaves at half-past in the evening; it is capable of being still further accelerated by taking the two last stages in the direct line through marshfield, instead of passing through bath. according to the present arrangements, the irish mails may with ease and convenience to passengers be despatched from the mouth of the bristol river, five miles from the post office, every day at half-past , and those from ireland, if arriving by . , be forwarded to london the same evening. the time saved by this route as compared with that of milford would be, at least during the summer months, equal to one whole day for the purposes of business, since the arrival at dunmore would be in the morning instead of evening, and the departure at noon instead of at an early hour of the morning as at present. "the present slips at lamplighter's hall and broad pill now serve for landing passengers from the packets on special occasions; with very trifling expense they may be made efficient for passengers, and not more objectionable than the present accommodation for crossing the estuary of the severn--carriages, horses, baggage, and heavy goods might at an earlier hour be put on board at the bristol docks, which the boat would leave at the height of tide in order to be in waiting for the mails at the place appointed for receiving them. at lamplighter's hall an hotel is established, which, with the contiguity to the city, would ensure to the public a supply of all the accommodation a packet station would require. these are the facilities which can at present be afforded. at no very distant date the accommodation will, in all probability, be yet further increased, first, by the erection of a pier with hotel and establishment at portishead on the somersetshire side of the avon, which the corporation of the city have for some time had under consideration with a view to promote the convenience of passengers by the steam vessels and thus encourage the intercourse between this city and the south of ireland. in aid of the present enquiry they have directed a survey and report by mr. milne, the engineer, on the practicability and probable cost of the proposed pier. secondly, and arising also from this scheme, is a plan for erecting a bridge across the avon, by the application in part of a fund amounting to nearly £ , , held by the society of merchant venturers in trust under the will of william vick, deceased, for the especial purpose; with the formation of an improved line of road by mr. gordon, mr. miles, and other landed proprietors on that side of the river, for the short distance to portishead. these several improvements the respective parties interested are disposed to effect, and which any impelling motive, such as the establishment of a regular mail packet station, may induce them immediately to undertake. the accomplishment of these works would render portishead a most eligible station. it is protected from weather, is a safe anchorage, would have ample depth of water at any state of the tide, the landing would be instant on arrival, and it would be supplied with every convenience and accommodation for passengers. "the board believe an important saving of expense to government would result from establishing bristol as a mail packet station. the great deficiency on the milford station in the receipts as compared with the expenditure arises from the very limited number of persons who avail themselves of that line of communication. the land journey of twenty hours at a fare of £ s., followed by a twelve hours' voyage by open sea at a further expense of £ s., with the inconvenience frequently sustained in crossing the estuary of the severn, deters people from taking the milford route by choice. the general introduction of steam packets, the degree of perfection in sailing to which they have been brought, the regularity and safety with which the voyages are performed, the accommodation to passengers, and the moderate scale of fares, have contributed to effect of late years a material change in the general opinion on steamboat conveyance. the long voyage by sea is now generally preferred to a long journey by land and the shorter one by sea. the number and efficiency of the bristol boats, and the economy in the fares, induce a large proportion of travellers to take the direct course from bristol. indeed, to so great an extent has this preference operated that the contractors for conveying the mail throughout the whole line from bristol to milford are understood to have given notice of their intention to determine their engagement, on account of the gradual decrease in the number of passengers and the consequent loss they incur. a similar statement appears in the report of the postmaster-general on the memorial of the innkeepers on the holyhead route. "in favour of bristol it may be fairly stated that, at a comparatively trifling expense, the port may be made commodious for a packet station; that the present strength of the establishment at milford would serve, with some addition, for that of bristol; that the difference in price of coal at portishead would reduce the expense of sailing the packets from that station; that bristol affords every prospect of increase of receipt, whilst at milford it must, for the reasons before stated, necessarily decrease; that the demands of a large commercial city, with its populous adjoining and connected districts, will create a traffic for boats making quick and regular voyages, which milford, from its position, never can acquire--the conveyance of fish and provisions alone could be made to yield a revenue of consequence. numerous other sources of receipt would arise from the conveniency of its regularity and expedition. indeed, so much are the board impressed with the belief that the traffic would be extensive and productive that they venture to anticipate it may, at no very distant period, relieve the government from any further charge than a comparatively nominal sum for the transport of the mails. the board are induced also to put the proposition in a national point of view. they feel that the more closely ireland can be brought into direct and active communication with this country, the more rapid will be its course of improvement. the introduction of steam navigation has, at this port, given an energy and extension to the irish trade that far exceeds any previous expectations; each succeeding month brings a vast increase of import and a corresponding export, to the material benefit of each kingdom, and the more complete the intercourse can be established the more important will the trade become. "the port of bristol, from its position, possesses numerous capabilities for a mail packet station. its contiguity and means of land and water communication with the capital; its being the principal shipping port for the manufacturing districts of the south-west part of the kingdom; its close connection and water communication with birmingham, worcester, and other large towns in the centre of the kingdom; the convenience of its floating harbour; the reduced scale of its local tolls--all these circumstances combine to give bristol a superiority over other places on the coast, whether the subject he viewed as regards the economy of the post office department or the accommodation of the public. "the board have placed the subject of the commissioners' enquiry in the several points of view which appear to them fairly to arise upon the investigation and consideration it has received, and they shall feel sincere gratification if, on this or any future occasion, they should in the least degree prove of assistance to a department of government, or should otherwise by their exertions conduce to the advancement of the public interests. "thomas stock, president. july th, ." a strong memorial (under the hand of thomas cookson, president) was forwarded to the postmaster-general. francis freeling, secretary, in his reply for the postmaster-general, refused to admit that the port of bristol did afford the requisite facilities for a station for his majesty's packets. when the projected works were carried out the matter would be reconsidered by the government. replying further, mr. freeling, on the nd march, alluded to the impossibility of despatching the mails at a fixed time every day in the year, and said that that presented insurmountable objections to the choice of bristol as a station for his majesty's packets. he said that the first requisite for a packet station was that the port should afford the means for embarking and landing the mails at all times of tide and under all circumstances of weather. the bristol dock directors and a standing committee of the society of merchants considered the matter, but did not see their way to press it under the chilling response received from the postmaster-general. the board did not give up the case, for in the annual report th january, , it was stated that the proposition for establishing at this port a mail packet station by steam vessels to the south of ireland was being diligently pursued, and that the house of commons having appointed a committee to enquire into the communications between england and ireland, a favourable opportunity was presented of again urging the advantages bristol port was calculated to afford. the numerous appeals, representations, and enquiries did not result in the manner desired, and to this day the mails from the south of ireland for bristol and its district follow the same route _viâ_ waterford and milford haven, the only difference being that from the latter port to bristol the service is carried on by rail instead of by road. bristol became a mail packet station eventually, as steamships carried the american mails between this port and new york for several years, commencing in , the year of her most gracious majesty's accession to the throne. the _great western_, constructed under the direction of brunel, the famous engineer of the great western railway, was chiefly used in the service. [illustration: the "great western." the first steamer which carried mails from bristol to new york.] on the st may, , writing from trinity street, bristol, mr. claxton, managing director to the _great western_--which was then, nearly due,--asked the bristol postmaster whether a consignee at new york might charge the foreign postage on letters to parts on the continent with which no arrangement, similar to that then existing between france and england, had been made. the idea was that such letters might be put into a separate bag, and the foreign postage from bristol be handed over to the local post office. he wrote that notice had been given by the chamber of commerce of liverpool that masters of ships need not send anything but letters to the post office on arrival. mr. todd walton replied on the next day to the effect that the agent should only direct letters to mr. claxton's care to forward from such persons as he could refer to in case of errors. then followed a long communication from mr. walton to colonel maberly, secretary to the post office, the gist of which was that a difficulty existed in preventing illegal conveyance of ship letters; that the commanders of vessels did not receive money with letters to any great extent; that the public prints stated that , letters were received on board the _great western_ besides those sent from the post office; that an immense number of letters was collected at the great western office; and that as the _great western_ and _syrius_ were regularly established, and other vessels of the same description were preparing, unless some means were taken to protect the revenue, it could not fail to suffer very considerably. the _great western_ brought to england , post letters and , post papers, which, had that conveyance not been offered, would most likely have been sent by private ships. mr. walton conceived it would be very advantageous to the revenue to contract with those superior vessels to carry mails, so as to render the latter chargeable with package rates; and he submitted that ship letter mails should be made up at bristol, the same as at london and liverpool, for all vessels leaving this port. about , ship letters were brought to the bristol post office annually, and he had no doubt that vast numbers were carried from bristol in the same manner; but with the exception of those by the _great western_, no mails had ever been made up here for foreign countries. the secretary, replying for the postmaster-general, said it did not appear to lord lichfield that cognizance need be taken of the suggestion conveyed in mr. claxton's letter of the st may, for the transmission through this country of letters from the united states addressed to those foreign countries upon which the postage must be paid here before they can be forwarded to their destination. the post office could have no objection to such letters being addressed to the care of mr. claxton or any other agent in this country who would pay the foreign postage and send them on to their destinations. the letters in question, would, of course, be subject, so far as the post office was concerned, to the ship letter rate to bristol, and when re-posted, to the inland and foreign rates forward. the postmaster's proposition for making up mails to be forwarded by the steam vessels charged with packet rates of postage was out of the question; but with regard to making up ship letter bags for foreign countries, so strangely neglected at this great port, the postmaster was to embrace every opportunity in his power of despatching ship letter bags by sailing as well as by steam vessels. there is no official record, however, of any such ship letter mails having been forwarded from bristol. in the year a royal commission was appointed to enquire into the question of the most suitable port for the embarkation and debarkation of the west indian mails. the committee consisted of mr. freshfield, lord dalmeny, lord viscount ingestre, captain pechell, captain duncombe, mr. chas. wood, sir thomas cochrane, mr. john o'connell, mr. cresswell, lord worsley, mr. gibson craig, mr. de horsey, mr. oswold, mr. richard hodgson, and mr. philip miles, who was prominent as representing bristol. much evidence was given in favour of the ports of bristol, dartmouth, devonport, falmouth, plymouth, portsmouth, and southampton respectively. the case of bristol was strongly supported by lieut. j. hosken, r.n., commander of the _great western_ screw steamer from bristol to new york, and lieut. c. claxton, r.n., the bristol harbour master. the principal reasons put forward in favour of our old port were: that the bristol channel was navigable at all states of the tide and in all weathers; that there was good anchorage in the kingroad; and that although bristol was not quite so near to barbadoes, the first island of call, as some of her rival ports, yet it admitted of quicker transmission of mails between london and the northern towns than any other english port. the arguments in favour of the bristol port were not strong enough to induce the committee to report in its favour. from the "forties," when the american mail service was withdrawn from bristol, no foreign or colonial mails left the port until the autumn of , when mr. alfred jones, the enterprising managing director of the firm of messrs. elder, dempster & co., made arrangements for carrying private ship mails from avonmouth to montreal by a weekly service of steamers. the bristol merchants found it convenient to make use of this ship mail system for the conveyance of their invoices, bills of lading, and advices, as, by travelling in the same ship as the goods which they related to, their delivery in time to be of use in connection with the ship's load was ensured. the first vessel to carry such a ship mail was the s.s. _montcalm_. when it was in anticipation at the bristol post office that the ship mail service might be resumed in on the breaking up of the ice in the gulf of st. lawrence, there came a cablegram from the canadian government intimating that a contract had been entered into with messrs. elder, dempster and co.; and, heigh presto! avonmouth at once became the port of departure and arrival of the steamers carrying the direct canadian mails. the suddenness of the event naturally created quite a stir after bristol had been so long waiting, and the mail services outwards and inwards were watched with close attention by the public. the first steamer to run under the new contract was the s.s. _monterey_. she left avonmouth on the rd july, but time had not admitted of arrangements being made for her to carry the mails from avonmouth, which were therefore picked up at queenstown. the s.s. _ikbal_ took the next trip, leaving avonmouth on the th july. the parcels from the whole of the kingdom, including ireland, were circulated on bristol, and made up here in direct mails for montreal, quebec, hamilton, kingston, toronto, winnipeg, prince edward island, hawaii, st. pierre and miquelon, nova scotia, british columbia, kobe, nagasaki, and yokohama. the notice to the bristol post office was very short, but the necessary arrangements were smartly made to meet the emergency. mr. kislingbury, the divisional superintendent of the great western railway, ever ready to heartily co-operate with the local post office, had a special tender placed in readiness for the reception of the mails at temple meads and they were despatched by the . a.m. train to avonmouth. on the part of the dock authorities, the general manager, mr. f. b. girdlestone, had provided an engine to take the brake-vans containing the parcel mails direct from the docks junction to the pier head. the system was fully tried, for the mails had to be taken from the train to the steam-tug _sea prince_ to be conveyed to the steamer, which was moored in kingroad, having arrived too late to enter the dock. the mails weighed close upon three tons, and were contained in fifty-five large hampers. in the following week the s.s. _arawa_ (a sixteen-knot boat, feet long) carried the mails, which were taken by train alongside the ship in dock; and which consequently, although five tons in weight, were put on board under much more favourable circumstances than in the preceding week, when the steamer had to lie out in the kingroad. it is noteworthy that the _arawa_ took out emigrants. [illustration: r.m.s. "monterey." first liner in the new canadian mail service. _from a photograph by g. m. roche, esq., dublin._] subsequent steamers used for carrying on the mail service were the _montfort_, _monteagle_, and _montrose_. the arrangements for the new service worked very smoothly from the outset, thanks in no small measure to mr. flinn, the local general manager for messrs. elder, dempster & co., who facilitated in every way the post office and customs operations. the trial so far has proved that the use of avonmouth as a port for the canadian mail traffic is attended with advantages on this side of the ocean, but greater facilities for embarking and disembarking the mails at avonmouth are absolutely necessary. chapter x. postal service staff; its composition, duties, responsibilities.--volume of work. in the bristol post office staff consisted of a postmaster and fifteen clerks, with sixty-four letter carriers. over , people of all grades, including sub-postmasters and their assistants, are now employed; and the annual bill for salaries, wages, and allowances of men, women, and boys amounts to little short of £ , . it will thus be seen that the post office ranks as one of the largest employers of labour in the western city. the head office is centrally situated both for the receipt and despatch of the letter correspondence. it is not very far from a point known as "tramway centre," upon which the tram services of the city converge. it plays an important part with regard to the bristol postal system, as out of a total of , letters posted weekly in the city delivery area--exclusive of , clifton posted letters-- , letters are posted at the head office itself, and the total posted within a radius of a mile is , , or more than three-fourths of the whole. in addition to the , letters posted weekly in bristol city and clifton, there are , letters posted in the suburban and rural districts. the posting every sunday consists of , letters. the greater extent to which the well-to-do classes in bristol use the post than their less fortunate brethren may be gathered from the fact that the average yield of letters, newspapers, etc., per day per box in the clifton district is per cent. higher than in redland and cotham, and per cent. higher than in redcliffe; and in the redland and cotham district per cent. higher than in redcliffe. the mails are chiefly conveyed between the head office and the principal railway station by horsed carts. about , , "forward" letters--that is, letters neither posted nor delivered locally, but passing through the bristol post office--are dealt with annually. the parcel post, started in , has done well in bristol. nearly three-quarters of a million of parcels are posted in the district annually. the greater part of the parcel despatching duties is performed at a separate parcel office on the temple meads railway station premises. people often avail themselves of the parcel post for obtaining a regular weekly supply of produce. a joint of beef from scotland, weighing just under eleven pounds, invariably reaches bristol at the week end, and a package of butter from dublin is observed every friday in the bristol parcel depôt on its way to weston-super-mare. the london mail is, naturally, the most important mail which leaves bristol. in the course of the day fifty-five mail bags are forwarded, containing about , letters; the trains used being those leaving at . a.m., . a.m., . a.m., . a.m., . p.m., . p.m., . p.m., . p.m., . p.m., . p.m., and . a.m. so numerous are the london and "london forward" letters in the evening, that three clerks are engaged from . p.m. to midnight in sorting them. in the opposite direction fifty mail bags are received from london daily, containing about , letters. birmingham comes next in the importance of exchange, thus: twelve mail bags go out daily, containing , letters, and ten bags come in, with , letters. the neighbouring city of bath figures next, with ten outward mail bags daily, containing , letters, and ten inward bags, containing , letters. the same three cities also stand in the forefront in respect of the import and export of parcels, parcels being received from london and parcels sent thereto daily. birmingham sends parcels and takes a like number; whilst bath sends and takes in return parcels daily. the members of the permanent staff have fallen on better days than their predecessors of old times. they are granted holidays varying in periods according to rank, from the twelve working days allowed to the telegraph messengers to the month enjoyed by the superintending officers. medical attendance is afforded gratuitously, and full pay is, as a rule, given during sick absence, and under special circumstances sick leave on full pay is allowed for six months, and a further six months on half-pay. after that time, if there appears to be little or no chance of recovery, a pension or gratuity is given. the appointment of medical officer to the post office was in conferred upon mr. f. poole lansdown, who has held the post ever since. for the last four years the average sick absence per year has been ten days for males and seventeen days for females per head; and during the last seven years the average mortality amongst the established officers of the service has been two per annum. uniform and boots are provided by the department for the postmen and telegraph messengers, at an annual cost of about £ , . good-conduct stripes are the reward to all full-time postmen, established or unestablished, of unblemished conduct. a stripe is awarded after each five years' meritorious service, and each man is eligible for six stripes, each of which carry one shilling a week extra pay. the value of the stripes is taken into account in calculation of pensions. of the , persons of all grades alluded to there are in the postal department a superintendent, superintending officers, and male and female clerks. the selection of candidates for situations in the bristol post office as sorting clerks and telegraphists, both male and female, was for many years vested entirely in the postmaster, and persons were given temporary employment without passing any educational test as to their special fitness for post office employment. it so happened that not infrequently a clerk would be employed in a temporary capacity for some years, and finally be rejected by the civil service commissioners on educational or medical grounds. in , however, a special preliminary educational examination was instituted. all candidates of respectable parentage, of good health and character, were allowed to sit at this examination, the successful ones being taken into the office and trained for appointment to the establishment. the civil service examination had, of course, to be undergone before an appointment could be obtained. in a new system was introduced, whereby a civil service certificate had to be obtained before a person was taken into the office. this obviated the necessity of holding the preliminary educational examination, but the postmaster still exercised the privilege of nominating candidates to the situations. the open competitive system of examination was commenced last year, and the appointments are now open to general competition. there is a term of probation in the post office, and details of the duties devolving on postal clerks may not be without interest to the bristol public. the business, with its multitudinous ramifications, takes a long time to learn thoroughly. to become a perfect all-round postal clerk a man must possess intelligence, must be cool, fertile in expedient, have a retentive memory, and withal be quick and active. he must know how to primarily sort, sub-divide, and despatch letters. he must have a good knowledge of post office circulation and be able to bear in mind the names of the smallest places--hamlets, etc.--in the kingdom, the varying circulations for different periods of the day, and the rates of postage of all articles sent through the post. be must be able to detect the short-paid letter, and to deal with the ordinary letter, the large letter, the unpaid, the registered, the foreign, the "dead," insufficiently addressed, the official, the fragile, the insured, the postcard (single and reply), the letter card, the newspaper, the book-packet, and the circular (the definition of which is very difficult). he is responsible for the correct sortation of every letter that he deals with, and he has to be expert in tying letters in bundles. he has to cast the unpaid postage and enter the correct account on the letter bill; take charge of registered letter bags and loose registered letters, and advise them on the letter bill; see to the correct labelling, tying, and sealing of the mail bags he makes up; check the despatch of mails on the bag list; dispose of his letters by a given time, the hours of the despatch of mails being fixed. in consequence, he often has to work under great pressure in order to finish in time. the postal clerk has to surcharge unpaid and insufficiently prepaid correspondence; to see that all postage stamps are carefully obliterated, that the rules of the different posts are not infringed; to attend to the regulations relating to official correspondence. he has to decipher imperfectly and insufficiently addressed correspondence, search official and other directories to trace proper addresses. in addition to all this he has in turn to serve at the public counter, and there attend to money order, savings bank, postal order, and other items of business of the kind. as an illustration of the perspicacity of officers of the post office in the western division of the kingdom and of the postmen of bristol, may be cited the circulation through the post and prompt and safe delivery of a letter from plymouth bearing as its only address the magic letters "w. g.," with cricket hat, stumps, and ball, so dear to the individual who bears the initials. delay in delivery of articles sent by post, however, not infrequently takes place in consequence of misdirection. a parcel was addressed to a reverend gentleman at "publow church, near bristol," and as it could not be presented at the fine old structure itself, the postman took it to the adjoining vicarage, where, in the absence of the vicar, it was taken in by a servant upon the inference that it might be intended for some future visitor. it turned out, however, that the address was inaccurate, and that the parcel was actually intended for a village some miles from bristol, on the other side, having for its name pucklechurch. occasionally there is very slow transmission in these speedy days. a rather remarkable case occurred here of a postcard having occupied nearly eight years in travelling between horfield barracks and the premises of a firm in stokes croft,--a distance of less than two miles. the missive was posted and stamped on the th july, , and trace of it was lost until it turned up at bournemouth and received the impression of the stamp of that office in april, , whence it was sent to bristol and delivered. there were no other marks to indicate its long detention. not infrequently the post office has to contend with difficulties arising from want of thought on the part of the trading community. recently there was a somewhat unusual occurrence at the bristol post office. a sack containing samples of biscuits in small tin boxes was received. around the tins flimsy paper was tied, on which the addresses were written. the paper had become so frayed in transit that scarcely a single wrapper was complete, and when the tins were turned out of the sack there were showers of small pieces of paper like a snowstorm. in order that the samples might reach their destinations, the addresses were, as far as practicable, re-copied, and the samples sent out. nearly every one of the packets received was then sent out for delivery without delay, no doubt to the astonishment of those who received the biscuits in envelopes from the returned letter office. in the sorting office all through the twenty-four hours there is work going on. as one batch of officials goes off duty another comes on, and these relays never cease--not even on sundays, christmas days, or bank holidays. the sorting office is at its busiest from . to . in the evening, and from . p.m. till midnight. then postmen enter hastily, one after another, with bags from the branch offices and pillar-boxes, which are immediately taken charge of, opened, and the contents shot out. the postmen rapidly arrange the small letters face upwards, pack them in "trays" of , pass them over to the stamping department; the stampers obliterate her majesty's head, and record the hour, date, and place of departure, with one and the same stroke of the stamp, at the rate of a hundred a minute. the stamped letters are placed on sorting tables, where the first division takes place. those for bristol and neighbourhood are assigned to a compartment for further sortation, and the outward correspondence is sorted out into the different "roads" by which it will travel. letters for small places are sent to the mail trains, where they are sorted to their respective stations as the locomotive is whirling them along at the rate of fifty miles an hour. many of the larger towns, such as birmingham, manchester, liverpool, leeds, exeter, plymouth, reading, bath and swindon, have their own bags made up at bristol. newspapers, packages, and book packets are sorted separately, and subsequently put into their respective bags. by-and-by the country postbags come pouring in, and no sooner are they opened than the letters they contain are subjected to the same analytical treatment. in a week , separate bags (or sacks containing several bags) are sent away from the bristol post office over the great western and midland railway systems. the weight is tons, or an average of over lbs. per bag or sack. of the total number, of the bags, with an average weight of nearly lbs. each, are for places within the bristol district, and of them are sent to london, with a total weight of tons lbs., or an average of lbs. per bag or sack. the bags and sacks received in bristol from all quarters are about equal in number and weight to those going outwards. those from london weigh tons cwt. lbs.--an average of lbs each. in order to simplify the disposal of the letters in london, they are not sent up unsorted from bristol, but are divided into thirty-seven labelled bundles or separate bags, a bundle or bag being made up for each london district, for each great railway out of london, for several foreign divisions, for seventeen large provincial towns, and even in such detail as for paternoster row and wood street. it is not often that ships of war appear in bristol waters. indeed, the old inhabitant saith that it is fifty years since a warship anchored in the vicinity. the recent visit of a squadron calls therefore for a passing mention. such an event took place during the british association meeting in september, . the ironclads composing the squadron were h.m.s. _nile_, _thunderer_, _trafalgar_, _sans pareil_, and the gunboat _spanker_. the vessels anchored in walton bay, midway between clevedon and portishead. in these pages the interest attaching to them must necessarily be centred in their mail arrangements. nearly a thousand letters a day were received at clevedon for delivery to the fleet. the ships' postman from each ship came ashore by launch three times a day to fetch the letters. launches were specially employed to fetch telegrams on signal being given by flag from the end of clevedon pier. a first aid class in connection with the st. john's ambulance society was formed by members of the bristol post office staff in , and there was an average attendance of twenty members, under the skilled direction of dr. bertram rogers, of clifton. of the members who presented themselves for examination at the termination of the course of lectures, eight were successful, and were presented with certificates at the society's annual meeting, held at the merchant venturers' technical college; and in the following year they qualified for the society's much-prized medallion of efficiency. at the conclusion of the course, dr. bertram rogers was presented with an ivory-handled and silver-mounted malacca cane, subscribed for by members of the class. a writing-case was also presented to mr. blake for organising the class. the want of a gymnasium in or near the post office premises is greatly felt, but the staff do not neglect opportunities of improving their health in other ways. cycle clubs have been in active operation; the cricket clubs come off victorious in many matches; and the electric swimming club has been attended with great success. chapter xi. christmas and st. valentine seasons. a century ago the christmas card was unthought of; whether it will be a thing of the past in the year cannot be foretold. the preparations made to meet the annually recurring pressure involve much forethought and considerable labour, and have to be in progress for a long time prior to christmas. the time occupied in getting the instructions ready for the staff and making all arrangements incidental to the season is equivalent to more than the entire duty of a clerk for a whole year. nothing whatever is left to chance; for unless the arrangements are organised in full detail, the work could not go on with the clock-like smoothness which is necessary to ensure a successful issue. at christmas many people find a difficulty in deciding what to give their friends. the difficulty in the post office is how to convey christmas gifts from friend to friend, from relative to relative, and the solution is found in the extensive preparations alluded to. they consist of many and various ways of affording means of rapid circulation and facilitating the traffic. thus arrangements are made as regards london for direct bags to be made up at bristol for each of the eight principal district offices, and separate bags for the inclusion of all the london sub-district letters throughout the day. at normal times such bags are made up only for the night mail and heaviest despatches. all foreign letters are sent in separate bags, so as to keep them apart on arrival in london from the inland christmas missives. then, in the reverse direction, london relieves the bristol office by making a direct bag for the tributary office of clifton by every mail, instead of by two mails only. to further facilitate matters, the parcels and letters for the environs of bristol are kept separate from those for town delivery at all the large offices sending parcel baskets and mail bags here, and bristol reciprocates by adopting the same plan for towns with which it exchanges mails. even the expedient of putting specially-lettered neck-labels on the bags to indicate their contents is adopted. where, ordinarily, bundles of letters are made up for particular towns, direct bags take their places, and where, ordinarily, letters are sent in bulk from many towns separate bundles are made up for each town: thus, letters from bristol for brighton, which are usually dealt with in london, are forwarded in a direct bag to pass through the metropolis unopened. the individual attendances of the ordinary staff are increased from eight hours to twelve, fourteen, and sixteen hours per day. all holidays are suspended for the time being, which enables some telegraphists to undertake postal duty; clerical labour is stopped, outside help is obtained, and altogether additional labour provided for to the extent of per cent. over the normal staff. although there is such a large augmentation numerically, the value of it cannot be judged in that way, as it takes a long time to make a really efficient postal officer, and the novices who are engaged, although willing enough, can do little more than undertake manual labour. many army reserve men and army and navy pensioners are engaged to assist on the occasion. the weather is always a potent factor. the ordinary types of mail vehicles, contracted for by the bristol tramways company, and always well turned out by mr. g. matthews, have to be supplemented at the christmas season by the employment of large pair-horse trolleys, which, are used not only for the conveyance of mails between office and railway station, but are also sent round the town to pick up the heavy parcel collections from the numerous sub-offices. the great unpunctuality of the mail trains which invariably sets in early in the christmas week causes no little inconvenience, particularly as regards the mails from the north of england, and the merchants are therefore not slow to avail themselves of the post office new system, under which, for a small fee, they can get their letters brought by delayed trains delivered by special messenger promptly on their arrival at the head post office. the extra posting of letters and parcels for places abroad, intended for delivery about christmas day, begins to manifest itself early in november. a great number of people appear to think that christmas cards and other printed matter may be sent by book-post in covers which are entirely closed, except for small slits cut at the sides. these packets are liable to charge at letter postage rates unless they are made up in such a manner as will admit of the contents being easily withdrawn for examination. to educate the public in the matter of full prepayment, it has become necessary for the department to be particularly vigilant in surcharging the christmas missives which contravene the regulations, and the bristol clerks have the unpleasant task of raising an impost on letters during the christmas season which infringe the postmaster-general's not severe regulations. the custom of sending christmas cards in open envelopes is increasing. with regard to telegrams, the public have recently received at the hands of his grace the duke of norfolk the great benefit of being allowed to have their telegraphic messages delivered up to distances of three miles without payment of any charge whatever for porterage. in this neighbourhood, the concession has resulted in an increase in the number of messages for delivery over a mile, especially at christmas. during the christmas season there is always a decrease in the number of business telegrams, but that is in some measure made up for by a large number of telegrams being sent by the public who are travelling to keep holiday, and in this connection more use is made of the telegraph than the telephone service. the decrease in the volume of work admits of telegraphists aiding their brother officers on the postal side. the inflow of christmas cards is pretty evenly dispersed over the earlier days of the season, but the great rush comes on the night of the rd and the morning of the th of the month. letters up to four ounces in weight are now conveyed at the small cost to the public of a penny. so far as this city is concerned, letters and book-packets over two ounces in weight, which are now blended in one post, are quadrupled in number at the christmas season. this increase in the letter packets has the effect of retarding the postmen in effecting their deliveries, inasmuch as they have to search in their bags for the packages which they cannot carry tied up in consecutive order. the trouble arising therefrom is somewhat mitigated, however, by the circumstance that the charged letters are less numerous than heretofore, owing to the large increase in the weight which is now carried for a penny. the christmas season is departmentally regarded as consisting of the days from the th of the month to christmas day, the th, inclusive. from the most reliable calculations that the officials are capable of making, it would appear that during the christmas period no fewer than , , letters are dropped by the residents into the receptacles dotted here and there over bristol's large postal area. the letters distributed by bristol's regular postmen, with their followers, are a million and a half, in each case about an extra week's work to be got through in three days. some , letters and parcels find their way to the bristol returned letter office as the flotsam and jetsam of the christmas postings. they consist of letters without addresses, letters addressed in undecipherable caligraphy, letters for people dead, gone away, and not known; parcels of poultry and game without name of sender or addressee. certainly handwriting does not improve, hence all these failures and embarrassments to the post office. the articles for transmission by parcel post handed in at the head post office, branch, offices, sub-offices in town, suburbs, and villages, reach the total of , , being about four times as numerous as at ordinary periods. the rural districts alone produce , parcels. the parcels delivered number , , being treble ordinary numbers. ten thousand of these parcels are delivered in the villages. nearly a thousand large hampers of parcels are exchanged between london and bristol, and of these some forty contain foreign parcels alone. notwithstanding the vastly increased numbers, it becomes noticeable at bristol, year by year, that there is a diminution of parcels conveyed by parcel post containing articles of good cheer: the geese, the fowls, and the game having decreased, plum pudding's, however, being as much in evidence as ever. the reduction in the parcel post rates which took place in has had a very marked effect upon the parcel post traffic, and the increase, particularly in the heavy weights, has been very great. on the other hand, the reduction in the rates of charge for the conveyance of post parcels has had the effect of bringing about a decrease in the number of parcels weighing under lb. as showing that the postal deliveries at the christmas season are arranged as well as the extraordinary circumstances will admit, and that the public on its part can appreciate the difficulties to be contended with, it may be worthy of mention that complaints of delay are rarely made. the postmaster-general is not unmindful of his duty in providing sustenance for his legions at the busy season, and refreshments are supplied for the permanent staff without stint. there are no trams running on christmas day, so that the postmen with their heavy loads are much worse off than on ordinary days, when, with lighter loads, they can ride to and fro on the tramcars. there are some pleasing social features which are worthy of record. for instance, the ladies of the clifton letter mission have for some years past sent "a christmas letter" and christmas card to each of the telegraph messengers employed in the bristol district. the ladies who manage the society known as the postal and telegraph christian association invariably send to every postman in the bristol district a sympathetic and seasonable letter, accompanied by a pretty christmas card and the best of all good wishes. the staff of the bristol post office usually pay the compliments of the christmas season to their postal friends elsewhere in the form of a prettily-designed card. christmas day of is rendered memorable in postal annals from the circumstance that on that day the postage on letters to and from many of our colonies and foreign possessions was reduced from the modest sum of - / d. per half-ounce to the still more modest sum of d. per half-ounce. bristol has a not inconsiderable colonial and foreign correspondence. british india takes letters, etc., on the average weekly; the dominion of canada, ; newfoundland, ; and gibraltar, ; the other countries to which the reduced rate of postage has been applied take in the week. one of the many changes that have taken place in the manners and customs of the people as affecting the post office is very noticeable as regards the observance of st. valentine's day. thirty years ago the votaries of the patron saint, in their thousands, vied with each other, year after year, to honour his memory, and make the post office the medium of sending to every close friend some kind of love token, ranging from the artistic production at one guinea, down to the humble penny fly-leaf which contained the simple but expressive pleading, at the bottom of a neat woodcut, "o come, true love, be mine." only too often, however, the day was made the occasion to strike a blow at the fickle lover by means of some gross caricature. on the eve of st. valentine the energies of the staff, which was limited as compared with now, were formerly greatly taxed to get rid of the enormous piles of packets which flooded the various receptacles in the city. all this is, however, changed; the occasion now passes by almost unnoticed in the sorting office and by the postmen. chapter xii. public office: its business--the savings bank--public communications. [illustration: the public hall, bristol. _from a photograph by mr. protheroe, wine street, bristol._] the public office of the bristol post office is very commodious ( ft. by ft.), and affords ample counter accommodation to the citizens for properly conducting their post office business. it is markedly superior as regards size and fitting-up to almost any other provincial office, and indeed its equal in those respects is scarcely to be found in all london. in contrast to the spacious public hall of the bristol post office and the civility of its clerks, the writer's first impressions of the postal service of his country were by no means of a pleasant character. when quite a small child, he was entrusted by his mother with the mission of conveying a small rose-coloured and delicately-perfumed letter to the post office in a world-famed warwickshire town--an errand of which he was "no end" proud. timidly he knocked at a little wicket in the window of the house to which he was directed. almost immediately the wicket was thrown open, and a very red visage appeared. "what do you want?" "will you put a stamp on this letter, sir, please?" "no! what the devil do you mean by bringing letters like this? 'tisn't big enough. it'll get lost in some hole or corner." frightened at this "giant grim," a hasty retreat was made, and the irascible old postmaster was left to do as he liked with letter and penny. the penny combined postage and inland revenue stamp was introduced in . a new series of postage stamps was issued in , and the present series in january, . in the year the value of the postage stamps obtained from london for distribution in the bristol district was £ , ; in it had only grown to £ , ; but in it had reached the more prodigious proportions of £ , , of which sum those stamps of the halfpenny denomination were of the value of £ , , and in number , , ; and the penny stamps in value £ , and in number , , . stamps of other denominations were issued thus:-- - / d., , ; d., , ; - / d., , ; d., , ; d., , ; - / d., , ; d., , ; d., , ; d., , ; d., , ; s., , ; s. d., , ; s., , ; s., ; s., and £ , . post-cards, embossed envelopes, newspaper wrappers, telegraph forms and other articles of the kind were of the value of £ , . at the earlier period the postmaster of the day was allowed per cent. on the value of the stamps sold, in addition to his salary. it is not so now! under the system inaugurated in the postal orders issued and paid at the bristol public office counter number nearly half a million in the year. the money orders paid at the counter preponderate over those issued--the amounts respectively being £ , and £ , . these sums include the amounts received in respect of telegraph money orders--the department's new departure of . the government insurance and annuity business commenced by the post office in is making progress in bristol, and the same may be said of the system started in of investments in government stock through post office medium. the first post office savings bank in the district was established at the clifton branch post office on the th september, , the year in which savings bank business was commenced throughout the country generally. several accounts were opened on that day, and the amount deposited was £ s. a similar institution was opened in the city in march, , at the money order office, then located in the corner shop in albion chambers, small street, opposite the present head post office. from such small beginnings a vast savings bank business has grown up. the sum standing to the credit of depositors in the post office savings bank in the bristol postal area at the end of , when the last account was published, was nearly £ , , , deposited by some , separate individuals. the deposits made at the head office in small street reached close upon £ , , and the other part of the amount is made up thus: gloucestershire side--town post offices, £ , ; rural post offices, £ , . somersetshire side--town post offices, £ , ; rural post offices, £ , . the estimated amount due to depositors in the post office savings banks throughout the whole country on the st december, , was £ , , , and the amount due to trustees of savings banks on november th, ,--the latest date on which the figures were made up--was £ , , . the bristol savings bank was closed in , and its , accounts were transferred to the post office savings bank. the amount of money involved was a little over half a million. during mr. fawcett's administration at the post office, thrift on the part of the nation was encouraged in every possible way. then was inaugurated the now familiar system for facilitating the placing of small sums in the post office savings bank by means of postage stamps affixed to a post office form as penny after penny is saved until an amount of one shilling is reached, the minimum for a post office savings bank deposit. a case occurred at a bristol post office fifteen years since, in which a young servant girl, in her desire to be thrifty under the system alluded to, craftily obtained the key of the letter box from the secret place in which the sub-postmaster kept it, and abstracted a number of circular letters on school board business, and took off the stamps for attachment to the savings bank slips. she was sentenced to a term of imprisonment, which, on account of her youth, was limited to six months. amusing incidents sometimes occur to break the monotony of counter work. for instance, a woman applied for a postal order, and when it was handed to her, the clerk, acting upon the official instructions, recommended the good lady to take the number before sending the order away. a few days afterwards she appeared at the post office with the order and complained that payment had been refused because the order had been mutilated. the clerk on examining the order found that the direction to "take the number of the order" had been acted on literally. the number had been carefully cut out, and retained in the possession of the applicant. it was some time before she could be made to realize her mistake. in another instance early one fine autumn morn a young couple presented themselves at the public office of the bristol post office and begged in earnest language that they might be supplied with a marriage license. the request could not, of course, be complied with, but the applicants, much to their satisfaction, were informed where they could obtain the needed document. on another occasion some money was observed on the counter, and on the very small child near it being asked what was required, "two ounces of tea and a pound of sugar" were at once demanded. this mistake no doubt arose from the fact that the business carried on in the late post office building in exchange avenue is that of a tea dealer. it is a rule of the service that letters should not be delivered from the _poste restante_ except to the actual addressees or to other persons bearing authority to receive the letters on behalf of the addressees. a request was made at the bristol head post office for the delivery of letters to a person other than the addressee, which person could not produce the necessary authority to act as recipient. the excuse given for non-production of authority was that the addressee was asleep. the enquirer having been advised to get authority when the addressee awoke, rather astonished the counter clerk by saying that such awaking would not take place until saturday, the day of application being tuesday. it transpired that the application was made in respect of letters for a person who was undergoing a state of hypnotism at a bristol music hall. the touching incident occurred at the bristol post office of a poor woman--pressing want having come upon her at last--who had to withdraw a shilling which she had thirty years previously deposited in a trustee savings bank which was taken over by the post office. she had to receive one penny by way of interest for the use of her mite for thirty years. some years since a collector of old issues of crown-pieces presented seventy of such coins, in a good state of preservation, at the bristol post office counter as a savings bank deposit. the depositor, after taking the trouble to accumulate these old coins, had come to the conclusion that an annual interest of eight shillings and sixpence would be more useful to him than an occasional inspection of the coins. few people know so little about post office matters as an individual from over the severn who recently asked for a postage stamp. "do you want a penny or a halfpenny stamp?" asked the clerk. "i want a south wales stamp," was the reply of taffy. then the surprise of the counter officer must have been great when, on counting up his money, he found that on one of the shillings the legend "baby" boldly appeared impressed where the queen's head is usually found, the coin having evidently been used as a brooch. the department, in communicating with the public, prescribes that its officers should subscribe themselves as the public's most obedient servants, and on some of the printed forms which have to be returned in answer to queries raised by the department the same style is adopted for the public to use. one dignified gentleman returned his form, from which he had erased "your obedient servant" and substituted "yours respectfully," adding a marginal note to the effect that he was not the servant of the department, but that the department was his servant. the postmaster of bristol is addressed by the public in various ways, as for instance: "postmaster general," "general postmaster," "bristol postmaster," "h.m. chief postmaster," "to the postmaster in state, small street, bristol," "head post-master and surveyor of the bristol district," "head master, post office," "post office master," "postmaster-in-general," "master general, post-office," "mr. ----, esq., post m.g.," "mr. ----, esq., post office general," "to the reverend sir postmaster, bristol, england." it is astonishing how many foreigners and colonists apply to the bristol post office respecting their relations, or for information as regards trading matters. the former questions are sometimes answered, but the latter are handed over to the courteous secretary of the chamber of commerce to deal with. very unusual was the circumstance of the receipt at the bristol post office in , anonymously, of a sum of ten shillings in postage stamps as conscience money, and, oddly enough, the next day threepence in stamps was received in the same anonymous manner and for the same purpose. these two instances were the first and the last. the difference between romance and fact is exemplified by an article which appeared in a monthly magazine as follows, viz.:-- "a public servant." "her majesty possesses one more faithful public servant than she is aware of, though its name does not transpire in the list of the ministry. every night at the general post office, bristol, a spirited mare attached to the red mail-cart is brought, at a quarter before midnight, to fetch the bags of letters, &c. she stands perfectly still, waiting while the mails are sealed and tossed one by one into the vehicle. at the five minutes before twelve, however, should all not be ready for departure, her driver sings out 'any more for the down train?' by way of hurrying the officials. no sooner does the mare hear those words than she begins to dance and curvet, showing in every possible way her anxiety to start and her sense of the importance of her duties. but if by any chance the first stroke of midnight should sound before they are ready to proceed to the station, she takes matters into her own hands, and nothing will then hold her in. those who have to do with this clever and beautiful creature are very proud of her, on account of the example she sets of punctuality and attention to the affairs of the nation." the real facts on which this incident is founded were, that the horse (not mare) remained in the post office yard quietly from . p.m. until midnight on one particular night only, and not generally, and when the loading of the van commenced the horse became restive, the final slamming of the van doors causing it to start off for the street. in consequence of a repetition of this restlessness on another night, and "kicking-in" the front of the van, the horse was taken off the royal mail service. chapter xiii. telegraphs, telephones, express delivery. the saxon king, edmund i., doubtless never conceived, when he held court (a.d. - ) at his palace in the village of pucklechurch, seven miles from bristol, that in generations to come there would exist, as there does now, a telegraph office within a few yards of the site of his castle, whence a question could be wired to the ends of the earth, and a reply obtained in the short space of a few hours. probably at that remote period a journey from pucklechurch to the north of scotland would have been considered as great an achievement as that in recent days of dr. nansen in his endeavour to get to the north pole. the first actual working telegraph was erected in between paddington and west drayton on the great western railway, and in the following year wheatstone and cook constructed a telegraph line from paddington to slough. mr. brunel then wished to extend the line to this city, but the shareholders would not support him to that extent. in , however, the great western railway board had the line constructed through to bristol. by means of it messages could, at that later date, be forwarded to and from most parts of the kingdom from the office at the bristol railway station. arrangements were put in progress for extending the wires into the centre of the city, in order that greater facilities might be afforded to those parties who might wish to avail themselves of the means of inter-communication, and before the end of the year the wires were laid from the railway station to the commercial rooms, and subsequently three telegraph offices were opened in the city, viz.: the electric and international, on the exchange; the magnetic, in exchange avenue; and the united kingdom, in corn street. a telegraph line was laid to shirehampton, and the committee of the commercial rooms subscribed £ a year towards its maintenance. it is recorded that in the firm of messrs. w. d. and h. o. wills, tobacconists and snuff manufacturers of this city, laid down an electric telegraph wire between their warehouse in maryport street and their manufactory in redcliff street, whereby the partners and employés, although engaged in different parts of the city, were enabled to converse with each other as readily as if occupying the same counting-house. the wire was used solely for their own business. in a turnpike road telegraph was spoken of as being in course of construction between bristol and birmingham. mr. james robertson, the senior assistant superintendent o£ the bristol telegraph office, during his forty-two years' service, thirteen of which were passed in the employment of the electric and international telegraph company, has had many experiences. he has culled from his "ancient history" the fact that the amount of telegraph business transacted by the e. and i. t. co. at falmouth, plymouth, bristol, and london (lothbury, head office) on march th, , at the respective times of day stated, was:--falmouth, messages, handed in by . a.m.; plymouth at . had managed to transmit ; bristol, at noon, ; and lothbury had received by . p.m. plymouth transmitted for falmouth, and bristol for plymouth. bain's chemical recorder was the system used on the falmouth wire, the double needle on the plymouth and bristol, and "bains" and needles on bristol-london circuits. the average delay on messages at plymouth was eighty-three minutes and at bristol fourteen minutes. the charge at the time from falmouth to london was four shillings for twenty words, addresses free. the present proprietor of _lloyd's newspaper_, mr. thomas catling, records an incident in which mr. robertson was concerned. mr. catling was the only london newspaper reporter who visited windsor on the eventful night when the deeply lamented prince consort breathed his last on th december, . on reaching windsor by the last train from london he learned that his royal highness had passed away about twenty minutes previously. having obtained at the castle particulars of the sad event, mr. catling hunted out the residence of the clerk of the electric and international telegraph company. on ringing him up, the clerk pleaded that before going to bed he had been taking gruel and hot water to get rid of a bad cold. he, however, got up and proceeded with mr. catling to the telegraph office in high street, whence intelligence was wired to london. mr. catling preserved the receipt of that message as a souvenir of the occasion. mr. robertson was the telegraph clerk who arose from his bed to perform the service in the dead of night. on the transfer of the telegraph business from the companies to the state early in , the post office, bristol, engaged sixteen clerks from the electric and international telegraph company, five from the united kingdom company, and six from the magnetic company. additional clerks were employed by the post office as soon as the volume of work could be gauged, but in the meantime the transferred clerks had to do practically double duty. the officials taken over from the companies were located in the small street post office, but it was not until january, , that room could be found there for the entire staff, which had then grown to be ninety clerks and fifty messengers. the telegraphic system soon after the government took to it was extended in this district to twenty of the principal villages. in the first year of post office working there were , messages dealt with here, and now the yearly number is , , . the sixpenny telegram was introduced in . the local telegraph service now has a staff consisting of a superintendent, superintending officers, male and female telegraphists, eight telephonists, and telegraph messengers. telegrams are delivered from the head office, two branch offices, fifteen town sub-offices, forty rural sub-offices, and four railway stations. the head office has , messages delivered from it annually, the branch and town sub-offices , , and the rural districts , . of the latter ( , ), about , are delivered at distances of from one to three miles, and at distances over three miles. after . p.m. all the messages in the town area are delivered from the head office. the duke of norfolk's concession of free delivery of telegrams for all distances under three miles has been appreciated by all those concerned. the telegraph gallery has direct telegraphic connection with the undermentioned towns: bath, birmingham, bridgwater, cardiff, cheltenham, chippenham, clevedon, cork, exeter, glasgow, gloucester, guernsey, jersey, leeds, liverpool, london, manchester, newport (mon.), oxford, plymouth, reading, southampton, swansea, swindon, taunton, and weston-super-mare, and thirty-two smaller towns. bristol plays a not unimportant part in the post office telephone trunk line system, commenced in . it has direct trunk lines to bath, birmingham, cardiff, exeter, gloucester, london, newport, sharpness, taunton, and weston-super-mare. the conversations held by the public through the medium of these lines number , weekly. [illustration: the telegraph instrument room, bristol post office. _from a photograph by mr. protheroe, wine street, bristol._] the well-ventilated and well-lighted telegraph instrument room is on the upper floor, and extends from end to end of the building. in it there are telegraph instruments of various kinds in use, viz.: a.b.c.'s, double-plate sounders, sounders, duplexes, quadruplexes, wheatstone sets, repeaters or relays, concentrators and hexode. divested of technicalities, it may be said that telegraphing on the a.b.c. instruments is effected by alphabetic manipulative keys, which are depressed by the fingers of the left hand of the sender at the same time that a handle is turned with the right hand, and a corresponding effect is produced on the dial plate of the receiver. the double-plate sounder is read by sound from two small metal hands striking right and left against two pieces of metal. in sending, the working is by means of keys manipulated by the hand. the sending upon the sounder instrument, which is that chiefly used, is done by a small key with handle being depressed and released according to the dots and dashes of the morse alphabet. the signals by which messages are received and read by the ear are produced by a bar of soft iron striking upon a steel point placed between two coils of wire. with the a.b.c., double-plate sounder, and sounder, only one message can be sent or received on the wire at one time; but the duplex sounder instruments are so constructed that two messages can be sent on the wire--one in each direction--at the same time. double-current duplex instruments are in use for telegraphing to busy towns such as plymouth, exeter, cardiff, swansea, &c., &c. the quadruplex consists of two duplex sets upon one wire. upon these circuits two distinct messages may be sent simultaneously from each end. the hexode has six instruments at each end of a single wire, enabling twelve clerks to operate at the same time--six at each end,--and thus admits of a single wire doing so much work as six wires worked with the ordinary sounder instrument. at times of pressure when race meetings are going on, or during the cricket and football seasons, the ordinary methods of working are supplemented by extraordinary means, thus: the duplex working between bristol and manchester is augmented by manchester connecting there a bristol wire with a newcastle wire: newcastle in like manner further connecting the line with glasgow, glasgow with edinburgh, edinburgh with dundee, and dundee with aberdeen. then at the bristol end, instead of working by means of the ordinary keys, wheatstone working is resorted to, viz.: the messages instead of being "keyed" are "punched," the punching process being performed by means of iron punching sticks upon an apparatus called the "perforator." the sticks are rapidly worked by skilful operators upon three steel keys, which, when struck, mechanically draw a strip of white paper tape, at the same time perforating holes which indicate signs in accordance with the morse alphabet system. these slips thus "punched"--which, by-the-by, very much resemble the perforated slips used in connection with the organette instrument--are passed through a wheatstone "transmitter," and buzzed through so rapidly that or words can be sent in a minute. the signals are simultaneously reproduced upon blue slips in the form of dots and dashes at manchester, at newcastle, at glasgow, at edinburgh, at dundee, and at aberdeen. the message recorded on the slips is broken off at about every hundred words to form a "press" page at the receiving offices for writing up by the telegraphists, a large number of whom can be employed on the work at the same time. when this process is resorted to the battery power for the wire has to be greatly increased. the repeater instruments are worked in like manner, except that the system is permanent instead of occasional. the concentrator is a recent invention, and is used for the purpose of economising force and apparatus, and of minimising delay and table space. by its means the wires for eighteen to twenty offices, which use the same form of telegraphic instrument, are led into a special switch-board, and each wire as it is required is "switched" through to a telegraph instrument, at which a clerk is ready to send or receive the message. thus the telegraphist is "fed" by the operator at the concentrator, and has to send a message to any one of the thirty towns instead of, under ordinary working, to only three or four towns. in place of over batteries with , cells of the bichromate, daniel and leclanche type in use at the bristol telegraph office for many years, a system of accumulators or storage batteries has been brought into operation. the power for charging the accumulators is generated on the spot by a crossley's gas engine driving a dynamo. the accumulators number , and each has seven divisions. the hexode instrument between bristol and london requires a voltage of dry cells. there are two complete sets of accumulators, each with separate connecting wires to the instrument room. one set is in use at a time. the system of accumulators has been introduced for the purposes of economy and saving of space. it may be interesting to the uninitiated to learn that in telegraphy the earth plays the part of a return wire; thus the circuit between bristol and birmingham is rendered complete by earth. the wires connected with the two towns indicated are brought into the test boxes at the respective places, and there connected to a single wire at each town which finds earth by means of a zinc plate buried some twelve feet in the soil near or under the post office buildings. occasionally when people have been out for a drive or a cycle ride, and their eyes have been delighted with the grand scenery to be found around bristol, they look, as they journey homewards, to the government poles and to the many wires therefrom suspended, and wonder which are telegraph wires, which are telephone wires, where they all lead to, and between what points messages are sent and conversations held. such travellers returning to bristol by way of almondsbury would see the wires on the one side (telegraphs), which run from bristol to falfield, newport, cardiff, swansea, gloucester, liverpool; london to swansea, newport, and cardiff; birmingham to exeter; plymouth to liverpool; and (telephones) bristol to birmingham, gloucester, cardiff; and on the other side of the road (telephones) horfield, fylton, almondsbury, newport, cardiff, gloucester and birmingham. in some instances there are two or three wires for the same place. the telegraph, and telephone wires cross and recross each other at frequent intervals along the road, and the whole sets of wires cross from side to side of the road between fylton and almondsbury. alternative routes for the wires are adopted where practicable, so that in case of a break-down on one line communication may be kept up on the other. by way of illustration of such alternate routes, it may be mentioned that the two wires from the head post office in small street for swansea run underground to stapleton road, at which point they are brought above ground and diverge, one running to wee lane, thence to ashley hill, horfield, almondsbury, alveston ship, falfield and berkeley, up to the severn bridge; and the other branching off at the end of stapleton road, and carried along the fishponds and chipping sodbury roads nearly to yate, and down the tortworth road to just beyond falfield, where it joins the other swansea and south wales wires, and passes over the severn bridge into wales. the telegraph and telephone wires in this district are chiefly erected and maintained by soldiers of the royal engineers. sixteen military telegraphists, members of the royal engineers, are attached to the bristol post office, and kept in training for telegraph service with the army. twelve of them are now--november, --in south africa on active service, in connection with the troubles in the transvaal. in the great hurricane which occurred in january, , the telephone and telegraph wires radiating from bristol were blown down in all directions. in consequence bristol was entirely cut off from direct telephonic communication with birmingham for hours, and had only one wire instead of two for - / hours; from bath for hours, and had only one wire instead of two for - / hours; from cardiff for hours, and had only two wires instead of three for - / hours; from weston-super-mare entirely for - / hours; from taunton for - / hours; from exeter for hours; from sharpness for hours. there was only one wire instead of two to gloucester for - / hours, to london for hours, and to newport for - / hours. the trunk telephone lines were more or less interrupted for a week, caused by the working parties engaged on repairs. the telegraph wires for the counties of gloucester, somerset, monmouth, warwick, shropshire, worcester, wilts, devon, cornwall and lancashire were those chiefly deranged. it is believed that there is only one telegraph cable in the bristol district, and that cable does not belong to the postmaster-general. it crosses the river avon at a point adjacent to pill and shirehampton, and was used by the commercial rooms in connection with reports of the arrival of vessels. up to the time of its introduction, as already stated, "warners" were employed. the last of the old running "warners" were gerrish and case. these men lived at pill, and on hearing news from pilots-men of the arrival of a ship in the bristol channel they started off on foot to bristol and _warned_ the merchants and wives of sailors of the vessel's arrival in the channel, getting, of course, fees for their trouble,--a guinea from the merchants, and so on, down to the shillings of the sailors' wives,--and fifty years ago these fees were willingly paid, and the heavy postages too. the runners were men of some little mark. the post office at avonmouth, a bristol sub-office, is much used for telegraph purposes by persons on board vessels passing up and down the kingroad in the bristol channel. the bristol corporation placed outside the port a large white notice board with "telegraph office" painted upon it in black letters, to attract the attention of mariners. the messages are chiefly received from vessels with cargoes consigned to sharpness, which in neap tides have often to lie in the roads for days. telegrams for vessels lying in kingroad are often taken out by boat at midnight or in the early hours of the morning. this is often in consequence of the tide not serving, or being too strong for the boatman to go out at seasonable hours. lundy island, in the bristol channel, is connected with the mainland by a submarine cable, which is considered to be one of the most perfect of its kind. letters for lundy, from bristol and elsewhere, are carried across by boat from instow once a week. the nearer small islands of flat holm and steep holm have cable telephonic communication with weston-super-mare. the telephone, which is carried into the weston post office, is rented by the war office authorities, who allow the islanders the use of it. letters from bristol for the flat holm are conveyed by way of cardiff. the island is rented from the cardiff corporation by a farmer who resides upon it. his son, who lives in cardiff, daily visits the island in a yacht, and conveys the letters for the trinity house officials and residents. for the steep holm, bristol letters are sent from weston-super-mare; the services to the island being tri-weekly--tuesday, thursday and saturday,--and are performed by a contractor, who goes across on behalf of the war office. the steep holm is inhabited by military men only. in a manuscript of th march, , it is described as "stipe holme." one of the first serious efforts in connection with the plan of telegraphing through space without connecting wires was conducted between the diminutive island of flat holm and the shore, a distance of about five miles; and between penarth and brean down, a distance of nine miles. an interesting illustration of the system of wireless telegraphy was given, under the direction of mr. w. h. preece, c.b., f.r.s. (now sir w. h. preece, k.c.b., f.r.s.), at the clifton college conversazione, held in honour of the learned british associates during the meeting of the association at bristol in . the telegraph staff have seldom had their skill and smartness more thoroughly tested than on the memorable monday evening in february, , when press messages of great length relating to the introduction of the home rule bill were sent over the wires. twenty minutes after mr. gladstone rose to speak in the house of commons the first instalment of the special summary of his speech reached this city. the conclusion of the summary was received at two minutes to . the verbatim report commenced to arrive at . , and the last instalment reached the bristol office at o'clock. the total number of words in the messages sent to bristol was nearly , . during the early potato season telegraphing is very brisk with jersey. bristol is the only large office besides london which has direct communication with the island. some idea may be gathered of the extra labour entailed on the telegraph service from the fact that in the month of june, , no fewer than , telegrams passed between bristol and jersey, the normal number being only , monthly. five or six telegraph operators are usually sent during the season to jersey from bristol. in bristol about firms use abbreviated telegraphic addresses. the telegraph money order system, started in , is exhibiting marvellous developments in the local service. the express letter delivery service, which came into operation in , is very useful to the public. by means of this agency the post office distributes by express messenger , letters and parcels annually. of that number bristol contributes , services. bicycles and tricycles are now delivered for the public from any telegraph office in bristol and district by special messenger at a fee of d. per mile, without any charge for weight. the messengers are not permitted to ride upon the cycles, except by the permission of the senders, but will wheel them up to a distance of three miles. an express delivery messenger has been used, ere now, for the convoy of a traveller from point to point in a town unknown to him or her. the post office is often required to assist even more closely in the domestic relations of life. recently a gentleman from america wrote to the clifton post office to enquire whether a certain near relative of his could be found, as he was very anxious to see her before return to america. he enclosed a shilling stamp for a reply by telegraph, and begged for urgency. the relative was found and her address given. the applicant's ardour to see his relative cooled, or his stay in the country was abridged, for instead of paying the proposed visit, he begged the post office officials to expend five shillings, which he sent, in the purchase of cut roses for his relative. of course, this was outside the round of post office duties, but the clerks obligingly attended to it, with the aid of a telegraph messenger who was off duty at the moment. occasional mistakes are not to be wondered at when people write illegibly. through the improper formation of the capital letter, d, in the proper name dyster, has in telegraphing been turned into o, and the name made oyster, with the result of misdelivery of the telegram to a firm of fishmongers having "oyster" as an abbreviated address. it must have been extremely painful to an anxious parent to receive a telegram summoning him to a nursing home far distant, in terms that his "sow was worse," and begging him to come at once; the telegraphist having made the slight mistake of transcribing "w" for "n." the gentleman who sent a telegram to his town house in the west end of london asking that his covert coat might be forwarded to him was no doubt considerably astonished when his butler returned the telegram to him by post asking for an explanation, and he found that the text of it was "pigs, / , / , and /-." the error was occasioned in connection with the use of multiple addresses for a bacon-trading firm's telegrams. in another instance a curious complication resulted through imperfect spacing on the part of the signalling telegraphist, thus:--a telegram written by the sender as "to ----, fore st., northam, bideford. be in attendance public offices," was transcribed thus:--"to ---- forest, northam, bideford. be in at ten dance public offices," and, owing to the number of words counting the same as the number signalled, the inaccuracy was not discovered until a repetition had been obtained from the office of origin on application of the addressee. it was printed in a midland newspaper that at the presentation of a sword of honour to the sirdar the common councilmen attended in their "margarine gowns," and, of course, the error of using "margarine" for "mazarine" was put down to the carelessness of the telegraph clerk. a telegram was sent indicating arrival at mostyn crescent, in a favourite north wales town. at one stage in transmission "mostyn" became converted into "mostly," and at the next office of transmission "crescent" became "pleasant," and the telegram when delivered read "arrived mostly pleasant." the prime minister who had informed his audience that "there was no prospect of an immediate general election, that they had a working majority, and the government was of good cheer," would not have been pleased had he seen that the last word in the telegram posted up in the bristol commercial rooms had been transcribed as "of good cheek." a telegram, "have arranged for sunday. dening," with the first two words struck out, and "arrangement complete" substituted underneath, was handed in at a telegraph office by a well-known and much respected bristol clergyman. at the forwarding office the message was unfortunately read "for sunday dinning arrangement complete," the erasure and addition not having been properly understood and the proper name misspelt. at the delivering office the message again suffered alteration, and became "for sunday dining arrangements complete." it may readily be supposed that the addressee was somewhat astonished at the peculiar text of the message. the following is from the bristol _times and mirror_ of february, , and has reference to a little inaccuracy on the part of a telegraph assistant employed at a bristol sub-post office. the incident itself is correctly reported:--"garraways, o'clock. dear mrs. b.--chops and tomato sauce. yours pickwick," settled the hash of a well-known character; and a wire, "going to bath to meet girl. not back to dinner," had, very nearly, a similar effect on the domestic relations of one of the smartest solicitors in our city. the telegraph has had, in its time, much to answer for, "but never aught like this." when puck said: "i'll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes," he little thought what mischief he might do. it was only the other day we read how a stray dropped line destroyed a horse, killed a cow, and cut off the head of a nigger; but these accidents were a trifle compared with what might have happened if the message first quoted could not have been explained. the learned gentleman it appears has a brother, by name gilbert, familiarly known in the circle as "gil." the latter, having business in bath, wrote asking his relative to dine with him at the "christopher." the learned advocate at once accepted; but, being a thoroughly domesticated man, telegraphed to his better-half: "going to bath to meet gil; not back to dinner." then came in the "cussedness" of the wire which substituted "girl" for "gil," and hence the temporary ructions when the happy husband, having succeeded with his latchkey, sought repose. chapter xiv. telegraph messengers. the telegraph messengers in uniform employed in the bristol district number about . they have a literary institute, a drum and fife band, hold swimming classes, etc. that there is need of night classes may be inferred from the following specimens of telegraph messengers' orthography and syntax:-- ( ) "supt, sir, i will try to be more careful in the pass. yours obed, h. p----." ( ) "supt, sir, i having asked where the message was ment for and they told me to go up the road where i should see a chemist shop where i should find it about there and i having could not find it i asked, a gentleman which he said it was farther up the road and i left it with cotton the undertaker which he said it was quite right.--g. h----." ( ) "supt, sir, i will try to be more extint in the future as this is the truth.--m. t----." ( ) "supt, sir, i much regret not returning my report but i left it home in my other pocket in my overcoat which is home drying which was wet through on saturday last. yours obed h. e----." the institute was inaugurated at a public meeting at the colston hall on the st december, , which was attended by a large and influential gathering of citizens. upon the platform were the mayor of bristol (mr. w. r. barker), who presided, the very rev. the dean of bristol (dr. pigou), mr. charles townsend, m.p., rev. r. cornall, mr. r. c. tombs (the postmaster), mrs. r. c. tombs, dr. lansdown, jun., miss synge, miss pollock, messrs. john harvey, arthur baker, e. g. clarke, h. lewis, c. h. tucker, r. l. leighton, w. h. lindrea, j. r. bennett, e. sampson; also messrs. a. j. flewell (superintendent of the telegraph department), w. h. gange, j. robertson, j. s. gover, j. j. mackay, h. t. carter (superintendent of the postal department). it was explained that the telegraph messengers were engaged at from thirteen to fourteen years of age, and the lessons they had learned at school had chiefly been supplemented by a knowledge acquired in the streets. the object was to counteract street influences by providing elementary instruction, recreation, and interesting literature. there was no desire to educate the boys to such a pitch that jack would think himself better than his master, but to take care that they should not degenerate. it was announced that the hours of labour had just been reduced from sixty-two to fifty per week, which would be a great boon to the boys. it was further stated that a private appeal had been made, not in vain, to a few of bristol's most generous citizens, and that through their kindly aid, with subscriptions from the members of the staff and the grant which it was hoped to earn from the education department, the institute would be carried on without pecuniary embarrassment. the description of the institute's work was as follows:-- . the institute would be open to the telegraph messengers and to junior officers of the postal and telegraph service, the charge to each member to be one penny per week. . the institute would be carried on in a room at the general post office. . in connection with the institute an evening school would be held, the educational session to last from october to may. an annual examination of the members of the classes would be held. . in addition to the three elementary subjects,--reading, writing, and arithmetic,--classes would be arranged for the study of scripture, geography, drawing, composition, and shorthand. . for the purpose of recreation certain games would be provided. . in connection with the institute there would be a library, which had been formed by means of books generously given by the citizens of bristol. . the library would be open to any established or unestablished officer of the postal and telegraph service at a slight subscription per month. . a penny savings bank would also be started. the chairman said he gladly consented, to preside that evening, because the object of the meeting was one in which he took deep interest, and one which he felt sure would commend itself to a very large number of his fellow-citizens. he thought he might say that everything connected with the postal service was peculiarly interesting to them all, and anything they could do to ameliorate the lot of those who daily rendered them such important service they would be very glad to do. he thought it would not be well to make the movement too "goody" in its character, or too educational, so he was glad to see that there was a lighter side to the scheme. mr. charles townsend, m.p., mr. arthur baker, mr. harold lewis, miss synge, and members of the postal and telegraph, staff, also spoke. then, the dean of bristol addressed the telegraph messengers, and said he really should have been disappointed if he had not been invited to attend the meeting. it was a pleasant part of his privilege in ministering in bristol to be asked to take a share in such an interesting gathering as they were holding that evening. one of the best features of this institute was that it would assist them to put their leisure to the most profitable use. the educational work has been progressing steadily ever since its inauguration, and much good has resulted from it to the messengers. ever ready to give their countenance to entertainments for the benefit of the community, their graces the late lamented duke, and the dowager duchess, of beaufort, as their first public act after coming to reside at stoke park, near our city, attended a concert at the redland park hall, which was held for the purpose of benefiting the funds of the telegraph messengers' institute. later on, may st, , they were kind enough to attend an annual meeting and a prize distribution at the colston hall. the late duke, who presided on the occasion, said it was a great pleasure to him to be present. he had witnessed a good deal of the care and discipline with which the post office messengers were looked after. like everybody who had a great deal of correspondence, he had the privilege of having the services of the best regulated post office in the world. they also had in this country the privilege of being able to use the best regulated telegraph service. they might be perfectly sure that if a man wanted to send a telegram, when once he put it into the hands of the postal officials, however ill-written or badly addressed it might be, it was very probable that the telegram would reach its destination. those who had a good deal of correspondence were deeply indebted for the splendid organisation of the bristol department. they were also very much indebted to the telegraph clerks, who deciphered the scrawls handed them, and who transmitted the messages. they were deeply indebted also to the boys for the way in which they refrained from stopping to play marbles, and did their duties with great zeal, and delivered their messages at the proper places and to the proper persons. they would understand that they were government officers, and that they had to discharge important duties. he could personally say that those duties were thoroughly well carried out in the city of bristol and its neighbourhood. the duchess of beaufort then distributed the prizes, after which a telegraph messenger presented her grace with a basket of choice flowers. the bishop of bristol addressed the lads, and urged them to do their duty thoroughly when on duty, and to enter heartily into healthy play when off duty. in doing their duty they should remember one or two things. they might be charged with the delivery of a message which was a matter of life or death; it might be one regarding which thousands of pounds depended; or it might be one of little importance. but, whatever it was, it was not for them to enquire, but to deliver the message with punctuality and promptness. having spoken of the discipline and training telegraph boys received, he observed that of all telegraph boys, for punctuality, steadiness, courtesy, and politeness, the bristol boys were about the best. he urged them also to live pure lives and observe complete honesty, that they might become worthy citizens of whom the country might be proud. he was glad to hear the name of the lady (miss pollock) who conducted the scriptural class so cordially received, which showed that the lady and her work had taken hold of the hearts of the boys. the excellence of their work as boys, and as men, and the enjoyment of their lives, in the best sense, depended upon their becoming god-fearing. he should be pleased to give a prize in connection with the scripture class. the letters of the bishop, written with reference to the occasion, should not be left unchronicled. they ran as follows, viz.:-- "church house, dean's yard, s.w., _may th, _. "my dear postmaster,--i am speaking at bath on the afternoon of the th, and am engaged to stay the night. but i think your proposal so important that i am writing to my host, mr. s., to ask if he has engaged friends to meet me. if he can excuse me, i will, if all be well, come to you and say something. "yours very truly, g. f. bristol." "the athenæum, _may th, _. "my dear postmaster,--i have arranged to return to bristol on the evening of may , and if all be well can be with you. send me a card of place and hour. "yours very truly, g. f. bristol." the following extract from a letter in which his grace wrote concerning the meeting, is indicative of the interest which he took in matters affecting the postal and telegraph services of bristol, viz.:-- "stoke park, stapleton, near bristol, _ st may, _. "dear mr. tombs,--i must write you a few lines of thanks for the very pleasant evening you gave us last night. both the duchess and i enjoyed it very much. i was remarkably struck with the appearance of your boys: such nice, clean, smart-looking youths. what a difference drill makes to lads! they have already a smart--soldierlike, i should call it--appearance, and i am sure it tends to sharpen their minds as well as to straighten their bodies. "believe me to remain, yours truly, beaufort." the messengers little thought as they listened to the duke's encouraging words, addressed to them on the occasion of the meeting, that they would before a year had passed away be sending a modest, humble, but loving tribute, in the form of a wreath, which was thought worthy to be suspended over the pulpit in badminton church at the duke's obsequies, in juxtaposition with a wreath of mammoth proportions sent by the officers of the th dragoons (the duke's old regiment). the bristol telegraph messengers have cause to remember that bright saturday afternoon in when, preceded by their drum and fife band, they marched out to burfield, westbury-on-trym, the country residence of sir (then mr.) r. h. symes, the mayor of bristol. they were there enabled to have a few hours of recreation and pleasure, and to forget the busy hum of the city with its turmoil and heat. following the excellent example, mr. arthur baker, of henbury, and other country gentlemen have invited the boys out on saturday afternoons, to encourage them to keep banded together for good purposes, and to maintain that _esprit de corps_ which is so necessary in a body of youths drawn together after the manner of the telegraph messengers' class. a most memorable occasion was that in , when the messengers were inspected by lieutenant-colonel macgregor, of the th middlesex r.v.c., london. they mustered at the post office, and, under the direction of inspectors mawditt, appleby (late th regiment and sergeant-major scinde volunteers), and cook (late royal marines), and headed by their drum and fife band, marched to the artillery drill ground in whiteladies road where, in presence of many visitors, military and civilian, they were put through manual exercises, physical drill to music, and then reviewed on the parade ground. in the speeches which followed the boys were complimented on their efficiency and smart appearance. it was on this occasion that it was announced the postmaster-general had obtained the sanction of the treasury for a grant of money in order to encourage telegraph messengers' institutes and drill in the large towns. under this scheme, prizes for proficiency in drill and general good conduct are awarded--a system which has since been found to work admirably. chapter xv. letter delivery system. postmen: their duties and recreations. the extent of the bristol postal establishment in may be gleaned from the reply given by the postmasters-general to a memorial complaining that there was only one letter carrier for the delivery of all the letters received in liverpool. the answer was that only one letter carrier was maintained in any provincial town, including the premier city of bristol, and that they did not think themselves justified in incurring for liverpool the expense of another. an additional bristol postman was, however, appointed between then and january, . in there were four letter carriers at bristol, but only two appear to have been allowed by the department, the other two being employed as extras, and provided for, probably, by an extra charge on the letters delivered. the bristol letter carriers were not supplied with uniform clothing until . then, a hat and coat once yearly, and a waterproof cape once in two years, were given to them. the uniform clothing was not supplied to the auxiliary letter carriers. bags or pouches for the men to carry for the protection of the letters were at that time provided. in the postmen wore scarlet uniform and issued out from the post office three times daily to traverse the length and breadth of the city in the distribution of letters. in the "men in blue" sally forth six times every day. in the postmen's department there are now seven inspectors and three hundred and seventy postmen. the delivery of letters in the town district is made from the head office. there is a branch delivering office at clifton, but those at north street and phippen street were long since abandoned. in the bristol postal district, sixty years ago, there were fewer than , letters delivered in a week, or about , , in a year--a number now nearly reached in a week. the letters delivered annually from the central post office number , , ; from the clifton post office, , , ; from the suburban offices and rural offices, , , . it is a noteworthy fact that the letters posted in bristol for delivery within its own limit form per cent. of the total number, which percentage is only surpassed at two or three of the large cities of the kingdom. six deliveries of letters and five deliveries of parcels are made in the city, with ten collections. the average number of persons to whom letters are delivered by each postman in bristol (city) is , . there are , parcels delivered annually. to each of two firms are delivered more than one quarter of a million letters annually, equal to one hundredth part of the total number of letters delivered. the distances from the head office to the extreme outward terminal city and clifton delivery points are as follows:--westbury park, - / miles; horfield barracks, miles; ridgeway, - / miles; barton hill, - / miles; arno's vale, - / miles; totterdown, miles; bedminster down, miles; ashton gate, miles; and clifton suspension bridge, - / miles. the trams are used by the postmen, and the department pays the tramways company a lump sum in respect thereof. the convenience in this respect will be enhanced when the electric traction system is fully introduced. in the sorting office the letters are sorted to the various rounds by postmen dividers, and the general body of postmen then have to arrange them at their desks seated on little revolving stools. the process adopted by the postmen in setting in their letters for delivery may be explained by the following example relating to what is technically known as the "cotham brow walk." the letters are first primarily divided (upright) into streets, roads, squares, courts, etc., taken thus--viz.: (_a_) sydenham road, to (one side only); (_b_) sydenham hill, to , odd numbers (one side only); (_c_) tamworth place to (one side only); (_d_) arley hill, to and to (cross); (_e_) arley park (cross); (_f_) arley hill, and and to (cross); (_g_) cotham brow, to and to (cross); (_h_) southfield road, to and to (cross); (_i_) upper sydenham road, to (one side only); (_j_) springfield road, to , odd numbers (one side only). then the letters for one of the above-named ten divisions or streets are taken one by one and placed in order of actual delivery flat on the table; then all are gathered together and stood upright, the letters for each division being treated in like manner. when the letters for any one street or road, etc., have been set in order, fresh batches of letters of, say, thirty or so, are fully sub-divided by the same process before being set in with the accumulated and finished letters. this course is necessary in order to obviate the postman having to go through a set of fifty or a hundred letters time after time as he gets a fresh batch of letters. two hours are allowed for the morning delivery and one and a half hours for other deliveries. as those who have the longest rounds have the lightest burdens, they all contrive to finish at about the same time. the clifton suspension bridge, which was erected in at a cost of £ , , plays a very unimportant part in postal affairs, as it serves for the passage over the avon of three postmen only, who cross with letters for the leigh woods and failand districts. long ashton, which has a carriage road approached by the bridge from the clifton side, receives its letters by a postman who crosses by a ferry lower down the river and reaches his destination more expeditiously than by crossing over the bridge. a bristol postman, who was well acquainted with the locality which he had to serve, met with an ugly accident through colliding with a lamp-post, recently erected and not supplied with gas for lighting up. it had been put up during the man's interval of duty, so that he came upon it for the first time when it was shrouded in darkness. the postmen, having in the discharge of their duties to be early birds and to be first out and about in the morning, often pick up articles lost or deposited overnight. thus it was that a postman found on one winter's morn in a bristol suburb a parcel containing the dead body of a child, and had to constitute himself a corpse-carrier for the nonce. it was in this city of bristol that the following somewhat amusing and certainly interesting incident took place. two rats were found in combat over a letter, which, delivered in due course by the postman, had fallen upon the floor at the entrance to a warehouse, and had been dragged thence to the spot where the rodents were engaged in their fierce encounter, the gum on the flap probably being the attraction. the letter contained a cheque for £ , and its loss for some days caused no small amount of consternation and anxiety to the gentleman who should have received it, and who, it need scarcely be said, at once gave orders for a letter-box to be attached to his warehouse door. it was well for the magistrates' clerk for the gloucestershire division of bristol that he was well known to the postman, or assuredly he would never have received the letter addressed thus: "mr. latchem laforegat pleace stashun," the proper address being: "mr. latcham, lawford's gate police station, stapleton road, bristol." recently many valuable dogs were poisoned in different parts of the city, and a suggestion appeared in the newspapers that the postmen might be urged to constitute themselves amateur detectives for the discovery of the miscreants, on the ground that they enter every garden and knock at every door throughout the length and breadth of bristol, and that at early morn and late at night as well as by day. the postmen are public spirited, but it is hardly likely that they would go considerably out of their way for the purpose, considering the risks which they run from dogs and the annoyances to which they are subjected to by them. the postmen have to face the snappish terrier and the ferocious-looking bulldog. not infrequently they get bitten, and more frequently get soundly abused if, for their own protection, they belabour a dog occasionally, or give it a taste of their belt for want of a better weapon of defence or offence. reciprocity would demand that if the postmen look out for dog poisoners, the owners of dogs on their part should take the utmost care to keep their dogs properly secured when known to be dangerous or to have a special dislike to the public servants in blue. the bold announcement given on the pillar of a gateway of a residence in a fashionable suburb of bristol, "beware of the bulldog," is not calculated to give confidence to the postmen who have to deliver the letters. one poor dog, well known in the city, fell dead in small street; and as the dog had just been seen to visit the post office, and even to drink from a bristol dogs' home trough standing in the portico, it was assumed by the many spectators of the poodle's sad death that he had come to an untimely end through drinking poisoned water from the post office trough. the vessel was therefore confiscated by an over-zealous supporter of the dogs' home, and the water was subjected to analysis, but investigation proved that it was innocuous, although from an examination it transpired that the dog really had died from poison, which had, however, been taken in meat. a london firm made indignant enquiry as to why a letter had been returned to them through the returned letter office, seeing that it was addressed to a well-known and distinguished baronet living near bristol. it turned out that the right hon. gentleman was himself the cause of the return of the letter, as he read the contracted words "rt. honb.," in a line preceding his own name, as the name of "robt. hunt," a person who lived near his mansion, and he gave the letter back to the postman with the foregoing result. in a letter indicative of the times, with the following superscription, as noticed in the post:--"to the post office, bristol, somersetshire, england, miles west of london, this letter is to be delivered to the ladey that transported jobe smith and others with him near bristol." members of the public complain from time to time in indignant terms respecting the loss of letters in the post, but in very many instances they afterwards write in meeker strain to say they have discovered the missing letters--in most unlikely places in their homes. at a dinner given by officials of the bristol post office, the dean of bristol bestowed praise on the postmen for success in conveying ill-addressed letters to their destination. dr. pigou cited their performances in his own case. he had been addressed as pigue, picken, pigon, pigour, pickles, peggue, puegon, ragou, and pagan. that "ragou"--not being a name beginning with "p"--should have reached him, he thought could only be explained as the result either of a flash of inspiration or of the recollection of previous "hashes" of his name; but "pickles" evidently got home on the mere strength of its initial letter, and though, as he complained, it is hard lines to be addressed as "dr. pagan" after having been thirty or forty years in orders, the written word would much more nearly resemble his real name than several of the other addresses which did find him. "the head gamekeeper, the deanery, bristol," was, of course, mysterious. the letter contained a circular advertising wire netting for pheasants, rabbits, and hares; and when the dean replied, pointing out that the only space available on his premises--an area of ft. by ft.--was too small to rear pheasants in, he received, a further circular recommending a trial of "our dog biscuits." occasionally, also, the local postmen meet with letters so peculiarly addressed as that for "mr. ----, oction her and countent, corn street, bristol," and another for "chowl, near temple," intended for "cholwell, near temple cloud." the postmen collect, too, letters peculiarly addressed to other places. there are still a few postmen veterans in the bristol post office who are toiling on long after having exceeded their "three score years." doubtless these aged men excite sympathy as they are seen on their daily rounds, and the thought presents itself to the public mind that the post office is harsh to make them labour when so far advanced in years. such is not the case, however, as the men, unfortunately not being entitled to pensions, have been allowed to continue to perform their duties long after pensionable established men would have been retired, either willingly or compulsorily, under the regulations which now call for a civil servant's retirement to be considered his reaching the age of sixty years. these old worthies are not post office short-service men; but, as their good conduct stripes testify, they have for long years served their queen and country. j. s., one of these life-long toilers, who worked as an uncovenanted postman for many years, commenced his career in the navy. when fifteen years of age ( ) he joined the gunnery ship _excellent_ at portsmouth, captain (afterwards admiral) chade being then in command. after serving two years, he was transferred to the old _conway_, then engaged in putting down the slave trade in east african waters; and after three years on board that vessel he went to the brig _helena_, and was with her in the west indies for several years. in about he was passed to the _britannia_ for mediterranean service. while sailing from gibraltar to malta, s. met with a serious accident. being considered a smart young man, he was ordered by the captain to assist another "a.b." to rig the topgallant yard-arm. while thus at work he fell from the maintopmast cross-trees into the main rigging, again to the main chains, and then overboard--a drop in all of feet. a boat was lowered promptly, and he was soon picked up, but he was in an insensible condition. it was found on examination by the ship's surgeon that his skull was fractured. he went into hospital on arrival at malta, and there he remained six months. shortly after the accident, the _britannia_, which was the admiral's flagship, was ordered to the crimea ( ), and not only did the seaman who took over s.'s gun meet with his death by the shells from the fortifications at sebastopol, but the whole of the gallant tars fighting on the starboard side of the ship were killed. s. was taken to london on board the _growler_ (sir charles wood), the first steamer he had ever seen, and was incapacitated for two or three years, but fortunately he obtained a pension on having to leave the navy. he was engaged in private life till , when, at the age of years, he was given post office work, on which he was employed for twenty years, and, indeed, until he again came to grief through an accident when on duty at christmas, . on this occasion he was knocked over by a cart in victoria street, which ran into the parcel handcart s. was wheeling, and which sent him flying into the mud and his parcels all about in the road. this put an end to his post office career, and the old man, with disabled body from his first accident and somewhat impaired faculty from the latter, has now sunk back into seclusion, and it is hoped that he may end his days in peace. except for three weeks' illness caused by influenza, he was never away on sick leave out of his twenty years of post office service. not once was s. late at work. he was, he says, always out of bed at a.m., and so punctual was he known to be that the remark was often made when he entered the office, that "we know what time it is without looking at the clock." on leaving the post office service this year ( ) a small gratuity was awarded him. s. t., although in his st year, managed up till quite recently to perform post office work for a few hours daily. from early boyhood up to his nd year, t. was engaged at shoemaking in this city; then he enlisted and served as gunner and driver in the royal horse artillery for three years. having obtained his discharge from the army, he acted as policeman on the great western railway for a few months. at the time of the crimean war, t. again enlisted, this time as a seaman and gunner in her majesty's navy. he was disabled in action and discharged with a life pension. for the next twenty-seven years he followed his former occupation of shoemaking and rounding, working for about twenty years for one firm in this city. when years of age, he first obtained employment in the post office, working for a few hours daily, and receiving s. per-week. he is a member of the crimean and indian veterans' association. a bristol post office benefit society was established in march, . it became the bristol letter carriers' sick benefit society in , and was carried on under that title up to when it ceased. early in the year of , the remains of the late thomas rutley, one of the oldest of bristol postmen, were interred at greenbank cemetery. about one hundred postmen, headed by the post office band, were in attendance to mark their sympathy, and respect to his memory. the rev. moffat logan conducted the service. such a mark of respect is not always accorded to deceased post office servants. the writer recollects on a bright summer day having attended the funeral at highgate cemetery of one of the oldest and most respected superintendents in the post office, london. the good man was so much liked by those who served under him that he had gained for himself the name of "honest john," yet there was only one other official besides the writer to stand by his graveside. the postmen have a military band, composed of thirty members of their own staff. the primary object is to advance the art of music in the post office, and, secondarily, to provide concerts in the open spaces in bristol for the benefit of the public. a grand concert is given by the band every year, which is usually attended by some , of the inhabitants, attracted chiefly by the popularity of the post office and by the fame of artistes so eminent as madame ella russell, madame fanny moody, mr. plunkett greene, and others, who have from time to time been engaged. the "d" company of the st volunteer battalion gloucester regiment is composed almost exclusively of members of the bristol post office. for three years in succession, ( - - ), this company won the first prize in the drill competition and also first prize and challenge vase in the volley firing competition. the company challenge bowl and first prize, and the brigadier's cup and third prize in the western district of england, were also won by the company during the same period. for many years the bristol post office has had two out of the nine representatives of the battalion competing for the queen's prize. the company has also been well represented in all the battalion and county shooting matches. of the eight battalion signallers, five are post office men, who have on several occasions held first place in the volunteer service annual examinations. the postmen of bristol maintain for the winter months two of the old veterans who are under the auspices of the crimean and indian mutiny veterans' association. mr. goodenough taylor, one of the proprietors of the _times and mirror_ newspaper, has kindly given a ten guinea challenge cup, to be raced for by bristol postmen who use bicycles in connection with their post office business of delivering and collecting letters. the cup has to be won three years, not necessarily in succession, before it becomes the postman's sole property. the terms under which the competition for the cup is held are as follows, viz.:--"competitors to be postmen of any age or rank; appointed, unestablished, auxiliary, or sub-postmaster's assistant, of not less than two years' service, who have never won a prize in public competition. competitors to be certified as having in the course of the preceding twelve months, under official sanction or direction, ridden miles in the execution of their official duties, or to and from the office when attending duty. the race to be a handicap race of two miles, to take place on the gloucestershire county ground or other enclosure during each year. the postmaster, assisted by experts in the post office service, to be the handicapper. the handicap to be framed on points of age, physical ability, and regard to be had to the weight or kind of bicycle to be used in competition." postman newman, of coalpit heath, was the winner this year ( ). the postmen have a library, consisting now of some volumes. it was started in . the writer made an appeal through the local press for gifts of books to form the nucleus of a library for the postmen and telegraph messengers attached to the bristol post office. this appeal was liberally and promptly responded to by the residents of bristol and clifton. warmest thanks are due to the newspaper proprietors for their kindness in inserting paragraphs relating to the subject, as, but for their powerful co-operation in the matter, the movement could not have been brought to a successful issue. a well-known literary gentleman at clifton gave eighty volumes, mr. harold lewis, b.a., showed his interest in the movement by the donation of copies; and mr. j. w. arrowsmith has frequently given fifty volumes at a time. the postmen themselves manage the library, and contribute small sums weekly towards its maintenance and further development. chapter xvi. post letter boxes: position, violation, peculiar uses. the three hundred and fifty pillar and wall letter boxes are placed at convenient points, regard being had to the wants of the immediate neighbourhood that each has to serve--to approach by paved crossings, to contiguity to a public lamp, to being out of the way of pedestrians and as far removed from mud-splashing as possible. at the same time, the inspectors endeavour to place the boxes so that they may be an attraction, rather than an eyesore, to the spot where erected. the sign of "the pillar box" has been given to a public-house before which a post office box stands. occasionally the post office letter boxes are greatly misused. some little time since a woman in bristol was savage enough to drop oil of vitriol, nitric acid, and other dangerous fluids into the boxes. she even poured paraffin into the letter box at a post office, and dropped an ignited match in after it. a conflagration was only averted by the fortunate circumstance of the postman clearing the box just in time to extinguish the commencing fire. the woman's determination is evidenced from the fact that her hands were severely burned by the strong acid she used; but, notwithstanding this, she continued night after night to carry on her dastardly work. she was found out after much anxious watching, and having, on trial, been found guilty, she was sentenced by a lenient judge to six months' imprisonment. she would assign no reason for her incomprehensible behaviour even when asked by the judge in court. not infrequently, mischievous children place lighted matches, rubbish, etc., in the post office letter boxes, and in the letter boxes of private houses and warehouses. the post office officials are always on the alert to discover the delinquents. it is desirable also that the public, in their own interests, should call the attention of postmen and the police at once to any case in which they may observe letter boxes being tampered with. it may not be generally known that offences of this kind are punishable by imprisonment under the post office protection act. a remarkable case was that of a servant who was a somnambulist, and who for some time wrote letters in her sleep, night after night, and took them to adjacent letter boxes to post. sometimes she was fully attired, and at other times only partially so. as a rule, the letters were properly addressed, but the girl did not always place postage stamps upon them. occasionally the postmen have to encounter the difficulties arising from a frost-bound letter box. such a case occurred with a box situated on the summit of the mendip hills. the letter box and the wall in which the box is built were found by the postman to be covered with ice, caused by rain and snow having frozen on them. the door resisted all his efforts to open it, and he had to leave it for the night. on making another effort when morning came, it taxed his ingenuity and that of other interested and willing helpers to get the box open. hot water was tried, paraffin was poured into the lock, and it was only after a hammer had been used and a fire in a movable grate had been applied for a time that the lid could be opened. a letter box erected in a brick pillar in a secluded spot on the east harptree road, about a mile distant from any habitation, was, late one night, damaged to the extent of having its iron door completely smashed off, apparently either by means of a large stone which lay at its base when the violation was discovered, or by means of a hammer and jemmy. although the adjacent ground, ditches, and hedges were searched, no trace of the iron door could be found. as three roysterers were known to have passed the box on the night in question, it was assumed that the damage was done by them out of pure mischief and not from any desire to rob her majesty's mails. whether such were the case or not, they had the unpleasant experience of being locked up over the sunday on suspicion. chapter xvii. rural district sub-postmasters. rural postmen. incidents. the bristol postal area is an extensive one, the distance from point to point being thirty miles, with width ranging from five to twelve miles. it is bounded on one side by the river severn, from a point about five miles below sharpness to a point close to portishead; thence the boundary stretches across country to the mendip hills, up to cheddar cliffs; then from a point four miles north-east of wells to newton-st.-loe, near bath; across the river avon, under lansdown, thence in a line by pucklechurch, iron acton, and thornbury across to the starting-point on the severn. the large rural area is for the greater part agricultural in character, but there are collieries and stone quarries in some few districts. at the bristol town and rural sub-post offices there are assistants of all kinds employed. many rural sub-postmasters act as postmen; in the main it is a healthy occupation, and proves a very good antidote to sedentary employment, although there are hardships to be borne, as the toil has to be undergone in all weathers--the scorching sun of summer, the pitiless cold of winter--in rain, hail, and snow. in connection with the early closing movement, at some of the outer post offices business is suspended at . on one day in the week--usually wednesday. in the suburban and rural districts there are sub-post offices, and of them are letter delivery offices, served by an aggregate number of postmen. of the districts, have two daily deliveries three, and four, with about a corresponding number of collections. the sorting clerks and telegraphists at head-quarters gain some sort of acquaintance with sub-postmasters through daily communication by mail bag and wire; also in the passage of reports and counter-reports; but occasionally people performing postal work throughout the extensive bristol district are brought into closer harmony and touch with each other by means of social functions, such as "outings" and bristol channel steamer trips, when town and country officials take their pastime in company, and the sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses of the somersetshire portion of the district get acquainted with those of the gloucestershire side, and all with the head office officials. by these means of friendly intercourse and interchange of kindly feeling, the service is much benefited. as an indication of this exchange of courtesy, the felicitations exchanged by telegram when the first annual trip by steamer to ilfracombe was taken ran thus:-- "from postmaster, bristol.--pleasant journey to you. long may sub-postmasterly friendship continue." "from sub-postmasters at ilfracombe.--telegram received. thanks for good wishes. have just drank your good health. pleasant trip. regret your absence extremely.--sub-postmasters." the bristol post office has only recently had electric light introduced, but the squire of east harptree had long before set the good example of progress by having the post office in his village illuminated by electricity. in the bristol area very many villages have their little counterpart of the huge combination shops in london, where the villager is enabled to procure everything that his modest income will allow him to purchase. it is at these village "whiteleys" that the post office is generally to be found, and a surveying officer may soon become well versed in the qualities of bacon, cheese, bread, flour, candles, and get a knowledge of rakes, prongs, and besoms, without much difficulty. in other instances no business except that of post office work is carried on. the picture of the sub-post office at cribbs causeway, five miles from bristol, may give our readers who are "in cities pent" an idea of a delightful place for the sale of postage stamps and postal orders and the distribution of letters. this unique post office has few houses anywhere near it, but it serves a large, albeit very sparsely populated, area. some of its interest rests in the fact that it was formerly the half-way inn on the once important highway from bristol to new passage, for the ferry over the severn into south wales. some of our elderly readers may probably recollect it as the stopping stage of the coaches which ran prior to the introduction of the railway system. the sub-post office, which stands on high ground, is held by two sisters, who went to it as a health resort from a farm in the low-lying severn marsh. they act as postwomen, and brisk exercise and the early morning dew has brought such roses to their cheeks as would be envied by their post office sisters whose fate it is to reside in smoke-begrimed regions. [illustration: cribbs causeway post office.] although some of the bristol district villages are situated at a long distance from town and remote from main roads, yet only one of the post offices presents the primitive condition of having a thatched roof. none of the rural postmen now avail themselves on their journeys of the services of that faithful creature, the donkey; but the last animal so used was on the road until , when its master, poor sims, the congresbury to shipham postman, shuffled off this mortal coil. times change, and our manners change with them; so also do our tests for gold coins. at the wrington post office there are brass testing weights, for sovereigns and half-sovereigns, inscribed "royal mint, ," such as have not been observed by the writer at any other post office, either in the bristol district or in london. a certain sub-postmistress in the district has for many years been in the habit of keeping her sheets of reserve postage stamps in a large family bible. not that she is irreverent--indeed, she is a pious woman,--but, being a lone widow, she has kept them in that manner for safety, as she imagines that no burglar would look for them in such a depository. [illustration: mr. edward biddle. (_sub-postmaster of rudgeway._) _photographed by mr. protheroe, narrow wine street, bristol, from an oil painting._] a notable man in his day was edward biddle, on the thornbury side of bristol. mr. biddle was sub-postmaster of rudgeway for over forty years, and occupied the post until his death in , at the ripe age of years, when he was succeeded by his daughter, and she, in turn, was succeeded by his son, william biddle, who still holds the appointment. prior to becoming sub-postmaster, mr. edward biddle was "pike" keeper at stone, and used to pay £ per annum for his post. there he had to open his gate to no fewer than twenty mail coaches daily, on their way between bristol and gloucester. at rudgeway he carried on the joint occupation of sub-postmaster and innkeeper, at a tavern where the post office business had been conducted for many years before he succeeded to it; but the innkeeping business had in course of time to be given up, under post office regulations. mr. elstone, of alveston house, wrote expressing his satisfaction that the post office was to be carried on at a private house, and not as previously at a "roadside pothouse," which all the district considered a very improper place. at that time john blann and other stage carriers drove their unwieldy waggons, drawn by four strong cart-horses at a walking pace, along the gloucester turnpike road. the waggons were indeed the goods trains of olden times. the present sub-postmaster, the son of edward biddle, who has had for many years to use "shanks's" pony in the delivery of letters, was engaged in olden times in going on horseback down to the passage to take, in saddlebags, the mails for south wales and receive them therefrom. as late as , letters from rudgeway for bristol were impressed with a stamp thus:-- bristol ja . by post. mr. james tiley, the village blacksmith of clutton, now an octogenarian, calls to mind that sixty years ago the letters for clutton, temple cloud, stowey, bishop sutton and adjacent districts were delivered from old down, a hamlet on the main coach road from bath to wells, distant from tyburn turnpike, london, miles. mr. tiley has had the luxury of paying d. for a letter brought from london by the above means; and as it was dear to him at the time, it is dear to him now in another sense as a reminiscence of the past. mr. tiley recalls the sending of letters of the district by waggoners to bristol or bath to save the postage, and slyly remarks: "so stupid were the waggoners that as often as not they brought the letters back again, having forgotten to--what post office people now term--'properly dispose of them.'" also that joseph tippett, a postman of the olden time, was brutally assaulted on stowey hill, and nearly lost his life and his letters. his assailants were discovered and were transported for life. the old down postman was timed to reach temple cloud bridge at . , and always blew horn or whistle to let the village schoolmaster know the time of day. during the bristol riots the arrival of the mail every morning was eagerly awaited by persons far and near, anxious to hear the latest news. so recently as the year , a postman had to trudge right away from bristol to the distant village of chew stoke, having to breast the steep hill of dundry and pass through chew magna on his way. all the letters and newspapers then delivered at bishopsworth, dundry, chew magna and chew stoke were carried by this man. now, with the introduction of the parcel post and a cheaper letter post, and consequently increased weight, the morning mail is carried in a mail cart, and that service is supplemented by two or three other despatches to chew magna and chew stoke by train _viâ_ pensford. the hamlets of breach hill, moreton and herons green were at that time unserved by the postman officially, and if delivered privately by him he charged for them at the rate of an extra penny each. the residents in those outlying districts who did not get their letters delivered in that way, and who did not call for them at the chew stoke post office, usually obtained them--two, three, or four days old--from the postman on sundays, who stationed himself at the church door to oblige such worshippers. some of the older country postmen say that in by-gone days the poor people, unable to read themselves, considered it part of a postman's duty to read their letters for them, and they looked for sympathy from the postmen in case of receipt of bad news. the chew stoke postman had a walk, in and out, of over twenty miles, and had to carry whatever load there was for the route. the pay attached to the post was small. this was in the good (?) days of not so long ago, but the postman who then had to take the journey is by no means anxious for a return to them, for now he receives double the amount of pay then allowed. he was out from five o'clock in the morning till seven or eight o'clock at night; but now he performs his eight hours' duty straight off, and has, therefore, more time at home for his private purposes. when, about eight years since, there was a deep fall of snow in this district, the west town postman, who is likewise sub-postmaster, very considerably added to his labours by carrying tea, sugar, medicine, and even bread to the people on the mendips, who were snowed up and deserted by baker, butcher, grocer, and indeed by everyone except the faithful queen's messenger. the floods of november, , which proved very disastrous in the west of england, interfered in no small degree with post office arrangements in the rural districts around bristol. in some villages the roads were submerged from three to four feet, and it was impossible for the public to get to the letter boxes, the postmen and postwomen being, perhaps, the greatest sufferers. in order to avoid flooded roads, it was necessary to change routes and make long detours. many postmen were compelled to wade through the water waist deep, whilst others had to be driven through in horse and cart. the inhabitants and farmers in many places kindly lent their horses and carts for the purpose, and but for these kindnesses the letters would have been delayed for many hours. in spite of all difficulties, the letters were generally delivered without much delay, and only in a few cases had the letters to be held over for any length of time until the waters had subsided. [illustration: letter box at winterbourne.] a tit made her nest in the bottom of a post office letter box at winterbourne, near bristol, laid her eggs, and notwithstanding that letters were posted in the box and that the box was cleared by the postman everyday, the bird tenaciously held to her nest and brought up five young tits, two of which perished in their attempts to get out of the box by means of the small posting aperture through which their mother had squeezed so frequently, carrying with her all the materials for the nest. the three survivors flew off one day when the door of the box was purposely left open for a time by the obliging postman portrayed in the picture. that all is not gold that glitters has been recently brought home to three or four of the sub-postmasters in the bristol district, a "sharper" having presented coins gilded to represent sovereigns and half-sovereigns, and obtained postal orders in exchange for them. through the vigilance of the bristol police the offender was eventually taken into custody, and, having been sentenced at the assizes to six months' imprisonment, he had plenty of time to reflect on his offences. a bright, shining new farthing was received at the bristol head office, sent inadvertently in a remittance from a sub-office as a half-sovereign, and mixed up with coins of that value, only to be detected, however, by the vigilant check clerk. the sub-postmaster who accepted it in error for a coin of more precious metal, and did not discover the mistake even in preparing the remittance, had to bear the loss. one sub-postmaster, who has now departed this life, was wont to furnish his explanations and reports in rhyme, a course which was tolerated on account of its singularity and of the writer's zeal and known devotion to his duty. the following is an example:-- to the postmaster of bristol: "i willingly answer the question respecting the length of the track from shirehampton p.o. to kingsweston house front door, or lodge at the back; but respecting the relative merits of back door, or door at the front, as delivery door, i aver it's a question i cannot but shunt. to return to the question of distance: suppose that the birds of the air, sworn in as post office assistants, to kingsweston would messages bear: as straight through their skiey dominions they flew from front door to front door, the length of the track of their pinions in yards would be . when a featherless biped is bearer, and through the lone woods his path picks, the feet of this weary wayfarer cover yards quite . should the wight have a key, there's a second way thro' the sunk fence's locked gate, and then his poor feet must be reckoned to make yards . as regards the back door, i pass by it; the back lodge itself is much less than a mile, howsomdever you try it, by shirehampton post office express. i do not pretend to correctness, to one yard or even a dozen; no need for extreme circumspectness, the margin's too ample to cozen. i'm obliged by your flattering reference, and when you've another dispute on, i shall still be, with all proper deference, your obedient servant,--g. newton." the turnpike gates in the neighbourhood of bristol were abolished in october, , and the consequence was that the proprietors of the various omnibuses by which day mail bags were conveyed to and from several of the districts around bristol applied for, and obtained, a money payment in lieu of the tolls, the exemption, from which had formed the sole remuneration for the services performed. the bristol mail carts running to the rural districts, by permission of the post office, carry for the newspaper proprietors bundles of papers, weighing on an average on ordinary days lbs., and on saturdays lbs. the enterprise of the bristol newspaper proprietors in circulating by private means the many thousands of the newspapers which they daily print is evidenced, from the circumstance that they find it necessary to commit to the agency of the post office only about copies for distribution, and that chiefly in remote rural districts. sub-postmasters in the rural districts of bristol attain to great ages. the sub-postmaster of mangotsfield, who had long since passed three-score years and ten, had his cross to bear, having at entirely lost his eyesight. although blind, and unable to work in consequence, he quaintly appeared in his apron to the end, and said that having worn it for so many years he did not feel happy without it. a daughter acted as his deputy, and mitigated, as far as possible, his hard lot. at his funeral some hundreds of people, representing various religious and other bodies, attended to pay their last tribute of respect to him. at bitton, a village midway between bristol and bath, there died sub-postmaster james brewer, in the th year of his age, and in the fifty-seventh year of his post office service. it was more pleasant to enter this post office and find the old man calmly smoking his churchwarden pipe before the fire, cheery and chatty, than to have such a welcome as that afforded at another office by the exhibition on the post office counter of a miniature coffin and artificial wreaths for graves. another worthy of local post office fame has lately passed away in the person of join warburton, aged , who for thirty years was the sub-postmaster of henbury, and who for five years was his daughter's adviser after her succession to the appointment. the sub-postmaster of the village of high littleton lost an arm some fifty years ago, but notwithstanding that affliction he manages with adroitness to sell postage stamps and issue postal orders to the public. this will not be considered a very great feat, considering that he has been for years a crack one-handed shot, and even now, at the age of , can bowl over a pheasant or a rabbit quite as readily as many of our sportsmen who have the use of both arms. sub-postmistresses of great longevity are also to be found. one dame (martha pike), now in her rd year, represented the department until quite recently in the charming little village of wraxall. when nearly years old she had a three hour letter round every morning up hill and down dale, and she even trudged a mile and a half to fetch a letter and parcel mail from the railway station. the sub-postmistress of stoke bishop died at the age of ; she and her father had held the post office in the village for over fifty years. an equally remarkable case was that of hannah vowles, the sub-postmistress of frenchay, who, after performing the active duties of that position in the village of frenchay for forty-seven years, resigned when within five years of years old. in her youth she lived for some time in the west indies; but she gave up her employment there in order to return home to support her mother, who was years of age when she died. mrs. hannah was succeeded in the office of sub-postmistress by miss kate vowdes, a relation, who had already been postwoman in the same district forty-two years! [illustration: hannah brewer. (_postwoman._)] hannah brewer is one of the bristol post office worthies. her father was the sub-postmaster of the village of bitton alluded to herein. hannah commenced to deliver letters in the hamlets and at the farmhouses near bitton when a mere child, and continued to do so during all the years our gracious sovereign has sat on the throne. recently, however, she had to give up the work, as, having attained the advanced age of years and walked her quarter of a million of miles, she felt that she ought to take life more easily than hitherto. in distance her round was eleven miles daily, and the route was a very trying one on account of the steep hills she had to traverse, and of great exposure to the sun in summer, and to the wind, frost, and snow in winter. it may be interesting to record that hannah brewer, although she had to serve a district sparsely populated, was never robbed, stopped, nor molested in any way. she was the recipient of the first official waterproof clothing issued to postwomen in england, and in her picture she is represented as wearing it. she only occasionally made visits even to places so near as bath or bristol, and was, as a rule, a stay at home. she was not a great reader of the newspapers, but persons on her round looked to her as an oracle, and derived information from her as to passing events. hannah naively says that, as regards christmas boxes, she fared very well in olden times, but they were not so plentiful in her later years. hannah, through her devotion to her father when he was alive, and through her assiduous attention to her duties as a humble servant of the crown, had gained the respect of all those who knew her, both in her native village and on the long round she daily had to traverse. as she served the post office throughout her long life (her memory carrying her back to the days when the letters reached bitton by mail coach and a "single" letter from london cost d.), it is gratifying that in her old age, when unable to continue to do her daily round, the lords of the treasury, under her exceptional circumstances, granted her half-pay pension, a sum which, with her savings, will serve to maintain her until the end of her days. the writer has had few more pleasurable duties than that which he undertook of presenting hannah, in her neat and trim cottage, with her first pension warrant. at the celebration of the queen's diamond jubilee in the village, the opportunity was taken, in the midst of the festivities, to make a presentation of an elegant marble clock and purse to miss brewer. the inscription ran: "presented during her majesty's diamond jubilee, together with a purse of money, by the inhabitants of the postal district of bitton, gloucestershire, to miss hannah brewer, postwoman, upon her retirement, having served this office from the commencement of queen victoria's reign." even post office surveyors are sometimes the subject of little jokes on the part of their subordinates. an assistant surveyor, when testing a rural postman's walk, said that if he had arranged the round originally, he should have taken a shortcut across the fields to a certain little hamlet so as to serve it before instead of after a more distant place, when the postman drily said that he should not have done anything of the kind, as there was a rhine about ft. wide and very deep, which could not well be got over or through, and, turning to the surveyor, he remarked: "evidently you never were a postman." the humour of this incident lies in the fact that the surveyors have always been drawn from the élite of the service. a certain imperious surveyor visited a sub-office for the purpose of reprimanding the sub-postmaster for some delinquency, and after soundly rating the individual he addressed, and refusing to hear a single word in explanation, he, when his harangue was over, was coolly informed that he had made a slight mistake, as the circumstance referred to another sub-office altogether. on a certain occasion recently, on entering a post office the writer heard proceeding from a back room a voice, recognisable as that of the sub-postmaster, shouting out a greeting in his (the writer's) christian name: "come in, robert." well, the sub-postmaster thought he saw through the partly-curtained glass in the door a friend of that name, and meant no disrespect to his surveyor-postmaster. on calling at another little post office on a saturday, the aged sub-postmistress was washing her stone floor--down on her knees in business-like attitude. without looking up, her greeting to the writer was: "halloa! i thought you had been to jericho. you have not been to see me for such a long time!" that salutation was rather embarrassing; but on getting to the perpendicular the old lady was the confused party, as she had thought her visitor was a local resident who occasionally looked in to have a cheery word with her. it would seem that postal improvements in the bristol district have been carried almost as far as is needful; indeed, in one district, not seven miles from the city, contemplated improvements whereby letters would be delivered an hour earlier in the morning and might be posted two hours later at night, and a day mail in and out be afforded, were declined by the parish authorities in council and by memorial from the villagers generally. in this rural hollow the people are very clannish, and rather than let their postwoman suffer a loss of two shillings a week, which the change involved, they were content to forego improved postal facilities, and were not greatly stirred by the "lasinesse of posts" as, according to history, was king james of old. while bristol is ever expanding and while splendid buildings are being erected, there are not wanting places within a short distance of the ancient city where there are signs of decadence, as indicated by houses unoccupied and cottages in ruins, and by shrinkage in the number of letters. at stanton drew, where some thirty large stones alone remain to mark a site where there probably stood a splendid druidical temple, the postal arrangements a few years since were not in a satisfactory condition. not unlike the story which has recently been going the round of the newspapers, that a sub-postmaster of an oxfordshire village fixed this notice up: "have gone fishing. will be back in time to sell stamps," the sub-postmistress of this somersetshire hamlet went away for days without putting up any notice whatever, and left her son to supply the inhabitants with postage stamps when he got home in the evening from his work as an agricultural labourer. still, people did not complain, so that they may be regarded as accessories to the sub-postmistress's delinquencies. there was, however, a postal super-session in that village! there is still in the rural service a postman who labours under the disabilities of having only one arm and of being unable to read or write. he has not a very extensive delivery, and so his pockets are made to do duty in the place of the faculty of reading. the left breast pocket indicates that letters placed in it are for cliff farm, those in the right breast pocket for rush hill farm, several other pockets serving in like manner. from very old official books sent into store on the change of holders of sub-offices, it is noticeable that the writing of fifty years ago was much superior to that of the present day, indicating that sub-postmasters of olden time either took more interest in caligraphy than their successors, or possibly had more leisure in which to make the necessary entries than is afforded in the present period of high pressure. 'tis strange that it was so, as at the time the steel pen had not ousted the quill. even so short a time as forty years since a new intrant to the post office, hailing from the emerald isle, had, like all other new-comers, to enter his name and address in the order book on his first introduction to st. martin's-le-grand. a steel pen was handed to him, with which he dallied for a time, and when asked why he did not proceed, said: "sure, i was waiting for a feather." the institution for the care of consumption started in this country, and known as nordrach-upon-mendip, is in the bristol postal district at one of its most distant points on the range of the mendip hills, at an altitude of feet above sea level. it has already played an important part as regards the bristol post office, inasmuch as a consumptive telegraph clerk has benefited considerably from the new treatment, and has indeed left the institution as cured. it is not generally known that until recently there existed a small convalescent home on the mendips, but "cosy corner," founded and maintained by sir edward hill, k.c.b., stood there as such, and it served a good part as regards a postal servant. a postman employed at the bristol railway station as mail porter, who had suffered from a serious attack of typhoid fever, and who had been verily at death's door, passed several weeks at this rural retreat, and derived such benefit from the kind treatment he received and from the bracing air of the district that he quite recovered from his ailment and is now in robust health. "cosy corner" has now been affiliated to nordrach-upon-mendip. the rule of the service is that coins, postage stamps, and other articles of value picked up in a sorting office are regarded as treasure trove and have to be handed over to the authorities for disposal; but a letter carrier's round can hardly be regarded in the light of a post office, and so a postman of the thornbury district who at aust cliff, picked up a well-preserved bronze coin with the image and superscription of claudius cæsar (a.d. - ) did not consider himself called upon to give it up to the sub-postmaster, but disposed of it for the sum of s. d. the purchaser presented it to the leicester museum. tradition hath it that miss hannah more, the celebrated authoress and philanthropist, when residing ( ) at wrington, near bristol, in the churchyard of which place her remains now repose, made an arrangement with the postman of the period whereby on passing along the road near her residence he was to signal to her when any event of importance had occurred. her sitting and bedroom windows commanded a view of the walk near which the postman had to pass, so that she could see him coming, and she always hurried down to the wicket-gate in readiness to meet him when he put up his flag. a son of the postman, now alive, remembers well that his father told him that he had given the signal on the death of queen, caroline. it was outside the postman's function, to wave the red flag with which mistress hannah, had provided him, but post office matters were not carried on so strictly in those days as under the present regime. the wrington postman obtained the news about important passing events from the mail-man who rode through the village on his way from bristol to axbridge. george vowles, who died twenty-six years ago, at the ripe age of years, was the mail-man who conveyed to the villages on his way the news of the battle of waterloo, brought down from london by the mail coach, which had been decorated with laurels and flowers in honour of the great event. chapter xviii. general free delivery of letters. no stone has been left unturned in the endeavour to afford a free delivery of letters at the door of every house in the district; and at last all houses and cottages, even in the remotest localities, have been reached, and the woodman, the gamekeeper, and the lone cottager now receive a daily visit from the postman. in visiting out of the way places of the kind with a view to arranging a delivery, the surveyor has to look out for dogs. a certain warren house in this district affords a typical case. it is far from the ordinary haunts of man, and was without an official delivery on account of its extreme inaccessibility. the approach is through a deep gorge, known as goblin combe, and the path to the house is precipitous. the gamekeeper residing there had to send to a farmhouse a mile and a quarter distant for his letters, which the obliging farmer had consented to take in for him. the attempts of the staff to arrange a method of delivery by postmen had long been baffled. at the time when the writer went to view the place there was a rumour in the neighbourhood that, owing to serious depredations by poachers, fierce dogs roamed the enclosed warren; and on passing out on to the warren from the wood corner, there was observed standing on a wall near the house what in the distance and misty morn, appeared to be a large bloodhound, and so the advance had to be made warily. the attendant rural postman was armed with a riding whip, on which his grip tightened, for he had already been four times bitten by dogs, as the scars on his hand testified, and he desired to guard himself against another attack. at last, as the place was neared, the object of distrust was found to be--a large goat! another out-of-the-way place in the same neighbourhood, also unserved by the postman, was a woodman's house in a dense wood, which, with its bowling-green, is said once to have been used by "bristol bloods" of old time as a safe retreat where they could indulge in a little business connected with the prize ring and cock fighting. that the duke of norfolk's liberal policy in her majesty's diamond jubilee year has proved a boon and a blessing to many residents in isolated spots is indicated, for instance, by what a poor woman living in a wild district stated. she had recently to trudge the whole way from her house to bristol, a distance of eight miles out and eight miles back, while a letter which would have obviated her journey had been lying undelivered for days at a post office only two miles off. blaize castle, which is within four miles of the head post office, was singularly enough almost the last habitation in the bristol district which was granted a free delivery of letters daily, for until the postman in his official capacity had never penetrated to that rock-elevated and remote part of the blaize woods where the castle stands. that reproach to the bristol district has now been removed, and the custodians of the castle have obtained their rights as citizens of the great kingdom in having their letters delivered at the door daily by the postmaster-general's representative. it was a difficult matter to find out all the houses at which the postman did not call, and this particular castle, which is now only occupied by caretakers, was not notified by the rural postman, as the occupiers had signified to him that they did not care for a delivery and were quite satisfied if the letters were left in the village till called for. the circumstance may be of interest to bristolians, from the fact that blaize castle is spoken of by many but is seen by very few. its flagstaff is visible from some little distance, but the castle itself can scarcely be discerned through its wooded surroundings, even from the far-famed arbutus walk, which is separated from it by a deep gorge. the castle is situated on a lofty plateau in the midst of the large woods. close to it is a sheer perpendicular rock, three hundred feet high, known as "the giant's leap." the castle is said to have derived its name from st. blaisius, the spanish patron of wool-combers, to whom a chapel was dedicated on a hill in the grounds where the castle now stands, and where there was once a roman encampment. the interest attaching to this castle is enhanced from a postal point of view by the circumstance that the son of the lady who owns the property married a daughter of the late postmaster-general, the right hon. h. c. raikes. mr. raikes was one of the hardest working of postmasters-general. so diligent indeed was he, that almost nightly, when the house of commons was sitting, the right hon. gentleman, after all other members had gone home, retired to his official room and went through the papers which had been sent up from the post office for his consideration. so absorbed would he become in the documents, which he read carefully through from end to end, so that he might judge from his own standpoint and not from that of his official advisers, that he would sit well into the small hours of the morning, whilst that patient and most obliging of officials, the postmaster of the house, mr. pike, kept weary vigil, waiting to take the despatch-bag to the post office in the city before he went home to his well-earned rest. mr. raikes's invariably clear and even writing betokened that, long past the hour for bed as the time might be, he never had any idea of doing his work in a hurry. he was probably known to many of the citizens of bristol, through his frequent visits to a mansion on the westbury side of the downs. chapter xix. local returned letter office. the bristol post office has its returned letter branch, with which almost all the towns in the west of england, and south wales are affiliated for "dead letter" work. through its agency over a million letters and postal packets are returned to senders annually. book packets and circulars form per cent. of the total number, and of these only per cent. can be restored to the persons who posted them. over , letters containing property are recorded in the ledgers, and they represent a total value in cash, bank-notes, bills, cheques, postage stamps, etc., of about £ , per annum, nearly the whole of which reaches the hands of the senders. about letters containing money orders, and , letters containing value, compulsorily registered, are returned in the course of the year. amongst the curiosities of returned letter office experience may be mentioned the following. a letter was received thus peculiarly addressed:--"miss ----, , pleasant view, in that beautiful city which charms even eyes familiar with the masterpieces of bramanto and palladio, and which the genius of anstey and of smollett, of frances burney and of jane austen has made classic ground." the pundits in the returned letter office who deal with derelict letters properly divined that the place so glowingly described was bath, and issuing the letter accordingly, it was duly delivered in the fair city. a packet was received simply addressed "post office, bristol, to be called for." the contents were an army reserve man's discharge papers and pension application forms. the application bore evidence that it referred to lichfield, and the packet was accordingly sent to that military depôt. two or three days afterwards an old soldier called at the bristol office for his letter, and could not possibly understand why it had been opened in the returned letter branch, and the contents sent to lichfield. his fury was unbounded, and he consigned all and sundry to hades. his papers were soon obtained for him from lichfield, and his gratitude at getting them, was as effusively manifested as his disappointment had been in not finding the papers awaiting him on first application. his thanks were conveyed in the following terse communication:-- "dear boss,--a thousand pardons, everything comes right to those who wait. patience is a virtue. "obt servt, w. h. ----." "sir," wrote a bristol citizen on a postcard, "i have lost a ingine off gine oneing to the delay of a post care wich mr. ---- send of wine ts plaa to ingury and abould youre turly i ----, , ---- lane rielence bristol." it was not at first apparent what the writer of the card actually required, but by degrees it was made out that what he meant was:--"i have lost an engagement of guineas owing to the delay of a postcard which mr. ---- sent, of wine street. please to enquire and oblige, yours truly, i. ----, , ---- lane, residence, bristol." danger lurks in unexpected places, even for post office cleaners. packages which have remained in the returned letter office for the prescribed period have to be destroyed from time to time. sometimes they contain chemicals. it chanced that at bristol one of the charwomen, when pouring out hot water into a large waste bucket, was startled by the emission from the bucket of a fierce, bright, flame which badly burned her hand and caused her no small fright. the flame lasted for a minute. the fumes were overpowering, and unpleasantly pervaded the whole telegraph gallery above. upon investigation, it appeared that another charwoman who had been instructed to "dispose" of a bottle of sodium amalgam, had carelessly emptied it into the waste bucket with the startling result narrated. * * * * * the post office is ever progressing, and in course of time there will be further particulars for a future writer to relate concerning the "bristol royal mail." the end * * * * * * * * * * transcriber's note: discovered publisher's punctuation errors have been corrected. in addition, the following spelling errors have been corrected: p. : th instant intead[instead] of on the first of the month. the p. : in the chair, the post office is again roproved[reproved] p. : about , letters. birminghan[birmingham] comes next in p. : spoken of the disclipine[discipline] and training telegraph p. : office, hailng[hailing] from the emerald isle, had, like all p. : pension or gratuity is given. the apppointment[appointment] p. : post office now was was[delete second 'was'] the centre of p. : not [been] offered, would most likely have been sent * * * * * [illustration: barlow cumberland] a century of sail and steam on the niagara river by barlow cumberland toronto: the musson book company limited copyrighted in canada publishers' note. although the book is published about two months after the author's death, it will be gratifying to many readers to know that all the final proofs were passed by mr. cumberland himself. therefore the volume in detail has the author's complete sanction. we have added to the illustrations a portrait of the author. foreword. this narrative is not, nor does it purport to be one of general navigation upon lake ontario, but solely of the vessels and steamers which plyed during its century to the ports of the niagara river, and particularly of the rise of the niagara navigation co., to which it is largely devoted. considerable detail has, however been given to the history of the steamers "frontenac" and "ontario" because the latter has hitherto been reported to have been the first to be launched, and the credit of being the first to introduce steam navigation upon lake ontario has erroneously been given to the american shipping. successive eras of trading on the river tell of strenuous competitions. sail is overpassed by steam. the new method of propulsion wins for this water route the supremacy of passenger travel, rising to a splendid climax when the application of steam to transportation on land and the introduction of railways brought such decadence to the river that all its steamers but one had disappeared. the transfer of the second "city of toronto" and of steamboating investment from the niagara river to the undeveloped routes of the upper lakes leads to a diversion of the narration as bringing the initiation of another era on the niagara river and explaining how the steamer, which formed its centre, came to be brought to the river service. the closing years of the century form the era of the niagara navigation co., in which the period of decadence was converted into one of intense activity and splendid success. our steam boating coterie had been promised by mr. chas. gildersleeve, general manager of the richelieu & ontario navigation co., that he would write up the navigation history of the lake ontario and st. lawrence river sections upon which he and his forbears had been foremost leaders. unfortunately he passed away somewhat suddenly, before being able to do this, and they pressed upon me to produce the niagara section which had been alloted to myself. the narration has been completed during the intervals between serious illness and is sent out in fulfilment of a promise, but yet in hope that it may be found acceptable to transportation men and with its local historical notes interesting to the travelling public. thanks are given to mr. j. ross robertson, for the reproduction of some cuts of early steamers, and particularly to mr. frederick j. shepard, of the buffalo public library, who has been invaluable in tracing up and confirming data in the united states. dr. a. g. dougaty, c.m.g., archivist of canada, mr. frank severance, of the buffalo historical society, and mr. locke, public librarian, toronto, have been good enough to give much assistance which is warmly acknowledged. barlow cumberland. dunain, port hope. a century of sail and steam on the niagara river. chap. i.--the first eras of canoe and sail chap. ii.--the first steamboats on the river and lake ontario chap. iii.--more steamboats and early water routes. the river the centre of through travel east and west. chap. iv.--expansion and decline of traffic on the river. a final flash, and a move to the north chap. v.--on the upper lakes with the wolseley expedition and lord dufferin chap. vi.--a novel idea and a new venture. buffalo in sailing ship days. a risky passage chap. vii.--down through the welland. the miseries of horse-towing times. port dalhousie and a lake veteran. the problem solved. toronto at last chap. viii.--the niagara portal. old times and old names at newark and niagara. a winter of changes. a new rivalry begun chap. ix.--the first season of the niagara navigation company. a hot competition. steamboat manoeuvres chap. x.--change partners rate-cutting and racing. hanlan and toronto waterside. passenger limitation introduced chap. xi.--niagara camps formed. more changes and competition. beginnings of railroads in new york state. early passenger men and ways chap. xii.--first railways to lewiston. expansion required. the renown of the let-her-b. a critic of plimsoll chap. xiii.--winter and whisky in scotland. rail arrives at lewiston dock. how _cibola_ got her name. on the u. e. loyalist route. _ongiara_ added chap. xiv.--running the blockade on the let-her-b. as told by her captain-owner chap. xv.--the canadian electric railway to queenston. an old portage route revived. the trek to the western states. _chippewa_ arrives. railway chief chap. xvi.--_cibola_ goes, _corona_ comes. the gorge electric railway opens to lewiston. how the falls cut their way back through the rocks. royal visitors. the decisiveness of israel tarte. chap. xvii.--_cayuga_ adds her name. niagara and hamilton rejoined. ice jams on the river. the niagara ferry completed. once more the united management from "niagara to the sea" index. a. _accommodation_, steamer advertising, n. y. c. _alaska_, s.s. _alberta_, steamer albany northern railroad _alciope_, steamer _algoma_, steamer , , algoma, qualifications of electors american civil war american colonists under james ii american constitution compared american express line american prisoners from queenston heights _arabian_, steamer _armenia_, steamer _asia_, steamer _assiniboia_, steamer b. barre, chevalier de la barrie, r. n., commodore , baldwin, dr. bankruptcy of steamers on river _bay state_, steamer , baxter, alderman john beatty, jas, jr., mayor bell, mr. david benson, judge benson, capt blockade-running bolton, col. r. e. book tickets introduced boswell, a. r bouchette, commodore bowes, mayor j. g. boynton, capt. george b. brampton, mills _britannia_, steamer brock, general , , brock's monument, imitation of _brooklyn_, steamer bruce mines buffalo & niagara falls railroad buffalo dry dock co. buffalo in sailing days buffalo & niagara falls _burlington_, steamer butler, col. butlersberg begun c. callaway, w. r. _caldwell_, warships _caledonia_, schooner caledonian society caledonian s. s. co. _canada_, steamer , canadian through line canadian constitution compared canada coasting law suspended canada railway news co. canadian pacific railway terminals _campana_, steamer campbell, capt. alexander, selects queenston portage _captain conn's coffin_, schooner captain, position of, high importance cannochan, miss janet _cataract_, steamer , cayuga creek cayuga, ways of spelling _cayuga_, steamer, launched, speed trials century, the close of a _campion_, steamer charleston, s. c. charles ii. adventurers _chicora_, steamer-- with woolesly history name renown _chicora_, steamer, decision to build partner _chief justice robinson_, steamer , , chief deseronto chief brant chippawa river _chippewa, steamer_-- name launched _cibola_, steamer-- burned built history of name _city of toronto_, st steamer _city of toronto_, nd steamer rebuilt as algoma transferred to upper lakes _city of toronto_, rd steamer goes ashore burned _clermont_, steamer collingwood-lake superior line _columba_, steamer _commodore barrie_, steamer connaught, h.r.h. duke of conn, capt. _corona_, steamer-- named launched cornell, mr. george , cross raised at fort niagara cross raised at quebec by cartier cumberland, col. f. w., m.p. , , , , , cumberland, barlow-- , , , , cumberland, mrs. seraphina cumberland, miss mildred-- , cumberland, miss constance _cumberland_, steamer currie, james c. neil d. daniels, geo. h. dawson road , dennis, joseph , denison, lt.-col. robert denonville, marquis de demary, j. g. dick, capt. thomas , dick, capt. jas. doctors prescribe niagara line docks purchased-- queenston youngstown niagara-on-lake lewiston toronto dongan, col. thomas donaldson, capt. william don francesco de chicora dorchester, lord dorchester, lady _dove_, schooner _dragon_, h. m. s. dufferin, lord tour through upper lakes dufferin, countess of _duke of richmond_, packet duke and duchess of york dunbarton, scotland e. early steamer routes and rates , , , , , early passenger schedules-- albany and bugalo early passenger agents early closing movement eckford, david electrical traction, infancy of _emerald_, steamer _empress of india_, steamer-- , engineer corps of u. s. a. erie canal , erie & ontario railway ernestown esquesing, mills estes, capt. andrew evolution of the niagara gorge exclusive rights for navigation by steam excursion, queen's birthday expansion of niagara navigation co. exposition, buffalo f. fast time to niagara - _filgate_, steamer finkle's point , , first vessel on lake erie first navies on lake ontario first company to build steamer for lake ontario first steamer on lake u & first steamer on hudson river first steamer on st. lawrence first steamer on lake ontario first steamers on lake ontario, dimensions of first board of directors n. n. co. first steamer to run the rapids first niagara camp first twin-screw steamer on upper lakes first canoe route to upper lakes , first name of niagara first iron steamers first railroads in new york state first sleeping cars first electric railway to niagara river first u. e. loyalists first suspension bridge over niagara flour rates ( ) to new york flour via lewiston to montreal folger, mr. b. w. fort william fort garry fort george , fort york--toronto fort missasauga fort niagara, contests for possession of fort niagara-- established by french evacuated captured by british never captured americans formalities on early steamers four track series foy, hon. j. j. , foy, john , , , foy, mr. a. foy, miss clara french river , french pioneers, trail of french encompass british friendly hand excursions frontenac, count _frontenac_, steamer, commenced , , frontenac lake frontier house, lewiston fulton, robert g. gallinee, pere gibraltar, point gilbert, abner gildersleeve family record gildersleeve, h. _gildersleeve_, steamer gilkison, robert , glasgow, winter in gordon, l. b., purser peerless , _gore_, steamer gorge electric railway _governor simcoe_, schooner grand trunk railway, opened _great britain_, steamer great western railway , great trek to western states _griffon_, sloop , grimsby gunn, j. w. gzowski, mr. casimir h. hall, capt. hamilton, hon. robert , , hamilton, hon. john , hamilton steamboat co. purchased hanlan, edward, reception of harbottle, capt. thomas , harbour regulations, toronto, - _hastings_, steamer hayter, mr. ross head of navigation portages hendrie, geo. h. hendrie, hon. j. s. hendrie, william hennepin, father heron, capt. _highlander_, steamer historical society, buffalo horse canalling through welland hudson river railroad hudson's bay fort i. ice jams on river - irea, a novel immigrants by chippawa river indiana excursions interest, points of iroquois cap irwin, c. w. isle royale , israel tarte's decisiveness j. _j. t. robb_, tug _jean baptiste_, steamer johnson, sir william , jonquiere k. kaministiqua river _kathleen_, steamer kendrick, mr. d. m. kent, h. r. h. duke of kerr, capt. robert , kingston gazette kingston dockyard kirby, mr. frank l. la salle _lady dorchester_, schooner _lady washington_, schooner _lahn_, s.s. lake superior lake ontario steamboat co. lake nipissing leach, capt. thomas , , leach, alexander , legislature, provincial lewiston , , lewiston, railway development liancourt, duke de ligneris limitation of passengers - _limnale_, warship livingston long point bay _lord of the isles_, steamer lunt, mr. r. c. , , , lusher m. mackinac macdonald, bruce macklem, oliver t. _magnet_, steamer _maid of the mist_, steamer maitland, lady maitland, sir peregrine mallahy, u. s. n. capt. francis manchester manitoulin island manson, capt. william , , _maple leaf_, steamer marine dept., united states marine insurance anomalies mariner, an ancient marks, thomas _martha ogden_, steamer , , matthews, w. d. maude, john _maxwell_, steamer _mayflower_, steamer mcbride, r. h. , , mccorquodale, capt. , , mcgiffin, capt. , mckenzie, r.n. capt. james , mclean, capt. mclure, general, retreats from newark mcnab, capt. meeker, mr. c. b. mellish, john milloy, capt. duncan , milloy, n. & co. milloy estate, arrangements with milloy, donald , , milloy, capt. wm. assumes control _minerva_, packet missassag river mississippi river _mohawk_, sloop _moira_, warship molson, hon. john monett, mr. henry moore, george, chief engineer morton, mr. robert mowats dock murdock, william muir's dry dock muir, mr. w. k. muir, capt. d. mull, y. cantire murney, captain murphy, steve myers, capt. n. names for steamers, why chosen , , , , navigation, upper lakes, permitive navy hall , nepigon river newark seat of government, burned by americans, rises from ashes , new orleans _new era_, steamer new york central railway , , , new york to buffalo in niagara river, gateway of west - niagara river steamers in _niagara_, steamer , niagara navigation co.-- formed first directors - niagara dock co. niagara falls & ontario railway niagara escarpment, view from , niagara-on-the-lake niagara portal niagara-on-lake, changes in name niagara river line niagara dock niagara historical society niagara line, final supremacy niagara falls & ontario r. k. niagara river navigation co., u. s. a. niagara falls park and river railway niagara to the sea - niles weekly register , north-west company _northerner_, steamer notable day ( ) on river notable passages to niagara o. oakville, mills oakville church oates, commander edward observation cars ogdensburgh ohio river onandaga salt wells _ongiara_, steamer _ontario_, steamer-- commenced launched , , ontario steamboat co. , _orion_, schooner orr, capt. james c. osler, mr. e. b. , , osler, f. gordon osler, miss niary oskwego lake _ottawa_, steamer ottawa river _ozone_, steamer p. _pandora_, schooner parry sound , parry, w. h. _passport_, steamer _peerless_, steamer pellatt, c.v.o., sir henry penobscot, maine phelan, t. p. pioneers of france plimsoll's legislation point aux pins point ahina pollard, capt. & adjt. port dalhousie , port colborne , port credit, mills port arthur pouchot _powhatan_, warship, u. s. _prince edward_, sloop prince arthur's landing origin of name prince arthur of connaught presquile , puchot, capt. q. quebec quebec gazette queenston heights queenston heights, battle of _queenston_, steamer , , _queen victoria_, steamer , queen anne, communion service queen victoria niagara park _queen charlotte_, steamer _queen city_, steamer quinte, bay of r. racing, protest against rainy river rankin, blackmore & co. rathbun, e. w. , _red jacket_, steamer red river _reindeer_, schooner richards, mr. e. j. richardson, capt. james richardson, capt. hugh , richardson, capt. hugh, jr. riel rebellion _rochester_, steamer _rothsay castle_, steamer _rothesay_, steamer , , rouge river route hudson bay & north-west co. royal mail line , ruggles, a. w. running the blockade on the "let her b" _rupert_, steamer russell, governor s. sackett's harbour sailing era closed salter, rev. g. sault canal scott, general winfield second canoe route to upper lakes _seneca_, warship _shickluna_, steamer shipbuilding at niagara - _simcoe_, sloop simcoe, lieut.-gov. , sinclair, capt. james six nation indians smith, hon. frank, afterward sir , , , , smyth, charles , solmes, w. h., capt. sorel _southern belle_, steamer , _speedy_, schooner st. clair lake , st. louis _st. nicholas_, steamer st. catharines , , st. catharines & toronto line stages to lewiston , steamboating era begins stoney point sutherland, capt. j. sullivan, j. m. sydenham, lord, gov.-genl. t. teabout & chapman , tea in canada the old portage through the last lock , thunder bay tillingharst, mr. tinning's wharf _toronto_, schooner toronto citizens given to water sports toronto field battery tour, lord dufferin towed across lake erie , transfer coaches at lewiston _transit_, steamer , _traveller_, steamer trickett, edward troyes, pierre de _turbinia_, steamer competes twohey, capt. h. u. underwood, mr. _united kingdom_, steamer _united states_, steamer v. van cleve, capt. , , , , vancouver vanderbilt, commodore _victoria_, steamer vrooman's bay w. wabash district washago, laying corner stone - wauhuno channel _waubuno_, steamer , weather bureau, united states weekes, e. j. welland canal , , western railroad west niagara whalen, j., foreman where the falls once were whiskey in scotland white, w. whitehead, m. f. whitney, capt. joseph _william iv._, steamer , wilson, joseph winter mail services , , , wolseley expedition american obstacles to wolseley, col. garnet names prince arthur's landing woodward, m. d. wyatt, capt. thomas y. _york_, schooner york , youngstown , , z. _zimmerman_, steamer [illustration: queenstown. the niagara river from queenston heights. (page ) lewiston.] a century of sail and steam on the niagara river chapter i. the first eras of canoe and sail. since ever the changes of season have come, when grasses grow green, and open waters flow, the courses of the niagara river, above and below the great falls, have been the central route, for voyaging between the far inland countries on this continent, and the waters of the atlantic shores. here the indian of prehistoric days, unmolested by the intruding white, roamed at will in migration from one of his hunting-grounds to another, making his portage and passing in his canoe between lake erie and lake oskwego (ontario). in later days, when the french had established themselves at quebec and montreal, access to lake huron and the upper lakes was at first sought by their voyageurs along the nearer route of the ottawa and french rivers, a route involving many difficulties in surmounting rapids, heavy labour on numberless portages, and exceeding delay. information had filtered down gradually through indian sources of the existence of this niagara river route, on which there was but one portage of but fourteen miles to be passed from lake to lake, and only nine miles if the canoes entered the water again at the little river (chippawa) above the falls. on learning the fact the french turned their attention to this new waterway, but for many a weary decade were unable to establish themselves upon it. in father hennepin, with an expedition sent out by sieur la salle sailed from cataraqui (kingston) to the niagara river, the name "hennepin rock" having come down in tradition as a reminiscence of their first landing below what is now queenston heights. passing over the "carrying place," they reached lake erie. here, at the outlet of the cayuga creek, on the south shore, they built a small two-masted vessel rigged with equipment which they brought up for the purpose from cataraqui, in the following year. this vessel, launched in , and named the "griffon" in recognition of the crest on the coat of arms of count frontenac, the governor of canada, was the first vessel built by europeans to sail upon the upper waters. in size she so much exceeded that of any of their own craft, with her white sails billowing like an apparition, and of novel and unusual appearance, that intensest excitement was created among the indian tribes as she passed along their shores. her life was brief, and the history of her movements scanty; the report being that after sailing through lake st. clair she reached michilimakinac and green bay, on lake michigan, but passed out of sight on lake huron on the return journey, and was never heard of afterwards. tiny though this vessel was and sailing slow upon the upper lakes, yet a great epoch had been opened up, for she was the progenitor of all the myriad ships which ply upon these waters at the present day. it was the entrance of the white man, with his consuming trade energy, into the red man's realm, the death knell of the indian race. with greatly increased frequency of travelling and the more bulky requirements of freightage this "one portage" route was more increasingly sought, and as the result of their voyagings these early french pioneers have marked their names along the waterways as ever remaining records of their prowess--such as presquile (almost an island); detroit (the narrow place); lac sainte clair; sault ste marie (rapids of st. mary river); cap iroquois; isle royale; rainy river (after rené de varennes); duluth (after sieur du luth, of montreal); fond du lac (head of lake superior). from here mounting up the st. croix river, seeking the expansion of that new france to whose glory they so ungrudgingly devoted their lives, these intrepid adventurers reached over to the mississippi, and sweeping down its waters still further marked their way at st. louis (after their king) and new orleans (after his capital), annexing all the adjacent territories to their sovereign's domains. the niagara river route then became the motive centre of a mighty circum-vallation by which the early french encompassed within its circle the english colonies then skirting along the atlantic. what a magnificent conception it was of these intrepid french to envelope the british settlements and strengthened by alliances with the indian tribes and fortified by a line of outposts established along the routes of the ohio and the mississippi, to hem their competitors in from expansion to the great interior country of the centre and the west. standing astride the continent with one foot on the gulf of st. lawrence, at quebec, and the other at new orleans, on the gulf of mexico, the interior lines of commerce and of trade were in their hands. they hoped that canada, their new france, on this side of the ocean, was to absorb all the continent excepting the colonies along the shores of the sea. so matters remained for a century. meanwhile the english colonies had expanded to the south shores of the lakes oswego and frontenac, and in we read of an english navy of eight schooners and three brigs sailing on lake ontario under the red cross of st. george and manned by sailors of the colonies. in , came the great struggle for the possession of the st. lawrence and connecting lines of the waterways. fort niagara, whose large central stone "castle," built in , still remains, passed from the french under pouchot, to the british under sir william johnson; a great flotilla of canoes conveying the indian warriors under ligneris to the aid of the fort, had come down from the upper lakes, to the niagara river, but upon it being proved to them that they were too late, for the fort had fallen, they re-entered their canoes and re-traced their way up the rivers back to their western homes. next followed the fall of quebec, and with the cession of montreal in the "new france" of old from the st. lawrence to the mexican gulf became merged in the "new england" of british canada. the control of the great central waterway, of which this niagara river was the gateway, had passed into other hands. for another fifty years only sailing vessels navigated the lakes to niagara, and these, and batteaux, pushed along the shores and up the river by poles, made their way to the foot of the rapids at lewiston with difficulty. these vessels were mainly small schooners with some cabin accommodation. after the cession of canada, by the french, the british government began the establishment of a small navy on lake ontario. an official return called for by lord dorchester, governor-general of canada, gives the government vessels as being in , _limnale_, tons, guns. _seneca_, tons, guns. _caldwell_, tons, guns, and two schooners of tons each being built. as there was at that time but one merchant vessel, the schooner _lady dorchester_, tons, sailing on the lake, and a few smaller craft the property of settlers, transport for passengers between the principal ports was mainly afforded by the government vessels. as an instance of their voyaging may be given that of _h.m.s. caldwell_, which in , carrying lady dorchester, the wife of the governor-general, is reported to have made "an agreeable passage of thirty-six hours from kingston to niagara." in this same year h.r.h. the duke of kent [afterwards father of her majesty queen victoria] is reported as having proceeded from kingston up lake ontario to navy hall on the niagara river in the king's ship _mohawk_ commanded by commodore bouchette. further additions to the merchant schooners were the _york_, built on the niagara river in , and the _governor simcoe_, in , for the north-west company's use in their trading services on lake ontario. another reported in --the _washington_--built at erie, pa., was bought by canadians, portaged around the falls and run on the british register from queenston to kingston as the _lady washington_. the forests of those days existed in all their primeval condition, so that the choicest woods were used in the construction of the vessels. we read in of the _prince edward_, built of red cedar, under captain murney of belleville, and capable of carrying seven hundred barrels of flour, and of another "good sloop" upon the stocks at long point bay, near kingston, being built of black walnut. a schooner, "the toronto," built in , a little way up the humber, by mr. joseph dennis, is described as "one of the handsomest vessels, and bids fair to be the swiftest sailing vessel on the lake, and is admirably calculated for the reception of passengers." this vessel, often mentioned as "the toronto yacht," was evidently a great favorite, being patronized by the lieutenant-governor and the archbishop, and after a successful and appreciated career, finished her course abruptly by going ashore on gibraltar point in . the loss of the government schooner _speedy_ was one of the tragic events of the times. the judge of the district court, the solicitor general and several lawyers who were proceeding from york to hold the assizes in the newcastle district, together with the high constable of york, and an indian prisoner whom they were to try for murder, were all lost when the vessel foundered off presquile in an exceptional gale on th october, . two sailing vessels, the schooners _dove_ and the _reindeer_, (capt. myers) are reported in as plying between york and niagara. a third, commanded by capt. conn, is mentioned by caniff, but no name has come down of this vessel, but only her nickname of "_captain conn's coffin_." this _j'eu d'esprit_ may have been due to some peculiarity in her shape, but as no disaster is reported as having occurred to her she may have been more seaworthy than the nickname would have indicated. of other events of sailing vessels was the memorable trip from queenston to york in october, , of the sloop _simcoe_, owned and commended by capt. james richardson. after the battle of queenston heights, on october th, she had been laden with american prisoners, among them general winfield scott, afterwards the conqueror in mexico, to be forwarded at once to kingston. the _moira_ of the royal navy was then lying off the port of york and on her mr. richardson, a son of the captain, was serving as sailing master. as the _simcoe_ approached she was recognized by young richardson, who, putting off in a small boat, met her out in the lake and was much surprised at seeing the crowded state of her decks and at the equipment of his father, who, somewhat unusually for him, was wearing a sword. the first words from the ship brought great joy--a great battle had been fought on queenston heights--the enemy had been beaten. the _simcoe_ was full of prisoners of war to be transported at once to the _moira_ for conveyance to kingston. then came the mournful statement, "general brock has been killed." the rapture of victory was overwhelmed by the sense of irreparable loss. in such way was the sad news carried in those sailing days to york. the _minerva_, "packet," owner and built by henry gildersleeve, at finkle's point in , held high repute. richard gildersleeve emigrated from hertfordshire, england, in , and settled in connecticut. his great-great-grandson, obadiah, established a successful shipbuilding yard at "gildersleeve," conn. henry gildersleeve, his grandson, here learned his business and coming to finkle's point in assisted on the _frontenac_, and continuing in shipbuilding, married mrs. finkle. when _minerva_ arrived at kingston she was declared by capt. murray, r.n., to be in her construction and lines the best yet turned out, as she proved when plying as a "packet" between toronto and niagara. many sailing vessels meeting with varying success, were plying between all the ports on the lake. the voyages were not always of the speediest. "the caledonia," schooner, is reported to have taken six days from prescott to york. mr. m. f. whitehead, of port hope, crossed from niagara to york in , the passage occupying two and a half days. in a letter of his describing the trip he enters:--"fortunately, dr. baldwin had thoughtfully provided a leg of lamb, a loaf of bread, and a bottle of porter; all our fare for the two days and a half." these vessels seem to have sailed somewhat intermittently, but regular connection on every other day with the niagara river was established by "the duke of richmond" packet, a sloop of one hundred tons built at york in , under commander edward oates. his advertisements announced her to "leave york monday, wednesday and friday at a.m. leave niagara on tuesday, thursday and saturday at a.m., between july and september," after that "according to notice." the rates of passage were:--"after cabin ten shillings; fore cabin s. .; sixty lbs. of baggage allowed for each passenger, but over that d. per cwt. or s. per barrel bulk." the standard of measurement was a homely one, but no doubt well understood at that time, and easily ascertained. in the expansion of the size of ladies' trunks in these present days it is not beyond possibility that a measurement system such as used in the early part of the last century might not be inadvisable. the reports of the "packet" describe her as being comfortable and weatherly, and very regular in keeping up her time-table. she performed her services successfully on the route until , when she succumbed to the competition of the steamboats which had shortly before been introduced. with the introduction upon the lakes of this new method of propulsion the carrying of passengers on sailing vessels quickly ceased. chapter ii. the first steamboats on lake ontario and the niagara river. the era of steamboating had now arrived. the _clermont_, built by robert fulton, and furnished with english engines by boulton & watts, of birmingham, had made her first trip on the hudson from new york to albany in august, , and was afterwards continuing to run on the river. in the _accommodation_, built by the hon. john molson at montreal, and fitted with engines made in that city, was running successfully between montreal and quebec, being the first steamer on the st. lawrence and in canada. the experience of both of these vessels had shown that the new system of propulsion of vessels by steam power was commercially profitable, and as it had been proved successful upon the river water, it was but reasonable that its application to the more open waters of the lakes should next obtain consideration. the war of between great britain and the united states, accompanied by its constant invasions of canada, had interrupted any immediate expansion in steamboating enterprises. peace having been declared in february, , the projects were immediately revived and in the spring of that year a british company was formed with shareholders in kingston, niagara, york, and prescott, to build a steamboat to ply on lake ontario. a site suitable for its construction was selected on the beaches on _finkle's point_, at _ernestown_, miles up the lake from kingston, on one of the reaches of the bay of quinte. a contract was let to henry teabout and james chapman, two young men who had been foremen under david eckford, the master shipbuilder of new york, who during the war had constructed the warships for the united states government at its dockyard at sackett's harbor. construction was commenced at finkle's point in october, , and with considerable delays caused in selection of the timbers, was continued during the winter. (canniff--settlement of upper canada). the steamer was launched with great eclat on th september, , and named the _frontenac_, after the county of frontenac in which she had been built. a similar wave of enterprise had arisen also on the united states side and it becomes of much interest to search up the annals of over a hundred years ago and ascertain to which side of the lake is to be accorded the palm for placing the first steamboat on lake ontario. especially as opinions have varied on the subject, and owing to a statement made, as we shall find, erroneously, in a distant press the precedence has usually been given to an american steamer. the first record of the steamboat on the american side is an agreement dated january , , executed between the robert fulton heirs and livingston, of clermont, granting to charles smyth and others an exclusive right to navigate boats and vessels by steam on lake ontario. these exclusive rights for the navigation on american waters "by steam or fire" had previously been granted to the fulton partnership by the legislature of the state of new york. the terms of the agreement set out that the grantees were to pay annually to the grantors one-half of all the net profits in excess of a dividend of per cent. upon the investment. on the th of the next month a bill was passed in the legislature of new york incorporating the "ontario steamboat co.," but in consequence of the too early adjournment of the legislature did not become law. at this time, (february, ) the construction of the canadian boat at ernestown was well under way. by an assignment dated august th, , lusher and others became partners with smyth, and as a result it is stated (hough--history of jefferson county, n.y.) "a boat was commenced at sackett's harbor the same summer." three weeks after the date of this commencing of the boat on the american side, or sackett's harbour, the frontenac, on the canadian side, was launched on the th september, , at finkle's point. in the description of this launch of the _frontenac_ given in the september issue of the kingston gazette, the details of her size are stated. "length, feet; beam, feet; two paddle wheels with circumference about feet. registered tonnage, tons." further statements made are, "good judges have pronounced this to be the best piece of naval architecture of the kind yet produced in america." "the machinery for this valuable boat was imported from england and is said to be an excellent structure. it is expected that she will be finished and ready for use in a few weeks." having been launched with engines on board in early september the _frontenac_ then sailed down the lake from ernestown to kingston to lay up in the port. in another part of this same september issue of the kingston gazette an item is given: "a steamboat was lately launched at sackett's harbor." no name is given of the steamer, nor the date of the launch, but this item has been considered to have referred to the steamer named _ontario_, built at sackett's harbor and in consequence of its having apparently been launched first, precedence has been claimed for the united states vessel. this item, "_a steamboat was lately launched at sackett's harbor_," develops, on further search, to have first appeared as a paragraph under the reading chronicles in "niles weekly register," published far south in the united states at baltimore, maryland. from here it was copied verbatim as above by the kingston gazette, and afterwards by the quebec gazette of th sept., . further enquiry, however, nearer the scene of construction indicates that an error had been made in the wording of the item, which had apparently been copied into the other papers without verification. in the library of the historical society at buffalo is deposited the manuscript diary of capt. van cleve, who sailed as clerk and as captain on the _martha ogden_, the next steamboat to be built at sackett's harbor six years after the _ontario_. in this he writes, "the construction of the _ontario_ was begun at sackett's harbor in august, ." he also gives a drawing, from which all subsequent illustrations of the _ontario_ have been taken. further information of the american steamer is given in an application for incorporation of the "lake ontario steam boat co." made in december, , by charles smyth and others, of sackett's harbor, who stated in their petition that they had "lately constructed a steam boat at sackett's harbor"--"the navy department of the united states have generously delivered a sufficiency of timber for the construction of the vessel for a reasonable sum of money"--"the boat is now built"--"the cost so far exceeds the means which mercantile men can generally command that they are unable to build any further"--"the english in the province of upper canada have constructed a steam boat of seven hundred tons burthen avowedly for the purpose of engrossing the business on both sides of the lake." all this indicates that the american boat had not been launched and in december was still under construction. it is more reasonable to accept the statements of capt. van cleve and others close to the scene of operations rather than to base conclusions upon the single item in the publication issued at so far a distance and without definite details. it is quite evident that the item in niles register should have read "was lately _commenced_," instead of "was lately _launched_." the change of this one word would bring it into complete agreement with all the other evidences of the period and into accord with the facts. no absolute date for the launching of the _ontario_ or of the giving of her name has been ascertainable, but as she was not commenced until august it certainly could not have been until after that of the _frontenac_ on sept. th, . the first boat launched was, therefore, on the canadian side. the movements of the steamers in the spring of are more easily traced. niles register, th march, , notes, "the steamboat _ontario_ is prepared for the lake," and capt. van cleve says, "the first enrollment of the _ontario_ in the customs office was made on th april," and "she made her first trip in april." the data of the dimensions of the _ontario_ are recorded, being only about one-third the capacity of the _frontenac_, which would account for the shorter time in which she was constructed. the relative sizes were: capacity, length. beam. tons. _frontenac_ _ontario_ no drawing of the _frontenac_ is extant, but she has been described as having guards only at the paddle wheels, the hull painted black, and as having three masts, but no yards. the _ontario_ had two masts, as shown in the drawing by van cleve. no distinctive date is given for the first trip in april of the _ontario_, on which it is reported (beers history of the great lakes) "the waves lifted the paddle wheels off their bearings, tearing away the wooden coverings. after making the repairs the shaft was securely held in place." afterwards under the command of capt. francis mallaby, u. s. n., weekly trips between ogdensburgh and lewiston were attempted, but after this interruption by advertisement of st july, , the time had to be extended to once in ten days. the speed of the steamer was found to seldom exceed five miles per hour. (history of jefferson county. hough). the _ontario_ ran for some years, but does not seem to have met with much success and, having gone out of commission, was broken up at oswego in . in the spring of the first mention of the _frontenac_ is in kingston of her having moved over on rd may to the government dock at point frederick, "for putting in a suction pipe," the kingston gazette further describing that "she moved with majestic grandeur against a strong wind." on th may the gazette reports her as "leaving this port for the purpose of taking in wood at the bay quinte. a fresh breeze was blowing into the harbor against which she proceeded swiftly and steadily to the admiration of a great number of spectators. we congratulate the managers and proprietors of this elegant boat, upon the prospect she affords of facilitating the navigation of lake ontario in furnishing an expeditious and certain mode of conveyance to its various ports." it can well be imagined with what wonder the movements of this first steam-driven vessel were witnessed. in the kingston gazette of june , , entry is made, "the _frontenac_ left this port on thursday, th, on her first trip for the head of the lake." the opening route of the _frontenac_, commanded by capt. james mckenzie, a retired officer of the royal navy, was between kingston and queenston, calling at york and niagara and other intermediate ports. the venture of a steamer plying on the open lakes, where the paddle wheels would be subjected to wave action, was a new one, so for the opening trips her captain announced, with the proverbial caution of a scotchman, that the calls at the ports would be made "_with as much punctuality as the nature of lake navigation will admit of_." later, the steamer, having proved her capacity by two round trips, the advertisements of june, , state the time-table of the steamer as "leaving kingston for york on the st, th, and rd days," and "york for queenston on rd, th, and th days of each month, calling at all intermediate ports." "passenger fares, kingston to ernestown, s; prescott, £ . . ; newcastle, £ . . ; york and niagara, £ . . ; burlington, £ . . ; york to niagara, £ . . ." further excerpts are: "a book is kept for the entering of the names of the passengers and the berths which they choose, at which time the passage money must be paid." "gentlemen's servants cannot eat or sleep in the cabin." "deck passengers will pay fifteen shillings, and may either bring their own provisions or be furnished by the steward." "for each dog brought on board, five shillings." "all applications for passage to be made to capt. mckenzie on board." after having run regularly each season on lake ontario and the niagara river her career was closed in when, while on the niagara river, she was set on fire, it was said, by incendiaries, for whose discovery her owners, the messrs. hamilton, offered a reward of £ , but without result. being seriously damaged, she was shortly afterwards broken up. such were the careers of the first two steamers which sailed upon lake ontario and the niagara river, and from the data it is apparent that the _frontenac_ on the british side was the first steamboat placed on lake ontario, and that the _ontario_, on the united states side, had been the first to make a trip up lake, having priority in this over her rival by perhaps a week or two, but not preceding her in the entering into and performance of a regular service. with them began the new method for travel, far exceeding in speed and facilities any previously existing, so that the stage lines and sailing vessels were quickly eliminated. this practical monopoly the steamers enjoyed for a period of fifty years, when their nemesis in turn arrived and the era of rail competition began. [illustration: the ontario. . the second steamer on lake ontario. from the original drawing by capt. van cleve page ] [illustration: the great britain. . by courtesy of mr. john ross robertson reproduced from his "landmarks of toronto." page ] chapter iii. more steamboats and early water routes. the river the centre of through travel. the _frontenac_ was followed by the _queen charlotte_, built in the same yards at finkle's point, by teabout and chapman, and launched on nd april, , for h. gildersleeve, the progenitor of that family which has ever since been foremost in the ranks of steamboating in canada. he sailed her for twenty years as captain and purser, her first route being a round trip every ten days between kingston, york and queenston. the passage rates at this time were from kingston to york and niagara £ ($ . ), from york to niagara £ ($ . ). in appeared the first "city of toronto," of tons, built in the harbor of york at the foot of church street. her life was neither long nor successful, she being sold by auction "with all her furniture" in december, , and broken up. passenger traffic was now so much increasing that steamers began to follow more quickly. the lewiston "sentinel" in , in a paragraph eulogizing their then rising town, says:--"travel is rapidly increasing, regular lines of stages excelled by none, run daily by the ridge road to lockport, and on fridays weekly to buffalo. the steamboats are increasing in business and affording every facility to the traveller." the hon. robert hamilton, who for so many years afterwards was dominantly interested in steamboating, launched the "queenston" in at queenston. his fine residence, from which he could watch the movements of his own and other steamers, still stands on the edge of the high bank overlooking the queenston dock. in there was added the "canada," built at the mouth of the rouge river by mr. joseph dennis and brought to york to have the engines installed, which had been constructed by hess and wards, of montreal. under the charge of captain hugh richardson, her captain and managing owner, she had a long and notable career. the contemporary annals describe her as "a fast boat," and as making the trip from york to niagara "in four hours and some minutes." her captain was a seaman of the old school, dominant, and watchful of the proprieties on the quarter deck. on one occasion in , when sir peregrine maitland, the lieutenant-governor of upper canada, and lady maitland, had taken passage with him from york to queenston en route to stamford, a newspaper item had accused him of undue exclusiveness on the "canada" to the annoyance of other passengers. to this the doughty "captain and managing owner" replied by a letter in which he denied the accusation and added: "as long as i command the "canada" and have a rag of colour to hoist, my proudest day will be when it floats at the masthead indicative of the presence and commands of the representative of my king." the departure of his steamer from port was announced in an exceptional manner, as stated in the concluding words of his advertisement to the public: "n.b. a gun will be fired and colours hoisted twenty-five minutes before starting." in another controversy, which arose from the contract for carrying the mails on the niagara route having been withdrawn from the steamer "canada," it was developed that while the pay to the steamer was only s. d. per trip, the government postage between york and niagara was d. on each letter. this charge the captain considered excessive, but as the postmaster at niagara now refused to receive any letters from his steamer he regretted he had to make public announcement that he was obliged (in future) to decline to accept any more letters to be taken across the lake. the captain-commander of a lake steamboat in those days was a person of importance and repute. unquestioned ruler on his "ship," he represented the honour of his flag and obedience to his country's laws. most of them had been officers of the royal navy and had served during the war, having been trained in the discipline and conventions of his majesty's service, and similarly on the american boats had served in the united states navy. at the present day on our muskoka and inland lakes, the advent of the daily steamer is a crowning event, bringing all the neighbourhood down to the waterside dock, in curiosity or in welcome. still more so it was in those early times when the mode of steam progression was novel and a source of wonder, and the days of call so much more infrequent. the captain was no doubt the bearer of letters to be delivered into the hands of friends, certainly the medium of the latest news (and gossip) from the other ports on the lake, and was sought for tidings from the outside, as well as in welcome to himself. in particular evidence of the confidence reposed in him and in his gallantry, he was the honored guardian of ladies and children, travelling alone, who were with much empressment confided to his care. being usually a part owner his attentions were gracious hospitalities, so that a seat at the commander's table was not only a privilege, but an appreciated acknowledgement of social position. these were the halcyon days of officers on the lakes, when the increased speed of the new method was enjoyed and appreciated, but the congenialities of a pleasant passage, were not lost in impatient haste for its earlier termination. there were in five steamers running on the niagara river route. the "niagara" and "queenston" from prescott; "frontenac" from kingston; "martha ogden," an american steamer from the south shore ports and ogdensburg, and the "canada" to york and "head of the lake," presumably near burlington, and return. on this "martha ogden," built at sackett's harbour, in , captain van cleve, of lewiston, served for many years as clerk, and afterwards as captain. in a manuscript left by him many interesting events in her history are narrated. in she ran under the command of captain andrew estes between youngstown and york. youngstown was then a port of much importance. it was the shipping place of a very considerable hardwood timbering business the trees being brought in from the surrounding country. its docks, situated close to the lake on an eddy separated from the rapid flow of the river, formed an easily accessible centre for the batteaux and sailing craft which communicated with the eastern ports on lake ontario. a considerable quantity of grain was also at that time raised in the district, providing material for the stone flour mill built in . this mill, grinding two hundred barrels per day, was in those days considered a marvel of enterprise. though many years ago disused for such purpose it is still to be seen just a little above the niagara navigation company's youngstown dock. in the way of the nomenclature of steamers, that of the "alciope," built at niagara in for mr. robert hamilton, and first commanded by captain mckenzie, late of the "frontenac," is unusual. this name in appearance would appear to be that of some ancient goddess, but is understood to be taken from a technical term in abstract zoology. possibly it may at the time have attracted attention, but was evidently not considered satisfactory as it was changed in to the more suitable one of "united kingdom." more steamers come now in quick succession. the hon. john hamilton in brought out the "great britain" (captain joseph whitney), of tons, with two funnels, and spacious awning deck. the route of the "martha ogden" had reverted back to the lake trip between lewiston and ogdensburgh. it was her ill luck to run ashore in and having sought repairs in the british government naval establishment at kingston, captain van cleve mentions, with much satisfaction the cordial reception given to the american crew by commodore barrie, and the efficient work done for the ship in the royal dockyard. the "martha ogden" closed her days in by being lost off stoney point, lake ontario. the sailing times of the through boats from the river at this time are given as "the steamer _great britain_ leaves niagara every five days, the _alciope_, every saturday evening, the _niagara_ every monday evening at o'clock, and the _queenston_ every tuesday morning at o'clock for kingston, brockville and prescott (board included) $ . ." on the american side the _united states_ and _oswego_ made a semi-weekly line between lewiston and ogdensburg, calling at all intermediate ports. in added "william iv.," an unusual looking craft with four funnels; "commodore barrie," built at kingston by the gildersleeves, and sailed by captain james sinclair between (as the advertisement stated) "prescott, toronto (late york) and niagara." commodore barrie, after whom the steamer was named, had a long and creditable naval career. as lieutenant he had been with vancouver on the pacific in , served at copenhagen in , and as captain of "h.m.s. dragon," guns, had taken part in the successful expedition at penobscot maine in . in he had been appointed to the command of the royal navy yard at kingston. ship building on the lake began now to take a more definite and established position. the "niagara dock company" was formed in . robert gilkison, a canadian, of queenston, who had been educated in shipbuilding at "port glasgow, scotland," returned to canada and was appointed designer and superintendent of the works at niagara. a number of ships were built under his charge. the first steamer was the "traveller," feet long, . beam, with speed of to miles followed by the "transit," "gore," and the "queen victoria," feet long, . beam, with horse power, a stated speed of miles, and described as having been "fitted in elegant style." this steamer, launched in april, , and commanded by captain thomas dick, introduces a family which for many years was connected with steamboating on the niagara river route. in her first season robert gilkinson, her builder, noted in his diary, june th: "on the celebration of her majesty's coronation the _victoria_, with a party of sixty ladies and gentlemen, made her first trip to toronto, making the distance from niagara to toronto in hours and minutes, a rate scarcely met by any other boat." "july . commenced trips leaving niagara a.m., toronto a.m., and hamilton p.m., arrived here (niagara) p.m. accomplished the miles in ten and a half hours, a rate not exceeded by any boat on the lake." the advertisements of the running times as then given in the press are interesting. "the 'queen victoria' leaves lewiston and queenston o'clock a.m. and niagara . o'clock for toronto. the boat will return each day, leaving toronto for these places at o'clock p.m." a further enlargement of the running connections of this steamer on the route in stated: "passengers will on monday and thursday arrive at toronto in time for the "william iv." steamer for kingston and prescott. returning. on arrival at lewiston, railroad cars will leave for the falls. on arrival at queenston stages will leave for the falls, whence the passengers can leave next day by the steamer "red jacket" from chippawa to buffalo, or by the railroad cars for manchester." the "railroad cars" were those of the "buffalo and niagara falls railroad" opened in , then running two trains a day each way between buffalo and the falls, leaving buffalo at nine in the morning and five in the afternoon. manchester was the name of the town laid out in the neighborhood of the falls, where, from the abundance of water power it was expected a great manufacturing centre would be established. an advertisement in a later year ( ) mentions the steamer "emerald" to "leave buffalo at a.m. for chippawa, arrive by cars at queenston for steamer for toronto, oswego, rochester, kingston and montreal." the "cars" at queenston were those of a horse railroad which had been constructed along the main road from chippewa to queenston, of which some traces still remain. the rails were long wooden sleepers faced with strap iron. during one season the "queen victoria" was chartered as a gunboat for lake ontario, being manned by officers and men from the royal navy. she presented a fine appearance and was received with great acceptance at the lake ports as she visited them. a more direct route from this distributing point at the foot of the rapids on the niagara river direct to the head of lake ontario and the country beyond, instead of crossing first to toronto, was evidently sought. in the steamer "burlington"--captain robert kerr--is advertised to "leave lewiston a.m., niagara . a.m., landing (weather permitting) at port dalhousie (near st. catherines, from which place a carriage will meet the boat regularly); grimsby, and arrive at hamilton about noon. returning will leave at p.m., and making the same calls, weather permitting, arrive at lewiston in the evening." the th july, , was a memorable day in steamboating on the niagara river. a great public meeting was held that day on queenston heights to arrange for the building of a new monument in memory of general brock to replace the one which had been blown up by some dastard on th april, . deputations from the military and the patriotic associations in all parts of the province attended. four steamers left toronto together about . in the morning. the "traveller"--captain sandown, r.n., with his excellency the governor-general, lord sydenham, on board; "transit"--captain hugh richardson; "queen victoria"--captain richardson, jr.; "gore"--captain thomas dick. at the mouth of the niagara river these were joined by the "burlington"--captain robert kerr, and "britannia" from hamilton and the head of the lake, and by the "gildersleeve" and "cobourg" from the eastern ports and kingston. amidst utmost enthusiasm, and with all flags flying, the eight steamers assembled at niagara and marshalled in the following order, proceeded up the river to queenston:-- traveller. gildersleeve. cobourg. burlington. gore. britannia. queen. transit. the sight of this fleet of eight steamers must have been impressive as with flying colours they made up the stream. judge benson, of port hope, says that his father, capt. benson, of the rd incorporated militia, was then occupying the "lang house" in niagara, overlooking the river, and that he and his brother were lifted up to the window to see the flotilla pass by, a reminiscence of loyal fervor which has been vividly retained through a long life. is it not a sufficient justification and an actual value resulting from special meetings and pageants that they not only serve to revivify the enthusiasm of the elders in annals of past days, but yet more to bring to the minds of youth actual and abiding touch with the historic events which are being celebrated? the meeting was held upon the field of the battle, the memories of the struggle revived and honour done to the fallen. the present monument was the result of the enterprise then begun. much rivalry existed between the steamers as to which would open the season first, as the boat which got into niagara first before st march was free of port dues for the season. in this the "transit" excelled and sometimes landed her passengers on the ice. the niagara dock company in turned out the "chief justice robinson" commanded by captain hugh richardson, jr. this steamer, largely owned by captain heron and the richardsons, was specially designed to continue during the winter the daily connection by water to toronto, and so avoid the long stage journey around the head of the lake. for this purpose her prow at and below the water line was projected forward like a double furrowed plough, to cut through the ice and throw it outwards on each side. this winter service she maintained for ten seasons with commendable regularity between the outer end of the queen's wharf at toronto (where she had sometimes to land passengers on the ice) and niagara. on one occasion, in a snowstorm, she went ashore just outside the harbour at toronto, and was also occasionally frozen in at both ends of the route, but each time managed to extricate herself. after refitting in the spring she divided the daily lewiston-toronto route after with the second _city of toronto_, a steamer with two separate engines, with two walking beams built at toronto in , which had been running in the royal mail line, but in passed into the complete ownership of captain thomas dick. the steamer "rochester" is also recorded as running between lewiston and hamilton in to . chapter iv. expansion of steamboating on the niagara--its decline--a final flash and a move to the north. during this decade the niagara river was more increasingly traversed by many steamers, and became the main line of travel between the western and centre states by steamer to buffalo, and thence, via the niagara river to boston and new york via ogdensburg and albany, or by montreal and lake champlain to the hudson. lewiston had become a place of much importance, being the transhipping point for a great through freighting business. until the opening of the erie canal all the salt used in the western states and canada was brought here by water from oswego, in thousands of barrels, from the onandaga salt wells. business in the opposite direction was greatly active, report being made of the passing of a consignment of barrels of "mississippi sugar," and hogsheads of molasses for eastern points in the united states and canada. in addition to the sailing craft five different steamers left the docks every day for other ports on the lake. a new era was opened in by the introduction with great eclat and enterprise of the first iron steamers. the "passport," commanded first by captain h. twohey and afterwards by captain thomas harbottle, was constructed for the hon. john hamilton, the iron plates being moulded on the clyde and put together at the niagara shipyard by james and neil currie. the plates for the "magnet" were similarly brought out from england and put together for j. w. gunn, of hamilton, the principal stockholder, with captain j. sutherland her captain. both these steamers in their long service proved the reliability of metal vessels in our fresh water. both formed part of the royal mail line leaving toronto on the arrival of the river steamers. in the early "fifties" the "american express line," running from lewiston to toronto, rochester, oswego and ogdensburg, consisted of the fine upper cabin steamers "cataract," "bay state," "ontario," and "northerner." the "new through line," a canadian organization, was comprised of six steamers: the "maple leaf," "arabian," "new era," "champion," "highlander," "mayflower." the route they followed was: "leave hamilton a.m.; leave lewiston and queenston about half past p.m., calling at all north shore ontario ports between darlington and prescott to ogdensburgh and montreal without transhipment. returning via the north shore to toronto and hamilton direct." the through time down to montreal was stated in the advertisement to be "from hamilton hours, from the niagara river hours." a good instance of the frequency of the entrances of the steamers into the harbours is afforded by an amusing suggestion which was in , made by captain hugh richardson, who had become harbour master at toronto. the steamers running into the port seem to have called sometimes at one dock first, sometimes at another, according, probably, to the freight which may have been on board to be delivered. much trouble was thus caused to cabmen and citizens running up and down the water front from one dock to another. the captain, whose views with respect to the flying, and the distinctive meanings, of flags, we have already seen, proposed that all vessels when entering the harbour should designate the dock at which they intended to stop by the following signals:-- for gorrie's wharf--union jack at bowsprit end. for browne's wharf--union jack at masthead. for maitland's wharf--union jack at staff aft. for tinnings wharf--union jack in fore rigging. for helliwells wharf--union jack over wheel-house. it is to be remembered that in those days the "western" was the only entrance to the harbour and front street without any buildings on its south side, followed the line of the high bank above the water so that the signals on the steamers could be easily seen by all. the proposal was publicly endorsed by the mayor, mr. j. g. bowes, but there is no record of its having been adopted. in there was built at niagara for mr. oliver t. macklem the steamer "zimmerman," certainly the finest and reputed to be the fastest steamer which up to that time sailed the river. she was named after mr. samuel zimmerman, the railway magnate, and ran in connection with the erie and ontario railway from fort erie to niagara, which he had promoted, and was sailed by captain d. milloy. in this same year there was sailed regularly from niagara another iron steamer, the "peerless," owned by captain dick and andrew heron, of niagara. this steamer was first put together at dunbarton, scotland, then taken apart, and the pieces (said to be five thousand in number) sent out to canada, and put together again at the niagara dockyard. these two steamers thereafter divided the services in competition on the niagara route to toronto. these years were the zenith period for steamboating on lake ontario and the niagara river, a constant succession of steamers passing to and fro between the ports. progress in the western states and in upper canada had been unexampled. expansion in every line of business was active, population fast coming in, and the construction of railways, which was then being begun, creating large expenditures and distribution of money. the steamers on the water were then the only method for speedy travel, so their accommodation was in fullest use, and their earnings at the largest. the stage routes around the shores of the lakes in those days were tedious and trying in summer, and in winter accompanied by privations. the services of the steamers in the winter were greatly appreciated and maintained with the utmost vigour every year, particularly for the carriage of mails between toronto, niagara, queenston and lewiston, for which the steamer received in winter £ for each actual running day, and between toronto and hamilton, for which the recompense was £ for service per day performed. in the _chief justice robinson_ is recorded (gordon's letter books) as having run on the niagara river during months of the year. the remaining portion, while she was refitting, was filled by the second _city of toronto_. it is mentioned that at one time she went to oswego to be hauled out on the marine cradle there at a charge of cents per ton. in - the services were performed by the same steamers. in the _peerless_ made two trips daily during ten months, the _chief justice robinson_ taking the balance of this service and also filling in during the other months, with the second _city of toronto_ on the hamilton route. the winter service to the niagara river for was commenced by the _chief justice robinson_ on st january, the steamer crossing the lake on days in that month. february was somewhat interrupted by ice, but the full service between the shores was performed on days in the month of march. so soon as the inner water in the harbour of toronto was frozen up all these services were performed from the outer extremity of the queen's wharf, and in the mid-winter months mostly from the edges of the ice further out, the sleighs driving out alongside with their passengers and freight. it seems difficult for us, in these days of luxury in travel, to comprehend the difficulties under which the early travellers laboured and thrived. there was a wonderful and final exploit in the winter business of the niagara river route. the "_niagara falls and ontario railway_" was opened as far as lewiston in and by its connection at the falls with the _new york central railway_ brought during its first winter of - great activity to the niagara steamers. the crimean war was in progress and food products for the armies in the field were being eagerly sought from all places of world-supply and from america. shipments were accordingly sought from upper canada. in summer the route would be by the erie canal to albany or by the st. lawrence and montreal, but both routes were closed in winter. the _new york central_ had been connected as a complete rail route as far as albany, where, as there was no bridge across the hudson, transportation was made by a ferry to the _hudson river railroad_, on the opposite shore for new york, or to the _western railroad_ for boston. [illustration: the william iv. . from the "landmarks of toronto." page ] [illustration: the chief justice robinson. . from the "landmarks of toronto." page ] there was, at that time, no railroad around the head of lake ontario so a freight route by steamer across the lake was opened to lewiston, from where rail connection could be made to the atlantic. in january, , large shipments of flour made from upper canada mills along the north shore of lake ontario began to be collected. the enterprising agent of the _peerless_ (mr. l. b. gordon) wrote to the central that he hoped to "make the consignment up to , barrels before the canal and river opens." this being a reference to the competing all-water route via the erie canal and hudson river. the first winter shipment of a consignment of , barrels was begun by the _chief justice robinson_ from the queen's wharf on th january. the through rates of freight, as recorded in mr. gordon's books, are in these modern days of low rates, remarkable. not the less interesting are the proportions accepted by each of the carriers concerned for their portion of the service, which were as follows: flour, per barrel, toronto to new york-- steamer--queen's wharf to lewiston - / c wharfage and teaming (cornell) new york central, lewiston to albany ferry at albany hudson river railroad to new york - / ----- through to new york $ . what would the railway commissioners and the public of the present think of such rates! the shipments were largely from the products of the mills at the _credit_, _oakville_, _brampton_, _esquesing_, and _georgetown_, being teamed to the docks at _oakville_ and _port credit_, from where they were brought by the steamers _queen city_ and _chief justice robinson_ at c per bbl. to the queen's wharf, toronto, and from there taken across the lake by the _chief justice robinson_ and the _peerless_. the propeller _st. nicholas_ took a direct load of , barrels from port credit to lewiston on feb. nd. shipments were also sent to boston at $ , - / per bbl., on which the proportion of the "new york central" was c, and the "western railroad" received c per bbl. as their share. nearly the whole consignment expected was obtained. another novel route was also opened. consignments of flour for local use were sent to montreal during this winter by the _new york central_, lewiston to albany, and thence by the "_albany northern railroad_" to the south side of the st. lawrence river, whence they were most probably teamed across the ice to the main city. northbound shipments were also worked up and received at lewiston for toronto--principally teas and tobaccos--consignments of "english bonded goods" were rated at "second-class, same as domestic sheetings" and carried at c per pounds from new york to lewiston. it was a winter of unexampled activity, but it was the closing effort of the steamers against the entrance of the railways into their all-the-year-round trade. immediately upon the opening of the great western railway from niagara falls to hamilton in and to toronto in , and of the grand trunk railway from montreal in , the steamboating interests suffered still further and great decay. in the financial crisis of many steamers were laid up. in all the american line steamers were in bankruptcy, and in the _zimmerman_ abandoned the niagara river to the _peerless_, the one steamer being sufficient. the opening of the american civil war in opened a new career for the lake ontario steamers, as the northern government were short of steamers with which to blockade the southern ports. the "peerless" was purchased by the american government in and left for new york under command of captain robert kerr, and by all the american line steamers had been sold in the same direction and gone down the rapids to montreal, and thence to the atlantic. a general clearance had been affected. the "zimmerman" returned from the hamilton route to the niagara river, which had been left vacant by the removal of the "peerless," but, taking fire alongside the dock at niagara in , became a total loss. during the winter the third "_city of toronto_" was built by captain duncan milloy, of niagara, and began her service on the river in and thereafter had the route to herself. in the "rothsay castle" brought up by captain thomas leach from halifax, ran for one season in competition, but the business was not sufficient for two steamers so she was returned to the atlantic. the "city" then had the route alone until , when the "southern belle," being the reconstructed "rothsay castle," re-entered upon the scene and again ran from tinnings wharf in connection with the canada southern railway to niagara. such had been the courses of navigation and steamboating on the niagara river from its earliest days--the rise to the zenith of prosperity and then the immeasurable fall due to the encircling of the lakes by the increasing railways. the old time passenger business had been diverted from the water, the docks had fallen into decay, only one steamer remained on the niagara river route, but it was fair to consider that with more vigor and improved equipment a new era might be begun. the decadence of trade had been so great, and the prospects of the niagara river presenting so little hope that captain thomas dick had turned his thoughts and energies into the direction of the north shore of lake huron, where mining and lumbering were beginning, and to lake superior, where the construction of the dawson road, as a connection through canadian territory, to fort garry was commenced. he had several years previously transferred the second _city of toronto_ to these upper lake waters, and after being reboilered and rebuilt, her name had been changed to _algoma_, commanded at first by his half brother, capt. jas. dick, and in he had obtained the contract for carrying the mails for the manitoulin island and lake huron shore to sault ste. marie. if ever there was a steamer which deserved the name of "_pathfinder_," it was this steamer "algoma." it was said that all the officers, pilots and captains of later days had been trained on her, and that she had found out for them every shoal along her route by actual contact. being a staunchily built wooden boat with double "walking beam" engines, working independently, one on each wheel, she always got herself off with little trouble or damage. one trip is personally remembered. coming out from bruce mines the _algoma_ went over a boulder on a shoal in such way as to open up a plank in the bottom, just in front of the boilers. looking down the forward hatch the water could be watched as it boiled up into the fire-hold, but as long as the wheels were kept turning the pumps could keep the in-rush from gaining, so the steamer after backing off was continued on her journey. when calling at docks the engines were never stopped, one going ahead the other reversed, until after sault ste. marie had been reached and the balance of the cargo unloaded, when the steamer, with the men in the fire-hold working up to their ankles in water, set off on her run of miles to detroit, where was then the only dry dock into which she could be put. after a long and successful career the brave boat died a quiet death alongside a dock, worn out as a lumber barge. this transference of captain dick's interests to the upper lakes was, strangely enough, the precursor to the events which led to the creation of another era in navigation on the niagara river. this "north shore" route, although for long centuries occupied by the outposts of the hudson bay and north west fur companies, was so far as immigration and mercantile interests were concerned, an undeveloped territory. along its shores was the traditional canoe and batteaux route from french river to fort william on the kaministiqua river for trade with the great prairies by the interlacing waterways to lake manitoba and the red river. at intervals, such as at spanish river, missassaga, garden river, michipicoten and nepigon river, were the outlets for the canoe and portage routes, north to the hudson bay and great interior fur preserves. this ancient rival to the niagara river route had remained little varied from the era of canoe and sail. the secrets of its natural products, other than fur, being as well kept as were those of the fertility of the soil of the "great lone land," under the perennial control of the same adventurers of charles ii. the creation of the "dominion of canada" and of the "province of ontario" under confederation in and its establishment as the "district of algoma" brought it political representation in the provincial legislature and a development of its unoccupied possibilities. the size of the constituency was phenomenal. its first representative in the legislature of ontario used quizzically to describe it: "where is my constituency? sir, algoma, is the greatest constituency on earth, and larger than many an empire in europe. on the east it is bounded by the french river, on the south by all the waters of lakes huron and lake superior, on the west by manitoba, with an undecided boundary, and on the north by the north pole, and the lord knows where." its permanent voters were few and sparsely spread along a line of nigh miles. by the act of confederation, algoma was given a special qualification for its voters being for every male british subject of or over, being a householder. thus it has sometimes been averred that during hotly contested elections the migratory indians for a while ceased to wander, that "shack towns" suddenly arose in the neighborhood of the saw mills, composed of small "slab" sided dwellings in which dusky voters lived until election day was over. it may be from these early seedlings that the several constituencies which have since been carved out from their great progenitor, have not been unremarkable for eccentricities in methods of ballot and in varieties of voters. further diversion of vessel interests from the niagara route to the upper lakes, and the circumstances which, within personal knowledge, accompanied it, are a part of the history, and a prelude to the return to the river. chapter v. on the upper lakes with the wolseley expedition and lord dufferin. the way having been opened by the _algoma_ between georgian bay and the sault, with sundry extra trips beyond, n. milloy & co., of niagara, brought up from halifax, in , the even then celebrated steamer _chicora_ to increase the service to lake superior. no finer steamer was there on the upper lakes than the _chicora_, and none whether american or canadian, that could approach her in speed; she could trail out a tow line to any competitor. she had arrived opportunely and had greatly increased her renown by carrying the wolseley expedition, in , from collingwood to the place on the shores of the thunder bay where the expedition for the suppression of the riel rebellion at fort garry was landed. it was in the arrangements for the movement of this wolseley expedition that some difficulties arose which were due to a want of harmony between the local government of the state and that of the national cabinet of the federal government at washington, a condition which is liable to occur at any time under the peculiar provisions of the american constitution. having been compiled in the time of stress for the avoidance of an autocracy and for the development of the individual rights of the several component states, the relations between states and federal authority were strongly drawn. while in the canadian constitution any power which has not been specifically allotted to the provinces remains in the dominion government, which is thus the centre of all power, in the united states the reverse condition exists. speedy dealings with foreign nations are thus somewhat hampered on the part of the united states federal government. the only canal lock at that time at the sault by which the rapids of the sault river could be overcome and the level of lake superior be reached from that of lake huron, was on the michigan side, and owned and controlled by the state of michigan. as an armed force could not be sent by rail through the united states, it was necessary that all supplies and the men of the canadian forces for fort garry should be forwarded by this water route to the head of lake superior, from where they were to take the "dawson route" of mixed road and river transit to lake winnipeg and the scene of action. a cargo of boats, wagons, and general supplies for use by the troops had been sent up by the "chicora" (captain mclean), leaving collingwood on the th may, but the steamer was not permitted by the michigan authorities to pass through the sault canal. owing to this action immediate steps were imperatively necessary, pending negotiations, to obtain additional tonnage to carry forward the expedition. col. cumberland, a.d.c., m.p.p., was sent on a secret duty to detroit, where he succeeded in chartering the american steamer _brooklyn_, which was at once sent off with instructions to report for orders above the canal at point aux pins, to col. bolton, r.a., deputy adjutant general. being passed up the canal, without obstacle, the difficulty was immediately relieved. fortunately the "algoma" was at the upper end of the route and on lake superior. the supplies and stores were accordingly unloaded from the _chicora_ at the canadian sault, portaged across by the twelve miles road to the wharf at point aux pins, on the canadian side above the rapids, and sent on up lake superior by the "algoma," and "brooklyn." a similar course was obliged to be adopted with the cargoes of supplies for the expedition brought up on the canadian steam barge _shickluna_, and on the schooners _orion_ and _pandora_ towed by her. this was in other ways a remarkable event, as being one in which the "coasting laws of canada" were for a time, cancelled by the action of a citizen. the "brooklyn" being an american boat could not legally carry cargo between two canadian ports, such as point aux pins and the landing, so col. cumberland gave captain davis a letter[ ] to mr. joseph wilson, the collector of customs at the canadian sault, authorizing him to permit the american vessel to trade between canadian ports. as mr. cumberland was member of parliament for the district, the local authorities gave immediate attention, especially as everyone on the canadian side was ready to run all risks and do everything in their power to help the expedition along. returning to collingwood the "chicora" left again on the th may with two companies of the ontario contingest recruited from the volunteer militia of the province, twenty-four horses and more arms and stores. refusal was again given and the same portaging took place as before, the men during the transfer being encamped near the old hudson's bay fort. urgent representations had been made to the local state authorities, pointing out that the expedition was pressed for time, much loss might be occasioned, and the rebellion spread if the troops were delayed. the british minister at washington was using every endeavor to obtain the necessary permission, but without avail. the "chicora" returned to collingwood and left again on st may with col. garnet wolseley (afterwards viscount wolseley), a detachment of the " th rifles" of the regulars (the regiment of h.r.h. prince arthur) and the balance of the expedition. in the absence of the expected permission the same procedure was again followed, and when everything on board had been unloaded the _chicora_ was passed empty through the canal, and reloading the soldiers and all the equipment at the point aux pins proceeded up the lake to her destination. canada has since then, for her self control and the protection of her trade, built a great canal on her own side, through which ever since it was constructed the united states vessels have been freely allowed to pass upon exactly the same terms as her own. navigation upon the upper lakes was in those years in the most primitive condition. when the "chicora" landed the wolseley expedition at prince arthur's landing there was no wharf large enough for her to be moored to, so she had to anchor off the shore, and the men and cargo were landed in small boats. as col. wolseley came ashore in a rowboat he was met by mr. thomas marks, a principal merchant, and mr. william murdock, c.e., who was then in conduct of the government railway exploration surveys from the shores of thunder bay to fort garry for what afterwards became the canadian pacific railway. the colonel, finding on enquiry that the place had no particular name beyond that of "the landing," proposed that it should be called "prince arthur's landing." this was to be in honour of prince arthur, duke of connaught, who was then serving in his battalion of the rifle brigade at that time stationed in montreal. the name was immediately adopted and was kept unchanged until , when, to mark the eastern end of the canadian pacific and to correspond with "port moody," the then accepted terminus at the western end, it was changed to "port arthur." the name and reminiscence of the royal prince is in this way still happily retained. rivalries had begun between the long established hamlet clustered around fort william, the ancient post of the hudson bay company on the banks at the mouth of the kanistiqua river, and the newly created village on the shores of the lake at the "landing." to appease the vociferous claimants of both, the expedition was divided, one part being sent up by the lower river from "fort william," the other by waggon on land from the "landing," to join together again at a point on the kaministiquia above the falls, from where they proceeded together by the mixed transport of water and waggon on the "dawson route" to fort garry. there were then few lighthouses on the lakes, and no buoys in the channels. when a steamer left the shores of georgian bay nothing was heard of her until she came in sight again on her return after being away ten days, for there were no telegraphs on the north shore nor even at the sault. the hamlets were few and far spread, being mainly small fishing villages. bruce mines with its copper mines, then in full operation, was perhaps the most important place, with a population of , . the sault had perhaps , silver islet, with its mysterious silver mine, , , and prince arthur's landing about residents, with whatever importance was given by its position at the head of the lake, and as being the starting place of the dawson road to fort garry, and the supply point for the developing mines of the interior. whatever meat, flour, or vegetable foods the people ate had to be carried up to them from the ontario ports. westwards the decks were filled with cattle, hogs, and all kinds of merchandise, but there was little freight to bring back east except fish and some small quantities of highly concentrated ores from the mines. the business had not developed as had been expected, and the "chicora" was found to be too good for the lake superior route as it then existed. her freight-carrying capacity was light, cabin accommodation in excess of requirements, and her speed and expenses far beyond what was there needed. so the boat had to be withdrawn from service, dismantled, and laid up alongside the docks at collingwood in the season of . one splendid and closing charter there had been in the season of , when the "chicora" was chartered for the months of july and august to be a special yacht for the progress of the governor-general, lord dufferin, and his suite, through what were then the northern districts of ontario and through the upper lakes. col. f. w. cumberland, m.p., general manager of the northern railway, was also provincial aide-de-camp to the governor-general and thus in general charge of the arrangements for the tour, particularly on the northern railway, through whose districts the party was then travelling. the further portions of the tour were through the district of algoma, comprising all the country along the north shores of lakes huron and superior, which col. cumberland then represented in the provincial parliament, being the first member for algoma. washago, at the first crossing of the severn river, was then the "head of the track" of the "muskoka branch," which was under construction from barrie. beyond this point the party were to proceed through the byways and villages of muskoka by mixed conveyance of boats on the lakes and carriages over the bush roads to parry sound, where they were to join the "chicora." every minute of the way had been carefully planned out to satisfactorily arrange for the reception en route, stopping places for meals and rest, stays over night, and allowance for all possible contingencies, for the governor-general insisted that he should make his arrival, at each place on the way, with royal precision. there was therefore no room for the insertion of the many special demands for additional functions and time, which increasingly arose as the days drew near, for the fervor of the welcome became tumultuous. the presbyterian clergyman at washago had been particularly insistent and had called to his aid every local influence of shipper and politician to obtain consent that the governor-general should lay the corner-stone of the new church which the adherents of the "auld kirk" were erecting at the village. the ceremony was whittled down until it was at last agreed that it should be sandwiched into the arrangements on condition that everything should be in readiness, and that the proceedings should not exceed fifteen minutes, for there was a long and rocky drive ahead of fourteen miles to gravenhurst, where an important afternoon gathering from all the countryside and a reception by his excellency and the countess of dufferin had been arranged. the municipal and the local society receptions at the washage station had been safely got through when the governor and party walked over the granite knolls to where the church was to be erected. the location of the village, which is situated between two arms of the muskoka river, is on the unrelieved outcrop of the muskoka granite, which, scarred and rounded by the glacier action of geological ages, is everywhere in evidence. on the knoll, more level than the others, was the church party expectant. at their feet, perched upon a little cemented foundation about a foot and a half in diameter, built on the solid granite, was the "corner stone," a cube of granite some three inches square. a miniature silver trowel, little larger than a teaspoon, was handed to the governor, who, holding it in his fingers smoothed down the morsel of mortar and the corner stone was duly laid. the minister then announced "let us engage in prayer," and raising his hands and closing his eyes he at once began. it was a burning hot noon-day in july. having got fairly started the minister seemed to be in no way disposed to stop. at five minutes a chair and umbrella were brought for lady dufferin. at ten minutes motions were made to pluck the minister's coat tails, but no one dared. the fervid appeal covering all possible contingencies, and meandering into varied "we give thee thanks also" still continued so the governor and lady dufferin and their suite quietly slipped away from the group and going to the carriages, which were waiting in readiness near by, drove away. shortly afterwards the minister ceased and, opening his eyes, took in the situation. he at least had succeeded in having his corner-stone laid by a governor-general and was satisfied, even though he had lost that portion of his audience. there were others also who were satisfied as one of the devout congregation who said as we walked away, "wasn't the meenester powerful in prayer?" lord dufferin's private secretary and myself, having seen our duties to this point satisfactorily completed, returned to the cars and proceeded back by the special train to collingwood, where the outfit and arrangements of the "chicora" for the long cruise were being completed, and active operations had for some time been going on. the ship was a picture, resplendent in brightened brasses, new paint and decorations. the staterooms had been re-arranged and enlarged so that they could be used in suites with separate dining and reception rooms arranged for various occasions. strings of flags of all varieties, and ensigns for every occasion were provided, including his excellency the governor-general's special flag, to be raised the moment he came on board. captain james c. orr, his officers, and the picked crew were all in naval uniform, and naval discipline was to be maintained. about ten o'clock one night we sailed out of collingwood to make an easy night run across the georgian bay and arrive in the morning at parry sound, where the governor-general was to join the steamer in the afternoon. we were naturally anxious that nothing should occur on our part to mar the arrangements for the much heralded tour, and so i turned out early in the morning, called up by some indistinct premonition. of all the evils that can befall a ship's captain it is that of a too supreme confidence in his own powers; a confidence which leads him to take unnecessary risks and so incur dangers which a little longer waiting would avoid. of this we now met a most striking instance. there are two routes from collingwood to parry sound. the outer passage, outside the islands, longer but through open lake and safe, the other the inner passage winding through an archipelago of islands, tortuous and narrow. this latter was also known as the "waubuno channel," from its being the route of the steamer of that name, a vessel of feet and the largest passing through it. as a scenic route for tourists it is unsurpassable, threading its way amid many islands with abrupt and thrilling turns. captain mcnab, one of the most experienced and oldest navigators of the upper lakes, had been engaged as pilot for the tour of the "chicora." in the early morning, instead of being as had been expected, out in the open lake, we were heading into a bay with the shore line expanding far on each side both east and west. [illustration: the algoma. . the nd city of toronto. . rebuilt. page ] [illustration: the rd city of toronto. . from an old drawing. page ] going forward, captain mcnab, in reply to questions, said he intended going through the waubuno channel, and admitted that he had never taken a boat as large as the "chicora" through the channel, but was sure he could. amiable suggestions that he might like to bet $ , that he could, being promptly declined, he accepted instructions and the steamer was at once turned around to go by the outer channel for which there was plenty of time. he might have done it, but there was a doubt in it, and supposing he had not, what then? it is better for a captain to be sure, than to be sorry. the tour was a great success. wherever the bonnie boat went, whether in canadian waters around the northern shores of lakes huron and superior at sault ste. marie, nepigon, prince arthur's landing, or in american waters, at mackinac, lake michigan and chicago, her trim appearance, beautiful lines, and easy speed, won continued admiration. footnotes: [ ] detroit, th may, . sir: the steamer _brooklyn_ proceeds to point aux pins on special service. in case you may not have been advised by the head of your department, i am authorised to inform you that she is to have free access to all canadian ports on lake superior, moving under orders from col. bolton. i am, etc., (signed) f. w. cumberland. jos. wilson, collector of customs, saulte ste marie, ont. chapter vi. a novel idea and a new venture--buffalo in sailingship days--a risky passage. after the tour with lord dufferin had been concluded the "chicora" was returned to collingwood and laid up again to rest her reputation great and widespread as it was before, having been still more enhanced. at last early on a gray morning of august, , under tow of a wrecking tug, there stole gently away from collingwood the steamer which had been the greatest glory of the port, her red paddles trailing lifeless in the water like the feet of a wounded duck. where was she being taken to? what had taken place? it was the beginning of a bold and sporting venture. as general freight and passenger agent (oct., to jan., ) of the northern railway of canada, the "chicora" as she lay at collingwood was much under my notice, and in travelling to buffalo on railway business the water route by the niagara river was most frequently taken. there was no route on the upper lakes upon which the "chicora" could be successfully employed. it was considered that she could not be returned to the lower lakes because it was said that having been brought up the canals from montreal, the "guards" added at buffalo, which made her width fifty feet at the main deck could not be removed without serious damage in order to reduce her to the then welland canal width of only feet. as under the then trade conditions she could neither be profitably run nor be returned to the lower lakes, the steamer was of little worth to her owners, and could be readily purchased. it had for some time appeared to me that there was an opening for a good boat upon the niagara river route. the "city of toronto" plying to lewiston and the new york central was getting insufficient and out of date in equipment. the canada southern railway at niagara-on-the-lake was not satisfied with the "southern belle." why not get the "chicora" and strike out for a career of one's own? so i started to study the position having always had a mechanical turn and had practical experience in railway and machine construction. keeping one's ideas to one's self the boat was examined and careful scrutiny ascertained that the "guards" could be removed and replaced without interference with the hull, so that this first obstacle to her being brought to the lower lakes could be overcome. but there were other obstacles which cropped up. to begin with, a pier of one of the smaller locks in the welland ( Ã� ) was said to have inclined inwards so that there was not sufficient width even after the "guards" had been removed, for the -ft. hull to pass through. again, _chicora_ was feet long. if the vessel was brought down in two pieces through all the locks to lake ontario, there was no dry dock on the lake of sufficient length into which she could be placed so that these parts might be put together again. a further obstacle and a fatal one. the only place where the two parts could be put together again her full length of feet long was muir's dry dock, at port dalhousie, but that was above the last lock of the canal, which required to be passed to get down to lake ontario, and _this lock was only feet long!_ the game was apparently impracticable. it was not more impossible to put a quart into a pint bottle, than it was to put the full-sized -foot _chicora_ into the -foot dalhousie lock and lower her to lake ontario. no wonder other people had given the job up, and the steamer could be easily bought. just about this time i noticed an announcement in the press that in order to provide for the construction of the lower locks at the ontario end of the new welland canal, the canadian government intended, after the close of navigation the next autumn, to draw off the whole of the water in the five-mile level above the port dalhousie lock between there and st. catharines. the idea at once arose, why not put the _chicora_ into the -foot lock with the upper gate open, so that although she would extend feet beyond the regular lock, she would then be in a total actual lock of five miles long. going over again to port dalhousie, the whole position was carefully surveyed. it was found that on the troublesome lock there was three-quarters of an inch to spare, so that trick could be turned successfully. closer investigation developed that the -foot lock problem at port dalhousie was, as will be stated later, more capable of being solved than appeared on the surface. it was now evident that the practical part of the work could be done successfully. the next thing was to provide for connecting support. my first railway service had been in that of the great western railway in - in the divisional office at london, and afterwards in charge of the terminal yard and car ferries at windsor, under mr. m. d. woodward, superintendent. during that time the general manager was mr. w. k. muir, who had transferred, and was now general manager of the canada southern railway, operating the branch line between buffalo and niagara. enquiry led to an understanding that a contract could be made for a full service by a first-class steamer between toronto and niagara-on-the-lake in connection with the route to the falls and buffalo, as the size of the _southern belle_ was not satisfactory. armed with all this information, and having made up the estimates of cost and possible earnings, the whole matter was laid before the hon. frank smith, who then had a part interest in the _chicora_. the proposition was that we should buy out the other owners, bring the _chicora_ through the canal and put her on the niagara route, where she could earn good money. one was to do the work and the other to find the backing for the funds required. in this way for him a dead loss would be revived and a good future investment found, while the junior would enter into a work in which with energy he would be able to secure a lasting reward for his enterprise and ability in transportation business. he agreed and we proceeded to carry out the project. the purchase was made early in , the original purchasers and registered owners of the steamer being hon. frank smith and barlow cumberland. in this way began a partnership which lasted through life. sir frank (knighted in ) was a man of quick decision, of great courage, and indomitable will. every company with which he became identified felt the influence of his virile hand. a charter for the niagara navigation company, limited, with a capital of $ , , was obtained from the dominion government. the first issue of the stock of the company was entirely subscribed by the frank smith and cumberland representatives and the transfer of the boat to the new company made in . the first board of directors were: president, hon. frank smith; vice-president, barlow cumberland; directors, col. fred. w. cumberland, john foy, and r. h. mcbride; barlow cumberland, manager; john foy, secretary. preliminary work had been actively in progress at collingwood in dismantling the steamer and preparing her for a long and eventful journey. as the engines had been laid up and would not be required until after the reconstruction at toronto, they were not again set up, but the tug, j. t. robb, was brought up from port colborne to tow the vessel to buffalo. here began the closing era of this century of steam navigation in the niagara river. the story of the next and final thirty-five years is the story of the rise and expansion of the niagara navigation company, its vicissitudes and competitions, and the final success of the enterprise. reminiscence of the series of hot competitions which were worked through and of the men and methods of the period are set out as matters of record of an eventful series of years on the route. the long cabins on the upper deck were removed and parts sent to toronto, where they now are the upper drawing room of the _chicora_. the cabins on the main deck were left undisturbed to be used by the crew, while coming through the canals. captain thomas leach was in charge of the voyage to buffalo, where captain william manson, of collingwood, took charge of the crew with some carpenters and the engineers. mr. alexander leach was purser and confidential agent. a more faithful officer and devoted servant never was found. he had been purser of the steamer _cumberland_ until she was wrecked on isle royale, lake superior, august, . the tow from collingwood was uneventful and the steamer arrived at buffalo and was placed in the buffalo dry dock company's works, they having put her together when brought up from halifax. two barges were purchased and put alongside the guards, unriveted and lowered upon the barges in single pieces. the paddle boxes were removed, the wheels taken to pieces, numbered, and put on the barges, and everything stripped off the sides of the hull, so that she was reduced to her narrowest width, cleared of everything, to go through the canal. the steamer was then put into dry dock, cut in two and the parts slid apart. it was intended to take the steamer across lake erie to port colborne as a single tow. two long sixteen-inch square elm timbers were placed on deck across the opening and strongly chained to smaller timbers; timbers were also put fore and aft to take the pull and keep the two parts of hull from coming together. it all reads easily, but took much consideration and time in working out the problems. and as the enterprise was unusual and not likely to be repeated the details are given as matters of interesting record. it was a strange looking craft that came out of dock. two parts held far apart from one another by the big timbers, and the water washing free to and fro in the opening between. it was a tender craft to moor in a narrow river where heavily laden vessels coming and going banged heedlessly against one another. we were fortunate, however, in obtaining the permission of the united states marine department that we might lie unmolested and alone alongside government wharf on the west side of the river while waiting for weather. a great deal of public interest was being taken in the venture and on every hand we received cheerful and ready assistance. mr. david bell, whose daughter had married mr. casimir gzowski, of toronto, was especially helpful, doing good work for us in the foundry and machine shops. the dry dock companies seemed like old friends, the curious public often visited us, and the enterprising newspaper reporters kept us well in the readers' view. so we towed out of dock, dropped down the river and tied up at our allotted berth. the barges with their strange-looking cargo had been sent separately across to the canal to port colborne at the first opportunity. it was the beginning of october when the weather was uncertain, the water restless, and we had to be very careful in selecting a day to take such a crazy craft as a steamer thus separated in two parts across the thirty-four miles of the open lake. buffalo in the seventies was a very different place from what it is at present. the lower city alongside the river and canal street, crowded with cheap boarding houses for sailors and dock gangs, reeked in ribaldry and every phase of dissolute excitements. the vessels frequenting the ports in those days were mainly sailing vessels, the era of great steam freighters not having come. the stay of the vessels was much longer, their crews more numerous, and being less permanent, were easy victims to the harpies and the drink shops which surrounded and beset them. the waterside locality of buffalo had then a reputation and an aroma peculiarly of its own. crazy horse cars jangled down the main main street to the docks. the terminus of the niagara falls railway operated by the new york central, was at the ferry station, the cross-town connection to the terrace and exchange street not having been put in. the mansion house was the principal hotel of the city, and its lower storey on the street level, entirely occupied by the ticket offices of all the principal railway and steamship companies of the united states. the business centre of the town was in the vicinity. arrangements had been established with the united states weather bureau, whose office was well up town, to give us earliest advice of when they thought there would be from six to eight hours of fair weather ahead. many a messenger trotted between, and many an hour was spent in their office, waiting for news, for there were no telephones to convey information. the elements seemed against us. for a fortnight we had a succession of blows from almost every direction, one following the other without giving a sufficiently calm interval between. it was wonderful to see how quickly the water rose and fell in the harbour. a steady blow from the west would pile the water up at this east end of the lake and we would rise six feet alongside the wharf in a few hours, to fall again as the wind went down or changed, the outgoing water creating quite a rapid current as it ran out of the river. it was during this waiting time an incident occurred which came within an ace of putting an end to one career. the last thing in the evening a visit was always made from the hotel to the boat to see that all was well. in front of the face of the government wharf there was a continuous line of "spring piles" for its protection, with the heads cut off to the level of the dock. one dark and rainy night, when stepping from the deck of the steamer, mistaking the opening in the darkness for the edge of the wharf the next step put the leader into the opening and he dropped through into the river. soon manson's voice was heard calling, "are you there, mr. cumberland?" a lamp was lowered; the distance from the floor of the dock to the water was some six or eight feet, and many iron spikes projected through the piles. a storm was subsiding and the water running out fast, but by holding on to the spikes a way was worked up until a hand was reached by manson and the adventurer was hauled up to the top. sitting on the edge of the wharf with dripping legs dangling in the opening manson's exclamation was heard, "sakes alive; he's got his pipe in his mouth still!" they say the reply was, "do you suppose i'd open my mouth when i went under?" it was a close call, and mrs. cumberland was always anxious until at last we got the _chicora_ safely to toronto. at length advice was received from the bureau that we could start, so the tug was called and about a.m. we were under way. we had tried to get some insurance for the run across, but the rate asked was excessive that we determined to go without any, a determination which added zest to the enterprise. we didn't want to lose the boat and wouldn't have taken any the less care or precaution even if the insurance companies would have carried the risk for nothing. in this connection it is open to consideration whether the moral hazard of a marine risk is not of more importance even than the rating of the vessel, and that good owners are surely entitled to better rates than simply the "tariff schedule" which their vessel's rating calls for. the prevailing inconsistent system is very much like that of the credit tailor whose solvent customers pay for his losses on those who fail to pay their bills. the morning was cold and calm. we made down the river and rounded out into the lake, on which there still remained some motion from previous gales. it was curious to stand on the edge of the deck and see the chips and floating debris carried along in the wide opening between the two parts. we had come by a slanting course down and across the lake, reaching in under point abino in good shape and were rejoicing that the larger portion of the crossing was well over. as we rounded from under the lee of the point and passing it, changed our course for port colborne, a nasty sea come down from the northwest with an increasing breeze. we were soon in trouble, the bow-part began to roll and jump on its own account at a different rate than the more staid and heavy after-part, sometimes rising up on end and then seeming to try and take a dive, but held from going away by the long elm timbers which writhed while their chains squealed and rang under the strain. the worst sensation was when the seas, coming in on the quarter, swept through the opening between the two parts, swishing between the plates and dashing against the after bulkhead made it resound like a drum, sending the spray up over the deck while they coursed through the rower side. it was very exciting, but not at all comfortable. the pace of the tug seemed to get slower and slower, but all we on board could do was to keep the long timbers and their fastenings in their places, see that the bulkheads held their own, and stand by and watch the contest with the waves. at length, as we got more under the lee of the land, the waves subsided, the pace increased, and at last we were safe between the piers at port colborne. making all arrangements for the next few days, the leader hurried home, fagged out, but exultant, for the worst part of the journey was over and we had put the rest of the way fairly under our own control. chapter vii. down through the welland--the miseries of horse towing times--port dalhousie and a lake veteran--the problem solved--toronto at last. the barges with the "guards" on them had been sent down through the canal as soon as they had crossed the lake, and were now safely moored at the ontario level in the outer harbour at port dalhousie, there to await the arrival of the united boat. the men in charge returning up the canal to join the main expedition. starting from port colborne, the two parts of the steamer were separated to go down the canal. the bow part was kept in the lead, but both as near one another as possible, so that the crews could take their meals on the after part, on which they also passed the nights. the stern part was taken down the long upper level by a small tug, but teams were employed in towing for all the remaining portions of the canalling. memories of things as they then existed on the old welland are in striking contrast to the conditions obtaining at the present day. the miseries of human slaves on the "middle passage" of the atlantic have been dilated upon until sympathy with their sufferings has abounded, but it is doubtful if they were in any way worse than those of the miserable beings then struggling on the canal passage between lakes erie and ontario. the canal bank and tow paths were a sticky mush, which in those autumn months was churned and stamped into a continuous condition of soft red mud and splashing pools. from two to six double teams were employed to haul each passing vessel, dependent upon whether it was light or was loaded, but in either case there was the same dull, heavy, continuous pull against the slow-moving mass, a hopeless constant tug into the collars, bringing raw and calloused shoulders. poor beasts, there was every description of horse, pony, or mule forced into the service, but an all-prevailing similarity of lean sides and projecting bones, of staring unkempt coats, gradually approaching similar colour as the red mud dried upon their hides. rest! they had in their traces when mercifully for a few moments the vessel was in a lock, or when awaiting her turn at night they lay out on the bank where she happened to stop. it was the rest of despair. the poor devils of "drivers," boys or men, who tramped along the canal bank behind each tottering gang, were little better off than their beasts. heavy-footed, wearied with lifting their boots out of the sucking slush, they trudged along, staggering and half asleep, until aroused by the sounds of a sagging tow line, with quickened stride and volley of hot-shot expletives, they closed upon their luckless four-footed companions. what an electric wince went through the piteous brutes as the stinging whip left wales upon their sides! a sudden forward motion brought up by the twang of the tow line as it came taut, sweeping them off their legs, until they settled down once more into the sidling crablike movement caused by the angle of the hawser from the bow to the tow path. the new welland, with its larger size and tug boats, has done away with this method of torturing human and horse flesh. one wonders whether it is the ghosts of these departed equines, that, revisiting the scenes of their torture, make the moanings along the valley, and the whistlings on the hills, as they sniff and whinny in the winds along the canal. we had a good deal of difficulty at first in our canalling, especially in meeting and passing vessels. the after-part took every inch of the locks, and was unhandy in shape. however, by dint of rope fenders, long poles and a plentiful and willing crew we got along without hurting anyone else or ourselves. it was in one of these sudden emergencies which sometimes arise that captain manson was thought to have got a strain which developed into trouble later on. he was a splendidly-built fellow, over six feet in height, in the plenitude of youth, handsome, laughing, active, and of uncommon strength, the sort of man who jumps in when there is something to be done, throws in his whole force and saves the situation. the bow-part, being short and light, went merrily on, its crew chaffing the other for their slower speed, for which there was much excuse. one day on a course in the canal below thorold we rounded the corner of the height above the mountain tier of locks. it was a wondrous sight to see laid out before us the wide landscape of tableland and valley spread out below, through which we were to navigate and drop down feet on the next four and one-quarter miles. to the left was the series of locks which circled, in gray stone structures, like a succession of great steps, down the mountain side. these were separated one from the other by small ponds or reservoirs with waste weirs, whose little waterfalls tinkled, foaming and glinting in the sun. directly in front, and below us, were the houses and factories of merritton, with trains of the great western and the welland railways spurting white columns of steam and smoke as the engines panted up the grade to the heights of the niagara escarpment from which we were about to descend. beyond these came glimpses of the canal as it wound its way toward st. catharines. still lower down the escarpment, spires and towers of the city itself, and yet lower and still further away lay on the horizon the blue waters of lake ontario. how beautiful and hopeful it was! as the greeks when emerging from the strife and struggles of their long and painful homeward march, hailed the sea with shouts of happy acclaim, for beyond those waters they knew lay home and rest. so, too, it might have been for us, or at least for one of us, for another link had been gained in our long and trying voyage. far away, from the height, we could see lake ontario, the goal of the expedition, the ardently sought terminus of our labours, and on the other side of its waters lay toronto and the future for the bonnie ship. but times to-day are more prosaic, so, taking a hasty but satisfying look, we turned to negotiate the next lock. that night at the bottom of the tier, the stern part moored in one pond and the bow in the next below, a "jubilation" was held in the after-cabin by the combined crews. we had safely got down all the steps, and had passed the large boat safely through, so that we might well rejoice. beyond this day there was not much that occurred; the way was simple and we had got the "hang" of things. at st. catharines half the city came out to see the strange looking hulk wending its way down the canal, and through the locks, close to the town. at length we came down through the five mile level where the "canadian henley" is now held, with its floating tow path to carry the teams, and arrived at muir's dock, just above the final lock at port dalhousie, after five days occupied in coming through the canal. the two parts were moored alongside the gate while waiting for the dock to be made ready for our turn to enter. the position of the village now known as port dalhousie was originally, in days, being called "twelve mile creek." the creeks, or river openings being then named according to their distances in miles from the niagara river. this name was afterwards changed to "port dalhousie," in honour of lord dalhousie, the governor-general at the time the first canal was constructed. the "port" in those days of the horse canal when we arrived at it was mainly a turning place for the canal crews. its one principal street facing the canal basin, had houses on one side only, mostly drink shops, with or without license, with a few junk and supply stores intervening. its immediate inhabitants, a nomad collection of sailors and towing gangs, waiting for another job. around and in its neighborhood there was a happy district prolific of fruit and flowers, but in itself, with its vagrant crews culled from the world over, it was a little haven not far from the realm of dante's imaginations. times, methods and circumstances have all since changed. [illustration: old welland canal lock _plan of lock at port dalhousie with upper gate closed, only ft. long_ _the lock at port dalhousie with upper gate open-- ft. in. long._ _"chicora" ft. long as placed in lock and lowered to lake ontario level._ page ] capt. d. muir, the proprietor of the dry dock, with whom both now and later many a pleasant hour was spent, was a fine old character, and although then on the far side of sixty he held himself with square-set shoulders upright and sprightly. he had sailed the lakes until his face had taken on a permanent tan; eyes a deep blue with shaggy overhanging brows, a strong mouth and imperturbable countenance. he was not greatly given to conversation and had a dry, pawky humour which gave much point to his slowly spoken words, but when, as sometimes, he was in narrative mood, he would string off incidents of early sailing days on the lakes the while he chewed or turned from side to side, some sliver of wood which was invariably held between his teeth. he had no fancy for metal vessels, or "tin-pots," as he called them. "give me," said he, "good sound wooden vessels, built right," (as he said this you would glean from his emphasis he meant "as i build them.") "if ye hit against anything in the canawl, ye don't dint; if ye go ashore ye don't punch holes in your bottom, and ye ken pull yer hardest without enny fear uv rippin' it out." there is this to be said that whatever work was done in his dock, was well done. as soon as possible the two parts were put into the dock, the bulkheads taken out, the parts drawn together on launching ways (very cleverly done by muir's men), and the plates and beams rivetted together again by rivetters brought down from buffalo. the hull, both inside and out, was diligently scraped in every part and thoroughly oiled and painted. the main deck was relaid and _chicora_ was a ship again. while all this was going on, mr. j. g. demary, the "overseer" of this section of the canal, and i, had been carefully looking over the canal lock and arranging the procedure for putting the boat in for the final lowering down to lake ontario level. close examination had proved that the conditions of the port dalhousie lock, under water, were much more favorable than appeared on the surface. the lock had been built about thirty years previously and there was very little local knowledge about it. the lock itself was feet on full inside measurement, with both gates closed. the upper gates opening to the upper level, instead of being half the height of the lower gates, were of the same height, and the lock itself was continued at its full size and depth for feet further beyond these upper gates until it came to the "breast wall" of the upper level. with the upper gates open and pressed against the sides, there was thus created an unobstructed length of feet, into which to place and lower the -foot steamer, as is shown in the accompanying drawing. it was a very welcome and satisfactory solution which investigation below the water level disclosed. like many other problems, it all seems very simple when once the unknown has been studied out and the results revealed, and so it was in this case. the project and the plan of the whole enterprise of bringing the _chicora_ down had been created by close search into conditions, by the adapting of a sudden opportunity which happened to become available, and thus rendered practicable that which all others had considered to be, and was, impossible. it was a trying risk and worthy of a good reward. in an undertaking so exceptional as this was it was unavoidable that unexpected difficulties should from time to time arise, as they often did, yet only to be overcome by decision and pertinacity. another, at this stage, cropped up which for a time looked most unpleasant and caused much anxiety. the -foot steamer was to be placed in the -foot lock, and the water run off so as to bring her to the lake ontario level, or feet inches below the upper canal level. it was now found, when trying out every inch of the proposition, that under the water in front of the breast wall there was a big boom, or beam, extending across the lock from side to side. demary did not know how it was held in position, for it had been there before he came into the service, but he understood it had been intended to stop vessels laden too deeply from coming up the canal and striking and damaging the stonework of the breast wall. enquiry at the canal office at st. catharines resulted in learning that there were no records of it, although mr. e. v. bodwell, who was then the canal superintendent, gave us every aid. that beam had to be got out of the way or difficulty might be caused, so permission was obtained from ottawa for its removal at our own expense. first we thought we would saw it through, but soon found that it was sheeted from end to end with plates of iron, so we had to begin the long job of cutting the iron under water. many a pipe was smoked while watching the progress, when one day it was noticed that heads of the round rods which held up the beam in the grooves were square, suggesting screws on the lower end. so huge wrenches were forged, blocks and tackle rigged up, and after an afternoon's work with a team and striking blows with sledge hammers, we succeeded in getting the screws moving and, happy moment, the beam dropped to the bottom of the lock, where, no doubt, it still remains. so another kink had been untwisted. navigation ceased for the year, the canal was closed for the passage of vessels and the upper gates of the lock were opened and firmly secured. the _chicora_ was brought from her mooring, and placed in the lock with her bow up-stream. the water in the lock was now the same level as that of the upper level. on the th december, , the process of drawing off the water of the five-mile level was begun, unwatering the canal as far as st. catharines. it took ten days or so before the wider areas of the drowned lands were uncovered. we watched the waters falling lower and lower until at length the steamer began lowering into the lock. being fully secured, she was held in position clear of all obstacles. all was going well, but slowly, the time taken for the last few feet seeming to be interminable. at last suspense was over and on the th december we opened the lower gate and _chicora_ floated out into the harbour at the lake ontario level! the barges were quickly brought alongside, the guards were jacked up and fastened back into place to be completed after we reached toronto, and the material which had been brought along in the expedition collected and loaded. arrangement had been made with capt. hall to keep the tug _robb_ in commission to be ready to tow us over. being telegraphed for the tug duly arrived, and about noon on th december, started out from port dalhousie with _chicora_ in tow. navigation had long been closed and we were the only boats out on the lake. the air was cold but clear, and we had a fine passage, delighting greatly when the buildings of toronto came clearly into view--soon we would enter the haven where we fain would be. as we crossed the lake a smart and increasing breeze rose behind. as we came abreast of the shoal near the new fort (now called stanley barracks), and rounded up to make for the entrance to the harbour, suddenly the _robb_ _stopped_. something had evidently gone wrong with the engine. carried on by our way we swung broadside to the shore under our lee. a quarter of an hour, half an hour, three-quarters of an hour passed as we were steadily drifted by the breeze nearer and nearer to the beach. we could not do anything for ourselves--still there was no movement from the tug--would she never start again? a little nearer and we would go aground among the sand and boulders, to stick there perhaps through the whole of the winter which was so close at hand. after working out our enterprise so far, were we to be wrecked just when safety was less than a mile away? it seemed hard lines to be so helpless at such a stage. but fortune had not abandoned her adventurers, for just in the nick of time we saw the tug moving, the engine had started again and in half an hour the _chicora_ was inside the harbour, tied up alongside the old northern railway dock, her journey from collingwood ended on this the afternoon of the day before christmas day. capt hall, who was on his tug, had suffered as much from anxiety as had we, for he knew that every other tug on the lake had been laid up, so there would have been nothing left to pull the _robb_ off had she, as well as we, been carried upon the bouldered shore. the _robb_ was the largest canadian wrecking tug then on the lakes. she had done service in the fenian raid of at the time of the engagement at fort erie between the welland battery and the fenians, some of the bullet marks still remaining on her wheel-house. after a long and honourable career she was grounded at victoria park, where her hull was used to form a portion of the landing pier, and where some of her timbers may still remain. what a happy relief it was to be back on old familiar ground again, to meet the cheery greetings and congratulations of the "old northerners" of the yards and machine shops who took the utmost interest in this enterprise of their president, hon. frank smith, and their general manager, mr. f. w. cumberland, and formed an affection for the _chicora_ which is lasting and vivid to the present day. christmas was a happy and well-earned rest. we had completed the first part of the undertaking, but not for unmeasured wealth would the experience be repeated. youth is energetic and looks forward in roseate hope, so the anxieties and risks were soon forgotten, and all nerves turned toward the business engagements and profits, which, now that we had her safe in hand, the boat was to be set to earn. the balance of that winter, and the spring of were fully occupied in rebuilding the upper works of the steamer in their new form adapted to her service as a day boat and in overhauling and setting up the engine after their long rest. not long after our arrival, captain manson developed a severe inflammation, which confined him to his room in the richmond house. here, bright and cheerful to the last, he died on th february and was buried in collingwood on march nd, deeply regretted by all sailorfolk and particularly by our crew. five others of that crew, lost with the _wabuno_ and _asia_, found watery graves in the waters of the georgian bay. the writer is now the sole survivor, and mr. r. h. m. mcbride, and he the only remaining members of the original company. for the interior work a party of experienced french-canadian ship joiners were brought up from sorel, no centre of ship carpentering existing in ontario at that time. the comely main stairway which gives such adornment to the entrance hall was then erected in all its grace of re-entrant curves, ornate pillars, and flowing sweep of head-rail and balustrade. when one thinks of the unnumbered thousands of travellers who have passed up and down its convenient steps, ones admiration and respect are raised for the french-canadian foreman who designed its form and executed it with such honest and capable workmanship, that to-day it still displays its lines of beauty without a creak or strain. the octagonal wheel-house of the upper lakes which had been brought by rail from collingwood was re-erected with its columned sides and graceful curving cornice under which was again hung the little blockade-running bell, lettered "let her b." chapter viii. the niagara portal--history of names at newark and niagara--a winter of changes--a new rivalry begun. on the south side of lake ontario, opposite toronto, is the niagara portal, where the mouth of the niagara river, with high banks on either hand, makes its entrance into the lake, forming the only uninterrupted deep water harbour on that shore. here the rapid waters, outfall of all the gatherings of the inland upper lakes, pour out in fullest volume, enabling entrance even in winter, when all other harbours are closed in the grasp of ice. it is worthy of its mighty source, the product of the greatest fresh water lakes in all the world. over the west bank floats the union jack on fort missasuaga, and over the east on fort niagara, the stars and stripes, each the emblem of the british and united states nationalities, between whose possessions the river forms the boundary line. the first port of call on the canadian side at the mouth of the river, now known as niagara-on-the-lake, had in olden times an importance and a past, which much belies its present outlook of quiet and placidity. once it was the principal and most noted place in the province of upper canada, and the centre of legislative power, making its surrounding neighborhood full of reminiscence. the successive changes in the name of this ancient lakeside town, as also those of the settlement on the opposite shore, are interesting, as in themselves they form footprints in the paths of history. the french had entered the st. lawrence in , and, as we have seen, had fully established their first route of connection to the upper lakes and the inner fur-trading districts, via the ottawa and lake nipissing. the niagara river route, via lake erie, had been learned of by them in under pere gallinee, and followed by the enterprise of the _griffon_ in , but then, and for long after, was too fiercely occupied by hostile indian tribes to be greatly available for commercial use. a first advance from montreal intending to occupy the route, under chevalier de la barre, was intercepted by the indians at frontenac (kingston) and driven back to montreal. in another advance for possession of the river succeeded in creating a foothold and the french erected a wooden fort and palisade upon the projecting point on the east bank of the river at its junction point with the lake. this outpost they named fort niagara, the name by which the place has ever since continued to be known. the little garrison was not long able to keep its foothold. beset by indians and cut off by the failure of food supplies expected from their compatriots in the east, they were in dire straits, but yet boldly holding out in hopes that relief might yet arrive. at this juncture, col. thomas dongan, governor of the english colony of new york, then loyal subjects of james ii., made demand that the french should evacuate the fort, as it was in british territory. the british colonists of new york and new jersey had recently joined hands with the colonies of new england, in a british union, for united defence against the french. upon the english home government having indicated to the french authorities its support of the colonial demand, the marquis de denonville, governor of canada, ordered the garrison to retire. this they reluctantly did, but before leaving raised in the centre of the fort, under the influence of pere millet, their jesuit missionary, a great wooden cross feet in height, upon which they cut in large letters: , "regn: vinc: imp: chrs:" _regnat_; _vincit_; _imperat_; _christus_; (christ reigns, conquers, rules.) the place was being for a while abandoned as a military post, but by this they left notice that it was still held as on outpost of their religion. here again at niagara an episode was being repeated exceedingly similar to that which had been developed at quebec a century and a half before. jacques cartier and his explorers had entered the st. lawrence and endured their first winter at stadacona (quebec). decimated by scurvy and privations, and in extreme danger from the hostility of the indians, he determined to return to france, taking with him the remnants of his expedition. on rd may, , three days before leaving, he raised upon the river bank a cross feet in height, on which was a shield bearing the lilies of france, and an inscription: "_franciscus primus dei gratia francorum regnat._" as cartier had returned and established their strong-hold at tidewater, near quebec, so the survivors of the party of pierre de troyes at niagara, in , hoped they, too, might again return and repossess for their nation this centre from which they were so reluctantly retiring. these two events so far separated in time, are striking evidences of the constancy with which these pioneers of france, even when seemingly overcome, showed their hopeful fidelity to king and to their religion. the french in were, according to charlevoix, once more in occupation. the position of fort niagara, commanding the route to their series of forts on the lines of the ohio and mississippi, was considered by the french as second in importance only to that of quebec, and consequently great store laid upon its possession. under jonquiere they added four bastions to the fort and erected a stone storehouse, called "the castle," which is still to be seen. further strengthenings were added by capt. puchot, of the battalion of bearne. in , notwithstanding puchot's gallant defence, the fort was captured by the british, under sir william johnson, and thus both sides of the river came under british rule. three nationalities in succession had striven for its possession, the indians, the french and the british, from whom it was never again taken by assault. at the conclusion of the war of the revolution the forts along the northern frontier were, by the treaty of paris, , to be transferred to the united states. fort niagara, with some others, was held in hostage for the fulfillment of the reparations promised by the federal government of the united states to be made by the several states to the united empire, and other loyalists who had stood by the king during the rebellion. these reparations were never made, but after the guns had been removed to fort george, on the canadian side, the union jack was hauled down, and the fort handed over on th july, . the stars and stripes then remained in possession until the war of , when in retaliation for the burning of newark, the fort was assaulted and taken by storm by the british under col. murray on the night of th december, , and the union jack was once more raised above it. matters remained in this position until in february, , under the treaty of ghent, fort niagara was once more gracefully given over and again, and in peace, the stars and stripes took the place of the red cross jack. the name niagara appears during the opening period of the british occupation to have been used generally for all parts of the neighborhood, but applied particularly to the old village on the east bank close under the walls of the old french fort. population now began to cross the river to the western side, and abner gilbert reports in , the beginning of a village called butlersberg, on the west shore, named after colonel butler, the commander of the celebrated "butler's rangers" of the revolutionary war, and which was afterwards largely settled by united empire loyalists. this name was early changed to west niagara in order to distinguish it from fort niagara. at the advent of lieutenant-governor simcoe, in , and presumably at his instance, a new name newark, after a town in nottinghamshire, england, was given to this town on the west bank, and in , by royal proclamation, the name niagara was officially transferred from the town to the surrounding township. newark then became the seat of government, and capital of the province of upper canada, and the place of residence of the lieutenant-governor. this distinction and advantage it enjoyed unrestrictedly until , when governor simcoe removed his personal headquarters to the north side of the lake at toronto, where he again indulged his fancy for changing names, by changing the then original name of toronto, to that of york, in honor of a recent victory of h.r.h. the duke of york in flanders. although governor simcoe had himself removed his residence to york, he received and entertained the duc de liancourt in , at newark. the parliaments of upper canada continued to hold their sessions at newark, and the town to be the official centre of the province, until , when governor russell, the successor of governor simcoe, finally removed the provincial headquarters to york. the loss of its prestige and official importance so incensed the inhabitants that they refused to continue the new name imposed upon them by governor simcoe and reverted at once to the name of west niagara. the official _niagara gazette_, which had hitherto been dated from newark, changed its heading to west niagara, and so continued until october, , when it was first published from york. finally in an act of parliament was obtained by the municipality restoring to the town its old name of niagara. old names die hard, so we find john maude, in , mentioning the name of west niagara, late newark. common usage seems to have generally retained the name of newark, at all events as used by strangers. john mellish, writing in , says "i came down the opposite side of the river, the wind was blowing so hard that i could not cross to newark." on the th december, , when every house in the town, except one, was burned by the american troops, who had obtained possession in the previous spring, but were now retreating from it in consequence of the advance of the british troops under col. murray; the american general writing on the spot to the united states secretary of war at washington and describing in his official report of the position of affairs writes: "the village of newark is now in flames." this destruction and the infliction of great privations upon the inhabitants and children, in the midst of a severe winter may have been justified under the plea of military exigency, but has always been considered inhuman. general mclure and his forces, however, retired so precipately across the river to the united states side that they left the whole tents of their encampment at fort george standing, and the new barracks which they had just completed untouched, so that we may hope that some of the women and children were not without temporary shelter. with this total destruction in seems also to have passed away the name newark, and the town arose from its ashes as niagara. in after times, as the towns and villages in this niagara district increased in number, not a few difficulties were occasioned by a similarity of names, such as niagara falls, niagara falls centre, niagara south, niagara, etc. in the name of niagara-on-the-lake was introduced as being a geographical and distinctive name, appropriate to the lakeside position. this, while not at first accepted by some of the older citizens, yet having been authorized by the post office department, is now the correct address. the name is certainly one expressing the individuality of the town and its unexampled position as an interesting place of resort, and perhaps is better than that of old niagara, which some people still use in speaking of it. it was into this niagara river realm, with all its historic past and passenger possibilities that we were about to enter. negotiations for the running arrangements had been continued during the winter months. the _chicora_ having been brought to lake ontario, and accepted as satisfactory for the canadian southern railway, a term of years contract for the performance of the service in its combined rail and water route between buffalo, niagara and toronto was negotiated, and after much debate and consideration had been drafted and settled with the officers and engrossed for final execution. an arrangement was also made by hon. frank smith with the representatives of the milloy estate, the owners of the _city of toronto_, that the two steamers, the _city_ and the _chicora_ should run in concert, dividing the business between them and avoiding competition. everything looked well. the steamer herself as she approached completion increased in approbation, and the details for the traffic working had been satisfactorily arranged. the writer resigned his position as general freight and passenger agent of the northern railway of canada, and received appointment ( th april, ), as manager of the niagara navigation company. in the preceding year mr. robert kerr had been promoted from the charge of the through grain traffic to be assistant general freight and passenger agent of the northern, and now succeeded to the full office, a position which he held with increasing satisfaction until , when he transferred and entered into the service of the canadian pacific railway. a ticket office was opened by mr. cumberland for the niagara route and the upper lakes, with captain thomas wyatt of the inman line, and c. w. irwin, customs broker, at yonge street, under the then american hotel on the north-east corner of front and yonge streets, now covered by the building of the toronto board of trade. the agencies of all the ocean and inland steamship companies were at that time located either on front or on yonge streets, in this neighborhood. donald milloy, the agent of the richelieu and royal mail lines and the _city of toronto_ was on the front street side of the american hotel, while this for upper lakes and the _chicora_ was on the yonge street front. in the beginning of may came a bolt from the blue. the opportunities for another steamer in the niagara river route had evidently attracted the attention of other people as well as ourselves. there had been rumors that mr. r. g. lunt, of fredericton, new brunswick, might bring his fast river steamer the _rothesay_ up to lake ontario, or the st. lawrence river. his route on the st. john river between fredericton and st. john had been spoiled by recent railway construction; he was thus open for a new route. mr. donald macdonald of toronto was his brother-in-law, so that he was not without local advice and influence. the announcement was now made that an arrangement had been come to between the _city of toronto_ and the _rothesay_ to run together on the niagara route. the hon. frank smith at once sent for mr. donald milloy and was surprised to be told that the undertaking which had been made to run the _city of toronto_ in connection with the _chicora_, would not be fulfilled and that it was not binding on the owners of the steamer. needless to say mr. smith was enraged, and bringing his hand down with a decisive smash declared that he would see them through various places for their perfidy. [illustration: the chicora on lake ontario page ] mr. donald milloy was then leaseholder from the freeland bros. of the yonge street dock, toronto, and refused to allow us to have a berth in it. the milloy estate owned the dock at niagara, and at first would not let us in but satisfactory arrangements were made. here we were within six weeks of the opening of business without either dock or partner. arrangements for our connection at lewiston were next sought. the only dock was owned by mr. george cornell. this was the connecting point with the new york central railway whose station was in the upper town about a mile distant from the landing; the passengers and baggage being transferred in the bus line run by mr. cornell. the _city_ had the exclusive rights of this dock at its upper end, close to the staircase, up and down which connection was made between the busses on the upper level and the steamers. cornell was not disinclined to favour the increased business which the new steamer would no doubt bring to his hotel and busses. we were thus enabled to lease the lower end of the dock, which was at once repaired and replenished, it not having been in use for many years--in fact, not since - , when all the large lake steamers were withdrawn and run down the rapids to be employed in service during the american civil war. then began a permanent and friendly relation with the cornells, father and son, which has been continued without a hitch or interruption through all these intervening years. at toronto, mr. donald milloy still refused to allow us to run from his yonge street dock in connection with the other steamers, although we would have been very glad to do so. this dock is in many ways a much superior boating point than any other, but as the next best place we secured entry at the west side of yonge street at "mowat's dock," afterwards called "geddes' dock," and now the "city dock," our berth being along the face fronting the bay. another bolt was now to come. all the details of our contract with the canada southern had been settled early in the spring, the documents drawn and requiring only the signature of the president. unfortunately at this juncture a change of control came and the canada southern passed into the hands of the michigan central, and under another president, who, on being interviewed at cleveland, was quite pleasant, sent for the contract, read it over, but said decisively that it had not been signed and there would be no contract! in his opinion it was not desirable to make a term of years contract, tying his company to any one boat, but under the special circumstances, agreed to give us a connection. i pointed out that we had gone to all the risk and expense and had brought the _chicora_ down on the faith of that contract, but as he said he wouldn't adopt it, he was at once assured that we would work just as hard for expansion of the traffic and would earn and win his company's support, so we parted on friendly terms. there was nothing else for it. we might just as well take it pleasantly for it was good to have even half a connection with one of the railways on the river. it certainly felt a disappointment not to have contract control of that section of the traffic, but one is disposed to think that it was for the best, and indeed has so proved. we have built our way up by providing, at the instance of the railways, all the requirements that that water traffic needs. it is better to deserve a route and hold it by efficient service for mutual advantage, trusting to just and amicable endeavor on both sides, rather than to the rigid terms of a formal contract. the importance of the ownership of landing places had been so impressed by the recent events that i availed of an opportunity, which offered to purchase the dock and water lot at queenston, although the traffic at that point was then so light that it could scarcely be considered a port of call. this british port at the head of lake ontario navigation at this upper end of "queen's-ton" was the loyally-named co-relative and partner of "king's ton" at the lower end. its glory had been great, but had long departed, leaving little but the noted "queenston spring," whose pure and running waters still pour perennially from the side of the bank alongside the dock. the purchase did not at that time receive much approval by some, but fully justified itself later on, and was the first step in that policy of acquiring the wharf properties at all points on our route, which has ever since been consistently followed by the company. as we had expected that our intended partner would provide us with railway connections on the river and with ticketing arrangements for foreign business, we had not done much except in local preparations. the "city" refused to present us to the railway companies and tendered the "rothesay" as her partner, as the railway companies loyally stood by their old connection, we were left out to do the best we could on our own account. we had now to prepare all these matters for ourselves, a pretty considerable work of organization, but with energy and much overtime it was at length pushed through. the main difficulty was in the railway connection via lewiston, and beyond buffalo, where the railways would neither accept tickets for us, nor issue tickets over us. the new york central authorities determined to stand by their old connections with the "city," and would not have any dealings with us. the hon. frank smith interviewed mr. tillinghart, who was superintendent and in charge of the central interests in this district, placing before him the position which had been anticipated but had been disrupted, with the "city," but to no avail. it was a serious position and seemed well night unsurmountable. some would have quailed and laid down. the _rothesay_ arrived. she proved to be quite an impressive looking boat, about feet in length, good beam, very roomy decks and central cabin; a more commodious boat than the _city_. she was particularly well arranged as a "day" boat and was reputed to have a high rate of speed, as she soon proved she had. the _chicora_ shortly afterwards moved down the bay from the northern docks to her station. the contrast between the two steamers was most noticeable, the _rothesay_ with high walking beam engine and broad skimming dish appearance, with the sea-going ability, and double red funnels of the _chicora_. it was evident that the main contest would be between these two boats. the _city of toronto_, as had for many years been usual, a custom coming down from the time when there were no railways around the head of the lake, opened the season on april th, leaving toronto at a.m., making only the one morning trip. we had made our appointments in march, captain thomas harbottle, the leading favorite of the royal mail line, was placed in command. a ruddy-faced, jovial personage, with flowing dundreary whiskers, inclining to grey, cordial manners, a good seaman, who held with ever-increasing respect and confidence the good-will of the royal mail company and of the travelling public. mr. j. ellis, who had a good connection in toronto and held full marine certificates, as captain on both atlantic and inland lakes, was appointed first officer, and george moore chief engineer. alex. leach continued as purser. the bookstand and lunch counter on the steamer were leased to a young man then in the employ of chisholm brothers, the proprietors of the similar privileges on the richelieu & ontario, and river st. lawrence steamers. as steamers were added by us, t. p. phelan grew with the line. subsequently he was entrusted with all the catering for the company. from this he advanced to similar business at all the refreshment stations of the grand trunk and grand trunk pacific railways, so that now the canada railway news co. (which is t. p. phelan) is the largest news and catering company in canada. chapter ix. first season of the niagara navigation co.--a hot competition--steamboat manoeuvres. the work of preparation had been completed and we drifted down to record the opening day of our first season. our hats were in the ring. a complimentary excursion to niagara, leaving at . p.m., was given by the company on may th to a large list of guests, an introduction of the steamer which was much appreciated and approved. the boat race in toronto bay between hanlan and ross on th may was availed of for an excursion to view the race. we were still solving the problems on the niagara river so our first business operation was in another direction, and it is somewhat interesting that this first trip was to hamilton, being introduced by the following advertisement: queen's birthday th may, grand excursion to hamilton magnificent steamer chicora will leave mowart's dock at a.m. and p.m. returning will leave hamilton at . a.m. and . p.m., calling at ocean house, burlington beach, each way. splendid band of the royal engineer's artillery battalion. for the convenience of passengers the steamer will call at queen's wharf on the outward trip in the morning. single return tickets c. double return tickets $ . . barlow cumberland, agent, yonge street. god save the queen. the results were highly satisfactory, the public being anxious to see the steamer and interested in its progress. another charter which was declined may be mentioned as being the establishing of a principle which was not departed from. a new roman catholic church had been erected at oakville, which was to be consecrated and opened with much eclat on a sunday. at that time there were no trains run on sundays on the hamilton and toronto branch of the great western railway, and the only way by which any very large contingent from toronto could be expected to join in the ceremonies would be by making arrangements for an excursion by water. there would have been no legal objection to this, as the rigidity of sunday legislation had not then been introduced. the oakville authorities made application to charter the _chicora_, and as the president of the company was a roman catholic, and the roman catholic archbishop of toronto strongly supported the application, they felt assured of compliance. a goodly offer was made for a trip on the sunday afternoon from toronto to oakville and back. the matter was considered by the board and it was unanimously resolved that the chicora would not be run on sundays. one will not say that this decision was entirely due to religious considerations, although these, no doubt, were not without weight, but it was also settled upon plain business principles. the steamer was entering a considerable contest and would need every care. in a competition with two steamers we needed to have our men and the boat keyed up to the highest efficiency. this could not be done if we ran the steamer across the lake on every day of the week. the maintenance of the regularity of the steamers and the reputation of the niagara river line has without doubt been considerably gained by confining the running to "week days only." the increasing requirements for through connections, particularly from the american railways on the south shore, where sunday trains have greatly increased, may some day bring about a change. on saturday, st june, _chicora_ left toronto dock at . p.m. for a first regular afternoon excursion to niagara, and on monday, june rd, began her regular double trip service leaving at . a.m. and . p.m. as matters on the niagara river were still in process of organization we did not at first run beyond niagara except on wednesday and saturday afternoons, when the full trip up the river to lewiston was made. it was very early found that the trip up the river is the main attraction to the route, giving, as it does, scenery unusual and without compare, a respite from the open lake and allowing a stroll on shore, either at niagara or lewiston, while awaiting the return journey. from the very beginning the competition was a whirlwind. mr. lunt was an adept at steamboat competition and it was our business to go him one better, and also to have our steamer and facilities made as widely known as possible to the travelling public. at toronto the entrances to the two docks, alongside one another on the esplanade, were trimmed with "speilers," who finally expanded up yonge street to front, and even to king street. one thing insisted on, so far as our men were concerned, was that there should be no decrying of the character or condition of the rival boats. our tickets were put into the hands of every ticket office, broker, insurance or real estate agent in toronto, whether up-town or down-town, who would take them in, provided one thing only, that he had an office opening on the street. every hotel porter, with his sisters, his cousins, and his aunts, was created a friend, and the itinerant cab was just as welcome as the official bus. we were out to get business from every quarter. the _city_ in previous years had issued a ticket at $ to members of one family for ten round trips on any afternoon. we put a general rate on of $ . without any restrictions, and by gradual reductions it reached cents on wednesday and saturday afternoons. this was a round trip rate which had been introduced by the _southern belle_ in for the afternoons of tuesday, thursday and saturday on her route from york street (tinning's wharf) to niagara and return. we now extended it to lewiston and return, giving a view of the really splendid scenery of the river which had never previously been opened at reduced rates. the public quickly took in the idea and gave us business. in addition to general business, we energetically worked up the society and church excursions, becoming an unpleasant thorn in the sides of those who had so summarily thrown us over and whom we were now obliged to attack. it was in this season that the caledonian society made their first excursion with us, a connection and comradeship which in all the thirty-four years has never once been interrupted. matters on the other side of the lake were somewhat different. we had no railway connections to issue tickets over us or direct passengers to our boat. we had to provide for this entirely of ourselves, having thus to promote business on both sides of the route. printer's ink was extensively used by newspaper advertisements, descriptive folders, dodgers and timetables. a large and excellent framed colored lithograph of the steamer was issued with the lettering: the niagara navigation company's steamer chicora plying between toronto--niagara--lewiston. hon. frank smith, barlow cumberland, president. manager. these being largely distributed to the hotels and ticket offices introduced the steamer in her new conditions. there was no use running the boat unless we fully advised the public of herself and movements, but all this advertising, and introduction, cost much expense in money and energy. the ticketing arrangements on the south shore were somewhat difficult. passenger business thirty years ago was conducted under very different conditions from such as exist at present. there were no official regulations, no state or inter-state, authorized tariffs, no railway commissioners. each railway and each passenger department was a law unto itself to be guided and regulated by whatever conditions or rates might at the time be considered most desirable for the promotion of its own business by the officers in charge. ticket "scalping" abounded, being looked upon by the public as a protection against the uncontrolled ratings by the railways, and a promoter of competition where combination might otherwise be effectual. there were several associations of "ticket scalpers," some of much power and reliability, but all were equally denounced by the railways. yet there were in fact not a few instances where the regular issues of some of the (for the time-favoured) railway companies might be found in an under drawer of some of these unauthorized servants of the public. these energetic workers were our opportunity. all the principal scalping offices between cleveland, pittsburgh, new york, albany, rochester, and lewiston, were stocked with books of tickets reading over our steamer, or to toronto and return. the rates were, of course, such that they could obtain both profit and business. there was no use mincing matters, we were in the fight to win out. through these sources we managed to get quite a business, being represented in each town by from two to four scalp offices, in large cities even more, and, tell it not in gath, with very friendly arrangements in some of the regular offices as well. the amount of personal travelling and introduction was laborious, but was pleasant, in renewing acquaintanceships and connections formed as general passenger agent of the northern railway when working up the new couchiching and muskoka tourist business introduced in the several preceding years. it was in this season of that the converging railways in the districts spreading from the south and southwest towards buffalo, began a system of huge excursions for three days to niagara falls and return, on special trains both ways, and at rates for the round trip not far from, and often less, than single fare. most of these separate railways have since been merged into some one or other of the main trunk lines, but then they were independent and each sending in its quota on its own account to make up a "through special." the most successful excursions of these were the series which came every week from the then wabash district, from indiana and the southwest, and were known as the "friendly hand" excursions. the name arose from a special trade mark which appeared in all the wabash folders and announcements, of an outstretched hand with the thumb and fingers spread, on each of which was shown the line and principal stations of each one of the contributing railways that fed their excursions into the main stem. the excursionists were energetic, and although the "falls" was the focus of their route, we induced large numbers of them to cross over to toronto. a prevailing slogan was: "one day to falls, one day to stay, next day toronto and then 'get away.'" when the long special excursion train slowly came down the curve from the town station at niagara to the dock to join the steamers, it was gall and wormwood to the _city_ or the _rothesay_, lying in waiting, to see the crowd of linen duster tourists as they poured out of the train make straight for the _chicora_, "the boat with the two red funnels." we got them all, for we had many and right good friends. in those early days, before the "park commissioners" on both sides of the river had taken public possession of the surroundings, there were few places at the falls from which either the river or the rapids could be seen without paying a fee. the proprietors of these places issued tickets in little books, containing coupons for admittance to all, or to a selection, of these "points of interest," and put them all in the hands of the managers of the excursions. the advertisement "dodgers" announced: special inducement for this excursion to the falls { suspension bridge and return c. the regular prices { prospect park c. for admission are to { art gallery c. { museum and operators c. { garden of living animals c. one ticket purchased on the train for $ . admits the holder to all these regular prices. a good round commission on these sales was a helpful "find" or "side cut" to the energetic young railway men who personally accompanied these excursions, through their trains, on the way to the falls, carrying large satchels with their selections of "points of interest" and other tickets, and answering the multitude of enquiries made by their tourist patrons. an extension ticket to "toronto and return" was a pleasant addition to their wares, and a satisfactory introduction to us. some of these travelling passenger men, by their energy and successful handling of these excursions, brought themselves into notice, and afterwards rose to be heads of passenger departments, and even into presidents of railways! as a reminder of their trip each tourist was given by us a souvenir of toronto, and even if excursionists struck a rough day and rendered up their tributes to lake ontario, it was of novel interest to many who had never before seen a lake wide enough to have been "out of sight of land," and sailing over waves big enough to make a large steamer rock. in this way began what has since been so greatly developed, the reduced rate excursions to toronto, via the niagara river, and the making known of the features of the city as a summer resort by this advocacy, and the thousands of dollars which the niagara navigation company has devoted to its advertising in all parts of the united states. at lewiston we took everyone on board that wanted to come; in fact, our "runners" strenuously invited them. the moment the dusty two-horse "stages" from the new york central station unloaded their still more dusty travellers in front of cornell's hotel at the top of the bank at the staircase, they were appealed to by the rival touts of the competing steamers, either to take the "black funnel" steamer at the foot of the staircase, or the _chicora_, with the red funnels further down the dock. it was a little bit of pandemonium. no tickets were collected by us at the gangway--it was "come right on board," the tickets being collected while crossing the lake after leaving niagara. if the traveller had no ticket, we collected fare from him at full tariff; if he had a ticket over the other boats we accepted it and graciously carried him across free; if he had one of our own tickets we almost embraced him. what difference did it make to us whether the tickets reading over the other boats were cashed to us or not, we had the more ample space and better accommodation on ours. perhaps the passenger might esteem the compliment and be a paying traveller over us on some other day. besides, people like following the crowd, and the larger number helps to make a show. times have been known in competitions on the upper lakes where the central cabins prevent both sides of the steamer being seen at once, when in addition to the available passengers, everyone possible of waiters and crew have been spread out on the passing side of the upper cabin, when meeting a rival boat. it gives an appearance of prosperity and suggests the approval of the public. just here let me bear testimony to the ability and fidelity of purser aleck leach, who had been purser with me on the _cumberland_, and had now been transferred to the _chicora_. kindly and courteous, yet firm, he never dissatisfied a passenger. untiring, accurate, faithful, he never divulged anything of the company's business, and won and enjoyed the confidence and good-will of every member of the board and staff. a condition which was only severed by his death. at no time were these abilities more displayed than in this first strenuous year on this route. the competition grew hotter as the season progressed. the odds were greatly in favour of two boats with an established connection against a single boat without any, yet _chicora_ was gaining, and every point in the passenger ticketing game was being played against them by her management. the acrimony and the rivalry of the contest is fairly indicated by an advertisement in "the globe" on th august, : toronto, niagara and buffalo steamboat line. the public are warned that spent checks of the steamers _city of toronto_ and _rothesay_ of their line, collected and issued by the steamer _chicora_, will not be accepted for passage on either of the steamers of this line. passengers going over by the _chicora_ on saturday last were furnished with such by the _chicora_, and were consequently deceived, as these checks were refused by this line. d. milloy, agent. the galled jade was wincing and inventing stories, for they could not and did not afterwards refuse their unused tickets whenever we found it advisable to use them. as the months passed _chicora_ improved herself in the good-will of the travelling public, being admirably handled by captain harbottle. at niagara it was a ticklish job to get into and away from the lower dock. the _rothesay_ always moved down in order to get as close as she could, frequently we had to warn her to keep further away. when coming into the river _chicora_ had to be driven sharp across from the point at the fort, on the united states side, to the dock on the niagara side, to be brought up, all standing, with her bow only a few feet below the _rothesay's_ stern. often it looked as though she must run into the other before the way could be stopped, and that a collision must take place. coming down the river it was a less dangerous, but a more difficult manoeuvre. the steamers always move swiftly in the quick current which sweeps past fort george to the docks. as on or each day, both the other steamers lay at the same time in front of their dock, their hulls extended far out into the stream, and _chicora_ coming down had to make a double curve, like an s, to get her place at the lower dock. it was a pretty thing to see, but harbottle always managed it by just skimming, but not touching, the other boats' side. the harmony between him on the bridge and monroe in the engine room apparently being complete, and besides, _chicora_ steers like a yacht. at lewiston things went easier, yet even here the _rothesay_ would edge back down the front. [illustration: niagara navigation co. steamer "spinning" in the rapids below queenston heights. page ] in order to avoid all possibility of touching the steamer ahead when he was leaving lewiston dock, captain harbottle, instead of going up-stream and afterwards turning down-stream, always sprung the stern of his steamer out from the dock and backed over towards vroomen's bay on the opposite side of the river. it was from the upper point in this bay that the british battery played with much success upon the american boats as they crossed the river to attack queenston on th october, . from here he turned and went down stream. it is said that this was the course which had been adopted in olden days by the large steamers _cataract_ and _bay state_ when leaving this lewiston dock. another manoeuvre introduced by captain harbottle is still continued. after making a first call at queenston the steamer on leaving the dock moves further up the river keeping in the eddy which here runs up along the shore to the foot of the queenston heights. when close under the heights, the steamer turns quickly outward towards the centre of the river and the engines are stopped. forging slowly ahead the bow enters into the whitened boilings and swirls of the surging currents of the rapids pouring out from the gorge. the bow is caught by the current and the steamer then rapidly "spun round" by its swiftness, almost as though on a teetotum, the engines meanwhile backing up. just as soon as the bow heads down the river the engines are at once sent ahead again and the steamer sweeps at an express train rate past the jutting points of the shore, and makes her landing at lewiston. it is a very pretty manoeuvre and surprising to see the rapidity with which the stern circles round. on the open lake _chicora_ by degrees won her way. being much the faster boat she could hold or pass the _city of toronto_ at any time or in any weather--with _rothesay_ it was different. on a fine smooth day there was little between them; on a hot, sultry day, without any wind to assist a draught for the fires, the _rothesay_ could beat the _chicora_ by one, to one and a half minutes toronto to niagara, but if there was even the slightest motion, _chicora_ could walk by her, and on a rough day _rothesay_ couldn't run at all. she was a very light tamarac hull, built purely for enclosed river service in perfectly smooth water, and therefore in no way fitted for outside wave action. we set out by starting behind the time of the other steamers. when running a competition, it is not a bad thing to let the other boat get away first. it makes the fellow in front uneasy. he doesn't know when the boat behind may be going to have a dash at him, it makes him fretful and it is hard to tell how fast he is going. both engineers and firemen feel the strain. boats often run better on some days than they do on others; it may be the character of the coal, the direction of the wind, or the disposition of the firemen, thus the boat behind can choose her own day for a spin. watches are sometimes different, yet from all one hears the fastest trips of boats are generally made when there is no other boat near. we had determined, and had given instruction, that there was to be no racing done by _chicora_. we were aiming at regularity of service. one presumes the rule as to speed was kept, but the public generally fancies a race whether there is one on or not. one breathless saturday afternoon trip is remembered. instead of, as on most days, giving us a wide berth, on this one being such as suited her, the _rothesay_ came over close alongside. for some time it was neck and neck between the boats but gradually the _rothesay_ began gaining an inch or two and, and after see-sawing back and forwards for a while growing to a foot or more. sitting in the after deck among the passengers, listening to marcicano's orchestra, one could not help noting the relative positions, as marked by the lines of the stanchions. just then a little knot of men came over and one of them bringing out a roll of bank bills said:--"mr. cumberland, we know there is no racing, but if you're keeping down the speed for sake of the price of coal, we'd like to pay for an extra ton or two." of course the kindly offer was declined with thanks, but with much appreciation. whether they were more successful on the lower deck where the firemen cool off, or whether it was a little riffle that sprang up, that made the difference, i do not know, one cannot say, but the _chicora_ that afternoon entered the river first. so the season waxed and waned. _chicora_ did her work well and winning, it might almost be said, the affection of the travelling public. her appointments so far exceeded those of any other steamer at that time as to make her a specialty, but it was through her sea-going qualities which won their favor. the regular "pat-pat" of her feathered paddles almost framed themselves into rhythmic melody with the full mellowed tone of her whistle whose clear resonance carried its sound for miles through the city every evening, with such regularity as almost to be accepted in the homes as the signal for the children's bedtime. when rough days came the _rothesay_ stopped in port and the _city_ completed her trips, while the _chicora's_ fine qualities as a seaboat, easy on herself, grew more and more into acceptance. at length the season closed and we made our last trip on th september, having maintained the two trips per day throughout without any cessation. every one concerned in the competitive boats, no doubt, glad when the season's contest was over. it had been, for us, one of intense activity, and never ending labor and anxiety. a whole system, both within the steamer, and for outside solicitation, and ticketing arrangements, had been devised and installed, as well as the sufficient work of the daily running duties. a new company had to be introduced on an old route. we had fairly succeeded in getting into it, but it had been at a pretty expense. the _chicora_ was laid up at the northern railway docks, and accounts for the year were made up. what the competition had cost the others one does not know, but _chicora_ was a long way on the wrong side as the result of the season. this was a very serious thing for one of the undertakers, for instalments had to be paid up on the investment and at the same time the losses met. chapter x. change partner--rate cutting and racing--hanlan and toronto waterside--passenger limitation introduced. during the winter of - , changes came. the _city of toronto_ had tired of her partner. the railway companies had recognised the value to their route of the steamer of the niagara navigation company, and the ability of its organizers to promote additional business. thus in the new negotiation the _rothesay_ was dropped by the _city_ and the line for was to be the _city of toronto_ and the _chicora_. we had lost money but had won our way into the route. to enable obligations to be fulfilled monies had to be earned elsewhere, so another position was sought and obtained as general traffic manager of the "collingwood-lake superior line" to sault ste. marie and lake superior, at the same time continuing the general ticket and freight agency, at yonge street. in april, mr. cumberland resigned his position as manager of the niagara company, retaining the original position and salary as vice-president and assistant in passenger and executive work and mr. john foy, the secretary and son-in-law of sir frank smith, was appointed manager as well as secretary. sir frank smith, recognizing the good work done, in bringing the steamer down, the organization of the company, and in the strenuous contest which unexpectedly had been forced on us, but had been won by active ability, carried the liabilities created, which in course of time were duly shared and met. mr. john foy, who hereafter gave his whole time to the company, although not technically educated in the passenger business, had very many excellent qualities and a genial personality which did much in subsequent years for the advancement of the company's interests, and in the new connections which arose. as each new connection developed, he was able to enlist their good-will, and so harmonize and satisfy them by effective service. the season of was a comparatively easy one, so far as executive work was concerned, for with _city of toronto_ as a partner we were included in direct connection with all the railway companies, who therefore provided all the passenger requirements, and in the regular route with her from the yonge street dock, the trips being divided between the steamers, and each taking its own earnings. the time tables for the season were:--may , _chicora_ a.m., single trips. june , _chicora_ a.m., p.m. june , _chicora_, or _city of toronto_, a.m., . p.m., p.m. the steamers in summer time tables alternated, the one leaving at p.m., remaining over night and making the early trip from the river in the following morning. the _rothesay_ having been dropped by the _city_ still continued running to lewiston, but afterwards only to niagara and youngstown, communicating with lewiston by a small river steamer. captain wm. donaldson was in command; she sailed at a.m. and p.m. from yonge street dock, the same dock as the other two steamers, a concession in her favor made by mr. d. milloy as lessee. from the very beginning mr. lunt adopted a policy of rate-cutting, and created a lively excitement in passenger prices. his opening rates were:-- in books good for all regular trips. round trips $ . round trips . round trips . these tickets were unrestricted and were available to any holder. to this policy of unremunerative prices was developed that of annoyance, by too close proximity of the steamers both at the docks or when running, which had in some degree been introduced in the previous season. so noticeable and dangerous did this become that the directors of the niagara company felt it necessary to make public protest and the following announcement was published in the toronto morning papers of august th, : steamer chicora. efforts of her owners to prevent racing and avoid collision. minutes of a meeting of the directors of the niagara navigation company, held monday, august th, : president, hon. f. smith; col. f. w. cumberland, barlow cumberland, john foy. ( ) captain harbottle made a full report respecting the occurrence of saturday, august nd, and of the circumstances in which the _rothesay_ twice crossed the course and bow of the _chicora_. that in the first occasion he was obliged to slow the engine, and in the second he stopped in order to prevent collision. ( ) that before the season opened capt. harbottle proposed to mr. lunt, the owner of the _rothesay_, that in order to prevent all possibility of racing the first steamer clear of the queen's wharf, or niagara river should be allowed to keep her place across the lake, but this mr. lunt declined. ( ) that as there seemed to be a determination on the part of the _rothesay_ to provoke racing, the above offer was repeated by the directors in a letter dated th june, and then mr. lunt in his reply dated th june, again declined to accept the proposition. ( ) that under all the circumstances the solicitor be instructed to take all known and possible proceedings at law to put an end to the dangers arising from the action of the captain and the owners of the _rothesay_. ( ) that the thanks of the board are due to capt. harbottle for the care and skill he has exercised in avoiding the _rothesay_, and that he be requested to continue on the principle that safety is the first consideration. ( ) that these orders of the board be published for the information of the public. (sgd) john foy frank smith, manager president. it is to be remembered that the present eastern channel from the harbor did not at that time exist, but that the western channel, by the queen's wharf, was the only one which was open, and was not then wide enough for two steamers to pass out together. the proposition was that the first through this channel should hold its lead. toronto had then a population of only , . there were very few steamers running out of the harbor, lake excursion business may be said to have been only in its introduction and infancy, so that very much personal and family interest was taken in the several steamers on the routes, thus accounting for the public announcement of the regulations proposed. the publication had the desired effect of preventing the _rothesay_ from coming into too close proximity, but did not reduce the monetary competition, in fact only increased it. the _city_ and _chicora_ were running three trips daily, a.m., . p.m., p.m., and on saturdays four trips, the advertisements announcing "_no overcrowding, as both steamers return in the evening_." on the four trips being made the alternating steamer left at . p.m. for niagara to make the first trip from there at a.m. on monday. while other rates were maintained, a special excursion rate of cents was made for round trip on saturday afternoon. in early august _rothesay_ put on a return rate at c. for every afternoon, heading its announcements "_keep down the rates_." the milloys were averse to reduction and favored holding up the rates, considering that better equipment deserved better money. in this mid-summer season the _rothesay_ was getting a pretty good batch of passengers every afternoon, a process which would help her to continue the competition. she was then running from the yonge street slip on the west side of milloy's dock, the _city_ and _chicora_ both being on the east side out of sight behind the buildings. we had the next move under consideration. the hon. frank smith came down on the dock one hot afternoon when the people were swarming down the street for the p.m. steamers. we were standing and watching the streams dividing to go on board the two steamers, the _chicora_ and the _rothesay_, the latter being in sight in the yonge street slip, the other further down the dock and behind the buildings. there was quite a stream taking the _rothesay_. "by heavens," said the hon. frank, suddenly and decidedly, "there's one of the men from my own warehouse going on board the _rothesay_, he's holding down his umbrella, so that i shan't see his face, but _i know his legs_." we forthwith called and held a joint meeting with the milloys in the office on the dock, when the round trip rate of c. for every afternoon was at once adopted, and all other rates were thereafter to be the same at the _rothesay_. one of the most eventful days in this season was the reception given to edward hanlan on his return from winning the sculling championship of england from edward trickett on the thames in july, , thus becoming the champion oarsman of canada, the united states and england. many champions have since been welcomed but never such a welcome as this, for it was the city's first offence, her first world's champion. the civic committee headed by mayor jas. beatty, jr., ald. a. r. boswell chairman reception committee and the members of the hanlan club, a coterie of men of standing and sporting instincts, who financed and managed hanlan's early career, met the champion at lewiston, on july th. it was one of the most wonderful scenes ever occurring on toronto bay. the _chicora_ had been specially chartered to bring the _champion_ into toronto at p.m. we were met outside the harbor by a fleet of steamers, _filgate_, _empress of india_, _maxwell_, _jean baptiste_, and many others, crammed with excited and shouting people. headed by _chicora_, the procession entered the bay, which was covered by a crowded mass of boats of every description, sailing, rowing or steam, making it necessary to bring the steamer down to dead slow. hanlan was put by himself on the top of the pilot house, where he stood, easily seen, holding one hand on the pinnacle and waving a return to the enthusiastic greeting of his fellow citizens. never was there such a din of welcome. every steam whistle on the boat and on shore that could speak, shrilled its acclaim, bells rang, guns fired, the city, half of which was afloat, hailed its island born son and champion who had brought laurels and renown to both himself and them. the citizens of toronto had always been partial to boating and taking their pleasure in water sports, but these victories of hanlan gave a renown to the city and a zest to rowing which greatly increased that interest in boating and rowing races which has ever since been a dominant feature in the sports of the city and the pleasurings of its young people. yet it is open to question whether in these later and more mechanical days, the leisure-rowing and paddling section is not somewhat on the wane, under the influence of the puffing, stench-spreading and lazy-luxury motor boat. at the same time it is a matter of congratulation that the competitor in the racing shells and canoes become still more numerous, and in every way energetic as of yore, mainly under the splendid influences of the argonaut, don, and other amateur boating clubs. the _rothesay_ held on through the season. mr. lunt being an energetic and capable opponent, apt in attack and with much experience in the ways of steamboat competition. he was hard to shake off and while making no money himself he prevented others from making any. the managers of the _city_ were now reaping the reward of their broken faith and their having introduced him to the route. her owners were obliged to make an assignment toward the close of the season and _chicora_ finished alone on october th. competitions such as was this, carried on with intention, only, of doing damage to an opponent's investment, and without any regard as to the number of passengers who might be induced by low rates to go on board the steamer cannot be conducted at other than with greatest risk. this was further intensified by the fact that the government inspection limited itself to inspection of engines and boilers and no discrimination was exercised as to the service in which a boat was to be employed. such a condition would seem strange in these present days when all routes are specified and regulated, but in those days it was different. once physical inspection was passed it made no difference as to the passenger service in which the boat was to be run, whether on the open lake or in river service, nor was there any limitation upon the number of passengers who might be taken on board. this condition was not a fair one, either for the public, who are not always discriminating and look mostly at the lowness of the rate, or for the owners, who were not being given any consideration for their larger expenditures in producing steamers fit for the routes upon which they were to be employed. this gave the _rothesay_ a good handicap and one which enabled her to longer continue a contest. movements were, therefore, initiated by us for the introduction of regulations for the limitation of numbers, and restriction of steamers to appointed routes, but it took much time to bring about any result. the season of found the _city of toronto_ under capt. donaldson and _chicora_ under capt. harbottle, still running together between milloys wharf and lewiston; the _chicora_ opening the season on th may. the _rothesay_ opened her season with renewed vigor on the th may, . mr. lunt announced: "the steamer _rothesay_ having been thoroughly refitted will on and after monday the th leave yonge street wharf at . a.m., and . p.m. for niagara connecting with the canada southern railway for falls, new york and all points. "_quick time._--five hours at falls and return same day, arriving at toronto . p.m. "picnic parties will be taken by train to niagara grove. tickets on sale by w. a. geddes, custom house wharf, and charles morgan, yonge street." in addition to running to niagara, _rothesay_ this year dropped over to youngstown on the american side, from where connection was made to lewiston by a small american steamer. she also worked up an excellent excursion business for the youngstown and fort niagara park. the _city_ and _chicora_ divided the route as previously with one trip and a half each, all trips being run the full length of the river to the foot of the rapids at queenston and lewiston. during this season an opportunity offered for the purchase of a dock frontage alongside the lewiston dock. the new york central had not then been extended from its upper station to the edge of the river above the dock, and it was also under consideration whether the railway would make a new move to reach the bank of the river at lewiston nearer to the steamers, or would replace the rails and again operate its seven miles extension branch to youngstown. if they should resume this latter route to the mouth of the river, conditions at lewiston would be changed. it was, therefore, considered best to await further developments before making any purchase. the strain of the competition was beginning to tell. the steamer _city of toronto_ was in august advertised for sale at niagara, "thoroughly equipped, handsomely furnished and inspected ready for sea." _rothesay_ ended her season on th of september, and _chicora_ on the th of october, having run the latter part alone and kept up the connections for the railways. the public had enjoyed the pleasures of lake travel to the utmost, but the steamers were none the better off, for the magnitude of steamboat business is not to be gauged by the crowds carried on the boats, but by the net results in the purser's accounts. during the winter - the negotiations for limitation were continued and met with success, and as the _rothesay_, in the spring of , could only get a certificate for "river" work, for which she had been constructed and was well adapted, she was withdrawn to the st. lawrence river, where she ran between kingston and the thousand islands until in she grounded and was abandoned. at length our competitor was gone, having made no money for himself and having caused much loss to others, including his first partners who had introduced him. chapter xi. niagara camps formed--more changes and competition--beginnings of railroads in new york state--early passenger men and passenger ways. the _chicora_ opened the season of on may st, connections being made with both canada southern, and new york central railways. during this season the first "niagara camp" was held. on the th of june, the _chicora_ took over on the morning trip the toronto field battery, mayor gray, lieut. beatty, surgeon mcdonald, sixty-five non-commission officers and men, twenty-seven horses, four guns and five companies of the st battalion, col. brown, major cameron, capt. and adjt. pollard and surgeon barnhart. from modest beginnings began this annual gathering of the volunteer militia of ontario, which has since assumed such considerable proportions and greatly extended in its sphere of operations. it has been found by experience that the attraction of a visit to the "falls," which is possible while at this camp, brings more willing recruits, and the coming into actual touch with the battle fields of the defence of canada in , creates a sense of duty and of fervour which is very helpful to the service. many lessons are learned from the remarkable collection of relics of early days, and of stirring times, contained in the museum of the niagara historical society.[ ] recently the acreage of the camp has been largely added to and fort george the embanked ancient fortress, just above the steamboat dock has been repaired and renewed. just below the ramparts is to be seen a long one story wooden building--the last remaining portion of the old "navy hall," the headquarters of lieut.-governor simcoe, where the meetings of the first parliament of upper canada were held in and where he entertained the duc de liancourt in . the other buildings of the group, as shown in the drawings of mrs. simcoe, were destroyed or removed in the construction of the erie & ontario railway. the business on the collingwood line had so much increased to lake superior that another steamer was now needed, and the steamer _campana_ was purchased in england. her career had been a romantic one. while running on the river plate in brazil, she had been chartered to take a cargo of mules to south africa for the kaffir war of . the mules were landed at capetown, but the supercargo, or purser, who was in charge, collected the purchase money and the freight earnings and then disappeared. the steamer was summarily sold to pay the wages of the crew and was then brought to the thames, where she was purchased by mr. a. m. smith, president of the company, and brought out to montreal. as the _campana_ was feet long, ft. beam, with tonnage of , and all the lower st. lawrence canals had not been completed to welland canal size, four being still of the old length of ft. only, mr. cumberland was engaged to superintend her cutting in two and bring up the two sections. [illustration: the cibola in the niagara river off queenston. page ] with a vessel of such size this entailed great difficulties, she being the largest ship that had been up till then brought up the canals and rapids, but the novel problems were solved and the way paved for the canadian pacific steamers, _alberta_, _algoma_, _assiniboia_, built in scotland, which next followed on the same methods. _campana_ was the first twin-screw iron passenger and freight steamship to ply on the upper lakes, and introduced the system of making a round trip a week between ontario ports and lake superior. in this year the _maid of the mist_, ft. long, beam, depth ft., startled the vessel world. her business from the elevator stairways to the foot of the horse shoe falls had fallen off. it was said that behind was the sheriff, in front the whirlpool rapids and beyond on reaching lake ontario a satisfactory sale. capt. robinson determined to run the risk and on th june started down the river. the first huge wave of the rapids threw the boat on her beam ends sending the smoke stack overboard, almost submerged by the next she righted, and by a quick turn evading the whirlpool emerged from the gorge in little over ten minutes. the watchful collector at queenston seized the opportunity for fees and had the _maid_ enter with him the customs, the first and probably the last steamer ever to register as having come _down_ from above the rapids. in august we met our first loss by the death of col. f. w. cumberland, general manager of the northern & northern western railways, and our senior director. having taken the utmost interest in the enterprise, his technical knowledge, energy and judgment had been throughout of infinite value, and his hearty personality was greatly missed not only in business but in comradeship. he was a man who had the forceful faculty of engaging the affection and loyalty of men who worked with or under him; severe but just, exacting yet encouraging, good service was sure to be noted by him and to receive his approval and reward. after his death the employees of the northern and north-western railway, since absorbed by the grand trunk railway, erected a monument to his memory at the junction station at allandale, presenting an excellent likeness in bronze of their late chief. mrs. seraphina cumberland, wife of the vice president, was appointed to the vacancy on the board. during the winter of - further changes took place in the ownership of the _city_, whereby mr. donald milloy, who had been in charge of her up to this time, ceased to be her managing agent, and mr. william milloy and his mother, mrs. duncan milloy, of niagara, came into control. the new management declined to renew the previous arrangement and determined to run on their own and separate account on a new arrangement made with the canada southern. on may th, the _city_ with mr. william milloy as captain, opened the season with regular trips--"_leaving niagara on the arrival of the canada southern train . ; returning leave toronto p.m., connecting with canada southern at . p.m. tickets from d. milloy, agent, front street, east._" on monday nd may, , _chicora_ resumed the usual trips from toronto at a.m. and p.m., connecting at niagara with canada southern and at lewiston with new york central railway.--"_tickets from w. r. callaway, king street, east, and york street, or barlow cumberland, yonge street, and york street._" mr. callaway then represented the credit valley railway in toronto, and on their company being absorbed by the canadian pacific railway as part of a through line from windsor to montreal, he became its western passenger agent. his wonderful faculty for attractive advertising and catching phrases had immediate effect in creating the company's passenger business against its older rival, and when the "soo" road was added to the c.p.r., mr. callaway's genius for developing traffic was transferred to minneapolis, where he achieved similar results. the ticket offices at york street were principally for steerage, and italian business. passenger business toward the west was at that time exceedingly active. the canadian pacific then under active construction around the north shore of lake superior, and to the further west, called for large importations of laboring men, making the beginning of our italian population. manitoba and our north-west were attracting much attention and the railways beyond chicago, not having been merged into large corporations but working independently, were offering large ticket commissions, each acting on its own account. the contest across the lake now created was not pleasant, there being an introduction of a certain amount of local rivalry which was undesirable. the season was a rough one and towards its close the _city_ grounded on the boulders at the entrance to the niagara river, and was successfully pulled off, but did not finish out the season. notices were inserted in the public papers that the _city of toronto_ "would be rebuilt for next season and that work would commence directly navigation closed." _chicora_ therefore finished the season alone. the season of found the steamers running in the same manner--_chicora_ under capt. harbottle to niagara and lewiston: the _city_, capt. w. milloy to niagara only. the season was an unfruitful one, weather cool and disagreeable. for sake of notoriety the steamers under the leadership of the _city_ were often sent across the lake on days when they had better have remained in port and saved money. it was this mistaken course which led to close of the competition. a heavy storm from the east was blowing, toward the end of september. the seas were running heavily on the island, and even sweeping up on the dock fronts in the harbor, no business offering and weather cold with sheets of rain and sleet at intervals. the _city_ had come across from niagara but _chicora_ had not been sent out for the morning trip, nor had we any intention of sending her out for the afternoon. about o'clock it was noticed that the _city_ appeared to be firing up. i was at the time in charge and had given instruction that if the _city_ went out _chicora_ was to follow but on no account to pass her. capt. harbottle and self were walking up and down the front of mowat's dock, where the _chicora_ lay, watching the other steamer which was lying at milloy's yonge street dock, from which we had for the third time been ousted at the beginning of the season. "by the lord," said the captain, "she's moving; i'm off." there were few or no passengers to go, but the _city_ started out down the bay followed by _chicora_. they had a very rough passage and when about two miles out from the river the _city_ rolled out her mast and was otherwise damaged, but managed to make her way into port. this was her end, for she was sent to port dalhousie for repairs, and while lying up in the dock she was burned at p.m., st october, , and so closed a long and eventful career. found us without any further partners and alone on the route. it had been a long strife. no wonder we had loved the _chicora_ for like a good lass she had always cheerfully responded to whatever she was called upon to do. her seaworthiness gained the confidence of the public to such an extent that there were not a few families in the city who preferred the rough days for their outings, and some men, among others, mr. wilson of the bank of montreal, who always had notices sent to them when "there was a real heavy sea on," so that they might make the afternoon p.m. excursion. capt. harbottle having been appointed to a position on shore in the marine department, his place on the _chicora_ was given to capt. thomas leach, of halifax. it was he who in had brought up the blockade runner _rothesay castle_ and had run her between toronto and niagara in competition with the _city_ under arrangements with the canada southern. the season of had barely begun before we learned of another intended competitor. the steamer _rupert_ was being brought up to run in connection with the canada southern at niagara-on-the-lake. this steamer duly arrived at milloy's dock and was found a good-looking sizable boat, with much deck accommodation for many travellers. going on board the sand barrels on the broad deck seemed somewhat numerous. one of these was held at midship at blocks. taking out the wedge and turning the barrel a kick set it rolling toward the ship side. as it went the boat keeled over to it. without saying or seeing anything more, the investigator walked off and going up to the office told mr. foy, "john, you needn't be afraid of the _rupert_. she'll frighten her passengers some day, she's crank,"--and so she was. the competition did not last the whole season, but business was increasing on the route, so the small steamer _armenia_ was chartered to make an early morning trip from the niagara river to toronto. it was not a success, but she was useful when the fruit season opened. this year began also another route in competition. the welland railway had passed into the hands of the grand trunk, and the _empress of india_ was engaged to make the lake service between port dalhousie and toronto in connection with a fast train from buffalo and niagara falls. no doubt this diverted some business from the through route, but the principal earnings were from its own local district. with the superlative attractions of the scenery of the niagara river, this port dalhousie route will never successfully compete for through or excursion travel with the niagara river route, but it has the city of st. catharines and an aggregate of thriving towns which will give a fine local and paying business with toronto. in we were at last in sole possession, having won the established connection with both the railways, at niagara with the michigan central, which had absorbed the canada southern, and at lewiston with the new york central. it had been eight long years of anxious and intense application of wits, energy and expense. one year in bringing the steamer down, and seven in constant competition, in wearing out competitors and winning the route. we were now able to turn all our energies to the more pleasant work of development. the officials of the railways had learned to have confidence in us and appreciated that we were not only ready to give good service, but to add to it, and to improve as the traffic needs of the route showed to be requisite. when we entered upon the route, mr. c. b. meeker was general passenger agent of the new york central--a man patterned after the old commodore's taste, namely, that there was only one railroad in the world and that was the new york central. this faith permeated not a few of the minor officials, so that in their opinions, to be permitted to travel on the n.y.c., was to be considered by a passenger as a high privilege, and the utmost courtesy was to be used toward the immaculate and superior conductor, who honored him by taking up his ticket. yet there was some reason for it. it was the beginning of great things in railway enterprise and service, for out of a series of small separated local roads it had been from between - , gathered together under a master hand and thereafter was continuing to be built up into a great and united system, giving the travelling public facilities they had never dreamed of, advantages which would have been impossible without the combination. in the earlier days of steam railroad enterprize, there was little thought of the possibility of creating communication between far distant centres, as was afterwards found practicable, when the working of the steam engine became better understood. building short local railroads by local subscriptions joining neighboring towns, appears to have been the method most prevalent. these railroads were in fact only improved stage routes. some idea of the then conditions is afforded by the list of railroads opened or under construction in in the state of new york, given in tanner's american traveller, :--"buffalo and niagara falls railroad, miles; mohawk & hudson railroad, from albany to schnectady, miles; schnectady & sartoga railroad, miles; ithaca & oswego railroad, miles; rochester railroad (now in progress) from rochester to a point below the falls of geneva; schnectady and utica railroad (now in progress), miles: rochester & batavia railroad (in progress), miles; troy & ballston railroad (now in progress), miles. several other railroads are proposed." these and others were gradually brought into combination, in the one central system for their mutual advantage and the convenience of the public.[ ] it seems strange to think that in the sixties there had been no sleeping cars and no through trains between buffalo and new york. the trains stopped and started at albany, where the passengers either laid over at an hotel for the night, or leaving the cars walked along the station platforms to the decks of a large ferry steamer, on which they were taken across the river to join the connecting trains on the other side. on reaching the outskirts of new york the railway cars were uncoupled, and then each drawn separately by six horse teams some miles down sixth avenue on the horse car tracks to the terminus at twenty-second street, then only a simple two-storey brick building. with the construction of the railway bridge at albany in , the railway had sprung up at once into a great through route, the only one landing its passengers in the city of new york, and thus over-passing and over-topping all its competitors. it is not surprising, therefore that there was some pride and self esteem in those employed upon it. when sleeping cars were first introduced on the new york central it was in the most primitive fashion. the cars were the same coaches in which the passengers rode during the day. the whole of one corner was occupied by a great pile of mattresses and blankets and a number of posts and cross bars. when sleeping time came the posts were brought out, the berths built up and bolted together before the eyes of the passengers. it can be well understood how these improvised constructions creaked and groaned during the night. they supplied a need, but were soon supplanted by the pullman inventions. with mr. meeker we had the most personally pleasant relations, but when we had made our application to him for a connection, he was staunch to the old steamboat connections of his company and would only deal with us through them, even if he did think we had been hardly treated, but when we had won and deserved our way into an official connection he was equally staunch toward us; recognizing the continuous interest which the steamboat lines have in the mutual business which they have aided the rail in building up. to him succeeded in may, , mr. e. j. richards, his highly efficient and much younger assistant, whose knowledge of the passenger business of his railway was unsurpassed by any. from this time began an association with the principal officers of the new york central, which has widened and deepened with years. this year, , capt. mccorquodale was appointed to the _chicora_, succeeded capt. t. leach, whose business engagements rendered it necessary for him to return to halifax. having come into assured position the railway officers willingly co-operated with us when we spent considerable time and money in sending out travelling representatives and distributing advertising matter respecting the route and toronto, to all parts of the united states. mr. steve murphy being the efficient travelling passenger agent since . i question very much whether the city and the citizens of toronto have any conception of the wealth of advocacy in advertisement and expense which the niagara navigation company has given to the city and its attractions, and particularly to its "exhibition" during the past twenty-five years. one after another the, then separate, railways were induced to put lines of tickets on sale reading over the niagara river line to toronto, the list of these having been added to each year. in mentioning this it is to be remembered that in these early years, in the "eighties," there were a very large number of minor railways operating on their own and separate account. the great consolidations into the fewer hands and control of the main trunk lines had not then been effected, and yet more, the system of general traffic associations, joint rate meetings and combined agreed traffic associations had not been devised. the officers of each railway did what each thought was best for the interests of his own line, and were controlled only by their being open to the possibility of adverse competition from some other line. the grand field day was the _spring meeting_ usually held in buffalo, to consider "summer excursion rates." as there were many more independent roads the attendance was considerably greater and perhaps there was more of conviviality and social intercourse than in the more staid and business meetings of these subsequent days. moreover it was a battle of wits between the newer and weaker roads striving to create and attract business from their more longly established competitors. will anyone who was present at them, forget the mental activity and agility of the general passenger agent of the ogdensburgh and lake champlain railway, then a little one "on its own," striking into the middle of its great competitors; a menace, ambitious, and played with a free hand. its able representative was like a little terrier snapping in the midst of a surrounding crowd, and he frequently got his way. the claims for "differentials" by some roads not so well established as others, or where representatives thought their earnings might be thus increased, were perennial, and the demands for more special excursions at "cut rates" voluminous. the discussions were lively and well worth hearing. in the hours of relaxation of this annual gathering which brought men of the fraternity from distant places into friendly contact, there were men who since have risen into the restraining influence and stateliness of highest offices, but who in those younger days did not disdain to dance a can can in a night shirt, or snap fingers in a highland fling, with an elderly but active steamboater from montreal. all could sing in a chorus or join in a rout. the foundations of the present great lines of passenger trade were laid in those days, but the railway world to-day does not find quite so much fun in its work as it used. the days of individuality of minor roads have gone, and for all railway officers those of over pressure against increasing costs of expenses have come. the demand of the public of the day is not only for lower rates but for greater facilities, so that the increasing strain of business needs absorbs all time and attention, although at the same time much pleasant intercourse prevails. gradually the scope of our courses of traffic leading to the niagara river were thus widened but not with ease; what in these present days can be done in a single joint meeting, or by the issue of a single joint rate sheet, required in those days, years of work, visiting the distant parts, and much personal address. it was in these last that mr. john foy particularly shone. he had a happy way of gaining and keeping new friends and allies. in our own local and home city sphere we began working for new business. "book tickets" for families, with coupons for the trips, were introduced, an entirely new development, enabling citizens of toronto to live at home during the summer and yet give their families lake travel and fresh air at remarkably cheap rates. in this we received the aid of the medical profession. one doctor is remembered as putting it this way: "i tell my people," said he, "that when they want to wash their hands clean they must use clean water, and similarly if they require, as i wish them, to clear out their lungs, they must get fresh air where the clearest and freshest air is to be got, by crossing the lake on your steamers to niagara." another doctor with a large family practice said: "when i find the digestion of the children of any of my families getting out of order i prescribe a 'book ticket on the niagara route.' it provides in such cases a splendid natural emetic." there is many a well grown citizen in toronto whose vigor has been promoted or life saved in infant days by the pure air gained by these trips across the lake. excursions by societies, sunday schools, national and benevolent bodies were sought out and encouraged to devote their energies to providing outings for their associations and friends. every possible method was employed to get new business. we certainly needed it, as we certainly had not, so far, a very profitable time. gradually the business on the route showed signs of growth until we saw that if we were to deserve our position with the railway companies and meet the increasing traffic we must add to our equipment. the railway officials had also expressed their opinion that another steamer would soon be needed and stated that in adding it the navigation company would receive the continued support of their companies. the first year of peace closed satisfactorily, and was marked in white upon the milestones of our progress. footnotes: [ ] which in itself is a monument to the energy and years of faithful service of miss janet carnochan, the valued historian of the district. [ ] passenger train schedules-- _local railways, ._ albany. syracuse. buffalo. lv. . a.m. arr. . p.m. arr. . a.m. . p.m. . a.m. . p.m. . p.m. . a.m. . p.m. _new york central, ._ albany. syracuse. buffalo. lv. . a.m. arr. . noon. arr. . p.m. . a.m. . p.m. . p.m. . a.m. . p.m. . a.m. . p.m. . a.m. . a.m. chapter xii. first railways at lewiston--expansion required--the renown of the "let her b"--a critic of plimsoll. the original terminus of the lewiston branch, after it had emerged from the cuttings in the gorge, was at the upper end of the town, about a mile and a half from the steamboat dock at the shore of the river. during the season of the new york central began again to consider the advisability of extending their rails so that the trains might be brought to the steamer's side. this location had been a relic from the earliest travelling days. the rills of travel from all parts of the west converged at niagara falls and then passed on to join the steamboats for lake ontario. davison's "travellers' guide," published at saratoga springs in , says:--"a stage leaves buffalo every morning at o'clock, passing through the village of black rock, miles; tonawanda, miles; niagara falls, miles. fare $ . . this line, after giving passengers an opportunity of witnessing the falls for two or three hours, proceeds to youngstown, or fort niagara, passing through lewiston." the _buffalo and niagara falls railroad_ had been organized and surveyed, and the first steam trains commenced running in with a speed of miles per hour, a rate which was considered notable. the track was laid on wooden sills faced with scrap iron, and during the first winter was so heaved by the frost, that the steam engines had to be taken off, and horses used to haul the cars, these being only little ones with four wheels each, modeled largely after the stage coaches of the period. in , this railway having been equipped with all-iron rails, had grown to two steam trains per day each way, between buffalo and niagara falls. a further extension followed when another small railway company, the _niagara falls and ontario r.r._ was organized in to build a railway of miles from the falls to the shores of the lake at _youngstown_, where the steamers would be joined. benj. pringle, president; john porter, vice president; bradley b. davis, secretary. the company, at an expense relatively much greater in those days than at the present, excavated the rock cuttings and cut the shelf in the side of the cliff upon which the new york central railway now runs through the gorge, alongside the courses of the niagara river, and the railway was graded and opened to lewiston in . construction was continued further to youngstown and the track laid in , but only one train was run down to the lower port. it has been said that this was necessary in order to complete the terms of the charter, and appears to have been a final effort. the means of the company were no doubt impaired, so that shortly afterward all further work on this extension was suspended, the track taken up, and thus in the balance of the line being leased to the new york central, the lewiston station had become the terminus of the railroad, where it had ever since remained. as the transfer to the steamers was originally intended to be made at youngstown, there had been no need, at that time, for the station at lewiston being constructed any nearer to the river bank. from the very first the break in connection between train and boat had been found inconvenient, and in the fall of , mr. gordon, of the steamer _peerless_ wrote to the superintendent of the new york central railway, saying:--"you must get the road down alongside the water at once." this unpleasant transfer of passengers and their baggage in both directions by road and bus had existed all these years. the extension now proposed, would, it was expected, certainly be of advantage both to railway and to steamboat, as facilitating travel. it would mean a considerable expenditure to the new york central railway, yet they stated that if we would undertake to put on another boat, they would build the extension. the michigan central at niagara-on-the-lake, which had now become one of the new york central lines, had had quite enough trial of their "any boat" arrangement and now desired a permanent service, which the putting on of another boat would supply. decisions had, therefore, to be come to by both parties. "the first thing for us to decide," said the hon. frank, "is whether _chicora_ is good enough to build a partner for her. this settled, we will then do our share on the water, for advancing the traffic of the route while the railways do theirs on the land." [illustration: the corona leaving n. n. co. dock at toronto. page ] immediately on the season closing in october, the steamer was put into muir's dry dock at port dalhousie and every atom of lining in her hull removed so that the plates could be seen from the inside as well as from the outside. the government hull inspector, and w. white of montreal, shipbuilder, were brought over to make the inspection. from the beginning and throughout as well as assisting in traffic matters the charge of the hulls and engines had been my particular care. led by webster, the chief engineer of _chicora_, we entered the hull. webster was a quiet sort of fellow, sometimes nervous and at times excitable, perhaps a bit over-intense in his work. he was lean and with a loose waistcoat. it has been said by some that a steamboat engineer, to be successful, should have a decent sized stomach to help steady him through the changing conditions in his running days. the suggestion is well founded. we went under deck. webster was striking somewhat lightly on a plate which showed some signs of inner scale when white broke out at him. "mon ar' ye feart o' goin' through? gie ma t-hammer." whereupon he rained his forceful blows upon the plate with such vigor as to make the din ring. "hoot," said he as he stopped, "i'd 'a got through gin 'a could, but 'a couldn't." at the end of the afternoon the inspecting party came out. "well, white," was asked, "what's the verdict?" wiping the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt he answered: "wull, ye may tell mr. smith that when he, and i, and you are 'a in our graves _chicora_ will still be runnin' gin ye keep her off the rocks." we therefore accepted the position set out by the railway companies and undertook to build a new steamer to be ready for the season of ' , and run the risk of profit on the investment while waiting for more traffic to grow up. we determined that speed was the essential requisite. first to perform the service with ease and regularity. second to meet any competition which might afterwards arise. there were then in canada no builders of fast marine engines of the size we required. these were only to be found on the clyde, so mr. john foy and i sailed the next week on the _lahn_ of the north german lloyd for southampton. we inspected the principal day boats on the lower thames, and english channel, making notes and enquiries. thence to liverpool for isle of man steamers. here we called on the head office of "lairds," the builders of the _chicora_, and made enquiries of her from the manager. "chicora: chicora, i don't remember any steamer of that name--ah: did you say the _let her b_? yes, she was the best ship of her class we ever built. there she is," and raising his hand he pointed to the model of the _let her b_, still hanging on the wall. he said they had built several steamers for service in blockade running into the ports of the confederate states during the american civil war. three of these were named _let her go_, _let her rip_, _let her b_. of all the steamers which they had built the last named and the last turned out was the most successful. fast, seaworthy, of a model which was a thing of beauty, she had not been surpassed. he was quite enthusiastic about her and added "she had a stronger frame than usual, so that she would be worth replating should it ever be desirable.[ ]" he gave us every attention and much information and for the requirements which we detailed to him, advised us to go to the clyde, giving us letters to some of the best yards there. in travelling one makes strange acquaintances. on the day express between liverpool and glasgow when we were running at high speed down the grades into carlisle and the carriage was banging from side to side a gentleman, the only other occupant with us, who had never said a word since we started suddenly broke into speech, at the same time throwing his feet up on the seat opposite to him. "pit yer legs up! quick!" the necessity for doing this he explained by adding "gin we leave the line yer legs might be cut off by the seats comin' tegither." a good laugh at his fears and earnestness dispelled the silence which had previously reigned. he was a scotch shipowner, and finding we were in the same line became communicative. how earnestly he blamed plimsoll for his legislation in putting his "mark" for load line on british ships but leaving the foreigner free, with all the privileges of trading between british ports, and of loading as deeply as he pleased. the effect, he said, on the british coasting trade was, that as the foreigner could load as far as he liked, and therefore carry larger cargoes, he could accept lower rates. many british vessels were in consequence of this competition sold out, and transferred to foreign ownership. "i suppose he thinks it's not his business to keep the furriner from bein' drooned, yet he ties our hands and helps him take our trade, and noo he's at it agin." mr. plimsoll was just then introducing a new bill into the house of commons at westminster, proposing to make it illegal for marine insurance companies to insure the hulls of vessels for more than two-thirds of their value. with this legislation our scotch friend was very irate. "does the man think i want to lose my vessels. i'm in the business as my fayther was, and i want to stay in the business. as things are i can insure for full value. if i meet an accident either i get my vessel back again, fit for her service, or i get the money and build a new and larger one. if every time i have a total loss i am to be docked of one-third of my capital, then it wouldn't be long before i'd be out of business. ye never can keep up the british merchant marine that way." but wouldn't it be better for the insurance companies? "no, not at all. the insurance companies make their money, not on the ships' hulls, but on the cargoes which the ships carry. a single ship in one season will carry dozens of cargoes. we are the shuttles which carry backwards and forwards the cargo values on which the companies earn their rates. in fact, we help to earn their money for them. where would be the cargoes without the ships? 'gin plimsoll had his way he'd wipe all the british ships off the seas, but we're no so bad as he wad paint us." there was a good deal of truth in what he said, for given that the repute and moral hazard is good, it matters little so far as the owners exercise of care for the avoiding of loss is concerned, whether the insurance carried is for total value or only partial. needless to say the plimsoll bill did not carry. as evidence of our faith i may mention that in the early days, when the niagara company was simply a family ownership, we insured only against fire and collision, carrying the whole of the marine risk ourselves. but we watched with infinite closeness the ships and our men, as is equally done now when the company insures for a portion of the value. november in glasgow! a mixture of smoke, fogs and grime. never was such gloomy weather experienced. a soot of blue murkiness seemed to pervade the atmosphere. we visited and consulted with the builders of the fast steamers particularly the fairfield co. at govan and the denny's of dunbarton. nothing could exceed the freedom with which the fullest information was laid before us. we also inspected the fast day steamers of the david mactryne and the caledonian s.s. companies among them the _columba_ and _lord of the isles_, whose repute as day steamers for speed and equipment stood on the highest scale and are still ( ) performing their regular service. while there was much to admire in them, yet we found they were lacking in many things in both exterior and interior fittings which our summer lake passengers would consider important. for instance--in making a trip one day on one of these steamers there was a nasty drizzling rain. it dribbled down the main stairway which was open to the sky, and there were no awnings or coverings over the upper deck. as a result the passengers, who wished to have fresh air, sat along the deck seats, either huddled together under umbrellas, or wrapped up in the scotch plaids with which almost everybody seemed to be supplied. "what for why?" said the captain in reply to a suggestion that a deck awning might be a good thing. "to keep off the rain," was the reply. "ah mon," said he, "it wad keep aff the sun." perhaps in the contrast between the scotch climate and ours in canada, he was right, for they cannot spare any of the glimpses of the sun so sparingly vouchsafed to them. after fullest enquiry and consideration, we came to the conclusion that the best thing we could do was to repeat a highly successful day passenger paddle steamer, the _ozone_ which had been built on the clyde, and sent out to australia a year and a half previously, and had there obtained a splendid record for speed and commercial success. she was just the size we wanted, feet long, ' " beam in hull, or feet over guards, draft ft. in. compound engines with two cylinders of inches, and inches, developing horse power, and sending the steamer at the officially certified speed of miles per hour on the scotch trials on the clyde between the _cloch_ and the _cumbrae_. this would be a step larger and a step faster than _chicora_. we arranged with mr. robert morton, the designer and supervisor of the _ozone_, for a set of plans and specifications for the hull, which, constructed of dalzell steel, would be put together on the shores of lake ontario, where the upper cabin works would be added according to our own requirements. they offered to deliver a fully completed steamer at montreal in four months, but we would have had to cut her and take off one of the guards to get her up through the canals. for my part, i had had quite enough of bringing steamers in parts up the st. lawrence river on which the smaller canals were still incompleted, so we decided to erect our new steamer on the shores of lake ontario. the engines would be built by rankin, blackmore & co., of greenrock, from whose shops had come some of the fastest engines on the clyde. these would be a repetition of the engines which had been so successfully built by them for the _ozone_ and would be shipped out in parts to montreal by the first steamer in the spring. footnotes: [ ] _chicora_ was put in dry dock at kingston in the winter of and largely replated at an expense of $ , . chapter xiii. winter and whiskey in scotland--rail and steamer alongside at lewiston--how "cibola" got her name--on the route--the u.e. loyalists ongiara added. after decisions had been made it still took some time for the arranging of tenders and completion of contracts. during this wait we whiled away the time by seeing football played in seas of mud, and half lost in fogs, women by the thousands with heads uncovered except when they pulled their shawls over them, and children innumerable with feet entirely bare. poor kiddies how they suffered when on one day there was a fall of snow. such snow, damp, heavy clots, which moistened as they touched anything, exuding cold, and slobbering over the stone pavements. the children wrapped their red frosted feet with rags, or bits of carpet, to keep them off the stones, while their elders hunched themselves together and shivered. no wonder these people feared the snow and cold of canada, for they thought that if they felt such suffering in a temperature only just at the freezing point, what must it be when the thermometer went below zero. yet did they only know it, as many have since learned, the dry salt-like winter snow of canada is pleasant for the children to play in, and the sensation of cold not to be measured by the figures on the thermometer. it is the dampness which brings the suffering, which, needing to be met by heat from within, inclines to the suggestion, expressed by some, that whiskey is a natural beverage for scotland. that it is a usual one i learned in actual experience. in our "steamboat samplings" we had made a trip through the "kyles of bute" and to tarbert, where we took carriage across the mull of cantire to the outer sea. stopping for lunch at a neat little inn about half way across. the mid-day meal was being served in a large room with one long table down the centre. at this all the company sat, one, apparently a commercial traveller, occupying the seat at the head and doing the carving. a large open fireplace with glowing fire gave comfort and pleasant radiance. the one maid, a cheery looking young girl, did all the serving and was busy in her attentions to the guests. when she had got them all served i asked her, as she passed by, if she would please get me a cup of tea. pausing for a moment she gave me a searching look and then without speaking passed on. a little while later i again caught her attention and suggesting that perhaps she had not understood me, said that i would like to have a cup of tea. bending forward over me with a puckering of the forehead she said abruptly, "where do ye coom frae?" "from canada," i answered. "dye ye hae tea 'i the noon in canada?" "yes," said i in my most pleasing tone, "we have tea three times in the day in canada--at morning, mid-day and evening." with a sniff she retorted, "wull, y're no in canada the noo, y're in scotland. y' cannot hae tea i' the middle o' the day in scotland--ye can hae whiskey." i didn't so i'm afraid canada fell greatly in her estimation. [illustration: sir thomas lipton on chicora. page ] [illustration: h.r.h. the duke and duchess of york going on board corona. page ] the contracts were at length completed and we hastened for home, taking the guion line _alaska_ as the fastest ship on the atlantic. she held the "record" for the then fastest passage, days, hours, minutes from queenston to new york. we had a frightful passage, during one hours making only miles. when the captain of a first-class atlantic liner enters on his log, as ours did next day, "_dangerous sea_," one may feel satisfied that something unusual had been going on. instead of not over eight days, as had been expected, we took twelve days, much to the alarm of our families, and reached toronto only three days before christmas. so _chicora_ and her successor had twice run the home-coming festival pretty close. in the services were opened by _chicora_ alone, with capt. mccorquodale in command. construction of the new steamer was begun early in april in the yards of the e. w. rathbun company, at deseronto on the bay of quinte, there being then no other shipyard on the shores of lake ontario. the facilities here were excellent, in convenience of access by rail to the waterside, and in complete iron and wood-working factories for the cabin construction. the hull was erected by w. c. white, of montreal, who also had built the steamer _filgate_, and the wood-work done by ourselves and the rathbuns under the charge of our foreman carpenter, mr. j. whalen. the engines arrived in good shape and were erected in the hull by rankin, blackmore & co., who sent out men for this purpose. the cabin work was being made in sections in the workshops, so that it could be erected as soon as the decks were ready. in the early part of the season of the new york central completed the extension of its tracks to the shore line at lewiston, just above the steamer dock. the relief to the traffic was welcome and immediate. the passengers were saved the weary jolting for the mile and a half transfer through enveloping dust, or of red bespattering mud, according to the varying conditions of the weather, and the through time between niagara falls and the steamer was also much shortened. ever since the branch railway had emerged from the gorge this trial of temper and nerves had continued just in the same state as it had when lewiston was the focus centre for the quickest routes to rochester, ogdensburgh, and to albany and new york, via lake champlain, and the only route to toronto, kingston and montreal. at length, after a meritorious service of so many years, their duty being over, the lumbering old transfer coaches, which looked as though they had never felt another coat of paint since their first, were consigned to the retirement of broken bottles and old tins. no traces of them are now to be found. there are, however, some notable memorials still left in the old town of its earliest days of tourist and travel activities. on the old road between lewiston and the dock, once traversed by the transfer coaches, and part of the main road from bataira when the village was known as "lewis-town," is the "frontier house," built in , and for many years considered the "finest hotel west of albany." it was once the stopping place of many early celebrities, and with its broad stoop and great pillars is still a very prominent building. the residence of captain van cleve, one of the earliest navigators on the lakes, and who sailed from the port on the _martha ogden_, is on the hillside not far from the present terminus of the railway. at last the railway and the steamers had been brought alongside. this facility of interchange, and the shortening of the schedule time much improved the volume of traffic in both directions and a start was made which indicated that, when made more fully known to the general public, would justify the expenditures being made by both the railway and the steamer interests. a new era was being opened for the niagara river route. we had brought about the first steps, had taken part in the bringing of the railways and the river together, and now were to add the new steamer. consideration of what should be the name of the new addition was much occupying the attention not only of ourselves but of many others. it was conceded that the name must begin with a "c," and end with "a," and not exceeding eight letters in length, so that proper balance in advertising display might be preserved. a good deal of public interest was taken in the matter and many names suggested. a number of these were selected, and a somewhat novel method adopted for coming to the final decision. the members, both male and female, of the two families interested in the company, were invited by hon. frank smith, to dine at "rivermount," his residence on bloor street. we sat down about twenty-five in number, being all the adult members of the frank smith, foy and cumberland connections, and at a splendid repast good fortune to the new steamer was heartily toasted. i had had some twenty posters printed in the same size and wording as we then used for street advertising purposes. on each of these was displayed the name _chicora_ together with one of the new names which had been suggested. these posters were then set in a line along one side of the spacious hall, so that the exact effect of the contiguity of the two names could be seen. after dinner a sort of dutch auction was held. the adherents of each name stated the reasons for their preference, promoting some amusing discussion. each of the posters was then voted on in succession and with varying majorities ordered down until finally the one with _chicora_ and _cibola_ gained the preference. there would seem good reason for this selection, for in addition to the suitability in appearance and emphony of the two names, a very interesting historical connection between them had been unearthed in the archives and annals in the beginning of spanish-american history, after following up the exploits of pizzaro in south america. the early spaniards had made a foothold in the island of cuba. ponce-de-leon had visited the shores of florida, but it was not until that hermando-de-soto, heading an expedition from the island, established the first permanent occupation upon the mainland for the spanish nation. a settlement was formed and a fortress built at ste. augustine. spanish influence thereafter gradually extended around the northern shores of the gulf of mexico toward the mississippi and inland through the intervening indian country which was then called the _chicora country_--"_the land of pretty flowers_." beyond this and on the other side of the far shores of the mississippi lay the widespread grazing territories where the spanish adventurers conceived would be opportunity for further exploits. somewhere about the year a coterie of these venturesome ones carried over with them to spain a party of the native indians including among them the principal chief of the chicora indians, the occupants of the country between florida and the river. these they presented at their sovereign's court as visible evidences of their travellings and enterprises. in those early days of discovery on this western hemisphere, and for long years afterwards, it is noticeable in how lordly a manner the sovereigns and magnates of europe parcelled out the new found territories, making wholesale grants of land to their own followers with or out the leave of the original indian occupants. in this case the representative chief was present. the king created him "don francisco de chicora," and a grant was confirmed to his introducers of all the country lying adjacent to the gulf of mexico, on the far side of the mississippi. returning with this authority the spaniards extended their enterprises to their new opportunities. as they advanced westward they found on the terraces of the great plains, and on the foothills of the mountain ranges, the countless "cibolos," or buffalo, ranging in mighty bands over the nature pastures. it was in consequence of this that when giving a name to the new province which was being added to their previous domain, they named it "_cibola_," "the buffalo coun_try_." this name is still preserved by a ranching hamlet in a part of that territory now in the state of texas. as another steamer was to be added in partnership with _chicora_ "the pretty flower," what more appropriate name could we give to her than that of "cibola," "the buffalo," in reminiscence of the old time territorial expansion. so _cibola_ it was to be. there was also a further propriety in the selection that this "buffalo boat" was to be one of the line of steamers which were to form the greatly improved connection between toronto, and the great and modern city of buffalo. on st of november the steamer was successfully launched in the presence of a large party brought down by special train from toronto, the name _cibola_ being given, and the traditional bottle of champagne smashingly broken on the bow, by miss constance cumberland, the youngest sister of the vice-president, and who subsequently married mr. a. foy, a brother of the manager. the firms engaged on the construction were:--designer, robert morton, glasgow; steel hull, dalzell co., dalzell, scotland; erection of hull, w. white & co., montreal; marine engines, rankin blackmore & co., greenock; wood-work, rathbun co., deseronto; interior mahogany and decoration, wm. wright & co., detroit; electric lighting, edison co., new york. the _chicora_ season of had been exceedingly active. the opening of the new york central to the bank of the river largely increased the facilities and the movement of traffic. the steamer _hastings_ was chartered to make the early trips from niagara and late from toronto, and to carry the increasing fruit business. we had acquired the rights of the international ferry between queenston and lewiston and chartered the small steamer _kathleen_ to perform the service and to transfer passengers to the main line steamers. a new excursion feature in connection with the extension of their line was introduced by the new york central by "shuttle trains" with _observation cars_ run frequently between the falls and lewiston. these cars were open on the side next the river and the passenger seats set length-wise, facing the view, were raised in tiers one above the other, securing an unimpeded view of the scenery of the wonderful rapids and niagara gorge. the kathleen ran in connection with these trains, giving the tourists the full length of the lower river to niagara and also calling at youngstown for the fort and town passengers. business at queenston, where we had improved the dock, was much increased, due to our working up the excursions which were rendered more attractive by the great improvements made by the queen victoria niagara park commissioners in the park upon the queenston heights and around brock's monument. an excellent season closed without further incident. during the winter of - the cabin work had proceeded assiduously on _cibola_. during this period we came much into personal contact with mr. e. w. rathbun, the head of the rathbun co., and, one might say, the physical embodiment of deseronto and of everything within its borders. in the prime of life, genial, incisive, he was the focus centre of vibrant energies. it seemed to be his ambition that no by-product in his enterprises should escape undeveloped. he was interested in every public and benevolent project in the vicinity and although not himself entering into parliamentary duties, his opinion was much sought and valued in political development. with intense devotion to his work, and much continuous strain on his energies it was not to be wondered that his years were not many. at length the spring of had come. the work was well advanced but, as usual, the carpenters and painters lingered on in possession. _chicora_ had opened the season and it was absolutely necessary that _cibola_ should be on hand to take part in moving the troops to niagara camp on th june. the only thing to do was to bring the whole working force away with the steamer. capt. mccorquodale was in command, capt. mcgiffin having been appointed to the _chicora_. a small party of friends had come down for the trip up, among them alderman john baxter, of toronto a genial soul, whose girth was not far from equalling his height, he was the very embodiment of merriment and was a most excellent singer. as the most elderly member we dubbed him the chaplain, although perhaps he was not the most sedate. mr. ross hayter, a tea planter cousin, lately come from assam, and who was the first to introduce indian package tea to canada, was installed as the doctor, and mr. gus foy, brother of mr. john foy, ably acted as steward. we left in the morning with the decks encumbered by every description of material for all trades. as each rounded point, and changing turn of this island-studded channel came in view one could not but recall that along these waters once came from montreal, and cataraqui, the fleet of canoes carrying the families of the six nations indians to the new homes, which had been given them by the british government, to replace those in the state of new york, which they had lost by their loyal adherence to the king's cause during the war of the revolution. one party under chief deseronto had determined to stop at a reservation which had been selected on the shores of the bay of quinte. before leaving _cataraqui_, the communion service which had been given to their ancestors by queen anne in , for their chapel in the mohawk valley in the colony of new york, had been divided between the bands, the larger share being given to the more numerous party under chief brant, which separating from their deseronto companions went onward up lake ontario to their reservation upon the banks of the grand river. [illustration: the chippewa in toronto harbour. page ] these reservations are still occupied by their descendants, who are ardent militia men, serving with intense activity in the indian companies of the th haldimand rifles, one of the most efficient in the canadian militia. all canadians, should remember that these quiet featured men are the lineal descendants of those steadfast ancestors, who gave up their homes and all for the british cause, and were the first united empire loyalists to come to canada. later after , other migrations came up these inner channels. these were the united empire loyalists, descendants of the british pioneers and settlers who had founded the english colonies in america, but who having fought on the king's side in the revolution were driven out of their homes and their property confiscated, but who chose, rather than foreswear their allegiance, to come north into the forests of canada where they could live beneath the british flag under which they and their fathers had been born. it was a meeting, too, with the first steamboat ventures of upper canada, for on "finkle's point," which we passed, the _frontenac_, the first steamer to sail on lake ontario, had been built in . _chicora_ and _cibola_ together carried the troops to camp and performed the services of the route for . the leaving times from toronto were a.m., a.m., p.m., . p.m., the _chicora_ taking the morning trip from lewiston. this was a very considerable increase, being in fact a doubling of the previous service, and although the traffic did not at first justify it, the trade soon began to show signs of building up, the new steamer proving herself a valuable addition by her higher speed, larger capacity for passengers and with running expenses practically the same. the arrangements for the militia at the camp at niagara in these early days were in the charge of lt.-col. robert denison, one of the denison family, who have taken so large a part in the military annals of the country, and an uncle of lt.-col. george t. denison. col. "bob" as he was most frequently called, was the brigade major for the western district with his headquarters in the "_old fort_" at toronto in the original "officers quarters" building which had been military headquarters for the province since . this old building is still in existence and is to be preserved as part of the restoration of the old fort. unconventional and breezy in his ways, he used, referring to the fact that he had entirely lost one eye, to say that he "had a single eye to her majesty's service," and sitting straddled, as was his habit, on a four-legged saddle shaped sort of seat that "he was always in the saddle, ready for a call to action." in _cibola_ and _chicora_, continued their usual services with satisfaction and regularity. the observation train service of the new york central railway increased much in importance as also the transfer between lewiston and queenston. a smart little steamer was purchased to specially fill these services. following our habit we searched for some name which would be appropriate to the conditions. the "relations des jesuits" are the reports sent back to france between and by the devoted jesuit priests who had come over in the early french regime and worked among the indians for their christianization. much information is given in these conditions among the tribes, and concerning the geography of the country. one of these, _pere lallement_, reports that in an "_onguiaara_" tribe of indians were living between the two lower lakes on a river bearing the same name as the tribe. later on the great falls on this river are mentioned as the "_ongiara cataractes_." this name of _ongiara_, which was the earliest by which the river was known among the indians, has since been transmuted by the whites into its present name niagara. we therefore named the little steamer _ongiara_ as being appropriate to the history of her surroundings, and to her duties between the original portage routes of indian and historic periods at the landings at lewiston and queenston. chapter xiv. running the blockade on the let her b.--as told by her captain-owner. during we had the pleasure of a visit from captain george b. boynton, the former owner of _chicora_ in her blockade running days, who was delighted to renew acquaintance with his early ally. he gave us many reminiscenses of that stirring period, the narration of them cannot be done better than by giving extract by courteous permission of the publisher from his narrative as afterwards contained[ ] under the heading "looking for trouble." copyright, , by _adventure magazine_, the ridgway company. after giving an account of his earlier life and share in the american civil war, and of a project to join some adventures in cuba he says, "while i was wondering how i could get into communication with cespedes, my interest was aroused by a newspaper story of the new blockade runner _let her b._ the _let her b._, whose name was a play on words, was a long, powerful, schooner-rigged steamship, built by lairds on the mersey. though classed as a fifteen-knot ship she could do sixteen or seventeen knots ( miles) which was fast going at that time. there was so much money in blockade-running that the owners of one could well afford to lose her after she had made three successful trips. "in five minutes i decided to become a blockade-runner and to buy the new and already famous ship, if she was to be had at any price within reason. i bought a letter of credit and took the next ship for bermuda. on my arrival there i found that the _let her b._ had been expected in for several days from her second trip and that there was considerable anxiety about her. a fresh cargo of munitions of war was awaiting the _let her b_, and a ship was ready to take to england the cotton she would bring. "i got acquainted with the agent for the blockade-runner, and offered to buy her and take the chance that she might never come in. he wanted me to wait until the arrival of her owner, joseph berry, who was expected daily from england. "after waiting several days i said to him one morning, "it looks as though your ship had been captured or sunk. i'll take a gambler's chance that she hasn't and will give you $ , for her and $ , for the cargo that is waiting for her; you to take the cargo she brings in. i'll give you three hours to think it over." "it looked as though i was taking a long chance, but i had a "hunch" that she was all right, and i never have had a well-defined "hunch" steer me in anything but a safe course, wherefore i invariably heed them. at the expiration of the time limit there was not a sign of smoke in any direction and the agent accepted my proposition. in half an hour i had a bill of sale for the ship and the warehouse receipts for the cargo of war-supplies. "at sunset that day a ship came in from england with her former owner. he criticized his agent sharptly at first, but when two more days passed with no sign of the anxiously-looked-for ship, mr. berry concluded that he had all the best of the bargain, and complimented his agent on his shrewdness. "on the third day the _let her b._ came tearing in, pursued at long range by the u.s.s. powhatan, which proceeded to stand guard over the harbour, keeping well off shore on account of the reefs and shoals that were under her lee. "the _let her b._ discharged a full cargo of cotton and was turned over to me. i went over her carefully while her cargo of arms was going in and found her in excellent condition. she was unloaded in twelve hours, and all her cargo was safely stowed in another forty-eight hours. i took command of her, with john b. williams, her old captain, as sailing master, and determined to put to sea at once. "i knew the powhatan would not be looking for us so soon, and planned to catch her off her guard. there was then no man-of-war entrance to the harbor and it was necessary to enter and leave by daylight. with the sun just high enough to let us get clear of the reefs before dark, and with the powhatan well off shore and at the farthest end of the course she was lazily patrolling, we put to sea. "the powhatan saw us sooner than i had expected, and started but she was not quick enough. the moment she swung around i increased our speed to a point which the pilot loudly swore would pile us up on the rocks. but it didn't and when we cleared the passage we were all of four miles in the lead. as i had figured, the powhatan did not suppose we would come out for at least a week, and was cruising slowly about with fires banked, so it took her some time to get up a full head of steam. she fired three or four shots at us, but they fell far short. "at sunrise we had the ocean to ourselves. "i started in at once to master practical navigation, the theory of which i knew, and to familiarize myself with the handling of a ship. i stood at the wheel for hours at a time and almost wore out the instruments taking reckonings by the sun and stars. navigation came to me naturally, for i loved it, and in three days i would have been willing to undertake a cruise around the world with a chinese crew. "we arrived off charleston late in the afternoon and steamed up close inshore until we could make out the smoke of the blockading fleet, which was standing well out, in a semi-circle. then we dropped back a bit and anchored. all of the conditions shaped themselves to favor us. it was a murky night, with a hard blow, which came up late in the afternoon, and when we got under way at midnight a good bit of a sea was running. "with the engines held down to only about half speed, but ready to do their best in a twinkling, we headed for the harbor, standing as close inshore as we dared go. we passed so close to the blockading-ship stationed at the lower end of the crescent that she could not have depressed her guns enough to hit us even if we had been discovered in time. but she did not see us until we had passed her. then she let go at us with her bow guns and, while they did no damage, we were at such close quarters that their flash gave the other ships a glimpse of us as we darted away. "they immediately opened on us, but after the first minute or two it was a case of haphazard shooting with all of them. the first shells exploded close around us, and some of the fragments came aboard, but no one was injured. when i saw where they were firing i threw my ship farther over toward sullivan's island, where she could go on account of her light draft, and sailed quietly along into the harbor at reduced speed. at daylight we went up to the dock and were warmly welcomed. "before the second night was half over we had everything out of her and a full cargo of cotton aboard, and we steamed out at once. i knew the blockaders would not expect us for at least four days, and we surprised them just as we had surprised the powhatan at bermuda. it was a thick night, and we sailed right through the fleet at half speed, but prepared to break and run for it at the crack of a gun. not a shot was fired or an extra light shown. "as soon as we were clear of the line we put on full speed and three days later we were safe at turk's island, the most southerly and easterly of the bahama islands, off the coast of florida, which i had selected as a base of operations. these islands were a haven and a clearing-house for the outsiders who were actively aiding the confederacy for a very substantial consideration. "most of the blockade-runners, including the _banshee_, _siren_, _robert e. lee_, _lady sterling_, and other famous ships, were operating out of nassau, which had the advantage of closer proximity to the chief southern posts, being within miles of charleston and wilmington, while turk's island was miles away, but i never have believed in following the crowd. it is my rule to do things alone and in my own way, as must be the practice of every man who expects to succeed in any dangerous business. the popularity of nassau caused it to be closely watched by the federal cruisers that patrolled the gulf stream, while the less important islands to the south and east were practically unguarded. "though precarious for the men who made them so, those were plenteous days for the bahamas, compared with which the rich tourist toll since levied on the yankees is but small change. the fortunes yielded by blockade-running seemed made by magic, so quick was the process. cotton that was bought in charleston or wilmington for ten cents a pound sold for ten times as much in the bahamas, and there were enormous profits in the return cargoes or military supplies. the captains and crews shared in the proceeds and the health of the confederacy was drunk continuously and often riotously. "by the time i projected myself temporarily into this golden atmosphere of abnormal activity, running the blockade had become more of a business and less of a romance than it was in the reckless early days of the war. "before leaving bermuda i had ordered a cargo of munitions of war sent to turk's island. we had to wait nearly a month for this shipment to arrive, but the time was well spent in overhauling the engines and putting the _let her b_ in perfect condition. "my second trip to charleston furnished a degree of excitement that exalted my soul. while we were held up at turk's island the blockading fleet had been strengthened and supplemented by several small and fast boats which cruised around outside of the line. without knowing this i had decided--it must have been in response to a "hunch"--to make a dash straight through the line and into the harbor. and it was fortunate that we followed this plan, for they were expecting us to come up from the south, hugging the shore as we had done before, and if we had taken that course they certainly would have sunk us or forced us aground. "we were proceeding cautiously, but did not think we were close to the danger zone, when suddenly one of the patrol ships picked us up and opened fire. her guns were no better than pea-shooters, but they gave the signal to the fleet, and instantly lights popped up all along the line ahead. "in the flashing lights ahead i saw all of the excitement that i had been longing for, and with an exultant yell to the helmsman to "tell the engineer to give her ----l," i pushed him aside and seized the wheel. i fondled the spokes lovingly and leaned over them in a tumult of joy. it was the great moment of which i had dreamed from boyhood. "i had anticipated that when it came i would be considerably excited and forgetful of all of my carefully-thought-out plans for meeting an emergency, but to my surprise i found that i was as cool as though we had been riding at anchor in new york bay. the opening gun cleared my mind of all its anxieties and intensified its action. i remember that i took time to analyze my feelings to make sure that i was calm and collected and not stunned and stolid and that i was silent from choice and not through anything of fear. "as though spurred by a human impulse, the little ship sprang forward as she felt the full force of her engines and never did she make such a race as she did that night. in the sea that was running and at the speed that we were going we would ordinarily have had two men at the wheel, but i found it so easy and so delightful to handle the ship alone that i declined the assistance of captain williams, who stood behind me. "though i am not tall, being not much over five feet and eight inches, nature was kind in giving me a well-set-up frame and a powerful constitution, devoid of nerves but with muscles of steel, and with a reserve supply of strength that made me marvel at its source. "the widest opening in the already closing line was, luckily directly in front of us, and i headed for it. the sparks from our smokestack gave the blockaders our course as plainly as though it had been noon-day, and they closed in from both sides to head us off. shot and shell screamed and sang all around the undaunted _let her b._ "first the mainmast and then the foremast came down with a crash, littering the decks with their gear. a shell carried death into the forecastle. one shot tore away the two forward stanchions of the pilot-house, and another one smashed through the roof, but neither captain williams nor i was injured. all of our boats and most of our upper works were literally shot to pieces. "from first to last we must have been under the terrific fire for half an hour, but it seemed not more than a few minutes, and it really was with something of regret that i found the shots were falling astern. when we got up to the dock we found that five of our men had been killed and a dozen more or less injured. the ship had not been damaged at all, so far as speed and seaworthiness in ordinary weather were concerned, though she looked a wreck. "the blockaders expected we would be laid up for a month. consequently when we steamed out on the fourth night, after making only temporary repairs, they were not looking for us and we got through their line without much trouble. "we refitted at turk's island, where we laid up for three weeks. "i made two more trips to charleston without any very exciting experiences, though we were fired on both times, and then sold the ship to an enterprising englishman at turk's island. i made a comfortable fortune with her and sold her for more than i paid for her." the _let her b._ was never captured, but the war closed the year after her arrival and upon its conclusion she was brought north and registered as a canadian vessel at the port of pictou, nova scotia, and her name at the same time changed to _chicora_. footnotes: [ ] "adventure magazine," new york, jan. . chapter xv. the canadian electric to queenston--an old portage route revived--history of the two portages--the trek to the western states--chippewa arrives--notable passenger men. no wonder that after his recital of her prowess, much as we had esteemed the bonnie ship, we now thought all the more of her, for as ill the times of her previous owners, so now in ours, there appeared to be a sort of living sprite within her frames, evidencing a spirit of life, and consciousness, as that of a fond friend, as well as a faithful servant. perhaps it is this very affection which arises between a man and his ship that has led to all vessels being spoken of in the feminine, and familiarly as "she." perhaps, however it may be that it comes from their kittenish "kittly-cattly" ways, for you never know what a vessel will do, until you have tried her. brought us still further on the way to success. the business was fast increasing, under the more frequent services and the spread of advertising, and solicitation. so much was this the case that the possibility of placing another steamer on the route began to be debated, not only by ourselves, but by other people who were looking on. a small american steamer had been running between lewiston and youngstown, and there was some talk of putting on another. rumors also spoke of an electric line to be built between these points to more closely connect the troops of the american garrison at fort niagara with the forces of the state of new york. we thought, therefore, it would be as well to obtain the dock at youngstown, to which rail connections could be made, and also to create an american company, under which american steamers could be owned and operated by us, should it at any time be thought well to do so. the "niagara river navigation co., limited," was then formed under a charter obtained from the state of new york, and the stock subscribed and paid up by members of the niagara navigation co. families, the board being,--john foy, president; barlow cumberland, vice-president, and three gentlemen of buffalo, directors. the youngstown dock, which had been privately purchased, and is the dock down to which the railway track of ran, was taken over by this american company, and some people, whom it had been suggested might put on american steamers to run in competition with the niagara navigation company, were informed that we were empowered, and quite ready to meet them under their own condition, so they drew in their horns and nothing more was heard of the matter. a policy was formulated which has ever since been maintained, of adding steamers as the traffic, and new developments showed might be required and to add them even in advance of actual requirements. from the position of its ports, and the variable requirements of the connecting lines, the niagara river line can be best handled by one stable company, in full control of docks at all the landing places, and with a number of steamers sufficient to meet all possible emergencies of sudden demands of travel as they arrive at different times on the several railway connections on both sides of the lake. the very flexibility of the service ensures adequate provision to keep the largest excursion business moving without delay, and with convenience from whatever quarter or connection it may at any hour come. in captain mcgiffin was promoted to command of _cibola_ in succession to captain mccorquodale, who after having given fullest satisfaction and faithful service, had died during the previous season. captain w. h. solmes, of picton, was now appointed to _chicora_. in this year began the project for the construction of the _niagara falls park and river railway_ on the canadian side, following the bank of the river from niagara falls to queenston and being the first electric railway to be built in this vicinity on either side of the river. electrical traction was then in its infancy. no better evidence of this can be given than the fact that although the canadian electric railway company had ample surplus power in their development at the horseshoe falls, yet the electrical engineers of the day, reported that the cost of wiring and the loss in transmission of power for the only seven miles to queenston, would be prohibitive to commercial economy. an additional equipment for development of electricity by steam was therefore installed on the river side at queenston to help the power current from the falls in operating the cars up the zig-zag to the top of the queenston heights. this power house is shown in the view taken from the heights and continued to be used until , when the improvements in electrical transmission enabled it to be abandoned and full power brought from the company's water power house at the falls. the zig-zag series of curves by which the double track railway winds its way up the face of the niagara escarpment from the dock to the summit at brock's monument is considered one of the achievements of mr. jennings, who was the engineer for the construction of this canadian power and electrical r.r. company, and had previously done some notable work for the canadian pacific railway on the fraser river and rocky mountain sections. as the cars wind up and approach the summit, a splendid and far distant landscape is opened to the view, one which the duke of argyle considered to be one of the "_worthy views of the world_." below are the terraces and color-chequered fields of the vineyards, the peach and fruit orchards of this "garden of canada." through these variegated levels the niagara river curves in its silvered sheen to lake ontario where the blue waters close in the far horizon. from queenston heights this electric railway skirts the edges of the cliffs above the great gulf in the depths of which the niagara rapids toss and foam, and then circling around the sullen swirlings of the fatal whirlpool, lands the tourist within the spray of the great cataract itself. our ownership of the dock and the waterfront at queenston, purchased so many years before, now proved its foresight and facilitated the making of arrangements with the new electric railway for an interchange of business. as a result it was now determined that a fourth steamer should be added to the niagara river line, and thus provision was made for the new connection and the increased business which would arise from its introduction. this new connection apparently to the river was, after all, but the revival of the old _portage route_ on the canadian side, which had so long existed between chippawa and the head of navigation at this point, but not exactly on the same location and had passed away upon the diversion of business to other routes. [illustration: the chippewa in drydock at kingston, bow. (page )] [illustration: the chippewa in drydock at kingston, stern.] as the steamer lies at the queenston dock, the eye naturally sweeps upward over the cedar clad slopes of the niagara escarpment toward the striking monument which crowns its heights. the reminiscences are those of martial strife, when on the th of october, , contestants met in mortal conflict. in fancy we can see the foemen moving upon the slopes, the american forces gain the heights, the heroic general brock leads his men in bold attack to regain possession, and falls at their head mortally wounded. reinforcements under general sheaffe come from the west along the summit of the cliffs, the contest is renewed; indians are seen gleaming among the trees, they drive the invaders over the brink to fall into the rapids below, and at length the american forces with two generals and seven hundred men lay down their arms and are taken prisoners. but there are other phases much more ancient of this head of navigation and its portages. under the hill there can be discerned beneath the shadow of the height the old road leading up from the lower level of the dock to the upper level upon which, what is left of the town of queenston stands. it is marked and scarred with the ruts of many decades and full of memories. upon these slopes the indian made his way to the waterside at the chippewa creek. here came the trappers with their bales of furs brought down from the far north-west. here came the _voyageur traders_ of france with beads and gew-gaws for barter with the indians, and later the english with blankets and firearms. in the earliest days two portages were available, one on each side of the river, but during the french period and for long, long after the one on the past side from lewiston was mainly used, its terminus at lake erie being called _petite niagara_ as distinctive from the great _fort niagara_ at its lower end. with the end of the war of the revolution, capt. alexander campbell of the th regiment, was sent by lord dorchester to report on the portages. in reporting in he mentions that the american portage was at a steep bank just below the rapids, to the foot of which the batteaux were poled with difficulty and the contents raised by winch and hawser to the upper level some feet above. on the canadian side at queenston the eddy was more favorable and there were, he said, four vessels waiting to be unloaded and sixty waggons working on the portage. in consideration of the expected transfer of fort niagara he thought it would be better to improve the mouth of the chippewa creek and adopt the all-canadian side instead of sending up supplies on the fort niagara side to _schlosser_ to be boated across to _fort erie_. mr. robert hamilton, afterwards hon. robert, sized up the situation and built a new dock and storehouse on what afterwards turned out to be government property at the _chippaway river_. he had early appreciated the value of the portage and had established a large transfer business across it. becoming the chief personage of the neighborhood he had in changed the name of its northern terminus to _queenston_ instead of the _west landing_ by which it had previously been known. with these increased facilities and to his own great profit he in time secured the bulk of the portage trade. in john maude mentions that three schooners and teams were lying at the dock at queenston on one day, and that from to teams a day passed over the portage, the rate for freight being pence new york currency per hundred pounds between queenston and chippewa. when the great _trek_ from maine and massachusetts began to the western states of michigan and illinois, this queenston road was mostly taken by the wandering land seekers, it being adopted by them then as the short cut across the peninsula to the detroit river instead of the long detour along the south shores of lake erie, just as at present the michigan central, wabash and grand trunk railways cross from the falls on this shortest route to the west. the waggons with their horses, having come to lewiston from albany and rochester by the ridge road, were placed upon the batteaux to cross the river, and although at first carried far down by the current on the eastern side were easily taken by the eddy up the west shore to the landing place at queenston. up this inclined road to the upper tier, in imagination one can see the lines of immigrants, with their teams and canvas topped wagons, in long extended line seeking the far west for their new homes and great adventures. so great was the traffic in this direction that, in a "horse boat" was employed on the ferry and the first suspension bridge at queenston was promoted in to accommodate the movement from the east towards the west. at present except when a niagara navigation co. steamer is alongside, all is so quiet it seems scarcely possible that this landing place could at one time have been the centre of such busy movement. the re-opening revived also the memories of an oft told narrative of a little family, which years before had arrived over the portage route, at this same dock at queenston, and made their first acquaintance with the niagara river and its navigation. mr. fred w. cumberland, our late director, and his wife had come to the opinion that the position which the held on the engineering staff, in her majesty's dockyard at portsmouth, did not represent such a future as they would desire, and therefore they determined to emigrate to canada. in the spring of they took passage on a sailing ship, bringing with them their ten-months-old baby. after a voyage of six weeks they reached new york, from where they came by hudson river steamer to albany, where they spent the night. from here they came by steam railroad at the unexpected speed of "twenty miles an hour." and again, as was usual, for there were no night trains, broke their journey and stayed over night at syracuse, miles, where there was a fine large hotel, and the following day leaving . a.m., arrived at buffalo at . p.m. leaving buffalo next morning they came by steamer down the niagara river to chippawa, where they took the "horse railroad" for queenston to join the steamer for toronto. the terminus at queenston of the horse railroad was at the end of the "stone road," near the hotel above the road leading down to the steamer. just when arrived at this, the car went off the track, and while mr. cumberland was endeavoring to extract their belongings, mrs. cumberland, the baby, and a young clergyman, the rev. g. salter, who had crossed the atlantic on the same ship with them, were carried off on the steamer for toronto, and the father was left behind. it was amusingly told, how, after they had landed at the foot of church street, and were walking up into the town, mr. salter, who had been consigned to an appointment under the rev. dr. john strachan, then bishop of toronto, wondered what his bishop would say if he should chance to meet his new curate with another man's wife and carrying a baby as he entered his diocese. the baby was barlow cumberland, who then made his first steamboating on the niagara river, on which he was afterwards to be so actively engaged. it was determined that the new steamer should be a further advance in size and equipment to prepare for the increased traffic now to be fed from both sides of the river. additional capital was therefore required, of which part was provided by the niagara company, and part by the introduction of new stockholders, including mr. e. b. osler, and mr. william hendrie. here, in , the purely family relationship of the first members of the company closed, the stock holdings being more widely spread and the board increased from five members to seven. the services of mr. frank kirby, of detroit, the most accomplished designer of passenger steamers, were engaged, the plans made, the tenders of the hamilton bridge & shipbuilding co. accepted for the hull, boilers and upper-works, and the engines contracted for with w. fletcher co., of new york, the builders of the fastest marine engines on the hudson and the upper lakes. mr. geo. h. hendrie left the next day for scotland to arrange for the materials. _cibola_, capt. mcgiffin, and _chicora_, capt. solmes, conducted the season with good success. work on the new steamer was commenced at hamilton. again the question of a new name arose, and this time it was considered that the name should still be indian, but of canadian origin. thus the name _chippewa_ was selected as that of a renowned canadian tribe of indians which had flourished in the niagara river district, and also as a renewal of the name of h.m. sloop _chippewa_, upon which general brock had sailed on lake erie. it will be noted that the name is not that of the village and postoffice of chippawa, but is spelled with an "e," being that of the indian tribe. a fine carving of a chippewa chieftain's head, taken from catlin's collection of indian portraits, is placed on the centre of each paddle box, similarly as a rampant buffalo had previously been placed on those of the _cibola_. on nd may, , the steamer was successfully launched in the presence of many of the citi-townsman, mr. william hendrie, and of a number of visitors from buffalo, toronto and montreal. the name was given and the bottle gallantly broken by miss mary osler, daughter of mr. e. b. osler, and miss mildred cumberland, daughter of mr. barlow cumberland. _chippewa_, the _indian chief_, was the first of our vessels to be constructed of steel. her tonnage is , tons. length, feet; beam, , and is authorized to carry , passengers in lake service. the interior arrangements were more convenient and spacious than any previously, and an innovation was the addition of a hurricane deck, upon which ample space for passengers is provided. the _chippewa_ had satisfactorily passed through her trial trips, and in may, , the steamer, completed in every respect, sailed from hamilton to take up her station on the niagara route. a goodly number of railway and steamboating officials and friends were on board under the leadership of sir frank smith. our steamers were that year running from geddes' (now the city) dock, as we had again, for the fourth time, been turned out of milloys. mr. william fletcher, the builder of the engines, had come up from new york and was in charge of the motive department. it was a saturday afternoon. _chicora_ was occupying the face of the dock, so _chippewa_ had to come in on the west side. by some mischance she was not stopped soon enough and made her entry into toronto by driving her nose some five or six feet into the wooden timber of the side of the esplanade. the steamer seemed scarcely in motion, yet cut into the heavy timbers as though they had been matches. when backed out no damage was done excepting the loss of a little paint on the bow. the party landed, the buffalo and new york visitors with mr. fletcher going off on _chicora_ amid hearty exchange of greetings. the introduction of a third boat on the main line made an exceeding difference in the frequency of the services, and again was at first a good deal in excess of the demand, or of business offering. a new trip was introduced by the _chicora_ leaving toronto at a.m., staying over at lewiston and returning in the afternoon, making one round trip. the whole departure being five trips; . a.m., . a.m., . a.m., . p.m., . p.m. this . a.m. trip was not a success during its early years, but gradually gained in importance. _chippewa_ (capt. mcgiffin), _cibola_ (capt. w. h. solmes), _chicora_ (capt. jas. harbottle), closed the season of , in which much more activity was produced, and good evidences given of growth to be expected in the future. in effecting its growth the route continued to be exceedingly assisted by the energies and assistance of the connecting railway company's officers. _mr. d. m. kendrick_ had succeeded mr. meeker, and he in turn, in , followed by _mr. henry monett_. a most notable advance was begun during this regime, an entirely new idea being evolved. the reputation of the new york central railway for the regularity and character of its trains and service had been well created, but up to that time the erie railway, by persistent advertising, had been established in the minds of the public as "_the only scenic_" route between buffalo and new york. mr. monett instituted a series of descriptive and illustrative announcements developing the _mohawk valley_, through which the new york central runs, as being "_the really most beautiful_" route, passing through the scenery of the romantic valley of the mohawk and the mountain heights of the hudson with all the advantages of _"a water-level line" following the coursings of the mohawk and hudson rivers_, and so giving a perfect night's rest. it was a novelty and an inducement which caught the public idea, and added attraction to efficient service. owing to the early death of mr. monett in , _mr. e. j. richards_ followed as acting general passenger agent to , with his intimate knowledge of the passenger requirements he gathered in and secured the business which mr. monett's methods had begun to attract. during his period _cibola_ was added to our line. with the career of his successor _mr. george h. daniels_, ( to ) there was a still further expansion of the advertising method of attracting business to the great railway, whose train service was of the highest development. the celebrated pamphlets known as the "_four track_" series under mr. daniels led the way in railway advertising publications, introducing methods which since then have been so extensively followed and applied by all the principal railways. as an instance of widespread advertisement, no less than four millions of the one issue of the "four track" series which contained "_the message to garcia_" were distributed to the public, the demand for copies exhausting edition after edition. _chippewa_ and _corona_ were both added during mr. daniel's term. during the later changes in the head offices the local passenger representation in the buffalo and western district had been held in succession by _mr. e. j. weekes_ and _mr. h. parry_. no railway was ever better served, nor its patrons more firmly secured in friendship. equally successful assistance was given by _mr. a. w. ruggles_ and _mr. underwood_ of the michigan central railway, which with its quickest route to buffalo direct from niagara-in-the-lake was specially developed. thus in a series of years, steamer after steamer had been added, each of the highest capacity, so that by mutual energy the good reputation of the route had been advanced and traffic gradually created, for, as each steamer was put on it created at first a surplus of accommodation, and an increase of running expenses until later the passenger trade had again worked up to the capacity. it is beyond question that the character and satisfaction of the steamers provided on a combined rail and water route have more to do with the attracting of business than even the land facilities on the railways. it is to produce this result that the railway companies steadily support the established steamboat lines in private ownership which have been developed in connection with them, as being the best way to secure fullest facilities for the public, and efficient service for themselves. chapter xvi. "cibola" goes; "corona" comes--the gorge electric railway opens to lewiston--how the falls cut their way back through the rocks--royal visitors--the decisiveness of israel tarte. with three "line" steamers and five trips a day, the route kept on steadily developing, the service being attractive, and the line kept well before the public, but the season's traffic produced nothing of particular notice. during came a set-back, and unfortunate loss, by _cibola_ taking fire one night when lying alongside the dock at lewiston. the upper works were entirely burned off and the hull, having been set adrift, floated down the river as far as youngstown, where it was secured and brought to the dock. _cibola_ during her career had proved herself an efficient steamer, fast, economical, and satisfactory in all weathers. business had not so greatly increased that the remaining two main line steamers could not continue to sufficiently meet the service, so far as it then required, but immediate steps were taken to replace her loss and make ready for the requirements of the new electric railway then contemplated on the american side from the falls to lewiston. mr. angstrom, who had already done some excellent work as a marine architect, made the new design, and a contract was let to the bertram engine and shipbuilding company, toronto, for a steamer feet in length, ft. inches beam, , horse-power, with a capacity for , passengers, being larger than the _cibola_. there was not this time so much difficulty in the selection of a name, as that of _corona_ suggested by lady smith, was readily adopted. this name was all the more appropriate from the fact that the "halo of bright rays" which are shot out and appear on a total eclipse of the sun is called the "corona of the sun." in this instance the new steamer _corona_ was succeeding the eclipse of the _cibola_, and represented the hopes and new conditions of the "_bright sun ray_." the steamer was successfully launched at the yards at the foot of bathurst street, on the th may, , the sponsors being miss mildred cumberland, daughter of the vice-president, and miss clara foy, daughter of the general manager. the season of with three steamers all making double trips brought the introduction of the six trips a day, a service which fully provided for the new connection then opened, and for the increases which gradually came in several subsequent years. the _niagara falls park electric railway_, then already in operation on the canadian side between the falls and queenston running on the upper level follows the river banks of the gorge, overlooking it from these heights and adding views of the far vistas of the surrounding country and up and down the river. the new electric railway, on the american side, put into full working operation in this year, and known as the _gorge line_, was constructed far down in the gorge, just a little above the waters edge, following the curvings of the river, beneath the cliffs, and giving opportunity for coming into immediate proximity with the tossing rapids on this lower part of its torrents. the construction of this railway from the falls to lewiston was the work of messrs. brinker & smith, of buffalo, and in boldness of conception, and overcoming of intense difficulties in construction, is a record of great determination and ability. [illustration: how the falls have cut through the gorge.] a round trip on both these lines, going up on one and returning by the other, and crossing the river on the cars at the upper bridge, reveals all the glorious scenery of the niagara river between the falls where they now are and the niagara escarpment at queenston heights, where the geologists tell us the falls once fell over the cliffs to the lower level. it is estimated that from this place of beginning of the chasm which they have cut out of the strata of the intervening rocks, from , to , years, according to different views, have been spent in reaching to their present position and they are still continuing to cut their way back further up the river. the process by which this has been done can be clearly seen by noticing on the sides of the cliffs that the several layers of limestone strata lie flat above one another, with large softer layers and deposits between each. the waters of the river at the upper level pour over the edge of the topmost rock ledge, and the reverberations and spray then wash out the intervening sand and softer layers, so that the rock strata becoming unsupported break off, and fall down into the gulf. in this way the chasm has year after year been bitten back. when leaving the dock on the niagara river line steamers at lewiston, or coming up the river from niagara-on-the-lake, it is enthralling to look up at these great cliffs, and in imagination casting the mind back into the centuries, see the mighty river as it once poured its torrents direct in one concentrated mass from the edge of these heights into the open river lying at their feet. what a stupendous spectacle it must have been; yet, though wondrous, not more beautiful than the distant glimpses now gleaming through the shadowed portal between the cliff-sides clad with verdure and cedar, dominated by the shaft of the monument to the heroes of the _queenston heights_. the acquiring of landing terminals on the niagara river was further expanded in , by the purchase from the duncan milloy estate of the docks at _niagara-on-the-lake_. in addition to the wharves this property includes the shipyard of the old-time niagara dock company, whose launching slips for the many steamers which they constructed are still in evidence. on the doors of the large warehouse alongside the wharf, there were then still to be traced the faint remains of the names of some of the vessels, which of old time used to ply to the port. the ground floor of the building appears to have been divided into sections, in which space for the freightage or equipment of each of the several vessels was allotted. over the door of each section were the names for the occupants, as originally painted. _schooners--canada_, _commr. barrie_, _cobourg_, _united kingdom_, _st. george_, _william iv._, _great britain_. these names were now carefully restored. the steamers which ran regularly on the niagara route have already been mentioned, these others used the port as convenient for laying up for the winter, with the advantage of the proximity of the dockyard for repairs. the _cobourg_ built at gananoque in , ran between toronto and kingston, with lieutenant elmsley, r.n. in command. the _st. george_ was built in kingston in , and was mainly occupied between lake ports on the north shore route. these doorways and the names now easily read above them bring us into immediate contact with the early enterprises on the river and form connecting links between the navigation interests under the opening conditions and those of the present time. the route has the charm of a constant unravelling of history. another wraith there is in connection with this niagara dock which cannot be omitted. for many years a passenger on the incoming steamers would see a man in conductor's uniform standing on the dock watching the arrival. this was mr. miles, conductor of the mail express train, which ran on the erie and niagara branch between buffalo and niagara-on-the-lake twice each day; on which with never failing regularity he made his double round trip each day for almost twenty years. through three changes of ownership and several passenger agents "paddy" miles, as he was generally called, held his position and so dominated conditions that the train came to be known as "paddy miles' train," and the branch as "miles' railway." he was superintendent, train dispatcher, and general passenger agent, in his own opinion, all moulded into one, and acted accordingly. as he stood on the dock with hands thrust deep into his breeches pockets and a scowl upon his forehead, he seemed to consider it was rank treason for anyone to pass up the river and not get off and use his train. yet this was only on the surface, for paddy was at heart a good soul, who took a very personal interest in the earnings of his branch. the _buffalo exposition_ of , bringing together as it did tourist business from all parts of the continent and of the world, threw exceptional business over the line. it may be said with certainty that every tourist who visits the american continent visits without fail the niagara falls, as one of the great wonders of the world. with the expanded facilities which have been given him, a very large proportion also visit the niagara river and its water attractions, and cross the lake to canada at toronto. this was clearly evidenced at the buffalo exposition, and the largely increasing traffic then arising, all of which was satisfactorily dealt with, without any shortcomings or mishap. in january, , sir frank smith died, being the second of the original board to pass away. his judgment, forceful determination, and large capital, had been main-springs in the creation and establishment of the line of steamers whose beginnings he had promoted. mr. j. j. foy was elected president in his place. it was during this year, ( ) that their royal highnesses the _duke and duchess of york_ (now king george v. and queen mary) made their remarkable tour through the overseas part of the british empire. one portion of their visit to canada included the niagara district, and a rest of several days in privacy and quiet at niagara-on-the-lake, the _queen's royal_ being specially set apart for their use. on october th, they visited the queenston heights, brock's monument, and the niagara falls, by special cars of the niagara falls park electric railway. the _corona_ was used by the royal visitors as a private yacht from niagara-on-the-lake to queenston and return. it is a fact worthy of noting that both here and during the whole of their nine months of travel around the world, their royal highnesses never placed foot on any other than british ship or british soil. during the time the _chippewa_ was under construction in , the dominion government had become proprietors of the dry dock at kingston, and were making considerable improvements. the attention of the department was drawn to the fact that if completed as then designed, the dock would not be of sufficient length to take in the _chippewa_, which would, when launched, be the largest steamer on lake ontario. further construction had therefore been made, by which the pontoon gate which closed the entrance, could be moved fifteen feet further out when required, to enable the steamer to be taken in. [illustration: the cayuga in niagara river off youngstown. page ] in the spring of the time had come for the _chippewa_ to be placed in dock for the usual inspection. it was then found that the outer place for the gate had never been used, the local authorities stated that they could not change its position and that, therefore, the _chippewa_ could not be taken into the dock. this was a poser for the steamer was too long for the dock as it existed. with captain mcgiffin i visited ottawa to see if any influence could be brought up on the local authorities to get them to furnish us with the full length. we here met with a reception which was a specially valued reminiscence of an able parliamentarian. the hon. israel tarte, a french-canadian, had recently been appointed to be minister of public works, and here he fully sustained the wide reputation he had elsewhere acquired for quick decision and immediate instruction. we suggested that if the gate could not be moved back, a space could be cut out of the stone steps at the inner end of the dock, so as to enable the prow of the _chippewa_ to extent between them. on hearing our request, mr. tarte called in his chief, asked if it could be done, being assured that it could added "_can you go to kingston to-night and arrange for it?_" the next morning work was begun in the dock so that the steamer could be taken in. vessel men who had been accustomed to the slow and deliberate methods which had previously existed, greatly appreciated the changes which for the improvement of our local business from the city of toronto. it has often been noted that a saturday half holiday is almost universally taken by the citizens of toronto. in fact not a few of the travelling men from the united states have said that there is no use coming to toronto to do business on saturday, as everyone is closing up for their afternoon trip. in the attaining of this condition the niagara navigation company has had much to do, as the result of persistent advocacy. with the increasing steamers we had abundant deck room which we desired to fill, particularly for the afternoon trip. this might be effected by getting the employers of some of the specific lines of business to close their establishments at o'clock on saturdays. an "_early closing movement_" was quietly inaugurated, groups engaging in the same business were canvassed and agreements arranged for simultaneous closing. the retail music stores were the first to put up the notices, and were followed by other lines of trade, as the public took gladly to the idea, until in four or five years the practice became well nigh universal and a "_saturday afternoon for recreation, sunday for rest_" had been obtained. that it has been a boon to many is without doubt, and the city is the better for the many outings which are now available for the saturday afternoon holiday. thus do great things from little movements grow. mr. john foy was appointed president in february, , and mr. b. w. folger, who had done splendid service in the steamboating interests in the thousand islands and st. lawrence river was appointed general manager. with him began a whole series of improvements and of expansion, which has continued with increasingly good results. the regularity with which the steamers of the niagara line have made their passages has always been proverbial, contributed to by the seaworthiness of the vessels and the seamanship of their officers. from earliest days, but since somewhat modified, we had adopted the principle learned from the _kingston_ and _holyhead_ mail steamers, whose route was somewhat analogous to ours, a quick run across open water with a narrow entrance at each end, that it was best to run the steamer at a regular gait and even in fog except in the vicinity of other vessels to hold her course, and when off the port to stop until certain. sometimes there have been longish passages. one saturday morning in august, , the _chippewa_ left toronto at a.m. during a strong gale with a heavy sea from the east. a thick fog was found enveloping the south shore extending some five miles out. on gaining the bell buoy off niagara and not being able to see anything, captain mcgiffin, rather than run any risk, determined to keep close to the buoy ready to run in should the fog lift. here during all day and evening he remained within sound of the bell, coming up to and dropping away again under the heavy sea, until at last the lights on the land could be seen and _chippewa_ came alongside the dock at . p.m., hours from toronto! no other steamer was on the lake that day. mcgiffin kept his passengers well fed and for his carefulness and judgment was advanced to position of "commodore." a similar episode of carefulness had taken place in , on the _cibola_ under captain mccorquodale, when he similarly held his place off the port in a fog from p.m. to a.m. both considered it was better to be sure than to be sorry. in those early days the engines of the michigan central, would in emergency be placed with their head lights facing out on the river, and their whistles blown to guide the steamers in, but since then the large range lights have been installed by the government, and made entrance easier. it was under the leadership of such men as these that the officers of the company were trained up, its rules and traditions formed, and stability of service encouraged. there are not a few officers and men who have been from ten to twenty years in the service, earnest in their profession, careful of the public and loyal to the company, which from the time of its inception has endeavored to treat them as members of a family gathering. on the death of mr. john foy in december, , he was succeeded in the presidency by mr. e. b. osler (knighted ), who ever since he had entered the company, had always taken a very active interest in its progress and hereafter took a still more intimate share in directing its policy and development. chapter xvii. cayuga adds her name--niagara and hamilton joined--the niagara ferry completed--ice jams on the river--once more the united management from "niagara to the sea." under virile management the business on the route kept fast increasing and it became evident that more accommodation should be supplied even before it might become absolutely necessary. it was therefore determined to build another steamer, which in speed and size would be a still further step forward and would be ready for any adverse competitors should any happen to arise. mr. folger visited great britain to make inquiries and on his return mr. angstrom was again engaged to prepare the designs for the new steamer. contracts were let to the canadian ship building co., of toronto, for a steamer feet long, feet beam, , horse-power to carry , passengers. we were again faced with the necessity of a choice of a new name. requests were made for suggestions, and "book tickets" offered as a prize to those who might send in the name which might be accepted. two hundred and thirty-three names beginning with "c" and ending with "a" were contributed to us by letters and through the public press. out of these names the name _cayuga_ was selected in recognition of the indian tribes on the south shore of lake ontario, the district of the inner american lakes, in the state of new york, one of which bears the name of lake cayuga. it is also the name of an old and flourishing town in ontario, near the shores of lake erie, adjacent to the land reserved for the mohawks under brant, and still occupied by their descendants. a very interesting annal was at that time exhumed, being the record kept by the first postmaster of this town of _cayuga_, of the spellings of the name of his post office as actually written upon letters received there by him during a period of some twenty-five years. the list is curious. it seems strange that there could have been such diversity of spelling, but it is to be remembered that in the "thirties" there were not many schools, and by applying a phonetic pronunciation to the names in this list, and particularly by giving a k sound to the c and splitting the word into six syllables and pronouncing each by itself, some appreciation may be acquired of a similarity in sound, although the spelling is so exceedingly varied. the adherents of spelling reform will perhaps be heartened by the result of everyone spelling as they please. list of mr. isaac fry, the postmaster at cayuga, in the county of haldimand, giving ways of spelling cayuga, "everyone of which" he wrote "have been received on letters at this office." cyuca cuba cayagua cuga kauguge cayga keugue cayega esquga cayhuga ceaugy ciyuga cayaga cayuhoga cayua cauaga gaugoke ciuga cajaga caiuga cyega kukey cuygey caucy cugga caugy cayago chaugy caugh cayugia caughe cauguay kiucky cayoha canuga kikuwa cayuago caugey cauyga cayueg kajuke cajuka payuga caugia cayuag cajauga kajuka cauguga kaucky cayaga cogugar cayuage caugua couga cuyahja cahucia cayuga kayuga keyuka cayuge cyuga cayug caoga ceuaga canugua caygua cayauga cuagua caouga gayuga caguga kiuga caugga kayga caiuka cayuka kugogue cycuga cayeugo couga caugay cayyuga cayugay kauga ceuga cayouga caluga cyug cayhaigue keugey keugeageh cuyuga cyugiah kyuga cayuah cauga cyuga chaquga cayugu caugy cayugua cayega cayugo ceauga cayugga cuyugo cayuig cahuga the steamer was successfully launched in the company's yards at the foot of bathurst street, toronto, on the rd of march, . miss mary osler, daughter of the president, conferring the name. after the completion of the steamer, the speed trials which were of a most interesting and important character, were engaged in. the contract was that the steamer, under the usual conditions for regular service, should make the run between toronto and charlotte, and return, a distance of ninety-four miles each way, at an average speed of - / miles per hour. a further condition was to make a thirty-mile run, being the distance between toronto and niagara, at a maintained speed of - / miles per hour. both conditions were exceeded, greatly to the credit of the designer and of the contractors. when put upon the route in , the _cayuga_ received the commendation of the travelling public, her weatherly capacity and speed enabling the leaving hour to be changed from a.m. to . . a competition which had been anticipated now developed itself, and the fast and able steamer _turbinia_ was in placed by her owners upon the lewiston-toronto route, making two trips per day. she put up a gallant fight, but, against a company making six sailings at each end of the route per day, there was no room left into which she could squeeze without finding a competitor alongside. it was found, too, that although her speed was greater than that of any of the other steamers on the lake, she was exceeded in speed by the _cayuga_. her attack upon the route was met, as the niagara navigation company intended it should be, by frequency of sailings and strict fulfillment of service, leaving no room for any competitor to find an opening, and by the high average speed maintained by all its steamers and particularly the new one. after keeping up a gallant struggle until the end of the mid-summer season, the _turbinia_ retired to her previous route between toronto and hamilton. another addition to our dock properties was now effected. we had for many years been lessees of the dock at lewiston, but now, in , became its full owners by purchasing the whole frontage from mr. cornell, our lessor, with whom we had for so many years been in cordial working. the dock had fallen somewhat out of repair and very considerable improvements were requisite for the convenience of the increasing numbers of our passengers and for their comfort. fortunately the larger part of these improvements were postponed to the next season, for during the winter - , which was exceptionally severe, an extraordinary freshet and piling up of ice on the river occurred. the lower niagara river rarely freezes over in all places, much running water being left in evidence and as a rule the ice which has anywhere been formed during the winter goes out into the lake in the spring without any trouble. there are records of two great "ice jams" which had happened during the previous history of the river. the earliest of these was in . during this winter the steamer _queenston_ was under construction in the ravine on the canadian side which opens up from the river just below the queenston dock. in the spring the preparations were being made ready for the launching when an exceptional ice jam suddenly formed, causing the waters of the river to rise. the pressure of the floes which were now carried by the water up against the steamer became so great and dangerous that it was necessary to block her up and by extending the ways inland to move her further back into the gully, from here, after the waters had subsided, she was successfully launched. [illustration: the ice jam. , at lewiston. page ] [illustration: the ice jam. , at niagara-on-lake. page ] another instance was in , when the waters and ice rose exceptionally, but beyond sweeping the sheds off the lewiston docks no exceptional damage was done. this latest ice jam of - , was according to past records, and the traditions of the oldest inhabitants, the worst that had ever been experienced. the winter had been severe and much ice had formed in lake erie and on the upper river. this was brought down in successive rushes in the spring during alternating frosts and thaws, so that, the river between lewiston and the mouth had become jammed from bank to bank with huge floes of ice, heaving and heaping up on one another, and binding together with _serracs_, and _crevasses_ much like the ice river of an avalanche. as the successive ice runs came down they were driven under the floes until at length the masses grounded on the shallows at the mouths below niagara-on-the-lake. the river being now blocked up, the waters gradually rose fully twenty feet higher than usual bringing the ice floes with them. with the exception of a few places where small sections of water could be seen, the whole rapids from the whirlpool to the outlet of the gorge at lewiston was packed with ice and the rapids eliminated, a condition never previously known. as the spring thaws came, the ice mounds, being unable to get exit below, mounted still higher with mighty heavings and struggles, rounding up in the centre of the river, as had been noticed to some extent in , and pushing and piling up on the banks but not making any progress down the river, until it became evident that nature was unable to break the barrier and immense injury was likely to occur. at that juncture the engineer corps of the united states regular army, at buffalo, initiated a series of explosions of dynamite, by electric mines, in the main blockade down near the river mouth opposite fort niagara. after several days of very difficult and dangerous work, as much as , lbs. of dynamite being exploded at one time, the blockade was broken, the seven miles of ice began to move in alternate rushes and haltings, until at length the river was clear. the situation had been at times alarming. at lewiston the docks were completely engulfed under feet of ice, the ice pinnacles sweeping up high above the level of the swollen water and carrying away a portion of the gallery of the hotel. on the queenston side a mark has been placed about thirty feet above the usual water level showing the height to which the ice hummocks rose. at niagara-on-the-lake the ice mounted high above the level of the dock, but by happy fortune a good sized iceberg had grounded in the channel at the end of the dock leading into the inner basin. here it held out as a buffer outside the line of the "piling" along the bank, withstanding all the attacks from above, and thrusting the floes out into the stream, thus preserving the dock, lighthouse and buildings from destruction. when the waters subsided the shores of the river for twenty to thirty feet above the usual level were found to have been swept clear of every bush and tree from the rapids to the lake, a condition from which they have scarcely yet recovered. it was not until the end of may that the river was entirely free from ice. in reconstructing the dock we were able to introduce new improvements which would not have been previously possible. brought no further changes in the steamers, but a gradual increase in the travelling due to increased energy in the cultivation of new business and careful attention to the convenience and comfort of passengers by the management and efficient staff. for many years, from time to time, the company has been endeavoring to purchase the toronto docks which were the northern terminal of their system. four times we had been turned out of its occupation and obliged to find landing berths elsewhere. the necessity of holding their toronto terminal was constantly before the company and was the only and complete sequence of the holding of the several terminals at the ports upon the niagara river. at last, in , the opportunity of purchase arose and was immediately availed of. with this purchase the company completed the policy which had been initiated from its very beginning. this yonge street dock property, extending from yonge street to scott street, has ever been the steamshipping centre of the city, for traffic to all ports on the lake. its facilities can be still more expanded so that, for the convenience of the public, all the lake passenger lines can be concentrated at its wharves to the mutual advantage of all, a policy which the niagara company desired to promote and which has been contributed to by the purchase and concentration of the steamers of the hamilton line. this, effected in , concentrates into one management an important passenger business and brings direct connection, as of old, between hamilton, the head of the lake, and the niagara river. these, together with the opening of a new route to the south shore by service between toronto and olcott, in connection with the international electric railway, will open a new era of contributing traffic. beginning with one steamer, the "_mother of the fleet_," the line from one trip a day has, in its years of endeavour, grown to be nothing short of "the niagara ferry," served by swift steamers, of increasing size, making six trips from each side, leaving every two hours during the day, and by persistent advertising and increasingly reputable service, the company has made the "_niagara river line_" known throughout the travelling world, and created a business and carrying capacity which has risen on heavy excursion days to no less than , to , passengers moved on one day. what the "_kyles of bute_" route is to the tourist public of great britain and europe, the _niagara river line_ is to the tourist public of america. toronto has trebled its population and in great industrial enterprises is forging ahead of all other cities in ontario. niagara falls, with its wonderfully increasing factories created by the concentration of the electric power in its midst, has grown from being solely a summer hotel town to a great manufacturing community. buffalo, with a population at present of , , is expanding marvelously. the richelieu & ontario company, for which the niagara company collects the passenger business of the south shore through the gateway of the niagara and places it for them in toronto, has exceedingly increased their accommodation and made known their service as a contributor to the route from the st. lawrence to the ocean. whatever success there has been in the past, the prospects of the future shine brighter still. in , while these pages were being written, has come the final phase. it will be remembered that in the early days the steamers for montreal sailed direct from the niagara river and that the guiding minds of the royal mail line were at queenston in and for subsequent decades. in the slump of steamboat traffic and the decadence of the river business the montreal steamers had shortened their route, and had made hamilton, for some time, and afterwards toronto, the starting point for their steamers for montreal. the introduction of the niagara navigation company had produced a change of conditions on the river, and by energy and bold investment, had created an effective local organization, as has been detailed in this narrative. gradually passenger business had been attracted and centralized until niagara falls had been created in their annual rates meetings by the railway companies as the starting point of all "summer rates excursions," and "the niagara portal" as the nucleus basing route for all summer tours. at the same time the richelieu & ontario navigation co., which succeeded to the royal mail line, has grown in scope and equipment to be the premier steamboat organization of canada, the controller of the passenger lines of the st. lawrence system of river, lakes and rapids, and operating the longest continuous route of any inland navigation company in the world. in all, this interval of years its old advertising heading of "_niagara to the sea_" had been continuously maintained, it was not unreasonable therefore that there should be a desire to make the old caption a present fact and by acquiring the local organization restore the old-time conditions. negotiations had for some time been in progress and at length in june, , at a board meeting, presided over (in the absence of the president, sir edmund osler in england) by vice-president cumberland, the originator of the company, and its continuous vice-president during all its existence, the niagara navigation co. was formally transferred as a working enterprise in full operation to the richelieu & ontario navigation co. the directors of the company at this time and for several years previously were: president, sir edmund osler; vice-president, barlow cumberland; directors--hon. j. j. foy, k.c.; hon. j. s. hendrie, c.v.o.; w. d. matthews, f. gordon osler, j. bruce macdonald. these in succession transferred their seats to the nominees of the new owners and sir henry pellatt, c.v.o., became president of the company. the two systems were thus joined into one. the company operating the st. lawrence system came back to its old starting point at the head of navigation on the niagara river. with this is completed the century and this story of the early days of passenger movement on the river, and of the origin, rise and establishment of the niagara navigation company in its contribution to the records of sail and steam on the niagara river. another cycle of steamboat navigation has passed, another era has closed and a new one has begun, and once again there is one company and one management under the richelieu & ontario navigation company for the niagara river and the st. lawrence route, from _niagara to the sea_. transcriber's notes: . passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. passages in decorative fonts are surrounded by =equals=. superscripted numbers are preceded by a ^carat. multiple superscripted numbers are surrounded by curly brackets { }. . corrections from the "errata" page have been incorporated into this e-text. . horizontal tables exceeding the width of this e-text have been reformatted to fit vertically. . additional transcriber's notes are located at the end of this e-text. [illustration: portrait of j. k. tiffany.] history of the =postage stamps= of the united states of america. by john k. tiffany, author of the philatelical library, president of the american philatelic association and of the st. louis philatelic society. honorary member of the philatelic society of london. corresponding member of the societe francaise de timbrologie, the societies of dresden, wurtemburg, etc. : c. h. mekeel, philatelic publisher, st. louis, mo. copyrighted by j. k. tiffany. . all rights reserved. =contents.= portrait of j. k. tiffany (frontispiece). preface introduction chapter i, u. s. city dispatch post " ii, uniform postage " iii, postmaster's stamps " iv, stamp of the n. y. postmaster " v, stamps of the st. louis " " vi, stamp of the brattleboro " " vii, stamp of the new haven " " viii, stamps of the providence " " ix, stamp of the alexandria " " x, stamps of the baltimore " " xi, stamp of the millbury " " xii, stamped env. of wash'n " " xiii, stamps of the phila'lphia " " xiv, stamp of the worcester " " xv, stamp of the pittsfield " " xvi, observations " xvii, the issue of " xviii, the issue of " xix, the issue of " xx, the issue of " xxi, the issue of - " xxii, the issue of " xxiii, the issue of " xxiv, postage due stamps " xxv, special delivery stamp " xxvi, newspaper and periodical st'ps " xxvii, official stamps " xxviii, official seals " xxix, reprints index publishers' announcements =errata.= page , d line from top, for _ _c lilac read _ _ cents. page in lines , , and from bottom in last column for f^ g^ h^ i^ read f^ g^ h^ i^ . page in lines to in second column for s^ t^ u^ v^ w^ read s^ t^ u^ v^ w^ . page th line from bottom, omit _u_ in "prolongued." page , th line from top for "_follows_" read "_above_." page , last line supply "_test of_" in the blank. page , th line from top for (") read "_cochineal_." page , th line from top, for "_ cents_" read "_ cents_." preface. in seeking for information concerning the postage stamps of the united states, we shall turn in vain to sources which have furnished, in other countries, such accurate details in regard to the stamps issued by their postal authorities, for the stamps authorized by the united states post office department are not manufactured by the government, and there is no "stamp office" to authenticate each plate, and register the number of sheets made from it, and no edict, proclamation or law informs the public of the values authorized for use, or of the designs, or other peculiarities of the stamps to be employed. the postmaster general is authorized, in general terms of the law, to provide such stamps as he may, from time to time, judge most convenient and expedient for the collection of the postal rates fixed by other laws, and is required to have them manufactured by those who, under general provisions of other laws regulating all government work, offer to do it at the lowest price. the proposals for such work and the contracts made with the parties successful in the competition, reserve the right to the postmaster general to change the values, designs, etc., from time to time as he may judge expedient, and specify nothing as to these particulars, while they are very specific as to the quality of the work, and the precautions to be observed in the manufacture, to prevent pecuniary loss to the department. a government official inspects the work in order that it may conform in quality to the contract, and the records are kept of the number of stamps of each value made and turned over to the department, without further specifications. in a word, no record is preserved of how many stamps of any particular design, paper, water-mark, perforation or other peculiarity, are made, or of the date of the adoption of any of these things. third assistant postmaster general ireland, during his term of office, once wrote "it has always surprised me that the department has never kept any official history of its stamps." many of these details might be gathered no doubt from the very voluminous correspondence between the department and the several contractors, if it were accessible, but upon investigation it appears that many interesting changes have been made upon mere verbal instructions. we shall have therefore to rely upon quite different sources for our information. fortunately the enterprise of collectors has probably discovered all the varieties of the stamps themselves, and only a careful study of them is necessary to their complete description. the materials upon which the present work is based were gathered together mostly as accident threw them into the hands of the author, from time to time, without any attempt at systematic research or arrangement, until at the request of j. b. moens, of brussells, they were arranged to form a volume of his "bibliotheque des timbrophiles." the annual reports of the postmaster general have furnished some points of interest directly and many inferentially; the circulars notifying postmasters of the more important changes, a nearly complete file of which has been consulted, have been a great guide; while frequently very interesting details have been extracted from the files of contemporaneous daily papers; and the published results of the researches of such indefatigable investigators as messrs. bagg, brown and scott, in the philatelical press, and the articles of cosmopolitan and scott have been freely drawn upon. many large collections have been kindly submitted for inspection, in particular those of messrs van derlip, sterling and casey, and thus we are able to describe every stamp and essay from actual specimens, except in a few instances specially noted. while there may be possible omissions, the reader may feel assured of the existence of everything described. frequent demands for the translation of the french work have led to the present publication. but as that work was prepared to conform to the general plan of the works compiled for the series of m. moens' bibliotheque, it contained many things, concerning the history and customs of the post office of the united states, which the american collector is supposed to know, and omitted some details concerning the part played by various collectors and dealers in finding out the particulars of the history of certain stamps and like matters, which it was thought might be interesting to our home collectors, but which the impersonal character of the french series made it advisable to omit in the original compilation. the entire work has been therefore largely recast in the hope of making it more acceptable to american collectors, and in several instances comments have been made upon stamps that were not mentioned in the french edition, in order to correct certain erroneous views entertained concerning them in this country, which it was supposed was sufficiently accomplished by their omission in the other series. _st. louis, august, ._ introduction. in john heyward, by the authority of general court of the colony of massachusetts, established his postal system with its office in boston. in the government of penn established a postal system for the colony of pennsylvania. in col. j. hamilton organized "his postal establishment for british america" including all the english colonies, but soon after disposed of his right to the english crown. in the english parliament established by law the first governmental postal system with the general office at new york, which continued until in the continental congress adopted and set in action the postal system proposed by franklin, who was appointed the first postmaster general. the first law of the federal congress continued this system in operation as sufficient for the public wants, but the postal service was not finally settled until the act of . this law ( ) liked a tariff which with unimportant changes remained in force until the adoption of the system of uniform postage in the united states. single, double and triple letters were charged , and cents respectively when sent to other countries, and four cents plus the internal postage when arriving from foreign countries. the internal postage between offices in the united states was , , , , , , and cents for distances of , , , , , , , or miles respectively for single letters, and double, triple, etc., this for double, triple, etc., letters. a single letter was defined by the law to be a single sheet or piece of paper, a double letter, two sheets or pieces of paper, etc., etc. the following acts of congress may be consulted with advantage by those curious with regard to the post office before the introduction of stamps. i congress. i session. chap. , sept., i " ii " " , aug., i " iii " " , march, ii " i " " , feb., iii " i " " , may, v " iii " " , march, xi " ii " " , april, xiii " iii " " , dec., xiv " i " " , feb., xiv " i " " , april, xix " ii " " , march, xx " i " " , march, xxvii " ii " " , march, the earliest letters which we have seen, consist of single sheets of paper folded and addressed upon the sheet. an envelope would have subjected them to double postage. they are penmarked with the name of the mailing office, the date occasionally, the amount of the postage paid or due, generally in simple figures, sometimes with the word "cents" in full or abbreviated, added. gradually, hand stamps were introduced. at first the name of the mailing office in a simple frame, generally circular, the month and day being still written in with a pen, and the amount of postage written as before. a further improvement appears later on in the introduction of the month and day as part of the hand stamp. the word "paid" or "due," the amount of postage in figures or with "cents," either written or hand stamped, always added. and finally all the marks are included in one hand stamp. there was evidently no uniformity of practice, except the general requirement that the name of the mailing office, the month and day, and the amount of postage should in some form be marked on the letter. improvements seem generally to have originated in the larger offices, but smaller offices sometimes took the lead in enterprise. an improvement once adopted does not seem always to have been adhered to; letters mailed at the same office on the same day and differently marked may be frequently found in old files. the hand stamps seem to have been obtained by the several offices for themselves, as there is no uniformity of style. some of these hand stamps are curious enough to warrant a brief description, and it would be difficult to lay down a rule which would distinguish some of them from the stamps we admit to our albums. a letter mailed at philadelphia in , bears an octagonal hand stamp with a double lined frame and the words "phila. jan." in three lines, a second similar but smaller hand stamp with the word "paid," and the figures " " written with a pen, all in red ink. these seem to have been regularly employed for several years. other letters from the same city mailed in - - and , bear a circular hand stamp, the name of the city and state surrounding the edge, the month and day in the center, a single line surrounding all, the amount of postage in large numerals and the words "due" or "paid" in a small oval are separately hand stamped. letters from baltimore of the same dates bear a similar circular hand stamp with name and date, the amount of postage in large numerals in an oval, and sometimes the word "paid" in large letters without frame. jacksonville, ill., pittsburgh, pa., and little rock, ark., employed similar hand stamps at the same time. louisville, st. louis, cincinnati, boston and new york letters of the same years have the same hand stamp with a numeral or numerals indicative of the amount of postage added at the bottom within the frame. when prepaid the word "paid" was hand stamped below the other. some new york, boston and philadelphia letters of the same dates bear the same hand stamp with " cts," " cts," etc., in the lower margin within the frame, the word "paid" being separately hand stamped when the letter was prepaid. many western letters bear also the word "steam " hand stamped upon them. these hand stamps remained in use up to when the rates were changed and appear even upon letters bearing the adhesive stamps of the first issue. in when the rates were changed to cents ordinary postage, and cent for drop letters, many of the same stamps appear with the figures changed to or , or to ct., cts., and cts., boston and petersburgh, va., for example. a new york hand stamp of this period has new york above, month and day in the middle and "paid" and " cts" in two more lines. a philadelphia hand stamp has name above, month and day in one line, and " cts" in another, in the center, and "paid" in lower margin. another, the ordinary dated postmark and a second circular stamp, nearly as large, with the word "paid" in large letters crossed by the numeral " " nearly an inch long. a springfield letter has the ordinary dated postmark and a second hand stamp nearly as large with a large numeral " " above and "paid" below. cincinnati, buffalo, quincy, ill., and others have the ordinary hand stamp with the name above, month and day in the center and " paid" below. another letter has a round hand stamp fully an inch in diameter with the word "paid" across the center crossed by a large outline " ." another letter was hand stamped with a large " " in an octagon double frame and "paid" separately hand stamped across it. the cincinnati hand stamp also appears with " paid" in the margin. new orleans has the ordinary hand stamp and "paid," " " in two lines of very large letters beneath. st. louis, has the ordinary hand stamp, and another with " ct" in large octagonal frame added. many letters where the word "paid" appears in the dated stamp are also separately hand stamped "paid." some of these letters bear also the and ct. adhesives of the period. those that indicate postage to be paid differ from postage due stamps in no respect except that they are not adhesive. those that indicate postage prepaid correspond to many other hand stamps in every thing except that they were applied after, instead of before payment; but in some countries we have examples of adhesive stamps applied in the same way. they are not beautiful but are interesting relics of the old system. a number of similar stamps with the words "post office" following the name of the town and " paid" have passed through the hands of the compiler, but having been cut from the letters the date could not be authenticated. these would appear to be very similar in character to the adhesives issued by the postmasters of some offices about the same time, and to many similar stamps used in the early days of the southern confederacy. i. united states city dispatch post. hardly had the discussion of postal reform begun in england than the subject was taken up in the united states. the daily press was full of it. pamphlets were distributed broadcast. in nearly every city, private companies undertook to distribute mail matter at less than the government rates. some even carried letters from city to city. in congress, members related the expedients resorted to for sending letters at a reduced rate. in new york, a certain a. m. greig had established a local delivery and employed an adhesive stamp, charging but two cents when the government exacted three. such competition greatly harassed the department. the act of had authorized the postmaster general to establish a carrier system in such cities as he might think advisable. apparently with the view of disposing of greig's post, greig was made a government officer. the following letter authorizing the postmaster at new york to make the appointment was first published by the american journal of philately. post office department, _contract office, august st, _. sir-- by an order made on saturday, but journalized to-day, the postmaster general has established a letter carrier arrangement for the city of new york to be called the "united states city despatch post" for the conveyance of letters from one part of the city to another subject to a charge on each letter of three cents, under the th section of the act of , and authorizes you to employ alex. m. greig, nominated by you as letter carrier, other carriers are to be appointed from time to time as may be required, and you are requested to nominate for that purpose. and you are also authorized to obtain the necessary fixtures, pouches, boxes, labels, stamps, etc, at not exceeding $ , . for the whole and to appoint a clerk to superintend said establishment at not exceeding $ , per annum. you will be pleased to report the date of commencement of this arrangement. very respectfully, your obedient servant, s. r. hobbie, _first ass't p. m. general_. john lorimer graham, _postmaster, new york_. in another number of the same paper we have the text of the following notice concerning the same post. united states city dispatch post. hours of delivery every day (sundays excepted) at the principal office, upper p. o. park and lower p. o. merchants exchange. letters deposited before , , and at the stations before , and will be sent out for delivery at , and . letters to be sent free must have a free stamp attached to them, which can be purchased at the upper and lower post offices and at all the stations. the charge will be cents per dozen, dols. cents per hundred. all letters intended to be sent forward to the general post office for the inland mails must have a free stamp attached to them. letters not having a free stamp will be charged cents on delivery. john lorimer graham, p. m. _new york, june, ._ the stamp issued and used by this post was known in an early day and is catalogued in kline's manual , but its true history was unknown until the publication of the above document. it is a stamp probably alone of its kind. any one familiar with the law of will see that the postmaster general widely exceeded the authority conferred on him as it would be construed to day in making the "arrangement" under the power to provide a carrier system. the labels and stamps mentioned in the letter quoted were probably however, not intended to include the postage stamp actually issued, as these terms are used in various documents, reports, etc., of the period to designate quite different articles, the "stamps" being invariably the hand stamps such as we have already described. but whatever may have been intended by the letter, the law did not confer any authority upon the postmaster general to issue or authorize the issue of the stamp and undertake to insist on its use. it certainly has no more character than the hand stamps already described, but is none the less interesting or worthy of preservation on this account. it was probably employed because the public had seen and appreciated the utility of the adhesive stamp, by its employment by the local or private posts, in advance of the official adoption of the system. new york. issue of august, . portrait of president washington turned ¾ to the right on plain oval, enclosed by plain oval band bounded within and without by two colored lines and inscribed: _united states city despatch post_ *_three cents_*, the lower legend separated from the upper by a star on each side; rectangular frame of two colored lines, corners filled with rayed ornaments between frame and oval. plate impression by mm., in black on colored paper. cents, black on violet. " " " brown. " " " green. " " " blue glazed. ii. uniform postage. the "arrangement" put in operation in new york does not seem to have been a great success for it was not extended to other cities, and local posts continued to flourish and do the work at less than the government rates. the demand for better service and lower rates, for "reform" as it was called grew louder and louder, until the postmaster general in his report dated november th, , recommended to congress a reduced uniform rate according to distance and weight. stamps were recommended but only for use on foreign letters. the bill which was introduced in congress in pursuance of this recommendation provided, it is said, both for obligatory prepayment and the use of postage stamps. but there was great hesitation in adopting the english system in the united states; the conditions were considered to be so different; the distances were so great that a greater rate was necessary; the country was so new that the risk from counterfeiting was much greater; the custom was not to prepay letters, and custom is stronger than law. such and like objections were raised and the law passed without adopting prepayment by stamp, but the great principle of the reform, uniform rate by distance and weight was adopted. the only portion of the law that is of interest here is the following section of the statutes of the united states, xxviii congress, ii session, xliii chapter, approved march , . "from and after the first day of july next, members of congress and delegates from territories may receive letters not exceeding two ounces in weight, free of postage during the recess of congress anything to the contrary in this act notwithstanding; and the same franking privilege which is granted by this act to the members of the two houses of congress, is hereby extended to the vice president of the united states; and in lieu of the rates of postage now established by law, there shall be charged the following rates, viz: for every single letter in manuscript or paper of any kind by or upon which information shall be asked for or communicated in writing or by marks or signs, conveyed in the mail, for any distance under three hundred miles, five cents: and for any distance over three hundred miles, ten cents: and for a double letter there shall be charged double these rates: and for a treble letter treble these rates: and for a quadruple letter quadruple these rates: and every letter or parcel not exceeding half an ounce in weight shall be deemed a single letter, and every additional weight of half an ounce, or additional weight of less than half an ounce, shall be charged with an additional single postage. and all drop letters, or letters placed in any post office, not for transmission through the mail, but for delivery only, shall be charged with postage at the rate of two cents each." the newspaper rate was one cent within one hundred miles and one and a half cents for a greater distance, for all newspapers not exceeding a certain size, and two cents for each sheet over that size, and two cents for all hand bills and circulars per sheet, and two and a half cents for all magazines and pamphlets. iii. postmaster's stamps. notwithstanding the failure of congress to adopt postage stamps, and to authorize the postmaster general to issue them, and to provide an appropriation for their manufacture, public attention had been drawn to the advantages of the system, and the convenience, to the business community particularly, of mailing and receiving letters at hours when the post office or business houses were closed. the question as to whether the postmaster general might not issue postage stamps on his own authority was raised and officially decided in the negative, although the postmaster general himself favored their use. the postmasters in several places however undertook to meet the public demand by having stamps prepared on their own responsibility, paying the expense of manufacture themselves and selling them to the public at a sufficient advance on the postal rates, to cover the cost of engraving and printing. in some cases the matter was brought to the attention of the postmaster general and he saw no objection to the arrangement; in others the whole affair seems to have passed without any attention being paid to it by the department. in fact it was a mere contract between the postmaster and the purchaser of his stamps, that when a letter bearing one of his stamps was mailed at his office, it should be treated as if the money were handed in with it. no postmaster recognized the stamp of any post office but his own. a letter adorned with a new york stamp mailed at the st. louis office would have been treated as unpaid. a new york stamp was recognized only at the new york office, and a st. louis stamp only at the st. louis office. when a letter bearing a stamp was mailed _at the office that issued the stamp_, and accepted as prepaid, the contract between the postmaster and the purchaser of the stamp was fulfilled, the postmaster had to account to the government for the amount of the postage as if he had received it with the letter. the department had nothing to do with the fact that the stamp had been actually paid for at another time or with its existence at all. examination at several of these offices show that there was no stamp account kept in the records of the office. such letters were treated exactly as letters were, on which the postage was either paid in money or charged in the open accounts which the postmaster chose to keep with the commercial houses. it was marked "paid." the stamp had no significance at any other office, except as the mark or stamp indicating the amount charged, always put on letters at that date, but the word "paid" was recognized by every office. the letter was entered as a paid letter on the way bill, and was treated as prepaid, not because of the stamp, but because the forwarding office treated it as prepaid. it has been thought necessary to define the exact character of these stamps with some exactness, and at the risk of some re-iteration, because their true character seems to be little understood. they had no official sanction whatever, because no official had any authority to sanction them. it was a mere arrangement between the individual postmaster and the public for their mutual accommodation. such stamps were issued at new york, st. louis, brattleboro, new haven, providence, alexandria, baltimore, millbury and probably other places. although not governmental or official stamps, they are none the less interesting or valuable mementoes. they show how determined the public were to have the postage stamp, and their history shows how the public will compelled the government to adopt the postage stamp in spite of the supposed difficulties in the way. iv. stamp of the new york postmaster. the stamp issued by the postmaster of new york was chronicled in the earliest american catalogue, (kline, ,) but its true character was not established until the resuscitation and republication in the communications of the author of this work to the philatelist and le timbre poste, in - , of the following articles from contemporaneous newspapers. the express of new york in its issue of july st, , contains an editorial mentioning, that the act of march rd, , went into force on the day of publication, and a report of the meeting of the cheap postage association. in its issue of july th, , the same paper published as part of its washington correspondence, the following: _washington, july nd._ it was suggested in new york to mr. morris, your postmaster, that he might accommodate the public very much by selling stamped envelopes, as the law does not authorize the sale of stamps on the english plan. when he was here he laid the subject before the postmaster general, who has to-day decided that he may do this. the envelopes are to be marked with the amount of postage thereon, say or or more cents as the case may be, and the initials of the postmaster are to be superadded, and then the envelopes can be sold. the object is to facilitate the payment of prepaid letters. postmasters can interchange envelopes whenever they can agree to do so among themselves. in the issue of the next day (express, july th) appeared the following editorial: free stamped envelopes. when the bill for cheap postage was before congress, it contained a clause authorizing the sale of stamps on the english system. the provision was however stricken out, leaving the public only the old method of prepaying letters during the business hours of the post office. a suggestion was made to our new postmaster, mr. morris, that the public convenience would be very much promoted if he would sell envelopes which would pass free through his office. by this measure letters could be sent at any hour of the night to the post office and the postage paid, where the writer desires it, by enclosing it in a free envelope. the postmaster proposed to sell stamps at five cents each, but this not having been sanctioned by congress, we should think would not be the best way, and as the public convenience demands something of the kind, we are glad to learn that he has prepared envelopes of the kind referred to, some of which we have seen. they are marked "five cents," and under these words is the name "r. h. morris." for letters over one ounce they are marked according to the post office rates in the same way. these envelopes will be sold by the postmaster at six and a quarter cents each, or sixteen for a dollar of the common kind and common size. this will be as cheap or cheaper than they can be bought in small quantities at the stationers. a thin envelope will contain two letters and be subject only to a single postage. envelopes of various sizes will also be furnished and of fine quality when desired by the purchaser. the plan we hear, has also been adopted by the postmaster at washington, d. c., and has met the approval of the postmaster general. we think it will add to the revenue of the department very considerably. from the preceding extract we should infer that envelopes marked in some way "five cents," "r. h. morris, p. m." had been issued and used at new york, and possibly something of the kind at washington. the latter would be signed c. k. gardner, p. m., but up to the present day none have been found. they must have been prepared at new york at least, since the editor of the express claims to have seen them. they were probably made by some of the new york hand stamps noted as current at this time, leaving out the date and signed by the postmaster. such an arrangement was clumsy and liable to abuse and could have had but a short duration in so large an office as new york, and in the express of the th of july, , appears another editorial as follows: post office stamps. we would call the attention of merchants and indeed all who pay postage, to the advertisement of the postmaster, who offers to sell stamps of the value of five cents each for the prepayment of letters. this is the cost of the postage under miles. the stamps should be generally adopted as they will give additional facilities to business men, and save them time in making change. the postmaster will receive nothing for this trouble and his stamps beyond the profit of lost stamps. the disposition of the postmaster to make the new system popular merits the thanks of our citizens. in another column of the same paper appears the advertisement of the postmaster referred to in the editorial. post office, _new york, july th. _. the public is respectfully informed that the undersigned has caused to be prepared stamps for the prepayment of postage, made for five cents each, which will be sold in parcels of five and upwards. to prevent counterfeits they will be sold only at this office and the branch office. the public may therefore be assured that any stamps which may be offered for sale at any place other than the two post offices are spurious and will not be considered as prepayment. (signed.) robert h. morris, p. m. [evening papers please copy.] unfortunately these articles contain no description of the stamp issued, and it will occur to those familiar with the process of engraving stamps at that date, that the production of a stamp as elaborate as the stamp known, in so short a time as elapsed between the date of the first and last of these articles, was either a remarkable piece of work, or had been commenced some time before. possibly the stamps first issued were not those known to collectors and have never been discovered. be this as it may, the plate contained more than a single stamp. from double copies that have passed through our hands, we have proof that it consisted of at least eight different varieties, arranged in two horizontal rows of four stamps each, differing in minute details and at different distances apart. there may have been more, but this remains to be verified. the stamp which appears to have occupied the upper left hand corner of the sheet shows in each letter the outlines of the same letters, engraved in black and a little lower down than the white ones, as if the intention had originally been to have the value appear in black on a white label. it is said that the plate is now in the possession of the consolidated bank note companies (american) of new york. at any rate proofs were struck from it long after the stamp was out of use, in various colors. new york post office. issue of july , . portrait of president washington, faced ¾ to left in an oval, ½ mm. wide by ½ mm. high, with a back ground of colored lines, crossed at right angles and bordered by a colorless line. solid colored label bordered by a colorless line above and below the oval, inscribed in colorless ordinary capitals, above "_post office_," below "_five cents_." foliated ornaments in the four corners, the upper enclosing small colorless labels inscribed in small colored capitals "_new_," at the left "_york_," at the right, the whole surrounded by a colored line forming a rectangle. engraved on copper at new york by messrs. rawden, wright and hatch. plate impression ½ by mm., on slightly bluish paper. cents black. in most of the catalogues this stamp has been described also, as on white paper. such specimens are shown, but they are produced by some chemical action of the gum used to fasten them to letters, or of the composition of the paper or other accidental causes. specimens may be also found of a buff color as if steeped in coffee, another changeling produced by the action of strong gum. each stamp is signed a. c. m. in red ink. they are generally cancelled with a pen and blue ink, or by the word "paid" hand stamped in red ink, or by the dating stamp. there is another type of stamp said to have been issued by the postmaster of new york in . the design is two concentric circles, the inner ½, the outer ½ mm. in diameter. in the center, "_one cent_" in two lines of ordinary colored capitals, about mm. high. between the circles, above, "_u. s. mail_;" below, "_prepaid_" in similar letters ½ mm. high. they were printed in black on small squares of rose colored paper, and afterwards on paper varying from bright yellow to pale drab and generally glazed. this stamp was chronicled in kline's manual, first edition, , as a "carrier stamp," and has since been alternately considered a governmental, or a local stamp. upon what ground it is so confidently asserted to have been issued by the new york postmaster, and its date assigned to , seems never to have been stated. it is certain however that if it were issued prior to , it did not prepay any authorized government postage, and if issued after , such an issue was forbidden by law unless authorized by the postmaster general. it is hardly to be supposed that the postmaster of new york city would have openly violated the law. the inscription, "u. s. mail," does not prove anything but probably means "prepaid to the u. s. mail," and the stamp is probably the issue of some of the local delivery companies. v. stamps of the st. louis postmaster. of all the stamps of this character, those issued by the st. louis postmaster have been most discussed in the philatelical press. the ten cents was first noticed in an article in the stamp collector's magazine in november, , and the five cents was mentioned in kline's manual, rd edition, . mr. l. w. durbin first mentioned the second die of the cents, mr. pemberton the second die of the cents, and mr. scott is entitled to the credit of discovering the third die of each. it is unnecessary to repeat the numerous discussions, pro and con, concerning the authenticity of these stamps, since the present author discovered, and republished in le timbre poste, in may, , the following articles from contemporaneous daily papers, which leave no further room for doubt concerning the two values, and cents. _missouri republican._ july th. . "free stamped envelopes. for the convenience of those who may wish to prepay their packages at any hour of the night, robert h. morris, the postmaster of new york, as we learn from the express, has prepared a variety of stamped envelopes. they are marked five cents, ten cents, &c., and under these words is the name r. h. morris. the five cent envelopes will be sold by the postmaster at ¼ cents each, or for a dollar of the common kind and common size, and the others in proportion. this will be as cheap as they can be bought in small quantities at the stationers. a thin envelope will contain two letters and be subject only to a single postage. envelopes of various sizes will also be furnished and of fine quality when desired by the purchaser. the plan has also been adopted by the postmaster at washington and has met the approval of the postmaster general. we think it not only a convenience to the public but that it will add to the revenue of the department very considerably. the above arrangement would be a great convenience to many persons. why should not the postmaster here adopt the same plan. we believe the public generally would buy them." this article, although a mere repetition of the article of the express, and like that mentioning envelopes of new york and washington which no one has ever seen, contains at the end a reference which was evidently the inspiration of the st. louis postmaster to issue his stamps, for we read in the missouri republican of november th, , the following: "letter stamps. mr. wimer, the postmaster, has prepared a set of letter stamps, or rather marks to put upon letters, indicating that the postage has been paid. in this he has copied after the plan adopted by the postmaster of new york and other cities. these stamps are engraved to represent the missouri coat of arms, and are five and ten cents. they are so prepared that they may be stuck upon a letter like a wafer and will prove a great convenience to merchants and all those having many letters to send post paid, as it saves all trouble of paying at the post office. they will be sold as they are sold in the east, viz: sixteen five cent stamps and eight ten cent stamps for a dollar. we would recommend merchants and others to give them a trial." and a few days later in the same paper of november th, , we again read: "post office stamps. mr. wimer, the postmaster, requests us to say that he will furnish nine ten cent stamps and eighteen five cent stamps for one dollar, the difference being required to pay for the printing of the stamps." the above articles contain nearly the whole history of the stamps of st. louis. we learn the name of the postmaster who had them made, (the name, however is incorrectly spelled) their use and price, the date and object of their issue. a thorough search of all the files preserved, of the daily papers published in st. louis from january, , to december, , resulted in no further discoveries concerning them. st. louis post office. issue of november th, . arms of the state of missouri. a round shield parted per pale; on the dexter side, gules (red or vertically lined ground), the grizzly bear of missouri, passant guardant, proper; on a chief engrailed azure (horizontally lined), a crescent argent; on the sinister side, argent, the arms of the united states, (the stamp is dotted or gold) the whole with a band inscribed "united we stand, divided we fall" (the buckle below on the left, in the cents, should be omitted). supporters on each side, a grizzly bear of missouri, proper; rampant guardant, standing on a scroll inscribed "salus populi suprema lex esto." above, the value is expressed in large outline numerals, ornamented and shaded. in the corners "_saint_" and "_louis_" with numerous flourishes. below the arms "_post office_" in large ordinary capitals. the whole in a rectangular frame of a thin and thick colored line. engraved on copper by j. m. kershaw, at st. louis. the plate consisted of six stamps, three of each value, and was delivered to mr. wymer, and is said to have been lost with other of his effects during the war. the engraver thinks he printed about sheets, at three different times, upon such paper as he happened to have at hand, and that as the plate deteriorated easily, he probably retouched it slightly each time in parts, before printing. he denies positively the possibility of the figures upon the twenty cent value being his work. these are all the facts he can now vouch for, and states that many of the statements from time to time attributed to him "were the ideas of his interviewers, who tried to refresh his recollection and may have mixed him up." plate impression in black upon three qualities of bluish paper, varieties of each value. cents, black ½ by ½ mm. cents, black ½ by ½ mm. these stamps are printed on a rather thick greenish blue paper, on a thinner grey-blue paper, and on a very thin greyish paper, which agrees with the recollection of the engraver that he printed three different lots of them. a pair is also known on a coffee colored paper. they were taken from buff envelopes, and are undoubtedly discolored by the action of the paper or gum. those on white paper have been made so by chemical action. the varieties may be thus distinguished: five cents. the dashes in the corners form a sort of triangular ornament, or branch. the letters are block capitals, shaded by a fine line. there are no lines or dashes under "_post office_." _first variety._ (_a_) the buckle on the garter has the point and tongue turned up to the left. (_b_) there are six dashes above "_saint_," and eight above "_louis_," of which the top and bottom ones on each side are long strokes. (_c_) one long and two short lines and a speck under "_saint_," and one long and three short lines under "_louis_." (_d_) a long diamond in top of numeral, and a mis-shapened diamond in the bow of the numeral, with four dots above and nine below it, and a dot in the ball of the numeral. (_e_) the bear in the shield is on a vertically lined ground. _second variety._ (_a_) the buckle has the tongue and point turned down to the right. (_b_) there are eleven dashes above "_saint_," and ten above "_louis_," one of which cuts the frame on the right. (_c_) one long and two short lines, a dot, and a horizontal stroke below "_saint_," one very long, and three short lines under "_louis_," two above and two below the level of the bear's ear. (_d_) a triangle in the top of the numeral, and a diamond in the bow of the numeral, with four dots above and nine below the latter. no dot in the ball of the numeral. the right end of the scroll is double, and touches the frame. (_e_) the bear is on a vertically lined ground. _third variety._ (_a_) the buckle has the point turned down to the right. (_b_) there are twelve lines above "_saint_," and seventeen above "_louis_." (_c_) there are one long and three short lines under "_saint_," and one long and two short lines and a dot under "_louis_," the latter on a line between the ear and eye of the bear. (_d_) a diamond in the top of the , and an upright diamond in the back, with eleven dots below and four dots above it. (_e_) the bear is on a ground lined horizontally above and vertically below. mr. pemberton thinks, from a fine clear copy he had seen, that for some reason the numeral of this variety had been originally engraved as a . he says there is a thin line to the right of the down stroke of the , three small dots in a curve to the right of the diamond in the top of the , and two small dots, one over the other to the left of the diamond. _fourth variety._[a] mr. pemberton describes a fourth type of the five cents which he claims is a restoration of the second variety, from which one variety of the cents was made by alteration. (_a_) the buckle has the point turned down to the right. (_b_) there are eleven dashes above "_saint_," and ten above "_louis_." (_c_) there are four lines under "_saint_," and three long and two short lines under "_louis_," the last on a level with the bear's ear. (_d_) a diamond in the top, and a long diamond in the back of , with four dots over and four dots under the latter. coarser shading around the figure, and a curved vertical line at the back of the bow, being part of the of badly erased. (_e_) bear on a vertically lined ground. the two lines of the frame above louis bulged. [a] note.--without examining the specimen from which mr. pemberton described, it is impossible to say that it may not be one of the retouches which mr. kershaw thinks he made. ten cents. the words "_saint_," and "_louis_" are in small, colored, ordinary capitals, unshaded. there is a long flourish curved upwards over each word. it seems to have been intended to have a point with a short dash on each side of it, above each of these, with a second long flourish curved upwards and then brought down round the end of the word, and continued as a flourish under them, but the details are different in the several types. the numerals are ornamented by a diamond in the middle of each down stroke, with three dots, above and below each diamond, except in type one, which has only two dots below the diamond in the . the following varieties will be noticed: _first variety._ the point and right dash, between the corner flourishes on both sides, usually missing, and the upper flourish does not come distinctly round the right hand word. lines beneath "post office." " " "saint." " " "louis." _second variety._ the point and right dash, between the flourishes in the right hand corner, gone, and the upper flourish, does not come round the right hand word distinctly. lines beneath "post office," with a smaller stroke over each. lines beneath "saint." " " "louis." _third variety._ the point between the dashes, between the flourishes on the left, missing. lines beneath "post office," with a smaller stroke over each, and dots between them. lines and dots beneath "saint." " " " "louis." mr. pemberton at one time chronicled a fourth variety of this value also, but could not afterward identify it. indeed the impressions show great variation from the intended design in the corner flourishes, which seem to have been engraved too fine in parts. twenty cents. while the author and many others do not believe the twenty cent value to be genuine, in deference to such authorities as messrs. scott and pemberton, who accept the few specimens known, they are here described. in the american journal of philately, of january, , mr. scott, after describing the three varieties each of the and cents for the first time, mentions the cent value as a new discovery. comparing the three specimens, he says: two are exactly alike, and have evidently been altered from variety three, above described, while the third is different, having evidently been altered from variety two. at a later date he mentions a fourth specimen. five specimens are all that have ever been chronicled, we believe. mr. pemberton describes the first three more at length, in a paper in the stamp collector's magazine, for january, . he says he had before him stamps of the cent value, and of the cents, but he does not state how many he had of the cents, but that of the specimens were lent him from america. the american journal, for january, , however, says he had the three known specimens of the cents. the theory of his article is that the twenty cents was made by erasing the numerals, and of course incidentally other surrounding parts of the varieties two and three, of the five cent value on the plate, and engraving the numerals , printing that value and afterwards erasing the and replacing the five. it is also the theory of the article that this was done with all three varieties of the cents, although the author had seen only two varieties of the cents, and only one specimen of the cents, which he could torture into a re-engraving. he alters the arrangement of varieties of mr. scott, to which we prefer to adhere, and thus describes them: _variety one_, from variety three of the five cents. one long and one short line under "_saint_." half of each of the original top strokes and the third stroke under "_louis_" being erased, but the dot left. the inner line of the frame erased from the t to l, and a smaller portion of the outer frame above erased also. _variety two_, from variety two of the five cents. four strokes under "_saint_," but bolder and closer than the original, the vertical stroke over the left bear's paw nearly erased. four strokes under "_louis_," but deeper and more regular, the third stroke downwards on a level with the bear's ear. l of "louis" has been re-engraved. bear's paw on the garter erased. the inner line of frame half erased between "_saint_," and "_louis_." it remains to be added that the numerals are, in both these varieties, very badly drawn, single lined and solid, instead of open and ornamented, and are shaded by miserably drawn irregular horizontal fine lines of uneven length, totally different from the figures in the other two values. it is both impracticable and useless to attempt to repeat here all the arguments for and against the authenticity of these specimens. it is claimed that they were found in the same file of letters with the greater part of the specimens of the other values known. that the rate they indicate was a regular rate upon heavy letters from st. louis to new york, and that many letters so marked that do not bear stamps, were found in the same and other files; that there are no traces of erasure of the by scratching, and the paper is no thinner under the numerals than elsewhere. this seems to be the substance of what can be said in their favor. on the other hand they are not alluded to in the notices published in the republican, above quoted, or elsewhere; the engraver is positive that he did not alter the values; says that he retained the plate until after mr. wyman had ceased to be postmaster, which was at least two years after the stamps were prohibited by law, and that the workmanship of the numerals could not possibly be his, and would be a disgrace to any engraver; the figures are apparently made by an unskilled hand with an ordinary pen and ink; competent authorities in such matters state that it is possible to remove printing ink from paper; three of the known specimens have been photographed, two of one variety and one of another; in all the numerals differ, those of the two varieties mentioned by mr. scott as corresponding, vary as much as the two from different varieties of the five cents. while it is true that a portion of the inner line of the frame is gone between saint and louis, and that the strokes are bolder beneath these words on one variety, it is not apparent that they are nearer together, or of different shape as mr. pemberton thought, or that the l of "louis" has been re-engraved. the absent lines need no comment. lastly, the work has a blurred appearance, as if the ink had slightly run into the paper around these famous numerals, and in all the photographs they are of a different color from the remaining parts of the same stamps, and the other stamps photographed with them, particularly noticeable in light photographs, while the blurred appearance is more apparent in the dark photographs. if these facts do not convince those who believe in the authenticity of these cent varieties, that they, with messrs. scott and pemberton, have been the victims of a clever fraud, the question will probably never be settled for them, as no new facts are likely at this date to be discovered. the two cent value, once chronicled, is of a different design, and an admitted invention. vi. stamp of the brattleboro postmaster. the stamp issued by the postmaster, of brattleboro, vermont, is catalogued as a local as early as kline's manual, nd edition, . the first magazine to describe it was taylor's record, february, , which states that it was issued in , by f. n. palmer, to supply a temporary lack of the current five cents and gives a fair description of it. the american journal of philately, in january, , in an article by dr. petrie, gave the first correct account of it. the article gives a letter purporting to have been written by dr. palmer, who says it was a strictly private enterprise, neither ordered or repudiated by the department, and did not appear in his account with the head office at washington. "my object," he says, "in issuing it was to accommodate the people, and save myself labor in making and collecting quarterly bills, almost everything at that time being either charged or forwarded without prepayment. i was disappointed in the effect, having still to charge the stamps and collect my bills. as to the number issued, i should say five or six hundred as an experiment. they were engraved by mr. thomas chubbuck, then of brattleboro, now of springfield." mr. palmer thinks the stamp was issued during his first year as postmaster, ( ). the march number of the same journal, for the same year, mentions a specimen on a letter of , postmarked with a pen, november th, but the stamp cancelled with the word "paid," hand stamped in red. in the stamp collector's magazine, november, , mr. l. h. bagg, recapitulating the foregoing, states incidentally, that one reason for this accommodating spirit on the part of the postmaster, was that his salary depended on the cash receipts of his office, and hence his anxiety to have as many letters prepaid as possible, a fact which assists us in understanding why a stamp should have been issued at such a small place as brattleboro then was. the postmarked letter shows that the use of the stamp did not do away with the necessity of marking the letter "paid," and that it was this mark and not the stamp that was recognized by other postmasters. in his interview with mr. bagg, the engraver, mr. chubbuck, was quite confident that mr. palmer burned all the unsold stamps in his possession upon the appearance of the first regular united states stamps, that the bill for engraving them was not collected until june, , and that the charges were $ . for engraving the plate, and $ . for printing stamps. mr. bagg also obtained from mr. chubbuck a part of a sheet, eight stamps, which was afterwards purchased by mr. scott, who got together all the copies he could, and thus reconstructed the sheet, which was shown to have contained ten varieties, in two horizontal rows of stamps each, each stamp separately engraved, the words "eng. by thos. chubbuck, bratt'o," appearing in small script under the middle stamp of the lower row, and not extending over the length of that stamp. brattleboro post office. issue of or . "f. n. p.", the initials of the postmaster, frederick n. palmer, in fac-simile, with flourish beneath, on a vertically lined ground, in an oblong with cut corners, bordered by a heavy colored, a colorless and a finer colored line in a band lined diagonally, (from right above, to left below) and bordered by another fine colored, a colorless and heavier colored line, forming an oblong rectangle, and inscribed above "_brattleboro, vt._," in colored black letters, "_p._ and _o._" on left and right, in ordinary colored capitals, and "_ cents_" in outline capitals below. plate impression by mm., in color, on brownish paper. cents, black. vii. stamp of the new haven postmaster. this stamp was discovered in an old collection by mr. wm. p. brown, and described by him in his curiosity cabinet in may, . the new haven palladium of may , , has the following account of the discovery, which, though it contains some errors as to the former postal rates, and some ignorance as to the history of the stamps of the united states, is worthy of insertion here. "a curiosity." "an old envelope post office stamp, issued at new haven, of the denomination of cents, marked 'paid,' and subscribed by 'e. a. mitchell, p. m.,' has lately turned up. it must have been issued over years ago and is probably one of the oldest united states stamps in existence. mr. mitchell was postmaster of this city from to . when he took office the rates were , , ½, and cents for single letters, according to distance, no prepayment being required. the rates were afterwards reduced to and cents according to distance, and subsequently to five cents, uniform for all distances, the weight not exceeding one quarter ounce, and prepayment required. at this period envelopes began to come in use, and as prepayment of postage could only be made at the office during business hours, mr. mitchell took the responsibility of issuing envelopes, stamped as above, with his signature on each, and selling them at the cost of envelopes and postage as an accommodation; some of the post offices refused to recognize them, and reported the fact to the department. as however the stamps could only be used at the new haven office, and were sent as prepaid matter, properly entered on the new haven post bill, there could be no loss to the government, and the department taking a liberal view of the subject, authorized their continuance. there is no doubt that the adoption of stamps by our government was much hastened by the issue of these prepaid envelopes, and it can truly be said that they were the first stamps issued by the united states. mr. mitchell is still in possession of the original plate." from a letter of mr. mitchell's, printed in the american journal of philately in may, , it further appears that mr. mitchell permitted parties to bring their own envelopes to be stamped. the die was a simple hand stamp engraved by f. g. gorham, and the ink employed was that in ordinary use for hand stamps in the office, red or blue. he was postmaster from september, , to , and thinks the stamp was issued first in . only one original stamp has so far been found. new haven post office. issue of . large rectangular stamp, with corners cut by quarter circles. frame of a very heavy outside line with an interior fine line. "_post office_" in heavy block letters inclined to left, in a straight line across the top, "_new haven, ct._," in a curved line of roman capitals, in a second line. large numeral " " with "paid" in large block capitals beneath, signature (e. a. mitchell) written, and "p. m." in ordinary capitals forming the fifth line. impression by mm., from brass hand stamp, in color on white or colored envelopes. cents, red. the only known original is cut square. in , mr. mitchell made a few re-impressions in red and blue ink, which he signed and distributed to collectors. the die was then deposited in the archives of the new haven colonial historical society. reprints. cents, blue impression, red signature. " red " blue " " " " black " " " " no " all on large white paper. viii. stamps of the providence postmaster. these stamps, of which the cent value was catalogued as early as , and the cent in june, , were issued by mr. h. b. sayles, postmaster at providence, and engraved by a mr. kidden, of that city in . none of the daily papers of the locality, which we have been permitted to consult, seem to have noticed the issue. the plate has however been preserved among the archives of the state of rhode island. providence post office. issue of . "_post office_," in a curved line, "_prov. r. i._" in a straight line, and "_five cents_" in a curved line, all in outline colorless block capitals on a ground of fine horizontal lines, bordered by a fine colored, a broad colorless and second fine colored line, forming a horizontal oval, the space outside filled in with similar horizontal lined ground to form a rectangle, bordered by a fine colored line, the bottom and right side double thickness, and ornamented with a white foliated ornament in each of the four corners, separated by a white ball on the sides, and by from two to five balls above, but none at the bottom, where there is instead a prolongation of the foliation. plate impression (copper), by mm., on yellowish white paper. cents, black, cents, black. these stamps were issued gummed. the paper of the sheet measures ½ by mm. on the plate there are three stamps in each horizontal and four in each vertical row, or twelve stamps. the upper right hand corner stamp alone bears the value "_ten cents_." if for the sake of convenience the first stamp on the left of the upper row is designated as type one, the next two, etc.; the first stamp on the left of the second row as type four; the first of the third row as seven; and the first of the fourth row as ten, the following may be noticed among the many points of difference. the plate was originally ruled into spaces for the stamps by very fine lines, which seem to have been carried straight through over the spaces intended to separate the stamps, and not always to have been perfectly obliterated afterwards. on the right of the plate there is also a vertical line parallel to the right side of all the stamps in the right hand row, at the distance separating two stamps (nearly mm.) as if the intention had been to add another stamp to each horizontal row. _type ._ at the upper left corner, the horizontal frame line thickened projects to the left and the vertical line projects upward. balls between the foliations the middle one is an oblong rectangle, the end ones touch the ornaments. the side balls are on a line with the tops of the letters of "prov., r. i." there is a period after cents. _type ._ at the upper left corner, the horizontal frame line thickened projects to the left. at the lower left corner both the horizontal and vertical lines thickened project. both the horizontal top and bottom lines continue on the right to type . balls, the middle one is a square, the next on the right is the lower half of a circle, the next on left flat at top and bottom. these three are all small. the end ball on the right larger than the others. both it and the end ball on the left are flat on top. "f" in "five" very close to the border. side balls above the line of the top of the letters of "prov., r. i." a period after cents. _type ._ ten cents. the horizontal top line of frame projects each way. the vertical line at the right plain above but thickened and partially obliterated below the lower right corner. the lower horizontal line projects to the left to type . balls, the middle one large and square, the extreme right one nearly round, the remaining three irregular and nearly equal in size. "e" of "office" touches the oval. side balls below the line of the top of the letters of "prov., r. i.," and lower point of left foliation cuts into the left ball. no period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects to the left. the bottom horizontal line projects both to the left and right. balls. the middle one is a small oblong rectangle. those next to it very small. left side ball on a level with the top line of letters of "prov., r. i.," but the right ball smaller and lower down. no period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects to the left, and part of it is thickened. it also projects to the right. the bottom horizontal line projects to the left. balls. the middle one in an oblong rectangle. the "s" of cents, resembles an . side balls are above the line of the top of "prov., r. i." no period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects to left. the bottom horizontal line also. the vertical left line projects to type . balls. the middle one is a square. shading of "e" of "office" touches the oval. the side balls are below the tops of "prov., r. i." no period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects both to left and right. the right vertical line projects above the corner. balls only. the middle one is gone. they are all small. a period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal and left vertical lines both project at the upper left corner. balls. the middle ball is a square. the top of the "e" of "office" touches the oval. the "s" in cents is very small, and is followed by a period. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects both ways, and the left vertical line projects above the upper left corner. both vertical lines are continued down to type . balls only, the middle ones are left out. "v" in "prov." is too large and the "f" of "five" touches the oval. no period after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal and right vertical lines both project beyond the upper right corner. balls. the middle one square. the lower leaf of the upper left foliation has no notch. point after cents. _type ._ the top horizontal line projects to the left and both verticals project upwards. balls. the middle one is square. the end balls project above top line. no period after cents. _type ._ both vertical lines project up to type . dots. middle one is an oblong rectangle. the next on the right projects above the frame. the one at right end is nearly round, but both those at the left are rectangular. ball at right side large and flat. no period after cents. it has been stated that the engraver of the original plate re-engraved these stamps for the benefit of collectors many years ago. however this may be, there are a number of very dangerous counterfeits in existence, as well as some that are easily detected. in the following table the lines which touch the letters or other parts are counted as well as those between them. by these differences and peculiarities the position of a given specimen on the plate can readily be determined. the following peculiarities are noticed in le timbre poste, page , . row a, width of the oval " b, height of the oval horizontal lines between the; row c, upper frame and oval " d, o of office, and oval above " e, v of prov., and oval above " f, v of prov., and c of cents " g, c of cents, and oval below " h, p of prov., & e or t of , " i, i of r. i., and s of cents " j, p of post, and p of prov. " k, e of office, and i of r. i. ------------------------------------------------------------- |type|type|type|type|type|type|type|type|type|type|type|type| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | a | ¼ | | | ¾| ¾| | | | ¼| | | ¼| | | | | | | | | | | | | | b | ½ | ¼| ¼| ½| ¼| ¼| ¼| ½| ¼| ½| ¼ | ¼| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | c | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | d | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | e | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | f | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | g | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | h | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | i | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | j | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | k | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------------------------------------------------- ix. stamp of the alexandria postmaster. this stamp was discovered by the present author, and was first chronicled in an article by him in le timbre poste, of february, . a second specimen is chronicled in durbin's philatelic monthly, of august, . they are both postmarked with the ordinary dated hand stamp of alexandria, d. c., the word "paid," and large numeral " ." the first postmark is dated july th, that of the second is illegible, but the letter was dated sept. th, . alexandria post office. issue of . large round stamp, mm. in diameter, with border of six-rayed stars. within "_alexandria_," above, and "_post office_," below, in heavy block capitals, a six-rayed star separating the words, on each side. in the centre "paid," in smaller capitals, with the numeral " " beneath. impression from wood block, mm. in diameter, on yellow paper. cents, black. this stamp appears to have been originally stamped upon the buff envelopes common at the time, and to have been cut out and fastened to the letter. no further information concerning it has yet been discovered. the files at washington, of the alexandria gazette, the only alexandria paper of that period, are defective from may nd, to october, , and in part for . daniel brien was postmaster at alexandria during - . x. stamps of the baltimore postmaster. this stamp was first chronicled in the philatelical journal in . the copy there described was the only one known, until very recently, a second copy was described in the new york world, and subsequently that and another were mentioned in the alexandria gazette, of august rd, , as having been in possession of mr. thomas semmes, of alexandria. these are described as postmarked respectively, january th, and st., , with the other marks usual upon letters of the period. from to , mr. james madison buchannan was the postmaster at baltimore, and is said to have issued this stamp in the fall of . further details are wanting. the stamp is a simple looking slip of paper containing the signature of the postmaster in fac-simile, in one line, and the value, "_ cents_," in a second line, bordered by a frame of single colored lines, crossed at the four angles. impression, by mm., in color upon thin bluish paper. cents, black. [illustration: james m. buchannan (handwritten signature) paid (with inside circle)] besides these adhesive stamps, mr. buchannan also issued a species of franked envelope. two copies of this were found by mr. robt. h. smith, in examining his old letters. they are the ordinary buff wove envelopes of the period, size by mm., of the old simple form with straight edged flaps. in the right upper hand corner the signature "james m. buchannan," hand stamped, ½ mm. long, the "b," ½ mm. high. beneath this in a second line the word "paid," in capitals, mm. high, and mm. long is also hand stamped. below this again, a large numeral " ," ½ mm. high, in an oval ½ mm. long by ½ high, is also hand stamped. the specimen described is hand stamped with the ordinary round hand stamp of baltimore, md., and dated nov. th, no year stated and is directed to the present owner and finder. impression hand stamped in blue ink on buff envelopes. cents, blue. besides these it has been claimed that the stamp known as the "horseman," was also issued in or , by the postmaster of baltimore. it may be described as a rough design of a horseman, galloping to the right, holding a streamer, inscribed: "_one cent_." on ribbons above, "_government city dispatch_." rough frame of vertical lines with rough ornaments in the corners, bordered by a single colored line. impression, by mm., apparently lithographed in color on white paper. cent, red. " black. variety, sent " it will appear further on, that at this date, , and long prior thereto, the law prohibited postmasters from recognizing or permitting to be used any stamps not received from the postmaster general. in a letter published in the american journal of philately, july th, , w. h. h. corell, rd assistant postmaster general, says: "the records of the department do not contain any reference to the other stamp, post rider." it is supposed to have been issued by one of the numerous "city dispatch" companies located in new york. these facts and the very rough workmanship, so unlike any of the authorized government issues, would seem sufficient to settle the absolutely unofficial character of this stamp. xi. stamp of the millbury postmaster. in the collection of letters received by col. isaac davis, of worcester, mass., now in the library of the american antiquarian society, were found, in , two letters written and posted at millbury, in august and december, , postmarked with the ordinary dating stamp of millbury, of the dates august st, and december th, respectively, and stamped with an adhesive stamp, cancelled with the word "paid," in large capitals, partly on the letter and partly on the stamp. the earliest also bears a large "v," in an octagon frame, and the other a large numeral " ," in a circle. col. asa h. waters, was postmaster of millbury in , having received his commission, dated january nd, , from president jackson, "old hickory," and retained the office until november, , when he resigned and obtained the office for henry waterman, who had been his assistant. a third copy of the adhesive stamp is in the possession of col. waters, postmarked exactly as the first described specimen, but the date is july th. both col. waters and mr. waterman state that the idea of the stamp was suggested by the reception of letters bearing the new york stamp, and that the stamp was printed in boston, from a block cut in . neither gentleman has any data by which to fix more exactly the date of its issue. millbury post office. issue of . head of washington, ¾ face to the right, on a colorless circular disk, ½ mm. in diameter, shaded to left of the head, and part way in front by diagonal lines, and bordered by a circular band, mm. wide, edged outside and inside by a colored line. the band is inscribed above, "_post office_," below, "_paid cents_," in colored block capitals, except " cents," which is in script. there are three five-pointed stars irregularly formed on each side in the band. the outer circle is a little flat between t and o. the vertical diameter is ½ mm. longer than the horizontal. impression from wood block by ½ mm. in diameter, in black on smooth unsurfaced white paper. cents, black. xii. stamped envelopes of the washington postmaster. the daily union, published at washington, wednesday, july rd, , and the national intelligencer, of friday, july th, , contain the following advertising editorial[a]: "interesting to citizens and sojourners in washington. upon inquiring at the city post office, we learn that col. gardiner has had franked (or rather prepaid) envelopes prepared, which do away with the necessity of personal application at the delivery window when one wishes to pay postage on sending off a letter. they are for sale at the post office, at the following rates; which barely pay the cost, after deducting the sum chargeable on each for postage, viz: envelopes to enclose letters charged at cents for $ . " " " " " " " " ¼ " " " cents . " " " " } " " " " } this plan, it will be recollected has been adopted in the northern cities to the great advantage of the public, and its introduction here will save our fellow citizens many a long and hitherto, indispensable trudge, in this metropolis of magnificent distances." the latter paper, however quotes the price of the cent envelopes at cents, instead of ¼. these are evidently the envelopes mentioned in the article of the express, of july th, quoted in the chapter on the stamps of the new york postmaster. up to the present time none of them have been reported to have been found. [a] the newspaper articles concerning these envelopes were found by mr. c. f. rothfuchs who, at the suggestion of the author, kindly searched the files of the washington papers. xiii. stamps of the philadelphia postmaster. from to , dr. geo. f. lehman was postmaster of philadelphia. it is asserted that he adopted for use in the post office at philadelphia, a number of peculiar devices of his own, which appear to have been a substitute for postage stamps. they are described as bands with the names of the persons who mailed the letters upon them, which were fastened around the letters, and upon receipt at the post office, were removed by the clerks and kept as vouchers, the amount of postage due being charged to the account of the sender, and collected with the quarterly bill. there are also said to have been in use several other designs in the form of stamps, printed and sold by the post office, which when fastened upon the letter indicated that the office had received postage, and such letters were then forwarded and marked as paid. although several varieties of these are said to have been in use, none of them have yet been found. xiv. stamps of the worcester postmaster. in the national aegis, published at worcester, mass., september nd, , may be found the following item: "post office stamps. the postmaster has issued postage stamps of the denomination of five cents and ten cents. they are very convenient, and will save the trouble of making change at the post office, and will enable people to send prepaid letters at times when the office is closed. to cover the expense of engraving and printing, these stamps are sold at five per cent advance upon the regular rates of postage." maturin l. fisher was postmaster at worcester, from to , and andrew a. williams was his chief clerk in . the above item was recently found by the present author in searching old files of newspapers, for information about the various postmaster's stamps. no other worcester paper seems to have noticed the matter, and no further information has so far rewarded the limited inquiry and search possible since the discovery. both of the gentlemen in the office at the time are now deceased. xv. stamps of the pittsfield postmaster. a short notice published in one of the springfield, mass., papers, in the summer of , asserts that in overhauling the vaults of the berkshire mutual fire insurance company, of pittsfield, a number of stamps were found that were issued by the pittsfield postmaster, in - . phineas allen was postmaster of pittsfield at the time. no further information concerning these stamps, has rewarded inquiry. xvi. observations. it is by no means improbable that other similar devices were in use in other towns and cities at this period, by which prepayment of postage was secured. the salaries of many of the smaller offices depended on the amount of postage collected, and the importance of all offices was estimated by the revenue collected. it was natural, therefore, as the public demand for such accommodation grew, that the postmaster should adopt a device tending to their own benefit. there are in the possession of the present author a number of hand stamps, apparently cut from letters and envelopes, inscribed such and such a "post office," " cents paid," which would seem to be stamps of this kind, but in the absence of further information, are not here chronicled. the wide spread use of such stamps would appear from the following caution, published in the courier, of new york, july th, . "the postmaster of this city has given notice that he has prepared stamps for the use of merchants, and requests them to provide themselves with these stamps to facilitate the business of the post office, and for their own convenience. it will be observed that the postmaster warns the public that any stamps offered for sale at any place other than the post office of this city are spurious. that the use of proper stamps by merchants will be a great convenience is admitted; but these stamps, thus offered, should be considered in no other light than the personal obligations of the postmaster, unauthorized as far as the public know, by any proper authority, and if issued by the postmaster of one city, may also be issued by the postmaster of any town or city in the united states; and if this practice becomes general, the amount in these stamps held by the public will be very considerable, and will evidently lead to great abuses and probably losses. in case of the death or removal of a postmaster, we know of no legal obligation of his successor to consider these stamps of any value whatever. post office stamps to be of general utility, should be issued by the general post office at washington, sanctioned by law, and with suitable penalties in case of forgery: they would be of great advantage to the post office department, and would much facilitate business in various ways, but if issued by any or all postmasters, will in some cases be used "to raise the wind," and may raise it pretty effectually in cases of death or default, as the amount held by the public in any of the large cities would be a very considerable sum." (signed) caveat. this article was reprinted by numerous journals, among them the express, of new york, july th, . xvii. the issue of . notwithstanding these manifest dangers, noticed by the courier and express, the public continued to demand and use, and the postmasters to issue, as we have seen, these unauthorized stamps, without action on the part of congress, or interference by the department, until the beginning of when, apparently in response to the necessities of the case the following law was passed: statutes of the united states, xxix congress, session ii, chapter lxiii, section , approved march rd, . an act to establish certain post roads and for other purposes. "and be it further enacted, that to facilitate the transportation of letters by mail, the postmaster general be authorized to prepare postage stamps, which, when attached to any letter or packet, shall be evidence of the prepayment of the postage chargeable on such letter, which said stamps the postmaster general may deliver to any deputy postmaster who may apply for the same, the deputy postmaster paying or becoming accountable for the amount of the stamps so received by him, and if any of said stamps shall not be used, but be returned to the general post office, the amount so returned shall be credited to such deputy postmaster, and such deputy postmaster may sell or dispose of any stamps so received by him to any person who may wish to use the same, but it shall not be lawful for any deputy postmaster, to prepare, use, or dispose of any postage stamps not authorized by and received from the postmaster general. and any person who shall falsely and fraudulently make, alter or forge any postage stamp with intent to defraud the post office department, shall be deemed guilty of felony, and on conviction shall be subject to the same punishment as provided in the section of the act approved march rd, , entitled an act," etc. this is the first authorization of postage stamps in the united states, and it will be well to observe that the use of any stamps other than _those authorized and received from_ the postmaster general is strictly prohibited. the use of the stamps of the postmasters herein before treated of, must therefore have ceased from and after the st of july, , when the law went into effect, or as soon thereafter as supplies were received from the department. this effectually determines the character of such locals, as the so-called "horseman," and "u. s. mail prepaid," before referred to. according to the law and custom in the united states, a contract for the engraving and printing of stamps, under the authority of this act, was made by the postmaster general with messrs. rawdon, wright, hatch and edson, for four years. during this time they furnished , , , five cent stamps, and , , , ten cent stamps, of which , , five cent, and , ten cent stamps are officially reported to have been distributed by the department to deputy postmasters for sale. a portion of these, valued at $ , . , were however afterwards returned to the department and exchanged for those of the subsequent issue, and credited to the deputies who returned them. issue of july st, . the issue consisted of two values only, five and ten cents. five cents. portrait of benjamin franklin, continental postmaster general, facing three quarters to the left, on an oval disk with hatched ground, ½ by ¼ mm., bounded by a broad colorless line with a fine colored line outside, in a rectangular frame, also bordered by a broad colorless line with a fine colored line outside. the ground work of this frame is composed of fine horizontal colored lines, and is ornamented by foliations, and inscribed in outlined colorless capitals, "_u._" and "_s._," in the upper corners, with "_post office_," between, following the form of the oval, large numeral " ," and " ," in the lower corners, with "_five cents_" between, following the form of the oval. between the lines of the outer border, exactly in the centre, are the initials of the engravers, "r. w. h. & e.," in small colored capitals. plate impression, ½ by ½ mm., in color, on faintly bluish paper. cents, bronze. ten cents. portrait of george washington, first president, facing three quarters to the right, on an oval disk, with hatched background, bordered by a broad colorless line, with a fine colored line outside, in a rectangular frame, bordered in the same manner. the ground of the frame and inscriptions are similar to the five cents, but changed for the value to a large "x," in each lower corner, with "_ten cents_," between. same small initials in the lower border. plate impression, ½ by ½ mm., in color, on faintly bluish paper. cents, black. in the hartford times of august th, , appeared a long article, entitled: "the first postage stamps," from which the following relating to the actual date of this issue may be here repeated. "thirty eight years ago to-day the first postage stamps were used in the united states. * * * on the th of march, , john m. niles, of hartford, became postmaster general and signalized his administration by many reforms. * * * it was necessary to cap all by a genuine innovation, and he performed this by suggesting the postage stamp. the suggestion was received with ridicule, and mr. niles soon after retired. * * * when cave johnson assumed the post office, on the th of march, , he found it an herculian task to reinstate the reform measures of mr. niles. * * * among the measures of mr. niles that he adopted was the postage stamp idea. * * * johnson garnished his conversation with fathering the suggestion originated six years before. * * * the matter took form as a bill. * * * approved march rd, . the date of the issue was appointed as july st, but there was a delay in the contractors' work and the time ran over a month. on the th of august, soon after the opening of the postmaster general's office for the day, an old gentleman called to see mr. johnson on business. the gentleman was the hon. henry shaw, a new yorker, * * * and the father of the well known henry shaw, jr., (josh billings). * * * mr. johnson came into his office accompanied by the printer of the new stamps, a few minutes after mr. shaw had arrived, on that august morning. sheets of the stamps were laid before the postmaster general, who, after receipting for them, handed them to his visitor to inspect. mr. shaw returned them after a hasty glance, and then drawing out his wallet, he counted fifteen cents, with which he purchased two of the stamps--the first two ever issued. the five cent stamp he kept as a curiosity, and the ten cent stamp he presented to governor briggs, as an appropriate gift." observations. in nearly all the early catalogues and in some recent foreign ones, these stamps are catalogued upon _white_ paper. mr. terrell, third assistant postmaster general, in a letter published on page , american stamp mercury, , states positively that this issue was never printed except upon faintly tinted bluish paper. it may be observed, generally, that the paper of all stamps of the early issues of all countries which were affixed to the blue or bluish paper in general use at the time, has a tendency to vary from the original color, sometimes becoming blue or bluish, when originally white, darker or lighter blue or even whitish if originally blue. this has been variously explained, as the action of some ingredient in the paper of the letter, or of the stamp, in the gum or the ink. it must be further observed that the color of the impression of the five cents varies greatly from the original pale red brown, called bronze. many shades of faint red brown, red brown, faint dark brown, deep dark brown, black brown, bluish black, and almost pure black, may be found. whether these result, as seems to be the case, from a natural change in the course of time, from something in the ink, paper or surroundings of the stamp itself, or whether it results from the use of different colored ink originally, may perhaps be impossible now to determine. the ten cent, however, varies very little in the color of the impression. beyond a lighter, or grayish shade, a black with a bluish cast, and the ordinary black impression, little is to be noticed. the stamps are separated in the sheet by about mm., each way. double copies of the five cents, adhering either by the side, or by the top and bottom, are often found on old letters, and occasionally, three or four adhering specimens are encountered. the ten cents is almost invariably found in single specimens, though a few pairs, and even three used together are known. according to a statement in the american journal of philately, of april, , this issue was withdrawn from circulation between june th and september th, . the instructions of the department to the deputy postmasters, concerning the distribution of the next issue, published in june, , order that these five and ten cent stamps must not be recognized as prepaying letters after the th of june, , and request the public to return them to the deputy postmasters, in exchange for others of the new issue. the report of the postmaster general for the year expiring june th, , and published in the fall of that year, further states: "directions for the destruction of the dies and plates, employed in the manufacture of the stamps formerly used, have been given, and for counting and burning such stamps as have not been issued to postmasters or have been returned." these facts probably explain the extreme rarity of unused stamps of this issue, and the re-engraving of the dies by the government, when it was considered advisable to make an exhibit of all its issues of adhesive stamps at the centennial exhibition. the existence therefore, of a specimen of four unused five cent stamps, adhering by the sides, and another of four unused ten cent stamps, adhering also by the sides, in the private collection of mr. sterling, is worthy of notice. the latter specimen, at any rate, is probably unique, and though called whitish paper by him, has nevertheless, the bluish tint, and certainly is not _white_ paper. note. there are _proofs_ however on white paper. xviii. the issue of . the act of the xxxi congress, session ii, chapter xx, approved march rd, , and entitled: "an act to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the united states, and for other purposes" reads: "be it enacted, etc., that from and after the th day of june, , in lieu of the rates of postage now established by law, there shall be charged the following rates, viz: for every single letter in manuscript, or paper of any kind, upon which information shall be asked for, or communicated, in writing, or by marks or signs, conveyed in the mail for any distance, between places within the united states, not exceeding , miles, when the postage upon said letter shall have been prepaid, three cents, and five cents when the postage thereon shall not have been prepaid, and for any distance exceeding , miles, double these rates; for every such single letter or paper when conveyed wholly or in part by sea, and to or from a foreign country, for any distance over , miles, twenty cents, and for any distance under , miles, ten cents, excepting however, all cases where such postages have been or shall be adjusted at different rates by postal treaty or convention already concluded or hereafter to be made; and for a double letter there shall be charged double the rates above specified; and for a treble letter, treble these rates; and for a quadruple letter, quadruple these rates; and every letter or parcel not exceeding half an ounce in weight, shall be deemed a single letter, and every additional weight of half an ounce, or every additional weight of less than half an ounce, shall be charged with an additional single postage. and all drop letters, or letters placed in any post office, not for transmission, but for delivery only, shall be charged with postage at the rate of one cent each, and all letters which shall hereafter be advertised as remaining over or uncalled for in any post office shall be charged with one cent in addition to the regular postage to be accounted for as other postages now are." the second section fixed the rates upon newspapers of all descriptions, coming from the publishers, etc., etc., which were not to be paid for by stamps, but: "every other newspaper circular, hand bill, engraving, pamphlet," etc., etc., "shall be charged one cent an ounce under miles and one cent each additional ounce between and miles," double beyond, etc., etc. the third section provides: "and be it further enacted, that it shall be the duty of the postmaster general to provide and furnish to all deputy postmasters, and to all other persons applying and paying therefor, suitable postage stamps, of the denomination of three cents, and of such other denominations as he may think expedient to facilitate prepayment of postages provided for in this act; and any person who shall forge or counterfeit any postage stamp, provided or furnished under this act, whether the same are impressed or printed on or attached to envelopes or not, or any die, plate or engraving therefor, or shall make or print, or knowingly use or sell, or have in his possession, with intent to use or sell, any such false, forged or counterfeit die, plate, engraving, or postage stamps, or who shall make or print, or otherwise procure to be made or printed, any postage stamps of the kind provided and furnished by the postmaster general, as aforesaid, without the especial authority and direction of the post office department, or who, after such postage stamps have been printed, shall, with intent to defraud the revenue of the post office department, deliver any postage stamps to any person or persons other than such as shall be authorized to receive the same by an instrument of writing duly executed under the hand of the postmaster general, and the seal of the post office department, shall on conviction thereof be deemed guilty of felony, and punishable by a fine not exceeding dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding five years; or by both such fine or imprisonment, and the expenses of procuring and providing all such postage stamps and letter envelopes as are provided or authorized by this act, shall be paid, after being adjusted by the auditor of the post office department, on the certificate of the postmaster general, out of any money in the treasury, arising from the revenues of the post office department." the th section provides that postage stamps shall be defaced as the postmaster general may direct, and the penalty for omitting so to do. the th section provides for the appointment of carriers, the rate to be one or two cents prepaid, the carriers to be paid out of the receipts from this postage. the th section authorizes the coining of the three cent coin, probably to facilitate the payment of these rates. the other matters mentioned in the foregoing act are of little interest here, but the following circular contains some matters of importance: regulations concerning postage stamps. post office department, _june th, _. "to facilitate the payment of postages upon letters and packages, postage stamps of the following denominations are provided and furnished by the postmaster general, pursuant to the third section of the "act to reduce and modify the rates of postage in the united states," and for other purposes approved march rd, . viz: no. . printed in black, representing the head of washington, of the denomination of twelve cents. no. . printed in red, representing the head of washington, in profile, of the denomination of three cents. no. . printed in blue, representing the head of franklin, in profile, of the denomination of one cent. these stamps will be furnished to one or more of the principal postmasters in each county, who will be required to supply the other postmasters in their vicinities, upon being paid for the amount furnished." the remaining provisions relate to the mode of distribution, accounting, cancelling, etc., and are of no particular interest. the circular is signed "nathan d. hall, postmaster general." a similar circular dated april rd, , is almost an exact repetition of the foregoing. the stamps issued may be described more fully thus: issue of july st, . one cent. bust of benjamin franklin, first postmaster general, in profile, facing to the right, in an oval disk by ½ mm., with a ground of very fine horizontal colored lines, slightly waved, bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines. the colorless line is ornamented by a line of fine dots. above is a label, bordered at the top by a similarly ornamented colorless line, between two fine colored lines, terminated at the ends by the corner ornaments of the stamp, with a ground of fine colored lines following the lines of the oval, and inscribed in outline capitals "_u. s. postage_." below the oval is a similar label, the ends terminated by a similar border, with a ground of fine colored lines, inscribed "_one cent_" in outline capitals. this label is shaded by a number of vertical lines. scroll and foliated corner ornaments extending down the sides. there is no outside line finishing the frame. the stamps are very near each other on the sheet. plate impression, by mm., color, white paper. cent, shades of indigo blue. three cents. bust of washington, first president of the united states, in profile to left, on an oval disk, with hatched ground, bordered by a fine colorless line between two fine colored lines, surrounded by a frame composed of colorless lines, forming diamonds on a solid ground, the alternate diamonds filled in with diagonal colorless lines, leaving a colored chain conspicuous, with rosettes in the four angles. the space between the oval and frame filled with horizontal lines, and the corners outside the rosettes filled with ornamented triangles. above and below all these are solid colored labels, with a small piece containing a diamond cut off at each end by a vertical colorless line, inscribed in colorless roman capitals, above "_u. s. postage_," below "_three cents_." the whole is surrounded, at a little distance, by a colored line forming a rectangle. plate impression by mm., color, white paper. cents, in shades of brick and rose red. twelve cents. bust of washington, after stewart, facing three quarters to the left, on an oval disk ½ by mm., with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line between two colored lines. this colorless line is crossed by horizontal lines. about this is a frame like that of the cents, with rosettes at the angles, but showing six and two half links in the chain on each side, instead of five and two half links as in the three cents. the outside corners are filled by small foliations. the space between the oval and frame is filled by horizontal lines. inscription above "_u. s. postage_," below "_twelve cents_" in colorless capitals, shaded outside on the back ground and following the curve of the oval. the whole is surrounded by a fine colored line. plate impression, by mm., color, white paper. cents, black. as it was considered desirable to keep the amounts collected and paid for delivery by carriers (under section of the act) separate, a special stamp for the payment of such postage was soon added: issue of september th, . one cent. bust of benjamin franklin, in profile, to the left, on an oval disk, by ½ mm. with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines. frame, labels, etc., like the three cents, but with a colorless star between curved colorless lines at the end instead of the diamonds. the inscription is in colorless roman capitals, on the upper label "_carrier's_," and "_stamp_" in the lower label. plate impression, ½ by mm., color, rose paper. no value indicated, indigo blue. specimens exist in brick red, some of which show the crack in the die. these must be proofs, although a letter purporting to be from w. m. ireland, third assistant postmaster general, dated august th, , and published in the august number of the american journal of philately, after describing this stamp says: "color, orange-brown, typographed in color on white paper. proofs were issued printed in blue on pink paper; also in green and yellow. it was issued about september th, , but was suppressed almost immediately, owing to its great similarity to the then three cent stamp. only about , were ever issued. it has always surprised me that the department has never kept any official history of its stamps." this stamp was succeeded by the; issue of november, , . one cent. eagle poised for flight, turned to the left, resting on a branch of laurel, on an oval disk, by mm., the ground of clouds and rays, surrounded by a fine colored line, a colorless line, and a band of solid color inscribed in colorless roman capitals above "_u. s. p. o. dispatch_," below "_prepaid, one cent_," with ornaments of oak leaves on the left and of laurels on the right. plate impression, by mm., color, white paper. cent, blue. a letter dated from the post office department, finance office. july th, , and signed w. h. h. corell, third assistant postmaster general, published in the american journal of philately, says: "the blue stamp "eagle" was used for prepaying city letters delivered by carriers. it was issued about nov. th, , and was withdrawn jan. th, . it was very little used except in philadelphia, pa., and cincinnati, ohio." as a matter of fact however, the published reports of the postmaster general, shows that there were issued: , , from nov. , up to june, . , , " june , " " " . , , " " , " " " . these stamps were all engraved and printed by messrs. toppan, carpenter, cassilar and co., of philadelphia, under a contract with the department. the collector naturally desires to know what supposed peculiarities of the public demand led to the selection of these values, and not others. as already shown, the carriers were paid out of the receipts from the sale of the two carrier stamps. the one cent was required for newspapers and other printed matter, either singly or in twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, etc., and mr. sterling has preserved specimens thus used, adhering, either in strips by the sides or ends, or in blocks. the three cent stamp paid the ordinary letter rate, and two or more would be required on double, triple, etc., letters. mr. sterling has also preserved strips and blocks of these found so used. the single postage to california was six cents. this was also the double letter rate, and it seems singular that a stamp of this value was not issued. its place was supplied by two three cent stamps, the double rate to california by four three cent stamps, etc. that it was also supplied occasionally by half of the twelve cent stamp, cut diagonally from corner to corner, specimens so used on the original envelopes in the possession of the same gentleman abundantly prove. the twelve cent must, therefore, have had no function except to replace a quadruple ordinary rate, or a double california rate. for foreign letters, the postage was or cents, when not provided for by treaty. most of the treaties fixed the same rates, and stamps of those values would seem to have been required. the fact that prepayment was optional, may have influenced the demand for these values. soon after the issue of the foregoing series, the postal rates were again discussed in congress, and the law amended as follows: xxxiii congress, session ii, chapter , section , approved march th, , entitled: "an act further to amend the act entitled: 'an act to reduce, etc., approved march d, .'" be it enacted, etc. that in lieu of the rates of postage now established by law, there shall be charged the following rates to wit: for every single letter in manuscript, or paper of any kind in which information shall be asked, or, communicated in writing, or by marks or signs, conveyed in the mail, for any distance between places in the united states not exceeding , miles, three cents; and for any distance exceeding , miles, ten cents. and for a double letter, there shall be charged double the rates above specified; and for a treble letter, treble these rates, and for a quadruple letter, quadruple these rates; and every letter or paper not exceeding half an ounce in weight shall be deemed a single letter; and every additional weight of half an ounce, or every additional weight of less than half an ounce, shall be charged with an additional single postage; and upon all letters passing through or in the mail of the united states, except such as are to or from a foreign country, the postages as above specified, shall be prepaid, except upon letters and papers addressed to officers of the government on official business, which shall be so marked on the envelope. and from and after the first day of january, , the postmaster general may require postmasters to place postage stamps upon all prepaid letters, upon which such stamps may not have been placed by the writers. and all drop letters, or letters placed in the post office, not for transmission through the mail, but for delivery only, shall be charged with postage at the rate of one cent each, and all letters which shall hereafter be advertised as remaining over or uncalled for in any post office, shall be charged with one cent each in addition to the regular postage, both to be accounted for as other postages now are. section . and be it further enacted, that it shall be unlawful for any postmaster or other person, to sell any postage stamp or stamped envelope for any larger sum than that indicated upon the face of such postage stamp, or for a larger sum than that charged therefor by the post office department. [here follows the penalty for so doing.] section . and be it further enacted: that for the greater security of valuable letters posted for transmission in the mails of the united states, the postmaster general be, and hereby is authorized to establish a uniform plan for the registration of such letters on application of parties posting the same, and to require the prepayment of the postage, as well as a registration fee of five cents, on every such letter or packet, to be accounted for by postmasters receiving the same, in such manner as the postmaster general may direct: provided, however, that such registration shall not be compulsory: and shall not render the post office department, or its revenues liable for the loss of such letter or package, or the contents thereof. by this act there was established for the first time compulsory prepayment, at a uniform rate of and cents, according as the distance was less or greater than , miles, upon letters in the united states, and the act of the xxxiv congress, session iii, chapter , approved january d, , entitled: "an act to provide for the compulsory prepayment of postage on all transient printed matter," which provided, that such postage "shall be prepaid by stamps or otherwise, as the postmaster general may direct," completes the legislation upon the subject, so far as it is of interest here, up to the year . upon the approval of this act, the following circular, dated at washington, march th, , was issued to postmasters: new postage act. instructions to postmasters. the particular attention of postmasters and others is invited to the annexed act, passed at the last session of congress. it will be observed: st. that from and after april st, , the single rate of postage on a letter conveyed in the mail, for any distance in the united states, not exceeding three thousand miles, is three cents, and for any distance exceeding three thousand miles, ten cents. nd. that from and after april st, , prepayment by stamps, stamped envelopes or in money is compulsory. rd. that from and after january st, , all letters, between places in the united states, must be prepaid either by postage stamps or stamped envelopes. th. that the laws relating to the franking privilege are not altered. th. that the existing rates and regulations in regard to letters to or from canada, and all foreign countries, remain unchanged. unpaid letters mailed before april st, , will be forwarded and delivered upon payment of the postage, by the person addressed. postage stamps and stamped envelopes, of the denomination of ten cents, will be prepared and issued speedily, and the department will use every exertion to supply all post offices with one and and three cent stamps also, as fast as they are required. absolute prepayment being required on all letters to places within the united states, from and after april st, , great care should be used as well in prepaying the proper amount on letters above the weight of half an ounce, as on single letters. postmasters will post up conspicuously in their respective offices a notice, calling attention to the provisions of the act requiring prepayment. the provisions in regard to the registration of valuable letters will be carried into effect, and special instructions issued on the subject, as soon as the necessary blanks can be prepared and distributed. (signed) james campbell, postmaster general. _post office department, march , ._ n. b.--copy of the act of march d, , on the back. another circular dated at washington, nov. th, , also signed by the postmaster general, after reciting certain regulations which are addressed to and concern only the postmasters themselves, contains the following: "section . the denominations of postage stamps authorized by the department to be issued, are _one_, _three_, _five_, _ten_ and _twelve_ cents." the one, three and twelve cents of the issue of , remaining in use without apparent change, and the same contract with messrs. toppan, carpenter, cassilar & co., of philadelphia, remaining in force, the following were added to the series: issue of may th, . ten cents. portrait of washington, after stewart, faced three-quarters to the left, on an oval disk with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines, the colorless line crossed in parts by small horizontal lines, on a hatched back-ground, bordered by outlined foliations, which form small ovals in the upper corners containing a colorless "x," with "_u. s. postage_" in colored capitals between them. thirteen colorless stars on the ground above the oval. "_ten cents_" in colorless capitals in a waved line below. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper. cents, green. this stamp was issued to provide for the single rate to california. issue of january th, . five cents. portrait of jefferson, the third president of the united states, faced three quarters to the right, on an oval disk, ½ by ½ mm., with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines, in a broad frame with solid ground, ornamented by colorless lines forming a geometric lathe pattern. this frame is rounded at the corners, with a small projection of about mm. between at the top, bottom and sides, and is surrounded at a little distance by a fine colored line following the same outline. on the back ground, without labels, above "_u. s. postage_," below "_five cents_," in colorless roman capitals. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper. cents, in shades of yellow brown, red brown, and dark brown. this stamp was issued to prepay the registration fee, but is often found in unsevered pairs upon california letters, and sometimes in triplets including the registration fee and a single postage to california. on the th of april, , a stamp of the value of twenty-four cents was approved. twenty-four cents. portrait of washington, after stewart, faced three quarters to the right, on an oval disk, with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line, surrounded by a solid band of color, inscribed in colorless roman capitals, above "_u. s. postage_," below "_twenty-four cents_," separated by a sort of buckle at the sides. a broad solid colored frame, ornamented by colorless lathe work is surrounded, at a little distance, by a fine colored line, and the corners are rounded, with a single swell between them above and below, and three between them at the sides. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper. cents, lilac. although made and approved, this stamp is said to have been withheld from issue in this imperforate condition. they were finished and gummed, and some of them seem to have gotten into circulation, as occasional specimens are to be found in collections, and one entire sheet, at least, is known to have existed. observations. every collector ought at least to be aware of the nature and character of the varieties that exist in these stamps. although many of them are very minute, and can be distinguished only by the use of a good magnifying glass, others, once noticed, can readily be selected by the unassisted eye. few will care, probably, to place more than the most marked varieties in their collections, still fewer will have the patience to explore the necessary piles of common "stock," in order to find these marked varieties, for the most marked are the most uncommon, or to distinguish the more minute varieties from each other. the plates of all values printed stamps each upon the sheet. before the stamps were distributed, each sheet was cut vertically into half sheets, the place where they were to be cut being marked on the plate by a vertical colored line, and each half containing ten rows of ten stamps each. upon each side of the plate, at a little distance from the outer row of stamps, the tops of the letters being towards the stamps, and running along the sides of the th and th stamp from the top or bottom of the sheet, and part of the th and th stamp, is the maker's imprint, "toppan, carpenter, cassilar & co., bank note engravers, phila., new york, boston and cincinnati," with "no--p." in a second line. this imprint was afterwards changed by leaving out the third name. the one cent eagle is an exception, as the imprint here appears at the top and bottom of the sheet, running along the space covered by four stamps, and the sheet is said to have contained only stamps. upon some of the sheets, of the other values, from the first plate, there is also a vertical line from the top to bottom of the plate, probably upon each outer margin. upon other sheets, this does not appear. specimens of these are now difficult to obtain, as the wide borders at the sides, the top and bottom of the sheets, were usually cut off when the stamps were used. one cent unperforated. the stamps are about ½ mm. apart between the nearest points of the tops and bottoms, and mm. between the nearest points of the sides. it should be noticed that the top and bottom labels have a fine line parallel to the solid body of the inscribed labels, both at the top and bottom. the imprint is about ½ mm. from the outer row of stamps. the central vertical line is about ¾ mm. from each central row. the side vertical lines are about ¾ mm. from the outside rows. these dimensions vary slightly. there is little appreciable difference in the stamps in a sheet, except in the thickness of the lines bordering or shading the ornaments. in some specimens, these lines are all fine in all parts of the stamp, in others, they are much heavier, and in others fine in parts and heavy in other parts, in many gradations. the color used seems to have been always the same, varying only in intensity, as more or less ink was left on the paper in printing. dark, or pale specimens, with intermediate shades may therefore be found. the paper is always white, but more or less tinted with the color of the stamp from imperfect wiping of the plates. three cents unperforated. the number of plates used in printing this value unperforated, has not been possible to determine. the distance between the stamps varies considerably in different plates. in some, they are only / mm. apart between the tops and bottoms, in others a little over mm. in some they are only / mm. apart between the side lines, in other fully - / mm. specimens with broad, white margins (a) show the paper to have extended, sometimes mm. beyond the stamps. the vertical lines are (b) mm., or (c) ½, and ¾ mm. from the center rows. the makers imprint (d) is about ½ mm. from the outer rows, but varies slightly in different sheets. the process of making these plates is said to have been; first to mark out on a soft plate of steel the points at which the right vertical line of each vertical row of stamps was to come, by a dot at the top and bottom of the plate. these dots were sometimes too large and too heavily put in, and may be found in some specimens (e) at or near, the upper or lower right hand corner of the stamp. the lines however were not always accurately drawn so that the dot appears (f) on the top or bottom line, at a distance to the left of the corner, or (g) above the line, or (h) below the line, or (i) entirely outside of the stamp to the right. these lines having been drawn, the next step in the process was to put in the body of the design, which had been engraved on a soft steel punch or die, and then hardened, by placing the die successively in the position to be occupied by each stamp on the plate, and "rocking" it back and forth under pressure. as this process was not as perfect as that now employed, the die was not always placed in exactly the proper position, not infrequently being too near or too far from the vertical side lines, or the die was not rocked far enough, and the edges were left imperfect. in the design, it was evidently intended that the outside lines should be equally distant from the top and bottom labels, and the side edges of the block, and that the corners should be exactly mitered. the top and bottom lines are practically always at the same distance from the labels, and one engraver maintains that they were engraved on the die. but specimens are plentiful in which (a) the top and bottom line projects beyond the side line, or (b) does not touch it, or rarely (c) is double or split, or again the side line (d) projects beyond the top or bottom line, or (e) does not touch it. again, instead of the side line being (f) at the proper distance from the corner blocks, it is not infrequently (g) too far from one or more of them, or (h) too near one or more of them, or (i) touches one or more of them. again, the side line is found (j) connecting with the next stamp above or below, and occasionally there is a second line (j) near this between two stamps. in the die itself it will be noticed that the lower left block is almost always a little further to the left than the top one, in fact, that the distance from the right of the right block to the left of the left block is about ¼ of a mm. greater at the bottom than at the top of the stamp. the lower right rosette is a little too far also to the right, ordinarily at least. the blocks vary in size in the same and different stamps, as well as the diamonds in them, which are not of uniform shape or size. the labels above and below are crowded upon the rosettes. the sides of the groundwork should terminate in a straight line, formed by the bases of the little colored triangles, which touch each other. but this line is often broken in appearance as parts of it are too finely cut, or the die was not rocked far enough. in some cases this seems to have been remedied by re-engraving this line, and there is a heavy line, independent of the base lines of the triangles extending, (k) from rosette to rosette, (l) from the lower rosette to the upper triangle, (m) from the lower rosette to the middle of the upper triangle, (n) from the lower rosette to the top of the upper triangle, (o) from the lower rosette to the upper block, (p) a light line extending from the lower rosette to the upper block, (q) a heavy line extending from the middle of the lower block to the upper triangle, (r) or from the middle of the lower triangle to the upper rosette. frequently there is a light line (s) from the side of the triangle in the corner to the adjacent block. the triangles are ordinarily shaded by horizontal parallel lines, and are formed by a single fine line on the top and vertical sides, while the curved side is double. but the following variations occur: (t) the triangle has a heavy side line, (u) a double side line, (v) a triple side line, (w) is white or nearly so, the horizontal line having disappeared. again it will be found that there are added lines along the whole or part of either side line, making these double, or even triple. thus whether there is a distinct line, as described, between the rosettes, etc., or not, if the next line be called the frame line, there may be found varieties with an extra line outside the frame line, but (k) very near it, (l) farther from it, (m) very heavy, the frame line being thin, (n) the frame line split into two parts from the middle up, (o) frame line split into two parts from chin up, (p) two extra side lines all the way, (q) extra line from the level of the chin to the upper rosette, (r) extra line from the level of the lips to upper rosette, (s) from the level of the lips to the centre of the rosette, (t) from the level of the nose to the top of the triangle, (u) from the level of the breast to the top of the triangle, (v) opposite the bottom rosette. if there be added to these letters the numerals to express the left side, the right when the variations occur along the whole side, and for the top, for the bottom on the left side, for the top, and for the bottom on the right side, when the variations occur only at the top or bottom, the following table will facilitate investigation. on the on the left specimens showing right at the at the top bottom top bottom a^ broad margin over mm. and no line a^ b^ " " ver. line mm. from stamp b^ c^ " " " ½ to ½ " c^ d^ " " printer's imprint d^ ... ... dot on or near the corner e^ e^ ... ... " " the end line, away from corner f^ f^ ... ... " above " g^ g^ ... ... " below " h^ h^ ... ... " outside the corner i^ i^ a^ a^ end line projecting beyond the corner a^ a^ b^ b^ " " not touching " b^ b^ c^ " " split or double c^ d^ d^ side " projecting beyond " d^ d^ e^ e^ " " not touching " e^ e^ f^ f^ " " ordinary distance from block f^ f^ g^ g^ " " too far from " g^ g^ h^ h^ " " too close to " h^ h^ i^ i^ " " touching the " i^ i^ j^ j^ " " connecting with the next stamp j^ j^ ... ... " " and another " " " j^ ... k^ heavy " from rosette to rosette k^ l^ " " " low. roset. to up'r triangle l^ m^ " " " lo. r. to mid. of " " m^ n^ " " " " " top of " " n^ o^ " " " " " " block o^ p^ light " " " " " " p^ q^ heavy " " mid. low. block to triangle q^ r^ " " " " tri. to up. roset. r^ s^ s^ fine " " triangle to adjoining block s^ s^ t^ t^ triangle with heavy side line t^ t^ u^ u^ " extra " u^ u^ v^ v^ " " " v^ v^ w^ w^ " white or nearly so w^ w^ k^ extra line, outside frame line near it k^ l^ " " " " far off l^ m^ heavy " " thin frame line m^ n^ frame " split into parts half way n^ o^ " " " " ¾ " ... p^ two extra lines, continuous ... q^ extra line frame, lev. of chin to up'r roset. ... r^ " " " lips " ... s^ " " " " center roset. ... t^ " " " nose, top of trian. ... u^ " " " breast, " ... v^ " opposite the bottom rosette ... all the variations mentioned in this table have been found. it is scarcely possible that each of them exists separately, i. e.; on specimens that are in other respects normal. many of them have been found so, but most of them only in combination. the following may be mentioned: a, b, c, d. specimens showing broad margins with no outer line, with outer line mm. from stamp, with outer line about mm. from the stamp, or with printer's imprint, have been found, both from the left and right sides of the sheet, with all the other parts normal. these would be, a^ f^{ }, a^ f^{ }, b^ f^{ }, b^ f^{ }, c^ f^{ }, c^ f^{ }, d^ f^{ }, d^ f^{ }. with the vertical line about mm. from the stamp, three corners only normal, the side line too near the lower right block, a dot on the upper right corner, the right line connected with the stamp below, and a fine line from each of the upper triangles to the block above, which would be c^ f^{ } h^ e^ j^ s^{ }. and also with the vertical line about mm. from the stamp, all the corners normal, a heavy line terminating the ground between the rosettes on the right, both the triangles on the right connected with the blocks next them, and an extra vertical line in the upper right triangle, which would be c^ f^{ } k^ s^{ } u^ , which will serve to show the character of the combinations in which these varieties may be found. varieties showing the dot, e to i, generally present other varieties also. the following combinations may be noted: with the bottom line double, or rather split, three of the triangles have fine connecting lines, c^ c^ s^{ }. with the right side prolonged, and continuous with the side line of the stamp above or below, j^ or j^ . with the right side line prolonged upwards, and continuous with the lower, but not with the upper stamp and a second line mm. to left from stamp to stamp, j^ . with the extra line outside the frame line on right and near it, all the other parts being normal, the line of the ground work not appearing as a separate line, k^ . with an extra line outside the frame line on right and near it, a heavy line from rosette to rosette on the right, giving the appearance of three parallel lines on that side, a similar line from rosette to rosette on the left, and a fine line from the upper right triangle to block, k^ k^{ } s^ . with the same arrangement, but the heavy line on the right of ground extends to the top of the upper triangle, there is a fine line to the block, k^ k^ n^ s^ . with an extra line outside the frame line on the right but further from it. the left line touches the rosette, and is very near the upper left block. the upper triangles both have the extra vertical line, and the right triangles both have the fine line connecting them with the adjacent block, l^ h^ u^{ } s^{ }. with the right frame line split into two parts in its lower half. the upper right triangle has the extra vertical line, and the fine line to upper block, n^ u^ s^ . with the extra line outside the left frame line, and a distinct line between the left rosettes, the right line near the corner blocks, k^ k^ h^{ }. with the same peculiarities, but frame line touches the lower left corner, k^ k^ h^ i^ . with two extra lines outside the left frame line, and a heavy line between the left rosettes, so that the stamp appears to have four lines on that side. the right frame line runs from block to block, touching both triangles and rosettes. there is a dot in the lower right corner, and another to the left of it, p^ s^ i^{ } e^ f^ . with the extra line on the left very light, and a heavier one outside, and the ground does not appear to end in a line, m^ . with the extra line on the left the usual thickness, and the frame line heavier. the right frame line touches all the parts on that side, l^ i^{ }. with the frame line on the left split into two parts from the level of the chin up, the inner touches the rosette, the triangle and almost touches the block. the right frame line is split into two parts in the lower half. both the right triangles have the finer line, and the upper the extra vertical line, q^ i^ n^ u^{ } s^ . with the extra outside line from level of lips to the upper rosette. all four triangles are connected with the blocks, the upper right and lower left have the extra vertical line, r^ u^{ } s^{ }. with extra outside line from level of the lips to the level of the center of the rosette. the frame line is too near the top on the left, the upper right triangle is connected with the block, and has the extra vertical line, the lower right triangle is also connected with the block, s^ h^ s^{ } u^ . with the extra left line from the level of the nose to the top of the rosette, the upper right triangle connected with the upper block, and with extra vertical line, t^ s^ u^ . with the extra line on the left from the level of the breast to the top of the rosette, the frame line is too near the upper left corner, and an extra vertical line in all the triangles, u^ i^ u^{ }. with the extra line on the left opposite the bottom rosette only. the two upper triangles are connected with the blocks, and an extra line in the upper right one, v^ s^{ } u^ . with the left frame line heavy, and too near to the bottom block, a split runs off to left half way down. both sides appear to have a heavy line from rosette to rosette, but the left one is irregular, all the triangles are connected with the adjoining blocks, and all except the lower right one have the extra vertical line, h^ n^ s^{ } u^{ } k^{ }. in the above descriptions, no mention has been made of those parts that are in their proper ordinary position. these varieties are the leading ones, and are probably more than enough to show the combinations. less conspicuous ones are numberless. owing to the scarcity of adhering specimens, and the uncertainty as to how many plates were actually employed, no attempt has been made to reconstruct any plate. it is perhaps necessary to repeat that the collection of any, except perhaps the more marked varieties, is not advocated. the color of these stamps varies wonderfully, every shade from pale to dark, with yellowish vermilion, pink, red, and carmine may be found. some are undoubtedly changelings from accidental causes, particularly those that run from brown and black brown, to an almost jet black, which were at one time much sought after. unperforated five cents. the stamps are about ½ mm. apart each way on the sheet. all have the projection at the top and bottom. double and triple adhering specimens may be found, but are rare. the imprint is on the sides, ¾ mm. from the stamps. no specimens have been found with vertical lines. the color is generally dark, either a chestnut brown, or with a stronger reddish cast. unperforated ten cents. the stamps are ½ mm. apart each way on the sheet. the imprint is at about ¾ mm. from the side rows. the few specimens with the vertical lines examined, show it at mm. from the stamps. the color is a yellow-green, of which dark and light impressions may readily be found. a block of four used, adhering and , is possessed by mr. sterling. unperforated twelve cents. the stamps are mm. apart each way on the sheet. the vertical line ½ mm. from the stamps. no specimens with the imprint have come under the notice of the author. the color is very uniform, slightly greyish-black. adhering specimens are rare. a pair adhering by the sides, used, and a block of four unused, are in mr. sterlings' collection, and the curious specimens divided diagonally, on the original letters, in the same collection, have already been mentioned. unperforated twenty-four cents. the imprint is at the side, ¾ mm. from the stamp. the stamps are mm. apart. the rarity of specimens has prevented further examination. the color of the specimens seen is lilac, with the reddish cast. one cent "carrier," (franklin.) this stamp was never issued perforated. the imprint is mm. from the side rows, and the stamps are about mm. apart. one cent "carrier," (eagle.) this stamp was never issued perforated, and any specimens so catalogued will be found to be the reprints. the printer's imprint is at the bottom or top of the four centre rows in the sheet. as the department is accustomed to call the half sheets issued "sheets," it is often difficult to know which is meant. it has been stated that there are only stamps on the plate. the imprint is mm. from the stamps, and the places where the stamps are to be cut apart are indicated by single lines ruled horizontally and vertically. xix. the issue of . without any change in the law, and, so far as is known, without any announcement of the improvement, on the th of february, , the three cent value of the type of was issued perforated, and the other values of the series speedily followed with the perforation, and so remained without addition until the middle of . issue of . same values, types and colors as the prior issue, perforated with holes in the space of two millimetres. plate impression, in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, shades of indigo blue. " " " red. " " " brown. " " " green. " " " black. the report of the postmaster general, dated december st, , states that: "larger denominations of postage stamps have been adopted and introduced, especially intended for the purpose of affording requisite facilities to prepay the postage on letters to foreign countries, and of removing all excuse heretofore existing for paying such postages in money. the new denominations are twenty-four cents, thirty cents and ninety cents. the two latter have been introduced since july st, last," i. e. since the commencement of the new fiscal year. issue of june th, . twenty-four cents. the stamp described on page as prepared imperforated in , but not regularly issued in that condition, was now issued perforated. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, lilac. issue of august th, . thirty cents. head of benjamin franklin, in profile to the left, similar to that on, the carrier's stamp of september, , on an oval disk with hatched back-ground bounded by a colorless line ornamented by a single fine colored line. a colored back-ground fills out the rectangle and is ornamented by a shield of the united states in each of the four corners, the bottom of the shields pointed towards the center, and the ground just behind them ornamented by colorless rays, with a foliated ornament on each side of them. between the ornaments in colorless capitals, on the solid ground, above, in two lines, "_u. s._" and "_postage_," below " ," on the left side "_thirty_," and on the right side "_cents_." plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, orange. issue of august th, . ninety cents. bust of washington, in general's uniform, after trumbal, faced three quarters to the left, on closely hatched ground, appearing nearly solid, square below, arched above, bordered by a colorless line. solid arched label above, inscribed in colorless capitals, "_u. s. postage_"; below, solid straight label, inscribed in the same letters "_ninety cents_." the ends of the upper label are curved inwards, those of the lower label outwards, and the colorless line borders the ends and remaining side of each. outside a double colored line borders all, forming foliated ornaments, etc. there is an added colored line at the top and bottom, and fine lines shading the ornaments. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, deep indigo blue. the twenty-four cents was required to prepay the single rate of postage on letters to england, and the thirty cents to prepay the single rate on letters to germany. the ninety cents does not seem to have been required for any single rate. the contract with the bank note engravers, toppan, carpenter and co., expired on the th of june, , and all the stamps made by them were withdrawn from circulation, and ceased to be available for postage, between august st, , and january st , as will appear from the circulars quoted, relating to the issue of . they have been reprinted, differently perforated, and sold to collectors by the department. (see chapter on reprints.) observations. the one, three, five, ten and twelve cent values were first made by perforating sheets from the original plates, and later, certain changes were made that require to be noticed. one cent, perforated. the first perforated sheets being from the same plates as the unperforated, the same observations apply to them. it is to be noticed that these had the fine colored line outside the labels _at the top and bottom_. owing to the nearness of the stamps on the sheets the perforation generally cut into the stamps, either at the top or bottom, and cut these lines, but the remains will be found on the points left between the holes. careful search will secure specimens in which both these lines are intact, though they are somewhat rare. the vertical lines, printer's imprint, etc., are of course in the same positions, and the same varieties of finer or coarser lines may be found. the color varies in the same degree. the paper is apparently the same, with the same tinting, from the imperfectly wiped plates. in later specimens, however, the attempt was made to keep the perforations from impinging on the printed portion. this was done by removing the larger portion of the fine colored lines outside the labels, and with them, portions of the upper and lower ornaments. in many cases, they appear to have been wiped off, and the ends are smudged. in others, they are clear and distinct. a great many varieties result, as a greater or less portion of the lines or ornaments were removed. some of them are curious enough, in stamps that have always been supposed to present no varieties. the fact being pointed out, it is hardly worth while to attempt to distinguish them. the vertical lines and printer's imprints are in the same positions. the stamps are still so near together that evenly perforated specimens, i. e.; specimens in which the perforation does not cut some portion of the stamp, are not easily found. _two marked varieties_ may be noticed. in one, the outer fine line _is removed above the top label_, while that under the bottom is left intact. in the other, this outer line is removed _below the bottom label_, while it remains intact above the top label. both these variations are exceedingly uncommon and appear to belong to the bottom and top rows of the sheet respectively, though this has not been verified. the same observations may be repeated as to variations in the thickness of lines, the color of the paper and the impression. _oddities._ specimen showing two rows of perforations at the top and bottom. specimen without the outer lines to labels, unperforated. three cents perforated. the first perforated sheets of the three cents were from the same plate as the last unperforated sheets, and consequently have the rectangular outside frame lines, not only at the sides, but at the top and bottom as well. as the stamps measure mm. vertically and are only mm. apart, and the horizontal rows of perforation are about ½ mm. from center to center of the holes vertically, the perforations generally cut into the stamp and partially obliterate these lines. as the stamps are only mm. apart at the sides, and are ½ mm. wide, and the vertical rows of perforations are ½ mm. from center to center of the holes horizontally and the holes are nearly mm. in diameter, the side perforations also usually cut into some part of the stamp. it is therefore quite difficult to find good specimens of this variety, and to distinguish some of the minor varieties, as the corners are generally imperfect. specimens were found showing the sheet cut along the colored vertical line, and (x) perforated between this line and the stamp, from either half of the sheet. new plates were however, soon constructed. in one of these, no. , the side lines are drawn on the plate from the top to the bottom, and are about ½ mm. apart. the fine outer lines at the top and bottom are entirely omitted. the maker's imprint, "toppan, carpenter & co., bank note engravers, phila., new york, boston and cincinnati," ¼ mm. from the outer rows, is mm. long. "no. p," is mm. from the outer rows. the vertical center line is ¾ mm. from the stamp. the sheet measures mm. from side to side, and ½ mm. from top to bottom of the printed part. the paper is by mm. the vertical rows of stamps are ½ mm. apart, and the vertical rows of perforations nearly mm. apart horizontally from center to center of the holes. the last two rows at the sides are a little further apart. the horizontal rows of holes are ½ mm. apart vertically. most of the differences in the stamps on this sheet arise from the fact that the central portion is not always placed in the same position in regard to the vertical lines. a few of the stamps show dots in or near the corners. in some the lines are too near some of the corners, in some too far off, and in others they touch and even cut into the blocks. some few show double or partly double lines. the whole sheet from plate , above mentioned, does not contain all the varieties round, nor are they arranged just in the same order that they appear in portions of other sheets examined. all the varieties possible, considering merely the position of the corners and side lines, would be . so that each stamp on a sheet might be different in this respect without showing them all. in sheet however, only exist. there are therefore, a number of each variety, as follows, by the table previously given: hhhh hiif ifih fihh hhhf hifh ifif fiih hhih hfif fhhh fiii hhif ihih fhhi fiif hihh ihif fhhf fihh hihi iiih fhih fihi hiih iiii fhif ffhf hiii iiif fhff ffif the th stamp in the first horizontal row, the th and th in the second row, the th in the th row, and the th to th in the th row show an extra line to the left of the left bottom rosette, v^ . in the th vertical row the left line actually cuts through the left block in four specimens which are marked as if it merely touched in the foregoing list. the th and th stamps in the top row show the dot. the th, th, th, th, th and th stamps in the upper row show the right vertical line not only too far, g^ g^ , as marked, but very far from the corner block. the th stamp in the upper row has the double left line. the center stamps of this sheet are all of the varieties marked hiih in the list, on the right half of the sheet, and hhih or hhif, on the left half. none of the more prominent varieties are to be found on this sheet unless the th stamp in the upper row may be considered as such. loose specimens from other plates show the vertical line only / mm. from the stamps. some of these are otherwise like those mentioned before, and hfhg, gfff and ffhf from the left side, and hfhh, fhfg, fgfg and ifig have also been noted. the above are all cut at or near the vertical line. some of the same varieties exist perforated along this line, and higg and fihh exist also so perforated. in loose specimens have also been found, igig, ihih, ifif, hhhf, hhhi, hhfh, hhff, hhif, hfhh, hfif, hfig, hgig, hgif, hifi, hiih, gfgh, gfgf, gfff, ghgh, gigi, ffff, fffh, ffhg, fgfg, fghf, fghg, fgig, fhfh, figh, varieties not on sheet from plate . passing now from these varieties dependent upon the nearness of the lines and corner blocks the following more interesting variations may be found: with the upper left corners too far from the blocks, the others being ordinary; there is an extra line outside the frame line and close to it, at the right, g^ f^{ } k^ . with the upper left corner too far from the block, the lower left corner too near to the block, an extra line outside the frame line and close to it, g^ f^ h^ f^ k^ . with the upper left corner too far from the block, the others ordinary, the frame line light, the extra line heavier. numerous specimens showing the frame line broken, those with it perfect are much rarer, g^ f^{ } m^ . with the upper right corner very near the block, all the others ordinary but the right frame line runs only half way down, and into the ground work. the extra line outside is the real side line, beginning too far from the upper right corner, and running down to the right position at the bottom (y). both the triangles on the right have the fine line connecting them with the adjacent blocks, and also the extra vertical line, f^ i^ t^{ } y^ s^{ } u^{ }. with the side line on the right starting at the usual distance from the block, and running off to the right, and ending half way down, at nearly twice the distance from the body of the stamps at which it started. a second line starts at the proper distance from the stamp, and inside the other at about the level of the lower point of the upper triangle, and runs off to the right, down to the level of the lower rosette. a third line starts at the proper distance from the stamp, inside this at about the middle of the stamp, and runs down straight, (z) g^ f^ i^ f^ s^{ } z^ . with the right line split about ½ way down, into two or three parts, i^ f^{ } g^ n^ . with an extra line on both sides, f^{ } g^ f^ k^ k^ . with an extra line outside the left frame line, but far from it (almost the same distance as the frame line is from the blocks), f^ f^ h^ g^ l^ . with the frame line thin, often broken, and the extra line heavy and further off. the outer line is really the one drawn on the plate, and the inner line probably put in afterwards. a number of differing specimens. also one in which there is no side line on the left except a very thin line from the level of the chin down, and another from the middle of the lower triangle down, apparently an impression from a worn plate, the left margin is wide, the perforation cutting into the next stamp, m^ in varieties. with the left frame line split into two parts from the level of the chin up, n^ . these variations, and a few others easily recognized, not found in the imperforate stamps add to the table: left. right. top bottom top bottom x^ perforated along center line x^ ... extra line inside half way y^ ... side line starts thrice z^ extra line opposite lower ½ of stamp w^ " " " ¼ " x^ " cen. of roset. to cen. of stamp y^ " lower block to upper " z^ the color of all these stamps varies like the unperforated greatly, and the same remarks concerning it might be here repeated. perforated five cents. the stamps are ½ mm. apart between the sides and ½ between the tops and bottoms; the imprint etc., as before. in these sheets the perforations generally cut into the stamp. they were printed in many varying shades of several colors; dark brown, dark black-brown, yellow brown, red brown, and almost rose. the second plate was slightly altered. the little projection or salie at the top and bottom was partially or wholly removed, forming the following variations: cents perforated, projection at top and bottom. " " ½ " " " " " no " " or " the color is very variable, numerous shades of dark black-brown, dark chestnut-brown, brown, and yellow-brown may be found. perforated ten cents. the stamps were apparently, a little further apart in some sheets than in others, and the color presents only shades of the yellow-green. a specimen is shown perforated in two rows at the sides. perforated twelve cents. there seems to have been no change in this value. an oddity is shown, showing two extra lines at the right. twenty-four, thirty and ninety cents. the plates for these values having been prepared with a view to perforating, the stamps are arranged about ¾ mm. apart between the sides, and ¼ mm. apart between the tops and bottoms. there is very little difference to be noted in the color beyond a dark and lighter shade of the orange of the thirty cents, and of the dark blue of the ninety cents. there are however, two shades of the lilac of the twenty-four cents, a red and a blue cast. xx. the issue of . the reason for the introduction of this issue is not to be found in any change in the law. the report of the postmaster general, dated on december d, , states that: "the contract for the manufacture of postage stamps having expired on the th of june, , a new one was entered into with the national bank note company of new york, upon terms very advantageous to the department, from which there will result an annual saving of more than thirty per cent, in the cost of the stamps. in order to prevent the fraudulent use of the large quantity of stamps remaining unaccounted for, in the hands of postmasters in the disloyal states, it was deemed advisable to change the design and the color of those manufactured under the new contract, and also to modify the design of the stamp upon the stamped envelope, and to substitute as soon as possible the new for the old issues. it was the design of the department that the distribution of the new stamps and envelopes should commence on the first of august, but, from unavoidable delays, that of the latter did not take place until the th of that month. * * * those of the old issue have been exchanged and superseded. the old stamps on hand, and such as were received by exchange, at the larger offices, have been to a great extent counted and destroyed, and those at the smaller offices returned to the department." the act of the th congress, statute ii, chapter , section , approved march d, , had so qualified the act of : "as to require the ten cent rate of postage to be prepaid on letters in the mail, from any point in the united states east of the rocky mountains to any state or territory on the pacific, and from any state or territory on the pacific to any point in the united states east of the rocky mountains. and all drop letters shall be prepaid by postage stamps." other sections also introduced minor changes in the rates on printed matter, which it is not important to notice. the denomination of the stamps of the new issue therefore remained at first the same. the circular letter from the department to the several postmasters, informing them of the change is as follows: post office department. _finance office_ ... . postmaster, sir: you will receive herewith a supply of postage stamps which you will observe are of a new style, differing both in design and color, from those hitherto used, and having the letters u. s. in the lower corners of each stamp, and its respective denomination indicated by figures as well as letters. you will immediately give public notice through the newspapers and otherwise, that you are prepared to exchange stamps of the new style for an equivalent amount of the old issue, during a period of six days from the date of the notice, and that the latter will not thereafter be received in payment of postage on letters sent from your office. you will satisfy yourself by personal inspection that stamps offered in exchange have not been used through the mails or otherwise; and if in any case you have good grounds for suspecting that stamps presented to you for exchange, were sent from any of the disloyal states, you will not receive them without due investigation. immediately after the expiration of the above period of six days, you will return to the third assistant postmaster general all stamps of the old style in your possession, including such as you may obtain by exchange, placing them in a secure package, which must be carefully registered in the manner prescribed by chapter , of the regulations of this department. be careful also to write legibly the name of your office as well as that of your county and state. a strict compliance with the foregoing instructions is absolutely necessary, that you may not fail to obtain credit for the amount of stamps returned. instead of sending stamps to the department you can if convenient, exchange them for new ones at some city post office, where large supplies are to be found. it being impossible to supply all offices with new stamps at once, you will deliver letters received from kentucky, missouri, illinois, ohio, indiana, maryland and pennsylvania, prepayed by stamps of the old issue, until september th, those from other loyal states east of the rocky mountains until the first of october, and those from the states of california and oregon and from the territories of new mexico, utah, and washington, until the first of november, . your obedient servant, a. n. zevely, third assistant postmaster general. a second issue of this circular merely extended the dates september th, october st and november st, to november st, december st, , and january st, , respectively. issue of august th, . the portraits upon the types or values of this issue seem to be copied from the same pictures as were those on the corresponding denominations of the preceeding issue. the same values are represented, that is: one cent. portrait of benjamin franklin, in profile to the right, on an oval disk with engine turned ground of interlaced colored lines on a solid colored ground, framed round with interlaced colorless lines of engine turned work on solid colored ground, bordered by a colorless line with exterior fine colored line. "_u. s. postage_" in colorless ordinary capitals in a curved line following the oval above, "_one cent_" in the same letters and reversed curve below. corners of quarter circles and two foliated ornaments. " " and " " in the upper and "_u._" and "_s._" in the lower corners, in ornamental colorless numerals and letters, on a vertically lined ground. plate impression, by ½ mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, pale and dark blue. three cents. head of washington, in profile to left, upon engine turned ground with sinuous frame of interlaced engine turned colorless lines upon a solid colored ground, bordered by a colorless line, with exterior fine colored line following the curves of the ground. above, "_u. s._" in a straight line with "_postage_" below it in an arched line, and large numeral " " on each side. below the head "_three_," in reversed curve with "_cents_" in double curve below and "_u._" and "_s._" at the sides all in colorless capitals and numerals on the engine turned frame and ground, the corner numerals and letters ornamented. corners and sides filled out with foliated ornaments. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, shades of rose. five cents. head of jefferson, faced three quarters to the left on an oval disk with rectangular hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line with fine colored exterior line. broad frame of engine turned colorless lines on a solid ground, with rounded corners, and curved outwards at top, bottom and sides, bordered by a colorless line and a fine colored line. large " " in upper corners, and "_u. s. postage_" in a double curve above the oval, "_five cents_" in a curved line following the oval below, "_u._" in lower left, and "_s._" in lower right corner, all in colorless letters upon the engine turned work of frame. the corners are filled out with foliated ornaments. plate impression, by ½ mm., in color, upon white paper, perforated . cents, ochre, shades of brown. ten cents. head of washington, faced three quarters to left, on a rectangularly hatched ground, bordered by four bands, forming a sort of oval. the bands are bordered all around by a colorless and exterior fine colored line. the upper band is inscribed "_u. s. postage_," on the solid ground, and the ends of the bands are rounded; the lower band is inscribed "_ten cents_" on the solid ground, and the ends of the band are curved inwards; the side bands are of irregular shape, with the ends rounded and bear four stars each, on a horizontally lined ground. the rest of the stamp is composed of colorless foliated ornaments, between colored lines upon the solid ground, forming irregular ovals in the corners, with a band between the upper ones, bearing five stars, " " and " " in the upper, "_u._" and "_s._" in the lower corners, on horizontally lined ground, letters, numerals and stars all colorless in colored outlines. plate impression, by ½ mm, in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, green, yellow-green. twelve cents. head of washington, similar to the ten cents, on an oval disk, with rectangularly hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line and exterior fine colored line. broad frame of engine turned colorless lines on a solid ground, with rounded corners and waved edges, bordered by a colorless line, and a fine colored line. the corners are filled out with loops on colored ground. " " and " " set diagonally in the upper corners, "_u. s. postage_" following the curve of the oval above, "_twelve cents_" in double curve line below, and "_u._" and "_s._" in the lower corners. the letters and numerals are colorless, with colored outlines on the engine turned work of frame. plate impression, ½ by ½ mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, black. twenty-four cents. small portrait of washington, faced three quarters to the right, on a rectangularly hatched ground, surrounded by a fancy lozenge-shaped frame of engine turned colorless lines on solid colored ground, bordered by a colorless line and exterior fine colored line. the upper corners are filled out with foliated ornaments, containing the numerals " " and " ," set diagonally with colorless stars between. the lower corners each contain a large colored star between foliated ornaments. "_u._" on the left and "_s._" on the right star; "_u. s. postage_" above and "_twenty-four cents_" below the head, near and following the outer curve of frame. the letters, numerals and ornaments are all colorless, but with colored outlines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, lilac. thirty cents. head of benjamin franklin, in profile to left, on a circular disk with diagonally hatched ground, ½ mm. in diameter, bordered by a colorless line and exterior fine colored line. a colorless line between two fine colored lines, at about mm. from the circle, with foliated ends, forms a label above and below, the upper inscribed "_u. s. postage_," the lower "_thirty cents_," on lined ground, in colorless letters outlined with color. foliated ornaments without color, but colored outlines form irregular spaces in the corners, with " " and " " in the upper, "_u._" and "_s._" in the lower ones, in colorless letters outlined and heavily shaded in color on a lined ground. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, orange. ninety cents. head of washington, in general's costume, after trumbal's portrait, faced three quarters to the left, on an oval disk, ½ by ½ mm., with rectangularly hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line and exterior colored line, surrounded by a band forming a point above and below, and bordered outside by a second colorless line and an exterior colored line, and crossed by fine colored lines. " " and " " on this band above, "_ninety cents_" below in colorless letters with colored outlines. waved band with similar borders crossing the former above, and inscribed "_u. s. postage_" in the same letters. the lower corners are filled with foliated ornaments upon which are "_u._" and "_s._" in similar letters. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, indigo blue. it will be noticed that the original contract under which these stamps were first manufactured by the national bank note co., expired in . on its expiration a new contract was made with the same company for a term of four years longer. to preserve the history of the postal legislation of the united states which effects the use of stamps, the provisions of the act of the xxxvii congress, session iii, chapter , approved march d, , must be noted here, although they did not result in any change in the stamps in use, except the addition of two new values: sec. . no mail matter shall be delivered until postage is paid. sec. . the postmaster general is authorized to establish branch offices for the sale of stamps, etc. sec. . postage must be prepaid at the time of mailing on domestic letters, transient printed matter and all other things not herein provided for. sec. . daily, weekly, etc., publications must be prepaid quarterly in advance by the receiver. sec. . drop letters will be charged cents, to be prepaid by postage stamps, but no carrier's fee. sec. . the registration fee to be fixed by the postmaster general, but not to exceed in any case cents. in accordance with these last provisions however, there were issued two additional values. the report of the postmaster general for the year , states that a two cent stamp had been prepared and issued, principally to prepay the postage on drop letters, and the report for , fixes the date of issue at of the st of july, . issue of july st, . (as additional to the series of .) two cents. very large head of andrew jackson, on an oval disk with rectangularly hatched ground, bordered by a fine colorless line with an exterior colored line; on a band above, similarly bordered, and with parallel lined ground, "_u. s. postage_" in colorless capitals outlined and shaded; on short bands, similarly constructed, below on the left "_two_," on the right "_cents_." foliated ornaments in the four corners, forming small solid circles, bearing the numeral " " in the upper, and colorless ovals bearing "_u._" on the left, and "_s._" on the right, in irregular shaped colored letters. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, black. the postmaster general having fixed the registration fee at cents, a stamp of that denomination was issued. issue of april st, . fifteen cents. bust of abraham lincoln, on an oval disk ½ by mm. with rectangularly hatched ground, bordered by a broad colorless line, between two fine colored lines, and ornamented by short horizontal colored lines. on the sides, roman fasces, without the ax, on each side. above on a scroll, bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines, curved up and back to form small ovals, and ending at the top in foliations and inscribed on the band "_u. s. postage_" in colorless capitals, in the ovals " " in colorless numerals; below, a curved band following the outline of the oval, similarly bordered, and inscribed in similar letters "_fifteen cents_"; foliated ornaments forming colored ovals in the corners, with "_u._" in the left, "_s._" in the right, in colorless capitals. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, black. issued originally for registered letters, this stamp also served the next year, principally to prepay the postage on letters to belgium, prussia, holland, switzerland and the german postal union. the entire series of - - was reprinted in . it may also be noticed, that the act of the xxxix congress, session i, chapter , approved july , , authorized the use in all post offices of weights of the denomination of grams, grams to equal one half ounce, and the postal laws to be applied accordingly. also the act of the xl congress, session i, chapter , section and , approved july th, , provided penalties for re-using stamps that had once paid postage, and authorized the sale of stamps at a discount of five per cent to persons to sell again as agents. observations. the plates of this issue having been prepared with a view of perforating, the stamps are placed sufficiently far apart to allow a perforation, without ordinarily cutting into the stamps. occasionally eccentricities may be found, which are the result of accident. the sheets, as in the previous issue, consist of stamps, the central point is indicated by three lines at the top and at the bottom, and the sheets are cut apart on this line and distributed in half sheets of , or ten stamps in ten rows. the printer's imprint is generally to be found at the center of the top and bottom of each half sheet, at about mm. from the printed stamps, and consists of a small colored label with a dotted edge, inscribed "national bank note co." preceded by "new york," and followed by "city" in colored capitals. the plate number also appears near this. the one cent varies in color from a pale blue to a dark blue, generally of the shade known as ultramarine. the paper is ordinarily white with a yellowish cast, but there are specimens which appear surfaced with the same ink as the stamp, which is probably an accident from imperfect wiping of the plates, and others the paper of which has a pale pink cast, both on the front and back. the two cents varies from grey to black, with occasional specimens partially tinted with the ink, probably from the same cause as in the one cent. _variety._ doubly perforated at the sides. the three cents varies from a very faint rose to a deep rose, with occasional specimens tinted as in the other values, probably from the same cause. _variety._ doubly perforated at sides. " " top and bottom. there are also a few specimens known of a scarlet tint. they resemble the ordinary stamps of this value in all other particulars, and it does not appear to be settled whether they were ever used or not. proofs, both perforated and unperforated, exist in this shade, and the better opinion would seem to be that all of this shade are proofs. it is claimed, however, that a sheet, or part of a sheet unused, was picked up at the new york post office by a collector. strips of ten stamps adhering, forming a vertical row from the sheet, and showing a double perforation along the sides are also exhibited. unperforated specimens have been catalogued. the five cents was originally issued in a pale yellow brown or ochre, but was changed in september to a darker brown, with a reddish cast, there is also a brown with a yellowish cast, another with a blackish cast and a chestnut brown. it would appear that the latter is the true color composed of red, yellow and black, and that the others result from some improper mixing of these colors, by which one or the other predominates. _variety._ doubly perforated at the sides. a "yellowish brown," meaning the brown with a yellowish cast, has been chronicled unperforated. the ten cents is light and dark green. the lighter shade is generally called a yellow-green, but the two shades differ only in intensity. the twelve and fifteen cents also vary from grey to deep black. the twenty-four cents is violet, and pale or dark lilac. the thirty cents is of two shades of orange, and an orange-brown. the ninety cents is faint deep blue and indigo blue. the number of the several values of these stamps issued, without the _grille_ is approximated as follows: it being not quite certain whether a few with the grille were not issued prior to the dates to which the enumeration is made. cent , , cents , , cents , , , cents , , cents , , cents , , cents , , cents , , cents , , cents , xxi. the issue of - . the act of the xxxix congress, session i, chapter , section , approved june th, , entitled an act to amend the postal laws, had provided among other things. "sec. . and be it further enacted: that whenever it shall become expedient in the opinion of the postmaster general to substitute a different kind of postage stamps for those now in use, he shall be, and is hereby authorized to modify the existing contracts for the manufacture of postage stamps, so as to allow the contractors a sum sufficient to cover the increased expenses, if any, of manufacturing stamps so substituted." the report for the postmaster general for the year ending june th, , states that experiments had been made in printing postage stamps on an embossed paper, which appeared to offer a fair guarantee against fraud; that the tissues of the paper were broken by the process, so that the ink of the cancelling stamps penetrated the stamps in such a manner as to render cleaning impossible; that the adhesiveness of the stamps was also increased, to say nothing of other advantages, which recommend the invention. some of these curious experiments will be noticed in the chapter on essays. the plan adopted was, however, to emboss the stamp, after it was printed, with a series of small square points, arranged in the form of a rectangle, much in the same way that checks are sometimes treated to prevent alteration. this breaks the tissues of the paper. the french collectors call this a _grille_, or grating, which it resembles. there were several varieties used on this issue, and they were applied to the stamps then current, without other change in the design, paper, color or gum. issue of to . the first variety was a grille covering the entire stamp, adopted may th, , and applied only to the; cents, rose, perforated , grilled all over. if this is examined with a glass on the face of the stamp, there appear to be rows of slightly raised squares, separated by depressed straight lines, with a still more raised cross, formed by diagonal lines running from corner to corner of the square. if the back is examined, the straight lines appear raised, the crosses depressed. in all specimens examined, the embossing is very flat. the second variety does not cover the entire stamp, but shows a rectangle, measuring by mm., composed of rows of small squares each. it was adopted august th, , and was applied only to the; cents, rose, perforated , large grille. copies with this grille may be found in which one side row or the other shows only half squares instead of whole ones, also with some of the top or bottom rows missing, wholly or partly. _var._ ½ by mm., ½ by rows, c., perf. . ¼ " " by ½ " c " the appearance of this grille, examined on the face, is just the reverse of the preceding, as the straight lines are raised and the crosses depressed. the third variety was a still smaller rectangle, about by mm., composed of rows of small squares or parts of squares. the date is january th, . numerous variations may be found. it was applied only to the; cent, blue, perforated , medium grille. " black " " " rose " " " green " " " black " " " black " " _var._ ½ by ½ mm., by rows, c, rose, perf. . by mm., by ½ " c " " by " c " " by ½ " c blue " by ½ " c rose " by ½ " c green " by ½ " c black " by ½ " c " " by ½ " c rose " by mm., by ½ " c " " by " c " " ½ by mm., by ½ " c " " by ½ " c " " by ½ " c green " _oddity._ with grilles touching on the same stamp. cents, rose, perforated . _note._ it is not uncommon to find parts of two grilles on the same stamp at a distance from each other, part of a grille being at the top and part at the bottom, or part of a grille on each side. the oddity noted presents two grilles touching by the top and bottom, one a little farther to the left than the other, making a strip of squares from the top to the bottom of the stamp. this medium grille if examined on the face is quite different from the foregoing large grille. it appears to be composed of raised lines between the squares and depressed crosses in them. a glass transforms these lines into rows of diamonds. on the reverse it appears as if composed of depressed lines, between the squares, and raised crosses in them. _note._ the other values so far as known, have not been found with this grille. up to may, , only the values from to cents had been noted by the stamp papers as having been found with any grille. the and cents are chronicled with a grille in the november, , but the cents was not so noticed until much later, february, , (see american journal of philately). the fourth and most common grille is a square of by mm., composed of rows of ½ squares each. the date of its adoption is not known. it was applied to the whole series. cent, blue, perforated , small grille. " black " " " rose " " " brown " " " green " " " black " " " black " " nov. , " lilac " " " " orange " " feb. , " blue " " _varieties._ by mm., by ½ rows, c., perf. . " " " c " " by " c " observations. the colors are generally stronger than in those without the grille. the majority of the specimens of these stamps appear to have the surface of the paper tinted slightly with the color of the stamps, possibly from some imperfection in cleaning the plates. a few values have been noted on pure white paper. cent, blue, small grille, perforated . " black " " " green " " the cents, rose, small grille, unperforated, has been noted, and cents, black, grille, variety { unperforated " rose " " { at the " brown " " { sides. the re-impressions of these designs did not have the grille. the five cents was in use up to september, . some specimens examined seem to indicate that all these varieties of grille are occasionally to be found reversed, i. e. they present the appearance on the face that is usually to be seen on the back, and vice versa. of these stamps with the grille, there were, issued approximately the following numbers: cent , , cents , , " , , " , , " , , " , , " , " , " , " , during the currency of these stamps, a new contract was entered into with the same company. a special despatch to the st. louis globe-democrat, dated oct. rd, states: "postmaster general randall to-day accepted the proposal of the national bank note company, of new york, for furnishing stamps for four years at ½ cents per . this includes everything required for preparing the stamps for immediate use, gumming, perforation printing and preparing receipts. the contractors are also required to furnish new designs, at least four of which must be printed in combination colors." the number of the several values of these stamps issued, with the _grille_ is approximated as above, it being not quite certain whether a few without the grille were not in stock at the dates from which the enumeration is made. xxii. the issue of . the new york evening post of october th, , also contains a notice of; "the new contract for postage stamps. in june last, postmaster general randall, advertised for proposals for furnishing the government with postage stamps for a term of years. the committee of experts appointed for the purpose, decided in favor of the national bank note company, and on saturday last, the postmaster general awarded the contract to that company for a term of four years. we have been shown proofs of the new stamps, and they reflect credit upon the artistic taste of the company." some of these proofs are then described. "one of the characteristics of the stamps manufactured by this company is that the ink used prevents persons washing, and using the stamps a second time. the fiber in the centre of the stamp is broken completely, and they adhere better, while the ink of cancellation sinks into the paper. the engraving on these stamps are remarkable copies of historical pictures, and bear the test of microscopical examination." these are probably the only words of approbation to be found in the daily press among the host of comments upon these stamps, which by the terms of the contract were to be ready on the first of february, . messrs. butler & carpenter, of philadelphia, had claimed to be entitled to the award on the ground that they had submitted a better bid than the national bank note co., which resulted in delay and the appointment of the commission above mentioned. however, in march, , the greater part if not all the values were printed and ready for issue, but were distributed to the public only as the stock of the old issue was exhausted. about the end of april they began to appear, and even in september only the , , and cents were to be obtained in the larger post offices. already the public demanded that they should be replaced, and this was done in april, . as late as march, , the cents of the previous issue was on sale in some of the offices. this unfortunate issue was generally received with approval by the philatelic press. it is certainly well engraved, and forms an interesting and handsome series for the most part, and is an adornment to the collectors' album. but it is hardly so well suited to the practical requirements of a postage stamp. it was announced that the series was intended in some sort, to portray the history of the post office in the united states, beginning with franklin, the continental postmaster, and the post rider of the early days, followed by the locomotive of a later day, and the ocean steamer carrying the mails which had become so important a branch of the postal service, the most important scenes in the early history of the country, its triumphant arms, and washington its first and lincoln its last president. but hardly had it been issued before its doom was sealed. in august the new york tribune says: "the greater part of the stamps sold at the post office in this city are worthless, and have not sufficient gum to make them stick to letters. one can be amused, or become indignant, in watching people who buy stamps, demanding a little mucilage from the clerk, in order to fasten the stamp on their envelopes. it appears that the invention of embossing which is continued in this emission, while it spoils the stamps, does not increase their adhesive properties as was pretended." other papers pronounced the stamp too small. the comic papers exhibited caricatures in which the people were looking for their stamps in their pocket books with powerful microscopes. the evening telegram says: "the new united states postage stamps have a very un-american look." the evening mail says: "our old postage stamps were really neat and pleasing in appearance. they were national and american, as they ought to have been. the head of washington was venerable, and our three cent stamps were as perfect as they well could be. so also the one cent stamp with the head of franklin was equally appropriate. there was a fitness of congruity in putting the head of the old, thrifty economist, on the one cent stamp. our youth were reminded of the wise saws and sayings of "poor richard" and it taught them that if they learned to save the cents, the dollars were more likely to take care of themselves. but now think of the miserable, confused looking thing, with its wretched printing, that the post office has given us for the present three cent stamp. it is neither historical, national, beautiful, nor anything but a paltry evidence of the fact, that some engraver has got paid or will get paid for a job that ought never to have been done. can our authorities not let well enough alone? canada, new brunswick and nova scotia, all have railroad engines such as ours. what is there in a big chimney on a railroad carriage to indicate the nationality of our postal system. aye, but there are words, "united states postage" on the stamp. just so. we remember to have seen a boy's drawing on a sheet of paper, the words "this is a church" underneath, and certainly the artistic performance needed the index, but not more so than the new stamp requires a similar proclamation to tell the world what it means. and then again look at the printing of the word "postage." can our engravers do nothing better than that? we hope that the contractors have been paid for their work. if so, then let the post office folks give us back again our old head of washington, and save us from looking at the contemptible thing that we are now getting in its stead." another paper says: "the present miserable experiments in blue, with a meaningless legend, are to be recalled and something new in red is to be substituted. the old heads of washington, jefferson, jackson, franklin and lincoln are to be restored. it is about time that some definite form and design of postage stamp should be adopted, so that people may know to a certainty what mucilaged square of paper will carry a letter to its designation, and what not." the new york herald says: "the old style of three cent postage stamps had thereon a face of washington, out of compliment to a good man. it now has a railway scene to represent how congressmen make money. the two cent stamp represents a man on horseback. this represents booth's death ride into maryland. the one cent stamp should represent a cow with the favorite son of the covington postmaster fast to her tail. this out of compliment to grant." an eastern paper says: "the government introduced the present nondescript things called postage stamps, for the purpose of frightening counterfeiters." and later the herald says: "another attempt is to be made to give us decent postage stamps. we suppose it will fail, as so many have hitherto. our postal authorities try too much. if they will only take the italian or french stamp, and put washington's head in place of victor emanuel's, or napoleon's, they cannot fail; but they will try some improvements and spoil all." the post office department announced the issue in the following circular: post office department. _finance office, march st, ._ sir: at an early day, in the regular course of business, the department will issue to postmasters stamps of new designs. [see description annexed.] in the proposed issue the six cent stamp is substituted for the five cents. you are required to exhaust all of the present style on hand, before supplying the public with the new; and in no case will you be allowed to make exchanges for individuals, or to return stamps to the department to be exchanged. the stamps now in use are not to be disregarded, but must be recognized in all cases equally with the new ones. special attention is called to the fact that sheets of all denominations below cents contain stamps. the cents and all higher denominations, contain stamps on each sheet. this must be borne in mind to prevent mistakes in counting, as in the present issue each denomination has but stamps to the sheet. special requests for the new style of stamps will be disregarded until the stock of the present issue in possession of the department is exhausted. due notice will be given of the date of issue of any new design of stamped envelopes, therefor all inquiries respecting them will be disregarded. (signed.) a. n. zevely, third assistant postmaster general. the description upon the other side requires to be supplemented for collectors, but is incorporated in those following. issue of march th, . composed of ten values each of a different type. one cent. head of franklin, in profile, looking to the left, on a circular disk horizontally lined, surrounded by a broad circle ornamented with colorless pearls, bordered by a band of rayed lines between fine white lines, with exterior fine colored line, and divided into three labels by ornaments at the sides and bottom. "_u. s. postage_" at the top; large numeral " " in a small oval (sic) with a border of colorless loops between the words "_one cent_" at the bottom. color, roman ochre. corners plain without color. plate impression, circular, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and without grille. cent, roman ochre. two cents. post horse and rider facing to the left, trees, fence, etc., in background, surrounded by ornamental scroll work, "_united states_" in small colored capitals on the ground above, a curtain inscribed "_postage_" in colorless capitals at the top. "_two cents_" at the bottom on a ribbon with large numeral " " between the words, both in outline shaded. color, light bronze. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and without grille. cents, yellow-brown, light and dark chestnut-brown. three cents. locomotive heading to the right, surrounded by ornamental scroll work, "_united states_" in colored block capitals on a curved band, "_postage_" in colorless capitals in a tablet beneath, at top. "_three cents_" in outline shaded block capitals, in two scrolls at the bottom, with numeral " " in a shield (sic) between the words. color, imperial ultramarine blue. there is no shield as stated in the official description. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and without grille. cents blue. six cents. head of washington, three quarters face looking to the right, on a ground of vertical and horizontal lines, bordered by a solid broad colored line, ornamented by pearls. spandrels checkered and bordered by colorless lines. frame square, composed of vertically lined squares in the upper corners, with narrower horizontally lined label between, with a broad colored border, ornamented by pearls and exterior colorless and colored line above. the colored labels are narrower than the upper squares at the sides, and are bordered by colorless pearls and an interior white line, an exterior colorless and fine colored line. horizontally lined label across the entire bottom, widened at the ends to correspond with the upper squares, with exterior colorless and colored line. "_u. s._" in upper left and right corners of frame respectively. the word "_postage_" in upper bar of frame, "_six cents_" in lower, the numeral " " between the words, and "_united states_" on each side. color, ultramarine. plate impression, by mm., square, in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and possibly without grille. cents blue. ten cents. shield of the united states on which is resting an eagle with outspread wings, looking to the left. "_united states_" in small colored capitals with "_postage_" in large outline capitals, shaded in a second line beneath, in the upper section of the shield, numeral " " in lower. the words "_ten cents_" in scroll at the bottom in outline shaded capitals. the whole design surrounded by thirteen stars arranged in a semicircle, (sic) color, orange. the background is rayed behind the eagle and the semicircle of stars are upon this only, the background behind the shield is of clouds, there is no frame. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated and grilled, possibly also without grille. cents orange. twelve cents. ocean steam ship, headed to left in horizontal oval, surrounded by ornamented scroll work. in a double tablet with arched top on horizontally lined ground, and colored capitals in a curved line, "_united states_" and "_postage_" in outline capitals on a solid ground. on three scrolls in outline capitals and numerals shaded, "_twelve cents_" at the bottom, with numeral " " between the words. color, malori green. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, slightly surfaced green, perforated and grilled, possibly also without grille. cents, green. fifteen cents. microscopic reproduction of the large picture, in the capitol at washington, of the "landing of columbus," in an oblong rectangle by mm., with rounded upper corners, surrounded at a little distance by a single colored line. ornamental and scroll work at top and bottom on a ground ruled horizontally inside and vertically outside of the scrolls, the whole surrounded by a colorless and fine colored line. on a colorless tablet, in gothic capitals, "_u. s._"; in a curved line of outline capitals on the ground, "_postage_" at top. _fifteen cents_ at bottom, with numerals " " underneath in outline colorless capitals, on the ground. colors: picture, prussian blue, scroll and ornamental work pale indian red. plate impression, ½ by ½ mm., in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and not grilled. the paper is more or less surfaced with blue. cents blue and brown. note. there are two varieties of this stamp, depending on the type, and an error, the latter was however never circulated. the line of the frame, above the picture, is curved up on the left hand, beginning under the o, and on the right hand beginning under the g, in what is called the o. g. curve, till the two meet in a point. in the ordinary variety there are two fine lines within the space left for the picture, which along the whole top, including the curved corners and this central double curve, are united in a heavy line and at about ½ a millimeter from the center line on each side, curve down, as well as up, to a point, forming a diamond. on the sides and bottom within this line, there is a shading of fine diagonal lines. when the picture is exactly in position, which is rare, the colored line surrounding it falls between these fine lines, and on the heavy curved line, just touching the lower part of the diamond. in the rarer variety, the two fine lines, the broad top line, and the bottom of the diamond are all omitted, the entire space is either empty or shows one, two or three horizontal lines across the top of the space, and three or four across the bottom, with a row of short horizontal lines at the sides. when the picture is in proper place there is an almost blank space at the top, and apparently a white line surrounding the picture. when it is misplaced the colored lines described can be seen and there appear to have been several varieties, as there were more or less of them. _the error_ is not as is sometimes supposed an error of printing, but in the plate. two plates, one for each color, had to be used. originally, there were stamps as in the smaller values, (see circular of march st, above cited) but upon the plate for printing the picture, it is said one picture was reversed, and the error once discovered, the plate was cut down to print only stamps as stated in the circular. it is probable that no copies with the error were ever circulated. twenty-four cents. microscopic reproduction of the large picture at the capitol, of the "signing of the declaration of independence" forming an oblong rectangle by mm., with all four corners cut off diagonally, surrounded by a fine colored line at a little distance. ornamental scroll work at top and bottom on a lined ground. a line of pearls on a colored line, between a colorless and colored line, forms the frame for the picture. in block capitals "_u._" and "_s._" surrounded by ovals at upper left and right corners respectively, the word "_postage_" between the two, in a curved line of outline capitals, shaded on the background. "_twenty-four cents_" in scrolls at bottom, with numeral " " beneath in outline letters shaded. colors: the picture, purple lake, scroll and ornamental work, light malori green. just beneath the picture in small colored numerals, " ." plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated , grilled and not grilled. cents, purple and green. note. there is the same error of this stamp "reversed picture" stated to be from the same cause, a defect in the plate as for the cents, and the same remarks apply. thirty cents. eagle facing to left, with outspread wings, resting on shield with flags grouped on either side. the words "_united states postage_" in upper section of shield. the numeral " " in lower. the words "_thirty cents_" across the bottom, with three stars arranged in a semi-circle at top of the design. colors: eagle and shield, carmine, flags blue. except for the change of numerals and words of value, the omission of the scroll, and the substitution of the two flags on each side for the clouds, the design, though not the drawing of this stamp is identical with the ten cents. "thirty cents" is however in block letters, the t y c e in outline, the rest shaded. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, slightly tinted with pink, perforated , grilled and not grilled. cents, carmine and blue. _error._ there is also an error of this stamp in which the flags are reversed. it is also stated to be an error on the plate, but may be only an error in printing. ninety cents. portrait of lincoln in an oval, looking to the right, surrounded by ornamental scroll work, numerals " " at each of the upper corners, set diagonally in outline, and shaded on vertically lined ground. on a label with rayed ground, edged by a colorless and colored line, in outline capitals shaded, "_u. s. postage_" at top of oval. "_ninety_" and "_cents_" on scrolls at the lower left and right corners of oval respectively, set diagonally and in colored capitals. in outline gothic capitals "_u._" and "_s._" at the lower left and right corners of the stamp respectively. colors: portrait black, surrounding ornamental and scroll work, carmine. it may be well to add that the portrait is three quarters face, on a square hatched ground, and a single colored line in same color surrounds the oval at a little distance. the space left in the frame for the picture is bordered by fine short horizontal lines, which show when the picture is not properly placed. plate impression, ½ by ½ mm. square, in two colors, on white paper, slightly surfaced pink, perforated , grilled and not grilled. cents, black and carmine. the grille in this series is a square ½ by ½ mm. composed of ½ rows of smaller squares each, apparently separated by raised lines crossing each other at right angles, each little square divided by depressed diagonals also, as if produced by forcing a series of pyramids set close together, but not touching, into the face of the stamp. seen from the reverse, the dividing lines are depressed and the squares stand up like pyramids, with ragged edges showing the broken fibre of the paper. the numbers of the several values of this issue is approximated as follows: cent, , , cents, , , cents , , cents, , , cents, , , cents, , , cents, , , cents, , cents , cents, , xxiii. the issue of . in the report of the postmaster general for the year ending the th of june, , under date of nov. th, , he says: the adhesive postage stamps adopted by my predecessor in , having failed to give satisfaction to the public, on account of their small size, their unshapely form, the inappropriations of their designs, the difficulty of cancelling them effectually, and the inferior quality of gum used in their manufacture, i found it necessary in april last, to issue new stamps of larger size, superior quality of gum and new designs. as the contract then in force contained a provision that the stamps should be changed, and new designs and plates furnished at the pleasure of the postmaster general, without additional cost to the department, i decided to substitute an entire new series, one-third larger in size, and to adopt for designs the heads, in profile, of distinguished deceased americans. this style was deemed the most eligible, because it not only afforded the best opportunity for the exercise of the highest grade of artistic skill in composition and execution, but also appeared to be the most difficult to counterfeit. the designs were selected from marble busts of acknowledged excellence, as follows: one cent, franklin, after rubricht; two cents, jackson, after powers; three cents, washington, after houdon; six cents, lincoln, after volk; ten cents, jefferson, after powers' statue; twelve cents, clay, after hart; fifteen cents, webster, after clevenger; twenty-four cents, scott, after coffee; thirty cents, hamilton, after cerrachi; ninety cents, commodore o. h. perry, profile bust, after walcott's statue. the stamps were completed and issues of them began in april last. the superior gum with which they are coated is not the least of the advantages derived from the change. upon the conclusion of the postal treaty with the north german confederation, fixing the single letter rate by direct steamers at seven cents, to take effect the st of july last, a stamp of that denomination was adopted, and the profile bust of the late edwin m. stanton selected for the design. this has been completed in a satisfactory manner, but owing to the temporary discontinuance of the direct mail steamship service to north germany, it has not yet been issued to postmasters. it may not be uninteresting to remark that the following stamps were adapted among other uses, to the payment of the rates under postal treaties as follows; cents, england, dec. d, ; sandwich islands, may th, ; british columbia, july th, ; germany, march st, . cents, germany, april th, ; denmark, dec. st . cent, italy, feb. th, ; belgium, march st, ; switzerland, april , ; salvador, oct. th, . cents, british honduras, august th. ; new zealand, oct. th, . cents, brazil, may th, . the series being ready for issue, was announced to the various postmasters in the following: circular to postmasters. post office department, office of third assistant postmaster general, _april th, _. new series of postage stamps. at an early date in the regular course of business, the department will issue to postmasters, postage stamps of a new design. [see description annexed.] you are required to exhaust all of the present style on hand before supplying the public with the new; and in no case will you be allowed to make exchanges for individuals or to return stamps to the department to be exchanged. the stamps now in use are not to be disregarded, but must be recognized in all cases equally with the new ones. the stamps known as the series of , of which a few are supposed to be yet outstanding, are also to be recognized. those issued prior to the commencement of the war of the rebellion were long since declared to be valueless. special attention is called to the fact that each sheet, of all denominations of the new series, contains but stamps. this must be borne in mind to prevent mistakes in counting, as in the present issue some of the denominations have stamps to the sheet. special requests for the new style of stamps will be disregarded until the stock of the present issue, in possession of the department, is exhausted. [ * * * * relating to envelopes to be issued to conform * * * * ] [signed] wm. h. terrell, third assistant postmaster general. [the "description annexed" is on the other side and is merely a list of values, the bust from which the portrait was copied, the color, etc., exactly following that in the extract from the postmaster general's report above.] the exact date of issue is fixed by the postmaster general's report, as may, . issue of may, . composed of ten values as follows: one cent. bust of benj. franklin, in profile to the left, after rubricht, on an oval disk, lined horizontally and obliquely, bordered by a broad colorless line and exterior colored fine line. outside of this a series of colorless curved lines, bordered by fine colored lines, and foliated at the corners on a ground of parallel vertical colored lines, completes the rectangle. there is no enclosing colored line at top or bottom. short horizontal colored lines form the shadows of the oval and ornaments. the upper corners are formed by a line curved round from the oval and terminating in a large ball, a second line curving round from this and continued along the top, ending in two foliations with a small leaf-shaped dash beyond. there is a large ball at the intersection of these lines in the corner of the stamp. a slightly curved line continues down from the corner, forming the sides. the lower corner being formed by a curved line starting in a dot, curving upward and round, and terminating inside the side lines in a large foliation with three balls above it. the bottom is formed of a waved line. these are all distinct and plain colorless lines between fine colored lines, and about the width of the line surrounding the oval. the ornaments in the corners have shadows beneath, and on the inner edges, and the side lines have shadows on the outer edges, formed of short horizontal lines. the oval has heavy shadows similarly formed. the vertical lines of the background are fine, and of even width throughout. above the oval, a thin colorless line, bordered by a fine colored line, within and without, parallel with the oval, but curved round at the ends to meet it, forms a label inscribed in outline capitals, "_u. s. postage_," shaded without on a rectangularly hatched ground. below the oval a large outline pearled numeral " " shaded without, divides the lower border line, and a similar line parallel to the border line, but terminated at each end by a ball, forms a label inscribed in outline capitals "_one cent_" shaded outside on a rectangularly hatched ground. above this label are three small white pearls on each side of the numeral. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, imperial ultramarine. two cents. bust of andrew jackson, in profile to the left, after powers, on an oval disk lined horizontally and doubly obliquely, bordered by a broad white line and fine exterior colored line, the whole super-imposed on a shield, with ground of vertical colored lines, and bordered by a very fine colored exterior line. the shield is curved in at the top, corners diagonal, sides curved in and then out, bottom rounded and rests on a background of horizontal colored lines. there are no exterior lines on the sides. below the oval, a large outline numeral " " divides a colorless ribbon bordered by fine colored lines, and inscribed "_two cents_" in outline colored capitals shaded outside, on a background of short vertical colored lines. above the oval, a band bordered by a colorless line edged by fine colored lines, extends nearly to the outer edge of the stamp, and is inscribed, "_u. s. postage_" in outline colorless capitals, shaded outside on a rectangularly hatched ground. the shadows of the shield are made by short vertical lines, those of the oval by short horizontal lines. the shield is ornamented by fine laurel leaves on each side, just above the lower label. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, velvet brown. three cents. bust of geo. washington, after houdon, in profile to left, on oval disk with horizontally lined ground, and occasional diagonal latticed hatchings, bordered by a broad colorless line with exterior fine colored line, resting on a shield with vertically lined ground, on a background of horizontal lines, with a border line on the right side but none on the left. above the oval, a band bordered by a colorless line, with a ball on each end and three little foliations above on each side, all edged by a fine colored line inscribed "_u. s. postage_," in outline capitals, shaded outside on a horizontally lined ground. below the oval a large numeral " ," shaded outside, divides a ribbon bordered by a colored line, and inscribed in similar capitals, "_three cents_" on a ground of short vertical lines. the shadows of the oval are made by short colored horizontal lines, and those of the shield by vertical lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, malori green. six cents. bust of abraham lincoln, in profile to the left, after volk, on an oval disk lined horizontally and doubly lined obliquely, bordered by a colorless line. on a depressed panel, lined horizontally, the sides projected, darker than the frame of fine vertical lines which surrounds it, completes the rectangle. there is no terminal line at the sides. above the oval a yoke-shaped label, bordered by a colorless line, edged by fine colored lines, inscribed "_u. s. postage_" in outline colorless capitals, shaded outside on a ground of horizontal lines. below the oval is a ribbon bordered by fine colored lines, inscribed in the same letters, "_six cents_" divided by a large outline numeral " ," on a ground of short colored vertical lines. a distinct line borders the depressed panel all the way around, being heaviest on the left side. the shadows of the oval and depressed panel are made by vertical colored lines, and those of the upper and lower labels are made by horizontal colored lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, cochineal red. ten cents. bust of thomas jefferson, in profile to left, after powers, on an oval disk, lined horizontally, and obliquely from right to left, bordered by a colorless line with exterior colored line, on a shield bordered by a fine colored line, vertically lined, on a rectangular background, which is lined horizontally. above the oval a label formed by a colorless line edged by a colored exterior line, curved round from the oval line at the ends, and then parallel with it, having a small ball ornament at each end, is inscribed "_u. s. postage_" in outline capitals, shaded outside, on a ground of vertical lines, except at the ends, where the lines are horizontal. below the oval, on a ribbon bordered by colored lines, in the same letters "_ten cents_," on a ground of short vertical lines, the words separated by large outline numerals " ." shadows of the oval in short horizontal lines crossed by lines parallel to the oval. shadows of the lower ribbon in vertical lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, chocolate. twelve cents. bust of henry clay, after hart, in profile to the left, on an oval disk, closely lined horizontally, and bordered by a colorless line between two fine colored lines, surrounded by labels bordered without by a second colorless line, between fine colored lines, but curved inwards, crossed and the sides united in a vertical line at the sides of the stamp, the whole arranged in a double tablet formed by vertical lines, terminated by an outside colored line at top and bottom. the outer edges representing a chamfer are horizontally lined. a little distance from the edge, a series of diagonal lines between two parallel lines, represent a beveled edge, making the parts within appear higher. the upper label is inscribed "_u. s. postage_," in outline capitals, doubly shaded outside, on a ground of horizontal lines. the lower label is inscribed, "_twelve cents_," in outline block capitals, doubly shaded on a ground of horizontal lines. large outline numerals " ," doubly shaded, divide the lower band and separate the words. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, neutral tint. fifteen cents. bust of daniel webster, in profile to the left, after clevenger, on an oval disk, very closely lined horizontally and obliquely, bordered by a colorless line, on a vertically lined background, with no terminal line at the top or bottom. there is a triangular depression represented in each of the four corners by horizontally lined ground and shade lines, and mitered at the angles. above the oval and following its outline, is a label indicated by a colorless line between fine colored lines, square at the ends with a ball beyond, inscribed on a horizontally lined ground in colorless capitals, outlined by colored lines and shaded without, "_u. s. postage_." below the oval is a similarly formed label with pointed ends, inscribed in the same letters on horizontally lined ground, "_fifteen cents_," divided by large pearled numerals " ." plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, orange. twenty-four cents. bust of winfield scott, in profile to the left, after coffee, on an oval disk closely lined horizontally, and bordered by a colorless line with exterior colored line, on a rectangular background of horizontal lines. above and following the line of the oval are thirteen five pointed stars, two at each end plain, and one letter of the inscription "_u. s. postage_" in colored block capitals in each of the others. above these and parallel to the oval is a colorless line between colored lines, divided and curving into two balls below, but curving into a single ball above and shaded by another colored line. above these in each corner on a solid ground of color, bordered by a similar arrangement of lines, etc., in colorless block numerals " ." below the oval is a label inscribed "_twenty four_," with another beneath it inscribed "_cents_," both indicated by a colorless line between colored lines, with a horizontally lined background. the letters are colorless block capitals. in the lower left corner are flags and cannon, and in the right three muskets stacked. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, pure purple. thirty cents. bust of alexander hamilton, in profile to the left, after cerrachi, on an oval disk horizontally and obliquely lined, bordered by a colorless line with outer colored line, on a shield shaped panel vertically lined, the edges beveled and obliquely lined, resting on a background of horizontal lines. the upper corners of the panel project beyond the rest at top and sides, the sides project beyond the curved bottom, the shadows of the oval on the shield are indicated by short horizontal lines; those of the shield by vertical lines. across the curved top of the shield is a colorless line bordered by outside colored lines. across the top of the shield in a double curve of outline capitals, shaded outside, "_u. s. postage_." below the oval, a small shield, outlined by a colorless line between colored lines, bears the outlined numerals " ," shaded outside on ground of horizontal lines, dividing a ribbon outlined by colored lines, inscribed "_thirty cents_," in colored spurred capitals, on a ground of vertical lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, black. ninety cents. bust of com. o. h. perry, in profile to left, after wolcutt, on an oval disk bordered by a colorless line with exterior colored line. the upper half of this line is covered by a cable, rove at each end to a ring, that supports the lower label. above the oval a label with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line, with exterior colored line following the oval, the ends curved outward and inward in a sort of foliation, is inscribed "_u. s. postage_" in outline capitals, shaded outside. a five pointed star in each corner. below the oval, the lower label, square at the ends, with hatched ground, bordered by a colorless line and outer colored line, is inscribed "_ninety cents_," in outline block capitals, shaded outside. there is a heavy shadow beneath the label, an anchor in each lower corner. the whole is on a vertically lined panel chamfered at the top, bottom and sides. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, carmine. issue of july . seven cents. bust of secretary edwin m. stanton, in profile to left, on an oval disk, closely lined horizontally, bordered by a colorless line. above and below, a label bordered by a colorless line following the outline of the oval, but curved round and terminated inside by a ball at each end. the whole on a panel, vertically lined, with rounded corners, and large ball on a rectangular background of horizontal lines. the labels are inscribed in outline capitals, shaded outside on a hatched ground, the upper, "_u. s. postage_," the lower, "_seven cents_," divided by a large outline numeral " ," doubly shaded outside. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, vermilion. all these values were first issued with a grille, of which there are several sizes, but on many, if not most, even of unused specimens it is so indistinct that it is impossible to distinguish the outlines, measure the size, or count the squares. some very perfect unused specimens have been examined however, and on the face it appears to be composed of horizontal rows of depressed diamonds, divided by alternate rows of smaller raised diamonds, with deep-depressed lines along the sides of the latter. on the reverse, the appearance is of rows of squares divided by depressed lines, with little raised crosses in each square. by these specimens it has also been determined, that there were at least two distinct sizes of grille. the first measures ½ by ½ mm., composed of by ½ rows of squares. perfect specimens of the , , , and cent so grilled, have been found, and satisfactory specimens of the , , , , and cents. the other variety measures ½ by ½ mm., and is composed of by rows of squares. perfect specimens of the , , and cents so grilled have been found, but no satisfactory specimens of any other value. specimens with only a few distinct squares, are comparatively common. the difficulty of arriving at accurate measurement, is increased when the specimens examined have been used, but apparently the larger of the above grilles was gradually cut down row by row to the smaller, as specimens of the , and cents, the most used values, are found undoubtedly grilled. ½ by ½ mm., or by rows. " " " " " " ½ " " " " " " " " " ½ " " " " " these all now bear a deep yellow or brown gum. the colors are very uniform. as stated by the passage quoted above, there are stamps, or ten rows of ten stamps in the so called sheet, or properly half sheet, there being on the plate. the imprint was either "engraved and printed by the," in one line, "national bank note co., new york," in a second line in colorless capitals, on a solid ground, with pearled edges and outer fine colored line, or the second line above without pearls on colored ground, bordered by a double colored line. the author cannot state whether all the values bore both imprints, having only seen the , and cents with the first, and the and with the second, the latter without the grille. these imprints are placed mm. from the stamps, above and below the th and th rows on each half sheet, the plate number being between the th and th rows. the line on which the sheets are divided is indicated by three lines forming a sort of arrow head, at the top and bottom of the sheet. the center rows of stamps are ½ mm. apart, and there are no perforations between them. the vertical rows of perforation are ½ mm. apart horizontally. the horizontal rows ½ mm. apart vertically, but the upper and lower rows are sometimes ½ and sometimes ½ mm. apart. if a sheet is selected, where the vertical rows are so far from the center line as to cut into the stamps, and the horizontal rows too high or too low, and a stamp from the top or bottom of the row next to the center cut line is selected, and the perforations carefully cut off, specimens can be made that have a much larger margin than the ordinary perforated stamps, and might easily pass as unperforated. this may not account for all the unperforated specimens, some of which may be the result of accident, but all the values of this series and the following may be so made unperforated, and have been so catalogued. the number of these stamps issued with grille, is estimated as follows: cent, , , . cents, , , . " , , . " , , . " , , . cents , , . " , , . " , , . " , . " , . " , . issue without grille ( ?) the use of the grille was finally abandoned altogether. the first notice of this change appeared in the stamp papers of february, . they were made by the same company, and are in all respects the same, except the embossing. cent, imperial ultramarine, perforated . cents, velvet brown " " " milori green " " " cochineal " " " vermilion " " " chocolate " " " purple " " " orange " " " pure purple " " " black " " " carmine " " the colors do not vary materially from those of the grilled series, but there are two quite distinct shades of the twelve cents, a blackish purple and a brownish tint. issue of . in accordance with the provisions of the general law, before the expiration of the contract with the national bank note company, the postmaster general advertised in the daily papers, in december, , that he would receive bids for furnishing the department with postage stamps from the st of may, , to the st of may, . this contract, as well as the subsequent one which terminated the st of july, , was awarded to the continental bank note company, of new york. the dies and plates, by the terms of the contract with the national bank note company, were the property of the government, and were turned over to the new contractors, who continued to print the stamps from the same plates, until they were worn out, and theoretically in the same colors. as new plates were required from time to time, they were made from the original dies, but bore the imprint of the new contractor, which resembles the first one described as used by the national company, but reads "printed by the" in the first line, "continental bank note co., new york," in the second line. this imprint probably, was not put upon one of the values above cents. in fact the and cents sent out just before, and for some years after the expiration of the second contract awarded to this company, bore the second named imprint of the national bank note company. specimens are found which show the heavier border lines and shadows of the different parts of the design, the fine lines of the background, of the tablets, and sometimes of the shields, being invisible to the eye, though more or less of them can generally be traced with a glass. these collectors have designated as "plain frames," as they appear to be without color. they are, really, defective impressions either from worn plates, when the plates made by the national bank note company, were giving out in , or from the poor results of the process of printing adopted, as is claimed by the postmaster general. but similar varieties have certainly appeared, and for like causes, at other times. collectors of curiosities will find: cent plain frame, perforated . cents " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " the stamps from the plates with the imprint of this company, now bear on the back a white gum, and not the brownish, used by the national bank note company, which will help to distinguish impressions made by them from the old plates. the colors, however, are not identical, and will further serve to distinguish them. there may be exceptions, but ordinarily the one cent is a pure indigo, without the red or ultramarine cast, of those printed previously, whether lighter or deeper impressions are chosen. the two cents has also lost its reddish tone, and is a dull brown, with a tendency to blackish-brown, whether lighter or deeper in shade. the three cents is of a duller and generally a pale shade. the six cents is much lighter and is a washy pink. the seven cents is a more yellowish vermilion. the ten cents approaches very nearly to the original shade of the two cents, but is a little more of a blackish brown, very unlike the delicate original shade. the oval and face lines are dark and heavy. the fifteen cents is a much paler orange. the higher values, twenty-four, thirty and ninety cents, have a thinner tone than the deep rich color of the former company's work. in the meantime, the following changes were announced in a circular to postmasters: post office department, office of the third assistant postmaster general, division of stamps, stamped envelopes & postal cards. _washington, d. c., june st, ._ the department is prepared to commence the issue of postage stamps of the denomination of five ( ) cents to meet the new letter rate of postage, under the treaty of berne, to the following countries, viz: [here follow the names of all countries that had then joined the postal union, to which five cents was the rate.] the new five cent stamp is designed from a bust of gen. zackary taylor in full face, and printed in dark blue color. the changes in foreign postages will render unnecessary the further use of the , and cent stamps and stamped envelopes, and they will accordingly be discontinued. in order to avoid the liability to mistake caused by the near similarity in color between the two cent and ten cent stamp, the former will in future be printed in vermilion, the color of the discontinued seven cent stamp. [here follows directions to use up the stock of the discontinued stamps and envelopes, whenever they can be utilized.] (signed.) e. w. barber, third assistant postmaster general. issue of july st, . two cents. same design, and from the same die and plate as the previous brown impression, the color only changed. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, vermilion. issue of october th, . one of the new york daily papers in april, , speaking of the new five cent stamp (garfield) about to be issued, says: the history of the current five cent stamp with taylor's portrait is as follows: the rates for international postage had been decided upon as cents, the united states series of postage stamps had not such a value. mr. jewell, the postmaster general at the time, suggested to president grant the propriety of having his portrait on the new stamp of the required value. gen. grant did not agree with his cabinet officer. finally, he suggested that if mr. jewell would insist upon consulting his wishes, he (gen. grant) would be well pleased if the portrait of old zack taylor, with whom he served in the mexican war, could be used on the new stamp. instead of instructing the then contractors to prepare a portrait of gen. taylor, which would be in harmony with the other stamps of the series, mr. jewell found in the bureau of engraving and printing, a portrait of taylor, which had been used on the old tobacco strip series. this portrait was transmogrified into the five cent stamp. it was badly engraved and of wretched color. issue of october th, . five cents. bust of general zachary taylor, full face, on an oval disk lined horizontally and obliquely, the horizontal lines growing closer and closer towards the top, surrounded by a colorless line with outer colored line, and resting on a shield, vertically lined, and bordered by an exterior colored line, all on a background of colored horizontal lines, the shadows of short horizontal lines. above the oval is a label, bordered by a colorless line between fine colored lines, and curved round and divided at the ends, the outer part terminating in a ball, horizontally lined and inscribed "_u. s. postage_," in outline capitals shaded without. below the oval is a ribbon, bordered by a colored line, and inscribed "_five cents_," the words divided by a large numeral " ", all in outline capitals, shaded without on a ground of short vertical lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, dark blue. the stamp is identical with the two and ten cent values, with the value changed, and the portrait of taylor from the six ounce tobacco stamp of the "series of ," placed in the medallion. both the two cent vermilion and the five cent blue, bear the imprint "printed by the continental bank note company," which also prepared the tobacco stamp in question. these two stamps have been chronicled as having been issued grilled. the error crept into the french edition of this work likewise, but they were at least never so issued for circulation. all the values as issued by this company have likewise been chronicled as unperforated. if they are not accounted for as indicated under the remarks made on page , they are the result of accident. in many cases indistinct dots can be seen where the perforating machine failed to do its work. such specimens are curious but do not require more than mention. before the second contract with the continental bank note co. expired, it was consolidated with the american bank note co. under, the name of the american bank note company, and new plates began to appear with the imprint of this company, in large colored block capitals, shaded by a colored line parallel to the letters and an outside row of lighter horizontal lines. the one, two, three, five and ten are found with this imprint, without material change. the seven, twelve and twenty-four cent having long been retired are not to be looked for with this imprint, and the fifteen, thirty and ninety cents at this time were still printed from the plates, with the imprint of the continental bank note co. the gum has the white shade and the colors are the same as used by that company. the _one cent_ of the dull indigo blue. the _two cents_ has a misty look. the _three cents_ inclines to a blue-green. the _five cents_ has heavier lines and is a darker blue. the _ten cents_ returns to the light appearance of the original of but is of the yellow-brown shade. issue of april th, . with the letting of the contract for another term in june, , the american bank note company again secured the contract. soon after the death of president garfield, it was proposed that his portrait should be placed on the five cent stamp used for foreign postage, and the stamp printed in mourning, as was said to have been done with the fifteen cent stamp, then used for foreign postage, after the death of president lincoln. the stamp with the head of taylor, it was said had been hurriedly gotten up, and did not correspond with the rest of the series. by direction of postmaster general james, the american bank note co. therefore prepared the new stamp, after a photograph of president garfield. mrs. garfield was consulted, and proofs in various colors were, it is said, submitted to her. instead of black, she finally selected a vandyke brown. the first proofs were in black, and at the request of mrs. garfield it is stated, the postmaster general sent one of them, mounted on card and placed in a frame of silver, surrounded by a second frame of gold, on a background of purple velvet, and protected by a glass in an ebony frame, to her majesty, the queen of england. from the correspondence columns of the daily papers, we learn that the department received the first invoice of these stamps at washington, the th of february, , and that it was expected to begin the issue the st of march, following. mr. durbin obtained some copies which he used on st. valentines day. but the stamps were not distributed from the offices until the th of april, and were then sold only as the supply of the old ones was exhausted. this is the date officially given by the report of postmaster general for the year, and the same date is also given by the new york papers. the description given by the postmaster general it is not necessary to repeat. issue of april th, . five cents. portrait in profile to the left, of president garfield, in an oval disk by mm., lined horizontally and obliquely, and bordered by a line of colorless pearls on a broad colored band, resting on a shield lined horizontally, and bordered by a colored line, very heavy on the right side and at the bottom, and an exterior fine colorless line at the bottom and sides, all on a back ground of horizontal lines bordered at the sides by a terminal line of color. the shield is square at the top, of the width of the stamp, with perpendicular sides not quite so far apart, the corners being slanted back, and is pointed at the bottom which is formed of two diagonal lines. a large solid six pointed star, bordered by a colorless line and exterior colored line covers the lower point of the shield and a part of the pearled border, and bears a large colorless numeral " ." on each side of this a ribbon indicated by a colored line, inscribed on left "_five_," on right "_cents_," in outline capitals, on a ground of short vertical lines. on the background of the stamp, beneath all, "_u. s. postage_" in colored block letters, shaded on the left and top by colorless lines. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, dark chocolate. issue of november, . without any notice to the postmasters or the public, new plates were made by the american bank note company, and slight changes were made in the engraving. these began to appear in november, , and may be found in the one three, six and ten cent values. one cent. the vertical lines of the background are thickened in the upper half and so nearly touch, that the ground now appears solid and in fact from the running of the ink, sometimes really is solid. the curved ornamental lines in the upper corners and the balls are now shaded with one or more interior colored lines, instead of being plain. the exterior shading of horizontal lines is omitted here, at the ends of the upper labels, and also outside of the side lines, and is very faint under the lower ornaments and label. (_a_) the first impressions of this altered plate are in an ashey blue and, the upper ornaments are rendered indistinct by the interior lines. there is a whitish space, like a reflection beneath the bust. (_b_) later impressions in , show the upper ornaments more distinctly white, and shaded outside again by lines parallel to their curves. a heavy shadow now appears under the bust, the ground being almost solid where it falls. the color by daylight is again slightly of the ultramarine cast, but differing only slightly from the ashey hue by gaslight. (_c_) later impressions in , show the return to the heavy upper ornaments, but their exterior shading remains as in (b). the ground work of the oval is uniform and there is no light or dark shadow under the bust. the ultramarine is of a more pronounced cast by daylight. two cents. there seems to have been no change beyond that already mentioned, as the design was soon changed. three cents. the altered die beside the other appears quite different, but a close examination is necessary to determine the differences at first. once detected, they are very apparent. the lines of ground of the oval are heavier. the cross lines can still be seen with the glass, and the part behind the head is now crossed by vertical lines also. the shadows of the upper ornaments are now solid, and the horizontal lines cannot be detected. the shadows of the oval are also solid, and about half as broad as in the other die. the horizontal lines can be seen by the glass, but are very light. this is the most conspicuous difference. the vertical shadow lines under the lower label are omitted. the shield in the old die has a ground of horizontal lines on the right side, with an outside vertical border line, and two fine vertical lines on the horizontal lines form the shadow of the shield. the altered die has the three vertical lines, but the horizontal lines are omitted to the point where the bottom line begins. the color is a blue-green, not yellow-green as before. six cents. the ground work of the oval, is practically solid or mottled, that of the panel nearly so. the border line cannot be distinguished from the ground, while in the original issue, not only is the border line distinct, but in the "sallie" the fine vertical shadow lines can be counted inside, and on the right side three, very close together, and four lines besides these between the panel and the edge, counting the outside line. in the new, none of these shadows exist, and there are only _three_ lines between the panel and the edge, including the outside line. in the old, on the right side, there are fourteen lines in the frame above and below the projection. in the new there are thirteen above, and eleven below. the color is a brick red, neither the cochineal or pink previously used. ten cents. the frame lines have all been strengthened as well as those of the background, so that the entire stamp is more uniform in engraving and color, but has entirely lost its light look. the edges no longer fade away, but stand out sharp from the paper. it is apparent to the eye that the space between the oval and the shield, is reduced one-third its width. there are only four vertical lines between the line of the shield and the line of the oval at their nearest point on the left, or six lines in all; in the originals, there were five lines, or seven in all. beneath the ribbon containing the value in the old stamps, the horizontal lines of the background are scarcely visible, the vertical shade lines being conspicuous. in the new the horizontal lines are strong and clear. (_a_) the earliest impressions are in muddy yellow brown, quite uniform all over the stamp. (_b_) later impressions, in , are in a clearer shade of yellow-brown, and the light on the face has been increased, much improving the effect. (_c_) an odd purple-brown shade appeared in . (_d_) a dark black-brown shade is now, , in use. the issue of october, . the act of the th congress, session ii, chapter , approved march d, , provided that: "upon all matter of the st class [as defined by chapter of the laws of congress, approved march d, , entitled: an act, etc.] postage shall be charged on and after the first day of october, a. d. , at the rate of two cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof, and all acts so far as they fix a different rate of postage than herein provided upon said first class matter, are to that extent hereby repealed." the report of the third assistant postmaster general under date of november th, , says: "soon after the passage of the act of march d, , preparations were begun to carry the new law into effect. the change left the cent denomination of postage stamps of little utility, it no longer representing the single rate of postage on any class of matter, and it was determined to discontinue its issue. as the public would have undoubtedly regarded with disfavor, the dropping of washington from portraits, forming the distinguishing feature in the series of postage stamps, it was decided to replace the old cent stamp by a new one bearing the profile of the first president, thus restoring it to its old place on the stamp in most general use. it was also decided to issue a new stamp of the value of four cents, a denomination not previously in use, and designed to cover two rates of letter postage. the portrait of jackson, formerly on the cent stamp, was transferred to this new (four cent) stamp. the following is a brief description of the new stamp: two cent stamp. an oblong shield, slightly shouldered on the upper square, the lower lines terminating in a point. within this shield is an oval containing a profile bust of george washington engraved in line, surrounded by a ribbon ending with small scrolls bearing the legend "united states postage," in white letters. from each end of the scrolls a chain of pearls completes the outlines of the oval. a prominent white-faced figure " " laps over the lower centre point of the oval and shield, dividing the words "two cents." the whole is enclosed in a dark upright square to give relief to the device. the stamp is printed in dark red. four cent stamp. over an oval containing a bust of andrew jackson in profile, is a ribbon with the legend "united states postage," in white letters. a string of pearls forms round the lower half of the oval and unites the two ends of the ribbon. at the lower part of the oval, on either side, appears the figure " ," and under that the words "four cents," with a star on each side, all engraved in white faced letters. the whole device is inclosed in an upright oblong tablet. the stamp is printed in green. it is worthy of notice that these are the first postage stamps ever bearing the words "united states postage" in full, the name of the country being abbreviated to "u. s." on all other stamps * * * postmasters were notified by circular of the coming change of postage, and intrusted to make their requisitions for cent stamps and envelopes sufficient only for carefully estimated needs to the st october. * * * the issue of the new cent and cent stamped envelopes was commenced on the st september, and of the and cent adhesive stamps on the th september; and they were so generally distributed by the st october that the change of postage was attended with but little inconvenience for want of the necessary stamps." the circular issued to postmasters read as follows: post office department, office of third assistant postmaster general. _washington, d. c., july th, ._ on and after the first day of october, , the rate of postage on domestic mail matter of the first class, will be reduced from three cents per half ounce, or fraction thereof, as provided by act of congress, approved march d, . the department has adopted a new design for the two cent stamp. the head of washington, in profile from houdon's bust, placed on a plain tablet. above the oval, surrounding the head, are the words "united states postage," and underneath the tablet are the words "two cents." the stamp will be printed in metallic red. the engraved stamp on the cent envelope will also bear the head of washington. a four cent denomination of postage stamps and stamped envelopes, to cover double postage under the new rate, will also be issued. the design embraces the head of jackson, similar to that on the present cent stamp and envelope. no change will be made in the postage due stamps. the same cent stamps and stamped envelopes of the present design, will continue to be valid after the st of october, and must be accepted in payment of postage whenever offered in appropriate amounts. the drop letter rate of postage will remain the same as now. a. d. hazen, _third assistant postmaster general_. issue of september th, . two cents. bust of general washington, in profile to the left, after houdon, on an oval disk, lined horizontally and doubly diagonally, bordered by a colorless line, surrounded by a solid colored band, ornamented in the lower two-thirds with a row of white pearls, the upper third broadened into a label, edged outside by a colorless line, with outside colored line, the ends curved round into a hook, the whole resting on a shield shaped tablet, corresponding to that of the last three cents, horizontally lined and edged by a colored line, very heavy on the right and bottom, with an outside colorless line, the whole on a rectangular background of horizontal lines, very close together below, and farther apart above. there are no shadows except a few vertical lines beneath the projecting part of the top parts of the shield. the label above the oval is inscribed "_united states postage_," in full colorless capitals, on the solid ground. a large colorless numeral outlined in color and doubly shaded outside, obscures the point of the shield and the pearled and colorless border of the oval, dividing the words "_two cents_" in full colorless capitals on the background, so shaded as to be on a solid colored ground. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, metallic red. four cents. bust of andrew jackson, in profile to left, after powers, in an oval disk, horizontally lined, very closely at the top, and doubly diagonally bordered by a colorless line, twice as wide as that in the last two cents, surrounded by a solid colored band, ornamented with pearls below, and broadened above into a label, bordered above and at the ends by a colorless line, and inscribed "_united states postage_," just as in the two cents, the whole resting on a rectangular tablet, with horizontally lined ground, crossed by vertical lines below the oval, and bordered by a vertical colorless line on the right and above the oval on the left, with mitered or bevelled edge, represented by five colored lines parallel with the top, bottom and sides, the right, upper third of the left, and bottom bevel crossed by short colored lines at right angles. on the ground below the oval, which is nearly solid color, in colorless capitals, "_four cents_," between colored five pointed stars. large colorless numeral " " on each side, above the stars and end letters of the value. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, slightly surfaced with green, perforated . cents, blue green. the arrangement of the plates, printer's imprint, plate number, etc., is the same as before, for both of the new stamps. the report of also proposed that the and cent stamps should be called in, redeemed and destroyed. nothing seems to have been done about it however, until frank hatton, postmaster general, issued an order, dated december st, , that the three and six cents of all issues with the exceptions following, should be exchanged by postmasters for other values. "especial care must be taken not to redeem postage stamps issued prior to , as such stamps were long since declared obsolete and valueless for postage. no six cent stamps were issued prior to . the three cent issued before that time bears the head of washington, and is printed in red. in a straight line at the top are the words "u. s. postage," and at the bottom, the words "three cents." the figure does not appear on the stamps, as it does upon all subsequent issues of that denomination. stamps answering to this description, must in all cases be refused." on the th of january, , postmaster general frank hatton, by order no. , appointed a committee of three to proceed among other things to the stamp manufactory at new york, and effectually cancel all the plates, except one working plate of each denomination, of the issues of , of , including the two carrier stamps, of , of newspaper and periodicals, of , of the , , taylor, , and cents of , and cent newspaper and periodical of , and of all the department stamps. "one plate of each kind and denomination of postage stamp reserved as above, and the dies and rolls from which they have been produced, together with all the cancelled plates, to be inventoried, waxed and carefully boxed and sealed, and placed in the vault of the stamp manufactory, in the custody and under the control of the agent." the committee were also to cancel any worn out and unserviceable plates of the current series, and to count and destroy the official stamps remaining in the vaults of the american bank note company, of all denominations and departments, numbering , , , of the and cent newspaper and periodical stamps of , numbering , , and of the , , and cent stamps of the issue, numbering , , , a grand total of , , stamps. on the th of february, the committee reported that they had carried out the order. a. d. hazen, third assistant postmaster general, who recommended this holocaust, says: "i have excepted from this recommendation the cent stamps of the current series, of which there are , in the vault, for the reason that though their general issue has been discontinued, occasional calls are made for them by some of the larger offices." the reports show further that from january st, to june , , , , three cent stamps were actually issued. during the same period, , six cent stamps were also issued, while , thirty cent stamps, and only , ninety cent stamps were issued. as a matter of fact therefore these values, though retired from general issue, are more in demand than the two higher values retained, nearly to , as between the and cents, to as between the and cents, or to as between the and cents, and that too when the general public is unaware that these values can be obtained at all. contract for - . the contract for the manufacture of adhesive stamps between the department and the american bank note company, expiring on the th of june, , sealed proposals were invited by public advertisement of march th, , for a new contract for four years from july st, . the important features of the new contract to be noticed here, are _first_, that a definite standard of paper to be used for printing the stamps, made by an improved formula, was for the first time required, all other contracts having provided that the paper should be equal to a sample only; and _second_, that all ordinary postage stamps should be printed wholly by machinery run by steam power. "the two previous contracts, to , and to , expressly stipulated that the printing should be done on hand roller presses, the use of steam presses under the contract immediately preceeding the same, to , which was silent as to the mode of printing, having resulted in extremely unsatisfactory work." the act of the th congress, session ii, chapter , approved march th, , provides: "that upon all matter of the first class, as defined by chapter of the laws of congress, approved march d, , entitled: an act, etc., and by that act declared subject to postage at the rate of three cents for each half ounce or fraction thereof, and reduced by act of march d, , to two cents for each ounce or fraction thereof, postage shall be charged, on and after the first day of july, , at the rate of two cents for each ounce or fraction thereof; and drop letters shall be mailed at the rate of two cents per ounce or fraction thereof, including delivery at letter carrier offices, and one cent for each ounce or fraction thereof where free delivery by carriers is not established." it was claimed that the improvements in machinery had produced steam presses that could produce better word than the hand presses, at less cost. bids were taken for stamps printed entirely by hand, partly by hand and partly by steam, entirely by steam; the last two with or without an option reserved to the postmaster general, to require the work to be done by hand roller presses. the treasury bureau of engraving and printing, the franklin bank note co., and the american bank note co., were the only bidders. the latter again secured the contract to print the ordinary stamps, by steam power entirely, and the newspaper, postage due and special delivery stamps by hand roller presses. for the latter of these they are paid $ per , for the postage due $ . per , and for the steam printed stamps $ . per thousand. for these latter the government paid $ . under the previous contract up to , $ . up to , and $ . up to . the following is the number of stamps of the issue of as it is called without the grille. cent, old plate, blue, , , , " altered " " , , , cents, old " brown , , " " " vermilion , , " new " red-brown , , , " old " , , , " altered " , , " jackson , , " garfield , , " old plate , , " altered " , , " , , " old " , , " altered " , , " , , " , , " , " , , " , the paper provided for in this contract is the soft porous paper, which according to mr. sterling was introduced in . it is not stiff and hard like the previous paper, and seems to have been adopted about the time of the change in the dies, the fall . all the values employed since are to be found on it. it may be noted that the fifteen and thirty cents on this paper are with the imprint of the american company. the fifteen is again a deep orange and the thirty a full black. issue of , etc. same colors, values and designs, soft porous paper, perforated . cent, ultramarine blue. cents, red-brown. cents, green. " dark green. " " brown. " cochineal. " brown. " orange. " black. " carmine. issue of june th, . the following circular explains itself: post office department, office of the postmaster general. _washington, d. c., may d, ._ on or about the th of june, , the department will begin the issue of a new design of the ordinary one cent postage stamp, of which the following is a description: the center of the stamp consists of a profile bust of benjamin franklin (after-the original by caracci), looking to the left, in an oval disk, with shaded background, the lower portion of the oval being bordered with pearls and the upper portion with a curved frame, containing in small white letters, the words, "united states postage." the whole is engraved in line upon a shield shaped tablet, with a truncated pyramidal base, bearing on it the words "one" and "cent," on either side of the figure " ." the color of the stamp is ultramarine blue, and its general appearance is somewhat similar to that of the stamp now in use. before ordering supplies of the new stamps, postmasters will be expected to exhaust their stock of the old, which will continue to be valid. under no circumstances are the old stamps to be sent to the department for redemption or exchange. william t. vilas, postmaster general. h. r. harris, third assist. p. m. general. issue of june th, . one cent. head of benjamin franklin, in profile to the left, after carraci, on an oval disk lined horizontally and doubly diagonally, the upper third bordered by a label, the lower two thirds by a broad solid colored line, ornamented with colorless pearls increasing in size from top to bottom, with a colorless line outside this, shaded by another heavy colored line. the label is of solid color, between two colorless lines, the upper one curved round the ends, forming a hook and edged outside by a fine colored line, and is inscribed in white capitals similar to the two cents last described, "united states postage." the whole is on a horizontally lined shield shaped tablet, the top similar to that of the two cents, but with a small point in the centre of the top and the diagonals shorter. the bottom is curved at the corners, then curved back up and round, and spreads out into the lower part of a "truncated pyramid." it is edged with a heavy colored line on the right and bottom, with a heavy colored line on the left and top. on the truncated base is a large pearled outlined colorless numeral " ," dividing the border of the oval and the words "one cent," in outline colorless capitals. the rectangle is filled out with horizontal lines at the sides of the shield and vertical line at the top. plate impression, by ½ mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, ultramarine blue. xxiv. postage due stamps. from the adoption of compulsory prepayment up to , various regulations had been made from time to time regarding insufficiently paid letters, in order to relieve the dead letter office as far as possible, and yet enforce the prepayment of all mail matter. nevertheless mistakes continued to be made and the practice of forwarding all letters upon which one full rate was paid, and collecting the balance of the receiver had finally been adopted, the amount to be collected being written or stamped upon the letter. from this practice abuses arose, and by the act of the xlv congress, section iii, chapter , section , approved march d, , it was enacted: "that all mail matter of the first class upon which one full rate of postage has been prepaid shall be forwarded to its destination charged with the unpaid rate, to be collected on delivery, but postmasters before delivering the same, or any article of mail matter upon which prepayment in full has not been made, shall affix, or cause to be affixed, and cancelled as ordinary stamps are cancelled, one or more stamps equivalent in value to the amount of postage due on such article of mail matter, which stamps shall be of such special design as the postmaster general shall prescribe, and which shall in no case be sold by any postmaster or received by him in prepayment of postage," etc. sec. . "that any postmaster or other person engaged in the postal service who shall collect and fail to account for the postage due upon any article of mail matter which he may deliver without having previously affixed and cancelled such stamp as herein before provided shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of fifty dollars." shortly after the passage of this act the following circular was addressed to all postmasters: form no. . special stamp for postage due. post office department, office of the third assistant postmaster general, division of stamps, stamped envelopes and postal cards. _washington, d. c., may th ._ by sections and of the act of congress, making appropriations for the service of the post office department for the year ending june th, , and for other purposes "approved march d, , it is made the duty of postmasters to affix to all mail matter that has arrived at destination without full payment of postage, and before delivery of the same, an amount of stamps equal to the postage due, the stamps to be of such special design as the postmaster general may direct." to avoid any confusion in the accounts of postmasters with the auditor, and on account of the length of the time necessary to prepare for the change contemplated by the above sections in the mode of collecting and accounting for short paid postage, it has been decided to have the same go into practical operation on the st of july next. the department however, will begin issuing sometime during the present month, in anticipation of the wants of postmasters, special stamps for the collection of postage due of the denomination of , , and cents, and of the following general description: a large figure, representing the denomination is placed in the center of the stamp, and is surrounded by an oval of very delicate lathe work. on the upper border of this oval, the words "postage due" are printed in white letters; in the lower border is the denomination, in letters of the same kind; on either side of the oval are the letters "u. s." in a small white shield. around the oval is a form of complex character, described upon an oblong tablet. the general design is the same for all the stamps, the only difference being in the figures and lettering for the several denominations. the color is the same, a reddish brown. these stamps are intended, exclusively for the collection of postage due on matter arriving at destination through the mails, and are to be used in combination, wherever required to cover unusual amounts of postage. they are to be cancelled in the customary way after being attached to mail matter, are never to be sold or received by postmasters for prepayment of postage. postmasters must distinctly understand, that these stamps are not to be used until july st, . a supply of these will be sent at first to all post offices in advance of requisitions from postmasters, and charged to their account; but afterwards they must be ordered on blank forms (no. ) to be furnished by the first assistant postmaster general. with the first supply of stamps, however, blank requisitions for future use will be enclosed. the stamps will be accounted for to the auditor the same as other stamps, and will enter into the monthly reports of stamps, etc., received, sold and on hand, required by the regulations, to be made by postmasters at presidential offices, to the third assistant postmaster general. on the next page of this circular will be found the sections of the new postal law and regulations relating to the above described stamps, which are published in advance for the information and guidance of postmasters. the distinguishing numbers of the sections cannot now be given, but the instructions are here printed in the same order in which they will appear in the forthcoming volume of the new postal regulations. a. d. hazen, _third assistant postmaster general_. issue of may th, . for use from and after july st, . large colorless numeral, mm. high, representing the value, ornamented and shaded, on an oval disk, by ½ mm., with colored ground ornamented by colorless geometric lathe work, bordered by a solid colored band between two heavy colorless lines and an exterior fine colored line, interrupted by small white shields on the sides bearing "_u._" on the left, "_s._" on the right, in fancy colored capitals. the band is inscribed in white capitals, above, "_postage due_," below with the value in full letters, the whole on a tablet with vertically lined ground, with an irregular outline colorless line bordered by an extensive fine colored line, and a double rectangular frame, the interior formed by parallel, diagonal curved lines, and the exterior by vertical short lines at top and bottom, horizontal ones at sides, indicating a bevel. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, reddish brown. cents, " " " " " the report of the postmaster general dated december, , states: "under a provision in the act of congress, approved march d , authorizing a change in the mode of collecting postage due, on matter arriving at destination through the mails, the department began issuing on the th of may, special stamps, called postage due stamps, of the denominations of , , and cents, and subsequently of the additional denominations of , , and cents. before the first of july, every office in the country was provided with a supply of these stamps, and the new system of collecting short paid postage is now fairly in operation." issue of august, . stamps of the same design, but there being two figures, the numerals are smaller. plate impression, in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, reddish brown. " " " " the number of these stamps issued from may, , to june th, , was: cent, , , cents, , , " , , " , , " , , " , " , observations. there are two quite distinct shades of the red-brown in which these stamps are printed, the earlier issues being of a brown that shows hardly a trace of red, while those printed under the contract are of the shade of the current two cent postage stamp. xxv. special delivery stamp. the history of the introduction and usage of these stamps is contained in the following extracts from two circulars, both dated at post office department, office of the postmaster general, washington, d. c., august th, , and signed by william f. vilas, postmaster general. the first directed to postmasters reads as follows: "sir:--on the first of october, , you are directed to establish at your office, a system for special delivery of letters, in accordance with sections , , and of the act making appropriation for the postal service for the current fiscal year (xlviii congress, session ii, chapter , approved march d, ,) which are as follows: section . that a special stamp of the face valuation of cents may be provided and issued, whenever deemed advisable or expedient, in such form and bearing such device as may meet the approval of the postmaster general, which when attached to a letter, in addition to the lawful postage thereon, the delivery of which is to be at a free delivery office, or at any city, town or village containing a population of , or over, according to the federal census, shall be regarded as entitling such letter to immediate delivery within the carrier limit of any free delivery office which may be designated by the postmaster general as a special delivery office, or within one mile of the post office at any other office coming within, the provisions of this section which may in like manner be designated as a special delivery office." section provides for immediate delivery between the hours of a. m. and midnight. section provides for the employment of special messengers and, section the mode of paying them. the rest of this circular gives the details of the service which it is not necessary to repeat here." the second circular after reciting the provisions of section , of the act of march d, , and that it has been decided to introduce the system on the first day of october, at all the post offices permitted by the law; contains a description of the stamp prepared to carry out the law, which with some additions is as follows: special delivery stamp. issue of october st, . a line engraving on steel, oblong in form; dimensions / by - / inches, color dark blue. design: on the left in an arched panel, ½ by ½ mm., a mail messenger boy on a run, faced to the right on a hatched back-ground, and surrounded above by the words "_united states_," in curved line of colorless capitals. on the right an oblong tablet, ornamented with a wreath of oak on the left, and laurel on the right, surrounding the words, "_secures--immediate--delivery--at a special--delivery--office_," in six lines of white capitals on a solid ground. the ground of the tablet above is composed of light vertical lines with colorless border. across the top of the tablet, but above it, is the legend, "_special--postal delivery_," and at the bottom the words, "_ten cents_," separated by a shield bearing the numeral " ." the entire ground of the stamp is composed of fine vertical lines except the edges, which are so contrived as to appear bevelled. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, dark blue. "they are to be sold by postmasters to any required amount, and to any person who may apply for them, but they can be used only for the purpose of securing the immediate delivery of letters." about a year ago, after the system was inaugurated at carrier offices there was a further change in the law, and the system was further extended as is shown by the following extracts from three circulars, all dated august th, , from the office of the postmaster general, washington, d. c., signed by william f. vilas, postmaster general. the first is addressed to postmasters at carrier offices, the second to all other postmasters, and the third to the public. the following from the first circular: "by the act of august th, , congress has authorized the extention of the special delivery system to all post offices and to all mailable matter. the act is as follows, namely: 'that every article of mailable matter upon which the special stamp, provided for by section of the act entitled: an act, etc., shall be duly affixed, shall be entitled to immediate delivery according to said act, within the carrier limit of any free delivery office, and within one mile of any other post office which the postmaster general shall at any time designate as a special delivery office.'" from the second circular only this is of interest: "no change will be made in the general style of the special delivery stamp now in use. the following is its description: (same as in the original circular). the words 'secures immediate delivery at a special delivery office,' will however, be changed to read: 'secures immediate delivery at any post office.' but as stamps with the former words are now in the hands of the postmasters and the public, their use will continue until the present supply shall be exhausted." from the third circular only this is to be noticed: "the attention of the public is invited to the fact that under a recent act of congress the special delivery system heretofore in effect in cities and towns having a population of , and upwards, has been extended to all post offices in the united states, to take effect on and after october st, . the privileges of this system have also been extended to all classes of mail matter." the remainder of these circulars are devoted to directions to postmasters at the two classes of offices, and to the public. these stamps are printed in sheets of , and distributed in half sheets of , the center of the sheets being marked as usual by an arrow head. there are consequently stamps in a row, and rows in the whole sheet. the makers imprint appears four times on the sheet, above and below the center row of each half sheet, and the plate number is also four times repeated on the sheet. , , special delivery stamps were issued up to june th, . xxvi. newspaper and periodical stamps. issue of . the newspaper stamps issued by the united states post office department do not correspond in their usage very nearly to the stamps denominated newspaper stamps in other countries. the series under review had a very limited and peculiar use. while the dissemination of learning and information had always been fostered in every way by the acts of congress, and the distribution of newspapers and periodicals had always been undertaken by the post office at rates that did not pay for the expense of the service, in the intention of encouraging these publications, the department always found a great rival in the express companies, which, having conformed their rules to the exigencies of business, were enabled to deliver newspapers and periodicals from the trains to the agents and dealers always hours, sometimes days before those sent by the mails reached their destination, as these were sent to the post office and there assorted, some to be delivered locally and others to be made up again into the new mail for further transportation, while those sent by the express companies being transferred at the depot, often finished their journey before the mails could be made up and started. this service assisted the express companies in those violations of the postal laws which each year the postmaster general called to the attention of congress, and congress endeavored to reach by new laws. the government got the expensive service, the express companies the paying business partly because of their more liberal rates, but particularly because of their more expeditious service. the attempt was therefore made to so frame the law that the post office might successfully compete for the carriage of newspapers. the act of the xxxvii congress, iii session, chapter , section , approved the rd of march, , reads: "and be it further enacted that the postmaster general may, from time to time, provide by order the rates and terms upon which route agents may receive and deliver, at the mail car or steamer, packages of newspapers and periodicals, delivered to them for that purpose by the publishers or any news agent in charge thereof, and not received from or designed for delivery at any post office." under this act for some time payment was made in money, but the report of the postmaster general dated november th, , states: "new stamps have been adopted of the denominations of , , and cents for prepaying postage on packages of newspapers forwarded by publishers or news dealers under the authority of law, whereby a revenue will be secured, hitherto lost to the department." in the report of the postmaster general for , the date of this issue is stated to have been april st, . in the accounts of the number of stamps issued in each quarter it appears, however, that the first issue was in the quarter between june th and september th, . the stamps were of very large dimensions, and the figures conspicuous. a package adorned with the requisite number was mailed on the train and it could easily be seen that it was duly stamped. the stamps were ordinarily if not always, cancelled by smearing them with ink, with a brush, and not with hand stamps, and the packages were thrown out of the cars to the agents waiting at each station to receive them, and were often torn open by the agent at the depot and distributed to his customers there. thus the delay that sending them to the post office for distribution would have caused, was avoided. issue of april st, . five cents. large bust of washington in profile, faced to the right, indicated by colorless curved lines, on a round medallion of straight horizontal lines, mm. in diameter, surrounded by a circular band of curved interlaced colorless lines, all on a colored ground, a smaller circular disk, mm. in diameter, interrupting this band on each side displays a large "v," in color on a horizontally lined ground. above on a solid ground of color, but ornamented by interlaced colorless lines in colorless letters, "_u. s._" and "_postage_," in a second curved line; below the head on a solid curved label covering a portion of the circular band in large colorless capitals, "_five cents_"; below this again, the ground is ornamented by several colorless lines upon which appear in colored capitals, "_newspapers_," a colored label with "_and_"; in colorless capitals "_periodicals_"; below this again, in two lines of colorless capitals on the colored ground, "_sec. , act of congress approved--march d, _." in each upper corner is a large colorless numeral " ." about all is a frame of colorless lines, ornamented at the corners. the words "_national bank note company, new york_," in small colorless capitals appear between the lower colorless lines. the colored ground extends between the stamps which were perforated. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, dark blue. note. , of this value were issued. ten cents. similar design, but with the profile of franklin in an oval, the side letters "x," the label "_ten cents_," the upper numerals " ," set at an angle. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, green. note. , of this value were issued. twenty-five cents. similar design, but with the profile of lincoln, faced to the left, in a rectangle with corners cut off, " " in figures instead of numerals at the side, on the label "_twenty five cents_," the upper numerals " " set at an angle. plate impression, by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, vermilion. note. , of this value were issued. in - there were issued , more of the five cent value, but these were improved by having the broad colored border removed till only a fine colored line remained outside the colorless frame. plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cents, dark blue, white border. the postmaster general's report for states that the use of these stamps ceased about the st of february, . they were used principally at chicago, ill., and milwaukee, wis. reprints were made of all of them except the cents with white border, with the other early issues in . there was a very wide margin of some mm. at the top and bottom of the sheet, the manufacturers imprint appearing at the top and bottom in colored letters on a small white label let into the colored ground. it is not known how many stamps formed a sheet. newspaper and periodical stamps. issue of . notwithstanding the very liberal provisions of all the laws regarding postage on printed matter, and particularly those of this act of march rd, , we find the postmaster general in his report of november th, , complaining that the department was largely defrauded of its revenues by abuses rendered possible by the provisions of that act, and suggesting that: "for this mischief there is but one adequate remedy, and that is to require prepayment on all printed matter. a due regard to the convenience of the publishers of newspapers would require that postage on newspapers should be charged according to the weight of packages, and that such packages should when suspected, be liable to be opened and searched, and penalties provided if they were found to contain improper matter." nothing seems to have resulted from his recommendations, however. the inconveniences of the system led to calling the attention of congress to the matter again in the report of the postmaster general, in . he says: "in my report for , i had the honor to suggest a plan for the prepayment of postage on newspapers and other matter of the second class by weight of packages rather than by the present system, which requires the manipulation of each particular paper, and allows the payment of postage at either the mailing office, or the office of delivery. a careful revision of the subject confirms me in the opinion, that the postage on all such matter should be collected in advance at the mailing office. * * * no stamps are used for the payment of such postage; and the department is compelled to accept in full satisfaction whatever sums of money postmasters choose to charge against themselves. so execrably bad is this system, that postal officers of high standing have estimated that not more than one-third of the postage properly chargeable on newspapers is accounted for and paid over. furthermore, disputes are continually arising, as to whether the sheets they transmit, come within the meaning of the term newspapers. * * * i respectfully submit the following plan for the prepayment of postage on newspapers of the second class, and urge its adoption. let all publishers, their business managers or agents, be required at the beginning of every quarter, to state under oath the number of papers of a certain name, they will send by mail during the quarter, and pay the postage thereon in advance. on the other hand, postmasters to make return of all newspapers, with particulars, mailed to regular subscribers. no stamps would be required. every paper answering to the description would be forwarded. no manipulation of each paper would be required, and the saving to publishers in time and labor, would, it is thought, be greater than the amount paid for postage, while the saving to the department, would justify a reduction of per cent in the rates, on this class of matter. periodicals to come under the same law." the result of the deliberations upon this suggestion, was the passage by congress of the following law: xliii congress, statute , chapter , approved june rd, , "section . that on and after the first day of january, , all newspapers and periodical publications mailed from a known office of publication or news agency and addressed to regular subscribers or news agents shall be charged the following rates: on newspapers and periodical publications issued weekly and more frequently than once a week, two cents for each pound or fraction thereof, and on those issued less frequently than once a week three cents for each pound or fraction thereof, provided that nothing in this act shall be held to change or amend section of the act entitled: an act to revise, consolidate and amend the statutes relating to the post office department, approved june th, . sec. . that on and after the first day of january, , upon the receipt of such newspapers and periodical publications at the office of mailing, they shall be weighed in bulk, and postage paid thereon by a special adhesive stamp; to be devised and furnished by the postmaster general, which shall be affixed to such matter or to the sack containing the same; or upon a memorandum of such mailing, or otherwise as the postmaster general may from time to time provide by regulation," etc., etc. the report of the postmaster general also states nov. th , that being confined to these three modes of collecting this postage; "it was deemed best to recommend the adoption of the system of prepayment by postage stamps 'affixed to a memorandum of mailing' or in other words, to a stub in a book retained by the postmaster at the mailing office; a receipt, showing the weight of matter and the amount paid, being given by the postmaster to the person mailing the same; the stamps affixed to the stub, to be cancelled by a cutting punch, thus preventing their reuse. * * * the postmaster general having approved the recommendations, a series of stamps have been devised of twenty four denominations, by means of which any sum which is a multiple of either the two or three cent rate, from two cents to seventy-two dollars, can be made by the use of not more than five stamps." in the report dated november th, , we find the following observations and descriptions of this issue which will further explain the mode of using them, which seems to be little understood, except by publishers and post office officials. "on the first day of january , the new law, requiring prepayment of postage by stamps, on all newspapers and periodicals sent from a known office of publication, to regular subscribers through the mails, went into operation. the system inaugurated to carry the law into effect, was approved in october, and has been found by experience to be admirably adapted to the purposes for which it was devised. no complaints of abuses on the part of publishers or postmasters, have been received at this office during the nine months, that have elapsed since the law went into effect. indeed, it has worked so well in all its details, and has given such general satisfaction, that the idea of returning to the old system, or materially modifying the new one, ought not to be entertained. previous to the time when this law began to operate, no stamps were required for the payment of postage on newspapers sent to regular subscribers, as the postage was collected in money quarterly, at the office of delivery. last year there were , post offices at which newspaper postage was collected, while under the present true system of the absolute prepayment of all postage, the whole amount is collected at about , offices, the latter representing the number of places in the united states at which newspapers and periodicals are mailed. the papers for subscribers living outside of the county in which they are published, are made up in bulk at the publication office, carried to the post office and there weighed. the postage is computed on the whole issue, the proper amount in stamps handed to the postmaster, who gives the publisher a receipt as evidence of payment, and on the stubs of the receipt book he affixes and cancels the stamps which correspond in value, with the sum mentioned in the receipt. thus one transaction is all that is required in paying the postage upon a single issue of any regular publication. the stubs with their cancelled stamps, are kept in the post office as vouchers for the postage paid. in no case are the stamps affixed to the papers or packages that pass through the mails. these stamps are twenty-four in number and were prepared by the continental bank note company, of new york, from designs selected in october, ." elsewhere it is stated that the distribution to postmasters began december th, . "the denominations are as follows, viz: cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, cents, $ . cents, $ , $ , $ , $ , $ , $ , $ and $ . these denominations were found to be necessary, in order that payment might be made on any given quantity from one pound to one ton, at both the two and three cent rate, with the use of not to exceed five stamps in any transaction. no description of these stamps having been given in any official form. i may be pardoned for presenting herewith a detailed description of them, in order that it may be printed, and be permanently preserved in the records of the department." two cents to ten cents, inclusive, emblematical figure of america, looking to the right and modeled after crawford's statue surmounting the dome of the capitol. the left hand rests on a shield, and holds a wreath; the right rests on a sword. the head is adorned with a head dress consisting of a coronet of stars, surmounted by an eagle's head and plumes. the background is horizontally lined and in parts diagonally also. the vignette stands in an arched frame, composed of vertical lines; and on either side of this frame, and at the top are slabs containing the inscriptions (the upper in colored letters on horizontally lined ground, the others in colorless block capitals, the sides upon vertically lined ground), "_newspapers_" and "_periodicals_" (at the sides), "_u. s. postage_" (at top). at the bottom are shaded outline block letters, representing the value, which is also indicated by large outlined figures shaded on the face, in the upper corners, on foliated scrolls. the lower corners are ornamented with shields. the color of these stamps is black. twelve cents to ninety-six cents, inclusive. vignette of astraea or justice, in niche, bordered by a colorless line curved at the top, holding in her right hand the balance, and resting with her left on a shield bearing the united states coat of arms. the figure is full robed, mailed and girdled as to the upper part and helmeted. surmounting the helmet is an eagle with out-stretched wings on a background horizontally and diagonally lined. figures representing values in shaded numerals on shields, in the upper corners; values also in sunken letters below, on solid labels bordered by a colorless and colored line, richly ornamented. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," on side and at top in shaded outlined capitals on vertically lined ground. color, pink. one dollar and ninety-two cents. vignette of ceres, goddess of agriculture, in curved niche, bordered by a colorless line and a vertically lined frame. she holds in her left hand an ear of corn, her right holding a wreath, rests against the hip. the figure faced to the front and is clad in full flowing robes. "_u. s. postage_" at the top, other inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," in italic capitals shaded on the face and outside, on obelisks at either side, resting on the lower slab, which is in solid color, containing value, "_one dollar and ninety-two cents_," in two lines of white capitals. value also in figures, "$ - / " in upper corners. color, deep brown. three dollars. goddess of victory in curved niche, full-robed, girdled with sword to the left, and mantle thrown over shoulders. the right hand is stretched forward, holding a wreath; the left rests on a shield. outline figures of value, "$ " on octagons in upper corners, value below in letters on either side of a large outline figure " " on a shield. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," in colorless capitals, in solid labels on either side, and "_u. s. postage_" on lined ground above. the niche and labels are all edged with colorless lines. the background is vertically lined. color, vermilion. six dollars. clio, the muse of history in curved niche, bordered by colorless line, on horizontally lined ground, full robed the toga thrown over the left shoulder. in her right hand she holds a stylus, in the left a tablet. outline colorless figures of value, "$ " in upper corners, surrounded by curved ornaments. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," in white shaded letters on the sides, and above "_u. s. postage_" in dark letters, value, "_six dollars_" in outline colorless letters in label, on vertically lined ground. color, light blue. nine dollars. minerva, the goddess of wisdom, full robed, in curved niche, bordered by a colorless line with horizontally and diagonally lined ground. the left hand is placed across her breast, holding a portion of her toga; the right is grasping a spear. figures of value "$ " in upper corners, in foliated ornaments. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," on sides in outline colorless and shaded italics, and above in small colored letters, on the lined ground, "_u. s. postage_." value, "_nine dollars_," also in letters shaded on the face, below on scroll. beneath is a large " " in curved foliated ornaments. color, orange. twelve dollars. vesta, goddess of the fireside, full robed in curved niche, with horizontally lined ground, and bordered by a colorless line. the left hand lifts her drapery; the right holds a burning lamp. figures of value, "$ " in upper corners on tablets. value, "_twelve dollars_" also in colorless letters on beaded frame beneath. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," on solid (sic), italic letters on sides, and "_u. s. postage_" in small white letters above. frame of vertical lines. color, rich green. twenty-four dollars. goddess of peace in curved niche, bordered by a colorless line, and on horizontally lined ground, a half naked figure leaning against a broken column. she holds in her right hand an olive branch, while her left grasps three arrows. the value, "_twenty-four dollars_" is in colorless letters beneath, on a solid tablet; also in figures "$ " in ornamented curves in upper corners. inscriptions, "_u. s. postage_" in white shaded letters above, and "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_" on the sides between which latter and each upper corner is a six-pointed star. the back ground is vertically lined. the ornaments bordered by a colorless line. color, purplish shade. thirty-six dollars. figure representing commerce, in full garments, in curved niche, bordered by a colorless line with hatched background. she holds in her left hand the _caduceus_, the winged rod of mercury, in her right a miniature ship. figures of value, "$ " in the upper corners and "_thirty-six dollars_" in ornamented capitals below, in two lines. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," also in ornamented capitals on sides and "_u. s. postage_" in colorless capitals above. the frame is vertically lined. color, dull red. forty-eight dollars. hebe, the goddess of youth, partly draped in curved niche with colorless border and horizontally lined ground. the right hand holds a cup, which she is offering to the eagle around whose neck is thrown her left arm. shaded figures of value, "$ " on shields in the upper corners, the word "_postage_" between in colorless capitals on solid label. the value, "_forty-eight dollars_" also in colorless letters below on solid ground, in curved ornaments. the letters "_u._" and "_s._" in colorless circles between the corners and side inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," the latter being in colorless letters on solid curved labels. frame vertically lined. color, light brown. sixty dollars. vignette of an indian maiden, standing in a rectangular frame. she is robed from her waist downward. her right arm is extended, while her left hangs by her side. the background is a landscape. trees and vines to the left, and wigwams to the right in the distance, bordered by a colorless line between fine colored lines. figures of value, "$ " on shields in the upper corners. value, "_sixty dollars_" also in white letters on solid tablets below. inscriptions, "_newspapers_," "_periodicals_," in white on solid labels on the sides. "_u. s._" in colorless capitals on the ground, and "_postage_" on a band in colored letters above. ground vertically lined. color, rich purple. # # # # # post office department, office of the third assistant postmaster general, division of postage stamps, stamped env. & post cards. _washington d. c., april , ._ the attention of postmasters is hereby called to the fact, that on and after the first of may proximo, under the act of march d, , matter of the second class, commonly known as newspaper and periodical matter, will be entitled to pass through the mail, at a uniform rate of cents per pound. care will be taken not to collect payment on such matter, at more than that rate. the same general regulations concerning the collection of newspaper postage, as have been heretofore promulgated will remain in force, and the same books and blanks together with the newspaper and periodical stamps, that are now outstanding will continue to be used. in future, however, the issue of the three and nine cents denominations of newspaper and periodical stamps, will be discontinued. * * * * a. d. hazen, third assistant postmaster general. act of the xlv congress, session iii, chapter , approved march rd, , sections and merely change the classification to a uniform one at the rate of two cents per pound. the act of the xlviii congress, session ii, chapter , approved march rd, , provides as stated in order no. of the postmaster general, dated april th, , "that all publications of the second class, * * * shall on and after july st, , be entitled to transmission through the mails at one cent a pound or fraction thereof. * * * to provide for wants that may arise from this change in the rate of second class postage, the department has decided to issue a newspaper and periodical stamp of the denomination of one cent, the design and color of which will be the same as those of the present series of newspaper and periodical stamps of the denomination of from to cents. stamps of this new denomination will be ready for issue by the st of june, after which all postmasters needing them will make requisition for suitable supplies." newspaper and periodical stamps. series of - . plate impression, by ½ mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . june st, , cent, black. jan. st, , cents, " to april th, . " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " carmine, " " " " " " " " " " " " " " dollar " deep brown dollars vermilion " light blue " orange dollars rich green " purplish slate " dull red " light brown " rich purple these stamps were not reprinted in , but samples ungummed and surcharged "specimen" were sold to collectors. observations. a slight change in the regulations now prohibits postmasters from selling these stamps even to publishers, but the money is received and the requisite amount in stamps placed upon the stubs and cancelled. the amount sold and the amount used in an office should now correspond. the stubs are sent periodically to washington with the accounts, compared and destroyed. used specimens and even unused specimens are likely to grow rare in collections. xxvii. official stamps. a thorough understanding of the use of these stamps will best be obtained by a brief review of the system it for a time supplanted, which was briefly designated as the "franking privilege." as early as the st session of the second congress the necessity and propriety of providing for the carriage of official correspondence and the correspondence of government officers and members of congress upon public business was recognized, and chapter , section , approved february st, , of the acts of that sessions provided: "that the following letters and packets and no others shall be received and conveyed by post, free of postage under such restrictions as are hereinafter provided, that is to say: all letters and packages to or from the president or vice-president of the united states, and all letters and packages not exceeding ounces in weight, to or from any member of the senate or house of representatives, the secretary of the senate, or clerk of the house of representatives, during their actual attendance in any session of congress, and twenty days after such session, all letters to and from the secretary of the treasury and his assistant; comptroller, register and auditor of the treasury, treasurer, secretary of state, secretary of war, the committee for settling accounts between the united states and individual states, the postmaster general and his assistant. provided that no person shall frank or enclose any letter or packet other than his own, but any public letter or packet from the department of the treasury may be franked by the secretary of the treasury, or the assistant secretary, or by the comptroller, register, auditor or treasurer, and that each person before named shall deliver to the post office, every letter or packet enclosed to him, which may be directed to any other person, noting the place from whence it comes by post, and the usual postage shall be charged thereon." by various acts of congress this privilege was gradually extended to various persons in the employ of the government until, in , the postmaster general stated in his report that fully , persons were authorized by the laws to enjoy this privilege. as early as , congress appropriated the sum of $ , to pay the post office department for this carriage of official correspondence. the abuses became enormous. signatures with hand stamps were even recognized. all sorts of favors were extended by persons having the privilege, to their friends. in the annual expense to the department of this free matter was estimated at $ , , . to remedy this abuse, which had the effect of preventing a proper reduction of postal rates to the general public, as the expenses of the department, including the expense of carrying official matter so-called, greatly exceeded its annual revenue, there was but one remedy--the passage of an act abolishing the franking privilege and providing by appropriation for carrying the necessary government dispatches. the act of the xlii congress, session iii, chapter , approved the th of january, , accordingly provided: "that the franking privilege be hereby abolished from and after the first day of july, anno domini , and that henceforth all official correspondence of whatever nature, and other mailable matter sent from or addressed to any officer of the government or person now authorized to frank such matter, shall be chargeable with the same rates of postage as may be lawfully imposed upon like matter sent by, or addressed to other persons. provided that no compensation or allowance shall be now or hereafter made to senators or members and delegates of the house of representatives on account of postage." the act of the xlii congress, session iii, chapter , approved march , , after appropriating so much as should be necessary of a certain sum for the purchase of postage stamps for each department, continues: "that the postmaster general shall cause to be prepared a special stamp or stamped envelope to be used only for official mail matter for each of the executive departments, and said stamp and stamped envelope shall be supplied by proper officer of said departments to all persons under its direction requiring the same for official use, and all appropriations for postage heretofore made shall no longer be available for said purpose, and all said stamps and stamped envelopes shall be sold or furnished to said several departments or clerks only at the price for which stamps and stamped envelopes of like value are sold at the several post offices." in the report of the postmaster general for the year ending june , , it is stated that: "the several acts for the repeal of the franking privilege became operative on the first of july last. the results of the first quarter of the current year are highly satisfactory and more fully verified the predictions of the friends of the repeal. * * * section of the act of march rd, , making it the duty of the postmaster general to provide official stamps and stamped envelopes for the several executive departments, has been strictly complied with. the stamps and envelopes furnished have been executed in the highest style of art and will compare favorably with those of any other country. from july st to september th of the current year the following varieties, numbers and values were issued: to whom issued. d'minat'n. number. value. the executive dep't , . the state dep't , , . the treasury dep't , , , . the war dep't , , . the navy dep't , , . the post office dep't , , , . the interior dep't , , , . the dep't of justice , , . the dep't of agriculture, , , . -- ---------- ---------- making a total of , , , . * * * * * the stamps for the departments other than the post office do not differ materially from those for sale to the public except that each department has its own distinctive color and legend. the colors are: for the executive, carmine; state department, green; treasury, velvet-brown; war, cochineal red; navy, blue; post office, black; interior, vermilion; department of justice, purple; and department of agriculture, straw color. in the stamps for the post office department the medallion head gives place to a numeral representing the value with the words "post office department" above and the denomination expressed in words below. all the official stamps correspond in denomination with those issued for the public, except in the case of the state department, for which four of higher value were made for dispatch bags. these four are of the denominations of $ , $ , $ , and $ , respectively, are of large size and printed in two colors, and bear a profile bust of the late secretary seward." elsewhere the postmaster general states that the stamps were ready the th of may, for use the st of july, . the following circular was accordingly issued to postmasters: official postage stamps and stamped envelopes. [circular to postmasters.] post office department, office of the third assistant postmaster general, division of postage stamps, stamped env. & post cards. _washington, d. c., may th, ._ "the franking privilege having been abolished, to take effect on the first day of july, , the postmaster general is required by law to provide postage stamps or stamped envelopes of special design for each of the several executive departments of the government for the prepayment of postage on official matter passing through the mails. description. in place of the heads on the regular stamps, the official stamps adopted for the post office department have conspicuous figures (numerals) to represent the denomination, with the word "_official_" above, and the word "_stamp_" below. these printed in black, and resting on an oval shaped background, render the stamps especially distinctive, and leave no good excuse for confounding them with the other stamps. to further distinguish them, the name of the department is printed across the top in lieu of the words "u. s. postage." there is also a slight difference in the ornamentation of the border. in design, the official stamps for the other departments do not differ materially from those issued for sale to the public, the profile busts are retained but each stamp has at the top the name of the particular department for which it is provided. other changes appearing in the border need not be specified. the stamps for each department have their own distinctive color, as follows: for the executive, carmine; state department, green; treasury department, velvet-brown; war department, cochineal red; navy department, blue; interior department, vermilion; department of justice, purple; department of agriculture, straw; and for the post office department, black. the official stamps will correspond in denomination with the regular stamps except that for the state department there will be four additional denominations, viz: two, five, ten and twenty dollars respectively. these additional stamps are designed from a profile bust of the late hon. william h. seward, and are of double size and printed in two colors. official stamps for postmasters. postmasters at all offices will be furnished with the official stamps of this department in suitable denominations and amounts as far as they can be supplied. the department will exercise its own discretion in filling requisitions, and will send only in such denominations and amounts, as the needs of an office may seem to require. the less important offices, say those at which the money order system has not been established, will need only three cent stamps, but comparatively few offices will require stamps above the denomination of six cents. the higher denominations will be supplied to a few of the larger offices only. postmasters will combine stamps of the most convenient denominations at hand to meet emergencies for which they may have no single stamp exactly filling the rate required." * * * * * * * edward w. barber, third assistant postmaster general. issue of july st, . the several denominations for all the departments have certain characteristics that are common to all stamps of that value, which may as well be stated once for all, to avoid repetition. with the exception of those of the post office department, the head is the same as that on the ordinary stamp of the same value then current. the value is expressed in numerals and words beneath the oval in the same numerals, letters and scrolls as on the ordinary stamps of the same value, except that in those for the post office department the numerals in the , and cents and the letters in all are a trifle smaller. the one cent has the head of franklin in an oval as described, the large " " dividing "_one cent_" on a band bordered by heavy white lines as described, but the ornament across the ends is omitted except in that for the executive and agriculture, and is lessened in that for the interior. the two cents has the head of jackson as described, the large numeral " " dividing "_two cents_" upon a scroll with white border as described, the ends of the scroll are, however, differently arranged to accommodate parts of the design. the three cents has the head of washington as described, the large " " dividing the words "_three cents_" upon a scroll as described. the six cents has the head of lincoln, the large " " dividing the words "_six cents_" upon a scroll with colorless borders as described. the seven cents has the head of stanton, the large " " dividing the words "_seven cents_" upon a label following the oval and bordered by the white line between two colored lines and ending in a curve and ball as described. the ten cents has the head of jefferson, the large " " dividing the words "_ten cents_" upon a colorless bordered scroll as described. the twelve cents has the head of clay, the large numerals " " dividing the words "_twelve cents_" in block letters following the oval bounded by the white line between two colored lines and curved back as described. the fifteen cents has the head of webster, the large numerals " " dividing the words "_fifteen cents_" upon a label bordered as described. the twenty-four cents has the head of scott, no numerals below, the words "_twenty-four_" and "_cents_" upon two labels and in block letters as described. in that for the department of agriculture the upper label is changed into a scroll with large ends curved backwards, then forwards and then downwards. the thirty cents has the head of hamilton, the large numerals " " on the shield dividing the words "_thirty cents_" in colored letters on the scroll as described. the ninety cents has the head of perry, the large numerals " " dividing the words "_ninety cents_" in block letters on a label bordered as described, but the ends have a small curve inward in those for the post office department, are square in those for the interior and navy departments, are curved inwards in that for the war department, are terminated by curves forming a point in that for the department of justice, and are square with a projecting small half circle in those for the treasury and state departments. executive. the oval containing the bust, the scroll or label and numeral are all placed upon a back-ground of vertical parallel lines so disposed as to produce the stripes of the shield or flag. above and following the oval a solid colored label inscribed in colorless capitals, "_executive_," and bounded by a white and exterior colored line terminating in a foliated ornament against the oval; foliated ornaments in the corners forming small white circles enclosing "_u._" and "_s._" on rectangularly hatched disks. plate impression, ½ by mm. in color, on white paper, perforated . cent carmine, , issued. cents " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " department of state. the oval containing the bust, the scroll or label and numeral are all placed upon a ground of parallel vertical lines. at the top these are crossed by horizontal lines at about mm. from the edge over a space of equal width, so as to form a darker band and thus form a double frame half way down where the darker frame terminates on each side in a round ball, except in the cents, which has the dark frame all the way round. in the values with scrolls "_u._" on the left, "_s._" on the right above the ends of the scrolls in large white letters shaded outside. in the values with labels the same letters in the corners below the ends of the labels, also colorless, except in the cents, in which they are crossed by parallel horizontal lines. above the ovals "_dep't of state_," in similar capitals, large at the sides and gradually decreasing towards the center. above these a fine curved colorless line between colored lines, the lower heavily shaded; beneath the letters a white ornament terminating on each side in a fleur de lis, and shaded by colored lines. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent green, , issued. cents green, , " " , " " , " " , " " , " " , " " , " " , " " , " " , " to these are added the four higher values of larger size. these have a large profile head of wm. h. seward, facing to the left, on a hatched ground forming an oval disk, with a ground of fine parallel lines all printed in black. the lines are arranged to form a panelled triangle in the upper corners, the lines being horizontal and light in the borders and thickened to form the darker panels which contain a foliated ornament. on a broad colorless, curved label, with rounded ends, "_department of_" in outline roman capitals shaded at top by curved parallel colored lines, a series of curved parallel colored lines filling the lower part of the label. beneath this, in outlined pearled capitals, following the label and shaded outside, "_state_." at the sides bunches of rods tied above and below with crossed bands with "_u. s. a._" in colorless letters below each. across the bottom a hatched label with colorless borders inscribed in colorless letters shaded outside with the value. plate impression by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . two dollars, black and green, , issued. five " " " " ten " " " " twenty " " " " treasury department. the oval containing the portraits, the scrolls or labels and large numerals are placed on a background of vertical parallel lines arranged to form a drapery with fringes, cords and tassels, and a panel similar to the state department stamps. at the top a label indicated by a colorless line curved up at the ends and terminating above in foliated ornaments, is inscribed "_treasury_" in the same letters as the other official stamps with "_u. s._" beneath the left end and "_dept._" beneath the right end. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent velvet-brown, , , issued. cents " , , " " " , , " " " , , " " " , " " " , , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " the shades of these stamps vary somewhat in depth, some specimens having a spotted appearance as if the ink did not work well. war department. the oval containing the bust, the scrolls or labels and numerals are placed on a back ground of parallel vertical lines above and below, horizontal on the sides. in the upper corners "_u._" on the left, "_s._" on the right. a curved solid label bordered by a cord, cuts off the upper corners and is inscribed on the left "_war_" on right "_dept._" in the usual capitals. the lines of the sides are arranged to show the stripes of the flag. a shield on each side above the scrolls or beneath the labels. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent cochineal red, , , issued. cents " , , " " " , , " " " , , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " the shades of these stamps vary somewhat in intensity, some being much lighter and some darker than ordinary. navy department. the ovals containing the busts, the labels or scrolls and large numerals are placed on a ground of vertical parallel lines. a large, six-pointed star in each upper corner, and a smaller one on each side. a cable runs round the sides and top. the words "_navy_" on the left and "_dept._" on the right in the usual capitals across the upper corners and a losenge with "_u._" on the left and "_s._" on the right shaded in the lower corners and placed diagonally above the scrolls or below the labels. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, ultramarine-blue, , issued. cents " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " post office department. the oval as before stated contains a large numeral of value instead of the head with the word "_official_" above and "_stamp_" below, on a plain colorless ground. same labels or scrolls and numerals rather smaller below as in the stamps of other departments, with small circular disks bearing "_u._" and "_s._" on the left and right above the scrolls or under the labels. in the , , , and cents these small disks are shaded by vertical lines, in the other values by diagonal lines, and the letters are filled with horizontal lines. around the top of the oval a solid colored label bordered by colorless lines and inscribed "_post office department_." there is a small circle with four horizontal lines, and shaded outside in each upper corner, all on a ground of parallel vertical lines. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent black, , , issued. cents " , " " " , , " " " , , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " two complete series of these stamps may be found, the one on white paper, the other having the surface tinted with the ink of the stamp, also intermediate or partly tinted specimens, showing that the tinting probably results from imperfect wiping of the plates. department of the interior. the ovals containing the heads, the scrolls, labels and large numerals are placed on a ground of vertically ruled lines, crossed in parts to form heavy shadows and showing stripes at the sides, small shields above the ends of the scrolls and below the ends of the labels, bearing the "_u._" and "_s._" lined and shaded. a large, six-pointed star in the upper corners. a broad, colorless band doubly curved and following in part the outline of the oval above, inscribed in lined and shaded roman capitals, "_dept. of the interior_." plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent vermilion, , issued. cents " , , " " " , , " " " , , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " department of justice. the ovals containing the heads, bands, scrolls and large numerals are placed on a ground of vertically ruled lines. six pointed stars with the letters "_u._" and "_s._" above the ends of the scrolls or under the ends of the labels. diagonally in small capitals in the upper left corner, "_dept._" in the right "_of_" and in larger capitals following the line of the oval, "_justice_" all in outline roman capitals heavily shaded, on the ground without bands. the oval, stars, scrolls, etc., are also heavily shaded. plate impression ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, purple, , issued. cents, " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " the color varies very slightly in intensity. department of agriculture. the ovals containing the heads, bands scrolls and large numerals are placed upon a ground of vertically ruled lines, showing stripes at the sides. a solid label curved with the oval above bounded by a colorless line and rounded at the ends, is inscribed "_agriculture_" in outlined capitals. in small similar capitals in the upper left corner, "_dept. of_" in two lines. in the upper right corner in monogram, "_u. s._" plate impression, ½ by mm., in color, on white paper, perforated . cent, straw, , issued. cents " , " " " , " cents, straw, , issued. " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " " " , " by the appropriation acts each year from the act of the june, , a certain amount was annually appropriated to each department for the purchase from the post office department of such of these official stamps as were necessary for the use of the department and its subordinate officers. by the th section of the act of the xlivth congress, session i, chapter , approved the th of august, , it was enacted. "that the secretaries respectively of the departments of state, treasury, war, navy and interior and the attorney general are authorized to make requisition upon the postmaster general for the necessary amount of postage stamps for the use of their departments not exceeding the amount stated in the estimates submitted to congress, and upon presentation of proper vouchers therefore at the treasury, the amount thereof shall be credited to the appropriation for the post office department for the same fiscal year." this was the beginning of an entire change in the method of crediting the post office department for work done in carrying official correspondence. by the act of xlivth congress, session ii, chapter , approved march , , the law was modified in the following terms: sec. . that it shall be lawful to transmit through the mail, free of postage any letters, packages or other matter relating exclusively to the business of the government of the united states: provided that every such letter or package to entitle it to pass free shall bear over the words "official business" an endorsement, showing also the name of the department, and if from a bureau or office, the names of the department and bureau or office, as the case may be, whence transmitted. and if any person shall make use of any such official envelope to avoid the payment of postage on his private letter, package or other matter in the mail, the person so offending shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of three hundred dollars, to be prosecuted in any court of competent jurisdiction. sec. . that for the purpose of carrying this act into effect it shall be the duty of each of the executive departments of the united states to provide for itself and its subordinate officers the necessary envelopes, and in addition to the endorsement designating the department in which they are to be used, the penalty for the unlawful use shall be stated thereon. sec. . that senators, representatives and delegates in congress, the secretary of the senate and clerk of the house of representatives may send and receive through the mail all public documents printed by order of congress, and the name of each senator, representative, delegate, secretary of the senate, and clerk of the house, shall be written thereon with the proper designation of the office he holds, and the provisions of this section shall apply to each of the persons mentioned therein until the first day of december following the expiration of their terms of office. by this act the use of official stamps upon mail matter _from_ the departments, bureaus and offices was practically abolished, but official stamps continued to be used by postmasters and other subordinate officers in their mail matter _to_ the departments or each other on official business. by the th section of the act of the xlvth congress, chapter , approved march d, , it was enacted that,-- "the provisions of the th and th sections of the act entitled, an act establishing post routes and for other purposes, approved march d, , for the transmission of official mail matter, be and they are hereby extended to all officers of the united states government, and made applicable to all official mail matter transmitted between any of the officers of the united states, or between any such officer and either of the executive departments or officers of the government, the envelopes of such matter in all cases to bear appropriate endorsements containing the proper designation of the office from which the same is transmitted, with a statement of the penalty for their misuse. and the provisions of said th and th sections are hereby likewise extended and made applicable to all official mail matter sent from the smithsonian institution. provided, that this act shall not extend or apply to pension agents, or other officers who receive a fixed allowance for their services, including expenses for postage." in his report for the fiscal year ending june , , d. m. key, postmaster general, had already stated that,-- "the amount of matter sent through the mails free is very large, adding greatly to our expenditures and giving us no revenue. the franking privilege has been restored to the members and chief officers of congress, so as to allow them to send free almost anything which they were ever allowed to transmit through the mails free, except letters. tons upon tons of books, documents, seeds, shrubs and the like are placed in our mails free of cost, on this score. the official letters of the executive departments of the general government, their documents, etc., go free through the mails." the operation of the act of , however, greatly increased the amount of free matter, and decreased the use of official stamps. the post office department discontinued their use entirely. in a circular dated, washington, d. c., april nd, , and signed by a. d. hazen, third assistant postmaster general, it is stated that: "the department will begin the issue on may st next, of envelopes for official business which will secure the free transmission through the mails of all official matter and which are intended to supercede the post office envelopes now in use, as well as official postage stamps and official stamped envelopes. accordingly the issue of official stamps and official stamped envelopes will be discontinued on and after the date named. * * * the stock of post office envelopes now in the hands of postmasters will continue until exhausted to be used as heretofore by the attachment of official postage stamps. so also official stamped envelopes now in the hands of postmasters at presidential offices will be used as heretofore until exhausted." this circular, of course, applies only to stamps, etc., of the post office department. the other departments continued to use them for certain purposes, though none were issued to the executive department. the report of the postmaster general for the year ending june th, , says: "the use of official stamps and stamped envelopes was wholly discontinued by this department and substantially so by the other departments on the th of june, , under the act authorizing the use of official penalty envelopes." by the act of the xlviiith congress, session i, chapter , section , approved july , , the provisions of the act of , were substantially re-enacted with the addition that any department or officer authorized to use the penalty envelopes, might enclose them to any person from whom an answer was requested, and might register any letter required by law, or the regulations to be registered free, and might receive any letter partly paid free, and added that: "section of the revised statutes of the united states so far as the same relates to stamps and stamped envelopes for official purposes is hereby repealed." to this the report of the postmaster general for , adds: "the use of official postage stamps and stamped envelopes having ceased on the th of june, , and the same having been declared invalid for postages by the act of july th, , the stock remaining in the hands of the stamp and envelope contractors was destroyed in february last, under the supervision of the committee appointed by the postmaster general." from the report of this committee it appears that they destroyed in all, , , official stamps, and , , of ordinary and newspaper stamps that had ceased to be of use. also that about ½ per cent of all the stamps manufactured annually, are destroyed, a single imperfect specimen on the "sheet" of causing the rejection of at least fifty or half the sheet. xxviii. official seals. the post office department of the united states, besides the stamps for the collection of postage, has employed from time to time for special usages certain seals which, as they are adhesive and in the form of postage stamps and officially used, are here described, although they are of no postal value and not properly stamps, but are all employed to indicate that the packages which bear them are properly secured and have not been tampered with in transit. registered package seal. this is a large rectangular seal ½ by mm., in the form of an adhesive stamp duly gummed and perforated. after the letters or parcels of registered letters were duly placed in the large registered package envelopes employed for the purpose, one of these seals was firmly secured over the tongue of the envelope and duly stamped with the date of mailing. it is simply an additional guarantee to the receiving office that the package has not been opened since it was sealed at the sending office. a circular announcing its issue and directing its use was issued from the office of the third assistant postmaster general at washington, dated february , . a second circular from the same office dated , without stating the month or day, announces the adoption of a differently constructed envelope and the abandonment of the use of the registered seal. issue of february , . large, oblong, rectangular seals, having in the middle a circular disk with ground of fine concentric circles, so broken as to present the appearance of white rays, bounded by two heavier, but still fine colored lines, separated by a colorless line, and and a broad colorless band with exterior colored line, inscribed in plain block, colored capitals, above "_stamp here_," below, "_date_" and "_place of mailing_" separated by a small maltese cross on each side. on each side of this is a ground of horizontal lines bordered by a heavy colored line with ornamental triangles of solid color, with colorless geometric lines forming the corners. outside all a single colored line. on the ground in three lines of colored capitals, on each side are the inscriptions: on the left, reading from the bottom to the top, "_post office_," "_department_"; on the right, reading from the top to the bottom, "_united states_," "_of america_"; in the upper corner triangles "_u. s._" in monogram; in the lower, "_p. o. d._" in white capitals. across the middle of the whole stamp in large block capitals ½ mm. high and shaded by horizontal lines is the word "_registered_." plate impression, ½ by mm., printed in color, on white paper, perforated . no value, green. a second seal employed for a time by the united states postage stamp agency upon the packages of stamps sent out to postmasters, was equally an additional guarantee against opening or tampering with the package. issue of (end) . a large rectangle bearing in the center the monogram, "_u. s._" in large colorless capitals in an oval of geometric colored lines, surrounded by a ground of interlaced colorless geometric lines on color. a frame of fifteen colored parallel lines crossing in the angles. a clover leaf of geometric work, also in the corners. on the frame above in large colorless capitals, "_u. s. postage stamp agency_," all in brown. a black surcharge of eight lines reads: "_postmasters receiving this package--will please--note its condition--if showing signs of having been tam--pered with, report the same and return--this package to d asst. p. m. general, at--washington, d. c. this package--should be opened at the end. e. w. barber, d asst. p. m. g._" lithographed in color on white paper, but not perforated, by mm. no value, brown and black. this was afterwards changed by merely changing the signature to "_a. d. hazen, d asst. p. m. g._" and the surcharge to vermilion. lithographed in color on white paper and not perforated. no value, brown and vermilion. [the latter are still in use. dec., ' ]. a third seal was employed by the dead letter office at washington, and afterwards by other offices, to reseal letters opened at that office or broken in the mails. it was placed upon the flap of the envelope of letters opened at the dead letter office, in order to ascertain the name of the sender, or on letters opened by the wrong persons through mistake, or upon the torn places of other packages. issue of (beginning of) . a large rectangle with small head of liberty, full face in an oval by mm. in the center. above in curved line of colored block letters, "_post office department_," below in double curve of old english colored letters, "_united states of america_." on each side of the oval a solid label bearing in large colorless letters on left, "_officially_," on right "_sealed_." in the corners "_u. s._" in monogram. the frame is a broad band mm. wide, vertically lined forming a rectangle with rounded corners, double lined outside and inside and shaded. the ground is covered with the words "_post obitum_" repeated in whole or part times, in horizontal lines. on the frame below "national bank note company new york" in small colored letters. plate impression, in color, on white paper, ¼ by mm., perforated . no value, brown. issue of . the foregoing stamp was replaced in , by another of the same design, but the words "_post obitum_" in the ground are replaced by a pattern of interlaced circles. the same name on the frame. plate impression, in color, on white paper, ¼ by mm., perforated . no value, brown. xxix. reprints. there seems to have been no special law authorizing the postmaster general to issue reprints of the stamps of the united states, or as the authorities choose to call them, "specimen postage stamps." on the other hand his general authority under the law is sufficient to make any re-issue for postal purposes of any of the issues of the department legal, for none of them except the official stamps have ever been made invalid for postal purposes by any authority but his own, and this authority he undoubtedly has also. it has always seemed expedient to the department to issue certain specimens of the stamps and envelopes in circulation, or to be circulated, from time to time, in the proper, as well as in trial colors. it has been said that it being considered expedient to exhibit at the centennial exhibition a complete series of all the various issues authorized from time to time, by the department, as a part of its history, and unused specimens not being easily obtained, the old dies and plates were taken from their places of storage in order to print the necessary specimens, and that the department having been solicited to furnish collectors with specimens of its old issues, took this opportunity to provide itself to satisfy these demands. it was, however, a mistaken kindness and unused originals were not unattainable. so that for exhibition purposes even reprinting was not necessary. besides as the reprints or specimens of all except the current series, are in some respects or other unlike the originals, they were really only so many tolerably accurate pictures of what had been. when the department was ready to furnish collectors with these doubtful boons the following official circular was issued: specimen postage stamps. post office department, office of third assistant postmaster general, div. of postage stamps, st'ped envelopes & postal cards. _washington, d. c., march , ._ the department is prepared to furnish upon application, at face value, specimens of adhesive postage stamps issued under its auspices as follows: ordinary stamps for use of the public. . issue of . denominations, and cents. value of set, cents. . issue of . denominations, , , , , , , and cents; also two separate designs of cent carrier stamps. value of set, $ . . . issue of . denominations, , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . . issue of . denominations, , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . . issue of (current series). denominations, , , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . official stamps. . executive. denominations, , , , and cents. value of set, cents. . department of state. denominations, , , , , , , , , , and cents, and $ , $ , $ and $ . value of set, $ . . treasury department. denominations, , , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . war department. denominations, , , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . navy department. denominations, , , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . post office department. denominations, , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . . department of the interior. denominations, , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . . department of justice. denominations, , , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . . department of agriculture. denominations, , , , , , , , and cents. value of set, $ . . newspaper and periodical stamps. . issue of . denominations, , and cents. value of set, cents. . issue of . denominations, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , cents, $ . , $ , $ , $ , $ , $ , $ , $ and $ . value of set, $ . . the and stamps are obsolete, and no longer receivable for postage. the subsequent issues of ordinary stamps are still valid. the newspaper and periodical stamps of are also uncurrent; those of the issue of can be used only by publishers and news agents for matter mailed in bulk under the act of june rd, . the official stamps cannot be used except for the official business of the particular department for which it is provided. all the specimens furnished will be ungummed, and the official stamps will have printed across the face the word "specimen" in small type. it will be useless to apply for gummed stamps or for official stamps with the word "specimen" omitted. the stamps will be sold by sets, and application must not be made for less than one full set of any issue except the state department official stamps and newspaper and periodical stamps of the issue of . the regular set of the former will embrace all the denominations from cent to cents inclusive, valued at $ ; and any or all of the other denominations ($ , $ , $ and $ ) will be added or sold separately from the regular set as desired. the newspaper and periodical stamps will be sold in quantities of not less than two dollars worth in each case, of any denomination or denominations that may be ordered. under no circumstances will stamps be sold for less than their face value. payment must invariably be made in advance in current funds of the united states. mutilated currency, internal revenue and postage stamps, bank checks and drafts, will not be accepted, but will in all cases be returned to the sender. to insure greater certainty in the transmission, it is strongly urged that remittances be made either by money order or registered letter. applicants will also include a sufficient amount for return postage and registry fee, it being desirable to send stamps by registered letter. losses in the mails or by any mode of transmission must be at the risk of the purchaser. [symbol: right index] applications must be addressed to "the third assistant postmaster general, washington, d. c." specimens of stamped envelopes will not be furnished in any case. e. w. barber, third assistant postmaster general. here is truly a pretty kettle of fish. the proceedings do not seem to have been reported by the department, and there seems to have been no account rendered of this peculiar transaction of the stamp office. doubtless the amounts received for these specimens and the number of them sold are blended in the accounts of the number of stamps sold and no loss accrued to the service. the public are not, however, informed of the extent of the transactions, and judging from the difficulty of finding these specimens in collections, the business was not large. there was no law preventing any one from purchasing either the newspaper or periodical stamps from the post office, and at the time there was probably no regulation of the department which prevented postmasters from selling them to all desirous of purchasing. certainly some were sold to dealers and collectors. hence the privilege of purchasing the current newspaper and periodical stamps _without gum_ for the same price that actual and complete copies could be obtained, particularly in view of the fact that the purchaser, unless a publisher or agent, could not use them when so purchased, even if he were willing to gum them himself, was probably not largely taken advantage of. the specimens when found can hardly be called reprints and cannot be distinguished from the ordinary stamps that have by some accident lost their gum. there is reason to believe that some of them have been adorned with this appendage by private parties, so that the presence of gum is no guarantee of genuineness. as, however, they are only partly finished stamps of the regular issue, no great harm is done if a specimen is treasured in a collection. with the newspaper stamps of the issue the facts are different. while they are from the same plates apparently, they can generally be detected by the color. as the five cents with white border does not appear in the list of reprints or "specimens" the series was not, after all, complete, and the possessor of this stamp may feel confident of possessing an original. the companion five cents with colored border is exactly of the same color, varying only in different specimens of either variety in depths of color. the blue of the reprints is of a different shade, more intense and perhaps the difference can best be expressed by saying there is a _bloom_ about it that there is not about the originals. when the two are placed side by side the homely expression that the "new is worn off" of the originals will serve to express the difference, though in point of fact they never had the brightness of the reprints. the same remarks apply to the old and new ten cent values. the color of the cents, is, however, very badly imitated, the originals have a yellowish-red cast, the reprint is a dull common red. a very good idea of it might be had by comparing what are called salmon brick and pressed brick together. unfortunately some unscrupulous parties have "experimented" with the reprints and thus rendered some specimens rather harder to distinguish, but so far as the observation of the writer goes, comparison with originals will always satisfactorily expose the difference. the extreme anxiety of the department that the revenue of the service should not suffer by the use of a private party of an official stamp for which he had paid the department full value, led as the advertisement states to the placing of the word "specimen" in small type across the face, and thereby saved the collector any trouble in identifying "specimens" from originals, though as the stamps were current the omission of the gum only reduced them to partly finished stamps, and not to the category of reprints or counterfeits. of the "ordinary stamps for the use of the public," the th or issue was then current, and why ungummed stamps which the circular says were never the less available for postage, should have been sold when the department had a large supply of finished originals at command, is a mystery to all but official minds. the th or series presents greater difficulties to the collector who desires to have only genuine originals. made by the same company that produced the originals, and only a short time afterwards, the processes of printing, ink and paper making had not materially changed, but the reprints show signs of more careful workmanship. notwithstanding the circular some of them at least were sent out by the department gummed. but strange to say as noticed by mr. coster (a. j. p. page ) the gum of the originals "varied from decidedly brownish to almost white" and "on the - issues of the reprints (as also on the eagles) simple gum arabic seems to have been used, the color being perfectly white. furthermore, if the stamps are bent at all, the gum cracks, which is in no case true of the originals." mr. coster further says, "the originals all had the grille and the reprints have not." unfortunately, mr. coster was not aware that the four higher values at least, with the brownish gum and without the grille, and undoubtedly original, existed in collections before the reprints were made, and have since been officially stated to have been so issued, and other values also in that condition are known, which have every appearance of being originals. unfortunately also, it is not very difficult to remove the gum, imitate the grille or not and regum the stamp with brownish gum. such experiments have been made with fair success by members of that fraternity who exist by the trade in bogus antiquities and counterfeit evidences of value, who sometimes do these little things merely to experience the delight they feel in deceiving the so-called experts, especially when as in this case a known reprint is almost unsalable, but if it can be made to pass as an original its value is increased several hundred fold and its salable qualities many times more. fortunately there are not a large number of the reprints to encounter and grilled specimens are in all probability original. the d or issue was also made by the same company that did the reprinting. the originals were issued first without the grille and afterwards with it, both had the brownish gum. the reprints have the same perforation and, notwithstanding the circular, were issued both without the gum and with the white stiff gum noticed above. originals without the grille are rarely on tinted or surfaced paper, though sometimes smurched in parts from careless wiping of the plates. originals with the grille are generally on lightly tinted or surfaced paper and the colors are usually stronger than the earlier ones. the reprints were without the grille, but the colors are rather those of the grilled originals, the paper is however whiter, the printing more carefully worked, and there is the new look about them noticed when speaking of the reprints of the newspaper series of . sheets of the one cent reprinted show the printer's imprint on the sides and of the pattern of that on the issue. all the originals of this value probably had the imprint of the other pattern, and at the top or bottom. the reprints are therefore, probably from new plates. a few reprints with a forged grille have come under the observation of the writer, but as the grille was the small grille imitated from that on the issue it was easily detected. the nd or issue, as it is called in the circular, actually consisted of two series, the imperforate and perforate. imperforate reprints were not furnished. the originals were perforated to the mm. or to the / of an inch. the reprints were perforated to the mm. or to the / of an inch. this is the perforation of the series and of most of the u. s. stamps. this is an absolute test then for perforated specimens. attempts are, however, made to palm off trimmed reprints as imperforate specimens. the originals are on a yellowish paper and with brown gum. the reprints on a very white paper originally but easily manipulated to yellowish. the reprint of the one cent is from a new plate, the stamps have the outside fine labels of the original imperforate series, but are set farther apart on the plate so that even the larger perforation used does not cut into the stamp. the blue is too bright. the reprinted three cents has the outer top and bottom lines of the original imperforate stamp. the stamps do not seem to have been set quite far enough apart on the plate, as most specimens are somewhat marred by the large perforation. the color is however a vermilion and not the brick-red, pink or carmine of the originals. the reprinted five cents is from plate no. without the top and bottom projection, and the stamps being too near together are marred by the large perforation. the color is a decided yellow brown, unlike any of the shades of the original. it would probably be impossible to remove the perforation so as to make this stamp pass for an imperforate specimen and then it would lack the projection of the original. the ten and twelve cents are harder to distinguish, the green is too green, the black too black. the twenty-four, thirty and ninety cents were not issued imperforate (except the very rare instances of the cents) and are not likely to deceive any one, their colors, however, are the more brilliant new colors and not the old dull colors of the originals. the reprinted "eagle" carrier's stamp was first sent out perforated , the original was, of course, imperforate, and the stamps upon the sheet were separated by colored lines. the perforations of the reprints made sad havoc with these. later the reprints were sent out imperforate. such originals as the present writer has seen are on a yellowish tinted paper arising probably from the gum or age, the reprints are on a paper blued on the printed side by the ink of the stamp and with a blue cast at the back. the reprinted "franklin" carrier's stamp is on too deep a pink paper and the dark blue ink is not deep and dull enough. finally the only safe test of any of these stamps is comparison with undoubted originals, in every case of doubt. the first or reprints are not from the original plates nor even from the original dies, but from newly engraved dies, and hence are absolutely worthless as representing the originals. they are not reprints, but official imitations. in speaking of this issue it was stated that the department had ordered all remainders to be burnt and the plates and dies destroyed. supposing this to have been done reprinting was impossible. to take the place of the originals, new dies were made. the imitations are both wider and shorter than the originals. the foliated ornaments are too conspicuous in both. the small letters, r. w. h. and e. in the margins, though clear in the originals are too small, and particularly in the five cents almost illegible, being too light, and apparently the engraver did not know whether to make an r or an h, an m or a w, an h or an n, an e or an f. these are the general and common differences. the five cents. the hair on the right of the head (left of the stamp) is in heavy dark masses in the original, but is too light, open and airy in the imitation. the mouth prolonged in the original beyond the dot on the right, ends with it in the imitation, in which there is a second dot to the right of the first. the eyes are clear and distinct in the original, with perhaps too much white in the right one, they are weak undecided eyes in the imitation. the shirt front in the original is terminated by a diagonal line which reaches the oval above the top of the f of "five" in the original, but is more nearly horizontal in the imitation, reaching the oval nearly on a line with the top of the . the ten cents. in the hair on the right of the stamp there is a small, white circle with a dark center in the imitation which does not appear in the original. the lips are larger and the mouth longer in the original than the imitation, but in the latter the lower lip is indicated throughout by vertical lines, in the original there are three vertical lines, the rest indicated by points. in the original the white cravat is separated from the inner colored line marking the oval by a fine white line with a colored line above it; in the imitation the line of the oval terminates the cravat. the lines of the face are all too stiff and ridged and the execution does not compare in delicacy and boldness of touch with the original. index. agriculture department; , alexandria; , baltimore; , , baltimore, horseman; brattleboro; , , carrier stamps; , , , , compulsory prepayment; , , eight cents, newspapers, ; eighty-four cents, newspapers, ; executive department; , fifteen cents, ; , , , " , medium grille; , , " , small grille; , , " ; , " ; , , " ; " ; " official; fifty cents, postage due; five cents, ; , , , " ; , , " ; , , " ; , , , " ; , , , " ; " ; " ; " ; " newspapers, ; " postage due; five dollars, state department; four cents, ; , , " newspapers, ; forty-eight cents, " ; forty-eight dollars," ; grille of ; , , " ; " ; interior dep't; , introduction; issue of ; , , " ; , , , , , " ; , " ; , " ; , " ; , " ; , , , " ; , " ; , " ; , " ; , " ; , , , " ; , , " ; , " ; " ; " ; " ; " ; , , " ; " ; justice dep't; , millbury; , navy dep't; , newspaper and periodical, ; , " " " cts.; " " " cts.; " " " cts.; " " ; new haven; , , new york; , , , , , new york "u. s. mail"; nine cents, newspapers, ; , , nine dollars, " " ; ninety cents, ; , , " ; , , , " ; , , , " ; , " ; , , " ; " ; , " official; ninety-six cents, newspapers, ; official stamps; official seals; officially sealed; one cent carrier, eagle; , , , " " franklin; , , , " ; , , , " ; , , " ; , , , , " , medium grille; , " , small grille; , , , " ; , " ; , , , " ; " ; " ; " ; " ; " ; " ; " newspaper, ; " official; " postage due; one dollar and ninety-two cents, newspaper, ; philadelphia; pittsfield; postage due; " , , , ; " , , ; postmarks; to post obitum; post office department; postmasters stamps; , providence; , , registered seals; registered seals for stamp packages; reprints; st. louis; , , , " cents; " " ; " " ; " " ; seven cents, ; , , , , , , " ; " official; seventy-two cents, newspapers, ; six cents, ; , " ; , , , , " ; , " ; , , " ; " ; " newspapers, ; " official; sixty cents, newspapers, ; sixty dollars, newspapers, ; six dollars, newspapers, ; specimen postage stamps; special delivery; state department; , ten cents, ; , , , " ; , , " ; , , " ; , , " , medium grille; , " , small grille; , , , " ; , " ; , , , " ; " ; " ; , " ; " ; " newspapers, ; " official; " postage due; " special delivery; ten dollars, state; thirty cents, ; , , , " ; , , , " ; , , , " ; , " ; , , " ; " ; " official; " postage due; thirty-six cents, newspapers, ; thirty-six dollars, newspapers, ; three cents, ; , , , " ; , , " ; , , , " grilled all over; , " " large grille; , " " medium grille; , " " small grille; , , , " " imperforate; , " ; , " ; , , , " ; , " ; " ; , , , " ; " - ; " official; " newspapers, ; , , " postage due; three dollars, newspapers, ; treasury dept; , twelve cents, ; , , , " ; , , " ; , , " medium grille; , " small grille; , , , " ; , " ; , , , , , " ; " newspapers, ; " official; twelve dollars, newspapers, ; twenty dollars, state; twenty-four cents, ; , , " " ; , , , " " ; , , , " " ; , , , " " ; , " " ; , , , , " " ; " " newspapers, ; " " official; twenty-four dollars, newspapers, ; two cents, ; , , " , medium grille; , " , small grille; , , , " , imperforate; , " ; , " ; , , , " ; " ; " ; " ; , " ; , , " official; " newspaper; " postage due; two dollars, state; uniform postage; unpaid letter stamps; unperforated specimens, ; " " ; u. s. mail; u. s. city dispatch post; , war department; , washington; , worcester; the =philatelic catalogue= of postage stamps, stamped envelopes and postal cards. by major edw. b. evans, r. a. this work is fully illustrated with engravings, also gives full description of all stamps, particulars as to printing, perforation, paper, watermarks, colors, as well as market price. also valuable notes by the author on subjects pertaining to the stamps. the following is the plan of the work: part . adhesives. part . stamped envelopes. part . postal cards. each part is divided into sections: section . america. section . great britain and colonies. section . europe. section . asia, africa and australasia. each section is divided into groups, the groups of part , section are now ready and are as follows: group . united states (including confederate issues). group . mexico and central america. group . u. s. of columbia and states. group . other south american countries. the price of each group is c; a new one will be published every month. the work is limited to copies and when completed will be the greatest philatelic work ever published. subscriptions received $ . per parts, until the number is reached subscribers will receive the first numbers. _c. h. mekeel, philatelic publisher,_ _room , turner building._ _st. louis, mo._ the =improved stamp album.= with a rational plan for the arrangement of a collection of stamps. copyrighted. this is a blank album manufactured expressly for the purpose. good paper is used; size of pages ½ by inches; a neat border surrounds each page and an ornamental band at top for the reception of the name of the country. neatly printed names are provided on adhesive paper. guards or stubs are bound between the pages, so that when filled it will not bulge, it is equally well adapted for postal cards, stamps or envelopes. one thousand lithographed stamp mounts are furnished with each album. the stamp mounts are on a new plan, a neat black border surrounds the stamp, and the mounts are provided in different sizes for the various stamps. no. . album pp., bound in cloth, good paper, with names and mounts $ . no. . album pp., same as above but border printed on only one side of the page $ . no. . album pp., same style as the no. , better paper, printed on one side of page $ . no. . album pp., handsomely bound in leather, superior paper, printed on one side of page $ . no. . portfolio, with sheets fine card-board, printed on one side with names and mounts $ . the album has given satisfaction wherever it has been sold. c. h. mekeel, philatelic publisher, _room , turner b'l'g_, _st. louis, mo._ the =philatelic journal of america.= a large monthly magazine published in interest of stamp collecting. contributed to, by the leading philatelic writers of the day, including, major edw. b. evans, r. a., james m. chute, john k. tiffany, edw. b. hanes, lieut. j. m. t. partello, joseph j. casey, e. b. sterling, wm. e. stone, and many others. the latest information regarding newly issued stamps and discoveries may always be found. reports of the proceedings of the leading american philatelic societies. answers to questions, and open letters on current topics, are important departments. the philatelic catalogue, by major edw. b. evans, is being published in monthly installments. subscription. sent post free, cents per annum, to united states, canada and mexico; cents per annum to all countries in the universal postal union. $ . per annum to natal, cape of good hope, transvaal and australian colonies. payment must be made in advance. subscription can commence at any time. back numbers of current volume, cents each. unbound copies, vols. i and ii. volume i. march, --february, . numbers, p., $ . volume ii. march, --february, . numbers, p., $ . _c. h. mekeel, philatelic publisher_, room , turner building, st. louis, mo. c. h. mekeel, philatelic publisher --and-- =postage stamp dealer,= solicits business relations with all philatelists. rarities are always on hand for the advanced collector. rare stamps bought for cash or taken in exchange. new issues and novelties always on hand. a fine stock of desirable stamps at very reasonable prices. selections of stamps on approval sent to responsible parties. agents wanted for the sale of stamps on liberal commission. foreign correspondence and exchange solicited. a large wholesale stock for sale by , or at lowest prices. mexican, south and central american stamps is a specialty in wholesale trade. hundreds of thousands of these stamps imported yearly. cash paid for u. s. department stamps, newspaper and periodical stamps, old u. s. envelopes, confederate and u. s. locals. large or old collections wanted for cash. send for u. s. exchange list. inquiries should contain stamp for reply. c. h. mekeel, _room , turner building_, _st. louis, mo._ # # # # # transcriber's notes: . obvious punctuation errors have been corrected without comment. . inconsistent quote marks in cited materials have been retained. mismatched quotes have been repaired. . inconsistent abbreviations, punctuation, character spacing, etc., have been made uniform. . inconsistent variations of millimeter fractions, _i. e._ / (with forward slash) and - (stacked over ), etc. have been made consistent. . right justified page numbers in the "index" have been replaced by a left justified semi-colon ";" immediately followed by the referenced page numbers. . spelling corrections: (#) shows number of times word was correctly spelled in the text. p. , "apperance" to "appearance" ( ) (has a blurred appearance) p. , "diffent" to "different" ( ) (a different design) p. , "brattleborro" to "brattleboro" ( ) (of brattleboro, vermont) p. , "seperately" to "separately" ( ) (stamp separately engraved) p. , "accomodation" to "accommodation" ( ) (as an accommodation;) p. , "impresions" to "impressions" ( ) (re-impressions in red) p. , "orignally" to "originally" ( ) (originally ruled into spaces) p. , "permiting" to "permitting" ( ) (permitting to be used) p. , "terell" to "terrell" ( ) (mr. terrell, third assistant postmaster general) p. , "goverment" to "government" ( ) (dies by the government) p. , "pastmaster" to "postmaster" ( ) (the postmaster general) p. , "postmater" to "postmaster" ( ) (unlawful for any postmaster) p. , "priviledge" to "privilege" ( ) (the franking privilege) p. , "lettters" to "letters" ( ) (amount on letters) p. , "casellar" to "cassilar" ( ) (toppan, carpenter, cassilar & co.) p. , "prolongued" to "prolonged" ( ) (right side prolonged) (this correction is noted on the publishers "errata" page) p. , "vermillion" to "vermilion" ( ) (with yellowish vermilion) p. , "millemetres" to "millimetres" ( ) (space of two millimetres) p. , "impresion" to "impression" ( ) (plate impression,) p. , "runing" to "running" ( ) (and running off to the right) p. , "botom" to "bottom" ( ) (left. top, bottom) p. , "newpapers" to "newspapers" ( +) (through the newspapers) p. , "immediatly" to "immediately" ( ) (immediately after the expiration) p. , "ocre" to "ochre" ( ) ( cents, ochre, shades of brown.) p. , "impresion" to "impression" ( ) (plate impression,) p. , "borderded" to "bordered" ( ) (bordered by a broad) p. , "compossed" to "composed" ( ) (composed of depressed lines) p. , "ninty" to "ninety" ( ) (ninety cents, commodore) p. , "posesion" to "possession" ( ) (present issue, in possession) p. , "vermillion" to "vermilion" ( ) ( cents, vermilion.) p. , "zeverly" to "zevely" ( ) ((signed.) a. n. zevely) p. , "hurridly" to "hurriedly" ( ) (hurriedly gotten up) p. , "conspicious" to "conspicuous" ( ) (shade lines being conspicuous) p. , "improvments" to "improvements" ( ) (improvements in machinery) p. , "soild" to "solid" ( ) (broad solid colored line) p. , "whereever" to "wherever" ( ) (wherever required) p. , "beween" to "between" ( ) (colored band between) p. , "cirular" to "circular" ( ) (from the third circular) p. , "newpaper" to "newspaper" ( +) (newspaper stamps in other countries) p. , "newpapers" to "newspapers" ( +) (distribution of newspapers and periodicals) p. , "principly" to "principally" ( ) (principally at chicago) p. , "horizontically" to "horizontally" ( ) (horizontally and diagonally) p. , "ninty" to "ninety" ( ) (one dollar and ninety-two) p. , "classs" to "class" ( ) (publications of the second class) p. , "reveiw" to "review" ( ) (by a brief review) p. , "treasuay" to "treasury" ( ) (the treasury may be) p. , "ano" to "anno" ( ) (anno domini ) p. , "addional" to "additional" ( ) (four additional denominations) p. , "excercise" to "exercise" ( ) (exercise its own discretion) p. , "chocineal" to "cochineal" ( ) (war department, cochineal red;) p. , "judisdiction" to "jurisdiction" ( ) (court of competent jurisdiction) p. , "theron" to "thereon" ( ) (shall be stated thereon) p. , "transmision" to "transmission" ( ) (for the transmission of) p. , "throught" to "through" ( ) (through the mails free) p. , "attatchment" to "attachment" ( ) (attachment of official postage) p. , "genuiness" to "genuineness" ( ) (no guarantee of genuineness) p. , "newpapers" to "newspapers" ( +) (three dollars, newspapers) p. , "britian" to "britain" ( ) (great britain and colonies) . printer and typography corrections: words with missing and misprinted letters, inconsistent hyphenation, punctuation and spacing have been corrected without comment. additional corrections; p. , removed duplicate word "the" (the distances were so great) p. , removed duplicate word "the" (the lower half of a circle) p. , removed duplicate "of" (i, of r. i., and s of cents) p. - , added footnote anchor [a] (following advertising editorial[a]:) p. , removed duplicate word "be" (shall be subject to) p. , removed duplicate word "been" (to have been distributed) p. , removed duplicate word "be" (shall be deemed) p. , removed duplicate word "the" ((a) show the paper) p. , corrected duplicate instance of d^ f^{ }, to d^ f^{ }, to match established pattern of data. p. , rd through th line from bottom, changed fraction from - / to - / . p. , removed duplicate "the" (upper squares at the sides) p. , changed "e. m. barber" to "e. w. barber" to match all other instances. . word variations: "back ground" ( ), "back-ground" ( ), "background" ( ) "caracci" ( ), "carraci" ( ) "cerrachi" ( ) (misspellings appear in official documents referring to giuseppe ceracchi, aka giuseppe cirachi, the italian sculptor.) "despatch" ( ) and "dispatch" ( ) "enclose(ed)" ( ) and "inclose" ( ) (in quoted postmaster report) "extention" ( ) (as shown in quoted postal circular) "grayish" ( ) and "greyish" ( ) "lozenge" ( ) and "losenge" ( ) (middle english) "millimeter" ( ) and "millimetre(s)" ( ) "preceding" ( ) and "preceeding" ( ) "prepaid" ( ) and "prepayed" ( ) (in quoted postmaster letter) "rawdon" ( ) and "rawden" ( ) (part of a company name) "salie" ( ) and "sallie" ( ) "semi-circle" ( ) and "semicircle" ( ) "supersede(ed)" ( ) and "supercede" ( ) (in quoted postmaster report) "wyman" ( ) and "wymer" ( ) "zachary" ( ) (in text) and "zackary" ( ) (general taylor, in quoted postmaster letter) generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) the postal system of the united states and the new york general post office [illustration] _prepared and issued by_ manufacturers trust company new york brooklyn queens [illustration] the postal system of the united states and the new york general post office by thomas c. jefferies assistant secretary, manufacturers trust company copyright, , by manufacturers trust company [illustration: _honorable hubert work, postmaster general._] honorable hubert work, postmaster-general, was a practising physician for many years in colorado prior to entering government service, and was also president of the american medical association. he served as first assistant postmaster-general under postmaster-general will h. hays, his predecessor, who, upon assuming management of the post-office department, practically dedicated it as an institution for service and not for politics or profit. since that time all possible efforts have been made to humanize it. the administration of mr. hays was ably assisted by mr. work who had direct supervision of the , post-offices and more than two-thirds of all postal workers. by persistent efforts to build up the spirit of the great army of postal workers and bring the public and the post-office into closer contact and more intimate relationship, the postal system has been placed at last on a footing of _service to the public_. mr. work is an exponent of a business administration of the postal service, and representatives of the larger business organizations and chambers of commerce, from time to time, are called into conference, in order that the benefit of their suggestions and their experience may be obtained and their fullest co-operation enlisted in the campaign for postal improvement. _"messenger of sympathy and love servant of parted friends consoler of the lonely bond of the scattered family enlarger of the common life carrier of news and knowledge instruments of trade and industry promoter of mutual acquaintance of peace and good will among men and nations."_ inscription on post office building at washington, d. c. [illustration] statement prepared for the manufacturers trust company by honorable hubert work, postmaster-general the need for a more general understanding of the purpose of the postal establishment, its internal workings and the problems of operation, is paramount if it is to afford the ultimate service which it is prepared to render. the business man, whose success is definitely connected with its smooth operation, especially should be concerned with the directions for its use. the post-office functions automatically, so far as he is concerned, after he drops the letter into the slot; but before this stage is reached, a certain amount of preparation is necessary. he could scarcely expect to operate an intricate piece of machinery without first learning the various controls, and no more is it to be expected that he can secure the utmost benefit from such a diversified utility as the postal service without knowing how to use the parts at his disposal. accordingly our efforts have been directed to the circulation of essential postal information, and with the aid of the public press and the coöperation of persons and organizations using the service, the people throughout the country are now better informed on postal affairs than at any time in its history. the recognition of the human element is a recent forward step in postal administration. although the post-office has probably been the most powerful aid to the development of a social consciousness, the management until recently seems to have overlooked the relative value of the individual in the postal organism. the individual postal worker is now considered to be the unit, and the effort to maintain the service at a high standard of efficiency is based upon the betterment of his physical environment and the encouragement of the spirit of partnership by enlisting his intelligent interest in the problems of management and recognizing his real value to the postal organization. suggestions for improvement are invited and considered from those within the service as well as those without, and it is believed that a full measure of usefulness will not be attained until the american public, which in this sense includes the postal workers themselves, are convinced that the service belongs to them. [illustration] general officers of the post-office department the postmaster-general is assisted in the administration of the post-office department by four assistant postmasters-general. the first assistant postmaster-general has supervision over the postmasters, post-office clerks, and city letter carriers at all post-offices, as well as the general management of the postal business of those offices, the collection, delivery, and preparation of mail for despatch. the second assistant postmaster-general is concerned entirely with the transportation of mail by rail (both steam and electric), by air, and by water. he supervises the railway mail, air mail, foreign mail services, and adjusts the pay for carrying the mail. the third assistant postmaster-general is the financial official of the department and has charge of the money-order and registry service, the distribution of postage-stamps, and the classification of mail matter. the fourth assistant postmaster-general directs the operation of the rural delivery service, the distribution of supplies, and the furnishing of equipment for the post-offices and railway mail service. in addition to the four assistants there is a solicitor, or legal officer; a chief post-office inspector, who has jurisdiction over the traveling inspectors engaged in inspecting, tracing lost mail, and investigating mail depredations, or other misuse of the mail; a purchasing agent; a chief clerk, who supervises the clerical force at headquarters in washington; and a controller, who audits the accounts of the , postmasters. [illustration: _the postmaster general and general administration assistants._ --hon. hubert work, _postmaster general_. --hon. john h. bartlett, _first assistant postmaster general_. --hon. paul henderson, _second assistant postmaster general_. --hon. w. irving glover, _third assistant postmaster general_. --hon. h. h. billany, _fourth assistant postmaster general_. ] united states postal statistics year post- extent of gross revenue gross expenditure (fiscal) offices post-routes of department of department (number) (miles) , $ , $ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , comparison of money-orders and postal notes issued, fiscal years to , inclusive no. of domestic money-orders issued money- fiscal order year offices number value , $ , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , , . , , , , , , . --------------------------------------------------------------- no. of international money-orders postal notes issued money- issued in u. s. fiscal order year offices number value number value , $ , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , $ , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , , . , , , , . [illustration] _the post-office of general concern_ there is no governmental activity that comes so uniformly into intimate daily contact with different classes of this country's inhabitants, nor one the functioning of which touches practically the country's entire population, as does the united states postal system. mr. daniel g. roper, in a volume highly regarded by postal executives, entitled "the united states post-office," called the postal service "the mightiest instrument of human democracy." this system, as we know it to-day, represents the growth, development, and improvement of over a century and a third. in the last seventy-five years this growth has been particularly marked; the total number of pieces of all kinds of mail matter handled in , for instance, was , , ; in it was estimated that , , , pieces were handled, and to-day about , , , letters are handled every hour in the postal service. in the gross postal revenues were $ , in round numbers and the expenditures $ , . in the revenues were $ , , and expenditures $ , , . in the revenues were $ , , and the expenditures $ , , . in the revenues were $ , , and the expenditures $ , , . the revenue of the postal service for the fiscal year ending june , , including fees from money-orders and profits from postal-savings business, amounted to $ , , . , an increase of $ , , . over the receipts for the preceding fiscal year, which were $ , , . . the rate of increase in receipts for over was . per cent., as compared with an increase in over of . per cent. the audited expenditures for the year were $ , , . , an increase over the preceding year of $ , , . , the rate of increase being . per cent. the audited expenditures for the fiscal year were therefore in excess of the revenues in the sum of $ , , . , to which should be added losses of postal funds, by fire, burglary, and other causes, amounting to $ , . , making a total audited deficiency in postal revenues of $ , , . . the material increase in the deficiency over that for was due to large increases of expenditures made necessary by reason of the re-classification act allowing increased compensation estimated at $ , , to postal employees, and to increased allowances of more than $ , , for railroad mail transportation resulting from orders of the interstate commerce commission under authority of congress. the revenues of this department are accounted for to the treasury of the united states and the postmaster-general submits to congress itemized estimates of amounts necessary under different classifications; congress, in turn, makes appropriations as it deems advisable. in there were a total of officers, postmasters, and employees of all kinds in the postal service. postmaster-general work to-day directs the activities of nearly , officers and employees. the number of post-offices in the united states in was seventy-five; in the number had increased to , ; in it was , ; and on january , , there were , . the greatest number of post-offices in existence at one time was , , in , but the extension of rural delivery since its establishment in has caused, and will probably continue to cause, a gradual decrease in the number of smaller post-offices. _the post-office in colonial times_ the first colonial postmaster, richard fairbanks, conducted an office in a house in boston in to receive letters from ships. in governor lovelace of new york arranged for a monthly post between new york and boston, which appears to have been the first post-route officially established in america. much of this route was through wilderness, and the postman blazed the trees on his way so that travelers might follow his path. this route, however, was soon abandoned. in the massachusetts general court provided for certain payments to post messengers, although the first successful postal system established in any of the colonies was that of william penn, who, in , appointed henry waldy to keep a post, supply passengers with horses, etc. in the following year governor dungan of new york revived the route that had been established by governor lovelace, and, in addition, he proposed post-offices along the atlantic coast. in a post was started between certain points in connecticut. the real beginning of postal service in america seems to date from february , , when william and mary granted to thomas neale authority to conduct offices for the receipt and despatch of letters. from that time until the postal system seems to have been under the direction of andrew hamilton and his associates. in the latter year john lloyd was appointed postmaster-general, to be succeeded in by alexander spotsward. head lynch was postmaster-general from to , and elliott berger from to . in july, , the continental congress established its post-office with benjamin franklin as its first postmaster-general. mr. franklin had been appointed postmaster of philadelphia in . samuel osgood, of massachusetts, however, was the first postmaster-general under the constitution and washington's administration. from samuel osgood to hubert work there have been forty-five postmasters-general, that official becoming a member of the president's cabinet in . _fast mails of pioneer days_ post-riders and stage-coaches were the earliest means of transporting the mails, to be followed by steamboats, railway trains, and, in time, by airplanes. in considering our modern mailing methods, no feature of the development of our postal system is more striking than the improvement that has been made in methods of mail transportation. up to a few decades ago, pony express riders sped across the western part of our country, and back, carrying the "fast mail" of the days when indians and road-agents constituted a continual source of annoyance and danger to stage-coach passengers and drivers, and made the transportation of valuables extremely hazardous. the coaches carried baggage, express, and "slow mail," as well as passengers, while the "fast mail" was handled exclusively by pony riders. the inimitable mark twain has given us a great word-picture of these pony express riders, from which we quote the following: in a little while all interest was taken up in stretching our necks and watching for the "pony rider"--the fleet messenger who sped across the continent from st. joe to sacramento, carrying letters nineteen hundred miles in eight days! think of that for perishable horse and human flesh and blood to do! the pony rider was usually a little bit of a man, brimful of spirit and endurance. no matter what time of the day or night his watch came on, and no matter whether it was winter or summer, raining, snowing, hailing, or sleeting, or whether his "beat" was a level straight road or a crazy trail over mountain crags and precipices, or whether it led through peaceful regions or regions that swarmed with hostile indians, he must be always ready to leap into the saddle and be off like the wind! there was no idling time for a pony rider on duty. he rode fifty miles without stopping, by daylight, moonlight, starlight, or through the blackness of darkness--just as it happened. he rode a splendid horse that was born for a racer and fed and lodged like a gentleman; kept him at his utmost speed for ten miles, and then, as he came crashing up to the station where stood two men holding fast a fresh, impatient steed, the transfer of rider and mail-bag was made in the twinkling of an eye, and away flew the eager pair and they were out of sight before the spectator could get hardly the ghost of a look. the postage on his literary freight was worth five dollars a letter. he got but little frivolous correspondence to carry--his bag had business letters in it, mostly. his horse was stripped of all unnecessary weight, too. he wore a little wafer of a racing-saddle, and no visible blanket. he wore light shoes, or none at all. the little flat mail-pockets strapped under the rider's thighs would each hold about the bulk of a child's primer. they held many and many an important business chapter and newspaper letter, but these were written on paper as airy and thin as gold-leaf, nearly, and thus bulk and weight were economized. the stage-coach travelled about a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five miles a day (twenty-four hours), and the pony rider about two hundred and fifty. there were about eighty pony riders in the saddle all the time, night and day, stretching in a long scattering procession from missouri to california, forty flying eastward, and forty toward the west, and among them making four hundred gallant horses earn a stirring livelihood and see a deal of scenery every single day in the year. [illustration: _the pony express rider._ photo by courtesy of american telephone & telegraph company ] we had had a consuming desire, from the beginning, to see a pony rider, but somehow or other all that passed us and all that we met managed to streak by in the night, and so we heard only a whiz and a hail, and the swift phantom of the desert was gone before we could get our heads out of the windows. but now we were expecting one along every moment, and would see him in broad daylight. presently the driver exclaims: "here he comes!" every neck is stretched further, and every eye strained wider. away across the endless dead level of the prairie a black speck appears against the sky, and it is plain that it moves. well, i should think so. in a second or two it becomes a horse and rider, rising and falling, rising and falling--sweeping toward us, nearer and nearer--growing more and more distinct, more and more sharply defined, nearer and still nearer, and the flutter of the hoofs comes faintly to the ear--another instant and a whoop and a hurrah from our upper deck, a wave of the rider's hand, but no reply, and man and horse burst past our excited faces, and go winging away like a belated fragment of a storm! so sudden is it all, and so like a flash of unreal fancy, that but for the flake of white foam left quivering and perishing on a mail-sack after the vision had flashed by and disappeared, we might have doubted whether we had seen anything at all, maybe. _mail transportation to-day_ mails are now carried over about , miles of railroads. service on the railroads is authorized and paid for under a space basis system authorized by congress and approved by the interstate commerce commission. the present post-office organization dates from about , as the period that followed that year was one of transition from stage-coach to rail car for the transportation of mails. as railway mail service was increased and extended, sometimes railroad companies made arrangements with contractors to handle it. occasionally contracts were transferred to the contractors at the same rates received by the railroads. frequently the compensation was divided pro rata as far as the railroad covered the route. it was not uncommon for postmasters in large cities to make the arrangements for the department. naturally such a lack of uniformity of procedure and control invited irregularities of one kind or another, although they were for the most part not serious ones, and were eventually corrected and a system of standards and of unified control put into effect. _origin of mail classes_ in any letter that weighed one half ounce or less was classified as a single letter without regard to the number of sheets it contained; a five-cent rate was charged for distances under three miles and ten cents for greater distances. in the postage-stamp was officially adopted and placed on sale july of that year at new york. in the year , , postage-stamps were sold; in , , , , stamps were sold, and in there were issued to postmasters , , , adhesive stamps, , , , postal cards, , , , stamped envelopes, and , , newspaper wrappers. in the rates were reduced to three cents for any distance less than three hundred miles, if prepaid, and five cents if not prepaid, and, for a greater distance, six cents if prepaid and ten cents if not prepaid. the prepayment of postage was finally made compulsory in . in a uniform rate of three cents for single letters not exceeding one half ounce in weight was adopted for all distances, and twenty years later, in , the two-cent letter was adopted. in the rates of three cents on letters and two cents for postal cards were adopted, the extra cent in each case being for war revenue. on june , , however, the three-cent letter rate and the two-cent postal-card rate expired by limitation, and the two-cent letter rate and one-cent postal-card rate returned. when the parcel post was established in , and the air mail service was inaugurated in , special stamps were issued, although they were soon discontinued. our friends who collect stamps may be glad to know that a philatelic stamp agency has been established under the third assistant postmaster-general at washington, which sells to stamp-collectors at the face-value all stamps desired which are in stock and which may have special philatelic value to stamp-collectors. _emergency measures during the war_ as a war measure, on july , , by executive order issued in accordance with a joint resolution of the house and senate, the telegraph and telephone systems of the united states were placed under the control of the postmaster-general, and on november , , the marine cables were also placed under his control. these utilities were conducted by a wire control board, of which the postmaster-general was the head. the marine cables were returned to their owners may , , and the telephone and telegraph lines were returned to their owners in accordance with an act of congress on august , , having been under government control just one year. when the telegraph was invented, in , the first line between washington and baltimore was built through an appropriation authorized by congress. then, as now, there were public men who advocated government ownership of the wire systems as a means of communication, the same as the postal service. it was placed in private control, however, one year after its inauguration, and has grown up under that control. the government's operation during the war of both the wire and railroad systems seems to have cooled the ardor of even the most enthusiastic advocates of government ownership of such utilities. early in the post-office department used the wireless telegraph in connection with air mail service. a central station is located in the post-office department building at washington, and other stations are located in cities near the transcontinental air mail route from new york city to san francisco. experiments are being made with the wireless as a means of directing airplanes in flight, especially during foggy and stormy weather, and it is expected planes will ultimately be equipped with either wireless telegraph or telephone outfits. on april , , the post-office department adopted the use of the wireless telephone in addition to the wireless telegraph service, and is now using both in the air mail service, and also for the purpose of broadcasting to farming communities governmental information such as market reports from the agricultural department and the big market centers. it is not contemplated, however, that the post-office department will maintain the wireless telegraph and telephone except as an aid in the development of the air mail service; only when not in use for this purpose is it utilized to broadcast the governmental information referred to for the benefit of farming communities and without expense to them. _the post-office in the war_ as may be imagined, the work of the post-office department consequent upon the war was enormous; it participated in and did war work for practically all other departments of the government. besides the great increase of ordinary mail as a result of the war, it assisted in the work of the draft, the liberty loans, the red cross service, food, fuel, and labor conservation, the enforcement of the alien enemy and espionage laws, and nearly every war activity placed upon it some share of the burden. the post-office department, whose function is purely civil, with responsibility for a business service that must not be interrupted, kept open channels of communication upon which the vital activities of the nation depended, and unquestionably made material contributions toward the successful prosecution of the war. the department was of assistance to the department of justice, the bureau of intelligence of both the army and the navy; the department of labor, in collecting data relative to firms and classes of labor in the country; the department of agriculture, the shipping board, and various independent bureaus of the government. under proclamation of the president, postmasters of towns having populations of or less had the duty of registering enemy aliens. the department collected all the statistics and lists of aliens for the department of justice. a similar work was performed with respect to the duties of the alien property custodian. nine million questionnaires were distributed for the war department, each being handled three times during the first draft; about thirteen million questionnaires were distributed in the second draft. the department distributed literature for the liberty loans and the red cross, and assisted in the sale of war savings stamps and internal revenue stamps. new postal service was established for the soldiers at nearly a hundred cantonments in this country. when the american forces went abroad an independent postal service was established in france by the post-office department which was later turned over to the military authorities. that the united states postal service was the only one in the world that did not break down during the war might well be cause for pardonable pride. _beginning of registered mail, postal money-orders, savings, free delivery, special delivery, parcel post, and air mail_ the registry service was established in and the money-order service was established in . about $ , , , is transmitted by money-orders annually. postal-savings service was established january , , and during the first year the deposits reached a total of $ , . the increase in this department has been continuous each year, and in a recent year the amount was over $ , , . the parcel-post system was established january , , and now nearly three billion parcels are handled annually. in the innovation of free delivery of mail in forty-nine cities was undertaken, for which carriers were employed. in , cities enjoyed free delivery of mail and carriers did the work. in there were about city delivery post-offices and about , carriers. the post-office department owns and operates almost automobiles in the collection and delivery of mail in cities, but this is a small part of the number operating under contract. the regular use of the automobile in the postal service dates back only to . the feature of special delivery of mail was inaugurated in . the first regular air mail route was inaugurated may , , between washington and new york, a distance of about miles, the schedule being two hours, compared with about five hours for steam trains. [illustration: _airplane mail equipment._] an air route between cleveland and chicago was inaugurated may , , and between new york and cleveland july , . the transcontinental air mail route from new york to san francisco, inaugurated september , , is the only route at present in operation. this coast-to-coast route is miles in length, passing through cleveland, chicago, omaha, cheyenne, salt lake city, and reno. relays of planes are used, but, contrary to the general impression, mail is not carried all the way by air; instead, planes pick up mail which has missed trains and advance it to points where it will catch through trains. three rural routes, the first ones, were established in in west virginia. by there were ; in , , ; , , ; on january , , there were , . rural routes now in operation cover a total of , , miles and the number of patrons served is about , , . the rural free delivery service brings in but about one fourth of its cost. there are also about , contract mail routes (star routes) serving communities not reached by rail or rural routes. _postal business increases_ in the five years from to , the increase in the volume of business as reflected by the annual gross receipts of the post-office was . per cent., and in the ten-year period from to , inclusive, it was . per cent. during this decade there was a decrease in postal receipts in but one year as compared with the previous year, and that was in , when the percentage of decrease was . per cent. for the ten years mentioned the percentage of increase in receipts for each year over the previous year was as follows: percentage . . . . [ ] . . [ ] . [ ] . [ ] . . [ ] decrease. [ ] additional revenue on account of increased postage rates incident to the war not included. [ ] see footnote . [ ] see footnote . _the post-office and good roads_ the pony express riders, to whom reference has already been made, rode over trails and cow-paths made by herds of buffaloes, deer, or cattle. to-day, however, as part of our post-office appropriations, large sums are included for construction and keeping in repair public roads and routes used by different branches of our mail service. for the present year there was appropriated for carrying out the provisions of the federal highway act the sum of $ , , for what is known as federal aid to the states in road construction, and $ , , for forest roads for . a comprehensive program has been adopted and, in order that the states may make adequate provisions to meet their share for the federal appropriations, they know in advance just what federal appropriation they can depend upon. the total federal aid funds which have been apportioned to the states from to amount to $ , , . on february , , $ , , had been paid on actual construction, leaving a balance for new construction of $ , , . between february and july of this year about $ , , more was put into construction. _washington headquarters_ the main post-office department building is located at th street and pennsylvania avenue, n.w., washington, d.c. what is known as the city post-office building is at north capitol street and massachusetts avenue in that city, and the mail equipment shops are located at th and w streets, n.e. the total number of employees in the general department is . the clerks throughout the department, in character, intelligence, and dependability, are above the average. not only must postal clerks be familiar with the location of several thousand post-offices, but they must know on what railroad each post-office is located, through what junction points a letter despatched to that office must pass, and many other important details. the schedules of railroads affect the method of despatching mail, and these are constantly changing so that postal clerks must be up to the minute on all schedules, etc. _red corpuscles for our postal arteries_ a new post-office policy that is well expressed by the words "humanized service" has been inaugurated. the postal educational exhibits which have been conducted in many of the larger offices for the purposes of teaching the public how to mail and how not to mail letters, parcels, and valuables were but single manifestations of this new spirit. some persons may think--and with good reason--that only recently have postal authorities indicated concern in what the public did; but that the present interest is genuine is evident to any one. the department is likewise interested in its workers and makes an effort to understand them. says the head of the department in his latest report: "we are dependent on the nerve and the sense of loyalty of human beings for the punctual delivery of our mail regardless of the weather and everything else. to treat a postal employee as a mere commodity in the labor market is not only wicked from a humanitarian standpoint, but is foolish and short-sighted even from the standpoint of business. the postal employee who is regarded as a human being whose welfare is important to his fellows, high and low, in the national postal organization, is bound to do his work with a courage, a zest, and a thoroughness which no money value can ever buy. the security which he feels he passes on to the men and women he serves. instead of a distrust of his government, he radiates confidence in it. i want to make every man and woman in the postal service feel that he or she is a partner in this greatest of all business undertakings, whose individual judgment is valued, and whose welfare is of the utmost importance to the successful operation of the whole organization. we want every postal co-worker to feel that he has more than a job. a letter-carrier does a good deal more than bring a letter into a home when he calls. he ought to know the interest which his daily travels bring to the home. we have , men and women with the same objective, with the same hopes and aspirations, all working together for the same purpose, a mutual appreciation one for the other, serving an appreciative public. if we can improve the spirit and actual working conditions of these , men and women who do this job, that in itself is an accomplishment, and it is just as certain to bring a consequent improvement in the service as the coming of tomorrow's sun." _welfare work_ few people know that to-day a welfare department is in operation throughout the postal system which is directly interested in improving the working conditions of all the postal workers. the department was organized in june, , by the appointment of a welfare director. councils of employees meet regularly to consider matters affecting their welfare and to discuss plans for improving the postal service. the national welfare council has been formed of the following postal employee organizations: national federation of post-office clerks the railway mail association united national association of post-office clerks national rural letter-carriers association national association of letter-carriers national federation of rural carriers national association of supervisory employees national federation of federal employees national association of post-office laborers mutual aid and benefit societies with insurance features are conducted, athletics are encouraged, sick benefits are provided, retirement pensions are in effect, and postal employees to-day can well believe that somebody cares about their comfort and welfare. incidentally, savings aggregating many thousands of dollars annually have been effected through the suggestions and inventions of employees in the service. one of the important divisions in the postal service is that which pertains to the inspection work, much of which does not attract outside attention and only comes to public notice when some one has gotten into trouble with the postal authorities. in a large measure, inspection work pertains to the apprehension of criminals and the investigation of depredations, but that is only a comparatively small part of the division's activities. post-office inspectors investigate and report upon matters affecting every branch of the postal service; they are traveling auditors and check up accounts and collect shortages; they decide where an office should be located, how it should be fitted up, and how many clerks or carriers may be needed. the rural carriers, for instance, must be familiar with the regulations that cover the delivery of mail, registration of letters, taking applications for money-orders, sale of stamps, supplies, etc., but the inspector must also know all of these and also be able to determine when the establishment of a route is warranted, to lay out and fix the schedules and prepare a map and description of the route, also measure the routes if the length is in dispute, inspect the service, ascertain whether it is properly performed, and give necessary instructions to the carriers and postmasters. carriers must know their districts, understand regulations covering the delivery of mail, handling of registry, insurance and collection on delivery matter, collection of mail and handling of change of address and forwarding orders. the inspector, however, determines when conditions are such at an office that city delivery service may be installed, the number of carriers necessary, and the number of deliveries to be made. he lays out the routes, locates the collection boxes, and fixes the schedules. he is also called on to investigate the service when extensions are desired or when carriers are deemed necessary, and is concerned with clerks, supervisory officers, postmasters, new post-offices, railway mail service, contracts for transportation of mail and furnishing of supplies, as well as the enforcement of criminal statutes covering train robberies, post-office burglaries, money-order forgeries, lottery men, the transmission of obscene literature, mail-bag thieves, embezzlers, etc. [illustration] the following regular employees were in the post-office department and postal service on july , : post-office department proper , post-office inspectors clerks at headquarters, post-office inspectors employees at united states envelope agency first assistant postmasters: first class second class , third class , fourth class , ------ , assistant postmasters , clerks, first and second class offices , city letter carriers , village carriers , watchmen, messengers, laborers, printers, etc., in post offices , substitute clerks, first and second class offices , substitute letter carriers , special delivery messengers (estimated) , second assistant: officers in railway mail service railway postal clerks , substitute railway postal clerks , air mail employees fourth assistant: rural carriers , motor-vehicle employees , substitute motor-vehicle employees government-operated star-route employees -------- total , the following classes or groups are indirectly connected with the postal service in most instances through contractual relationship, and take the oath of office, but are not employees of the post-office department or the postal service: clerks at third-class offices (estimated) , clerks at fourth-class offices (estimated) , mail messengers , screen-wagon contractors carriers for offices having special supply clerks in charge of contract stations , star-route contractors , steamboat contractors ------ total , the post-office in new york _list of new york city postmasters from to date_: william bogardus april , henry sharpas april , richard nichol (postmaster in ) alexander colden (postmaster in - ) ebenezer hazard october , william bedloe (postmaster in , appointed after close of revolutionary war) sebastian bauman february , josias ten eyck january , theodorus bailey april , samuel l. gouverneur november , jonathan i. coddington july , john l. graham march , robert h. morris may , william v. brady may , isaac v. fowler april , john a. dix may , william b. taylor january , abram wakeman march , james kelly september , patrick h. jones april , thomas l. james march , henry g. pearson april , thomas l. james (acting) april , cornelius van cott may , charles w. dayton july , cornelius van cott may , edward m. morgan (acting) october , william r. willcox january , edward m. morgan (acting) july , edward m. morgan september , edward m. morgan (reappointed) december , robert f. wagner april , . declined thomas g. patten march , edward m. morgan (reappointed) july , [illustration: _some of the early postmasters of new york city._ ] _early new york_ the first ships which arrived after the settlement of new york as new amsterdam brought letters, and the first post-office, such as it was, began to function about the time the city was founded. when vessels arrived, those letters relating to the cargoes were delivered to merchants; persons who welcomed the ships received their letters by hand. if a letter was unclaimed, it was left with a responsible private citizen until called for. in time a system of voluntary distribution was developed, which became known as the "coffee house delivery." it was naturally popular and continued for over a century. at first this method of delivery was used by vessels and by people from distant points who left their mail for delivery at some well-known tavern. here it reposed in a box accessible to all, or it was tacked to the surface of a smooth board with tape or brass-headed nails and placed in a conspicuous part of the tavern. in the year the postmaster-general of great britain designated a "chief letter office" in the city of new york, philadelphia having been the headquarters of the colonial organization up to that time. in the following year arrangements were completed for the delivery of boston mail twice a month, and a foot-post to albany was proposed. in a complete road was blazed from paulus hook, jersey city, to philadelphia, over which the mail was carried on horseback between philadelphia and new york. alexander colden was postmaster here at the time of the revolution, but when the british troops took possession of new york, the office was abolished by the provost-marshal and for seven years little correspondence not connected with the movement of troops was handled. william bedloe, after whom bedloe's island was named, was the first postmaster after the war, but in sebastian bauman succeeded him. _the new york general post-office to-day_ the world's greatest post-office to-day is the new york general post-office, located at eighth avenue and west d street, but a short block from the west side office of the manufacturers trust company, and we are glad to be able to include in this booklet a message to our readers from hon. e. m. morgan, postmaster, who directs the activities of that great organization. [illustration] the new york general post-office of the past, the present, and the future by e. m. morgan, postmaster the growth of business transacted by the new york post-office is illustrated by the following statement showing the postal revenues for the years mentioned. it appears that the first account of revenues of the new york post-office was published in the year , and the first city directory was also published in that year, and contained names. year amount . . . . . . . . . . . $ , . (estimated) . . . . . , , . . . . . . . . . . . . , , . according to a recent statement by hon. hubert work, postmaster-general, the postal business now done in new york city alone is equivalent to that of the united states twenty-five years ago, and is double that of the dominion of canada. during my personal experience with the postal affairs of this great city, the service has been expanded from a post-office with eleven stations and employees to an enormous establishment having a total of stations, including fifty carrier and financial stations, contract stations, and forty-one united states warship branches; requiring a total force of , post-office employees. the postmaster at new york is also the central accounting postmaster for district post-offices ( third-class and fourth-class post-offices) located in thirty-five counties of new york state. the transactions of this important office are constantly increasing in volume as a result of the great expansion and growth of new york city, which is greatly influenced by the progress and growth of the entire country. new york city, as the metropolis of the united states, is taking her place at the head of the large cities of the world in population, finance, and commercial affairs. if the progress made in the past fifty years by the united states and its possessions in the conduct of national and international business continues, the postal business here will, no doubt, make tremendous strides. at the end of another fifty years, or in the year , the postmaster at new york will be the head of a much greater establishment than the present office, which will be comparable to that organization of the future as the first post-office in new york city, located in the "coffee house," coenties slip, in , is comparable to the present post-office. the future postmaster of new york, in , will probably be the head of a number of consolidated post-offices in the metropolitan area, and, no doubt, other public services will be placed under his supervision. the further development and improvement of the aëroplane mail service will no doubt result in a greater use of that facility for the transportation of mails. the transportation of the mails through the streets of new york is a great problem. at present motor trucks are principally used for that purpose. it is anticipated that even with this service augmented by the re-establishment of the pneumatic tubes, future extensions to the underground method of transportation will be necessary. it is likely that before many years are passed a system of tunnels for the transportation of mails in pouches and sacks will be built and placed in operation. congress and the post-office department are now looking into the matter of providing the post-office at new york with a large amount of additional room in new buildings specially constructed for post-office purposes and it is the constant aim and purpose of all concerned in the operation of the new york post-office to furnish its patrons the best postal service. e. m. morgan, postmaster. _the new york post-office_ conceive, if you can, an organization that is incessantly and perpetually going at top speed; that knows not a moment of rest the year round, or generation after generation; which never sleeps, nor pauses, nor hesitates; that disposes each day of a mountain of , , pieces of ordinary mail, or more than any other office in the world; that does a parcel-post business that makes the business of the express companies seem small in comparison; that handles in excess of , , pieces of registered mail each year; that issues nearly four million money-orders annually, and pays over seventeen million more; that, as a mere side issue does a banking business which is exceeded by but a few banks in the whole state; that has in its safe custody the savings of approximately , depositors, amounting to more than $ , , ; that employs an army of , men and women; that occupies one of the largest buildings in the city, two blocks in length, and then overflows into approximately fifty annexes, called "classified stations," and nearly sub-annexes, called "contract stations"; that has receipts in excess of $ , , per annum; that has doubled its business in ten years. having conceived this, you will begin to get some idea of the new york post-office, the biggest thing of its kind in the world and still growing. the average man's conception of a post-office includes little more than an impression of a letter-carrier in a gray uniform; a mail wagon recently dodged by a narrow margin; a post-office station somewhere in his neighborhood, and a hazy picture of a dingy place in which men sometimes post letters. of the details of the organization aside from these things, the extent and complexities of the service, or how it accomplishes what it does, or of the executive experts operating the system, he knows practically nothing. he is aware, it is true, that letters are collected and that letters are delivered, and that continents and oceans may divide the sender and addressee; but by what mystic methods delivery is accomplished he has never stopped to think. yet the organization that lies behind the words "new york post-office" is one of the most complex, efficient, and interesting in the world, and yet it operates with a simplicity and a smoothness that betoken master design and perfection of detail. _the postmaster_ at the head of this great organization and directing its every movement, watching its development, adjusting its activities, is one of the most experienced and efficient postal experts in america, in the person of postmaster edward m. morgan, whose interesting statement is included at the head of this section. mr. morgan entered the postal service in as a letter-carrier, at the foot of the ladder, and by an industry that was tireless and force of character he worked his way up, round after round, to the very top. in the course of his long public service he transferred from the carrier force to the clerical force, and then graduated from this to the supervisory ranks, discharging each successive grade with conspicuous ability. his several titles in the course of this career were: carrier, clerk, chief clerk, superintendent of stations, superintendant of delivery, assistant postmaster, acting postmaster, postmaster. he was first appointed postmaster by president roosevelt, and reappointed by president taft. for an interval during president wilson's administration he was out of office, but was reappointed by president harding. with such a record of progress and experience it is very evident that he must "know the game," but if one knows nothing of his history, and meets him for a few minutes, his grasp of detail and vision of opportunity for future development become at once apparent. postmaster morgan has gathered around him as his heads of divisions a corps of enthusiastic aides who have grown up in the service under his tutelage, and each of whom has advanced step by step under the keenest competition, demonstrating his competency for the position he fills by the satisfactory manner in which he has discharged the duties of the position of lower rank. among his aides there are no amateurs; all have been tried for a generation or more in positions of varying and increasing importance, and they have stood the test; they are recognized the country over as postal experts, and the work they are doing and the efficiency they are showing are proof that their reputations are well merited. _the organisation of the new york post-office_ next in rank to the postmaster are the assistant postmaster and the acting assistant postmaster, the first at the head of the financial divisions and miscellaneous executive departments, and the second at the head of various divisions engaged in handling the mails proper. [illustration: _postmaster, new york, n.y., and staff._ _upper row (left to right)--edward p. russell, postal cashier; arthur h. harbinson, secretary to the postmaster; joseph willon, superintendent of registry; albert b. firmin, superintendent of money orders; justus w. salzman, auditor. lower row (left to right)--peter a. mcgurty, acting superintendent of mails; thomas b. randies, acting assistant postmaster (mails); hon. edward m. morgan, postmaster; john j. kiely, assistant postmaster (finance): charles lubin, superintendent of delivery._ ] _the assistant postmaster_ the assistant postmaster is mr. john j. kiely, who has been in the service thirty-seven years, and, like the postmaster, has worked up from the ranks, advancing through the various grades as foreman, assistant superintendent, superintendent, division head, etc., to the title he now holds. for a number of years he was in charge first of one and then of another of the great terminal stations of the city, where the greatest volumes of mail are handled of any of the stations in this country, and later was made superintendent of mails, from which position he was recently promoted to the title he now holds. [illustration: post office, new york, n.y. this post office is a business institution _patrons are entitled to and must receive prompt, efficient and courteous service._ =if you think our methods or conduct can be improved, the postmaster wants to hear about it, personally.= _edward m. morgan, postmaster_ _a new kind of sign in government offices._ _the acting assistant postmaster_ ] the acting assistant postmaster is mr. thomas b. randles, who is responsible for the movement of the mails, and who, for several years prior to his attaining his present rank, was assistant superintendent of mails; prior to that, he was superintendent of different stations in various parts of the city. he has seen twenty-eight years' service in various ranks. _the division heads_ next in rank to the officials mentioned there is a group of division heads, corresponding with the various major activities of the office, including the division of delivery, the division of mails, the division of registered mails, and the division of money-orders, followed by the cashier, the auditor, the classification division, etc. the duties of each of these heads are very clearly defined by postmaster morgan, and each head is held to strict responsibility for the faithful and efficient conduct of his division or department. the postmaster himself is ever ready to give advice and counsel, and is the most accessible of executives, not only to his staff, but to employees of all rank and to the public. he in turn requires of all of his aides not only a thorough knowledge of every detail of their work, but also that they shall be as accessible to those under them and to the public as he is himself. _the postmaster's weekly conference_ once each week the postmaster meets his division heads and department chiefs in formal council, when the problems of the service are freely discussed and plans are formulated for such undertakings as may require unity of action and coöperative effort. these conferences keep the various heads apprised of what is of importance in the various departments, and promote an esprit de corps and coöperative attitude that explain the exceptional unity of effort that is characteristic of the entire organization. one has only to study the organization for a short time to discover that one of its strongest features is the manifest team-work, the one animating and controlling influence throughout it all being "the interest of the service." _the delivery division_ closest to the heart of the public of all the postal employees--probably because they see so many of them and know so much of their faithful work as they plod along day in and day out, in all kinds of weather, with their heavy loads weighing down their shoulders and twisting their spines--are the letter-carriers. these are all under the division of delivery, the superintendent of which is mr. charles lubin. mr. lubin entered the service in , as a substitute clerk, and is another example of the executive who has risen, step by step, through all the various clerical grades to supervisory rank, and then through the various supervisory ranks to his present title. the delivery division includes in its personnel, in addition to letter-carriers, clerks, laborers, and substitute employees, so that it constitutes a small army in itself. the new york post-office covers both manhattan and the bronx, with a postal population which greatly exceeds the population as shown by the census. to new york gravitate daily hundreds of thousands of people who are employed in manhattan and the bronx but who reside in brooklyn, new jersey, long island, or elsewhere. hundreds of thousands of others reside at one address in manhattan or the bronx, but do business at another, receiving mail at both addresses. including these, the transients, and the commuters mentioned, it is estimated that the delivery division is receiving mail for approximately , , addressees in the boroughs of manhattan and the bronx. adequately to meet the requirements of this vast number there are scheduled, for the business section of the city, six carrier deliveries daily, and four for the residential sections. just what this means will be better appreciated if one will pause and try to visualize what it means to traverse every street and alley of the great area covered by manhattan and the bronx from four to six times daily, stopping at every door for which there is mail, and effecting delivery in apartments, in tenements, in office buildings, and in factories. of the carriers mentioned above, are employed in collecting mail from the street boxes, both package and letter, and from the chutes in office buildings, etc. from the boxes in remote suburban districts three to five collections are made daily, from boxes in the residential sections from seven to fifteen collections daily, while in the business sections the collections run from fifteen to twenty-seven. even with the frequency of collection that takes place in the intensively developed business sections, the boxes fill up as quickly as they are emptied. to appreciate how quickly, and to make clear the volume of mail collected by the carriers, it may be stated that among the office buildings equipped with chute letter-boxes are the equitable life, thirty-nine stories, and the woolworth, fifty-five stories, from each of which fifty-five to sixty full sacks of mail are collected by the carriers daily between and . p.m. these sacks are conveyed by wagons to the varick street station for postmarking and despatch, four carriers being engaged on the task. the volume of mail collected at the close of business in the lower part of the city, and largely from buildings equipped with chutes and boxes, exceeds that handled by many first-class post-offices for an entire twenty-four-hour period. [illustration: _rear view of new york general post office and pennsylvania railroad tracks. manufacturers trust company, west side offices, nearby (in semi-circle)._] _the stations_ for greater efficiency in handling the mails, to shorten the trips of carriers and collectors and to serve the public convenience, as the city has grown, various classified or carrier stations have been established, and of these there are now no fewer than forty-eight in operation and also two financial stations. the classified or carrier stations are practically complete post-offices, so far as the public is concerned, affording full facilities for the sale of stamps, money-orders, postal savings, registration of mail, acceptance of parcel post, the distribution of mail, etc., and for the delivery and collection of mail by carriers. the financial stations afford all the conveniences mentioned for the benefit of the public, except that they do not make delivery of mail nor effect its distribution. it is estimated that the delivery division effects the delivery daily through the carriers assigned to the general office and to the various stations of approximately , , letters, cards, and circulars, , papers, periodicals, and pieces of printed matter and small parcel-post packages, and , bulky parcel-post packages, or, in all, close to , , pieces of mail of all classes. but the delivery of mail is only part of the story, for it is estimated that the public mail daily in the various chutes, classified station "drops," and street letter boxes, etc., approximate , , pieces of first-class mail and several million circulars, all of which have to be gathered together and put through the various processes of cancellation, sorting, etc., before the actual work of delivery or despatch begins. the tremendous magnitude of the business of the various stations is shown not only in the volume of mail received and delivered, but in the sale of stamps, the collection of postage on second-class matter, etc., constituting the receipts. the receipts at the city hall station, for instance, are greater than the receipts of any post-office in the united states except chicago, ill., philadelphia, pa., and boston, mass., as shown by the table below, giving figures for the fiscal year . in the case of all the offices named, the figures include not only the main office but all the stations of the offices. in the case of the city hall station alone, the figures are for this unit exclusively, and no other point. receipts for fiscal year chicago, ill. $ , , philadelphia, pa. , , boston, mass. , , city hall station , , saint louis, mo. , , kansas city, mo. , , cleveland, ohio , , detroit, mich. , , brooklyn, n. y. , , san francisco, cal. , , pittsburgh, pa. , , cincinnati, ohio , , minneapolis, minn. , , los angeles, cal. , , baltimore, md. , , washington, d. c. , , buffalo, n. y. , , milwaukee, wis. , , from these figures it will also be seen that the receipts of the city hall station are greater than the receipts of the entire city of saint louis, as great as the receipts of cleveland, ohio, and buffalo, n. y., combined, as great as the receipts of detroit, mich., and washington, d. c., combined, as great as those of brooklyn, n. y., and milwaukee, wis., combined, or those of cincinnati, ohio, and minneapolis, minn., combined. the rapid increase in the volume of business at the city hall station is shown by the following figures of receipts: calendar year $ , , . , , . , , . , , . , , . , , . increase in five years-- . per cent. city hall is not the only station of great receipts, as the following statistics show: receipts for fiscal year - madison square station $ , , . grand central station , , . wall street station , , . station "d" , , . times square station , , . west d street station , , . station "p" , , . station "g" , , . station "o" , , . station "f" , , . station "s" , , . station "a" , , . in addition to the actual receipts of the various stations, made up by the sale of stamps, etc., as described, their financial transactions incident to the money-order and postal-savings business are tremendous, as will later be shown in detail under the heading "division of money-orders" and "postal savings"; suffice it to say here that the city hall station issued last year money-orders to the value of $ , , , and the madison square station money-orders to the value of $ , , , while station "b" had to the credit of its postal-savings depositors $ , , , tompkins square station, $ , , , and station "u," $ , , . how greatly the business of the stations has grown is evidenced by the fact that in the gross receipts for the year amounted to but $ , , . , which is less than the receipts for one month at the present time, the receipts for last july amounting to $ , , . . to those who are now enjoying the advantage of free delivery service it seems that it is the natural thing, and it is difficult for them to realize how a busy community could get along without it, yet as a matter of fact it was not established until , when it was experimentally installed in forty-nine cities, with but carriers, which number is about a seventh of those employed at the present time in new york alone. the number of stations has also increased rapidly. in there were but eighteen classified stations and twenty contract stations in new york, while to-day, as previously mentioned, there are forty-eight of the former, two financial, and contract stations authorized, and also forty-one warship branches. _foreign mail for city delivery_ the receipts of foreign mail from europe is increasing very rapidly. during the month of july, , there was received for delivery in new york city from foreign countries , , letters and sacks of foreign papers. [illustration: _few people who hasten through the new york general post office building notice its architectural beauty of design and perspective._] the task of handling the city mail received from steamers is particularly trying, since many of the addresses are difficult to read, insufficient postage is prepaid in many cases, and it comes not in a steady flow but in quantities at one time; and it is, of course, always in addition to the regular daily quota of domestic matter. in exemplification of this it may be said that on august , , a single steamer, the _mauretania_, brought in sacks of letters. _the division of mails_ the division of mails embraces the division of delivery, which has already been described, the great terminal stations, that is, the grand central station (including the foreign station annex); also the division of registered mails and the motor vehicle service. all of these, as previously mentioned, are under the general supervision of acting assistant postmaster randles. the division of mails proper, exclusive of the division of delivery and of the division of registered mails, is under the acting superintendent of mails, mr. peter a. mcgurty. mr. mcgurty was formerly assistant superintendent of delivery, and has been in the postal service in new york since . mr. mcgurty, like other division heads, served first as a clerk, and rose gradually, grade by grade, to his present position. in the mailing division there are employees. the duties of the mailing division are many and varied. in the main it is responsible for the distribution and despatch of all outgoing mail, including the parcel post. it is in itself a complex organization, employing not only the army of men above mentioned but an enormous fleet of motor vehicles and complex mechanical equipment for the conveyance of mail from one part of an office to another, and the loading of it upon railroad cars, ships, etc. the average daily transactions of the division are as follows: outgoing letters , , circulars , , second-and third-class matter , , parcel-post matter , customs due matter collections on customs due matter $ , one duty of the mailing division is the weighing of second-and third-class matter to determine the postage required thereon. the daily average of the matter thus weighed is approximately , pounds, and on this postage is collected to the amount of approximately $ , . in order to make clear what is involved in the handling of a great volume of mail such as is disposed of daily in this division of the new york office, it may be well to describe the course that is followed by a single letter. assume that a letter is mailed in a street letterbox, in the district of a great terminal; it is brought in by a collector, who deposits it upon a long table surrounded by many employees. the table is likely to be what is known as a "pick-up table," which is one equipped with conveyor belts and convenient slide apertures for letters of different lengths, and into these apertures, with nimble fingers, the clerks grouped around it separate the mass of letters received, placing the letters with all the stamps in one direction. as quickly as they do so, the conveyor belts carry the letters, according to the different sizes into which they have been separated, to the electrically-driven canceling machines. these canceling machines are operated by a second group of employees, who feed in the letters, which are canceled at the rate of approximately , letters per hour. the whirling dies by which are imprinted the postmarks which cancel the stamps revolve at almost lightning speed. these postmarks are changed each half-hour, and the aim is to postmark the letters as rapidly as they come to hand, so that but a few minutes intervene between the time of mailing and time of postmark. this postmark is, in fact, the pace-maker. once it is imprinted upon a letter, it can be determined by the postmark at any time just how long a time has been required for it to reach a particular point in the progress toward despatch. from the postmarking machine the letters are carried, sometimes by conveyors, sometimes by hand, and sometimes by small trucks, to what are known as the "primary separating cases." these cases are manned by employees who separate the letters into groups, according to certain divisions which facilitate the secondary and further distributions. thus at the primary cases the letters are likely to be broken up into lots for the city delivery, for many different states, for foreign countries, and for certain large cities. each separation on the primary case will likely be followed by a secondary separation almost immediately. a sufficient number of men is kept on the facing or pick-up tables, on the primary cases, and on the secondary cases and pouching racks, to maintain a continuous movement of the mails. the aim is to keep the mail moving not only continuously from the point of posting to the point of delivery, as nearly in a direct line as practicable, but rapidly also, and with only an arresting of the movement when this is made necessary by awaiting the departure of the next train. from the secondary cases the letters are carried to the pouching rack. by the time they reach the pouching rack they are made up into bundles, various letters for the same localities having been segregated and tied together. in some instances the packages of letters are tagged or labeled for states, in others for cities, and still others for railroad lines or for sections of such lines. the handling of papers and circulars is much the same, so far as distribution is concerned, as the handling of letters, though there is considerable variation as to the details of segregation. [illustration: _carriers sorting mail in the general post office._] with this distribution of the mails there goes a system of despatches. in respect to these it may be said that it is essential that various clerks engaged in the process as described shall know the time of departure of the many trains leaving new york for different points. they must know how much time in advance of departure is essential between "tying out" the packages of letters and the actual departure of the train from the station, and thereby allow sufficient time, but no more time than is absolutely necessary, to make the connection. every detail of the work is plotted; nothing is left to chance. at a certain hour and at a certain minute every clerk engaged in the same distribution at the same station ties out for the same office or route, and likewise at the pouching rack the pouches are closed, locked, and despatched according to a fixed schedule. if the pouch has to be carried from the rack to the truck a given number of feet, a time allowance is made. at a set time the truck that conveys the pouches to the station whence the train is to depart must leave. the time for the vehicle to traverse the prescribed route is fixed; sufficient time for this _and not more_ is allowed. also the time for unloading the truck and loading the train is fixed. when it is understood that this course has to be followed by every one of the millions of letters handled, and that there are , offices in the united states to which mail is forwarded, and that in addition to this it is being distributed for practically every city, town, and hamlet in the world, the complexity of the task becomes apparent. from the general post-office alone there are as many as despatches of first-class mail daily, and forty-five despatches of second-, third-, and fourth-class matter. within the last few years the burden of the parcel post has been added to the duties of the post-office. it is estimated that , pieces of parcel-post matter are handled at the general post-office daily, and that , additional pieces of this matter are received at the same point from the stations. parcel-post packages are commonly very bulky. such may now be mailed for local delivery and for delivery in the first, second, and third zones, that is, within three hundred miles of the place of mailing, if they do not exceed seventy pounds in weight, while packages not in excess of fifty pounds may be mailed to any address in the united states. the handling of these packages necessitates the use of entirely different character of equipment. as far as it is practicable to do so, this matter is segregated from mail of the other classes. many of the packages are too large to be inclosed readily in mail sacks, and are forwarded "outside." in the distribution of parcel-post matter, sack racks are used into which all parcels which are small enough to be sacked are separated. the distribution, as in the other classes, is made at primary and secondary racks. a feature of the mailing division is the handling of such equipment, as pouches, sacks, etc., intended to be used for the transportation of the mails. approximately , sacks and , pouches are shipped by the new york general office daily. _the mailing division--incoming foreign section_ in this section mails are handled which are received from foreign countries. these arrive chiefly on steamers that make new york their port of destination. some of the foreign mails, however, reach new york via boston, philadelphia, key west, new orleans, laredo, san francisco, seattle, and vancouver. the number of pieces of mail received from foreign countries weekly by this section approximates , , letters and cards, , , pieces of printed matter, , packages of parcel post, and , registered articles. these are forwarded to their destination after distribution. many of the letters and cards are not prepaid, or are prepaid but partly, and the postage charged on such matter approximates $ , each week. [illustration: _carriers leaving the general post office on an early morning delivery._] owing to the unsettled conditions in europe the rates of postage in foreign countries are continually changing. as a result of the depreciation of russian currency, letters coming from that country have recently been prepaid at the rate of , rubles per ounce or fraction thereof. prior to the war a ruble was worth approximately . cents. the , rubles are now equivalent to fifty centimes of gold, or ten cents in united states currency. [illustration: _mail at the post office ready to be loaded onto trucks._] many peculiarities are noted in the addresses of incoming foreign letters. very frequently a letter will bear upon the envelop a copy of a business letter-head or bill-head. this is accounted for by the fact that some one in this country when writing to europe will direct his correspondent to address the expected answer according to the address on the letter-head or bill-head he uses, and the foreigner, not knowing what to select from whatever is printed, takes what he regards to be the safe course and copies all. a letter will sometimes be found to bear a full list of everything sold in a country store, including hardware, provisions, clothing, shoes, and periodicals and newspapers. in other cases the senders cut short the addresses and are satisfied if, in addition to their correspondent's name, they give "america" spelled in any way that suits them best, and the ways are legion. _mailing division--motor vehicle service_ the motor vehicle service of the new york post-office is in charge of mr. william m. taggart. the fleet consists of vehicles. all these are owned by the government. the government likewise makes its own repairs, employs its own chauffeurs and mechanics, painters, upholsterers, and various artisans incidental to the operation, repair, and maintenance of the vehicles. there are two garages, and in all men are employed. the garages include fully equipped machine-shops, and stock-rooms in which are constantly kept duplicate parts for all the machines in use. the magnitude of the service will be realized when it is known that during the last fiscal year the vehicles traveled , , miles, or times the distance around the world. during the last fiscal year the motor vehicle service made , trips, according to predetermined schedules, and , trips which were not scheduled but of an emergency character. this gave a total of , trips. of this vast number of trips, scheduled and emergency, there were but which were but partly performed and but which failed. [illustration: _mail trucks loaded with parcel post matter to be transported to different stations in the city._] these trucks are maintained in a condition for operation at all hours of the day and night. no matter what weather conditions prevail, the mails must be moved, and the motor vehicles must be maintained in a condition of efficient repair to permit of their utilization in this work. every detail of expenditure for the fleet is maintained on a strictly scientific cost accounting basis, the number of gallons of oil, the service of the tires, the cost of operation per mile, with and without chauffeur, are all a matter of record. the repairs made on each machine are carefully recorded, with the cost for the parts and the cost of the mechanical help figured separately, so that it is ascertainable from the records what was spent under this heading for each vehicle during each month and year. _mailing division--transportation section_ the transportation section, under assistant superintendent of mails john j. mckelvey, is closely coördinated with the motor vehicle section. the duty of this section is to effect the loading of the vehicles and to arrange the schedules so as effectively to move the mails from the point at which they are made up to their despatch by train, or delivery to some station or group of stations. how great is the volume of mail handled will be understood when it is said that from the general post-office alone the average number of pouches received and despatched daily is approximately , , while the average number of sacks received and despatched is approximately , . the pouches contain first-class mail and the sacks contain mail of other classes. the average number of pieces received and despatched daily, too large to be inserted in either sacks or pouches, is approximately , . at each of the great terminals there are very extensive platforms; the one at the city hall station is a block long; that at the general post-office two blocks long, and these platforms are under the control of the transportation department. during the hours when the mails are being despatched they are among the busiest spots in the postal system. as many as trucks commonly receive and discharge mail from the general post-office platform daily. other platforms are correspondingly busy. _the pneumatic tubes_ the pneumatic tube service has now been resumed between the general post-office, the terminals, and certain of the principal stations of the new york postal system, which was discontinued june , , owing to the antagonism to this method of transportation on the part of the then postmaster-general, mr. albert burleson. legislation has been enacted and departmental action taken within the last year to bring about the resumption of operation of this valuable system. the pneumatic tubes form what is practically a great loop running north in two branches from the city hall. one branch goes up the east side of the city, east of central park, and the other up the west side, west of central park, the two lines being joined together at th street by a line running east and west. this loop and its extensions link the general post-office and the following named stations: a, c, d, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, n, o, p, u, v, w, y, grand central, madison square, times square, wall street, city hall, and varick street. the city hall station is also connected with the brooklyn general post-office. the pneumatic tubes are located four to six feet below the surface of the city's streets, and through these tubes cylindrical steel containers are forced by compressed air. the containers are approximately seven inches in diameter and twenty-one inches long, and the pressure of air is sufficient to impel them at the rate of about thirty miles per hour. containers carry from to letters each, and can be despatched as frequently as one every eight or ten seconds. it will be seen, therefore, that by means of the pneumatic tubes a practically continuous flow of the mails can be maintained between stations. the pneumatic tubes are not owned by the government, but the service is leased on a yearly rental basis. under the terms of the lease the company that owns the tube system operates it, and the government delivers to the despatching points within the different stations and terminals the mail to be transported. upon arrival at its destination the mail is again delivered to the postal employees, who are ready to receive it. there are approximately twenty-eight miles of double tubes, so that mail can be despatched in both directions at the same time. during the period the system was in operation before the tubes conveyed the mails with remarkable efficiency, and it is said that as to stoppages and breakdowns, etc., their operation was . per cent. perfect. in one day , containers were despatched through the tubes, with a total capacity of more than , , letters. they averaged for a year, though not used to maximum capacity, , , letters a day. one advantage of the pneumatic tubes is their freedom from interruption by inclement weather. as the tubes are below the surface of the street, conditions of ice, snow, and sleet, which are embarrassing to motor vehicles, do not interrupt operation. at different times in several of our cities vehicles conveying the mails have been "held up," but with the tubes, robbery is practically impossible. it is anticipated that with the tube system resumed a large percentage of the letter mail intended both for city delivery and for despatch to other points will be materially advanced in delivery. the foreign station of the new york post-office stands out among the postal activities of the country for it is the station at which are made up all the mails intended for foreign countries, with few exceptions, such as canada. the superintendent of the station is mr. thomas j. walters, who has been connected with it for many years. it is a busy place, particularly just before the departure of a steamer, when every effort is exerted to despatch all mail that can be crowded in, up to the very last minute. this station has grown in a comparatively short time and from a very small beginning. in the average weekly number of sacks made up for all parts of the world was only ; by the number had grown to ; by it had reached about ; in the figures were , , and at the present time the average is approximately , sacks weekly. mail is forwarded to the foreign station from all parts of the united states, and is here distributed for the various foreign countries and cities for which it is intended. in this distribution expert knowledge of foreign geography and political divisions is required, for a large percentage of the mail received is indefinitely directed, and only an expert could determine for what points much of it is intended. the shifting map of europe has added greatly to the difficulties, for many correspondents in this country are still ignorant of the new boundaries. in the equipment of this station are hundreds of distribution cases, and many of the letters which the experts at these cases rapidly sort are actually so poorly written that the average man would not be able to decipher them without much study. [illustration] [illustration: _exhibits used for educational work in postal improvement campaign._] one interesting feature of the foreign station is the parcel-post section. the united states now has parcel-post conventions with many foreign countries, and the volume of this business is growing very rapidly. the rate of postage is but twelve cents a pound, and for this small fee a package will be accepted, even in distant california or oregon, transmitted across the continent, over the ocean, and to a destination in south america, europe, or elsewhere. in the early days of the parcel-post it was used chiefly by the person who had friends or relatives in europe and wished to send a present to them, but it is now being used very extensively in commercial transactions. by this means goods ordered from abroad are forwarded by the great mail-order houses, and the total volume of this business is large. much difficulty is experienced in inducing senders of mail matter to wrap it securely. a long campaign of education has been conducted, but there is still room for improvement, as evidenced by the fact that four clerks are engaged repacking, rewrapping, and repairing packages not properly and safely wrapped, and supplying addresses in the case of indefinite directions, etc. with the increase in the volume of the mail there has been an increase in the number of ships carrying the mails, and so, while in august, , there were but thirty-four vessels carrying mail that sailed from new york, during july, , such vessels sailed; on a single day twenty ships left this port carrying a total of , sacks. during the month of july, , , sacks of mail were shipped, a quantity that would tax the capacity of a large warehouse. a special feature of the service is the operation of post-offices on u. s. naval vessels. there are more than fifty such post-offices, serving the convenience of the boys in blue. whether the naval vessels are equipped with post-offices or not, the foreign station is kept posted as to their movements by the navy department, and special efforts are made to so forward all mail received as to reach the addressee at the first port of call. during the war the foreign station experienced many trying times in its efforts to get american mail to destination. the sailing time of ships was seldom known much in advance of actual sailing, and the utmost secrecy was maintained as to vessel movements. the navy department advised the foreign station of the intended sailing of vessels by cipher, though such information was most jealously guarded. the utmost caution was taken in the making out of address tags, etc., to conceal the identity of the various units, the mail for which had to go out by the different ships, and throughout the war there was not a single leak. the service performed during this trying time by the employees of the foreign station were so conspicuously efficient as repeatedly to win approbation. a recapitulation of the several classes of mail despatched from this station to foreign countries is shown below and indicates the rapidity of its growth: letters , , , , printed matter, etc. , , , , circulars , , , , registered articles , , , , parcel post , , , ----------- ----------- total number of articles despatched. , , , , _the registry department_ one of the most important departments of the new york post-office is the registry division, which is under the supervision of mr. joseph willon. mr. willon has been long in the postal service, and for many years prior to his present assignment was superintendent of some of the larger stations of the city, including the one at times square. in the registry division at the general post-office persons are employed; at the city hall station, ; and at the foreign station there is a large force, assigned exclusively to the handling of the foreign registered mails. the registered mails are the most important and the most valuable. just how valuable they are no one knows, but millions of dollars in cash and securities are handled daily, and the banks as well as other financial and commercial interests of the country would be seriously affected if the registry system ceased to operate, even for a brief period. some idea as to the enormous values handled by the registry department may be gained from the fact that during the last fiscal year packages containing diamonds only were received from abroad, the dutiable value of which approximated $ , , . in all, , packages were received that were regarded as dutiable. notwithstanding the enormous values handled, the percentage of losses is exceedingly small. according to the last report of the postmaster-general, throughout the united states the number of registered pieces amounted to , , . the new york post-office handled , , , or more than half of the total. as stated, the percentage of losses is small, and in the case of first-class registered matter of domestic origin there is an indemnity up to fifty dollars, and for the matter of the third class an indemnity up to twenty-five dollars. under the agreements that prevail with certain foreign countries provision is also made for indemnifying the owners under certain circumstances where foreign losses occur. the handling of registered mail differs chiefly from the handling of ordinary mail in the extra care which is taken to safe-guard it. the aim is to record it at the time of receipt, and to thereafter require all persons handling it to account for it as it passes through their hands along its route. receipts are required at all points, and the letters are forwarded in pouches secured by "rotary locks," provided with certain numbers running in sequence, controlled mechanically, the mechanism being such that the lock cannot be opened without raising the number at which the lock was set. if the lock is tampered with in transit, since record is made of the number set when it was despatched, the circumstance is apparent. registered articles handled at new york, n. y., year ending december , total no. station n. y. city distribution foreign of pieces handled g. p. o. , , , , , , , , city hall , , , , , , , foreign , , , , , ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- total , , , , , , , , _the division of money-orders and the postal savings_ the financial transactions of the new york post-office are of enormous volume. through its division of money-orders it issues and pays money-orders of a value comparable with the business of the large banks of the city. the postal savings system also has on deposit a sum which is exceeded by the deposits of only nine savings-banks in manhattan, and is operated as part of the organization of the division of money-orders. this division is under the supervision of mr. albert firmin, who has been connected with the postal system within a few months of forty years, and in point of service is dean among the division heads. it has been through mr. firmin's especial assistance that we have been able to obtain so complete a story of the new york post-office, although every office and every executive has coöperated in every possible way, for which extended courtesies we hereby make grateful acknowledgment. the new york post-office issues more money-orders than any office in the united states. the volume of money-order business, domestic and international, for the last five years, is shown below: domestic money-orders issued year number amount , , $ , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . ----------- ---------------- total , , $ , , . international money-orders issued year number amount , $ , , . , , , . , , , . , , , . , , , . ---------- --------------- total , $ , , . domestic money-orders paid year number amount , , $ , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . , , , , . ---------- --------------- total , , $ , , . international money-orders paid year number amount , $ , . , , , . , , , . , , . , , . --------- --------------- total , $ , , . during the fiscal year last past, , international money-orders, amounting to $ , , . , were certified to foreign countries, and , such orders were certified from foreign countries to the united states, the total amount of these being $ , , . . occasionally in excess of , money-orders are paid in a single day, and it is the rule that this volume of business must be balanced to a cent daily. [illustration: photo by courtesy of powers accounting machine company _money order accounting machines in use at the new york general post office._ ] the employees engaged in handling these millions of orders are held strictly accountable for the accuracy of their work, and if error occurs resulting in loss, it must be borne by the person at fault. the most modern methods of accounting are in use, mechanical labor-aiding equipment being utilized wherever it is practicable. the method followed is to perforate a card by means of a small electric machine, so that the perforations show the various data upon the paid money-order that are required to record the payment, the amount, etc. these machines are operated by skilled women employees, trained in methods of accuracy and speed, and whose rating and advancement depend on their efficiency. the cards are then fed into electrically-driven adding- and printing-machines, known as tabulators, which automatically print upon sheets, in columns, all the data shown by the perforations in the card. from this machine the cards are transferred to sorting machines, which operate at great speed and automatically set the cards up numerically according to the numbers of the offices which issued them. thereupon other sheets are printed by the tabulators showing the orders in their new and correct numerical sequence, these sheets being used for searching purposes in the event of applications being made for duplicates, etc. various other mechanical devices are employed in other branches of the work, and the equipment is in all respects up to date, and minimizes clerical work to the greatest extent. _the country's foreign exchange clearing-house_ in addition to the work which is usually done in a post-office in the issue and payment of money-orders, the new york post-office is the international exchange office for the united states, handling all money-orders passing between this country and europe, south america, africa, etc. the volume of this business has been materially reduced since the war, and is affected by the unsettled condition of the old world finances, but it is nevertheless large, as shown by the figures given below for the last fiscal year. number amount international money-orders certified to foreign countries , $ , , . international money-orders certified from foreign countries , , , . the duty of purchasing foreign exchange also falls upon the new york post-office, and the transactions in this are at times very heavy. the total financial transactions of the division of money-orders, exclusive of the postal savings, amounted last year to $ , , . . _the postal savings_ at practically all the stations of the new york office there are postal-savings depositories which are open to the public from a.m. to p.m. the rate of interest on postal savings is but two per cent., but the advantage of absolute safety which the system affords appeals to those who utilize it. not more than $ is accepted from one depositor, but a deposit as small as one dollar is accepted, and this may even be accumulated by the purchase of ten-cent postal-savings stamps, which are obtainable at all stations. new york has on deposit close to one third of all the postal-savings deposits in the united states. there are approximately , depositors in manhattan and the bronx, and they have to their credit in excess of $ , , . thus it will be seen that the new york office is not only a colossus among post-offices, viewed from the standpoint of postal facilities and postal business, but that as a financial institution as well it is a giant. _office of the cashier_ the cashier is the disbursing officer of the new york office, and he likewise receives all money derived from the sale of postage-stamps, stamped envelops, postal cards, and internal revenue stamps which are disposed of at the different stations and in all the third-and fourth-class post-offices in thirty-five counties in the state of new york. the cashier is mr. e. p. russell, and his financial responsibilities are great. the new york post-office is the depository for surplus postal funds from all first-and second-class post-offices in new york state, and it likewise provides hundreds of offices with treasury savings stamps and certificates, and accounts for the revenue received therefrom. how great is the volume of business of the cashier's office will be seen from the statistics given below, which are for the fiscal year ended june , . stamps kind number ordinary , , , postage due , , parcel post , proprietary (revenue) , , documentary (revenue) , , stamps in coils , , ------------- , , , books of stamps , , international reply coupons , postal cards denomination number postal cards-- c. , , postal cards-- c. , , postal cards-- c. , , ----------- , , stamped envelops kind number low-back , , high-back , , open-window , , extra-quality , special-request , , ----------- , , treasury stamps and certificates since december , $ . stamps , . certificates , . certificates , . certificates , if the postage and revenue stamps shown above could be placed lengthwise, in one single line, it would reach a distance of , miles, more than enough to encircle the earth. _pay-roll worries of magnitude_ the cashier's office pays the salaries of the , employees of the new york office, which in the last fiscal year amounted to $ , , . . it also pays many of the employees of the railway mail service, this salary list for the year totaling $ , , . ; also all the rural delivery carriers in new york state, their earnings being $ , , . for the year. a feature of the parcel-post system is the indemnity which is paid in the case of damage or loss to insured parcels. when applications for indemnities are received from the public they are investigated by the inquiry section, and when it is determined that payment should be made, the cashier's office makes the disbursement. approximately drafts are drawn daily to cover these cases. mention has been made of treasury savings certificates handled by the new york office, which in the month of july were sold to the value of about $ , . these certificates, as the name indicates, while issued by the treasury department are handled largely by the post-office department as a convenience to the public and in the interest of the government to better promote the sales. the large amount of one month's sales indicates the measure of service thus provided and the extent to which it is used. _office of the auditor_ the auditor is the checking officer of all receipts and disbursements of the new york post-office. the position is held by mr. justus w. salzmann, another postal veteran, and his corps audits the postal, money-order, and postal-savings accounts, prepares statements of these accounts for transmission to the comptroller of the post-office department, and verifies the money-order and postal accounts of mail clerks in charge of post-offices on naval vessels. he also audits the accounts of approximately post-offices in the state of new york known as "district offices," of which new york city is the central accounting office, and he corresponds with the postmasters of these offices in connection with the conduct of their offices. the auditor also supervises the examination of financial accounts at the main office and at all stations, made by station examiners, corresponds with and prepares statements for the commissioner of pensions in connection with refunds under the retirement act, and with the united states employees' compensation commission in connection with injuries sustained by employees while on duty. he has charge of contracts requiring expenditures, as well as correspondence relating to leases of post-office stations and to repairs and additional equipment required at these stations. the organization of the auditor's office is divided into two sections, each under the supervision of a bookkeeper; one has charge of the general accounts of the new york office and the accounts of district post-offices; the other has charge of the auditing of the money-order and postal-savings accounts, the preparation and verification of pay-rolls, and second-class and permit-matter accounts. the auditor has immediate charge of six station examiners who report on the financial accounts of all stations; they also investigate and report on the need for establishing and maintaining contract stations and attend to complaints received concerning the operation of such stations. the auditor, as the checking officer of the new york post-office, audits receipts and disbursements totaling over $ , , annually. the postal receipts for the fiscal year ended june , , were $ , , . , as compared with $ , , . for the previous fiscal year, a gain of $ , , . . _the appointment section_ the appointment section corresponds to a well-organized personnel bureau of a modern business establishment. this section is under the superintendency of mr. peter putz. all appointees from the civil service list report to this section, and from here they are assigned to the various divisions and departments, according to the requirements. in a force of , men there are, of course, many changes daily, caused by deaths, resignations, promotions, and demotions. whatever action is involved in the changes is taken by the appointment section. the efficiency records of all employees are filed here, and likewise the bonds covering their financial responsibility. from the day a person enters the service to the time he or she leaves it, a record is kept of all ratings, of qualifications as determined by his superior officers, and of all delinquencies. _the drafting section_ how diversified the requirements of the postal service are is illustrated by the work of the drafting section, under the direction of mr. john t. rathbun, whose corps of draftsmen are constantly engaged in laying out new stations, replotting equipment in different units as various changes incident to the growth of the city necessitate, or as changes in the regulations affect the volume of business at different points. this section includes also a corps of mechanics engaged in the repair and maintenance of mail-handling apparatus and equipment. _the supply department_ the supply department of the new york post-office corresponds to a well-equipped store and printing establishment. it is under the superintendency of mr. william gibson. by this division supplies are furnished not only to the new york office and its stations, including those on naval vessels, but to post-offices throughout new york state, as many as points in all being cared for. among the items supplied are , , penalty envelops and different varieties of forms and books, of which approximately , , copies are used annually. this department furnishes different items of stationery and of janitors' supplies, and innumerable repair parts for a great variety of mechanical contrivances used in the postal system. the aim of the official in charge of the department is to keep in touch with the latest labor-aiding mechanical devices that can be utilized in the service, and among the various bureaus and sections will be found more than type-writers, eighty adding-machines, cancelling machines, check-writing, check-protecting, accounting, and duplicating machines. for these numerous repairs are required and parts have to be secured, all of which is attended to by this department. a feature of this department is a well-equipped printing section, which prints a daily paper or bulletin containing instructions, orders, and information for the employees, as well as numerous forms, posters, placards, etc., utilizing in this work a monotype type-setting machine, two cylinder and five job presses. a detail in its workshop is the precancellation of postage-stamps, to meet the requirements of large mailers who desire to purchase them, of which the yearly output is approximately , , . _the classification section_ in the division of classification all questions involving rates and conditions of mailing are passed upon. at the head of this section is mr. frederick g. mulker, whose experience with these matters is probably unequaled. all applications for the entry of publications as "second-class" matter are handled here, and to this bureau publishers come to arrange for the acceptance of their magazines and papers. after a publication is admitted to the mails at the second-class rate its columns are scrutinized to detect anything that infringes upon the regulations, and if anything is found, action is taken by this section. the law defines various classes of mail matter, and innumerable questions arise as to the class in which certain articles belong, many of the questions being difficult of determination and involving numerous technicalities, but here, sooner or later, all questions are settled. it is to this point, also, that the public comes for information as to the preparation of matter for the mails, how it should be wrapped, addressed, and posted; this section passes upon the mailability of matter under the lottery laws, which cover everything relating to prize schemes, contests, competitions, drawings, endless-chain schemes, etc. many are the plans submitted, and while the law is rigid in respect to these matters, the field is alluring, and each day some novel proposition is submitted with the hope that it will not infringe the law, yet be attractive to the public through some subtle appeal to its gambling proclivity. _the inquiry department_ this is one of the most interesting departments of any post-office. the one at new york is under the supervision of mr. william t. gutgsell, and its functions are many. it handles all inquiries for missing mail, and during the year ended june , , this amounted to , . the number of inquiries, however, by no means equals the number of letters and packages which are found to be undeliverable. undeliverable mail is disposed of by the inquiry section, and the magnitude of its work may be appreciated from the fact that no fewer than , letters were mailed without postage during the year. among the other items that loom large in the report of the inquiry department is the number of letters directed to hotels which were not claimed by the addressees. of these there were , , ; , parcels of fourth-class matter were found without address, the delivery of which could not be effected, and , pieces of unaddressed matter were restored to the owners. in former years all letters and packages of value found to be undeliverable throughout the country and not provided with the cards of the senders were forwarded to the division of dead letters at washington, but on january , , branch dead-letter offices were established at new york, chicago, and san francisco. the branch at new york is conducted by the inquiry section, and its work concerns maine, new hampshire, vermont, massachusetts, connecticut, rhode island, and new york, offices being included. from this area last year there were received , , pieces of undeliverable matter of domestic origin. a very large part of this mail had to be opened in order that restoration to the owners could be effected. many of the letters, etc., were found to contain valuable enclosures, as indicated by this tabulation: opened dead mail with valuable enclosures number amount money , $ , . drafts, checks, money-orders, etc. , , , . postage-stamps , , . many letters found to contain drafts, checks, money-orders, etc., are restored to the owners, for if the contents do not themselves disclose the address of the owners, the banks upon which the checks are drawn are communicated with to secure the information desired. the inquiry department includes the indemnity bureau, which reviews, adjusts, and pays claims involving loss or damage to insured or c. o. d. parcels. of these claims , were filed during the last fiscal year, and the amount paid on the claims was $ , . . another bureau of this department is charged with the duty of examining all misdirected letters and parcels which cannot be distributed or delivered by the employees regularly engaged in sorting the mails. the carelessness of the public in the matter of addressing mail is apparent from the statistics of this bureau for the year just passed, which show that it handled , , letters with the very creditable result that of this number it succeeded in correcting and forwarding , , from which it is evident that the post-office took more pains than did the senders. of the number handled it also restored to the senders approximately , . _order and instruction section_ this department is under the supervision of mr. edward r. mcalarney and is maintained for the issuance of various bulletins of information, public announcements, news items, and the circulation through official publications of instructions, orders, and intelligence regarding postal matters. it is "the office of publication" to the post-office; it issues posters, bulletins, news of the service, notices announcing the change in rates and conditions, the sailing and arriving of ships, changes in time of despatch and routing of the mail, etc. it is a busy department and the magnitude of its service corresponds to the great volume of work that it performs. _the examination section_ how the employees are trained a survey of the post-office quickly illustrates the fact that it could only be successfully conducted by the agency of skilled employees, especially trained for the work. the distribution of the mail is dependent upon employees who certainly must closely apply themselves to the mastery of the schemes of separation, and we should imagine that these are rather tedious to study, for it seems to be largely a matter of "grind" and memory taxation regarding absolutely unrelated names and places, times of train departures, etc. it is a work to which men must devote a good part of their lives and must have constant practice in order to maintain speed, and the duty of standing eight hours a day in front of a case and boxing letters by the thousand, year in and year out, must sometimes be closely akin to drudgery. to add to the difficulties of these men there are constant changes in the list of post-offices, in the timetables, etc., so that a scheme of separation is no sooner mastered than it is necessary to memorize new changes. a department devoted to the training of the employees engaged in this work is known as the "examination section," and is under the supervision of mr. h. s. mclean. as soon as a substitute is appointed he is sent to this section, where he is drilled in the fundamentals, in the rules and regulations, and in proper methods of performing the duties ordinarily performed by new employees. later the employees are graduated to practical work, and are assigned certain schemes to study on which they are examined from time to time and required to attain a certain standard of proficiency to justify their retention and advancement in the service. in the examinations, which continue as long as the employees are engaged in the distribution of mail, they are tested not only as to accuracy but as to speed, and if an employee fails to maintain the required efficiency, demotion follows. a feature of the work is the endeavor to impress upon the employee the importance of his employment, the necessity for devoting to it his best efforts and of not only maintaining but improving the standard. the following statistics in a way show the extent of this work: number of regular clerks subject to examination , approximate number of substitute clerks subject to examinations , -------- total , number of examination schemes issued to regular clerks subject to examination , approximate number of examination schemes issued to substitute clerks subject to examinations , ------- total , number of examinations conducted july , , to june , , number of cards handled in conducting case examinations , , average case examinations, daily number of clerks instructed in post-office duties july , , to june , , average instructions, daily number of study schemes in use in examination section which are divided into examination sections mail schedule divided into examination sections number of schemes examined july , , to june , _welfare work in new york_ in the new york post-office there is a welfare council, which consists of representatives elected by the clerks, carriers, laborers, motor-vehicle employees, and supervisors. this council considers all matters pertaining to the welfare of the employees and makes recommendations in regard to them to the postmaster. at the general post-office there has been established a clinic of the government health service. this clinic is equipped with an operating table, surgical instruments and supplies, two cots, and the other appurtenances of a first-class dispensary. three doctors and three nurses are in attendance. the clinic is open throughout the twenty-four hours with the exception of a short interval at night. approximately fifty patients are treated each day and without charge. the employees also own and operate a coöperative store and cafeteria in the general office, and among the terminals and stations there are numerous other similar undertakings. the employees also maintain numerous associations formed to better their conditions. several of these include sick benefits, insurance features, etc. some of these organizations are of national extent, others are local; every station and department has its own association or associations in addition to the major organizations of large membership. at the newer stations well-equipped and well-lighted "swing rooms" are provided. these are utilized by the men during their lunch periods and by the employees who are awaiting the time to go on duty. the manufacturers trust company cordially invites the officials and employees of the united states postal system, wherever located, to make use of its facilities and services, whenever their interests may thus be advanced. this company conducts eight banking offices, at convenient locations throughout the city of new york, and at each of these offices it cares for the needs of its customers in every department of commercial, investment, and thrift banking. our officers welcome opportunities to be of service, or to advise with you regarding your banking needs. nathan s. jonas, _president_. transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including non-standard spelling and inconsistent hyphenation. some changes of spelling and punctuation have been made. they are listed at the end of the text. text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). oe ligatures have been converted to "oe." her majesty's mails: an historical and descriptive account of the british post-office. together with an appendix. by william lewins. "our english post-office is a splendid triumph of civilization."--_lord macaulay._ london: sampson low, son, and marston, , ludgate hill. . london: r. clay, son, and taylor, printers, bread street hill. preface. this volume is the first of a contemplated series designed to furnish some account of the history and ordinary working of the revenue departments of the country--to do for the great _governmental_ industries what mr. smiles has so ably done (to compare his great things with our small) for the profession of civil engineering and several _national_ industries. few attempts have ever been made to trace the rise and progress of the invaluable institution of the post-office. we have more than once seen the question asked in _notes and queries_--that _sine quâ non_ of the curious and the learned--where a continuous account might be found of english postal history. in each case, the inquirer has been referred to a short summary of the history of the post-office, prefixed to the postmaster-general's _first report_. since that, the messrs. black, in the eighth edition of the _encyclopædia britannica_, have supplied an excellent and more extended notice. still more recently, however, in an admirable paper on the post-office in _fraser's magazine_, mr. matthew d. hill has expressed his astonishment that so little study has been given to the subject--that it "has attracted the attention of so small a number of students, and of each, as it would appear, for so short a time." "i have not been able to find," adds mr. hill, "that even germany has produced a single work which affects to furnish more than a sketch or outline of postal history." the first part of the following pages is offered as a _contribution_ to the study of the subject, in the hope that it will be allowed to fill the vacant place, at any rate, until the work is done more worthily. with regard to that most interesting episode in the history of the post-office which resulted in the penny-post reform, the materials for our work--scanty though they undoubtedly are in the earlier periods--are here sufficiently abundant. the scope, however, of the present undertaking would not allow of much more than a proportionate amount of space being devoted to that epoch. besides, the history of that eventful struggle can be properly told but by one hand, and that hand, if spared, intends, we believe, to tell his own story. mr. torrens maccullagh, in his _life of sir james graham_, has thrown much new light on the letter-opening transactions of , and we have been led, on inquiry, to concur in many of his views on the subject. the greater portion of the second division of this volume, as well as a portion of the first part, appeared originally in the pages of several popular serial publications--principally _chambers's journal_ and mr. chambers's _book of days_; the whole, however, has been thoroughly revised, where it has not been re-written, and otherwise adapted to the purposes of the present work. we are indebted to mr. robert chambers, ll.d., not only for permitting the republication of these papers in this form, but also for kindly indicating to us sources of information from the rich storehouse of his experience, which we have found very useful. on collateral subjects, such as roads and conveyances, besides having, in common with other readers, the benefit of mr. smiles's valuable researches in his _lives of the engineers_, we are personally indebted to him for kindly advice. we have only to add that, while in no sense an authorized publication, personal acquaintance has been brought to bear on the treatment of different parts of it, and that we have received, in describing the various branches of the post-office, much valuable information from mr. j. bowker and several gentlemen connected with the london establishment. it is hoped that the information, now for the first time brought together, may prove interesting to many letter-writers who are ignorant, though not willingly so, of the channels through which their correspondence flows. if our readers think that the wise man was right when he likened the receipt of pleasant intelligence from a far country to cold water given to a thirsty soul, surely they will also admit that the _agency_ employed to compass this good service, which has made its influence felt in every social circle, and which has brought manifold blessings in its train, deserves some passing thought and attention. the appendix is designed to afford a source of general reference on many important matters relating to the post-office, some parts of it having been carefully collated from parliamentary documents not easily accessible to the public. _april , ._ contents. part i. historical account of the post-office. chapter i. page introductory chapter ii. the rise of the general post-office chapter iii. on old roads and slow coaches chapter iv. the settlement of the post-office chapter v. palmer and the mail-coach era chapter vi. the transition period at the post-office chapter vii. sir rowland hill and penny postage chapter viii. early results of the penny-postage scheme chapter ix. the post-office and letter-opening chapter x. the development of the post-office part ii. descriptive account of the post-office. prefatory chapter i. the organization of the post-office chapter ii. on the circulation of letters chapter iii. the mail-packet service chapter iv. on postage-stamps chapter v. post-office savings' banks chapter vi. being miscellaneous and suggestive chapter vii. concerning some of the popular misconceptions and misrepresentations to which the post-office is liable appendix (a). chief officers of the post-office appendix (b). abstract of the principal regulations appendix (c). information relative to the appointments in the post-office service appendix (d). appointments in the chief office in london principal appointments in the chief offices of dublin and edinburgh appointments, with salaries, of the five principal provincial establishments in england and scotland information respecting other principal provincial post-offices appendix (e). sale of postage-stamps appendix (f). conveyance of mails by railway appendix (g). manufacture of postage-labels and envelopes appendix (h). results of postal reform part i. historical account of the post-office. her majesty's mails. chapter i. introductory. circular letters, and a kind of post for conveying them, are frequently mentioned both in sacred and profane history. queen jezebel is remarkable as being the first letter-writer on record, though it is not surprising to find that she used her pen for purposes of deception. according to the sacred chronicler, she "wrote letters in ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles in the city." from the book of esther we learn that ahasuerus, king of persia, being displeased at the disobedience of his wife, vashti, sent letters into every province of his vast empire, informing his subjects that it was his imperial will that "every man should bear rule in his own house." the first recorded _riding post_ was established in the persian empire by cyrus, who, when engaged in his scythian expedition, in order to have news brought expeditiously, "caused it to be tried how far a horse could go in a day without baiting, and, at that distance, appointed stages and men whose business it was to have horses always in readiness."[ ] another authority[ ] tells us that there were one hundred and eleven postal stages, a day's journey distant from one another, between susa and the Ægean sea, and that at each stage a large and beautiful structure was erected, with every convenience for the purpose designed. it is certainly remarkable that neither in this nor in any other recorded instance have the posts in ancient times developed into one for the conveyance of private correspondence. it is certain that the greeks and romans, even when at the height of their civilization, had no regular public post. there are some traces of _statores_ and _stationes_ under the roman republic; and augustus, we find, instituted posts on the principal trunk-roads, for the use of the imperial government. he also established a class of mounted messengers, called _tabellarii_, who went in charge of the despatches. that these messengers should have been strictly forbidden to convey letters for private persons, or that no provision was subsequently made for that purpose, is the more wonderful, when we consider the high character of the nations themselves, and the fact, often pointed out, that the progress of civilization has always been intimately and essentially connected with, and dependent upon, facilities for intercommunication--keeping pace, in fact, with the means which nations possessed for the interchange of person and property, and with them of thought and knowledge. that those nations to which we are so greatly indebted for so much that exalts the intellect and adorns life, should not have left us an example of such a useful and (considering the vast extent of their respective territories), we should have thought, indispensable institution as that of a public letter-post, is marvellous. marco polo, the famous venetian, who travelled in china in the fourteenth century,[ ] describes the government post as similar to that in use in persia under cyrus. the posts had existed in china from the earliest times. every twenty-five miles there were posts, called _jambs_, where the imperial envoy was received. there were frequently as many as three or four hundred horses in waiting at one of these places. polo further states that there were ten thousand stations of this kind in china, some of them affording sumptuous accommodation to travellers. two hundred thousand horses are said to have been engaged in the service. the fact affords a curious commentary on the progress of civilization in the celestial empire, that, though this gigantic and elaborate establishment has been in existence so long and up to the present century, it is only within the last few years that provision has been made in china for public letter-posts. the earliest date in modern history at which any postal service is mentioned, is the year , when an organization was planned by the emperor charlemagne. the service, however, did not survive him. the first regular european letter-post was established in the hanse towns in the early part of the thirteenth century. this federation of republics required constant communication with each other; for, being largely engaged in similar commercial pursuits, it became indispensable to their existence that some system of letter-conveyance should be originated. the next establishment was a line of letter-posts connecting austria with lombardy, in the reign of the emperor maximilian, said to have been organized by the princes of the house of thurn and taxis. the representatives of the same house established another line of posts from vienna to brussels, thus further connecting the most distant parts of the vast dominions of the spanish emperor, charles v. it may be mentioned here, that the counts of thurn and taxis have, in virtue of their original establishment, which they controlled from the first, always held peculiar rights and privileges in relation to the postal systems of germany; and up to this day the posts of the house of thurn and taxis are entirely distinct from the existing crown establishments, and, in fact, are maintained in rivalry to those of some of the german states. in france, in the fifteenth century, louis xi. revived the system of charlemagne, organizing a body of couriers for purposes of state. we may gather from the existing materials, scanty though they be, something like a continuous account of the early history of the english post-office, tracing, very clearly, its progress from the fifteenth century to its present position. while the _general post_ dates from the stuarts, the establishment of a regular _riding post_ in england owes its origin to edward iv. the english post seems from the first to have been fully commensurate with the demands for its service, its growth depending on the gradual advance which the country made in other measures of social progress. four or five centuries ago, few private persons could either read or write. on the other hand, the business of the state demanded correspondence. the king had his barons to summon, or his sheriffs to instruct, and letters of writ were issued accordingly, a few government messengers supplying all the wants of the time. now and then the nobles would require to address each other, and sometimes to correspond with their dependents, but, as a general rule, neither the serf nor his master had the power, even if they had the will, to engage much in writing. as time wore on, and we come nearer the age of the tudors, the desire for learning spread, though still the few who engaged in literary or scientific pursuits were either attached to the court or to the monastic establishments. even when the tudor dynasty came in, trade with foreign countries, and remote districts in our own country, was almost equally unknown. each district dwelt alone, supplied its own wants, and evinced very little desire for any closer communication. in the earliest times in england, and prior to the first regular horse posts, both public and private letters were sent by private messengers, travelling when required. in the reign of henry i. messengers were first permanently employed by the king. so early as the reign of king john the payments to _nuncii_--as these messengers were now called--for the conveyance of government despatches, are to be found entered in the _close_ and _misæ rolls_, "and the entries of these payments may be traced in an almost unbroken series through the records of many subsequent reigns." nuncii were also attached to the establishments of the principal barons of the time, and communications passed between them by means of those functionaries. in the reign of henry iii., the son and successor of king john, these messengers began to wear the royal livery. at first it was necessary for them to keep horses of their own, or use those belonging to the royal or baronial mansion. in the reign of edward i. we find that fixed stations or _posts_ were established, at which places horses were kept for hire, the _nuncii_ ceasing to provide horses of their own, or borrowing from private individuals. several private letters are in existence, dating as far back as the reign of edward ii., which bear the appearance of having been carried by the _nuncii_ of that period, with "haste, post, haste!" written on the backs of them. with the machinery thus ready to his hand, the improvements contrived by edward iv. were easily accomplished. in this monarch was engaged in war with scotland, when, in order to facilitate the transmission of news from the english capital, he ordered a continuous system of posts, consisting of _relays_ of horses and messengers every twenty miles. by this arrangement, despatches were conveyed to him at the english camp with marvellous expedition, his couriers riding at an average rate of seventy miles a day. when peace was restored, the system of relays was allowed to fall into disuse, only to be revived in cases of urgency. little improvement in communication could be expected under such a course of procedure, and little was effected. henry viii. was the first monarch who endeavoured to keep the posts in a state of efficiency, and improve their organization, in peace as well as in war; though still it is noticeable that the post stages are kept up purely and exclusively as a convenience to the government for the conveyance of its despatches. henry viii. instituted the office of "master of the postes,"[ ] with entire control of the department. during the king's lifetime the office was filled by one brian tuke, afterwards sir brian. we gain some insight into the duties of the office, and also into the manner in which the work is done, from the following letter (found in the voluminous correspondence of thomas cromwell) from the "master of the postes," no doubt in exculpation of himself and his arrangements, which seem to have been in some way called in question by the lord privy seal. "the kinge's grace hath no moo ordinary postes, ne of many days hathe had, but betwene london and calais. for, sir, ye knowe well, that, except the hackney horses betwene gravesende and dovour, there is no suche usual conveyance in post for men in this realme as in the accustomed places of france and other _parties_; _ne men can keepe horses in redynes without som way to bere the charges_; but when placardes be sent for such cause, (viz. to order the immediate forwarding of some state packet,) the constables many tymes be fayne to take horses oute of plowes and cartes, _wherein can be no extreme diligence_." the king's worthy secretary thus charges the postmaster with remissness, and the mails with tardiness, when the facts, as gathered from the above letter, show that the government had not gone to the trouble and expense of providing proper auxiliaries, as in france; _ergo_, they could not expect the same regularity and despatch. master tuke then defends the character of his men. "as to the postes betwene london and the courte, there be now but ; whereof the _on_ is a good robust felowe, and wont to be diligent, evil intreated meny times, he and other postes, by the herbigeours, for lack of horse rome or horse mete, _withoute which diligence cannot be_. the other hathe been a most payneful felowe in nyght and daye, that i have knowen amongst the messengers. if he nowe _slak_ he shalbe changed as reason is." during the insurrection in the northern counties in the reign of henry viii., the rebel leaders, in order to insure a rapid transmission of orders, established regular posts from hull to york, york to durham, and durham to newcastle.[ ] the council of edward vi. finding that a great many irregularities existed in the hire of post-horses, had an act passed ( & edward vi. c. ) fixing the charge at a penny per mile for all horses so impressed. up to the end of the reign of queen elizabeth, no further improvements seem to have been made, although her council took steps to make the existing service as efficient as possible, by reforming some abuses which had crept into it during queen mary's reign. before elizabeth's death, the expenses of the post were reduced to rather less than , _l._ per annum. before the reduction, the sum charged for conveying her majesty's despatches from stage to stage was enormous. up to the thirty-first year of her reign, a rate of _d._ a letter was levied by the proprietors of the post-horses, for _every post travelled over_. the council resolved to pay the proprietors _s._ a day for the service, irrespective of the distance travelled. the payment was reduced to _s._ and ultimately to _d._ a day. much information respecting the service--the different stages, the routes taken at this early period, &c. &c. has been found in old records of the "master of the postes," exhumed some twenty years ago from the vaults of somerset house. this functionary, it would appear, paid all current expenses appertaining to his department, "the wages and entertainment of the ordinary posts," and he was reimbursed in full under the grant "for conveyance of her highness's letters and her council's." the information respecting the routes taken is especially interesting, because it serves to show that even at this early period arrangements were made with great circumspection, and that some of these early routes existed, with only trifling modifications, down to the present century, and to the time of railroads. the route from london to berwick is shown by the lists of posts (or stages) laid down between the two places in the fifteenth year of queen elizabeth's reign. they run as follows:-- . london; . waltham; . ware; . royston; . caxton; . huntingdon; . stilton; . stamford; . grantham; . newark; . tookesford (tuxford); . foroby (ferriby); . doncaster; . ferry bridge; . wetherby; . bouroughbridge; . northallerton; . derneton (darlington); . durham; . newcastle; . morpeth; . hexham; . hawtwistle; . carlisle; . alnwick; . belford; . berwick. for three centuries, therefore, the high north road took in all these posts with the exception of tuxford. a considerable diversion, it will be noticed, was made at morpeth towards the west, in order to take in the then important towns of hexham and carlisle; but it is more probable that the direct post-road continued north through alnwick to berwick, and that the west road was only a kind of cross-post. there were no less than three post routes to ireland in this reign, and all of them were used more or less. the first and most important, perhaps, left london and took the following towns in its way; the distance between each town constituting a "stage;" viz. dunstable, dayntry (daventry), collsill (coleshill), stone, chester and liverpool, from which latter place a packet sailed. the remaining two mails took slightly different routes to _holyhead_, whence also a packet sailed for ireland. we find there were also _two_ posts between london and bristol and the west of england; the first going by way of maidenhead, newbury, marlborough and chippenham; the other, by hounslow, maidenhead, reading, marlborough, maxfield to bristol. to dover there were also _two_ posts; the one passing through dartford, gravesend, rochester, sittingbourne, canterbury, margate and sandwich; the other passing through canterbury direct, without calling at the two last-named places. the posts above enumerated were called the "ordinary" posts, and may be supposed to have been the permanent arrangements for the transmission of the government despatches. when these posts did not avail--and it must be understood that they were never allowed to make a _détour_ into the cross-roads of the country--"extraordinary posts" were established. generally speaking, these extra posts were put on for any service which required the greatest possible haste. here is an extract from the records of which we have spoken, on this point. "thomas miller, gent. sent in haste by special commandment of sir francis walsingham, throughout all the postes of kent to warn and to order, both with the posts for an augmentation of the ordinary number of horses for the packet, and with the countries near them for a supply of twenty or thirty horses a-piece for the 'throughe posts,' during the service against the spanish navy by sea, and the continuance of the army by land." again, in st elizabeth, special or "extraordinary" posts were laid between london and rye, upon unwelcome news arriving from france, "and for the more speedy advertisement of the same." "thomas miller, gent. sent at easter, , to lay the posts and _likest_ landing places either in kent or sussex, upon intelligence given of some practices intended against the queen's person." mr. miller seems to have judged rye to be the "likest landing place" for the purpose, and, returning, "received seven pound for his services." other extraordinary posts were often laid down between hampton court and southampton and portsmouth, for the "more speedy advertisement" of occurrences from the ports of normandy and bretaigne. in the early part of queen elizabeth's reign, disputes were frequent with the foreign merchants resident in london with regard to the foreign post, which, up to this reign they had been allowed to manage among themselves. in , the queen's council of state issued a proclamation "for the redresse of disorders in postes which conveye and bring to and out of the parts beyond the seas, pacquets of letters." it would seem that soon after the arrival of the flemings in this country, in the previous century, they established a post-office of their own, between london and the continent, appointing one of themselves as postmaster, by the sufferance and favour of the reigning sovereign. "afterwards," says stowe,[ ] "by long custom, they pretended a right to appoint a master of the _strangers' post_, and that they were in possession of from the year ." this continued till , in which year the foreign merchants fell out among themselves over the question of appointing a postmaster. the flemings, aided by the spanish ambassador, chose one raphael vanden putte; the italians, by this time a considerable body of foreigners, chose one of their number for the vacant place. not being able to agree, the disputants referred their case to the english council, when, to the surprise of the foreigners, their right to appoint at all was publicly disputed. the english merchants took up the matter very warmly, and addressed the privy council in two or three petitions. they took the opportunity to complain that the authorities of the foreign post had frequently acted unfairly to them, in keeping back their continental letters, and so giving the foreigners the advantage of the markets. in one of the petitions, they urged, "that it is one of the chief points of the prerogative belonging to all princes, to place within their dominions such officers as were most trusty of their own subjects; that the postmaster's place was one of great trust and credit in every realm, and therefore should be committed to the charge of the natural subjects and not strangers, especially in such places as had daily passages into foreign realms, and where was concourse of strangers." further, "the strangers were known to have been the occasion of many injuries in the staying and keeping back of letters, and, in the meantime, an extraordinary would be despatched to prevent the markets and _purpose_." the english merchants urged that it would be doing the foreigners no injustice to appoint an english postmaster; no new exactions need be imposed upon them, "and such men might be placed in the office as could talk with them in their own language, and that should make as good promise, and as faithfully perform the same in all equity and upright dealings, as any stranger had done." the result was, that it was finally settled that the "master of the postes" should have the charge of both the english and foreign offices, and that the title of this functionary should be changed to "chief postmaster." thomas randolph was the first "chief postmaster" of england. under the tudor dynasty, marvellous strides were taken in the social progress of the country. the habits of a great nation can, of course, only change slowly; but, notwithstanding, the england of the plantagenets was a different country to the england which elizabeth left in . the development of trade, which really commenced with the tudors, gave the first great impulse to a new social era. people began to feel more interest in each other, and as this became manifest, the demand for interchange of thought and news became more and more urgent. in the reign of henry viii. the english people began a considerable trade with flanders in wool. a commercial treaty subsequently gave free ingress and egress to the ships of both nations. the change that this new trade wrought was immediate and striking. english rural districts which had before been self-supporting--growing their own corn and feeding their own cattle--now turned their corn-land into pasture-land, and sought grain among their neighbours. the dissolution of the monasteries under the same monarch had the effect, among other results, of scattering broadcast over the country those who had previously lived together and enjoyed almost a monopoly of learning. the reformation civilized as well as christianized the people. other causes were at work which operated in opening out the country, and encouraging habits of locomotion and the spread of intelligence generally. amongst many such, were changes, for instance, in the routine of law procedure, introduced by henry. up to his time, courts of arbitration had sat from time immemorial within the different baronies of england, where disputes, especially those between landlord and tenant, were cheaply and equitably adjusted. now, such cases were ordered to be taken to london, and country people found themselves compelled to take journeys to london and sue or be sued at the new courts of westminster.[ ] we could not well exaggerate the difficulties which encompassed _travellers_ at this early period. as yet there were but one or two main roads. even in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, and certainly in all the remote parts of the country, the roads were not unlike broad ditches, much waterworn and strewn with loose stones. travellers had no choice but to ride on horseback or walk. everybody who could afford it rode. the sovereign and all gentlefolk rode. judges rode the circuit in jackboots. ladies rode on pillions fixed on the horse, and generally behind some relative or serving-man. in this way queen elizabeth, when she rode into the city, placed herself behind her lord chancellor. the wagon was an invention of the period. it was a rude contrivance; nothing, in fact, but a cart without springs, the body of it resting solidly upon the axles. the first conveyance of this sort was constructed for the queen's own use, and in it she journeyed to open parliament.[ ] elizabeth rode in it but on this one occasion, and has left behind her a curious and most graphic account of her sufferings during the journey, in a letter, written in the old french of that period, to the french ambassador at her court, who seems to have suggested the improvement to her. the wagon, which had been originally contrived for ladies, now that the queen discarded it, was not brought into great use during her reign. it seems to have found its way into the provinces, however, the gentry of that time being delighted with it. "on a certaine day in ," according to mr. smiles, "that valyant knyght, sir harry sydney, entered shrewsbury in his wagon, with his trompeter blowynge, verey joyfull to behold and see." under such circumstances, it cannot be wondered at that general intelligence travelled slowly. among the common people, few ever saw a letter. pilgrims, as they travelled between the monasteries of the period, or who, after their dissolution, visited their shrines, dispensed news to the poor, and would occasionally carry letters for the rich.[ ] public and private couriers riding post were sometimes surrounded, at the villages or towns on their _route_, by crowds of people desirous of obtaining some information of the world's doings. at times, they were not suffered to pass without furnishing some kind of information. the letters of the period, many of which survive, show that great care was taken to protect them from the curiosity of the bearer; and precautionary measures were resorted to to prevent delay. they were usually most carefully folded, and fastened at the end by a sort of paper strap, upon which the seal was affixed, whilst under the seal a piece of string or silk thread, or even a straw, was frequently placed, running round the letter. the following letter, still extant, will serve to give an insight into the way letters were dealt with at this period, and the speed at which they were forwarded.--(vide _postmaster-general's nd report_, p. .) archbishop parker _to_ sir w. cecil. sir, according to the queen's majesty's pleasure, and your advertisement, you shall receive a form of prayer, which, after you have perused and judged of it, shall be put in print and published immediately, &c. &c. from my house at croyden, this d july, , at four of the clock, afternoon. your honour's alway, matthew cant. this letter is thus endorsed by successive postmasters, according to the existing custom. received at waltham cross the d of july, at nine at night. received at ware the d of july at at night. received at croxton the th of july, between and of the morning. so that his grace's letter, which would appear to have been so important as that one or more messengers were required to travel night and day in order to deliver it at the earliest possible moment, took hours to travel miles. footnotes: [ ] xenophon. [ ] herodotus. [ ] travels of marco polo, pp. , . [ ] camden's annals. [ ] froude's history, vol. iii. p. . [ ] surveye of london, vol. ii. [ ] froude's history, vol. iii. p. . [ ] smiles's lives of the engineers, vol. i. [ ] historian of craven, speaking of the close of the sixteenth century. chapter ii. the rise of the general post-office. it was reserved for the stuarts to organize for the first time in england a regular system of post communication, the benefits of which should be shared by all who could find the means. england was behind other european nations in establishing a public letter-post. it was not until the foreign post had been in existence a hundred years, and until the foreigners had drawn particular attention to their postal arrangements by their constant disputes, that the english government established a general post for inland letters, similar to the one whose benefits "the strangers" had enjoyed even prior to the reign of henry the eighth. little progress towards this end was made in the reign of the first james, if we except a better organization for the conveyance of official despatches. at the same time, it ought to be stated, that the improved organization here referred to was the groundwork for the subsequent public post. one of the results attendant on the accession[ ] of the scotch king to the english crown necessitated important improvements in the system of horse posts, for which it called loudly. immediately on his accession, the high road from edinburgh to london was thronged night and day with the king's countrymen. all ordinary communications fell far short of the demand; so much so, that post messengers riding from the council at edinburgh to the king in london, or _vice versâ_, were stopped whole days on the road for want of horses, which had been taken by the scottish lords and gentlemen rushing forward to the english capital to offer their congratulations to his majesty. as a remedy, the lords of the english council issued a proclamation, calling upon all magistrates to assist the postmasters "_in this time so full of business_," by seeing to it that they were supplied with "fresh and able horses as necessitie shall require." they were to be "able and sufficient horses," well furnished "of saddles, bridles, girts and stirropes, with good guides to look to them; who for the said horses shall demand and receive of such as shall ride on them the prices accustomed" (_book of proclamation_, - ). as the general intercourse between the two capitals now promised to be permanent, and travelling along the north road increased rather than diminished, further general orders were published from time to time by royal proclamation. two kinds of post were established during the reign of james the first, both being in operation together towards its close. they were known as the "_thorough post_," and "_the post for the packet_." the first, consisting of special messengers who rode "thorough post," that is, through the whole distance "with horse and guide," was established in . the couriers were ordered to pay at the rate of "twopence-halfpenny the mile" for the hire of each horse, and to pay in advance. further, they must not ride any horse more than one stage (or seven miles in summer, and six in winter), except "with the consent of the post of the stage at which they did not change." for the service of the second post, or "_the post for the packet_," every postmaster was bound to keep not less than two horses ready, "with furniture convenient," when on the receipt of a "packet" or parcel containing letters, from a previous stage, he was to send it on towards the next within a quarter of an hour of its receipt, entering the transaction in "a large and faire ledger paper book." as a further precaution, and in order to prevent the courier loitering on the road with any important despatch, each postmaster was required to endorse each single letter with the exact time of the messenger's arrival, just as we have seen in the case of the one found in the collection of archbishop parker's correspondence. for the purposes of this packet-post, we find it arranged that each postmaster should have ready "two bags of leather, at the least, well lined with baize or cotton, so as not to injure the letters." it also rested with the different postmasters to furnish the couriers with "_hornes_ to sound and blowe as oft as the post meets company, or at least four times in every mile."[ ] thus arose a custom which, under slightly different circumstances, was strictly observed in the days of mail-coaches. it will be readily observed that in the arrangements of the packet-post there was nothing to prevent its being extensively used, except the important restrictions which the king put upon its use. during the reign of james nothing but the despatches of ambassadors were allowed to jostle the government letters in the leather bags, "lined with baize or cotton," of "the post for the packet." it was not until charles the first had succeeded his father, that this post came to be used, under certain conditions, by merchants and private persons. it was during the reign of james the first that the government secured, and kept for a hundred years, certain privileges with respect to the hiring of post-horses. we have seen that the royal couriers, travelling with despatches by either of the two posts, had priority of claim to sufficient horses and proper accommodation on their journeys. they also settled, by order in council, that any person, whether travelling on the business of the government or not, should, if furnished with warrants from the council, have prior claim to private individuals, over post-horses and proper entertainment, demanding them in the name of the king. in a warrant of council, for instance, dated whitehall, may , , we find the privy council ordering all postmasters to furnish sir cornelius vermuyden with horses and guides to enable him to ride post from london to boston, and thence to hatfield, where he was engaged in draining the royal chase for the king.[ ] little as james the first did towards establishing an inland post, though with materials so ready to his hand, in the posts of which we have spoken, yet he deserves some credit for setting on foot a general post for letters to foreign countries. it would seem that the abuses complained of by english merchants, with regard to letters coming _from_ abroad, had been lessened by the appointment of an english postmaster for the foreign office, but not so with letters _sent_ abroad: hence the independent foreign post projected by the king. in another of the very numerous proclamations of his reign, it is stated that the king had created the office of postmaster-general for foreign parts, "being out of our dominions, and hath appointed to this office matthew de quester the elder, and matthew de quester the younger." the duties of this new office are stated to consist in the "sole taking up, sending, and conveying of all packets and letters concerning his service, or business to be despatched into forraigne parts, with power to grant moderate salaries." these appointments interfering in some way with his department, gave great offence to lord stanhope, the english "chief postmaster," and mutual unpleasantness sprung up between the officers of the two establishments. a suit was instituted in the law courts, and whilst it was pending, both offices got completely disarranged, some of lord stanhope's staff going without salary for as long as eight years; "divers of them," as we find it given in a petition to the council, "lie now in prison by reason of the great debt they are in for want of their entertainment." the dispute was not settled until after charles the first had become king--namely, in --when lord stanhope was induced to retire from the service as "chief postmaster," the de questers at the same time assigning the office they had jointly held to william frizell and thomas witherings. a royal proclamation was thereupon issued, to the effect that the king approved of the above assignment. "the king," it went on to say, "affecting the welfare of his people, and taking into his princely consideration how much it imports his state and this realm, that the secrets thereof be not disclosed to forraigne nations, which cannot be prevented if a promiscuous use of transmitting or taking up of forraigne letters and packets should be suffered, forbids all others from exercising that which to the office of such postmaster pertaineth, at their utmost perils." witherings seems to have made good use of his time, for in , or only three years from the date of his appointment, he saw the great necessity which existed for some improvement in the postal resources of the country, and proposed to the king to "settle a pacquet post between london and all parts of his majesty's dominions, for the carrying and recarrying of his subjects' letters." in this memorial, which justly entitles him to a front rank in the number of great postal reformers, witherings stated some curious facts relating to the service of those days. "private letters," it was said, "being now carried by carriers or persons travelling on foot, it is sometimes full two months before any answer can be received from scotland or ireland to london." "if any of his majesty's subjects shall write to madrid in spain, he shall receive answer sooner and surer than he shall out of scotland or ireland." witherings proposed that the existing posts should be used; that the journey between london and edinburgh should be performed in three days, when--"if the post could be punctually paid--the news will come _sooner than thought_." witherings' memorial had the desired effect on the council, who at once set about making the machinery already in use applicable for a general post for inland letters. in they issued a proclamation, in which they state that there had not been hitherto any constant communication between the kingdoms of england and scotland, and therefore command "thomas witherings, esquire, his majesty's postmaster for forraigne parts, to settle a running post or two, to run night and day between edinburgh in scotland and the city of london, to go thither and back again in days." directions were also given for the management of the correspondence between the principal towns on the line of road. _bye_ posts shall be connected with the main line of posts, by means of which letters from such places as lincoln, hull, chester, bristol, or exeter, shall fall into it, and letters addressed to these and other places shall be sent. other bye posts are promised to different parts of the country. all postmasters on the main line of posts, as well as those of the bye posts, were commanded to have "always ready in their stables one or two horses." the charges settled by james i. were ordered to be the charges under the new system, " ½_d._ for a single horse, and _d._ for two horses per mile." in a subsequent proclamation two years afterwards, a monopoly of letter-carrying was established, which has been preserved ever since, in all the regulations of the post-office. no other messengers or foot posts shall carry any letters, but those who shall be employed by the king's "chief postmaster." exceptions were made, however, when the letters were addressed to places to which the king's post did _not_ travel; also, in the case of common known carriers; messengers particularly sent express; and to a friend carrying a letter for a friend. these exceptions, trifling as they were, were withdrawn from time to time, as the post-office became more and more one of the settled institutions of the country. as it was, the prohibitory clauses caused great dissatisfaction in the country. the middle of the seventeenth century was certainly a bad time for introducing a measure that should bear any appearance of a stretch of the royal prerogative. that no one but the servants of the king's postmaster should carry private letters was regarded as an unwarrantable interference with the liberty of the subject; so much so, that in a committee of the house of commons was appointed to inquire into that part of the measure. the subject was also frequently mentioned in parliament; notwithstanding which, the government strictly adhered to the clause.[ ] the first rates of postage for the new service were fixed at _twopence_, for a single letter, for any distance under miles; _d._ up to miles; _d._ for any longer distance in england; and _d._ to any place in scotland. of course the distances were all reckoned from london. the control of the english letter-office was entrusted to the foreign postmaster-general, who had suggested the new undertaking. witherings held the joint offices for five years, when in he was charged with abusing both his trusts, and superseded by philip burlamachy, a london merchant. it was arranged, however, that burlamachy should execute the duties of his offices under the care and inspection of the principal secretary of state. and now began a quarrel which lasted incessantly from to . when the proclamation concerning the sequestration of his office was published, witherings assigned his patent to the earl of warwick. mindful of this opportunity, lord stanhope, the "chief postmaster" under the king's father, who had surrendered his patent some years before, now came forward and stated that the action had not been voluntary, but, as we learn from his petition to the house of lords, he "was summoned to the council table, and obliged, before he was suffered to depart, to subscribe somewhat there penned upon your petitioner's patent by the lord keeper coventry." lord stanhope found a staunch friend and adherent in mr. edmund prideaux, a member of the house of commons, and subsequently attorney-general to the commonwealth. two rival offices were established in london, and continued strife was maintained between the officers of the two claimants. on one occasion, prideaux himself helped to seize the plymouth mail which had just arrived in london, and was proceeding to the office of the earl of warwick near the royal exchange. burlamachy and the government failed to restore peace. in the commission on the post-office, to which we have already referred, the subject was taken up, but the resolution of the committee only rendered matters more complicated. the committee, though prideaux contrived to be made chairman of it, declared that the sequestration of two years before "was a grievance and illegal, and ought to be taken off," and mr. witherings restored to office. the commission decided against the government, both as regards the sequestration and the monopoly of letter-carrying, which the king proclaimed in . both questions were left in abeyance for two years, when, in , the parliamentary forces having begun to gain an ascendancy over those of the king, the lords and commons by a joint action appointed edmund prideaux, the chairman of the committee of , "and a barrister of seven years' standing," to the vacant office. it is somewhat amusing to note how the monopolizing tendencies of the crown, denounced but two years ago by the parliament, were now openly advocated and confirmed by an almost unanimous vote of both houses. the resolution establishing prideaux in the office states,[ ] that the lords and commons, "finding by experience that it is most necessary for keeping of good intelligence between the parliament and their forces, that post-stages be erected in several parts of the kingdom, and the office of master of the post and couriers being at present void, ordain that edmund prideaux shall be and hereby is constituted master of the posts, couriers, and messengers." prideaux must have been an energetic and pains-taking manager. he was very zealous and greatly improved the service, "establishing," says blackstone, "a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the country, thereby saving to the public the charge of maintaining postmasters to the amount of , _l._ per annum." it seems to have been clearly seen in parliament that the post-office would eventually pay its own expenses, and even yield a revenue; for, in deciding on prideaux's proposal, their object is stated quite concisely in one of the clauses sanctioning it:--"that for defraying the charges of the several postmasters, _and easing the state of it_, there must be a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the country." for twenty years previously the establishment of the post had been a burden to the extent of three or four thousand pounds a year on the public purse. prideaux at first was allowed to take the profits of his office, in consideration of his bearing all the charges. in , five years after his appointment, the amount of revenue derived from the posts reached , _l._ and a new arrangement was entered into. the practice of farming the post-office revenue began from the year , and lasted, as far as regards some of the bye posts, down to the end of the last century. in the revenue was farmed for the sum of , _l._ in the year the common council of london deliberately established a post-office for inland letters in direct rivalry to that of the parliament. but the commons, although they had loudly denounced the formation of a monopoly by the crown, proceeded to put down this infringement of the one which they had but lately secured to themselves. the city authorities, backed, as they were in those days, by immense power, stoutly denied that the parliament had any exclusive privilege in the matter. they could see no reason why there should not be "another weekly conveyance of letters and for other uses" (this latter clause most probably meaning conveyance of parcels and packets). though pressed to do so, "they refused to seek the sanction of parliament, or to have any direction from them in their measure."[ ] "the common council," it is further stated by way of complaint, "have sent agents to settle postages by their authority on several roads, and have employed a natural scott, who has gone into scotland, and hath there settled postmasters (others than those for the state) on all that road." prideaux took care to learn something from the rival company. he lowered his rates of postage, increased the number of despatches, and then resolutely applied himself to get the city establishment suppressed. prideaux, who had now become attorney-general, invoked the aid of the council of state. the council reported that, "as affairs now stand, they conceive that the office of postmaster is, and ought to be, in the sole power and disposal of parliament." after this decision the city posts were immediately and peremptorily suppressed, and from this date the carrying of letters has been the exclusive privilege of the crown. though the government succeeded in establishing the monopoly, public opinion was greatly against the measure. the authorities of the city of london, as may well be imagined, were incessant in their exertions to defeat it, not only at that time, but on many subsequent occasions. pamphlets were written on the subject, and one book, especially, deserves mention, inasmuch as its author bore a name now memorable in the annals of the british post-office. in was published a book, entitled _john hill's penny post; or a vindication of the liberty of every englishman in carrying merchants' or other men's letters against any restraints of farmers of such employment_. _to._ . under the protectorate, the post-office underwent material changes. whilst extending the basis of the post-office, cromwell and his council took advantage of the state monopoly to make it subservient to the interests of the commonwealth. one of the ordinances published during the protectorate sets forth that the post-office ought to be upheld, not merely because it is the best means of conveying public and private communications, but also because it may be made the agent in "discovering and preventing many wicked designs, which have been and are daily contrived against the peace and welfare of this commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated except by letters of escript." a system of espionage was thus settled which has always been abhorrent to the nature and feelings of englishmen. but perhaps we ought not to judge the question in the light of the present day. and we would do justice to the council of the commonwealth. the post-office now for the first time became the subject of parliamentary enactments, and the acts passed during the interregnum became the models for all subsequent measures. in the year an act was passed, "to settle the postage of england, scotland, and ireland," and henceforth the post-office was established on a new and broad basis.[ ] it was ruled that there "shall be one general post-office, and one officer _stiled_ the postmaster-generall of england, and comptroller of the post-office." this officer was to have the horsing of all "through" posts and persons "riding post." "prices for the carriage of letters, english, scottish, and irish," as well as foreign, and also for post-horses, were again fixed. all other persons were forbidden "to set up or employ any foot-posts, horse-posts, or packet-boats." two exceptions, however, were made under the latter head, in favour of the _two universities_, "who may use their former liberties, rights, and privileges of having special carriers to carry and recarry letters as formerly they did, and as if this act had not been made." the _cinque ports_ also must "not be interfered with, and their ancient rights of sending their own post to and from london shall remain intact." at the restoration this settlement of the post-office was confirmed in almost all its particulars. the statute car. ii. c. re-enacts the ordinance of the commonwealth, and on account of its being the earliest recognised statutory enactment, is commonly known as the "post-office charter." it remained in full force until . the following is the important preamble to the statute in question: "whereas for the maintainance of mutual correspondencies, and prevention of many inconveniences happening by private posts, several public post-offices have been heretofore erected for carrying and recarrying of letters by post to and from all parts and places within england, scotland, and ireland, and several posts beyond the seas, the well-ordering whereof is a matter of general concernment, and of great advantage, as well for the preservation of trade and commerce as otherwise." it does not appear _why_ prideaux's connexion with the post-office was dissolved, nor yet exactly _when_. probably his more onerous duties as first law officer of the government demanded all his time and energy. however it was, we hear no more of him after his victory over the then formidable city magnates. during the remaining years of cromwell's life, the revenues of the post-office, wonderfully augmented by prideaux's management, were farmed for the sum of , _l._ a year to a mr. john manley. during manley's tenure of office, the proceeds must either have increased with marvellous rapidity, or the contracts were under estimated; for when, in , manley left the post-office, he calculated that he had _cleared_ in that and some previous years the sum of , _l._ annually. a parliamentary committee instituted a strict scrutiny into the proceeds of the office in the first year of the restoration, at which period it became necessary that a new postmaster-general should be appointed. it was agreed by the members of this committee to recommend that a much higher sum be asked from the next aspirant to the office, inasmuch as they found that mr. manley, instead of over-estimating his receipts, had erred on the other side, and that they could not have come far short of the annual sum of , _l._ the result of the committee's investigation was, that mr. henry bishop was only appointed to the vacant place on his entering into a contract to pay to government the annual sum of , _l._ in estimating the increase of post-office revenue from year to year, it must be borne in mind that a considerable item in the account was derived from the monopoly in post-horses for travelling, which monopoly had been secured under cromwell's ordinances, and re-secured under car. ii. c. . by this act, no traveller could hire horses for riding post from any but authorized postmasters.[ ] this statute remained in force, under some limitations, till . many matters of detail in the arrangements of the post-office were discussed in parliament during the first three years of the restoration. long-promised bye-posts were now for the first time established; the circulation of the letters, meaning by that the _routes_ the mails shall take, and many such subjects, best settled of course by the authorities, weary the reader of the journals of the house of commons about this date. in december, , for instance, we find the house deliberating on a proviso tendered by mr. titus to the following effect:--"provided also and be it enacted, that a letter or packet-post shall once every week come to kendal by way of lancaster, and to the town of penrith in cumberland by way of newcastle and carlisle, and to the city of lincoln and the borough of grimsby likewise;" and we are glad to find that this reasonable proviso, to give these "_out-of-the-way places_" the benefit of a weekly post, was agreed to without cavil. we notice one important resolution of the session of this year, setting forth that, as the post-office bill has been carried through the houses satisfactorily, "such of the persons who have contributed their pains in improvement of the post-office, be recommended to the king's majesty for consideration, to be had of the pains therein taken accordingly." let us hope (for we find no further mention of the matter) that all concerned got their deserts. tardy as the english people were, compared with their continental neighbours, in rearing the institution of the post, the foundation of an establishment was now laid which has, at the present time, far distanced all competitors in its resources and in the matter of liberal provisions for the people. even before the days of penny postage, the duke of wellington, than whom no man was supposed to know better the postal regulations of the continent, gave it as his deliberate opinion, that "the english post-office is the only one in europe which can be said to do its work." in rewarding, therefore, those who contributed so much to this success at this early period of the history of the establishment, king charles would simply pay an instalment of the debt which future generations would owe to them. mr. bishop was only left undisturbed for two short years. as it was evident that the revenue of the office was increasing, the house of commons took advantage, at the close of his second year of office, to desire his majesty that "no further grant or contract of the post-office be again entered into till a committee inspect the same and see what improvements may be made on the revenue, as well as in the better management of the department." they pray that the office may be given to the highest bidder. his majesty replies that he has not been satisfied with the hands in which it has been. notwithstanding that a measure was carried requiring the officers of the post-office in london and the country to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, and notwithstanding that these oaths were properly subscribed, his majesty is not at all satisfied, "for the extraordinary number of _nonconformists and disaffected persons_ in that office," and is desirous of a change. the term being expired, his majesty "will have a care to see it raised to that profit it may fairly be, remembering always that it being an office of much trust as well as a farm, it will not be fit to give it to him that bids most, because a dishonest or disaffected person is likeliest to exceed that way." there can be no manner of doubt now, that the king's words on this occasion were meant to prepare the minds of his faithful commons for the successor which he had by this time fully resolved upon. two months subsequently to the above message to the commons, the entire revenue of the post-office is settled by statute, car. ii. c. , upon james, duke of york, and his heirs male in perpetuity. this arrangement existed only during the lifetime of charles, for when, at his death, the duke of york ascended the throne, the revenue of the post-office, which had by that time reached to , _l._ a-year, again reverted to the crown. no means were spared to make the post-office fruitful during the remainder of the years of charles ii. not only were direct measures sanctioned, but others which had only a bearing on the interests of the post-office were introduced, and easily carried through the houses. now, for the first time, in , the _turnpike act_ made its appearance on our statute-book, and we may gather from the preamble to this useful act some of the impediments which at that time existed to postal communication. it sets forth that the great north road--the main artery for the post-roads and our national intercourse--was in many parts "very vexatious," "almost impassable," and "very dangerous." the act provided for needful improvements, and was the beginning of legislation on that subject. letter-franking also commenced in this year. a committee of the house of commons which sat in the year reported, "that the privilege of franking letters by the knights, &c. chosen to represent the commons in parliament, began with the creating of a post-office in the kingdom by act of parliament." the proviso which secured this privilege to members cannot now be regarded otherwise than as a propitiatory clause to induce a unanimous approval of the bill in general. the account[ ] of the discussion of the clause in question is somewhat amusing. sir walter earle proposed that "members' letters should come and go free during the time of their sittings." sir heneage finch (afterwards lord chancellor finch) said, indignantly, "it is a _poor mendicant_ proviso, and below the honour of the house." many members spoke in favour of the clause, sir george downing, mr. boscowen, among the number, and sergeant charlton also urged "that letters for counsel went free." the debate was, in fact, nearly one-sided; but the speaker, sir harbottle grimstone, on the question being called, refused for a considerable time to put it, saying he "felt ashamed of it." the proviso was eventually put and carried by a large majority. when the post-office bill, with its franking privilege, was sent up to the lords, they threw out the clause, _ostensibly_ for the same reasons which had actuated the minority in the commons in opposing it, but _really_, as it was confessed some years afterwards, because there was no provision made in the bill that the "_lords' own letters should pass free_." a few years later this important omission was supplied, and both houses had the privilege guaranteed to them, neither lords nor commons now feeling the arrangement below their dignity. complaint is made for the first time this year, that letters have been opened in the general post-office. members of parliament were amongst the complainants. the attention of the privy council having been called to the subject, the king issued a proclamation "for _quieting_ the postmaster-general in the execution of his office." it ordained that "no postmaster or other person, except under the immediate warrant of our principal secretary of state, shall presume to open letters or packets _not_ directed unto themselves." two years before the death of charles ii. a penny post, the only remaining post-office incident of any importance during his reign, was set up in london for the conveyance of letters and parcels. this post was originated by robert murray, an upholsterer, who, like many other people living at the time, was dissatisfied that the post-office had made no provision for correspondence between different parts of london. by the then existing arrangements, communication was much more easy between town and country than within the limits of the metropolis. murray's post, got up at a great cost, was assigned over to mr. william docwray, a name which figures for many succeeding years in post-office annals. the regulations of the new penny post were, that all letters and parcels not exceeding a pound weight, or any sum of money not above _l._ in value, or parcel not worth more than _l._, might be conveyed at a charge of _one penny_ in the city and suburbs, and for _twopence_ to any distance within a given ten-mile circuit. six large offices were opened at convenient places in london, and receiving-houses were established in all the principal streets. stowe says, that in the windows of the latter offices, or hanging at the doors, were large placards on which were printed, in great letters, "penny post letters taken in here." "letter-carriers," adds the old chronicler, "gather them each hour and take them to the grand office in their respective circuits. after the said letters and parcels are duly entered in the books, they are delivered at stated periods by other carriers." the deliveries in the busy and crowded streets near the exchange were as frequent as six or eight times a day; even in the outskirts, as many as four daily deliveries were made. the penny post was found to be a great and decided success. no sooner, however, was that success apparent, and it was known that the speculation was becoming lucrative to its originator, than the duke of york, by virtue of the settlement made to him, complained of it as an infraction of his monopoly. nor were there wanting other reasons, inducing the government to believe that the penny post ought not to be under separate management. the protestants loudly denounced the whole concern as a contrivance of the popish party. the great dr. oates hinted that the jesuits were at the bottom of the scheme, and that if the bags were examined, they would be found full of treason.[ ] the city porters, too, complained that their interests were attacked, and for long they tore down the placards which announced the innovation to the public. undoubtedly, however, the authorities were most moved by the _success_ of the undertaking, and thereupon appealed to the court of king's bench, which decided that the new post-office, with all its profits and advantages, should become part and parcel of the royal establishment. docwray was even cast in slight damages and costs. thus commenced the _london district post_, which existed as a separate establishment to the _general post_ from this time until so late as . it was at first thought that the amalgamation of the two offices would be followed by a fusion of the two systems; but this fusion, so much desired, and one we would have thought so indispensable, was not accomplished (from a number of considerations to be adduced hereafter), although the object was attempted more than once. about a year after the new establishment had been wrested from him, mr. docwray was appointed, under the duke of york, to the office of controller of the district-post. this was doubtless meant as some sort of compensation for the losses he had sustained.[ ] in , charles ii. died, and the duke of york succeeding him, the revenues of the post-office, of course, reverted to the crown. throughout the reign of the second james, the receipts of the post-office went on increasing, though (the king being too much engaged in the internal commotions which disturbed the country) no improvements of any moment were made. the only subject calling for mention is, that james first commenced the practice of granting pensions out of the post-office revenue. the year after he ascended the throne, the king, acting doubtless under the wishes of the "merry monarch," that provision should be made for her, granted a pension of , _l._ a-year to barbara villiers, duchess of cleveland, one of the late king's mistresses, to be paid out of the post-office receipts. this pension is still paid to the duke of grafton, as her living representative. the earl of rochester was allowed a pension of , _l._ a-year from the same source during this reign. in , during the reign of william and mary, the list of pensions[ ] paid by the post-office authorities stood thus:-- earl of rochester £ , duchess of cleveland , duke of leeds , duke of schomberg , earl of bath , lord keeper , william docwray, till docwray's pension began in , and was regarded as a further acknowledgment of his claims as founder of the "district-post," or the "penny-post," as it was then called. he only held his pension, however, for four years, losing both his emoluments and his office in , on certain charges of gross mismanagement having been brought against him. the officers and messengers under his control memorialized the commissioners of the treasury, alleging that the "controller doth what in him lyes to lessen the revenue of the penny post-office, that he may farm it and get it into his own hands;" also, that "he had removed the post-office to an inconvenient place to forward his ends." there appears to have been no limit as to the weight or size of parcels transmitted through the district-post during docwray's time, but the memorial goes on to say that "he forbids the taking in of any band-boxes (except very small) and all parcels above a pound; which, when they were taken in, did bring a considerable advantage to the post-office;" that these same parcels are taken by porters and watermen at a far greater charge, "which is a loss to the public," as the penny-post messengers did the work "much cheaper and more satisfactory." nor is this all. it is further stated that "he stops, under spetious pretences, most parcells that are taken in, which is great damage to tradesmen by loosing their customers, or spoiling their goods, and many times hazard the life of the patient when physick is sent by a doctor or an apothecary."[ ] it was hinted that the parcels were not only delayed, but misappropriated; that letters were opened and otherwise tampered with: and these charges being partially substantiated, docwray, who deserved better treatment, was removed from all connexion with the department. it was only towards the close of the seventeenth century, that the scotch and irish post establishments come at all into notice. the first legislative enactments for the establishment of a scotch post-office were made in the reign of william and mary. the scotch parliament passed such an act in the year . of course the proclamations of king james i. provided for the conveyance of letters between the capitals of the two countries; and although posts had been heard of in one or two of the principal roads leading out of edinburgh, even before james vi. of scotland became the first english king of that name, it was only after the revolution that they became permanent and legalized. judging by the success which had followed the english establishment, it was expected that a scotch post would soon pay all its expenses. however, to begin, the king decided upon making a grant of the whole revenue of the scotch office, as well as a salary of _l._ a year, to sir robert sinclair, of stevenson, on condition that he would keep up the establishment.[ ] in a year from that date, sir robert sinclair gave up the grant as unprofitable and disadvantageous. it was long before the scotch office gave signs of emulating the successes of the english post, for, even forty years afterwards, the whole yearly revenue of the former was only a little over a thousand pounds. about , the posts between london and edinburgh were so frequently robbed, especially in the neighbourhood of the borders, that the two parliaments of england and scotland jointly passed acts, making the robbery or seizure of the public post "punishable with death and confiscation of moveables." little is known of the earlier postal arrangements of ireland. before any legislative enactments were made in the reign, it is said, of charles i., the letters of the country were transmitted in much the same way as we have seen they were forwarded in the sister country. the viceroy of ireland usually adopted the course common in england when the letters of the king and his council had to be delivered abroad. the subject is seldom mentioned in contemporary records, and we can only picture in imagination the way in which correspondence was then transmitted. in the sixteenth century, mounted messengers were employed carrying official letters and despatches to different parts of ireland. private noblemen also employed these "intelligencers," as they were then and for some time afterwards called, to carry their letters to other chiefs or their dependents. the earl of ormond was captured in , owing to the faithlessness of tyrone's "intelligencer," who first took his letters to the earl of desmond and let him privately read them, and afterwards demurely delivered them according to their addresses.[ ] charles i. ordered that packets should ply weekly between dublin and chester, and also between milford haven and waterford, as a means of insuring quick transmission of news and orders between the english government and dublin castle. we have seen that packets sailed between holyhead and dublin, and liverpool and dublin, as early as the reign of elizabeth. cromwell kept up both lines of packets established by charles. at the restoration, only one--namely, that between chester and dublin--was retained, this being applied to the purposes of a general letter-post. the postage between london and dublin was _d._, fresh rates being imposed for towns in the interior of ireland. a new line of packets was established to make up for that discontinued,[ ] to sail between port patrick and donaghadee, forming an easy and short route between scotland and the north of ireland. for many years this mail was conveyed in an open boat, each trip across the narrow channel costing the post-office a guinea. subsequently, a grant of _l._ was made by the post-office in order that a larger boat might be built for the service. this small mail is still continued. footnotes: [ ] the special messenger who informed james of queen elizabeth's death accomplished a great feat in those days. sir robert carey rode post, with sealed lips, from richmond in surrey to edinburgh in less than three days. [ ] _notes and queries_, . [ ] this instance, showing the usage, gives us an insight into the amount of control under which these public servants were held. sir cornelius was in the bad grace of the people of the district through which he had to pass, on account of being a foreigner; so at royston edward whitehead refused to provide any horses, and on being told he should answer for his neglect, replied, "tush! do your worst. you shall have none of my horses, in spite of your teeth."--_smiles._ [ ] blackstone, in speaking of the monopoly in letter traffic, states that it is a "provision which is absolutely necessary, for nothing but an exclusive right can support an office of this sort; many rival independent offices would only serve to ruin one another."--_com._ vol. i. p. . [ ] journals of the house of commons, . [ ] journals of the house of commons, st march, . [ ] in burton's _diary_ of the parliament of cromwell, an account is given of the third reading of the new act, which is important and interesting enough to be here partly quoted. "the bill being brought up for the last reading-- sir thomas wroth said: 'this bill has bred much talk abroad since yesterday. the design is very good and specious; but i would have some few words added for general satisfaction: to know how the monies shall be disposed of; and that our letters should pass free as well in this parliament as formerly.' lord strickland said: 'when the report was made, it was told you that it (the post-office) would raise a revenue. it matters not what reports be abroad, _nothing can more assist trade and commerce than this intercourse_. our letters pass better than in any part whatsoever. in france and holland, and other parts, letters are often laid open to public view, as occasion is.' sir christopher pack was also of opinion, 'that the design of the bill is very good for trading and commerce; and it matters not what is said abroad about it. as to letters passing free for members, _it is not worth putting in any act_.' colonel sydenham said: 'i move that it may be committed to be made but probationary; _it being never a law before_.'" the bill was referred to a committee, and subsequently passed nearly unanimously. [ ] lord macaulay states that there was an exceptional clause in this act, to the effect, that "if a traveller had waited half an hour without being supplied, he might hire a horse wherever he could."--_history of england_, vol, i. [ ] cobbett's parliamentary history, vol. ix. [ ] macaulay's history of england, vol. i. pp. - . [ ] under william and mary, docwray was allowed a pension, differently stated by different authorities, of _l._ and _l._ a year. [ ] amongst the post-office pensions granted in subsequent reigns, queen anne gave one, in , to the duke of marlborough and his heirs of , _l._ the heirs of the duke of schomberg were paid by the post-office till , when about , _l._ were paid to redeem a fourth part of the pension, the burden of the remaining part being then transferred to the consolidated fund. [ ] stowe's survey of london. [ ] stark's picture of edinburgh, p. . [ ] "letters and despatches relative to the taking of the earl of ormond, by o'more. a.d. ." [ ] in , the line of milford haven packets was re-established, the rates of postage between london and waterford to be the same as between london and dublin, _viâ_ holyhead. the packets were, however, soon withdrawn. chapter iii. on old roads and slow coaches. if we seem in this chapter to make a divergence from the stream of postal history, it is only to make passing reference to the tributaries which helped to feed the main stream. the condition of the roads, and no less the modes of travelling, bore a most intimate relationship, at all the points in its history, to the development of the post-office system and its communications throughout the kingdom. the seventeenth century, as we have seen, was eventful in important postal improvements; the period was, comparatively speaking, very fruitful also in great changes and improvements in the internal character of the country. no question that the progress of the former depended greatly on the state of the latter. james the first, whatever might be his character in other respects, was indefatigable in his exertions to open out the resources of his kingdom. the fathers of civil engineering, such as vermuyden and sir hugh myddleton, lived during his reign, and both these eminent men were employed under his auspices, either in making roads, draining the fen country, improving the metropolis, or in some other equally useful scheme. the troubles of the succeeding reign had the effect of frustrating the development of various schemes of public utility proposed and eagerly sanctioned by james. under the commonwealth, and at intervals during the two succeeding reigns, many useful improvements of no ordinary moment were carried out. in the provinces, though considerable advances had been made in this respect during the century, travelling was still exceedingly difficult. in , perhaps the dover road, owing to the great extent of continental traffic constantly kept up, was the best in england; yet three or four days were usually taken to travel it. in that year, queen henrietta and household were brought "with expedition" over that short distance in four long days. short journeys were accomplished in a reasonable time, inasmuch as little entertainment was required. it was different when a long journey was contemplated, seeing how generally wretched were the hostelries of the period.[ ] so bad, again, were some of the roads, that it was not at all uncommon, when a family intended to travel, for servants to be sent on beforehand to investigate the country and report upon the most promising track. fuller tells us that during his time he frequently saw as many as six oxen employed in dragging slowly a single person to church. waylen says that horses were taken prisoners at one time during the civil wars by cromwell's forces, "while sticking in the mud." many improvements were made in modes of conveyance during the century. a kind of stage-coach was first used in london about ; towards the middle of the century they were gradually adopted in the metropolis, and on the better highways around london. in no case, however, did they attempt to travel at a greater speed than three miles an hour. before the century closed, stage-coaches were placed on three of the principal roads in the kingdom, namely those between london and york, chester, and exeter. this was only for the summer season; "during winter," in the words of mr. smiles, "they did not run at all, but were laid up for the season, like ships during arctic frosts." sometimes the roads were so bad, even in summer, that it was all the horses could do to drag the coach along, the passengers, _per force_, having to walk for miles together. with the york coach especially the difficulties were really formidable. not only were the roads bad, but the low midland counties were particularly liable to floods, when, during their prevalence, it was nothing unusual for passengers to remain at some town _en route_ for days together, until the roads were dry. public opinion was divided as to the merits of stage-coach travelling. when the new threatened altogether to supersede the old mode of travelling on horseback, great opposition was manifested to it, and the organs of public opinion (the pamphlet) began to revile it. in , for instance, a pamphlet[ ] was written which went so far as to denounce the introduction of stage-coaches as the greatest evil "that had happened of late years to these kingdoms." curious to know how these sad consequences had been brought about, we read on and find it stated that "those who travel in these coaches contracted an idle habit of body; became weary and listless when they had rode a few miles, and were then unable to travel on horseback, and not able to endure frost, snow, or rain, _or to lodge in the fields_." in the very same year another writer, descanting on the improvements which had been introduced into the post-office, goes on to say, that "besides the excellent arrangement of conveying men and letters on horseback, there is of late such an _admirable commodiousness_, both for men and women to travel from london to the principal towns in the country, _that the like hath not been known in the world_, and that is by _stage-coaches_, wherein any one may be transported to any place, sheltered from foul weather and foul ways; free from endamaging of one's health and one's body by hard jogging or over violent motion; and this not only at a low price (about a shilling for every five miles), but with such velocity and speed in one hour as that the posts in some foreign countreys cannot make in a day."[ ] m. soubrière, a frenchman of letters who landed at dover in the reign of charles ii., alludes to stage-coaches, but seems to have thought less of their charms than the author we have just quoted. "that i might not take post," says he, "or again be obliged to use the stage-coach, i went from dover to london in a wagon. i was drawn by six horses placed one after another, and driven by a wagoner who walked by the side of them. he was clothed in black and appointed in all things like another st. george. he had a brave monteror on his head, and was a merry fellow, fancied he made a figure, and seemed mightily pleased with himself." the stage-wagon here referred to was almost exclusively used for the conveyance of merchandise. on the principal roads strings of stage-wagons travelled together. a string of stage-wagons travelled between london and liverpool, starting from the axe inn, aldermanbury, every monday and thursday, and occupying _ten_ days on the road during summer and generally about _twelve_ in the winter season. beside these conveyances, there were "strings of horses," travelling somewhat quicker, for the carriage of light goods and passengers. the stage-wagon, as may be supposed, travelled much slower on other roads than they did between london and liverpool. on most roads, in fact, the carriers never changed horses, but employed the same cattle throughout, however long the journey might be. it was, indeed, so proverbially slow in the north of england, that the publicans of furness, in lancashire, when they saw the conductors of the travelling merchandise trains appear in sight on the summit of wrynose hill, on their journey between whitehaven and kendal, were jocularly said to begin to brew their beer, always having a stock of good drink manufactured by the time the travellers reached the village![ ] whilst communication between different large towns was comparatively easy--passengers travelling from london to york in less than a week before the close of the century--there were towns situated in the same county, in the year , more widely separated for all practical purposes than london and inverness are at the present day. if a stranger penetrated into some remote districts about this period, his appearance would call forth, as one writer remarks, as much excitement as would the arrival of a white man in some unknown african village. so it was with camden in his famous seventeenth-century tour. camden acknowledges that he approached lancashire from yorkshire, "that part of the country lying beyond the mountains towards the western ocean," with a "_kind of dread_," but trusted to divine providence, which, he said, "had gone with him hitherto," to help him in the attempt. country people still knew little except of their narrow district, all but a small circle of territory being like a closed book to them. they still received but few letters. now and then, a necessity would be laid upon them to write, and thereupon they would hurry off to secure the services of the country parson, or some one attached to the great house of the neighbourhood, who generally took the request kindly.[ ] almost the only intelligence of general affairs was communicated by pedlars and packmen, who were accustomed to retail news with their wares. the wandering beggar who came to the farmer's house craving a supper and bed was the principal intelligencer of the rural population of scotland so late as .[ ] the introduction of newspapers formed quite an era in this respect to the gentlefolk of the country, and to some extent the poorer classes shared in the benefit. the first english newspaper published bears the date of . still earlier than this, the news letter, copied by the hand, often found its way into the country, and, when well read at the great house of the district, would be sent amongst the principal villagers till its contents became diffused throughout the entire community. when any intelligence unusually interesting was received either in the news letter or the more modern newspaper, the principal proprietor would sometimes cause the villagers and his immediate dependants to be summoned at once, and would read to them the principal paragraphs from his porch. the reader of english history will have an imperfect comprehension of the facts of our past national life if he does not know, or remember, how very slowly and imperfectly intelligence of public matters was conveyed during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and what a bearing--very difficult to understand in these days--such circumstances had upon the facts themselves. thus, a rebellion in one part of the country, which was popular throughout the kingdom, might be quelled before the news of the rising reached another part of the country. remote districts waited for weeks and months to learn the most important intelligence. lord macaulay relates that the news of queen elizabeth's death, which was known to king james in three days, was not heard of in some parts of devonshire and cornwall till the court of her successor had ceased to wear mourning for her. the news of cromwell having been made protector only reached bridgewater nineteen days after the event, when the church bells were set a-ringing. in some parts of wales the news of the death of king charles i. was not known for two months after its occurrence. the churches in the orkneys continued to put up the usual prayers for him for months after he was beheaded; whilst their descendants did the same for king james long after he had taken up his abode at st. germains. in scotland, all the difficulties in travelling were felt to even a greater degree than in england. there were no regular posts to the extreme north of scotland, letters going as best they could by occasional travellers and different routes. nothing could better show the difficulties attendant on locomotion of any sort in scotland, than the fact that an agreement was entered into in to run a coach between edinburgh and glasgow, to be drawn by six horses, the journey, there and back, to be performed in six days. the distance was only forty-four miles, and the coach travelled over the principal post-road in the country! the reader has thus some idea of the difficulties which stood in the way of efficient postal communication during the seventeenth century. however much the work of the post-office, and the slow and unequal manner in which correspondence was distributed, may excite the scorn of the present generation, living in the days of cheap and quick postage, they must nevertheless agree with lord macaulay in considering that the postal system of the stuarts was such as might have moved the envy and admiration of the polished nations of antiquity, or even of the contemporaries of our own shakespeare or raleigh. in cornwall, lincolnshire, some parts of wales, and amongst the hills and dales of cumberland, westmoreland, and yorkshire, letters, it is true, were only received once a week, if then; but in numbers of large towns they were delivered two and three times a week. there was _daily_ communication between london and the downs, and the same privileges were extended to tunbridge wells and bath, at the season when those places were crowded with pleasure-seekers.[ ] accounts survive of the post-office as it existed towards the close of the seventeenth century, an outline of which, contributed to the _gentleman's magazine_ by a correspondent in the early part of the present century, we must be excused for here presenting to the reader. the postmaster-general of the period, under the duke of york, was at that time the earl of arlington. the letters, it would seem, were forwarded from london to different parts on different days. for instance: every monday and tuesday the continental mails were despatched, part on the former day, the remainder on the latter. every saturday letters were sent to all parts of england, scotland, and ireland. on other days posts were despatched to the downs, also to one or two important towns and other smaller places within short distances of london. the london post-office was managed by the postmaster-general and a staff of twenty-seven clerks.[ ] in the provinces of the three countries, there were deputy-postmasters. two packet-boats sailed between england and france; two were appointed for flanders, three for holland, three for ireland, and at deal two were engaged for the downs. "as the masterpiece," so our authority winds up, "of all these grand arrangements, established by the present postmaster-general, he hath annexed (_sic_) and appropriated the market-towns of england so well to the respective postages, that there is no considerable one of them which hath not an easy and certain conveyance for the letters thereof _once a week_. further, though the number of letters missive was not at all considerable in our ancestors' day, yet it is now so prodigiously great (_and the meanest of people are so beginning to write in consequence_) that this office produces in money , _l._ a year. besides, letters are forwarded with more expedition, and at less charges, than in any other foreign country. a whole sheet of paper goes miles for twopence, two sheets for fourpence, and _an ounce of letter_ for but eightpence, and that in so short a time, by night as well as day, that every twenty-four hours the post goes one hundred and twenty miles, and in _five_ days an answer to a letter may be had from a place distant miles from the writer!" footnotes: [ ] there were many exceptions, of course. numbers of innkeepers were also the postmasters of the period. taylor, the water-poet, travelling from london into scotland in the early part of the century, has described one of these men, in his _penniless pilgrimage_, as a model boniface. [ ] "the grand concern of england explained in several proposals to parliament."--harl. mss. . [ ] chamberlayne's present history of great britain. . [ ] private coaches were started in london at the time when the stage- or hackney-coaches were introduced, and mr. pepys secured one of the first. mightily proud was he of it, as any reader of his _diary_ will have learnt to his great amusement. [ ] there are few traces in this country, at any time, of _public_ letter-writers. this is somewhat remarkable, inasmuch as then, and still in some of the southern states of europe, the profession of public letter-writer has long been an institution. in england it has never flourished. some years ago there might have been seen at wapping, shadwell, and other localities in london where sailors resorted, announcements in small shop-windows to the effect that letters were written there "to all parts of the world." in one shop a placard was exhibited intimating that a "large assortment of letters _on all sorts of subjects_" were kept on hand. there were never many, and now very few, traces of the custom. [ ] chambers' domestic annals. [ ] lord macaulay. vol. i. p. . [ ] no less interesting are the particulars of one year's postal revenue and expenditure, extracted from the old account-books of the department, by the present receiver and accountant-general of the post-office. the date given is within a year or two of that referred to in the text, viz. - . the net produce of the year was a little over , _l._, and the following is a few of the most important and most suggestive items:-- £ _s._ _d._ product of foreign mails for the year , the king's majesty paid for his foreign letters product of harwich packet-boats the inland window money amounted to the letter-receivers' money the letter-carriers' money , the postmaster's money , officers were _fined_ to the extent of the profits of the irish office were , ditto penny-post the scotch office appears not only not to have brought in any profits, but we find an item of absolute loss on the exchange of money with edinburgh to the extent of _l._ _s._ _d._ amongst the more interesting items of expenditure we notice that-- £ _s._ _d._ the six clerks in the foreign office and about twenty clerks belonging to other departments received per annum the salary of the postmaster-general was , two officers had _l._ per annum, a third had _l._, and a fourth had _l._--all four, doubtless, heads of departments there were eight letter-receivers in london, viz. at gray's inn, at temple bar, at king street, at westminster, in holborn, in covent garden, in pall mall, and in the strand two offices, whose yearly salaries amounted in all to the yearly salaries of the whole body of letter-carriers , the salaries of the deputy-postmasters , the entire total expenditure was , _l._ _s._ _d._ "thus we find," adds mr. scudamore, "that while the 'whole net produce' of the establishment for a year was not equal to the sum which we derive from the commission on money-orders in a year (mr. scudamore is writing of ), or to the present 'net produce' of the single town of liverpool, so also, the whole expenditure of the whole establishment for a year was but a little larger than the sum which we now pay _once a month_ for salaries to the clerks of the london office alone." if we subtract the total expenditure from the "whole net produce," as it is called, we get a sum exceeding , _l._ as the entire net _receipts_ of the post-office for the year - . chapter iv. the settlement of the post-office. ten years after the removal of docwray from his office in connexion with the "penny post," another rival to the government department sprung up in the shape of a "halfpenny post." the arrangements of the new were nearly identical with those of docwray's post, except that the charges, instead of a penny and twopence, were a halfpenny and penny respectively. the scheme, established at considerable expense by a mr. povey, never had a fair trial, only existing a few months, when it was nipped in the bud by a law-suit instituted by the post-office authorities. in , the acts relating to the post-office were completely remodelled, and the establishment was put on an entirely fresh basis. the statutes passed in previous reigns were fully repealed, and the statute of anne, c. , was substituted in their place, the latter remaining in force until . the preamble of the act just mentioned sets forth, that a post-office for england was established in the reign of charles ii. and a post-office for scotland in the reign of king william iii.; but that it is now desirable, since the two countries are united, that the two offices should be united under one head. also, that packet-boats have been for some time established between england and the west indies, the mainland of north america, and some parts of europe, and that more might be settled if only proper arrangements were made "at the different places to which the packet-boats are assigned." it is further deemed necessary that the existing rates of postage should be altered; that "with little burthen to the subject some may be increased" and other new rates granted, "which additional and new rates," it is added, "may in some measure enable her majesty to carry on and furnish the present war." suitable powers are also needed for the better collecting of such rates, as well as provision for preventing the illegal trade carried on by "private posts, carriers, higlers, watermen, drivers of stage-coaches, and other persons, and other frauds to which the revenue is liable." as these alterations and various improvements cannot be well and properly made without a new act for the post-office, the statutes embodied in charles ii. and the statutes referring to the scotch post-office passed in the reign of william and mary, entitled "an act anent the post-office," and every article, clause, and thing therein, are now declared repealed, and the statute of anne, c. , called "an act for establishing a general post-office in all her majesty's dominions, and for settling a weekly sum out of the revenue thereof for the service of the war, and other her majesty's occasions," is substituted. this act, which remained in force so long, and may be said to have been the foundation for all subsequent legislation on the subject, deserves special and detailed notice. . by its provisions a general post and letter-office is established within the city of london, "from whence all letters and packets whatsoever may be with speed and expedition sent into any part of the kingdom of great britain and ireland, to north america and the west indies, or any other of her majesty's dominions, or any country or kingdom beyond the seas," and "at which office all returns and answers may be likewise received." for the better "managing, ordering, collecting, and improving the revenue," and also for the better "computing and settling the rates of letters according to distance, a chief office is established in edinburgh, one in dublin, one at new york, and other chief offices in convenient places in her majesty's colonies of america, and one in the islands of the west indies, called the leeward islands." . the whole of these chief offices shall be "under the control of an officer who shall be appointed by the queen's majesty, her heirs and successors, to be made and constituted by letters patent under the great seal, by the name and stile of her majesty's _postmaster-general_." "the postmaster-general shall appoint deputies for the chief offices in the places named above, and he, they, and their servants and agents, and no other person or persons whatsoever, shall from time to time, and at all times, have the receiving, taking up, ordering, despatching, sending post with all speed, carrying and delivering of all letters and packets whatsoever." the only exceptions to this clause must be--[ ] (_a_) when common known carriers bear letters concerning the goods which they are conveying, and which letters are delivered with the goods without any further hire or reward, or other profit or advantage. (_b_) when merchants or master-owners of ships send letters in ships concerning the cargoes of such ships, and delivered with them under the self-same circumstances. (_c_) letters concerning commissions or the returns thereof, affidavits, writs, process or proceeding, or returns thereof, issuing out of any court of justice. (_d_) any letter or letters sent by any private friend or friends in their way of journey or travel. . the postmaster-general, and no other person or persons whatever, shall prepare and provide horses or furniture to let out on hire to persons riding post on any of her majesty's post-roads, under penalty of _l._ per week, or _l._ for each offence.[ ] the rates of charge for riding post are settled as follows:--the hire of a post-horse shall be henceforth _d._ a mile, and _d._ a mile for a person riding as guide for every stage. luggage to the weight of pounds allowed, the guide to carry it with him on his horse. . the rates of postage under the present act are settled. _s._ _d._ for any single letter or piece of paper to any place in england not exceeding miles " double letter " packet of writs, deeds, &c. per ounce " single letter, &c. exceeding miles, or as far north as the town of berwick " double letter " packet, per ounces from london to edinburgh and all places in scotland south of edinburgh, per single letter " " double letter " " packets, per ounce the other scotch posts were calculated from edinburgh, and charged according to the distance as in england. _s._ _d._ from london to dublin, single letter " " double letter " " packets, per ounce from dublin to any irish town the charge was according to distance, at the english rate. any letter from any part of her majesty's dominions for london would be delivered free by the penny post, and if directed to places within a circuit of ten miles from the general post-office, on payment of an extra penny over and above the proper rate of postage. _s._ _d._ the postage of a single letter to france was " " spain " " italy " " turkey " " germany, denmark " " sweden " " from london to new york other rates were charged to other parts of the american continent, according to the distance from new york, at something less than the english rate. . the principal deputy postmasters are empowered to erect _cross-posts_ or stages, so that all parts of the country may have equal advantage as far as practicable, but only in cases where the postmasters are assured that such erections will be for "the better maintainance of trade and commerce, and mutual correspondences." . a survey of all the post-roads shall be made, so that the distances between any place and the chief office in each country "shall be settled by the same measure and standard." these surveys must be made regularly, "as necessity showeth;" and when finished, the distances must be fairly shown by "_books of surveys_" one of which must be kept in each of the head offices, and by each of the surveyors themselves. the surveyors who shall be appointed and authorized to measure the distances must swear to perform the same to the best of their skill and judgment.[ ] . letters may be brought from abroad by private ship, but must be delivered at once into the hands of the deputy postmasters at the respective ports, who will pay the master of such ship a penny for every letter which he may thus deliver up to them. it is hoped that, by these arrangements, merchants will not suffer as they had previously done, by having their letters "_imbezilled_ or long detained, when they had been given into the charge of ignorant and loose hands, that understandeth not the ways and means of speedy conveyance and proper deliverance, to the great prejudice of the affairs of merchants and others." . the postmaster-general and the deputy postmasters must qualify themselves, if they have not already done so, by receiving the _sacrament_ according to the usage of the church of england; taking, making, and subscribing the test, and the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and adjuration. it is also decided that the post-office officials must not meddle with elections for members of parliament. the officers of the post-office must also qualify themselves for the duties of their office by observing and following such orders, rules, directions, and instructions, concerning the settlements of the posts and stages, and the management of post-horses, and the horsing of all persons riding by royal warrant, as her majesty shall see fit from time to time to make and ordain. a short proviso follows concerning the time-honoured privileges of the two english universities, and guaranteeing the same; and then we come to an arrangement for the attainment of which object, it would appear (almost exclusively), the post-office was remodelled in the manner we have shown. . "towards the establishment of a good, sure, and lasting fund, in order to raise a present supply of money for carrying on the war, be it enacted that from the present time, and during the whole term of years, the full, clear, and entire weekly sum of _l._ out of the duties and revenues of the post-office shall be paid by the postmaster-general into the receipts of the exchequer on the tuesday of every week." whatever else was arranged permanently, the increased rates of postage were only meant to be temporary; for at the end of thirty-two years, it was provided that the old rates shall be resorted to. the clause was simply inserted as a war measure, for the purpose of raising revenue, but we shall see that, so far from returning to the old postages, fresh burdens were imposed at the end of that period and from time to time.[ ] the improvements introduced by the bill of had the natural effect of increasing the importance of the post-office institution, and of adding to the available revenue of the country considerable sums each year. for ten years no further steps were taken to develop the resources of the service; but in ralph allen appears, another and perhaps the most fortunate of all the improvers of the post-office. up to this year, the lines of post had branched off, from london and edinburgh respectively, on to the principal roads of the two kingdoms; but the "cross-posts," even when established, had not been efficient, the towns off the main line of road not being well served, whilst some districts had no direct communication through them. the post-office bill had given facilities for the establishment of more "cross-posts;" but, till , the authorities did not avail themselves of its provisions to any great extent. mr. allen, at that time the postmaster of bath, and who must, from his position, have been well aware of the defects of the existing system, proposed to the government to establish cross-posts between exeter and chester, going by way of bristol, gloucester, and worcester, connecting in this way the west of england with the lancashire districts and the mail route to ireland, and giving independent postal intercommunication to all the important towns lying in the direction to be taken. previous to this proposal, letters passing between neighbouring towns were conveyed by circuitous routes, often requiring to go to the metropolis and to be sent back again by another post-road, thus, in these days of slow locomotion, causing serious delay. allen proposed a complete reconstruction of the cross-post system, and guaranteed a great improvement to the revenue as well as better accommodation to the country. by his representations, he induced the lords of the treasury to grant him a lease of the cross-posts for life. his engagements were to bear all the cost of his new service, and pay a fixed rental of , _l._ a-year, on which terms he was to retain all the surplus revenue. from time to time the contract was renewed, but of course at the same rental; each time, however, the government required allen to include other branches of road in his engagement, so that at his death, in , the cross-posts had extended to all parts of the country. towards the last, the private project had become so gigantic as to be nearly unmanageable, and it was with something like satisfaction that the post-office authorities saw it lapse to the crown. at this time it was considered one of the chief duties of the surveyors--whose business it was to visit each deputy postmaster in the course of the year--to see that the distinction between the bye-letters of the cross-posts, the postage of which belonged to mr. allen, and the postage of the general post letters, which belonged to the government, was properly kept up. the deputies were known to hold the loosest notions on this subject, some of them preferring to appropriate the revenues of one or the other post rather than make mistakes in the matter. the disputes and difficulties lasted to the death of allen.[ ] notwithstanding the losses he must have suffered through the dishonesty or carelessness of country postmasters, the farmer of the cross-posts, in an account which he left at his death, estimated the net profits of his contract at the sum of , _l._ annually, a sum which, during his official life, amounted in the total to nearly half a million sterling! whilst, in official quarters, his success was greatly envied, mr. allen commanded, in his private capacity, universal respect. in the only short account we have seen of this estimable man, a contemporary writer states[ ] that "he was not more remarkable for the ingenuity and industry with which he made a very large fortune, than for the charity, generosity, and kindness with which he spent it." it is certain that allen bestowed a considerable part of his income in works of charity, especially in supporting needy men of letters. he was a great friend and benefactor of fielding; and in _tom jones_, the novelist has gratefully drawn mr. allen's character in the person of _allworthy_. he enjoyed the friendship of chatham and pitt; and pope, warburton, and other men of literary distinction, were his familiar companions. pope has celebrated one of his principal virtues, unassuming benevolence, in the well-known lines:-- "let humble _allen_, with an awkward shame, do good by stealth, and blush to find its fame." on the death of allen, the cross-posts were brought under the control of the postmaster-general. an officer, mr. ward, was appointed to take charge of the _bye-letter office_, as the branch was now called, at the salary of _l._ a-year. the success of the amalgamation scheme was so complete, that at the end of the first year, profits to the amount of , _l._ were handed over to the crown. afterwards, the proceeds continued to increase even still more rapidly; so much so, that when, in , the "bye-letter office" was abolished, and its management transferred to the general office, they had reached the enormous yearly sum of , _l._! at the revision of the post-office in , the bounds of the penny post were extended, as we have seen, to a district within ten miles of the general post-office. this extension was granted on a memorial from several townships in the london district, who volunteered, if such extension were made, that they would pay an extra penny for every letter delivered beyond "the boundaries of the cities of london and westminster, and the borough of southwark." numerous disputes having arisen owing to the _wording_ of the act, and many inhabitants claiming in consequence to have their letters delivered free within the ten-mile circuit, a supplementary act was passed in , "_for the obviating and taking away such doubts_," as to what was the proper charge, and directing that the "penny postmen" must not deliver any letters out of the original limits, but may detain or delay such letters or packets, unless an extra penny were paid for each on delivery. the statute of queen anne provided that a weekly payment of _l._ should be made to the exchequer from the post-office for a period of thirty-two years. this term having expired in , an act was passed in that year making the payment _perpetual_, and all clauses, powers, &c. in the act of were also made perpetual. in order to keep up this source of revenue, which was too good to relinquish, the rates of postage, instead of being lowered again as stipulated, were kept up, and several times during subsequent years, as we shall see, fresh additions were made to the burdens of letter-writers. while on this subject, we may simply state the clause of queen anne's act relating to the disposal of the _surplus_ revenue. all pensions were to be paid out of it, and the remainder retained by the queen "for the better support of her majesty's household, and for the honour and dignity of the crown of great britain." on the accession of george i. a bill, granting the same rights and privileges during the king's lifetime, was passed in the first session of parliament. in the first year of the reign of george ii. and his grandson george iii. the same rights and privileges were obtained under the self-same conditions. though the conditions of the following act were, in reality, carried out several years previously, when a salary of , _l._ a-year was granted to the king for the support of his household, section of george iii. enacts that, for the king's lifetime, "the entire _net_ revenue of the post-office shall be carried to and made part of the fund, to be called 'the consolidated fund.'" it is scarcely needful to say that this arrangement has existed from to the present time. from the date of allen's improvement in to the year , when the postage of letters was again disturbed and many other alterations made, little of special importance was done in the post-office, and we cannot do better than take advantage of this quiet time to give some account of the internal arrangements of the establishment, and to notice certain minutiæ, which, though trifling in themselves, will serve to give the reader an insight into the details, the way and means, of this early period.[ ] in the time of george i. the officers of the post-office in london consisted of _two_ postmasters-general, with a secretary and a clerk. there were four chief officers in the inland-office--viz. a controller, a receiver, an accountant, and a solicitor. the staff of clerks consisted of seven for the different roads--chester, north west, bristol, yarmouth, kent, and kent night-road. thirteen clerks were engaged in other duties, and three more clerks attended at the window to answer inquiries and deliver letters. the foreign office, which was a separate department, included a controller and an alphabet keeper, with eight assistant clerks. the whole london establishment, which at the present day numbers several thousand officers of different grades, was then, without counting letter-carriers, worked with a staff of thirty-two. "to show the method, diligence, and exactness of our general post-office," says a writer of the period, "and the due despatch of the post at each stage, take this specimen." and for our purpose we cannot do better than take stowe's advice, and insert here a copy of a post-office proclamation to postmasters and time-bill, given in his _history of london_:-- "whereas the management of the postage of the letters of great britain and ireland is committed to our care and conduct: these are therefore in his majesty's name to require you in your respective stages to use all diligence and expedition in the safe and speedy conveyance of this mail and letters: that you ride five miles an hour according to your articles from london to east grinstead, and from thence to return accordingly. and hereof you are not to fail, as you will answer the contrary at your perils. signed, cornwallis. james craggs."[ ] to the several postmasters betwixt london and east grinstead. haste, haste, post haste! +--------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ | | from the letter-office at _half an hour past two in the_ | |_miles._| _morning_, july , . | | | | | | received at epsom half an hour past six, and sent away | | | three-quarters past. alexander findlater. | | | | | | received at dorking half an hour after eight, and sent | | | away at nine. chas. castleman. | | | | | | received at _rygate_ half an hour past ten, and sent away | | | again at eleven. john bullock. | | | | | | received at east grinstead at half an hour after three | | | in the afternoon. | +--------+-----------------------------------------------------------+ the speed at which the east grinstead mail travelled was greater than usual: few post-boys, in the provinces at any rate, were required to go at a greater rate than three or four miles an hour. not only this, but the boys as a rule were without discipline; difficult to control; sauntered on the road at pleasure, and were quite an easy prey to any robber or ill-disposed persons who might think it worth their while to interfere with them. about this time, we find the post-office surveyor complaining dolorously to headquarters, that the gentry "doe give much money to the riders, whereby they be very subject to get in liquor, _which stopes the males_." expresses at that time travelled somewhat quicker, but still not quick enough for some persons. on one occasion, mr. harley (afterwards lord oxford) complained of delay in an express which had been sent to him; but the postmasters-general thought there were no grounds for complaint, inasmuch "as it had travelled miles in hours, which," added they, "is the usual rate of expresses." in the year , the treasury sanctioned an arrangement for conveying the mails between bristol and exeter, twice a week, under the stipulation that the distance of sixty-five miles should be performed in twenty-four hours! in scotland, about the same time, this work was done even slower, and with greater hardships. the post-boy walked all distances under twenty miles; longer distances required that the messenger should be mounted, though no relays of horses were allowed, however long and tedious the journey might be.[ ] at this time, it was only a secondary consideration, _when_ or _how_ letters should be delivered. for a number of years the authorities were simply bent on raising revenue out of the post-office. thus, about the period of which we are speaking, a request was made to the authorities from certain inhabitants of warwick, that the london letters for that place should be sent direct to warwick and not through coventry, by which latter route a great many hours were lost. a decided negative was returned to this very reasonable request, and for the following cogent _official_ reason, which exhibits well the exacting tendencies of the government. "from london to warwick, through coventry, is more than _eighty_ miles," say the postmasters-general; "so that we can charge _d._ per letter going that way, whereas we could only charge _d._ if they went direct." no doubt this reply is given to the lords of the treasury, through whom all such applications as the foregoing had then, and still have, to pass; for it cannot be imagined that they gave this reply to the people of warwick themselves. "perhaps, however," add the post-office officials, with some glimmering idea of the true business principle, "we might get _more letters_ at the cheaper rate." present profits, nevertheless, could not be sacrificed, even though there should be a prospect of increased future revenue. another instance is on record, proving that in this respect the post-office authorities of the period were wiser than the executive that held them in check. the postmasters-general apply (fruitlessly however) to the treasury to lower the rates of postage in a particular district, and in urging their request, state that "we have, indeed, found by experience, that where we have made the correspondence more easie and cheape, the number of letters has been thereby much increased, and therefore we do believe such a settlement may be attended with a like effect in these parts." the treasury lords are slow to sanction what appeared to them to be a sacrifice of revenue, and from the frequent applications which were made to them by deputy postmasters in the early part of last century to settle accounts of long standing, or remit the arrears owing to the government, we may imagine that their hands were full and their temper soured. many postmasters in the west of england now petitioned the treasury to the effect that they had been nearly ruined in the times of his majesty king william, "through much spoiling of their horses by officers riding-post in the late blessed revolution." others grumble at the lowness of their salaries. it was all very well, they argued, that the deputies, during the civil wars or at the revolution, should be contented with low salaries, because they were exempted from having soldiers quartered upon them, but now that the time of peace had come, they submitted that their salaries should be raised. the act of queen anne provided for one postmaster-general. how it came to be altered is not clear; but it is nevertheless certain that, for the greater part of the eighteenth century, the office was jointly held by two chiefs. all letters and mandates bore the signature of both of them; though it seems probable that the work of the office was equitably divided between the two gentlemen, the one taking charge principally of the inland business, while the other managed the packets. the duties of the latter department were much more onerous than might be supposed, when viewed in the light of the history of that period. as we have not yet directed attention to this department of the post-office, we may here state that some curious accounts survive of the infancy of the postal sea-service, during the former part of last century, when sir robert cotton and sir thomas frankland shared its management. in those sad times when war was raging, and french privateers covered every sea, our postmasters-general were anxious, though shrewd and active men. the general orders to the captains of the vessels under their control were such as, under the circumstances, they ought to be: "you must run while you can, fight when you can no longer run, and throw the mails overboard when fighting will no longer avail." notwithstanding such an order, and on account of so many mails travelling short of their destination, the postmasters-general resolve to build swift packet-boats that shall escape the enemy; but in their inexperience, they get them built so low in the water, that shortly afterwards, "we doe find that in blowing weather they take in soe much water that the men are constantly wet through, and can noe ways goe below, being obliged to keep the hatches shut to save the vessel from sinking." it is clear that better and stronger boats must be built, and stronger boats are built accordingly. to make up for the expense, they order that the freight of passengers shall be raised, though "recruits and indigent persons shall still have their passage free." it is noteworthy here, that about this time no political refugee seeking an asylum in england is ever hard pressed for a fare on the continental packet-boats, but an entry is made in the agent's letter-book that so and so "have not wherewithal to pay their charges," and are sent on their path to liberty without further question. every provision is supplied by the authorities in london, and salaries and pensions of all kinds are granted. thus, in one place, a chaplain is appointed for the crew of one of the packets, with a small stipend, "for doing their offices of births, marriage, and burial." pensions for wounds received in the service are granted with nice discrimination of the relative parts of the body. in a letter to their agent at falmouth, the postmasters-general send a scale of pensions to be granted according to the kind of wound--thus: "for every arm or leg amputated above the elbow or knee, l. per annum; below the arm or knee, twenty nobles. loss of the sight of one eye must be l. ; of the pupil of the eye, l. ; of the sight of both eyes, l. ; of the pupils of both eyes, l. ; and according to these rules, we _consider also how much also the hurts affect the body_, and make the allowances accordingly." the duties devolving upon the chief post-office officials seem not only to have been onerous and heavy--some of their instructions to their agents bearing dates from the middle of the night and other extraordinary hours--but curiously varied. many of their letters are preserved among the old records in the vaults under the general post-office, and some of them are quite sad and plaintive in their tone. "we are concerned," they say to one agent, "to find the letters brought by your boat [one from the west indies] _to be so consumed by the ratts_, that we cannot find out to whom they belong." another letter to their agent at harwich is evidently disciplinary, and runs as follows:-- "mr. edisbury--the woman whose complaint we herewith send you, _having given us much trouble upon the same_, we desire you will inquire into the same, and see justice done her, believing she may have had her brandy stole from her by the sailors.--we are your affectionate friends[!], r. c., t. f." it would be difficult to fancy such a letter as the above proceeding from officialdom in the year of grace eighteen hundred and sixty-four. in another letter we find the authorities affectionately scolding an agent because "he had not provided a sufficiency of pork and beef for the prince" (who this pork-loving prince was does not appear); in another, because "he had bought powder at falmouth that would have been so much cheaper in london." in other cases they act as public guardians of morality and loyalty, suspending one because "he had stirred up a mutiny between a captain and his men, _which was unhandsome conduct in him_;" bringing one captain clies to trial, inasmuch as "he had spoken words reflecting on the royal family, which the postmasters-general _took particular unkind of him_," and can by no means allow; and reprimanding another captain for "breaking open the portmanteau of a gentleman-passenger, and spoiling him of a parcel of snuff." what with all these cares and duties, the postmasters-general of those days could scarcely have had an easy time of it. this sole control over the resources of the packet-service explains much in the history of the _franking system_, which would be quite unintelligible without the information just given. the treasury warrants of that day franked the strangest commodities--articles which certainly would not be dropped into any letter-box, and which would neither be stamped nor sorted in the orthodox way. the following list of a few franked commodities is culled from a still larger number of such in the packet "agent's book," found amongst the old records to which reference has already been made:-- "_imprimis._ fifteen couple of hounds, going to the king of the romans with a free pass. "_item._ two maid servants, going as laundresses to my lord ambassador methuen. "_item._ doctor crichton, carrying with him _a cow_ and divers necessaries. "_item._ two bales of stockings, for the use of the ambassador to the crown of portugal.[ ] "_item._ a deal case, with ffour flitches of bacon, for mr. pennington of rotterdam." whilst referring to the subject of letter-franking, we may as well notice here, that before the control of the packet-service passed out of the hands of the post-office authorities, and when the right of franking letters became the subject of legislative enactments, we hear no more of these curious consignments of goods. the franking system was henceforth confined to passing free through the post any letter which should be indorsed on the cover with the signature of a member of either house of parliament. as it was not then made a rule absolute that parliament should be in session, or that the correspondence should necessarily be on the affairs of the nation in order to insure immunity from postage, this arrangement led to various forms of abuse. members signed huge packets of covers at once, and supplied them to friends and adherents in large quantities. sometimes they were sold. they have been known to have been given to servants in lieu of wages, the servants selling them again in the ordinary way of business. nor was this all. so little precaution seems to have been used, that thousands of letters passed through the post-office with forged signatures of members.[ ] to such an extent did this and kindred abuses accumulate, that, in , the worth of franked correspondence passing through the post was estimated at , _l._ during the next year--viz. in --parliament enacted that no letter should pass free through the post-office unless the whole address was in the member's own handwriting and his signature attached likewise. even these precautions, though lessening the frauds, were not sufficient to meet the evil, for fresh regulations were thought necessary in . this time it was ordered that all franks should be dated, the month to be given in full; and further, that all such letters should be put into the post on the day they were dated. from to the date of penny postage no further regulations were made concerning the franked correspondence, the estimated value of which during these years was , _l._ annually. the rates of postage ordered by the government of queen anne continued in force for eighteen years after it was designed by the act that they should cease, and it was only in , at the commencement of the reign of george iii., that any alteration was made. even then the rates were increased instead of diminished. geo. iii. c. provides, that the improvement of correspondence is a matter of such great concernment and so highly necessary for the extension of trade and commerce, that the statutes of queen anne need repealing to some extent, and especially as, through vast accessions of territory, no posts and post-rates are arranged to all his majesty's dominions. the improvements and alterations made at this time may thus be summed up, viz.:-- . additions are made to the vessels on the american station. other and cheaper rates of postage are established between london and north america and all his majesty's territories in america. . concerning letters brought by private ships from any foreign part, no ship or vessel shall be permitted to make entry in any port of great britain, or to unload any of its cargo, until all letters and packets brought by such ship, or any passenger on board such ship, are delivered into the hands of the deputy-postmaster of the port, and until the captain shall receive the deputy's receipt for the same. in cases where the vessel "is liable to the performance of quarantine," the first step must be to deliver the letters into the hands of the superintendent of the quarantine, to be by him despatched to the post-office. a penalty of _l._ with full costs to be inflicted on any master not delivering a letter or packet of letters according to this act, one moiety to go to the king and the other to the person informing. . the roads are to be re-surveyed, under the arrangements laid down in queen anne's act, for the purpose of settling the rates of postage afresh. . letters to be charged according to the post-stages travelled, or shorter distances to be paid for; thus:-- _s._ _d._ for the conveyance of every single letter not exceeding miles " " double letter " " ounce " " single letter, miles and under miles " " double letter " " ounce " " single letter, miles and under miles " " double letter " " ounce and so on. these rates were again altered in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of george iii. for the raising of revenue to defray his majesty's expenses, the alteration, which took effect on the introduction of mail-coaches, consisting of the addition of one penny to every existing charge.[ ] . permission is given to settle penny post-offices in other towns in england, on the same basis as the london penny-post establishment. the permission thus granted was soon applied, and long before the establishment of uniform penny-postage, there were at least a thousand penny-posts in existence in different towns. the principle which guided the department in establishing penny-posts was to select small towns and populous neighbourhoods not situated in the direct line of general post conveyances, which were desirous of obtaining extra facilities, and granting such posts provided that they did not afford the means for evading the general post. the only requisite was, that the authorities should have a reasonable hope that the proposed post would yield sufficient to pay for its maintenance--a thing considered settled if the receipts on its first establishment would pay two-thirds of the entire charges. . the weight of any packet or letter to be sent by the london penny-post, or any of the new penny-posts to be established under this improved act, must not now exceed _four ounces_. in , the act restraining any other but officers of the post-office from letting out horses to hire for the purpose of riding post, is stated not to refer to cases where chaises, "calashes," or any other vehicles, are furnished. vehicles to drive may be provided on either post-roads or elsewhere by any person choosing to engage in the trade. in , all acts giving exclusive privileges to the postmaster-general and his deputies as to the letting of post-_horses_ for hire are henceforth repealed. in the year the first penny-post was established in edinburgh by one peter williamson, a native of aberdeen. he kept a coffee-shop in the hall of the parliament house, and as he was frequently employed by gentlemen attending the courts in sending letters to different parts of the city, and as he had doubtless heard something of the english penny-posts, he began a regular post with hourly deliveries, and established agents at different parts of the city to collect letters. he employed four carriers, who appeared in uniform, to take the letters from the different agents, and then to deliver them as addressed. for both these purposes they were accustomed to ring a bell as they proceeded, in order to give due notice of their approach. the undertaking was so successful, that other speculators were induced to set up rival establishments, which, of course, led to great confusion. the authorities saw the success of the undertaking, and, aware of its importance, they succeeded in inducing williamson to take a pension for the good-will of his concern, and then merged it in the general establishment. we cannot attempt more than a short _résumé_ of the incidents in the previous history of the scotch post-office, although the annals of the seventeenth century contain little of interest, and might, therefore, soon be presented to the reader. the first regular letter-post was established in the reign of james i. (of england). in , owing to the sending of forces from scotland to put down the irish rebellion, it was found that the post arrangements in the south-west of scotland were defective in the extreme. the scotch council proposed to establish a line of posts between edinburgh and portpatrick, and portpatrick and carlisle, and the english, being more immediately concerned in the rebellion, agreed to bear the whole expense.[ ] in the privy council records of the period, we find a list of persons recommended by the commissioners for appointment on the two lines of road as postmasters, "such persons being the only ones fit for that employment, as being innkeepers and of approved honesty." seven years afterwards we find the post-office at edinburgh was under the care of john mean, husband of the woman who discharged her stool at the bishop's head when the service-book was introduced into st. giles's in . he seems to have himself borne the charges of attending to the office "without any reasonable allowance therefor;" and petitioning the committee of estates to that effect, they allowed him to retain the "eighth penny on all letters sent from edinburgh to london (no great number), and the fourth penny upon all those coming from london to edinburgh." at the restoration the office was bestowed on robert main, and considerable improvements were made under his management, although only with existing posts. little was done for other parts of scotland. a traveller in scotland so late as , commenting on the absence of stage or other coaches on most scotch roads, says,[ ] that "this carriage of persons from place to place might be better spared, were there opportunities and means for the speedier conveyance of business by letters. they have no horse-posts besides those which ply between berwick and edinburgh, and edinburgh and portpatrick for the irish packets.... from edinburgh to perth, and so on to other places, they use foot-posts and carriers, which, _though a slow way of communicating our concerns to one another, yet is such as they acquiesce in till they have a better_." our traveller is somewhat wrong in his date, for in a horse-post to aberdeen from edinburgh, twice a week, was started, with the consent of patrick graham, of inchbrakie, his majesty's postmaster-general, "for the _timous_ delivery of letters and receiving returns of the _samen_." two years afterwards inverness got dissatisfied with the want of postal communication, when robert main, the edinburgh postmaster, was commissioned to establish a constant foot-post between edinburgh and inverness, going once a week, "wind and weather serving."[ ] "wind and weather serving" is an amusing qualification, as pointed out by mr. chambers, considering that there was only one ferry of six or seven miles, and another of two miles, to cross. in , we find the edinburgh postmaster useful in another capacity, for in that year the privy council grant a warrant to him "to put to print and publish _ane diurnal weekly_, for preventing false news which may be invented by evil and disaffected persons." we must now pass over many years, as not offering any incidents of any moment. in the year we find that the scotch establishment yielded the sum of , _l._ as the whole gross revenue. from about the year , the mails began to be carried from stage to stage, as in england, by relays of fresh horses and different post-boys, though not entirely to the exclusion of the post-runners, of whom we have previously spoken. in , the edinburgh post-office occupied the first-floor of a house near the cross, above an alley which still bears the name of the post-office close. it was afterwards removed to a floor on the south side of the parliament square, which was fitted up shop-fashion, and where the letters were given out from behind an ordinary shop counter, one letter-carrier doing all the out-door work. the post-office was removed to its present situation in . towards the close of , it is expected, the handsome building now rising up near the old office will be finished and opened for postal purposes.[ ] even less interest attaches to the early annals of the irish post-office. during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it was certainly more remunerative than the scotch, though much less remunerative than the english departments. previous to the introduction of mail-coaches, all mails were conveyed, or supposed to be conveyed, by the postmasters, to whom certain special allowances were made for each particular service. "there were no contracts, and no fixed rules as to time. three miles and a half (per hour) seems to have been the pace acknowledged to have been sufficient. the bags were usually conveyed by boys. in the immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis, some sort of cart was used, but with this exception the bags were carried either on ponies or mules, or on foot."[ ] the same authority tells us further that, "at this time, the bags were carried to cork, belfast, limerick, and waterford, six days a week; and three days a week to galway, wexford, and enniskillen. there were three posts to killarney; but for this the government refused to pay anything. the postmaster had a salary of _l._ a-year, but the mail was carried by foot-messengers, who were maintained at the cost of the inhabitants and of the news-printers in cork. carrick-on-shannon was the only town in county leitrim receiving a mail, and this it did twice a week. now it has two every day. except at the county-town, there was no post-office in the whole county of sligo; and there were but sixteen in the province of connaught, where there are now one hundred and seventy-one." footnotes: [ ] these exceptions were again made in the act vic. c. . s. , and still remain the law. [ ] this clause was repealed in the reign of george ii. [ ] the office of post-office surveyor, of which we here see the origin, still exists (though the officers now so designated have very different duties) among the most responsible and lucrative appointments in the department. [ ] "there cannot be devised," says blackstone, "a more eligible method than this of raising money upon the subject; for therein both the government and the people find a mutual benefit. the government requires a large revenue, and the people do their business with greater ease, expedition, and cheapness than they would be able to do if no such tax existed."--_com._ vol. i. p. . [ ] at this time, and for some years subsequently, the mails were carried on horseback in charge of post-boys. some of these post-boys were sad rogues, who, besides taking advantage of confusion in the two posts, were accustomed to carry letters themselves concealed upon them and for charges of course quite unorthodox. in old records of the post-office, principally the surveyor's book, referring to country post-offices from the year , there are long complaints from the surveyor on this head. the following, "exhibiting more malice than good grammar," may be taken as a specimen, and will suffice to show the way things were managed at that date:--"at this place (salisbury) found the post-boys to have carried on vile practices in taking the _bye-letters_, delivering them in this cittye and taking back answers, especially the _andover_ riders. on the th found on richard kent, one of the andover riders, bye-letters, all for this cittye. upon examining the fellow, he confessed he had made it a practice, _and persisted to continue in it_, saying he had noe wages from his master. i took the fellow before the magistrate, proved the facts, and he was committed, but pleading to have no money or friends, desired a punishment to be whipped, which accordingly _he was to the purpose_. wrote the case to andover and ordered the fellow to be dismissed, but no regard was had thereto, but the next day the same rider came post, ran about the cittye for letters _and was insolent_. again he came post with two gentlemen, made it his business to take up letters; the fellow, however, instead of returning to andover, gets two idle fellows and rides off with three horses, which was a return for his master not obeying my instructions." our shrewd surveyor thus amply got his revenge, and the post-office and mr. allen suffer no more from the delinquencies of richard kent.--_from mr. scudamore's notes._ [ ] _gentleman's magazine_, august, . [ ] mr. scudamore, of the general post-office, to whom we are indebted for much of the _minutiæ_ in question, has been successful in his efforts to preserve permanently some of the old records of the post-office; and the result of his labours may be found in the appendix to the postmaster-general's first report. [ ] son of the james craggs who succeeded addison as secretary of state, and who obtained such an unusual portion of the poetical praise of pope. the son came in for a share also, as, for example:-- "statesman, yet friend to truth! of soul sincere, in action faithful, and in honour clear." [ ] campbell, in his _tales of the highlands_, relates two or three incidents which show that little improvement had taken place in post communications in some part of scotland even a hundred years later. the english order of posts and express posts seem there to have been reversed, express work being done the worst. for instance: "near inverary, we regained a spot of comparative civilization, and came up with the post-boy, whose horse was quietly grazing at some distance, whilst red jacket himself was immersed in play with other lads. 'you rascal,' i said to him, 'are you the post-boy and thus spending your time?' 'nae, nae, sir,' he answered, 'i'm no the post, i'm only an express!'" [ ] what the right hon. john methuen wanted with two bales of stockings is, of course, a mystery, if he was not embarking in the haberdashery line. it may be he was desirous of regaining the favour of the portuguese court, by supplying the whole with english stockings. this was the methuen who gave his name to a well-known treaty, which, by the way, was found so distasteful to the portuguese that when, in , he carried it to pedro ii. for his signature, that monarch gave vent to his displeasure by kicking it about the room.--_marlborough despatches_, vol. v. p. . [ ] at the investigation in it was related that "one man had, in the course of five months, counterfeited , dozens of franks of different members of parliament." [ ] as an example of the summary proceedings of those days, we may here just note the remarks which mr. pitt made in his place in parliament when he proposed this increase, calculating that the change would produce at least , _l._ additional revenue out of the post-office. the tax upon letters, said he, could be calculated with a great degree of certainty, and the changes he had to propose would _by no means reduce the number sent. it was idle to suppose that the public would grumble in having to pay just one penny additional for valuable letters safely and expeditiously conveyed._ he proposed "to charge all letters that went one stage and which now paid one penny in future the sum of _d._, and this would bring in the sum of , _l._ all that now pay _d._ paying an additional penny would yield , _l._ threepenny letters paying another penny would produce , _l._ the increase of fourpenny letters would produce , _l._" the cross-roads he could not speak of with great certainty, but he thought they might calculate on at least , _l._ from that source, and so on, till the estimated sum was reached. [ ] _domestic annals of scotland._ by mr. r. chambers. vol. ii. p. . [ ] _a short account of scotland_, published in london in . [ ] the wording of the qualifying clauses in the proclamations of stage-coaches, &c. are very various, and sometimes exceedingly amusing. in england the divine hand was generally recognised in the formula of "god willing," or, "if god should permit." on the contrary, the human element certainly preponderated--whether it was meant so or not--in the announcement made by a carrying communication between edinburgh and a northern burgh, when it was given out that "a waggon would leave the grass market for inverness every tuesday, god willing, but on wednesday _whether or no_." [ ] it will be remembered that the late lamented prince consort laid the foundation-stone of this structure in , being the last occasion on which he assisted at any public ceremony. for further information of the scotch office, see mr. lang's _historical summary of the post-office in scotland_. [ ] appendix to postmaster-general's third report, supplied by mr. anthony trollope, then one of the post-office surveyors for ireland. chapter v. palmer and the mail-coach era. we have now arrived at a most important epoch in the history of the english post-office. fifteen years after the death of mr. allen, john palmer, one of the greatest of the early post-reformers rose into notice. to give anything approaching to a proper account of the eminent services that palmer rendered towards the development of the resources of the post-office, it is requisite that we notice the improvements which had been made up to his time in the internal communications of the country. trade and commerce, more than ever active, were the means of opening out the country in all directions. civil engineering had now acquired the importance and dignity of a profession. this was the age of brindley and smeaton, rennie and telford, watt and boulton. roads were being made in even the comparatively remote districts of england; bridges were built in all parts of the country; the bridgewater and other canals were opened for traffic, whilst many more were laid out. and what is perhaps more germane to our special subject, many improvements were apparent in the means of conveyance during the same period.[ ] while, on the one hand, the ordinary stage-coach had found its way on to every considerable road, and was still equal to the usual requirements, the speed at which it travelled did not at all satisfy the enterprising merchants of lancashire and yorkshire. so early as , a company of merchants in manchester started a new vehicle, called the "flying coach," which seems to have owed its designation to the fact that the proprietors contemplated an acceleration in the speed of the new conveyance to four or five miles an hour. it started with the following remarkable prospectus:--"however incredible it may appear, this coach will actually (barring accidents) arrive in london in four days and a half after leaving manchester." in the same year a new coach was brought out in edinburgh, but the speed at which it travelled was no improvement on the old rate. it was of better appearance, however; and the announcement heralding its introduction to the edinburgh public sought for it general support on the ground of the extra comfort it would offer to travellers. "the edinburgh stage-coach," says the prospectus, "for the better accommodation of passengers, will be altered to a new genteel two-end glass machine, hung on steel springs, exceedingly light and easy, to go (to london) in ten days in summer and twelve in winter."[ ] three years afterwards, the liverpool merchants established another "flying machine on steel springs," which was designed to, and which really did, eclipse the manchester one in the matter of speed.[ ] three days only were allowed for the journey between liverpool and london. sheffield and leeds followed with their respective "fly-coaches," and by the year they had not only become quite common, but most of them had acquired the respectable velocity of eight miles an hour. the post-boy on horseback travelling at the rate of three or four miles an hour, had been an institution since the days of charles ii., and now, towards the close of the eighteenth century, the post-office was still clinging to the old system. it was destined, however, that mr. palmer should bring about a grand change. originally a brewer, mr. palmer was, in , the manager of the bath and bristol theatres. he seems to have known mr. allen, and to have been fully acquainted with his fortunate post-office speculations. in this way, to some extent, but much more, doubtless, through his public capacity as manager of two large theatres, he became acquainted with the crude postal arrangements of the period. having frequently to correspond with the theatrical stars of the metropolis, and also to journey between london and the then centres of trade and fashion, he noticed how superior the arrangements were for travelling to those under which the post-office work was done, and he conceived the idea of improvements. palmer found that letters, for instance, which left bath on monday night were not delivered in london until wednesday afternoon or night; but the stage-coach which left through the day on monday, arrived in london on the following morning.[ ] not only did the existing system of mail conveyance strike him as being exceedingly slow, but insecure and otherwise defective. as he afterwards pointed out, he noticed that when tradesmen were particularly anxious to have a valuable letter conveyed with speed and safety, they never thought of giving it into the safe keeping of the post-office, but were in the habit of enclosing it in a brown paper parcel and sending it by the coach: nor were they deterred from this practice by having to pay a rate of carriage for it far higher than that charged for a post-letter. robberies of the mails were so frequent, that even to adopt the precaution recommended by the post-office authorities, and send valuable remittances such as a bank note, bills of exchange, &c. _at twice_, was a source of endless trouble and annoyance, if it did not prove entirely ineffective. who can wonder at the post-office robberies when the carelessness and incompetency of the servants of the post-office were taken into account? a curious robbery of the portsmouth mail in illustrates the careless manner in which the duty was done. the boy who carried the mail had dismounted at hammersmith, about three miles from hyde park corner, and called for beer, when some thieves took the opportunity to cut the mail-bags from off the horse's crupper, and got away undiscovered. the french mail on its outward-bound passage _viâ_ dover was more than once stopped and rifled before it had got clear of london. a string stretched across a street in the borough through which the mail would pass has been known to throw the post-boy from his horse, who, without more ado, would coolly retrace his steps, empty-handed, to the chief office, and report the loss of his bags. what could be expected, however, in the case of raw, unarmed post-boys, when carriages were stopped in broad daylight in hyde park, and even in piccadilly itself, and pistols pointed at the breasts of the nobility and gentry _living close at hand_? horace walpole relates that he himself was robbed in hyde park in broad daylight, in a carriage with lord eglinton and lady albemarle. mr. palmer, however, was ready with a remedy for robbery, as well as for the other countless defects in the existing postal arrangements. he began his work of reform in , by submitting a full scheme in a lengthy report to mr. pitt, who was at that time prime minister. he commenced by describing the then existing system of mail transmission. "the post," he says, "at present, instead of being the quickest, is almost the slowest conveyance in the country; and although, from the great improvements in our roads, other carriers have proportionately mended their speed, the post is as slow as ever." the system is also unsafe; robberies are frequent, and he saw not how it could be otherwise if there were no changes. "the mails," continued palmer, "are generally intrusted to some idle boy without character, mounted on a worn-out hack, and who, so far from being able to defend himself, or escape from a robber, is more likely to be in league with him." if robberies were not so frequent as the circumstances might lead people to suppose, it was simply because thieves had found, by long practice, that the mails were scarcely worth robbing--the booty to be obtained being comparatively worthless, inasmuch as the public found other means of sending letters of value. mr. palmer, as we have before stated, knew of tradesmen who sent letters by stage-coach. why, therefore, "should not the stage-coach, well protected by armed guards, under certain conditions to be specified, carry the mail-bags?" though by no means the only recommendation which mr. palmer made to the prime minister, this substitution of a string of mail-coaches for the "worn-out hacks" was the leading feature of his plans. evincing a thorough knowledge of his subject (however he may have attained that knowledge), and devised with great skill, the measures he proposed promised to advance the postal communication to as high a pitch of excellence as was possible. to lend to the scheme the prospect of _financial_ success, he laboured to show that his proposals, if adopted, would secure a larger revenue to the post-office than it had ever yet yielded; whilst, as far as the public were concerned, it was evident that they would gladly pay higher for a service which was performed so much more efficiently. mr. pitt, who always lent a ready ear to proposals which would have the effect of increasing the revenue, saw and acknowledged the merits of the scheme very early. but, first of all, the post-office officials must be consulted; and from accounts[ ] which survive, we learn how bitterly they resented proposals not coming from themselves. they made many and vehement objections to the sweeping changes which palmer's plans would necessitate. "the oldest and ablest officers in the service" represented them "not only to be impracticable, but dangerous to commerce and the revenue."[ ] the accounts of the way in which they met some of his proposals is most amusing and instructive. thus, palmer recommended mr. pitt to take some commercial men into his councils, and they would not fail to convince him of the great need there was for change. he also submitted that the suggestions of commercial men should be listened to more frequently, when postal arrangements for their respective districts should be made. mr. hodgson, one of the prominent officers of the post-office, indignantly answered that "it was not possible that any set of gentlemen, merchants, or outriders (commercial travellers, we suppose), could instruct officers brought up in the business of the post-office. and it is particularly to be hoped," said this gentlemen, with a spice of malice, "if not presumed, that the surveyors need no such information." he "ventured to say, that the post as then managed was admirably connected in all its parts, well-regulated, carefully attended to, and not to be improved by any person unacquainted with the whole. it is a pity," he sarcastically added, "that mr. palmer should not first have been informed of the nature of the business in question, to make him understand how very differently the post and post-offices are conducted to what he apprehends." mr. palmer might not be, and really was not, acquainted with all the working arrangements of the office he was seeking to improve: yet it was quite patent to all outside the post-office that the entire establishment needed remodelling. mr. hodgson, however, and his _confrères_ "were amazed," they said, "that any dissatisfaction, any desire for change, should exist." the post-office was already perfect in their eyes. it was, at least, "almost as perfect as it can be, without exhausting the revenue arising therefrom." they could not help, therefore, making a united stand against any such new-fangled scheme, which they predict "will fling the commercial correspondence of the country into the utmost confusion, and which will justly raise such a clamour as the postmaster-general will not be able to appease." another of the principal officers, a mr. allen, who seems to have been more temperate in his abuse of the new proposals, gave it as his opinion, "that the more mr. palmer's plan was considered, the greater number of difficulties and objections started to its ever being carried completely into execution." from arguing on the general principles involved, they then descend to combat the working arrangements of the theatre-manager with even less success. mr. palmer complains that the post is slow, and states that it ought to outstrip all other conveyances. mr. hodgson "could not see _why_ the post should be the swiftest conveyance in england. personal conveyances, i apprehend, should be much more, and particularly with people travelling on business." then followed mr. draper, another official, who objected to the coaches as travelling too fast. "the post," he said, "cannot travel with the expedition of stage-coaches, on account of the business necessary to be done in each town through which it passes, and without which correspondence would be thrown into the utmost confusion." mr. palmer had proposed that the coaches should remain fifteen minutes in each town through which they passed, to give time to transact the necessary business of sorting the letters. mr. draper said that half an hour was not enough, as was well enough known to persons at all conversant with post-office business. living in this age of railways and steam, we have just reason to smile at such objections. then, as to the appointment of mail-guards, mr. palmer might, but mr. hodgson could, see no security, though he could see endless trouble, expense, and annoyance in such a provision. "the man would doubtless have to be waited for at every alehouse the coach passed." he might have added that such had been the experience with the post-boys under the _régime_ which he was endeavouring to perpetuate. mr. palmer stipulated, that the mail-guards should in all cases be well armed and accoutred, and such officers "as could be depended upon as trustworthy." but the post-office gentlemen objected even to this arrangement. "there were no means of preventing robbery with effect,[ ] as the strongest cart or coach that could be made, lined and bound with iron, might easily be broken into by determined robbers," and the employment of armed mail-guards would only make matters worse. instead of affording protection to the mails, the following precious doctrine was inculcated, that the crime of murder would be added to that of robbery; "for," said the wonderful mr. hodgson, "when once desperate fellows had determined upon robbery, resistance would lead to murder"! these were peace and non-resistance principles with a vengeance, but principles which in england, during the later years of pitt's administration, would seldom be heard, except in furtherance of some such selfish views as those which the post-office authorities held in opposition to mr. palmer's so-called innovations. mr. palmer's propositions also included the timing of the mails at each successive stage, and their departure from the country properly regulated; they would thus be enabled to arrive in london at regular specified times, and not at any hour of the day or night, and might, to some extent, be delivered simultaneously. again: instead of _leaving_ london at all hours of the night, he suggested that all the coaches for the different roads should leave the general post-office at the same time; and thus it was that palmer established what was, to the stranger in london for many years, one of the first of city sights. finally, mr. palmer's plans were pronounced impossible. "it was an impossibility," his opponents declared, "that the bath mail could be brought to london in sixteen or eighteen hours." mr. pitt was less conservative than the post-office authorities. he clearly inherited, as an eloquent writer[ ] has pointed out, his father's contempt for impossibilities. he saw, with the clear vision for which he was so remarkable, that mr. palmer's scheme would be as profitable as it was practicable, and he resolved, in spite of the short-sighted opposition of the authorities, that it should be adopted. the lords of the treasury lost no more time in decreeing that the plan should be tried, and a trial and complete success was the result. on the th of july, , the post-office secretary (mr. anthony todd) issued the following order:--"his majesty's postmasters-general, being inclined to make an experiment for the more expeditious conveyance of mails of letters by stage-coaches, machines, &c., have been pleased to order that a trial shall be made upon the road between london and bristol, to commence at each place on monday, the d of august next." then follows a list of places, letters for which can be sent by these mail-coaches, and thus concludes: "all persons are therefore to take notice, that the letters put into any receiving-house before six of the evening, or seven at this chief office, will be forwarded by these new conveyances; all others for the said post-towns and their districts put in afterwards, or given to the bellmen, must remain until the following post at the same hour of seven." the mail-coaches commenced running according to the above advertisement, not, however, on the d, but on the th of august. one coach left london at eight in the morning, reaching bristol about eleven the same night. _the distance between london and bath was accomplished in fourteen hours._ the other coach was started from bristol at four in the afternoon on the same day, reaching london in sixteen hours. mr. palmer was installed at the post-office on the day of the change, under the title of controller-general. it was arranged that his salary should be , _l._ a-year, together with a commission of two and a half per cent. upon any excess of net revenue over , _l._--the sum at which the annual proceeds of the post-office stood at the date of his appointment. the rates of postage, as we have before incidentally pointed out, were slightly raised--an addition of a penny to each charge; but, notwithstanding this, the number of letters began at once, and most perceptibly, to increase. so great was the improvement in security and speed, that, for once, the additions to the charges were borne ungrudgingly. coaches were applied for without loss of time by the municipalities of many of our largest towns,[ ] and when they were granted--as they appear to have been in most of the instances--they were started at the rate of six miles an hour. this official rate of speed was subsequently increased to eight, then to nine, and at length to ten miles an hour.[ ] the opposition to mr. palmer's scheme, manifested by the post-office officials before it was adopted, does not seem to have given way before the manifest success attending its introduction. perhaps mr. palmer's presence at the council board did not conduce to the desirable unanimity of feeling. however it was, he appears for some time to have contended single-handed with officials determinately opposed to him. when goaded and tormented by them, he fell into their snares, and attempted to carry his measures by indirect means. in , when his plans had been in operation about eight years, and were beginning to show every element of success, it was deemed desirable that he should surrender his appointment. a pension of , _l._ was granted to him in consideration of his valuable services. subsequently he memorialized the government, setting forth that his pension fell far short of the emoluments which had been promised to him, but he did not meet with success. mr. palmer never ceased to protest against this treatment; and his son, major-general palmer, frequently urged his claims before parliament, until, in , after a struggle of twenty years, the house of commons voted him a grant of , _l._ mr. palmer died in . now that mr. palmer was gone from the post-office, his scheme was left to incompetent and unwilling hands. all the smothered opposition broke out afresh; and if it had been less obvious how trade and commerce, and all the other interests promoted by safe and quick correspondence, were benefited by the new measures; and if it had not been for the vigilant supervision of the prime minister--who had let the reformer go, but had no intention of letting his reforms go with him--all the improvements of the past few years might have been quietly strangled in their infancy. though we know not what the country lost in losing the guiding-spirit, it is matter of congratulation that the main elements of his scheme were fully preserved. though the post-office officials scrupled not to recommend some return to the old system, mr. palmer's plans were fully adhered to until the fact of their success became patent to both the public and the official alike. in the first year of their introduction, the net revenue of the post-office was about , _l._ thirty years afterwards the proceeds had increased sixfold, to no less a sum than a million and a half sterling! though, of course, this great increase is partly attributable to the increase of population, and the national advancement generally, it was primarily due to the greater speed, punctuality, and security which the new arrangements gave to the service. whilst, financially, the issue was successful, the result, in other respects, was no less certain. in , the greater part of the mails were conveyed in one-half of the time previously occupied; in some cases, in one-third of the time; and on the cross-roads, in a quarter of the time, taken under the old system. mails not only travelled quicker, but mr. palmer augmented their number between the largest towns. other spirited reforms went on most vigorously. three hundred and eighty towns, which had had before but three deliveries of letters a-week, now received one daily. the edinburgh coach required less time by sixty hours to travel from london, and there was a corresponding reduction between towns at shorter distances. ten years before the first liverpool coach was started, a single letter-carrier sufficed for the wants of that place; before the century closed, _six_ were required. a single letter-carrier sufficed for edinburgh for a number of years;[ ] now _four_ were required. no less certain was it that the mails, under the new system, travelled more securely. for many years after their introduction, not a single attempt was made, in england, to rob palmer's mail-coaches. it is noteworthy, however, that the changes, when applied to ireland, did not conduce to the greater security of the mails. the first coach was introduced into ireland in , and placed on the cork and belfast roads, a few more following on the other main lines of road. though occasionally accompanied by as many as _four_ armed guards, the mail-coaches were robbed, according to a competent authority, "as frequently as the less-aspiring riding-post." not many months after the establishment of mail-coaches, an act was passed through parliament, declaring that all carriages and stage-coaches employed to carry his majesty's mails should henceforth be exempt from the payment of _toll_, on both post- or cross-roads. previously, all post-horses employed in the same service travelled free of toll. this act told immediately in favour of the post-office to a greater extent than was imagined by its framers. innkeepers, who, in england, were the principal owners of stage-coaches,[ ] bargained for the carriage of mails, very frequently at merely nominal prices. in return, they enjoyed the advantages of the coach and its passengers, travelling all roads free of toll. arrived at the end of the century, we find the mail-coach system is now an institution in the country. other interests had progressed at an equal rate. travelling, as a rule, had become easy and pleasant. not that the service was performed without any difficulty or hindrance. on the contrary--and it enters within the scope of our present object to advert to them--the obstacles to anything like a perfect system seemed insurmountable. though the difficulties consequent on travelling, at the beginning of the present century, were comparatively trifling on the _principal post-roads_, yet, when new routes were chosen, or new localities were designed to share in the common benefits of the new and better order of things in the post-office, these same difficulties had frequently to be again got over. cross-roads in england were greatly neglected--so much so, in fact, that new mail-coaches which had been applied for and granted, were often enough waiting idle till the roads should be ready to receive them. the highway act of , so far as the roads in remote districts were concerned, was completely in abeyance. early in the century we find the subject frequently mentioned in parliament. as the result of one discussion, it was decided that every inducement should be held out to the different trusts to make and repair the roads in their respective localities; while, on the other hand, the postmaster-general was directed by the government to indict all townships who neglected the duty imposed upon them. under the acts of & george iii. c. , and george iv. c. , commissioners were appointed to arrange for all necessary road improvements, having certain privileges vested in them for the purpose. thus, they recommended that certain trusts should have loans granted to them, to be employed in road-making and mending. mr. telford, at his death, was largely employed by the road commissioners--the improvements on the shrewsbury and holyhead road being under his entire superintendence. and it would seem that the above-mentioned road needed improvement. when, in , a new mail-coach was put on to run between the two places, no fewer than twenty-two townships had to be indicted by the post-office authorities for having their roads in a dangerous and unfinished state. in scotland and ireland, great improvements had also been made in this respect, considering the previously wretched state of both countries, scotland especially. at a somewhat earlier period, four miles of the best post-road in scotland--namely, that between edinburgh and berwick--were described in a contemporary record as being in so ruinous a state, that passengers were afraid of their lives, "either by their coaches overturning, their horses stumbling, their carts breaking, or their loads casting, and the poor people with burdens on their backs sorely grieved and discouraged;" moreover, "strangers do often exclaim thereat," as well they might. things were different at the close of the last century; still, the difficulties encountered in travelling, say by the bar, may well serve to show the internal state of the country. "those who are born to modern travelling," says lord cockburn,[ ] "can scarcely be made to understand how the previous age got on. there was no bridge over the tay at dunkeld, or over the spey at fochabers, or over the findhorn at forres. nothing but wretched peerless ferries, let to poor cotters, who rowed, or hauled, or pushed a crazy boat across, or more commonly got their wives to do it.... there was no mail-coach north of aberdeen till after the battle of waterloo.... i understand from hope, that after , when he came to the bar, he and braxfield rode a whole north circuit; and that, from the findhorn being in a flood, they were obliged to go up its bank for about _twenty-eight miles_, to the bridge of dulsie, before they could cross. i myself rode circuits when i was an advocate depute, between and ." a day and a half was still, at the end of the last century, taken up between edinburgh and glasgow. in , a direct mail-coach was put on between london and glasgow, to go by what is known as the west coast route, _viâ_ carlisle.[ ] the glasgow merchants had long wished for such a communication, as much time was lost in going by way of edinburgh. on the day on which the first mail-coach was expected, a vast number of them went along the road for several miles to welcome it, and then headed the procession into the city. to announce its arrival on subsequent occasions, a gun was fired. it was found a difficult task, however, to drive the coach, especially in winter, over the bleak and rugged hills of dumfriesshire and lanarkshire; the road, moreover, was hurriedly and badly made, and at times quite impassable. robert owen, travelling between his model village in lanarkshire and england, tells us[ ] that it often took him two days and three nights, incessant travelling, to get from manchester to glasgow in the coach, the greater part of the time being spent north of carlisle. on the eastern side of the country, in the direct line between edinburgh and london, a grand new road had been spoken of for many years. the most difficult part, viz. that between edinburgh and berwick, was begun at the beginning of the present century, and in , a good road was finished and opened out as far south as morpeth, in northumberland. a continuation of the road from morpeth to london being greatly needed, the post-office authorities engaged mr. telford, the eminent engineer, to make a survey of the road over the remaining distance. the survey lasted many years. a hundred miles of the new great north road, south of york, was laid out in a perfectly straight line.[ ] all the requisite arrangements were made for beginning the work, when the talk of locomotive engines and tramways, and especially the result of the locomotive contest at rainhill in the year , had the effect of directing public and official attention to a new and promising method of travelling, and of preventing an outlay of what must have been a most enormous sum for the purposes of this great work.[ ] the scheme was in abeyance for a few months, and this time sufficed to develop the railway project, and demonstrate its usefulness to the postal system of the country. but we are anticipating matters, and must, at any rate, speak for a moment of the services of mr. macadam. the improvements which this gentleman brought about in road-making had a very sensible effect on the operations of the mail-coach service. most of the post-roads were _macadamized_ before the year , and it was then that the service was in its highest state of efficiency. accelerations in the speed of the coaches were made as soon as ever any road was finished on the new principle. from this time, the average speed, _including stoppages_, was nine miles, all but a furlong. the fastest coaches (known as the "crack coaches" from this circumstance, and also for being on the best roads) were those travelling, in , between london and shrewsbury (accomplishing miles in hours), london and exeter ( miles in hours), london and manchester ( miles in hours), and london and holyhead ( miles in hours). on one occasion, the devonport mail, travelling with foreign and colonial letters, accomplished the journey of miles, including stoppages, in hours and minutes. in , there were fifty four-horse mails in england, thirty in ireland, and ten in scotland. in england, besides, there were forty-nine mails of two horses each. in the last year of mail-coaches, the number which left london every night punctually at eight o'clock was twenty-seven; travelling in the aggregate above , miles, before they reached their several destinations. we have already stated how the contracts for _horsing_ the mail-coaches were conducted; no material change took place in this respect up to the advent of railways. early in the present century, it was deemed desirable that the mail-coaches should all be built and furnished on one plan. for a great number of years, the contract for building and repairing a sufficient number was given (without competition) to mr. john vidler. though the post-office arranged for building the coaches, the mail contractors were required to pay for them; the revenue only bearing the charges of cleaning, oiling, and greasing them, an expense amounting to about , _l._ a-year. in , however, on a disagreement with mr. vidler, the contract was thrown open to competition, from which competition mr. vidler, for a substantial reason, was excluded. the official control of the coaches, mail-guards, &c., it may here be stated, was vested in the superintendent of mail-coaches, whose location was at the general post-office. had hogarth's pencil transmitted to posterity the _tout ensemble_ of a london procession of mail-coaches, or of one of them at the door of the customary halting-place (what herring has done for the old brighton coach the "_age_," with its fine stud of blood-horses, and a real baronet for driver), the subject could not but have occasioned marked curiosity and pleasure. no doubt he would have given a distinguished place to the guard of the mail. the mail-guard was no ordinary character, being generally _d'accord_ with those who thought or expressed this opinion. regarded as quite a public character, commissions of great importance were oftentimes intrusted to him. the country banker, for example, would trust him with untold wealth. though he was paid only a nominal sum by the post-office authorities for his official services, he was yet enabled to make his position and place a lucrative one, by the help of the regular perquisites and other accidental windfalls which we need not further specify. gathering _en route_ scraps of local gossip and district intelligence, he was often "private," and sometimes "special," correspondent to scores of different people. the _muddleton gazette_, perhaps the only newspaper on his line of road, was submissively dependent upon him. more of him anon: here we would only add that he had special duties on special occasions. the mail-coach was looked for most anxiously in times of great excitement. during the trial of queen caroline, says miss martineau, "all along the line of mails, crowds stood waiting in the burning sunshine for news of the trial, which was shouted out to them as the coach passed."[ ] again, at the different stages in the history of the reform bill, the mail-roads were sprinkled over for miles with people who were on the _qui vive_ for any news from london, and the coachman and guards on the top of the coaches shouted out the tidings.[ ] when the ministry resigned, many of the guards distributed handbills which they had brought from london, stating the facts. in these days of cheap postage and newspapers in every household, it may be difficult to comprehend the intense interest centring in the appearance of the mail on its arrival at a small provincial town. the leather bag of the post-office was almost the undisputed and peculiar property of the upper ten thousand. when there was good reason to suppose that any communication was on its way to some member of the commonalty, speculation would be eager among the knot of persons met to talk over the probable event. thus we may understand with what eagerness the mail would be looked for, and how the news, freely given out, especially in times of war, would be eagerly devoured by men of all ranks and parties. it only remains to notice, in conclusion, the annual procession of mail-coaches on the king's birthday, which contemporaries assure us was a gay and lively sight. one writer in the early part of the century goes so far as to say that the cavalcade of mail-coaches was "a far more agreeable and interesting sight to the eye _and the mind_ than the gaud and glitter of the lord mayor's show," because the former "made you reflect on the advantages derived to trade and commerce and social intercourse by this _magnificent establishment_" (the post-office). hone, in his _every-day book_, writing of , tells us that george iv., who was born on the th of august, changed the annual celebration of his birthday to st. george's-day, april d. "according to custom," says he, "the mail-coaches went in procession from millbank to lombard street. about twelve o'clock, the horses belonging to the different mails with entire new harness, and the postmen and postboys on horseback arrayed in their new scarlet coats and jackets, proceed from lombard street to millbank and there dine; from thence, the procession being re-arranged, begins to march about five o'clock in the afternoon, headed by the general post letter-carriers on horseback. the coaches follow them, filled with the wives and children, friends and relations, of the guards or coachmen; while the postboys sounding their bugles and cracking their whips bring up the rear. from the commencement of the procession, the bells of the different churches ring out merrily and continue their rejoicing peals till it arrives at the post-office again, from whence the mails depart for different parts of the kingdom." great numbers assembled to witness the cavalcade as it passed through the principal streets of the metropolis. the appearance of the coachmen and guards, got up to every advantage, and each with a large bouquet of flowers in his scarlet uniform, was of course greatly heightened by the brilliancy of the newly-painted coach, emblazoned with the royal arms. footnotes: [ ] no one who has read _roderick random_ can forget the novelist's description of his hero's ride from scotland to london. as it is generally believed to be a veritable account of a journey which smollett himself made about the middle of the last century, the reader may be of opinion that the improvement here spoken of was not so great as it might have been. roderick, however, travelled in the "_stage-waggon_" of the period. he and his faithful friend strap having observed one of these waggons a quarter of a mile before them, speedily overtook it, and, ascending by means of the usual ladder, "tumbled into the straw under the darkness of the tilt," amidst four passengers, two gentlemen and two ladies. when they arrived at the first inn captain weazel desired a room for himself and his lady, "with a separate supper;" but the impartial innkeeper replied he "had prepared victuals for the passengers in the waggon, without respect of persons." strap walked by the side of the waggon, changing places with his master when roderick was disposed to walk. the mistakes, the quarrels, and the mirth of the passengers, are told by the novelist with a vivacity and humour which would have been admirable but for their coarseness. after five days' rumbling in the straw, the passengers get quite reconciled to each other; "nothing remarkable happened during the remaining part of our journey, _which continued six or seven days longer_." there were also a few bad roads. arthur young, in his famous _tour in the north of england_, has described a lancashire turnpike-road of about the same period in the following vigorous phraseology:--"i know not in the whole range of language terms sufficiently expressive to describe this infernal road. to look over a map and perceive that it is a principal road, one would naturally conclude it to be at least decent; but let me most seriously caution all travellers who may purpose to travel this terrible country to avoid it as they would the devil, for a thousand to one they will break their necks or their limbs by over-throws or breakings-down. they will here meet with ruts which actually measured four feet deep and floating with mud, and this only from a wet summer; what, therefore, must it be after a winter? the only mending which it in places receives is the tumbling in some loose stones, which serve no other purpose but jolting a carriage in the most intolerable manner. these are not merely opinions, but facts, for i actually passed three carts broken down in these eighteen miles of execrable memory." the road in question was that between wigan and preston, then a regular post-road and now on the trunk line of mail conveyance into scotland. [ ] chambers' _traditions of edinburgh_, vol. i. p. . [ ] baines's _history of lancashire_, p. . [ ] the bath post was no exception. the letters which left london at two o'clock on monday morning did not reach worcester, norwich, or birmingham till the wednesday, exeter not till thursday, and glasgow and edinburgh for about a week. [ ] _vide_ report of the committee of house of commons in , on "mr. palmer's agreement for the reform and improvement of the post-office and its revenue," p. . [ ] report of the committee appointed to inquire into the state of the public offices in . [ ] post-office robberies had been exceedingly numerous within a few years of the change which palmer succeeded in inaugurating. though one prosecution for a single robbery cost the authorities no less a sum than , _l._, yet they regarded the occurrences as unavoidable and simply matters of course. [ ] mr. m. d. hill, in _fraser's magazine_, november, . [ ] the liverpool merchants were the first to petition the treasury for the new mail-coach. "this petition being complied with in the course of a few months, the letters from london reached liverpool in thirty hours. at first these coaches were small vehicles, drawn by two horses, which were changed every six miles. they carried four passengers, besides the coachman and guard, both dressed in livery, the latter being armed to the teeth, as a security against highwaymen."--baines's _history of liverpool_. in october, , york applied for a mail-coach, to pass through that place on its way to the north. [ ] this velocity was not attained without considerable misgivings and distrust on the part of travellers. when the eight was increased to ten miles an hour, the public mind was found to be in different stages of alarm and revolt. vested interests indulged in the gloomiest forebodings on those who should thus knowingly spurn the way of providence. lord-chancellor campbell relates that he was frequently warned against travelling in the mail-coaches improved by palmer, on account of the fearful rate at which they flew, and instances were supplied to him of passengers who had died suddenly of apoplexy from the rapidity of the motion. [ ] sir walter scott relates that a friend of his remembered the london letter-bag arriving in edinburgh, during the year , with but one letter for the british linen company. about the same time the edinburgh mail is said to have arrived in london, containing but one letter, addressed to sir william pulteney, the banker. [ ] in ireland, on the contrary, the trade was in the hands of two or three large contractors, who charged heavily for work only imperfectly performed. until the introduction of railways, the mail service of ireland, owing to the absurd system adopted, was always worked at a greater cost, comparatively, than in england. in , the irish service, of considerably less extent, cost four times as much as the entire mail establishment of england. mr. charles bianconi has been the palmer of ireland. in the early part of the present century he observed the want of travelling accommodation and formed plans for serving the country by a regular system of passenger-cars. he succeeded in inducing the different postmasters (who, up to the year , had the conveyance of mails in their own hands, getting certain allowances for the service from government, and then arranging for carriage in the cheapest way possible) to let him carry their mails. this he did at a cheap rate, stipulating, however, that he should not be required to run his cars at any inconvenient time for passenger traffic. on the amalgamation of the english and irish offices in , mr. bianconi, who had now established a good reputation, entered into contracts with the general authorities to continue the work, though on a larger scale than ever, the extent of which may be judged by the fact that in he had , horses employed. the growth and extent of railway communication necessarily affected his establishment, but, with unabated activity, mr. bianconi directed his labours into new districts when his old roads were invaded by the steam-engine and the rail. he is described to have been "ready at a moment's notice to move his horses, cars, and men to any district, however remote, where any chance of business might show itself." a year or two ago this indefatigable man was still busy, and held several postal contracts; his establishment ( ) consisting of , horses, and between sixty and seventy conveyances, daily travelling , or , miles and traversing twenty-two counties. [ ] _memorials of his time_, vol. i. p. . [ ] dr. cleland, in his _statistical account of glasgow_, tells us that before this time, viz. in , the course of post from london to glasgow was by way of edinburgh, _five_ days in the week. only five mails arrived in glasgow from london on account of no business being transacted at the edinburgh office on sundays. it now occurred, however, to some one of the astute managers of the post-office, that the _sixth_ mail, which the sunday regulations of the edinburgh office prevented being passed through that medium, might be sent by the mail-coach to carlisle, while a supplementary coach should travel every sixth night between carlisle and glasgow. this was done, and the result was the saving of an entire day between london and glasgow. the other mails continued, as usual, for twelve months longer, it having taken the authorities the whole of that time to discover that the five mails, which required _five_ days to reach glasgow by way of edinburgh, might, like the sixth, be carried by way of carlisle, in _four_ days. dr. cleland, however, does not seem to have perceived that there might be some other reason for adhering to the old route, such as increased outlay, &c. [ ] _life of robert owen._ _written by himself._ london, . [ ] smiles' _lives of the engineers_. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] _history of england during the thirty years' peace_, vol. i. p. . [ ] _ibid._ vol. ii. p. . chapter vi. the transition period at the post-office. it must not be supposed that the improvements in mail-conveyance were the only beneficial changes introduced into the post-office during the fifty years which we have designated as the mail-coach era. it is true that, compared with the progress of the country in many other respects, the period might be termed uneventful. still, there are incidental changes to chronicle of some importance in themselves, and likewise important in their bearing on the present position of the post-office. if we retrace our steps to the year , we shall find, for instance, that in that year an entirely new branch of business was commenced at the general post-office. we refer to the origin of the money-order establishment. the beginnings of this system, which, as the reader must be aware, has of late years assumed gigantic proportions, were simple and unassuming in the extreme. the government of the day had expressed a desire for the establishment of a medium by which soldiers and sailors might transmit to their homes such small sums as they could manage to save for that purpose. three officers of the post-office jointly submitted a scheme to make a part of the post-office machinery available in this direction, and a monopoly was readily conceded to them. the undertaking was further favoured with the sanction of the postmasters-general. the designation of the firm was to be "stow & co.," each of the three partners agreeing to find a thousand pounds capital. the stipulations made were, that the business should be carried on at the cost and at the risk of the originators, and that they, in return, should receive the profits. it was agreed, also, that they should enjoy the privilege of sending all their correspondence free of postage--no inconsiderable item saved to them. contrary to anticipations, the proceeds were considerable--not so much on account of the number of transactions, as on the high commission that was charged for the money-orders. their terms were eightpence for every pound; but if the sum exceeded two pounds, a stamp-duty of one shilling was levied by government in addition. no order could be issued for more than five guineas; and the charge for that sum amounted to four shillings and sixpence, or nearly five per cent. when it is considered that the expense did not end here, but that a letter containing a money-order was subjected to _double postage_, it cannot be wondered at that those who dealt with the three monopolists were few in number, and only persons under a positive necessity to remit money speedily. such a system, it will be admitted, could not of itself be expected to foster trade. when the general public were admitted to the benefits of the money-order office--as they were some few years after the establishment of the office--it does not appear that the business was greatly increased. almost from the commencement, the managers drew yearly proceeds, which varied but slightly from year to year, averaging about _l._ each. while, on the one hand, this office was seen to be a most useful institution, good in principle, and likely, if properly managed, to contribute largely to the general revenue of the post-office; on the other hand, it was clearly stationary, if not retrograde in its movements. in , the attention of practical men was more immediately called to the question by a return which was asked for by the house of commons, for a detailed account of the poundage, &c. on money-orders of each provincial post-office, and the purpose or purposes to which the monies were applied. the postmaster-general replied, that the money-order office was a private establishment, worked by private capital, under his sanction; but he could give no returns, because the accounts were not under his control. in , a new postmaster-general, lord lichfield, sought and obtained the consent of the treasury to convert the office into a branch under his immediate direction. in that year the chief money-order office commenced business in two small rooms at the north end of st. martin's-le-grand, with a staff of three clerks. though the charges were reduced to a commission of sixpence for sums under two pounds, and of one shilling and sixpence for sums up to five pounds, the new branch was worked at a loss, owing to the high rates of postage and the double payment to which letters containing enclosures were subjected. after the introduction of penny postage, the change was so marked, that the immense success of this branch establishment may be considered as entirely owing to the reduction of postage-rates. had the penny-postage scheme done no more for the nation than assisted the people in the exercise of a timely prudence and frugality, stimulating them, as it can be proved, to self-denial and benevolence, it would have done much. but we are anticipating an important era. soon after the passing of the penny-postage act, the commission on money-orders was reduced to threepence instead of sixpence, and sixpence for any amount above two pounds and under five pounds. in , the number of money-order transactions had increased to thousands, in the place of hundreds under the old _régime_. the money passed through the office in the advent year of cheap postage amounted to nearly half a million sterling, the post-office commission on the sum exceeding , _l._ the rate of increase, subsequently, may best be shown by taking a month's work ten years afterwards. thus, during one month of , twice as many orders were taken out and paid as were issued and paid during , the particulars of which year were given above. the same rate of increase has continued up to the present moment. during the year , the number of orders had, in round numbers, risen to more than seven and a half millions, or a money-value exceeding sixteen millions sterling, the commission on the whole amounting to more than one hundred and thirty-six thousand pounds.[ ] by the statute of queen anne, letters might be brought from abroad by _private ships_ under certain distinctly-specified regulations. on the contrary, no law existed enabling the postmaster-general to _send_ bags of letters by the same medium until , when an act was passed with this object. masters of such ships refusing to take bags were subjected to heavy penalties.[ ] the postage of letters so sent (on account of the slowness of transit in the majority of cases) was fixed at half the usual rates. this act is the foundation of the ship-letter system, by means of which, besides the regular packet communication, letters are forwarded to all parts of the world. at the same period the government rigorously adhered to the law as laid down with regard to letters _brought_ by private vessels. a case was tried in in the court of king's bench--"king _v._ wilson"--in which the defendant--a merchant who had had letters brought from the continent in a ship of his own, and pleaded that he had a right to do so--was cast in heavy damages, and told that "all and every such letters, as well as others," must pass through the post-office in the usual way. in the year , the business of the post-office had increased so greatly, that an agitation was commenced with the object of securing better accommodation for its despatch than was afforded by the office in lombard street. the first general post-office was opened in cloak lane, near dowgate hill, and removed from thence to the black swan in bishopsgate street. after the great fire of , a general office was opened in covent garden, but it was soon removed to lombard street, to a house which had been the residence of sir robert viner, once lord mayor of london. it was now proposed that a large and commodious building should be specially erected in some central part of the city, and the business once more transferred. in the session of we find a mr. butterworth presenting a petition to the house of commons from four thousand london merchants, in favour of an early removal of the post-office from lombard street. he was assured, he said, that the present office "was so close and confined, as to be injurious to the health of those concerned;" he further stated, that "two guineas were expended weekly for vinegar to fumigate the rooms and prevent infectious fevers." another hon. member stated that the access to the office was so narrow and difficult, that the mail-coaches were prevented from getting up to it to take the letter-bags. it is curious to note that even this change was contested. counter-petitions were presented to parliament, stating that the lombard street office was convenient enough, and that the movement was got up by interested parties. many years passed before the discussions ended and the preliminary arrangements were made. nothing could better serve to show the stationary character of the post-office than the fact that, year by year, and in the opinion of the authorities, the lombard street establishment sufficed for its wants and requirements. in , however, government acquiesced in the views of the great majority of london residents, and st. martin's-le-grand--the site of an ancient convent and sanctuary--was chosen for a large new building, to be erected from designs by sir r. smirke. it was five years in course of erection, and opened for the transaction of business on the th of september, . the building is of the grecian-ionic order, and is one of the handsomest public structures in london. the basement is of granite, but the edifice itself, which is feet in length and feet in width, is built of brick, faced all round with portland stone. in the centre is a grand portico with fluted columns, leading to the great hall, which forms a public thoroughfare from st. martin's-le-grand to foster lane. from the date of the opening of the new general post-office, improvements were proposed and carried out very earnestly. under the duke of richmond, reforms in the establishment set in with considerable vigour.[ ] he seems to have been the first postmaster-general during the present century who thought the accommodation which the post-office gave to the public was really of a restrictive nature; that more facility might easily be given to the public; and that the system of management was an erroneous one. in , the duke of richmond submitted a list of improvements to the treasury lords, in which there were at least thirty substantial measures of reform proposed. it is true that many of these measures had been strongly recommended to him by the commissioners of post-office inquiry, who had sat yearly on the post-office and other revenue branches of the public service. the previous policy, however, of the authorities was to put on a bold front against any recommendations not originating with themselves. the duke of richmond had considerably less of this feeling than some of his predecessors. thus, to take the principal measure of reform concluded in his time--namely, the complete amalgamation of the scotch and irish offices with the english post-office--we find that the twenty-third report of the commissioners, signed by "wallace," w. j. lushington, henry berens, and j. p. dickenson, spoke strongly on the inadequacy "of the present system of administration to reach the different parts of the country," and urging the expediency "of providing against any more conflict of opinion, and of securing a more extended co-operation, as well as unity of design, in the management of the distinct offices of england, scotland, and ireland." again, in , on the recommendation of the commission, the postmaster-general ordered that the boundaries of the london district post--which, in , became a "twopenny post," and letters for which post, if delivered beyond the boundaries of the cities of london and westminster and the borough of southwark, were charged threepence--should now be extended to include all places within _three_ miles of the general post-office. two years afterwards, on the recommendation of another commission, the limits of the "twopenny post" were again extended to places not exceeding _twelve_ miles from st. martin's-le-grand, and this arrangement continued till the time of uniform penny postage. the duke of richmond likewise appointed a daily post to france, established a number of new mail-coaches, and abolished, in great part, the system of paying the clerks, &c. of the post-office by fees, substituting fixed salaries in each case.[ ] in , on the opening of the liverpool and manchester railway, the mails of the district were consigned to the new company for transmission. the railway system developed but slowly, exerting little influence on post-office arrangements for the first few years. after public attention had been attracted to railways, many proposals were thrown out for the more quick transmission of mails, to the supercession of the mail-coach. one writer suggested the employment of balloons. professor babbage threw out suggestions, in his _economy of machinery and manufactures_, , pp. - , deserving more attention, because in them we see shadowed forth two at least of the greatest enterprises of our time. after proceeding to show, in a manner which must have been interesting to the post-reformers of - , that if the cost of letter-carrying could be reduced, the result might be (if the post-office people chose) a cheaper rate of postage and a corresponding increase in the number of letters, he proceeded to expound a scheme which, though vague, was described in words extremely interesting, seeing that he wrote long anterior to the time of the electric telegraph. imagine, says he, a series of high pillars erected at frequent intervals, as nearly as possible in a straight line between two post-towns. an iron or steel wire of some thickness must be stretched over proper supports, fixed on these pillars, and terminating at the end, say of four or five miles, in a very strong support, by which the whole may be stretched. he proposed to call each of these places station-houses, where a man should be in attendance. a narrow cylindrical tin case, to contain bags or letters, might be suspended on two wheels rolling upon the wire, whilst an endless wire of smaller size might be made to pass over two drums, one at each end, by which means the cylinder could be moved by the person at the station. much more of the details follow, and our author thus concludes:--"the difficulties are obvious; but if these were overcome, it would present many advantages besides velocity." _we might have two or three deliveries of letters[ ] every day_; we might send expresses at any moment; and "it is not impossible that a stretched wire might itself be made available for a _species of telegraphic communication yet more rapid_." after the first few years of railways, all other speculators quietly withdrew into the shade. in the post-office, towards and , the influence of railways promised soon to be paramount, and it was now that acts were passed in parliament "to provide for the conveyance of mails by railways." in , sir francis freeling, the secretary of the post-office, died, when his place was filled by lieutenant-colonel maberly. the latter gentleman, who was an entire stranger to the department, was introduced into the post-office by the treasury for the purpose, as it was stated, of zealously carrying out the reforms which another commission of inquiry had just recommended.[ ] on the premature fall of sir robert peel's first cabinet, early in the previous year, the earl of lichfield had succeeded to the office of postmaster-general under lord melbourne. the two new officers set to work in earnest, and succeeded in inaugurating many important reforms. they got the money-order office transferred, as we have already seen, from private hands to the general establishment; they began the system of registering valuable letters; and, taking advantage of one of mr. hill's suggestions, they started a number of day-mails to the provinces. towards the close of , the stamp duty on newspapers was reduced from about threepence-farthing net to one penny, a reduction which led to an enormous increase in the number of newspapers passing through the post-office. though all these improvements were being carried out, and in many respects the post-office was showing signs of progression, the authorities still clung with a most unreasonable tenacity to the accustomed rates of postage, and of necessity to all the evils which followed in the train of an erroneous fiscal principle. contrary to all experience in any other department, the government obstinately refused to listen for a moment to any plan for the reduction of postage rates, or, what is still more remarkable, even to the alleviation of burdens caused directly by the official arrangements of the period. for example, colonel maberly had no sooner learnt the business of his office, than he saw very clearly an anomaly which pressed heavily in some cases, and was felt in all. he at once made a proposition to the treasury that letters should be charged in all cases according to the exact distance between the places where a letter was posted and where delivered, and not according to the distance through which the post-office, _for purposes of its own_, might choose to send such letters. it may serve to show the extent to which this strange and anomalous practice was carried, if we state that the estimated reduction in the postal revenue, had colonel maberly's suggestion been acted upon, was given at no less than , _l._ annually! the lords of the treasury promptly refused the concession. in the average general postage was estimated at ½_d._ per letter; exclusive of foreign letters, it was still as high as ¾_d._ in the reign of queen anne the postage of a letter between london and edinburgh was less than half as much as the amount charged at the accession of queen victoria, with macadamized roads, and even with steam. notwithstanding the heavy rates, or let us say, on account of these rates, the net proceeds of the gigantic monopoly of the post-office remained stationary for nearly twenty years. in , the revenue derivable from the post-office was estimated at one and a half millions sterling. in , the increase on this amount had only been between three and four thousand pounds, though the population of the country had increased immensely; knowledge was more diffused, and trade and commerce had extended in every direction. had the post-office revenue increased, for instance, in the same ratio as population, we should have found the proceeds to have been increased by half a million sterling; or at the ratio of increase of stage-coach travelling, it must have been two millions sterling. the high rates, while they failed to increase the post-office revenue, undoubtedly led to the evasion of the postage altogether. illicit modes of conveyance were got up and patronised by some of the principal merchants in the kingdom. penal laws were set at defiance, and the number of contraband letters became enormous. some carriers were doing as large a business as the post-office itself. on one occasion the agents of the post-office made a seizure, about this time, of eleven hundred such letters, which were found in a single bag in the warehouse of certain eminent london carriers. the head of the firm hastened to seek an interview with the postmaster-general, and proffered instant payment of _l._ by way of composition for the penalties incurred, and if proceedings against the firm might not be instituted. the money was taken, and the letters were all passed through the post-office the same night.[ ] for one case which was detected, however, a hundred were never made known. the evasion of the post-office charges extended so far and so wide that the officials began to declare that any attempt to stop the smuggling, or even to check it, was as good as hopeless. prosecutions for the illicit conveyance of letters had, in fact, ceased long before the misdemeanours themselves. the post-office was now ripe for a sweeping change. mr. wallace, the member for greenock, had frequently called the attention of the house of commons to the desirability of a thorough reform in the post-office system. we find him moving at different times for post-office returns. for instance, in august, , mr. wallace[ ] brought forward a subject which, he said, "involved a charge of the most serious nature against the post-office--viz. that the postmaster-general, or some person acting under his direction, with the view of discovering a fraud upon its revenue, has been guilty of a felony in the opening of letters." he moved on this occasion for a return of all and every instruction, bye-law, or authority, under which postmasters are instructed and authorized, or have assumed a right, to open, unfold, apply strong lamp-light to, or use any of them, or any other means whatever, for ascertaining or reading what may be contained in words or in figures in any letter, of any size or description, being fastened with a wafer or wax, or even if totally unfastened by either. at the same time he moved for a return of all post-office prosecutions,[ ] especially for the expenses of a recent case at stafford. in reply, the post-office answered in a parliamentary paper that no such instruction had ever been issued from the general post-office. every person in the post-office was required to take the oath prescribed by the act of queen anne, c. . it was added, that "whenever it is noticed that a letter has been put into the post unfastened, it is invariably sealed with the official seal for security." in reply to the other return, the post-office were forced to admit that the cost of prosecuting a woman and a female child at the suit of the post-office at the late stafford assizes exceeded three hundred and twenty pounds. there can be no question that mr. wallace's frequent motions[ ] for post-office papers, returns, statistics, detailed accounts of receipt and expenditure, &c., were the means of drawing special attention to the post-office, and that they were of incalculable service to the progress of reform and the coming reformer. mr. wallace seems to have been exceedingly honest and straightforward, though he was somewhat blunt and outspoken. he succeeded in gaining the attention of the mercantile community, though the government honoured him with just as much consideration as he was entitled to from his position, and no more.[ ] in estimating properly the penny-post system, and the labours of those who inaugurated the reform, the share mr. wallace had in it should by no means be lost sight of. footnotes: [ ] these items are exclusive of those relating to colonial money-orders. [ ] the government can grant a release to any ship fixed for this service. it will be remembered by many readers that after the _peterhoff_ was taken by admiral wilkes of the united states' navy, february, , the proprietors of the vessel, who had other ships on the same line (with all of which the post-office sent ship-letters), asked the government for the protection of a mail-officer. on the principle of choosing the least of two evils, and rather than take such a decisive step, which might lead to troubles with the united states' government, earl russell relieved the _sea queen_ from the obligation to carry the usual mail-bag to matamoras. [ ] the duke of richmond, though opposed to the reform bill, was a member of lord grey's cabinet. indefatigable in the service of the department over which he was placed from to , he refused at first to accept of any remuneration of the nature of salary. in compliance, it is stated, with the strong representation of the treasury lords, as to the objectionable nature of the principle of gratuitous services by public officers, "which must involve in many cases the sacrifice of private fortune to official station," his grace consented to draw his salary _from that time only_. [ ] the salary of the secretary to the post-office in the last century was _l._ a-year, and a commission of ½ per cent. on the produce of the mail-packets.--(vide _pitt's speeches_, vol. i. p. - , debate of june , .) in the secretary's salary was _l._ a-year, but what with compensations, fees, and other emoluments, his annual income is stated to have amounted to no less than , _l._--(_mirror of parliament_, ). the clerks, according to a parliamentary return, were paid small salaries, regulated on different scales, but their income consisted principally of emoluments derived from other sources. the _established_ allowances, charged on the public revenue, consisted of sums for postage, stationery, payment in lieu of apartments, and for continuing indexes to official books. the remaining emoluments, of course not chargeable against the revenue, arose from _fees on deputations_, commissions, expresses, profits on the publication of the _shipping_ and _packet lists_, payments for franking letters on the business of the land-tax redemption, and for the tax-office, &c. and from lloyd's coffee house for shipping intelligence, &c. there were, besides, other gratuities for special services. [ ] we give the following simply to show the vagaries of clever, scientific men. speaking of london, the professor said:--"perhaps if the steeples of churches, properly selected, were made use of--as, for instance, st. paul's--and if a similar apparatus were placed at the top of each steeple, and a man to work it during the day, it might be possible to diminish the expense of the twopenny post, and make deliveries every half-hour over the greater part of the metropolis." p. . [ ] evidence of colonel maberly before the _select committee on postage_, , p. . [ ] mr. matthew devonport hill. . [ ] _mirror of parliament._ barrow. . [ ] now and then the house was enlivened and amused by even post-office discussions. thus, in the discussion on the above motion, mr. cobbett complained that a letter of his, which "was not only meant to be read, but to be printed," had never been received by him, nor could he get any satisfaction out of the post-office authorities. he advised all honourable members who had complaints to make against the post-office, to make them at once to the house, without having any interview with ministers. for his own part, with regard to letters being opened, he felt sure that the post-office read all the letters it cared to read; so he took care to _write accordingly_. he didn't care about his letters being read, provided they were allowed to go on, as he addressed them. _mr. secretary stanley_ (the present lord derby) thought it would be a subject of deep regret that any negligence on the part of the post-office had prevented the elaborate lucubrations of the hon. member for oldham from appearing in the _register_ on the appointed saturday. _mr. cobbett._ it never appeared at all. mr. secretary stanley was grieved. he felt sure, however, that the hon. member spends too much time over the midnight oil not to have kept a copy of his precious essay. he protested against hon. members taking up the time of the house with complaints against a department which managed its work very well. [ ] some of his motions must have been far from palatable to the powers that were, and we confess to thinking some of them wanting in charity and good taste. for example, september , , we find him moving for a return, to supplement another which had been sent in imperfectly drawn up, which should show "what the special services are for which sir francis freeling receives _l._ a-year, the number of rooms allotted to him at the general post-office, and how often he resides there. also the number allotted to the under-secretary; whether the whole or part, and what parts are furnished at the public expense; also the annual sum for coals and candles, for servants, &c.; also the probable expense of expresses, messengers, and runners, passing between the post-office and the secretary at his private residence," and a number of other items still more trifling. [ ] _the quarterly review_, for october, , speaking of his motions for different papers, says, "what _grounds_ he had for making them could only be imagined. they were, in fact, the kind of random motions with which a member _fishes for abuses, but is still more anxious to catch notoriety_." the italics are not ours. chapter vii. sir rowland hill and penny postage. miss martineau, in her history of the _thirty years' peace_, narrates a somewhat romantic incident to account for mr. hill's original relation to our subject, tracing the fiscal reform with which his name is indissolubly connected to the "neighbourly shilling" well laid out of a "pedestrian traveller in the lake district." unluckily for the historian, the incident never happened to mr. hill. the repeated motions of mr. wallace in the house of commons are proved beyond dispute to have brought home the subject to the consideration of many thoughtful minds, and amongst those, to one who had scholarly leisure and philosophical ingenuity to bring to its service. born in , and for many years a tutor in his father's school near birmingham, mr. rowland hill was, at this time, the secretary of the commissioners for conducting the colonization of south australia, upon the plan of mr. edward gibbon wakefield. at this post, according to the testimony of the commissioners themselves, mr. hill laboured unweariedly, "evincing," as they said, "considerable powers of organization." mr. hill, in one place,[ ] gives a clear account of the way he prepared himself for the work he took in hand, when once his attention was arrested by the subject. "the first thing i did was to read very carefully all the reports on post-office subjects. i then put myself in communication with the hon. member for greenock, who kindly afforded me much assistance. i then applied to the post-office for information, with which lord lichfield was so good as to supply me. these were the means i took to make myself acquainted with the subject." in january, , mr. hill published[ ] the results of his investigations, and embodied his scheme in a pamphlet entitled _post office reform: its importance and practicability_. this, the first edition, was circulated privately amongst members of the legislature and official men; the second edition, published two months afterwards, being the first given to the world. the pamphlet, of which we will here attempt a _résumé_, immediately created a sensation; especially so in the mercantile world. mr. hill may be said to have started with the facts to which we have already adverted[ ], namely, that the post-office was not progressing like other great interests; that its revenue, within the past twenty years, instead of increasing, had actually diminished, though the increase of population had been six millions, and the increase in trade and commerce had been proportionate. the increase in the ratio of stage-coach travellers was still more clear; but this fact need not be pressed, especially as one smart quarterly reviewer answered, that, of course, the more men travelled, the less need of writing. from the data which mr. hill was enabled to gather--for accounts of any sort were not kept as accurately at the post-office then as now, and there were no accounts of the number of inland letters--he estimated the number of letters passing through the post. he then took the expenses of management and analysed the gross total amount. he proved pretty clearly, and as nearly as necessary, that the _primary distribution_, as he termed the cost of receiving and delivering the letters, and also the cost of transit, took two-thirds of the total cost of the management of the post-office. of this sum, the amount which had to do with the _distance_ letters were conveyed, mr. hill calculated at , _l._ out of the total postal expenditure of , _l._ applying to this smaller sum the estimated number of letters--deducting franks and taking into account the greater weight of newspapers--he gave the apparent _average_ cost of conveying each letter as less than one-tenth of a penny. the conclusion to which he came from this calculation of the average cost of transit was inevitable, and that was, that if the charge must be made proportionate (except, forsooth, it could be shown how the postage of one-tenth or one-thirty-sixth of a penny could be collected) it must clearly be uniform, and for the sake of argument, and not considering the charge as a tax, or as a tax whose end was drawing near, any packet of an equal weight might be sent throughout the length and breadth of the country at precisely the same rate. the justice and propriety of a uniform rate was further shown, but in a smaller degree, by the fact that the relative cost of transmission of letters under the old system was not always dependent on the distance the mails were carried. thus, the edinburgh mail, the longest and most important of all, cost _l._ for each journey. calculating the proportionate weight of bags, letters, and newspapers, mr. hill[ ] arrived at the absolute cost of carrying a newspaper of an average weight of ½ oz. at one-sixth of a penny, and that of a letter of an average weight of ¼ oz. at one-thirty-sixth of a penny. these sums being the full cost for the whole distance, mr. hill assumed, fairly enough, that the same rating would do for any place on the road. it was admitted on all hands, that the chief labour was expended in making up, opening, and delivering the mails; therefore the fact whether it was carried one mile or a hundred made comparatively little difference in the expenditure of the office. the expenses and trouble being much the same, perhaps _even less_ at edinburgh than at some intermediate point, why should the charges be so different? but the case could be made still stronger. the mail for louth, containing as it did comparatively few letters, cost the post-office authorities, as the simple expense of transit, one penny-farthing per letter. thus, an edinburgh letter, costing the post-office an infinitesimal fraction of a farthing, was charged one shilling and three-halfpence to the public, while a letter for louth, costing the post-office fifty times as much, was charged to the public at the rate of tenpence! nothing was clearer, therefore, that if mr. hill's propositions were opposed (and his opponents did not advocate the payment according to the actual cost of transit), that those who were adverse to them must fall into the absurdity of recognising as just an arrangement which charged the highest price for the cheapest business! at first sight it looked extravagant, that persons residing at penzance or near the giant's causeway, at watford or wick, should pay equal postage for their letters. the intrinsic _value_ of the conveyance of a letter, it must be admitted, is a very different thing from its _cost_, the value being exactly equal to the time, trouble, and expense saved to the correspondents, of which, perhaps, the only _measure_ appeared to be the actual distance. looked at more narrowly, however, in the clear light of mr. hill's investigations, it became obvious that it was really "a nearer approximation to perfect justice"[ ] to allow distant places to feel the benefits of the measure; passing over the little inequalities to which it might give rise; while all might pay such a sum as would cover the expenses in each and every case.[ ] mr. hill succeeded likewise in proving many of the facts adverted to in the preceding chapter. he showed that the high rates were so excessive (not only varied according to distance, but doubled if there was an enclosure, with _fourfold_ postage if the letter exceeded an ounce in weight) as greatly to diminish, where they did not absolutely prevent, correspondence. not only so, but the high rate created an illicit traffic, involving all classes of the country in the meshes of a systematically clandestine trade. these facts and their results on the public revenue shine out of the pamphlet as clear as noonday. but this was not all. the expenses of the department, or the _secondary distribution_, might be much reduced by simplifications in the various processes. the existing system resulted in a complicated system of accounts, involving great waste of time as well as offering inducements to fraud. the daily work of exposing letters to a strong light, in order to ascertain their contents, also offered a constant temptation to the violation of the first duty of the officers of the state, in respect to the sanctity of correspondence. if, instead of charging letters according to the number of sheets or scraps of paper, a weight should be fixed, below which, whatever the contents of a letter, a certain rate be charged, much trouble would be saved to the office, not to speak of any higher reason. again, he suggested that if anything could be done to expedite the delivery of letters by doing away with the collection of postage from door to door, a great object would be gained; that five or six times the number of letters might be delivered with the existing machinery, and this even in less time than under the old system. the only requisite was, that some plan for the prepayment of letters should be devised, so that the post-office might be relieved from the duty of charging, debiting, &c. and the letter-carriers from collecting the postage. the post-office authorities had had the question of prepayment, by means of some kind of stamp or stamped covers, under consideration prior to this time. the commissioners of post-office inquiry deliberated on the measure in the early part of (after mr. charles knight had suggested a penny stamp, or stamped cover, for collecting the now reduced postage on newspapers), considering it very favourably. hence it arose that that part of the proposals relating to prepayment by stamped labels or covers, formed part of mr. hill's scheme, and was considered with it. mr. hill, in his able pamphlet, exhausted the subject. by a variety of arguments, he urged upon the nation a trial of his plans--begged for an unobstructed and cheap circulation of letters, expressing his most deliberate conviction,[ ] that the post-office, "rendered feeble and inefficient by erroneous financial arrangements," was "capable of performing a distinguished part in the great work of national education," and of becoming a benefaction and blessing to mankind. he left the following proposals to the judgment of the nation:--( ) a large diminution in the rates of postage, say even to one penny per letter weighing not more than half an ounce. ( ) increased speed in the delivery of letters. ( ) more frequent opportunities for the despatch of letters. and ( ) simplification in the operations of the post-office, with the object of economy in the management. the fundamental feature in the new scheme was, of course, the proposal that the rate of postage should be uniform, and charged according to weight. no wonder that the scheme, of which, in our own order, we have just attempted an outline, roused feelings of delight and approbation from the people at large, throughout the length and breadth of the land. still less is it a matter of surprise that the government and the post-office authorities, in charge of the revenue, should stand aghast at the prospect of being called upon to sanction what they considered so suicidal a policy. lord lichfield, the postmaster-general at the time, speaking for the post-office authorities, as to its practicability, described the proposal in the house of lords,[ ] "of all the wild and visionary schemes which i have ever heard of, it is the most extravagant." on a subsequent occasion, his opinion having been subjected for six months to the mellowing influence of time, he is less confident, but says that, if the plan succeeds (in the anticipated increase of letters), "the walls of the post-office would burst--the whole area on which the building stands would not be large enough to receive the clerks and the letters."[ ] on the one side, many well-known names[ ] were ranked in opposition, who believed that the scheme, among other drawbacks, would not only absorb the existing revenue, but would have to be supported by a ruinous subsidy from the exchequer. on the other side of the question, however, there were many intelligent writers and great statesmen ready to advocate the sacrifice of revenue altogether, if necessary, rather than not have the reform; while an immense number believed (and mr. hill himself shared in this belief) that the diminution would only be temporary, and should be regarded as an _outlay_ which, in the course of years, would yield enormous profits. "suppose even an average yearly loss of a million for ten years," says a celebrated economist of the period; "it is but half what the country has paid for the abolition of slavery, without the possibility of any money return. treat the deficit as an outlay of capital. even if the hope of ultimate profit should altogether fail, let us recur to some other tax ... any tax but this, certain that none can operate so fatally on all the other sources of revenue. letters are the _primordia rerum_ of the commercial world. to tax them at all is condemned by those who are best acquainted with the operations of finance." nor was mr. hill to be cried down. he admitted, as we have said, that his plans, if carried out, would result in a diminution of revenue for a few years to come. on the reliable _data_ which he had collected, he calculated that, for the first year, this decrease might extend to as much as , _l._; but that the scheme would pay in the long run, and pay handsomely, he had no manner of doubt whatever. his case was strengthened by all previous experience. the number of letters would increase in the ratio of reduction of postage. in , the irish postage-rates were reduced, and an immediate increase of revenue to a large extent was the result. the rate for ship-letters was reduced in . in four years the number increased in liverpool from fifteen to sixty thousand; in hull from fifteen to fifty thousand. the postage of letters between edinburgh and the adjacent towns and villages was reduced in from twopence to a penny. in rather more than a year the number of letters had more than doubled. mr. hill's proposals were instantly hailed with intense satisfaction, especially by the mercantile and manufacturing classes of the community. whatever might be said in parliament, public opinion in the country was decided on the question, that if the success of the new scheme was sufficient to cover the charges of the post-office establishment, it ought by all means to be carried out. scarcely ever was public sympathy so soon and so universally excited in any matter. the progress of the question of post-reform was in this, and some other respects, very remarkable, and shows in a strong light how long a kind of extortion may be borne quietly, and then what may be accomplished by prompt and conjoint action. before mr. hill's pamphlet appeared no complaints reached the legislature of the high rates of postage. during the year in which it did appear five petitions reached the house of commons, praying that its author's scheme might at least be considered. in the next year , and in the first half of the year no fewer than , petitions were presented in favour of the measure. within a few, the same number were sent up to the house of lords. during the agitation, it is calculated that no less than , petitions reached st. stephen's, including from town-councils and other public bodies--the common council of london, and the society for the diffusion of useful knowledge, among the number. during the month of february, , mr. wallace moved for a select committee of the commons to investigate and report upon mr. hill's proposals; but the government resisted the motion.[ ] they intimated that the matter was under their consideration, and they intended to deal with it themselves. but the community were dissatisfied. they continued to petition till ministers were compelled to show a greater interest in the subject, which they did "by proposing little schemes, and alterations, and devices of their own, which only proved that they were courageous in one direction, if not in another."[ ] meanwhile, the "merchandise committee"--formed of a number of the most influential and extensive merchants and bankers in london, with mr. bates, of the house of baring & co. for chairman--was called into existence through the manifested opposition to reasonable reform. large sums were subscribed by this committee for the purpose of distributing information on the subject by means of pamphlets and papers, and for the general purposes of the agitation. so great and irresistible, in fact, was the pressure applied in this and other ways, that the government found it impossible any longer to refuse an inquiry. a month or two after mr. wallace's motion, mr. baring, the then chancellor of the exchequer, proposed a committee "to inquire into the present rates or modes of charging postage, with a view to such reduction thereof as may be made _without injury to the revenue_; and for this purpose, to examine especially into the mode recommended, of charging and collecting postage, in a pamphlet by mr. rowland hill." it was noticed that most of the members nominated by the chancellor of the exchequer were favourable to the government, all but two--lord lowther and sir thomas fremantle--having voted for the ballot. the conservatives did not grumble, however, as on this subject the government was conservative enough. the committee sat sixty-three days, concluding their deliberations in august, . they examined all the principal officers of the post-office and the stamp department, and eighty-three independent witnesses of different pursuits and various grades. the post-office authorities were specially invited to send any witnesses they might choose; and as the postmaster-general and the secretary of the post-office objected to the penny rate as likely to be ruinous to the revenue, and to the principle of uniformity as unfair and impossible, we may be certain that the witnesses sent were judiciously chosen. the examination was by no means _ex parte_, but seems to have been carried on with the greatest fairness. those members of the committee who were particularly pledged to the protection of the revenue, as well as lord lowther--who had a thorough knowledge of the subject from having sat on a previous commission--appear to have missed no opportunity of sifting the opinions and the statements of each witness. the members of the committee did their work, altogether, with zeal, great discrimination, and ability. the plan and the favourable witnesses stood the scrutiny with wonderful success; and mr. hill himself bore up, under what george stephenson regarded as the greatest crucial test to which mortal man can be subjected, with tact and firmness, fully proving, in evidence, the soundness of the conclusions on which judgment had to be passed. we may say here, as we have not before referred to the circumstance, that it was necessary to make it clear to the committee, the amount of increase in correspondence necessary to the success of the scheme. in opposition to the views of official men,[ ] mr. hill held that a fivefold increase in the number of letters would suffice to preserve the existing revenue, and he hazarded a prediction that that increase would soon be reached. as regarded the means of conveyance, he showed that the stage-coaches, &c. already in existence could carry twenty-seven times the number of letters they had ever yet done; and this statement passed without dispute. the evidence was clear and convincing as to the vast amount of contraband letters daily conveyed; and no less certainly was it shown that, if mr. hill's schemes were carried out, the temptation to evasion of postage would be at once abolished, inasmuch as there would then be no sufficient inducement to resort to illegal mediums. a glasgow merchant stated before the committee, that he knew five manufacturers in that city whose correspondence was transmitted illegally in the following proportions, viz.--( ) three to one; ( ) eighteen to one; ( ) sixteen to one; ( ) eight to one; and ( ) fifteen to one. manchester merchants--among whom was mr. cobden--stated that they had no doubt that four-fifths of the letters written in that town did not pass through the post-office. no member of the committee had any idea of the extent to which the illicit conveyance of letters was carried. a carrier in scotland was examined, and confessed to having carried sixty letters daily, on the average, for a number of years--knew other carriers who conveyed, on an average, five hundred daily. he assured the committee that the smuggling was alone done to save the postage. "there might be cases when it was more convenient, or done to save time, but the great object was cheapness." the labouring classes, especially, had no other reason. "they avail themselves of every possible opportunity for getting their letters conveyed cheaply or free." in his opinion, the practice could not be put a stop to until the post-office authorities followed the example that was set them in putting down illicit distillation in scotland. "i would reduce the duty, and that would put an end to it, by bringing it down to the expense of conveyance by carriers and others." mr. john reid--an extensive bookseller and publisher in glasgow--sent and received, illicitly, about fifty letters or circulars daily. "i was not caught," he said, "till i had sent twenty thousand letters, &c. otherwise than through the post." he constantly sent his letters by carriers; he also sent and received letters for himself and friends, inclosed in his booksellers' parcels. any customer might have his letters so sent, by simply asking the favour. it also came out in evidence, that twelve walking-carriers were engaged exclusively in conveying letters between birmingham and walsall and the district, a penny being charged for each letter. the most curious modes of procedure, and the oddest expedients[ ] for escaping postage, were exhibited during the sitting of the committee. one, largely patronized by mercantile houses, consisted in having a number of circulars printed on one large sheet, when, on its arrival at a certain town, a mutual friend or agent would cut it up, and either post or deliver the parts. nay, matters had been brought to such a state, that a leading journal, commenting on the matter of illicit letter-conveyance just previous to the sittings of the committee, went the length of saying, that, "_fortunately_ for trade and commerce, the operation of the government monopoly is counteracted by the clandestine conveyance of letters."... "the means of evasion are so obvious and frequent, and the power of prevention so ineffectual, that the post has become only the _extraordinary_, instead of the usual, channel for the conveyance of letters." notwithstanding this testimony, the evidence of the post-office officials on this and the other heads of inquiry betrayed fully the usual degree of official jealousy of interference, and quite an average amount of official partiality. thus, colonel maberly argued, that if the postage of letters were reduced to a penny it would not stop smuggling: in which case they might as well have smuggling under the one system as the other. but his zeal on this point overcame his discretion. "for," he continued, " , letters might still be sent as a coach-parcel for seven shillings, whereas the post-office charge for them would be four guineas." but the gallant colonel seems altogether to have forgotten that the item of _delivery_ is, after all, the chief item in all post-office charges. a few more examples of the statements of the authorities may here be given. thus, the secretary said, relative to an increase of letters, that "the poor were not disposed to write letters" ( , ). he thought that, during the first year, the letters would not double, even if franking were not abolished ( , ). "if the postage be reduced to one penny, i think the revenue would not recover itself for forty or fifty years." lord lichfield said that he had ascertained that each letter then cost "within the smallest fraction of twopence-halfpenny" ( , ). with regard to the principle of the uniform rate, colonel maberly thought it might be "desirable, but impracticable" ( , ). "most excellent for foreign postage, but impracticable for inland letters" ( , ). he also said that the public would object to pay _in advance_ whatever the rate ( , - ). the committee next had their attention called to still more important facts, viz. that the number of letters conveyed illegally bore no proportion to the number which were not written at all on account of the high rates of postage. on the poor the post-office charges pressed grievously, and there seemed no other course open to them than that, if their letters could not be received without the payment of exorbitant rates, they must lie in the hands of the authorities. it is only necessary to compare the income of a labouring man with his pressing wants to see that it was idle to suppose that he would apply his little surplus to the enjoyment of post-letters other than in cases of life and death. the committee were absolutely flooded with instances in which the post-office charges seriously interfered with the wants and reasonable enjoyments of the poor. on the general question involved, nearly all the witnesses, of whatever rank or grade, evidenced that the public, to an enormous extent, were deterred from writing letters and sending communications, which otherwise, under a cheaper tariff, they would write and send. that this part of the case was proved may be concluded from the language of the committee themselves:--"the multitude of transactions which, owing to the high rates of postage, are prevented from being done, or which, if done, are not announced, is quite astonishing. bills for moderate amounts are not drawn; small orders for goods are not given or received; remittances of money are not acknowledged; the expediting of goods by sea and land, and the sailing or arrival of ships not advised; printers do not send their proofs; the country attorney delays writing to his london agent, the commercial traveller to his principal, the town-banker to his agent in the country. in all these, and many other cases, regularity and punctuality is neglected in attempts to save the expenses of exorbitant rates of postage." on all the other parts of the scheme, and on the scheme itself as a whole, the committee spoke no less decisively. generally and briefly, they considered that mr. hill's strange and startling facts had been brought out in evidence. they gave their opinion that the rates of postage were so high as materially to interfere with and prejudice trade and commerce; that the trading and commercial classes had sought, and successfully, illicit means of evading the payment of these heavy charges, and that all classes, for the self-same reason, corresponded free of postage when possible; that the _rate_ of postage exceeded the _cost_ of the business in a manifold proportion; and that, altogether, the existing state of things acted most prejudicially to commerce and to the social habits and moral condition of the people. they conclude, therefore,-- . that the only remedy is a reduction of the rates, the more frequent despatch of letters, and additional deliveries. . that the extension of railways makes these changes urgently necessary. . that a _moderate_ reduction in the rates would occasion loss, without diminishing the peculiar evils of the present state of things, or giving rise to much increased correspondence, and, . that the principle of a low, uniform rate, is _just in itself_, and when combined with prepayment and collection by stamp, would be exceedingly convenient and highly satisfactory to the public. so far, their finding, point by point, was in favour of mr. hill's scheme. they reported further that, in their _opinion_, the establishment of a penny rate would not, after a temporary depression, result in any ultimate loss to the revenue. as, however, the terms of their appointment precluded them from recommending any plan which involved an immediate loss, they restricted themselves to suggesting an uniform _twopenny_ rate. the commissioners of post-office inquiry,--consisting of lord seymour, lord duncannon, and mr. labouchere,--who were charged with an "inquiry into the management of the post-office," had already concluded their sittings, and had decided upon recommending mr. hill's plan as far as it concerned the "twopenny post" department; that being the only branch then under consideration. "we propose," say they, and the words are significant, "that the distinction in the rates and districts, which now applies to letters delivered in the twopenny and threepenny post, shall not in any way affect correspondence transmitted under stamped covers; and that any letter not exceeding half an ounce shall be conveyed free within the metropolis, and the district to which the town and country deliveries extend, _if inclosed in an envelope bearing a penny stamp_." with these important recommendations in its favour, the scheme was submitted to parliament. it had met with so much approval, and the subject seemed so important, that the government took charge of the measure. the chancellor of the exchequer had the project of a uniform rate of postage embodied in a bill, which passed in the session of . this act, which was affirmed by a majority of members, conferred temporarily the necessary powers on the lords of the treasury. many of the conservative party opposed the government proposals. sir robert peel's chief argument against the change was, that it would necessitate a resort to a direct tax on income. in order, however, to strengthen the hands of the government, now that the question was narrowed in all minds to the single one of revenue, the majority in the house of commons pledged themselves to vote for some _substituted_ tax, if, upon experiment, any substitute should be needed.--(_hansard_, vol. xlix.) no one out of parliament, at any rate, who read mr. hill's pamphlet attentively, but was convinced of the practicability of the measure, and the careful perusal of the evidence collected by the committee appointed, determined any waverer as to the necessity of its being adopted. still there existed serious misgivings in the country as to the steps which the melbourne administration must soon announce. that there were some few objections to mr. hill's plan, and some difficulties about it, cannot be doubted; the nation at large had decided for it, however, and some of the principal men in the country, not favourable to the existing ministry, decided for it also. the duke of wellington was "disposed to admit that that which was called mr. r. hill's plan, was, if it was adopted as it was proposed, of all the plans, that which was most likely to be successful."[ ] the duke of richmond pressed upon the ministers, that if they gave their sanction to any uniform plan, it should be to mr. hill's, "for that alone, and not the twopenny postage, seems to me to give hope of ultimate success."[ ] on the th of november, , the lords of the treasury issued a minute, under the authority of the act before referred to, reducing the postage of all inland letters to the uniform rate of _fourpence_. the country, generally, was greatly dissatisfied. mr. hill's measure was what was required, and the fourpenny rate was in no respect his plan, nor did it even touch the question of the _practicability_ of the uniform postage proposed by the reformer. this quarter measure of the government did not even suffice to exhibit the benefits of a low rate of postage; was consequently a most improper test, and likely to be prejudicial to the interest of the penny post. the increase of letters was in no place more than fifty per cent., whilst the decrease in the post-office revenue was at the rate of forty per cent. in london, for instance, the diminution of receipts was at the lowest computation, _l._ a day, and the number of letters were only just doubled. the plan did not abolish the franking system. it did not abolish smuggling, inasmuch as a letter might be sent illicitly for a penny. how, therefore, it was argued, can it be expected that in the interior of the country, at any rate, and without custom house officers, or any other responsible officers, a duty of per cent. can be levied on the carriage of an article so easily transported as a letter? for a few weeks all was dissatisfaction. more than that, business men trembled for the success of the whole scheme, and lest the government should return to the old _régime_. the treasury lords were convinced, however, that they had made a mistake, and they resolved to give the measure a full and fair trial. on the th of january, , another minute was issued, ordering the adoption of a uniform penny rate. by adopting mr. hill's plan, the government simply placed itself in the position of a trader, who declared that he intended for a time to be satisfied with a part of his former profits; but hoped eventually to secure himself against loss by increased business, greater attractiveness, and diminished cost of management. in six months, the policy of the government was acknowledged on all hands to be the correct one, for on the th of august the treasury had its minute confirmed by the statute & vict. chap. . the _quarterly review_,[ ] as an exception to the general feeling, stigmatizes the measure "as one of the most inconsiderate jumps in the dark ever made by that very inconsiderate assembly." it is "distinguished by weakness and rashness," &c. but the judgment of posterity is sadly against the reviewer. a treasury appointment was given to mr. hill to enable him to work out his plans, or, in the wording of the said appointment, "to assist in carrying into effect the penny postage." he only held his office about two years, for when the conservative party came into power in , he was politely bowed out of it on the plea that his work was finished; that his nursling had found its legs, and might now be taken into the peculiar care of the post-office authorities themselves. a study of the past history of the post-office might have enlightened the minds of the members of the executive government as to the advisability or otherwise, of leaving entirely the progress of post-office improvement in the hands of the authorities. mr. hill intreated the new premier, sir robert peel, to let him remain at any pecuniary sacrifice to himself, but his entreaties were unavailing. he must watch his scheme from a distance.[ ] speaking of the hindrances which mr. hill met with in official circles, we are reminded of a pamphlet which appeared shortly after this period, evidently from some post-office official, "_on the administration of the post-office_." this precious pamphlet has been long consigned to well-merited oblivion, and we only rescue it for a moment from the limbo of all worthless things, to show the spirit which then actuated some of those in office. it reminds us forcibly of the criticism which mr. palmer's scheme called forth from the leading spirits of the post-office of his day. the pamphlet, illogical and abusive throughout, laid it down as a principle that "the post-office is not _under any obligation_ to convey the correspondence of the public." again, that "the post-office is a government monopoly for the benefit of the public revenue, and exists for the _sole_ purpose of profit." then there are praises for the old, and abuses for the new _régime_. "the celerity, the certainty, the security with which so vast a machine executed such an infinite complexity of details, were truly admirable!" mr. hill comes in for a good share of detraction. he is counselled to leave his "pet scheme" to the "practical men" of the post-office. in the following flowery language he is recommended "to behold it (his project) as a spectator from the shore, viewing his little bark in safety, navigated by those who are practically best acquainted with the chart, wind, and waves." mr. hill's popularity outside the post-office contrasted favourably with the estimation in which he was held inside. the whole community had become impressed with the value of his measures and the important services he had rendered. spurred on to exertions by the treatment he had received at the hands of an administration, which, to use the fine expression of lord halifax in reference to another public benefactor, "refused to supply the oil for a lamp which gave so much light," a public subscription was opened throughout the country, which, joined in by all classes, was quickly represented by a handsome sum. the money, which amounted to over thirteen thousand pounds, and which was only considered an expression of national gratitude, and by no means a full requital for his services, was presented to him at a public banquet got up in london under the auspices of the "merchandise committee." in an address which accompanied the testimonial, mr. hill's measure of reform was pronounced one "which had opened the blessings of a free correspondence to the teacher of religion, the man of science and literature, the merchant and trader, and the whole british nation--especially the poorest and most defenceless portions of it--a measure which is the greatest boon conferred in modern times on all the social interests of the civilized world." mr. hill's bearing on the occasion in question is described as most modest and unassuming. he expressed his gratitude for the national testimonial in few but telling phrases. he delicately alluded to his proscription from office, regretting that he could not watch the progress of his measure narrowly, and pointed out improvements which were still necessary to give complete efficiency to his reform. mr. hill gave ample credit to those who had sustained him in his efforts to carry his plans through parliament, and especially named messrs. wallace and warburton, members of the special committee of , mr. baring the ex-chancellor of the exchequer, and lords ashburton and brougham. we shall have frequent occasion as we advance, to mention mr. hill's name in connexion with post-office history during the past twenty years; but we may here notice the remaining particulars of mr. hill's _personal_ history. on the restoration of the whigs to power in , mr. hill was brought back into office, or rather first placed in office at st. martin's-le-grand, as secretary to the postmaster-general, the present marquis of clanricarde. in , on colonel maberly's removal to the audit office, mr. hill attained the deserved honour of secretary to the post-office under the late lord canning--the highest fixed appointment in the department, and second only in responsibility to that of postmaster-general. in mr. hill was further honoured with the approval of his sovereign, and few will question it, when we say it was a worthy exercise of the royal prerogative, when he was called to receive the dignity of knight commander of the bath. the arduous exertions, extending over a quarter of a century, and the ever-increasing duties of the secretary of the post-office have, within the last few years, begun to tell upon the physical system of sir rowland hill, and have more than once caused him to absent himself from the post which he has made so honourable and responsible. during the autumn of last year he obtained leave of absence from active duty for six months--his place being filled by mr. tilley, the senior assistant secretary of the post-office--a step which was generally understood to be preparatory to his resignation, should no improvement be manifest in his health. now (march, ) his retirement is announced, and he leaves us and passes "not into obscurity, but into deserved repose." may he be long spared to enjoy the rest and quiet which he has so well earned, and the gratitude and sympathy which must be universally felt for him. his early work, that would have been herculean, even if he had not been assailed by foes without and foes within, must have caused him immense labour of hand and labour of brain; the carrying out also of many important subsequent measures, which may be said to have followed as necessary corollaries of his great reform, must have occasioned him an amount of bodily and mental toil and excitement of which the "roll of common men" have neither experience nor conception. not to speak of his services to commerce, sir rowland hill, more than any living individual, has succeeded in drawing close the domestic ties of the nation, and extending in innumerable ways the best interests of social life. he deserves well of his country, and we are only giving expression to a feeling which is uppermost at this moment in most men's minds, when we add the hope that a debt of gratitude may soon be discharged by some gracious national tribute.[ ] the executive government, on its part, has shown a just and highly appreciative estimate of sir rowland hill's remarkable services in the provision which has been made for him on his retirement. by a treasury minute, dated march th, , advantage is taken of the special clause in the superannuation act, relating to extraordinary services, to grant him a pension of three times the usual retiring allowance. the language in which this resolution is couched--doubtless from the pen of mr. gladstone--is unusually complimentary for this class of official documents. after recounting sir rowland hill's eminent services--the facts of which are based upon a statement just presented by the veteran reformer himself, (see appendix h)--and stating the amount of his pension if treated on the ordinary superannuation allowance, the lords of the treasury say that they consider the present a fitting case for special arrangement. "under the circumstances, it may justly be averred that my lords are dealing on the present occasion with the case not merely of a meritorious public servant, but of a benefactor of his race; and that his fitting reward is to be found not in this or that amount of pension, but in the grateful recollection of his country. but my lords discharge the portion of duty which belongs to them with cordial satisfaction, in awarding to sir rowland hill for life his full salary of , _l._ per annum." lord palmerston has further given notice that he will move in the house of commons, that the pension be continued to lady hill, in the event of her surviving her husband.[ ] one thing only mars the gracefulness of the minute in question. a vague and indefinite attempt is made towards partitioning the merit of the original suggestion of the penny postage scheme between sir r. hill and some other nameless projector or projectors. on the contrary, we have not been more definitely led to any conclusion in the range of postal subjects which have claimed our attention, than to the one which gives to sir rowland hill the entire merit of the suggestion, and the chief merit in the carrying out, of penny-post reform. it would, of course, have been impossible to carry out and perfect the system without the cordial assistance and co-operation of the other principal officers of the post-office; for the past twenty years that assistance seems to have been faithfully rendered; and sir rowland hill, in retiring, pays a just tribute to those who have laboured to promote the new measures, and into whose able hands they have now fallen. footnotes: [ ] _select committee of postage_, , p. . [ ] miss martineau, quoting from the _political dictionary_, vol. ii. p. , says that mr. hill first offered his scheme to the government of lord melbourne before it was presented to the country. however this may be, mr. hill makes no mention of the fact in his frequent appearances before committees of the house of commons, &c. [ ] _post-office reform_, p. , third edition. [ ] _post-office reform_, p. , third edition. [ ] _our exemplars, poor and rich_, edited by matthew davenport hill. london, , p. . [ ] _the westminster review_, july, , p. , in an able but exceedingly _ex parte_ article on "the post-office monopoly," doubts whether mr. hill's system is a near approximation to perfect justice, being, in its opinion, "by no means the _summum bonum_ of letter-rates." "a charge of one penny for the carriage of all letters of a certain _weight_ within the united kingdom, irrespective of distance, is eminently arbitrary."... "no one in london who has written two letters, one to a friend residing in the same town as himself, and another to one in edinburgh, can have failed, in affixing the stamps to them, to observe the unfairness of charging the same sum for carrying the one yards and the other miles, when the cost of transmission must in the one case be so much more than in the other." these quotations plainly show that mr. hill's early arguments have been lost upon the reviewer. if mr. hill demonstrated one thing more plainly than another, it was that the absolute cost of the transmission of each letter was so infinitesimally small, that if charged according to that cost, the postage could not be collected. besides, it is not certain that the one letter would cost the post-office more than the other. moreover, to the sender the value of the conveyance of the local letter was equal to its cost, or he would have forwarded it by other means. no doubt a strong argument might be based on these grounds, as to the justice of a lower rate for letters posted and delivered in the same town. such a measure might be supported on mr. hill's principles; but the apparent anomaly is surely no argument against a state monopoly of letter-carrying. [ ] _post-office reform_, p. . [ ] _mirror of parliament_, th june, . [ ] _ibid._ th december, . [ ] rev. sydney smith, mr. mccullagh. [ ] hansard, xxxviii. p. . [ ] miss martineau, vol. ii. p. . [ ] lord lichfield said it would require a twelvefold increase, "and i maintain," said he, "that our calculations are more likely to be right than his."--(_report_, .) [ ] mr. hill related some of these in his pamphlet. thus, at page , we read:--"some years ago when it was the practice to write the name of a member of parliament for the purpose of franking a newspaper, a friend of mine, previous to starting on a tour into scotland, arranged with his family a plan of informing them of his progress and state of health, without putting them to the expense of postage. it was managed thus: he carried with him a number of old newspapers, one of which he put into the post daily. the postmark, with the date, showed his progress; and the state of his health was evinced by the selection of the name, from a list previously agreed upon, with which the newspaper was franked. 'sir francis burdett,' i recollect, denoted vigorous health." better known is the anecdote of a postal adventure of samuel taylor coleridge, already adverted to at the commencement of the present chapter. the story is told originally, in mr. hill's pamphlet also:--once, on the poet's visits to the lake district, he halted at the door of a wayside inn at the moment when the rural postman was delivering a letter to the barmaid of the place. upon receiving it she turned it over and over in her hand and then asked the postage of it. the postman demanded a shilling. sighing deeply, however, the girl handed the letter back, saying she was too poor to pay the required sum. the poet at once offered to pay the postage, and in spite of some resistance on the part of the girl, which he deemed quite natural, did so. the messenger had scarcely left the place, when the young barmaid confessed that she had learnt all she was likely to learn from the letter; that she had only been practising a pre-conceived trick: she and her brother having agreed that a few hieroglyphics on the back of the letter should tell her all she wanted to know, whilst the letter would contain no writing. "we are so poor," she added, "that we have invented this manner of corresponding and franking our letters." [ ] select committee on postage, . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] october, , art . see also raikes' _diary_, vol. iii. [ ] "lord lowther," so mr. hill was told, "was a steady friend to post reform, and was well acquainted with the department." without doubt the new postmaster-general's feelings, however ridiculous, were consulted in this matter. mr. hill's anxiety for the general scheme, and for subsequent minor proposals, was quite natural. when refused the treasury appointment, he asked to be taken into the post-office there to see his plans worked out. lord lowther, when he comes to speak on the proposal, somewhat indignantly asks the treasury lords if "the character and fortunes of the thousands employed in the post-office are to be placed at the mercy of an _individual_ who confesses that he is 'not very familiar with the details of the methods now practised.'" "it is easy to imagine," continued lord lowther, "the damage the community might sustain from _his tampering_ with a vast machine interwoven with all the details of government and necessary to the daily habits and events of this great empire!" the matter is not one of "detail," but of "principle;" if their lordships want this or that carried into execution, they have only to say so, and lord lowther will see that it is done, "though it may be in opposition to my own opinion." [ ] we find that birmingham, at which town sir rowland hill spent some of the earlier years of his life, has been the first to move in the matter. at a meeting held march , a statue was voted to cost , _l._ to be placed in the new public hall. a petition to the house of commons was likewise adopted. [ ] this motion has twice been deferred, owing, it is said, to representations made by members of both sides of the house of commons. a few days ago, an influential deputation from the house met the first lord of the treasury at his official residence, the members of which strongly urged, that in place of the deferred pension to lady hill, a parliamentary grant, sufficient though reasonable, be made to sir rowland hill at once. it is considered certain that, when the house resumes after easter, lord palmerston will propose a grant, most probably, of , _l._ chapter viii. early results of the penny-postage scheme. there are, of course, two aspects in which to contemplate the measure of penny-post reform. the first relates to its social, moral, and commercial results; the second views it in its financial relationship. when the system had been in operation two years, it was found that the success of the scheme in its first aspect had far surpassed the most sanguine expectations ever formed of it by any of its advocates. as a financial measure, it cannot be said to have succeeded originally. in this latter respect it disappointed even mr. hill, who, though he never mentioned the date when the revenue derivable from the post-office would be recovered under the new system, was very emphatic in his assurances that the loss during the first year would not exceed , _l._ calculating upon a fourfold increase of letters, in his pamphlet[ ] he estimated the net revenue, after deducting for franks and newspapers, in round numbers at , , _l._; a sum only , _l._ less than the revenue of . we do not say that mr. hill originally calculated on recovering the absolute _net_ revenue by the collection of postage; but any deficiency which might continue after the scheme was fairly tried, he expected to see supplied, eventually, by increased productiveness in other departments of the revenue, which would be benefited by the stimulus given to commerce by improved communication.[ ] before the parliamentary committee he was equally explicit:[ ] when asked, if, on a fivefold increase, there would still be a deficiency on the net revenue, he answered in the affirmative, to the extent of, he should think, , _l._ he again, however, stated his conviction that the deficit would be made up by the general improvement of trade and commerce in the country. it is true that events proved that the falling off in the _gross_ revenue was considerably in excess of all the calculations which had been made: but even under this head, much may be said; and in considering the different results of penny postage, we expect to be able to point out that the scheme had intrinsic qualities in it, which, under proper treatment, must have made it in all respects a success. mr. hill met another parliamentary committee in , when his recommendations--in their principal features, at any rate--had been acted upon for nearly two years. in the course of this further investigation--to the circumstances attending which we shall presently allude--much information relative to the carrying out of the measure, its successes, and failures, was elicited. it was shown beyond all dispute, that the scheme had almost entirely prevented breaches of the law, and that if any illicit correspondence was carried on, it was simply and purely in matters where the question of speed was involved; that the evils, amounting to social prohibitions, so prevalent before the change, had been, for the most part, removed. commercial transactions, relating even to very small amounts, were now managed through the post. small orders were constantly transmitted; the business of the money-order office having increased almost _twenty-fold_--first, from the reduction of postage in , and then from the reduction of the fees in november of the same year. these orders are generally acknowledged. printers send their proofs without hesitation;[ ] the commercial traveller writes regularly to his principal, and is enabled for the first time to advise his customers of his approach; private individuals and public institutions distribute widely their circulars and their accounts of proceedings to every part of the land. better than any account that we might give of the reception of this boon by the country, and the social and commercial advantages which were immediately seen to follow from it, we may here give some account of the correspondence which flowed in upon mr. hill between - , and which he read to the select committee appointed to try the merits of his scheme. ten times the weight of evidence, and far more striking instances of the advantages of the penny-post scheme might _now_ be adduced, but it must be remembered that we are here speaking merely of first results, and when the scheme had been but two years in operation. numbers of tradesmen wrote to say how their business had increased within the two years. one large merchant now sent the whole of his invoices by post; another increased the number of his "prices current" by , per annum. messrs. pickford and co. the carriers, despatched by post _eight_ times the number of letters posted in ; whilst the letters, had they been liable to be charged as per single sheet, would have numbered , in from this one firm, against , letters in . in this case we have an exemplification of the correctness of the argument upon which mr. hill built his scheme; for the increase of money actually paid for postage was at the rate of per cent. mr. charles knight, the london bookseller, said the penny postage stimulated every branch of his trade, and brought the country booksellers into almost daily communication with the london houses. mr. bagster, the publisher of a polyglot bible in twenty-four languages, stated to mr. hill that the revision which he was just giving to his work as it was passing through the press would, on the old system, have cost him , _l._ in postage alone, and that the bible could not have been printed but for the penny post. secretaries of different benevolent and literary societies wrote to say how their machinery had been improved; conductors of educational establishments, how people were everywhere learning to write for the first time in order to enjoy the benefits of a free correspondence, and how night-classes for teaching writing to adults were springing up in all large towns for the same object. mr. stokes, the honorary secretary of the parker society--composed of the principal church dignitaries and some intelligent laymen--which has done so much for ecclesiastical literature by reprinting the works of the early english reformers, stated that the society could never have come into existence but for the penny postage. one of the principal advocates for the repeal of the corn laws subsequently gave it as his opinion, that their objects were achieved _two years earlier_ than otherwise would have been the case, owing to the introduction of cheap postage. after a lapse of twenty years, many more useful societies might be mentioned of which the same could be said. an interesting letter from the late professor henslow, the then rector of hitcham in suffolk, may be given, as it contains a pretty accurate estimate of the social advantages accruing to the masses. the professor had, consequent upon the change at the post-office, arranged a scheme of co-operation for advancing among the landed interest of the county the progress of agricultural science. after stating that the mere suggestion of such a thing had involved him in a correspondence which he could not have sustained if it had not been for the penny postage, he goes on to say: "to the importance of the penny postage to those who cultivate science, i can bear most unequivocal testimony, as i am continually receiving and transmitting a variety of specimens by post. among them, you will laugh to hear that i have received three living carnivorous slugs, which arrived safely in a pill-box! that the penny postage is an important addition to the comforts of the poor labourer, i can also testify. from my residence in a neighbourhood where scarcely any labourers can read, much less write, i am often employed by them as an amanuensis, and have frequently heard them express their satisfaction at the facility they enjoy of now corresponding with distant relatives. the rising generation are learning to write, and a most material addition to the circulation of letters may soon be expected. of the vast domestic comfort which the penny postage has added to homes like my own, i need say nothing more." miss harriet martineau bore testimony to the social advantages of the measure in the neighbourhood where she resided. a celebrated writer of the period[ ] gives it as his opinion, that "the penny-post scheme was a much wiser and more effective measure than the prussian system of education" just then established. "by the reduction of the postage on letters," adds he, "the use and advantage of education has been brought home to the common man (for it no longer costs him a day's pay to communicate with his family). a state machinery of schoolmasters on the prussian system would cost far more than the sacrifice of revenue by the reduction of postage. this measure will be the great historical distinction of the reign of victoria. every mother in the kingdom who has children earning their bread at a distance lays her head on the pillow at night with a feeling of gratitude for this blessing." almost all now living, who shared the benefits of the scheme at this early date, could probably relate some anecdote which circumstances had brought to their knowledge as to the operation of penny postage _on the poorer classes especially_. thus, the then inspector of prisons for scotland, visiting the shetland islands in , writes:[ ] "the zetlanders are delighted with cheap postage. the postmaster told me that the increase in the number of letters is astonishing.... another gentleman who is well acquainted with the people told me, that although the desire of parents to keep their offspring at home is unusually strong in zetland, yet that cheap postage has had the effect of reconciling families to the temporary absence of their members, and has thus opened to the islanders the labour-market of the mainland." an american writer,[ ] in an admirable pamphlet on cheap postage, says: "the people of england expend now as much money as they did under the old system; but the advantage is, they get more service for their money, and it gives a spring to business, trade, science, literature, philanthropy, social affection, and all plans of public utility." joseph hume, writing to mr. bancroft, then american minister at the court of st. james's, , says: "i am not aware of any reform, amongst the many which i have promoted during the past forty years, that has had, and will have, better results towards the improvement of the country socially, morally, and politically." and mr. hill himself, in addressing the statistical society in may, ,[ ] made a statement which was neither an idle nor a vain boast, when he assured them that "the postman has now to make long rounds through humble districts where, heretofore, his knock was rarely heard." we have yet the second, or financial, aspect of the measure to consider. in two years a tolerably correct idea might be formed as to the results of the scheme financially; but it would certainly not be fair to attempt any full estimate of such a thorough reform within a more circumscribed period. not that this was not attempted. colonel maberly discovered, at the end of the _first week_, that mr. hill's plan had failed, at any rate, as a question of revenue. no doubt the wish was father to the thought. he not only thought so, however, but proceeded to take timely action and shield himself and his congeners against some probable future attack. in his own words, he charged "the officials to take care that no obstacle was thrown in the way of the scheme, so as to give a colour to the allegation"--which the prophetic colonel was only too sure would be made--"that its failure was owing to the unwillingness of the authorities to carry it fairly into execution."[ ] in the first year of penny postage, notwithstanding all the confident prophecies to the contrary from those who might have been supposed to have had means of judging, the net proceeds of the post-office were between four and five hundred thousand pounds, whilst the number of letters actually sent was _tripled_. against a million and a half yearly revenue of the previous year, there certainly appeared an enormous deficit; but till all other arguments were exhausted, it ought not to have been considered either evidence or proof of the failure of cheap postage. in the first instance, the post-office authorities said the scheme would not pay its expenses: a year sufficed to prove their mistake. it was then said that the revenue sacrificed would never be recovered, and accidental circumstances, of which we shall presently speak, favoured for a time this view: the argument, however, was based on erroneous views, as subsequent events have sufficiently shown. bad as things appeared, there were, nevertheless, many significant signs at the end of two years that the _gross_ revenue under the old would soon be reached under the new system, and even prospects that the past _net_ revenue might still be recoverable. both these anticipations have now been entirely realized. with a tenfold--nay, in many cases, a hundredfold--gain to different classes of the community--with the post-office supplying more situations by thousands than under the _ancien régime_, the old gross revenue was passed in - , and the net revenue was reached last year. moreover, every complaint under this head has long since been silenced. many considerations went to hinder the early growth of the revenue; and it is to some of these considerations that we must now turn for a moment. it is of primary importance that the reader should remember that mr. hill, in his pamphlet and elsewhere, expressed a decided opinion that the maintenance of the post-office revenue depended upon the carrying out of _all his plans_.[ ] in a speech which he delivered at wolverhampton, september th, , he said: "the mere reduction in the rates of postage will, of course, greatly increase the number of letters; but much will still depend on the extent to which the facilities for despatching letters are improved by a careful employment of the many economical and speedy modes of conveyance which now exist, and by a solicitous attention to all the minute ramifications of distribution. if, on the one hand, due attention is paid to the increasing demands of the public for the more frequent and more speedy despatch of letters, and, on the other hand, pains are taken to keep down the cost of management, though some temporary loss of revenue will arise, i see no reason to fear that the loss will be either great or permanent." mr. hill's proposals, it will be remembered, were embraced under four principal heads. the first, a uniform and low rate of postage, was fully carried out; but it was the only part of the measure which was realized at this time. the second, increased speed in the delivery of letters; and the third, consisting of provisions for greater facility in the despatch of letters, were not attempted, or, if attempted, only in the slightest degree. with regard to the simplifications of the operations of the post-office, which formed the fourth great item, little or nothing was done, though that little was rendered easy of accomplishment by the uniformity of postage-rates. not only was the scheme not fairly worked, and the improvements only partially carried out, but they were crippled in their operation by officials who, if not hostile, were half-hearted and far from anxious for a successful issue. the natural difficulties in the way of the measure were numerous enough without the addition of official opposition. trade was flourishing when the postage bill was carried; it was fearfully depressed in the first year of penny postage. it is well, as miss martineau points out, that none foreknew the heavy reverse which was at hand, and the long and painful depression that ensued after the passing of the act, for none might then have had the courage to go into the enterprise. this circumstance, accounting, as it does, for some of the deficit in the first and second years, also served to test the real principles of the reform.[ ] mr. hill's plan, though given over to the apathy and _vis inertiæ_ of the authorities--to "the unwilling horses of the post-office," as mr. baring subsequently designated them--really worked well, though at a loss, when everything else was working ill. moreover, the tendency of cheap communication to improve the general revenue of the country was clearly apparent so early as ; and this is a fact which ought not to be lost sight of for a moment. the reduction of postage-rates was to the community a reduction of taxation; the capital released was driven into other and perhaps more legitimate channels. the exchequer lost revenue from one source, but it gained it in other ways, as a consequence on the outlay at the post-office. in , there was an acknowledged loss to the post-office revenue of , _l._ in the same year, no serious defalcation appeared in the general accounts of the country, notwithstanding the extent of the depression in trade. there were special as well as general considerations entering into the question of the acknowledged deficiency in the revenue. it is clear that mr. hill--who did not foresee that so much money would be sacrificed, and who was sanguine of recovering it at no distant date--likewise could have had but an indefinite idea of the vast amount of extra machinery which would be called into operation by the full development of his plans; the extent of the measures that must follow if the country was to be equally privileged with cheap correspondence; and the concessions that would have to be granted when the wedge was driven in by this, his principal measure. as one only of the causes leading to the extra heavy expenses of the post-office department, we may mention the changes in the system of mail-conveyance consequent on the introduction of railways. dating from , railways had been gradually absorbing all the stage-coach traffic. mr. hill, when making his original proposals, calculated that the number of chargeable letters might be increased twenty-four fold without overloading the mails, and without any material addition to the sums paid to contractors. so great and important--we would almost say vital--was the question of _speed_ to the post-office, that railways were almost immediately brought into requisition, although the cost of the carriage of the mails was, at the outset, doubled, tripled, and even quadrupled! many striking examples of the great difference in the cost of the two services are furnished in different post-office reports. for instance:[ ] in , a coach proprietor in the north of england actually _paid_ to the post-office department the sum of _l._ annually for what he regarded as the privilege of conveying the mails, twice a-day, between lancaster and carlisle. now the post-office _pays_ the lancaster and carlisle railway the sum of , _l._ annually for the same service. the items of charges for mail-conveyance by railway at the present time--if they could have been known by any means, or even guessed at, by the enterprising post-reformer of --might have had the effect of deterring him from offering his suggestions when he did. certain it is, that the proposals would have had small chance of success, if those who had charge of the fiscal concerns of the country could have known that the sum which would have to be paid by the post-office to railway companies alone, in the year , would not fall far short of the whole amount standing for the entire postal expenses of . in mr. hill left the treasury, and was thus cut off from all active supervision of his measures. the post-office authorities found a friend in mr. goulbourn, the new chancellor of the exchequer, who was known to sympathise with their views. it had been arranged that mr. hill should continue his services for some short time longer in his improvised place at the treasury offices. the divergence in the views of the new chiefs and the reformer made his position more and more unpleasant. on his being bowed out of office, mr. hill petitioned the house of commons. the petition--which was presented by mr. baring, the ex-chancellor of the exchequer--described briefly the post-office measures of ; his own appointment to the treasury; the fact of his appointment being annulled; the benefit of the new measures in spite of their partial execution; the obstructive policy of the post-office officials; and thus concludes:-- "that the opinion adopted by her majesty's government, that the further progress in post-office improvements may be left to the post-office itself, is contrary to all past experience, and is contradicted by measures recently adopted by that establishment. "that, notwithstanding the extreme depression of trade which existed when the penny rate was established, and has prevailed ever since; and notwithstanding the very imperfect manner in which your petitioner's plans have been carried into effect, the want of due economy in the post-office, the well-known dislike entertained by many of those persons to whom its execution has been entrusted, and the influence such dislike must necessarily have upon its success, yet the results of the third year of partial trial, as shown by a recent return made to the house of lords, is a gross revenue of two-thirds, and a net revenue of one-third, the former amount. "that your petitioner desires to submit the truth of the foregoing allegations to the severest scrutiny, and therefore humbly prays your honourable house will be pleased to institute an inquiry into the state of the post-office, with the view of adopting such measures as may seem best for fully carrying into effect your petitioner's plans of post-office improvement, and thus realizing the undoubted intentions of the legislature." the prayer of the petition was granted, and its proceedings are duly chronicled.[ ] the object of this committee was "to inquire into the measures which have been adopted for the general introduction of a penny rate of postage, and for facilitating the conveyance of letters; the results of such measures, as far as relates to the revenue and expenditure of the post-office and the general convenience of the country; and to report their observations thereon to the house." before proceeding to give any account of the further measures brought under discussion in connexion with this committee, we must give, in a few sentences, a _résumé_ of the principal improvements which had actually been carried out during the interval of the sittings of the two committees. . the uniform rate of one penny for a letter not above half an ounce, with weight adopted as the standard for increase of charge. . the value of a system of prepayment was established,[ ] the necessary facility being afforded by the introduction of postage-stamps. double postage was levied on letters not prepaid _in london only_. . day-mails were established on the principal railway-lines running out of london, thus giving some of the principal towns in the provinces one additional delivery, with two mails from the metropolis in one day. . an additional delivery was established in london, and two were given to some of the suburbs. . colonial and foreign rates for letters were greatly lowered, the inland rates--viz. the rates paid for those letters passing through this country--being abandoned altogether in some cases, as mr. hill had recommended. . the privilege of franking, private and official, was abolished, and low charges made for the transmission of parliamentary papers. . arrangements were made for the registration of letters. . the money-order office was rendered available to a fourfold extent. and-- . the number of letters increased from millions in - , to millions in - .[ ] this was certainly a large instalment of the improvements which the promoters of penny-post reform hoped to see realized; but, at the same time, it was only an instalment. the committee for which mr. hill had petitioned must now judge for themselves whether all had been done that might and ought to have been done to enhance the merits of the measure, and make it as profitable to the country as possible. in addition, it was requisite that they should consider several further suggestions which mr. hill had, since the introduction of his plan, proposed as likely to improve it, as well as hear him on some of the objections that had been raised to it. thus, with regard to the latter, the chancellor of the exchequer (mr. goulbourn) had stated; just before the committee was appointed, that "the post-office did not now pay its expenses." this statement was startling, inasmuch as colonel maberly himself had given , _l._ or , _l._ as the proceeds of the penny postage rates in the advent year of the measure. but mr. hill resolved the difficulty. the inconsistency was explained quite simply, that in a return furnished by the post-office, the whole of the cost of the packet-service--a little over , _l._--was charged against the post-office revenue. though the cost of the packets had not been charged against the post-office for twenty years previously, this new item was here debited in the accounts to the prejudice of the scheme; and mr. goulbourn, who disclaimed any hostility to the new measure, thought himself justified, under the circumstances, in making the statement in question. again: it was strongly and frequently urged that correspondence was less secure than under the old system. it was said by the post-office officials, that the system of prepayment operated prejudicially against the security of valuable letters. under the old _régime_ it was argued, the postman was charged with a certain number of unpaid letters, and every such letter, so taxed, was a check upon him. "what security," it was now asked, "can there be for the delivery of letters for which the letter-carriers are to bring back no return?" with prepaid letters, it was said, there was great temptation, unbounded opportunity for dishonesty, and no check. to some extent, and so far as letters containing coin or other articles of value were concerned, there were some grounds for these remarks. it is a great question whether, in the case of valuable letters, the dishonest postman would be discouraged from a depredation by the thought that he would have the postage of the letter to account for; but still, freedom from all such considerations, under the new system, would clearly seem to increase the risks which the public would have to run. previously to the penny postage era, all letters containing, or supposed to contain, coin or jewellery, were registered gratuitously at the post-office as a security against their loss. under the new system, it was considered impracticable to continue the service, and the post-office authorities, with the sanction of the treasury, dropped it altogether. the money-order office was available; the fees had been greatly reduced, and the officials, in warning persons against sending coin in letters, strongly recommended that this office should be used for the purpose. still, the number of coin-letters increased, and the number of depredations increased with them, to the great prejudice of the measure. mr. hill, whilst in the treasury, recommended a system of registration of letters, which appears to have been somewhat similar to a plan proposed by the post-office authorities themselves in . a system of registration was the result; but the rate of charge of one shilling per letter was enough in itself to render the entire arrangement nugatory. in october, , lord lowther proposed to the treasury that they should let him put down the evil in another way, viz. that they should allow him to use his powers, under the & vict. c. , sec. , to establish a _compulsory_ registration of letters supposed to contain coin or jewellery, and to make the charge for such compulsory registration a shilling per letter. the treasury lords referred the proposal to mr. hill. he concurred in the opinion of the postmaster-general, and thought the principle of compulsory registration quite fair. he pointed out, however, in a letter to the chancellor of the exchequer, many objections to the plan, and contended that, so long as the registration fee was fixed at the high rate of a shilling, inducements enough were not held out to the public to register their letters _voluntarily_. mr. hill, therefore, suggested that the fee should be at once lowered to sixpence, to be reduced still further as soon as practicable. the public, under a lower rate, would have little excuse for continuing a bad practice; but if it was continued, restrictive measures might _then_ be tried, as the only remaining method of protecting the public from the consequences of their own imprudence. the sixpenny rate would, he thought, be remunerative; nor would the letters increase to a much greater number than that reached under the old system when they were registered gratuitously. this subject was still under discussion when the special committee was granted, when, of course, all the proposals relative to the registration of letters were laid before it and investigated. strong objections were made to mr. hill's proposition to lower the rate. it was contended that the number of registered letters would so increase, that other post-office work could not be accomplished. the postmaster-general, for example, contested the principle of registration altogether, admitting, however, that it was useful in reducing the number of ordinary letters containing coin, and the consequent temptations to the officers of the post-office. like many of the additional proposals, this subject was left undecided; but no one at this date questions the propriety of the recommendations made under this head. the charge for registration has, within the last few years, been twice reduced, with benefit to the revenue, and no hindrance to the general efficiency of the post-office. not only so, but the compulsory registration clause is now in active operation. we cannot enter far into the minutiæ of the committee's deliberations. mr. hill endeavoured to show that economy in the management of the post-office had been neglected. the number of clerks and letter-carriers which had sufficed for the complex system that had been superseded, must more than suffice for the work of the office under his simplified arrangements: yet no reduction had been made. economy, he said, had been neglected in the way contracts had been let; in the manner railway companies were remunerated for carrying mails. he computed that the sum of , _l._ a-year had been paid to these companies for space in the trains that had never been occupied. he also endeavoured to show that the salaries of nearly all the postmasters in the country needed revision; that the establishments of each should also be revised. the changes under the new system, taken together with the changes which railways had made, had had the effect of increasing the work of some offices, but greatly decreasing that of many more. he proposed that there should be a complete revision of work and wages; that postmasters should be paid on fixed salaries; and that all perquisites, with the exception of a poundage on the sale of postage-stamps, should be given up. late-letter fees had, up to the year , been received by the postmasters themselves. under the penny postage act, however, these fees went to the revenue, and compensation, at a certain fixed rate, was granted to the postmasters in lieu of them. mr. hill stated that the amount of compensation granted was generally too much, and was to be accounted for on the ground that the postmasters had, in all the cases, made their own returns. mr. hill's principal recommendations to this committee were-- ( ) the plan of a cheap registration of letters. ( ) that _all_ inland letters should be prepaid (care being taken that postmasters should be supplied with a sufficient stock of postage-stamps), and double postage charged for all unpaid letters. ( ) reduction in the staff of officers till the number of letters increased to five or sixfold; that the london officers should be fully and not only partially employed; and that female employment might be encouraged in the provinces. ( ) simplification in the mode of assorting letters. ( ) the adoption of measures to induce the public to facilitate the operations of the post-office--by giving complete and legible addresses to letters, by making slits in house-doors, and other means. ( ) the establishment of a greater number of rural post-offices, till, eventually, there should be one set up in every village. ( ) all restrictions as to the weight of parcels to be removed, and a book-packet rate to be established, with arrangements for conveying prints, maps, &c. &c. that railway stations should have post-offices connected with them, and that letter-sorting should be done on board the packets, were among his miscellaneous suggestions. with especial reference to the london office, mr. hill recommended ( ) the union of the two corps of general and district letter-carriers; ( ) the establishment of district offices; ( ) an hourly delivery of letters instead of one every two hours, the first delivery to be finished by nine o'clock. nearly the whole of these recommendations were combated by the officers of the post-office during their examination--and successfully so--though it is certainly remarkable that, in the face of their opinions, the great majority of the proposals have subsequently been carried out with unquestioned advantage to the service. it would be a weary business to relate the objections made, and the exceptions taken to each recommendation as it came up to be considered. of course the _non possumus_ argument was frequently introduced. colonel maberly said it was an impossibility that there should be hourly deliveries in london. a post-office in every village was thought equally absurd. we need only add, that the labours of the committee led to little practical result. they decided, by a majority of four, not to report any judgment on the matter. though this result must have been eminently unsatisfactory to mr. hill, especially on account of their not having expressed themselves on his grievances, yet, by refusing to exonerate the post-office from the charges which he had brought against it, the committee may be said to have found for the reformer. with regard to mr. hill's further suggestions, they refer to the evidence, and, "entertain no doubt that his propositions will receive the fullest consideration" from the treasury and the post-office. so they did eventually, after some weary years of waiting. fifty years before, mr. palmer, writing to mr. pitt, said, "i have had every possible opposition from the office." mr. hill might truly have said the same. thus it is that history repeats itself, and "the thing which hath been, it is that which shall be." footnotes: [ ] _post-office reform_, p. . [ ] _results of the new postal arrangements_, read before the statistical society of london, . [ ] second report, p. . [ ] the reader of such books as cowper's _life and letters_, and moore's _correspondence_, will find that the means of obtaining franks, or carriage for their manuscripts or proofs, gave the poets frequent uneasiness, and lost them much time. so with many needy literary men, in what professor de morgan somewhat absurdly calls the "prerowlandian days." the professor himself gives an instance of an author sending up some dry manuscripts to him, under cover to a member of parliament, expressing a hope, we think, that the representative would feel some interest in the subject. [ ] laing's _notes of a traveller_. [ ] _fraser's magazine_, september, . [ ] mr. joshua leavitt. [ ] page . [ ] select committee on postage, , p. . [ ] parliamentary committee, _third report_, p. . [ ] "the first result of the scheme amply vindicated the policy of the new system, but it required progressive and striking evidence to exhaust all opposition."--_ency. brit._ eighth edition. [ ] postmaster-general's _first report_. [ ] select committee on the post-office, . [ ] in the last month of high charges, of two and a half million letters passing through the london office, nearly two millions were unpaid, and few more than half a million paid. twelve months afterwards, the proportion of paid to unpaid letters was entirely changed, the latter had run up to the enormous number of five and a half millions; the former had shrunk to about half a million. [ ] select committee on postage, , p. . chapter ix. the post-office and letter-opening. it will be fresh in the memory of many readers, that the year revealed to the public certain usages of the government, and a branch of post-office business--previously kept carefully in the dark--which went far to destroy the confidence of the nation in the sanctity of its correspondence. in the session of , mr. thomas s. duncombe presented a petition from mr. w. j. linton, m. mazzini, and two other persons residing at , devonshire street, queen's square, complaining that their letters were regularly detained and opened at the post-office. the petitioners declared that they "considered such a practice, introducing the spy-system of foreign states, as repugnant to every principle of the british constitution, and subversive of that public confidence which was so essential to a commercial country." the petitioners prayed for an inquiry, and mr. duncombe supported their prayer. sir james graham, then home secretary, got up in the house and stated that, as regarded three of the petitioners, their letters had not been detained; as for the case of m. mazzini, a warrant had been obtained from the home-office to stop and open the correspondence of that person. he had the power by law and he had exercised it. "the authority," said sir james, "was vested in the responsible ministers of the crown, and was intrusted to them for the public safety; and while parliament placed its confidence in the individual exercising such a power, it was not for the public good to pry or inquire into the particular causes which called for the exercise thereof."[ ] he hoped that the house would confide in his motives, and that they would not call upon him to answer any further inquiries. the speech of the home secretary added fuel to the flame. had sir james graham entered more fully into the subject, and gone into the real state of the law, it is probable that the subject might have been allowed to drop. not only was the slightest explanation of the principle adopted refused by the home secretary, but that refusal was given somewhat cavalierly. public attention was thus roused; the most exaggerated rumours got abroad; it was openly stated by the press that a gigantic system of espionage had been established at st. martin's-le-grand, and now no mere general assurances of its unreality could dispel the talk or stop newspaper extravagances. sir james graham was abused most unreasonably. there was hardly a public print or public speaker in the kingdom that did not heap insults or expressions of disgust on his name. this state of things could not continue; accordingly, we find lord radnor, moving soon after in the house of lords, for a return of all the warrants which had been issued for the detention of letters during a certain period, animadverting especially upon the alleged practice of general warrants to intercept all letters addressed to a certain person instead of there being issued a separate warrant in the case of each letter.[ ] this mode of proceeding, as he truly said, if acted upon, was a flagrant violation of the words of the statute. lord campbell expressed the same views. lord brougham observed that the first statute conferring this power had been framed by lord somers. it had been continued ever since by various acts, and had been exercised by sir robert walpole, lord grenville, and mr. fox, as well as under the administrations of lord grey and lord melbourne. if lord campbell's construction of the act were correct, the sooner they had a new one the better. lord denman was for putting an end to the power altogether. the return was granted, the duke of wellington approving the home secretary's conduct notwithstanding. on the th of june, , mr. duncombe again called the attention of the house of commons to the subject, by presenting a petition from mr. charles stolzman, a polish refugee, complaining that his letters had been detained and opened. mr. duncombe contended that the act of never meant to confer an authority upon a minister of the crown to search out the secrets of exiles resident in this country at the instance of foreign governments, but was only designed to meet the case of domestic treason. "mr. stolzman was a friend of m. mazzini," said mr. duncombe, "and this was why his letters had been tampered with." after describing the way in which letters were opened, he concluded a most powerful speech by again moving for a committee of inquiry. he did not want to know government secrets; he doubted if they were worth knowing; but he wanted inquiry into the practice of the department, which he contended was unconstitutional and contrary to law. sir james graham, without entering into any further explanation, except saying that the law had not been violated, and that if it had, the honourable member might prove it before a legal tribunal, objected strongly, and in almost a defiant manner, to any committee. mr. macaulay, lord howick, mr. sheil, and lord john russell warmly supported the motion for an inquiry. sir robert peel, lord stanley, and mr. monckton milnes opposed it, when it was rejected by a majority of forty-four. what party speeches failed in doing, the clamour and popular tumult outside at length accomplished. popular ridicule settled upon the subject; pencil and pen set to work upon it with a will. newspapers were unusually, and sometimes unreasonably, free in their comments, and all kinds of stories about the post-office went the round of the press. sir james graham had to bear the brunt of the whole business; whereas the entire cabinet, but especially lord aberdeen, the foreign secretary, ought equally to have shared the opprobrium. as it was, the bearing of the home secretary in the house of commons was singularly unwise and unadroit. the subject had now come to be regarded as of too great public importance to be suffered to rest; besides, it was an attractive one for the opposition side of the house. mr. duncombe renewed his motion towards the end of july in the same session. it was in a slightly altered form, inasmuch as he now moved for a select committee "to inquire into a department of her majesty's post-office commonly called 'the secret or inner office,' the duties and employment of the persons engaged therein, and the authority under which the functions of the said office were discharged." mr. duncombe made some startling statements as to the mode and extent of the practice of letter-opening, all of which he declared he could prove if the committee was granted. the government saw the necessity of giving way, in order that the public mind might be quieted. the home secretary now acknowledged, that since he was last questioned on the subject, the matter had assumed a very serious aspect, and he thought it was time that the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, should be told. though he would have readily endured the obloquy cast upon him, even though it should crush him, rather than injure the public service; and though he had endured much, especially after the votes and speeches of the opposition leaders--all men conversant with official duties--in favour of mr. duncombe's former motions, he now felt himself relieved from his late reserve, and felt bound to confess that he believed it to be impossible to maintain the power confided to him longer without a full inquiry. he would now not only consent to the committee, but would desire that it should make the fullest possible inquiry, and he would promise on his part, not only to state all he knew, but lend all the resources of his department to attain that object. in accordance with this determination, he proposed that the committee should be a secret one, invested with the amplest powers to commence the investigation at once, and should be composed of five usually voting against the government, viz. sir c. lemon, mr. warburton, mr. strutt, mr. orde, and the o'connor don; and four who generally support them, viz. lord sandon (chairman), mr. t. baring, sir w. heathcote, and mr. h. drummond. "to this committee," said sir james, "i gladly submit my personal honour and my official conduct, and i make my submission without fear." the committee was appointed after mr. wilson patten's name had been substituted for mr. drummond's, on account of the latter being a lawyer; and after an unsuccessful attempt to add mr. duncombe's name, which was rejected by to . its object was "to inquire into the state of the law with respect to the detaining of letters in the general post-office, and to the mode in which that power had been exercised, and that the committee should have power to send for persons, papers, and records, and to report the result of their inquiry to the house." a committee of the house of lords was appointed at the same time. sir james graham's examination lasted four days, when he fulfilled his pledge to make a full and unreserved disclosure of all he knew. almost all the members of that and former governments were examined. lord john russell confessed to having done the same as sir james graham when he held the seals of the home-office, though he had not used the power so frequently. he also stated that he supported mr. duncombe in his previous motions for inquiry, because he thought it necessary that the public should have the information asked for. lord normanby had used the power in ireland for detecting "low ribbonism, which could not be _ferretted out_ by other means." lord tankerville testified to the existence of a warrant signed by mr. fox in , ordering the detention and opening of all letters addressed to foreign ministers; another, ordering that all the letters addressed to lord george gordon should be opened. witnesses were also brought from the post-office. mr. duncombe, on being asked for a list of witnesses to prove his allegations, refused to hand in their names unless he were allowed to be present during the examination. this the committee had no power to grant, and consequently he declined to proceed. mr. duncombe appealed to the house, but the decision of the committee was confirmed. no inconsiderable part of the committee's time was taken up in the production and examination of records, acts, and precedents bearing on the subject. the officers of the state paper office and other high government functionaries produced records and state papers of great importance, from which we learn many interesting particulars of early postal history. at some risk of being charged with anachronism, we have thought it desirable to introduce these details in the order of the _subject_ under treatment. james i. in establishing a foreign post, was more anxious that government secrets should not be disclosed to foreign countries, "which cannot be prevented if a promiscuous use of transmitting foreign letters and packets should be suffered," than that the post should be of use to traders and merchants. there was a motive for the jealous monopoly of postal communications; and if the proclamation from which the above is taken (rymer's foedera) is not clear on the subject, the following extract from a letter written by the one of james's secretaries to the other, lord conway, is sufficiently explicit: "your lordship best knoweth what account we shall be able to give in our place in parliament of that which passeth by letters in and out of the land, if every man may convey letters as he chooseth." sir john coke, the writer of the above, would seem to have got rid of the difficulty in a thorough manner, if we may believe an english letter-writer addressing a friend in scotland, when he wrote, "i hear the posts are waylaid, and all letters taken from them and brought to secretary coke."[ ] during the commonwealth, of course, letter-opening was to be expected. the very reason which cromwell gave for establishing the posts was, that they would be "the best means of discovering and preventing many wicked designs against the commonwealth, intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of escript." foreign and home letters shared an equal fate. on one occasion, the venetian ambassador remonstrated openly that his letters had been delayed and read, and it was not denied. at the restoration, a distinct clause in the "post-office charter" provided that "no one, except under the immediate warrant of one of our principal secretaries of state, shall presume to open any letters or pacquets not directed unto themselves." under the improved act of queen anne, , it is again stated that "no person or persons shall presume to open, detain, or delay any letter or letters, after the same is or shall be delivered into the general or other post-office, and before delivery to the persons to whom they are addressed, except by an express warrant in writing under the hand of one of the principal secretaries of state for _every such opening_, detaining, or delaying." this act was continued under all the georges, and again agreed to in , under vict. c. . during the last century, the practice of granting warrants was exceedingly common; and they might be had on the most trivial pretences. it was not the practice to record such warrants regularly in any official book,[ ] and few are so recorded: we can only guess at their number from the frequent mention made of them in the state trials of the period, and in other incidental ways. in , at bishop atterbury's trial, copies of his letters were produced and given in evidence against him. a clerk from the post-office certified to the fact that they had passed through the post, and that he had seen them opened, read, and copied. atterbury, as well he might, asked for the authority for this practice; and, especially, if the secretary of state had directed that his letters should be interfered with? a majority in the house of lords decided that the question need not be answered. it is pleasant to relate that twenty-nine peers recorded an indignant protest against this decision. one of them proposed to cross-examine the rev. (!) edward willes, "one of his majesty's post-office decipherers," but the majority going to a still greater length, resolved: "that it is the opinion of this house that it is not consistent with the public safety to ask the decipherers any questions which may tend to _discover the art or mystery of deciphering_."[ ] again, at the trial of horne tooke for high treason in , a letter written to him by mr. joyce, a printer, was intercepted at the post-office, and was stated by the prisoner to be the immediate occasion of his apprehension. on his requiring its production, a duly certified copy was brought into court by the crown officers and given in evidence. twelve years after the trial of bishop atterbury, members of both houses became alarmed for the safety of their correspondence, and succeeded in getting up an agitation on the subject. several members of the house of commons complained that their letters had been opened. revelations were made at this time which remind us strongly of the episode of , both discussions resulting in a parliamentary committee of inquiry. it was stated in the debate of , that the liberty which the act gave "could serve no purpose but to enable the idle clerks about the office to pry into the private affairs of every merchant and gentleman in the kingdom."[ ] it transpired on this occasion that a regular organization existed, at enormous expense, for the examination of home and foreign correspondence. the secretary of the post-office stated that the greater part of , _l._ had been paid, without voucher of any kind, to robert, earl of oxford, for defraying the expenses of this establishment. among the principal annual expenses were the salaries of the chief decipherers[ ] (dr. willes and his son), , _l._; the second decipherer, _l._; the third, _l._; four clerks, , _l._; doorkeeper, _l._; incidental charges, but principally for seals, _l._ the result of the inquiry was, that the committee condemned the practice, and the house declared that it was a breach of privilege on the part of the government to use the power except in the exact manner described in the statute. whether any real improvement took place may best be judged by the following circumstances. walpole, who doubtless carried his prerogative in those matters beyond any two secretaries of state we could mention, lent his ear to both public and private applications alike, issuing warrants even to further cases of private tyranny. in the report of the secret committee, p. , we find that a warrant is granted, in , for what purpose may be judged by the following: "at the request of a, a warrant is issued to permit a's eldest son to open and inspect any letters which a's youngest son might write to two females, one of which that youngest son had imprudently married." and this inquisitorial spirit beginning with the highest, descended even to the lowest class of officials. a writer in the _encyclopædia britannica_, vol. xviii. p. (quoting from the _state trials_, vol. xviii. p. ), tells us, in relation to this subject, that so little attention was paid to the requirements of the act of queen anne, or the committee of the house of commons just referred to, the very bellmen took to scrutinizing the letters given them for their bags. one of those functionaries was examined at the trial of dr. hensey in , and deposed as follows: "when i have got all my letters together i carry them home and sort them. in sorting them i observed that the letters i received of dr. hensey were generally directed abroad and to foreigners; and i, knowing the doctor to be a roman catholic, advised the examining-clerk at the office to inspect his letters." this witness, in answer to the questions, "how came you to know dr. hensey to be a roman catholic?" and "what had you to do with his religion?" clinched his evidence thus: "we letter-carriers and postmen have great opportunities to know the characters and dispositions of gentlemen, from their servants, connexions, and correspondents. but, to be plain, if i once learn that a person who lives a genteel life is a roman catholic, i immediately look upon him as one who, by education and principle, is an inveterate enemy to my king and country." at the beginning of the present century an improvement was carried out. it was seen that the indiscriminate issue of the warrants was stimulated and fostered by the fact that no account was kept of them. as a means of placing a necessary check upon the officers, lord spencer, then home secretary, introduced the custom in , of recording the dates of all warrants granted, and the purposes for which they were issued. since the year , the whole of the warrants themselves have been preserved at the home office. in comparing the number of warrants issued by different home secretaries during the present century, we find that sir james graham enjoys the unenviable notoriety of having granted the greatest number, though the fact is partly explained by the commotion which the chartists made in the north of england, - . the revelations made in the two committees with reference to foreign correspondence, especially that of foreign ministers accredited at the english court, were very remarkable, and not likely to induce confidence in our postal arrangements on the part of other powers. it was shown that in times of war whole foreign mails had been known to have been detained, and the letters almost individually examined. the lords' committee went so far as to say it was clear, "that it had been for a long period of time and under successive administrations, up to the present time, an established practice that the foreign correspondence of foreign ministers passing through the general post-office should be sent to a department of the foreign office, before the forwarding of such correspondence, according to the address." what the feelings of foreign governments were at this revelation may well be imagined. they would know, of course, that the english government, hundreds of years ago, had not scrupled to lay violent hands on the letters of their representatives, if by any possibility they could get hold of them. when wolsey, for example, wanted possession of the letters of the ambassadors of charles v. he went to work very openly, having ordered "a watche should be made" in and about london, and all persons going _en route_ to the continent to be questioned and searched. "one riding towards brayneford," says an early record, "when examyned by the watche, answered so closely, that upon suspicion thereof, they searched hym, and found secretly hyd aboute hym a pacquet of letters in french." in the reign of queen mary, gardiner ordered that the messengers of noailles, the french ambassador, should be taken and searched in much the same manner.[ ] notwithstanding this, they would scarcely be prepared for the information that later governments, with less to fear, had preferred more secret measures, establishing a system of espionage which was certainly not in accordance with the english character, or likely to subserve the interests of peace in europe. that the arrangement with regard to foreign mails was unlawful, may be judged by the prompt action which was taken in the matter. "since june, , the postmaster-general," so runs the lords' report two months later, "having had his attention called to the fact, that there was no sufficient authority for this practice, has discontinued it altogether." the commons' committee reported that the letter-opening warrants might be divided into two classes--( ) those issued in furtherance of criminal justice, usually for the purpose of affording some clue to the hiding-place of an offender, or to the mode or place of concealment of property. ( ) those issued for the purpose of discovering the designs of persons known or suspected to be engaged in proceedings dangerous to the state, or deeply involving british interests, from being carried on in the united kingdom. in the case of both classes of warrants, the mode of proceeding was nearly similar. the first were issued on the application of the law-officers; the principal secretary of state himself determined when to issue the latter. no record was kept of the grounds on which the second class of warrants were issued. "the letters which have been detained and opened are," according to the committee,[ ] "unless retained by special order, as sometimes happens in criminal cases, closed and re-sealed _without affixing any mark to indicate that they have been so detained and opened_, and are forwarded by post according to their respective superscriptions." they then classed the warrants issued during the present century in the following way:--for thefts, murders, and frauds, ; for treason and sedition, ; foreign correspondence, ; prisoners of war, ; miscellaneous, ; and for uncertain purposes, . undoubtedly, with one class of letters, the government were only performing a duty in applying the law as laid down in vict. c. . the information obtained by the warrants to find the _locale_ of chartist disaffection was described by the committee as most valuable and useful to the government. while the whole history of the transaction in question grates unpleasantly on english ears, there can be no doubt that in other cases--such as frauds on the banks and revenue, forgeries, murders, &c.--the power was used impartially to the advantage of individuals and the benefit of the state. whether, however, the discoveries and the benefits were so many as to counterbalance the odium of countenancing what was so like a public crime, and which violated public confidence in the post-office, or whether the issue of a few warrants annually, in proportion to the , committals[ ] which took place yearly at that time, could by any means be called an efficient instrument of police, are vastly different questions. with regard to the general question of letter-opening, the issue was altogether vague and uncertain. though the _practical_ end of the inquiry was, no doubt, gained, and warrants may almost be said to have ceased, still the committees recommended parliament to decide that the power and prerogative of opening letters, under certain given circumstances, should _not_ be abrogated. they argued that, if the _right_ of the secretary of state was denied, it would be equivalent to advertising to every criminal conspirator against the public peace, that he might employ the post-office with impunity.[ ] it was decided, in consequence of this finding, that the law should remain unaltered. mr. duncombe was not satisfied. in the next session he attempted to revive the subject by calling the attention of the house to what he termed the evasive and unsatisfactory character of the report of the secret committee, and moving the appointment of a select committee to investigate the whole subject over again; but he met with little success. sir j. graham, sir. r. peel, viscount sandon, mr. warburton, mr. ward, and lord john manners, spoke against his motion, which he then withdrew. upon this, lord howick tried to carry a resolution for the appointment of a committee to inquire into the case of mr. duncombe's letters only. mr. disraeli seconded the motion, desiring not to have the government censured, but to see the practice condemned. mr. roebuck believed that the country would not be content until the invidious power intrusted to the secretary of state respecting letter-opening was absolutely abolished. lord john russell spoke against the motion, which was negatived by to members.[ ] a few days later mr. duncombe renewed his attack in another form, moving that colonel maberly, secretary to the post-office, should attend at the bar and produce certain books connected with his office. the home secretary resisted the motion, grounding his objection on the reports of the committees and the necessities of the public service. lord john russell and a great number of the liberal party concurring in this view, the motion was again rejected by to .[ ] for some weeks the subject was not again noticed in parliament, and probably would have dropped; but it was a theme on which the press could not be induced to be silent. fresh events occurring in italy, owing, it was said, to the past action of the english government at the post-office, mr. sheil gave notice of a resolution, which he moved on the st of april, , expressing regret that government had opened the letters of m. mazzini, thus frustrating the political movement in italy. few members, however, showed any desire to prolong a desultory debate, and thirty-eight only were found willing to affirm mr. sheil's proposition. mr. wakley, a day or two afterwards, tried to revive the same discussion, but a motion which he made was negatived by three to one. on the th of april, , mr. duncombe, while intimating his desire to waive personal questions, and disclaiming all party feeling, moved for leave to bring in a bill "to secure the inviolability of letters passing through the post-office." he was at war with the system, not with the government. let the government approach the subject in a fair and not in a party spirit. all the ministers, however, and the chiefs of the liberal party, again stoutly resisted any change in the law; and this long controversy was finally set at rest by an adverse decision of to . the english people, it must be added, all along objected less to the _power_ which the government possessed in the exertion of their discretion, than to the _manner_ in which that power was exercised. mr. duncombe's statements during the earlier stages of the discussions, relating to the "secret office"--never denied--could not be forgotten by the public when they intrusted their letters to the custody of the post-office. the revelations in question caused a perfect paroxysm of national anger, because it was felt, throughout the length and breadth of the land, that such arrangements were repugnant to every feeling of englishmen. had the officers of the government broken open letters in the same way as, under certain circumstances, the law allows the sheriff's officers to break open houses and writing-desks, there might still have been complainings, but these complainings would neither have been so loud nor yet so justifiable.[ ] there was something in the melting apparatus, in the tobacco-pipe, in the forged plaster of paris seals, in the official letter-picker, and in the place where, and manner how, he did his work, utterly disgusting to john bull, and most unsuitable to the atmosphere of england. the law, it is true, remains unaltered, but it is believed to be virtually a dead letter. footnotes: [ ] hansard, . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] lang's _historical summary of the post-office in scotland_. postmaster-general's _third report_. [ ] report of secret committee, , p. . [ ] _lords' journal_, xxii. pp. - . [ ] _commons' journal_, vol. xxii. p. . [ ] the place was not only lucrative, but in the path of promotion. we find that, for the proper performance of these very unclerical duties, the rev. dr. was first rewarded with the deanery of lincoln and afterwards with the bishopric of st. david's. [ ] froude. [ ] report of secret committee, , pp. - . [ ] report of the secret committee, , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._ commons' committee. [ ] hansard, - . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] among many expressions of opinion to which the inquiry on the subject gave rise, we find the following characteristic effusion from thomas carlyle: "it is a question vital to us that sealed letters in an english post-office be, as we all fancied they were, respected as things sacred; that opening of men's letters, a practice near of kin to picking men's pockets, and to other still viler and far fataler forms of scoundrelism, be not resorted to in england, except in cases of the very last extremity. when some new gunpowder plot may be in the wind, some double-dyed high treason, or imminent national wreck not avoidable otherwise, then let us open letters; not till then. to all austrian kaisers and such like, in their time of trouble, let us answer, as our fathers from of old have answered--not by such means is help here for you." chapter x. the development of the post-office. from the year to the present time the progress of the post-office institution has been great and unexampled. among mr. hill's minor proposals were those for the institution of day-mails, the establishment of rural posts, and the extension of free deliveries. the period between the passing of the penny postage act and the year saw these useful suggestions carried out to an extent which proved highly beneficial to the public. with regard to the day-mails, mr. hill proposed that on the _morning_ of each day, as well as evenings, mails should leave london after certain country and continental mails had arrived, by which means letters, instead of remaining nearly twenty-four hours in london, might be at once forwarded to their addresses, and two mails per diem be thus given to most english towns. the earl of lichfield would seem to have seen the useful and practicable nature of these proposals, for, being postmaster-general at the time, he did not wait to adopt them till the passing of the act of . as early as one or two day-mails were established, running out of london. before we find the list included those of dover, southampton, bristol, birmingham, and cambridge. these day-mails are now established on every considerable line of railway in the kingdom. london, in , possesses not only day-mails on all the lines running from the metropolis, but one to ireland, and two by different routes into scotland. further, a great number of railways in the united kingdom have stipulated to take mails by any passenger-train. mr. hill also contemplated the establishment of rural posts in every village. in , the number of village post-offices was about , . at that time nothing but "guarantee posts"--by means of which parties in the country might obtain additional accommodation on their consenting to bear the whole additional expense--were granted to new localities. mr. hill urged upon the post-office authorities the abandonment of this plan, and the gradual establishment of ordinary post-offices. he calculated that an annual outlay of , _l._ would suffice to give additional daily posts to neglected districts, and he pledged his word that the outlay would be remunerative. there are now more than , additional rural post-offices, the erection of which has done all for the public and the post-office revenue that mr. hill anticipated. the extension of free deliveries, also strongly urged by mr. hill, has progressed fairly from that time to this. round each provincial town there used to be drawn a cordon, letters, &c. for places beyond which had either to be brought by private messenger, or were charged an extra sum on delivery as a gratuity to the postmaster. from year to year new places have been included in these free deliveries; soon the most remote and inaccessible parts of our country--the nooks and crannies of our land--will enjoy nearly equal privileges with our large towns, more rural messengers being appointed as this work approaches completion. in , the advantages of a book-post were granted to the country. by the new rate, a single volume might be sent to any part of the united kingdom at the uniform rate of sixpence per pound. the privileges of this book-post were gradually extended to the colonies. the railway companies, at the time and subsequently, complained loudly that the post-office, by establishing the book-post, had entered into an unfair competition with them. this competition was described as very injurious, on account of the low rates at which books and book-packets were conveyed. it was answered, however--and in this answer the country very generally agreed--that the railway companies had no legal or equitable right to the monopoly of parcel-traffic; and if they had, the exceptions taken in the case of the book-post were only to books and printed matter intimately connected with objects such as the diffusion of knowledge and the promotion of education--matters with which the post-office was now most immediately concerned. the facts, however, were, that very few indeed of the packets sent by the book-post were such as had been previously sent by railway. the post-office, by offering its vast machinery for the transmission of such articles, especially to remote districts, gave facilities which had never before been offered, and which caused books and documents to pass through the post-office which otherwise, had no book-post existed, would not have been sent through any other channel. a select committee, which sat in , on the conveyance of mails by railway, took evidence on this point, and in their report stated it as their opinion, that a large proportion of the packets sent would not have been so forwarded but for the facilities offered by the post-office in their distribution. any loss, however, which the railways might experience in this respect was more than counterbalanced when the executive abolished the compulsory impressed stamp on newspapers, this arrangement giving rise to a conveyance of newspaper-parcels by railway-trains to an enormous extent, and proportionately lessening the work and profits of the post-office. the year is principally remarkable for the agitation which existed with respect to sunday labour at the general post-office. previous to this year no work was allowed in the london establishment, but now an arrangement was proposed to receive the mails as on other days, officers attending, though not during the period of divine service, to assort and dispose of the letters received. public meetings were held in london and many of the principal towns to protest against any increase of the post-office work. public opinion in the metropolis was pretty unanimous against any change; in the provinces it was more divided. the authorities gave way before the force of opinion, and the london office has remained closed ever since on the first day of the week. in the country different arrangements are made. in scotland, and in one or two english towns, no letter-delivery takes place from house to house, a short time only being allowed for the public to apply for their letters at the post-office windows. in the majority of english towns the early morning delivery only is made. the day-mails, as a rule, do not run on sundays. the post-offices in the major part of our english and scotch villages are entirely closed on sundays. wires having been laid down to st. martin's-le-grand from the different railway stations, telegraph messages were first used to expedite post-office business on the st of august, . all important matters, such as bag or registered letter irregularities, requiring prompt notice, are made known or explained through the medium of the electric telegraph. commissioners were appointed from about this year to secure the services of railways on the most equitable terms, and to arbitrate for that purpose between the post-office and the railway companies. the committee, on the conveyance of mails by railways, suggested this course. on the debate which followed the report of the committee to which we have before alluded, sir robert peel frankly acknowledged "the enormous error" into which he, and the house generally "had fallen when the railroad bills were under discussion. they ought to have foreseen," said he, "when these bills were before them, that they were in fact establishing a monopoly, a monopoly in respect to which there could be no future condition. they ought to have foreseen that, if the railroads were successful, other modes of internal communication would almost necessarily fall into disuse, and they ought, therefore, to have stipulated--_as it would have been perfectly just and easy for them to have done_--that certain public services should be performed at a reasonable rate." however, as this had not been done, parliament could only fall back upon its inherent right to say on what terms such services should be provided from time to time; for which purpose they could not do better than employ arbitration, as it was the same course pursued when the companies disputed with the owners of property the value of land compulsorily taken for railway works. sir james graham[ ] moved a declaratory clause on the occasion, that arbitrators should take into consideration the cost of the construction of the particular lines in awarding the sums for different services. mr. labouchere, the vice-president of the board of trade, speaking for the government, wished the arbitrators to be wholly free, but he gave a pledge on behalf of the post-office that no attempt would be made to exclude the cost of construction from the consideration of the arbitrators. with this assurance, the opposition expressed themselves satisfied. in , the postmaster-general, the late lord canning, commenced the practice of furnishing the lords of the treasury, and through them the public, with annual reports on the post-office. these reports, which have been continued up to the present time, show the progress of the department from year to year, and present to the general reader, as well as to the statistician, a vast mass of interesting information. compared with the reports of the committee of revenue inquiry or of the commissioners of post-office inquiry, they are lucid and interesting in their nature. though constructed on the same plan and little varied from year to year, they are much above the ordinary run of official documents. lord canning, in recommending the adoption of the plan, gave as one reason among many, that the post-office service was constantly expanding and improving, but that information respecting postal matters, especially postal changes, was not easily accessible. this information, he believed, could be given without any inconvenience, whilst many misapprehensions, and possibly complaints, might be avoided. the public might thus see what the post-office was about; learn their duty towards the department, and find out--what half the people did not then and perhaps do not even yet understand--what were the benefits and privileges to which they were justly entitled at its hands. the duke of argyll succeeded lord canning in the management of the post-office in , and his years of office are distinguished by many most important improvements and reforms. one important change consisted in the amalgamation of the two corps of london letter-carriers, effected soon after the installation of the duke of argyll at the post-office. the two classes of "general post" and "london district" letter-carriers were perhaps best known before , by the former wearing a red, and the latter a blue, uniform. the object of this amalgamation, for which mr. hill had been sedulously striving from the period of penny postage, was to avoid the waste of time, trouble, and expense consequent on two different men going over the same ground to distribute two classes of letters which might, without any real difficulty, be delivered together. the greatest objection in the post-office itself to completing the change, arose from the different _status_ of the two bodies of men, the one class being paid at a much higher rate of wages and with better prospects than the other class. this difficulty was at length surmounted, when the benefits of this minor reform became clearly apparent in earlier and more regular deliveries of letters. inside the post-office the work was made much more easy and simple, and the gross inequality existing between two bodies of public servants whose duties were almost identical, was done away.[ ] still more important was the division of london into ten postal districts, carried out during the year . the immense magnitude of the metropolis necessitated this scheme; it having been found impossible to overcome the obstacles to a more speedy transmission of letters within and around london, or properly to manage without some change, the ever increasing amount of post-office business. under the new arrangements, each district was to be treated in many respects as a separate town, district post-offices to be erected in each of them. thus, instead of all district post-letters being carried from the receiving houses to the chief office at st. martin's-le-grand, there to be sorted and re-distributed, the letters must now be sent to the principal office of the district in which they were posted; sorted there; and distributed from that office according to their address. the time and trouble saved by this arrangement is, as was expected, enormous. under the old system, a letter from cavendish square to grosvenor square went to the general post-office, was sorted, and then sent back to the latter place, travelling a distance of four or five miles: whereas, at present, with hourly deliveries, it is almost immediately sent from one place to the other.[ ] an important part of the new scheme was, that london should be considered in the principal provincial post-offices as ten different towns, each with its own centre of operations, and that the letters should be assorted and despatched on this principle. country letters would be delivered straightway--without any intermediate sorting--to that particular part of london for which they were destined; whilst the sorters there having the necessary local knowledge, would distribute them immediately into the postmen's walks. with respect to the _smaller_ provincial towns, it was provided that their london correspondence should be sorted into districts on the railway during the journey to the metropolis. thus, on the arrival of the different mails at the several railway termini, the letters would not be sent as formerly to the general post-office, but direct to each district office, in bags prepared in the course of the journey. it was a long time before this new and important plan was thoroughly carried out in all its details; but now that it is in working order, the result is very marked in the earlier delivery of letters, and in the time and labour saved in the various processes. in fact, all the anticipated benefits have flowed from the adoption of the measure. in the same year a reduction was made in the rates for book-packets. the arrangement made at this time, which exists at present, charges one penny for every four ounces of printed matter; a book weighing one pound being charged fourpence. a condition annexed was, that every such packet should be open at the ends or sides, and if closed against inspection, should be liable to be charged at the unpaid letter rate of postage. this penalty was soon found to be unreasonably heavy and vexatious, and was therefore reduced to an additional charge of sixpence only. at the present time, the conditions under which such packets may be sent through the post are the same, but the fines inflicted for infringements are still further reduced. in , a new regulation provided that a book-packet might consist of any number of sheets, which might be either printed or written, provided there was nothing in it of the nature of a letter. if anything of the sort should be found in the packet on examination, it was to be taken out and forwarded separately as a letter, and charged twopence as a fine in addition to the postage at the letter rate. the packet might consist of books, manuscripts, maps, prints with rollers, or any literary or artistic matter, if not more than two feet wide, long, or deep. in the same year, the letter-rate to all the british colonies (which were not previously under the lower rates) was reduced to the uniform one of sixpence for each half-ounce, payable in advance. the privileges of the english book-post were also extended to the colonies; the rate at which books &c. might be sent being threepence for every four ounces. exceptions were made in respect to the following places, viz.--ascension island, east indies, hong kong, australia, new zealand, and the gold coast, to which places the rate charged was fourpence for four ounces, the weight being restricted to three pounds. another important improvement was made when, about the same time, the postage on letters conveyed by private ship between this country and all parts of the world, was reduced to a uniform rate of sixpence the half-ounce. nor were these reforms the only results of the wise rule of the duke of argyll. through his exertions, a postal convention was concluded with france, resulting not only in a considerable reduction of postage on letters passing between the two countries, but in the lowering of the rate to all european countries, letters for which _went by way of france_. an attempt was made to arrange a postal convention with the united states during the year , but like so many previous ones, it came to nothing. the duke of argyll is also favourably remembered in the metropolitan offices, for having granted--to the major establishment at any rate--the boon of a saturday half-holiday. but perhaps his grace laboured most arduously to bring about a more satisfactory relation between the railway companies and the post-office. since the advent of cheap postage, nothing had so much impeded the progressive development of the post-office, as the adverse attitude of the companies who must convey the mails, now that all other modes of conveyance had been virtually superseded by the power of steam. although the postmaster-general failed in this instance, he is none the less entitled to the gratitude of the country for his well-meant attempt to repair the mistake which the executive originally made in not carefully providing for the public service. few could say that the existing law was, and is, not defective. the gain to the post-office through railways is certainly enormous: besides the advantage of increased speed, they make it possible to get through the sorting and the carrying of the mails at the same time. but here the gain ends; and the cost for the service really done is heavy beyond all proportion. the cost of carrying mails by coaches averaged twopence farthing a mile; the average cost under railways is tenpence a mile, some railways charging nearly five shillings per mile for the service they render. the cost of running a train may be reckoned, in most cases, at fifteen pence per mile; and thus the post-office, for the use of a fraction of a train, may be said constantly to be paying at the rate of from sixty to three hundred per cent. in excess of the whole cost of running! the postmaster-general stated that the terms upon which one railway company would undertake postal service was totally disproportionate to those of a neighbouring company. on the other hand, all the companies were alike dissatisfied, however dissimilar the contracts, or the terms imposed and agreed to.[ ] moreover, it was declared next to impossible to secure regularity and punctuality in the conveyance of mails, and to agree to amicable arbitration for the services which were done, until the legislature should lay down reasonable laws, binding all the companies alike. a bill was introduced into the house of lords regulating the arrangements between the post-office and the different companies. though it was carefully prepared, it was strongly opposed by the railway interest in parliament. the opposition was all the more unreasonable, inasmuch as many of its clauses sought to remove objections to the existing law which railway companies had frequently complained of. as far as the post-office was concerned, it seems to have been the extent of the wish of the authorities that the question of remuneration might be based on the actual cost of running the trains, making due allowance, on the one hand, for the benefits accruing to the companies from their connexion with the mail service, and adding, on the other hand, compensation for any special extra expenses to which the companies might be subjected by the requirements of that service, _together with a full allowance for profit_.[ ] the bill also provided for the more extensive employment of ordinary passenger trains,--not, however, to the supercession of the regular mail-trains--for the _exclusive_ employment of certain trains for postal purposes, for penalties, &c. the measure had been brought in late in the session, and was eventually withdrawn. the bill itself, with its twenty-one clauses, forms part of the appendix to the postmaster-general's fourth report; and as the basis of arrangements between the two interests is still unsettled and uncertain, the duke of argyll there commends it to the careful attention of the public, as well as to the fair consideration of the railway authorities themselves. in , on the accession of lord derby to power, lord colchester was appointed to the post-office without a seat in the cabinet. improvements continued during his short administration, both as regards inland, foreign, and colonial postages; but nothing calls for special mention here except an attempt on the part of the post-office to render the payment of inland letters compulsory. the plan cannot be said to have had a fair trial. its benefits and advantages were not clearly apparent, except to those who were acquainted with the machinery of the post-office. while, without doubt, the principles upon which it was based were sound, the objections to the arrangement lay on the surface, and were such as could not be overcome except by the exercise of great patience on the part of the public: the measure pressed heavily on certain interests: a great portion of the less thoughtful organs of the public press manifested considerable repugnance to it, and, in consequence, the postmaster-general was led to recommend to the treasury the withdrawal of the order after the expiration of a few weeks of partial trial. as pointed out by mr. hill at the time, compulsory prepayment of letters was a part of the original plan of penny postage; it was one of the recommendations which he made having for their object the simplification of accounts, and the more speedy delivery of letters. the secretary of the post-office in urging a fair trial of the measure,[ ] argued that after the lapse of a few months it would be productive of good even to letter-writers, not to speak of the saving of time, trouble, and expense to the department. he very truly added that there were no difficulties attributable to the new rule which might not be surmounted by a little care or ingenuity. as it was, the public preferred an immediate termination of the experiment to the possible and problematical advantages that might arise from its continuance; and in this instance the country was indulged by an early return to the old plan. in the following year, lord colchester was succeeded by the late earl of elgin as postmaster-general, with a seat in lord palmerston's cabinet. when lord elgin was sent on the special mission to the east in , the duke of argyll held the joint offices of lord privy seal and postmaster-general until a permanent successor was appointed in the person of lord stanley of alderley, who now (march, ) holds the office. in , the money-order office in london, and the money-order system generally, were remodelled. by a process meant to simplify the accounts, and other judicious alterations, a saving of , _l._ a-year was effected, while the public were benefited by some concessions that had been much desired, such as the granting of money-orders up to the amount of _l._ instead of _l._ the money-order system was likewise extended to the colonies, the first connexion of the kind having been opened with canada and our european possessions of gibraltar and malta. it has subsequently been extended to the principal british colonies, including the whole of australia. important improvements were also made in the department charged with the transmission of mails. several accelerations--in one case a most important one--were made in the speed of the principal mail-trains; the number of travelling post-offices was increased; the construction of the whole of them was improved; and the apparatus-machinery, attached to the carriages for the exchange of mail-bags at those stations where the mail-trains do not stop, was called more and more into requisition. under the earl of elgin, the british post-office endeavoured to form conventions with foreign countries, the object in all cases being the increase of postal facilities. in the case of spain and portugal, the authorities seem to have been successful, and partially so with the german postal union. an attempt to renew negotiations with the united states calls for mention here. the advocates of ocean penny postage (of which so much was heard some years previously--not only a desirable, but a practicable scheme) may thus obtain some idea of the difficulty of coming to any reasonable arrangement between the two countries. we have already stated that a former postmaster-general urged upon the government of the united states the necessity of reduction in the rates of postage of letters circulating from one country to the other, but was unsuccessful at the time.[ ] in , the postmaster-general of the united states (mr. holt) communicated to the english department his concurrence in the principle of a reduction in the postage of british letters from twenty-four to twelve cents, providing that england would give america the lion's share of the proposed postage! the united states' government would agree to the change provided the new rate be apportioned as follows, viz.:-- united states' inland postage cents. sea rate of postage " british inland postage " the earl of elgin objected to this proposal as not equitable. he argued, with perfect truth and fairness, that each country ought to be remunerated according to the value of the service it rendered, and that, whether the inland service was considered (where the three items of collection, conveyance,[ ] and delivery must be taken into account), or the sea service (undoubtedly better worked and regulated with us than in america), this country had a fair claim to a larger share of postage than the united states. as, however, an unrestricted intercourse between the two countries was far more important than a nice adjustment in the revision of the postage, the english postmaster-general would only press for equality, and proposed the following division:-- british inland postage _d._ or cents. sea postage _d._ " " united states' inland postage _d._ " " ----- --------- _d._ cents. ----- --------- in the event of the american government not being prepared to agree, lord elgin proposed that a disinterested third party should be called in, to whom the whole matter might be amicably referred. to this communication no answer whatever was returned, and the english department had to wait until the next report of the united states post-office was published, in order to ascertain how the proposals had been received. it was found that mr. holt here complained that a reasonable offer that he had made to england had been declined there, "_and for reasons so unsatisfactory_, that for the present no disposition is felt to pursue the matter further." it is sincerely to be regretted that this great improvement, which would have been gladly hailed by thousands on both sides of the atlantic, should have been so arrested, and especially that the united states' government should have been deaf to the proposition to send the matter to arbitrament. unquestionably, the present results, as well as the responsibility of future exertion, lies at the door of the united states; and it is to be hoped that, in justice to the thousands whom the americans have eagerly invited to populate their country--not to mention other considerations--they will soon renew their efforts to obtain the boon of a sixpenny postage, and be prepared to meet the mother-country on reasonable grounds with equal terms. the postal service with ireland being considered deficient, so much so, that frequent mention was made of the subject in the house of commons, a new and special service was brought into operation on the st of october, . night and day mail-trains have, on and from that date, been run specially from euston square station to holyhead, and special mail-steamers employed, at enormous expense, to cross the channel. letter-sorting is carried on not only in the trains, but on board the packets; nearly all the post-office work, including the preparation of the letters for immediate delivery at london and dublin respectively, being accomplished on the journey between london and dublin, and _vice versâ_--a journey which is now accomplished in about twelve hours. by means of this new service, a great saving of time is also effected on the arrival and departure of most of the american and canadian mails. it cannot but be interesting to the reader who may have followed us as we have endeavoured to trace the progress of post communication in this country, to know how much is really possible under the improved facilities of our own day. a better instance could not be afforded than that occurring at the beginning of the year , when the important news on which depended peace or war was hourly expected from the united states. before the packet was due, the inspector-general of mails took steps to expedite the new irish mail service, to the greatest possible extent, in its passage from queenstown to london, and the result is so clearly and accurately given in the _times_ of the th of january, , that we cannot do better than quote the account entire:-- "the arrangements for expressing the american mails throughout from queenstown to london, which we described as being so successfully executed with the mails brought by the _africa_ last week, have been repeated with still more satisfactory results in the case of the mails brought by the _europa_. these results are so exceptional that we record them in detail. the _europa_ arrived off queenstown, about five miles from the pier, at p.m. on monday night. her mails and the despatches from lord lyons were placed on board the small tender in waiting, and arrived at the queenstown pier at . p.m., at which point they were transferred to an express steamboat for conveyance by river to cork. leaving queenstown pier at . p.m., they arrived alongside the quay at cork at . p.m. and thirteen minutes afterwards the special train left the cork station for dublin, accomplishing the journey to dublin ( miles) in four hours and three minutes, _i. e._ at a speed of about miles an hour, including stoppage. the transmission through the streets between the railway termini in dublin and by special train to kingstown occupied only thirty-six minutes, and in four minutes more the special mail-boat _ulster_ was on her way to holyhead. the distance across the irish channel, about sixty-six statute miles, was performed by the _ulster_, against a contrary tide and heavy sea, in three hours and forty-seven minutes, giving a speed of about seventeen and a half miles an hour. the special train, which had been in waiting for about forty-eight hours, left the holyhead station at . a.m., and it was from this point that the most remarkable part of this rapid express commenced. the run from holyhead to stafford, ½ miles, occupied only minutes, being at the rate of no less than fifty-four miles an hour; and although so high a speed was judiciously not attempted over the more crowded portion of the line from stafford to london, the whole distance from holyhead to euston, miles, was performed by the london and north-western company in exactly five hours, or at a speed of about - / miles an hour, a speed unparalleled over so long a line, crowded with ordinary traffic. the entire distance from queenstown pier to euston square, about miles, was thus traversed in fifteen hours and three minutes, or at an average speed of about thirty-four and a quarter miles an hour, including all delays necessary for the several transfers of the mails from boat to railway, or _vice versâ_.... by means of the invention for supplying the tender with water from a trough _in transitu_, the engine was enabled to run its first stage of ½ miles, from holyhead to stafford, without stopping." during the session of - , an act was passed through parliament for the establishment of post-office savings' banks on a plan proposed by mr. sykes, of huddersfield. in order to encourage the registration of letters containing coin or valuable articles, the registration fee was reduced, in , from _d._ to _d._ each letter. at the same time, the plan of compulsory registration of letters was revived, and applied to all letters passing through the _london office_ which contained, or were supposed to contain, coin. last year the plan was found to have been so successful in its results, that it was extended to _all inland letters_. the public may judge of the benefits and blessings of this proscriptive measure--to the officers of the post-office at any rate--when we state that the convictions for letter-stealing, since the plan was fully adopted, have been reduced more than ninety per cent. in , the pneumatic conveyance company set up a branch of their operations at the euston square station, london. the post-office took advantage of this new mode of conveyance to send the mail-bags to the north-western district office from this important railway terminus. the work is, of course, accomplished with marvellous expedition. the machinery for other localities is in course of construction, and may ultimately extend all over the metropolis, to the supercession, as far as the post-office is concerned, of the existing mail-vans. during the month of may, , a postal congress--the first of the kind--originated, we believe, by mr. rasson of the united states, assembled at the _bureau des postes_, in the rue jean jacques, paris, under the presidency of the french postmaster-general, m. vandal. the object of the congress was "the improvement of postal communication between the principal commercial nations of the world." as we find that the little republic of ecuador was represented, the postal affairs of _little_ kingdoms were also not overlooked. each civilized nation was asked to send a delegate, and all the most important states responded. mr. frederic hill, brother of sir rowland hill, and assistant secretary, was the english representative; the president represented france; m. metzler, prussia; mr. rasson, the united states; m. hencke, hamburg, &c. &c. the prepayment of foreign letters was one of the most difficult subjects discussed. the congress came to the conclusion that it would be best to leave it optional with the writer of the letter whether the postage should be paid to its destination, or paid on receipt; in the latter case, however, it was thought desirable that a moderate additional postage should be charged. another important matter was settled in a conclusive manner. it was first decided that the postage of foreign letters should be regulated by weight: it then became highly necessary, in order to the carrying out of this decision, that the postage should be calculated by a common standard; hence the following resolution, which was agreed to--"the metrical decimal system, being of all systems of weighing that which is best suited to the requirements of the postal service, it is expedient to adopt it for the international postal relations, to the exclusion of every other system." other subjects of lesser importance, such as the route of foreign letters, the division of postage rates, the transmission of coin in letters (which they agreed to allow), were discussed very fully and, we are assured, very amicably. the congress seems to have arrived at a good understanding of the principles of postal reciprocity, and good will doubtless be the result. the postal congress of last year was a peace congress of the most efficient kind, and in every sense of the term. within the last ten years the facilities offered to letter-writers by the post-office have materially increased. four thousand additional persons have had to be employed in the service, one half, at least, of whom are engaged on account of the facilities and improvements in question, whilst the remainder may be said to have been required by the gradual increase of work in the establishment. the establishment of mid-day mails, increasing the number of daily deliveries in almost every provincial town; the acceleration of night-mails, allowing more time for posting in some places, and earlier deliveries in all; the increase in the number of village posts, to the extent of between three and four hundred every year; the gradual extension of free deliveries; the establishment of pillar letter-boxes as receptacles for letters; reductions in the rate of foreign and colonial letters, and also in the registration fee for home letters; the division of london, and to some extent other large towns, like liverpool, into districts; and above all, the establishment of thousands of new savings' banks on safe principles, in connexion with improved money-order offices; are some of the principal advantages and facilities to which we refer. the past ten years have been years of great, gradual, and unexampled improvement. nor is there anything but progress and advancement in prospect. the fact is, that the post-office is capable of infinite extension and growth: besides it belongs to the nation, and the people will expect the development of the utmost of its utilities. at the present time the experiment is being tried whether, without impairing its efficiency or the performance of its more proper business, the post-office can undertake the distribution of stamps; and it is not impossible, considering that it has at its command an organization which penetrates the entire kingdom, as no other private or public institution does, that the stamp department may be transferred to the control of the postmaster-general. further, there is no doubt but that mr. gladstone's bill, if passed through parliament, "to amend the law relating to government annuities," will have a most important effect upon the post-office institution.[ ] it is true that under the savings' bank act any person may purchase a deferred annuity through the post-office, only the clause making it necessary to pay the purchase-money in one sum has a direct deterrent effect upon the measure. the provisions of the new bill, on the contrary, allow the purchase-money to be paid in even weekly instalments. equally important is the second part of the bill, which empowers the government to assure a person's life for _l._ it is proposed to draft all this extra business on to the post-office establishment, and no interest, except the insurance company interest, is likely to say nay. until assurance or other companies can appoint agents, and open out offices in every town and village, the government is likely to have a monopoly of any business it chooses to undertake. footnotes: [ ] _life of sir james graham._ by mr. t. maccullagh torrens, vol. ii. [ ] postmaster-general's _first report_, p. . [ ] so late as the year , a letter posted at any london receiving-house after _two_ in the afternoon was not delivered at islington until the next morning.--postmaster-general's _second report_. [ ] see address by the late mr. robert stephenson on his election to the presidency of the institution of civil engineers in , given in the appendix to the larger edition of mr. smiles' _life of george stephenson_, and also a reply to it from the inspector-general of mails.--postmaster-general's _second report_, pp. - . [ ] appendix to postmaster-general's _second report_, p. . [ ] _fifth report_, appendix, pp. - . [ ] during the progress of one of these negotiations the following memorandum, written by mr. bancroft, american minister, is so characteristic of his people that we are tempted to amuse our readers with its reproduction entire.--postmaster-general's _first report_, appendix, p. . "approved as far as 'the rate for sea.' what follows is superfluous and objectionable. make your rates (england) to your colonies and possessions, and foreign countries, what you please, high or low, one sea-rate or a dozen, or none at all; one inland rate or a dozen, or none at all. what your people pay we are willing to pay, but not more, and _vice versâ_. our security is, that we pay what your people pay from the same place for the same benefit, and _vice versâ_." [ ] in america letters are certainly carried much greater distances, at the uniform charge of three cents, than with us for a penny; but it must be borne in mind that there are no official deliveries of letters in the united states. [ ] it is possible that this useful measure may be delayed. however it is, the post-office machinery is ready for this incidental application, and it is surely thrifty to make the most of available resources, though they may have been originally provided for very different purposes. part ii. descriptive account of the post-office. "it has often struck me that some pains should be taken to make the main features of the post-office system intelligible to the people."--_speech of mr. rowland hill at liverpool_, . prefatory. it is scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of the postal regulations of this country. every section of society, and, to some extent, every individual, participates in the benefits--commercial, social, and moral--bestowed by our cheap post-office. it is not our purpose here to urge the value and utility of the post-office institution--which most of our readers gratefully admit--but rather to furnish some general information relative to the organization and ordinary working of the department, sensible that an intelligible account of the principal features in the system will increase the interest already felt in the post-office, as a mighty engine spreading the influences of commerce, education, and religion throughout the world. the postmaster-general for , in starting an annual report of the post-office, stated that "many misapprehensions and complaints arise from an imperfect knowledge of matters which might, without any inconvenience, be placed before the public;" and also, "that the publicity thus given will be an advantage to the department itself, and will have a good effect upon the working of many of its branches." endeavouring to exclude all matter that is purely technical, and presenting the reader with no more statistical information than is necessary to a proper understanding of the subject, and only premising that this information--for the correctness of which we are alone responsible--has been carefully collated from a mass of official documents not easily accessible, and others presented to the public from time to time, we will first describe-- chapter i. the organization of the post-office. the post-office being a branch of the public service, instituted by statute, is, of course, under the control of the government of the country in every respect. the principal acts of parliament which now regulate the post-office are those of vict. c. - , entitled "an act to repeal the several laws relating to the post-office;" "an act for the management of the post-office;" "an act for consolidating the laws relative to offences against the post-office;" one to which we have previously referred, vict. c. , "an act to provide for the conveyance of mails by railway;" & vict. c. , "an act for the regulation of the duties of postage." besides these more important acts, there are others of later date relating to the money-order office, colonial posts, and, more recently, one relating to the post-office savings' banks. according to the latest returns,[ ] there are , post-offices in the united kingdom, of which are head-offices, and , sub-offices. to these must be added a great number of road letter-boxes, making a total of , public receptacles for letters, or more by , than the total number before penny postage. the total number of letters passing through the post-office during the year was , , , or, in the proportion of letters to population, no less than to each person in the three kingdoms. as contrasted with the last year of dear postage, the number of letters show an _eightfold_ increase. the distance over which the mails travel with this enormous amount of correspondence, in the united kingdom alone, is nearly , miles per day. of the mails conveyed by railway, a distance of , miles is accomplished every working-day; , miles per diem are traversed on foot; and the rest are carried by mail-coaches, mail-carts, and steamboats. the gross revenue of the post-office for the year was, in round numbers, , , _l._, being more by nearly a quarter of a million sterling than the proceeds for the year . of this enormous total, england contributed upwards of , , _l._, the remainder having been raised from ireland and scotland. to this sum should be added a further item of , _l._ for the impressed stamp on newspapers sent through the post, the charges for which are collected by the commissioners of inland revenue. the actual expenditure of the department, including the expenses of mail-packets (great part of which appertain to the admiralty), amounted, in round numbers, to , , _l._ the amount of all the items belonging exclusively to post-office charges is, however, less than two and a quarter millions. the net revenue of the post-office for may, therefore, be stated at , , _l._; or, counting the whole of the packet expenses--which mode of reckoning, however, would lead to erroneous notions of the financial success of penny postage--to a clear revenue of , _l._ at the end of , the staff of officers employed in the british post-office numbered , . of this number , were engaged in the british isles, in foreign countries (as agents collecting the british share of foreign postage), and in the colonies.[ ] of the _employés_ at home, between , and , are attached to the london office alone, while the remainder, including more than , postmasters, belong to the establishments in the various towns and villages of the united kingdom. the entire staff is under the immediate control of the postmaster-general, assisted by the general secretary of the post-office in london. the service of the three kingdoms, notwithstanding this direct control, is managed in the respective capitals, at each of which there is a chief office, with a secretarial and other departmental staffs.[ ] _the postmaster-general_, the highest controlling authority at the post-office representing the executive, is now always a peer of the realm, a member of the privy council, and generally, though not necessarily, a cabinet minister. of course he changes with the government. as we have seen in the origin of the office, he holds his appointment by patent granted under the great seal. the postmaster-general has in his gift all the postmasterships in england and wales where the salary is not less than _l._ per annum (all under that sum being in the gift of the treasury lords), and to those in ireland and scotland where the salary is _l._ and upwards. besides this amount of patronage, now dispensed to officers already in the service, he has the power of nomination to all vacancies in the general post-offices of london, edinburgh, and dublin.[ ] the following noblemen have occupied the position of postmaster-general during the last forty years, or since the joint postmaster-generalship was abolished in ,[ ] viz. earl of chichester ( ), lord frederick montague ( ), duke of manchester ( ), duke of richmond ( ), appointed postmaster-general of great britain and ireland the year after; marquis of conyngham (july, ), lord maryborough (december, ), marquis of conyngham again (may, ), earl of lichfield (june, ), viscount lowther (september, ), earl st. germains (june, ), marquis of clanricarde (july, ). still more recently, we find the earl of hardwicke, viscount canning, duke of argyll (twice), lord colchester, the earl of elgin, and lord stanley of alderley. _the secretary of the post-office_ holds the highest fixed appointment in the establishment, and may be regarded, therefore, as the responsible adviser of the postmaster-general. the principal secretaries during the century have been francis freeling, esq. ( ), created a baronet in ; lieut.-colonel william leader maberly ( ); rowland hill, esq. ( ), knighted in ; and, as at present, john tilley, esq. ( ).[ ] the chief office in london is divided into six principal departments, each under the charge of a chief officer. these heads of departments are severally responsible to the postmaster-general for the efficiency and discipline of their respective branches. something like the same arrangement, though on a much smaller scale, is preserved in the less-important chief offices of edinburgh and dublin. the branches in question consist of--( ) the secretary's office; ( ) the solicitor's office; ( ) the mail office; ( ) the receiver and accountant-general's office; ( ) the money-order office; and ( ) the circulation office. . _the secretary's office_ exercises a general _surveillance_ over all the other departments of the post-office, including, of course, all provincial offices. it is the medium of communication with the lords of the treasury, and also with the public. all important matters originating in other branches, or in country offices, pass through this office to the postmaster-general, returning through the same channel. in , the secretaries of the post-office had one clerk and two supernumerary clerks assigned to them. now, the three secretaries are assisted in their duties by one chief clerk, one principal clerk for foreign and colonial business, sixteen senior clerks, and thirty-eight clerks in other two classes. there is also a force of nineteen supplementary clerks, five official paper-keepers, and nineteen messengers.[ ] . _the solicitor's office_, as its name implies, deals with the law business of the post-office. it gives employment to a solicitor, an assistant-solicitor, and four clerks. . _the mail office_ has to do with all matters connected with the transmission of mails, whether the conveyance be by railroad, water, or stage-coach. attached to this office are the travelling post-offices of the country, which are under its exclusive management. the mail office arranges with the different railway companies for the conveyance of the mails, in the contracts for which are included provision for the employment of post-offices fitted up in railway-carriages; it also looks to the proper performance of each post-office contract embracing mail-conveyance. the staff of the mail office comprises an inspector-general of mails, a deputy inspector-general, two principal clerks, and twenty-one clerks in three classes. the connexion between the mail office in london and its important adjuncts, the travelling post-offices, is kept up by a staff of five inspectors of mails (three employed in england, one in scotland, and one in ireland), a supervisor of mail-bag apparatus, and several subordinate officers. the travelling offices employ a force of clerks in three classes, and sorters in four classes. . _the receiver and accountant-general's office_ takes account of the money of each department, remittances being received here from all the other branches and each provincial town in england. general accounts of revenue and expenditure are also kept, this office being charged with the examination of the postage and revenue accounts of each postmaster. all salaries, pensions, and items of current expenditure are also paid through this office. in , the duties of these offices, then distinct, were performed by a receiver, an accountant, and four clerks. now, the appointments comprise the receiver and accountant-general, a chief examiner, a chief cashier, a principal book-keeper, with forty-seven clerks in three classes, and nine messengers. . _the money-order office_, occupying a separate building in aldersgate street, takes charge of the whole of the money-order business of the country, in addition to doing an enormous amount of work as a money-order office for the metropolis. of course, everything relating to this particular branch of post-office business, and also some part of the savings' bank accounts, pass through this channel. each provincial postmaster sends a daily account of his transactions to this office. attached to the money-order office, we find a controller, a chief clerk, an examiner, a book-keeper, clerks in three classes, and messengers. . _the circulation office_ in london manages the ordinary post-office work of the metropolis. in it, or from it, all the letters, newspapers, and book-packets posted at, or arriving in, london, are sorted, despatched, and delivered. not only so; but in this office nearly all the continental, and most part of the other foreign mails for the whole of the british islands, are received, sorted, and despatched. under ordinary circumstances, moreover, british letters for a great number of places are sent in transit through london, where it is requisite they should be rearranged and forwarded. this daily herculean labour is performed by the clerks, sorters, and letter-carriers attached to the department. the ten district-offices in london, engaged with the same kind of work on a small scale, are subordinate to the circulation office at st. martin's-le-grand. the registered letter branch, employing no less than fifty clerks, and the returned letter branch, with the office for blind letters, are parts of the circulation department. the _major_ branch of the circulation office comprises the controller, a vice-controller, deputy-controllers, and clerks in three classes. the _minor_ establishment, as it is called, employs no fewer than , persons. in this force are included inspectors of letter-carriers in three classes; the rest, being composed of sorters, stampers, letter-carriers, and messengers. to these six principal departments may now be added that for the management of the new _post-office savings' banks_. like the money-order office, it occupies a separate building, in st. paul's churchyard. the savings' bank department keeps a personal account with every depositor. it acknowledges the receipt of every single deposit, and upon the requisite notice being furnished to the office, it sends out warrants authorizing postmasters to pay withdrawals. each year the savings' bank-book of each depositor is sent here for examination, and at the same time the interest accruing is calculated and allowed. the correspondence with postmasters and the public on any subject connected with the banks in question is managed entirely by this department. the already-existing machinery of the post-office has been freely called into operation, and the business of the new banks has increased the work of almost all the other branches, especially those of the receiver and accountant-general's and the money-order offices. through the former all the investments are received, and all remittances to postmasters for the repayment of deposits are made; while the surplus revenue goes from that office direct to that of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt. again, and as another instance of our meaning, the money-order office is required to undertake the examination of the general savings' bank account of each provincial postmaster. the staff of the savings' bank office in london is not yet complete, nor will it be until the complete effect of the new on the old savings' bank system be seen.[ ] at present, it comprises a controller, an assistant-controller, a principal clerk, ten first-class clerks (four of upper and six of lower section), fifteen second-class clerks, with a number of third-class clerks, and six messengers. the branches of minor importance and the miscellaneous officers of the london establishment, consist of a _medical department_, comprising one medical officer, one assistant medical officer, and one messenger. there are, besides, distinct medical officers attached to each of the london districts. the amount required for this service for - , including medicine (given gratuitously to all officers who are not in receipt of _l._ salary), is , _l._ _a house-keeper's department_, including a housekeeper and sixteen female servants, requiring a yearly payment of _l._ six engineers, ten constables, and six firemen are also constantly employed and paid by the post-office. when we add to this gigantic organization no less than letter-receivers in london, who receive from _l._ to _l._ a-year for partial service, the reader will have a tolerably correct idea of the establishment required to compass the amount of london postal business in the twenty-fourth year of penny postage.[ ] _the surveyor's department_ is the connecting medium between the metropolitan offices and the post-offices in provincial towns. the postmasters of the latter are under the immediate supervision of the surveyor of the district in which the towns are situate, and it is to this superior officer that they are primarily responsible for the efficient working and discipline of their respective staff of officers. among the many responsible duties of the surveyors, may be mentioned[ ] those of visiting periodically each office in their district, to remedy, where they can, all defects in the working of the postal system; to remove, when possible, all just grounds of complaint on the part of the public; "to give to the correspondence of their district increased celerity, regularity, and security" when opportunity offers, and to arrange for contracts with these objects. the act of queen anne provided for the appointment of one surveyor to the post-office, whose duties it should be to make proper surveys of post-roads. little more than a hundred years ago, one of these functionaries was sufficient to compass the duty of surveyor in england. there are now thirteen surveyors in the united kingdom,[ ] nine of whom are located in england, two in ireland, and two in scotland. these principal officers are assisted in their duties by thirty-two "surveyors' clerks," arranged in two classes, and thirteen stationary clerks. to this staff must also be added thirty-three "clerks in charge," in two classes, who are under the direction of the surveyors, and whose principal duty consists in supplying temporarily the position of postmaster, in case of vacancies occurring through deaths, removals, &c. there are, in all, head provincial establishments in england and wales, in ireland, and in scotland. they vary exceedingly, no two being exactly alike, but are settled in each town pretty much in proportion to the demands of the place, its size, trade, &c. sometimes, however, the _position_ of a town--the centre of a district, for instance--gives it more importance in an official sense than it would otherwise acquire from other and ordinary circumstances. the number of sub-offices attached to each town also varies greatly, according to the position of the head-office.[ ] next to the three chief offices, the largest establishments are those of liverpool, manchester, glasgow, birmingham, and bristol. among the most important offices of the second class, we may enumerate aberdeen, bath, belfast, cork, exeter, leeds, hull, newcastle-on-tyne, norwich, sheffield, southampton, and york.[ ] with respect to the rest, classification would be difficult; the postmasters receiving salaries ranging from _l._ to _l._ per annum, and varying from those where the whole of the duty of the office is performed by the postmaster himself, to others where he is assisted by a large staff of clerks and other auxiliaries.[ ] each head-postmaster is directly responsible for the full efficiency and proper management of his office. under the approval of the district surveyor, the sanction of the postmaster-general, and the favourable report of the civil service commissioners, the postmaster is allowed to appoint nearly the whole of his own officers, he being responsible to the authorities for their proper discipline and good conduct. formerly, and up to as late as eight years ago, each postmaster rendered an account of his transactions to the chief office quarterly. he now furnishes weekly general accounts, and daily accounts of money-order business, besides keeping his book open to the inspection of the superior officers of the post-office.[ ] footnotes: [ ] postmaster-general's _reports_, , , and _revenue estimates_ for - , from which the whole of our statistics are derived. [ ] the colonial post-offices proper are not under the rule of the english postmaster-general. all appointments to these offices are made by the colonial secretary, if the salary is over _l._; if under that sum, by the governors of the different colonies. [ ] an attempt was made at further centralization a few years ago, when it was proposed to reduce the chief offices of edinburgh and dublin to the position of offices in other large towns, a measure which had the effect of rousing the people of the sister-countries to arms. the commissioners of post-office inquiry who sat in reported against the proposal, considering the present system to possess advantages to the public over those accruing from the suggested change. [ ] for information relative to the necessary qualifications, examinations, &c. of candidates for appointment in the metropolitan or provincial offices, see appendix (c). [ ] the following list of postmasters-general before this period, taken from a return made to the house of commons, march , , may not be uninteresting to some of our readers. after sir brian tuke, the first "master of the postes," we find his successors to have been sir william paget, one of henry viii.'s chief secretaries of state, and john mason, esq. "secretary for the french tongue." "the fees or wages" of each of these functionaries are given at _l._ _s._ _d._ a-year. the reader will be familiar with the postmasters-general under elizabeth, james i., charles i. and the commonwealth. coming to the reign of charles ii. we find philip froude, esq. acting for the duke of york from to . william and mary. sir robert cotton; thomas frankland, esq. - queen anne. sir thomas frankland; sir john evelyn - george i. lord cornwallis; james craggs, esq. - edward carteret, esq.; galfridus walpole - george ii. edward carteret, esq.; lord thomas lovel - sir john eyles; lord lovel - lord lovel alone (now earl of leicester) - earl of besborough george iii. earl of egmont; hon. r. hampden lord hyde; hon. r. hampden earl of besborough; lord grantham earl of sandwich; lord de spencer viscount barrington; hon. henry carteret earl of tankerville; hon. h. carteret lord carteret; lord walsingham lord walsingham; earl of chesterfield earl of chesterfield; earl of leicester earl of leicester; lord auckland lord auckland; lord charles spencer lord spencer; duke of montrose earl of buckinghamshire; earl of carysfort earl of chichester alone earl of chichester; marquis of salisbury when the earl of salisbury died in , a successor was not appointed, the joint office being abolished, principally through the exertions of the late marquis of normanby. [ ] see appendix (a). [ ] for further information respecting this and all the other metropolitan offices, see appendix (d). extracts from the revenue estimates of - . [ ] the closing of the birmingham old savings' bank, for example, must have greatly increased the work of the central office, and this will follow as a consequence if in other large towns the example of birmingham be followed. [ ] large as this staff undoubtedly is, it would have been larger but for timely changes in the system of keeping accounts. in the civil service commission suggested various improvements in the organization, which resulted in a decrease of officers attached to some of the branches. [ ] postmaster general's _second report_. [ ] see appendix (a). [ ] _head-office_ is the official term given to the independent post-towns, and such as are only subordinate to one of the three metropolitan offices. _sub-offices_ are, of course, under the head-offices. _receiving-offices_, at which letters are received, but not delivered, are also under the authority of the head-office of the neighbourhood. those post-offices at which money-orders are issued and paid are designated _money-order offices_, and include all the head-offices and a large number of sub-offices, and a few receiving-offices. _packet-offices_ are those at which the regular mail-packets (ship-letters may be received or despatched. at any port) are received and from which they are despatched. london and southampton are packet-offices for the continental mails, the east and west indies, and south america. liverpool, and queenstown take the united states and canada. the mail-packets for the cape of good hope and the west coast of africa sail to and from devonport. [ ] for further information respecting these offices, see appendix (d), _revenue estimates_; also, for a statement of the amount of postage collected in our largest towns, see appendix (e). [ ] the staff of the largest provincial offices usually consists of clerks, sorters, stampers, messengers, letter-carriers, and rural post-messengers. the _clerks_ are now principally engaged on clerical duties, attending to the public on money-order business, &c. or in connexion with registered letters or unpaid-letter accounts. in offices where the staff is smaller, the clerks also engage in sorting and despatching letters. in many small country towns females are employed as clerks. the _sorters_ are principally engaged in sorting duties. _stampers_ and _messengers_ do duties such as their designations denote. _letter-carriers_--the familiar "postmen" of every household--are almost exclusively engaged in delivering letters, &c. from door to door. _auxiliary letter-carriers_ are those only partially so employed, principally on the largest, or early morning delivery. _rural post-messengers_ is the official name for "country postmen," who make daily journeys among the villages and hamlets surrounding each town, delivering and taking up letters on their way. [ ] for fuller information on this head, see appendix, to the postmaster-general's _first report_, pp. - . the following forms part of a later document (_ninth report_, - ), and is interesting enough to be quoted entire: "owing to the successful measures which the department has adopted by means of bonds, frequent supervision, and care in the selection of persons admitted into the service, and afterwards promoted therein, very few losses have occurred, of late years at least, through defalcation. more than twenty years ago, however, a postmaster who owed the office , _l._ but who had given security for only a part of that sum, absconded, leaving an unpaid debt of upwards of , _l._ the recovery of the debt had long been considered hopeless, but a short time ago a letter was unexpectedly received from the postmaster's son enclosing a remittance in payment of part of his father's debt, and expressing a hope that after a time he should be able to pay the remainder--a hope which was soon realized, every farthing of the debt having now been discharged, in a manner most creditable to the gentleman concerned." chapter ii. on the circulation of letters. in order to give the reader a proper idea of the channel through which ordinary correspondence flows--the circulation of letters in the post-office system--it will be necessary to devote a long chapter to the subject. we therefore propose to post an imaginary letter in the metropolis for a village in the far away north, following it from its place of posting till we finally see it deposited in the hands of the person to whom it is addressed. the general post-office. the general post-office, the great heart of the english postal system, is a fine and, now that so many district offices are opened in london, very convenient building. on the ground-floor the different offices attached to the circulation and mail departments are located. upstairs we find the secretary's department, that of the receiver and accountant-general, and other branches of the circulation office. approaching the large hall of the general post-office, through one of the three-columned porticoes, we post our letter, and as it is now nearly six o'clock p.m. we stand aside, for a few minutes only, to witness one of the most stirring scenes in the metropolis. throughout the day, one side of the hall presents a busy enough scene, and its boxes, open for the receipt of correspondence for all parts of the world, are constantly beset with people. not only do these huge slits still gape for letters, but the large windows, closed through the day, are thrown wide open as a quarter to six chimes from the neighbouring clocks. it is then that an impetuous crowd enters the hall, and letters and newspapers begin to fall in quite a literary hail-storm. the newspaper window, ever yawning for more, is presently surrounded and besieged by an array of boys of all ages and costumes, together with children of a larger growth, who are all alike pushing, heaving, and surging in one great mass. the window, with tremendous gape, is assaulted with showers of papers which fly thicker and faster than the driven snow. now it is that small boys of eleven and twelve years of age, panting, sinbad-like, under the weight of huge bundles of newspapers, manage somehow to dart about and make rapid _sorties_ into other ranks of boys, utterly disregarding the cries of the official policemen, who vainly endeavour to reduce the tumult into something like post-office order. if the lads cannot quietly and easily disembogue, they will whiz their missiles of intelligence over other people's heads, now and then sweeping off hats and caps with the force of shot. the gathering every moment increases in number and intensifies in purpose; arms, legs, sacks, baskets, heads, bundles, and woollen comforters--for whoever saw a veritable newspaper-boy without that appendage?--seem to be getting into a state of confusion and disagreeable communism, and "yet the cry is still they come." heaps of papers of widely-opposed political views are thrown in together; no longer placed carefully in the openings, they are now sent in in sackfuls and basketfuls, while over the heads of the surging crowd were flying back the empty sacks, thrown out of the office by the porters inside. semi-official legends, with a very strong smack of probability about them, tell of sundry boys being thrown in, seized, emptied, and thrown out again _void_. as six o'clock approaches still nearer and nearer, the turmoil increases more perceptibly, for the intelligent british public is fully alive to the awful truth that the post-office officials never allow a minute of grace, and that "newspaper fair" must be over when the last stroke of six is heard. _one_, in rush files of laggard boys who have purposely loitered, in the hope of a little pleasurable excitement; _two_, and grown men hurry in with their last sacks; _three_, the struggle resembles nothing so much as a pantomimic _mêlée_; _four_, a babel of tongues vociferating desperately; _five_, final and furious showers of papers, sacks, and bags; and _six_, when all the windows fall like so many swords of damocles, and the slits close with such a sudden and simultaneous snap, that we naturally suppose it to be a part of the post-office operations that attempts should be made to guillotine a score of hands; and then all is over so far as the outsiders are concerned. among the letter-boxes, scenes somewhat similar have been enacted. letters of every shape and colour, and of all weights have unceasingly poured in; tidings of life and death, hope and despair, success and failure, triumph and defeat, joy and sorrow; letters from friends and notes from lawyers, appeals from children and stern advice from parents, offers from anxious-hearted young gentlemen, and "first yesses" or refusals from young maidens; letters containing that snug appointment so long promised you, and "little bills" with requests for immediate payment, "together with six-and-eightpence;" cream-coloured missives telling of happy consummations, and black-edged envelopes telling of death and the grave; sober-looking advice notes, doubtless telling when "our mr. puffwell" would do himself the honour of calling on you, and elegant-looking billets in which business is never mentioned, all jostled each other for a short time; but the stream of gladness and of woe was stopped, at least for one night, when the last stroke of six was heard. the post-office, like a huge monster, to which one writer has likened it, has swallowed an enormous meal, and gorged to the full, it must now commence the process of digestion. while laggard boys, to whom cartoons by one "william hogarth" should be shown, are muttering "too late," and retiring discomfited, we, having obtained the requisite "open sesame," will make our way to the interior of the building. threading our course through several passages, we soon find ourselves among enormous apartments well lit up, where hundreds of human beings are moving about, lifting, shuffling, stamping, and sorting huge piles of letters, and still more enormous piles of newspapers, in what seems at first sight hopeless confusion, but in what is really the most admirable order. in the newspaper-room, men have been engaged not only in emptying the sacks flung in by strong-armed men and weak-legged boys, but also in raking up the single papers into large baskets, and conveying them up and down "hoists," into various divisions of the building. some estimate of the value of these mechanical appliances, moved of course by steam power, may be formed from the fact that hundreds of tons of paper pass up and down these lifts every week. as many of the newspapers escape from their covers in the excitement of posting, each night two or three officers are busily engaged during the whole time of despatch, in endeavouring to restore wrappers to newspapers found without any address. great as is the care exercised in this respect, it will occasionally happen that wrong newspapers will find their way into loose wrappers not belonging to them, and under the circumstances it would be by no means a matter of wonder if--as has been more than once pointed out--mr. bright should, instead of his _morning star_, receive a copy of the _saturday review_, or an evangelical curate the _guardian_ or _punch_, in place of his _record_ paper. in the letter-room the officers are no less busily engaged: a number of them are constantly at work during the hours of the despatch, in the operation of placing each letter with the address and postage label uppermost, so as to facilitate the process of stamping. in the general post-office the stamping is partly effected by machinery and partly by hand, and consists simply in imprinting upon each letter the date, hour, and place of posting, while at the same time the queen's head with which the letter is ornamented and franked gets disfigured.[ ] it will easily be imagined that a letter containing a box of pills stands a very good chance of being damaged under this manipulation, as a good stamper will strike about fifty letters in a minute. unpaid letters are kept apart, as they require stamping in a different coloured ink and with the double postage. such letters create much extra labour, and are a source of incessant trouble to the department, inasmuch as from the time of their posting in london to their delivery at the land's end or john o'groat's, every officer through whose hands they may pass has to keep a cash account of them. the double postage on such letters is more than earned by the post-office. all unfastened and torn letters, too, are picked out and conveyed to another portion of the large room, and it requires the unremitting attention of several busy individuals to finish the work left undone by the british public. it is scarcely credible that above letters daily are posted _open_, and bearing not the slightest mark of ever having been fastened in any way; but such is the fact. a fruitful source of extra work to this branch of the office arises through the posting of flimsy boxes containing feathers, slippers, and other _récherché_ articles of female dress, pill-boxes containing jewellery, and even bottles. the latter, however, are detained, glass articles and sharp instruments of any sort, whenever detected, being returned to the senders. these frail things, thrown in and buried under the heaps of correspondence, get crushed and broken, yet all are made up again carefully and resealed. when the letters have been stamped, and those insufficiently paid picked out, they are carried away to undergo the process of sorting. in this operation they are very rapidly divided into "roads," representing a line of large towns: thus, letters for derby, loughborough, nottingham, lincoln, &c. might be placed in companionship in one division or "road," and bilston, wednesbury, walsall, west bromwich, &c. in another. when this primary divisional sorting is finished, the letters are divided and subdivided over and over again, with the exception of those for the various travelling sorting-carriages upon the different lines of railway, which remain in divisions corresponding with various portions of the country through which the several mail-trains run. it is into one of these divisions that our own letter falls, to be seen again, however, when we come to describe the travelling post-offices. during the time occupied in making up the mails, the circulation branch of the general post-office presents a busy scene, yet retains the utmost order and regularity. hundreds of men are engaged in the various operations of sorting and sub-sorting, yet all proceeds really noiselessly, and as if the hundreds and thousands of letters representing the commerce and intelligence of the english people could not be treated too carefully. every now and again the sorter pauses in his rapid movements, and places a letter on one side. in some cases this signifies that he has detected a letter containing a _coin_ of some sort; and when such letters have been posted without being registered by the sender, the department takes this duty upon itself, charging a double fee on delivery. the number of letters of this class detected in london alone during the first six months after the plan was brought into operation, was upwards of , . letters which cannot be read, or letters imperfectly addressed, are also thrown on one side and conveyed to another part of the circulation branch, where gentlemen whose extraordinary faculty of discernment have gained them the singularly inappropriate name of "blind officers" sit in state. the blind letter-office is the receptacle for all illegible, misspelt, misdirected, or insufficiently addressed letters or packets. here the clerk or clerks, selected from amongst the most efficient and experienced officers, guess at what ordinary intelligence would readily denominate insoluble riddles. large numbers of letters are posted daily with superscriptions which the sorters cannot decipher, and which the great majority of people would not be able to read. others, again, are received with perhaps only the name of some small village, the writers thinking it a work of supererogation to add some neighbouring town, or even a county. numberless, for instance, are the letters bearing such addresses as "john smith, gardener, flowerdale," or "throgmorton hall, worcestershire." circulars, by the thousand, are posted in london and other large towns without hesitancy, and with the greatest confidence in the "final perseverance" principle of the post-office people, with addresses not more explicit than the foregoing. many country gentlemen would seem to cherish the idea that the names of their mansions should be known equally far and near from their manorial acres, and somehow they seem to inoculate their correspondents with the same absurd notion. if, however, it be possible to reduce the hieroglyphics on some strange letter to ordinary every-day english, or find, from diligent search in his library of reference, information relative to imperfectly-addressed letters (information which might have been given much more easily by the senders), our readers may be sure that the cunning gentleman of the blind office, justly known for his patience and sagacity, will do it, unless, indeed, the letter be "stone blind," or hopelessly incomplete. as a genuine example of stone-blind letters, take the following, the first of a batch which has been known to pass through the blind-room of the general post-office:-- +-----------------------------------+ | | | uncle john | | | | hopposite the church | | | | london. hingland | | | +-----------------------------------+ it would certainly have been a wonderful triumph of skill to have put this letter in a fair way for delivery: for once the blind officer would acknowledge himself beaten; and then the dead letter officers would endeavour to find "uncle john's" _relative_, intimating to the said relative that greater explicitness is needed if "uncle john" must be found. but they manage better with the next letter in the batch. +--------------------------+ | | | coneyach lunentick | | | | a siliam | | | +--------------------------+ is part of the address of a letter which the sorter no doubt threw away from him with some impatience. the blind officer, however, reads it instantly, strikes his pen, perhaps, through the address, and writes on the envelope, "colney hatch lunatic asylum," and passes it out for delivery. +-------------------------+ | | | | | obern yenen | | | | | +-------------------------+ is seen in an instant to be meant for "holborn union." "isle of wight" is, in like manner, written on a letter improperly addressed as follows:-- +-------------------------------+ | | | ann m---- | | | | oileywhite | | | | amshire | | | +-------------------------------+ the probability is that the last-mentioned letter will come back to the dead letter-office, on account of no town being given in the address; still, the usual course is to send it out to the local district designated, there being always the possibility that certain individuals may be locally known. "_ashby-de-la-zouch_" is a town to spell which gives infinite trouble to letter-writers; but the post-office official is especially lenient and patient in cases of this kind. there are fifty different ways of spelling the name, and few letters, except those of the better classes, give it rightly spelt. "hasbedellar-such" is the ordinary spelling among the poor living at a distance. +---------------------------------------+ | | | ash bedles in such | | | | for john horsel, grinder | | | | in the county of lestysheer | | | +---------------------------------------+ is a copy of a veritable address meant for the above town. the blind letter officers of an earlier date succumbed before the following letter:-- +-------------------------------------------+ | | | for mister willy wot brinds de baber | | | | in lang-gaster ware te gal is | | | +-------------------------------------------+ but the dead letter officers were enabled from the contents to make out that it was meant for the editor of a lancaster paper, "where the gaol is." the communication enclosed was an essay written by a foreigner against public schools! the blind officers are supplied with all the principal london and provincial directories, court guides, gazetteers, &c.; and by the help of this, their library of reference, added to their own experience and intelligence, they are generally able to put again into circulation without the necessity of opening them, five out of six of all the letters which are handed over to them. the addresses of some letters are at once seen to be the result of mistake on the part of senders. letters addressed "lombard street, manchester," "st. paul's churchyard, liverpool," both obviously intended for london, are sent out for trial by the letter-carriers at what are believed to be their real destinations. (see _ninth report_.) letters, again, for persons of rank and eminence, dignitaries of the church, prominent officers of the army or navy, whose correct addresses are known, or can be ascertained, are immediately sent out for delivery to their right destination, however erroneously directed, without question or examination of contents. the following strange letters, meant for the eye of royalty, would not be impeded in their progress in any way:-- +----------------------------+ | | | keen vic tory at | | | | winer casel | | | +----------------------------+ and another-- +----------------------------+ | | | miss | | | | queene victoria | | | | of england | | | +----------------------------+ would go to windsor castle without fail; while the following, posted in london at the breaking-out of the polish insurrection, would find its way to st. petersburg as fast as packet could carry it:-- +----------------------------------+ | | | to the king of rusheya | | | | feoren, with speed. | | | +----------------------------------+ when the letter-carriers and the blind officers have expended all their skill upon certain letters in vain, the next step is to send them to the dead-letter office. in order that they may be returned to the writers, provided any clue can be obtained from the contents as to their whereabouts. the branch in which this work is accomplished is now a very considerable establishment, employing at least a score more clerks, &c. than in the days of the old postage. in , just a hundred years ago, the records show that two clerks only were engaged in opening "_dead and insolvent letters_." now, nearly fifty officers are employed in the same duties. nor are these duties by any means so only in name. last year considerably over two millions of letters were returned to their writers through the dead-letter office from failures in the attempts to deliver them. "three-quarters of the non-deliveries," says the postmaster-general, "were on account of the letters being insufficiently or incorrectly addressed, nearly , letters having been posted _without any address at all_." in every provincial post-office in england and wales a dead or returned letter-bag is now forwarded daily to london, containing all the letters which, from any cause, cannot be delivered. each letter bears on its front, written prominently in red ink, the reason of its non-delivery. thus, if the addressee cannot be found, or should have left the town, the words "cannot be found," or "gone--left no address," are written respectively. on the arrival of these bags in london, inclosed in the larger bags containing the general correspondence, they are at once passed to the "returned-letter branch," as the dead-letter office is called, where no time is lost in opening them. every letter received is first examined by an experienced and responsible officer, to make sure that it has been actually presented according to its address, and that the reasons assigned on the cover of the letter are sufficient to account for its non-delivery. in doubtful cases, before the letter is opened, the directories and other books of reference, of which there is a plentiful supply in this office, are consulted, and should it be found or thought that there has been any oversight or neglect, the letter is re-issued, with proper instructions, by the first post. about letters are thus re-issued daily, many of which ultimately reach the persons for whom they are intended. when it has been fully ascertained that nothing further can be done to effect the delivery of an imperfectly or improperly addressed letter, it only remains to have it sent back to the writer. this is done, if possible, without the letter being opened. by an arrangement of ten years' standing, if the returned letter has the writer's name and address embossed on the back of the envelope, impressed on the seal, or written or printed anywhere outside, it will not be opened, but forwarded back according to this address. we may point out here, however, that this arrangement, excellent and satisfactory as it is, has sometimes led to serious mistakes and confusion; so much so, in fact, that the postmaster-general, in his report for , appealed to the public on the subject. it would appear that the practice of using another person's embossed envelope is on the increase. when such a letter, according to the arrangement, is forwarded to the supposed writer, it has frequently fallen into the wrong hands (the master and merchant instead of the clerk or other servant), and grievous complaints have been made on the subject. the remedy, of course, lies with letter-writers themselves. if there are no outward marks to indicate the sender, the letter is then opened, and, if a suitable address can be found inside, the letter is inclosed in the well-known dead-letter envelope and forwarded according to that address. if a letter should be found to contain anything of value, such as bank-notes, drafts, postage-stamps, the precaution is taken of having a special record taken of it, and it is then sent back as a registered dead letter. money to the value of , _l._ or , _l._ is annually found in these returned letters. of this sum about _l._ per annum falls into the public exchequer, on account of no address being found inside, and no inquiry being made for the missing letters. a vast number of bank post-bills and bills of exchange are likewise found, amounting in all, and on the average, to something like , , _l._ a-year. these bills, however, as well as money-order advices, always afford some clue to the senders, even supposing no address should be given inside the letter, and inquiries are set on foot at the bankers and others whose names may be given in the paper transactions. forty thousand letters reach the english returned branch each year containing property of different kinds. many presents, such as rings, pins, brooches, never reach their destination, and are never sent back to the sender, because they are often unaccompanied with any letter. these articles, of course, become the property of the crown. postmasters of irish towns send their "dead and insolvent letters" to dublin, and the residuum of the local scotch post-towns are sent to edinburgh. in both these capitals, this particular class of letters is dealt with in exactly the same manner as in the london office. we are assured that the letters themselves, and the articles found in the scotch and irish dead letters, illustrate no little the characters, the feeling, and habits of the two people. the scotch have, comparatively speaking, the fewest dead letters; and as the writers are generally careful to give their addresses inside the letters, little trouble is said to be experienced in returning them, if it is necessary. the irish dead letters are more numerous than either the english or the scotch. this mainly arises from the circumstance of the nomadic habits of a considerable portion of the irish people: owing also to the same circumstance, it is impossible to return many of the letters to the writers. the scotch dead letters rarely contain coin or any very valuable enclosures, while of articles of jewellery, such as usually form presents or tokens of affection, we are told there is a "lamentable deficiency." the irish dead letters, on the contrary, "are full of little _cadeaux_ and small sums of money," illustrating at the same time both the careless and the affectionate nature of the people. letters which can neither be delivered nor returned through the post-office are, if found to be valuable and if posted in the united kingdom, appropriated to the public revenue after a certain time; if received for delivery from a foreign state, they are sent back to the chief office of that country for final disposition. letters posted in this country found to be of no value, are kept at the post-office for a month and then destroyed; foreign letters under the same circumstances are not destroyed for two months. and now, unless we at once return from our digression, we shall not be in time to see the great night-mail despatched from st. martin's-le-grand. whilst we have been occupied with a contemplation of the few waifs and strays of our national correspondence, the great bulk of that correspondence has been well and carefully disposed of: the letters and newspapers which we saw two hours ago as a mass of inextricable confusion, are now carefully stowed away in their respective bags, and not a letter or newspaper can be found. the hall clock is silently approaching the hour of eight, when the bags must all be sealed and ready to leave the place. at five minutes before that time, all is still bustle and activity; five minutes perhaps after that hour the establishment is nearly deserted. "everything is done on military principles to minute time." "the drill and subdivisions of duties are so perfect," adds a close observer, "that the alternations are high pressure and sudden collapse." this is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the post-office, is subject to great variations in the amount of work to be done. particular nights in the week, mondays and tuesdays for example, are known as the "heaviest," and even such events as elections, influence the labour to be performed within the same given time. during the last election for lambeth, , circulars were posted in london in one day, and properly disposed of. on the th of february last, , extra letters, or valentines, passed through the circulation office in london. compared with valentine's day , there was an increase of a quarter of a million letters! in place of the old mail-coaches waiting in the yard of the office until the work is completed inside, we have now the well-known mail-vans. as they are rapidly supplied with bags, they chase each other to the various railway stations, from which, to all points of the compass, the night-mails now depart. half an hour afterwards, we find ourselves in one of these trains watching operations not dissimilar to those we have just left, but much more wonderful, considering how they are accomplished. the travelling post-office. the travelling post-office deserves special attention, not less on account of the interesting nature of the work performed, than because it serves many important ends in the system of which it forms a part. it is to the railway post-offices that the department is indebted for much of the simplification of its accounts. at different points in a mail-coach journey, long stoppages used to be made in order that the "bye" and "forward" letters might get sorted; on the introduction of railways, it was seen that the number of bags must either be enormously increased, and other complications arise, or the railways could not to any extent be rendered available for post-office purposes. just at this juncture, it was suggested that the work might be done during the journey, and the obstacles were soon surmounted. further, by means of the travelling offices, the post-office is enabled to offer more time for the posting of letters, and not only so, but to give the public the benefit of earlier deliveries. the railway-mail service has now assumed quite gigantic proportions. twenty-six years ago, when railways were only partially used for post-office purposes, a writer predicted that they would "soon become the _ne plus ultra_ of rapidity," and that the post-office would have to take to them more and more. "in a few years," said the writer, "railways will have become so general, that scarcely a mail-coach will be left in england; certainly, none will be wanted in london." both predictions have since been verified; for the last twenty years, railways have gradually absorbed all the mail contracts,--year by year the estimates for this service showing a corresponding increase.[ ] the first railway post-office journey was made on the grand junction railway, between liverpool and birmingham, on the st of july, . when the line was completed to london, in january, , the travelling office started from the metropolis. the following curious account of the "grand northern railway post-office," as it was called, is culled from the _penny magazine_. "on the arrival of the four 'accelerators' at the euston station with the mails, the railway servants immediately carry the large sacks to a huge looking machine, with a tender attached to it, both at the end of the train. this caravan is the flying post-office, with a table for sorting letters, and holes round the walls for their reception." the carriage was certainly either an ungainly structure, or the above is a most ungainly report. "in ten minutes," continues the narrator, "the omnibuses are emptied of their contents, and the train of carriages is then _wound up_ to the station at camden town, where the engine is attached, _and the primrose hill tunnel soon prevents us hearing the thunder of their rapid progress_." the londoner of , in these days of metropolitan railways can afford to smile at this last sentence. that the change in the system of mail conveyance wrought immediate and striking improvement at the post-office does not admit of question. in a contemporary account, we find an interesting but wonder-stricken writer stating that "by means of the extra railway facilities, letters now pass along this line (london and birmingham) in a space of time so inconceivably quick, that some time must elapse before our ideas become accustomed to such a rapid mode of intercourse." we learn from different works published by mr. charles knight, that when the railways were extended farther northwards, the railway post-office was extended with them, and was formed into sections. thus, when the lines were continued north as far as lancaster, there were two divisions formed, one staff of clerks, &c. to the number of eight, working between london and birmingham, and ten between birmingham and lancaster.[ ] there were two mails each day in both directions. the distance between london and lancaster ( miles) was accomplished in eleven hours and a half. the weight of the railway post-office, tender, bags, and clerks, is stated by mr. whishaw, in his work on railways, to have been at that period about nine tons. at that time, the expense of the service was regulated by the weight carried. at present, on the great trunk line of the london and north western railway company, no fewer than eight mail-trains run daily up and down, each conveying railway post-office carriages and post-office employés. half of these trains are run specially, the number of passengers being limited. the weight of mails running over this ground must have increased fourfold at the least, inasmuch as the number of officers have been augmented in even a greater proportion. surprising as was the speed at which the first railway post-office travelled, and wonderful as it was thought at the time, one of the mail-trains now runs nearly double the distance between london and lancaster during the time which used to be taken for that ground alone. _the limited night-mail_, travelling between the euston square station in london, and perth in scotland, accomplishes the distance of miles in eleven hours and a half, or about forty miles an hour including stoppages! the railway post-office proper, is now extended over nearly every considerable line of railway in the kingdom. it comprises a number of divisions or sections, named generally from the locality through which they extend, or the railway travelled over, as the bangor and leeds division, the caledonian railway post-office. the four principal or trunk mails, three of them being divided into two sections, are ( ) the north-western railway post-office, travelling between london and carlisle; ( ) the irish mail, between london and holyhead; ( ) the great western, between london and exeter; and ( ) the midland, between bristol and newcastle-on-tyne. most of these divisions have _day_- as well as _night_-mails running over them daily. four trains a-day, being two in each direction, are therefore the usual proportion of mails on the chief lines of railway. as london is the _heart_ of the postal system, so these four principal mails may be termed its _main arteries_, while as veins in the great system, there are a number of smaller divisions of the railway post-office that have not been enumerated. again, at other parts or points not important or extensive enough for travelling offices, railway trains are arranged to wait the arrival of the trunk mails; and thus, to continue the figure, our letters--the life-blood of a nation's commerce and sociality--are conveyed to the remotest corners of the country. it may be imagined that a proper control of this vast machinery, extending through almost every county in the kingdom, with its scattered staff of officials, will be difficult; but the efficient working of the whole is nevertheless as thoroughly and promptly maintained as in any other department where personal supervision is more direct. each divisional part has distinct officers allotted to it, the number of _clerks_ being regulated according to the number of mails running over the division in the course of a day, and the number of _sorters_ according to the amount of sorting duties to be performed. each mail travels under the charge of one clerk, while each division is locally superintended by one senior clerk. the entire direction, however, of all the travelling officers is vested in the inspector-general of mails, who also presides over the mail office at st. martin's-le-grand. we may here further state, that the _length_ of the divisions--the extent of one of which forms a post-office journey or "trip"--varies slightly, averaging about miles; the average _time_ taken to perform the journeys being between five and six hours. as a rule, the night-mails travel during the night-time, or between eight p.m. and six a.m.; the day-mails generally speaking throughout the day. but we must make ready for our journey, and enter more into detail. while van after van is arriving with its heavy loads of mail-bags, we have time to notice that the train standing at the great london terminus is nearly all post-office. two or three carriages are being filled as full as possible with made-up bags, and two more, fitted up like post-offices, are simply meant for operations similar to those we have already seen at the general post-office, in connexion with the unfinished work which has now to be accomplished during the journey. it is with the remaining carriage only that we have to do. seen from the outside, the office itself may still answer to the description given of it twenty-five years ago by our authority above adverted to, although considerable improvements must have been made in its construction since that time. though the structure is built with a very evident serviceable purpose, the large, heavily-painted, windowless vehicle, looks more as if intended for the conveyance of her majesty's horses than her majesty's mails; the roof, however, covered with glass, with other contrivances for the purposes of ventilation, soon convinces us that it is intended for some description of the _genus homo_. we go inside, and find it built like an ordinary saloon carriage, about twenty-two feet long, and as wide and spacious as the railway arrangements will allow. it is night-time, the reader will remember, and the interior looks warm and cheerful with its row of bright-burning moderator lamps, and, in this respect, contrasts strongly and pleasantly, as far as we are concerned, with the dimly-lighted station, through which the cold night air is rushing. the reader who is following us in this description must abstain from imagining anything like luxury in the internal fittings. everything here is requisite for accomplishing the work in hand, but there is no provision for any kind of indulgence; and spacious as the place seems at a first glance, there is not to be found, when we come to look narrowly, a single foot of spare room. along the whole length of one side of the carriage, and encroaching materially upon its width, a number of tiers of boxes--the "holes" of our ancient authority--are arranged for the sorting processes; the smaller ones for the letters, and the larger ones in the centre of the office--more like shelves, many of them being movable--for the newspapers and all that vast variety of articles forwarded according to the rules of book-post. every available inch of space on the other side of the office is covered with upright pegs, in recesses sunk in the carriage-sides, upon which are hung the bags--now made of canvas, with the names of towns conspicuously painted upon them--to be used in the course of the journey. these recesses, as well as the two ends of the office, are well padded over, to secure additional safety to the officers in the event of any accident.[ ] under the desks or counters, which run from one end of the carriage to the other, bags are packed, to be given out as the train arrives at the respective stations. in less time, however, than it would take to read the foregoing, the mail has speeded miles away, and reached, by this time, the fox-covers and game-preserves of those hertfordshire landowners who, when the railway was projected, expressed the wish that its concoctors "were at rest in paradise!" the train possibly "thundered" through camden town as it used to do in olden times, but it would be but a momentary sensation, not to speak of the inhabitants being now quite accustomed to it. the post-office work commenced when the train left the station. the bags were quickly seized by the proper sorter, cut, and their contents turned out on the desk. then he distributes what he finds in the bags according to a pre-arranged order. the registered letters which have found their way to the office he at once transfers to the clerk on duty whose special province it is to deal with them; the bundles of ordinary letters--in one of which packets is the identical letter we ourselves posted--he hands over to his fellow-sorters, who, each standing opposite to a distinct set of boxes, labelled with the names of different towns on the route, at once sort them away. the newspapers he deals with himself. the work thus started, the scene presently becomes one of considerable animation and a pleasant-enough sort of excitement, till every bundle of letters is cut open and disposed of in the boxes. there is then a lull, but it is only temporary. it is true that the train will not stop till the county of warwickshire is reached; but the intervening country is provided for nevertheless--arrangements having been made that at all the towns we pass the exchange of letter-bags shall be effected by means of machinery whilst the train is progressing at its usual speed. the contrivance in question deserves minute description.[ ] the machinery is not worked in the post-office, but in an adjoining van. by means, however, of a substantial iron gangway, the two carriages are connected, so that we can pass easily from one to the other and see the operation itself. as we do so we are evidently nearing some town, for the sorter is at that moment engaged in peering out of the window into the darkness in search of some familiar object, such as bridge, river, or cluster of trees, by means of which he is enabled to tell his whereabouts with almost mathematical precision. whilst he is busy finding his position we will take the time to explain, that the machinery is arranged so as to secure, simultaneously in most cases, both the receipt and the despatch of bags. for the purpose of receiving bags, a large strong net is fixed to one side of the van, to be drawn down at the proper moment; and close to the door, on each side of it, securely fixed to the carriage, are hollow iron bars, inside each of which, working by means of a rope and pulley, an iron arm is fixed, upon which the bags to be delivered, securely strapped in a thick, leathern pouch, are suspended. where the exchange has to be effected at the station we are nearing, the arrangements are just the counterparts of this. a net is spread to catch each pouch from the extended arm of the carriage, and pouches are hung from iron standards in the ground of sufficient height for the net in the train. the operation itself is just commencing. the door is pushed back into the groove in which it works, and then the sorter, touching a spring that holds up the net, it is loosened from its supports, and projects over the carriage-sides; the iron arm, acting on its pulley-rope, is drawn round into the carriage, where the pouch is rapidly fastened to it by means of a catch or spring--but in such a manner that a touch from the net-apparatus at the station will bring it off--and then let down, remaining by virtue of its own weight at right angles to the door. a moment of waiting, and then all the machinery acts its assigned part properly; the pouch disappears from the arm (or arms, if the bags have been heavy enough for two to be used), and at the same moment another descends into the post-office net, and all is over and quiet as before. we mean, of course, comparative quiet, as much as is possible amid the din and endless rattle of a train speeding at the rate of forty miles an hour. we follow the sorter as he makes his way back into the post-office carriage, carrying with him the treasures we have watched him pick up by the wayside. these new arrivals disposed of in the orthodox way, and the process repeated two or three times, there is suddenly a movement among the officers as they busy themselves in collecting from the different boxes all the letters that have been received from first to last for the bags about to be despatched at the approaching town--the first junction station. the letters in question are examined to test the correctness of the sorting, then tied up in bundles in a sharp and decisive way, then placed away carefully in the several bags, which are tied, sealed, and ready for delivery just as the train is brought to a stand. here they are given out; fresh supplies are received from a number of large towns in the immediate district, and the train is again on its way. the bags received are at once opened; the same round of sorting, collecting, examining, is gone through; the same process of despatching for the next and all subsequent postal stages is repeated, just as we have described. little variation is noticed, except that at certain points a much larger number of bags are thrown into the office--for instance, as the train nears the more thickly populated parts of the midland counties, then the "black country," as it is called, and subsequently the manufacturing districts. at one of these points a considerable addition was made to the staff of sorters, who fell at once to work in the vacant spaces left for them. and it was not before they were required; for presently the train arrives at one of the principal mail junctions in the kingdom, where an immense number of bags wait our arrival. these bags have been brought somewhat earlier on, by other mail trains, arranged so as to effect a junction with us; these having in their turn met with other trains running across the country in transverse directions. thus there are here, bags from towns near and towns remote, containing letters for places from which we are, as yet, hundreds of miles distant. the work, however, will be resumed with increased activity, according to the number of letters which may be forthcoming, only whatever number there may be, all must be finished in a given time. so far, the reader may imagine the duty to be one of dull routine and very monotonous; so as a rule we believe it is: there are circumstances connected with the manner of travelling, however, which conspire to make it at times somewhat varied and exceptional. one moment, and we are clattering down a hill, and the sorting partakes, to some extent, of the same tear-away speed; another time, we are panting up a line of steep gradient, and the letters find their boxes very deliberately; now, the rails are somewhat out of order, or the coupling of the carriages has not been well attended to, or we are winding round a succession of sharp curves, and can scarcely keep our feet as the carriage lurches first to one side, then to the other; in all which cases, not only is our own equilibrium a source of difficulty to us, but we see that things proceed anything but smoothly among the letters, which refuse to go in at all, or go in with a spirited evolution, fluttering outside, and then landing at their destination upside down, or in some other way transgressing official rules in such case made and provided. then the work is accompanied to the different kinds of music, well known to "express travellers." now the train is tearing away through a tunnel, or through an interminably long cutting of thick-ribbed stone, and then under or over a bridge. nor is this all, nor the worst: these noises are very frequently varied by what is anything but a lively tune on the engine whistle, but which, supposing the signal lights to be against us, or cerberus asleep at his post, is too often a round of screeching and screaming enough to waken the seven sleepers. whatever be the general character of the work, we are bent on enjoyment during this particular journey. the country through which the train is now proceeding is but thinly supplied with towns, hence the number of letters received is much smaller, and we may avail ourselves of the opportunity which this break in the character of the duty gives us, to examine more closely and from our own point of view, a few of the letters which are waiting to be despatched. the sorters also, glad of a little relaxation, have produced from their hiding places under the blue cloth-covered counter, an oval kind of swing-seat attached to it, which turns outside somewhat ingeniously upon a swivel, and seat themselves at their work. undoubtedly, the first thing which will strike an observer placed in circumstances like ours, is, that the post-office is eminently a democratic establishment, conducted on the most improved _fraternité et égalité_ principles. the same sort of variety that marks society, here marks its letters; envelopes of all shades and sizes; handwriting of all imaginable kinds, written in all shades of ink, with every description of pen; names the oddest, and names the most ordinary, and patronymics to which no possible exception can be taken. then to notice the _seals_. here is one envelope stamped with the escutcheoned signet of an earl; another where the wax has yielded submissively to the initials of plain john brown; and yet another, plastered with cobbler's wax, with an impression that makes no figure in _burke_ or _debrett_, but which, indeed, bears many evidences of having been manufactured with hob-nails. then to think that queen victoria, and john brown, and the cobbler aforesaid, must each find the inevitable queen's head, without which no letter of high or low degree can pass unquestioned! here they are--these letters--mingling for a few hours at any rate in silent but common fellowship, tossed about in company, belaboured with the self-same knocks on the head, sent to their destination locked in loving embrace, and sometimes, as in the case of the cobbler's, exceedingly difficult to part. if we turn to consider the addresses, how amusing we find some in their ambiguity; how blundering and stupid a few more! some say too little, others too much; some give the phonetic system with _malice prepense_, others because it is nature's own rendering and they have never known school! sometimes (and the practice is growing) the envelope is covered with long advertisements, for the benefit and information of the post-office officials, we presume, in which case it is difficult to arrive at the proper address of the letter at the first or even second glance. some give the address of the _sender_ in prominent printed characters, and it is surely not a matter of wonder when the letter, as not unfrequently, happens, finds its way back to the sender. in all cases of this kind, time is of course lost to the post-office, and the work of examination is necessarily deliberate, hesitating, and slow. at one point, the quota of letters from the sister-isle is received, and it is then perhaps that the sorter's patience is put to the severest test. the addresses of the letters of the poorer irish are generally so involved--always being sent to the care of one or two individuals--that they usually present the appearance of a little wilderness of words. as a specimen of the kind of letter referred to, we give our readers a copy of one which actually passed through the post-office some time ago, assuring them that though the following is rather an _ultra_ specimen, this kind of minute but indefinite address is by no means uncommon among the class referred to:-- +----------------------------------------------+ | | | to my sister bridget, or else to | | | | my brother tim burke, in care | | | | of the praste, who lives in the parish | | | | of balcumbury in cork, or if not to | | | | _some dacent neighbour in ireland_. | | | +----------------------------------------------+ the english poor oftener, as we have already seen, show their unbounded confidence in the sagacity of the officers of the post-office by leaving out some essential part of the address of a letter, but very seldom writing too much. we once saw a letter addressed as follows:--"mary h----, a tall woman with two children," and giving the name of a large town in the west of england. the scotch people, as a rule, attain the golden mean, and exhibit the greatest care in such matters. nor can we wonder at this. the poorer classes are certainly better educated, and whilst seldom profuse on their letters, they are cautious enough not to leave anything of consequence unwritten. the statistics of the dead letter offices of the three countries confirm, to some considerable extent, our rough generalizations. after all, however, the cases of blunder are exceptional; and as no really blind letters are found in the travelling offices, because no letters are posted here, little difficulty is felt, comparatively speaking, and nothing but patience and the rosetta stone of experience are needed for the performance of the duty. the great majority of letters are like the great majority of people--ordinary, unexceptionable, and mediocre. it could not well be otherwise. in the railway post-office, however, much is learned from the habit of association. the officers, of course, take some degree of interest in the towns on his ride; for, almost domesticated on the rail, he becomes a sort of denizen of those towns he is constantly passing, and sees, or fancies he does, from the letters that arrive from them, a kind of corroboration of all he has settled in his mind with regard to them. almost every town has its distinctive kind of letters. that town we just passed is manufacturing, and the letters are almost entirely confined to sober-looking advice-cards, circulars, prices current, and invoices, generally very similar in kind and appearance, in good-sized envelopes, with very plainly written or printed addresses. now and then a lawyer's letter, written in a painfully distinct hand, or a thick, fat, banker's letter, groaning under the weight of bills and notes, escapes from company such as we have described; but still the letters sustain the town's real character. now we are at an old country town, with quiet-going people, living as their fathers did before them, and inheriting not only their money and lands, but their most cherished principles: their letters are just as we expected, little, quiet, old-fashioned-looking things, remarkable for nothing so much as their fewness. _now_ we are among the coal-districts, and almost all the letters have a smudged appearance, making you imagine that they must have been written by the light of pit-candles, in some region of carbon "two hundred fathoms down." _this_ bag comes from a sea-bathing place, and so long as summer continues, will unmistakably remind you of sea-shore, sea-sand, and sea-anemones. _these_ bags have previously had to cross a broad sea ferry, and the letters tell of salt water as certainly as if they were so many fishes. another twenty miles, and we come to an old cathedral town with its letters looking as orthodox as any convocation could wish; whilst that other town is clearly a resort of fashion, if we may judge from the finely scented, perfumed, elegant-looking billets that escape from its post-bag. and thus interested and observing, we are rapidly reaching our destination. we are at the terminus at last. the office is emptied of all its contents, and the bags, securely made up, are forwarded under care of other officers in different trains, proceeding far and near. nor have we forgotten our own letter. in the vast mass of letters it holds a well-secured place, being safely ensconced in one of these very bags; and we will endeavour to be present when the bag is opened, that we may verify our assertion. out of the carriage and once on _terra firma_, we feel a sensation of dreamy wonder that nothing has happened to us; that, considering the noise and the whirl, and the excitement of the work we have witnessed, our brain is not tied up in a knot somewhere in the head, instead of only swimming. dusty, tired, and sleepy, we hurry through the streets for refreshment, if not repose, while the day is just breaking. of course, this post-office machinery, which we have attempted to describe, is necessarily delicate and liable to derangements, inasmuch as it has to depend to a great extent on the proper carrying out throughout the country of an infinite number of railway arrangements. its successful working is doubtless primarily due to the special time chosen for the conveyance of mails. the ordinary traffic disposed of, the mail-trains take its place, and through the long night the best part of the post-office work is accomplished. the good or bad management of railway companies may assist or retard the efficiency of the post-office to an almost incalculable extent. the railway post-office is like a gigantic machine, one part interdependent on another, and all alike dependent on the motive power of the different contracting parties. railway accidents are fruitful sources of discomfiture to the post-office department. the mail-trains have, within the last two or three years, enjoyed an immunity from any very serious calamity of this nature: yet even when this is not the case, it very seldom happens that the post-office arrangements suffer, except on the particular journey wherein the accident occurred. fresh supplies of men and _matériel_ are summoned with a speed that would, or ought to, surprise some other commissariat departments, and the work proceeds the next day or night as if the equilibrium had never been disturbed. as the question whether continual railway travelling is prejudicial to health has frequently been discussed of late, it may not be out of place to instance the case of the travelling _employés_ of the post-office, which seems to show that persons in the enjoyment of good health are benefited by railway travelling. the ratio of sickness among the post-office clerks and sorters engaged upon railways is certainly not greater, we are told, than among the same class of officers employed at the london establishment. the fact seems to be that, were it not that the former travel generally at night-time, are exposed to sudden changes of weather, and are, on certain emergencies, forced to travel oftener and further than the authorized limits, the ratio would be considerably less than it is. dr. waller lewis, the medical officer of the post-office, supplies us, in a recent report, with a number of cases that have come under his immediate notice, where incessant, and even excessive railway travelling, does not seem to have been at all detrimental to the health of those so engaged. "one of our best officers," says dr. lewis, "states that he has no doubt that, during the period of twenty years that he has been engaged in railway duties, he travelled, on an average, a hundred miles a-day, sundays included. all this time he not only enjoyed excellent health, but he was stouter and stronger than he has been since leaving that duty." dr. lewis further tells us, that it is part of his duty to examine candidates for appointment in this department of the public service, and again to examine them after they have undergone a probation varying from six to eighteen months. "in reply to my question, addressed to such officers after a probationary term, of how they found the travelling agree with them, some stated that they had never been so well in their lives. a considerable number of them replied that they had not had an hour's illness since they commenced railway duty." of course, these last-mentioned persons were _candidates_ for appointments in a lucrative branch of the post-office, and their statements must be received subject to this understanding and with due caution: still, it seems certain that the general testimony borne in the travelling offices is not unfavourable to the healthiness of the employment. with regard to the question of injury to the eyesight from railway travelling, dr. lewis may again be supposed to speak authoritatively when he considers "it very injurious to allow the eyes to rest on external objects near at hand, such as telegraph-poles or wires, near trees or hedges, &c. whilst the train is in motion;" but, speaking of the same subject, he "does not find that in the travelling post-office much mischief is occasioned to the sight."[ ] when we remember that the post-office work is generally performed by means of a strong artificial light, and much tedious deciphering of the addresses of letters necessarily occurs, as we have seen, during travelling, it must be admitted that the eyesight is here put to the strongest possible test. we have now traced our letter, posted in the metropolis, through the travelling post-office into the establishment of a provincial town. we shall follow it presently, and not leave it till it is properly delivered at the rural village to which we saw it addressed; but we must take the opportunities as they occur to describe with minuteness each particular, whether bearing directly or collaterally on our subject, as well as to add now and then a timely exhortation to the reader. thus, you are indignant, perhaps, that a certain letter you ought to have had is not to hand at the proper moment, but has suffered some delay in transit. however, just think how many letters you do get, which come to your desk as true as the needle to the pole. just listen to the old gentleman yonder as he tells how long the same business letter from a certain old-established house used to be in arriving, and what was paid for it when it did arrive. above all, pray think of the travelling caged officials--those wingless birds of the post-office--and of what they go through o' nights in order that you may have your letter or your newspaper--posted yesterday in some quiet corner of the country or miles away--with your buttered toast to breakfast in town! a provincial post-office. thirty years ago the arrangements in the north country town of the district to which our imaginary letter was addressed, and which we are engaged to visit, were of the most primitive kind. it has always been an important town. even anterior to the first establishment of the british post-office, it was the first town in the county in which it stands. subsequently, it was on the direct line of one of the principal mail-routes in the kingdom, and now, in these days of railroads, it is a kind of junction for the district. postally speaking, it was, and is, a place of importance, including within its boundaries nearly a hundred villages, all deriving their letter-sustenance from it. at the period of time in question the post-office was situated in the most central part of the town, the outside of the building partaking of the ugly and old-fashioned style of the shops of that day. it was then considered quite sufficient for the business of the place that there should be a small room of about twelve feet square devoted to postal purposes; that there should be a long counter, upon which the letters might be stamped and charged, and a small set of letter-boxes for the sorting processes. added, however, to the proper business of the neighbourhood, there used to be a kind of work done here which was confined to a few towns only on the line of mails, selected for this supplementary business on account of their central positions. the mail-coaches, as they passed and repassed northwards and southwards, stopped here for half an hour until certain necessary sorting operations could be performed with a portion of the letters. in this way our particular town held the style and designation, and with it the _prestige_, of a "forwarding office." the public required little attention, and got but little. being prior to the time of postage-stamps, and we may almost add of money-orders, not to speak of savings' bank business, few applications were ever made to the officers--consisting of a postmaster, his wife, and another clerk--for anything but stray scraps of information relative to the despatch of mails. the communication with the public was anything but close, being conducted in this town--and, in fact, in all others of our acquaintance--through a trap-door in a wooden pane in the office-window. near to it was a huge slit, being a passage to a basket, into which letters and newspapers were promiscuously thrown. the principal labour incident to the old style of postage was in regulating the amount to be paid on the different letters. those posted in the town for the town itself were delivered for a penny; twopence was charged into the country places surrounding; letters for the metropolis cost a shilling; and scotch letters eightpence-halfpenny at least, the odd halfpenny being the charge as a toll for the letter crossing the tweed. the delivery of the letters in the town took place at any time during the day, according to the arrival of the mails, and it was effected by a single letter-carrier.[ ] private boxes for the principal merchants in the town, and private bags for the country gentlemen, were almost indispensable to those who cared for the proper despatch and security of their correspondence. many gentlemen who did not arrange to have private bags (at a great yearly expense) were compelled to make frequent journeys to the town to ascertain if any letters had arrived for them. some letters for places within a few miles of the town would be known to be at the office for days and weeks unguessed at, till perhaps some one would hear, through one of many channels, that a letter was lying at the post-office for persons of their acquaintance, and inform them of the fact. letter-delivering in the rural districts was then a private concern, and, in consequence, those letters destined for one particular road were laid aside till a sufficient number were accumulated to make it worth while to convey them at a charge of a penny the letter.[ ] owing to the wretched system then in force, many country places round a post-office were, to all intents and purposes, more remote than most foreign countries are at this hour. one letter-carrier sufficing for the wants of the town, we need scarcely say that the number of letters received was exceedingly small. not more than a hundred letters were posted or delivered, on an average, each day, though the town was the seat of many brisk manufactories, and was, besides, in the heart of the colliery districts. _now_, a single firm in the same town will cause a greater amount of daily postal business. our purpose will not allow of our describing all the attendant circumstances of the state of things existing at this early period, or more fully than we have already done the postal arrangements of the past. but there were the "_expresses_," which ought not to be forgotten. designed to supply some sudden emergency, they were of great use where quick intelligence was urgently required. for this purpose they might be had from the post-office people at any hour, and generally they were procured through the night. a special mounted messenger might be despatched, under this arrangement, with a single letter, marked "haste! post haste!" carrying with him a way-bill, to account for the time it had taken him to perform the journey. the charge for expresses was at the rate of a shilling a mile, the speed at which they travelled averaging ten miles an hour. nor can we stay, much as we should like to do so, to picture the old mail-coach--its glittering appearance, its pawing horses; or to describe the royal-liveried guard, "grand and awful-looking in all the composure of a felt superiority." in the old times it used to pull up at the half-wooden inn near the post-office, and, during the half-hour allowed for postal business, was the observed of all observers. the half-hour was one of unusual bustle both at the office and at the inn; but, as soon as the time was up, the passengers would take their seats (the guard occupying a solitary one at the end of the coach), the mails were thrown as a small addition to the load of bags at the top, and off the cavalcade would start, to the tune, perhaps, of the "blue bells of scotland," if the mail was going northwards, or, if southwards, may be "the green hills of tyrol," from the clear silver key-bugle of his majesty's mail-guard. now, this is changed, and almost all postal arrangements prior to the days of sir rowland hill are as so many things of the past. and into what a grand establishment the post-office itself is metamorphosed! the part now dedicated to the public might be part of a first-class banking establishment. entering by a spacious doorway, with a lofty vestibule, there is accommodation for a score of people to stand in the ante-room and leisurely transact their business. then there runs along the whole length of the first or public room a substantial mahogany counter, behind which the clerks stand to answer inquiries and attend to the ordinary daily business. there is a desk for the money-order clerk, and drawers in which postage-stamps are kept. close by we see one or two ranges of boxes; one for callers' letters--"_the poste restante_"--and another for those who prefer to engage private boxes to having their letters delivered by letter-carriers. outside things are changed also. the wooden pane--nay, the window itself--has disappeared to make way for a more modern structure; and instead of the single letterbox, there are several. late letters are now provided for in a separate box, and so also are newspapers. the principal post-office work is accomplished in an interior apartment, from which the public are studiously excluded.[ ] a large table stands in the centre of the room; a smaller one, well padded with leather, stands near, and is used specially for letter-stamping; a number of letter-benches--for boxes are not used much now--are arranged against three of the four walls and in the middle of the room, on which the letters and newspapers are sorted. empty canvas bags of different sizes, with tin labels attached (if the name of the town is not _painted_ on them), books, printed papers of different kinds, bundles of string, &c. make up the furniture of the apartment, and complete the appearance of it immediately prior to the receipt of the early-morning mail. long before the ordinary workmen in our towns are summoned from their repose, the post-office work in the provinces may be said to commence by the mail-cart clattering through the now silent streets to the railway station, there to await the arrival of the first and principal mail, and its first daily instalment of bags. at the given time, and only (even in the depth of winter) very occasionally late, the train emerges out of the darkness, its two shining lamps in front, into the silent and almost empty station. the process described in our account of the travelling post-office is here gone through; a rapid exchange of bags is made, and each interest goes its separate and hurried way. during the interval, and just before the mail-cart deposits its contents at the door of the post-office, the clerks and letter-carriers will have been roused from their beds, and somewhat sulkily, perhaps, have found their places in time. they look sleepy and dull, but this is excusable; the hour is a drowsy one, and half the world is dozing. the well-known sound of the mail-cart breaks the spell, however, and soon they are all thoroughly alive, nay, even interested, in the duties in which they are engaged. the bags just arrived are immediately seized by one of their number, who hurriedly cuts their throats, and then empties the contents upon the huge table in a great heap: somewhere in the heap our letter is safely deposited. the bundles of letters are quickly taken to the letter-stampers, through whose hands they must first pass. with a speed and accuracy which rivals machinery,[ ] an agile letter-stamper will soon impress a copy of the dated stamp of the office upon the back of a hundred letters, and this done, they are passed over to the clerks and sorters to arrange them in the different boxes, the process being repeated till the whole are disposed of. the newspapers and book-packets are taken from the table without being stamped, and sorted by the letter-carriers. as soon as the first or preliminary sorting is over, each sorter will proceed upon distinctive duties; some will prepare the letters for the letter-carriers, by sorting each man's letters together, according to their different number. when this is done, the letters are handed to the carriers, who retire to a separate room, looking with its desks very like a small schoolroom, and there arrange them in order to deliver them from house to house. other officers will prepare the letters for the sub-officers and rural messengers. when all the letters, &c. for a certain village are gathered up, they are counted and tied up in bundles; if any charged letters are sent, the amount is debited against the sub-postmaster of the place on a letter-bill--something like an invoice--which invariably accompanies every post-office letter-bag despatched from one post-town to another, or from one head office to a sub-office. if any registered letters are of the number to be sent, the name of each addressee is carefully written on the letter-bill. private and locked bags for the country gentry still survive, and may be obtained for an annual fee of two guineas. they are attended to with some care, and are carried to their destination with the other made-up bags. when the mails are ready, they are sent from the post-office in various ways. those for one or two country roads are sent to a local railway station, and taken in charge by the railway guard, who drops the bags at the different points on the line according to their address; others are carried by mail gigs under one or more private contractors, while the rest are taken by country-walking postmen, who make certain journeys during the day, returning in the evening with the letters and bags they have gathered during their travels. of course the rural messengers take out loose letters as well; _e. g._ those for detached dwellings on their line of road. our letter falls into the hands of one of those hard-working and deserving men.[ ] the village, or rather hamlet, to which it is addressed is too small for a post-office, but a rural postman passes through it on his daily journeyings about ten o'clock each morning, delivering with scrupulous fidelity everything committed to his care. thus, posted where we saw it last night, it passes from hand to hand all through the long night, and eventually reaches that hand for which it was intended odd miles away, nearly as surely as if we had travelled to deliver it ourselves. but to return. while some of the officers are attending in this way to the wants of the country, others are serving the interests of the town. a hundred or two gentlemen, bankers and manufacturers, pay an extra guinea yearly in order to secure certain special privileges at the post-office. these privileges consist, in brief, of having their letters arranged in private boxes, each labelled with their names, and delivered from these boxes by one of the clerks as soon as the office is opened, or the moment the letter-carriers emerge from it to enter upon any of the daily deliveries of letters. of course these letters must be prepared previously. the office is open to the public for money-orders and for the transaction of the business of the new savings' banks at nine o'clock, and continues open on every day, except saturdays, until six, on which day two hours longer are allowed. it is not necessary to describe the arrangements in these branches, seeing that the public are familiar from daily experience with them. it will suffice to say that separate clerks are usually delegated to these duties in our large towns, and are answerable to the postmaster for the correctness of their accounts. the same clerk attends to the sale of postage-stamps, keeping an account with the postmaster of the quantity _sold_, and also of the stamps _bought_ from the public under the recent arrangement. in larger towns where one clerk is specially retained for these duties, he is known as the "window clerk," as it devolves upon him to answer all applications and inquiries. throughout the day, the quietness of the post-office proper is broken in upon and varied by the arrival of some small mail. on one of these occasions, namely, on the receipt of the day-mail from london, the operations of the morning are gone over again on a small scale, and for a short time the office presents an appearance of some of its early bustle. letters are delivered in the town, but those arriving for the country places remain at the office till the next morning. the work of the post-office commences before "grey dawn," and long before the usual period of ordinary business in our towns; it lasts also far into the "dewy eve." when merchants lock up their desks and offices, and complete their last round of duties by posting their letters, the serious work of the post-office, for the second time during the day, may be said to begin. the hour before the despatch of the principal mail in any provincial post-office, thanks in great part to the dilatoriness of the public in general, is an hour of busy activity, seldom witnessed in any other branch of industry whatever. almost at the same moment the country mail-gigs from their different rides, mail-carts from the local railway stations, the rural postmen from their walks, and the receiving-house keepers from the outskirts of the town, approach the post-office door, and speedily cause the office to groan as it were under the weight of letters and bags. all the force of the office is now engaged, and engaged with a will, if the bags are to be ready for the london night-mail due from scotland at the railway station in sixty minutes. again, the same round of bag-opening, checking, stamping (only now the stamps must be obliterated, as the letters are about to be despatched for the first time), and sorting, which we described in the morning, is again repeated. the sorted letters are examined, tied up in bundles of sixty or seventy each, and then despatched in the bags received at the beginning of the day from the london mail. the bags are tied, sealed, and hurried away to the station. now, at length, the postmaster and his staff breathe freely. for a full hour they have been engaged as busily, yet as silently, as so many bees in a hive; but now that the work is finished, the thoughts of rogues, lovers, bankers, lawyers, clergymen, and shopkeepers; the loves and griefs, the weal and woes, of the town and country lie side by side, and for a few hours at least will enjoy the most complete and secret companionship. every working day, and to some extent on sunday, the same routine of work is prescribed and accomplished with little variation. in all this consists the _prose_ of post-office life; but who shall describe its _poetry_? scarcely a day passes in any of our provincial post-offices without some incident occurring calculated to surprise, amuse, or sadden. very probably within a few minutes one person will have come to make a complaint that a certain letter or letters ought to have arrived, and must have been kept back; another will make an equally unreasonable request, or propound some strange inquiry which the poor post-office clerk is supposed to be omniscient enough to answer. most often, however, the cases of inquiry disclose sorrowful facts, and all the consolation which can be offered--supposing that the clerk has any of "the milk of human kindness" in him, a quality of mind or heart, much too rare, we confess, in the post-office service--will likely be the consolation of hope. the official sees now and then brief snatches of romance; perhaps the beginning or the end, though seldom the transaction throughout. amusing circumstances are often brought out by requests tendered at the post-office, that letters which have been posted may be returned to the writers. a formal, but most essential rule, makes letters once posted the property of the postmaster-general until they are delivered as addressed, and must not be given up to the _writers_ on any pretence whatever. one or two requests of this kind related to us we are not likely soon to forget. on one occasion, a gentlemanly-looking commercial traveller called at an office and expressed a fear that he had inclosed two letters in wrong envelopes, the addresses of which he furnished. it appeared from the account which he reluctantly gave, after a refusal to grant his request, that his position and prospects depended upon his getting his letters, and correcting the mistakes, inasmuch as they revealed plans which he had adopted to serve two mercantile houses in the same line of business, whose interests clashed at every point. he failed to get his letters, but we hope he has retrieved himself, and is now serving one master faithfully. another case occurred in which a fast young gentleman confessed to carrying on a confidential correspondence with two young ladies at the same time, and that he had, or feared he had, crossed two letters which he had written at the same sitting. we heartily hope a full exposure followed. writing of this, we are reminded of a case where a country postmaster had a letter put into his hand through the office window, together with the following message delivered with great emphasis: "here's a letter; she wants it to go along as fast as it can, cause there's a feller wants to have her here, and she's courted by another feller that's not here, and she wants to know whether he is going to have her or not." if the letter was as explicit as the verbal message to which the postmaster involuntarily lent his ear, no doubt the writer would not be long in suspense. these cases, however, are uninteresting compared to one related by another postmaster. a tradesman's daughter who had been for some time engaged to a prosperous young draper in a neighbouring town, heard from one whom she and her parents considered a creditable authority, that he was on the verge of bankruptcy. "not a day was to be lost in breaking the bond by which she and her small fortune were linked to penury." a letter, strong and conclusive in its language, was at once written and posted, when the same informant called upon the young lady's friends to contradict and explain his previous statement, which had arisen out of some misunderstanding. "they rushed at once to the post-office, and no words can describe the scene; the reiterated appeals, the tears, the wringing of hands, the united entreaties of father, mother, and daughter for the restoration of the fatal letter." but the rule admitted of no exception, and the young lady had to repent at leisure of her inordinate haste. we have only space to close with a graphic extract from the reminiscences of a post-office official, in which the everyday life of a country post-office is admirably described: "for the poor we were often persuaded both to read and write their letters; and the irish especially, with whom penmanship was a rare accomplishment, seldom failed to succeed in their eloquent petitions; though no one can realize the difficulty of writing from a paddy's dictation, where 'the pratees, and the pig, and the praiste, god bless him!' become involved in one long, perplexed sentence, without any period from beginning to end of the letter. one such epistle, the main topic of which was an extravagant lamentation over the death of a wife, rose to the pathetic climax, 'and now i'm obleeged to wash meself, and bake meself!'" the officers of the dead-letter office could a tale unfold, one would think, only an essential rule of the service binds them to honourable secresy. the post-office official often, however, and in spite of himself, learns more than he cares to know. "for," as the writer continues, "a great deal can be known from the outside of a letter, where there is no disposition to pry into the enclosure. who would not be almost satisfied with knowing all the correspondence coming to or leaving the hands of the object of his interest? from our long training among the letters of our district, we knew the handwriting of most persons so intimately, that no attempt at disguise, however cunningly executed, could succeed with us. we noticed the ominous lawyers' letters addressed to tradesmen whose circumstances were growing embarrassed; and we saw the carefully ill-written direction to the street in liverpool and london, where some poor fugitive debtor was in hiding. the evangelical curate, who wrote in a disguised hand and under an assumed name to the fascinating public singer, did not deceive us; the young man who posted a circular love-letter to three or four girls the same night, never escaped our notice; the wary maiden, prudently keeping two strings to her bow, unconsciously depended upon our good faith. the public never know how much they owe to official secresy and official honour, and how rarely this confidence is betrayed. petty tricks and artifices, small dishonesties, histories of tyranny and suffering, exaggerations and disappointments were thrust upon our notice. as if we were the official confidants of the neighbourhood, we were acquainted with the leading events in the lives of most of the inhabitants." once more, "never, surely, has any one a better chance of seeing himself as others see him than a country postmaster. letters of complaint very securely enveloped and sealed passed through our hands, addressed to the postmaster-general, and then came back to us for our own perusal and explanation. one of our neighbours informed the postmaster-general, in confidence, that we were 'ignorant and stupid.' a clergyman wrote a pathetic remonstrance, stating that he was so often disappointed of his _morning star and dial_, that he had come to the conclusion that we disapproved of that paper for the clergy,[ ] and, from scruples of conscience, or political motives, prevented it--one of passing daily through our office--from reaching his hands whenever there was anything we considered objectionable in it." chapter iii. on the mail-packet service. our home and foreign mail-packet service is a costly and gigantic branch of the post-office establishment. during the greater part of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the service was under the control of the post-office authorities. we have already given many details of the packet management of the period. it was then transferred to the board of admiralty, in whose hands it continued up to so late as . even at the commencement of the present century, the service seems to have been carried on regardless of economy, and not without traces of that wastefulness--we might almost say corruption--in the management, which, a hundred years previously, would not have been regarded as very remarkable. the arrangements eighty years ago, were none of the best. at this period some of the vessels employed to convey mails were hired, without any tender, while some few were the property of the crown. in , the state of the marine mail service attracted parliamentary attention; for in that year we find a committee of fees and gratuities reporting that the cost of the mail service had reached an unreasonable sum. they stated that for eighteen years that cost had been over a million sterling, or an average charge of , _l._ annually. with regard to the manner in which the work was done, they found that many officers of the post-office, "even down to the chamber keepers," were owners of some of the packets employed to the exclusion of all else. this committee, with a view to remedying these and other abuses, recommended that the government should change the system entirely--the government share of the packets to be sold, and the entire service offered by public and competitive tender. that this advice was not acted upon, is clear from the fact that four years afterwards, the finance committee urged upon the government the necessity of complying with the recommendations of . in , the cost of the service had increased to , _l._; in to , _l._[ ] steam vessels had been in successful operation for three years before they were introduced into the mail service. in , the _rob roy_ steam-packet plied regularly between greenock and belfast; in , the year in which crown packets were established, the post-office, or rather the admiralty on behalf of the post-office, asked the help of steam. the holyhead station for ireland, and the dover station for the continent, were chosen for the experiment of mail-steamers. they were successful; and soon we find six steam-packets stationed at each place. then we have the gradual introduction of mail contracts. the first of these commercial contracts was made in , with the mona island steam company, to run steamers twice a week between liverpool and douglas, in the isle of man. immediately after, the general steam navigation company contracted to carry the rotterdam and hamburgh mails for , _l._ a-year. in these mails were transferred to the ostend route. the year was quite an epoch in the history of the packet service; mr. samuel cunard of halifax, nova scotia, having in that year contracted with the british government for a fortnightly mail across the atlantic, for the sum of , _l._ a-year. the cunard line of steamers is now universally known, and is unrivalled. little more than a hundred years ago, , _l._ sufficed to pay for the entire mail service of the period; about half that sum being the extent of the charges properly appertaining to the post-office. then, only a few continental mails and an occasional packet to the colonies of north america and the west indies, were all that had to be sustained; even those were kept up at a considerable loss.[ ] at that time the aboriginal inhabitants of australia and new zealand were in undisputed possession of these enormous colonies; the dutch were then the only targets for the arrows of the caffres in south africa; warren hastings and lord clive were children at daylesford and market drayton, and little dreamt of their subsequent career in the east; while the tide of emigration which has since carried anglo-saxon blood and anglo-saxon energy into every corner of the globe had not then, to any extent, set in. that a hundred years of unequalled internal progress has developed our great empire and called into life fresh and important agencies, what reflecting mind can doubt? for many recent years the packet service of the country, traversing every known sea to keep up a connexion with those whom the exigencies of life and commerce have dispersed so widely, has cost the nation something like a million sterling per annum! in accordance with the provisions of an act passed in the session of - , the general control of the british packet service was transferred (on the st of april, ) to the post-office authorities, from whom it ought never to have been taken. it was considered that the postmaster-general, under the treasury, was the best judge of the requirements of the service, and could best set about reducing the enormous expenditure arising from contracts, which the lords of the admiralty, generally from political motives, had entered into. that this judgment was the correct one, three years have amply sufficed to prove. contracts have been thrown open to public competition; and although many of the companies which had previously done certain services re-secured them, it was found that they had to engage to do the work at a much lower figure--in one or two cases, in fact, for half the amount they had been wont to receive. all the packet contracts, as they fall vacant, are advertised fully by the post-office authorities, and in sufficient time. printed forms are issued, and intending contractors are required to fill them up, every arrangement being made to secure the efficiency of the work. nearly all the contracts are now made terminable on twelve months' notice being given by the postmaster-general. another change which the post-office authorities have made is a radical but a necessary one, and bids fair to make the mail-packet service, at no distant date, self-supporting, so far as the mother-country is concerned. under the new principle already applied to india and australia, the british colonies are required to pay _half the cost_ of their respective services, the english government paying the remainder. the result in some instances has been an increase in postage rates, but we hope this will not long be considered necessary. according to the postmaster-general's _ninth report_--from which much of the information concerning the present state of the mail service is taken--we find that the total number of steam-ships employed in the mail-packet service, exclusive of tenders, &c., is no less than ninety-six, with an aggregate of , tons, and of , horse-power. the largest and most powerful mail-packet in the service is the cunard paddle-wheel steam-ship _scotia_, of , tons burden, and , horse-power. it belongs to the contractors for the north american service, messrs. cunard, burns, and maciver. the smallest packet, according to the same authority, was stated to be the _vivid_, of tons, and horse-power, the property of mr. churchward. it is more than probable, however, that this packet is not now in the service, as mr. churchward's contracts have subsequently been given to the belgian government. the mail-packet contracts are divided into those of the home and those of the foreign services. the most important home service is that for carrying the irish mails, entered into by the city of dublin steam-packet company. they are required to keep four powerful steam-vessels to ply twice a-day between holyhead and kingstown, for a yearly payment of , _l._ this contract lasts until . the least important contract in the home service, if we may judge by the terms imposed, is that for the daily conveyance of mails between greenock and belfast, entered into by mr. burns of glasgow. mr. burns undertakes to perform this service in all weathers, _free of expense_, and to pay an annual sum of _l._ as penalty for general improper performance of the duty! the home contracts dwindle into insignificance before those of the foreign service. the foreign packets travel over the immense distance of , , of statute miles each year. as the cost of the whole service is nearly a million pounds annually, the average charge per mile is _s._ _d._ the average speed of the foreign packets is ten miles an hour. the principal contracts are those for the indian and chinese mails, entered into by the peninsular and oriental steam-navigation company, and for which the sum of , _l._ is paid yearly. in this service, packets sail four times a month from southampton, and other mails are met at marseilles at the like intervals. a fleet of steamers, of not less than , tons, are engaged for a system of relays established in the mediterranean, and also between suez and bombay, suez and calcutta, and bombay and china. the australian mails are carried out to ceylon in the indian packets, when, on arrival at that point, another fleet of steamers, engaged from the same company on a supplementary contract of , _l._ a-year, carry them between point de galle and sydney. an additional line of packets to the antipodes, _viâ_ panama, will be run in january, . the west indian are the worst paying of all the foreign mails, costing twice as much as they yield.[ ] the royal mail steam-packet company is paid the enormous sum of , _l._ a-year for their conveyance. the north american mails are carried by messrs. cunard & co. for the sum of , _l._ a-year. eight steam-vessels are employed by this firm, leaving liverpool once a-week, and travelling also between new york and nassau once a-month. sir samuel cunard himself contracts for the canadian mails, receiving the yearly sum of , _l._ these supplementary packets sail from halifax, on the arrival of the cunard steamers from europe, to bermuda and st. thomas, and also to newfoundland. the canadian contract costs less than any other on the foreign service. the most distant point to which english mails are conveyed by the british packet service is auckland, new zealand, about , statute miles from southampton. this service is rendered by the intercolonial royal mail-packet company, with a fleet of four strong steamers, for , _l._ annually. of course, this company only performs the journeys between sydney in new south wales and auckland in new zealand. the nearest point from england is calais, twenty-six miles from dover. notwithstanding the extraordinary length of some of the journeys of the different mail packets, the postmaster-general informs us that, except in case of accident, the packets, even when late, arrive within a few hours of their time, sometimes within a few minutes. as examples of remarkable punctuality, which is now the rule, and not the exception, he gives several instances, from which we select the following:--"the mails for the west indies and central america, despatched from southampton on the th of september, were delivered at the danish island of st. thomas, distant more than , miles, at the precise moment at which they were due. on the same voyage, the mails for jamaica and demerara, conveyed in each case by a separate branch-packet, were delivered within a few minutes of the time at which they were due; the mails for parts of central america and for the pacific were delivered at colon, on the eastern coast of the isthmus of panama, distant , miles, thirty minutes after time, the packet having been detained at sea that precise period by h.m.s. _orlando_; while the mails for chili, after having been conveyed with others across the isthmus of panama, were delivered at valparaiso, distant nearly , miles from southampton, two hours before the appointed time." the mail packets employ a force, including officers, of more than , men. in addition to these, there is a staff of thirty-three naval officers--all officers of the royal navy, though maintained by the post-office--employed upon such packets as those for the cape and the west coast of africa, and charged with the care and correct delivery of the mails. they are further required to do all they can to guard against delay on the voyage, and to report on nautical questions affecting in any way the proper efficiency of the service. other officers, besides, are fixed at different foreign stations to direct the transfers of mails from packet to packet, or from packets to other modes of conveyance. then, again, in growing numbers, another class of officers travel in charge of mails, such as the indian and australian, and on all the north american packets, who, with a number of sorters, are employed in sorting the mails _during the voyage_, in order to save time and labour in the despatch and receipt of mails at london and liverpool respectively. there are now twenty-eight of this new class of working mail officers, who, of course, are substituted for the old class of naval agents. on the less important mail packets no naval officer is specially appointed, but the mails are taken in charge by the commander. in past years few casualties, comparatively, have occurred in this service. the loss of the mail packet _violet_, on her journey between ostend and dover, in , will be remembered by many. one incident in that melancholy shipwreck deserves mention here, affording a gleam of rich sunshine amid a page of dry though not unimportant matter. mr. mortleman, the mail officer in charge of the bags, on seeing that there was no chance for the packet, must have gone down into the hold and have removed all the cases containing the mail bags from that part of the vessel; and further, placed them so that when the ship and all in it went down, they might float--a proceeding which ultimately led to the recovery of all the bags, except one, containing a case of despatches. on another occasion, the mail master of a canadian packet sacrificed his life, when he might have escaped, by going below to secure the mails intrusted to him. other cases of a similar devotion to duty have, on several occasions of exposure to imminent danger, distinguished the conduct of these public officers, proving that some of them regard the onerous duties of their position in a somewhat higher light than we find obtains in the ordinary business of life. during the last year, however, an "unprecedentedly large number of shipwrecks"[ ] are on record, no less than five valuable packets having been totally lost. in the early part of the year, the _karnak_, belonging to messrs. cunard and co., was wrecked in entering nassau harbour. shortly after, the _lima_ struck on a reef off lagarto island, in the south pacific ocean, and went down. the only loss of life occurred in the case of the _cleopatra_, the third packet which was lost. this last-named vessel, belonging to the african steam-ship company, the contractors for the cape service, was wrecked on shebar reef, near sierra leone, when an officer and four kroomen were washed from a raft and drowned in endeavouring to reach the shore. towards the close of , the _avon_, belonging to the contractors for the west indian service, was wrecked at her moorings in the harbour of colon, new granada; and, lastly, the _colombo_ (conveying the australian mails from sydney) shared the same fate on minicoy island, miles from ceylon. the greatest loss of correspondence was caused by the failure of the last-mentioned packet, though, from the care of the post-office authorities, and the prompt arrangements of the contractors, the loss was not nearly so great as it might otherwise have been if the proper appliances had not been ready to hand. the mails were rescued from their ocean bed and brought to london, where every effort that skill could devise was made to restore them to their original condition. they were carefully dried, in order that the addresses of the letters and newspapers might be deciphered. when dried it was requisite that they should be handled most carefully to prevent them crumbling to pieces--so much so, in fact, that many were unfit to travel out of london without being tied up carefully, gummed, and placed in new envelopes, and re-addressed, providing that the old address could by any means be read or obtained. notwithstanding all the care and attention bestowed, a great number of letters remained, in the words of the post-office people, "in a hopeless state of pulp." an australian _carte de visite_, which arrived with the rescued mails from the _colombo_, and now before us, may have been a gem of art from one of the antipodean "temples of the sun," but we have not now the means of judging, as a yellow bit of paper, with an indistinct outline upon it, is all that remains. footnotes: [ ] at this period the packets were worked at a considerable loss; though this large item was occasioned by the war, yet the sea-postage never amounted to half the cost of the maintenance of the mail-packets. [ ] in the american colonies, benjamin franklin was the last and by far the best colonial postmaster-general. he had forty years experience of postal work, having been appointed postmaster of philadelphia in . mr. pliny miles, in his history of the post-office in america, _new york bankers' magazine_, vol. vii. p. , has furnished many interesting particulars of this period. it appears that franklin notified his appointment in his own newspaper as follows: "notice is hereby given, that the post-office at philadelphia is now kept at b. franklin's in market street, and that henry pratt is appointed riding-postmaster for all stages between philadelphia and newport, virginia, who sets out _about the beginning_ (!) of each month, and returns in twenty-four days, by whom gentlemen, merchants, and others may have their letters carefully conveyed." what follows is also interesting. it would seem that franklin was somewhat unceremoniously dismissed from his post, upon which he wrote, by way of protest, that up to the date of his appointment "the american post-office never had paid anything to britain. we (himself and assistant) were to have _l._ a-year between us, _if we could make that sum out of the profits of the office_. to do this, a variety of improvements were necessary; some of these were, inevitably, at the beginning expensive; so that in the first four years the office became above _l._ in debt to us. but it soon after began to repay us; and before i was displaced by a freak of the minister's we had brought it to yield three times as much clear revenue to the crown as the whole post-office of ireland. since that imprudent transaction," adds franklin, with a bit of pardonable irony, "they have received from it--not one farthing!" [ ] the amount of sea-postage collected has never reached within late years to more than _half_ the entire cost of the mail-packet service. in , this cost was , _l._ and the postage collected amounted to , _l._ [ ] postmaster-general's _ninth report_, p. . chapter iv. on postage-stamps. the history of postage-stamps is somewhat remarkable. first used, as many of our readers will remember, in may , the postage stamp has only just passed out of its years of minority, and yet at this present moment there are more than fifteen hundred different varieties of its species in existence, and the number is increasing every month. the question as to who invented the postage-stamp would not be easily settled; it appears to be the result of innumerable improvements suggested by many different individuals. we will not enter far into the controversy, and would only urge that the discussion as to its origin has once more served to exemplify the truth of the saying of the wise man, "the thing which hath been, it is that which shall be, and there is no new thing under the sun." post-paid envelopes were in use in france as early as the reign of louis xiv.[ ] pelisson states that they originated, in , with a m. de velayer, who established, under royal authority, a private penny post in paris, placing boxes at the corners of the streets for the reception of letters, which should be wrapped up in certain envelopes. shopkeepers in the immediate neighbourhood sold the envelopes, some of which are still extant.[ ] in england, stamps to prepay letters were most probably suggested by the newspaper duty-stamp, then, and for some time previously, in use. mr. charles whiting seems to have thrown out this suggestion to the post-office authorities in .[ ] afterwards, mr. charles knight proposed a stamped cover for the circulation of newspapers. dr. gray, of the british museum, claims the credit of having suggested that letters should be prepaid with them, as early as .[ ] no steps, however, were taken in regard to any recommendations on the subject till the proposals for post reform; and, consequently, the credit of the improvement has fallen, to a considerable extent, to sir rowland hill. the use of postage-stamps was scarcely part of his original scheme, though it followed almost as a matter of course: and, indeed, this public benefactor, crowned with so many well-won laurels, may easily afford to dispense with the adornment of this single one. mr. hill's famous pamphlet on _post reform_ went through three editions rapidly. in the first edition, which was published privately, we find no mention of the use of stamps--though prepayment of letters was always a principal feature in his proposals--_money payments_ over the counter of the receiving-office being all that was suggested under this head. immediately after the publication of the first edition, the members of the royal commission on the post-office, which had been sitting at intervals since , called the author before them. in connexion with the subject of the prepayment of letters, the officers of the stamp office--mr. dickenson, the paper-maker, and several others--were also examined, and the subject was thoroughly discussed.[ ] almost, as it would seem, as a consequence of the proceedings before committee, mr. hill, in the second edition of his pamphlet, recommended definitely the use of some kind of stamps or stamped envelopes as a means of prepayment. when the committee of the house of commons met in - to investigate the merits of mr. hill's penny-postage scheme, they were, of course, required to express an opinion as to the desirability or otherwise of prepayment by means of stamps. a favourable opinion was given on the subject, so that when the government brought in and carried the penny-postage act, a clause for their use formed a component part of it. though it was agreed on all hands that stamps, or stamped paper of some sort, should come into use with the advent of cheap postage, it was by no means easy to hit upon a definite plan, or, when a number of plans were submitted, to decide upon the particular one to be adopted. stamped _paper_, representing different charges, was first suggested. folded in a particular way, a simple revenue-stamp would then be exposed to view, and frank the letter. another suggestion was that a stamped _wafer_, as it was called, should be used, and, placed on the back of a letter, seal and frank it at the same time. the idea of stamped _envelopes_, however, was at first by far the most popular, and it was decided that they should be the prepaying medium. plans and suggestions for the carrying out of this arrangement being required at once, the lords of the treasury issued a somewhat pompous proclamation, dated august d, , inviting "all artists, men of science, and the public in general," to offer proposals "as to the manner in which the stamp may best be brought into use." so important was the subject considered, that lord palmerston, the then foreign secretary, was directed to apprise foreign governments of the matter, and invite suggestions from any part of the civilized world. three months were allowed for plans, and two prizes of _l._ and _l._ were offered for proposals on the subject, "which my lords may think most deserving of attention." the palm was carried off by the late mr. mulready, royal academician, who designed the envelopes now known by his name. these envelopes, which allegorically celebrated the triumphs of the post in a host of emblematical figures, were of two colours; the one for a penny being printed in black, and the other, for the twopenny postage, in blue ink. they gave little satisfaction, however, and at the end of six months were withdrawn from use. there was little room left on the envelope for the address. they left to the common and vulgar gaze, as miss martineau, we think, has pointed out, emotions of the mind which had always best be kept in the background, and instead "of spreading a taste for high art," which had been hoped, they brought it into considerable ridicule.[ ] before the postage-envelope was finally withdrawn from use, the treasury issued another prospectus, offering a reward of _l._ for the best design and plan for a simple postage-_label_. it was made a condition that it should be simple, handy, and easily placed on paper, and of a design which would make forgery difficult, if not impossible. about , designs were sent in, but not one was chosen. eventually, the ugly black stamp, said to be the joint production of some of the officers of the stamp- and post-offices, was decided upon and brought into use. two years afterwards, this black stamp was changed to brown, principally with a view to make the obliterating process more perfect, and the better to detect the dishonesty of using old stamps. for the same reasons, the colour was again changed in a short time to red, and so it has remained to the present time. the twopenny stamp has been from the first blue. up to this date, at different intervals, six other stamps have been issued, as the necessities of the inland or foreign postage required them. the tenpenny stamp, of an octagonal shape and brown colour, is now scarcely ever used, if it be not even withdrawn from circulation. the list comprises, besides the stamps we have mentioned, the sixpenny (lilac), the shilling (green), the fourpenny (vermilion), the threepenny (rose), and the ninepenny (yellow). the last two were issued only two or three years ago. the whole of the english labels bear the impression of the head of queen victoria, and are all of the same size and shape (if we except the tenpenny stamp), the sole difference being in the colour, and in the various borderings round the queen's portraits. besides these distinguishing marks, however, they all tell the tale of their own value.[ ] soon after the introduction of postage-stamps, stamped envelopes were again proposed. this time the proposition was a very simple one, only consisting of the usual kind of stamp embossed on the right-hand corner of a common envelope; the shape to be oval, round, or octagonal, according to the value of the envelope. for the envelopes themselves, a peculiar kind of paper was prepared by mr. dickenson, and was considered on all hands to be the best possible preventive of forgery. this paper, which was manufactured with lines of thread or silk stretched through its substance, has been used ever since. russia, in adopting the stamped envelope, guards against forgery by means of a large water-mark of a spread eagle running over the envelope. the english stamp-office affords every facility in the matter of stamped paper and envelopes, and private individuals may indulge their tastes to almost any extent. the officers of inland revenue, somerset house, will place an embossed stamp on any paper or envelope taken to them, equal to the value of any of those above mentioned, or to a combination of any of them, under the following regulations:-- st. when the stamps required do not amount to _l._ worth one shilling is charged, in addition to the postage stamps, for each distinct size of paper. d. when the stamps amount to _l._ worth no fee is charged if one size of paper only be sent. d. when the stamps amount to _l._ worth, no fee is charged, and two sizes of paper are allowed; _l._ three sizes are allowed; _l._ four sizes. th. no _folded_ paper can be stamped; and therefore paper, whether intended for envelopes or letters, must be sent unfolded and without being creased. th. every distinct size and form of envelope or paper must be marked so as to indicate the plan on which the stamp is to be impressed, in order that, when the envelope or letter is folded and made up, the stamp may appear in the proper position according to the rules of the post-office. th. no coloured paper can be received for stamping, nor any paper which is too thin to bear the impression of the dies. th. envelopes provided by the office, with the proper stamps thereon, will be substituted for any which may be spoiled in the operation of stamping. a recent concession made by the board of inland revenue may be regarded as one of the latest novelties in the advertising world. under the arrangement in question, the stamp-office permits embossed rings with the name of a particular firm, _e. g._ "allsop & co., burton-on-trent," "de la rue & co.," to be placed round the stamp as a border to it. in , after the _exposé_ of the letter-opening practices at the general post-office, mr. leech gave in _punch_ his "anti-graham envelopes," and his satirical postage envelope, afterwards engraved by mr. w. j. linton, and widely circulated, represents sir james graham sitting as "britannia." about the same time there might have been seen in the windows of booksellers of the less respectable class, a kind of padlock envelope, exhibiting the motto, "not to be grahamed." for eight long years, the english people may be said to have enjoyed a complete monopoly in postage-stamps. towards the close of , they were introduced into france, and subsequently into every civilized nation in the world. last year they even penetrated into the ottoman empire, and strange as it appears, when viewed in the light of mohammedan usage, the sultan has been prevailed upon to allow his portrait to appear on the new issues of turkish stamps. in pursuance of a recommendation of a select committee of the house of commons which sat in , a perforating machine was purchased from mr. henry archer, the inventor, for the sum of four thousand pounds.[ ] the same committee could not decide, they said, on the "conflicting evidence" whether copper-plate engraving or surface printing would best secure the stamps against forgery, but they considered that the accurate perforation of the sheets would be a valuable preventive against forgery, "inasmuch as it would be exceedingly difficult to counterfeit sheets, and sheets badly done would at once excite suspicion when offered for sale." the invention of the perforating machine is said to have been attended with considerable labour, as, undoubtedly, it was by skill and ingenuity. to the post-office and the public the patent was sufficiently cheap. for a number of years the stamps had to be separated from each other by knives or scissors; now one stamp may be torn from the other with ease and safety. the process of puncturing the narrow spaces round each stamp--an undertaking not so easy as it seems--is the last the sheet of stamps undergoes before it is ready for sale. with regard to the other processes, little is known out of the stamp-office, beyond what may be gathered from a close inspection of the postage-stamps themselves. for obvious reasons, it has never been thought desirable to publish any account of the manufacture of stamps. we may simply say that all english postage-labels are manufactured at somerset house, and the entire establishment, which is distinct from the other branches of the inland revenue department, is managed at the annual expense of thirty thousand pounds.[ ] of this sum, nineteen thousand pounds is the estimated cost for the present year, - , of paper for labels and envelopes, and for printing, gumming, and folding. about five thousands pounds will be necessary to pay the salaries of the various officers, including five hundred pounds to the supervisor, and one hundred pounds to the superintendent of the perforating process. mr. edwin hill, a brother of sir rowland hill, is at the head of the department. a large number of boys are employed at the machines, under the superintendence of three or four intelligent superintendents. the paper used for the stamps is of a peculiar make, each sheet having a water-mark of two hundred and forty crowns; the blocks used are of first-rate quality, and only subjected to a certain number of impressions. the blocks are inked with rollers as in letter-press printing. of course, the stamps are printed in sheets, though each one is struck with the same die or punch. after the printing, and before the sheets are perforated, they are covered on the back with a gelatine matter to render the label adhesive. great precaution is taken in the printing of the stamps to provide against forgery. all the lines and marks, as well as the initial letters in the corner, are arranged so as to make the whole affair inimitable. the best preservative, however, in our opinion, against a spurious article, is the arrangement under which stamps are sold. only obtainable in any large quantity from the stamp or post-offices, any attempt on the part of the forger to put a base article into circulation is encumbered with difficulties. stamps, while they do duty for coin, are used almost exclusively for small transactions, and generally among people well known to each other. other precautions are nevertheless very necessary; and besides the initial letters on each stamp--different in every one of the two hundred and forty in the sheet--which are regarded as so many checks on the forger, this pest to society would have to engrave his own die, and cast his own blocks, and find a drilling-machine, perhaps the most difficult undertaking of all. the paper, besides, would be a considerable obstacle, and not less so the ink, for that used in this manufacture differs from ordinary printer's ink, not merely in colour, but in being soluble in water. when postage-stamps were first introduced in england, it was little thought that they would become a medium of exchange, and far less that they would excite such a _furore_ among stamp collectors. the same stamp may do duty in a number of various ways before it serves its normal purpose. it may have proceeded through the post a dozen times imbedded within the folds of a letter, before it becomes affixed to one, and gets its career ended by an ugly knock on the face--for its countenance once disfigured, it has run its course. besides their being so handy in paying a trifling debt or going on a merciful errand, the advertising columns of any newspaper will shew the reader many of the thousand and one ways in which he may turn his spare postage-stamps to account. you may suddenly fall upon a promise of an easy competence for the insignificant acknowledgment of half-a-crown's worth of this article. friends to humanity assure you a prompt remittance of thirteen queen's heads will secure you perfect exemption from all the ills that flesh is heir to. for the same quantity another who does the prophetic strain, will tell you which horse will win the derby, "as surely as if you stood at the winning-post on the very day." "stable boy," promises all subscribers of twelve stamps that if they "do not win on this event, he will never put his name in print again." of course all this is quackery, or worse; still the reader need not be told how in innumerable _bonâ fide_ cases the system of postage-stamp remittances is exceedingly handy for both buyer and vendor, and how trade--retail at any rate--is fostered by it. as a social arrangement, for the poorer classes especially, we could not well over-estimate its usefulness. again we see a good result of the penny-post scheme. since , not only has the use of postage-stamps in this way never been discouraged (as it was always thought that fewer coin letters would be sent in consequence), but the post-office authorities have recently made provision for taking them from the public, when not soiled or not presented in single stamps. this arrangement is already in force at the principal post-offices, and will ultimately extend to all. in america, as will be familiar to most readers, postage-stamps have formed the principal currency of small value almost since the breaking out of the present fratricidal war. more recently, the united states government has issued the stamps without gum, as it was found inconvenient to pass them frequently from hand to hand, after they had undergone the gelatinizing process. under an act, "postage currency, july th, ," the federal authorities have issued stamps printed on larger sized paper, with directions for their use under the peculiar circumstances. the obliteration of postage-labels in their passage through the post, requires a passing notice. different countries obliterate their stamps variously and with different objects. in france they obliterate with a hand-stamp having acute prominences in it, which, when thrown on the stamp, not only disfigures, but perforates it with numerous dots placed closely together. in holland, the word "_franco_" is imprinted in large letters. some countries, _e. g._ italy, austria, and prussia, mark on the label itself, the name of the despatching town, together with the date of despatch. in england, the purpose of the defacement marks is _primarily_ to prevent the stamp being used again. it also serves to show--inasmuch as the obliterating stamp of every british post-office is consecutively numbered--where the letter was posted, in the event of the other dated stamp being imperfectly impressed. for this purpose the british postal guide gives a list of the post-towns and the official number of each. the mark of st. martin's-le-grand is a changeable figure in a circle, according to the time of day during which the letter has been posted and struck; for the london district offices, we have the initials of the district, and the number of the office given in an oval. the figures in england are surrounded by lines forming a circle; in scotland by three lines at the top and three at the bottom of them; in ireland the lines surround the figures of the particular office in a diamond shape. it only remains to refer for a moment to the _timbromanie_, or stamp mania. the scenes in birchin lane in , where crowds nightly congregated, to the exceeding annoyance and wonderment of policeman x--where ladies and gentlemen of all ages and all ranks, from cabinet-ministers to crossing-sweepers, were busy, with album or portfolio in hand, buying, selling, or exchanging, are now known to have been the beginnings of what may almost be termed a new trade. postage-stamp exchanges are now common enough; one held in lombard street on saturday afternoons is largely attended. looking the other day in the advertisement pages of a monthly magazine, we counted no fewer than sixty different dealers in postage-stamps there advertising their wares. twelve months ago, there was no regular mart in london at which foreign stamps might be bought; now there are a dozen regular dealers in the metropolis, who are doing a profitable trade. about a year ago, we witnessed the establishment of a monthly organ for the trade in the _stamp-collector's magazine_; at this present moment there are no less than _ten_ such publications in existence in the united kingdom. england is not the only country interested in stamp-collecting. as might be expected, the custom originated in france, and has prevailed there for a number of years. in the gardens of the tuileries, and also to some extent in those of the luxembourg, crowds still gather, principally on sunday afternoons, and may be seen sitting under the trees, sometimes in a state of great excitement, as they busily sell or exchange any of their surplus stock for some of which they may have been in search. the gathering of a complete set of postage-stamps, and a proper arrangement of them, is at least a harmless and innocent amusement. on this point, however, we prefer, in conclusion, to let dr. gray, of the british museum, speak,[ ] and our readers to judge for themselves. "the use and charm of collecting any kind of object is to educate the mind and the eye to careful observation, accurate comparison, and just reasoning on the differences and likenesses which they present, and to interest the collector in the design or art shown in their creation or manufacture, and the history of the country which produces or uses the objects collected. the postage-stamps afford good objects for all these branches of study, as they are sufficiently different to present broad outlines for their classification; and yet some of the variations are so slight, that they require minute examination and comparison to prevent them from being overlooked. the fact of obtaining stamps from so many countries, suggests to ask what were the circumstances that induced the adoption, the history of the countries which issue them, and the understanding why some countries (like france) have considered it necessary, in so few years, to make so many changes in the form or design of the stamp used; while other countries, like holland, have never made the slightest change. "the changes referred to all mark some historical event of importance--such as the accession of a new king, a change in the form of government, or the absorption of some smaller state into some larger one; a change in the currency, or some other revolution. hence, a collection of postage-stamps may be considered, like a collection of coins, an epitome of the history of europe and america for the last quarter of a century; and at the same time, as they exhibit much variation in design and in execution as a collection of works of art on a small scale, showing the style of art of the countries that issue them, while the size of the collection, and the number in which they are arranged and kept, will show the industry, taste, and neatness of the collector." footnotes: [ ] fournier. [ ] vide _quarterly review_ for october, . [ ] report of select committee on postage, vol. iv. p. . [ ] _hand catalogue of postage-stamps_, p. . [ ] dr. j. e. gray. [ ] the mulready envelopes are regarded as great curiosities by stamp-collectors, and as their value rose to about fifteen shillings, a spurious imitation found its way into the market, usually to be had at half a crown. in , stamp-dealers were shocked by the vandalism of the government, who caused, it is said, many thousands of these envelopes to be destroyed at somerset house. [ ] our colonies issue their own stamps, with different designs. some of them are emblematical; the swan river territory using the design of a "swan," and the cape of good hope choosing that of "hope" reclining; but they are gradually adopting the english plan of a simple profile of the sovereign. the portrait of our queen appears on two hundred and forty varieties of stamps. nearly all those used in the colonies, and even some for foreign governments, are designed, engraved, printed, and embossed in london, and many of them are much prettier than the products of our own stamp-office. the principal houses for the manufacture of colonial stamps, are messrs. de la rue & co. and perkins, bacon, & co. of fleet street. see also dr. gray's handbook, p. . [ ] "an abstract of grants for miscellaneous services." sums voted in supply from to inclusive, moved for by sir h. willoughby. in the same return we find , _l._ were paid for "foudrinier's paper-machinery"--we presume for the manufacture of mulready's envelopes. [ ] for further information of the staff of officers, and the expenses of the stamp-office, see appendix (g). [ ] _hand catalogue of postage-stamps_, introduction, p. . chapter v. post-office savings' banks. the idea of savings' banks for the industrial classes was first started at the commencement of the present century. they are said to owe their origin to the rev. joseph smith, of wendover, who in , circulated proposals among his poorer parishioners to receive any of their spare sums during the summer, and return the amounts at the christmas following. to the original sum, mr. smith proposed to add one-third of the whole amount, as a reward for the forethought of the depositor. this rate of interest, ruinous to the projector, proves that the transactions must have been of small extent, and charity, a large element in the work. the first savings' bank really answering to the name was established at tottenham, middlesex, in , by some benevolent people in the place, and called the charitable bank. five per cent. interest was allowed to depositors, though for many years this rate was a great drain on the benevolence of the founders. in , these banks had increased in england and wales to the number of seventy-four. during that year acts of parliament were passed offering every encouragement to such institutions, and making arrangements to take all moneys deposited, and place them in the public funds. from to , the savings' banks of the united kingdom increased to . a reference to the various deficiencies of the old banks for savings, and the steps which led to the formation of those now under consideration, will not be out of place here. we have said that, in the early part of this century, successive governments offered every inducement and facility to the savings' bank scheme. such encouragement was indispensable to their success. when first started, government granted interest to the trustees at the rate of ½_l._ per cent. this rate, reduced to _l._ as the banks became more established, now stands at _l._ _s._ per cent. of this sum depositors receive _l._ per cent.; the difference paying the expenses of management. the encouragement which the legislature has given to the savings' banks of the country since their commencement, has entailed a loss of about four and a half millions sterling on the public exchequer. from to , a loss of nearly two millions sterling had been incurred by reason of the rate of interest which was allowed by government, being greater than that yielded by the securities in which the deposits had been invested. savings' banks have suffered most severely from frauds in the management, and the feeling of insecurity which these frauds have engendered from time to time has gone far to mar their usefulness. government is only responsible to the trustees for the amounts actually placed in its hands. the law, previous to , gave the depositor a remedy against the trustees in case of wilful neglect or default. in , the legislature thought right to make a most important change in the law, by which trustees of savings' banks were released from all liability, except _where it was voluntarily assumed_. it remains a most significant fact, that all the great frauds with this class of banks have occurred since that date. we have, indeed, to thank only the influential gentlemen, who, as a rule, take upon themselves the management of savings' banks, that such cases have been so rare as they have.[ ] the known frauds in savings' banks are calculated to have swallowed up a quarter of a million of hard-earned money. the fraud in the cuffe street bank, in dublin, amounted to , _l._; the tralee bank stopped payment in with liabilities to depositors to the extent of , _l._, and only , _l._ of available assets; in the same year, the killarney savings' bank stopped with liabilities of , _l._, and assets of only half that amount. about the same time, the rochdale bank frauds became known, and losses to the extent of , _l._ were the result. there can be no doubt that the state of the law is still most anomalous, and that the great majority of the people of this country are under the impression that there is government security for each deposit in every savings' bank. year by year, changes have been proposed in the legislature for giving more security to depositors, but the body of managers have hitherto been successful in their opposition. whilst legislation is thus deferred, the risks to the provident poor still continue. in the report of a government commission appointed during one of these annual discussions "on the savings of the middle and working classes," several well-known authorities in such matters, such as mr. j. stuart mill, and mr. bellenden kerr, expressed decided opinions of the insecurity of savings'-bank deposits. mr. j. malcom ludlow spoke to the feeling of the working-classes themselves: "i should say the _great_ reason why the working-classes turn away from savings' banks, is the feeling of insecurity so largely prevailing amongst them." mr. j. s. mill, when asked for any suggestion on the subject, said: "i think it would be very useful to provide some scheme to make the nation responsible for all amounts deposited. certainly the general opinion among the depositors is, that the nation is responsible; they are not aware that they have only the responsibility of the trustees to rely upon." some change, or some new system, had long been regarded as absolutely necessary. in , the number of savings' banks on the old plan was ; yet out of this number there were no less than fourteen counties in the united kingdom without a bank at all. even in england, when the test was applied to _towns_, all, for instance, of a size containing upwards of , inhabitants, it was found that there were at least twenty-four without savings'-bank accommodation of any sort. nor was this all. even where savings' banks already existed, were open only once a-week, and that for a few hours; some twice a-week; but very few--only twenty, in fact--were open for a few hours every day. when, added to all this want of accommodation and absence of facility, we remember the unsatisfactory state of the law concerning them, there can be no wonder that public attention was called to the subject from time to time. so early as , mr. whitbread introduced a bill into parliament to make the money-order office at the post-office available for collecting sums from all parts of the country, and transmitting them to a central bank which should be established in london. at that time, the money-order department of the post-office had not arrived at the state of efficiency to which it subsequently attained, and the bill was withdrawn. other proposals shared the same fate, till, in , mr. sykes of huddersfield, engaged in the savings' bank of that town, addressed mr. gladstone on the deficiencies of the existing system. through his practical acquaintance with the old plan of working, he was able to demonstrate that increased facilities for depositing at any time, and almost at any place, were great desiderata amongst the poorer classes. the same facilities were necessary for withdrawing deposits. mr. sykes proposed that a bank for savings should be opened at every money-order office in the kingdom; that each postmaster should be authorized to receive deposits; and that all the offices should have immediate connexion with a central bank in london. the general principle of this scheme was at once seen to be useful and practicable, though, again, the _mode_ of working was evidently unsatisfactory. mr. sykes, for instance, proposed that all payments and withdrawals should be severally effected by means of money-orders to be drawn for each separate undertaking. any one at all acquainted with the machinery of the money-order office was aware that this would of necessity be a slow and complex, as well as expensive plan. mr. sykes's idea was, that no deposit should be less in amount than twenty shillings. this arrangement, again, would have gone far to negative the merits of the whole plan, and especially to interfere with its usefulness amongst the classes which the measure was really intended to benefit. for a few months this scheme, like those preceding it, exhibited signs of suspended animation, when it was referred to the practical officers of the revenue department of the post-office, and by them resolved into the simple and comprehensive measure which the chancellor of the exchequer proposed in , and which was the crowning effort of the legislative session of that year. this bill, entitled "an act to grant additional facilities for depositing small savings at interest, with the security of government for the due repayment thereof," became law on the th of may, . the first savings' banks in connexion with the post-offices of the country were established on the th of september, . a limited number was first organized, and in places where no accommodation of the kind had ever been afforded. the extension of the scheme to ireland and scotland was effected on the d and th of february respectively. nearly all the , money-order offices of the united kingdom are now post-office savings' banks. these banks are in regular working order, , , in round numbers, existing in england and wales, in ireland, and in scotland. many of our largest towns have several banks. thus, at the present time, january, , we find five banks in edinburgh, five in glasgow, twelve in dublin, ten in liverpool, sixteen in manchester, ten in birmingham, and seven in bristol. only seventy of the entire number of new banks have failed to obtain depositors--a fact which sufficiently proves that the advantages offered by the post-office establishment are understood and appreciated throughout the kingdom. up to the end of , the total number of depositors in new banks had been , , of which number no fewer than , then held accounts. at present (march, ), the weekly deposits amount, in the aggregate, to , _l._, while the withdrawals are no more than one-third of that sum. the total amount intrusted to the post-office banks since their first opening has been , , _l._, of which sum no less than , , _l._ remain to the credit of depositors. the most gratifying fact in connexion with the new banks is, that they show a much larger proportion of small depositors than the old savings' banks have been able to attract, the average amount of a deposit being _l._ _s._ _d._ in the new, against _l._ _s._ _d._ in the old class of banks. between fifty and sixty old savings' banks, including the birmingham bank, closed their accounts during the last year ( ), great part of the business of each being transferred to the new banks. a sum amounting to over , _l._ has already been transferred from these banks to the post-office by means of transfer certificates; whilst additional sums, the amount of which cannot be correctly ascertained, have been withdrawn from the old and paid into the post-office banks in cash. with a view to facilitate the proceedings of the trustees of banks which have been or may hereafter be closed, an act of parliament was passed in the last session which will doubtless have the effect of winding up the affairs of many of the smaller banks under the old plan, and increasing the work of those on the new. the _modus operandi_ of this scheme is as simple as it is satisfactory. on making the first deposit, under the new arrangements, an account-book is presented to the depositor, in which is entered his name, address, and occupation. all the necessary printed regulations are given in this book. the amount of each deposit is inserted by the postmaster, and an impression of the dated stamp of the post-office is placed opposite the entry, thus making each transaction strictly official. at the close of each day's business, the postmaster must furnish to the postmaster-general in london a full account of all the deposits that have been made in his office. by return of post an acknowledgment will be received by each depositor in the shape of a separate letter from the head office, the postmaster-general thus becoming responsible for the amount. if such a letter does not arrive within ten days from the date of the deposit an inquiry is instituted, and the error rectified. an arrangement like the foregoing shows the boundless resources which the government possesses in its post-office. the acknowledgment of every separate transaction in each of the money-order offices of the three kingdoms, which in any private undertaking would be an herculean labour, involving an enormous outlay in postage alone, is here accomplished with marvellous ease, and the whole mass of extra communications make but an imperceptible ripple on the stream of the nation's letters flowing nightly from st. martin's-le-grand. when a depositor wishes to withdraw any of his money, he has only to apply to the nearest post-office for the necessary printed form, and to fill it up, stating his name and address, where his money is deposited, the amount he wishes to withdraw, and the place where he wishes it paid, and by return of post he will receive a warrant, in which the postmaster named is authorized to pay the amount applied for. in this respect post-office savings' banks offer peculiar advantages. a depositor, for instance, visiting the metropolis, and having--as he may easily do in london--run short of ready money, may, with a little timely notice to the authorities in london, draw out, in any of the hundred new banks in the metropolis, from his amount at home sufficient for his needs. another person, leaving one town for another, may, without any expense, and no more trouble than a simple notice, have his account transferred to his future home, and continue it there under precisely similar circumstances as those to which he has been accustomed. last year this power was largely used, there being no fewer than , deposits and , withdrawals made under these circumstances, _e. g._ at places where the depositor is temporarily residing.[ ] the facilities offered by the post-office in this way are unique; no other banks can offer them; and such is the admirable system adopted by the post-office, that complicated accounts of this nature are reduced to a matter of the simplest routine. at the end of each month the accounts of the two offices concerned in transactions of this kind are reconciled by the addition or deduction of the amounts in question, which arrangement, so far from being an irksome one, enables the department to obtain a very valuable check upon its gross transactions. under the old system, a depositor could only effect a transfer of his account from manchester to liverpool by withdrawing it from the one, under the usual long notice, and taking it to the other. this course was not only troublesome to the parties concerned, but the depositor ran the risk of losing his money, or, perhaps, of spending the whole or part of it. under the post-office system, however, the transfer may be effected in a day or two, without the depositor even seeing the money, and without the smallest risk of loss. suppose a depositor wishes to transfer his account from a bank under the old plan to one under the new, or _vice versâ_, the matter is one of equally simple arrangement. he has only to apply to the old savings' bank for a certificate to enable him to transfer his deposits in that bank to that belonging to the post-office, and when he obtains such certificate he may present it to any postmaster who transacts savings'-bank business. the postmaster receives it as if it were so much money, and issues a depositors' book, treating the case as if the amount had been handed over to him. a few days longer are required before an acknowledgment can be sent from london; but this is all the difference between the case and that of an ordinary savings'-bank deposit[ ] in the order of advantages which post-office savings' banks offer the depositor, we would rank next to their unquestionable security their peculiar convenience for deposit and withdrawal. twelve months ago, a person might be the length of an english county distant from a bank for savings. under the present arrangement, few persons will be a dozen miles distant from a money-order office, whilst nine-tenths of the entire community will find the necessary accommodation at their very doors. as new centres of population are formed, or as hamlets rise into flourishing villages, and the want of an office for money-orders becomes felt, the requirement will continue to be met, with the addition in each case of a companion savings' bank. again, the expenses of management--amounting to a shilling in the old banks for each transaction, against something like half that amount in the new--will not allow of the ordinary banks being opened but at a few stated periods during the week. the post-office savings' bank, attached as it is to the post-office money-order office, is open to the public full eight hours of every working day. sums not below one shilling, and amounts not exceeding thirty pounds in any one year, may be deposited in these banks; depositors will not be put to any expense for books, postage, &c. and the rate of interest to be allowed will be ½ per cent.--a sum which, though not large, is all which it is found the government can pay without loss. it is not thought that this low rate of interest will deter the classes most sought after from investing in these banks. the poorer classes, as a rule, regard the question of a safe investment as a more important one than that of profits, and wisely think far more of their earnings being safe than of their receiving great returns for them. this scheme, last and best of all, must help to foster independent habits among the working population. their dealings with the post-office banks are pure matters of business, and no obligation of any sort is either given or received. the existing banks, on the other hand, partake largely of the nature of a charity. an objection frequently urged against savings' banks with much bitterness is, that many great employers of labour are on the directorate of such institutions, and that, consequently, they are able to exercise an oversight over their characters and savings, not always used for the best of purposes. in the committee of inquiry to which we have already alluded, cases--designated "rare," we are glad to add--were adduced, from which it appeared that provident workmen's wages had been reduced by their employers, upon the ground of their being already well enough off. no such considerations, however, can affect the new banks: postmasters are forbidden to divulge the names of any depositor, or any of the amounts which he or she may have placed in their hands.[ ] the advantages of these banks are so obvious, and the arrangements under which they are worked are of such a simple nature, that they cannot help but be increasingly useful and successful. moreover, they are so accessible, that the working man, especially, requires nothing but the _will_ to do that which his everyday experience tells him is so necessary should be done for the comfort of his family and home. footnotes: [ ] the case of a fraud of this kind was mentioned by lord monteagle when the post-office savings'-bank bill was before the lords. in a hertfordshire savings' bank, a deficiency of , _l._ was discovered, and the entire amount was subscribed by nine of the trustees, who were noblemen and gentlemen in the neighbourhood. [ ] one of the first deposits which was made on the first day of opening in the banks started on the new system was withdrawn the next week in another town at some distance. the depositor was a person travelling with a wild beast menagerie.--_mr. gladstone's speech at mold_, january , . [ ] of course in this case inquiry would have to be made of the old bank and the national debt office. ordinarily, the receipt of letters on savings'-bank business received in london, involving inquiry, is promptly acknowledged, the writers being told that the delay of a few days may occur before a reply can be sent. at the general savings'-bank office in london, the transactions of each day are disposed of within that day; the monthly adjustment of accounts being also prompt. warrants for withdrawals are issued in reply to every correct notice received up to eleven o'clock each morning, and these warrants are despatched by the same day's post to the depositors who have applied for them. every letter received up to eleven o'clock a.m. is answered the same day, or at the latest the next day, if no inquiry involving delay is necessary. the arrangements for the examination of savings'-bank books every year are also very admirable. a few days before the anniversary of the first deposit, an official envelope is sent down from london to every depositor, in which he or she are asked to enclose their book so that it may arrive at the chief office at such a date. it makes its appearance again in the course of two or three days with the entries all checked, and the interest stated and allowed. see appendix (b). also an interesting paper by mr. frank i. scudamore, the newly-appointed assistant secretary of the post office, read before the _congrès international de bienfaisance_, june , . [ ] we have seen complaints made from the public press that in the post-office there is only a pretension to secrecy in this matter, while the arrangements which make the savings-bank operations so closely connected with money-order business, conducted by the same clerk at the same desk, is anything but conducive to desirable privacy. there is much truth in the latter remark; and if, when the system is perfected and its work properly gauged, there be no change, the new banks may very possibly suffer on this account. chapter vi. being miscellaneous and suggestive. . every person or firm engaged in extensive correspondence should purchase the "british postal guide," at least once a-year. it is published quarterly, and may be had at any post-office for a shilling. . those engaged in frequent correspondence with our colonies or with foreign countries should, in addition, subscribe for the "postal official circular," published weekly for a penny, which gives the latest information on all points regarding the incoming and outgoing of all foreign and colonial mails. . since the division of the metropolis into postal districts, those requiring frequent communication with different parts of london will find of great service a penny book which contains a list of all the streets, &c. in london and its environs, as divided into the ten districts, and giving the initials in each case. this book may be purchased at any post-office. it is said that delay is sometimes avoided by adding the initials of the london districts to letters forwarded from the provinces. . as a rule, with few exceptions indeed, letters are forwarded according to their address. it is of paramount importance, therefore, that the addresses of letters should not only be legible, but the proper and the complete address. perhaps the following suggestions on this head may be found useful, viz.:-- (_a_) never to post a letter without addressing it either a post town or a county. if the information cannot otherwise be obtained, the "british postal guide" contains a list of all post-offices in the united kingdom, and gives post town to which they are subordinate. (_b_) letters for small towns or villages ought not to addressed to the nearest large town, merely because it the _nearest_; although, as a rule, the town in question will be the correct post town, there are many exceptions, which can only be known by reference to the "guide" provided, or by inquiry. (_c_) if the town be not well known, or if there be two towns of the same name in the country, the _county_ ought to be added. (all the cities and county towns are well known.) thus, letters addressed to newport should always give the county, inasmuch as there are several towns and villages of that name in england. again, letters for newcastle should either have the county added, or the usual designation thus: newcastle-on-tyne, newcastle-under-lyme, or newcastle emlyn. (_d_) letters posted in england for scotland or ireland, _vice versâ_ (except in the case of the great towns of the three countries), should have the name of the country to which they are sent given as part of the address. n. b. (north britain) for scotland, and s. b. (south britain) for england, would generally be thought sufficient for letters circulating between the two countries. (_e_) foreign letters should invariably have the name of the country given (in english if possible). it ought also to be given in full. letters addressed "london, c. w." and intended for london in western canada, have not unfrequently been sent to the west central district in london, and so delayed. letters addressed to "hamilton, c. w." have also been mis-sent to hamilton in scotland, the initials having been overlooked. (_f_) the street, &c. should be given on all addresses. well known persons and firms get their letters, &c. regularly, although this rule may not be adhered to; but the omission frequently leads to delays in the _general_ distribution, and sometimes to serious mistakes. in large towns where many names of firms approximate in appearance somewhat to each other, the addresses of letters cannot be too fully given. with london letters, this rule should be strictly adhered to. (_g_) the number of the house, and the correct one, should be carefully added.[ ] when information of this sort is kept back, hesitation and delay frequently occur in delivery; though, perhaps, few letters eventually fail to reach their destination on this account. . every letter should be examined with care before it is dropped in a letter-box, in order to see that it has been securely sealed. thousands of letters are posted yearly without any precaution of the kind having been taken with them, the post-office authorities having to secure them as a consequence.[ ] not only so, but twelve thousand letters are yearly posted without any address at all. . good adhesive envelopes, not too highly glazed, of the ordinary size, are sufficient security for letters,[ ] if the adhesive matter has been but _slightly_ wetted. if, for additional security, it be thought advisable also to seal a letter with wax, it should be placed outside the envelope. very frequently, the wax is found to have been placed on the adhesive matter inside the envelope, thus rendering both ineffective. . letters intended for warm climates should not be sealed with wax at all, inasmuch as there is great danger of the wax melting and injuring the letter, as well as the other contents of the mail-bag. . care should be used in securing newspapers and large packets.[ ] newspapers, when not sent at first from the newspaper offices, should be addressed on the paper itself and tied with string, as great risk is run in the matter of covers becoming detached from the newspapers themselves. book packets, in addition to being enclosed in covers, sealed with wax, gum, or other adhesive matter (but open at the ends or sides), may be tied round the ends with string, as additional security. when the latter precaution is taken, there is less chance of letters getting within the folds of the packet, which may happen when it is not thoroughly secured. . valuable packets or books, if they cannot be well secured, should scarcely be sent through the post. all such packets are liable to be roughly handled, and in the mail-bags exposed to pressure and friction. when safely deposited in the mail-bags, valuable packets are still in danger, inasmuch as the bags in many cases are constantly being transferred from one kind of conveyance to another, and frequently despatched from railway trains by apparatus machinery whilst the train is in motion. . books with valuable bindings, if it is necessary that they should be sent through the post, might be well secured in strong boards; valuable papers or prints should be enclosed in strong paper, linen, parchment, or other material which will not readily tear or break. fragile articles of value (which should by all means be registered, as special care will then be taken of them in all respects) might best be enclosed in wooden boxes, and then wrapped in paper. . it is hardly necessary now to point out that the postage-stamp should be placed on the upper right-hand corner of the envelope, and the address written as much towards the left hand as possible; the address will then be removed from the stamp and the postmark of the office, which will be impressed upon the letter before it is despatched. delay is caused to the post-office operations when the stamp is otherwise placed; and in cases which occasionally occur, where the stamp is placed at the _back_ of the letter, it frequently happens that it is sent away charged with the unpaid postage. . the penny receipt-stamp will not, under any circumstances, serve the purpose of the penny postage-stamp, though many people would seem to think differently; all letters bearing a receipt-stamp are, of course, charged as if unpaid. the two kinds of stamp might easily be assimilated, and there are rumours that this may soon be done; but they have their distinct duties at present, and the one cannot take the place of the other. . the post-office stamped envelopes (which may be obtained singly, in part packets, or entire packets, of two or three sizes, and embossed with either penny or twopenny stamps) are in every way the most secure; and if the paper were of better quality, would be quite as economical, as if the ordinary envelope and the ordinary stamp were used. all risk of the stamps becoming detached is, of course, avoided by the use of stamped envelopes. . in place of affixing penny postage-stamps according to the weight of a letter, however heavy it may be, application might be made for twopenny, fourpenny, sixpenny, or shilling labels, as the case may be. . in affixing stamps, care should be had lest by excess of moisture all the gum be washed off.[ ] the practice of dipping the stamp in water is objectionable, except some absorbent be used immediately to remove any unnecessary moisture. it will be found to be a good plan to wet slightly the gummed side of the stamp, and also the right-hand corner of the envelope, and then to keep the finger gently on the stamp until it is firmly fixed. highly glazed envelopes should be avoided. . letters about which any doubt exists should be carefully weighed before posting. if the post-office weight be exceeded to the smallest extent, even to the turning of the scale, a letter becomes liable to, and is charged higher postage--viz. the difference in double or unpaid postage. so trained has the post-office clerk become of late years by a recent system of surcharges, that few letters can now pass with an insufficient number of stamps affixed. to provide against errors in scales, &c. it would be well in all cases to allow a little margin, or ask that the letter be weighed in the post-office scales. in the case of newspapers and book-packets, the same remarks, as well as the same arrangements, apply. it should be particularly remembered that a newspaper when posted, say wet from the printing-office, will often weigh more than it does on delivery; hence surcharges for which the receiver sometimes cannot account. . in posting letters, care should be taken to see that they fall into the box, and do not stick in the passage. the pillar-boxes of our towns, whatever may be said to the contrary, are completely safe as a rule, though the same care should be exercised in depositing the letters.[ ] . the earlier a letter is posted the better in all cases: towards the time for the closing of the letter-box, great haste is indispensably necessary in the manipulations which a town's correspondence must undergo, whilst earlier on it gets carefully disposed of in proper box and bag. when letters or newspapers are posted in great numbers, as in the case of circulars, they should be posted as early as practicable, and should be tied up in bundles with the addresses all in one direction, or they may be delayed in the press of work.[ ] . every letter of consequence put into the post should contain the name of the sender and also his address, in order that, if it cannot be delivered as addressed, it may be promptly returned to the writer. . all business letters, at any rate, might have the sender's name and address embossed on the back of the envelope. on failure to deliver such letters, they would then be returned to the writers without being opened. care should be taken, however, not to use envelopes with another person's name embossed in this way, as the letter will be forwarded back to the address thus given, though it should not happen to be the sender's own. . coin is prohibited to be sent in ordinary letters passing between one part of the united kingdom and another.[ ] if a letter be posted containing coin, it will be registered and charged a double registration fee. coins or any other articles of value, if properly secured, will be certain of careful treatment under the registration system.[ ] . letters meant to be registered must never be dropped into the letter-box as in the case of ordinary letters, but should be given to the clerk in charge of the post-office counter or window to be dealt with, who will in each case give his receipt for it. the receipt is the sender's evidence that it has been posted in proper course. . letters containing sharp instruments, liquids, &c. or any other articles which would be likely of themselves, or if they should escape, to do injury to the other contents of the mail-bag, should never be posted. postmasters have instructions not to forward such letters according to their address, but, when observed, to send them to the dead-letter office, from which place they will be returned to the writers. valuable letters of this forbidden kind, therefore, run great risks of delay, while the articles are liable to be destroyed in their passage through the post.[ ] . though the transmission of coin in letters is now absolutely forbidden, except under the registration scheme, arrangements are made for rendering it easy to send small sums by post in postage-stamps. when presented at any of the numerous money-order offices in the united kingdom, they may be exchanged for money, at a charge of ½ per cent. any person wishful to send through the post a sum of money under five or six shillings will find it cheaper to buy stamps and enclose them, in place of a post-office order. one penny will be charged for buying forty stamps, a halfpenny for twenty stamps. , _l._ worth of postage-stamps were bought from the public during the year . . in sending postage-stamps in letters, care should be taken to use _thick_ envelopes, so that enclosures of this kind may neither be seen nor felt. it is easy to feel a quantity of postage-stamps in a letter sent in a thin and crisp envelope, and some official becoming aware of this may not be able to resist the temptation to appropriate them. . no enclosures whatever should be sent in newspapers impressed with the regular newspaper-stamp. even an old address of such a newspaper should be carefully cut out. it is not enough that it be obliterated with the pen, as the rules forbid writing of any kind in addition to the mere address.[ ] with newspapers stamped by the ordinary postage-label the arrangements are quite different. any printed paper or manuscript may be folded up with the newspaper on which an ordinary penny-stamp is placed, provided the total amount of the package does not exceed four ounces. the old address (supposing the newspaper has circulated through the post before) may be left on or not at the discretion of the sender, as this does not interfere with the regulation that nothing in the packet shall be of the nature of a letter. on the other hand, any sentence or message written in ink or pencil on any part of the paper makes the packet liable to the unpaid letter-rate of postage. . when any letter, book-packet, or newspaper is lost, miscarried, or delayed, inquiry should be made as soon as evidence has been obtained that the article in question was really posted. the postmaster of the town should be informed by the complainant of every particular relating to the missing letter, &c. the day and hour of its posting, the office at which and the person by whom this was done. in cases of delay or mis-sending, the covers ought to be produced in order that the office stamps on them may indicate the exact place where the delay has been occasioned. correspondence on the subject of the complaints will subsequently be carried on between the applicant and the secretary's department in england, scotland, or ireland, as the case may be. . when any one has reason to believe that he has paid extra postage on a letter or packet improperly, or has been charged more than the case would warrant, he should apply to his postmaster, who will bring the case before the notice of the secretary, when, if any mistake has been made, the money will be refunded by order. postmasters cannot return postage paid improperly until instructed to do so from the chief offices. . when an unpaid letter is presented to a person who has not the means at disposal of paying the demand upon it (some foreign or colonial letter may be taxed heavily), it will be kept at the post-office a month, _if a request be made to that effect_, in order that efforts may be made to obtain the necessary money to release it. . postmasters and their clerks are forbidden to be parties to the deceptions which used to be practised, and which are now sometimes attempted, as to the place of posting of a letter. if any communication should be forwarded, under cover, to the postmaster of a provincial town, with a request that it may be posted at his office, it will be sent to the returned-letter branch in london, and from thence to the writer. . advertisements are occasionally seen, and applications frequently made, for defaced postage-stamps. it is stated, in some cases, that a given number will gain certain individuals admission to different charitable institutions. whatever may be the purpose for which the old stamps are required, the post-office authorities have found, by inquiry, that the ostensible reason here given has uniformly been false. it is sometimes feared that attempts are made to clean and re-issue them, though this can be attended with but partial success. it is much more probable that they are sought to indulge some whim, such as papering boxes or even rooms. . with reference to money-orders, the public should be careful-- (_a_) always to give particulars of any order required _in writing_. when a number of orders are required, to write out a full list of them. forms for single orders may be had gratuitously at all money-order offices. these forms, or other written papers, are invariably kept on files for a given time, so that reference may easily be made to them in the event of any mistake. mistakes may, of course, be made either by the applicant or the clerk on duty. if, on production of the paper, the error is seen to have been the sender's, he must pay (generally a second commission) for the necessary alterations: if, however, it be proved to be caused by the clerk issuing the order, the post-office calls upon the latter to bear the expense himself. (_b_) never to present an order for payment on the day on which it is issued, nor, on the other hand, to allow two months to elapse before calling for payment.[ ] (_c_) when sending an order, either to send it to its destination singly, or in a letter signed only by initials. money-orders passing between friends need not be accompanied with information such as is sometimes required in business transactions. footnotes: [ ] the irregularities and eccentricities in the numbering of streets and houses is a great difficulty. on one occasion a london inspector of letter-carriers, going round the districts, noticed a brass-plate with the number between two houses numbered respectively and . he made inquiry, when the old lady who tenanted the house said that the number had belonged to a former residence, and, thinking it a pity that it should be thrown away, she had transferred it to her new home, supposing that it would do as well as any other number! [ ] about two hundred letters pass through the general post-office every day unsealed. [ ] it is calculated that per cent. of the letters circulating through the united kingdom are enclosed in envelopes; the number of those sent abroad in envelopes is somewhat smaller, or about per cent. [ ] the number of newspapers delivered in amounted to nearly , , , a considerable increase on the previous year. the number of book-packets exceeded , , , being an increase on the previous year of about , , , or nearly per cent. upwards of , newspapers, or about one in two hundred, were undelivered in the same year, about half of which failures arose from improper or incorrect addresses, while the remainder were owing to the newspapers becoming detached from their covers in transit through the post. [ ] it is calculated that every year nearly fifty thousand postage-stamps rub off letters and newspapers in their passage through the post-office. at one time the quality of the adhesive matter was called in question, loud complaint, even ridicule, settling on the theme. now, however, that the gum is better the number of stamps which "will not stick" is scarcely perceptibly smaller. [ ] only one instance is on record of any violent and wilful attempt to damage a pillar letter-box. this is the more wonderful as the temptation to lift the lid and contribute articles not contemplated by our postage-system must naturally be strong in the eyes of our city arabs. a singular accident befell one of these letter-boxes ( ) in montrose. a quantity of gas from the street pipes seems to have got into the box, and a night-watchman to have ignited it by striking a match on the top in order to light his pipe. the top was blown off and the pillar-box hopelessly damaged, although the watchman and the letters escaped without injury. [ ] the following announcement from the postmaster of manchester, as given in a bill dated , contrasts strangely with the latitude allowed now. "the post goes out to london," says he, "on monday, wednesday, and saturday, at nine o'clock in the morning. it will be best to bring the letters the _night before the going out of the post_, because the accounts and baggs are usually made up _over-night_." in these days, when we may post up to within five minutes of the despatch of a mail, and letters for america may be posted within ten minutes of the sailing of the packet, we cannot be too thankful for our privileges. [ ] this arrangement does not apply to foreign letters coming to or going out of this country. [ ] the number of registered letters last year was over two millions, or one registered letter to about three hundred ordinary letters. [ ] most of our readers will have heard or read stories of curious articles passing through the post, and without doubt the records of the returned-letter branch of the london office will present strange appearances in this respect. sir francis b. head, who was permitted to peruse an extraordinary ledger in the general post-office where several notable letters and packets were registered, has strung together a catalogue of them, which reminds us of the articles passing through the post before the revocation of the franking privilege. he tells us he found amongst the number--two canaries; a pork-pie from devonport to london; a pair of piebald mice, which were kept at the office a month, and duly fed till they were called for by the owner; two rabbits; plum-pudding; leeches in bladders, "several of which having burst, many of the poor creatures were found crawling over the correspondence of the country." further, there was a bottle of cream from devonshire; a pottle of strawberries; a sample bottle of cider; half a pound of soft soap wrapped in thin paper; a roast duck; a pistol, _loaded almost to the mouth with slugs and ball_; a live snake; a paper of fish-hooks; fish innumerable; and last of all, and most extraordinary of all, a human heart and stomach.--_head's essays._ [ ] the annual return just published (february, ) shows to some extent how far the public prefers the stamped newspaper, which can be sent through the post-office, in fact, until it is fifteen days old. the number of stamps issued to the principal london newspapers from june, , to june, , are as follows:-- _times_, , , ; _express_, , ; _morning post_, , ; _daily news_, , ; _morning herald_, , ; _globe_, , ; _shipping gazette_, , ; _evening standard_, , ; _evening star_, , ; _evening mail_ (thrice a week), took , ; _st. james's chronicle_, , ; _record_, , ; _the guardian_ (weekly), , ; _the illustrated london news_, , , ; _punch_, , . eleven english country newspapers took , each, the principal being the _sussex express_, , , and the _stamford mercury_, , . thirty country newspapers bought more than , stamps. [ ] many orders are never claimed at all. in ireland twice as many orders are allowed to "lapse" as in england or scotland, though there are many more orders granted in the two latter countries than in ireland. perhaps the fact may be accounted for by the wretched addresses of most irish letters, which make it impossible to deliver many of them and equally impossible to return them to the writers. of ordinary money-orders, one in are unclaimed within two months; whilst as a curious fact, instancing the pertinacity of a careless habit, it may be stated that when these very orders have been renewed on payment of a second commission, one in every thirty-nine are again overlooked, and allowed to lapse, many of them, in fact, becoming entirely cancelled, and the money forfeited. chapter vii. concerning some of the popular misconceptions and misrepresentations to which the post-office is liable. the post-office, from its peculiar organization and the nature of its business, is liable to many misconceptions from which the other great government departments are more or less free. in one of the reports of the postmaster-general, many of these misunderstandings are recounted and answered with an evident endeavour to bring about a better feeling between the people and the people's post-office. we cannot do better than refer here to a few of the instances given, supplementing them by more which have been suggested to us from that consideration of the entire economy of the post-office, into which we have been led in dealing with our subject. . unquestionably, the post-office is blamed for many errors and shortcomings which ought never to have been charged against it. on this important point, the evidence given by each post-office report is remarkably clear, although, by the way, a writer in a recent number of a highly respectable quarterly review regards the instances given by successive postmaster-generals as so many "testimonials to character," reminding him--so he scurvily added--of nothing so much as "the testimonials given by dyspeptic noblemen in favour of the revalenta arabica or holloway's pills and ointment."[ ] of course, much trouble and many losses must, from time to time and at all times, have been caused by the carelessness or dishonesty of some of many thousand officials of the post-office, though the cases are far from few, and the authorities, in which it has been shown, to the satisfaction even of the complainant, that the fault at first attributed to the post-office rested really in other quarters. some examples are afforded. the publisher of one of the london papers complained of the repeated loss in the post-office of copies of his journal, addressed to persons abroad. an investigation showed that the abstraction was made by the publisher's clerk, his object apparently being to appropriate the stamps required to defray the foreign postage. in another case, a general complaint having arisen as to the loss of newspapers sent to the chief office in st. martin's-le-grand, the investigation led to the discovery of a regular mart held near the office, which was supplied with newspapers by the private messengers employed to convey them to the post. again: a man was detected once in robbing a newsvendor's cart by volunteering, on its arrival at the entrance of the general post-office, to assist the driver in posting the newspapers. instead of doing so, however, he walked through the hall with those intrusted to him, and, upon his being stopped, three quires of a weekly paper were found in his possession. to these cases of newspapers let us add a few concerning letters, the substance of which are adduced in subsequent reports. thus, a letter containing a cheque for _l._ and sent to a london firm, was said not to have reached its destination; the post-office was blamed for not delivering it; inspectors were set to work, and after a diligent search, it was traced from the premises of the person to whom it was addressed to those of a papier-maché manufacturer, where it doubtless had been pulped into tea-trays or writing-cases. again: a bank agent sends his son to the post with a letter, which on his journey he opens. spying a figured cheque, he abstracts it, and posts the letter without it, and it is afterwards found ornamenting his copy-book! another bank agent sends his youthful son to the post-office to receive for him his letters, one of which, containing some very valuable inclosures, he leaves in his pocket, and immediately afterwards leaves town for school, carrying with him the precious missive--worth some , _l._--where it consorts with his marbles, everton toffy, and cold bologna sausage, till the vacation, the lad all the time being in blissful unconsciousness of the stir paterfamilias was making about it. another person complained that several of his letters were not forthcoming. this case was a mystery. at length it struck one of the shrewd officials--who grow shrewd through dint of unravelling the most curious cases--that the letter-box at the person's door ought to be carefully examined. this was done, and the box was found exceedingly defective. fifteen letters were jammed between the box and the door, where some of them had quietly reposed for the space of nine years.[ ] the secretary of a charitable institution in london gave directions for posting a large number of "election papers," and supposed that his directions had been duly acted upon. shortly, however, he received complaints of the non-receipt of many of the papers, and in other cases of delay. he at once lodged a strong complaint at the post-office; but, on examination, circumstances soon came to light which cast suspicion on the person employed to post the notices, although this man had been many years in the service of the society, and was supposed to be of strict integrity. ultimately, the man confessed that he embezzled the postage ( _l._ _s._ _d._), and had endeavoured to deliver the election papers himself. once more: a short time since a registered letter was said to have been posted at newcastle, addressed to a banker in edinburgh, who, not receiving it according to his expectation, sent a telegraphic message to learn why it had not been forwarded. the banker supposed that the letter had been lost or purloined in the post-office; but it was at last found to have been duly delivered to the bank porter in order to post it, but he had locked it up in his desk and forgotten it. . the knowledge of the following misconception may also help to save the public and the post-office a great amount of trouble. "it is often assumed," says the postmaster-general, "that a mail-conveyance passing by, or through a place, ought, as a matter of course, to deposit," there and then, "the letters directed thereto; the practice being, on the contrary, that until the mail arrives at the head post-office of the district, the letters in question are not separated from the other letters of the district. a slight consideration of the nature and objects of the postal service will show that such separation cannot be effected in any other way, unless, indeed, the mail-conveyance, even supposing it to be but a _mail-cart_, were converted into a travelling post-office, and furnished with clerks of unlimited local knowledge (which is plainly impossible), or unless every town and village in the kingdom, having any correspondence with the place in question, were to make up a bag for that place; in which case its mail would contain nearly as many bags as letters." . "it happens from time to time that, owing to the stream of postal communications having been diverted from the old mail-road to a line of railway, or from other causes of like nature, it becomes desirable to reduce the post-office of a town from the condition of a _principal_ office to that of a _sub_-office. this step not unfrequently gives rise to complaints, the inhabitants being under the impression that they will not in future be so well served. this is a misconception. the change is not made when it will subject the correspondence to delay; nor does it cause any withdrawal of accommodation in respect to money-orders. it is, in fact, only a departmental arrangement, which consists in carrying on the sorting of the letters for the new sub-office at some intermediate office, instead of sending the letters in direct bags." . "another misconception, which occasionally causes trouble and disappointment, consists in assuming that a discretionary power can be intrusted to subordinate officers to remit penalties or overcharges under special circumstances. cases will occur in which strict observance of a general rule may inflict more or less injustice upon individuals, and where a dispensing power immediately at hand might furnish a remedy. in an establishment as large and as widely spread as the post-office, however, there will always be many subordinate officers, some of them carrying on their duties beyond the easy reach of any supervising authority, who are not fit depositaries of such a power, affecting, as it would to a great degree, the public revenue. it therefore becomes necessary to lay down definite and precise rules, from which no departure can be allowed, except under sanction of the postmaster-general; and in the few instances in which these rules press hardly, appeal must be made to the general post-office. it must be added, that in many instances even such appeal is necessarily fruitless, the postmaster-general being bound to a particular course by positive law." . "in regard to the expense of railway conveyance, the public naturally supposes, that as such conveyance is cheapest for ordinary purposes, and as the charges made for the carriage of mails are subject to arbitration, that it must be cheapest for postal purposes also; and, indeed, so cheap, as to warrant the free use of the railways, either as substitutes for other conveyance, or for the multiplication of mails. the fact, however, is very different. except in certain instances, where companies have entered into arrangements, securing to the post-office the use of their trains on moderate, though still highly remunerative terms, railway conveyance, with all its acknowledged advantages, has proved much more expensive than that which it has superseded." we have already spoken at length of railways in relation to the post-office, and will not here add any further remark. . the english postmaster-general is frequently supposed to have some control over colonial post-offices, and even those of foreign countries. except at gibraltar and malta, however, he is quite powerless out of the united kingdom. . frequent applications are made, it seems, for extra foreign and colonial mails, yet those existing are only kept up at a ruinous loss. of the eight great lines of packet communication, only one pays its expenses and yields a profit. if the letters sent abroad were charged with the whole cost of the packets, the foreign agencies, and other incidental expenses, not only would all the sea-postage be swallowed up, but the mails would entail a loss of nearly four hundred thousand pounds a year. "we want," said a leading weekly commercial paper lately, "increased facilities for communication with our west indian colonies;" yet every letter now forwarded to those colonial possessions of ours costs one shilling over and above the postage charged! on each letter conveyed between this country and the cape there is a dead loss of sixpence; to the west coast of africa, one shilling and sixpence. everybody has heard of the new galway line of packets for america, now suspended for the second time: every letter carried by these packets under their first contract was charged _one_, and cost the country _six_ shillings; under the second attempt, each letter is said to have cost even more than six shillings! with the change of system and change of management, described briefly in speaking of the packet service, there can be no question that this state of things will not be allowed to continue. the principle of requiring the colonies themselves to pay a moiety of the cost of their service is a step in the right direction, and is, certainly, only just:[ ] the colonies will not be taxed for the mother-country, as in one memorable instance in history, nor, as at present, will the mother-country be taxed unfairly for the colonies: there will then be equal interest in keeping down the expenditure, and in establishing rates of postage high enough to be remunerative. . the english post-office will compare favourably with that of any nation in the world. in no country are post-office privileges procured cheaper than with us. like any other institution capable of endless growth, and which must grow and expand with the progressive influences of the times, it clearly is not perfect in every arrangement; but in answer to complaints of the hard, unyielding, and stringent rules which are said to bind the english post-office, it may not be out of place to institute a few comparisons, asking that some reference should be made to contemporary history. in england, coin was suffered for many years to pass in ordinary letters, to the temptation and seduction of many of the officers, and the practice grew from a thoughtless economy, in spite of all the appeals that were made to the contrary. at present coin is not allowed to pass through the post-office, except in registered letters: in france it has long been, and is now, a _penal_ offence to transmit coin in letters.[ ] at the time sir rowland hill was urging his penny-postage scheme on the attention of the british legislature, another european state (piedmont, ) had the most stringent and severe regulations maintained in its post-office. the law punished any one posting a book or a newspaper opposed to the principles of the monarchy with from two to five years' hard labour; any one who might receive of such newspapers or books through the post without having delivered it into the hands of the authorities with two years' imprisonment; a reward of one hundred crowns was offered to any one giving information. these arbitrary and iniquitous laws are equalled and even surpassed, in european codes of still later date--witness russia and, until quite recently, austria. . the opinion is frequently expressed in conversation, and we have often met with such expressions of opinion in our daily and weekly press, to the effect that the post-office ought to give more accommodation to the public in many ways, and so disburse some, if not all, of its enormous profits. these profits are said to be absurdly large; that fifty per cent. is ten times the interest of money lent on decent security, and five times as much as would satisfy sanguine private speculators. this subject of post-office profits is made, _de facto_, the principal argument against what is called the post-office monopoly. we have already, in other parts of this book, offered an opinion on steps which might be taken in the way of affording extra facilities to the public. a cheaper sea service and a halfpenny post for our towns are two of the most important and most practicable measures. granted that our packet service ought to be kept up as at present, we have an invincible argument for universal free deliveries at home. when asked[ ] if he thought it necessary that our colonies should have greater postal facilities than they could pay for, mr. hamilton, assistant secretary of the treasury, answered that "a colony might reasonably complain if it was deprived of advantages of postal communication, simply because that postal communication might not be remunerative." again, on the question of post-office revenue,[ ] "i think the first charge upon that revenue is to supply reasonably all portions of her majesty's dominions with postal communication," which consideration, it seems to us, will apply equally at home and abroad. still more important seems the plan of a halfpenny post for local letters, that is, for letters posted and delivered in the same town. before the days of penny postage, we had penny posts in all the principal towns of the country. a halfpenny post, if only applied to our largest towns, where it would be certain to be remunerative,[ ] would have the effect of materially lessening the weight of the argument that our present rate of charges is anomalous and unfair. but this would be by no means the most important result. such posts would necessitate more frequent deliveries in provincial towns--the postmen to be paid accordingly as fully, and not as now, only partially, employed. on the other hand, it is quite clear that the post-office net revenue is a fair and honourable item on the credit side of the government accounts, with which the public, except through their representatives in parliament, have nothing whatever to do. the penny postage scheme was carried through parliament in the confident expectation resolutely urged by the intrepid founder of that scheme, that all the benefits promised under it would result to the country, without any great relinquishment of post-office revenue, and that only for a term of years. gradually, year by year, with enormous gain to the public convenience in innumerable ways, the revenue derivable from this branch of the service has risen beyond the highest standard of the past. any relinquishment of the profits--which, by the way, staves off other taxes--depends on parliament, and not on the post-office.[ ] . perhaps of all the prevalent misconceptions to which the public have been, and still are, liable, none is so unfounded as that the servants of the post-office are, as a body, ill-used and ill-paid. without question, individual cases of hardship and inequality exist; but that there is anything inherently wrong in the system, or that that system is administered with harshness or partiality, or that there is in this department more than the usual modicum of cases in which the legislation for the many presses heavily on the few, no one who will make himself acquainted with the subject in all its bearings can believe for a moment. statements to a contrary effect have often appeared in the public newspapers; instead, however, of representing the feelings of the officers, they have much more frequently goaded them into discontent, no doubt, at times, against their better feeling and judgment. two or three years ago, the postmaster-general, in referring to these statements, dwelt upon the weight of responsibility resting with that part of the public press who, unthinkingly, and on an _ex parte_ view of their case, indulged the martial sentiments of the men with encouragement to the utter abandonment of discipline and control. we incline to the belief that the time will come when, in the provinces for instance, more liberal allowances will be made to the lower grades of post-office officials; when the graphic description already given by the postman poet would, if uttered, be regarded as a libel on his class of officers. on the other hand, with regard to the same class of men in the metropolitan office, the more the question is calmly considered, the less reason is there for sympathy with the popular view. in , the _times_ gave a dismal account of the sufferings of the london letter-carriers, whose cause it espoused more warmly than wisely. "hard-worked and ill-paid," said the leading journal, "these men are all discontented and sullen; they are indifferent to the proper performance of their duties, and hold the threat of dismissal in utter disdain, feeling sure, as they say, that even stone-breaking on the road-side would not be harder labour and scarcely less remunerative." a short time after, the other side of the picture relating to these would-be stone-breakers was given, not by an anonymous writer in the _times_, but by a cabinet minister. the report of the late lord elgin stated that "there need not be the least difficulty in procuring, at the present wages, honest, intelligent, and industrious young men, perfectly qualified for the office of letter-carrier: and, i may add, that in cases of dismissal--happily a rare occurrence, considering the number of men employed--the most strenuous efforts are made to obtain readmission to the service." regarding the question in a practical common-sense light, there could be no manner of doubt as to which statement should carry most weight. other organs of the press, however, either thought differently, or dispensed with the preliminary investigation which the post-office courts rather than discourages, and which inquiry it would only have been fair to make. only last year an important commercial paper commented sympathisingly on "the loud and deep complainings of the london letter-carrier, of the grinding oppression to which they are subjected, and their ineffectual struggles to obtain redress;" and this opinion was echoed round by many smaller lights. what, however, are the facts? the rate of wages of the lowest class of letter-carriers in london ranges from _s._ to _s._ a week. each man (who must necessarily begin _under years of age_) commences at the former sum, and steadily advances at the rate of a shilling more each year, till he attains the maximum of _s._ this is for the lowest class, be it remembered: but besides the chances of rising into a higher class of carrier, he has the prospect, realized by many in the course of two or three years, of being promoted to the higher grade of sorter. if, as some have been, he be appointed to the corps of travelling sorters, he will nearly double his income at a bound. but not to dwell on chances of promotion, the letter-carrier, in addition to his wages, is allowed to receive christmas-boxes; and many thus receive, as the public must know well, most substantial additions to their income. he is supplied with two suits of clothes, one for summer, and the other for winter wear. if ill, he has medical attendance and medicine gratis. when unfitted for work, he may retire upon a pension for which he has not now to pay a farthing; and during service, if he insure his life for the benefit of his family, the post-office will assist him to pay his premiums, by allowing him per cent. on all his payments. every year he is allowed a fortnight's holiday, without any deduction from his pay; many spare hours each day he may devote to other pursuits, for if, when at work at the office, his hours of duty exceed eight hours daily, he is at full liberty to ask for investigation and redress. in short, a london letter-carrier is in as good a position, relatively, as many skilled artisans, without, as regards his pay, being subject to any of the contingencies of weather, trade, and misfortune, which make the wages of other workmen occasionally so precarious, and without having had to go through any expensive apprenticeship or preparation for his calling, as in the case of most of the numerous handicrafts of life.[ ] finally, it cannot truly be said that the post-office institution is not moving with the age, but is as it used to be, intrenched in the traditions of the past. different from other departments, with their undeviatingly narrow routine, the post-office is managed with that enlightened policy which openly invites suggestion and criticism; nay, it goes further, and offers rewards to persons, either in its employ or otherwise, who may devise any plan for accelerating its business. post-office work is of such a nature that the post-office establishment admits of constant improvement as well as constant expansion. the authorities publicly intimate that they will be glad to receive clear and correct information respecting any faulty arrangements, promising that such information shall have the best attention of the practical officers of the department. at the same time, they take the opportunity to urge upon john bull the practice of patience, reminding him of what he is often inclined to forget, that changes in machinery so extensive and delicate must be made carefully, and only after the most mature thought and fullest investigation. "the post-office," says mr. mathew d. hill, the respected recorder of birmingham,[ ] "no longer assumes to be perfect, and its conductors have renounced their claims to infallibility. suggested improvements, if they can sustain the indispensable test of rigid scrutiny, are welcomed, and not, as of old, frowned away. the department acts under the conviction that to thrive it must keep ahead of all rivals; that it must discard the confidence heretofore placed in legal prohibitions, and seek its continuance of prosperity only by deserving it." footnotes: [ ] in this category we suppose the reviewer placed the following letter addressed to the secretary of the post-office, from lord cranworth when lord chancellor. we adduce it here, on the contrary, as a specimen of a handsome and manly apology: "sir,--complaints were made early last month, that a letter posted by mr. anderson, of lincoln's inn, and addressed to me, had never reached its destination.... you caused inquiry to be made.... i feel it a duty to you, sir, and the post-office authorities, to say that i have just found the missing letter, which has been accidentally buried under a heap of other papers. i have only to regret the trouble which my oversight thus caused, and to take the earliest opportunity of absolving all persons, except myself, of blame in the matter. i have, &c. &c. cranworth." somewhat similar to the above case, occurring only last year, we may refer to the circumstance, probably in the memory of most of our readers, when, among a batch of complainants whose letters the _times_ admitted to its columns, was one from the late mr. john gough nicholls, the eminent _littérateur_, who grieved bitterly that a letter sent through the post to him had not arrived at his address. from a manly apology which he made to the post-office authorities a few days afterwards, also given in the _times_, it appeared that the reason why he never received the letter was, that _it had not been sent through the post-office_, as it ought to have been, but was delivered by a private messenger at another house in the street. [ ] we do not mention this latter circumstance, be it understood, to discourage the use of slits or letter-boxes in private doors. an occurrence of the above kind must be exceedingly rare, whilst nothing so much helps the prompt delivery of letters as such an arrangement. [ ] perhaps, however, there is room to doubt whether the true reform will consist in anything less than the entire abolition of packet subsidies, and the offering of the contracts in the ordinary way of commercial transactions. an ocean penny-postage, _e. g._ penny sea-postage, would then be almost inevitable. a letter charged a penny the half-ounce would amount to nearly _l._ a ton, an enormous freightage it will be admitted, to the united states, being even fifteen times steam freight to india. nor when the letters get across the sea would they be subject to heavy inland postage either in the one country or the other. in the united states letters are circulated for thousands of miles for three cents, while for half an anna, a sum equivalent to three farthings of english money, a letter may be forwarded through the length and breadth of british india. [ ] as another example, take the united states, with mr. anthony trollope for a judge on postal concerns. in his _north america_, vol. ii. p. , we read: "it is, i think, undoubtedly true that the amount of accommodation given by the post-office of the states is small, as compared with that afforded in some other countries, and that that accommodation is lessened by delays and uncertainty.... here in england, it is the object of our post-office to carry the bulk of our letters at night, to deliver them as early as possible in the morning, and to collect them and take them away for despatch as late as may be in the day; so that the merchant may receive his letters before the beginning of his day's business, and despatch them after its close. in the states no such practice prevails. letters arrive at any hour of the day miscellaneously, and were despatched at any hour. i found that the postmaster of one town could never tell me with certainty when letters would arrive at another. i ascertained, moreover, by painful experience that the _whole_ of a mail would not always go forward by the first despatch. as regarded myself, this had reference chiefly to english letters and newspapers. 'only a part of the mail has come,' the clerk would tell me. with us the owners of that part which did not _come_ would consider themselves greatly aggrieved and make loud complaint. but, in the states, complaints made against official departments are held to be of little moment." we are further told that the "letters are subject to great delays by irregularities on railways. they have no travelling post-offices in the states, as with us. and, worst of all, there is no official delivery of letters." "the united states' post-office," says mr. trollope, "does not assume to itself the duty of taking letters to the houses of those for whom they are intended, but holds itself as having completed the work for which the original postage has been paid when it has brought them to the window of the post-office of the town to which they are addressed." the recognised official mode of delivery is from the office window, many inhabitants paying for private boxes at the post-office. if delivered, a further sum must be paid the bearer. surely english people have reason to be content with their privileges, and in a certain degree to "rest and be thankful." [ ] report of the committee of the house of commons on packet and telegraph contracts, p. . [ ] _ibid._ p. . [ ] a halfpenny post is in full operation at the city of quebec. [ ] the chancellor of the exchequer, in his place in parliament, has just adverted (april) to the argument indicated above. "if the post-office revenue be abandoned in whole, or in part, a gap will be created which will have to be supplied by direct taxation." that our postage rates may be regarded as a kind of mild taxation, not unfairly levied, and that the work is done by the state with more uniformity of purpose and greater regularity than would be possible under any private company, our senators agree, perhaps with the single exception of mr. roebuck. that gentleman, however, it will be remembered, held that sebastapol might have been reduced more easily had the business been made a subject of contract! with respect to the state monopoly and the advantages derived from it, political economists are also pretty well agreed. blackstone has been referred to previously. sergeant stephens, in his _commentaries_, endorses blackstone's views. mr. m'cullagh, in his _principles of political economy_, is so clear on this point that we venture to make a quotation: "perhaps, with the single exception of the carriage of letters, there is no branch of industry which government had not better leave to be conducted by individuals. it does not, however, appear that the post-office could be so well conducted by any other party as by government; the latter only can enforce perfect regularity in all its subordinate departments, can carry it into the smallest villages and even beyond the frontier, and can combine all its separate parts into one uniform system on which the public may rely for security and despatch. besides providing for the speedy and safe communication of intelligence, the post-office has everywhere almost been rendered subservient to fiscal purposes, and made a source of revenue; and provided the duty on letters be not so heavy as to oppose any very serious obstacle to the frequency and facility of correspondence, it seems to be a most unobjectionable tax; and is paid and collected with little trouble and inconvenience." fourth edition, , pp. - . see also m'cullagh's _commercial dictionary_, where he speaks still more decidedly, and mr. senior's _political economy_. sydney smith, who with mr. m'cullagh was opposed to the penny-postage movement, was favourable to the government monopoly of the post-office. [ ] these remarks must not be understood to apply to the _clerks_ in the different branches of the london establishment. these clerks, &c., who are required to be educated gentlemen, are as a rule, paid on lower scales of salary than obtain, we believe, in the other government departments. [ ] _fraser's magazine_, september, , p. . appendix. appendix (a). chief officers of the post-office _england._ _her majesty's postmaster-general._ the right hon. lord stanley of alderley. _secretary_ john tilley, esq. _assistant secretaries_ {frederic hill, esq. and {frank ives scudamore, esq. _chief clerk of the secretary's office_ rodie parkhurst, esq. _chief clerk of foreign business_ william page, esq. _solicitor_ wm. henry ashurst, esq. _assistant solicitor_ r. w. peacock, esq. _inspector-general of mails_ edward john page, esq. _deputy inspector-general of mails_ john west, esq. _receiver and accountant-general_ vacant. _controller of circulation department_ william bokenham, esq. _deputy controller_ _ditto_ thomas boucher, esq. _controller of money-order office_ fred. rowland jackson, esq. _controller of post-office savings'_} _banks_ } george chetwynd, esq. _medical officer_ waller lewis, esq. m.d. _post-office district surveyors._ northern district chris. hodgson, esq. penrith. southern district j. h. newman, esq. dorking. eastern district anthony trollope, esq. waltham cross. western district g. h. cresswell, esq. devonport. derby district ernest milliken, esq. derby. manchester district william gay, esq. altrincham. shrewsbury district w. j. godby, esq. shrewsbury. gloucester district john patten good, esq. london. birmingham district a. m. cunynghame, esq. london. _ireland._ _secretary_ gustavus charles cornwall, esq. _accountant_ joseph long, esq. _controller of sorting office_ r. o. anderson, esq. _solicitor_ r. thompson, esq. _surveyors_ {h. james, esq. limerick, and {w. barnard, esq. dublin. _scotland._ _secretary_ francis abbott, esq. _accountant_ john marrable, esq. _controller of sorting office_ t. b. lang, esq. _solicitor_ j. cay, jun. esq. _surveyors_ {john warren, esq. aberdeen, and {e. c. burckardt, esq. edinburgh. appendix (b). abstract of the principal regulations. "it may not be too much to say that half the people in this country who use the post-office do not know clearly all the benefit they may derive from it."--_household words_, . we have already directed the attention of those engaged in frequent correspondence, especially with our colonies and foreign countries, to the necessity of consulting the official books published for their guidance. the following digest of post office regulations may, perhaps, answer the ordinary requirements of the general reader. the letter-post. as at present constituted, the british post-office has, with the few exceptions noticed in our historical survey, an exclusive authority to convey _letters_ within the united kingdom. it is also required by law to convey newspapers when the public choose to use the post for that purpose. the post-office further undertakes the conveyance of books and book-packets, and the remittance of small sums of money. still more recently, it has entered into competition with the banking interest of the country: it now threatens a scheme which will compete with benefit societies and insurance offices. it is only with regard to the carriage of letters, however, that the post-office possesses any special privileges, the other branches of its business being open to any person or persons who may choose to undertake them. (_a_) the rates of postage on all letters passing through the post-office are now regulated by weight,[ ] irrespective of distance, and (with some exceptions, which we will mention presently) altogether irrespective of their contents. letters weighing _less than four ounces_ may be sent unpaid, but they will be charged double postage on delivery. letters may be sent insufficiently stamped, but that deficiency, whatever it may be, will also be charged double postage on delivery. the rate for letters is familiar to every reader. (_b_) all re-directed letters are liable to additional postage, but at the _prepaid_, and not the unpaid rate. thus, for a letter under half an ounce, re-addressed from one post-town to another, additional postage, to the amount of one penny, is levied. re-directed letters, not addressed to a fresh post-town, but to a place within the district belonging to the same post-town to which they were originally sent, are not charged with any additional postage, the first payment franking them until they are delivered. letters for officers in the army and navy, and private soldiers and seamen employed on actual service, have their letters re-addressed to them from place to place without any charge for re-direction. (_c_) no letter, &c. can be forwarded through the post which is more than two feet in length, breadth, or depth, nor any unpaid letter or packet which weighs more than four ounces, unless three-quarters of the postage due on it have been paid. the exceptions to this rule are-- st. packets sent to or received from places abroad. d. packets to or from any of the government departments or public officers. d. petitions or addresses to the queen, whether directed to her majesty or forwarded to any member of either house of parliament. th. petitions to either house of parliament. th. printed parliamentary proceedings. (_d_) late letters, &c. are received till within five minutes of the despatch of the mails, except where the post-office surveyor may deem a longer interval necessary, and providing that this arrangement does not necessitate any office being open after ten o'clock at night. in each post-office window placards are exhibited showing the time up to which such letters may be posted. no late letters can be forwarded by the mail preparing for despatch unless prepaid in stamps, including the ordinary postage and the late-letter fee. government letters are an exception to this rule; they may be posted, without extra fee, up to the latest moment. (_e_) letters containing sharp instruments, knives, scissors, glass, &c. are not allowed to circulate through the post, to the risk of damaging the general correspondence. such communications, when posted, are detained and forwarded to the metropolitan office, where correspondence is at once opened with the senders. letters for the united kingdom found to contain coin are only forwarded to their destination under certain restrictions. such letters, if not registered, are at once treated as if they were, and charged on delivery with a double registration-fee, or eightpence in addition to the postage. registered letters. the registration-fee of fourpence, prepaid in stamps, will secure careful treatment to any letter, newspaper, or book-packet addressed to any part of the united kingdom. record is kept of all such letters throughout their entire course. the registration of a packet makes its transmission more secure, by rendering it practicable to trace it from its receipt to its delivery. for a fee of sixpence letters may be registered to any british colony, except ascension, vancouver's island, british columbia, and labuan, for which places they can only be registered part of the way. letters may be registered to several foreign countries at varying rates. (_see british postal guide._) every letter meant for registration should be presented at the post-office window, or counter (as the case may be) and a receipt obtained for it, and must on no account be dropped into the letterbox among the ordinary letters. if, contrary to this rule, a letter marked "registered" be found in the letter-box, addressed to the united kingdom, it will be charged an extra registration-fee of double the ordinary fee, or one of eightpence instead of fourpence. the latest time for posting a registered letter on payment of the ordinary fee is generally up to within half an hour of the closing of the letter-box for that particular mail with which it will require to be forwarded. a registered letter will be received at all head offices up to the closing of the general letter-box, or until the office is closed for the night, on payment of a late fee of fourpence in addition to the ordinary registration fee. all fees, as well as postage, of registered letters must be prepaid in stamps. a registered letter, when re-directed, is liable to the same additional charge as if it were an ordinary letter, the original register fee, however, sufficing until it is delivered. by act of parliament, the post-office is not responsible for the absolute security of registered letters, though every care and attention are given to them. each registered letter may be traced from hand to hand, from posting to delivery, with unfailing accuracy, and there can be no question as to the great security which is thus afforded. any officer who may neglect his duty with registered letters is called to strict account, and, if the postmaster-general should see fit, will be required to make good any loss that may be sustained. in cases where registered letters have been lost (in the proportion, it is said, of about one in ninety thousand), or some abstraction of their contents, the department makes good the loss, if the fault is shown to rest with the post-office, and if the sum lost be of moderate amount and the sufferer a person not in affluent circumstances. foreign and colonial letter-posts. for information of the despatch of foreign and colonial mails; rates of postage; and as to whether prepayment be optional or compulsory; see the "british postal guide," published quarterly. letters addressed to places abroad may be prepaid in this country either in money or stamps, but such payment must be made either wholly in stamps or wholly in money. the only exception to this rule is when the rate of postage includes a fractional part of a penny, for which, of course, there are no existing english stamps. with certain exceptions, the only admitted evidence of the prepayment of a foreign letter is the mark agreed upon with the particular foreign country or colony. when prepayment is _optional_, any outward letter (_e. g._ going abroad) posted with an insufficient number of stamps is charged with the deficient postage in addition, unless the letter has to go to holland, or to the united states, or to a country through france, in which case it is treated as wholly unpaid, the postal conventions with these countries not allowing the recognition of partial prepayment. when, however, prepayment of the whole postage is _compulsory_, a letter, or aught else posted with an insufficient number of stamps, is sent (by the first post) to the returned letter office. letters for russia and poland are also treated as wholly unpaid, if the full postage has not been paid in the first instance. letters to or from ceylon, australia, new zealand, british west indies (except turk's island), honduras, and st. helena, posted wholly unpaid, or paid less than one rate, are detained and returned to the writers for postage. if the letters should be paid with one rate (paid for half an ounce, for instance, when the letter weighs more than half an ounce), they are forwarded (except in the case of new zealand), charged with the deficient postage and sixpence as a fine. letters for new zealand must be fully prepaid. letters for nearly all our remaining british colonies, if posted unpaid, either wholly or in part, are, on delivery, charged sixpence each in addition to the ordinary postage. letters intended to be sent by private ship should, in all cases, have the words "by private ship," or "by ship," distinctly written above the address. the postage of letters forwarded by private ship is sixpence--if the weight does not exceed half an ounce--and the postage must generally be prepaid. exception is made to most of our north american and african colonies, to which places prepayment by private ship is not compulsory. (see table in the _british postal guide_.) when the route by which a foreign or colonial letter is to go is not marked on the letter, it will be sent by the principal or earliest route. in some cases, the postage paid (provided it be by stamps) is regarded as an indication of the wish of the sender, and the letters are forwarded by the route for which the prepayment is sufficient. thus, letters for holland, denmark, norway, &c. which, as a rule, are sent _viâ_ belgium, are sent _viâ_ france, if the prepayment be insufficient for the former, but sufficient for the latter route. _north american and indian mails._--letters for passengers on board the cunard mail packets for america touching at queenstown, provided they be addressed to the care of the officers in charge of the mails on board such packets, _and be registered_, may be posted in any part of the united kingdom up to the time at which registered letters intended for transmission to america by the same packets are received, and they will be delivered on board the packets at queenstown. letters for passengers on board the mediterranean packets about to sail from southampton for india, china, australia, &c. and the canadian mail packets touching at londonderry, may, under similar conditions, be posted up to the same time as registered letters for india and canada. the letters should be addressed thus: "mr. ----, on board the mail packet at queenstown, londonderry, or southampton (as the case may be), care of the officer in charge of the mails." letters directed to the care of the packet agent at suez, and despatched by the indian mails _viâ marseilles_, which always leaves after the mails _viâ southampton_, will most probably there reach passengers for india, &c. who may have previously sailed in the southampton packets. newspaper posts. (_a_) it is not compulsory to send newspapers through the post. (_b_) the rate for newspapers stamped with the _impressed_ stamp is one penny for two sheets, three-halfpence for three sheets, and twopence for four sheets, of printed matter. (_c_) no newspaper, or other publication, can pass through the post, unless the impressed stamp be of the value of at least one penny. (_d_) the title and date of every publication so passing must be printed at the top of every page. (_e_) the impressed stamp (or stamps, if more than one publication be sent under one cover) must be distinctly visible on the outside. when a newspaper is folded so as not to expose the stamp, a fine of one penny is made in addition to the proper postage of the paper. (_f_) the publication must not be printed on pasteboard or cardboard, but on ordinary paper, nor must it be enclosed in a cover of either material. (_g_) newspapers bearing the impressed stamp cannot circulate through the post after they are _fifteen days old_. (_h_) they must not contain any enclosure, and must either have no cover at all, or one which shall be open at both ends. they must have no writing either inside or outside, except the name of the persons to whom they are sent, the printed title of the publications, and the printed names of the publishers or agents sending them. if one of these newspapers be addressed to a second person, the address in the first instance still remaining, it is regarded as an infringement of the above rule, and renders the paper liable to be charged as an unpaid letter. (_i_) in order that newspapers may be sent abroad, the publishers must first have had them registered at the general post-office. (_j_) newspapers intended for transmission to our colonies or foreign countries must, in all cases, be prepaid _with postage-stamps_, the impressed stamp here, in all respects, standing for nothing. though this is the case, all newspapers sent abroad are liable to the same regulations as english newspapers bearing impressed stamps. (_k_) it must be borne in mind, that the arrangements for inland newspapers forwarded under the book-post regulations, and paid with the ordinary postage-stamp, are entirely distinct from the above. parliamentary proceedings. (_a_) printed proceedings of the british parliament are forwarded through the post-office at a special rate, and possess privileges in their transmission not belonging to either the newspaper- or book-postage. parliamentary proceedings, however, may pass through the post at either the special rate, the newspaper rate, or book-post rate, always provided that the conditions of the particular rate chosen be complied with. (_b_) "parliamentary proceedings," if these words are written or printed on the cover (otherwise they are liable to be charged letter rate), may circulate through the united kingdom at the following rates of postage:-- weighing not more than oz. _d._ weighing more than oz. and not exceeding oz. _d._ " oz. " oz. _d._ " oz. " oz. _d._ and so on; one penny being charged for every additional _quarter_ of a pound or fraction of a quarter of a pound. (_c_) prepayment of parliamentary proceedings is _optional_ throughout the united kingdom. prepayment may also be made in part, when the _simple difference only_ will be charged on delivery. parliamentary proceedings can only be sent to the colonies or foreign countries by means of the book-post system, and, of course, only where book-posts are established. the book-post. (_a_) written or printed matter of any kind--including matter which may be sent by the ordinary newspaper-post, or under the special privileges of parliamentary proceedings--may be sent through the book-post under the following rates and conditions:-- (_b_) a packet weighing not more than oz. _d._ " more than oz. but not exceeding oz. _d._ " more than oz. " lb. _d._ " more than lb. " ½ lb. _d._ " more than ½ lb. " lb. _d._ and so on; twopence being charged for every additional _half-pound_ or fraction of a half-pound. (_c_) the postage on book-packets must be prepaid, and that by postage-stamps affixed outside the packets or their covers. if a book-packet should be posted insufficiently prepaid, it is forwarded, charged with the deficient book postage together with an additional rate; thus, one weighing over four ounces and only bearing one penny stamp, would be charged twopence additional postage on delivery. if a book-packet is posted bearing no stamps at all, it is charged as an _unpaid letter_. (_d_) in cases where a book-packet is re-directed from one to another postal district in the united kingdom, the same charge is made on delivery as was originally made for the postage, one penny for four ounces, twopence for a packet under eight ounces, and so on. (_e_) every book-packet must be sent either without a cover, or with one open at the ends or sides, in order that the contents may be examined if it be thought necessary. for greater security, it may be tied round the ends with string, though each postmaster is empowered to remove it for the purpose of examining the packet. he will re-secure it, however, after examination. as a security against fraud, it has been found necessary to adopt precautionary measures with book-packets and newspapers: it has been demonstrated over and over again that many people will evade the post-office charges, cheap as they now are, if it be possible to do so.[ ] when any head postmaster has grounds for suspecting an infringement of the rules of the book-post, and occasionally when he has no suspicion, he is required to open and examine packets passing through his office, in order to assure himself that the privileges of the book-post are being legitimately used. (_f_) a book-packet may contain any number of separate books or other publications (including printed or lithographed letters), photographs (when not on glass or in cases containing glass), prints, maps, or any quantity or quality of paper, parchment, or vellum. the whole of this description of paper, books, and other publications, may either be printed, written, engraved, lithographed, or plain, or the packet may consist of a mixture of any or all these varieties. the binding, mounting, or covering of books and rollers, &c. in the case of prints or maps, are allowed. in short, whatever usually appertains to the sort of articles described, or whatever is necessary for their safe transmission, may be forwarded through the post at the same rate charged for the articles themselves. (_g_) among the general restrictions, we find the following:-- no book-packet must exceed two feet in length, width, or depth. no book-packet must contain anything inclosed which is sealed against inspection, nor must there be any letter inclosed, or anything in the way of writing in the packet of the nature of a communication, either separate or otherwise. entries on the first page of a book, merely stating who sends it, are allowable (and even desirable in case of failure of delivery) inasmuch as they are not regarded as of the nature of a letter. any packets found with a communication written in it (if the communication in question cannot be taken out, but forms a component part of the packet) will be charged with the _unpaid letter postage_, and then sent forward. if a packet be found containing an enclosure, whether sealed or otherwise, or anything of the shape of a letter, such enclosure or letter will be taken out and forwarded separately to the address given on the packet. it is sent forward, of course, as an unpaid letter, but, in addition, another single rate is charged. thus, if the article taken out of the packet does not exceed half an ounce in weight, the charge of threepence will be levied on delivery, while the remainder of the packet, if prepaid, will be delivered free at the same time. (_h_) and lastly. the conveyance of letters being the main business of the post-office, the authorities make distinct stipulations that book-packets and newspapers must not interfere with the quick and regular conveyance and delivery of letters. though it is believed to be of very rare occurrence, head postmasters are authorized to delay forwarding any book-packet or newspaper for a period not exceeding twenty-four hours beyond the ordinary time, if the other interests of their office demands it. the pattern-post. arrangements for an inland pattern-post, such as has been in existence for a short time between this country and france, for the conveyance of _patterns_, have just been made. the pattern-post is now in operation, and must prove beneficial to those engaged in mercantile pursuits. (_a_) at present, parcels of patterns may be forwarded through the post, subject to the undermentioned regulations, at the following fixed rates, prepaid with stamps, viz.:-- for a packet weighing under oz. _d._ " above oz. and not exceeding oz. _d._ " above oz. " lb. _s._ _d._ " above lb. " ½ lb. _s._ _d._ and so on; threepence being charged for every additional four ounces. (_b_) the pattern must not be of intrinsic value. all articles of a saleable nature, wearing apparel, medicine, &c. or anything which may have a value of its own and not necessarily a money value, are excluded by this rule. (_c_) the patterns-packet must not contain any writing inside, except the address of the manufacturer or trademark, the numbers, or the prices of the articles sent. (_d_) the patterns must be sent in covers open at the ends or sides, in the same way as book-packets, so as to admit of easy and thorough examination. samples of seeds, drugs, and other things of that character, which cannot be sent in open covers, may be inclosed in bags of linen, paper, or other material, tied at the neck with string. if transparent bags are used, as in france, the articles may easily be seen; but even then the bags must not be tied so that they cannot easily be opened in their passage through the post. (_e_) articles such as the following are prohibited by this new post, and few of them can be sent even at the letter-rate of postage, viz. metal boxes, porcelain or china, fruit, vegetables, bunches of flowers, cuttings of plants, knives, scissors, needles, pins, pieces of watch or other machinery, sharp-pointed instruments, samples of metals or ores, samples in glass bottles, pieces of glass, acids, &c., copper or steel-engraving plates, or confectionary of all kinds. in almost all these cases, the contents of a letter-bag would be in danger of being damaged or spoiled. money-orders. (_a_) inland money-orders are obtainable at any of the offices of the united kingdom on payment of the following commission:-- on sums not exceeding _l._ for _d._ above _l._ and not exceeding _l._ " _d._ above _l._ " _l._ " _d._ above _l._ " _l._ " _s._ _d._ the commission on money-orders made payable in any of the british colonies where money-order business is transacted is _four times_ the sum charged for inland orders, except at gibraltar and malta, where the commission is only three times the british rate. (_b_) the amount of any one money-order cannot exceed _l._, nor less than _d._ no order is allowed to contain a fractional part of a penny. (_c_) applications for a money-order should always be made in writing. "application forms" are supplied gratuitously at all money-order offices. the surname, and, at least, the initial of one christian name of both the person who sends the order, and the person to whom the money is to be paid, must always be given. the address of the remitter of the money should also be given. the following exceptions are allowed to the above rule:-- ( ) if the remitter or payee be a peer or bishop, his ordinary title is sufficient. ( ) if a firm, the usual designation will suffice--if that designation consist of names of persons, and not of a company trading under a title. ( ) money-orders sent to the privy council may be issued payable to "the privy council office." ( ) when the remitter notifies that the order is to be paid through a bank, he may withhold the name of the person for whom it is intended if he chooses; or he may, if he wishes, substitute a designation instead of a person's name; as, for example, he may make an order payable, through a bank, to "the cashier of the bank of england," or "the publisher of _the times_." (_d_) a money-order is always issued on the _head_ office of any town where there are several money-order offices, except the persons sending it request that it should be made out for some other subordinate office. (_e_) the sender of any money-order may make his order payable ten days after date, by simply signing a requisition at the foot of the order to that effect, and affixing a penny receipt-stamp to his signature. (_f_) an order once made out cannot be cancelled by the officer issuing it under any circumstances. if the sender should require to transmit it to a different town than the one he first mentioned, or to a different name, he must apply to the issuing postmaster, and make the necessary application on the proper form which will be furnished to him. directions on all these subjects are printed on the back of money-orders. (_g_) when an order is presented for payment (not through a bank), the postmaster is required to see that the signature on the order is identical with the name to which he is advised to pay the money, and that the name be given as full in the one case as it is in the other. if this is so, the person presenting the order is required to state the name of the party sending it, and should the reply be correct, the order is paid, unless the postmaster shall have good reason for believing that the applicant is neither the rightful claimant, nor deputed by him. if presented through a bank, however, it is sufficient that the order be receipted by some name, and that (crossed with the name of the receiving bank) it be presented by some person known to be in the employment of the bank. the owner of a money-order is always at liberty to direct, by crossing it, that an order be paid through a bank, though the sender should not make it so payable. the ordinary questions are then dispensed with. (_h_) money-orders, when paid, do not require a receipt-stamp. (_i_) under no circumstance can payment of an order be made on the day on which it has been issued. (_j_) after once paying a money-order, by whomsoever presented, the post-office is not liable to any further claim. every endeavour, it is stated, will be made to pay the money to the proper party, or to some one believed to be delegated by the proper party. (_k_) a money-order in the united kingdom becomes _lapsed_, if it be not presented for payment before the end of the second calendar month after that in which it was issued (thus, if issued in january, it must be paid before the end of march). a second commission for a new order will then, after that time, be necessary. _six_ months are allowed in the colonies. if the order be not paid before the end of the twelfth calendar month after that in which it was issued, all claim to the money is lost.[ ] (_l_) in case of the miscarriage or loss of an inland money-order, a duplicate is granted on a written application (enclosing the amount of a second commission and the requisite particulars) to the controller of the money-order office of england, scotland, or ireland (as the case may be), where the original order was _issued_. if it be desired to stop payment of an inland order, a similar application, with postage-stamps to the amount of a second commission, must be made to the controller of the money-order office in that part of the united kingdom in which the order is _payable_. all mistakes made in money-orders can only be rectified in this manner by correspondence with the chief metropolitan office and by payment of a second commission. whenever the mistake is attributable to the post-office, however, and a second commission is rendered necessary, the officer in fault is called upon to pay it. proper printed forms, moreover, are supplied for every case likely to arise, and full instructions are given on money-orders. in addition, however, to supplying the proper forms, the postmasters are required to give every necessary information on the subject of second or duplicate orders. (_m_) no money-order business is transacted at any post-office on sundays. on every lawful day, the time for issuing and paying money-orders is from ten till four at the chief offices in london, edinburgh, and dublin, and from nine till six at provincial offices. on saturday nights it is usual to allow two extra hours for this business. post-office savings banks. we have already explained at some length the origin and ordinary working of these banks; the following _résumé_ of the distinctive features of the new plan may therefore suffice:-- (_a_) nearly all the money-order offices in the united kingdom are now open each working-day for the receipt and payment of savings-bank accounts. (_b_) deposits of one shilling, or any number of shillings, will be received, provided the total amount of deposits in any one year does not exceed _l._, or the total amount standing in one name does not exceed, exclusive of interest, _l._ (_c_) each depositor, on making the first payment, must give every necessary particular regarding himself, and sign a declaration. he will then receive a book (gratis) in which all entries of payments and withdrawals will be regularly made by an officer of the post-office. (_d_) interest at the rate of _l._ _s._ per cent. is given on all money deposited. (_e_) secrecy is observed with respect to the names of depositors in post-office banks, and the amounts of their deposits. (_f_) depositors have direct government security for the prompt repayment, with interest, of all their money. (_g_) married women may deposit money in these banks, and money so deposited will be paid to the _depositor_, unless her husband give notice of marriage, in writing, and claim payment of the deposits. (_h_) money may also be deposited by, or in behalf of, minors. unlike some ordinary savings-bank, depositors over seven years of age are treated here as persons of full age, though minors under seven cannot withdraw, or have drawn, their deposits until they attain that age. (_i_) charitable societies and penny-banks may deposit their funds in the post-office banks, but a copy of their rules must, in the first instance, be sent to the postmaster-general. special aid is given to penny-banks established in connexion with those of the post-office. (_j_) friendly societies, duly certified by the registrar of these societies, may also deposit their funds, without limitation or amount, under the same condition. (_k_) a depositor in an old savings-bank may have his money transferred to the post-office banks with the greatest ease. he has only to apply to the trustees of the old savings-bank for a certificate of transfer (in the form prescribed by the act of parliament regulating the transactions of these banks, viz. vict. cap. ), and he can then offer the certificate to the post-office bank, and it will be received as if it were a cheque. of course he can draw out from one bank and pay into the other in the usual way, but the transfer certificate will save him both trouble and risk. (_l_) a depositor in any one of the post-office savings-banks may continue his payments in any other bank at pleasure without notice or change of book. the same facilities of withdrawal, as we have previously shown, are also extended to him. (_m_) additional information may be obtained at any post-office, or by application to the controller, savings-bank department, general post-office, london. all applications of this kind, or any letters on the business of the savings-banks, as well as the replies thereto, pass and repass free of postage. miscellaneous regulations. . petitions and addresses to her majesty, or to members of either house of parliament, forwarded for presentation to either house, may be sent _free_, provided that they do not weigh more than two pounds, and are either without covers, or enclosed in covers open at the ends or sides. they must not contain any writing of the nature of a letter, and if, upon examination, anything of the kind be found, the packet is liable to be charged under the book-post arrangement. . letters on the business of the post-office, relating to any of its numerous branches, may be forwarded to the head offices of london, edinburgh, or dublin, by the public, free of all postage. letters for the different departments of the government in london may be prepaid, or otherwise, at the option of the sender. . letters addressed by the public to the district surveyors of the post-office, on postal business, may also be sent without postage, though all letters addressed to local postmasters should be prepaid by stamps. . it is absolutely forbidden that information respecting letters passing through the post-office should be given to any persons except those to whom such letters are addressed. post-office officials are strictly prohibited from making known official information of a private character, or, in fact, any information on the private affairs of any person which may be gathered from their correspondence. . letters once posted cannot be returned to the writers under any pretence whatever--not even to alter the address, or even the name, on a letter. further, postmasters have not the power to _delay forwarding_, according to the address, any letter, even though a request to that effect be made on the envelope, or to them personally, either orally or in writing. each letter, put into the post-office, is forwarded, according to its address, by the _first mail_ leaving the place, unless, indeed, it be posted "too late," when it is not forwarded till the next succeeding mail. . each postmaster is required to display a notice in the most conspicuous position in his office, giving every necessary information respecting the time of despatch and receipt of mails, delivery of letters, hours of attendance, &c. &c. . on sundays there is usually but one delivery of letters, viz. in the morning, and two hours are allowed during which the public may purchase postage-stamps, have letters registered, or pay foreign and colonial letters, &c.; but for the rest of the day all other duties, so far as the public are concerned, are wholly suspended. in the general post-office in london no attendance is given to the public. in all the towns of scotland, and also in one or two towns in england, no delivery of letters takes place from door to door, but the public may have them by applying during the time fixed for attendance at the post-office. . in england and ireland, where, as a rule, letters are delivered on sunday mornings, arrangements are made under which any person may have his letters kept at the post-office till monday morning by simply addressing a written request to the postmaster to that effect. of course, all the correspondence for such applicant is kept, even supposing some of it should be marked "immediate;" and no distinction is allowed. letters directed to be kept at the post-office in this way cannot be delivered from the post-office window, except in the case of holders of private boxes, who may either call for their letters or not, as they may think proper. instructions sent to the postmasters of towns under this arrangement are binding for three months, nor can a request for a change be granted without a week's notice. . any resident, in town or country, can have a private box at the post-office on payment of an appointed fee. that fee is generally fixed at a guinea per annum, payable in advance, and for a period of not less than a year. private bags in addition are charged an extra sum. . "no postmaster is bound to give _change_, or is authorized to demand change; and when money is paid at a post-office, whether in change or otherwise, no question as to its right amount, goodness, or weight, can be entertained after it has left the counter." . except in the case of foreign or colonial letters about to be prepaid in money, a postmaster or his clerks are not bound to weigh letters for the public, though they may do so provided their other duties will allow of it. . postage-stamps or stamped envelopes (the latter to be had in packets or parts of packets, and charged at an uniform rate, viz. _s._ and _d._ for a packet of twenty-four envelopes) may be obtained at any post-office in the united kingdom at any time during which the office is open--in most cases, from or . a.m. till p.m. . a licence to sell postage-stamps can be obtained, free of expense, by any respectable person, on application to the office of inland revenue, somerset house, london, or (in the provinces) by application to the district stamp distributor. . every rural messenger is authorized to sell stamps and embossed envelopes at the same price at which postmasters sell them; and when, in the country, the rural postman is applied to for these articles, he must either supply them, or (if he has none in his possession) must take letters with the postage in money, and carefully affix stamps to them when he arrives at the end of his journey. . each postmaster is authorized to purchase postage-stamps from the public, if not soiled or otherwise damaged, at a fixed charge of ½ per cent. single stamps will not be received, but those offered must be presented in strips containing at least two stamps adhering to each other. this arrangement was fixed upon primarily in order to discourage the transmission of coin by post. . letter-carriers and rural messengers are prohibited at any time from distributing letters, newspapers, &c., except such as have passed through the post-office. they are not allowed to receive any payment beyond the unpaid postage on letters or newspapers delivered.[ ] further, in delivering letters, they are not allowed to deviate from the route laid down for them by the proper authorities. . persons living within the free delivery of any town cannot obtain their letters at the post-office window, unless they rent a private box, in which case they may apply for them as often as a mail arrives. in some cases where there are not frequent deliveries of letters, persons may apply at the post-office for their letters arriving by a particular mail after which there is not an immediate delivery from door to door. . persons having a distinct residence in any town cannot have their letters addressed to the post-office (except a private box be taken), and a postmaster is warranted, when such letters arrive so addressed, to send them out by the first delivery. the "poste restante" is meant for commercial travellers, tourists, and persons without any settled residence. letters so addressed are kept in the office for one month, after which, if they are not called for, they are returned to the writers through the dead-letter office. "ship-letters" in sea-port towns, or letters addressed to seamen on board ship expected to arrive at these towns, are kept _three_ months before they are thus dealt with. . when any letters, &c. remain undelivered, owing to the residences of the persons to whom they are addressed not being known, a list of such addresses is shown in the window of the post-office to which they may have been sent, during the time (only _one week_ in these cases) they are allowed to remain there. . greenwich time is kept at the post-office. london district posts. . the london district comprises all places within a circle of twelve miles from st. martin's-le-grand, including cheshunt, hampton, hampton court, sunbury, and the post towns of barnet, waltham cross, romford, bromley, croydon, kingston, and hounslow. . there are ten postal districts, each of which is treated in many respects as a separate post town. the names of the districts are as follows, the initial letter or letters of the name forming the necessary abbreviation to each, viz.:--east central, west central, western, south-western, north-western, northern, north-eastern, eastern, south-eastern, and southern. . the portion of each district within three miles of the general post-office is designated the town delivery. within the town limits there are eleven deliveries of letters daily, the first or principal commencing at . and generally concluded by a.m.; the last delivery commences at . p.m.; there being something like hourly deliveries within the interval. each town delivery occupies on an average forty-five minutes. there are seven despatches daily to the suburban districts. . as a general rule, the number of despatches from the suburban districts is the same as the number of deliveries. . information relative to the time of delivery and the time for each despatch to the head office, and also from thence to the provinces, is afforded at each town and suburban receiving-house. at each of these houses, several hundreds in number, stamps are sold, letters are registered, and separate boxes are provided for "london district" and "general post" letters. the "poste restante" at the general post-office. . the "poste restante" arrangements for london are somewhat different to those in the provinces; but like the latter they are meant to provide for strangers and travellers who have no permanent abode in london,--residents in london not being allowed the privilege. . letters addressed to "initials" cannot be received; if so addressed they are returned to their writers through the returned letter-office. . letters addressed "post-office, london," or "poste restante," are delivered only at the poste restante office, on the south side of the hall of the general post-office, between the hours of a.m. and p.m. . all persons applying for letters at the poste restante must be prepared to give the necessary particulars to the clerk on duty, in order to prevent mistakes, and to insure the delivery of the letters to the persons to whom they properly belong. if the applicant be a subject of the united kingdom (and subjects of states not issuing passports are regarded as british subjects), he must be able to state from what place or district he expects letters, and produce some proof of identification; and if he sends for his letters the messenger must be supplied with this information, as well as show a written authority to receive them. if the applicant be a foreigner, he must produce his passport; or should he send for his letters, the messenger must take it with him. footnotes: [ ] the average weight of inland letters is now about a quarter of an ounce; that of colonial letters about a third of an ounce; of a foreign letter also about a quarter of an ounce. the average weight of newspapers is about three ounces, and of book-packets ten ounces. [ ] with charges extremely low, the post-office is victimized by all kinds of craftiness. the dodging of the proper payment is sometimes quite ludicrous. hundreds of newspapers, for instance, are annually caught (and we may reasonably assume that thousands more escape) with short loving messages deftly inscribed between their paragraphs of type, or letters, different descriptions of light articles, and even money curiously imbedded in their folds. almost everybody might tell of some adventure of this kind in his experience not only before penny-postage, but even after it. [ ] moneys accruing to the revenue from lapsed orders are allowed to go into a fund for assisting officers of the post-office to pay their premiums on life assurance policies. no officer, however, can be assisted to pay for a policy exceeding _l._ [ ] this prohibition does not extend to christmas gratuities. appendix (c). information relative to the appointments in the post-office service. all candidates for appointment in the post-office, whether to places in the gift of the postmaster-general, or to those in provincial towns in the gift of the respective postmasters, must pass the stipulated examination prescribed by government, and which is conducted under the auspices of the civil service commissioners in london. i. candidates for clerkships in the secretary's office, london, must pass an examination on the following subjects, viz.[ ]:-- . exercise designed to test handwriting and composition. . arithmetic (higher branches, including vulgar and decimal fractions). . precis. . a continental language, french or german, &c.[ ] ii. candidates for general clerkships in the metropolitan offices are examined in[ ]-- . writing from dictation. . exercise to test orthography and composition. . arithmetic (higher rules). iii. candidates for the place of letter-carrier, &c. . writing from dictation. . reading manuscript. . arithmetic (elementary). all officers nominated to places in provincial offices must be examined by the postmaster, under the auspices of the civil service commissioners, the examination-papers to be in all cases submitted to the commissioners for inspection and judgment. iv. for clerks, the examination consists in . exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography. . arithmetic. v. for sorters, letter-carriers, and stampers:-- . writing from dictation. . reading manuscript. . arithmetic (of an easy kind). vi. for messengers:-- . writing their names and addresses. . reading the addresses of letters. . adding a few figures together. no person under sixteen years of age is eligible for any situation in the post-office. candidates for clerkships in london must be under twenty-four years of age but not under seventeen. the stipulated age in the country is from seventeen to twenty-eight. no one is eligible for an appointment who has been dismissed the civil service. no one is eligible who is connected, directly or indirectly, with the management of an inn or public-house. sorters, stampers, or railway messengers must not be under ft. in. high in their stockings. all officers appointed to the london office must pass a medical examination before the medical officer of the department. a special examination after probation is required from those appointed to the travelling post-offices. in the country, candidates must provide a medical certificate to the effect that they enjoy good health. sorters and letter-carriers may be promoted to clerkships. persons of either sex are eligible for appointment in provincial offices. letter-carriers are provided with uniforms. post-office officials are assisted, at the rate of about per cent. in payment of premiums for life assurance. they are also entitled to superannuation allowance, according to their length of service. clerks in the general post-office are allowed a month's, and sorters, letter-carriers, &c., a fortnight's, leave of absence each year. clerks, sorters, &c. in the provinces are allowed leave of absence for a fortnight in each year. postmasters in the country and officers in the general post-offices must give security to the postmaster-general for the faithful discharge of their duties, in amounts calculated according to the responsible nature of the appointment. a guarantee office[ ] or two sureties are taken. the clerks, &c. in the country offices are required to give security in the same manner to the postmasters who may have appointed them. after the preliminary examinations have been passed successfully, each new officer, before commencing duty, is required to make a declaration before a magistrate, to the effect that he will not open, or delay, or cause or suffer to be delayed, any letter or packet to which he may have access. he is then put on _probation_ for a term of six months, after which period, if able to perform all the duties required of him, he receives a permanent appointment. promotion from class to class in the post-office is now, as a rule, regulated by seniority of service--a much more satisfactory arrangement to the whole body of officers than the system of promotion by merit which it has just superseded. heads of departments, postmasters, and all other officers employed in the post-office, are prohibited by law, under heavy penalties, from voting or interfering in elections for members of parliament. no officer of the post-office can be _compelled_ to serve as mayor, sheriff, common councilman, or in any public office, either corporate or parochial; nor can he be compelled to serve as a juror or in the militia. footnotes: [ ] this examination is for third-class clerks only. vacancies are filled up in the first and second classes from the third without any further examination. [ ] clerks in the solicitor's office are examined also in conveyancing, and in the general principles of equity and common law. [ ] a post-office mutual guarantee fund, suggested by mr. banning, the postmaster of liverpool, is in active operation in london, and deserves mention. by means of this fund many officers of the post-office have been relieved from the necessity of providing personal securities, or of paying yearly sums to some guarantee office. any clerk in london who may wish to join _deposits_ the sum of _s._, and letter-carriers _s._ these deposits are invested in the name of trustees in government securities. there are at present nearly , subscribers, with an invested capital of _l._ last year there were no demands at all on the fund except payments to members leaving the service, who not only draw out their original deposits, but are entitled to receive back a proportionate amount of interest after defaults have been paid. appendix (d). appointments in the chief office in london. (_extracted from the estimates of - ._) in all cases marked thus * the present holders of office, or some of them, receive additional allowances, either on account of length of service, compensation, as paid on some previous _scale_ of salary, or for extra work. ----------+----------------------+------------------------------------- _number_ | | _salary of office._ _of_ | _designation._ +-----------+------------+------------ _persons._| | _minimum | _annual | _maximum | |per annum._|increment._ |per annum._ ----------+----------------------+-----------+------------+------------ | | £ | £ _s._ | £ | postmaster-general | -- | -- | , | secretary | , |after yrs | , | assistant | | | , | secretaries* | | | | | | | |_secretary's office._ | | | | | | | | chief clerk | | | |{principal clerk } | | | |{for foreign and } | | | |{colonial business*} | | | | first-class clerks:--| | | | first section | | | | second section* | | | | senior clerks | -- | -- | | second-class clerks* | | | | third-class clerks | | | | supplementary clerks | | | | probationary clerks | | | | at _s._ a day | | | | | | | |_solicitor's office._ | | | | solicitor | -- | -- | , | assistant solicitor | -- | -- | | second-class clerk | | | | third-class clerks | | | | fourth-class clerk | | | | | | | | _mail office._ | | | | | | | | inspector-general* | | | | deputy | | | | inspector-general | | | |{principal clerk of } | | | |{ stationary branch} | | | | | | | |{principal clerk of } | | | |{ travelling branch} | | | | | | | | first-class clerks | | | | second-class clerks* | | | | third-class clerks | | | | inspectors of mails | | | | allowance of _s._| | | | a day when | | | | travelling. | | | | | | | | _travelling | | | | post-office._ | | | | | | | | first-class clerks | | | | second-class clerks | | | | third-class clerks | | | | sorters:-- | | | | first-class | s. a wk. | | s. a wk. | second-class | s. " | | s. " | third-class | s. " | | s. " | fourth-class | s. " | | s. " | clerks in this | | | | office are also | | | | allowed travelling | | | | allowances at the | | | | rate of s. a | | | | trip; sorters, s. | | | | a trip | | | | | | | |{supervisor of mails'}| | | |{ bag apparatus }| -- | -- | | | | | | _receiver and | | | | accountant-general's | | | | office._ | | | | | | | |{receiver and }| | | |{ accountant-general*}| | | | | | | | chief examiner* | | | | cashier* | | | |principal book-keeper*| | | | first class clerks:--| | | | first section | | | | second section* | | | | second-class clerks* | | | | third-class clerks | | | | | | | |_money-order office._ | | | | | | | | controller* | | | | chief clerk* | | | | examiner* | | | | book-keeper* | | | | first-class clerks:--| | | | first section | | | | second section | | | | second-class clerks | | | | third-class clerks | | | | probationary clerks | | | | _s._ per day | | | | | | | | _circulation | | | | department._ | | | | | | | | controller* | | | | vice-controller* | | | | sub-controllers | | | | deputy controllers | | | | first-class clerks* | | | | second-class clerks* | | | | third-class clerks* | | | | {first-class } | | | | { inspectors of } | | | | { letter-carriers } | | | | | | | | second-class ditto | | | | third-class ditto | | | , | sorters, messengers, | | | | &c. viz.-- | | | | sorters: | | | | st class | s. a wk.| | s. a wk. | d class | s. " | | s. " | messengers: | | | | " | s. " | | s. " | stampers st class| s. " | | s. " | " d class| s. " | | s. " | letter-carriers: | | | | st class* | s. " | | s. " | d class* | s. " | | s. " | | | | | _surveyors' | | | | department._ | | | | | | | | surveyors* | | | | surveyors' clerks:-- | | | | first class* | | | | second class* | | | | stationary clerks | | | ----------+----------------------+-----------+------------+------------ the surveyors have travelling allowances at the rate of _s._ per diem; surveyors' clerks, _s._ per diem; clerks in charge, _s._ and _s._ per diem. the whole are also allowed actual expenses of locomotion. principal appointments in the chief offices of dublin and edinburgh. (_extracted from the estimates of - ._) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | | _salary of office._ _number| |-------------------------------- of | _designation _ | _minimum | _annual | _maximum persons_| |per annum_|increment_|per annum_ --------|-----------------------------|----------|----------|---------- | | | | | _dublin_ | £ | £ _s._ | £ | | | | |secretary | | | , |chief clerk | | | |first-class clerks | | | |second-class clerks | | | |solicitor | -- | -- | , |accountant* | | | |examiner* | | | |controller of sorting office | | | |deputy controllers | | | | | | | | _general body of clerks._ | | | | | | | |first-class clerks* | | | |second-class clerks | | | |supplementary clerks | | | |inspector of letter-carriers | | | |medical officer | -- | -- | | | | | | _edinburgh._ | | | | | | | |secretary | | | , |chief clerk | | | |first-class clerks | | | |second-class clerks | | | |solicitor | -- | -- | |accountant* | | | |examiner* | | | |controller of sorting office | | | |deputy controllers | | | |inspector of letter-carriers | | | |medical officer | -- | -- | | | | | | _general body of clerks._ | | | | | | | |first-class clerks | | | |second-class clerks | | | |probationary clerks, | | | | s. a day | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------- appointments, with salaries, of the five principal provincial establishments in england and scotland. (_extracted from the estimates of - ._) --------+---------------------+--------+---------------------------------- number | |poundage| salary of office. of |designations. |allowed.|-----------+---------+------------ persons.| |[ ] | minimum |annual | maximum | | |per annum. |increase |per annum. --------+---------------------+--------+-----------+---------+------------ | | | | | |_liverpool office._ | £ | £ | £ s. d.| £ | | | | | |postmaster | | -- | -- | , |chief clerk | -- | | | |principal clerks | -- | | | |{controller of} | -- | | | |{sorting office} | | | | |assistant controllers| -- | | | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | | | |assistant inspectors | -- | | | |first-class clerks | -- | | | |second-class clerks | -- | | | |third-class clerks | -- | | | |first-class sorters | -- | s. a week| | s. a week. |second-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |third-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |fourth-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |{allowance to a } | -- | -- | -- | l. a-year. |{medical officer} | | | | | | | | | |_manchester office._ | | | | | | | | | |postmaster | | -- | -- | |chief clerk | -- | -- | -- | |principal clerks | -- | | | |first-class clerks | -- | | | |second-class clerks | -- | | | |medical officer | -- | -- | -- | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | | | |assistant ditto | -- | | | |sorting clerks:-- | | | | | first-class | -- | s. a week| | s. a week. | second-class | -- | s. " | | s. " |letter carriers | -- | s. " | | s. " | | | | | | _glasgow office._ | | | | | | | | | |postmaster | | -- | -- | |{controller of } | | | | |{sorting office} | -- | | | |first-class clerks | -- | | | |second-class clerks | -- | | | |supplementary clerks | | | | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | | | |{assistant } | | | | |{inspectors of } | -- | | | |{letter-carriers} | | | | |first-class sorters | -- | s. a week| | s. a week. |second-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |third-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |fourth-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |{auxiliary } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | -- | -- | s. " |{allowance to } | | | | |{medical officer} | -- | -- | -- | | | | | | |_birmingham office._ | | | | | | | | | |postmaster | | -- | -- | |chief clerks | -- | | | |clerks | -- | | | |ditto | -- | | | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | | | |{assistant } | | | | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers } | -- | | | |sorters | -- | s. a week| | s. a week. |{third-class } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | s. " | | s. " |{fourth-class } | -- | s. " | | s. " |{letter-carriers} | | | | |{temporary } | -- | -- | -- | s. " |{letter-carriers} | | | | |auxiliaries | -- | -- | -- | s. d. " |medical officer | -- | -- | -- | l. a year. | | | | | | _bristol office._ | | | | | | | | | |postmaster | | -- | -- | |chief clerk | -- | | | |first-class clerks | -- | | | |second-class clerks | -- | | | |{supplementary} | -- | | | |{clerks } | |{inspector of } | | | | |{letter-carriers} | -- | | | |first-class sorters | -- | s. a week| | s. a week. |second-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |third-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |fourth-class sorters | -- | s. " | | s. " |auxiliaries | -- | -- | -- | s. d. " |medical officer | -- | -- | -- | l. a year. --------+---------------------+--------+-----------+---------+------------ information respecting other principal provincial post offices. ------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+------------- |salary of |poundage|staff |other |total name of town. |postmaster|allowed.| of |subordinate|expenses of | | |clerks|officers. |establishment | | | | |for - . ------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+------------- | £ | £ | | | £ bath | | | | | , brighton | | | | | , birkenhead | | | | | , carlisle | | | | | , derby | | | | | , exeter | | | | | , gloucester | | | | | , hull | | | | | , leeds | | | | | , newcastle-on-tyne| | | | | , norwich | | | | | , oxford | | | | | , plymouth | | | | | , portsmouth | | | | | , preston | | | | | , sheffield | | | | | , shrewsbury | | | | | , southampton | | | | | , worcester | | | | | , york | | | | | , | | | | | belfast | | | | | , cork | | | | | , | | | | | aberdeen | | | | | , dundee | | | | | , greenock | | | | | , ------------------+----------+--------+------+-----------+------------- footnotes: [ ] on the sale of postage-stamps. appendix (e). amount of postage (including postage-stamps sold by the post-office and by the office of inland revenue) during the years and at those towns in the united kingdom where the amount was largest. +---------------------+------------- -+----------------+ | | | | +---------------------+------------- -+----------------+ | | | | | _england._ | £ | £ | | | | | | bath | , | , | | birmingham | , | , | | bradford, yorkshire | , | , | | brighton | , | , | | bristol | , | , | | cheltenham | , | , | | exeter | , | , | | hull | , | , | | leeds | , | , | | leicester | , | , | | liverpool | , | , | | london | , [ ] | , , [ ] | | manchester | , | , | | newcastle-on-tyne | , | , | | norwich | , | , | | nottingham | , | , | | plymouth | , | , | | sheffield | , | , | | southampton | , | , | | york | , | , | | | | | | _ireland._ | | | | | | | | belfast | , | , | | cork | , | , | | dublin | , | , | | | | | | _scotland._ | | | | | | | | aberdeen | , | , | | edinburgh | , | , | | glasgow | , | , | +---------------------+------------- -+----------------+ footnotes: [ ] including £ , for postage charged on public departments. [ ] including £ , for postage charged on public departments. appendix (f). conveyance of mails by railway. (_estimates_ - ). _conveyance of mails by railway _amount required in england and wales, viz._:-- for_ - . £ by the birkenhead railway , " bristol and exeter , " chester and holyhead , " cockermouth and workington " colne valley " cowes and newport " cornwall , " great northern , " great western , " great eastern , " knighton " lancaster and carlisle , " lancashire and yorkshire , " leominster and kington " llanelly " london, brighton, and south coast , " london, chatham, and dover " london and north western , " london and south western , " manchester and altrincham " manchester, sheffield, and lincolnshire , " maryport and carlisle " midland , " monmouthshire " london, tilbury, and southend " north eastern , " north staffordshire " north union , " oystermouth " oldham and guide bridge " seaham and sunderland " shrewsbury and hereford , " shrewsbury, borth, &c. , " shropshire union railway , " south devon , " south eastern , " south staffordshire " south yorkshire " stockton and darlington , " taff vale , " tenbury " west cornwall , " west hartlepool " whitehaven junction " allowance for probable variation of awards or agreements , -------- , the irish railway service (the principal recipients being the great southern and western £ , , midland and great western £ , , belfast and dublin junction £ , , dublin and drogheda, £ , ) requires , the scotch railway service (the principal items being the caledonian £ , , the scottish central £ , , the scottish north eastern £ , , and the great north of scotland £ , ) requires , -------- total for conveyance of mails by railway £ , appendix (g). manufacture of postage-labels and envelopes. (_from the estimates of - ._) --------+--------------------------------------------------+--------- _number | |_ amount of | |required persons | | for_ | | - . --------+--------------------------------------------------+--------- | | £ | controller | | assistant-controller | | assistant-superintendent of postage stamping | | clerk | | superintendent of printing label-stamps | | " perforating " | | foreman of embossing machines, _s._ per week | | packer, at _s._ per week | | tellers, from _s._ to _s._ per week | | assistant-telling boys, from _s._ to _s._ per | | week | | boys for working machines, from _s._ to _s._ | | per week | | allowance to the accountant's department for | | keeping the accounts, to the receiver- | | general's and to the warehouse-keeper's | | departments | , | | ------ | total salaries, &c. | , | | | poundage to distributors and sub-distributors | , | paper for labels and envelopes, printing | | and gumming labels, and folding and | | gumming envelopes | , | postage and carriage of parcels | | tradesmen's bills | | miscellaneous expenses | | estimate of additional expenditure for increase | | of business | nil. | | ------ | total amount required for the | -- | manufacture of postage-labels | | and envelopes | , --------+--------------------------------------------------+--------- appendix (h). the following important document, published by sir rowland hill on his resignation of the secretaryship of the post-office, and circulated privately, is deserving of careful study, as giving the results of the penny-postage reform up to the latest date:-- results of postal reform. before stating the results of postal reform, it may be convenient that i should briefly enumerate the more important organic improvements effected. they are as follows:-- . a very large reduction in the rates of postage on all correspondence, whether inland, foreign, or colonial. as instances in point, it may be stated that letters are now conveyed from any part of the united kingdom to any other part--even from the channel islands to the shetland isles--at one-fourth of the charge previously levied on letters passing between post towns only a few miles apart;[ ] and that the rate formerly charged for this slight distance, viz. fourpence--now suffices to carry a letter from any part of the united kingdom to any part of france, algeria included. . the adoption of charge by weight, which, by abolishing the charge for mere enclosures, in effect largely extended the reduction of rates. . arrangements which have led to the almost universal resort to prepayment of correspondence, and that by means of stamps. . the simplification of the mechanism and accounts of the department generally by the above and other means. . the establishment of the book-post (including in its operation all printed and much ms. matter) at very low rates, and its modified extension to our colonies and to many foreign countries. . increased security in the transmission of valuable letters afforded, and temptation to the letter-carriers and others greatly diminished, by reducing the registration fee from _s._ to _d._, by making registration of letters containing coin compulsory, and by other means. . a reduction to about one-third in the cost--including postage--of money-orders, combined with a great extension and improvement of the system. . more frequent and more rapid communication between the metropolis and the larger provincial towns, as also between one provincial town and another. . a vast extension of the rural distribution--many thousands of places, and probably some millions of inhabitants, having, for the first time, been included within the postal system. . a great extension of free deliveries. before the adoption of penny postage many considerable towns, and portions of nearly all the larger towns, had either no delivery at all, or deliveries on condition of an extra charge. . greatly increased facilities afforded for the transmission of foreign and colonial correspondence, by improved treaties with foreign countries, by a better arrangement of the packet service, by sorting on board, and other means. . a more prompt despatch of letters when posted, and a more prompt delivery on arrival. . the division of london and its suburbs into ten postal districts, by which, and other measures, communication within the twelve-miles circle has been greatly facilitated, and the most important delivery of the day has, generally speaking, been accelerated as much as two hours. . concurrently with these improvements, the condition of the _employés_ has been materially improved; their labours, especially on the sunday, having been very generally reduced, their salaries increased, their chances of promotion augmented, and other important advantages afforded them. results. my pamphlet on "post-office reform" was written in the year . during the preceding twenty years, viz. from to inclusive, _there was no increase whatever in the post-office revenue, whether gross or net_, and therefore, in all probability, none in the number of letters; and though there was a slight increase in the revenue, and doubtless in the number of letters, between and the establishment of penny postage early in --an increase chiefly due, in my opinion, to the adoption of part of my plan, viz. the establishment of day mails to and from london--yet, during the whole period of twenty-four years immediately preceding the adoption of penny postage, the revenue, whether gross or net, and the number of letters, were, in effect, stationary. contrast with this the rate of increase under the new system, which has been in operation during a period of about equal length. in the first year of penny postage the letters more than doubled; and though since then the increase has, of course, been less rapid, yet it has been so steady that, notwithstanding the vicissitudes of trade, every year, without exception, has shown a considerable advance on the preceding year, and the first year's number is now nearly quadrupled. as regards revenue, there was, of course, at first a large falling off--about a million in gross, and still more in net revenue. since then, however, the revenue, whether gross or net, has rapidly advanced, till now it even exceeds its former amount, the rate of increase, both of letters and revenue, still remaining undiminished. in short, a comparison of the year with (the last complete year under the old system) shows that the number of chargeable letters has risen from , , to , , ; and that the revenue, at first so much impaired, has not only recovered its original amount, but risen, the gross from , , _l._ to about , , _l._ and the net from , , _l._ to about , , _l._[ ] the expectations i held out before the change were, that eventually, under the operation of my plans, the number of letters would increase fivefold, the gross revenue would be the same as before, while the net revenue would sustain a loss of about , _l._ the preceding statement shows that the letters have increased, not fivefold, but nearly eight and a half fold; that the gross revenue, instead of remaining the same, has increased by about , , _l._; while the net revenue, instead of falling , _l._, has risen more than , _l._ while the revenue of the post-office has thus more than recovered its former amount, the indirect benefit to the general revenue of the country, arising from the greatly increased facilities afforded to commercial transactions, though incapable of exact estimate, must be very large. perhaps it is not too much to assume that, all things considered, the vast benefit of cheap, rapid, and extended postal communication has been obtained, even as regards the past, without fiscal loss. for the future, there must be a large and ever-increasing gain. the indirect benefit referred to above is partly manifested in the development of the money-order system, under which, since the year , the annual amount transmitted has risen from , _l._ to , , _l._--that is, fifty-two fold. an important collateral benefit of the new system is to be found in the cessation of that contraband conveyance which once prevailed so far that habitual breach of the postal law had become a thing of course. it may be added, that the organization thus so greatly improved and extended for postal purposes stands available for other objects, and passing over minor matters, has already been applied with great advantage to the new system of savings' banks. lastly, the improvements briefly referred to above, with all their commercial, educational, and social benefits, have now been adopted, in greater or less degree--and that through the mere force of example--by the whole civilized world. i cannot conclude this summary without gratefully acknowledging the cordial co-operation and zealous aid afforded me in the discharge of my arduous duties. i must especially refer to many among the superior officers of the department--men whose ability would do credit to any service, and whose zeal could not be greater if their object were private instead of public benefit. rowland hill. hampstead, _feb. rd, _. r. clay, son, and taylor, printers, london. footnotes: [ ] when my plan was published, the lowest general post rate was fourpence; but while the plan was under the consideration of government the rate between post towns not more than eight miles asunder was reduced from fourpence to twopence. [ ] in this comparison of revenue, the mode of calculation in use before the adoption of penny-postage has of course been retained--that is to say, the cost of the packets on the one hand, and the produce of the impressed newspaper stamps on the other, have been excluded. the amounts for are, to some extent, estimated, the accounts not having as yet been fully made up. * * * * * * transcriber's note: a missing reference to footnote [ ] was inserted. the following is a list of changes made to the original. the first line is the original line, the second the corrected one. been the permanent arrangements for the transmision of the been the permanent arrangements for the transmission of the nothwithstanding the losses he must have suffered notwithstanding the losses he must have suffered wafer or wax, or even if totally unfastened by either. "at wafer or wax, or even if totally unfastened by either. at rusely no argument against a state monopoly of letter-carrying. surely no argument against a state monopoly of letter-carrying. rev. sydn smith, mr. mccullagh. rev. sydney smith, mr. mccullagh. it might be desirable, but impracticable" ( , ). "most it might be "desirable, but impracticable" ( , ). "most offices; ( ) a hourly delivery of letters instead of one every offices; ( ) an hourly delivery of letters instead of one every vender, and how trade--retail at any rate--is fostered by it. vendor, and how trade--retail at any rate--is fostered by it. the parties concerned, but the depositor run the risk of the parties concerned, but the depositor ran the risk of thus, letters addressed to newport should alway give the thus, letters addressed to newport should always give the a singular accident befel one of these letter-boxes ( ) in montrose. a singular accident befell one of these letter-boxes ( ) in montrose. every town and village in the kingdom, having any correpondence every town and village in the kingdom, having any correspondence transcriber's notes: ( ) obvious spelling, punctuation, and typographical errors have been corrected. ( ) italic text is denoted by _underscores_. ( ) table v in the appendix has been split into two parts (scotland and ireland), in view of its page width. ____________________________________________ the history of the british post office by j. c. hemmeon, ph.d. _published from the income of the william h. baldwin, jr., , fund_ [illustration] cambridge harvard university copyright, , by the president and fellows of harvard college all rights reserved _published january _ preface in justice to those principles which influenced the policy of the post office before the introduction of penny postage, it is perhaps unnecessary to call attention to the fact that no opinion as to their desirability or otherwise is justifiable which does not take into consideration the conditions and prejudices which then prevailed. some of the earlier writers on the post office have made the mistake of condemning everything which has not satisfied the measure of their own particular rule. if there is anything that the historical treatment of a subject teaches the investigator it is an appreciation of the fact that different conditions call for different methods of treatment. for example, the introduction of cheap postage was possibly delayed too long. but during the era of high postal rates a large net revenue was of primary importance, nor were those conditions present which would have made low rates a success. the consideration of such debatable subjects as the telegraph system of the postal department and the department's attitude toward the telephone companies, as well as the intention of the post office to acquire the business of the latter, must necessarily give rise to controversy. thanks to the magnificent net revenue obtained from letters in the united kingdom the department has been able to lose a good deal of money by the extension of its activities into the realm of affairs not purely postal. possibly a _democratic_ type of government should, from the financial point of view, interfere least in the direct management of economic institutions, on account of the pressure which can easily be brought to bear upon it for the extension of such institutions on other than economic grounds. if non-economic principles are to be substituted in justifying the initiation or increase of government ownership, a popular form of government seems the least suitable for the presentation of such as shall be fair to all concerned, not to mention the difficult problem of dealing with those members of the civil service who do not hesitate to make use of their political power to enforce their demands upon the government. in the treatment of a subject so complex as the history of the british post office it is not easy to decide how far its presentation should be strictly chronological or how far it should be mounted in "longitudinal sections," exposing its most salient features. both methods have their advantages and their disadvantages. in order to obtain what is useful in both, i have described chronologically in the first four chapters the progress of the post office, while in the remaining chapters i have examined separately some of the more important aspects of postal development. but i am aware that by this compromise i have not entirely escaped the dangers of abrupt transitions from subject to subject and of the accumulation of dry details. i can only plead in extenuation, in the first place the nature of my subject, an institution with a long and varied history, characterized by the steady extension of its field of activity, and in the second place my desire to make my study as thorough as possible, even at the risk of some sacrifice of unity and interest of treatment. the material for this sketch has been obtained from the harvard university library, the boston public library, and the canadian parliamentary library. work was also done in the library of the british museum. i wish to acknowledge the help i have received from the advice and criticism of professor gay, under whose supervision the larger part of this history was prepared. j. c. hemmeon. contents chapter i the postal establishment supported directly by the state--prior to methods of postal communication in vogue before the establishment of the post office. the first postmaster-general and his duties. alternative systems. the posts in elizabeth's reign. appointment of a foreign postmaster-general. rivalry between the two postmasters-general. witherings as foreign postmaster-general. chapter ii the postal establishment a source of revenue to the state-- - condition of the postal establishment at the beginning of the seventeenth century. witherings' project adopted. disturbance produced in the post office by the struggle between the two houses of parliament. rival claimants for the office of postmaster-general. the civil war and its effects upon the post office. the post office during the commonwealth. farming of the post office. complaints about the delivery of letters after the restoration. condition of the postal establishment at the close of the seventeenth century. dockwra's london penny post. extension of the foreign postal service. conditions in ireland, scotland, and the american colonies. chapter iii the postal establishment an instrument of taxation-- - the post office act of . the post office as a whole ceases to be farmed. allen undertakes the farm of the bye and cross posts. improvements in postal communications during the first half of the eighteenth century. controversy over the delivery of letters. competition from post coaches. establishment of mail coaches by palmer. abuses in the post office and their reform. opening and detention of letters. franking of newspapers in certain cases and other privileges abolished. the newspaper and dead letter offices. registration of letters. money order office. changes in the london penny post. consolidation of different branches of the post office in london. dublin and edinburgh penny posts. question of sunday posts. conditions under which mail coaches were supplied. conveyance of mails by railways. condition of the postal establishment during the first half of the nineteenth century. irish post office and postal rates. scotch post office. sir rowland hill's plan. investigation of postal affairs by a committee. report of committee. adoption of inland penny postage. chapter iv the postal establishment an instrument of popular communication--since reductions in rates of postage, inland, colonial and foreign; and resultant increase in postal matter. insurance and registration of letters. failure of attempt to introduce compulsory prepayment of postage. perforated postage stamps. free and guaranteed delivery of letters in rural districts. express or special delivery of letters. newspaper postage rates. book or halfpenny post. pattern and sample post. use of postcards. parcel post. question of "cash on delivery." postal notes. their effect upon the number of money orders. savings banks. assurance and annuity privileges. reform in these offices by mr. fawcett. methods of conveyance of the mails. condition of postal employees. sunday labour. dissatisfaction of employees with committee of . mr. fawcett's reforms in and . mr. raikes' concessions in , , and . appointment of tweedmouth committee in gives little satisfaction to the men. appointment of a departmental committee. grievances of the men. report of committee accepted only in part by the postmaster-general. continued demand of the men for a select committee. concessions granted to the men by mr. buxton, the postmaster-general. select committee appointed. their report adopted by mr. buxton. continued dissatisfaction among the men. chapter v the travellers' post and post horses horses provided by the postmasters. complaints concerning the letting of horses. monopoly in letting horses granted to the postmasters. reforms during witherings' administration. fees charged. postmasters' monopoly abridged. licences required and duties levied. these duties let out to farm. licences and fees re-adjusted. chapter vi roads and speed post roads in the sixteenth century. speed at which mails were carried in the sixteenth century. abuses during first part of the seventeenth century. new roads opened. roads in ireland and scotland. first cross post road established in . improvement in speed. delays in connection with irish packet boats. increased speed obtained from use of railways. chapter vii sailing packets and foreign connections establishment of first regular sailing packets. sailing packets in the seventeenth century. difficulty with the irish office. postal communications with the continent during the sixteenth century. witherings improves the foreign service. agreements with foreign postmasters-general. expressions of dissatisfaction. treaties with france. king william's interest in the harwich sailing packets. effect of the war with france. postal communications with france improved. dummer's west indian packet boats. other lines. increase in number of sailing packets. steam packets introduced by the post office. they are badly managed and prove a financial loss. report against government ownership of the steam packets. ship letter money. question of carriage of goods. trouble with custom's department adjusted. methods of furnishing supplies for the packet boats. abuses in the sailing packet service reformed. expenses. sailing packets transferred to the admiralty. committee reports against principle of government ownership of packet boats and payment of excessive sums to contractors. abandonment of principle of government ownership. general view of packet services in existence at middle of the nineteenth century. contracts with steamship companies. controversy with the companies. general view of the packet service in with principles adopted in concluding contracts. expenses of sailing packets. chapter viii rates and finance foreign rates, . first inland rates, . rates prescribed by council of state, . rates collected by the farmers of the posts. first rates established by act of parliament, . slightly amended, . separate rates for scotland, . scotch rates, . rates to and within jamaica. in american colonies, . increased rates, inland, colonial and foreign, . controversy over rates on enclosures. slight reductions in rates, . increases in , , . in ireland, . for united kingdom a further increase, . culminating point of high rates, . changes in irish rates, , , . rates on "ships' letters," . irish rates to be collected in british currency, . reduction in rates between england and france, . consolidating act of . rates by contractors' packet boats, . rates charged according to weight in certain cases, . inland penny postage adopted and basis of rate-charging changed to weight, . franking privilege, . abused. attempt to curtail the use of franks only partially successful. curtailment so far as members of parliament are concerned. estimated loss from franking. enquiry into question of franking. further attempts to control the abuse prove fruitless. extension of franking privilege especially on newspapers. abolition of franking privilege, . reductions in letter, newspaper, and book post rates. re-directed letter and registration fees. inland parcel post established. postcards introduced. concessions of and jubilee concessions. foreign and colonial rates reduced. reductions in money order and postal note rates. telegraph money order rates. finances of the post office before the seventeenth century. from beginning of seventeenth century to witherings' reforms. from to . during the remainder of the eighteenth century. finances of scotch and irish posts. of the london penny post. from bye and cross post letters. finances of the post office from the beginning of the nineteenth century to . since the introduction of inland penny postage. chapter ix the question of monopoly rival methods available for the conveyance of letters. government's monopolistic proclamation the result of an attempt to discover treasonable correspondence. competition diminishes under witherings' efficient management. house of commons declares itself favourable to competition. changes its attitude when in control of the posts. monopoly of government enforced more rigorously. carriers' posts largely curtailed. london's illegal half-penny post. attempts to evade the payment of postage very numerous during the first half of the nineteenth century. different methods of evasion outlined. chapter x the telegraph system as a branch of the postal department the telegraph companies under private management. proposals for government ownership and mr. scudamore's report. conditions under which the telegraph companies were acquired. public telegraph business of the railways. cost of acquisition. rates charged by the government. reduction in rates in . guarantee obligations reduced. underground lines constructed. telegraphic relations with the continent. position of the government with reference to the wireless telegraph companies. attempts to place the government telegraphs on a paying basis do not prove a success. financial aspect of the question. reasons given for the lack of financial success. chapter xi the post office and the telephone companies telephones introduced into england. judicial decision in favour of the department. restricted licences granted the companies. feeble attempt on the part of the department to establish exchanges. difficulties encountered by the companies. popular discontent with the policy of the department leads to granting of unrestricted licences. way-leave difficulties restrict efficiency of the companies. agreement with national telephone company and acquisition of the trunk lines by the department. demand for competition from some municipalities leads to granting of licences to a few cities and towns. the department itself establishes a competing exchange in london. history of the exchanges owned and operated by the municipalities. struggle between the london county council and the company's exchange in london. relation between the company's and the department's london exchanges. agreement with the company for the purchase of its exchanges in . financial aspect of the department's system. chapter xii conclusion appendix expenditure and revenue tables bibliography index table of abbreviations acc. & p. accounts and papers. a. p. c. acts of the privy council. add. additional. cal. b. p. calendar of border papers. cal. s. p. calendar of state papers. a. & w. i., col., d., for., and ire., added to cal. s. p., indicate respectively to the america and west indies, colonial, domestic, foreign, and ireland sections of this series. cal. t. b. calendar of treasury books. cal. t. p. calendar of treasury papers. cal. t. b. & p. calendar of treasury books and papers. d. n. b. dictionary national biography. fin. rep., . finance reports - . hist. mss. com. royal commission on historical manuscripts. jo. h. c. journals of the house of commons. jo. h. l. journals of the house of lords. joyce. joyce, h. the history of the post office to . l. & p. hen. viii. letters and papers, foreign and domestic, henry viii. parl. deb. hansard, parliamentary debates. parl. papers. parliamentary papers. p. & o. p. c. proceedings and ordinances of the privy council. rep. commrs. reports from commissioners. rep. com. reports from committees. rep. p. g. reports of the postmasters-general. scobell, collect. scobell, h. a collection of acts and ordinances made in the parliament held nov., to sept., . the history of the british post office chapter i the postal establishment supported directly by the state the history of the british post office starts with the beginning of the sixteenth century. long before this, however, a system of communication had been established both for the personal use of the king and for the conveyance of official letters and documents. these continued to be the principal functions of the royal posts until well on in the seventeenth century. before the sixteenth century, postal communications were carried on by royal messengers. these messengers either received stated wages or were paid according to the length of the journeys they made. we find them mentioned as early as the reign of king john under the name of _nuncii_ or _cursores_; and payments to them form a large item in the household and wardrobe accounts of the king as early as these accounts exist.[ ] they travelled the whole of the journey themselves and delivered their letters personally to the people to whom they were directed. a somewhat different style of postal service, a precursor of the modern method, was inaugurated by the fourth edward. during the war with scotland he found himself in need of a speedier and better system of communication between the seat of war and the seat of government. he accomplished this by placing horses at intervals of twenty miles along the great road between england and scotland. by so doing his messengers were able to take up fresh horses along the way and his despatches were carried at the rate of a hundred miles a day.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. . [ ] _notes and queries_, st series, iii, p. . from an early period private letters were conveyed by carriers and travellers both within the kingdom and between it and the continent. the paston letters,[ ] containing the correspondence of the different members of the paston family, throw some light upon the manner in which letters were conveyed during the latter half of the fifteenth century. judging from such references as we find in the letters themselves, they were generally carried by a servant,[ ] a messenger,[ ] or a friend.[ ] the later letters of this series, written towards the close of the fifteenth century, show that regular messengers and carriers, who carried letters and parcels, travelled between london and norwich and other parts of norfolk.[ ] from the fourteenth century down, we have instances of writs being issued to mayors, sheriffs, and bailiffs for the apprehension and examination of travellers, who were suspected of conveying treasonable correspondence between england and the continent.[ ] for the most part these letters were carried by servants, messengers, and merchants.[ ] [ ] these letters were sent principally between london and different places in norfolk. [ ] _the paston letters_, ed. j. gairdner, , nos. , , , , , , . [ ] _ibid._, nos. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, nos. , . [ ] _ibid._, nos. , , . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cely papers_, ed. h. e. malden, , nos. , , , , , . sir brian tuke is the first english postmaster-general of whom we have any record. the king's "book of payments" for the year contains an order for the payment of £ to sir brian for his use as master of the posts.[ ] as the king's appointed postmaster, he received a salary of £ _s._ _d._[ ] he named the postmen, or deputy postmasters as they were called later, and he was held responsible for the performance of their duties.[ ] all letters carried by the royal postmen were delivered to him, and after being sorted by him personally were carried to their destination by the court messengers.[ ] the wages of the postmen varied from _s._ to _s._ a day according to the number of horses provided, and they were paid by the postmaster-general, who had authority to make all payments to those regularly employed.[ ] if messages or letters were sent by special messengers, their payment entailed additional expense upon the state and the use of such messengers, when regular postmen were available, was strongly discouraged.[ ] [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, ii, pt. , p. . [ ] _rep. com._ , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, - , ; _ibid._, - , , ; _ibid._, - , . [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, , p. . in addition to his other duties sir brian was supposed to have a general supervision over the horses used for the conveyance of letters and of travellers riding on affairs of state. of course on the regular roads there were always horses in readiness, provided by the postmen. where there were no regular post roads, the townships were supposed to provide the necessary horses, and it was part of the postmaster-general's duties to see that the townships were kept up to the mark.[ ] it was largely on account of the fact that the same horses were used for conveying travellers and mails that the systems of postal and personal communication were so closely interwoven as well in england as in continental countries.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] a. de rothschild, _histoire de la poste aux lettres_, paris, , pp. - , - . the postmen along the old established routes and on the routes temporarily established for some definite purpose received a fixed daily wage. these men were called the ordinary posts.[ ] if, however, letters should arrive in dover after the ordinary post had left for london, they were generally sent on at once by a messenger hired for the occasion only. he was called a special post and was paid only for the work which he actually performed.[ ] those regular posts, who carried the royal and state letters between london and the place where the court might be, were called "court posts."[ ] during the sovereign's tours, posts were always stationed between him and london to carry his and the state's letters backward and forward. these were called extraordinary posts and received regular wages while so employed.[ ] in addition there were always messengers employed to carry important despatches to foreign sovereigns. these received no fixed wages, but were paid according to the distance travelled and the expenses incurred on the road.[ ] [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, xiii, ; _a. p. c._, - , pp. , , , , . [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, x, , ; xvi, , , ; _p. & o. p. c._, vii, p. ; _a. p. c._, - , pp. , , , , , . [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, xvi, p. ; _p. & o. p. c._, vii, p. ; _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, xi, ; _a. p. c._, - , p. ; _ibid._, , pp. , ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , , . [ ] _a.p.c._, - , pp. , , , , , , . apart from his regular duties as outlined above, the postmaster-general had little initiative power. he could not on his own responsibility order new posts to be laid. such decisions always originated with the king or the council and tuke simply executed their orders.[ ] any increase in the wages of the posts also required the consent of the king or council.[ ] [ ] _l. & p. hen. vii_, xvi, ; _a.p.c._ - , pp. , . [ ] _a.p.c._, - , pp. , , . for instance, in the council issued orders to increase the wages of the london-berwick posts from _d._ to _d._ and eventually to _d._ a day; but as soon as their work had again become normal, their wages were reduced to the old rate. during the sixteenth century there were three ways to send letters between england and the continent: by the royal post, the foreigners' post, and the merchant adventurers' post, apart from such opportunities as occasional travellers and messengers offered. the royal posts were presumed to carry only state letters, and consequently the conveyance of a large part of the private letters fell to the other two. owing to industrial and later to religious motives there had been a large emigration of foreigners from the continent to england. edward iii had induced many flemings to leave their native country in the middle of the fourteenth century.[ ] froude says, probably with exaggeration, that in there were , flemings in london alone.[ ] in the fifteenth century many italian artisans came over to reside but not to settle.[ ] they were a thrifty people, who did much to place the industrial life of england on a better footing, and were probably more intelligent and better educated than the majority of the english artisans among whom they settled. it seems therefore only natural that they should seek to establish a better system of communication between their adopted and native countries. their business relations with the cloth markets of the continental cities made necessary a better and speedier postal system than was afforded by the royal posts. in addition to this, it was only by act of grace that private letters were carried by tuke's postmen. in the opening year of the sixteenth century, by permission of the state, the foreign merchants in london established a system of posts of their own between the english capital and the continent. this was called the "foreign or strangers' post," and was managed by a postmaster-general, nominated by the italians, spanish, and dutch and confirmed by the council.[ ] these posts were used largely by the english merchants in spite of considerable dissatisfaction on account of the poor service afforded and on political grounds. their grievances were detailed in a petition to the privy council. they considered it unprecedented that so important a service as the carriage of letters should be in the hands of men who owed no allegiance to the king. such a procedure was unheard of in any of the continental countries. "what check could there be over treasonable correspondence while the carriage of letters continued to be in the hands of foreigners and most of them dutchmen?" in addition they were not treated so well as were their fellow merchants of foreign allegiance. their letters were often retained for several days at a time, while all others were delivered as soon as they arrived. the foreign ambassadors could not complain if a change were made, for most of their correspondence was carried on by special messengers.[ ] the "strangers' post" seems to have come to an end after the proclamation of was issued, forbidding any but the royal posts from carrying letters to and from foreign countries.[ ] [ ] w. cunningham, _growth of english industry and commerce_, , i, pp. - . [ ] j. a. froude, _history of england_, , i, p. . [ ] cunningham, i, p. . [ ] stow, _london_, , bk. v, p. . _cal. s.p.d._, - , pp. , , . there was considerable rivalry between them concerning those nominated for postmaster-general. see _cal. s.p.d._, - , pp. , . [ ] stow, _london_, bk. v, p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). sir brian tuke died in and was succeeded by sir john mason and mr. paget, who acted as joint postmasters-general. mr. paget was the sleeping partner, and what little was done was by mason.[ ] they were succeeded in by thomas randolph.[ ] he was occasionally sent as special ambassador to france and during his absence gascoyne, a former court post, performed his duties. from sir brian's death until the end of elizabeth's reign was a period of little advance in postal matters. the regular posts, and it is with them that our chief interest lies, appear to have fallen into disuse. the payments for special messengers are much larger than they had been during henry's reign. in , a warrant was issued empowering sir john mason to pay £ to the special messengers used during the summer. if anything was left, he was instructed to use it in paying arrears due the ordinary posts.[ ] elizabeth is generally credited with being economical to the extreme of parsimony so far as state expenses were concerned. however this may be, she is responsible for an order to discharge all the regular posts unless they would serve for half of their old wages.[ ] the postmen did not receive their wages at all regularly. randolph was accused by the governor of berwick of withholding all of their first year's wages, of receiving every year thereafter a percentage of their salaries, and of demanding certain fees from them, all for his personal use. the governor considered that randolph's extortions were largely the cause of the general inefficiency in the posts,[ ] but the accusation may have been due to personal grudge. at any rate one measure of postal reform may be credited to randolph. in , orders were issued to all the london-berwick posts to the following effect. every post on the arrival of letters to or from the queen or council was to fasten a label to the packet. on this label he was to write the day and hour when the packet came into his hands and he was to make the same entry in a book kept for the purpose. he was also to keep two or three good horses in his stable for the speedier conveyance of such packets.[ ] [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. b. p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, _add._, - , pp. - . in , john lord stanhope was appointed postmaster-general by order of the queen. the office was given to him for his life and then was to go to his son for his son's life.[ ] both the stanhopes were men of action, but they looked upon their position rather as a means of enriching themselves than as a trust for the good of the state. they proved a stumbling block to the advancement of better men and it was not for sixty years that they were finally swept away to make room for men of greater ability. in , the elder stanhope was succeeded by his son charles according to the terms of the original patent.[ ] it had been the custom for the postmasters-general to demand fees and percentages from their appointees. so lucrative were many of their positions from the monopoly in letting horses and the receipts from private letters that many applicants were willing to pay for appointments as deputy postmasters. the ordinary payments when lord charles was at the head of the posts amounted to s. in the pound as poundage and a fee of £ from each man. these payments were considered so exorbitant that the council ordered them to be reduced.[ ] one, hutchins, entered the lists as the champion of the postmasters. he himself was one of them and acted as their solicitor in the contest. stanhope was glad to compound the case by the payment of £ . hutchins gave the council so much trouble that they gave orders that "turbulent hutchins" should cease to act as the postmasters' solicitor and leave them in peace.[ ] his object, however, seems to have been accomplished so far as stanhope was concerned. the struggle with the paymasters of the posts was not so successful, for, supported by a report of the treasurer, they continued to receive their shilling in the pound.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . a postmaster's salary at this time was about _s._ a day. (_ibid._, - , p. .) [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. - . by a privy council proclamation issued in , all posts receiving a daily fee were required to have two leather bags, lined with "bayes" or cotton, and the post himself was to sound a horn whenever he met any one on the road or four times in every mile. the packet of letters was not to be delayed more than fifteen minutes and was to be carried at a rate of seven miles an hour in summer and five in winter. the time at which it was delivered into a post's hands and the names and addresses of the people by whom and to whom it was sent were to be entered in a book kept for the purpose. all posts and their servants were exempted from being "pressed" and from attendance at assizes, sessions, inquests, and musters.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). it is doubtful how far the postmasters were held responsible for the delivery of letters to the persons to whom they were addressed. this did not become a burning question, however, until after the recognition of the fact that the letters of private individuals should receive as good treatment at the hands of the postmen as the letters of the state officials. lord stanhope in issued an order to the justices of the peace in southwark to aid the postmaster of that place in the delivery of letters within six miles.[ ] this was followed two years later by a general order to establish two or three foot-posts in every parish for the conveyance of letters.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._ , app., pt. , p. . during the early part of the seventeenth century, stanhope had employed a foreigner, de quester, as one of the king's posts "beyond seas." he commended himself to the notice of his superiors by his promptitude in dealing with the foreign letters.[ ] in james appointed him postmaster-general for "foreign parts" and henceforth he was his own master.[ ] this was followed four years later by a formal proclamation, confirming to de quester and his son the position already granted to the father.[ ] he was to have the sole monopoly of carrying foreign letters and was to appoint the necessary officials. all persons were formally prohibited from entrenching upon the privileges granted him in . from this time until , the foreign and inland posts were under separate management and the accounts were kept separate until long after the latter date. stanhope was unwilling to submit to the curtailment of his profits, which necessarily followed the appointment of de quester. there was much to be said for stanhope's contention that the patent of was illegal for, ever since there had been a postmaster-general, his duties had extended to the foreign as well as to the inland office. the question was referred to a committee, composed of the lord chamberlain, one of the secretaries of state and the attorney-general, who decided that stanhope's patent extended only to the inland office.[ ] the whole question was finally brought before the court of king's bench, which decided the case in favour of stanhope.[ ] this was in , but de quester seems to have paid no attention to the decision for it is certain that he continued to act as foreign postmaster until [ ] and in he resigned his patent to frizell and witherings. it can be imagined what must have been the chaotic condition of the foreign post while this struggle was going on. the merchant adventurers established posts of their own between london and the continent under billingsley. the council issued the most perplexing orders. first they forbade billingsley from having anything to do with foreign letters.[ ] then they decided that the adventurers might establish posts of their own and choose a postmaster.[ ] then they extended the same privilege to all merchants. next this was withdrawn and the adventurers were allowed to send letters only to antwerp, delft and hamburg or wherever the staple of cloth might be.[ ] these orders do not seem to have been passed in full council for, in , secretary coke in writing to secretary conway said that "billingsley, a broker by trade, strives to draw over to the merchants that power over foreign letters which in all states is a branch of royal authority. the merchant's purse has swayed much in other matters but he has never heard that it encroached upon the king's prerogative until now." he adds "i confess it troubleth me to see the audacity of men in these times and especially that billingsley." he enclosed a copy of an order "made at a full council and under the broad seal," which in effect was a supersedeas of the place which de quester enjoyed.[ ] when de quester resigned in favour of frizell and witherings, the resignation and new appointments were confirmed by the king.[ ] of these men witherings was far the abler. he had a plan in view, which was eventually to place the foreign and inland systems on a basis unchanged until the time of penny postage. in the meantime he had to overcome the prejudices of the king and get rid of frizell. in order to raise money for the promotion of his plan, witherings mortgaged his place. capital was obtained from the earl of arundel and others through john hall, who held the mortgage. the king heard of this and ordered the office to be sequestered to his old servant de quester and commanded hall to make over his interest to the same person.[ ] there were now three claimants for the place, frizell, witherings, and de quester. frizell rushed off to court, where he offered to pay off his part of the mortgage and asked to have sole charge of the foreign post. "witherings," he said, "proposes to take charge of all packets of state if he may have the office, but being a home-bred shopkeeper, without languages, tainted of delinquency and in dislike with the foreign correspondents, he is no fit person to carry a trust of such secrecy and importance."[ ] coke knew better than this, however, and through his influence witherings, who had in the meantime paid off the mortgage and satisfied frizell's interest, was made sole postmaster-general for foreign parts.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._ , app. , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , pp. , , ; - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , , , , , , , , , , . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , p. . with witherings' advent a new period of english postal history begins. his dominant idea was to make the posts self-supporting and no longer a charge to the state. it had been established as a service for the royal household and continued as an official necessity. the letters of private individuals had been carried by its messengers but the state had derived no revenue for their conveyance. the convenient activity of other agencies for the carriage of private letters was not only tolerated but officially recognized. the change to a revenue-paying basis tended naturally to emphasize the monopolistic character of the government service.[ ] [ ] see chapter ix. chapter ii the postal establishment a source of revenue to the state - for some time there had been dissatisfaction with the services rendered by the inland posts. it was said that letters would arrive sooner from spain and italy than from remote parts of the kingdom of england.[ ] the only alternative was to send them by express and this was not only expensive but was not looked upon with favour by the postmaster-general. the five great roads from london to edinburgh, holyhead, bristol, plymouth, and dover were in operation. from the edinburgh road there were branches to york and carlisle, from the dover road to margate, gravesend, and sandwich, and from the plymouth road to falmouth, but the posts were slow and the rates for private letters uncertain.[ ] in , a project was advanced for the new arrangement of the post office. the plan was not entirely theoretical, for an attempt was made to show that it would prove a financial success. there were about market towns in england. it was considered that each of these would send letters a week to london and as many answers would be returned. at _d._ a day for each letter, this would amount to £ a week. the charge for conveyance was estimated at £ a week, leaving a weekly profit of £ , from which £ a year for the conveyance of state letters and despatches must be deducted. letters on the northern road were to pay _d._ for a single and _d._ for a double letter, to yorkshire and northumberland _d._, and to scotland _d._ a letter. the postmasters in the country were not to take any charge for a letter except one penny for carriage to the next market town.[ ] it is probable that this project originated with witherings. at any rate it resembles closely the plan which was introduced by him two years later. he had already reformed the foreign post by appointing "stafetti" from london to dover and through france and they had proved so efficient as to disarm the opposition even of the london merchants. his name is without doubt the most distinguished in the annals of the british post office. convinced that the carriage of private letters must be placed upon a secure footing, he laid the foundation for the system of postal rates and regulations, which continued to the time of national penny postage. he introduced the first legal provision for the carriage of private letters at fixed rates, greatly increased the speed of the posts, and above all made the post office a financial success. in order to do this he saw that the proceeds from private letters must go to the state and not to the deputy postmasters. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . a single letter consisted of one sheet of paper, a double letter of two, and a triple letter of three sheets. his plan was entitled "a proposition for settling of stafetti or pacquet posts betwixt london and all parts of his majesty's dominions. the profits to go to pay the postmasters, who now are paid by his majesty at a cost of £ per annum." a general office or counting house was to be established in london for the reception of all letters coming to or leaving the capital. letters leaving london on each of the great roads were to be enclosed in a leather "portmantle" and left at the post-towns on the way. letters for any of the towns off the great roads were to be placed in smaller leather bags to be carried in the large portmantle. these leather bags were to be left at the post-towns nearest the country towns to which they were directed. they were then to be carried to their destination by foot-posts to a distance of six or eight miles and for each letter these foot-posts were to charge d., the same price that was charged by the country carriers. at the same time that the foot-posts delivered their letters, they were to collect letters to be sent to london and carry them back to the post-town from which they had started and there meet the portmantle on its way back from edinburgh or bristol or wherever the terminus of the road might be. the speed of the posts was to be at least miles in twenty-four hours and they were to travel day and night. he concludes his proposition by saying that no harm would result to stanhope by his plan "for neither lord stanhope nor anie other, that ever enjoyed the postmaster's place of england, had any benefit of the carrying and re-carrying of the subjects' letters."[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, xiv, app., p. ( ). _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . letters were to be carried to and from important places at some distance from the main roads by post-horses. see _cal. s. p. d._, above. the question now was, who was to see that these reforms were carried out? stanhope was not the man for so important and revolutionary an undertaking. witherings alone, the author of the proposition, should carry it into effect. sir john coke made no mistake in constituting himself the friend of the postal reformer. witherings was already foreign postmaster-general and in he was charged with the reformation of the inland office on the basis of his projected scheme. in the inland and foreign offices were again united when he was made foreign and inland postmaster-general.[ ] his experiment was tried on the northern road first and was exceedingly successful. letters were sent to edinburgh and answers returned in six days. on the northern road bye-posts were established to lincoln, hull and other places.[ ] orders were given to extend the same arrangement to the other great roads, and by his reform was in full and profitable operation. [ ] _rep. com._, xiv, p. ; app., p. ( ); _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . witherings still continued to sell the positions of the postmasters, if we are to trust the complaints of non-successful applicants. one man said that he offered £ for a position but witherings sold it to another for £ .[ ] the postmaster at ferrybridge asserted that he had paid stanhope £ and witherings £ and yet now fears that he will be ousted. complaints of a reduction in wages were also made, and this was a serious matter, since the postmasters no longer obtained anything from private letters.[ ] the old complaint, however, of failure to pay wages at all is not heard under witherings' administration. he was punctual in his payments and held his employees to equally rigid account. their arrears were not excused.[ ] an absentee postmaster, who hired deputies to perform his duties, was dismissed.[ ] his ambition to establish a self-supporting postal system demanded rigid economy and strict administration, and with the then prevailing laxity of administrative methods, this was no mean achievement. from one occasional practice of the post office, that of tampering with private letters, he cannot perhaps wholly be absolved. it is hinted that he may have been guilty of opening letters, but the suggestion follows that this may have happened before they reached england, for the letters so opened were from abroad.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , , . [ ] _cal. s.p.d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . as early as persons were not allowed to have letters back when once posted. (_ibid._, , p. .) in june of , coke and windebank, the two secretaries of state, were appointed postmasters-general for their lives. the surviving one was to surrender his office to the king, who would then grant it to the secretaries for the time being.[ ] it does not appear that witherings was altogether dismissed from the service, for his name continued to appear in connection with postal affairs.[ ] windebank later urged as reasons for the withdrawal of witherings' patent, that he was not a sworn officer, that there was a suspicion that his patent had been obtained surreptitiously, and that the continental postmasters disdained to correspond with a man of his low birth. he concludes by saying that something may be given him, but that he is said to be worth £ a year in land and to have enriched himself from his position.[ ] at the time of his removal, in june, , the london merchants petitioned for his continuance in office, as he had always given them satisfaction. when they heard who had been appointed in his stead, like loyal and fearful subjects, they hastened to add that they thought someone else was trying for the position but they had no doubt that it would be managed best by the secretaries.[ ] if they thought so they were mistaken, for the commander of the english army against scotland found that his letters were opened,[ ] the lord high admiral complained that his were delayed,[ ] and windebank promised an unknown correspondent that the delay in his letters should be seen to at once and witherings was the agent chosen for the investigation.[ ] this, however, was not the worst, for only a month after witherings had been degraded, orders were issued to the postmasters that no packets or letters were to be sent by post but such as should be directed "for his majesty's special affairs" and were subscribed by certain officials connected with the government.[ ] it is fair to add that this check on private correspondence may have been a protective measure induced by the unsettled state of the kingdom. [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; _rep. com._, xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s.p.d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._ , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . in both the inland and foreign offices were sequestered into the hands of philip burlamachi, a wealthy london merchant who had lent money to the king. no reasons were given except that information had been received "of divers abuses and misdemeanours committed by thomas witherings."[ ] stanhope, who had resigned his patent in , now came forward claiming that his resignation had been unfairly obtained by the council, and at the same time he presented his bill for £ , the arrears in his salary for nineteen years.[ ] in reply to his demand it was said that shortly before he resigned he had assigned his rights in the post office to the porters, father and son. the attorney-general gave his opinion that whatever rights stanhope and the porters had, they certainly had no claim to the proceeds from the carriage of private letters.[ ] stanhope had offered to enter an appearance in a suit brought against him by the porters but now he refused to do so.[ ] windebank was also looking out for money due to him while coke and he were postmasters-general.[ ] the state had indeed entered upon troublous times and it was every man for himself before it was too late. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._ , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . as long as witherings had enjoyed the king's favour, the house of commons had looked upon him with suspicion. they had ordered in "that a sub-committee of the committee of grievances should be made a house committee to consider abuses in the inland posts, to take into consideration the rates for letters and packets together with the abuses of witherings and the rest of the postmasters."[ ] as soon as witherings was finally dismissed, the commons took him up and resolutions were passed that the sequestration was illegal and ought to be repealed, that the proclamation for ousting him from his position ought not to be put into execution, and that he ought to be restored to his old position and be paid the mean profits which had been received since his nominal dismissal.[ ] protected by the authority of the house of commons, witherings continued to act as postmaster-general.[ ] windebank, in paris, was trying to collect evidence against him through frizell, who, he said, had been forced out of his position by witherings and coke.[ ] coke himself was in disgrace and could do nothing. parliament was now supreme. witherings was ordered to send to a committee of the lords, acting with sir henry vane, all letters coming into or going out of the kingdom for examination and search. frequent orders to the same effect followed during the turbulent summer and autumn of .[ ] among other letters opened were those of the venetian ambassador in england. he was so indignant that a committee of the lords was sent to him to ask his pardon.[ ] the two houses of parliament united in condemning the sequestration to burlamachi, but witherings, who had become tired of the strife, assigned his position to the earl of warwick.[ ] the earl was supported by both houses, but the lower house played a double part, for, while openly supporting warwick, they now secretly favoured burlamachi, who had found an influential friend in edmund prideaux, former chairman of the committee appointed to investigate the condition of the posts and later attorney-general under the commonwealth.[ ] prideaux was a strong parliamentarian, but was distrusted even by his own friends. but for the time being, as the representative of the commons, he was supported by them. the messenger of the upper house made oath that he had delivered the commons' resolution to burlamachi, commanding him to hand over the inland letter office to warwick, but james hicks had presented an order at the place appointed by warwick for receiving letters, to deliver all letters to prideaux. burlamachi on being summoned before the lords for contempt said that prideaux had hired his house and now had charge of the mails. the fight went merrily on. two servants of warwick seized the holyhead letters from hicks, but were in turn stopped by five troopers, agents of prideaux, who took the letters from them by order of the house of commons. prideaux also seized the chester and plymouth letters, one of his servants calling out "that an order of the house of commons ought to be obeyed before an order of the house of lords."[ ] hicks, who had been arrested by order of the lords, was liberated by the commons as a servant of a member of parliament.[ ] as between lords and commons, there could be no doubt as to which side would carry the day, and by the end of the lower house was triumphant all along the line. understanding that discretion was the better part of valour, the lords freed burlamachi and dropped the contest. warwick now petitioned the lords again, setting forth that he was the legal successor and assignee of witherings. stanhope put in a counter-petition to the effect that witherings never had any right to the position which warwick now claimed. the house of lords felt its own weakness too much to interfere directly, but ordered the whole matter to trial.[ ] besides stanhope and warwick, the following put in claims before the council of state: henry robinson, through the porters, to whom stanhope had assigned; sir david watkins in trust for thomas witherings, jr., for the foreign office; moore and jessop through watkins and walter warde. billingsley also, the old postmaster of the merchant adventurers, made a claim for the foreign office.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _jo. h. c._, ii, p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. ; _jo. h. l._, - , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _jo. h. c._, - , pp. , , , , , - , , ; _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _jo. h. l._, - , pp. , , . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , ; _ibid._, - , pp. , , ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _jo. h. c._, - , p. . the confusion in postal administration which naturally resulted from the struggle among the rival claimants was increased by the civil war. in the royal court was moved to oxford. the secretaries of state acting as postmasters-general sent james hicks, the quondam servant of prideaux, to collect arrears from the postmasters due to the letter office. in addition to collecting the money due, he was to require all postmasters on the road to coventry to convey to and from the court all letters and packets on his majesty's service, to establish new stages, to forward the names of those willing to supply horses and guides, and to report those postmasters who were disobedient or disloyal.[ ] during the most desperate period of the royal cause hicks acted as special messenger for the king, and apparently had some exciting experiences in carrying the letters of his royal master. he lived to enjoy his reward when the second charles had come to his own. parliament, in the meantime, was establishing its control over the posts and reorganizing the service. in the early period of parliamentary government, postal affairs were as a rule looked after by what was known as the "committee of both kingdoms," and the orders which it issued were necessarily based upon political conditions. later the postmaster-general acted under the council of state or under cromwell himself. in the house of commons issued an order that protection should be granted to the postmasters between london and hull, to their servants, horses and goods.[ ] the fact that it was necessary to re-settle posts on the old established london-berwick road shows how demoralized conditions had been during the conflict.[ ] many of the loyal postmasters were dismissed. their lukewarm conduct in supplying the messengers of the commonwealth with horses produced a reprimand from the committee and a sharp warning from prideaux.[ ] posts were settled from london to lyme regis for better communication with the southwestern counties. in edmund prideaux was formally appointed postmaster-general.[ ] he was allowed to use as his office part of the building occupied by the committee of accounts, formerly the house of a london alderman.[ ] as long as the war continued it was necessary that a close watch should be kept over letters passing by post. many of the new postmasters were military men and in addition others were appointed in each town under the heading of "persons to give intelligence."[ ] with the return of normal conditions after prideaux was ordered by the council of state to make arrangements for establishing posts all over england as in the peaceful days before the war.[ ] his report of the same year to the council of state indicates the successful fulfilment of his instructions. he said that he had established a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the commonwealth and that with the receipts from private letters he had paid all the postmasters except those on the dover road.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _ibid._, , pp. , . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; _ibid._, , pp. , , . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . for the safety of the commonwealth it was often found necessary to search the letters. sometimes the posts were stopped and all the letters examined. when this was done, it was by order of the council of state, which appointed certain officials to go through the correspondence.[ ] sir kenelm digby, writing to lord conway from calais, asks him to direct his letters to that place, where they would find him, "if no curious overseer of the packets at the post break them open for the superscription's sake."[ ] the commonwealth did openly and is consequently blamed for what had been done more or less secretly by the royal government. [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , , , ; , pp. , ; - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . in the first proposal for farming the post office was submitted to the council of state. the council reported the question to parliament but there is no evidence as to their attitude on the question at that time.[ ] the next year parliament ordered that the question of management, whether by contract or otherwise, should be re-committed to the council,[ ] and in it was decided that it would be better to let the posts out to farm. prideaux had been quietly dropped by the council after making, as it was reported, a large fortune. when we remember that under his management there was an annual deficit of £ besides the expenses of the dover road and that in there was a net revenue of £ , , it seems probable that there is some truth in the report. the conditions upon which the post office was farmed, were as follows:-- the farmers must be men of stability and good credit and must be selected from those contracting. official letters and letters from and to members of parliament must be carried free. all postage rates must be fixed by the council and not changed without its consent. finally all postmasters should be approved by the council and lord protector.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . the following is a list of the contractors, with the yearly amounts offered by each: ben andrews for inland office £ ben andrews for foreign office henry robinson for both offices ben andrews for both offices john goldsmith for both offices ralph kendall for both offices john manley, with good security rich. hicks rich. hill --_cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . the policy of the commonwealth in letting the posts out to farm had much in its favour. the evil usually resulting from farming is the temptation and the opportunity it offers for extortion from the people. but in the case of the posts no oppression was possible, for the farmer was limited in his charge to the rate fixed by the government. more than this, private control over the post office business afforded what was most needed at the time, greater economy and stricter supervision over the deputy postmasters. it was upon the deputy postmasters alone that the farming system might exercise undue pressure, but from them there was no complaint of the withholding or reduction of wages until after cromwell's death.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . john manley was appointed "farmer of the posts" for two years at a yearly rent of £ , . there were at least four higher tenders than his, and manley contracted only for £ . it was hinted that manley and the council had come to a private agreement concerning the rent to be paid.[ ] in his orders to the postmasters, manley requested them to take particular care of government packets and to see that no one was allowed to ride in post unless by special warrant. all letters should be counted by them and the number certified in london. they were to keep a sharp eye upon people, especially travellers, and report any discontent or disaffection.[ ] in manley's title of postmaster-general was confirmed by act of parliament, the first act dealing directly with postal affairs.[ ] he was unsuccessful in having his franchise extended beyond the original two years, and by order of the council of state the management of the posts was entrusted to mr. thurloe, secretary of state, for £ , a year, the same amount which manley had paid.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] scobell's _collect._, p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . shortly after thurloe had been appointed postmaster-general, general orders were issued by cromwell to all the postmasters. he forbade them to send by express any letters or packets except those sent by certain officials on affairs of state, all others to await the regular time for the departure of the mails. the old regulations for providing mail-bags, registration of the time of reception, and the like were repeated. the number of mails to and from london was increased from one to three a week each way, and to ensure higher speed, each postmaster was to provide a horse ready saddled and was not to detain the mail longer than half an hour under any consideration. he was ordered to deliver all letters in the country at or near his stage and was to collect the postage marked on the letter unless it was postpaid. the money so collected was to be returned to london every three months.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , pp. f. in the first act of parliament was passed which fixed rates for the conveyance of letters and established the system for the british islands. the preamble stated: "that whereas it hath been found by experience that the writing and settling of one general post office ... is the best means not only to maintain certain intercourse of trade and commerce betwixt all the said places to the great benefit of the people of these nations, but also to convey the public despatches and to discover and prevent many dangerous and wicked designs, which have been and are daily continued against the peace and welfare of this commonwealth," it is enacted that there shall be one general post office called the post office of england, and one postmaster-general nominated and appointed by the protector for life or for a term of years not exceeding eleven.[ ] in accordance with the terms of this act, thurloe was appointed by cromwell and continued to act as postmaster-general until the downfall of the commonwealth.[ ] [ ] scobell, _collect._, pp. - ( , c. ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in january of the council took the post office under its own control for a short time. _jo. h. c._, - , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . after the restoration most of the old claimants to the post office came to the front again. stanhope besieged king and parliament for restoration to his old place. he seems to have received some compensation, which he deserved for his pertinacity if for nothing else. the porters were up in arms at once, for he had promised them to come to no agreement until they were satisfied.[ ] the two daughters of burlamachi pleaded for some mark of favour, on the ground that their father had ruined himself for the late king. frizell was still very much alive, and a nephew of witherings carried on the family feud.[ ] in the meantime james hicks was employed by the secretary of state to ascertain how many of the old deputy postmasters were still eligible for positions. he reported that many of them were dead and that many of those who were applying for positions had been enemies of the king. for the time being it was decided that the present officials should remain in office until a settlement should be made.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._ , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. - , . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , . henry bishop was appointed by royal patent postmaster-general of england for seven years at a rent of £ , a year. the king agreed to persuade parliament to pass an act[ ] settling the rates and terms under which bishop was to exercise his duties. for the time being he was to charge the same rates as those in the "pretended act of ," to defray all postal expenses and to carry free all public letters and letters of members of parliament during the present session. he agreed also to allow the secretaries to examine letters and not to change old routes or set up new without their consent. he was to dismiss all officials whom they should object to on reasonable grounds. if his income should be lessened by war or plague or if this grant should prove ineffectual, the secretaries agreed to allow such abatement in his farm as should seem reasonable to them.[ ] bishop's régime does not seem to have been popular with the postmasters, for a petition in behalf of of them, representing themselves to be "all the postmasters in england, scotland, and ireland," was presented to parliament in protest against the postmaster-general's actions. they describe how cromwell had let the post office out to farm. they credit him with respecting their rights and paying their wages. lately, however, bishop had been appointed farmer, and unless they submitted to his orders, they were dismissed at once. he had decreased their wages by more than one half, made them pay for their places again, and demanded bonds from them that they should not disclose any of these things.[ ] [ ] the act of ( ch. ii, c. ) passed in pursuance of this agreement added nothing of importance to the act of , except on the question of rates. see below, chapter viii. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., pp. , ( , ). [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , p. . in , bishop resigned his grant to daniel o'neale for £ . o'neale offered £ and, in addition, promised £ a year, during the lease, to bennet, secretary of state, if he would have the assignment confirmed. he explained that this would not injure the duke of york's interest, who could expect no increase until the expiration of the original contract, which still had four years and a quarter to run.[ ] this refers to an act of parliament which had just been passed, settling the £ , post revenue upon the duke of york and his male heirs,[ ] with the exception of some £ which had been assigned by the king to his mistresses and favourites. o'neale having died before his lease expired, his wife, the countess of chesterfield, performed his duties until .[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., pp. , ( , ). [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). confirmed in (hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., , p. ; jas. ii, c. ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; - , p. . according to the grant made to o'neale in no postmaster nor any other person except the one to whom it was directed or returned was to open any letter unless ordered so to do by an express warrant from one of the secretaries of state. if any letter was overcharged, the excess was to be returned to the person to whom it was directed. nothing was said about letters which were lost or stolen in the post. a certain john pawlett complained that of sixteen letters which he had posted not one was ever delivered in london although the postage was prepaid.[ ] letters not prepaid were stamped with the postage due in the london office when they were sent from london. letters sent to london were charged by the receiving postmaster in the country and the charge verified at the london office. an account was kept there of the amounts due and the postmasters were debited with them, less the sum for letters not delivered, which had also to be returned for verification.[ ] all this meant losses to the postal revenue, but compulsory prepayment would have been impracticable at the time. the postmasters had nothing to gain by retaining letters not prepaid, but by neglecting to forward prepaid letters, they could keep the whole of the postage, for stamps were unknown. an incentive to the delivery of letters was provided by the penny payment which it was customary to give the postmasters for each letter delivered, over and above the regular postage. the postmasters were required to remit the postage collected to london every month and give bonds for the performance of their duties.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . although letters might be prepaid, it was not compulsory that they should be, and the vast majority were not. [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . the postal service was very much demoralized by the plague in and and the great fire which followed. hicks, the clerk, said that the gains during this time would be very small. to prevent contagion the building was so "fumed" that they could hardly see each other.[ ] the letters were aired over vinegar or in front of large fires and hicks remarks that had the pestilence been carried by letters they would have been dead long ago. while the plague was still dangerous, the king's letters were not allowed to pass through london.[ ] after the fire the headquarters of the post-office in london were removed to gresham college. [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , pp. , ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . _cal. s. p. d. add._, - , p. . when o'neale's lease had expired in , lord arlington, secretary of state, was appointed postmaster-general.[ ] the real head was sir john bennet, with whom hicks was entirely out of sympathy. he accused bennet of "scurviness" and condemned the changes initiated by him. these changes were in the shape of reductions in wages. the postmasters' salaries were to be reduced from £ to £ a year. in the london office, the wages of the carriers and porters were also to be reduced.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . at the close of the seventeenth century there were forty-nine men employed in the inland department of the post office in london. the postmaster-general, or controller as he was sometimes called, was nominally responsible for the whole management although the accountant and treasurer were more or less independent. then there were eight clerks of the roads. they had charge of the mails coming and going on the six great roads to holyhead, bristol, plymouth, edinburgh, yarmouth, and dover. the old veteran hicks had been at their head until his resignation in . the general post office building was in lombard street.[ ] letters might be posted there or at the receiving stations at westminster, charing cross, pall mall, covent garden, and the inns of court. from these stations, letters were despatched to the general office twice on mail nights. for this work thirty-two letter carriers were employed, but they did not deliver letters as their namesakes now do. the mails left london for all parts of the country on tuesday, thursday, and saturday late at night or early the next morning. on these days all officials had to attend at p.m. and were generally at work all night. on monday, wednesday and friday when the mails arrived from all parts of england they had to be on hand at or a.m. the postage to be paid was stamped on the letters by the clerks of the roads. in addition three sorters and three window-men were employed. the window-men were the officials who stood at the window to receive the letters handed in and to collect postage when it was prepaid. then there were an alphabet-man, who posted the names of merchants for whom letters had arrived, a sorter of paid letters, and a clerk of undertaxed letters.[ ] in the foreign office, there were a controller, two sorters, an alphabet-man, and eight letter receivers, of whom two were women. in addition the foreign office had a rebate man who saw that overcharged letters were corrected. both offices seem to have shared the carriers in common.[ ] [ ] stow, _london_, bk. ii, p. . [ ] _notes and queries_, series , i, p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . before there was no post between one part of london and another. a londoner having a letter for delivery had either to take it himself or send it by a special messenger. the houses were not numbered and were generally recognized by the signs they bore or their nearness to some public building. such was the condition in the metropolis when william dockwra organized his london penny post. on the first of april, , london found itself in possession of a postal system which in some respects was superior to that of to-day. in the penny post office as so established there were employed a controller, an accountant, a receiver, thirteen clerks in the six offices, and about a hundred messengers to collect and deliver letters. the six offices were:-- the general office in star court, cornhill; st. paul's office in queen's head alley, newgate street; temple office in colchester rents in chancery lane; westminster office, st. martin's lane; southwark office near st. mary overy's church; hermitage office in swedeland court, east smithfield. there were in all about places in london where letters might be posted. shops and coffee-houses were used for this purpose in addition to the six offices, and in almost every street a table might be seen at some door or shop-window bearing in large letters the sign "penny post letters and parcels are taken in here." from these places letters were collected every hour and taken to the six main receiving-houses. there they were sorted and stamped by the thirteen clerks. the same messengers carried them from the receiving-houses to the people to whom they were addressed. there were four deliveries a day to most parts of the city and six or eight to the business centres. the postage fee for all letters or parcels to be delivered within the bills of mortality was one penny, payable in advance. the penny rate was uniform for all letters and parcels up to one pound in weight, which was the maximum allowed. articles or money to the value of £ might be sent and the penny payment insured their safe delivery. there was a daily delivery to places ten or fifteen miles from london and there was also a daily collection for such places. the charge of one penny in such cases paid only for conveyance to the post-house and an additional penny was paid on delivery. from such places to london, however, only one penny was demanded and there was no fee for delivery. the carriers in london travelled on foot, but in some of the neighbouring towns they rode on horseback.[ ] [ ] stow, _london_, bk. v, pp. - ; thos. delaune, _present state of london_, , pp. - ; w. thornbury, _old and new london_, ii, p. ; noorthouck, _hist. of london_, , p. . noorthouck is mistaken in making murray the promoter of the london penny post, although the idea may have originated with him. dockwra is credited with being the first to make use of post-marks. all letters were stamped at the six principal receiving-offices with the name of the receiving-office and the hour of their reception. for instance, we have samples of letters post-marked thus: [illustration] the first figure shows that they were penny post letters and that they were prepaid. the "w" in the centre is the initial letter of the receiving-office, westminster. the second figure shows the hour of arrival at the westminster office, a.m. the earliest instance of these marks is on a letter dated dec. , , written by the bishop of london to the lord mayor.[ ] [ ] _notes and queries_, ser. , xi, p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app. , pp. , ; joyce, p. . whenever letters came from any part of the world by the general post, directed to persons in london or in any of the towns where the penny post carriers went, they were handed over to these carriers to be delivered. in the same way, letters directed to any part of the world might be left at any of the receiving-offices of the penny post to be carried by its messengers to the general office. this must have increased greatly the number of letters carried by the general post. in the case of letters arriving by the general and delivered by the penny post, the postage was paid on delivery.[ ] over two hundred and thirty years ago then, london had for a time a system of postal delivery not only unrivalled until a short time ago, but in the matter of parcel rates and insurance not yet equalled. [ ] delaune, _present state of london_, , p. . what was dockwra's reward for the boon which he had conferred? he himself says that it had been undertaken at his sole charge and had cost him £ , . it had not paid for the first few months, and the friends who had associated themselves with him fell away.[ ] as long as it produced no surplus, dockwra was left to do as he pleased, for the general post was gaining indirectly from it. as soon as it began to pay, the duke of york cast his eye on it. in an action was brought against dockwra for infringing upon the prerogative of his royal highness, and the duke won the case. the penny post was incorporated in the general post soon after.[ ] after william and mary had come to the throne, dockwra was given a pension of £ a year for seven years. at the end of that time he was appointed manager of the penny post department of the general post and his pension was continued for three years longer. in he was dismissed, charged with "forbidding the taking in of band-boxes (unless very small) and all parcels above one pound in weight, with stopping parcels, and opening and detaining letters."[ ] such was dockwra's reward and such had been witherings'. he who would reform the post office must be prepared to take his official life in his hands. [ ] _cal. b. p._, - , xliv, . [ ] two men living in limerick and tipperary claimed in that they had organized a penny post in ireland (_cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ). in the countess dowager of thanet petitioned to be allowed to establish a penny post in dublin, but nothing was done (_cal. t. p._, - , lxxxix, ). [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , lxxi, ; charles knight, _london_, , iii, p. . the transition between two reigns was usually a period of unrest and disquietude, and the revolution which resulted in the expulsion of james was naturally accompanied by internal disorder. for a time the posts suffered quite severely. the irish and scotch mails were robbed several times and not even the "black box" escaped. this was the box in which were carried the despatches between scotland and the secretaries of state, the use of which was not discontinued until after the accession of the new king and queen. after each secretary was to send and receive his own despatches separately and all expenses were to be met from the proceeds of the london-berwick post.[ ] major wildman had been appointed to the oversight of the post office, but held office for a few months only, being succeeded in by cotton and frankland. the postmasters-general were henceforth to act under the lords of the treasury.[ ] [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , pp. , ; _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , ; _cal. t. p._, - , p. . important improvements in the frequency and extension of postal communication were inaugurated under the management of cotton and frankland. it was, however, for the extension of the foreign postal service and for that to ireland and the plantations that their administration is most notable. on monday and thursday letters went to france, italy, and spain, on monday and friday to the netherlands, germany, sweden, and denmark. on tuesday, thursday, and saturday, mails left for all parts of england, scotland, and ireland, and there was a daily post to kent and the downs. letters arrived in london from all parts of england, scotland, and ireland on monday, wednesday, and friday, from wales every monday and from kent and the downs every day. besides the establishment of the general post in london, there were about deputy postmasters employed in england and scotland.[ ] the irish post was supervised from london and during the irish war its headquarters in ireland were transferred from dublin to belfast. it was directly managed by a deputy postmaster-general, aided by ten or a dozen officials and clerks. the net receipts were sent to england and the books were audited by a deputy sent over by the auditor-general of the english post.[ ] [ ] stow, _london_, bk. v, p. ; delaune, _present state of england_, ed. , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , pp. , . the scotch post office was not in so good condition as the irish. the time when every scotchman could read and write was yet very far distant. the only post road of any importance was from edinburgh to berwick and this had been established by the english. for many years the vast majority of letters travelling over this road were official despatches. after the crowns of england and scotland were united, it was necessary for the english government to keep in close touch with scotland and "black box" made frequent journeys between the two countries. the canny people in the north had discovered a rich country to the south waiting to be exploited, and the post horses between edinburgh and london were kept busy carrying the lean and hungry northern folk to the land of milk and honey. until the english and scotch post offices had been united under the english postmaster-general with an edinburgh deputy; but by the scotch act of the post office of scotland was separated from that of england. the terms of this act were much the same as those of the english act of , although the rates established were somewhat higher. there was to be a postmaster-general living in edinburgh, who was to have the monopoly of carrying all letters and packets where posts were settled.[ ] [ ] _acts of parliament of scotland_, ix., pp. - ( wm. iii). the first proposal for a postal establishment in the american colonies came from new england in . the reason given was that a post office was "so useful and absolutely necessary."[ ] nothing was done by the home government until fifty years later when a proclamation was issued, ordering letter offices to be settled in convenient places on the north american continent. rates were established for the continental colonies and jamaica.[ ] in , acting upon a report of the governors of the post-office, the lords of trade and plantations granted a patent to thomas neale to establish post offices in north america. about the same time an act was passed by the colony of massachusetts appointing andrew hamilton postmaster-general. the lords of trade and plantations called attention to the fact that this act was not subject to the patent granted to neale. matters were adjusted by neale himself, who appointed hamilton his deputy in north america.[ ] in a report was made by cotton and frankland to the lords of the treasury based on a memorial from neale and hamilton. the latter had established a regular weekly post between boston and new york and from new york to newcastle in pennsylvania. the receipts had increased every year and now covered all expenses except hamilton's own salary, £ . postmasters had been appointed in new york and philadelphia, hamilton himself being in boston. the new york postmaster received a salary of £ with an additional £ for carrying the mail half-way to boston. the philadelphia postmaster was paid £ a year.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] joyce, pp. , . [ ] _cal. s. p. am. and w. i._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , lx, . the business of the post office was rapidly increasing. the same decade that saw the establishment of the board of trade witnessed also the organization of the colonial post. the expansion of english commerce[ ] necessarily reacted on communications both internal and foreign, while the linking of the country posts with the general system and the stimulus given by the london penny post showed itself in the increased postal revenue.[ ] the way was prepared for the great expansion of the following century, an expansion turned to account as a source of taxation. [ ] macpherson, _annals of commerce_, ii, . [ ] see appendix: tables i, ii. chapter iii the postal establishment an instrument of taxation - the year is an important landmark in the history of the british post office. england and scotland had united not only under one king but under one parliament, the war with france made a larger revenue necessary, the growth of the colonies required better communication with the mother country and each other, and it was highly expedient that certain changes in the policy of the post office should receive parliamentary sanction. the act of was intended to meet these conditions. the english and scotch post offices were united under one postmaster-general in london, where letters might be received from and sent to all parts of great britain, ireland, the colonies and foreign countries. the postage rates were increased to meet the demand for a larger revenue. in addition to the general office in london, chief letter offices were ordered to be set up in edinburgh, dublin, new york, the west indies, and other american colonies, and deputies were appointed to take charge of them. one of the most important clauses of this act, by providing regulations for the management of the london penny post, finally placed the seal of the approval of parliament upon a branch of the general post, which had existed for nearly thirty years by virtue of royal proclamations and legal decisions alone. a penny rate was imposed upon all letters and packets passing by the penny post in london, westminster and southwark to be received and delivered within ten miles from the general post office building. this would seem at first sight to be an improvement on the old custom, by which a penny had carried only within the bills of mortality; but as a matter of fact an extra penny was demanded on letters delivered outside the bills and within the ten mile limit. protest was, however, made against this as being illegal, and it was not until that the custom was sanctioned.[ ] [ ] in the maximum weight for articles passing wholly by the penny post was lowered from to ounces ( geo. iii, c. ). one other provision of the new act remains to be mentioned. the last section forbade any official connected with the post office from meddling in politics.[ ] the system of party government which had begun to take form during william and mary's reign, was developing. under anne, the whigs had been the war party, the expansionists, while the tories were anxious for peace. so different were their policies that marlborough had gone over to the whigs. but the queen and probably the majority of the people were tired of war. godolphin, the great financier, had given way to harley and the general election was favourable to the tories. frankland had died before the act was passed, but cotton, who was a member of parliament, preferred to keep his position in the post office and accordingly accepted the chiltern hundreds. a mr. evelyn was associated with him as postmaster-general. [ ] anne, c. . shortly after his appointment the attention of the department was directed to a weakness in administrative control which had already resulted in considerable financial loss. the postmasters-general had always experienced considerable difficulty in collecting the postage on bye and cross road letters.[ ] since these letters did not reach london, no check was possible to ascertain whether the postmaster transmitted to headquarters the full amount of the postage collected on them. the difficulty had been met before by farming a large number of the country post offices.[ ] in the leases under which the farmers had held office were cancelled and all the posts in the kingdom came again under the direct oversight of the postmasters-general. the old farmers were made managers, with an allowance of per cent from the net proceeds of the posts under their control, and the deputy postmasters were again paid directly by the state. the government had refused o appoint surveyors when the act of was drafted and for a time these managers acted in that capacity.[ ] the experiment was not a success and the postmasters-general were at their wits' end to know what to do to save the revenue which was being diverted to the pockets of the country postmasters. [ ] a bye-letter was the name given to a letter carried over one of the great roads but not passing to, from or through london. a cross post letter passed not over the great roads, but over subsidiary or minor roads. [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , cxc, ; ccvi, . the country was happily spared any new device on their part, for in a man came forward with a proposal to take all the losses upon himself or rather to prevent them entirely. this was ralph allen, whose name is worth remembering, not as a reformer but as a good business man who came to the rescue of the postal revenue at a rather critical time. he was the son of an innkeeper at st. blazey. at an early age we find him living with his grandmother, the postmistress of st. columb. he came under the notice of one of the surveyors there on account of the neatness with which he kept the accounts for his grandmother. when he was old enough, he was appointed to a position in the post office at bath and in time was made postmaster there. tradition has it that during the insurrection of he informed the authorities that a wagon load of arms was on its way from the west for the use of the rebels and that this led to his preferment.[ ] he offered to farm the cross and bye posts throughout the kingdom. the net product from these posts amounted to £ in . allen offered to pay half as much again and meet all expenses. the offer was accepted, and in he was given the lease of the cross and bye posts for a period of seven years. the rent was fixed at £ a year in accordance with the agreement. for the first quarter, the receipts exceeded expectations, but later the postmasters began to relapse into their old ways. in addition, the contract was rather hard on allen, as £ of the £ nominally received by the post office was for letters not delivered and hence not paid for. after the third year, matters began to improve and the receipts increased greatly. the contract was renewed for terms of seven years, until allen's death in , and the rent was increased at each renewal.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. ; w. thornbury, _old and new london_, ii, p. ; w. lewins, _her majesty's mails_, ed. , pp. - . how did he succeed when so many others had failed? in the first place he introduced the use of post bills and every postmaster had to distinguish on these bills the bye letters from all others. the voucher, which he also introduced, seems to have been only an acknowledgment of the amount to be collected by each postmaster. besides this, allen had a most intimate knowledge of the various post towns in the kingdom, of their importance and of the number of letters which might naturally be expected to pass between them. he based his conclusions upon quite obvious considerations. between any two towns of much the same importance he expected about the same correspondence, that it would not vary much, and that the letters received and despatched would pretty well equal each other.[ ] [ ] joyce, pp. , . when allen's contract was renewed in it was proposed that he should be obliged to settle and support at his own charge posts six days a week instead of the former tri-weekly posts between london, cambridge, lynn, norwich, and yarmouth and from london to bath, bristol, gloucester, and intermediate towns. this was not done at once, but during the next few years this proposition was put into effect.[ ] in , in addition to his cross and bye post letters, allen undertook to pay for the improvements which he had made in the conveyance of country letters.[ ] he pointed out at the same time that there was some opposition between the two parts of his contract, since country and cross post letters interfered more or less with each other.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , pp. - . [ ] country letters were those sent through london. _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , pp. , ; w. thornbury, _old and new london_, ii, p. . allen died in , being worth, according to current report, £ , . lewins says that he made £ , a year from his farm. probably both statements are exaggerated, but it is certain that he accumulated a respectable fortune while managing the bye and cross posts.[ ] [ ] he is the man to whom pope alluded in the couplet, "let humble allen, with an honest shame, do good by stealth and blush to find it fame." allen and the poet had a falling out just before the death of the latter. in his will, pope left his quondam friend £ to pay a "few little debts." allen is said to have remarked that if pope had added another figure, it would have represented better the "few little debts." w. lewins, _her majesty's mails_, pp. - . there had been a considerable increase in the staff of the general office and many improvements introduced since . at the head of the office were two commissioners called postmasters-general, each with a salary of £ , assisted by a secretary and four clerks. there were in addition a receiver-general, an accountant-general, a solicitor, a resident-surveyor, and two inspectors of missent letters. in addition to the penny post carriers, who were employed also by the general post, there were a court messenger and a carrier for the house of commons. at the general office, letters were taxed and sorted by the "clerks of the road" and their assistants and by seventeen sorters. the window-man and alphabet-keeper received the money on prepaid letters and posted lists of those for whom letters had arrived. undertaxed letters from the country were re-taxed by the "clerks of the road." besides the receiving-houses of the penny post where all letters might be posted, there were thirty receiving-houses for the general post. letters were conveyed from these to the central office by sixty-nine carriers.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , pp. - ; maitland, _survey of london_, p. ; noorthouck, _hist. of london_, , p. . letters were sent every night to the principal south and midland towns of england. on tuesday, thursday, and saturday, there were mails for all parts of england and scotland and on tuesday and saturday for ireland and wales. on monday and thursday, letters were sent to france, spain, and italy, on monday and friday to germany, flanders, sweden, and denmark, and on tuesday and friday to holland. letters arrived in london every day from the south and midland towns, on monday, wednesday, and friday, from all parts of england and scotland, and on monday and friday from ireland and wales.[ ] it will be seen from this that the improvements in postal communications, which had taken place since the beginning of the century, had been confined to the south and midland towns of england and to foreign countries. [ ] j. latimer, _annals of bristol_, , p. ; _london and its environs_, , v, pp. - . with the foregoing enlargement of postal facilities an old grievance on the part of the public began to assume an acute form. it had always been a debated question as to how far the postmasters were responsible for the delivery of letters. there was no general rule upon the question and the practice varied in different parts of england. although the towns on the post roads were fairly well off as far as their letters were concerned, it was different with those places which were neither on the great roads nor on the bye-roads leading off from them. the mails for such places were left at the nearest post towns and were conveyed to their destination by carriers and messengers. cotton and frankland stated that in addition to collecting the regular postage, they demanded for this service an extra payment of _d._, _d._, and sometimes _d._ it was proposed in that the delivery should be made by persons appointed to collect as well as to deliver all letters and parcels. for this they were allowed to take one penny or whatever the people wished to give them.[ ] in sandwich the cross and bye post letters had always been delivered free, although a fee was charged for the london letters. the postmaster there decided to charge for all letters, and the inhabitants of sandwich protested. the case was carried to the courts and the post office lost. sandwich, however, was a place where there had been a free delivery of part of the letters at least. the postmasters-general were very much disturbed at this decision and still more disturbed lest the courts might decide for free delivery in other post towns, which had always paid. they resolved to bring on a test case. the town of hungerford in berkshire was chosen, as it could be proved that the postmaster of that place had received a penny for each letter delivered since the beginning of the century. the case came before the court of king's bench, lord mansfield presiding, and the post office lost again. this case was decided in , and the next year the "liverpool advertiser" records a complaint to the postmasters-general that there was only one letter carrier in liverpool. the reply was that only one carrier was maintained in any provincial town and that liverpool could expect no better treatment.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b._, - , lxiv, ; _ibid._, - , lxxxvi, . [ ] e. green, _bibliotheca somersetensis_, , i, p. ; joyce, pp. - ; latimer, _annals of bristol_, p. . at the same time that the post office received this adverse decision it had begun to suffer severely from the illegal carriage of letters by the post coaches. these post coaches were so called merely because they were most numerous on the post roads. john palmer, the proprietor of a theatre in bath, pointed out to the postmasters-general that the coaches were speedier and cheaper than the post boys who carried the mails on horseback and proposed that he should be allowed to establish mail coaches and thus save the postage on letters illegally carried by the post coaches. his coaches were to be protected by a guard, presumably a retired soldier, who was to be armed with two guns and to sit facing the road in front of him. the driver was to carry pistols. no outside passengers were to be carried, since they impeded the guard in performing his duties. the speed was to be not less than eight or nine miles an hour, twice as fast as the post boys travelled. in addition the mails were to leave london at p.m. instead of after midnight. the coaches were all to leave london together and return together as far as possible. to insure this they were not to wait for government letters when the latter were delayed.[ ] [ ] _d. n. b._, xliii, p. ; knight, _london_, , iii, p. . the first mail coach ran between london and bristol in . it was furnished by contractors at a cost of _d._ a mile. this was the initial cost, however, and by , the rate had been reduced to a penny a mile each way. in the early part of august, , there was only one mail coach. at the end of the same month, coaches went to norwich, nottingham, liverpool, and manchester. during the next year they were sent to leeds, gloucester, swansea, hereford, milford, worcester, birmingham, shrewsbury, holyhead, exeter, portsmouth, and other places. in they ran between london and edinburgh. in there were forty-two mail coach routes established, connecting sixty of the most important towns in the kingdom, as well as intermediate places. these coaches travelled a total distance of miles and cost the government £ , a year, only half the sum paid for post horses and riders under the old system. the coaches made daily journeys over nearly two thirds of the total distance traversed and tri-weekly journeys over something less than one third the total distance. the remainder travelled one, two, four, and six times a week. the result of the establishment of these mail coaches was summed up by a parliamentary committee in the following words: "they have lessened the chance of robbery, diminished the need for special messengers and expresses, and now carry the letters formerly sent by post coaches."[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, pp. , , , ; _fin. rep._, , no. , p. ; _d. n. b._, xliii, p. . palmer had been appointed controller-general of the post office and had chosen as his assistant a man by the name of bonner. palmer himself was of a violent and headstrong disposition, and as ill-luck would have it, walsingham, one of the postmasters-general, was as masterful as himself. palmer considered that his office was outside the scope of walsingham's authority, and although he failed in making his position absolutely free from the control of the postmasters-general, yet he heeded them as little as possible. he organized a newspaper department without consulting his superiors and paid no attention to them when an explanation was asked. he stirred up the london merchants to complain about the late delivery of their letters, a delay which he had probably brought about intentionally. a mail coach had been ordered by walsingham to carry the king's private despatches while his majesty was taking the waters at cheltenham. this was done without consulting palmer, who was so indignant that he persuaded the contractor to send in an enormous bill for supplying the coach. all this came out through the treachery of bonner, who owed his advancement entirely to the friend whom he betrayed. he went so far as to hand over to the postmasters-general the private letters which palmer had written him. palmer was dismissed in with a pension.[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , pp. - ; joyce, pp. , . at the time of palmer's appointment, a treasury warrant had been issued for the payment to him of £ a year and per cent of the increase from the post office revenue, but this warrant had been pronounced illegal by the attorney-general. through pitt's influence, palmer finally obtained £ a year and per cent on any increase in net revenue over £ , a year. palmer objected to this on the ground that the old net revenue was only £ , a year, but pitt replied that the increased rates of would produce at least £ , . it is improbable, however, that the new rates produced the increase estimated. in palmer presented a petition to the house of commons, asking for the arrears due him according to his method of estimating the increase in net revenue, upon which his percentage was due. he said that before his system was introduced the gross product of the post office was decreasing at the rate of £ , a year. this was not true. he claimed that the increase after was wholly due to his own reforms, taking no account of the increased rates and the industrial expansion of england. no action was taken by parliament.[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , p. ; _jo. h. c._, - , p. . one of the arguments advanced by palmer for the use of mail coaches was their security against robbers. previous to and during the rebellion of numerous attempts were made to rob the mails, and many of them were successful. these robberies occurred principally at night. it was said that the mails were carried by boys not always of the best character, and that very often they were in league with the robbers. the postmasters-general asked for soldiers to patrol the roads where these robberies were the most frequent. this was the method which cromwell had used to protect the mails. the request does not seem to have been granted, but in the death penalty was imposed for robbing the mail and for stealing a letter containing a bank note or bill. any post boy deserting the mail or allowing any one but the guard to ride on the horse or carriage with the mails was liable to commitment to hard labour.[ ] palmer's prediction was fulfilled by the comparative safety with which the mails were carried after his coaches had come into use. [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. ; geo. iii, c. . the post office occasionally made good the loss of valuables from theft or robbery, but as a rule refused to do so. _cal. t. p._, - , p. ; _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . charles, earl of tankerville, and lord carteret had been the postmasters-general in and . on the fall of shelburne's ministry in the latter year, tankerville left the post office, but carteret still remained. so far these two men had worked together fairly well, although tankerville had a suspicion that his colleague had been engaged in some doubtful transactions. in , when pitt became prime minister, tankerville was restored to his old office. in the same year a transaction came under his notice which aroused his suspicion. a mr. lees had been appointed secretary of the irish post office. the man who had held this position was made agent of the dover packet boats, the old agent having been superannuated. the new agent agreed to pay to his predecessor the full amount of the salary coming to the place, while he himself was to be paid by mr. lees the total salary coming to the secretary in ireland. so far there was nothing uncommon about the arrangement. the unusual part of the agreement and the part which attracted tankerville's attention was lees' promise to pay the money to "a. b.," an unknown person, after the old agent's death. suspicion pointed to carteret as the man to whom the money was to be paid. lees himself denied this, but did not say who "a. b." was.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, , p. . in a mr. staunton, the postmaster of islesworth, a position worth £ a year, was in addition appointed controller and resident surveyor of the bye and cross posts, to which was attached a salary of £ , coals and candles and a house. the first lord of the treasury proposed that the house should not go with the office, and carteret decided that staunton should receive an extra £ a year in lieu of the house. tankerville refused to agree to this, and the contention became so warm that the whole matter was referred to pitt, who, rather than lose carteret's political support, dismissed tankerville.[ ] tankerville at once demanded an investigation, which was granted. the results showed the post office to be in a deplorable state. tankerville was completely exonerated, but failed to obtain much sympathy on account of the violence of his attack upon pitt and carteret. it came out in the investigation that "a. b." was a foreigner named treves, who had no claim on the post office or any other department of the government except that he was a friend of carteret. carteret himself knew the condition of his appointment, but had done nothing except to express himself displeased with the whole arrangement. a payment of £ a year had also been exacted from mr. dashwood, postmaster-general of jamaica, as the condition of his appointment, and that too had gone to treves. the agent at helvoetsluys had been allowed by carteret to sell his position to a man as incapable as himself. staunton's office had been abolished soon after his appointment, and he had been allowed to retire at the age of forty years with a pension of £ a year in the face of the rule that officers of an advanced age and after long service were allowed upon retirement to receive only two thirds of their salaries.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, , p. . the postmasters-general had received in , in addition to their salaries, over £ for coals. they had also received £ for candles during two years and a half and £ for tinware for the same period. tankerville had taken his share of these perquisites, but it is only fair to add that carteret's emoluments exceeded his by £ for the periods under consideration. it had become customary to receive a money payment in place of a large part of their supplies. in the total sum going to the officials of the general office amounted to £ , , of which sum about £ , were placed under the heading of emoluments other than salaries.[ ] of all the departments of the post office, the sailing packet service was the one most in need of reform. [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , pp. - ; _jo. h. c._, , p . the light, which was then let in among the dark places of the post office, had a most excellent effect. acting on the report furnished by the committee of the house, a new establishment was effected in . the reforms were approved by the postmasters-general and carried out under the direction of the lords of the treasury. the good work had been begun in by palmer. he had appointed additional clerks, letter carriers, surveyors and messengers, had established new offices, and had increased the inadequate pay of minor officials. this had entailed an increase of £ , in expenses in the general and penny posts, but the increase was justified by increased efficiency and by larger returns from the conveyance of letters. of the total increase, £ , had been spent on the general office and £ on the penny post, to which had been added eighty-six more letter carriers for london and seventy-eight more for the suburbs, as well as some supernumerary carriers.[ ] the reforms introduced in may be grouped under three heads: regulations respecting fees and emoluments, abolition of some offices and an increase in officers and clerks in others; regulation of official business. the regulations respecting fees and emoluments were necessarily negative in their character. the most important were as follows: the postmasters were no longer to pay fees to the postmasters-general on the renewal of the bonds given by their securities. the two per cent allowed to the scotch deputy postmaster-general on all remittances from scotland was discontinued and a compensation for life was granted instead. the fees for tinware were abolished, and the pension to the new york agent was to cease. no postal official was allowed to own shares in the sailing packets, and with a few minor exceptions all salaries were henceforth to be in lieu of every emolument or fee.[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , pp. , - . [ ] _ibid._, no. , pp. - . a number of sinecure and useless offices were abolished. the chief among them were: jamineau's perquisite office which had the monopoly of selling newspapers to the "clerks of the roads," the secretary's position as agent for the packets, the controller of the bye and cross posts, the inspector of dead letters in the bye letter office, the collector in the bye letter office, the secretary of the foreign office, and the controller of the inland office.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, no. , pp. - . the changes in business regulations were as follows: the postmasters-general were no longer to include legal charges, chaise hire, and pensions under the head of dead letters. the postmasters-general's warrant must be entered previous to any money being paid. the payment of debts must be enforced. the west india accounts should be sent to the deputy there every quarter. the payments to mail coach contractors must be made directly by warrant instead of through the controller-general. no change was made in the anomalous position of the accountant-general. he was supposed to be a check upon the receiver-general, but had to depend upon the receiver-general's books for verifying the remittances from the deputies.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, no. , pp. , - . the englishman's belief in the sanctity of vested interests has usually been too strong to permit any abridgment of rights or privileges without compensation. those postal officials who had been dismissed or whose sinecure offices had been abolished were not to be turned entirely adrift. provision was made for pensioning most of them. before the reform the total sum paid by the post office in pensions was £ . the incumbrances dismissed were allowed £ , and between and £ more were added to the pension list. it was pointed out at the time that it was far better to pension them off and leave them to die than to continue them in service. in it was a relief to be able to announce "that already £ had been saved from dead and promoted pensioners."[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, no. , p. . the report of the committee which had been appointed at tankerville's suggestion is silent on the question of the opening and detention of letters. it had been provided by the act of that no letters should be opened or detained except under protection of an express warrant from one of the secretaries of state. the royal commission of reported that from to , the number of warrants so issued was , excluding those which were well known or easily ascertained. the secretary of state for the inland department issued most of them. from to , warrants were issued, many of them being general warrants and often for very trivial causes. at the trial of bishop atterbury, the principal witnesses against him were post office clerks, who had opened and copied letters to and from him, under warrant from one of the secretaries.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, pp. - ; app., p. ( ); app., p. ( ); app., p. ( ). in addition to this regular method for intercepting letters, a particular department had been in existence for some time with no other duties than to examine letters. strictly speaking it had nothing to do with the post office and was supported entirely from the "secret service fund." the truth about it came out in the examination of the conduct of sir robert walpole by the "committee of secrecy." from to , £ , had been spent upon this department. it had originated in and the expenses for that year were only £ , but by they had increased more than tenfold. the secretary of the post office in giving his evidence before the committee, said that this office received instructions from the secretaries of state and reported to them. the working force consisted of a chief decipherer, assisted by his son and three other decipherers, five clerks, the controller of the foreign office, a doorkeeper and a former alphabet keeper. either considerable business was transacted there or it was a retreat for useless officials.[ ] [ ] _rep. com_., , xiv, app., p. ( ); _cal. t. b. & p_., - , p. . an account is given in howell's "state trials" of the trial of hensey and of the practice then in vogue for finding treasonable correspondence. his letters were handed over for investigation to the secretary of state by a post office clerk. this clerk in giving his evidence said that when war was declared against any nation, the postmasters-general issued orders at once to stop all suspected letters. these orders were given to all the post office clerks and letter carriers. such instructions can only be justified as a war measure, for the act of had provided that no letter should be detained or opened unless by express warrant from one of the secretaries of state for every such detention or opening.[ ] [ ] _rep. com_., , xiv, app., p. ( ); howell, _state trials_, xix, col. . this was in . we find very few complaints about the opening of letters during the second half of the eighteenth century. on the other hand it must be confessed that letters were at times opened and searched merely to learn the beliefs and plans of political opponents. it is difficult to determine to how great an extent this practice was prevalent as there seems little doubt that the complainants may occasionally have been prompted by their own vanity to believe that their correspondence had been tampered with.[ ] in , during the great war with france, the government ordered all letters directed to the united provinces to be detained. the question then was, what was to be done with them? none of them seems to have been opened and the cause for their detention was only to prevent any information being given to the enemy. accordingly by an act of parliament passed in the same year, the post office was empowered to return them to the writers.[ ] [ ] joyce is of opinion that such practices were very common. so also is may (t. e. may, _constitutional history of england_, , iii, pp. - ; d. b. eaton, _civil service in great britain_, new york, , p. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. . although the larger part of the fees and emoluments enjoyed by the postal officials had been abolished in , the proceeds from those which were left continued to increase steadily. by far the most lucrative was the privilege of franking newspapers, within the kingdom, to the colonies, and to foreign countries. ever since newspapers had been printed, the "clerks of the roads" had been allowed to send them to any part of the kingdom without paying postage. after , when members of parliament were allowed the same privilege, every one felt at liberty to make use of a member's frank for this purpose, and the clerks suffered accordingly. newspapers to the colonies were franked by the secretary of the post office and produced a revenue of £ in , all of which went to sir francis freeling who was then secretary. in the privilege of franking papers within the kingdom and to the colonies was withdrawn, but compensation was granted to sir francis.[ ] this did not end the trouble, for the clerks still acted as newspaper venders. on account of their official position they were able to post them until p.m., while the regular newsvenders were allowed to do so only until p.m. at the lombard street office and p.m. at the general office or they must pay a special fee of a halfpenny on each.[ ] mr. hume, the member for montrose, brought the case before the house, and in all post office officials were forbidden to sell newspapers. at the same time the officials in the foreign office lost the right to frank papers to any foreign country.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xi, pp. - . [ ] london _times_, , oct. , p. ; _ibid._, , march , p. . [ ] _parl. deb._, d ser., xxiv, col. . the members of the secretary's office had, since and , issued two official publications, which paid no postage. these were called the "packet list" and the "shipping list." the first of these contained all the intelligence received at the post office concerning the sailing packets. the second contained information about private vessels, furnished principally by "lloyds." the commissioners commented upon this practice in very uncomplimentary language.[ ] in addition, the members of the secretary's department received fees on the deputations granted to new postmasters in england and wales, upon commissions granted to agents and postmasters abroad, upon private expresses to and from london, and upon news supplied to the london press during a general election.[ ] in the fees on deputations and commissions were abolished, private expresses were discontinued, the "shipping list" was discontinued, and the "packet list" passed from the control of the post office. the revenue from these fees in the secretary's office which were still continued was to go henceforth to the general revenue.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , pp. - ; _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep. app., nos. , , . [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xlv, , p. . an extra charge of _d._ was demanded upon letters posted between p.m. and p.m. this had been the rule since , and the proceeds went either to the inland or foreign office. so also did the registration fees on ships' letters. these fees were transferred to the general revenue in .[ ] in the total amount received in fees, emoluments, and gratuities by the officials in the london office was £ , , by agents and country postmasters £ , . most of these were either abolished or transferred to the general revenue in .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. . the distinguishing feature of the post office during the eighteenth century was the extension of its service, which accompanied the industrial expansion of the kingdom. the abuses which naturally flourish during a prosperous period had been largely remedied by the reform of . the nation's need for a larger revenue led not only to a great increase in postage rates but also to stricter economy in the organization of the post office. the london and dublin penny posts were reformed and extended, the work of the general and penny posts in london was harmonized, the employees were increased, and the new departments which had been established were reformed and consolidated. the newspaper office which had been illegally established by palmer was continued after his dismissal. walsingham had objected to it on the ground that palmer had no right to appoint any officials without his consent. previously all newspapers had been forwarded to the postmasters free of postage by the "clerks of the roads." now that they might be sent with the letters, they were brought in at the last moment still wet from the press so that they defaced the writing on the letters sent in the same bag.[ ] in a dead letter office was also established. previously, dead and missent letters had been handed to a clerk in the general office. during allen's farm of the cross and bye post letters, missent letters were no longer forwarded to london, but any postmaster, into whose hands they came, was instructed to place them on the right track.[ ] four years later a third office was instituted, a money order office. no order could be issued for more than five guineas and the fee for that sum was _s._ _d._ it was started as a private speculation by some of the postal officials and so remained until when it was taken over by the general post office.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, p. . [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , pp. - . [ ] w. thornbury, _old and new london_, ii, p. . the policy of the post office with reference to the registration of letters containing valuables varied with the nature of the enclosure and the manner in which it was sent. on ships' letters sent from england, the registration fee was one guinea, and a receipt was given to the person sending a registered letter. the fee for a letter coming into the kingdom was only _s._[ ] if bank notes were enclosed in a letter, it received no special attention from the post office. if gold or silver was sent in a letter marked "money letter," the postmaster placed it in a separate envelope and made a special entry on the way bill, which was repeated at every office it passed through. no special fee was charged for the extra attention bestowed upon these letters until when the postmaster-general was allowed to charge a fee for their registration in addition to the ordinary postage.[ ] the money order department, still a private undertaking, had its fees reduced from _d._ to _d._ on sums not exceeding £ and from _d._ to _d._ on sums exceeding £ but not more than £ .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . [ ] _london times_, , apr. , p. ; and wm. iv, c. ; and vict., c. . [ ] london _times_, , jan. , p. ; dec. , p. ; _acc. & p._, , xxvi, , no. . at the same time that the general post was being reformed, a former letter carrier by the name of johnson was improving the penny post. the six principal receiving-houses which dockwra had instituted had been reduced to five and were now still further reduced to two. the subsidiary receiving-houses in the shops and coffee-houses were increased and the number of letter carriers more than doubled. six regular deliveries for the city proper and three for the suburbs were introduced. before the deliveries in the city had not been made at the same time, for the carriers had to go to one of the main receiving-houses to get their letters. the deliveries were now made as near the same time as possible all over the city and the delivery hours were posted so that people might know when to expect the carriers and thus act as a check upon them. mounted messengers conveyed the letters to those carriers who delivered in distant parts of the city.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. ; _fin. rep._, , no. , p. . in an act was passed "to regulate the postage and conveyance of letters by the carriage called the penny post." the rate for letters posted in london, westminster, southwark and the suburbs for any place within these places and their suburbs remained one penny. letters sent from these places to any place outside paid _d._ as before. hitherto letters sent from outside to london, westminster, southwark and the suburbs had paid only one penny. this was raised by the act of to _d._ it was also provided that the postage for penny post letters need not be paid in advance. this would increase the expense but the idea was probably to secure greater safety in the delivery of letters. finally, the surplus revenue at the end of each quarter was to be considered part of the revenue of the general post.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . the changes introduced by johnson and the act of were in the right direction. this seems a reasonable conclusion not so much on account of the increase in net product, which was not great, as on account of the increase in gross product, showing that the number of letters and parcels sent by the penny post had doubled. the financial condition of the penny post before and after the reform is shown by the following figures:-- _average yearly_ _average yearly_ _average yearly_ _gross product_ _expense_ _net product_ - £ , £ £ - £ , £ , £ [ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, p. . london was not the only place which could boast a penny post in . the system was extended in that year to edinburgh, manchester, bristol, and birmingham, while dublin had been so favoured since . it is almost unnecessary to add that in all these places, it was a pronounced success from a financial and social point of view.[ ] [ ] joyce, pp. , . in the london penny post which had lasted for years was practically swept out of existence, for _d._ was then charged where a penny had formerly been the rate. an exception was made in the case of letters passing first by the general post, for on these the old rate still held.[ ] four years later, the limits of the twopenny post, as it was called, were restricted to the general post delivery and _d._ was charged for letters crossing the bounds of this delivery. this was called the threepenny post.[ ] the effect of the increased rates and the growth of population in the metropolis is shown by the increase in gross receipts, which rose from £ , in to £ , in and to £ , in . during the same period, the number of letter carriers was increased from to , and nineteen officials were added to the establishment.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] _acc. & p._, , pp. , ; _rep. commrs._, , xi, pp. , . although the general, the twopenny, and the threepenny posts, were all under one management, no attempt was made to harmonize their methods of procedure until . letters for the general post were often entrusted to the twopenny post but the receiving-houses of both posts were frequently established in the same street and close together. the general post had seventy receiving-houses in the city, the twopenny post , the threepenny post more in the suburbs and adjoining country. in addition there were "bellmen" who collected letters from door to door, ringing their bells as they went. they charged one penny for each letter collected.[ ] the general post receiving-houses closed at p.m., the twopenny receiving-houses at p.m., but letters might be posted at the charing cross office until . and at the general office until p.m.[ ] at the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were three deliveries, by the inland, foreign, and twopenny post carriers. the limits of the inland post delivery were very irregular and left out a large part of the populous suburbs. the foreign post delivery was also very irregular and still more restricted in area. the twopenny post delivery included london, westminster, southwark and their suburbs, and was the most extensive. letters were delivered by the threepenny post within an irregular area bounded on the inside by the twopenny delivery and extending nearly twelve miles from the general post office. the separate delivery of foreign letters was abolished first and all foreign letters were delivered by the general post carriers, and in the deliveries of the general and twopenny posts were made co-extensive, extending to a distance of three miles from the general office at st. martin's-le-grand. three years later the twopenny post building in gerard street was given up and all twopenny post letters henceforth were sent to the general post office building to be sorted.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. ; _ibid._, , xi, pp. - ; _london times_, , dec. , p. . [ ] london _times_, , jan. , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., nos. , , . the regular collections of twopenny post letters were made at a.m., a.m., m. and , and p.m. deliveries were made at the same hours in the morning, at noon, and at , and o'clock in the afternoon. a letter posted at or before a.m. was sent for delivery at a.m. and so on. the letters collected were taken to the general office by horsemen to be sorted. two sets of men were employed, one collecting while the other delivered.[ ] there was an additional "early delivery" as it was called. the carriers on the way to their own "walks" delivered letters to subscribers, who paid _s._ a quarter for the accommodation thus afforded. the postage for letters so delivered was not paid until the carriers called again on their regular delivery.[ ] in the times of the regular deliveries were changed to every second hour from a.m. to p.m. and collections were made at the same hours.[ ] in the threepenny post limits, there were on an average three deliveries a day but those towns which had a general post delivery received only two a day from the threepenny post. letters were sent by horsemen or mail carts for delivery. the same receiving-houses were used for general and threepenny post letters.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. ; london _times_, , jan. , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. ; _parl. deb._, st ser., xxxi, col. ; _acc. & p._, - , xx, p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , xlv, , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . the dublin penny post was remodelled in . the deliveries, which had been only two a day, were increased to four and then to six, additional letter carriers were appointed and receiving-houses established. the penny delivery extended to four miles around the city. there was a _d._ rate for letters beyond the four mile radius.[ ] previous to , the boundary of the edinburgh penny post was a circle with a radius of - / miles from the register office. some scotch mathematician must have been consulted when in the boundary was made an ellipse with its foci a furlong apart, the distance from each focus to the most remote part of the circumference being - / miles. outside this ellipse, there was a _d._ rate. there had been three deliveries a day, raised in to five.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , xii, p. ; wm. iv, and vict., c. . [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, d rep., app. e, no. . before penny posts had also been established in newcastle and glasgow.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . since nearly all the mail coaches left london at o'clock in the evening, most of the letters arriving there in the morning for outside places were not despatched until the same evening. it was pointed out by the commissioners in the report of that a large proportion of these letters might be forwarded by the post coaches.[ ] if they arrived on saturday morning they were not forwarded until monday evening since sunday was not a mail day and mail coaches arriving on sunday were detained in the outskirts of the city.[ ] the rumour that the post office was considering the expedience of a sunday post brought forth a flood of protests. bankers, merchants, vestries, and religious societies were represented by delegations and petitions to the postmaster-general and the house of commons, praying that no change might be made.[ ] sixteen hundred solicitors joined in the opposition. lord melbourne informed the bishop of london that the subject was not under consideration, and the chancellor of the exchequer told sir robert inglis that the government had no intention of opening the post office on sunday.[ ] derby had a sunday delivery in , but, on their own request, many of the inhabitants were excluded from it.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., p. , and app., nos. , , . [ ] _acc. & p._, , l. . [ ] _ibid._, , xlvi, . [ ] _parl. deb._, st ser., xlvi, coll. , . [ ] london _times_, , june , p. . for over forty years all the mail-coaches in england were provided by one man, with whom a new contract was made every seven years. before a penny a mile was paid each way but on the imposition of a tax on carriages, the rate was raised to - / _d._, then to - / _d._, and later to - / _d._ a mile. one contractor supplied the coaches, others provided horses and drivers, but the guards were hired directly by the post office. in scotland and ireland, coaches, horses, and drivers were all provided by the same men. the number of miles a day covered by the mail-coaches in was and the mileage allowance for that year was £ , . when the mails were exceptionally heavy, mail carts were used, which cost somewhat more than the coaches, since they carried no passengers. in the contract for the supply of coaches was thrown open to public competition. by this move, the expenses dropped from £ , a year to £ , although the total distance travelled per day increased from , to , miles.[ ] the mail-coaches were at a disadvantage in competing with the post-coaches, since the former were allowed to carry no more than four inside and two outside passengers nor were they allowed to carry any luggage on the roof.[ ] on the other hand the mail-coaches in england paid no tolls until .[ ] the mail guards of the british coaches received £ in salaries in , paid directly by the post office. seven inspectors were also employed at a fixed yearly salary and _s._ a day when travelling. they superintended the coachmen and guards, investigated complaints, delays, and accidents, and made preliminary agreements in contracting for coaches.[ ] the majority of the irish coaches had paid tolls ever since they had been introduced. generally they were paid by the post office at stated intervals. the total distance travelled by mail-coaches in ireland in was miles each day, by mail-carts miles. the number of guards employed was eighty-five, receiving £ a year. the irish coaches were allowed to carry four outside passengers.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, , _rep. com._, p. ; _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., apps. , , , p. ; london _times_, , apr. , p. ; _acc. & p._, - , xlv, , p. : , p. ; _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. . [ ] _parl. papers_, , _rep. com._, pp. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, , _rep. com._, p. ; _parl. deb._, st ser., xix, col. ; wm. iv and i vict., c. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. ; _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., nos. , . [ ] _parl. papers_, , _rep. com._, p. ; geo. iii, c. ; _rep. com._, - , xvii, pp. , , ; _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . the first railway in england over which mails were carried was operated between manchester and liverpool. in the government paid the grand junction railway - / _d._ a single mile for the conveyance of its mails. at the same time the average rate by the coaches was - / _d._ a single mile. on the london and birmingham railway when a special post office carriage was used, - / _d._ was paid. when the ordinary mail-coach was carried on trucks the rate was - / _d._ when a regular railway carriage was used, the rate was - / _d._ a mile for one third of a carriage.[ ] for the year ending th january, , the post office paid £ , for the conveyance of mails by coaches and £ to the railways. for the next official year, the figures had risen to £ , and £ , .[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., nos. , . the first day coach left london in , connecting at birmingham with the railway to hartford, cheshire. (london _times_, , sept. , p. ; _rep. com._, - , xx, pts. and , d rep., app. e, no. ; pt. , p. , no. .) [ ] _acc. & p._, , xxvi, , no. . the increased business of the post office made necessary a corresponding increase in the employees and better arrangements for dealing with the reception and despatch of letters. the number of persons employed in the general office in was . in there were . there were postmasters in england and over persons officially engaged in the receipt and delivery of letters. additional offices had also been established. in a returned letter office was organized for the purpose of returning undelivered letters to the writers and collecting the postage due. previous to , the practice had been to return only such letters as appeared to contain money or were supposed to be important enough to escape destruction. a franking department was organized to inspect such letters as were sent free. the increased use of private ships for conveying letters led to the establishment of a ship letter office.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, p. ; _acc. & p._, , pp. - ; _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. . the old post office building in lombard street was quite too small to provide for the new offices and employees. the inland department contained only superficial feet, half of which was occupied with sorting tables, leaving only feet for persons. in the foreign department with thirty-five men, there were only superficial feet where they must perform their duties. the accommodations for receiving letters were so inadequate that when a foreign mail was being made up, the windows were crowded with an impatient and seething mob waiting for their turn to post their letters. the condition of the penny post department was no better. in a committee of the house of commons reported that a new general post office building was absolutely necessary. objections were raised on account of the necessary expenses involved and it was not until that the new post office in st. martin's-le-grand was formally opened.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, pp. - . in ireland was given much larger political powers than she had previously enjoyed, and her parliament was freed from the direct tutelage of the english privy council. at the same time greater latitude in postal matters was also granted. an irish postmaster-general was appointed to reside in dublin and to collect the postage on all letters which did not pass beyond ireland. the postage between the two countries was to be collected on delivery, and then to be divided between the two according to the distance travelled in each. all net receipts from the irish office were ordered to be transmitted to london. the sailing packets remained in the charge of the english postmasters-general, but £ a year was paid to the irish office for this privilege.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . after the separation of the irish from the english post office, different postage rates had been established for the two countries. the division of authority thus established had caused endless difficulties. complaints about the delay or loss of letters crossing the channel at kingstown, howth, and waterford were referred from one office to the other. the commissioners who inquired into the condition of the dublin office found things in a deplorable condition. there were nearly as many postal officials employed in dublin as in london, although the number of letters handled was not one fourth so great. in the secretary's office, employing six persons, the fees amounted to £ a year, largely on english and irish newspapers. in the whole dublin establishment they averaged over £ , a year. the contracts for the supply and horsing of the mail-coaches were supposed to be public but they were awarded by favour. the postmasters-general did not attend to business and were very jealous of each other. the commissioners recommended the amalgamation of the english and irish offices, and this was accomplished in , the irish postage rates having been altered four years earlier to coincide with the english rates.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xii, , pp. , , - ; _ibid._, , th rep., app. nos. , ; and geo. iv, c. . ireland was divided into eight postal divisions, according to the routes of the mail-coaches. mails left dublin at a.m. with an additional mail for cork at noon. they arrived in dublin between and a.m. the most important postal centres in addition to dublin were belfast, cork, limerick, and the packet stations at waterford and donaghadee. the total number of post towns in ireland was . at the same time there were in great britain post towns.[ ] a new post office building was completed in dublin in at a cost of £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xii, , pp. , ; - , xvii, p. . [ ] geo. iii, c. ; _parl. papers_, , xix, . the scotch post office had been amalgamated with the english office in , and scotland was constituted one of the eighteen postal divisions of great britain. the scotch rates had been the same as the english rates since that date, although an additional half-penny was paid on scotch letters to meet mail-coach tolls. in there were only eight towns for which mails were made up. at the same time that a new building for the use of the post office was being erected in dublin, a contract was signed for a new general office building for edinburgh to cost £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xii, , p. ; _parl. papers_, , xxi, . the rates established by the act of were still unchanged for the colonial possessions of the united kingdom. the american dominions had been sadly depleted by the revolutionary war but the postage revenue from the loyal remnants had steadily increased. in the amount of postage charged upon the colonial postmasters in america amounted to £ , . at one time jamaica had been the most important american colony from a postal point of view. canada now took the lead, followed in order of importance by jamaica, nova scotia, and new brunswick. in it was provided that, as soon as the north american provinces passed postal acts of their own and these acts were approved by the king, the colonial rates of should cease and the net postal revenue of the north american provinces should be retained by them.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, pts. and , d rep., app. e, no. ; and wm. iv, c. . the british post office was now to experience the most far reaching and vital change since . sir rowland hill was the representative of the movement, aided by mr. wallace, who, as a member of parliament, was able to exercise an important effect upon the proposed reform. the history of the adoption of penny postage has been so well told by hill himself that only a bare story of its acceptance by parliament is necessary here. a committee was appointed to report upon the condition of the post office, the attitude of postal officials and of the public towards the proposed change, its effect upon the revenue, and finally to give their own opinion. this committee examined the postmaster-general,[ ] the secretaries and solicitors of the london, dublin, and edinburgh offices, other officials in the post office, the chairman, secretary, and solicitor of the board of stamps and taxes, rowland hill and eighty-three other witnesses from different classes of people, and obtained many reports from the post office. hill presented his plan to the committee as follows:-- that inland letters should pay postage according to weight at the rate of one penny for each half ounce.[ ] such postage should be paid in advance by means of stamped papers or covers.[ ] an option might be allowed for a time to pay a penny in advance or d. on delivery.[ ] day mails should be established on the important lines of communication.[ ] [ ] since there had been only one postmaster-general, as the dual system was abolished in that year. [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, pt. , d rep., , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, pt. , p. ; xx, questions , , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, pt. , p. ; _ibid._, xx, qs. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. - , - . there should be a uniform rate of postage because the cost of distributing letters consisted chiefly in the expenses for collecting and delivering them.[ ] the plan then in operation for letters not exceeding one ounce in weight was to charge according to the number of enclosures. this plan was uncertain because the number could not always be ascertained, necessitated a close examination, and was evaded by writing several letters on one sheet.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. , - ; pt. , d rep., , p. ; pts. and , d rep., app. e, no. . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. , , , ; d rep., p. . payment on delivery made it necessary to keep two separate accounts against each postmaster, one for unpaid letters posted in london, and one for paid letters posted in the country. the postmasters had also to keep accounts against each other. payment in advance, if made compulsory, would do away with half of these accounts and the use of stamped covers or paper would do away with the other half.[ ] in some small places where the penny charge would not cover the cost of delivery, hill proposed that a small additional charge be made, either in advance or on delivery, but he withdrew this suggestion later.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, d rep., pp. , ; qs. , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, pt. , pp. , , ; pts. and , st rep., no. , p. . the witnesses summoned to give their evidence before the committee pointed out that a multitude of business transactions were not carried on at all, or were carried on clandestinely, or were hampered by the high postage rates. bills for small amounts were not drawn,[ ] commercial travellers did not write until several orders could be sent on one sheet of paper,[ ] samples were not sent by post,[ ] communication between banks and their branches was restricted,[ ] statistical information was denied,[ ] social correspondence restricted especially among the poor,[ ] working men were ignorant of the rates of wages in other parts of the country,[ ] and the high postage was a bad means of raising revenue.[ ] in order to estimate the probable revenue after the change, it was necessary to know the number of letters carried. hill had come to the conclusion that the total number was about , , a year. the secretary, maberley, considered that there were about , , . a return was called for by the committee and hill's estimate proved to be nearly correct.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, qs. , . [ ] _ibid._, q. . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , . [ ] _ibid._, q. , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , - , - , , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , - . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , (lord ashburton). [ ] _ibid._, pt. , pp. , ; _ibid._, pt. , pp. , ; app., p. ; _ibid._, pts. and , d rep., p. . the committee reported that the post office "instead of being viewed as an institution of ready and universal access, distributing equally to all and with an open hand the blessings of commerce and civilization, is regarded as an establishment too expensive to be made use of" (by large classes of the community) "and as one with the employment of which they endeavour to dispense by every means in their power." they were on less solid ground when they proceeded to state that the idea of obtaining revenue had been until lately only a minor consideration and that the post office had primarily been established for the benefit of trade and commerce.[ ] finally hill's plan was approved, though only by the casting vote of the chairman, mr. wallace. [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, pt. , d rep., p. . the house of commons received the proposed change with favour. over petitions with , signatures were presented praying for its adoption. the duke of richmond, a former postmaster-general, thought that it would be beneficial and that it was the only means of stopping the illegal conveyance of letters.[ ] sir robert peel was of the opinion that, with the prevailing deficits, it was an unfortunate departure, and he feared that prepaid letters would not be delivered.[ ] but the treasury was given power to lower rates and in a treasury warrant was issued, imposing postage rates between the colonies and between foreign countries through great britain according to weight and distance.[ ] stamped covers were issued for the use of members of parliament, and in an act was passed establishing penny postage for the united kingdom, permitting the use of stamped paper or covers, and imposing rates on foreign and colonial letters according to weight and distance conveyed.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, d rep., app., p. ; _parl. deb._, d series, xlvii, col. . [ ] _ibid._, d series, xlvii, coll. - , . [ ] _acc. & p._, , xxvi, p. ; , xlvi, p. . [ ] _parl. deb._, d series, li, col. ; and vict., c. . the complete change thus produced in the policy of the post office is vividly set forth by the old secretary, sir francis freeling. "cheap postage"--he writes, "what is this men are talking about? can it be that all my life i have been in error? if i, then others--others whose behests i have been bound to obey. to make the post office revenue as productive as possible was long ago impressed upon me by successive ministers as a duty which i was under a solemn obligation to discharge. and not only long ago. is it not within the last six months that the present chancellor of the exchequer[ ] has charged me not to let the present revenue go down? what! you, freeling, brought up and educated as you have been, are you going to lend yourself to these extravagant schemes? you with your four-horse mail coaches too! where else in the world does the merchant or the manufacturer have the materials of his trade carried for him gratuitously or at so low a rate as to leave no margin of profit?"[ ] [ ] the rt. hon. thomas spring rice. [ ] joyce, pp. - . chapter iv the postal establishment an instrument of popular communication with the inauguration of inland penny postage the postal establishment ceased to exist primarily as a tax-collecting agency, and, although maintained as a whole upon a paying basis, certain of its recent experiments have, from a financial point of view, been far from successful. on the other hand, the simultaneous unification and reduction of rates, together with various other changes which have been adopted since , have resulted in lessening appreciably the expenses of management. the postage on inland letters was reduced in , , , and again in . in , the last year of high postal rates, the total number of letters, including franks, delivered in the united kingdom, was somewhat in excess of eighty-two millions. this number was rather more than doubled in the following year. during the ensuing ten years the figures were again doubled, the total in being millions. for the five-year period - , following the reduction in postage of , the average yearly number delivered was millions. in this increased to a little over millions; in the postal year - to millions, in - to millions, and in - to millions.[ ] so far as colonial letters were concerned, a marked reduction in rates was granted soon after inland penny postage was obtained, the reduction being extended to the larger part of the empire.[ ] further reductions followed until, in , a penny half ounce rate was established for most of the colonies, and all were included in . as on a previous occasion, the united states was the first foreign country with which an agreement was made to adopt this low rate, and its advantages have been enhanced still further by an increase in the initial weight from half an ounce to an ounce. during the sixties, treaties were entered into with the most important european countries for lower postage rates, and, in , at the first meeting of the postal union, a uniform rate for prepaid letters of - / _d._ a half ounce was agreed to. reductions also followed for other postal matter. in a universal foreign letter rate of - / _d._ was announced so far as the united kingdom was concerned, with the exception of those countries where a lower rate already prevailed, and a further reduction followed in by increasing the initial weight from half an ounce to an ounce in the case of all foreign and colonial letters, the charge on foreign letters for each unit after the first being reduced at the same time from - / _d._ to - / _d._ [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . [ ] colonial legislatures were given the power in to establish posts of their own and to fix the inland postal rates ( and vict., c. ). after the registration fee was reduced by a series of gradations from _s._ to _d._, and the compulsory registration of all letters containing coin was enforced. in the separate system of insurance was abolished, and registration was extended for the first time to inland parcels. the limit of compensation was increased at the same time to £ and in the following year to £ by the payment of _d._ for the first £ and an additional penny for each additional £ of insurance.[ ] seven years later the amount of compensation payable was increased to £ and the fee payable was lowered for all sums over £ . arrangements were also made by which letters addressed to certain colonies and foreign countries might be insured to the same maximum amount.[ ] the limit of compensation is now £ for inland registered correspondence as well as for correspondence to many foreign countries and a few of the colonies. [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , pp. , - . among other postal reforms dear to hill's heart had been the compulsory payment of postage by means of stamps. he pointed out that this would greatly simplify the keeping of accounts by the department and increase the net revenue. the proposition was, however, too unpopular to secure approval. nevertheless in the postmaster-general secured parliamentary authority to abolish or restrict payment in money and require stamps to be used, but the experiment proved so unpopular that it was eventually abandoned.[ ] the use of perforated stamps, an invention of mr. archer, was in recommended by a committee appointed to report on the question.[ ] finally, in , the law forbidding the use of embossed or impressed stamps cut out of envelopes, postcards, letter cards, wrappers, and telegraph forms was repealed.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. ; _rep. com._, , xv, , p. ; _rep. p. g._, , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xv, , pp. iii-iv. [ ] edw. vii, c. . from to the rural districts as a rule obtained their postal matter by a special payment on their part to messengers for its conveyance from the nearest town, sometimes aided by a bonus from the revenue, or by means of the "fifth-clause" posts,[ ] or by the penny posts which were constantly increasing in number and were occasionally established under guarantee. in there were fifty-two "fifth-clause" posts in england and wales, and villages in the united kingdom were served by penny posts. in the government of sir robert peel laid down the following principle: "all places the letters for which exceed one hundred per week should be entitled to a receiving office and a free delivery of letters." a "delivery" here meant a daily delivery, and the boundary of the free delivery was to be determined by the postmaster-general. the principle enunciated above was followed until , and during that period the increase in the number of free and guaranteed rural deliveries was very great. at the close of this period it was decided that in future the determining rule should be based upon the probability of financial success. a post was held to pay its way whenever its cost was covered by a halfpenny on each letter delivered, but, since it was held that the number of letters would be doubled by free delivery, double the number arriving before its establishment might be assumed to arrive afterward. the post might be bi-weekly, tri-weekly, or weekly. this rule was to a certain extent made retroactive, but no post established under the rule of was stopped so long as the cost was covered by calculating delivered letters at a penny each. it was decided in that a post less frequent than once a day might be increased in frequency whenever the cost would be covered by a revenue estimated on the basis of three farthings for each letter, and in treating an application for a second daily post this amount was to be reduced to one farthing. the experiment was tried of delivering letters at every house in a few selected places but did not prove a success. it was stated that at the end of this revision, per cent of all postal packets were delivered. in the rule was laid down that new posts should be set up only when the cost would be covered by half a penny on each letter actually arriving, the old rule having been found to be too liberal. two years later it was stated by the post office that only per cent of the total postal packages were undelivered. in the question of extending the rural posts was considered by mr. fawcett, the then postmaster-general, who decided that credit should be given for revenue by increasing the halfpenny to / _d._ for each letter, and in the next year the existing rule as to a second daily delivery was made more liberal. in , for places hitherto unserved, the rate per letter for estimating revenue was increased to three farthings, for each parcel the rate was fixed at - / _d._, and in the following year rural sanitary authorities in england and wales were authorized to guarantee posts. in scotland the district committee or the county council, where the counties were not divided, was given the same power in . in the same year the rule was laid down that a second service in the day might be given provided that its cost did not exceed half a penny a letter and a penny a parcel and in addition that the total cost of night and day mail services should not exceed the revenue from the whole correspondence at half a penny per letter and a penny per parcel. it was estimated in that about thirty-two and a half millions of letters were undelivered, but the work of extending the rural posts went on gradually until in it was announced that provision would be made as soon as possible for delivery to every house in the united kingdom. in the postmaster-general was able to report that house to house delivery had been completed in england and almost completed in scotland and ireland.[ ] [ ] established by agreements between the postmaster-general and the inhabitants of small towns and villages. [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , pp. f.; , p. . in addition to the ordinary delivery at regular intervals there was a growing demand for a more rapid service on extraordinary occasions as well as a desire for a special messenger service when the use of the post office as a medium meant an undesirable loss of time. in a private company started to supply messengers for postal services. after some trouble with the post office, a licence was granted them in in return for which they agreed to pay a percentage of their gross receipts to the department and observe certain conditions with reference to the delivery of letters.[ ] an express delivery service was also established by the post office, the fee in addition to the ordinary postage being _d._ for the first mile, _d._ for the second and beyond that, and where no public conveyances existed, _s._ a mile or actual cab-fare. in the case of letters delivered locally the ordinary postage was abrogated soon after and a charge of - / _d._ per pound for parcels exceeding one pound in weight was imposed, but this charge was later lowered to a penny per pound with a maximum payment of _s._ and the maximum limit of weight was increased from to pounds where the messenger could travel by public conveyance. the initial charge for the first mile of _d._, and _d._ for each succeeding mile, for each parcel was made a uniform charge of _d._ per mile, and the fixed charge of _d._ for each parcel beyond the first was reduced to a penny where several packets were tendered by the same sender for delivery by the same messenger. in the case of several packages delivered at the same address the charge was lowered to _d._ plus an additional penny for every ten packages or part thereof, later changed to a weight fee of _d._ on each packet or bundle of packets weighing more than one pound.[ ] rural postmen were also allowed to receive letters and parcels from the public at any point in their walks and deliver them without passing them through a post office, having first canceled the stamps.[ ] an agreement was also made with the railways to carry single letters left in the booking office for _d._ each. these letters may be taken to the booking office by messenger and delivered by a messenger at the end of their journey or posted there.[ ] the express delivery service was also extended to such foreign countries as would agree to it, including nearly all of western europe, part of south america, and the far east. in every case the primary fee in england is _ d._, the foreign charges varying with local conditions. express letters from abroad are delivered free within one mile from the post office. beyond that the distance charge is _d._ a mile for one parcel, with a penny for each additional parcel delivered to the same person. the postmaster-general reported that the establishment of this service was not only much appreciated by the people, but was self-supporting and even profitable to the state. during the ten year period ending march , , the number of express delivery services in the united kingdom increased from , to , .[ ] [ ] their extended licence will expire in (_rep. p. g._, , p. ). [ ] _parl. deb._, d series, cccli, col. ; _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , pp. f.; , p. ; , p. ; , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , app., p. . the impressed stamp to which newspapers were subject until enabled them to pass free by post. after this stamp ceased to be compulsory, newspapers which bore it passed free from other postage until --when the halfpenny rate was established--and were known as "free"[ ] as distinguished from "chargeable" newspapers. of the former there were carried by post in over millions, of the latter, including book packets, millions. in the number of newspapers delivered in the united kingdom had increased to millions. for the five year period ending march , , the average yearly number had increased to a little over millions, for the next five years to something over millions. during the period ending march , , they had increased to millions, there being an actual decrease in one year. in the period following there was an average yearly increase of only three millions and the ensuing five years ending march , , showed a decrease of about one million.[ ] [ ] free newspapers also included those coming from abroad on which no charge was made in the united kingdom. [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , pp. f.; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . the book post, instituted in , had its rates reduced in and again in to a halfpenny for the initial two ounces and an additional / _d._ for each succeeding two ounces. in its scope was greatly enlarged and the expression halfpenny post, which is now its official name, better illustrates its cosmopolitan character for it now includes all printed documents of a conventional, formal, or impersonal character. from to the number of articles carried by the halfpenny or book post increased from millions to millions. the yearly average during the next five years was millions; during the following five, millions and for the five year period ending march , , they had increased to millions. during the next five years there was a still greater average increase to millions and the average for the postal year ending in march, , was millions.[ ] the rates for the inland pattern and sample post, established in , were assimilated with those of the book post in . it was abolished or rather incorporated with the letter post in the following year but was reëstablished in , the rates being a penny for the first four ounces and / _d._ for each succeeding two ounces, but, when the jubilee letter rates were published, it lost its _raison d'être_ and was abolished for inland purposes.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; _acct. & p._, , xxxvii (pp. - ). post cards were introduced in , being carried for / _d._ each prepaid, _d._ when payment was made on delivery.[ ] in addition to the stamp a charge was made to cover the cost of the material in the card itself. somewhat later reply post cards were issued for the inland service and arrangements were made for the use of international reply post cards. in , private post cards, to which a halfpenny stamp was affixed, were allowed to pass by post. the resulting enormous growth[ ] in their number showed that the privilege was appreciated. in less than five years they were estimated to form per cent of the total number passing through the post.[ ] shortly after, the prohibition of any writing save the address on the face of a post card was withdrawn and it was provided that the address side of all mail matter might be used for purposes of correspondence provided that it did not obscure the address, encroach upon the stamp, or prove in any way inconvenient. formerly, so far as mail matter other than post cards was concerned, the right half of the face side was reserved for the address.[ ] during the four five-year periods from to the year ending st march, , the average numbers of post cards delivered yearly in the united kingdom were about millions, millions, millions, and millions.[ ] [ ] charge on unpaid inland post cards reduced to _d._ each in . [ ] they increased from millions for the postal year - to millions during the ensuing year. [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . it had not been usual for england to lag behind the continent in the adoption of new postal ideas. such was the case, however, with reference to the adoption of the convenient post card and the no less useful parcel post. in the question of the establishment of an international parcel post was discussed in paris and an agreement was reached for the transmission throughout nearly the whole of europe of parcels not exceeding three kilogrammes in weight. it was impossible for great britain to sign, as she had no inland parcel post at the time and found it difficult to establish one as an agreement with the railways was necessary. a movement was at once begun for one and it was started three years later. the first despatch of foreign and colonial parcels took place in , and at the beginning of the following year arrangements were completed for the exchange of parcels with twenty-seven different countries, including some of the colonies, india, and egypt. an agreement was concluded in with the united states for the interchange of parcels by post at the rate of _s._ for each and the maximum is two kilogrammes. these cannot be insured and customs' duties must be paid by the recipient. the previously existing agreement for parcels weighing as much as eleven pounds each, providing for insurance and the prepayment of customs' duties, continues to be carried on by the american express company.[ ] since the establishment of the inland parcel post the question of collecting the value of the parcels on delivery, if the sender and the recipient so desire, has often been raised. owing to the opposition of retail dealers, it has not yet been adopted although in operation in india and nearly all important foreign countries. in the words of the postmaster-general--"in these circumstances i am by no means satisfied, so far as my enquiries have gone, that the apprehensions expressed by retail traders in this country afford sufficient cause for withholding a convenience from the community at large."[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; _the economist_, , nov. , p. ; , july , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . the various changes and improvements adopted by the post office since , in addition to those already named, are so numerous that only the most important can be considered here. among others the amalgamation of the london district post with the general post in deserves attention. in the following year it was ordered that letters should be sorted in each of the ten postal districts into which london was divided instead of being taken to the general office at st. martin's-le-grand as had been customary, thus materially lessening the expenses of sorting and facilitating their delivery.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. . in there were but post offices in the kingdom; in , .[ ] road letter boxes were introduced in and the public receptacles for the receipt of letters numbered , in as compared with before the establishment of penny postage.[ ] in the total number of persons in england employed in post office business numbered only . twenty-five years later for the united kingdom over , were so employed; in over , , of whom, however, more than , were engaged wholly in telegraph duties. by these had increased to nearly , and by to , of whom , were females.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , ii, p. ; _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , app., p. ; , app., pp. - ; , app., p. . the money order business which originated as a private speculation in was the result of an attempt to check the frequent theft of letters containing money. in , shortly after its acquisition from the proprietors, the rates were reduced and the number of money orders transmitted increased from , in to , in and to , , in . from the latter date until the increase both in the number and in the value of money orders transmitted was steady, aided by the increase in from £ to £ of the maximum transmissible sum and by the reduction in rates in . the penny rate of that year for orders to the value of ten shillings was a mistake, for the actual cost to the state of issuing and paying a money order was about _d._ in order to meet this difficulty a simpler form of order was issued in with an initial rate as low as half a penny, the cost of which to the post office was much less than that of the old kind of order. these postal notes, as they were called, were issued for new denominations in and and the rates on some of them were diminished. the lowest rate for a money order was for a few months fixed at _d._ but, as this aroused considerable opposition, the present rate of _d._ was soon after substituted, and in the maximum sum transmissible was increased to £ with a few accompanying changes in rates. in an opportunity was given in the case of a few towns for sending telegraphic money orders and during the ensuing three years the privileged area was greatly extended. in the expenses were considerably reduced. in arrangements were made for the exchange of money orders with canada and by similar agreements were decided upon with most of the other colonies, but foreign countries were not included until somewhat later and in colonial and foreign rates were harmonized. rates were reduced in , , and , and in the last year the inland £ limit was agreed upon with most foreign countries and some of the colonies. inland money orders which started to decrease in amount in - steadily continued their downward course until - , when there was a slight recovery for a few years, but since - the number has somewhat diminished. during the postal year ending in march, , the number of inland money orders transmitted was nearly eleven millions as compared with nearly nineteen millions for the year ending march, . this decrease in numbers is largely due to the lowering of the registration fee for letters, the introduction of postal notes, and the use of other means for transmitting small sums of money. the total value of inland money orders also began to diminish in , but began to recover in , and has since increased quite uniformly, being in nearly £ , , as compared with £ , , in .[ ] the increase in the number of postal notes has been enormous, although there was an apparent falling off in the years and due to the increased number of denominations offered for sale. for the first complete postal year after their authorization the number issued was nearly four and a half millions of the value of £ , , , and for the postal year - the number was , , of the value of nearly £ , , .[ ] on the other hand, while inland money orders were decreasing in number, colonial and foreign orders increased in general both in number and value.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , pp. - ; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , app., pp. - ; , p. . the establishment of post office savings banks is naturally closely connected with the money order department since both of these departures from a purely postal character were adopted at about the same time, for much the same reasons, and were opposed on the ground of their infringement upon the banking prerogative. in the efforts of mr. sikes of huddersfield to bring a post office savings bank into being were supported by mr. gladstone, chancellor of the exchequer, and sir rowland hill, the then secretary of the post office, and two years later it was established by parliamentary sanction.[ ] the main features of the system were that deposits could be withdrawn not later than ten days after demand; that accounts should be kept at london alone, all money being remitted to and from headquarters; that the total amount deposited should be handed over to the "commissioners for the reduction of the national debt" for investment in government securities, and that interest on complete pounds at the rate of - / per cent should be allowed to depositors. as the interests of the poorer classes were made the primary object in establishing the banks, deposits were limited in the case of individuals to £ a year and £ in all, later increased to £ a year and £ in all, but friendly societies were allowed to deposit without limit and provident and charitable societies might deposit within limits of £ a year and £ in all or, with the consent of the commissioners, beyond these limits.[ ] [ ] vict., c. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., pp. - . in the savings banks were made a medium for investing in government stock at a trifling expense varying from _d._ to _s._ _d._ and with the privilege of having dividends collected free from further charge. these special advantages were confined to investments from £ to £ in value, the latter being the maximum sum in any one year, and the investments themselves might be sums especially deposited or transferred from a depositor's account. in the minimum amount of stock purchasable was reduced to s., and anyone who had purchased stock through a savings bank might have it transferred to his own name in the bank of england. in the limits of investment were raised from £ to £ in one year, from £ to £ in all, and the post office was empowered to invest in stock any accumulations of ordinary deposits above the limit of £ , unless instructions were given by the depositor to the contrary. an act was passed in enabling the postmaster-general to insure the lives of individuals between the ages of fourteen and sixty for amounts varying from £ to £ . he might also grant annuities, immediate or deferred, to any one of ten years of age or upward for sums between £ and £ . the act came into operation in certain towns of england and wales in the following year, and the system remained unaltered until . during this period of nineteen years, policies of insurance were effected, representing a yearly average of policies amounting to an average of £ each. the contracts for immediate annuities numbered , or an average of a year and there were contracts for deferred annuities. the value of immediate annuities granted was £ , and of deferred £ , , but a part of the latter never came into payment as the purchasers were relieved from their bargains upon their own representation. a new system associated with mr. fawcett's name was prescribed in . its merit consisted in linking the annuity and insurance business with the savings bank department so that payments for annuities and insurance are made through deposits in the savings banks. it was further provided that for persons between the ages of fourteen and sixty-five the limits of insurance should be from £ to £ and that sums of money might be insured payable at the age of sixty or at the expiration of a term of years. for annuities the minimum was reduced to £ , the maximum increased to £ , and the annuity and insurance privileges were extended to all places having savings banks. owing to the necessary preparation of tables the new regulations did not actually come into operation until . the growth of life insurance and annuity business was slow as compared with the rapid growth of the savings deposits. intended, however, primarily for the poor, it has not been without success, especially as the premiums charged are lower than those of insurance companies or industrial societies.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., pp. - . the insurance and annuity business of the post office has been described by the _economist_ as a practical failure because of the government's refusal to solicit business (_economist_ , nov. , p. ). in addition to joining the insurance and annuity business with the savings banks operations, mr. fawcett was responsible for a rapid increase in the number of branch saving offices in villages, for the special attention paid to "navvies" and workmen at their places of employment, and above all for the arrangement for making small deposits by slips of postage stamps. in by act of parliament the postmaster-general was empowered to offer facilities for the transfer of money from one account to another and for the easier disposal of the funds of deceased depositors. in the maximum permissible deposits of one person were increased from £ to £ inclusive of interest. the annual limit remained at £ but it was provided that, irrespective of that limit, depositors might replace the amount of any one withdrawal made in the same year. where principal and interest together exceeded £ , the interest was henceforth to cease on the excess alone, whereas previously it had ceased entirely when it had brought an account to £ . the next development arose from the free education act of in order to make it easier for children and parents to save the school pence which they no longer had to pay. special stamp slips were prepared to be sold to children, and clerks attended the schools with these slips. about schools adopted the scheme at once and three years later the number had risen to , but the movement seemed by to have spent its force. in the annual limit of deposits was increased to £ and, as we have already seen in another connection, any accumulations over £ were to be invested in government stock unless the depositor gave instructions to the contrary. in the same year arrangements were made for the withdrawal of deposits by telegram. a depositor might telegraph for his money and have his warrant sent by return of post at a cost of about _d._ or the warrant also might be telegraphed to him at a total cost of about _s._ _d._ in a rule was introduced by which a depositor, on presentation of his pass-book at any post office doing savings bank business, may withdraw on demand not more than £ . this obviates the expense of telegraphing and, that it was appreciated, is shown by the fact that during the first six months after the privilege was extended there were nearly two millions of "withdrawals on demand," forming nearly one half of the total number. as a result the number of telegraphic withdrawals fell from , for the postal year - to , for the year - .[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., pp. - ; , pp. - ; and vict., c. . there has been a steady and pronounced growth in savings bank business since its establishment. this growth has shown itself in the increased number of banks, of deposits, and of the total amounts deposited. the average amount of each deposit has varied somewhat from £ _s._ in to £ in , but since this date it has increased slowly but steadily and in it stood at £ _s._ _d._, which is about the average yearly amount since . at the end of the year over £ , , were on deposit in the post office savings banks.[ ] the increase in amounts invested in government stock has not been by any means so pronounced but there has been an increase. in we find that nearly £ , were so invested, in nearly £ , , , and in a little over £ , , .[ ] so far as annuities are concerned, the immediate seem to be considerably more popular than the deferred. the purchase money receipts for the former were £ , in , £ , in , and have since increased more rapidly to £ , in , with an actual decrease, however, for the four preceding years. the receipts for the purchase of deferred annuities amounted to £ in , £ , in and £ , in , also a decrease since . the amounts received as premiums for life insurance policies have also been rather disappointing, having increased from £ , in to £ , in and to £ , in .[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , app., pp. - ; , app., p. ; , p. ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , app., p. ; , app., p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., p. ; , app., p. . the increasing use of railway trains for the conveyance of the mails has presented new and difficult problems with reference to the authority of the postmaster-general over mail trains and reasonable payments to the railway companies. so far as the method for ascertaining the rate of payment was concerned, a difficulty arose as to whether the post office should pay any part of the tolls as distinguished from operating expenses. major harness, a post office official, stated that in discussing this question with robert stephenson in the case of the london and birmingham railway it had been agreed that tollage should not be paid but only the out-of-pocket expenses, this being in conformity with the principles adopted in paying for mail coaches. the question of tollage was not mentioned by the railway mails act ( and vict., c. ), but major harness, in his evidence before a parliamentary committee, stated that he, as an arbitrator, estimated the tollage payable by the post office by finding out how much each ton, if the road were fully occupied, should contribute to return per cent upon the share capital and per cent on the bonds, the post office to pay its proportion according to the weight of mail matter carried. the cost of locomotive power was also taken into count and the carriage accommodation was paid for on the basis of what the railways charged each other.[ ] in addition to these items the committee recommended that the expenses for station accommodation, the additional cost of the working staff, and interference with ordinary traffic should also be taken into account.[ ] in the event of a failure on the part of the post office and a railway company to come to an agreement as to the amount payable, each of the parties nominated an arbitrator whose first duty was to select an umpire. each arbitrator was required to present his case in writing to the umpire and to attend in person if required. the umpire was supposed to give his decision within twenty-eight days after the receipt of the cases.[ ] in it was provided by act of parliament that when any dispute arose between the post office and a railway, the question should be taken to the railway and canal commission for settlement instead of being left to arbitration.[ ] the postmaster-general has also been authorized to make use of tramways for transporting the mails, and in the experiment was made of using motor vans for the same purpose. a few years later the postmaster-general expressed himself as "doubtful whether a thoroughly reliable motor vehicle suitable for post office work has yet been found." however, in - about thirty-five mail services were performed by motors, the work being undertaken by contractors who provide the vans and employ the drivers. they have proved to be more economical than horse vans when the load is heavy, the distance considerable, and greater speed desirable.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xi, , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , p. ; and vict., c. . [ ] and vict., c. . [ ] and vict., c. ; _rep. p. g._, , pp. f.; , p. . the expenditure for the conveyance of mails by the railways for the year ending th january, , amounted to only £ . in this had increased to £ , , in to £ , , in to £ , , in to £ , , in to £ , and in to £ , . by the million mark had been reached and after that year all the expenses for the conveyance of the mails are grouped together. for the following year this total was £ , , , the payment for mail coaches in the preceding year, which are here included, being £ , . in the total expenditure for the "conveyance of the mails" was £ , , .[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , xcv, p. ; _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , pp. - ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. . in common with the members of other branches of the civil service the postal employees, prior to , were political appointees. the appointment of a patronage secretary had relieved members of parliament from the odium incurred as a result of this reprehensible method of manning the service, but it is doubtful whether any improvement in the personnel of the force actually resulted or was even anticipated. with the adoption between and of the principle that fitness should be tested by competitive examinations, the vast majority of the members of the postal establishment came under its influence. at the same time the postmasters of small rural communities, where the postal revenue was insignificant,[ ] still continued to be nominated by the local member. in this power was abridged, but members still continued to exercise a limited right of recommendation. finally in the postmaster-general announced that, though due weight should continue to be given to the opinions of members in the case of the appointment of these rural postmasters, such recommendations should be based on personal knowledge and should carry no more weight than the opinion of any other competent person.[ ] [ ] less than £ in england, less than £ in scotland and ireland. [ ] d. b. eaton, _civil service in great britain_, new york, , pp. , , ; _parl. deb._, d ser., ccxxxix, col. ; cclv, col. ; _ibid._, th ser., clix, col. ; clxx, col. . no question which has arisen in the internal management of the post office has presented more difficult problems for solution than that of the condition of the postal employees with reference to hours of labour, promotion, and remuneration. the first complaints which attract our attention during the period under discussion came rather from outside the service as a protest against sunday labour in the post office, but the fact that many of the postal servants were deprived of their holiday and often needlessly so deprived was a real grievance advanced by the employees themselves. it had been the policy of the post office for some time not to grant any application for the withdrawal of a sunday post if there were any dissentients to the application. in all sunday delivery was abolished for a time, but this hardly met the approval even of the strict sabbatarians, and the rule was promulgated the same year that no post should be withdrawn or curtailed except upon the application of the receivers of six sevenths of the letters so affected. of the rural posts in the united kingdom at that time more than half did no work on sunday and about half of the remainder had their walks curtailed, while in certain cases a substitute was provided on alternate sundays. a committee reporting on the question in advised that it should be made easier to discontinue a sunday delivery by requiring that a sunday rural post should be taken off if the receivers of two thirds of the letters desired it, that no delivery in the country should be granted except upon the demand of the receivers of the same proportion of letters, and that the principle of providing substitutes on alternate sundays should be more generally adopted. this report was favourably received and its recommendations adopted in the early seventies. in london and many of the provincial towns there is no ordinary sunday delivery, and so little advantage is taken of the opportunity for express delivery on sundays that there is presumably no strong demand for a regular sunday delivery. various measures advocated for the relief of the town carriers were also adopted.[ ] [ ] _acct. & p._, , xxxvi, , pp. - ; _rep. commrs._, , xviii [c. ], pp. - ; _rep. p. g._, , p. ; _parl. deb._, th ser., xciv, coll. - , - . in an attempt was made by the post office employees, led by the letter carriers, to secure higher wages and to obtain a remedy for certain other grievances advanced by them. sir george bower asked for a select committee of enquiry in their behalf but this was refused by the chancellor of the exchequer. he agreed, however, to the appointment of a committee composed of post office and treasury officials, but their personnel was so repugnant to the employees that they refused to give evidence, and as a result of this and other difficulties four of their leaders were suspended. the protest on the part of the men was not entirely unproductive, for in the end the postmaster-general granted them a slight increase in their wages. at the same time he referred to the following rates of wages in support of his contention that there was no good ground for dissatisfaction among the servants of the post office: for carriers, _s._ a week advancing to _s._; for sorters of the first class, _s._ to _s._; of the second class, _s._ to _s._; and of the third class, _s._ to _s._ "carriers also obtain christmas boxes averaging, so it is said, £ a year. in addition these wages are exclusive of uniform, of pension in old age, and of assistance for assurance."[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; _parl. deb._, d ser., clix, coll. - ; clxviii, coll. - . the first thorough-going attempts to remedy the grievances of the post office employees were made in and by mr. fawcett in his capacity as postmaster-general. his scheme for improving the pay and position of the sorters, sorting clerks, telegraphists, postmen, lobby officers, and porters resulted in a mean annual cost to the post office of £ , . in , , and , under the supervision of mr. raikes, improvements were made in the condition of the chief clerks and other supervising officers, the sorting clerks and telegraphists in the provinces, the telegraphists, counter-men and sorters in london, and the sorters in dublin and edinburgh at an additional yearly expense of £ , . while the representatives of the london postmen were in process of examination, some of them went out on strike. they were severely punished, some men being dismissed in one morning, and a committee was appointed to enquire into the complaints of the london and provincial postmen.[ ] in the same month that the strike took place mr. raikes announced increases in the pay of the postmen involving an additional yearly payment of £ , . the revisions so announced from to have been estimated to involve an increased annual expenditure of nearly £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , p. ; _parl. deb._, d ser., cccxviii, coll. , ; cccxlix, col. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . a committee was appointed in to deal with the discontent which was only lessened, not silenced, by the efforts of messrs. fawcett and raikes. this was composed of lord tweedmouth, sir f. mowatt, mr. spencer walpole, and mr. llewellyn smith, and the compromise which they proposed was known as the "tweedmouth settlement" which apparently gave little satisfaction at the time and less thereafter. it resulted in a higher average rate of payment, but dissatisfaction was felt because the pay for some services was less than before. the basis of the report was "the abolition of classification whereby each man was allowed to proceed by annual increments to the maximum pay of a combined class, subject only to an efficiency-bar which he may not pass without a certificate of good conduct and ability, together with the abolition of allowances for special services." differences in pay according to the volume of business in particular localities were left untouched, and this was the cause of much complaint. special inducements in the shape of double increments were offered to the staff on the postal and telegraph sides to learn each other's work in order to lighten the strain which might otherwise fall on a particular branch. overtime, sunday and bank-holiday pay were assimilated throughout the service, and efforts were made to reduce the hardship resulting from "split" work, so called from the fact that the working day of many of the men was divided by an interval when there was nothing to do. the higher officials were acquitted of favouritism in the matter of promotion and of "unfairness and undue severity in awarding punishments and in enforcing discipline." the general charges of overcrowding the post offices and leaving them in an unsanitary condition were also rejected. the changes proposed were all adopted at an immediate estimated cost of £ , a year and an ultimate cost, also estimated, of £ , .[ ] the tweedmouth commission in its turn was soon followed by a departmental committee, composed of the duke of norfolk, then postmaster-general, and mr. hanbury, the secretary of the treasury, then acting as the representative of the post office in the house of commons. the postal employees demanded that their grievances should be laid before a select committee composed of members of the house of commons, and motions to that effect were introduced year after year only to meet the government's disapproval. the most important demands of the men turned upon the questions of full civil rights, complete recognition of their unions, the employment of men who were not members of the civil service, and the old difficulty of wages and hours. so far as the question of full civil rights was concerned, the post office employees had been granted the franchise in , but were required not to take an active part in aiding or opposing candidates for election, by serving on committees or otherwise making themselves unduly conspicuous in elections. the men demanded that these restrictions should be withdrawn. in the second place, the postmaster-general refused to receive deputations from those employees not directly interested in the question at stake, refused to recognize officials who were not also employees of the department, and exercised more or less control over the meetings of employees. finally, in addition to the general demand for higher wages due to the higher cost of living, the telegraphists contended that they had been deceived by the promise of a maximum salary of £ a year, whereas they actually received only £ . mr. a. chamberlain opposed the appointment of a select committee of members of the house of commons because of the pressure likely to be brought upon them and because of their unfitness to decide upon the question at issue. he agreed, however, after consultation with various members of parliament and the men themselves, that a committee of enquiry might reasonably be granted, composed of business men not in the civil service and not members of the house of commons.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. f. [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., viii, col. ; xxix, col. ; lxxxii, coll. f.; xciv, coll. f.; cvi, coll. - , , ; cxxi, coll. - ; cxlviii, coll. - , . in accordance with this promise the so-called "bradford committee" was appointed to report on "the scales of pay received by the undermentioned classes of established civil servants and whether, having regard to the conditions of their employment and to the rates current in other occupations, ... the remuneration is adequate." in the meantime mr. chamberlain retired, but his successor, lord stanley, asked that the enquiry be continued. the members of this committee, interpreting their instructions very loosely, extended their report to include their own recommendations as to changes in pay, and refrained entirely from making any comparison between the wages of postal servants and those in other employments, on the ground that such information was easily accessible from the statistics published by the board of trade. they added that it was difficult to make any comparison between a national and a private service, for payment according to results and dismissal at the will of the employer are inapplicable under the state. there was also a pension fund in the service, the present value of which it is difficult to estimate. in their own words, "it appears to us that the adequacy of the terms now obtaining may be tested by the numbers and character of those who offer, by the capacity they show on trial, and finally by their contentment." they agreed that there was no lack of suitable candidates and no complaints as to capacity, but there was widespread discontent. finally the committee recommended the grading of the service as a whole, taking into consideration the differences in cost of living as between london and other cities and between these cities and smaller towns and an increase in pay of the man at an age to marry, irrespective of years of service. "they" (the above recommendations) "obviously do not concede all that has been asked for, but they go as far as we think justifiable in meeting the demands of the staff and we trust it will do much to promote that contentment which is so essential to hearty service."[ ] from an examination of the evidence presented by the committee and a comparison of present scales of pay in the post office with those current in other employments, the postmaster-general concluded that there was no reason for increasing the maximum wages payable, but there seemed to be ground for modifying and improving the scales in some respects. the special increase at the age of twenty-five was granted. the maximum was increased in london and the larger towns on account of the higher cost of living and at the same time wages in the smaller towns were advanced. the postmen also, both in london and the provinces, were granted higher wages, and all payments to the members of the force were in the future to be made weekly. the additional cost entailed by these changes was estimated at £ , for - , the average in later years at £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiii, , pp. - . [ ] _acc. & p._, , xliv, , pp. - ; _parl. deb._, th ser., cxlviii, col. . the post office employees who had asked for the appointment of a select committee were greatly dissatisfied with the personnel of the "bradford committee." this dissatisfaction on their part was increased by the fact that the recommendations of the committee were to a great extent disregarded by lord stanley on the ground that the members had not reported upon the question laid before them, but had instead proposed a complete reorganization of the whole of the service. he was willing to grant some increase in pay but there were certain recommendations of the committee which he refused to accept. he himself was of the opinion that the average wages of the employees were in excess of those of men doing similar work under competitive conditions, but the postmen objected to a comparison of their wages with those of employees in the open labour market on the ground "that there is no other employer who fixes his own prices or makes an annual profit of £ , , sterling." delegates representing over , members of various postal associations protested strongly against lord stanley's refusal to adopt the findings of the "bradford committee" _in toto_ and the men prepared to take an active part against the government in the approaching election. appeals were sent out by the men from which lord stanley quoted as follows in the house: "two thirds at least of one political party are in great fear of losing their seats. the swing of the pendulum is against them and any member who receives forty or fifty of such letters will under present circumstances have to consider very seriously whether on this question he can afford to go into the wrong lobby. this is taking advantage of the political situation."[ ] the postmaster-general's unpopularity with his employees was not diminished by his reference to these appeals as "nothing more or less than blackmail." he himself was of the opinion that there should be some organization outside of politics to which such questions should be referred.[ ] [ ] in connection with such appeals both sides of the house as represented by their leaders had in advised that members should pay no attention to them (_parl. deb._, th ser., v, coll. f.). [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., cxxxix, coll. - ; cxlviii, coll. , - , ; the london _times_, , oct. , p. ; oct. , p. ; oct. , p. ; , jan. , p. ; apr. , p. . shortly after the liberals had come into power, a post office circular was issued granting to the secretaries of the branches of the various postal organizations the right to make representations to the postmaster-general relating to the service and affecting the class of which the branch of an association was representative. in matters solely affecting an individual the appeal had to come from the individual himself. this was followed by a full recognition of the postal unions by the new postmaster-general, mr. buxton, with the rights of combination and representation through the representatives of different classes. these conclusions were commented upon most favourably at the annual meeting of the "postmen's federation."[ ] the representatives present were glad to see that "the old martinet system was fast breaking down." [ ] but the greatest triumph of the men was to follow in the appointment of a select committee composed of members of the house of commons with full powers to investigate the conditions of employment of the postal employees and make such recommendations, based upon their investigation, as might seem suitable. nine members were appointed for this purpose, two of their number being members of the labour party, and mr. hobhouse was chosen as chairman. their report is very voluminous and treats minutely all the questions concerning which the postal employees had expressed so much dissatisfaction. the most important of these are connected with the civil rights of the men, their wages, hours of labour, and the conditions of their employment. the demand for full civil rights was supported by four members on the ground that the position of the postal employees is not in many respects "comparable to that of the civil service as a whole," but the point was lost for the men by the vote of the chairman. some departments asked for a reduction in the age of voluntary retirement from sixty to fifty and of compulsory retirement from sixty-five to sixty, but these changes were not recommended by the committee. the question of extending part of their pensions to the widows and children of deceased employees was referred to a plebiscite of the employees themselves. so far as incapacitated officials were concerned, it was pointed out that the "workmen's compensation act" of had been extended to them. night work had been limited to the time from p.m. to a.m., seven hours of night work counting as eight hours of day work. the committee asked that night duty be from p.m. to a.m., the ratio of the relative value to remain unchanged. some servants asked for a forty-two hour week, especially in the case of those who had "split" work to do, and for a half holiday each week. the committee thought that the forty-eight hour week should remain unchanged but that a half holiday might be granted where "the exigencies of the service demand." they also recommended that compensation should be allowed where free medical attendance was not granted. there was a general protest from postmen, telegraphists, and sorters against the employment of casual and auxiliary labour on the ground that it dealt a blow at thorough work and trade unionism. the department replied that it was necessary in the case of especially busy holiday periods and where "split" attendance was unavoidable. the committee contented themselves by asking that casuals who have full work elsewhere should not be employed. the claim on the part of the employees that promotion should be contingent on "seniority, good conduct and ability," in the order named was not accepted by the committee, whose members contended that ability, as at present, should count for most. so far as wages themselves were concerned, a general increase was approved by the committee, and it also, commenting unfavourably on the complexity and number of existing classes, recommended a reduction in their number and greater regularity and simplicity in grading them. [ ] [ ] the postmen's federation was established in and a journal, the _postman's gazette_, representing their views, was started in the following year (_postman's gazette_, may , ; _post office circular_, no. ). [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., cliv, col. ; clix, col. ; clxxiv, col. ; the london _times_, , june , p. . [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., cliii, coll. - , - ; _rep. com._, , . the recommendations of the "hobhouse committee" have proved, in many respects, unsatisfactory to the postal employees who have not hesitated to express their condemnation of what they consider the sins both of commission and omission of the members. in the words of the delegates from the branches of the "postmen's federation" meeting in london: "we express our deep disappointment with the report of the select committee for the following reasons": the "cowardice" of the committee in recommending the continuance of the system of christmas boxes; the failure in many cases to increase the minimum and maximum rates of wages; the mistaken method of grading towns for wages; the failure to grant full civil rights and the granting of so much power to the permanent officials. the conference of postal clerks in turn expressed their dissatisfaction with the findings of the committee. the "irish postal and telegraph guardian" considered that the "report had intensified discontent" and commented on the fact that large increases in salaries to highly paid classes had been recommended without any agitation on their part while the lower grades got practically nothing, this in direct opposition to opinions expressed both by mr. buxton and mr. ward, a member of the committee. deputations were appointed to discuss with the postmaster-general those findings of the committee which were unsatisfactory, but mr. buxton refused to grant a re-trial of the controverted points although he agreed to listen to the plea of those employees whose case had not been presented before the committee. [ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., clxxxiv, coll. - , - , ; cxcii, coll. , ; the london _times_, , aug. , p. ; aug. , p. ; oct. , p. . mr. buxton explained his position with reference to the recommendations of the committee in a speech delivered in the house. he knew that in the case of the tweedmouth and bradford committees the men stated beforehand that they would not be bound by the decisions reached, but on the other hand had asked for a parliamentary committee as the only solution of the difficulty. broadly speaking, he was of the opinion that the findings of the committee should be binding, and he understood that the men would agree to accept them. there were, however, certain points of the report on which nearly every section of the staff asked for a re-trial, but this he was compelled to refuse. the most important recommendations of the committee which were adopted by mr. buxton are: an increase in the case of each employee to the minimum or "age pay" of his class; the extension of the "technical increment" beyond the ordinary maximum pay, after a searching examination; the reduction in london of the four "wage" zones to three; a reduction in the number of classes in the provinces, with wages based on volume of work and cost of living in the order named; a reduction after the first five years from five to four years in the period necessary to obtain good conduct stripes; an increase in the pay of women; a reduction in the amount of auxiliary labour employed; night labour to be reckoned from instead of p.m.; overtime to be watched and checked; unsanitary conditions in the post office buildings to be remedied; and wages increased in the engineering branch.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., clxxxiv, coll. - ; cxcii, coll. - . it has been estimated that the recommendations adopted by the postmaster-general will entail upon the country an additional cost of about £ , , rising to £ , , (_parl. deb._, th ser., cxcii, col. ). chapter v the travellers' post and post horses the duty of providing horses for conveying letters and for the use of travellers on affairs of state was enforced from the beginning of the sixteenth century by orders and warrants issued by the postmaster-general and the privy council to mayors, sheriffs, constables, and other officials.[ ] where ordinary posts were laid, the postmen themselves were supposed to have horses ready. such at least was the understanding, not, however, invariably realized. in we find the postmaster-general complaining that, except between london and dover, there were never any horses provided over the whole kingdom.[ ] a few years later when the london-berwick posts became an established fact each postman had to provide one horse, always to be ready to carry either the mails or a chance traveller on affairs of state. in , since, owing to trouble with scotland, the number of letters and travellers between that country and london had become much more numerous, each postman was required to have in readiness three horses instead of one, and it was partly for this reason that their pay was increased at the same time.[ ] the fee for the use of these horses was fixed at a penny a horse for every mile travelled. generally this fee was named in the warrant empowering the traveller to take up horses.[ ] when the sum was not definitely named, it was required that it should be reasonable.[ ] it seems to have been the custom of the members of the council to grant these warrants quite indiscriminately. to remedy this, it was provided in that in future no warrant should be granted to any person, who was not actually travelling upon state affairs.[ ] twelve years later we find the people of grantham petitioning the council against the taking-up of horses to ride post. they said that the practice had increased so much that it had become intolerable.[ ] the demand for horses had become so great that _d._ a mile was asked for each horse and complaint was made that travellers and messengers refused to pay the increased charge.[ ] it is improbable that the state was successful in preventing the use of the postmasters' horses by private individuals, and it is more improbable still that the postmasters themselves objected to hiring their horses to those who travelled on their own affairs. warrants issued by the council nearly always fixed the price which should be paid. now such prices, like wages when fixed by employers, are likely to be lower than demand and supply warrant. on the other hand, as between the postmasters and the ordinary travellers, the question of charge was adjusted by agreement. [ ] hist. mss. com. _rep._, , app., pt. , p. ; _p. & o. p. c._, vii, p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, xvii ( ), p. . [ ] _a. p. c._, - , pp. , , , , ; - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . when the postmasters themselves were too poor to obtain horses at their own expense, they were sometimes aided by the town or county. in norfolk, for instance, each one of three postmasters was provided with a certain sum out of the treasury of the city of norwich to be lent without interest. they were also paid so much a year out of money levied on the people of norwich, one half on the innkeepers and tipplers and one half on the other inhabitants. no man was to take up post horses in norwich unless licensed by warrants from the queen, the council, the duke of norfolk, or the mayor of norwich. no one was to ride a horse farther than twelve or fourteen miles at a stretch, and he was to pay _d._ each mile and _d._ to his guide to lead back the horses. no horse was to carry any cloak bag over ten pounds in weight.[ ] [ ] f. blomefield, _norfolk_, , iii, p. . if more horses were demanded from the postmaster than he himself had in his stable, he might seize them from his neighbours but the full amount paid was to go to the owners. the date of the commission empowering horses to be used, the name of the person using them, and the date when the horses were demanded were to be entered in a book, kept for the purpose.[ ] [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . complaints from the postmasters concerning the abuses of travellers were frequent. the london-berwick posts in a petition to the council stated that on account of the great number riding over that road many of their horses were injured or spoiled and were not paid for, while the constables, whose duty it was to see that horses were provided, were often ill-treated. accordingly by a proclamation issued in , it was provided that no commission to ride in post should be issued unless it was first moved at a council meeting or ordered by the secretary for causes properly relating to her majesty's service.[ ] this was followed in by a still more stringent proclamation, forbidding any person to use a commission more than once unless otherwise specified. the pay of _d._ a mile for each horse was to be in advance as was also the "guide's groat" and, if the payment was not so advanced, the postmaster might refuse to supply horses.[ ] occasionally we find people objecting to having their horses taken when the postmaster had not sufficient of his own. complaints like these were generally followed by an order to the offending postmaster to provide himself with more horses.[ ] [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . a particularly violent man roused the ire of the mayor of guildford, who wrote to walsingham asking for damages to a gelding killed by a mr. wynckfeld, riding post from guildford to kingston. the gelding stumbled and fell on the road and wynckfeld thrust his dagger into him, beat the guide and threatened to kill the constables on his return (_cal. s. p. d._, ii, p. ). [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . the travellers, however, were not the only people who were at fault. the owners of the horses were often offenders and can hardly be blamed for rendering as difficult as possible the enforcement of the obnoxious proclamations, which they were ordered to obey. if they had to supply horses, they must do so, but there was nothing to prevent them from offering clumsy plough horses or venerable specimens no longer capable of drawing a plough. the constables were more apt to sympathize with the owners, who were their neighbours, than with the travellers. consequently it is not surprising that complaints were loud and deep over the pieces of horseflesh, whose angular outlines must have presented a sorry seat for the queen's messengers.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , p. . by a privy council proclamation issued in , all posts receiving a daily fee were required to keep at least two horses apiece. so far as the letting of horses was concerned, they had up to this time been subject to competition from other people, who had horses to hire. they were now granted the prior right to provide horses for travellers and it was only in case of their supply being inadequate that horses might be procured elsewhere. the hire as usual was to be paid in advance and was fixed at - / _d._ a mile, together with the guide's fee for those riding on commission and was to be settled by agreement for all others. no heavier burden than thirty pounds in excess of the rider's weight was to be carried by each horse.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., pp. , , ( ). it is in connection with the monopolistic restriction of that macaulay says that the state must have reaped a large reward from the prior right of the postmasters to hire horses to travellers.[ ] mr. joyce has pointed out that the proceeds went to the postmasters and not to the state, but he has given no good reason for dissenting from macaulay's opinion. without doubt joyce is correct, as is shown by a complaint from the postmasters on the western road that they had been injured by an interloper who supplied travellers with horses.[ ] in , the state made an attempt to obtain something from the postmasters by requiring them to take out a licence for the hiring of horses and to pay a percentage for their receipts to the government.[ ] indirectly, however, the state did reap some benefit from the revenue from post horses, for if the postmasters had received nothing from their horses or from the conveyance of private letters, it would have been necessary to pay their salaries much more promptly than was the custom. as early as the latter part of the sixteenth century, we find complaints from the london-dover posts that they had received nothing on their salaries for a whole year.[ ] this was nothing to later complaints and proves that an impecunious government was enabled to act the bad debtor by the fact that other forms of revenue were available for the postmasters. [ ] macaulay, _hist. of england_, , i, p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in the rate for each horse was raised from - / _d._ to _d._ a mile, and an attempt was made to enforce the postmasters' monopoly more strictly.[ ] no horse was to be ridden beyond the initial stage unless with the consent of the postmaster concerned. the postmasters complained that they were held responsible for supplying horses, and yet, when it was necessary to obtain them from the surrounding country, they were resisted by the owners or were supplied with inefficient animals.[ ] the complaints of the public were more to the purpose. according to them there were some who were being called upon constantly for horses while others escaped all demands. the postmasters often accepted bribes from owners of horses on condition that they should not be troubled.[ ] at times the horses, after being seized, were not used but were kept in the stables of the postmasters, and their owners charged the expense of maintaining them. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; , p. ; - , p. . at the establishment of witherings' plan in , the postmasters on all the roads in england were required to have as many horses ready as were necessary for the carriage of letters and the accommodation of travellers. the rate for each horse was lowered from _d._ to - / _d._ or _d._ for two horses and a guide.[ ] before , the post enjoyed no priority over the traveller in being provided with horses, and if all the horses happened to be in use when the mail arrived, it had to wait. now it was provided that on the day when the mail was expected, enough horses should be kept in the stable to ensure its prompt transmission.[ ] in , after witherings' dismissal, the fee for the hire of a horse was raised again to _d._ at which rate it continued until , when it was lowered to - / _d._ by the commonwealth government. so much trouble had been caused by the seizure of horses from owners unwilling to part with them that it was provided by the act of that no one might take or seize horses for service without the consent of the owner, but no one save the postmaster-general and his deputies might hire horses to persons riding in post with or without commission.[ ] at the restoration in , the old rate of _d._ a mile for each horse was re-imposed together with a _d._ fee to the guide for each stage. if the postmaster was unable to furnish horses within half an hour, they might be obtained elsewhere, but always with the consent of the owner.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] scobell, _collect._, , c. . [ ] ch. ii, c. . the sole right to supply horses was continued to the postmasters-general and their deputies by the famous act of . the rate per horse and the guide's fee remained at the figure imposed by the act of . if the postmaster did not supply the horses demanded within half an hour, he was liable to a fine of £ and the horses might be obtained from any one who would consent to hire them. the maximum burden for one horse over and above the rider's weight was eighty pounds.[ ] [ ] anne, c. . the postmasters enjoyed the monopoly of letting horses to travellers until the middle of the eighteenth century. but the industrial growth of england and the improvement in the roads had produced such an increase in the number of travellers that the postmasters were unable to supply the demand. the use of carriages had become more common, enabling people to travel who could not proceed on horseback, and this had still further increased the demand for horses. it was plain that something must be done and some more extensive source of supply drawn upon than that furnished under the old system. the postmen had heard some of the rumours in the air that a change was about to be made, and they forwarded a petition to the house of commons, protesting against the contemplated change as an infringement upon their old monopoly. they said "that if the amendment should pass into a law as it is now drawn, it would not only tend to the great damage and loss of the petitioners, but also the prejudice of his majesty's revenue."[ ] the amendment did pass, however, declaring that in future any one might furnish chaises and calashes with horses and that people letting chaises might supply horses for them at the same time.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] geo. ii, c. . in , when the treasury was sadly in need of money, an act was passed, requiring all persons letting horses to take out licences. in addition, duties were levied on all horses and carriages hired for the purpose of travelling post.[ ] in the following year this act was superseded by a stricter and more comprehensive one. it was provided by the new act that every person letting horses to travel should pay five shillings a year for a licence. in addition one penny a mile should be paid for every horse, or, if the distance was not known, _s._ _d._ a day, such duties to be paid by the person hiring the horses to the postmaster or other person who provided them, to be by him handed over to the treasury. at the time of payment the postmaster was to give the traveller a ticket, which must be shown to the toll keepers on the road. if he had no ticket to show, the toll keeper was ordered not to allow him to pass.[ ] five years later the duty to be collected was raised to - / _d._ a mile for each horse or _s._ _d._ a day.[ ] in , permission was given to let these duties out to farm, because so many difficulties had been experienced in their collection.[ ] the whole theory of these duties was illogical, for it was to every one's interest to evade them, and direct supervision was impossible. in another act for farming the post-horse duties was passed, modifying somewhat the provisions of the previous act. the tax was to extend to horses used in travelling, when hired by the mile or stage and when hired for a period of time less than twenty-eight days for drawing carriages used in travelling post. persons licenced to let horses were required to have their names and places of abode painted on their post carriages if they provided these also. the carriages must have numbers painted on them so as to distinguish them easily.[ ] in all previous acts relating to licences and fees for keeping horses for hire were repealed, and a complete system of rates was substituted. every postmaster or other person keeping horses to hire for riding by post must pay an annual licence of five shillings and additional duties calculated according to distance or time. the treasury was given authority to let these duties to farm.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iv, c. :-- for every horse let to hire by the mile at the ordinary rate, - / _d._ for no greater distance than eight miles, one fifth part of the sum charged or _s._ _d._ for no greater distance than eight miles and when the horse or horses shall not bring back any person nor deviate from the regular road, _s._ for every horse let for a period less than twenty-eight successive days and not let according to the terms given above, one fifth part of the sum charged or s. d. for each day not exceeding three days and _s._ _d._ for each day exceeding three days but not exceeding thirteen days and _s._ _d._ for each day exceeding thirteen but not exceeding twenty-eight days. for every horse let for twenty-eight successive days or for a longer period, one fifth of the sum charged or _s._ _d._ for each day not exceeding three and _s._ _d._ for each day exceeding three days but not exceeding thirteen days and _s._ _d._ for each day exceeding thirteen and less than twenty-one days. chapter vi roads and speed sir brian tuke, writing in , said that the only roads in the kingdom over which letters were regularly conveyed were from london to dover and london to berwick.[ ] the road to berwick had been in use in [ ] but had evidently been discontinued, for sir brian says in his letter that postmen were appointed to it in the year that he wrote. regular posts were established between london and portsmouth when the fleet was there and discontinued as soon as it left, so that it can hardly be included among the regular roads.[ ] between and the accession of james i, there was a distinct revival in postal affairs within and without the kingdom. the posts on the london-holyhead road had been discharged for some time and irish letters were conveyed to london by the postmaster at chester.[ ] in gascoyne, the acting postmaster-general, was ordered to appoint stages and postmen on this old route.[ ] a letter patent was issued, calling upon all her majesty's officers to assist him in so doing, and a warrant was signed for the payment of £ to defray his expenses. the rye-dieppe posts were also reorganized, principally for the conveyance of letters to and from france.[ ] bristol ranked next to london in size and importance, but it was not until that orders were given to horse and man the road between the two cities,[ ] and only in the following decade were posts also laid from london to exeter and somewhat later from exeter to plymouth.[ ] this illustrates as well as anything the fact that the early english postal system was mainly political in its aims. the great post roads were important from a political rather than an economic standpoint. it was necessary to keep in close touch with scotland because the scotch would always stand watching. the wild irish needed a strong hand and it was expedient that english statesmen should be well acquainted with things irish. the post to and from the continent was quite as necessary to keep them informed of french and spanish politics. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _l.& p. hen. viii_, vii, pt. , p. . [ ] _a. p. c._, - , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, , , p. ; _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. ire._, - , p. ; _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _a. p. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). in conveying letters the postman who started with them did not, on the regular roads, proceed through to the place where they were directed, but carried them only over his stage to the next postman. by this method a fair rate of speed should have been maintained, for the horses' path in the middle of the road was as a rule not so bad as seriously to impede travelling.[ ] nevertheless complaints about the tardiness of the post are numerous. lisle, the warden of the marches, said that letters from london were nearly five days in reaching him at alnwick.[ ] nine days from london to carlisle was considered too slow but it often took that long, notwithstanding that the letters were marked twice "for life, for life."[ ] the earl of sussex complained to cecil that they never arrived in york under three days. he expected too much, however, for three days from london to york was considered good speed.[ ] according to a post label made out in , the distance from berwick to huntingdon was accomplished in ninety-one hours. by the mileage tables then published, the distance was miles, giving an average speed of only a little over two miles an hour. it is only fair to add that the real distance was miles, and this would raise the speed to about three miles an hour.[ ] the distance from dover to london was covered in twelve hours, from plymouth to hartford bridge in forty-four hours, from portsmouth to farnham in five hours, from weymouth to staines via sherborne in five days, but this must have been exceptionally long.[ ] [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _hatfield house_, pt. , pp. , , , . orders were given to the postmen in that they should not delay the mails more than fifteen minutes at each stage and that they should travel at the rate of seven miles an hour in summer and five in winter.[ ] this was an ideal but seldom realized. complaints continued to come in pretty constantly during the first thirty-five years of the seventeenth century.[ ] secretary conway wrote to secretary coke that the posts must be punished for their tardiness.[ ] even those from london to dover were reprimanded and they had hitherto given the best satisfaction. the postmaster at dover was threatened with imprisonment unless he mended his ways.[ ] letters were either not delivered at all or were needlessly delayed on the road. some of the postmasters, who held lucrative positions, were themselves absentees and their work was performed by their agents, who were often incompetent, and this sort of thing was connived at by the postmaster-general, from whom their positions were bought. the postmen themselves acknowledged their tardiness but said that they were able to do no better, since they had received no wages for several years.[ ] one had been paid nothing for over two years,[ ] another had received no wages for seven years,[ ] and finally in a petition was presented to the privy council from "all the posts in england, being in number ninety-nine poor men." this petition prays for their arrears, due since , the amount unpaid being £ , , "notwithstanding the great charge they are at in the keeping of many servants and horses to do his majesty's service."[ ] the council did not grant their petition, for two years later £ , were still due them.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., pp. - ( ). [ ] six days from london to holyrood house (_cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ). five hours from sittingbourne to canterbury ( miles) (_ibid._, - , p. ). nine hours from sittingbourne to dover (_ibid._, - , p. ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . the council of state gave directions in for roads to be manned between dover and portsmouth, portsmouth and salisbury, london and yarmouth, and london and carlisle through lancaster.[ ] hitherto, carlisle had to depend upon a branch post from the great north road. dover and portsmouth had no direct connection nor had bristol and exeter, but letters between these places passed through london. these orders formed part of the directions given to the farmer of the posts in the following year.[ ] cromwell seems to have recognized the impracticability of enforcing the speed limit ordered by elizabeth in the case of the ordinary mails. he issued orders that in future only public despatches or letters from and to certain high officials should be sent by express, and such despatches and letters must be carried at a speed of seven miles an hour from the first of april to the thirtieth of september, and five miles an hour the rest of the year.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , pp. - . toward the close of the seventeenth century, more attention was directed to the slowness of the posts and the delays along the road. the average speed on the great roads varied from three to four miles an hour, anything below three miles generally calling for reproof. for instance, the posts on the portsmouth road were reprimanded for travelling only twenty-two miles in ten hours.[ ] it was said that it took the yarmouth mail sixty-six hours to travel less than one hundred miles. the post labels were an important check upon the postmaster's carelessness. each postmaster was supposed to mark the time that he received the mail on a label attached to it for that purpose. in this way no postmaster marked the speed that his own postboy made and each was a check upon his neighbour.[ ] lord arlington gave orders in for this practice to be enforced more strictly. in addition to marking the time of arrival, the time of departure was also to be added.[ ] a year later a further improvement was made by the use of printed labels, containing also directions as to speed. the names of the post towns through which the mail must pass were also added, and blanks were left for the postmasters to fill in the hours of arrival and departure.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . from copies of these labels made out in and we know exactly how long it took to convey the mails between london and the important cities of the kingdom although the time varied more or less at different trips and different seasons. _between_ _hours_ london and yarmouth from to plymouth york chester bristol gloucester portsmouth edinburgh * newcastle manchester preston dover southampton (_cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , , , ; - , pp. , .) * reproved for slowness. it was often difficult to tell the relative position of places in england from the post towns. the post office had for its own use a table of places along the great roads,[ ] and from the middle of the seventeenth century, private individuals began to publish road maps. on these maps, the post towns are marked by a castle with a flag flying from it. some of them are quite artistically done and represent on a large scale every important road in england with the places where branch roads leave them. one map has each road outlined on a long scroll, and it gives the rivers, brooks, bridges, elevations, villages, post towns, forests, and branch roads throughout the whole distance.[ ] in , hicks, in writing to arlington's secretary, advised him not to have a new map of the post roads printed, fearing the great changes that might thereby be produced in the post office. he says: "when parliament sees how all the branches lie and most of them carried on at the charge of those in the country concerned, they will try to have them carried through by the postmaster-general, which will be very chargeable."[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] john ogilby, _itinerarium angliae_, . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . at the close of the seventeenth century, the five great roads to edinburgh, holyhead, bristol, plymouth, and dover remained practically unchanged. the plymouth road had been continued to falmouth and the northern road now passed through york. the greatest changes noticeable are in the southern and eastern counties. in the south, nearly all the coast towns were now connected with the falmouth road, and the post ran to the extreme southwest of cornwall. portsmouth had a direct service from london through arundel and chichester. there were branches from the falmouth road to several towns in dorset and somerset, but as a rule the country between the two great roads to the west was poorly supplied. a new road of considerable importance ran from maidenhead on the bristol road through abingdon, gloucester, cardiff, and swansea to milford, where there was a packet boat for ireland. from this road there were a few unimportant branches to the north. in the northeast, the post road to edinburgh now passed through york to northallerton. from york there was a branch to scarborough and whitby. a new road left the edinburgh road at royston, about forty miles from london, and passed along the coast nearly parallel to the great road, through newmarket, lynn, boston, and hull to bridlington. another branch left newmarket for norwich and the seacoast towns of northern norfolk. an important road left london for yarmouth, with branches to the coast towns of suffolk. one new road ran through the midland counties, leaving the holyhead road about thirty miles from london and passing through sheffield, manchester, and preston to carlisle. derby was supplied by an east and west road from grimsby to manchester. liverpool had a post road to manchester. in , provision was made for an extension of the post roads by an order issued to the postmaster-general to set up posts between the market towns and the nearest post towns. these were called bye-posts. it was to them that hicks had objected as leading to increased expense. at the same time orders were given for a map to be printed, showing where all these bye-posts were situated so that people might know where to address their letters.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). in ireland, there were three main post roads, running from dublin through ulster, munster, and connaught.[ ] there were practically no post roads worthy of the name in scotland. that part of the great north road beyond the tweed was english rather than scotch. between edinburgh and glasgow there was a foot-post. the mail was also carried between glasgow and portpatrick.[ ] in , the length of the roads in america over which the mails passed was miles. these roads connected the principal towns along the atlantic coast.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ); _acts of the parl. of scotland_, ix, p. ( wm. iii). [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . in , the postmaster-general reported favourably on the establishment of a cross post road between bristol and exeter.[ ] the report was approved, and two years later bristol and exeter had direct postal communication. colonial and foreign letters for bristol, after their arrival in falmouth, still went via london.[ ] towns adjacent to bristol and exeter, which might have been connected with the cross post, remained separated. for example, the post went from london through cirencester to wotton-under-edge, which was within fourteen miles of bristol, yet letters from cirencester to exeter went via london.[ ] the exeter-bristol cross post proved a success. after it had been in operation three years, it produced over £ net profits a year. the use of cross posts was advocated as leading to the conveyance of a larger number of letters, and private individuals started to establish them.[ ] in , the post road from exeter to bristol was continued to chester through worcester and shrewsbury.[ ] three years later, a direct road was ordered between exeter and truro, but it seems to have been discontinued after one year's trial.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] latimer, _annals of bristol_, p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . the post roads throughout the kingdom had not been measured correctly. a mile on the london-edinburgh road was fully ten furlongs. this had resulted in a decreased revenue from post horses and often unjustifiable reprimands for slowness. by a provision in the act of , it was ordered that all the post roads in the kingdom should be measured. this was to be done by officials appointed by the postmaster-general and the measurements left in the general offices in london, edinburgh, and dublin.[ ] [ ] anne, c. . as the seventeenth century had seen the extension of roads in the southern and eastern counties of england, so the eighteenth century was marked by the establishment of posts in those parts of the kingdom most affected by the industrial revolution. the country about birmingham, kidderminster, and worcester was to share in the better postal facilities offered by the mail coaches. lancashire and the west riding of york were not debarred from the use of palmer's innovation. this was especially the case in liverpool, manchester, newcastle, halifax, and leeds, for where industrial expansion paved the way, the coaches were sure to follow. at the beginning of the nineteenth century the roads in ireland were attracting considerable attention, and it was the slow speed made by the mail carts there which was a primary cause in producing any improvement. the postmasters-general were directed to cause surveys to be made and maps drawn of those roads in ireland over which the mail passed. the roads were to be levelled so that the ascent or descent should be no more than one foot in thirty-five wherever this was practicable, the expense to be borne by the county or barony.[ ] this was in , and the next year the grand jury was given the power to call for another survey, and the surveyor whom they appointed was to decide as to the necessity for a change in the direction of the road. copies of all grand jury presentments were to be made to the postmasters-general.[ ] in the grand juries were empowered to present for damages accruing to owners and occupiers of land, such damages to be raised by the county and advanced from the consolidated fund.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . after , the postmasters-general were able to report a considerable acceleration in the speed at which the mails were carried. this was owing largely to the introduction of a lighter and more improved type of mail coach, and after the use of steam packet boats in the case of the transportation of the irish and continental mails. letters leaving london at p.m. on tuesday for ireland had not been delivered in dublin until a.m. on friday. in they arrived on thursday in time for delivery on that day.[ ] in , the coaches travelled from london to holyhead, a distance of miles, in twenty-nine hours and seventeen minutes. four years later the time had been reduced to twenty-eight hours.[ ] by the introduction of one of the patent mail coaches on the yarmouth road, the inhabitants of that town were enabled to answer their letters a day earlier. the coach left london at the usual time ( p.m.), arriving in yarmouth at . a.m., returning at p.m. on the same day.[ ] the mails to manchester and liverpool travelled at the rate of nine miles an hour over the greater part of the road.[ ] the average speed varied from eight to nine miles an hour. to give the exact figures, the highest speed attained in england was ten miles and five furlongs an hour, the slowest six miles, and the average eight miles and seven furlongs.[ ] in ireland the highest speed attained by the mail coaches was nine miles and one furlong an hour, the slowest speed six miles and seven furlongs, and the average eight miles and two furlongs.[ ] mail carts drawn by two horses were also used largely in ireland for the conveyance of the mails, and by these the speed was not so great. the highest speed made by them was seven miles and five furlongs an hour, the slowest five miles and one furlong, and the average six miles and three furlongs.[ ] in scotland the highest speed was ten miles and four furlongs an hour, the slowest seven miles, and the average eight miles and two furlongs.[ ] [ ] london _times_, , aug. , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs_., , xiv, p. ; - , xvii, p. . [ ] london _times_, , july , p. . yarmouth is distant from london miles. [ ] _ibid._, , aug. , p. . [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlv, , pp. f. the following times are given in _rep. commrs._, , xiv:-- p. london to liverpool hrs. min., distance miles p. london to bristol p. bristol to milford p. london to carlisle (via leeds) p. carlisle to portpatrick p. bristol to birmingham [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlv, , p. . the following times are given in _rep. commrs._, xiv:-- p. dublin via cashell to cork hrs. distance miles p. cork to waterford hrs. min., p. dublin to belfast p. donaghadee to belfast [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlv, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xlv, , p. . the mails which left london at p.m. arrived in holyhead at . a.m. on the next day but one. the packet left holyhead twenty-five minutes later for howth. the packet left howth at p.m. for holyhead, and the mails for london left holyhead at . a.m. the passage across the irish sea took from five to eight hours. the london coach arrived in milford at . a.m., travelling at a rate of eight miles an hour, and twenty-five minutes after its arrival, the packet left for dunmore. another left dunmore with the mails at p.m., and the coach left milford for london at . p.m.[ ] the london mail coach arrived at portpatrick at . p.m., fifty hours and twenty-seven minutes from london. the packet did not leave portpatrick until . a.m., after the arrival of the glasgow mail, which left glasgow at . p.m., arriving at . a.m. the packet left donaghadee at noon, and the mail left portpatrick at p.m., arriving in glasgow at a.m. ordinarily the passage across took four hours. the london mail coach arrived in liverpool at p.m., twenty-two hours from london, and left at . p.m. packets sailed from liverpool and kingstown at p.m. and . p.m., the time for crossing being about fourteen hours. no london letters went via liverpool until .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, - , xvii, pp. , - . [ ] _ibid._, - , xvii, pp. - . the method used to ensure a rapid transmission of the mails by the coaches was as follows: time bills were issued to the guards of the different coaches. on these bills were printed the speed that should be made from stage to stage, and it was the guard's duty to fill in the time made by the coach on which he rode. penalties were inflicted for any mistakes which he might make or any failure on his part to leave the bill in the office at the end of his route. on some of the time bills it was set forth that a fine of one shilling was payable by the proprietor for each minute that the coach was late and he might recover it from the guard or coachman if the delay was due to the negligence of either of them. the coachmen were ordered to make up any time lost on the road and to report the horse keepers if they were at fault.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., nos. - . the chief cause for delay was the lack of close connection between the mail coaches and the packets to and from ireland. in the london mail arrived in holyhead at p.m., but the packet did not leave for kingstown until a.m., a change having been made in the time of sailing.[ ] letters from england were detained in dublin eleven hours before their departure for the rest of the island.[ ] more than one third of the irish letters for england left kingstown by the day packet at a.m., remaining in holyhead from p.m. to a.m., with the exception of the letters for chester and manchester, which were forwarded by a special coach.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . the packet leaving holyhead at . p.m. carried letters from birmingham, brought by the coach from that place, but took no london letters (_acc. & p._, , ix, p. ). [ ] _rep. commrs._, - , xvii, p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . the packets from liverpool started shortly before the arrival of the london mail. the commissioners proposed that they should be detained until it had arrived, but this was not done until ten years later.[ ] the packets at portpatrick always waited for the mails from glasgow, and as these were nearly always late, letters from carlisle and northern england were necessarily detained.[ ] the station at milford had always given the most trouble. from a financial point of view it was the least satisfactory, and english letters for the south of ireland often went through holyhead. the packet left waterford[ ] for milford at p.m., arriving in milford about noon, but the mail did not leave for london until . p.m.[ ] english letters for ireland via milford were detained from ten to thirteen hours in waterford.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , xvii, pp. - ; _acc. & p._, , xix. [ ] _rep. commrs._, - , xvii, pp. - . [ ] sometimes the packet left dunmore. see _rep. commrs._, - , xvii, pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, - , xvii, pp. - , - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . before the introduction of penny postage, the use of railways had only started. in , it was objected that the railways could never be of much use in this respect because they could not travel at night for fear of accidents. in answer to this objection it was pointed out that trains between liverpool and manchester and leeds and selby found no difficulty in that respect.[ ] in , mails were carried between manchester and liverpool at a rate of twenty miles an hour, and these trains left both liverpool and manchester as late as p.m.[ ] the postmaster-general was given authority by parliament to require any railway to carry mails either by ordinary or special train and to regulate the speed to the maximum of the fastest passenger train, as well as to control places, times and duration of stoppage and the times of arrival, provided that such regulations were reasonable. he might require the exclusive use of a carriage, if necessary, provided either by the railway or himself as seemed better to himself. in he was allowed to order a speed not in excess of twenty-seven miles an hour but he complained that he was unable to enforce his regulations although the speed was increasing. in a parliamentary committee reported in favour of a deduction of payment for irregularity on the part of the railways and the fining of the post office for irregularity in dealing with mail to be entrusted to the railways, the amounts of such deductions and fines to be a matter of contract, and in addition it was advised that the postmaster-general's demands with reference to speed should be certified by the railway department of the board of trade to be consistent with safety. in conformity with this resolution, the postmaster-general proposed to pay a bonus to the railways when their trains were on time and to exact a penalty from either the railway or the post office whichever were the offender, but the proposition was, as a rule, not very favourably received by the railways.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, pt. , p. , no. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. . [ ] and vict., c. ; and vict., c. ; _rep. com._, , xi, , p. xiii; _rep. p. g._, , p. . chapter vii sailing packets and foreign connections the irish mail service was the first to boast a regular sailing packet.[ ] the postal expenditure for the year included £ for a bark to carry letters and despatches between holyhead and dublin, and an additional vessel was hired occasionally for the same purpose.[ ] at the beginning of the seventeenth century, queen elizabeth ordered packets to be established at milford haven and falmouth to ply between england and ireland. this order was probably temporary, being intended to furnish a means of communication only during essex's expedition.[ ] in the port of departure for the irish packets was changed from holyhead to portinllain in carnarvon and at the same time the land stages were altered to meet the new conditions.[ ] prideaux reported the same year that the cost of these packets averaged £ a year.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. ire._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . in the council of state gave orders for the revival of the old packet service between milford and waterford. at the same time chester was substituted for portinllain as the point of departure on the english side, and mails were carried weekly between the two countries by the milford and chester packets.[ ] the establishment of these boats was made one of the conditions under which the post was farmed in the same year.[ ] the situation of holyhead, however, was so much in its favour that in a contract was signed for the conveyance of the mails between holyhead and dublin. mr. vickers, the contractor, agreed to maintain three packet boats for this purpose for £ a year. he also undertook to provide two boats for the mail service between portpatrick and donaghadee. when the scotch was separated from the english post office in , three packet boats came under the control of scotland.[ ] upon the separation of the british and irish posts in , it was provided that each office should receive its own proportion of the inland postage collected on letters passing between the two countries. the packet service between the two countries continued to be managed by the english postmaster-general, to whom all receipts were forwarded. in return for this they were required to pay to the irish office a sum not exceeding £ a year. this was to be the rule until ireland had established packet boats of her own.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , pp. , ; - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . the irish post office, before the act of union, had employed boats called wherries for the despatch of special messengers and expresses to england. in the course of time they lost their special character and, after , were used to carry passengers and goods in opposition to the holyhead packets. in , lees, the secretary of the irish office, informed the london office that these wherries would henceforth be employed to carry the irish mails to holyhead. this was actually done for six weeks and the regular packets arrived on the english side without the mail, which was brought by boats that, as a rule, did not arrive until after the coach had left for london. lees may have been obstinate and ill advised but there was no doubt that he was acting entirely within his rights. the question then arose, should the irish office receive that part of the £ due them while the holyhead packets did not carry the mails? the postmaster-general decided that they should, much to freeling's disgust. lees had obtained his object, for two years later parliament passed an act increasing the amount payable to the irish office to £ a year.[ ] [ ] joyce, pp. - ; geo. iii, c. . shortly after the restoration, two packet boats were employed between deal and the downs. they carried letters to and from the ships of the merchant marine and the royal navy lying there. they also collected letters from vessels arriving from foreign ports and brought them to the shore whence they were transmitted by the general post.[ ] by an act passed in the isle of man was for the first time supplied with a postal service. a packet boat was to run between whitehaven and the port of douglas in the island.[ ] in sixteen packet boats were employed in carrying mails between the coast towns and to and from the outlying islands of the united kingdom. all of these boats were hired by the post office, except those from weymouth to jersey and guernsey.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , ; joyce, p. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, app., nos. , . early in the sixteenth century dover was the port of departure and arrival for letters to and from the continent, and calais was the distributing point on the other side, although the royal mail was occasionally conveyed between rye and dieppe.[ ] from calais the letters were carried to their destination by the english messengers to whom they were entrusted. they took up post horses along the way, paying for them as they proceeded, and often grumbling at the excessive charges which were demanded.[ ] letters from abroad directed to england were usually carried as far as calais by foreign messengers. the foreign postmaster-general would then send his bill to the english postmaster-general for expenses so incurred.[ ] regular sailing packets were not used to carry the mails between dover and calais during the sixteenth century, but merchant vessels were employed by the post office. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. for._, - , pp. , . [ ] _cal. s p. d._, - , p. ; - , p. ; _l. & p. hen. viii_, i, . witherings' appointment as foreign postmaster-general in was made the occasion for a report to sir john coke on the foreign postal service. the immediate cause of the report was the fact that mails had not arrived from germany, the hague and brussels. the fault was laid upon the messengers, who were accused of "minding their own peddling traffic more than the service of the state or the merchants, omitting many packages, sometimes staying for the vending of their own commodities, many times through neglect or lying in tippling houses." the report goes on to express confidence in witherings and in his plan for the reform of the foreign post.[ ] in , thirteen messengers were employed to carry letters to the continent: three for france; six for germany, italy and the netherlands; and four, who travelled to paris and other parts of france on special occasions.[ ] the service which they gave was inadequate and slow, and in the foreign post, at witherings' suggestion, was ordered to be conducted on the following principles. packet posts were to be appointed at suitable stages to run day and night without stopping. this was the plan which was commented upon favourably in the report to sir john coke. the foreign postmaster-general was to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy, to have an office in london, and to give notice at what time the public were to bring in their letters for despatch to the continent. a register was also to be kept, in which should be enrolled the names of all persons bringing letters, together with the names of those to whom they were addressed. the letters themselves were placed in a packet and locked and sealed with the foreign postmaster-general's seal. letters from abroad for ambassadors residing in england and for the government were to be delivered at once, after which a table of all other letters was to be set up for every one to see and demand his own.[ ] [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . witherings attempted next to come to some agreement with the postal officials of foreign countries about the despatch of letters. in calais he met the countess taxis, secretary of the postmaster of ghent, and she agreed to settle stages between antwerp and calais. witherings himself established stages between london and dover. there had always been trouble with the boatmen who conveyed the mail between dover and calais. witherings reported that he had found a man, who for s. would wait for the packet and depart with it at once, carrying nothing else. the messengers hitherto employed between antwerp and calais were dismissed.[ ] the arrangement in france for the carriage of letters to and from england was decidedly unique. witherings obtained the permission of the french ambassador to settle stages in france himself.[ ] [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in , king charles, from his headquarters at oxford, ordered sailing packets to be established at weymouth to ply between that town and cherbourg. this was done ostensibly for the accommodation of the merchants in the southwest of england. james hicks was ordered to live in weymouth for the purpose of exercising a general oversight over all letters going or coming by these packets. all dues must be paid before they were allowed to depart and the masters were accountable to him for passage money. postage was charged on all letters going to or coming from any part of england except those on his majesty's service. no letters were to be sent from those parts of england in the hands of the rebels.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , pp. , . until , flanders was the only country with which england had come to an agreement concerning the mutual exchange of the correspondence of each. in that year, a similar agreement was concluded with de nouveau, the french postmaster-general. all letters between england and france were henceforth to pass through dover, calais, boulogne, abbeville, and amiens. both the french and english kings ratified this agreement, and all others were prohibited by them from infringing upon the monopolies enjoyed by the two postmasters-general.[ ] on special occasions, of course, both the french and english kings sent special messengers but they were not used so often as before.[ ] in , the governor of the merchant adventurers was asked to give his opinion upon the question of foreign correspondence concerning which there was considerable dissatisfaction, especially in the case of letters sent to flanders and holland. the governor in his reply said that complaints had hitherto been restrained because of the connection of the state with the foreign post. he added that some time before a letter had come from the court of their company at rotterdam, complaining about the overcharging of the company's letters. he did not care to investigate the question alone but proposed that it be entrusted to a committee composed of two members from each of the great companies, the merchant adventurers, the turkish, the eastland, and the french.[ ] after the restoration, matters were adjusted with de nouveau and provision was made for the transmission of letters to england twice a week.[ ] at the same time an attempt was made to reach an understanding with the burgomaster of amsterdam and the dutch ambassador for the conveyance of english letters to germany, the east, and italy through holland. bishop, the english postmaster-general, was accused of accepting money for making this bargain and the proposed agreement did not materialize.[ ] in , frizell was sent abroad to talk over postal connections with de nouveau and the flemish postmaster-general, de taxis, between whom difficulties had arisen. de taxis was reminded that letters from holland for england passing through flanders were not treated in accordance with the agreement made between england and flanders.[ ] the old contract was continued, for in a bill was presented to the english post office by the next in order of the house of thurn and taxis, referring to the former agreement. £ was then due to the flemish postmaster-general and, as the bill was presented in the form of a petition signed by the prince of the house and his brothers and sisters, there was probably some difficulty experienced in collecting it.[ ] the dutch were not satisfied with receiving letters through flanders, and in we find the postmaster-general of holland in harwich, arranging for a direct service with england, which was established in the following year.[ ] letters to and from holland might go via calais through france and flanders, or by sailing packet to nieuport and thence through flanders, or directly from harwich to helvoetsluys. the mail for holland left london every tuesday and thursday night. the route was along the yarmouth road as far as colchester and then directly to harwich. the harwich boats were stopped for a short time in ,[ ] but after william's accession they were in such constant service that it was necessary to hire extra boats.[ ] orders were often given to delay them until the arrival of an express from the king and on other occasions they were hurried off before their regular time for departure.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . it was agreed by a contract signed by the french and english postmasters-general in that the mails, as soon as they arrived in dover from calais or in calais from dover, should be forwarded by "express" to london and paris respectively. this was done in england, but in france the foreign mail continued to be sent at the regular time of departure and, as there was only one mail a day, english letters might have to remain in calais for nearly twenty-four hours, if the packet from dover happened to be late. cotton and frankland remonstrated but mr. pajot, the french postmaster-general, returned no answer. the english postmasters-general had agreed to pay about £ a year to mr. pajot for the conveyance of english letters through france. one or two instalments were paid before the war broke out.[ ] nothing further was done until after the treaty of utrecht, when a commission was sent to france to negotiate a new postal agreement. pajot refused to accept a lump sum and declared that each letter passing through france must pay the ordinary postage according to the french rates. objection was taken to this as the french rates were higher than the english, but objections were of no avail. pajot, who carried matters with a high hand, gained his point. by the act of , the postage for a single letter through france to italy was _d._, and by the terms of the new treaty with france, sous would have to be paid by the english postmasters-general for the conveyance of a letter through france.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . the withdrawal of the sailing packets between england and france in had interrupted postal communication between england and spain, since the regular route lay through calais. accordingly, packet boats were hired to ply between falmouth and the groyne.[ ] after the methuen treaty had been signed and while england and france were struggling in the spanish netherlands, it was proposed to replace the old boats between falmouth and lisbon by new. in a weekly packet service, supplied by four boats, was established between england and portugal.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . at the end of the war, cotton and frankland contracted with mr. macky to furnish five boats to carry the mails between england, france, and flanders for three years. in , the contract was extended to five years for £ a year. macky was to provide boats and men but not provisions and equipment. in case war broke out, the contract would become void at once. war did break out the next year,[ ] and during the war the packet boats from harwich to holland were kept very busy. they had been large boats, well manned and formidable enough to take care of themselves in an emergency. they seem even to have become the aggressors at times. william, himself, as was natural, felt a warm interest in them. a stranger in a strange land, misunderstood and personally unpopular, they were the link between him and his home. he thought that speedier boats should be built and that when pursued they should attempt to escape rather than stand up to their pursuers. the government had four narrow, low boats built for purposes of speed. the sailors complained that the new boats were so low in the water that they were constantly being swept by the waves and they themselves were drenched all the time. there is no doubt that william's move was in the right direction, and the men were placated by an increase in their wages. this could be done the more easily since the new boats were smaller than the old and carried fewer men.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] joyce, pp. , . mr. vanderpoel, postmaster at the brill, was appointed by the king to take charge of all letters and despatches sent by or to their majesties by the harwich boats (_cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; _cal. t. p._, - , pp. , ). at the time of the war of the austrian succession, the dover packets were supplied by a man named pybus. he agreed to carry mails, passengers, and expresses from dover to calais and ostend. if he could not reach the latter place by sea he was to land the mails and have them forwarded overland. he was to receive as pay the fares of all passengers, but so many officers and soldiers had to be transported free that he was paid what the treasury considered that he lost by them.[ ] a position in one of the packets was so dangerous in time of war that a fund was provided for the widows and children of the killed and for the support of the wounded. this was met by deducting _d._ a month from the pay of each seaman.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . in , as a war measure, packets were established between falmouth, gibraltar, and malta.[ ] it was understood that the regular service to portugal should be discontinued at the same time. in during wellington's campaign in portugal and spain, the post office announced that sailing packets would be despatched to corunna every fortnight.[ ] from corunna they proceeded to lisbon before returning to falmouth. there was some complaint from the mercantile interests on account of the stop at corunna, since the merchants were more interested in the lisbon markets than in keeping up communication with wellington's army.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] london _times_, , aug. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , aug. , p. . by the end of , napoleon had lost control over europe. the dutch had freed themselves from french domination. on november th a dutch mail was made up at the post office and despatched for harwich. the regular packet boats were reëstablished and were ordered to land the mails at scheveningen, a small fishing town three miles from the hague.[ ] following napoleon's expulsion to elba, postal communications with france were resumed. mails were despatched from dover four times a week, on tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and friday, leaving london at p.m. on tuesday and friday and at p.m. on wednesday and thursday.[ ] thirteen sailing vessels were stationed at harwich in , all of them hired permanently. nine sailed between harwich and helvoetsluys, four between harwich and gothenburg.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , nov. , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xi, p. ; _acc. & p._, , p. ; london _times_, , april , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, app., no. . the london merchants in complained that no mails were made up in paris for london on wednesday and thursday. the mails from spain, italy, and switzerland arrived in paris on tuesday and friday, and tuesday's mails were not despatched until friday. an arrangement was asked for by which a daily post might be established between paris and london. they pointed out that there was a daily post from paris to calais, a daily packet service and a daily post from dover to london.[ ] english letters for france arrived in dover daily at a.m., except on wednesday and saturday, were despatched to calais at once and left calais at noon for boulogne and paris. on post nights,[ ] letters did not leave london until midnight, arrived in dover at a.m., and were often not in time for the paris mail, which left calais at noon.[ ] the two packets between dover and ostend carried the mails four times a week.[ ] by virtue of a treaty with belgium, these packets conveyed letters both ways and the belgium government paid £ a year as its part of the expenses. the dover-calais boats on the other hand carried letters only to calais, and not from calais to dover.[ ] letters from belgium to dover went first to london and this held true of any letters from belgium to england via dover.[ ] [ ] london _times_, , may , p. . [ ] post nights were probably on wednesday and saturday nights. [ ] london _times_, , jan. , p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . it was provided in that, after the postmaster-general had entered into an agreement with any foreign state to collect and account for the british postage on letters sent from the united kingdom to any such state, it should be optional for a person sending such a letter to pay the whole amount of postage in advance or to pay the british postage only, as had hitherto been the custom, or to pay neither. the entire postage on letters from abroad might also be paid in one sum and the part due the foreign state was then handed over by the english postmaster-general.[ ] in the following year such a treaty was concluded with france, the english colonies also being included in the arrangement. it was agreed that each country should account to the other according to the method of reckoning postage of the country to which the payment was made, a settlement to be concluded every three months.[ ] [ ] and wm. iv., c. . [ ] london _times_, , june , p. . in accounting to france for letters sent there postpaid, england agreed to consider as a single letter any enclosure or enclosures weighing not more than a quarter of an ounce, according to the french method. at the beginning of the eighteenth century william dummer entered into a contract to supply packet boats for use between england and the west indies. for this service dummer provided five boats, each one of tons and carrying men. each was to make three round trips a year, thus giving fifteen sailings every twelve months from both england and the west indies.[ ] these boats were to make falmouth their home port, but they often kept on to plymouth, probably because it was a better place to dispose of their smuggled goods.[ ] poor dummer was exceedingly unfortunate with his west india boats. the first one to sail was captured on her maiden trip. the receipts did not come up to his expectations. he had supposed that to double the receipts he had only to double the rates, but like other men before and after him he had to learn the effect of higher rates on correspondence.[ ] in he wrote that it was a losing contract,[ ] and in the same year the government released him from the agreement and paid him for two of his lost packets.[ ] from a total of fourteen boats provided for the packet service, he had lost nine. the postmasters-general recommended that for the future the packets should leave and arrive at bideford, which was less exposed to the enemies' privateers than either falmouth or plymouth.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] joyce, pp. , . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . after dummer's failure, no attempt was made by the post office to revive the service until . in that year the postmasters-general reported to the treasury in favour of regular packets between falmouth and some port in the west indies. the report was agreed to, and orders were given for two new boats to be supplied and for the two boats between lisbon and gibraltar to be transferred there.[ ] the agent at falmouth was ordered to see that each boat sailed with its full complement of men, as the captains were accustomed to discharge some of the crew just before sailing and pocket their wages. he was also to make sure that each of the boats sailing from falmouth for lisbon, the west indies, or north america was british built and navigated by british seamen. he must keep a journal, in which should be entered the time that he received and delivered mails and expresses, how the wind and tide served, when the boats arrived and departed, and any delay in sailing which might occur. the captains were ordered to make returns after each voyage of the number of men on board. the crew while on shore should receive their accustomed wages and "victuals" and, if any were discharged, a return was to be made of such discharge, the money due them being turned over to the pension fund. it had become customary for the captains not to pay the men while they were on shore and to retain the money owing them. finally the agent was to see that the packet boats proceeded to the roads the day before the mail was expected from london.[ ] packets had already been employed to convey mails to and from madeira and brazil[ ] and within the next few years others were hired to ply between falmouth, buenos ayres,[ ] colombia, mexico, san domingo, and cuba, and between the british west indies, colombia, and mexico.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. and p._, - , pp. , . [ ] _jo. h. c._, , pp. , . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iv, c. . [ ] geo. iv, c. . in , the postmaster-general was given permission by act of parliament to establish sailing packets between the united kingdom, the cape of good hope, mauritius, and that part of the east indies embraced within the charter of the east india company. packet rates were also charged for letters carried by war vessels and by vessels of the company, but in the former case the consent of the lords of the admiralty for the use of their ships had first to be obtained. letters to and from china must go by vessels of the company and no others. with the consent of the commissioners of the treasury or any three of them, the postmaster-general might allow the regular sailing packets to import and export all goods, which might legally be imported or exported, but in the case of tea, only enough for the use of those on board should be carried.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . when cotton and frankland were appointed postmasters-general in , the following sailing packets were in commission.[ ] {flanders, boats. between england and {holland, {ireland, between scotland and ireland, at deal for the downs,[ ] in , the king had ordered the boats between dover and calais to be discontinued until further notice. this was done "on account of the late discovery of treasonable designs against the government" and the war with france. his majesty "preferred that all interchange of letters with france should cease."[ ] [ ] letters were sent to the colonies by private vessels. the method used for sending letters to america was as follows. masters of vessels bound for america used to hang up a bag in the coffee-houses, in which letters were placed. a fee of one penny was charged for a single letter and _d._ for a double letter or parcel in excess of a single letter (_cal. t. p._, - , p. ). [ ] thos. delaune, _present state of london_, , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in , the sailing packets of great britain and ireland, excluding those employed in the domestic service, were as follows: four boats between falmouth and lisbon, four on the harwich station, six between dover and calais or ostend, two between gibraltar and lisbon, and two on the minorca station. the use of sailing packets to gibraltar and minorca was made necessary by the war. from twenty to twenty-six additional men were added to each of the eighteen packets as a protection against the enemy, and the total additional yearly charge was £ .[ ] this is one of the items which made postal expenses run so high in time of war, to say nothing of the packets captured by the enemy. the three boats between dover and calais were sent to harwich, helvoetsluys, and ostend for the time being.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. and p._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . the practice of the post office until had been to contract for the supply of packet boats, paying only a nominal sum for their hire and allowing the contractors to have the receipts from passengers. in a private company established steamboats between holyhead and dublin, and the public preferred these to the sailing packets. the number of passengers by the government packets fell off nearly one half. something had to be done at once, for, as the receipts from fares decreased, the contractors clamoured for higher pay. the steamboat company offered to carry the mails for £ a trip and later for nothing, but the post office determined to have steam packets of its own.[ ] two, built by boulton and watt, under the inspection of the navy board, were placed on the holyhead station in , and these, as well as those introduced later on the other stations, were the property of the crown.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, p. . [ ] _parl. papers_, , vi, , pp. f. the fares by the steam packets at holyhead were fixed at the same rates as those charged by the company's boats and these fares were somewhat higher than those formerly charged by the sailing packets. for instance, the fee for a cabin passenger had been one guinea, for a horse one guinea, and for a coach three guineas. these were now raised to £ _s._, £ _s._, and £ _s._ respectively. the new rates, which were so fixed in order not to expose the company to undue competition, had not been long enforced before the select committee on irish communications reported against them, and the post office reduced them to the old figures.[ ] [ ] joyce, pp. - . in a debate in the house on the holyhead rates, parnell said that they limited the use of the steamboats to the rich (_parl. deb._, d ser., x, coll. - ). in steam packets were placed on the dover station, in they were introduced at milford, in at liverpool and portpatrick, and in at weymouth.[ ] at liverpool also a private company had offered to carry the mails but the offer was refused. this refusal, as well as the refusal to accept the holyhead company's offer, was condemned in a report of the commissioners.[ ] the new liverpool packets ran from liverpool to kingstown, the holyhead packets from holyhead to kingstown and howth.[ ] in the steam packets owned by the crown numbered eighteen. they were distributed as follows: four at liverpool, two of , one of and one of tons, all of horse power; six at holyhead, varying from to tons, all of horse power; four at milford, varying from to tons, all of horse power; two at portpatrick of tons and horse power; and two at dover of tons and horse power.[ ] two years later, three steam packets were added to the weymouth station.[ ] in , the post office had in use twenty-six steam packets, one having been added at liverpool, three at dover, and an extra one was kept for contingencies.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlix, pp. , . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , pp. , , . [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xx, p. . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, app., no. . [ ] _ibid._, , xiv, p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., app., p. . with the exception of the dover service for a few years, the steam packets were always a financial loss to the post office. the total disbursements for the holyhead, liverpool, milford, and portpatrick stations from to were £ , , the receipts for the same period being only £ , .[ ] from to the disbursements for all the steam packets were £ , , receipts £ , .[ ] the milford boats were the least productive of any. from to , the expenditure for that station was £ , , the receipts only £ , . the commissioners had pointed out that not only was the practice of building and owning its own boats a mistake on the part of the post office, but they were very badly managed. for example, the stores for the holyhead station were obtained from the postmaster at liverpool, who invariably charged too much for them.[ ] at portpatrick the goods were supplied and the accounts checked in a very irregular manner.[ ] at dover the supplies were ordered by the mates, engineers, etc., as they were needed and the bills paid by the post office. there was no control over these officers, the accounts were not examined, and the bills were not certified by the commanders. there was no proof that the goods were even delivered. the agent, who forwarded the bills, was not a seaman nor had he any knowledge of ships' stores.[ ] at weymouth, where there were three steam packets for jersey and guernsey, conditions were better. the agent was a practical seaman, the demands for supplies were examined by him before being granted, and were signed by him, by the commander, and by the engineers or whoever needed them. the commissioners also protested against sending the weymouth boats so far for repairs as holyhead, which was the regular repair station of the post office. apart from the steam packets stationed at holyhead, liverpool, milford, portpatrick, weymouth, and dover, all the other packets employed by the post office were hired permanently or temporarily.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlix, p. ; _rep. commrs._, - , xvii, pp. - . [ ] _acc. & p._, xlvi, . [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xxviii, pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , xxviii, th rep., p. . the post office was at no time entirely dependent upon its regular sailing packets for the carriage of the mails. the merchant marine of england had been increasing with her growing commerce, and provision was made in the acts of and for the carriages of letters by private vessels. by the latter of these acts the conveyance of letters to foreign countries had been restricted to english ships under a penalty of £ for every offence. it was decided in , on the occasion of the wreck of one of the regular irish packets, that it would be better to use a dutch-built ship on account of its being much more seaworthy in the choppy swell of the irish sea. accordingly an order-in-council was issued, allowing a vessel built in holland to be used, and providing for its naturalization.[ ] by the act of , letters arriving in private vessels were to be given to the postmaster at the port of arrival so that they might be forwarded to london to be despatched to their destination after being charged with the postage due. masters of vessels were offered no inducement to deliver the letters to the postmaster nor was any liability incurred by neglecting to do so. the post farmers, however, agreed to pay a penny for every letter delivered by a captain on his arrival. this was the origin of ship letter money.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . in , owing to a scarcity of english vessels and as a war measure, permission was given to send english letters to spain and portugal by means of spanish ships ( geo. iii, c. ). [ ] joyce, p. . no attempt had ever been made to collect postage on letters conveyed by private ships except for the distance which such letters might be carried by the regular posts within the kingdom.[ ] in an act was passed under the following title: "an act for the more sure conveyance of ship letters and for granting to his majesty certain rates of postage thereon." the postmasters-general were given authority by this act to forward letters and packages by other vessels than the sailing packets. on letters brought in by such vessels, _d._ was to be charged for a single letter and so in proportion. this was to be in addition to the inland postage and _d._ was to be paid to the master for every letter handed over by him to the post office. the net revenue so arising was to be paid into the exchequer. no postage was charged on letters carried out of the kingdom by private vessels[ ] until , when permission was given to charge packet rates. it was forbidden to send letters by these ships except through the post office unless such letters concerned only the goods on board.[ ] in that part of the act of forbidding letters to be sent out of the kingdom except in british ships was repealed.[ ] [ ] it is true that by the act of , a penny was to be charged for every ship letter; but this was to go to the master of the ship. [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] wm. iv, c. . [ ] and wm. iv, c. . the sailing packets were ordinarily allowed to carry passengers and freight, for which fixed rates were charged. in case of trouble with any foreign power, the masters were generally forbidden to allow their packets to be used as passenger boats.[ ] during king william's war, the harwich-helvoetsluys packets carried recruits free to the scene of activities.[ ] they had also been guilty of bringing dutiable goods into the country and paying no duty on them. this made the customs officials indignant, especially as the post office authorities would not allow them to search the packets on their arrival. by an act passed in , no ship, vessel, or boat ordinarily employed for the carriage of letters was allowed to import or export any goods, unless permission had been given by the customs officials, under a penalty of £ to be paid by the master of the offending packet boat.[ ] it had been agreed between dummer and the post office that he should carry no more than five tons of merchandise outward bound nor more than ten tons when homeward bound. the commissioners of the customs in advised the lord high treasurer that if he gave licences to the packet boats to carry goods[ ] it would be necessary to comply with the law and subject the boats to searchers, rules, and penalties as the merchantmen were. they proposed that the agreement made with dummer be applied to all the packets. they pointed out that if this were done, all friction between the customs and post office might be avoided.[ ] in , the difficulty assumed a new form over the question as to the carriage of dutiable goods by mail. diamonds had recently been discovered in brazil and they were exported to england via spain. it had also become customary to send fine laces by post. we, who have become used to intolerant customs' regulations, can hardly appreciate the indignation aroused by the desire of the customs' authorities to search the mails. it was the rule at that time for the controller of the foreign office to lay a tax of per cent upon packages which he thought had lace or diamonds in them. the customs officials seized twenty-one parcels of diamonds in a mail bag, coming from lisbon in the packet _hanover_. the postmasters-general were very indignant and wrote to the treasury that they "would not have it left to a customs' house officer to break open the king's mail, which has never been done before."[ ] evidently the customs officials had exceeded their authority and the matter was compromised by the appointment of a sub-controller of the foreign post office to act under the authority of the customs commissioners and receive the duties on diamonds and other jewels and precious stones imported in the packet boats.[ ] in a report of the postmasters-general somewhat earlier, we are informed of a payment of £ made by them to the receiver-general of the customs. this amount covered four fifths of the gross duty on diamonds and laces, which had come by the sailing packets during four years, one fifth having been deducted for postage.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , . [ ] and chas. ii, c. . [ ] goods were not supposed to be carried unless such a licence had been obtained. some jews, coming from calais on the packet boat, had brought a few spectacles with them, on the sale of which they said that their support depended. the spectacles were confiscated (_cal. t. b. and p._, - , p. ). [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . by a section of the act of , letters or packages from abroad suspected of containing dutiable articles were to be taken by the postmaster to a justice of the peace. he was to take an oath that he suspected that dutiable goods were contained in the letter or packet. in the presence of the justice he was then to cut a slit two inches long in the parcel to permit examination of the contents. if his suspicions seemed to be confirmed he might slit the cover entirely open and if anything dutiable were found it must be destroyed. the letter was then forwarded to the commissioner of the customs in order that proceedings might be taken against those implicated. if nothing was found, the letter was to be sent to the person to whom it was addressed, under the magistrate's cover, with no extra charge for postage.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, session , c. . in one respect, the packet stations in england were conducted on divergent principles. the supplies for the harwich packets were advanced directly by the government through the postmaster-general. when the war of the austrian succession broke out, a treasury warrant was issued for the supply of military stores and eight additional men for each of the harwich boats.[ ] at falmouth, the agent supplied all necessaries. neither plan was entirely free from objection. when the agent acted as victualler he naturally tried to make as much as possible out of his contract, and there were frequent complaints from the men on the falmouth boats concerning the quality and quantity of the food. at harwich, the drawbacks of the other method, under which the post office did its own victualling, were quite as marked. no bill for provisions represented what they had actually cost. a percentage was habitually added to the actual cost and this percentage went into the pockets of those by whom the goods had been ordered.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . [ ] joyce, pp. f. the postal abuses which came to light in were more flagrant in connection with the packet service than in any other department of the post office. the secretary himself was not only a large owner in the boats, but as agent he received - / per cent of the gross total expenditure. from to , this had amounted to £ , , , from which he had received over £ , . besides this, his salary amounted to £ a year and there was an annuity of £ attached to his office. he had become too old to perform his duties, but instead of being superannuated another person was appointed to assist him.[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , p. . the sailors' pension fund was grossly mismanaged. each sailor's monthly contribution had been raised from _d._ to _s._ and then _s._ after twenty years' service, the man who had kept up his payments was entitled to receive £ or £ a year. the names of dead people were retained on the list of pensioners, fictitious names were added, and there seems no doubt that the agent retained the money ostensibly paid out in their names.[ ] the agent at falmouth had a salary of £ a year and £ in perquisites, £ of which were paid to the former agent's widow. the late agent had received £ a year in perquisites in addition to the regular £ less £ for a clerk and an assistant postmaster, making £ in all, certainly a comfortable salary for a packet agent at that time. the £ was made up by an involuntary contribution of five guineas from each of the captains of the twenty-two packet boats and the wages of one man from each boat. the latter sum was obtained by dismissing the men, whose wages still continued to be paid--to the agent. smuggling had become by no means uncommon among the falmouth boats, the carriage of the mails being considered of secondary importance. they often arrived when least expected, or they might not arrive for days at a time, although the wind and weather were favourable.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, , pp. - . fares for passengers were not always collected, but a moderate payment to the captains would ensure a passage as they were allowed to carry their friends free and the payment readily secured the privilege desired. the agents also profited by the sale of passes.[ ] there were more boats on the falmouth station than necessary, and, although they ranged in size from to tons, the same number of men were employed on each. the secretary of the post office, from whose report these facts about the packets are derived, proposed that three or four of the boats should be taken off, thus effecting a saving of £ or £ . in case it should be considered expedient to employ regular packet boats to quebec and halifax, n. s., they might be placed on those stations. no deductions were made for the hire of boats when they were unemployed, either when being repaired or when under seizure for smuggling.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , pp. - . anthony todd, secretary of the post office, writing to charles cox in harwich said that "several persons going from helvoetsluys to harwich, who are well able to pay full fare, have given money for half, free and poor passes, and larger sums have been taken for passes than are allowed by the postmaster-general" (_jo. h. c._, , p. ). [ ] _ibid._, , p. . the result of these exposures was a series of reforms started in . by the post office was able to report that orders had been issued forbidding any official to own a sailing packet or have a share in any of them. orders were given to pay the sailors regularly throughout the whole year. the - / per cent on all expenditure, formerly paid to the secretary, was abolished. finally all salaries were henceforth to be in lieu of every emolument.[ ] [ ] _fin. rep._, , no. , pp. - . in , the expenses for packet boats amounted to £ , a year. this was reduced in the following year to £ , , but from expenses began to increase, owing to losses during the war and the necessity for placing the boats on a war footing.[ ] in time of peace, a falmouth packet of tons carried twenty-one men, including officers, at a total expenditure for men, interest, insurance, and wear and tear, of £ .[ ] in time of war, she carried twenty-eight men, all of whom were paid higher wages, and other expenses were also higher, bringing the total expenses for each packet to £ a year.[ ] for a packet of seventy tons the expenses during peace and war were respectively £ and £ .[ ] it is not surprising then that the cost for all the packet boats had risen in to £ , . the falmouth boats were responsible for £ , of this, the rest being divided amongst the dover, harwich, donaghadee, milford, weymouth, and holyhead packets and the west india schooners.[ ] the salaries paid to the agents in amounted to £ . they were stationed at lisbon, falmouth, yarmouth (instead of harwich and dover), weymouth, jamaica, halifax, n. s., and quebec. in lisbon and the colonial towns, the agents acted also as postmasters.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, no. , p. . [ ] _fin. rep._, no. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, no. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, no. , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, no. , p. . [ ] _ibid._, no. , p. . in , all the packets sailing out of falmouth were transferred to the admiralty, in spite of freeling's protest. the question had been discussed again and again during the war with france but why it was decided upon at this particular time is not clear. at the time of transfer, thirty packets were employed at falmouth, carrying mails to and from lisbon, brazil, buenos ayres, the mediterranean, america, the leeward isles, jamaica, colombia, and mexico. in , the number of packets at falmouth had increased to thirty-eight brigs of war and sailing vessels and in to forty-one.[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, app., no. ; _acc. & p._, , xlix, p. ; joyce, pp. - . the admiralty had exceedingly bad luck with the falmouth boats for the first seven years. during that time seven of them were lost; four were wrecked, one was supposed to have been burned, one was smashed to pieces by icebergs, and one was captured by pirates off rio janeiro.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlix, p. . three of the boats wrecked were on their way to or from halifax, n. s. in , the charge of all the packets and the powers and authorities then existing in the postmaster-general under any contract for the conveyance of mails were transferred to the admiralty by act of parliament.[ ] the post office was still to retain the discretionary power of regulating the time of departure of the packets and of receiving the reports of the agents when the mail was delayed.[ ] in the same year, but by a later act, the postmaster-general was authorized to contract for the conveyance of letters by private ships between any places whatever, but such ships must be british. the rates were to be the same as the packet rates, but the owners, charterers, and consignees of vessels inward bound were allowed to receive letters free to the weight of six ounces, or twenty ounces in the case of vessels coming from ceylon, the east indies, and the cape of good hope.[ ] for every letter retained by the captain or any other person there was a penalty of £ . the captain was also liable to a penalty for refusing to take the letter bags, even when no contract had been signed.[ ] [ ] wm. iv and i vict., c. . [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xlv, pp. , . [ ] wm. iv and i vict., c. . [ ] wm. iv and i vict., c. . the control of the packets by the admiralty after failed to produce the results anticipated. the power of authorizing contracts for the conveyance of the mails by water was actually vested in the lords of the treasury upon consultation with the postmaster-general, the colonial secretary, and the lords of the admiralty with reference to the postal, colonial, or nautical questions involved, but as a matter of fact these officials did not always work in harmony. the mails continued to be carried by private vessels or war vessels not under contract, by packets belonging to the crown, and by vessels under contract. before the use of steam vessels the government was able as a rule to make contracts for a short period and at comparatively little cost. between england and the neighbouring countries (ireland, france, and belgium), government steam packets were employed. for the longer voyages it was considered advisable to induce commercial companies to build steam vessels by offering large subsidies for long periods. in , a parliamentary committee reported in condemnation of the further use of government-owned packets on account of their expense and also of the payments to the owners of contract vessels in excess of the actual cost of mail carriage. they pointed out, however, that exceptions might very well be made when for political or social reasons it seemed necessary to carry mails to places where commercial vessels did not go, or went very irregularly, or where high speed was desirable.[ ] this report, in so far as it condemned the use of government-owned packets and the excessive subsidies paid to contractors, repeated the findings of an earlier committee published in , which had in addition advised that the rule should be observed of calling for tenders in the most public way possible.[ ] in , the only service performed by the government packets was that between dover, calais, and ostend. on the french service the night mails between dover and calais were conveyed by british packets and the day mails by french. between dover and ostend there was a daily service, thrice a week by british, four times by belgian packets. of the six boats employed by the admiralty, four were kept fully manned and two were spare steamers. the receipts did not equal the gross expenses.[ ] again in , the year in which the control of the packets was transferred to the post office, we find a third parliamentary committee repeating the recommendations of its predecessors so far as the subsidy question was concerned. nothing was said about the government steamers, for in the meantime the principle of packet ownership had been abandoned.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv; _acc. & p._, - , xcv, , pp. - . [ ] _rep. com._, , xii, p. iii. [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xcv, , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, p. ; vict., c. ; _parl. deb._, d ser., clxi, col. ; cxciv, col. ; cxcvii, col. . a general review of the packet services existing at the middle of the nineteenth century affords a very good example of the relative importance of these different systems of communication and of the principles on which the payment of subsidies was based. the inland packet service of the united kingdom included, among others, the lines between holyhead and kingstown, liverpool and the isle of man, aberdeen and lerwick, southampton and the channel isles. this formed a necessary part of the inland postal service, and no attempt was made to meet expenses by levying a sea-transit postage. in the case of the isle of man the postage collected covered the cost of the packets and of the land establishment of the post office in the island. the expenses of the shetland packets by themselves exceeded the postage collected, and the orkney postal expenses were also greater than the revenue. the second class consisted of the packets plying between england and the colonies or between the colonies themselves, and included the lines to india, australia, the cape, the west indies, and british north america. this class was and is by far the most important. three-fourths of the whole annual subsidies paid by the government for the packet service were paid to three great companies, the peninsular and oriental, the royal mail, and the cunard company. the first of these connected england with india and the orient, the second with the west indian colonies, and the third with the north american provinces. the great cost involved in subsidizing these companies was excused on the ground of absolute necessity for a regular and rapid mail service between the mother country and her colonies. of the lines furnishing communications with foreign countries, several were connected with and subsidiary to the colonial service, as the continuation of the cunard line to the united states. the service to china was the most remunerative part of the system undertaken by the peninsular and oriental boats, and the same may be said of the foreign service of the royal mail company. from a commercial point of view the continental packets were perhaps the most important of all.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xcv, , pp. - . the first contract with an individual steamship company was made in with the famous cunard company providing for the conveyance of mails between great britain, the united states, and canada. in accordance with the recommendations of various committees, attempts were made later to place the atlantic packet service upon a firmer financial basis so far as the loss to the post office was concerned. in , the contract with the cunard company, which had been renewed at various times under somewhat different conditions, came to an end. the conservative government which was just going out arranged for two services a week with the cunard company for £ , , and one a week with the inman company for £ , . there was considerable opposition to the agreement among the liberal majority of the new parliament, but it could not of course be repudiated. this contract came to an end in , and a circular was addressed to the various steamship companies informing them that the government would hereafter send the american mails by the most efficient ships, payment to be made at the rate of _s._ _d._ a pound for letters and _d._ a pound for other mail matter, those being the rates fixed by the postal union treaty and adopted by the american government. the inman and white star companies refused at first to have anything to do with the new system of payment, but eventually they fell into line. the system was in operation for a year at a cost of £ , in place of the old charge of £ , . the cunard, inman, and white star companies then demanded double the previous rates on the ground that they were conducting the service at a loss, and an agreement with the government was concluded for the payment of _s._ a pound for letters and _d._ for newspapers, etc. at the same time the old monopolistic conditions were virtually reëstablished, for rival steamship lines were excluded from the agreement.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, d ser., ccxxxviii, coll., - . in , the agreement with the cunard, inman, and white star lines came to an end. the cunard and white star companies then made an offer precluding the use of the fast boats of other lines, but this was declined. eventually an agreement was reached at a reduced cost, which gave the post office the right to send letters so directed by any other ships than those of the white star or cunard companies. the amounts to be paid were measured by the actual weight of mail matter carried.[ ] the payments to the peninsular and oriental company were based at first entirely upon mileage covered, and reductions were made if the packets fell below a minimum speed agreed upon. this method was later changed to a payment based upon the amount of mail carried, and the subsidy was substantially reduced.[ ] [ ] _s._ a lb. for letters; _s._ _d._ when carried by other lines (_rep. com._, , xiv, p. ; - , vi, pp. iii-v; _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; _acc. & p._, , xlix, , pp. - ; _parl. deb._, th ser., cxxii, coll. - ). [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xcv, , p. ; , xlix, , p. ; _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . a general review of the packet service in shows us that most of the contracts for the home packets are terminable on six months' notice, a few only on twelve months' notice. the holyhead and kingstown service is exceptional, not being terminable until , or on twelve months' notice after st march, . this is by far the most important of any of the home systems and costs £ , , to be reduced to £ , in . the contract for the conveyance of mails between dover and calais is terminable on twelve months' notice and cost £ , for the postal year - . the payments for the use of the other boats between the united kingdom and europe are comparatively small, amounting in - to £ only, and all these contracts are terminable on six months' notice. the contracts for the conveyance of the mails to the two americas are as a rule terminable on six or twelve months' notice, but an exception has been made in the case of the cunard company with whom and under peculiar circumstances a twenty years' agreement was made in . in - the cost of the conveyance of the mails between the united kingdom and north and south america was £ , . the african contracts are all terminable on three, six, or twelve months' notice, and amounted in - to £ , . the carriage of the mails to india, australasia, and china for the year ending st march, , cost £ , , but this has since been diminished by a reduction in the subsidies to the peninsular and oriental company and the canadian pacific railway company.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - , - . the total expenditure for packet boats increased enormously after , and this increase in cost kept down the net revenue of the post office for many years after the introduction of penny postage. in , the packet expenses amounted only to £ , , in , to £ , , and in , to £ , . they reached the maximum point of £ , , in , and from that time until , when they were £ , , there has been on the whole a gradual diminution. during the year ending st march, , they reached the sum of £ , , for the postal year - they were £ , , and during the year - they had diminished to £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. commrs._, , xiv, app., p. ; , lxii, pp. - ; _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , app., p. ; , p. . chapter viii rates and finance after de quester had been appointed foreign postmaster-general, he published, in , an incomplete set of rates from and to various places on the continent. his charges for "packets," and by packets he meant letters or parcels carried by a special messenger, were as follows:-- to the hague £ . to brussels or paris £ . to vienna £ . the ordinary rates were:-- to or from any of the above places _s._ to or from any part of germany _s._ from venice for a single letter _d._[ ] from venice for any letter over a single letter _s._ _d._ from leghorn and florence for a single letter _s._ from leghorn and florence over a single letter _s._an ounce.[ ] this system of rates, although crude, marks a distinct era in postal progress. it forms the foundation of the plan which was perfected a few years later by witherings. de quester also published a statement of the days of departure of the regular posts with foreign letters.[ ] in the trial between stanhope and de quester over the question of who should be foreign postmaster-general, it came out in the evidence that stanhope had been accustomed to receive _d._ for every letter to hamburg, amsterdam, and antwerp.[ ] this charge was rather in the nature of a perquisite than a legal rate and serves partly to explain why stanhope was so anxious to retain the monopoly of the foreign post. [ ] the rate from venice had been _ d._ by a single letter is meant one piece of paper. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). witherings' rates for domestic postage, as fixed by royal proclamation in , were as follows for a single letter:-- _d._ under miles between and miles over miles on the borders and in scotland in ireland if there were more than one sheet of paper, postage must be paid according to the above rate for every separate sheet or enclosure. for instance, a letter or packet composed of two sheets was called a double letter and paid _d._ for any distance under miles. a letter of three sheets was called a triple letter and paid _d._ if conveyed under miles, and so in proportion.[ ] in , the rules concerning the imposition of rates were changed slightly. the rates themselves remained the same for single and double letters. letters above double letters were to be charged according to weight as follows:-- under miles _d._ an ounce. from to miles _d._ above miles _d._ for ireland _d._ if over two ounces.[ ] this expedient must have been adopted from the difficulty in discovering the number of enclosures when there were more than two. it is impossible to say how long these rates continued, probably not later than witherings' régime. during prideaux' management the maximum postage on a single letter was _d._, reduced later to _d._[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] joyce, p. . the council of state gave orders in for the imposition of the following rates for a single letter:-- _d._ within miles from london to remoter parts of england and wales to scotland to ireland [ ] whether these rates were actually collected is questionable. the postage which the farmers of the posts were allowed to collect in the following year was fixed by the council of state for single letters as follows:-- _d._ under miles from london above miles from london to scotland to ireland these rates are in effect lower than those of witherings, for he had inserted a _d._ rate for letters delivered between and miles from london, had charged _d._ for all letters going farther than miles, and had charged _d._ and _d._ for letters to scotland and ireland respectively. they were a little higher than those of , for by them _d._ had carried a letter miles.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in , the first act of parliament was passed, fixing rates for letters and establishing the system for england, ireland, and scotland. the domestic rates were:-- _for a_ _double_ _per_ _single letter_ _letter_ _ounce_ {within miles from london _d._. _d._ _d._ in england {above miles from london to or from scotland to or from ireland in ireland {within miles from dublin {above miles from dublin the foreign rates were:-- _for a_ _double_ _per_ _single letter_ _letter_ _ounce_ to leghorn, genoa, florence, lyons, marseilles, aleppo, constantinople _d._ _d._ _d._ to st. malo, morlaix, nieuhaven to bordeaux, rochelle, nantes, bayonne, cadiz, madrid to hamburg, frankfort, and cologne to dantzic, leipsic, lubeck, stockholm, copenhagen, elsinore, konigsburg [ ] [ ] scobell, _collect._, pt. ii, pp. - . inland letters containing more than two enclosures but weighing less than an ounce were charged according to the number of enclosures. these rates are considerably lower than those of witherings and are essentially the same as those of , except that the postage is fixed for letters to and from the continent. no provision is made for letters to and from any other part of the world but europe. since the government had not established any postal communication with asia, africa, or the americas, it would have been unfair to demand postage on letters conveyed by merchant vessels to and from those places.[ ] [ ] scobell, _collect._, pt. ii, pp. - . the act of is generally referred to as bringing the post office under parliamentary control and as the basis of the modern system. this is probably due to the fact that the act of was passed by a commonwealth parliament and signed by cromwell. whether its authors lacked the power to give it validity, they did not lack the brains to pass an excellent act, and although the royalists saw fit, after the restoration, to dub it the pretended act of , they could not improve it and had the sense to leave it largely untouched. the first act had imposed rates from or to any place to or from london as a centre. it had been taken for granted that all letters passed to, from, or through the capital, and to all intents and purposes this was so. it was possible, however, for letters, technically called bye-letters, to stop short of london, and it was to provide for these that postage was to be reckoned from any place where a letter might be posted. scotland was no longer a part of england after the restoration, so that by the act of rates were given to and from berwick and for single letters were a penny less than they had been to scotland under the earlier act. from berwick the rate, within a radius of forty miles, was _d._ for a single letter, and over forty miles, _d._ as far as foreign postage was concerned, letters to the northern coast towns of italy paid _d._ less than the old rate for a single letter. other rates remained the same. alternative routes were sometimes offered. for instance, letters might be sent directly to northern italy or they might go via lyons, but in the latter case they cost _d._ more. again, there were many more continental towns to which letters might be sent and from which they might be received. letters for germany via hamburg had to be postpaid as far as that city. the same was true of letters to southern france via paris and of letters to northern italy via lyons. the highest rate paid for a single letter was _s._ to northern italy, turkey, and central and northern germany. merchants' accounts not exceeding one sheet of paper, bills of exchange, invoices and bills of lading, were to pay nothing over the charge of the letter in which they might be enclosed. the same rule was to hold for the covers of letters sent to turkey via marseilles. all inland letters were to be paid for at the place where they were delivered unless the sender wished to pay in advance.[ ] [ ] chas. ii, c. . when the scotch was separated from the english post office in , rates were imposed by the parliament of scotland as follows: _for a single letter_ to berwick _s._[ ] within miles from edinburgh from to miles from edinburgh above miles from edinburgh packages of papers were to pass as triple letters.[ ] in , when the scotch post was let out to farm, the english postmasters-general advised that the farmers should be obliged to pay at berwick the postage on english and foreign letters for scotland, and an order in accordance with this advice was signed by the king. it was the custom to change the farmers every three years, which may have produced a larger revenue but was certainly not calculated to increase the efficiency of the office. the english postmasters-general had great difficulty in collecting at berwick the postage due them, and it is doubtful whether a large part was ever paid. the frequent changes in the farmers must have been an excellent means of allowing them to escape their debts to the english.[ ] [ ] one shilling scotch was equal to one penny english. [ ] wm. iii, st parl., th session (scotland), c. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , ; - , . it has been customary to point to the postage rates of as lower than any before the nineteenth century. this is true in a general way, but one limitation to the statement is generally overlooked. before all posts ran to or from london, and it was not until well on in the eighteenth century that the system of cross posts was introduced. bristol and exeter are less than eighty miles apart, but a letter from bristol to exeter went to london first and from there to exeter, travelling about miles to reach a town eighty miles distant. now by the act of , the rate for distances above miles was _d._ thus the letter paid _d._ from bristol to london and _d._ more from london to exeter, _d._ in all. if there had been a direct post from bristol to exeter, and there was not until , the postage would have been _d._ only. the possibility of such an anomaly as this must be kept in mind in considering the low rates of the seventeenth century. in james the second's reign, a post office had been established in jamaica, and rates of postage had been settled not only in the island itself but between it and the mother country. this was a new departure, since at that time there were no packet boats to the west indies. the rate between england and jamaica was _d._ for a single letter, _s._ for a double letter, and _s._ an ounce. as the crown was not at the expense of maintaining means of transport, this was a pure tax.[ ] in , the postage on a single letter from the west indies was raised to - / _d._, for a double letter _d._, but dummer's packets were then in operation.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , . _single letter_ _double letter_ _per ounce_ rates to the islands were _d._ _d._ _d._ in increased to rates from the islands in --stow's _london_, bk. v, p. . in , a system of posts had been established in the american colonies between the largest towns on the atlantic coast. all that is known about the rates is that the charge for the conveyance of a letter between boston and new york was _s._ and the post went weekly between those places.[ ] hamilton, the deputy manager, proposed that letters from england should be sent in sealed bags entrusted to the masters of ships. the bags were to be handed over to the postmaster of the port where the ship first touched and the captain was to receive a penny for each letter. he advised that the following rates should be adopted:-- not exceeding miles from new york _d._ from to miles from new york to and from boston and new york, miles jersey, miles philadelphia, miles annapolis, miles jamestown, miles new york and annapolis, miles jamestown, miles (with many dangerous places to cross by ferry) these rates were said to be too high and were not adopted, "it being found that cheap postage greatly encourages letter writing, as is shown by the reduction in england from _d._ to _d._"[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] joyce, p. ; _cal. t. p._, - , . the preamble to the act of offered as an explanation of an increase in rates the necessity for money for the war and the prevention of private competition in carrying letters. it is plain that higher rates will, up to a certain point, increase proceeds, though not proportionately, but how increased rates can decrease competition is more difficult to explain. witherings had found that the cheaper he made postage, the less fear was there from interlopers. it is possible that the framers of the bill had intended to use part of the increase in revenue for the support of searchers, but no such provision is contained in the act itself.[ ] on the ground that a large revenue was necessary, no fault can be found with the increase. it is probably true that in course of time lower rates would have increased the product more than higher, but war and its demands wait for no man. the people who could write and who needed to write were in a small minority then, and their number could not for a long time be influenced by lower rates. what was needed at once was money and the only way to raise it by means of the post office was the one adopted. [ ] joyce, p. . the rates for single letters within england and between england and edinburgh were increased by a penny for a single letter; for double letters and parcels in proportion. to dublin the charge remained the same, and the rates within ireland were not changed. in the act of , the postage on letters delivered in scotland had been reckoned from berwick. edinburgh was now made the centre and the rates were as follows:-- _for a single letter_ _per ounce_ from edinburgh within scotland _d._ _d._ not exceeding miles above and not exceeding miles above miles [ ] [ ] double letters were charged twice as much as single letters. the rates within scotland were lower than those within england and ireland. scotland had a _d._ rate for distances not exceeding fifty miles. england had no rate under _d._, except for the penny post. ireland, too, had a _d._ rate for distances not exceeding forty miles, but for distances from forty to eighty miles and over, the rate for irish letters was _d._, while in england the rate was only _d._ for distances not exceeding eighty miles. the distances which letters travelled within scotland were shorter than in england and ireland. as a rule the different rates for the three countries varied with their wealth and consequent ability to pay, the least being required from poverty-stricken scotland. the new rates as compared with the old were for a single letter:[ ]-- _for england_ not exceeding miles _d._ _d._ above miles between london and edinburgh between london and dublin _within ireland_ not exceeding miles from dublin _d._ _d._ above miles from dublin _within scotland (scotch act, )_ not exceeding miles from edinburgh _d._ _d._ from to miles from edinburgh from to miles from edinburgh above miles from edinburgh above miles from edinburgh [ ] when the rates for single letters only are given it is understood that double and triple letters paid two and three times as much respectively. letters weighing an ounce or more paid a single letter rate for each quarter of an ounce. the act of imposed rates on letters in scotland from berwick as a centre. by that act rates had been fixed for distances not exceeding miles and for distances over forty miles from berwick, being _d._ and _d._ for single letters for the respective distances, so that by the act of , the scotch rates were lower than they had been in and slightly higher than those of . when forty miles was made the lowest distance according to which rates were levied, it was thought and intended that _d._, the rate for that distance, would pay for a single letter from berwick to edinburgh. as a matter of fact, the distance between the two places was fifty miles, so that the scotch act had estimated it better. in the rates as given above, an exception is made in the case of letters directed on board ship or brought by it. for such letters one penny was charged in addition to the rates already given. this extra penny was charged because the postmaster in the place where the ship first touched was required to pay the master of the vessel one penny for every letter received. foreign letters collected or delivered at any place between london and the port of departure or arrival of the ship for which they were destined or by which they had come, must pay the same rate as if they had left or arrived in london. as far as foreign post rates were concerned they were all from _d._ to _d._ higher than they had been by the act of . the lowest foreign rate for a single letter, _d._, was paid between london and france, and london and the spanish netherlands. to germany and northwestern europe, through the spanish netherlands, the rate was _d._, to italy or sicily the same way _d._, postpaid to antwerp, or _d._ via lyons. the same rates held for letters passing through the united provinces. to spain or portugal via the spanish netherlands or the united provinces or france, postpaid to bayonne, the rate was _d._ for a single letter, and the same price held when letters were conveyed directly by sailing packets. by the same act of rates were for the first time established between england and her colonies and within the colonies themselves. the postage for a single letter from london to any of the west india islands was _d._, to new york _d._, and the same from those places to london. between the west indies and new york the rate was _d._ in the colonies on the mainland, the chief letter offices were at new york, perth amboy, new london, philadelphia, bridlington, newport, portsmouth, boston, annapolis, salem, ipswich, piscataway, williamstown, and charleston. the postage was _d._ to and from any of these places to a distance not exceeding sixty miles and _d._ for any distance between sixty and miles. between new york, perth amboy, and bridlington, the rate was _d._; between new york, new london, and philadelphia _d._; between new york, newport, portsmouth, and boston _d._; between new york, salem, ipswich, piscataway, and williamstown _d._; between new york and charleston _d._; the post office was to pay nothing for crossing ferries. there had always been trouble in collecting the rates on bye and cross post letters. these letters did not pass through london and hence the officials at the general post office had no check on the money due. by a clause in the act, the postmasters were ordered under a penalty to account for the receipts from all these letters. the postage on letters which did not pass to, through, or from london was fixed according to the inland charges, varying with the distances travelled. finally, the postage on all inland letters was to be paid on delivery unless the sender wished to pay in advance, or in the case of the penny post, or unless such letters should be directed on board any ship or vessel or to any person in the army. from the receipts from postage, £ a week was to be paid into the exchequer for the purpose of carrying on the war. the accountant-general was to keep account of all money raised, the receipts themselves going directly to the receiver-general and being paid into the exchequer by him. one third of the surplus over and above the weekly payment of £ and £ , (the amount of the gross receipts of the duties arising by virtue of the act of ) were to be disposed of by parliament. in making this provision, joyce thinks that the chancellor of the exchequer confused gross and net product.[ ] as a matter of fact there was no such surplus as was anticipated by the chancellor, but it does not follow that he made the mistake of which he was accused by cornwallis and craggs, an accusation in which joyce evidently concurs. he erred simply in supposing that expenses would remain the same.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] anne, c. . the act of in prescribing the rate of postage for the carriage of "every single letter or piece of paper" enacted that a "double letter should pay twice that rate." the merchants contended that a double letter was composed of two sheets of paper if they weighed less than an ounce and their reasoning was logical. they argued from this that a letter enclosing a pattern or patterns, if it weighed less than one ounce, should pay only as a single letter. actions were brought against the postmasters by the merchants for charging more than they considered was warranted and the merchants won every case. the lawyers also threatened legal proceedings for the charge of writs when enclosed in letters. the postmasters-general hastened to parliament for relief. the merchants heard of this, and petitions were sent to the house of commons from "clothiers, dealers in cloth, silk, and other manufactured goods," asking that when samples were enclosed in a single letter the rate should remain the same provided that such letter and sample did not exceed half an ounce in weight.[ ] their efforts were fruitless. the following provisions were inserted in a tobacco bill then before parliament and passed in : "that every writ etc. enclosed in a letter was to pay as a distinct letter and that a letter with one or more patterns enclosed and not exceeding one ounce in weight was to pay as a double letter."[ ] as a matter of fact all the rates collected after by virtue of the act of were illegal, for the act itself had died a natural death in the former year by that clause which provided for the revival of the rates of at the end of thirty-two years. [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , pp. - . [ ] geo. iii, c. , secs. , . a postal act was passed in , slightly changing the home, colonial, and foreign rates. the cession of territory in north america had made necessary a more comprehensive scheme of postage rates there. the conclusion of the seven years' war had made it possible to offer a slight reduction in postage. in great britain the following rates were published for short distances for a single letter:-- for great britain--not exceeding one post stage _d._ for england alone--over one and not exceeding two stages _d._ the rates for all other distances remained unchanged. a stage, as a rule, varied from ten to twelve miles in length, so that every post town in england could now boast a modified form of penny postage, with the exception in most cases of delivery facilities. the changes in colonial rates were generally in the shape of substituting general for special rules. the rate from any part of the british american dominions to any other part was fixed at _d._ for a single letter when conveyed by sea. the act of had given the postage from and to specially named places. this method had become inapplicable with the growth in population among the old and the increase in new possessions. the rate for a single letter from any chief post office in the british american dominions to a distance not exceeding sixty miles, or for any distance not exceeding sixty miles from any post office from which letters did not pass through a chief post office, was placed at _d._, from sixty to miles _d._, from to miles _d._, for each additional hundred miles _d._ the effect of this act was to continue the same rates for inland postage in british america, while rates were provided for distances over miles. the postage between england and the american colonies remained at _d._ for a single letter. in the case of the west indies, there was a decrease of _d._ a clause of the act provided that the postage on letters sent out of england might be demanded in advance.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . the principle of payment in advance was not popular. a man in england writing to his brother in virginia in says, "very often of late i have been so foolish, i should say unfortunate previously to pay for the letters coming to you.... to my great concern i have been since assured that such letters never go forward but are immediately thrown aside and neglected. i believe i wrote to you three or four times this last winter by this method and am since informed of this their fate. you may form a great guess of the truth of it by or by not receiving them" (_notes and queries_, th ser., xii, p. ). postage rates were increased steadily from for twenty-eight years, culminating in the year with the highest rates that england has ever seen. every available means to raise the revenue necessary to maintain her supremacy was resorted to, and the post office was compelled to bear its share of the burden. in another penny was added to the rates for single letters and additional rates for double and triple letters in proportion.[ ] three years later an act was passed, fixing the postage for the conveyance of a single letter by sailing packet from milford haven to waterford at _d._ over and above all other rates. it was provided by the same act that the rates between london and ireland via milford should not exceed the rates via holyhead.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, sess. , c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . in a rate of _d._ for a single letter was established between whitehaven (cumberland) and the port of douglas (isle of man) ( geo. iii, c. ). in the rates for letters conveyed within england and wales, berwick, to and from portugal, and to and from the british possessions in america, as established by the acts of , , and , were repealed and the following substituted for a single letter:-- _within england, wales and berwick._ _d._ not exceeding miles from place where letter is posted from to miles, etc. over miles, etc. _within scotland._ in addition to rates in force the old system of reckoning by stages was thus abolished, probably on account of the uncertainty as to the length of any particular stage and the variations and changes which were being constantly made. this change was made for england and wales only, and the old system of reckoning by stages was still retained in scotland. letters from and to the colonies had formerly paid no postage over the regular shilling rate for a single letter and proportionately for other letters. now they were to pay the full inland rate in addition. a single letter from the west indies would now pay the shilling packet rate plus the rate from falmouth to london, _s._ _d._ in all. the same rates and the same rule held for letters to and from portugal. a single letter from lisbon had formerly paid _s._ _d._ on delivery in london. it would now pay _s._ _d._ this act was not to affect letters to and from non-commissioned officers, privates, and seamen while in active service, who were allowed to send and receive letters for one penny each, payable in advance. the revenue arising from the new and the unrepealed rates was to be paid to the receiver-general and be by him carried to the consolidated fund. the increase from the additional postage was estimated at £ , a year and was to be used to pay the interest on loans contracted the preceding year.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . when sailing packets were established between weymouth and the islands of jersey and guernsey, the packet rates and the rates between the islands themselves were fixed at _d._ for a single letter. permission was also given to establish postal routes in the islands, and to charge the same postage for the conveyance of letters as in england. the surplus was to go to the general office and all postal laws then in force in england were to be deemed applicable to the two islands.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . by the same act which gave the postmasters-general authority to forward letters by vessels other than the regular sailing packets, rates were fixed for the carriage of such letters. for every single letter brought into the kingdom by these vessels, _d._ was to be charged. the postmasters-general might order such rates to be payable in advance or on delivery. this was in addition to the inland postage, and for every letter handed over to the post office, the captain was to receive _d._ the revenue arising from this act was payable to the exchequer.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . in the post office was called upon again to make a further contribution to the exchequer to help meet the interest on new loans. the following were the new rates for a single letter:-- _within great britain by the general post_ _d._ not exceeding measured miles above but not exceeding measured miles _d._ for every miles above miles an additional rate of where the distance above miles did not amount to miles an additional rate of where the distance above miles exceeded miles and for every excess of distance over miles an additional rate of by the act of a uniform rate of _d._ for a single letter had been paid for distances over miles. the new act not only imposed extra rates for all distances over miles but it decreased the distances above miles for which the old postage would have paid. for instance, a _d._ rate had carried a single letter miles, a _d._ rate miles. they now carried only and miles respectively. on letters to and from places abroad, "not being within his majesty's dominions," an additional rate of _d._ for a single letter was imposed.[ ] in london, where a penny had been charged for the conveyance of letters by the penny post, _d._ was now charged. an additional rate of _d._ for a single letter was imposed upon letters passing between great britain and ireland via holyhead or milford. the postmasters-general were given authority to convey letters to and from places which were not post towns for such sums for extra service as might be agreed upon. merchants' accounts and bills of exchange which, when sent out of the kingdom or conveyed into it, had not formerly been charged postage over the letters in which they were enclosed, were now to be rated as letters.[ ] [ ] when the temporary peace of amiens was concluded in , the rates for single letters from london to france were reduced to d., from london to the batavian republic to _d._ ( geo. ii, c. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. . in , the following rates were imposed within ireland for a single letter:-- _d. (irish)_[ ] not exceeding irish miles from to irish miles exceeding irish miles the postage on letters arriving in ireland for the distance travelled outside ireland was ordered to be collected by the irish postmaster-general and forwarded to london. an additional penny was imposed upon dublin penny post letters crossing the circular road around dublin.[ ] [ ] the irish penny was of the same value as the english penny. [ ] geo. iii, c. . in , for the third time within ten years, the exchequer fell back upon the post office for an increase of revenue estimated at £ , .[ ] there were added to the rates as already prescribed-- _d._ for a single letter, _d._ for a double letter, _d._ for a triple letter, and _d._ for a letter weighing as much as one ounce, for all letters conveyed by the post in great britain or between great britain and ireland. the postage on a single letter from london to brighton was thus raised from _d._ to _d._, from london to liverpool from _d._ to _d._, and from london to edinburgh from _d._ to _d._ twopenny post letters paid _d._ if sent beyond the general post delivery limits, while newspapers paid _d._ on every letter passing between great britain and a foreign country _d._ more was to be paid. an additional penny was charged for every single letter between great britain and the british american dominions via portugal, and between great britain, the isle of man and jersey and guernsey.[ ] in the same year the irish rates were also increased by the imposition of an additional penny upon each single letter with corresponding changes in the postage on double and triple letters. the dublin penny post was left untouched, its boundaries being defined as contained within a circle of four miles radius, with the general post office building as the centre. every letter from any ship within irish waters was charged a penny in addition to the increased rates.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, st ser., iii, col. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . still the demand was for more money to help replenish an exhausted treasury. an additional penny was added for the conveyance of a single letter more than twenty miles beyond the place where the letter was posted within great britain and between great britain and ireland. for the conveyance of a single letter between great britain and any of the colonies or to any foreign country an additional _d._ was required. these additional rates did not apply to letters to and from jersey or guernsey, or to and from any non-commissioned officer, soldier, or sailor.[ ] samples weighing no more than one ounce were to pay _d._ if enclosed in a letter, if not enclosed, _d._ as this is the highest point to which postage rates in england have ever attained, it may be interesting to give the rates resulting from this act in tabular form as far as the postage for inland single letters was concerned.[ ] _d._ not exceeding miles above but not exceeding miles miles [ ] single letters written by or to non-commissioned officers, privates, and seamen must be on their own business, and if sent by them must bear their own signatures and the signature of their superior officer with the name of their regiment or ship ( geo. iii, c. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. . in , the rate for a single letter between falmouth and gibraltar was fixed at _d._, between falmouth and malta _d._, between gibraltar and malta _d._ ( geo. iii, c. ). in , the rate for a single letter between falmouth and madeira was fixed at _d._, between falmouth and brazil _d._ ( geo. iii, c. ). in , an additional penny (irish) was added to the rates then in force in ireland, with the exception of the penny rate on the dublin penny post letters.[ ] three years later the rates and distances for ireland were changed again. as compared with the old rates they were as follows, both tables being in irish miles and irish currency and for single letters only:-- [ ] geo. iii, c. . _d._ _d._ not exceeding miles not exceeding miles from to miles from to miles exceeding miles over miles the rates of were lower for distances not exceeding forty miles, higher for distances over eighty miles. on the whole there was little change, but the later rates were probably more easily borne as they were lower for short distances.[ ] the next year the rates and distances for ireland were changed again, the result being an increase both for short and for long distances. the results are shown in the following table in irish miles and irish currency and for a single letter:[ ]-- not exceeding miles _d._ over and not exceeding miles for every miles over miles [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . in an additional half-penny was demanded on all scotch letters "because the mail coaches now paid toll in that country." so at least a correspondent to the _times_ says (london _times_, , june , p. ). in the postage on a single letter brought into the kingdom by ships other than the regular packets was raised from _d._ to _d._ in addition to the regular inland rates. the rate for letters sent out of the kingdom by these vessels was fixed at one third the regular packet rates.[ ] an exception was made in the case of letters carried by war vessels or by vessels of the east india company to and from the cape of good hope, mauritius, and that part of the east indies embraced in the charter of the company. the rates by these vessels were to be the same as the regular packet rates, _d._ for a single letter between those places and england, and _d._ for a single letter between the places themselves. newspapers were charged _d._ an ounce between england, the cape, mauritius, and the east indies. the rate for a single letter conveyed in private vessels not employed by the post office to carry mails was _d._ from england to the cape or the east indies, and _d._ from the cape or the east indies to england. the company was allowed to collect rates on letters within its own territory in india, but the postmasters-general of england might at any time establish post offices in any such territory. the company was to be paid for the use of its ships in conveying letters.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . enacted for ireland the following year ( geo. iii, c. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. . this act, although repealed for great britain by geo. iii, c. , still remained in force in ireland ( and wm. iv, c. ). by the ship letter act of , no letters were to be sent by private ships except such as had been brought to the post office to be charged. the directors of the east india company had protested against this section of the act. it is true that they were allowed to send and receive letters by the ships of their own company, but in india there was a small army of officials in their service whose letters had hitherto gone free. for that matter it had been the custom for the company to carry for nothing all letters and papers which were placed in the letter box at the east india house.[ ] petitions were presented against an attempt on the part of the post office to charge postage on letters to and from india when conveyed by private vessels.[ ] the company refused to allow its vessels to be used as packet boats or even to carry letters at all. it was in consequence of all this opposition that the act of was passed, giving more favourable treatment to letters to and from india. by this act no person sending a letter to india was compelled to have it charged at the post office and the masters were compelled to carry letters if the postmasters-general ordered them. the company now withdrew all opposition and even refused to accept any payment for the use of their vessels in conveying letters.[ ] notwithstanding the favourable exception made in the case of letters to and from the east indies, there was still discontent over the high rates charged by the post office for the conveyance of letters by the regular packet boats and by private vessels, when carrying letters entrusted to the post office.[ ] in the sea postage on any letter or package not exceeding three ounces in weight from ceylon, mauritius, the cape, and the east indies was placed at _d._ if it exceeded three ounces in weight, it was charged _d._ an ounce. the sea postage on letters and packages to ceylon, etc., not exceeding three ounces in weight, was placed at _d._ if the weight was more than three ounces, the charge was _d._ an ounce. the postage on letters and packages from england was payable in advance. newspapers were charged a penny an ounce.[ ] [ ] london _times_, , oct. , p. ; , jan. , p. . [ ] _parl. deb._, st ser., xxx, col. ; xxxi, col. . [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] the _calcutta monthly_ complained that the new rates had rendered correspondence less frequent. "the so-called packet boats are often two or three months slower than private vessels" (london _times_, , oct. , p. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. ; london _times_, , jan. , p. . by an act passed in it was provided that henceforth all rates for letters conveyed within ireland should be collected in british currency. the rates themselves and the distances remained the same as had been provided by the act of . the postage collected on letters between the two kingdoms was henceforth to be retained in the country where it was collected. the rates for letters passing between the two kingdoms were assimilated with the rates prescribed for great britain by the act of . in addition to the land rates, d. was required for the sea passage to and from holyhead and milford and to this _d._ more was added for the use of the conway and menai bridges.[ ] between portpatrick and donaghadee the postage was _d._ for a single letter, between liverpool and any irish port _d._, but no letter sent via liverpool paid a higher rate than if sent via holyhead.[ ] an additional halfpenny was also demanded on every single letter passing between milford haven and waterford, to pay for improvements.[ ] [ ] and geo. iv, c. . the postage between liverpool and dublin for a single letter was _d._, made up as follows:-- inland postage to holyhead _d._ for the conway bridge _d._ " " menai " _d._ sea postage _d._ ----- _d._ in , the sea rate between portpatrick and donaghadee had been raised by _d._ for a single letter, between liverpool and the port of douglas by _d._ ( geo. iv, c. ; geo. iv, c. ). [ ] and geo. iv, c. ; and geo. iv, c. , secs. - ; geo. iv, c. . [ ] and wm. iv, c. . in , england and france signed a postal treaty by which the rates on letters between the united kingdom and france or between any other country and the united kingdom through france were materially reduced.[ ] on such letters the method of reckoning postage differed from the english rule and was as follows: one sheet of paper not exceeding an ounce in weight and every letter not exceeding one quarter of an ounce were single letters. every letter with one enclosure only and not exceeding an ounce in weight was a double letter. every letter containing more than one enclosure and not exceeding half an ounce was a double letter. if it exceeded half an ounce but not an ounce in weight, it was a triple letter. if it exceeded an ounce, it paid as four single letters and for every quarter of an ounce above one ounce it paid an additional single letter rate.[ ] the sender of a letter from great britain to france had the option of prepaying the whole postage, british and foreign, or the british alone, or neither.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , l. . rates on foreign letters before, and after the french treaty:-- _between england and_ _before_ _after_ france _d._ _d._ italy } turkey } ionian isles } spain by packet portugal via france by packet germany via france switzerland holland belgium russia } prussia } norway } sweden } _between england and_ _before_ _after_ denmark } germany } _d._ _d._ gibraltar malta } ionian isles } greece } egypt } brazil buenos ayres madeira mexico } havana } colombia } san domingo united states } and foreign } west indies } [ ] this followed to a certain extent the french system of charging postage, which depended more upon weight and less upon the number of enclosures than the english method. [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . in , an act of parliament was passed, consolidating previous acts for the regulation of postage rates within great britain and ireland, between great britain and ireland, and between the united kingdom and the colonies and foreign countries. the rates within great britain remained the same as those established by the act of , including the additional half penny on letters conveyed by mail coaches in scotland. in ireland the rates existing since still held and between great britain and ireland the rates established by and geo. iv, c. . the rates for letters between the united kingdom and foreign countries through france and those conveyed directly between the united kingdom and france remained the same as had been agreed upon by the treaty of . some of the more important of the other rates were as follows:-- to italy, sicily, venetian lombardy, malta, the ionian islands, greece, turkey, the levant, the archipelago, syria, and egypt through belgium, holland, or germany, _d._ for a single letter. between the united kingdom and portugal, _d._ for a single letter. _single letter_ to or from gibraltar _d._ to or from malta, the ionian islands, greece, syria, and egypt _d._ between gibraltar (not having been first conveyed there from the united kingdom) and malta, the ionian islands, greece, syria, or egypt[ ] _d._ between the united kingdom and madeira _d._ between the united kingdom and the west indies, colombia, and mexico _d._ between the united kingdom and brazil _d._ between the united kingdom and buenos ayres _d._ between the united kingdom and san domingo _d._ between the british west indies and colombia or mexico _d._ [ ] in , it was enacted that the postage on a single letter (not from the united kingdom or going there) between any two mediterranean ports or from a mediterranean port to the east indies should be _d._ via the red sea or persian gulf. the gibraltar rate remained the same ( and vict., c. ). letters between the united kingdom and germany, belgium, holland, switzerland, spain, sweden, and norway were charged in addition the same postage as if they had been sent from or to london. letters from and to france paid no additional postage. all letters to and from non-commissioned officers, privates and seamen while in actual service were still carried for one penny each, payable in advance, but letters sent by them from ceylon, the east indies, mauritius, and the cape were charged an additional _d._ payable by the receiver.[ ] [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . after the transference of the packet boats to the admiralty in , the postmaster-general was authorized to charge regular packet rates for the conveyance of letters by such ships as he had contracted with for such conveyance. he might also forward letters by any ships and collect the following rates for each single letter:-- when the letter was posted in the place from which the ship sailed except when sailing between great britain and ireland _d._ if posted anywhere else in the united kingdom _d._ between great britain and ireland in addition to inland rates _d._ for a single letter coming into the united kingdom except from ceylon, the east indies, mauritius, and the cape in addition to inland rates _d._ for letters from ceylon, the east indies, mauritius, and the cape in addition to inland rates-- if not exceeding ounces in weight _d._ if exceeding ounces in weight _d._ an oz. for letters delivered to the post office to be sent to ceylon, the east indies, mauritius, and the cape in addition to all inland rates-- if not exceeding ounces in weight _d._ if exceeding ounces in weight _d._ an oz.[ ] [ ] wm. iv and i vict., c. . the end of high postage rates was now at hand. in , the treasury was empowered to change the rating according to the weight of the letter or package,[ ] and they proceeded to do so in the case of letters from one country to another passing through the united kingdom, between any two colonies, between any south american ports, and between such ports and madeira and the canaries.[ ] parliament followed up the good work in by enacting that in future all letters, packages, etc. should be charged by weight alone, according to the following scheme:-- on every letter or package, etc.-- not exceeding / ounce in weight, one rate of postage. exceeding / ounce but not exceeding ounce, rates of postage. " " " " ounces, " " " ounces " " " " " " " " " " " " " " " for every ounce above four ounces, two additional rates of postage, and for every fraction of an ounce above four ounces as for one additional ounce. no letter or package exceeding one pound in weight was to be sent through the post office except petitions and addresses to the queen, or to either house of parliament, or in such cases as the treasury lords might order by warrant.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. . [ ] _acc. & p._, , xxvi, , pp. - . [ ] additional exceptions were made later in the case of . reissuable country bank notes delivered at the general post office in london. . deeds, legal proceedings and papers. . letters to and from places beyond the seas. . letters to and from any government office or department (or to and from any person having the franking privilege by virtue of his office). _acc. & p._ , xxvi, , p. . on all letters not exceeding a half-ounce in weight transmitted by the post between places in the united kingdom (not being letters sent to or from places beyond the seas, or posted in any post town to be delivered within that town) there was charged a uniform rate of one penny. for all letters exceeding a half-ounce in weight, additional rates were charged according to the foregoing scheme, each additional rate for letters exceeding one ounce in weight being fixed at _d._[ ] [ ] double rates were charged when the postage was paid on delivery. the rates for colonial letters were also adjusted according to weight as follows: between any place in the united kingdom and any port in the colonies and india (except when passing through france) for a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight, _s._ between any of the colonies through the united kingdom, _s._ if such letters exceeded half an ounce in weight, they were charged additional rates according to the table already given, the rate for a letter not exceeding half an ounce being taken as the basis. the rates for letters to and from foreign countries were much the same as they had been before the passage of this act, except that instead of the initial charge being made for a single letter, it was now reckoned for a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight. the rates for letters to and from france were graded according to the distance they were carried in england, the lowest rate for a letter not more than half an ounce in weight being _d._ to dover or the port of arrival, the highest rate being _d._ to any place distant more than fifty miles from dover.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. . the franking privilege may reasonably be considered in connection with the history of postal rates, nor should its effect in reducing the revenue of the post office be neglected. the council of state gave orders in that all public packets, letters of members of parliament, of the council, of officers in the public service, and of any persons acting in a public capacity should be carried free. this is the first record that we have concerning the free carriage of members' letters, a privilege which later gave so much trouble and was so much abused.[ ] the next year the post office farmers agreed to carry free all letters to and from members of parliament provided that letters written by such members as were not known by their seals should be endorsed, "these are for the service of the commonwealth," and signed by the members themselves or their clerks.[ ] nothing was said in the act of about the conveyance of the letters of members of parliament and they were carried free only by act of grace. the house of commons had passed a clause of the bill providing for the free conveyance of the letters of members of their own house. this had exasperated the lords, who, since they could not amend the clause so as to extend the privilege to themselves, had dropped it.[ ] in , the attention of cotton and frankland was called to the manner in which franking was being abused. men claimed the right to frank letters to whom the postmasters-general denied it, and members of parliament were accused of bad faith in the exercise of their privilege. the custom had arisen of enclosing private letters in the packet of official letters. a warrant was issued in to the effect that in future no letters were to go free except those on the king's affairs, and the only persons to send or receive them free were the two principal secretaries of state, the secretary for scotland, the secretary in holland, the earl of portland, and members of parliament, the latter only during the session, and for forty days before and after, and for inland letters alone. each member was to write his name in a book with his seal so that no one might be able to counterfeit his signature.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _parliamentary history of england_, iv ( - ), col. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . we learn from hicks' letters that it was customary for clerks in the post office at london to send gazettes to their correspondents in the country free of charge. these gazettes or news letters were supplied by the treasury and, as _d._ or _d._ apiece was paid for them by the recipients, the privilege was greatly esteemed.[ ] the deputy postmaster-general wished to abolish the privilege, but hicks himself, who was one of the favoured officials, was quite indignant at the suggestion.[ ] the principle was bad, but as the receipts for gazettes formed a necessary part of the clerks' salaries, hicks cannot be blamed for protesting against abolition without compensation. james ii expressed a desire that the practice should be discontinued, but when it was shown to him that the salaries of the clerks must be raised if his wishes were obeyed, his proposition was promptly withdrawn.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , pp. , , , . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . the abuses of the privilege of franking were very pronounced during the eighteenth century. the system of patronage which the members of parliament then exercised made them reluctant to offend any of their constituents, who might entrench upon their peculiar privileges. members' names were forged to letters and they made no complaint. letters from the country were sent to them to be re-addressed under their own signatures. the postmasters-general admonished them more than once, but, as a rule, the members disclaimed all knowledge of abuses. men were so bold as to order letters to be sent under a member's name to coffee-houses, where they presented themselves and demanded the letters so addressed. in , on receiving renewed complaints from the postmasters-general, it was ordered by the house that henceforth no member should frank a letter unless the address were written entirely in his own hand. this was expected to prevent members from franking letters sent to them by friends. it was also ordered that no letter addressed to a member should pass free unless such member was actually residing at the place to which the letter was addressed. in the third place, no member was to frank a newspaper unless it was entirely in print. this was to prevent the franking of long written communications passing as newspapers, for the members of parliament in sending and receiving letters free were restricted to such as did not exceed two ounces in weight, but they were not so restricted in the case of newspapers.[ ] according to the surveyor's report, the loss from the ministers' franks in was £ and from the members' franks £ , .[ ] the loss from franking was proportionately much greater in ireland than in england. in the irish parliament sat only three months, in nine months, and in ireland as in england, members of parliament received and sent their letters free only during the session and forty days before and after it. the following is part of the report submitted by the postmasters-general to the lords of the treasury for these two years:-- gross produce from letters £ , £ , charge of management and members' letters , , net produce from letters[ ] , under the charges of management is included the charge for carrying members' letters as reckoned proportionately to the charge for the letters which paid, together with the actual charge for the pay letters. the net produce during the three months' session was £ , during the nine months' session only £ . in the old orders about the maximum weight of two ounces and the requirement for the whole superscription to be in the member's own writing were repeated in a royal proclamation. in addition it was ordered that any letters sent under cover to any member of parliament or high official of state, to be forwarded by him, should be sent to the general post office to be taxed.[ ] it could hardly be expected that this order would be obeyed, for there was no method of enforcing it. [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . in , the house of commons instituted an enquiry into the whole question of franking and summoned various post office officials before them to give evidence. an estimate was laid before them of the amount lost each year by carrying franked letters. this estimate was obtained by weighing the franked letters at intervals during the session of parliament, and comparing their weight with the weight of the letters which paid postage. as the total revenue from the latter was known, the amount which was lost on the former was guessed. the house expressed very little confidence in the estimated amounts, and certainly it was a rough way of attaining the object aimed at, but perhaps they were prejudiced from the strength of the case against them.[ ] expressed in yearly averages, the amounts by which the revenue was reduced by franking were:-- - £ , - , - , - , [ ] _ibid._, - . the system of ascertaining forged franks and of discovering enclosures was as follows: a supervisor of the franks charged all letters, franked by a member's name, coming from any place, when he knew that the member was not there. very often by holding them in front of a candle, he could see enclosures inside directed to other people. if he was in doubt he generally charged the letter, for if it should pay, all well and good, and if he had made a mistake, the amount was refunded to the member. the supervisor had noticed that the number of franked letters had increased with every session of parliament, and some of the ex-members also attempted to frank letters. the evidence of the supervisor, especially his description of the manner in which he attempted to discover enclosures, was exceedingly distasteful to the house. the members themselves were to blame for many of the abuses attendant upon the system, and yet they contended that they were the unwilling victims of others. a resolution was adopted that it was an infringement upon the privileges of the knights, citizens, and burgesses chosen to represent the people of great britain in parliament, for any postmaster, his deputies or agents to open or look into any letter addressed to or signed by a member of parliament, unless empowered so to do by a warrant issued by one of the secretaries of state. in addition no postmaster or his deputies should delay or detain any letter directed to or by any member unless there should be good reason to suppose that the frank was a counterfeit.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . the restrictions adopted to curtail the abuse of the franking privilege had but little effect. a regular business sprang up for selling counterfeit franks. the house of lords ordered one person accused of selling them to come before the bar of the house for examination, but he failed to present himself.[ ] another confessed before the upper house that he had counterfeited one of the lords' names on certain covers of letters showed to him and had then sold them. he expressed sorrow for the offence, which necessity had driven him to commit. he was sent to newgate.[ ] the abuses of the franking system were so patent[ ] that allen was told that he might withdraw from his contract to farm the bye and cross post letters on three months' notice being given.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. l._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] one man in five months counterfeited , franks of members of parliament. counterfeits of names of members were shown. a regular trade in buying and selling them had sprung up (_jo. h. c._, - , p. ). several lords certified that their names had been counterfeited. lord dacre's name had been counterfeited times (_jo. h. l._, - , p. ). [ ] _cal. t. b. & p._, - , p. . the revenue from the post office was surrendered by the crown at the beginning of george the third's reign in exchange for a civil list from the aggregate fund as it was then called.[ ] while the post office remained in the hands of the king, it was only by special grant on his part that the members of parliament had been allowed to send and receive letters free. accordingly in , an act was passed for the purpose of giving parliamentary sanction to the privilege. this act repeated the principal points in the king's proclamation and in the parliament's previous resolutions on the subject. all letters or packets sent to or by the king, the ministers and the higher post office officials were to go free. the ministers might appoint others to frank their letters, whose names must be forwarded to the postmaster-general. those sending letters free must sign their names on the outside and themselves write the address. no letters to or from any member of parliament should go free unless they were sent during the session or within forty days before or after, and the whole superscription must be in the member's own hand or directed to him at his usual place of residence or at the house. all letters in excess of two ounces in weight must pay postage. printed votes, proceedings in parliament, and newspapers should go free when sent to a member or signed on the outside by him, provided they were sent without covers or with covers open at the ends. the privileges of franking votes, proceedings in parliament, and newspapers, were continued to the clerks in the post office and in the secretaries of state's offices. the postmasters-general and their deputies were given authority to search newspapers which had no covers or covers open at the ends and to charge them if there were writing or enclosures in them. finally, any person who counterfeited a member's name on any letter or package for the purpose of avoiding the payment of postage, was guilty of felony and liable to transportation for seven years.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . the year following the passing of this act, the house of commons called for returns relating to the franking system. besides the members of parliament, the ministers, and the post office officials, to whom the franking privilege had been granted by the king's warrant and by the late act, almost all who were in any way connected with the government claimed the right to send or receive letters free, even to the deputy serjeant-at-arms. the amount which newspapers would have paid if there had been no franking privilege was first given for the week ending march , . _members'_ _states'_ _post office clerks'_ £ £ £ these amounts were obtained by weighing the newspapers and, as this was the manner in which they would have been rated, the results may be considered as fairly correct. the idea being to estimate the loss from members' and states' franks only, the franking by post office clerks does not enter into the following calculation. it was judged from the figures given above that the post office carried free every year enough newspapers franked by members and state officials to produce £ , if they had been taxed at the ordinary rates.[ ] an attempt to arrive at the same result in another way was also made. the sum total which would have been paid on all members' and ministers' letters, newspapers, and parcels arriving at or departing from london in was £ , . of this amount £ , would have been paid on all mail leaving london, and £ , on all mail arriving in london. the difference in favour of the outgoing mail was judged to be due to the newspapers, all of which were printed in london and sent to the country. this would give a loss of £ , on newspapers, and £ , on letters.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . returns were also submitted, showing the gross amount of the inland postage for great britain and ireland, including the amount which the franked letters and papers would have paid if they had all been charged, the actual gross product and the difference between the two. this difference would, of course, be the estimated charge on all the free matter. these figures are given from to . roughly speaking, in fifty years franked letters and papers increased per cent while pay letters increased only per cent. in one fifth as many free letters and newspapers as those which paid went through the mail. in there were eleven twelfths as many free letters and papers.[ ] it will be seen that the assumption is that the postage which this free matter might have paid represented the loss suffered by the post office. now this is not so, because it did not cost the post office so much to convey letters and papers as the ordinary rates would have paid them. in the second place the postal authorities considered the £ , as so much actually lost, whereas if charges had been enforced on the free matter, a much smaller amount would have been sent. this is entirely apart from the rough and ready manner in which the figures were obtained. enough was shown, however, to prove that the franking system was a burden to the country and an imposition upon the post office. [ ] _jo. h. c._, p. . in ireland, parliament met as a rule only during the even years or if it met every year, the sessions in the odd years were very short. for the five even years from to , the expenses averaged for each year £ over the receipts, while during the five odd years, the receipts were greater than the expenditures by a yearly average of £ . these general results held good for every individual odd or even year for the period for which returns were given.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . attempts continued to be made by members of the house of commons to diminish the abuses arising from franking. there had been some misunderstanding as to whether they were entitled to have ship's letters delivered free to them. of course they were exempt from the inland postage on such letters, but for every letter brought into the country by vessels other than packets, the master was paid one penny and this penny was collected from the person to whom the letter was delivered. the members finally agreed to pay the extra penny.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . acts were now introduced to enable the commander-in-chief, the adjutant-general, and the controller of accounts of the royal forces to receive and send letters free. both bills passed.[ ] it is some consolation that the lord chancellor and judges failed to obtain the franking privilege although a bill was introduced in the commons in their behalf.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . it was enacted in that a member must write on his free letters not only his name and address but also the name of the post town from which they were to be sent and the day of the month and the year when they were posted.[ ] the object of this restriction could be easily evaded by enclosing postdated letters to their constituents but, after the passage of this resolution, a considerable decrease resulted in the number of free letters to and from members.[ ] when the irish was separated from the english post office, the privilege of franking newspapers to ireland was taken away and a rate of one penny a newspaper was imposed, payable in advance. this meant a loss to the clerks in the secretaries' offices but this was made good to them by an addition of £ a year to their salaries.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . the lords also agreed to this resolution (ibid., p. ; geo. iii, sess. , c. ). [ ] for the years and , the number of free letters arriving in london, exclusive of the state's letters, averaged over , a year and those sent from london averaged over , , . in , they had fallen to , and , respectively (_parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, , p. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. ; _jo. h. c._, - , p. . in , the members of parliament made another attempt to limit their own as well as the free writing proclivities of others. the maximum weight of a free letter to or from a member was lowered from two ounces to one. no letter directed by a member should go free unless the member so directing it should be within twenty miles of the place where it was posted either on the day on which it was posted or the day before. no member should send more than ten or receive more than fifteen free letters a day. votes and proceedings in parliament when addressed to or by members of parliament were exempted from the provisions of this act.[ ] [ ] geo. iii, c. . after the number of franked letters had gradually increased until checked by this act. in the number of franked letters delivered in london was , , , the number sent from london , , . in , the inward and outward free letters amounted to , and , respectively. in the numbers were , and , . these restricting acts of and had a more important effect than joyce leads us to suppose (_parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, , p. ). the restrictions upon the franking privilege enjoyed by members of parliament were re-enacted in with some additions. the number of free letters which a member might receive and send in one day having been limited to twenty-five, it was decided that these twenty-five so excepted from the payment of postage should be those on which the charges were the highest, provided that none of them exceeded an ounce in weight. the high officials of state, the clerks of parliament, certain clerks of the commons and lords, the treasurer and paymaster of the navy, the lord chancellor, certain officials in ireland, and two persons appointed by the postmaster-general of ireland were allowed to send letters free.[ ] the members and clerks of both houses were allowed to send newspapers free provided that they were enclosed in covers open at both ends. the same rule held for votes and proceedings in parliament.[ ] the same franking privileges were extended to irish officials.[ ] [ ] those officials in the general post office who had no franking privilege were reimbursed the amount of postage paid by them on inland single letters (_rep. commrs._, , xxxiv, th rep., app., no. ). [ ] geo. iii, c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. . from to there was a large extension of the franking privilege to various officials. during that time sixteen statutes and parts of statutes were enacted in behalf of various persons from the lord high chancellor to the controller of the barrack's department and the commissioners of the parliamentary grant for building churches. sir robert buxton, a member of parliament, thought that it would be well for his fellow members to give up their privilege in order to help the finances of the country. windham disagreed on the ground that it kept up communications between a member and his constituents and encouraged literary correspondence which would otherwise decline. pitt justified it, in that it enabled members to carry on the important business of their constituents and did not result in much loss to the state.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, st ser., iii, col. . the following are a few of the statutes enacted which extended franking: geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. , sec. ; c. ; geo. iii, c. , sec. ; geo. iii, c. , sec. ; c. , sec. ; geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. , sec. ; c. , secs. - ; geo. iii, c. , sec. . it had always been customary to charge letter rates for the conveyance of newspapers to foreign countries and to the colonies. members of parliament, however, had the privilege of franking newspapers within the united kingdom, the clerks of the foreign office franked them to foreign countries, and the secretary of the post office franked them to the colonies. in it was enacted that members need no longer sign their names to newspapers franked by them, or give notice of the names of the places to which they intended to send them.[ ] this virtually provided for the free transmission of newspapers within the united kingdom. at the same time it was provided that the rate for newspapers, votes and parliamentary proceedings should be - / _d._ each to the colonies, payable in advance. newspapers from the colonies were charged _d._ each, payable on delivery. such newspapers must be posted on the day of publication, must contain no writing, and must be enclosed in covers open at both ends.[ ] two years later the charge for votes and parliamentary proceedings to and from the colonies was fixed at - / _d._ an ounce. newspapers brought from the colonies by private vessels were to be charged _d._ each, the same as the packet rate,[ ] but in colonial newspapers by private vessels were allowed to come in for a penny each, and the same rate was charged for english newspapers sent to the colonies by private vessels. by the same act the postage on newspapers passing between the united kingdom and any foreign country which charged no inland rate for their conveyance was fixed at a penny each. if an inland rate was charged, the postage was to be _d._ for each newspaper plus the foreign rate.[ ] [ ] geo. iv, c. , sec. . [ ] geo. iv, c. ; london _times_, , june , p. ; july , p. . [ ] and geo. iv, c. . [ ] and wm. iv, c. . before the passage of this act newspapers passed free by the packets and posts to and from hamburg, bremen, and cuxhaven (london _times_, , oct. , p. ). during the following year, all the regulations concerning the conveyance of newspapers, votes, and proceedings in parliament etc. were embodied in one act. within the united kingdom all newspapers which had paid the stamp duty were to go free except those which were sent through the twopenny post and delivered by it, not having passed by the general post, and except those posted and delivered within the same town. in both of these cases one penny was charged. to and from the colonies no rate was demanded when newspapers were sent by the regular packets. if sent by private vessels one penny was payable, which went to the master. the rate to and from foreign countries was fixed at _d._ for each paper, but if a foreign state agreed to charge no postage on english newspapers, no postage should be charged on the newspapers of such foreign state, when brought to england by the packet boats. if brought by private vessels, a penny was payable for each paper, to go to the master. all newspapers, in order to receive the advantage of these low rates or to go free, had to be posted within seven days after publication and to contain no writing except the name and address of the person to whom they were to be sent. in addition the newspaper must have no cover or one open at both ends.[ ] [ ] and wm. iv, c. . the following additions and changes in the regulations for the carriage of newspapers were made in . one penny was to be paid for their conveyance by private vessels between different parts of the united kingdom. between the colonies and foreign countries through the united kingdom, newspapers should go free if conveyed by the packets and should pay a penny each if conveyed by private vessels. parliamentary proceedings conveyed between the colonies and the united kingdom, if sent by packet boats and not exceeding one ounce in weight, were charged - / _d._ each. when in excess of one ounce they paid - / _d._ for each additional ounce. pamphlets, magazines and other periodical publications for the colonies, if not exceeding six ounces in weight, paid _d._ when carried by the packets. for every additional ounce, _d._ was charged. bankers' re-issuable notes were carried at one quarter the regular postage.[ ] patterns, with no writing enclosed and not exceeding one ounce in weight, paid a single letter rate.[ ] any newspaper which had been posted in violation of any regulation for the conveyance of newspapers was charged three times the regular letter postage.[ ] [ ] in great britain re-issuable notes of country banks paid in london were conveyed by the post to the issuing bank at one quarter the regular rates for letters, but parcels of notes had to exceed six ounces in weight and contain no other matter ( geo. iv, c. ). [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . [ ] wm. iv. and vict., c. . franking and the privilege of sending and receiving letters free from postage did not at any time extend to letters liable to foreign postage except in the case of public despatches to and from the secretaries of state and british ambassadors.[ ] the owners, charterers and consignees of vessels inward bound were allowed to receive letters free from sea postage to the maximum of six ounces for each man, but in the case of ships coming from the east indies, ceylon, mauritius, and the cape, the maximum was twenty ounces.[ ] within the kingdom, writs for the election of members of the house of commons and for those scotch and irish peers who were elected, were allowed to go free.[ ] all persons who were allowed to frank letters within the kingdom were grouped in ten classes. members of parliament were placed in the first class and their letters were subject to the old restrictions as to number,[ ] superscription, name of post town, date, and place of residence. they might also receive petitions free, provided that each did not exceed six ounces in weight. they might send free printed votes and proceedings in parliament. [ ] and wm. iv, c. . [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . maximum increased to thirty ounces by wm. iv and vict., c. . [ ] geo. iii, c. ; wm. iv and vict., c. . [ ] wallace, the postal reformer, declared that other members had been in the habit of receiving more than fifteen free letters in a day and that, too, with freeling's consent (_parl. deb._, d series, xxiv, col. ). officials of both houses of parliament were in the second class. they were subject to the same restrictions as the first class, except that the number of their letters was not limited and each letter might weigh two ounces. the third class was composed of members of the treasury department and the postmaster-general and his secretaries. their franking privilege was unlimited as to the weight and number of letters nor were they required to insert the name of the post town or the date. the fourth class, composed of heads of departments, might send and receive letters with no limit as to number or weight. the fifth class, the lord chancellor of ireland and the irish surveyors, had unlimited franking rights within ireland. all the letters of these five classes were subject to the following restrictions with the exception of the third class. the whole superscription of the letters sent must be in the hand of the privileged person, with his name and the name of the post town from which the letters were sent together with the date, and on that date or the day before, the writer must be within twenty miles of the place where the letters were posted. the other five classes were made up of subordinate members of departments, clerks, secretaries etc. when writing or receiving letters on official business. every such letter had to be superscribed with the name of the office and the seal and name of the writer.[ ] [ ] wm. iv. and vict., c. . it appeared from a report of a committee appointed to investigate postal affairs that the total number of franks had increased from , , in to , , in ; , , in and , , in . of these, members of the two houses were responsible for , , ; , , ; , , and , , at the above dates respectively.[ ] in concluding their report the committee recommended the abolition of parliamentary franking.[ ] this advice was followed and improved upon two years later when franking and the privilege of sending or receiving letters free were abolished, except in the case of petitions to the queen or parliament not exceeding ounces in weight.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, d rep., app., p. . [ ] _ibid._, xx, d rep., p. . [ ] and vict., c. . recent attempts by certain members of parliament to revive the franking privilege have fortunately been unsuccessful (_parl. deb._, th ser., lxxxi, col. ; civ, col. ). no further reduction in inland postage rates was adopted until the net revenue of the post office had pretty well recovered from the blow received by the adoption of penny postage.[ ] such reduction was finally granted in , applying only to letters weighing more than one ounce each, the increases in weight being graduated by half ounces with a penny for each additional half ounce instead of _d._ for each additional ounce as before. corresponding reductions were made at the same time in the book post and the pattern and sample post, and were made applicable to correspondence with british north america and the british possessions in europe.[ ] in , when the impressed newspaper stamp was finally abolished, the rate on prepaid newspapers was reduced to a halfpenny each whether sent singly or in packages, but no package was to be charged higher than the book post rate. unpaid newspapers were charged a penny for each two ounces or fraction thereof. the book post rate was reduced at the same time to a halfpenny for each two ounces or fraction thereof. the rate for patterns and samples, which had formerly been _d._ for the initial four ounces, was altered to the existing book post rate with a maximum of twelve ounces only. in the inland letter rate was fixed at a penny for the initial ounce, a halfpenny for the next ounce and for each additional two ounces, and the sample and pattern post was incorporated with the inland letter post. a separate sample and pattern post was reëstablished in , only to be incorporated for a second time with the letter post ten years later.[ ] an additional charge for re-directed letters was made when the re-direction necessitated a change from the original delivery, but the charge was such only as they would be liable to if prepaid. an exception was made in the case of letters re-directed to sailors or soldiers, no additional charge being then made, provided that the rate was not a foreign one. this privilege was later extended to commissioned officers and the exemption extended to foreign rates as well.[ ] in all charges for the re-direction of letters were abolished, followed three years later by a like abolition in the case of all other postal matter, and in the charge for notice of removal and re-direction after the first year was reduced from £ _s._ to _s._ for the second and third and _s._ for subsequent years.[ ] [ ] but in the registration fee was reduced from _d._ to _d._ and a double fee charged for compulsory registration (_rep. p. g._, , pp. - ). [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , pp. - ; , p. ; , p. ; , pp. - . [ ] and vict., c. ; and vict., c. ; and vict., c. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. . with an increase in the number of valuable articles carried by post and better arrangements for their safe keeping, it was found possible to reduce the registration fee from _d._ to _d._, then to _d._ and eventually to _d._ at the time of the first reduction, a rule was issued for the compulsory registration by the post office of all letters unquestionably containing coin, for the sake of letter carriers and others rather than the protection of the public. the post office did not at the time of the first reduction hold itself responsible for the full value of the contents of a lost registered letter but was accustomed to remunerate the sender where the contents were proved, were of moderate amount, and the fault clearly lay with the post office. in it agreed to make good up to £ the value of the contents of any registered letter which it lost, stipulating in the case of money that it had been sent securely and in one of its own envelopes. compulsory registration by the post office was also extended to include uncrossed cheques and postal orders to which the name of the payee had not been appended.[ ] [ ] _rep._ p. g., , pp. - ; , p. ; , p. . an inland parcel post was not established in england until . an initial rate of _d._ was imposed for the first pound, increasing by increments of _d._ to _s._ for the seventh pound. later the maximum weight was increased to pounds, the maximum charge to _s._ _d._ in a further reduction followed on parcels weighing more than four pounds.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. . the use of postcards was first permitted in england in , a charge of a halfpenny a dozen being made in addition to the stamp. in this additional charge was increased to a penny a dozen for thin cards, _d._ for stout cards. in these prices were reduced to a penny for ten stout cards, a halfpenny for ten thin ones, and the latter began rapidly to displace the former. private post cards were first allowed to pass through the post in for a halfpenny each, and two years later the charge on unpaid inland post cards was reduced from _d._ to a penny.[ ] at the same time that the use of post cards was allowed, a half penny post was introduced for certain classes of formal printed documents.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . in the scale of postage applicable to inland letters between two and twelve ounces in weight was continued without limit. the resulting rates were as follows: for the first ounce, one penny; for two ounces, - / _d._; for all greater weights, a halfpenny for every two ounces plus an initial penny. on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the late queen's accession to the throne, further decreases were announced in the postage on inland letters. the weight carried by the initial penny was extended from one to four ounces, the postage for heavier letters increasing as before at the rate of a halfpenny for each additional two ounces.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , pp. - . the decrease in postage for inland matter was accompanied by lower rates for colonial and foreign letters. although the proposal of the marquis of clanricarde to establish a definite shilling[ ] rate for all colonial letters was not immediately adopted, it was not long before even lower rates were accepted. the marquis' plan was communicated to the treasury lords in purely on imperial grounds, "to strengthen the ties between the colonies and the mother country." rates other than those on letters were even then far from excessive. newspapers, for instance, often passed free or they were charged a penny each either in england or the colony, but not in both. parliamentary proceedings paid but one penny, sometimes _d._ per quarter-pound, books _d._ per half-pound. a few years later a _d._ letter rate was adopted for all parts of the empire except india, the cape, mauritius, and van diemen's land. in the _d._ rate per half-ounce was extended to all the colonies and in to the united states. in the following year this rate was lowered to _d._ for letters to the united states, canada and prince edward island.[ ] in this rate in the case of most of the colonies, and some foreign countries, was still further reduced to - / _d._, partly no doubt on account of the crusade which mr. heaton had undertaken for penny postage within the empire.[ ] in his penny aspirations were realized for all the important colonies with the exception of the australasian and south african, and in these too fell into line and were joined by egypt and the soudan.[ ] in , the experiment was tried of charging the comparatively nominal sum of one penny a pound on british newspapers, magazines, and trade journals for canada, duly registered for the purpose, when sent by direct canadian packet. this rate is less than the cost but the loss is diminished by the fact that the dominion government relieves the british post office of the whole cost of ocean transit by the canadian subsidized lines.[ ] [ ] even at this time ( ) the shilling rate was the rule. [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xcv., , pp. - ; _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , p. ; _rep. com._, - , vi, p. iv; _rep. p. g._, , app., p. ; , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; app., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . in arrangements were made with the principal european countries for a marked reduction in letter postage rates. with france a rate of _d._ or _d._ for a quarter of an ounce, according to the country in which the postage was paid, had existed. this was reduced to _d._ payable in either country. with italy and spain the existing rates of _s._ _d._ and _d._ respectively for a quarter of an ounce were reduced to _d._ the belgian sixpenny half-ounce rate was made _d._, and with the german postal union the rate was reduced from _d._ to _d._ for a half-ounce letter. in general these were prepaid rates.[ ] the first postal union meeting at berne in reduced still further the old rates and simplified the rules for the settlement of postal payments between the subscribing nations. a uniform rate for prepaid letters of - / _d._ the half ounce was agreed to, _d._ for an unpaid letter. post cards were charged at half the rate of a prepaid letter, newspapers a penny for four ounces, printed papers (other than newspapers), books, legal and commercial documents, and samples of merchandise a penny for two ounces.[ ] in the uniform letter rate existing among those countries in europe which were members of the postal union was extended, so far as the united kingdom was concerned, to all parts of the globe. on the first of october, , a further reduction was made when the unit of weight for outward foreign and colonial letters was raised from half an ounce to an ounce, and the charge on foreign letters for each unit after the first was reduced from - / _d._ to - / _d._[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , pp. - . shortly after acquiring the money order business from the managing proprietors, the post office reduced the rates of commission to _d._ for orders not exceeding £ in value, and _d._ for orders above £ but not over £ , the latter sum being at that time the maximum. in the issue of orders for larger sums was allowed at the following rates: _d._ when not in excess of £ , and _d._ between £ and £ . on the first day of may, , a further reduction was made and the following scale of charges announced: for sums under _s._, a penny; between _s._ and £ , _d._; between £ and £ , _d._, and an additional penny for each additional pound to the £ limit. it was found, however, that the low rate of a penny for small orders did not pay, and a decision was reached to raise the rate for these small orders and provide a cheaper means for their remittance by post. in pursuance of this policy the rate for orders under _s._ was increased to _d._, for orders between _s._ and £ to _d._, and in the following rates were announced for postal notes: a halfpenny for notes of the value of _s._ and _s._ _d._; a penny for notes of the value of _s._ _d._, _s._ and _s._, _d._ and _d._ for notes costing _s._, _s._ _d._, _s._, _s._ _d._, and _s._ in a new series of postal orders was issued, the _s._ _d._ and _s._ _d._ notes being dropped and new notes issued of the value of _s._, _s._, _s._ _d._, _s._, _s._ _d._, _s._ _d._ for a penny each and the rate on the _s._ and _s._ notes was reduced to - / _d._ in still others were introduced with the result that a postal order may now be obtained for every complete _d._ from _d._ to _s._ and for _s._ and broken sums to the value of _d._ may be made up by affixing postage stamps. finally, in , the poundage on postal notes for _s._ and _s._ _d._ was reduced from _d._ to a halfpenny, and on postal orders for _s._ to _s._ inclusive from - / _d._ to _d._ in the money order rates were reduced as follows:-- _d._ on sums not exceeding £ £ £ £ £ these rates were in their turn altered as follows on february , :-- _d._ for an order not exceeding £ over £ but not exceeding £ upon the representation of the friendly societies, which send a good many small orders, these rates were changed in may of the same year to the following:-- _d._ for an order not exceeding £ exceeding £ but not over £ exceeding £ but not over £ and finally in the maximum amount of a money order was raised from £ to £ and the following rates established:[ ]-- _d._ for sums not exceeding £ for sums above £ but not exceeding £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ in addition to the reductions in rates which have been outlined above, other changes have been made which have resulted in certain cases in a saving to the transmitter of a money order. the charge for correcting or altering the name of the remitter or payee of an inland order has been reduced to the fixed sum of a penny. the fee payable for stopping payment of an inland order was fixed at _d._, and this was made to cover the issue of a new order if the request was made at the time of stopping payment. a penny stamp need no longer be affixed to a money order when payment is deferred and payment may be deferred for any period not exceeding ten days.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , pp. - ; , pp. - ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , pp. - . the issue of telegraph money orders, commenced in as an experiment, was in extended to all money order offices which were also telegraph offices. the limit imposed was £ , the rates being _d._ on orders not exceeding £ £ £ £ £ there was an additional charge of at least _d._ for the official telegram, authorizing payment, which was sent in duplicate. when several orders were sent at the same time and the total amount did not exceed £ , only one official telegram was sent and paid for. the above rates were lowered in to _d._ for sums not in excess of £ , and _d._ for sums from £ to £ with a minimum charge of _d._ for the official telegram of advice.[ ] at the present time inland telegraph money orders may be issued for the same amounts as ordinary inland money orders and at the same rates, plus a fee of _d._ and the cost of the official telegram. [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . during the crimean war, the army post office was authorized to issue money orders at inland rates and the system was extended to gibraltar and malta. in a proposition advanced by canada for the interchange of money orders was favourably received by the home government, and in the following year provision was made for their issue between the united kingdom and canada at four times the inland rates, to a limit of £ . in the system was extended to all the colonies, the rates being the same as those already agreed upon with canada except in the case of gibraltar and malta where they were three times the inland rates, and the maximum was increased to £ . in a money order convention was concluded with switzerland, the rates being the same as those for inland orders, and in a similar agreement was made with belgium, but in the rates for both countries were increased to three times the inland rates upon the same terms as those prevailing with other parts of europe. in colonial rates were reduced to the same level, and in the following changes were adopted: _d._ on orders not exceeding £ £ £ £ these were superseded in by the following rates:-- _d._ on orders not exceeding £ £ £ by most foreign countries and some of the colonies had agreed to a further reduction of rates and to a £ limit. in the poundage on foreign money orders not exceeding £ in value was diminished from _d._ to _d._[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , pp. - ; , p. ; , p. . there is no record of the yearly expenses of the government for the maintenance of the posts until the accession of james i.[ ] there are many instances of the issue of warrants for the payment of the posts but it is not known how long a period they were intended to cover.[ ] there was no systematic financial method in dealing with this phase of the postal question. the postmen remained unpaid for years at a time. after sufficient clamour, part of the arrears would be met, but it is impossible to say how much of the sum paid was for current expenses and how much for old debts.[ ] it might be supposed from the fact that they received fixed daily wages that some idea might be obtained of the cost of management. but their wages often remained unpaid and the number of postmen varied, as new routes were manned or old routes discontinued, so that any figures for the period before the seventeenth century would be mere guesses. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _l. & p. hen. viii_, ii, pp. - - - - - - - - - ; _a. p. c._, - , pp. , , , , ; - , pp. , , . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , ; - , p. ; - , pp. , . until [ ] our knowledge of the finances of the post office is concerned with expenses only, for there was no product, gross or net, for the state. in , the cost of the posts was £ a year.[ ] this was the year of james the first's accession, and to this is probably due the fact that payment was made for an entire year. then there comes a break of several years' duration. in , arrears for the half year ending march , , were paid. they amounted to £ . for the next two years the yearly expenses averaged £ . the total expenses for the financial year ending in march, , were £ . all the posts to berwick received _s._ a day, to dover _s._ _d._, to holyhead _s._ _d._ and £ a year for a sailing packet, to plymouth _s._ a day. the wages for each postmaster varied from _s._ _d._ to _s._ _d._ a day. in addition there was an expenditure of £ for extraordinary posts and _s._ a day to the paymaster.[ ] in , the ordinary expenses were about £ a year.[ ] it is disappointing not to be able to make any more definite statements concerning the financial operations of the post office before , but the unbusinesslike system under which it was conducted must take the blame. [ ] the proceeds from de quester's rates, which went into effect from this year, may possibly have gone to the post office. after witherings' rates were announced in , they certainly did. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . our ideas of the financial operations of the post office from to are somewhat clearer than during the preceding period. we know that witherings' aim was to make the system self-supporting. it had probably not entered into his head that it might ever be anything more. after the sequestration of the position of postmaster-general to burlamachi, he was called upon to render an account of the financial proceedings of the post office during the short period that he was in charge.[ ] he reported that from august , , to december , , the receipts had been £ and the expenditure £ . £ of the balance had been paid to the secretary of state and "of the remaining £ , those that keep the office are to be considered for their pains and attendance." this is rather vague but the report shows that the post office was self-supporting only six years after witherings' reforms had been adopted.[ ] prideaux reported at an early period in his régime that, with the exception of the dover road and the holyhead packet, the posts paid for themselves.[ ] after the post office was farmed, there can be no doubt as to the total net revenue, but it is impossible to say how much the farmer made over and above the amount of his farm or how large his expenses were. manley paid the state £ , a year and is said to have made £ , during the six years that he farmed the posts.[ ] in the rent was raised to £ , [ ] a year, and in there was a further advance to £ , .[ ] of this £ , the duke of york received £ , and the rest was spent largely in paying pensions and for a few minor expenses such as the payment of the court postmaster.[ ] by the act of , the net post office revenue was settled upon the duke of york and his male heirs, with the exception of about £ a year, that being the amount of the pension charges on the revenue.[ ] certain deductions were made from the sum total of rent due, on account of the loss to the farmer from the activity of the interlopers, and the deficit was ordered to be made up from some other branch of the royal revenue.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] chas. ii, c. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . after james ii took his involuntary departure from england, his pecuniary interest in the post office ceased. in , an act of parliament was passed, making the receipts from the post office payable into the exchequer. they were to be used among other things to pay the interest on £ , borrowed to carry on the war.[ ] from to , the gross receipts rose from about £ , to £ , a year, no consideration being taken of the ups and downs caused by the french wars.[ ] complaint was made by the lords that a large part of the postal revenue was wasted in paying pensions.[ ] the duchess of cleveland received £ a year and william's dutch general, the duke of schomberg, £ a year. poor william dockwra, the only one of the lot who had ever done anything for the post office, was at the end of the list with only £ a year, terminable in .[ ] the sum total of money payable in pensions from the post revenue in was £ , . the packet boats at the same time cost £ , , and but £ , was spent for salaries and wages. the net revenue in was £ , , the gross being about £ , .[ ] [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _rep._, , app., pt. , p. . [ ] hist. mss. com., _house of lords_, i, pp. - . [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, app., p. ( ). during the eighteenth century the postal revenue still continued to be burdened with the pensions of favourites, deserving and undeserving. queen anne asked parliament to settle £ a year upon the duke of marlborough and his heirs. the house of commons replied that they very much regretted that they could not do so for the post office was already paying too much in pensions. probably the real reason for their refusal was the fact that the duke and the war party were becoming unpopular. however, the queen granted him the pension for her own life as she had a legal right to do. in , the total amount of pensions payable from the postal revenue was £ , . before the act of was passed, the scotch office had paid £ to each of the universities of edinburgh and glasgow. this continued to be granted after the two offices were united.[ ] [ ] _cal. t. p._, - , p. . our knowledge of the financial operations of the post office during the eighteenth century is much more extensive than during the seventeenth, owing to the reports made by the post office officials to the parliamentary committees, appointed to enquire into abuses. the reports are all signed by the accountant-general or his deputy, and are therefore as trustworthy as anything which can be obtained. they show that during the first half of the century, or more explicitly from to , there was a very small annual increase in gross product, with an actual decrease in net product, and of course an increase in expenditure. in round numbers the average yearly gross product for the years - was £ , , the net product for the same period being £ , and the expenses of management £ , . for the five years from to , the average annual gross product was £ , , net product £ , , and expenses £ , . it is not surprising that there was no increase worthy of the name in the gross product, for the period under consideration was a time of stagnation, an intermediate stage just before the dawn of the industrial revolution. the actual decrease in net product or, what amounts to the same thing, the increase in expenses of management, is due largely to the abuse of the franking privilege, the large amounts received in fees and emoluments, the extraordinary way in which the packet service was mismanaged, and the losses and increased expense due to war. enough has been said about all but the last of these causes. the post office suffered most during war from increased expenses and direct losses in connection with the sailing packets. the placing of these upon a war footing involved considerable increased cost. in the second place, extra boats were used for political purposes in addition to those regularly employed, and it was customary for the post office to make good to the owners all damages inflicted by the enemy. from to , the expenses of the post office averaged £ , or £ , a year. then came the war of the austrian succession, when the expenses averaged £ , per year from to . the five following years being a period of peace, the average annual expenses were £ , , while the seven years' war brought them up to £ , . it may be thought that expenses should become normal again when war has ceased, but it has generally proved to be the rule that although peace brings a decrease, yet the expenditure does not fall quite so low as before the war. from to the end of the century there is a marked rise both in gross and net receipts and a comparative diminution in expenses. the gross average annual product from to was £ , , from to it was £ , . for the five years from to the average yearly net product was £ , , from to it was £ , , while expenses had risen for the same periods only from £ , to £ , . the following table shows the average yearly increase or decrease in gross product, expenses, and net products for the six five-year periods from to . the increases or decreases are given in the form of percentages, each five-year period being compared with the preceding period.[ ] _gross product_ _expenses_ _net product_ - % increase % decrease % increase - " increase unchanged - " " " - " " " - [ ] " decrease % increase - " increase % " [ ] for the gross product, net product, and expenses for each year, see appendix, pp. , , , tables i, ii. [ ] rates were increased in . the net product from both the scotch and irish posts was remitted to england. these receipts did not amount to much as compared with those from the english post. earl temple, lord lieutenant of ireland, in writing to grenville in , said that the irish post "had never paid £ a year clear of expenses."[ ] in , the gross product was £ , and the expenses of management £ . of the net product, £ were retained, being placed to the credit of great britain for returned and missent letters and for the £ which the irish post was entitled to receive in lieu of the receipts from the holyhead packet boats. the remaining £ , were sent to the general post office. the scotch posts did considerably better. the gross product in was £ , , the expenses of management £ , , for returned letters £ , and the net product sent to the general office was £ , . [ ] hist. mss. com., _dropmore_, i, p. . the time had long since passed when the london-dover road was the most important in the kingdom and when the receipts from foreign exceeded those from inland letters. as late as , when contracts were called for from those wishing to farm the posts, the amount offered in one instance was almost as great for the foreign as for the inland post. the average annual gross product from the foreign post for the period - was £ , , the expenses £ , and the net product £ , . for the period from to there was a small increase to £ , for gross product, £ , for expenses, and £ , for net product.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, , p. . the receipts from the london penny post were never an important factor in postal finance but it had always paid for itself and given a reasonable surplus. its importance was due more to its social value in affording a cheaper letter rate and a speedier postal service than the general post. the average yearly gross product from - was £ , , expenses £ , and net product £ . after johnson had improved it so much, it produced a yearly average gross product from to of £ , . expenses averaged £ , and net product £ . in the seventeenth century the receipts from bye and cross post letters amounted to very little. so little was expected from them that no provision was made for checking the postage on them. it was taken for granted that all letters would pass to, from, or through london. in they brought in only £ . allen had done much to increase the revenue, but it was not until the last part of the eighteenth century that the increase was at all marked. from to , the average annual gross product was £ , , expenses £ , and net product £ , . from to , these had increased respectively to £ , , £ , , and £ , , and from to to £ , , £ , , and £ , . the small expense for these letters is explained by the fact that the separate department for bye and cross post letters was debited with only a portion of the total cost, the larger part being carried by the general establishment.[ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _rep. com._, ii, , p. . the financial history of the post office from the beginning of the nineteenth century to is a rather depressing record.[ ] from until both the gross and net receipts had increased steadily although not rapidly, but for the remainder of the period the revenue was practically stationary. during the five-year periods, - and - , there had been a decrease in gross receipts, and during the latter of these periods the net receipts had been kept a little ahead of the five-year period - only by a decrease in expenditure. [ ] see appendix, p. , table iii; p. , table iv. the annual gross receipts from scotland had increased from £ , during the period - to £ , during the period - , the annual net receipts for the same periods being £ , and £ , . the relatively large increase in expenses from £ , to £ , had been due largely to the payment of mail coach tolls after , amounting to something under £ , a year.[ ] ireland started with a smaller gross revenue, £ , a year during the period - , but a larger annual expenditure £ , ,[ ] and comparatively small net receipts of £ , . gross receipts, expenses, and net receipts had increased slowly throughout the first thirty-four years of the nineteenth century with the exception of the period - . for the five years from to inclusive they amounted to £ , , £ , , and £ , respectively.[ ] [ ] see appendix, p. , table v. [ ] ireland had paid for mail coach tolls from the first and this partly explains the relatively high expenditure. [ ] see appendix, p. , table v. the increases in rates in , , and had not produced the desired and expected results. the increase in had been estimated to produce £ , but results showed that this estimate was too large by £ , . in , the additional penny had resulted in an increase of only £ , , inclusive of any natural increase of revenue, although it had been estimated to produce £ , . the third increase in rates in proved even less productive. the chancellor of the exchequer said that he expected it to produce £ , . as a matter of fact the revenue increased only £ , in amount. the fact of the matter was that rates were already so high that an increase only led to greater efforts to evade the payment of postage. as a system of taxation the post office had become rigid. it could yield no more with postage as high as it had been forced by the acts of and . but, considered primarily as a taxing medium, and it had been considered as such for years, it could hardly be called a failure. we flatter ourselves that our idea of the post office is broader in its scope and more utilitarian in its object but we have the good fortune to live several generations after . what england demanded was revenue and still more revenue, and a postal system which could produce £ net for every £ collected had some excuse for its existence. rowland hill has pointed out that from to the population had increased from , , to , , while the net revenue from the post office had remained practically stationary. he said nothing, however, about the industrial depression of the country during that period nor of the political and economic crisis through which england was passing. he referred to the great increase in the postal revenue of the united states during the same period; on the one hand, a nation with immense natural resources and a population doubling itself every generation, and on the other hand, a people inhabiting two small islands, making heroic efforts to recover from a most burdensome war. with the introduction of penny postage the gross revenue of the post office fell from £ , , in to £ , , in , and did not fully recover from the decreased postage rates for twelve years. the cost of management, on the other hand, increased only from £ , in to £ , in . but the financial loss is shown most plainly in the falling off in net revenue from £ , , to £ , . if we exclude packet expenses, and such was the practice until , the net revenue did not again reach the maximum figure of high postage days until . including packet expenses we find that the net revenue did not fully recover until the early seventies. the average yearly gross revenue for the period from - was £ , , , expenditure £ , , , and the net revenue £ , . these all increased steadily and on the whole proportionately until , the average yearly figures for the preceding five years being £ , , , £ , , , and £ , , . in the packet expenses are included under cost of management and their enormous increase from the beginning of the century sadly depleted the net revenue. it seems more advisable, however, not to include them until when the packets passed from the control of the admiralty to that of the post office. the average gross revenue for the years to was £ , , , expenditure (including packets) £ , , , and net revenue £ , , . during the next quarter of a century these increased to £ , , , £ , , , and £ , , respectively, exclusive of telegraph receipts and expenditures. for the five years ending st march, , the average gross revenue was £ , , , expenditure £ , , , and net revenue £ , , .[ ] [ ] see appendix, pp. , , , table vi; p. , table vii. chapter ix the question of monopoly the question of the state's monopoly and the opposing efforts of the interlopers to break this monopoly resolves itself into a consideration of the way in which private letters were carried, for the public letters were entirely at the disposal of the state to be dealt with as it saw fit. from the sixteenth century there were several ways in which private letters might be conveyed. within the kingdom they might be sent by the common carriers, friends, special messengers, or the royal posts. letters sent abroad were carried by the royal posts, the merchant adventurers' posts, the strangers' posts, and the merchants' posts while they lasted. the fact that private letters were conveyed by the royal posts is generally expressed in rather indefinite terms or by references to proclamations, but that they were actually so conveyed is entirely beyond doubt.[ ] in a certain mr. lewkenor informed walsingham that the post just landed had brought many letters directed to merchants, besides those for the court and government. he asked whether he might open those letters which were directed to suspected merchants.[ ] this reference is of course to letters coming from abroad. the same holds true of inland letters, for in randolph, the postmaster-general, wrote to walsingham, enclosing the names of those "who charge the posts with their private letters and commissions at a penny the mile."[ ] [ ] g. roberts, _social history of the southern counties of england_, , p. ; joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. ; - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, , p. . in the first proclamation affirming the government monopoly in the foreign posts was issued. all persons except the postmaster-general and his deputies were forbidden "directly or indirectly to gather up, receive, bring in or carry out of this realm any letters or packets," the only exceptions being in the case of the despatches of the principal secretaries of state, of ambassadors, and others sufficiently authorized. an appendix to the same proclamation commanded all mayors, bailiffs, sheriffs, justices, etc., and especially all searchers to be on the watch for men coming into or going out of the realm with packets or letters. in this last part of the proclamation we can see why it was thought necessary to restrict the carriage of letters to and from foreign countries to the royal posts. it was done that the government might be able to discover any treasonable or seditious correspondence. this did not always remain the object of the state in restricting competition but was succeeded later by other and different motives. in order that there might be no doubt about the whole question, the postmaster-general received word from the council to inform the london merchants, foreigners as well as british subjects and all others whom it might concern, that they should no longer employ any others to carry their letters than those legally appointed in accordance with the terms of the proclamation.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, , p. ; app., p. ( ). in the first order concerning the despatch of private letters within the kingdom was issued to the royal posts. "the posts for the queen's immediate service"[ ] were allowed to carry only state despatches, directed by members of the council, the postmaster-general and certain officials. such despatches when sent by the regular posts were to be forwarded immediately. the letters of all other persons allowed to write by post must wait for the regular departure of the postmen. in the orders to the posts issued in , the first article reads as follows: "no pacquets or letters shall be sent by the posts or bind any post to ride therewith but those on our special affairs."[ ] the first part of this is certainly strong but it is modified by the succeeding clause "nor bind any post to ride therewith." evidently he might if he wished, and he would probably hesitate longer over a state packet for the conveyance of which he was never assured of anything than over a private letter for which he was certain of his pay. [ ] by "posts for the queen's immediate service" was probably meant the special messengers attached to the court. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. - ; _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). it was the custom after to follow the appointment of every new postmaster-general with a proclamation assigning him and his deputies the sole privilege of carrying all letters and reading anathema upon all interlopers.[ ] thus king james favoured stanhope, his postmaster-general, with a grant of monopoly.[ ] on de quester's appointment as foreign postmaster-general a proclamation was issued, forbidding any but his agents from having anything to do with foreign letters.[ ] in spite of the improvements which he inaugurated, we find him asking the king a few years later to renew his patent of monopoly and his request was granted.[ ] he was evidently suffering from competition. but the merchant adventurers' posts were not yet dead and their postmaster, billingsley, abetted by the house of commons,[ ] gave de quester so much trouble that he was imprisoned by the council's order.[ ] [ ] letters carried by a friend or special messenger or a common carrier were excepted. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. - . [ ] the house had already shown its interest in postal affairs by summoning postmasters before the committee of grievances in (_jo. h. c._, - , pp. - ). [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . in the meantime the postmen on the london-plymouth road had petitioned the council that they alone should carry the letters and despatches of the merchants over their road. they said they had so improved the service between london and plymouth that letters were now despatched between the two cities in three days and an answer might be received within one week from the time of first writing. their complaint was against a certain samuel jude, who had undertaken the conveyance of the london merchants' letters. jude himself acknowledged this, but said that he had never meddled with the "through" post by which he meant the travellers' post.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; - , p. . so long as the royal posts did not give satisfaction, competition was inevitable. under witherings they had improved so much that what competition there was, received no support from the london merchants. in they addressed a petition to the king, praying that he would protect witherings from some strangers in london, who had set up posts of their own. they pointed out how he, acting with some foreign postmasters, had set up packet posts, travelling day and night. by means of these, letters were conveyed between london and antwerp in three days, while the messengers needed from eight to fourteen days to travel the same distance.[ ] the common carriers were giving trouble in the despatch of inland letters at the same time that competition in the foreign posts was attracting attention.[ ] it was their custom to send their carts on ahead while they lingered to collect letters. after the collection they hastened on, leaving their carts behind, and delivered the letters on the way. it was provided that no carrier should stay longer than eight hours in a place after his cart had left it, or arrive in any place eight hours ahead of it.[ ] as long as their speed was governed by that of their lumbering carts over the wretched roads, no fear was felt that their competition would prove troublesome. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. ; _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). with the growing strength of parliament, more and more opposition was made to the grants of monopoly and their enforcement. in the house of commons passed a resolution "affirming that the taking of the letters from the several carriers and the several restraints and imprisonments of grover, chapman, cotton, and mackerill are against the law." the house proceeded to state that these several persons should have reparation and damages from coke, windebank, and witherings.[ ] four years later a report was made by justices pheasant and rolls on witherings' patent.[ ] they held that the clause of restraint in the grant to witherings was void.[ ] this decision was quite in accordance with the views of parliament when they opposed the king and all his works. but after parliament had obtained control of the posts, "the president and governors of the poor of the city of london" proposed to the common council that the city should establish a postal system in order to raise money for the relief of the poor in london. a committee was appointed to inform warwick, prideaux, and witherings of their intention. at the same time an attempt to lay a petition before parliament on the question failed. counsel's advice was sought and obtained in favour of the undertaking and in the committee received orders to settle the stages. at the end of six weeks they had established postal communications with scotland and other places. complaint was made to parliament, and the commons passed a resolution "that the office of postmaster, inland and foreign, is and ought to be in the sole power and disposal of the parliament." the same year the city posts were suppressed.[ ] [ ] _jo. h. c._, - , p. . [ ] these were the same judges who had decided in favour of stanhope's patent in stanhope _v._ witherings. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). [ ] chas. knight, _london_, , iii, p. ; r. r. sharpe, _london and the kingdom_, , pp. - . oxenbridge and his friends who had set up posts of their own gave prideaux and manley the hardest fight that any postmaster-general ever had to encounter from interlopers. joyce says that oxenbridge had acted as prideaux' deputy.[ ] if this is so, he was soon up in arms against his superior. in accordance with the judicial decision that the clause in witherings' patent giving him a monopoly of the carriage of letters was void, oxenbridge, blackwall, thomson, and malyn had undertaken the private conveyance of letters and had set up posts of their own. prideaux had charged _d._ for each letter and had organized weekly posts from and to london. oxenbridge charged only _d._ and his posts went from and to london three times a week. prideaux then did the same and set up posters announcing that the interlopers' posts would be stopped. his agents assaulted oxenbridge's servants and killed one of them. he also stopped his rival's mails on sundays but allowed his own to proceed as on other days. in addition to his regular tri-weekly mails, oxenbridge provided packet boats for ireland and intended to settle stages between london and yarmouth and the other places named by the council of state.[ ] to proceed in oxenbridge's own words: "suddenly contracts were called for. we offered £ a year through ben andrews, £ more than was offered by manley, yet colonel rich allowed manley to take advantage of an offer made by kendall then absent and not privy to it for £ , a year. consideration had been offered by council, but manley had broken into our offices, taken letters, and had forbidden us from having anything to do with the post." an order of the council of state, bearing the same date as the grant to manley, was sent to oxenbridge and his friends, informing them that manley had been given the sole right to the inland and foreign letter offices.[ ] this did not end the controversy, for six months later we find oxenbridge and thomson complaining that a monopoly in carrying letters had been given to manley. they claimed that all who wished should be allowed to carry letters at the ordinary rates.[ ] [ ] joyce, p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. - , . see p. , note. [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . of all the interlopers up to the middle of the seventeenth century, oxenbridge had proved himself by far the ablest. from the point of view of the legal decision of and the position of parliament before , his position was unassailable. with the present policy of the post office in view, his actions will probably be condemned by the majority. but in conditions were entirely different. before the state had either tacitly allowed the carriage of private letters to the profit of the postmen or had officially taken over such carriage; but in this case it was largely for the purpose of keeping in touch with the plots of the times. for years after the idea was to make money from the conveyance of private letters. the effects of oxenbridge's efforts were certainly beneficial if we are to believe his own story. prideaux had been forced to cut his rates in half in order to meet competition. the credit for this must lie with the interloper rather than with the monopolist. at the same time that oxenbridge was giving so much trouble, letters were being carried by private hands in bury, dover, and norwich. the offenders were summoned before the council for contempt and severely reprimanded.[ ] petitions came from thetford and norwich complaining that their messenger had been summoned to present himself before the council within twenty-four hours and had to travel miles within that time, an impossibility in the opinion of the petitioners.[ ] as late as , prideaux, the attorney-general, gave his opinion that parliament's monopolistic resolution of that year affected only the office of postmaster-general and not the carrying of letters.[ ] perhaps this was only a bit of spite on his part after manley had succeeded to his old position. [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , pp. - . the usual monopolistic powers, hitherto granted by proclamation, were embodied in the first act of parliament, establishing the postal system for england, ireland, and scotland in . the postmaster-general was given the sole power to take up, carry and convey all letters and packets from and to all parts of the commonwealth and to any place beyond the seas where he might establish posts. he alone was to employ foot posts, horse posts, and packet boats. some exceptions were made to these general rules. letters were allowed to be conveyed by carriers so long as they were carried in their carts or on their pack-horses. the other exceptions were in the case of letters of advice sent by merchants in their ships and proceeding no farther than the ships themselves, and also in the case of a letter sent by a special messenger on the affairs of the sender, and in the case of a letter sent by a friend. penalties were attached for disobedience to this part of the act, one half of the fine to go to the informer.[ ] the same provisions were enacted almost word for word in the act of , with the addition that letters might be carried by any one between any place and the nearest post road for delivery to the postman.[ ] [ ] scobell, _collect._, pt. ii, pp. - . [ ] ch. ii, c. . after the restoration and for some months before the act of was passed, bishop had acted as farmer of the posts. in the absence of any law on the subject, the king's proclamation granting a monopoly[ ] to bishop was freely disregarded.[ ] competing posts to and from london sprang up, lessening the receipts which he would otherwise have obtained from the carriage of letters. it was calculated that during the three months before these interlopers could be suppressed bishop lost £ through them, and orders were given to allow him an abatement in his rent to that amount.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] in a book was published by john hill, entitled _a penny post--a vindication of the liberty of every englishman in carrying merchants' and other men's letters against any restraints of farmers of such employments_ (_notes and queries_, th ser., xi, p. ). [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). in a certain thomas ibson attempted to come to an agreement with the postmasters on the holyhead road. he wished to have the privilege of horsing travellers and made an offer to the postmasters to take charge of the post houses if they would allow him to proceed. he told them that they should make an attempt to have their salaries restored to their old value by bishop, who had raised so much from them by fines and lowering their salaries. the postmaster-general told his deputies that if they dared to treat with the "would-be" interloper he would dismiss them, and the whole thing fell through.[ ] at the same time a warrant was issued by the council to mayors and other officials to search for and apprehend all persons carrying letters for hire, without licence from the postmaster-general.[ ] nevertheless interloping did not cease, as is shown by the complaints from the postmasters.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , pp. , . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . in the proclamation following the appointment of o'neale as postmaster-general in , it was ordered that no one should dare to detain or open a letter not addressed to himself unless under a warrant from one of the secretaries of state. an exception was made in the case of letters carried by unauthorized persons. such letters should be seized and sent to the privy council. in later proclamations it was provided that they might be sent also to one of the secretaries of state in order that the persons sending or conveying them might be punished.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiv, , app., p. ( ). after lord arlington's appointment as postmaster-general, he addressed a petition to the duke of york complaining "that carriers, proprietors of stage coaches and others take upon themselves to collect letters to an incredible number and on some stages double what the post brings." on account of this he pointed out to his royal highness that a considerable part of his revenue was lost. this was quite true since the post office had ceased to be farmed and the whole net revenue went to the duke.[ ] this was followed the same year by a proclamation forbidding any one to collect or carry letters without the authority of the postmasters-general. carriers were forbidden to convey any letters which were not on matters relating to goods in their carts. shipmasters must carry no letters beyond the first stage after their arrival in england with the exception of the letters of merchants and owners. searchers were appointed to see that the proclamation was enforced.[ ] it was even proposed to suppress all hackney coaches, the principal reason given being that they decreased the value of the duke's monopoly by carrying multitudes of letters.[ ] [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _cal. s. p. d._, - , p. . [ ] _ibid._, - , p. . it is a curious and interesting fact that for a short time london had a half penny post, established in by a mr. povey in opposition to the regular penny post. the idea was much the same as that of dockwra's although povey seems to have been a far more belligerent individual than his forerunner in the work. the postmasters-general tried to come to some compromise with him but he would not listen to them. finally legal action was brought against him, based on the monopoly granted by the act of . povey lost the suit and his project fell through.[ ] his was the last attempt to organize a regular system of competing posts. during the remainder of the eighteenth century, improvements in postal communications disarmed much of the former opposition. considerable damage was received from the superior speed with which letters might be sent by coaches but, after they were adopted by the post office, matters naturally adjusted themselves. private vessels continued to convey letters which had not paid the rates prescribed in such cases by the act of , but this breach of the law was tolerated by the post office.[ ] [ ] knight, _london_, , iii, p. ; joyce, pp. - . [ ] joyce, p. . before the nineteenth century, opposition to the government monopoly had taken the form of competing systems of communication, started primarily for the sake of making money and at the same time vindicating the principle of competition. during the first forty years of the nineteenth century there was no opposition to the post office as a monopoly. the widespread dissatisfaction was due to the exorbitant rates of postage and this dissatisfaction expressed itself in attempts to evade these rates but, with the exception of individual messengers and carriers, there was no competing system of postal communication established. opposition took the form of evasion of postage payments by legal and illegal means. the various exceptions to the government monopoly continued unchanged[ ] until still further modified in . the additional modifications were in the case of commissions and returns, affidavits, writs and legal proceedings, and letters sent out of the united kingdom by private vessels.[ ] the penalty for infringing upon the postal monopoly was placed at £ for every offence or £ a week if the offence was continued.[ ] [ ] anne, c. ; geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. ; geo. iii, c. ; geo. iv, c. . [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . [ ] wm. iv and vict., c. . during the official postal year from july to july , there were successful prosecutions for illegally sending and conveying letters. the fines collected amounted to £ , the costs paid by defendants to £ . the prosecutions were generally for a few letters only and the great majority of the cases were brought in manchester. in the case of forty-one additional actions, the postmaster-general did not enforce the penalties, certain explanations having been given.[ ] rowland hill thought that the conveyance of letters by private and unauthorized people was very widespread and the solicitor of the post office agreed with him.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , xlix, , pp. - . [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, pt. , pp. , . the reports of the committee appointed to enquire into the condition of the post office and to hear the opinions of officials and the public concerning the introduction of penny postage disclosed an amazing state of affairs. the opinion that evasion of postage was more or less general had been held by the public for some time as well as by a few of the post office officials[ ] but, after the evidence upon the question was published, there was no longer any doubt that the views of the public were correct. some difficulty had been anticipated that men who had violated the law of the land would prefer not to confess their misdeeds before a parliamentary committee. they were accordingly assured that any evidence given would not be used against them, and the names of some were expressed by letters only, when the reports were published. [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, questions , , , - ; rep. , app., pp. , , ; rep. , p. . the means by which postage rates were evaded may be conveniently grouped under two main heads, legal and illegal. the most common methods of evading postage in whole or in part by legal means were:-- by the use of parliamentary and official franks.[ ] by enclosing invoices and other communications in goods.[ ] by the use of codes and signals expressed by sending particular newspapers or, when something in the nature of news or reports was to be communicated to many, an advertisement or report was printed in a newspaper and the newspapers were sent.[ ] by means of a letter or package sent to a mercantile house with many letters on one sheet of paper for other people. these were delivered by messengers. money was sometimes sent in the same way.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, qs. , - , - , , , , , , - , , - - , - , , , - . by this means dr. dionysius lardner sent and received the greater part of an extensive literary correspondence (qs. - ). [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. - , - , - , , , - , , , , , - , - . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. , , - . [ ] _ibid._, qs. - , - , - , - , , , - , - , , - , , . many factors in ireland had circulars printed, which went free, as newspapers. their correspondents were distinguished by numbers and opposite the numbers were printed the communications for each particular person.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, rep. , , p. . the majority of letters which paid no postage or only partial postage were sent illegally, most of them by carriers. "a. b." said that in his mercantile house sent letters by post and by other means, principally by carriers, for one penny each.[ ] "c. d." testified that carriers called once or twice a day at his house and that they received from to letters a week from him. sometimes the carriers delivered the letters on foot, sometimes they went by coach.[ ] "e. f.'s" letters were carried by newsmen, who distributed the local newspaper.[ ] "g. h.," a carrier from scotland, said that there were six others working with him and that they delivered about letters and parcels a day, for which they received _d._ or _d._ each.[ ] letters were also illegally conveyed:-- by "free-packets," containing the patterns and correspondence of merchants, which the coachmen carried free except for the booking fee of _d._[ ] in warehousemen's bales and parcels.[ ] in weavers' bags, especially near glasgow. these were bags containing work for the weavers, sent by and returned to the manufacturers.[ ] by "family-boxes." students at college in glasgow and edinburgh were accustomed to receive boxes of provisions, etc., from home. the neighbours made use of them to carry letters.[ ] by coachmen, guards, travellers and private individuals.[ ] by vans, railways, stage-coaches, steamboats, and every conceivable means.[ ] by writing in newspapers, sometimes with invisible ink or by enclosing accounts or letters in them.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, qs. , . [ ] _ibid._, - , xx, qs. , , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. . [ ] _ibid._, qs. - . in walsall not - part of the letters sent to and from neighbouring places went by post (qs. - ). [ ] _rep. com._, - , xx, qs. - , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , , , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. - . [ ] _ibid._, qs. . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , . [ ] _ibid._, qs. . [ ] _ibid._, qs. , , - , , - , , , , ; app. to part , p. . about half of the letters and parcels sent to the seaports for transmission to foreign parts by private ships did not go through the post office,[ ] and this practice was more or less winked at by the authorities.[ ] the letters from liverpool for the united states numbered , a year, but only , of these passed through the post office.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, pt. , pp. - , - , , , . [ ] _ibid._, pt. , pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, pt. , p. . since the post office has adopted the policy of charging low uniform rates of postage there has been no concerted attempt to infringe upon its monopoly. the dissatisfied do not now attempt to establish competing posts nor to evade the payment of the legal rates. any pressure which may be brought to remedy real or supposed grievances takes the form of an attempt to influence the department itself. it is true that a private messenger service was established for the delivery of letters, but the promoters of that service seem to have been unaware of the fact that they were acting in violation of the law, and a satisfactory agreement with the department was soon concluded. as a matter of fact, it is a question whether succeeding governments have not been too subservient in granting the demands of certain sections of the people, notably in connection with the telegraph and telephone systems and the question of guarantees. the position of a government which has abandoned the principle that any extension of services or change in postal policy shall be based upon present or anticipated financial success must necessarily be a difficult one. chapter x the telegraph system as a branch of the postal department previous to the acquisition of the telegraphs by the state, the different telegraphic companies carried on their business in comparative harmony, a harmony which was occasionally disturbed by the entrance into the field of competition of new claimants for the confidence of the public. by far the most important of these companies in were the electric and international, and the british and irish magnetic, controlling between them about miles of line and having stations open to the public. during the succeeding ten years, by the growth of the old companies and an increase in the number of the new, the number of miles of line increased to , , of telegraph stations to . the number of public messages sent in was a little more than one million, in nearly two millions, and in over four millions and a half. the rates for a message of twenty words varied from _s._ for a distance under fifty miles, plus _s._ for each additional fifty miles, to _s._ for a distance over miles and _s._ to dublin, including free delivery within half a mile from the telegraph office.[ ] in a competing company, the london district telegraph company, started operations in the metropolitan district, and offered a low rate of _d._ a message. in the following year a far more dangerous rival, the united kingdom telegraph company, announced that henceforth it would charge a uniform shilling rate irrespective of distance. four years later both of these companies fell into line, forced according to some by the unfair tactics of their competitors, according to others by the utter impossibility of making both ends meet, while charging a uniform rate irrespective of distance. the tariff agreed to in was as follows:--[ ] _acc. & p._, - , xli, , pp. , , . for a distance not exceeding miles _s._ from to miles _s._ _d._ beyond miles _s._ between great britain and ireland from _s._ to _s._ in some cases these rates applied only to wires of a single company, and, where a message was transmitted over the wires of two or more companies, an additional charge was made. special rates were offered for press messages, the news being supplied by the agency of the intelligence department of the telegraph companies.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xli, , pp. - , ; _rep. com._, - , xi, , pp. , . the earliest proposal for government ownership of the telegraphs seems to have originated with thomas allan, the same allan who was later instrumental in establishing the united kingdom telegraph company. in he submitted arguments to the government through sir rowland hill in favour of the change, arguments which met with the approval of lord stanley, the president of the board of trade, and mr. ricardo, formerly chairman of the international electric telegraph company, and ex-member for stoke. two years later mr. barnes, an official in the post office department, submitted to my lords a plan "for the establishment in connection with the post office of a comprehensive scheme of electric telegraphs throughout the kingdom." in , lord stanley, as postmaster-general, in a letter to the lords of the treasury called their attention to the fact that the question of the propriety of the assumption by the government of the telegraphic systems of the kingdom had been revived in the previous year by the edinburgh chamber of commerce, and still more recently the proposition had been embodied in a petition from the association of chambers of commerce of the united kingdom. as he himself had for many years been in favour of such a change and found his opinion shared by more than one important body of public men, he directed mr. scudamore[ ] to report whether, in his opinion, the telegraphs could be successfully operated by the post office, whether such operation would result in any advantages to the public over the present system by means of private companies, and whether it would entail upon the department any large expenditure beyond the purchase of existing rights.[ ] [ ] receiver and accountant-general of the post-office. [ ] _rep. com._, - , xi, , p. ; _acc. & p._, - , xli, , p. . the report presented by mr. scudamore was strongly in favour of the control of the telegraphs by the post office, and is especially interesting in furnishing an abstract of the evils which the people considered that the companies were inflicting upon them. the most important of these evils, real or imaginary, were as follows:-- exorbitant charges and a resulting failure to expand on the part of the system. delay and inaccuracy in the transmission of messages. failure to serve many important towns and communities. inconvenient situation, in many places, of the telegraph office, it being often at a considerable distance from the business centre of the town, especially when in the railway station. inconveniently short periods that offices are open in many places. wasteful competition between the companies. the strongest argument against the existing condition was rather a result of competition than private ownership. in the more populous centres the companies very often had their telegraph offices at a very short distance from each other, being so situated as to compete for the public patronage, while other and more outlying portions of the town were quite unserved. the latter were thus made to suffer in order that favoured portions might enjoy the somewhat doubtful boon of competition. in order to show the failure to extend telegraphic facilities, mr. scudamore compiled a list of towns in england and wales having an individual population of two thousand or more. in his own words "so far as telegraphic accommodation is concerned, while thirty per cent of the whole number of places named ... are well served, forty per cent are indifferently served, twelve per cent badly served, and eighteen per cent, having an aggregate population of more than half a million persons, not served at all." by combining the telegraphic business with the postal service, there seemed every reason to suppose that its advantages could be more widely extended, the hours of attendance increased, charges reduced, and facilities given for the transmission of money orders by telegraph. mr. scudamore proposed to open telegraph offices in all places which had a population of and upwards and which already had money-order offices. all other post offices were empowered to receive telegrams, which were to be sent by post to the nearest telegraph office for transmission. the charge was to be made uniform at _s._ for twenty words and _d._ for each additional ten words, or part thereof. he judged that the whole of the property and rights of the telegraph companies might be purchased for a sum within £ , , , and £ , more would have to be spent in the extension of the service. his estimate for gross annual product was £ , ; annual charge, £ , ; working expenses, £ , ; surplus, £ , .[ ] finally, his reply to lord stanley's question was in effect that the telegraph system might be beneficially worked by the post office, that there would be advantages thus obtained over any system of private ownership, and that the post office would have to bear no expense not amply covered by the revenue.[ ] in fairness to mr. scudamore, it should be remembered that his original low estimate of the probable cost of the telegraph companies did not include reuter's and other important companies. in addition, the strict monopoly conferred in , with the necessary accompaniment of the purchase of all inland telegraph companies, entirely upset his original estimates. finally, the decision to include the public telegraph business of the railways and the excessive price paid to the railway and telegraph companies should not be forgotten in contrasting the estimated price with that eventually paid for the acquisition of the telegraph systems in the united kingdom.[ ] mr. grimston, the chairman of the electric and international telegraph company, contended that the extension of telegraphic facilities to any considerable number of small towns and villages would involve a loss to the state by greatly increasing working expenses, that village postmasters and postmistresses were totally unable to work the telegraphs, and that consolidation could be effected more advantageously by the companies themselves.[ ] [ ] in another place his estimate for gross revenue was £ , ; annual charge £ , on a purchase price of £ , , with expenses for improvement; working expenses £ , , and surplus £ , (_acc. & p._, - , xli, , pp. - ). [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] _parl. deb._, d ser., ccxxviii, col. ; cxcii, coll. - . [ ] _acc. & p._, - , xli, , p. . in , the postmaster-general was given authority by act of parliament to purchase the undertakings of the telegraph companies and also the interests of the railways in the conveyance of public messages, together with a perpetual way-leave for telegraphic purposes over the properties of the railway companies. any telegraph company, with the authority of two thirds of the votes of its shareholders, was empowered to sell to the postmaster-general all or any portion of its undertaking. when the postmaster-general had acquired the property of any telegraph company, he must also, upon the request of any other company, purchase its undertaking, this privilege being extended also to the railways so far as telegraphs operated by them for transmitting public messages were concerned. the price paid for the electric and international, the british and irish magnetic, and the united kingdom telegraph companies was fixed at twenty years' purchase of their net profits for the year ending th june, . in the case of the united kingdom telegraph company additional sums were to be paid for the hughes type-printing patent, for the estimated aggregate value of its ordinary share capital as determined by its highest quotation on any day between the st and th days of june, , for compensation for the loss of prospective profits on its ordinary shares, and any sum that might be determined as loss for its attempt to establish a uniform shilling rate. every officer or clerk of the companies who had been in receipt of a salary for not less than five years or of remuneration amounting to not less than £ a year for not less than seven years, if he received no offer from the postmaster-general of an appointment in the telegraphic department of the post office equal in the opinion of an arbitrator to his former position, was entitled to receive an annuity equal to two thirds of his annual emolument if he had been in service twenty years, such annuity to be diminished by one twentieth for every year less than twenty. those entering the service of the postmaster-general were entitled to count their past continuous years of service with the companies as years in the service of the crown. for the most part all the telegraph apparatus belonging to the railway companies and all belonging to the telegraph companies on the railway lines necessary for the private business of the railways were handed over to the railways by the postmaster-general free of charge. he was given the use, from telegraph stations not on the railway lines, of all the wires of the telegraph companies on the lines employed exclusively in the public telegraph business. the railways might affix wires to the posts of the postmaster-general on the line, and in like manner he might require the railways to affix wires to their own posts for the use of the post office or erect new posts and wires. finally the railways were required to act as agents of the postmaster-general, if required, for receiving and transmitting messages. the railways as a rule succeeded in driving a very sharp bargain with the government for the purchase of their interests in the public telegraph business. the price paid was twenty years' purchase of the net receipts from public telegrams reckoned for the year ending th june, , plus twenty times the increase in net receipts for the three preceding years or for such shorter period as the business of transmitting public telegrams had been undertaken. in addition, compensation was made for the rents, etc., payable to the railways by the telegraph companies, for the unexpired period of their respective agreements, for the right of way obtained by the postmaster-general over the lands of the railways, for the loss of power on the part of the railways to grant way-leaves, for the value of the railways' reversionary interests (if any) in the transmission of public messages on the expiration of the agreements with the telegraph companies, and for any loss the railways might suffer in working their telegraph business as a separate concern. finally the postmaster-general was required to convey free of charge to any part of the united kingdom all messages of the railways relating to their own private business.[ ] the act empowering the postmaster-general to purchase the undertakings of the telegraph companies did not confer upon the post office a monopoly in the transmission of telegrams, mr. scudamore himself declaring that such a monopoly was neither desirable nor did the post office wish it. the second act, however, declared that no telegraphic messages, except those sent from or to any place outside of the united kingdom, should be transmitted by any telegraphic company for gain unless the company was in existence on the d of june, , and was not for the time being acquired by the postmaster-general, who should be required to purchase its undertaking upon demand.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. . [ ] and vict., c. . mr. scudamore's original estimate of the cost of acquisition of the telegraphs fell far short of the final expenditure; although it must be remembered that, when he proposed £ , , as sufficient, he did not anticipate items of expense which later vastly increased the cost. before the committee which reported in he advanced his original estimate to £ , , , and in the following year to £ , , , of which he considered about two thirds to be of the nature of good-will. the telegraph companies when first approached asked for twenty-five years' purchase of their prospective profits, and the government offered to buy at the highest price realized on the stock exchange up to the th of may, with an addition of from to per cent for compulsory sale. the cost of the leading companies, based upon twenty years' purchase of the net profits for the year ending th june, , was as follows: for the electric and international, £ , , ; for the british and irish magnetic, £ , , ; for reuter's, £ , ; for the united kingdom electric, £ , ; and for the universal private, £ , ,--a total of £ , , . separate bargains followed with many smaller companies. the acts of and granted £ , , , for the purpose of purchasing the undertakings of the companies and the interests of the railways; £ , , were spent in purchases, and £ , , in renewals and extensions between and .[ ] the claims for compensation on the part of some of the railways were very excessive. the lancashire and yorkshire railway asked for £ , , , with interest, and £ per wire per mile a year for all wires erected upon its right of way by or for the post office. by the terms of the award they obtained £ , and _s._ per mile per wire. the great eastern railway presented a claim for £ , , with interest, and £ per mile per wire. their claim was reduced to £ , and an annual payment of £ for way-leave. in all, the capital sum of £ , , was expended by the government, necessitating an annual interest payment of £ , , charged, not on the post office vote, but on the consolidated fund.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xi, , p. ; - , vi, , p. ; - , xi, , p. ; , xxxix, , pp. - ; , vii, , p. ; _parl. deb._, d ser., cxcii, coll. - , - . according to figures furnished by mr. fowler in a speech in the house of commons in , the value of the capital and the debentures of the electric and international at that time was £ , , while the capital value of the british and irish magnetic was £ , ; of reuter's company, £ , ; of the united kingdom electric, £ , , and of the london and provincial, £ , (_parl. deb._ d ser., cxcv, coll. - ). [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; _ibid._, , p. . when the post office acquired the telegraphs, a uniform rate was introduced of _s._ for twenty words or part thereof and _d._ for each additional five words or part thereof, exclusive of the names and addresses of sender and receiver, which were transmitted free. delivery was free within a radius of one mile from the terminal telegraphic office, or within the limit of the town postal delivery when it contained a head office and the postal delivery extended more than a mile from it. beyond the above limits the charge did not exceed _d._ per double mile or part thereof. when special delivery was not required beyond the free delivery, the message was sent free by the next ordinary postal delivery. the newspapers succeeded in having incorporated within the act a clause prohibiting a higher charge for press messages than _s._ for every one hundred words transmitted between p.m. and a.m., or _s._ for every seventy-five words between a.m. and p.m. when sent to a single address, the charge for the transmission of the same telegram to each additional address to be not greater than _d._[ ] on the day of transfer the post office was able to open about a thousand postal telegraph offices and nineteen hundred offices at railway stations where the railways dealt with the public messages as agents of the postmaster-general. on the st of march, , the system comprised more than five thousand offices (including nineteen hundred at railway stations), twenty-two thousand miles of line, with an aggregate of eighty-three thousand miles of wire, and more than six thousand instruments. a decided increase in the number of messages was the result. during the first year after the transfer there were nearly ten millions of messages, the second year twelve millions, and the third year fifteen millions, or more than double the number transmitted in . the period from to the adoption of a sixpenny tariff in was one of steady progress. the number of new offices opened was not numerous, the increase having been only one thousand, but the improvements in existing connections were marked and the number of messages transmitted had increased to thirty-three millions. the new tariff rate was _d._ for twelve words or less, with a halfpenny for each additional word, but the old system of free addresses was abolished. under the old tariff each figure was charged at a single rate. under the new schedule five figures were counted as one word. a large proportion of telegrams were brought within the minimum sixpenny rate, while the average charge, which had been _s._ _d._ in , was reduced to _d._ in . the number of messages increased from thirty-three millions in - to fifty millions in - . four cables between france and england and one between france and the jersey isles were purchased by the governments of the two countries, two by the belgian and english governments, two between holland and england, and one between germany and england, by the governments of the countries interested.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. . following the adoption of a uniform sixpenny rate the department has granted other facilities to the public, which, though popular enough, have undoubtedly tended to place the working of the telegraphs upon a less secure financial basis. in , the issue of telegraphic money orders was begun as an experiment, and in the same year was extended to all head and branch post offices in the united kingdom.[ ] two years later the post office ceased to require the repayment of the capital outlay on telegraph extensions made under guarantee, and the rural sanitary authorities were empowered to defray the cost of such extensions in places within their districts.[ ] for the six preceding years the average annual number of guaranteed telegraph offices was seventy-seven, and during the next five years the average annual number increased to . as part of the jubilee concessions in , the guarantors were required to pay only one half of the deficiency, with the result that during the following two years the average annual number of guaranteed telegraphic offices increased to . at the same time the free delivery limit was extended to three miles and a reduction was granted in the porterage charges beyond that distance. finally, in , the guarantee was reduced to one third of the loss incurred, the delivery charge being fixed at _d._ a mile for the distance beyond the three-mile limit, instead of the distance from the office of delivery.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., pp. - ; , p. . [ ] _ibid._, , p. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; and vict., c. . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , pp. , . in , the main routes from london having become crowded, especially by the telephone trunk lines, the principle of underground lines between the most important centres was sanctioned by the department. london and birmingham were first connected, and the line was ultimately extended through stafford to warrington, where it joined existing underground wires between manchester, liverpool, and chester. by , underground wires were laid as far north as glasgow through carlisle, to be extended later to edinburgh. at manchester a junction was effected with a line passing through bradford to leeds. during the same year underground lines were completed from london to chatham and from london westward toward bristol, with the intention of extending it into cornwall in order to secure communication with the atlantic and mediterranean cables.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, , p. ; , p. ; , app., p. ; , p. . in , england joined the other important european powers in a telegraphic agreement which went into effect in january of the following year. by this agreement each of the contracting parties agreed to devote special wires to international service, government telegrams to have precedence in transmission and to be forwarded in code if desired. private telegrams could also be sent in code between those countries which allowed them, and the signatory powers agreed to pass them in transit, but each country reserved to itself the privilege of stopping any private telegram. for the purpose of making charges, any country might be divided into not more than two zones, and each of the signatory powers owed to the others an account of charges collected.[ ] so far as foreign telegrams were concerned, the use of manufactured expressions in place of real words gave rise to considerable trouble in view of the fact that such combinations were difficult to transmit. in , the languages which might be used for code words were reduced by common consent to english, french, german, italian, spanish, portuguese, dutch, and latin. at the same time the use of proper names as code words was prohibited. this did not remove the evil, as the roots of words in one language with terminations in another were used. an official vocabulary was compiled by the international telegraph bureau, to become obligatory in , but its publication in aroused considerable opposition, as many of the words were dangerously alike, and in the decision of the paris conference of , by which the official vocabulary was to become compulsory for european telegrams in , was rescinded. it was also decided that an enlarged vocabulary should be published by the international bureau, but, owing to the action of the english delegates, the official vocabulary was not made compulsory at the meeting of the international telegraph conference in , although artificial words were allowed if pronounceable in accordance with the usages of any one of the eight languages from which the ordinary code words might be selected. it was also decided to admit letter cipher at the rate of five letters to a word, and several countries agreed to lower their charges for the transmission of extra-european telegrams, the english delegates contending that the rates for such telegrams should be made the same as the rates for european telegrams.[ ] in , negotiations with the german and netherland telegraph administrations resulted in a charge of _d._ a word being fixed as the rate between the united kingdom and germany and _d._ a word between the united kingdom and the netherlands. [ ] _acc. & p._, , lxxxiv [c. ], pp. - . [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . in , the following reductions in rates were announced:-- to russia from _d._ to - / _d._ a word. spain _d._ - / _d._ italy _d._ - / _d._ india _s._ _d._ _s._ to be followed six years later by still greater reductions:-- to austria from - / _d._ to _d._ a word. hungary - / _d._ _d._ italy - / _d._ _d._ russia - / _d._ - / _d._ portugal - / _d._ - / _d._ sweden _d._ _d._ spain - / _d._ _d._ canary isles _s._ - / _d._ _d._ the minimum charge for a telegram being _d._ in all cases. the transmission of foreign money orders by telegraph was inaugurated in by the opening of an exchange with germany and its extension shortly afterward to the other important european countries.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; , p. . in , an attempt was made, curiously suggestive of marconi's discovery, to transmit telegraph messages without a direct wire. the experiment was conducted between the island of flat holm in the bristol channel and the mainland, a distance of three miles. a wire was erected on the mainland parallel with one on the island, and, by means of strong vibratory currents sent through the former, signals were transmitted and messages exchanged. three years later and before the practical value of the flat holm experiment had been substantiated, mr. marconi arrived in england to submit his plans to the post office. a private wire from poldhu to falmouth was provided for him on the usual rental terms, and it was announced that the post office would act as his agent for collecting messages to be transmitted by wireless telegraphy when he had proved the feasibility of his project. at the international congress on wireless telegraphy held in berlin in it was recommended that shore stations equipped with wireless apparatus should be bound to exchange messages with ships at sea without regard to the system of wireless telegraphy employed by the latter, that the rate of charge for the shore station should be subject to the approval of the state where it was situated, the rate of the ship to the approval of the state whose flag it carried, and that the working of wireless stations should be regulated so as to interfere with other stations as little as possible. in order to enable the government to carry out the decision of the congress and to place wireless telegraphy under its control for strategic purposes, an act was passed in making it illegal to instal or work wireless telegraphic apparatus in the united kingdom or on board a british ship in territorial waters without the licence of the postmaster-general. the act was to be operative for two years only, but before its expiration, was extended until the st of december, , before which it might again be renewed. arrangements were also made for the collection and delivery of the telegrams of the marconi company by the post offices throughout the country. the company charges its usual rate, _d._. a word, and the post office in addition charges the ordinary inland rate.[ ] the international agreement providing for compulsory communication between shore stations and ships was signed in in spite of the protests of the marconi company, sir edward sassoon, and others, who contended that the agreement was unfair to the company and a mistake on the part of the kingdom, "which was thus giving up advantages obtained by the possession of the best system of wireless telegraphy in the world." the majority of the countries represented were also in favour of compulsory communication between ship and ship, but this was successfully negatived by great britain and japan. in , mr. buxton was able to announce in the house that the relations between the post office and the marconi company "are now of the most friendly kind," and that they have accepted and adopted the principle of intercommunication. in the preceding year two experimental stations were started by the government which will enable the department to extend its operations quite independently of the companies.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; , pp. - ; , pp. - ; edw. vii, c. ; edw. vii, c. . [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., clxxix, coll. - ; cxcii, col. , london _times_, , nov. , p. ; , july , p. . from a financial point of view, government ownership and control of the telegraphs in the united kingdom has not been a success. in addition, the telegraph department, for some time previous to , had been drawing upon the balance in the possession of the post office, a balance which was required to be invested for other purposes and whose expenditure for the use of the telegraphs had not been authorized by parliament. mr. goldsmid, in introducing a motion for the appointment of a committee of enquiry, alluded to this error on the part of the department, to the excessive price paid for the telegraphs, and complained that the telegraph system was not being operated on a paying basis. his motion was withdrawn, but an agreement was reached with the department by the appointment of a committee, with mr. playfair as chairman, "to inquire into the organization and financial system of the telegraph department of the post office." the committee in their report commented unfavourably upon the unnecessarily large force, the cumbrous organization, and the far from economical management of some of the divisions of the department, advised that an attempt be made to remedy these faults, and that press messages be charged a minimum rate of _s._ each, and not at the rate of _s._ for each seventy-five or one hundred words obtained by adding together separate messages requiring separate transmission. this suggestion with reference to press messages was adopted, promises were made at the same time to diminish the force, and a scheme was submitted for the reorganization of the department.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, d ser., ccxxviii, coll. f.; _rep. com._, , xiii, , pp. i-xiii, , . the number of telegrams for the year ending st march, , the year following the sixpenny reduction, was , , ; for the year - it had increased to , , . in - the number was , , and in - the total was , , . during the next three years there was a reduction, followed in - by an increase to , , . since - the number has again fallen off, the figures for - being only , , .[ ] it is rather difficult to make definite statements about the telegraph finances on account of the lack of uniformity in presenting the accounts since . under gross revenue is now included the value of services done for other departments, but this was not always the rule. the expenditure of other departments for the telegraph service may or may not be included under ordinary telegraphic expenditure. net revenue may also be increased or a deficit changed to a surplus by deducting the expenditure for sites, buildings, and extensions from ordinary expenditure. finally, the interest on capital is not charged on the telegraph vote, and so is not included under expenditure. in , , and there seem to have been surpluses over all expenditure, including interest on capital. excluding interest from expenditure, the net revenue decreased from £ , in to £ , in , when the pensions to officials of the telegraph companies were first charged to the telegraph vote. with an increased net revenue of £ , in , following the report of the committee of investigation, the department did very well from a financial point of view, until , when the net revenue fell to £ , , and in there was a deficit of £ , , due to the fact that expenses were increasing at a greater rate than receipts. the sixpenny reduction seems to have made but little change in the financial situation, the gross revenue increasing from £ , , in - to £ , , in - , the expenditure for the same years being £ , , and £ , , . the net revenue began to recover in - , and averaged about £ , a year during the four years ending march , . during the fiscal years and there were deficits, then a slight recovery from to and a succession of deficits from to . the interest on stock, £ , in , increased steadily to £ , in , at which figure it remained until , when a reduction in the rate of interest from per cent to - / per cent lowered the amount payable to £ , . in , there was a further reduction to £ , .[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . [ ] _ibid._, , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. ; , app., p. . the financial loss experienced by the government in operating the telegraphs has naturally produced considerable interest in this phase of the question. mr. blackwood, the financial secretary of the post office, in his evidence before the committee, considered that the financial control and oversight of the department were inadequate and that the department was over-manned. on the other hand, he was of the opinion that many expenses were met by revenue expenditure which should have been charged to capital. mr. baines, the surveyor-general, among other causes of the financial deficiency, called attention to the shorter hours and longer annual leave of the telegraph staff as government employees, the higher standard of efficiency established by the post office, and the prevalence of much overtime work as a result of the maintenance by the companies, just before the transfer, of an inadequate staff.[ ] the fact that the yearly increase in messages continued to diminish after is commented on by the postmaster-general in as due to the stagnation of trade, the competition of the telephones, and the rapidity of the letter post. mr. raikes called attention to the large number of telegrams on the business of the railways which were transmitted for nothing. by an agreement with several of the railway companies to send, as a right instead of a privilege, a fixed number of messages containing a fixed number of words, this increase was checked. in , the following comment is found in the postmaster-general's report: "this stagnation of business, viewed in connection with an increased cost in working expenses, is a matter for serious consideration, and necessarily directs attention to that part of the business which is conducted at a loss," the reference being to the increased number of press messages transmitted at a nominal charge. when in the newspaper proprietors succeeded in obtaining the insertion in the telegraph act of special rates for the transmission of press messages, no condition was laid down that copies, in order that they might be sent at the very low charges there enumerated, should be transmitted to the same place as the original telegram. the newspapers combined to receive messages from news associations in identical terms, and, by dividing the cost, obtained a rate equal on the average to - / _d._ per hundred words. under the arrangements adopted for the transmission of news messages the number of words so sent did not necessitate a corresponding amount of work, but it is an interesting fact that in the number of words dealt with for the press formed two fifths of the total number. in that year the loss on these telegrams was estimated at about £ , a year. the high price paid as purchase money is another of the factors to be considered, only in so far, however, as the telegraphic department has failed to meet the interest on the debt so incurred. the telegraph companies were very liberally treated, and in certain cases excessive prices were undoubtedly paid. probably the most important reason for the financial failure of the telegraphs under government ownership and control has been the influence of forces productive of good in themselves, but quite different from those which had previously been dominant when the telegraphs were under private control and during the early years of government management. the effect of these forces is clearly seen in the reduction of the tariff in , the extension of facilities under inadequate guarantee, and the increase in the pay of the staff.[ ] mr. buxton is of the opinion that the worst feature of the postal business is the telegraph service. "it has never been profitable and now the telephone system has so largely taken its place that the revenue is falling off," while the "economist" considers that "it is obvious that both in the savings bank and the telegraph branches reforms are urgently needed in order to place matters on a sound financial basis."[ ] [ ] between , when the telegraphs were taken over by the state, and , the number of employees was more than doubled, although, during the same period, the number of messages--not including news messages--increased only from ten to fifteen millions (_rep. com._, , xiii, , pp. , , , ). [ ] _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . the proportion of the amount spent on salaries and wages which in , before mr. fawcett's revision, stood at about per cent, increased, as a result of that revision and mr. raikes' revision in , to about per cent. [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., clix, col. ; _economist_, sept. , , p. . chapter xi the post office and the telephone companies the first telephone brought to england by lord kelvin in was a very crude instrument, useful only for experimental purposes and of interest only as a forecast of later development. in the following year two post office officials introduced some machines which had been presented to them by the american inventor bell, and although not very efficient, they were of some commercial use. the post office made arrangements with the agents of the inventor for the purpose of supplying its private wire renters with these machines if they should wish to make use of them. with the invention of the microphone in , and its application to the telephone, a thoroughly practical method of transmitting speech was at last introduced. in the same year a company was formed to acquire and work the bell patents. they endeavoured to come to an agreement with the post office by which the latter might obtain telephones at cost price, and would in return facilitate the operations of the company, but the negotiations came to nothing. there was then no suggestion of an exchange system, and the company proposed merely to supply telephones and wires to private individuals. in , the edison telephone company of london was established, an announcement having been made in the autumn of that it was proposed to establish exchanges. an attempt was made to amend the telegraph act so as to confer specifically upon the department monopolistic control over telephonic communication, but the amendment failed to receive the sanction of the house of commons. the postmaster-general then filed information against both companies, on the ground that the transmission of messages by telephone was an infringement of the telegraphic monopoly. in the summer of the two companies amalgamated as the united telephone company, and in december judgment was given by the high court of justice in favour of the post office.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xiii, , pp. - ; _law reports, queen's bench division_, vi, p. ; _parl. deb._, d ser., cclxxxviii, col. . in april of the postmaster-general granted the united telephone company a licence to establish and operate a telephone system within a five-mile radius in london, the central point to be chosen by the company. on the other hand the company agreed to pay a royalty of per cent of its gross receipts and to accept the judgment of the high court. licences were also granted to establish telephone exchanges in the provincial towns within a radius of one or two miles, all the licences to expire in . the postmaster-general reserved the right to establish exchanges for the department and the option of purchasing the works of the licencees in or at seven-year intervals from , six months' notice having first been given. the policy of the united telephone company was to confine its own operations to london and to allow patent apparatus to be used in other parts of the country by subsidiary companies, leaving them free to negotiate with the post office for provincial licences. the telephone policy of the post office from to consisted in the granting of licences to the companies in restricted areas, so that the telegraph revenue might suffer from competition as little as possible, and the establishment by the department of exchanges in certain places not as a rule served by the companies. owing to the refusal of the government to solicit business, their exchanges did not prove a success. the department itself would probably have preferred to take over the whole telephone business in , but this policy met with no favour from the lords of the treasury, who were of the opinion "that the state, as regards all functions which are not by their nature exclusively its own, should at most be ready to supplement, not endeavour to supersede private enterprise, and that a rough but not inaccurate test of the legitimacy of its procedure is not to act in anticipation of possible demands." the operation by the government of the unimportant exchanges possessed by them was sanctioned by their lordships, "on the understanding that its object is by the establishment of a telephonic system to a limited extent by the post office to enable your department to negotiate with the telephone companies in a satisfactory manner for licences." the london and globe company was given a licence in to establish exchanges in london, but they were entirely dependent upon the united company for instruments, so that there was no real competition. the department proceeded to issue licences for the establishment of competing systems in places where there were already government exchanges. from to the postmaster-general granted twenty-three licences, and some twenty-seven towns, with subscribers, were served by the department. the policy of the post office during these years, as thus outlined, was far from satisfactory to the public, due largely to the desire to protect the telegraph revenue, and the failure to appreciate the possibilities which the new system of communication was capable of offering. the companies, restricted as they were to local areas, could not offer any means for communication between these areas, since special permission had to be obtained for the erection of trunk lines. the government offered to provide these on condition that a direct payment of £ a mile per double wire and one half the revenue over that sum should be paid for their use, but this offer the companies naturally refused to consider. the lancashire and cheshire company proposed to fix their trunk-line charges so low as to pay expenses only, but they were informed by the government that they must charge s. a mile annual rental. in addition, they were not allowed to charge less than _s._ at their call offices, the then prevailing fee for a telegram. a few trunk lines, it is true, were constructed by the government and rented to the companies, but they were quite insufficient to satisfy the demand. in london, the united telephone company was not allowed to extend its system beyond the five-mile radius without special permission and the payment of an increased royalty. in addition, the companies had no way-leave powers, but had to depend upon the good will of householders to fly their wires from house-top to house-top, with the result that in london there was a ridiculously large number of exchanges. finally the companies were restricted to connecting subscribers with the exchange or their place of business, and, although messages could be telephoned for further transmission by the telegraphs, there was not that close connection between the telephonic and telegraphic systems which might eventually have led to the mutual advantage of each. moreover, in , the government announced that they would grant no more licences unless the subsidiary companies agreed to sell to them all the instruments they wished, the intention probably being for the government to supply instruments to companies which would establish exchanges in real competition with the united telephone company. since the subsidiary companies could not supply these instruments without the consent of the parent company, the only result was still further to restrict telephonic development.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , p. ; , p. ; , p. ; _rep. com._, , xii, , pp. , ; , xiii, , pp. - ; _parl. deb._, d ser., cclxxii, col. ; cclxxxviii, coll. - , - ; cclxxxix, coll. . in , the prevailing public discontent in connection with the government's treatment of the situation manifested itself in the press and in the house of commons. the post office was accused of practising a policy of strangulation toward the companies, and the postmaster-general, mr. fawcett, acknowledged that there was some truth in the charge. he advised the treasury that the companies' areas of operation should be unlimited, and that their operations should be confined to the transmission of oral communications. the restricted licences were withdrawn and new, unrestricted licences granted, terminable in with the same qualifications with reference to royalties and government purchase that were inserted in the old licences. nominally the result produced free competition, but actually competition was impossible until the expiration of the fundamental patents in . the year before their expiration, the companies succeeded in getting control of the situation by an amalgamation of the united telephone company with its licencees under the name of the national telephone company. mr. dickinson, deputy chairman of the london county council, stated that the nominal capital of the united telephone company, £ , (with an actual capital expenditure in within the metropolitan district of £ , ) was taken over by the national telephone company at a cost of £ , , , and the duke of marlborough said in the house of lords that of the £ , , capital of the new company over £ , , was "water." mr. raikes, the postmaster-general, who was in favour of competition, wrote to the united company, disapproving of the whole transaction. with the expiration of the patent rights, the new telephone company was resuscitated, with the duke of marlborough as chairman, an agreement having been concluded with the telephone subscribers' protective association for a twelve guineas' service in london, but it in turn was absorbed by the national company, much to the disgust of the members of the association. so far as way-leave rights were concerned the position of the companies remained in a very unsatisfactory condition. a committee of the house of commons advised that certain way-leave rights should be granted, but nothing was accomplished, although a bill was introduced in the house of commons in to enable the companies to erect posts without the consent of the road authorities.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, - , xii, p. ; , xvii, , sess. , pp. - ; , xiii, , pp. - , , - ; , xii, , p. ; _parl. deb._, d ser., cclxxxviii, coll. f.; cccxxxvi, col. ; cccxxxvii, col. ; cccxlvi, col. . mr. forbes, the chairman of the national telephone company, said to the committee of : "i am prepared to concede that the telephone company which conducts about or per cent of the whole telephonic business of the country conducts a great deal of it monstrously badly, but it is not their fault, it is the fault of parliament"; and again in referring to the lack of way-leave power: "take london for instance; london is very badly served, but why is it very badly served? because everything depends upon the caprice of the individual." as a result of the complaints that the telephone system was giving an inadequate service because of the high rates on an inflated capital, because the utility of the telephones was impaired in that they could not be used in connection with the telegraph and postal services, and because of the lack of powers to erect poles in the streets or to lay underground wires or to connect their exchanges by trunk lines, the government announced a change of policy in .[ ] this change was set forth in a treasury minute of the d of may, , and in two memoranda of agreement of the same year to which the national and the new companies were respectively parties, the arrangements being sanctioned by parliament in the telegraph acts of and . so far as it affected the national company the arrangement was embodied in detail in an agreement dated the th of march, , no similar agreement being made with the new company because that company went into liquidation in , and in surrendered its licence. by the agreement of the national telephone company surrendered its previous licence except for certain definite districts called "exchange areas," a large number of which were specified in the agreement. these areas were as a rule coterminous with the urban districts, but comprised in addition certain areas made up of two or more urban districts together with the intervening country. power was reserved to the postmaster-general to specify other exchange areas, the understanding being, both with regard to areas already specified and those to be specified, that industrial areas of wide extent should be recognized in cases where there were no considerable towns forming centres of business, that neighbouring towns intimately connected in their business relations should be placed in the same area, and that small towns and villages should also be so grouped when each by itself would not pay. outside these areas the postmaster-general alone was entitled to carry on telephone business, no more licences being granted for the whole kingdom, and for any particular town only with the approval of the corporation or municipal authority. call offices for the use of the public were to be opened at the company's exchanges and connected with the post offices in order that exchange subscribers might telephone over the trunk lines to exchange subscribers in other towns. where intercommunication took place between the systems of the company and the post office, a terminal charge on the part of the receiving system was allowed. telephonic messages could be sent to the post offices for transmission as telegrams and delivery as such or for delivery as letters. express messengers could also be sent for by telephone, and telegrams received at the post offices might be transmitted by telephone. [ ] only five years before, mr. raikes, the postmaster-general, said in the house of commons: "i am inclined to think that it is extremely doubtful whether there would be much public advantage in establishing telephonic communication generally between those [the principal] towns" (_parl. deb._, d ser., cccxix, col. ). the postmaster-general was authorized to grant to the company all such powers of executing works within its exchange areas (other than works under, over, or along any railway or canal) as were conferred upon him by the telegraph acts of , , and section of the act of . if required by the company, he must provide underground wires between different exchanges in the same exchange area, and must allow the company to conclude agreements with railway and canal companies over whose property he had exclusive right of way. in exchange for these privileges the company agreed to sell its trunk lines to the postmaster-general, their value being fixed at a later date at £ , , which amount was paid to the company on the th of april, , the length of trunk line taken over being miles having , miles of wire. in order to remove a serious handicap to the success of competing companies, the trunk lines were henceforth to be controlled and extended by the post office, the company to receive five per cent of any gross charges for trunk-line tolls which it might collect as an agent of the post office. the rates charged by the post office for trunk-line conversations in were, for distances of miles and under, the same as those previously charged by the company, and were lower than the old rates for distances in excess of miles.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xvii, , sess. , pp. - ; , xiii, , pp. , ; _rep. p. g._, , pp. , ; _rep. com._, , xii, , pp. - , ; , vii, , pp. - ; and vict., c. , and vict., c. ; _parl. deb._, th ser., iii, coll. , , . in the mean time there was evidence of considerable opposition to the practical monopoly of the company within the exchange areas. a motion introduced in the house of commons by doctor cameron, member of parliament for glasgow, in favour of government purchase of the telephones, received considerable support, but was rejected by the government on the ground that the resulting increase in the number of civil servants, not paid at market wages and constantly trying to bring pressure to bear on members, was too serious an evil to receive the sanction of the government.[ ] the claim was also made by some of the towns and by glasgow in particular that the municipalities should be allowed to install their own telephone systems in opposition to those of the company. a select committee was appointed to consider this demand on the question of "whether the provision made for telephone service in local areas is adequate, and whether it is advisable to grant licences to local authorities or otherwise," but, owing to the dissolution of parliament, the committee did not present a report. considerable evidence was heard, however, and the committee recommended that another committee should be appointed during the next session to consider and report upon the evidence already taken and, if necessary, take more evidence. the witnesses examined were as a rule of the opinion that the telephones should be taken over by the state; but there was a difference of opinion as to whether municipal licences should be granted. dissatisfaction with existing conditions seemed to be widespread. the glasgow corporation expressed disgust with the service of the company on account of the difficulty of getting into communication with subscribers, frequent interruptions and noises, and the chance of being overheard by a third party, the first complaint being due in their opinion to inadequate exchange accommodations, the second and third to the one-wire system. the corporation was accused on the other hand of attempting to dislocate the company's system by refusing them permission to lay underground wires, while the overhead wires were unfavourably affected by the electric tramway currents. the deputy town clerk of liverpool was in favour of government telephones, but opposed municipal licences on the ground that they would increase the expense of telephoning between a municipal exchange and one belonging to the company. the london county council advised that severe restrictions should be laid upon the company by imposing maximum rates, etc., or that the state should take over the company's system or that the municipality should do so. questions were sent to subscribers in london by the county council, by the company, and by the commissioner of sewers, asking for their opinion on the service rendered by the company there. as may be imagined, the replies sent to the county council and the commissioner were on the whole unfavourable to the company, while those sent to the company were generally favourable to them. it was shown that the number of subscribers in english and scotch cities was fewer than in most continental cities, and that, comparing the population of the united kingdom with that of the united states, the number of subscribers in the former should be about , instead of about , ; but nothing was said of the superior postal and telegraphic facilities of the united kingdom as compared with the majority of foreign countries, facilities which would naturally reduce the demand for a comparatively new and in many cases unpopular method of communication. the rate of the company in the metropolitan area for a business connection was £ for a yearly agreement, with substantial reductions for second and additional connections, and £ for private houses. on a five years' agreement the rates were £ and £ respectively. the rate in paris at the same time was £ . for the provincial cities in england, such as manchester, liverpool, etc., the rate was £ for a first connection and £ _s._ for second and additional connections, and for the large towns, such as norwich, chester, exeter, etc., £ within half a mile of the exchange, £ within three quarters of a mile, £ within one mile, and an additional £ _s._ for each additional half-mile, with reductions for extra connections. for small outlying and isolated towns the half-mile rate was £ _s._, one mile £ , and £ _s._ for every additional half-mile.[ ] [ ] _ibid._, th ser., iii, coll. f. [ ] _rep. com._, , xiii, , pp. iii, - , - , , - , , , , , , - , - ; _parl. deb._, th ser., xxxi, coll. f.; xlviii, coll. - . in , another committee was appointed with mr. hanbury as chairman, "to enquire and report whether the telephone service was calculated to become of such general benefit as to justify its being undertaken by municipal and other authorities, regard being had to local finance." the committee were of the opinion that the existing telephone system was not of general benefit either in the kingdom at large or in those portions where exchanges existed, that it could hardly be of benefit so long as monopolistic conditions existed, and that it was capable of becoming much more useful if worked solely or mainly with a view to the public interest. they condemned the flat rate subscription charge of the company as of benefit only to the wealthier commercial classes in english cities. they commented unfavourably upon the fact that in the london area there were only call offices open to non-subscribers, and that as a rule messages could not be sent from them to subscribers except when the sender and recipient were in the same postal district or town, when the message might be delivered. they were of the opinion that the telephones were far more useful in other countries where the conditions were not so favourable. conditions, they thought, were unlikely to improve under the present management. the company must pay dividends on an inflated capital; its licence would expire in , and the government was hardly likely to pay the company at that date for goodwill. in addition, there were no restrictions on charges, the company had a motive for limiting its subscribers, as expenses increased proportionately with an increase in their number, and the question of way-leaves was a source of great difficulty. finally, they declared in favour of competition by the municipalities and the post office as tending to reduce rates, extend the system, and, if the government should eventually purchase the telephones, give alternative systems to choose from. the government adopted the committee's report, and, in a treasury minute of the th of may, , laid down the principles upon which licences should be granted by the postmaster-general to the municipalities, and announced that in london the postmaster-general would himself establish an exchange system.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , xii, , pp. iii-xiii. in accordance with the finding of the committee and the resulting treasury minute, an act was passed in , conferring upon the boroughs and borough districts to which the postmaster-general might grant licences the right to borrow money upon the security of the rates for the erection and management of telephone systems. a loan of £ , , was authorized for the use of the department itself in establishing telephone competition with the company in london. the act also defined the relations between the company and the municipalities (or other new licencees) in the event of competition. if the telephone company would agree to abandon the power of discriminating between subscribers and would consent to limit their charges within the maxima and minima prescribed by the postmaster-general, the latter was to extend any way-leave rights already possessed for the period of the licence granted to the competing municipality or new licencee. if the new licence were extended beyond , the company's licence would be likewise extended, but if their licence were extended for as much as eight years beyond , the company were bound, at the request of the licencee and under certain conditions, to grant interchange of communication within the area. the new licences would be granted only to local authorities or companies approved by them, and the national company was prohibited from opening exchanges in any area in which they had not, before the passing of the act, established an effective exchange. the effect of the act was to limit competition to the municipalities, to confine the national company to those towns and areas they were already serving, and to throw upon the postmaster-general the duty of serving other parts of the country.[ ] [ ] and vict., c. . the form of the licences for municipalities, among other conditions, contained provisions designed to secure for the public an efficient and cheap service. it was provided that the plant should be constructed in accordance with specifications prepared by the postmaster-general, no preferential treatment should be allowed to any subscriber, the charges made should be within certain specified limits, neither the licence nor any part of the plant of the licencee should be assigned to or amalgamated with the business of any other licencee, and that the licence might be terminated if an exchange system were not established within two years. the provisions of the agreement of which secured coöperation between the post office and the national company and combined the telephone with the telegraph and postal services were also introduced into the municipal licences. the municipalities were bound to give intercommunication between their exchanges and any established by the postmaster-general, and terminal charges for trunk-wire communications between the exchange subscribers of any other system and those of the local authority were forbidden. about sixty local authorities made enquiries with a view to taking out licences, but only thirteen licences were accepted. that of tunbridge wells was surrendered in , owing to an agreement arrived at between the national telephone company and the corporation, the municipal telephones not having proved a success.[ ] in the case of seven others the licences were surrendered or cancelled. the following corporations held licences in :-- hull licence terminating st december, glasgow swansea brighton th april, portsmouth [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., cxxiv, coll. - ; cxv, col. ; cxvi, coll. - . in all the above cases except hull, the national telephone company had agreed to forego the granting of special favours to subscribers, had established intercommunication, and their licence was accordingly extended in those places to the dates of termination of the corporation licences. in glasgow the national telephone company made several applications for permission to lay underground wires, but the corporation refused the concession on any terms. in spite of this advantage and the inability of the company to meet the low unlimited user rate of the corporation telephones on account of agreements with subscribers in other towns, the corporation found it advisable to sell its plant to the post office in for £ , at a capital loss of between £ , and £ , . brighton followed suit a little later for the sum of £ , , at a loss of £ . swansea experienced considerable difficulty in borrowing money to extend its system on account of the refusal of the local government board to grant the necessary borrowing powers. the post office offered £ , for a plant which had cost £ , . this offer was refused by the corporation, and an agreement was concluded with the national telephone company in for the sale of the plant at a price sufficient to repay the whole capital. offers were also made to hull and portsmouth by the department, but were refused, as they were not sufficiently high to cover expenditure.[ ] [ ] _parl. deb._, th ser., lxxxii, coll. - ; cliv, coll. - ; clxiv, col. ; london _times_, , july , p. ; , jan. , p. ; feb. , p. ; mar. , p. . as a rule the local authorities offered an initial flat rate lower than that paid by the company's subscribers in competing centres, but most of the other rates of the corporation authorities were somewhat higher. the service offered by the public telephones was not so satisfactory as had been hoped, and the more numerous connections open to the company's subscribers formed an initial advantage which it was difficult to overcome. on the other hand, the corporations often had the advantage of underground connections which were denied to the company, but the relatively small number of the subscribers of the corporation telephones, the high cost of underground connections, the clumsy service offered in many cases, and the ability of the company to offer lower rates in competitive areas proved too much for most of the corporations which were granted licences.[ ] [ ] _rep. com._, , vii, , pp. , , , - . in the meantime the national telephone company had been experiencing considerable difficulty in getting permission to lay underground wires in london. in , the telegraph act of that year authorized the postmaster-general to grant to his licencees the same way-leave powers which he enjoyed, subject to the conditions that the licencees should not exercise such powers in london without the consent of the county council, nor in any urban district outside london without the consent of the urban authority, nor elsewhere without the consent of the county council. in pursuance of this authority the postmaster-general, in the agreement of the th of march, , undertook, at the request of the company, to authorize them to exercise his way-leave powers in any exchange area. the company did not apply for the exercise of such authority in london, but an attempt was made by them to obtain the consent of the london county council to allow their wires to be placed underground, and the work proceeded with the permission of the local road authorities in london. negotiations with the council were fruitless, largely on account of the price asked for way-leave and the demand for lower rates. the postmaster-general was advised that it was his duty to see that the act of was enforced, and the resulting correspondence with the company having failed of any satisfactory result, an information in the name of the attorney-general was filed against the company, asking for a declaration that they were not entitled to proceed with their underground works in london without the authority of the postmaster-general and the consent of the county council. an order to that effect was made on the th of july, . this seemed a favourable opportunity for the postmaster-general to secure from the company certain concessions with reference to their london exchange system as well as privileges for the subscribers of the postal exchanges which had been established in london and an agreement with reference to the purchase in by the post office of the company's london exchanges. these concessions and privileges were finally embodied in an agreement made on the th of november, , by which the postmaster-general agreed to furnish such underground wires on the demand of the company as he might think reasonable and likely to be useful to the post office later, as well as underground wires connecting the exchanges of the post office with those of the company. when the subscribers of the london postal exchanges exceeded , in number, the company agreed to pay half of the rent of the latter wires. no terminal charges were payable for a message passing over these wires, or for a message over the trunk lines between the subscribers of the post office in london and those outside london, or between subscribers of the company in london and those outside london. in addition, the postmaster-general promised to afford to the company's subscribers in london all such facilities with reference to postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications as he granted to post office london subscribers and upon the same terms and conditions. he also agreed to consider all applications from the company for way-leaves on railways and canals where he enjoyed such rights, and the company promised to establish telephone communications without favour or preference. a decision was also reached fixing equal rates for the postal and company's subscribers in london, based primarily on the number of messages sent with an unmeasured rate lower than that previously in force, no revision to be made without six months' notice being given. finally it was agreed that in or before--if the company's licence should have been previously revoked--the postmaster-general should buy and the company should sell at its fair market value all such plant as should then be in use by the company in london and be suitable for the post office at that date. none of the plant was to be considered suitable unless installed with the written consent of the postmaster-general, the question of suitability to be decided by arbitration if necessary.[ ] the local authorities protested in vain against the agreement, their contention being that the committee of investigation had advised competition, whereas the government had on the other hand succeeded only in making very unsatisfactory terms with the company.[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , lv, , pp. - ; _rep. com._, , vii, , pp. - , - , - ; _parl. deb._, th ser., lxxxii, coll. ; ci, coll. - ; cxxxii, coll. . [ ] _ibid._, th ser., ci, coll. - . in , the postmaster-general and the national telephone company concluded an agreement for the purchase of the company's provincial plant based upon much the same principles which had governed the london agreement. the question of purchase in the provinces was complicated by the fact that in some towns there were competing municipal telephones, a resulting duplication of plant, and an extension of the licence period beyond . by the terms of the agreement, the postmaster-general on the st of december, , shall buy and the national telephone company shall sell (_a_) "all the plant, land, and buildings of the company brought into use with the sanction of the postmaster-general and in use on the st of december, , for the purpose of the telephonic business of the company, (_b_) any licensed business of the company in towns where there are municipal exchanges and where the licence extends beyond , (_c_) the private wire business of the company (for which no licence is required) in use after the st of december, , with buildings, plant, etc., (_d._) all stores and buildings suitable for use in accordance with specifications contained in the agreement, (_e_) all spare plant and works under construction if suitable for the telephonic business of the post office." the plant, land, and buildings were deemed to be brought into use with the sanction of the postmaster-general if they were in use or being brought into use at the date of the agreement; in the case of plant to be installed, if constructed in accordance with specifications contained in the agreement and of land and buildings, if acquired or constructed with the consent of the postmaster-general. with reference to plant not constructed in accordance with the specifications, and plant and buildings of any kind in competitive areas, the postmaster-general reserved the right to object to buy such plant or buildings, the question of suitability in competitive areas to be settled by arbitration. the value to be paid for the company's undertaking, not in the competitive areas and not being private wire business, shall be the value on the date of purchase exclusive of any allowance for past or future profits or any consideration for compulsory sale or any other consideration. the value in competitive areas is to be determined by agreement, regard being had to net profits and to the circumstances and conditions under which the company would carry on such business after the date of sale. the value of the private wire business (apart from the plant, land, and buildings used therein) is to be three years purchase of the net profits on the average of the three years ending st of december, . any other property or assets of the company may be purchased by the postmaster-general, the price to be determined by arbitration, if necessary, and, after the date of sale, the telegraphic business of the company will be carried on (whether by the company or the postmaster-general) at the expense and for the benefit of the postmaster-general. in the meantime the company agreed to maintain its plant in good and efficient working order, not to show favour or preference among its subscribers, to accept minimum and maximum rates, to allow intercommunication without terminal charges between their and the post office subscribers in the same area, and not to collect terminal charges for messages sent over the trunk lines between subscribers of the company and those of the post office. the postmaster-general agreed to extend to subscribers of the company all such telegraphic and postal facilities as his own subscribers enjoyed, and to undertake underground works for the company elsewhere than in london under the same conditions as in london. an agreement was also reached that similar rates should be charged where the postmaster-general and the company maintained competing systems. as a result, measured rates were, as a rule, substituted for the old flat rates, much to the indignation of various chambers of commerce in the kingdom. in the case of complaint as to inefficient service, if the charge is held to be proved before a person appointed by the board of trade, and if it is not the result of a refusal to grant way-leaves, the postmaster-general may require the company to remedy conditions in the particular area concerned or may call upon them to sell the inefficient system to him. in the first case if there is no improvement or if the second alternative has been adopted, the postmaster-general may require immediate sale under the same terms that would have held if it had not taken place until the st of december, .[ ] [ ] _acc. & p._, , xliv, , pp. - ; _rep. com._, , vii, , pp. iii-xi. the income received by the post office for the fiscal year - from the london and provincial exchanges and trunk-line business was £ , , working expenses, £ , , balance for depreciation, interest, etc., £ , , leaving a balance of £ , over and above an estimated amount of £ , for depreciation and interest at three per cent on the capital expenditure. the london exchange, with a gross income of £ , , showed a surplus of £ , over and above depreciation fund and interest on capital expenditure, the provincial exchanges a deficit of £ , , and the trunk lines a surplus of £ . the number of subscribers to the post office provincial exchanges (excluding glasgow and brighton) was , . including the glasgow subscribers ( , ) and the brighton subscribers ( ), the total was , . arrangements were then being made for local intercommunication between subscribers of these exchanges and those of the company in the same places. hull and portsmouth were the only towns maintaining municipal telephonic systems in , hull having telephones in use and portsmouth . the number of telephones in the london post office telephone service was , , including public call offices. the agreement of , providing for similar rates in the provinces between exchanges of the post office and those of the company, was followed after considerable discussion by the announcement of the adoption of a new scale in may, . the rates are now based on the principle of a measured service under which each subscriber pays according to the quality and quantity of the service desired. he may contract for any number of calls from four hundred upward, and he may share a line with another subscriber at a reduced rate, or he may rent a line for his own exclusive use.[ ] [ ] _rep. p. g._, , app., pp. - ; , pp. - , . chapter xii conclusion the important points in the history of the british post office are necessarily somewhat obscured by the great mass of less important characteristics which accompanied its development. organized at the beginning of the sixteenth century as a means for the conveyance of state letters, its messengers, by tacit consent, were allowed to carry the letters of private individuals. the advantage so afforded for the control of seditious correspondence led to the monopolistic proclamations of the closing years of the sixteenth and the opening years of the seventeenth century. before the state obtained no direct revenue for the conveyance of private letters. the messengers or postmen who were supposed to be paid by the state, derived the larger part of their income from the postage on these letters and from letting horses to travellers. the object in retaining for the royal posts the sole right to carry the letters of private individuals assumed a new form in the seventeenth century. witherings showed that by diverting the postage on private letters from the postmen to the state the post office might be made self-supporting. legal rates were imposed, letters were carried at a much higher speed, and the system of packet posts was extended over the great roads of england. the supervision of private correspondence became a matter of only secondary importance. the struggle between the king and parliament resulted in securing popular control over the posts of the kingdom. at the same time, during the political unrest, competing systems of posts were repressed with difficulty. the inability of government officials to meet the increasing needs of a growing metropolis led to the establishment of a penny post in london by dockwra, a private individual. the first part of the eighteenth century saw the extension of a postal system in the colonies and an attempt on the part of the post office to obtain the postage on letters passing over the cross-roads of england. the increase in england's colonial possessions and her growing trade with foreign countries produced a corresponding growth in the packet service. the last part of the century saw the establishment of palmer's mail coaches in order to meet competition from the post coaches. the great increase in revenue which accompanied the industrial revolution led to corruption among the postal officials, resulting in the reform of . the period of rapid growth had passed, and the close of the eighteenth century was a period of consolidation for the new offices which had been created, and better coöperation in the work which they performed. the first forty years of the last century saw the post office at its best as an instrument of taxation. but this very fact drew attention to the lack of other and more important objects. rates had been forced so high that people resorted to legal and illegal means to evade paying them. the feeling was growing that a tax upon correspondence was not only a poor method of raising money but that its ulterior effect in restricting letter writing was producing undesirable results upon the people of england industrially and socially. a great mistake had been made by the post office in acquiring steam packets. they suffered severely from private competing lines and were always a loss to the government. a partial remedy was attained by the transfer of all the packets to the admiralty. eventually the popular cause, championed by hill and wallace, forced itself upon the attention of the government. a parliamentary committee, after listening to the evidence of representative witnesses, declared itself in favour of low and uniform rates of postage for the united kingdom, the result being the adoption of inland penny postage in . among the numerous changes which have characterized the development of the post office since are the successive reductions in rates; the transfer of the packet boats from the admiralty, followed by the resolution of the government to revert to the old principle of depending upon private enterprise for the sea carriage of the mails; the extension in the use of the railways as a medium of conveyance; the establishment of a parcel post; and the decision of the government to provide banking and assurance facilities for the thrifty person of small means. but the greatest departure in the field of the department's activities has been the acquisition of the telegraphic system of the kingdom. misled by their advisers as to the capital cost and induced by popular pressure to abandon strictly business methods of administration and extension, the telegraphic experiments of the department have not been a financial success. not only has this been the case, but, in their efforts to protect the revenue, successive governments have hindered the development of telephonic communication. at this late date we can safely assume that in the department should either have granted the telephone companies far greater powers or should themselves have assumed the burden of providing an adequate system of telephonic communication. in , the property and franchises of the telephone companies will pass to the control of the government, thus vastly increasing the work of the department if, as seems probable, the government should assume direct management, and greatly enlarging the number of dissatisfied members of that part of the civil service under the control of the post office. appendix expenditure and revenue tables table i gross product, expenditure, and net product of the post office of the united kingdom from march , to april , _year ending_ _gross product_ _expenses_ _net product_ £ £ £ march , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , april , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] [ ] _parl. papers_, - , _reports from committees_, ii, pp. - . table ii average yearly gross product, expenditure and net product of the post office of the united kingdom from to _gross product_ _expenses_ _net product_ £ £ £ - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , table iii gross product, expenditure, and net product of the post office of the united kingdom, including the twopenny post, from january , to january , _year_ _gross_ _net_ _loss on_ _ending_ _product_ _expenses_ _product_ _returned_ £ £ £ _letters_[ ] jan. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] _reports from com._, - , xx, pt. r. p. . before , the loss on returned letters seems to have been included in the charges of management. table iv average yearly gross product, expenditure, and net product, etc., of the post office of the united kingdom from to _gross product_ _expenses_ _net product_ _loss on_ _actual_ _returned_ _gross_ _letters_ _product_ £ £ £ £ £ - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , scotland _gross product_ _expenses_ _net product_ £ £ £ - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , ireland £ £ £ - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , - , , , table v gross product, expenditure, and net product of the post office for scotland and ireland from to _scotland_ _year ending_ _gross_ _expenses_ _net_ _jan. _ _product_ _product_ £ £ £ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , _ireland_ _year ending_ _gross_ _expenses_ _net_ _jan. _ _product_ _product_ £ £ £ , , , [ ] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] first payment of tolls amounting from £ , to £ , a year. d _rep._, app. no. , _rep. com._, - , xx. [ ] three quarters only. st _rep._, app. no. . table vi gross revenue, expenditure, and net revenue of the post office of the united kingdom, not including telegraphs, from to . _year ending_ _gross revenue_ _expenditure_ _net revenue_ £ £ £ jan. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , dec. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] , , , , , , [ ] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] , , , , , , , , , , , , [ ] , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , mar. , , , , , , , - [ ] , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - [ ] , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - [ ] , , , , , , - , , [ ] , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - [ ] , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , est'm'd - [ ] , , , , , , [ ] st _rep. p. g._, , p. . th _rep. p. g._, , app., p. . [ ] expenditure for sailing packets in was £ , . [ ] postage ceased to be charged on government departments early in . [ ] th _rep. p. g._, , pp. - ; th _rep. p. g._, , pp. - . until revenue does not include revenue from impressed newspaper stamps nor does expenditure include cost of packet service until . [ ] in the beginning of the financial year of the post office was changed from st january to st april. [ ] th _rep. p. g._, , app., p. . [ ] th _rep. p. g._, , app., p. . [ ] including estimated value of services to other departments from - on. [ ] th _rep. p. g._, , app., p. . [ ] d _rep. p. g._, , p. . table vii average yearly gross revenue, expenditure, and net revenue of post office for the united kingdom not including telegraphs from to . _gross revenue_ _expenditure_ _net revenue_ £ £ £ - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , bibliography this list does not contain a complete record of all the authorities consulted. it merely brings together, with a fuller statement of title, the more important references scattered through the footnotes. unless it is otherwise stated, london is to be understood as the place of publication for the english books here cited. printed records--parliamentary documents--reports _acts of parliament._ _acts of the parliament of scotland._ vols., - . _acts of the privy council of england._ new series, ed. j. r. dasent. vols., - . _calendar of border papers._ _calendar of state papers, america and west indies._ _do.,_ _colonial._ _do.,_ _domestic._ _do.,_ _foreign._ _do.,_ _ireland._ _calendar of treasury books._ _calendar of treasury books and papers._ _calendar of treasury papers._ _finance reports, - ._ hansard. _the parliamentary debates._ vols., - . vols., to ; "new series," vols., to ; third series, vols., to . the work has been continued under other management since , as _parliamentary debates_, fourth and fifth series. howell, t. j. _a complete collection of state trials_ [to ]. vols., - . _journals of the house of commons._ _journals of the house of lords._ _letters and papers, foreign and domestic, of the reign of henry viii._ [cobbett, william.] _the parliamentary history of england, from the earliest period to the year ._ vols., - . _parliamentary papers._ since the volumes for each year have been arranged regularly in four series, as follows:-- . _bills public._ . _reports from committees._ . _reports from commissioners._ . _accounts and papers._ the volumes are ordinarily quoted, under each year, according to their consecutive numbering; but each series is also numbered separately. _proceedings and ordinances of the privy council of england._ ed. sir harris nicholas. vols., - . _reports of the postmasters-general on the post office._ beginning with - . these may be quoted either according to their consecutive numbering, or by years: st report = ; st report = , etc. royal commission on historical manuscripts. _reports._ scobell, henry. _a collection of acts and ordinances made in the parliament held nov. to sept. ._ . other books blomefield, f., and parkin, c. _an essay towards a topographical history of the county of norfolk._ d ed., vols., - . cunningham, w. _the growth of english industry and commerce in modern times._ vols., cambridge, - . de laune, thomas. _angliae metropolis: or, the present state of london._ . _dictionary of national biography._ eaton, d. b. _civil service in great britain._ new york, . froude, j. a. _a history of england from the fall of wolsey to the death of elizabeth._ vols., new york, . gairdner, j., _editor_. _the paston letters._ vols., - . green, e. _bibliotheca somersetensis._ vols., taunton, . joyce, h. _the history of the post office from its establishment down to ._ . knight, charles. _london._. vols., - . latimer, john. _the annals of bristol in the xviiith century._ bristol, . lewins, william. _her majesty's mails._ d ed., . _london and its environs described._ vols., . macaulay, t. b. _history of england from the accession of james ii._ vols., - . macpherson, david. _annals of commerce, manufactures, fisheries, and navigation._ vols., london and edinburgh, . maitland, william. _the history and survey of london._ vols., . malden, h. e. _the cely papers: selections from the correspondence and memoranda of the cely family, merchants of the staple, a. d. - ._ . may, t. e. _constitutional history of england._ . noorthouck, john. _a new history of london._ . ogilby, john. _itinerarium angliae._ . roberts, george. _the social history of the southern counties of england in past centuries._ . rothschild, arthur de. _histoire de la poste aux lettres, depuis ses origines les plus anciennes jusqu'à nos jours._ d ed., paris, . sharpe, r. r. _london and the kingdom._ vols., - . stow, john ( - ). _a survey of the cities of london and westminster, improved and enlarged by john strype._ vols., . thornbury, w., and walford, e. _old and new london._ vols. [ - .] periodicals _the economist._ _the london times._ _notes and queries._ with reference to the foregoing bibliography, the "letters and papers of henry viii" and the "calendar of state papers" have formed the basis of this sketch of the british post office during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with many references to the papers of private individuals and institutions collected by the royal commission on historical manuscripts. the "proceedings and ordinances and the acts of the privy council" contain important orders issued to the postmaster-general or the postmen during the sixteenth century as well as complaints from the postmen and the public. from the beginning of the eighteenth century the chief sources of information are the historical summaries appended to the "reports of committees and commissioners" compiled during the first half of the nineteenth century. of these, the "report of " is the most important. the "journals of the lords and commons" throw some light upon the history, purpose, and intent of the various acts of parliament dealing with rates and finance. "the financial report of ," various returns submitted to the house of commons, and the reports contained in the "accounts and papers" for the first part of the nineteenth century are chiefly concerned with the financial side of the history of the british post office. since the most important sources of information are the yearly reports of the postmasters-general, dating from , and the voluminous reports of committees appointed to investigate debated points in the organization and policy of the post office as well as to advise upon matters which had produced friction between the department and its employees. of the secondary works there is little to be said. the only one from which any important information has been obtained is joyce's "history of the british post office to ." this book contains a great deal of valuable matter arranged in rather a haphazard fashion and with no references. writing as a post office official at the end of the nineteenth century, joyce hardly appreciated the conditions which his predecessors had to meet. in stow's "london" are found some interesting facts about the london penny post, in blomefield's "norfolk" early postal conditions in norwich are described. the other books of the same description contain only incidental references to minor points of post office development. index abuses in the post office, - , , . allen, ralph, , , note. american colonies, post office in, , , . american express company, . annuities, . _see also_ savings bank department. arlington, lord, . arundel, earl of, . assurance facilities, . _see also_ savings bank department. bennett, sir john, . billingsley, , . bishop, henry, , . book post, , . _see also_ halfpenny post and rates, book post. bower, sir george, . bradford committee, , . british and inland magnetic telegraph company, , , . burlamachi, philip, , . buxton, sydney, , , . bye-letters, note. bye-posts, , , ; receipts from, , . canadian pacific railway company, . carteret, lord, . cash on delivery, , . chamberlain, a., . chesterfield, countess of, . clerks of the road, , . coaches. _see_ mail coaches and post coaches. coke, sir john, , , , , , , . competition in carrying letters, - . competitive examinations, . compulsory prepayment. _see_ prepayment of rates. cotton and frankland, , . cromwell, orders to the postmasters, . cross-posts, , . _see also_ bye-posts. cross-post letters, note, . _see also_ post-roads, cross-posts. cunard steamship company, , , . customs duties, . dead letter office, . delivery of letters, , , ; rural, , ; express or special, , . departmental committee, . de nouveau, . de quester, , , . de taxis, , . dockwra, william, , . double letter, note. dublin penny post, note, , . edinburgh penny post, . edison telephone company, . electric and international telegraph company, , , , . embossed stamps. _see_ stamps. employees, postal, appointment brought under civil service examination, , ; report of bradford committee, , ; of departmental committee, ; of hobhouse committee, - ; civil rights, ; postal unions, ; wages, , ; tweedmouth settlement, , ; strike, ; grievances, , , ; increase in wages, , . evasion of rates, - . _see also_ monopoly, attempts to break. express delivery. _see_ delivery of letters. farmers of the post office, , , , . fawcett, henry, , , , . fees, , , , . fifth-clause posts, . finances of post office, - . foreign connections: belgium, ; france, , , , , , , ; germany, ; holland, , ; italy, , ; united states and the colonies, note; stages settled on the continent, . _see also_ rates and sailing packets. foreigners' post, , . franking, - ; by members of parliament, ; of newspapers, . franking department, . frankland. _see_ cotton and frankland. freeling, sir francis, . frizell, , , . grimston, . halfpenny post, , , . hall, john, . hamilton, andrew, . hanbury, . hicks, james, , , , , , . hill, sir rowland, - , . hobhouse committee, - . inman steamship company, , . insurance facilities, . _see also_ savings bank department. ireland, post office in, , . _see also_ post-roads, rates, and sailing packets, ireland. letters, number of, . london and globe telephone company, . london district post, . london district telegraph company, . london penny post, - , , note, , ; receipts from, . _see_ twopenny post. mail coaches, , , , , . manley, john, , . marconi company, , . mason, sir john, , . merchant adventurers' post, , . messengers, , , . money order office, , . money orders, - ; number of, - . _see also_ rates, money orders. monopoly, attempts to break, - ; in carriage of letters and packets, - , , . _see also_ telegraphs, monopoly. mowatt, sir f., . national telephone company, - , , , . neale, thomas, . newspaper office, . newspapers, chargeable and free, ; franking of, ; impressed stamps on, ; number of, . _see also_ rates, newspapers. new telephone company, . norfolk, duke of, . o'neale, daniel, . opening and detaining letters, , , , , - , . packet list, . packets. _see_ sailing packets. paget, . palmer, john, - , . parcel post, , . _see also_ rates, parcel post. patronage, , . pattern and sample post, . _see also_ rates, patterns. peninsular and oriental steamship company, . penny post. _see_ london penny post. penny postage, - , - . pensions, sailors', . pitt, william, . plague, . political patronage. _see_ patronage. postal establishment, in seventeenth century, ; in eighteenth, , ; in nineteenth, . postcards, ; number of, , note; use of, . _see also_ rates, postcards. post coaches, . post horses, , ; fee for their use, , , ; licences and taxes, , , note; monopoly in letting, , ; number to be kept, , ; supply of, , . postmarks, . postmen's federation, note. post offices, number of, . post-roads, ; cross posts, ; in sixteenth century, , ; in seventeenth century, ; maps, ; re-measured, , ; in north of england, , ; in south, ; in ireland, , ; in scotland, . prepayment of rates; compulsory prepayment inadvisable, , note; unpopularity of, . prideaux, edmund, - , . raikes, . railways, , ; amounts paid for conveyance of mails, , ; authority of postmaster-general over, ; principles involved in estimating tollage for conveyance of mails, . randolph, thomas, , . rates, for letters, , , - ; by weight, ; re-directed, ; ships' letters, , , . in england, , , , , - , , , ; ireland, , , , , , , , ; scotland, - , - , - , , , ; united kingdom, , , . to austria, , , ; belgium, , , , , note, , ; cape of good hope, , ; channel isles, , ; denmark, , , , , note; east indies, , ; egypt, note, ; france, , , , , note, , , note, ; germany, , , , , , note, ; gibraltar, note; greece, note, ; holland, , , , , note, ; italy, , , , , , , note, , ; malta, note; mauritius, , ; mexico, note, ; norway, note, ; portugal, , , , , note; russia, note; south america, note, ; spain, , , , , note, , ; sweden, , , , , note, ; switzerland, note, ; syria, ; turkey, , , , note, ; north american colonies, , , ; united states, note, . in north american colonies, , , , ; west indies, , note, , . to the colonies, , ; to foreign countries, , . book post, ; money orders, , , _et seq._; newspapers, , , , , ; parcel post, ; patterns, samples, and writs, , ; postcards, , . registered letters, , , , . returned letter office, . roads. _see_ post-roads. royal mail steamship company, . royal post, , . sailing packets, abuses in connection with, _et seq._; british and foreign vessels, ; cost of, , ; customs difficulties, ; number of, , ; ownership transferred to admiralty, , ; steamships, - , ; subsidies for, , - ; use of private ships, note, , . to cape of good hope, ; deal and the downs, ; east indies, ; france, , , ; gibraltar, ; holland, - ; ireland, , , ; malta, ; isle of man, ; mauritius, ; mexico, ; portugal, ; scotland, - ; south america, ; west indies, _et seq._ st. martin's-le-grand, . sample post. _see_ pattern and sample post. savings bank department, , ; annuity and assurance facilities, - ; criticism by "economist," note. scotland, post office in, , , , . _see also_ post-roads, rates, and sailing packets, scotland. scudamore, - , . shipping list, , . single letters, note. smith, llewellyn, . special delivery. _see_ delivery. speed, ; in sixteenth century, ; in seventeenth century, , , note; in nineteenth century, , , note, ; by use of railways, , ; delays and attempts to remedy them, ; delays between england and ireland, ; means for securing speed, . stamps, , . stanhope, charles, , , . stanhope, lord john, , , . stanley, lord, - , . steamships. _see_ sailing packets, steamships. strangers' post. _see_ foreigners' post. sunday posts, , , . tankerville, earl of, - . telegraphs, cost to government of, , , , ; finances, , ; government ownership proposed, - ; international agreement, - ; messages sent, , ; monopoly, - ; press messages, , ; private companies, , ; railway interests in, , , ; rates, , , , , ; relations with marconi company, , ; underground lines, . telephones, call offices, , ; exchange areas, ; finances, ; government, , , , ; inter-communication, , , , ; licences, - , ; municipal, , - , ; purchase agreement, _et seq._; rates, , , , , ; trunk lines, , ; underground wires, , , ; way-leave powers, , , , , . threepenny post, - . thurloe, , . travellers' post, ; abuses by postmasters, ; by travellers, , note; trials of travellers, . triple letters, note. tuke, sir brian, - . tweedmouth, lord, . tweedmouth settlement, , . twopenny post, - , . unions. _see_ employees, postal unions. united kingdom telegraph company, , , . united telephone company, , . universal private telegraph company, . wages, , note; arrears in, , , , . _see also_ employees. walpole, spencer, . ward, . warwick, earl of, , . white star steamship company, . windebank, , . witherings, thomas, , - , , , , , , . york, duke of, , . the riverside press printed by h. o. houghton & co. cambridge, mass. u. s. a. transcriber's note there were a number of spelling and typographical errors in the original text. the handling of each one is noted in the transcriber's note at the end of this text. footnotes have been located at the end of the paragraphs where they appear. the underscore character indicates where the original is in _italics_. [illustration: yours truly t b. searight] the old pike. a history of the national road, with incidents, accidents, and anecdotes thereon. illustrated. by thomas b. searight. uniontown, pa: published by the author. . copyright, , by t. b. searight. presses of m. cullaton & co., richmond, ind. letter from james g. blaine. stanwood, bar harbor, maine. } september th, . } hon. t. b. searight, uniontown, pa. my dear friend:-- i have received the sketches of the "old pike" regularly and have as regularly read them, some of them more than once, especially where you come near the monongahela on either side of it, and thus strike the land of my birth and boyhood. i could trace you all the way to washington, at malden, at centreville, at billy greenfield's in beallsville, at hillsboro (billy robinson was a familiar name), at dutch charley miller's, at ward's, at pancake, and so on--familiar names, forever endeared to my memory. i cherish the desire of riding over the "old pike" with you, but i am afraid we shall contemplate it as a scheme never to be realized. very sincerely, your friend, james g. blaine. [illustration] contents. chapter i. pages inception of the road--author's motive in writing its history--no history of the appian way--a popular error corrected--henry clay, andrew stewart, t. m. t. mckennan, general beeson, lewis steenrod and daniel sturgeon--their services in behalf of the road, etc., etc. - chapter ii. origin of the fund for making the road--acts for the admission of ohio, indiana, illinois and missouri, etc., etc. - chapter iii. the act of congress authorizing the laying out and making of the road - chapter iv. special message of president jefferson--communicating to congress the first report of the commissioners--uniontown left out, etc. - chapter v. pennsylvania grants permission to make the road through her territory--uniontown restored, gist left out, and washington, pennsylvania, made a point--heights of mountains and hills--on to brownsville and wheeling, etc., etc. - chapter vi. albert gallatin, secretary of the treasury, called upon for information respecting the fund applicable to the roads mentioned in the ohio admission act--his responses - chapter vii. the life of the road threatened by the spectre of a constitutional cavil--president monroe vetoes a bill for its preservation and repair--general jackson has misgivings--hon. andrew stewart comes to the rescue - chapter viii. state authority prevails--the road surrendered by congress--the erection of toll gates authorized-- commissioners appointed by the states to receive the road, etc., etc. - chapter ix. plan of repairs--the macadam system adopted--mr. stockton offers his services--captain delafield made superintendent, etc., etc. - chapter x. lieut. mansfield superseded by capt. delafield--the turning of wills mountain, etc., etc. - chapter xi. on with the work--wooden bridges proposed for the new location up wills creek and braddock's run--the war department holds that wooden superstructures would be a substantial compliance with the maryland law--cumberland to frostburg, etc. - chapter xii. gen. lewis cass, secretary of war, transmits a report--more about the wooden bridges for the new location near cumberland, etc. - chapter xiii. the iron bridge over dunlap's creek at brownsville - chapter xiv. appropriations by congress at various times for making, repairing, and continuing the road - chapter xv. speech of hon. t. m. t. mckennan - chapter xvi. life on the road--origin of the phrase pike boys--slaves driven like horses--race distinction at the old taverns--old wagoners--regulars and sharpshooters-- line teams - chapter xvii. old wagoners continued--broad and narrow wheels--a peculiar wagon--an experiment and a failure--wagon beds--bell teams - chapter xviii. old wagoners continued - chapter xix. old wagoners continued--the harness they used, etc. - chapter xx. old wagoners continued--an exciting incident of the political campaign of --all about a petticoat--a trip to tennessee--origin of the toby cigar--the rubber--the windup and last lay of the old wagoners - chapter xxi. stage drivers, stage lines and stage coaches--the postillion, etc. - chapter xxii. stages and stage drivers continued--character of drivers defended--styles of driving--classification of drivers, etc. - chapter xxiii. the first mail coaches--the stage yard at uniontown--names of coaches--henry clay and the drivers--jenny lind and phineas t. barnum on the road, etc., etc. - chapter xxiv. stages and stage drivers continued--gen. taylor approaching cumberland--early coaches, etc. - chapter xxv. distinguished stage proprietors--lucius w. stockton, james reeside, dr. howard kennedy, william h. stelle--old stage agents--the pony express - chapter xxvi. old taverns and tavern keepers from baltimore to boonsboro--pen picture of an old tavern by james g. blaine - chapter xxvii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--boonsboro to cumberland - chapter xxviii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--cumberland to the little crossings--the city of cumberland - chapter xxix. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--little crossings to winding ridge--grantsville - chapter xxx. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--winding ridge to the big crossings--the state line--how it is noted - chapter xxxi. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--big crossings to mt. washington - chapter xxxii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--mt. washington to uniontown - chapter xxxiii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--uniontown--the town as it appeared to gen. douglass in --its subsequent growth and improvement, etc., etc. - chapter xxxiv. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--uniontown to searights - chapter xxxv. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--searights to brownsville - chapter xxxvi. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--brownsville to beallsville - chapter xxxvii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--beallsville to washington - chapter xxxviii. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--washington, penn.--washington and jefferson college--the female seminary - chapter xxxix. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--washington to west alexander - chapter xl. old taverns and tavern keepers continued--west alexander to wheeling - chapter xli. west of wheeling--old stage lines beyond the ohio river--through indiana--the road disappears among the prairies of illinois - chapter xlii. superintendents under national and state control--old mile posts, etc. - chapter xliii. old contractors--cost of the road--contractors for repairs, etc. - chapter xliv. thomas endsley, william sheets, w. m. f. magraw, etc. - chapter xlv. dumb ike--reminiscences of uniontown--crazy billy, etc. - chapter xlvi. the trial of dr. john f. braddee for robbing the u.s. mails - chapter xlvii. visit of john quincy adams to uniontown in --received by dr. hugh campbell--the national road a monument of the past--a comparison with the appian way - appendix. digest of the laws of pennsylvania relating to the cumberland road--unexpended balances in indiana--accounts of two old commissioners--rates of toll--letters of albert gallatin, ebenezer finley and thomas a. wiley--curiosities of the old postal service - illustrations. t. b. searight frontispiece old mile post stage house and stables at mt. washington gen. henry w. beeson hon. daniel sturgeon hon. andrew stewart old toll house iron bridge over dunlap's creek hon. t. m. t. mckennan road wagon john thompson daniel barcus henry clay rush harrison wiggins john marker ellis b. woodward john deets john snider william hall john wallace alfred bailes german d. hair ashael willison jacob newcomer john ferren morris mauler james smith, of henry stage coach william whaley redding bunting john bunting samuel luman joseph whisson maj. william a. donaldson william g. beck henry farwell the narrows hanson willison matt. davis john mcilree l. w. stockton james reeside william h. stelle john kelso david mahaney john risler the temple of juno the endsley house the big crossings daniel collier sebastian rush ruins of john rush house hon. samuel shipley stone house, darlington's james snyder gen. ephraim douglass aaron wyatt the brownfield house col. samuel elder the searight house joseph gray william shaw abel colley hon. william hatfield the johnson-hatfield house the workman house bridge over the monongahela old tavern at malden william greenfield charles guttery billy robinson daniel ward john w. mcdowell s. b. hayes george t. hammond the rankin house the miller house the "s" bridge david bell joseph f. mayes mrs. sarah beck col. moses shepherd mrs. lydia shepherd john mccortney bridge over whitewater river gen. george w. cass william searight william hopkins daniel steenrod w. m. f. magraw "crazy billy" german d. hair house dr. hugh campbell the big water-trough on laurel hill [illustration: stage house and stables at mt. washington.] the old pike. chapter i. _inception of the road--author's motive in writing its history--no history of the appian way--a popular error corrected--henry clay, andrew stewart, t. m. t. mckennan, gen. beeson, lewis steenrod and daniel sturgeon--their services in behalf of the road--braddock's road--business and grandeur of the road--old and odd names--taverns--no beer on the road--definition of turnpike--an old legal battle._ the road which forms the subject of this volume, is the only highway of its kind ever wholly constructed by the government of the united states. when congress first met after the achievement of independence and the adoption of the federal constitution, the lack of good roads was much commented upon by our statesmen and citizens generally, and various schemes suggested to meet the manifest want. but, it was not until the year , when jefferson was president, that the proposition for a national road took practical shape. the first step, as will hereinafter be seen, was the appointment of commissioners to lay out the road, with an appropriation of money to meet the consequent expense. the author of this work was born and reared on the line of the road, and has spent his whole life amid scenes connected with it. he saw it in the zenith of its glory, and with emotions of sadness witnessed its decline. it was a highway at once so grand and imposing, an artery so largely instrumental in promoting the early growth and development of our country's wonderful resources, so influential in strengthening the bonds of the american union, and at the same time so replete with important events and interesting incidents, that the writer of these pages has long cherished a hope that some capable hand would write its history and collect and preserve its legends, and no one having come forward to perform the task, he has ventured upon it himself, with unaffected diffidence and a full knowledge of his inability to do justice to the subject. it is not a little singular that no connected history of the renowned appian way can be found in our libraries. glimpses of its existence and importance are seen in the new testament and in some old volumes of classic lore, but an accurate and complete history of its inception, purpose, construction and development, with the incidents, accidents and anecdotes, which of necessity were connected with it, seems never to have been written. this should not be said of the great national road of the united states of america. the appian way has been called the queen of roads. we claim for our national highway that it _was_ the king of roads. tradition, cheerfully acquiesced in by popular thought, attributes to henry clay the conception of the national road, but this seems to be error. the hon. andrew stewart, in a speech delivered in congress, january th, , asserted that "mr. gallatin was the very first man that ever suggested the plan for making the cumberland road." as this assertion was allowed to go unchallenged, it must be accepted as true, however strongly and strangely it conflicts with the popular belief before stated. the reader will bear in mind that the national road and the cumberland road are one and the same. the road as constructed by authority of congress, begins at the city of cumberland, in the state of maryland, and this is the origin of the name cumberland road. all the acts of congress and of the legislatures of the states through which the road passes, and they are numerous, refer to it as the cumberland road. the connecting link between cumberland and the city of baltimore is a road much older than the cumberland road, constructed and owned by associations of individuals, and the two together constitute the national road. while it appears from the authority quoted that henry clay was not the planner of the national road, he was undoubtedly its ablest and most conspicuous champion. in mallory's life of clay it is stated that "he advocated the policy of carrying forward the construction of the cumberland road as rapidly as possible," and with what earnestness, continues his biographer, "we may learn from his own language, declaring that he had to _beg_, _entreat_ and _supplicate_ congress, session after session, to grant the necessary appropriations to complete the road." mr. clay said, "i have myself toiled until my powers have been exhausted and prostrated to prevail on you to make the grant." no wonder mr. clay was a popular favorite along the whole line of the road. at a public dinner tendered him by the mechanics of wheeling, he spoke of "the great interest the road had awakened in his breast, and expressed an ardent desire that it might be prosecuted to a speedy completion." among other things he said that "a few years since he and his family had employed the whole or greater part of a day in traveling the distance of about nine miles from uniontown to freeman's,[a] on laurel hill, which now, since the construction of the road over the mountains, could be accomplished, together with seventy more in the same time," and that "the road was so important to the maintenance of our union that he would not consent to give it up to the keeping of the several states through which it passed." [footnote a: benjamin freeman kept a tavern on the old braddock road, a short distance south of mt. washington. locating his house on laurel hill, was an error of mr. clay, but of little consequence, and readily made under the circumstances. a monument was erected, and is still standing, on the roadside near wheeling, commemorative of the services of mr. clay in behalf of the road.] [illustration: gen. henry w. beeson.] hon. andrew stewart, of uniontown, who served many years in congress, beginning with , was, next to mr. clay, the most widely known and influential congressional friend of the road, and in earnestness and persistency in this behalf, not excelled even by mr. clay. hon. t. m. t. mckennan, an old congressman of washington, pennsylvania, was likewise a staunch friend of the road, carefully guarding its interests and pressing its claims upon the favorable consideration of congress. gen. henry w. beeson, of uniontown, who represented the fayette and greene district of pennsylvania in congress in the forties, was an indomitable friend of the road. he stoutly opposed the extension of the baltimore and ohio railroad west of cumberland, through pennsylvania, and was thoroughly sustained by his constituents. in one of his characteristic speeches on the subject, he furnished a careful estimate of the number of horse-shoes made by the blacksmiths along the road, the number of nails required to fasten them to the horses' feet, the number of bushels of grain and tons of hay furnished by the farmers to the tavern keepers, the vast quantity of chickens, turkeys, eggs and butter that found a ready market on the line, and other like statistical information going to show that the national road would better subserve the public weal than a steam railroad. this view at the time, and in the locality affected, was regarded as correct, which serves as an illustration of the change that takes place in public sentiment, as the wheels of time revolve and the ingenuity of man expands. lewis steenrod, of the wheeling district, was likewise an able and influential congressional friend of the road. he was the son of daniel steenrod, an old tavernkeeper on the road, near wheeling; and the cumberland, maryland, district always sent men to congress who favored the preservation and maintenance of the road. hon. daniel sturgeon, who served as a senator of the united states for the state of pennsylvania from to , was also an undeviating and influential friend of the road. he gave unremitting attention and untiring support to every measure brought before the senate during his long and honorable service in that body, designed to make for the road's prosperity, and preserve and maintain it as the nation's great highway. his home was in uniontown, on the line of the road, and he was thoroughly identified with it alike in sentiment and interest. he was not a showy statesman, but the possessor of incorruptible integrity and wielded an influence not beneath that of any of his compeers, among whom were that renowned trio of senators, clay, webster and calhoun. frequent references will be made in these pages to the old braddock road, but it is not the purpose of the writer to go into the history of that ancient highway. this volume is devoted exclusively to the national road. we think it pertinent, however, to remark that braddock's road would have been more appropriately named washington's road. washington passed over it in command of a detachment of virginia troops more than a year before braddock ever saw it. mr. veech, the eminent local historian, says that braddock's road and nemicolon's indian trail are identical, so that nemicolon, the indian, would seem to have a higher claim to the honor of giving name to this old road than general braddock. however, time, usage and common consent unite in calling it braddock's road, and, as a rule, we hold it to be very unwise, not to say downright foolishness, to undertake to change old and familiar names. it is difficult to do, and ought not to be done. from the time it was thrown open to the public, in the year , until the coming of railroads west of the allegheny mountains, in , the national road was the one great highway, over which passed the bulk of trade and travel, and the mails between the east and the west. its numerous and stately stone bridges with handsomely turned arches, its iron mile posts and its old iron gates, attest the skill of the workmen engaged on its construction, and to this day remain enduring monuments of its grandeur and solidity, all save the imposing iron gates, which have disappeared by process of conversion prompted by some utilitarian idea, savoring in no little measure of sacrilege. many of the most illustrious statesmen and heroes of the early period of our national existence passed over the national road from their homes to the capital and back, at the opening and closing of the sessions of congress. jackson, harrison, clay, sam houston, polk, taylor, crittenden, shelby, allen, scott, butler, the eccentric davy crockett, and many of their contemporaries in public service, were familiar figures in the eyes of the dwellers by the roadside. the writer of these pages frequently saw these distinguished men on their passage over the road, and remembers with no little pride the incident of shaking hands with general jackson, as he sat in his carriage on the wagon-yard of an old tavern. a coach, in which mr. clay was proceeding to washington, was upset on a pile of limestone, in the main street of uniontown, a few moments after supper at the mcclelland house. sam sibley was the driver of that coach, and had his nose broken by the accident. mr. clay was unhurt, and upon being extricated from the grounded coach, facetiously remarked that: "this is mixing the clay of kentucky with the limestone of pennsylvania." as many as twenty-four horse coaches have been counted in line at one time on the road, and large, broad-wheeled wagons, covered with white canvass stretched over bows, laden with merchandise and drawn by six conestoga horses, were visible all the day long at every point, and many times until late in the evening, besides innumerable caravans of horses, mules, cattle, hogs and sheep. it looked more like the leading avenue of a great city than a road through rural districts. [illustration: hon. daniel sturgeon.] the road had a peculiar nomenclature, familiar to the tens of thousands who traveled over it in its palmy days. the names, for example, applied to particular localities on the line, are of striking import, and blend harmoniously with the unique history of the road. with these names omitted, the road would be robbed of much that adds interest to its history. among the best remembered of these are, the shades of death, the narrows, piney grove, big crossings, negro mountain, keyser's ridge, woodcock hill, chalk hill, big savage, little savage, snake hill, laurel hill, the turkey's nest, egg nog hill, coon island and wheeling hill. rich memories cluster around every one of these names, and old wagoners and stage drivers delight to linger over the scenes they bring to mind. the road was justly renowned for the great number and excellence of its inns or taverns. on the mountain division, every mile had its tavern. here one could be seen perched on some elevated site, near the roadside, and there another, sheltered behind a clump of trees, many of them with inviting seats for idlers, and all with cheerful fronts toward the weary traveler. the sign-boards were elevated upon high and heavy posts, and their golden letters winking in the sun, ogled the wayfarer from the hot road-bed and gave promise of good cheer, while the big trough, overflowing with clear, fresh water, and the ground below it sprinkled with droppings of fragrant peppermint, lent a charm to the scene that was well nigh enchanting. the great majority of the taverns were called wagon stands, because their patrons were largely made up of wagoners, and each provided with grounds called the wagon-yard, whereon teams were driven to feed, and rest over night. the very best of entertainment was furnished at these wagon stands. the taverns whereat stage horses were kept and exchanged, and stage passengers took meals, were called "stage houses," located at intervals of about twelve miles, as nearly as practicable. the beer of the present day was unknown, or if known, unused on the national road during the era of its prosperity. ale was used in limited quantities, but was not a favorite drink. whisky was the leading beverage, and it was plentiful and cheap. the price of a drink of whisky was three cents, except at the stage houses, where by reason of an assumption of aristocracy the price was five cents. the whisky of that day is said to have been pure, and many persons of unquestioned respectability affirm with much earnestness that it never produced delirium tremens. the current coin of the road was the big copper cent of united states coinage, the "fippenny bit," spanish, of the value of six and one-fourth cents, called for brevity a "fip," the "levy," spanish, of the value of twelve and a half cents, the quarter, the half dollar, and the dollar. the mexican and spanish milled dollar were oftener seen than the united states dollar. the silver five-cent piece and the dime of the united states coinage were seen occasionally, but not so much used as the "fip" and the "levy." in times of stringency, the stage companies issued scrip in denominations ranging from five cents to a dollar, which passed readily as money. the scrip was similar to the postal currency of the war period, lacking only in the artistic skill displayed in the engraving of the latter. a hungry traveler could obtain a substantial meal at an old wagon stand tavern for a "levy," and two drinks of whisky for a "fippenny bit." the morning bill of a wagoner with a six-horse team did not exceed one dollar and seventy-five cents, which included grain and hay for the horses, meals for the driver, and all the drinks he saw proper to take. the national road is not in a literal sense a turnpike. a turnpike, in the original meaning of the word, is a road upon which pikes were placed to turn travelers thereon through gates, to prevent them from evading the payment of toll. pikes were not used, or needed on the national road. it was always kept in good condition, and travelers thereon, as a rule, paid the required toll without complaining. at distances of fifteen miles, on the average, houses were erected for toll collectors to dwell in, and strong iron gates, hung to massive iron posts, were established to enforce the payment of toll in cases of necessity. these toll houses were of uniform size, angular and round, west of the mountains constructed of brick, and through the mountains, of stone, except the one six miles west of cumberland, which is of brick. they are all standing on their old sites at this date ( ), except the one that stood near mt. washington, and the one that stood near the eastern base of big savage mountain. at the last mentioned point, the old iron gate posts are still standing, firmly rooted in their original foundations, and plastered all over with advertisements of frostburg's business houses, but the old house and the old gates have gone out of sight forever. it is curious to note how the word turnpike has been perverted from its literal meaning by popular usage. the common idea is that a turnpike is a road made of stone, and that the use of stone is that alone which makes it a turnpike. the common phrase, "piking a road," conveys the idea of putting stones on it, whereas in fact, there is no connection between a stone and a pike, and a road might be a turnpike without a single stone upon it. it is the contrivance to turn travelers through gates, before mentioned, that makes a turnpike. we recall but one instance of a refusal to pay toll for passing over the national road, and that was a remarkable one. it grew out of a misconception of the scope of the act of congress, providing for the exemption from toll of carriages conveying the united states mails. the national road stage company, commonly called the "old line," of which lucius w. stockton was the controlling spirit, was a contractor for carrying the mails, and conceived the idea that by placing a mail pouch in every one of its passenger coaches it could evade the payment of toll. stage companies did not pay toll to the collectors at the gates, like ordinary travelers, but at stated periods to the road commissioner. at the time referred to, william searight, father of the writer, was the commissioner in charge of the entire line of the road through the state of pennsylvania, and it was fifty years ago. upon presenting his account to mr. stockton, who lived at uniontown, for accumulated tolls, that gentleman refused payment on the ground that all his coaches carried the mail, and were therefore exempt from toll. the commissioner was of opinion that the act of congress could not be justly construed to cover so broad a claim, and notified mr. stockton that if the toll was not paid the gates would be closed against his coaches. mr. stockton was a resolute as well as an enterprising man, and persisted in his position, whereupon an order was given to close the gates against the passage of his coaches until the legal toll was paid. the writer was present, though a boy, at an execution of this order at the gate five miles west of uniontown. it was in the morning. the coaches came along at the usual time and the gates were securely closed against them. the commissioner superintended the act in person, and a large number of people from the neighborhood attended to witness the scene, anticipating tumult and violence, as to which they were happily disappointed. the drivers accepted the situation with good nature, but the passengers, impatient to proceed, after learning the cause of the halt, paid the toll, whereupon the gates were thrown open, and the coaches sped on. for a considerable time after this occurrence an agent was placed on the coaches to pay the toll at the gates. mr. stockton instituted prosecutions against the commissioner for obstructing the passage of the united states mails, which were not pressed to trial, but the main contention was carried to the supreme court of the united states for adjudication on a case stated, and mr. stockton's broad claim was denied, the court of last resort holding that "the exemption from tolls did not apply to any other property (than the mails) conveyed in the same vehicle, nor to any persons traveling in it, unless he was in the service of the united states and passing along the road in pursuance of orders from the proper authority; and further, that the exemption could not be claimed for more carriages than were necessary for the safe, speedy and convenient conveyance of the mail." this case is reported in full in d howard u. s. reports, page _et seq._, including the full text of chief justice taney's opinion, and elaborate dissenting opinions by justices mcclean and daniel. the attorneys for the road in this controversy were hon. robert p. flenniken and hon. james veech of uniontown, and hon. robert j. walker of mississippi, who was secretary of the treasury in the cabinet of president polk. after this decision, and by reason of it, the legislature of pennsylvania enacted the law of april th, , still in force, authorizing the collection of tolls from passengers traveling in coaches which at the same time carried the mail. chapter ii. _origin of the fund for making the road.--acts for the admission of ohio, indiana, illinois and missouri--report of a committee of congress as to the manner of applying the ohio fund--distances from important eastern cities to the ohio river--the richmond route postponed--the spirit and perseverance of pennsylvania--maryland, "my maryland," not behind pennsylvania--wheeling the objective point--brownsville a prominent point--rivers tend to union, mountains to disunion._ act of april , , for the admission of ohio, provides that one-twentieth part of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said state sold by congress, from and after the th of june next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be applied to laying out and making public roads leading from navigable waters emptying into the atlantic to the ohio, to the said state and through the same, such roads to be laid out under the authority of congress, with the consent of the several states through which the road shall pass. act of april , , for the admission of indiana, provides that five per cent. of the net proceeds of lands lying within the said territory, and which shall be sold by congress from and after the first day of december next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the said state under the direction of the legislature thereof, and two-fifths to the making of a road or roads leading to the said state under the direction of congress. act of april , , for the admission of illinois, provides that five per cent. of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the said state, and which shall be sold by congress from and after the first day of january, , after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for the purposes following, viz: two-fifths to be disbursed under the direction of congress in making roads leading to the state, the residue to be appropriated by the legislature of the state for the encouragement of learning, of which one-sixth part shall be exclusively bestowed on a college or university. act of march , , admitting missouri, provides that five per cent. of the net proceeds of the sale of lands lying within the said territory or state, and which shall be sold by congress from and after the first day of january next, after deducting all expenses incident to the same, shall be reserved for making public roads and canals, of which three-fifths shall be applied to those objects within the state under the direction of the legislature thereof, and the other two-fifths in defraying, under the direction of congress, the expenses to be incurred in making a road or roads, canal or canals, leading to the said state. no. . ninth congress--first session. cumberland road. communicated to the senate december , . mr. tracy, from the committee to whom was referred the examination of the act entitled, "an act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes;" and to report the manner in which, in their opinion, the money appropriated by said act ought to be applied, made the following report: that, upon examination of the act aforesaid, they find "the one-twentieth part, or five per cent., of the net proceeds of the lands lying within the state of ohio, and sold by congress from and after the th day of june, , is appropriated for the laying out and making public roads leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic to the river ohio, to said state, and through the same; such roads to be laid out under the authority of congress, with the consent of the several states through which the road shall pass." they find that by a subsequent law, passed on the d day of march, , congress appropriated three per cent. of the said five per cent. to laying out and making roads _within_ the state of ohio, leaving two per cent. of the appropriation contained in the first mentioned law unexpended, which now remains for "_the laying out, and making roads from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic to the river ohio, to said state_." they find that the net proceeds of sales of land in the state of ohio, from st july, , to june , , both inclusive, were $ , from st july, , to june , , from st july, , to june , , from st july, , to sept. , , ----------- amounting, in the whole, to $ , two per cent. on which sum amounts to $ , . twelve thousand six hundred and fifty-two dollars were, therefore, on the st day of october last, subject to the uses directed by law, as mentioned in this report; and it will be discerned that the fund is constantly accumulating, and will, probably, by the time regular preparations can be made for its expenditure, amount to eighteen or twenty thousand dollars. the committee have examined, as far as their limited time and the scanty sources of facts within their reach would permit, the various routes which have been contemplated for laying out roads pursuant to the provisions of the act first mentioned in this report. they find that the distance from philadelphia to pittsburg is miles by the usual route, and on a straight line about . from philadelphia to the nearest point on the river ohio, contiguous to the state of ohio, which is probably between steubenville and the mouth of grave creek, the distance by the usual route is miles, and on a straight line about . from baltimore to the river ohio, between the same points, and by the usual route, is miles, and on a straight line . from this city (washington) to the same points on the river ohio, the distance is nearly the same as from baltimore; probably the difference is not a plurality of miles. from richmond, in virginia, to the nearest point on the river ohio, the distance by the usual route is miles; but new roads are opening which will shorten the distance fifty or sixty miles; miles of the contemplated road, from richmond northwesterly, will be as good as the roads usually are in that country, but the remaining seventy or eighty miles are bad, for the present, and probably will remain so for a length of time, as there seems to be no existing inducement for the state of virginia to incur the expense of making that part of the road passable. from baltimore to the monongahela river, where the route from baltimore to the ohio river will intersect it, the distance as usually traveled is miles, and on a straight line about . from this point, which is at or near brownsville, boats can pass down, with great facility, to the state of ohio, during a number of months in every year. the above distances are not all stated from actual mensuration, but it is believed they are sufficiently correct for the present purpose. the committee have not examined any routes northward of that leading from philadelphia to the river ohio, nor southward of that leading from richmond, because they suppose the roads to be laid out must strike the river ohio on some point contiguous to the state of ohio, in order to satisfy the words of the law making the appropriation; the words are: "leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic, to the river ohio, to the said state, and through the same." the mercantile intercourse of the citizens of ohio with those of the atlantic states is chiefly in philadelphia and baltimore; not very extensive in the towns on the potomac, within the district of columbia, and still less with richmond, in virginia. at present, the greatest portion of their trade is with philadelphia; but it is believed their trade is rapidly increasing with baltimore, owing to the difference of distance in favor of baltimore, and to the advantage of boating down the monongahela river, from the point where the road strikes it, about miles by water, and by land, above pittsburg. the sum appropriated for laying out and making roads is so small that the committee have thought it most expedient to direct an expenditure to one route only. they have therefore endeavored to fix on that which, for the present, will be most accommodating to the citizens of the state of ohio; leaving to the future benevolence and policy of congress, an extension of their operations on this or other routes, and an increase of the requisite fund, as the discoveries of experience may point out their expediency and necessity. the committee being fully convinced that a wise government can never lose sight of an object so important as that of connecting a numerous and rapidly increasing population, spread upon a fertile and extensive territory, with the atlantic states, now separated from them by mountains, which, by industry and an expense moderate in comparison with the advantages, can be rendered passable. the route from richmond must necessarily approach the state of ohio in a part thinly inhabited, and which, from the nature of the soil and other circumstances, must remain so, at least for a considerable time; and, from the hilly and rough condition of the country, no roads are or can be conveniently made, leading to the principal population of the state of ohio. these considerations have induced the committee to postpone, for the present, any further consideration of that route. the spirit and perseverance of pennsylvania are such, in the matter of road making, that no doubt can remain but they will, in a little time, complete a road from philadelphia to pittsburg, as good as the nature of the ground will permit. they are so particularly interested to facilitate the intercourse between their trading capital, philadelphia, not only to pittsburg, but also to the extensive country within that state, on the western waters, that they will, of course, surmount the difficulties presented by the allegheny mountain, chestnut ridge and laurel hill, the three great and almost exclusive impediments which now exist on that route. the state of maryland, with no less spirit and perseverance, are engaged in making roads from baltimore and from the western boundary of the district of columbia, through fredericktown, to williamsport. were the government of the united states to direct the expenditure of the fund in contemplation upon either of these routes, for the present, in pennsylvania or maryland, it would, probably, so far interfere with the operations of the respective states, as to produce mischief instead of benefit; especially as the sum to be laid out by the united states is too inconsiderable, alone, to effect objects of such magnitude. but as the state of maryland have no particular interest to extend their road across the mountains (and if they had it would be impracticable, because the state does not extend so far), the committee have thought it expedient to recommend the laying out and making a road from cumberland, on the northerly bank of the potomac, and within the state of maryland, to the river ohio, at the most convenient place between a point on the easterly bank of said river, opposite to steubenville, and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into said river ohio a little below wheeling, in virginia. this route will meet and accommodate the roads leading from baltimore and the district of columbia; it will cross the monongahela river, at or near brownsville, sometimes called redstone, where the advantage of boating can be taken; and from the point where it will probably intersect the river ohio, there are now roads, or they can easily be made over feasible and proper ground, to and through the principal population of the state of ohio. cumberland is situated at the eastern foot of the allegheny mountains, about eighty miles from williamsport, by the usual route, which is circuitous, owing to a large bend in the river potomac, on the bank of which the road now runs, the distance on a straight line is not more than fifty or fifty-five miles, and over tolerable ground for a road, which will probably be opened by the state of maryland, should the route be established over the mountains, as contemplated by this report. from cumberland to the western extremity of laurel hill, by the route now travelled, the distance is sixty-six miles, and on a straight line about fifty-five; on this part of the route, the committee suppose the first and very considerable expenditures are specially necessary. from laurel hill to the ohio river, by the usual route, is about seventy miles, and on a straight line fifty-four or five; the road is tolerable, though capable of amelioration. to carry into effect the principles arising from the foregoing facts, the committee present herewith a bill for the consideration of the senate. they suppose that to take the proper measures for carrying into effect the section of the law respecting a road or roads to the state of ohio, is a duty imposed upon congress by the law itself, and that a sense of duty will always be sufficient to insure the passage of the bill now offered to the senate. to enlarge upon the highly important considerations of cementing the union of our citizens located on the western waters with those of the atlantic states, would be an indelicacy offered to the understandings of the body to whom this report is addressed, as it might seem to distrust them. but from the interesting nature of the subject, the committee are induced to ask the indulgence of a single observation: politicians have generally agreed that rivers unite the interests and promote the friendship of those who inhabit their banks; while mountains, on the contrary, tend to the disunion and estrangement of those who are separated by their intervention. in the present case, to make the crooked ways straight, and the rough ways smooth will, in effect, remove the intervening mountains, and by facilitating the intercourse of our western brethren with those on the atlantic, substantially unite them in interest, which, the committee believe, is the most effectual cement of union applicable to the human race. all which is most respectfully submitted. chapter iii. _the act of congress authorizing the laying out and making of the road._ an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio. _be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the united states of america in congress assembled_, that the president of the united states be, and he is hereby authorized to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, three discreet and disinterested citizens of the united states, to lay out a road from cumberland, or a point on the northern bank of the river potomac, in the state of maryland, between cumberland and the place where the main road leading from gwynn's to winchester, in virginia, crosses the river, to the state of ohio; whose duty it shall be, as soon as may be, after their appointment, to repair to cumberland aforesaid, and view the ground, from the points on the river potomac hereinbefore designated, to the river ohio; and to lay out in such direction as they shall judge, under all circumstances the most proper, a road from thence to the river ohio, to strike the same at the most convenient place, between a point on its eastern bank, opposite the northern boundary of steubenville, in said state of ohio, and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into the said river a little below wheeling, in virginia. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the aforesaid road shall be laid out four rods in width, and designated on each side by a plain and distinguishable mark on a tree, or by the erection of a stake or monument sufficiently conspicuous, in every quarter of a mile of the distance at least, where the road pursues a straight course so far or farther, and on each side, at every point where an angle occurs in its course. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the commissioners shall, as soon as may be, after they have laid out said road, as aforesaid, present to the president an accurate plan of the same, with its several courses and distances, accompanied by a written report of their proceedings, describing the marks and monuments by which the road is designated, and the face of the country over which it passes, and pointing out the particular parts which they shall judge require the most and immediate attention and amelioration, and the probable expense of making the same passable in the most difficult parts, and through the whole distance; designating the state or states through which said road has been laid out, and the length of the several parts which are laid out on new ground, as well as the length of those parts laid out on the road now traveled. which report the president is hereby authorized to accept or reject, in the whole or in part. if he accepts, he is hereby further authorized and requested to pursue such measures, as in his opinion shall be proper, to obtain consent for making the road, of the state or states through which the same has been laid out. which consent being obtained, he is further authorized to take prompt and effectual measures to cause said road to be made through the whole distance, or in any part or parts of the same as he shall judge most conducive to the public good, having reference to the sum appropriated for the purpose. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that all parts of the road which the president shall direct to be made, in case the trees are standing, shall be cleared the whole width of four rods; and the road shall be raised in the middle of the carriageway with stone, earth, or gravel and sand, or a combination of some or all of them, leaving or making, as the case may be, a ditch or water course on each side and contiguous to said carriageway, and in no instance shall there be an elevation in said road, when finished, greater than an angle of five degrees with the horizon. but the manner of making said road, in every other particular, is left to the direction of the president. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that said commissioners shall each receive four dollars per day, while employed as aforesaid, in full for their compensation, including all expenses. and they are hereby authorized to employ one surveyor, two chainmen and one marker, for whose faithfulness and accuracy they, the said commissioners, shall be responsible, to attend them in laying out said road, who shall receive in full satisfaction for their wages, including all expenses, the surveyor three dollars per day, and each chainman and the marker one dollar per day, while they shall be employed in said business, of which fact a certificate signed by said commissioners shall be deemed sufficient evidence. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the sum of thirty thousand dollars be, and the same is hereby appropriated, to defray the expense of laying out and making said road. and the president is hereby authorized to draw, from time to time, on the treasury for such parts, or at any one time, for the whole of said sum, as he shall judge the service requires. which sum of thirty thousand dollars shall be paid, first, out of the fund of two per cent, reserved for laying out and making roads _to_ the state of ohio, by virtue of the seventh section of an act passed on the thirtieth day of april, one thousand eight hundred and two, entitled, "an act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the union on an equal footing with the original states, and for other purposes." three per cent. of the appropriation contained in said seventh section being directed by a subsequent law to the laying out, opening and making roads _within_ the said state of ohio; and secondly, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, chargeable upon, and reimbursable at the treasury by said fund of two per cent. as the same shall accrue. sec. . _and be it further enacted_, that the president be, and he is hereby requested, to cause to be laid before congress, as soon as convenience will permit, after the commencement of each session, a statement of the proceedings under this act, that congress may be enabled to adopt such further measures as may from time to time be proper under existing circumstances. _approved, march , ._ th. jefferson. * * * * * united states of america, } department of state.} _to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting_: i certify that hereto annexed is a true copy of an act of congress, approved march , , the original of which is on file in this department, entitled: "an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio." in testimony whereof, i, james g. blaine, secretary of state of the united states, have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the seal of the department of state to be affixed. done at the city of washington, this seventh day of march, a. d. , and of the independence of the united states the one hundred and fifteenth. james g. blaine. chapter iv. _special message of president jefferson--communicating to congress the first report of the commissioners--they view the whole ground--solicitude of the inhabitants--points considered--cumberland the first point located--uniontown left out--improvement of the youghiogheny--distances--connellsville a promising town--"a well formed, stone capped road"--estimated cost, $ , per mile, exclusive of bridges._ no. . ninth congress--second session. january , . _to the senate and house of representatives of the united states_: in execution of the act of the last session of congress, entitled, "an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio," i appointed thomas moore, of maryland, joseph kerr, of ohio, and eli williams, of maryland, commissioners to lay out the said road, and to perform the other duties assigned to them by the act. the progress which they made in the execution of the work, during the last season, will appear in their report now communicated to congress; on the receipt of it, i took measures to obtain consent for making the road of the states of pennsylvania, maryland and virginia, through which the commissioners propose to lay it out. i have received acts of the legislatures of maryland and virginia, giving the consent desired; that of pennsylvania has the subject still under consideration, as is supposed. until i receive full consent to a free choice of route through the whole distance, i have thought it safest neither to accept nor reject, finally, the partial report of the commissioners. some matters suggested in the report belong exclusively to the legislature. th. jefferson. * * * * * the commissioners, acting by appointment under the law of congress, entitled "an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio," beg leave to report to the president of the united states, and to premise that the duties imposed by the law became a work of greater magnitude, and a task much more arduous, than was conceived before entering upon it; from which circumstance the commissioners did not allow themselves sufficient time for the performance of it before the severity of the weather obliged them to retire from it, which was the case in the first week of the present month (december). that, not having fully accomplished their work, they are unable fully to report a discharge of all the duties enjoined by the law; but as the most material and principal part has been performed, and as a communication of the progress already made may be useful and proper, during the present session of congress, and of the legislatures of those states through which the route passes, the commissioners respectfully state that at a very early period it was conceived that the maps of the country were not sufficiently accurate to afford a minute knowledge of the true courses between the extreme points on the rivers, by which the researches of the commissioners were to be governed; a survey for that purpose became indispensable, and considerations of public economy suggested the propriety of making this survey precede the personal attendance of the commissioners. josias thompson, a surveyor of professional merit, was taken into service and authorized to employ two chain carriers and a marker, as well as one vaneman, and a packhorse man and horse, on public account; the latter being indispensable and really beneficial in excelerating the work. the surveyors' instructions are contained in document no. , accompanying this report. calculating on a reasonable time for the performance of the instructions to the surveyor, the commissioners, by correspondence, fixed on the first day of september last, for their meeting at cumberland to proceed in the work; neither of them, however, reached that place until the third of that month, on which day they all met. the surveyor having, under his instructions, laid down a plat of his work, showing the meanders of the potomac and ohio rivers, within the limits prescribed for the commissioners, as also the road between those rivers, which is commonly traveled from cumberland to charleston, in part called braddock's road; and the same being produced to the commissioners, whereby straight lines and their true courses were shown between the extreme points on each river, and the boundaries which limit the powers of the commissioners being thereby ascertained, serving as a basis whereon to proceed in the examination of the grounds and face of the country; the commissioners thus prepared commenced the business of exploring; and in this it was considered that a faithful discharge of the discretionary powers vested by the law made it necessary to view the whole to be able to judge of a preference due to any part of the grounds, which imposed a task of examining a space comprehending upwards of two thousand square miles; a task rendered still more incumbent by the solicitude and importunities of the inhabitants of every part of the district, who severally conceived their grounds entitled to a preference. it becoming necessary, in the interim, to run various lines of experiment for ascertaining the geographical position of several points entitled to attention, and the service suffering great delay for want of another surveyor, it was thought consistent with the public interest to employ, in that capacity, arthur rider, the vaneman, who had been chosen with qualification to meet such an emergency; and whose service as vaneman could then be dispensed with. he commenced, as surveyor, on the d day of september, and continued so at field work until the first day of december, when he was retained as a necessary assistant to the principal surveyor, in copying field notes and hastening the draught of the work to be reported. the proceedings of the commissioners are specially detailed in their general journal, compiled from the daily journal of each commissioner, to which they beg leave to refer, under mark no. . after a careful and critical examination of all the grounds within the limits prescribed, as well as the grounds and ways out from the ohio westwardly, at several points, and examining the shoal parts of the ohio river as detailed in the table of soundings, stated in their journal, and after gaining all the information, geographical, general and special, possible and necessary, toward a judicial discharge of the duties assigned them, the commissioners repaired to cumberland to examine and compare their notes and journals, and determine upon the direction and location of their route. in this consultation the governing objects were: st. shortness of distance between navigable points on the eastern and western waters. d. a point on the monongahela best calculated to equalize the advantages of this portage in the country within reach of it. d. a point on the ohio river most capable of combining certainty of navigation with road accommodation; embracing, in this estimate, remote points westwardly, as well as present and probable population on the north and south. th. best mode of diffusing benefits with least distance of road. in contemplating these objects, due attention was paid as well to the comparative merits of towns, establishments, and settlements already made, as to the capacity of the country with the present and probable population. in the course of arrangement, and in its order, the first point located for the route was determined and fixed at cumberland, a decision founded on propriety, and in some measure on necessity, from the circumstance of a high and difficult mountain, called nobley, laying and confining the east margin of the potomac so as to render it impossible of access on that side without immense expense, at any point between cumberland and where the road from winchester to gwynn's crosses, and even there the nobley mountain is crossed with much difficulty and hazard. and this upper point was taxed with another formidable objection; it was found that a high range of mountains, called dan's, stretching across from gwynn's to the potomac, above this point, precluded the opportunity of extending a route from this point in a proper direction, and left no alternative but passing by gwynn's; the distance from cumberland to gwynn's being upward of a mile less than from the upper point, which lies ten miles by water above cumberland, the commissioners were not permitted to hesitate in preferring a point which shortens the portage, as well as the potomac navigation. the point on the potomac being viewed as a great repository of produce, which a good road will bring from the west of laurel hill, and the advantages which cumberland, as a town, has in that respect over an unimproved place, are additional considerations operating forcibly in favor of the place preferred. in extending the route from cumberland, a triple range of mountains, stretching across from jenings' run in measure with gwynn's, left only the alternative of laying the road up will's creek for three miles, nearly at right angles with the true course, and then by way of jenings' run, or extending it over a break in the smallest mountain, on a better course by gwynn's, to the top of savage mountain; the latter was adopted, being the shortest, and will be less expensive in hill-side digging over a sloped route than the former, requiring one bridge over will's creek and several over jenings' run, both very wide and considerable streams in high water; and a more weighty reason for preferring the route by gwynn's is the great accommodation it will afford travelers from winchester by the upper point, who could not reach the route by jenings' run short of the top of savage, which would withhold from them the benefit of an easy way up the mountain. it is, however, supposed that those who travel from winchester by way of the upper point to gwynn's, are in that respect more the dupes of common prejudice than judges of their own case, as it is believed the way will be as short, and on much better ground, to cross the potomac below the confluence of the north and south branches (thereby crossing these two, as well as patterson's creek, in one stream, equally fordable in the same season), than to pass through cumberland to gwynn's. of these grounds, however, the commissioners do not speak from actual view, but consider it a subject well worthy of future investigation. having gained the top of allegany mountain, or rather the top of that part called savage, by way of gwynn's, the general route, as it respects the most important points, was determined as follows, viz.: from a stone at the corner of lot no. , in cumberland, near the confluence of will's creek and the north branch of the potomac river; thence extending along the street westwardly, to cross the hill lying between cumberland and gwynn's, at the gap where braddock's road passes it; thence near gwynn's and jesse tomlinson's, to cross the big youghiogheny near the mouth of roger's run, between the crossing of braddock's road and the confluence of the streams which form the turkey foot; thence to cross laurel hill near the forks of dunbar's run, to the west foot of that hill, at a point near where braddock's old road reached it, near gist's old place, now colonel isaac meason's, thence through brownsville and bridgeport, to cross the monongahela river below josias crawford's ferry; and thence on as straight a course as the country will admit to the ohio, at a point between the mouth of wheeling creek and the lower point of wheeling island. in this direction of the route it will lay about twenty-four and a half miles in maryland, seventy-five miles and a half in pennsylvania, and twelve miles in virginia; distances which will be in a small degree increased by meanders, which the bed of the road must necessarily make between the points mentioned in the location; and this route, it is believed, comprehends more important advantages than could be afforded in any other, inasmuch as it has a capacity at least equal to any other in extending advantages of a highway, and at the same time establishes the shortest portage between the points already navigated, and on the way accommodates other and nearer points to which navigation may be extended, and still shorten the portage. it intersects big youghiogheny at the nearest point from cumberland, then lies nearly parallel with that river for the distance of twenty miles, and at the west foot of laurel hill lies within five miles of connellsville, from which the youghiogheny is navigated; and in the same direction the route intersects at brownsville the nearest point on the monongahela river within the district. the improvement of the youghiogheny navigation is a subject of too much importance to remain long neglected; and the capacity of that river, as high up as the falls (twelve miles above connellsville), is said to be equal, at a small expense, with the parts already navigated below. the obstructions at the falls, and a rocky rapid near turkey foot, constitute the principal impediments in that river to the intersection of the route, and as much higher as the stream has a capacity for navigation; and these difficulties will doubtless be removed when the intercourse shall warrant the measure. under these circumstances the portage may be thus stated: from cumberland to monongahela, - / miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with connellsville, on the youghiogheny river, - / miles. from cumberland to a point in measure with the lower end of the falls of youghiogheny, which will lie two miles north of the public road, miles. from cumberland to the intersection of the route with the youghiogheny river, miles. nothing is here said of the little youghiogheny, which lies nearer cumberland; the stream being unusually crooked, its navigation can only become the work of a redundant population. the point which this route locates, at the west foot of laurel hill, having cleared the whole of the allegheny mountain, is so situated as to extend the advantages of an easy way through the great barrier, with more equal justice to the best parts of the country between laurel hill and the ohio. lines from this point to pittsburg and morgantown, diverging nearly at the same angle, open upon equal terms to all parts of the western country that can make use of this portage; and which may include the settlements from pittsburg, up big beaver to the connecticut reserve, on lake erie, as well as those on the southern borders of the ohio and all the intermediate country. brownsville is nearly equi-distant from big beaver and fishing creek, and equally convenient to all the crossing places on the ohio, between these extremes. as a port, it is at least equal to any on the monongahela within the limits, and holds superior advantages in furnishing supplies to emigrants, traders, and other travelers by land or water. not unmindful of the claims of towns and their capacity of reciprocating advantages on public roads, the commissioners were not insensible of the disadvantage which uniontown must feel from the want of that accommodation which a more southwardly direction of the route would have afforded; but as that could not take place without a relinquishment of the shortest passage, considerations of public benefit could not yield to feelings of minor import. uniontown being the seat of justice for fayette county, pennsylvania, is not without a share of public benefits, and may partake of the advantages of this portage upon equal terms with connellsville, a growing town, with the advantage of respectable water-works adjoining, in the manufactory of flour and iron. after reaching the nearest navigation on the western waters, at a point best calculated to diffuse the benefits of a great highway in the greatest possible latitude east of the ohio, it was considered that, to fulfill the objects of the law, it remained for the commissioners to give such a direction to the road as would best secure a certainty of navigation on the ohio at all seasons, combining, as far as possible, the inland accommodation of remote points westwardly. it was found that the obstructions in the ohio, within the limits between steubenville and grave creek, lay principally above the town and mouth of wheeling; a circumstance ascertained by the commissioners in their examination of the channel, as well as by common usage, which has long given a decided preference to wheeling as a place of embarcation and port of departure in dry seasons. it was also seen that wheeling lay in a line from brownsville to the centre of the state of ohio and post vincennes. these circumstances favoring and corresponding with the chief objects in view in this last direction of the route, and the ground from wheeling westwardly being known of equal fitness with any other way out from the river, it was thought most proper, under these several considerations, to locate the point mentioned below the mouth of wheeling. in taking this point in preference to one higher up and in the town of wheeling, the public benefit and convenience were consulted, inasmuch as the present crossing place over the ohio from the town is so contrived and confined as to subject passengers to extraordinary ferriage and delay, by entering and clearing a ferry-boat on each side of wheeling island, which lies before the town and precludes the opportunity of fording when the river is crossed in that way, above and below the island. from the point located, a safe crossing is afforded at the lower point of the island by a ferry in high, and a good ford at low water. the face of the country within the limits prescribed is generally very uneven, and in many places broken by a succession of high mountains and deep hollows, too formidable to be reduced within five degrees of the horizon, but by crossing them obliquely, a mode which, although it imposes a heavy task of hill-side digging, obviates generally the necessity of reducing hills and filling hollows, which, on these grounds, would be an attempt truly quixotic. this inequality of the surface is not confined to the allegheny mountain; the country between the monongahela and ohio rivers, although less elevated, is not better adapted for the bed of a road, being filled with impediments of hills and hollows, which present considerable difficulties, and wants that super-abundance and convenience of stone which is found in the mountain. the indirect course of the road now traveled, and the frequent elevations and depressions which occur, that exceed the limits of the law, preclude the possibility of occupying it in any extent without great sacrifice of distance, and forbid the use of it, in any one part, for more than half a mile, or more than two or three miles in the whole. the expense of rendering the road now in contemplation passable, may, therefore, amount to a larger sum than may have been supposed necessary, under an idea of embracing in it a considerable part of the old road; but it is believed that the contrary will be found most correct, and that a sum sufficient to open the new could not be expended on the same distance of the old road with equal benefit. the sum required for the road in contemplation will depend on the style and manner of making it; as a common road cannot remove the difficulties which always exist on deep grounds, and particularly in wet seasons, and as nothing short of a firm, substantial, well-formed, stone-capped road can remove the causes which led to the measure of improvement, or render the institution as commodious as a great and growing intercourse appears to require, the expense of such a road next becomes the subject of inquiry. in this inquiry the commissioners can only form an estimate by recurring to the experience of pennsylvania and maryland in the business of artificial roads. upon this data, and a comparison of the grounds and proximity of the materials for covering, there are reasons for belief that, on the route reported, a complete road may be made at an expense not exceeding six thousand dollars per mile, exclusive of bridges over the principal streams on the way. the average expense of the lancaster, as well as baltimore and frederick turnpike, is considerably higher; but it is believed that the convenient supply of stone which the mountain affords will, on those grounds, reduce the expense to the rate here stated. as to the policy of incurring this expense, it is not the province of the commissioners to declare; but they cannot, however, withhold assurances of a firm belief that the purse of the nation cannot be more seasonably opened, or more happily applied, than in promoting the speedy and effectual establishment of a great and easy road on the way contemplated. in the discharge of all these duties, the commissioners have been actuated by an ardent desire to render the institution as useful and commodious as possible; and, impressed with a strong sense of the necessity which urges the speedy establishment of the road, they have to regret the circumstance which delays the completion of the part assigned them. they, however, in some measure, content themselves with the reflection that it will not retard the progress of the work, as the opening of the road cannot commence before spring, and may then begin with marking the way. the extra expense incident to the service from the necessity (and propriety, as it relates to public economy,) of employing men not provided for by law, will, it is hoped, be recognized, and provision made for the payment of that and similar expenses, when in future it may be indispensably incurred. the commissioners having engaged in a service in which their zeal did not permit them to calculate the difference between their pay and the expense to which the service subjected them, cannot suppose it the wish or intention of the government to accept of their services for a mere indemnification of their expense of subsistence, which will be very much the case under the present allowance; they, therefore, allow themselves to hope and expect that measures will be taken to provide such further compensation as may, under all circumstances, be thought neither profuse nor parsimonious. the painful anxiety manifested by the inhabitants of the district explored, and their general desire to know the route determined on, suggested the measure of promulgation, which, after some deliberation, was agreed on by way of circular letter, which has been forwarded to those persons to whom precaution was useful, and afterward sent to one of the presses in that quarter for publication, in the form of the document no. , which accompanies this report. all which is, with due deference, submitted. eli williams, thomas moore, december , . joseph kerr. chapter v. _pennsylvania grants permission to make the road through her territory--uniontown restored, gist left out, and washington, pennsylvania, made a point--simon snyder, speaker of the house--pressly carr lane, a fayette county man, speaker of the senate, and thomas mckean, governor--a second special message from president jefferson, and a second report of the commissioners--heights of mountains and hills--on to brownsville and wheeling--an imperious call made on commissioner kerr._ an act authorizing the president of the united states to open a road through that part of this state lying between cumberland, in the state of maryland, and the ohio river. whereas, by an act of the congress of the united states, passed on the twenty-ninth day of march, one thousand eight hundred and six, entitled "an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio," the president of the united states is empowered to lay out a road from the potomac river to the river ohio, and to take measures for making the same, so soon as the consent of the legislatures of the several states through which the said road shall pass, could be obtained: and whereas, application hath been made to this legislature, by the president of the united states, for its consent to the measures aforesaid: therefore, section . _be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, that the president of the united states be, and he is hereby authorized to cause so much of the said road as will be within this state, to be opened so far as it may be necessary the same should pass through this state, and to cause the said road to be made, regulated and completed, within the limits, and according to the intent and meaning of the before recited act of congress in relation thereto; _provided, nevertheless_, that the route laid down and reported by the commissioners to the president of the united states, be so altered as to pass through uniontown, in the county of fayette, and washington, in the county of washington, if such alteration can, in the opinion of the president, be made, consistently with the provisions of an act of congress passed march th, , but if not, then over any ground within the limit of this state, which he may deem most advantageous. sec . _and be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, that such person or persons as are or shall be appointed for the purpose of laying out and completing the said road, under the authority of the united states, shall have full power and authority to enter upon the lands through which the same may pass, and upon any land near or adjacent thereto, and therefrom to take, dig, cut and carry away such materials of earth, stone, gravel, timber and sand as may be necessary for the purpose of completing, and for ever keeping in repair, said road; _provided_, that such materials shall be valued and appraised, in the same manner as materials taken for similar purposes, under the authority of this commonwealth are by the laws thereof, directed to be valued and appraised, and a certificate of the amount thereof shall, by the person or persons appointed, or hereafter to be appointed under the authority of the united states for the purpose aforesaid, be delivered to each party entitled thereto, for any materials to be taken by virtue of this act, to entitle him, her or them to receive payment therefor from the united states. simon snyder, _speaker of the house of representatives_. p. c. lane, _speaker of the senate_. _approved, the ninth day of april, one thousand eight hundred and seven._ thomas m'kean. tenth congress--first session. communicated to congress february , . _to the senate and house of representatives of the united states_: the states of pennsylvania, maryland and virginia having, by their several acts consented that the road from cumberland to the state of ohio, authorized by the act of congress of march , , should pass through those states, and the report of the commissioners communicated to congress with my message of january , , having been duly considered, i have approved of the route therein proposed for the said road as far as brownsville, with a single deviation since located, which carries it through uniontown. from thence the course to the ohio, and the point within the legal limits at which it shall strike that river, is still to be decided. in forming this decision, i shall pay material regard to the interests and wishes of the populous parts of the state of ohio, and to a future and convenient connection with the road which is to lead from the _indian_ boundary near cincinnati, by vincennes, to the mississippi, at st. louis, under authority of the act of april , . in this way we may accomplish a continuous and advantageous line of communication from the seat of the general government to st. louis, passing through several very interesting points, to the western country. i have thought it advisable, also, to secure from obliteration the trace of the road so far as it has been approved, which has been executed at such considerable expense, by opening one-half of its breadth through its whole length. the report of the commissioners herewith transmitted will give particular information of their proceedings under the act of march , , since the date of my message of january , , and will enable congress to adopt such further measures, relative thereto, as they may deem proper under existing circumstances. th. jefferson. february , . * * * * * the undersigned, commissioners appointed under the law of the united states, entitled "an act to regulate the laying out and making a road from cumberland, in the state of maryland, to the state of ohio," in addition to the communications heretofore made, beg leave further to report to the president of the united states that, by the delay of the answer of the legislature of pennsylvania to the application for permission to pass the road through that state, the commissioners could not proceed to the business of the road in the spring before vegetation had so far advanced as to render the work of exploring and surveying difficult and tedious, from which circumstance it was postponed till the last autumn, when the business was again resumed. that, in obedience to the special instructions given them, the route heretofore reported has been so changed as to pass through uniontown, and that they have completed the location, gradation and marking of the route from cumberland to brownsville, bridgeport, and the monongahela river, agreeably to a plat of the courses, distances and grades in which is described the marks and monuments by which the route is designated, and which is herewith exhibited; that by this plat and measurement it will appear (when compared with the road now traveled) there is a saving of four miles of distance between cumberland and brownsville on the new route. in the gradation of the surface of the route (which became necessary) is ascertained the comparative elevation and depression of different points on the route, and taking a point ten feet above the surface of low water in the potomac river at cumberland, as the horizon, the most prominent points are found to be elevated as follows, viz.: feet. ths. summit of wills mountain western foot of same summit of savage mountain savage river summit little savage mountain branch pine run, first western water summit of red hill (after called shades of death) summit little meadow mountain little youghiogheny river east fork of shade run summit of negro mountain, highest point middle branch of white's creek, at the west foot of negro mountain white's creek big youghiogheny river summit of a ridge between youghiogheny river and beaver waters beaver run summit of laurel hill court house in uniontown a point ten feet above the surface of low water in the monongahela river, at the mouth of dunlap's creek the law requiring the commissioners to report those parts of the route as are laid on the old road, as well as those on new grounds, and to state those parts which require the most immediate attention and amelioration, the probable expense of making the same passable in the most difficult parts, and through the whole distance, they have to state that, from the crooked and hilly course of the road now traveled, the new route could not be made to occupy any part of it (except an intersection on wills mountain, another at jesse tomlinson's, and a third near big youghiogheny, embracing not a mile of distance in the whole) without unnecessary sacrifices of distances and expense. that, therefore, an estimate must be made on the route as passing wholly through new grounds. in doing this the commissioners feel great difficulty, as they cannot, with any degree of precision, estimate the expense of making it merely passable; nor can they allow themselves to suppose that a less breadth than that mentioned in the law was to be taken into the calculation. the rugged deformity of the grounds rendered it impossible to lay a route within the grade limited by law otherwise than by ascending and descending the hills obliquely, by which circumstance a great proportion of the route occupies the sides of the hills, which cannot be safely passed on a road of common breadth, and where it will, in the opinion of the commissioners, be necessary, by digging, to give the proper form to thirty feet, at least in the breadth of the road, to afford suitable security in passing on a way to be frequently crowded with wagons moving in opposite directions, with transports of emigrant families, and droves of cattle, hogs, etc., on the way to market. considering, therefore, that a road on those grounds must have sufficient breadth to afford ways and water courses, and satisfied that nothing short of well constructed and completely finished conduits can insure it against injuries, which must otherwise render it impassable at every change of the seasons, by heavy falls of rain or melting of the beds of snow, with which the country is frequently covered; the commissioners beg leave to say, that, in a former report, they estimated the expense of a road on these grounds, when properly shaped, made and finished in the style of a stone-covered turnpike, at $ , per mile, exclusive of bridges over the principal streams on the way; and that with all the information they have since been able to collect, they have no reason to make any alteration in that estimate. the contracts authorized by, and which have been taken under the superintendence of the commissioner, thomas moore (duplicates of which accompany this report), will show what has been undertaken relative to clearing the timber and brush from part of the breadth of the road. the performance of these contracts was in such forwardness on the st instant as leaves no doubt of their being completely fulfilled by the first of march. the commissioners further state, that, to aid them in the extension of their route, they ran and marked a straight line from the crossing place on the monongahela, to wheeling, and had progressed twenty miles, with their usual and necessary lines of experiment, in ascertaining the shortest and best connection of practical grounds, when the approach of winter and the shortness of the days afforded no expectation that they could complete the location without a needless expense in the most inclement season of the year. and, presuming that the postponement of the remaining part till the ensuing spring would produce no delay in the business of making the road, they were induced to retire from it for the present. the great length of time already employed in this business, makes it proper for the commissioners to observe that, in order to connect the best grounds with that circumspection which the importance of the duties confided to them demanded, it became indispensably necessary to run lines of experiment and reference in various directions, which exceed an average of four times the distance located for the route, and that, through a country so irregularly broken, and crowded with very thick underwood in many places, the work has been found so incalculably tedious that, without an adequate idea of the difficulty, it is not easy to reconcile the delay. it is proper to mention that an imperious call from the private concerns of commissioner joseph kerr, compelled him to return home on the th of november, which will account for the want of his signature to this report. all of which is, with due deference, submitted, this th day of january, . eli williams, thomas moore. note.--it will be observed that keyser's ridge, which is unquestionably the highest point on the road, is not mentioned by the commissioners. this is, no doubt, because, at the date of their report, the locality did not bear the name keyser's ridge, and was known as a peak of negro mountain. soon after the location of the road, one keyser acquired the property at the ridge, and it took its name from him. it will also be observed that the measurement of heights by the commissioners was made from "a point ten feet above the surface of low water in the potomac at cumberland." a table of heights given in a subsequent chapter, the authority for which is not ascertainable, differs from that in the commissioners' report, but their report must be accepted as accurate from their point of measurement. the other table referred to gives the heights above the atlantic and above cumberland, and embraces more hills than the commissioners' report. chapter vi. _albert gallatin, secretary of the treasury, called upon for information respecting the fund applicable to the roads mentioned in the ohio admission act--his responses._ tenth congress--first session. communicated to the house of representatives march , . treasury department. march , . _sir_: in answer to your letter of the st instant, i have the honor to state: st. that the per cent. reserved by the act of th april, , on the net moneys received for public lands in the state of ohio, sold since st july, , has amounted to the following sums, viz: from st july, , to th june, $ , from st july, , to th june, , from st july, , to th june, , from st july, , to th june, , from st july, , to th june, , from st july, , to st december, (estimated) , ----------- $ , and that the said per cent. will henceforth probably amount to $ , a year. d. that, of the $ , appropriated by act of th march, , there has been expended, in laying out the cumberland road from cumberland to brownsville, about $ , that there may be wanted to complete the location, about , ------- $ , d. that contracts have been made for opening one-half of the breadth of said road, which, as verbally informed by one of the commissioners, will require about $ , , leaving, probably, about $ , of the appropriation for the further improvement of the road. th. that the portion of the road actually located and confirmed, no part of which exceeds an angle of five degrees, extends from the navigable waters of the potomac, at cumberland, to the navigable waters of the monongahela, at brownsville (red stone old fort), and it is stated, though no official report has been made to me, at about seventy miles. th. that that road can be considered as a national object only if completed as a turnpike, whereby all the flour and other produce of the western adjacent countries may be brought to a market on the atlantic shores; and the transportation of all the salt and other commodities and merchandise whatever, imported from the atlantic ports to the western country generally, may be reduced probably one dollar per cwt. and, lastly, that the expense of completing that part of the road in such manner, is estimated at $ , . i have the honor to be, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. hon. john montgomery, of maryland, chairman, etc., in congress. committee room, dec. , . _sir_: the committee appointed on the message of the president, transmitting a report of the commissioners concerning a road from cumberland to ohio, have directed me to request that you would cause to be laid before them such information as may be in possession of the treasury department respecting the fund applicable by law to "the laying out and making public roads leading from the navigable waters emptying into the atlantic, to the ohio," etc. ( ) the unexpended balance of the $ , appropriated by the act of the th of march, ; ( ) the amount of moneys, exclusive of the above, now in the treasury, and in the hands of the receiver of public moneys, applicable to that object; and ( ) an estimate of the probable amount of moneys that will accrue to the fund within the two succeeding years. i have the honor to be, very respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, jeremiah morrow. to the hon. secretary of the treasury. tenth congress--second session. _cumberland road._ communicated to the house of representatives, february , . treasury department, dec. , . _sir_: in answer to your letter of the d instant. i have the honor to state, for the information of the committee: st. that the unexpended balance of the appropriation, made by the act of march , , for opening a road from cumberland, on the potomac, to the river ohio, amounts to $ , . ; part of which sum will probably be wanted in order to complete the location and opening of the road. it is probable that about $ , will remain applicable to making the road. dly. that the total amount received, either at the treasury, or by the receivers of public moneys on account of roads, and calculated at the rate of per cent, of the net proceeds of the sales of lands in the state of ohio, subsequent to the th day of june, , was, on the th day of september last $ , leaving, if that mode of calculating be correct, and after deducting the sum appropriated by the above mentioned act , -------- a sum applicable to the road of $ , in addition to the above mentioned unexpended balance of , -------- and making together a sum of $ , but if the amount applicable to roads be calculated at the rate of per cent. only, on the net proceeds of the sales of lands, this will, on the th of september last, have produced only $ , from which, deducting the appropriation of , -------- leaves an unappropriated balance of $ , which, added to the unexpended balance of the appropriation , -------- makes an aggregate of only $ , dly. that the probable receipts on account of that fund may, for the two ensuing years, be estimated at $ , a year, if calculated at the rate of per cent., and at $ , a year, if calculated at the rate of per cent. on the sales of lands. i have the honor to be, respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. hon. jeremiah morrow, chairman of the land committee. p.s.--amount of the per cent. of the net proceeds of the lands within the state of ohio: from st july, , to th june, , per cent. $ , . from st july, , to th june, , per cent. , . from st july, , to th june, , per cent. , . from st july, , to th june, , per cent. , . from st july, , to th june, , per cent. , . from st july, , to th june, , per cent. , . estimated july, , to st october, , per cent. , . ---------- total $ , . the sum of $ , appropriated per act of th of march to be paid therefrom; of which $ , . seems to have been paid. a. g. chapter vii. _the life of the road threatened by the spectre of a constitutional cavil--president monroe vetoes a bill for its preservation and repair--general jackson has misgivings--hon. andrew stewart comes to the rescue._ special message. may , . _to the house of representatives_: having duly considered the bill, entitled "an act for the preservation and repair of the cumberland road," it is with deep regret (approving, as i do, the policy), that i am compelled to object to its passage, and to return the bill to the house of representatives, in which it originated, under a conviction that congress do not possess the power, under the constitution, to pass such a law. a power to establish turnpikes, with gates and tolls, and to enforce the collection of the tolls by penalties, implies a power to adopt and execute a complete system of internal improvements. a right to impose duties to be paid by all persons passing a certain road, and on horses and carriages, as is done by this bill, involves the right to take the land from the proprietor on a valuation, and to pass laws for the protection of the road from injuries; and if it exist, as to one road, it exists as to any other, and to as many roads as congress may think proper to establish. a right to legislate for one of these purposes, is a right to legislate for the others. it is a complete right of jurisdiction and sovereignty for all the purposes of internal improvement, and not merely the right of applying money under the power vested in congress to make appropriations (under which power, with the consent of the states through which the road passes, the work was originally commenced, and has been so far executed). i am of opinion that congress do not possess this power--that the states individually cannot grant it; for, although they may assent to the appropriation of money within their limits for such purposes, they can grant no power of jurisdiction of sovereignty, by special compacts with the united states. this power can be granted only by an amendment to the constitution, and in the mode prescribed by it. if the power exist, it must be either because it has been specifically granted to the united states, or that it is incidental to some power, which has been specifically granted. if we examine the specific grants of power, we do not find it among them, nor is it incidental to any power which has been specifically granted. it has never been contended that the power was specifically granted. it is claimed only as being incidental to some one or more of the powers which are specifically granted. the following are the powers from which it is said to be derived: ( ) from the right to establish post offices and post roads; ( ) from the right to declare war; ( ) to regulate commerce; ( ) to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare; ( ) from the power to make all laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution all the powers vested by the constitution in the government of the united states, or in any department or officer thereof; ( ) and lastly, from the power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and other property of the united states. according to my judgment, it cannot be derived from either of these powers, nor from all of them united, and in consequence it does not exist. having stated my objections to the bill, i should now cheerfully communicate at large the reasons on which they are founded, if i had time to reduce them to such form as to include them in this paper. the advanced stage of the session renders that impossible. having, at the commencement of my service in this high trust, considered it a duty to express the opinion that the united states do not possess the power in question, and to suggest for the consideration of congress the propriety of recommending to the states an amendment to the constitution, to vest the power in the united states, my attention has been often drawn to the subject since, in consequence whereof, i have occasionally committed my sentiments to paper respecting it. the form which this exposition has assumed is not such as i should have given it had it been intended for congress, nor is it concluded. nevertheless, as it contains my views on this subject, being one which i deem of very high importance, and which, in many of its bearings, has now become peculiarly urgent, i will communicate it to congress, if in my power, in the course of the day, or certainly on monday next. james monroe. general jackson, in his famous veto of the maysville road bill (may , ), refers to the cumberland road, and to the above message of president monroe, in the following terms; "in the administration of mr. jefferson we have two examples of the exercise of the right of appropriation, which, in the consideration that led to their adoption, and in their effects upon the public mind, have had a greater agency in marking the character of the power than any subsequent events. i allude to the payment of fifteen millions of dollars for the purchase of louisiana, and to the original appropriation for the construction of the cumberland road; the latter act deriving much weight from the acquiescence and approbation of three of the most powerful of the original members of the confederacy, expressed through their respective legislatures. although the circumstances of the latter case may be such as to deprive so much of it as relates to the actual construction of the road of the force of an obligatory exposition of the constitution, it must nevertheless be admitted that so far as the mere appropriation of money is concerned, they present the principle in its most imposing aspect. no less than twenty-three different laws have been passed through all the forms of the constitution, appropriating upwards of two millions and a half of dollars out of the national treasury in support of that improvement, with the approbation of every president of the united states, including my predecessor, since its commencement. the views of mr. monroe upon this subject were not left to inference. during his administration, a bill was passed through both houses of congress, conferring the jurisdiction and prescribing the mode by which the federal government should exercise it in the case of the cumberland road. he returned it with objections to its passage, and in assigning them, took occasion to say that in the early stages of the government he had inclined to the construction that it had no right to expend money except in the performance of acts authorized by the other specific grants of power, according to a strict construction of them; but that on further reflection and observation his mind had undergone a change; that his opinion then was: 'that congress had an unlimited power to raise money, and that in its appropriation they have a discretionary power, restricted only by the duty to appropriate it to purposes of common defence and of general, not local, national, not state benefit;' and this was avowed to be the governing principle through the residue of his administration." [illustration: hon. andrew stewart.] on the th of january, , the hon. andrew stewart, of pennsylvania, in a vigorous speech on the floor of congress, repelled the proposition that the general government was lacking in power and authority to make and preserve the road, from which the following extracts are taken: "mr. stewart expressed his regret that gentlemen had deemed this a fit occasion to draw into discussion all the topics connected with the general power over the subject of internal improvements. if repeated decisions, and the uniform practice of the government could settle any question, this, he thought, ought to be regarded as settled. the foundation of this road (the national or cumberland) was laid by a report made by mr. giles, the present governor of virginia, in , and was sanctioned the next session by a similar report, made by another distinguished virginian (mr. randolph), now a member of this house--it was the offspring of virginia, and he hoped she would not now abandon it as illegitimate. commenced under the administration of mr. jefferson, it had been sanctioned and prosecuted by every president, and by almost every congress, for more than a quarter of a century.* * * * "without roads and canals, of what avail was it to the people of the west to possess a country, abounding with all the essential elements of wealth and prosperity--of what avail was it to have a country abounding with inexhaustible mines of coal and ore; to possess a fruitful soil and abundant harvests, without the means of transporting them to the places where they were required for consumption? without a market, the people of the west were left without a motive for industry. by denying to this portion of the union the advantages of internal improvements, you not only deprive them of all the benefits of governmental expenditures, but you also deprive them of the advantages which nature's god intended for them. possessing the power, how, he asked, could any representative of the interior or western portions of this union vote against a policy so essential to the prosperity of the people who sent him here to guard their rights, and advance their interests? * * * * "the right of this government to construct such roads and canals as were necessary to carry into effect its mail, military, and commercial powers, was as clear and undoubted as the right to build a post office, construct a fort, or erect a lighthouse. in every point of view the cases were precisely similar, and were sustained and justified by the same power." * * * * the power, said mr. s., "to establish post offices and post roads," involves the power and duty of transporting the mail, and of employing all the means necessary for this purpose. the simple question, then, was this: are roads necessary to carry the mail? if they were, congress had expressly the right to make them, and there was an end to the question. roads were, he contended, not only necessary to carry into effect this power, but they were absolutely and indispensably necessary; you cannot get along without them, and yet we are gravely told that congress have no right to make a mail road, or repair it when made! that to do so would ruin the states and produce consolidation--ruin the states by constructing good roads for their use and benefit; produce consolidation by connecting the distant parts of the union by cheap and rapid modes of inter-communication. if consolidation meant to confirm and perpetuate the union, he would admit its application, but not otherwise. but we are told that the _states_ will make roads to carry the mails. this was begging the question. if the states would make all the roads required to carry into effect our powers, very well; but if they did not, then we may undoubtedly make them ourselves. but it was never designed by the framers of the constitution that this government should be dependent on the states for the means of executing its powers: "its means were adequate to its ends." this principle was distinctly and unanimously laid down by the supreme court in the case already referred to: "no trace," says the chief justice, "is to be found in the constitution of an intention to create a dependence of the government of the union on the states for the execution of the powers assigned to it--its means are adequate to its ends. to impose on it the necessity of resorting to means it cannot control, which another government may furnish or withhold, would render its course precarious, the result of its measures uncertain, and create a dependence on other governments, which might disappoint the most important designs, and is incompatible with the language of the constitution." and this was in perfect harmony with the constant and uniform practice of the government. * * * mr. s. begged gentlemen to turn their attention for a moment to the statute book, and see what the practice of the government had been; what had been already done by congress in virtue of this power of "establishing post offices and post roads." in an act had been passed, without a word of objection, which went infinitely further than the bill under consideration. his colleague (mr. buchanan) was then a member of this house, and, no doubt, voted for it. his eloquence was then mute--we heard nothing about states rights, spectres, and sedition laws. this bill, regulating the post office establishment, not only created some thirty or forty highly penal offences, extending not only over the cumberland road, but over every other road in the united states, punishing with severest sanctions, even to the taking away the liberty and the lives of the citizens of the states, and requiring the state courts to take cognizance of these offences and inflict these punishments. this was not all: this act not only extended over all the mail roads, but all other roads running parallel with them, on which all persons are prohibited, under a penalty of fifty dollars, from carrying letters in stages or other vehicles performing regular trips; and authorizing, too, the seizure and sale of any property found in them for the payment of the fines. the same regulations applied to boats and vessels passing from one town to another. compare that bill with the one under debate. this bill had two or three trifling penalties of ten dollars, and was confined to one road of about one hundred and fifty miles in extent, made by the united states, while the other act, with all its fines and forfeitures, pains and penalties, extended not only to all the mail roads in the united states, but also to all parallel roads; yet no complaint was then heard about the constitutionality of this law, or the dreadful consequences of carrying the citizens hundreds of miles to be tried. under it no difficulties had ever been experienced, and no complaint had ever been heard. there had been no occasion for appointing united states justices and creating federal courts to carry this law into effect, about which there was so much declamation on this occasion: this was truly choking at gnats and swallowing camels. to take away _life_ by virtue of the post office power for robbing the mail, is nothing; but to impose a fine of ten dollars for wilfully destroying a road which has cost the government a million of dollars, is a dreadful violation of state rights! an unheard of usurpation, worse than the sedition law; and went further towards a dissolution of the union than any other act of the government. such were the declarations of his colleague; he hoped he would be able to give some reason for thus denouncing this bill, after voting for the act of , which carried this same power a hundred times further than this bill, both as regards the theatre of its operations, and the extent of its punishments. * * * * * having thus established, and, as he thought, conclusively, the right to construct roads and canals for mail and military purposes, he came next to say a few words on the subject of those which appertained to the express power of "regulating commerce with foreign nations and _among the several states_." this power carried with it, as a necessary incident, the right to construct commercial roads and canals. from this grant congress derived exactly the same power to make roads and canals that it did sea-walls, light-houses, buoys, beacons, etc., along the seaboard. if the power existed over the one it existed over the other in every point of view; the cases were precisely parallel; it was impossible to draw a distinction between them. this power was essential to every government--there was no government under the sun without it. all writers on national law and political economy considered the right to construct roads and canals as belonging to the commercial power of all governments. * * * there were great arteries of communication between distant divisions of this extensive empire, passing through many states or bordering upon them, which the states never could and never would make. these works were emphatically national, and ought to be accomplished by national means. he instanced the road now under consideration--it passed through maryland, pennsylvania and virginia, yet neither of these states would have given a dollar to make it. it passed mostly through mountainous and uninhabited regions. he adverted to the potomac, ohio, and mississippi rivers. important as these were to all the states, yet they were the internal concerns of none--they were mere boundaries to which the states would give nothing, while they had so many objects exclusively internal requiring all their means. for these reasons he was utterly opposed to the project of dividing the surplus revenue of the general government among the several states; this would be to surrender the national means which the people had confided to this purpose to mere local and sectional objects, while those truly national would remain forever unprovided for. he did not claim for this government the power to make roads and canals for all purposes. the powers of this government and of the states were distinct and well defined. to the national government belonged, under the constitution, the power of making national roads and canals for national purposes. to the states belonged the power of providing for state and local objects. the roads and canals projected and executed by the states and private companies were often highly important in a national point of view; and to such, in his opinion, this government ought always to afford aid in a proportion corresponding with the interest the nation had in their accomplishment. when individuals were willing to go before and vest millions of their private funds in works strictly and truly national, connecting the remote sections of the union together (of which we had two distinct examples, one in this district and the other in a neighboring city, baltimore), could this government, charged with the care and guardianship of all the great interests of the nation, look on with cold indifference? was it not our duty to lend a helping hand to encourage, to cheer, and to sustain them in their noble and patriotic efforts? * * * * mr. stewart said he would now proceed to answer, as briefly as possible, some leading arguments urged by gentlemen in opposition to the bill under consideration. his colleague (mr. buchanan) had said that this bill proposed a greater stretch of power than the sedition law. this was an argument "ad captandum vulgus." he would not do his colleague the injustice to suppose that he was so ignorant of the constitution of his country as seriously to address such an argument to the understanding of this house. the bill under consideration was necessary to carry into effect the express power of transporting the mail. what power of this government was the sedition law intended to carry into effect? none. it was therefore not only clearly unconstitutional on this ground, but it went directly to abridge the freedom of the press, and, of course, was a plain and palpable violation of that provision in the constitution, which declares that "congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press." now, if his colleague could show any provision in the constitution in the slightest degree impugning the right of congress to pass this bill, then he might have some excuse for offering such an argument, otherwise he had none. the gentleman had, in a very labored effort, endeavored to prove that this government had no kind of jurisdiction or control whatever over this road. yet his own amendment recognized the existence of the very power which he denies. by his amendment he proposes what? that this government shall cede the roads to the states, with the power to erect gates and collect as much toll as was necessary to keep it in repair. but his whole argument went to prove that congress did not possess the very power which his amendment assumed and proposed to the states. the gentleman's amendment, and his speech therefore, were at open war with each other, and would perhaps both perish in the conflict. certainly, both could not survive--one or the other must fall. the gentleman, proceeding in his argument, had assumed premises which nobody would admit, and then, with an air of great triumph, he drew conclusions which even his own premises would not support. he takes for granted that this government, with all its mail, military, and commercial powers, has no more right to make a road to carry these powers into effect, through a state, than any individual possessing none of these powers would have. thus, having assumed what was utterly inadmissible, he triumphantly inquires whether an individual, having obtained leave to make a road through another's land, could put up gates and exact toll? the gentleman says, surely not. but he said, surely yes, unless expressly prohibited by the contract. suppose, by permission, i build a mill, said mr. s., upon that gentleman's estate, and construct a bridge and turnpike road to get to it, have not i as much right to demand toll at the bridge as at the mill? most undoubtedly; so that the gentleman's premises and his conclusions were alike fallacious and unsound. this position had been taken by both the gentlemen from virginia (mr. barbour and mr. archer), to whom he would make the same reply. a most extraordinary argument had been advanced against military roads: the public enemy may get possession of them in war!! was it possible that an american statesman could, at this time of day, urge such an argument? it might be addressed to a set of timid savages, secure in the midst of the wilderness. the enemy get possession of our roads, and therefore not make them! such cowardly arguments would deprive us of every possible means of defence. the enemy, it might be said with equal propriety, may get our ships, our forts, our cannon, our soldiers, and therefore we ought not to provide them. what would the brave freemen of this country say to the men who would deny them roads to travel on, lest the enemy might take them from us in war? they would reply, with spartan magnanimity, "let them come and take them." * * * a great deal has been said on the subject of jurisdiction; that, if it existed at all, it must be exclusive; that it could not attach to soil, and much metaphysical refinement of this sort, which had little to do with the subject. on this point, the only sound and practical rule was, that this government had a right to assume such jurisdiction over their roads as was necessary for their preservation and repair by such means as should be deemed most expedient, leaving everything beyond that to the states. thus far the constitution declared the legislation of congress to be "the supreme law of the land, anything in the constitution and laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding." this left to the laws of the states, the right to punish all offences and other acts committed upon the road, in the same manner as though they had occurred in any other part of their territory. such had been the uniform practice of the government in executing all its powers up to the present time, and no complaint had ever been made or inconvenience experienced. it has been universally conceded on all hands in this debate, that the consent of the states could not confer any jurisdiction or powers on this government beyond what it had derived from the constitution. this was too clear a proposition to admit of doubt. yet the names of jefferson, madison, monroe, and gallatin, were introduced and relied on. did gentlemen forget that mr. gallatin was the very first man that ever suggested the plan for making the cumberland road, and that it had been sanctioned and actually constructed under the administrations of jefferson, madison, and monroe? their opinions were thus reduced to practice, which was the best evidence in the world--"by their fruits shall ye know them." chapter viii. _state authority prevails--the road surrendered by congress--the erection of toll gates authorized--commissioners appointed by the states to receive the road--they wrangle over its bad condition, and demand that it be put in thorough repair by congress, before the states will accept it--old and familiar names of the commissioners--the road accepted by the states._ at the session of the year , the pennsylvania legislature passed a bill, which was approved april th, of that year, by george wolf, governor, the preamble to, and the first, and part of the second, and all of the tenth sections of which read as follows: "whereas, that part of the cumberland road lying within the state of pennsylvania is in many parts in bad condition for want of repairs, and as doubts have been entertained whether the united states have authority to erect toll gates on said road, and collect toll; and as a large proportion of the people of this commonwealth are interested in said road, and its constant continuance and preservation; therefore, section . _be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by authority of the same_; that as soon as the consent of the government of the united states shall have been obtained, as hereinafter provided, william f. coplan, david downer, of fayette county, stephen hill, benjamin anderson, of washington county, and thomas endsley, of smithfield, somerset county, shall be, and they are hereby appointed commissioners, a majority of whom shall be sufficient to transact business, who shall hold their offices for three years after the passage of this act, after which the right of appointing said commissioners shall vest in the governor of this commonwealth, to build toll houses, and erect toll gates at suitable distances on so much of the cumberland road as lies within the state of pennsylvania; _provided_, that if any one or more of the commissioners should die, resign, or refuse to serve, the governor shall appoint one or more other commissioners to fill the vacancies so happening; _and provided, also_, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the governor from re-appointing the commissioners named in this act, if he thinks proper. sec. . that for the purpose of keeping so much of the said road in repair as lies within the state of pennsylvania, and paying the expense of collection and other incidental expenses, the commissioners shall cause to be erected on so much of the road as passes within this state at least six gates, and that as soon as said gates and toll-houses shall be erected, it shall be the duty of the toll collectors, and they are hereby required to demand and receive for passing the said gates, the tolls hereafter mentioned; and they may stop any person riding, leading or driving any horses, cattle, sulky, chair, phæton, cart, chaise, wagon, sleigh, sled or other carriage of burden or pleasure from passing through the said gates, until they shall respectively have paid for passing the same, that is to say: (here follow the rates). sec. . that this act shall not have any force or effect, until the congress of the united states shall assent to the same, and until so much of the said road as passes through the state of pennsylvania, be first put in a good state of repair, and an appropriation made by congress for erecting toll-houses and toll-gates thereon, to be expended under the authority of the commissioners appointed by this act: _provided_, the legislature of this state may at any future session thereof, change, alter or amend this act, provided that the same shall not be so altered or amended, as to reduce or increase the rates of toll hereby established, below or above a sum necessary to defray the expenses incident to the preservation and repair of said road, for the payment of the fees or salaries of the commissioners, the collectors of tolls, and other agents. _and provided further_, that no change, alteration, or amendment, shall ever be adopted, that will in any wise defeat or affect, the true intent and meaning of this act." ohio was a little in advance of pennsylvania in accepting the road, and less exacting in her terms. the legislature of that state, on the th of february, , passed an act authorizing the acceptance, without requiring that the road should be put in repair as a condition precedent. on the d of january, , maryland, by an act of her legislature, agreed to accept the road upon the same condition required by pennsylvania, and on the th of february, , virginia accepted in an act similar to that of ohio. on the d of july, , congress declared its assent to the above mentioned laws of pennsylvania and maryland in these words: "to which acts the assent of the united states is hereby given, to remain in force during the pleasure of congress," and on the d of march, , assented to the act of virginia with a similar limitation. [illustration: toll house.] * * * * * january , . referred to the committee of the whole house, to which is committed bill no. . _to the senate and house of representatives of the united states in congress assembled:_ the undersigned beg leave to represent that they have been appointed commissioners, under the act of the legislature of pennsylvania, to accept from the general government so much of the cumberland road as lies within the limits of that state, and erect toll gates as soon as it is put in such a state of repair as is required by the provisions of that act. that they have every disposition to relieve the government from the burden of the road, so soon as they can feel themselves justified, under the law, in doing so; but they beg leave to respectfully represent that the road has not yet been put in that condition that would enable them to accept of it. on some parts no more than six inches, and west of the monongahela river, three inches only of metal have been put upon it, and it is apparent that this will be totally insufficient to preserve it under the heavy travel upon that road. besides, the bridges throughout the whole road remain untouched. under these circumstances, it is impossible for us, in the discharge of our duty, to accept of it; and we would most earnestly but respectfully urge upon congress the propriety of making such an appropriation as will complete the repairs in a substantial manner, as required by the act of our own legislature. we will not undertake to prescribe the amount which may be necessary; but, to satisfy your honorable bodies that we are disposed to go as far as the faithful discharge of our duty will permit, we hereby pledge ourselves, so soon as congress shall make an appropriation of so much money as may be estimated by the department as necessary for that purpose, to accept of the road, and have toll gates erected without delay. we, therefore, beg leave most respectfully to submit to the wisdom of your honorable bodies to determine whether it will be better to make the necessary appropriation to justify us in accepting the road, and relieving the government from all future charge, or to keep it in its present state, subject to annual appropriations for its preservation, as heretofore. tho. endsley. stephen hill. david downer. william f. coplan. january , . benjamin anderson. * * * * * _to the honorable the senate and house of representatives of the united states in congress assembled_: the undersigned beg leave to represent that they have been appointed commissioners, under the act of assembly of the state of maryland, to report to the governor and council of said state when that part of the cumberland road which lies within the limits of said state shall have been put in that state of repair contemplated by the act of congress, and the act of assembly of the state of maryland, agreeing to receive the road and to keep it in repair; that they will with great pleasure report the road to the governor and council the moment they can with propriety do so. and they beg leave to represent that they feel authorized to say that the governor and council will, with great pleasure, authorize them to receive the road whenever it shall be put in that condition which would justify the state in accepting it. they further represent that the road has not yet been put in that condition that would justify them in advising the state to receive it. on some parts of the road no more than three and a half inches of metal has been put, and it is evident that this covering will be totally insufficient to preserve it in a fit state for use under the heavy travel which is constantly passing over it. the bridges also, throughout the whole distance, remain in a ruinous and dilapidated condition. they further respectfully represent that the new location from cumberland, through the narrows of wills creek and along braddock's run, a distance of upwards of six miles, has had but three and a half inches of metal upon it; and the bridge over wills creek and the bridges over braddock's run were to be permanent stone structures, by the act of assembly of maryland, authorizing the president to change the location of the road. the undersigned are also advised that it is contemplated by the superintendent to put up wooden structures for bridges, in lieu of the stone bridges required by the act of assembly of maryland, authorizing the change in the location of the road, which would be in direct violation of that act. they further represent that the floors of wooden bridges must be removed every two or three years, and the whole structure of the bridges themselves must be built every twenty or twenty-five years. under these circumstances it would be impossible for the undersigned, in the discharge of their duty, to recommend to the state the acceptance of the road. and they would most earnestly but respectfully urge upon congress the propriety of making such an appropriation as will be sufficient to complete the repairs on the old road, and to finish the new location in a substantial manner, as contemplated and required by the act of the legislature of maryland. the undersigned will not undertake to prescribe the sum which may be necessary for this purpose; but, to satisfy your honorable bodies that they are disposed to go as far as the faithful discharge of their duty will permit, they hereby pledge themselves that so soon as congress shall make an appropriation of so much money as may be estimated by the department as necessary for the completion of the repairs of the old road, and the finishing of the road on the new location, together with the construction of permanent stone bridges, they will forthwith report to the governor and council the state of the road, and recommend that the state receive such part of the road as may be completed, and to collect tolls on it to keep it in repair, thereby relieving the united states from any further expense for repairs on such part. they further beg leave most respectfully to submit to the wisdom of your honorable bodies to determine whether it will be better to make the necessary appropriation to enable them to recommend the road as in a fit condition to be received by the state, and thus relieve the government from any further burden, or to let it remain in its present state, subject to appropriations for its preservation, as heretofore. john hoye, mesheck frost, commissioners of the state of maryland. on april , , pennsylvania accepted the road in the following brief terms, embodied in the third section of an act of her legislature of that date: "the surrender by the united states of so much of the cumberland road as lies within the state of pennsylvania is hereby accepted by this state, and the commissioners to be appointed under this act are authorized to erect toll gates on the whole or any part of said road, at such time as they may deem it expedient to do so." maryland, virginia, and ohio also accepted the road, and thenceforth it was, and remains under the control of the several states through which it passes. chapter ix. _plan of repairs--the macadam system adopted--mr. stockton offers his services--capt. delafield made superintendent--the road in a bad condition--permission asked to deviate from instructions, and refused--capt. giesey lifted the old road bed indiscriminately-- first defects to be remedied--lieut. mansfield at uniontown--plan emphasized in notices for contracts--free passage for water a first consideration._ engineer department, washington, july , . _lt. j. k. f. mansfield, corps of engineers_: sir: by direction of the secretary of war, you have been assigned, temporarily, to the superintendence of the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio river; and in the discharge of your duties in this capacity, you will be governed by the following instructions: st. respecting the parts to be repaired. the extreme limits within which your operations will be confined are, the point of intersection of the road with the western boundary line of the state of pennsylvania, and cumberland, in the state of maryland; the dividing line between these states will be considered as dividing the line of the road to be repaired into two divisions, and the division within the state of pennsylvania will be subdivided into six equal sections, and that within the state of maryland, into two; then, having made a thorough examination of each of these sections, with a view to make yourself acquainted with their exact condition, you will classify them in the order of their condition, placing the worst first, the next worst second, and so on, making the best the last. you will then make an estimate for the repairs of each of these sections, to ascertain how far the appropriation, which is one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, will go toward repairing the whole road. separate contracts will then be made for executing the repairs, commencing with no. , and passing regularly through the sections, as classified, to the best section; and these repairs will be prosecuted with as much despatch as the nature of the case will allow. should you deem it advisable, in letting out these sections, to retain any portion of them which may seem to require but slight repairs, and which repairs could be executed with greater economy by having overseers and laborers to act under your immediate direction, you are at liberty to do so, bearing in mind, however, that whenever the repairs of the road can be made with equal economy, it is the wish of the department that they should be made by contract. as soon as one or more of these sections are finished, you will notify the commissioners appointed to receive this road by the laws of pennsylvania and maryland, approved, that of the former on the th day of april, , and that of the latter on the th day of january, , that these sections are ready to be turned over to the state, and you will accordingly turn them over. d. respecting the mode of repairs. in order to insure efficient and permanent repairs, they are to be made on that which is called the macadam system; that is to say, the pavement of the old road must be entirely broken up, and the stones removed from the road; the bed of which must then be raked smooth, and made nearly flat, having a rise of not more than three inches from the side to the center, in a road thirty feet wide; the ditches on each side of the road, and the drains leading from them, are to be so constructed that the water cannot stand at a higher level than that which is eighteen inches below the lowest part of the surface of the road; and, in all cases, when it is practicable, the drains should be adjusted in such a manner as to lead the water entirely from the side ditches. the culverts are to be cleared out, and so adjusted as to allow the free passage of all water that may tend to cross the road. having thus formed the bed of the road, cleaned out the ditches and culverts, and adjusted the side drains, the stone, reduced to a size not exceeding four ounces in weight, must be spread on with shovels, and raked smooth. the old material should be used only when it is of sufficient hardness, and no clay or sand must be mixed with the stone. in replacing the covering of stone, it will be found best to lay it on in strata of about three inches thick, admitting the travel for a short interval on each layer, and interposing such obstructions from time to time as will insure an equal travel over every portion of the road; taking care to keep persons in constant attendance to rake the surface when it becomes uneven by the action of the wheels of carriages. in those parts of the road, if any, where materials of good quality cannot be obtained from the road in sufficient quantity to afford a course of six inches, new stone must be procured to make up the deficiency to that thickness; but it is unnecessary, in any part, to put on a covering of more than nine inches. none but limestone, flint or granite, should be used for the covering, if practicable; and no covering should be placed upon the bed of the road till it has become well compacted and thoroughly dried. at proper intervals, on the slopes of hills, drains or paved catch-waters must be made across the road, when the cost of constructing culverts would render their use inexpedient. these catch-waters must be made with a gradual curvature, so as to give no jolts to the wheels of carriages passing over them; but whenever the expense will justify the introduction of culverts, they will be used in preference; and in all cases where the water crosses the road, either in catch-waters or under culverts, sufficient pavements and overfalls must be constructed to provide against the possibility of the road or banks being washed away by it. the masonry of the bridges, culverts, and side walls, must be repaired, when it may be required, in a substantial manner, and care must be taken that the mortar used be of good quality, without admixture of raw clay. all the masonry to be well pointed with hydraulic mortar, and in no case must the pointing be put on after the middle of october; all masonry finished after this time will be well covered, and pointed early in the following spring. care must be taken, also, to provide means for carrying off the water from the bases of walls, to prevent the action of frost on their foundations; and it is highly important that all foundations in masonry should be well pointed with hydraulic mortar to a depth of eighteen inches below the surface of the ground. as the laws on the subject of this road do not seem to justify a deviation from the original location, you will be careful to confine your operations to the road as you find it located; but, as it is believed that its axis may be dropped without adding much to the expense in those places where its inclination with the horizon exceeds four degrees, you are authorized, under the exercise of a sound discretion, to make this change. in making your contracts, it must be understood that you are to have the general supervision of their execution, and that it will be your duty to see that all labor and materials (provided for by them) be applied in the most faithful and substantial manner. these contracts must provide in their specifications for all the work that can be anticipated, and should it happen that additional stipulations are afterwards found to be necessary for either workmanship or supplies not originally provided for, the facts must be reported to this department, and, with its approbation, if obtained, new contracts will be made for the additional services and supplies required; and it must be distinctly understood by the contractors that no payment will be made for work not provided for by their contracts. mr. l. w. stockton, of uniontown, has been engaged on this road and is intimately acquainted with every part of it, as well as with the adjacent country; and, as he has offered his services, you would do well to call upon him and avail yourself of them in any capacity that may seem to you best. as soon as it can be done, a drawing of the whole road, with details of construction, will be forwarded, to be filed in this office. you will take up your headquarters at any point on the road where your services may appear to you to be most needed; and, as soon as you shall have completed such an examination of the road as will place you in possession of the information necessary to draw up the specifications to your contracts, you will invite proposals for those contracts through the public prints. these contracts will be closed with as little delay as the interest of the road will allow, when the work will be commenced, and the contracts, together with the proper estimates, forwarded to this office. for the mode of making these estimates, keeping your accounts, and conducting your correspondence with this office, you are referred to the regulations of the engineer department. captain delafield has been assigned to the permanent superintendence of the repairs of this road, and has been directed to join you on or before the st of october next. you will, therefore, immediately on his arrival, turn over to him these instructions, together with all the papers and public property that may be in your possession relating to the road. as soon as you shall have completed the necessary examinations on the road, you will commence and continue the repairs simultaneously in both states. you will make application for such instruments and funds as may appear necessary to enable you to execute the foregoing instructions. i am, &c., c. gratiot, brigadier general. * * * * * cumberland, md., august , . _sir_: i have this evening returned from a general reconnoissance of the road in this state. i find the road in a shocking condition, and every rod of it will require great repair; some of it is now almost impassable. i purpose leaving here to-morrow, on a particular measurement and survey of the road as it is, and the requisites to put it in complete repair. the object of this communication is to request to be permitted to deviate, according to circumstances, from so much of my instructions as requires the old bed in all cases to be lifted, and the rise in the middle three inches; for there are parts of the road where the top of the old bed is full low, and where it will be more expensive, and less firm, to remove the old bed and fill in with earth, than to bring stone and macadamize on the top of the old bed to the thickness of nine inches; and there are cases on the sides of the mountains where a greater rise than three inches, such, for instance, as some parts of it now have, which is more advantageous than a less one to confine the water to the gutters in cases of torrents, and thereby preventing a general sweep over the whole road, which would carry off the smallest stuff of a macadamized road. the repairs made by mr. giesey, about two years since, have the radical fault resulting from having lifted the old road indiscriminately, and not giving sufficient rise to the center for a mountainous country. i have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient, j. k. f. mansfield, lieut. of engineers. gen. chas. gratiot, chief engineer. * * * * * engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: your letter of the st instant, requesting permission to deviate, according to circumstances, from so much of the instructions of the department to you, on the subject of the repairs of the cumberland road, as requires the old road in all cases to be lifted, and the rise in the middle to be made three inches, has been under consideration, and i have to inform you that this permission cannot be granted. in withholding the sanction of the department to any deviation from the prominent features of your instructions on the subject of these repairs, it may, perhaps, be proper to state, for your information, the views of the department on this subject. by referring to the report of mr. weaver, a printed copy of which you have in your possession, who made an examination of the cumberland road in , you will perceive that the mode of constructing it was that of digging a trench, or of sinking the bed of the road below the natural surface of the ground; that this trench was filled with large stones, and that these were covered with stones a size smaller, and so on. by this construction, it was intended that the weight of the carriages passing over the road should be supported by the large stones, and that the smaller stones were only intended to present an even surface for the easy passage of vehicles over it. the great objections to this construction are, that the bed being lower than the surface of the ground on each side, the ditches can hardly ever be sunk sufficiently deep to intercept the passage of water from the ground adjacent to the road to the ditch or trench in which the road is made; this water, by keeping the bed constantly wet, would cause the heavy stones of the first layer to sink into the ground, and thus break up the surface of the road, and allow the free passage of water through the covering itself. in the winter, the frost acting upon the bed, rendered wet by the free passage of water to it in every direction, would heave the stones to such a degree that the road in a little time would be perfectly impassable; and if any evidence, in addition to that presented by the testimony of the most experienced and approved road builders, were necessary to convince the department that the present dilapidated state of the road under your charge is owing entirely to the operation of the causes above alluded to, it is believed that that evidence is found in the report made by capt. delafield, who inspected the repairs of this road made by mr. giesey. by pursuing the course suggested in your letter, it is believed that these objections and difficulties would still obtain, and that in a little time, however faithfully the repairs might be made on the top of the large stones, the road would be in as bad order as it is at present, since the great cause of these evils would remain, viz.: that of having the bed which supports the stones, and which in fact should be the real support of the traffic on the road, lower than the neighboring ground. it is the intention of the department that the defects of the first construction of the road shall be remedied in its repair, and as it is believed that the adoption, as nearly as practicable, of the macadam system, in all its important features, presents the only means of effecting this remedy, and as this system forms the basis of your instructions, it is recommended that they be departed from as little as possible. it is by no means the intention of the department to take from you all discretion in the discharge of your duties; such a course would defeat the object had in view in sending an officer of engineers on the road; but it is believed to be highly important that the exercise of this discretion should be limited to an extent that will insure the adoption of such principles and rules as cannot fail to render these repairs permanent. for these principles and rules, you are referred to mr. macadam's work on the construction and repairs of roads, a copy of which is in your possession. in removing the metal from the old road, whenever hollows present themselves in the old bed, it is recommended that they be filled with earth; indeed, the whole bed of the road should be elevated, and its form given to it, before any of the covering of stone be replaced. the earth necessary for this may be taken from the ditches, or even from the sides of the road, where it can be done without encroaching upon the privileges of persons residing on the road. i am, &c., &c., c. gratiot. lt. j. k. f. mansfield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. extracts from notices for contracts. plan of repairs. the plan for repair is to lift the pavement of the old road in all cases, and deposit the stone off the bed; then to repair the culverts, clear the drains, ditches, and culverts, so as to admit the free passage of water, and graduate the bed of the road, so that, when well packed by travel or other means, it will be three inches higher in the middle than at either side, for a bed of thirty feet. having thus formed the bed of the road, the hard stone (if there be any) of the old road, broken to a size not exceeding four ounces, is to be placed on the bed of the road to a breadth of twenty feet, and a thickness not exceeding nine inches, and in cases where there is a deficiency of the old material, limestone or whinstone is to be procured to supply the deficiency to the required thickness of nine inches. catch-waters and hollow-ways to be permanently constructed on the sides of hills, and at other places where it will be thought necessary by the superintending engineer, but in no case to exceed one in every twelve rods. in those sections where pieces of hitherto macadamized road are included, the sand is to be taken off, and, before new metal is added, the surface loosened with a pick. the metal added to be three inches thick in the cases heretofore macadamized. jos. k. f. mansfield, lieutenant corps of engineers. * * * * * engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: i have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the th inst., inclosing two printed advertisements for proposals to contract for the repairs of the cumberland road under your charge. in answer, the department would call your attention to your remarks under the head "plan of repairs," and would suggest that, instead of removing the stones from the bed of the road before the drains, ditches, and culverts are put in repair, to allow the free passage of water from the road, this latter operation should be first attended to, to the end that the removal of the stone from the road might be effected without the fear of being annoyed by the accumulation of water from heavy rains. besides, thus preparing the drains, ditches, &c., in the first place, would enable the bed to become perfectly dry by the time the stones are prepared to be replaced. i am, &c., c. gratiot. lt. j. k. f. mansfield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. chapter x. _lieut. mansfield superseded by capt. delafield--the turning of wills mountain--contractors not properly instructed--capt. delafield suggests a change of plan, and enforces his views by copious quotations from macadam--he is permitted to exercise his own discretion--too much sand between uniontown and cumberland--operations at wills creek suspended--a collision with the chesapeake and ohio canal company--the difficulty adjusted, and operations resumed._ engineer department, washington, october , . _sir_: on the arrival of captain delafield, of the engineers, on the cumberland road in pennsylvania and maryland, you will hand to him the enclosed communication, which assigns to him the superintendence of the repairs of that road which have heretofore been conducted under your supervision. you will, also, turn over to him all the funds, books, papers, and public property in your possession appertaining to this road, and close your account with it. very respectfully, &c., by order: wm. h. c. bartlett, lieut, and assistant to chief engineer. lieut. j. k. f. mansfield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. * * * * * uniontown, december , . _sir_: the surveys of a route for turning wills mountain by the valley of braddock's run and wills creek are progressing, being retarded only by the weather. i have examined the whole route, and can confirm the most satisfactory account you may have heard of it. the ground over which the road will pass is a uniform inclined plane, requiring very few culverts, two small bridges over braddock's run of about fifteen feet span each, with side hill in no other part than about yards in the "narrows" of wills creek, where a most simple and expedient plan will be to use the level and smooth bottom of the creek for the road, by building a wall not to exceed ten feet in height, thus throwing the stream on the opposite bank, peculiarly well formed for this construction, being a low bottom of alluvion. the idea of cutting into the mountain would be expensive, and no better than throwing the creek from its present bed. on the arrival of mr. pettit, i shall divide the road into four sections, giving him one. the present condition of the road is most unpromising. nearly every contractor has formed his bed in the valley made by the removal of the old pavement, the consequence of which is, that, with the mild season and rainy weather, the bed is not drained, nor can it be, until the side roads are cut down to the bottom of the stone strata--a measure i directed as the only means of correcting the evil. time, and the headstrong obstinacy of some of the contractors, have prevented much of the work being so attended to. all the contracts made by lieut. mansfield distinctly specify that the road for feet in width shall be graded in such manner as to avoid this difficulty; yet in carrying the contracts into effect, the superintendents have, in no instance, instructed the contractors in the proper course. they have, in most instances too, permitted the stone to be broken on the road; the consequences of this are, much sand and dirt in the metal, and a bed graded without proper attention. this is the more remarkable, as in my report on the work executed two years since by one of the present superintendents, these errors were pointed out as serious evils, yet they are not corrected. it must be expected, therefore, that all that part of the road now under construction will be very indifferently made, and by no means such as the macadam system calls for. by the time the superintendents acquire a knowledge of their business, the present contracts will be completed. instead of giving out any more of the work under the present system, as i had contemplated and advertised, i shall postpone doing so until i am better assured that the work can be properly executed. i look anxiously for mr. pettit, trusting his intelligence may correct some of the defects in the section he will be called upon to superintend. to instruct the superintendents in their duties, i shall be compelled to have printed a manual or primer, with a few lithographic sections, that the sight may aid the mind in a proper understanding of the business. to persevere in the present plan, where neither contractors, superintendents, nor laborers, understand their business, is highly inexpedient, and i shall forthwith commence maturing a system that must be productive of more good with less money, or it were better to leave the work undone, for i am satisfied that durability can not be looked for under the present system. my first business will be to draw the operations to a close, and then endeavor to bring about the correction. you will be apprised of my views before carrying any of them into effect, observing that, in anticipation of a change, i have suspended making the contracts alluded to in my communication of the th ultimo. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. * * * * * baltimore, may , . _sir_: the instructions of the department of the d july last, relating to the method of repairing the cumberland road east of the ohio, are founded upon principles upon which i differ in opinion, and beg leave to request your reconsideration, involving, as they do, an expenditure of not less than $ , , when compared with what i judge to be the most judicious method of making the repairs. it is in relation to the propriety of breaking up the old bed of the road in all cases. i apprehend the department was not aware that the bed is a substantial, yet rough pavement, and not formed of loose, detached masses of quarry stone thrown together, without order. it is important to consider this particular when examining the authorities on road making. my own views are that it is decidedly preferable to retain the old pavement in all cases where its continuity is unbroken, even mending small parts that may be deranged, and macadamizing over it. in this, i think, i am borne out by macadam, dean, telford, and farey, whose ideas on the subject are annexed, as extracted from "macadam on roads." the only two arguments against the method i propose are, first, that the metal will grind to dust by being placed over large stone. in answer to which, i say, that the road passing through a rocky country, even after removing the pavement, there still remains a rocky foundation; and where the pavement is well bedded in sand or clay, we have all the elasticity necessary from the clay or sand bed through the pavement. in support of which, see the sample of metal taken from the road through uniontown, where the under strata have not worn or crushed an iota, presenting angles as sharp as the day they were first placed there. were the metal placed upon an unyielding rock, it would doubtless soon grind to dust; but placing it upon a pavement laid in sand or gravel, preserves the elasticity so necessary for this kind of road. second: that large stone, placed under macadam metal, will work to the surface. this is doubtless true when detached pieces are surrounded by the metal, but with a pavement the case is very different. i find pieces of this cumberland road, repaired as far back as , by mr. ewing, over the old pavement, in perfect order to this day; as, also, some parts done in this way by giesey in , that are much better than any of the repairs he made at the same time; and a piece through uniontown, by the authorities of the place, in , remains in perfect order. i have been led to reflect upon this subject from learning that the ohio road had cut through and was impassable at certain places during the months of february and march, and seeing the state of the road under my supervision between cumberland and wheeling, comparing the parts repaired last season, those under giesey, ewing, and the town authorities, with the old pavement that has stood sixteen years without a cent of money in repair, and to this day is a very good wagon road, rough, it is true, yet never cutting through during the fall, winter, or spring, where the pavement is continuous. to throw away so firm a foundation i cannot think advisable, and beg you to reflect upon the subject and favor me with your views. the road in ohio has worn six years (nearly) without repairs, and was impassable this spring. the old cumberland road has worn sixteen years, and mile after mile has never been known to cut through at any season. parts of it covered with macadamized metal, and worn for five years, are in fine order, and present a very smooth surface, never having cut through. other parts, where the old pavement has been removed and macadamized, were impassable during the spring after three years' wear. we have to bear in mind the impossibility of keeping the ditches and drains open in the mountains during the winter. ice forming in the drains will, of course, throw the melting snows on the surface of the road, which is destructive to a macadamized road on clay or sand, whereas, if on the old pavement, it has strength enough to resist the travel until either dried by frost, or sun. this is a consideration that the english road-makers had not to consider with the same weight. as to keeping the drains open, and the road surface free from water in the winter, i conceive it impracticable in the mountains; hence the further propriety of preserving a foundation that will secure a firm road at all seasons, even if the wear should prove some five or ten per cent. more rapid, which i do not even think will be the case on the plan suggested of macadamizing upon a pavement, and not on an unyielding, rocky bottom. respectfully, your obedient servant, richard delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. c. gratiot, chief engineer. extracts from "macadam on roads," made by captain delafield in support of his views relating to the pavement forming the bed of the "cumberland road east of the ohio." page .--"it would be highly unprofitable to lift and relay a road, even if the materials should have been originally too large. the road between cirencester and bath is made of stone too large in size. in this case i recommend cutting down the high places," &c. page .--"a part of the road in the bath district is made of freestone, which it would be unprofitable to lift. other cases of several kinds have occurred where a different method must be adopted, but which it is impossible to specify, and must be met by the practical skill of the officer, and who must constantly recur to general principles." page .--"the price of lifting a road, &c., leaving the road in a finished state, has been found in practice to be from d. to d. per superficial yard, lifted four inches deep." page .--"it is well known to every skillful and observant road-maker, that if strata of stone of various sizes be placed on a road, the largest stones will constantly work up." (this is in no manner applicable to a pavement, and a road made even in the manner he alludes to was lifted only four inches deep.--r. d.) page .--"how deep do you go in lifting the roads? that depends upon circumstances, but i have generally gone four inches deep. i take up the materials four inches, and, having broken the large pieces, i put them back again." "does the plan which you have mentioned, of breaking up the roads, apply to gravel roads, or only to those roads composed of hard stones? in gravel roads, and in some other roads, it would be impossible to break them up to advantage; and, in several places, i should think it unprofitable to lift a road at all. i did not order the road near reading to be lifted, but i directed, whenever a large piece of flint was seen, it should be taken up, broken, and put down again. i am speaking of a gravel road now." page .--"there are other cases besides that of gravel, in which i should think it unprofitable to lift a road. the road between ---- and ---- is made of very soft stone, and is of so brittle a nature, that if it were lifted it would rise in sand, and there would be nothing to lay down again that would be useful. i should not recommend lifting of freestone roads, for the same reason, because it would go so much to sand that there would be very little to lay down again. i will explain what i have done to the road between cirencester and bath. i was obliged to lift a little of the sides of the road, in order to give it shape, but in the center of the road we 'shoved it.' it was before in the state which the country people call gridirons: that is, it was in large ridges, with long hollows between, and we cut down the high part to a level with the bottom of the furrows, and took the materials and sifted them at the side of the road, and returned what was useful to the center." (so far we have the views of mr. macadam. from the same work i continue to quote.--r. d.) page .--"considering the very great traffic upon whitechapel road, is it your opinion (addressed to mr. farey) that it would be advantageous to pave any part of that road? i think it would be desirable to pave it within some feet of the footpath," &c. page .--"in the neighborhood of london the materials that are to be procured are of too tender and brittle a nature to endure the wear of the heavy carriages. i, therefore, am of the opinion that it would be proper to pave the sides of all the principal entrances into london." page .--"james walker says, 'the traffic upon the commercial rail road, both up and down, is very great. i am quite sure that the expense of this road would have been very much greater, probably much more than doubled, if it had not been paved. the road has been paved for about sixteen years, and the expense of supporting it has been small. during the thirteen years that the east india dock branch has been paved, the paving has not cost £ .'" page .--"but as the paving is always preferred for heavy carriages," &c. page .--"the thickness ought to be such, that the greatest weight will not effect more than the surface of the shell, in order to spread the weight which comes upon a small part only of the road over a large portion of the foundation." page .--"if the foundation is bad, breaking the bottom stone into small pieces is expensive and injurious, upon the principle i have above described, for the same reason that an arch formed of whole bricks, or deep stones, is preferred to one of the same materials broken into smaller pieces, for, in some countries, the materials will admit of the foundation of the road being considered as of the nature of a flat arch, as well as being supported by the strata directly under it. but the error of laying stones in large pieces upon the surface is more common and more injurious." page .--"james dean says, 'near to great towns it would be highly advantageous if the center of the road, for about twelve feet in width, were to be paved with hard, well-squared stones, nine inches deep.'" page .--"thomas telford, esq., says, 'the improvements made in north wales i beg leave to submit as models for the roads through hilly countries. great pains have been taken in constructing firm and substantial foundations for the metallic part of the roadway.'" page .--"there has been no attention paid to constructing a good and solid foundation for the roadway." page .--"are you of the opinion that it would be advisable or practicable to procure, from any particular part of the country, better materials, so as to form perfect roads without the necessity of paving them? that these materials could be procured, is evident; but i am satisfied that the most economical and preferable mode would be by the means of paving." * * * * * engineer department. washington. may , . _sir_: your communication of the th instant, submitting your views in regard to lifting the old bed in prosecuting the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio, and requesting a reconsideration of so much of the instructions of the department of the d july last as relates to this matter, has just been received. that part of the instructions alluded to, which requires that the old bed shall, in all cases, be taken up, will be considered as suspended, and you are hereby authorized to exercise your discretion in this particular. very respectfully, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. * * * * * uniontown, pa., june , . _sir_: i find upon an examination of the national road, under your superintendence, from cumberland to this place, that too great a portion of sand and other perishable stone has been allowed to be put on it. in almost the whole distance, little or no regard has been paid to the keeping the side drains open, at least sufficiently so to carry the water freely from the road. the culverts are too few and small, particularly on the long slopes; and the manner of constructing the hollow-ways and catch-waters is defective. these errors of construction cause the water, in many places, to pass over the road, to its rapid destruction. i am aware of the difficulties you have to contend with under the contract system, and that to this cause most of the evils complained of may be traced. as it is all important that they should be remedied, as soon as practicable, you will enforce the early completion of the several contracts, according to their conditions, after making due allowance for the stoppage arising from your order for suspending operations during last winter. on the completion of the road, should it be found not to possess the requisite properties to secure its permanency, you will make such additions under your own agency as will place it in the condition contemplated by the government, before turning it over to the states. not less than six inches of lime or sandstone should be put upon the surface, and where lime is exclusively used, the thickness should not be less than nine inches. the side ditches should, when practicable, be at least eighteen inches below the bed of the road; and when this cannot be done, culverts, 'Ã� ', should be constructed at convenient distances to carry off the water, which, in no instance, should be allowed to rise above the level of the bed of the road. the catch-waters should be constructed in such a manner, that while they subserve the purposes for which they are intended, they should admit the passage of vehicles without jolting; and, in every case, with a view to prevent their being washed into deep gullies. as this frequently happens when they are constructed with broken stone, it will be proper to pave them with shingle stones, if to be had; or, when this cannot be obtained, with limestone firmly imbedded in the road. it should especially be observed that, before breaking up the road for the reception of the metal, the ditches should be first prepared, and then the culverts. this will keep the roadway dry for travel, and better prepare it for the reception of its covering. as it is found impracticable to keep the travel from the center of the road, and the deep ruts that are formed, then, as a consequence, i would recommend, instead of the present system of blocking, that rakers should be constantly employed to preserve the transverse profile. if it does not come within the spirit of the contract, that this labor should be performed by the contractors, you will hire men to do it yourself. this operation, in addition to the draining system before recommended, will, it is presumed, preserve the road from further ruin, and place it in a condition to receive its last coat of limestone. finally, while studying due economy in your administration of the affairs of the road, you should constantly bear in mind that the wishes of the government are to have a superior road, both as regards workmanship, and the quality of the materials used in its construction. with this understanding, it is expected that you will avail yourself of all the facilities within your reach to effect, in a satisfactory manner to yourself and the public at large, the great end proposed--the construction of a road unrivaled in the country. these are the views and special instructions of the secretary of war. i am, respectfully, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. * * * * * engineer department, washington, july , . _sir_: you will forthwith cause all operations to cease on that part of the new location of the cumberland road on the east of wills creek. you shall in a few days receive further instructions on this subject. very respectfully, &c., wm. h. c. bartlett, lieut. and assistant to chief engineer. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. * * * * * engineer department, washington, july , . _sir_: on the th you were advised to delay any further action as to the location of the cumberland road until you were again written to. mr. purcell reports to the board of the chesapeake and ohio canal company that the road being at the site now chosen will occasion an increased cost to the canal company of upwards of $ , . it is very desirable to avoid this state of things, for, as their charter claims precedence, it would necessarily create a demand upon the government commensurate with the injury sustained. major eaton, president of the canal company, will direct mr. purcell, the engineer, to proceed forthwith to cumberland, with you, to ascertain the best mode of making the location by which to avoid any injury or increased expense to the canal company. you are instructed to confer freely with mr. purcell, holding the object suggested steadily in view, and give such direction to the location of the road as may best attain this object. this done, you will forward a plan of the route agreed on, and a minute detail of everything, particularly what increased expense to the canal company will probably be occasioned. on receiving your report, the case will be considered here, and you be advised immediately of the course to be pursued. very respectfully, &c., &c., by order: wm. h. c. bartlett, lieut. and assistant to chief engineer. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. * * * * * philadelphia, july , . _sir_: the order of your department of the th instant was received by me at cumberland, and its injunctions forthwith carried into effect. the communication of the th has since been received, explanatory of that order. in relation to locating that part of the national road that might probably interfere with the canal company, measures were taken to procure from the company such information as would enable me to locate the road without coming in contact with any part of the canal route; and, so far as the information was furnished, i have endeavored so to do. i enclose copies of the letter and information received from the president of the company, in reply to a request for such information as would enable me to "ascertain at what point the chesapeake and ohio company contemplate erecting their dam across wills creek, and to what height it will be raised above low water. the information desired is for enabling me to locate the bridge for the road at a point, and elevate its arches to such a height that the interest of the canal company will not be effected; and that i may at the same time, fulfill the objects contemplated by the law authorizing the new location." in reply to which you will perceive "the location of the canal is that recommended by general bernard, and the board of internal improvement, over which he presided," and that it was proposed to feed the canal at cumberland, and below by a dam to be erected across the potomac about a mile above cumberland. the water of the potomac was to be carried over wills creek twenty-one or two feet above ordinary water in the creek. such is the information furnished me by the president of the canal company, and by which i have been governed in the location of the road. on the eastern side of wills creek the grading is finished to the site of the bridge; on the western side i have directed no work to be executed that can have any bearing upon this point. you perceive it has been my study to avoid conflicting with the interests of the canal company; but, from the want of knowing the exact location of their works, will occasion to them an increased expense, as reported by mr. purcell, of , dollars if the bridge is constructed at the point now chosen. if, then, the company will cause the canal to be located through the gap of wills mountain, and give me bench marks from which to ascertain the cuttings and embankments they propose making, i will then locate the road on such ground as not to interfere in any manner with their operations, and such as shall be most advantageous for the public interest. i judge the communication of the department was written under the impression that an interference with the works of the canal company was unavoidable, and that some compromise of advantages and disadvantages would necessarily have to be made. such, however, i do not conceive to be the case. i have located as high up the creek as would give room for a six horse team to turn off and on a bridge at right angles with the stream with facility. if the canal company make choice of this ground, i have but to make a bridge oblique with the current, and thus avoid the work of the canal company. to ascertain this, it is essential that the canal company should make choice of the ground and locate their works; after having so done, if they will favor me with plans and sections, with bench marks of reference of the part in the valley of the creek, the road shall be made not to interfere with their interest, which has always been looked upon by me as claiming precedence. i have here pointed out a course for the consideration of the department, differing materially from the one ordered by the letter of the th instant. first, in consideration of its not being acquainted with the nature of the case, and, next, with its requiring me to perform a service in no way necessary to a proper understanding of the interests of the government connected with the road; to do which, surveys, levels, calculations of excavation and embankment must be made, that the time of neither myself nor the officers associated with me could accomplish. what i ask is, information from the company as to their own works solely. it will suffice for all purposes connected with the location of the road. be pleased to address me at new castle, and on any matter relating to the section of the road near cumberland requiring immediate attention, a copy of the communication forwarded to lieutenant pickell, at that place, would prevent any delay; lieutenant p. being the officer to whom i have assigned this particular section of the road. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield. captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot. chief engineer. * * * * * washington, d. c., may , . _sir_: your letter to mr. ingle, the clerk of the chesapeake and ohio canal company, has been handed over to me, and i am authorized, on the part of the president and directors, to express to you our thanks for the considerate regard you have paid to the location adopted by the chesapeake and ohio canal company, for the part of their work which will pass through cumberland. the location adopted is that recommended by general bernard, and the board of internal improvement, over which he presided. when the proposed change of the cumberland road immediately above the town was under consideration of the committee on roads and canals, i suggested the very precaution you now practice, which was to see that no conflict would arise in hereafter conducting the canal over its long established route, by a conflict with the location of the improved road, the value of which i know well how to appreciate. the hill above cumberland, which it is proposed to avoid, was the worst between that place and wheeling, if reference be had to the inclination of its surface. general bernard proposed to feed the canal at cumberland, and for some distance below it, as far, at least, as the mouth of the south branch, by means of a dam to be erected at a ledge of rocks crossing the potomac about a mile above cumberland. the dam was to be elevated so high as to conduct the canal over wills creek at cumberland, with an elevation of twenty-one or twenty-two feet above ordinary water in the creek. this was to be effected by an aqueduct across the creek. i presume at this season of the year the ledge of rocks is visible above cumberland. enclosed i send you extracts from general bernard's report, which accompanied the president's message to congress of december , , and is now a congressional record. from that you may perhaps infer all that is essential to your purpose of avoiding a collision with the rights of the chesapeake and ohio canal company, who have adopted for the location of the canal general bernard's report. c. f. mercer, president of the chesapeake and ohio canal company. extracted--page , doc. no. , th congress, d session.--executive papers. "the difficulties of this passage (down wills creek) are great, and continue for more than a mile. the ground then becomes favorable (_i.e._, in descending wills creek from the west), permitting the canal to pass at the outskirts of cumberland, to join with the eastern section. adjoining cumberland, the canal will receive a feeder from the potomac for a supply below, and more especially to complete what is necessary in relation to the first subdivision of the eastern section. "this feeder is proposed to be made navigable, in order to accommodate the trade of the potomac above cumberland. its length is one mile, its width at the water line thirty feet, its depth four feet. at its point of departure from the potomac, a basin is formed in the bed of the river, by means of a dam erected at the first ledge above cumberland. "this basin, comprehending an extent of about eight miles, will afford a constant supply of water, and also accommodate the canal trade of the potomac. the levees around the basin, the dam, the guard lock of the feeder, and its aqueduct over wills creek, are included in the estimate of this subdivision. "in the table of quantities and cost, this feeder is made to cost a very large sum (two or three words illegible in the ms.) if the dam above cumberland is supposed to be ever changed from the above location. the aqueduct over wills creek is computed to cost $ , ; the length of the aqueduct, seventy yards; the number of arches, three; the span of the arch, thirty feet; the height of the piers, sixteen feet." the above is a true copy. c. f. mercer. may , . * * * * * engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: the secretary of war has just returned to this place, having passed over the cumberland road east of the ohio. he feels great interest in this road, and is anxious that the operations on it shall be so directed as to obtain the best possible results. his confidence in your ability induced him to select you as its superintendent, knowing that under your management his wishes would be realized; and deeming it a work of much greater importance than that with which you are occupied on the delaware, he has expressed a wish that by far the greater portion of your time should be passed upon the road. you will, therefore, repair to cumberland without loss of time, ascertain the exact location of the chesapeake and ohio canal along the valley of wills creek, and so adjust that of the road as shall remove the present difficulties, and avoid any interference with the interests of the canal company. this being done, you will communicate to the department the result. very respectfully, &c., wm. h. c. bartlett, lt. and ass't to ch. eng'r. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, new castle, del. * * * * * engineer department, washington, september , . _sir_: your letter of the th instant, enclosing a plan and sections of part of wills' creek, exhibiting the location of the national road "as now constructed;" the ground selected by the engineer of the chesapeake and ohio canal company for its canal, and the new location of the national road, in consequence of the canal company having made choice of the route upon which the road was constructed, has been received. the plan has been submitted, with the approval of this department, to the secretary of war, and by him adopted; and the construction of the road on the new location will, therefore, be proceeded with. i am, sir, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, cumberland, md. * * * * * cumberland road, at stoddard's, md., september , . _sir_: i enclose herewith plan and sections of part of the cumberland road between cumberland and frostburg, where an alteration has just been made in the location, by which a very steep hill is avoided, and the distance decreased. by the new route there is a slope of - / feet in a distance of , ; by the old road the slope was . ' in feet on one side of the hill, and . ' in feet on the other side. this is now undergoing construction. the foundation of the center pier of the bridge over wills creek is raised above water. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot. chief engineer. * * * * * engineer department. washington, september , . _sir_: your letter of the th inst., enclosing a plan and sections of part of the cumberland road between cumberland and frostburg, where you had made an alteration in the location, thereby avoiding a steep hill, and decreasing the distance, was duly received; and i have to inform you that the alteration referred to has been approved. i am, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, cumberland, md. chapter xi. _on with the work--wooden bridges proposed for the new location up wills creek and braddock's run--the war department holds that wooden superstructures would be a substantial compliance with the maryland law--new instructions issued from wheeling--the old bed to be retained--two classes of work--frauds by contractors--form for contracts forwarded from brownsville--report and estimate called for by the senate--the law of congress renders a change of plan necessary--the secretary of war greatly interested in the road--cumberland to frostburg._ engineer department, washington, june , . _sir_: in addition to the views of the department, communicated to you this morning, i now have to request that you will proceed to apply the funds available for the cumberland road east of the ohio, with the utmost despatch consistent with the public interest. it is greatly to be desired that the repairs of this road may be completed before the termination of the coming fall. i am, &c ., c. gratiot, brigadier general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, new castle, del. cumberland, md., july , . _sir_: i beg leave to call your attention to the act of the legislature of maryland, giving its consent to change the location of the national road near this place, to turn wills mountain by the route of wills creek and braddock's run, in which it is provided that certain bridges shall be constructed of stone, and to compare this act with that of the last session of congress, and inform me whether or not i will be justified in constructing the bridges with stone abutments and wing-walls, and _wooden_ superstructures. there is a necessity growing out of the cost, the law requiring the road to be finished with $ , . from the most advantageous offers received, the bridge over wills creek will not cost less than $ , , constructed of stone, and if built of wood, planed, and painted with three coats of white lead, roofed with shingles, will cost not to exceed $ , . there are two other bridges on the same new route to be constructed, the ratio of expense of which will not materially vary. * * * respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. cumberland, july , . _sir_: i have just finished comparing the numerous offers for work to be done on the miles of road immediately west of this place. there is great competition among very excellent and responsible men of the country, as well as from the railroad and canal below us. the offers for the bridge render its construction with stone next to impracticable, under the law, to finish the road with $ , . they are as follows: $ , , $ , , $ , , $ , , $ , . to construct the abutments i have offers at $ . cents per perch; that would, with the superstructure of wood, make the whole cost not to exceed $ , to $ , . we cannot with propriety expend so large a sum for a stone bridge, with such limited means. i strongly recommend a wooden superstructure if compatible with existing laws under which we act, and beg to be advised as requested in my letter of yesterday. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. engineer department. washington, july , . _sir_: it has just been determined by the war department that the substitution of wood for stone, in the superstructures of the bridges on the new piece of road around wills hill would be deemed by the state of maryland a substantial compliance with the requirements of her law giving assent to the change from the old to the present location of that part of the road. you will, therefore, build the abutments of those bridges in a good and durable manner, of the best stone to be had in your immediate neighborhood, and make the superstructure of wood. these last, when completed, must be well covered, and painted in the best manner. this is communicated in answer to your two letters of the d and th instant, on the subject, which are at hand. i am, &c., c. gratiot. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers. cumberland, md. copy of instructions sent by the superintendent of the cumberland road, east of the ohio, to each of his assistants on the line of the road. wheeling, may , . _sir_: in conducting the operations for repairing the section of the road under your supervision, during the present season, two very important alterations will be made in the system of last year. the first is to retain, in all cases, the old bed or pavement, breaking down with sledges the prominent or projecting pieces into the ruts and holes, and smoothing the grade with quarry chips, or stone broken on the face of the road with sledge-hammers, slightly covering the bed so prepared with the earth from the ditches, observing to put no more earth than is barely sufficient to prevent the metal coming in contact with the large stone of the bed. where there is no stone in the old bed, restore the grade with the best and hardest material to be found in the vicinity, making it a point to have stone to fill the large holes. this formation of the bed for the metal on top of the old bed will enable large and sufficient ditches to be formed for carrying off the water. the most particular attention must be given to these ditches, as upon them depends the preservation of the road. all the earth taken from the ditches, side roads, and slopes, not required to make good the grade and side roads, must be thrown down the hill side, and on no account whatever upon the slope of a side hill cutting, from whence it soon washes back into the ditches. the minimum size of the ditches should not be less than three feet wide on top, one foot deep, and one foot wide in the bottom; the whole depth to be below the bed of the road. rock and peculiar side slopes can alone prevent this being practiced. the side slopes must be cut to a slope of , with berms, as a minimum; and as low as wherever it is practicable. wherever earth is required for a filling to make good the side roads, require that it be taken from some near side slope or other point that will improve such part of the road. the minimum side road is to be five feet; wherever the natural ground will permit, cause it to be increased to admit of summer roads, placing the ditches outside of such increased side road. the second alteration is, to have the whole work done by contract, instead of job work and day labor, as was practiced last year. to effect this, the greatest precaution is necessary to specify what work has to be done on each chain of four rods of the road, the particular grade for such portion, the depth and size of the ditches, the side roads and slopes, and from whence the required earth is to be taken to restore the grade, and where the surplus earth is to be taken from the ditches, drains, side slopes, &c. in the delivery of stone for the metal, the contract must provide that the stone be delivered and broken on the side roads in rectangular piles or strings of such dimensions as you require on the several parts of the road, and the measurement made of the cubic contents of the stone thus prepared; from which measurement you will ascertain the number of perches, by previously having a mass, containing five perches of stone, as it comes from the quarry, as compactly piled as can be without the use of a hammer, taking large and small indiscriminately. have this mass broken to the size of four ounces; ascertain the cubic contents of the bulk it shall produce, the fifth part of which you will take as a perch, and the unit of measurement for paying for the number of perches to be delivered. the metal is to be thrown on the road at such favorable periods as you shall designate, after it has been measured, and not until the contractor has prepared the required quantity for half a mile at a time. you will require the contractor to commence the grade at one end of the piece he is to repair, and continue regularly through, not permitting him to seek the parts requiring least work to execute first; and when delivering stone, to commence the delivery at a point giving a mean distance for hauling from the quarry; a mean rate of payment is then equitable, otherwise it would not be. the work on your section may be divided into two distinct classes: the one, where nothing has as yet been done; and the other, the part graded and stone prepared for the metal during the past season. on the first class, you will make contracts to grade, deliver, and put on three perches of limestone where the old bed remains firm, and four perches where the old bed has disappeared, requiring the grade to be finished by the th of october; and if the metal is all prepared by that date, to be put on by the st of november, the contractor continuing to rake the road, change the travel, and preserve the whole work in order, until the succeeding st of april. should the contractor, however, not be able to prepare the metal to put it on the road by the st of november, then he is to preserve the grade of the road in order until the first favorable state of the weather after the th of march ensuing, when he is to put on the metal, raking and smoothing the surface for twenty days after the whole metal shall have been put on the road. you will observe that the contract is to call for preserving the road in either case during the winter; in one case, by adding metal, raking, &c., and in the other, by breaking with a sledge stone to fill the ruts, covering such stone in the spring lightly before putting on the metal. the second class of work is the unfinished part of last year's operations, upon which there will be time to put three and a half additional perches per rod on such parts as were covered last year, and four perches per rod on such as had none, requiring that it be put on by the st of november, and be preserved, raked, &c., until the succeeding st of april, during the winter filling ruts made by travel with additional metal, to be prepared and ready at convenient points on the road. for the culverts you will make a contract with one person for all that may be necessary on half your section, and with a second person for the other half, the work to be paid by the perch of twenty-five cubic feet, measured by the plan and dimensions you shall designate for each locality, and according to which plan the work must be constructed. for this work you will require the stone to be of good proportions, with parallel beds and faces, and not smaller than two cubic feet in each piece, in no case ever permitting a stone to be placed "on edge," a very common practice, destructive of good masonry. the covering stone to be of such additional dimensions as you shall judge necessary for each locality. the bottoms of the culverts to be paved or flagged with stone, and such an apron constructed at each end as to guard against the ends being undermined by the passage of the water. the repairs of the masonry of the bridges and walls on wheeling hill it is very desirable to effect by contract, if practicable. on wheeling hill the object may be effected by requiring the masonry to conform with that already executed, particularly in regard to the size and quality of the stone, paying for it by the perch measured in the wall when finished, reserving the one-fifth of the value from monthly payments as security for the faithful execution of the whole work. the repairs of the bridge may be executed in like manner, specifying the masonry of the bridge now building over wheeling creek as the standard, excepting stones placed on edge. it is desirable to postpone the repair of all masonry to the latest date, excepting only such parts as are necessary to perfect the grade; you will make your contracts accordingly. the masonry of the culverts and some of the bridges must be finished in time, including the filling to make good the roadway, to permit the contractor for grading to comply with his agreement. the usual one-fifth of the value of work done being retained until the expiration of the time for completing the whole work, when this sum is to be applied either to carry into effect the remaining provisions of the agreement, as stipulated to be executed, or paid to the contractor, if the work has been faithfully executed according to the tenor of the agreement. you will make all your payments by checks drawn on the bank through which i shall make your remittances, taking duplicate receipts for moneys thus paid, attached to a bill giving the quantity rate, cost, and date of the receipt of the article clearly and distinctly expressed. your check book must be added up, and the balance in bank ascertained every saturday evening, which balance must be reported in the weekly reports to be forwarded to me, as required last season. the balance of your account, as appears by your ledger account with me, must also form an item in the weekly report. the assistant engineer will make an inspection of these books, and report to me whenever he comes on your section of the road. the receipted vouchers you will forward to the office at brownsville, of all payments made during the week at the end of such week, reserving the duplicate until called for by myself or the assistant engineer. so soon as you are apprised by me of funds being available you will immediately advertise by hand bills, and through the public prints, that contracts will be made for repairing the section of road under your supervision, and that proposals for executing the work will be received for twenty days from the date of your advertisement, for repairing each mile of the road according to stipulations and particular information, to be had on enquiring of you on or after such date as you are enabled to collect it. let the advertisements express that the repairs consist principally in grading the road over the old bed, cleaning out the ditches and drains, restoring the side roads to their width of five feet and covering the road thus prepared with limestone broken to four ounce pieces, in such quantities as shall be specified for each rod, varying from two to four perches per rod, and keeping the whole in order until the first of april next, by which date the contracts are to be completed. to ascertain the work to be done on the different mile sections, and on the particular parts of each mile, you will, the instant funds are available, make a measurement of the road, noting the work to be done on each chain (as specified in the previous parts of this communication) in the most minute detail. this statement, reduced as much as practicible to a tabular form, you will cause to be printed, as the information to be given to persons upon which to make their proposals, and it will be embodied in or attached to the articles of agreement as a specification of the work to be done. as you will find it convenient to have the prepared metal piled in uniform masses, admitting of the application of a gauge to ascertain whether or not the required quantity is in the pile, you will cause such gauges to be made with slopes of degrees and in no instance permit a measurement of stone to be made without having previously verified the dimensions of the gauge. the necessity for this you will perceive by reflecting that the end of the gauge may be cut off and the angles altered to make a material difference in the quantity, without being perceptible to the eye. the following are some of the frauds heretofore practiced, and now enumerated that you may look cautiously to their not being practiced upon your section of the road: i st. diminishing the size and altering the angle of the gauge. d. loosening the pile of metal just before the measurement, to increase its bulk. d. concealing or covering up in the piles of metal large masses of stone or other matter. th. breaking stone of a softer or otherwise inferior quality than the sample agreed upon. th. breaking the metal to a larger size than that agreed upon. th. removing the prepared metal from one point to another after it has been measured. th. taking metal from the face of the road, of the first or second stratum, to make it appear the desired quantity has been broken to fill the gauge. th. on parts of the road where limestone has already been delivered, wagoners, with a partial load, passing from the quarries to the point of delivery, have been detected in stealing a piece from several piles, thus making a full load from what has already been paid for. very many other frauds have been detected upon receiving and paying for stone perches before breaking. no corrective offers for the many that may be practiced under this system. it is, therefore, in no case, to be adopted. always measuring the stone after it is broken, and reserving one-fifth of its value until the whole agreement has been fully and faithfully complied with, are the best securities against fraudulent practices. immediately after concluding the contracts on your section for the season, you will forward me a statement of the funds required to carry them into effect, and the times such funds will probably be required. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. philadelphia, december , . _sir:_ the enclosed letter of the th may was prepared as the instructions for lieutenant vance, conducting the operations on the seventh division of the road, and a copy thereof was forwarded to the officer of each division, with directions to conform thereto on their respective sections, suiting the phraseology to their divisions. on the th june, on being made acquainted with the particulars of the act of congress making the appropriation for the year's service, the following instructions were communicated to the officers of the several divisions, slightly changed to suit each particular division: "_sir:_ funds having been made available for continuing the repairs of the cumberland road, east of the ohio, you will cause the preparatory measures to be taken immediately, and notice given as required by my letter of the th of may, a copy of which has been forwarded to you from brownsville. "the act of congress grants a specific sum for finishing the repairs of the road; you will, therefore, in your arrangements, provide for the stone bridges on the new road, and three and a half perches of stone to the rod on the surface of the road as metal; the latter to be furnished by the st of december, and kept raked and additional metal put on until the th day of february ensuing; the masonry of the bridges to be finished by the th of october, with proposals of the terms for finishing the same work by the th day of june, . "the form of a contract has also been forwarded to you from brownsville, which, with the letter of instructions accompanying it, connected with the tenor of this communication, you will make your guide in the management of the section of road confided to your supervision. "you will observe the form of the contract provides for work that may not occur in your division. you will, in preparing the form to be printed, be cautious to suit the same to your particular division, as to distance, &c., &c. mile sections are desirable for subdividing the road, and as the portion to be given under contract to an individual: on your division other subdivisions will be found more convenient, and your attention must, in consequence, be given to make the phraseology of the instrument conform with the facts of the case. "hereafter, you will commence and continue your weekly reports to me. apprise me of the date you limit the reception of proposals, that i may be with you at the time. "rich'd delafield, captain of engineers." the instructions to the officer of the third division required him to provide for the work to be done on his division not exceeding three and a half perches of stone to a rod on the surface of the road as metal, reducing the quantity to two or one perch, as might be requisite to keep the whole in repair until finally completed. for a copy of the form of contract forwarded to the officers of the several divisions, see the contracts on file in your office, for the _fourth_ division of the road. i enclose the statement called for by the letter of your department of the th instant. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. report and estimate for the cumberland road east of the ohio, under a resolution of the senate of the united states, calling for the condition of the masonry, the thickness of metal on various parts, &c., &c., december, . the plan of repair adopted and continued for this road to july, , was that of macadam, with nine inches of metal in three strata. the provisions of the act of congress of the last session made a change in the plan of operation necessary. the sum of $ , was appropriated to finish the repairs of the road from cumberland to wheeling, a distance of one hundred and thirty-two miles, of which fifty-four miles had not been commenced. to conform with the provisions of the law, it became necessary to confine the expenditure of this sum to the most indispensable parts of the system, and adopt a less expensive and less permanent repair; abandoning the plan of finishing the mountain division with limestone throughout, and to a width of twenty feet; confining the metal on the more expensive parts of these divisions to a width of from twelve to fifteen feet, instead of twenty; abandoning further repairs to the masonry of the parapets of the bridges; depositing the stone that had been prepared for this purpose on the side roads, and leaving the side walls on wheeling hill in their unfinished state; limiting the stratum of metal to be put on this season to three perches and a half, on an average, per rod, on the whole line of the road; transporting the stone that had previously been collected for an additional thickness of metal to parts that had not been supplied with any; substituting wooden bridges for stone over wills creek and braddock's run, and abandoning altogether the construction of any bridge over dunlap's creek. the repairs thus modified are fast drawing to a close, when the road will present parts covered with thicknesses of metal varying from three to nine inches, as follows: first division, in maryland, sixteen miles, one hundred and sixty rods, including new location, is covered with three inches of metal. second division, in maryland, sixteen miles, one hundred and ninety-four rods, is covered with six inches of metal. third division, in pennsylvania, two hundred rods, is covered with four inches and a half of metal. third division, in pennsylvania, twenty-five miles, one hundred rods, to a width of from twelve to fifteen feet, is covered with nine inches of metal. fourth division, in pennsylvania, one mile, seven rods, is covered with three inches of metal. fourth division, in pennsylvania, fourteen miles, one hundred and twenty-three rods, to a width of from twelve to fifteen feet, is covered with six inches of metal. fifth division, in pennsylvania, eighteen miles, nine rods, is covered with three inches of metal. sixth division, in pennsylvania, twenty-one miles, two hundred and seventy-three rods, is covered with three inches of metal. seventh division, in virginia, five miles, is covered with three inches of metal. seventh division, in virginia, nine miles, two hundred and sixteen rods, is covered with six inches of metal. the number of inches of metal put on that part which has been located anew, the first six miles of the first division, being three inches, and the number of inches of metal put upon that part of the road which lies between the monongahela and the ohio, the fifth, sixth, and seventh divisions, being three inches of metal on forty-four miles and two hundred and eighty-two rods, and six inches of metal on nine miles and two hundred and sixteen rods. to make this a permanent and substantial road, such that the heavy transportation wagons shall not force their wheels through the metal into the bed, not less than the original contemplated thickness of three strata of three inches each, or the same number of strata of three perches and a half of stone each, appears sufficient. that three inches of metal will not suffice to bear up the travel passing over this road, is proved by the experience of the last two years. nor will six inches answer the purpose on all parts of the road, during a long or continued wet spell of weather, when, from absorption alone, the solidity and contiguity of the metal has become weakened and lessened. on the crests of the hills it will be solid, with a thickness of six inches, when, in the valley and grades under one degree, the evidence of its insufficiency are apparent. nothing less than the three strata of three inches each has been found sufficient; the last stratum being unequally applied according to the firmness and dryness, and the slope or grade of the bed. such was judged necessary for a macadam road from cumberland to wheeling, and the results tend to confirm the necessity of a thickness of nine inches on an average, to secure the object contemplated by the instructions of the chief engineer. the condition of the masonry on the whole line of the road is in an unfinished state, so far as regards many of the parts upon which repairs have been commenced; and where nothing had been done toward repairing the bridges, many of their side-walls or parapets are in a dilapidated state, or torn down to the level of the roadway. in repairing the road under the last act of congress, no more masonry was undertaken than the construction of culverts to drain the road, and repairing such parts as were necessary to perfect the roadway twenty feet in width; all other parts were left in the unfinished and decayed state in which they were when the appropriation of the year caused an abandonment of further repairs to this part of the work. to carry into effect the repairs originally contemplated, and to secure the uniform strength throughout the whole line of the road equivalent to nine inches of metal, the following sums will be necessary, after applying the means now on hand, and which are pledged for the work commenced and contracted for in july last. by reference to the annexed statement, it will be perceived the price per perch for delivered stone prepared as metal on the road varies from ninety-three cents to $ . , and is stated for each section throughout the whole line of the road. three quarries supply upward of twenty miles of the road, there being none nearer or accessible. quarries of the best limestone are numerous and not remote from the road between wheeling and the eastern base of laurel hill; from thence to frostburg they are few in number, situated in deep ravines, and remote from the road; from frostburg to cumberland they are comparatively numerous and of easy access. it will be seen that the price agrees with the difficulty of procuring the stone, and in the ratio above stated, from ninety-three cents to $ . per perch. chapter xii. _gen. lewis cass, secretary of war, transmits a report--more about the wooden bridges for the new location near cumberland--the war department thinks they will do--john hoye stoutly objects--the governor of maryland takes a hand against wooden bridges--john hoye to the front again--the pennsylvania commissioners make another demand that the road be put in repair._ war department, january , . _sir_: herewith i have the honor to transmit a report from the chief engineer, which furnishes the information called for by the resolution of the house of representatives of the th ultimo, respecting the cumberland road east of the ohio. very respectfully, your most obedient servant, lew. cass. hon. john bell, speaker of the house of representatives. * * * * * engineer department, washington, january , . _sir_: i have the honor to hand you the information called for by the house of representatives on the th ultimo, relating to the cumberland road east of the ohio, and remain, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, c. gratiot, chief engineer. the hon. lewis cass, secretary of war. * * * * * engineer department, washington, july , . _sir_: in making the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio river, it was deemed expedient, in the fall of , to change that part of the old location which is immediately west of cumberland, in the state of maryland, for the purpose of turning wills hill. by this an abrupt rise of several hundred feet would be avoided. a survey, preparatory to this change, was made, and the result submitted to congress, in the session of -' ; the proposed change was authorized, and the location, as exhibited on the drawing of the survey, adopted. this change of location involved the construction of a bridge over the mill-race in the town of cumberland, and another over wills creek, as well as other bridges of minor importance, with several culverts. the legislature of the state of maryland passed an act giving assent to the change in question, with the proviso, however, "that the part of the road embraced in this change should be made of the best material, upon the macadam plan, and that a good, substantial stone bridge should be made over the mill-race, in the town of cumberland, and over wills creek at the place of crossing, and that substantial stone bridges and culverts should be made wherever the same may respectively be necessary along the line of said road." in the estimates which were prepared, and submitted at the commencement of the last session of congress for its action, the sum proposed for the completion of the repairs of the entire road from cumberland to the ohio river, contemplated the erection of the bridges on the new location, in conformity to the requirements of the law of maryland just referred to. but, as is known to you, more than one-half of this sum was stricken from the bill, which embodied the whole amount of the estimate. the act appropriating the remainder requires that the whole of the repairs shall be completed for this diminished sum. under these circumstances, it becomes necessary to change the plan upon which it was proposed to execute the work, and the object of this communication is to ascertain the extent to which the department may be allowed to carry this change on the new part of the road embraced by the law of maryland. if the bridges alluded to be built of stone, the expense will be much greater than the sum allotted to that section would bear: whereas, if the abutments be built of stone, and the superstructure of wood, the same ends would be attained as would result from bridges built entirely of stone, but the letter of the maryland law would be departed from. good wooden superstructures, well covered and painted, would last, with a little care, at least forty years, and perhaps longer. to abandon this new location, and return to the old road, would be to sacrifice a large amount of money already expended on the former, which is now in a state of forwardness, and would soon be finished. besides, a bridge must, in any event, be constructed over wills creek, and every consideration of convenient and easy traveling conspires to render its location on the new line of the road desirable. the officer charged with the repairs of the road is now engaged in giving out the work to contract, and making other arrangements necessary to a speedy application of the funds. it is, therefore, very desirable that an early decision may be had of this question, and it is accordingly respectfully requested. i have the honor to be, &c., c. gratiot, brig. gen. hon. secretary of war. * * * * * i approve of the course recommended by general gratiot with regard to the bridges--the abutments to be of stone, and the superstructure of wood--believing that such a course would be deemed by maryland a substantial compliance with the law, under the circumstances of the case. john forsyth, act. sec'y of war. july , . * * * * * cumberland, august , . _sir_: i was this day informed that the bridge across wills creek, on the new location of the cumberland road up braddock's run, is to be built of wood. by the act of the legislature of maryland, authorizing the president to change the location of the road, it is enacted that the road may be located up wills creek through the narrows, provided the bridges were all built of stone. i am decidedly of the opinion that, by the provisions of that law, the president had no right to change the location of the road unless he strictly complied with every provision and requisition of said law. you will, on examination of the act of maryland, passed at december session, , chapter , see that the bridges are to be all built of stone. i sincerely hope you will, on examining the law, and reflecting on the subject, direct the bridges to be built in strict compliance with the law authorizing the change in location; it would, in all probability, save money and time. i am sure the state will not receive the road without the stone bridges. i shall be gratified to hear from you on this subject by return mail. your most obedient, john hoye. general c. gratiot. * * * * * engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: your communication in behalf of the citizens of cumberland, remonstrating against the erection of bridges of wooden superstructures over wills creek, &c., addressed to me under date of th instant, is received. the measure to which the citizens of cumberland object, grows, of necessity, out of existing circumstances; and the bridges will have to be built in the manner and of the materials named in the instruction of the department to the superintendent of the road, or the new location to turn wills hill must be abandoned. the people of cumberland are doubtless aware that estimates were submitted to congress last fall for funds sufficient to put up the structures in conformity with the law of maryland, to which you refer; and it is hoped that they are also aware that these funds were reduced more than one-half in amount, and that the act appropriating the residue imposes the task of completing all the repairs on the whole road east of the ohio, with the sum rendered available by it. you will perceive, sir, that there was no other course left to the department than to change the plan and system of repairs. the bridges which it is proposed to construct will, with care, last at least forty years. very respectfully, &c., c. gratiot, brig. gen. and chief engineer. b. s. pigman, esq., cumberland, md. * * * * * executive department, annapolis, september , . _sir_: by an act of the general assembly, passed at december session, , (of which, at your request, an authenticated copy was transmitted to you on the th day of march, ), the consent of this state was given to a change of the location of a part of the cumberland or national road within our limits, upon certain conditions; among which, "that a good and substantial stone bridge shall be made over the mill-race in the town of cumberland, and over wills creek at the place of crossing, and that substantial stone bridges or culverts shall be made wherever the same may respectively be necessary along the line of said road." by the same act, john hoye and meshach frost, esqrs., and the superintendent for the time being of the said road, appointed by the president of the united states, were appointed commissioners "to report the said national road, when finished and repaired within the limits of this state, to the governor and council." a communication has been received from john hoye, esq., in which he states that "the war department has now directed and contracted to have all the bridges on said new location built of wood." i beg leave to call your attention to this subject, in the fullest confidence that there has been some mistake or misapprehension on the part of some of the agents or persons employed upon the work in question, and that you will cause the terms and conditions upon which the consent of the state was given to the proposed improvements to be respected and carried into effect. with great respect, i have the honor to be, your obedient servant, james thomas. hon. lewis cass, secretary of war. * * * * * war department, washington, september , . _sir_: i have had the honor to receive your letter of the th instant, respecting the construction of the bridge on the national road near cumberland, and for your information i beg leave to enclose the accompanying report from the engineer department, which explains the course which has been taken, and the necessity of it. i trust that you will find that the act of the state of maryland has been substantially complied with, and certainly so far as the means within this department permitted. very respectfully, &c. lew. cass. his excellency james thomas, governor of maryland, annapolis. * * * * * engineer department, washington, september , . _sir_: in answer to your inquiries of this morning respecting certain bridges on the cumberland road, in the state of maryland, i have the honor to submit the following statement: in applying the money appropriated by congress at the session of and ' , for the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio river, it was deemed highly important to change the location of that part of the road immediately west of cumberland to turn wills mountain, as, by that means, a rise of several hundred feet, within a few miles, would be avoided. a survey was accordingly made, and submitted to congress, and the change was approved. the state of maryland assented, provided the part of the road embraced in the change should be "made of the best materials, upon the macadam plan, and that a good and substantial stone bridge should be made on the mill-race, in the town of cumberland, and over wills creek at the place of crossing, and that substantial stone bridges and culverts should be made wherever the same may respectively be necessary along the line of said road." estimates were prepared last fall for the entire completion of the repairs of the road from cumberland to the ohio. these estimates, which contemplated the construction and erection of bridges, in strict conformity with the law of maryland giving her consent to the change of location, were submitted to congress at the commencement of its recent session, and amounted to six hundred and fifty-two thousand one hundred dollars. full and ample explanations accompanied these estimates, so there could have been no misunderstanding respecting them. a bill of appropriation was introduced, embracing their entire amount. this amount, after much discussion, was reduced to less than one-half, to-wit: $ , , and the bill became a law, containing a section which requires that as soon as the sum of $ , , or as much thereof as is necessary, shall be expended on the road agreeably to the provisions of this act, the same shall be surrendered to the states, respectively, through which the road passes; "and the united states shall not thereafter be subject to any expense for repairing said road." under these circumstances, it was plain that the system of repairs upon which the estimates were predicated could not be executed, and a change became necessary. the stone bridges referred to in the law of maryland constituted a heavy item in the estimates, and it was entirely out of the question to build them without absorbing more of the appropriation than the absolute requirements of other sections of the road would admit. there being no obligation to finish the new location further than that imposed by the very great advantage resulting from its adoption, the question arose whether it would be best to abandon it, and return to the old road or not. after adopting every expedient, consistent with a faithful execution of the law, to diminish the expenses on other portions of the road, it was found that a sufficient sum would be left to construct this new portion of the best material, on the macadam plan, and to build the abutments and piers of all the bridges on it of good stone, and in the best manner, provided the superstructures were made of wood. this was the best that could be done; and when it was considered that these superstructures, being made of the best materials, would, when covered and well painted, last, with a little care, from thirty to forty years, it was recommended to the acting secretary of war, during your absence, to adopt them in preference to surrendering all the benefits that will result from the new road. the acting secretary, considering that the approval of the measure would, under this state of things, be a substantial compliance with the law of maryland, directed instructions to that effect to be issued to the superintendent of the road, which was accordingly done. with great respect, &c., by order: wm. h. c. bartlett, lieut. and assist. to chief engineer. the hon. secretary of war. * * * * * cumberland, december , . _sir_: as one of the commissioners appointed by the legislature of maryland to report to the governor and council of said state when that part of the national road within the limits of this state shall have been repaired agreeably to the provisions of the law of the state agreeing to receive that part of the road lying within the limits of this state; and a further act of the legislature of maryland, authorizing the president of the united states to change the location of a part of said road within the limits of maryland, the change of location was authorized to be made on certain and positive conditions that the bridges over wills creek and braddock's run should all be permanent stone bridges; and the road to be constructed with the best materials, on the macadam plan (see the law of maryland, passed december session, , chapter ). the plan of the bridges has been changed by the superintendent to wooden bridges, in direct violation of the engagements with this state. the president had no right to change the location of the road, unless the law of this state authorizing the change was fully complied with. the "metal" on the new location is not more than three and a half inches, and every wagon that passes over it, when the road is wet, cuts entirely through the stone, and turns up the clay. i am advised that there is a part of the road, fourteen miles west of cumberland, which has had but three and a half inches of metal put on it over the original pavement. i am gratified to have it in my power to state that, from observation, and the best information i have been able to collect, the last appropriation for the road has been most judiciously expended. i believe that it is the first that has been well laid out. i must say that we cannot report in favor of this state receiving the road until the permanent stone bridges are erected, and the road in that state of repair contemplated by the law. i beg leave to refer you to my letter to general c. gratiot, dated in august last, which, with my communication to his excellency james thomas, governor of maryland, a copy of which, i presume, he communicated to your department during the last summer, you will please to consider a part of this communication. i should have addressed you at an earlier period, but was prevented by severe indisposition. i remain, with respect, your most obedient, john hoye. hon. lewis cass, secretary of war, washington city. * * * * * november , . _sir_: the undersigned commissioners, appointed by the governor of pennsylvania to erect gates and superintend the collection of tolls on the cumberland road "after it shall be put in a good state of repair by the united states," respectfully represent: that, from a full and careful examination of the subject, they are satisfied that they are not authorized, by the terms of the law under which they are appointed, to accept the road from the united states, or erect gates for the collection of tolls, until provision is made by congress for completing the repairs on the plan already adopted by the agents of the united states, and sanctioned by several appropriations to carry it into effect. without this it is evident that a considerable portion of the road, which has received but a single stratum of stone, will be left in a condition so weak and imperfect as soon to become again totally impassable for a considerable portion of the year. the law of pennsylvania expressly requires that, before the road is accepted by the commissioners, it must be put in good and complete repair by the united states. to this act and all its provisions, congress, on the d of july, , gave its assent; an appropriation was made, and a plan of repair was accordingly adopted by the agents of the government, and two subsequent appropriations made by congress to carry this plan and compact into effect. the complete repair of the road is made by the compact a condition precedent to be performed by the united states. it is not performed, as appears by the report of the agents of the united states, and, until it is, the commissioners appointed by the state cannot be justified in accepting the road or exacting tolls. besides, it is evident that the tolls established, even if raised to the maximum, will be totally inadequate to the preservation and repair of the road, unless first put in a state of complete and substantial repair. this, a statement of a single fact will fully demonstrate. it appears by a report lately received from the superintendent of that part of the road which lies between hagerstown and cumberland, that the tolls there collected amount to $ per mile per annum; of this $ is required to pay gate keepers and superintendents, leaving $ for repairs. the tolls on that part of the road are more than three times as high as those proposed on this, so that the amount of tolls applicable to the repair of this road will not exceed $ per mile per annum, a sum barely sufficient to preserve the road after it is put in the best possible state of repair. the undersigned do not presume to prescribe a plan of repair; they are satisfied with that adopted and partly executed by the agents of the united states; and they now distinctly declare and pledge themselves, that so soon as congress shall appropriate the sum required by the secretary of war to complete the repair of the road on the plan adopted in his report at the last session, we will, with all possible despatch, proceed to erect the gates, and relieve the united states from all further charge or expense on account of said road, after the appropriation so made shall be expended. very respectfully, your most obedient servants, thomas endsley. daniel downer. william f. coplan. stephen hill. benjamin anderson. hon. lewis cass, secretary of war. note.--the bridges near wills creek were in the end built of stone. [illustration: iron bridge.] chapter xiii. _the iron bridge over dunlap's creek at brownsville--interesting facts relating to its projection and construction--the first step--several respectable gentlemen of brownsville call the attention of the government's agent to the subject._ national road, - / miles from cumberland, august , . _sir_: yesterday, as i passed through brownsville, i was waited on by several of the most respectable gentlemen of that place, who were anxious to have me examine the bridge over dunlap's creek, between brownsville and bridgeport, to see its condition, and to give my opinion as to its renewal. accordingly, i observed that i thought the bridge would not stand a twelve-month, and that i did not feel myself authorized to renew it, as the bridge had never been made by the government, but recommended that they write to the department for a decision; and, agreeably to their request, observed that i would likewise report the actual condition of the bridge. consequently, i enclose to the department a leaf from my note book, giving a rough sketch of the bridge, and pointing out its defects. the reason why this bridge was not originally constructed by the government, as well as a bridge over the monongahela river, are better known to the department than i am able to conjecture. i have to observe that a company is now constructing a substantial bridge over the monongahela river, across from bridgeport, thereby making the bridge over dunlap's creek an important link in the road; and that a bridge, to ensure the purpose of a common highway, would not be suitable for the only connecting point between two important and increasing towns. i have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, j. k. f. mansfield, lieutenant corps of engineers. gen. c. gratiot, chief engineer. the subject to be examined. engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: your letter of the th inst., informing the department that you had, at the request of the citizens of brownsville, made an examination of the bridge over dunlap's creek, with a view to an opinion on the question of its removal, and transmitting a rough sketch of the bridge as it at present exists, is received. in consequence of the views presented in your letter, it will be necessary to make a thorough examination of this bridge to ascertain whether it is sufficiently substantial to answer all the purposes of the road, by putting proper repairs upon it, or whether it will be necessary to remove it entirely, and to build a new one. you will accordingly make this examination, and with your report on the subject you will transmit such drawings and explanatory notes as may be necessary to present a full and clear view of the repairs, or new bridge, as the case may be, accompanied by the proper estimates for their execution. you will also ascertain, by the best oral testimony that can be obtained in the vicinity of the bridge, whether it is on the line of the road as originally located, and make known the fact in your report. the secretary of war has been written to on the subject, and, as soon as his decision is known at the department, you will be instructed accordingly. i am, &c., &c., c. gratiot. lieut. j. k. p. mansfield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. an examination made, and an adverse decision rendered. uniontown, pa., august , . _sir_: i have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the letter of the department on the subject of the bridge over dunlap's creek, at brownsville, and to state that i have completed the examination of the road to the virginia line, and have already given out notices for contracts, two of which are enclosed for the perusal of the department. i am, &c., j. k. f. mansfield, lieutenant corps of engineers. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. * * * * * engineer department, washington, october , . _sir_: you were informed by letter from the department, under date of th august last, that the secretary of war had been written to on the subject of building a new bridge over dunlap's creek in the place of that which is at present in the line of the cumberland road, between brownsville and bridgeport, and which was referred to in your communication to the chief engineer of the th of august last. i now have to inform you that the secretary of war has decided that the bridge in question cannot be built at the expense of the government, under the law making appropriation for the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio river. very respectfully, &c., by order: wm. h. c. bartlett, lieut. of engineers, and assistant to chief engineer. lieut. j. k. f. mansfield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa., or capt. delafield. the decision reversed, and the bridge to be built. engineer department, washington, may , . _sir_: the secretary of war has determined that a new bridge shall be built across the mouth of dunlap's creek, in the line of the cumberland road; you will, therefore, be pleased to submit a plan, and estimate, with as little delay as practicable, with the view to the erection of this bridge during the present year. i am, sir, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, uniontown, pa. a serious question as to location arises--a request that barriers be used on the road. extract from a letter dated brownsville, may , . _sir_: to establish the location of dunlap's creek bridge, i desire the field notes of the commissioners, if on file in your office, and mr. shriver's notes of location. from these, i am inclined to believe it will appear that the most favorable route for the bridge was pointed out by the commissioners, and the route over the bridge now used, no part of the national road, but a county bridge, that we have no right to interfere with. may i request such information as is within your reach on this subject? the road may be called a very excellent turnpike between this and frostburg, at the present time; so smooth that already the stage proprietors have commenced the use of a "rough lock," that materially injures the surface. some defects are clearly observable, growing out of the constant travel and wear of the center of the road from the prohibition to use barriers to change the travel. without being permitted to use barriers of logs, stumps and stones, it is out of our power ever to make a perfect macadamized road, and far from being as good as the expenditure should produce. such a system has been resorted to on every road i have seen made, and every officer associated with me concurs in the opinion that we cannot succeed without using them. permit me to ask a reconsideration of the order prohibiting their use. respectfully, your obedient servant, rich'd delafield, captain of engineers. brig. gen. charles gratiot, chief engineer. the use of barriers permitted--a road beginning at uniontown, and ending at washington. engineer department, washington, may , . _sir_: your communication, dated the th instant, was duly received. in conformity with your request, a detail of two officers, as your assistants on the cumberland road, has been applied for. herewith is transmitted a book containing, as stated, "the notes of a location of the united states western road, beginning at uniontown, and ending at the turnpike near washington," which is the only document among the papers transferred from the treasury department to this office, relating to the cumberland road, embraced in the notes, required to be forwarded to you. (on the subject of regulating the travel so as to preserve the surface of the road from injury mentioned in your letter, you will again resort to the use of barriers, wood only, to be used for the purpose, and placed only on one side of the road at the same time, provided the object can thus be accomplished, and so elevated as to be very conspicuous, that the travel by night may not be endangered by the barriers.) i am, &c., c. gratiot, brig. general. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, brownsville, pa. a big appropriation, but the bridge abandoned. engineer department, washington, june , . _sir_: three hundred thousand dollars have just been appropriated for the repairs of the cumberland road east of the ohio. you will perceive by the law, a printed copy of which is herewith enclosed, that the intention is that this sum shall complete the repairs. you will, therefore, take your measures accordingly, and put the road in as good condition as this sum will admit of. the new section to turn wills hill will be completed on the plan already commenced, but the plan of operations on the other sections must be modified to suit the requirements of the law. the iron bridge over dunlap's creek will be abandoned. your project, when matured, will be transmitted for the approval of the department. very respectfully, &c., by order: wm. h. c. bartlett. lieut. and assistant to chief engineer. capt. r. delafield, corps of engineers, new castle, del. another and final change--the bridge to be built on the site of the old one. engineer department, washington, august , . _sir_: i have to acknowledge the receipt of your communication, dated st ultimo, in reference to the bridge over dunlap's creek, on the cumberland road, east of the ohio. the subject of rebuilding this bridge was brought to the notice of the secretary of war during the summer of , when he refused to take any action in the matter, on the ground that it was a county bridge, which should be repaired or rebuilt by the county authorities, as the united states, in adopting a system of repairs, had undertaken to repair only that which they had originally constructed. it was thought on the other side, that notwithstanding the united states had not built this bridge, yet, as they had enjoyed the free benefit of it, and as it lay on the tacitly acknowledged line of the road, they were bound, under the act of congress authorizing the repairs of the road to work on every part of it without reference to original constructors or proprietors. in this state of the case, it was submitted to mr. taney, then attorney general, who decided verbally in favor of the latter view, and instructions in conformity thereto were issued to the superintendent of the road, requiring him to cause the bridge to be either repaired or rebuilt. this question having been settled, the next is, whether dunlap's creek can be crossed at any other point than where the county bridge now stands. it is the opinion of the department that it cannot. it would seem there is no evidence on record that any location was ever finally fixed upon by the commissioners, and reported by them to the president, for the part of the road in the immediate vicinity of this creek; but the fact that the road was actually made in its present location, and used ever since its original construction, without any opposition, is strong proof that this route was adopted by the government; at all events, in the absence of all other evidence, the department feels constrained to act upon this. now, the appropriations having been made for the repairs of the road, and not for constructing any part of it, except the new section to turn wills hill, it is not perceived how any part of the funds can be applied to the new location proposed by you. these views having been submitted to the acting secretary of war, he concurs in them. your operations will, therefore, be confined to the old road on which the bridge must be located. very, &c., c. gratiot, capt. richard delafield, corps of engineers, brownsville, pa. chapter xiv. _appropriations by congress at various times for making, repairing, and continuing the road--aggregate of appropriations, $ , , . ._ . act of march , , authorizes the president to appoint a commission of three citizens to lay out a road four rods in width "from cumberland or a point on the northern bank of the river potomac in the state of maryland, between cumberland and the place where the main road leading from gwinn's to winchester, in virginia, crosses the river, * * * to strike the river ohio at the most convenient place between a point on its eastern bank, opposite to the northern boundary of steubenville and the mouth of grave creek, which empties into the said river a little below wheeling, in virginia." provides for obtaining the consent of the states through which the road passes, and appropriates for the expenses, to be paid from the reserve fund under the act of april , $ , . act of february , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president, in making the road between cumberland and brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , . act of march , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president, in making the road between cumberland and brownsville, and authorizes the president to permit deviations from a line established by the commissioners under the original act as may be expedient; _provided_, that no deviation shall be made from the principal points established on said road between cumberland and brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , . act of february , , appropriates balance of a former appropriation not used, but carried to surplus fund , ------------ _carried forward_ $ , _brought forward_ $ , . act of may , , appropriates to be expended under direction of the president, for making the road from cumberland to brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , . act of march , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for making the road from cumberland to the state of ohio, to be paid from fund act of april , , . act of february , , appropriates to be expended under the direction of the president, for making the road between cumberland and brownsville, to be paid from fund act of april , , . act of april , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for making the road from cumberland to the state of ohio, to be paid from the fund act, april , , . act of april , , appropriates to meet claims due and unpaid , demands under existing contracts , from money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated. . act of march , , appropriates for existing claims and contracts , completing road , to be paid from reserved funds, acts admitting ohio, indiana, and illinois. . act of may , , appropriates for laying out the road between wheeling, va., and a point on the left bank of the mississippi river, between st. louis and the mouth of the illinois river, road to be eighty feet wide and on a straight line, and authorizes the president to appoint commissioners. to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated , . act of april , , appropriates for completing contract for road from washington, pa., to wheeling, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated , . act of february , , appropriates for repairs between cumberland and wheeling, and authorizes the president to appoint a superintendent at a compensation of $ . per day. to be paid out of money not otherwise appropriated , ------------- _carried forward_ $ , , _brought forward_ $ , , . act of march , , appropriates for opening and making a road from the town of canton, in the state of ohio, opposite wheeling, to zanesville, and for the completion of the surveys of the road, directed to be made by the act of may , , and orders its extension to the permanent seat of government of missouri, and to pass by the seats of government of ohio, indiana, and illinois, said road to commence at zanesville, ohio; also authorizes the appointment of a superintendent by the president, at a salary of $ , per annum, who shall make all contracts, receive and disburse all moneys, &c.; also authorizes the appointment of one commissioner, who shall have power according to provisions of the act of may , ; $ , of the money appropriated by this act is to be expended in completing the survey mentioned. the whole sum appropriated to be advanced from moneys not otherwise appropriated, and replaced from reserve fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , . act of march , (general appropriation bill), appropriates for balance due superintendent, $ , ; assistant superintendent, $ . ; contractor, $ . , from moneys not otherwise appropriated. . act of march , (military service), appropriates for continuation of the cumberland road during the year , . act of march , (military service), appropriates for construction of road from canton to zanesville, and continuing and completing the survey from zanesville to the seat of government of missouri, to be paid from reserve fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , for balance due superintendent, from moneys not otherwise appropriated . act of march , , appropriates for repairs between cumberland and wheeling, and authorizes the appointment of a superintendent of repairs, at a compensation to be fixed by the president. to be paid from moneys not otherwise appropriated. the language of this act is, "for repairing the public road from cumberland to wheeling" , ------------- _carried forward_ $ , , _brought forward_ $ , , . act of may , , appropriates for the completion of the road to zanesville, ohio, to be paid from fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , . act of march , , appropriates for opening road westwardly, from zanesville, ohio, to be paid from fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , . act of march , , appropriates for opening road eighty feet wide in indiana, east and west from indianapolis, and to appoint two superintendents, at $ each per annum, to be paid from fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , . act of march , , appropriates for repairing bridges, &c., on road east of wheeling , . act of may , (internal improvements), appropriates for opening and grading road west of zanesville, ohio, $ , ; for opening and grading road in indiana, $ , , commencing at indianapolis, and progressing with the work to the eastern and western boundaries of said state; for opening, grading, &c., in illinois, $ , , to be paid from reserve fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri; for claims due and remaining unpaid on account of road east of wheeling, $ , ; to be paid from moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated , to this act is appended the following note: "i approve this bill, and ask a reference to my communication to congress of this date in relation thereto. "andrew jackson."[b] ------------ _carried forward_ $ , , [footnote b: the following is the communication referred to by president jackson: special message. may , . _to the senate of the united states_: _gentlemen_: i have approved and signed the bill entitled "an act making appropriations for examinations and surveys, and also for certain works of internal improvement," but as the phraseology of the section, which appropriates the sum of eight thousand dollars for the road from detroit to chicago, may be construed to authorize the application of the appropriation for the continuance of the road beyond the limits of the territory of michigan, i desire to be understood as having approved this bill with the understanding that the road, authorized by this section, is not to be extended beyond the limits of the said territory. andrew jackson.] _brought forward_ $ , , . act of march , , appropriates $ , for opening, grading, &c., west of zanesville, ohio; $ for repairs during the year ; $ , for work heretofore done east of zanesville; $ . for arrearages for the survey from zanesville to the capital of missouri; and $ , for opening, grading, &c., in the state of indiana, including bridge over white river, near indianapolis, and progressing to eastern and western boundaries; $ , for opening, grading, and bridging in illinois; to be paid from the fund, acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois, and missouri , . act of july , , appropriates $ , for repairs east of the ohio river; $ , for continuing the road west of zanesville; $ , for continuing the road in indiana, including bridge over east and west branch of white river; $ , for continuing road in illinois; to be paid from the fund acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois, , . act of march , , appropriates to carry on certain improvements east of the ohio river, $ , ; in ohio, west of zanesville, $ , ; in indiana, $ , ; in illinois, $ , ; in virginia, $ , , . act of june , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in ohio; $ , for continuing the road in indiana; $ , for continuing the road in illinois, and $ , for the entire completion of repairs east of ohio, to meet provisions of the acts of pennsylvania (april , ), maryland (jan. , ), and virginia (feb. , ), accepting the road surrendered to the states, the united states not thereafter to be subject for any expense for repairs. places engineer officer of army in control of road through indiana and illinois, and in charge of all appropriations. $ , to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, balance from acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois , . act of june , , (general appropriation) for arrearages due contractors , ----------- _carried forward_ $ , , _brought forward_ $ , , . act of march , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in the state of ohio; $ , for continuing road in the state of indiana; to be out of fund acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois, and $ , . for the entire completion of repairs in maryland, pennsylvania and virginia; but before any part of this sum can be expended east of the ohio river, the road shall be surrendered to and accepted by the states through which it passes, and the united states shall not thereafter be subject to any expense in relation to said road. out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated , . act of march , , (repair of roads) appropriates to pay for work heretofore done by isaiah frost on the cumberland road, $ ; to pay late superintendent of road a salary, $ . , . act of july , , appropriates for continuing the road in ohio, $ , ; for continuing road in indiana, $ , , including materials for a bridge over the wabash river; $ , for continuing the road in illinois, provided that the appropriation for illinois shall be limited to grading and bridging, and shall not be construed as pledging congress to future appropriations for the purpose of macadamizing the road, and the moneys herein appropriated for said road in ohio and indiana must be expended in completing the greatest possible continuous portion of said road in said states so that said finished part thereof may be surrendered to the states respectively; to be paid from acts admitting ohio, indiana, illinois and missouri , . act of march , , appropriates $ , for continuing the road in ohio; $ , for continuing the road in indiana; $ , for continuing road in illinois, provided the road in illinois shall not be stoned or graveled, unless it can be done at a cost not greater than the average cost of stoning and graveling the road in ohio and indiana, and provided that in all cases where it can be done the work to be laid off in sections and let to the lowest substantial bidder. sec. of the act provides that sec. of act of july , , shall not be applicable to expenditures hereafter made on the road, and $ , . is appropriated by this act for repairs east of the ohio river; to be paid from the acts admitting ohio, indiana and illinois , ------------- _carried forward_ $ , , _brought forward_ $ , , . act of may , , appropriates for continuing the road in ohio, $ , ; for continuing it in indiana, including bridges, $ , ; for continuing it in illinois, $ , ; for the completion of a bridge over dunlap's creek at brownsville; to be paid from moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated and subject to provisions and conditions of act of march , , . act of june , , (civil and diplomatic) appropriates for arrearages on account of survey to jefferson, mo. , ------------- total $ , , note--the appropriation of $ , , made by act of feb. , , is not included in the above total for the reason that it was a balance from a former appropriation. the act of march , , appropriates so much as is necessary to settle certain claims on contract for building bridges over kaskaskia river and constructing part of cumberland road. [illustration: hon. t. m. t. mckennan.] chapter xv. _speech of hon. t. m. t. mckennan, delivered in congress, june , --the road a monument of national wealth and greatness--a bond of union--business of the road--five thousand wagons unload in wheeling in a single year--facilities afforded by the road for transporting the mails and munitions of war._ this road, mr. speaker (the national road), is a _magnificent one_--magnificent in extent; it traverses seven different states of this union, and its whole distance will cover an extent of near eight hundred miles. magnificent in the difficulties overcome by the wealth of a nation, and in the benefits and advantages and blessings which it diffuses, east and west, far and wide, through the whole country. it is, sir, _a splendid monument of national wealth and national greatness, and of the deep interest felt by the government in the wealth and prosperity and happiness of the people_. it is not, sir, like the stupendous monuments of other countries and of other times, which have been erected merely for the purpose of show and of gratifying the pride of some despotic monarch; but this and all similar national improvements are _works of utility; they tend to cement the bond of union; they bring together the distant parts of this exalted republic; they diffuse wealth and happiness among a free people, and will be a source of never failing prosperity to millions yet unborn_. it is, sir, _a great commercial, military, mail, national work_. to give the house, or those of its members who are unacquainted with the fact, some idea of the immense commercial advantages which the eastern as well as the western country has derived from the construction of this road, let me call their attention to the amount of merchandise transported to the ohio river in a single year after its completion; and here, sir, i avail myself of an estimate made by an honorable member of the other house on another occasion, when he strongly urged the propriety and importance of the extension of the road through the state of ohio. in the year , shortly after the completion of the road, a single house in the town of wheeling unloaded , wagons, averaging about , pounds each, and paid for the carriage of the goods $ , . at that time there were five other commission houses in the same place, and estimating that each of them received two-thirds the amount of goods consigned to the other, there must have been nearly , wagons unloaded, and nearly $ , paid as the cost of transportation. but, further, it is estimated that at least every tenth wagon passed through that place into the interior of ohio, indiana, &c., which would considerably swell the amount. these wagons take their return loads and carry to the eastern markets all the various articles of production and manufacture of the west--their flour, whisky, hemp, tobacco, bacon, and wool. since this estimate was made, the town of wheeling is greatly enlarged; its population has nearly doubled; the number of its commercial establishments has greatly increased; and the demand for merchandise in the west has increased with the wealth and improvement and prosperity of the country. but, further, sir, before the completion of this road, from four to six weeks were usually occupied in the transportation of goods from baltimore to the ohio river, and the price varied from six to ten dollars per hundred. now they can be carried in less than half the time and at one-half the cost, and arrangements are making by some enterprising gentlemen of the west to have the speed of transportation still increased, and the price of carriage diminished. equally important are the benefits derived by the government and the people from the rapid, regular, and safe transportation of the mail on this road. before its completion, eight or more days were occupied in transporting the mail from baltimore to wheeling; it was then carried on horseback, and did not reach the western country by this route more than once a week. now it is carried in comfortable stages, protected from the inclemency of the weather, in forty-eight hours; and no less than twenty-eight mails weekly and regularly pass and repass each other on this road. to show this fact, and the absolute necessity and importance of keeping the road in a good state of repair, in order to enable the postoffice department to fulfill the expectations of the public, i will ask the favor of the clerk to read to the house a communication received from the postmaster general on the subject. [here the clerk read an extract from a letter of the postmaster general]. the facilities afforded by such a road in time of war for the transportation of the munitions of war, and the means of defence from one point of the country to another, need scarcely be noticed; they must be palpable and plain to every reflecting mind, and i will not take up the time of the house in detailing them. as i said before, the road traverses seven different states of this union, and in its whole extent will cover a distance of near miles. who, then, can doubt its nationality? who can question the allegation that it is an immensely important national work? _who can reconcile it to his conscience and his constituents to permit it to go to destruction?_ [illustration: road wagon] chapter xvi. _life on the road--origin of the phrase pike boys--slaves driven like horses--race distinction at the old taverns--old wagoners--regulars and sharpshooters--line teams--john snider, john thompson, daniel barcus, robert bell, henry clay rush, and other familiar names._ as the phrase "pike boys" is frequently used in this volume, it is considered pertinent to give its origin. when first used, it was confined in its application to boys--sons of wagoners, stage drivers, tavern keepers, farmers, and in fact the sons of persons of every occupation who lived on or adjacent to the road, in the same sense that the boys of a town are called "town boys." its meaning and import, however, expanded in course of time, until it embraced, as it now does, all persons in any manner and at any time identified with the road, whether by residence or occupation, and without "regard to age, race, color or previous condition of servitude," as the statute puts it, for be it remembered that negro slaves were frequently seen on the national road. the writer has seen them driven over the road arranged in couples and fastened to a long, thick rope or cable, like horses. this may seem incredible to a majority of persons now living along the road, but it is true, and was a very common sight in the early history of the road and evoked no expression of surprise, or words of censure. such was the temper of the times. there were negro wagoners on the road, but negro stage drivers were unknown. stage driving was quite a lofty calling, and the acme of many a young man's ambition. the work was light and the whirl exciting and exhilarating. wagoners, white and black, stopped over night at the same taverns, but never sat down together at the same table. a separate table was invariably provided for the colored wagoners, a custom in thorough accord with the public sentiment of the time, and seemingly agreeable to the colored wagoners themselves. country life in the olden time was enlivened by numerous corn huskings, balls, spelling matches, school exhibitions and frolics of all kinds. young men and boys along the road, were in the habit of attending these gatherings, going as far as three miles and more in the back country, to reach them, some on foot and others on horseback. a young man would think nothing of getting a girl up behind him on a horse, and hieing away after nightfall, four and five miles to a country dance, and many of the girls of the period considered it but pleasant recreation to walk two or three miles with their lovers, to a spelling match or a revival meeting. a feeling of jealousy always existed between the young men and boys, living along and near the road, and those in the back country, and the occasions before mentioned furnished opportunities from time to time for this feeling to break out, as it often did, in quarrels and fights. the country boys would get together in anticipation of an approaching gathering at some school house, and organize for offense or defense, as the exigencies might require, always calling their rivals and imaginary enemies, "pike boys," and this was the origin of that familiar phrase. the men who hauled merchandise over the road were invariably called wagoners, not teamsters, as is the modern word, and they were both, since webster defines wagoner as one who conducts a wagon, and teamster as one who drives a team. the teams of the old wagoners consisting, as a rule, of six horses, were very rarely stabled, but rested over night on the wagon yards of the old taverns, no matter how inclement the weather. blankets were used to protect them in the winter season. feed troughs were suspended at the rear end of the wagon bed, and carried along in this manner, day after day all the year round. in the evening, when the day's journey was ended, the troughs were taken down and fastened on the tongues of the wagon to which the horses were tied, three on a side, with their heads to the trough. wagoners carried their beds, rolled up, in the forepart of the wagon, and spread them out in a semi-circle on the bar room floor in front of the big bar room fire upon going to rest. some of the old bar room grates would hold as much as six bushels of coal, and iron pokers from four to six feet in length, weighing eight and ten pounds, were used for stirring the fires. to get down an icy hill with safety, it was necessary to use an ice cutter, a rough lock, or a clevis, and sometimes all combined, contingent upon the thickness and smoothness of the ice, and the length and steepness of the hill. the ice cutter was of steel or iron, in appearance like a small sled, fitted on the hind wheels, which were first securely locked. the rough lock was a short chain with large, rough links, and the clevis was like that used on an ordinary plow, except that it was larger and stronger. these instruments were essential parts of the wagoners' "outfit." there were two classes of wagoners, the "regular" and the "sharpshooter." the regular was on the road constantly with his team and wagon, and had no other pursuit than hauling goods and merchandise on the road. the sharpshooters were for the most part farmers, who put their farm teams on the road in seasons when freights were high, and took them off when prices of hauling declined; and there was jealousy between the two classes. the regular drove his team about fifteen miles a day on the average, while the sharpshooter could cover twenty miles and more. line teams were those controlled by an association or company. many of the regular wagoners became members of these companies and put in their teams. the main object of the combination was to transport goods more rapidly than by the ordinary method. line teams were stationed along the road, at distances of about fifteen miles, and horses were exchanged after the manner of the stage lines. many of the old wagoners had bull-dogs tied at the rear of their wagons, and these dogs were often seen pressing with all their strength against the collar about their necks, as if to aid the horses in moving their load; and this is probably the origin of the common form of boast about a man being equal in strength to "a six-horse team with a cross dog under the wagon." [illustration: john thompson.] the whip used by old wagoners was apparently five feet long, thick and hard at the butt, and tapering rapidly to the end in a silken cracker. battley white, of centerville, washington county, pa., made more of these whips than any other man on the road. the interior of his whip was a raw hide. john morrow, of petersburg, somerset county, pa., also made many whips for the old wagoners. there was another whip, much used by old wagoners, known as the "loudon whip." the inner portion of this whip was an elastic wooden stock, much approved by the wagoners. it was manufactured in the village of loudon, franklin county, pa., and hence its name. it was used almost exclusively on what was called the "glade road," from philadelphia to pittsburg, _via_ chambersburg and bedford. some of the old wagoners of the national road became rich. john snider was one of these. he drove a six-horse team on the road for twenty years, and died on his farm near uniontown in december, , much lamented. few men possessed more of the higher attributes of true manhood than john snider. the author of this volume gratefully and cheerfully acknowledges his indebtedness to john snider for many of the facts and incidents it contains. he was a clear-headed, intelligent, sober, discreet, and observing man, whose statements could be relied on as accurate. it would be an impossible task to collect the names of all the old wagoners of the national road. they number thousands, and many of them left the road long since to seek fortunes in new and distant sections of our widely extended country. the most of them have gone to scenes beyond the boundaries of time. it is the author's aim to collect as many of their names as is practicable and write them down in history. the names of john thompson, james noble, and john flack are recalled. these worthy old wagoners are still living in the vicinity of taylorstown, washington county, pa., and highly respected by all their neighbors. the point at which they first entered upon the road was the famous "s" bridge. thompson drove his father's team when quite young, in fact, a mere boy. the first trip he made over the road was in the spring of , in company with the veteran wagoner, george hallam, of washington, pa. thompson's father was a pork packer, and the youthful wagoner's "down loads," as those moving eastwardly were called, consisted for the most part of bacon. his recollections of the road are vivid, and warmly cherished. he can sit down in a room, at his comfortable home, and "in his mind's eye" see every mile post along the road and recall the distances to points inscribed thereon. in the year , he went to california, engaged in mining, and was successful. with the instinct planted in every human breast, he returned to his native land, and with his accumulations bought his father's homestead farm. the old farm enhanced in value by reason of the oil developments, and landed the old wagoner in the ranks of the rich. the name noble is a familiar one on the national road, and suggestive of rank. "watty" and william noble were stage drivers. james noble, the old wagoner, drove a team for the late hon. isaac hodgens, who was at one time a pork salter. he remained on the road as a wagoner until its tide of business ceased, and retired to taylorstown to take his chances in the on-moving and uncertain affairs of life. he seemed possessed of the idea that there was undeveloped wealth in the vicinity of taylorstown, and made up his mind to gain a foothold there and wait the coming of events. he managed by the exercise of industry and economy to become the owner of a farm, and the discovery of oil did the rest for him. he is rich. john flack's career is similar to those of thompson and noble, culminating in like good fortune. "he struck oil, too." we have in the story of these old wagoners, examples of the possibilities for achievement, under the inspiring genius of american institutions. poor boys, starting out in life as wagoners, with wages barely sufficient for their subsistence, pushing on and up with ceaseless vigilance, attaining the dignity of farmers, in all ages the highest type of industrial life, and now each bearing, though meekly, the proud title of "freeholder," which mr. blaine said in his celebrated eulogium of garfield, "has been the patent and passport of self-respect with the anglo-saxon race ever since horsa and hengist landed on the shores of england." [illustration: daniel barcus.] otho and daniel barcus, brothers, were among the prominent wagoners of the road. they lived near frostburg, md. otho died at barton, md., in . daniel is now living in retirement at salisbury, somerset county, pa. in he engaged with john hopkins, merchant at the foot of light and pratt streets, baltimore, to haul a load of general merchandise, weighing , pounds, to mt. vernon, ohio. "he delivered the goods in good condition" at the end of thirty days from the date of his departure from baltimore. his route was over the national road to wheeling, thence by zanesville and jacktown, ohio, thence thirty-two miles from the latter place to the point of destination, the whole distance being miles. he received $ . per hundred for hauling the goods. at mt. vernon he loaded back with ohio tobacco, , pounds in hogsheads, for which he received $ . per hundred. on the return trip he upset, between mt. vernon and jacktown, without sustaining any damage, beyond the breaking of a bow of his wagon bed, and the loss caused by detention. the expense of getting in shape for pursuing his journey, was the price of a gallon of whisky. mt. vernon is not on the line of the road, and mr. barcus writes that "when he reached the national road at jacktown, he felt at home again." mr. barcus also states in a letter to the writer of these pages, that the first lot of goods shipped over the baltimore and ohio railway, after its completion to cumberland, destined for wheeling, was consigned to shriver and dixon, commission merchants of cumberland, and by that firm consigned to forsythe and son, of wheeling. this lot of goods aggregated , pounds, an average load for a six-horse team, and mr. barcus contracted with shriver and dixon to haul it through to wheeling in six days for fifty cents a hundred, which he accomplished. he further states that a delegation of wholesale and retail merchants of wheeling met him at steenrod's tavern, east of wheeling hill, and escorted him to town, then a place of , or , inhabitants, and in the evening there was public rejoicing over the unprecedented event of goods reaching wheeling from baltimore in the short space of seven days. mr. barcus concludes his letter as follows: "i stayed many nights at hopwood with wilse clement, and many with natty brownfield, in uniontown. i often stayed with arthur wallace, five miles east of brownsville. i remember one night at wallace's, after caring for my team, i accompanied his two fine and handsome daughters to a party about a mile distant in the country, where i danced all night, till broad daylight, and then walked home with the girls in the morning." john grace was another old wagoner, who became wealthy. the old pike boys will remember him as the driver of a black team. he was a maryland man. when the old road yielded its grasp on trade, to the iron railway, grace settled in or near zanesville, ohio, where he still lives, or was living a few years ago, worth a hundred thousand dollars. he transported his family to ohio in his big road wagon. jesse franks, and his son conrad, of high house, fayette county, pa., were old wagoners. conrad's team ran off near cumberland, on one of his trips, overthrowing the wagon, and causing an ugly dislocation of conrad's thigh, from which he suffered great pain for many weeks. john manaway, late owner of the spottsylvania house, uniontown, drove a team on the road for many years, and no man enjoyed the business more than he. there was an ohio man of the name of lucas, called gov. lucas, because a man of like name was an early governor of ohio, who was an old wagoner, and his team consisted of but five horses, yet he hauled the biggest loads on the road. he was the owner of the team he drove. in the year , one of his loads weighed twelve thousand pounds--"one hundred and twenty hundred," as the old wagoners termed it, and the biggest load ever hauled over the road up to that date. william king, of washington county, pa., an old wagoner, was noted for his steady habits. on one of his trips over the road, and going down the eastern slope of laurel hill, when it was covered with ice, his wagon slipped from the road and fell over the bank near the old price residence, dragging the team after it. strange to say, the horses were uninjured and but little damage done to the wagon. the contents of the load were ohio tobacco and bacon. after getting things restored, king drove to jimmy snyder's, stayed all night, and the next morning proceeded on his journey to baltimore. he was the owner of a farm in washington county. joseph thompson, an old wagoner on the road, is now and has been for many years in charge of the large and valuable coal farm belonging to the estate of the hon. james g. blaine, on the monongahela river, near pittsburg. a trusty old wagoner, he has approved himself the trusty agent of the great statesman. jacob probasco was an old wagoner, and also kept a tavern at jockey hollow. he went west and founded a fortune. joseph lawson, an old wagoner, kept tavern for many years in west alexander, washington county, pa., and died the possessor of a valuable estate. the author of this book took dinner, in , at lawson's tavern, in company with james g. blaine, the late distinguished secretary of state. matthias fry, an old wagoner, kept the searight house in , and subsequently presided as landlord over several houses at different times in hopwood. he was one of the best men on the road. his large and well proportioned form will be readily recalled by the old pike boys. he was a native of old virginia, and died in hopwood. david hill was one of the most noted wagoners of the road. he was an active, bustling man, and given to witty sayings. he belonged to washington county, pa., and was the father of dr. hill, of vanderbilt, and the father-in-law of the rev. j. k. melhorn, who preached for many years in the vicinity of mcclellandtown, fayette county, pa. andrew prentice, who died recently in uniontown, the possessor of considerable money, drove a team on the old road in his early days. henry clay rush, a prominent citizen of uniontown, and ex-jury commissioner, was once the proud driver of a big six-horse team. he drove through from baltimore to wheeling, and can recount incidents of every mile of the road to this day. none of the old pike boys enjoys with keener relish a recital of the stories of the old pike than rush. william worthington, who died not long since in dunbar township, fayette county, pa., aged upwards of ninety years, was one of the earliest wagoners on the road. when he made his first trip he was only thirteen years old, and the road was then recently opened for travel. he continued as a wagoner on the road for many years, and located in dunbar township, where he purchased property, which subsequently became very valuable by reason of the coal development. william chenriewith, who recently, and probably at the present time, keeps a hotel near bedford springs, was an old wagoner of the national road. [illustration: henry clay rush.] john thomas, who kept a hotel and livery stable in baltimore, was an old wagoner, and is well remembered along the road. george buttermore, father of dr. smith buttermore, of connellsville, was at one time a wagoner on the national road. john orr, now a prosperous and well-known farmer of the vicinity of west newton, westmoreland county, pa., was an old wagoner of the road. james murray, an old wagoner, is remembered for his extravagance of speech. one of his sayings was, that "he saw the wind blow so hard on keyser's ridge, that it took six men to hold the hair on one man's head." e. w. clement, of hopwood, was an old wagoner, and invariably used bells on his horses. he subsequently kept a tavern in hopwood, and built the house there known as the "shipley house." robert bell was an old wagoner with quaint ways. he was rich, and owned his team, which was the poorest equipped of any on the road. horses in his team were not infrequently seen without bridles. he was a trader, and often bought the goods he hauled and sold them out to people along the road. his reputation for honesty was good, but he was called "stingy robert." george widdle, an old wagoner of the age of eighty and upwards, still living in wheeling, drew the single line and handled the loudon whip over a six-horse team for many years, between wheeling and baltimore, and accounts the days of those years the happiest of his existence. he was also a stage driver for a time. nothing affords him so much pleasure as a recital of the incidents of the road. he says there never were such taverns and tavern keepers as those of the national road in the days of its glory, and of his vigorous manhood. james butler, like bell, was a trader. butler drove a "bell team," as teams with bells were called. he was a virginian, from the vicinity of winchester. it was the tradition of the road that he had a slight infusion of negro blood in his veins, and this assigned him to the side table of the dining room. when he quit the road he returned to winchester, started a store, and got rich. neither tradition or kindred evidence was necessary to prove the race status of westley strother. he showed up for himself. he was as black as black could be, and a stalwart in size and shape. he was well liked by all the old wagoners, and by every one who knew him. he was mild in manner, and honest in purpose. he had the strongest affection for the road, delighted in its stirring scenes, and when he saw the wagons and the wagoners, one after another, departing from the old highway, he repined and prematurely died at uniontown. chapter xvii. _old wagoners continued--harrison wiggins, morris mauler, james mauler, john marker, john bradley, robert carter, r. d. kerfoot, jacob f. longanecker, ellis b. woodward--broad and narrow wheels--a peculiar wagon--an experiment and a failure--wagon beds--bell teams._ harrison wiggins, widely known as a lover of fox hunting, and highly respected as a citizen, was one of the early wagoners. his career as a wagoner ceased long before the railroad reached cumberland. he hauled goods from baltimore to points west. his outfit, team and wagon, were owned by himself and his father, cuthbert wiggins. harrison wiggins was born in the old gribble house, two miles east of brownsville, on the th of april, . about the year his father moved to uniontown, and kept a tavern in a frame building which stood on the lot adjoining the residence of p. s. morrow, esq. he remained here until , when he went to the stone house at the eastern base of chalk hill, and was its first occupant. his house at uniontown numbered among its patrons, hon. nathaniel ewing, samuel cleavenger, mr. bouvier, john a. sangston, john kennedy, john lyon, and other eminent men of that period. in or ' , harrison wiggins married a daughter of john risler, a noted tavern keeper of the road, one of the very best, a talent which descended to his children. at the date of the marriage mr. risler was keeping the stone house at braddock's run, and the wedding occurred in that house. in harrison wiggins went to iowa, with a view of locating in that state, but returned the next year and leased the property on which he now lives from charles griffith. in ten years thereafter he bought this property, and it has been his home for more than half a century. under the careful and sagacious management of mr. wiggins, it has become one of the prettiest and most valuable properties in the mountains. it has been a long time since he was a wagoner, but he enjoys a recital of the stirring scenes he witnessed on the old road in the days of its glory. [illustration: harrison wiggins.] there is not a more familiar name among the old pike boys than that of morris mauler. he was an old wagoner, stage driver and tavern keeper. he was born in uniontown in the year . the house in which he first beheld the light of day, was a log building on the skiles corner, kept as a tavern by his father. before he reached the age of twenty-one he was on the road with a six-horse team and a big wagon, hauling goods from the city of baltimore to points west. he continued a wagoner for many years, and afterward became a stage driver. he drove on stockton's line. from stage driving he went to tavern keeping. his first venture as a tavern keeper was at mt. washington, when the old tavern stand at that point was owned by the late hon. nathaniel ewing. he subsequently and successively kept the old probasco house at jockey hollow, the old gaither house, the yeast house, and a house in hopwood. he always furnished good entertainment for strangers and travelers, as well as for friends and acquaintances, and as a consequence, was well patronized. he died about seven years ago at fairchance, and when his light went out a shadow of sorrow passed over the hearts of all the old pike boys. james mauler, a son of morris, above mentioned, is also an old wagoner. he went on the road with a team in the year , and remained on it as long as he could obtain a load of goods to haul over it. he is still living and in robust health, at brownfield station, four miles south of uniontown. [illustration: john marker.] john marker, now residing in the east end of uniontown, is an old wagoner. he was born at the little crossings in the state of maryland, in the year , and while yet a lad began to drive a team on the road for joseph plucker. in he quit the service of plucker and came to wharton township, fayette county, pa., and soon thereafter began driving again, first for sebastian rush and next for nicholas mccartney. he is a near relative of the shipley, mccollough and mccartney families, all of the old pike. marker says he never suffered an "upset" himself, but saw a great many "upsets" on the road. he also states that he saw a stage driver killed near little crossings in by the "running off" of his team and the "upsetting" of the coach. the name of this unfortunate stage driver was james rhodes, and he drove on stockton's line. john marker, in his prime, was one of the stoutest men on the road, upwards of six feet in height, and rounded out in proportion, but, being of an amiable temperament, he never engaged in broils, realizing, no doubt, and acting upon the poetic sentiment that: "it is excellent to have a giant's strength, but tyrannous to use it as a giant." he still clings to the old road, breaking stone to repair it, when his health will permit. he is in the th year of his age. john bradley, brother of daniel, of jockey hollow, is an old wagoner. he drove a team for benjamin brownfield, jr., now residing near newark, ohio., son of col. ben., the centennarian of south union township, and grand marshal of democratic processions of the olden time. john bradley also worked on the construction of the baltimore and ohio railroad in , near oldtown, md., fifteen miles east of cumberland. his employer on this work was the late zalmon ludington, of uniontown, who had a contract at the point mentioned. john bradley is now living in the city of pittsburg. robert carter was a well known old wagoner, a native of washington county, pa., a "regular," and a very energetic, persevering and keen sighted man. he took a prominent part in many of the festivities of the old road, but never lost his head. he was a money maker, and unlike most of that class, kind hearted and generous. he married the eldest daughter of thomas moxley, the old tavern keeper, whose house was three miles west of uniontown. after his marriage he bought a small farm, known as the solomon colley farm, near hatfield's, in redstone township, fayette county, pa., subsequently merged in the hatfield estate. he operated this farm for a short time, but while engaged as a farmer, kept his team on the road in charge of a hired driver. he sold his farm and leased the bar house in bridgeport, and kept tavern there for some time. when business ceased on the road, he gave up his team and his tavern, and moved with his family to iowa, where he engaged extensively in farming and stock raising. r. d. kerfoot, the well known miner and labor leader of everson, was at one time a wagoner on the national road. he was born in lancaster county, pa., and before reaching the full stature of manhood in point of age, went to washington county, md., where he engaged as a driver for one j. b. bear, a farmer of that county and state, and was put in charge of a fine six-horse team, and a broad wheeled wagon, with which he hauled goods, wares and merchandise to and from baltimore and wheeling. he enjoyed the stirring scenes of the old road, and recalls with a keen relish the bounteous tables of the old taverns. jacob f. longanecker, who served as county commissioner of fayette county, pa., from to , was an old wagoner. he owned a farm in german township, and was a good practical farmer, but spent much of his time, for many years, on the road with his team. he enjoyed life on the road, and seemed loath to relinquish the occupation of a wagoner. [illustration: ellis b. woodward.] ellis b. woodward, of menallen township, fayette county, pa., is an old wagoner with experience hardly sufficient to entitle him to be classed as a "regular," and yet almost enough to take him from the list of "sharp-shooters." he kept his big road wagon on his farm for many years after the road ceased to be a profitable avenue of transportation, and felt a pride in exhibiting it as a reminder of his identification with the great highway, in the days of its prosperity. he still lives and warmly cherishes the memories of the old road. the first wagons used on the national road were made with narrow rimmed wheels, like those in use at the present day on farms and country roads. it was not long, however, after the opening of the road, until the broad wheeled, or "broad tread wagon," as it was called, was introduced, and came into general use by the "regulars." the "sharpshooters," as a rule, retained the narrow tread, as their wagons were designed mainly for farm service. the width of the broad tread was about four inches, and lighter tolls were exacted at the gates from broad than from narrow tread wagons for the obvious reason that narrow wheels cut deeper into the road than broad wheels. a gentleman of wheeling interested in the transportation business at one time, conceived the idea of constructing a wagon that would make so wide a track as to be allowed to pass over the road for a very low rate of toll, if not entirely exempt. his model was a wagon with the rear axle four inches shorter than the front one, so that a track was made of eight inches in width. to this wagon nine horses were attached--three abreast. it passed over the road several times, with joseph sopher as driver, attracting much attention, but turning out a failure as well in the matter of saving toll as in being an impracticable vehicle of transportation. the bed of the regular road wagon was long and deep, bending upward at the bottom in front and rear. the lower broad side was painted blue, with a movable board inserted above, painted red. the covering was of white canvas stretched over broad wooden bows, so that the old road wagon, probably more as a matter of taste than design, disclosed the tri-colors of the american escutcheon, red, white and blue. an average load was , pounds, but loads weighing , pounds, "a hundred hundred," as all old wagoners boastfully put it, were frequently hauled over the road. the reader who never saw the endless procession on the old pike, in the days of its glory, may have the impression that the bells used by some of the old wagoners on their teams were like sleigh bells, or those of the milk wagon of the present day, and in like manner strapped around the horses. but that was not the way of it. the bells of the old wagoners were cone shaped, with an open end, not unlike a small dinner bell, and were attached to a thin iron arch, sprung over the tops of the hames. the motion of the horses caused a quiver in the arch, and the bell teams moved majestically along the road attracting attention and eliciting admiration. the great majority of wagoners did not use bells. chapter xviii. _old wagoners continued--john deets--his story told by himself--david church--john snider loads up with butter--billy ashton, john bradfield, frank bradfield--an escapade--william hall, henry puffenberger and jacob breakiron--collision between a "regular" and a "sharpshooter"--joseph lawson, jeff. manypenny, joseph arnold, the sophers, robert beggs, thomas gore, and john whetsel._ john deets was a wagoner on the road as early as , before the invention of the rubber, or at least before its application to wagons on the national road. he had a brother, michael, who preceded him as a wagoner on the road. john deets located in guernsey county, ohio, in , whence he went from menallen township, fayette county, pa. he is still living. the following from his own pen furnishes a graphic account of life on the road in his day: mr. searight: i will try to give you as much information as i can at this time. my brother, michael deets, about four years older than myself, was among the first that wagoned on the pike. that was about the year . he first drove his father's team, and the first load of goods he hauled from baltimore was to uniontown for isaac beeson or isaac skiles, i am not certain which. after that he drove for abram beagle, who lived in the west end of uniontown. after that he bought a team, and a few years after bought two more, so that he owned three teams at one time. he drove one of the teams himself and hired drivers for the other two. the team he drove himself was a bell team. one of his drivers was george richards, and the other, jesse barnet, a colored man, who lived in the east end of uniontown. when they took up the old bed of the road, and macadamized it, my brother took a contract and put his teams to hauling stones. after finishing his contract, he resumed the hauling of merchandise on the road and continued until about , when he moved to ohio, thence to illinois, and thence to missouri, where he died. [illustration: john deets.] the pike boys had some hard times and they had some good times. they were generally very fond of sport, and mostly tried to put up where the landlord was a fiddler, so that they could take a hoe-down. every one carried his own bed, and after they had all the sport they wanted they put their beds down on the floor in a circle, with their feet to the fire, and slept like a mouse in a mill. they were generally very sociable and friendly with each other, but i must note one thing just here: two of the boys met at david barnett's, some three miles east of hancock, and got into a dispute, which was not often the case. elias meek and abner benley were the two. meek was for fight, benley was for peace. but meek pushed on benley and benley run, but meek caught him. then benley knew he had to fight, and turned on meek and gave him a wonderful thrashing, so that he was not able to drive his team for some time. and now with regard to getting up and down the hills. they had no trouble to get up, but the trouble was in getting down, for they had no rubbers then, and to tight lock would soon wear out their tires. they would cut a small pole about or feet long and tie it to the bed with the lock chain and then bend it against the hind wheel and tie it to the feed trough, or the hind part of the wagon bed, just tight enough to let the wheel turn slow. sometimes one driver would wear out from to poles between baltimore and wheeling. sometimes others would cut down a big tree and tie it to the hind end of the wagon and drop it at the foot of the hill. when there was ice, and there was much of it in winter, they had to use rough locks and cutters, and the wagon would sometimes be straight across the road, if not the hind end foremost. the snow was sometimes so deep that they had to go through fields, and shovel the drifts from the fences, and often had to get sleds to take their loads across nigger mountain, and on as far as hopwood. those of us who had to go through the fields were three days going nine miles. this was in the neighborhood of frostburg, md. there were no bridges then across the monongahela or the ohio rivers. wagoners had to ferry across in small flat-boats, and sometimes to lay at the rivers for some days, until the ice would run out or the river freeze over. a small bridge across dunlap's creek, at brownsville, broke down with one of the pike boys and did a great deal of damage. sometimes a barrel of coffee would spring a leak and the coffee would be scattered along the road, and women would gather it up and be glad for such a prize. the writer has scattered some in his time. some of the old citizens of uniontown, no doubt, well remember the time, when scores of poor slaves were driven through that place, handcuffed and tied two and two to a rope that was extended some or feet, one on each side. and thousands of droves of hogs were driven through to baltimore, some from ohio. sometimes they would have to lay by two or three days on account of the frozen road, which cut their feet and lamed them. while the writer was wagoning on the old pike, the canal was made from cumberland to harper's ferry. the pike boys were bitterly opposed to railroads and so were the tavern keepers. the writer heard an old tavern keeper say "he wished the railroad would sink to the lower regions." that great phenomenon that occurred the th of november, , or, as it is often called, the shooting stars. that circumstance caused a great deal of excitement. some became very much alarmed, and it was reported that some went crazy, and thought the world was coming to an end. the writer was at hopwood that night with his team and wagon. the phenomenon was also seen in ohio. it was reported in ohio that there was a box of money hid on the old gaddis farm, near the pike, about two miles west of uniontown, supposed to have been hid there by gen. braddock. it was sought for but never found. the taverns we mostly put up at in baltimore were the maypole, on paca street, south of gen. wayne, and at thomas elliott's, near the hill market; and where we mostly loaded our goods was at j. taylor & sons and at chauncey brook's, on baltimore and howard streets. our first day's drive out of baltimore was miles, to enoch randall's, or , to john whalon's. the second day to frank wathers--who could almost outswear the world. and one thing more: before this writer became a pike boy he plowed many a day with a wooden mold-board plow, and after being engaged on the road for about ten years, he left the road and went to ohio, and then made a public profession of religion and united with the baptist church. in conclusion, will say to make as good a history as you possibly can, and i hope you shall be well rewarded for your labor, and above all never forget your creator, as in him we live, move and have our being. yours respectfully, john deets. david church was an old wagoner, a native of wheeling, and when the old pike ceased to ring with the clatter of travel and trade, he purchased a farm in wharton township, near farmington, fayette county, pa., took up his residence thereon, and died a mountain farmer. he was a large, fat man, of ruddy complexion and reddish hair. the leader in his team was of a dun color, and as it approached the old taverns and the big water-troughs, was recognized as the team of david church by the color of the leader. charley rush often invited church to take a chair and be seated when he visited the store at farmington, but he invariably declined, remarking that he could rest as well standing as sitting. he felt like nearly all the old wagoners, that his occupation was gone when transportation ceased on the old road, and could never fully adapt himself to the new order of things. [illustration: john snider.] in the year john snider hauled a load of butter from wheeling to washington, d. c. the owner of this butter was a man by the name of oyster, a butter dealer of wheeling. he could have shipped his butter from cumberland to its destination by rail, as the baltimore & ohio road had just then been finished to cumberland; but his animosity against railroads was so deep-seated that he engaged snider to haul it all the way through with his big team. on his way to washington with this load he struck off from the national road at frederick city, maryland. he reached that city on christmas night and "put up" at miller's tavern. the guests of that old tavern danced all of that night, and early in the morning of the day after christmas, snider "pulled out" on a strange road for the city of washington with his load of butter. he was three days on a mud road between frederick and washington, but, nevertheless, delivered his butter in "good condition" to the consignee. this butter was bought up in small quantities in the vicinity of wheeling for ten cents per pound, and snider got two dollars and fifty cents per hundred pounds for hauling it to washington. william ashton, a well-known old wagoner, was an englishman by birth. he was also an old tavern keeper. he was noted for his mental vivacity, and for his achievements as an athlete. at petersburg he once bounded over the top of one of the big road wagons with the aid of a long pole. he kept a tavern at funkstown, seventy miles west of baltimore, and was largely patronized by wagoners. while keeping tavern he had two teams on the road in charge of hired drivers. this was as early as . his drivers were samuel kelly and william jones, and they hauled goods from hagerstown, maryland (then the terminus of the railroad), to terre haute, indiana, and to springfield, illinois, involving a trip of four months duration, and the compensation was six dollars per hundred pounds. john bradfield was one of the most prominent old wagoners on the road. he was the general agent of the first transportation company on the road. he was also a tavern keeper. he kept the brick house west of, and a short distance from, petersburg, and owned it. he was a native of virginia. frank bradfield, son of john, before mentioned, was also a wagoner. fifty years ago, when but a boy, he drove one of his father's teams to baltimore, "pulled up" on the wagon yard of the old maypole tavern, in that city, attended to his team, remained over night, and the next day mysteriously disappeared. search was instituted, but he could not be found. he had enlisted as a soldier in the regular army. his friends thought he was dead. he served through the mexican war, and yet his relatives knew not of his existence. when that war was over he stepped one morning from a steamboat to the wharf at brownsville. nobody recognized him. he took a seat in a coach at brownsville, and in a few hours thereafter entered his father's house, near petersburg. he called for supper and lodging, and the person he addressed was his father, who did not recognize him, and to whom he did not make himself known. supper was announced, and his father showed him to the dining room and withdrew. his mother, who was attending at the table, immediately after he was seated, recognized him, and fell fainting in his arms, and there was joy in that household, although inaugurated by a great shock. frank bradfield subsequently became a clerk in the adams express company, and entered the pittsburg office when it was first established in that city, and remained in its service until his death, a few years ago. he has a brother at this time in the office of the adams express company at pittsburg, where he has been employed for many years, and esteemed as a faithful and efficient clerk. william hall was a fine specimen of the old wagoner in the palmy days of the road--a regular of regulars, zealous in his calling, and jealous of his rights. robert bell, the quaint old wagoner before referred to, was his uncle and his friend, who, it is said, rendered him substantial aid in securing a foothold on the great national highway. there was a certain kind of _esprit de corps_ among the old regular wagoners, and william hall possessed it in a high degree. he was well attired, and clean in person and conversation. he was born in adams county, pennsylvania, and his first appearance on the road was in the year . he was a great admirer of thomas corwin, and was in ohio with his team on the day that old-time statesman and orator was chosen governor, a circumstance he frequently referred to in after years with feelings of pride and pleasure. he married a daughter of aaron wyatt, and granddaughter of major paul, old tavern keepers, and this formed a silken cord that bound him to the destinies of the old pike. in the declining years of the road he became a stage proprietor, and in conjunction with redding bunting (not a stranger to these pages), operated a line of coaches between cumberland and washington, pennsylvania. this line had nothing of the whirl and dash of the older lines of coaches. when wagons and stages ceased to enliven the road, william hall located in cumberland, and is living there at this time, one of the leading citizens of that place. soon after he cast his lot in cumberland he was appointed superintendent of the maryland division of the road by governor hicks, and served in that office for a number of years previous to the late war. he had a brother, robert, who was also an old wagoner, and subsequently, and for several years, a postal clerk on the baltimore & ohio railroad between cumberland and pittsburg. henry puffenberger, a "regular," given to blustering, but not a vicious man, and jacob breakiron, a "sharpshooter" and a fat man, met one day on the road and indulged in a wrangle about the right of way. strings of fresh broken stone on either side of the road, as was often the case, left but a narrow passage where the meeting occurred, and this led to the difficulty. "old puff," as he was called, demanded of breakiron, with an air of authority, that he should "turn out." breakiron declined to obey, and showed a determined spirit of resistance. after an exchange of angry words puffenberger inquired of breakiron his name, and he answered, "my name is breakiron." "that," said puffenberger, "is a hard name, but you look harder than your name." "i am as hard as my name," said breakiron, "and what is your name?" "puffenberger," was the reply. "that," said breakiron, "is a windy name." "yes," rejoined puffenberger, "but there is thunder with it." after this explosion of wit the contestants compromised, shook hands, and passed without colliding. puffenberger was a maryland man, became a confederate soldier, and was killed in battle. breakiron was a farmer of georges township, fayette county, pennsylvania, and died on his farm a number of years ago. [illustration: william hall.] turner brown, brother of henry, famous for the big loads he hauled, was an old wagoner. after a number of years' experience as a wagoner he moved to ohio and settled in guernsey county, where he became wealthy and was elevated to the office of probate judge. persons who remember him say he was "pompous" in manner, but honest in his dealings. he was a native of fayette county, pa., born and reared in the vicinity of brownsville, and of the family of browns prominently identified with the national road in its early days. he had a number of sons, three of whom--samuel, turner and levi--were union soldiers in the late war. another, thomas, published for a time _the ohio farmer_, at cleveland; and another, william, took to theology, and is engaged in missionary work in some remote quarter of the globe. joseph lawson was, like his fellow teamster, john galwix, considered a fancy wagoner. he took pride in his calling, and his team consisted of six stallions, well mated and of gigantic size. the gears he used were the very best of the john morrow pattern, and his "outfit" attracted attention and evoked words of praise from the throngs that lined the road in that day. there was a regulation tread and an air about the old wagoner, especially of the regular line, that rose almost, if not altogether, to the standard of dignity. jeff. manypenny was an old wagoner, and a son of the old tavern keeper of uniontown, referred to in a subsequent chapter. joseph arnold is said to have hauled the first "eighty hundred load" ever hauled on the road, and it gave him great fame. it was in . joseph sopher tried the experiment of using nine horses in his team, driven three abreast. it did not prove practicable or profitable, and he soon abandoned it and returned to the ordinary six-horse team. there were four sophers on the road and they were brothers, viz: joseph, nimrod, jack and william, and they were stage drivers as well as wagoners. robert beggs, an old wagoner, prosecuted jacob probasco for perjury. the prosecution grew out of an affidavit made by probasco alleging that beggs, who was indebted to him, was about to remove his goods from the state with intent to defraud his creditors. this prosecution gave probasco much trouble and involved him in considerable expense, and is said to have been the cause of his removal from fayette county, pennsylvania. thomas gore was one of the first wagoners on the road, and a regular. he lived in hopwood when that village was known as woodstock. he drove a "bell team," and owned it. he was well known all along the road, but it is so long ago that but few of the pike boys of this day remember him. he gave up wagoning long before business ceased on the road, and settled in franklin township, fayette county, pennsylvania, where he died thirty years ago. robinson addis, a well known and much esteemed citizen of dunbar township, fayette county, pennsylvania, married a daughter of thomas gore; and a grandson of the old wagoner, bearing the name thomas gore addis, is one of the trusted and trustworthy superintendents of the h. clay frick coke company, with headquarters at brownfield station, on the southwest railway. john whetzel, called "johnny," a regular old wagoner, was small in stature, quiet in disposition, and of swarthy complexion. he talked but little, rarely using a word beyond the size of a monosyllable, and was well known and highly esteemed all along the road. when the career of the road as a great national highway ended, "johnny" whetzel retired to a farm in saltlick township, fayette county, pennsylvania, where he still lives, bending under the weight of many years, but enjoying the confidence and respect of all his neighbors. [illustration: john wallace.] chapter xix. _old wagoners continued--the harness they used--john morrow a maker of harness--capt. elias gilmore encounters a man eater--perry gaddis, william g. patterson, alfred bailes, the scarboroughs and mclaughlins--hill, who respected sunday--james riley and oliver pratt, robert carr, robert allison, david herr, william keefer, abram beagle, samuel youman, robert cosgrove, james brownlee, john collier, darius grimes, fielding montague, james smith, elisha maxon, jacob marks, thomas starr, thomas hastings, henry foster, john smasher, maj. jesse b. gardner, mcwilliams, pixler, riley and hankins._ john morrow, of petersburg, mentioned herein before as a manufacturer of the wagoner's whip, was likewise a saddle and harness maker, and had the reputation of making the best harness on the road. he was a man of thin visage and energetic habit. gears was the name old wagoners applied to harness. the gears used on the team of the regular wagoner were of immense proportions. the back bands were fifteen and the hip straps ten inches wide, and heavy black housing covered the horses' shoulders down to the bottom of the hames. the traces used were iron chains with short and thick links. it required a strong man to throw these heavy gears on the back of a big horse. heavy and broad as they were, these gears were not out of proportion to the large fat horses of the old teams, and looked well on their broad and shining backs. the wagoner's saddle was unique. it was made over an ordinary wooden model, covered with thick, black leather, and had long and wide skirts or aprons, cut straight on the edges and ends. daniel p. gibson, the well known capitalist of uniontown, learned the trade of saddle and harness making with john morrow in petersburg, and worked many a day on the big gears and odd saddle, above described. capt. elias gilmore was not strictly an old wagoner, but a pike boy to all intents and purposes, yet his home was not immediately on the road. he had a team which he employed for the most part in hauling stones for repairs on the road. he was a contractor, and an energetic one. he was an amiable man, in a general way, but given at times to pugilistic encounters, and it is said that no man along the road could outdo him in a fight. a stage driver once came upon the road who was called "the man eater." he drove from uniontown to mt. washington on the good intent line. gilmore, hearing of this famous "man eater," was desirous of meeting him, and calling one day at mt. washington, inquired where he was. upon being introduced, gilmore said to him: "you are a pretty stout looking man, but i can lick you," and at it they went, without further ceremony, and gilmore did lick him. at another time gilmore was in uniontown with a load of lumber, and stood his team across the street, which caused john p. sturgis, who was constable then, to take him to task for obstructing the street, whereupon gilmore fell upon sturgis and gave him a tremendous beating, for which he was fined by the burgess. gilmore was born in wharton township, fayette county, pa., and owned and lived on a farm near "sugar loaf," in the vicinity of ohiopyle. his wife was a sister of boss rush, "the prince of landlords." captain gilmore moved, with his family, to illinois thirty years ago, and subsequently to york county, nebraska, where he is still living in comfortable circumstances, a farmer and stock dealer. he long since abandoned the profitless pastime of sowing wild oats, and is esteemed as one of the most respectable and influential citizens of nebraska. john rush, a brother of boss, and brother-in-law of gilmore, an old wagoner and tavern keeper, went west with gilmore, and lives near him now, in nebraska. perry gaddis, who died a few years ago at dunbar, pennsylvania, was an old wagoner. his first service on the road as driver was for isaac bailey, who kept a tavern near the old red house east of brownsville, subsequently postmaster at brownsville, and a member of the fayette county, pennsylvania, bar. gaddis married a daughter of robert shaw, an old tavern keeper, and many years ago steward of the county home near uniontown. she was a schoolmate of the author of these pages, as was also her sister, who became the wife of robert s. mcdowell, another well known pike boy. william d. beggs, father-in-law of the late dr. smith fuller, blessed be his memory, was our faithful old teacher. mrs. gaddis, perry's widow, is still living at dunbar. [c]william g. patterson, of jefferson township, fayette county, pennsylvania, an old wagoner, has a record worthy of special mention. when on the road he was called "devil bill," and this name followed him to his farm, and adhered to him for many years. to see him now at his ancestral home, bending beneath his four score years and more, gentle in manner and intelligent and entertaining in conversation, surrounded by all the needful comforts of this life, one wonders how he ever got the name of "devil bill." his first appearance on the national road as a driver was in the year , when he assisted in driving a lot of hogs for his father to baltimore. it required almost a month to drive a lot of hogs from the vicinity of brownsville to the city of baltimore. he made his first trip over the road as a wagoner in , going clear through to baltimore. the first team he drove was his father's, but it was not long until he became the owner of a team himself. he was on the road many years as a wagoner. the farm on which he now resides descended from his grandfather to his father, and then to himself. his father died on this farm on christmas day of the year . his grandfather came out from dauphin county, pennsylvania, at an early day. [footnote c: died in iowa in .] [illustration: alfred bailes.] alfred bailes, of dunbar, pennsylvania, is probably the oldest man living who drove a team on the national road. he was first a wagoner, and subsequently and for many years a stage driver. he was born in loudon county, virginia, and came upon the road about the year , at the solicitation of john bradfield, who was also a native of virginia, and agent of the first line of wagons on the road. alfred bailes was born in , and although closely approaching his ninetieth year, his eye is undimmed and his natural vigor unabated. samuel luman, of cumberland, is two years younger than bailes, but two years his senior as a stage driver. bailes was one of the most commanding figures on the road, upwards of six feet in height, with broad chest and shoulders, and long arms. noted for great strength, he was never quarrelsome. as a driver he performed his functions faithfully and carefully. he is a most interesting relic of the road, and his memory is well stored with interesting reminiscences of its faded glory. samuel and william scarborough were old wagoners. they lived on the old william elliott farm, in jefferson township, fayette county, pa., and were brothers. william hogg, the pioneer merchant of brownsville, was the owner of the william elliott farm at the time referred to, and the scarboroughs paid their rent by hauling a load of merchandise for mr. hogg once a year, from baltimore to his store in brownsville. george mclaughlin, still living near uniontown, but now, and for a long time, a sufferer from rheumatism, is an old wagoner. it may be that exposure, when a wagoner, to the snow storms of the mountains, is the source of the rheumatism which now afflicts him. his brother, abraham, who lives at mt. braddock, is also an old wagoner, and, when a boy, broke stone on the pike at a "levy" a perch. there was an old wagoner whose name was hill, and he lived at triadelphia, now west virginia, then "old virginia never tire," who never drove his team on sunday. he seems not to have lost anything by resting his team and himself on sunday, for he made as good time on his trips as any other wagoner, and in the end became rich. michael teeters, a spluttering old wagoner, was noted for his profanity. he was possessed with the fatal delusion that hard swearing was evidence of superior intelligence. he, of course, had some good traits, as the worst of men have; but when age and infirmity came upon him, he exchanged the tramp over the hills of the old pike for a "walk over the hills to the poor house," and died in the county home of washington county, pennsylvania. had he followed the example of hill, who rested on sunday, it may not be said that he would have grown rich, but it is pretty certain that the surroundings of his dying hours would have been different from what they were. james riley and oliver pratt were among the oldest of the old wagoners--veterans in every sense. riley was a large man, with florid face and very white hair, and was called "old whitey." he lived and died in hopwood. pratt was also a large man, and stout, a steady drinker, with red-rimmed eyes. he was a good driver, and devoted to his calling. he married a miss bird, of the old family of that name, in henry clay township, fayette county, pennsylvania, and when flush times ended on the road, went west and died, far from the scenes of the grand old highway. robert carr, who died in uniontown about two years ago, was an old wagoner. he was on the road as early as . he drove first for benjamin miller, grandfather of ben, sam and jeff miller, of uniontown. he subsequently married a daughter of abner springer, of north union township, fayette county, who owned a road team which was placed in charge of carr, and he drove it several years. he was also a stage driver. robert q. fleming, now residing in uniontown, is an old wagoner. he hauled whiskey from the old overholt distillery, near mt. pleasant, to baltimore for many years, and loaded back with merchandise to various points in the west. one of his earliest back loads consisted of oysters for pittsburg, _via_ brownsville. the oyster boxes were piled up to the canvass covering, and upon reaching brownsville he was required to drive down the wharf to the steamboat landing, which was "sidling," and at the time icy. some of the top boxes fell out and were broken, whereupon the bystanders helped themselves to fresh shell oysters. they were not carried away, but the eager oyster lovers picked them up, cracked open the shells on the wagon wheels and gulped down the juicy bivalves on the ground. fleming was "docked," as they termed the abating of loss, from the freight charges. robert allison, one of the best known of the old wagoners, was a fighting man. he did not seem to be quarrelsome, yet was often, as by some sort of untoward destiny, involved in pugilistic encounters along the road. in one of these at fear's tavern, on keyser's ridge, he bit off the nose of a stage driver. david harr was a good fiddler, and william keefer was a good dancer, and these two old wagoners warmed the bar room of many an old tavern between baltimore and wheeling, in the good old days when every mile of the national road bristled with excitement. abram beagle was a widely known old wagoner. he lived with david moreland in uniontown as early as , and probably before that time, and subsequently became a tavern keeper. the house he kept was twelve miles east of wheeling, and he married it. that is to say: the widow rhodes owned the tavern stand, and he married _her_. he kept a good house, and was largely patronized. old citizens of uniontown who remember abram beagle, and there are not many of them living, speak of him as a good and worthy citizen of the olden time. [illustration: german d. hair.] samuel youman, of washington county, pa., was an old wagoner, stage driver and tavern keeper. he drove stage from hillsboro to washington, and subsequently kept tavern in hillsboro. he had the distinction of being next to the largest man on the road, "old mount" being admittedly the largest. youman was a man full of zeal, as to all pursuits and interests relating to the national road. he understood the art of driving horses to perfection, was kindly in disposition, and attracted attention by reason of his immense size. he had a son, israel, who was also a stage driver and a lively fellow. father and son are presumably both dead, but the marks they made on the memories of the old pike are indelible. poor old robert cosgrove, who once traversed the road with all the pride and pomp of a "regular," finally succumbed to the adverse tides of life and time, and to avoid "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," took refuge in the "county home," where he remains, indulging the memories of better days and awaiting the summons to rejoin the companionship of old wagoners who have passed over the dark river. james brownlee was one of the old wagoners who suffered the experience of a genuine "upset." it occurred near hagen's tavern, east of cumberland. he had a high load, and encountered a big snow drift which he thought he could overcome by pulling out and around, but he failed, and his wagon capsized. his main loss was in time, which was "made up" by the good cheer at hagen's old tavern. john collier, father of daniel collier, was a wagoner on the road when it was first opened up for travel. he had been a wagoner on the braddock road for years before the national road was made. he lived in addison, somerset county, pa., as early as , and was one of the foremost wagoners of his day. he was the grandfather of mrs. amos s. bowlby, of fayette street, uniontown. darius grimes was among the first crop of wagoners, and gave up the whip and line long before the termination of the road's prosperous era. when the writer first knew him he was living a retired life on the roadside at the foot of graham's lane, three miles west of uniontown. he was one of the earliest tavern keepers on the road, beside being a wagoner. he kept the old abel colley house, west of and near searight's, before abel colley owned that property, and that was a long time ago. william johnson, farmer and dealer in fruits and vegetables, well known to the people of uniontown, married a daughter of darius grimes. fielding montague, an old wagoner and stage driver, is still living on the road. his residence is in henry clay township, fayette county, pennsylvania, where his sleep is undisturbed by the clatter which in other years was heard at all hours of the night as well as day. montague was not a driver on the old stage lines, but after they were withdrawn from the road, drove the mail hack for a considerable length of time between uniontown and somerfield. he was, however, a regular wagoner in the palmy days of the road. [d]james smith, now living in wharton township, fayette county, pennsylvania, well and favorably known, is an old wagoner. he enjoyed the grand march along the old road, and was deeply grieved when stillness took the place of the bustling activity that marked its palmy days. the old veteran is bending to the storms of time, but glows with enthusiasm when recounting the scenes he witnessed on the old highway "in the days of yore." [footnote d: deceased.] elijah maxon was an old wagoner. his home was near the charlestown school house, in luzerne township, fayette county, pennsylvania. he owned the team he drove, and made money on the road. he moved west many years ago, and in all probability has gone to that bourne whence no traveler returns. jacob marks was an old wagoner, and subsequently, like so many of his fellows, became a tavern keeper. he first kept the stone house at malden, between brownsville and centreville, and afterward the old workman house at brownsville. the glory of the old road had departed before he took charge of the workman house, and business was dull; but the road was flush when he entertained the public at malden, and he did a thriving business there. thomas starr was an old wagoner, and drove for john riley, an old tavern keeper of bridgeport, fayette county, pa. the old citizens of bridgeport and brownsville will remember starr and riley, as they were conspicuous pike boys in their day. thomas hastings was an old wagoner and tavern keeper. he kept the house well known and well patronized in his day about four miles east of washington. henry foster, late of north union township, fayette county, pa., a well known farmer in his day, was an old wagoner. he drove a six-horse team to baltimore in , when but nineteen years old. his first load was bacon, consigned to a baltimore house by edward gavin, of uniontown. his return load was merchandise, consigned to william bryson, a merchant of that day at uniontown. david blakely was an old wagoner and became a tavern keeper. he kept a tavern in washington in , and subsequently in wheeling. he was a prominent man, well known all along the road. he was also an agent of one of the transportation lines, and a very competent man for that business. john smasher, an old wagoner, was noted as a nimble and expert dancer, and had many opportunities to display his talent in this line on the old road. it frequently happens that a good dancer makes a ready "smasher." major jesse b. gardner, of uniontown, ex-jury commissioner and ex-soldier of two wars, drove a team several trips on the old road for archibald skiles, who kept a tavern at monroe, and was a thorough pike boy. huston mcwilliams, joseph pixler and john riley were old wagoners who retired to farms in german township when the steam railway usurped the functions of the old pike. william hankins, a well known farmer of north union township, still living, is an old wagoner, and made many a dollar on the road. he is a son of james hankins, who owned the farm at frost's station, and was reputed to have a barrel of money. one hook, p. u., merchant and auctioneer of uniontown, and member of the legislature, was accustomed to speak of ready cash as "hankins' castings," in allusion to the hankins barrel. he had a small store in an old frame house near the store room and residence of the late col. ewing brownfield, on which he nailed a rough board for a sign, bearing the legend: "hook and hankins versus boyle and rankin." boyle and rankin kept a rival store further up town. hook also frequently advertised his business under the firm name of "hook and wife." he was well known and is well remembered by the old citizens of uniontown. james ambrose was a regular. he drove from baltimore to wheeling. he was a strong driver, and well known on the road. he married the youngest daughter of robert shaw, the old tavern keeper near braddock's grave. after business ceased on the road, he engaged in mining coal in the connellsville coke district, and died near vanderbilt, in january, . his wife survives him. isaac hurst was a sharpshooter, and appeared on the road near the close of its prosperous era. he hauled flour from his father's mill on george's creek, fayette county, pennsylvania, to cumberland, and "loaded back" with merchandise to brownsville. his experience on the road as a wagoner was confined between the points named. he subsequently became first, treasurer, and afterward, commissioner of fayette county, pennsylvania. he is still living in uniontown, pursuing the calling of a contractor, and taking an active interest in public affairs. chapter xx. _old wagoners continued--an exciting incident of the political campaign of --all about a petticoat--neri smith, isaac stuck, john short, william orr, ashael willison--a wagoner postmaster--robert douglas--a trip to tennessee--abram brown, william long, samuel weaver--a quartet of bell teams--a trio of swearing men--a peculiar savings bank--william c. mckean and a long list of other old wagoners--graphic description of life on the road by jesse j. peirsol, an old wagoner--origin of the toby cigar--the rubber--the windup and last lay of the old wagoners._ the political campaign of , as is well known, was one of the most spirited and exciting contests ever witnessed in the united states. it was a campaign made memorable by log cabins, hard cider, coon skins and glee clubs. william henry harrison, the hero of tippecanoe, and grandfather of the late chief executive, benjamin harrison, was the whig candidate for president, and john tyler, of virginia, was his running mate, and the whole country resounded with shouts for "tippecanoe and tyler too." martin van buren was the democratic candidate for president, and his associate on the ticket was col. richard m. johnston, of kentucky. harrison and tyler were triumphantly elected. one day during this exciting campaign neri smith, an old wagoner, drove his big six-horse team through uniontown, exhibiting from the front of his wagon a petticoat, in allusion to a partisan and groundless charge of cowardice made against general harrison, the whig candidate. the coming of the wagon with the petticoat was made known to the whigs of uniontown before it reached the place, and a delegation met smith a short distance east of town and requested him to take down the offensive symbol, but he stubbornly refused. upon reaching uniontown an attempt was made by some of the muscular whigs, led by john harvey, to "tear down the dirty rag," but an equal number of muscular democrats rallied to the support of the old wagoner, and the attempt failed. the affair caused great excitement in uniontown, leading to violence and almost to the shedding of blood. isaac stuck, now residing in perryopolis, fayette county, pennsylvania, in service on the extensive fuller estate, near that place, was an old wagoner, and is not forgotten and never will be forgotten by the old pike boys. he drove a fine "bell team," which was notice to all the world that he was on the road in earnest and to stay. the team belonged to william stone, the well remembered old farmer of menallen, and tanner of uniontown. [illustration: ashael willison.] john short, an old wagoner, retired from the road at an early day and took up his abode in franklin township, fayette county, pennsylvania. before going on the road he learned the trade of a cooper, and upon leaving it resumed work at his trade. he was a good mechanic, and made most of the barrels used at cook's and sharples' mills, on redstone creek, for many years. his team on the road was a good one, and he owned it. he met with an accident while working at his trade by cutting his knee with an adze, which crippled him for life. he died in franklin township about eight years ago, aged nearly eighty. the old citizens of franklin township all knew and respected him. william orr, a well known old wagoner, died of cholera at keyser's ridge in . he left three sons. one of them died a soldier of the northern army in the late war, leaving a widow surviving him, now residing in cumberland and drawing a pension. another son of the old wagoner is a watchman at the rolling mill in cumberland, and the third is on the police force of that city. ashael willison, another of the old wagoners, is still living in cumberland, and one of the most prominent citizens of that place. he was postmaster at cumberland during the first administration of president cleveland. from the saddle horse of a six-horse team on the old pike to the control of a city postoffice is distinctively an american idea, and a good one. the old wagoner made a capital postmaster. mr. willison is now deputy collector of internal revenue for the state of maryland. robert douglas, father of the well known real estate dealer of uniontown, was an old wagoner. he owned his team and wagon, and hauled between baltimore and wheeling at an early day. he resided near west newton, westmoreland county, pennsylvania, and died there in . he was esteemed as an honest man, and was one of the few pike boys who never took a drink of liquor. in the year john snider, isaac browning and black westley, made a trip with their teams from baltimore to jonesboro, tennessee, a distance of six hundred miles. they were loaded with goods for jonesboro merchants, and were paid six dollars a hundred for hauling them. on their return they drove with empty wagons to lynchburg, virginia, a distance of two hundred miles, where they loaded up with pig lead, and got two dollars a hundred for hauling it to baltimore. abram brown, the wealthy land owner of the vicinity of uniontown, was an old wagoner, a "sharpshooter," and always lucky in avoiding losses while pushing over the mountains. while on the road as a wagoner he formed the acquaintance of the girl who subsequently became his wife. she was hannah, now deceased, the eldest daughter of abel colley, who kept the old tavern a short distance west of searights. his wife was a good woman, and her seemingly premature death was much lamented by a wide circle of friends. william long, an old wagoner, after quitting the road, went to beaver county, pennsylvania, and died there; and samuel weaver, a well remembered old wagoner, died about seven years ago in new cumberland, west virginia. john galwix, black wesley, wilse clement and james pelter used bells on their teams. galwix was called a "crack" wagoner, "swell," as it would be termed at this day. stephen golden, an old wagoner, drove a team for john gribble, who for many years kept the red tavern two miles east of brownsville. john strong, one of the earliest regular wagoners, is still living in cumberland, and has been coroner at that place for many years. john kelso, a steady old regular, well remembered and well liked, died at cumberland about two years ago. robert nelson was run over by his wagon many years ago, and died from injuries inflicted by the accident. col. james gardner was an old wagoner and an old soldier. he was a native of winchester, virginia, but spent the greater portion of his life in uniontown. john phillips, of washington county, pennsylvania, an old wagoner, was noted for using the heaviest gears on the road. when in need of new ones he ordered them an inch wider than the widest in use. the gear pole boys at the old taverns groaned under the weight of phillips' gears. william c. mckean, nine years a deputy sheriff of fayette county, pennsylvania, was in early life a regular wagoner of the road. he was a native of german township, fayette county, pennsylvania, and died in the sheriff's house, at uniontown, in . he was noted for his energy and habit of pushing things. the prominent young attorney of uniontown of the same name is a nephew of the old wagoner. peter skiles, an old wagoner of the vicinity of uniontown, died in cumberland of typhoid fever, while at that place with his team and wagon. christian herr, an old wagoner, was a very profane man, going to show that there is nothing in a name. he, wilse clement and michael teeters were the hardest swearers on the road. wyney hunter, still living, an octogenarian, and rich, was an old wagoner. his residence is on the roadside five miles east of hagerstown, maryland. charles allum and james brownlee drove for leonard vail, an old pork-packer of the vicinity of prosperity, washington county, pennsylvania. lott lantz, of willow tree, greene county, pennsylvania, had a pork-packing establishment in the olden time, and sent his produce over the road to baltimore by the regular broad wheeled wagons in charge of hired drivers. isaac browning, an old wagoner, at one time owned the "browning farm," near uniontown, whence its name is derived. this farm now belongs to robert hogsett. john wright, an old wagoner, is still living in salisbury, somerset county, pennsylvania, and has passed the ninetieth mile-post of his age. [illustration: jacob newcomer.] capt. james gilmore was a sharpshooter. he owned a little farm in menallen township, fayette county, pennsylvania, which he sold long ago and went west. noble mccormick, a regular old wagoner, was, while on the road, the owner of the semans farm, near uniontown. he sold his farm to thomas semans and went west. he is remembered as an habitual wearer of the broad-rimmed, yellow, long-napped regulation hat. john christy, an old wagoner, was eccentric as to his apparel, and careful of his money. he wore a full suit of buckskin, and improvised a savings bank by boring holes in blocks in which he placed his money, and secured it by plugging up the holes. charles guttery, who recently died at an advanced age in beallsville, washington county, pennsylvania, was one of the best known and most esteemed old wagoners of the road. after many years experience as a wagoner, he devoted the remainder of his life to tavern keeping. john yardley, as the saying goes, was a natural born wagoner. he loved the occupation, and was faithful in it, for many years. he was born in maryland, but lived a long time at searights, where he died. he was the father of william and gus yardley, of uniontown. david newcomer, a farmer of german township, fayette county, pennsylvania, who served a term as county commissioner, belongs to the long list of wagoners. his father, jacob newcomer, and jacob f. longanecker went to loudon, franklin county, pennsylvania, in the year , and each bought a new wagon and a new whip at that place. jacob newcomer soon thereafter became afflicted with rheumatism, and turned over his team and wagon to his son david, who traversed the road until the close of its busy era. jacob newcomer died in , on the farm now owned and occupied by his son david. john ferren drove a six-horse team on the road many years for william searight, and is remembered as a careful and discreet driver and an honest and industrious man. at the close of active business on the road, and while yet under the influence of its ancient grandeur, he married a daughter of "wagoner billy shaw," and with his newly-wedded wife went to iowa to work out his destiny, where he has achieved success as a farmer. james e. kline, a driver for jacob a. hoover, was a soldier in the late war between the states, and died in german township, fayette county, pennsylvania, after the conflict ended. robert hogsett, the millionaire farmer, stock dealer, manufacturer, and coke operator of fayette county, pennsylvania, was a sharpshooter, and hauled many a load of goods from cumberland to brownsville at remunerative rates per hundred. his "down loads" consisted for the most part of corn of his own raising, which he sold out through the mountains at good prices. hiram hackney, for many years a prosperous farmer of menallen township, fayette county, pennsylvania, now a retired resident of uniontown, and a director in the first national bank of that place, was a sharpshooter and a drover. samuel flowers was one of the earliest wagoners on the road, and of the regular order. he was a tall man, of quiet demeanor. his home was on egg nog hill, where he lived until called away by the last summons. john means, an old wagoner, was killed by an accident on the road near wheeling. john munce, of washington, pennsylvania, who became rich through the oil development in the vicinity of that place, is an old wagoner. he is still living. john olwine was an old wagoner, and by his union with the widow metzgar became a tavern keeper. he died at chalk hill a few years ago. john neff, an old wagoner, subsequently became a member of the maryland legislature, and played the role of statesmanship as gracefully as he drove a six-horse team on the old pike. abner and david peirt, brothers, were natives of lancaster county, pennsylvania--steady-going straightforward, honest "pennsylvania dutch," and wagoners on the road with teams of the genuine conestoga strain. john mcilree, called "broadhead," was an old wagoner and a native of adams county, pennsylvania; and james bell, william and robert hall were natives also of adams county. arthur wallace, an old wagoner devoted to the road, and esteemed for many good qualities of head and heart, subsequently became a tavern keeper. he was the father-in-law of peter frasher, the adamantine democrat of , and up to the date of his death, in . charles wallace, a brother of arthur, and an old wagoner, was killed by an accident on laurel hill many years ago. william reynolds, mentioned under the head of old tavern keepers, was likewise an old wagoner. he was on the road with a team as early as . his son, john, present postmaster at confluence, somerset county, pennsylvania, was also a wagoner. samuel trauger, an old wagoner, fell from his lazy board while descending laurel hill, and was killed, the hind wheel of his wagon running over him. john curtis, who drove for william king, was accounted one of the best drivers on the road. his companions called him a "strong driver," meaning that he was skillful and careful. he followed the tide of emigration, and became a stage driver west of the ohio river. james and benjamin paul, sons of major william paul, were old wagoners. joseph doak, of washington county, pennsylvania, was an old wagoner, subsequently a tavern keeper, and later a superintendent of the road. [illustration: john ferren.] martin horn, a native of washington county, pennsylvania, was known as the "swift wagoner." he made the trip from cumberland to wheeling with his six-horse team and a big load, in five days. the following old wagoners were residents, when at home, and citizens of fayette county, pennsylvania: harvey grove, adam yeast, solomon bird, louis langley, james paul, joseph wells, isaiah fouch, ellis campbell, william sullivan, george miller, william bird, barney neiman, jesse hardin, john hardin, james marshall, samuel sidebottom, john rutledge, robert hogsett, samuel milligan, thomas cook, benjamin paul, jeff nixon, george miller, moses richer, john rankin, peter fowler, william ball, james henshaw, william mcshane, henry frasher, peter frasher, jacob wolf, west jones, daniel turney, eli marlow, william turney, william cooper, dawson marlow, robert henderson, john ferren, robinson murphy, parker mcdonald, william betts, rezin lynch, joseph bixler, moses husted, william pastoris, john mcclure, thomas cochran, william peirsol, robert lynch, morgan campbell, martin leighty, john stentz, philip d. stentz, william bosley, charles mclaughlin, j. monroe bute, john canon, levi springer, george dearth, john mccurdy, calvin springer, zachariah ball, michael cochran, caleb hibbs, jacob newcomer, john rinehart, benjamin goodwin, harvey sutton, clark hutchinson, james ebbert, mifflin jeffries, jacob vance, william ullery, abram hall, george tedrick, alexander osborn, james abel, harper walker, jerry fouch, elias freeman, george wilhelm, father of sheriff wilhelm, of uniontown, caleb langly, jacob wagoner, oliver tate, jacob strickler, george shaffer, john newcomer, jesse j. peirsol, james shaffer, samuel harris, caleb antrim, william cooper, andrew prentice, ira strong, william gray, william kennedy, samuel hatfield, bernard dannels, stewart henderson, david dunbar, george grace, dicky richardson, reuben woodward, john king, john williams, george mclaughlin, darlington jeffries, john nelson, john moore, bazil sheets, isaac young, jerry strawn, samuel renshaw, reuben parshall, hiram hackney, james martin. the following were of washington county, pennsylvania, and there were many others from that county, as well as from fayette and the other counties mentioned, whose names, very much to the writer's regret, are unascertainable: eberon hurton, james bradley, jerome heck, james dennison, james bard, thomas bailes, charles thurston, william kirkman, otho hartzell, seldon king, william king, zeph riggle, john guttery, samuel charlton, george hallam, lewis hallam, david hill, charles reddick, john reddick, joseph arnold, moses kline, james brownlee, elisha brownlee, charles allen, philip slipe, john valentine, daniel valentine, john quinter, robert magee, william robinson, arthur robinson, john cook, william darlington, griffith darlington, joseph whisson, david blakely, samuel boyd, joseph king, joseph sopher, nimrod sopher, jack sopher, peter shires, john smith, james smith, thomas flack, james blakely, william darr, robert beggs, josiah brown, called "squire" brown, james arthur, george munce, joseph lawson, robert judson, john a. smith, elisha ely, charles bower, william dennison, john phillips, joseph doak, moses little, samuel guttery, william shouse, william jones, robert sprowl, william hastings, james thompson, robert doak, james doak, charles allen, john hastings (called doc). the following were of allegheny county, maryland: isaac browning, james browning, michael humbert, george mcgruder, peter hager, nathan tracy, thomas plumer, richard gray (colored), ben carter, james mccartney, joseph brooks, john carlisle, joseph turner, william yeast, john curtis, louis smith, john smith, fred shipley, alex. greer, john keener, david swaggart, george lehman, andrew lehman, william mcclintock, jacob albright, thomas ashbel, charles mcaleer, caleb madden, william lowry, augustus butler, john sheeres, edward finch, james clary, daniel barcus, ashael willison, hanson willison, joseph strong, thomas plumer, josiah porter, john kelso, john magraw, ira ryan, john ryan, moses mckenzie, moses porter, henry porter, john porter, george huff, lewis lachbaus, neil connor, john long, george long, upton long, william dixon, hanson clary, james porter, josiah mckenzie. the following were of washington county, maryland: abram herr, fred herr, david herr, john coffman, samuel kelly, william jones, joseph watt, john brentlinger, james ambrose, james dowler, william ford, robert fowler, peter hawes, samuel emert, michael welty, john duvall, andrew arnett, john reinhart, hiram sutton, john thomas, william thomas, barney hitchin, emanuel mcgruder, william orr, emanuel griffith, michael miller, john makel, john neibert, samuel brewer, henry stickle, ezra young, joshua johnson, samuel boyd, joseph myers, william keefer, peter urtz, jonas speelman, thomas flack, david connor, eli smith, john galwix, henry urtz, henry puffenberger. john snider, was born in washington county, maryland. the following were of somerset county, pennsylvania: michael deets, samuel wable, clem engle, samuel thompson, john livengood, isaac light, john sloan, joseph light, abram hileman, joseph hileman, william lenhart, daniel augustine, andrew hebner, james klink, andrew bates, robert duncan, robert allison, john dunbar, alex. dunbar, joseph skelly, james irvin, john fleck, william moonshire, thomas collier, frank bradfield, samuel shoaf, john bradfield, eli marble, henry renger, michael longstaff, john mitchell, william mcclintock, still living at salisbury, nearly ninety years old. [illustration: morris mauler.] the following were from the state of ohio: james gregory, william hoover, david hoover, christian hoover, gov. lucas, william morely, philip slife, samuel breakbill, john carroll, william lefevre, john lefevre, alby hall, solomon mercer, jacob breakbill, joseph mcnutt, john scroggins, william archie, elias petticord, harvey hamilton, pryn taylor, alex. mcgregor, westley mcbride, william george, michael neal, tim taylor, joseph vaughn, william whittle, daniel kildo, marion gordon, martin kildo, george clum, oliver mahon, william chaney, abner bailey, matthias meek, john a. smith, george zane, samuel paxon, benjamin mcnutt, knox keyser, b. f. dillon, valentine mann, jacob mann, benjamin corts, john whittle, john johnson (old sandy), william mcdonald, john moss, william tracy, joseph watson, george schaffer, william reynolds, not the old tavern keeper. ohio county, virginia, contributed the following names to the list of old wagoners: wash. and hiram bennett, john frasher, john moss, john weyman, joseph watson, michael detuck, james johnson, david church, william brooks, robert boyce, allen davis, thomas mcdonald, james jones, charles prettyman, john christy, john curtis, william, adam, and david barnhart, george weddel, and william tracy. greene county, pennsylvania, contributed the following well remembered veterans: christian and washington adams, john snyder (not the old regular), philip snyder, george miller, samuel milligan, caldwell holsworth, joseph milligan, joseph craft, jack dunaway, otho w. core, thomas chambers, samuel minor, jacob hart. frederic county, maryland, contributed the following: john crampton, joseph crampton, samuel brewer, ross fink, grafton shawn, henry smith, jacob wagoner, john fink, john miller, william miller, and henry mcgruder. jacob and james tamon were of baltimore. james walker, daniel keiser, john keiser, and sharp walker were of franklin county, pennsylvania. the home of the regular wagoner was on the road, and a good home it was, in so far as mere subsistence and stimulus to the senses were concerned, and it is his nativity, that the author has endeavored to note. regulars and sharpshooters are listed herein indiscriminately, but a majority of the names given as of fayette county, pennsylvania, are those of sharpshooters. the residences and homes of the following old wagoners could not be accurately ascertained, but they are familiar names, all well remembered by old inhabitants of the roadside, viz: william kieger (a lively fellow, and a "regular"), james dunbar, william keefer, rafe rutlege, samuel jackson, benjamin hunter, david greenland, john strauser, jacob cox, jonathan whitton, gus mitchell, samuel dowly, james patton, joseph freeman, james hall, william purcell, samuel rogers, john nye, israel young, james davis, jacob beem, isaac young, martin irwin, james parsons, james kennedy, isaac shaffer, john lynch, michael longstaff, george nouse, peter penner, james shaffer, john mcclure, john cox, william cox, joseph cheney, frank mowdy, caldwell shobworth, james jolly, andrew sheverner, jacob and james layman, john crampton, henry smith, william miller, john miller, henry mcgruder, elias mcgruder, michael miller, john seibert, henry stickle, ezra young, jonas speelman, david connor, eli smith, jacob everson, nathaniel everson. joseph shaw, james irvin, john chain, william wiglington, doug. shearl, marion ritchie, john vandyke, john alphen, daniel carlisle, george burke, thomas ogden, michael abbott, charles genewine, herman rolf, isaac manning. the following letters from jesse j. peirsol, now a prosperous farmer of franklin township, fayette county, pennsylvania, of vigorous health and unimpaired memory, furnish a graphic description of life on the road in its palmy days: december , . mr. t. b. searight: _dear sir_: i have stayed over night with william sheets, on nigger mountain, when there would be thirty six-horse teams on the wagon yard, one hundred kentucky mules in an adjacent lot, one thousand hogs in other enclosures, and as many fat cattle from illinois in adjoining fields. the music made by this large number of hogs, in eating corn on a frosty night, i will never forget. after supper and attention to the teams, the wagoners would gather in the bar room and listen to music on the violin, furnished by one of their fellows, have a "virginia hoe-down," sing songs, tell anecdotes, and hear the experience of drivers and drovers from all points on the road, and when it was all over, unroll their beds, lay them down on the floor before the bar room fire, side by side, and sleep, with their feet near the fire, as soundly as under the paternal roof. coming out from cumberland in the winter of or , we stopped one night with hiram sutton, at sand springs, near frostburg. the night was hazy, but not cold. we sat on our buckets, turned bottom up, and listened to a hundred horses grinding corn. one of our number got up in the night and complained that snow was falling on his face. this aroused us all, and we got up, went to the door and witnessed the most blinding snow storm i ever saw. some of the horses broke loose from the tongue, and we had difficulty in finding them. we stayed up till morning, when the snow had risen to the hubs of the front wheels. we hitched eight or ten horses to a wagon, pulled out to coonrod's tavern, one mile west, and returned to sutton's for another wagon, and in this way all reached coonrod's. the next morning we pulled out again, and on little savage mountain found the snow deeper than ever, and a gang of men engaged in shoveling it from the road. i got stuck and had to be shoveled out. we reached tom johnson's that night, making three miles in two days. the next day john ullery, one of our number upset at peter yeast's, and a barrel of venetian red rolled out from his wagon, which painted the snow red for many miles, east and west. we stayed with yeast the third night after the storm. in the winter of a gang of us went down, loaded with tobacco, bacon, lard, cheese, flour, corn, oats and other products. one of our number was an ohio man, named mcbride. his team consisted of seven horses, the seventh being the leader. his load consisted of nine hogsheads of tobacco, five standing upright in the bed of his wagon, and four resting crosswise on top of the five. the hogsheads were each about four feet high and three and a half feet in diameter at the bulge, and weighing from nine to eleven hundred pounds each. this made a "top-heavy load," and on the hill west of somerfield, and near tom brown's tavern, the road icy, mcbride's load tumbled over, the tobacco in the ditches, and the horses piled up in all shapes. the work of restoring the wreck was tedious, and before we got through with it we had the aid of thirty or forty wagoners not of our company. of course the occasion brought to the ground a supply of the pure old whisky of that day, which was used in moderation and produced no bad effects. after we had righted up our unfortunate fellow wagoner, we pushed on and rested over night at dan augustine's, east of petersburg. yours truly, jesse j. peirsol. another letter from the same person on the same subject. february , . in september, or , my father came home from uniontown late at night, and woke me up to tell me that there had been a big break in the pennsylvania canal, and that all western freights were coming out over the national road in wagons. the stage coaches brought out posters soliciting teams. by sunrise next morning, i was in brownsville with my team, and loaded up at cass's warehouse with tobacco, bacon, and wool, and whipped off for cumberland. i drove to hopwood the first day and stayed over night with john wallace. that night thomas snyder, a virginia wagoner, came into hopwood with a load of flour from a back country mill. when we got beyond laurel hill, snyder retailed his flour by the barrel to the tavern keepers, and was all sold out when we reached coonrod's tavern, on big savage. i was a mere boy, and snyder was especially kind and attentive to me. after we pulled on to coonrod's yard snyder told me to unhitch and feed, but leave the harness on. at midnight we rose, hitched up, snyder lending me two horses, making me a team of eight, pulled out, and reached cumberland that night. on leaving coonrod's the night was dark, and i shall never forget the sounds of crunching stones under the wheels of my wagon, and the streaks of fire rolling out from the horses' feet. in cumberland, we found the commission houses, and the cars on sidings filled with goods, and men cursing loudly because the latter were not unloaded. large boxes of valuable goods were likewise on the platform of the station, protected by armed guards. after unloading my down load i re-loaded at mckaig & maguire's commission house for brownsville, at one dollar and twenty-five cents a hundred. we reached brownsville without incident or accident, made a little money, and loaded back again for cumberland. on my return i found plenty of goods for shipment, and loaded up at tuttle's house for wheeling, at two dollars and twenty-five cents a hundred. in coming back, it looked as if the whole earth was on the road; wagons, stages, horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, and turkeys without number. teams of every description appeared in view, from the massive outfit of governor lucas down to the old bates hitched to a chicken coop. the commission merchants, seeing the multitude of wagons, sought to reduce prices, whereupon the old wagoners called a meeting and made a vigorous kick against the proposed reduction. it was the first strike i ever heard of. nothing worried a sharpshooter more than lying at expense in cumberland waiting for a load. two of the "sharps," unwilling to endure the delay caused by the strike, drove their four-horse rigs to a warehouse to load at the reduction. this excited the "regulars," and they massed with horns, tin buckets, oyster-cans and the like, and made a descent upon the "sharps," pelting and guying them unmercifully. an old wagoner named butler commanded the striking regulars with a pine sword, and marched them back and forth through the streets. finally the police quelled the disturbance, and the "sharps" loaded up and drove out sixteen miles, to find their harness cut and their axles sawed off in the morning. in this dilemma an old regular, going down empty for a load, took the contract of the "sharps," and made them promise to never return on the road, a promise they faithfully kept. yours truly, jesse j. peirsol. many old wagoners wore a curious garment called a hunting shirt. it was of woolen stuff, after the style of "blue jeans," with a large cape trimmed with red. it was called a hunting shirt because first used by hunters in the mountains. the origin of pennsylvania tobies is worth recording, and pertinent to the history of the old wagoners. the author is indebted to j. v. thompson, esq., president of the first national bank of uniontown, for the following clipping from a philadelphia paper concerning the "toby:" "it appears that in the old days the drivers of the conestoga wagons, so common years ago on our national road, used to buy very cheap cigars. to meet this demand a small cigar manufacturer in washington, pennsylvania, whose name is lost to fame, started in to make a cheap 'roll-up' for them at four for a cent. they became very popular with the drivers, and were at first called conestoga cigars; since, by usage, corrupted into 'stogies' and 'tobies.' it is now estimated that pennsylvania and west virginia produce about , , tobies yearly, probably all for home consumption." [illustration: james smith, of henry.] it is probable that the manufacturer referred to in the above was george black, as that gentleman made "tobies" in washington at an early day, and continued in the business for many years, and until he became quite wealthy. in his later days his trade was very large and profitable. old wagoners hauled his "tobies" over the road in large quantities, as they did subsequently the wheeling "tobies," which were, and continued to be, a favorite brand. many habitual smokers prefer a washington or a wheeling "toby" to an alleged fine, high priced cigar, and the writer of these lines is one of them. as has been noted, the "rubber," called brake at this day, was not in use when the national road was first thrown open for trade and travel. instead, as related by john deets, sapplings, cut at the summit of the hills, were shaped and fashioned to answer the ends of the "rubber," and at the foot of the hills taken off and left on the roadside. e. b. dawson, esq., the well known, well posted and accurate antiquarian of uniontown, and, by the way, deeply interested in the history of the national road, is authority for the statement that one jones, of bridgeport, fayette county, pennsylvania, claimed to be the inventor of the "rubber." he, however, never succeeded in obtaining letters patent, if, indeed, he ever applied. there were other claimants, among them the slifers, of maryland, mentioned elsewhere in these pages. the real and true inventor seems to be unknown, and yet it is an invention of vast importance, and with legal protection would have yielded the inventor an immense fortune. old wagoners, as a class, were robust, hardy, honest and jovial. but one of the long list is remembered as a criminal. his name was ben pratt, and he belonged to philadelphia. he turned out to be a counterfeiter of coin and currency, and suffered the punishment that all counterfeiters deserve. many old wagoners were fond of fun and frolic, but very few of them were intemperate, although they had the readiest opportunities for unrestrained drinking. every old tavern had its odd shaped little bar, ornamented in many instances with fancy lattice work, and well stocked with whiskey of the purest distillation, almost as cheap as water. in fact all kinds of liquors were kept at the old taverns of the national road, except the impure stuff of the present day. the bottles used were of plain glass, each marked in large letters with the name of the liquor it contained, and the old landlord would place these bottles on the narrow counter of the little bar, in the presence of a room filled with wagoners, so that all could have free access to them. none of the old tavern keepers made profit from the sales of liquor. they kept it more for the accommodation of their guests, than for money making purposes. there was probably a tavern on every mile of the road, between cumberland and wheeling, and all combined did not realize as much profit from the sales of liquor in a year as is realized in that time by one licensed hotel keeper of uniontown, at the present day. when, at last, the conestoga horse yielded up the palm to the iron horse, and it became manifest that the glory of the old road was departing, never to return, the old wagoners, many of whom had spent their best days on the road, sang in chorus the following lament: "now all ye jolly wagoners, who have got good wives, go home to your farms, and there spend your lives. when your corn is all cribbed, and your small grain is good, you'll have nothing to do but curse the railroad." chapter xxi. _stage drivers, stage lines and stage coaches--the postilion--changing horses--he comes, the herald of a noisy world--pioneer proprietors--peter burdine and his little rhyme--anecdote of thomas corwin--johny ritter--daniel brown, his sad ending--soldier drivers--redding bunting--joseph and william woolley--andrew j. wable--james burr._ "my uncle rested his head upon his hands and thought of the busy bustling people who had rattled about, years before, in the old coaches, and were now as silent and changed; he thought of the numbers of people to whom once, those crazy, mouldering vehicles had borne, night after night, for many years, and through all weathers, the anxiously expected intelligence, the eagerly looked for remittance, the promised assurances of health and safety, the sudden announcement of sickness and death. the merchant, the lover, the wife, the widow, the mother, the school boy, the very child who tottered to the door at the postman's knock--how had they all looked forward to the arrival of the old coach! and where were they all now?"--_charles dickens._ [illustration: stage coach] stage drivers as a class did not rank as high morally as wagoners, but despite this there were among them men of good sense, honest intentions and steady habits. as typical of the better class, the reader who is familiar with the old road will readily recall redding bunting, samuel luman, elliott seaburn, watty noble, james carroll, aquila and nat smith, william scott, david gordon, james burr, william robinson, john huhn, david bell, john guttery, john ritter, joseph henderson and peter null. others will be instantly recognized as their names shall appear on these pages. it is the sincere belief of all old pike boys that the stage lines of the national road were never equalled in spirit and dash on any road, in any age or country. the chariots of the appian way, drawn by the fastest horses of ancient italy, formed a dismal cortege in comparison with the sprightly procession of stage coaches on the old american highway. the grandeur of the old mail coach is riveted forever in the memory of the pike boy. to see it ascending a long hill, increasing speed, when nearing the summit, then moving rapidly over the intervening level to the top of the next hill, and dashing down it, a driver like the stately redding bunting wielding the whip and handling the reins, revealed a scene that will never be forgotten. and there was another feature of the old stage lines that left a lasting mark on memory's tablet. it was the "postilion." a groom with two horses was stationed at the foot of many of the long hills, and added to the ordinary team of four horses to aid in making the ascent. the summit gained, the extra horses were quickly detached and returned to await and aid the next coming coach, and this was the "postilion." nathan hutton is a well remembered old postilion. he was a tall, spare man, and lived in a small log house on the roadside, a short distance west of the old johnson tavern, and four and a half miles east of brownsville. at the foot of the hill below his house, he re-enforced the coaches with his postilion both ways, east and west, up colley's hill, going west, and the equally long hill, coming east from that point. when he wanted a man or horse to be faithful to duty he exhorted him to "stand by his 'tarnal integrity." the old postilion bade adieu to the scenes of earth long ago, and nothing is left to indicate the spot where his lowly dwelling stood except a few perishing quince bushes. hanson willison, of cumberland, when a boy rode postilion for samuel luman, and for alfred bailes. john evans and jacob hoblitzell rode postilion through the mountains, east of keyser's ridge. martin massey rode out from brownsville, and thomas m. fee, now crier of the courts of fayette county, pennsylvania, rode out from uniontown, over laurel hill. excitement followed in the wake of the coaches all along the road. their arrival in the towns was the leading event of each day, and they were so regular in transit that farmers along the road knew the exact hour by their coming, without the aid of watch or clock. they ran night and day alike. relays of fresh horses were placed at intervals of twelve miles, as nearly as practicable. ordinarily a driver had charge of one team only, which he drove and cared for. mail drivers, however, in many instances, drove three or four teams and more, which were cared for by grooms at the stations. teams were changed almost in the twinkling of an eye. the coach was driven rapidly to the station, where a fresh team stood ready harnessed and waiting on the roadside. the moment the team came to a halt the driver threw down the reins, and almost instantly the incoming team was detached, the fresh one attached, the reins thrown back to the driver, who did not leave his seat, and away again went the coach at full speed, the usual group of loafers, meanwhile, looking on and enjoying the exciting scene. the horses used were showy and superb, the admiration of all who beheld them. mr. stockton had a strain called the "murat," and another known as the "winflower," which have become extinct, but many expert horsemen contend that they have not, in later days, been surpassed for nerve, beauty or speed. a peculiar affliction came upon many of the "wheel horses," expressed by the phrase "sprung in the knees." it is said to have been produced by the efforts of the horses in "holding back," while descending the long and steep hills. there was one mail coach that was especially imposing. on its gilded sides appeared the picture of a post boy, with flying horse and horn, and beneath it in gilt letters this awe inspiring inscription: "he comes, the herald of a noisy world, news from all nations lumbering at his back." no boy who beheld that old coach will ever forget it. the coaches were all handsomely and artistically painted and ornamented, lined inside with soft silk plush. there were three seats furnished with luxurious cushions, and three persons could sit comfortably on each, so that nine passengers made a full load as far as the interior was concerned. a seat by the side of the driver was more coveted in fair weather than a seat within. during the prosperous era of the road it was not uncommon to see as many as fifteen coaches in continuous procession, and both ways, east and west, there would be thirty each day. james kinkead, jacob sides and abraham russell put on the first line of passenger coaches west of cumberland, and as early as john and andrew shaffer, garrett clark, aaron wyatt, morris mauler, john farrell, quill and nathan smith, and peter null, were drivers on this line. the smiths and null drove in and out from uniontown. one of the smiths subsequently became the agent of a stage line in ohio. james kinkead, above mentioned, was the senior member of the firm of kinkead, beck and evans, who built most of the large stone bridges on the line of the road. this early line of stages was owned and operated in sections. kinkead owned the line from brownsville to somerfield; sides, from somerfield to the little crossings, and thence to cumberland russell was the proprietor. kinkead sold his section to george dawson, of brownsville, and alpheus beall, of cumberland, bought out russell's interest. this line was subsequently purchased by, and merged in, the national road stage company, the principal and most active member of which was lucius w. stockton. the other members of this company were daniel moore, of washington, pennsylvania, richard stokes and moore n. falls, of baltimore, and dr. howard kennedy, of hagerstown, maryland. after the death of mr. stockton, in , dr. kennedy and mr. acheson were the active members of the firm. john w. weaver put a line of stages on the road at an early day, known as the people's line. after a short run it was withdrawn from the road east of wheeling, and transferred to the ohio division. previous to , james reeside put on a line which mr. stockton nick-named the "june bug," for the reason, as he alleged, it would not survive the coming of the june bugs. mr. stockton subsequently bought out this line and consolidated it with his own. there was a line of stages on the road called the "good intent," which came to stay, and did stay until driven off by the irresistible force of the steam king. this line was owned by shriver, steele & company, and was equal in vim, vigor and general equipment to the stockton line. the headquarters of the good intent line at uniontown was the mcclelland house. there passengers took their meals, and the horses were kept in the stables appurtenant. the "old line" (stockton's) had its headquarters at the national house, on morgantown street, now the private residence of that worthy and well known citizen, thomas batton. this little _bon mot_ is one among a thousand, illustrative of the spirit of the competition between these rival lines. there was one peter burdine, a driver on the good intent line, noted for his dashing qualities, who was accustomed to give vent to his fidelity to his employers, and his confidence in himself in these words: "if you take a seat in stockton's line, you are sure to be passed by pete burdine." and this became a popular ditty all along the road. on authority of hanson willison, the old stage driver of cumberland, the first line of stages put on the road east of cumberland, in opposition to the stockton line, was owned, from frederic to hagerstown, by hutchinson and wirt; from hagerstown to piney plains, by william f. steele; from piney plains to cumberland, by thomas shriver. thomas corwin, the famous ohio statesman and popular orator of the olden time, was not a stage driver, but he was a wagoner, and one of the rallying cries of his friends, in the campaign that resulted in his election as governor, was: "hurrah for tom corwin, the wagoner boy." the introduction of his name, in connection with stages and stage drivers, becomes pertinent in view of the following anecdote: corwin was of very dark complexion, and among strangers, and in his time, when race distinction was more pronounced than now, often taken for a negro. on one occasion, while he was a member of congress, he passed over the road in a "chartered coach," in company with henry clay, a popular favorite all along the road, and other distinguished gentlemen, en route for the capital. a chartered coach was one belonging to the regular line, but hired for a trip, and controlled by the parties engaging it. the party stopped one day for dinner at an old "stage tavern," kept by samuel cessna, at the foot of "town hill," also known as "snib hollow," twenty-five miles east of cumberland. cessna was fond of entertaining guests, and particularly ardent in catering to distinguished travelers. he was, therefore, delighted when this party entered his house. he had seen mr. clay before, and knew him. the tall form of mr. corwin attracted his attention, and he noted specially his swarthy complexion, heard his traveling companions call him "tom," and supposed he was the servant of the party. the first thing after the order for dinner was a suggestion of something to relieve the tedium of travel, and excite the appetite for the anticipated dinner, and it was brandy, genuine old cogniac, which was promptly brought to view by the zealous old landlord. brandy was the "tony" drink of the old pike--brandy and loaf sugar, and it was often lighted by a taper and burnt, under the influence of a popular tradition that "if burnt brandy couldn't save a man" in need of physical tension, his case was hopeless. when the brandy was produced, the party, with the exception of corwin, stepped up to the bar and each took a glass. corwin, to encourage the illusion of the old landlord, stood back. in a patronizing way the landlord proffered a glass to corwin, saying: "tom, you take a drink." corwin drank off the glass, and in an humble manner returned it to the landlord with modest thanks. dinner was next announced, and when the party entered the dining room, a side table was observed for use of the servant, as was the custom at all old taverns on the road at that time. corwin, at once recognizing the situation, sat down alone at the side table, while the other gentlemen occupied the main table. the dinner was excellent, as all were at the old taverns on the national road, and while undergoing discussion, mr. clay occasionally called out to the lone occupant of the side table: "how are you getting on, tom?" to which the modest response was, "very well." after dinner the old landlord produced a box of fine cigars, and first serving the distinguished guests, took one from the box and in his hand proffered it to mr. corwin, with the remark: "take a cigar, tom?" when it was announced that the coach was in readiness to proceed on the journey, mr. clay took corwin's arm, and, approaching the old landlord, said: "mr. cessna, permit me to introduce the hon. thomas corwin, of ohio." cessna was thunder-struck. his mortification know no bounds. observing his mental agony, mr. corwin restored him to equanimity by saying: "it was all a joke, mr. cessna; do not, i beg you, indulge in the slightest feeling of mortification. i expect to be back this way before long, and will call again to renew acquaintance, and take another good dinner with you." john ritter, affectionately and invariably, by his acquaintances, called "johnny," was noted for his honesty and steady habits. for many years after staging ceased on the road, he was a familiar figure about washington, pennsylvania. he assisted major hammond for thirty years in conducting the valentine house, and acted as agent for brimmer's line of mail hacks, and other similar lines, after the great mail and passenger lines were withdrawn. he was a bachelor, and a soldier of , and drew a small pension. he died at the valentine house, in washington, on january th, , in the eightieth year of his age, leaving behind him a good name and many friends. the first line of passenger coaches put on the road between brownsville and wheeling was owned, organized and operated by stephen hill and simms and pemberton. this was in , and a continuation of the early line before mentioned from cumberland to brownsville. stephen hill, while a stage proprietor, was also a tavern keeper in hillsboro, washington county, a small town, but an old town, which probably derived its name from his family. under the inspiration of modern reformation, so called, the name of this old town has been changed and languishes now under the romantic appellation of scenery hill. when it was hillsboro, and a stage station of the old pike, it was a lively little town. under its present picturesque name it remains a little town, but not a lively one. the change of name, however, has not yet penetrated the thinned ranks of the old pike boys, and they still refer to it as hillsboro. [illustration: william whaley.] the next station west of hillsboro, where stage horses were changed, twelve miles distant, was washington, where passengers also took meals. the good intent line stopped at the mansion house, situate at the upper end of the town, and the "old line" stopped at the national, in the lower end. the next changing place west of washington was claysville, the next roneys point, and thence to wheeling. about the year the good intent line stopped its coaches, or a portion of them, at the greene house in washington, kept by daniel brown, who, previous to that date, had, for a time, been a road agent of that line. of all the good taverns on the road there were none better than brown's. he had his peculiarities, as most men have, but he knew how to keep a hotel. he enjoyed the occupation of entertaining guests, and glowed with good feeling while listening to the praises bestowed upon his savory spreads. this popular old landlord came to a sad and untimely end by being cut to pieces in a mill by a buzz saw, on what was once called the plank road, leading from washington through monongahela city, west newton, mt. pleasant, somerset and bedford to cumberland. stages ran on that road, and at the time of the accident, mr. brown was in the service of a stage company and at the saw mill to urge forward the work of getting out plank for the road. david sibley, an old driver on stockton's line, went with the fayette county "boys in blue" to mexico in , a member of co. h, d regiment of pennsylvania volunteers. he participated in the engagement at cerro gordo, emerged from that conflict unscathed, but died soon after at pueblo from ailments incident to an inhospitable climate. william whaley, a soldier of the war between the states, and a son of capt. james whaley, a soldier of , was an old stage driver. he was born in connellsville, but spent the prime of his life in uniontown, and on the road. he used to tell the boys that one of the horses of his team died coming down laurel hill, but that he held him up until he reached the mcclelland house in uniontown. whaley drove for a time on the morgantown route from uniontown, and died in the latter place twenty years and more ago. james turner, a somerset county man, an old stage driver, also volunteered as a soldier in the mexican war, and started out a member of co. h, above mentioned. in crossing the gulf he fell down a hatchway of the vessel and was killed, and the mortal remains of the old driver were buried in the deep sea. james gordon, a well remembered old stage driver, went with co. h to mexico, and died in the capital city of that republic. he was the father-in-law of peter heck, a former postmaster of uniontown. samuel sibley, probably a brother of david, before mentioned, was a well-known driver. he was small in stature, but alert in movement. it was he who drove the coach that upset on a stone pile in the main street of uniontown with henry clay as a passenger, the details of which have elsewhere been given. ben showalter is remembered as an old driver, who sang little songs and performed little tricks of legerdemain for the amusement of the boys. he went to the war between the states as a private in major west's cavalry of uniontown, and died in the service. [illustration: redding bunting.] redding bunting, mentioned before, was probably more widely known and had more friends than any other old stage driver on the road. his entire service on the road, covering many years, was in connection with the "old line." he was a great favorite of mr. stockton, the leading proprietor of that line. his commanding appearance is impressed upon the memories of all who knew him. he stood six feet six inches high in his stockings, and straight as an arrow, without any redundant flesh. his complexion was of a reddish hue and his features pronounced and striking. his voice was of the baritone order, deep and sonorous, but he was not loquacious and had a habit of munching. he was endowed with strong common sense, which the pike boys called "horse sense," to emphasize its excellence. he was affable, companionable and convivial. he was a native of fayette county, pa., and born in menallen township. he was not only a stage driver, but a trusted stage agent, stage proprietor, and also a tavern keeper. he once owned the property now known as the "central hotel," in uniontown, and if he had retained it would have died a rich man. despondency and depression of spirits seemed to have encompassed him, when business ceased on the road, and he appeared as one longing for the return of other and better days. during the presidency of mr. van buren, it was deemed desirable by the authorities that one of his special messages should be speedily spread before the people. accordingly arrangements were made by the stockton line, which had the contract for carrying the mails, to transmit the message of the president with more than ordinary celerity. the baltimore and ohio railroad at the time was not in operation west of frederic city, maryland. mr. bunting, as agent of the company, repaired to that point to receive the coming document and convey it to wheeling. he sat by the side of the driver the entire distance from frederic to wheeling to superintend the mission and urge up the speed. the distance between the points named is two hundred and twenty-two miles, and was covered in twenty-three hours and thirty minutes. changes of teams and drivers were made at the usual relays, and the driver who brought the flying coach from farmington to uniontown was joseph woolley, who made the sparks fly at every step, as he dashed down the long western slope of laurel hill. homer westover drove the coach from uniontown to brownsville, covering the intervening distance of twelve miles in the almost incredible compass of forty-four minutes. the coach used on this occasion was called the "industry," one of the early mail coaches with "monkey box" attachment, and it literally woke up the echoes in its rapid transit over the road. the pittsburg _gazette_ had arranged for an early copy of the important message and agreed to pay robert l. barry and joseph p. mcclelland, of uniontown, connected in various subordinate capacities with the stage lines, the sum of fifty dollars for a speedy delivery of the document at the office of that journal in pittsburg. brownsville was then the distributing point for all mail matter sent west over the national road, consigned to pittsburg, and barry and mcclelland went down to brownsville on the "industry" to obtain the message there and transmit it thence to pittsburg by special convoy overland to the _gazette_; but when the mail was opened it was discovered that it did not contain a package for the _gazette_, and barry and mcclelland returned home disappointed, while the _gazette_ suffered still greater disappointment in not being able to lay an early copy of the message before its readers. the reader will bear in mind that at the time referred to the telegraph was unknown as an agency for transmitting news, and the railroad, as has been seen, had not advanced west of frederic city, maryland. in the year , after the railroad was completed to cumberland, redding bunting rivaled, if he did not surpass, the feat of rapid transit above described. he drove the great mail coach from cumberland to wheeling, which carried the message of president polk, officially proclaiming that war existed between the united states and mexico. leaving cumberland at two o'clock in the morning, he reached uniontown at eight o'clock of the same morning, breakfasted there with his passengers, at his own house (for he was then the proprietor of the national), and after breakfast, which was soon disposed of, proceeded with his charge, reaching washington at eleven a. m. and wheeling at two p. m., covering a distance of one hundred and thirty-one miles in twelve hours. he was not at that time an ordinary driver, but an agent of the line, and took the reins in person for the avowed purpose of making the highest speed attainable. redding bunting has been dead about ten years. his wife, who was a daughter of capt. endsley, the old tavern keeper at the big crossings, survived him about three years. he left two sons and two daughters. one of his sons, henry clay, is at present postmaster of dunbar, pa., and the other, william, is a printer, and at this writing foreman of the composing force of the pittsburg _times_. one of the daughters is the wife of milton k. frankenberry, a prominent citizen of fayette county, pa., and the other is the wife of armor craig, a leading merchant of uniontown. the old driver has gone to his last home, but his memory remains fresh and fragrant all along the road. joseph woolley, above mentioned, had a brother, william, who was also a well known stage driver. when the staging days on the road were ended, and the exciting incidents thereof relegated to the domain of history, joseph and william woolley sought and obtained employment in the service of the baltimore and ohio railroad company, and both ultimately became competent and trustworthy locomotive engineers. andrew j. wable commenced driving stage in , and continued uninterruptedly until . he went to illinois in , and is still living, in good health and spirits. he frequently visits his old home in the mountains of fayette county, where he was reared, and is there now, or was very recently. he drove first on the "shake gut," which was not a passenger line, but a line put on the road to carry light freights with rapidity. he drove next on the "good intent" line, and subsequently on the old, or stockton line. he was a driver on the good intent line when william scott was its agent, and on the old line during the agencies of granger and bunting. he drove on the good intent line from somerfield to keyser's ridge, and on the old line from keyser's ridge to piney grove. he also drove between washington and wheeling, and from uniontown to farmington. his recollections of the old road are vivid, and he is fond of recounting incidents of its palmy days. james burr drove out westward from washington. he was reputed to be a man of great muscular power, but with it all, a man of quiet demeanor. a cincinnati man, name not given, had achieved the reputation of "licking" everybody in and around cincinnati, and like alexander of old, sighed for more victories. hearing of jim burr, he resolved to encounter him, and struck out for claysville, where he had been informed burr could be found. he traveled by steamboat to wheeling, thence by stage coach to claysville. the cincinnati man "put up" at the tavern of william kelley, the stopping place of burr's line at claysville. upon entering, the stranger inquired for jim burr, and was politely informed by mr. kelley, the old landlord, that mr. burr was at the stable looking after his team, and would soon be in. in a little while burr came in, and mr. kelley remarked to the stranger, "this is mr. burr." the stranger, who was a somewhat larger man than burr, saluted him thus: "burr, i have been told that you are the best man in all this country, and i have come all the way from cincinnati to fight you, and lick you, if i can." "well," said burr, "you have come a long distance for a job like that, and besides i don't know you, and there is no reason why we should fight." "but," rejoined the stranger, "you must fight me, i insist on it, and will not leave here until you do." burr persisted in declining the proffered combat, and finally went upstairs to bed, and after a nap of half an hour's duration, came down without a thought of again meeting his aggressive visitor. to his utter surprise the cincinnati bluffer met him at the foot of the stairs, and again demanded a trial of strength. this was more than burr's good nature could withstand, and stepping back, he drew up in the attitude of a striker, warning his assailant at the same time to "look out," when with one blow of his fist, he felled him stone dead on the floor. burr then went to the water stand in a rear room of the tavern, washed his face and hands, and upon returning saw the victim of his deadly blow still lying prostrate upon the floor, and exclaimed: "my god, has that man not got up yet?" but the vanquished bully did, after a while, get up, and in rising discovered that he was a wiser, if not a better man. news of this singular encounter spread rapidly through the town of claysville, and nearly every inhabitant thereof rushed to the scene to learn how it happened, and all about it. the facts were minutely and carefully made known to all inquirers by william kelley, the old landlord, and cheers went up and out for jim burr, the hero of claysville. at the time of this occurrence david gordon was also driving out westwardly from washington. tradition has it that these two men had a reciprocal fear of each other, but they never collided, and it is a mooted question as to which of them was the better man in a physical sense. it is a long time since burr and gordon were seen on the front boot of a handsome concord coach, wielding the reins and flourishing the whip over the backs of four dashing steeds with a grace and dignity befitting a more pretentious calling; and presumably they have answered the last summons, but living or dead, their names are indelibly stamped on the history of the national road. david gordon was sent out from the east by james reeside, and drove first on the "june bug line." going out west from claysville soon after he commenced driving his team ran off, with a full load of passengers. discerning in a moment that the flying team could not be checked by ordinary methods, he pulled it off the road and turned the coach over against a high bank. the passengers were badly frightened, but none were hurt, and attributed their escape from injury to the skillfulness of the driver. after "righting up," the coach but little damaged, proceeded to roney's point without further casualty. this incident, or rather accident, gave gordon a wide reputation as a cool and skillful driver, and he rapidly advanced to the front rank of his calling. the "june bug line" did not remain long on the road, and when it was withdrawn gordon took service in the good intent line, and continued with it until all through lines of coaches were taken from the road. gordon was a very stout man, six feet in height, and weighing about two hundred pounds, without any surplus flesh. it was said that he could fight, but was not quarrelsome. his motto seemed to be "_non tangere mihi_." on one occasion, as tradition has it, he was compelled to engage in a knock-down, in self defense. it was at triadelphia, virginia. three "toughs" fell upon him at that place, with the intention, as they stated it, of "doing him up," but they failed ignominously. gordon repulsed and routed them completely and decisively, and they never thereafter coveted a rencounter with gordon, and the example of their fate rendered others with pugilistic proclivities a little shy about encountering him. chapter xxii. _stages and stage drivers continued--character of drivers defended--styles of driving--classification of drivers--samuel luman, old mail driver--his thrilling encounter with robbers--george fisher dashes into a whig procession--daniel leggett--accident to black hawk--tobias banner, jerry mcmullin, george mckenna, paris eaches, jack bailiss, henry a. wise, and other familiar names._ mr. a. j. endsley, of somerset, an intelligent, educated and observing gentleman, who was born and reared on the national road, gives it as his judgment that old stage drivers, as a class, were better, morally, than old wagoners. he says that while some of the stage drivers were given to blaspheming and drinking, there were wagoners who would "discount them, especially in the matter of profanity." he names, as types of orderly, well behaved stage drivers, thomas grace, william and alexander thompson, john mills, charley howell, john high, william robinson, isaac frazee (still living in markleysburg), isaac denny, samuel halsted, william white, samuel jaco, thomas moore, james a. carroll, william bishop and john bunting. william robinson and pate sides were expert penmen. john e. reeside, a son of commodore james reeside, the old stage proprietor, now residing in baltimore, who had a general supervision of his father's lines on the national road, gives three styles of stage driving, as follows, viz: ( ) the flat rein (english); ( ) the top and bottom (pennsylvania); ( ) the side rein (eastern). in the first style mr. reeside says that john bennett and watty noble excelled, and in the second, jack bailiss, frank lawson and joe bowers carried off the palm. he adds that the third mode was the one adopted by a majority of the best drivers, and in this, isaac page, luda adams, peyton r. sides, david gordon, john lanning, abram dedrick and david johnson excelled all other drivers. mr. endsley, before mentioned, divides the old stage drivers in four classes, as follows: "( ) awkward, slovenly, careless drivers, such as handled the whip and 'ribbons' so clumsily, and kept their teams so unseemly together, up hill, down grades and on the level, that it was painful to see them on the box. typical of this class were tom frantz, dan boyer, pete null and abe halderman. ( ) cruel men--their cruelty amounting almost to brutality. this class seemed to take a fiendish delight in whipping, lashing and gashing horses. wash alridge and a big, burly driver by the name of robinson, were types of the cruel class. ( ) careful, easy-going, common, every day kind of drivers--men who never made pretensions to fancy styles. they were such as john bunting (old judy), jim reynolds, james carroll (flaxey), blanchard (hatchet face), billy armor and josh. boyd. ( ) well dressed drivers, clean and neat in person, and men who regarded sitting down to a meal in shirt sleeves as _contra, bonos mores_. this class manipulated the whip and 'ribbons' scientifically, and sat on the box in a way that showed they were masters of the situation. prominent in this class were john high, pate sides, peter halderman, 'yankee' thompson, sam jerome, jim moore," &c. in this latter class might be ranked david gordon, james burr, and others of the western end of the road. [illustration: john bunting.] samuel luman, still living in cumberland, and in good health, was one of the best equipped stage drivers on the road. his experience covers many of the most exciting and interesting events in the road's history. he commenced his career as a stage driver in , the same year that alfred bailes began as a wagoner. he tells of a collision with highwaymen in the mountains, which was attended by thrilling details. on the th of august, , he was on the road between piney grove and frostburg, with a mail and passenger coach going east. after nightfall, and at a point studded by a thick growth of pine trees, he was confronted by a party of foot-pads, five in number, and strange to relate, one a woman, bent on felony. the outlook was alarming. luman carried no fire-arms, and there was but one weapon among his passengers, a small, brass pistol, not brought into requisition, as the sequel shows. the assailants had thrown across the road an obstruction like a rude fence, made of logs, stumps and brush. as luman's trusty leaders approached the obstruction, one of the highwaymen stepped out from his cover and seized a bridle, and the coach was stopped. the assailant ordered luman to descend from his seat and surrender his charge. this he very politely, but very decidedly declined to do. "what do you want?" queried luman, with seeming innocency. "we are traders," was the response. "well," rejoined luman, coolly, "i have nothing to trade; i am satisfied with my trappings, and not desirous of exchanging them." during this little parley the wood-be robber, who held a leader by the bridle, cried out to a partner in crime, who was near at hand, though under cover of darkness, to shoot the driver, and denounced him as a coward for not firing. the party thus addressed then leveled a pistol at luman and pulled the trigger, but the result was nothing more than a "snap," the night air being damp and the powder failing to explode. these favorable surroundings, no doubt, saved luman's life. the foot-pads at the heads of the leaders had, in the confusion and excitement of the moment, turned the horses squarely around, so that the leaders faced west, while the wheel horses stood to the east. in this conjuncture the party in charge of the leaders undertook to unhitch them, and to guard against the movements of luman, wrapped a driving rein tightly around one of his arms. this was luman's opportunity, and summoning all his resources, he poured a volley of stinging lashes upon his antagonist, smiting him on the face and arm, alternately, and most vigorously. the bandit winced, and soon relinquished his grasp, when, almost in the twinkling of an eye, the team under luman's skillful hands started up on a full run, leaping the improvised fence, and speeding on, leaving the foot-pads behind to lament their discomfiture. mr. luman relates that in crossing the improvised fence, he fairly trembled for the fate of himself and passengers, as the coach was within an ace of capsizing. he also states that the ruffian who seized his leader wore a gown that covered his whole person, tied around the middle of his body with a belt, and that another of his assailants wore a white vest, dark pantaloons, and covered his face with a black mask. the other three kept in the back ground during the attack, so that he is unable to recall their appearance. mr. luman further relates that when the first assault was made on him, he apprized his passengers of the impending danger and besought their assistance, but they crouched in their seats and made no effort to aid him or defend themselves. they were western merchants going east to buy goods, and had among them as much as sixty thousand dollars in cash. when the coach arrived safely at the highland house, frostburg, george evans at that time proprietor thereof, the grateful passengers "took up" a collection for the benefit of their courageous and faithful driver and deliverer, but luman says the sum proffered was so ludicrously small that he declined to receive it, and ever thereafter regarded that lot of passengers as a "mean set." samuel luman drove four teams between cumberland and the big crossings. in he concluded to give up stage driving and try tavern keeping. his first venture in this line was at piney plains, east of cumberland and near cessna's old stand. he approved himself a popular landlord, and was well patronized. from piney plains he went to frostburg, and took charge of the franklin house. his next and last experience in tavern keeping was at the national house, in cumberland. luman interested himself in the detection and punishment of mail robbers, which drew upon him the animosity of suspected persons, and mr. stockton, fearing that the suspected ones might waylay and murder him, advised him to take service east of cumberland, which he did. he is altogether one of the most interesting characters of the road. [illustration: samuel luman.] george fisher was a stage driver, who left his footprints very plainly on the limestone dust of the road. he was noted for his daring in the manipulation of fiery steeds. a fractious team was stationed at claysville, which was the terror of all the drivers on that section of the road. it "ran off" several times, once killing a passenger outright, and seriously injuring others. this occurred on caldwell's hill, seven miles west of washington, pennsylvania. george fisher was sent down from washington to take charge of this team, and soon had it under complete control. he drove it many years without an accident. fisher was a large, well proportioned, and fine looking man. he was driving the team mentioned in , the year in which the celebrated political contest occurred, wherein james k. polk and henry clay were opposing candidates for the presidency. fisher was an ardent supporter of polk, and quite bitter in his enmity against the whigs. on the day of a large whig meeting in washington, an extra coach, not on regular time, but filled with passengers, passed over the road, going west. it fell to fisher's lot to haul this coach from claysville to roney's point, a relay beyond the state line, in virginia. a delegation of whigs, with banners and music, from west alexander and vicinity, went up to washington to attend the meeting, and on their return homeward in the evening, were overhauled by fisher, who ran his team and coach into the whig procession at several points, doing damage to buggies, carriages, and light wagons, and inflicting some quite serious personal injuries. colin wilson, a prominent citizen of washington county at that date, was one of the persons injured by fisher's inroad, and was seriously hurt. fisher, in extenuation of his apparently criminal conduct, pleaded the irritability of his team, that it became frightened by the banners and music, was unmanageable, and the injuries inflicted were not intentional on his part, but purely accidental. the reputation of the team for pettishness was well known in the neighborhood of the occurrence, and served as a plausible excuse, and really saved fisher from prosecution, and probably consequent punishment, but all the whigs of that neighborhood went to their graves under the solemn belief that fisher "did it a purpose." the following account of an accident, furnished by john thompson, the old wagoner, no doubt relates to fisher's team previous to the date at which he took charge of it: in the month of october, , a stage team started to run from the locust tree near caldwell's tavern. the driver lost control, and the team dashed down the long hill at a terrific gait. they kept in the road until wickert's bridge was reached, at which point the coach, team, passengers, driver and all were violently thrown over the bridge. a mr. moses, a kentucky merchant, and his nephew, were sitting by the side of the driver, and all remained firmly in their seats until the collapse occurred. the kentucky merchant had a leg badly crushed, and in two days after the accident died, and was buried in the old graveyard at washington. doctors stevens and lane, of washington, were promptly summoned and did all that medical and surgical skill could devise to aid the unfortunate sufferer, but gangrene ensued and baffled it all. the driver was severely hurt, and nursed at the caldwell house until the spring of , when he recovered. the nephew of mr. moses and all the other passengers escaped without injury. the remains of mr. moses were subsequently removed from washington by his relatives, and interred near his home in kentucky. wickert's bridge is so called because a man of that name was murdered many years ago near it, and for a long time thereafter, according to neighborhood superstition, returned to haunt the bridge. daniel leggett was an old stage driver, well known, and will be long remembered. he once had the distinction of hauling the celebrated indian chief, black hawk, and his _suite_. the party ascended the ohio river by steamboat, and took stage at wheeling. upon entering the coach at that point, black hawk showed shyness, fancying it might be a trap set for him by his pale faced enemies, and it required some persuasion by an interpreter, who accompanied his party, to induce him to enter and take a seat. the coach passed over the road without unusual incident until it reached washington, pennsylvania. going down the main street of washington, from the postoffice, which was in the neighborhood of the court house, the breast strap of one of the wheel horses broke, causing a precipitation of the coach upon the leaders, and the team becoming frightened, dashed down the street at fearful speed. one of the party of indians was seated by the driver, and thrown off, carrying down with him the driver. the team, thus left without a driver, rushed headlong for the stable of the national house, and at the corner of main and maiden streets, the coach upset. it contained nine passengers, eight indians and one half-breed. the first one to show up from the wreck was black hawk, who stood upright in the middle of the street, disclosing a single drop of blood on his forehead, and manifesting much excitement and indignation, as he uttered "ugh! ugh! ugh!" the interpreter had an arm broken, which was the only serious casualty attending the accident. black hawk now became almost wholly irreconcilable. the interpreter tried to explain to him the true situation, and to assure him that no harm was aimed at him, but the dusky warrior repelled the approaches of the friendly mediator, and refused to be reconciled. he was now certain that the white men intended to kill him. after a little while the excitement abated, and with it the temper of the unfortunate indian chieftain. he was persuaded to enter the tavern, and observing that the surroundings were not hostile, threw off his sullenness, and became somewhat sensible of the situation, and apparently reconciled to it. another coach of the line was provided, and the party proceeded on their journey to parley with the great father of the white house. the occasion marked an era in the life and career of the old driver, daniel leggett, which he referred to with intense interest on frequent occasions throughout the remainder of his life. the black hawk incident occurred in , when van buren was president. tobias banner, as if to do justice to his name, was an imposing driver. he was a chum of jerry mcmullin, another old driver, and the two together enjoyed many a game of bluff, while their teams were quietly resting in the well furnished old stables. they were both mail drivers in and out from washington. mcmullin at one time to vary the monotony of stage life, made a trip to stockton's lane, in greene county, to see the races, which occurred at regular periods at that place in that day. he engaged in a game of seven up, with a stalwart native of greene county, for five dollars a side, and while he really won the game, his overgrown adversary claimed the stakes on an allegation of foul play. a quarrel and a fight ensued, and jerry mcmullin returned to washington with a blackened eye and diminished purse, vowing that he would never venture upon mud roads again. george mckenna drove first on the oyster line and afterwards a stage team. he was a greene county man, and brother-in-law of morgan r. wise. after he quit driving he set up an oyster saloon in waynesburg, and finally engaged with a travelling menagerie and lost his life in a railroad accident between new york and philadelphia. paris eaches, a strangely sounding name now, but once familiar to the ear of every pike boy, was a well known and well liked driver. he radiated from washington, pennsylvania, but left his mark all along the line. he was a jolly fellow and enjoyed the excitement of the road. he was always a favorite at social parties of young folks, and entertained them with songs. he had a good voice and sang well. "i have left alabama," was one of his best songs, and he always sang it to the delight of his hearers. jack bailiss was a widely known and popular driver, a married man, and a resident of washington, pennsylvania. he was accounted a reckless driver, and delighted in exciting the apprehension of his passengers, often filling them with terror by specimens of what they considered reckless driving. he knew the danger line however, and always kept within it. he drove the coach from claysville to washington, pennsylvania, in which gen. taylor traveled on his way to the capital to assume the presidency. henry a. wise, an old driver, is well remembered by the old people of the road on account of the quaintness of his character. he was not a driver on the national road, but drove the mail coach from uniontown to morgantown, virginia. mr. stockton had the contract for carrying the mail between these points, and wise was his chief driver, and pursued this calling for many years. his headquarters in uniontown were at the old hart tavern, jackson's favorite stopping place, now the hotel brunswick. he was driving on this route as early as . he was an odd genius, as mr. john e. reeside says of him, a "typical tide water virginian." he claimed to be descended from blue blood, and simply drove stage for amusement. he always had plenty of slack in his reins, and as a consequence rarely kept his team straight in the road. it is said that on one occasion, while half asleep on the box, his team turned from the road through an open gap into a field, and commenced eagerly to graze on the growing clover. wise was tall and spare, and habitually wore a high silk hat. john huhn was a driver west of washington, pennsylvania. he married a daughter of john mccrackin, a well known and prosperous farmer of the vicinity of claysville. when stage lines dissolved and stage coaches no longer rattled over the old pike, john huhn engaged in the tanning business at claysville, and was successful. peter payne, an old driver east and west from keyser's ridge, was noted as an expert hand at a game of poker. he was usually a winner, and being a man of economic habits, saved his small accumulations from time to time and ultimately became rich. he often sat down to a game with joseph dilly, an old blacksmith of the mountain division of the road, a skillfull player, who, like payne, also grew rich. frank lawson, who subsequently kept tavern in triadelphia, was a stage driver. he first drove on weaver's ohio line, next on a line in kentucky, where he upset a coach causing the death of one or more of his passengers, and afterward came to the national road and drove between wheeling and washington. he is mentioned by mr. reeside as an expert driver of the "top and bottom," or pennsylvania mode of driving. john stotler was among the drivers on the first line of stages. he was stoutly built, a good reinsman and a popular driver. he drove out east and west from cumberland. john whitney, an englishman, was an early driver, and noted for his caution in handling his team and caring for the comfort and safety of passengers. joseph whisson drove from washington to claysville, and is well remembered and highly spoken of by all old citizens living on that section of the road. he is still living at triadelphia, west virginia. jason eddy was one of the many drivers sent out on the road in an early day from new jersey by "commodore" reeside, as james, the old stage proprietor, was frequently called. eddy was an expert driver, and it was said of him that "he could turn his team and coach on a silver dollar." he was likewise a good musician, and played well on the bugle. he often entertained his passengers with stirring bugle blasts. william walker was a careful old driver, and so economical that he acquired property from the savings of his scanty wages. william craver, edward hays and the two welches were old stage drivers, whose names were familiar along the road in its early history. isaac page, first named by mr. reeside as a good driver in the eastern style, was a uniontown man, and died in that place before the glories of the old road had waned. he left a widow and a son, charles, who went to new york, where the son engaged in business, prospered and became rich. his mother was highly esteemed by all who knew her, and to her example is attributed the success of the son. dr. thayer, who subsequently became a circus proprietor, commenced driving stage on the national road when eighteen years of age. he drove from uniontown to farmington on the "old line" previous to . he was a skillful driver, and subsequently achieved success as a circus owner. gideon bolton (nicknamed "hoop-pole," from the circumstance of his coming from a hoop-pole region in preston county, west virginia), drove many years on the mountain division of the road, and is well remembered. [illustration: joseph whisson.] james mccauley, an old driver, before reaching the dignity of the box, was a "postilion" for redding bunting on the mail coaches from somerfield to woodcock hill, and to winding ridge. jack lee was a spirited driver, and would have been called a "dude" if he had not died before that term was applied to persons of fanciful and fashionable apparel. he drove in and out from cumberland and was contemporaneous with whitney. david bell, an old stage driver, subsequently kept a tavern in claysville. his daughter became the wife of calvin king, an officer of one of the claysville banks. william corman, an old stage driver, is remembered as a _pal_ of dr. john f. braddee in the celebrated mail robberies of , at uniontown. braddee's office adjoined stockton's stage yard. corman drove the mail coach, and handed over the mail bags to braddee, who rifled them. a full account of these mail robberies is given elsewhere in this volume. john bennett and james and john bailiss drove out west from washington, pennsylvania, for many years, and were among the most careful and skillful drivers. bennett died in hillsboro. joshua johnson, a canadian, and an old stage driver, married a miss slicer, of flintstone, maryland, and subsequently kept a tavern in cumberland. chapter xxiii. _the first mail coaches--the stage yard at uniontown--employees therein--mr. stockton goes back on john tyler--names of coaches--henry clay and the drivers--anecdote of clay, and humes, of claysville--jenny lind and phineas t. barnum on the road--exciting race between an old liner and a good intent driver--old mount, the giant of the road--sim houser, archie mcneil, watty noble, the nestor of stage drivers, and other familiar names._ the first mail coaches were arranged to carry but three passengers, in addition to the mail pouches, upon a model furnished by the postoffice department. drivers and residents along the road called the passenger compartment of the early mail coach a "monkey box." this was at the front end of the vehicle, and rested on springs, and the mail pouches were placed behind it, on a lower plane, and in a long, tight, wooden box or bed, resting on the axles of the wagon, without springs. it made a loud noise when passing over the road, was altogether a curious contrivance, and after a short term of usage was abandoned, and the ordinary passenger coach substituted in its stead. mr. stockton established a coach factory in uniontown, where many of the coaches of his line were made, and as necessity from time to time existed, repaired. blacksmith shops were also set up in connection with this factory, where the stage horses of the stockton line were shod. it was called the "stage yard," and located on morgantown street, on the lot now covered by the residence and grounds of the hon. nathaniel ewing. many mechanics in different lines of work were employed in the "stage yard," and some of them still linger on the shores of time, and in uniontown. [e]philip bogardus is probably the oldest of the surviving employees of the old stage yard, and is a well known and respected citizen of uniontown. he was born in dutchess county, new york, september , , and came to uniontown in . on his journey to that place he halted for a season and worked at his trade, that of a coach trimmer, at bloody run, bedford county, pennsylvania, and there first met and formed the acquaintance of henry nycum, the well remembered and respected old blacksmith, who lived many years in uniontown, and died there about a year ago. soon after his arrival in uniontown, bogardus obtained employment in the stage yard. the foreman of the yard at the time was william gaddis. [footnote e: died recently.] [illustration: maj. william a. donaldson.] next in seniority, among the surviving employees of the stage yard, is [f]maj. william a. donaldson, one of the best known citizens of uniontown. he is a painter. he was born in emmettsburg, frederic county, maryland, a village situate ten miles south of gettysburg, on february , , and came to uniontown february , . he located first at brownsville, and remained there a year and upwards before going to uniontown. his first engagement in uniontown was with col. william b. roberts, in whose service he continued about a year, after which he entered the stage yard as a painter and ornamenter of coaches. he is not only a skillful artisan, but a gentleman well read in history, philosophy, theology, and politics, in short a good and useful citizen. when dr. braddee was first lodged in the uniontown jail for robbing the mails, maj. donaldson called in the evening to see him. the accused was placed in charge of a special police force, which consisted of zadoc cracraft, george martin, and stewart speers, who "stood guard" over the noted prisoner. soon after maj. donaldson entered the jail the guardsmen informed him that they were very hungry, and desired to go down town to get some oysters, and requested him to remain in charge of the prisoner until they returned. to this maj. donaldson assented, provided the hungry guardsmen would speedily return. they went out for oysters and did not get back until one o'clock in the morning. the major and the doctor, being old acquaintances, spent the intervening time as pleasantly as circumstances would admit of, but it was not exactly the thing the major had bargained for. mr. stockton had one of his coaches named john tyler, in honor of the vice-president of the first harrison administration. when tyler, by the death of harrison, succeeded to the presidency, and vetoed the united states bank bill, mr. stockton was very much angered thereat, and going into the stage yard, soon after the veto was announced, accosted maj. donaldson thus: "donaldson, can't you erase that name (pointing to the tyler coach) and substitute another? i won't have one of my coaches named for a traitor." "certainly i can," replied donaldson, "what shall the new name be?" "call it gen. harrison," said stockton. "all right," said donaldson, and the change was made. maj. donaldson was a democrat, and much amused by the incident. [footnote f: died july th, .] robert l. barry, the well remembered old merchant of uniontown, was, in his younger days, a painter in the old stage yard. other painters in the stage yard were william mcquilken, william mcmullin, william crisfield, ---- mathiot, ebenezer matthews, george starr, alex. fowler and harrison wiggins. lewis mobley was also a painter in the stage yard. he subsequently moved to luzerne township, fayette county, pennsylvania, became a farmer and local politician. he had many good points of character and many warm friends. he died in luzerne township a number of years ago. the belfords, father and three sons, were of the stage yard force, workers in wood. they came from new jersey, and were near relatives of the old and distinguished presbyterian preacher, rev. a. g. fairchild, d.d. the belfords went west, and in all probability have passed from earth to scenes beyond. armstrong hadden, the old postmaster and banker, of uniontown worked a number of years in the stage yard on harness and "thorough braces." he learned his trade with westley frost, of brownsville. thorough braces were the leather springs, thick and wide, upon which the coach body was placed. alex. mclean, the old clerk of the county commissioners, also worked on harness and braces. charles brower was a trimmer. he came from baltimore, and went from the stage yard in uniontown to the state of louisiana, since which time he has made no sign so far as known. abram rogers was a worker on "thorough braces." other workers in wood were isaac and simon sampsell, israel hogue, and frank wilkinson. among the blacksmiths of the old stage yard were james rush, who subsequently went to washington, pennsylvania, where he lived many years, and until his death, which occurred recently, thomas haymaker, and his son, leroy, thomas stewart, michael claybaugh, jesse king, thomas king, james keenan, fred reamer, abram haldeman, seth white, hugh rogers, and jacob, isaac and robert prettyman. the inevitable company store was connected with the stage yard, but it was not so odious then as now. it was located on morgantown street, in the building now occupied by the ellis music store, and managed by john keffer, who is well remembered by all the old citizens of uniontown. george martin was a clerk in the company store. coaches were all named after the manner of steamboats, and more recently, sleeping cars on the leading railroads. the name of every state of the union was utilized for this purpose, and the realms of fancy were likewise explored. the coach named for pennsylvania bore the legend keystone state; ohio was honored under the name buckeye state, new hampshire, the granite state, massachusetts, the bay state, and so on. among the fancy names employed, the old pike boy will readily recall the following: fashion, palmetto, central route, jewess, beauty, pathfinder, samaratan, highlander, ivanhoe, herald, industry, national, republic, protection, brilliant, atlas, sultana, clarendon, chancellor, moravian, miantonoma, loch lomond. warriors, statesmen and old stagers were remembered and honored in the names following: washington, lafayette, general wayne, general st. clair, general jackson, general harrison, rough and ready, meaning general taylor, general worth, general cass, colonel benton, madison, monroe, henry clay, the president, james k. polk, purviance, daniel moore, l. w. stockton, general moorehead, david shriver, william h. stelle, james c. acheson, columbus, pocahontas, santa anna. countries and cities were honored in the names that follow: yucatan, green bay, oronoco, tampico, bangor, mexico, buena vista, new orleans, erie, lexington, vicksburg, natchez, trenton, san francisco, mobile, troy, wyandott, idaho, ashland, westmoreland, allegany, raritan, youghiogheny, gautemala, panama, hungarian, montgomery, paoli, tuscaloosa. one coach took in a hemisphere, and was called america. another was named queen victoria in the old stage days, as now, the reigning sovereign of england, while another rendered homage to dear old ireland, by bearing the legend, erin go bragh. when harrison, the first, polk and taylor passed over the road to the capital, to be installed in the presidential office, a splendid new coach was provided for each occasion, called the president, in which the president-elect and his immediate family were conveyed. the presidential parties did not travel in the night time, but rested at stations along the road until morning. at uniontown, president harrison and party stopped over night at the walker house, now called the central. polk lodged at the national and taylor at the clinton. the walker and clinton were not stage houses, but the distinguished passengers were quartered therein, respectively, for the purpose, probably, of conciliating some local political influences. henry clay knew many of the old stage drivers personally, and would call them by name when he met them at different points along the road. he not only made acquaintances and friends of the drivers, but of the tavern keepers and persons in other employments on the road. david mahaney, now living in dunbar, kept tavern at various points on the mountain division of the road, and often entertained mr. clay, and became well acquainted with him. one humes, of claysville, was wont to boast of the familiarity with which he was recognized by mr. clay. while the teams were being changed at stations, mr. clay was in the habit of getting out of the coach and going in to the taverns. on occasion of one of these short stops, humes was introduced to mr. clay. on the return trip, less than a year afterward, humes heard of his coming, and hastened to the station to greet him. the coach was driven up and mr. clay got out, but before entering the tavern espied humes approaching, and when near enough to be heard, said: "there comes my friend humes," and gave him a cordial hand-shaking. humes was delighted, and never wearied in telling the story of his acquaintance with clay. when jennie lind, the world renowned songstress, made her first professional visit to the united states, she returned east from her western tour by way of the national road, in company with her troupe, and in "chartered" coaches of the stockton line. this was at least forty years ago, probably a little more than that. p. t. barnum, the celebrated showman, was the great singer's manager, and was with her on the occasion referred to. the party remained over night at boss rush's tavern, twelve miles east of uniontown. the people along the road heard of the coming of the distinguished travelers, and a number assembled at the tavern in the evening to get a glimpse of them. william shaffer drove the coach in which barnum was seated, and when he halted in front of the tavern one of the curious called up to the driver on the box and inquired: "which is barnum?" shaffer answered gruffly: "i don't know barnum from the devil." barnum, meanwhile, had emerged from the coach, and standing by its side overheard the inquiry and the driver's reply, and stepping up to the inquisitor said to him: "i am barnum; the driver is right, it is hard to distinguish me from the devil." the party entered the good old tavern and were entertained and lodged in the handsome style for which boss rush was greatly and justly distinguished. fresh trout were served for breakfast, which had been taken the day before in a near by mountain stream by f. b. titlow and young boss rush, then a lad of sixteen. titlow, now one of the best known citizens of the vicinity of uniontown, and still a lover of fishing and hunting, was then an apprentice to the tailoring trade at farmington, under the guidance of john hair. young boss, grown gray, still lingers about the portals of his father's old tavern, musing over the memories of the old pike. william g. beck, an old stage driver, still living in fairfield, iowa, has vivid recollections of the road. in a letter he states that, "if there is anything in the world that makes him, at the age of seventy-four, jump up and crack his heels together and wish he was a boy again, it is reading about the men and things of the national road." he is a son of james beck, of the old bridge building firm, and commenced to drive stage on the old line when in his minority. he was born in uniontown in , went to iowa in , and was on the national road as a stage driver as late as . in his letter he states that in the old line and the good intent both carried the mails. there was a "lock mail" in leather pouches, and a "canvass mail," the latter very frequently called "the second mail," carried in alternate months by the respective lines. in december, , he says the old line carried the "lock mail." the details of an exciting race on the road he furnishes as follows: "a good intent coach was driven by jacob cronch to the railway station, immediately upon the arrival of the train at cumberland, loaded up with the 'canvass mail,' and started off under full speed for the west. the 'lock mail,' which fell to me, was taken to the postoffice and overhauled, causing a considerable detention. while waiting in front of the postoffice for the mail bags, jacob shuck and other good intent drivers chided me with the fact that the 'canvass' had such a start that i could not get near it. i made up my mind that if it was in the hides of my two teams i would catch him, and pass him. it was after nightfall, and in crossing a water way in cumberland my lamps went out, and what i deemed a calamity turned out in the end to be an advantage. as soon as i crossed the wills creek bridge, i put my team in a full run and never pulled them up until i reached rock hill, seven miles out of cumberland. at that point, in the winding of the road, i espied the lights on the coach of my rival, while he, by reason of the going out of my lights, was unable to see me, although, on the long stretches, he was constantly watching for a glimpse of me. much to his surprise i drew up along side of him, and side by side we drove into frostburg, lashing our tired teams at every jump. the grooms at the frostburg station had my second team hitched to the coach by the time i was fairly stopped. a friendly driver ran with the way mail to the frostburg postoffice, while another re-lit my lamps. i did not leave my seat. the reins over the fresh team were thrown up to me, and i was off again in a full run. the way mail bag was thrown into the front boot as i dashed past the postoffice. at sand spring (foot of big savage) i passed the 'canvass' and held the lead, trotting my team every inch of the road to piney grove, the end of my route, which i reached twenty-two minutes in advance of my competitor. lem cross kept the tavern where our line stopped at piney grove. i made my route of twenty-two miles with two teams in two hours and ten minutes, fourteen miles of the distance, to the top of big savage, being ascending grade. james reynolds relieved me at piney grove, and my competitor was relieved at that point by joshua boyd." [illustration: william g. beck.] among old stage drivers there was one conspicuous above all others, on account of his immense size. it was montgomery demmings, known as "old mount." he was six feet and upward in height, and his average weight was four hundred and sixty-five. it was a common remark, in the days of staging on the national road, that "old mount on the front boot of a coach balanced all the trunks that could be put in the rear boot." as he grew old his weight increased, and at his death, upon authority of his widow, who is still living, was six hundred and fifty pounds. he was born and reared in allentown, new jersey, and was sent out on the road in by james reeside. his first service was on the "june bug line," a line of brief existence, but full of dash and spirit. "old mount" married the widow of joseph magee, on may , . the clergyman who performed the marriage ceremony was the rev. john w. phillips, of uniontown. joseph magee was a blacksmith. his residence and shop were on the roadside, at the west end of uniontown, near the present toll house. he owned sixteen acres of land on the northeast side of the road, which now forms a part of the gilmore tract, and his widow, who is also the widow of "old mount," is still living with a third husband, one thomas, of wales. her present home is in allegheny city, pa., and she continues to draw a dower interest from the land owned by her first husband, above mentioned. "old mount" has a son, amos frisbie demmings, living near his mother, named after amos frisbie, who lived in uniontown many years ago, and carried on the business of stove making. after driving a stage for a number of years, "old mount" relinquished his connection with the passenger coaches, and became a driver on the express line. this line carried small packages of light goods, and oysters, known as fast freight, and the people along the road, by way of derision, called it "the shake gut line." the vehicles of this line were long and strong box-shaped wagons, something like the wagons used for transporting a menagerie. they were drawn by four horses, with relays at established points, driven by check reins or lines, as stage teams were driven. the speed of the express wagons was almost equal to that of the coaches of the stage lines. they made a great noise in their rapid passage over the road, and coming down some of the long hills, could be heard for miles. by the side of the drivers frequently sat one or more way-goers whose necessities impelled them to seek cheap transportation. what proportion of their meagre fares went to the driver, and what to the owners of the line, has never been definitely ascertained. "old mount" stuck to the road until its glory began to fade, and in april, , left uniontown and removed with his family to brownsville, where he remained about eighteen months. while residing at brownsville, he was engaged in hauling goods from the steamboat landing at that place to points in western virginia, along the line of the baltimore and ohio railroad, then undergoing construction. he owned the team he drove in this employment. from brownsville he went to south side pittsburg, then a separate municipality, called birmingham. from that point he continued the hauling of goods to western virginia, and also kept a boarding house. he did not remain in birmingham longer than two years, probably not that long, and moved from there to mckeesport, where he engaged in the hotel business, having previously leased the eagle house at that place. he died at mckeesport on march , , and was buried there. his death occurred in less than a year after he went to mckeesport, and thus terminated the career of one whose name, half a century ago, was familiarly spoken in every town, tavern and wayside cabin, from baltimore to wheeling. simeon houser was a stage driver. when stages left the road simeon went to tavern keeping. he kept the old house which stood on the lot now occupied by the residence of dr. ewing, in uniontown. it was called the "buzzard's roost," not by reason of any bad fame of simeon houser, for it had that name before he got there. simeon was a very tall man, and raw boned, with strongly marked face and features. he served a number of years as constable of uniontown. in william bigler and william f. johnson, rival candidates for governor, visited uniontown. bigler took in greene county on his tour, and coming over to fayette, struck the national road at searight's, where he met a popular ovation. his friends in that vicinity made a large raft of logs, which they placed on a strong wagon, and with a team of six white horses hauled to uniontown, the brownsville brass band seated on the raft and discoursing music, as the procession moved along the road. bigler, in his early days, had been employed in constructing and running rafts on the susquehanna river, and his supporters stirred up enthusiasm for him by calling him "the raftsman of the susquehanna." he was elected, not because he was a raftsman, but because the democrats of that day outnumbered the whigs. johnston, his competitor, was a whig. the present republican party was not then in existence. simeon houser, aforesaid, drove the big white team that hauled the raft, and this is why allusion is made to the incident. it was a grand day for simeon. mr. bigler spoke from the raft in bierer's woods, west of uniontown, to a great multitude, and dr. smith fuller, standing on the same raft, made the speech of welcome. simeon houser, like hundreds of old pike boys, yielded up his life in defense of the stars and stripes. [illustration: henry farwell.] henry farwell, father of the broadway printer, was an old stage driver. he came to uniontown in , "the winter of the deep snow." he came on the oyster line from little crossings, working his way through the snow, which averaged a depth of four feet on the level, and was three days on the way. the oyster boxes were placed on a sled, drawn by six horses, and the oyster line made as good time as the stage lines while the deep snow lasted, and passenger coaches, like oyster boxes, were moved on sleds. farwell came to uniontown in obedience to an order of one of the stage lines, to take charge of a team at that place. he drove stage for ten years, one-half of the time in ohio. when the staging days were over on the old road, farwell located in uniontown, and carried on the trade of shoemaking, which he learned before he took to stage driving. he owned the lot on which the national bank of fayette county now stands. he has been dead several years, and is well remembered by the older citizens of uniontown. archie mcneil was of the class of merry stage drivers, and enlivened the road with his quaint tricks and humorous jokes. his service as a driver was confined for the most part to the western end of the road, between brownsville and wheeling. an unsophisticated youth from the back country, of ungainly form and manners, near the close of the forties, sauntered into washington, pennsylvania, to seek employment, with an ambition not uncommon among young men of that period, to become a stage driver. in his wanderings about the town he halted at the national house, then kept by edward lane, where he fell in with archie mcneil, and to him made known the object of his visit. archie, ever ready to perpetrate a joke, encouraged the aspirations of the young "greenhorn," and questioned him concerning his experience in driving horses and divers other matters and things pertaining to the work he proposed to engage in. opposite the national house, on the maiden street front, there was a long wooden shed, into which empty coaches were run for shelter, the tongues thereof protruding toward the street. mcneil proposed to the supplicating youth that he furnish a practical illustration of his talent as a driver, to which he readily assented, and crossing the street to the shed where the coaches were, he was commanded to climb up on the driver's seat, which he promptly did. mcneil then fastened a full set of reins used for driving, to the end of the coach tongue, and handed them up to the young man. he next placed in his hands a driver's whip, and told him to show what he could do. the coach bodies, it will be remembered, were placed on long, wide, and stout leather springs, which caused a gentle rocking when in motion. the young weakling, fully equipped as a driver, swayed himself back and forth, cracked the whip first on one side, and then on the other of the tongue, rocked the coach vehemently, manipulated the reins in various forms and with great pomp, and continued exercising himself in this manner for a considerable time, without evincing the slightest consciousness that he was the victim of a joke. a number of persons, the writer included, witnessed this ludicrous scene, and heartily enjoyed the fun. among the spectators was james g. blaine, then a student at washington college. mcneil was a son-in-law of jack bailiss, the old driver before mentioned, and when stage lines were withdrawn from the road he moved with his family to iowa, and settled in oskaloosa. watty noble might well be esteemed the nestor of stage drivers. he commenced his career as a driver on the bedford and chambersburg pike. his route on that road was between reamer's and the juniata crossings, _via_ lilly's and ray's hills, a distance of ten miles, and his average time between the points named, was one hour and thirty minutes. he drove one team on this route for a period of ten years without losing or exchanging a horse. he subsequently drove for five consecutive years on the national road, between brownsville and hillsboro, and, as the old pike boys were accustomed to say, "leveled the road." when he "got the start," no other driver could pass him, unless in case of accident. he was not a showy reinsman, but noted for keeping his team well and long together. in personal habits he was quiet and steady, and no man ever impeached his honesty or fidelity. jim burr, the famous old driver elsewhere mentioned, was a son-in-law of watty noble. charley bostick, a stage driver who lived in uniontown, gained a somewhat unsavory reputation as one of the principals in a social scandal, involving the name of a prominent old uniontown merchant. the incident produced great agitation in uniontown society at the time, and its disagreeable details are stored away in the memories of all the older citizens of that place, but it is doubtful if three-fourths of its present inhabitants ever heard of it. on the night of the occurrence it fell to bostick's lot in the rounds of his regular service as a driver, to take a coach from uniontown to farmington, but he was so prominently and closely identified with the event referred to that he deemed it expedient to employ a substitute, which he procured in the person of "dumb ike," competent for the service and the occasion, and ever ready for such exigencies. alfred wolf, an old stage driver, is remembered as a large, fine looking and blustering sort of a man. his wife was a sister of watson and robinson murphy, two well known, thrifty and highly esteemed farmers of fayette county, pennsylvania. the marriage ceremony that made miss martha murphy the lawful wife of alfred wolf was performed by the late hon. william hatfield, when that gentleman was an acting justice of the peace for redstone township, and the writer hereof was present at the wedding. when stage drivers were no longer required on the national road, alfred wolf engaged in the business of tavern keeping, and for a number of years kept a public house in mcclellandtown; and when the strife between the states culminated in actual hostilities, he enlisted as a union soldier and perished in the cause. his widow went to ohio, re-married, and is still living in that state. henry g. marcy, called governor, because of his near kinship to the old time, distinguished new york statesman of that name, who was at the head of the war department during the conflict with mexico, was a stage driver and lived in uniontown. he was a small man in stature, but had a bright and clear intellect. he died in uniontown a number of years ago at an advanced age, leaving a widow, still surviving, but quite feeble by reason of her great age. george e. marcy, also called governor, a well known and active democratic politician of uniontown, is a son of the old driver. joseph hughes, an old stage driver, is still living in washington, pennsylvania, vivacious and sprightly despite the weight of years piled upon his back. he was an expert and trusty driver, well known along the road, and cherishes the memory of the stirring times, when the road was the great highway of the nation and he and his fellow drivers rode on the top wave of the excitement incident thereto. james bradley, an old stage driver, worked sometimes at repairs on the road. he made a breaker of unusual height on the hill east of washington, pennsylvania, and upon being questioned as to his motive for making it so high, replied that "he wanted to give some of the boys a lofty toss." a few days thereafter, he was in service as a driver himself, and going down the hill mentioned at a rapid rate, to "scoot the hollow," as he termed it, his coach struck the high breaker and he got the "lofty toss" himself, having been thrown from the box, a distance of nearly two rods, causing him a broken arm and other less serious injuries. he said, after this accident, that he would never again make high breakers on the road, or advise others to do so. john teed, husband of mrs. teed, who keeps the popular and prosperous boarding house on morgantown street, uniontown, was an old stage driver. his first engagement as a driver on the road was with the express line, called derisively "the shake gut." after driving a short time on the express, he was given a team on one of the regular coach lines. he was an approved driver and promoted to the office of guardsman. the guardsman was a person sent with the coach to superintend its progress, and aid in protecting it from the incursions of robbers, which were not uncommon in the night time on the mountainous sections of the road. thomas poland was in every essential a stage driver, and zealously devoted to his calling. he drove out from uniontown, east and west, as occasion required. he was a man rather below the average stature, but stoutly built and of swarthy complexion. many old drivers were moved to grief when business ceased on the road, but no one felt the change more keenly than thomas poland. john guttery, of washington, pennsylvania, was one of the early stage drivers of the road, and a good and trusty one. he was a tall man, rounded out proportionately to his height, and closely resembled the renowned old driver, redding bunting. he was a brother of charles guttery, the old wagoner and tavern keeper mentioned in another chapter of this volume. john guttery, after driving stage a number of years, gave up that exciting occupation and established a livery stable in washington, which he conducted successfully until his death in that place a number of years ago. chapter xxiv. _stages and stage drivers continued--gen. taylor approaching cumberland--early coaches--the first troy coach on the road--mr. reeside and gen. jackson--john buck--accidents--kangaroo and bob-tail teams--john mills and william bishop--celebration at cumberland--david bonebraker, hanson willison, and a long list of other old drivers--billy willis and peter burdine--fare rates--the way bill--the landlords--pilot and pioneer lines--compensation of stage drivers--hopwood's row--withdrawal of the lines--the dignity of stage drivers, estimated by an old pike boy._ scharts' history of western maryland gives the following account of president taylor's ride over the mountain division of the road, when on his way to washington to be inaugurated: "president taylor and his party were, in , conveyed over the road under the marshalship of that most indefatigable whig, thomas shriver, who, with some other cumberlanders, proceeded to the ohio river and met the presidential party. among the party were statesmen, politicians, and office-hunters, notably col. bullet, a brilliant editor from new orleans, who was to occupy a relation to president taylor something like that of henry j. raymond to lincoln. the road was a perfect glare of ice, and everything above ground was literally plated with sleeted frost. the scenery was beautiful; to native mountaineers too common to be of much interest, but to a southerner like gen. taylor, who had never seen the like, it was a phenomenon. in going down a spur of meadow mountain, the presidential coach, with the others, danced and waltzed on the polished road, first on one side and then on the other, with every sign of an immediate capsize, but the coaches were manned with the most expert of the whole corps of drivers. shriver was in the rear, and in the greatest trepidation for the safety of the president. he seemed to feel himself responsible for the security of the head of the nation. down each hill and mountain his bare head could be seen protruding through the window of his coach to discover if the president's coach was still upon wheels. the iron gray head of the general could almost with the same frequency be seen outside of his window, not to see after anybody's safety, but to look upon what seemed to him an arctic panorama. after a ride of many miles the last long slope was passed and everything was safe. at twilight the narrows were reached, two miles west of cumberland, one of the boldest and most sublime views on the atlantic slope. gen. taylor assumed authority and ordered a halt, and out he got in the storm and snow and looked at the giddy heights on either side of wills creek, until he had taken in the grandeur of the scenery. he had beheld nothing like it before, even in his campaigns in northern mexico. the president-elect was tendered a reception on his arrival at cumberland, and the next morning he and his party left on the cars for washington." at an early day there was a coach factory at or near the little crossings, where many of the first passenger coaches used on the road were made. they were without thorough braces, or springs of any kind. their bodies were long, and the inside seats for passengers placed crosswise. they had but one door, and that was in the front, so that passengers on entering were compelled to climb over the front seats to reach those in the rear. the first coach of the troy pattern was placed on the road in the year by james reeside, and tradition has it that he won this coach with a bet on gen. jackson's election to the presidency. mr. reeside was desirous that gen. jackson should be the first person to ride in this coach, and accordingly tendered it to the president-elect when on his way to washington, who true to his habit of refusing gifts, declined the proffered compliment as to himself, but consented that his family might occupy the coach. charley howell was the driver, and his team was one of the finest on the road. many coaches were brought out on the road afterward from the troy and concord factories. these coaches cost between five and six hundred dollars each. john buck was one of the oldest and best stage drivers on the road. he lived in washington, pennsylvania, and drove on the old line in the life-time of daniel moore, and was a great favorite of that ancient stage proprietor. when lafayette visited washington in , mr. moore was active and prominent in arranging for his reception at that place, and assigned john buck to drive the coach in which the illustrious visitor entered the town. it was a proud day for the old driver, who shared with the hero of the occasion, the plaudits of the people. buck subsequently became the senior member of the firm of buck, lyon & wolf, contractors, who built most of the locks and dams on the muskingum river, in the state of ohio. this old firm was called the "menagerie company," on account of the names of its members. [illustration: the narrows.] william robinson (not "billy") suffered an "upset" at somerfield, in , with a full load of passengers going west. the stage coach had but one door, and to bring up the door side to the endsley tavern, in somerfield, it was necessary to wheel around. robinson turned his team with such rapidity as to overturn the coach, and the passengers were all tumbled out in a pile, but none of them were seriously hurt. wash. alridge threw a coach over on the conway hill, near somerfield, inflicting a severe spinal injury upon a passenger who lived in cincinnati. the sufferer was cared for at the tavern in jockey hollow, kept at the time by aaron wyatt. the stage company (old line) paid the injured passenger a considerable sum in damages, without suit. a passenger by the name of merrill, of indianapolis, had a leg broken by the upsetting of a coach at the turn of the road, above somerfield; samuel jaco was the driver. william roach, a well known driver, was killed in an "upset" at the little crossings bridge, about the year . this seems to have been a different accident from that which occurred near the same place in , related in the sketch of john marker. marker witnessed the accident of , and states that the driver who was killed at that time was james rhodes. david stinson, an old driver, was killed by an "upset" on woodcock hill. woodcock hill is a short distance west of thomas brownfield's old mt. augusta tavern, and is the highest peak on the road in fayette county, pennsylvania. charley howell upset in , coming down the winding ridge hill, and was badly hurt. he had a leg and arm broken, and was nursed at connelly's tavern, in petersburg, for many months before he recovered. in or , mr. stockton transferred a number of stage teams and drivers, from the baltimore and washington city road, to the national road. two of these teams ran in and out from somerfield. one called "the kangaroo team" was driven by john mills. they were large, dark bays, and much admired by lovers of fine horses. mills knew how to handle them. he was a superb driver. another of these "transferred" teams was driven by william bishop. the horses in this team were light bays, all "bob-tails," and notwithstanding there was but one good eye in the whole team, and all were "sprung in the knees," it is asserted by many old pike boys that this unique and "blemished" team was the fastest on the road. it was brought out from the baltimore and washington road by charles howell, who drove it a short time before it was turned over to william bishop. bishop was a capital reinsman. the preservation of the national road was considered so vital to the general welfare by everybody living upon its line and adjacent to it, that the deepest interest was manifested in the success of every measure proposed for its benefit. there was no powerful and paid "lobby" around the halls of congress when the cumberland road was the highway of the republic, as there is at this day, but all measures planned and presented for its preservation and repair, were carefully watched and guarded by such statesmen as henry clay, daniel sturgeon, andrew stewart, t. m. t. mckennan, lewis steenrod, w. t. hamilton, and henry w. beeson. the following from a cumberland paper published in that place sixty years ago shows the popular feeling in behalf of the road at that date: "the citizens of the town on the st of may, , in demonstration of their great joy growing out of the appropriation made by the national government for the repair of the cumberland road, made arrangements for the celebration of that event. in pursuance of that arrangement, samuel slicer illuminated his large and splendid hotel, which patriotic example was followed by james black. in addition to the illumination, mr. bunting (our famous 'old red'), agent of l. w. stockton, ordered out a coach, drawn by four large gray stallions, driven by george shuck. the stage was beautifully illuminated, which presented to the generous citizens of this place a novelty calculated to impress upon the minds of all who witnessed it the great benefits they anticipated by having the road repaired. there were also seated upon the top of the vehicle several gentlemen who played on various instruments, which contributed very much to the amusement of the citizens and gave a zest to everything that inspired delight or created feelings of patriotism. they started from the front of mr. slicer's hotel, and as they moved on slowly the band played 'hail columbia,' 'freemasons' march,' 'bonaparte crossing the rhine,' 'washington's march,' together with a new tune composed by mr. mobley, of this place, and named by the gentlemen on the stage, 'the lady we love best,' and many others, as they passed through the principal streets of the town. on their return they played 'home, sweet home,' to the admiration of all who heard it." david bonebraker was a stage driver of good reputation, and a general favorite. while his name would import otherwise, he was a careful driver and never during his whole service did he break a bone of man or beast. he was a large, fine looking man, and drove between somerfield and mt. washington as early as , and for a number of years thereafter. hanson willison was early on the road as a stage driver, and none of his fellow drivers excelled him in skillfulness. he drove a brief period between uniontown and brownsville, but for the most part in and out from cumberland. he is still living in cumberland, proprietor of the american house livery stables, and doing a profitable business. he retains the habits of the early days of the road, generous almost to a fault, perfectly familiar with the road's history, his memory is well stored with its exciting incidents and accidents. hanson willison and ashael willison before mentioned, are brothers. [illustration: hanson willison.] the few remaining old folks who witnessed the exciting scenes of the national road in its palmy days, will readily recall the following old stage drivers: john griffith, william witham, george lukens, wash alters, hank smith, john heinselman, barney strader, john munson, west crawford, james chair, william roberts, vin huffman, john windell, a small, thin faced man, with rings in his ears, one of the earliest drivers, william saint, who was also a blacksmith, and worked, occasionally, at his trade in uniontown. he went to texas before the civil war, and died there. lewis gribble, son of john, the old wagoner and tavern keeper. he went to virginia, drove stage in that state, and died there. john sparker, john snell, david oller, joseph henderson, a steady-going man, mentioned among the old tavern keepers in connection with the "gals house," david armor, william armor, samuel oller, and william dickey. the ollers, the armors, dickey and henderson were of washington, pa. jacob snyder, subsequently manager and proprietor of the shipley house, in cumberland. william and george grim, john zane, james schaverns, joseph vanhorn, john mcilree, jesse boring, john munson, john ruth, david jones, benjamin miller, subsequently tavern keeper in the old mannypenny house, uniontown. an early line of stages stopped at miller's. james mannypenny, thomas fee, walter head, educated for the ministry, thomas and edward mcvenus, william totten, william vanhorn, spencer motherspaw, james griffith, abram dedrick, william fowler, thomas chilson, william jones, andrew heck, john fink, william irwin, james sampey, subsequently and for many years owner and manager of the tavern at mt. washington, where the good intent line changed horses and passengers often stopped for meals; isaac newton, robert jackson, a young man of diminutive size, from one of the new england states, whose father came and took him home; james dennison, subsequently tavern keeper at claysville and at hopwood; isaac newton, died at mt. washington when john foster kept the tavern at that point; matthew byers, hugh drum, john hendrix, alexander thompson, william hart, charles kemp, ben watkins, ben watson, john and andrew shaffer, garret clark, garret minster, john ferrell, james lynch, john seaman, james reynolds, john bunting, lindy adams, leander fisk, james derlin, aaron wyatt, james andrews, alfred haney, wash bodkin, william crawford, charles cherry, william hammers, addis lynn, harry, nelse and jack hammers, nimrod, joseph, jack and william sopher, john and joseph pomroy, william and watt whisson, john mccollough, william miller, son of charley, the old tavern keeper west of hillsborough; robert mcilheney, john mcmack, thomas, joshua and william boyd, john parsons, matthew davis, one of the oldest, and still living at brownsville; john w. boyce, george wiggins, brother of harrison, the old fox hunter of the mountains; robert bennett, william white, david reynolds, james mcillree, fred buckingham, thomas and william noble. william noble died in washington, pennsylvania, jan. , . robert mcilheny, after relinquishing the reins and whip, became an agent for the sale of the celebrated hayes buggies, of washington. john parsons left the road to take charge of a hotel in bridgeville, allegheny county, pennsylvania. alfred haney went south, became baggagemaster on a southern railroad, and was killed in an accident. charley cherry had the manners of a savage, and was called "the big savage man," but it is not known that he ever wantonly shed the blood of a fellow being. james mcilree drove between washington and wheeling. hugh drum was called "mickey murray." he lingered for a while on the road after its glory departed, and pushed out for new york, where he engaged to drive an omnibus. what became of him in the subsequent shifting sands of time is not known, but presumably he has gone to the unknown world. [illustration: matt. davis.] william mccleary, who died recently near claysville leaving an estate valued at $ , ; daniel dawson, subsequently kept a tavern near limestone, marshall county, west virginia, and died there; samuel rowalt, robert bell, william watkins, john ford, still living in monongahela city; george freiger, barney and samuel nunemaker, thomas cox, john ruth, abram boyce, charles oulitt, james dean, william ("boggy") moore, when a boy a rider on the pony express; john schenck, thomas hager, joseph ruff, dandy jack, james fisk, joseph drake, andrew ferrell, john fouch, george walker, george banford, joseph lewis, larry willard, isaiah fuller, davy crockett, henry wagner, john foster, henry smith, james foster, john noble, edward mcginnis, thomas mcginnis, john johnson (old sandy), john horrell, william grim, elias johnson, daniel boyer, james bodkin, james null, william null, william clark, david brower, richard frantz, james rowe, john seaman, david brennard, henry schuck, george crow, james andrews (dutch jim), drove in and out from grantsville; john huhn, drove in and out from claysville; moses thornburg, wylie baily, james mcclung, james, abraham and robert devan, brothers; thomas and george henderson, stephen leggett, james wilson, henry herrick, john giddings, ed washburn, j. s. beck, frank white, jesse matthews, robert fenton, jesse hardin, david johnson, archy mcgregor, samuel darby, james moore, joseph drake, james riley, william matthews, edward hall, james vancamp, benjamin miller, grandson of the old tavern keeper of uniontown; samuel betts, calvin springer, ex-sheriff of fayette county; james noggle, martin stedler, william wiley, john wiley, william mcgidigen, james mcgidigen, daniel shriver, jerome heck, frederic zimmerman, robert bennett, edward kelley, john clark, samuel blair, ross clark, george butts, beck kelley, william kelley, william fisher, james and thomas bradley, thomas johnson, william brower, richard frazee, isaac toner (dumb ike), joseph jenk, evans holton, daniel dean, jesse brennard, george brennard, john steep, john collier, ben tracy, george moore, george richmire, charles richmire, thomas mcmillen, samuel porter, isaac flagle, william and ross clark, richard butts, garret and west crawford, john brown, subsequently a clerk in the wheeling postoffice; joseph matthews, john waugh, william hickman, a circus man; george robbins, abram boyce, oliver jackson, joseph bishop, thomas mcclelland, elisha stockwell, isaac denny, subsequently tavern keeper at the old griffin house in the mountain, west of somerfield; john harris, drove on the good intent line, and died in uniontown; charles and robert marquis, james moore, son-in-law of james sampey, of mount washington; perry sheets, drove west of washington; elmer budd, drove from uniontown to brownsville; frank watson, bate smith, sam jerome, james downer, son of william, of the big water trough on laurel hill, when a boy a rider for the pony express; william stewart, caleb crossland, of uniontown; william bogardus, who lost an eye by coming in contact with a pump handle on morgantown street, uniontown, on a dark night; john robinson, a very large man; samuel youman, mentioned under the head of old wagoners, next to "old mount" the largest man on the road; thomas milligan, joshua boyd, stephen leonard, david johnson, james mccauley, thomas boyd, garret clark, henry miller, thomas moore, william wilkinson, galloway crawford, samuel jaco, robert wright, fred. buckingham, jacob rapp, killed at brownsville about by his team running off; john rush, samuel holsted, sandy connor, living as late as , and carrying the mail in a two-horse vehicle from frostburg to grantsville; john farrell, farming near grantsville in and at that date eighty-five years old; jacob shock, eph. benjamin, william bergoman, upton marlow, subsequently proprietor of the american and other leading hotels in denver, colorado; archie mcvicker, james cameron, charles enox, robert amos, james finnegan, drove a bob-tailed team from somerfield to keyser's ridge; squire binch, of brownsville, well remembered by the old folks of that place; richard harris, joseph and david strong, the former for many years a prominent citizen of cumberland, and frequently honored by public trusts; abe walls, ---- bonum, called "magnum bonum;" james gray, henry powell, henry bergoman, rock goodridge, sherwood mott, daniel boyer, robert dennis, david james, thomas grace, john lidy, drove a dun team of bob-tails from farmington to somerfield, that formerly belonged to the pioneer line; isaac frazee, james mclean, thomas and henry mahany, baptist mullinix, amariah bonner, b. w. earl, subsequently a stage agent, and tavern keeper at the stone house near fayette springs, and at brownsville; john and matthias vanhorn, daniel quinn, james corbin, william corman, of braddee mail robbery fame; atwood merrill, a fiery partisan of the good intent line; william willis, noted as a fast driver on the old line. on one occasion willis passed peter burdine, a fast driver as before stated of the good intent line, which prompted the partisans of the old line to get up the little rhyme following to emphasize and signalize the event: "said billy willis to peter burdine, you had better wait for the oyster line." the fares on the stage lines were as follows: from baltimore to frederic $ " frederic to hagerstown " hagerstown to cumberland " cumberland to uniontown " uniontown to washington " washington to wheeling ------ through fare $ a paper was prepared by the agent of the line at the starting point of the coach in the nature of a bill of lading, called the "way bill." this bill was given to the driver, and by him delivered to the landlord at the station immediately upon the arrival of the coach. it contained the name and destination of each passenger, and the several sums paid as fare. it also bore the time of departure from the starting point, and contained blanks for noting the time of the arrival and departure at every station. the time was noted by an agent of the line, if one were at the station, and in the absence of an agent, the noting was done by the landlord. if a passenger got on at a way station, and this was of daily occurrence, he paid his fare to the landlord or agent, which was duly noted on the way bill, together with the passenger's destination. in addition to the stage lines hereinbefore mentioned, there was a line known as the "landlords' line," put on the road by tavern keepers, prominent among whom were william willis (the old driver before mentioned), joseph dilly, and samuel luman. there was also a "pilot line" and a "pioneer line." these lines had but a short run. the railroad managers east of cumberland favored the older lines, and gave them such advantages in rates that the new lines were compelled to retire from the competition. they sold out their stock to the old companies. james reeside owned the "pilot line," and the "pioneer line" was owned by peters, moore & co. the compensation paid stage drivers was twelve dollars a month, with boarding and lodging. they took their meals and lodged at the stage houses, except the married men, who lodged in their own dwellings when chance threw them at home. at uniontown a number of contiguous frame buildings on mill and south streets, in the rear of brownfield's tavern, known as "hopwood's row," were occupied almost exclusively by the families of stage drivers. they were erected and owned by the late rice g. hopwood, esquire, and hence the name given them. two or three of these old houses are all that are left standing, and they are in a dilapidated condition. the spirit of improvement which in late years entered uniontown, seems to have carefully avoided the neighborhood of "hopwood's row." the good intent and stockton lines were taken from the national road in , and placed on the plank road from cumberland to west newton. from the latter point passengers were conveyed by steamboat to pittsburg by way of the youghiogheny river, which was made navigable at that date by a system of locks and dams like that of the monongahela. upon the withdrawal of the lines mentioned, a line was put on the national road by redding bunting and joshua marshe, and ran as far west as washington, pennsylvania. william hall subsequently purchased the interest of mr. marshe in this line, which was kept on the road until about the close of the year , when the era of four-horse coaches ended. [illustration: john mcilree.] mr. endsley, before quoted, furnishes his juvenile opinion of stages and stage drivers, which was shared in by all the boys of the road, as follows: "my earliest recollections are intimately associated with coaches, teams and drivers, and like most boys raised in an old stage tavern, i longed to be a man when i could aspire to the greatness and dignity of a professional stage driver. in my boyish eyes no position in life had so many attractions as that of driving a stage team. a judge, a congressman, even henry clay or president jackson, did not measure up to the character of john mills and charley howell, in my juvenile fancy." the picture of the stage coach era herein drawn may be lacking in vigor and perspicuity of style, but it contains no exaggeration. much more could be written concerning it, and the story would still be incomplete. it is sad to think that nearly all the old drivers, so full of life and hope and promise when pursuing their favorite calling on the nation's great highway, have answered the summons that awaits the whole human family, and of the vast multitude that witnessed and admired the dashing exploits of the old drivers, but few remain to relate the story. when the old pike was superseded by the railroad, many of the stage drivers went west and continued their calling on stage lines occupying ground in advance of the approaching railway. others lingered on the confines of the familiar road, and fell into various pursuits of common life. of these, some achieved success. as drivers they had opportunity for making acquaintances and friends. hanson willison was eminently successful as a local politician, and achieved the distinction of being twice elected sheriff of alleghany county, maryland. chapter xxv. _distinguished stage proprietors, lucius w. stockton, james reeside, dr. howard kennedy, william h. stelle--old stage agents, charley rettig, john risley, william biddle, james coudy, redding bunting, edward lane, theodore granger, charles danforth, jacob beck, daniel brown, "billy" scott, "lem" cross, and b. w. earl--the pony express._ the most conspicuous of all the old stage proprietors of the national road was lucius witham stockton. james reeside was probably an older stage man, and may have owned and operated more stage lines; but mr. stockton was longer and more prominently identified with the business on the national road. he was born at flemington, new jersey, september , . he was a son of lucius stockton, and a grandson of the rev. philip stockton, known in his day and among his countrymen as "the revolutionary preacher," who was a brother of richard stockton, a signer of the declaration of independence from the colony of new jersey. l. w. stockton appeared in uniontown as a stage proprietor previous to the year , the exact date not ascertainable. he was twice married. his first marriage occurred on november , , and at that date he was a resident of uniontown, and had been previous thereto. his first wife was rebecca moore, a daughter of daniel moore, an old stage proprietor who lived in washington, pennsylvania. by his first marriage he had six children, viz: richard c., daniel moore, elizabeth c., lucius witham, margaret, and rebecca. richard, daniel, and elizabeth, by the first marriage, are dead; the last named died in infancy. lucius witham is living in philadelphia. he married ellen, the youngest daughter of dr. john wishart, an old and distinguished physician of washington, pennsylvania, grandfather on the maternal line of hon. ernest f. acheson, late republican nominee for congress in the twenty-fourth district of pennsylvania. margaret stockton became the wife of dr. thomas mckennan, a leading physician at this time of washington, pennsylvania, and a member of the old and distinguished mckennan family of that place. rebecca stockton became the wife of capt. alexander wishart, and is living in newark, new jersey, where her husband is executive officer of the law and order league. captain wishart was a gallant soldier of the union army in the war between the states. [illustration: l. w. stockton.] mr. stockton's second wife was katharine stockton, his first cousin. she is still living, making her home with her son-in-law, gen. leiper, of philadelphia. by his second marriage mr. stockton had four children, as follows: katharine, richard c., elias boudinot and henrietta maria. of these all are dead but henrietta maria. she is the wife of gen. leiper, with whom her mother lives, as before stated, in philadelphia. it is related as an incident in the early career of mr. stockton that he had a race with a horse and buggy against a locomotive, between the relay house and baltimore, in which he came out ahead. the horse he drove on that occasion was a favorite gray. he had a pair of "winflower" mares, which he drove frequently from uniontown to wheeling between breakfast and tea time, tarrying two or three hours at mid-day in washington. at the watering places he ordered a little whisky to be added to the water given these spirited and fleet animals, and they became so accustomed to it that, it is said, they refused to drink unless the water contained the stimulating element. he would also drive from uniontown to cumberland in a day, stopping at the stations to transact business, and from cumberland to hagerstown, sixty-six miles, was an ordinary day's drive for him. his private carriage was a long open vehicle which he called "the flying dutchman." hanson willison, who has a vivid recollection of mr. stockton and his lively trips over the road, says that the names of his sorrel mares (the "winflowers") were "bet" and "sal," and that they once ran off. on that occasion mr. stockton was accompanied by his wife and a sister. miss stockton was much alarmed, and pulling the coat-tail of her brother cried out piteously, "hold on, brother william, hold on, or we'll all be killed!" but mr. stockton heeded not the cries of his sister, and having no fear of horses, soon regained control of the runaways without sustaining loss or injury. mr. stockton died at uniontown on april th, , at "ben lomond," the name he gave his residence, now the property of the widow and heirs of the late judge gilmore. a few years ago the remains of mr. stockton were removed from the old methodist burying ground in uniontown, under direction of his loving daughters, mrs. wishart and mrs. dr. mckennan, and deposited in the beautiful cemetery at washington, pa. mr. stockton was of episcopalian lineage, and active in establishing the services of the church in uniontown. he brought out bishop stone, of maryland, to baptize his daughter rebecca, now mrs. wishart. he was a vestryman, and besides contributing liberally in money to support the church, donated to the parish of uniontown the lot on which the new stone edifice of st. peter's now stands. james reeside, the second son of edward reeside and his wife, janet alexander, was born near paisley, renfrew, scotland, and was brought, when an infant, to baltimore county, md., in , where he was raised. his parents being in humble circumstances, toil was his first estate. poor in book learning and in earthly goods, he possessed genius, energy, executive ability, and an ambition that fitted him to be a leader of men. before the war of he was a wagoner, hauling merchandise from baltimore and philadelphia to pittsburg and west to zanesville and columbus, ohio. his promptness and sagacity soon enabled him to own his own teams, which were employed in hauling artillery to canada. commissioned a forage master under gen. winfield scott, at lundy's lane, his scottish blood prompted him to seize a musket, as a volunteer, from which hard fought battle he carried honorable scars. on his return he settled at hagerstown, md., where, in , he married mary, the daughter of john weis, a soldier of the revolutionary war. abandoning wagoning, he ran a stage line, in to , from hagerstown _via_ greencastle and mercersburg to mcconnellstown, there connecting with the stage line then in operation from chambersburg to pittsburg by bedford, somerset, and mt. pleasant. in , in connection with stockton & stokes, of baltimore; joseph boyd, of hagerstown; kincaid, beck & evans, of uniontown; george dawson, of brownsville; stephen hill, of hillsboro; and simms & pemberton, of wheeling, he put on the first regular stage line, carrying the mail, between baltimore and wheeling, before the construction of the turnpikes between hagerstown and cumberland. this division of the route being from hancock to frostburg, he removed to cumberland, where, in conjunction with his stage line, he kept the "mckinley tavern," at the corner of baltimore and mechanics streets, afterward kept by jacob fechtig, james stoddard, john edwards, and others, and now known as the "elberon." in he quit tavern keeping, and confined himself to mail contracting and the stage business. in john mclean, postmaster general, afterward one of the justices of the supreme court of the united states, prevailed on him to take the mail contract between philadelphia and new york, and he moved from cumberland to philadelphia. in the first year he reduced the time for transporting the mail between the two cities from twenty-three to sixteen hours, and soon thereafter to twelve hours. he soon became the owner of most of the lines running out of philadelphia and new york, and the largest mail contractor in the united states. he employed in this service more than one thousand horses and four hundred men. the wagoner soon became the "land admiral," a title given him by the press in recognition of his energy and ability. [illustration: james reeside.] the postoffice department at that time having to rely on its own resources, and under major w. t. barry, then postmaster-general, the service had so increased in thinly settled sections it became deeply in debt. mr. reeside raised, on his personal responsibility, large sums of money to relieve it. his efforts were appreciated, and he was the esteemed friend of andrew jackson, henry clay, and other distinguished men, without regard to politics, although he was a pronounced democrat. of massive frame, six feet five inches in height, yet spare in flesh, clear cut features, sparkling, clear blue-gray eyes, fair complexion, with dark, sandy, curly hair, he was a true highlander in appearance, genial in disposition, with quick and ready wit. fond of song and story, kind, yet strict, with all in his employment, and generous to a fault, no words can more appropriately describe him than those of his favorite poet and countryman, robert burns: "for thus the royal mandate ran, when first the human race began, the social, friendly, honest man where'er he be, 'tis he fulfills great nature's plan, an' none but he." controversies arising between amos kendall, the successor of barry, and all the old mail contractors, their pay was suspended upon frivolous grounds, compelling them to bring suits, among the most celebrated of which were those of reeside and stockton & stokes. the latter's case was referred to virgil maxy, who found in their favor about $ , . mr. reeside's claim was tried before justice baldwin and a jury in , and resulted in a verdict for plaintiff of $ , . , which, after seventeen years, was paid, with interest. as soon as his contracts under kendall expired he quit the mail service, after putting the philadelphia and new york mail on the camden & amboy railroad during the residue of his contract term. in he bought the interest of john w. weaver between cumberland and wheeling, then a tri-weekly line; increased it to a daily, then twice daily, and added another tri-weekly line, and named the lines "good intent," which was the name he had previously given the fast mail line between philadelphia and pittsburg. in he sold his entire interest in the national road lines, and gave his attention to his suit against the united states. his health being impaired, he spent the winter of in new orleans. returning in the ensuing spring, without benefit to his health, he died in philadelphia on the d of september, . mr. reeside attracted attention by reason of the peculiar garb he appeared in. in the winter season he always wore a long drab overcoat and a fur cap. once in passing along a street in philadelphia in company with col. richard m. johnson, of kentucky, vice-president of the united states, some scarlet cloth was observed in a tailor's window, which prompted col. johnson to say: "reeside, as your coaches are all red, you ought to wear a red vest." mr. reeside replied: "i will get one if you will." "agreed," said johnson, and straightway both ordered red vests and red neckties, and from that time as long as they lived continued to wear vests and neckties of scarlet colors. james reeside aided in an early day to develop the mighty resources of our country, with such agencies as were then available, and his name and good work deserve to be perpetuated in history. dr. howard kennedy, an owner of stock in the national road stage company, and for a brief period a trustee of the road under the provisions of a pennsylvania law, enacted in , repealed in , was born in washington county, maryland, september th, . his father was the hon. thomas kennedy, an illustrious citizen, who figured conspicuously in the history of maryland in the olden time. dr. kennedy was a graduate of the medical university of baltimore, and a thoroughly educated physician, but the practice of medicine not proving congenial to his tastes, he soon abandoned it and embarked in other pursuits. about the year , or a little before that time, he was appointed a special, confidential agent of the general postoffice department, in which relation he achieved distinction by detecting numerous mail robberies, and bringing the perpetrators before the courts for trial and punishment. it was through the vigilance of dr. kennedy that the mail robberies of the haldeman brothers, pete and abe, and pate sides, at negro mountain, were discovered, and the offenders apprehended and punished. the haldemans and sides were stage drivers, and their calling through the dismal shades of death and other dark regions in the mountains with big, tempting, mail bags in their charge, no doubt turned their minds to what they considered a speedy, if not altogether a safe method of getting money. whispers of suspicion growing out of the vigilance of dr. kennedy in pushing his investigations, reached the ears of the suspected ones, and they fled to canada, but not to be thwarted in his purposes, dr. kennedy pursued them thither, had them arrested and brought back to baltimore for trial. abe haldeman was acquitted, but pete and pate sides were convicted and sent to the penitentiary. dr. kennedy was also the prime mover in bringing to light the noted mail robberies of dr. john f. braddee, of uniontown, as will be seen by the following affidavits: _pennsylvania, fayette county, ss._: the testimony of dr. howard kennedy taken before n. ewing, president judge of the th judicial district of pennsylvania, the th day of january, , in reference to the amount of bail to be required of john f. braddee, peter mills strayer and william purnell. the said dr. howard kennedy being first by me duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith: "there will be difficulty in ascertaining the amount of money stolen from the mails. there have been six mail pouches or bags stolen, which would average twenty to thirty thousand dollars each. the whole would, i am satisfied, amount to one hundred thousand dollars. i saw the money alleged to have been found in the stable of john f. braddee. the amount thus found was $ , . . the amount of cash stolen is probably about $ , . "howard kennedy." taken and subscribed before me, january th, . n. ewing, p. judge, th judicial district. [illustration: william h. stelle.] pittsburg, january , . "howard kennedy, special agent of the postoffice department, in addition to the testimony given by him before his honor, judge ewing, further deposes that since that time he has received reports from various persons and places in the west of letters mailed at dates which would have, by due course of mail, been in the bags stolen, containing bank notes, scrip, certificates, drafts, and checks, amounting to $ , and upwards; that every mail brings him additional reports of losses, and that he believes the amounts reported will not constitute more than one-half of what has been lost in the mails between the th of november and the th of december, , on the route from wheeling to new york. "howard kennedy. "special agent postoffice department." sworn and subscribed before me the th day of january, . t. irwin, district judge. as before stated, dr. kennedy was one of the owners of the line of coaches known as the national road stage company. this was popularly known as the stockton line, called "the old line," because it was the oldest on the road. dr. kennedy managed all the business of this line relating to the transportation of the mails. he was also one of the original members of the western express company, doing business between cumberland and wheeling and pittsburg _via_ the monongahela river. l. w. stockton dying in the spring of , in the fall of that year dr. kennedy brought his family from hagerstown, maryland, to uniontown, and established his residence in the old stockton mansion, called "ben lomond," now the home of mrs. judge gilmore. here dr. kennedy resided until the year , when he returned to hagerstown, where he died on the th of june, . he was of medium height and delicate form, of pleasant address, and a gentleman by birth, education, association and aspiration; in religion an episcopalian, and in politics a democrat. his widow, a sister of the late alfred howell, of uniontown, survives him. she is enjoying the sunset of a gentle life in hagerstown, the central figure of a remnant of that polite and refined society which in the palmy days of the national road distinguished all the old towns along its line. william h. stelle was born in new jersey, and it will be noted that many of the stage owners, agents, and drivers came out from that state. two of mr. stelle's partners in the stage business, john a. wirt and mr. hutchinson, were likewise jersey men. it is related that mr. stelle and mr. acheson were both desirous of selling their interests in the stage lines, the former being an owner in the good intent, and the latter in the stockton line. mr. stelle one day approached mr. acheson in wheeling, and told him he would give him five hundred dollars, if he would sell or buy at a price to be mutually named. mr. acheson named a price which he would give or take, and mr. stelle elected to sell, and promptly paid mr. acheson five hundred dollars for acceding to his proposition. mr. stelle located in wheeling about the year , and died at elm grove, ohio county, west virginia, on the th of september, , aged about fifty years. he left a son, william h., and a daughter, mrs. susan r. hamilton, both living in wheeling. agents of the stage lines possessed functions somewhat, but not altogether, like those of railroad conductors. some agents passed constantly over the road, paying bills, providing horses and equipage, and giving general direction to the running of the lines. others were stationary, attending to local business. these agents were prominent characters of the road, and popularly esteemed as men of high position. one of the earliest agents was charles rettig, who subsequently kept the tavern two and one-half miles east of washington, and referred to in a chapter on taverns and tavern keepers. john risly, of frederic, md., and william biddle and james coudy, of hancock, were old agents of lines east of cumberland. redding bunting, edward lane, theodore granger and charles danforth were agents of the old line west of cumberland, with authority extending to wheeling. bunting also kept the national house in uniontown, and lane kept the national house in washington, which were headquarters at those points respectively for their line. charles danforth was a leading local agent of the stockton line at uniontown. he was a large, fine looking man, with florid complexion, heavy black whiskers, and possessed of popular manners. he was a native of new york state, and died at bedford, pa., in . his remains were brought to uniontown, and interred in the old methodist cemetery, near beeson's old mill. his widow is living in chicago. edward lane was a man of average size, of reddish complexion, energetic in motion, and affable in manner. his tavern in washington, pa., was one of the best eating houses on the road. granger was a large, dark complexioned man, not well liked by the people, but a favorite of mr. stockton. after the stage lines were taken from the road, granger went to cincinnati, procured employment at a livery stable, and died in that city in indigent circumstances. jacob beck was an agent for weaver's line, which was on the road a short time, and went with that line to ohio and kentucky. he returned from the west, and was a bar-keeper for john n. dagg, of washington, pa., and subsequently, as elsewhere stated, kept tavern at rony's point, va., and died there. he was an old stage driver, a good one, and esteemed as an honest man. daniel brown, mentioned among the old tavern keepers, was an agent of the good intent line, and a very competent one. he was a native of new jersey, and his sad ending has been alluded to in another chapter. william scott, familiarly called "billy," was a well-known agent of the good intent line. he had been a driver, and was promoted to an agency on account of his competency and fidelity. he was a master of his business, a man of small stature, dark hair and complexion, and a little given to brusqueness of manner, but on the whole rather a popular agent. he remained an agent of the good intent line until business ceased on the road, when he went to iowa, and became an agent of a stage line in that state. from iowa he went to texas, and died at jefferson in that state. it is said that he was descended from a good family on both sides, who were wealthy, and that he engaged in stage driving from choice, rather than necessity, and his friends were disappointed in his career. lemuel cross was an agent of the old line. he also kept tavern at piny grove, as elsewhere stated, and is well remembered. his jurisdiction as agent was mainly on the mountain division of the road, and he thoroughly understood his business, and was familiar with all the haunts, hills, and hollows of the mountains. b. w. earl was likewise an agent for a while of the good intent line. he commenced a driver, was advanced to an agency, and ended a tavern keeper. john foster, andrew cable, william f. cowdery, levi rose and william terry were agents at wheeling. the latter had charge in part of neil, moore & company's line in ohio. the pony express. in the year or , amos kendall, being postmaster-general, placed on the road a line of couriers, called the "pony express." it was intended to carry light mails with more speed than the general mail was carried by the coaches. the pony express was a single horse and a boy rider, with a leather mail pouch thrown over the horse's back, something after the style of the old-fashioned saddlebags. the route for each horse covered a distance of about six miles on the average. the horse was put to his utmost speed, and the rider carried a tin horn which was vigorously blown when approaching a station. william moore, thomas wooley, subsequently stage drivers, william meredith, frank holly and james neese were among the riders on the pony express east of cumberland, and sandy conner, pate sides and thomas a. wiley, all three afterward stage drivers, and william conn rode west of cumberland. wiley rode from uniontown to washington, pennsylvania, and also between washington and wheeling. he went with the log cabin boys from uniontown to baltimore in as a driver of one of the stage teams employed on that occasion. he is still living, an employe of the baltimore & ohio railroad company at camden station, baltimore, in the service of which he has been employed since . he was an attendant at the bedside of l. w. stockton during that gentleman's last illness. calvin morris, a son of william morris, the old tavern keeper on the hill west of monroe, and william downer, a son of the old gentleman who lived at and maintained the big water trough on laurel hill, were also riders on the pony express. william morris was one of the contractors for carrying this fast mail, and his house was one of the relays of the line. the relay next west was the old toll house near searights. luther morris, a brother of calvin, the pony express rider, went to iowa previous to the civil war, and was elected state treasurer on two or three occasions. john gilfillan, now, or recently, of parkersburg, west virginia, was a rider on the pony express between west alexander and wheeling. bryant and craven, of west alexander, were among the contractors of the pony express line. "the pony express" did not remain long on the road, but when it was on, old pike boys say "it kicked up a dust." chapter xxvi. _old taverns and tavern keepers from baltimore to boonsboro--pen picture of an old tavern by james g. blaine--the maypole--the hand in hand--earlocker's--pine orchard--the brown stand--levi chambers, the nullifier--old whalen's sunfish, bob fowler's goose and warfield's ham--poplar springs--allen dorsie, van mcpherson, the widow dean, getzendanner's, peter hagan, riddlemoser and the mcgruder house, peter zettle, emanuel harr._ "caldwell's tavern: we did not use the high sounding _hotel_, but the good old anglo-saxon _tavern_, with its wide open fire in the cheerful bar room, and the bountiful spread in the dining room, and the long porch for summer loafers, and the immense stabling with its wealth of horse-flesh, and the great open yard for the road wagons. how real and vivid it all seems to me this moment! all the reminiscences of the old pike, for which you are an enthusiast, are heartily shared by me."--james g. blaine. caldwell's tavern, mentioned by mr. blaine, is seven miles west of washington, pennsylvania, and will be referred to hereafter in its proper place. mr. blaine's description is appropriate to nearly all the old taverns of the road. the outward appearance of an old tavern of the national road was no index to the quality of the entertainment it afforded. many of the least pretentious houses furnished the best meals, and paid the most agreeable attention to guests and patrons. it was not unusual to see the wagon yard attached to a small wooden and apparently decaying tavern crowded with teams and wagons, while the inviting grounds of the imposing brick tavern near by were without an occupant. the may pole tavern in baltimore was a favorite stopping place for old wagoners. it is located on the southwest corner of paca and german streets, and still standing, an object of much interest to the old people of the road. in front of it stands a tall, slim, granite column, representative of a pole, and preservative of the ancient name. the may pole was kept in by henry clark, and in by james adams, who remained in charge until his death. his successor was isaac willison, a virginian, and before assuming control of the may pole, an agent of the baltimore & ohio railroad company, at frederic city. george elliott, subsequently manager for mrs. adams, at the mountain city house in cumberland, was at one time a clerk in the may pole tavern. the "hand in hand" tavern on paca, between lexington and saratoga streets, and the "white swan" on howard street, were likewise old wagon stands in baltimore, well patronized in the early days of the national road. thomas elliott also kept a wagon stand in baltimore, and enjoyed a fair share of patronage. he was the father of george elliott, above mentioned. the may pole, however, was the favorite tavern of the old wagoners of the national road. the "three ton" and "gen. wayne" taverns had each extensive stabling, and furnished accommodations for droves and drovers. the national road entered the city of baltimore by way of west baltimore street. the first wagon stand west of baltimore, fifty years ago, was kept by a man whose name was hawes. it was seven miles from the city, and wagoners often left it in the morning, drove to baltimore, unloaded, reloaded, and returned to it in the evening of the same day, and the next morning proceeded on the long journey to their western destination. the hawes tavern ceased to do business after . at ellicott's mills, ten miles west of baltimore, there was no wagon stand, but stage houses were located there, where stage teams were kept and exchanged. one mile west of ellicott's, frank earlocker kept a wagon stand, that was largely patronized. he was rather of an economical turn of mind, and old wagoners were wont to say of him that he concealed the whisky bottle behind the counter, against the custom of the road, which was to expose it to full view; and it is said that the miserly earlocker lost more than he gained by his habit, since it induced wagoners to inquire for a drink, more to worry the landlord than to appease the appetite. a short distance west of earlocker's is "pine orchard," where a tavern was kept by one goslin. he was a goslin only in name. otherwise, he was a square man, and knew how to treat strangers and travelers, especially wagoners, who largely favored him with their patronage. his house was a brick structure, and stood on the north side of the road, and for aught known to the contrary, is still standing, a monument commemorative of the many good old taverns which studded the road in the days of its glory. james dehoff kept a tavern at pine orchard as early as . his house was a wagoners' resort, and stood on the south side of the road. an old tavern, known as the "brown stand," four miles west of "pine orchard," was a popular stopping place for wagoners in its day. in levi chambers took charge of this house, and continued to conduct it until . he was called "nullifier" chambers, because of his adherence to the nullification doctrine, announced and advocated by john c. calhoun. he, however, knew how to keep a tavern, and was a sober and intelligent man. on the first of january, , john crampton and william orr, old wagoners before mentioned, drove out from baltimore with full loads, and put up at the "brown stand." during the night a box of silk goods was stolen from orr's wagon. the loss was discovered early in the morning, and orr and chambers each mounted a horse and pushed out in the direction of baltimore, in search of the stolen goods and the thief. there was a light snow on the road, and tracks were visible, indicative of rapid steps toward the east. reaching baltimore, messrs. orr and chambers entered the bar room of the may pole tavern, in which a number of persons were drinking, and among them one, who, from his actions, was suspected as the thief. he was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent to the penitentiary. four miles west of the "nullifier's," john whalen kept a wagon stand, and one of the best on the road. old wagoners entertain pleasant recollections of john whalen, and delight in recounting the good cheer that abounded and abided in his old tavern. he kept the tavern at this point up to the year . one warfield kept a tavern a short distance west of whalen's as early as , and had a good wagon custom. old wagoners had a rough distich on this section of the road, running something like this: "old wheeler's sunfish, bob fowler's roast goose, warfield's ham, ain't that jam!" new lisbon was an aspiring village, twenty-six miles west of baltimore, and the first point of note west of whalen's. stages stopped and teams were changed at new lisbon, but it had no wagon stand. at poplar springs, one mile west of new lisbon, there was a wagon stand kept by allen dorsie. near the old tavern is a large, gushing spring, in the midst of tall poplar trees, and hence the name "poplar springs." such was the situation at this point fifty years ago, but alas, fifty years is a long time, and the "poplar springs" may present a different appearance now. allen dorsie, the old proprietor of the tavern here, was likewise and for many years superintendent of the maryland division of the road. he was a very large man, six feet in height, and rounded out in proportion. he was besides a man of admitted integrity and good intellect. he ceased keeping tavern at poplar springs in . seven miles west of poplar springs van mcpherson kept a tavern, which did an extensive business. the proprietor was half dutch and half irish, as his name imports, and he had the faculty of pleasing everybody. his house was a brick structure on the north side of the road, and is probably still standing. van mcpherson kept this house from to , and made money in it. new market is a village west of mcpherson's old tavern, and in frederic county, maryland. here the stages stopped and changed teams, and an old wagon stand was kept by one shell. it is said of shell that his name differed from his table, in that the latter contained no shells, but the best of savory viands. three miles west of new market, frank wharton kept a tavern, and a good one. he was rough in manner, and could swear longer and louder than wilse clement, but he kept his house in good shape and did an extensive business. one mile west of wharton's the widow dean kept a tavern. her house was a brick structure on the south side of the road, and she owned it and the ground whereon it stood, in fee simple. she was largely patronized by wagoners. next after passing mrs. deans old stand, the city of frederic is reached, which fifty years ago was the largest town on the road between wheeling and baltimore. james dehoof and john lambert kept old wagon stands in frederic city. lambert died about , and was succeeded by john miller, who kept the house down to the year . four miles west of frederic city the old wagoners encountered cotockton mountain, and here was a fine old tavern kept by getzendanner, a german. his house was a stone building, on the south side of the road, presumably standing to this day. getzendanner, true to his native traits, was the owner of the property. old wagoners unite in saying that the old german kept a good house, barring a little too much garlic in his sausages. peter hagan played the part of host at an old tavern, one mile west of getzendanner's. his house was a log building, and stood on the south side of the road. as before stated, the outward appearance of an old tavern on the national road was no index to affairs within; and though peter hagan's house was small and made with logs, the cheer within was exhilarating. his meals were simple and but little varied, yet so manipulated in the kitchen, and spread upon the table so tastefully, and withal so clean, that they were tempting even to an epicure. peter hagan's patrons were for the most part wagoners, and the old wagoners of the national road knew what good living was, and "put up" only where the fare was inviting. peter hagan was an uncle of robert hagan, a local politician of south union township, fayette county, pennsylvania. proceeding westward from hagan's old tavern, the next point is the village of middletown, which hoped to become a city, and might have succeeded, had not the steam railway eclipsed the glory of the old pike. at middletown the stages had relays of horses. one of the stage houses at this point was kept by ---- titlow, a relative of f. b. titlow, of uniontown. here also there was a wagon stand, kept by samuel riddlemoser. this was in . in the spring of riddlemoser moved to the widow mcgruder house, one mile west of middletown. the mcgruder house was well conducted, and enjoyed a large patronage. south mountain comes next, and here a tavern was kept by one miller. it was a wagon stand, a stone building, on the north side of the road. the battle of south mountain was fought here, but the roar of the cannon failed to awaken the departed glories of the old miller tavern. one mile west of south mountain, petter zettle, a german, kept a tavern. it was a wagon stand, and a popular one. the house was of brick, and stood on the south side of the road. the old landlord was accustomed to join in the merry-making of the old wagoners, and as the jokes went around in the old bar room, the german spice was plainly discernible as well as agreeable, in unison with the familiar notes of the native pike boys. one mile west of zettle's, robert fowler kept a wagon stand. fowler quit in , and was succeeded by emanuel harr, who conducted the house for many years. joe garver, a noted blacksmith, had a shop at this point. garver, it is said, could cut and replace as many as a dozen wagon tires in a single night. it was not an uncommon thing for the old blacksmiths of the road to work all night at shoeing horses and repairing wagons. chapter xxvii. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--boonsboro to cumberland--funkstown, antietam, hagerstown, dirty spigot, shady bower, clear spring, north mountain, indian spring, hancock--the house of nicodemus--accident on sideling hill, the longest hill on the road--snib hollow--town hill--green ridge--pratt's hollow--a fugitive slave--polish mountain--flintstone--martin's mountain._ "it stands all alone like a goblin in gray, the old-fashioned inn of a pioneer day, in a land so forlorn and forgotten, it seems like a wraith of the past rising into our dreams; its glories have vanished, and only the ghost of a sign-board now creaks on its desolate post, recalling a time when all hearts were akin as they rested at night in that welcoming inn." james newton matthews. boonsboro is a small town at the foot of south mountain in maryland, and in the palmy days of the national road was a lively village. old wagoners and stage drivers spread its fame, but railroad conductors are silent as to its memory. the slifer brothers kept tavern in boonsboro in the olden time. their house was not a wagon stand. one of the slifer brothers, as before stated, claimed to be the inventor of the "rubber," brake, as it is commonly called. at the west end of boonsboro the widow galwix kept a wagon stand and did a large business. she was the widow of john galwix, hereinbefore mentioned as a fancy wagoner. robert fowler kept a tavern in boonsboro as early as and a wagon stand on the north side of the road. three and a half miles west of boonsboro henry and jacob fosnock, germans, kept a wagon stand, which was well patronized. the property was owned by the fosnocks, and they made money with their tavern. they were bachelors, but had an unmarried sister, susan, who acted in the capacity of hostess. she subsequently became the wife of the old wagoner, joseph crampton. the fosnocks were at the point mentioned as late as . funkstown appears next in sight. funkstown, another old village identified with the by-gone glories of the old pike. the name of this village brings to mind the once familiar form of john funk, an old wagoner. john lived at or near funkstown, and his family may have given the name to the village. funkstown is located on little antietam creek, about seventy miles west of baltimore. fifty years ago there was a paper mill and a grist mill at funkstown, and they may be there yet, and others in addition. at the east end of funkstown, joseph watts kept a wagon stand, and competed for the custom of the wagoners with william ashton, who kept a similar tavern at the west end of the town. each did a good business. ashton will be remembered as the athletic wagoner, who leaped over the top of a road wagon at petersburg. he knew the wants of wagoners and served them well at his old tavern. he was the owner of two fine six-horse teams, and kept them constantly on the road. after funkstown, come the classic shades and handsome streets of hagerstown. hagerstown was always a prominent point on the road. it ranked with wheeling, washington, brownsville, uniontown, cumberland, and frederic. hagerstown was a station for the stage lines. it outlived the road, and flourishes as one of the best towns of maryland. the only old wagon stand in hagerstown was that of john b. wrench. but hagerstown was rather too stylish a place for old wagoners, and wrench gave up his house there in , and removed to piney grove, where he found a more congenial atmosphere. he subsequently kept one of the old taverns at grantsville, from which point he emigrated to iowa, and died there. four and a half miles west of hagerstown, an old wagon stand was kept by david newcomer. it was a stone house, on the north side of the road. newcomer furnished good entertainment, and was well favored with customers, mostly wagoners. he was a quaker, and a money maker. he dealt in horses, in addition to tavern keeping. when offering a horse for sale, his wife was accustomed to say in the hearing of the person proposing to buy: "now, david, thee must not sell that favorite horse." this, old wagoners say, was a "set-up job" between david and his spouse to gain a good price. newcomer was the owner of the property, and as the house was of stone, is probably standing yet; but the ring of the old pike has gone from it long since. three miles westward from newcomer's was the imposing and well-remembered tavern kept by john miller. it was of brick, a large and commodious building, situate on the north side of the road. miller owned the property, and it may be in the possession of his descendants to this day. there were large rooms in this house, adapted to dancing purposes, and young men and maidens of the vicinity frequently tripped to the notes of the old time music in its spacious halls. the waltz was unknown, and the figures varied from the "hoe down" to the cotillion, closing always with the "virginia reel." the old wagoners were invariably invited to participate in these festivities, and engaged in them with a gusto not excelled by the lads and lasses of the surrounding neighborhood. alfred bailes, the old pike boy of dunbar, drove a line team from john s. miller's to the nicodemus house, two miles west of hancock, as early as the year , and is probably the only survivor of the young folks who participated in the gayeties of miller's old tavern. one mile west of miller's is "shady bower." there a tavern was kept by conrod wolsey. his house was well favored by wagoners, who sought his generous board in goodly numbers, and while well liked by his customers, he got the name of "dirty spigot," because the spigot of a whisky barrel in his house was once besmeared with filth. there was a large distillery near wolsey's tavern, operated by barnes mason. mason had two teams on the road, driven by william keefer and joseph myers. clear spring comes next, and derives its name from the existence of a large, gushing spring of clear water, in volume sufficient to propel a mill. an old wagon stand was kept at clear spring by andrew kershaw, who died the proprietor of the house, and was succeeded by his son jonathan. the house was a large brick building, on the south side of the road. stages stopped and exchanged teams at clear spring, but not at kershaw's. his house, as stated, was a wagon stand. gusty mitchell is a well-remembered character of clear spring. he used to steal and drink the wagoners' whisky, and "bum" around their teams in all sorts of ways. one night the wagoners poured turpentine over gusty and set fire to him, which so frightened him that he never afterward had anything to do with wagoners. the next old tavern was on the top of north mountain, two miles west of clear spring, kept by joseph kensel. it was a log house, and on the north side of the road. kensel owned the property. while this old tavern was humble in outward appearance, the fires burned brightly within, and its patrons, who were numerous, highly extolled the quality of the viands it spread before them. indian spring comes next, four and a half miles west from clear spring. here a wagon stand was kept by david miller. the house is a stone structure, on the north side of the road, and miller owned it in fee simple. this old house was a favorite resort of wagoners, and night after night echoed the once familiar notes of the great highway, in the days of its glory. three miles west from david miller's, anthony snider, a distant relative of john snider of happy memory, kept a wagon stand. it was a frame building on the north side of the road. peter hawes once lived at this house, and hauled stone for an aqueduct on the adjacent canal. four miles west of snider's, on the north side of the road, stood the old frame tavern of widow bevans. she owned the property, and her house was a popular stopping place. it will be noted that in many instances widows kept the best taverns along the road. there is no record of a widow making a failure as a tavern keeper. two miles further on to the westward, and before the once familiar tavern of widow bevans entirely recedes from view, the old wagon stand of david barnett is reached. his house was a large log building, on the north side of the road. here the first transportation line of six-horse teams, john bradfield agent, had relays, its next relay eastward being the house of john miller, before mentioned. barnett was a jolly old landlord, fond of exchanging jokes with old wagoners and other patrons. he had a manner and a method of pleasing his guests, and did a large and profitable business. westward, two miles from barnett's, is the historic town of hancock, named in honor of the man who wrote his name in letters so large and legible, that they were read all round the world. there was no old wagon stand tavern in hancock, except for a short time about the year . john shane established it, but was not successful, and removed to cumberland, where he set up a confectionery shop. wagoners preferred country before town taverns, as a rule. stages stopped and exchanged horses in hancock. two miles west of hancock, one nicodemus kept an old wagon stand. his first name has not been preserved, owing probably to the sublimity of his surname. he was known all along the road, but mentioned only as nicodemus. his house was a frame building on the north side of the road, and he owned it, and died in it. he kept a good tavern, and was well patronized. widow downer kept this house before the time of nicodemus. two miles west of the house of nicodemus is sideling hill, so called from the sloping character of the ground upon which the road is laid. at the eastern foot of this hill jacob brosius kept an old wagon stand, and had a good share of custom. his house was a frame building and stood on the south side of the road. the distance from the foot to the summit of sideling hill is four miles, and it is the longest hill on the road. in jacob anderson, an old wagoner, was killed on sideling hill. his team became frightened on the summit and ran down the western slope, coming in contact with a large tree on the roadside with such force as to break it down, and falling on anderson, he was instantly killed. isaac browning, caleb langley and black westley, with their teams and wagons, were on the road with anderson at the time of this accident. anderson was a citizen of loudon county, virginia. langley, browning and westley belonged to fayette county, pennsylvania. the road crosses a stream at sideling hill, called sideling hill creek. there was a covered bridge over this creek. in john moss and billy george, old wagoners, drove their teams on this bridge, and stopping a while to rest under the shade afforded by the roof, the bridge broke down, precipitating horses, wagons and drivers a distance of fourteen feet to the water, causing considerable damage to the wagons and the goods therein, but strange to say inflicting but slight injuries upon the drivers and teams. the teams and wagons belonged to robert newlove, of wheeling. two miles from the foot of sideling hill, and on the north side of the road, john h. mann kept a wagon stand. his house was a frame building. mann was a citizen of some prominence, and at one time represented his county (washington) in the maryland legislature. it is not known that his proclivities in the line of statesmanship impaired in any wise his talent for tavern keeping. on the western slope of sideling hill, about midway between the summit and the foot, thomas norris kept a tavern, which was a favorite resort of wagoners. his house was a large stone building, on the north side of the road. there was a picturesqueness about the location of this old tavern that imparted a peculiar spice to the ordinary rounds of entertainment enjoyed by its guests. samuel cessna kept this house at one time. one mile west of sideling hill creek, a wagon stand was kept by the widow ashkettle, another widow, and she no exception to the rule before stated, that the widows all kept good houses. her name is not inappropriate to some of the duties of housekeeping, but mrs. ashkettle's forte was not in making lye, but in setting a good, clean table. she had a son, david, who managed the business of the house for her. her house was a frame building, and stood on the north side of the road. two miles west of mrs. ashkettle's the wayfarer struck the point bearing the homely name of "snib hollow." these old names never wear out, no matter how ugly they are, and it is well they do not. they all have a significance and an interest, local or otherwise, which would be lost by a change of name. quidnuncs in history and literature have exerted their restless talents in efforts to obliterate these seemingly rude, old names, and substitute fancy ones in their stead, but they have failed, and their failure is a pleasant tribute to the supremacy of common sense. as early as the widow turnbull kept a tavern at snib hollow. later, an old wagon stand was kept there by john alder, who had a large run of customers. his house was a log building, on the north side of the road. town hill comes next, a half a mile west of snib hollow, at the foot of which dennis hoblitzell kept a tavern as early as the year , and probably earlier. the house was on the east side of the road, and the locality is often called piney plains. mrs. mcclelland, of the mcclelland house, uniontown, is a daughter of dennis hoblitzell. samuel cessna subsequently kept this house, and stage lines and wagon lines all stopped at it. it was here, and in cessna's time, that governor corwin, of ohio, was treated as a negro servant, mention of which is made in another chapter. in john snider stopped over night at this house, with a load of emigrants, while cessna was keeping it, and had to clean the oats he fed to his horses with an ordinary bed sheet, the windmill not having reached this point at that early day. at the foot of town hill, on the west side, henry bevans kept a tavern. it was a wagon stand, and likewise a station for one of the stage lines. the house stood on the north side of the road, and enjoyed a good trade. samuel luman, the old stage driver, kept this house in . two miles west from the bevans house is green ridge, where an old wagon stand was kept by elisha collins. his house was a log building, and stood on the north side of the road. although this house was humble in appearance, old wagoners are unstinted in bestowing praises on its ancient good cheer. trudging onward, two miles further to the westward, the old wagoner, and many a weary traveler, found a pleasant resting place at "pratt's hollow," where samuel hamilton kept a cozy old tavern. it was a frame house, on the north side of the road. hamilton was a planter as well as tavern keeper, and raised tobacco and owned and worked negro slaves. levi mcgruder succeeded hamilton as the keeper of this house. this locality derived its name from pratt, who owned the property at an early day, and, upon authority of the veteran david mahaney, kept the first tavern there. an incident occurred at pratt's hollow in the year , which brings to memory the state of public society in _ante bellum_ times. among the old wagoners of the road, was richard shadburn. he was a native of virginia, and born a slave, while his complexion was so fair, and his hair so straight, that he readily passed for a white man. when quite young he escaped from his master and struck out for liberty among the enlivening scenes of the great highway of the republic. on a certain evening of the year mentioned, he drove into mcgruder's wagon yard along with a number of other wagoners, to rest for the night. the sun had not yet disappeared behind the western hills, and a stage coach pulled up in front of mcgruder's tavern, and stopped for water, as was the custom at that point. among the passengers in that coach was the owner of the slave, shadburn. looking out through the window of the coach he observed and recognized shadburn, and calling to his aid a fellow passenger, emerged from the coach with a determination to reclaim his property. dick was seized, but being a man of great muscular power, succeeded in releasing himself from the clutches of his assailants and fled. the disappointed master fired at dick with a pistol, as he ran, but he made good his escape. the team driven by shadburn belonged to parson's of ohio, who shortly after the escapade mentioned, sent another driver to mcgruder's to take charge of it. shadburn never afterward reappeared on the road, and it is believed that he found a home and at last a grave in canada. it was near pratt's hollow that the cotrells, father and two sons, murdered a peddler in , the perpetrators of which crime were all hung from the same scaffold in frederic. the old tavern at pratt's hollow was destroyed by fire many years ago, and was never rebuilt. two miles west from pratt's hollow, john s. miller conducted an old tavern, and a good one. his house was a frame building, and stood on the north side of the road. it was a popular stopping place for wagoners. miller kept this house as early as , and subsequently became the proprietor of the old tavern, five miles west of washington, pennsylvania, where he died. "polish mountain" is reached next, one mile west of the old miller stand. on the summit of this little, but picturesque mountain, philip fletcher kept an old tavern, and greeted and treated thousands of old wagoners and other travelers. his house stood on the north side of the road, and was made of logs, but the table it furnished was equal to the best on the road. and next comes flintstone, four miles west of fletcher's. all old pike boys remember flintstone. the name has a familiar ring. the stages stopped at flintstone, and thomas robinson kept the leading tavern there, in the olden time. his house was a stage station, and a wagon stand as well. robinson, the good old landlord, got into a difficulty, many years ago, with one silas twigg, and was killed outright by his assailant. as early as jonathan huddleson kept a tavern in flintstone, and had the patronage of one of the stage lines. he subsequently kept the old tomlinson tavern at the little meadows. john piper was an old tavern keeper at flintstone. his house was a favorite summer resort, and also enjoyed the patronage of old wagoners. the piper house is a large brick building, and stands on the north side of the road. john piper died about the year . the house is continued as a tavern under the joint management of john howard, a son-in-law, and an unmarried daughter of the old proprietor. henry b. elbon also kept a tavern in flintstone for many years, but his career began after that of the old road ended. elbon died about four or five years ago. fairweather and ladew, of new york, own and operate a large tannery at flintstone. two miles west of flintstone, martin's mountain is encountered, at the foot of which, on the east, thomas streets presided over an old tavern, and welcomed and cared for many a guest. his house was a frame structure, on the south side of the road. two miles further on the westward tramp the widow osford kept a regular old wagon stand. she was assisted by her son, joseph. it is needless to state that her house was popular. she was a widow. her house was a log building, on the south side of the road, with a large wagon yard attached. her dining room occupied the greater portion of the ground floor of her house, and her table was always crowded with hungry guests. kitchen and bar room made up the remainder of the first story, and wagoners' beds covered every inch of the bar room floor at night. mrs. osford retired from this house after a long season of prosperity, and was succeeded by peter hager, an old wagoner, who at one time drove a team for william searight. two miles west from widow osford's, henry miller kept an old tavern. it was a brick house, on the south side of the road. it will be noted that miller is the leading name among the old tavern keepers of the road. the smiths don't figure much in this line. two miles west of henry miller's an old tavern was kept by slifer, whose first name is lost to memory. it is probable he was of the family of slifers who kept at boonsboro. it is said of this slifer that he was a good, square dealing landlord, kept a good house and enjoyed a fair share of patronage. chapter xxviii. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--cumberland to little crossings--the city of cumberland--everstine's--the six mile house and bridge--clary's--tragedy in frostburg--thomas beall--sand springs--big savage--little savage--thomas johnson--the shades of death--john recknor--piney grove--mortimer cade--tomlinson's--widow wooding._ the city of cumberland is the initial point, as before stated, of that portion of the national road which was constructed by authority of congress, and paid for with funds drawn from the public treasury of the united states. in james black kept the leading tavern in cumberland. it was a stage house. in john and emory edwards, of boonsboro, leased the black house, and conducted it as a tavern for many years thereafter. john snider, the old pike boy of pleasant memory, hauled a portion of the household goods of the edwards' from their old home in boonsboro to their new location at cumberland. at the date last mentioned there were two wagon stands in cumberland. one of them was kept by thomas plumer. plumer had teams on the road. the other was kept by george mattingly. frederic shipley kept a tavern in cumberland previous to the year . it was located on baltimore street, near the site of the station first established by the baltimore & ohio railroad company. this house was subsequently conducted by george w. gump, and after him, in , by david mahaney. one kaig, of bedford county, pennsylvania, succeeded mahaney in the control of this house. it was called "the american," and entertained wagoners and the traveling public at large. in and later, the widow adams kept a wagon stand in cumberland, on the site of the present rolling mill. george elliott was manager for mrs. adams. the house was a large brick structure, and known in its day as the "mountain city house." lewis smith kept "the blue springs house" on mechanics street, and was largely patronized by old wagoners. frederic shipley also kept a tavern on mechanics street, after he left the american. john kelso, the old wagoner, kept a tavern for a short time on mechanics street, and was well patronized; and otho barcus, another old wagoner, kept the "pennsylvania house" on mechanics street in , and for a period of three years thereafter. the road when first laid out, as seen in a previous chapter, passed over wills mountain. in this location was changed for a better grade, up the valleys of wills creek and braddock's run. to make this change it was necessary to first obtain the consent of the state of maryland, which was granted by an act of her legislature in . the old plumer tavern stood at the eastern end of the old location, and the old mattingly tavern at the same end of the new location. george evans kept a tavern, also, near the eastern end of the original location. [illustration: john kelso.] five miles west of cumberland, on the new location, a wagon stand was kept by joseph everstine. this was a frame house, and stood on the north side of the road. it was well conducted, but owing to its proximity to cumberland, did not do as large a business as other taverns of the road, more advantageously located. six miles west from cumberland there was an old tavern known as the "six mile house." it belonged to the bruces, an old and wealthy family of alleghany county, maryland, and many years ago was destroyed by fire. a new building was erected on the old site, and remains to this day in the occupancy of a nephew of the old tavern keeper, aden clary. this house is near the junction of the old and new locations above referred to, and near the stone bridge over braddock's run. the sixth mile post from cumberland stands on the north wall of this bridge, firm and unshaken. the bridge is well preserved, and a polished stone thereof bears this inscription: " --built by thomas fealy, lieut. jno. pickell, u. s. engineer, h. m. petitt, ass't supt'd." eight miles west from cumberland aden clary kept. his house was a large and commodious brick building on the south side of the road, and is still standing. there was not a more popular house on the road than aden clary's. frostburg is next reached. this was always a prominent point on the road. it did not derive its name, as many suppose, from the crisp atmosphere in which it was located, but from the original owner of the land on which it stands, whose name was frost. frostburg was the first stage station west of cumberland. the leading taverns of frostburg in the palmy days of the road were the "franklin house" and the "highland hall house." the franklin house was kept for many years by thomas beall, the father of the bealls of uniontown. it was headquarters of the good intent stage line. the highland hall house was conducted at different times by george w. claybaugh, george evans, samuel cessna and thomas porter. it was the headquarters of the stockton line of coaches. during cessna's time at this house he was the principal actor in a tragedy which produced considerable commotion in the vicinity. a negro servant employed by cessna addressed some insulting remark to his wife, and immediately upon being informed thereof, cessna proceeded to dispatch the negro without ceremony. he was tried in cumberland for murder and acquitted, public sentiment very generally acquiescing in the verdict of the jury. about the year the highland hall house was purchased by the authorities of the catholic church, remodeled, improved and converted to ecclesiastical uses. about one mile west of frostburg, and at the foot of big savage mountain, is sand springs, so called from the gurgling water in the sand at that point. in the widow ward kept a wagon stand tavern at sand springs. her house was a favorite resort for old wagoners. on the night of october , , snow fell to the depth of a foot at sand springs, breaking down the timber all through the surrounding mountains. mrs. ward's wagon yard was crowded with teams and wagons that night, and the snow was so deep the next day that the wagoners deemed it inexpedient to turn out, and remained at mrs. ward's until the following morning. john snider was among the wagoners at mrs. ward's on the occasion mentioned, and is authority for the occurrence of the october snow storm. the tavern at sand springs was subsequently kept by john welsh, an old stage driver, hiram sutton and jacob conrod, in the order named. hiram sutton was a son-in-law of jared clary. he kept the sand springs tavern down to the year , when he moved to parkersburg, west virginia, and may be living there yet. philip spiker, the old blacksmith at sand springs, it is said could shoe more horses in a given time than any other blacksmith on the road. he had a rival, however, in a. brice devan, now of dunbar, who, in the palmy days of the road, carried on a shop in hopwood, and shod horses for old wagoners all night long on many occasions. devan's backers will not concede that spiker was a speedier shoer than he. a short distance west of sand springs, on the side of big savage mountain, an old wagon stand was kept by one cheney, afterward by jacob conrod. it is a stone house, on the south side of the road. in cheney's time at this house, henry clay bush, who was an old wagoner, says that metallic mugs were used for drinking purposes, instead of glasses. he further states that the mugs were clean, and probably used through deference to the pure whisky of that day. big savage mountain is two thousand five hundred and eighty feet above the atlantic. two miles west from cheney's, and at the foot of little savage mountain, thomas beall kept a tavern as early as . william e. beall, superintendent of the uniontown rolling mill, was born at this old tavern. thomas beall removed from this place to missouri, but after a short absence, returned to western maryland, and took charge of the franklin house in frostburg. thomas johnson succeeded thomas beall in the management of this house. it was a noted place, and johnson was a noted character. he was a good fiddler and a good dancer. he owned a negro named dennis, who was also a good dancer, and night after night in the cheerful bar room of the old tavern, dennis performed the "double shuffle," responsive to lively music furnished by his old master. johnson was small in stature, weighing but little over a hundred pounds. although he participated freely in the fun of the old road, he was not unmindful or neglectful of his business. he owned the old tavern-stand mentioned and the lands adjacent, and dying, left a comfortable inheritance to his descendants. little savage mountain has an elevation of two thousand four hundred and eighty feet above the atlantic, being one hundred feet lower than big savage. three miles further westward, and at the eastern approach to the shades of death, john recknor kept an old wagon stand, well known, and in its day well patronized. recknor kept this house as early as , and ended his days in it. it was a log and frame structure on the north side of the road, with a commodious wagon yard attached. the thick branches of the pine trees growing on shade hill, hung over this old house, imparting to it a romantic, as well as an attractive perspective. the fame of mrs. recknor as a purveyor of hot biscuits was co-extensive with the line of the road. now, "the kitchen is cold and the hall is as still, as the heart of the hostess out there on the hill." piney grove comes next, two miles from recknor's, so called from the numerous pine trees growing in the locality in the olden time. at an early day joshua johnson, a wealthy man of frederic city, owned fifteen thousand acres of land, embracing piney grove and the shades of death, which he held for many years for speculative purposes. portions of this large area, it is said, continue in the possession of johnson's descendants to this day. the pine trees were cut down many years ago, sawed up and shipped to market. william frost, of frostburg, erected the first extensive saw mill in the vicinity. at piney grove there was an old tavern, kept at different times by truman fairall, mortimer cade, lemuel cross, john wrench and david mahaney. all the stage lines of the road stopped at this old tavern, and wagoners in goodly numbers also congregated there. it was a large frame building on the north side of the road, and on the opposite side large stables and sheds were erected for sheltering horses and vehicles. west of piney grove about one-fourth of a mile, an old wagon stand was kept by a man whose name was wagoner, and subsequently by isaac bell, and later by mortimer cade. cade kept this house in , and died in it. his widow continued to keep it as a tavern for a number of years, and until she became the wife of william fear, who kept a tavern on keyser's ridge. a daughter of mrs. cade is living in uniontown at this time. two miles west of piney grove the celebrated old tomlinson tavern at little meadows is reached. this is an old stand; as old as the national road. here the lines of the national and the old braddock roads coincide. jesse tomlinson owned the land at this point, and kept a tavern on the old braddock road, before the national road was made. upon the opening of the latter he abandoned his old house and erected a new one on the new road, which he conducted as a tavern for many years. after his death the property passed to the hands of jacob sides. w. m. f. magraw, as before stated, married a daughter of jacob sides. this place is referred to as the little meadows in the official record of braddock's unfortunate march through the mountains in . the region at and about mt. washington, further westward on the line of the road, where the conflict between washington and the french and indians occurred, in , is designated by washington, in his official report of that engagement, as the great meadows. tomlinson's tavern is a large stone house, on the north side of the road. after tomlinson, it was kept by thomas endsley, who was succeeded by thomas thistle, thomas thistle by james stoddard, and he, in turn, by jesse huddleson, truman fairall, lemuel cross and david mahaney, all before the railroad was continued west of cumberland. it was kept by george layman after the railroad absorbed the trade. layman was afterward sheriff of alleghany county, maryland. in the year , while the property was under the control of mr. magraw, the old tomlinson tavern was remodeled and much improved. the contract for the improvements was undertaken by george w. wyning, a well known carpenter of uniontown, who superintended the work in person, and during its progress he and magraw together, spent many a pleasant hour amid the exhilarating atmosphere of the mountains, in the society of the old pike boys. james k. polk dined at the tomlinson house in the spring of , on his way to washington to be inaugurated president. huddleson was keeping the house at that time. the occasion brought together a large concourse of mountain people, who were addressed by the president-elect. one mile west from tomlinson's the widow wooding kept a tavern as early as , and for some time thereafter. her house was a frame building, on the north side of the road, and was largely patronized by old wagoners. mrs. wooding growing old, and wearied by the onerous duties of tavern keeping, gave up the business, and turned her house over to her son-in-law. peter yeast, who conducted it for a season, and in turn surrendered it to john wright. one mile west of mrs. wooding's old stand the traveler reaches the little crossings, a name given to the locality from the circumstance that here the road crosses the castleman river; and the prefix "little" is used because the castleman is a smaller stream than the youghiogheny, which is crossed a few miles further westward, and called the big crossings. there was no tavern at the little crossings previous to the year . subsequent to that date a tavern was established there by alexander carlisle, who entertained the traveling public in a satisfactory manner. his house was a large frame structure, on the south side of the road, subsequently kept by john and samuel mccurdy, and later, at different times, by david johnson, william dawson, elisha brown, jacob conrod and david mahaney. although nearly twenty years elapsed from the building of the road before any old landlord at little crossings beckoned the weary traveler to rest and refreshment, nevertheless, thereafter, and until business ceased on the line, that locality presented many and rare attractions, as all old pike boys are ready to verify. chapter xxix. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--little crossings to winding ridge--grantsville--the old shultz, steiner and fuller houses--the veteran, david mahaney--thomas thistle, widow haldeman, death of mrs. recknor, negro mountain, keyser's ridge, log cabin boys of , james stoddard, dennis hoblitzell, the fears, the mccurdys, adam yeast, david johnson, perry shultz, truman fairall, john woods, the bane house, wooing and wedding of an old tavern keeper, james reynolds, henry walters._ next after leaving the little crossings on the westward march, comes grantsville, a romantic little mountain village in garrett, formerly alleghany, county, maryland, named long before the hero of appomattox was known to fame, and therefore not in his honor. in samuel gillis kept a tavern in the east end of grantsville, on the south side of the road, the same house that in later years was kept by john slicer. it was a wagon stand in the time of gillis, and slicer did not take charge of it until business had ceased on the road. john lehman kept a tavern in grantsville in . he was a son-in-law, as was peter yeast, of the good old widow wooding, before mentioned. the lehman house was subsequently kept by henry fuller, and after him by george smouse. it was a frame building near the center of the village, on the south side of the street and road. in henry fuller demolished this old house, and erected a new one in its place. adam shultz kept a tavern at the east end of grantsville back in the forties, and dying in charge, was succeeded by his son perry, who continued it down to the year , when the ancient glories of the old pike began to weaken and wane. the shultz house was an imposing brick structure, on the south side of the road, and was kept for a while by the veteran david mahaney, and at one time by jesse king. perry shultz was subsequently elected sheriff of alleghany county, maryland. solomon steiner also kept a tavern in grantsville during a portion of the prosperous era of the road. grantsville seems to have been a favorite locality for tavern keepers of german names and antecedents. steiner's tavern was a brick building, and stood on the opposite side of the road from the old shultz house. steiner built it, owned it, and died in it, and his son, archibald, conducted it for a number of years after his father's death. it was a wagon stand. the fuller house was kept at different times by john d. wrench, bazil garletts, barney brown, john slicer, william slicer, william beffler, john millinger, and nathaniel slicer. christian m. livengood is the present proprietor. archibald steiner was succeeded in his father's old house, first, by william shaw, and thereafter in turn by john millinger and jonas e. canagy, the present proprietor, and it is now called the farmer's house. david mahaney, whose name frequently appears in these pages, is a remarkable man. a boy when the national road was made, he has lived on and near it all his life. his present residence is dunbar, fayette county, pa., but he is a familiar figure on the streets of uniontown. he is the father of lloyd mahaney, the well known enterprising owner and manager of the handsome new mahaney house in uniontown, and of george mahaney, also a popular hotel man, who at one time kept the dixon house in greensburg, afterward a hotel in pittsburg, and at the present time is conducting a house in latrobe. david mahaney was born in washington county, md., near hagerstown, in , and is therefore in his eighty-sixth year, while he has the appearance of a man not over sixty. his complexion is swarthy, step elastic, and his memory but slightly impaired by the inroads of time. his father was a native of culpeper county, va., who met with a melancholy death by drowning in the potomac river, on the night of the presidential election of . his polling place was eight miles from his residence, in maryland, and to reach it and vote involved the crossing of the potomac. it was late in the evening when he left the polls to return home, and upon reaching the river, by some untoward accident fell into the water and perished. david mahaney's first venture in tavern keeping on his own account was at the old shultz house in grantsville. he was personally acquainted with henry clay, thomas h. benton, lewis cass, and others of the old time statesmen, and frequently entertained them. as early as thomas thistle kept a tavern at the foot of negro mountain, two miles west of grantsville. with a name somewhat rasping in its import, thistle had a smooth tongue, a mild manner, and furnished excellent entertainment for the traveling public. he was one of the oldest and best known tavern keepers on the road. his house was a long, frame wooden building, on the south side of the road, at times a stage station, and throughout its entire existence a wagon stand. here the national road crosses the line of the old braddock road. in william dehaven kept the old thistle tavern, and later it was kept by levi dean. one and a half miles west from the old thistle house, and on the eastern slope of negro mountain, the widow haldeman kept a tavern as early as , and like all the widows, had a large patronage. while conducting this house, mrs. haldeman became the wife of daniel smouse, who thereafter took charge of it. the house was a log building, on the south side of the road, and the spacious grounds surrounding it were crowded, night after night, with six-horse teams and big, broad wheeled wagons, covered with canvass, presenting the appearance of a military encampment. this old house was subsequently kept by george smouse, and later by john wright. the widow recknor, of savory memory, before mentioned, died a boarder in this old tavern, much lamented. [illustration: david mahany.] onward, westward and upward, the crest of negro mountain is reached. there are several versions of the origin of the name of this mountain. probably the one most worthy of acceptance is that in the early collisions between the whites and the indians, a negro appeared as an ally of the indians in a conflict on this mountain, and was among the slain. negro mountain is two thousand eight hundred and twenty-five feet above the level of the atlantic ocean, and the second highest elevation on the line of the road. the old commissioners give the height of the mountain as two thousand three hundred and twenty-eight and twelve one-hundredths feet, from their base of measurement in the potomac, near cumberland, and as before stated, make no mention of keyser's ridge. in the year dennis hoblitzell kept a tavern near the summit of negro mountain, on the eastern slope. he was the father of mrs. mcclelland, of the mcclelland house in uniontown. this old tavern is a stone building, on the north side of the road, and the same that in after years became celebrated as a resort for hog drovers, under the management of william sheets. it was kept as a tavern after hoblitzell left it, and before the time of sheets, by thomas beall. two miles west from negro mountain keyser's ridge looms up in view. this was a famous locality in the prosperous days of the road. it is a bald, bleak range, not inaptly described as the back-bone of the mountains. it is two thousand eight hundred and forty-three feet above sea level, and the highest point on the road. in the olden time snow drifts often accumulated to the depth of twenty feet on keyser's ridge, and stages and wagons were compelled to take to the skirting glades to avoid them. francis mccambridge kept a tavern here as early as , and was succeeded by robert hunter, and he by james stoddard, some time previous to . hunter went from this house to petersburg. james stoddard was the grandfather of mrs. mcclelland, of the mcclelland house, uniontown. stages stopped at stoddard's, as well as wagoners and travelers of every description. the log cabin boys of uniontown stopped at stoddard's the first night out on their memorable trip to baltimore, in , to attend the great whig mass meeting of that year in that city. they had with them, on wheels, a regular log cabin, well stored with refreshments of every kind, and the very best; and every mile of their long journey resounded with lusty shouts for "tippecanoe and tyler, too." e. b. dawson, esq., and lucien b. bowie, of uniontown, are the only survivors of that unique pilgrimage, so far as can be ascertained. the party consisted of such distinguished and well remembered whigs, of uniontown, as james veech, alfred patterson, rice g. hopwood, thomas r. davidson, lee haymaker, john harvey, william mcdonald, robert l. barry, james endsley, william e. austin, e. b. dawson and lucien b. bowie. there were doubtless others, but owing to the long lapse of time their names are not recalled. redding bunting drove the team that hauled the cabin, and thomas a. wiley was with the party as an employe of the stockton stage line, which furnished four coaches for the transportation of the political pilgrims. james endsley was of the somerfield family of endsleys, and died in that place in july, . at middletown, a short distance east of south mountain, in maryland, the log cabin boys were confronted with a petticoat suspended from a pole, which excited them to rage. a collision and a fight ensued. john harvey, the muscular man of the log cabin boys, engaged a like representative of the other side, and it is claimed, by the friends of harvey, that he vanquished his antagonist. it is not improbable that both sides claimed a victory. the party reached baltimore safely and on time, and were received in that city with great enthusiasm. they were tendered a reception speech, which was delivered by "the milford bard," a celebrated baltimore poet and orator of that day, and the speech responsive was made by william e. austin, who was a graceful orator, and his effort on this occasion was one of his best. the stoddard house, at keyser's ridge, was subsequently and successively kept by dennis hoblitzell, william fear, one of the mccurdys, adam yeast and david johnson, the latter the stepfather of mrs. mcclelland, of the mcclelland house, uniontown, before mentioned, who was born in this house when it was kept by her father, dennis hoblitzell. william fear owned the old stoddard house, and sold it to perry shultz, who conducted it as a tavern for a number of years, in addition to the parties above named. william and daniel fear were brothers. william, upon quitting the road, removed to virginia, where he lived to an old age and died. daniel exchanged the mountains for the rich valley of the monongahela, and ended his days in brownsville. in truman fairall built a house on keyser's ridge, and conducted it as a tavern down to the year , and a short time thereafter moved to the state of iowa, where he spent the remainder of his life. the stockton line of coaches stopped at fairall's. fairall was a native of old virginia. samuel fairall, a son of truman, the old tavern keeper, at one time a student in the dunlap's creek academy, near merrittstown, fayette county, pennsylvania, is a law judge in one of the courts of iowa. about half a mile west of keyser's ridge, and in the year , john woods built a house and conducted it as a tavern until the close of business on the road. he was an uncle of henry, thomas and alexander woods, of uniontown, and an old wagoner. sandy connor, the old blacksmith of keyser's ridge, and occasionally a stage driver, retired to an humble dwelling on the road side, opposite the woods house, and there in the depths of the mountains took final leave of the old road and all its endearing memories. two miles west of keyser's ridge an old wagon stand tavern was kept by daniel fear, before mentioned, who was the father of john g. fear, who kept the old workman house, in brownsville, a few years ago, george w. fear, formerly a wholesale liquor merchant in the same place, and frank fear, who once kept the yough house in connellsville. the old fear tavern referred to was also at one time kept by harvey bane and by william carlisle, and later by david johnson. it was a frame house on the north side of the road. within the venerable walls of this old tavern, and amid the romantic walks about it, when it was kept by david johnson, alfred mcclelland, the renowned old tavern keeper of uniontown, wooed and won his bride, and here in was happily married to miss sarah e. hoblitzell, now, and for many years, a widow, and reigning mistress of the old mcclelland house, in uniontown, one of the most famous of all the far famed hostelries of the road. about three-fourths of a mile west from the old fear house, in later years better known as the bane house, james reynolds established a tavern as early as the year , and continued to preside over it and entertain the traveling public until the year . it was a popular wagon stand in its day. james reynolds, its old proprietor, was the father of william reynolds, elsewhere mentioned as an old wagoner, tavern keeper and express agent. daniel fear succeeded james reynolds in the old house mentioned, and conducted it for a term of four years. he next moved to a wooden house about three hundred yards to the westward, and kept it as a tavern for two years. this old house was built by jacob frederic augustine, and known as the augustine house. from this old house daniel fear moved to sand springs, and kept the old hiram sutton house at that point for a term of two years, at the end of which he moved to brownsville, and died suddenly in uniontown on july , , while on a business errand to that place. john woods succeeded fear in the augustine house. within a distance of one hundred yards westward from the old reynolds house, and in the year , henry walters erected a wooden building and embarked in the business of tavern keeping. after a brief experience in this line, he removed to hopwood, where he operated a blacksmith shop. while in hopwood, and from the savings of tavern keeping and blacksmithing, he purchased the land on dunbar's camp, occupied it a number of years, sold it at an advance to dr. waters, of the soldiers' orphans' school, and with his added accumulations, bought the old grier-brown farm on redstone creek, in franklin township, fayette county, pennsylvania, founded the village of waltersburg, and about two years ago died, leaving his family a comfortable inheritance. he is well remembered as an amiable, industrious and money accumulating citizen of german origin. chapter xxx. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--winding ridge to the big crossings--the state line--how it is noted--the old stone tavern on winding ridge, john welsh, major paul, the wables, edward c. jones, the augustines, daniel blucher, petersburg, gen. ross, william roddy, gabriel abrams, the risler family, col. samuel elder, robert hunter, john mcmullin, alfred newlon, lott watson, john mitchell, john bradfield, the temple of juno, the big crossings, endsley's old tavern, john campbell, william imhoff--an old time fourth of july celebration._ from baltimore to the point last mentioned in the preceding chapter, all the old taverns on the road are in the state of maryland. the road crosses the dividing line between the states of maryland and pennsylvania, near the eastern foot of winding ridge. the crossing point is marked by a metal slab shaped like the ordinary mile post, and bears this inscription on one side: "state line, md. - / to wheeling, to petersburg, - / ." on the other side: "state line, penna. - / to cumberland, to frostburg, - / ." near the top of winding ridge, and in somerset county, pa., there is an old stone tavern which was built as early as the year , and by john welsh, who occupied it and conducted it down to the year , when it passed to the management of samuel dennison, who was succeeded in turn by m. j. clark, isaac ochletree, peter yeast, maj. william paul, michael cresap, robert boice and william lenhart. john welsh, who built this house and first occupied it, was the father-in-law of aden clary, well known in the early history of the road. major paul kept this house in , and for some time thereafter. he subsequently kept a tavern in washington, pa., on maiden street, opposite the female seminary, and later in west brownsville, where he died more than forty years ago. he was familiarly known from one end of the road to the other. voluble in speech, rotund in form, and ruddy in complexion, major paul was a fine type of the jolly landlord of the old road. he had a daughter, the wife of aaron wyatt, an old tavern keeper of the road, who always enjoyed the reputation of keeping a good house, owing in all probability to the early and practical training of his wife. mrs. patrick at one time owned and occupied the old stone house on top of winding ridge. she was the mother of w. w. patrick, now, and for many years, the intelligent head of the old reputable and successful banking house of r. patrick & co., of pittsburg. about the year the stables, appurtenant to the old stone tavern, above mentioned, and when it was kept by william lenhart, were destroyed by fire, supposed to have been the incendiary work of a disreputable woman. the loss was serious, and included two fine horses, the property of william hall, the typical old regular wagoner, hereinbefore mentioned. winding ridge derives its name from the tortuous course of the old braddock road up the mountain, at that point. [illustration: john risler.] at the foot of winding ridge, on the north side of the road, an old wagon and drove stand was kept as early as the year , by john wable. this old tavern keeper was probably well advanced in years when he first put out his sign, and from this old house he was summoned to his last account. he had two sons, john and jacob, who succeeded him in the management of the old tavern, as tenants in common. the sons applied themselves assiduously to the business of entertaining the public, and after a brief experience, concluded that their father's old house was too small to meet the demands of the increasing trade and travel of the road, and accordingly tore it down and erected a new and larger one in its place. the new house attracted a paying business, and remains a well known landmark of the road. in course of time the wables left this house, and their successor was edward c. jones, the grandfather, on the maternal line, of caleb and noble mccormick, of uniontown. this was more than fifty years ago. mr. jones moved from this old house to searights, where he resided for a time, and subsequently located in new salem, where he died. the old wable house next passed to the hands of jonas augustine, who became its owner and conducted it as a tavern for many years, doing a good business. while in charge of this old tavern he was elected a member of the legislature of pennsylvania for somerset county, and represented his constituents with recognized fidelity. he died soon after his legislative career ended, and the old tavern was purchased by his brother, daniel augustine, who kept it for many years, and until tavern keeping on the road ceased to be profitable. previous to the occupancy of daniel augustine, this house was kept for brief periods between and , first by michael cresap, and after him by joseph whetstone. cresap went from this house to the stone house on winding ridge. the widow of jonas augustine, well advanced in years, occupies this old house at the present time, as a private residence, and daniel augustine is a resident of petersburg, and regarded as the richest man in that town. one mile west of augustine's, daniel blucher kept a tavern as early as . he was a german, and his custom consisted mainly of the patronage of old wagoners. this house dropped from the roll of taverns long before the great travel on the road ceased. the ancient and picturesque village of petersburg is the next point reached on the westward march. petersburg is noted for its healthful location and the beauty of the surrounding scenery. it has always been a popular resort for summer tourists seeking exemption from the stifling heat of crowded cities. here lives [g]gen. moses a. ross, a retired merchant, who did business in the village for fifty years, and gained the confidence and enjoys the esteem of all his neighbors. a number of years ago his fellow citizens elected him to the legislature, and he served them intelligently, faithfully and honestly. he is a christian gentleman, and his long and honest business career on the road entitles him to be classed as a pike boy, well worthy of honorable mention. general ross was born in masontown, fayette co., pa., in the year . here also lived for many years, and died, william roddy, who was at one time a superintendent of the road, and a gentleman of unquestioned integrity. the first tavern ever kept in petersburg was by gabriel abrams, father of the late judge abrams, of brownsville. it was a frame house, on the south side of the road, and built by gabriel abrams, aforesaid. this house did a large business throughout the entire career of the road, as a national highway. subsequent to the time of abrams it was conducted successively and successfully by john skinner, daniel clary (in ), william reynolds, thomas brownfield, james marlow, michael cresap, peter turney, joseph hendrickson and henry magee. a frame house on the north side, erected by henry wentling, was conducted by him as a tavern from to , when he leased it to john risler, a celebrated old tavern keeper, who kept at various points on the road in the days of its glory. mr. risler was the father-in-law of the venerable harrison wiggins, brown hadden, and the late stephen w. snyder, and it is the tradition of the road that wherever a kitchen and a dining room were controlled by a female member of the risler family, there a well cooked and relishable meal was sure to be obtained. mr. risler was succeeded in the old wentling house by james connelly, and he, in , by the stalwart and popular old wagoner, matthias fry. fry remained in charge until the spring of , when he turned it over to john bell, who was succeeded by his son-in-law, col. samuel elder, who remained in charge until some time late in the forties, when he moved to uniontown and took the management of the national house in that place. in the year robert hunter opened a tavern in a brick house, on the south side of the road and street, in petersburg, and conducted it for many years with marked success. mrs. hunter, the old and amiable hostess of this house, is remembered as well for her good qualities as a housekeeper as for her immense size. she weighed two hundred and fifty pounds. this old house was subsequently kept by john a. walker, john mcmullin, alfred newlon and lott watson, in the order given, and was always well kept. the stage coaches of one of the early lines stopped at this house, and it has been extensively patronized by summer visitors and pleasure seekers. it was one of the very best eating houses on the road, and is continued as a tavern to this day by mr. mitchell, who holds a license and keeps a good house. john e. reeside married a step-daughter of john mcmullin. [footnote g: died december , .] [illustration: the temple of juno.] at a very early period in the road's history, john mitchell kept a tavern one mile west of petersburg, on the north side. besides doing a general business, this old house was a station for the first line of stages on the road. it was destroyed by fire on the st day of october, , and supplied by a new log structure, which was kept as a tavern for many years by john mitchell, jr., who erected near the old site the present large and substantial brick building in which he is now living, one of the oldest men on the road. on the opposite side of the road from this house immense stabling was erected, in after years supplemented by cattle and hay scales, all of which are still standing, tending slightly towards dilapidation and decay, but in a much better state of preservation than most of the old stables of the road. there is a large and fertile farm connected with this old tavern stand, well managed, under the direction of its venerable owner, [h]john mitchell. [footnote h: died in .] a short distance west from mitchell's, a large brick house on the north side of the road, was kept as a tavern by john bradfield in , and later. the locality was known as newbury. john bradfield was the general agent of the first heavy freight line put on the road, moved by six horse teams, stationed at intervals of fifteen miles. he was an old wagoner, and a good business man, and before going to newbury kept a tavern in wheeling and in washington, pennsylvania. after bradfield's retirement the newbury house was continued as a tavern by moses jennings. less than a mile west of newbury, on the north side of the road, an old building once used as a tavern, attracts special attention by reason of the singular style of its architecture. it is a wooden structure, commonly called a frame, with an unusually high portico in front, supported by four round and tall wooden columns, tapering upward and downward from the centers. it reminds one of the old pictures of the temple of juno, and possibly the designer had that ancient temple in view when he planned this old tavern. he is said to have been a native of the vicinity, not likely versed in the classic orders of architecture, but the style he adopted in this instance might reasonably be regarded as the monogynous. two immense stables appurtenant to this old tavern, one log, the other frame, both still standing, weather beaten, empty, and useless, bear silent, but impressive testimony to the thrift of other days, and impart a tinge of melancholy to the memories of the old pike. daniel show was the original owner of the quaint old building above described, and its first occupant. he sold it to samuel easter, who conducted it for a brief period, and was succeeded by peter lenhart, mentioned hereinafter as "shellbark." samuel thompson succeeded lenhart, and he in was succeeded by mrs. metzgar, who subsequently became the wife of john olwine. [illustration: the endsley house.] and now the hills that skirt the youghiogheny river rise to view, and somerfield is reached, an ancient little town, which the old metal mile posts on the road persist in calling smithfield. that this town was once called smithfield there can be no doubt, and that it now is somerfield is equally clear. it was originally called smithfield, because its founder's name was smith, but the postoffice department changed it to somerfield on account of the great multitude of smiths and smithfields in all portions of the universe. somerfield has been the scene of many a lively incident of the old road. here light feet, impelled by lighter hearts, tripped to the notes of merry music, and the ringing laugh and sprightly jokes of the old stage driver and wagoner, enlivened the now dull halls of the old taverns. the most noted old tavern keeper of somerfield was capt. thomas endsley. somerfield was always a stage station, the second relay east of uniontown. the endsley house was the headquarters of stockton's line. it is a stone building, and stands near the bank of the river at the western end of the town, and was erected in the year by kinkead, beck & evans, the old bridge builders, and occupied and conducted as a tavern by james kinkead, the senior member of the firm, from the date of its completion to the year . john campbell was its next occupant, who kept it for a term of two years, and until . capt. endsley then took charge of it, and conducted it down to the year . john shaffer kept it from to , when capt. endsley again took charge and continued down to , when redding bunting was installed, and conducted it down to the year . he was succeeded by john richards, who remained in charge until . squire hagan conducted it from to , and aaron wyatt from to , when capt. endsley, the third time, re-entered, and remained in charge until , when he gave place to his son william, the present incumbent. this old house is as solid as when first constructed. its foundation walls are not the least impaired, and its mortar pointings are as hard as the stones, while the wood work, and notably the doors, casings and mantel pieces, are in a perfect state of preservation, attesting the skill of the mechanics at the early period in which the house was built. near the center of the town, on the south side of the street, an old log tavern was kept by john campbell, as early as the year , and immediately after his retirement from the endsley house. he was succeeded in turn at this house by l. c. dunn, samuel frazee, moses jennings, and john bradfield. the june bug line of stages stopped at this house, and for a while the good intent line. it went out of business in , was remodeled and improved, and is now the private residence of james watson. prior to and down to a tavern was kept on the north side of the street in somerfield, by daniel blucher, j. tantlinger, capt. morrow, aaron wyatt, andrew craig, samuel thompson and p. r. sides, in the order given. this house ceased to do business in , and was pulled down in , and never rebuilt. in james kinkead, the old bridge builder, kept a tavern in a brick house on the south side of the street in somerfield. this house was afterward and successively kept by william imhoff, james watson, lot watson, john irvin and ephraim vansickle. vansickle was a blind man and engaged in tavern keeping when the glory of the road was fading away. he had many of the elements of a successful tavern keeper, and furnished satisfactory entertainment to the few travelers and strangers who sought shelter and refreshment under his kindly roof; but he was too late. tavern keeping on the national road was but a legend when he embarked in the business, and he was constrained to listen day after day, and night after night to the glowing recitals of the good times in bygone years, and reconcile himself as best he could to the existing situation. at somerfield the road crosses the youghiogheny river over a large, handsome and substantial stone bridge, three hundred and seventy-five feet in length, with three symmetrical arches, and appropriately named by old pike boys the big crossings. a large dressed stone in the wall of this bridge above the surface of the road, and near the eastern end, bears the inscription; "kinkead, beck & evans, builders, july th, ." the day of the month, the anniversary of independence, is given because on that day the bridge was finished, and the occasion was celebrated with great eclat. the inhabitants of the mountains for miles around, male and female, old and young, with old fashioned banners and old fashioned music, turned out in great numbers, inspired by that genuine patriotism which characterized the early period of our country's independence, while yet many of the soldiers of the revolution were living, and were addressed in eloquent terms by the hon. andrew stewart, col. samuel evans, hon. john dawson and john m. austin, of uniontown. chapter xxxi. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--big crossings to mt. washington--old shellbark, jacob probasco, jockey hollow, old tom brown, mt. augusta, marlow's, the three cabins, mccollough's--a fugitive slave tragedy--a sermon cut short by the baying of hounds--charley rush--the sheep's ear--the bull's head, the old inks house, nick mccartney, boss rush, samuel frazer, john rush._ the first old tavern west of the "big crossings," and the first in fayette county, pa. (for the river here is the boundary line between the counties of fayette and somerset), is that which for many years was kept by peter lenhart, commonly known as "shellbark." this is a two-story house, originally built with logs, but subsequently weather-boarded and painted red. the red, however, has long since disappeared, and it now wears the dingy, dark colored hue that settles upon all ancient buildings. a man named ebert built this house and occupied it as a private residence. he was a tanner by trade, and a justice of the peace. he sold out to peter lenhart's father, who occupied the house also as a private residence until his death, when his son peter succeeded him and opened up the house as a tavern, and soon after added a distillery. the house had a good custom and "shellbark" was prosperous. he was an eccentric man, and like orator puff, had two tones to his voice. he had a habit, upon rising every morning, of cutting a large slice from a loaf of bread, spreading it with butter, and eating it in connection with a glass of whiskey. he enjoyed this matutinal habit for many years, and rarely omitted it. why he was called "shellbark" is not accurately known. he was in early life an old-line democrat, but in later years got "mixed up," and seemed to have lost his political moorings. he died a few years ago, and his widow and daughter remain in the old house, occasionally entertaining strangers and travelers in very satisfactory style. [illustration: the big crossings.] the next old tavern stand is about half a mile from lenhart's, on the south side of the road. the line of the national road here is the same as that of the old braddock road, and this house was kept as a tavern by andrew flenniken, before the national road was constructed. jacob probasco succeeded flenniken in this house. besides keeping a tavern, probasco had teams on the road, was a contractor for repairs, operated a store, put up and operated a grist and saw mill, and engaged in many other enterprises. one of his contracts was for taking up a portion of the old road bed. at first, as elsewhere noted, the road was paved with large boulders, which were subsequently taken up and their places supplied by stones broken into small pieces. there are points along the road where the old bed remains, and here the road is in better condition than elsewhere, which has started the belief that it was a mistake to take up the original bed; but this is a disputed and unsettled question. prominent among those who thought it was a mistake to take up the original road bed was capt. thomas endsley, the old tavern keeper of somerfield. he argued the question on many occasions with the engineers, and after the work was done adhered to his opinion, and characterized the plan as a foolish notion of inexperienced young cadets. probasco got into trouble in attempting to collect a claim by attachment, was indicted for perjury, and soon after left the state, settling in ohio, and there became prominent and wealthy. it was a relative, probably a son of jacob probasco, who donated the money for the erection of the celebrated fountains in the city of cincinnati. probasco sold out to peter baker, who kept the house a number of years, and he was succeeded in turn by john irvin, jacob richards, charles kemp, aaron wyatt, morris mauler, aden clary and alexander speers. it was a stage house, and passengers by one of the coach lines took meals there. john conway now occupies the property, and it is owned by aden clary, of frostburg, maryland. the house is long and narrow, made up of different structures erected at different times, one part stone, another log, and a third frame, all now, and for a long time heretofore, joined together and enclosed by weather-boarding. the intervening space between this and the youghiogheny river is called "jockey hollow," a level piece of road upon which horses were run and cock-fighting practiced. hence the name jockey hollow. ephraim vansickle, "blind eph," as he was called, kept a tavern many years in an old log house in jockey hollow, and did a good business. this house was never kept as a tavern by any other person than vansickle. he subsequently kept a tavern in somerfield. nicholas bradley, who died a few years ago, was an old denizen of jockey hollow. he was a contractor on the original construction of the road, and as his name implies, an irishman. his son, daniel, still lives here, an active business man and an influential democratic politician. [i]jeremiah easter, esq., democratic jury commissioner, also lives here. john conway once kept a tavern in the "bend of the road" near the foot of the hill, about half a mile west of jockey hollow. this house was a log structure, long since demolished, and a small frame now stands on the old site. john conway was daniel bradley's grandfather, long since dead, and therefore not the man at present occupying the old probasco tavern. [footnote i: now deceased.] next is the old tavern of thomas brown. this is a large stone house, built by mr. brown about the time the road was made. it stands on the south side of the road. brown kept it as a tavern from the time it was built until the time of his death. col. ben brownfield and gen. henry w. beeson were wont to come here on their sleighing excursions in the olden time, often remaining many nights and days enjoying themselves in dancing and feasting. brown was a good fiddler, and furnished his guests with music, as well as other means of entertainment. he was a large man with a shrill voice, and considered a popular landlord. the property remained in the brown family a few years after the death of the old proprietor, and ultimately fell into the hands of jacob umberson, the present occupant. the elections of henry clay township were formerly held at this house, and many exciting scenes have been witnessed here on election day. the next old tavern site is mt. augusta. (site is used because the old brick tavern house that stood here for so many years was burned down some time ago, and has not been rebuilt.) it was one of the largest and most commodious houses on the road, with two large water troughs and extensive stabling among the appurtenances. in the palmy days of the road it did a large business. john collier was the original owner and occupant of this property. at his death it fell into the hands of his son, daniel, who kept it for a number of years and sold out to thomas brownfield. brownfield kept tavern here for thirty years, and sold out to john o'hegarty, the present owner and occupant. daniel collier moved from here to georges township, where he died a few years ago, the owner of a large estate. brownfield became successively commissioner and sheriff of fayette county, pennsylvania, and at the close of his term as sheriff removed to the state of missouri, where he died. the sale of this property by brownfield to o'hegarty, was effected through the agency of the celebrated henry clay dean. o'hegarty lived in lebanon county, pennsylvania, when he became the purchaser. the old tavern house was burnt during the occupancy of mr. o'hegarty. after the fire he moved into a frame tenant house, on the opposite side of the road, a little to the east, where he lives now. he is an acting justice of the peace, esteemed for his honesty and probity, and wields great influence among his neighbors. next is a stone house on the south side of the road, first kept as a tavern by william shaw, and afterward by william griffin, charles kemp, isaac denny and william a. stone, in the order given. it did a good business, and was regarded as a good house. [illustration: daniel collier.] next comes the old marlow house. this is a large two-story brick building, near the summit of a long hill. on the opposite side of the road a large stable was erected, capable of sheltering a hundred horses, and now in a decaying condition. the indispensable water-trough was here also. this house was built and kept as a tavern by benjamin miller, the grandfather of ben, jeff and sam miller, of uniontown. miller sold the property to james marlow. marlow kept it a long time, and died in it. at the time of his death he was superintendent of the road. he was a short, heavy set, quiet man, and came from maryland. he had several sons, all of whom went west many years ago, and one of them is now the proprietor of the "american hotel," in the city of denver. benjamin miller was once a candidate for the legislature, and pending his canvass declared, "by the eternal, if the people did not elect him he would go up on the hill overlooking harrisburg, and look down with contempt upon the capitol." he was not elected. at the foot of the hill, below the marlow house, stood, in the olden time, a cluster of small log cabins, three in number, which constituted a tavern stand known as the "bush house," or "three cabins." this quaint old tavern was kept by one leonard clark, who entertained a great many strangers and travelers, especially such as were in quest of something to slake their thirst. its best business days were during the time the road was undergoing construction, and upon its completion the "three cabins" succumbed to more pretentious inns. these cabins were covered with clap-boards; the chimneys built of rough stones, and "topped out" with mud and sticks. clark, the old proprietor, retired from public life soon after the completion of the road, went west, left his cabins to the tender mercies of the elements, and scarcely a trace of them can be seen at this day. that jolly times occurred at this old tavern, among the early pike boys, there can be no question. the next house is a two-story stone building with portico in front, known in recent years as the "old mccollough stand." it was built and first kept as a tavern by a man named bryant. james sampey, isaac nixon, morris mauler and nicholas mccartney, each kept this house for shorter or longer terms before mccollough went into it. col. john w. mccollough, who became the owner of the property, kept tavern here for many years, and died the proprietor. he was a man of stalwart size, a talking man and a politician. he was likewise a contractor, and did much work on the road. he left a widow and several children. [j]jim and nick, two of his sons, are well known pike boys. his [k]widow married 'squire burke, who now occupies the house, and there is no place on the road where a better meal can be obtained. a tragedy was enacted at this house which forms a memorable event in the history of the old pike, and served as a good text for the old anti-slavery agitators. it was on the th of july, . early in the morning of that day, while a number of wagoners were engaged in feeding and cleaning their teams, as they stood in the wagon yard, a negro passed along the road, and william king, one of the wagoners aforesaid, cried out in a loud voice to nicholas mccartney, who was then keeping the house, "there goes a runaway nigger." "are you sure of that?" inquired mccartney. "i am," replied king, whereupon mccartney darted after the negro and captured him a short distance south of the house, the rocks and brush in that locality having impeded the progress of the fugitive. mccartney led him into the house, and informed him that he was going to take him back to his master in maryland. the negro seemed submissive, and mccartney placed him in charge of one atwell holland, his brother-in-law, while he went for a horse to carry out his purpose of taking him back to maryland. during mccartney's absence the negro ran out of the house, and atwell and others pursued him. atwell being more fleet than any of the other pursuers, soon overtook the negro, whereupon he wheeled upon holland, drew a dirk knife from his pocket, struck it into his pursuer's heart, and made good his escape. holland immediately fell to the ground, and expired while being borne to the house by his companions. among the persons present on this tragic occasion, was one lewis mitchell, who was a great hunter and an occasional preacher. while holland was lying on the ground dying, mitchell placed wild grape leaves on his wound, and prayed for him. mitchell was preaching once in this neighborhood, and in one of his most earnest passages, heard the yelping of hounds. he immediately ceased preaching, and exclaimed, "there are the hounds, and d--d if lead ain't ahead," and straightway dashed out of the meeting house to join the sportsmen. [footnote j: both now dead.] [footnote k: now dead.] the next old tavern is about four hundred yards from the last one, and was also built by bryant, above mentioned, but not for a tavern. this house was kept successively by john mccollough, morris mauler and adam yeast, and is now kept by [l]nick mccollough. there were times when it had a "good run" of patronage. adam yeast, one of its old occupants, was an eccentric character, and ultimately became a lunatic. [footnote l: since deceased.] next we come to charley rush's old stand. this was a famous stopping place. charles rush settled here in the woods in , built the house, which he occupied as a tavern until he died in , in the prime of life. he always kept a big team on the road, under the management of a hired driver. he was a brother of boss rush, and the father of henry clay rush, a prominent and influential citizen of uniontown. he was fond of horse racing, and always kept fast horses. his son henry clay was his favorite rider, who, when a small boy, appeared on the race course arrayed in the jockey outfit, and exactly filling the regulation weight. he would cut a sorry figure now, on the back of a race horse. charles rush was kind and charitable in disposition, but when exigencies required, would not decline a fisticuff. many an overbearing bully has felt the damaging effects of his well-aimed blows. he entertained strangers and travelers at his hospitable board, whether they had the means of paying their bills or not, but always preferred that impecunious guests should inform him of their condition before engaging accommodations. on one occasion an irishman tarried with him over night, and in the morning, after breakfast, informed him that he had no money to pay his bill. "why didn't you tell me that last night?" sharply inquired mr. rush. "and faith, sir," replied the irishman, "i'm very sorry to tell you of it this morning." rush, pleased with his wit, absolved him from his bill, gave him a parting drink, and allowed him to go "scot free." [m]william l. smith, esq., ex-county commissioner, married the widow rush, and occupies the old stand as a private residence. samuel rush, a farmer, and brother of charles, lived about three miles from here, back in the country. he was a contractor on the road, and an energetic, honest and highly respected citizen. he was the father of [n]marker rush, the proprietor of the well known "rush house," near the union depot, in pittsburg. marker must have inherited his fondness for the sports of the day through his uncle charles, as his father was not given to worldly indulgences. [footnote m: now dead.] [footnote n: since deceased.] [illustration: sebastian rush.] there was a little log house a short distance west of charley rush's old stand, which was kept as a tavern for a few years by edward dean. it was not one of the original taverns, and not considered "regular." the pike boys of the neighborhood called it the "sheep's ear." its chief business consisted in selling whisky at three cents a drink, which was the price of whisky all along the road. f. h. oliphant, the well known iron manufacturer, probably the oldest in the state, once put a line of wagons on the road to carry goods and merchandise from brownsville to cumberland. the wagons were drawn by mules, and the teams changed at fixed points along the road. this old dean house was one of the stopping places of this line. one night some mischievous person, or persons, cut the harness of one of the teams into shreds, so that oliphant's line did not move out the next morning from the "sheep's ear." another house of similar proportions and character near by, was kept by thomas dean. it was known in the neighborhood as the "bull's head." it was the custom of the pike boys of the neighborhood to collect together in these old houses, when they were kept as taverns, now at one and then at the other, to "while away" the long winter evenings, and enjoy themselves in dancing and revelry. nicholas mccartney often attended these festive gatherings when a young man, and could relate many interesting incidents and anecdotes connected with the "sheep's ear" and "bull's head" inns. we next come to the old inks house, now owned and occupied by nicholas mccartney. this is a large frame, weather-boarded house, with a spacious wagon yard attached, a large stable and a number of sheds and other outbuildings. the house was built by george inks, and kept by him as a tavern for many years. a man named heckrote kept here once, and so also did john risler, and samuel m. clement, for many years a prosperous farmer on redstone creek, near uniontown, entertained the traveling public for a brief period, in his early manhood, and proved himself a competent landlord. the house enjoyed a large share of patronage during the prosperous times on the road. [o]mr. mccartney, present occupant and owner, has been in feeble health for many months. previous to his present illness he was a man of robust health and great energy. he is a son-in-law of thomas brownfield, the old proprietor of the mt. augusta house. he is universally esteemed among his neighbors, and general sympathy is manifested on account of his illness. [footnote o: now dead.] we next reach the celebrated house of [p]sebastian rush, invariably called "boss." it is not a wagon stand, but an old stage house. here stage passengers took meals, which were invariably gotten up in the best style. the house was built in by hon. nathaniel ewing, who then owned it. rush moved into it soon after it was finished, as lessee of judge ewing, and not long after purchased it, and occupied it uninterruptedly to the present time. here, also, is a store, postoffice and other improvements, constituting a little village called farmington, and considered the grand commercial and business center of the mountains. sebastian rush is widely known as an influential republican politician, has been superintendent of the road by appointment of the governor, and nominated by his party for associate judge, but defeated by reason of the decided and long existing preponderance of the democracy in the county. when a young man, and living in a small log house near the tavern stand of his brother, charles, he was elected constable of his township, and, being too poor to own a horse, performed the functions of his office on foot. since then he has made constables and other officers, and owned horses without number. previous to the widow tantlinger kept tavern in an old wooden house, on the ground now covered by the rush house. the store here, before rush came to the property, was conducted by peter t. laishley, an old and well known methodist preacher, still living. he was then a free will baptist. morgan jones also once kept store at this point. he is now a real estate broker in philadelphia, and said to be wealthy. he had several brothers, among them david, john and samuel e., who were well known. david settled in wisconsin, and became lieutenant governor. john went to kentucky, and became a prominent iron manufacturer. samuel e. is a probate judge in southern colorado. allen crane also once kept store here.[q] [footnote p: deceased.] [footnote q: deceased.] the house now owned and occupied by washington hensel, was once kept as a tavern by samuel frazer. its public career terminated about the time sebastian rush located at farmington. a short distance over the hill, west, there is a frame house, built by john rush, and by him kept as a tavern for a number of years. henry clay rush also kept this house for a short time. it is not classed among the old taverns, but during its short public career enjoyed a high degree of popularity. boss rush, jr., lives here now in the capacity of a private citizen. john rush was one of the most popular landlords along the road. he is a brother of boss, and is still living, somewhere in the west. this old house was destroyed by fire a few years ago, and nothing remains of it but two tall chimneys, standing erect at this day. [illustration: ruins of the old john rush house.] chapter xxxii. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--fort necessity, washington's first battle field, monroe springs, reception to president monroe, gate bob mcdowell, braddock's run and grave, fayette springs, a trio of old fiddlers, chalk hill, snyders, old squire price, the summit of laurel hill, molly calhoun, ephraim mclean, the big water trough on laurel hill, the goat pen, the turkey's nest, monroe, known now mostly as hopwood, matthias fry, german d. hair, the old morris house, widow sands, harry gilbert._ mt. washington is a point replete with historic interest. here washington first measured swords with an enemy, and fought his first battle. it is the site of fort necessity, and known in colonial times as the great meadows. gen. washington subsequently became the owner of this property, and held it until his death. it was no doubt owing to the fact that his first engagement with an armed foe took place on this ground he resolved to buy it. in his last will he directed it to be sold by his executors, together with other real estate he held, and the proceeds divided among parties he named. the tract, when owned by washington, contained two hundred and thirty-four acres, and he valued it at six dollars an acre. he thus refers to it in a note appended to his will: "this land is valuable on account of its local situation. it affords an exceeding good stand on braddock's road, from ft. cumberland to pittsburg, and besides a fertile soil, possesses a large quantity of natural meadow, fit for the scythe. it is distinguished by the appellation of the great meadows, where the first action with the french, in , was fought." previous to , and by divers good conveyances and assurances, down from washington, this estate passed into the hands of the late hon. nathaniel ewing, who caused to be erected on the property the large brick house, still standing, and one of the most noted old taverns on the road. judge ewing subsequently sold and conveyed the property to james sampey, who went into possession and kept the tavern for many years, and until his death. the first year after mr. sampey's death the management of the tavern and farm was placed in charge of robert hogsett, who turned over to the representative of the estate the sum of four thousand dollars, as the profits of one year. the good intent line of stages stopped at sampey's, and as showing the extent of the business of the house, mr. hogsett mentions that on one morning seventy-two stage passengers took breakfast there. john foster and james moore subsequently kept this house. they were sons-in-law of james sampey, and moore was an old stage driver. at the close of business on the road. ellis y. beggs purchased the property and the tavern was closed. william d. beggs, the father of ellis, died in this house. he had collected the tolls for many years at the gate near searights, was likewise a school teacher, and a good one, and was, for a number of years, steward of the county home. his eldest daughter, jane, was the second wife of dr. smith fuller, the eminent uniontown physician. godfrey fazenbaker succeeded beggs in the ownership, and engaged extensively in farming and stock raising. mr. fazenbaker died in possession, and the property descended to his heirs, who are the present occupants. the big water-trough still remains on the opposite side of the road from this old tavern, but all else has changed since the days when the proud stage driver cracked his long silken-ended whip over the backs of his four spanking steeds. the next old tavern was at monroe springs, on the hillside, a short distance west of one of the old round toll houses. this house was built by charles mckinney, and opened up by him as a tavern. it was a log house, weather-boarded, of small dimensions, now entirely obliterated. boss rush commenced his career as a tavern keeper in the old house at this point, and it was kept at various times by such well known men as wm. s. gaither, german d. hair, wm. dillon, morris mauler, john rush, john foster and david ogg. it was essentially a wagon stand, and night after night, in the prosperous era of the road, the ground all around it was crowded with big wagons and teams, and the old bar room rang out with the songs and jokes of the jolly wagoner. opposite the house a large water-trough was erected, kept full and overflowing from a spring near by, called "the monroe spring," in honor of president monroe. when mckinney kept this house president monroe passed along the road, and a public dinner was given him here. john hagan, then a contractor on the original construction of the road, was prominently connected with the bestowal of this compliment upon the old-time president. the few old folks who have personal recollections of this event, speak of it as a memorable and exciting occasion. the dinner was substantial and superb, and highly enjoyed by all participating, including the illustrious guest. john hagan was the father of robert hagan, esq., ex-commissioner of fayette county, pennsylvania. [illustration: hon. samuel shipley.] one of the old stone toll houses stood a short distance east of the monroe springs, and remained until , when it was torn down. hiram seaton was one of the early collectors at this point. he was the father of [r]c. s. seaton, the well known banker of uniontown. he subsequently served two terms as county treasurer. he had a wooden leg, and was esteemed as an honest man. he went west, settled in missouri, and died there. he was succeeded as toll collector by robert mcdowell, always thereafter called "gate bob," to distinguish him from a number of other well known citizens bearing the same name. robert mcdowell was also an honest man, a popular man and a fighting man. he was tall, thin and muscular. his fingers were distorted by rheumatism, but he could use them in a fight with terrible effect. he was the democratic candidate for county commissioner of fayette county, pennsylvania, in , but beaten by the know nothings. he died a few years ago at dunbar, very greatly lamented. the memory of "gate bob" will long remain fresh in the recollection of the pike boys, old and young. [footnote r: now dead.] the next old tavern stand is the "braddock's run house." gen. braddock was buried near this house, a day or two after his disastrous defeat by the french and indians, at braddock's field, near pittsburg. the exact spot where he was buried is still pointed out, and can be seen from the road. this circumstance gave name to the brook here, and the tavern. the house was built by charles mckinney, the same person who built the "monroe springs house." he kept tavern here for many years. the house is a large two-story stone structure. it was subsequently and successively kept by robert shaw, noble mccormick and william shaw. this property is now owned by the heirs of james dixon, and is not a public house. next we come to the "fayette springs hotel," a large stone house built at an early day by the hon. andrew stewart, who owned the property, and remained its owner until the day of his death. it was recently sold by his heirs to capt. john messmore, of uniontown. this house was a favorite resort for visitors to the fayette springs, situate about three-quarters of a mile distant. in its halcyon days it had its ten-pin alley, billiard tables, swing, and other appliances of pleasure and comfort, but they have all passed away, and probably by reason of hard times, and the abatement of interest in the springs may never again be brought into requisition. here merry parties of young folks from uniontown and elsewhere were accustomed to assemble and enjoy a hearty supper, engage in the dizzy mazes of the dance, and when it was all over "go home with the girls in the morning." mahlon fell and tom collins were the old-time fiddlers, and furnished the music, which in its line was of superior excellence. they were occasionally reinforced by jacob b. miller, esq., who tendered his services without pecuniary reward, and in the language of the day, "could make a fiddle talk." collins is dead. [s]fell and miller are both living. the former has joined the church and abandoned the fiddle, while the latter still retains his taste and talent for music, and often entertains his friends in a private manner, with many of the popular tunes of the olden time. the "fayette springs house" has been kept in turn by cuthbert wiggins, john risler, b. w. earl, samuel lewis, william snyder, william darlington, john rush, major swearingen, redding bunting, cuthbert downer, and perhaps others. [footnote s: all now dead.] we next reach "chalk hill," so called from the circumstance of white clay adhering to the shovels of the workmen engaged in digging the foundation of the road. the tavern house was built here in by jonathan downer, who was its first host. he was succeeded by boss rush, and he in turn by springer downer, samuel shipley, william shipley and milford shipley. [t]john olwine now owns the property, and keeps tavern here. it is a two-story frame, with commodious stabling attached. boss rush went from this house to farmington. samuel shipley bought this property at an orphans' court sale, in , for $ , , and paid for it in gold. westley frost was the sheriff and trustee to sell. shipley subsequently became an associate judge. he was more fortunate than his neighbor and fellow inn keeper, boss rush, in belonging to the strong side. rush was one of his competitors on the republican side. [footnote t: now dead.] next comes the old tavern stand of james snyder. snyder seems to have been here always, and is here yet. he did vacate a short time for william shaw, but not long enough to change the tradition that this is, and always was, snyder's. the house looks old and dingy, and no wonder, for it has withstood the wild dashes of numberless mountain storms. it is situate at the foot of the eastern slope of laurel hill, and on the head waters of sandy creek. the old stable is decaying, and will soon be gone. the old host, too, is showing the marks of time and age. he has already passed beyond the age defined by the psalmist. his three score and ten are supplemented by well nigh half a score.[u] he is the only old landmark left along the road, that has not shifted from original ground, except natty brownfield. a few years ago he was elected county commissioner on the democratic ticket, but practically without opposition. he is universally esteemed for his honesty. as a tavern keeper he enjoyed an excellent reputation, and many a weary traveler has found consolation and comfort under his hospitable roof. the best wishes of all his neighbors attend the old gentleman in his declining years, and heaven's choicest blessings are invoked upon his venerable head. [footnote u: now deceased.] near the top of laurel hill on the eastern slope, once lived a noted character named benjamin price. his house, a log structure, was built near the roadside, but below its surface, so that the upper story was about on a level with the road. he kept a cake shop, was an acting justice of the peace, and a strict methodist, and was in the habit of annoying wagoners and hog drovers by fining them for swearing, and they in turn annoyed him by throwing billets of wood and disabled hogs down his chimney. price is long since dead, and the last vestige of his old house has disappeared. the stable nearby it remained longer, but it has gone, too. a few apple trees planted by the hands of the 'squire, now encroached upon by the mountain undergrowth, are all that remain to indicate the spot where the old house stood. [illustration: stone house, darlington's.] we next reach the "summit house." this is not a wagon stand, nor strictly an old tavern, but rather a fashionable and popular summer resort. it is on the apex of laurel hill, and has the advantage of pure air, and an extensive and charming view of the surrounding and underlying country. at this point large finger boards were erected, indicating distances and routes to the washington springs, dulaney's cave and jumonville's grave, which are landmarks indelibly impressed upon the memories of surviving wagoners and stage drivers. the property here belongs to [v]col. samuel evans, a wealthy and well known citizen of fayette county. [w]ephraim mcclean kept the house here for many years, and made it famous by the excellence and style of his entertainment. his flannel cakes and spring chickens have passed into history, as unrivalled productions of culinary art and tempters of the appetite. there is a large spring and bath house here. this has ever been a favorite resort of parties in pursuit of pleasure. here the youth, beauty and fashion of uniontown were wont to come to while away an evening in eating, dancing and other diversions. the rooms were small, but the pleasure was unbounded. here also the yeomanry of the county came to make a harvest home, or celebrate an anniversary. the drive, up and down the mountain, is delightful, and formed no small share of the pleasure incident to the old time parties at this popular place of resort. [footnote v: deceased.] [footnote w: deceased.] ephraim mcclean left this house many years ago and settled in illinois. he was succeeded by henry clay rush, who maintained the reputation of the house during his occupancy, but left it in to go to searights. brown hadden came in after rush, and after hadden the house was successively kept by stephen w. snyder, john snyder, william boyd and webb barnet, the present occupant. anterior to the erection of the present buildings, and many years ago, one molly calhoun kept a small cake shop at this point, and displayed upon her sign-board the following quaint legend: "out of this rock, runs water clear, 'tis soon changed into good beer, stop, traveler, stop, if you see fit, and quench your thirst for a fippennybit." about a mile down the western slope of laurel hill we come to the famous watering trough. here william downard lived for many years in a stone house built against the hillside. he did not keep a tavern, for he had no ground for teams to stand upon, and no stabling that was accessible, but he always maintained the big water-trough in good condition _pro bono publico_, and it would be almost impossible for big teams to make the ascent of laurel hill, in hot weather without water. downard was eccentric and cross, and begrudged the use of his water to persons he did not like, although the supply was inexhaustible. he was born near uniontown of english parentage, a federalist in politics, and a skeptic in religion. he was endowed with strong sense, and could argue with considerable force. he has been dead many years. a little over a mile below the big water trough the romantic spot known as the "turkey's nest" is reached. the road crosses a small stream here, which, owing to the peculiar formation of the ground, required the erection of a bridge, supported on the south side by an immense stone wall. this is one of the largest stone structures on the road, and is in a good state of preservation. it is a fine specimen of workmanship, and a grand monument to the skill of the old time stonemasons. this locality has always been invested with much interest, and admired by the lovers of picturesque beauty. until recently it wore its primitive colorings. now it is changed. its primitive appearance has disappeared before the advancing forces of progress and improvement. the native trees have been cut down and a little hamlet occupies their places with attendant stables, cribs, coops and other out-houses. the old massive curved stone wall remains, but all about it so changed in appearance that the spot is scarcely recognized as the "turkey's nest." it is the popular belief that this locality derived its name from the discovery here of a wild turkey's nest, by workmen engaged on the original construction of the road. an old long log house, near the foot of the hill, was called the "goat pen," and why is not accurately known, but this name it bore from one end of the road to the other. we now reach the ancient and celebrated village of monroe, a name it took in honor of the president hereinbefore mentioned. approached from the east, the first old tavern and the first house in the place is the "deford house," in the olden time and by old people called the general wayne house. it appears that at an early day general wayne had occasion to pass this way, and tarried over night with john deford, who kept tavern in a small log house a short distance in the rear of the present building. deford at this time was contemplating the erection of a new and more imposing edifice, and applied to his distinguished guest for a plan. it was furnished, and the present stone structure is the outcome of it, which shows plainly enough that general wayne was a much better soldier than architect. deford kept tavern here for a long time, and was succeeded first by henry fisher and next by matthias fry. samuel magie is now the owner of the property, and its career as a tavern is ended. a frame house a short distance below and on the opposite side of the street from the deford house was once kept by james dennison, who had a considerable trade. it was afterward kept by matthias fry, but business then had greatly decreased. fry, in his prime, was one of the best men on the road, and a great favorite among the wagoners. he had been a wagoner himself for many years, and was at one time general agent for a transportation line from baltimore to wheeling, which made him the disburser of large sums of money, and he discharged his office with scrupulous fidelity. he was a large, fine looking man, stoutly built, and possessing great physical power. although amiable and good natured, he was occasionally drawn into a fight, and on one occasion, at petersburg, in somerset county, pennsylvania, whipped three reputed bullies, one after another, who entered his house when he lived there, and proposed to "clean him out," as evidence of their prowess. he died a few years ago in monroe, where his widow is still living.[x] [footnote x: now dead.] [illustration: james snyder.] the next old tavern in monroe is the stone house built by andrew mcmasters, and subsequently owned and kept for many years by german d. hair. he was the only man that ever kept this house, and he died in it a few years ago, aged about eighty years. he was a native of chester county, pennsylvania, and came to the vicinity of uniontown about the time the road was made. he was a stonemason by trade, and worked on many of the bridges of the road, including the eastern and western bridges at uniontown. next we come to the "shipley house." like all the tavern houses in monroe, and nearly all the private houses, this is a stone building, and is two stories high. it was erected by e. w. clement, and good workmanship displayed in its construction. it was kept awhile by clement, and after him at different times by john wallace, archibald skiles, samuel shipley, redding bunting, and lindsey messmore. next is the "monroe house," one of the oldest in the place. it was built by andrew mcmasters, and subsequently and successively kept by e.w. clement, thomas acklin, james shafer, a. skiles, john worthington, m. fry, and calvin springer. this was a popular house in the golden era of the road, and did an extensive business. monroe was a thriving village when the pike flourished, and the center of fun and frolic. it began to decline when the trade left the road, but is now reviving and wearing an air of prosperity by reason of the coal developments in the vicinity. on the hill above monroe stands an old two-story brick house, fast sinking into decay, which was once a well known and popular tavern stand. it was owned and kept by william morris. he put up an imposing sign, inscribed on the west side with the words, "welcome from the west," and on the east side the words, "welcome from the east." this was no false lure, and travelers from the east and west crowded into the old house to enjoy its good cheer. alonzo l. little, for many years editor and proprietor of the _genius of liberty_, was a son-in-law of william morris, and he had a son (luther) who settled in iowa and was elected state treasurer there. harry gilbert once kept a tavern in the house where charles livingston now has a grocery, at the east end of uniontown, and in later years it was kept by m. fry and j. allen messmore. many years ago the widow sands kept tavern in the frame house at the point where the connellsville and cool spring furnace roads lead off from the pike. chapter xxxiii. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--uniontown--the town as it appeared to gen. douglass in --its subsequent growth and improvement--the first tavern--other early taverns--an old chief justice and an old landlady wrangle over a roasted pig--anecdote of george manypenny and president jefferson--the swan, the mcclelland, the seaton, the national, the clinton, the moran, the mahaney._ [illustration: gen. ephraim douglass.] at the east end of uniontown the road crosses redstone creek, over a massive and extensive stone bridge, one of the best and most expensive samples of masonry on the whole line, built by kinkead, beck and evans in . gen. ephraim douglass, the first prothonotary of fayette county, pennsylvania, in a letter to gen. james irvine, in , describes uniontown in the following vigorous and graphic style: "_my dear general_--if my promise were not engaged to write to you, my inclinations are sufficiently so to embrace with alacrity any opportunity of expressing the gratitude so justly due to your valuable friendship, of declaring the friendship of mine. this uniontown is the most obscure spot on the face of the globe. i have been here seven or eight weeks, without one opportunity of writing to the land of the living, and though considerably south of you, so cold that a person not knowing the latitude, would conclude we were placed near one of the poles. pray have you had a severe winter below? we have been frozen up here for more than a month past, but a great many of us having been bred in another state, the eating of hominy is as natural to us as the drinking of whisky in the morning. the town and its appurtenances consist of our president and a lovely little family, a court house and school house in one, a mill and consequently a miller, four taverns, three smith shops, five retail shops, two tan yards, one of them only occupied, one saddler's shop, two hatter's shops, one mason, one cake woman (we had two, but one of them having committed a petit larceny is upon banishment), two widows and some reputed maids, to which may be added a distillery. the upper part of this edifice is the habitation at will of your humble servant, who, beside the smoke of his own chimney, which is intolerable enough, is fumigated by that of two stills below, exclusive of the other effluvia that arises from the dirty vessels in which they prepare the materials for the stills. the upper floor of my parlor, which is also my chamber and office, is laid with loose clap-boards, or puncheons, and the gable ends entirely open; and yet this is the best place in my power to procure, till the weather will permit me to build, and even this i am subject to be turned out of the moment the owner, who is at kentuck, and hourly expected, returns. i can say little of the country in general, but that it is very poor in everything but its soil, which is excellent, and that part contiguous to the town is really beautiful, being level and prettily situate, accommodated with good water, and excellent meadow ground. but money we have not, nor any practicable way of making it. how taxes are collected, debts paid, or fees discharged, i know not; and yet the good people appear willing enough to run in debt and go to law. i shall be able to give you a better account of this hereafter. col. mcclean received me with a degree of generous friendship, that does honor to the goodness of his heart, and continues to show every mark of satisfaction at my appointment. he is determined to act under the commission sent him by council, and though the fees would, had he declined it, have been a considerable addition to my profits, i cannot say that i regret his keeping them. he has a numerous small family, and though of an ample fortune in lands, has no cash at command. the general curse of the country, disunion, rages in this little mud hole with as much fury, as if they had each pursuits of the utmost importance, and the most opposed to each other, when in truth, they have no pursuits at all that deserve the name, except that of obtaining food and whisky, for raiment they scarcely use any. the commissioners--trustees, i should say--having fixed on a spot in one end of the town for the public buildings, which was by far the most proper, in every point of view, exclusive of the saving of expense, the other end took the alarm and charged them with partiality, and have been ever since uttering their complaints. and at the late election for justices, two having been carried in this end of the town, and none in the other, has made them quite outrageous. this trash is not worth troubling you with, therefore i beg your pardon, and am with unfeigned esteem, dear general, your very humble servant. "ephraim douglass." that was a long time ago, and a great change has come over the face of things. gen. douglass lived to see uniontown arise from the mud hole and become a flourishing county seat. his mortal remains lie buried within the sound of the court house bell, and could he come forth now, and see uniontown, he would be startled. instead of a mud hole, he would see finely paved streets, studded with handsome buildings, lighted by electricity, enlivened by electric cars, telegraphs, telephones and railroads, and where the old distilleries stood, beautiful and staunch church edifices with spires pointing to the skies, and in fact he would behold all the evidences of a flourishing city, inhabited by active, intelligent and christian people. the first tavern in uniontown was kept by john collins in . it was a log house on the north side of the main street, the site of which is now covered by "commercial row." this old house remained standing until , when it was torn down by its owner of that date. isaac beeson, who erected the buildings thereafter known as "commercial row." john collins kept this old tavern down to the year . it was subsequently kept at different times by samuel salter, cuthbert wiggins, william salter, john hoge and andrew byers. william salter was an old sheriff. byers went from this house to the old walker house, now the "central," and afterward to the "clinton house." jonathan rowland, daniel culp and matthew campbell each kept a tavern in uniontown as early as . the location of rowland's tavern is not accurately known, but the best evidence available, points to the lot now owned by daniel downer, esq., and occupied by law offices, near the court house, as the site. jonathan rowland subsequently became a justice of the peace, and a leader in public affairs. culp's old tavern was a log house on the lot now owned and occupied by justice willson, corner of main street and gallatin avenue. matthew campbell's old tavern, stood on the western side of the lot now covered by the moran house, formerly and for many years known as the "fulton." colin campbell as early as kept a tavern in a house that stood on the lot now covered by the bryan building, on main street, near the center of the town. this old tavern was subsequently owned and presided over by samuel salter, father of william salter, the old sheriff. margaret allen kept a tavern in the east end of town, a little above and opposite the madison college buildings, in the year , and for some time thereafter. she died in , at the age of ninety-one years. dr. robert mcclure opened a tavern in december, , a short distance west of the court house, on the south side of the street, and kept it down to the year . it does not appear that any other person kept this house. it was in close proximity to the "jolly irishman," hereafter mentioned. thomas collins, son of john collins, before mentioned, kept a tavern as early as in an old house on the lot, corner of morgantown and main streets, now occupied by the tremont buildings. thomas collins was sheriff of fayette county from to , and commanded a company of soldiers from uniontown and vicinity in the war of , locally called the "madison rowdies." a number of his descendants are still living in the neighborhood of uniontown. previous to the opening of the present century the veteran of laurel hill, john slack, before mentioned, kept a tavern in the old shelcut house, on the south side of main street, opposite the old gregg house, and afterward kept the "spread eagle," the exact location of which is involved in doubt, but the best information available assigns it to the weniger corner, opposite the old walker house, hereinafter mentioned. william downard, subsequently proprietor of the big water-trough house on laurel hill, kept tavern in the shelcut house from until probably , when he retired to the pine covered slope of laurel hill, where he spent the remainder of his life. he served as county commissioner from to . the gregg house, situate on the north side of main street, on the lot now covered by the residence of dr. j. b. ewing, was in existence as a tavern as early as , and continued as late as . it was a small house of brick and frame united, but had a large patronage. in early times travelers and other guests at taverns did not desire or expect separate rooms, and hence a small tavern like the gregg house could accommodate as many persons as the more pretentious hotel of the present day; and at wagon stands the bar room, as before stated, was the only bed chamber for wagoners. james gregg was the first proprietor of the gregg house, and was succeeded by his widow, nancy gregg, in . after her time it was kept in turn by william medkirk, matthew allen, simeon houser, amos howell, philip d. stentz, and thomas moxley. james gregg, the old proprietor of this house, was the father-in-law of the late hon. daniel sturgeon, who was a united states senator in the days of clay, webster and calhoun. in , and for a number of years thereafter, pierson sayers kept a tavern in the house now occupied by mrs. ruby, on the north side of main street, a short distance west of the court house. while keeping this house sayers was elected sheriff, and turned over his tavern to jacob harbaugh, who conducted it for three years, when, singularly enough, he was elected to succeed sayers as sheriff. ellis baily, the grandfather of mrs. ruby, bought this property from pierson sayers, and subsequently, and for many years, it was the private residence of the late hon. john dawson. james piper kept the "jolly irishman" as early as . this bustling old tavern was located on main street, opposite the residence of the late hon. daniel kaine. james piper, a son of the old proprietor, was a prominent and influential citizen of the town and county for many years. he was a member of the bar, a justice of the peace, register of wills, and recorder of deeds. he left uniontown about , went west, and died soon after. william merriman kept a tavern near margaret allen's old stand as early as . but little is known at this date of merriman or his old tavern. its existence was brief and its patronage limited. at and before the beginning of the present century samuel salter kept a tavern in an old log and frame house that stood on the lot now occupied by the handsome residence of the hon. john k. ewing. chief justice thomas mckean "put up" at this old tavern on his visits to uniontown to hold the courts of fayette county, and was frequently regaled with roast pig. the pig was well prepared, cooked and dressed, and in all respects savory, but its frequent appearance on the table moved the old chief justice to believe that he was getting "too much of a good thing," and accordingly one day, in peremptory terms, he commanded the dining room girl to remove the offensive dish, which she did with trembling hands. this of course raised a storm in the old hostelry. mrs. salter became indignant, and, bringing back the pig, replaced it on the table, at the same time addressing the judge thus: "you are chief justice and run the court; i am chief cook and run this dining room. that pig must stay," and it did. upon the withdrawal of salter, in the year , this old tavern came under the management and control of jacob harbaugh, the old sheriff before mentioned. after harbaugh's time it was kept by george ewing down to a period as late probably as . hugh espey, a well remembered old county treasurer, and straightgoing presbyterian elder, married a daughter of george ewing. opposite the old gregg house, and adjoining the shelcut house, george manypenny kept a tavern as early as the year , and probably before that date. this was a leading tavern of the town, subsequently conducted by benjamin miller, and after him by harry gilbert. one of the old stage lines stopped at this house. george manypenny, the old proprietor, was the father of the late hon. george w. manypenny, who was for many years a prominent and popular political leader and officeholder of the state of ohio. he was born in uniontown, and most likely in his father's old tavern. george manypenny, sr., is described by those who remember him as a vigorous, pushing and witty irishman. he called once to see president jefferson, and was invited by his excellency to take a glass of wine with him, which he did without hesitancy, and to obtain a second glass, this story is told of him: as he was about to withdraw from the executive mansion he remarked to mr. jefferson that he was going home, and would tell his friends that he had the honor of taking two glasses with the president of the united states, and hoped his excellency would not let him go home with a lie in his mouth. as the story goes, the old president saw the point of the ingenious suggestion, and again brought forward the wine. the walker house, corner of broadway and main streets, was kept as a tavern as early as by zadoc walker, who owned the property. general lafayette was entertained at this house in , and santa anna, the renowned mexican warrior, stopped over night in it on his way to washington city, about sixty years ago. this house has been kept at different times since by andrew byers, william byers, redding bunting, and others. when bunting kept it, it was called the "united states." it has recently been enlarged and improved, and its name changed to the "central." its first host under the new name was james i. feather, who subsequently became associated with william a. mchugh. its present lessees and managers are messrs. frock and mitchell. the spottsylvania house, for many years conducted prosperously by john manaway, and afterward, until it closed, by lloyd mahaney, adjoined the walker house on the west, and used a number of rooms belonging to that old hostelry. [illustration: aaron wyatt.] the mccleary house ranked high as an old-time inn or tavern. it is situate on the corner of main and arch streets, a substantial brick building, recently enlarged, embellished and improved, and at present catering to the public under the historic name of "brunswick," and conducted by russell w. beall, a gentleman admirably equipped for the business. ewing mccleary owned and kept this old tavern as early as the year , and many years thereafter. upon his death, which occurred in this house, it was continued as a tavern under the management of his widow, until she became the wife of william hart, when he took charge of it and kept it down to the year , or thereabout, when he fell into disgrace and retired under a storm of popular reprobation. this house was a favorite stopping place of general jackson. on an occasion a committee of citizens met jackson on the road near town and tendered him the freedom of the municipality. among other things made known to him by the committee, he was informed that quarters had been provided for his accommodation at the walker house. he replied that he "always stopped at hart's." "but," rejoined the chairman of the committee, "hart is a whig, and his tavern a whig house." the old warrior answered back by saying that "hart always treated him well, and he would go to his house," and to hart's he went, reluctantly escorted by the democratic committee. after hart's precipitate withdrawal from this old house, it was leased by s. b. hays, subsequently of the mansion and other old taverns in washington, pennsylvania. hays conducted it for a brief period when it went into the possession of joshua marsh, who remained in charge not longer than a year or two, and left it to take charge of the national house. its next occupant was the veteran redding bunting. after bunting came aaron stone, then william beatty, and after him william gans. after gans, peter uriah hook was installed as landlord, who named the house "the eagle," and remained in charge a number of years. hook was an eccentric man, given to redundancy of speech, a merchant, auctioneer, and for two years a member of the lower branch of the state legislature. he died in uniontown, a number of years ago, but will not soon be forgotten. aaron wyatt succeeded hook, and kept the house until his death. his widow and son james succeeded to the management, and james dying in the house, it passed to the hands of his widow, mrs. kate wyatt, and from her to russell w. beall, the present occupant. the before-mentioned old taverns were of the town, rather than of the road. most of them were in existence and doing business before the road was made. the remaining old taverns of uniontown, hereafter mentioned, were essentially taverns of the national road, and derived their principal patronage from it. the swan, nathaniel brownfield proprietor, is an old, long frame building, at the west end of town, supplemented some years after it commenced business, by a brick addition to the eastern end. thomas brownfield, father of nathaniel, the present proprietor, and grandfather on the maternal side, of the author of this volume, kept this old tavern as early as , and down to the year . when the national road was opened for business, this house became a wagon stand, and continued such until the last crack of a battelly white whip was heard on the road. it was provided with two commodious wagon yards, one at the front, on the roadside opposite the house, and the other between the house and the large stable in the rear. with the exception of one year that this old tavern was kept by william cox, nathaniel brownfield, who was born under its roof, has kept it, uninterruptedly, from the date of his father's death, and "holds the fort" to this day, "with none to molest or make him afraid." upwards of eighty, and in vigorous health, he has witnessed and participated in the exciting scenes of the road from the beginning to the end thereof. at an early period he became the owner of a farm consisting of one hundred acres adjacent to town, which he managed advantageously in connection with his tavern, and within the past year sold for the sum of one thousand and five dollars per acre, retaining his old tavern stand, to which he is attached by so many memories. his wife and good helpmate survives with him, and together they occupy the old tavern and recount with varied emotions the stirring scenes of the eventful past. the mcclelland house, as has been elsewhere stated, is one of the best known old taverns on the national road. it is located on the north side of the main street, and in the western end of town. as early as , richard weaver kept a tavern in a wooden building on the lot now covered by the mcclelland house, and was succeeded by william mcclelland. william mcclelland was keeping this old tavern in , and owned the lot on which it stood at that date in fee simple. after the death of william mcclelland his son, alfred, came into possession, tore down the old building, and erected in its stead the present brick building, known always thereafter as the mcclelland house. this house was the headquarters of the good intent line of stages, from the time it was put on the road until it was withdrawn at the end of the road's career as a national highway. alfred mcclelland presided over this house and controlled it from the date of its erection until he died, with the exception of brief intervals mentioned below. he was a large, raw-boned man, of agreeable, though somewhat awkward manners, and had complete knowledge of the mysterious art of keeping a tavern. he had for his main clerk and bar-keeper, macon w. rine, a confidential and loyal friend, well remembered by the older citizens of uniontown, as a thoroughly competent man for his employment. alfred mcclelland died on the th of september, . in the intervals before mentioned, the mcclelland house was kept for a short time previous to by s. b. hays, before he took control of the old mccleary house. thereafter, at different times, the house was kept by jerry colflesh, lewis d. beall, william and thomas swan, j. w. kissinger, calvin springer, william wyatt, kim frey, russell frey, frey and swan, joseph c. stacy and charles h. rush, in the order named. it is at present conducted, as elsewhere stated, by mrs. sarah e. mcclelland, widow of the old proprietor, and retains all its ancient prestige, under her admirable management. [illustration: the brownfield house.] the seaton house was a familiar hostelry in the olden time. it was founded by james c. seaton in the year , or thereabout. it is located on the northeast corner of main and arch streets, diagonally opposite the old mccleary house, and is now known as the west end hotel. mr. seaton, the old proprietor, came to uniontown from virginia, and died in this old house many years ago. the house was built in sections at different times until it reached its present large proportions. during its occupancy by mr. seaton it was a wagon stand of the national road, and extensively patronized. it was provided with ample grounds for wagons and teams to stand on, which are now covered by the lingo block and other buildings in the vicinity. mr. seaton had three sons: hiram, james, and john. hiram was the old toll collector before mentioned, and james was a pike boy in a general way. he drove stage occasionally, and also the express; led horses from station to station on the road, and made himself useful in many other ways. he died at his father's old tavern in the meridian of the bright era of the road, and before he had reached middle age. john seaton, the other son, went west, and died recently in nebraska. daniel collier, before mentioned as keeper of the old tavern at mount augusta, was a son-in-law of james c. seaton; and charles h. seaton, the well known insurance agent of uniontown, is a great-grandson of the old proprietor, and others of his descendants are still living in uniontown and vicinity. after mr. seaton's death this old tavern was continued a number of years by his widow, and growing old she leased it to james swan, who conducted it for a brief period, mrs. seaton boarding with him in the house. mr. swan was succeeded by philip d. stentz, and he in turn by j. w. kissinger, kim frey, david g. sperry, john messmore and henry jennings. the late james t. redburn bought the property from the seaton heirs and sold it to john messmore, who in turn sold it to henry jennings. it is now owned and kept by george titlow, under the name of the west end hotel, as before stated, well conducted and well patronized. the old national house is located on the northwest corner of morgantown and fayette streets. it was built for a private residence by the late hon. thomas irwin, and occupied by him as such until he was appointed judge of the united states district court for the western district of pennsylvania, when he moved to pittsburg. judge irwin sold the property to the celebrated dr. john f. braddee, of mail robbing notoriety, and he occupied it during the period covered by his depredations upon the mail bags. its situation for such operations was convenient, as it adjoined the old stockton stage yard hereinbefore described. after braddee's conviction l. w. stockton acquired title to the property, and subsequently sold and conveyed it to joshua marsh, who opened it as a tavern. it was the headquarters of the stockton line of stages from the time it was opened until all stage lines were withdrawn from the road. james k. polk, with his family and traveling companions, stopped over night at the national when on his way to the capital to be inaugurated president, in the spring of . a large number of citizens assembled on the occasion to meet the coming president, and were addressed by him from the high steps in front of the house. the national was a well kept house. situate a distance from the main street, it was comparatively exempt from the ordinary street noises, and conducted in a quiet manner, disturbed only by the arrival and departure of the stage coaches. mr. marsh, its old proprietor, was a man of retiring disposition, gentle manners, and feeble health. he visited washington when mr. buchanan was inaugurated president, and was one of the unfortunates who were poisoned on that occasion at the national hotel of that place. he returned home, but never fully recovered from the effects of the poison, and died in uniontown. among others who kept the national were george evans and col. samuel elder. the latter is still living, a hale octogenarian, at ligonier westmoreland county, pa. the clinton house, which stood on a lot adjoining the old court house, was a popular house throughout its whole career. it was demolished in by condemnation proceedings, and the lot on which it stood taken by the county for the use of the new court house. it was erected in by the late hon. andrew stewart, who occupied it as a private residence and kept his law office in it for a number of years. it was first kept as a tavern by andrew byers, and after him, from time to time, until its demolition, by stephen w. snyder, whose wife was a risler, zadoc cracraft, isaac kerr, jesse b. gardner, john bierer, calvin springer, springer & renshaw, bernard winslow, william springer, joseph wright, j. r. thornton, and james i. feather. general taylor stopped over night at the clinton house in , _en route_ to washington to assume the office of president of the united states. it was kept at that time by andrew byers. [illustration: col. samuel elder.] the moran house is the old fulton house, opposite the court house, on elbow or main street. like the old seaton house, the fulton was built in sections, some of them by seth howell and others by his predecessors. seth howell kept this house a long time. he was called "flinger," because he had a habit of flinging disorderly persons out of the house, as he termed the process of ejecting. howell was succeeded by calvin springer, and he by william thorndell, who became the owner of the property. david mahaney came in after thorndell, michael carter after mahaney, and it next passed to the hands of james moran, its present occupant and owner, who gave it the name of the moran house. this old tavern was always well patronized, and continues to be under its present proprietor, who has added many improvements, and the house is in better shape now than at any time heretofore. the name mahaney has long been identified with the national road. the mahaney house was built and is conducted by lloyd mahaney, a son of david, elsewhere mentioned. it is the newest hotel in uniontown, and the finest in architectural display. it is a hotel, having come into existence after the old inns and taverns had been relegated to the dead past. it is located on a lot formerly owned and occupied by george ebbert, adjoining the present national bank of fayette county on the east, and is on the south side of main street. it is well managed and does a large business, and is likewise one of the best of the many recent improvements in uniontown, and reflects credit on its proprietor. chapter xxxiv. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--uniontown to searights--anecdote of john slack--slack at night and tight in the morning--old roads--parting tribute to the old taverns of the mountains--henry clay extols the virtue of buckwheat cakes--boss rush and his poker--moxleys--the old hunter house--searights--the grays and the gray meeting--jackson men and adams men meet and count noses--old political leaders--barnacles of the road._ the tavern keepers on the "old road," as it is called, were as earnestly opposed to the building of the national road, as those on the latter were to the building of the railroad, and for like reasons. the following anecdote serves as an illustration: john slack kept a tavern for many years at the summit of laurel hill on the old road, in a house near the washington springs. before the national road was opened said slack, in a complaining manner, "wagons coming up laurel hill would stick in the mud a mile or so below my house, when the drivers would unhitch, leave their wagons in the mud, and bring their teams to my house and stay with me all night. in the morning they would return to their stranded wagons, dig and haul them out, and get back to my house and stay with me another night. thus counting the wagons going east and west, i got four night's bills from the same set of wagoners." "now," concluded slack (since the completion of the national road), with indignation, "the wagoners whiff by without stopping." old wagoners were accustomed to say of slack that he was "slack at night and tight in the morning," meaning that he was clever and cheerful when they "put up" with him in the evening, and close and exacting in the morning when bills were payable. the old road referred to was the braddock road, which from the summit of laurel hill, turned northwardly, as before stated, to gists (mt. braddock), stewart's crossing (connellsville), braddock's field and fort pitt (pittsburg). [illustration: the searight house.] an old road between uniontown and brownsville was laid out in by viewers appointed by the court of westmoreland county, pennsylvania, before fayette county was established, upon a petition signed mainly by inhabitants of brownsville and vicinity, who complained that "they had to carry their corn twenty miles to the mill of henry beeson at uniontown." the distance of twenty miles complained of was by way of the old road known as "burd's," from the mouth of redstone creek to gists, where it intersected braddock's road. the road between uniontown and brownsville, above mentioned, was carried east of uniontown, to intersect the braddock road, which it did, near slack's tavern. the line of the national road closely follows that of the old road between uniontown and brownsville. marks of the old road are plainly visible to this day, and some of the old buildings, which were erected along its line, are still standing, notably the dwelling of thomas b. graham, esq., three miles west of uniontown, which was an old tavern. this old house was the first residence of the hon. andrew stewart after his marriage, and his oldest son, david shriver, was born in it. john slack, the old tavern keeper before mentioned, was the father of mrs. mcclean, wife of ephraim mcclean, who for many years kept the cottage tavern on the summit of laurel hill, and no doubt the fame of this house under the management of the mccleans is attributable in great measure to the early training of mrs. mcclean in her father's old tavern, where she was reared. heretofore in these pages the reader has been introduced to old taverns and old tavern keepers on the mountain division of the road, a long division covering two hundred miles, including the intervening glades and valleys. surprise is often expressed that there were so many good taverns in the mountains, remote from fertile fields and needed markets. that they were equal to the best on the road is conceded; and that the old taverns of the national road have never been surpassed for bounteous entertainment and good cheer, is likewise conceded; in fact, has never been disputed. it may seem a trifling thing to be written down in serious history, that the old taverns of the mountains excelled all others in the matter of serving buckwheat cakes; but it is germane and true. to relieve this statement from the imputation of being a trifling one, it may be added that there are men and women still living on the line of the national road who often heard the great statesman, orator and patriot, henry clay, praising the good qualities of the buckwheat cakes furnished by the old mountain taverns with as much fervor and more enthusiasm than he ever exhibited in commending his favorite measure, the protective tariff. and, as a matter of fact, it might be stated in this connection, that the making of buckwheat cakes is essentially a home industry, not, however, of the infantile order, and while it may not need protection, is certainly deserving of encouragement. another memorable feature of the mountain taverns was the immense fires kept constantly burning in the old bar rooms during the old-time winters. in many instances the grates were seven feet in length, with corresponding width and depth, and would contain an ordinary wagon load of coal; and when the fires were stirred up in these immense grates, and set to roaring, the jolly old wagoners occupying the bar rooms paid little heed to the eagerness of the howling mountain weather. the old landlord of the mountains took special pride in keeping up his bar room fire. he kept a poker from six to eight feet long, and would not allow it to be used by any one but himself. boss rush, not inaptly termed "the prince of landlords," was so careful and punctilious about the management of his bar room fire that he kept his big poker under lock and key, so that no one could use it but himself, always using it at the right time, and keeping up a uniform and proper temperature for the comfort of his guests. with this parting tribute to the memory of the old taverns and tavern keepers of the mountains, the attention of the reader is now invited to those on the line of the road through the rich valleys of the tributaries of the ohio. monroe and uniontown, and the intervening space of two miles between these points, are covered in a previous chapter. three miles west of uniontown is an old tavern stand known in late years as the moxley house. it is a long log and frame building, situate on the south side of the road, with a porch extending along its entire frontage. this house was first kept as a tavern by bazil wiggins, an uncle of harrison wiggins, the old fox hunter before mentioned, next by john gray, grandfather of the old and popular conductor from uniontown to pittsburg on the baltimore & ohio railroad, now and for many years deceased. its next occupant, and from to , was william cox, a brother-in-law of e. w. clement, the famous swearer. in the property was purchased by thomas moxley, who went into possession and continued it as a tavern stand down to the year , when henry clay rush bought it and occupied it until the year , when he sold it to edmund leonard, its present occupant. when moxley took charge of this old tavern he gave it the name of "the half-way house," for the reason that its location is about midway between cumberland and wheeling. it was always a well conducted tavern, and did a large business, mainly in the line of wagon custom. less than a mile west of the old moxley house, on the south side, and back a few yards from the road, is a fine brick building, which, during a portion of the prosperous era of the road, was a well known and popular tavern stand. the house was built by robert hunter, who occupied it for several years, but did not seem inclined to court patronage, and, as a consequence, did not do much business. he leased the house to william darlington, and moved to ohio. darlington, as before stated, had been an old wagoner, was a man of amiable temper, and did a large business at this house. he remained in it until the year , when he moved to the mountain and took charge of the stone house, then known as the fayette springs house, now dean's. there he remained until he became the occupant of the mansion house on the estate of the late col. samuel evans, near uniontown, where he died. when darlington vacated the old hunter house it was turned over to peter colley, whose father, abel colley, had previously bought it from hunter. peter colley kept the house a number of years, and died in possession. he was a man of quiet deportment, attentive to strangers and travelers, and enjoyed an extensive line of custom, until the termination of the road's high career. the old tavern is now the private residence of a. a. taggart, son-in-law of peter colley, proprietor of one of the planing mills of uniontown, and a successful contractor and builder. [illustration: joseph gray.] next, two miles further west, is searights. here is the old half-way house between uniontown and brownsville, a large stone building on the north side of the road, at the crossing of the great drovers' road of other days leading from the flats of grave creek, virginia, to bedford, pennsylvania. the large stables connected with this house, on the opposite side of the road, are still standing, and in a good state of preservation. in the olden time, in addition to the ordinary travel on the road, sleighing and other parties from uniontown and brownsville were accustomed to go to this old tavern for a night's dancing, and the attending festivities. this is also the battleground of the memorable "gray meeting" in , where the opposing hosts between jackson and adams went into an open field and measured strength by "counting off," the jacksonians outnumbering their adversaries by a decided preponderance, greatly to the mortification of the weaker column. this meeting was called the "gray meeting," because the tavern there was then kept by john gray, formerly of the moxley house, before mentioned. the leaders on the occasion of this trial of strength were as follows: on the jackson side, gen. henry w. beeson, col. ben brownfield, john fuller, david gilmore, larkin s. dearth. alexander johnson, provance mccormick, william f. coplan, henry j. rigdon, william hatfield and william searight. on the adams side: andrew stewart, john dawson, john m. austin, israel miller, e. p. oliphant, chads chalfant, stokely conwell, levi springer, dennis springer, and william colvin. prior to many of the democratic county meetings and conventions were held at searights. before the era of railroads it was a central point for uniontown, connellsville and brownsville. a large water-trough was always maintained at this old tavern, where teams attached to all kinds of wagons, coaches and other vehicles, as well as horses and mules led in droves, were halted for refreshment. at times relays of stage horses for extra occasions were stationed here, and it was always a relay for the line teams moving merchandise. an old sign-board was displayed at the front of the house for many years, bearing in large gilt letters the legend searights. the old tavern at searights was built by josiah frost, about the time the national road was constructed, and in the year william searight acquired it by purchase from frost. joseph t. noble as lessee of william searight kept the tavern first after it was vacated by frost. it was kept for a brief period at intervals by william searight, but owing to his absence from home, being a contractor on public works, he did not give the management his personal attention, but placed it in the hands of james allison, a well remembered and highly esteemed citizen, subsequently and for many years postmaster at searights. john gray, as has been stated, kept this house in . he was succeeded by john risler, the noted old tavern keeper, before mentioned. mrs. risler's mother died at this house. her name was marsh. after mr. risler left, and about , matthias fry went into possession, and conducted the house for a number of years. he had been a popular old wagoner, and drew a large wagon trade. he was succeeded by joseph gray, son of john, before mentioned, and father of john gray, the old railroad conductor. joseph gray died in this house in january, . he was a worthy citizen, well deserving of honorable mention. after the death of joseph gray the house was kept first by william shaw, known as "tavern keeper billy," and after him by william shaw, known as "wagoner billy." these two shaws were not of kin. in henry clay rush took charge of the house and remained in it until , when he purchased the moxley property and removed to that point, as before stated. rush was a popular man, and was liberally patronized by the traveling public. in the fall of , or winter of , the mansion house of ewing searight was destroyed by fire, and he moved to the old tavern when rush vacated it, remained for a while, and subsequently from time to time leased it to james frost, alfred mccormick, thomas allen, c. w. downer, robert moxley, lewis fry and james w. claybaugh. during the terms of the last mentioned persons the patronage of the house was mostly local. the house is now the private residence of william searight, a son of ewing searight, owner of the property, and late superintendent of the road. william searight, the old proprietor, was superintendent of the road for many years, during its flourishing era. the national road had its contingent of quaint characters, eccentric men, philosophers in one sense, and loafers in another. they were indigenous to the road, could not live away from it, and enjoyed the precarious subsistence they obtained on it. the load-stone that attracted them and attached them to the road, probably above all other influences, was the pure whisky, before mentioned. it was plentiful and cheap, and could be obtained almost for the mere asking. it did not contain the elements of modern whisky, which excites men to revolution, insurrection, violence and insanity. of the characters alluded to, whose haunts were at the old taverns along the road between searights and brownsville, the reader familiar with that portion of the line will readily recall marion smith, (logan) george ducket, jonathan crawford, john w. dougherty, gideon lehman and billy bluebaker. logan's forte was imitating the crowing of a rooster. ducket had no pronounced trait, but under a patriotic impulse volunteered as a soldier in the mexican war, and marched with major gardner, daniel hazard and the other heroes to the halls of the montezumas. crawford was a tailor, and worked at his trade as little as possible, but quietly enjoyed his potations. he had nothing to say. dougherty was a walking arsenal, savage in appearance and gesticulation. he carried knives, pistols and a general assortment of deadly weapons, but was never known to use them on an adversary. lehman was also a tailor and bass drummer. he had a bronzed complexion, and a stolid temperament. billy bluebaker was elastic in motion, but lacking in brain. he wore the smallest hat of any individual on the road, and was happy in doing little jobs for old wagoners at his uncle's tavern. these odd characters have all gone with the majority of the men of the road. they witnessed and in their way participated in the enlivening scenes of the great highway, and are entitled to a place in its history. [illustration: william shaw. "wagoner billy."] chapter xxxv. _old taverns and tavern keepers, continued--searights to brownsville--able colley's, johnson's, known later as hatfield's--william hatfield, his good name and melancholy death--an old and odd indenture--the old peter colley house--a tavern with a brief career, the red tavern, wilkes brown, brubaker's--brownsville--anecdotes of jackson and clay--james workman and doctor stoy--ham and eggs--bazil brashear, james c. beckley, william reynolds, the monongahela house, the clark house, the iron bridge, bridgeport, john riley, the monongahela bridge._ over the hill from searights is the old abel colley stand. the old tavern here, in the flourishing era of the road, did a large business, mainly in the line of entertaining wagoners. while all the taverns of the road were more or less patronized by wagoners, excepting a few which were exclusively stage houses, they had favorite stopping places, and the abel colley tavern was one of these. the old proprietor and his family had methods and manners which were agreeable to wagoners, and they made it a point to stop at this house in great numbers. the bills were moderate, yet the patronage was so extensive and continued so long that abel colley accumulated a considerable fortune at this old tavern, and when trade and travel ceased built a fine brick residence on the roadside opposite, where he retired with his family to private life, and in a few years thereafter died. nancy, the wife of the old tavern keeper, is well remembered as a large, amiable woman, who habitually wore an expansive cap of the queen anne style. she long since passed to the life beyond. w. searight colley, a son of abel, now occupies and owns the brick dwelling mentioned, with a fine farm adjacent. peter colley, of the old hunter tavern before mentioned, was likewise a son of abel, and he had a son, levi, a farmer and freeholder, who died a number of years ago on the old covert farm, near moxley's, now in the occupancy of one of his sons. the abel colley tavern is still standing, a monument, like many others, of the faded glories of the old pike. this old house was kept as early as the year by darius grimes, and after him by thomas moxley. in moxley's time it was called the "green tree," and the writer remembers the picture of the green tree which appeared on the sign board that hung and swung for many years in front of this old tavern. abel colley took charge after moxley left. according to the recollection of ebenezer finley, as appears by his letter in the appendix to this volume, the abel colley tavern, was kept by samuel wolverton and by hugh thompson, and this must have been previous to the time of darius grimes. it was certainly before moxley's time. [illustration: abel colley.] about one mile west of the abel colley house there is an old stone tavern on the north side of the road, known in early days as johnson's, later as hatfield's. this house was built in by randolph dearth for robert johnson, who kept it as a tavern down to the year , when he retired to a farm in franklin township, fayette county, pennsylvania, where he died, leaving behind him a good name, which is better than great riches, of which latter he had a goodly share. he was the father-in-law of thomas brownfield, who, in , was sheriff of fayette county, pennsylvania, and previously a tavern keeper on the road. henry l. murphy, a well known and thrifty farmer of jefferson township, fayette county, pennsylvania, likewise married a daughter of robert johnson. this tavern, under the guidance of robert johnson, did a large business, and the old proprietor made money by conducting it. the successor of robert johnson in the management of this house was arthur wallace, who remained in it for a single year. he was a brother of john wallace, who once kept the wilse clement house in hopwood, and subsequently removed to morgantown, virginia, and an uncle of james wallace, present proprietor of the wallace house in morgantown. peter frasher, the old wagoner and tavern keeper before mentioned, married a daughter of arthur wallace. charles guttery succeeded arthur wallace in the johnson house. [y]guttery was an old wagoner, and is now keeping a tavern in beallsville, washington county, pennsylvania, and probably the oldest man in the business. he was at the johnson house in , and a wagoner many years before that date. from to john foster kept the johnson house. he was a brother of the first wife of robert hogsett. foster was succeeded by hiram holmes, who kept the house one year. in william hatfield, who had previously bought the property, went into the house and kept it as a tavern until the year , when he closed it as a public house, but continued to occupy it as a private residence until his melancholy death. before engaging in tavern keeping, william hatfield served many years as a justice of the peace, and subsequent to served a term as associate judge. he was a blacksmith by trade, and made the old iron gates of the road. he was industrious and honest, and likewise noted for his kindness to his fellow men. it was while engaged in doing a favor for an old neighbor, in the year , that he lost his life. his neighbor, john c. craft, had purchased a patent pump, and called on judge hatfield to assist him in placing it in his well. the judge, as was his habit, promptly responded, and, going down to the bottom of the well, called to his neighbor, who stood at the surface, to send him down a saw or an ax. the needed tool was placed in a heavy iron-bound tub and started down, but, through neglect, the cable slipped, and the tub was precipitated a great depth upon judge hatfield's head, fatally injuring him. he was extricated from his perilous position in an unconscious state, carried home, and lingering only a few hours, died. his remains were interred in the beautiful cemetery near brownsville, attended by a large concourse of sorrowing citizens, including the judges of the courts and the members of the bar of fayette county, pennsylvania. [footnote y: deceased.] following is an exact copy of the indenture which bound william hatfield to learn the trade of a blacksmith: _this indenture witnesseth_: that william hatfield, of the township of union, in the county of fayette, state of pennsylvania, hath put himself by the approbation of his guardian, john withrow, and by these presents doth voluntarily put himself an apprentice to george wintermute, of the township of redstone, county and state aforesaid, blacksmith, to learn his art, trade or mystery he now occupieth or followeth, and after the manner of an apprentice to serve him from the day of the date hereof, for and during the full end and term of five years next ensuing, during all which time he, the said apprentice, his said master shall faithfully serve, his secrets keep, his lawful commands every where gladly obey; he shall do no damage to his said master, nor suffer it to be done without giving notice to his said master; he shall not waste his master's goods, nor lend them unlawfully to others; he shall not absent himself day or night from his master's service without his leave; he shall not commit any unlawful deed, whereby his said master shall sustain damage, nor contract matrimony within the said term; he shall not buy nor sell, nor make any contract whatsomever, whereby his master receive damage, but in all things behave himself as a faithful apprentice ought to do during the said term. and the said george wintermute shall use the utmost of his endeavors to teach, or cause to be taught and instructed, the said apprentice the trade or mystery he now occupieth or followeth, and procure and provide for him, the said apprentice, sufficient meat, drink, common working apparel, washing, and lodging, fitting for an apprentice during the said term; and further, he the said master, doth agree to give unto the said apprentice, ten month's schooling within the said term, and also the said master doth agree to give unto the said apprentice two weeks in harvest in each and every year that he, the said apprentice, shall stay with his said master; also the said george wintermute, doth agree to give unto the said apprentice one good freedom suit of clothes. and for the true performance of all and every the said covenants and agreements, either of the said parties binds themselves to each other by these presents. in witness thereof, they have interchangeably put their hands and seals, this first day of april, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen. george wintermute. [seal.] witness present, william hatfield. [seal.] benjamin roberts. john withrow. [seal.] [illustration: hon. william hatfield.] _fayette county, ss._: may the th, one thousand eight hundred and sixteen, before me the subscriber, one of the justices of peace in and for the said county, came the parties to the within indenture and severally acknowledged it as their act and deed. given under my hand and seal the day and year above mentioned. benjamin roberts. [seal.] all the covenants and agreements of this quaint document were faithfully kept on the part of william hatfield. benjamin roberts, the justice of the peace, before whom the instrument was acknowledged, was the father of william b. roberts, who led the company from uniontown to engage in the mexican war, and upon the organization of the second regiment of pennsylvania volunteers was elected colonel, and served as such until his death, which occurred in the city of mexico. the old justice lived on a small farm in menallen township, fayette county, pennsylvania, north of and adjoining the searight farm, and col. roberts, his distinguished son, was born there. one mile west of hatfield's is the old peter colley stand. it is a stone house on the south side of the road. peter colley was the father of abel colley, and an early settler. he kept a tavern on the old road before the national road was made. he was a money maker, and owned the land on which his tavern was erected, in fee. he was probably the first man on the national road who acquired the fame of having a barrel of money. old pike boys said he kept his money in a barrel. peter colley was well advanced in years when the national road was made, and did not long enjoy the profits of the new highway. at his death his tavern passed to the hands of his son george, who kept it for many years, and until he followed his father to the unknown world. george colley lived to see and lament the decline of business on the road, and after his death his house was discontinued as a tavern. the hills on either side of this old house are among the highest on the road, the summit of the western range being twelve hundred and seventy-four feet above the level of the sea. in the olden time, as before stated, extra horses, called "the postilion," were required to aid the stage coaches in ascending these hills. a little over a mile further west a plastered stone house, on the north side of the road, was kept as a tavern at intervals, during the prosperous era of the road. it is not, however, to be classed among the old taverns of the road. it was first kept as a tavern previous to by arthur wallace. isaac baily subsequently kept it for a brief period, and enjoyed a good measure of patronage. baily afterward became postmaster at brownsville, and finally a member of the fayette county, pennsylvania, bar. he was a shrewd yankee, and an active local politician. his wife was a daughter of solomon colley, of the large family of colleys of the vicinity. george craft once lived in this house, and occasionally entertained strangers and travelers, but was not a regular tavern keeper. this was also the residence at one time of "jackey craft," known as an eccentric character, who was in the habit of starting out over the road in a sleigh with bells, when there was no snow on the ground. before his mind became unbalanced, "jackey" was a pushing, money making citizen, but his life went out under a cloud of mental derangement, causing deep regret among his many friends. a few hundred yards further west on the south side of the road, is the red tavern, so called, because in early days it was painted red. it is a wooden building, weather-boarded. this house had a large wagon custom, and, what may be considered strange without explanation, was more largely patronized by wagoners going west than east. this was owing to the means of ingress to and egress from the house. it is located near the summit of a hill, a short distance from the road, and immediately in front of it, adjoining the road, is a steep embankment. to drive to the house going west, a way leads off from the summit of the hill, which is level, but to drive out to the road the descent is steep, and wagoners coming east could not reach the wagon yard without driving up this steep grade, and, in many instances, preferred driving on to colley's rather than pressing their teams against such an obstacle. despite the disadvantage mentioned, this tavern, as before stated, was a popular resort for wagoners. it was first kept by cuthbert wiggins, father of harrison wiggins, and at this house harrison wiggins was born. it was next kept by george richards, whose widow became the wife of john gadd. cuthbert wiggins was at this house as early as . john gribble succeeded richards as early as , and continued to keep this house for many years, making money in the business, and ultimately buying a farm in the neighborhood, ceased tavern keeping and became a successful farmer. he has been dead many years, but is well remembered as a worthy citizen. upon the retirement of gribble, this house passed to the management of fielding frasher, a steady-going man, who had been a wagoner on the road, and knew how to keep a tavern. he was an uncle of capt. l. h. frasher, of uniontown, ex-district attorney of fayette county. fielding frasher had a good custom while keeping this house, but did not continue long in the business, and was succeeded by huston todd, a well known citizen in his day. he was a brother-in-law of judge hatfield, father of ewing todd, for many years a leading citizen of brownsville, now deceased, and grandfather of william hatfield todd, a popular and efficient postal clerk on the route between pittsburg and new york. peter williams, oldest son of the late gen. william w. williams, married a daughter of huston todd. the reputation of this old house was fully maintained while under the control of huston todd. peter frasher next took charge of this house. he was a brother of fielding frasher, and a typical pike boy, bright, active, and popular. he had been a wagoner, and knew the road from baltimore to wheeling. the house, while he kept it, was crowded with guests, but his generous nature prevented him from exacting full payment of bills at all times, and as a consequence his coffers were not as much swollen as those of many of the tavern keepers, more mindful of the chief end of tavern keeping. george friend succeeded peter frasher, but remained only a short time, when he gave way to parker mcdonald. mcdonald was the last man who conducted this house as a tavern. he was active, attentive, and popular, but the glory of the road had departed, and the business of tavern keeping was a thing of the past. the old red tavern and the farm adjacent belong to the old and wealthy bowman family, of brownsville. [illustration: johnson-hatfield house.] a short distance west of the red tavern a stone house was kept by wilkes brown, before the national road was made, and derived its trade for the most part from the old road. it is still standing, but not immediately on the national road. wilkes brown was of the family of thomas brown, the founder of brownsville. the next old tavern stand on the westward tramp is brubaker's, a fine brick building on the north side near brownsville. daniel brubaker purchased this property from david auld, and went into possession in the year , and from that date until his death was its constant occupant, with the exception of a very brief period that it was occupied and kept as a tavern by alexander r. watson. mr. brubaker survived the business era of the road, and died in his old tavern. he was a pennsylvania dutchman, born in somerset county, and possessed the thrift characteristic of his race. although economical and saving, he was not stinted in providing for the comfortable entertainment of his guests, and enjoyed a large patronage, especially in the line of wagon custom. after ascending the long hill out from brownsville, going east, old wagoners found a pleasant resting place at brubaker's. alex. r. watson will be remembered by the old folks of the road as a man of small stature, but considerable energy, who, about forty-five years ago, ran an omnibus line between brownsville and uniontown for the conveyance of passengers. the next point is brownsville, for many years the head of steamboat navigation on the monongahela river. here many passengers were transferred from the stage lines to the steamboats plying between this point and pittsburg. it is shown by official figures that from , the date at which the slack water improvement was completed to brownsville, to , when through business ceased on the national road, covering a period of eight years, more than two hundred thousand passengers left the stage lines at brownsville and took passage on the monongahela steamers. west-going passengers were "ticketed through" from cumberland, baltimore and other points east, to pittsburg and other points west, _via_ the national road, and the monongahela river route. a movement was set on foot as early as the year , looking to the improvement of the navigation of the monongahela river, by means of locks and dams, followed by later spasmodic efforts, but nothing of a practical nature was accomplished in this direction until , when a company was incorporated to carry forward and complete the work. the act of incorporation designated a number of prominent citizens to solicit and receive subscriptions of stock, among whom were ephraim l. blaine, father of james g. blaine, of washington county; william hopkins, of the same county, and andrew stewart and samuel evans, of fayette county. of all the gentlemen designated for this purpose, and there was quite a large number, not one is living at this day. there were no wagon stand taverns in brownsville. wagoners "put up" at the old riley and bar houses in bridgeport, and at brubaker's, east of town. the old workman house, at the upper end of market street, was a famous stage house. it had the patronage of the stockton line. this house is a stone structure, on the north side of the street, with a spacious porch in front. james workman, the old proprietor, will be remembered as a gentleman of ruddy complexion, gray hair, slim, but erect stature, elastic step and curt speech. he presided at this house for many years, and had a wide reputation for serving good meals. this old house was built by john mcclure hezlop in , who first kept it as a tavern. james beckley afterwards kept it, and after his decease, it was continued as a tavern by his widow. james workman took charge of it in . after workman, and since the decline of travel on the road, it has been kept at different times by william garrett, aaron wyatt, william wyatt, jacob marks, john g. fear, and probably others. it is continued as a tavern, and kept at the present time by fred chalfant. the late george e. hogg, for many years a leading and wealthy citizen of brownsville, is authority for the following amusing story concerning james workman, the old tavern keeper, and general jackson. on an occasion of one of general jackson's frequent trips over the national road, the citizens of brownsville resolved to give him a public reception. all the usual arrangements for such an event were made, including a dinner at workman's tavern. the hero, upon reaching town, was taken to the presbyterian church to listen to a reception speech and receive the greetings of the people. soon after the audience had settled down mr. workman entered the building, and forcing himself down the main aisle, and to a front pew occupied by general jackson, accosted him thus: "general jackson, i have been commissioned by the committee of arrangements to provide your dinner, and have come to inquire if there is any particular article of diet you prefer above another, that i may have the pleasure of gratifying your taste." the old general gravely responded, "ham and eggs." this seemed rather confusing to the old landlord, who, supposing the general was joking, repeated his inquiry, when the same response came a second time and in an emphatic tone, "ham and eggs." the old landlord then hastily withdrew, hurried home, and commanded his cook to prepare ham and eggs for general jackson's dinner. the ham of that day was a different thing from the flabby, flavorless so-called "sugar cured" counterfeit of the present day, and thousands of other well meaning citizens besides general jackson were fond of the ham of the olden time. eggs, of course, are the same now as of yore, but simply and solely because modern food corrupters have not discovered any method of debauching them. [illustration: workman house.] mr. hogg, above quoted, is responsible also for the following story: an old line coach in which henry clay was a passenger was upset on the iron bridge, and he was slightly injured and conveyed to the workman house. dr. stoy, an old practitioner of the place, was summoned, and hastened to the relief of the distinguished sufferer. the old physician was given to loquacity, and not a little elated by being called to see so distinguished a patient. he prescribed brandy, and to vary the prescription and assuage the patient's apprehension, began the recital of an old joke, meanwhile holding in his hand a glass of brandy. mr. clay, perceiving that the story was going to be a long one, interrupted the doctor by suggesting that he be permitted to drink the brandy without further delay, and rub the glass over his wounds. a few steps below the workman house an old tavern was kept by bazil brashear, and subsequently by james searight, who left it in , to take charge of the "national house" in washington, pennsylvania. the brashear house was a station for many years of one or more of the early stage lines, and in gen. lafayette dined at this house while on his way from washington, pennsylvania, to uniontown. this old house, built of stone, is still standing, owned and occupied as a private residence by the widow of the late westley frost. bazil brashear was a brother-in-law of thomas brown, the founder of brownsville, and the grandfather of prof. brashear, the distinguished astronomer of pittsburg. james c. beckley kept a tavern in a frame house at the head of old front street, for a number of years. he was a local politician of much shrewdness, commanding a considerable following, a close friend of the late hon. john l. dawson, and served that old-time, able and distinguished statesman in many trying contests. further down the main street and on the south side near the present location of the old monongahela bank, was the marshall house. this house was first kept as a tavern by william reynolds, who was an agent of the adams express company. mr. reynolds previously kept the old abrams house in petersburg. he did a good business at the marshall house, which was headquarters for the express company. this house was subsequently kept at different times by hiram holmes, isaac vance, harvey schroyer, j.w. kisinger and william garrett. after reynolds left it the name was changed, and it was known as the petroleum house. it has not been used as a tavern for a number of years. william reynolds was a native of brownsville, born in , and drove his father's team between baltimore and wheeling, before reaching his majority. he kept tavern in petersburg five years, and moved from that place to brandonville, virginia, where he engaged in a mercantile venture, as a partner of his uncle, zalmon ludington, esq. after a brief experience as a merchant, he returned to his father's old tavern west of keyser's ridge, and afterward resumed tavern keeping in petersburg. from petersburg he went to brownsville. he was killed in a railroad accident near pittsburg in , while in the service of the adams express company. his son john is postmaster at confluence, somerset county, pennsylvania, and william hartman, the unfortunate brakeman who was shot and killed on the baltimore & ohio railroad, near dunbar, in august, , was a grandson of william reynolds. the old clark mansion, located at the east end of "the neck" in brownsville, was converted to a tavern about forty-five years ago, and became the headquarters of the good intent stage line. it was first opened up as a tavern by andrew byers, who had previously kept the clinton house in uniontown. when byers left it daniel brown, the old stage agent, took charge of it and conducted it for a brief period. daniel brown's reputation as a model tavern keeper has been adverted to in another chapter. after brown's time the patronage of this house was mostly of a local character. the clark house was kept for a while after brown left it by capt. morgan mason, who subsequently located in st. louis, where he still resides, a leading citizen, and an ex-sheriff of that city. the widow schroyer also kept this house, and matthew story, and it is at present kept by the theakston brothers. the monongahela house, a short distance west of the clark house, on the south side, was originally and for many years the private residence of samuel j. krepps. it has been probably fifty years since this house was thrown open to the public as a tavern. one of the mccurdy's was first installed as landlord of this house. he was succeeded by jesse hardin, an old stage driver, and isaac bailey, william gans, ephraim h. bar, cyrus l. conner and john b. krepps, son of the owner, kept this house nearly, if not exactly, in the order given. it was a stage house, and had a large run of general custom. it continues to be one of the leading hotels of brownsville, under the management of david provins. thomas brown, james auld, amos wilson and james c. beckley were tavern keepers in brownsville prior to the construction of the national road. auld preceded beckley in the old house at the head of front street, above mentioned. amos wilson kept the old "black horse" tavern on front street. a few yards westward from the monongahela house the road crosses dunlap's creek over a handsome and expensive iron bridge, erected in , and the first of the kind west of the allegheny mountains. the vicissitudes attending the construction of this bridge have been alluded to in a previous chapter. the stone work of this bridge, which is a fine specimen of heavy masonry, was let by contract to william searight, who pushed it forward and completed it with his characteristic energy. david chipps, a well remembered old citizen of the vicinity of uniontown, and an expert stone mason, was a boss workman on this bridge, and the late gen. william w. williams, who in the prime of his life was an excellent mason, also worked on its walls and abutments. the work was done under authority of the war department of the general government. [illustration: bridge over the monongahela.] after crossing the iron bridge the traveler is in the ancient borough of bridgeport. here jack arnold kept a tavern at a very early period. he was succeeded by john riley, who for many years kept a wagon stand. riley was a staunch citizen, and participated in the public affairs of his town. his tavern was near the market house, and was a popular resort in the olden time. isaac kimber, robert patterson and john neelan kept taverns in bridgeport before the national road was made. the present bar house is on the site of the old kimber house. the bar house is owned by ephraim h. bar, who conducted it as a tavern for many years. it was a wagon stand, and had a good trade. robert carter, old wagoner before mentioned, was one of the men who for a time successfully conducted the bar house. thornton young, george garrard, matthew story and eli bar kept this house in recent years at different times, and it is now conducted by w. f. higinbotham. it is but a short distance from the iron bridge before mentioned to the long wooden bridge over the monongahela river. this bridge, although a link of the national road, was not built by the government. it is a private enterprise, and was erected in . in an act was passed by the legislature of pennsylvania, authorizing the governor to incorporate a company to build and operate a bridge at this point; but for some cause the company was not organized, and in a company was incorporated by the legislature. ephraim l. blaine, father of the brilliant and popular statesman, was an incorporator under the provisions of the act of , and the company authorized by that act promptly organized, and completed the bridge at the date above mentioned. neil gillespie, the grandfather of james g. blaine, was named in the act of , above mentioned, as one of the commissioners to solicit and receive subscriptions of stock for the bridge. chapter xxxvi. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--brownsville to beallsville--west brownsville, the birthplace of james g. blaine--indian hill, later known as krepps' knob--indian peter and neil gillespie--the adams house, john cummins, vincent owens--an old and mysterious murder--malden, bry taylor--tragic death of a beautiful girl--centreville, john rogers, zeph riggle, battelly white, the whip-maker, mrs. dutton, eli railley, the old constitution, beallsville, david mitchell, andrew and thomas keys, robert cluggage, william greenfield, mrs. chambers, charles guttery._ [illustration: old tavern at malden.] from the big crossings to the monongahela river at brownsville the road passes through fayette county, pennsylvania. after crossing the river bridge at brownsville, going west, the traveler reaches the soil of washington county, and plants his feet in the ancient village of west brownsville. from the hill tops on the road, as far west as hillsboro, glimpses are had of the receding mountains. west brownsville has the great distinction of being the birth place of james g. blaine, the foremost and most popular of all american statesmen of the present day. it is related in crumrine's valuable and well written history of washington county, that the land upon which west brownsville stands was originally owned by indian peter. this indian peter, at a very early day, lived on lands in the vicinity of uniontown, and gave name to peter's street, the oldest street of that town. he had a neighbor whose name was philip shute, with whom he was not on friendly terms. prior to indian peter wrote to the authorities of the proprietary government, that "he could not get along with the damned dutchman, and wished to give up his land for another tract." his request was promptly complied with, and he was given a tract of three hundred and thirty-nine acres, situate on the west side of the monongahela river, which was surveyed and called "indian hill," and upon this tract stands the town of west brownsville. it embraces krepps' knob, which together with the character of the old owner, accounts for the name given the tract. krepps' knob is ten hundred and forty feet above the level of the atlantic ocean. indian peter, it seems, died in possession of the indian hill tract, and it passed to his widow mary, a white woman, and his oldest son william. in the widow and son aforesaid, sold the tract to neil gillespie, the great-grandfather of james g. blaine. the price agreed upon between the parties was forty shillings per acre, payable in instalments of money, iron and one negro. this tract of land remained in the gillespie family for many years. philip shute, the old german neighbor of indian peter, lived in union township, fayette county, now north union, near the late residence of colonel evans, and gave name to the gushing mountain stream which flows through the lands of that vicinity. the bridge over the monongahela river stands on an almost direct north and south line, and a short distance from its northern end the road makes a sharp angle to the westward. on the south side of this angle a tavern was kept by samuel adams, as early as the year . samuel adams was the father of estep adams, the present polite and popular postmaster at west brownsville. john huston succeeded samuel adams in this old house. in the early days of the road this house was constantly crowded with guests. at the close of huston's term, the old house, which was a wooden structure, was torn down, and the present brick building was erected on its site, and continued as a tavern throughout the whole period of the road's prosperous era, and for many years thereafter. joshua armstrong was the first occupant of the new building. his term was prior to the year . morris purcell came in, after armstrong. dr. adams, the postmaster before mentioned, when a boy, counted fifty road wagons standing around this old tavern, in one night, when it was kept by morris purcell. the wagon yard, which was large and commodious, was located on the west side, and in the rear of the house. major william paul, hereinbefore mentioned, succeeded purcell in this house, about the year , and retained the extensive line of wagon custom with which his predecessor was favored. james watkins, an old stage driver of washington, pennsylvania, was maj. paul's bar keeper at this house, and his son-in-law, thomas hamen hopkins, was the successor of maj. paul in this house. his widow is still keeping a tavern in west brownsville. she is well up in years, but her memory is clear and well stored with interesting reminiscences of the road. greenberry millburn next had charge of this house, and kept it for a brief period, when he retired, and his name does not subsequently appear on the roll of old tavern keepers. john cummins was the next occupant of this house. he purchased the property, and held it until his death, which occurred near the close of the prosperous era of the road. he was an irishman, thrifty and energetic, and besides tavern keeping, took contracts on public works. about the year this house passed to the control of moses bennington, who conducted it during the era of the civil war. he was succeeded by william dawson, whose successor was james b. dorsie. doc bar kept the house for a brief period, and one of its occupants was robert miller. upon the expiration of miller's term thomas h. hopkins again took charge, and it was subsequently kept for short periods, at different times, by solomon watkins, james nichols and john taylor. the house is at present owned by the pittsburg, virginia and charleston railroad company, and used as a passenger and freight station. a few hundred yards west of the old adams stand, and near the foot of the river hill, on the river side, an old stone house was kept as a tavern when the road was first opened, and for a number of years thereafter. the first man who catered to the wants of the traveling public at this old tavern was vincent owens, who had been a faithful soldier in washington's army in the war of the revolution. the property belonged to the old krepps family of the vicinity, and the old tavern stood at the northwest landing of the old krepps ferry. owens was succeeded at this old tavern by samuel acklin, and acklin by john krepps, a brother of samuel j. krepps. morris purcell succeeded krepps, and went from here to the old adams house, before mentioned. the krepps ferry was operated in connection with the management of this old tavern, and the ferry was continued down to the year . the tavern was closed here long before the decline of travel on the road. the father of vincent owens was murdered in this old tavern while his son was conducting it. the crime was an atrocious one, causing great excitement and indignation in the neighborhood at the time, and the manner and motives of the act seem to be shrouded in mystery. two persons who lodged in the house over night were suspected of the crime, but they fled before the light of the morning and were never apprehended. about two and one-half miles west of krepps' ferry an ancient hamlet called by old pike boys malden is reached. here on the north side of the road stands an old stone tavern, which in the palmy days of the road was a popular stopping point. it belonged originally to the old krepps family, of brownsville, and was designed and erected for a tavern. it was evidently the belief of the old owners that a town would grow up on this site, as they caused a stone in the front wall of the old tavern, near the top, to be dressed and inscribed in cut letters with the name kreppsville. this name, however, was not adopted by the public, but the place was, and continues to be known as malden. the origin of this name is not positively known, but tradition has it that a party of emigrants encamping on the ground one night, fancying that it resembled the place of their nativity, malden, probably in the state of massachusetts, gave it that name. be this as it may, malden is the popular name of the locality. the old tavern here was built in two sections and at different dates. the original, which is now the western section, was built in , and a dressed stone in its front wall bears that date. the second, or eastern section, was built in . it is the second section that bears the name kreppsville, above mentioned; and, in addition, the stone slab disclosing this name shows the date , also the word "liberty," and the figure of a plow and sheaf of wheat. bry taylor was the first person who kept the old tavern at malden, and he was constantly busy while there in attending to the wants of the traveling public. he had an amiable and beautiful daughter, kizzie, who was accidentally killed in this house, causing great sorrow in the neighborhood. her brother, james, had been out hunting one day, and returning, placed his gun negligently on a table. his sister, miss kizzie, besought him to put the gun in a safe place, which he declined to do, remarking that "it wouldn't hurt anybody where it was." miss kizzie did not share his confidence in regard to the absence of danger, and proceeded to remove the gun herself. her brother interfered to prevent the gun's removal, when a scuffle ensued between the parties, during which the gun was discharged, and miss kizzie was fatally shot. the room in which this sad affair occurred is still pointed out to visitors. as if by the law of compensation, james taylor, the brother, many years afterward was himself shot. he became a river man, and gradually made his way to points down the ohio and mississippi, and was finally shot and killed by a united states marshal near memphis. samuel acklin followed taylor in the old tavern at malden, and was favored with a large patronage, consisting mainly of wagoners and drovers. acklin was at this house as early as . samuel bailey succeeded acklin, and bailey was succeeded in turn by william pepper and william garrett. james britton, now and for thirty years past, has owned this property. he occupies the old tavern as a private residence, and operates the fertile farm attached to it. [illustration: william greenfield.] the next point west, distant about three miles, is centreville. moving onward towards centreville the traveler passes the old farms and residences of jonathan knight, the famous civil engineer of other days, and nathan pusey, father of hon. w. h. m. pusey, a leading banker, democratic politician and ex-member of congress, of council bluffs, iowa. another point of interest on this part of the line, is the old historic taylor church, which stands on the north side of the road, a monument of the religious tendencies of the good old inhabitants of the vicinity. centreville was laid out in , soon after the road was completed, and with special reference to its completion, and the anticipated prosperity to ensue by reason thereof. it is equi-distant between uniontown and washington. the first old tavern kept in centreville was by john rogers, father of the venerable joseph t. rogers, of bridgeport. it is a brick house, on the north side of the road, still standing. robert rogers succeeded his father in this house and kept it for many years, and died in possession. at brief intervals in the lifetime of robert rogers this house was conducted by solomon bracken, son-in-law of mr. rogers, and a mr. wilson, the latter occupying it but for one year. the rogers house was known and noted throughout the entire period of the road's prosperous era as a quiet, orderly, well kept tavern. the leading wagon stand in centreville was on the hill at the west end of town, a brick house, on the south side of the road. the wagon yard was in the rear. zephania riggle kept this house at an early day, and was succeeded in by peter colley, a nephew of abel colley, before mentioned. henry whitsett came in after colley, and next jacob marks, who was followed by william garrett, and jesse quail succeeded garrett. the property is now owned by joseph b. jeffreys who keeps the old tavern open for the accommodation of strangers and travelers. the house kept by zeph riggle on this site was destroyed by fire during his incumbency, and promptly rebuilt. battley white, the celebrated manufacturer of the wagoner's black snake whip, before mentioned, lived in centreville. the house now occupied by morris cleaver, on the hill west of centreville, was at one time a tavern. it was first kept by charley miller, then by zeph riggle, and next, in , by mrs. dutton, mother of john r. dutton, the well known, reputable and prosperous merchant of brownsville. mrs. dutton owned the property, and moved from here to brownsville, after which this old tavern closed. its career was somewhat brief, but it was a well kept tavern, and had a good line of custom in its day. about half a mile west from mrs. dutton's an old frame tavern, on the north side of the road, as early as , displayed the sign of the constitution, and entertained primitive travelers of the road. this old house was kept for a while by one johnson, but it long since disappeared from view. eli railley kept a tavern as early as in a brick house on the north side of the road, about one and a half miles west of centreville, and was succeeded by the widow welsh, who conducted it as a tavern as late as . this house is still standing, owned by amos cleaver, and occupied by his son as a private residence. beallsville, distant one and a half miles from the old railley tavern, is next reached. in proceeding to beallsville the traveler passes one of the old toll houses, all of which, as before stated, are still standing, and in good condition, except the one near mt. washington and the one on big savage mountain. david mitchell, the old collector at the gate near beallsville, is well remembered as a straightforward, honest and intelligent citizen. beallsville, like centreville as a town, was the outgrowth of the national road. it was laid out in , and incorporated as a borough in . jonathan knight, the old engineer before mentioned, surveyed the site of the town and made the plat. the national road forms the main street of this town, as it does that of centreville. the first old tavern reached in beallsville, going west, was on the north side, at the east end of the town. this house was first kept by andrew keys, and after him by thomas keys. this was previous to . it was next kept by robert cluggage, and after cluggage, james dennison kept it. dennison was succeeded by moses bennington, who afterwards kept the old adams house at west brownsville. charles guttery also kept this house in . dennison was a claysville man, and after keeping tavern for short terms, at different points on the road, returned to claysville, where he died. he was an old wagoner, as well as a tavern keeper, and well and favorably known on the road. he had an interest by marriage, or birth-right, in some real estate at or near claysville, and this is doubtless the chord that drew him at last back to that point. the old keys tavern had a commodious wagon yard attached, and entertained many old wagoners. [illustration: charles guttery.] about the center of the town of beallsville, and on the south or west side, wm. greenfield kept a famous old tavern, and he was in many other respects a famous old man. he was tall and spare, with a brown complexion, a defective eye, and a philosophic turn of mind. it was his fortune to have a good wife, and to her, in great measure, was attributed the high grade of this old tavern. the traveler could always get a good cup of coffee at greenfield's, a rare thing in a tavern and utterly unknown in a hotel. in addition to keeping tavern, william greenfield was a banker, and established the "beallsville savings bank." his bank was in his tavern, and his safe was his pocket. he issued notes of small denominations, which were handsomely printed and engraved, and they acquired some credit, and a limited circulation. the pressure of redemption, however, was more than the old banker-tavern keeper could withstand, and he was forced to close business as a banker, but continued his tavern successfully. it is due to the memory of the old gentleman to state, that no serious losses were sustained by the note holders of his bank. he continued to keep tavern at the old stand until his death, which occurred many years ago, and all the old pike boys, from one end of the road to the other, have a kind word for the memory of william greenfield. charley miller kept a tavern as early as , and probably before that date, in the brick house on the corner opposite greenfield's, and this house was subsequently, and for many years kept by mrs. chambers. it was a quiet, orderly, and aristocratic old tavern, especially when under the management of mrs. chambers, and enjoyed a good reputation as an eating house. benjamin demon took charge of this house after the retirement of mrs. chambers, and kept it for a while. moses bennington succeeded demon, and charles guttery succeeded bennington. guttery was the last of the old line of tavern keepers, at this house. beallsville was a station for the line wagons, and john cook, an old wagoner whose home was there, drove a line team for many years. chapter xxxvii. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--beallsville to washington--hillsboro--the old hill house--samuel youman, next to old mount the biggest man of the road--george ringland, john noble, billy robinson, charley miller's, the gals house, daniel ward, egg nog hill, the long stretch, thomas hastings, the upland house, joseph doak, the mount vernon house, maj. dunlap, charles rettig, pancake, jonathan martin, the sample house._ three miles west from beallsville the traveler reaches the village of hillsboro. this little town is another outgrowth of the national road, and as at beallsville and centreville, the road forms its main street. the grade from beallsville to hillsboro is for the most part ascending, the hill going out west from beallsville being one of the longest on the road, and hillsboro is situate on a lofty eminence overlooking a wide range of hills, and many fertile slopes and valleys. on the summit above hillsboro, the traveler coming east, gets the first glimpses of laurel hill, thirty miles distant in the mountains. crumrine's history of washington county, before quoted, informs us that hillsboro was laid out in the year , a date coincident with the completion of the road. the proprietors of the town were stephen hill and thomas mcgiffin, and crumrine's history contains the following notice of the first public sale of lots: "the public are informed that a town has been laid off, to be called hillsboro, adjoining hill's stone tavern, about equal distance from washington to brownsville, and that lots will be sold on the premises on monday, the th day of august, at public auction. sale to commence at o'clock a. m. july , . stephen hill, thomas mcgiffin, proprietors." [illustration: billy robinson.] accompanying the plat of the town as recorded, says crumrine, were these remarks: "the above is a plan of the town of hillsboro, nearly equi-distant between brownsville and washington, pennsylvania, on the united states road." signed by the proprietors. stephen hill belonged to an old family of that name, which was among the early settlers of the region, and thomas mcgiffin was an old and prominent lawyer of washington, and a contractor on the original construction of the road, father of col. norton mcgiffin, a soldier of two wars, and sheriff and member of the legislature for washington county. hill's stone tavern was in existence as early as . in the early history of the national road, and for a number of years, it was the leading tavern of hillsboro, kept by thomas hill, who was not a son, but a near relative, probably a nephew, of stephen hill, the old proprietor. samuel youman kept this house fifty years ago, after the retirement of hill. youman was a stage driver as well as a tavern keeper, and next to "old mount," as before stated, the biggest man on the road. one of the stage lines, that on which youman was a driver, stopped at this house, and it was the only stage house on the road that was largely patronized by old wagoners, and their favor was obtained probably by reason of the spacious and commodious wagon yard in front of the house. john hampson, john gibson, william dawson and oliver lacock each in turn kept this house since youman's time, and it is at present continued as a tavern by mr. lacock's son. in the year james beck kept a tavern in hillsboro. he was a member of the old bridge builders firm of kinkead, beck & evans, and moved from the "vance farm," near uniontown, which he once owned, to hillsboro, at the date named. he remained in hillsboro but one year, and his successor in the tavern there was george ringland. ringland was a citizen of some prominence in his day, a brother of col. thomas ringland, an old soldier, and a leading man in the public affairs of washington county more than half a century ago. david railly succeeded ringland in this house about the year . it was a stage house, but did a general business. after railly this house was kept at different times by john noble, who married railly's widow, john taylor, henry taylor, jesse core and william robinson. noble and robinson were both old stage drivers, noble before, as well as after his experience as a tavern keeper. robinson died a tavern keeper, and in the house last mentioned. "billy" robinson was one of the best known and most popular men of the road. he was short in stature, with reddish complexion, dark hair, and an amiable disposition. he hauled many an old-time statesman safely in his nimble coach, and afterward dined him sumptuously in his bountiful tavern. there was an old tavern in hillsboro, near the centre of the town, on the south side of the road, kept first by john wilson, and after his time by stephen phelps, and next and last by david powell. its career was not as long as many other old taverns of the road, but in its time it was a lively house and had a large run of custom. zeph riggle kept a tavern in what is known as the dr. clark house, on the south side, in hillsboro, at an early day, and as at other points on the road where he catered to the wants of the traveling public, drew a good trade. he was the only person that ever kept this house as a tavern. about two miles west of hillsboro the famous old tavern of charley miller is reached. it is a large and handsome brick building on the south side of the road, and was kept before miller's time by henry taylor. miller did a large business, and had all sorts of customers, with a capacity to adapt himself to the wants and whims of every variety. he was accustomed to say, in commendation of his whisky, that it was a hundred years old; that he could vouch for its age, for he helped to make it. parties of young folks were accustomed to drive out from washington, a distance of ten miles, to take a meal and have a dance at charley miller's. his meals were sumptuous and savory, and gave his house a reputation from which he did not fail to profit. one of his specialties was fine peach brandy, which is graciously remembered and frequently spoken of by the survivors of the old pike boys with a glow of enthusiasm. miller died in this house, and it passed to the hands of david ullery. "no longer the host hobbles down from his rest in the porch's cool shadow, to welcome his guest with a smile of delight and a grasp of the hand, and a glance of the eye that no heart could withstand." one and a half miles west of charley miller's, on the south side of the road, a tavern was kept in a wooden building many years ago by william plymire. this old tavern furnished good entertainment, and its old host was attentive and polite to his patrons. plymire was succeeded in this house by henry yorty, who kept it going as a tavern until his death, and for some time thereafter it was kept by his widow, but was never kept as a tavern after mrs. yorty's time. the next old wagon stand on the westward tramp is the "gals house." this house is situate on the north side of the road, about two miles west of charley miller's. it is a frame building, and once was painted red, but the red all wore off many years ago, and was not replaced. it was called the "gals house," because it was owned and conducted by three maiden women of the family name of dague. the grounds around this old house, night after night, throughout the entire period of the road's prosperity, were crowded with teams and wagons, and the reputation of the place was excellent in every particular. the dague girls were the owners of the house, and of about eighty acres of rich land surrounding it, and after business closed on the road, they sold and conveyed the property to joseph henderson, a well remembered and worthy old stage driver, who went into possession and made this place his home for many years. [illustration: daniel ward.] one mile further west is ward's. here a well known tavern was kept by daniel ward, all through the flourishing era of the road, and it was well kept and well patronized. ward was rich, the owner of his tavern stand, and a fine farm in addition, and therefore unlike many other old tavern keepers of the road who leased their houses from year to year, and changed from point to point at different times. ward's tavern is a large frame house, on the north side of the road, with a spacious porch in front, and a large wagon yard conveniently attached, and was a favorite stopping place for old wagoners. the old house is still standing, unused, because not needed as a tavern, but it remains a prominent landmark of the road, carrying the mind back to the period of its enlivening scenes and moving pageants. daniel ward was a pronounced type of the old tavern keeper. he was rather a large man, not fleshy, but broad shouldered, with a slight stoop. his complexion was reddish, and he always had a pleasant smile wherewith to greet a guest. he wore a broad-rimmed, high-crowned, brown-colored fur hat, with long, soft nap, the style of hat worn by all old tavern keepers and wagoners when dressed for special occasions. mrs. ward was an admirable help-mate for her husband. she was a large woman, of florid complexion, and full of energy and zeal in her occupation. the meals she spread before her numerous guests in all seasons were bountiful and relishable, and gave her husband's old tavern a wide reputation. what a change? once all was life and animation at this old tavern, now "the wind whistles shrill, through the wide open doors, and lizards keep house, on the mouldering floors." four miles west from ward's the old and popular wagon stand of thomas hastings is reached. in proceeding onward toward the hastings house a celebrated point is passed, known in the peculiar vocabulary of the road as "egg nog hill." on this hill for many years lived in retirement samuel flowers, one of the oldest, steadiest and best known wagoners of the road. william d. evans, residing in malvern, iowa, a son of gabriel evans, of the old firm of kinkead, beck & evans, contractors and bridge builders, before mentioned, furnishes the following story as to the origin of the name of this hill: the engineers in locating the line of the road were much exercised in fixing the grade at this point, and before arriving at conclusions the sun went down, and with a view probably of stimulating their minds to clearer conceptions, they ordered a bucket of egg-nog to be served in their shanty. partaking freely of this ancient, agreeable and strong beverage during the night, they proceeded next morning with the work in hand, and established the grade without further embarrassment. the chain carriers and other employees were called in to the rough, roadside banquet, and the region all around echoed the notes of that night's revelry, and ever thereafter the locality has been known as "egg nog hill." if this is a true account of the origin of the name, and the authority quoted is respectable and credible, there are many persons willing to aver that the influence of the egg nog was anything but propitious, since the grade of the road at this point is nothing to boast of. at the foot of egg nog hill a valley is reached over which the road passes for a distance of two miles on a level grade, varied by slight undulations, terminating at or near the old buchanan postoffice. this portion of the road was called by old stage drivers "the long stretch," and over its favorable grade stage teams sped with more than ordinary rapidity. it is considered germaine to state in this connection, that the general grade of the road has been much and sharply criticised, and by many condemned outright. the main point of objection urged against the grade is, that it involves many long and steep hills, which could have been avoided by making side cuts and occupying the valleys, and this is true, but any other location would have lengthened the line and increased the cost of construction and maintenance. david shriver, of cumberland, was the chief engineer in charge of the location, and instructed by the government to make the line as straight as practicable, within the limit of a five degree elevation. besides, there was a popular theory when the line was located, that a road over hills was not as fatiguing to horses as a road with a uniform grade. it was argued that a horse is provided with two sets of muscles, one of which is used in going up and the other in going down a hill, and the conclusion was that horses were relieved and rested by a change from an up to a down grade. after this digression, the reader's attention is invited back to the old tavern of thomas hastings. it is situate on the summit of a hill of average length and grade on the south side, and a short distance back from the road. the location of this house, with reference to the road, is similar to that of the old red tavern, two miles east of brownsville. the hastings house was a leading tavern of the road, all through its prosperous era. the large patronage it enjoyed is the best evidence that it was well kept. john w. mcdowell, of uniontown, an ex-county commissioner of fayette county, pennsylvania, was working on the road in under the superintendency of william searight, and boarding at the hastings house. on the morning of the election of that year he rose "bright and early," took his breakfast "before the break of day," mounted a horse, and rode to mt. washington, the polling place for wharton township, which was his home, in time to vote for polk and dallas. mcdowell frequently relates this incident of his life, when recounting his party services, and lays particular stress on the circumstance that the dining room girls gladly furnished him his breakfast and cheered him on his mission. the distance from the old hastings tavern to mt. washington is forty-two miles. while the road was undergoing construction, there was a tavern about midway of the "long stretch," and on the south side of the road. it was kept by one smith, of the extensive american family of that name. at times there was great disorder and much tumult, amounting almost to riot, at this old tavern, and on one of these occasions the old militia of washington county was ordered to the scene to enforce the keeping of the peace. these disorders, like similar outbreaks of the present day, were no doubt attributable to the immoderate use of intoxicants. [illustration: john w. mcdowell.] within a few hundred feet, and west of the old hastings house, samuel hughes kept a tavern in and before, and probably a short time after that date. his house was a large and imposing frame building on the north side of the road, and known in its day as the "upland house." this name appeared on the sign board. the surroundings of this house were attractive. it had an aristocratic air about it, and enjoyed an aristocratic patronage. while old wagoners crowded the hastings house, travelers in chaises and fine carriages stopped at the upland. by some means, and many years ago, this old house was demolished, and a fine brick building erected on its site, owned and occupied by joseph doak, who was at one time a superintendent of the road. about one and a half miles west of the upland house, major james dunlap, at a very early period of the road's history, kept a tavern on the south side, on an elevation and a little distance back from the roadside. it was called the "mt. vernon house," and was doing business as early as the year , two years before the road was completed as far west as washington. major dunlap was a prominent man of his day, and brigade inspector of the washington county (pennsylvania) militia, an office of no little consequence in the early history of pennsylvania. major dunlap subsequently kept the jackson house in washington, pennsylvania. before reaching the mt. vernon house, an old round toll house is passed, where william hill collected tolls for many years from the throngs of travelers on the road. the old mt. vernon house was supplanted by a new one, under the direction of charles rettig, who became the owner of the property. the new house is a brick structure, and was a wagon stand. there was an abundant water supply at this house, and old stage drivers and wagoners halted upon reaching it to refresh their teams. charles rettig died about the year . he was a staunch and sturdy citizen, and possessed the confidence and enjoyed the respect of all his neighbors. the next point west, but a short distance, is invested with more than ordinary interest. it is pancake, sometimes called martinsburg, and in later years, to a limited extent, known as laboratory. but pancake was the original, and remains the popular name. it is almost within eyesight of washington. the first tavern here was kept by george pancake, and hence the name given the place. his house was a small log building, erected near the beginning of the present century, and probably the first house in the village. pancake did well with the means at his command, but his old house was not equal to the growing wants of the road, and after it was removed, and the old proprietor called to his final reckoning, jonathan martin appeared on the scene. martin was a discerning man, and foreseeing the future of the national road as a great highway, built a large brick house for use as a tavern. it is situate on the north side of the road, two stories, twelve large and comfortable rooms, and was erected in the year . a spacious porch runs the entire length of the house and approaches the edge of the road. jonathan martin kept this tavern from the date of its erection until business closed on the road, with the exception of one year that it was in charge of j. w. holland, back in the forties. since the close of its career as a tavern it has been occupied as a quiet farm house. martin was a genial landlord, and made money at tavern keeping. a short distance back from the tavern he had a horse-power grist mill and a carding machine which he operated for a number of years, thus supplementing his gains as a tavern keeper. general jackson was on one occasion a guest of martin's tavern, and the celebrated theologian, alexander campbell, frequently lodged within its venerable walls and sat at its bounteous table. as early as george ringland kept a wagon stand tavern within a short distance of the borough limits of washington. his old house, a commodious brick building, is still standing, situate on the north, or at this point rather, east side of the road, with sufficient ground intervening to form a good wagon yard. john sample succeeded ringland at this old stand, and became the owner of the property. it is now the private residence of william workman, esq., and has not been kept as a tavern since . chapter xxxviii. _old tavern and tavern keepers continued--washington--washington and jefferson college--the female seminary--james wilson, first tavern keeper in washington--the two dodds--major mccormick's--the white goose and the golden swan--hallam's old wagon stand--the valentine--the buck--the gen. andrew jackson--the globe--the cross keys--the indian queen--the mermaid--the rising sun--the gen. brown--the fountain--billy brown and jimmy brown--the mansion--john n. dagg--a giant boot jack--the american--the fulton--the national--surratt's--the greene house._ washington became a point on the national road by force of a provision in the act of assembly of pennsylvania, approved april th, , before recited. in a retrospective view that seems to have been a wise provision. washington, it is true, is older than the road, but without the road it would be difficult to conjecture what the history of the town would have been from down to . that the road had much to do in promoting the growth and prosperity of the town, there can be no question, and it must also be conceded that the town contributed in good round measure to the life and prosperity of the road. washington is one of the largest and prettiest towns on the road, not as well favored by location as uniontown. while washington possesses many very important advantages, it has at the same time, like other towns, its disadvantages. for example, it is a dry town. it was not dry in the palmy days of the old pike. no liquor can at this time be lawfully sold in washington as a beverage, and the town is not over abundantly supplied with good water. on the other hand, the town is justly distinguished for the superiority of its educational institutions. washington and jefferson college is one of the best in the land. its graduates include many of the ablest men of the country, both of the present and the past. everywhere, at every loading point in our widely extended republic, the graduates of washington and jefferson college are pushing ahead at the front, in all the learned professions, in the judiciary, and in every line of honorable industry. it is not a dude college, as many more pretentious colleges are, but a working college, sending out workers, equipped like men, to run the race set before them. the female seminary is another institution of which the citizens of washington are justly proud. it stands in the front rank of similar institutions, and for more than half a century, year after year, has sent out its graduates to cheer and brighten the world. the writer of these lines confesses to an affection for washington, which no vicissitude of life or time can alienate. he was educated at her college, and if he failed in obtaining a thorough education, it was not the fault of his venerable _alma mater_. dr. david mcconoughy, who presided over the college, when the writer was a student within its halls, deserves to be classed among the saints. a purer man never lived. he was a christian, who never entertained a doubt, and a scholar in the broadest sense; and it is most gratifying to the thousands of graduates and friends of the college scattered broadcast throughout the land, to know that dr. moffatt, the present head of the institution, is a worthy successor of that venerated president. the writer also retains the sweetest recollections of the old citizens of washington, and cherishes with deepest feeling his associations at college with james g. blaine, who subsequently became the most illustrious statesman of his generation, and many others who have written their names high on the scroll of fame. there may be some readers inclined to think that the blending of stage drivers and wagoners with doctors, teachers and statesmen, is a strange commingling; but it is not. history is literature, and stage drivers and wagoners, like other classes, and occupations of men, enter into the web and woof of history. james wilson hung out the first tavern sign in washington. his house was a log structure, and stood at the northwest corner of main and beau streets, now covered by smith's store. he opened up business in , and was licensed by the court to dispense the ardent at "catfish camp." he continued business in this house down to the year . the old supreme judges stopped at wilson's tavern when they went to washington to hold the courts of oyer and terminer. whether they were fed on roast pig, as chief justice mckean at salter's old tavern in uniontown, does not appear of record. after wilson's time this house was enlarged and otherwise improved, and continued as a tavern by michael ocheltree, who remained in charge down to the year , when a man of the name of rotroff was installed as host. rotroff gave way to john kline, who came up from the cross roads, nine miles west of brownsville, and took charge of the house, under the sign of "gen. wayne." capt. john mccluney followed kline, and he in turn was followed by joseph teeters and joseph hallam. hallam kept the house until probably , when he went down town to take charge of the old wagon stand on the site of the present valentine house. when hallam left it the old wilson house ceased to be a tavern. as early as john dodd kept tavern in a log house on the east side of main street, nearly opposite the court house, and remained its host until his death in . he died while returning home from a trading trip to new orleans. john wilson next took charge, and conducted its affairs for many years, associated with stirring events, down to a period as late probably as , when the house disappeared as a tavern. john dodd was an ancestor of the numerous dodds now of washington and vicinity, most of whom have taken to the ministry and other learned professions. charles dodd, a brother of john, above mentioned, kept a tavern on main street in , in a log house, recently occupied by robert strean's hardware store. the first courts of washington county were held in this old tavern, and the county jail was a log stable in the rear of the lot on which it stood. charles dodd kept this tavern for ten years, and sold out to daniel kehr, who continued it a short time, but finding it unprofitable, took down his sign and went to shoemaking. john adams kept a tavern from to . its location is not accurately known, and so in the case of john colwell, a tavern keeper of . in hugh means, samuel acklin and william falconer, were tavern keepers in washington. acklin continued in the business until , and falconer until . william meetkirk, who was subsequently a justice of the peace for many years, kept a tavern on main street from to , in the house until recently occupied by mrs. mcfarland, and it is not unlikely that this is the house kept by colwell and means. maj. george mccormick kept a tavern in , and col. john may's journal compliments it by this entry: "thursday, aug. , , set out from the hotel at four o'clock, and at half-past eight arrived at maj. george mccormick's in washington, where we breakfasted. this is an excellent house, where new england men put up." the writer regrets his failure to ascertain the exact location of this old tavern. hugh wilson (son of james) kept a tavern in washington in , and john mcmichael in , the locations of which are not now ascertainable. charles valentine kept the "white goose" in . this house stood on the lot now covered by the valentine house. the name valentine is prominently identified with the national road from the date of its construction to the present time. the "white goose" was the symbol under which this old tavern sailed until the year , when it assumed the more poetic name of "golden swan," under the management of john rettigg. rettigg was relieved from its cares and responsibilities in by juliana valentine, who presided over its destinies down to the year . it next passed to the control and management of james sargeant, who kept it for a brief period, and turned it over to john valentine and lewis valentine, who continued it down to . it was next kept for two years by john hays. in it was kept by isaac sumny, under the sign of the "washington hall." it was kept by samuel donley and various other persons, down to about the year , when as before stated, it passed to the control of joseph hallam. in hallam's time it was a popular wagon stand, and did a large business. hallam was a man below the medium size, a little stooped, and of quiet demeanor. he had a good wagon yard, and catered to the tastes of old wagoners in an agreeable manner. the happiest moments of amos waltz were those in which he inserted the gear pole between the spokes of the hind wheel of a road wagon, as it stood on hallam's yard, and afterward took a drink with the jolly wagoners in hallam's old bar-room. in or the present valentine house was built, and kept for many years thereafter by maj. geo. t. hammond. it was also kept a while by ex-sheriff andrew bruce, afterward by ex-sheriff hugh keys, and later and until a recent date by william f. dickey, and is now called the "allison house." in michael kuntz kept a tavern where vowell's drug store stands. this house was kept in by john scott, under the sign of the "spread eagle." i. neilson, john fisher, samuel mcmillen, and john ferguson, were all old tavern keepers of washington. joseph huston kept the "buck tavern" as early as . this is a stone house on the east side of main street, below maiden. huston kept this house until , and died in it. his widow succeeded him for a brief period, and leased the house to james sargeant, who kept it until , when mrs. huston again went in, and kept it until . she afterward re-married, lost her second husband, and was keeping this house in as elizabeth fleming, and it was continued after that date by her son, william b. huston. the old buck is still standing, one of the landmarks of the town. in james workman kept a tavern, the site of which is not known. he continued until , when he went to farming. after three years' experience in farming he returned to town, and opened a tavern under the sign of "gen. andrew jackson." this old tavern stood on the west side of main street, below the "globe inn." it was subsequently kept by maj. james dunlap of the old mt. vernon house, east of pancake. from to dr. john j. lemoyne kept a tavern on the south side of main street, where an old road came down over gallows hill. this house was afterward kept by jacob good, and continued for a number of years by his widow. the "globe inn" was one of the most famous old taverns in washington. it was located on the west side of main street, at the corner of strawberry alley. this house was opened as a tavern in , and in the next year passed to the hands of david morris, and was kept by him, continuously, until his death in . general lafayette was entertained at this house in , and it was a favorite stopping place of henry clay, and many other statesmen and heroes of the olden time. this old tavern was a frame building, and remained standing until . rev. william p. alrich, an old and popular professor of mathematics in washington college, married a daughter of david morris. one fox kept a tavern, at an early period, in a house that stood on the east side of main street, where the morgan block now stands. the "cross keys" was a popular tavern of the olden time. it stood on the southeast corner of main and wheeling streets, opposite the valentine house. it was opened in by james mccamant, who kept it until his death, which occurred in . tradition has it that he died from the effects of a bite by a mad wolf. his widow continued it for about two years, when she quit it to take charge of the "general washington house," nearly opposite the court house. she returned, however, after a time to the "cross keys," and was keeping that house as late as . in the year last named she caused to be inserted in a town paper a notice that she furnished dinner and horse feed for twenty-five cents, and boarding and lodging for jurors and others attending court for two dollars a week. the "cross keys" was kept afterward at different dates by james sargeant, charles rettig, john bradfield, william blakely and otho hartzell. it closed as a tavern previous to . james mccamant, the first proprietor of the "cross keys" tavern, was the father-in-law of joseph henderson, esq., a prominent and popular old lawyer of washington. christian keiffer kept a tavern in at the sign of "washington." keiffer's career as a tavern keeper must have been a brief and an uninteresting one, since old inhabitants are unable to locate his house, although it bore a name that should and does survive, in every other form except in its application to keiffer's old tavern. john kirk kept a tavern about the beginning of the present century in a house that stood on wheeling street, west of main. this house was painted red and penciled to imitate brick. after kirk left it william wilson became its proprietor. he was known as "center billy." he did not find tavern keeping sufficiently profitable, and quitting the business, turned his attention to blacksmithing and wagon making. the old name of wheeling street was "belle," and the present name was given it by the old stage drivers and wagoners, because it intersected the old road leading to wheeling. the "indian queen" was an old and well remembered tavern on main street, opposite the court house. it was opened in by john mccluny. in it changed its location and solicited public patronage on main street, above chestnut, where justice donehoe's residence now is, under the auspices of its old founder, john mccluny aforesaid. in its new location it became the headquarters of the jackson democracy. this house was kept by thomas officer, and was known as the "green tree," before mccluny placed it under the shield of the "indian queen." it was afterward occupied by john johnson, who kept it for a number of years, and it ceased to do business as a tavern during his occupancy. about the year john manuel kept a tavern in a white frame house on the west side of main street, immediately below the present depot of the baltimore & ohio railroad. there was an old tavern in washington at an early day kept by jacob moler, and known as "the mermaid." it was located on the south side of west wheeling street, and on the lot now owned by charles driehorst. it was the headquarters of the hibernians, and while it did not aspire to rival the "globe" or the "rising sun," it was not lacking in patronage. it does not appear to have been continued as a tavern after the time of moler. the "rising sun," a leading tavern in its day, occupied a lot near the corner of main and chestnut streets, almost directly opposite the house subsequently known as "the mansion." the first proprietor of the "rising sun" was james garrett, and he remained in charge until . he was active in his business, and accustomed to say, "walk in, walk in, gentlemen; i keep a decent house, and provide sweetened bitters." james briceland kept this house for one year, after which he turned it back to garrett, who continued to keep it until it passed to the hands of john n. dagg, who kept it until he purchased the "mansion house," on the opposite corner. it is said that one hundred teams have been seen standing around the "rising sun" in a single night. briceland went down to the lower end of town and took charge of the house subsequently known as "the national." in while dagg was keeping the "rising sun," a townsman and an old wagoner had an altercation in the bar-room, and dagg pitched them both out into the street. in the descent the wagoner's head struck the curb-stone, fatally injuring him. mr. dagg was prosecuted and arraigned for murder in consequence, but acquitted by the jury on the ground that the homicide was more the result of accident, than any intention to kill. during the brief term of mr. briceland at the "rising sun" he had as guests on one occasion, gen. andrew jackson, family and suite. the distinguished party were _en route_ to washington city, and upon departing from the "rising sun" were honored by an escort of citizens of washington as far east as hillsboro. in enoch miller opened a tavern in a large brick house at the west end of town, nearly opposite the old methodist church, which stood on chestnut street, a little below franklin. he called his house the "general brown," and it was well patronized. richard donaldson kept this house after miller's time. upon quitting the "general brown" enoch miller opened the "fountain inn," a brick building nearly opposite and a few doors east of the "general brown," on chestnut street, and he was succeeded in this house in by george ringland. william p. byles was an old proprietor of this house also. william j. brown, called "old billy," kept a tavern as early as , and for many years thereafter, on the east side of main street near the center of town. it was a frame building and had a fair paying custom. it was known for a time as the "farmers' inn," and later as the "black bear." the old proprietor was a quaint character, and much pestered by the boys of the town. with all his troubles and tribulations he managed to lay aside a sufficiency of worldly goods to protect himself against the requirements of a rainy day. [illustration: s. b. hays.] and there was old "jimmy brown," another odd character, not a relation of "billy." jimmy was an irishman, and knew how to make and keep money. he kept a tavern for many years in a white frame house opposite the court house, and near the "fulton." he called his house "the franklin." his savings were sufficient to warrant him in tearing down his old house and erecting in its stead a fine new brick structure, which he did. after building his new house he married a wife, and was warmly congratulated by his numerous friends. with the assistance of his wife he continued to entertain the public until his death, leaving the cares and anxieties of his business to his bereaved widow, who soon after remarried and retired to private life. the house is now used for mercantile purposes, one of the best locations in town. jimmy brown, when occupying his old house, was accustomed to say to his friends: "i have some nice _fesh_, come away to the cellar with me, and see my _fesh_." he had no license then. the mansion house was a leading tavern in washington from the time it commenced business until it was destroyed by fire, which occurred after the national road ceased to be a great thoroughfare. it was located on the northeast corner of main and chestnut streets. before the "mansion house" was built an old red frame house stood on this corner, which was kept as a tavern by a man whose surname was scott. john n. dagg bought this property prior to his withdrawal from the "rising sun," on the opposite corner, and commenced to improve it. the outcome of his enterprise was the erection of a large brick building, known as the mansion house, with extensive sheds and stables in the rear. about the year mr. dagg leased the premises to john irons, who conducted the house for a period of two years, after which mr. dagg returned as landlord, and continued to keep it down to the year , or thereabout, when he leased it to s. b. and c. hayes, who conducted it for a brief period, and were succeeded by bryson and shirls, subsequently of the st. charles hotel, pittsburgh. the good intent line of stages gave its patronage to the "american," when that house was kept by the messrs. hayes, and to the "greene house," when it was kept by daniel brown. thereafter the headquarters of that line were at the mansion house, and it was headquarters for the pilot line when the good intent stopped at the "american." the mansion house had a large country trade, as well as that derived from the national road. the old bar room was of immense size, and the old proprietor, john n. dagg, was one of the largest men on the road. he was not fat, but tall, and widely proportioned. he provided for his country guests a large upright boot jack, with side bars, which acted as levers, designed to steady the toe in the operation of drawing off a boot. half cut, cheap leather slippers were also provided, and upon pulling their boots, guests put on these slippers, and in the mornings, piles of boots, nicely polished, were placed in a corner of the bar room, to await the return of their owners from the slumbers of the night. it was not an uncommon thing to see scores of country people sitting about in the big bar room after supper, talking over the events of the day, all wearing the slippers referred to, preparatory to going to rest for the night, at the early bed time of that happy period. james k. polk, wife and suite, stopped at the mansion house on the inaugural trip in . the "examiner," under date of february , , gave the following account of the reception of the distinguished party: "president polk arrived in our borough on monday evening last, about o'clock, escorted by quite a respectable number of our citizens. the president was accompanied by his lady, j. knox walker, his private secretary, and master marshall polk, comprising the president's family; also colonel butler, of kentucky, judge hubbard, of alabama, and messrs. t. k. stevenson, j. g. harris and j. n. esselman. the arrival of the president having been sooner than was anticipated, and intelligence of the same having reached us on sabbath last, the arrangements on the part of our citizens were not so complete or extensive as they would have been under other and more favorable circumstances. upon the arrival of the president at the mansion house he was addressed by dr. wishart, as chairman of the committee of reception, in a spirited and appropriate manner, to which the president responded, to the evident gratification of the large assembly of persons who were present. in the course of his remarks colonel polk alluded to the unbounded feeling of gratitude which filled his bosom for the distinguished partiality which had been extended toward him by his fellow citizens; to the great responsibility which that partiality had devolved upon him; to his implicit confidence in that power which controls the destinies of individuals as well as nations; to his determination to act for the best interests of our beloved country, and the vital importance of freedom of opinion and contrariety of sentiment among a republican people. in concluding his remarks, the president expressed a strong desire to interchange congratulations with as many of our citizens, of all parties, as time and circumstances would permit. after the formal reception was completed the president was conducted into the mansion house, and during the evening was waited upon by many hundreds of our citizens, from town and country, without party distinction. many of the ladies of our borough, with the principal, assistant teachers and young ladies of our female seminary, also, called upon mrs. polk, whose plain, dignified and fascinating deportment and intelligent conversation rendered her company exceedingly pleasant. mrs. polk has certainly not been too highly complimented, by the many notices which have been bestowed upon her, as a lady most admirably suited to the discharge of the peculiar duties which await her as the wife of the president-elect. on tuesday morning at o'clock the president and suite left our borough, in good health and spirits, for uniontown, at which place they remained over night." [illustration: george t. hammond.] the fulton house was a prominent house of entertainment in washington for many years. it is located on the corner of main and beau streets, nearly opposite the court house. john purviance kept a tavern on the fulton house site from to , and three years thereafter went to claysville, as stated elsewhere in these pages. richard donaldson succeeded purviance in this old house. john fleming kept a tavern on this corner in , called "the philadelphia and kentucky inn." in january, , a fire occurred in this house, on occasion of the marriage of a daughter of mr. fleming, which partially destroyed the building, and saddest of all, burnt to death one of the old proprietor's daughters. after the present large brick building was erected on this corner, it was called "the american house," and was kept by s. b. and c. hayes previous to , and after them by john huey. in or it was leased by henry fulton, who came from westmoreland county, pennsylvania, and under his management it took the name of the "fulton house," which it retained, and under which it became widely and favorably known, until it was given the absurd name of "hotel maine." the fulton house was admirably conducted and extensively patronized. the national house was the headquarters of the stockton line of stages. it is located on the northwest corner of main and maiden streets. the firm name of the stockton line of stages was "the national road stage company," and it has been seen that this line bestowed its favor upon public houses bearing the name "national." in samuel dennison, who came from greensburg, pennsylvania, kept an old tavern that stood on the site of the "national house." it was then known as "the travelers' inn and stage office." it was subsequently enlarged and improved, and in passed to the control of james briceland, under the name of the "national house." its next occupant was john irons, who was succeeded by james searight, in , and he in turn by daniel valentine, george t. hammond, edward lane, adam c. morrow and elliot seaburn. it was an elegant eating house in the days of staging, and at its best under the management of hammond and lane, respectively. it is now called the "auld house," and, as in many other instances, its old prestige departed with its old name. james searight went from the "national house" to zanesville, ohio, and kept a tavern there for a short time, and returning to washington, leased the "greene house," which was managed by his son, william. these searights were of a cumberland, maryland, family. as early as richard donaldson kept a tavern on maiden street, opposite the female seminary. this old house was surrounded by spacious grounds, and there was a ball alley in the rear of it, which afforded means of exercise and amusement for the town boys of the olden time. james workman succeeded donaldson in this old tavern, and he, in , was succeeded by samuel surratt, father of james f. surratt, the popular postmaster of steubenville, ohio. major william paull kept this house previous to , and for a time thereafter, and at the close of his term it was purchased by the trustees of the female seminary, since which time it has formed a portion of the real estate belonging to that institution. major paull came to this house from the old stone house on winding ridge, and kept it as a wagon stand. it had good facilities for the accommodation of wagoners, by reason of the spacious grounds before mentioned, and these, in connection with the fact that major paull was an experienced tavern keeper of the road, attracted a large and profitable patronage. the "greene house," a popular tavern, was located on the east side of main street, south of the mansion house, and on a lot formerly owned by john l. gow, esq. it was kept in by william searight, before mentioned, who was succeeded by s. b. and c. hayes, whose occupancy was brief, and about it came under the control of daniel brown, one of the most competent landlords of his day and generation. during brown's incumbency it had the patronage of the good intent stage company. brown's bar-keeper was benjamin white, who wore his hair long and had a scar on his face. his employer always addressed him as "benny," and confided in his integrity to the fullest extent, and in very truth "benny" was entirely worthy of his employer's confidence. whither this quaint old bar-keeper drifted, when the eclipse came over the sunshine of the road, is not known, but his name deserves to be perpetuated in history. most of the facts contained in this chapter rest on authority of crumrine's history of washington county, pennsylvania. [illustration: the rankin house.] chapter xxxix. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--washington to west alexander--rankintown--john rankin--andrew mcdonald--freaks of an old wagon-maker--robert smith--john coulson--millers--bedillions-- the s bridge--caldwells--mrs. brownlee--another widow mcclelland-- claysville--john sargent--an event in the life of dan rice--basil brown--dennisons--the walker house--jonathan d. leet--coon island-- john canode--rogers and the doughertys--john valentine._ after passing washington the ancient little village of rankintown is reached. it is situated a short distance over the top of the hill leading up from catfish, and a little over a mile from washington. here a tavern was kept in early times by one spalding, who seems to have failed in impressing his name on the locality. his successor was john rankin, who dying, left his name behind him. his house was a large frame building on the south side of the road, with the customary wagon yard attached. while this old tavern did a large wagoner's trade, its agreeable old host ministered largely to the wants of the traveling public without distinction. as before intimated wagoners as a rule preferred country taverns, and this is probably the reason so many of them halted at rankin's rather than proceeding on to washington, going east, where a number of good taverns were located, but being in a large town, more or less under the ban of "tony places." john rankin owned the old tavern stand at rankintown, and after conducting it for many years during the flourishing era of the road, to use a common phrase of the road, "died with the harness on." his widow continued to keep tavern at the old stand until about the year , when growing old and tired of the cares and responsibilities of tavern keeping, concluded to retire to private life, and leased the premises to a mr. johnson, who conducted the house down to the fifties, when he was succeeded by andrew mcdonald, who remained in charge until the activities of the road ceased. the private residence of the late hon. william montgomery was for a number of years on the roadside near the old rankin tavern. he was an illustrious old pike boy and championed the glories of the road on many an occasion. rankintown is now an incorporated borough, under the name and style of west washington, but the glories of the old pike all rest and abide behind the present municipality. in and subsequent to that date, alpheus murphy, a wagon-maker, lived and operated a shop near the old rankin tavern. he gained a local notoriety for proclaiming in a loud voice in season and out of season, his sentiments on current topics, and especially political issues. he was a man of great physical strength, and a skillful workman. he had no scruples against taking an occasional glass of the pure whisky that abounded on the road in his day, and was a frequent visitor to washington. prompted possibly by the influence of the active element mentioned, he was accustomed to ascend the cupola of the washington court house and from the balustrade near its summit give vent to his feelings, mainly of a democratic tendency, in stentorian tones that startled the whole community. notwithstanding the boisterous fits that marked and may have marred his life, he passed quietly away from the scenes of earth, and will be long and kindly remembered by those who knew him. two miles west of rankintown robert smith kept a tavern as early as the year . at this point the national road crossed an ancient roadway leading from washington to wheeling, and robert smith kept a tavern here on the old road. it was a frame house on the south side of the road, and in after years became the homestead and private residence of jacob weirich, who died its possessor. less than a mile west of smith's john coulson kept a tavern as early as , and probably before that date. his house was a frame building, on the south side of the road. the old building was torn down many years ago, and a brick structure erected in its place. coulson, the old proprietor, has been dead fifty years, and at his death his tavern was closed, and not again re-opened as a public house. the old wagoners and stage drivers who were familiar with coulson's tavern long since passed to other scenes, along with its old proprietor. about one mile west of the old coulson house the well remembered and popular wagon stand of john miller is reached. miller moved to this point in from a stand two miles west of pratt's hollow, and east of cumberland, as before stated. the miller house here is a large brick building, with all the necessary outbuildings for a tavern, and a good wagon yard. it is situate on the north side of the road. to gain the wagon yard going west, old wagoners ascended a steep grade, but on the other side the way was level. miller had a good custom at his tavern east of cumberland, and his old friends followed him to his new location. he had long experience as a tavern keeper, and furnished satisfactory entertainment to the traveling public. previous to levi wilson kept this house, and entertained the first crop of wagoners on the road, and tradition attributes to him a good fame as a tavern keeper. miller died in this house. a son of levi wilson married a daughter of john miller, and since the death of the latter has been occupying this old tavern-stand as a private residence. [illustration: the john miller house.] at the foot of the hill west of miller's, and on the north side of the road, is the old bedillion tavern. this house was kept as early as by one scott, and as late as by christly wolf, and later by george boyd, but owing to a usage, in some instances difficult to account for, it is better known as bedillion's, especially among old wagoners, than by any other name. bedillion was a german, and his first name was abraham, and he probably possessed german traits and practices which made an impression on old wagoners not to be forgotten. he kept this house in . wolf also was of german origin, but his manners and methods were of the american type. he was a man of prominence in his neighborhood, and wielded considerable local influence, and was likewise a member of the firm of buck, lyon and wolf, contractors, before mentioned. the old bedillion tavern is a large frame building, with a high porch in front. george boyd took charge of this house in the early fifties. he exchanged the shoe business in washington for what he no doubt considered the more profitable pursuit of tavern keeping on the old pike. in this he seems to have been disappointed. his career as a tavern keeper was not successful, and there were two reasons for it. first, he began too late, and second, he was not a pike boy, and therefore not familiar with the wants and ways of the road. on the north side of the road, about one mile wrest of the s bridge, and as far back in the past as seventy years, one andrew caldwell (not a relative of james, hereinafter mentioned), kept a small wooden tavern and entertained primitive travelers and neighborhood callers in primitive style. an old blacksmith, bearing the surname mcswiggin, was found dead near this old tavern, and there was an undercurrent of suspicion in the neighborhood that andrew caldwell, aforesaid, had, in some manner and for some purpose, taken the old blacksmith's life. however, no prosecution was instituted, and, in fact, no legal investigation made as to the cause of the mysterious death; and it is to be hoped, for the reputation of the early pike boys, that the suspicions whispered against the old tavern keeper were groundless. the next noted old tavern on the westward march is mrs. caldwell's, seven miles from washington. before reaching mrs. caldwell's, the celebrated s bridge is passed. this bridge takes its name from its shape, which resembles the letter s. it is a large stone bridge over a branch of buffalo creek. near this bridge a county road leads to taylorstown, celebrated in recent years for its oil developments, and in this vicinity reside james noble and john thompson, two old wagoners of the road, mentioned in a previous chapter. there is a postoffice here called "s bridge," which affords postal facilities for a rich and populous neighborhood. in early times there was a tavern at the eastern end of the s bridge, and one at its western end. these old taverns accommodated the public in their day, but their facilities were limited, and they ceased to entertain strangers and travelers previous to . caldwell's is the tavern mentioned by mr. blaine, in the opening chapter of this volume on old taverns. james caldwell owned and conducted this old tavern from the time the road was opened up for travel, or very soon thereafter, until the year , when he died, and his widow, hester caldwell, kept it going as a tavern from that date until , so that she was one of the oldest tavern keepers of the road. the house is a large and handsome structure, near the summit of a long hill, and on the south side of the road. it is, at the present time, occupied by j. a. gordon, who entertains the public, and as of old, the house is a favorite resort of pleasure seeking parties. a half a mile west from caldwell's, the widow brownlee kept a tavern in the early history of the road. her house was a frame building on the south side of the road. robert hall afterwards kept this house, and upon his retirement it ceased to do business as a tavern. on the top of the hill west of mrs. brownlee's the widow mcclelland kept a tavern sixty years ago. she was not of the famous tavern keeping family of mcclelland, of uniontown. this widow mcclelland was keeping tavern at the point mentioned before the widow mcclelland of the mcclelland house in uniontown was born. the baltimore & ohio railroad at this day passes through a tunnel near the old tavern of widow mcclelland. claysville is next reached. it is stated in crumrine's history of washington county, that john purviance was the first tavern keeper in claysville, and that he was the founder of the town. "when it became certain," says crumrine, "that the national road would pass through the place, purviance caused the following notice to be inserted in the washington _reporter_: "the subscriber having laid off a number of building lots in the new town of claysville, will offer the same at public sale on the premises, on thursday, the th day of march, next. claysville is distant ten miles from washington, westward, and about eighteen east of wheeling, and six from alexandria. the great national road from cumberland to wheeling as located by col. williams and confirmed by the president, and now rapidly progressing towards its completion, passes directly through the town. washington, april , . john purviance." [illustration: the "s" bridge.] it goes without saying that this town was named in honor of henry clay, the unrivaled champion of the road. as at other towns mentioned, the road forms the main street of claysville. in james sargent kept a tavern in claysville, at the sign of the black horse. he moved to claysville from washington, and the house he kept in claysville was a brick building, occupied formerly by john porter. claysville was a stage station, as before stated. bazil brown kept a tavern in claysville as early as , and probably before that date. he kept a wagon stand and had a large patronage. some time during the forties, dan rice, after his circus stranded, was exhibiting a "learned pig" to the people of claysville, and in bazil brown's tavern. on the night of the entertainment brown lost an overcoat, and charged dan rice with stealing it, and had him sent up to washington jail to await trial. dan employed seth t. hurd to defend him, and was acquitted. soon after dan appeared in claysville with a new circus, and sang an original song in the ring intended to embody his recollections of the overcoat escapade, and to lampoon brown for prosecuting him. the song was smooth, as all dan's were, and the thrusts at brown sarcastic and severe, and much enjoyed by the local hearers. despite this unfortunate occurrence bazil brown was a popular landlord, and kept a good house. the old circus man is still living, and has probably forgotten and forgiven the old tavern keeper for accusing him of felony, but the old tavern keeper long since passed beyond the dark waters, and entered upon the realities of another and unknown realm. james dennison kept a tavern in claysville as early as . he subsequently kept at beallsville and at hopwood as before stated. he was an old wagoner and kept a wagon stand, but had the patronage of one of the stage lines in claysville, as well as a wagon custom. old wagoners felt themselves entirely at home at dennison's tavern, and thoroughly enjoyed his agreeable entertainment. david bell, john walker, james kelley, stephen conkling and john mcilree were all old tavern keepers at claysville, and kept stage houses. there was also a watkins who kept tavern in claysville. the house he kept was destroyed by fire previous to . it had the patronage of the good intent stage line. david bell was an old stage driver. his house in claysville was a brick building on the south side, diagonally opposite the old walker house. he subsequently kept the fulton house in washington in and . the walker house was a frame building, on the north side. walker subsequently located at wheeling and kept a tavern there. conkling kept the walker house. mcilree kept the brown house. kelley also kept the walker house, and it was in this house, and in kelley's time, that jim burr, the noted stage driver, "knocked out" the cincinnati buffer, before mentioned. the stockton line of coaches stopped at the old brown house, and the good intent line at the walker and watkins houses. the widow calahan kept a tavern in claysville prior to . jonathan d. leet married her daughter. leet was a pike boy of no little distinction in his day. his discernment and good taste in wedding the fair daughter of an old tavern keeper were not the only proofs of his wit and worth. he was a lawyer of ability, a major of militia, postmaster of washington during the presidency of president polk, and member of the legislature for washington county. a large man with prominent features, and somewhat awkward in manner, he was the personification of mars, when arrayed in the elaborate uniform of the old militia system. the great gilt rolls of the ponderous epaulette, and the immense three cornered and sharp pointed chapeau produced a feeling of awe among all beholders, and struck terror to the hearts of young folks. major leet being a lawyer was judge advocate at all courts martial during the time he was in commission. those courts were frequently held in washington, and their members were required to sit, hear and determine in full uniform. on such occasions major leet was "the observed of all observers," and elicited the admiration of his many friends. there was an old silversmith in washington by the name of galt, a man of acute intelligence, given to the amusing side of life, and a close friend of the philosopher dr. creigh, of the same place. these old worthies were warm friends of major leet, and their enthusiasm knew no bounds in expressing delight over the triumphs of the major, in conducting these courts martial. in , when major leet was postmaster, he was an ardent advocate of the election of general cass to the presidency, and accustomed to allude with emphasis to the fact that his favorite was "a brave old volunteer." his candidate, however, was defeated, and under the rule of partisanship, he was superseded in the postoffice by a friend of the victorious columns. subsequently he was elected to the legislature, and after serving his term did not return to live among his constituents. he was essentially a pike boy, devoted to the memories of the road, and fond of its associations, yet he died in a strange land, and his is not the only instance wherein a seat in the legislature has led a man from the gentle paths and innocent pastimes of his early days. three miles west from claysville, at the foot of a long hill, the romantic, not to say classic spot of coon island is reached. here was an old tavern stand, for many years kept by john canode previous to . it was on the north side of the road, and a wagon stand. the stages stopped here also at times, and it was a regular relay for the express wagons. after canode's time the tavern here was kept by john brotherton and sons. it was a prominent point during the flourishing era of the road. as late as a mr. reed kept the old tavern at coon island. the old stage and wagon lines, however, were withdrawn previous to that date, and some small local lines substituted, as if to prevent an abrupt termination to the high prosperity which the road enjoyed for so long a period. the origin of the name coon island is presumably unascertainable, else crumrine in his history of washington county would have given it, as the locality is within the limits of that county. that coons existed and flourished in the neighborhood from time immemorial, there is scarcely a doubt, but an island has never been witnessed there since the subsidence of the great flood in noah's time. the point is now a station on the baltimore & ohio railroad, and the name is changed to vienna. the old name is more appropriate, albeit the island is absent. it is more appropriate, because it is familiar to the people, but it seems to be the inevitable doom of many old familiar names to fall before the advance of modern fancies. think of an old wagoner going back to coon island after an absence of half a century, to find himself "a mere looker on in vienna!" shades of the old pike, hide this ruthless and senseless innovation from the eyes of mankind. [illustration: david bell.] two miles west from coon island and a short distance beyond the site of the old catholic church, an old tavern was kept in early days by one rogers, and subsequently by jacob and michael dougherty. it was a frame house, on the north side of the road. a good water trough was maintained at this old stand, and travelers halted here for water. in this old tavern was kept by jacob jones, the father of the distinguished iron manufacturer and politician, b. f. jones, of pittsburg. the old church mentioned, which will be remembered by all who are familiar with this section of the road, was taken down a few years ago, and rebuilt at claysville, a more central point for the parishioners. before reaching dougherty's another old round toll house is passed, the last one on the road in pennsylvania. here william mccleary collected the tolls for many years. a few hundred yards further west the old and popular tavern of john valentine is reached. it is a frame house, on the north side of the road, large and commodious, and was a favorite resort of wagoners. valentine kept this tavern a great many years. if he had a predecessor or a successor in this house, his name is totally eclipsed by that of john valentine. he possessed the talent for tavern keeping in a rare degree, and was a brother of daniel valentine, the old and popular tavern keeper of washington, and of charles valentine, an old wagoner of that place. chapter xl. _old taverns and tavern keepers continued--west alexander to wheeling--a modern gretna green--dr. mccluskey--crossing another state line--abram carr--the widow beck, with whom abram lincoln boarded, and at whose house robert t. lincoln was born--the widow rhodes and abram beagle--john white, isaac jones, roney's point, ninian bell, john bentley, james kimberly, triadelphia, john d. foster, col. thompson, the widow gooding--the clay monument--col. moses shepherd and his wife, lydia--samuel carter--michael blackburn--steenrods--wheeling--john mccortney, and others._ crumrine's history of washington county states that west alexander was first laid out in by robert humphreys, that most of the lots were subsequently acquired by charles d. hass, who in the year sold them by public outcry; that the national road at the last mentioned date was in process of construction, and had been actually opened for travel from cumberland to the big crossings, and it was believed that all the towns upon its route would become places of prosperity and importance; that the town of west alexander was destroyed by fire on may , , but slowly recovered from the disaster, and in the succeeding twenty years became a thriving village, by reason of the prosperity of the great thoroughfare on which it was located. a house called the "american eagle" was the first tavern in west alexander, established by duncan morrison in , and kept by him for a number of years. subsequent tavern keepers in west alexander were charles mayes, zebulon warner, john gooding, john woodburn, william mccall, solomon cook, james sargent, charles hallam, mary warner, james bell, silver gilfillan, samuel beamer, james matthers, john irons, moses thornburg, samuel doak, joseph lawson, joseph dowdal, william f. gordon, william mccutcheon, and perhaps others. joseph lawson was probably the best known of all these old tavern keepers. he kept a wagon stand for a long time during the prosperous era of the road, and was extensively patronized. he had been an old wagoner himself, and knew the secret of agreeably entertaining old wagoners. he is mentioned in a previous chapter as a "fancy wagoner" of the road. his tavern in west alexander was a large and commodious frame building at the western end of the town, on the south side of the road, with a large and well arranged wagon yard attached. he owned the property, and died in possession. beside being a successful wagoner and tavern keeper, joseph lawson was a staunch citizen, a man of influence and highly esteemed. he was at one time, for a brief period, superintendent of the road from brownsville to the virginia line. [illustration: joseph f. mayes. (old justice of the peace.)] there was, during the prosperous era of the road, an academy at west alexander under the management of the rev. dr. john mccluskey, where many boys were trained for entrance to washington college. dr. mccluskey was an eminent scholar, an able preacher, a successful educator and a worthy man in all the walks of life. he devoted a long and laborious life here, to gain a better one hereafter, and let us hope he is now realizing its enjoyment. west alexander is also noted as a rival of the celebrated gretna green, of scotland, by reason of the many clandestine marriages which have taken place there. joseph f. mayes, an old justice of the peace of the place, married nineteen hundred and eighteen couples from to , more than nine-tenths of whom were elopers. it is estimated that from to , the date of the enactment of the pennsylvania marriage license law, over five thousand eloping couples were married in west alexander. one mile distant from west alexander on the north side of the road, abram carr kept a tavern as early as . it was a frame building, and a wagon stand. after carr this old tavern was kept by silver gilfillan, before mentioned in the list of tavern keepers at west alexander. carr and gilfillan well knew the ways of the road, and were competent men in their line. old wagoners were accustomed to lay aside their coin, to pay bills at gilfillan's tavern, under a belief that he coveted silver because of his christian name. this was the first tavern located in old virginia on the westward march, being less than a mile from the pennsylvania state line. two miles further west a large frame tavern on the north side of the road, was kept by mrs. sarah beck as early as . it was a station for the stockton line of coaches. mrs. beck was succeeded in this house by samuel node, who retained the good will and patronage extended to his predecessor. mrs. beck was the widow of james beck, of the old bridge building firm of kinkead, beck & evans, frequently mentioned in these pages. her son, william g. beck, still living in fairfield, iowa, was the hero of the exciting race between two coaches from cumberland to piney grove, mentioned in a previous chapter. james beck, the husband of sarah beck, died in wheeling in , while keeping a tavern in that place. his widow was of a heroic mold, and resolved to carry on the battle of life on her own account, and continued in the business of tavern keeping. she kept tavern at various points, and finally about the year bade a last adieu to the scenes of the road, amid which she had been reared, and emigrated to the then far west. leasing a house in springfield, illinois, she resumed the business of tavern keeping. while a member of the illinois legislature, abraham lincoln was a boarder in mrs. beck's house, and robert t. lincoln, the late united states minister at london, was born under her roof. thus an old tavern keeper of the national road was closely associated with, and enjoyed the confidence of, one of the most illustrious personages of his time or of any time. a short distance, less than a mile further west, the widow rhodes kept a popular wagon stand as early as . another widow, and no exception to the rule, before stated. her house was a frame building, on the south side of the road, and a busy, bustling hostelry. abram beagle, an old wagoner, became the husband of the widow rhodes, as elsewhere in these pages stated, and relieved her of many of the active cares of tavern keeping, until his death, which occurred in this house, leaving his wife a second time a widow, and she continued the business of tavern keeping as the widow beagle, with her usual success. abram beagle was likewise, and before he married mrs. rhodes, a contractor on the road. his work was near the little crossings. the next old tavern on the west, and a short distance from the widow rhodes' house, was kept as early as by john white. it was a frame house on the north side of the road. mrs. beck, before mentioned, subsequently bought this property, improved it in many details, and especially by the erection of a substantial new stable, with a capacity for sheltering one hundred horses. she conducted this tavern in , and kept the stock and boarded the drivers and other employees of the stockton line of coaches. she was a favorite of that line, and patronized by it at all points of the road where she kept a tavern, except at the greene house in washington, where she had the favor and patronage of the good intent line. the old white stand was kept by the widow miller and her son, after mrs. beck left it, and they were succeeded by peter perkins, and he in turn by john brotherton. one mile further west isaac jones kept a tavern as early as , and probably before that date. his house was a frame building on the north side of the road. he was not active in soliciting patronage, and after a brief and not very successful career as a tavern keeper, closed his house to the public and continued to occupy it as a private residence, and it was never thereafter opened as a tavern. rooney's point is next reached, a stage station ten miles from wheeling. the original owner of the land here was roney, and its peculiar conformation, a high ridge ending in a point on the south side of the road, gave it the name of roney's point. it is a familiar name, and was a lively place during the palmy days of the road. on the north side of the road, at roney's point, a large stone tavern was kept by one ninian bell, prior to the year . he was succeeded by james beck, mrs. sarah beck, moses thornburg, and jacob beck, in the order named. james and jacob beck were not relatives. the old simms line of stages stopped at this house when it was kept by james beck, and it was the stopping place of the good intent line, when kept by jacob beck. [illustration: mrs. sarah beck.] one mile west of roney's point, on the south side, stood an old frame tavern, which, in the eventful days of the road gathered in its share of glory. it was kept first by john bentley, and after him by james kimberly. in addition to the custom it gained from the road, this house was a favorite resort of the young rural residents, male and female, of that portion of old virginia, and here they were accustomed to go for a night's festivity, always confining themselves within the bounds of propriety, but within those bounds enjoying themselves in a high degree. there is many a gray-haired veteran living in the vicinity now, of both sexes, whose memories revert with pleasure to the exciting and exhilarating scenes they witnessed and participated in, at john bentley's old tavern. one mile further west, triadelphia is reached, a small village, and like many others, the outgrowth of the national road. here john d. foster kept a tavern at an early day, and very old pike boys say it was a good one. it was a frame building on the north side of the road. the old landlord is said to have been courteous in deportment, given to hospitality, and scrupulously observant of the proprieties of life. his daughter, mary, became the wife of c. s. malt by, the celebrated oyster dealer of baltimore. the first parties who shipped oysters over the road by express were nicholas roe, edward wright, and holt and malt by. the latter firm soon obtained entire control of the business, and made a fortune in it. malt by died within the past two years in connecticut, and holt was killed in a railroad accident in virginia in . colonel thompson also kept a tavern in triadelphia in an early day. his house was a frame building, on the north side. colonel thompson was a gentleman of the old virginia school, and a fine type of the genial landlord. he ceased keeping this house previous to , and was succeeded by william barnes, who in turn was succeeded by edward lane, and lane by frank lawson. this house was largely patronized by pleasure seekers from wheeling and other places, beside doing an extensive road business, and enjoyed an excellent reputation as a hostelry. three miles further west the old tavern of mrs. gooding, another widow, is reached. the site of this old tavern is now covered by the flourishing village of elm grove. mrs. gooding had a wide fame as a hostess, and her house was crowded by patrons. it is a stone building, still standing, situate on the south side of the road. old wagoners to this day, enthuse over the sumptuousness of the widow coding's table. sleighing parties from wheeling frequented this old tavern in the halcyon days of the road, and were handsomely entertained. "oh, the songs they would sing, and the tales they would spin, as they lounged in the light of the old country inn. but a day came at last when the stage brought no load to the gate, as it rolled up the long, dusty road. and lo! at the sunrise a shrill whistle blew o'er the hills--and the old yielded place to the new-- and a merciless age with its discord and din made wreck, as it passed, of the pioneer inn." before reaching mrs. coding's the clay monument is passed. this monument was erected by moses shepherd and lydia, his wife, under an inspiration of personal admiration of the great statesman, and with a further view of commemorating his distinguished public services in behalf of the road. it is of free stone, located upon a level piece of ground about fifty feet south of the east end of a stone bridge of three arches, over wheeling creek. at its base its circumference is twenty-four feet, towering to a height of twenty feet, and surmounted by a chiselled figure of the goddess of liberty, at this date bearing plain evidences of the ravages of time and storm. originally each of the four sides of the base column revealed an elaborate inscription, but all are totally effaced now, except the one on the east side, which is as follows: "time will bring every amelioration and refinement, most gratifying to rational man, and the humblest flower freely plucked under the shelter of the tree of liberty, is more to be desired than all the trappings of royalty; th year of american independence, anni domini, ." the word time stands out in bold relief over the other words quoted. john awry, of claysville, and alexander ramsey, of washington, two old and well remembered stone-cutters, worked on this monument. the former did most of the carving, in which he was an expert, and the latter much of the fine chiselling. ramsey was the father-in-law of william g. beck, the old stage driver previously mentioned. on a picturesque eminence, near the monument, overlooking big wheeling creek, stands the ancient and historic shepherd mansion, a stone building erected in , and now known as "monument place," the delightful and hospitable home of maj. alonzo louring. in the olden time, when the national road was the bustling highway of the republic, the handsome and luxurious stage coaches of the period, frequently bore henry clay and other eminent men of his day to the shepherd mansion, where they revealed in old virginia hospitality. near the old shepherd mansion stands an antiquated sun dial, covered with the marks of time, and bearing on its south face this inscription: "the noiseless foot of time steals softly by, and ere we think of manhood age draws nigh." [illustration: col. moses shepherd.] [illustration: mrs. lydia shepherd.] on the north face of this dial appear the names and the figures: "moses and lydia shepherd, ." col. moses shepherd died in , and his widow subsequently married gen. daniel kruger, whom she also survived many years. they are all now dead, and their mortal remains mingle with their native dust, in the cemetery attached to the "stone church," near elm grove. a handsome monument stands at their graves bearing the following inscriptions: on one side, "_sic transit gloria mandi_: sacred to the memory of col. moses shepherd, who departed this life april th, , in the th year of his age." "to him the country owes a large debt of gratitude, as well for his defense of it, when a frontier settlement, as for his recent public services in aiding the extension and construction of the cumberland road through virginia." the obverse side tells the story of the second husband, as follows: "_sic transit gloria mandi_: sacred to the memory of gen. daniel kruger, who died july th, , in the th year of his age." a third side perpetuates the memory of the twice bereaved widow as follows: "_sic transit gloria mandi_: lydia s. kruger, wife of gen. daniel kruger, formerly lydia s. bogs, first married col. moses shepherd: born feb. th, : died sept. th, , in the d year of her age." high up on the granite shaft is chiselled on two sides the picture of a log cabin, and at the door appears a female figure in sitting posture, with a dog in repose at the feet, while in the back ground is seen the representation of a martial group, with branches of a palm tree overhanging the whole design. a short distance west from widow goodings, samuel carter kept a tavern as early as . it was a brick house on the south side of the road, a resort for pleasure seekers from wheeling, and a well kept house. this house was subsequently kept by william strawn. about one mile west of carter's, michael blackburn kept a tavern in the olden time, and was well favored with custom. it was a stone house on the north side of the road. next comes steenrod's, two miles out from wheeling, a brick and stone building on the south side of the road, and a widely known old tavern. daniel steenrod, the old landlord, owned the property, and was a man of intelligence and much influence. his son, lewis, represented the wheeling district in congress during the prosperous era of the road, and, as before stated, was one of its most zealous champions. lewis steenrod, a grandson of the old landlord, is at this time ( ), high sheriff of ohio county, west virginia, and on november th of this year, executed maier, the murderer. daniel steenrod kept the old tavern last mentioned as early as , and probably before that date, and continued throughout the whole period of the road's great career as a national highway. he died april th, , aged eighty years. the property still remains in the steenrod family. a short distance from steenrod's, on the north side, was "good's bottom," now called pleasant valley, doubtless by reason of the frantic iconoclasm, which has lain its ruthless hands on so many old and familiar names. at good's bottom there was a race course in early times, and it was here, and previous to , that the celebrated horse "tariff" lost his laurels. "tariff" was owned by thomas porter, a farmer and stock man of claysville. joseph white, the well known marble dealer of uniontown, a native of the vicinity of claysville, was a witness of the discomfiture of "tariff" on the old race course at good's bottom. and now, after a long journey of two hundred and sixty miles, the city of wheeling is reached. wheeling was the western terminus of the road, in contemplation of the act of congress of march th, , given in a previous chapter. john mccortney kept the most noted wagon stand in wheeling. he was likewise a commission merchant, which further identified him with old wagoners, enabling him to furnish them with back loads. his tavern was located on main street, running back east on fourteenth to alley b, parallel with, and between main and market, with ample grounds surrounding it for wagons and teams to stand on. these grounds were so extensive that they accommodated the old time circus, in addition to wagons and teams of the road, and two distinct circuses have been known to exhibit on them at the same time. they were not of the modern "triple ring" order, but of the dan rice design. mccortney was a man of agreeable manners, and managed his extensive business with marked success. he died in wheeling on december th, , aged seventy-nine years. he was three times married. his last wife was the widow of william h. stelle, one of the proprietors of the good intent stage line. martin bugger was mccartney's bar-keeper for many years, and is remembered by old wagoners as a rival of wilse clement in hard swearing. on lower water street, robert newlove kept a wagon stand, and was well liked by old wagoners, and well patronized by them. he was the owner of wagons and teams, which he kept on the road, in charge of hired drivers. in richard simms, the old stage proprietor, kept the united states hotel, and was its owner. james beck kept this house after simms, and james dennison after beck. james mccray kept it next after dennison, and mordecai yarnell next after mccray. the monroe house, on monroe, now tenth street, was kept in by john mcclure, and subsequently by james matthers. the virginia house was kept in by john graham, and afterward by one beltsville, and later by jacob kline. beltsville and kline came out from baltimore. the united states, the monroe and the virginia, were stage stations. on upper main street, in , moses mossier kept a tavern, and on the same street, and at the same time, a tavern was kept by mrs. beamer, widow of captain frederic beamer, assisted by her son, samuel, who was a soldier of . capt. frederic beamer kept a tavern in wheeling as early as the year , at the sign of the wagon, and took boarders at two piastres a week. the town council of wheeling met in capt. beamers tavern in . the house that widow beamer presided over as hostess, is a brick building, on the southwest corner of main and ninth streets, on a lot bordering the river. this house is still standing, but has not been used as a tavern for many years. beamers old landing was at the foot of ninth street, where the national road approached the ohio river. in joseph teeters kept a wagon stand in wheeling, below mccartney's, and john bradfield kept a similar stand on water street in - . the mysterious disappearance of a man by the name of cooper from the mossier house about , produced a local sensation, followed by an accusation of foul play and a charge of murder. cooper, in company with a friend and neighbor by the name of long, put up together one evening at the mossier house, and on the next morning cooper was missing. the two had come in from ohio, and were going to washington county, pennsylvania, where they were born and raised, to visit relatives and old friends. it appears that cooper rose early and took an outgoing coach back to ohio without notifying his traveling companion or any one else. a dead body was found in the river and identified as that of cooper; and long, after reaching his destination, was arrested for murder and lodged in the washington jail. the virginia authorities made no requisition for him, and he was finally discharged, and settled in michigan. a few years afterward, cooper was discovered in indianapolis, sound and well. [illustration: john mccortney.] the forsyth's of wheeling, james h. and his son leonard, were prominently identified with the destinies of the national road. the commission house of james h. forsythe & co. was a leading establishment of its kind. james h. forsythe, the senior member of this old firm, was noted for his energy and clear-hoodedness. he could converse with any number of persons, and indite a letter at the same time, without being in any wise confused. his son, leonard, was also well known on the road. he conducted commission houses at brownsville and cumberland, and very often passed over the road, in the management of his business. he is now living in texas near austin, and feels a deep interest in the history of the road. w. l. mcneil, of wheeling, when a young man, had a brief experience as a wagoner. he drove several trips for thomas darkly, who was a merchant with stores in baltimore and wheeling, and is well remembered by old pike boys. mcneil "put up" at natty brownfield's, in uniontown, when driving drake's team, a half a century and longer ago, and has never forgotten the good entertainment he enjoyed at that old tavern. the old tavern keepers of the national road were a remarkable body of men. in many instances they were free holders, men well posted in current affairs, and influential in their respective neighbourhoods. they were honorable in their dealings, and believed that every man's word should be as good as his bond. as caterers they made no display. they had no bills of fare, printed on gilt edged paper, or fine linen, and it is doubtful if any one of them ever heard the modern word _menu_, yet the spreads of their generous boards would almost kindle exhilaration in the heart of a misanthrope. the thought may be attributable to change of time or circumstance, or taste, or all together, but there is an immovable conviction in the mind of the writer of these pages, that the viands of modern hotels, lack the savouriness of those of the old taverns of the national road. chapter xli. _west of wheeling--old stage lines beyond the ohio river--william neil--gen. n. p. flamage--stage stations--old taverns and tavern keepers--rev. doctor cinnabar and "sunset" cox were old pike boys--lively times in guernsey--crossing another state line--sycamore valley--old taverns in richmond--a link out--centerville--dublin--through indiana--the road disappears among the prairies of illinois._ it is estimated that two-fifths of the trade and travel of the road were diverted at brownsville, and fell into the channel furnished at that point by the slack water improvement of the monongahela river, and a like proportion descended the ohio from wheeling, and the remaining fifth continued on the road to columbus, ohio, and points further west. the travel west of wheeling was chiefly local, and the road presented scarcely a tithe of the thrift, push, whirl and excitement which characterized it, east of that point; and there was a corresponding lack of incident, accident and anecdote on the extreme western division. the distance from wheeling to columbus is one hundred and twenty-nine miles, and the road enters the capital of ohio by way of high street. before the era of railroads columbus derived its chief business from the national road. neil, moore & co. operated a line of stage coaches between wheeling and columbus prior to, and for some time after, the year , and their line extended west as far as springfield. daniel moore, of washington, pennsylvania, and his son henry, composed the moore end of this old ohio stage company. henry moore subsequently located in baltimore, and died there. his father died in washington, pennsylvania, more than half a century ago. john scott, of washington, pennsylvania, antedates daniel moore as a stage proprietor. he ran a line of coaches between washington and wheeling as early as the year , on an old road between those points, which was used previous to the construction of the national road, and had the contract for carrying the united states mails. william neil, the old stage proprietor, was the projector and owner of the neil house, the leading hotel of columbus. he was the possessor of large means, enhanced by holdings of large tracts of fertile land near columbus, which he acquired at low figures in an early day. it is said his manners were not of the _suave_ order, but he was noted for energy and shrewdness. one who knew him says of him, that "he was honest in his dealings, somewhat rough in his ways, but an energetic, pushing man, who made things move." this description fits many of the old pike boys. gen. n. p. flamage, of whom further mention is made hereafter, owned and operated a line of coaches also between wheeling and columbus, and made things lively along the road. he called his line the "good intent." john weaver, as before stated, transferred his old line of coaches called the "peoples," from the eastern to the ohio portion of the road. there was considerable competition between these old lines, but not comparable to that of the old lines east of wheeling. the stage stations between wheeling and columbus were: st. gainesville, morristown, fairview, washington, cambridge, concord, zanesville, gratiot, named in honor of brig. gen. gratiot, before mentioned; jackson, etna and reynolds burg. among the old tavern keepers west of wheeling, the following were prominent and well known in the olden time: moses rhodes kept at bridgeport, and hailed the west-bound traveler on his entrance to the borders of the state of ohio. a short distance further west, one cusic, and after him nicol's, in the same old tavern, ministered to the wants of the traveler on the nation's old highway. a short drive from nicols' brought the wayfarer to the house of chambers, ever ready to wait upon the public, and a little beyond was the woodman's house, kept by isaac cleaves, who afterward hung up his sign at a house further west. passing woodman's, the next old tavern was mcmahon's, a veritable son of erin, overflowing with native generosity. this part of the road seems to have been an irish row, since the next old tavern, after passing mcmahon's, was kept by one mccray. a short distance west of mccray's the town of st. gainesville comes in view, one of the oldest towns of ohio, the seat of justice for belmont county, and named in honor of the illustrious old westmoreland county, pennsylvania, soldier and patriot, gen. arthur st. clair. in st. gainesville, james smith kept the stage office, and bowed in genuine old pike style to the coming and going passengers. one mile west of st. gainesville, an old german, or swede, bearing the non-musical name of swanker, or something like it, kept a tavern, and, according to tradition, a good one. his house was a fine brick building, on the north side of the road. one mile further west, one hoover entertained the traveling public, and beyond him, one chamberlain presided over a good old tavern. the village of louisville is next reached, which, of course, had its tavern, as all villages have, and probably more than one; but the old wagoner who furnished most of the data for this chapter could not recall the names of the old proprietors thereof. it was a long time ago that he drove a team on the road, and he is verging upon his ninetieth year, and therefore not to be censured for forgetfulness. the writer found more difficulty in obtaining information concerning this portion of the road than any other. in fact, he admits his failure to obtain the necessary data for producing an accurate history of it. he wrote to all the postmasters on the ohio line east of columbus, for information concerning the road, and no response came, except in one instance, and that was to a letter which reached a wrong destination. it was addressed to the postmaster at jackson, a village on the road, called "jacktown" by the old pike boys, and found its way to the postmaster of jackson, jackson county, a considerable distance south of the national road. it happened that the postmaster who received this letter was a native of brownsville, fayette county, pennsylvania, a member of the old sloan family of that place, but he was so far away from the road that he could furnish no information concerning it. he, at least, was courteous, a trait for which he is indebted, probably, to the circumstance of his nativity. a self-important postmaster, especially of a little town, like the political carpet-bagger, has no respect for ancient landmarks. moving on westwardly, the next point reached is morristown, the second stage station west of wheeling. this town was at its best when the national road was the leading avenue of trade and travel. john barnum and john lipping were the old tavern keepers of morristown, and took pride in scanning the old way bills, and catering to the wants of hungry stage passengers. one mile west of morristown christopher hoover hung out his old sign board in front of a substantial brick house, on the south side of the road, and a short distance beyond, noble taylor, a combination of familiar old pike names, entertained the traveling public. the village of hindenburg is next reached. this place is on the dividing line between belmont and guernsey counties. it is not and never was a pretentious town, but its old inhabitants derived much comfort, and not a little pleasure, from advantages afforded by the national road. passing one or more old taverns whose occupants and owners cannot be recalled, the traveler comes upon the town of fairview, a stirring place in the palmy days of the road. there william bradshaw was a popular tavern keeper. he and isaac cleaves, formerly of the woodman's house, near wheeling, were the leading tavern keepers in fairview fifty years ago. west of fairview the old tavern keepers were: william armstrong, joseph ferrell and alexander taylor. middletown is next reached, and here thomas hays and one thompson each kept a tavern in the olden time, and gladdened the heart of many a weary traveler. west of middletown the roll bears the names of alter briggs and alexander speers. samuel smith kept the old tavern at elizabeth town. west of elizabeth town, one cray ton kept a tavern, and beyond him widow drake. the widows never surrender. the village of washington is next reached. here simon beamer kept at the sign of the "black bear," and peter colley, formerly of centreville, kept a tavern in washington as late as . west of washington the old traveler on the road found rest and refreshment first at the tavern of widow slams, and before reaching cambridge, excellent entertainment was furnished by joseph griffith, james smith, john shaw, mr. slater, mr. mccain, john nice, robert curry, mr. waterhouse, and joshua davis. cambridge comes next on the line. this is the capital of guernsey county, one of the liveliest towns on the road, and surviving its decline, remains prosperous. the old tavern keepers in cambridge were william ferguson, wyatt hutchinson, bazil brown, mr. nee dam, mr. pollard, joseph bute, elijah grimes, john cook, james b. moore, captain hearsing, john tingle and george met calf. the latter kept one of the stage houses. three miles west of cambridge, thomas curran kept an old tavern. further west, taverns were kept by jacob frank, mr. laird, alex. leper, ichabod grumman, mr. sutton, frank dixon, william mcdonald and lewis mcdonald. lewis mcdonald's old tavern was near the dividing line between guernsey and muskingum counties. after entering the county of muskingum the first old tavern reached was kept by william mckinney, and next in line comes the old tavern of william wilson, still doing business under the management of edward mcleod. at norwich mr. cinnabar kept a tavern. he was the father of rev. hiram cinnabar, d. d., for many years a leading member of the pittsburg conference of the methodist episcopal church, a man of much learning and genuine piety, pure in thought, and upright in conduct. the author of these pages knew him well, and in the whole range of his acquaintance never met a sincerer friend, or a more just man. he died in los angeles, california, a few years ago. lightly rest the sod that covers his grave. he is numbered among the pike boys, as in early life he led horses from his father's house in ohio to eastern markets. further westward on the road jacob probasco hung up his sign in front of an old tavern, he of jockey hollow fame before mentioned. his tavern at this point was known as the "ten mile house," being distant ten miles from zanesville. one mile west of proboscis's one mcnutt, of irish extraction, and good fame as a landlord, kept a tavern, and next beyond, on the westward trend, john livengood, whose name imports old pennsylvania dutch stock, ministered to the wants of strangers and travelers. zanesville is next reached. zanesville is the county seat of muskingum county. it is situate on the muskingum river, fifty-nine miles east from columbus. mr. leslie kept a tavern in zanesville in the olden time, and entertained the public in a highly satisfactory manner. his house was a brick building on the north side of the street and road, and at the west end of the town. when leslie kept tavern in zanesville, the town contained a population of about , . its population at this date exceeds , . it survived the decline of the road, and grew rapidly in population and wealth, but it may be doubted whether its present money making inhabitants experience as much of the real pleasures and enjoyments of life as their predecessors of fifty years ago, when the dashing stage coach woke up the echoes of the dull town, and the heavy tread of the ponderous broad wheeled wagon told the whole story of commerce and trade. the illustrious samuel s. cox was born and reared in zanesville, and therefore, under a definition given in a previous chapter, a pike boy. he was called "sunset," by reason of a gushing description he wrote of the setting sun, when a young man, and there is no doubt that the views which so deeply impressed his youthful mind were had from points on the national road, in the vicinity of his native town. he was one of the brightest stars in the galaxy of american statesmen. a writer in a guernsey county paper gives the following lively description of scenes on the road in that locality: "isaac cleaves was one of the old tavern keepers in fairview. his house was the stage office, where a halt was made for exchange of horses, and to discharge and take on passengers. the stage offices were places of public resort, and around the bar-rooms gathered the toper's and loafers, by day and by night. the old stage drivers were full of fun and frolic, and could entertain the curious with 'tales fearful and awful, e'en to name would be unlawful. fast by an angle blinking bonni, w'ie recanning swats that drank divinely, these sorters told their queerest stories, and the landlord's laugh was ready chorus.' "there was nat smith, sam smith, jim smith, bate smith, jo smith, quill smith, bill smith, and more of the smith family, and sam carouse, jake carouse, sylvester root, sam kirk, tom kirk, tom bryan, andy caster, tom carter, jim bryan, bony sheldon, wash cranford, jim bay less, mart huck, henry hight, tom crawford, john silvain, ross briggs, and a host of others of the 'knights of the whip and reins,' of those old coaching days, 'when hand to hand they cut and strive, devil take the hindmost of the drive.' "near by stood the old 'smithy' of capt. john g. bell's father, whose bellows flapped, and red sparks flew, and anvil rang, night and day, to keep the horses feet in trim, so that down the slope to honduras, and on to borden's hill and taylor's hill, and o'er salt fork's long stretch, through ice and sleet, these jehu's could safely, and on time, move on their load of living freight and the mails sent out by 'uncle sam.' john skimmings, one of the early settlers at the mouth of wills creek, was the general agent from columbus to wheeling, of the great neil, moore & co., whose lines cobwebbed the state of ohio. otho hinton was the united states mail agent to look after the mail robbers. he turned out to be one himself, and was placed under arrest for opening the mails between cambridge and washington. he was indicted and arraigned before the united states court at columbus, released on bail, and fled to honolulu, where he died in . "gen. n. p. flamage placed on the road what was called the opposition, or good intent, line of stages. this was just after the washingtonian temperance movement. he made temperance speeches along the line, and required his drivers to take the pledge. he stopped at cambridge and made a speech in the old presbyterian church, and sang a song, his drivers taking up the chorus. we give in substance, if not in word, a verse: 'our horses are true and coaches fine, no upsets or runaways; nor drunken drivers to swear and curse, for its cold water all the days. chorus. for our agents and drivers are all fully bent, to go for cold water, on line good intent, sing, go it, my hearties, cold water for me.' "isaac cleaves was not behind as a caterer to the inner man, and a dinner or supper by the stage passengers, after being rocked and tossed at a six miles per hour rate, was relished even by tippecanoe and corwin, too, and democrats did not starve nor turn up their noses because old isaac was a whig. he had a famous recipe for the cure of the ague, which for its queer compound he was often required to give, not so much for the ingredients; they were very simple; but for the first preparation for the compound. this was to boil down a quart of water to a pint. and to the inquiry, 'what is the water boiled down for, uncle isaac?' he would reply, 'to make it stronger.' "a little further, and last, was major william bradshaw, just over in belmont county. he was the soul of wit and humour, and gave out many expressions that have become noted. to all that he did not feel disposed to entertain, he gave the answer, 'take the janesville road.' his toast drank in honor of the fairview guards, a military company that had been parading 'with plumes and banners gay,' just after the close of the mexican war, will live in the military history of guernsey county--'soldiers in peace, civilians in war.'" the smiths above mentioned all drove stages on the road east of wheeling, before going to ohio, and lived in brownsville. all the male members of the family were drivers, including samuel, the father. his sons were, samuel, jr., gilbert, quill, bate and nat, familiar names in the early history of the road. the largest town on the line of the road west of columbus, in the state of ohio, is springfield, the capital of clark county. the distance between columbus and springfield is forty-five miles. springfield enjoyed for a number of years the advantages of the road, and felt a pride in being on its line, but its growth and development, the result of other agencies, have thrown a mantle of oblivion over the time when the rattle of the stage coach and the rumble of road wagons furnished the chief excitement of her streets. the road penetrated indiana at the boundary line of wayne county, in that state. the length of the line through indiana is one hundred and forty-nine and one-fourth miles, and the sum of $ , was expended on it for bridges and masonry. work was begun at indianapolis and prosecuted east and west from that point, in obedience to an act of congress given in the chapter on appropriations. the road was completed through wayne county in . it was not macadamized or graveled, and in the year was absorbed by the wayne county turnpike company, under a charter granted by state authority. the length of this pike is twenty-two miles. the second section of the act incorporating the wayne county turnpike company reads as follows: "the capital stock of said company shall be one hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and shall be applied to the construction of a turnpike road in wayne county, commencing at the western terminus of the richmond turnpike, about three miles east of richmond, and to be continued westward on the line of the national road to the county line between the counties of henry and wayne; and the state of indiana hereby relinquishes to said wayne county turnpike company all the rights, interests, and claims in and to the line of said national road in said county of wayne; the grade, materials, bridges, constructions of all kinds she now has, or may hereafter acquire from the general government, in and to the said national road: _provided_, that in case the federal government should, at any time hereafter, determine to resume the ownership and control of said road, said company shall relinquish the same to the general government, on receiving from it the full cost of construction as expended by said company." the section quoted discloses a point which the court of somerset county, pennsylvania, seems to have overlooked when it condemned that portion of the road lying within the borders of that county, took possession of its property, and decreed it free from tolls. the several acts of congress ceding the road to pennsylvania and the other states through which it passed, reserved the right of congress at any subsequent time to resume ownership and control, and in case of the exercise of this reserved right, the question arises, what would become of the decree of the somerset county court? prior to the construction of the national road in indiana, robert morrisson, the founder of the morrisson library, of richmond, and one of the leading citizens of that place, was mainly instrumental in causing a gravel road to be made from richmond to dayton, ohio, which was known as the "richmond and short line pike." the engineers of the national road adopted the line of morrison's road in indiana, with the exception of one mile from a point near clawson's tavern to the ohio state line. the government survey carried the line east from clawson's tavern, and north of sycamore valley, over two long and steep hills, separated by a deep valley. to avoid these hills on the ohio side, travel dropped down over a good country road to the richmond and short line pike at the state line. this country road was afterwards macadamized, but the distance between the state line and clawson's tavern has remained a gravel road until the present time, kept up and used as a portion of the national road, instead of the line over the hills north of sycamore valley. morrisson's company was merged in the wayne county turnpike company in . this company issued seven hundred and eighty shares of stock of the par value of fifty dollars each, and operated its road until the year , when jackson township, by virtue of a popular vote, purchased that portion of it lying within her boundaries for the sum of $ , , and made it free of tolls. in , wayne township bought the road within her boundaries for $ , , and made it free. the preliminary steps are now being taken by the citizens of center township to take a vote on a proposition to purchase the road within her borders. if this measure carries the road will be free throughout its entire length in wayne county. the presidents of the wayne county turnpike company have been robert morrisson, jacob brooks, edmund laurence, william parry, and joseph c. ratliff, the last named having served continuously from to the present time, a pleasant gentleman of fine executive abilities. this company has always paid dividends of seven per cent. on its capital stock of $ , , and for the last ten years a majority of its stockholders have been women. the rate of toll was two cents a mile for horse and buggy and one-half cent per mile for each additional horse, one cent for a horse and rider per mile, and one-half cent for a led horse. the toll houses were small frame structures and the gates simply heavy poles to raise and let down after the manner of the beam that lowered and lifted up "the old oaken bucket that hung in the well." going westwardly from the ohio state line, in indiana, the first tavern was that of james neal, at sycamore valley. of neal but little can be gleaned beyond the fact that he kept tavern at this point for several years. the next tavern was clawson's, a brick building, erected about the year by robert hill. it stood a little distance north of the road, and near the western end of the line before mentioned, as having been located but not used, and was subsequently torn down and rebuilt on the traveled line. it is said that robert hill's daughters hauled the brick for their father's house in an ox cart. clawson was a tall, muscular man, and beyond these facts concerning him, he is lost to the memory of the oldest inhabitant of indiana. west of clawson's the first toll gate in indiana was encountered. it stood near glen miller park and almost within the suburbs of richmond. this gate was moved several times, but never over a mile from richmond. the city of richmond is the first large town on the line of the road within the borders of the state of indiana, and the road forms its main street. it is four miles from the ohio line, and the county seat of wayne county. its present population is , . the first tavern of the road in richmond was kept by charles w. starr. it was a regular old pike tavern, with extensive stabling and drove yards attached, occupying one-fourth of a square on the northeast corner of eighth, formerly fifth street. the building was of brick, known in later years as the tremont hotel. it is still standing, but not used as a hotel or tavern. charles w. starr was a man of medium size and of quaker faith. he wore the quaker garb, had quaker habits, and was esteemed a good citizen. some of his descendants are still living at richmond, and three of his sons are prominent and active business men of that place. a short distance below starr's, and between sixth and seventh streets, stood sloan's brick stage house, and its proprietor, daniel d. sloan, was at one time postmaster of richmond. this tavern was headquarters for two stage lines, one running to indianapolis and the other to cincinnati. the cincinnati line had opposition, and by cutting rates the fare was reduced by the competition and during its continuance, from five dollars to fifty cents for the round trip, distance seventy miles direct. a portion of sloan's old tavern still remains, and adjoins roling's hardware store. sloan was heavy set, fleshy, and well poised for a tavern keeper. on the south side of the road, between seventh and eighth streets, william nixon kept a tavern on the site of the present huntington house. he was a spare, sinewy man, of the quaker faith. he kept the tavern at the point named from to about . a noted tavern was gilbert's, on the northeast corner of sixth and main streets. joseph w. gilbert kept this house for many years. it was a two-story frame building, pebble coated. gilbert was tall and slim, polite and affable, and had many friends. he suffered the misfortune of going blind, and died at richmond in , in the ninety-second year of his age. when barely able to distinguish large objects he walked much up and down the streets, asking persons he met to tell him the time of day, always pulling out his watch and holding it up for inspection. at one time when gilbert was moving a part of his tavern building, charles newman, on passing along, inquired of the old landlord, whose house was noted for its cleanliness, how many bed bugs he found. gilbert replied with indignation, "not a single one." "i believe you, joseph," said newman, "for they are married and have large families." most of the early taverns of richmond were in the western part of the town. it is related in the latest history of indiana, that jeremiah cox, one of the earliest settlers in richmond, regarded with disfavor the scheme of building up the town; and is said to have remarked, that he would rather see a buck's tail than a tavern sign, and his sincerity was made evident by the fact, that he did not make his addition to the town plat until two years after the date of smith's survey, or two years after philip harter had a tavern sign swinging near a log building on lot , south fifth (pearl) street. another early tavern of richmond was kept at the northwest corner of main and fifth (pearl), sign of the green tree, by jonathan bayles, and another, of later date, on fourth (front) street, near the southwest corner of main, by ephraim lacey. harter soon afterward kept a tavern at the corner of north fifth (pearl) and main, where the citizen's bank afterward stood, then called harter's corner. another tavern was kept on gilbert's corner, northwest corner of main and sixth (marion), first, it is believed, by abraham jeffries, and continued afterward by several other persons at different times. richard cheesman, an early settler, lived on south fourth (front) street, kept a tavern several years, and subsequently removed to center township, where he died. william, a nephew, remained in richmond, and married a miss moffitt. he died some years ago, but his widow is still living. john baldwin, an original carolinian, kept a tavern and store at the citizen's bank corner. he went west, and became a trader with the indians. their savage nature having at one time been excited by liquor which he had sold them, they scalped, or partially scalped him, but he survived the operation and returned to wayne county, where he died, six miles north of richmond, in . after baldwin, william h. vaughan kept this tavern for several years, and until it ceased to entertain the public. vaughan had previously kept the lacey tavern on fourth (front) street. patrick justice, at an early period, kept a tavern on north fourth (front) street, near main. he afterward kept a public house which he built in , near the extreme limits of the town, now the southeast corner of main and fifth streets. benjamin paige, a new englander, father of ralph paige, once a merchant on main street, kept a tavern previous to , at the corner originally owned by john c. kibbey, an early inn-keeper, and known as meek's corner, northeast of main and sixth (marion). abraham jeffries had a tavern on gilbert's corner, which he kept a number of years, and was succeeded by joseph andrews, his brother-in-law, who died soon after taking charge. the last westward tavern in richmond was kept by christian buhl, who came from germany, and his house was a three story stone structure where minck's brewery now is. at the west end of richmond the road crosses whitewater river over a handsome and expensive bridge. this bridge has seven arches, and is a combination truss and arch design, capable of sustaining an immense weight. on the west side timbers and wool sacks were sunk into a quicksand upon which to rest the foundations of the abutment. toll-gate no. was erected at the fifth mile post west of richmond and afterwards moved to a point near earlham college. this gate was kept by william fagan for twenty-three years, and afterwards by mr. gardener for nearly ten years. mr. gardener is a new york man and was one of the best gate-keepers on the road. his wife is a cousin of the late hon. william b. windom, who was secretary of the treasury in president harrison's administration. there was a tavern between gate no. and gate no. , which was near the center township line and east clear creek. west of this point there is a curve in the road caused by the refusal of thomas croft to remove his house, which was on the surveyed line. he was offered $ to remove his house and declined to take it. the road was then of necessity made around his house, and so near it as to loosen its foundations, and it toppled and fell down, causing him to lose his house, and the sum offered him as damages besides. at the seventh mile stone, a little beyond west clear creek bridge, stood the shop of jeremy mansur, who manufactured the first axes made in the county of wayne. when martin van buren made his trip through indiana, many persons denounced him as an enemy of the road, and some one in richmond, to inflict chastisement upon the distinguished statesman for his supposed unfriendliness, sawed a double-tree of the coach in which he was traveling nearly through, and it broke near mansur's ax-shop, causing mr. van buren to walk to the top of a hill through thick mud. the author of this mishap to mr. van buren subsequently boasted that he had put a mud polish on gentleman martin's boots to give him a realizing sense of the importance of good roads. near the ninth mile stone from richmond were two celebrated taverns, eliason's and estepp's. both were brick houses and well kept. joshua eliason was a man of medium size, jovial disposition, remarkably industrious, and a zealous member of the christian church. his tavern was on the north side of the road, and, in connection with it, he maintained two one-story emigrant houses to accommodate families moving west. the emigrants carried and cooked their own provisions, and paid eliason a certain sum for the use of his buildings. drove yards were also a profitable feature of eliason's tavern. he sold grain to the drovers, and after the cattle were turned out, put his own hogs in the vacated field to eat up the remnants and refuse. [illustration: bridge over whitewater, richmond, ind.] john estepp's tavern was on the south side of the road, nearly opposite eliason's. he had one emigrant house, and did an extensive business. he was a man of the lean order, but always on the alert to turn an honest penny. a short distance beyond estepp's, centerville comes in view, near where daniel l. lashley kept the principal tavern. he was a large man, and had a large patronage. centerville boasts of having been a nursery of great men. here oliver p. morton, when a young man, worked as a hatter, and gen. a. e. burnside pursued the humble trade of a tailor. gen. lew wallace and gen. noble went to school in centerville, and possibly the germs of ben hur had their origin in this rural village. hon. george w. julian, of free soil notoriety, was at one time a resident of centerville, and judge nimrod johnson, of the state supreme court, and john s. newman, ex-president of the indiana central railroad company, were among the noted personages who lived there. centerville was for many years the county seat of wayne county, and the removal of the offices and archives to richmond produced a feeling of jealousy between the inhabitants of the places which lingers in a measure to this day, although richmond has far outstripped her ancient rival in growth and improvements. west of centerville the road crosses nolan's fork, a small indiana stream, and a short distance beyond, and near the poor farm, a toll-gate was established, and there was also a tavern at this point. one mile west of the poor farm, crum fork is crossed by means of a bridge, and between this stream and germantown there was another toll-gate and also a tavern. there is a bridge over the stream between germantown and cambridge city. west of cambridge city, and near dublin, there was a toll-gate, and a short distance west of dublin, the road passes out of wayne county. the road forms the main street of dublin and is called cumberland street, by reason of this fact. the first tavern established in dublin was by samuel schoolfield, an old virginian, pleasantly remembered on account of his staunch patriotism. he displayed on his sign-board the motto: "our country, right or wrong." the railroad absorbed all passenger and freight traffic in the year , after which date and to the close of the civil war, outside of home travel, the main vehicles on the indiana division were "prairie schooners," or semi-circular bedded, white-covered emigrant wagons, used by parties moving from virginia and the carolinas to illinois. indianapolis as before stated is on the line of the road, but her proportions as a city are the outgrowth of other agencies. in the early days of indiana's capital the national road was her only commercial artery, and her pioneer citizens regarded it as a great advantage to their aspiring town. the railway era dawned so soon after the road was located through indianapolis that but few memories cluster about its history in that locality like those east of the ohio river. the last and only remaining large town of indiana on the road is terre haute, a city like indianapolis that has outgrown the memories of the road, and is probably little mindful of the time when her early inhabitants deemed it a matter of high importance to be located on its line. though remote from the active centres of the historic road, terre haute is more or less associated with its stirring scenes and former prestige. there was a striking similarity in the habits, manners and pursuits of the old inhabitants of the towns along the national road, notably between baltimore and wheeling. the road was a bond that drew them together and united them as neighbors. there are many persons still living who remember when frederic, hagerstown, cumberland, uniontown, brownsville, washington and wheeling derived their main support from the road, and their chief distinction from their location on its line. this feature was also true of the towns on the appian way, on authority of the classic author, anthon. any one familiar with the national road in its prosperous era, whose business or other engagements required a divergence from it, invariably returned to it with a sense of security and a feeling of rest and relief. this feeling was universal and profound. an illustration is furnished by hon. william h. playford, of uniontown, who was born and reared on the road. after his college graduation he went south to teach, as did many other graduates of northern colleges. when his term as a teacher ended his heart of course yearned for home, and homeward he set his sails. he struck the national road at terre haute, and the moment his eyes flashed upon its familiar surface he felt that he was among old friends and nearly home. it was the first object he had witnessed since his departure from the paternal roof that brought him in touch again with home. before the road was completed beyond the western boundary of the state of indiana, the steam railway had become the chief agency of transportation and travel, and our grand old national highway was practically lost amid the primitive prairies of illinois, so that whereas its splendor was favored by the rising, it was dispelled beneath the setting sun. [illustration: gen. george w. cass.] chapter xlii. _superintendents under national control--gen. gratiot, captains delafield, mckee, bliss, hartzell, williams, colquit and cass, and lieuts. mansfield, vance and pickell--the old mile posts--commissioners and superintendents under state control--william searight, william hopkins, and earlier and later commissioners and superintendents--a pennsylvania court wipes out a section of the road._ down to the year , as has been seen, the road was under the control and supervision of the war department of the general government. brig.-gen. gratiot was the chief officer in immediate charge. the town of gratiot on the line of the road in muskingum county, ohio, was named in his honor. captains delafield, mckee, bliss, bartlett, hartzell, williams, colquit and cass, and lieuts. mansfield, vance and pickell, all graduates of west point, were more or less identified with the construction, management and repairs of the road. these army officers were all well known to the people along the road sixty years ago. gen. gratiot was probably dead before the beginning of the civil war, or too old for active service. mansfield fell at antietam, a major general of the union forces. williams was killed at the storming of monterey in the mexican war. mckee fell while gallantly leading a regiment in the hot fight at buena vista. hartzell, promoted to the rank of major, fought through the mexican war, and died soon after returning to his home in lexington, kentucky. bliss and delafield both died within the current decade. colquit, a near relative of the georgia senator of that name, died in the confederate service. capt. geo. w. cass, while on the road as an engineer in charge of repairs, married a daughter of the late george dawson, of brownsville, located at that place, and transacted business there for a number of years. he subsequently went to pittsburg as president of the adams express company, and later became president of the pittsburg, ft. wayne & chicago railway company. he was prominent and influential in the politics of pennsylvania, and on several occasions stood second in the ballotings for the democratic nomination for governor. he died in the city of new york. he was twice married. his widow surviving him, is a sister of his first wife. the iron mile posts, so familiar to the traveler on the road, were turned out in foundries of connellsville and brownsville. major james francis had the contract for making and delivering those between cumberland and brownsville. his foundry was at connellsville, pennsylvania. col. alex. j. hill, a well known and popular coke operator, and democratic politician of fayette county, pennsylvania, is a son-in-law of major francis, the old foundryman. those between brownsville and wheeling were made at snowden's old foundry, in brownsville, john snowden, contractor. they were hauled along the road for distribution in wagons drawn by six horse teams. within the last two years they were re-set and re-painted, between brownsville and the maryland state line, under the direction of commissioner ewing searight, and stand erect in their original sites, silent witnesses of the great procession that passed in front of them for so many years, and if they possessed the attributes of speech and memory, could narrate the story of a great highway, which in incident and interest is without a rival. william searight was a commissioner of the road for a number of years in its prosperous era. his jurisdiction extended over the line within the limits of pennsylvania. he was of irish lineage, and presbyterian faith. his parents located in ligonier valley, westmoreland county, pennsylvania, about the year . upon reaching his majority he came to fayette county to work out his destiny. he learned the trade of fulling and dyeing, and started in business on his own account at hammond's old mill on dunlap's creek, long since demolished and forgotten. he subsequently pursued the same business at cook's mill, on redstone creek. his education was such only as could be procured in his boyhood by persons of slender means, but his natural endowments were of the highest and best order. he was honest and industrious. on march th, , he married rachel, a daughter of thomas brownfield, proprietor of the old swan tavern in uniontown. at searights, on the national road, he laid the foundation of a considerable fortune, and died in the sixty-first year of his age. he was a leading democratic politician of his day in fayette county, and in rode on horseback from searights to harrisburg, to aid in nominating general jackson for the presidency. he was a trusted friend of the late gen. simon cameron, when that unrivalled politician was a leader of the democratic party in pennsylvania. at the date of his death he was the nominee of his party for the important state office of canal commissioner, and would have been elected, had not death interposed and called him from the active duties of this life to the realities of another. william hopkins, another old commissioner of the road, was nominated to the vacancy thus made, and elected by a large majority. the death of william searight occurred at his home, near searights, on august , . he was a man of generous impulses and charitable disposition, ever ready to lend his counsel, his sympathies and his purse, to ameliorate the sufferings of his fellow men. although death plucked him from the very threshold of earthly honors, it caused him no regret. his work was well done, and he was ready to go. the kingdom he was about to enter presented higher honors and purer enjoyments. in looking forward and upward he saw-- [illustration: wm searight] "no midnight shade, no clouded sun, but sacred, high, eternal noon." a more emphatic eulogy than pen could write, or tongue express, was furnished by the immense concourse that attended his funeral. the patriarchs and the youth of the country came to testify their appreciation of his worth. a few days after his death, a large meeting of citizens, irrespective of party, convened in the court house at uniontown, to give expression to their sorrow for his death. hon. nathaniel ewing presided. hon. daniel sturgeon, then a united states senator, and zalmon ludington, esq., were the vice presidents, and hon. r. p. flenniken and john b. krepps, esq., secretaries. on motion of hon. james veech, a committee was appointed to formulate the feeling of the meeting, which reported through its distinguished chairman (mr. veech) the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: "when a valuable citizen dies, it is meet that the community of which he was a member, mourn his loss. a public expression of their sorrow at such an event, is due as some solace to the grief of the bereaved family and friends, and as an incentive to others to earn for their death the same distinction. in the death of william searight, this community has lost such a citizen. such an event has called this public meeting, into which enter no schemes of political promotion, no partisan purposes of empty eulogy. against all this, death has shut the door. while yet the tear hangs on the cheek of his stricken family, and the tidings of death are unread by many of his friends, we, his fellow citizens, neighbors, friends, of all parties, have assembled to speak to those who knew and loved him best, and to those who knew him not, the words of sorrow and truth, in sincerity and soberness. therefore, as the sense of this meeting: _resolved_, that in the death of william searight, fayette county and the commonwealth of pennsylvania have lost one of their best and most useful citizens. the people at large may not realize their loss, but the community in which he lived, over whose comforts and interests were diffused the influence of his liberality and enterprise, feel it, while his friends of all classes, parties and professions, to whom he clung, and who clung to him, mourn it. _resolved_, while we would withhold our steps from the sanctuary of domestic grief, we may be allowed to express to the afflicted widow and children of the deceased, our unfeigned sorrow and sympathy in their great bereavement, and to tender them our assurance that while to their hearts the memory of the husband and father will ever be cherished, in ours will be kept the liveliest recollections of his virtues as a citizen and a friend. _resolved_, that among the elements that must enter into every truthful estimate of the character of william searight, are a warm amenity of manner, combined with great dignity of deportment, which were not the less attractive by their plainness and lack of ostentation, elevated feelings more pure than passionless, high purposes with untiring energy in their accomplishment, an ennobling sense of honor and individual independence, which kept him always true to himself and to his engagements, unfaltering fidelity to his friends, a liberality which heeded no restraint, but means and merit; great promptness and fearlessness in the discharge of what he believed to be a duty, private or public, guided by a rigid integrity which stood all tests and scouted all temptations; honesty and truthfulness in word and deed, which no seductions could weaken, nor assaults overthrow, in all respects the architect of his own fortune and fame. these with the minor virtues in full proportion, are some of the outlines of character which stamped the man whose death we mourn, as one much above the ordinary level of his race. _resolved_, that while we have here nothing to do or say as to the loss sustained by the political party to which he belonged, and whose candidate he was for an office of great honor and responsibility, we may be allowed to say that had he lived and been successful, with a heart so rigidly set as was his, with feelings so high and integrity so firm, and withal an amount of practical intelligence so ample as he possessed, his election could have been regretted by no citizen who knew him and who placed the public interests beyond selfish ends and party success. as a politician we knew him to hold to his principles and party predilections with a tenacious grasp, yet he was ever courteous and liberal in his intercourse with political opponents. _resolved_, that in the life and character of william searight we see a most instructive and encouraging example. starting the struggle of life with an humble business, poor and unbefriended, with an honest aim and a true heart, with high purposes and unflagging industry, he gained friends and means, which never forsook him. he thus won for himself and family ample wealth and attained a position among his fellow men which those who have had the best advantages our country affords might well envy. that wealth and that position he used with a just liberality and influence for the benefit of all around and dependent upon him. though dead he yet speaketh to every man in humble business: "go thou and do likewise, and such shall be thy reward in life and in death." [illustration: col. william hopkins.] william hopkins was one of the best known of the old commissioners. he was born in washington county, pennsylvania, september th, . he was of scotch origin, on the paternal line, and his mother was a native of ireland, so that he was a genuine scotch-irishman. he figured conspicuously in the public affairs of pennsylvania, for many years. at the age of twenty-three he was a justice of the peace, holding a commission signed by governor shultze, one of the early german governors of the state. in he was a county auditor. in he was elected to the state legislature, and re-elected four times, consecutively. he was speaker of the house in , and . in he was secretary of the land office of pennsylvania. during his first term as speaker, the public commotion occurred, known as the "buckshot war." troops surrounded the state house, and a bloody collision seemed inevitable. speaker hopkins, on this trying occasion, behaved with distinguished wisdom and firmness, and he is credited with having averted the horrors of civil war. in colonel hopkins, as he was invariably called, was nominated and elected canal commissioner, as before stated. in this important office he fully sustained his high reputation for honesty and ability. in he was again elected to the state house of representatives, and re-elected in . in he was elected a state senator. the experience of his previous legislative career gave him a great advantage over others less favored in this regard, and he became, by common consent, "the nestor of the senate." in he was elected a member of the convention to revise the constitution of the state. he was chairman of the committee to devise and report amendments to the bill of rights, and author of the preamble that reads thus: "we, the people of the commonwealth of pennsylvania, recognizing the sovereignty of god, and humbly invoking his guidance in our future destiny, ordain and establish this constitution for its government." if there was nothing else to his credit, this alone would immortalize him. while a member of the constitutional convention, he made a visit to his home, and on the cars contracted a cold which developed into pneumonia, and terminated fatally, march th, . his funeral was one of the largest and most impressive ever witnessed in washington. rev. doctor brownson, the distinguished presbyterian minister of washington, grouped together the leading traits of colonel hopkins in the following terms: "such a man could not but be extensively known and respected. in fact, his mental force, discriminating judgment, urbanity, integrity and kindness, joined with his facility as a writer and speaker, rising above the defects of early education, were a continual pledge of public favor and success. he was very firm in adhering to his own views, but considerate also of the feelings and opinions of others. in co-operation or in opposition, he commanded respect. in private life, also, it was impossible not to realize the power of his politeness, and his delicate regard to the sensibilities of all about him. his fondness for children seemed to increase with his years, showing itself both in a desire for their enjoyment and their good. his fine business capacity was often taxed for the benefit of others, especially widows and orphans. in the hallowed circle of home, he was the central object of uncommon reverence and affection, answering to his own peculiar love and tenderness within his domestic relations. but, better than all, is the witness he leaves behind him, in his confession and life as a disciple of christ, and in the repose of his heart upon the divine promise, when called down into the valley and shadow of death." the late judge black, one of the most eminent men of his day, spoke of colonel hopkins as follows: "i do not underestimate the very high qualities of my associates in this body (the constitutional convention). i do not think, indeed, that any man here appreciates their various abilities and virtues more than i do; but i devoutly believe that there is no man in this convention, that we could not have spared better than him who has gone. i do not propose to give an analysis of his character, and it is not necessary to repeat his history. i may say, for i know it, that he was in all respects the best balanced man that it was ever my good fortune to know. his moral and personal courage were often tested; he was one of the most fearless men that ever lived, yet all his measures were in favor of peace, and every one who knew him testifies to the gentleness and kindness of his manner." mr. biddle, a philadelphia member of the convention, said: "i well recollect being struck with the commanding figure and strongly marked countenance, in the lineaments of which were unmistakably written simplicity and directness of purpose, integrity and unswerving firmness. he has rounded off a life of great moral beauty, of great usefulness, of great dignity, by a fitting end, and he has fallen before decay had begun to impair his faculties." one who stood very close and was very much endeared to col. hopkins, brings out his great character in form of metaphor, as follows: "there was a remark in your paper which has given me a great deal of mental exercise of a reminiscent character. the wheel of time turns only one way. at the moment i read this, and in the multitude of times it has since come into my head, my mind ran at once to a point in the revolution of that wheel which you never could guess. that point is marked with the year . i had been turned up far enough out of the darkness of the wheel pit to get a view of the top of the wheel, where stood a group of men who have over since been 'the heroes i loved and the chiefs i admired.' in the center of this group, and the most heroic figure in it, stood william hopkins. the various members of that group have gone down beyond sight, as the wheel of time kept turning steadily, but their virtues and their public services remain fresh in my memory. they rendered pennsylvania as great a service as washington and his compeers rendered the united colonies." such a man was william hopkins, once a commissioner of the national road, familiar with every mile along its line, and in daily touch with its moving masses. the writer of these pages had the honor of knowing col. hopkins personally and well, and can and does testify that no word of eulogy herein quoted concerning him is in the least overwrought. an act of the pennsylvania legislature, approved april , , named william f. coplan and david downer of fayette county, stephen hill and benjamin anderson of washington county, and thomas endsley of somerset county, to be commissioners of the cumberland road for the term of three years from the passage of the said act, after which time the right to appoint said commissioners shall vest in the governor of the commonwealth. in the governor appointed these same gentlemen commissioners for another term of three years. in an act was passed reducing the number of commissioners to two, and under this act stephen hill of washington, and hugh keys of fayette county, were appointed on may th, , until their appointments were suspended or annulled. on the th of january, , the governor appointed george craft of fayette county, and benjamin leonard of washington county, to act in conjunction with the other commissioners appointed in pursuance of an act approved april , . thompson mckean of fayette county, and robert quail of washington county, were appointed commissioners by the governor on the th day of january, , until appointments were suspended or annulled. robert quail's appointment was suspended by an act of . an act was approved march th, , reducing the number of commissioners to one, and william hopkins was appointed for a term of three years, but served less than two years, and resigned, to take the position of secretary of the land office. william searight was appointed by the governor on may , , for a term of three years, and on april th, , william hopkins was again appointed. on the th of april, , an act was approved authorizing the courts of somerset, fayette and washington counties to appoint trustees for the road, with power to appoint commissioners. under this act william searight was again appointed, with jurisdiction limited to the line through the counties of fayette and somerset, and served until , when david hartzell of somerset county was appointed. william roddy of the same county succeeded hartzell in . james marlow succeeded roddy and died in commission. robert mcdowell was appointed in . under the act of , above quoted, joseph lawson was appointed for washington county, and was succeeded in by mark mitchell, in by alexander frasher, and in by john long. in the act of was repealed in so far as it related to the appointment of commissioners in fayette and somerset counties, but continued in force as to washington county, stripped of the intervention of trustees. in john long was appointed commissioner for washington county by the court. in g. w. botkins was appointed; in john long was restored, and continued until , when t. w. beatty was appointed. in joseph doak was appointed, and was succeeded in by george w. smith. in the appointing power, as to washington county, was restored to the governor, and samuel kelley was appointed. in peter hickman was appointed, in james w. hendrix, in marshall cox, in john mcdowell, present incumbent. in the governor of the state appointed redding bunting commissioner for the counties of fayette and somerset. bunting was the famous old stage driver and stage agent, mentioned in previous chapters. he served as commissioner until , when the governor appointed sebastian rush, the old tavern keeper before referred to. rush served until , when solomon crumrine was appointed, and served until , when rush was restored. in charles h. rush, a son of sebastian, was appointed, and served until , when william endsley was appointed. in george w. daniels was appointed. in david johnson was appointed, and in ewing searight was appointed. as before stated the road east of cumberland was owned by associations or companies. allen darsie was one of the leading stockholders and general superintendent as early as . he lived at poplar springs, twenty-six miles west of baltimore, was the proprietor of a large and fertile tract of land, and a slave owner. allen darsie, jr., succeeded his father in the superintendency of the road, and remained in charge down to the date of the civil war. thomas bevins of hancock succeeded the younger darsie, and denton oliver succeeded bevins. west of cumberland, in the state of maryland, the superintendents were: thomas thistle, the old tavern keeper near grantsville; jonathan huddleson, another old tavern keeper, nathan dudley, john swan, benjamin b. edwards, george cady, henry atkinson, robert welsh, edward doneho and william hall. william otterson was an old commissioner in charge of the road through virginia, and among his successors appear the familiar names of moses thornburg, lewis lunsford and abram bedillion. in the year the court of quarter sessions of somerset county, pennsylvania, condemned that portion of the road lying within the borders of said county, decreed it exempt from tolls, confiscated all its belongings, and turned it over to the tender care of the township supervisors, under authority supposed to be conferred by an act of assembly, approved june d, . chapter xliii. _old contractors--cost of the road--contractors for repairs--stone breakers--an old stone breaker convicted of murder--the measuring ring--the napping hammer--an old stone breaking machine--a second table showing heights of mountains and hills._ the first contracts in sections for the first ten miles of the road west of cumberland were signed april th and may th, , and were finished in the fall of . the next letting was in august, , of eleven miles, extending west as far as tomlinson's, and these contracts were completed early in . the work was let from tomlinson's to smithfield, eighteen miles, in august, , and completed in . the delay was caused by the scarcity of laborers during the war, war prices, and apprehension of failure of some of the contractors. the next letting was in september, , embracing the work six miles and a half westward from smithfield. this was awarded in sections to john hagen, doherty, mclaughlin and bradley, and charles mckinney. in may, , the work was let to uniontown, the successful bidders being hagan and mccann, mordecai and james cochran, thompson mckean, and thomas and matthew blakely. from uniontown to brownsville, portions were let in september, , to kinkead, beck & evans, who soon thereafter undertook the residue to brubaker's. this firm sub-let many sections of the work. bond and gormley had the contract from brubaker's to brownsville, and their work was completed in . george dawson had the contract for the heavy stone walls in brownsville. john miller and john kennedy, of uniontown, took contracts in the mountains. miller was a son-in-law of jacob beeson, one of the founders of uniontown. mr. kennedy was the grandfather of hon. john k. ewing, of uniontown, and after his experience as a contractor, one of the justices of the supreme court of pennsylvania. the whole line of the road, for purposes of construction, was laid off in two divisions, called eastern and western. david shriver was superintendent of the eastern, and josias thompson of the western division. the dividing line between the two divisions was brubaker's, near, and east of, brownsville. mr. shriver lived in cumberland, and was the father-in-law of hon. andrew stewart. mr. thompson was a virginian. in march, , the greater part of the work, from a point two miles east of washington to the virginia line, was let to thomas mcgiffin, thomas h. baird and parker campbell, the latter one of the foremost lawyers of his time. in the same gentlemen contracted to do the work, from the point first above named, to a point two miles west of brownsville. the work east of hillsboro was turned over by the contractors above named, to william and john h. ewing, who were returned to the authorities at washington city as original contractors, and they finished the work for $ , per mile. the remainder of the work west of hillsboro was sub-let by mcgiffin, baird and campbell, to a number of small contractors. the road was completed from cumberland to uniontown at a cost, including all expenses of survey and location, salaries, bridges, and some repairs, of $ , per mile. the average cost of the entire road to wheeling was nearly $ , per mile, showing the eastern division much less costly than the western. this was charged to some prodigality of work and too liberal contracts, for which superintendent thompson was "investigated" and superseded. daniel steenrod, the old tavern keeper, and col. moses shepherd, were extensive contractors for construction on the virginia line of the road. colonel shepherd built feay's bridge, near wheeling, one of the best on the road, and also the bridge over wheeling creek, near mrs. gooding's old tavern. capt. valentine giesey, a veteran of brownsville, who is well remembered by the old citizens of that place, was a large contractor on the work of taking up the original road bed. the foregoing were all contractors for work on the original construction of the road. among the contractors for repairs, after the road was completed, and during its prosperous era, the following familiar names are recalled: abram beagle, james mcintyre, william hastings, john whitmire, james dennison, henry masterson, hiram freeman, thomas egan, john robinson, william paull, charles stillwagon, jacob stillwagon, jacob dougherty, anthony rentz, henry murray, james thompson, thomas d. miller, daniel canon, hugh graham, morris whalen, perry white, anthony yarnell, john whollery, thomas mckean, john risler, isaac nixon, robert brown, thomas mcgrath, matthew mcneil, edward kerven, john bennington, william h. graham, henry showalter, john dickey, john mcdonough, morris purcell, daniel ward, daniel valentine, jacob probasco, john bradfield, william reynolds, thomas brownfield, peter lenhart, james marlow, john w. mccollough, nicholas mccartney, john w. mcdowell, robert mcdowell, james snyder, lewis m. snyder, samuel shipley, elias gilmore, samuel rush, german d. hair, jackson brown, william c. stevens, john gadd, robert s. henderson, joseph lawson, michael thomas, charles rush, nicholas bradley, john bradley, daniel bradley, henry show, william griffin, robert mcdowell, esq., adam speers, james speers, william hatfield, thomas brown, thomas moxley, hiram miller, matthias fry, john wallace, john hardin, william hardin, john g. burnworth, henry sampey, henry clay rush, alex. mcdowell, benjamin miller, jefferson miller, john worthington, e. w. clement, john snider, hiram mitchell, john mitchell, william endsley, daniel augustine, john m. oliver, and many others, some of whose names appear in the accounts of the old commissioners in the appendix to this volume. [illustration: daniel steenrod.] the average result of a stone breaker in a single day was eight perches, and the price paid was twelve and a half cents per perch. tradition has it that robert s. mcdowell, still living in dunbar, fayette county, pennsylvania, was the speediest stone breaker on the road. he is the eldest son of "gate bob," elsewhere mentioned. in the year , when colonel hopkins was commissioner, robert s. mcdowell broke in one day sixteen perches and two feet. this was done on a bet, and in a contest with capt. elias gilmore. a string of stones one rod in length made two perches, under the gauge in use, and mcdowell's string measured eight rods and two feet. captain gilmore, who was one of the most vigorous men on the road, gave up the contest about the middle of the afternoon, and yielded the palm to mcdowell. peter kelley, who lived at searights, was one of the best and speediest stone breakers on the road. his occupation, for many years, was breaking stone on the pike, and near the close of his life he became an actor in a tragedy, which lost him his liberty, as well as his former good name. he was not a vicious man, but on occasions would indulge in immoderate drinking. on one of these occasions he killed william thornton, father of the hon. j. russell thornton, member of the legislature of pennsylvania for the county of fayette. kelley and thornton were returning from brownsville after nightfall, and quarrelled. when near the old brubaker tavern, thornton was struck by kelley, and killed. kelley was tried, convicted and sent to the penitentiary for a long term, and never thereafter returned to the familiar scenes of the old pike. alexander campbell, of somerfield, was one of the fastest stone breakers on the road, and robert hogsett, the well known millionaire of fayette county, pennsylvania, broke stones on the road when a boy. in the early work on the road, there was a requirement that stone for the lower stratum or bed should be broken so that the pieces would pass through a seven-inch ring, and for the upper stratum, which was six inches in thickness, would pass through a three-inch ring. old contractors provided rings of these dimensions, respectively, and enforced a strict compliance with the regulation mentioned. subsequently the rings fell into disuse, and were ultimately abandoned, but the stones spread over the surface of the road were always broken to small pieces. the hammer of the stone breaker was a very simple contrivance. it was of iron, round as an apple, weighing probably one pound, with a hole through the center for the insertion of a handle. the handle was of hickory wood, slender in the middle, with a thick end for the grasp of the hand. there was also a larger hammer, with a longer and stouter handle, used for breaking stones thrown into holes. in using this hammer the breaker stood on his feet, and in using the smaller one, sat on the stone pile, moving his position as his work advanced. in hot weather the stone breaker, in many instances, used a ready-made, movable bower, to ward off the scorching rays of the sun. about the year , some person whose name is forgotten, supposing himself endowed with inventive genius, constructed a machine for breaking stones. it was operated by horse power, proved a failure, and was laid aside to rot on the summit of laurel hill. the following table showing the heights of mountains and hills on the road is copied from the sketch by mr. veech, accompanying the map of fayette county, pennsylvania, before mentioned. it will be seen that it differs somewhat from the measurement of the commissioners who ran the original lines of the road, but it will be remembered that their measurement was from a point in the potomac, near cumberland, whereas the table below gives heights above the atlantic and above cumberland. this table also gives heights of hills, west of uniontown, and the heights furnished by the old commissioners, are of mountains and hills between cumberland and uniontown. as to the accuracy of, and authority for, this table, the author of this volume is not informed, but it seems to have been sanctioned and adopted by mr. veech, whose reputation as a local historian is unimpeachable. the table. above the atlantic. above cumberland. cumberland feet wills mountain " frostburg " big savage mountain " little savage mountain " red hill " meadow mountain " little crossings " negro mountain " keyser's ridge " winding ridge " smithfield " barren hill " woodcock hill " laurel hill " monroe " uniontown court house " colley's hill " brownsville " krepps' knob " beallsville " hillsboro " egg nog hill " washington " west alexander " wheeling hill " wheeling city " chapter xliv. _two noted old tavern keepers--thomas endsley and william sheets--the latter the driver of the first mail coach out from cumberland--a wedding party surprised, and a marriage prevented--william m. f. magraw, a well known man of the road._ a prominent and widely known man of the road was thomas endsley. he was born near richmond, virginia, in . he was the only child of parents who came from switzerland and settled in virginia at an early day. his mother was of an old family of gilberts, who were quakers, well known and much respected in their day and generation. his wife was mary mccloy, to whom he was wedded in the year . the offspring of his marriage consisted of eight children, five sons and three daughters. the sons were john, thomas, james, william and andrew jackson. the three last named are still living, james and william in somerfield, and andrew jackson in somerset. the daughters were mary ann, who became the wife of redding bunting, the noted old pike boy heretofore mentioned; nancy, who was the wife of j. squire hagan, another old pike boy; and julia, who in , married p. r. sides, and is now living with a son in new mexico. her husband died in missouri in , or thereabout. mrs. hagan died in uniontown in , and mrs. bunting died in the same place about five years ago. nancy endsley and squire hagan were married in . mrs. endsley, wife of thomas, the subject of this sketch, died in the stone tavern at somerfield in , and her husband died in the same house in . thomas endsley was an old wagoner before the cumberland road was constructed. in the years , , , , , and , he hauled goods and merchandise from baltimore to nashville, tennesse, to points in ohio and to brownsville, pennsylvania. he owned two six-horse teams, one of which he drove himself, and placed the other in charge of a hired driver. in spring and fall he was frequently compelled to remain with his teams at the old smith tavern, near the present town of somerfield, for several days awaiting the subsidence of freshets in the youghiogheny river, so that he could ford that stream, there being no other means of crossing at that time. the road was frequently in such condition by reason of mud, deep cuts, and other obstacles, that a whole day's progress did not cover a greater distance than three or four miles. to pass through jockey hollow it was often found necessary to attach twelve horses to one wagon. in the year thomas endsley moved from virginia to frostburg, maryland, and at that place commenced a career of tavern keeping, which terminated only with his death. he leased the old frost house in frostburg, and conducted it for three years. in he went to the tomlinson house, a prominent old landmark twenty-one miles west of cumberland. he occupied the tomlinson house for two years, and while there enjoyed the patronage of one of the stage lines. in december, , he bought the old smith farm at somerfield, lying on both sides of the road. on this farm was erected the large stone tavern house, at the eastern end of the big stone bridge which spans the youghiogheny river. for this property he paid $ , cash down, which shows the enhanced value of the property at that day by reason of contiguity with the national road. he took possession of this property on the first day of april, . the land was poor, the fences were dilapidated, and the general outlook unpromising. but mr. endsley was a man of great energy and good judgment, and going to work with determination, soon changed the aspect of things, and had flowers blooming and grass and grain growing, where before the eye had rested on nothing but briars, weeds and rocks, with here and there a scant appearance of sickly oats and buckwheat. it is said that he was the first man who ever attempted to raise corn and wheat in the neighborhood of somerfield, and old settlers jeered him for trying it. it was not long under his judicious management until his farm yielded thirty-five and forty bushels of wheat to the acre, and crops of corn equal to the best of the adjoining county of fayette. this farm continues in the possession of the descendants of thomas endsley. the northern portion of it is owned and occupied by the heirs of thomas endsley, jr., deceased, except the stone tavern, which with the southern portion of the farm, is owned and occupied by william endsley. while assiduous in bringing up his farm, thomas endsley was by no means neglectful of his tavern. he was always attentive and courteous to guests. his table was spread with well cooked victuals, and his rooms were clean and neat, so that altogether his house was one of the most inviting on the whole line of the road. the stockton line of coaches stopped at the endsley house during its entire career on the road, with the exception of a short time, when it was withdrawn by reason of a temporary estrangement between mr. stockton and mr. endsley. stockton was of a fiery temper, while mr. endsley was not slack in resenting a supposed wrong, and at one time in going over their accounts they disagreed, and each gave utterance to expressions not taught in the sunday schools. as a result, mr. stockton removed his stock from endsley's tavern and passed and repassed the house thereafter for awhile without casting a glance of recognition toward it. it was not long, however, until mr. endsley was surprised to see mr. stockton enter his house, extend his hand, and hear him say: "this foolishness has lasted long enough; my coaches must stop at this house." "when?" calmly queried mr. endsley. "to-morrow," said mr. stockton, and the old terms of friendship between them were restored, and continued as long as mr. stockton lived. as stated in another chapter mr. endsley was a slave owner, and frequently aided in the capture and return of fugitives. two of his slaves, peter and phebe butler, after acquiring their freedom, settled in brownsville, and died there. they were well known by the old people of brownsville, and held in high esteem. thomas endsley, in -' , in connection with james black, of somerfield, had contracts for taking up the original road bed on winding ridge and negro mountain, and proved himself as efficient in this line as in every other line of business he engaged in. he was imposing in personal appearance, well up to six feet in height, and weighed about two hundred pounds. he was an habitual reader, and a subscriber for the _cumberland civilian_ and the _national intelligencer_, from the time he lived in frostburg to the date of his death. he carefully and studiously read the long and prosy editorials of the _intelligencer_, as well as the speeches it published of henry clay, daniel webster, john c. calhoun, thomas h. benton, and other noted statesmen of that era. in a military company called "the addison blues," was organized, drawing its members from somerfield, petersburg and the surrounding neighborhood, of which thomas endsley was elected captain, and ever thereafter known and hailed as captain endsley. at all the old battalion parades in somerset, bedford and uniontown the "addison blues" bore off the palm for soldierly bearing, and especially for the stalwart size of its rank and file, all of whom were hardy mountaineers, and known and honored as "frosty sons of thunder." william sheets was a prominent character of the road, more widely known as a tavern keeper, than in any other relation. he was a remarkable man in many respects, and in none more than relates to his extreme longevity. he was born february d, , near martinsburg, berkeley county, virginia, and died may th, , in jefferson county, iowa. he was a wagoner before the cumberland road was made, and hauled goods from baltimore to points west, over the old braddock road. he also had some experience as a stage driver. his first venture as a tavern keeper was at or near the little crossings, where he remained but a short time, and did not do a paying business. leaving the little crossings, he went to negro mountain and took a house there. his first experience at negro mountain was attended by only limited success, and he abandoned tavern keeping and moved to a small house on jennings' run, about two miles west of uniontown, and near the old moxley tavern, then kept by william cox. in that vicinity he engaged in various pursuits, mostly of a precarious nature, with a downward tendency, accelerated by too much indulgence in drinking. this was between the years and , and probably a little earlier. he seemed to realize that his fortune was on the wane, and resolved to retrieve himself. he accordingly, by some means not ascertainable, secured a new lease on the negro mountain house which he had left, and returned to it. beginning life anew, as it were, he quit drinking and devoted himself energetically to business. it was not long until he established a good reputation and did a large and profitable business. his house was a favorite stopping place for hog drovers, and in the latter part of his career on negro mountain, the number of barrels of corn he bought and sold would count up to hundreds of thousands. the weary and hungry hog drover (pig pelter the pike boys termed him), as he trudged along the road in snow and slush, urging forward the lagging, grunting porkers, apparently reluctant to move on to the sure slaughter awaiting them, would cry out at intervals, and in despairing tones: "suboy, suboy, forty cents a day and no dinner; how far is it to sheets'?" for many years william sheets fed the hungry hogs, and their no less hungry owners and drivers, and while his profits were small, his business was so large that his accumulations in a few years aggregated a sum which made him a comfortable fortune. william g. beck, the old stage driver living in fairfield, iowa, before referred to, avers that william sheets drove the first mail coach out from cumberland that ever passed over the national road west of that place. this was in the year , and on kinkead's line of coaches. kinkead was an uncle of william g. beck, and a member of the old bridge building firm of kinkead, beck & evans, and an owner of the first stage line on the road, as before stated. the wife of william sheets was sarah wiggins, a sister of isaac wiggins, late of south union township, fayette county, pennsylvania, deceased, and an aunt of james h. wiggins, a prosperous and well known farmer of that township. she was an attractive girl, and had many suitors. one of her lovers was a man by the name of bradley, an employe of kinkead, before mentioned. she gave her hand to bradley, and consented to become his wife, and went so far as to appear upon the floor with bradley to have the knot tied by the rev. william brownfield. the relatives and friends of miss sarah were stoutly opposed to her alliance with bradley, and a moment before the old and renowned baptist parson began the ceremony of marriage, col. cuthbert wiggins, an uncle of the would-be-bride, and father of harrison wiggins, the old fox hunter of the mountains, appeared on the scene and carried miss sarah from the floor, thus abruptly terminating the pending nuptials, to the great astonishment of those in attendance, and causing much comment and town gossip. this unusual incident happened in a house on morgantown street, in uniontown, about the year . no subsequent effort was made by the parties most interested, to consummate the forbidden marriage, and the fair sarah, in a short time thereafter, forgetting her affection for bradley, became the wife of william sheets. the after career of bradley is unknown. he seems to have passed from the memory of men without making a sign. in the year william sheets took final leave of negro mountain and the scenes of the national road, and moved to jefferson county, iowa, where he made his last settlement, and died at the date above given. at his death he was the possessor of a large estate, chiefly in lands, which descends to his two surviving sons, isaac and joseph, and to the heirs of deceased sons and a deceased daughter. he had six sons and one daughter. bazil sheets, one of his sons, was an old wagoner, well remembered by the old citizens along the line of the road. [illustration: w. m. f. magraw] one of the smartest, best known and most picturesque men of the road forty years ago was william m. f. magraw. he was probably little known west of brownsville, as his business was for the most part on the line east of that point. he was a native of maryland, and belonged to an old and influential family of that state. his brother, harry, practiced law for several years in pittsburg, and served a term as state treasurer of pennsylvania from to . the magraws were intimate friends of james buchanan, and harry was a leader in the movements that led up to the nomination and election of that old time statesman to the presidency. w. m. f. magraw became identified with the national road as many others did, through a matrimonial alliance. his wife was a daughter of jacob sides, who owned the tomlinson tavern. his first business engagement in the vicinity of uniontown was with f. h. oliphant, the old iron master of fairchance. soon after engaging with mr. oliphant that gentleman put on a line of teams and wagons hereinbefore mentioned, to haul freights between brownsville and cumberland, and magraw was placed in charge of the line as its general road agent. this put him in communication with the people along the road, and established him in the ranks of the pike boys. he was a large, fine looking man, always well dressed, attracting attention wherever he appeared, and making friends by reason of his agreeable manners. he was not fleshy, but broad shouldered, tall and erect, of ruddy complexion, light hair, and habitually wore gold rimmed spectacles on account of some defect of vision. he was generous almost to a fault, and lavish in his personal expenditures. he spent much of his time in uniontown, making his headquarters with his friend joshua marsh, of the national house. his habits of living were different from the majority of the old pike boys, especially in the matter of eating, and he enjoyed a good supper at midnight, better than any other hour. he brought in game of all kinds from the mountain and had it served in savory style at the national house. he kept a carriage, and often had it ordered out as early as three and four o'clock in the afternoon, to go to the mountain, but lingered about the town, chatting with friends, until nightfall. he seemed to delight in driving over the mountain in the night. leaving uniontown about the dusk of the evening, he would reach the tomlinson tavern about daybreak the next morning. he called up the old tavern keepers along the road, all of whom knew him, chatted a while with them, took a mint julip, or something stiffer, and pushed on, and this was his habit as long as he remained on the road. he was a southern sympathizer during the war, and participated as a confederate partisan, in some of the irregular skirmishes in missouri, in the incipient stages of the long struggle. notwithstanding his southern sentiments, he was well liked by his northern acquaintances, and had many warm friends among them. there was no bitterness in his heart. he was clever and courteous to all. he had no stauncher friend than redding bunting, the good old stage driver, who was a pronounced union man. sometime near the close of the war, magraw appeared in harrisburg. upon being questioned as to the object of his mission, he said he had come to see the governor on behalf of the appointment of his old friend, red bunting, to the office of commissioner of the cumberland road. he knew the governor (curtin) personally. in fact, he knew nearly all the public men of his time. he called on the governor, and was cordially received. "what brought you here," queried the governor. "i came," said magraw, "to solicit the appointment of redding butting as commissioner of the cumberland road." "how does it come," further queried the governor, "that all you copperheads are for bunting?" "oh!" said magraw, "bunting is a good man, the right man for the place, and a good republican." "well," said the governor, "i guess i'll appoint him," and he did. mr. bunting was not aware that magraw intended to go to harrisburg in his behalf, which shows the disposition of the man. during the administration of president pierce, magraw had a contract for carrying the mails from the missouri boundary to western points beyond the plains. he suffered much loss by reason of indian invasions, and preferred a claim to congress for a large sum of money to reimburse him. while his bill was undergoing consideration by the committee, he appeared before it and emptied upon the floor a number of bags of mules ears, as evidence of his losses. his bill was passed. magraw died suddenly, in baltimore, a number of years ago, much lamented. his wife is also dead. he had a daughter, miss sallie, well remembered by the older citizens of uniontown, who is living in kansas city, a widow, in affluent circumstances. chapter xlv. _dumb ike--reminiscences of uniontown--isaac johnson--squire hagan--a musician astride of a hog--anecdote of judges black and williams--morgan miller, an old tavern keeper--philip krishbaum, an old stone cutter--crazy billy--highway robbery--slaves struggling for liberty--william willey, an old friend of the slaves--unsuccessful attempts at suicide by an old postmaster and an old drover--tom marshall, of kentucky, appears on the road and amuses the boys._ the national road had its variety, as all the ways of life have, and this variety added spice to it, and gave it much if not all of its flavor. there were high types, and low types, and queer types of life on the road. every section of the road had its noted character. there was marion smith (logan), who made his headquarters, for the most part, at searights, but a familiar figure all along the line between uniontown and brownsville. he stood ever ready to fetch the gear pole and insert it between the spokes of the hind wheels of the big wagon, the moment it was driven upon the yard at the old tavern in the evening, to rest for the night. he was likewise prompt in carrying the hay and grain to feed the big six horses that stood with their heads to the long, strong trough supported by the wagon tongue, and when this little job was done, his compensation was replete, and his topmost ambition realized in the big drink he took with the driver at the bar. and logan was further noted as an imitator of the rooster, and gave many a long, loud crow over democratic victories in the olden time. bill hickman will be readily recalled by the reader who is familiar with the history and traditions of the road, as an eccentric character. he gravitated between chalk hill and jockey hollow, and billy brubaker afforded amusement for the men of the road near brownsville. it would scarcely be doing justice to the nomenclature of the old road, without writing this name "bluebaker." there were many others of this class, but time and space will not permit a reference to them, and besides, this sketch is devoted especially to "dumb ike." his name was isaac griffin, or toner, and he belonged to the queer type in the above enumeration. he was not in fact dumb, but everybody called him "dumb ike." he was opaque and bright by turns. dr. hugh campbell once asked him why they called him dumb, and he said "he didn't know, unless because they were dumb themselves." isaac was born and reared in springhill township, fayette county, pennsylvania. the sound of the glories of the old pike reached his ears at his rural home, and he resolved to cast his lot upon it. it was previous to the year that he made his appearance in uniontown, and for the first time beheld the national road. when he shook the dust of springhill from his feet, it was with a high resolve to never engage in hard labor, a resolution he never thereafter broke. his ambition was to become a stage driver and it was irrepressible. he reached his goal. he obtained employment as a driver on one of the stage lines and approved himself a good one. not given to absolute steadiness of habit, his employment was not continuous, but he was held in reserve, as it were, to take the place of regular drivers in cases of accident or emergency. he could handle the reins and crack the whip equal to the best of drivers, and took good care of his team. he not only drove stage but was a driver on the express line, and perched on the high front seat of an express wagon, drawing the reins over four stout horses, was the personification of a proud and happy man. a little incident in the old national house on morgantown street, when that popular old hostelry was kept by the kind-hearted and gentle joshua marsh, goes to illustrate the eccentric ways of isaac. it was in the bar room. samuel mcdonald, a prominent citizen of the town, had occasion to call there, and among those in the room at the time was "dumb ike," with whom mcdonald was well acquainted, as was every other citizen. mcdonald invited isaac to take a drink, a proposition quite agreeable to him, and which he promptly accepted. standing at the bar with glass in hand, well filled, isaac felt it a duty to compliment his entertainer, and said: "mcdonald, i respect you," and hesitating, continued, "and probably i am the only man in town that does." isaac intended to be complimentary, and mcdonald knowing this, joined in the loud laughter of the bystanders over isaac's bull. during the prevalence of asiatic cholera in uniontown in , some one was speaking to isaac in reference to the fatality of the epidemic, and was much astounded to hear isaac say it was not cholera. "what then is it?" queried the other party. "it is death," retorted isaac. when isaac wished to express indignation against a person he thought was putting on airs, he called him "the great nates," and of conceited persons he said they were "great in their own _estimashing_." the writer has in his possession a boot jack made and given to him by "dumb ike" in . it is a clumsy specimen of mechanism, but prized on account of the maker and donor. isaac's patriotism was accelerated by a drink, and often under its influence he exclaimed with emphasis of voice and violent gesticulation of his right arm, "i am going to the district of columbia to see the goddess of liberty." when the war against the south assumed the shape of open and active hostilities, "dumb ike" volunteered as a soldier, and proudly marched to the front under the flag of the stars and stripes. he was assigned to duty in the transportation service, for which his experience eminently fitted him, and he died in the faithful discharge of duty, and was buried where he died, near the capitol of the republic beneath the shadow of the goddess of liberty, at whose shrine he was a devoted worshipper. at his death a small sum of money was on deposit to his credit in the old bank of fayette county, which was absorbed by claims for nursing and other services in his last illness. he left neither widow or heirs to survive him. his administrator was nathaniel brownfield, his old friend of the swan tavern in uniontown, where he made his headquarters for many years, and where he was living when he enlisted as a soldier. there were worse men and better men than "dumb ike," but no one who knew him will begrudge a good, kind word for his memory. isaac johnson, a former well known and respected citizen, who died at his residence near uniontown a number of years since, had occasion to visit the east in the year , and on his return home walked the entire distance from baltimore over the national road. his mission carried him as far east as new castle, delaware, and from that point to frenchtown he rode on the first passenger cars propelled by steam in the united states. he was a native of greene county, pennsylvania, and the father of david d. johnson, of fayette springs, who was commissioner of the road during the administration of governor beaver. squire hagan, who died in uniontown a few years ago, much lamented, father of miss maggie, the popular clerk in the uniontown postoffice, was a "green mountain boy," born in vermont, near montpelier, the capital of that state. the fame of the old national road was carried on the wings of the wind to the snow-capped hills of his native land, and he yearned for a share of its glories. his first appearance on the road was at somerfield, where, in the year , he owned and conducted a general store. the leading trait in the character of squire hagan was amiability, and the trend of his mind was toward philosophy. he was widely known along the line of the road, and highly respected. william hunsucker was a hog drover from greene county, pennsylvania, and the boys called him "suboy bill." upon being asked who owned the hogs he was driving, and where they came from, he replied in words that jingled thus: "mr. lindsey is the owner, they call me suboy bill, the hogs came out from greene county, near the village of blacksville." it is said that joe williams, a wit, musician, comedian, lawyer, and in his riper years chief justice of the territorial court of iowa, once straddled a big black hog in a drove, and rode it through the main street of uniontown, playing a clarionet. judge williams was born in somerset county, pennsylvania, and was a brother of mrs. william murphy, who lives near uniontown. hon. jeremiah s. black, of national fame, and joe williams were cronies in their boyhood days. williams visited new york after he became chief justice, and it happened that judge black was in that city at the same time. a morning paper stated that judge black was a guest at the astor house, and this falling under the eye of williams, he proceeded hastily to the hotel to see his old friend. he walked into his room, to discover that he was out, and seeing writing material on the table, indited the following lines, which he left in the room for judge black's perusal, on his return: "the salutations of the chief justice of iowa, to the chief justice of pennsylvania: "oh, jerry, dear jerry, i have found you at last! how memory, burdened with scenes of the past, restores me to somerset's mountains of snow, when you were but jerry, and i was but joe." morgan miller kept a tavern on morgantown street, uniontown, as early as , and probably before that time. his house was a dingy frame structure, painted red, which time and storm made a dead red. the location was on the hill near the old baptist church, in that day called "prospect hill." at this old tavern many persons of the neighborhood were accustomed to spend their evenings in drinking and gossipping. among its patrons were philip krishbaum, a stone cutter, and abram brown, a farmer. krishbaum had some aptitude in making rhymes, a talent he found useful in his business of chiseling tomb-stones. after spending an hour or two, one evening, in alternate drinking and gossipping with his friend brown, he rose from his chair and remarked that he must take a drink and go, as he had to finish some lettering on a tomb-stone. "stay awhile," said brown, "and write an epitaph for my tomb-stone, and i will treat." "agreed," said krishbaum, who, taking up a pen, wrote this: "here lies the body of abram brown, who lived three miles from uniontown. the more he got, the more he craved, great god! can such a soul be saved!" brown paid for the drinks. seeing that krishbaum had made a success of the brown epitaph, miller, the landlord, requested him to write one for his tomb-stone, which he did, as follows: "here lies the body of morgan miller, who has drunk the whisky of many a 'stiller. he once lived up on prospect hill, and sold his whisky by the gill." [illustration: crazy billy.] the well known character brought to mind by the name of "crazy billy," was at no time in his strange life engaged in any pursuit connected with the national road, but his long stay at uniontown, covering a period of fifty years and more, entitles him to a place in this history. he was well known to many of the stage drivers, wagoners and tavern keepers of the road, and to every man, woman and child in uniontown. his name was william stanford, and he was horn in england. it was evident that he had been well bred, and had received some education. he was often heard quoting from the liturgy of the church of england. he was brought to uniontown about the year , and closely confined in the county jail. his first appearance in fayette county was in springhill township, whither he wandered without any apparent object, and no one knew whence he came. on a certain day of the year above mentioned, he was discovered alone in the house of one crow, in the said township of springhill. the crow family had all been absent during the day, and upon their return in the evening were surprised to find an occupant within, and the doors and windows securely fastened. after reconnoitering the premises the family discovered that it was the manifest intention of the strange intruder to "hold the fort." in this state of the case mr. crow proceeded to a neighboring justice of the peace, made complaint, and obtained a warrant, which was placed in the hands of the township constable, who with the aid of the local _posse comitatus_ hastily summoned, entered the beleagured dwelling, arrested the intruder, took him to uniontown, and lodged him in the county jail, in and around which he remained from that time until the date of his death, which occurred on the th day of january, . soon after his incarceration one john updergraff was committed to the jail for disorderly conduct on the streets, and after the keys had been turned, "billy" fell upon the new prisoner, and killed him outright. he was indicted and tried for murder, but acquitted on the plea of insanity, and remanded to jail. henceforth, and to the time hereafter mentioned, he was heavily ironed and chained fast to the jail floor. william snyder was elected sheriff in , and a few months after his induction to the office, his wife, who was a good and discerning woman, observed some redeeming qualities in the nature of the chained lunatic, and concluded that it would be wise and safe, as well as humane, to remove his fetters. accordingly with the aid of her son james, who was a sort of general deputy about the jail and office, she released "billy" from the chains which had so long bound and chafed him, and permitted him to walk about his dingy cell, untramelled. gradually he gained the confidence of the sheriff's family and after a season was permitted to enter the official mansion, and move about at pleasure. he showed an inclination to care for the sheriff's horses, and was permitted to feed and clean them, exhibiting much skill in this line. about this time, james snyder having occasion to visit monroe, told "billy" that he might go with him if he chose. pleased with the opportunity, "billy" placed saddles and bridles on two horses, mounted one himself, and snyder the other, and off they sped to monroe. it was an agreeable trip to "billy"; the first time in many years, that he had enjoyed the privilege of seeing the country and snuffing the pure air of liberty. after this, he rode out frequently with the deputy to various parts of the county; but his mind was never fully restored. he was incoherent, and given to unintelligible mutterings. as time wore on, the people of the town became familiar with "crazy billy," and as before stated everybody knew him. he carried letters, and performed errands for the county officers, for many years, and up to the date of his last illness, and his fidelity was proverbial. nothing could divert him from the faithful execution of any little mission he undertook. in addition to his constant mutterings before alluded to, he was a habitual scribbler. he entered any of the offices in the court house at pleasure, and invariably sat down and began to scribble. he wrote a fairly good hand, but there was no intelligence in his writing, or rather no connected thought. one of his favorite lines was this: "i am a bold boy in his prime." he would write this as often as a dozen times a day. another of his favorite screeds was this: "he drew his sword and pistol, and made them for to rattle, and the lady held the horse, while the soldier fought the battle." the garb in which "billy" from day to day appeared, was of the shabby order, and he paid little heed as a rule to personal cleanliness. his ablutions were periodical, but when he did indulge in them, they were thorough. he had a habit of rubbing his head with both hands, and would sit engaged in this exercise as long as an hour at a time, with great energy. he never would submit to an interview. he talked much, but always on the run. if approached by anyone with a purpose of conversing with him, he invariably walked off muttering in loud tones as he moved away. he wore a full beard, which in his latter years was quite gray. he had a small foot and hand, and many marks of intellectuality. after his death his body lay in state in the court house at uniontown, and was viewed by thousands. he was buried in oak grove cemetery, near uniontown, with the rites of the episcopal church, under direction of the late lamented rev. r. s. smith. a section of one of the stone columns of the old uniontown court house is made to serve as a monument over his grave. maj. jesse b. gardner of uniontown, who attended "billy" in his last illness, gives the following pathetic narration of his closing hours. until the last ebb, he continued to utter the sonorous and unintelligible mutterings so familiar to those who knew him, but in the final throe, he turned his eyes upon his attendant and exclaimed: "oh, gardner, if i could only see my mother!" this was not a lucid interval, in the ordinary meaning of that phrase, but an expiring thought, a final flash of affection, a wonderful testimonial to the sweetest of all names, and a most forcible and striking illustration of the ineffaceable impression made by a mother's care and love, and all the more, since at no time before, during his long sojourn at uniontown, was he ever known to have mentioned his mother, or his father. a poor, unfortunate lunatic, separated for more than a half century from the parental roof, a stranger in a strange land, tossed by the billows of a hard fate, and lying down to die, light flashes upon his long distempered mind, and his last and only thought is "mother." the year developed one of the most extraordinary examples of grand larceny that ever occurred on the road, and excited the people all along the line from baltimore to the farthest point west. during the early spring of the year mentioned a merchant whose name was abraham boring, doing business in an ohio town, took passage in a coach of one of the regular stage lines for baltimore to purchase a stock of fresh goods. at tomlinson's tavern, west of cumberland, john keagy and david crider, merchants, of salisbury, somerset county, pennsylvania, took seats in the same coach that was conveying boring, destined also for baltimore, on a like mission. it required considerable time to reach baltimore, and passengers in a stage coach became acquainted, one with another. the three merchants not only became personally acquainted with each other, during their long stage ride, but formed strong friendly relations. reaching baltimore they stopped together at the same hotel and talked over their business, the quality and quantity of goods required by each, forming the leading topic of their conversation. they went out among the wholesale stores of the city and bought the goods they desired, the stock purchased by mr. boring being much larger, finer and more varied than the stock bought by the somerset county merchants. upon completing his purchases, mr. boring's first thought was to have his goods safely shipped upon the best terms obtainable. messrs. keagy and crider kindly tendered their services to aid him in engaging a trusty wagoner to haul his goods to ohio, and introduced one edward tissue as the right man for that purpose. tissue was engaged, but one wagon bed would not hold all the goods, and tissue brought in and introduced another wagoner by the name of edward mitchell, who was engaged to haul the remnant that could not be handled by tissue. mr. boring having arranged for the transportation of his goods, said good-bye to his friends keagy and crider, and left for his home in ohio. his goods, not arriving when due, he supposed some accident had caused a delay, and that they would be forthcoming as soon as practicable. but days and weeks passed and mr. boring began to feel uneasy about the long delay, and wrote the consignors in baltimore for an explanation. they replied that the goods had been carefully loaded in the wagons of tissue and mitchell, according to the agreement, and they knew nothing of their destiny beyond that. boring then took to the road to find his goods. he went first to baltimore and learned that tissue and mitchell had left the city with the goods in their wagons, and proceeded westward. he traced them as far as hagerstown, and at that point lost his clue. he proceeded to cumberland without tidings of his lost goods. from cumberland he went on, making inquiry at every tavern and toll gate, until he reached somerfield, but heard nothing of tissue or his companion, mitchell. he put up for the night at a tavern in somerfield, and while at supper discovered an important clue. the waiting maid at the table wore a tortoise shell comb, resembling very much those in a package he had bought in baltimore. in polite and delicate terms he inquired of the girl where she obtained so handsome a comb. she replied, "in a store at salisbury." in an instant mr. boring recalled his fellow merchants and recent fellow travelers, messrs. keagy and crider, of salisbury, but concluding that they had purchased the same quality of combs in baltimore, went to bed, with a purpose of continuing his researches along the national road. during the night he changed his purpose, and in the morning returned to tomlinson's tavern, and thence directly to salisbury. reaching salisbury he entered a store, and to his amazement saw upon the counters and shelves various articles, which he recognized as belonging to his stock. investigation disclosed a remarkable example of criminal conduct. keagy, crider, tissue and mitchell entered into a conspiracy to steal boring's goods. the acquaintance formed in the stage coach constituted the initial point of the scheme, and keagy and crider found ready confederates in tissue and mitchell. there was of course to be a division of the spoils, but in what proportion never was made public. the wagoners to avoid identification changed the color of their wagon beds, and upon reaching hagerstown diverged from the national road and took the country by-ways. the goods were placed at first in a large barn in the vicinity of salisbury, and thence carried in small lots to the store of keagy & co. a portion of the goods consisting of fine china ware, thought to be too expensive for the salisbury trade, was broken up and buried under ground. there was a third owner of the salisbury store by the name of markley, who did not accompany his partners on their tour to raise stock. boring, after thoroughly satisfying himself that he had found his goods, proceeded to somerset and swore out a warrant against the parties accused. the warrant was placed for execution in the hands of ---- philson, the sheriff of somerset county. keagy was first arrested and promptly gave bail for trial, but goaded by the weight of his offense, soon thereafter committed suicide. tissue fled the jurisdiction and was never apprehended. crider also fled and located in some of the wilds of that early day in the state of ohio, where he married and raised a family, and, it is said, has living descendants to this day. markley essayed to flee, but made a failure of it. giving out the impression that he had followed in the wake of tissue and crider, he concealed himself in the woods not far from salisbury, and was supplied with food by a devoted wife. one sloan, however, happened to fall upon his hiding place and he was arrested. markley owed sloan a sum of money and proposed to settle if sloan would release him from custody. to this sloan assented. markley had no ready money, but owned property and proffered his note, which sloan agreed to accept. but no means were at hand to prepare a note. after canvassing the situation for a while a pen was made from a stick of wood, ink obtained from stump water, and sloan producing a scrap of paper, a note was prepared and duly signed by markley for the sum he owed sloan, and the money subsequently paid by markley's wife. sloan promised markley that he would not make known his hiding place, but it leaked out and he was arrested by the sheriff. he requested permission of the sheriff to go to his house to change his clothes, which was granted him, and taking advantage of the sheriff's indulgence, fled to parts unknown. his wife rejoined him in after years at some point in the west. mention was hereinbefore made of the tragical death of atwell holland, killed by a fugitive slave on the th of july, , at an old tavern in the mountain. in this connection it is proper to state, that fugitive slaves were frequently captured on the national road, and returned to their masters. capt. thomas endsley, an old tavern keeper, mentioned elsewhere, once had a terrible conflict with three powerful fugitive slaves, at his barn near somerfield. without assistance and against most determined resistance, he succeeded in capturing two of them and returning them to their owner or master. the third escaped and became a free man. capt. endsley was himself a slave owner as before stated. he owned and used slaves when he lived at frostburg, and also during his incumbency as landlord at the old tomlinson tavern, and brought eight with him when he located at somerfield in . like all other old slave owners, he thought there was no wrong in owning slaves and considered it a conscientious duty to aid in capturing and returning fugitives. his sons, however, probably from witnessing the struggles of the slaves to gain their freedom against the efforts of their father, all grew up to be abolitionists, and abide in the anti-slavery faith to this day. one of the most untiring and devoted friends of escaping slaves, was william willey of somerfield. he was a shoemaker without means, yet it is said that he secreted, fed and otherwise aided more fugitive slaves than any other man on the national road. he is known to have harbored as many as eight and ten in a single night, in his lowly tenement. he was a native of baltimore, and reared a democrat. those of his friends who survive him regard him as a philanthropist, worthy of a granite monument. the wife of william e. beall, the well known manager of the uniontown steel mill, a most excellent lady, is a daughter of william willey, the old friend of the escaping slaves. in the year the postoffice at somerfield was in the brick house, on the south side of the street, known as the irvin house. john blocher was postmaster. the old line of coaches, carrying the mail, stopped at the endsley house. it was customary for the driver after reaching the tavern to carry the way mail pouch on his shoulders to the postoffice. one evening charley kemp drove the mail coach in from the west, and upon going to the office with the mail, found the door locked, and was unable, after repeated efforts, to gain admittance. going around to a window, he looked through the glass into the office, and was horrified by seeing blocher, the postmaster, lying on the floor, weltering in blood, and forcing his way into the room discovered that his throat was cut. dr. frey was summoned, and applied agencies first to arrest the flow of blood, and then sewed up the gash, and to the surprise of all, the man recovered and lived for many years thereafter. in john waters, a cattle drover of ohio, fell sick at frazer's tavern, in somerfield, and languished for many weeks. his mind becoming affected by reason of his severe bodily suffering, he rose from his bed one evening when alone, opened his pocketbook and tore into small fragments a number of good bank notes of the aggregate value of $ . he then deliberately cut his throat. when discovered he was lying on his back on the floor, and small pieces of bank notes were seen floating in blood all around his body. dr. frey was summoned on this occasion also, and under his treatment the much dejected old drover was restored, and afterward took many droves of cattle over the road to baltimore. the fragments of notes were gathered up, carefully cleaned, dried and fitted together with mucilage, so that the loss of money was inconsiderable. some time during the year or ' a rather tall and cadaverous looking individual, presenting the appearance of a man on a protracted spree, was observed coming down the hill into somerfield from the east, walking and leading a beautiful bay horse, equipped with a handsome saddle and bridle. the quaint looking and quaint moving stranger halted to converse with a cluster of boys, who were sitting on the pavement in front of endsley's tavern, near the stone bridge at the big crossings. he told the boys so many amusing stories, that they reckoned him to be the clown of a coming circus. that man was tom marshall, one of the brightest of kentucky's many bright sons, a brilliant lawyer, orator and statesman, who carried off the palm in every intellectual combat he ever engaged in save one, and that was when he locked horns with henry clay. the horse led by marshall was a favorite animal which he kept and used in washington, while attending the sittings of congress. he frequently passed over the road in the manner described, and often tarried several days and nights in uniontown. many of the surviving pike boys remember marshall with distinctness. chapter xlvi. _the arrest, trial, conviction and sentence of dr. john f. braddee, the notorious mail robber--george plitt makes the information--bill corman turns on his chief--braddee gives bail--his bondsmen--strayer and purnell--the witnesses--the indictment--the jury--the verdict--the defendant dies in the penitentiary._ there is no doubt that dr. john f. braddee was the most notorious individual that ever lived in uniontown. the exact date of his advent to that place seems to be unascertainable, but it was more than fifty years ago. the culmination of his remarkable career occurred in . of his early life but little is accurately known. it is certain that he came to uniontown from virginia. tradition has it that he was born in kentucky. the story goes that when quite a youth he engaged himself as a stable boy, in the service of a gentleman who dealt in horses in the town of paris, state of kentucky. his employer was accustomed to drive horses to the eastern market for sale, and on one of these occasions young braddee was taken along as an assistant. the horses were driven over what was called the "north western pike of virginia." at some point on this old road braddee fell sick and was left behind. alter his recovery he made his way to uniontown, stopping for a while in, or about morgantown. notwithstanding his robust appearance, which will be remembered by his old acquaintances, it is said that when a boy he was delicate and inclined to consumption. this is the story, whether true or not is immaterial in view of his subsequent history. when he reached uniontown, he was not known to be the owner of a single dollar, that he might call his own. without education or professional training, he announced himself a physician, and commenced the practice of medicine. his success was remarkable. he had a commanding personal appearance, a good address, and by these means alone impressed himself upon the confidence of the common mind. he gathered around himself a large circle of friends and admirers, some of doubtful, but not a few of unquestioned reputation. his fame as a doctor extended far and wide, patients flocked to consult him from all points. many came hundreds of miles. fifty horses have been seen hitched around his office at one time. he possessed and cultivated a fondness for fast horses, probably the result of his early education in the stable at paris, kentucky. he always kept a number of race horses in training for the turf, and often matched them against others on the race course. in this line his success was varying, sometimes he won and as often lost, but losses did not diminish his love for the race course. the accumulations received from his large practice of medicine, and his winnings on the race course did not satisfy his greed for gain, and he conceived and carried into execution an extraordinary scheme for increasing his gains. it was nothing less than a carefully organized plan to rob the united states mail. his success as a physician had enabled him to acquire property, and he had not been living in uniontown long until he possessed himself of one of the most handsome and valuable properties in the place, viz: the property known as the "old national house," on morgantown street. he bought this property from hon. thomas irwin, who afterwards sat as one of his judges in the famous trial to be hereafter mentioned. when braddee bought this property, it contained only a single building, the three story brick on the southern side of the lot. he added the wing to the north, and here he established his headquarters, carrying on his business, professional and unprofessional, with a high hand. his office was convenient, in fact immediately adjoining stockton's stage yard and coach factory. into this stage yard, coaches were driven every day. stockton had the contract for carrying the mails. the old pike was in full blast then, and as many as thirty coaches were driven along it both ways every day. among the coaches carrying the great and lesser mails, one william corman was a driver, and braddee cultivated his acquaintance and secured his confidence. he assured him that money could be made easily by rifling the mail bags, and promised corman that if he would hand him the bags, he would "go through them" and divide profits with him. corman consented. it was of course soon discovered that the mails were tampered with, and united states detectives were set upon the tracks of the offenders. they were not long in ascertaining the guilty parties. corman was arrested and told the whole story. braddee had other accomplices, viz: p. mills strayer, and dr. wm. purnell. strayer was a saddler, who carried on a shop in uniontown, and died only a few years ago. purnell was a sort of body servant of braddee, and for many years after braddee's death peddled braddee's medicine through fayette and adjoining counties. braddee was arrested on information made by wm. corman, and his arrest caused more excitement than any event that ever transpired in uniontown. the information. _pennsylvania, fayette county, ss_: george plitt, agent of the p. o. department, being duly sworn, says that the united states mail from wheeling, virginia, to new york, traveling on the national road, has been stolen, to-wit: the mails made up at wheeling on the th, th, d and th of november, , and on the th, th and th of december, , and that he has reason to suspect and does suspect and believe that wm. corman, who on those days drove the mail stage containing said mail from washington to uniontown, pennsylvania, is guilty, with others of stealing said mails. geo. plitt, _agt. p.o. dept._ sworn and subscribed this th day of january, a. d. , before me. n. ewing, _prest. judge th judicial district, pennsylvania_. same day warrant issued, directed to the sheriff of washington county, and to all other sheriffs and constables within the fourteenth judicial district. * * * * * george plitt, agent of the p. o. department, being duly sworn, says that the united states mails from wheeling, virginia, to new york, traveling on the national road, has been stolen, to-wit: the mails made up at wheeling on the th, th, d and th of november, , and on the th, th, and th of december, , and that he has reason to suspect, and does suspect and believe that john f. braddee, william purnell, and peter mills strayer, with others, are guilty of stealing the mails. geo. plitt, _agt. p.o. dept._ sworn and subscribed this th day of january, a. d. , before n. ewing, _prest. judge th judicial district, pennsylvania_. same day warrant issued to george meason, esq., sheriff of fayette county, and to all constables. * * * * * _the united states of america vs. john f. braddee, william purnell, et al._ william corman, being duly sworn, says that more than one year ago john f. braddee repeatedly urged him to let him, the said braddee, have some of the mail bags from the mail coach, and that he would divide the money taken from them with said corman. said braddee said he had frequently known such things done, and that lots of money had thus been made, and it had never been detected. while said corman was driving the mail coach between smithfield and uniontown last winter, the said braddee sent peter mills strayer frequently in a sleigh after him to get a mail bag containing a mail--that at length he, said strayer, took one from the coach, which was then on runners, while he, the said corman, was watering at snyder's, east of the laurel hill. that braddee afterwards told him that there was nothing in it. that he knows of no other mail being taken until within about two months past, when he, the said corman, was driving between uniontown and washington, and when at the instance and after repeated and urgent requests of said braddee he commenced leaving a mail pouch or bag in the stage coach, when the coaches were changed at uniontown, and continued to do so at intervals of (say) a week, ten days or two weeks, until within a week or ten days before christmas. that the said mail bags were taken from the coach by said braddee or some one under his direction. that braddee after the taking of said mails would sometimes say there was nothing in them, and again that others had but little money in them. one he said had but fifteen dollars. the last but one gotten, as before stated, he said had a large amount of money in it, but he was going to keep it secretly--bury it until the fuss was over. that said braddee said he had a secret place out of doors where he could hide the mail bags so that they could not be found. that said braddee from time to time gave him three dollars or five dollars as he asked for it, and once ten dollars; and loaned him forty dollars when his (corman's) wife was going away. that william purnell several times after a mail bag had been taken, would take him, said corman, aside and whisper to him that the bag had nothing in it. that on the day before yesterday he was several times at said braddee's house and braddee wished him to leave a mail bag in the coach for him when he, said corman, should return from washington last night. that said braddee very often wished him to leave a mail bag when he did not. that he, braddee, requested him to leave the large mail bag in the coach for him, but he never did do it. william corman. sworn and subscribed this th day of january, a. d. , before me n. ewing, _pres. judge of the th jud. dist., pa._ dr. howard kennedy also made a preliminary affidavit, which is given in a previous chapter. warrant of arrest. _the united states of america to george meason, esq., high sheriff of fayette county, pa., and to all constables of said county_: whereas, john f. braddee, william purnell and peter mills strayer have been charged before me, the president judge of the fourteenth judicial district in the said state, on the oath of george plitt, an agent of the post office department, with stealing the united states mails from wheeling to new york, these are therefore to command you, and each of you, to take the said john f. braddee, william purnell and peter mills strayer, and bring them before me, or some other magistrate having jurisdiction, to be dealt with according to law. witness the hand and seal of the said n. ewing, president judge as aforesaid, at uniontown, the th day of january, a. d. . n. ewing, [seal.] _pres. judge of the th jud. dist., pa._ * * * * * _pennsylvania, fayette county, ss_: the examination of dr. john f. braddee, of the borough of uniontown, fayette county, pa., taken before me, n. ewing, president judge of the fourteenth judicial district of pennsylvania, the th day of january, a. d. . the said john f. braddee being brought before me by virtue of a warrant issued by me, on suspicion of stealing the united states mails from wheeling, va., to new york, made up at wheeling on the th, th, d and th days of november, ; and on the th, th and th days of december, , says: i know nothing about the alleged stealing of the mails. his john f. Ã� braddee, mark. taken and subscribed before me, n. ewing, january , . _pres. judge th jud. dist. of pa._ * * * * * _pennsylvania, fayette county, ss_: the examination of peter mills strayer, of the borough of uniontown, fayette county. pa., taken before me, n. ewing, president judge of the fourteenth judicial district of pennsylvania, on the th day of january, a. d. . the said peter mills strayer being brought before me by virtue of a warrant issued by me, on suspicion of stealing the united states mails from wheeling, va., to new york, made up at wheeling on the th, th, d and th days of november, and on the th, th, and th days of december, , says: i know nothing about the mail bags or the stealing of the mails. p. m. strayer. taken and subscribed before me, n. ewing, _pres. judge th dist. of pa._ january , . * * * * * _the united stales of america, fayette county, pennsylvania, ss_: the united states of america vs. john f. braddee. january , , ordered that john f. braddee enter into security himself in fifty thousand dollars, and two sufficient sureties in $ , each. prisoner remanded until monday, the th instant, at o'clock a. m., to afford time to procure bail. the same vs. peter mills strayer, january th, , ordered that peter mills strayer enter into security himself in $ , , and two sufficient sureties in $ , each. prisoner remanded until monday, the th instant, at o'clock, to afford time to procure bail. the same vs. william purnell. january th, . ordered that william purnell enter into security himself in $ , , and two sufficient sureties in $ , each. prisoner remanded as above, etc. january , . monday, o'clock, a.m. prisoners ordered before the judge. prisoners say they are not provided with bail and ask further time, until say three o'clock p.m. three o'clock, p.m., no bail being offered the defendants are committed to the custody of the marshal of the western district of pennsylvania. n. ewing, _pres. judge, th jud. dist., pa_. mittimus. _the united states of america, fayette county, pennsylvania, ss_: the united states of america to the marshal of the western district of pennsylvania, greeting: whereas, john f. braddee, of the borough of uniontown, in the county aforesaid, hath been brought before the hon. nathaniel ewing, president judge of the fourteenth judicial district of pennsylvania, by virtue of the warrant of the hon. nathaniel ewing, president judge as aforesaid, charged upon the solemn oath of george plitt, agent of the general post office department, with stealing the united states mails made up at wheeling, virginia, for new york, on the th, th, d and th days of november, --and on the th, th and th days of december, . these are therefore to command you the said marshall to receive the said john p. braddee, and keep him in safe custody until he be delivered by due course of law. hereof fail not. witness the hon. nathaniel ewing, president judge as aforesaid, at uniontown, the eleventh day of january, anno domini . n. ewing, _pres. judge of the th jud. dist., pa_. * * * * * _the united states of america vs. john f. braddee, william purnell, peter mills strayer and william corman, charged on oath of several robberies of the u. s. mail._ george meason tent in $ , ; william crawford tent in $ , ; william freeman tent in $ , ; james mccune tent in $ , . on this condition, that the said george meason, william crawford, william freeman and james mccune shall be and appear at the next circuit court of the united states, to be held for the western district of pennsylvania on the third monday of may next, and give testimony in ---- of the said united states against the said john f. braddee, william purnell, peter mills strayer and william corman, and not depart the court without leave, otherwise the recognizance to be in full force and virtue. geo. meason, [seal.] wm. crawford, [seal.] jas. mccune, [seal.] wm. freeman. [seal.] taken and acknowledged this th day of january, a. d. . _coram_, t. irwin, _dist. judge of the u. s., western dist. of pa_. u. s. commitment. _united states of america, western district of pennsylvania, ss_: the united states of america to the marshal of the western district of pennsylvania and his deputies, to any constable of the county of allegheny, and to the jailer of said county of allegheny, greeting: whereas, john f. braddee, william purnell and peter mills strayer are now brought before me, the hon. thomas irwin, esquire, judge of the district court of the united states for the western district of pennsylvania, charged on the oath of george plitt, william corman and others, with stealing the united states mail made up at wheeling on the th, th, d and th days of november, a.d. , and on the th, th and th days of december, . these are therefore to command you, the said marshal, constable or jailer, or either of you, to convey the said john f. braddee, william purnell and peter mills strayer to the said jailer of allegheny county, and you, the said jailer, are hereby commanded to receive and keep safely the said john f. braddee, william purnell and peter mills strayer in your jail until they thence be discharged by due course of law. for so doing this shall be your warrant. in testimony whereof the said hon. thomas irwin, esq., has hereunto set his hand and seal, this th day of january, a. d. . (signed) th. irwin, [seal.] _district judge, u. s._ * * * * * pittsburg, penna., th of jan'y, . howard kennedy, special agent of the post office department, in addition to the testimony given by him before his honor judge ewing, in the case of the united states against braddee, purnell, strayer and corman, relative to the probable loss of money, drafts, &c., in the stolen mails, further deposes, that since that time he has received reports from various persons and places in the west of letters mailed at dates which would have by due course of mail been in the bags stolen, containing bank notes, scrip, certificates, drafts and checks, amounting to one hundred and two thousand dollars and upwards; that every mail brings him additional reports of losses, and that he believes the amounts reported will not constitute more than one-half of what has been lost in the mails between the th of nov., and the th of dec., , on the route from wheeling to new york. howard kennedy, _special agent p. o. dep't._ sworn and subscribed before me the th january, . t. irwin, _district judge_. petitions for habeas corpus. _to the hon. thomas irwin, judge of the united states court of the western district of pennsylvania_: the petition of william purnell respectfully represents that your petitioner is now confined in the jail of allegheny county, in obedience to a warrant of commitment, a true copy of which is prefixed to this petition. your petitioner humbly prays your honor to award a _habeas corpus_, that he may be bailed by sufficient sureties, according to the first article and ninth section of the constitution of the united states, january , . william purnell. _to the hon. thomas irwin, judge of the court of the united states for the western district of pennsylvania_: the petition of doctor john f. braddee respectfully represents that your petitioner is now confined in the jail of allegheny county, in obedience to a warrant of commitment, a true copy of which is prefixed to this petition. your petitioner humbly prays your honor to award a _habeas corpus_, that he may be bailed by sufficient sureties, according to the first article and ninth section of the constitution of the united states. the united states _vs_. john f. braddee. his john f. Ã� braddee. mark. petition for _habeas corpus_ granted, and issued january , . the same _vs._ wm. purnell, _alias_ william purnell, january , . * * * * * _united states vs. braddee._ let a _habeas corpus_ issue in this case according to the prayer of the petitioner, returnable forthwith. thomas irwin, _district judge_. e. j. roberts, esq., _clerk_. january , . _united states vs. purnell._ let a _habeas corpus_ issue in this case according to the prayer of the petitioner, returnable forthwith. thomas irwin, _district judge, western district of pennsylvania_. e. j. roberts, esq., _cl'k d. court_. the writ and jailer's return. _western district of pennsylvania, ss_: the president of the united states to the marshal of said district, and the jailer of allegheny county, greeting: we command you the body of john f. braddee in your custody, under safe and secure conduct before the hon. thomas irwin, judge of our district court, at his chambers in the city of pittsburgh, together with the day and cause of his said caption and detention, forthwith then and there to be subject to whatsoever our said judge shall consider in that behalf, and have you then there this writ. witness the hon. thomas irwin, judge of the united states for said district, at pittsburg, the twenty-eighth day of january, a. d. eighteen hundred and forty-one. e. j. roberts, _clerk_. the body of the above named john f. braddee i have brought before your honor, together with day and cause of his being detained, in obedience to the writ. so answers jas. mccune, jailer of allegheny county. to the hon. thomas irwin. bond and bondsmen. _the u. s. vs. john f. braddee, application to be admitted to bail, jan. , ._ the following named persons being sworn, depose, that they are worth severally as follows: hugh graham, $ , ; benjamin brownfield, $ , ; isaac hague, $ , ; henry smith, $ , ; r. laughlin, $ , ; emanuel brown, $ , ; b. brown, $ , ; d. s. diamond, $ , ; thomas moxley, $ , ; michael franks, $ , ; abraham white, $ ; jacob humbert, $ ; peter humbert, $ , ; andrew mcclelland, $ , . _coram_, t. irwin. these amounts were taken from the property lists in the commissioners office of fayette county, pa. abraham brown, $ , ; benjamin brown, $ , ; emanuel brown, $ , ; benjamin brownfield, $ , ; michael franks, $ , ; henry smith, $ , ; andrew mcclelland, $ , ; peter humbert, $ , ; isaac hague, $ , ; isaac brown, $ , ; *hugh graham, $ , ; samuel hatfield, $ , ; thomas moxley, $ , ; *david chipps, $ . names marked with a star, are already security for hugh keys, canal commissioner, with wm. searight, for $ , , and also on the bond of thompson mckean, late road commissioner, for a large amount. points raised before the committing magistrate: quere.--can bail be given on any other species of property than real estate? quere.--are not these persons indemnified? if so, how? would it be policy to recognize them as witnesses on the part of the united states? quere.--the order is that two sureties in $ , each should be furnished--will any other members be taken? * * * * * _the united states vs. john f. braddee._ in the circuit and district courts of the united states, for the western district of pennsylvania, charged with the larceny of the u. s. mail or mails and stealing therefrom. hugh graham, benjamin brownfield, isaac hague, henry smith, robert laughlin, emanuel brown, daniel diamond, thomas moxley, michael franks, abraham white, jacob humbert, peter humbert, andrew mcclelland, lewis williams, james mclean, david chipps, james douglass, john hague, abraham brown, daniel franks, john mcclelland and william hague acknowledge themselves to be held and firmly bound unto the united states in the sum of sixty thousand dollars each, lawful money of the united states, to be levied of your goods and chattels, lauds and tenements, upon condition that the said john f. braddee be and appear at a session of the circuit court of the united states to be held at the city of pittsburg the third monday in may next, to answer the said charges, and such other matters as shall then and there be preferred against him, and that he shall not depart the court without leave. taken and acknowledged. _coram_. t. irwin, _district judge._ january , . the indictment. in the circuit court of the united states of america, holden in and for the western district of pennsylvania, at may sessions, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one. western district of pennsylvania, to-wit: the grand inquest of the united states of america, inquiring for the western district of pennsylvania, upon their oaths and affirmations respectively do present and say: that john f. braddee, late of said western district of pennsylvania, a practitioner of medicine, did on the twenty-fifth day of january, in the year eighteen hundred and forty, at uniontown, in the said western district of pennsylvania, procure, advise and assist peter mills strayer to steal, take and carry away the mail of the united states of america, then in progress of transmission from the postoffice in washington city, in the district of columbia, to the postoffice at wheeling, in the western district of virginia, contrary to the form of the act of congress of the united states, in such case made and provided, and against the peace, government and dignity of the united states. c. darragh, _u. s. attorney for the western district of pennsylvania_. true bill--james riddle, foreman. * * * * * may th, .--the grand jury came into court and presented a bill of indictment against wm. purnell for stealing a letter from the mail and other offenses. same day john f. braddee by his bail, hugh graham, is surrendered into court and hugh graham discharged from his recognizance. same day, on the motion of mr. austin, and affidavit of john m. austin, filed, habeas corpus ad satisfaciendum, issued to the jailor and sheriff of fayette county for the body of william collins. united states vs. john f. braddee, no. of may term, . stealing from the united states mails. and now, to-wit: may th, , a jury being called came, to-wit: george fortune, william plummer, samuel cooper, william raymond, edward a. reynolds, arnold eichbaum, james stewart, john clemens, joseph alexander, thomas f. mitchell, thomas s. cunningham and samuel a. roberts, twelve good and lawful men, duly sworn, summoned and balloted for, and sworn and affirmed, do say on their oaths and affirmations that the defendant is guilty on the first, second and fourth counts in the indictment, and not guilty on the third count. verdict given on the th day of june, . the jury was polled at the instance of defendant's counsel. exceptions. the court referred to the trial of robinson, which had taken place at the present term, and in which some of the jurors now empanneled had rendered a verdict of guilty. it was not pretended that this trial had the remotest connection with the mail robbery at uniontown, or that the case of robinson involved any principle of evidence, or consideration as to the credibility of witnesses, analogous to the case under consideration; yet the court asked the jury to reflect how it would look, out of doors, after the conviction of a poor friendless boy like robinson, to acquit such a prisoner as was then on trial; that it might countenance the reproach which had been cast upon the law of permitting big fish to escape while little ones were caught, and that the court would be deeply mortified at such an appearance. these remarks, which could afford no possible grounds for salutary reflection, were calculated to make the jury forget their oaths; to lead them away from a conscientious and fearless examination of the testimony to calculations upon the probable opinions of others, founded not upon oath or upon a full hearing of the testimony. this, too, in a case where it had been made to appear that the most infamous attempts were resorted to for the purpose of inflaming the public mind by falsehoods through the press. the jury to reflect that if they took a course unpopular at the moment, the whole odium must rest upon them, and that their characters, motives and conduct would be placed in striking contrast with the more popular tone of the court. . that the court whilst forbearing altogether to notice, or noticing very slightly, the considerations which took all weight from the testimony of corman and strayer (witnesses for the prosecution), told the jury it would be a farce to pay any attention to the testimony of collins and owens, witnesses for the accused, although the latter stood infinitely fairer before the jury, and had no such powerful inducements as corman and strayer to give false testimony. . the offense, if any, established against the prisoner, was that of taking the mail with the consent of the person having charge thereof. yet the court declined to give the prisoner the benefit of this discrimination. . the charge of the court that the testimony of turk, as to the non-arrival of the mail at new york, derived from the register, was sufficient, without the production of the register or any copy thereof, or extract therefrom. * * * * * united states _vs._ braddee. reasons in arrest of judgment. . the indictment did not pursue the language of the act of congress, but mingles together words which in the act are intended to describe different offences. the accused is consequently not apprised of the clause under which he is indicted, and the especial character of the offence which he must prepare himself to meet. these crimes being statutory, must turn altogether on the language of the act of congress. suppose the same count had charged the accused with robbing, stealing and taking? the indictment does not allege that the mail stolen or taken contained any valuable thing. overruled. the sentence. united states vs. john f. braddee. may sessions, . sentence on the first count of the indictment: that you, john f. braddee, be imprisoned in the western penitentiary of pennsylvania, at hard labor, for and during the term of ten years, and in all respects be subject to the same discipline and treatment as convicts sentenced by the courts of the state; and that you pay the costs of this prosecution, and stand committed until this sentence be complied with. and while so confined therein you shall be exclusively under the constraint of the officers having charge of said penitentiary. docket entries. may th, .--test. for united states: j. h. phillips, j. h. dicus, henry h. beeson, frederick byrer, john keffer, samuel mclean, peter mills strayer, amos jolliff, samuel costello, william wagner. may th--test. for defendant: john warner, thomas moxley, adam george, john hendricks, uriah hoke, aaron wyatt, james mclean, james smith, jacob f. brant, robert carr, thomas rowland, abraham white, isaac hague, jacob eckel, decatur wolfe. may th--test. for defendant: john haney, william collins, francis wilkinson, jesse king, h. mitchell, david chipps, wm. d. swearingen, henry hally, margaret collins, william purnell, john imbre, john campbell, john m. crane, alfred core, seth holl, john woodward, henry smith, matthias c. baker, james marinder, madison mooney, james owens. may st--test. for defendant: jesse jones, wm. hall, t. shaw, william ebert, gideon john, alexander i. fowler, john f. sangston, benjamin brownfield. june st--test. for united states: brown snyder, george meason, robert l. barry, john keffer, alfred mcclelland, ellis baily, isaac nixon, william nixon, samuel nixon, geo. rider, j. t. williams, jas. mcgayen, wm. reddick. june . court took a recess for half an hour. mr. black (col. s. w.), on behalf of the united states, addressed the court and jury. mr. william austin, for defence, addressed the court and jury. mr. darragh, district attorney, addressed the court and jury. june . mr. darragh continued and concluded his address. mr. mccandless, for defense, addressed the court and jury; court took a recess for half an hour. mr. mccandless continued and concluded his address. mr. biddle, for the defense, commenced his address to the court and jury. june . mr. biddle continued and concluded his address. mr. loomis, on behalf of the united states, commenced his address to the court and jury. the jury, having been charged by judge baldwin, retired. same day rendered a verdict as before mentioned. mr. mccandless moved the court in arrest of judgment and for a new trial. june . affidavits as to the ownership of a portion of the money in the hands of messrs. darragh and kennedy filed. mr. finley for edward h. brags, moves to take the money out of court found in the mail stolen, and identified by the affidavits filed. same gentleman makes the same motion for john j. young. both motions referred by the court to messrs. darragh and kennedy as auditors. amos jolliff discharged from his recognizance to attend as a witness. the following report was made to the court by messrs. darragh and kennedy viz: pittsburg, june , . the undersigned beg leave to report that they have paid out on affidavits to individuals claiming, or their order, the following sums from the money recovered on the premises of john f. braddee: e. h. pandell, $ ; timothy goodman, $ , ; silas d. force, $ ; james sproul, $ ; h. s. abbott, $ . ; sibbett & jones, $ , ; haney st. john, $ , ; b. s. williams, $ ; g. g. moore, $ ; a. h. bangs, $ . ; john s. young, $ ; chas. s. bradford, $ ; in all $ , . . whole amount recovered, $ , . , leaving $ , undistributed. report of auditors confirmed, and claimants who have been paid are directed to give receipts, and the balance unclaimed be deposited in the bank of pittsburg to abide the further order of the court. united states vs. william purnell. wm. freeman, james mccune, o. t. moore, h. h. turk, a. mcclelland and william crawford each bound in a recognizance of $ to appear at the next term of the circuit court of the united states for the western district of pennsylvania, on the d monday of november next, to testify in the above case. j. m. austin moves the court to direct the marshal to pay the witnesses subp[oe]naed on the part of the defendant in the case of the united states _vs._ john f. braddee. court refused, and ordered that the expenses of compulsory process be paid to the officers by the united states. united states _vs._ william purnell. defendant tent in $ , on condition that he be and appear at the next term of the circuit court of the united states, to be held in the city of pittsburg, on the first monday of november, next. james l. bugh, benjamin watson and john hendricks each tent in $ , on condition that defendant be and appear as aforesaid. june . the court overruled the motion for a new trial in the case of the united states _vs_. braddee, and also a motion by john m. austin, esq., to postpone sentence, and the court sentenced the defendant as before mentioned. november , . the united states vs. margaret collins. stealing from the united states mails. witnesses sworn before the grand jury: e. s. harris, johnze dicus, a. mcclelland, d. h. phillips, william ebert, john p. sturgis, henry h. beeson, abraham alexander and dr. howard kennedy. same _vs._ same. charged with receiving a $ treasury note, stolen from the mail, knowing the same to have been stolen. november . recognizance of william purnell and his sureties called and forfeited, and the witnesses in this case discharged from their recognizances. the grand jury came into court and presented true bills of indictment against margaret collins. november . defendant pleads not guilty. tried and jury could not agree, and were discharged. margaret collins was braddee's mother-in-law. purnell and corman were pardoned by the president before trial. * * * * * thus ended the great braddee trial; an affair that caused more excitement than any local event that ever interested the people of uniontown. the actors are all dead. judges baldwin and irwin, who heard the cause, are both dead. all the lawyers who were concerned are dead; some of the witnesses are still living. the bondsmen are all dead. braddee died in the penitentiary about ten years after his incarceration. many persons believe that he did not die in the penitentiary, but in some manner escaped therefrom. there can be no doubt, however, that he died in the penitentiary. [illustration: the german d. hair house.] chapter xlvii. _john quincy adams visits uniontown--he is welcomed by dr. hugh campbell--the national road a monument of a past age--a comparison between the national road and the appian way._ "we hear no more of the clanging hoof, and the stage coach, rattling by; for the steam king rules the traveled world, and the old pike's left to die." the foregoing lines were written by one who mourned the departing glories of the old road. when they were written the steam car had taken the place of the four-horse coach, and the writer was giving vent to his grief over the change. steam has since encountered a formidable competitor in the shape of electricity, and the time is coming when the steam car will follow in the wake of the old stage coach. progress is the inspiring watchword of the hour, and while there may be nothing new under the sun, old things are certainly presented in a new light, and old agencies applied to new work. no sound greets the ear of the pike boy now, like the clink of other days. the glory of the old road has departed, but the memory of its better days fades not away. the old tavern has gone with all the rest. the incidents and anecdotes, accidents and episodes of the road have all passed to the domain of history. in the month of may, , john quincy adams visited uniontown, on his return from cincinnati, where he had gone to participate in the inauguration of the observatory on mount adams, near that city. dr. hugh campbell was appointed to deliver the address of welcome to mr. adams on his arrival at uniontown. the following opening sentences are quoted from dr. campbell's address: "_venerable sir_: i have the honor of being the organ of this community to express for them and myself our hearty welcome of you among us. you see here, sir, an assembly of people of every political faith, come together spontaneously as one man to express their respect and veneration for one who has filled so large and distinguished, and i may add, beneficial space in the history and councils of this nation. we stand here, sir, upon the cumberland road, which has, to some extent, broken down the great wall of the appallachian mountains, which served to form so natural a barrier between what might have been two great rival nations. this road constitutes we trust, an indissoluble chain of union, connecting forever as one, the east and the west. as a people directly interested in this great national work, we are glad to have the opportunity of expressing our acknowledgments to you in person. it is a part of that great system which has always received your support, known as the american system, the happy influence of which you have recently had the pleasure of witnessing in the rapid and extraordinary development of the resources of the west." dr. campbell proceeded at some length in a well conceived and happily expressed address, and concluded as follows: "again, sir, i bid you welcome to the hospitalities of our town, and may the god of all grace prolong your existence, and finally receive you to himself." it is noteworthy, because out of the ordinary line, that two of the ablest debaters and most popular public speakers of western pennsylvania, fifty years ago, were physicians--dr. f. j. lemoyne, of washington, and dr. hugh campbell, of uniontown, the first named an abolitionist and the other a whig. those who have heard them on the stump aver that they never heard better speakers. they were both highly educated, masters of logic, forceful in delivery, and in the modern phrase, "clean cut" in all their utterances. in the latest map of fayette county, pennsylvania, there is a sketch of the national road, written by the late hon. james veech, in which that able man said: "it is a monument of a past age; but like all other monuments, it is interesting, as well as venerable. it carried thousands of population and millions of wealth into the west; and more than any other material structure in the land, served to harmonize and strengthen, if not to save, the union." there was a popular belief, in the olden time, that the national road was a bond of union between the states, and that it served to harmonize and bring together on friendly terms, people of remote sections, and of different pursuits. this will be seen by the quoted remarks of dr. campbell and mr. veech. the generation of to-day regards the affection of the old pike boy for the old road, as a mere memory, the recollection of the animated scenes of trade and transportation on the old highway. it is something more. the old pike boy sincerely and truly believes that the old pike was a bond of union, that for years it kept the peace between discordant interests, and prolonged the evil day when the outbreak of disunion came. [illustration: dr. hugh campbell.] the appian way was a great road, and is invested with much classic and historic interest, but, unlike the national road, it did not yield its place to greater lines of progress and improvement. the appian way was designed to gratify the pomp and vanity of consuls and pro-consuls, kings and princes, emperors and empires. the national road was designed to meet the wants of a free and progressive people, and to aid in building up and strengthening a great and growing republic. the appian way had more vitality than the government that built it. it outlived its country. the national road served its purpose grandly, was a complete success, the pride and glory of its day and generation, and when it lost its place as a national thoroughfare, the government that made it was all the stronger because it had been made. the average width of the appian way was from eighteen to twenty feet, so as to admit of two carriages passing each other, and the expense of constructing the first section of it was so great that it exhausted the public treasury of rome. the national road was sixty feet wide, and eight carriages could pass each other within its borders, while the cost of its construction, although a very large sum of money, made so light a draught upon the resources of the public treasury of the united states, in comparison with subsequent appropriations for other objects, as to be scarcely worthy of observation. the appian way derived its name from appius, who was consul of rome at the time of the undertaking. its initial southern terminus was capua, distant from rome one hundred and twenty-five miles, very nearly the same as the distance from cumberland to wheeling. it was subsequently constructed as far as beneventum, and ultimately to brundisium, a seaport town of the adriatic, distant from rome three hundred and seventy-eight miles. we are informed by anthon, an ancient classic author of high renown, that the city of beneventum derived great importance from its position on the appian way, and the same can be truthfully said of the towns and cities which were so fortunate as to be located on the national road. paul the apostle traveled over a portion of the appian way on his journey from jerusalem to rome to carry up his appeal from agrippa to cæsar. he intersected the appian way at puteoli, where he remained seven days, and his brethren having learned that he had reached that point, came to meet him as far as appii forum and the three taverns. the appii forum was a station, and the three taverns a house for the entertainment of strangers and travelers on the appian way. the latter may have been three distinct houses moulded into one, as is sometimes done, or a cluster of taverns consisting of three. that they were taverns, or a tavern, is unquestionable. there was an old tavern on the mountain division of the national road, in fayette county, pennsylvania, called the three cabins. the cabins were put up for boarding and lodging workmen engaged in the construction of the road, and when the work was finished, united and made one. this grotesque old tavern enjoyed a large patronage, and was a source of no little profit to its old-fashioned proprietor. horace, as before intimated, was an occasional traveler on the appian way, not infrequently accompanied by virgil, and apparently with no other object than the mere pleasure afforded by the jaunt. these illustrious authors of classic verse were, it is said, given to convivial habits, and we have the word of horace himself that the wine on the appian way was "thick." from some other things said by horace, it is very evident that the taverns of the appian way were inferior to those of the national road. as an instance, he says that "the bustling landlord of the inn at beneventum almost burned himself in roasting some lean thrushes." lean thrushes never entered the well stored larders of the old taverns of the national road. fatness was the leading feature of flesh and fowl and bird of every kind that passed inspection of the old-time landlord of our national highway, and fatness distinguished all the surroundings of his overflowing hostelry. nor was it the habit of our old tavern keepers to do the cooking and roasting of their establishments. all that pertained to the dominion of the landlady, who, as a rule, was tidy and robust, and felt a just pride in her calling. horace also complained that at an inn at canusium, on the appian way, he was served with "gritty bread." shades of john n. dagg, joseph hallam, daniel brown, charles miller, james workman, alfred mcclelland, joshua marsh and boss rush, defend us forever against the thought of gritty bread! horace, in further deprecation of some things on the appian way, mentions a little town where "water is sold, though the worst in the world." generosity was a leading trait of the old tavern keepers of the national road. there was an inexhaustible supply of water along its line, the best and purest in the world, and no man ever heard of a cup of it being sold for a price. one of the most attractive features of the national road was the big water-trough that stood by the side of every tavern, filled with fresh, sparkling water, and absolutely free to all comers and goers. [illustration: the big water-trough on laurel hill.] appendix. _a digest of the laws of pennsylvania, relating to the cumberland road--unexpended balances in indiana--accounts of two old commissioners--rates of toll--letters of albert gallatin, ebenezer finley and thomas a. wiley--curiosities of the old postal service._ . act of april th gives the state's consent to the making of the road within its limits, provided the route be changed to pass through uniontown and washington; also gives the united states authorities full power to enter upon lands, dig, cut and carry away materials, etc., for the purpose of completing and _forever_ keeping in repair said road. pamphlet laws, page . . february th. joint resolution authorizes the government of the united states to erect toll gates, enforce the collection of tolls, and to do and perform every other act and thing which may be deemed necessary to insure the permanent repair and preservation of the road. andrew shultz, governor, nerr middleswarth, speaker of the house of representatives, daniel sturgeon, speaker of the senate. pamphlet laws, page . . act of april th. preamble: "whereas, that part of the cumberland road lying within the state of pennsylvania is in many parts in bad condition for want of repairs, and as doubts have been entertained whether the united states have authority to erect toll gates on said road and collect toll, and as a large proportion of the people of this commonwealth are interested in said road, its constant continuance and preservation, therefore, etc." the act then goes on and authorizes the erection of at least six gates, designates classes and persons exempt from toll, provides for the erection of directors (boards ordering teams, etc., to pass to the right), establishes rates of tolls, regulates the manner of collecting the same, etc. pamphlet laws, page . for a judicial construction of this act, see case of hopkins vs. stockton, watts and sargeant, page . . act of april st requires supervisors of highways to make paved valleys or stone culverts where other roads intersect the cumberland road and this act also signifies the state's acceptance of the road from the general government. pamphlet laws, page . . act of june th provides for payment of half toll by persons carrying the united states mail, and fixes penalties for attempts to defraud the state of toll. pamphlet laws, page . this act declared inoperative by the supreme court of the united states, in so far as it levies toll on mail coaches. . act of april th exempts persons hauling coal for home consumption from payment of tolls. pamphlet laws, page . . act of february th in form of a joint resolution requires commissioners to give bond in the sum of $ , . pamphlet laws, page . changed by subsequent acts. . act of june th, in form of a joint resolution, fixes the compensation of commissioners at $ per diem, not to exceed one hundred and fifty days in any one year. pamphlet laws, page . changed by subsequent acts. . act of march th authorizes the appointment of one commissioner by the governor for a term of three years, at a compensation of $ . per diem, requiring him to give bond in the sum of $ , , to keep an account of receipts and expenditures, and publish the same; and further provides for auditors to adjust accounts. pamphlet laws, page . partially repealed by subsequent acts. . act of april th authorizes commissioners to stop mail coaches to enforce payment of tolls. pamphlet laws, page . this act held to be void by the supreme court of the united states, and supplied by act of april th, , _postea_. . act of april th (omnibus bill). "preamble: whereas, it has lately been decided by the supreme court of the united states, that the acts of assembly of this commonwealth, relating to the collection of tolls on that part of the cumberland road which is within this state, passed june th, , and april th, , do not authorize the collection of any amount of tolls whatever for the passage upon said road of any stage, coach, or other vehicle carrying passengers with their baggage and goods, if such stage, coach, or other vehicle, is at the same time carrying any of the mails or property of the united states; and whereas, the said court sanctions the power of pennsylvania to provide for the repairs of said road by a general assessment of tolls upon persons traveling thereon, which it is deemed just and right should be paid; and whereas, also, it is found to be impracticable to keep said road in good repair and out of debt by the tolls collectable under the existing laws of this commonwealth, as interpreted by said court, therefore," &c. this act then goes on and in section imposes a toll of not less than two nor more than fifteen cents, as shall be fixed and determined by the commissioner, upon every person riding or traveling in any vehicle carrying the united states mails, for every fourteen miles over which such person shall have been a passenger or traveler, and in proportion for shorter distances, provided that no toll shall be demanded from any guard to the mails, agent of the postoffice, bearer of dispatches for the general or state government, nor any naval or military officer of the united states or this state, traveling in the discharge of official duty. section provides the manner of collecting tolls under this act. section imposes a penalty of fifty dollars on any driver who neglects to report at every gate the number of passengers in his carriage or coach. section provides that in case of refusal of passengers to pay or neglect of drivers to report, collectors shall charge in a book all unpaid tolls and sue for the same. section provides that in every case where a collector may be unable from omission or neglect of drivers or passengers to ascertain the number of passengers liable to toll under this act, he may charge and recover for so many as the carriage shall be capable of carrying. section provides a penalty of twenty dollars for every fraudulent attempt to evade the payment of toll imposed by this act. pamphlet laws, pages - . this act is still in force, though mail coaches (rather hacks) have been carrying passengers and freights for many years without paying toll. . act of march th authorizes the governor to appoint a commissioner on each side of the monongahela river, at a salary of $ each. pamphlet laws, page . subsequently repealed. . act of april th provides for the appointment of trustees by the courts of somerset, fayette and washington counties (one in each), said trustees to appoint one or more commissioners. pamphlet laws, page . repealed. . act of may d authorizes the commissioner and the court of quarter sessions to determine what travel and transportation shall be in part or in whole exempt from toll; also authorizes the imposition of toll upon persons using the road who do not pass through the gates thereon, and prescribes the manner of collecting the same; also authorizes the commissioner to change the location of gates, and to sell and convey toll houses and grounds, and to purchase sites. pamphlet laws, page . this act remains in force. . act of april , authorizes the courts of fayette and washington counties to appoint superintendents. pamphlet laws, page . prior to the date of this act, the officer in charge of the road was invariably called commissioner. this act repealed as to that portion of the road east of the monongahela by act of may , . _postea._ . act of may , authorizes the governor to appoint one person as superintendent for so much of the road as lies within the counties of fayette and somerset, and repeals part of the act of april , , _supra_. pamphlet laws, page . . act of april th, requires superintendents to appropriate fifty per cent. of the tolls to the payment of old debts. pamphlet laws, page . repealed. . act of march , repeals so much of the act of april th, , _supra_, as requires superintendents to apply fifty per cent. of tolls to the payment of old debts, and provides that _bona fide_ holders of certificates of indebtedness for repairs shall be allowed credit for tolls on their certificates. pamphlet laws, page . . act of november th, provides for the adjudication and payment of certain claims against the road. appendix to pamphlet laws of , page , . . act of january th, repeals outright _in toto_ the act of april th, , _supra_. pamphlet laws, page , . . act of march th, authorizes and _requires_ the superintendent to repair the road, and keep it in repair, where it passes through any town or borough forming a street thereof in the county of fayette. pamphlet laws, page . in force. . act of april th, authorizes the governor to appoint a commissioner for that portion of the road lying between the monongahela river and the line of the state of west virginia for a term of three years from the termination of the term of incumbent, at a salary of $ . per diem, not to exceed $ per annum, to account under oath to the auditors of washington county. pamphlet laws, page . . act of june d, appropriates $ , to repair the great stone bridge at the big crossings. pamphlet laws, page . the following communications and statements show the unexpended balances in of appropriations made by congress in preceding years, for constructing the road through the state of indiana: washington, jan. th, . _sir_:--i have the honor to transmit herewith a report from the chief engineer respecting the unexpended balance of the appropriation for the cumberland road in indiana, in answer to the resolution of the house of representatives, of the th instant. very respectfully, your most obedient servant, mahlon dickerson, acting secretary of war. to hon. john bell, speaker of the house of representatives. * * * * * engineer department, jan. th, . _hon. lewis cass, secretary of war_: sir:--in obedience to the resolution of the house of representatives of the th instant, i have the honor to hand you the enclosed statement, explaining the difference in the amount of unexpended appropriations on account of the national road, in the state of indiana, and furnishing the information called for therein. i beg leave to remark that it is often necessary to close the annual statement of the fiscal operations of the engineer department before the returns, &c., from all the work are received. the department, therefore, can only act on the information before it. this was the case in the present instance, as well as some others included in the same statement. i have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, c. gratiot, chief engineer. * * * * * in the tabular statement of the fiscal operations, under the engineer department for the year ending the th of september, , the unexpended balance of former appropriations is thus stated, relating to the cumberland road in indiana: amount undrawn from the treasury, th of september $ , amount in the hands of agents, th of september , ----------- total $ , which amount was ascertained from the statement of balances from the treasury, on the th of sept $ , and an acknowledged balance in the hands of captain ogden, on th of september $ , and from the accounts of mr. milroy, which had been rendered only to the first quarter of , inclusive, which showed a balance in his hands, after deducting $ , paid over to capt. ogden, credited in his account current for the d quarter of , of $ , ----------$ , ---------- $ , since preparing the annual statement and its transmission to the war department, mr. milroy has rendered accounts for the d quarter, and part of the d quarter of , by which he shows a balance due him of $ , so that, had mr. milroy's accounts been received to the time of preparing the statement, the amount in the hands of agents would have been, instead of $ , , only which added to the amount in the treasury, on the st of oct., $ , =========== would make available for the service of the th quarter of , and the year $ , =========== the balance in the treasury on the st of october, , was $ , since which there has been drawn and remitted to the superintendent, as follows: october , , to captain ogden $ , november , , to captain ogden , january , , to captain ogden , $ , ---------- remaining in the treasury on the th of january, $ , the following accounts of two of the old commissioners are interesting as showing the amount of tolls received and disbursements made for repairs and maintenance at the dates covered, and disclosing the once familiar names of many who had contracts and were otherwise employed on the road: account of william hopkins, _commissioner of the cumberland road in pennsylvania, from nov. th, , to nov. th, ._ eastern division, embraced in fayette and somerset counties, viz: dr. to cash received from the national road stage co $ , " " " " holt & maltby, supposed " " " at gate no. , wm. condon, collector , " " " " gate no. , hiram seaton, " , " " " " gate no. , wm. d. beggs, " " " " " gate no. , jas. reynold, " , " " " a fine collected by wm. bradley " " " " " " john tunsell total amount received from nov. , , to nov. , -------$ , by disbursements, viz. cr. cash paid thompson mckean, late superintendent $ " " henry woolery in full for work - / " " thompson mckean, late superintendent " " jackson brown in full for work " " george hensell ditto " " jesse sachett ditto " " john smalley, hauling stone " " peter leonard, quarry leave - / " " elijah crabb, work " " samuel dean " " george colley, quarry leave " " j. & w. w. woolery, work " " hugh wilson, " " " william jeffries, " " " isaac brownfield, " " " thos. mckean, " " " john brownfield, " " " john risler, " " " john dean, " " " james spears, " " " isaac nixon, " " " elias gilmore, " " " ephraim conway, " " " a. mcdowell, " - / " " mcclean & emberson, " " " c. rush, " " " john deford, quarry leave " " rich'd beeson, costs, com. vs. stockton " " s. d. skeen, in full for work " " thomas prentice, " " " james amos, " " " jno. hatzman, " " " william reynolds, " " " michael s. miller, " - / " " james watkins, " " " jos. m. sterling, " " " samuel rush, " " " hiram hanse, " " " thomas brown, " " " upton shaw, " " " john bennington, " " " william c. stevens, " - / " " hugh graham, work $ " " " " toll house " " james snyder, on account for work - / " " same in full " " charles kemp, jr., " " " i. & r. hill, " " " wm. h. graham, " - / " " george colley, " " " james marlow, " " " john bradfield, " , " " john m. claybaugh, " " " henry g. brown, " " " joseph dillon, " " " charles rush, " " " sam'l mcreynolds, " " " m. h. jones, " " " hiram hayney, " " " morris mauler, " - / " " huston todd, hauling stone ---------$ , the foregoing items of expenditures were contracts made by thompson mckean, esq., late commissioner, and paid on his certificate. cash paid adam speer, for work on road $ " " william d. beggs, do " " same do " " same salary for keeping gate no. " " james reynolds, work on road " " e. crable, do " " rush & mccollough, do " " e. h. showalter, on account of work on road " " n. bradley, " " " " " william milligan, " " " " " a. l. pentland, esq., costs, com. v. stockton " " wilson mccandless, esq., prof. services " " same " " " " r. p. flenniken, esq., " " - / " " john irons, for advertising " " upton shaw, work on road - / " " samuel mcreynolds, work on road " " samuel lazure, " " " " robert mcdowell " " john bradfield " " william reynolds " " john l. dawson, esq. - / " " nicholas bradley " " william condon, gate no. , salary " " george farney, for work on road - / " " john nelson, " " " " " jas. reynolds, gate no. , salary " " hiram seaton, gate no. , salary " " mccollough & rush, for work on road - / " " robert s. brown, " " - / " " anthony yarnell, " " " " sam'l dean, " " " " henry showalter, " " " " jackson brown, " " " " john h. deford, prof. services " " john risler, for stone total amount of expenditures on eastern division -----$ , - / western division, lying in washington county. to cash received from good intent stage co. $ , " " " moore & henderson " " " wm. r. cope " at gate no. , stephen phelps, col. , " " " no. , wm. hill , " " " no. , david guinea , " " " no. , in oct, , under r. quail " " " no. , sept. and oct., , r. quail " a fine collected by john freeman, esq. total amount received -----$ , by disbursements on western division, viz: cash paid egan & dickey, in full for work on road $ , " " john mcdonough, " " " - / " " john dickey, " " " - / " " henry murry, " " " " " same, alleged error in settlement " " morris pursell, in full for work on road " " bradley & morgan, " " " " " daniel ward, " " " " " brown & valentine, " " " " " david guinea, gate no. , salary " " wm. hill, gate no. -----$ the above items of expenditure were on contracts made by r. quail, late commissioner, and paid on his certificate. cash paid t. h. baird, esq., prof. services $ " " i. p. morgan, digging well " " joel lamborn, building chimney " " william craven, smith work " " j. t. rogen, powder " " amos griffith, pump " " a. j. harry, stove pipe " " robert bradley, in full work at well - / " " griffith taylor, wheelbarrow " " john mcmath, in full work on road " " john bausman, printing " " grayson & kaine, " " " h. winten, in full for work on road " " samuel adams, " " " " james p. morgan, " " " " j. worrell, on account " " same, in full " " j. mcguire, on account " " jacob shaffer, stove pipe " " robert sprowl, on account work on road " " thomas egan, in full " " henry murray, stone " " jacob stillwagon, on acct. stone " " anthony rentz, " " " " david andrews, work " " joseph miller, in full, stone " " john huston, work " " joseph t. rogers, powder " " isaac leet, prof. services " " william watkins, acct. stone " " stephen phelps, gate no. , salary " " robert bradley, work in full " " same on account " " william hill, gate no. , salary " " david guinea, gate no. , " " " on acct. book for superintendent " " counterfeit money received " " superintendent, for his services, per account filed, days at $ . per day " " auditors, for settling and stating this account, viz: h. langley $ j. k. wilson s. cunningham total expenditures on western division -----$ , - / recapitulation. dr. to amount received on the eastern division $ , to amount received on the western division , ------$ , cr. by cash paid out on the eastern division, per statement $ , - / by cash paid on the western division, per statement , - / ------$ , - / balance due wm. hopkins, esq., superintendent, on the th nov., $ - / the undersigned, auditors appointed by the court of common pleas for the county of washington, pennsylvania, on the th day of november, , to audit, settle and adjust the account of william hopkins, esq., commissioner of the cumberland road, having carefully examined the accounts submitted to them by said commissioner (a full statement of which is herewith presented), and having compared the vouchers with said account, do find that the said william hopkins, commissioner as aforesaid, has expended up to the th day of november, , the sum of twelve dollars and eighty-two / cents more than came into his hands, and that said sum of twelve dollars and eighty-two / cents was due to him on said day. in testimony whereof, we have hereto set our hands and seals the d day of january, a.d. . samuel cunningham, (seal) john k. wilson, (seal) _auditors._ henry langly, (seal) washington county, . the commonwealth of pennsylvania. i, john grayson, prothonotary of the court of common pleas for said county, certify that at a court of common pleas for the county aforesaid, held on the th day of november, anno domini , samuel cunningham, john k. wilson and henry langly were appointed by said court auditors to settle and adjust the account of william hopkins, esq., commissioner of the cumberland road, as appears of record in our said court. in testimony whereof, i have hereunto set my hand and affixed the seal of said court, the d day of january, . [seal] john grayson, _prothy._ account of william searight, _commissioner of the cumberland road in pennsylvania, from the st of may, , to the st of december, , inclusive._ to tolls received on the eastern division, viz: dr. to tolls received from thos. grier, gate no. $ , " " " " robert mcdowell, gate no. , " " " " james reynolds, gate no. , " " " " national road stage co , " " " " express co -------- total amount received on eastern division $ , to tolls received on the western division, viz: from david mitchell, gate no. $ , " wm. hill, " no. , " wm. mccleary, " no. , " good intent stage co , cash received from john s. brady, on account of quail's securities --------- $ , ---------- total receipts $ , cr. by cash paid thomas grier, collector at gate no. $ " " robt. mcdowell, " " " no. " " jas. reynolds, " " " no. " " dan'l kaine, for certifying auditors " " d. kaine, wm. p. wells and joseph gadd " " william jeffries " " geo. craft, costs " " thos. and robert brown " " wm. hager " " elias gilmore , " " george palmer " " william c. stevens " " peter kerney " " james dougan " " thomas brownfield , " " robert s. henderson " " john malone " " sam'l shipley, admr. of s. rush " " andrew bryson " " john mccalpin " " thomas mcgrath " " samuel harrah " " john bradfield , " " robert mcdowell , " " calvin perry " " wilson fee " " thomas d. miller " " james dolan " " upton shaw " " elijah crable " " samuel shipley " " matthew mcneil " " fall & herbertson " " james white " " jackson brown " " j. l. wylie & co " " byers & gregg " " william reynolds " " james marlow " " rudolph brinkman " " william spaw " " sebastian rush " " john mcdowell " " edward g. roddy " " isaac mclaughlin " " george w. cass " " john irons, printing " " samuel mcdonald, printing " " j. & g. s. gideon " " james veech, professional services " " r. p. flenniken " " " " edward kerven " " thomas hougan " " thomas dougan " " john powell " " george parmertor " " daniel cannon " " hugh graham " " morris whalen " " nicholas bradley " " perry white " " simon deal " " william mcclean " " james collins " " james mccartney " " anthony yarnell " " william conard " " thomas mccoy " " james reynolds " " john m. claybaugh " " robert mcdowell " " gadd & henderson , " " francis l. wilkinson " " kerney & redfern " " matthias fry depreciated money on hand balance due commissioner on former settlement , salary of commissioner, from may st, , to st of december, , being days at $ . per day , whole amount expended on eastern division -------$ , by the following sums expended on the western division. cr. by cash paid david mitchell, collector gate no. $ " " william hill, " " no. " " wm. mccleary, " " no. " " e. l. blaine, for use of patrick egan " " j. s. brady, on account of wm. paull " " william mccleary " " james denison " " henry masterson " " hiram freeman , " " charles kern " " thomas egan " " john mccollough " " robert sprowl , " " adam fishburn " " john robinson " " joseph lawson , " " patrick egan " " john bradley, admr. of r. bradley " " thomas hagerty " " john huston " " george irvin " " william hill " " william paull " " samuel rodgers " " michael monahan " " thomas finley " " john curry " " michael dougan " " mccollough & gilmore " " charles murphy " " charles stillwagon, " " jacob stillwagon " " jacob daugherty " " anthony rentz " " baldwin miller " " william pepper " " henry murry " " james thompson " " james hurley " " j. j. armstrong " " b. forester " " john mitchell " " mark m. passmore " " grayson & kaine, printing " " john bausman " " " richard biddle " " michael price " " william scott " " william hopkins " " e. l. blaine, costs " " thomas sprout " " john wheeler " " robert patrick " " cornelius daly " " james mcintyre " " william hastings " " jacob dixon " " michael bail " " keyran tolbert " " david butts " " james redman " " john gadd , " " thomas hagan " " james gainer " " john whitmire " " peter kerney depreciated money on hand whole amount expended on western division -------$ , whole amount expended on eastern division , --------- whole amount expended on both divisions $ , balance due commissioner, december , . $ , fayette county, ss. we, the undersigned, auditors appointed by the court of common pleas of fayette county for that purpose, having examined the accounts and vouchers relating to the receipts and expenditures of wm. searight, esq., superintendent of the cumberland road, from the st day of may, , to the st of december, , inclusive, have found the foregoing statement of the same to be correct and true. h. campbell, john huston, richard beeson. _auditors._ note.--gate no. was located at the east end of petersburg, gate no. was near mt. washington, gate no. was near searights, gate no. was near beallsville, gate no. was near washington, and gate no. near west alexander. rates of toll. the following were the rates of toll fixed by the act of april th, , which were subsequently, however, changed: for every score of sheep or hogs, six cents; for every score of cattle, twelve cents; for every led or driven horse, three cents; for every horse and rider, four cents; for every sleigh or sled, for each horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, three cents; for every dearborn, sulky, chair or chaise, with one horse, six cents; for every chariot, coach, coachee, stage, wagon, phaeton, chaise, with two horses and four wheels, twelve cents; for either of the carriages last mentioned with four horses, eighteen cents; for every other carriage of pleasure, under whatever name it may go, the like sum, according to the number of wheels and horses drawing the same; for every cart or wagon whose wheels shall exceed two and one-half inches in breadth, and not exceeding four inches, four cents; for every horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, and every other cart or wagon, whose wheels shall exceed four inches, and not exceeding five inches in breadth, three cents; for every horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, and for every other cart or wagon whose wheels shall exceed six inches, and not more than eight inches, two cents; for every horse or pair of oxen drawing the same, all other carts or wagons whose wheels shall exceed eight inches in breadth, shall pass the gates free of tolls, and no tolls shall be collected from any person or persons passing or repassing from one part of his farm to another, or to or from a mill, or to or from any place of public worship, funeral, militia training, elections, or from any student or child going to or from any school or seminary of learning, or from persons and witnesses going to and returning from courts, or from any wagon or carriage laden with the property of the united states, or any canon or military stores belonging to the united states, or to any state. the reader will note that the exemptions provided for by this act are changed by force of the act of may , , which authorized the commissioner and the court of quarter sessions to determine who and what shall be exempt from the payment of toll. a large wide board, having the appearance of a mock window, was firmly fixed in the walls of every toll house, displaying in plain letters the rates above given, so that the wayfarer might not err therein. mr. gallatin defines his attitude as to the location of the road, and gives instructions to david shriver, superintendent. when the road was authorized to be constructed by congress, mr. gallatin was secretary of the treasury, and a citizen of fayette county, pennsylvania. his home was "friendship hill," in springhill township, near new geneva, about fifteen miles south of uniontown, afterward the home of hon. john l. dawson. it was intimated in various quarters that mr. gallatin was desirous of having the road located through or near his place, and that he used his official influence to further his desire in this regard. the following letter, however, to his old friend david acheson, of washington, pennsylvania, shows that the intimations mentioned were without foundation: new york, september , . david acheson, esq., washington, pa. _dear sir_: on receipt of your letter respecting the western road, i immediately transmitted it to the president at monticello. i was under the impression that he had previously directed the commissioners to examine both routes and to report to him. it seems, however, that it had not then been yet done. but on the th ultimo he wrote to them to make an examination of the best route through washington to wheeling, and also to short creek, or any other point on the river offering a more advantageous route towards chillicothe and cincinnati, and to report to him the material facts with their opinion for consideration. that it is the sincere wish of the president to obtain all the necessary information in order that the road should pursue the route which will be of the greatest public utility no doubt can exist. so far as relates to myself, after having, with much difficulty, obtained the creation of a fund for opening a great western road, and the act pointing out its general direction, it is sufficiently evident from the spot on the monongahela which the road strikes, that if there was any subsequent interference on my part it was not of a selfish nature. but the fact is that in the execution of the law i thought myself an improper person, from the situation of my property, to take the direction which would naturally have been placed in my hands, and requested the president to undertake the general superintendence himself. accept the assurance of friendly remembrance, and of my sincere wishes for your welfare and happiness. your obedt servant, albert gallatin. * * * * * treasury department, march th, . _sir_: you will herewith receive the plot of the road as laid by the commissioners from the st mile to uniontown. i approve of having a stone bridge across little youghiogheny, and the measures necessary to secure masons should be adopted, but the site cannot be fixed until you have examined whether any alterations in the course be practicable. in that respect i beg leave to refer you to my former letters. as soon as your examination of the ground has taken place, and the alterations you may have found practicable shall have been received and approved, public notice may be given inviting proposals to contract for completing the road as far as big yioughiogheny river; an additional appropriation of $ , having been made by congress. you will therefore perceive that in every point of view your examination of the ground is the first object to attend to. i have the honor to be, respectfully, sir, your obt. servant, albert gallatin. d. shriver, jr., cumberland, md. * * * * * treasury department, april th, . _sir_: your letter of the d inst. has been duly received. the principal object in finally fixing the course of the road is its permanency and durability without the necessity of perpetual and expensive repairs. to select, therefore, the best ground which that mountainous country will afford, avoiding, as far as practicable, cutting along the side of steep and long hills, always exposed to be washed away, appears to be one of first importance. the other considerations, subordinate to the selection of the best ground, but to be also attended to, are, the expense of making the road, the shortness of the distance and the accommodation (by intersecting lateral roads) of important settlements not on the line of the road. as an erroneous location would be an irreparable evil, it is better that the contracts for the ensuing twenty miles should be delayed, than to make them before you have had time to take a complete view of the ground. examine it well before you decide and make your first report. this is more important because it is probable that i will be absent when that report is made, and that it will be decisive, as the acting secretary, to whom the subject will be new and the localities unknown, cannot have time to investigate it critically, and will probably adopt it on your responsibility. if a decisive advantage should arise from an alteration in the last sections already contracted for, and the contractors assent to it, you may, in your report, propose such an alteration. you are authorized for the purpose of facilitating your review of the road, without neglecting the duties of general superintendence, to employ john s. shriver, or some other able assistant, with a reasonable compensation. you have not stated what this should be, but it is presumed that you will not, in that respect, exceed what is necessary for obtaining the services of a well qualified person. you are authorized to draw for a further sum of twenty thousand dollars; whenever this is nearly exhausted you will apply for a new credit. with respect to details, they are left at your discretion. you are sensible of the great confidence placed in your abilities and integrity, and i am sure you will not disappoint our expectations. with perfect consideration and sincere wishes for your welfare, i have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. * * * * * treasury department, april th, . _sir_: you are authorized to employ a surveyor to view the most proper road from brownsville to washington in pennsylvania, and thence to examine the routes to charlestown, steubenville, mouth of short creek and wheeling, and report a correct statement of distance and ground on each. if the county road as now established from brownsville to washington is not objectionable, it would be eligible to prefer it to any other which might be substituted. the surveyor thus employed will meet with every facility by applying to the gentlemen at washington who have this alteration in the western road much at heart. i am respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. d. shriver, jr., cumberland, md. * * * * * treasury department, april rd, . _sir_: mr. cochran has signed his contract and bonds for the third and fourth sections of the road at the price agreed on, that is to say, at the rate of twenty-two dollars and fifty cents per rod for the third section, and of sixteen dollars and fifty cents per rod for the fourth section. i now enclose the contracts and bonds for the first and second sections; that for the first in the name of henry mckinley, and at the rate of twenty-one dollars and twenty-five cents per rod. the proposal of mr. reade was at the rate of thirteen dollars for a road covered with a stratum of stones twelve inches thick, all the stones to pass through a three-inch ring. he did not stay here or return here to complete the business and was not present when the road was altered to a stratum of stones fifteen inches thick. the same additional price, viz: one dollar and a half per rod, is allowed him for that alteration which was by agreement given to all the other contractors, making fourteen dollars and a half as set down in the contract, instead of thirteen. the contracts and bonds are in every respect (the names of sections and difference of price only excepted) verbatim the same as both those signed by mr. cochran, and they were as you will perceive all executed by me, and signed by the president. after they shall have been signed by the contractors respectively, they will each keep a copy of their own contracts, and you will return the other copy, together with the bond (both being signed by the contractors respectively) to this office. if either of the contractors should for any reason whatever refuse to sign the contract, you will return the same to this office, notify the person thus refusing that he is not considered as a contractor, forbid his doing any work, and immediately advertise in cumberland that you will receive proposals for making the section of the road thus not contracted for. you will afterward transmit the proposals which may accordingly be made. i also enclose a copy of the contracts for your own use in order that you may in every case be able to secure the additions agreed on. i have the honor to be with consideration, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. the dates were the only blanks left in the contracts and bonds and must be filled at the time of signing, by the contractors. a. g. mr. david shriver, jr., cumberland, md. * * * * * treasury department, april th, . _sir_: your letter of the d inst. has been received. the president has confirmed the alteration in the first section of the road. it will be proper to have a short endorsement to that effect entered on the contract with mr. mckinley, and signed by him and yourself. you are authorized to contract for the bridges and mason work on the terms mentioned in your letter, with the exception of the bridges across clinton's fork of braddock's run, which may perhaps be avoided by the alteration which you contemplate, and which, if necessary, we may, perhaps, considering other expenses, be obliged to contract of cheaper materials. it is left to your discretion to contract for the other mason work as above stated, either with mr. kinkead or with the road contractors. if you shall find it necessary to employ a temporary assistant, you are authorized to do it, provided he shall be employed and paid only when actually necessary. i should think that one dollar and twenty-five, or at most, fifty cents, a day, would in that part of the country be ample compensation. respecting side walls no decisive opinion can be given until you shall have matured your ideas on the subject, and formed some estimate of the extent to which they must be adopted and of the expense. i have the honor to be respectfully, sir, your obedient servant, albert gallatin. mr. david shriver, jr., superintendent of the cumberland road, cumberland, md. letter from ebenezer finley. release, september , . hon. t. b. searight, _my much respected friend_: in our conversation the other day, i spoke from memory entirely, as i had no statistics from which to quote. your father bought the stone tavern house at searights from joseph frost. it was unfinished when your father bought it. i knew joseph frost, but have no recollection of the family he came from. your father was a single man, when he bought the house, but married shortly after. in relation to mr. stewart's and mr. benton's colloquy about the national road, mr. stewart said that "hay stacks and corn shocks would walk over it." mr. benton replied that "he could not conceive how hay stacks and corn shocks could walk over this bowling green road." "ah!" rejoined mr. stewart, "i do not expect to see them walk in the shape of stacks and shocks, but in the shape of fat cattle, hogs, horses and mules from the western and southern states." this was in a discussion in congress, over an appropriation bill for repairing the road. another conversation with you at some time, would be very much enjoyed by your unworthy scribbler. p. s. now, colonel, since writing the above, many things have come crowding on my memory, and i will mention some of the principal hotels with which i was more or less acquainted. i frequently traveled over the national road in my younger days. i went often to cumberland and occasionally to baltimore. i will begin at big crossings (somerfield). coming this way, thomas brown kept a tavern on the hillside. next daniel collier, then inks, and next widow tantlinger (boss rush's place). next james sampey at mt. washington, then several stopping places before reaching the stewart stone house, a hotel that was not largely patronized by travelers on the road. next the chalk hill house and then jimmy snyder's. next the first house to the left as you come to monroe, built by mr. deford. then several other hotels before you come to uniontown. in uniontown, the walker house (now feather's) was well patronized. then james seaton's and thomas brownfield's wagon stands. next the cuthbert wiggins wagon stand (later moxley's), and next the searight house. over the hill, next was a house kept by samuel woolverton and hugh thompson. then the robert johnson (later hatfield) stone house. next old peter colley, father of abel, solomon and john colley. then the bowman house, kept by john gribble, and next the brubaker house. then the first house to the left as you go into brownsville, kept by darra auld, and next the workman house. but i presume you have all these. respectfully, eb. finley. letter from thomas a. wiley, a native of uniontown, who rode the pony express. baltimore and ohio r. r. co., gen. ticket agent's office, baltimore, july , . t. b. searight, esq.--_dear sir_:--i have been receiving from some one the _jeffersonian democrat_, a paper published in my old favorite uniontown, and have read with great pleasure your publication of things that transpired along the national road. i knew a great many of the old wagoners, stage drivers and tavern keepers you mention. when i was working for the stage company the baltimore and ohio railroad was only completed to frederic, maryland, and i used to travel the old pike very often. i hope to be able to come once more to uniontown before i go hence, where nearly all the rest have gone, and would delight in a long talk with you about old times on the road. in looking over the paper you sent me i scarcely see any names that i used to know in uniontown. when last in uniontown i met william wilson, ewing brownfield and greenberry crossland, and did not get a chance to see my old friend and shop-mate, philip bogardus. he and i worked for the stockton stage company. the shops were on morgantown street. i understand that since i was out my old friend, bogardus, has passed away. i recollect the lady he married was a miss lincoln, and i also recollect his boy, winfield scott. i have been with the baltimore and ohio company since october th, , and am still in its service. again thanking you for the paper you sent me, i close, in the hope that god will bless you and spare your life and mine, that we may meet in old time-honored uniontown, and talk over the glories of the old pike. yours most respectfully, thomas a. wiley. proposals for carrying the mails. washington city, september , . we will agree to convey the mail on route no. , , from philadelphia to pittsburg, daily in four-horse post coaches, agreeable to advertisement, for the yearly compensation of seven thousand dollars. or we will make the following improvements: to convey two daily mails from philadelphia to pittsburg: first mail to leave philadelphia at two o'clock a. m. and arrive at pittsburg in two days and five hours, so as to arrive in pittsburg at seven o'clock a. m., and extend the route to wheeling so as to arrive, including route , , at wheeling the third day by nine o'clock p. m., from the first of april to first of december, and, from first of december to first of april, to pittsburg in three and wheeling in four days; and return from wheeling by washington, pittsburg, and chambersburg, to philadelphia within the same time; changing the mail as follows: at lancaster, harrisburg, chambersburg, bedford, somerset, mount pleasant, and at any other office that is or may be established on the route. the second mail to leave philadelphia at seven a. m., or immediately after the arrival of the new york mail, and reach pittsburg in three days and five hours, so as to arrive in pittsburg by noon, changing the mail at all way offices. we will agree to carry the mail on route no. , , from bedford to washington, pa., via white house, somerset, donegal, mount pleasant, mckean's, old stand, robbstown, gambles, and parkinson's ferry, to washington, pa., as advertised, for the yearly compensation of twenty-nine hundred dollars. we do agree to carry the mail on route no. , , from bedford, pa., to cumberland, md., three times a week in coaches, from the first of april to the first of october, and once a week on horseback from the first of october to the first of april, so as to connect with the winchester mail at cumberland, and the great eastern and western mail at bedford, which is much wanted during the summer season, for the yearly compensation of thirteen hundred dollars. james reeside, samuel r. slaymaker, j. tomlinson. to the hon. wm. t. barry, postmaster general. contract. this contract, made the fifteenth day of october, in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, between james reeside, of philadelphia, samuel r. slaymaker, of lancaster, and jesse tomlinson, of philadelphia, contractors for carrying the mail of the united states, of one part, and the postmaster general of the united states of the other part, witnesseth, that said parties have mutually covenanted as follows, viz.: the said contractors covenant with the postmaster general: to carry the mails from pittsburg to harriottsville, cannonsburg, washington, claysville, west alexander, and triadelphia, va., to wheeling and back, daily, in four-horse post coaches, the first mail to be changed at each county town through which it passes; the second mail at every office on the route; and to furnish armed guards for the whole, when required by the department, at the rate of six thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars for every quarter of a year, during the continuance of this contract; to be paid in drafts on postmasters on the route above mentioned, or in money, at the option of the postmaster general, in the months of may, august, november, and february. that the mails shall be duly delivered at, and taken from each postoffice now established, or that may be established on any post route embraced in this contract, under a penalty of ten dollars for each offence; and a like penalty shall be incurred for each ten minutes' delay in the delivery of the mail after the time fixed for its delivery at any postoffice specified in the schedule hereto annexed; and it is also agreed that the postmaster general may alter the times of arrival and departure fixed by said schedule, and alter the route (he making an adequate compensation for any extra expense which may be occasioned thereby); and the postmaster general reserves the right of annulling this contract, in case the contractors do not promptly adopt the alteration required. if the delay of the arrival of said mail continue until the hour for the departure of any connecting mail, whereby the mails destined for such connecting mails shall miss a trip, it shall be considered a whole trip lost, and a forfeiture of one hundred dollars shall be incurred; and a failure to take the mail, or to make the proper exchange of mails at connecting points, shall be considered a whole trip lost; and for any delay or failure equal to a trip lost, the postmaster general shall have full power to annul this contract. that the said contractors shall be answerable for the persons to whom they shall commit the care and transportation of the mail, and accountable for any damage which may be sustained through their unfaithfulness or want of care. that seven minutes after the delivery of the mail at any postoffice on the aforesaid route named on the annexed schedule, shall be allowed the postmaster for opening the same, and making up another mail to be forwarded. the contractors agree to discharge any driver or carrier of said mail whenever required to do so by the postmaster general. that when the said mail goes by stage, such stage shall be suitable for the comfortable accommodation of at least seven travelers; and the mail shall invariably be carried in a secure dry boot, under the driver's feet, or in the box which constitutes the driver's seat, under a penalty of fifty dollars for each omission; and when it is carried on horseback, or in a vehicle other than a stage, it shall be covered securely with an oil cloth or bear skin, against rain or snow, under a penalty of twenty dollars for each time the mail is wet, without such covering. _provided always_, that this contract shall be null and void in case the contractors or any person that may become interested in this contract, directly or indirectly, shall become a postmaster or an assistant postmaster. no member of congress shall be admitted to any share or part of this contract or agreement, or to any benefit to arise thereupon; and this contract shall, in all its parts, be subject to its terms and requisitions of an act of congress, passed on the st day of april, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and eight, entitled, "an act concerning public contracts." and it is mutually covenanted and agreed by the said parties that this contract shall commence on the first day of january next, and continue in force until the thirty-first day of december, inclusively, which will be in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five. _in witness whereof_, they have hereunto interchangeably set their hands and seals the day and year first above written. (signed.) james reeside. (seal.) sam'l r. slaymaker. (seal.) jesse tomlinson. (seal.) signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of rob't d. carson. jacob shearer. bond. _know all men by these presents_, that james reeside, as principal, and richard morris and david dorrance, as sureties, are held and firmly bound unto the postmaster general of the united states of america, in the just and full sum of two thousand nine hundred dollars, value received, to be paid unto the postmaster general or his successors in office, or to his or their assigns; to which payment, well and truly to be made, we bind ourselves, our heirs, executors, and administrators, jointly and severally, firmly by these presents. sealed with our seals, dated the seventeenth day of december, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one. the condition of this obligation is such that whereas the above bounden james reeside, by a certain contract bearing date the fifteenth day of october, in the year of our lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-one, covenanted with the said postmaster general to carry the mail of the united states from bedford to washington (pennsylvania), as per contract annexed, commencing the first day of january, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two, and ending the thirty-first day of december, which will be in the year one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five. now, if the said james reeside shall well and truly perform the covenants in the said indenture expressed on his part to be performed, and shall account for all penalties, and shall promptly repay all balances that may at any time be found due from him, then this bond is to be void; otherwise to remain in full force. (signed.) james reeside, (seal.) richard morris, (seal.) david dorrance, (seal.) signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of (signed.) r. c. whiteside. a true copy from the original on file in the general postoffice. mw. st. clair clarke, secretary. claim for extra allowance. washington city, december , . _sir_: for the four years which i have been your contractor for transporting the great eastern mail from new york to philadelphia, it has happened almost every week, and several times in a week, that arrivals from foreign countries have brought thousands of ship letters to the office of new york just before the time for my departure, and the importance of their being forwarded without delay to the southern cities has required my detention from one to two hours beyond the ordinary time for me to leave new york. this detention i have been required to gain in speed, and that increased speed has required me always to keep on that route two extra teams of horses, at an extra expense of not less than one thousand dollars per year for each team. during the first year your predecessor made me an extra allowance for this expense, but during the last three years i have received nothing for it. i now submit the subject to you, in the expectation that you will allow the claim; it is certainly but just that i should be relieved, at least in part, of this burden, for the last three years it has subjected me to an expense of not less than six thousand dollars, which i hope you will direct to be paid to me, at least in part, if you do not think me entitled to the whole. i have also, within the same time, transported to new york all the large mail bags which are made in philadelphia and sent to new york, not with mails, but to be used in new york, and to be sent from new york to other places. these within three years will amount to about five hundred pounds a week, as will appear from accounts of the manufacturers in your office. wherever i could procure transportation for those bags in wagons, i have uniformly paid $ . per hundred pounds for carrying them, rather than overload my coaches in which we carry the great mail. for this service, i hope you will not consider my claim unreasonable, if i charge ten dollars per week for three years. all of which is submitted to your sense of justice for decision. very respectfully, your obedient servant, james reeside. hon. wm. t. barry. endorsement--allowed. allow $ , . the residue of the claim is reserved for future consideration. allow the remaining $ , . couldn't afford to carry newspapers. washington, july , . _sir_: when we entered into contract with you to run two daily mails between philadelphia and pittsburg, one with unexampled rapidity, and the other in three and one-half days, we had no idea whatever of carrying the newspaper mail in our most rapid line, nor do we suppose it was ever contemplated by the department. it was our intention and we so expressed it in all our conversation with you, and with the superintendent of mail contracts, to carry the principal letter mail only in the most rapid line, not believing it practicable to carry the heavy load of newspapers sent to the west with sufficient rapidity to reach pittsburg in the shortest time specified. indeed, if we could have supposed that it would ever become necessary to carry the newspapers with that rapidity, we should not have undertaken it for less that fifteen thousand dollars a year beyond what we now receive; but experience soon taught us that great complaints were made against the department and ourselves when the newspapers were not received as soon as the letters, and that these complaints were not confined to pittsburg, but extended all over the west. to satisfy the public, and sustain the credit of both the department and ourselves as its servant, we made the experiment of trying to carry the newspapers with our most rapid line. we have partially succeeded, but with very great loss. for three days in the week we are compelled to exclude all passengers, to the loss of not less than one hundred dollars a day. we are willing to perform our contract to the full extent of its meaning, but we must relinquish carrying the newspaper mails by our most rapid line, unless we can in part be remunerated for it. if, however, the postmaster general is willing to silence the public clamor, which is so great when we carry them in our slow line, we will carry all the newspaper mails, together with the letter mail, in our most rapid line to pittsburg and wheeling, in the shortest time specified in our contract, and so arrange the connection of the baltimore mail at chambersburg with our swift line, as to carry the newspapers as well as letter mail, from baltimore to pittsburg in two days, for the additional allowance of ten thousand dollars per year, from the first of april last. the increased expense to us will not be less than fifteen thousand dollars a year, and for our own credit and for the credit of the department, we will make one-third of the sacrifice and perform the service for ten thousand dollars a year. we would gladly do it for a less sum if we could afford it, but we cannot, and at that rate our sacrifice will be as much as we can bear. it would be much more gratifying to us if the public would be satisfied without it, but they will not, and our own feelings will not suffer us to perform a service in which we cannot give satisfaction to the public. very respectfully, your obedient servants, jas. reeside, sam'l r. slaymaker. to the hon. w. t. barry, postmaster general. a true copy from the original on file in the general postoffice. (the above letter is marked "granted.") mw. st. clair clarke, secretary. mr. reeside defies all competitors. philadelphia, january , . _dear sir_: your favor dated the d inst. has just come to hand, which i have examined with much care, but must confess myself at a loss to come to the exact meaning it is extended to convey. that there is at present, and has been for some time back, an express carried on horseback between this city and new york, is a fact which is well known, and which is publicly acknowledged by the newspapers in new york. that it is impossible to carry the whole of the great eastern mail through in coaches or otherwise with the same speed as a small package can be carried through on horseback is a fact that requires no comment. not having pointed out this matter clearly in your letter whether it was the wish of the department that a certain portion of mails should be sent by express to new york at an earlier hour than it now does. should it be the latter, i would at once assure the department of the impossibility of having it carried through in as short a time as it is now carried by express on horseback. in either case the department may rest assured of my willingness and determination to use every exertion in order to meet the views and wishes of the department. should you desire it to be sent by express, i have no hesitation in saying that i can have it sent through in a shorter time than it can be done by any other individual in the country. this will be handed to you by mr. ewing, whom i have sent on with directions to ascertain from you personally your views of this matter, and who will give you all the information respecting the express that has been sent from this place to new york alluded to in your letter. with respect, your obedient servant, james reeside. n. b. i will say to a certainty i will go from this city to new york in six hours, or faster than any other one can do it. james reeside. to hon. o. b. brown, superintendent of mail contracts, washington, d. c. teams ready for the national road. trenton, february , . _dear sir_: you will perceive by the enclosed that i have attended to your directions as far as practicable. it is their own exposition of the matter, and such as they gave me. i neglected to mention to you in my letter of yesterday that the cause of the private express beating that of the government alluded to in mr. mumford's letter, was owing to but one cause. their express came through from washington. the government express from philadelphia, after the arrival of the steamship, giving the newspaper express the start of six hours in advance of that of the government. the lateness of the succeeding arrivals originated from the cause mentioned in the enclosed letter. no mail having arrived from the south, they supposed, from the lateness of the arrival of the express the following night, that there would not be any more. this was caused by the late arrival of the steamboat, and no preparation was made on the road for taking it on. this is their excuse; whether it will pass current is for you to determine. i have just received a letter from mr. washington on the subject. he attaches the blame to thompson's bad horse, &c. i think we shall be able to get the mail through in time to connect with the boat, should the roads not get worse than they now are. the mail arrived in philadelphia this morning at o'clock. i have good reasons for believing that it will continue, unless a change should take place in the roads. the mail has left jersey city the last few days at a few minutes past three o'clock p. m., and will continue to leave at that hour unless you direct otherwise: that is three o'clock. the teams intended for the national road are here to-night, and start to-morrow for the west; they are twelve in number, jersey stock. yours respectfully, d. ewing. colonel james reeside. p. s. no opposition express for the last four days. your express horses are in good order, with but two exceptions. d. e. copy of an account against col. james reeside. col. james reeside, to hutchinson & weart, _dr._ . january .--to one horse on express $ february . " two horses " " . " two horses " " . " two horses " " . " horses and gig, eastward, making arrangements for regular express march .--to two horses on express " . " running express one month and four days, from february to this date, inclusive, between trenton and new brunswick , -------- $ , the above is a true copy from our books, so far as relates to expresses, and has been paid to us by col. reeside. hutchinson & weart. bedford, pa., gets a daily mail. february , . _sir_: the citizens of bedford, pennsylvania, desire that a daily mail be run between bedford and hollidaysburg. the latter being a place of great importance, being at the junction of the pennsylvania canal and railroad, and an intercourse of communication very great between the two points, i will agree to perform the service for a pro rata allowance, and put the arrangement into effect in ten days. very respectfully, etc., james reeside. hon. w. t. barry, postmaster general. no. , pennsylvania. james reeside proposes to run daily for pro rata; postmaster general says within "granted;" james reeside written to th february, . transcriber's end notes several illustrations ("road wagon" and "stage coach") appear in the table of illustrations but do not have captions in the images themselves. these have been added. the table of illustrations indicates that a portrait of ellis b. woodward was to appear after p. , where he is mentioned. in fact, the portrait was bound between pages and . it has been placed in its intended position. in chapter xiv and in the appendix, accounting reports include balances carried over to the following page. since this text will not contain page breaks, these are superfluous, and they have been eliminated. the spelling of place names vary locally, e.g., allegany / allegheny. the word "phaeton" appears both with and without the "ae" ligature. in both cases, the spelling here is "phaeton". hyphenation can be variable and is retained as found. where the sole instance of a hyphenated word occurs on a line break, modern usage is followed. for chapters xxix, xxxii, the chapter summary fails to consistently use the conventional '--' separator between topics. these omissions have been corrected. the following list contains typographical or spelling errors which were noted, by the original pagination: ( ) excelerating, ( ) sapplings, ( ) ignominously, ( ) wood-be robber, ( ) gautemala, ( ) whatsomever, ( ) germaine, ( ) abram, ( ) from widow goodings, ( ) tennesse, ( ) mint julip, ( ) butting, ( ), beleagured, ( ) empanneled. punctuation and spacing errors have been corrected to follow usage elsewhere in the text. transcriber's note: minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. words printed in italics are noted with underscores: _italics_. the cover of this ebook was created by the transcriber and is hereby placed in the public domain. letters from an old railway official to his son, a division superintendent by charles delano hine with a postscript by frank h. spearman chicago the railway age copyright, , by charles delano hine _to the railway officials and employes of america:_ _their intelligence is an inspiration; their steadfastness, a psalm._ file numbers. letter i. a word of congratulation letter ii. helping the train dispatchers letter iii. handling a yard letter iv. distant signals on chief clerks letter v. safety of trains in yards letter vi. standardizing administration letter vii. the new trainmaster and civil service letter viii. education of several kinds letter ix. correspondence and telegrams letter x. the bayonet precedes the gospel letter xi. preventing wrecks before they happen letter xii. the self-made man who worships his maker letter xiii. the friend-mile as a unit of measure letter xiv. the management that breeds from its own herd letter xv. more on civil service letter xvi. the supply train letter xvii. what the big engine has cost letter xviii. be a superintendent--not a nurse letter xix. the rack of the comparative statement letter xx. handling the pay-roll letter xxi. military organization letter xxii. wrecks and block signals letter xxiii. unionism letter xxiv. the round-up postscript. by frank h. spearman letters from a railway official letter i. a word of congratulation. march , . my dear boy:--the circular announcing your appointment as division superintendent has just been received, and it brings up a flood of thoughts of former years. i felt that you had made a mistake in leaving us to go with the new system, but it has turned out all right. i can appreciate the fact that you would rather work away from me, so as to make people believe that you can go up the official hill without having a pusher behind you. this should be one of the proudest periods of your life. you are now in a position to do good to your company, to your fellow man, and incidentally to yourself. no matter how highly organized a road may be, the importance of the office of division superintendent is in direct proportion to the ability and earnestness of the incumbent. the position is little or big, restricted or untrammeled, just as you make it. many a superintendent has had to double the hill of a swelled knob, and run as a last section into the next promotion terminal. you have too much of your mother's good sense ever to cause anybody else to put up signals for you on this account. therefore do not lose your democratic manner. keep your heart warm and regard the wider field as an opportunity to get more friends on your staff. try to call every employe in your territory by name, as cæsar did his soldiers; for all the traffic of goodwill must run in a direction toward you if you want maximum results, as they call efficiency nowadays. good old rule of the standard code says: "when in doubt take the safe course and run no risks," which, in the case of acquaintance, means if uncertain whether you know a man or not, speak to him and give him the glad hand anyway. you will have to discipline men, but that can be done without parting company with your good manners. remember that the much-abused word "discipline" comes from the same root as the word "disciple," a pupil, a learner, a follower. it is always easier to lead men than to drive them. when you go over the division do not try to see how many telegrams you can send, but how few. it is usually a pretty safe rule after writing a telegram on the hind end of a train to carry it by two or three stations to see if you would rather not take it back to the office yourself. the dispatchers used to tell your old dad that they couldn't have told he was out on the line as far as his messages were an indication. another thing, do not try to plug your whistle and muffle your bell. let everybody know you are coming. the "old sleuth" stunt is for criminals, not for honest employes. be on hand so frequently that your coming is taken as a matter of course. never hunt quail with a brass band, but bear in mind that men, unlike quail, rather like to perch on a band wagon. if you are tempted to wait behind box cars to see if the men on a night pony have gone in the hay, do not yield, but get out, see that the switches are lined up, and count the ties in front of the headlight until somebody gives her steam; just as napoleon walked post for the sleeping sentinel. then, if you administer a polite jacking up it will be twice as effective, even if the delay to the work that one time has continued. remember that things are not as they should be, and it is probably your own fault if, under normal conditions, a particular movement depends upon your personal efforts. any routine action that you take should be calculated to help many trains, or one train many times; or to help many men, not merely the trains or men in question. it is all right, in emergencies, to jump in and do the work of a conductor, of an engineman, of a switch tender, or of any other employe. the great trouble is in discriminating between an emergency and a defect which can better be remedied in some other way. the smaller the caliber of the official the more numerous the emergencies to his mind. you should try to arrange your work so as to stay up all night at least once a week, either in the office, or better, on the road or in the yards. you will keep better in touch with the men and the things for which you, asleep or awake, are always responsible. you remember when your sister lucy was little how we asked her why she said her prayers at night but usually omitted them in the morning. her answer which so tickled you was, "i ask god to take care of me at night, but i can take care of myself in the daytime." it is much the same way with a railroad. from your point of view it will take pretty fair care of itself as a daylight job, but at night that proposition loses its rights. the youngest dispatcher, by virtue of being the senior representative awake, is to a certain extent general manager. the least experienced men are in the yards and roundhouses. the ever-faithful sectionmen are off the right of way. the car inspector's light and the engineman's torch are poor substitutes for the sun in locating defects. the most active brains are dulled by the darkness just before dawn. then it is that a brief hour may side-track or derail the good work of many days. it is this responsibility, this struggle with nature, this helping god to work out the good in men, that makes our profession noble and develops qualities of greatness in its members. next time i shall try to tell you something about helping your train dispatchers. with a father's blessing, ever your own, d. a. d. letter ii. helping the train dispatchers. march , . my dear boy:--i promised in my last to say something about helping your train dispatchers. the way to help any man is first to encourage him and by showing that you appreciate his good qualities give him confidence in himself. when you come in off the road tell the dispatcher, if such be the case, "nice meeting point you made yesterday for and ; i was there and they both kept moving almost like double track." if your division has been badly handled, the dispatcher, unaccustomed to such appreciation, will at first think this is a sarcastic prelude to having the harpoon thrown into him; but your sincerity will soon disabuse his mind of such a notion. sarcasm in official intercourse or toward one's subordinates should never be tolerated. it is an expensive kind of extra that should never be run. when you praise a man it will add to his good feeling if some one else happens to be present. if you have to censure anyone, whether directly or through the channels, do it privately and spare the recipient all unnecessary humiliation. the official who remembers to mention good work will find his rebukes and criticisms much more effective in remedying poor work than the official whose theory and practice are to take up failures and to let successes be taken for granted. another way to help a man is to lead him away from the pitfalls that are peculiar to his path of work. the official who is an old dispatcher has to fight in himself the temptation to be the whole cheese. he has to learn to trust subordinates with details. every position entails some inherent temptations. the absolute, unquestioned authority given a dispatcher in train movements breeds a temptation to be autocratic and unreasonable, to put out too many orders, to give too many instructions. therefore, try to get your dispatchers in touch with your crews. if the former are in a skyscraper uptown, get authority to build an office for them at the terminal where most of the crews live. personal contact is much better than long-distance communication by wire. there is enough of the latter from the very nature of the business without causing an unnecessary amount by artificial conditions. the temptation of a legislator is to make too many laws; of a doctor to prescribe too much medicine; of an old man to give too much advice; and of a train dispatcher, once more, to put out too many orders. it used to be thought by some that the best dispatcher was the one who put out the most orders. the later and better idea is that, generally speaking, the best dispatcher puts out the fewest orders. it is always easier to give orders of any kind than it is to execute them. it is a far cry from an o.s. on a train sheet to getting a heavy drag into a sidetrack and out again. it often takes longer to stop a train and get an order signed and completed than the additional time given in the order amounts to. even a judicious use of the beneficent nineteen order involves more or less delay. one of the lessons a dispatcher has to learn is to know when he is up against it; when he has figured badly; and when not to make a bad matter worse by vainly trying to retrieve a hopeless delay. a good dispatcher will know without being told that he has made a poor meeting point. educate him to consider that as an error to be avoided under like conditions in the future; not as a mistake to be made worse by putting out more orders that may fail to help the stabbed train enough, and may result in having every fellow on the road delayed. if any train must be delayed, let it be one that is already late rather than one that is on time. above all get the confidence of your dispatchers so that they will not try to cover up their own mistakes or those of others. teach them that, in the doubtful event of its becoming necessary, the superintendent is able to do the covering up act for the whole division. every superintendent and higher official should remember that if the same train order is given every day there must be something radically wrong with the time table. all over this broad land, day after day, hundreds of unnecessary train orders are being sent because many time tables are constructed on the models of forty years ago. at that time, in fact as in name, there were two classes of trains, passenger and freight. to-day there are in reality at least two distinct classes of passenger trains and two classes of freights, or at least four in all. on most of the roads in the country passenger trains of whatever nature or importance are all shown in one class, the first. as a result every limited train in the inferior direction on single track has to be given right by train order over opposing local passenger trains in the superior direction. in other words, the working time table, by definition a general law, has no more practical value, as between such trains, than an advertising folder. a train order by its very nature is an exception to the general law, the time table. when the exception becomes the rule it is high time to head in or to put out a thinking flag. some years ago your old dad after much persuasion induced his superiors to let him make four classes of trains on a pretty warm piece of single track. the result directly and indirectly was to reduce the number of train orders by twenty or twenty-five per day. every train order given increases the possibility of mistake and disaster; the fewer the orders the safer the operation. the change was made without even an approach to a mistake or the semblance of disaster. the dispatchers being less occupied were able to give more attention to local freights, and the general efficiency of the train service was greatly increased. the wires could go down and the most important trains would keep moving. it has stood the test of years and if the old method were resumed a grievance committee would probably wait on the management. successful politicians and public speakers have long since learned not to disgust their hearers by trying to talk in language ridiculously simple and uncultured. for us to say that the intelligent employes of to-day cannot keep in mind four or even five classes of trains is to confuse them with the comparatively illiterate men of a bygone generation. the public school and the daily newspaper have made a part of our problem easier. we are paying higher wages than ever before, but is it not partly our own fault if we fail to get full value received? therefore, see if your time tables appeal to tradition or to reason; if they belong to a period when women wore hoopskirts, or to a time when women ride wheels and play golf. in brief, before you take the stylus to remove the dirt ballast from the dispatcher's eye, be sure that there are no brakebeams stuck in your own headlight. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter iii. handling a yard. april , . my dear boy:--you have asked me to give you some pointers on handling a yard. you will find that nearly all situations in a yard hark back to one simple rule, which is: when you get hold of a car move it as far as possible toward its final destination before you let go of it. the training of a switchman is usually such that, if let alone, he will stick the car in the first convenient track and wait to make a delivery until he can pull every track in the yard and put with it all other cars with the same cards or marks. by this time some other fellow with a similar honesty of purpose but differently applied will come along and bury the car or block the first man in so that one engine has to stand idle. a yardmaster has to learn to keep his engines scattered and to hold each foreman responsible for the work of an engine. a good yardmaster knows instinctively where to be at a certain time to minimize the delay incident to engines bunching. the old switchman who becomes a yardmaster often proves a failure because he cannot overcome his inclination to follow one engine and take a hand in the switching himself. by so doing he may perhaps increase the work accomplished by that one engine, possibly five per cent; but in the meantime the other engines, for want of comprehensive, intelligent instructions, are getting in each other's way and the efficiency of the day's service is decreased maybe twenty per cent. good yardmasters are even harder to discover or develop than good train dispatchers. the exposure, the irregular hours for the yardmaster's meals in even the best regulated yards make a good conductor leery about giving up a comfortable run to assume the increased responsibility of a yard. the pay of a yardmaster is little more than that of a conductor and is sometimes less. right here is a chance for some deep administrative thought. it is so much easier to get good conductors than good yardmasters, should we not make the latter position more attractive? some roads have done this by making it one of the positions from which to promote trainmasters, and seldom have such appointees fallen down. however, there are hardly enough promotion loaves and fishes to go around. men get tired of living on skimmed milk on earth for the sake of promised cream in heaven. every switch engine worked costs the company several hundred dollars per month, and the yardmaster whose good figuring can save working even one engine is more than earning his salary. the closer you can get your yardmasters to your official family the better your administration. pick up a yardmaster occasionally and take him to headquarters with you so that he will keep acquainted with the dispatchers. this will hold down friction and save the company's good money. a dispatcher naturally wants to get all the trains he can into a terminal, while a yardmaster is doing his level best to get trains out. with such radically different points of professional view there is a big opportunity for the superintendent and the trainmaster to do the harmonizing act, to keep pleasantly before employes the fact that all are working for the same company, that all do business with the same paymaster. blessed are the peacemakers doesn't mean necessarily there must first be trouble. peace carried in stock is better than that manufactured on hurry-up shop orders. if you are looking for talent to run a yard, consider some ambitious dispatcher. too few dispatchers have become yardmasters. the same cool head, the same quick judgment, the same executive ability are needed in both positions. the man who has successfully filled both is usually equipped to go against almost any old official job, without having to back up and take a run for the hill. the curse of modern civilization is over-specialization. the world grows better and produces stronger, better men all the while. perhaps this is in spite of rather than on account of highly specialized organization. no industry can afford to be without the old-fashioned all around man who is good anywhere you put him. the work of the yardmaster is more spectacular than that of the dispatcher. to come down to a congested yard among a lot of discouraged men blocked in without room to sidetrack a handcar is like sitting down to a train sheet with most of the trains tied up for orders. in either case let the right man take hold and in a few minutes the men involved will tell you who it is has assumed charge. without realizing it and without knowing why, they redouble their efforts; things begin to move, and the incident goes down in the legends of the division to be the talk of the caboose and the roundhouse for years to come. to the man whose cool head and earnestness are bringing it all about comes the almost unconscious exhilaration that there is in leading reinforcements to the firing line. he feels with the count of monte cristo, "the world is mine," i have the switches set to head it in. get out of your head the young brakeman's idea that yard jobs are for old women and hasbeens. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter iv. distant signals on chief clerks. april , . my dear boy:--you write me that you have been kept very much in your office of late because the general superintendent has taken your chief clerk for the same position in his own office. you hope that your friend, the auditor, may be able to furnish you a good man who has such a thorough knowledge of accounts that you will be able to give less attention to such matters and therefore be out on the road that much more. you will pardon a father's severity, but you are running on bad track, and my interest prompts me to put out a slow order for you. you have had the division a short time, it is true, but that is only a partial excuse for not having better organization than your letter unwittingly admits. you have been there long enough to have sized up the men on the division, and you should know where to put your hand on a man for practically any position. a good organizer does not wait for a vacancy to occur or even come in sight before thinking of the next incumbent. he is always into clear on such a proposition. he has thought it all out beforehand. he has in mind two or three available men for every possible vacancy that can occur, for every job on the pike, including his own. wherever possible by judicious changing of men he not only has a man in mind, but he has given him some preliminary training for, perhaps some actual experience in, the position to be permanently filled. the tone of your letter is half complaining because the general superintendent has taken your good chief clerk. away with such a feeling; it is unworthy. you should feel flattered that your division had a chance to fill the vacancy. you should rejoice in the advancement of your faithful subordinate. some divisions, like some officials, are known the country over as developers of talent. youth is proverbially quick, and i think sometimes that you youngsters are quicker at getting into a rut than are we old fogies. why for a chief clerk must you necessarily have a man with office experience? does it not occur to you that your office will be in better touch with its responsibilities if it is in charge of a man who has worked outside along the road? why not look among your trainmen, your yardmen, your dispatchers, your agents, your operators, or even among your section foremen? experience is a great teacher, but it can never entirely supply the place of native ability, of natural adaptability. brains and tact are the essentials and each is comparatively useless without the other. both must be developed by training, but such training does not necessarily have to take the same course for all men. railroading as a business is only seventy-five years old, and as a profession is much younger than that. it is too early in the game to lay down iron-clad rules as to the best channels for training and advancement. common sense demands that such avenues be broad and more or less definite. the danger is that they will be only paths and so narrow that they will wear into ruts. do not delude yourself into thinking that by going out on the road you can get away from the accounts. they are a flagman that is never left behind to come in on a following section. you can never get beyond watching the company's dollars and cents any more than a successful musician can omit practice. some officials think that the way to examine a payroll or a voucher is to see that all the extensions are accurately made, that the columns are correctly added. this mechanical clerical work is about the last thing an official should have to do. he should know how, but his examination should be from a different viewpoint. primarily he must look to see if the company is getting value received for money expended. he must know that the rolls and vouchers are honestly made up, that agreements involved, if any, are carried out to the letter. the agreements may not be to his personal liking, may not accord with his ideas of justice, but the responsibility for that part is his superior's, not his own. there is a proper channel for him to follow in attempting to protect the company's interests, but that channel is not the one of a petty ruling on a minor question involved in a voucher or a payroll. overtime, for example, is not a spook but a business proposition. if earned according to the schedule it should be allowed unhesitatingly. before you jack up a yard-master for having so much overtime, see if the cutting out of that overtime will mean the greater expense of working another engine. the constant thought of every official is how to reduce expenses, how to cut down payrolls. this habit of mind, commendable as it is, has its dangers. in any business we must spend money to get money. the auditor's statements do not tell us why we lost certain traffic through relatively poor service. their silence is not eloquent upon the subject of the business we failed to get. figures must be fought with figures and many a good operating official has had to lie down in the face of the auditor's fire because, from lack of intelligent study of statistics on his own part, he had no ammunition with which to reload. do not feel that if you happen to advocate an increase of expense you are necessarily a discredit to the profession, a dishonor to the cloth. there are few roads that would not save money in the long run by allowing each division say one hundred dollars per month for developing talent. the expense distributed to oil for administrative machinery would express the idea. it would then be up to the superintendent to work out original methods for spending this money to the best advantage. a bright young fellow with the ear marks of a coming official could be given training in various positions. while he is acting in a certain position, the regular incumbent could be sent to observe methods elsewhere or be given training in some other department. for example, while your candidate is running a yard, the yardmaster could be an understudy for a supervisor. a station agent could take the place of a section foreman, an operator the place of a chief clerk, and so on indefinitely. do not understand me as advocating a wholesale shakeup or the doing away with permanency of tenure. the limitations of the majority of men are such that they are better left in one fixed groove. we grow to be narrow in our methods because men are narrow. what i want is for us to be broad enough in method to keep from dwarfing the exceptions in the ranks, and at the same time keep the parts of our administrative machine interchangeable. the original entry into the service is more or less a matter of accident as to department entered. let us not leave a good man the creature of accident all his days. the company is the loser as well as the man. we complain because the trades unions advocate a closed shop, a restricted output, a limited number of apprentices. is not their attitude a logical development of the example we have set? like master, like man. let your new chief clerk understand that he is never to use your signature or initials to censure or reprimand any employe, either directly or by implication. that is a prerogative you cannot afford to delegate. it is all right if a complaint comes in for the chief clerk to investigate by writing in your name and saying: "kindly advise concerning alleged failure to do so and so;" or, "we have a complaint that such and such happened and would like to have your statement;" but he should stop right there. it is all wrong for him or for you to add, "we are astonished at your ignorance of the rules;" or, "you must understand that such conduct will not be tolerated." wait until both sides of the case are heard. then you alone must act. the division will not go to pieces while such matters await your personal attention. while you are learning that even a brakeman's unpaid board bill may be satisfactorily explained, the brakemen are learning that even a superintendent can find the time to be fair and just. a lack of development of the judicial quality in chief clerks and their superiors has cost the railroad stockholders of this country many a dollar. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter v. safety of trains in yards. april , . my dear boy:--i have yours saying that my letter on yard work omits mention of the most important feature, the safety of trains in yards; that the letter is much like a cup of lunch-counter coffee--very good, what there is of it, and plenty of it, such as it is. i admit that you have caught me not only foul of the main, but outside the switches. i appreciate your consideration in so politely pulling the whistle cord for me, when you would have been justified in setting the air. we all like to be with good company and pull the president's special, and in this case i seem to have with me no less distinguished companions than the american railway association. that able body has been detoured too long around this important matter of rules governing trains in yards. before i leave their varnished cars and climb into the gangway of a switch engine to run into the yards, i want the conductor to throw off a register slip setting forth my admiration for the great work already done by that brainy organization. i take off my hat to the american railway association. when i take off said hat, especially to a lady, i always keep both eyes open. adoration should not be too blind or one may overlook some other meeting points and land clear off the right of way. long ago some bright minds, whose identity is lost in the rush of the years, hit upon the happy expedient of dividing trains into two kinds, regular and extra; just as early theology divided mankind into the two convenient classes of saints and sinners. this designation of trains, doubtless like all innovations opposed at first, soon acquired the sacredness that time brings to all things. at that period when we got a car over the road and into the terminal we felt that its troubles were about ended, as did the contemporary novelist whose terminal was always a betrothal scene. under modern conditions a car reaching a terminal, like a couple leaving the altar, finds that its problems have only fairly begun. less romance, more progress. did you ever try to explain to an intelligent traveling man just what a train is? did he not ask you some questions that kept you guessing for a week? did he not remind you that outsiders usually make the inventions that revolutionize operation? radical changes in methods of warfare are seldom necessitated by the inventions of military men. a druggist invented the automatic coupler. railroad men did not patent the air brake or devise the sleeping car. all this is natural, because in any profession where one attains excellence in a given method his mental vision may become contracted; he may reason in a circle. every once in a while we are appalled by a terrible collision in a terminal, the result perhaps of some poor devil of an employe not appreciating fully the meaning of "all trains." to the innocent bystander the switch engine and cars are just as much a train as the pullman flyer with its two little green markers on the last car. after such accidents, for a brief period, we hear a great deal about act of providence, presumptuousness of man, fallibility of the human mind, surprise checking, discipline of employes, company spirit, governmental supervision and a lot of other more or less unrelated subjects. are we not to blame for not having met the issue squarely? is it not time that we legislated to recognize the scores of engines chasing through our terminals, from freighthouse to yard, from engine house to station? are they outcasts? do the millions of dollars of investment they represent come through a different treasury? to the human mind an engine or a motor is a train, while a cut of cars without motive power is only a piece of a train, and goes to the brain as an idea of something incomplete. all the artificial definitions of the standard code cannot alter this state of facts. what do you think of the following proposed designations and tentative definitions? train.--an engine (or motor) in service, with or without cars. two or more engines (or motors) may be combined as one train. regular train.--a train represented on the time table. it may consist of sections. a section derives its running existence from a train order requiring a regular train or the proper section thereof, to display prescribed signals. extra train.--a train not represented on the time table, but deriving its running existence from train order. yard train.--a train neither represented on the time table nor created by train order, but deriving its running existence from rules governing movements within prescribed limits. you will find if you work these definitions through the standard code the changes will be slight, but the results comprehensive and satisfactory. this will do as a starter, but you will live to see trains handled on single track without train orders as we now understand the term. if this answers your signal, suppose we call in that flag we whistled out when we stopped to talk it over. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter vi. standardizing administration. april , . my dear boy:--while backing in on a branch idea i bumped into a load consigned to the american railway association which, with your permission, i wish to bring in behind the caboose to save a switch. yes, i have tied a green flag on the rear grabiron for a marker. when the hind man has dropped off to shut the switch and has given the eagle eye a high sign, i shall make a note on the wheel report to the effect that there is not a much better daylight marker than the caboose itself. some people doubt the necessity for green flags on freight trains or work trains unless the caboose does not happen to be the last car. night markers are unquestionably necessary, but are not a source of additional expense, as the same oil answers for both the rear red signal and the marker. the idea in question is that the american railway association might well afford to pay salaries to more of its officials and let certain ones give their entire time to committee work and the general welfare. it is too much to expect that men, probably already overworked on their own roads, can find the broadest solution of problems in the very limited time allowed. it might be possible to work out a plan whereby election to certain positions in the association would mean that the individual elected was to be loaned to the association for his term of office, say two years, and then return to service with his own company. a permanent body of officials in such an organization would be undesirable, save of course the able secretary, for the reason that too long a separation from active service would beget an indifference to practical operating conditions. under such a plan officials would have to be elected by name to prevent a company from unloading any old rail on the association. you know that some statistician has figured out that the average official life of a railroad man in any one position is only about two years. rearrangement of the staff on the return of an official from such broadening special duty should not be a difficult matter. but, as a man once said to me, "you will not bring all these reforms about until the old fogies die off, and by that time you will be an old fogy yourself and it will not make any difference." there is almost no limit to the number of matters in railway administration that can be made standard and uniform for all roads. a great deal has been done, but to a coming generation the present stage of accomplishment will seem to have been only a fair beginning. the hopeful feature is that roads now meet each other in a much broader spirit than ever before. the fortress that parleys is half taken, and when negotiations looking to uniformity are once begun a long stride forward has been taken. take the wage agreements of a dozen roads at a large terminal. all twelve are intended to mean practically the same thing, yet the wording of no two will be found alike. this probably is not due so much to a disinclination to get together as to a lack of time for working out uniform details. some roads are noticeable for the clearness, conciseness and brevity of their instructions. others employ a lot of surplus words which are as expensive and annoying in operation as dead cars in a yard. on every road there are a few men in the official family who have a faculty of expression, either inborn or acquired. some day when we more fully overcome the prejudice against sending officials to school we shall utilize the services of such valuable men as instructors in style. when this is done, especially in the traffic and legal departments, we shall materially reduce our telegraph expenses. the mere thought of the thousands of unnecessary words flying over the railroad wires every day is enough to give one telegrapher's cramp. some roads occasionally censor telegrams with a view to reducing their number and their length. these efforts, like municipal reform, are apt to be too spasmodic to prove of lasting value. success in anything depends upon keeping most everlastingly at it. you notice that i do not confine this remark to our own profession. carry a flag for me against the man who always says: "in railroading you have to do thus and so, for it's not like other business." all must admit that conditions in railroading are intense; that, except in an army in time of war, there is no profession that is more strenuous or calls for better staying qualities. these facts, however, do not put us in a class by ourselves, a little lower than the angels, a few car lengths ahead of perfection. as oliver cromwell said, some things are fundamental. one of them is that good organization and administration depend upon certain basic principles which hold true for any industry. whatever one's religious views, he must find that the bible is one of the best books of rules ever written, one of the best standard codes on organization that has been devised. men were organizers on a large scale centuries before railroads were built. when, after months of deliberation, the convention had finally agreed upon the provisions of the constitution of the united states, the document was referred for revision to a committee on style and expression. the result has been the admiration of the english speaking race. the caller's book does not show that the american railway association has ordered a run for such a committee. should a claim of that sort be made it would hardly be advisable to file the last standard code as an exhibit. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter vii. the new trainmaster and civil service. may , . my dear boy:--i have your letter telling about your new trainmaster. you feel that a man from another division has been forced on you by the general superintendent; that you have suffered a personal affront because the promotion you recommended on your own division has not been approved. i am sorry to rule against you, but from your own story if anybody deserves six months twice a year, it is you and not the general superintendent. the latter may have been lacking in tact; he may have been unduly inconsiderate for your personal feelings, but in making the appointment, which you admit is a good one, he has doubtless been actuated by a conscientious sense of duty. remember that a fundamental principle of highly organized bodies is that a superior cannot expect to select his own lieutenants. the next higher is always consulted and generally the latter's superiors also. the theory is that they are in a position to have a broader view, to size up more talent, to draw from the system at large, and to accentuate principles and policies in promotions and appointments. this theory is supported by practice, which goes even further. on most roads circulars signed by the superintendent and approved by the general superintendent announce the appointment of a trainmaster. do not let this delude you into thinking the general manager has not been consulted. in fact, if you could drop a nickel in the slot and get a phonographic report of conferences on the appointment, you might happen to recognize the voice of the president himself before the machine shut off. all of which should convince you that the stockholders and directors have strewn other official pebbles besides yourself along the organization beach. you say that the relation of superintendent and trainmaster should be that of elder brother and younger brother. very true, but do any of us ever select our brothers? in a primitive state of civilization, when force is law, the military chieftain rules. he makes and breaks his lieutenants at pleasure. the oldest form of organization we have is the military, for armies are older than governments. every nation has its birth in the throes of battle. time passes and the chieftain finds his lieutenants insisting on permanency of tenure. gradually they secure it, and channels of promotion and appointment are defined. these reach the lower grades and the general finds that he has not even the authority to discuss a private soldier from the service until the latter has been convicted by a court-martial of an offense covered by enactment of the legislative body of the nation. in every civilized country officers are commissioned by the executive head of the nation and by no one else. the general-in-chief may recommend, but he cannot appoint even a second lieutenant. consider now a commercial organization. do you think the high-salaried captain of an ocean liner can select his first and second officers without consulting his superiors? does he select his own crew? really, now, do you think the general superintendent should perfunctorily approve your recommendation for trainmaster? men have been organizing armies and have been going down to the sea in ships for thousands of years. let the railroads, which have been in existence only seventy-five years, draw another leaf from the lesson of the ages. the time is fast coming when an official cannot discharge a skilled laborer from the service without the approval of at least one higher official. we may not like it; we may say that such policies will put the road in the hands of a receiver. that is just what the conductors said when we took away from them the privilege of hiring their own brakemen. it will come just the same. we may as well look pleasant and see the bright side. where employment is made a lifetime business, where admission thereto is restricted to the lower grades and to younger men, public sentiment will not stand for letting the question of a man's livelihood be decided by any one official, however fair and just he may be. safety and good administration may demand the man's summary suspension from duty by the immediate official or employe in charge. if the man has been in the service a prescribed probationary period his permanent discharge will have to be approved by higher authority. men will not care to risk having a recommendation for discharge disapproved. they will learn that the more carefully a discharge has been considered the less readily will a reinstatement be made. some people think you cannot have military methods and organization on a railroad because it has no guardhouse. this is a mistake. your old dad, after trying both, finds that railroads, in some respects, have a more powerful discipline than the army. a discipline based on bread and butter, shoes for the baby, love of home, and pride of family, which is the bulwark of the state, has in itself all necessary elements for maximum practical effectiveness. reinstatements, unless based on new evidence, are demoralizing to discipline, for the reason that the unworthy employe bumps back to a lower grade some deserving man, whose good service is then reckoned at a discount. some passenger conductors become so color blind they cannot tell the company's money from their own. they keep down the wrong lead until the auditor derails them at the spotter's switch. the ex-conductor gets hungry, the sympathetic grievance committee, not knowing what is for its own best interests, intercedes. the management, dreaming of loyalty in coming strikes, reinstates the offender. some young conductor, who, on the strength of his promotion, has married or bought a home, is set back to braking. this causes some brakeman to carry the mail to the extra list. he quits in disgust and another road, less sympathetic, gets the benefit of his training. other reinstatements follow and more of the younger men quit. years go on, a rush of business comes. the management look in vain for promotion material and wonder at the seeming ingratitude in quitting of so many good young men whom it was fully intended to promote--in the sweet by and by. this is not the experience of one road, but of many. let us be just before we are generous. speaking of discharged employes, did you ever happen to be in a general office with an ex-passenger conductor, discharged for "unsatisfactory services," but seeking immediate reinstatement; and have an ex-official, who left the service in first-class standing, come in and ask for the next official vacancy? the conductor might succeed, but the official would fall a sacrifice on the shrine of civil service, a fetich because, in its true meaning, so little understood. i shall string a civil service limited for you on some other time card. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter viii. education of several kinds. may , . my dear boy:--i happened to meet your general manager the other day, and the way he spoke of the good work you are doing warmed the cockles of my old heart. he said that you couldn't rest easy until you knew more about the division than any other man. this, of course, is as it should be, but it is astonishing how many division superintendents are satisfied to grope along in the dark. then some fine day the general officials come along on an inspection trip and unintentionally make the superintendent look like thirty cents by the sincere questions they ask about the division which he is unable to answer. if one's memory has not been trained by education it is a good thing to condense information and have it in a notebook in the vest pocket. some wise man has said that all education after we are twenty-five years old consists in knowing where to look for things. another help that school education gives to an official is to broaden him so that he can use different methods on different properties. there are three main reasons why officials without much early education have succeeded and will continue to succeed. the first is native ability, which remains comparatively undeveloped without the second, which is opportunity. the third is the good luck to work under organizers and developers of talent. training under the right sort of leaders is an education in itself. the danger of relying on such training alone is that one may copy too blindly the methods of his master without being broad enough to realize that the same master under other conditions of territory would adopt radically different methods. this is the reason why there are so many failures when a new man takes a crowd of his followers to reorganize a property. if all succeed, very well, but if one fails the most of the bunch go tumbling down like a row of blocks. again, the educated man from his knowledge of history is less likely to forget that what may go in fifteen-year-old oklahoma will receive the icy mitt and the marble heart in three-hundred-year-old virginia. triples that are o.k. in cavalier south carolina may be too quick acting in puritan massachusetts. commercialism, like patriotism, rests on certain fundamental principles. the application of these principles may be as uniform as a train of system cars; it may be as diverse as the cars in a train of a connecting line. orthodoxy is usually my doxy. the rough and ready efficiency of the west, which has developed a vast domain, has won the praise of the world. our rough and ready brethren are finding that, as society rapidly becomes more highly organized, this old-time efficiency must be supplemented with technical education. so you find your self-made magnate giving his sons college educations. the only regrettable part is that to make it easy the old man raises the low joints for the boys and they do not always get bumpings enough to test their equipment thoroughly. time will correct this, and more college men, more presidents' sons, will fire, will switch, will brake, will become men behind cars as well as men behind desks. it is not only what you know, but what you make people believe you know, that counts in this little game of life. the american people never go back on a man who puts aside birth or education and stakes his all upon his manhood; who is willing to share the dangers and the hardships of his calling. our military men have long since learned this lesson, and the son of the general must do the same guard duty, make the same marches, dig the same trenches, and face the same bullets as his fellows. his father knows that for it to be otherwise would be to handicap the son by the contempt of his comrades. like the spartan mother, he says: "my son, return with your shield or upon it." did you ever consider how uncertain a quantity is opportunity, as inscrutable as the ways of providence? in all ages and in all callings it has been one of the numerous mysteries that make life so attractive. there is many a veteran conductor, many a gray-haired station agent, who, if he could have had the chance to start, would have become a general manager. some men have to go to another road to be fully appreciated. when a man is young he is criticized if he changes roads. when he is older his services are sought because of his varied experience with different roads. human nature is prone to limit the length of everybody's train to the capacity of its own sidetracks. in the spring of there went from his tannery at galena to the capital of illinois an ex-officer, a professional soldier, whose gallantry and efficiency had stood the tests of the war with mexico. springfield was filled with commission seekers, natives of the state, and illinois, like some railroads, did not wish to go off her own rails for talent. she needed trained clerks to make out muster rolls, to book wheel reports in the yard office, as it were. this humble employment the silent soldier accepted with better grace than has characterized some former railway officials under similar circumstances. the opportunity came in the shape of a mutinous regiment, which, like a mountain division, was hard to handle. three years later the clerk had run around all the officers, was commanding all the armies of the union, and the world rang with the military fame of ulysses s. grant. strange indeed is opportunity. some successful railroad men owe their official start to the seeming bad luck of being let out as an employe. your general manager said that he had read some of my letters to you; threw me a warm jolly by remarking that you are a credit to such teaching. then he confessed that he had asked the son if the old man always practices what he preaches. i am pleased to know from his own lips that you uncovered his headlight on that point. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter ix. correspondence and telegrams. may , . my dear boy:--you have asked me to say something more on the subject of correspondence and telegrams. in these days of push the button for the stenographer, letters and telegrams are longer than when the officials themselves wrote out communications in long-hand. it therefore usually remains for employes like yardmasters, conductors and operators to preserve the good old terse style of the past. some of them send messages that are models of comprehensiveness and brevity. when you run across a man who is an artist in that sort of thing keep an eye on him. the chances are that he uses the same good judgment in all of his work; that he accomplishes the greatest possible amount with the least possible effort; that he takes advantage of the easiest and best way; that he has the prime requisites of a coming official, namely, a cool head and horse sense. of course, the matter of terseness can be run into the ground. clearness should not be sacrificed to brevity. there is a happy medium between the off agin, on agin, gone agin, finnegan, of the irish section foreman and the regretsky to reportsky of the russian general. the point to be gained is to avoid repetition and unnecessary words. when wiring your office that you will go east on number two, the word east is superfluous for the reason that on your road number two can not possibly run west. for years in our train orders we used the phrase, right of track. then somebody was bright enough to think that as stonewall jackson is no longer hauling locomotives from one line to another over the valley turnpike in virginia, the words "of track" might be cut out. similar amputations have been made in the morning delay reports of many roads. human nature is so prone to grasp at the shadow rather than the substance that men cling to words rather than to ideas. when you have written a bulletin directing something to be done, do not discount your faith in its effect by the introduction of our good old friend, "be governed accordingly." we get in the habit of doing a thing simply because we have always seen it done and know no other way. we paint on the sides of our cars such unnecessary words as baggage, chair, dining, parlor, furniture, stock, etc., etc., just as though these cars were never used for anything else; just as though the words really served some useful purpose. the people who do not know the different kinds of cars are beyond the reach of instruction through such information. you have heard of the man who entered the dining car by mistake and asked, "is this the smoking car?" whereupon a waiter grinned and replied, "no, suh, this is the chewin' cah." the pullman people years ago discontinued the use of the words "sleeping car" on their equipment. it is not of record that the voices of the car inspectors and the switchmen on the outside have awakened any more passengers than usual on account of such omission. we borrowed from the army and the navy the idea of uniforms for employes, brass buttons, gold lace and all. lately soldiers and sailors are wearing plainer, simpler service uniforms. we, however, have not taken a tumble, perhaps because no one has hit us with a club, or run into our switch shanty and knocked it off the right of way. the cap is the essential feature of a trainman's uniform. he doesn't exactly talk through it, but its badge and ornaments identify his responsibilities and proclaim his authority. add to the cap a plain blue uniform suit with the detachable black buttons the tailor furnishes, and you have a very satisfactory result. the cap then becomes the only difference between the costume for the road and that for the street. where tried, it has been found that men wore their best suits on duty and on the street, and kept their worn and shabby suits to wear around home. at present on nearly all roads, as the uniform is too conspicuous to be worn off duty, the men are tempted to defer buying a new uniform until the old becomes very shabby. it has been found that freight crews are easily induced to take advantage of the contract price to buy such plain uniforms for street wear. such freight crews can be provided with extra caps from the office in emergencies and be utilized to advantage; sometimes reducing the amount of deadhead mileage in making special one-way passenger movements. the street railway of at least one large city has tried this system of plain uniforms with excellent results. why should the most of us be so timid that we must have a precedent before we can endorse a proposed plan? like a successful after-dinner speaker, i am responding to the toast on expression by talking about other things. in writing important letters or instructions it often pays to take the time to sit down and make a rough draft with a lead pencil. if you have the dictation habit so firmly fixed that this is irksome, revise the first draft made by the stenographer. except when writing in the familiar style, the third person should be used rather than the first or second. the use of the second person should be carefully avoided in formulating general instructions; its use in special instructions to a few individuals is sometimes, but rarely, permissible. in writing or dictating telegrams figure roughly what the message would cost the company for transmission at commercial rates, and its probable reduction if the price per extra word came out of your own pocket. as far as possible avoid letting your initials become cheap by being used by too many people. if the management do not disapprove, encourage your subordinates to do routine business over their own initials or over symbols, as s. for superintendent (g.s. for general superintendent, and so on), so that when your initials come over the wire they will indicate personal attention and final action. this, too, has been tried successfully in contravention of the fallacy that unquestioning obedience must be rendered even when it is known that the official's initials have been signed by the office boy. it may be remarked in passing, that appreciation and fame await the individual who will be able to coin some short and expressive words to replace such awkward and cumbrous designations as superintendent of motive power, engineer maintenance of way, assistant to the first vice-president, etc., etc. did you ever think how desirable and practicable it would be to adopt the government method of addressing the office instead of the incumbent by name? we do this with train orders, and usually in addressing station agents. we should also address "the superintendent, getthere division, suchtown, somestate," and not use his name unless it is intended as personal and to be opened by him alone. in all correspondence remember that a reprimand, expressed or implied, may be taken in a very different sense by the recipient from that intended by the sender. your old dad has maintained satisfactory discipline among quite a bunch of men on more than one trunk line without ever writing a letter of reprimand or sending a hot message over the wire. the advice of the famous politician to walk ten miles to see a man rather than write him a letter is paraphrased for our business to mean rawhide yourself fifty or a hundred miles over the road to jack up a man rather than play him a tune on the typewriter. another useful injunction is that of a famous soldier and diplomat, "never underrate yourself in action; never overrate yourself in a report." affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter x. the bayonet precedes the gospel. may , . my dear boy:--the evolution of the relative importance of the several departments in railroad work is an interesting study. the early railroads were short and usually had for president the most important man of affairs in the community, a banker, a lawyer, a publicist, a what-not. frequently this man could not give his whole time to the road and he leaned heavily upon his superintendent, who, perhaps, had been the engineer in charge of construction. the superintendent of the early days was general manager on a small scale, and with limited facilities had to be a man fertile in resources. the superintendent of to-day is a better man, because the race improves all the time, but he performs duties of a decidedly different nature. it is idle to speculate as to just what he would do under primitive conditions. a return to such circumstances is impossible. we know that in a pinch our railway officials and employes, as a class, are never found wanting. they will measure up to standard in the future as they have in the past. one fact they must never forget is that, like soldiers and sailors, their faculties must be so alert, their grasp so comprehensive, that they will not get lost when the fortunes of the service bring them into strange territory. the pace is too swift to admit of standing still to get one's bearings. there were few officials and the conductors were very important personages. when the superintendent needed an assistant it was natural to take a conductor who helped around the office, ran the pay car and specials, and made himself generally useful. later on, train dispatching developed splendid tests of executive ability and the official staff was recruited by promotions from dispatchers. still later, the growing importance of terminal problems gave yardmasters a chance for recognition and advancement. as west point was the nursery of the early constructing engineers, many of the early roads were built and operated by military men, whose impress in railway methods has survived to this day. when the civil war was over the railroads gained for their service thousands of men whose ability had stood the stern test of camp and battle, men who could meet unexpected conditions. these men bore the brunt in the wonderful railroad development that secured forever the commercial greatness of our country. the value of military methods was appreciated by them and almost unconsciously such methods were copied in organization, in discipline, in correspondence. one reason the great pennsylvania organization is so strong and successful is the training some of its embryo high officials received in the military railway bureau of the war department during the great conflict. the bayonet always precedes the gospel. when the military have cleared the wilderness of the savage foe the railroad brings a permanent civilization. witness the marvelous growth of the great west during the last forty years. a majority of the railroads in the country at some time or other passed through a receivership. here came a chance for legal men, and after reorganizations lawyer presidents have not been uncommon. at the next stage of development many railroads had been built and systems were growing larger. the civil engineer, who in earlier years would have become the president or chief operating official, was now taken care of in a newly necessitated department, that of maintenance and construction, sufficiently important to attract his talents. following this period competition was keen; it was a struggle for existence. the man who could get the business was it. the traffic man had his inning and, if not president, dictated policies and the amount of his own salary and perquisites. with the growth of the community of interest idea the traffic man is just as important; but he is no longer wreckmaster, and the transportation man is up under the lime light near the derrick car. between the different dynasties of departments the transportation man, like the rock of ages, is always the standby and always will be. the other departments come and go in relative importance, but the transportation never shuts off, and is there with the sand when the others unload from the gangway. the revolution in standards of power and equipment incident to recent years of tractive units and ton-mile costs has brought the mechanical man prominently in front of the headlight. fortunately for himself and for the service in general he has not dodged the rays when anyone cared to read figures, and the way to higher executive positions has not been left dark for him. the pendulum is already coming back toward the transportation man. whether the next swing will be toward the signal engineer or toward the electrician it is hard to say. the lesson a superintendent should learn from all this is that he has more and more superiors to please, more and more fads to follow, more and more improvements to develop, more and more different points of view to reconcile. he must merge his own importance, his likes and dislikes in the great corporation with which he has cast his lot. if his superiors spell traveler with two l's or labor with a u, let him do likewise. by so yielding he is not losing any manhood. he is winning a victory over the crotchety part of his individuality and leaving room for its development along broader lines. he that ruleth his spirit is greater than he that taketh a city. as no man can take a city or do any great work unaided he must learn first to rule his own spirit in order that he may rule others and gain their heartiest co-operation. the superintendent who is habitually calm and polite, however great the provocation to speak angrily, will soon find that if he is firm and just his men are worrying even more than he lest things go wrong on the division. in the matter of discipline there has been a great change in sentiment and in method. whether or not it is all advisable is very much of a question. there are too many collisions in proportion to the improvement in material and personnel. in the old days the crew at fault, whether they actually got together or not, were discharged and forever barred off the road. nowadays we are apt to give them another trial on the theory that we are immune from future mistakes on their part. this may or may not be so, but how about the effect on others in the service? how about the men who are thereby entitled to promotion? is not a failure to make an example of such offenders holding life and property too cheap? we may pity the unfortunate blunderers, just as we may pity a drunkard or a thief, but their usefulness to us should be over. they may start in again, but it must be on some other road. our duty to the public and to our stockholders demands that the safety of a train should be sacred. one of the most absurd conclusions is to measure the punishment by the amount of damage, according to how straight the track happened to be, according to how hard they happened to hit. some railroad sins can be forgiven, but drunkenness, chronic or periodic; stealing, money or property; and collisions, actual or constructive, should be unpardonable on any road, however thoroughly they may be blotted out elsewhere. less sentiment and more discharges will mean fewer collisions. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xi. preventing wrecks before they happen. may , . my dear boy:--an able and successful general manager--not all able men and not all general managers are successful--recently called attention to a most important distinction in the training and practice of superintendents. he says that too much stress is laid upon the development of ability to locate responsibility after a wreck occurs, and not enough upon the quality of controlling circumstances, of cultivating precautionary habits that will prevent disaster. as he aptly puts it, the superintendent should be a doctor, a health officer, rather than a coroner; his staff a sanitary commission, a board of health to prevent disease rather than a jury to determine its causes and effects. some superintendents pride themselves on their legal acumen, their ability to cross-examine, and on the way they can catch a crew trying to lie out of a mix-up. this is all very well if it does not obscure the main object, namely, to minimize disaster in the future. the investigation serves, perhaps, to determine what men to discipline and discharge as an example to others in the service. it should also serve as a lesson in official methods. however thorough and searching, it cannot restore life or return property. the damage has been done. all the king's horses and all the king's men cannot put humpty-dumpty together again. some of your men every day will give you the old hot air, "as long as there are railroads there will be wrecks." to which you should hand back the stereotyped reply, "very true, but let's figure on letting the other fellow have them." a discreet remark or suggestion that will put a man to thinking for himself is one of the secrets of success in handling men. never miss an opportunity to make the point that wrecks seldom occur from the neglect of any one man. it is when two or more forget at the same time or fall down together that trouble results. impress on the brakeman the fact that the very stop he neglects to flag is the time when the operator is most likely to let two trains in the same block. remind your conductor that when he fails to read the orders to the engineman in person and sends them forward by the porter or the head brakeman, that is the very trip the orders get torn or smeared so that a fatal mistake results. when a passenger train breaks in two the air usually sets on both portions. it fails to do so when bums or misplaced safety chains have turned the angle cocks; and that is the time there should be a trainman riding in the rear car. men will tell you so and so cannot happen, but next week it does happen just the same. the whistle hose and the brake hose cannot be coupled together because the connections are purposely made of a different pattern. a green apprentice coupling an engine to a tender at a roundhouse managed to pound together the couplings of the wrong pairs of hose, which the engine inspector had failed to notice were badly worn. that was the day the car inspectors neglected to try the signal and the air before the train left the terminal. by a strange fatality the conductor trusted the car men for the station test. the engineman was too busy to make a running test. they all got wise when the air wouldn't work at the first railroad crossing. watch the inspectors to see that they do not form the lazy habit of giving the signal to try the air from the next to the last car, of walking only half the length of the train to see the pistons and the brakeshoes. never wink at an irregularity of that sort. it will come back to plague you a hundredfold. go right after it quietly, but promptly and effectually. do not wait for disaster or for investigation by your superiors to tell you that a loose practice prevails. get such information with your own senses or from observations of your staff. it is vigilance, eternal vigilance, that is the price of safety. teach your men that a hundred successes do not justify an avoidable failure, that twenty years of faithful service cannot condone criminal carelessness. a fundamental is that when backing up there should always be a man on the rear end. educate your men to feel that neglect of this wise precaution is just as mortifying as to appear in public without clothes. in shoving long cuts of cars without using air, get your brakemen and switchmen to feel a pride in setting a hand brake on the end car to take the slack and save the jerk on the drawbars. work for the old-time feeling of chagrin that came to the calloused-armed passenger brakeman, in the days of armstrong brakes, when he did not go after them soon enough and let his train run by the station. the men are not to blame for this loss of pride and interest. we, the officials, are at fault. we have not kept ahead of the game. we have been coroners, not sanitary inspectors. if an engine is waiting at a hand derail or at a crossover for a train, neither switch should be thrown until the train has passed. then, if the throttle happens to fly open at just the wrong moment, the train will not be sideswiped. if not trained, your switchmen will throw every switch possible beforehand so as to be ready. they may think such precautions are old womanish, but the time will come when your wisdom will be vindicated. if a train is waiting for a connection, with a siding switch in rear, the facing point switch should be opened, so that if the incoming man loses his air or misjudges distances the train will not be hit. similarly a flagman going back to protect a train between switches should open the siding switch as he passes it. the switch is more effectual than a torpedo, and if a following train happens to get by him and his torpedoes his own train will not be hit. he should flag just the same, because a train entering the open switch too fast might turn over. it is better to take a chance on a derailment than on a collision. it is better still to have such training, vigilance and discipline that there will be little chance of either disaster. train your men to do things because they are right, because it is manly to do good railroading. then, when you hold an investigation you will not find at the moment the accident happened that the engineman was priming his injector, the fireman putting in a fire, the head brakeman shoveling down coal, the conductor sorting his bills, and the hind man starting to boil coffee for supper. there is hardly a conductor or an engineman of any length of service who has not at some time overlooked an order or a train. when he has forgotten, his partner has remembered. the trouble has come, bad luck, they call it, when they both forgot. many a $ operator has saved the job of a $ engineman. keep your men keyed up to the idea that this is too uncertain; that each must watch his own job, that in so doing he may keep his comrade out of the hole, that by conscientious vigilance he becomes a better man and more of a credit to his calling. no man wilfully courts danger to life and property. his failures are an accompaniment, a concomitant they call it in logic, of officials being better coroners than they are doctors. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xii. the self-made man who worships his maker. june , . my dear boy:--i once heard general sheridan, my old commander, say that when he was a lieutenant he made up his mind to be the best lieutenant in his regiment; that in every grade to which promotion brought him he strove to be the best; that he attributed his high rank to this consistent effort. right here is a moral that many a railroad man should apply to himself. although sheridan's comrades at west point and in the service knew his efficiency, the powers that were in found no higher position for him than that of captain and assistant quartermaster. during the first year of the civil war, while politicians were called colonels and lawyers tried to be generals, this trained soldier was inspecting horses and mules in the southwest, a veterinary's work. some men, disheartened by such apparent inappreciation, would have lost interest, would have let the contractor palm off inferior animals on the government. not so with the future commander of the army. he tried all the harder and his work was efficient, clean and honest. in the spring of a michigan cavalry regiment needed a colonel and the officer hailing from ohio, who had bought horses so well, had a chance to drill both horses and men. a year and a half later he was commanding a division of infantry, and six months after that as major general a corps of cavalry. popular opinion pictures sheridan as a dashing fighter, executing the plans of some one else. never was there a more incomplete conception. no matter how hard had been the fighting, how wearing the march, it was sheridan who rose in the night to see that the sleeping camp or bivouac did not suffer from laxity in guard duty, that all was ready for the plans of the morrow. the general manager did not have to tell him that the switch lamps on his division were not burning. the general superintendent did not have to wire him that his water cranes were out of order. the superintendent of motive power did not have to complain that his enginemen were not kept in line. the traffic manager did not lose freight because his night terminals became congested. there is many a railroad man who has lost heart and lessened his usefulness because an honest but inappreciative management has promoted the wrong man. then is the time to come out strong, to try harder than before to be appreciated. the world has little use for soreheads. the more strenuous the conditions the less sympathy for the sulker in the tent. be game and do not kick for rest. the sleeve is no place to wear a wounded heart. do not put up a squeal about nepotism. as long as man loves woman and that woman's children the relatives of the management will always be the easiest for the promotion call-boy to find. remember that though they be marked up first out, there are other runs to be filled; that sooner or later there are chances for more crews to get out. if you find flaws in the reasons announced for certain appointments, forget them in the thought that honesty of purpose is a distinguishing characteristic of operating management. not only look pleasant but head off the efforts of foolish friends to form a volunteer grievance committee in your behalf. assuming that you are trying to be the best division superintendent, remember that in the final roundup it is not your own ideas of success that must prevail. you may know that you are stronger and better than the official who gets the preferred run. you may know that it would be best for the company to have you run around him. all the men on the division may unconsciously feel your superior ability. they may all swear by you and make your name almost sacred around the lunch counter and the caboose track. all this will not count for full value if you do not please your superiors. when the general manager comes on your division you must be ready for any kind of a statistical run. he has not time to wait for you to oil around. his every hour is valuable and like all busy men he forms his opinions in a hurry. remember that until we know men intimately we judge them by standards more or less artificial, but usually pretty accurate in the aggregate. thus a man who is careless and untidy in his dress is apt to overlook little essentials in the management of men and affairs. the dandy is almost never a coward; for, if physical courage be lacking, his pride supplies its place. the superintendent whose desk is in confusion probably has untidy stations and dirty coaches. the man who slouches coatless into his superior's office and sprawls into a chair before being invited to sit down is likely to be equally inconsiderate of the public his company serves. the tobacco lover who cannot refrain from smoking or chewing the few minutes he is close to the throne will probably not inherit much of the kingdom of advancement. the man who clings to the george washington habit of eating with his knife and the thomas jefferson custom of drinking from his saucer has the burden of proof on him to show that he is not unobservant of progress in other things and is not generally behind the times. the self-made man in so many cases worships his maker that he forgets the divinity that doth hedge a king. the man above may be no better, perhaps not as good, morally, mentally, physically and socially, but officially he is the superior in fact as well as in name. familiarity breeds contempt and the more respect you show your superior the more dignity you are conferring upon yourself, the less likely are your own subordinates to forget the respect that is due your position. self-restraint and mental poise cultivate an unconscious dignity of character that is of immeasurable value in the handling of men. abraham lincoln and robert e. lee, men of radically different types but alike in being idolized by their people, were popular heroes, although neither was addressed, even by his intimates, by his first name. the highest compliment you can pay an associate or a subordinate is to address him in private by his first name. it shows either that you have known him a long time or that you think enough of him to separate him from his payroll designation. one of the amiable failings of human nature is to be self-satisfied, a condition that in our profession is probably intensified. we railroad men have to think and act in such a hurry that we become very cocksure of ourselves. we have so little time for introspection that we often regard the science of railroading as putting it on the other fellow. when disaster occurs, no matter how defective may have been our equipment, how parsimonious our policy, how lax our discipline, we cry out long and loud at the untrustworthiness of employes, at the decadence of company spirit, at the growing evils of the labor unions. an intelligent public usually gets on to us, however, and we pay for such mental and vocal pyrotechnics with compound interest. it will profit us to do a little more self-examination, to copy the publican rather than the pharisee. the conductor who burns off journals will assure us of his distinguished concern and of his constant injunctions to his brakemen to watch for hot boxes. the superintendent who rawhides his men will tell you with tears in his voice how necessary it is to be considerate of the boys on the road. the general superintendent who sends long and unnecessary telegrams will deplore with you the tendency of the traffic department to burden the wires. all these are good men and true, but they have not formed the habit of healthy, honest self-criticism. strong, indeed, is the man who can stand up and say, like lee at gettysburg, "i was in command and responsible. if anyone is to blame i am the man." the greatest of executives are those who can make men think for themselves, who can work men and have them believe they are playing, who can suggest a new thought to a man and leave him with the idea that he originated it himself. a great deal of effort is lost, a vast amount of mental force is wasted in trying to convince people that you alone originated an idea or a movement. bury such a thought in the results produced, for it is results we are after. get your satisfaction in said results and your amusement in the honest self-glorification of some unconscious borrower who has utilized your idea. it doesn't pay to be too much of an originator. if you have advanced ideas, keep yourself in the background or you may kill the ideas. men find the old alignment so familiar that they are slow to want curves replaced by tangents. if you are too ubiquitous with suggestions they will become leery of your good judgment and will unconsciously set the fish tail when you whistle into town. if you will run past the distant signal and find your superior at the home, some of the best stops for the suggestion derail are: "you doubtless have considered the advisability of thus and so;" or, "i assume you are not quite ready to decide the question of hit or miss;" or, "as you were saying the other day, we are losing money by deadheading crews;" or, "i hope you will be able to carry out your idea of introducing train staffs;" or, "on further consideration, do you care to recommend adopting lap sidings for the new extension?" etc. of course this kind of a sand valve must not be opened too wide or too often or some of the soft soap will get on the detector bar and violate the interlocking rules. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xiii. the friend-mile as a unit of measure. june , . my dear boy:--your chief dispatcher blew through here the other day on his vacation and dropped in to pay his respects. he rather apologized for so doing, as he seemed to think it might be considered an intrusion to call on a stranger. i took it as a compliment to myself and as a mark of his loyalty to you. it is so easy for us old fellows to forget that we were once junior officials ourselves that i rather like to keep in touch with those who are to come after and maintain the time-honored standards of the profession. i never like to say very much about my desire to acquire information from everyone i meet, for experience has made me a little leery of the man who whistles too long for that station. he is apt to toot his own horn so much that he doesn't hear the other fellow's signals. so i tried not to do all the talking, and did not tell my guest of the great improvements i had made since i came to this position. i preferred to let him hear that from someone else. if one should take too literally the talk of the officials on whom he calls he would wonder how the road ever ran before each held down his particular job; how there can possibly be any improvement made by those who come after. no, i do not advocate hiding one's light under a bucket in the cab all the time--only when running. the world is getting to place more and more confidence in the man who thinks out loud. it trusts him because he is not doubtful of himself. the stunt of looking wise and not expressing an opinion when a suggestion is made is no longer popular. a non-committal promise to look into the matter may be construed as a mask for ignorance or timidity. the more a man knows the more frankly he acknowledges that a certain idea is new to him. men to whom talking and writing do not come easy sometimes say beware of the windy man, but there are some mighty efficient railroaders who act and perform all the better for being able to handle words. hot air is all right if properly compressed. the idle breeze dries the ground and runs windmills. sand bites the rail in more economical quantities when fed down by the pneumatic attachment. every division has its windy bill, its chattering charlie, its gasbag george; but some way, when they are on the road you always feel safe. they may work a con game on some of the agents and dispatchers, but they get over the road with the local. you feel good when you meet them. the man you want to run from is calamity jake, who always has a tale of woe as long as a gravel train. his caboose rides rough; its stove smokes; the caller doesn't give him time enough for his wife to cook breakfast; the yardmaster saves all the shop cripples for his train; he can't trust the ignorant engineers; the brakemen are all farmers, and the signal oil won't burn. if you tell him that's all right, that you will try and correct all these things when the car accountant's office stops kicking on his wheel reports, he will look at you in sympathetic sadness and bewail the modern tendency to make clerks of conductors. your chief dispatcher is a fine fellow and understands the art of getting away. he didn't wear out his welcome but broke away while making a good impression. you have to unlock the switch for some men before they can couple their crossings and get out of town. the dispatcher has to send the operator outside with a clearance. acquaintance is one of a young man's most valuable assets, and a two minutes' interview may grade the way for a lifelong run. before the world was as good as it is now, men rather prided themselves on the number of enemies they had made. nowadays the friend mile is a more desirable unit of measure. washington irving puts it very prettily where he says, "for who is there among us who does not like now and then to play the sage?" so i felt rather flattered when your chief dispatcher asked me for advice as to what to study in order to get on in the railway world. i told him first of all to read every bit of company literature that he could get hold of; not to skim through a part of the pamphlet on refrigerator cars and guess at the rest. a table of freight rates may become interesting if properly approached. do not try to memorize data and statistics, but rather plod through them at least once with a view to trying to master the principles that govern. life is very full in this twentieth century, but, broadly speaking, it is still possible to know something of everything as well as everything of something. the day is coming when we will not entrust a man with the important duties and the great responsibilities of a division superintendent until we have given him a brief course in every department. we examine a man before we let him run an engine, but how about the man who runs him? a superintendent should know enough about an engine to handle the enginemen just as he does the trainmen. when we have men successfully running engines who can barely read and write, it is a mistake to claim that a locomotive is such a sacred mystery that only the mechanical department can judge whether or not it is properly handled. enginemen are transportation men, and the time that master mechanics put in assigning crews, keeping an age book, and otherwise duplicating the superintendent's work might a great deal better be given to the back shop. the yardmaster has one caller and the roundhouse foreman another. the two callers go up the same street, sometimes together, and call men in adjoining houses, an expensive duplication of work. the trainmaster rides in the caboose and the traveling engineer--road foreman is the modern term--in the engine, but neither dares presume to know the business of the other. every trainmaster should be a traveling engineer and every traveling engineer should be a trainmaster. that will be the case when we train officials along more definite lines. honey bees feed their future queen a special food. no, i would not decrease the number of officials, if anything i would increase it. i would not, however, let every official created have a chief clerk and a stenographer. i would make it impossible for him to yield to the temptation to add a bureau of records to the amount of useless information already on file. i wouldn't lose my nerve if now and then a set of ancient papers got lost, for with less red tape quicker action would result and little would get away. the first time the trainmaster had to wait an hour or two before he could dictate a letter in the superintendent's office, or could use a stenographer in his own office, he would beef for a separate establishment. if more help should be needed, which would be very doubtful, put it on, but do not limit its usefulness to any one official. with a proper, responsible head it is entirely feasible to carry the community of interest idea into office organization. if the division engineer is under the superintendent, why, in sending papers into the next room to him, write a letter and burden your files with the carbon of the stereotyped, "kindly note next attached and take necessary action?" is not his office a part of the superintendent's? have you not the same right to papers there that you have to those in the office of the chief dispatcher? why not go even further and have one chief clerk and one set of records for the whole outfit, just as an assistant superintendent can handle a part of the work without having a separate force? if you ever rearrange an office building, fix it so that the casual visitor waiting to see the boss will not learn state secrets by hearing the chief clerk dictate letters. a number of roads have tried the experiment of putting the enginemen and the roundhousemen solely under the superintendent, and of confining the master mechanic to his proper function of running the shops. it has usually failed; not on account of inherent weakness as a system, but because the superintendent didn't superintend, and found it too convenient to try to shift the responsibility to the mechanical department. reform has to begin at the top, and if the division is to be the unit the superintendent must be something more than a high-class chief dispatcher finding flaws in train sheets. it is not enough for him to be a star division engineer, a boss yardmaster. he must remember that his holding of any of these positions is ancient history, not to be forgotten, because valuable and instructive, but nevertheless a thing of the past. as the yardmaster and the dispatcher must scatter their trains, so the superintendent must keep his staff doing different things. he must avoid having two men doing the same thing. if it is better to call the roundhouse foreman a master mechanic and invent a title for the man behind the back shop, let us do so; but by all means avoid working the master mechanic at present as foreman, head caller, road timekeeper and roundhouse clerk. the superintendent can boss all these jobs, and transportation, including its operating attributes, must focus at his office. it is not the superintendent who works the most hours who is the most successful. it is he who puts in the best licks at the right time, night or day, and with the right man or men. i told your chief dispatcher that a knowledge of law is as important to a real superintendent as a knowledge of telegraphy. i advised him to give himself the pleasure of reading cooky's edition of blackstone, which, if taken in homeopathic doses, is one of the clearest things in the language. every superintendent gets to be more or less of a lawyer. it should not be necessary to refer every little fire or stock claim to the legal department for some of its students to render a profound opinion upon a matter of common sense. it is so easy to follow the line of least resistance that we too often evade responsibility by throwing up our hands and saying that such and such is a legal question, a mechanical matter, or a traffic problem. we gracefully pass it up to the other fellow, and think we are in to clear when an investigation happens to come. by and by, oblivious of the relation between cause and effect, we deplore the curtailment of our authority and inveigh against centralization. i had some other ideas to set out for you, but we have drifted so near the switch that there is not room enough to make a drop of the caboose. so i shall either pull the whole train into the yard or get permission from the yardmaster to cut off on the main, and like an orthodox conductor, leave them for the night men to switch out. we conductors feel that, as a switch engine lies around the most of the time, it can always do at least one more job, besides having time to shove us out of the yard and over the hill. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xiv. the management that breeds from its own herd. june , . my dear boy:--history repeats itself, and railroad history is made so fast that we repeat ourselves very often. mankind absorbs a certain amount from the experience of others. in spite of the much good that comes, the same old fallacies are followed, the same old blunders are made. within the last fifty years every road in the country, at some time or other, has undergone at least one reorganization and a corresponding radical change in personnel. always, after several new camels get their heads under the tent, comes a newspaper pronunciamento that thereafter the management will breed from its own herd. this inbreeding invariably leads ultimately to narrowness if not to deterioration. the cousins intermarry too often and ere long the road is breeding its own scrubs. within the last five years every road in the country has gone outside its own ranks for official talent. the oldest roads have had only a few leonard woods and fred funstons, a president here, a vice-president there. other roads have changed officials so fast that one is reminded of the traveler sojourning in paris during the french revolution. he instructed his servant to tell him every morning what the weather was, that he might know how to dress himself, and what the government was, that he might know how to conduct himself. what then of our boasted civil service; of the wonderful administrative machines we build up and find wanting? is the principle wrong or is its application faulty? the earnest efforts of able men, crowned by many partial successes, are sufficient guarantee of honesty of purpose, of the necessity for something of the sort that has been attempted. he who criticises, be he ever so honest, must suggest a practical remedy or he soon descends from the level of the critic to that of the demagogue or the common scold. our trouble seems to be, not with civil service as an abstract proposition, but with the type we have been getting. it is about z- as compared with the real thing. it has too many flat wheels to run smoothly. it must be jacked up high enough for new trucks and a stronger kingbolt. true civil service presupposes maximum care in original selection. it doesn't mean that we shall wait until the grain and the coal begin to move before we figure on more crews. it rather contemplates having available firemen in wipers, and willing brakemen in clerks. every superintendent believes that he is the best judge of men on the pike. on every system are probably men who can give him cards and spades, picked coal and treated water, and then outclass him on such a run. if we leave the hiring to the different trainmasters, master mechanics, or agents, we may have mostly the irish on one division, mostly the dutch on another. if we are going into this civil service business and are taking men, like federal judges, for life or during good behavior, let's have a long list of waiting eligibles recruited for each division. let's send around periodically a car with an examining board from central headquarters to size up the talent recommended by local officials. put experienced officials, a surgeon and an oculist on the committee. show your trainmaster that men who make it a business have more time than he to keep dudes and cigarette smokers off the runboard and the payroll; that the former have broader opportunities than he to develop a high standard of requirements. let the committee encourage men already employed to demonstrate their fitness for transfer to other departments or to heavier divisions. let's change ends with our rail and put it where it will do the most good. the employment bureau, the recruiting office, or the civil service commission becomes a necessity to every large organization. some roads have made a start in this direction, but it is only a start. to work out the problem will cost us money. yes, but less than we are being forced to pay by some of the labor contracts we have had to sign. it is not only more graceful, it is less expensive, this leading instead of being driven. the great trouble seems to be in this matter of civil service that we have tried to accomplish too much in too short a time. an industry whose existence does not antedate the memory of men still living cannot hope to have struck the best methods already. yet it can be too cautious in building chinese walls around its organization. what we have been striving for is to cultivate a company spirit, to improve the efficiency of the service. we have felt that the way to do this is to make our men feel secure in their positions, to have them convinced that the shakeup made by our advent is the last they will ever experience. have we not chased this rainbow long enough? should we not back up and draw some of the spikes we have put in the connection switches? it is one thing to sit in an office and figure that the importation of this one man ought not to make anybody uneasy. it is quite another to make the thousands of men along the road believe that we can stick to the original package. blood is thicker than water and the new man will have his relatives and his followers or the followers of his friends. if he is too thin-skinned, fear of criticism may prevent his bringing in some new talent that would be of real benefit to his road. he is blamed if he does and blamed if he doesn't. whichever course he pursues there remains, in greater or less degree, that uncertainty which is so demoralizing. remove this uncertainty, let men know definitely what to expect, and you are over the hill and closer to the terminal. the old-fashioned rule of promote two and hire one worked mighty well on some roads for conductors and enginemen. in these days of larger systems the ratio might be changed to three or four or even five or six to one. if it were definitely understood that every so often, say every fifth vacancy in certain grades of officials and employes, a man would certainly be selected from outside the service, i believe that we could remove the feeling of uncertainty. we would in a large measure attain the result we have thus far missed. we would build up organizations with enough fresh blood to stand the test of time. brains and adaptability are not a natural monopoly. god almighty hasn't given any road a new jersey charter broad enough for incorporating a trust of the most efficient men. no, i am not a populist or a socialist. i believe in trusts. they have come to stay and ultimately to benefit the masses. legislation will no more succeed in destroying them than it did in preventing partnerships in england where centuries ago it was thought for two men to unite as partners in business was an unsafe combination of power. education comes by hard knocks and probably anti-merger decisions are worth the inconvenience that they have caused. the sober sense of the american people will tell them after a while that in attempting constitutional and legislative interference they have not benefited themselves one dollar. they will learn that forcing a change of methods does not necessarily bring about a different result. they will learn that in the long run they, the people, are the losers when good capital is tied up; that they pay the price for unwise competition. the railroads, the first great trusts, should be early to realize that some conditions inherently forbid the elimination of competition. our prairies are too broad for an agricultural trust. the range of the human mind is too great for any railroad to patent the ability of its men. this trust freight seems to make you full tonnage without cleaning out all the rush stuff in my yard. you may cut off ahead of the rest of the civil service loads and i will have a pony set on your caboose when you pull through the ladder. yes, i will tell the operator at the yard office to scratch them off your consist. i shall have to run another section and fill out with some cars of company material which the construction department is kicking about. please put up--excuse me, display--signals until the dispatcher can get hold of you at the end of the double track. by the way, if instead of "will display signals, etc.," his order should read, "will signal, etc.," would it not be shorter and, including flags, lamps, whistle and voice, be more comprehensive? affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xv. more on civil service. june , . my dear boy:--we were speaking of railroad civil service, so called. as i told you before, our civil service is so far from the genuine article that i always feel like qualifying the term in some way for fear of being called in on the carpet for failure to cut the proper duplex. it is a great big subject, worthy of the most serious consideration, because it concerns men, not machines. furthermore, it is a high type of man with whom we deal or should deal. we are all so busy that we say we concern ourselves with results. we all butt in too much on details, usually along the line of our early training. yet, withal, we overlook some pretty long shots because we flatter ourselves we are too busy to place small bets. even after we have wasted so much of the building season that we give the contractor a bonus to rush the new line to completion in time to hold the charter, wouldn't it pay us to have a care as to the kind of men we let him work on our right of way? next year, when the grievance committees come up from the new division, we make them feel that it means something, it gives them a stamp of honor to work for our system. why not begin a little farther back? why not hook up in the beginning so that our different departments can get busy early in the game? let the people who are to settle the new country help build and maintain the road. let the immigration agent camp with the reconnoitering engineer. when the latter comes back to locate or retrace, let the former be interesting colonies. let our own organization follow the surveyor's flag. let's be our own contractor and get back more of the money he disburses. why let a floating gang of dagoes take so big a bunch of it back to sunny italy? why not spend it ourselves so that its recipients will use it to develop the country and hurry the origination of traffic? let's handle this coin both going and coming and cut out some of the empty haul. the political revolutions in continental europe and the famine in ireland in brought to this country a high class of immigrants. we gave them work and schools. they helped build the railroads. some continued on the roads after construction; others helped develop the surrounding country. our flag made them free, and when civil war came they were among the bravest of its defenders. to-day their children and their children's children, all americans, rank high among railway officials and employes. perhaps all this is a happen so; perhaps much of it is due to big, brainy men whose policies were not narrowed by specialization in departments. we are now doing little new construction. we should do it better than ever and in the full sense of the word. is it enough to pass it up to the construction department? did it ever strike you that there may be many good reasons why both officials and employes may desire to transfer to another road? a young man, feeling the home nest too full, the local demand for skilled labor too light, has struck out for a newer country. he makes good. we find him in after years running an engine, working a trick, or, perchance, holding down an official job. death occurs at the old home. marriage brings new interests in another country. an invalid member of his family needs a change of climate. an unexpected development of a chance investment in a remote locality demands occasional personal attention. the orphaned children of a relative claim his protection. any one of a dozen praiseworthy motives may prompt him to make a change, provided he can continue to derive his main support from the calling to which he has found himself adapted. would he be able to transfer without beginning over again at the bottom? between the civil service of the companies and the seniority of the brotherhoods he would find it like making a link and pin coupling on the inside of a sharp curve. he would be lucky if he could get a regular job on another division of the same system. let him persist in suggestions as to how the matter may be brought about, and the average official, hidebound by precedent, will consider him nutty, a candidate for the crazy house instead of for another run. who is the loser? not only the man, but the company, which should have the benefit of his wider experience, of his peculiar interest in its territory, of the infusion of fresh blood which his advent would mean. suppose an official has resigned for any good personal reason, or because he couldn't reduce the size of the engine nozzles fast enough to suit a new management. when he starts out to hunt a job his brethren of the profession receive him with sympathy. they promise to help him out. each begs him to understand how impossible it is for him to catch the pay car on that particular line. perhaps his informant has been on that company's payroll only six months himself, but he waxes eloquent on the benefits of civil service, on the desirability of making their own men, of overcoming previous demoralization. this would be amusing if it were not a serious business. each seems to flatter himself that he got aboard because of peculiar personal fitness, and inferentially denies such attribute of genius in the man on the outside. as a matter of fact, the recognition of outside talent is usually a consequence of acquaintance, of happening to know the right man at the right time, of having previously worked with the appointing official. all this contains too much of the element of chance. when we reserve certain vacancies for men outside of the breastworks and select them in advance we shall get better results. we have made our civil service frogs so stiff that our discipline has climbed the rail. we know it is so hard for a conductor or an engineman to get a job that we sometimes hesitate too long before we make an example for the good of the service by discharging a flagrant offender. if we knew that by and by he could hit on some road the vacancy reserved for outsiders we would have the benefit of the change. the man would learn a lesson, would not be debarred from his occupation, and would give better service on another road. talk with your employes about this and you will be astonished to find how many will fall in with this idea of leaving open a door of hope by filling just so many vacancies with outside men. your official or your employe seeking a transfer or hunting a job will be impressed with the fact that all assistance rendered will be with a view to favoring him because he is a good, worthy fellow. he will not hear it put on the ground that any company is fortunate to have his services, that his future employers are being especially considered. if he has known from boyhood the territory and civilization where he desires to work, it will not be urged as a special qualification. right here is where the most of us fall down. we too seldom make our subordinates feel that we are the gainers by having them in our employ. we are too likely to make them feel they are lucky to have a job. this may do for the indifferent men, but it puts no premium on superior ability and loyalty. it renders a discharge, when made, less effective as an example. you cannot treat all your men alike in all things. in a few things, collisions, stealing, booze-fighting, for example, you have to do so. in most things you must avoid destroying individuality. you must build up personal pride in each. even sister engines of the same type do not steam or pull exactly alike. man, made in the image of deity, has pride, brains and courage to make more complex his disposition. corporations have no souls. railroad men have souls and good red blood. their intelligence is an inspiration; their steadfastness, a psalm. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xvi. the supply train. july , . my dear boy:--blacksmiths' horses and shoemakers' wives proverbially go unshod. a railroad puts up its poorest sample of transportation in the routine handling of its own material and supplies. company stuff is moved and handled last of all; and probably at maximum expense. for example, if we wish to ship a car of wheels to division headquarters we load them after we are lucky enough to get an available car. then after proper billing authority has been furnished we go through some more red tape, so that the auditor may not confuse figs with thistles, revenue producers with deadheads. when we happen to have a train with such light tonnage that all excuses for moving the car have been exhausted it reaches the yard nearest its destination. the master mechanic's office in a day or two has pounded sufficiently at the yardmaster to get the car set, usually several hours after it has been promised. it is not of record just how much time and money have been wasted by the mechanical department through not having the car when expected. if our administration is unusually smooth we may be able to load our scrap wheels on this same car. usually, however, we wait until the car has been hauled down the line before some office away off somewhere gives disposition for the wornout material. or, having unloaded all the wheels, we wait until next week before we order in another car, and go through the same performance to ship a couple of pairs to some junction point on the same division. i will not bore you with the expensive details of getting a car of ties loaded and distributed, of how much time the sectionmen are worked to poor advantage because the car or material failed to show up when expected. we, mounted on wheels, with transportation as our chief asset, let our own business get it where the chicken felt the axe, where the sharp flange caught the bum. it used to be more comfortable in the old days. we could have the sectionmen do so many jobs without its seeming to cost anything. the fact that we have learned better makes me rash enough to believe that we may yet progress beyond thinking that some of our own transportation costs little or nothing because we do it with the local freight or a switch engine. we haul a car clear over the division to pick up a few pounds of scrap paper; provided, of course, the agents have not confused the day with that for loading dairy line shipments. the weakness in handling company material naturally leads to a distrust by other departments and a desire by each to control the distribution of its own supplies. did you ever think in what a haphazard, hit or miss manner we handle our traveling workers? the scale inspector is a very necessary individual because freight revenue is a function of weight. he is so valuable to us that, although the test car is a nuisance in trains and yards, we haul him hundreds of miles to do a few minutes' or a few hours' work. if he should try to do any other company business; if he should repair furniture, solicit traffic, inspect ties or examine interlocking plants, he would infringe on the prerogatives of other men who earn salaries by riding much and working little. yes, i know we must have departments. our great task is to work them to the best advantage; to let them overlap a little when business is dull, or where local conditions permit. we should switch our departments together so that we can cut in the air on enough to hold the train without going after expenses with a club. the employe who does not receive supplies regularly, whose requisitions for stationery are arbitrarily cut, will try to get enough ahead to keep himself from running out. when you take an inventory you must figure on removing the temptation for everyone to hold back full returns for fear of not rendering good service in the future. with a lot of money tied up in supplies at central or division storehouses our service often suffers, even accidents occur for want of a lantern globe, or a few gallons of oil. the average local freight crew has no more compunctions in replenishing the caboose from a can of oil consigned to a country agent than did the slave in taking chickens. it all belongs to the company. massa's chicken, massa's niggah. some roads are now distributing oil to sections and to small stations from a box car fitted with inside tanks and self-registering pumps, a very economical arrangement. this car runs on the local freight at fixed times. the next step has been to put with it supply cars, handled by the oil man, who issues supplies and tools to agents, section foremen and pumpers. a stationery car comes next in the outfit. this progressive development is hampered in most cases by adherence to the time-honored requisition. it does not promote a good company spirit in an agent to haul by him a car filled with supplies and deny him a much-needed broom, a comfort-giving pane of glass, simply because a requisition has not passed through the prescribed number of chief clerks' office baskets. issues are for the good of the service, not for charity. the best way is to require a division official to accompany the cars on his division, hold him responsible, and make his check good on our traveling bank. let the employe sign on a line in a book for articles received, just as an agent receipts to an express messenger, and let the official countersign once for all the employes on a page. then you have the economy and benefits of centralization without the demoralizing interference with local administration. the supply cars are only a beginning. the evolution must be a supply and inspection train run exclusively for company business, and to do every practicable kind of company business. it should supply every department and pick up the surplus and scrap in each. it should run over as many divisions as feasible, giving it time to return and restock so as to cover its territory at prescribed intervals, say every thirty or sixty days. this train should be manned by monthly company men, preferably of the semi-official class. the position of fireman should be part of the course of a special apprentice. if no special apprentice is available for engineman, use the man in mind for the next vacancy as road foreman. let the scale inspector be the flagman. for conductor have a coming trainmaster, not afraid to pull off his coat to help adjust a scale or to unload a keg of track spikes. have an ambitious brakeman for train clerk, whose records would replace requisitions and waybilling. for pilot use the superintendent, the trainmaster, the chief dispatcher, the master mechanic, the road foreman, the division engineer, or the supervisor. have as many as possible of those last named accompany the train and give the division a rigid inspection. pretty soon you would find the general superintendent frequently hitching his car to this train. put the contents of the train in charge of a high-class traveling storekeeper. on the ground the employe would indicate his requirements, the division official would recommend, and the traveling storekeeper, closely in touch with the management and its policies, would take final action. whatever happened to be done, it would be right up to date, and in accordance with existing needs. arriving at a roundhouse, the train itself would spot a car of wheels and a car of oil, taking care to reload scrap wheels and empty oil barrels. in general do not issue a new article unless an unserviceable one is turned in. the recollections of those present will make fresher the record of expendable articles issued on a previous trip. long range requisitions, approved by distant authority, may result in false economy, in a lack of clearly defined responsibility. the essence of good administration consists in dealing with men and things, in giving them greater value than their paper symbols. if love for requisitions should still linger in the official breast, the proprieties of such chaste affection could be preserved by going through all the forms until their absurdity is fully demonstrated. the supply train should have a car fitted up as a workshop in which a handy man could repair station trucks, office chairs, lanterns, switch lamps, etc., etc., and save shipping many miles for a new part. many tools and utensils would last longer if, in some such way, they could receive the stitch in time that saves nine. prompt repair and interchange among various points should diminish investment in reserve supply. an article should not have to be returned to the place where previously used. under present methods the return journey may put it in worse shape than when first sent in. when repaired it should be issued wherever it will do the most good. another car in the supply train should be a laboratory in charge of the superintendent of tests or his representative, whose office would thus get more closely in touch with division officials and with service conditions. the scrap car, with its broken side rods, its worn-out shovels, its twisted drills, might mean a whole lot in connection with arbitrary theoretical tests. with the train, on stated trips, should be the employment bureau. pick up candidates, haul them over the division. talk with them, note their adaptability in strange surroundings, see of how promising a stretch is the rubber in their necks. give them transportation back home and, if desired, tell them to report again next trip for further examination. when your supply train has to tie up away from a night roundhouse, let the crew take short turns as watchmen. incidentally the train might serve as an object lesson as to the endurance and capacity of men, the length of runs, and the care of an engine. if your labor contracts do not permit you to man your own train, do the necessary toward an amendment of such unwise schedules. the more you think of the increased efficiency of the service, of the ultimate economy, of the smoother administration, the more you will cuddle up to the notion of a company train. experience will show the wisdom or unwisdom of numerous details that will suggest themselves. i have given you only an outline with a few samples of methods to be pursued. i want you to think out the rest for yourself. it is theory to-day, but the theory of to-day is the forerunner of practice a few years hence. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xvii. what the big engine has cost. july , . my dear boy:--the progressive president of a rustling railroad has recently gone on record as regretting the too rapid introduction of big engines. to which from many an ancient office, from many a greasy roundhouse comes a loud amen. the fad for big engines, the slavery to the ton mile, the rack of the comparative statement, have cost the granger roads a pile of good coin. procrustes, the highwayman of the ancients, fitted all his victims to stone beds, doubtless charging to other expenses the stretching of an arm or the cutting off of a foot. nowadays we get our brains warped and our legs pulled just the same. the methods are more subtle, the operations more graceful. our equanimity stands for almost any old thing, provided it is done in the name of progress, or is called a process of analysis. able men devote their lives to the solution of problems of practical railroad operation, to making maximum net earnings for their employers, only to be discounted by the financial writers. fools rush in where angels fear to tread. the same writers who, to hear them tell it, can save financial panics by sound advice to the country bankers, who can instruct our uncle samuel how to handle his navy, who can hurry russian troops to manchuria, can tell us just how to run our railroad, just how many tons we should pull per train. invention is the handmaiden of progress. inventors are usually laymen or outsiders. inventors and architects have to be held in check to prevent development from becoming abnormal or one-sided. the man who invented the air brake was not asked to come in and take charge of all transportation. the men who design big engines should not be allowed to forget conditions of track, territory and traffic. railroads are run to make money. a motion to manage them like golf links is never in order. the track is built for running trains. to the man with too much ton mile on the brain the running of a train, the very object of the road's existence, becomes a bugaboo. he will sacrifice business, incur risks of other losses, rather than run a train. in some cases this is all right, in others it is all wrong. there is a happy medium which all of us should be allowed to work out for ourselves, to suit our own conditions. the trouble is that we are denied a sliding scale. all roads look alike to the critic, the reviewer and the broker. roads of dense traffic with much low-class freight, such as coal, coke, ore, pig iron, etc., to move, found it more economical to have large engines and heavy trains. the nature of the business demands a considerable supply always on hand. this permits waiting for full tonnage for every train. a few cars, more or less, at one end or the other of the line make no great difference to the shipper. these roads usually have more than one track and an old solid roadbed. this good thing of economical transportation was pushed along to us of the prairies. here traffic is relatively thin, the track with dirt ballast is less solid, hauls are many times longer, and single track is the rule. moreover, we frequently have merchandise, implements, machinery and other high-class freight in one direction, and such perishable stuff as live stock and dressed meats in the other. a dozen years ago we had developed a combination freight and passenger engine, usually a ten-wheeler with fairly high drivers, which handled such business promptly and profitably. we could take out a raymond excursion or a theatrical special one way, and coming back make a fly run with belated stock for a distant market. we may yet do the same with the compound battleship, but it will first require alterations and a big expenditure on track. when stock shows up you must get it moving. you cannot hold it to club trains, as in the case of coal and pig iron. you miss the market and there is a big claim to pay, to which the financial gentleman in new york does not give sufficient weight when he makes his wonderful analysis of our figures. it does not show up in grate surface, tractive power, or weight on the drivers. it is not complimentary to our wisdom that stock shippers have been compelled to invoke state aid to force us to run stock trains regardless of full tonnage, to do what our own best interests demanded. we should avoid the necessity for even a just regulation of our affairs. it opens the door to much that is unjust and undesirable. the big engine has made us straighten curves, reduce grades, relay rail, renew bridges, buy land, increase terminals, extend passing tracks, abandon light equipment and increase wages. its presence on single-track roads has retarded traffic and has increased expenses. it has torn up our track and increased the number of wrecks. its long hours and trying work have been an element of demoralization among our men. the efficiency of our crews is limited to the endurance of the fireman. this last condition must be remedied by an automatic stoker--the most crying need of the present. supply usually keeps pretty close to demand and the automatic stoker should not be very long in coming. yes, directly and indirectly, the big engine has cost us a lot of dough. it is not an unmixed evil. it has its good points, to be sure. some of the new conditions it has forced would have come in time anyway. its advantages would be greater, its operation cheaper, if its coming could have been broken to us more gently. it is now a condition, not a theory, and we must do our best with it, regardless of our personal predilections. whether or not it has come to stay is an open question. it probably has, but modified for higher speed, when all conditions permit. we are not yet wise enough to know just what it is costing us. not even our own statisticians have had time to digest fully the figures of increased equipment due to slower movement; of increased cost of maintenance, both of track and equipment; of unparalleled increase in freight claims; of higher wages; of strengthened power of the labor organizations; of altered trade conditions due to dissatisfaction with transportation; of changed location of industrial plants; of the effect of reduced speed on water competition; of the numerous conditions that go to make a railroad so complex. in the language of the good old funeral hymn, some time we'll understand. we must make up our minds to prompter movement of freight, which may mean increased speed. the people demand it and public opinion is king. here again the shipper steps in to help us out, for promptness simplifies our terminal problems. the art of war has been defined as getting the mostest men there the fustest. the art of railroading comes to mean moving the mostest trains the soonest. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xviii. be a superintendent--not a nurse. july , . my dear boy:--i am so sure that you will be a general manager some day that i have been writing you a good deal of advice as to matters that are above the control of a division superintendent. as a rule, however, a man will fill any position better if he has a good conception of the work that is beyond his own sphere. some people do not like to hire an ex-official for work subordinate to positions that he may previously have held. they fear that the old superintendent who gets aboard as yardmaster or dispatcher will be a nuisance, that he will be all the time scheming for promotion, that he may try to dictate to his superiors, that he will have too much dignity to climb a side ladder, that he will be only temporary, that they will soon be put to the trouble of breaking in another man. all of which is narrow and shows in the aforesaid objectors a lack of confidence in themselves and in their own organization. it all depends on the man himself. if he is the right stuff he will take a broader view for having been an official. he will appreciate the difficulties of his superiors. his desire to make good should induce him to put forth maximum effort. he may be able to get his men out of ruts of many years' standing. it is so seldom that we get fresh blood we should be thankful that circumstances permit us to get a three-hundred-dollar man to work for one hundred. he may be only temporary for that position, but if he makes us money we should be willing to be incommoded later on. it is a selfish fear, this feeling that by and by our royal selves may suffer the personal inconvenience of having to look after a certain part of our machine that we thought was running itself. vain hope, this looking for any kind of perpetual motion. we are paid official salaries to be big enough to tower over such lazy feelings, over our own personal disinclination to exertion. let me repeat, once more, that for every position you should have an understudy. then if anybody drops out through promotion or otherwise your task is a simple one. a fact that none of us should overlook is that we all have superiors. the president reports to the directors, and the latter to the stockholders. the stockholder, big or little, is his or her majesty, the citizen. our superiors must know what we are doing. they will not butt in and give us so many directions if we just keep them advised of our progress. your general superintendent is an able man, but neither you nor he is a mental telegrapher. after you get the surgeons called, the wreck train started, the general superintendent should be the next man to have the wire. tell him briefly what has happened, what you have done, are doing and expect to do. if conditions are such that it is wise for you to go to the wreck or the washout yourself, wire him that you are on the ground. don't think this is enough, but every half hour or so tell him how you are getting along. he will feel better and the officials above him will feel better. you will feel better because, if they are wise, they will let you alone and not bother you with instructions. above all things do not try to pass responsibility up higher by asking what to do. tell the general superintendent what trains you will detour, what equipment you will need from other divisions for stub runs, what you have requested your neighbors to do. war has been declared, the writs of the courts have ceased to run. you are the general in the field and it is all up to you. from the moment that you are wideawake enough to answer the telephone at the head of your bed, your brain should be earning your company many dollars a minute. as you slip into your clothes, think connectedly where all available men and material are to be had. as you rush over to the office, figure what the situation needs to protect the morning suburban trains. when you see the train sheet, tell the dispatcher what trains should be kept on time as long as possible, what trains should be tied up to prevent a blockade. don't sit down and take the key, or act as call boy or for one second forget that you are the superintendent, that the whole push looks to you. the cooler your manner, the less hesitating your instructions, the greater the confidence of your men in you and in themselves, the better their work. arriving at the scene of trouble, size up the situation, reassure the panic-stricken passengers, organize everybody present, give politely all the information you have, how many hours passengers will be delayed, what train will come to take them forward, when their baggage can be expected. be cool but sympathetic; alert, but polite. in a few minutes your presence for good will be felt. tell the wreckmaster what to do first, but do not try to handle his men. resist the temptation to use an axe or shovel yourself. do not shrink from the sight of blood. lead the relief parties, but do not try to be surgeon or nurse. let the others do the lifting of the killed or injured. you do your work with your brains and with your voice. be a superintendent. care first for the injured and the dead. then look to the comfort of the other passengers. next in importance comes the mails, then the express and the baggage. do not give any grand stand orders to burn cars or roll heavy equipment down the bank. think twice before you destroy more property. the line must be opened, but conditions may be such that an extra hour or two will not complicate the situation, and will save the company thousands of dollars. men often earn big salaries by the things they avoid doing. when the work has been organized, circulate among the gangs, give each foreman a word of praise, tell them all that you have ordered coffee and sandwiches, that the company also gives its men square meals at wrecks. arrange to feed your transferred passengers earlier rather than later than usual. do not hesitate to feed badly delayed passengers at the company's expense. when everything is running smoothly keep your mouth shut and your ears open. as the country people come flocking in to see the wreck, as the roadmaster yells his orders, you will hear some sweetheart ask her swain if that is the superintendent who has such a big voice. when he shakes his head and the wreckmaster roars to take a fresh hitch, she guesses again, only to be told that the quiet man over there with apparently the least to say is the boss of all. soon many of the bystanders are pointing admiringly at you as the master of the situation. when it is all over, when, hours or days later, you lie down for a well-earned rest, you will feel that you are a railroad man, that you are holding down a job for which no old woman need apply. there is some self-satisfaction in this world which outruns the pay car, which cannot be measured in dollars and cents. what i am telling you holds good for a trainmaster, a yardmaster or whoever happens to be the senior representative present. sometimes it is better to send out the trainmaster and stay in yourself to handle an already congested situation. sometimes the trainmaster is at the wrong end of the line and you must go yourself. common sense is a pretty safe guide as to one's course of action. the principle to be remembered is to avoid interference with the man on the ground. if it is a minor derailment which the conductor is handling, do not rattle him with messages, with requests for reports. when you examine your conductors on rules, include questions and explanations which outline action expected in emergencies. forbid your dispatcher sending a stereotyped message to get written statements of all witnesses every time a personal injury occurs. have your conductors, your agents and your section foremen so drilled that they will keep the office informed and will depend on themselves, not on the dispatchers, for such things. your rules, your organization, the instructions on your blanks will amount to little if they are continually discounted by special messages. you had better lose a set of reports than tear your organization to pieces. when somebody falls down, discipline him in such a way that the others will keep in line. it takes patience and persistence, forbearance and firmness to drill men to a high state of discipline. disobedience and indifference can sometimes be traced to unwise orders. the impossible or the unreasonable is expected. there are too many bulletins and too many instructions. do not think a thing is done, an abuse corrected, a condition remedied simply because you have given an order to produce the desired effect. it is up to you to follow the matter to a finish. you must know by observation, by inspection, by the reports of your staff, that your order is being obeyed. the way to enforce discipline is not to keep repeating the order. except in rare cases an order should not be repeated or a bulletin reissued. weak men try to strengthen their discipline by extravagant language in their instructions. do not say that no excuse will be taken for failure to turn in these reports or to comply with these instructions. you may be made to appear ridiculous, even mendacious, by a cloudburst, by a holdup, by an act of god or the public enemy, as the old law phrase runs. vitality in expression is a good thing. it is useless without vigor in enforcement. the latter does not depend upon the kind of breakfast food you order in the dining car, but upon the ginger in your administration. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xix. the rack of the comparative statement. july , . my dear boy:--you ask what i mean by the rack of the comparative statement. i mean that, figuratively speaking, we are all pretty securely fastened to the corresponding month of last year. what was originally intended as a tavernkeeper's tab, as a rough check on operation, has become a balanced ledger, a rigid standard of efficiency. time, even a short period, brings a sacredness to all things. if we make a so-called better showing on paper than a twelvemonth previous, we shake hands with ourselves and forget how rotten we were considered just one short year ago. the ball team that wins the championship and takes the big gate receipts is the one whose members play for the side rather than for high individual averages. the tendency is for our owners to expect us to make base hits rather than send in runs which win games. if in april and may we have a lot of ties on hand, we may not be allowed to put them in the track because they will be charged out before june , and make too heavy a showing of expenditure for the fiscal year. so, with labor comparatively plentiful and the weather comfortable, we wait until the new fiscal year comes in, until the sun shines hottest on the track. then, with farmers paying harvest wages we have to offer more money. if we get the extra men the heat lessens their efficiency. it is true we have probably had to pay the producer for the ties, but if we fail to charge them to the final account, we have a childlike confidence that they have not yet cost us anything. the little matters of failure to utilize the full life of the tie, of interest on the money invested, we dismiss with the thought that trifling losses must be expected in the conduct of large affairs. maintenance of equipment as well as maintenance of way suffers from too much comparative statement. some new official pulls our power to pieces to show us how they used to build up train-mile records on the far eastern. the crowded rip tracks reflect the tractive power of the big engines. bad orders, the bane of a yardmaster's life, the teasers of the traffic man's tracers, block our terminals. our shopmen and our car repairers, despairing of full time, move away. yet withal we are serene, for are not we operating just as cheaply as they did at this time last year? when i am in doubt, when i become mixed with the complexities of our profession, i go back to my boyhood on the farm. from that gateway as a basing point i can think out a rate sheet with fewer differentials. the same common sense housekeeping which my mother practiced will fit any railroad, however diversified its territory. the same well-balanced management which enabled my father to pay off the mortgage and extend his acres is suited to any railroad, however complicated its financial obligations. the bigger the proposition, the greater the need for sticking to homely basic principles. we learned on the farm to expect about so much rainfall every year. whether the heaviest would come in one month or in another, the good lord never found time to tell us. we did the things that came to hand, sometimes similarly, sometimes differently, from the corresponding month of the previous year. if our crops were short we did not starve our work horses. we sometimes found it paid, even with a poor crop in sight, to go to the bank and borrow rather than neglect the ditching in a wet field. if we made some surplus money we did not blow it all in for tools and improvements. we knew that the inevitable lean years preclude throwing the fat in the fire. if we ran behind some year, we did some retrenching, to be sure, but we did not lose our nerve, did not lose our faith in the future. some kinds of fertilizers on the farm are said to make rich fathers and poor sons. the way some railroads have been run for a record you would imagine that race suicide had reached a point where no further generations were expected. one of the gravest of our mistakes has been the application of the comparative statement, regardless of its effect upon our men. the farmer finds it wise and economical to arrange work for several monthly men in order to minimize the number of day hands for his rush seasons. in the winter he may lay them off, but this is for a period sufficiently long and sufficiently definite to enable the farm hand to become something else, say a wood chopper or a lumberman. can we expect our car repairers, our sectionmen, to be loyal and faithful if we lay them off with necessary work in sight, simply to make our books look better? they know that later on we shall, at the last minute, at the scratch of an indefinite somebody's pen, put on a big force and with a hurrah, boys, rush it through. is this fair? is it not better to keep twenty men steadily employed than to have forty on half time? the unquestioned deterioration in the quality of our labor, in the morale of our forces, cannot all be laid on the union's doorstep. there is a responsibility here which we cannot shirk. cutting down expenses has been done in an unintelligent, cold-blooded sort of a way. we go home at night feeling good at having cut down our payrolls. we should be feeling sorry at the necessity for taking from men the wherewithal to pay the unceasing rent and grocery bills. our methods give some room for the populists' plea to put the man above the dollar. no, i do not expect ever to see an entire correction of these conditions. in the play of economic forces the weak have to suffer. i believe, though, that through minimizing such suffering we can improve the service and earn bigger dividends for our stockholders. each of us can do a little; all of us together can do a great deal toward making the problems easier. as the french say, noblesse oblige--rank imposes obligation--every time. it is up to us, the educated, powerful class, to take the lead and to do the most. we cannot expect the poor, unlettered man to work out his own salvation unaided. we cannot turn him loose to face an unequal struggle. if he fails, if he has too much time for brooding, society at large has an anarchist and we are the losers. do not understand me as advocating the employment or retention of unnecessary men. what i am kicking for is a better balanced system. when we lay off our extra sectionman in the fall, do we give him a pass and ask him to come to town and work when we put on more unskilled winter labor in the shops and roundhouses? no, he is in a different department. an official or a foreman might be put to the inconvenience of waiting a few days, of breaking in a new man. next spring there might have to be a readjustment when the work trains go on. some big, strong railroad men are coming to the front who will improve these conditions by working from a broader viewpoint. we need more brainy men with nerve enough to stand up and insist upon a consideration of the welfare of our properties ten, twenty or fifty years hence. because we need them they will be developed. now do not hand me the old song and dance about business being cold-blooded and devoid of sentiment. we spend money directly and indirectly for advertising with a view to fostering public sentiment in favor of our line. business comes from an increase in population, from development of resources, from the growing sentiments of the human race. life owes its origin to love, which originates in sentiment. the family, directly traceable to sentiment, is the unit of civilization. the way to have our heads rule our hearts is not to forget that we have hearts. business is so attractive because it is chock full of sentiment which can be made an asset. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xx. handling the pay roll. july , . my dear boy:--i have your letter about the supply train. please do not fail to consider that it is an inspection and administrative train as well as a traveling storehouse. the term company train perhaps comes the nearest to a comprehensive designation. as a tentative proposition, to be modified by experience, i think i would distribute one-half of the expense of the train to supply, the other half to inspection and consider both halves as money well spent. with the enormous growth of business, with the increasing expansion of systems, we have had to leave more and more to departments. the result is that each department becomes more and more forgetful of the others. it isn't enough to have the heads at the general offices take lunch together. we must begin farther down in our administration to keep our departments in touch. representatives of the traffic department should accompany the train and distribute their own advertising matter. perhaps the best feature of all would be the improved feeling among the country agents due to more intimate acquaintance with the operating and traffic officials with whom they are doing business. we can afford to compete with the organizers of the telegraphers and clerks for this spirit. it will interest you to know that at least two large systems are figuring on a company train. when it comes, as come it will, we shall all wonder, as in the case of the telephone, how we ever got along without it. you ask if the pay car should be included in the outfit. yes, if local conditions permit. before going into this very far, however, let us consider our system of paying only once a month. has it sufficient merit to stand the test of time? it breaks down in some cases when we wish additional cheap labor. many of us have turned over to contractors the unloading of company coal at fuel stations. the avowed reason for so doing is that the shovelers being often recruited from the hobo or the squalid class, we cannot hope to handle them as well as a contractor who pays daily or weekly. right down the track a little way our agent is remitting company money which is not earning any interest. another reason given is that our officials are too far away to give the coal wharves proper supervision. as a matter of fact the official is on hand about as frequently as the contractor. this is a sad commentary on the versatility and elasticity of our organization. before throwing money to the contractors why not give our section foreman or our agent a bonus for supervising the coal heavers? let our men be a little interchangeable. if a man becomes worn out from too much sun on the track, let the breeze blow through his whiskers in the coal shed for a few weeks. no, i do not think the track would suffer if the section foreman had to put the fear of the lord in another gang of men. the old-time section foreman had ingenuity and originality enough to do many things. his prototype of to-day may be dwarfed by over-specialization. when we treat our men less like machines we can subdivide gangs and still get results. nearly every winter a bill is introduced in some legislature requiring corporations to pay their men at least twice a month. railroads at once get busy and manage to be exempted from the provisions of these measures. such resistance is based on a variety of arguments, the vastness of territory covered, the large number of men employed, the necessity for careful auditing, etc. how long we can hold out against the spirit of the age is a question. why not keep ahead of the game and lead public opinion? at such times we become very solicitous of the thriftiness of our men. we claim that we are their benefactors; that by paying them so much money at one time we are helping them to save. as a matter of fact people who have studied such questions tell us that when payments are frequent less stuff is bought on credit and fewer bills are run. savings banks find that, under certain conditions, men who are paid daily or weekly will put by more money than those who have a monthly pay day. it is an economic question, dependent more upon sociological conditions than upon railroad policy. it is usually pretty good business sense to take advantage of trade discounts. do you not think we could make better bargains with our men if we did not wait to pay them until we are six weeks in arrears? we pay them for only one month and are always in their debt. every once in a while we lose a good man from the service because he is hard pressed and can raise money only by taking his time check. the monthly payroll was adopted before bonding and surety companies revolutionized business methods. the theory is that the roll must be approved and audited before payment in order to insure accuracy and prevent fraud. did you ever hear of a payroll being disapproved as such? no matter how unwise their employment, how injudicious the time put in, the men must be paid. we are under moral and legal obligations to pay for service performed. did you ever hear of a padded payroll being caught in the auditor's office? the man who stuffs the roll alters the data against which the auditor checks. the few arithmetical errors discovered do not justify the time consumed. again, why should you send your general superintendent a payroll of names any more than you should send him copies of your train sheets? what difference should it make to him just how much each particular man worked? he should have a summary of results, totals, maxima, minima, averages, etc., just as the morning report gives him a summary of the train sheet. if he wants more detailed information, let him come to your office and examine the time books, just as he should occasionally go over your train sheets. he is furnished a car to travel for just such purposes. assuming the desirability for more frequent payments, the day, the trip, the piece, would seem the best unit. railroads have comparatively few credit lists. the ability to force patrons to pay cash is a business asset, and should give us the benefits of a cash basis. our present system of payments is slow and cumbrous. in our desire to guard every avenue to fraud we have gone too far and retarded administration. the bonding company gives us a check which should enable us, under a proper system of inspection, to have the timekeeper practically the paymaster. i confess that i have not yet been able to work out all the details to my own satisfaction. i have gone far enough, however, to be convinced that there are men in our business bright enough to solve the problem. when given proper attention it will be found that for the same or less expense we can pay daily, improve the service and render a better account of our stewardship to the stockholders. an agent remits daily. why not let him turn in as cash a receipt or a deduction to cover his own pay? if he can do this, it is an easy step to accept as cash the time slips of his force, of the operators and sectionmen at his station. the time slips of shopmen, roundhousemen, yardmen, trainmen, enginemen, etc., when countersigned by the proper chief clerk, should become cash at a certain designated agency or local bank. it might be found practicable to use a form of time slip similar to a postal note or a street car transfer which could be punched and then authenticated with a stamp. an advantage of this would be that these original data would be available for tabulation in electrical integrating machines in the auditor's office. the plan followed in compiling statistics would be similar to that in use for many years in the census office in washington. such a system of payment presupposes fewer checking clerks but more traveling auditors and inspectors. it does things first and talks about them afterward. it is predicated upon the belief that checks and balances must begin to work nearer the foundation, that true centralization of results demands a full measure of local autonomy. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xxi. military organization. august , . my dear boy:--while in washington last week i dropped in to see some old cronies at the war department. the iconoclasts have been at work there, too, with gratifying results. the military secretary's office has superseded the former adjutant-general's department. under the new dispensation every letter must receive definite action, not a mere acknowledgment, the very day of its receipt; every telegram must be answered within two hours. an emergency request came in for some equipment for a militia encampment. in three hours the philadelphia clothing depot acknowledged the order, reported loading and shipment, and advised that bill of lading had been mailed. this means better supply, less suffering, more effective movements when real war comes. it means a saving in blood and treasure. we of the railroads are inclined to scoff at the slowness of government methods. are we doing as well as the rejuvenated war department? of course, when there is a wreck, a washout, a fire, we do some great stunts. day in and day out we are sadly lacking in promptness with our telegrams and our letters. the pulse of business is so quick that these delays cost us money. the remedy is simple. get the departments in line. a diplomatic censor with rank enough, say, that of assistant to the president, should be able to show even the highest officials where they are falling down, where they are duplicating work, where their telegrams have no business on the company's wires, where their letters are too lengthy, where their offices are lame. the departments on a railroad correspond to the bureaux of the war department. the spanish war showed the weakness of the departmental system under modern conditions. it has been corrected by the creation by congress of a general staff, with a chief of staff, usually a general officer detailed from the line, who, as next in rank to the secretary of war, controls all departments, thus insuring unity of action. he has help enough to enable the general staff to give attention to details. the president of a railroad is often too busy and seldom has assistance enough to hold his departments in check. they do not always maintain a proper proportion to each other. if he appoints a committee to consider a question, the tendency is for such committee to leave the transportation part to its transportation man, the mechanical question to the mechanical member and the traffic problem to the traffic representative. the results of such work are likely to be narrow or one-sided. each member should consider every phase of the matter and not minimize his own versatility. remember that the layman may discover a radical inconsistency in professional practice. give each man due weight in his specialty, but do not let him be absolute. a minority report from a committee should always be welcome as affording more information for the parent body or the appointing power. a little careful consideration, a little lively debate on a committee report, may be a healthy check. while speaking of military organization, let me impress upon you that in the army the line always commands the staff. a staff officer cannot command troops except by express direction of the president. enlisted men and junior officers must show a staff officer the respect due his rank, just as our conductor is respectful to the division freight agent, but when it comes to taking orders, that is another question. a lieutenant of the line, if he happens to be the senior present, may have under his command a surgeon with the rank of major, a commissary with the rank of captain, etc. certain special work, such as the construction of buildings, of a telegraph line, of a road, may be put under a staff officer reporting directly to headquarters and exempted from the orders of the local commander of troops. we do the same when we put certain construction work under our engineers working independently of the superintendent. in an emergency all officers, men and material come under the control of the senior line officer present. with us the line is the transportation department, to whose senior representative, in time of trouble, usually the superintendent, every official and employe of whatever department should yield unquestioning obedience. they have another feature in army administration which we would do well to emulate. on the theory perhaps that a cat may look at a king, the lowest may address the highest. the official ear and mouthpiece of the war department is the military secretary. he may be addressed by the lowest man in the service, provided, that under the address is the important phrase in parenthesis, "through the proper channels." unless the communication is grossly irrelevant or disrespectful it must be forwarded through the channels, each officer indorsing his opinion, pro or con. if it reaches an officer whose authority and views can give favorable action, it need not go higher. otherwise, it must keep going. the reply comes back to the man through the same channels. all this is worth the trouble it costs, for, even if unfavorable action is taken, the man feels that he has been given consideration; that he is not a mere machine; that there may be good, honest reasons for turning him down. this strong effort to preserve individuality is the reason that the american people never have cause to lose confidence in the man behind the gun. its short-sighted absence in railroad administration is the prime cause of our loss of confidence in the spirit of our men. the inauguration of such a feature might cause our agitators to be annoying and importunate for a time. the greater the consideration shown, the sooner would the agitators be laughed at and discouraged by their comrades. it would break up the fashion of ignoring the superintendent and running to the general manager with every petty little grievance. if your trainmaster sees fit to make a general recommendation, for example, about a train rule, provided he does so through your office, you should forward it, giving your own views. if you happen to disapprove, do not try to kill the proposition by holding the letter. under the narrow practice of most roads the trainmaster would have no redress and would be considered disloyal if he attempted to reach the general superintendent. in the handling of railroad papers there are a number of short cuts. there are too many letters written just for the sake of having a carbon to complete a file. if you must have a carbon, require offices reporting to yours to make an extra copy on the typewriter of the original letter. stamp both copies with the office dater, and just below use a one-line rubber stamp; for example, "to the general superintendent," adding in pen, if necessary, such words as "recommended," "disapproved," etc. if no special action is taken, no signature is necessary, the office stamp being sufficient authentication. forward one copy, keep the other, and in routine correspondence your file is complete without the scratch of a pen or the click of a typewriter in your office. certain classes of papers referred to your subordinates, for example, special itineraries, claims, statistics, etc., can be kept track of by a number system in a small book, without using any carbon. master the file system of your office. if someone happens to drop in for information, do not be put to the mortification of explaining that your clerks do not come down sunday morning, or that they are all playing ball on the company nine. filing should be uniform on divisions and in departments, one general plan for the whole road. some roads have as many varieties as a pickle factory. it was nice of your friend, the chief dispatcher, to write so strong a letter indorsing the sacredness of signatures. he is right; most telegraphic instructions on a division should go out over the initials of the chief dispatcher. years ago your old dad, with the title of trainmaster and the duties of an assistant superintendent, obtained smooth results from the following bulletin: "instructions from this office governing the movements of trains, engines and cars, and the temporary assignments of men, will be given over the initials of the chief dispatcher. messages concerning such routine matters will be addressed to the chief dispatcher. the idea is to limit the use of the trainmaster's initials to cases handled personally by him." the men caught right on. they saw that it was impossible for a man to be issuing all the instructions over the wire when he spent most of his time on the road. i have long thought that a train order should be as individual as a bank check and be signed by the dispatcher's own initials. i am beginning to believe that no signature is necessary; that the dispatcher's initials, given with the "complete," should be sufficient. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xxii. wrecks and block signals. august , . my dear boy:--you ask what we are going to do to prevent so many wrecks. my various admonitions to you have been in vain if i have failed to score some points looking to that end. we must get closer to our men, improve their discipline, which means also their spirit. we must have more official supervision. we must pay division officials better salaries. the minimum pay of a division superintendent, regardless of the price of wheat, should be $ per month and expenses, with such greater amount as the importance of the division demands. trainmasters cannot be expected to enforce discipline and set an example in neatness if paid less than some of their conductors and enginemen. not a bad rough rule for fixing intermediate salaries is to split the difference between the highest man in one grade and the lowest in the next higher, and then add enough to make convenient even money. do not think you are saving money if you avoid raising the pay of your officials when you raise that of employes. wrecks are a reflection of administration. sometimes cause and effect are years apart, so distant, in fact, as to be almost unrecognizable. adversity makes heroes and the more disorganized we find conditions the more comprehensive and earnest should be our efforts to seek the cure. neither public opinion nor our own self-respect will stand for shifting too much of the blame to our predecessors. whatever safety appliances we adopt we shall never be able to eliminate entirely the element of human judgment, we shall never get beyond trusting somebody. therefore we must train our men to alertness. we must build up a loyalty that pervades every rank. those roads have the fewest wrecks due to defective equipment which cater to the welfare of their men. such roads do not expect a man to live on air. when repair work is slack they put their men to building cars and engines, taking advantage of the low price of material. if we have to operate so closely that we cannot make such wise investments in influence, we are grading the way to disaster. we are preparing to pay out later in wrecking, personal injuries, maintenance and renewal of equipment, much more than the expense of anticipating future needs by keeping our men employed and contented. no amount of engine and car inspection can overcome inherent defects due to careless workmanship. will the track walker who knows not when he will be laid off prevent as many disasters as he whom we find time to tell in advance what tenure to expect? we can overdo this matter of running our railroad too strictly in accordance with the auditor's statistical blue print. as surgery the operation is a great success, but unfortunately the patient dies. we have divided responsibility sufficiently when we furnish both the conductor and the engineman a copy of the train order. if it is desirable for the brakemen and the fireman to be informed, we should furnish a copy to each man in the crew. what is everybody's business becomes nobody's business. even if it were practicable it is undesirable, this idea of showing the orders to every member of the crew. it would seem better to have three different standard signals for an engineman whistling into town; one indicating a wait order or a meeting point, either by time table or train order; another indicating a passing point, and a third indicating no other trains to be considered. the wrong signal sounded by the engineman should cause the conductor to stop the train with the air before the switch is reached. some roads now have the engineman sound a prescribed signal, after the station whistle, to indicate orders to be executed. the objection to this is that valuable time may be lost by the conductor before being sure whether or not he heard the signal. a condition should not be indicated in a negative manner by the failure to do something. all indications should be of a positive nature, that a positive understanding may result and positive action be taken. it may be a little hard to give up the good old long blast for stations, but safety demands some such modification. the fad for main track derails at interlocking plants seems nearly to have ditched itself. we are realizing that it is not necessary to kill an engineman who runs past a signal. the money that such unnecessary derailments have cost might better have been spent in enforcing discipline by increased official supervision. if main track derails were proper for an interlocking plant, it would logically follow that every block signal should be interlocked with a derail. desirable as they are on auxiliary low-speed routes, it is doubtful if derails have any place in a main track, even at drawbridges. we are learning, too, that a good derail can be installed without cutting the rail. public opinion is aroused on the subject of our failure to safeguard human life in proportion to our progress in other matters. we must cough up the money for more block signals. i say block signals, not because they are the panacea for the evil that many people imagine, but because they are the best safeguard yet devised. they are useless without proper discipline and supervision. the vertical plane coupler is not all that can be desired. yet if modern equipment had to stand the slack of the link and pin it would be in a bad way. the block signal even with the train staff or the train tablet is far from perfect. it is impolitic, however, for us to hesitate too long before going down into our clothes for the coin. while waiting for the perfect method to be developed the perfect man may be evolved and bump the most of us out of our jobs. there will be fewer wrecks when executive and general officials have better control of temper and judgment. feeling in an indefinite way the responsibility for an appalling wreck, the high official thinks he must do something. he butts in with some ill-considered instructions which breed distrust of the entire system of running trains, which discount the whole organization. this action may result for a time in an abnormal, unhealthy vigilance, which is certain to be followed by a demoralizing reaction. when a condition, like a man, gets the drop on you the only sane thing to do is to throw up your hands for the time being. wisdom consists in looking for the true prime cause of the aforesaid drop. the frontal attack on a buzz saw is suicidal. always take it in flank. when you get your block signals, consider the permissive block as an abomination before the lord. the only block to have is the positive block in both directions. if there is trouble in a block, let the dispatcher give the delayed train a message to flag over. encourage your men to flag over, block or no block, against any train on the road when common sense dictates such a course. the object of all rules is to run trains with safety, not to tie them up on technicalities. flagging means good flagging, signals as sure and unmistakable as fixed signals. some day we shall find time to instruct our flagmen uniformly. they should all either put the red light on the end of a tie and swing the white light across the track, or they should swing both lights; not sometimes one way, sometimes the other. a red light of itself means stop. if the flagman swings it he runs a big risk of blowing it out. in matters of this sort there cannot be too much uniformity for all roads. where we run uniformity into the ground is where we fail to recognize the radical differences in individual characteristics of men of the atlantic, the pacific and the prairie type. realization, if not repentance, must precede salvation. we must save ourselves. if not, the government doctrinaires will undertake a task for which we are better qualified. we cannot stop killing people to-day or to-morrow, this year or next. the problem is not as easy for us as for the oft cited english railways. their block signals are a coincidence, not a prime cause of their safer operation. much of our mileage has only a speculator's or a promoter's excuse for existence. much of our traffic is so thin that english thoroughness would put a part of our lines out of business, much to our relief, but much to the intolerance of the public. until our systems are sufficiently stable to remove the tempting sign, "please kick me," from the view of the financial manipulator, we cannot keep out of the scrimmage, we cannot build up as safe and conservative operating organizations as the english. we can, however, do much better than we are doing. automatic devices will help, but they are only a check. the balance lies, my boy, in developing the human interest of the men, high and low, who work for the road. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xxiii. unionism. august , . my dear boy:--"what will you put in its place, bob?" was perhaps the hardest query that the brilliant ingersoll had to answer in his assaults on the christian religion. does not the same question confront us in our attacks upon organized labor? we endeavor to tear down, but do we build up? this subject, like the marriage relation, cannot be entered into lightly. it is longer than a train of ore jimmies, and broader than a box vestibule. it is a bridge too close to the track for the telltales to sting your face in time to get off a furniture car. like the ostrich, believing itself hidden with its head stuck in the sand, we feel that if we call them committees of our employes we are not recognizing the union. is this consistent? we claim, and justly so, that a high principle is involved; that if we recognize the union we practically force every man to join, regardless of his own inclinations and of his freedom as an american citizen. this is sound doctrine, but its application is very faulty. our spirit may be willing, but our flesh is damnably weak. do we give the non-union man a show for his white alley? not as long as we fail to question the credentials of committees. we know that all their names appear on the payrolls, at least during the time they are not laying off and using our transportation for organizing or grievance work. we do not disturb ourselves to find if they were elected as employes. did the non-union men have any voice in their selection? not much; they were elected in the lodge room. we, in effect, say to the non-union man that the way to the band wagon is through the lodge room door. then we are very much shocked to find that he, like ourselves, is following the lines of least resistance. it is so much easier to run with the current of traffic than to cross over; it takes so much less nerve to open up for trailing points than to keep our hand off the air valve when approaching facing points. when a move is made to run out a non-union man, we are so afraid of being accused of holding somebody up that we put on the man the whole burden of making good. unionism, like religion, and like love, is the outgrowth of certain feelings and emotions in the human breast that strive to overcome the limitations of mankind; that seek to make an eternity of time, an ideal of an idea, a solid phalanx out of heterogeneous parts. you may win the strike, down the union, hire your men as individuals; but sooner or later, in the lord's own good time, in obedience to natural law, they will organize in some form, under some name or other. only a few will stand out; some from sheer contrariness; more from strong individuality of temperament. the outsiders, from a lack of organization, have little positive influence, simply a negative conservatism. since these things are so, why not, to drop into familiar phrase, be governed accordingly? instead of letting the men organize the road, why not have the road organize the men? the system of collective bargaining, of labor contracts, has come to stay. it is merely a question of how and with whom we shall deal. it is so easy to let out work by contract, to call on the supply dealer to help us out, that doubt as to our own powers of organization becomes habit of mind. we farm out our rest rooms, our temperance encouraging resorts, to the railroad y.m.c.a. where comes in the company, whose existence makes occupation possible, whose capital is invested, whose property is involved? do you think we have made effort enough to let our men organize as employes? should not all our plans for terminals and headquarters include the excellent investment of a club house and assembly hall? when we have tried this plan and failed have we not been too easily discouraged? sometimes the cause of failure has been our own mistake in selecting the wrong location, in deferring too much to the convenience of our own land company, in attempting too much official supervision, in allowing our local officials to butt in to ride their pet hobbies. let us try turning the building over to a committee of our employes and inculcate a feeling of pride and responsibility. our employes are a high grade of men; many of them are nature's noblemen. it is true they sometimes worship false gods, indulge in strikes, commit violence, and require vigorous discipline. although misguided in all this, they are usually honest as individuals. when banded together there results the same tendency that exists in political parties, in churches and in societies, to mistake their own organization for the only defender of the true faith. this same spirit plans religious crusades, gains converts by the sword and destroys freedom in the name of liberty. this spirit run mad breeds anarchy. it may result in a condition, as with us in the strikes of , when cold lead and sharp steel are needed to cool hot blood, when the innocent have to suffer with the guilty. this spirit is unreasonable, but its existence cannot be ignored. "men," says marcus aurelius, "exist for one another; teach them then or bear with them." it is up to us to do more of the teaching act. a prime requisite of a teacher is honesty. let us be honest. let us either recognize the unions outright, or else try to teach them that they have not yet attained full age; that as yet they are lacking in the ripe wisdom which permits of a larger participation in affairs. let us be fair and tell them wherein they are lacking. capital, from inherent differences in nature, can never surrender itself to the absolute control of labor. capital can, however, give labor, its poor neighbor, the results of deeper study, of wider view, of larger experience. it can point out the consequences of mistakes of past centuries, as, for example, the shortsighted policies of the trade guilds in england. we can teach the unions that much more than the payment of dues should be essential to membership; that they are in a position to demand high standards of conduct. the unions must learn that if they would be powerful, they must be severe as well as just. if they desire merely benevolent and comfortable care of their members they must put away the ambition for recognition. to be respected they must purge their ranks of the morally unfit. the union must expel the thief and the drunkard, as well as the thug and the ruffian, if justly discharged by the company, before it can hope to be trusted as a judge of capacity. it must learn that the american people will never stand for the closed shop, the restricted output, a limited number of craftsmen. the failure of the a.r.u. strike in taught a much-needed lesson. it put many a good man on the hog train, but it was a terrible warning to would-be strikers. did we maintain our advantage? did we develop more men and prepare for the great rush of business the years were sure to bring? perhaps we did the best we could; perhaps in the name of economy we maintained too few officials. perhaps our officials were so overworked that they did not have time to watch the game. perhaps the situation got away from us because the unions increased their official payrolls relatively faster than did the railroads. perhaps the union leaders made relatively greater progress than railway officials in attracting the men with insurance or profit-sharing features. the whole question is interlocked with so many side lines that it is easy to overlook a dwarf signal or two. be that as it may, we lost our nerve and shut off too far back in the country when we got a meeting order for the flush times of . we were so afraid the other fellow might make a dollar or two if we happened to tie up, that we yielded the inch which has resulted in the ell of union domination. a war, terrible as it is, may result in good. there are worse things than strikes to contemplate. we chose peace at any price, and we are paying the price. we blame our statesmen and politicians for not resisting union influence, for being morally responsible for the uncompromising attitude of union leaders. why should they open our firebox door for us as long as we fear to burn our own fingers? the great comfort in the situation is that we are beginning to wake up. we have walked long enough in our sleep. the slumbering giant, business sense, is aroused. the worst is over if we but do our part. the unions have come to stay. their extermination, even if desirable, is as impracticable as liquor prohibition. we cannot surrender supinely. the solution lies in wise regulation, in education, in the inculcation of true temperance of thought and action. affectionately, your own d. a. d. letter xxiv. the round-up. august , . my dear boy:--when you have a conference of your staff, do not overlook the storekeeper. even if he reports to the general storekeeper, he should be on your staff in somewhat the same relation to you as is the master mechanic who reports to the superintendent of motive power. if the management, in the last treaty of peace, has awarded the storekeeper to some other sovereignty, be foxy enough to invite him to be present for his own good. he will not decline to come. then, when you are discussing work trains; when the master mechanic figures out the engines; the trainmaster, the crews; the roadmaster, the men; the chief dispatcher, the working hours; the whole arrangement will not fall down from lack of material which the storekeeper did not know about in time. invite the storekeeper out on the road with you; drop in frequently at the storehouse and see if you cannot help him out of his difficulties. we all have our troubles. do not proclaim your own inefficiency and narrowness by writing the general superintendent that your failure has been due to the store department falling down on material. unless you have kept close to the game, you may find that you were lame in not giving sufficient warning; that the stuff was loaded in time but was delayed by the transportation department waiting for full tonnage. when you get to be general manager, do not forget the general storekeeper. keep close to him and take him out often. when you become operating vice-president, do the same with the purchasing agent, whose position, like that of the general storekeeper, is an evolution from a clerkship in some general office. not all of us have realized the necessary elevation of these places to official status. they, too, have come to stay. they will survive even the awkwardness of their own titles. would not "purchaser" or "buyer," and "supplyman" or "supplier," be better terms? speaking of inviting people to ride in your car. from operating vice-presidents down we do not avail ourselves sufficiently of the company of representatives of the accounting department. they do not and should not report to us. they, however, compile statistics from data which we furnish. we want to have our data in such good shape that they will not misinterpret. as they count our australian ballots, it is important for us to know how to put the cross opposite the eagle or the rooster. on the other hand, the service will not suffer if we have a chance, on the ground, to show the inconsistency of some arbitrary requirements. i carried by an idea in a recent letter. i asked the man on the opposite run to take it back; but he, too, had a big switch list and a time order. so it has been an over in the freight room until now i bill it free astray. the thought is that our organization should provide automatically, as in the army and the navy, for the next in rank available to assume the duties of an absent or incapacitated official. a superintendent has to be sick or absent for quite a long time before we designate an acting superintendent. we let the chief clerk sign for him, an absurd fiction if long continued. why should not the assistant superintendent, or, if none, the trainmaster, sign as acting superintendent as a matter of course when the accidents of the service take the superintendent off the division? an assistant is really a deputy, although, with all our borrowing and mutilating of titles, we have not utilized the comprehensive qualification of "deputy." the time is soon coming when we shall welcome the opportunity of making our organization elastic by giving understudies the title of acting so and so. as we grow in liberality we shall feel proud to lend one of our men to another road for a few months at a time to do special work or to introduce some new idea that he has developed. the other road will be glad to pay the man a good salary, and he will return to us all the broader and more valuable because of service elsewhere. we have been meantime training another man for any vacancy in the grade that may occur. by the same token, we shall by and by consider it a privilege to get back in our official family a man whom we trained to our ways in youth, but who has been broadened by service with different roads. we shall get over considering him as having lost his rights, as an unpardonable offender against our sacred civil service. there is never any affection stronger than our first real love. as you master the details of your profession, as you carry out loyally the policies of your management, keep in mind the possibility of radical changes. we shall not forever keep up the absurdity of a pullman conductor's snap and a train conductor's busy job. when we each own at least the sleeping and parlor cars local to our own rails, the conductor will run the train and perhaps work the sleepers, while a collector will work the coaches and chair cars. when oil burners and automatic stokers have revolutionized the fireman's duties, when train orders are unknown, when the position or color of a signal is the only instruction, we may transfer the command of the train to one of the men in the engine. when we so protect our trains by block signals or other devices that to send back a flag is an absurdity, our trainmen will become starters, and perhaps collectors, with duties not dissimilar to those of guards on elevated roads. when the much-needed motor car for suburban and branch service is perfected, other changes will come. you may not live to see electricity displace steam for heavy motive power, but you had better not gamble all your life insurance on such a proposition. the tendency has been to limit all the utilities of a railroad to transportation. before long we shall, for a time at least, be going to the opposite extreme. some of us have entered the pension and life insurance business, some own coal mines directly or indirectly. should we not manufacture our own ice at various points as needed and cut out some haul? should we not control the banks in the cities and towns where we disburse so much money? why not grain elevators and industrial plants? can we afford to manufacture relatively fewer of our own appliances than that comprehensive organization, the standard oil company? these questions cannot be answered easily or by a simple yes or no. they all depend upon time and circumstance. our trouble has been a fundamental error in reasoning, a dogmatic generalization from too few particular cases. stagnation is usually death to business. as we cannot back up, it would seem wise to be ready to move forward in power and influence. ours is a high destiny. the railway officials of the future will never be without knotty propositions to tackle. they will not have to work as long hours as we, but their problems will be more intense. the injector saves the drudgery of jacking up an engine to pump her, but it does not warrant sitting down while waiting for the steam derrick. through all the improvements, real or imaginary, through all the changes that the years may bring, bear in mind the human element. although the race grows better all the time, the old adam and eve will be ever present in all of us. high explosives, armor plate, modern weapons, modify the conditions of war, but as the japs and russians are teaching us to-day we can never do entirely without the individual initiative, without the courage necessary for the hand-to-hand conflict. some may deplore this condition, but, in the words of the salvation army lassie, i thank god for it. for a period covering some thirty years, beginning and ending over a hundred years ago, an english nobleman and statesman, the earl of chesterfield, man of letters, wrote a series to his son. the morals inculcated are hardly acceptable in this better age. the manners taught, the art of pleasing so attractively set forth, have a value to-day, have made the term chesterfield a synonym for grace. lord chesterfield's letters to his son were collected to the number of nearly five hundred and published in book form. he has had many imitators, and i confess to being one of them. whether or not he borrowed the idea from some ancient father i have never sent a tracer to find out. now that you and i are to be near enough for heart-to-heart talks, my weekly letters will cease. whether or not they shall be preserved in book form it is up to you to say. affectionately, your own d. a. d. postscript. by frank h. spearman. when a young army officer, a west pointer, resigns his commission to become a railroad man the unusual happens and observers naturally follow the result with interest. major charles hine was more than a lieutenant of the sixth united states infantry when he threw up his commission to become a freight brakeman on the big four. he was even then, at twenty-eight, a graduate of the cincinnati law school, a member of the bar and a practical civil engineer. when the country needed her army men in , lieutenant hine, then on the staff of a big four superintendent in cleveland, secured leave of absence, volunteered and was commissioned a major of the first district of columbia infantry. after santiago, major hine promptly resumed his work as a railroadman. he has served as brakeman, switchman, yardmaster, conductor, chief clerk to the superintendent, trainmaster, assistant superintendent and general superintendent. he is, by nature, a student; no task is too onerous to dismay him if there is in it or behind it something he can learn. thus he has not only stored away information, but he has learned how to impart it, and his fund of shrewd observation and good common sense he has drawn on in writing a railroad book entitled "letters from an old railway official to his son, a division superintendent." the letters cover a breadth of ground in railway operation that is really astonishing to any one who does not know the man behind them. this is not all; loaded as they are with nuggets of hard, practical sense in railroad practice, they have a form and finish that make them doubly attractive. they are short, compact, of an easy and agreeable style and both lively and humorous as well as instructive. major hine has long since won his literary spurs as a contributor to the army and navy journal, the railway age and the century magazine. his present book is bright, quick and gossipy, and it would interest a man that did not know the difference between a puzzle switch and a gravity yard, but its especial appeal is to the young railroad man of to-day who understands that whether in the operating department, the accounting department or the motive power, he must, to get ahead, know all that he can, and the letters cover as many railroad subjects as they bear numbers. they will take their place at once in railroad libraries and in railroad literature. major hine--recently doing special railroad work on the staff of the general manager of the rock island system and at present on the staff of the second vice-president of the burlington, specially charged with the subject of company supplies--may write longer and more pretentious books than this; but hardly one of more real value to the ambitious young railroad man. internet archive (https://archive.org) note: images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see https://archive.org/details/lettersfromoldra hinerich transcriber's note: the word "to" was added to the title, in front of "his son, a general manager". text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). letters from an old railway official second series to his son, a general manager by charles delano hine published by the simmons-boardman publishing co. new york mcgraw-hill book company, sole selling agents west thirty-ninth street, new york london, e.c., bouverie street. berlin, n.w. , unter den linden copyright, , by simmons-boardman publishing co. new york foreword. the author of the letters composing this book, which appeared serially in the _railway age gazette_ in , is a west point graduate. he served as a lieutenant in the th united states infantry. he is a civil engineer. he is a graduate of the cincinnati law school. leaving the army to enter railway service, he worked as freight brakeman, switchman, yardmaster, emergency conductor, chief clerk to superintendent, and trainmaster. when the war with spain began in he quit railway service and participated in the santiago campaign as a major of volunteers. after the war he re-entered railway work, and was trainmaster and later general superintendent. subsequently, he did special railway work in various staff positions for both large and small railways in the united states, canada and mexico. he was for a time inspector of safety appliances for the interstate commerce commission. in he assisted in the revision of the business methods of the department of the interior at washington, d.c. then he was receiver of the washington, arlington & falls church electric railway. in , as temporary special representative of president taft, he outlined a scheme for improving the organization and methods of the executive departments of the united states government. meantime, in july, , he had become special representative of mr. julius kruttschnitt, director of maintenance and operation of the harriman lines, and had entered on a study of the needs of the operating organization of those railways and of the means that should be adopted to meet those needs. the result of this work was the adoption by most of the harriman lines of the unit system of organization. on january , , major hine became vice-president and general manager of the southern pacific lines in mexico and the arizona eastern, having about , miles of railway. the foregoing details have not been given for biographical purposes. they have been given to enable the reader to understand the author's point of view. or, rather, his points of view. for few men have had opportunity to look at the railway business from so many angles, both practical and theoretical. given such an education, such a training, such a varied experience, and a keen observer's eye to see, an active, logical mind to generalize, and a graphic, witty, scintillant english style to set down the results of observation, experience and thinking, and, if their possessor turn to writing, the product is sure to be literature of interest and value. the readers of major hine's first series of letters, "letters of an old railway official to his son, a division superintendent," found them at once entertaining, suggestive and instructive. they will find equally or more so the second series, written after a wider experience, and now embodied in this volume. one of the greatest problems of modern railway management is that of organization. little railways have been combined into big ones; and big railways have been consolidated into big systems. to so organize these extensive systems that each division and each railway shall have enough individuality and autonomy to deal effectively and satisfactorily with the conditions and needs local to it, and at the same time bring about the correlation and unification of all parts of the entire system essential to the most efficient operation--this is one phase of the problem. to develop men able to administer skilfully departments having many and varied branches--this is another phase. it was as a means to solving this great problem that major hine worked out the unit system of organization now in effect on most parts of the harriman system. in the letters composing this book he has described, not with the cold, hard outlines of a blue print, but vividly, and with fullness of practical illustration, the nature, purposes and workings of the unit system. whether the reader agrees with the author's views or not, he cannot but be interested in them as the views regarding a scheme of organization which is the subject of widespread interest and discussion of the man who originated and worked out that scheme of organization. besides organization the letters deal with many other questions of practical interest both large and small--with the relations of the railway with the public; its regulation by public bodies; the labor situation on the railways, etc. indeed, they touch on almost every phase of contemporary railway conditions and operation. full of human touches, they clothe the skeleton of railway organization and operation with flesh and blood; and will give the current reader and the future historian a better picture of contemporary railway working than many more stilted and pretentious books. samuel o. dunn. file numbers. letter i. the new general manager letter ii. building an organization letter iii. the general manager on the witness stand letter iv. further gruelling of the general manager letter v. limitations of the chief clerk system letter vi. preventing, instead of paying, claims letter vii. the chief of staff idea letter viii. the unit system letter ix. standardizing office files letter x. the line and the staff letter xi. the problem of the get-rich-quick conductor letter xii. the labor nemesis and the manager letter xiii. a department of inspection, or efficiency letter xiv. preserving organization integrity letter xv. the size of an operating division letter xvi. supplies and purchases letter xvii. correspondence and explanations letter xviii. organization of the ideal railroad letter xix. the engineering of men letter xx. the fallacy of the train-mile unit letter xxi. the man-day as a unit appendix letters from a railway official letter i. the new general manager. chicago, april , . my dear boy:--once more a circular comes to gladden my heart and gratify my pride. this circular announces your appointment as general manager, a position of honor and importance, extensive in its opportunities for good administration as well as for wasteful neglect. some seven years ago, when you were a division superintendent, i wrote you a book of letters which caused us both to be taken more seriously than perhaps we shall ever be again. can t. r. come back? i don't know, i am sure, but your old dad can and will. for never before in our splendid profession of railroading has there been greater need for the wisdom of old age, the enthusiasm of youth, and the balanced execution of middle life. we, the railways, we the most scattered and, ergo, the most exposed of property rights, are the first of the outposts to receive and to repel the assaults of anarchy and its smaller sister, socialism. subtle, sinister, and specious is the reasoning which supports the claims of those who single out the arteries of inland commerce as a thing apart, as something immune to the irresistible laws of cause and effect. shall we sit idly by, because we have had our part? no, my son. in that inspiring painting, "the spirit of ' ," the old man and the boy, equals in enthusiasm, typify the soul love of liberty of an aroused people. let you and i, therefore, do our little part to call to arms our brethren of a nation-long village street. perhaps we are only hired hands of imaginary "interests." perhaps, nevertheless, we are liberty-loving, god-fearing, right-thinking american citizens. perhaps we do not need to be backed into the last corner before we turn and stand for the god-given rights for which men of all ages have been willing to fight and die. perhaps the muck-rakers have not procured all the patents pertaining to perfection, potential or pronounced. but be that as it may, you and i can at least be heard, can have our day in the forum of public opinion, which after all is the court of last resort. in the language of mr. dooley, the decisions of the supreme court follow the popular elections. what shall we do to be saved? first, put our own house in order that example may protect precept. it is a pretty good house after all. only eighty years old to be sure, short in epochs of experience, but relatively long in æons of achievement. it already has some degenerate offspring, but mighty few when you consider the rapidity of forced breeding, the intensity of incubation. transportation, acknowledged as second only to agriculture in the world's great industries, has advanced faster and further in eight decades than has agriculture in eight centuries. that is something to be proud of. therein is glory enough for us all. unfortunately, pride goeth before destruction. in the bivouac of the living, glory is a mighty unreliable sentinel. let us hang up pride and glory as our sunday-go-to-meeting clothes. let us don consistent practice and tenacious watchfulness for week-day wear. let us cease to temporize with principle when such unmanly action seems easy and inexpensive. nothing is so expensive ultimately as a violation of principle. a platitude, you say. so it is. the aforesaid t. r. has gained a great hold on the american people, at one time a strangle hold, by repeating platitudes over and over again. great is the man who can measure the limitations of his fellows. let us take a leaf from his book and repeat, reiterate, and reverberate the ten commandments, and the greatest of all commandments, the golden rule, alias the square deal. it takes an abnormally intelligent people to grasp at first blush the truism that railways should charge "what the traffic will bear" for the same good reason that the corner grocer makes all the profit the business will survive. therefore, put the soft pedal on _cost_ of service and a fair _return_ on capital invested. get on the band wagon and follow the able lead of the good old _railway age gazette_ in playing the logical tune of _value_ of service rendered, of charging all the admission fee the show will stand. the people will not go to church to hear our preaching. we must reach them in the highways and the byways, in the moving picture shows, and through improvised salvation armies of self-interest. do not expect the people to espouse a cause in which we are half-hearted. either we are right or we are wrong. either the government should own and run the railways, or the stockholders should retain possession and we, the intelligent _entrepreneur_ class, should continue our scientific management--for scientific it has been. in a world of complexities, filled with relative things, some truths are so absolute that they are axiomatic, some positions so pronounced that there is no middle ground. from trafalgar there rings through the ages nelson's signal, "england expects every man to do his duty." its interpretation and its adaptation for us to-day mean that every railroad man, every home lover, every believer in property rights must defend the sound position of the railways, must anticipate the assaults of pseudo-socialism. the individual is the indivisible unit of society. the family is the consecrated unit of civilization. the home is the prime requisite for the family whose very existence depends upon the right of property, tangible or intangible. you say that all railway men are doing something along this line. so they are, but nearly every one can do more if intelligently and persistently directed. we have taken too much for granted in believing that the legal department would look out for legislation, and the press agent for publicity. this phase, like many of our problems, is a question of organization, which itself as a science is a branch of sociology. on most railways some department--never, of course, our own--has unconsciously tried to be bigger than the whole company, in violation of the axiom that the whole is greater than any of its parts. when, by proper organization, we balance these departments--especially on the other fellow's road--we shall be in a better position to present a more united front in forestalling the arrival of the common enemy, prejudice and his principal ally, ignorance. "men," says marcus aurelius, "exist for one another. teach them, then, or bear with them." we, the railroads, have done our share of bearing. it is time to do more teaching. before we can impart knowledge we must know ourselves, we must be sure of our own information. naturally, i want you to be the best general manager in the country. therefore, if i am a little too didactic at times, you must be patient with me. of course, you will have to work out your conclusions for yourself. remember that i am too old at this teaching game to try always to think for other people. my job is so to state the propositions that you will reach the answers in your own way. incidentally, the more you think you have discovered for yourself, the greater the credit due your teacher. men are only boys grown tall. as grown-up children they seem to prefer the misfits of their own manufacture to the hand-me-down assortment from the shelves of stored experience. too often the employing corporation pays the bill for educating an official for his duties after his promotion and appointment, for the cloth he wastes in selecting unwise patterns of procedure. most of our large corporations are still in a stage of industrial feudalism. in the middle ages the feudal baron and his methods were absolutely essential to preserve civilization for society. without him and his forceful ways the relapse to barbarism would have been rapid. in the earlier periods of the large corporation the industrial baron and his ofttimes lawless audacity were essentials of corporate existence. as these great types die off, their system dies with them. supply keeps close on the heels of demand. these feudal barons of industry and commerce are breeding no successors because none are needed. as a government of laws succeeds a government of men, so administration by system displaces administration by personal caprice. the scheme of progress now demands a higher type of corporation official, and he is being rapidly developed. altruism, adaptability, consideration and courtesy are the more modern requirements. the successful official of to-day is more of a sociologist than ever before. he must study human nature from its broadest aspects. he must know the public, its whims and caprices, its faults and foibles, its intelligence and its strength. he must learn to know his men that he may see how many things they can do, not how few. human nature is mighty good stuff. the more it is trusted the better it responds. the feudal baron did not know this. he was jealous of his own authority, because more or less conscious of his limitations, of the weakness of his system. those who take up his self-imposed responsibilities must be better men. they must be so sure of themselves and of the science of their methods that they can trust others, can delegate authority to the man on the ground. the task of the general manager to-day is so to decentralize authority that the company can obtain the best thought of the humblest employe, that indivisible unit of society whom his feudal superiors have trusted too little. the most important unit of organization is the individual. give him his due weight as a living, thinking man, and you increase the mass efficiency of the corporation. this run is too heavy for stringing on one schedule. i am now giving you the first terminal figure, : a.m. at problem. next time if i can push you to principle you can perhaps flag over a station or two toward the despatcher at understanding, whose wires have been known to go down in stormy weather. with a father's blessing, your affectionate and rejuvenated, d. a. d. letter ii. building an organization. chicago, april , . my dear boy:--nearly every man entrusted with authority over his fellows flatters himself that he is a born organizer. flattery is never more deceptive than when applied to one's self. for every good organizer there are a hundred good administrators or managers. what often passes for good organization is first class administration. yes, many a mother's son who reads this will exclaim at first blush, "that is just what i have been saying for a long time. it beats all how weak some organizations are. i am glad that my organization can stand the test of such criticism." if elements of self-perpetuation are prime essentials of good organization, the pharisee family are certainly entitled to bid in the preferred runs. the corporation was evolved to supply a demand of society. life, property, material, moral and spiritual welfare could not be left to depend upon the uncertain earthly existence of the leader or trustee. so, both rationally and empirically, by reason and by costly experiment, came the corporation to beat death at his own game. like all progress the corporation was resisted, because in the divine scheme of things the radicals never long outnumber the conservatives. like all real progress the corporation idea won because it was needed. the corporation, whether governmental, religious, industrial or commercial, marks a distinct advance from feudalism by protecting the rights of the many against the caprice of the few. because we have moved so fast might has often seemed to be right. because the line of least resistance is the most attractive, we have sometimes backed down the hill and doubled when a good run with plenty of sand would have carried us over. large corporations, including many railways, have often failed to attain maximum efficiency. much of this can be traced to a neglect to carry out consistently in practice the sound working conception of the corporation. the corporation has helped society to emerge from political and financial feudalism. the interior organization and administration of most corporations, including government itself, are still too feudal in conception. the problem of to-day is so to eradicate this feudalism that the corporation can have the benefit of a free play of its constituent forces. where feudalism exists the effective working strength is limited to the personal equation of the man at the head. the united states government is stronger than washington, or lincoln, or taft. the great northern railway measures its present acknowledged effectiveness by the man the swedes call yim hill. the united states government grows stronger with every administration. the great northern railway, too strong to be destroyed, faces a period of relative distress with the next dynasty. the pennsylvania railroad is stronger than such strong men as scott, cassatt and mccrea. both the united states government and the pennsylvania railroad, although among the least feudal of large corporations, can still eradicate feudalism from their interior organization and administration. that, in good time, both will do so cannot be doubted. inconsistencies between comprehensive conceptions at the top and narrow applications at the bottom are often overlooked. when disclosed and appreciated these incongruities soon give way under pressure of the broad policies above. we must build up from the bottom but tear down our false work from the top. organization is a branch of a larger subject, sociology, the science of human nature. organization is not an exact science like mechanical engineering, for example. the variables in the human equation defy entire elimination. we check and recheck engineering conclusions. we compute and recompute material strains and stresses. we run and double back with the dynamometer car to try out our tractive power. we test and retest materials. we weigh and measure our fuel and our lubricants. we do all this for material things, which, because more or less homogeneous, are the easiest to measure. when we come to the really hard part, the judging of human nature, the co-ordination of the heterogeneous human elements, our self-confidence denies the necessity for preconceived practical tests. because he is our man, because he followed us from the sage brush or the mountains, he must be all right. "just look at our results." right there, my boy, shut off and pinch 'em down a little. what are results? does any one know exactly? one year they are operating ratio, another, train load, and later on, net earnings. in no storehouse do material things deteriorate to scrap value faster than does the intangible, indeterminate stock article, results. no, i am not a pessimist; i still see the ring of the doughnut on the lunch counter. but i do object to being fed on birds from year before last's nests. i believe the railways hatch out better results every year, but i also feel that improvement should and can be made even faster. it is largely a breeding problem. how best can we blend our numerous strains to produce a balanced output? too often we try to do this by cutting off the heads of all the old roosters, whose craws really contain too much good sand to be wasted. a change of diet to a balanced ration may be all-sufficient. the wonderful nineteenth century in the name of a proper specialization went too far. it over-specialized. the still more wonderful twentieth century will swing back to a balanced specialization. the medical colleges are learning that they can not turn out successful eye and ear specialists, the law schools that the constitutional or interstate commerce lawyer is the production of a later period. the successful specialist must first have the foundation of an all-round training. broadly speaking, one applies everything of something only by learning something of everything. we all believe in specialization. where we differ is as to the point where specialization stops and overspecialization begins. we all believe in religion. where we differ is as to which is the main line and which the runaway track, as to which derail deserves a distant banjo signal and which an upper quadrant. orthodoxy is usually my doxy. the great fear is always that the other fellow, being less orthodox than we, will try to put over some constructive mileage on us. sometimes this causes us to make his run so long and his train so heavy that he ties up under the sixteen-hour law and we miss supper hour going out to tow him in. an empty stomach discourages drowsiness, and we may then stay awake long enough to realize that said other fellow was just as orthodox as anybody about trying to make a good run. the corollary of specialization is centralization. the undesirable corollary of overspecialization is overcentralization. get out your detour map, approach this proposition by any route of reasoning you please, and you will reach the same conclusion. railway administration to-day suffers most of all from overcentralization. trace this to its source and you will find overspecialization of function, and its concomitant, an exaggerated value of certain constituent elements of administration. when in doubt, recall the ever applicable axiom that the whole is greater than any of its parts. some people confuse the terms and ideas, concentration and centralization. proper concentration in complete units by an earlier convergence of authority permits decentralization in administration. a lack of such early concentration makes centralization inevitable. again, concentration of financial control is not incompatible with decentralization of administration among constituent controlled properties. when the big bankers have time to think out these propositions for themselves they will permit the railways to get closer to the people and hostile legislation will diminish if not disappear. organization as a science seeks to develop and to support the strong qualities of human nature. organization likewise takes account of and seeks to minimize the amiable failings of human nature. constitutional liberty insures the citizen protection against the caprice of the public officer. administrative liberty demands an analogous measure of protection for the subordinate from the whim of his corporate superior. an amiable failing of many a railway president is to be satisfied with having everybody under his own authority, and to forget that the official next below may be embarrassed by having only a partial control. the general manager who insists the hardest that his superintendents are best off under his departmental system will squirm the quickest under the acid test of having the chief supply, the chief maintenance or the chief mechanical official report to the president. the superintendent who finds himself with a complete divisional organization is oblivious to the troubles of a distant yardmaster with car inspectors. when your old dad was a ninety-dollar yardmaster some of his most important work was at the mercy of a forty-five dollar car inspector. the latter was under a master mechanic a hundred miles or more away, who in turn could usually and properly count on the support of the superintendent of motive power. the obvious inference was to relieve the yardmaster of responsibility for mechanical matters. from one viewpoint these mechanical questions are too highly technical for the yardmaster. from another they are matters of common sense requiring more good judgment than technical training. no, i would not put every yardmaster over the roundhouse foreman and the car inspectors. what i would do would be to make the position of yardmaster sufficiently attractive to impose as a prerequisite for appointment a knowledge of mechanical as well as transportation matters. gradually i would work away from the switchman or trainman specialist to the all-'round man in whom i could concentrate authority as the head of an important sub-unit of organization. instead of leveling downward, as the labor unions do, by assuming that the average man can learn only one branch of operation, i would recognize individuality and gradually develop a higher composite type. because some car inspectors are not fitted to become yardmasters is no good reason for practically excluding all car inspectors from honorable competition for such advancement. when we build a department wall to keep the other fellow out we sometimes find it has kept us in. we blame the labor unions for these narrowing restrictions of employment and advancement. look once more for the source, and you will find it among our predecessors in the official class, a generation or more ago. these officials insisted upon planes of department cleavage which the men below were quick to recognize. railway manhood has been more dwarfed by exaggerated official idea of specialization with resulting departmental jealousies than by the labor unions. therefore, my boy, let us get some of these inconsistencies out of our own optics before we talk too much about the dust that seems to blind the eyes of those who are exposed to the breezes of that world famous thoroughfare which faces old trinity church in new york. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter iii. the general manager on the witness stand. chicago, april , . my dear boy:--did it ever occur to you how easily a bright lawyer could tangle up many an able railway official on the witness stand? nowadays we have to spend more or less valuable time testifying about service, rates, capitalization, valuation, practices, methods, and a score of other things that become of public interest. whether this is just or unjust, necessary or unnecessary, is beside the question. it is a condition, not a theory, that confronts us. the wise railway man, therefore, so orders his official life that it may endure the scrutiny of both the persecutor and the prosecutor, of both the inquisitor and the investigator, of both the muckraker and the political economist. it sometimes happens, since men are only boys grown tall, that public hearings are accompanied by stage settings for dramatic effect; that trifling inconsistencies are magnified into egregious errors. let me picture part of such a hearing with a general manager on the stand: question: you testified, mr. general manager, on the direct examination that your road is well managed and has a highly efficient organization, did you not? answer: yes, sir, we think we have one of the best in the country. q. would you mind telling the able members of this honorable commission in just what your superiority consists? a. not at all, sir. in the first place, we have a great deal of harmony and work very closely together. q. did you ever know a railway official who did not claim the same thing for that part of the organization over which he presided? a. (hesitating.) well, now that you mention it, i can't say that i ever did. (sudden inspiration.) but you know there is a great deal of bluffing in this world. q. (drily.) what style of anti-bluffing device has your company adopted? a. of course, you are speaking figuratively. such a thing isn't possible. we have a pretty good check in the fine class of men we have developed. q. then, it is a sort of breeding process? a. yes, sir, that's it. q. to go a little further, has your company any patents on improving human nature? a. no, sir, we don't claim that. q. is it not a fact that your officials and employes are average citizens recruited and developed about like those of other roads? a. that is hardly a fair way to put it, but i suppose they are. q. why isn't it fair? a. because it leaves out of account the acknowledged efficiency that comes from having men well treated and contented, and better instructed than others. some farms make more money than others because the old man gets more work out of the boys. q. then your road has officials who can radiate more divine afflatus than others? a. i didn't say that. we do the best we know how. q. what is organization? a. why organization is--let me see--why, organization is the name we use for the men--the people, the forces we hire to run our road. it is hard to give a concise definition. i might ask you what law is. q. that's easy, law is a rule of conduct. now, tell me, please, who runs the road? a. why, the officers run the road, the men do the work. q. did you not just say that you hire men to run the road? a. i didn't mean that. q. then in your business you are not very accurate. you say one thing and mean another. a. no, sir; we may have more sense than you think we have. we spend a lifetime at this business and must learn something about it. q. will you please tell this fair-minded commission just how you run the road, just how you attempt to minister to the needs of the intelligent people of this great commonwealth? a. now, sir, it is a pleasure to testify. you are getting away from definitions and technicalities and down to practical facts, where i feel more at home. i will be glad to tell you all about it. in the first place a railway is such a big affair that we divide it into departments. q. excuse me, what is a department? a. a department is--well--i can make it clearer by describing what it does. as i was saying, we divided it into departments, and a department is--well--a department is--why, something so different from everything else that we put it off by itself and hold the head of the department responsible for results. we are very particular not to interfere with the details of the departments. q. pardon me, but the present members of this exceptionally able commission, inspired further i may say by the example of our patriotic governor, are accustomed to give profound consideration to these great questions. (modest pricking up of ears of commission, with determined composite expression bespeaking relentless performance of a dangerous duty.) please, therefore, tell us what your department does. a. as i testified on the direct examination mine is the operating department; as general manager i have charge of operation. q. what does that include? a. it includes transportation, and maintenance and new construction. it handles the business the other fellow gets. q. who is the other fellow? a. the traffic department. q. of another company? a. why, no, of our own. it is just another department. it deals with the public, it gets the business, it makes the rates; excuse me--it recommends rates to honorable bodies like this commission. q. then you in the operating department don't deal with the public? a. yes, sir, we do, more and more every year. q. is the traveling freight agent in your department? a. no, sir, he is in the traffic department. q. then you have no control over him? a. no, sir, no direct control, but as i said before, we all work very closely together on our road. q. it is claimed that there has been discrimination in car distribution in this state, because a traveling freight agent promised more cars to some shippers than the latter were entitled to according to the supply available. how about that? a. i am unable to say. q. getting back to your narrative, please resume the interesting description of your department. a. as i was saying, we have several departments, each under a superintendent or other officer. we have a general superintendent, a chief engineer, a superintendent of motive power, a superintendent of transportation, a superintendent of telegraph, a signal engineer, a superintendent of dining cars, and a general storekeeper, all of whom we call general officers in charge of departments. q. i thought you said you are the head of the operating department. a. yes, sir; that's right. q. i don't quite understand. you say that there are eight departments in your department? a. yes, sir; that is what we call them. it always has been so. q. then when is a department a department? a. you see these are really not departments; they are just parts of the operating department which is really a department. q. then, why not have definite designations? a. i don't know. we have never thought it necessary. we are getting good results and giving good service to the public. q. what are results? a. i am not sure; the longer i live the less certain i am about these things. q. i am glad to hear that. this impartial commission has been constituted because some railway officers tried to dictate what was best for this enlightened commonwealth. now, tell us, please, what you think of the plan the united states government has of making the "bureau" the next unit of organization below the "department"? a. i have never given government organization much attention. the part of the government that concerns me most is the interstate commerce commission, which seems made up mainly of inspectors. q. have you ever studied the organization of the federal courts, and of the army and the navy? a. i can hardly say that i have studied their organization, but i have observed them some. q. then you and your road do not give much attention to organization? a. perhaps not to theories. we are very practical. i never could see where a railway is like the government. they are very different. q. is not human nature the same in its basic characteristics, whether employed by a railway or the government? a. i suppose that it is, but many things about a corporation are different. q. is not the government the largest of employing corporations with its citizens as the stockholders? a. perhaps so. i would rather go on and tell you something practical about our work. q. pray do so. a. you see, i am the responsible head, so that i insist upon being consulted about all important matters, and leave only routine affairs to be acted on by my subordinates. q. what are important matters, and what are routine affairs? a. why, the important things are those that i handle personally, and routine, well, routine is what comes along every day and is so well understood that it does not require my personal attention. q. do you think any three men could agree upon what should be considered routine business? a. i don't know. i had never thought of it that way. many things have to be left to discretion. that is where judgment comes in. q. whose judgment? a. the judgment of the man handling the matter; in this case, my own. q. you have been here all day. who is handling matters in your absence? a. my chief clerk. q. you did not mention him before. what officer is he? a. he is not usually counted as an officer, but is considered the personal representative of an officer. q. does he sign your name? a. yes, sir; but puts his initials under my name. q. suppose he forgets to put his initials. could you swear to the signature in court? a. i don't know. you understand that is only for routine business. q. does he sign your name to your personal bank check? a. no, sir; he does not. q. then the company's business with the citizens of this state receives less careful attention than your own personal affairs? a. no, sir; the company's business comes first with me. i am a poor man to-day. q. when you are away your chief clerk has to sign instructions to the general officers in your department? a. only routine matters. q. does he receive a higher salary than they? a. no, sir; a lower. q. what determines relative salaries? a. qualifications and experience. q. then you have the less qualified and the less experienced man instructing higher officers. a. it might seem so, but in our case we are very fortunate. my chief clerk is an unusual man, and is very considerate and diplomatic. he knows that i do not stand for inconsiderate requirements of others. q. from whom do you receive your instructions? a. from our president. q. always personally? a. not always; his chief clerk is authorized to represent him. q. is his chief clerk as considerate for you as your chief clerk is for your subordinate officers? a. that is a very delicate question. i would rather not answer unless the commission insists. (hearing adjourned for day. general counsel sends cipher telegram to president stating indelicacy of state officials is almost unbearable; that bankers and business men should petition governor to stop destroying credit of railways.) all of which, my dear boy, is not as bad as it sounds, but, through difficulty of explanation, points the way to desirable improvements in railway administration. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter iv. further gruelling of the general manager. tucson, arizona, april , . my dear boy:--after the commission kicked for rest, the general manager tied up in his caboose. nobody was allowed to run around him and he was marked up first out the following morning. the commission not having any agreement about initial overtime, the attorney acting as yardmaster handed him a switch list and told him to dig out these loads: question: how many letters a day do you write? answer: i don't know, a great many. q. how many a day go out of your office? a. i can't state exactly, probably a hundred or more. q. then you do not see them all? a. no, that would be impossible in such a large office. q. does the chief clerk see them all? a. i think he does. q. you are not sure then? a. no, not entirely. i have had no complaints about that. q. is the only way you know about how things are going to have a complaint come in? a. not exactly. i try to keep ahead of the game. q. are the offices of your subordinates run in this same haphazard manner? a. i do not admit that it is haphazard. the general method is the same. q. who is in charge of the distribution of cars? a. my superintendent of transportation. q. to whom are his instructions given? a. to the division superintendents. q. does he give his instructions personally? a. the important instructions he gives personally. of course, he cannot do it all alone. you understand that his department deals with individual cars and has an enormous amount of detail. q. how many men are authorized to sign his name and initials? a. i don't know. q. then you do not regard this as an important matter? a. not as important as some others. that is a matter for which the superintendent of transportation is responsible. i look to him. q. do you think every man charged with duties should be allowed to select his own type of organization and decide as to his own methods? a. as far as possible, yes. q. then why not let each conductor make his own train rules, and each station agent keep his own kind of accounts? a. because confusion would result. q. is it not a fact that on most american railroads six or eight clerks are signing the name or initials of the superintendent of transportation? a. i don't know; very likely. q. does not a similar condition exist in a smaller degree in most railway offices. a. yes, sir, that is the system. q. then who are running the offices, the officials or the clerks? a. i always supposed the officials. you see we could not afford so many officials. q. has it ever occurred to you that by having more officials you might get along with fewer clerks? a. no, sir. q. who sign for the train orders on your road? a. our conductors. q. have not conductors and operators been discharged for signing each other's names? a. yes, sir. we must maintain discipline. if the train orders are not respected, accidents will result. q. then you have one policy for one class of employes, and allow your officials and clerks to be a law unto themselves? a. not exactly. as i said before we cannot afford so many officials. q. whose initials are signed to your train orders? a. the superintendent's. q. why? a. because it has always been that way on our road. it makes the order stronger. q. if initials make an order stronger, why not sign yours, or the president's, or god almighty's? a. that would be ridiculous. q. then it is not ridiculous to sign the superintendent's initials when he is at home in bed? a. no, that is different. we wish to emphasize the fact that the superintendent is in charge of the division. q. then why not put the superintendent's photograph on all the orders? would that strengthen him with the men? a. no, of course not. q. you have been talking about the superintendent; is he the same as the superintendent of motive power? a. no, you do not quite understand. the superintendent has charge of a division and the superintendent of motive power, like the superintendent of transportation, has charge of a department. q. then the word superintendent doesn't always mean the same thing? a. no, sir, but no confusion results. you see, the heads of departments are general officers, while the superintendent is a division officer. q. which superintendent? a. the division superintendent. q. is it not a fact that on some roads there is a question as to which has authority in certain matters, the division superintendent or the superintendent of motive power? a. i believe so, but we do not have any such trouble. q. (producing copies of letters furnished by discharged office employe.) does not this correspondence indicate a heated difference of opinion between your superintendent of motive power and a division superintendent which had to be settled by you? a. oh, yes; i recall, i had forgotten that. that will not happen again. q. what guaranty have you against similar friction? a. i have that all straightened out. everybody is lined up and understands that i insist upon harmony with a big h. q. to prevent confusion and, therefore, to save money why not make titles sufficiently distinctive in rank to prevent conflict of authority? a. we have not thought it necessary. i do not go as much on titles as some people. the old-fashioned way is good enough for me. a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. q. how, then, if you ordered roses for a funeral, would you guard against the corpse being handed lemons? a. by sending a note or a card. q. signed by your chief clerk? a. no, sir. q. do you think it is honest to have your chief clerk signing your name while you are away at this hearing? a. there is no intent to deceive. q. do you not unconsciously try to convey the idea that you are in one place when you are really in another, or that you are acting when it is really an entirely different man who is taking action? a. perhaps so. i had never looked at it in that way. it is a generally recognized custom. q. you do not seem to regard the office part as very important, as you permit a lot of clerks to take final action all day long. a. the office is not as important as the road. i try to give the most attention to the important matters on the road. q. you feel that by doing so the office will in a large measure take care of itself? a. that is it exactly. q. do you not think that most railway administrative offices have grown too large to take care of themselves? a. you see, we keep in close touch with our offices on a railroad, because when away we have a telegraph or telephone wire at our command. q. what good does a wire do you if you are tied up in a hearing or a conference for two or three hours at a time? a. i fear that i have not made clear to you just how valuable a man i have trained into a chief clerk. q. i fear that you have not. you seem to believe the old system is all right. do you think the last word has been said or that your road has hit upon the best system? a. the last word on these important subjects will never be said, but we have been getting along very well. * * * * * i shall not continue further in this letter the catechismal method, lest you accuse me of forgetting that you long ago graduated from the kindergarten. so you did; but when in doubt get back to early methods. after reading recently an article on scientific management, i had to recall my catechism to feel certain that handling pig iron is not the chief end of man. we all, you and i included, sometimes show up smaller than we really are, because we seem to think only in the narrow terms of the things to which we are closest. it once fell to the lot of a young official to escort over his road some of its directors, bankers from new york. being an enthusiast for his section of country, being an operating man with an instinct for developing traffic, he talked of progress, of the economic and social welfare of the people. when he spoke of sugar planting, or of cotton growing, of blooded stock and dairy yield, the bankers asked, "how much does it cost to raise an acre?" or "what percentage of profit do they make?" he returned from the trip feeling that money must be their god, that his directors could think only in terms of dollars and cents. it dampened his ardor for a time. then he was so fortunate as to ride for a few days with some of the really big modern bankers. he found himself listening with open mouth to their expression of practical sociological truths. he marveled at their recognition of the human element, and he understood better why the board sometimes turned down his recommendations. his only lament was that he could not see more of them. there, my boy, is the great misfortune, there is a problem to be solved. there is too much boston, new york, philadelphia and chicago. the directors seem too far away. it is a step forward that the overlords of transportation are bankers who have won their way rather than hereditary descendants of once reigning families. some method must be evolved to make for more elastic control. annual inspection trips will not overcome that rigidity in administration at which the public chafes and from which it seeks relief in drastic laws. an interesting and hopeful phase of present development is the election to directorates of trained railway executives like l. f. loree and h. i. miller. the professionally equipped railway director is a desirable evolution. supply always follows demand, and the broad solution will be a composite made up of many elements of progress which perhaps have not yet unfolded themselves to any of us. it is a great game, this transportation business. the more you study it, however, the more you discover that it is amenable to the same underlying principles on which rest the great and small activities of the human race. like all professions, it has its distinct technique. like all professions, it suffers from the inborn tendency of human nature to segregate itself behind an exaggerated class consciousness. "we are a little different," or "you do not quite understand our peculiar local conditions," are the arguments with which ultra-conservatism has opposed progress in all ages, are the obstacles which make so interesting all real contests for principle. i make no apologies for taking you in this letter from the witness stand of the west to the financial chancelleries of the east. when both the banker director and the general manager learn that signatures on letters and tram orders must be as sacred as when signed to bank checks, we shall be winning back a little of that old-time sense of personal responsibility which is so needed for improving composite efficiency to-day. what better epitaph could any man desire than this, "he helped to teach corporations to remember that lasting composite strength comes only from intelligent recognition of individual manhood?" affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter v. limitations of the chief clerk system. tucson, arizona, may , . my dear boy:--i have had a good deal to say to you at one time and another about chief clerks and the chief clerk system. from actual experience as a chief clerk i know that it is a trying position. it is because the railway chief clerks of the country are as a class such a splendid body of men that i am trying to do what i can to help them. too many times a chief clerk misses promotion because he is such a valuable man that he has to stand still to break in all the new bosses who come along and leave him in the side track. the chief clerk system as we know it to-day cannot long survive because it is too feudal in conception to reflect the spirit of a progressive age. we need a chief clerk to be a head clerk, a senior clerk, a foreman of the office forces, as it were. much of the time on american railroads the chief clerk is in effect an acting official, acting trainmaster, acting superintendent, acting general manager, acting vice-president, and even acting president. as such he signs the name of his boss, the theory being that the latter, like a feudal baron or a king, is omnipresent within his own dominions. not only does this outgrown conception violate the fundamental laws of matter; it often borders upon a breach of honor, integrity and good faith. legal fictions are fast giving place to the law of common sense. railway officials should not risk arraignment before the bar of public opinion for such indefensible practices. when the chief clerk does business in the name of some one else the effect is dwarfing to all concerned. we do not get the effect of either one or two men, but that of a fraction of both. again, the chief clerk is handling important correspondence with officials below of higher rank than himself, of greater compensation, and presumably of wider experience. human nature is such that sooner or later the chief clerk, a junior, is telling an official, a senior, where to head in. among the hundreds of railroad officials with whom it is my proud privilege to claim acquaintance, i have found nearly every one flattering himself, "my chief clerk never makes such breaks." to avoid awkward and embarrassing silences, i am learning to discontinue the acid test, "how about your boss's chief clerk?" so widespread a belief indicates a generic trait of human nature rather than a sporadic condition. organization as a science seeks by proper checks and balances to minimize such amiable failings of human nature. organized society preserves the effectiveness and dignity of its courts by allowing only a duly qualified judge to administer justice. the old clerk of the court may really know more law than the young judge, but only the latter can sit on the bench and decide causes. the lay reader must be duly ordained before exercising the full functions of a minister. the man who uses another's autograph signature in the banking business becomes a malefactor. are we so different in the large corporations that we can with impunity ignore such safeguards? the chief clerk system had its origin when railways were small and officials were few. on a division, for example, the superintendent was perhaps the only official and by common acceptance his clerk was really the next in rank. when a small tradesman or a small farmer goes away for a day his wife and boy may do the work without any one knowing the difference. in a larger enterprise there has to be an understudy in charge when the head is away. you may have noticed that i use the word "rank" considerably. rank is a practical necessity for the proper enforcement of authority. rank makes its appearance as soon as society organizes for its own protection. rank may be local, limited, changing and temporary as contra-distinguished from general, extensive, hereditary, or permanent, but it is rank just the same. the purest democracies clothe their chosen leaders with temporary rank. before misconstruing the poetic aphorism of robert burns, "rank is but the guinea's stamp," remember that the guinea is only fluctuating bullion until the stamp of authority of government can be invoked. let me now enunciate a principle, which is this: "in modern organization the chief clerk as we now know him has no place. when the stage is reached that such a chief clerk seems to be needed, there should be another assistant this or that." mind you, i do not say assistant _to_, because that little word "to" may give a sent-for-and-couldn't-come appearance. nearly every week you notice the announcement of the appointment of an old chief clerk to the position of assistant _to_ somebody. this is encouraging, since it permits him to do business in his own name. it also shows that railway officials are waking up to the distinct limitations of the chief clerk system. the discouraging feature is the failure to profit by centuries of experience of such well-handled activities as the navy and the merchant marine. at sea the executive officer ranks next below the captain and is in effect, though not in name, the latter's chief of staff. the captain's clerk or the purser cannot hope to become executive officer and then captain without getting outside and working up through the deck. when railway executives and directors become better students of organization, the science of human nature, their stockholders will pay for fewer unnecessary experiments. one railway profits by the discoveries and mistakes of another, as to bridges and equipment, but rarely as to organization and methods. the united states army, copied largely from the english, has the assistant _to_ system, calling such officer the adjutant. the rank of the adjutant has been raised to captain, or rather the grade from which the colonel can select his adjutant has been elevated to that of captain. the adjutant has thus gained, and many military men hope that he will eventually be the lieutenant-colonel, and as in the navy, be the executive officer, and, in effect, chief of staff for the colonel. since no officer of the army or navy permits another to sign his name the adjutant uses his own autograph signature, but preceded by the phrase, "by order of colonel blank"; objectionable because it is sometimes a legal fiction. the adjutant system in the army works better than the assistant _to_ system on the railroads, because the adjutant is relatively better trained for his position. not only does the adjutant know office work, but he has learned practically to perform every duty required of non-commissioned officers and private soldiers. very few assistants _to_ could run a train, switch cars, handle a locomotive, or pick up a wreck. this is why soldiers and sailors have more faith in the ability of their officers than railway employes have in that of their officials. he who would be called thor must first wield thor's battle axe. we should office from the railroad rather than railroad from the office. since these things are so, as runs the old latin phrase, i would recruit my office assistant from the road, from the head of a so-called department, from an official who has gained a face-to-face experience in handling men. the old chief clerk is the first man i would consider for appointment as one of my junior assistants. i would so assign him that he would get outside experience. sunburn and redness of blood sometimes go together. for the pink tea contact of the telephone, for the absent treatment of the typewriter, i would ask him for a while to substitute the strong coffee of the caboose and the surprise test of the through freight. office railroading has its origin in the mistaken theory of overspecialization, that office work is a highly-segregated specialty beyond the ken of the average man. the world advances, and as education becomes more general, as tenure is made more permanent, and employment more attractive, we can impose increased requirements. suppose that it all could be so worked out that a generation hence no man would expect to be a railroad clerk until he had served some such outside apprenticeship as trackman, brakeman, switchman, or fireman, etc. this would mean that in an organization like the post office department every clerk in the department in washington would have been graduated from some such outside position as letter carrier, railway mail clerk, country postmaster, rural free delivery carrier, etc. every clerk in the war department would be a soldier and every clerk in the navy department a sailor. then the papers that the clerk handled would have a living meaning for him. his action would be more intelligent. pardon me a moment while i shake hands with the highly-conventional gentleman who is approaching--mr. cant b. dunn. no introduction is necessary. we have met all over the united states, in canada and in mexico. we usually differ, but never quarrel, because each is so necessary to the other. sure, my boy, all these things can't be done right away quick, or before the interstate commerce commission again asks for increased authority and larger appropriations. i do not expect to live to see the consummation, but hope that you may. i do expect to survive long enough to see a good start made along such rational lines of elasticity. because we cannot accomplish it all at once is no reason for not making an intelligent beginning. if a compromise with principle is ever advanced its advocates should be prepared to pay the ultimate cost. those questions on which the federal constitution compromised required the expensive settlement of civil war. otherwise the constitution has been elastic enough to cover nearly fifty states as fully as the original thirteen. it is even strong enough to withstand the latest political fallacy, the recall of the judiciary, as solemnly proposed out here in fascinating arizona. remember always, my boy, that although the good old days have completed their runs, there are better days arriving and still on the road; that from beyond the terminal at the vanishing point of the perspective the best days are coming special because no railway time-table is big enough to give them running rights. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter vi. preventing instead of paying claims. phoenix, arizona, may , . my dear boy:--you ask me to give you my views on the handling and settling of freight claims. i restrain my impatience and consequent desire to jump on you hard. allow me, therefore, with expressions of distinguished consideration, to invite your esteemed attention to the fact that your valued request contains no mention of an intelligent desire for possible enlightenment on the most important feature of the problem, namely, the prevention of claims, the eradication of causes. a railroad is a complex proposition. seldom can we discuss one of its problems independently. so ramified are its activities that the penumbra of one shadow coincides with the outline of the next. studied from the broadest view of railway administration, freight claims are found too often doing duty as a shadow which hides the real substance, poor operation. it was formerly the almost universal practice on american railways for freight claims to be handled and settled by the freight traffic department. it was felt that the man who secured the business, who dealt with the shippers, was the man to placate the claiming public. no, this did not always lead to rebating. it placed before the man hungry for gross revenue a temptation which he often resisted. since the passage of the hepburn act and the consequent inspection of claim disbursements by the interstate commerce commission, the general trend of railroad practice has been to place the so-called freight claim department under the accounting department. railroads are waking up to the fact that the new order of things means more than an accounting proposition; that in government regulation and supervision the whole matter of railway administration is involved. what we technically term "operation" is the largest of the component elements of administration. the tendency of overspecialization has been to leave to the accounting or the legal department the matter of relations with the various branches of government, both state and federal. since a part can never equal the whole the results have been disappointing. railroads are learning by costly experience that traffic men and operating men must have an active part in these vital relations. government in the long run reflects the spirit of its people. the american people as a nation are positive and constructive. the training of railway lawyers and railway accountants is often negative and resisting. the general counsel and the general auditor are inclined to tell us what we can not do. the traffic manager and the general manager, on the other hand, tell us what we can do. out of it all should come a well-balanced administrative machine. we need the whole machine, not a specialized part, the positive as well as the negative elements, when we move alongside the reciprocating engine of government. again, putting a man in the accounting department does not make him any more honest than the rest of us. there is more logic in taking freight claims away from the traffic department than there is in placing them under the accounting department. the traffic man, the accounting man, or the legal man can settle or refuse a claim. none of these can eradicate its cause. only the operating man can do this. many roads cling to the belief that their wonderful interior combustion and hot air harmony give the operating department sufficient information to serve the practical purpose. my observation has been that this information is not sufficiently fresh; that it trails along too far behind the actual transaction. some roads, like the southern and the 'frisco, have organized special bureaus in the operating department to minimize the causes of freight claims and to follow up discrepancies while the case is fresh; in other words, to investigate before the claim is filed. sometimes this duplicates the work of the freight claim office and sometimes it does not. so bad have been freight loss and damage conditions on most american railroads that almost any kind of attention has resulted in improvement. nearly every road can cite figures in defense of its particular treatment of the situation. there are many good ways. in the absence of an absolute unit of comparison the best way must be largely a matter of opinion. to me the logical and practical principle has been discovered by two of the best managed railroads in the country, the chicago & north-western and the chesapeake & ohio. these roads, among others, place their freight claims under the operating department, thus reserving the hair of the dog for treatment of its bite. with such a system the general manager controls the disbursements to operating expenses for which he is responsible. under other systems the general manager accepts charges which he does not directly control. some roads have endeavored to correct this last defect by requiring claim vouchers to be signed by the general manager and the division superintendent. this beautiful example of circumlocution is expensive. there are only twenty-four hours in a day, and even claim papers can not be handled for nothing. furthermore, the claimant himself refuses to see the beauty of delaying payment to carry out a theory. in some states he has secured legislation penalizing railways for delay in settling intrastate claims. can you blame him? the claimant aforesaid may happen to be a country merchant waiting for the way freight to come in. it brings him six boxes of groceries. in his presence, and that of the agent, the way freight brakeman drops and spoils a box. on many roads, not only is the agent not allowed to pay for this spoiled box, but is expected to require the indignant consignee to pay the freight on all six boxes before removing the other five. the consignee is told to file a claim, which then makes its weary round through the circumlocution office where clerks are called investigators. such companies say in effect to the agent: "yes, you are a good fellow; you get us a lot of business; you handle thousands of dollars of our money; you represent us in many things; you must understand, however, that a freight claim is a specialty requiring expert advice; a bad precedent might involve us in the future; you know, too, we might be criticised as opening the way to grafting by some other agents if we let you pay out money without authority from the accounting department; yes, we like your work and expect to promote you in the sweet by-and-by," etc., _ad nauseam_. fortunately, these narrow views are giving place to more enlightened practices. on several railways in texas most station agents are authorized to settle instanter certain classes of palpably just claims up to $ or $ . among the practical advantages of claim control by the operating department are quicker recognition of lax methods causing claims, better discipline and morals of train and station forces, prompter settlement, and greater attention to seal records. the chesapeake & ohio makes surprise tests by breaking a seal and resealing the car with a different seal to see if the next man copies the last record, or actually takes his seal record from the car. this road also appeals to the human element. claims settled are tentatively charged to the conductor or agent apparently at fault, and he is given an opportunity to explain. this is not real money, but a combination of brown system, christian science coin, and clearing house certificates. the practical effect is very real, however. each man learns to feel a responsibility which is reflected in a desire for a clean record. the general claim agent, who is under the general manager, sends monthly to each division superintendent a list showing the name of every freight conductor on the division, with number of claims, if any, charged to him on account of pilferage from train, rough handling, etc. the local divisions of the order of railway conductors have been interested and feel some responsibility in keeping the work of their members upon a plane above the imputation of collusion with pilferage. seek, my boy, to develop the higher natures of your men and you will be astonished at the response. let them know that you know what they are doing, and it becomes easier for them to withstand temptation. freight claims are a fine example of an exaggerated specialty resulting in unnecessary centralization. the whole proposition can be decentralized for the good of the service. because the division superintendent can not well settle interline claims of other divisions is no reason why his forces should not settle such local claims as concern his division. a thorough study of freight claims will bring you early to a consideration of personal injury, stock and fire claims. the fad has been on many railroads to take these items of operating expenses away from their former location in the operating department and give them to the legal department. this exaggerated view of the laws of liability is partly responsible for the growth of the damage suit industry. it is another case of considering a part of the railway at the expense of the whole. we need legal advice and expert knowledge. the true function of the expert and the specialist is to see how much working knowledge he can impart to the layman for everyday use and reserve himself for the real complications which, if his tutelage has been sound, the layman will quickly recognize and bring back for expert assistance. not long ago i happened near a freight wreck. one of the cars in the ditch contained an emigrant outfit in charge of a man. this man was bruised, but not seriously injured. with the superintendent and the wreck train came a specialist, a claim adjuster for the legal department. he could settle only the personal injury. the damage to property was a freight claim and belonged to another department, the accounting, not formally represented at the impromptu function, and over which the superintendent as master of ceremonies had no jurisdiction. the various items of operating expenses involved on this occasion were in a decidedly diverged condition. what the spiritualist medium calls the control was in this case the office of a busy president some fifteen hundred miles away. of course, the company spirit and common sense guided the superintendent, and he made the best of circumstances; perhaps risking criticism and censure for crossing sacred departmental lines. what do you think of a system that breaks down in emergencies? is not an emergency a test of a system, a proof of its elasticity? can we develop the highest efficiency of superintendents when we, the executive and general officers, place upon them the burden of departing from a system that fails to meet their practical problems? is it not a species of unconscious administrative cowardice for boards of directors to impose implied and practical responsibility without conferring corresponding authority? can such questions be ignored as exceptional, trifling, and captious? do they not reach to the heart of railway organization and efficiency? will the railways correct such errors themselves, or will they await once more the remedy by legislatures and commissions? if a study of conditions does not convince you theoretically that one claim bureau should handle freight, stock, fire, and personal injury claims--in short all claims covering injuries to persons and damages to property--go down on the chesapeake & ohio and watch them do it practically. instead of several specialists duplicating each other's itineraries, you will find some all-round claim men doing a variety of practical stunts. when they do strike a really different and highly technical case, they utilize the services of their best specialist in that particular line, not infrequently the general claim agent himself. overcharge claims are very properly handled under their traffic auditor, being a matter of correction and not of operating disbursement. were it up to me, i would make the general claim agent an assistant general manager, so that in claim matters he would have rank and authority superior to the division superintendent's. the division claim agent i would make an assistant superintendent, so that in claim matters he would have rank and authority superior to all employes on the division. on this last division feature i once convinced my old friend, cant b. dunn, by a long, practical test. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter vii. the chief of staff idea. san antonio, texas, may , . my dear boy:--let me tell you something about a wonderfully effective human machine, the confederate army. i sit facing a confederate monument which depicts a self-reliant son of the southland, the type of man real railway training helps to perpetuate. hard by is a shrine to valor, the alamo, a reminder of the duty of altruism which an individual owes to his fellows. fifty years ago two great armies were organized to fight to a practical, working conclusion some of the indefinite compromises of the federal constitution. each army was supported by the intelligent spirit of an aroused people. each sought in its organization and operation to give the most effective expression to that spirit. jefferson davis and his advisers sought to profit by the experience of the old united states army and to avoid inherent weaknesses in its organization. so the confederate congress created the grades of general and of lieutenant general, in order that a general might command a separate field army, a lieutenant general a corps, a major general a division, and a brigadier general a brigade. by thus more exactly defining official status, jealousies were minimized. until grant was made lieutenant general in , the federal army had only two grades of general officers, major general and brigadier general. this led to confusion, to bickerings, and to petty jealousies. since a major general might command such distinct and self-contained units of organization as a division, a corps, or a separate field army, numerous special assignments by the president became necessary. the confederate army had another feature of organization that was epoch-making. samuel cooper had been adjutant general of the united states army, with the rank of brigadier general, issuing orders over his own signature from washington "by command of" somebody else--brevet lieutenant general scott or the secretary of war. because of his acknowledged efficiency in office work and administrative routine, samuel cooper was made adjutant general and inspector general of the confederate army. did they give him the rank of brigadier general? no, sir; they made him a full general, and number one on the list, senior to albert sidney johnston, robert e. lee, joseph e. johnston and g. t. beauregard, who, as generals at one time or another, commanded separate field armies or territorial military departments. general cooper at a desk in richmond was the ranking officer of the confederate army. this detracted not one iota from the fame of lee, the great soldier and the first gentleman of the south. on the contrary, the increased efficiency due to receiving instructions from a real superior, not under-strappers or chief clerks, made greater the reputation of lee. from one viewpoint general cooper was a high-class chief clerk for his president and the secretary of war. from a broader view he was their technically trained, highly efficient chief of staff. the confederate army gave in effect, but not in name, the chief of staff idea to the world as a great object lesson in the applied science of organization. historians say that jefferson davis, himself a graduate of west point, a veteran of the mexican war, and secretary of war in the cabinet of pierce, meddled too much in military affairs when as president he should have been attending also to civil affairs. be that as it may, the organization was elastic enough to meet just such variations of personal equation. whether the president, the secretary of war or the adjutant general (chief of staff) acted in a particular case, the subordinate knew who took the responsibility and that the action came from a real superior in rank. the confederacy fell. the passions of the time, the shortsightedness of prejudice, precluded the adoption at that time by the united states of any feature of the confederate organization, however meritorious in principle and practice. it remained for the germans, already applying the idea, to dazzle the world in and conquer france by the work of their general staff and its able chief, von moltke. not until after the costly lessons of the little war with spain in did our congress wake up and give the united states army a general staff and a chief of staff. the new law includes several desirable features of elasticity. among these is a provision for the selection by each administration of its own chief of staff. a permanent chief of staff might be an obstructionist or might become too perfunctory in compliance. the law wisely limits the selection of a chief of staff to about twenty general officers. this prevents playing untrained favorites. it permits any passenger conductor to be made superintendent, but forbids selecting an extra brakeman or the call boy. furthermore, if conditions change or a new administration arrives, the chief of staff is not penalized for efficiency by losing out entirely, but reverts to his permanent status; the superintendent holds his rights as a conductor and bids in a good run according to his permanent seniority. this feature of good organization, the conferring of definite local superior rank, and the protection of the incumbent from unnecessary degradation, was discovered centuries ago by another effective institution, the catholic church. life is a composite. the army, like several railways, has been waking up to the fact that a lesson can be learned from the civil courts. a large city may have several courts and judges. a judge may sit for one term in the equity court, then in the criminal branch, and next in a court _en banc_. all the time there is only one office of record, one clerk of the court, with as many deputies as may be found necessary. when one judge wishes to know what another judge has done, the former does not write the latter a letter to inquire, but sends to the clerk's office and gets the complete record up to date. are the railroads above copying sound working principles of efficiency from such tried institutions as the army, the navy, the civil courts and the churches? certainly not, as some roads are showing in a highly practical way. such movements as these are but expressions of a cosmic tendency, greater and more powerful than any one branch of human activity. such trends of progress are noted by observers who happen to be favored with a view from the watch towers and who are able to make suitable adaptations because they realize that ideas are greater than men, that practical devices are greater than their inventors. sound ideas often depend for their development and permanency as working practices upon some great exponent of acknowledged capacity for leadership. in bismarck had baited on the french and von moltke had planned their discomfiture. in general robert e. lee, entering upon the last year of his life, was president of washington and lee university at lexington, virginia, where colonel allan, of stonewall jackson's staff, was a prominent professor. there came to sit at the feet of these great teachers a mere boy in years, but an adult in intellectual grasp. this callow youth was of german lineage, but born and reared in new orleans, a city stamped with the civilization of the french. perhaps this modest youngster dreamed that twenty years later he would be a great railroad engineer--hardly, though, that in forty years he would, as a great railway operating man, be called the von moltke of transportation. strange, indeed, that this von moltke, julius kruttschnitt, should find his opportunity for highest development under the napoleon of our profession, edward h. harriman, himself among the last of the feudal railway barons. stranger still that as this napoleon was passing his von moltke was starting the railways away from feudalism in interior administration by introducing within the latter's own sphere the chief of staff idea of the confederate, the german, and the american armies. for, my boy, the unit system of organization on the harriman lines, of which you have read more or less, is primarily a substitution of the modern chief of staff idea for the outgrown, dwarfing, irrational government by chief clerks.[ ] [ ] see appendix for a description of the unit system of organization. the unit system of organization requires that an official, whether the head of the unit or an assistant, shall, when absent on the line, be represented at headquarters by the senior or chief assistant of the unit. such senior or chief assistant is in effect, though not in name, the chief of staff. normally, this senior is number one on the list of assistants, but whoever is so acting becomes, as above explained, the senior for the time being, and when relieved reverts to his permanent place on the list. rotation for this chief of staff depends largely on the personal equation of the head of the unit and of his various assistants. in the last two years some divisions have not rotated the chief of staff at all. one superintendent who credits the system with increased supervision and notable decreases in expenses is now rotating his assistants in the senior chair every two weeks. there are diverse views on the subject of rotation in general. my own opinion is that it may or may not be desirable. i incline rather to rotation because it seems to be a biological concomitant of rational evolution. nature rotates her seasons and her types. where, as in the tropics, there is less rotation we find more stagnation and quicker death. many soils are impoverished by neglect of proper crop rotation. the other day in a terminal, i found a superintendent lately rotated, like a methodist minister, from another division. favored with a fresh viewpoint, he was having switch engines give trains a start out of the yard, and was taking off a helper engine which for years had seemed an unavoidable expense. for what was in this particular instance a case of over-specialization he was substituting engines which could more economically perform the dual functions of switching and of pushing. speaking of yards, see if you have not some bright fellows on your staff who can figure out a car record that can be taken by the mechanical men, the car inspectors, that will answer all the purposes of transportation, including claims. instead of two sets of specialists, car inspectors and yard clerks, partly duplicating each other's work, see if you cannot develop one set of all 'round men with some interchangeability of function. no, you cannot do it all at once. even if you have a workable scheme it will take a long time to establish. the brown system of discipline required nearly twenty years for its complete extension to practically all american railroads, although in successful operation for nearly a hundred years at the united states military academy at west point. the demerit system is better handled at west point than is the brown system on railways. this is because most of the officers are relatively better trained than railroad officials, having all been through the mill themselves. better training cultivates the judicial quality. too often the number of brownies does not depend upon a fixed scale for a like offense, but rather upon how mad the superintendent is or on how hard he has been pounded by the typewriter in the offices above. before you condemn any system be certain that its apparent shortcomings are not the fault of your own interpretation and administration. we used to speak of engine failures alone. nowadays we distinguish as between engine failures and man failures. likewise there is a difference between a system failure and a man failure. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter viii. the unit system. galveston, texas, may , . my dear boy:--we were talking of the unit system of organization. there is little that is new about the system. like many useful things in this world, it is mainly an adaptation of some very old principles and practices. from one viewpoint it is a rational extension of the simple principles of train dispatching. the standard code does not attempt to supply the place of judgment in a train dispatcher. it does not tell him when to put out a meet or a wait order. when his judgment dictates the necessity for any particular action, the standard code comes into play by prescribing forms, by imposing checks and safeguards, by simplifying methods, and by unifying practices. this gives greater opportunity for initiative and originality on the part of the dispatcher by making routine the detailed portion of the process. he has more time to think. because the unit system leaves so much to the thinking capacity of the men below, some people have found it difficult to understand. many codes of organization attempt to cover in advance all the various cases that may come up. the unit system enunciates principles and prescribes methods, but leaves independence of action to the man on the ground. he is for the time being the judge as to what principle to apply. when men are carefully trained their first impulse is to do the right thing. this impulse has been dwarfed and deadened on many railroads by artificial restraints which make a man doubtful of his authority. the unit system reverses some old presumptions and puts the burden of doubt upon him who questions the official authority. we have to take human nature as we find it, not as we think it should be. the master mechanic or the division engineer is riding on the rear of a train, at the company's expense, and tells a young flagman that the latter did not go back far enough. if the flagman does not tell the official to go to h----, the trainmaster probably will. the trainmaster says, "this is _my_ department, you have interfered with _my_ man." that is the old feudal conception. he is not _my_ man but the company's for service, and his own for individuality and citizenship. let the master mechanic or the division engineer of many years' service report the flagman whose tenure may have been very brief. human nature is such that the trainmaster, stung by an implied reflection, constitutes himself attorney for the defense. the papers grind through the baskets of the chief clerks. by and by, when everybody concerned has forgotten the incident, the papers come back with assurances of distinguished consideration and politely intimate that the case was not quite as bad as represented. the old official, in a measure discredited, soon stops concerning himself with flagmen. the management, the stockholders, and the public lose just so much possible protection through increased supervision. the salary and the expense account of the traveling official go on just the same. on the harriman lines the master mechanic, like the division engineer, has the rank, title, and authority of assistant superintendent. mind you, it is not assistant superintendent in charge of thus and so, but just assistant superintendent. an attempt to define duties in a circular of appointment might imply that all the responsibilities not enumerated would be necessarily excluded. so the assistant superintendent quietly speaks to the young flagman, who profits by the instruction, and the incident is closed without recourse to the typewriter. for the technical brief to the supreme court there is substituted the rough and ready but surer justice of the police magistrate. the employe still has the right to appeal just as he had before, but seldom or never does he exercise it. there are, of course, intelligent limitations to all authority. the mechanical assistant, or the maintenance assistant should not, for example, order the flagman to buy a new uniform. common sense and courtesy have proved effectual safeguards against abuse of authority. the underlying principle that responsibility breeds conservatism in action has operated to prevent those unseemly clashes of authority which many predicted. the good sense of the superintendents has served as an effectual balance wheel to maintain smooth running. the unit system does not deny or dispute the necessity for specialized talent for technical activities. it insists, however, that increased supervision of the countless phases of operation can be gained by utilizing all the official talent available. in many cases such increased supervision is a by-product. the maintenance assistant is inspecting track. the train stops. he cannot resume track inspection until the train starts. meantime, he may be able to find time to see if the conductor receives his orders promptly, if the dispatcher uses good judgment, if the station forces are alert, if the public are being well handled, if the news butcher has his wares over several needed seats in the smoking car. he may even go to the head end and tell the eagle eye how the black smoke indicates that the fire boy could save his own back and the company's good money by less liberal use of the shovel. anything very technical requiring the presence of specialists for all these things? of course, if a special problem develops, such as a badly adjusted draft, it may be necessary later to get the more expert attention of a mechanical assistant. often, however, before this stage is reached there can be rendered much economical first aid to injured operating expenses. this increased supervision, be it much or little, is clear gain for the company. it means more effort for the official, but that is what he is paid for. it is usually better in zero weather to have the old master mechanic and the old traveling engineer as assistant superintendents riding different trains on the road than to have them sitting in a comfortable office writing letters to each other about engines that failed last week or last month. once upon a time a traveling engineer talked through a telegraphone to a dispatcher. the latter requested the former to have the freight train pull into clear to let another train by. the conductor was not in sight. he was probably in the caboose making out some of those imaginary reports about which grievance committees tell us and which are most in evidence during investigations of head-end collisions. so, this member of the ancient and honorable order of attorneys for the brotherhood told the brakemen where to head in. whereupon with much professional profanity the trainmen declined, saying that no traveling engineer could tell them what to do. the superintendent took the brakemen out of service. they got back only on request of the traveling engineer to whom they apologized. while authority was vindicated, an undesirable situation had been developed. no matter how emphatic the vindication may be, it is as bad for discipline to have authority questioned as for a woman to have her virtue impugned. since then the unit system on that division has made the traveling engineer an assistant superintendent, and the question of authority does not arise. out in that part of the country a fast train was pulling out of a terminal. the trainmaster was out on the road. his clerk signed the trainmaster's name to a message, telling the old passenger conductor to make a stop to deliver what to the clerk was an important letter, ran down and handed both to the conductor. the latter demurred, saying that under his running orders the stop would make him miss a meeting point. the clerk insisted and when the conductor disregarded the message the latter was taken out of service. this was done on the old feudal theory that the trainmaster's name and position must be respected. by the same reasoning a bank teller should honor a check on which he knows the signature is forged. since then the unit system on that division requires everyone to do business in his own name. employes obey the instructions of men shown by name on the time card, and are not at the mercy of clerks. the old trainmaster's name is more respected because it is signed only by himself and is not cheapened by use by tom, dick and harry. (anvil chorus: "such things couldn't happen on our road." perhaps not, but they do just the same, in a greater or less degree.) when a conductor reports for train orders he has a right to know that a competent dispatcher is on duty. he cannot dictate, however, what particular dispatcher shall work the trick and give him his orders. the unit system carries this same principle to correspondence and reports. it denies the right of the employe to dictate what official shall handle a certain letter or report, under normal conditions. the report is addressed impersonally "assistant superintendent," and the office decides what official is most available. as a matter of common sense the expert in that line will be utilized. in his absence, however, his feudal representative, a clerk, will not act for him. the clerk may prepare the papers, but final action can be taken only by an official. highly technical problems are sent to the absent official on the road or await his return. each assistant may issue instructions, in his own name, to such subordinates on his own pay roll as roadmasters under the maintenance assistant, foremen under the mechanical assistant, yardmasters under the transportation assistant, etc., etc. before these instructions leave the office, they should pass, like all correspondence, over the desk of the senior assistant (chief of staff) for his information and for the prevention of possible conflict and confusion. here, again, is a principle of train dispatching. all orders concerning the running of trains go over the dispatcher's table. should there not be a similar check imposed on official instructions and information imparted to hundreds of delicate, sensitive, human machines, made in the image of god? why are not communications and reports addressed "superintendent?" because there would be an implied obligation for the superintendent to act. this obligation cannot be admitted under normal conditions. therefore, to be honest and straightforward, the address is "assistant superintendent." under this system the employe knows that some assistant will see his communication, not the clerk of somebody else. if the employe desires a particular official to see his communication, he makes it personal by prefixing that official's name. any employe can address the superintendent by name for the same good reason that the humblest citizen can appear in his own behalf in any court in the land. though the court is open, neither the citizen nor his attorney can normally dictate what judge shall hear his case. authority is abstract and impersonal. the court exists if the judge is dead. the exercise of authority is concrete and highly personal. the court is silent until the judge speaks. conversely, the superintendent as the head of the unit may address any employe direct without going through the assistant on whose payroll the employe is carried. common sense and the personal equation of the officials concerned indicate how far this elastic feature can be carried. courtesy requires prompt notification of the assistant concerned. officials have superiors, and to attempt to convey the idea that each is a feudal chief, when in reality he is not, can result only in self-deception. the practice of each division superintendent reissuing verbatim in his own name instruction circulars from the office of the superintendent of transportation is misleading and ridiculous. all instructions from general officers, including the general manager, should come to employes through the superintendent's office, not only to respect the integrity of the organization unit, but to preserve a history of the transaction in the authorized office of record--to get all the runs, including the general manager's special, on the right train sheet as it were. whoever acts, whether the superintendent himself or an assistant, has at hand in one office of record full information for his guidance. you understand that the superintendent is boss. he may see any or all communications from employes as he thinks fit. where previously he instructed his chief clerk what to bring to him personally, such instruction he now gives to his chief of staff. an employe who addressed "assistant superintendent" may receive a reply signed by the superintendent himself. this is an honest record, not a subterfuge. some assistant, the chief of staff, has handled the paper as well as the superintendent himself. to the subordinate the superintendent is normally an incidental representative of authority entitled to the greater respect to be given his higher rank. to the general offices, and to co-ordinate units, the superintendent is an essential head of a component unit who must not be ignored. therefore, since there is an implied obligation for the superintendent to answer superior authority himself, all communications from superior and co-ordinate authority are addressed impersonally, "superintendent." a railway is so extensive that the superintendent should spend at least half the time out on his division. in his absence the chief of staff is allowed to communicate with the general offices and other divisions in his own name, but "for the superintendent." the superintendent may answer from the road himself, but in any case the general offices know who has really taken action. going down on the division any assistant may sign, subject to review by the chief of staff. going up to higher authority only the superintendent or his chief of staff may sign. the rights of the individual assistants are preserved by permitting any one to go on record to the general offices when he so desires. he writes his letter, addresses it "assistant superintendent," and takes it to either the superintendent or chief of staff and requests that it be forwarded. in this exceptional case a letter of transmittal is written setting forth the views of the superintendent. a cat may look at a king. a meritorious idea should not be throttled because it does not happen to appeal to the next superior. when a division official on any road rides a train, he does not first thing try to tell the conductor what meeting points should be made. he usually says, "let me see your orders," which is in effect asking the conductor what the dispatcher has said must be done. protected by this vital information the official may then venture some suggestions. in the preliminary lecture explaining the unwritten laws of the unit system the new assistant superintendents are cautioned to apply the same principle. they are not to see how much trouble they can make, but how little. if the transportation assistant, for example, pulls up to a water tank at : a.m. and sees the section men just going to work, he does not jump on the foreman for being late, but quietly asks, "what are your working hours? what time does the roadmaster tell you to begin work?" the moral effect of the presence of an alert, observing official, armed with sufficient authority, becomes an asset of value to the stockholders. we have not enough officials to ride every train and cover every point. the more open, intelligent supervision we can get from each official the better should be the operation. of course, if the officials were not experienced railway men a condition of nagging and rawhiding might result which would prove fatal. what the unit system does is to try to make potential the latent knowledge and ability which every official possesses in a greater or less degree. the old over-specialized system denies that this stored-up reserve exists to any practicable extent. the fact that the title of assistant superintendent is uniform tends to bring out the real individuality of the different assistants. each has to have his name on the door of his private office. as we hear less and less of "my department" and more and more of "this division," the references to "the trainmaster," "the master mechanic," etc., etc., give way to "mr. a.," "mr. b.," etc. the assistant superintendents have definite seniority, and when two or more come together under circumstances rendering it necessary, as at a wreck, the senior present takes charge and becomes responsible. remember that rank and authority can be conferred by seniority in grade as well as by grade itself. the scriptural warning that no man can serve two masters is still applicable. in our case the master is the corporation, represented at different times by various individuals clothed with authority. the conductor runs his train under the laws of the land, the policy of the president, the rules of the general manager, the bulletins of the superintendent, the assignment of an assistant superintendent, the orders of a dispatcher. he collects tickets and fares as directed by the general passenger agent and reports on forms prescribed by the auditor. the lower we go in the scale the fewer the superiors with whose instructions the employe comes in direct contact. the trackman knows authority only as its exercise is personified by his section foreman until the paymaster tells him to wipe off his feet before entering to receive his check. therefore, put out a slow flag against too fast running over such low joints as "one boss," "complete responsibility," "divided authority," etc., etc., until you feel certain just what speed they will stand. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter ix. standardizing office files. chicago, june , . my dear boy:--it has doubtless occurred to you how worthless as evidence are many of the office files. how can any one tell a year afterward whether the general manager or the superintendent ever saw the telegram on which his name is typewritten? on most roads any one of a half dozen or a dozen people may have dictated the message. how much better, as under the unit system, to have every man doing business in his own name! he can then supplement the written record with much more intelligent recollection of events related to the transaction. we dictate the most important telegrams, which pass unquestioned, without an autograph signature. this is common sense and just as it should be. when an unimportant letter is written somebody has to get out a pen and sign some name or other. how inconsistent! why not, for certain kinds of correspondence, let the stenographer typewrite the name of the dictating or signing official, and then authenticate with the office dating stamp or a private seal mark? the office dating stamp should be kept under lock and key in official custody in order that it may be used for authentication, like the seal of a notary public. to save the labor of constant signing i predict that some time we may go back to individual personal seals carried on a finger ring or a watch fob. that is the way they authenticated documents at a time when the gentry felt themselves above learning to read and write. if you have occasion to dictate a message over the telephone from your house at midnight, do not let the operator imitate your autograph signature, but have him print your name with a pen, pencil or typewriter. also, take good care to have such messages sent to you afterward for you to check. your time is valuable, but it cannot be put to better use for the company than in insuring the integrity of your individual transactions. it may be that no record whatever is necessary. with all our craze for accumulating files we do not record many telephone conversations. you must be the judge as to whether a record for your office is necessary, and in such exceptional cases state your wishes at the time. the farther down the employe the more zealous is he to escape possible censure by preserving unnecessary information. what we need is one complete record of a transaction rather than so many partial records. many of the telegrams sent from a superintendent's office should, after sending, go to the main file room for consolidation with related papers under a subjective classification. it is more logical to file certain classes of messages by days in date order. for example, messages relating to train movements should usually be filed in date order since they are supplementary to the train sheets of that particular day, and the date would be the determining factor in tracing the transaction afterward. these two distinct classes of messages should be filed, the one under a subjective classification, the other under a serial classification. the good, old-fashioned way of rolling together all the messages of the day and cording them in a pile on the top shelf was all right in the day of wood-burners, but falls short in this day of higher pressures. remember, too, that the telegraph office is a part of the same establishment. wherefore, make a carbon copy of every telegram that is going down the hall to be transmitted. if you wish to get real busy and cultivate patience, try to introduce a uniform filing system in all the offices on the road. every fellow will tell you that the system in his office is best. the acid test is: "will your system fit the president's office?" and the stereotyped reply is, "you see we are very different. our local conditions are peculiar." so it falls out that when the agent writes his superintendent about office furniture, for example, the agent, if it is a big station, gives the subject a file number. the superintendent gives it a second number. if perchance the general superintendent, the purchasing agent, the general storekeeper, the general manager, and the president should happen to get hold of the papers, each office would affix a different number. you might have on the same railroad as many as seven different file numbers for the same subject. remember that all filing systems are arbitrary. whether you designate office furniture as seven, eleven, twenty-three, or forty-four, it rests in the breast of somebody to say what that designation shall be. it is like numbering trains, cars and locomotives, we take some arbitrary basis from which we build up a logical classification. formerly, trains, cars and locomotives were given serial numbers in the order of creation. so were letters in an office. now the proposition is too big and we assign series of numbers for classifications which are more or less self-suggesting. any number of men have tried to work out a filing system based on the interstate commerce commission classification of accounts. any number of men have soon encountered limiting conditions which seem to preclude a satisfactory solution. if you had time, i do not doubt your ability to work out the best kind of a filing system, but you have not the time. if you had lived before george stephenson you might have invented the locomotive, but george beat us all to it. if you had time you could work out a table of logarithms, or a table of trigonometric functions. life is so short that it is better to use the tables that other people have prepared. by the same token, if i were you, i would save my company money by adopting williams' railroad classification. it is an expansive, but not expensive, decimal system suitable for everybody from the station agent to the president. among the roads that have taken it seriously are the baltimore & ohio, the delaware & hudson, the pennsylvania, and the harriman lines, not such a puny lot. others say of it as of the unit system of organization: "we are watching its development with much interest." in either case, if the stockholders and directors are complacent, you and i have no kick coming as to the number of years over which this inactive watchfulness may extend. the manifest advantages of a uniform filing classification are the time saved in avoiding duplication of numbers, and the practical familiarity possible to officials and employes of all grades and locations. when a man is promoted or transferred, he does not have to learn a new filing system. instead of the whole burden of filing being upon a file clerk, everybody can be helping to preserve the integrity and insure the efficiency of the system. it is not necessary to sit up nights and memorize filing numbers. take the matter seriously, and in a short time you will unconsciously absorb the most important numbers, just as you get trains, cars, and locomotives in your head. officials frequently have a disproportionate and exaggerated sense of the value of their own time. they are paid to think from their presumably wider understanding. if the official by one minute's thought can dictate the file number and later on save several hours of search in the file room, it is his duty to do so. all over the country file clerks tell me their troubles. the burden is, "if you will get the officials to respect the files as much as we respect the officials, it will all be easy." you know, my boy, that there are a whole lot of things that deserve to be taken just as seriously as we take ourselves. consider this standard code of train rules again. with all its defects and shortcomings it is a vital force. because it is standard it gains a respect as a result of lifelong drill and discipline of employes, regardless of changes in location or assignment. therefore, standardize your files, and interest your officials. rank imposes obligation, or _noblesse oblige_, as the french say. it is a much easier matter to start a new filing system than is generally supposed. just begin. it is not necessary to renumber the old files. give new numbers to all the old stuff that comes in, and in a month or two you will probably absorb nearly all that is of current interest. then store the remainder of the old stuff as a dead file under the old system. most of the old you will never need, but if you do, as occasion arises, locate under the old system and transfer to the new. if you are putting up a new office building or re-arranging an old one, try and locate the main file room next to the telegraph office. or put one over the other so that quick communication can be made by some such device as a chute, dumb waiter, or pneumatic tube. telegrams received can then be hurried to the file room and related papers attached, when desirable, without taking the valuable time of an official to send to the file room for them. here is a place for a really rational conservation of official time. the effect of effort should be in proportion to its intelligence and intensity rather than to its amount. experts long ago established the fact by time studies, and otherwise, that flat, vertical filing cases are the most efficient and economical. there are a number of satisfactory makes on the market. like selecting a typewriter, it is largely a matter of personal preferment. the way to beat another man at his own game is first to sit in, play and learn. gamblers would become extinct if all men lived up to this advice. most railway officials regard organization as an exception to this precept because, as i said before, nearly every man flatters himself that he is a born organizer. before you raise the stakes too high in trying to beat another man's game of organization, better first sit in and play it his way. do not be afraid to trust outlying offices, like those of your superintendents, to run their own files. have them inspected as often as may be necessary to insure uniformity and efficiency. do not forbid their adding numbers as emergencies arise. assemble these new subjects periodically, say once in six months, for standardization, and amplify the working numbers if necessary. you must allow for differences in the human equation. some men are strict constructionists, and some are broader. some men classify under a few subjects, while others subdivide to a greater degree. you know the old story of the man who was indexing and feared that something might be overlooked. so under the caption, "god," he put the cross reference, "see almighty god." without a retrospective study of actual performance you cannot well say just how many sub-numbers shall be used in a given office, any more than you can determine in advance how many train orders a certain dispatcher should put out under the standard code. among the advantages of using a card index for running a file is that by counting the live cards we know the number of subjects in actual use. this is not inconsistent with book numbers, the book then being used as a reference encyclopedia from which subjects are entered on cards as fast as each necessity arises. remember that while immutable principles must eventually triumph over local conditions, much depends upon considerate application. the local condition didn't just happen, but had its origin in some reason, good or bad, perhaps once convincing but now outgrown. sometimes the reason is so vital as to be a principle in itself. in our beloved southland there are local conditions of society which do not obtain elsewhere in this country. true southerners thank god that human slavery has been abolished. they are striving earnestly and successfully to adjust conditions created in the birth pangs of a social revolution. well managed railroads like the louisville & nashville adjust their working policies to these basic conditions. nearly a decade ago samuel spencer, as president, felt that the southern railway needed an infusion of new operating blood and a rotation of types, both excellent things in themselves, but, as experience showed, easily overdone and carried to an irrational degree. with native talent at hand for the developing he imported to the proud old civilization of his birth some rough and ready brethren of the western prairies. these earnest men and their followers knew how better than they knew why. they were long on art, but short on science. demoralization and wrecks, attributed to inadequate facilities, cost the road much public confidence, cost the stockholders hundreds of thousands of dollars, and finally, in an awful tragedy, cost the able president his useful and honored life. fate accorded to outraged sociology and her smaller sister, organization, terrible and undeserved retribution. for, barring this one mistaken policy, samuel spencer was an earnest patriot and a constructive railway statesman. as a youth he served in the confederate army. through life devotion to his flag was a passion. as a man and a gentleman his character was unblemished, his integrity was stainless. peace to his ashes. success to the southern. its great traffic strength, actual and potential, rests on the broad foundations laid by samuel spencer. prosperity to the railroads. by constant search for the lessons of human efficiency to be drawn from such experiences as these, they prove their broad claim to scientific management. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter x. the line and the staff. chicago, june , . my dear boy:--you have asked me to tell you something about line and staff. the term line is used to indicate the direct sequence toward the active purpose of the organization. the line officer exercises a direct authority over men and things. he is the incarnation of administrative action. the staff is supplementary to the line as equity is supplementary to law. the staff officer is the playwright. the line officer is the actor. the actor is usually too much absorbed with the technique of his art to write new plays. the line officer, as such, seldom originates new methods, because he is too close to his everyday problems of administration to cultivate perspective. the ideal staff officer has had experience in the line. the line with a railroad--its fighting force, so to speak--is the operating department. because they are staff departments the offices of the other three, namely, accounting, traffic, and executive, legal and financial, can close from saturday noon until monday morning. the operating department, being the line, keeps the road open and the trains moving. because of the poverty of our language, we now encounter some difficulties of expression in explaining all the various ramifications of line and staff. a staff department, because of its size, may exercise line functions within its own interior administration. thus, the auditor organizes his office forces under appropriate chief and subordinate officers who, within the accounting department itself, exercise the authority of line officers. when such accounting officers get outside their legitimate sphere and endeavor to act as line officers in the operating department, expensive friction begins. this feature i shall discuss with you later. suffice it to say that at present the hardest of all problems is to keep line and staff in economical balance. staff departments then may within themselves exercise line functions. this grows rather from necessities imposed by size than from inherent nature of function. the first staff officer was an adviser and exercised no authority, except that of polite inquiry, because there was no one whom he could properly command. so the line, the operating department, soon grows so big as to require staff officers within itself, people who have time to think out improvements because they are not burdened with administrative responsibilities. hold tightly to this thought, my boy. the plane of differentiation between line and staff usually follows a cleavage based upon size rather than upon relative importance of function. the first line officer needed no staff, because he had time to think as well as act for himself. the first superintendent looked after the repairmen himself. the first master mechanic came into being not because he was so different from everybody else, but because the superintendent had become too busy to do it all himself. by and by the master mechanic forgot this basic fact and, unconsciously exaggerating his own specialty, began to feel that the railway is incident to shops and equipment rather than shops and equipment incident to the railway. the last five years have witnessed a decided improvement in this undesirable condition. just at present the store department indians are the tribe most in need of being rounded up on the operating department reservation for eye wash and vaccination against distorted perspective. the operating department of a railroad is, or should be, a real department, complete and self-contained. it consists of such important component elements or branches as maintenance of way and structures, maintenance of equipment, transportation, telegraph, signals, stores, purchases, dining cars, etc. let us not waste any time discussing the relative importance of these components. Æsop centuries ago did that better than we can. his fable of the quarrel among the organs of the human body teaches us that while all are important each is useless without the others. individually the general superintendent, the chief engineers, the superintendent of motive power, the superintendent of transportation, the superintendent of telegraph, the general storekeeper, and the superintendent of dining cars, are line officers exercising direct authority in a defined sequence. collectively they constitute, for consultation, the general manager's staff. when all have the rank and title of assistant general manager, this duality of function is the more pronounced and valuable. for the feudal notion of unbalanced components is substituted the cabinet idea of comprehensive deliberation, unified administration and devotion to a common purpose. (anvil chorus: "it's that way on our road now.") perhaps so, but if so, what assurance have your stockholders and the public that the same happy condition will obtain ten years hence? each head of the nine executive departments in washington is a line officer running his own department. at the president's cabinet table he becomes a staff officer deliberating upon the problems of all. the attorney-general should be called secretary of law, and the postmaster-general secretary of posts. then all nine would have the uniform title of secretary. the position of secretary to the president, an assistant _to_ proposition, should be abolished--usually i prefer the gentler expression, "title discontinued." his duties should be performed by the secretary of state, who is always the ranking member of the cabinet. in the first cabinet, that of george washington, the secretary of state, thomas jefferson, was in effect, though not in name, prime minister and chief of staff. foreign affairs, then an incidental feature, are now so extensive for a world power that we should have another department under a secretary of foreign affairs, leaving the secretary of state as senior to be the able righthand man of the president. here again the size of the proposition, the volume of business, is the proper determining factor. on a small railway the chief engineer as a line officer may be able to do all the engineering himself. as the business grows he requires such special staff advisers as an office engineer, a locating engineer, a bridge engineer, a tunnel engineer, a signal engineer, etc. some roads make such engineers line officers by giving them extensive authority over working forces. usually i believe this is a mistake. it seems better for these engineers to be real staff officers, thinking, inspecting, warning, instructing (in the sense of lecturing), improving, designing and perhaps sometimes installing, but never directly operating or maintaining. the same general reasoning applies to the mechanical bureau when the business of the chief mechanical officer attains a volume necessitating the help of such valuable staff officers as a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer, a testing engineer, etc. when the telegraph came to supplement the railway, men stood in awe of its invisible effects. soon the telegraph man said in effect, "this is a wonderful and mysterious specialty which you fellows cannot understand. let me, the expert, handle it for you." so he segregated unto himself a so-called department on the plea that it is so different. by and by the division superintendents woke up to find their telegraph hands tied. appeals to the general superintendent or general manager proved fruitless. so the division linemen usually report directly to the superintendent of telegraph. they often stay around division headquarters until the chief dispatcher is able to jar them loose and get them out on the road. then they go to the scene of trouble, look wise and get the section foreman to dig the hole and do most of the work. why not, therefore, hold the section foreman responsible for ordinary wire repairs in the first place? let every section house have a pair of climbers, a wire cutter and pliers with whatever simple outfit may be necessary. if unusual troubles develop or a line is to be rebuilt send the most expert help available, but while on the division let such help be under the authority of the superintendent. we need an expert at the top as chief telegraph and telephone officer to tell us all how to do it. the volume of business will usually warrant making him a line officer with the rank and title of assistant general manager. he should not deal directly with operators and linemen any more than a general superintendent under normal conditions should instruct an individual conductor or a chief engineer communicate direct with a section foreman. the integrity of the division as an operating unit should be respected. by and by the signals followed the telegraph. once more the management allowed the specialist to put it over at the expense of the good old wheel horses in the regular line organization. the embryo signal engineer said, "this wonderful and mysterious development is really something different this time. it is absurd to suppose these stupid old section foremen can learn anything about electricity." so the signal engineer was allowed to build up a new department. he went out on the ranches or in the barber shops and hired signal maintainers. a new department is liberally treated because its activities are a fad for the time being. these signal maintainers in a few months absorb so much magnetism from the field of the signal engineer that they are qualified experts to whom the rest of us must not say anything. they have easier work, if not better pay, than the faithful section foremen of perhaps twenty years' service. the old section foreman has a "savvy" of the railroad business, an intuitive knowledge of the requirements of train movement that it will take the fresh young maintainer years to acquire. then we wonder why it is so difficult to secure loyal section foremen. sometimes a belated effort has been made to let in the section foremen on the signal game. it is difficult, however, to get the signal people to take an appreciative and sympathetic interest in men who are not in "my department." therefore, to prevent your track forces being thrown out of balance it will be better for a few years to keep the signal engineer on most railways as a staff officer without permitting him a line organization for operation and maintenance. say to your roadmasters and section foremen that they will, at the company's expense, be given instruction in signals. when the signal engineer, the expert, pronounces them qualified by examination or otherwise, let them understand that there is a small automatic increase in pay. transfer to branch lines the few who prove hopelessly deficient. the track laborer who can qualify to look after a particular signal is worth a few cents more a day to the company and should be so advised. if you start with the presumption that the man below is too dumb to learn you handicap him and probably doom him to failure. if you make him believe that he can learn what men of the same class around him are learning, that you, his elder brother, are in duty bound to help him, you will be astonished at the response of his latent intelligence. the great managers of the feudal period were forceful drivers. the great managers of to-day and to-morrow are great teachers, the greatest of all experts, because they show the man below how to do it. lots of men know how. a good many know why. comparatively few have that rare and valuable combination of knowing both how and why. it is not a happen so, but a response to the law of supply and demand, that men of the woodrow wilson type are coming to the front in our political life. getting back to signals. on a road of more than one or two tracks, it may be advisable to segregate your signals from your track. here again the dividing line is volume of business rather than fancied importance of function. signals are important, but so is the track. each is an incidental component of railway operation, not the whole operation itself. on most railways the section foreman should be the responsible head of a complete sub-unit for everyday maintenance and inspection, including track, bridges, fences, poles, wires and signals. this may involve giving him more help or a shorter section. one of the problems of line and staff is to determine what is intelligent rotation between the two. the line officer, dealing with men rather than ideas, may get into a rut of practice which prevents his seeing the beauty of the rainbow which the untrammeled staff officer may be tempted to chase too far. some officers succeed brilliantly at originating or developing ideas in the staff and fail miserably at handling men in the line. true individuality about which men prate the most is that which is understood the least. our army and navy are insisting that before being staff officers, all officers, except surgeons and chaplains, must first learn to handle men by serving in the line; that crystallization in the staff must be prevented by periodic rotation to definite tours of duty in the line. the railway of the future will probably carry extra numbers of line officials in the various grades that some may be available for detail to the staff, that we may better co-ordinate our studying and our working activities. people say that our good friend, harrington emerson, able and sincere, will unconsciously give the staff the best of it; while your old dad, on an even break, will be found on the side of the line. if they are correct, it leaves plenty of room for the other fellows in between. one of the delightful foibles that make human nature so interesting and so lovable is the inborn conviction of the average man that, "though h be a conservative and k a radical, i am always the happy medium." affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xi. the problem of the get-rich-quick conductor. chicago, june , . my dear boy:--not so very long ago the wife of a passenger conductor, running out of a large southern city, sought the assistance of her pastor, a noted divine. she was worried by the fact that her husband was stealing the company's money. with a good woman's intuition she knew that the wages of sin is death; that sooner or later her husband would lose his job and his family its legitimate income. to her good, old-fashioned, unspecialized conscience stealing is stealing, whether called "embezzlement," "holding out," or "trouble with the auditor." the fearless evangelist shortly afterward preached a powerful sermon against stealing, and included passenger conductors in his warnings. so incensed was the conductor in question that he announced his intention of disregarding the protection carried by the clerical cloth and of knocking the minister down. when the two met his bluff was called. the conductor, not the minister, came to his knees, not in fighting, but in prayer. here, my boy, is a canker sore that must be cured. do not tell me that the order of railway conductors is alone to blame. do not tell me that in the lodge room the order side-tracks the eighth commandment for the working schedule. do not tell me that the order will expel a member for any other offense rather than for stealing. do not tell me that our problem is harder and our revenue less because ed. clark, the grand chief of an order thus lawless, was appointed by teddy roosevelt to sit in judgment on us from the high throne of the interstate commerce commission. tell me, rather, that we, the official class, are to blame; that we must cease to dodge responsibility. we, the educated and _entrepreneur_ class; we, the elder brothers of society and industry, cannot shift the burden. please do not misunderstand me. there are many honest passenger conductors. i have known them on the road and in their homes. some there are who deserve the more credit for withstanding temptation because of sickness or extravagance in the family. there are, however, too many dishonest passenger conductors. it is not enough for a man to be honest himself. the complexities of modern life make him more than ever his brother's keeper. he must not only stand for the right but condemn the wrong. the order of railway conductors must make the american people believe that it is a great moral force for honesty in all things. we, the officials, must help the conductors to bring about this happy result. the clerk for the corner grocer will not steal from his employer as quickly as he will from a large corporation. the existence of a personal employer brings home the moral turpitude by visualizing the individual wrong committed. coupled with this higher moral incentive is the fear of detection through close personal supervision and interest. in a large corporation we have to approximate to this condition. the corporation, an impersonal creation, is vitalized by the men charged with responsibilities. the problem of organization is to give maximum effectiveness to this vitalization, to utilize to the fullest degree the personal equations of those entrusted with authority. many railroads have lost control of their passenger conductors because of a fundamental misconception of the principles of true organization. on the early railways the superintendent was the only officer the conductor officially knew. the superintendent, close to the president, was interested in the revenue as well as the disbursement side of the company's ledger. if the conductor stole, if the returns were short on a day of heavy travel, the superintendent was among the first to know it, and to preserve his own reputation, and thereby hold his own job, promptly discharged the conductor. by and by some conductors graduated into superintendents. this new condition brought a new temptation. the conductor, if allowed to keep on stealing, and if favored with a run where the stealing was especially good, could well afford to whack up secretly with the superintendent. a few, a very few, superintendents yielded to this temptation. along came the auditor with his mistaken theory that human nature can be changed and men made more honest by being put in "my department." he said, in effect, "take this away from the superintendent, who is dishonest and busy with other things; let this mysterious specialty of conductors' collections be handled by the only honest department." so the superintendent was relieved from responsibility for making his conductors render honest returns. he soon lost interest in that feature. the roads grew, and superimposed above the superintendent came first the general superintendent, and then the general manager, both also relieved from this responsibility to which the auditor clung with jealous tenacity. the conductor probably could not have told what principles of organization had been violated. he was the first to see the easier mark the company had become, the first to profit by the serious mistake that had been made. he found that his reports were checked by office clerks hundreds of miles away and entirely uninformed as to current conditions of local travel. the superintendent and the other division officials who rode with him and knew conditions were powerless to check him promptly and effectively because his reports and returns were going to somebody else over the hills and far away. these officials, because somebody else was responsible, did not seem to care very much. so the conductor stole under their very eyes and got away with it. anything like this which begets a wholesale contempt for duly constituted authority is demoralizing to general discipline. the labor unions are not alone to blame for the spread of insubordination. all men are students of practical psychology, whether conscious of the fact or not. the conductor found that to hold his job he must do well those things for which the superintendent and the division officials were responsible. so the bigger thief the conductor became the more careful was he about other duties. he was a crank on train rules, perhaps, or made courtesy to the public his watchword. all of this stood him well in hand. sooner or later the spotter caught him and the auditor requested the general manager to order his discharge. when this got down to the superintendent or the trainmaster the conductor was called in. instead of being berated for a thief, if he acknowledged the corn, the conductor was discharged, half sympathetically, half apologetically. the division official would have resented the imputation of harboring or encouraging a thief. to him the conductor was an efficient, faithful employe, meeting all requirements of service. if the conductor failed to please somebody else it really must be the fault of that somebody or the system. this feeling was not unnatural, since the detection came through a discredited channel, the spotter. rare are the circumstances where secret service should be necessary. there is something inherently wrong in any system which has to gain routine information by indirect methods. the detective should not be necessary for checking the good and the bad alike, but only for following up those who become manifestly bad or notoriously corrupt. the most efficient system is that where open checking and inspection are so thorough that temptation is diminished by the ever-present thought of prompt and sure detection. this desirable condition cannot obtain where the system makes such important officers as the superintendent and the trainmaster unconscious attorneys for the defense, sometimes openly advocating reinstatement of a thief. on the contrary, from its impersonal nature, a corporation must be so administered as to gain the moral effect of every available force for right, to secure the help, however small, of every person connected with the administration. views of composite efficiency must converge at a point sufficiently near to be of practical value, not so remote as to be of only theoretical interest. no system is perfect. under any conditions the very size of a railway necessitates a trifling allowance for peculation which creeps in. this can, however, be reduced to a negligible quantity. so completely has the old system broken down on most railways--there are a few exceptions--that it has become a farce. it is a sad commentary on organization that many roads are giving the passenger conductor up as a bad job and putting on expensive train auditors who usually are really not auditors, but collectors. they are called auditors probably because they are under the auditor. it is a principle of organization that the staff as such should never command the line. the staff reviews, inspects, audits, studies, advises, suggests and, perhaps, promulgates, but should never execute, except as a representative of the line, the latter being responsible for the results of operation whatever the operation may happen to be. the accounting department is a staff department. when it was given charge of a line function, fare collection, a principle was violated. ultimate failure of the system was therefore certain and inevitable. the train auditor proposition fails to recognize this underlying cause. it further violates principle, intensifies the evil and wastes more money by increasing the number of staff men doing line work. its direct effects are vicious and its indirect effects are demoralizing to discipline. how can the young flagman have due respect for his superintendent or other official when he sees the train auditor come to the rear platform and demand to see the pass of the official? if he is an old flagman it is a little hard for him to see why he himself or his friend, the old station agent, might not have been given this new job with its fine pay. like his superintendent the flagman may have been in the service twenty or thirty years. the train auditor, only last week a country hotel clerk, mayhap, flashes on them both as a would-be superior being from a better world. neither of the two can become very enthusiastic in helping the train auditor to protect the company's revenue. it is an awful reflection for the conductors to meet, that, although the railroads of this country are now spending hundred of thousands of dollars for train auditors, they are more than getting it back from increased collections turned in. is not this more of a condemnation of the old system than a justification of the new? whether or not the train auditor enters into collusion with the conductor, the former soon learns how easy it is to beat the system. when he does break loose he will be more reckless than the conductor. the latter probably had to work for years as a freight brakeman and a freight conductor to get where he is, and if he loses out may be too old to begin all over again. the train auditor gets his appointment too easily to value it very highly. offsetting this is the fact that the train auditor is more amenable to some discipline because, as yet unorganized, he can not rely on the support of a labor union to secure his reinstatement. the auditor also has the advantage of examining character from a wider range of selection in choosing his train auditors. the train and engine services have been so badly over-specialized, as i shall show you some other time, that our choice is restricted to men whom the trainmaster happened to hire as extra brakeman years ago. these slight advantages in favor of the train auditor system have been given undue weight. we are all too much inclined to dodge responsibility, to take the course of least resistance and to pass it up to the other fellow. the company pays the bill. the railways of this country are wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars every year by failure to make the conductors do their honest duty. i would like to have you immortalize yourself by saving your company its pro-rata share of this economic waste. the american people at heart are honest, and barring a few dishonest traveling men who short-fare conductors and train auditors with cash, will in the mass support you and the order of railway conductors in any intelligent movement for honesty. on the other hand, if the people at large get an idea that you are omitting to use all the moral forces at your command they will organize some more special commissions to handle another part of your business for you. do not let the people get the idea that where passenger fare stealing flourishes, freight claims increase because some freight crews are robbing box cars, and expenses increase because some officials are grafting. if i were your president i would ask authority of the board of directors, a staff body, to say, as a line officer, to you, also of the line, that as chief operating official you are the only passenger conductor with whom the executive and staff departments will normally deal; that your tenure of office depends quite as much upon your ability to prevent stealing as to prevent accidents. to the auditor i would say that he is responsible for certifying to the integrity of all components of your operations by proper examinations _after the fact_; that he has access to all your accounts and records; that he has no direct authority over any operating men; that all his instructions must be in general terms duly approved by the proper executive. then he would be a real auditor instead of a chief accountant. we would not have to call in the public accountant to do our real auditing. you would be a real general manager. assuming that the proposition is up to you, then say to each division superintendent that he is the only conductor on the division in whom normally you will be personally interested; that the conductor will send either the original or a duplicate of every report made by him to the superintendent's office, addressing it impersonally, "assistant superintendent." let the superintendent understand that he and his assistant superintendents when riding over the road on duty at the company's expense must openly check the train just as they check train orders. pitch it on the high plane of self-evident routine duty for duty's sake, above any thought of underhanded spotting. give the superintendent as many assistant superintendents and clerks as he may need. do not let him employ specialists for this one simple component of operation. have him bulletin train earnings by conductors that the dear women may help the cause by sewing society discussion. let him have the community understand that some explanation is expected from a get-rich-quick conductor. by this time it will dawn on the superintendent and his assistants that their jobs depend upon the prevention of stealing. their unconscious sympathy with the thief will vanish. because they are close enough to the proposition to give practical attention they will prevent stealing. i am aware that passenger conductors often run over more than one division. this presents no serious practical difficulty, although for many other good reasons also it is better, when practicable, for conductors not to run off the division. pullman conductors run from their home district over the districts of several of their superintendents. you and the auditor will have to work out the details as to the necessary bureau in your office, depositaries for money, interline relations and numerous other propositions which usually become self-suggesting when the broad working principles are established. you may, perhaps, need another assistant general manager for this work. you will not have the trouble a general manager in mexico once did. his assistant general manager sold out, it is said, to the conductors. these conductors, mostly americans, were an enterprising lot. they are also said to have bought the detective agency that was employed to check them up. on some runs where the conductor is busy with numerous train orders you may find it better to make the head brakeman a collector, but never let him be a specialist independent of the conductor. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xii. the labor nemesis and the manager. omaha, neb., june , . my dear boy:--you tell me that you are conducting labor negotiations these days. as i understand it, all the old grievances have been merged; after eliminating all demands introduced for trading purposes it is simply a question of more money. this simplifies the proposition. the union gets all that it can and the general manager gives up only what he must. simple, but barbaric. such innocent bystanders as the public and the stockholders may get hurt in the process, but that is part of the penalty for being innocent bystanders. we are in a transition period. all the hot air fests that you are now holding are probably necessary to blow the chaff away from the wheat. sooner or later the irrevocable law of supply and demand must operate to place the whole matter of the compensation of labor upon a more scientific basis. at present it is rather the strength of the particular union than the relative justice of its demands. our predecessors of two generations ago did many fine things, but they overlooked some basic propositions. suppose that fifty or sixty years ago when a brakeman expected to be promoted to a conductor they had said: "fine, my boy. you have the ear-marks of a conductor. you understand, of course, that we have no conductors who cannot run an engine. we will arrange, without money loss to you, for you to fire two or three years. when you assure us of your ability to run an engine we will begin to commence to talk about making you a conductor." later on a man with this splendid all-around training could have specialized along the line of his greatest aptitude. we would not see freight tied up in terminals waiting for firemen, with a board full of extra brakemen. there would be an elasticity of assignment that would work out for the good of all concerned. we would not have the fireman straining his back to shovel fifteen or twenty tons of coal while a different breed of cat, a brakeman, rides on the fireman's seat and forgets to ring the bell when the train starts. we blame the unions for expensive lack of interchangeability of function. the fault lies at the door of the official class. the master mechanic said: "this is _my man_." the superintendent, and later the trainmaster, said: "this is _my man_." this pleasing tenacity for so-called individuality left the company out of the reckoning. the company got it where the chicken got the axe, sweet marie. it did not take the men long to respect the plane of cleavage which the officials had projected. so we have a number of unions with conflicting demands rather than the more enlightened self-interest of a larger body. i know that it has been fashionable to play one union against another, but the day of this is nearly passed. just how it will all work out i do not know; perhaps it is too late to expect amalgamation. perhaps it will come of itself when the firemen and enginemen absorb or replace the brotherhood of locomotive engineers, and when the trainmen outlive the order of railway conductors. whatever the cause and whatever the existing conditions the result is plain. we have a number of forces operating to restrict the output of capable men. the economic machinery of society at large is therefore out of balance. you cannot blame the artisan, skilled or unskilled, for guarding the entrance to his craft. it is human nature, and it is right. the debatable ground, however, is as to where the entrance of the public at large should be to prevent the matter being over-done. no one labor organization can expect, in the long run, to be given preferred consideration over another; neither can the labor unions, comprising only a small percentage of the country's population, expect indefinitely to dominate society at large. it is useless to expect to accomplish much in the way of increased elasticity of labor as long as railway officials, through so-called departments, insist upon narrowing and specialized rigidity. such reforms to be effective must begin at the top. it will all come out in the wash, but in the meantime the laundry bills are disproportionate and may place cleanliness far beyond godliness. general sherman, one of the versatile geniuses developed by our great civil war, once said that most men consider the immediate at the expense of the remote; that a few like himself were handicapped by considering the remote rather than the immediate; that really great men, like grant, derived their title to greatness from an ability to balance the immediate and the remote. all men are more or less a product of conditions and environment. the railroad official of to-day lives from hand to mouth--the hand of expediency to the mouth of rapid-fire results. when more roads are like the pennsylvania in having the stability which admits of intelligent, far-seeing, actual control by directors and executive officers, it will be easier. the banker, from his condition and environment, dreads a war or a strike more than the famine and the pestilence. the former two seem to him to be avoidable, while the latter may be visitations of providence. a strike, like a war, is a terrible thing to contemplate. a surrender to principle and violation of the broad laws of true altruism can be even more terrible. last year when the pennsylvania, backed by its directors, called the bluff of the trainmen, there was hope in many a breast that a lesson would be learned; that the rights of the community at large would be vindicated as against the unreasonable demands of the powerful few. how quickly did the trainmen find an excuse to back down! their friend and adviser, the late edward a. moseley, shrewd and scheming, once told them that their best weapon is a threat of a strike and not the strike itself. by and by the bankers will learn these lessons and bargaining will be scientific and altruistic as well as collective and coercive. perhaps you are thinking that, like the minister who lectures the members present for the non-churchgoing of the absentees, i am taking too much of this out of you. we all know, as do the labor leaders, that no general manager ever went through a long strike, successful or unsuccessful, without ultimately losing his job. the directors start out with the best intentions of supporting him. as the struggle grows fiercer, the temporarily reduced earnings have a refrigerating effect on their feet. this cold storage is reflected by a message to the brain that the poor mr. general manager is so unfortunate; that he lacks tact. "he is so rash. he jumps right in. we told him he might go out to swim and hang his clothes on a hickory limb. we cautioned him, as all prudent mothers should, not to go near the water." everything in this world costs something, and nothing is more expensive than an unjust peace, a peace which leaves out of the reckoning the rights of the body politic. one of the hopeful signs of the times is the opposition that the labor unions have offered to the exponents of so-called scientific management. already our critics are giving indications of becoming our allies as against the hard-headed, selfish opposition of labor unions to progress. this will serve to help show the public our problems in their true light. all that we need ask is a fair hearing, and ultimately the calm judgment of the american people will decide aright. i have no quarrel with the labor union, as such. were i in the ranks i would belong to a union and give it my loyal support. monopoly and combination of capital beget as a corollary a labor trust. you and i are powerless to eliminate the effect of such natural, economic forces. we can, however, help control the effect of these forces, preferably by reason. there are so many of the primal instincts and passions still extant in human nature that at times diplomacy exhausts itself and falls back upon the protection of forces offensive and defensive, active and passive. you see that it is merely a phase of a general problem that a disproportionate amount of your time is taken up by affording an opportunity for delegates to make their lodges believe they are earning their per diem and expenses. what matters it to the locomotive engineers if their importunities cause scant attention to the unspoken rights of your clerks and trackmen? why not figure out just what proportion of your time the different organizations are entitled to, shut off senatorial courtesy and limit debate accordingly? whatever you do, have your division superintendents present at your negotiations. do not flatter yourself that your own wonderful ability will enable you to take a sound position on every question that may arise. such deliberations are staff work and, unlike line administration, are not a one-man function. the final decision should rest with you, but in the meantime get all the light you can. under the unit system the superintendent can be thus spared from his division to help save the company money because there is always a competent man to perform his duties, and a provision all along the line for automatic successions to meet just such incidents of service. it should be as easy for a chief assistant superintendent, familiar with the routine, to assume the superintendent's regular duties any day as for the second dispatcher to work the first trick. when your mechanical assistant conducts his shop negotiations, by all means insist that he direct the superintendent to send in each mechanical assistant superintendent to assist in the conferences. one reason that the labor situation has gotten away from us is because the matter has been handled on too large a scale. the tendency has been to consider the abstract possibilities rather than the concrete effort. a superintendent of a -mile division once recommended approval of an application for increase in wages of his milk train crew, because the men on the next division were getting as much for running only miles. investigation showed that his men were on duty less than six hours, of which the total time consumed in handling milk cans was a trifle over an hour. each general manager is inclined to believe that his men will get the worst of it as compared with other roads. he has been inclined to yield when he should have been firm. the further away from the concrete local conditions the negotiations can be conducted the more vulnerable are the officials. the labor leaders know this, and the more divisions or the more roads they can bunch in a single negotiation or arbitration the more unwieldy becomes the proposition and the greater the gain for labor. this condition of things was partly inevitable, is now partly avoidable. uniformity may be deadly. standardization can be run in the ground, as was shown when a west virginia agent of the chesapeake & ohio painted his wooden-leg orange color with maroon trimmings. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xiii. a department of inspection or efficiency. chicago, july , . my dear boy:--one of the easiest things to measure, because definite in terms and limited in quantity, is money. the things which money may represent are hard to measure because often intangible and indefinite. the money account may or may not reflect efficiency in performance. have we not been grasping at the shadow of money at the expense of the substance, effect? consider, if you please, the working of a bank, perhaps the corporate institution in whose efficiency the public has the greatest confidence. in a small country bank one man does all the work. later he requires a clerk or a bookkeeper. as the bank grows there are self-suggesting divisions of labor along such well defined positions as teller, paying or receiving, cashier, vice-president, president, etc. in the first place, the same man handles the money and its written representations, the accounts. when we reach the stage of having both a teller and a bookkeeper, the one is a check on the other, because of a difference in point of view. i do not understand that a bank considers its bookkeepers more honest than its tellers or vice versa. the bookkeeper came along to check the teller, not because of such marked variations in humanity, but because of the volume of business. there was more than one man could do. the large corporations, including the railways, seem to have followed governments into a fundamental fallacy in the matter of money and accounting. because, now and then, in spite of safeguards, a trust is violated and money embezzled, a remedy is sought by segregating in administration all activities having to do directly with fiscal affairs. the ultimate effect is dwarfing to administration and fatal to maximum composite efficiency. in a compact establishment like a department store or a large manufacturing plant, the closer contact of the departments concerned minimizes the evils of this segregation. the operations of a government or of a railway extend over so much territory that such close contact is impossible. the result is that our bookkeeper is too far away from the paying teller. the bookkeeper then arrogates to himself fancied qualities of a superior being blessed with a rectitude born of the guardianship of money. yes, we must have the transactions of one man checked by another more or less disinterested. this is not alone a question of integrity, but concerns the failings of the human mind. the more conscientious and careful the engineer the more does he desire a check on his own calculations by competent persons. we accept the estimates of the engineer, swallow them whole sometimes. we tell him to go ahead and blow in the company's money or credit to accomplish a desired result. this is because we have confidence in his professional ability. when it comes to one of the components of his constructing work, the disbursement of real money, a lay function, we balk. we say to him, this is so different that your vouchers and checks are worthless until mulled over by a distant circumlocution office. this office, it is true, has no first hand, practical knowledge of what you are doing, but because this is money we feel safer by imposing such a check. when the bookkeeper sat in the same room, like a bank, and checked the engineer, this was a good working hypothesis. did we not outgrow it long ago? we trust the engineer to hire a thousand men, to incur a legal obligation for us to pay them. why send the pay-rolls several hundred miles to be checked by a lot of boys? why not let the engineer disburse, subject to a real check, after the fact, by a competent disinterested inspection of his work? the same general line of reasoning applies to all the activities of a railroad. we endeavor to insure integrity by disbursing only through the central offices of the auditor and the treasurer. by the same reasoning a large bank would keep its customers waiting at one window because only one teller would be allowed to pay out money. a bank can count its cash at the end of a day, but it can never tell exactly what remittances its correspondents have in the mail. a railway's money is even more in a state of unstable equilibrium. all night long some of its ticket offices and lunch counters are open. all night long cash fares are being collected on trains. the exact amount of money on hand at a given moment is only an approximation. this is natural from the characteristics of a railway. it would be a hard matter to stop every train and determine the exact location of every freight car, at home or earning per diem, at any particular moment of time. we can, however, approximate sufficiently closely to the conditions to serve all practical purposes. tremble not at my coming, clarice; i would not push the auditor off the pier. rather would i put him on the band wagon and let him blow a bigger horn. is not accounting one of several components of operation of which collection and disbursement are yet others? why not frankly admit that a railway is too unlike a department store to put all the cashiers and bookkeepers on a single floor? why not interweave accounting with operation? why not make such operating units self-contained, as experience may prove wise and practicable? some of the best roads in the country now have division accounting bureaus in order that the superintendent may keep his operating expenses in hand. the next step must be a division disbursing officer. a pay-roll and certain kinds of vouchers, including some for claims, must become cash without the worthless certification of the general office. returning once more to the bank for inspiration and for light, do the bookkeepers of a chain of associated banks report to a head bookkeeper in a central office in a distant city? no, each bank is a self-contained unit under the president or a manager. the policy is dictated, the methods are prescribed by a central authority. efficiency, integrity, and uniformity are insured by inspections and audits by competent experts free from local affiliations. what is going to become of the accounting department? why, the accounting department is going to be absorbed by the operating department. from the ashes of the ruins there will arise a department of inspection or efficiency which will do the things that the so-called auditors are now helpless to accomplish. some of the men in this new department will be recruited from the earnest officials and clerks of the accounting department of to-day. these men fail to attain the result they so loyally desire, not from their own limitations, but from the fallacy of the system under which they work. they deal with accounts--mere symbols; with money, a representative. their work, to be effective, must deal with things, and above all with men. audit is extremely important, but not all-important. audit is a component part of a larger activity, inspection. the word inspection on railways is unfortunately and improperly associated with the thought of secret service and underhanded spotting. true inspection is as open as the day and as welcome as the evening. the earlier station agents resented the creation of the traveling auditor as a reflection upon their integrity. the station agent of to-day--and as a class what splendid, honest men they are!--welcomes the traveling auditor, because his visit means a clearance. the public accountant had a long fight for recognition of his legitimate function, first in england and later in this country. to-day he is established and is desired by the general accounting officers of railway corporations. following the public accountant comes the efficiency engineer. while one inspects conditions, the other audits accounts. by an easy process of evolution the two positions sooner or later merge into one. the volume of business may warrant segregation, however, into component activities. sooner or later the final certificate must include inspection of men and things as well as audit of accounts. we, the railways, are big enough to have our own efficiency engineers. this is a distinct function for the staff as contra-distinguished from the line. efforts, more or less crude, to introduce special staff work have signally failed on a number of railways. the underlying cause has been a violation of the principle that the staff can never as such directly command the line. the temptation of the special staff men, call them inspectors or efficiency engineers, if you please, is to become meddlers. they are so enthusiastic for the cause that they desire to save the country and reform the road all on the same day. the men who succeed at special staff work are those who stick to the principle enunciated. an inspector, because he is a staff officer, should never give an order. the coming new department of inspection or efficiency, like all innovations, will have its troubles. one of the temptations will be to build up an office full of clerks to check a lot of unnecessary reports. the head of the department, whether he be called general inspector or vice-president, will have to remember that untrained persons do not necessarily become endowed with superior intelligence and professional acumen by the privilege of personal contact with him and assignment to his department. to be successful his department will consist of a corps of highly trained inspectors of official rank and experience, capable of first hand dealing with things and men. the tendency of both inspection and audit is to become perfunctory. one remedy, found efficacious by the army, is definite and periodic rotation from the line positions. the law of the survival of the fittest will bring out those all-around men who can succeed in both line and staff. the superintendent who has been detailed as an inspector for a year or two will return to a division with a broader view and will be a better superintendent. he will not resent the inspection of his division by the other department, because conscious of the fact that the inspectors are at least his equals, and perhaps his superiors, in experience and rank. these inspectors will certify not only that the money has been honestly and legally expended, but wisely and efficiently as well. while an absolute essential, honesty is not the only component requirement of good administration. the one road on which good intentions are standard ballast is not as yet telegraphing its accidents and its density of traffic to the interstate commerce commission. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xiv. preserving organization integrity. chicago, july , . my dear boy:--you write me that your work is heavy, that your territory is extensive, that you wish to divide it into two districts each under a general superintendent. if your president follows his usual practice and asks my advice it will be summed up in four letters, "d-o-n-'t." for years i have been seeking in vain for a general superintendent's district with an entirely satisfactory administration. i know many strong general superintendents. the trouble is not with them, but with the system. organization is a series of units. these units get out of balance when they are defective or incomplete. there is usually withheld from the general superintendent some such vital process as car distribution, on the specious plea that such activity is so different it can be more cheaply handled by some higher office. if the organization unit is created it must have the same full chance for life and development as the rest of the offspring. a principle in organization cannot be violated with impunity any more than in other branches of science. the average general superintendent's office is a great clearing house for correspondence. few matters receive final action and many are passed along to the general manager's office. the resulting delay usually does more harm than good. on the other hand, since we all like to feel that we are highly useful, the general superintendent, or his chief clerk, is unconsciously dwarfing the initiative of superintendents by requiring references to him of matters that should receive final action at division headquarters. if you do not believe it, check up a few general superintendents' offices and study the processes. i am not referring to jurisdictions where a general superintendent is required by charter or other legal requirements. i have in mind districts which are arbitrarily created by ill-considered executive mandate. the general superintendent starts out with a brave determination to get along with a small staff. sooner, rather than later, human nature asserts itself; he feels that _my man_ can be more useful if he is on _my staff_. he builds up a larger staff with an inevitable retarding bureau of correspondence. he perhaps has a $ traveling engineer finding fault with the division performance of the $ superintendent. sometimes a general superintendent is located at a large city under the theory that the importance of the metropolis demands an officer of higher rank. there are various ways to skin a cat, and the method we have seen is not necessarily the only solution. the pennsylvania handles successfully large cities like cincinnati, cleveland and chicago with a superintendent who has the authority of a general agent. the unit system of organization, because based on sound fundamental principles, solves several vexatious problems. among these is this matter of general superintendents' districts. under the unit system every assistant should have his office of record in the same building with the head of the unit. for example, it is a violation of good organization to give a district passenger agent the title of assistant general passenger agent with an office of record at a city away from the general offices. if such outlying office of record is necessary, and it sometimes is, a complete unit should be segregated under a head with some such distinct title as district or division passenger agent. this does not, however, preclude having an assistant reside in the outlying city and maintain his office of record at the general office in the same file with the head of the unit. if i were you i would appoint enough assistant general managers so that you can have one reside at each point where you have dreamed district headquarters are necessary. give him a business car and a stenographer, but let him understand that his office file is a part of yours. let him live on the road as a high class traveling inspector, superior in rank to the people he is inspecting. he is your staff officer with line authority available for action when in his judgment circumstances so require. he can obtain all necessary information from the files at division headquarters or by telegraphing your office. your chief of staff, the senior assistant general manager, will promulgate instructions, while this traveling representative, like a trainmaster on a division, will see that they are carried out. when he finds it necessary to give instructions he should promptly notify your office, that the record may be completed and confusion avoided. he can do all this without becoming bureaucratic, without putting the company to the expense of a great circumlocution office maintained under the feudal notion of his royal importance. railroad administration suffers from too many offices and instructions, not from too few. the best officials, and the best train dispatchers, give the fewest orders. it is a qualitative rather than a quantitative proposition. the moral effect of the presence of an official cannot be discounted. we need more officials and fewer clerks. the railways are over-manned, because they are under-officered. the great mistake of the past, due to crude conceptions of organization, has been in creating offices rather than officials. the same line of reasoning applies to the handling of outlying terminals on a division away from a dispatcher's office. the old idea has been to locate a trainmaster with an office at such points. the moral effect of his presence is unquestionably good. the objection is that he must necessarily be on the road much of the time, and the train crews are handled by a clerk. duplication results because most of the correspondence and records have to be referred to the superintendent's office. the union pacific has found it better under the unit system to have an assistant superintendent reside at such important terminals. his office, however, is located with the superintendent, which encourages travel back and forth, just what is desired, and discourages sitting in an office and carrying on correspondence which can better be looked after by the chief of staff in the superintendent's office. the train crews are under the immediate direction of the yardmaster when in the terminal, and of the train dispatcher when on the road. the railroads of this country have suffered from rigidity in administration. the unit system permits an elasticity of assignment to take care of conditions as they come along. for example, your non-resident assistant general manager can, if desirable, chaperon three divisions when movement is heavy, and four or five, if you please, during the dull season. you can on short notice throw all assistants to the most exposed points. a non-resident assistant superintendent can likewise be sent to an exposed district. a permanently located trainmaster requires an official circular to have his jurisdiction extended, and if suddenly ordered away can leave only a clerk to represent the company. a railway has an ever-present firing line. the more mobile the official force the more promptly can weak portions be reinforced. a striking violation of the unit principle in organization is to have the master mechanic report to the division superintendent in transportation matters and to the superintendent of motive power in technical matters. this is a half-way attempt at divisional organization which lacks the courage of conviction. better have a straight departmental organization with its divided authority and expensive duplication than thus to straddle the question. if the division is to be a real unit, it must be complete and self-contained. the lack of balance in this attempt at divisional organization comes from the fact that units are mixed. the superintendent of motive power, a general officer with jurisdiction over the entire road, is a member of the general manager's staff. he has a rank and value superior to that of a divisional officer, the superintendent. the poor master mechanic is often puzzled which superior to please. his natural inclination will be toward the man higher up, the superintendent of motive power. again, it is difficult for any three men to agree upon what are technical matters. the chief of staff method is not applicable to this phase of the problem, because units have been mixed. the master mechanic and the superintendent of motive power are not components of the same integral unit. the unit system of organization requires a superintendent of motive power to transact all business of record with the office of the superintendent of the division, a component unit of the general jurisdiction. the senior assistant general manager and the senior assistant superintendent, each, as a chief of staff for the head of his unit, decides promptly in the absence of the head of the unit, what matters are sufficiently technical to demand the attention of a particular official. clear-cut, definite and prompt action is possible, with proper checks and balances, because units are not mixed. the governor can introduce a balance without throwing the administrative machine out of gear to avoid stripping its cogs. the splendid personal equation of railroad officials often serves to carry an illogical organization in spite of its fundamental defects. similar violations of scientific principles in material things would cause bridges to collapse and locomotives to break down. the showing made by the railroads is a tribute to the administrative ability of their officials rather than to their knowledge of organization. the pennsylvania a half century ago, and the harriman lines in more recent years, are said to be the only roads that have made comprehensive studies of the science of organization. both of these great railways are prepared to stand the test of time. both will grow stronger as the years roll by. so feudal is the conception of organization on most railways that the essential elements of self-perpetuation are sadly lacking. fortunately their traffic strength is so great and our country develops so fast that errors due to preconceived misconceptions and personal caprice are covered up by increased earnings. one encouraging sign is that railway officials have ceased to be quite so cocksure of themselves and are seeking the underlying reason for the faith that is in them. true science ever finds its vindication in impartial inquiry and intelligent investigation. the world advances by definite steps rather than by leaps and bounds. do not lament the fact that some roads are groping ahead only to occupy the abandoned organization camps of the harriman lines. be thankful rather that they have moved forward at all, that though lacking in faith they are coming to a position admitting of enlarged perspective. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xv. the size of an operating division. los angeles, cal., july , . my dear boy:--how many miles of road should one division superintendent handle? like the old lady's recipe for pie crust, it all depends. some superintendents in the east with two hundred miles handle as much business as do their western brothers with a thousand. as a matter of fact mileage has little to do with the question. on the ideal division the superintendent is in the middle with territory extending one freight district in each direction. if he happens to be at a hub he can comfortably handle several freight district spokes, which will increase his mileage accordingly. under such a condition the advantages of a seemingly large mileage are numerous. the superintendent can run his power wherever most needed. he can hold back at the farther end of one district cars that he knows the connecting district cannot possibly load or unload for several days. he can preserve a balance which is impossible when jurisdictions divide at the hub. in the latter case each superintendent hurries freight to the end of the division to avoid a paper record showing delay on his territory. the result is that the next man has terminal indigestion because he has been fed too fast. therefore, divisional jurisdiction should, when possible, change at an outlying district terminal away from a large city. this avoids the added complication due to industrial switching, suburban trains, restricted area, etc., etc. a congestion of cars is often caused by a congestion of jurisdictions. you may avoid the one by diffusing the other. several roads in the country have saved heavy expenditures for larger terminal facilities by more scientific organizations. the amount of mileage a superintendent can economically handle depends, then, for the most part upon the location of his headquarters. such location in turn admits of no hard and fast rule. cities and towns spring up and industries develop quite regardless of the limits of a hundred-mile freight district and a speed of ten miles per hour on the ruling grade. a railroad usually begins and ends at a large city which is either a seaport or a gateway. it is normally better to locate a division superintendent at such beginning and ending city. he can then handle its terminals and the one or more diverging freight districts. his division should include the terminal at the farther end of such districts, to afford him opportunity both to hold back stuff whose inopportune arrival might congest the more complicated terminals at headquarters and to relieve such terminals promptly by movement outward. in other words, owing to his important terminals this superintendent should have less mileage than his country brother who would be in the middle between the second and third districts. some roads try to solve the problem by giving the superintendent the first and second districts with headquarters in the middle. if in such case the general offices happen to be at the initial point they soon ignore the superintendent and do business direct with his terminal subordinates. when this condition becomes intolerable, one of two things usually happens. perhaps the superintendent's office is moved to the first terminal where it really belongs. thereupon he loses full touch with his freight crews on the second district, which is left out in the air. the other attempted remedy is to appoint a superintendent of terminals reporting direct to the general offices. the difference in viewpoint thus legalized may cost the stockholders much money. to the terminal superintendent the trains are always made up on time and the power and road crews are seldom ready. to the division superintendent the trains are seldom made up on time and the power and road crews are always ready. much energy of both officials and their offices as well as that of the general superintendent and his office is then directed to holding useless post mortems and negotiating unnecessary treaties of peace. remember, my boy, that typewriters exert no tractive power and explanations move no cars. self-preservation is the first law of nature. we must so organize that this law will operate to keep the company into clear, not to put some other fellow in the hole. all of these questions are largely matters of opinion. after working with every kind of terminal organization all over the country, your old dad believes that the best is to have a division superintendent at the big terminal with an assistant superintendent in direct charge of and responsible for such terminal, the superintendent controlling every diverging freight district to include the next terminal. it should always be remembered that a large terminal demands preferred consideration, because owing to restricted area its problems are intensive and expensive. a dispatcher has a hundred miles or more over which to keep his trains apart, while a yardmaster finds his engines bunched within a mile or two. again, if the cost of terminal switching does occasionally happen to be reflected in a freight rate, the genial gentlemen of the traffic department are prone to recommend its absorption. i believe as a broad proposition that the management of railroads is more scientific than that of most modern industries. i would not like, however, to file much of their terminal operation as an exhibit. a majority of the switch engines in the united states have one superfluous man in the crew. this is partly because so few operating officials have sufficient practical knowledge of switching to go out and intelligently handle a crew all day. if you don't believe this, make some time and motion studies of switching. compare the relative performance of your yard conductors. the tasks of road conductors are relatively so well defined that comparison of individual performance is not so difficult. the intense conditions of a terminal complicate such differentiation as among yard conductors. another factor of prime importance in determining the size of an operating division is the location of train dispatchers. the dispatcher's table should always be considered an integral part of the superintendent's headquarters offices. the train sheet is perhaps the best record on a railroad. it is never fudged by being made up in advance. it is a history usually unimpeachable because it is so close to the actual transactions which it records. it deals with the essence of railway operation, train movement. few are the important records on a railway that do not derive their primary data from the train sheet. the sheet may be graphic, like a daily time card chart, or may be cut up into card strips, as under the a b c system. in any form, it is a fundamental of operating history. the number of dispatchers to which a division is limited is, like the number of miles, variable. with headquarters at the hub, one superintendent and one chief dispatcher may comfortably handle three or four sets of dispatchers. an outlying division with thin traffic may require only one set of dispatchers. when it becomes necessary to locate a set of dispatchers away from division headquarters, it is time to appoint another superintendent and create a new division, perhaps with only a light staff of all 'round officials. so important is the train sheet and so much of vital, human interest centers around a dispatcher's office, that the far away superintendent must refer much correspondence to this detached portion of his office. the result is expensive circumlocution and a lack of human touch. the superintendent has in effect become a general superintendent too far away from real things. a trainmaster or a chief dispatcher is really carrying the responsibility of a superintendent without the title and authority necessary for smooth administration. i know several railways that are fooling themselves into the belief that they are saving money by having one superintendent for two dispatching offices. one of them has five superintendents and ten dispatching offices, really ten divisions in fact, if not in name. by a logical arrangement of territory these ten dispatching offices could be consolidated into seven division headquarters and the road operated in seven divisions. in these days of overtime and complex working schedules, a timekeeper should check the time slips against the original train sheet, not against a copy, a transcript or an excerpt. a division accounting bureau handling all that it should handle has also much other use for the train sheet. second only in importance to the train sheet as a record, and with which it should be closely related, is the conductor's car and tonnage report; what the men call the wheel report. this important report made by a division man is sent to a remote general office in disregard of the responsible head of such division, the superintendent. the result is that a distant authority, the superintendent of transportation, is telling the superintendent that certain cars are being delayed on the latter's division. this profuse correspondence is often foolish, because meantime the cars have actually gone. some roads now have a carbon copy of the wheel report made for the use of the accounting department. why not send this carbon to division headquarters and let the division accounting bureau make up the ton miles and the car miles, subject to proper check after the fact? why not have the office of the superintendent know so much about the cars on his division that he will tell the general offices that certain cars are being delayed on his division for lack of motive power, loading or disposition, conditions which, perhaps, the general office, with its larger view, can remedy? this would also permit, when desirable, the checking of the agents' car reports against the conductors' reports. the more closely to actual transactions we can do our checking the more intelligent should be the process and the smaller its volume. i wish that you would come out here and see the southern pacific run its monthly supply, pay and inspection train. before coming, re-read my letter to you on the subject some seven years ago. i know of no place where the idea has been better carried out. ideas seldom originate with any one man. they seem rather to float around in the air. they are pulled down by those who happen to erect lightning rods or like benjamin franklin to fly kites. to vary the metaphor, do not laugh at people who ride hobbies. sometimes they ride well enough and far enough to demonstrate that the hobby is a real horse. then it is the turn of the horse to laugh. whenever i see an announcement that a division has adopted the telephone for train dispatching, i always feel that there should be an accompanying apology for being several years behind the times. for years progressive young railway men advocated the telephone only to be assured by old-time dispatcher officials of the unwisdom of such a course. time and practical tests have shown that not only is the telephone practicable for dispatching, but it actually makes operation safer because of the increased human touch. whenever and wherever we can replace a specialist with an all 'round man we are gaining. the first train dispatching is said to have been done by charles minot when a superintendent on the erie in the early fifties. so seriously was the matter taken that only the superintendent himself could issue a train order, even though this involved calling him out of bed. hence the foolish feudal custom of signing the superintendent's initials to all train orders. it soon developed that a regular dispatcher was necessary. accordingly, a conductor, a man who knew how trains were practically handled, was taken off the road and brought to the superintendent's office to dispatch trains. stop off at port jervis, n.y., some time and in a local hotel see the portraits of some of these old erie dispatcher-conductors, their dignity being protected by the tall beaver hats of the period. the dispatcher not being a telegrapher, he wrote out his orders and handed them to a young operator to send. this operator was a bright fellow, who, by and by, graduated into a dispatcher, able to send his own orders and often to do the work previously requiring both men. too often it has happened that the experience of the new dispatcher, a telegrapher specialist, was limited to the office end, with no firsthand experience in train service. the telephone, fulfilling the immutable laws of evolution, will take us back to first principles. the dispatchers of the future will graduate from the train, engine and yard service, through the dispatcher's office to higher official positions. the man who gives the order will be a man who has once carried out such an order himself. the man below will obey the more cheerfully and the more intelligently because of increased confidence in the man above. when the record is made up by the future historian, with that discriminating perspective which time alone can give, high will be the place accorded the railroad officials and employes of america. the military, the pioneers of civilization, the forerunners of stability, have their periods of enervating peace. transportation, the first handmaiden of progress, is in active attendance every day of the year. those who worship at her shrine and follow her teachings must lead the strenuous life and love the voice of duty. the splendid, virile performance of the past, handicapped often by crude facilities and forced expansion, must and will be eclipsed under the intense, trying conditions of the present and the future. in no profession more than in ours is there eternity of opportunity. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xvi. supplies and purchases. salt lake city, utah, july , . my dear boy:--supplies and purchases are a feature of railroad operation illustrating the tendency to overcentralization through overspecialization. please notice that i say supplies and purchases; not as some roads do, purchases and supplies. is not "supply" the broader term, including "purchase" as a very important component? if we happen to make some of our supplies from our own scrap, a question of supply and accounts is involved, but not necessarily one of purchase. the volume of work involved in purchasing for a large railway may be so great as to warrant the segregation of the purchasing function. among the best purchasing bureaus in the united states are those of the harriman lines. as i understand it, their able director of purchases does not, as many people suppose, scrutinize all requisitions. each of the eight vice-presidents and general managers has his own purchasing agent, who, under the broad policy of local autonomy, buys many articles as best he can. those large items which experience proves can best be bought for all by the director of purchases, are so purchased under blanket contracts. for those items the local purchasing agent becomes an ordering agent. the point of it all is that no iron clad rule is laid down. because some items can best be purchased in bulk, it does not follow that local administration should be hampered by requiring all items to be so procured. instead of a narrow, rigid rule, there is a broad policy enunciated which permits the discriminating judgment of experience, to decide questions on their individual merits under the ever-changing conditions of service. when railroads are older similar broad treatment will be accorded other features of operation as well as supplies and purchases. broad policies and individual judgment will gradually supplant attempts to decide questions in advance in accordance with preconceived notions of probable conditions. the evolution of the so-called store department on most railways has been a striking instance of one-sided development. a railway exists to manufacture and sell an intangible commodity, transportation, not necessarily to carry either a large or small stock of material and supplies. the purchasing agent tells us in good faith how much money he has saved the company by time spent in driving good bargains. he is not in a position to know how many men have been worked to poor advantage, or have been idle, while waiting for proper tools, materials and supplies. such features of economic waste are not always the fault of the purchasing agent. the general storekeeper and the local storekeeper, ambitious for low stock records, may hold down their requisitions. it is so easy to say that a telegram will bring a cylinder head or other spare part to the desired point. if meantime a big locomotive has been out of commission in a distant roundhouse for two or three days and a light engine has been sent to protect the run, there is nothing in the store accounts to reflect this needless expense. the individual batting averages are high, but some way the team is not winning games. one of the fallacies introduced by the store people is that the user of material cannot be trusted with its custody, because he will carry too much stock, due to an exaggerated view of future necessities. this mistaken theory is carried to the extent of denying to the division superintendent the custody of fifty shovels to be used by the emergency gang of fifty men which it is entirely within his province to order out to clear the road. the men he can command. the shovels, without which the men are useless, he must beseech from a storekeeper receiving, perhaps, one-third as much salary as himself. of course, in an emergency, the superintendent takes the shovels, anyway. as i said before, it is a pretty poor system that breaks down in an emergency. the test of a system is an emergency. i confess my inability to see that being a user of material necessarily makes a man more indifferent to the company's interests. perhaps it is the same habit of mind that causes me to deny greater rectitude to the man in the accounting department. the user of material has undoubtedly been careless in many cases. will he not become more careless if relieved of responsibility and informed that he cannot be trusted? when children err, the wise parent does not disown them. from his fund of riper experience, he helps them by impressive teaching to gain a proper viewpoint. similarly, the general storekeeper should control the superintendent and teach the latter the most economical handling and use of material and supplies. control is comparatively valueless without authority. this authority can be most effectively conveyed by rank. the general storekeeper should not be a keeper of a general store. he should be a general officer, under the general manager, superior in rank and pay to the division superintendent. instead of the superintendent being relieved from responsibility, he should be held to a greater accountability. the reformed and reconstructed bandit often makes a relentless police chief. the despised user of material under proper organization becomes the zealous conserver and protector. the general storekeeper, like the chief mechanical officer, should be located in the same building with the general manager. there is no more reason for locating either one at a store or at a shop than there is for locating a general superintendent in a switch shanty near a yard. general officers must see the whole property and maintain a balance among its component units, which are normally operating divisions. if i were you, as between your purchasing agent and your general storekeeper, i would appoint the most experienced an assistant general manager, so that his office file can be logically and consistently consolidated with your own. the other of these two men i would make purchasing agent with a distinct title and a separate office file, because of his large volume of business with outside persons. such assistant general manager would be in effect manager of supplies and purchases, the trained expert seeing the whole problem of operation and deciding normally what material and supplies the company needs. under such assistant general manager, would be the purchasing agent, a staff officer, specializing on the technique and psychology of bargaining. such assistant general manager, as a line officer, would be his own general storekeeper and would hold division superintendents responsible for the stores on their respective divisions. his work would be co-ordinated with that of the other assistant general managers by the chief of staff, the senior assistant general manager. the organization thus outlined would preclude the necessity for the usual perfunctory approval of requisitions by the general manager. the assistant general manager for supplies would normally put the final approval on requisitions. large or exceptional items the general manager would approve. when differences of opinion developed among the interested assistant general managers as to the relative ultimate economy of different mechanical or structural devices, the general manager would be invoked to give a decision that really would be worth something, because made after considering different viewpoints. under the old order of things, the superintendent of motive power or the chief engineer is tempted to seek the ear of the general manager on the latter's best natured day to put over a requisition for some pet device. so sporadic is the comprehensive consideration of requisitions, so perfunctory is the usual approval, that the general manager frequently tells his purchasing agent not to take the former's approval too seriously, and to hold up approved requisitions about which the latter is doubtful. this is another species of unconscious administrative cowardice which attempts to put on the subordinate the burden of responsibility for a departure from the normal. true organization and administration demand normal procedure by subordinates. at normal speed, the administrative machine should run well balanced. when the speed becomes great enough, higher authority should be a governor brought into action more or less automatically. telling a subordinate habitually to question the acts of his superior has the same cheapening effect as unchecked disregard of block signals. it puts higher authority in the undesirable attitude of exploiting a fad, or an over-worked system, rather than of demanding reasonable compliance with proper and logical requirements. have we not overdone the matter of low working stocks? is it not more expensive for a railroad to carry too small a working stock of material and supplies than one too large? is not the problem too extensive to warrant very rigid comparisons as between different roads? like the average miles per car per day, does not the equation contain too many variables to admit of a very exact solution? can we compare effectively the dissimilar conditions involved in climate, distances from producing and distributing centers, character of predominating traffic, etc.? are not some records for seemingly low economical stocks based upon the fallacy that it costs the company nothing to ship and reship its own material? where would these records land if company material carried a freight charge of, say, mills per ton per mile? is it not more economical to handle numerous items of supply in carload lots regardless of average monthly consumption? have we given due weight to the concealed items of expense in arriving at conclusions as to the cost of handling company material and supplies? two of the best-managed roads in the country, the pennsylvania and the big four, had no stores departments the last time i inquired. at the other extreme, we find the santa fe and the lake shore carrying their departmental system to their stores in an intensified form. in between--that happy medium which i mentioned to you--stand the harriman lines with division stores under the division superintendent, who in turn as to supply matters is under the general storekeeper or other chief supply official, the latter already having in some cases the title and status of an assistant general manager. the man in direct charge of the one general store which is allowed each general jurisdiction is called a storekeeper. the underlying conception is that railroad stores are maintained to help make the wheels go around, that all supply activities should be concentrated upon the most economical manufacture and sale of transportation. this brings us to another phase of the problem. frequently a railroad as a plant is adequate to manufacture more transportation than it can sell. the other fellow is getting too much of the competitive business. investigation often shows that railroad solicitors can sell a shipper no freight or passenger transportation, because his salesman receives no orders from the railroad's purchasing agent. the industrial bureau of a traffic department works to create new business which is fostered by discriminating freight rates. yes, i stand up and use the word "discriminating," because, when properly understood, it implies intelligence and science, and is therefore one of the finest words in the language. this good work of the traffic department in creating wealth and developing industrial communities in territory local to a particular road may be largely lost to that road because its purchasing agent, consciously or unconsciously, fails to exercise proper and legitimate discrimination in the performance of his important function. at first blush, in these days of doubting insinuation and hysterical aspersion, when a railway official is often denied the presumption of possessing common honesty, when the burden of proof is to show him as having average rectitude, such a statement may be construed by distorted minds as a plea for subtle forms of rebating. tenuous as may seem the line here between right and wrong, it can in a given case be readily determined. too often apparent complexities are only the result of an abstruse contemplation of abstract possibilities. give honest, fearless, practical treatment to each concrete case as it arises, indulge more in inductive reasoning which predicates laws upon facts, not facts upon laws, and complexity gives way to common sense. transportation is the most exacting, the most diversified, the most far-reaching of commercial and industrial activities. it follows then, under the law of the survival of the fittest, that those who can survive in the art and science of transportation must be the fittest of the fit. in their hands can safely be left the solution of these difficult problems. after three years of satisfactory experience with division accounting bureaus, the harriman lines have extended such activities to include the division stores. this is done by moving the division storekeeper, his accounting and correspondence clerks, to the division superintendent's office in order that division records may be consolidated in one file and division accounts in one bureau. a division material-on-hand account is included. the necessary issue clerks, foremen, etc., are left at the storehouse, which is often a mile or two from the superintendent's office. another avowed object is to get the division supply people closer to the train sheet, to give propinquity a chance to develop love, and to counteract that we-are-so-different feeling which comes on many railroads, not only in the spring, but under all signs of the zodiac. the logical development on divisions of considerable volume of supply business will be to make the division storekeeper an assistant superintendent. this method of store accounting is relatively closer to real transactions, especially where the division supply train is used, than might be supposed. on the hill lines, the store accounting is done in the general auditor's office, perhaps one or two thousand miles from the store itself, a decidedly long range proposition. which policy is better is of course a question of opinion. a man's views on organization and methods are largely a matter of temperament and association, just as his politics and religion depend usually upon heredity and environment. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xvii. correspondence and explanations. portland, ore., july , . my dear boy:--the man who is successful in the exercise of authority soon learns to be something of a buffer between his superiors and his subordinates. he learns to temper justice with mercy. in this little railroad game of ours there has often been an unconscious departure from this rule of conduct. the word "why" should ask for an increased overtime rate in its next working schedule. somebody at the top is peeved because a train comes in late. he asks the next man below, "why?" down goes the inquiry through the baskets of offices whose files contain the desired information, because it is so much easier to write another man a letter than to dig up one of our own. the final inquiry is to a man who has already rendered one report or explanation. it would be a pretty poor sort of recording angel that would register against this underling the more or less justifiable profanity in which he then indulges. up in this part of the country, where they do some mighty good railroading, is a big hearted general officer, who once, during a blizzard, directed his superintendents to order train and engine crews to disregard block signals forced out of commission by the elements. a section foreman went out to change a rail with the traditional one man who could not flag both ways. so the section foreman, with the rail out, relied upon the [automatic] block signal for protection. along came the train with orders to disregard the signal--and the engine landed in the ditch. there was some official talk of discharging the section foreman. the big general officer faced the music and said, in effect, that if any enforced vacancies were to occur he himself must be the man. "furthermore," he added, "we have learned something; if we are ever again tempted to disregard block signals, we will first notify everybody on the railroad, including the section foremen." such manliness is the rule rather than the exception among railroad officers. it is a practical kind of honesty which counts in the great art of handling men. the lesson to be drawn is that we should all be just as honest and considerate for the man below in the conduct of our offices as in the face to face contact of outside activities. the first thought of an official and of his chief of staff should be to avoid humiliating a subordinate. a letter demanding an explanation accumulates much momentum of censure while traveling, perhaps from the general offices, through the channels to an agent, a yardmaster, a conductor, or a foreman. the tendency of each office is to unbottle a little more of a never-failing supply of suppressed indignation. by the time the return explanations and apologies have trekked back across the plains to the starting point, the whole incident is often as much ancient history as the days of ' . yes, we must have explanations for certain irregularities. the taste for such office pabulum is more or less cultivated. it is a kind of diet which demands vigilant restraint of appetite. it does not increase the self-respect of a faithful old employe to write a schoolboy explanation of something that looked badly on paper in a distant office. actual experience has demonstrated that discipline can be maintained, efficiency increased, and loyalty engendered by greater politeness and consideration in official correspondence. instead of the superintendent or trainmaster writing to a conductor, "why did you delay no. at utopia when you pulled out a draw-bar on the main track on the nd?" why not say, "it is claimed that quicker work on your part would have avoided delay to no. when your train pulled out a draw-bar, etc." this leaves it open to the man to explain or to let the matter go by default. the employe who lets too much go by default is soon well known to his officers and his cases will receive the special treatment they deserve. some officials devote more time to the gnat-heel measure of explanations than to a broad analysis which will prevent future irregularities. to some officials, papers on the desk are a nightmare. for the sake of a clean desk they will write unnecessary letters and pass the papers to the men below. the road will not go to pieces if many papers are held for a personal interview next trip. because it is now and then desirable to force some old buck to go on record is no reason for not separating the sheep from the goats and avoiding the necessity for a record in a majority of cases. this is another instance where l.c.l. judgment is worth a whole trainload of rigid bumping posts. among the many advantages of the chief of staff should be his ability to prepare explanations for higher authority from routine reports at hand without making a special reference of papers to offices below. your old dad takes considerable pride in the fact that he never consciously wrote a sharp letter to a subordinate. once, when a trainmaster, and sick in bed, he dictated in a letter to a conductor, "hereafter, please take _sufficient_ interest to see that switches are properly locked." the stenographer improved the phraseology by writing, "please take _special_ interest, etc."--see the difference?--which happy circumstances caused the conductor to come to the sickroom and express his undying devotion to the cause of locked switches. a personal interview with a conductor, however, is worth a dozen letters by a trainmaster. these same observations apply to the general manager as well as to the trainmaster. the higher one goes, the more consideration must he cultivate. if you have something disagreeable to get out of your system and the typewriter is your only recourse, take it out on your superiors rather than your subordinates. it is better for the company to have you fired for insubordination than for you to demoralize the service by rawhiding men below. you must carry out the policies and instructions of your superiors. the success of your administration will depend upon the manner in which you execute the wishes of your superiors and upon the methods you pursue, as much as upon the inherent merits of the policies themselves. flattering yourself, as you probably do, at being the happiest of the happy in the medium line, see how safe a middle course you can steer. it will take another generation to eradicate feudalism in railroad administration. those whom fate, opportunity, or desire has landed in the railroad game must abide by the existing rules. if out of accord with the policies of those above, be a good sport and resign like a gentleman. before doing so, however, be dead sure that you have not mistaken some trifling inconsistencies of methods for real incompatibility warranting voluntary separation. a good friend and a good superintendent down south recently asked me to preach a little on the necessity for a more dignified tone in railway correspondence. he cited his correspondence with government offices as an example of dignified expression. instead of saying, "please advise me," or, "kindly let me know," or "i wish to be informed," they use some such impersonal expression as, "please advise this office," or "kindly favor the department," or, "this bureau desires information concerning, etc." some people say they like to have an official or an employe act as if he owned the property. i would not. a man will ride his own horse to death. when acting as trustee, guardian, or fiduciary, he will perhaps conserve the property entrusted to his charge more carefully than if it were his own. is not a careful trustee better than a careless owner? railway officials are trustees as well as hired hands. through long traditions of service, the government officer, however hampered by certain limitations that are inherent in government administration, forms a habit of mind which prompts first attention to his employer rather than to himself. on railways we are equally loyal, but are cruder in our manifestations. we have the feudal conception of "_my_ railroad" rather than that of "the railroad on which i have the honor to be employed." following the same reasoning, it is better for a man to sign, "john doe, for and in the absence of the general manager," than "richard roe, general manager, per john doe." when john doe acts in the place of richard roe, the former has become the representative of the company, rather than a facsimile of richard roe. the act of john doe binds the company, and the papers should show on whom personal administrative responsibility must be fixed. the phrase, "for and in the absence of," explains to the recipient the departure from normal procedure, and to the company's future reviewer is john doe's explanation or apology for seeming usurpation of the functions of higher authority. when you have signed a letter, no matter by whom suggested or prepared, it becomes your act for which you are responsible. do not have its effect weakened by showing in the corner of the original the initials of the persons dictating and typewriting. whether or not such initials shall be shown on your file carbon for the sake of future reference is a matter of taste. such carbon copy record can be made either by a rubber stamp or by typewriter. with the latter method some stenographers prefer to slip in a piece of heavy paper to blank the original and to save the trouble of removing the outer sheet from the machine. the point is that, however desirable such information may be for your own office, it is no concern of the recipient of the letter. it is much more important that the carbon copy should show by rubber stamp or otherwise who actually signed the original and became responsible for that completed stage of the transaction. the impersonal form of address used in government correspondence precludes the necessity for printing the names of officials on letter heads. illegible signatures are a pretty poor excuse for attempting to issue an official directory in the form of a letter head. the working conception of the self-perpetuating corporation falls short if we must alter or reprint our stationery every time an official is changed. we are wont to look upon government administration as typical of conservatism and circumlocution. some things we do much better than the government. there are things the government does much better than we do. for example, an officer of the corps of engineers in the army does his own disbursing. he controls all the component functions of his particular activity, including supply and purchase. he is checked up after the fact by an auditor in washington. a railway cannot pay most of its bills until six or seven persons sign a voucher. number seven signs perfunctorily because number six did. number six likewise is the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that caused the voucher in the house that jack built. it all comes down to some responsible man who handled the matter in the first place. why not trust him, and perhaps one other, checking them both after the bill has been promptly paid? a bank check is validated by only one genuine, creditable indorsement. if drawn to bearer or to self, only one signature is necessary. i am optimistic enough to believe that you will live long enough to see railways follow the example of the banks and the government and pay a legitimate bill with one, or at the most two signatures. when this is done, however, i trust that due notice will be given, so that the seismograph stations may have fair warning. if all the old time auditors turn over in their graves at the same time, the earth will tremble and the shock will be too great for delicate instruments. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xviii. organization of the ideal railroad. spokane, wash., august , . my dear boy:--someone has asked me how far up and how far down the principles of the unit system and the chief of staff idea can be applied. it is too bad the answer is so easy. otherwise we might inaugurate a guessing contest and offer prizes. the unit system is applicable to every phase of modern organization. when its principles are better understood, you will see develop in the great financial centers some such important title as vice-chairman, in order that rank and authority may be conferred superior to that of the presidents of the constituent properties. both the chairman and the president need a senior vice-chairman and a senior vice-president, respectively, to act as chief of staff. the new york central once had a senior vice-president, w. c. brown, and the st. louis & san francisco created the same position for carl gray. when these two able men became presidents, their former positions were discontinued. puzzle: find the reason. answers to be sent to the puzzle editor, louis d. brandeis, boston, mass. a prominent railway executive, who is also a distinguished bridge engineer, said to me, "you must be patient until railway people can measure this big idea in their own little half bushels. i did not see it clearly until i thought it through in terms with which i am familiar. i reverted to my graphic statics and measured organization as a bridge truss. this showed the chief clerk as a short ordinate between the longest, the head of the unit, and next longest, the official second in rank. we would never design a bridge that way, for the short ordinate in between would break under the strain. you interpose the chief of staff and diminish your strains logically to suit the decreased resisting power. why don't you show the old telegraph men and the electric people the same idea in terms of things with which they are most familiar? they should see that you can not step down your potential through an undersized transformer." railroad administration is usually said to be divided into four real departments, namely: the executive, including legal and financial, the traffic, the operating, including maintenance and construction, and the accounting. most railroads place each of these departments in charge of a vice-president. i think that this is usually a mistake. experience has demonstrated the practicability of the same man being a division master mechanic, for example, and at the same time performing some of the broader duties of an assistant superintendent. likewise an assistant general manager can act as the head of the mechanical bureau in the general office. when we reach so high as to go beyond the heads of real departments we find our old friend, volume of business, and his bastard brother, unbalanced administration, to demand more balance wheels. the unit has become of too large a size for a single governor. if you don't believe this, watch somebody try to transfer a bureau, freight claims, for example, from the department under one vice-president to that of another. when i incorporate and organize that ideal railroad it will have a president, a senior vice-president and as many other vice-presidents as may be necessary. the vice-presidents will be real assistant presidents, not heads of departments. each will be an expert graduated from some particular department. such graduation will depend more upon the man being big enough for a vice-president and possible president than upon the department itself. since volume of business warrants separation of the financial and the corporate from the legal, and of passenger from freight traffic, i shall have seven departments, under seven general officers, namely, the general inspector (who will also be the comptroller), the secretary, the general treasurer, the general manager, the freight traffic manager, the passenger traffic manager, and the general counsel. each of the seven departments will have its own office file. all of the vice-presidents will have one consolidated office file in common with the president. trusting that these few lines will restrain you for a brief period, which is boston & albany for hold you for a while, let us consider the application of the unit system to a humbler sphere, that of roadmaster or track supervisor, who is the head of a highly important sub-unit of maintenance organization. the roadmaster's clerk is usually paid less than a section foreman. as a result such clerk is either a callow youth looking for speedy transfer or an old man married to the job. in the latter case, after one change in roadmasters the clerk probably dominates the office. he puts so much fear of paper work in the minds of the section foreman that few aspire to be roadmasters. instead of a clerk, why not have an assistant roadmaster, a real understudy, promoted from section foreman at a slight increase in pay and allowances? get the working atmosphere of the section into the roadmaster's office. perhaps some of the section foremen are not relatively as stupid as certain superiors who take snap judgment on possible qualifications. some people deny the necessity for a roadmaster's office. is it not rather difficult to hold a man responsible without giving him access to first hand records of performance? an assistant superintendent or an assistant general manager can and should come to his own headquarters where there are clerks to furnish him necessary information. a roadmaster away from division headquarters cannot gain such contact without deserting the subdivision for which he is responsible night and day. he cannot well take the section foreman from work to compile statistics. when the word superintendent is eliminated from all higher titles so that it means the head, and a real head, of an operating division, there will be a bigger return for that item of operating expenses known as "superintendence." if the notion still lingers that operation is merely train movement, and that it is enough for a superintendent to be a high class chief dispatcher, the idea of real management can be driven in by calling the head of a division a "manager." in such case, the title general manager would have a logical meaning. the title district manager would fit the case where subdivision into such territorial units became unavoidable. when the telegraph, the telephone, and the phonograph were invented the greek language was consulted and new words were scientifically coined to express a new necessity of linguistic expression. the automobile and the aeroplane are founding whole families of new words. as society and industry become more highly organized it may be necessary to coin new words to convey the full idea of the rank and duties of the human elements in a large organization. critics of the unit system deplore the uniformity of titles as tending to merge individual identity. this is not the fault of the system but of the poverty of the english language which lacks varying terminations of root words to express different shades of meaning. if necessary to meet this view helps can be sought from such highly inflected languages as greek and esperanto, and new words coined. thus the same word with a slightly different ending would mean, "assistant superintendent in charge of maintenance of way and structures as classified by the interstate commerce commission," or, "assistant superintendent in charge of maintenance of equipment, including an allowance for depreciation at the legal and constitutional ratio of sixteen to one, expiating the crime of and glorifying the hepburn act of ." many practical things in this world escape attention because they are so close as to be inside the focal distance. the persons most concerned are often too close to a proposition to observe what should be distinctly obvious. i uncover my headlight to the fellow down east who recently showed us all that green flags can be replaced by the night markers. for the over-specialization of perishable day indicators he substituted the all-round day and night marker. the supply people should not kick at the decreased demand for their product. they should be thankful, rather, that railroad officials did not wake up sooner to changed conditions. the new practice is worth the price of admission if it only serves to do away with the delay and inconvenience of loading and unloading the time-honored and cumbrous train box which still roams wild in some regions covered by the spokane rate decision. among the other simplifications which time will bring is a logical method of designating extra trains. to-day we tell a man that an engine number means little, because the train indicator says that it is train so-and-so. the numbers on the engine and on the train indicator are different and have no relation. to-morrow the engine runs extra and the two numbers must be identical. when we adopt the train indicator, should we not banish numbers from the outside of our engines and tenders? should not the number be inside the cab to be consulted for reports and statistics, including the train sheet? this would mean that extras would be numbered consecutively in a series higher than the numbers on the regular trains. extras, like regular trains, would lose their running rights in twelve hours. in this connection, did you ever figure that, except possibly in the case of extras, the distinctions "a.m." and "p.m." are superfluous on train orders? should p.m. come before the order is fulfilled, the a.m. train is dead. the proposed change would force regular trains to be numbered in lower series, regardless of divisions and branch lines. this would make for safety. the more figures in a number, the greater the possibilities of error in reading a train order. a man is much more likely to confuse with than with . if the motive power bureau must recognize the high numbered union for classification purposes, let us avoid having the blooming series federate with the train dispatcher's order book. the magnificent distances of this western country are reflected in increased difficulties in railway operation. perhaps no branch of the railway service is more affected thereby than the dining car service. american travelers, as the colored soldier said about the cubans, are the "eatin'est lot of people." the long haul for cars and supplies renders supervision more difficult and deficits correspondingly greater. the dining car man on most, if not all, western roads is attached to a losing game. when poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window. the dining car superintendent is kept busy retaining the affections of the management in the face of red figures. a dining car is about the most complex proposition in its operation that we have on the railroad. it will be the hardest to bring under the supervision of the division superintendent and his assistants. the difficulties of so doing are many, but are not insurmountable. the dining car, because it moves on wheels, is an incident to the manufacture and sale of transportation. it is not, as a few dining car people suppose, merely a traveling hotel to which the railway is an incident. originally the dining cars were under the passenger traffic department. later it was realized that they are logically a part of operation. so they have been placed under the general manager and his subordinate, the superintendent of dining cars. we say nonchalantly that the superintendent and the train conductor can instruct the so-called conductor of the dining car. let a passenger conductor report a dining car conductor. the former's superintendent will probably find himself helpless to defend his man against the momentum of a correspondence bureau located in the general offices. as a result, the superintendent and the passenger conductor soon lose interest. they are not looking for trouble and possible censure. the outcome is long-range supervision of a centralized activity. the man in charge of the dining car should be called steward, because he cannot conduct a car even to a side track. he should be under the control of the train conductor, whom the superintendent can hold responsible for the entire train performing proper public service. a good, honest passenger conductor can secure and retain more business for the company than two traveling passenger agents. the conductor cannot do this if the dining car man is unwilling to send promptly a pot of coffee to the shabby little sick woman in the chair car whose daughters are going to buy tourist tickets next year. in the days of simpler organization the good old passenger conductor would unload on the prairie a short-sighted sleeping car or dining car man and let the latter walk home. because this cannot be done to-day is one of the reasons for the lack of initiative on the part of the train conductor. the lack of courtesy sometimes shown by employes is not infrequently the fault of heads of would-be departments whose tenacity for departmental lines leaves subordinates with an unbalanced notion of the necessity for real courtesy and consideration. bowing and scraping do not alone constitute politeness. one of the best dining car superintendents in the country is tom clifford of the erie, a graduated division superintendent and passenger conductor. because they are general officers, the dining car superintendents of the future should be assistant general managers, and should come up from the grade of division superintendent, in order to acquire a more comprehensive knowledge of operation. just how to work out all the details is, i confess, perhaps the hardest operating problem that i have yet tackled. pullman employes have a home terminal and a home district to whose superintendent certain reports are made and complaints referred. this works well, although pullman cars may run over several of their superintendents' districts. the fact that dining cars run over more than one division is not of itself a sufficient reason for the employes being under the immediate direction of a general officer. volume of business, density of traffic, shortness of runs, and other causes may warrant varying applications of the underlying principle. above all, we should avoid those hard and fast rules which even the medes and persians never attempted to make applicable to dining cars. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xix. the engineering of men. chicago, august , . my dear boy:--as the old order changeth, yielding place to new, the last of the feudal barons among the chief engineers are passing. bold have been their conceptions, faithful their performances and great their achievements. their work has developed those splendid types of manhood which are characteristic of the futile struggle of nature against art, of the wilderness against civilization. partly because of better intellectual training, partly because of the rush to complete additions and betterments and partly because of the inborn tendency of human nature to over-specialize, the construction men of most railways have frequently put it over on the so-called operating men. peace hath her victories no less renowned than war. as civilization advances the struggles of a railroad are less against physical nature and more against sociological and political conditions. this advanced stage makes for altruism and comprehensive coöperation. the problem of the construction engineer becomes harder when his work is interwoven with the necessities of everyday operation. a manufacturing plant can sometimes shut down during a period of new construction. a railway, however, cannot store its product, transportation. some car wheels must be moving all the time. it follows, then, that construction must yield to operation rather than operation to construction. again, from the nature of a railway, construction is a component of operation, and the whole is greater than any of its parts. during the period of rapid expansion the construction men were kept "on the front." here is another bet that our predecessors overlooked. instead of amalgamating construction with operation and developing a corps of all around men they sacrificed the future. the result is two sets of specialists lacking sympathy with each other's difficulties. the point of convergence is the company's treasury, which pays unnecessary bills. sometimes these are in the form of a duplication of work train service; sometimes in idle equipment in which the construction bureau retains a proprietary interest on days of idleness. the construction people may be awaiting material or men. meantime _my_ work train cannot be used by the superintendent for maintenance purposes. the chief dispatcher has so little sympathy with new construction that the young assistant engineer dare not let go of _my_ engine lest _au revoir_ may mean good-by. another delightful but expensive duplication occurs frequently in the matter of stores. look around and see how many separate stores your construction bureau is maintaining, some of them within a stone's throw of a well stocked permanent store. after defying a few times the official lightning our wise construction ajax learns to make his estimates large. having beaten his own figures he exclaims, "behold how much money i have saved the company." comparisons of costs in construction work are much more difficult than in operation. this inability to control disbursement through the discipline of statistics should be met as far as possible by the most careful organization. extravagance and waste in maintenance and operation are bad enough. in construction they are worse, because capitalized and bearing an interest burden for innumerable years to come. all positions have their inherent temptations. the young engineer in charge of construction is tempted to nurse the job because when it is finished he may be laid off. whether he yields or not, it is a poor kind of organization that places the temptation before him. too frequently the construction engineer costs the company money because of his unfamiliarity with maintenance conditions. experience in maintenance would help him in construction. before being entrusted with authority an engineer should have experience in both maintenance and construction, regardless of the branch in which he may have happened to start. check up your new branch lines and see how much money being charged to maintenance could have been saved if the construction people had better appreciated operating conditions. see how many side tracks and water tanks are on curves. never investigate a collision without considering faulty construction and location as factors. one of the easiest ways to save your company money will be to reorganize your construction activities. when you decide upon some new line, be it a branch, a second track, or an extension, call a cabinet meeting of all your assistants. let the supply assistant of your grand opera troupe know at which stand you are to play. call in the superintendent of the division concerned, with his maintenance assistant. tell the superintendent that he will be responsible for the new work subject to the instructions of your construction assistant. let it be understood that the work will be under the direct charge of his maintenance assistant, that the equipment will be looked after by his mechanical assistant and the material and supplies furnished by his supply assistant. throw the whole official momentum of the division on the side of the new work. under the old order of things the division people do what they are told in helping out the construction, but no more. the proposed organization will beget that extra individual effort which is relatively as profitable as the farmer's extra bushel per acre. at this same cabinet meeting let your superintendent nominate a junior assistant to act as understudy for maintenance while his leading maintenance man is treading the construction boards. if, when the job is over, any scrimping has to take place it will not be the construction man who has to drop back. two years hence the maintenance assistant will not give you the old song and dance about poor construction causing excessive maintenance, because he himself built the line. there is, of course, a danger that this maintenance assistant will be extravagant in construction for the sake of a future record in maintenance. you have two checks against this, one through the efficiency of your construction assistant and the other through the division accounting bureau, which should handle additions and betterments as separate accounts. once upon a time i ran across a contractor grading a new line. his organization, the most efficient that i ever happened to see in any line of activity, made that of the railway for which he was working look like thirty cents. he made the grading camp the unit. each of his sixteen camps was in charge of a foreman who controlled his own commissary, his own timekeeper, his own blacksmith and his own animals and equipment. the first duty of the foreman was to supply his men with grub and his animals with feed. normally this took two wagons. if he happened to be near the base of supplies he used only one team and put the other on a plow or a scraper. if he happened to be clear at the front he might have to borrow another wagon and use three teams for supply. the point is that he kept all of his teams working all of the time and never ran out of supplies. the railroad would organize a department of wagons, a department of plows and a department of scrapers, and the foreman who kicked the hardest would have the most grub, even though somebody else was short. these foremen were jacked up if they used poor judgment in accumulating supplies and had too much on hand when the next move came. no clerk at the base was allowed to cut the requisition of a foreman. the resident engineers of the railway in charge of the several staking and inspection parties could not procure railway commissary supplies without the o.k. of a clerk in the so-called boarding house department. another noteworthy feature was the constant presence of officials and sub-officials with authority to act for the contractor. a general foreman and two assistant general foremen were riding the line and giving instructions to meet changing conditions. for example, in the afternoon an assistant general foreman countermanded an order given by his general manager who had happened to be on the ground in the morning. when a resident engineer in charge of a party desired such authority he called up the tent of the division engineer and gained the desired information from the latter's chief clerk, who was receiving a smaller salary than the resident engineer. i spare your feelings a description of the complex methods imposed by the railway accounting department in marked contrast to the simple common sense practice of the contractor. how much stockholders are paying for maintaining the sacred system of railways i am unable to state. many administrative crimes are committed in the name of organization. one of the fallacies sometimes introduced by the accounting department in construction organization is to have all the timekeepers report to a chief timekeeper, regardless of the engineer or other chief of party. a bright young engineer once told me his troubles in this respect. he was astonished at the difference when he followed the advice to make each party a complete unit with its own timekeeper, the chief of the party being held responsible for proper time keeping as well as for all other duties. this efficient youngster deplored the fact that neither his engineering school nor his official superiors had ever deemed it necessary to give him lessons in the applied science of organization. never forget, my boy, the immortal words attributed to george stephenson that the greatest branch of engineering is the engineering of men. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xx. the fallacy of the train-mile unit. tucson, ariz., august , . my dear boy:--do you think it logical and just to pay a train (including engine) crew the same wages for going over the freight district with a light caboose as with or cars? be careful how you answer. as i understand it, the train-mile was adopted as a unit of compensation for employes on the theory that piece work rewards the deserving and promotes efficiency. whatever the merits or demerits of the piece work theory, i have never been able to reconcile its applicability to train service. a man operating a machine in a shop can stop or start his individual machine, can save steam power or electric current without seriously inconveniencing his fellow workers or the general operation of the plant. a railroad train cannot move regardless of all other trains on the road. such independence of function will cause either a criminal collision or an expensive blockade. a train must, therefore, move according to a time-table and orders. the space occupied by a train, unlike a stationary machine, is so variable that time becomes the essence of the proposition. the train crew cannot be allowed that freedom of action which permits of piece work. too many arbitrary conditions are necessarily imposed to warrant a very extended application of a practical bonus system. one delayed train will upset the whole day's combination. on the other hand, the task imposed upon a train crew is extremely definite and easy to measure, when the equation can be solved for all the variables. so fallacious a unit of compensation as the train-mile breeds numerous illogical practices. we penalize ourselves every time we run a train without full tonnage. conditions of traffic may demand quick movement regardless of tonnage. when business is heavy terminals are congested and empty equipment is scarce. we all know that the way to relieve congested terminals is to run light, fast trains. this serves a double purpose, relieving the terminals and increasing the earning power of the equipment. unfortunately our fundamental conception is so distorted that we mulct ourselves in money by doing that which is an obvious necessity. why not so arrange our methods that we can be rewarded for quick judgment and prompt action? a shop workman sups, sleeps and breakfasts at his own home. a train crew must have increased expenses when away from the home terminal. a train crew would really be ahead of the game as far as expenses are concerned if a round trip could be made within the sixteen-hour limit and the away-from-home terminal expenses avoided. we say that demurrage is imposed primarily to hasten the release of equipment. we claim that normally we would rather have the cars than the dollars of demurrage. if cars are so valuable, how much should we charge ourselves for the hire of the fifty cars which are twelve or fifteen hours getting over the district? we can work out by a mathematical formula the most economical scheme for fuel consumption and maximum tractive effort. it is more difficult to devise a formula to express the effect of drastic laws caused by poor service. attempting to club converging live stock runs in big trains has caused, in some states, legislation covering the movement of stock. perhaps this is offset by the claims save for missing the market with delayed stock. is it not a sad commentary to think that legislation is necessary to make us do what is for our own best interests? there can be no doubt that for a heavy and regular movement of low grade commodities on two or four track roads the big train is logical and economical. most of the prairie roads are single track. most of the distances between the prairie cities are relatively long. stock, perishable freight and merchandise must have rapid movement. is it wise under such a disparity of conditions to make the train-mile rigid and sacred? why not pay men by the hour, with a monthly guarantee, and run trains sometimes light and sometimes heavy, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, to meet actual controlling conditions of traffic? when business happened to be light, equipment plentiful, and terminals open we would penalize ourselves in wages for slower movement, but would save in fuel, in engine house expense, etc. just where the economical limit would be, just how it would all work out, i do not pretend to say. i do say, however, that the old methods can be improved when we start from proper basic conceptions. i do not believe that we yet understand the relation between increased cost of maintenance of equipment and decreased wages for train crews. perhaps because i had the honor of braking on a way freight i have never outgrown the idea of the practical trainman that a local freight is a traveling switch engine and a peddler of l.c.l. merchandise. whatever may be the showing as to percentage of tractive power utilized i am unable to see the wisdom of a way freight dragging in and out of passing tracks all day with a lot of through cars. the claim is often made that a few big trains can be easily handled by the dispatcher, because the number of meeting points is decreased. my own opinion is that this seeming advantage is often more than offset by the unwieldiness of the big train. fear of censure for delaying some important train makes the conductor "leery" about starting and the dispatcher timid about directing a prompt movement. when we begin wrong, how not-to-do-it methods always follow. the chief dispatcher will let freight be delayed in a yard for a full train with power needed at the other end, if he can start a light caboose without its being included in the average train load showing. how much better, and how much easier, to run two fractional trains in the direction of unbalanced traffic than one light caboose and another dreary drag! the shipper, only a hard-headed business man, takes the same view. he becomes skeptical of all our statements, before commissions or elsewhere, because of our frequent seeming lack of judgment. let us not spend too much time in discussion as to theoretical possibilities. my assertions can be either proved or disproved by actual demonstration. in the next labor agreements you make include a stipulation for experiment on some division. my prediction is that if you can convince the labor leaders of your fairness they will give the scheme a trial for the sake of more possible time at home. with a full trial the results will speak for themselves. success in such matters is made possible only by enlisting the most intelligent efforts of all concerned. let your officials and employes understand that you do not claim to know it all, that you believe in their practical intelligence as well as in your own, that ideas are greater than men, and that right wrongs no man. railroads have grown so fast that our conceptions of working units have sometimes outstripped practical possibilities in performance. too frequently we make the unit too large. there must be a practical limit beyond which the train becomes too long for an economical unit of movement. the fact that we should have elasticity rather than rigidity in the size of our economical train emphasizes the necessity for defining the elastic limit. practical experience and sound judgment must aid in interpreting and applying not only the laws of matter and physical nature, but the laws of sociology and human nature as well. after the lading for the trip is discharged, the car cannot be sold or abandoned, as was the flat boat which abraham lincoln helped to float down the mississippi river to new orleans. have you not seen cars pulled to pieces in big trains, have you not seen freight delayed in a manner to suggest to an innocent bystander that the road was perhaps running its last train and giving its cars their last load? the inevitable tendency of the big train is to hold back and combine in large lots cars destined to the same point and to the same consignee. when a whole train can be unloaded at the ship's side at tidewater, or at a large consuming plant, the system is ideal. the trouble begins with the small consignee. instead of giving him a regular, systematic delivery of the five or ten cars which he can unload each day, our tendency is to bring in twenty-five or fifty cars every five days or so, and then express our horrified astonishment at his failure to release promptly. no, we should not run special trains of five or ten cars for each consignee. what we should do is to watch the matter so carefully that we can feel certain we are considering all the factors of expense as well as that of seeming light tonnage. it may, under given conditions, be cheaper to run light trains than to put on expensive switch engines, to relieve unnecessary congestion in receiving terminals, than to increase overtime and demoralize the road by pulling out drawbars when sawing by at short passing tracks. sometimes money can be saved by balancing motive power as between steep and level territory. as a good soldier and a faithful hired hand you must build up for yourself and your superiors the best possible record for train load. carry out the policy consistently and loyally. at the same time study the subject. do not have to flag in, but be prepared to run as a section of a better unit of comparison when the train mile loses its first class running rights. speaking of running in sections, you have doubtless thought how inconsistent and almost criminally dangerous is the method of displaying signals. we drill our men to watch the rear of the train for the presence of something, the markers, a positive indication. when the markers are seen, the train is complete and the opposing train can proceed in safety. if the train happens to be complete without displaying markers, or the markers are overlooked, the opposing train declines to proceed. an avoidable delay occurs, but the error is on the side of safety and away from a collision. at the head end, however, we tell our men to watch for the absence of something, the classification signals, a negative condition. when classification signals are _not_ seen the train schedule is complete and the opposing train proceeds in fancied safety. if the train happens to be _incomplete_ without displaying signals or the signals are overlooked, the opposing train proceeds just the same. no delay occurs, but probably a collision, for the error is on the side of danger and toward a collision. the practice should be reversed. the last or only section should display classification signals. a positive indication should replace a negative. can the train rules committee of the ladylike american railway association beat the interstate commerce commission to this unprotected draw? cases of such avoidable collisions can be cited, even though "we never had one on our road." some roads prefer special schedules and extra trains to movement in sections. on the good old big four we handled everything possible in sections. i think this latter method the better. theoretically yardmen, section men, tower men and all others should be always prepared for extra trains. practically, the more information that can be disseminated among intelligent men the more effectively can they coöperate in preventing disaster or delay. there are fewer unlocked switches and fewer unspiked rails when information is not locked in the dispatcher's office and not spiked down by too many train orders. affectionately, your own, d. a. d. letter xxi. the man-day as a unit. tucson, ariz., august , . my dear boy:--if people's eyes were never too large for their stomachs there would be less overeating. if human concepts were never too vast for practical performance there would be fewer disappointments in administration. because the railroads have grown so fast and have become so large, our imagination has sometimes run too far ahead of our judgment. this is a big world full of big things and big men. the biggest men are learning that big things can be handled and big men developed only by complete treatment of little things and of the so-called little men. this growing conviction is manifesting itself in various ways. railways, thank god, are building more division shops and relatively fewer general shops. division stores are becoming more and more complete. division accounting is gaining ground and is paving the way for local disbursement. the station agent, bless him, is being emancipated by the telephone from specialized selection, and is gradually being accorded that recognition which is his due as an all 'round man. in short, our big corporate units are growing in strength only as the smaller units become complete and self-contained. official solicitude should be for ton-miles, as well as for train-miles, for car-loads as well as for train-loads. take care of the mills and the millions will take care of themselves. above all, study an often neglected unit, the man-day. how much work can each man reasonably be expected to perform in one day? how many days in each year can a man reasonably expect to be employed? labor conditions on railways will never be satisfactory until employment can be reasonably constant and continuous. this is a difficult problem, but when enough big men give it attention it will be solved. it probably means more elasticity, more interchangeability between train service and the various kinds of maintenance, between the locomotive and the shop, between the railway and allied contiguous industries. the individual is the indivisible unit of society. we must build from him as a unit. since he is of such infinite variety it follows that our sociological architecture must be varied accordingly. design is staff work. execution is line work. i do not doubt the ability of one man to direct the carrying out of a scheme practically designed. when one man tells me that unassisted he can furnish a design to meet all requirements i am from beyond missouri and have to be shown several times. i have been writing you all these things because of interest in you and pride in our profession. with four or five other professions and occupations at command, i stick to the railroad game because it is the greatest of ancient or modern times. if these letters, written hurriedly in the midst of a strenuous life, with little opportunity for revision and verification, have hurt anyone's feelings, i am sorry. many things in this world are taken too personally and too seriously when intended as only pickwickian. if these letters have helped you or any friend of yours, by shattering any false idol or otherwise, they have more than fulfilled their purpose. those to whom fortune has been kind in affording extended opportunities owe to society the duty of imparting their conclusions to their fellows. the recipients alone are qualified to judge as to how well such duty is performed and as to how far such conclusions are worth while. in this case the duty has been a pleasure as well. to avoid the switch shanty garrulousness of an old brakeman i now give up this preferred run and turn in at the office my lantern and keys. with a father's blessing, affectionately, your own, d. a. d. appendix the unit system of organization. this system of organization, sometimes called "the hine system," is frequently mentioned in these "letters." it was originated and installed by their writer while serving as organization expert for the union pacific system-southern pacific company (harriman lines), - , with the title of special representative on the staff of the director of maintenance and operation, mr. julius kruttschnitt. an idea of the system can be obtained from the two following standard forms of official circulars for announcing its adoption:-- .......... rail ...... company. office of general manager. circular no. .... .......... .. the following appointments of assistant general managers are announced, effective ...... .. . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... . mr. ...... each of the above named officials continues charged with the responsibilities heretofore devolving upon him and in addition assumes such other duties as may from time to time be assigned. the titles, general superintendent, superintendent of motive power, chief engineer, superintendent of transportation, general storekeeper, superintendent of telegraph, and superintendent of dining cars, will be retained by the present holders or their successors to such extent only as may be necessary for a proper compliance with laws and existing contracts. all persons under the jurisdiction of this office will address reports and communications, including replies, intended for the general manager or for any assistant general manager, simply: "assistant general manager" (company telegrams, "a.g.m."), no name being used in the address unless intended as personal or confidential or to reach an official away from his headquarters. it is intended that an assistant general manager shall be in charge of this office during office hours. each official transacts business in his own name and no person should sign the name or initials of another. all persons outside the jurisdiction of this office are requested to address communications, including replies, intended for the general manager or for any assistant general manager, simply: "general manager ............ co., .......... bldg. .........." no name being used in the address unless intended as personal or confidential or to reach an official away from his headquarters. .......... _general manager._ approved: .......... _vice president._ .......... rail .......... company. .......... division. office of superintendent. circular no. ... .......... .. effective this date this division discontinues among its officials the use of the titles master mechanic, division engineer, trainmaster, traveling engineer, chief dispatcher, division storekeeper, and division agent. the following named officials are designated: . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. . mr. .................., assistant superintendent. they will be obeyed and respected accordingly. each of the above named officials continues charged with the responsibilities heretofore devolving upon him, and in addition assumes such other duties as may from time to time be assigned. all of the above will be located in the same building with one consolidated office file in common with the superintendent. all reports and communications on the company's business, including replies, originating on this division, intended for the superintendent or for any assistant superintendent, will be addressed simply, "assistant superintendent" (telegrams, "a. s."), no name being used in the address unless intended to reach an official away from his headquarters, or to be personal rather than official, in which latter case it will be held unopened for the person addressed. it is intended that an assistant superintendent shall be on duty in charge of the division headquarters office during office hours. the designation of a particular assistant superintendent to handle specified classes of correspondence and telegrams is a matter concerning only this office. each official transacts business in his own name, and no person should sign the name or initials of another. the principle to guide subordinate officials and employes is to be governed by the latest instructions issued and received. train orders will be given over the initials of the train dispatcher on duty, as will messages originated by him. the modifications of pre-existing organization and methods herein ordered have been carefully worked out to expedite the company's business by the reduction and simplification of correspondence and records. it is expected and believed that officials and employes will insure a successful outcome by lending their usual intelligent coöperation and hearty support. officials and other persons above and outside the jurisdiction of this division are requested to address official communications intended for the superintendent or for any assistant superintendent, simply, "superintendent, .......... division ..........," (telegrams, "supt."), no name being used in the address unless intended as personal or confidential or to reach an official away from his headquarters. .......... _superintendent._ approved: .......... _general manager._ * * * * * * transcriber's note: minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. deeds of a great railway [illustration: portrait of c. j. bowen-cooke, esq., c.b.e., followed by his signature. [_frontispiece._ chief mechanical engineer, london and north-western railway.] deeds of a great railway a record of the enterprise and achievements of the london and north-western railway company during the great war by g. r. s. darroch (croix de guerre) assistant to the chief mechanical engineer l. & n.w.r. with a preface by l. j. maxse _with illustrations_ "the railway executive committee have been too modest, the public do not know what they achieved."--_engineering._ london john murray, albemarle street, w. _all rights reserved_ errata. page , footnote, _for_ said the tsar, _read_ said of the tsar. " , line , _for_ walschaerte valve appertaining, _read_ walschaerte valve gear appertaining. " , line , _for_ mileage of permanent available _read_ mileage of permanent way available. foreword "let thy speech be better than silence, or be silent," is a golden and an olden precept, one moreover that may, or may not, impel the aspiring rhetorician to beware the pitfalls which ever and anon threaten to ensnare his footsteps; and in compiling this little work the present author has not been unmindful of at least two dilemmas with which he has felt himself to be faced; one, the danger of toying with that "little knowledge" which in the course of his professional duties he has been at pains--in fact could hardly fail--to acquire; the other, the debatable policy of presenting to a public, however indulgent, a subject of which, at the moment of writing, and in common with the majority of people, he is heartily tired, namely that of munitions of war. prompted, however, by an ardent and innate love, dating from his earliest school-days, for railway-engines, trains, and everything appertaining thereto--a love, moreover, so compelling that at the romantic age of thirteen he applied for an engine-pass with which joyously to ride home for the holidays, and without which, owing to a polite but firm refusal, he suffered many a pang of disappointment--feeling, too, that railway enthusiasts, whether amateur or professional, cannot fail to evince a certain degree of interest in the truly amazing rôle enacted during the war by the locomotive departments of the great railway companies of the country, he has ventured to touch upon what may best, perhaps, be termed the "war effort" of the london and north-western railway, the premier british line, of which the locomotive g.h.q. are, as is well known, to be found at crewe. in treating this subject, the author has, as will be seen, refrained as far as possible from wearying the reader with interminable statistics, with technical dissertations descriptive of methods of manufacture, and other tedious prosaics. his aim has been rather to recall the hair-breadth escapes to which the nation was subjected; to show by means of various and authentic extracts from public utterances recorded in the press of the day, and from recent publications, the necessities which arose contingent upon the trend of military operations and upon the arena of political pantomimes; and to illustrate the manner in which the london and north-western railway, predominant amongst the great railway and industrial enterprises of the british isles, not only was able, but did, rise to the occasion, providing those sorely needed and essential "sinews" of war which were so largely instrumental in extricating the country from an extremely awkward predicament, as well as from a situation that was both ugly and menacing. _gratia gratiam parit_, but the author regretfully feels that in the present instance he is debarred from showing, in any practical manner, his appreciation of the kindness of those who have assisted him in his task. ingratitude is not infrequently held to be the "worst of vices," and undoubtedly "words are but empty thanks"; nevertheless the author finds it a pleasure as well as a duty to acknowledge his deep sense of indebtedness to those members of the staff at crewe works for their spontaneous assistance in regard to information supplied. he also takes this opportunity of tendering his sincere thanks to the following editors for their kind permission to reproduce various extracts from the columns of their respective newspapers: the editors of the _daily mail_, of the _morning post_, of the _pall mall gazette_, of the _times_, of _engineering_, of the _engineer_, of _modern transport_. his best thanks are also due to the managers of the following firms of publishers, who have been good enough to allow reproductions of extracts from well-known books which, respectively, they have produced: messrs. blackwood, "an airman's outings," "contact"; messrs. cassell, "the grand fleet, - ," lord jellicoe; messrs. constable, " ," lord french; messrs. flammarion, paris, "enseignements psychologiques de la guerre européenne," m. gustav lebon; messrs. hodder & stoughton, "winged warfare," captain bishop, v.c.; messrs. hutchinson, "my war memories, - ," general ludendorff. he is equally indebted to mr. c. j. bowen-cooke, c.b.e., for permission to reproduce extracts from his work "british locomotives"; also to mr. l. w. horne, c.b.e., m.v.o., and his personal staff at euston, who so kindly supplied statistics in regard to war-time traffic. last, but not least, are due the author's thanks to mr. l. j. maxse, editor and proprietor of the _national review_, whose readiness to pen a few prefatory remarks is now most gratefully acknowledged. whilst in no way seeking to underrate the intelligence, or to disavow the knowledge, already possessed by those readers who may be sufficiently patient to bear with him, the author would beg that at least they may not see cause to classify him with those who "wishing to appear wise among fools, among the wise seem foolish." crewe, . preface the british cannot be accused, even by their bitterest critics, of blowing their own trumpet. indeed, they fail in the opposite direction, and, as a general rule, carry their modesty to a point when it positively ceases to be a virtue, because it causes credit to go where it is not due. if we are unpopular as a nation--of which we are continually assured, though whether we are more disliked than other nations may be doubted--it is certainly not on account of boasting by our men of action and achievement. occasionally, it is true, we suffer under the extravagant claims of talking men--chiefly politicians--who are possibly inspired by the apprehension that unless they were their own advertisers mankind would remain oblivious and therefore ungrateful as regards the services they are supposed to have rendered. the events of the great war will gradually emerge in proper perspective, and things will then seem somewhat different to what they do to-day, when there is a certain and inevitable reaction which both enables pretenders to pose as saviours of society, and encourages us to overlook much of which we may be legitimately proud because it has demonstrated afresh to a world that was forgetting it that the british are essentially a great people with a genius for everything appertaining to war, however lacking in the supreme art of making durable peace. in that day we shall want to know a great deal more than we do at present concerning the origin of a conflict which has been to some extent obscured by interested parties on both sides of the north sea who have enveloped the palpitating pre-war crisis in a curtain of misrepresentation. it is common ground that germany willed the war for which she was super-abundantly prepared, while great britain willed peace for which she was no less eager. not for the first time in our history were we taken completely unawares--neither government nor public having the faintest inkling of any impending storm, still less that civilisation was on the eve of a cataclysm of which it would feel the effects for more than one century. as we look back on the dark ages of , so graphically recalled by the author of this book, we can only marvel at our blindness and wonder how it could be that so many highly trained observers and experts on current events could entirely ignore a danger that, in the familiar french phrase, "leapt to the eyes." of this strange phenomenon there has so far been no attempt at any explanation, no amende from those "great wise and eminent men"--not confined to any particular political party--whose business it should have been to see what stared them in the face, altogether apart from the fact that the government of the day commanded that abundance of accurate inside information concerning international affairs, which, from generation to generation, is at the service of his majesty's ministers. it would be some consolation and compensation for all we have endured during this portentous period were there any guarantee that no such catastrophe could recur because the terrible lesson of to had been assimilated by responsible statesmen who ask so much from the community that we are entitled to expect something from them in return. if we cannot afford to forget the political aspect of that crisis, it is infinitely more agreeable to contemplate the miraculous manner in which "england the unready" buckled to and transformed herself into the mighty machine whose hammer blows on every element ultimately turned the scale, and with the aid of allies and associates converted what at the outset looked like "world power" for germany into her "downfall." of the part played by the fighting men we know a good deal, and the more we know the more we admire. of the wonderful organisation largely improvised, that placed and kept vast forces in the field all over the world, we know next to nothing, partly because the more dramatic aspects of the war have naturally attracted the attention of its historians, partly because those with the necessary knowledge have been too busy re-converting the machine to pacific purposes to be able to write its war record. in this attractive volume, mr. darroch, assistant to the chief mechanical engineer in the locomotive department of the london and north western railway company at crewe,--who has enjoyed the advantage of two full years' active service overseas,--tells us in so many words how our premier railway company "did its bit." every factor in that great organisation was subordinated to the common object, and the works at crewe as urgency arose became a munitions department. it is a wonderful and stimulating story--made all the more interesting because the author continually bears in mind that it is part of a still larger whole and breaks what is entirely new ground to the vast majority of the reading public. there is a desire in some quarters to banish the war as an evil dream--to bury its sacred memories, to forget all about it. if we followed this shallow advice, we should merely prove ourselves to be unworthy of the sublime sacrifice, thanks to which we escaped destruction, besides making a recurrence of danger inevitable. to our author, who is an enthusiast in his calling, this book has been a labour of love, and he has certainly made us all his debtors by this brilliant and entrancing chapter of the history of the london and north-western. l. j. maxse. contents chapter page foreword v preface ix i. being mainly historical ii. armoured trains iii. mechanical miscellanea iv. the graze-fuse v. care of the cartridge case vi. gunnery and projectiles (rudimentary notes and notions) vii. the crewe tractor viii. "hullo! america" ix. the art of drop-forging x. - passengers and goods xi. indispensable xii. l'envoi appendix a the system of control applied to the armoured trains manufactured in crewe works appendix b explanatory of the gauge appendix c the thread-miller, and the "backing-off" lathe, as applied to shell manufacture list of illustrations page c. j. bowen-cooke, esq., c.b.e., chief mechanical engineer, london and north-western railway _frontispiece_ armoured train various types of artificial limbs the protector, or mine-sweeping, paravane gauges made at crewe and used for the manufacture of graze-fuses reversible mechanical tapping machine for fuse caps designed at crewe the graze-fuse, shewn in section rolling out dents in · -inch fired cartridge case "patriot."--a typical example of the "claughton" class of ´ ´´, six wheels coupled express passenger engine with superheated boiler; four h.p. cylinders, - / ´´ bore x ´´ stroke; boiler pressure, lbs. per sq. inch; maximum tractive force, , lbs.; weight of engine and tender in working order, tons -inch shell manufacture in the new fitting shop, crewe works a crewe tractor in road trim a crewe tractor as light-railway engine on active service limber hooks: illustrating duplex method of drop forging trunnion brackets for -inch howitzer gun, drop forgings the -ton drop hammer naval gun weighing tons. a typical instance of war-time traffic breakdown crane and lifting tackle for shipping small goods engines an overseas locomotive panel "severely wounded" type of overhead travelling crane, built at crewe and supplied to the overseas "rearward services" "we, the working men of crewe, will do all that is humanly possible to increase the output of munitions, and stand by our comrades in the trenches" london and north-western railway war memorial, euston manufacture of a hob-cutter, in "relieving" or "backing-off" lathe _appendix c_ deeds of a great railway chapter i being mainly historical "england woke at last, like a giant, from her slumbers, and she turned to swords her plough-shares, and her pruning hooks to spears, while she called her sons and bade them be the men that god had made them, ere they fell away from manhood in the careless idle years." thus it was that on that fateful morning of august th, , england awoke, awoke to find herself involved in a struggle, the magnitude of which even the most well-informed, the most highly placed in the land, failed utterly, in those early days, to conceive or to grasp; in death-grips with the most formidable and long-since-systematically prepared fighting machine ever organised in the history of the world by master-minds, ruthless and cunning, steeped in the science of war. england awoke, dazed, incredulous, unprepared; in fact, to quote the very words of the premier, who, when minister of munitions, was addressing a meeting at manchester in the summer of , "we were the worst organised nation in the world for this war." the worst organised nation! and this, in spite of repeated public utterances and threats coming direct to us from the world-aggressors, as to the import of which there never should, nor indeed could, have been any shadow of doubt. "neptune with the trident is a symbol for us that we have new tasks to fulfil ... that trident must be in our fist"; thus the german emperor at cologne in . "germany is strong, and when the hour strikes will know how to draw her sword"; dr. von bethmann-hollweg, in the reichstag, . or to burrow further back into the annals of the last century, one recalls a challenge, direct and unmistakable, from the pen of so prominent a leader of german public opinion as professor treitshke, "we have reckoned with france and austria--the reckoning with england has yet to come; it will be the longest and the hardest." the reckoning came, swiftly and with deadly purpose. necessity knew no law, belgian territory was violated, paris was threatened, the prussian spear pointing straight at the heart of france. unprepared, taken unawares, and, but for the sure shield of defence afforded by her fleet, well-nigh negligible, england awoke. happily, the nation as a whole was sound; though hampered as it was by a peace-at-any-price section of the press, and honeycombed though it had become with the burrowings of the "yellow english," that "lecherous crew" who, naturalised or unnaturalised, like snakes in the grass, sought, once the hour had struck, to sell the country of their adoption, the man-in-the-street little knew, and probably never will know with any degree of accuracy, how near england came to "losing her honour, while europe lost her life." to reiterate all that was written at the time with the one object of keeping england out of the fray, of making her desert her friends, and of causing her, "after centuries of glorious life, to go down to her grave unwept, unhonoured, and unsung," is naturally beyond the scope of this necessarily brief _résumé_ of the _status quo ante_. but, lest we forget, lest we relapse once again to our former and innate characteristics of sublime indifference and of complacent _laissez-faire_, heedless of that oft-repeated warning, "they will cheat you yet, those junkers! having won half the world by bloody murder, they are going to win the other half with tears in their eyes, crying for mercy,"[ ] a cursory glance through one or two of the more glaring and self-condemnatory essays at defection from the one true and only path consistent with the nation's honour and integrity, may not be held amiss. [ ] carl rosemeier, a german in switzerland, to the allies. cp. _daily mail_, june, . _literæ scriptæ manent_, and so he who runs may still read the remonstrance of a high dignitary of the church, to wit, the bishop of lincoln, as set forth in the _daily news and leader_, august rd, --"for england to join in this hideous war would be treason to civilisation, and disaster to our people"; or this reassuring sop from the archbishop of york on november st, --"i have a personal memory of the emperor very sacred to me." the strange views of a leading daily newspaper are typical of the "party of dishonour." in its columns in august, , we read, "the question of the integrity of belgium is one thing; its neutrality is quite another. we shall not easily be convinced ... that the sacrosanctity of belgian soil from the passage of an invader is worth the sacrifice of so much that mattered so much more to englishmen." "cold feet" was an affliction from which the same journal was evidently suffering on the same date, for "from all parts of the kingdom we are hearing of businesses that are about to close down if great britain goes to war. it is going to be an appalling catastrophe." in this respect, too, the parliamentary correspondent of the _daily chronicle_ doubtless felt that the spilling of ink was likely to be more profitable than the shedding of blood, as evinced by his inspiring little contribution on august rd: "whatever the outcome of the present tension, i believe the cabinet have definitely decided not to send our expeditionary force abroad. truth to tell, the issues which have precipitated the conflict which threatens to devastate the whole of europe are not worth the bones of a single soldier." this policy of "scuttle" must ever remain as shameful as it is unintelligible to the ordinary self-respecting britisher; but as to the nature of the plea put forward by the _daily news_, august th, there can be no vestige of doubt: "if we remained neutral we should be, from the commercial point of view, in precisely the same position as the united states. we should be able to trade with all the belligerents (so far as the war allows of trade with them); we should be able to capture the bulk of their trade in neutral markets; we should keep our expenditure down; we should keep out of debt; we should have healthy finances." it has been said that "each country and each epoch has the press which it deserves"; but although god may have given us our press just as he has given us our relations, at least let us thank god that we can choose our papers just as we can choose our friends. on "black saturday" (august st, ) the position was literally "touch and go," as may be gathered from the following:--"powerful city financiers, whom it was my duty to interview this saturday (august st) on the financial situation, ended the conference with an earnest hope that britain would keep out of it" (mr. lloyd george, chancellor of the exchequer, in an interview with mr. henry beech needham, _pearson's magazine_, march, ). clearly, international finance had all but succeeded in winning the day for the fatherland. s.o.s. must assuredly have been the signal subconsciously sent out by the staunch little minority in the asquith cabinet; for when the tide was at its lowest ebb, when england's honour literally hung in the balance, and while mr. asquith was still waiting and wobbling, there came mr. bonar law's memorable letter as voicing the opinion of the government opposition, and of which the plain, outspoken meaning may be said to have had the effect of definitely turning the scale:--"dear mr. asquith, lord lansdowne and i feel it our duty to inform you that in our opinion, as well as in that of all the colleagues whom we have been able to consult, it would be fatal to the honour and security of the united kingdom to hesitate in supporting france and russia at the present juncture, and we offer our unhesitating support to the government in any measures they may consider necessary for that object. yours very truly, a. bonar law." the tonic effect of this dose of stimulant was as immediate as it was invigorating, for "on sunday (august nd)," as sir edward grey announced the following day in the house of commons (cp. the _times_, august th, ), "i gave the french ambassador the assurance that if the german fleet comes into the channel or through the north sea to undertake hostile operations against the french coasts or shipping, the british fleet will give all the protection in its power." further, although "we have not yet made an engagement to send the expeditionary force out of the country" we were not letting the grass grow under our feet, for "the mobilisation of the fleet has taken place; that of the army is taking place." all self-respecting englishmen were able to breathe again; we were at least to be permitted to do our bare duty towards our neighbour; we could, in fact, once again look him in the face. but the almighty indeed "moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform," and it needed the blatant blundering of the bullet-headed boche, which throughout the prolonged agony has proved one of the greatest assets of the entente cause, more often than not being instrumental in saving ourselves in spite of ourselves, finally to ensure that we fulfilled our treaty, as well as our moral, obligations. our erstwhile "checker" of armament expenditure took very good care, subsequently, to remove the possibility of any doubt lingering on this score--"this i know is true.... i would not have been a party to a declaration of war, had belgium not been invaded, and i think i can say the same thing for most, if not all, of my colleagues.... if germany had been wise, she would not have set foot on belgian soil. the liberal government then would not have intervened" (mr. lloyd george, in an interview with mr. harry beech needham, _pearson's magazine_, march, ). wednesday, august th, is a day that will remain "momentous in the history of all times," for owing to the incursion within belgian territory of german troops "his majesty's government have declared to the german government that a state of war exists between great britain and germany as from p.m. on august th" (cp. the _times_, august th, ). thenceforth eyes became riveted on the north sea, thoughts centred on belgium. liège, the first stumbling-block in the path of the invader, was holding at bay the oncoming enemy hordes, thousands of whom advancing in close formation were made blindly to bite the dust. eagerly the newspapers were bought up; every fresh message ticked off on the "tape" was greedily devoured. a french success in alsace, a german submarine sunk, fighting on the meuse and in the vosges, lorraine invaded by the french--these and other announcements, acting as apperitiffs to whet the appetite, added to the excitement of the hour. pressure of public opinion had ousted lord haldane from the war office; kitchener, "with an inflexible will, a heart that never fails at the blackest moments, a spirit that time and again has been proved unconquerable," becoming secretary of state for war. with the approval of his majesty the king, admiral sir john jellicoe assumed supreme command of the home fleets, field-marshal sir john french was nominated to the command of the british expeditionary force. yet as day succeeded day and little or nothing became visibly apparent, vainly on all hands, but with increasing persistence, was asked the question, "why did not england move?" why this inaction, this seeming hesitation? the fleet had been as if swallowed up by the waters. all was silence everywhere. at midnight on august th we were at war with austria, and although "the general attitude of the nation is what it ever has been in time of trial, sedate, sensible, and self-possessed," the _times_ of august th, anxious, no doubt, to ease the existing tension, openly commented on the fact that "all sorts of absurd and unfounded rumours have been circulated by light-headed and irresponsible individuals," throwing ridicule on "dire reports of mishaps suffered by the allies, of german victories, of insurrections in the french capital, and even of heavy british casualties by land and sea." three more days "petered out," however, before all doubts were dispelled, and these "dire reports" shown to be totally void and without foundation. on tuesday, august th, or exactly a fortnight from the declaration of war, it was with mingled feelings of gratitude and of relief that we read in our morning paper, "the following statement was issued last night by the press bureau--'the expeditionary force, as detailed for foreign service, has been landed on french soil. the embarkation, transportation, and disembarkation of men and stores were alike carried through with the greatest possible precision, and without a single casualty.'" only those who had been intimately connected with, or actually concerned in, this the first move in the great drama were aware of the intense amount of activity that had been crowded into the breathless space of those two short weeks. the ordinary man-in-the-street, the strap-hanger, the lady in the stalls, the girl in the taxi, all were purposely kept in the dark; the great british public knew nothing. those of us who happily foresaw the historical interest and value that must surely accrue in the years to come from the preservation of the newspapers of the day may yet ponder in reminiscent mood headlines and paragraphs, descriptive of events and portraying emotions, current and constraining, throughout those august days. on august th, the _times_, habitually dignified, lucid and exemplary, touches on the occasion in a vein deserving as it is decorous: "the veil is at last withdrawn from one of the most extraordinary feats in modern history--the dispatch of a large force of armed men across the sea in absolute secrecy. what the nation at large knew it knew only from scraps of gossip that filtered through the foreign press. from its own press, from its own government, it learned nothing; and patiently, gladly, it maintained, of its own accord, the conspiracy of silence." it was true, in fact inevitable, that "every day for many days now mothers have been saying good-bye to sons, and wives to husbands," but "until britain knew that her troopships had safely crossed that narrow strip of water that might have been the grave of thousands, britain held her peace." however, "now that we are at last allowed to refer to the dispatch of a british army to the seat of war, we may heartily congratulate all concerned upon the smooth and easy working of the machinery. the staffs of england and france who prepared the plan of transport, the railway and steamship companies which carried the men, the officers and men who marched silently off without the usual scenes of farewell at home, and last, but not least, the navy that covered the transports from attack, all deserve very hearty congratulations." comparisons are odious, and it is obviously without any desire to detract from the laudable performances of others in the accomplishment of this, "one of the most extraordinary feats in modern history," that reference of a special character is here made to the singularly high state of efficiency obtaining on the great british railway companies, which alone rendered possible so remarkable an achievement as that of marshalling at a moment's notice, and dispatching, the many trains necessary for the conveyance to the different ports of embarkation within the united kingdom of the four divisions of all arms and one of cavalry of which the original british expeditionary force was composed. it is true that on the outbreak of war, the state, at least in name, assumed control of the railways, and this by virtue of an act of parliament passed in ( and victoria, c. ) "for the regulation of the regular and auxiliary forces of the crown," section xvi. of which enacted that "when her majesty, by order in council, declares that an emergency has arisen in which it is expedient for the public service that her majesty's government should have control over the railroads of the united kingdom, or any of them, the secretary of state may, by warrant under his hand, empower any person or persons named in such warrant to take possession in the name or on behalf of her majesty of any railroad in the united kingdom ... and the directors, officers, and servants of any such railroad shall obey the directions of the secretary of state as to the user of such railroad ... for her majesty's service." a previous "act for the better regulation of railways, and for the conveyance of troops" ( and victoriae th july, a.d., , cap. lv. section xx.), similarly declares--"be it enacted, 'that whenever it shall be necessary to move any of the officers or soldiers of her majesty's forces of the line, ordnance corps, marines, militia, or the police force, by any railway, the directors thereof shall and are hereby required to permit such forces respectively with their baggage, stores, arms, ammunition, and other necessaries and things, to be conveyed at the usual hours of starting, at such prices or upon such conditions as may from time to time be contracted for between the secretary at war and such railway companies for the conveyance of such forces, on the production of a route or order for the conveyance signed by the proper authorities." hence it will be seen that, always subject to the provisions of the national defence act of ( and victoriae, c. ), which simply ensured that naval and military requirements should take precedence over every other form of traffic on the railways whenever an order for the embodiment of the militia was in force, the actual working of the various departments of the different railway companies when war was declared remained, to all intents and purposes, identical with that prevailing in the piping times of peace, that is to say in the hands of the individual "directors, officers and servants" of the respective railways, with the result that in the absence of all attempt at interference on the part of official bureaucracy, "all went merry as a marriage-bell"; staffs worked day and night; confusion was conspicuous by its absence; smoothly, yet unrehearsed, proceeded the unparalleled programme, until the last man had been detrained, the last gun hauled aboard the transport lying in readiness at the quay; and in due course, as has already been mentioned, "the contemptibles" were landed in france without a single casualty. whilst touching lightly upon the evident and praiseworthy preparedness and consequent ability of the great railway companies to deal with "the emergency" the moment it arose, it will perhaps not be uninteresting to inquire briefly into the circumstances dating back to the "fifties" of the last century from which were evolved and brought gradually to a state as nearly approaching perfection as is humanly possible the organisation necessary for the speedy and safe transport of troops by rail in time of war. history ever repeats itself, and it has invariably been the case that the imminent peril of invasion rather than any grandiose scheme of foreign conquest has been the determining factor in arousing that martial spirit, so prone to lying dormant, but which, handed down to us by our forbears, undoubtedly exists in the fibre of every true-born britisher, and which has assuredly been the means of raising england to her present pinnacle of greatness. the three more obviously parallel instances in modern times of the manifestation of this trait so happily characteristic of the nation are to be found, first and foremost perhaps in connection with the present-day world conflict, when in response to the late lord kitchener's first appeal for recruits thousands flocked to the colours. apposite indeed was the following brief insertion to be found in the personal column of the _times_, august th, : "'flannelled fools at the wicket and muddied oafs at the goal' have now an opportunity of proving whether mr. kipling was wrong." they seized the opportunity in no uncertain manner; incontrovertibly they proved him wrong, "the first hundred thousand," or "kitchener's mob" as they were affectionately termed, being speedily enrolled, and forming the nucleus of the immense armies which eventually took the field. analogous to this effort may be taken the crisis occurring in the middle of the last century, when, in the year , out of what may best be described perhaps as a "storm in a tea-cup," there loomed the threat of invasion by our friends from across the channel, resulting in a scare the immediate outcome of which was the formation of the volunteer force, which quickly reached a total of , men. although this particular crisis must be considered as bearing more directly on present-day matters of interest in view of the fact that the importance of steam-traction by rail relative to warlike operations commenced at that time to make itself felt, the extent to which the nation seemed likely to be imperilled was, nevertheless, scarcely to be compared with the danger that threatened during what may be termed the closing phase of the napoleonic era, when in the year massed in camp at boulogne was the flower of the french army equipped with quantities of flat-bottomed boats ready for its conveyance across the channel. to counter this formidable menace was mustered in england a force of , volunteers, imbued with the same fervent ardour, the same spirit of intense patriotism and self-sacrifice that has ever been evinced by the country in her hour of peril. how the menace was in fact averted, and the last bid for world-domination by the emperor napoleon bonaparte frustrated, is common knowledge, the memorable action off cap trafalgar determining once and for all the inviolability of england's shores. "england," exclaimed pitt, "has saved herself by her courage; she will save europe by her example." the average historian of to-day, who mentally is as firmly convinced that the genius of nelson won the battle of trafalgar as he is ocularly certain that the famous admiral's statue dominates trafalgar square, will, on the other hand, in all probability deny that the use of steam as a motive force was contemporaneous with the period in which nelson lived. but although it is somewhat of a far cry from the latter part of the eighteenth century to the "eighteen-fifties" when steam was to become a factor of no mean importance in the waging of modern war, there is, nevertheless, conclusive evidence to show that dating so far back as the "seventeen-seventies" individual efforts of admittedly a most elementary, albeit utterly fascinating, kind were already being made with a view to solving the problem wrapt up in this "water-vapour," and so compelling the elusive energy to be derived therefrom as a motive agency for rendering facile human itinerancy. no sooner had the first self-propelled steam-carriage made its appearance on the road, than speculation became rife as to the range of potentialities lying latent in the then phenomenal invention; well-nigh limitless seemed the vista about to unfold itself to human ambition, and looking back over the past century and a half how strangely prophetic sound these lines from the pen of erasmus darwin, who died in !-- "soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam! afar drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car; or, on wide-waving wings expanded, bear the flying chariot through the field of air!" evidently the "jules verne" of his day, erasmus darwin was physician as well as poet; his ideas, so we are told, were indeed "original and contain the germs of important truths," to which may, in some measure, be attributed the genius of his grandson, the famous charles r. darwin, discoverer of natural selection. it is true the petrol engine has latterly proved its more ready adaptability to the purpose of road locomotion and of aviation, but the fact remains that steam to this day eminently preserves her predominance in the world of ocean and railway travel. seldom does one find the evolution of any one particular branch of scientific endeavour traced in so alluring as well as instructive a manner as proves to be the case, when, taking down from the nearest bookshelf that delightful little volume "british locomotives," one pursues the author, mr. c. j. bowen-cooke (now c.b.e. and chief mechanical engineer of the london and north-western railway), with never-abating interest through his treatise on the early history of the modern railway engine. he tells us that "the first self-moving locomotive engine of which there is any authenticated record was made by a frenchman named nicholas charles cugnot, in the year . it was termed a 'land-carriage,' and was designed to run on ordinary roads." although we learn that "there are no particulars extant of this, the very first locomotive," this same cugnot designed and constructed two years later, a larger engine, "which is still preserved in the conservatoire des arts et metiers at paris." the french are a people ever prone to looking further than their noses, hence the fact that the french government not unnaturally "took some interest in this notion of a steam land-carriage, and voted a sum of money towards its construction, with the idea that such a machine might prove useful for military purposes." man proposes, but god disposes, and as luck would have it the vehicle seemed fore-ordained to end its brief career somewhat ingloriously, for after it "had been tried two or three times it overturned in the streets of paris, and was then locked up in the arsenal." a lapse of ten or a dozen years supervened before england began looking to her laurels, but "in watt took out a patent for a steam-carriage, of which the boiler was to be of wood or thin metal, to be secured by hoops or otherwise to prevent its bursting from the pressure of steam"! it was not long, however, ere the steam road carriage was superseded by a locomotive designed to run on rails, of which the earliest "broods," embracing such "spifflicating" species as the puffing billies, rockets, planets, etc., and "hatched" from the brains of eminent men such as stephenson and trevithick, were necessarily original and quaint to a degree. it is, unfortunately, impossible here to do more than skim the copious wealth of interesting data through which mr. bowen-cooke so admirably pilots us, and which evidently he has spared no pains to collect; suffice it to add that the succeeding years bear unfailing witness to that intense earnestness which, sustaining the early locomotive pioneers unwearying in their well-fading was so largely instrumental in the attainment of that perfection of which we, their beneficiaries, now in our own season reap the benefit. it was not until the opening of the liverpool and manchester railway in , when the directors of that line offered "a premium of £ for the most improved locomotive engine," that any real tendency towards modern design and external appearance began to make itself apparent. the stimulus afforded by this offer, however, was rousing in effect, engines becoming gradually larger and more or less powerful, until in the year mr. ramsbottom designed and built for the london and north-western railway company at crewe an express passenger engine known familiarly as the "seven foot six," in that its single pair of driving wheels measured feet inches in diameter. bearing the name of "lady of the lake" (for, whilst sacrificing perhaps a certain amount of power for speed, it was "certainly one of the prettiest engines ever built"), this engine and others of the same "class" remained in the service of the london and north-western railway until quite recently, thus forming a link between the earth-shaking events of the present day and that period of anxious calm, when the scare (to which reference has previously been made) became the occasion in for centring public opinion on the possibilities of, and the advantages likely to accrue from, transport by rail in time of war. the crimean struggle of had done little enough to enhance england's military prestige, only to be followed, two years later, by the nightmare horrors of the mutiny. throughout the first and second palmerston ministries, the reading of the european barometer remained at "stormy," and an attempt in to assassinate the emperor napoleon iii., which was believed to have had its origin in england, served as a prelude to the "blowing-off" of a considerable volume of steam, especially when a year later, the war between france and austria having terminated and the kingdom of italy being created, the french people found themselves free to devote their then bellicose attentions, as had so frequently been their misguided and regrettable wont, to our insular selves. it is, however, an ill wind that blows nobody any good, and the very fact that the tone, particularly of the military party in france, was violent and aggressive to a degree, had the salutary effect of serving as a mirror in which was accurately reflected our own deplorable unpreparedness for war. commenting on the situation, the writer of a leading article in the _times_ of april th, , openly deplores the fact that "the englishman of the present day has forgotten the use of arms"; not merely this, but "the practice of football or of vying with the toughest waterman on the thames is of little service to young men when their country is in danger." mercifully enough, perhaps, the pernicious sensationalism of the cinema, and the vacant thrills afforded by the scenic railway, were magic lures unknown in those mid-victorian days, manly and open-air forms of sport already being considered sufficiently derogatory to the inculcation within the minds of the younger generation of that fitting sense of duty, of self-sacrifice, and subservience to discipline. the opinion was further expressed that "there can be only one true defence of a nation like ours--a large and permanent volunteer force supported by the spirit and patriotism of our young men, and gradually indoctrinating the country with military knowledge," the article concluding with this ominous reminder--"we are the only people in the world who have not such a force in one form or another." "si vis pacem, para bellum" was the obvious corollary drawn by all sober-minded people and seriously inclined members of the community, and on the th of may, , the _times_ had "the high gratification of announcing that this necessity (that of home defence) is now recognised by the government," for "in another portion of our columns will be found a circular addressed by general peel to the queen's lieutenants of counties sanctioning the formation of volunteer rifle corps." at the same time the war in italy was made to serve the purpose of bringing out in full relief the importance of steam as a novel factor in strategical operations, for we further read (cp. the _times_, may th, ) that "steam--an agency unknown in former contests--renders all operations infinitely more practicable.... railroads can bring troops to the frontier from all quarters of the kingdom.... it is in steam transport, in fact, that we discover the chief novelty of the war." thenceforward matters began to assume practical shape, and in the following year , on september th, we come across a reference to the volunteer movement "which has so signal a success as to produce a costless disciplined army of , marksmen," springing from "a unanimous feeling of the necessity of preparing for defence." conspicuous amongst this "costless disciplined army" figure the st middlesex (south kensington) engineer volunteers, "numbering now," as we find, on october rd, , "over members," and "daily increasing in strength is making rapid progress in its drills, etc." the st middlesex was evidently the original corps of engineer volunteers to be formed, and thus became the precursor of other and similar corps which sprang into being in other parts of the country; a fine example of which (although entirely distinct in that it was the sole engineer corps to embody railway engineers) was later to become apparent in the nd cheshire engineers (railway) volunteers. formed in january, , the battalion was recruited entirely from amongst the employés of the london and north-western railway, comprising firemen, cleaners, boilermakers and riveters, fitters, smiths, platelayers, shunters, and pointsmen. the nominal strength of the establishment was six companies of men each, but in addition men enlisted as a matter of form in the royal engineers for one day and were placed in the first class army reserve for six years, forming the royal engineer railway reserve, and being liable for service at any time. during the south african war officers and men saw service at the front, and the military authorities were not slow to appreciate the invaluable aid rendered by this picked body of men. on the inception of lord haldane's scheme of territorials in , the battalion was embodied therein, and continued as such until march, , when for some inexplicable reason it was finally disbanded. how valuable an asset from the professional point of view were deemed, originally, these engineer corps, may be gathered from the _times_ of november rd, , which congratulates the st middlesex, as being the parent corps, on having been "most successful in obtaining skilled workmen of the class from which are drawn the royal engineers. every member of the corps goes through a course of military engineering in field works, pontooning, etc.," with the result that the volunteer engineers "will therefore form a valuable adjunct to the royal engineers in the event of their being called into the field." the ball once started rolling, it was not unnaturally deemed advisable to form some central and representative body of control, and the _times_ of january th, , gives an account of an "interesting ceremony of presenting prizes to the successful competitors of rifle practice of the queen's westminster ( nd middlesex) rifle volunteers," when colonel mcmurdo, then inspector-general of the volunteer forces, "who was received with loud and long-continued applause," in the course of a speech referred to the formation of a new corps, "a most important one both for the volunteer force and the regular army. he would tell the objects of this corps," which would consist of lieutenant-colonels, and would enlist other members down to the rank of sergeants:--"in order that the volunteers and the army of england should be able to move in large masses from one part of the country to another they would have to depend upon railways. in all the wars of late years--as in the italian war, the war in denmark, and in the american war--the railway had been brought into service, to move armies rapidly from place to place, and this new corps, which at present consisted of the most eminent railway engineers and general managers of the great lines, had the task of bringing into a unity of action the whole system of railways of great britain; so that if war should visit england, which god forbid, this country would be placed on an equality with countries whose governments possessed the advantage--if advantage it might be called--of carrying on the business of the railways. and the importance of this they might estimate when he assured them that with the finest army in the world, unless they had a system by which , men could move upon the railways with order, security, and precision, efficiency and numbers would be of no avail upon the day of battle; and that unless we had order, unless we had certainty in the moving of large masses, the day of battle, which might come, would be to us a day of disaster." accorded the title of "the engineer and railway volunteer staff corps," this select little group, combining some of the best brains and ability to be found in the engineering and managerial departments of the railways, acted in the capacity of consulting engineers to the government, from the time of its formation until the year , when a smaller body composed on similar lines and known as the "war railway council" was introduced for the purpose of supplementing, and to some extent relieving, the original railway staff corps. as has already been seen, although in accordance with the provisions of the act of the government would assume control of the railways in the event of "an emergency" arising, the directors, officers, and servants of the different companies would nevertheless be required to "carry on" as usual, and to maintain, each in their several spheres, the actual working of the lines. the final adjustment of any minor defects that may have been apparent in the rapidly completing chain of organisation was speedily accelerated by the agadir crisis of , resulting in the inception in the following year of that unique and singularly thorough institution, the railway executive committee, which in turn superseded its immediate predecessor, the war railway council. on the outbreak of the world conflict in august, , and following on an official announcement by the war office to the effect that government control would be exercised through this "executive committee composed of general managers of the railways," sir herbert walker, k.c.b., general manager of the london and south-western railway, who was forthwith appointed acting-chairman of the railway executive committee, issued in concise form a further and confirmatory statement, in which he drew attention to the fact that "the control of the railways has been taken over by the government for the purpose of ensuring that the railways, locomotives, rolling-stock, and staff shall be used as one complete unit in the best interests of the state for the movement of troops, stores, and food supplies.... the staff on each railway will remain under the same control as heretofore, and will receive their instructions through the same channels as in the past." indelibly imprinted though the memory of those fateful august days must remain in the minds of every living individual, days brimful of wonderings alternating with doubt, expectancy, ill-foreboding, and occasional delight, coupled with an all-pervading sense of mystery completely enshrouding the movements of our own forces, few indeed were aware of the extent of the task imposed upon the railway executive committee. yet so swiftly, so silently, was the entire scheme of mobilisation carried through, that it was with a sense bordering on bewilderment and with something akin to a gulp that the public found itself digesting the news of the safe transport and arrival in france of the expeditionary force. on the occasion of his first appearance in the house of lords as secretary of state for war, the late lord kitchener referred in brief, but none the less eulogistic terms, to the successful part played by the railway companies (cp. the _times_, august th, ): "i have to remark that when war was declared mobilisation took place without any hitch whatever. the railway companies in the all-important matter of railway transport facilities have more than justified the complete confidence reposed in them by the war office, all grades of railway services having laboured with untiring energy and patience. we know how deeply the french people appreciate the prompt assistance we have been able to afford them at the very outset of the war." nor has sir john french neglected to record his own appreciation of so signal a performance, for, in describing the events leading up to the concentration of the british army in france, he writes (cp. " ," p. ): "their reports (_i.e._ of the corps commanders and their staffs) as to the transport of their troops from their mobilising stations to france were highly satisfactory. the nation owes a deep debt of gratitude to the naval transport service and to all concerned in the embarking of the expeditionary force. every move was carried out exactly to time." so far so good, it will be opined. certainly from the chief points of disembarkation, boulogne and le havre, there were "roses, roses all the way," surely never before in the annals of warfare have troops from an alien shore been greeted with such galaxy of joy and enthusiasm, though perhaps most touching tribute of all was that of a wayside impression, the figure of an old peasant leaning heavily on his thickly gnarled stick, with cap in hand outstretched, his wan smile and glistening tear-dimmed eye indicating in measure unmistakable the depth and sincerity of his silent gratitude. "on friday, august st, the british expeditionary force," sir john french tells us, "found itself awaiting its first great trial of strength with the enemy," and the childish display of wrathful indignation evinced by wilhelm the (would-be) conqueror, who is credited with having slapped with his gauntlet the face of an all too-zealous staff officer, bearer of so displeasing an item of intelligence, is not devoid of humour. the nursery parallel is complete--"fe, fi, fo, fum," roared the giant, "i smell the blood of an englishmen." "gott im himmel," snarled the kaiser, "it is my royal and imperial command that you concentrate your energies, for the immediate present, upon one single purpose, and that is that you address all your skill and all the valour of my soldiers to exterminate first the treacherous english and walk over general french's contemptible little army." head-quarters, aix-la-chapelle, august th, , (cp. the _times_, october st, ). "up to that time," however, as sir john french asseverates in his further reminiscences, "as far as the british forces were concerned, the forwarding of offensive operations had complete possession of our minds.... the highest spirit pervaded all ranks"; in fact "no idea of retreat was in the minds of the leaders of the allied armies," who were "full of hope and confidence." in this wise, then, did the regulars, the flower of the british army, enter the fray, little dreaming that the entire nation and empire were to be trained in their wake, or that upwards of four years, instead of so many months, involving sacrifices untold, must elapse ere we were destined to emerge (or perhaps muddle) successfully from out the wood. for the moment, as it transpired, "nothing came to hand which led us to foresee the crushing superiority of strength which actually confronted us on sunday, august rd"; neither had "allenby's bold and searching reconnaissance led me (sir john french) to believe that we were threatened by forces against which we could not make an effective stand." how completely the strength and disposal of the enemy forces had been veiled, no more than a few brief hours sufficed to disclose; disillusion quickly supervened. "our intelligence ... thought that at least three german corps (roughly , men)[ ] were advancing upon us," and following on a severe engagement in the neighbourhood of charleroi in which the french th corps on our left suffered heavily, a general retirement commenced. namur had fallen on august th, and there was no blinking the truth, it was the germans who were advancing, not we! thenceforward, the retreat, the now historic retreat from mons, orderly throughout, set in along the whole line of the allied armies; of respite there was none, day in day out, 'neath the burning rays of an august sun the enemy pressure increased rather than relaxed. [ ] the german army corps of two divisions has , men, and a combatant strength of , rifles, machine guns, sabres, and guns. the german army corps of three divisions is approximately , strong (cp. the _times_, august th, ). the following narrative set down by an eye-witness, temporarily _en panne_ during the afternoon and evening of august th on the outskirts of the little provincial town of ham, depicts briefly but with some degree of vividness the tragic nature of the scene that was being enacted. after making some slight preliminary allusion to the pitiable plight of refugees who everywhere helped to block the roads, "there commenced," so the narrative runs, "this other spectacle of which i speak; at first, as it were, a mere trickle, a solitary straggler here, a stray cavalry horseman there, until the trickle grew, grew into a strange and never-ending living stream; for, down the long straight route nationale from le cateau, and so away beyond from mons, they came those 'broken british regiments' that had been 'battling against odds'; men bare-headed, others coatless, gone the very tunic from their backs; tattered, blood-stained, torn; now a small detachment, now a little group; carts and wagons heaped with impedimenta galore, while lying prone on top of all were worn-out men and footsore. and all the time along the roadside fallen-out, limping, hobbling, stumbling, came stragglers, twos and threes, men who for upwards of four days and nights, without repose, had fought and marched and trekked, till sheer exhaustion well-nigh dragged each fellow to the ground. yet on they kept thus battling 'gainst the numbness of fatigue, that mates more broken than themselves should ease, in measure slight, their sufferings in the bare comfort of thrice-laded carts. all but ashamed to poke the crude curiosity of a camera in the grim path of war-worn warriors such as these, from where i stood, as unobtrusive as could be, i snapped three instantaneous glimpses of this gloriously pitiful review, stamped though it was already ineradicably in the pages of my memory. twilight fell, and night, and still the stream flowed in and ever onward." the news in london, heralded by a special sunday afternoon edition of the _times_, came as a bolt from the blue, for not since the announcement of the landing of the expeditionary force in france had anything of an authentic nature been received as to its subsequent doings or movements; in fact, as the _times_ pointed out on august th, "the british expeditionary force has vanished from sight almost as completely as the british fleet"; further, as if to complete the nightmare of uncertainty, "british newspaper correspondents are not allowed at the front; ... the suspense thus imposed upon the nation is almost the hardest demand yet made by the authorities,--with some misgivings we hope it may be patiently borne." the british public, however, in spite of occasional qualms and momentary misgivings, ever confident of success and sure in its inflexible belief that the british army could hold its own against almost any odds (the prevailing logic being that one britisher was as good as any three dirty germans), had bidden dame rumour take a back seat in the recesses of its mind. incredible then the news that broke the spell: "this is a pitiful story i have to write," so read the message, dated amiens, august th, "and would to god it did not fall to me to write it. but the time for secrecy is past. i write with the germans advancing incessantly, while all the rest of france believes they are still held near the frontier." what had happened? how could it be true? sir john french wastes no time in mincing matters:--"the number of our aeroplanes was limited." "the enormous numerical and artillery superiority of the germans must be remembered." "it (the machine gun) was an arm in which the germans were particularly well found. they must have had at least six or seven to our one." "it was, moreover, very clear that the germans had realised that the war was to be one calling for colossal supplies of munitions, supplies indeed upon such a stupendous scale as the world had never before dreamed of, and they also realised the necessity for heavy artillery." the time for secrecy was past; but how to stem the tide? the situation was, and indeed remained, such that a year later mr. lloyd george (then secretary of state for war) was moved to make this astounding admission in the house of commons: "the house would be simply appalled to hear of the dangers we had to run last year." and again at a subsequent date when as minister of munitions he exclaimed in the house, "i wonder whether it will not be too late. ah! fatal words on this occasion! too late in moving here, too late in arriving there, too late in coming to this decision, too late in starting enterprises, too late in preparing. in this war the footsteps of the allied forces have been dogged by the mocking spectre of 'too late.'" in this connection it would be amusing, were it not so utterly tragic, to compare a slightly previous and public utterance from the lips of this same "saviour of his country":--"this is the most favourable moment for twenty years to overhaul our expenditure on armaments" (mr. lloyd george. _daily chronicle_, january st, ). happily however, "il n'est jamais trop tard pour bien faire," and this good old adage as to it being never _too_ late to mend was perhaps never better exemplified than when, the army ordnance authorities having realised that the government arsenals were in no position to cope fully with the demands likely to be made by the military authorities in the field, that other army of "contemptibles," the staffs and employés of the great engineering concerns of this country, came forward in a manner unparalleled in the history of modern industry, and forthwith commenced to adapt themselves and their entire available plant to the process of manufacturing munitions of war. foremost amongst firms of world-wide repute must be mentioned the great london and north-western railway company, whose chief mechanical engineer, mr. c. j. bowen-cooke, c.b.e., realising from the outset the import of the late lord kitchener's forecast as to the probable duration and extent of the war, and in spite of ever-increasing demands on locomotive power which he found himself compelled to meet for military as well as for ordinary civilian purposes, threw himself heart and soul into the problem of adapting the then existing conditions and plant in the company's locomotive works at crewe to the requirements of the military authorities. forewarned as it was to some extent by the hurricane advance of the hun, the government was also forearmed in that it was empowered by the provisions of the act of not merely to take over the railroads of the united kingdom, but, should it be deemed expedient to do so, the plant thereof as well. the government might even take possession of the plant without the railroad; though how the railways could have been maintained minus their plant, any more than the fleet could have remained in commission minus its dockyards, is doubtless a problem that was duly considered by those who framed the wording of the act in the year of grace . however that may be, as soon as the really desperate nature of the struggle began to dawn upon the government, and it was seen to be a case of "all or nothing," the then president of the board of trade, mr. runciman, m.p., was not slow to espy the latent, yet none the less patent, possibilities which surely existed within the practical domain of railway workshops. in certain circumstances it may be regarded as fortunate that not a few of those happy-go-lucky individuals, whose leaning is towards politics, are gifted with the convenient art of adapting themselves and their views to that particular quarter whence the wind happens to be blowing. "i must honestly confess," as this same mr. runciman had expressed himself when in he was financial secretary to the treasury, "that when i see the armaments expanding it is gall and wormwood to my heart; the huge amount of money spent on the army is a sore point with every one in the treasury." particularly galling, therefore, must have seemed the rate at which expenditure on armaments was increasing by leaps and bounds in ; yet so ingenuous is the manner in which politicians are calmly capable of effecting a complete _volte-face_, that on october th we find mr. runciman positively engaged in seeking out the late sir guy calthorp, then general manager of the london and north-western railway, and mr. bowen-cooke, for the purpose of eliciting their views as to the extent to which the railway companies might be relied upon to assist the government in spending still more huge amounts of money (incidentally thus adding a further dose of wormwood to his heart), especially in regard to the output of artillery. without knowing for the moment what actually were the more immediate and pressing requirements of the government, mr. cooke suggested an interview with the late sir frederick donaldson, then director of army ordnance at woolwich arsenal, with whom he was personally acquainted; the result being that sir frederick was able to point out in detail the difficulties with which he was faced, handing over to mr. cooke a number of drawings of gun-carriage chassis, etc., which he (mr. cooke) went through, tabulating them in concise form, so that at a forthcoming meeting which had been called at the railway clearing house for tuesday, october th, the chief mechanical engineers of the midland, great western, north-eastern, great northern, and lancashire and yorkshire railways who were present should have every facility for noting and deciding what they could best undertake in their respective railway workshops. the rapid growth of this government work necessitated arrangements being made for orders to pass through some recognised channel, and in november , an offshoot of the previously-mentioned railway executive committee, consisting of the chief mechanical engineers of the principal railway companies, together with representatives from the war office, was created, to be called "the railway war manufacturers' sub-committee." briefly the duties of this sub-committee were to consider, to co-ordinate, and to report upon various requests by or through the war office to the railway companies, to assist in the manufacture of warlike stores and equipment. all applications for work to be done in the railway workshops, either for the war department or for war department contractors, were submitted to this committee by one of the war office members. on receipt of any request the railway members of the committee decided whether the work was such as could be effectively undertaken by the railway companies, and if their decision was favourable, steps were taken to ascertain which companies could and would participate in the work, the amount of work they could undertake to turn out, and the approximate date of delivery. the war office members decided as to the priority of the various demands made upon the railway companies. the actual order upon the railway companies to carry out any manufacturing work was given to such companies by the railway executive committee. to detail the manner in which the london and north-western railway company's locomotive works at crewe became, in great measure, as it were, a private arsenal subsidiary to the royal arsenal at woolwich is the aspiring theme of the succeeding pages of this narrative. chapter ii armoured trains "the armourers, with busy hammers closing rivets up, give dreadful note of preparation." shakespeare. actually the first "job" to be undertaken in crewe works, with a view to winning the war and kicking the hun away back across the rhine whence rudely and ruthlessly he had pushed his unwelcome presence, was the hurried overhaul of a l. & n.w.r. motor delivery van which, destined for immediate service overseas and in conjunction with other and similar vehicles volunteered by such well-known firms as the a. & n. stores, bovril, ltd., carter paterson, harrod's stores, sunlight soap, etc., _ad lib._, formed the nondescript nucleus, unique and picturesque, but none the less invaluable, of the mammoth columns of w.d. lorries which eventuated in proportion as the country got into her stride. thereafter the "fun" became fast and furious; orders succeeded one another in quick succession, and in ever-increasing numbers, with the result that men who till then had been accustomed to living, moving, and having their being solely and entirely in an atmosphere of cylinders, motion rods, valves, and all the like paraphernalia of locomotive structure, suddenly found themselves "switched over" on to then unknown quantities, such as axle-trees, futchels, wheel-naves, stop-plates, elevating arcs, trunnions, and other attributes of "war's glorious art"; until from bolt shop to wheel shop, fitting and electric shops to boiler shop, foundries to smithy and forge, one and all became absorbed in the tremendous issue which threatened the ordered status, the very vitals, of the civilised communities of the world. one, if not indeed _the_, centre of wartime activity within the extensive domain of crewe works may be said to have been the mill-shop; for, although of necessity "fed" in respect to integral parts by other--and for the time being subsidiary--shops throughout the works, it was here that were assembled and completed in readiness for dispatch to that particular theatre of war for which they were destined numerous "jobs" of anything but "lilliputian" dimensions, and evincing characteristics of exceptional interest and unmistakable merit. so immersed in munition manufacture did the shop become that, always--even in the everyday humdrum round of peace-time procedure--a source of delight and information to the visitor, professional and amateur alike, entry within its portals perforce assumed the nature of a privilege which mr. cooke, bowing to the dictates of d.o.r.a., but none the less regretfully, felt constrained to withhold from all save the few legitimate bearers of either government or other similar and indisputably genuine credentials. employing none but men possessed of considerable technical knowledge conjointly with the highest degree of mechanical skill and ability, the mill shop might, not without reason, be termed a "seat of engineering"; a "siége," that is, not simply productive of new machinery, but responsible for the repair and maintenance within the works, as well as for the repair throughout the company's entire so-called "outdoor" system, of a plant of infinite variety, embracing machinery evincing qualities so diverse as are to be found in air-compressors, gas engines, hydraulic capstans, lifts, presses, etc. fitly enough, however, in spite of these habitually peaceful proclivities, the soul of the millwright from the very outset of the war became infused with the spirit of mars, and pride of place should perhaps be accorded the two armoured trains which, during the late autumn and early winter months of - , claimed the combined energies and ingenuity of those who were called upon to construct them. invasion was a bogey which, rightly or wrongly, undoubtedly throughout the whole period of the war never failed to exercise the minds, not only of competent military and naval authorities, but of amateur and would-be "napoleon-nelsons" as well, and right up to the spring of , when every available ounce of weight was flung across the channel to counter what was destined to prove the final and despairing enemy offensive, large forces had been kept at home, if merely as a precautionary measure. true enough, a certain degree of material damage accompanied not infrequently by a sufficiently heavy toll of human, and usually civilian, life resulted from perennial air raids, and an occasional _ballon d'essai_ smacking of "tip and run" on the part of some small detachment or flying squadron of enemy ships might momentarily upset the resident equilibrium of one or other of our east-coast seaside resorts; but nothing approaching the semblance of any actual or serious attempt at invasion was ever known to occur; in fact, mr. lloyd george, when speaking at bangor in february, , went so far as to "lodge a complaint against the british navy," which, he reminded his hearers, "does not enable us to realise that britain is at the present moment waging the most serious war it has ever been engaged in. we do not understand it." there was no disputing the fact, those at home never really understood the war; almost equally self-evident was the truism that they seldom if ever really appreciated to the full the natural beauty and charm of their native shores. it needed the grim reality of the former, and the aching sense of void created by enforced and prolonged absence from the latter, to bring home the unadulterated meaning of each in its true perspective, as may be seen from that poignant little plaint, pencilled from the hell of a front-line trench:-- "the wind comes off the sea, and oh! the air, i never knew till now that life in old days was so fair, but now i know it in this filthy rat-infested ditch, when every shell must kill or spare, and god alone knows which." very similar, too, is the strain reflected by the french "poilu," who, drafted out to distant macedonia, and languishing 'midst the fever-stricken haunts of the mosquito, plagued everlastingly besides by sickening swarms of flies, suddenly exclaims,--"où est notre france? la chère france, qu'on ne savait pas tant belle et si bonne avant de l'avoir quittée?" from fighting men at the front and from them alone could realistic portrayals of pent-up emotions such as these emanate; they alone were capable of expounding the naked definition of the word "war;" the people at home "do not understand it." whether it was by good luck or by good management that "this sweet land of liberty" of ours, england, remained unmolested, immune from the horrors that were being perpetrated just across the narrow dividing line afforded by the waters, within sound of the guns, within range of modern projectile, must be left to the realm of conjecture; although some idea of "the dangers we had to run" may very well be obtained by a perusal of a few of the several and extremely cogent observations which no less an authority than admiral viscount jellicoe has to make on the subject in his notable work "the grand fleet, - ." in comparing the relative strength of great britain and germany he insists that "the lesson of vital importance to be drawn" is that "if this country in the future decides to rely for safety against raids or invasion on the fleet alone, it is essential that we should possess a considerably greater margin of superiority over a possible enemy _in all classes of vessels_ than we did in august, ," and one of the four cardinal points which he cites as being the _raison d'être_ of the navy is that of preventing "invasion of this country and its overseas dominions." conditions had, moreover, undergone such a complete change since the napoleonic era, that whereas one hundred years ago "stress of bad weather was the only obstacle to closely watching enemy ports, now the submarine destroyer and the mine render such dispositions impossible," with the result that "throughout the war the responsibility of the fleet for the prevention of raids or invasion was a factor which had considerable influence on naval strategy." thus although, as we learn, certain defined patrol areas in the north sea were watched on a regular organised plan by our cruiser squadrons, it was not a difficult matter for enemy ships to slip through. for "the north sea, though small in contrast with the atlantic, is a big water area of , square miles in extent," and whilst the fleet was based at scapa flow it was not only impossible to intercept ships, but equally impossible "to ensure that the enemy would be brought to action after such an operation" as that of a raid. [illustration: armoured train. [_to face p. ._] bearing these considerations in mind, it is not altogether surprising that the military authorities awoke to the fact that the policy of having two strings to one's bow is not usually a bad one; and so, rather than "rely for safety against raids or invasion on the fleet alone," they bethought themselves of the secondary line of defence which would readily be afforded by armoured trains. any serious attempt at landing by the enemy was, in viscount jellicoe's opinion, "not very likely in the earliest days of the war, the nights were comparatively short, and the expeditionary force had not left the country. it was also probable," so he thought, "that the enemy had few troops to spare for the purpose." but in proportion as "we denuded the country of men, and the conditions in other respects became more favourable," so did the anxiety of the home authorities increase, resulting in an urgent order being received at crewe in october, , for the first of the armoured trains. even when so undoubted an authority as mr. lloyd george affirms (cp. the _times_, july st, ) that "those who think politicians are moved by sordid pecuniary considerations know nothing either of politics or politicians," some people there may be who require a grain of salt wherewith to swallow so glib a declaration. statesmen, possibly yes; but politicians--well, the least said is often the soonest mended. but even our belief in the sincerity of statesmen is apt to be a little shaken when we find a former prime minister, none other then the revered mr. balfour, devoting himself to the a.b.c. of the little navyites and solemnly declaring in the house of commons (cp. the _times_, may th, ) that the "serious invasion of these islands is not an eventuality which we need seriously consider." one has only to contrast this expression of a complacent and false sense of security with the dogma which has ever imbued the soul of the insatiable hun:--"the condition of peaceableness is strength, and the old saying still holds good that the weak will be the prey of the strong" (dr. von bethmann-hollweg in the _reichstag_, march th, ), and we can never feel too grateful for the knowledge that in spite of politicians and statesmen, the problem of home defence was never relegated to the dust-bin by those whose obvious duty it is to preserve our shores inviolate. as evincing the serious amount of attention devoted to the subject, a perusal within the library of the royal united service institution of a paper read by--then nd-lieutenant, now--major-general sir e. p. c. girouard, k.c.m.g., r.e., on "the use of railways for coast and harbour defence" as long ago as , and published in the journal of the institution, is of exceptional interest, as the following few extracts reproduced through the courtesy of the librarian of that institution tend to show. speaking from the point of view of the "gunner-engineer," sir percy girouard lays particular stress on the primary need for gun power. "gun power to ward off the raider from our unprotected towns and ports; gun power to ward off any attack until the navy reaches that point, and gun power to prevent landings upon our shores." alluding next to the utter impossibility of extending "fixed fortifications of a modern type for the defence of every exposed point of our coast" for the obvious reason that "the cost of such an extension would be enormous," sir percy goes on to draw attention to the systems of railways in great britain and ireland "which are the admiration of the world." these he contends "suggest the truest and most economical basis for resistance to any aggression or insult to our shores," for whereas "ships and fortifications under modern conditions rapidly become obsolete, our railways are always kept in excellent working order by the companies concerned without any expense to the government"; in fact "such would be the elasticity of the system that an enemy would have opposed to him at any exposed point of the coast the armament of a first-class fortress." obviously a lapse of nearly twenty years cannot fail to witness the introduction of new methods, novel ideas, and alterations in design, and, just as the practical experience gained or bought at the expense of a few weeks of actual warfare went to prove in august, , the worthlessness of modern forts and fortresses which literally crumbled and crumpled under the weight of high-angle high explosives and were quickly superseded by trenches and dug-outs, so, too, it would appear that the engineer and gunner experts were led to rule out of court anything of so cumbersome a nature as would be represented by a "first-class fortress" on wheels, which, too heavy and unwieldy a mass to travel at anything but a snail's pace, could not but afford a first-class target to an approaching enemy warship. armoured trains were, to some extent, employed during the war in south africa, chiefly for purposes of reconnoitring, and it was from photographs of these trains which they had in their possession that the military authorities asked mr. cooke to evolve a train on similar, though improved, lines; a train one might say more akin to a mobile "pill-box" than a fortress, in that bristling with maxims and rifles it could be relied upon to move at least with the speed of an express goods train, and be capable of extending a "withering" welcome to any venturesome and aspiring raiding-parties at whatever point of the coast they might select as suitable for an attempt at landing. drawings were accordingly prepared, providing for a train which should consist of two gun vehicles, two infantry vans, and a "side-tank" locomotive; the latter a - - type engine, with inches by inches inside cylinders, and feet inches diameter coupled wheels, supplied by the great northern railway company, was placed in the middle of the train. both gun-vehicles and infantry vans were carried on ordinary -ton wagons with steel underframes and -wheel bogies. on each gun-vehicle at each end of the train was mounted a -pounder quick-firing gun (having an approximate range of miles) which was fixed midway between the bogie wheels, thus ensuring an equal distribution of weight on each axle. apart from the gun platform, which was protected by / -inch steel plate (rolled in the mills at crewe) with loopholes for maxim gun and rifle fire, the vehicle had two further partitions, one an ammunition store, the other fitted up as officers' quarters. the infantry vans were nothing less than luxuriously appointed caravans on (flanged) wheels, fitted with folding tables, lockers, hammocks, rifle racks, cooking stove and culinary apparatus complete, equipped with acetylene lighting and an extensive telephone installation. loopholed with sliding doors near the top, these vans were also protected by / -inch steel plating. beneath the frames were four reserve water tanks, each of gallons capacity, feeding to the engine side-tanks, and in one of the two infantry vans were two coal bunkers, holding each ton of reserve coal supply for the engine. access from one end of the train to the other was obtained by the provision of a suitable platform alongside the engine, but protected by armour plates, and by similarly protected connecting platforms from one vehicle to another. formidable "fellows" as they were, cleverly camouflaged too with grotesque daubs and streaks of dubiously tinted paint, these armoured trains, although continually on the _qui vive_ within easy reach of the east coast, were fated to be denied all opportunity of showing their mettle, and of giving the wily hun "what for," for the very reason that the hun was seemingly too wily ever to risk exposing himself to the sting likely to be forthcoming from such veritable hornets' nests. chapter iii mechanical miscellanea "i am more than grateful to you and your fellow-locomotive superintendents of the various railway companies for your readiness to help us in this time of pressure." in these brief but none the less straightforward and sincere terms, did the late sir f. donaldson, then superintendent of woolwich arsenal, address himself to mr. cooke in the early part of november, , terms expressive, not merely of his own personal feelings of gratitude, but also of government appreciation of the assistance so spontaneously proffered by the chief mechanical engineers of the great railway concerns of the country. looking back over the four and a half years during which was fought out that "stupendous and incessant struggle," not without reason perhaps described as "a single continuous campaign," sir douglas haig, in his final despatch, under date of march st, , whilst reminding us that we were at the outset "unprepared for war, or at any rate for a war of such magnitude," lays especial stress on the fact that "we were deficient both in trained men and military material, and, what was more important, had no machinery ready by which either men or material could be produced in anything approaching the requisite quantities." in short, "the margin by which the german onrush in was stemmed was so narrow, and the subsequent struggle so severe that the word 'miraculous' is hardly too strong a term to describe the recovery and ultimate victory of the allies." there can be no gainsaying the fact that in spite of frequent and bombastic assurances to the contrary emanating from the all-highest, the almighty must indeed have been on our side, for surely never in the history of mankind did a people "ask for trouble" in quite the same barefaced manner as did the great british people in the early part of the twentieth century of grace? "give peace in our time," might well be the prayer purred by the devout lips, year in year out, of innumerable comfortably-respectable, smug, and faithful citizens on each succeeding sabbath day. obviously, for there was "none other that fighteth for us but only thou." there was never any attempt at denial; we were unprepared and well-nigh negligible, "deficient in trained men and military material." it will be argued, no doubt, that the practice of offering up prayer and supplication is a very desirable and eminently estimable form of procedure, but it is nevertheless a generally accepted theory that the almighty helps those only who help themselves. miracles do not perform themselves in these matter-of-fact work-a-day times, and we may pause to reflect both upon the cost at which, and the means by which, the miracle of our timely recovery and ultimate victory was performed. "to our general unpreparedness," writes sir douglas haig, "must be attributed the loss of many thousands of brave men whose sacrifice we deeply deplore, while we regard their splendid gallantry and self-devotion with unstinted admiration and gratitude." this then was the cost, "the loss of many thousands of brave men," this the price in blood, the sacrifice upon the altar of unpreparedness. "can the lesson," despairingly asks the writer of a leading article in the _times_ of april , , "of this great soldier's remarks be missed by the most reckless of politicians, or the most fanatical of 'pacifists'?" can it be missed either, it may be asked, by those congregations of the faithful, who, repeating as of yore the old, old cry "give peace," resemble rather the ostrich that buries its head in the sand, making no active endeavour to combat the approaching storm? incredible that the lesson should be missed by any, and having marked the undying tribute which sir douglas haig has paid to those thousands of brave men who for us paid the price, we may turn to that other tribute which this same great soldier unhesitatingly pays to those who supplied the means by which, miraculously enough, recovery was assured, and ultimate victory achieved. "the army owes a great debt to science and to the distinguished scientific men who placed their learning and their skill at the disposal of their country." such is the praise bestowed upon the distinguished heads of industry and of science as representing the vast mass of workers at the back, the backbone of the country, and undoubtedly, as the great field-marshal goes on to explain, "a remarkable feature of the present war has been the number and variety of mechanical contrivances to which it has given birth, or has brought to a higher state of perfection." but perhaps the most remarkable of all these remarkable features was that particular one evinced by that particular body of distinguished scientific men, to wit, the chief mechanical engineers of the great railway companies, in that, by their ingenuity and versatile ability, they succeeded in producing not the quantities only, but the varieties also, of all those mechanical contrivances which, as we know, added to the horrors of, as well as to the interest in, modern warfare. but just as is the case with a railway engine, of which the whole forms so commonplace, if majestic, a feature of everyday affairs that seldom, if ever, does one pause to consider the mass of detail and intricate parts which go to compose it, so, too, is it the case with a gun, an aeroplane, a ship, a road motor vehicle, or whatever other equally familiar object that chances to catch the eye. little does one realise the extent of the detail requisite for the framing of each and every such mechanical contrivance in its entirety. it was, nevertheless, "the dauntless spirit of the people at home," as sir douglas haig openly avows, which "strengthened and sustained the invincible spirit of the army, the while their incessant toil on land and sea, in the mine, factory, and shipyard, placed in our hands the means with which to fight." nowhere was this "dauntless spirit," the record of this "incessant toil," better exemplified than by the staff and employés of the london and north-western railway company's locomotive works at crewe, that great "factory" in which were manufactured those countless component parts essential to the whole: and without which the gun could not be fired, the aeroplane could not soar, the ship could not swim: without which, in short, the miracle of our recovery and ultimate victory could not have been performed. let us take first the question of gun power; and we cannot do better than digest the further comments of sir douglas haig. he says:--"the growth of our artillery was even more remarkable (than other remarkable developments alluded to in his despatch), its numbers and power increasing out of all proportion to the experience of previous wars. the pieces of artillery with which we took the field in august, , were represented at the date of the armistice by guns and howitzers of all natures." in order to stimulate this remarkable growth of artillery crewe concentrated her endeavours upon -inch, · -inch, and -inch howitzer guns; upon -pounder quick-firing guns, and in due course upon high-angle anti-aircraft guns. in conjunction with the guns themselves gun-carriages, carriage-limbers, wagon-limbers, ammunition-bodies--all were required with feverish haste. "kultur," as has been pithily observed, "was working overtime to crush civilisation;" crewe works responded by working twenty-four hours out of the twenty-four to beat the hun; the spirit was indeed "dauntless," the toil "incessant." and what, it may be asked, were the countless component parts essential, not only to the manufacture of these "attributes of war's glorious art" when entirely new, but which were further turned out in their tens, twenties, fifties, hundreds, nay, even in their thousands, as "pièces de rechange," spares, all made to standard sizes and gauges, ready to replace at a moment's notice existing parts worn out or damaged in the field? here, in motley assembly, are just a few: arcs, axles, bands, bearings, chains, collars, connectors, crank-levers, eyes, forks, futchels, guards, gussets, handles, hooks, keys, levers, loops, plates, rings, rods, sockets, springs, stays, trails, trunnions, tumblers, with a vast array of variously assorted bolts, nuts, pins, screws, studs and washers, one and all claiming the combined skill and energy of an army of smiths, forgemen, boiler-makers, fitters, turners, and machinists. yet in spite of the "incessant toil" requisite for the supply of this military material, such was the extent of our unpreparedness that "it was not until the summer of ," as we read in sir douglas haig's despatch, "that the artillery situation (as regards material) became even approximately adequate to the conduct of major operations.... during the battles of ... the gun situation was a source of constant anxiety. only in was it possible to conduct artillery operations independently of any limiting consideration other than that of transport." once, however, the material was assured in sufficient quantity there was never any looking back, and "from the commencement of our offensive in august, , to the conclusion of the armistice, some , tons of artillery ammunition (equal to the weight approximately of , heavy express passenger engines) were expended by the british armies on the western front," this prodigious expenditure of metal fully amplifying the opinion expressed by napoleon, that "it is with artillery that one makes war." before finally laying aside the question of guns, and turning our attention elsewhere, a few reflections on that popular little weapon known as the high-angle anti-aircraft gun may be not altogether lacking in interest, more especially in view of the fact that the price of our unpreparedness in this as in other respects was destined to be counted in the number of lives sacrificed, of which the civilian proportion was invariably very high. the gentle art of dropping bombs upon open towns was commenced by german airmen in the very early days of the war, and the french capital, perhaps not unnaturally, soon became an object of their attentions. under the heading "german aeroplanes over paris," the _times'_ correspondent writing from paris on september nd, , records, perhaps, the first air-raid of the war, although at the moment "no bomb is reported to have been dropped." how irrepressible is the innate and inimitable _gaité_ of parisien and parisienne alike, even during the excruciating uncertainty of a raid, is delightfully brought out in the remark so typically french, "comme il est dangereux de sortir sans parapluie." in this connection, too, one recalls the little ruse, pre-arranged between host and butler, for speeding the departure of guests, inclined to outstay their after-dinner welcome: "messieurs, mesdames," announces the butler, suddenly appearing at the salon door, "on vient de signaler les zeppelins." in comparison with our own, the measures adopted by the french authorities for defence against enemy aircraft were, from the outset, on a considerable scale; in fact, prior to the time when admiral sir percy scott took over the defence of london, in september, , there had been, to all intents and purposes, no defence at all; any impartial observer might even have inferred that we were doing our best to live up to the lofty notions of the writer in the _manchester guardian_ of august th, , who laconically decreed that we had "it in our power to turn every air-raid into a failure, simply by taking as little notice of it as possible." whether this superior personage remained for the duration of the war so providentially privileged as to be able to take no notice of the air-raids that took place, history does not narrate. suffice it to say that if we select at random two typical instances from the many which occurred--one on may th, , at folkestone, when persons were killed and were injured; the other on june th, , in london, resulting in deaths and persons injured, without mentioning the amount of material damage effected--it is open to argument whether the public in general, and particularly those who were personally and in so tragic a fashion affected, were capable, even if they felt so disposed, of taking little or no notice of these attacks; it is also a moot point whether they or the perpetrators of these outrages regarded this particular form of "frightfulness" in the light of a failure, when attended by such undeniably telling results. happily the boot was not always on the same foot, for, as we know, the marauders on occasion paid the supreme penalty themselves in the course of their aerial outings, and this, thanks in great measure to the determined energy of the gallant admiral, to wit sir percy scott, who, far from taking no notice of air-raids, lost no time in organising a vigorous system of defence against them. but as he tells us in his reminiscences, "fifty years in the royal navy," from the very outset of his endeavours he was hopelessly handicapped; for, whereas "general gallieni, who was in charge of the defence of paris, had for the protection of his forty-nine square miles of city two hundred and fifteen guns, and was gradually increasing this number to three hundred; whereas, too, he had plenty of men trained in night flying, and well-lighted aerodromes, he (sir percy scott) had eight guns to defend our seven hundred square miles of the metropolitan area, no trained airmen, and no lighted-up aerodromes." the amazing part of the whole business was, as sir percy scott explains, and not without a touch of humour, the "war office was as certain that a zeppelin could not come to london as the admiralty was that a submarine could not sink a ship"; hence the corollary that "london's defence was a kind of 'extra turn.'" nothing daunted, however, and fully determined that london should be made to wake up to the dangers she was running, he succeeded in spite of all difficulties, and after procuring suitable ammunition, in increasing the number of his guns from the initial eight to one hundred and twelve. herein it was that the locomotive shops at crewe were once again called into requisition, for, as sir percy scott tells us, "unfortunately mountings had to be made for these (guns)," mountings such as base rings, pedestals, pedestal pivots, as well as elevating arcs, sighting arms, etc., the manufacture of which necessarily "took a considerable time," but which were successfully evolved with a minimum of delay at crewe. then again, "the few guns we had for the defence of london were mounted permanently in positions probably as well known to the germans as to ourselves. we had no efficient guns mounted on mobile carriages which could be moved about and brought into action where necessary." being anxious to secure from the french authorities the loan, as a model, of one of their -millimetre guns, which as he knew were mounted on motor lorries, and in order to circumvent "admiralty red-tape methods," sir percy scott promptly took the law into his own hands, and very quickly obtained what he wanted. owing, however, to the impracticability of adapting the british -inch gun to the french lorry mounting, a new design was got out, the gun platform being mounted on a single pair of wheels, which, with the axle, was detachable when the gun came into action, and of which component parts, such as plates, pivots, blocks, covers, catches, limber connections, were forthcoming from crewe. thanks once again to the courtesy of general gallieni, who agreed to supply "thirty-four of the famous french -millimetre guns and twenty thousand shells with fuses complete," sir percy scott finally had at his disposal a total of one hundred and fifty-two guns, which, although admittedly "rather a mixed lot," combined to frustrate the designs of those "airy devils" which so frequently were wont to-- "hover in the sky and pour down mischief." as time went on, however, and when, notwithstanding the constant alertness of our gunners and the shoals of "archies" spat heavenwards in search of these enemy marauders, the persistency of the latter showed little if any sign of abatement, the idea of retaliation, or the practice of paying the enemy back in his own coin, was mooted as likely to prove the most effective method of clipping his wings, and in spite of protests from that misguided section of the community, aptly designated the "don't-hurt-poor-germany-brigade," the clamour for retaliation, emanating from an already-too-long-suffering public became so insistent that orders were at length placed for a supply of that special form of "mischief," or medicine, known as aerial bombs, in the manufacture of which, both petrol-incendiary and high-explosive, crewe works was requested to assist, and which our gallant airmen were commissioned to "pour down" on fortified positions on the further side of the hindenburg line. how efficacious were deemed to be the ingredients of this medicine may be gathered from the fact that in the autumn of the chief mechanical engineers of the great railway companies assembled in conclave at the request of the air board, and expressed their willingness to co-operate in the manufacture of aeroplanes of the bombing order. owing, however, to the special conditions applying to the aeroplane industry, and to the fact that those responsible for the administration of our air-policy decided, after mature consideration, that the scope for producing these machines was actually sufficient for dealing with every emergency, this additional strain was not imposed on the already heavily taxed capacity of the various locomotive workshops after all. crewe, nevertheless, was not to be gainsaid the privilege of undertaking at least some share in the production of our heavier-than-air machines, and in the tinsmiths' and fitting shops respectively were turned out hundreds of tiny metal pressings or discs, and knuckle joints, essential for the piecing together of the wood fuselage, and on the quality of which depended so largely the lives of our pilots, to whose intrepid instinct undoubtedly "one crowded hour of glorious life" seemed at all times "worth an age without a name," but who nevertheless had no particular wish to come to grief owing to faulty material. the airman in common with the traveller-- "cheerful at morn, wakes from short repose, breasts the keen air, and carols as he goes;" but unlike the latter, who moves in comparative safety on terra firma, the former, throughout the length of his flying hours, literally carried his life in his hands, illustrative of which fact may be taken those vivid and realistic sketches penned by major w. b. bishop, v.c., who, in his little volume "winged warfare," jots down a few impressions of his own breathless experiences. "in the air," for instance, he says, "one did not altogether feel the human side of it. it was not like killing a man so much as just bringing down a bird;" and yet in diving after an enemy machine, "i had forgotten caution and everything else in my wild and overwhelming desire to destroy this thing that for the time being represented all germany to me." undeniably the heart of an airman must be "a free and a fetterless thing" to brave the combination of risks incidental to his magnetic calling, and sir douglas haig has not omitted to refer in brief but glowing terms to the "splendid traditions of the british air service," the "development of which is a matter of general knowledge," and the combining of whose "operations with those of other arms ... has been the subject of constant study and experiment, giving results of the very highest value." in every direction "much thought had to be bestowed upon determining how new devices could be combined in the best manner with the machinery already working," and in laying stress upon this question of "effective co-operation of the different arms and services," he alludes, for instance, to "increase in the power and range of artillery," which "made the maintenance of communications constantly more difficult." it was in order to assist in the maintenance of a highly efficient system of communications that crewe was asked to supply quantities of cart cable-drums, the several parts of which required forging, machining, and accurately fitting, and by means of which, when completed as a whole, wires could be run out at a speed of yards per minute; in fact, as sir douglas haig points out, "something of the extent of the constructional work required, in particular to meet the constant changes of the battle-line and the movement of head-quarters, can be gathered from the fact that as many as miles of cable-wire have been issued in a single week. the average weekly issue of such cable for the whole of was approximately miles." summing up his observations on mechanical contrivances in general, sir douglas haig urges that "immense as the influence of these may be, they cannot by themselves decide a campaign. their true _rôle_ is that of assisting the infantryman, which they have done in a most admirable manner. they cannot replace him. only by the rifle and bayonet of the infantryman can the decisive victory be won." but surely the rifle itself, it may pardonably be contended, is nothing if not a mechanical contrivance? granted always that without the pressure of the infantryman's finger on the trigger, the thrust of his arm behind the bayonet, the rifle is incapable of deciding a campaign, equally self-evident is the fact that the infantryman is helpless to win the decisive victory without the aid of the rifle. side by side, too, with the rifle, and yet another mechanical contrivance to receive "a mention," is the machine-gun, of which the "immense influence" as an injunct indispensable to the infantryman may be gauged from the statement that "from a proportion of one gun to approximately infantrymen in , our establishment of machine guns and lewis guns had risen at the end of to one machine gun or lewis gun to approximately infantrymen." it was in order to bring about this enormous increase in the number of machine guns, that millwrights were sent from crewe in the summer of at the urgent request of mr. lloyd george (then minister of munitions) to install in some newly erected works in birmingham the machinery necessary for their manufacture. crewe may therefore be permitted to claim a certain degree of credit for the final issue; for, in addition to furthering the output of lewis guns which, as we know, assisted the infantryman in so admirable a manner, she was also responsible for the various extremely delicate gauges necessary for the manufacture of rifles, which in turn enabled the infantryman to win the decisive victory. invaluable as mechanical contrivances have been in giving "a greater driving power to war," their sinister aspect cannot in any way be veiled; for, as has been only too apparent, "the greater strength of modern field defences, and the power and precision of modern weapons, the multiplication of machine guns, trench-mortars, and artillery of all natures, the employment of gas, and the rapid development of the aeroplane as a formidable agent of destruction against both men and material, all combined to increase the price to be paid for victory." sir douglas haig estimates the total number of british casualties "in all theatres of war, killed, wounded, missing and prisoners, including native troops, as being approximately three millions ( , , )." the killed, as napoleon has said, "are the only loss that can never be replaced." the missing--one invariably shudders when considering what may have been their fate. significant, for instance, is the reproduction of a letter from an enemy officer who writes--(cp. the _times_, april th, )--"i have been entrusted with a task of which every good german should be proud. eight days ago we left france with british.... on arriving at frankfurt we discovered that we had lost on the journey ." as to the lot of those who, taken prisoner, were nevertheless permitted to exist, we have only to refer for enlightenment to the report of the government committee on wittenberg camp, dated april th, . two extracts only may be allowed to suffice. "the state of the prisoners beggars description. major priestley (one survivor of six sent to replace the german medical staff who abandoned the camp on the outbreak of typhus) found them gaunt, of a peculiar grey pallor, and verminous. their condition, in his own words, was deplorable." ultimately the committee were "forced to the conclusion that the terrible sufferings and privations of the afflicted prisoners during the period under review are directly chargeable to the deliberate cruelty and neglect of the german officials." [illustration: various types of artificial limbs. [_to face p. ._] of the wounded, those who merit the largest share of commiseration are undoubtedly the blind. but whatever the nature of the misfortune of those afflicted, "in spite of the large numbers dealt with, there has been," as sir douglas haig reminds us, "no war in which the resources of science have been utilised so generously and successfully for the prevention of disease, or for the quick evacuation and careful tending of the sick and wounded." the experience acquired, over a period of years in the joiners' shop at crewe works, in the manufacture of artificial limbs, for the use of the company's own employés crippled as a result of accidents sustained in the performance of their duties, was destined to become a national asset of inestimable value during the war; models of the most approved design being demonstrated to the war office authorities, and subsequently adopted for the use and benefit of men crippled in the service of their country. in the years preceding the war, while the common enemy was busily engaged in sharpening the sword and toasting _der tag_, amongst the few so-called cranks who, even as voices crying in the wilderness, ventured to dispatiate upon self-defence, defence of country, invasion, and other similar bogies in the cupboard, one may recall the theory of "one of the most distinguished of that younger school of sea-officers who kept urging in and out of season that we must get out of the idea that naval defence is one thing and army defence another; for when war comes, success will depend upon their perfect co-ordination and co-operation." if in only a minor degree--for those who go down to the sea in ships are necessarily many in number, and the business which they do in great waters is of an extremely varied nature--crewe was nevertheless called upon to put this theory into practice in the land and sea war that burst upon us in ; and one of the mechanical contrivances which was destined to play an inordinately important part in securing this "perfect co-ordination and co-operation" as between the land and sea forces of the country, and for various essential component parts of which crewe became responsible, was the "paravane;" and the paravane, being by nature something entirely novel, was _ipso facto_ one of those devices which had to fight the war office, or the admiralty, as the case might be, before it got a chance of fighting the enemy. primarily devised for the purpose of subverting the submarine peril, the paravane (the invention of acting-commander burney) was later adapted for the protection of vessels against mines. an extremely interesting and lucid account of this mechanical contrivance, from the pen of mr. r. f. mckay, is to be found in _engineering_, under date of september th, . [illustration: the protector, or mine-sweeping, paravane. [_to face p. ._] mr. mckay tells us that there were various types of paravanes, known respectively as the explosive, the protector, and the mine-sweeping paravane. briefly, the device was a torpedo-shaped body, which, towed by a suitable cable either from the bows or stern of a ship, maintained its equilibrium in the water by means of a large steel plane near its head, and horizontal and vertical fins near its tail, the thrust of the water on the plane when the vessel is in motion carrying the paravane away from the fore and aft centre line of the vessel. depth mechanism was fitted in the tail of the paravane, and consisted of a horizontal rudder actuated by a hydrostatic valve, _i.e._ a valve which is operated by difference in water pressure due to any change in depth. the explosive paravane was towed from the stern, and the charge of t.n.t. which it contained could be detonated either by impact, or by an excessive load coming on to the cable, or by a current of electricity controlled from the ship. the protector or mine-sweeping paravanes were similar contrivances in that they were towed, and maintained their position in the water by similar means. they were, however, towed from the bows of the ship, and instead of carrying an explosive charge, they were fitted with a bracket resembling a pair of jaws, in which were fixed two saw-edged steel blades; and it was in the manufacture of these brackets, which were forged under the drop-hammer, that crewe was engaged. "two paravanes," as mr. mckay explains, "are towed, one on either side of the vessel, ... and the action of the protector-gear is simple. the paravane towing-wires foul the mooring-wire of any mine which might strike the vessel, but misses any mine which is too deeply anchored. the speed of the vessel causes the mine and its sinker to be deflected down the 'wedge' and away from the vessel until the mine mooring-wire reaches the paravane," which wire "passing into the cutter-jaws is speedily severed; the sinker drops to the bottom of the sea, whilst the mine floats to the surface well clear of the ship, where it can be seen and destroyed by rifle fire." the jerky sawing action of the mine mooring-cable, on reaching the jaws of the paravane, was, perforce, extremely detrimental to the teeth of the cutter-blades; consequently it was invariably the practice to haul the paravane aboard the ship and examine the blades immediately after a mine had been trapped and destroyed. the peril of pottering about, unprotected, in a mine-field must be patent to all, particularly to those who happen to be doing the pottering; hence it was absolutely essential that brackets and blades should be so accurately machined and fitted that the latter, on being removed, could be replaced in an instant by "spares" and the paravane dropped straight back into the sea. speaking in the house of commons (cp. the _times_, march st, ), sir eric geddes, then first lord of the admiralty, said that for the twelve months of unrestricted warfare from february st, , to january st, , the actual figures of vessels sunk by submarine action, including those damaged and ultimately abandoned, amounted to roughly six million tons; that the (then) total world's shipping tonnage (exclusive of enemy ships) was forty-two millions; and that the percentage of net loss to british tonnage was per cent. mr. mckay, too, in his article previously quoted, gives some interesting figures which tend to recall the gloomy days of rationing cards, and help us to realise how deeply we are indebted to commander burney and his paravanes for assuring us to the bitter end our daily, if slightly curtailed, means of subsistence. "it is computed," writes mr. mckay, "that the total loss in shipping due to submarine warfare is about £ , , , . hence, working on the certainties, each submarine destroyed was responsible for about £ , , worth of damage. accepting this figure as a basis, it may be said that the explosive paravanes saved further damage being inflicted on our shipping to the extent of about £ , , ." reverting next to the protector paravane, "there were," we are told, "about british warships fitted with the installation. assuming that the value of warship tonnage is placed at the very low average figure of £ per ton, the value of the ships saved was above £ , , ;" and a further point which cannot be ignored is that undoubtedly "the moral effect of the loss of these vessels would have been stupendous." again, in regard to merchant ships, "if the ratio mines cut ------------ ships fitted for these were only one quarter the ratio for warships, the saving to the nation would be about £ , , sterling's worth of merchant ships and cargoes." finally, "from all the records available, the allied countries are indebted to the paravane invention for saving ships and cargoes to the value of approximately £ , , . in addition, the number of lives saved must be a very large figure." few and far between are the prophets who have any honour in their own country, and admiral sir percy scott proved no exception to the rule when, prior to the war (cp. the _times_, june th, ), he wrote that "the introduction of vessels that swim under the water has, in my opinion, entirely done away with the utility of the ships that swim on the top of the water." so comprehensive a contention was bound to come as something in the nature of a shock to those who were accustomed to regard the royal navy of england as "its greatest defence and ornament; its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of our island," and certainly the attribute "entirely" must be considered as being of rather too sweeping a nature, for, serious though the submarine menace became during the world-war, the under-sea boat cannot claim to have swept the face of the waters of anything approaching the total number of ships that swam on the top. there is no doubt, however, but that, not only from the german point of view, but from our own as well, the submarine became an adjunct of the very first importance, and herein, again, was the all-round practical ability of crewe works called upon to assist. bearings for submarine propeller-shafts (commonly known as reaper-bearings) were urgently required, each shaft working in no fewer than sixteen bearings, of which the caps were to be made not only interchangeable, but reversible as well, so exacting were the demands in the admiralty specification. indisputably crewe was "doing her bit," and by their "dauntless spirit," by their "incessant toil," did the mass of employés engaged within the works enable mr. cooke to convince the world at large that england, no longer "la perfide albion," was worthy rather to be named "la loyale angleterre." chapter iv the graze-fuse "a world of startling possibilities." dole. graze-fuses (so called from the fact that the very slightest touch or shock imparted to the fuse or foremost part of the shell by any intervening object, and against which the fuse grazes whilst in flight, is sufficient to cause the spark necessary for igniting the explosive charge) were first taken in hand at crewe in march, . it was at this time that the late earl kitchener, then minister of war, first drew attention in the house of lords to the alarming position, generally, in regard to munitions of war, "i can only say (cp. the _times_, march th, ) that the supply of war material at the present moment, and for the next two or three months, is causing me very serious anxiety." the persistent inconsistency of the "talking men" may here well be exemplified by the fact that in the following month of april, mr. asquith promptly retorted in the house of commons that he had "seen a statement the other day that the operations, not only of our army, but of our allies, were being crippled or at any rate hampered, by our failure to provide the necessary ammunition. there is not a word of truth in that statement." however, as if to give an irrefutable _démenti_ to this assertion, it was only a month later that there came the sensational _exposé_ from the pen of the _times_ military correspondent at the front, who wrote to the effect that "the want of unlimited supply of high-explosive was a fatal bar to our success" in the offensive operations round ypres. _per contra_ it was pointed out from the same source that "by dint of expenditure of rounds of high explosive per gun in one day, the french levelled all the enemy defences to the ground." hence it came about that, emanating from a modest little side-show claiming the energies of one or two apprentices and a few highly-skilled and highly-paid mechanics, the manufacture of graze-fuses developed into quite an industrial main-offensive (destined within the space of a few weeks from its inception to be entrusted to a bevy of local beauty, which became augmented as time went on in proportion as the seriousness of the military situation became apparent), pushed forward with a zeal and enthusiasm worthy of the highest praise, as the supply of shells and consequently of fuses fell hundreds per cent. short of the demand. trim in their neat attire of light twill cap and overall, with a not infrequent hint of black silk "open-work" veiled beneath, the ladies (god bless 'em), no sooner enlisted, lost no time in adapting themselves in a remarkable manner to the exigencies of their new surroundings. in some respects, certainly-- "women's rum cattle to deal with, the first man found that to his cost; and i reckon it's just through a woman the last man on earth'll be lost," but however that may be, in respect at least of the manufacture of munitions of war the girls in crewe works showed themselves, not only amenable to reason and discipline, but became regular enthusiasts in the work on which they were engaged. idling and indifference were qualities unknown, patience and perseverance became personified, and thanks to a highly efficient and praiseworthy organisation, coupled with a system of three consecutive eight-hour shifts, the output of fuses rapidly rose from a mere per week to as many as , or a steady weekly average of , finally reaching a grand total of , on the cessation of hostilities. a portion of the locomotive stores department, comprising an upper storey of the old works' fitting shop, familiarly known as the top shop--that one-time nursery of juvenile and maybe aspiring apprentices, many of whom have blossomed forth into full-blown engineers occupying positions of prominence in the four corners of the globe--was speedily transformed. overhead shafting was fixed; lathes, drilling and tapping machines, and benches were lined up in positions convenient for the quick transition of the fuses, and their tiny components, passing in regular sequence through the many operations necessary for their fashioning. [illustration: gauges made at crewe and used for the manufacture of graze-fuses.] [illustration: reversible mechanical tapping machine for fuse caps. designed at crewe (_cp._ p. ). [_to face p._ .] the graze-fuse itself is an intricate and cleverly thought-out little piece of mechanism, demanding a degree of accuracy in machining such as one might reasonably have assumed would suffice to baffle even the most knowing and perspicacious little minds attributable to the fair sex. the requisite delicacy of touch may perhaps be exemplified by the fact that the pellet plug flash-hole must be drilled dead-true to a depth of almost an inch with a drill no bigger than · , or / of an inch. mr. lloyd george, when addressing the house of commons in june, , in his capacity of minister of munitions, held up a fuse for members to see. "this," he said, "is one of the greatest difficulties of all in the turning-out of shells. it is one of the most intricate and beautiful pieces of machinery--before it explodes, (laughter). it indeed is supposed to be simple, but it takes different gauges to turn it out." it was not, however, quite so much a question of the number of gauges required (considerable though the above-quoted figure may sound to those uninitiated in the art of fuse-making) as of the minuteness of the limits or tolerances allowed in the manufacture of these gauges. some reference to, or explanation of, gauge-making will be found on a later page, so that it may perhaps here be sufficient to remark _en passant_ that whereas in the case of shell-body gauging, tolerances ran into fractions approximating / parts of an inch, those of fuse-gauging were of an infinitely more exacting nature, being measured in fractions so minute as / parts of an inch. since the ultimate success or failure of the entire shell depended to a very great extent on the combined and unfailing action, or lightning series of movements, of the tiny internal component parts of the fuse (action which was initiated by the motion of the shell itself), the _raison d'être_ of dimensions measured in infinitesimal fractions of an inch becomes somewhat more apparent. the beauty of this little piece of mechanism is illustrated to some extent by the fact that it can be assembled or put together complete with its tiny internal components to the number of or all told, in less than a minute. cast in bars of brass, sections of the length required for each fuse body are cut off, and drop-forged, the probability of blow-holes being by this method eliminated as far as possible. for the various machining operations, such as turning, boring and screwing, drilling, automatic and turret lathes played a prominent part, whilst an eminently suitable machine known as a "sipp three-spindle drill" to which were fixed special jigs, designed for the purpose, was extensively used for the numerous small holes required. grooves were turned on a turret lathe round the taper-nose, these affording a grip for the fingers, when lifting the fuses out of the boxes in which they were supplied. [illustration: the graze-fuse, shewn in section. [_to face p._ .] briefly, the mechanical action of the graze-fuse is regulated on the following lines: a central pellet which creates the igniting spark by striking the percussion needle, is held in position by a tiny plug, which in turn is secured by a ball-headed pin, called the detent, kept in place by a spring. on the gun being fired the sudden forward impetus of the shell causes the detent pin to exert a backward pressure of - / lbs. on the spring, this being sufficient to enable the detent pin to withdraw itself from the plug controlling the ignition pellet. the motion of the shell once launched in flight is rotary or centrifugal, with the result that the pellet-plug flies outward, leaving the pellet itself free to strike the percussion needle the moment the fuse-nose hits or grazes the first intervening object. the fixing of the percussion needle securely in the fuse-cap was an erstwhile stumbling-block in not a few machine shops, it being no exaggeration to say that in numerous instances at least per cent. of the fuse-caps were rejected owing to the needle not being sufficiently securely fixed in the seating. at crewe a simple method ensuring absolute rigidity was devised, the fuse-cap being so turned in the lathe that a slightly outstanding lip was formed, which after the needle had been inserted in the recess was spun or pressed, whilst revolving in a turret lathe, round the taper profile of the needle, the metal being in this way packed so closely and tightly all round that the protruding end of the needle, if subsequently gripped in a vice, would sooner break off than allow itself to be extracted or even disturbed in the slightest degree whatever within its metal bedding. "solid as a rock" is the only description applicable. in spite of this, however, the government either could not or would not insist on the universal adoption of so sound and simple a practice, preferring rather to standardise an entirely new method involving a more complicated and so more costly fitting, both as regards the needle itself and the fitting of it in the fuse-cap. the cap was thenceforward drilled and tapped, and the needle which was a longer one than hitherto was screwed into the hole and joined with petman cement. crewe, in compliance with government specifications had perforce to toe the line, but very quickly rose to the occasion by devising an extremely neat and efficacious little tapping machine, belt driven, and reversible through the medium of a couple of hand-actuated friction clutches. the spindle of the machine ran through a guide-bush bolted to the bed of the lathe, and screwed to the pitch of the needle thread. the hole through the fuse-cap was by this means certain of being tapped to the correct pitch, without any risk of stripped or "drunken" threads ensuing. the tap itself was of a "floating" disposition; that is to say, it was held in a socket which permitted a slight amount of freedom in action, thereby ensuring perfect alignment with the fuse-cap hole. the final operation of lacquering (or varnishing with a mixture of shellac and alcohol which imparted a saffron or orange colour to the metal and acted as a preservative) was effected by mounting the fuse on a metal disc, which, acting in conjunction with a second disc and an intermediary ball-race, was kept spinning round by hand, the operator applying the varnish with a brush the while the fuse was kept spinning. it was noticed at one time that a fairly large percentage of shells were "duds," that is to say they were failing to explode, and the reason for this was attributed to the supposition that on being released by the plug the pellet tended to creep towards the percussion needle, thenceforward remaining closely adjacent to it, with the result that it was no longer in a position to jerk forward and strike the needle with sufficient impetus to cause a spark. an additional spring called a "creep" spring was consequently inserted, of sufficient tension to prevent the pellet from creeping forward, and yet not strong enough to prevent the sudden contact of pellet and needle, on the shell reaching its objective. this overcame the difficulty. chapter v care of the cartridge case "as long as war is regarded as wicked it will always have its fascinations. when it is looked upon as vulgar it will cease to attract." wilde. all good sportsmen know what is a cartridge, whether for gun or rifle; they know too that the nice brightly-polished little disc on the end of it contains the percussion cap by means of which the shot or bullet, as the case may be, is fired. beyond this they do not worry. they load their gun or rifle; if the former, they are naturally pleased supposing forthwith they wing their bird, a "right and left" raises themselves in their own estimation no end of a great deal; if the latter, and they succeed in laying low the quadruped object of their strenuous quest, a haunch of venison, maybe, is their reward, their trophy a particularly fine head, a "royal" displaying no fewer than a dozen "points." in either event, the little cartridge once having served its purpose is in due course extracted from the breech and flung unceremoniously away to be trodden with scant courtesy underfoot, carelessly consigned to oblivion. so too in war, or at any rate during the early phases of the great war, when questions of expense and of economy were seldom, if ever, mooted, and when, during the great retreat and the subsequently feverish advance to the aisne heights, transport was more or less improvisatory and problematical and every moment precious, ammunition cartridge cases (turned and finished to thousandth parts of an inch and beautifully polished), no sooner having served their immediate purpose, were hastily extracted from the smoking breech of the gun and inconsequently thrown aside. distorted and not infrequently cracked or split, of what further use could they be? an occasional enthusiast would pick one up. at home, at least, it would be regarded as an authentic relic of the battle-field. besides, any one with a spark of inventive genius could see quite a number of uses to which a cartridge case could be put; articles of domestic ornament and convenience could be evolved--anything, for instance, from a flower-vase to a lady's powder-pot. those were early days however, and few there were, whether at home or at the front, who realised the extent to which "the war could be protracted" or "if its fortunes should be varied or adverse" were able to grasp the import of the warning that "exertions and sacrifices beyond any which had been demanded would be required from the whole nation and empire" (lord kitchener, house of lords, august th, ). when, however, it became increasingly apparent that "the operations not only of our army but of our allies were being crippled or at any rate hampered by our failure to provide the necessary ammunition," and since the cartridge was one of those "particular components which were essential" to the firing of the shell, the edict in due course went forth to the effect that "all fired cases should be returned at the first opportunity," for the very reason that with comparatively little trouble and at a minimum of cost (especially when the railway companies began devoting their attention to the task) these cases could be repaired, and that not only once, but frequently as many as half a dozen times before they were finally rejected as being totally and permanently unfit for further military service, in fact dangerous. cartridge cases varied, of course, in depth and diameter according to the type of shell, whether shrapnel or h.e., to which they were destined to be fitted, and to the type of gun, whether field gun or howitzer, within the breech of which they were to be fired. thus the field gun with its long range and well-nigh flat trajectory (_i.e._ the curve described by the shell on its flight) required a heavier propellant charge with a high velocity than did the howitzer or high-angle gun, which throws a shell at a shorter range and with a high trajectory. the "marks" of cartridge cases treated in crewe works were those appertaining to the -pounder gun and the · howitzer, and it so happened that just at the time of the formation of the coalition government in may, , when, under the auspices of mr. lloyd george as minister of munitions, in the words of sir j. french, "to organise the nation's industrial resources upon a stupendous scale was the only way if we were to continue with success the great struggle which lay before us," cartridge cases, bruised, and mud-bespattered, first commenced to make their appearance at crewe. the earliest arrivals were the -pounder long or shrapnel shell cartridge cases, and the , odd of these cases which were repaired may be regarded as a foretaste of what was to follow, and were to some extent indicative of the then prevailing position in regard to the supply of ammunition to the b.e.f. in france. "as early as the th of october," writes sir john french in his remarkable production entitled " ," "the war office were officially told that during the most desperate period of the first battle of ypres, when the average daily expenditure of -pounder ammunition had amounted to rounds per gun, and in some cases the enormous total of rounds, the state of the ammunition supply had necessitated the issue of an order restricting expenditure to rounds, and that a further restriction to rounds would be necessary if the supply did not improve." actually during the winter - the number of rounds per -pounder gun fell to less than five! shrapnel (which it is interesting to remember was first used in the peninsular war of - , and of which the older form of shell was filled merely with gunpowder as compared with the modern filling of bullets) was, however, "ineffective against the occupants of trenches, breastworks, and buildings," consequently guns required per cent. of high-explosive shell "to destroy many forms of fortified localities that the enemy constructs, more particularly his machine-gun emplacements"; and in a secret memorandum despatched by sir john french to the war office in the spring of it was urged that "large quantities of high-explosive shells for field guns have become essential owing to the form of warfare in which the army is engaged." evidently the "talking men" at the back were beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, if nothing else, in face of the reports which the "fighting men" at the front were sending home with a firm persistence, for in spite of "the disinclination of the war office prior to the war to take up seriously the question of high explosives" due to the assumption that their true nature and the correct particulars which govern their construction were not properly understood, as they (the war office) "had too little experience of them," and perhaps because of the fact, for instance, that "the battle (of neuve chapelle) had to be broken off after three days' fighting because we were brought to a standstill through want of ammunition," occasional consignments of -pounder long cases at crewe grew less and less until they finally ceased altogether, being thereafter superseded by the shorter cases of the · -inch high-explosive shell, which, as time went on, were showered on the works in ever-increasing quantities; in fact, a total of close on two million had been dealt with when the all-highest finally "threw up the sponge" and accomplished his memorable "bunk" into holland. to pick a cartridge case up and look at it, one would say that there was literally nothing in it; yet on second thoughts it is surprising what a number of features are embodied in its hollow and simple form. it is solid drawn, of a substance the colour of brass called yellow metal, which is composed of per cent. electrolytic copper and per cent. zinc, and which costs actually £ per ton less than brass. the base is integral and thick, with an external rim, behind which a clip automatically engages as the breech of the gun closes, for the purpose of extracting the case after the gun is fired. into a hole in the centre of the base is screwed the percussion cap, which acts virtually in the capacity of a "sparking plug" to the gun, differing only from the familiar petrol-engine sparking plug, in that the spark which fires the propellant charge inside the cartridge case is created, not by the break of an electric current, but by the sudden shock or percussion of a striker against a cap in which is contained a thin, albeit highly explosive layer of fulminic acid and gunpowder. the walls of the case are thin, thereby expanding against the walls of the breech of the gun, and preventing any escape of the propellent gases; and for the purpose of easy extraction they (the walls of the case) are slightly tapered to within about / inch of the mouth which fits parallel over the end of the shell. [illustration: rolling out dents in · -inch fired cartridge case. [_to face p._ .] upon receiving a returned, or fired, cartridge case in the works, the primer is first of all removed, then the case is boiled in a solution of caustic soda for the purpose of removing grease and dirt. what is known as a "hardness" test follows next in order of sequence, this to determine whether the metal of the case is still good for further service, and is performed by a little instrument known as a sclerometer (derived, as our classical contemporaries will tell us, from the greek word [greek: sklêros], hard), consisting of a tube marked with a graduated scale down which a tiny metal ball is dropped on to the side of the case; the ball should rebound to a point on the scale approximating a height of two inches, anything below this proving that the metal has become too soft for further use, when the case is accordingly scrapped. the cases which show a requisite degree of hardness are then annealed or suitably tempered round the mouth, this process ensuring a subsequent loose fit round the end of the shell. rolling the mouth to internal limit gauges is effected by means of a specially improvised apparatus rigged up on the bed of an engine lathe, consisting of two fixed housings inside which runs a belt-driven sleeve bored to the correct taper of the cartridge case, and in which the latter is carried. a duplex ball-bearing roller running on a central spindle secured in a pad fixed to a cross-slide, and operated transversely by a pedal, applies pressure against the walls of the cartridge case, the dents and bruises being thus gently removed and an even surface obtained. it should be borne in mind that the entire process of repairing these cartridge cases (with the exception of brazing by coppersmiths with an acetylene flame any cracks or splits which already existed or became apparent in the repairing operations) was carried out by female labour working three eight-hour shifts, and one of the neatest of the diverse mechanical requisites which the girls were called upon to operate and which was the immediate outcome of managerial forethought and ingenuity was an adaptation of an hydraulic press for the purpose of correctly reforming the taper walls of the cartridge case to the true form of the gun chamber or breech. a cast-iron block with recesses cored in (in which are fitted a rocking lever pivoted in the centre, and two hardened cast-steel dies, one on either side) repose on rolling bearings arranged on the bed of the press. at each end of the rocking lever is attached an adjustable ejector ram acting centrally inside the cast-steel dies, which latter are bored taper to the required shape of the cartridge case. upon inserting a cartridge case in each die, the cast-iron block is pushed transversely by hand across the bed of the press, bringing one of the cases central with the ram, which, when applied, forces the case home into the die, thereby pressing and reforming the walls to their true and original shape. the ram being withdrawn, the cast-iron block is pulled back so that the second cartridge case in its turn comes central with the ram and the effect of pressing it home in its own particular die is to push back the pivoted arm, the other end of which, advancing automatically, expels the previous and finished case; cartridge cases being inserted and ejected in this manner _ad infinitum_. the cast-steel dies naturally become affected by constant use, more especially on the protruding shoulder against which the thickest part of the case (_viz._ where the walls rounded into the base) is pressed, this necessitating the shoulder being re-radiused perhaps every fortnight, and a slight readjustment of the die in the block. to allow for expansion of the walls of the case when being ejected after compression, the dies are turned slightly smaller (say / parts of an inch) than the required finished size. after being pressed, the primer holes of the cartridge case (known as the plain and platform holes respectively) are rectified by a double-reamer, the case revolving in a sleeve bored to correct taper of the outside diameter of the case, this assuring concentricity of the two holes, and ensuring that the primer face and percussion cap lie flush with the base of the case. a forming tool, having a non-cutting face which acts as a depth guide against the base, corrects the outer rim and shoulder. a hand-tapping machine clamped centrally to a suitable fixture on a bench was devised for re-tapping primer-holes. this consists of a floating bracket which accurately guides the tap into the existing thread, at the end of the tap being fixed a hand-operated capstan wheel, and on the tap a stop to regulate the depth of the screw. a similar apparatus fitted with a sliding screw-driver removes the primers; the cartridge case in either event being securely held and easily fixed or released in a central clamp. finally, after being immersed for a couple of minutes in a solution of sulphuric acid, the cartridge case is polished with sand and sawdust on a wooden pad covered with tapestry and revolving in a lathe at or revolutions per minute. the result of garnering in and renovating these cartridge cases instead of turning them adrift in the battle area, reckoned in figures of pounds, shillings, and pence, was undoubtedly very considerable; for apart altogether from the saving effected in the cost of labour when repairing old cartridge cases as compared with the manufacture of new ones, the weight of metal alone contained in a couple of million cases may be taken at approximately tons; and with yellow metal costing £ s. d. per ton, the saving in metal alone amounts to no less than £ , . chapter vi gunnery and projectiles (rudimentary notes and notions) "the prussian was born a brute, and civilisation will make him goethe. the apposite nature of this moral dictum could have been exemplified in no degree more accurately, nor indeed remarkably, than in the light of events which transpired during the forty odd years intervening between the franco-prussian war of and the present-day world conflict; events which may, perhaps, best be summarised as comprising a persistent policy of unremittant and so-called peaceful penetration, intense warlike preparation, and provocative "braggadocio," or diplomatic bluff. born in an atmosphere of arrogance and lust, imbued with a spirit of savagery, the hun stood forth at last in the blood-red dawn of "der tag," naked, stripped of his pharisaical veneer of social development. "vous ne devez laisser," wrote bismarck in , "aux populations que vous traversez que leurs yeux pour pleurer," and clearly a decade of "civilisation" had sufficed to make his countrymen indeed ferocious, to prove them obedient, albeit enthusiastic, disciples of the bestial doctrine which he had expounded. no longer was the soldier alone to be called upon to pass "half his time on the field of battle, and half of it on a bed of pain"; civilian populations too, innocent old men, defenceless women, young girls, and little children, all were to be drawn alike, pitilessly, into the vortex; naught but their eyes wherewith to weep remaining to them. one has but to refer again to that arresting little volume "enseignements psychologiques de la guerre européenne" (m. gustave le bon) to be reminded of the pre-determined methods that were to be adopted. "notre principe directeur," bismarck goes on to declare, "est de rendre la guerre si terrible aux populations civiles, qu'elles-mêmes supplient en faveur de la paix." four years of uncivilised warfare, of barbarity unprecedented in the annals of modern history, have since taught us how terrible was the meaning of these words, and if the possibility is conceded that tragedy and comedy may, on occasion, run riot hand in hand together, the climax was perhaps never more nearly approached that when in august, , the arch-criminal himself, wilhelm ii, that "born actor and master of mis-statement,"[ ] indited an agonising epistle to his doddering confederate the emperor francis joseph of austria: "my soul is torn," so ran this apostolic lamentation--"my soul is torn, but everything must be put to fire and sword. men, women, children, and old men must be slaughtered, and not a tree or house left standing. with these methods of terrorism which alone are capable of affecting a people as degenerate as are the french, the war will be over in two months, whereas if i admit humanitarian considerations it will last years. in spite of my repugnance, i have been obliged to recommend the former system." [ ] a comment of king edward's on the german emperor, . "in spite of my repugnance," however, or perhaps because of it, in spite of or because of this recommended system of terrorism, the more difficult it became to affect, to demoralise the "degenerate" french people, the more seemingly impossible became the task of breaking "those proud english hearts"; the war was not over in two months, in fact, contrary to the prognostications of the "all highest," it lasted several years! the nation, as it so happened, was never in more determined "bull-dog" frame of mind; this determination moreover to "see things through" "coûte que coûte" was amply voiced by mr. asquith, then prime minister, at the guildhall on november th, --"we will never sheath the sword until the military domination of prussia is wholly and finally destroyed," and floating back on the breeze away from the stricken fields of france came echoing the refrain:-- "when the strife is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph-song, and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong." dimly distant though the final victory might seem, fierce and protracted though the strife, england continued unflinchingly pouring forth her bravest and her best, while she herself, with a determination grim and set, was of a truth turning "to swords her ploughshares," for experience had taught her that the prussian was born not only a brute but a bully, and that the only way to deal with bullies was to hit them back, to keep on hitting until they were down, and once down to keep them there and prevent them from getting on their feet again. but the maxim that "hesitation and half-measures ruin everything in war" had never been lost upon the "great general staff of (german) imperial supermen," who it might be opined had probably forgotten more in the gentle art of preparation for war than we ever set ourselves to learn. gas shells, incendiary shells, tear shells, liquid fire, clouds of poison gas, aerial torpedoes, floating mines, submarines, mystery long-range guns, such were a few of the more obvious and less humanly unspeakable horrors in which the common enemy had specialised. taken unawares, the question consequentially arose "how to hit them back?" man for man, fist for fist, we were sure of giving as good as we received, and better. "in bravery the french and english soldiers are the only ones to be compared with the russians," was the verdict of napoleon. bravery, however, whilst being undoubtedly magnificent, is, on the other hand, in modern warfare liable to become a constraining source of suicide unless backed by commensurate means both of offence and of defence. "the machine," as mr. lloyd george pointed out, when reviewing on december th, , the progress of events of the preceding months, "the machine is essential to defend positions of peril, and it saves life, because the more machinery you have for defence, the more thinly you can hold the line. on the other hand it means fewer losses in attacking positions of peril, because it demolishes machine-gun emplacements, tears up barbed wire, destroys trenches." again, "what we stint in material we squander in life." how criminal had been the lack both of prevision and of provision in regard to meeting possible contingencies may be gathered from the fact that on march th, , major seely, m.p., in the house of commons, in moving a reduction in the army estimates (estimates which at that time did not exceed the modest sum of sixty millions per annum), said, "we could not afford to continue the present establishment, for the house would not grant the money, and the country would not provide the men." the folly of it all was coming home to us with a vengeance. proportionate to the former mean and niggardly "cheese-paring" was the resultant appalling rate at which life was now being squandered. "we were short of all kinds of military weapons," mr. lloyd george was forced to confess, "but the lack of high-explosive shell was paralysing"; then as if in condonation of all former sins of omission, "we believe that what is being done now to provide a supply of munitions equal to all possible requirements will astonish the world when it becomes known." in this respect, therefore, it is, perhaps, not unnatural that interest of a widespread nature should centre round crewe, in virtue of the quota of munitions which she, albeit unobtrusively, contributed to the "world's astonishment"; indeed a certain sense of bewilderment not untinged with pride cannot fail to supervene in the minds of that vast section of the community, to wit the travelling public, and in particular the great north-western-loving public, when, the official veil of secrecy being drawn aside, the mental faculty is free to note and to assimilate the degree of resourcefulness, the versatility of the locomotive engineer. there is no concealing the fact that "the place acquired by machinery in the arts of peace in the nineteenth century has been won by machinery in the grim art of war in the twentieth century," but the anomaly was strange indeed when crewe, essentially the cradle of what may perhaps be termed the _haute noblesse_ of locomotive progeny, bowing to the dictates of stern necessity, extensively adapted her domain to the novel effort of high-explosive shell production. manifold and great as are the instances which may be cited as evidence of the strides made during the last decade in engineering science, no other branch of that science has surely ever made appeal more alluring alike to schoolboy as to popular imagination, than that embodied in the modern british locomotive. who in the course of his travel experience has not happened at that "mecca" of railway bustle and romance, "euston," the epic terminus of britain's premier line, and focussing with his eye the hazy limit of a far-receding platform, has not traced the tapering profile of some distant-bound express, marvelling the while that, harnessed on ahead, should be pent up a force eager, impatient, yet withal so mighty that of a sudden, subservient to its call, this elongated span of motionless inertia laden with living freight should smoothly glide away, and gathering momentum on its path with ceaseless rhythm, ever along, along and along, sweep towards the far elusive line of the horizon? yet this, in plain prosaic english, was the ennobling vista opened through peaceful years of patient toil and perseverance to the public ken, and dull must be the mind which contemplates unmoved that splendid emblem of the locomotive world, the awe-inspiring "claughton" of that ilk, noble of mien and black of tint, with breast-plate red, toying with trains the equal of tons and more, ticking aside the minutes and the miles alike. [illustration: "patriot."--a typical example of the "claughton" class of feet inch, six wheels coupled express passenger engine with superheated boiler; four h.p. cylinders, - / inch bore × inch stroke; boiler pressure, lbs. per sq. inch; maximum tractive force, , lbs.; weight of engine and tender in working order, tons. [_to face p. ._] figuratively speaking, crewe may perhaps be referred to as the "spill" on which the face of the london and north-western compass pivots; the four points, north, south, east, and west, extending respectively to carlisle, london, leeds and holyhead; but familiar as are the scenes of everyday activity throughout the entire length and breadth of the company's system, foggy, for the most part, are the notions as to the phenomenal whirl of industrial enterprise daily in progress within the precincts of crewe works. yet in these great engine works (so menacing and unprecedented were the exigencies created by this voracious war), 'midst all the multifarious machinery and up-to-date appliances whereby is fashioned and evolved in all its amazing detail that complex piece of mechanism, the very essence of railroad itinerancy, the modern locomotive, was improvised with a speed approximating that of the mushroom which springs up in the night, a model and comprehensive plant, correlative with the multiform processes involved in the manufacture of that swift harbinger of death, the high-explosive shell, and its complement of grim appurtenances. how paralysing was the lack of these shells may be gathered from the fact that[ ] "in the month of may ( ), when the germans were turning out , shells a day, most of them high-explosive, we were turning out a day in high explosive and , in shrapnel." this gentle reminder to a lethargic house did actually (so we are told) evoke cries of "oh," which latent degree of enthusiasm cannot be considered exactly vulgar or ultra ebullient, when side by side with so depressing a situation at home we endeavour to grasp the staggering figures as set forth in the following french official statement:--"our artillery to the north of arras fired in twenty-four consecutive hours , shells, that is to say, very nearly as many shells as were fired by the entire french artillery in the franco-prussian war of - . the weight of these , shells can be put at , , kilos; or nearly tons. in other words, more than large trucks were required for carrying them by rail, or roughly half a dozen complete goods trains; by road this would have meant waggons, each with a team of six horses. the monetary value of these projectiles may be put at something like £ , ." [ ] mr. lloyd george, house of commons, dec. th, . prior to the summer of , a shell, if not exactly an unknown quantity, was at any rate one of these obvious, even if somewhat curious things that might conceivably (in fact probably did) claim a certain amount of attention from that rather spoilt and very exclusive little clique, the professional army people. one read in the papers, too, from time to time, that the navy (that immensely popular though slightly enigmatic asset of the empire) was indulging in a little target practice somewhere out at sea; this would mean the firing of a few projectiles; but that was as it should be; we all liked the comfortable assurance that we could "sleep quietly in our beds;"[ ] with an innate and justifiable sense of pride we liked, when occasion permitted, solemnly to stand up and join in the refrain "britannia, rule the waves." [ ] the late lord fisher, nov. , . latterly, however, the "shell" has acquired so widespread a degree of prominence, proportionate to the toll of human life and of material damage that it has exacted, it has become in effect so commonplace an object, hackneyed as the very chimney-pots of a jerry-built row of houses, that a word of apology should perhaps be prefaced to any additional allusion to a subject already so often cited, which might otherwise and pardonably be regarded as superfluous. before diving, however, into any details as to the methods of manufacture, it may be interesting to pause for a few moments and to inquire into the nature of the mysterious movements of the shell when, deposited by the artilleryman with tender and loving care safely and securely within the breech of his gun, it flies away, the unerring intermediary between him and the hated foe of an argument deadly and convincing. our gunner experts (armchair no doubt as well as professional) will, of course, tell us that the flight of a shell is gyroscopic, this possibly in lucid contradistinction from that of the convex-shaped boomerang, which, according to reliable information, is gifted with the graceful, albeit inconvenient, art of returning to its original point of departure. the shell, however, ere it quits the muzzle of the gun, thanks to what is known as the rifling or grooving of the bore of the gun, thanks, too, to the action of that indispensable little adjunct familiarly known as the copper band, is imparted with the vigorous twist, and once launched in mid-air spins round its longitudinal axis, undeterred, like the gyroscope, either by force of gravity or by atmospheric pressure. this longitudinal spin is rendered eminently desirable, in fact imperative, for various reasons, of which length and explosive capacity of the projectile, accuracy in flight, diminished air-resistance in proportion to weight, and finally range, may be quoted as the more obvious desiderata. the old ancestral cannon-ball, fired as it was from a smooth-bore gun, had no means of acquiring this sudden longitudinal twist, and no sooner clear of the muzzle, it found itself involved in the performance of antics whimsical and capricious, turning over and over on its transverse axis, head over heels, side slipping, looping the loop. again, the cannon-ball, being round, was limited in size to the bore of the gun, so that in addition to the disadvantage just mentioned of possessing no definite material degree of accuracy whilst on its headlong course through the air, it offered the further disadvantage of containing but a comparatively small explosive charge, and the air-resistance it afforded in proportion to its weight affected adversely, and in marked degree as compared with the modern longitudinal shell, its range and potential destructive energy. reverting then to the modern projectile, and taking as a suitably illustrative example the -inch high-explosive shell (for it was on this particular type that crewe was asked to concentrate), bearing always in mind, too, that the modern gun is rifled or grooved and that the effect of this grooving is to impart a vigorous longitudinal twist or spin to the shell as it flies away, making it gyroscopic and almost uniformly accurate, we notice that the length of this shell is eighteen inches, thus exceeding the diameter in the proportion of three to one, whence it becomes obvious that the capacity available for explosive charge is proportionately greater than that of a cannon-ball of the same diameter. we next find that in place of the rounded wind-resisting surface of the cannon-ball, the front end of the modern shell is pointed like a pencil, the atmospheric resistance being in this way reduced to a minimum. decrease of wind-resistance naturally spells increase of range, and in this connection tests have in the past been carried out with shells having their bases as well as their noses pointed with a view to obviating the vacuum which is necessarily created by the usual flat base. a cigar-shaped shell, however, never proved satisfactory, for like the rugby football it was decidedly wobbly in mid-air. how requisite was a superlative degree of accuracy and consequently of skill in the manufacture of the modern high-explosive projectile may, to some extent, be gathered from these briefly stated considerations, and will become more apparent still when we come to glance at the series of component parts of which the whole is built up. premature explosions, involving loss of life amongst the gun-crew, the wrecking of the gun itself, not to mention resultant immunity from dismemberment of those previously destined to be the recipients of this unique form of greeting, are _primâ facie_ contingencies to be guarded against; thus, owing to the sudden stresses to which a shell is subjected on the firing of the propellent charge whereby inertia becomes transmuted into velocity both forward and rotary, the steel of which the shell is made must be of such tensile strength that not only will the base-end withstand this transmutation, but the walls of the shell must be capable of overcoming the inertia of the front end of the shell, otherwise they will collapse, and a "premature" will be the immediate outcome. an output of steel adequate for all munition purposes was already a problem sufficiently acute, and there were genuinely orthodox reasons why the home output, in particular, should be maintained at as high a level as possible. for one thing, it was eminently desirable that america should keep supplied our allies who were less well equipped in "industrial and engineering resources than ourselves." "by home manufacture," too, "we had saved in the course of a single year something which is equal to _d._ or _d._ in the pound of income tax in the metal market alone." besides "when you order a very considerable quantity of war material abroad, there is always a difficulty which arises with regard to the exchanges and the gold supply." there was also "the difficulty that you have not the same control over the manufacturers of material abroad as you have got here" [mr. lloyd george, house of commons, december th, ]. influenced by considerations such as these, mr. cooke undertook not merely to machine _in toto_ a given quantity per month of rough shell forgings, but proffered the extensive steel-making plant in crewe works, comprising several furnaces of and -ton capacity, both for the supply of steel requisite for the initial manufacture of these rough forgings, and if desired, for a further output of steel wherewith to supply forgings to other firms engaged exclusively in shell manufacture. the output of -inch high-explosive shells from crewe works had, at the time of the armistice, reached, approximately, a total of , , and the corresponding weight of steel forgings may be estimated, approximately, at tons. government specifications in regard to tensile strength and cold fracture tests were not unnaturally exacting in the extreme, and the casts obtained at crewe came fully in these respects up to the standard ordained. but amazing though it may seem (so tightly can the reel of official red tape be wound), notwithstanding mr. cook's offer and ability to furnish this supply of special high-grade steel, further government regulations to the number of seventeen and covering three pages of foolscap demanded the observance of formalities, petty and extraneous, designed solely for the purpose of securing the right of incursion within crewe works of every smith, jones, and robinson who under the pseudonym of "government inspector," and as units of a hugely overstaffed officialdom, sought by hook and by crook any and every means wherewith to justify their overpaid existence. "nobody but managerial and supervising engineers can quite realise what a handicap these people have been upon efficient production," writes a student of bureaucracy in the _morning post_, april st, . "how the engineering industry has survived in spite of it is almost a miracle; how it has produced in spite of it is quite a miracle. at one time the ministry of munitions could boast of no fewer than , officials, nearly all of whose positions might be reasonably defined as "jobs." there were inspectors and inspectors of inspectors, super-inspectors, and inspector-generals, munition area dilution officers, munition area recruiting officers, recruitment complaints officers, and committees, directors, sub-directors, information bureaux, with all the usual paraphernalia; officials with and without designation, priority officials whose duties were as nebulous as their qualifications, besides an unnumbered crowd of arrogant but grossly inexpert experts. it is a splendid tribute to the industry that it triumphed over this deadly deterrent and redeemed its obligation to the nation under so cruel and undeserved a burden." how crewe works survived in spite of this "handicap," this "deadly deterrent," is explained by the fact that mr. cooke would have none of these things; in fact, sooner than conform to the caprice and tyranny of these "inexpert experts" from without, he very promptly withdrew his offer of steel manufacture, politely but firmly consigning "major macmarkfour" and "captain fitzgrazefuse" elsewhere, their correspondence to the nearest wastepaper basket; a friendly chat with the late sir f. donaldson, then director of army ordnance at woolwich, sufficing to make it clear that at crewe everything was strictly "above board," and that the little entourage of professional experts within justified the full and complete confidence which he, their chief, reposed in them. not a few of the smaller engineering firms up and down the country, faced with previously unconsidered problems created by the unlooked-for transition from peace to war conditions, welcomed the call for shells and yet more shells, as a ray of sunshine peeping from out the lowering clouds of commercial stagnation. hardly appreciating the fact that a shell's a shell for a' that, and approaching the task with a flippant disdain, akin to that of "selling seashells upon the seashore," some of these good people, ostensibly patriotic and avowedly disinterested, were soon asking themselves whether after all they had not bitten off as much as, if not actually more than, they could reasonably chew. the requisite degree of perfection in material, and of accuracy in machining, was at the outset a sore puzzle to the many who had never seen a field-battery in action, who had never inquired as to the why and wherefore of the flight of a shell, who, by virtue of their exemption from military service, never had occasion to congratulate themselves personally on the subtle and unfailing precision of a creeping "barrage"; and great was the vexation of spirit, many the hours thrown away, legion the shells definitely consigned to the scrap-heap (or perhaps at best set aside pending some seemingly trifling rectification), ere aspirants to this novel and exacting sphere of machine-shop art attained anything approaching the acmé of perfection. "it is better," wrote napoleon, "to have no artillery at all than a bad artillery that endangers the lives of men and the honour of the nation," and selecting this fundamental principle as a basis on which to build the fabric of his excursion into the then untravelled paths of shell manufacture, mr. cooke made arrangements at the very outset for his leading representative of the machine-tool department to visit woolwich, for the purpose, not only of acquiring first-hand knowledge as to the most approved government methods of producing shells, but of making detailed dimensioned sketches from which to manufacture, in the company's own tool department at crewe, the multifarious gauges, or instruments, designed to verify in the most minute manner imaginable the diverse form of the shell. the consecutive operations through which the shell passes number some thirty all told, and for each separate operation separate gauges are required. as emphasising not merely the delicacy of these all-important little instruments, but the delicate proposition "up against" which he found himself in his endeavour to discover firms who were capable of their manufacture, mr. lloyd george confessed that "we found that some of the shortage (of shells), if not a good deal of it, was due to the fact that, although you turn out shell bodies in very considerable numbers, you were short of some particular component which was essential before you could complete the shell. it might be a fuse, it might be a gauge. there was always some one thing of which you had a shortage!" evidently gauges were a source of considerable anxiety because "we therefore had to set up two or three national factories in order to increase the supply of these components." by already possessing the necessary machinery for, as well as considerable experience in, the art of gauge-making, crewe was in a position to ease very materially the burden of those government departments, those newly created "national factories" directly responsible for the manufacture and the issue of gauges in quantities sufficient to meet all demands, having merely to submit on completion any inspecting gauges to the national physical laboratory at teddington for testing and stamping, prior to putting them into commission in the works. further, mr. cooke, as a member of a "strong committee of machine-tool makers" who were then "sitting constantly at armament buildings in london," was specially qualified, in view of his inside technical knowledge and practical experience, to assist in "directing the operations of the whole of the machine-tool manufacturers of the kingdom"; and finally, as mr. lloyd george went on to say, "the result of all this" was "to increase very considerably not merely the output of shells, but also the power at the disposal of the nation at short notice to turn out even more than we have ordered if the emergency demands" (the _times_, july th, ). the rough forging of a shell body, rolled and pressed to suitable dimensions from a steel billet, is an uncouth-looking object, resembling as much as anything one of those upright earthenware umbrella-stands to be found in any cheap furnishing store; and with a view to licking it into shape, to turning it as quickly as possible into the smoothly finished article it was destined to become, mr. cooke's representative, on his return from woolwich, having, as a preliminary, set in motion the machinery necessary for a supply of gauges, forthwith proceeded to improvise a further series of machines and tools, calculating the nature and number required for a given output of shells per month, and mapping out a plan whereby the various operations should follow one another from start to finish in correct and regular sequence. how important is the strict adherence to a regular sequence of operations is borne out by the fact that a shell might easily be ruined in the event of any operation being performed out of its turn. a convenient and suitable _locale_ in which to lay out this shell-manufacturing plant was found available in a previously unoccupied extension of the new fitting shop; and as in the case of fuse manufacture at the old works fitting shop, so in the present instance, members of the fair sex were destined to figure prominently--a little band of neatly attired novices, some strong, speedily responding to the call, and ranging themselves under the immediate supervision of a suitable quorum of expert mechanics of the sterner sex. [illustration: -inch shell manufacture in the new fitting shop, crewe works. [_to face p. ._] a multiple cutter-milling machine, formerly habituated to the peace-time art of facing locomotive cylinders, suddenly found itself saddled with a row of a dozen shell forgings, the open ends of which it faced to a correct distance from the inside of the base. thenceforward, engine and turret-lathes deftly manipulated by our little friends of the fair element bore the onus of the succeeding operations. ordinary engine lathes were eminently suitable for operations such as centring, rough and finished turning, grooving and external blending and turning copper bands. then, thanks to the facility with which the various tools can be swung round in the lathe-turret and brought to bear on the work, turret-lathes were employed on operations such as rough and finished boring, internal blending, recessing and facing. rough turning on a fluted mandrel, rough and finished boring, and internal blending, in a concentric chuck secured to the face-plate of the lathe, are operations quickly disposed of. "blending," needless to say, produces in the mind an impression of smoothness and of harmony: smoothness unscored, that is, of the walls and base; harmony complete between the two, and indispensable. into the finished and concentric bore of our projectile is now forced a cleverly and home-designed expanding mandrel, a taper mandrel in fact, which expands a hollow (and again concentric) bush, and on this the base is centred. transferred to an adjacent engine-lathe the shell is fixed on a shorter three-bush expanding mandrel, and turned to the correct and finished diameter. removed to a turret-lathe, a slight operation of counter-boring the mouth is performed; this is necessary, as medical practitioners may be astonished to learn, for the purpose of receiving the nose. the mouth is also faced, and screwed, but screwing is effected on another instrument of torture, styled a thread-milling machine; so prior to lifting the shell from the turret-lathe a recess is cut in the far cavity of the mouth, this forming a clearance for the thread-milling tool. the turret of the lathe having no transverse travel, an ingenious little tool was designed and fixed into the turret-head by means of which a transverse travel, actuated by a hand-rachet and sufficient for the required depth of the recess, was obtained. anything which is at all conducive towards the saving of time, especially in war, is _ipso facto_ a device of the utmost strategic and economic value. "ask anything of me but time," once said napoleon, "it is the one thing i cannot give you." so, in the case of our thread-milling machine, the saving of time effected is considerable. the shell is as incomplete without the screw-thread in its mouth, as it is without its nose; the thread has to be cut somehow; and by the employment of a milling-machine and thread-cutter the job can be done in about ten minutes as against an hour or more if done in an ordinary screw-cutting lathe. having recourse once again to an engine-lathe, we attach a "form" (or guide) plate to the slide-rest, to the profile of which the nose and shell-body together are blended externally. as we are now nearing completion, the next item on the programme is to see how we stand for weight, and in the event of the shell being a trifle on the heavy side, we either take a light cut off, reducing ever so slightly the diameter, or else we shorten the base. there remain now the base-plate and the copper band to complete the whole; the former is either screwed or slipped with a plain circumference into a recess in the base, riveted over with a compressed air riveter, and faced to the required thickness; the latter is pressed hydraulically into a groove, then turned and grooved to the required diameter. a kind of miniature turkish bath now awaits the long-suffering object of our commiseration, in which it is steamed and cleaned, then placed nose downwards over a tank. in this unenviable position a stream of varnish is generously sprayed with a hand pump up its inside. thereafter it reposes in an adjacent chamber or stove until the varnish is thoroughly dried and baked; whence emerging, a pneumatic tapping machine is waiting to clear the varnish from the thread of its nose. it is then "boarded" both in regard to weight and overall dimensions, and if passed "a " by the inspector proceeds into bond, where it remains until "called up," "reporting" at a filling factory, and in due course being "drafted over-seas." prior to quitting the workshop's busy hum and reverting with our mind's eye to the "battle's magnificently stern array," where we may compare to further, if superficial, purpose the projectile and its mathematically proportioned features with the somewhat violent form of gymnastic exercise in which it is about to delight, a word or two in reference to the evolution of the copper band may not be held amiss, in view of the important _rôle_ it plays relatively to the shell as a whole. the process by which these copper bands or discs were evolved was unique, and inasmuch as it was possible to effect a considerable economy by the evolution of three separate and distinct bands from one original sheet or square of copper, crewe became responsible not only for the bands components of the -inch shell, on the manufacture of which she was exclusively concentrating her endeavours, but was able concurrently to produce for other firms further bands components of both -inch and · -inch projectiles. equally with the fuse or gauge, the copper band ranks as one of those "particular components which are essential before you can complete the shell," and in order to preclude in so far as lay in his power to do so the possibility of any shortage of this particular component, mr. cooke put in hand and had completed within a fortnight from the date of commencement an entirely new hydraulic press having a capacity of tons and a working pressure of lbs per square inch, by means of which copper cups were pressed out to approximately per day, and from these cups were cut and turned bands of different diameters according to the size of shell for which they were required; the total number of copper bands thus manufactured at crewe at the time of the armistice being upwards of , . the method was simple when once evolved. the -inch band being of the largest diameter of the three was the first to be dealt with, then the -inch and finally the · -inch. a piece of flat, square copper plate was first dished in the press by means of a solid punch, to the shape of a shallow bowl; annealed, it was pressed a little deeper; annealed again, the process was repeated a third time, but deeper still, the dish becoming a cup; and in order to obviate the drawback of the walls of the cup clinging to the circumference of the solid punch, a cleverly contrived split and collapsible punch was introduced, that is to say a punch which, on being pressed downwards, was expanded by a taper wedge to the full diameter required, and which, on being withdrawn, collapsed or shrank inwardly in proportion as the taper wedge preceded and automatically withdrew the expanded and circular sides, the latter disengaging simultaneously from the walls of the cup. transferred to the fitting shop, a band or disc -inch diameter was turned and cut off from the cup, the latter returning to the press, where through the medium of similar punches of requisite and correspondingly smaller diameters further operations resulted in the evolution of cups from which were turned -inch and · -inch bands respectively and in sequence. the proportionate number of bands cut from the three sizes of cups were, as a general rule, three from the smallest or · -inch, eight from the intermediate or -inch, and one only from the largest or -inch, and it was in some measure due to these circumstances, due, no doubt, too, to a certain difficulty in obtaining delivery of copper sheets in sufficient quantities, that for the purpose of increasing the output of -inch bands and of maintaining this output on a level with that of the two smaller sizes, recourse was had to the brass foundry, where it was considered practicable to cast the bands, especially in view of the amount of copper scrap of both shearings and turnings that was available for melting-down purposes. a certain amount of preliminary experimental work was perforce entailed, both for ensuring that the band, when cast, should exhibit an estimated degree of shrinkage (for the greater the shrinkage the sounder the casting, a shrinkage of / inch being usually accepted as a minimum), and that the metal should be capable of withstanding certain specified government tests, the one condition, of course, being contingent on the other. tests which were actually made proved wholly satisfactory, the average results being an elastic limit of · tons per square inch, an elongation of per cent. on two inches, and finally a breaking stress of · tons. de-oxidisation, that is to say the process of removing oxygen from the metal for the purpose of obtaining castings that were sound, free of blow-holes and of oxide of copper, was effected by mixing a small percentage of phosphor-copper with the molten copper in the crucible. boron-copper was also tried as a de-oxidiser, but no real advantage was noticeable. comparative tests, too, were made for the purpose of ascertaining the percentage of loss of copper when melted in crucibles and again in a reverberatory furnace. the former process resulted in a loss not exceeding / or per cent.; whereas the latter was responsible for a per cent. loss. any saving which came within the meaning of the word "economy" as completely removed and distinct from that of "parsimony" was a precept not merely preached but extensively practised throughout the locomotive department at crewe, and as an illustrative instance of this praiseworthy, and therefore patriotic, policy the casting of copper bands may be cited. although cheaper and possibly less reliable methods of producing copper bands may have conceivably come into being during the final stages of the war, it was obvious to even the least well-informed in such matters that, provided a mixture could be obtained whereby the metal could be relied upon to pass the government tests, the process of pouring molten copper from a crucible into a sand-cored cast-iron chill was likely to be at any rate cheaper than that involving the employment of presses, rolls, shears, and punches. on comparing the estimated cost of manufacturing copper bands by the pressing and casting processes respectively, a difference of one shilling per finished band was shown in favour of the latter system; and although it may seem a mere bagatelle, a drop in the ocean of squandered millions, to those who not merely are encouraged, but who encourage others, in the art of reckless and profligate extravagance when handling the public purse, this modest shilling per copper band saved represented an aggregate of £ , a sum not altogether to be sneezed at when we consider that the value of the , bands cast in crewe works was but an infinitesimal fraction of the total munition expenditure during the war. we are told that "the use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are." hence it has been, we may confidently aver, for the purpose of seeing things as they are that we have availed ourselves of this opportunity to fathom in some measure for ourselves the abstruse art of shell-manufacture as practised in crewe works. the imagination, however morbid and obtuse, can hardly fail to be stirred when pondering the rotund and rudimentary profile of the rough shell-forging lying with all its latent possibilities, recumbent in the lathe; ultimately in its finished form _c'est cela_,[ ] the shell we meditate, _qui va nous débarrasser des prussiens_; thanks now to that generous impulse which prompts our gallant gunner-men, good fellows all, possessed of "mildest manners with the bravest mind," to unravel for us the all-absorbing mysteries of that sphere of "war's glorious art" in which they themselves excel, reality will regulate our questioning imagination as we follow them to the dim seclusion of some cleverly camouflaged gun-emplacement. [ ] _c'est celui-la_, etc., said of the tsar, nicholas ii., when visiting paris in . we have already seen that the motion of a shell is rotary as well as forward, this rotary motion being brought about by the joint instrumentality of the grooving of the bore of the gun and of the copper band on the shell. another and very important function performed by the copper band approximates to that of the piston-ring of a locomotive cylinder, which prevents the passage of steam from one side of the piston to the other. concomitantly, the copper band, turned a fit in the bore of the gun and jammed into the rifling, is designed to obstruct the passage of the propellent gases beyond the base-end of the shell; these gases are naturally imbued with a habit or hobby of gnawing away, or eroding, any metal surfaces with which they can come into contact, so that the further they can penetrate up the bore of the gun, the more material damage that will ensue, and the rifling becomes proportionately erased or eaten away. further, owing to the fact that the degree of heat generated by the ignition of the propellent charge is obviously most intense in the area most adjacent to the base of the shell, erosion becomes patently more pronounced here than in other directions; consequently as the area in which the propellant gases are exploded increases, so the pressure exerted by these gases decreases, the net results of these considerations being loss of accuracy and of velocity. different civilised communities favour different kinds of explosives as a gentle means of attaining their ambitions, and these explosives may be solids, liquids, or gases. in this country picric acid (or, tri-nitro-phenol), and tri-nitro-toluene (or in its abbreviated and more easily pronounced form "t.n.t.") are the two kinds most extensively adopted for the filling of high-explosive shells. owing, however, to certain unexplained caprices in which it is known to indulge, owing, too, to the fact that persons employed on its manipulation have died from the effects of trotyl poisoning, t.n.t. is less extensively employed, in spite of certain known and obvious advantages which it possesses over picric acid. picric acid solidifies after being run in a molten condition into the shell, and every precaution has to be taken in order to prevent, during solidification, the formation of cavities, because the least tendency to friction that might occur due to the "setting back" of this hard explosive mass resultant on the sudden forward movement of the shell might easily give rise to a "premature." herein we recognise the vital importance of wholly harmonious internal blending, absence of which might prove a further source of friction entailing imminent peril to ourselves as we stand beside the gun. again, picric acid is ever seeking opportunities for combining with metal, whereby compounds of a nature most sensitive, and styled "picrates," are created, and of which the most sensitive is the lead-picrate. hence we breathe a silent prayer that not only has the shell's inside been sprayed in the most efficacious and thorough manner possible, but that the composition of the varnish itself is entirely lead free. our wives, our families, our friends, we fain would turn to them as of a sudden a fresh suggestion, fraught with peril dire, creeps from out some hidden corner of our timorous mind. on the firing of the propellent charge, the expanding gases, we are told, cause expansion of the gun, thereby simultaneously allowing proportionate expansion of the shell. we know already that erosion is most pronounced round the area within which the propellent charge is fired, that is to say, just at the commencement of the rifling of the bore; hence we see that in all probability the bore decreases gradually, even if imperceptibly, in the direction of the muzzle. we have, however, had experience of these varying and imperceptible degrees of graduation at crewe, measuring them with our plus and minus gauges. what, therefore, if the shell, expanded in the commencement of the rifling, jams, or is momentarily checked, in its passage up the bore? a "premature"; for the pellet in the fuse is probably already free to jump forward against the detonating needle. these nightmare prematures! thank goodness, after all, in one direction, at least, assurance has been rendered doubly sure; we used to wonder why all this fuss and trouble about a base-plate? now we understand. imperceptible must be our attribute again; metals are porous, imperceptibly so. now imagine a sieve trellised with wires finely drawn as the threads of a spider's web, threads so closely woven and interlaced that only the most minute "teeny weeny" holes remain, a sieve in fact which though porous is not even transparent. figuratively speaking this is the base of a shell-forging; a porous partition, the sole dividing line between the ignited propellent gases behind, and the high explosive bursting charge within the shell; in other words, between ourselves and "kingdom come"; hence our supplementary or protecting plate, the grains of whose metal run crosswise to those of the shell-forging base. by this method of reinforcing the shell-base, the odds in favour of a "premature" due to the penetration of the propellent gases to the explosive charge are reduced to a further irreducible minimum. the gun is, of course, designed to withstand the pressure within the breech and behind the shell, exerted by the firing of the propellent gases; this pressure naturally varies according to the size of the gun, and decreases proportionately as the shell shoots forward towards the muzzle with rapidly increasing velocity. when, however, we come to consider the pressure exerted by the detonation of the high-explosive charge within the shell itself, and the velocity acquired by the resultant explosive gases, we are apt to fidget about a trifle uneasily in spite of our efforts to remain at least outwardly cool and nonchalant. all the same, a matter of tons per square inch, which is the pressure liable to be exerted by the detonation of an average charge contained within the high-explosive shell, can only be explained as "splitting"; and when our genial gunner-friends further assure us that metres or , feet per second is the velocity resulting from the detonation of "trotyl," "staggering" is perhaps the most fitting epithet, and an american "gee whiz" the only coherent sign of comprehension of which we are capable at the moment. for supposing a "premature" did chance to occur; well...! mercifully enough perhaps for them and for their peace of mind, these intrepid individuals the gunners have little or no time, as a rule, to reflect upon the naked meaning of these figures and their attendant possibilities; for as kipling has sung-- "the moril of this story, it is plainly to be seen, you 'avn't got no families when serving of the queen-- you 'avn't got no brothers, fathers, sisters, wives or sons-- if you want to win your battles take an' work your bloomin' guns." the success emanating from the working of our "bloomin' guns" has been, it may be fairly argued, in no small measure due to the excellent qualities of the high-explosive shell, and some interesting figures in this respect may be usefully quoted from the _daily mail_ of may th, : "remarkable comparative tests," runs the briefly worded paragraph in question, "have been carried out by british gunnery experts with the high-explosive shells used by both sides in the war. the shells from captured and allied dumps were fired from the guns for which they were made at specially prepared targets. the official record of 'duds' (shells which failed to explode) was-- united states per cent. german ( ) " " french " " italian " " austrian " " british " " " the remarkable results obtained from the british standpoint as compared with that of other and competing nationalities confirm once again the service rendered by our modest little friend the shell "gauge"; and without in any way disparaging the imperturbable _sang froid_ of our gunners, or the indomitable courage and the unquenchable _flair_ of our splendid infantry, it is no exaggeration to say that the superlative degree in the art of shell manufacture attained by british exponents has been largely instrumental in enabling us to fulfil the pledge that "however long the war might be, however great the strain upon our resources, this country intended to stand by her gallant ally, france, until she redeemed her oppressed children from the degradation of a foreign yoke" (mr. lloyd george, october, ). chapter vii the crewe tractor "we often discover what will do by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery." smiles. a year or two prior to the war, the present writer remembers one occasion, in particular, on which he was discussing with a friend, possessing considerable knowledge and experience, the well-worn subject relating to the merits and demerits of the various leading "makes" of motor-cars. to a direct question as to what particular "make" he considered as being _the_ best _par excellence_ came the somewhat startling reply, "the rolls-royce and the ford." whether at the period referred to, and with expense no object, the average intending purchaser would have "dumped" for a ford with the same enthusiasm as for a rolls-royce must remain an open question; suffice it to say that, comparisons remaining, as they always have been, distinctly odious, the two examples of automobile science just mentioned have, during the great war, each in their respective spheres, performed prodigies of prowess, the rolls-royce more particularly in the matter of important staff work, as well as in armoured car activity, the ford in a variety of rôles, embracing the functions of anything from a compact and speedy little motor-ambulance to a water-carrier in the wilderness. one _rôle_ allotted to the ford, however, although of necessity accorded little or no prominence in the public press at the time, proved far-reaching in its effects in regard to practical utility from the strictly military point of view. without in any way paralysing its _fons et origo_ as a road vehicle, but embodying all the potentialities of a light-railway engine, there was evolved from a simple ford chassis an entirely novel and mechanical species of animal, which one might almost say combined the respective physiologies of the proverbial hare and tortoise, and which in due course was christened the "crewe tractor." the brain-wave to which this cunning little contrivance owes its existence is directly attributable to the inventive genius of one of mr. bowen-cooke's talented daughters, and the incidence of the project almost whispers of romance, in that a chance encounter, a _rendezvous_ continental and cosmopolitan, a cup of coffee, and an exchange of confidences, duly culminated in a conception which had as its outcome a very perceptible reduction in casualties, the percentage of which, at least in one particular respect, had tended to reach a figure lamentably high. on the occasion in question, towards the end of , having as her _vis-à-vis_ a british officer (on leave in paris at the time), miss cooke was digesting a dissertation on the inherent difficulties, dangers and fatigues to which men were incessantly subjected when relieving one another in the trenches; by day, an open and exposed target to alert enemy marksmanship; by night a prey to pitfalls, victims to unnumbered and water-logged shell-craters, in which, encumbered with personal impedimenta, they were often engulfed, never to appear again. obviously the easiest solution would be a means of transit, a tiny metal track, ubiquitous, traceable under cover of darkness across the trackless waste, with diminutive rolling-stock available at any point. but how to achieve this end? no one could deny but that the need was both immediate and pressing. seemingly happy inspirations, as all the world knows, succeed more often than not in theory rather than in practice, and for this reason all credit is due to miss cooke in that the happy notion of utilising a ford car, pure and simple, and of converting it into a light railway tractor materialised in as short a space of time as is humanly possible to convert thought into being, to fashion fact from fancy. moreover, the advantages accruing from the idea were not limited to this one extent only, for quick to perceive the essential, miss cooke further devised a scheme whereby the vehicle, remaining entirely self-contained, was both convertible and re-convertible; that is to say, like the hare it could speed along the high-road to any given point or locality, where quickly transformed it would, like the tortoise, commence its slower and uneven progress on a diminutive line of rails, laid haphazard across some devastated area, unballasted, lop-sided, up and down, this way and that way. _per contra_, its immediate task accomplished, and in proportion as the exigencies of modern strategy demanded further changes of _venue_, off would come the little tractor from its erst-while _voie-ferrée_, and shodding itself anew with road wheels and rubber tyres, away along the high-road once again to its ensuing sphere of tortuous rail-activity. [illustration: a crewe tractor in road trim.] [illustration: a crewe tractor as light-railway engine on active service. [_to face p. ._] at first sight the casual observer might reasonably have been excused for puzzling his brain as to the exact nature of the contrivance, curious if compact, and neatly secured on the familiar ford chassis. but on closer inspection, the salient features would resolve themselves into a fairly obvious entity; nor should a due meed of praise be withheld from the draughtsmen and engineers responsible for the successful evolution of the tractors on a sound and practical basis. at the outset, considerations such as height of centre of gravity contingent upon the loads likely to be carried over an uneven, narrow and diminutive track measuring but foot - / inches wide, length of wheel-base and corresponding ability to safely negotiate sharp curves, available tractive effort depending upon a coefficient of sliding friction between tyre and rail, all these appeared as obstacles not altogether easily surmountable. official cynicism, too, coupled with an amount of adverse criticism, had, perhaps not unnaturally, to be faced and met. how for instance could a "flimsy" ford chassis be expected to withstand loads and stresses for which evidently it had never been designed? unlike that government, however, which "foresaw nothing and only discovered difficulties when brought to a standstill by them," mr. cooke, with a quiet assurance bred of innate knowledge and experience, could well afford to go ahead "on his own"; official disdain should wait and see. probably but few were aware for example that, whereas in regular locomotive practice a tensile strength of twenty-eight tons per square inch is considered ample margin for special axle steel, the "flimsy" ford is built up of vanadium steel, having a tensile or breaking strength of no less than seventy-five tons per square inch! the somewhat undue height of a ford chassis for light railway purposes was a preliminary problem to be tackled, and it was decided to substitute the driving road wheels with sprockets and perforated steel rail-wheels, drop-forged with flanges. the question of a suitably short wheel-base was quickly determined by the introduction of a pressed channel steel underframe of / inch plate on which the ford chassis was secured; the leading and driving rail-wheels and axles being so arranged that a rail wheel-base of feet inches was obtained, as against the feet inches wheel-base of the road-chassis. radius rods ensured a nice adjustment of the driving chains, and as a measure of precaution against any possible failure of the ford back-axle supplementary band brakes of generous dimensions were fitted to the driving rail axles, these being additional to the standard ford brakes. a "skefko" type of ball-bearing fitted to the original tractors, had perforce to be superseded by brass floating bushes owing to ever-increasing demands in connection with the manufacture of aeroplanes. these bushes were merely a temporary rather than a permanent substitute, for very speedily there was introduced an approved type of roller bearing, which, thanks once again to the ever-ready adaptability of the fair sex element in crewe works, was duly forthcoming in all-sufficient quantities, and of a quality leaving nothing to be desired. numerous experiments were carried out with a view to determining a rail-wheel diameter calculated to give the most satisfactory results. it was assumed that the average ford car attained a maximum degree of efficiency when running at a speed of m.p.h. with the engine turning over at r.p.m. with a diameter of feet inches at the tread of the tyres, the road wheels and back axle would be revolving at the rate of r.p.m. a further calculation went to show that with sprockets having a gear ratio of to , and with the rail-wheels having a diameter of inches, the latter would revolve at the rate of r.p.m. as against the r.p.m. of the ford back axle, this resulting in the tractor averaging a speed of feet per minute, or to m.p.h. which was considered adequate and suitable for the varying conditions to which it was likely to be subjected. in addition to ensuring a systematic means of transport for men proceeding to and from the trenches, the crewe tractor was further requisitioned for taking supplies of ammunition to artillery emplacements in the forward areas. suitable trolleys were attached, and the little tractor, prior to going into commission, was required to prove itself capable of hauling a dead-weight minimum load of tons, not only on the level, but on an upward gradient of in , halfway up which gradient it was further required to stop and re-start, there being in crewe works a track specially laid for the purpose of subjecting every tractor to this crucial test. it was found, by experiment, that by doubling the diameter of the trolley wheels, from inches to inches in diameter, double the load could be hauled. "slipping," an inherent difficulty due to greasy rails, had to be reckoned with, and was in no small measure counteracted by the addition of a central driving chain, coupling rear and front axles through the medium of sprockets. the frictional resistance (_i.e._ the force at the rails when the wheels are on the point of slipping) was found to be lbs. with a load of ton on the carriage of the tractor, this being sufficient to enable the tractors to pass the required test. the ford transverse rear spring was supplemented by two helical springs placed vertically between the ford and tractor frames. to obviate the necessity of turning at the various termini of the track, and to enable the tractor to always proceed in forward gear, an ingenious method was devised, whereby, with the aid of a screw and ratchet, working on a transverse beam and socket laid across the rails, the tractor was raised bodily clear of the rails, and swung round, ready to proceed in the opposite direction. fitted with a high gear, several tractors were specially adapted for inspection purposes; in short, the extent of the ubiquitous utility, and of the universal popularity of these remarkable little machines, may be gauged by the fact that their appearance was welcomed on fronts as divergent as were those of france, macedonia, egypt, and mesopotamia. chapter viii "hullo! america" "a world where nothing is had for nothing." clough. in the summer of , at the urgent request of the railway executive committee, mr. cooke, in conjunction with sir francis dent and mr. a. j. hill, chief mechanical engineer g.e.r., undertook, personally, a "mission" to the government of the u.s. of america, as representing the unprecedented straits to which the leading railway companies of great britain had become reduced, and for the purpose of enlisting the practical sympathy of the great republic of the western hemisphere, at that time but recently united to the allied cause. doubts were indeed entertained originally as to whether america could in fact supply material to england in view of her own entry into the arena of european conflict, and so in view of her own requirements; consequently, as will be seen from the following briefly stated remarks, the outcome of the "mission" proved to be eminently satisfactory, and this in no small measure due to the friendly intervention of the u.s. advisory committee, acting throughout, primarily, in the interests of the british as opposed to those of individual american railway companies. a few cogent reasons may plausibly be advanced to account for the _impasse_ to which the british railways had been brought. one cannot fail, for instance, to recall the stigma which, in the pre-war and piping times of peace, invariably attached to the despised s. a day man of the british fighting forces; but although, as in kipling's immortal stanza, it was-- "tommy this, an' tommy that, an' chuck him out, the brute," all this sort of antiquated "flap-doodle" very shortly underwent a complete "right-about-turn," when the great ordeal came to be faced, and very speedily it became a case of-- "please to step in front, sir, when the guns began to shoot." consequently it is eminently satisfactory to remember that within the first days of the outbreak of hostilities, british railways had contributed more men to the fighting forces of the empire than either french or german railways had done in their respective spheres. further, prior to the introduction of universal compulsory service in great britain, employés of the l. & n. w. r. locomotive department had voluntarily enrolled to the number of , ; crewe works being responsible for , names on the roll of honour.[ ] depletion of staff, plus a steadily increasing volume of traffic, could only spell "maintenance un-maintained." in addition, it was found necessary to adapt rolling stock for use overseas, and prior to the inauguration of the ministry of munitions british locomotive works and plant had been depended upon very largely for supplementing the undeniable shortage of munitions of war, which may literally be described as "legion" in quantity as well as in variety. [ ] the total number of employés in all departments of the l. & n.w.r. who joined the colours during the war was , , or per cent. of the entire staff. of these, three won the v.c., and numerous others were awarded various british and foreign decorations. worse was to follow, for upon the tardy inauguration of munition factories throughout the country, the long-suffering railway companies of the united kingdom not only found their own supplies of material very considerably curtailed, but they were called upon to perform the seemingly impossible, viz. that of maintaining a regular and ever-increasing supply of munitions in addition to contributing a novel "expeditionary force" in the shape of locomotives and tenders, wagons, and complete up-to-date workshop machinery for overseas service. in response to the call "hullo! america," castings, forgings, steel, and copper plates, tubes, blooms, billets, springs, etc., were spontaneously forthcoming, in all a grand total of some , tons (tyres alone accounting for , tons), involving an approximate expenditure of , , dollars, or £ , . it was admitted that the prices ruling the contracts for this material were abnormally high, but at the same time it was conceded that the national urgency of british claims far outweighed in the then existing circumstances those of american railway companies, who, it should be added in fairness, would have found themselves "up against" identical prices, had they been purchasing the same material themselves. finally, it only remains to be noted that no sooner had the financial details of this truly vast transaction been determined (a transaction that may frankly be said to have saved the situation in so far as british railways were concerned in contributing towards the winning of the war), than mr. cooke promptly evolved and set in motion a system of delivery at liverpool, or any other port of discharge, whereby consignments of material on arrival were distributed carriage free by the various railway companies to their respective works. the subsequent success of this intricate scheme of distribution may fairly be attributed to the unfailing measure of tact and resource available in the person of mrs. harris, m.b.e., (_née_ miss faith bowen-cooke), a lady on whom devolved the exceptional and delicate task of receiving and allotting these , tons of railway equipment, and who previously, as secretary to the "mission," as much by her business acumen and practical ability as by her own personal charm, won a sure place for herself in the admiration and esteem of many of the leading personalities in the railway world of the united states of america. chapter ix the art of drop-forging "who made the law that men should die in meadows, who spake the word that blood should splash in lanes, who gave it forth that gardens should be boneyards, who spread the hills with flesh and blood and brains? who made the law?" seldom, perhaps, does a plain question receive so plain an answer as that coming direct from so qualified an authority as prince lichnowsky, former german ambassador to the court of st. james, who, in the course of his confessions, which he entitles "my mission to london," says, simply and quite candidly, "we insisted on war." herr harden, too, writing in _die zukunft_ in november, , even if a trifle more impetuous, more brutal, is none the less frankly outspoken: "let us drop," he protests, "our miserable attempts to excuse germany's action.... not against our will, nor as a nation taken by surprise, did we hurl ourselves into this gigantic venture. we willed it ... it is germany that strikes." and having fixed the blame, the moral responsibility, equally plain-sailing is it to establish the blood-stained guilt; evidence of it fairly "stinks" no matter where one turns to look; from emperor to general, from statesman to author, exudes the _credo_ of teuton kultur; no more lurid interpretation of which can perhaps be found than in the words of herr hartmann, a native of berlin, who, after serving as an artillery officer, turned his attention to matters literary, being _inter alia_ a believer in evolutionary progress. "the enemy country," he insists, "should not be spared the devastation, the profound misery engendered by war. the burden should be and remain crushing. immediately war is declared, terrorism becomes a primary essential absolutely imperative from the military standpoint." there is, however, all the difference in the world between the transitive and intransitive senses of a verb, and if we take the verb to "terrorise" as an apposite example, the transition from the former sense to the latter, _i.e._ from terrorising to being terrorised, is apt to be very noticeable, indeed unpleasant. granted that british and boche ideas on the particular subject in no way harmonise, the british method ultimately of diffusing an unlimited supply of high explosive over the boche lines nevertheless had the desired effect of "putting the fear of god" into the right individuals, at the right time, and in the right place. one employs the prefix "ultimately" of necessity, for obviously the diffusion of metal prior to the latter phases of the war was, except upon certain occasions which were few and far between, anything but unlimited; it was, in fact, at one particular period of the war of so limited a nature as to infuse into the mind of the late lord kitchener a fear of stalemate on the western front, sufficient to impel his acquiescence in that diversion, so ardently advocated by "amateur strategists" but destined to prove nothing but a prodigious and costly failure, to wit the dardanelles expedition. thanks, however, to the staying powers of the workers, to the inflexible will to win by which they were animated throughout, the crushing superiority, early attributable to the enemy, gradually became less and less apparent; in fact, after hanging for a time evenly in the balance, the scales indeed tipped the other way, eventually dipping to such an extent in entente favour as to become a source, at first of no little astonishment, then of concern, to the german "imperial staff of supermen." general ludendorff in his memoirs ["my war memories," - , vols. i. & ii., hutchinson & co. s.] makes no attempt to conceal his surprise, if not indeed his dismay, at the awkward trend of events. "whereas we had hitherto been able to conduct our great war of defence" (_sic_), so he writes (cp. page , vol. i.), "by that best means of waging war--the offensive--we were now (by the autumn of ) reduced to a policy of pure defence.... the equipment of the entente armies with war material had been carried out on a scale hitherto unknown"; the boot was plainly on the other leg, for (cp. page , vol. i.) "the battle of the somme showed us every day how great was the advantage of the enemy in this respect." evidently the one and only ludendorff no longer had any doubt in his own mind as to the "writing on the wall," its lettering was clear, its meaning ominous and unmistakable; from the german point of view things were going from bad to worse; "at the beginning of june ( )," he continues (cp. pages , , vol. ii.), "the straightening of this (the wytschaete) salient really ushered in the great flanders battle.... the heights of wytschaete and messines had been the site of active mine warfare," and ultimately, "the moral effect of the explosions was simply staggering." again in august of the same year (cp. page , vol. ii.), "in spite of all the concrete protection, they (the germans) seemed more or less powerless under the enormous weight of the enemy's artillery," and "with the opening of the fifth act of the great drama in flanders on the nd october (cp. page , vol. ii.) enormous masses of ammunition, such as the human mind had never imagined before the war, were hurled upon the bodies of men who passed a miserable existence scattered about in mud-filled shell-holes. the horror of the shell-hole area of verdun was surpassed. it was no longer life at all. it was mere unspeakable suffering. and through this world of mud the attackers dragged themselves, slowly, but steadily, and in dense masses.... rifle and machine-gun jammed with mud. man fought against man, and only too often the mass was successful." the long and the short of it, in a word, amounted just to this, the hun had "insisted on war," and now he was "getting it in the neck." napoleon is credited with the opinion that "good infantry is beyond question the soul of an army, but"--and no doubt it is a big "but," as will be seen from the way in which he goes on to qualify his opinion--"but if it has to fight any considerable time against a very superior artillery, it becomes demoralised and is destroyed." in order to determine how completely has been justified this view in the light of modern warfare, one has but to turn again for the space of a brief instant to the memoirs of ludendorff--ludendorff who "lived only for the war," whose life had been one of work for his "country, the emperor, and the army,"--the note of bitter chagrin cannot be mistaken. "against the weight of the enemy's material" (cp. page , vol. ii.) "the troops no longer displayed their old stubbornness of defence; they thought with horror of fresh defensive battles." such in effect, then, was the net result obtained by an intense application by the entente armies of "a very superior artillery," rendered possible by the untiring efforts of the workers, by the plant at their disposal, and by the brains which created and controlled. there can be no parallel in the whole history of international warfare to compare even approximately with the abnormally severe conditions imposed upon pieces of artillery during the present-day conflict, conditions which perforce had a considerable bearing not only on the design of integral parts, but also on the nature of the material employed in the manufacture of those parts. one of the most remarkable features in this latter respect was the frequent necessity to substitute a steel forging where a casting had previously been considered "the last word," and if we take as a convenient and typical example so ordinary and obvious a part as is the trunnion bracket of a howitzer gun, this will afford a very good idea of the difficulties which present themselves when in compliance with government specifications recourse must needs be had to the hammer as opposed to the mould, difficulties, in fact, which could only be overcome by the employment of what is commonly known as the drop-hammer. if proof positive were ever needed in support of the argument that bread may be found again which has been cast upon the waters, not merely many days previously, but weeks, months, and years, the money sunk by the london and north-western railway company in their drop-hammer plant at crewe affords the proof; for, thanks to the existence of this plant, thanks too to the invaluable experience gained during the years following upon its installation, not only were the staff engaged in operating the hammers able, figuratively speaking to forge right ahead, literally speaking to commence drop-forging, directly they were required to do so, those sorely needed "sinews of war" which a pre-war generation of feeble-gutted politicians had neglected to provide against the evil day of reckoning, but mr. cooke found himself in the unique position of being able to undertake forgings which were admittedly altogether beyond the scope of firms whose speciality was none other than that of drop-forging, and of which the directors of army ordnance were well-nigh at their wits' end to secure an adequate, if indeed any, supply at all. [illustration: limber hooks: illustrating duplex method of drop forging.] [illustration: trunnion brackets for -inch howitzer gun, drop forging. [_to face p. ._] significant, and sufficiently expressive of appreciation, if not of actual open-mouthed astonishment, is the following letter received by mr. cooke from a well-known government department: "i have to thank you and your staff on behalf of the ministry of munitions for the excellent work you have done in producing stampings of trunnion brackets. the part in question has hitherto been considered almost impossible to produce as a stamping, and the work you have now produced will add materially to the efficiency of this important equipment. i should be glad if this letter could be brought to the notice of your subordinate staff who carried out the work." from the same source, but at a later date, came this further little note of esteem: "your previous production of the trunnion bracket has been the means of great saving to the state, and it is with great satisfaction that i am able to again congratulate your operating staff on a renewed success in your stamping department." for the benefit of those uninitiated in the fascinating art of drop-stamping or forging, it may not be considered superfluous if a brief explanation is given of the principles embodied in the system, and for this purpose one cannot do better than read and inwardly digest the opinion which has been advanced by mr. brett, founder of the brett patent lifter company of coventry and inventor and patentee of the hammer in question.[ ] "having in mind," he says, "that the plastic or forgeable condition of wrought-iron or steel, when obtained, cannot be retained beyond limited periods, especially in the case of articles having thin or light parts, when its duration is very brief," it rests with the engineer "to provide for the forger a suitable form of power for actuating the dies or tools by means of which properly-formed forgings may be obtained." further, "this power must be capable of instantaneous application," similar in all essentials to that produced by the smith "with hand hammer or sledge; that is to say, a perfectly elastic blow of sufficient force to produce an immediate and substantial effect upon the material." [ ] [extract from paper read by mr. brett before the engineering conference of the institution of civil engineers, june, , and published in _engineering_, june th, .] the secret of providing this particular form of power lies obviously in the brett drop-hammer, and in it alone, and the method evolved consists in the raising of the hammer-head or "tup" between a pair of parallel and vertical guides to a certain height by pressure of steam exerted within an overhead cylinder; no sooner is this pressure shut off than the "tup" automatically descends by force of gravity, delivering the hammer-blow simply with the weight of its falling mass, and rebounding, is lifted once again by re-admission of the steam into the cylinder, preparatory to the next descent and the delivery of a further succession of blows. it is largely thanks to a flexible cord and strap connection between the "tup" and the piston and piston-arm working in the overhead cylinder that the blow delivered is not only "smashing" in effect, but altogether resilient, in direct contrast to that of a steam-hammer, the blow of which is more in the nature of a dull thud or a rigid push. it is obvious, as mr. brett goes on to point out, that "the vibrations from blows of sufficient power and elasticity (or sharpness) to cause metal at a moderate heat to flow completely into the impressions of the dies," _i.e._ the blocks in which are cut the impression of the required forging, "and to make clean work, are calculated to destroy any rigidly built machine." hence the fact, which a cursory glance at the hammers cannot fail to establish, that nothing has been overlooked or omitted in regard to detail in design, "not any of the parts affected by the work are bolted together or in any wise rigidly fixed; the guides are held and the dies set in position by flexible means, _i.e._ the lower end of each guide fits into a recess into the base block, the top end passes up into a socket having sufficient clearance for wood packing, the wood is intended to absorb the vibrations which pass up the guide-rod." the plant at crewe as originally installed in , by the late mr. f. w. webb, of "compound" fame, consisted merely of one "battery" of hammers, comprising two -cwt. stamping hammers, and one -cwt. "dummying" or roughing-out hammer, and although the production of small stampings for signal apparatus etc., was all that was attempted in those early days, little by little the variety of work became extended, embracing, ere long, locomotive parts of small dimensions such as brake-rod ends, joints, levers, handles, etc., with the result that as time went on and as ever-increasing experience with confidence proportionate accrued to the staff employed, jobs of still greater variety were successfully tackled. [illustration: the -ton drop hammer. [_to face p. ._] there are at the present time no fewer than eight "batteries" of hammers "in action" at crewe, the actual number of hammers being twenty-two, and some idea of the extent of the progress made may be gauged by the fact that the yearly tonnage output of stampings rose from tons in to tons in , a time when the plant was largely devoted to the manufacture of a regular "pot-pourri" of essential munitions of war. it was primarily due to the urgent demands of the ministry of munitions for a supply of trunnion brackets, which, cast in steel, were proving defective, and which had "been considered almost impossible to produce as stampings," that mr. cooke determined on the course of laying down an additional hammer, having a "tup" weighing no less than four solid tons. complete with gas-producers, stationary boiler, gas reheating furnaces and cranes, the estimated cost of installation was £ , . the hammer foundations necessitated a cavity being dug to a depth of feet, which was filled in with tons of granite and cement, and upon which repose the base blocks, cast in steel and weighing a further tons. this veritable monster commenced operations during the critical days of the early spring of , and no sooner had the seemingly impossible been shown to be possible and the successful production of trunnion brackets had become "the means of great saving to the state," than there followed in quick succession orders for other and indispensable gun-mountings, such as front stiffening bands, upper sight brackets, trunnion-seatings, etc., etc. "peace," as we know, "hath her victories no less renowned than war," and no sooner was the mantle of munition manufacture laid aside than efforts were once again concentrated on the production of locomotive parts, the whole of the walschaerte valve gear appertaining to mr. cooke's latest express passenger engines, the well-known "claughton" class, being now produced under the -ton drop-hammer. standing in the immediate vicinity of the hammers ranged in convenient positions in regard to gas furnaces, "dummying" hammers, and "finning" or "trimming" presses, the average and intelligent visitor never fails to be impressed as he witnesses the operations in process, and notes the lightning rapidity with which, as if by the magic of a magician's wand, a bar or billet of gleaming, glistening whiteness is battered and transformed into some previously determined shape, curiously contorted, maybe, with corners, elbows, and recesses, ere the dazzling brilliance dims and fades, paling imperceptibly to lemon tint and orange hue, till finally the blood-red flush of angry sunset supervenes, and nothing remains but that the finished stamping should be trimmed and laid aside, gradually to resume the slate-grey cool of dawn. how natural it all seems, how almost childish in simplicity! and yet on second thoughts, how come these various shapes and forms, these corners, elbows, and recesses, these well-nigh perfect surfaces, pure and clean, free from blow-holes, dirt and scale? true, we know the crashing and resilient hammer blow is there, and then a little closer acquaintance with, or examination of, the hammer is all that is necessary, for this will reveal the fact that it is the effect of the blow on a pair of "dies," one of which is held rigidly in the "tup," the other on the base-block, that causes the metal at a moderate heat to "flow" completely into the impressions which are in the dies, and which ensure the fashioning of the article required. to cut an impression in a pair of "dies," to put the "dies" in the hammer, and to obtain a forging, sounds the simplest thing in the world. yet in actual practice, so many are the problems which present themselves, so diverse are the obstacles to be overcome, that a volume might be written on the craft of the die-designer, whose efforts result in work of so great beauty, and whose "dies" must be capable of withstanding the punishment, and of enduring the wear, which the crashing blows of the "tup" inflict and are ever striving to induce. what is the most suitable metal to employ in the manufacture of the dies? and having found that metal, what is the best process of hardening? are two of the first questions to be decided. will the forgeman bestow every care in the use of his "dies," and will he set them accurately in the hammer? much depends on answers being in the affirmative. whether to cast the impressions in the die-blocks, or to machine them out _in toto_, and if machined out how to do so, are further knotty propositions. correct taper on the walls of holes, bosses, and recesses; egress for imprisoned air; size of bar or billet to be stamped, after making suitable allowance for contraction and waste; control of waste metal or "fin"; method of duplex stamping. such are the more potent problems with which the die-designer is faced, and whilst lack of insight will assuredly foreshadow failure, ability to grasp their import cannot fail to spell success. obviously the mind of the die-designer must ever be planning, plotting, scheming how best to make his metal "flow;" and concentrated attention, and study extending over years, are the only means of approaching that degree of perfection which in the art of drop-stamping, as in all other branches of mechanical science, the engineer is ever striving to attain. incredible, then, that public money should have been continuously lavished on that legion of "inexpert experts," more than one of which worthless clan, gloriously clad in khaki, was known to claim admission to crewe works for the avowed purpose of "satisfying himself" (_sic_) that the engineers of the london and north-western railway locomotive department were "making the best use of the drop-hammer plant." even if we generously assume that these gentlemen were the exception rather than the rule, such glaring exhibitions of ignorance and impudence combined could not but tend to bring out in full relief the anomalies which, although possibly unavoidable, existed none the less in a system of universal and compulsory service; and with every apology to the talented soldier poet, author of the initial stanza introducing this chapter, one may be pardoned if, in conclusion, one feels constrained to put this further little conundrum:-- "who made the law that nincompoops and asses should 'cushy' jobs, immune from risk, infest, while other 'blokes,' undaunted--aye in masses,-- naught asking, bit the dust, and so--'went west'? who made the law?" chapter x - passengers and goods "unless we had order, unless we had certainty, in the moving of large masses, the day of battle, which might come, would be to us a day of disaster."--colonel mcmurdo, late inspector-general of the volunteer forces, january th, . _der tag_, which came on august th, , was not fated after all, as we know, to be a day of disaster. that it was not so is perhaps attributable in the main to two causes. "miraculous" is the manner in which escape from disaster has been described; but as we have already seen (and of this fact we cannot remind ourselves too often), the miracle was performed primarily and essentially by the loss of those "many thousands of brave men whose sacrifice we deplore, while we regard their splendid gallantry and self-devotion with unstinted admiration and gratitude." a secondary, but by no means inconsiderable, cause contributory to the successful working of the miracle lay in the fact that we did possess the "order," the "certainty," in regard to the moving--not exactly of "large masses" in the more recently accepted meaning of the term, but at any rate--of that part of the army which was detailed for home defence, and of the six divisions of which the original expeditionary force was composed, and which were flung across the channel to assist in stemming the initial german onrush. and it is with regard to this "order," this "certainty," and the attendant successful working of the railways that the ensuing pages are concerned. we have already traced in some degree of detail the antecedents of the railway executive committee, that body of distinguished civilian railway experts, who, from the time that the government assumed, under provisions of the act of , nominal control of the railways, became, and throughout the war remained, responsible to the government for the maintenance and the efficient working of the entire railway systems of the british isles; and in order to acquire some insight into the amazing and complex detail involved in this efficient working, we cannot very well do better than probe a few of the more salient facts concerning the london and north-western railway, which, on the outbreak of hostilities, and appropriately enough, was deputed to act as the "secretary" company to the western and eastern commands and afterwards to the central force, that is to say, the company specified by the army command headquarters, for the purpose of making arrangements with the other railway companies concerned in the commands named for the main troop movements during the first two months of the war. in an extremely interesting report, dated october st, , mr. l. w. horne, who, prior to his appointment as secretary to the "secretary" company to the commands previously mentioned, was acting secretary to the railway executive committee, describes the measures that were adopted both prior to and during mobilisation, in conformity with the war office programme. a communications' board "consisting of representatives of all government departments and also the railway executive committee," was instituted to consider government "recommendations to meet their various requirements so far as the railways were concerned." owing to the "very drastic alterations in the mobilisation time tables" made by the war office, a staff was specially appointed to deal with the matter, and as a result of herculean efforts on the part of this devoted body of enthusiasts, involving many hours of overtime, "on mobilisation being ordered, not only was our scheme complete, but time tables and sheets numbering many thousands were ready for immediate issue." existing accommodation at certain stations on the line, where large concentrations of troops were foreshadowed, was totally inadequate, so that plans and estimates were at once prepared for the necessary extensions, and the company arranged to carry out the work with all possible speed. special troop trains, of which (exclusive of "empties" to and from entraining and detraining stations respectively) were run between august th and september th, , were "signalled by a special code of - - beats," this code signifying "precedence over all other trains," the ordinary passenger service being curtailed as occasion demanded. seven hundred and fifty-one was the total of special trains required for the "large quantities of stores, equipment, etc.," and "in order to ensure that such consignments should be worked forward without delay," it was agreed that "they should be given 'perishable transit.'" as will doubtless be within the memory of most of us, already on august rd, , sir edward grey was in a position to inform the house that "the mobilisation of the fleet has taken place," the credit for the promptitude of this precautionary measure being in due course claimed by mr. winston churchill, and resulting shortly afterwards in the resignation from his post as a lord commissioner of the admiralty of prince louis of battenberg, eldest son of prince alexander of hesse; and "at this grave moment in our national history," so ran the message spontaneously addressed by his majesty the king to admiral sir john jellicoe, "i send you, and through you to the officers and men of the fleets of which you have assumed command, the assurance of my confidence that under your direction they will revive and renew the old glories of the royal navy, and prove once again the sure shield of britain and of her empire in the hour of trial." to enable officers and men to "revive and renew the old glories of the royal navy," coal, not canvas, was needed, this entailing the provision forthwith of six hundred and fifty-one special trains for the conveyance of approximately , tons of admiralty coal from the south wales collieries to certain points on the east coast. various difficulties presented themselves in regard to the "supply of rolling stock, and the making-up of the troop trains of the required composition"; in regard to the working of westinghouse and vacuum stock, as the case might be; in regard to congestion of traffic, necessitating the diversion of trains by alternative routes; and in regard to the requisitioning by the government of certain steamers, goods-vans, horses, motors, etc., belonging to the company. but, as mr. horne points out, "no hitch whatever occurred so far as the london and north-western company was concerned in carrying out, not only the pre-arranged programme, but also the additional movements which have been arranged at short notice. the time-keeping of the trains has been excellent both from a traffic department and locomotive department standpoint, and the entraining and detraining at the various stations on the london and north-western line were successfully carried out in every case." apropos of all of which data, one cannot but call to mind once again the ungrudging acknowledgment which the late lord kitchener saw fit to make on the occasion of his first appearance in the house of lords as secretary of state for war: "i have to remark that when war was declared, mobilisation took place without any hitch whatever.... we know how deeply the french people appreciate the prompt assistance we have been able to afford them at the very outset of the war." the official announcement, too, issued by the press bureau on tuesday, august th, , itself remains a landmark in the epic chapter of events: "the expeditionary force as detailed for foreign service has been landed in france ... and without a single casualty." it is a matter of common knowledge that during the initial stages of the war the french authorities undertook the whole of the transport by rail of the british army in france, basing their decision and ability to do so largely, no doubt, upon the opinion prevalent at the time, which was to the effect that for various seemingly obvious reasons--of which perhaps the most palpable was the unprecedented and unparalleled strain necessarily imposed upon the human and material resources of the belligerent nations--the war could not continue for a period exceeding a few weeks, or months, at the outside. we even find it stated in the _times_ of august th, , under the heading "peace insurance rate," that "for a premium of per cent., underwriters yesterday undertook to pay a total loss claim should germany ask for peace on or before september th next." when, however, it began to dawn upon the parties engaged that the struggle, far from diminishing in intensity, was becoming increasingly bitter and severe, the advisability of, or perhaps rather the necessity for, easing the onus devolving upon the french railways was obvious to all. in the early part of , therefore, rolling stock on a small scale was sent over from england; but in proportion as the numerical strength of the british overseas forces rose, so did the requirements in respect of means of transport increase, until towards the winter of , a period synchronising with the british offensive on the somme, matters reached such a pitch that the only solution to the difficulty seemed to lie in the appointment of a "mission" of home railway experts for the purpose of investigating the situation on the spot. with this end in view the more prominent of the two world-renowned "geddes-goddesses," to wit, sir eric, was nominated the responsible head, and as a result of his inquiry and subsequent report, there came into being the office of "director-general of transportation," the sound principle underlying this new departure being that of employing "individuals in war, on work which they have been accustomed to perform in peace," the immediate outcome, too, being that the important position was filled _au début_ by none other than sir eric geddes himself, who, as the earl of derby was at some pains to impress upon his noble confrères in the house of lords (cp. the _times_, november th, ), undertook the work only "from purely patriotic reasons." in the issue dated september th, , of that practical and very-much-up-to-date weekly journal, _modern transport_, is to be found tabulated in full and comprehensive form the "pedigree stock" emanating from the director-general of transportation; numerous personalities, bearing awe-inspiring affixes such as d.g.m.r., i.g.t., a.d.g.m.r., d.d.r.t., etc., _ad lib._; appearing on the scenes as representing the direct lineal descent of the great d.g.t. himself. and subsidiary to these personalities, or heads of sections and sub-sections, was enrolled a galaxy of assistants, engineers furnished in part by the british railway companies on recommendation from the railway executive committee, in part by colonial or foreign railways, and under whom, in turn, there served a numerous personnel, whose name was "legion," recruited mostly from the home railways. and the reason for this gigantic scheme of organisation cannot be explained in any manner more convincing than in the words of sir douglas haig, who, dealing in his final despatch with the "rearward services," insists that "the immense expansion of the army from to over infantry divisions, combined with the constant multiplication of auxiliary arms, called inevitably for a large increase in the size and scope of the services concerned in the supply and maintenance of our fighting forces." some staggering statistics now stare us in the face. "by the end of november, ," for instance, we learn that "the number of individual landings in france at the various ports managed by us exceeded - / million persons," and "during the eleven months, january to november, , the tonnage landed at these ports averaged some , tons per week." one can easily imagine the resultant effect upon these different ports situated on the northern coast of france. let us take boulogne, as being, perhaps, one of the most familiar of all, and any one who has chanced upon a little volume, bearing as its title "an airman's outings," cannot fail to recall the distinctly happy vein in which the author, writing under the _nom-de-plume_ of "contact," describes the inevitable change which came over the place during the war. "it (boulogne)," so he tells us, "has become almost a new town. formerly a head-quarters of pleasure, a fishing centre, and a principal port of call for anglo-continental travel, it has been transformed into an important military base.... the multitude of visitors from across the channel is larger than ever; but instead of paris, the mediterranean, and the east, they are bound for less attractive destinations--the muddy battle area and kingdom come." small wonder, then, that the strain of supplying the means of transit, not only for these multitudes of visitors but for their personal impedimenta and food supplies as well, became too great for the french camel's back. the whole business, if such it may be termed, was assuming a degree of which the proportions were verging on the prodigious. thus, "for the maintenance of a single division for one day, nearly tons dead-weight of supplies and stores are needed," and "for an army of , , men (the total feeding strength of our forces in france) the addition of one ounce to each man's daily rations involves the carrying of an extra tons of goods." again, "in the six months may to october, , a weekly average of , trains were run for british army traffic, carrying a weekly average load of approximately , tons, while a further , tons were carried weekly by our light railways." kolossal, indeed, with a capital k, are the figures which the field-marshal asks us to digest. and in order to cope with this vast volume of traffic, in order that it might move freely and speedily to the various points of distribution on the british front, "the number of locomotives imported ... rose from in to by the end of ; while the number of trucks rose from , to , ," and in addition to the already-existing mileage of permanent way available in the rearward areas, during "were built or reconstructed , miles of narrow-gauge railway." as was reasonably to be expected, "the introduction of new weapons and methods of war" accounted largely for the "huge bulk of the supplies to be handled," and another factor further responsible for the gigantic nature of the task imposed was to be found in "the establishment of a higher standard of comfort for the troops." the force of the logic in regard to "feeding the brute" may be said to apply equally to the soldier as to the husband; "_une bataille ne se perd matériellement_," in fact, napoleon is said to have expressed the view that "the moral is to the material in war as three to one." consequently "great installations were set up," not merely for the repair of damaged material, but "installations of all kinds," embracing "hutments, camps, and hospitals," and "the expeditionary force canteens made it possible to obtain additional comforts close up to the front." without any shadow of doubt "no war has been fought with such ample means of quick transportation as were available during the recent struggle.... it was possible to effect great concentrations of troops with a speed which, having regard to the numbers of men and bulk of material moved, has never before been equalled." having noted, therefore, the more salient facts and figures, set out in so lucid a manner by sir douglas haig, it is only natural, perhaps, that there should follow in direct sequence a desire to fathom, in some respect, the influences which rendered animate this gigantic scheme or organisation, this mammoth conglomeration of machinery, admirably planned no doubt, then set and kept in motion; to trace the sources whence flowed these "ample means of quick transportation"; and to become acquainted with the responsible practicians by whom they were provided. the influences at work--as a brief reflective glance through the pages of our mind will suffice to recall--are surely to be found in that "dauntless spirit of the people at home," and in "their incessant toil." the sources are clearly indicated by the "mine, the factory, the shipyard." the responsible practicians are personified by those "distinguished scientific men" who "placed their learning and their skill at the disposal of their country." briefly, the position amounted to this; the fighting line could not be held without the support and replenishment afforded by the rearward services; the rearward services could not perform their part unaided by the people at home, and, as was only to be expected, the london and north-western railway company was second to none in stepping forward and rendering that aid which was vital to the continued sustenance of the rearward services. but charity, as we know, begins at home, and even though no effort was spared in regard to supplying the wants of the overseas forces, the company obviously could not afford so to denude itself of its available working resources as to court the risk of failure to "carry on," to carry out the task imposed upon it by the state at home. a further report issued from the office of the superintendent of the line, dated july th, , and retrospective of the strenuous times experienced by the company during the war, describes how "the ramifications of the london and north-western railway system were quickly appreciated by the naval and military authorities," for being, as it was, "the main trunk line, the direct route to and from london and the west of england (viâ crewe) with the west, north and north-east of scotland," it also afforded every facility to passengers travelling "between the north-east of england and the west and south-west of england." but apart from this it is an incontrovertible fact that the company did absolutely "lay itself out," and in a manner unparalleled in any other quarter, to study the convenience, and to relieve the anxieties, of the military from the lordly "brass hat" to the humble tommy with his tin helmet; with the result that, instinctively as it were, euston became the quest of all, a haven of refuge to many thousands of war-worn warriors, home for a few days' leave. as evidence of this, we may note that a total of , , officers and men "on leave" were conveyed in "special trains"; that a further , , specified as "small units of troops and pre-arranged by ordinary services," were accommodated in the ordinary trains; and that, in addition to these figures, there were many thousands of troops conveyed "every week in small units by the ordinary existing services, of which actual figures are not available," but of which most of us, retaining vivid recollections of overcrowded compartments and the crush of corridors, will no doubt be able to form some vague if inadequate estimate. luggage evidently was not in the habit of getting lost or left behind, as the figure " , tons of baggage conveyed" will go to prove; , cycles received careful handling in transit, and the necessary accommodation was provided for the safe journeying of , horses, plus the rolling-stock necessary for the conveyance of , guns. then, in spite of a number of the vessels comprising the london and north-western fleet being commandeered by the admiralty, "a fairly regular service both for passengers and cargo" was maintained viâ holyhead and dublin, "the principal route between england and ireland"; the two other sea routes viâ fleetwood and belfast, and larne and stranraer, respectively, assisting materially in the working of this "very heavy passenger and cargo traffic." turning next to "the requirements of the fleet on the east and north-east coast of scotland, there was a continuous coming and going of personnel, and movement of supplies, between the depôts in scotland and those in the south and west of england, and the admiralty concentrated the whole of this traffic on the west coast route." in this connection (and incidentally we may note the strict observance by the naval authorities of the fourth commandment) for two consecutive years, and on every day of the week except the seventh, which is the sabbath, a special train provided exclusively for the use of the admiralty, was run "between euston and thurso (serving the rosyth depôt), the total number of men so conveyed being , and the mileage incurred over the l. & n. w. system alone being , miles." then, "owing to the position of the fleet, rail-borne coal was conveyed from the south wales coalfields to such points as newcastle, grangemouth, burntisland, etc., entailing an average of about twenty trains per day, in each direction, of loaded and empty wagons." a further, and by no means inconsiderable, call to be made upon, as it was gladly accepted by, the company, was that of tending the wounded on arrival in "blighty." special ambulance trains of the most approved design were supplied, and run with unfailing precision and regularity. refugees were catered for; and in direct contrast to the treatment meted out by the enemy to our own men, enemy prisoners and captives in our own hands were shown such pity that special trains were actually provided for their conveyance by rail. when all is said and done, however, "be england what she will, with all her faults she is my country still." fresh still in the minds of most of us must be mr. lloyd george's memorable "for-god's-sake-hurry-up" message, calling upon the united states of america, at the time when the hammer blow of the final and despairing german offensive fell with full force upon the british army in france, "to send american reinforcements across the atlantic in the shortest possible space of time," and whatever may be the opinion held "pace" mr. wilson and his famous "too-proud-to-fight" utterance, there is no doubt but that at long last the great american people realised to the full the nature of the menace which threatened from the german aspiration to world-domination. speaking at spartanburg (cp. the _times_, march th, ), general o'ryan declared that "the only distressing feature of the news (of the german offensive) was the fact that the british had been obliged to make such enormous sacrifices because american assistance was not yet fully at hand. we have been galvanised now," he said, "into realising the immensity of our obligations." telegraphing to sir douglas haig on the same date, president wilson deigned to express "to you my warm admiration for the splendid steadfastness and valour with which your troops have withstood the german onset." and in the meantime, the complicated problem of transportation was occupying the keenest brains on the other side of the herring-pond, for as the _new york world_ (cp. the _times_, march th, ) pointed out, "it (transportation) certainly cannot be solved by the kind of people who for ever wring their hands crying, 'for god's sake do something.' godsaking will not drive a single rivet in a ship, or transport a solitary soldier across the atlantic." having realised, then, the menace, "the yanks" without doubt set to work and responded with a will, and the effect of their coming was felt, not only by the enemy, but--even though in a different manner--by the london & north-western railway company as well, for "the majority of american troops which passed through england," as mr. home goes on to narrate, "were dealt with through the port of liverpool, the whole of the arrangements being in our hands," these necessitating "the running of , special trains (of which , were provided by the london & north-western railway) which conveyed a total of , , officers and men, and , tons of baggage"; the record or heaviest day, august th, , witnessing the dispatch of no fewer than special trains with , officers and men, with tons of baggage. the conclusion drawn by the majority of level-headed americans may perhaps best be summed up in the words of mr. taft, who, writing in the _public ledger_ (cp. the _times_, march th, ), says:--"we have been living in a fool's paradise.... this drive has been a rude awakening. we are rubbing our eyes and asking if they (the germans) break through, then what the answer is. we shall be left naked to our enemies." reference has previously been made to crewe being, figuratively speaking, the pivot of the london and north-western railway compass: and the company's system being, as mr. horne points out in his report, "the main artery running through the centre of england, and serving so many of the important centres of industry in the country," necessarily "carried an immense amount of traffic of varying character." [illustration: passenger train mileage--l.n.w.r.] in this respect the two accompanying diagrams are of no little interest, showing as they do in manner unmistakable how, in proportion as the volume of passenger traffic decreased, as a result of the abolition of excursion trains and cheap tickets, the general curtailment of services, and the increase of ordinary fares, so, owing to the exigencies of the war, did the amount of goods traffic show in direct contrast an enormous increase. increase of mileage obviously implies a corresponding increase of tonnage carried, and in this connection we may select at random a few out of many "interesting facts and figures," which have been compiled in regard to the "new traffic created, which passed in goods trains over the l. & n. w. system," facts and figures, in short, which clearly speak for themselves. [illustration: goods train mileage--l.n.w.r.] over , tons of timber and sawdust were put on rail at penrith by the canadian forestry corps. leeds, huddersfield, and manchester were responsible for the delivery of immense quantities of raw material, in addition to manufactured articles, such as army clothing and blankets, and other kinds of munitions. from warrington were sent , miles of wire, barbed, telegraph, and telephone. runcorn supplied , vessels containing poison and weeping gas; also , cylinders containing million feet of compressed hydrogen gas, used both for the inflation of airships and for a new process of metal-plate cutting. at liverpool, in addition to the traffic entailed by the arrival of american troops, and the receipt of railway material from america, there was the question of "the allocation of military meat traffic," which during a period of nine months alone meant the ordering and disposal of , refrigerator cars. a government factory near chester, engaged in the manufacture of gun-cotton and t.n.t., handed over for transit a tonnage of , , tons. at crewe, a great part of the locomotive paint shop, and of the carriage sheds, devoted to the storing of shells, resulted in traffic being created to the extent of , tons, in addition to the output from the works of the many mechanical contrivances previously mentioned. in the birmingham district, one firm alone turned out large tanks, each "over gauge" and approximately tons in weight. another firm being responsible for an output of about sea mines. sheffield was busy with the supply--_inter alia_--of tons of knives, forks, and spoons. [illustration: naval gun weighing tons. a typical instance of war-time traffic. [_to face p. ._] the coventry ordnance works dispatched , tons by the london and north-western route, and the town of coventry, being the centre of sixty-two government owned and controlled establishments, sent out , tons of war munitions and government stores. northampton forwarded an aggregate of , , pairs of boots, weighing , tons. in the london area "practically every firm of any size was engaged upon the manufacture of war stores of various descriptions, involving in most cases enlarged premises and increased output; and herein the north london line--an offspring of the london and north-western railway--was destined to fulfil a _rôle_ of no mean importance"; it was, in fact, "throughout the whole of the war an exceptionally busy section of the railway systems of the country," being "the main artery between the northern trunk lines and the railway system south of the thames, in addition to forming the connecting link between the great eastern and the great western companies." speaking generally, amongst "exceptional articles of national importance" which were conveyed by the london and north-western railway may be said to figure heavy guns; large cases of aeroplanes; ships' boats, propellers, frames, rudders, booms; armour plates; boilers; tanks; tractors; girders; etc., etc., and a vague idea of the truly enormous amount of goods traffic dealt with may perhaps be had when it is stated that the "approximate number of munition works, government factories, aeroplane depôts, and camps," situated on the london and north-western system was , in addition to which there were a further " factories, quarries, shipbuilding yards, etc., opened or extended during the war." such in brief outline was the task performed at home by the london and north-western railway company during the world struggle, and in face of everything the marvel perhaps was that the indefatigable staff never ran the danger of "ruining all, by trying to do too much." the force of the argument, however, that "a wise man can ask more questions in a minute than a fool can answer in a year," becomes apparent when we reflect that, although nominally under state control, the staff on each railway remained during the war under the same control as prior to the war, and received their instructions as previously also; the result being that, undisturbed by an "unnumbered number of inexpert experts," and free from any such "deadly deterrent," unmolested, too, as they were by any kind of official bureaucracy, the railway companies were able to, and did, carry through the stupendous programme apportioned to them by the state. in the knowledge of this happy circumstance, the country may indeed congratulate itself, for not only did the london and north-western railway perform its allotted task at home, but, as will now be seen, the staff of the company's locomotive department at crewe further succeeded by their "incessant toil" in rendering a very large proportion of that material aid, without which the "rearward services" of our overseas forces could never, in their turn, have enabled the fighting men at the front to bring the war to a successful conclusion. chapter xi indispensable "with the rearward services rests victory or defeat." sir douglas haig. in the preceding chapter we have been able to digest a few of the more interesting facts and figures gleaned, in the one case from sir douglas haig's final dispatch, and having reference to the task performed by the rearward services of the british army in france; in the other, from the two reports issued by mr. l. w. horne, and dealing with the working of the london and north-western railway in the interests of the state, at home. most of us will probably retain some recollection of the scriptural parable of the virgins, five of whom were wise, and five foolish. whilst hardly being perhaps quite fair to liken the rearward services of the army to the latter five, who, lacking oil in their lamps, begged the necessary illuminant from the former, the london and north-western railway company's locomotive department may nevertheless be said to resemble the wise virgins, in that, figuratively speaking, lamps were kept trimmed and full of oil, ready for any emergency; not only this, however, but going one better than the wise virgins, who, seemingly a trifle selfish and stony-hearted, turned a deaf ear to their foolish sisters in distress, the london and north-western railway locomotive department never hesitated to extend a helping hand to the rearward services of the army, rendering possible in part that "wonderful development of all methods of transportation," which, as sir douglas haig avers, "had an important influence upon the course of events." we have noted the extent of the goods traffic which was dealt with at home during the fateful years of the world war, and of which the mileage rose from eighteen and a half millions in to no less a figure than twenty and a half millions in , and it was during this period, when mr. bowen-cooke, in his capacity as chief mechanical engineer of the premier british railway company, was concentrating his endeavours on the maintenance of a supply of locomotive power sufficient to cope with this ever-increasing figure, that he was called upon to assist in that other and extraneous supply of similar power, by means of which the rearward services of our overseas forces were enabled to solve the immense problem of transportation by rail in the various theatres of war in which we were engaged, a problem which as we know, ultimately involved on the western front in france alone the running of "a weekly average of , trains, carrying a weekly average load of approximately , tons." [illustration: breakdown crane and lifting tackle for shipping small goods engines.] [illustration: an overseas locomotive panel "severely wounded." [_to face p. ._] obviously the only method by which locomotive power could be made available for the rearward services lay in the transference of engines overseas, in other words, depletion of available stock at home, depletion which was effected in compliance with government demands, and in spite of the many difficulties which presented themselves and were contingent upon so unprecedented a situation. the first batch of recruits to be "called up" at crewe was selected from that very stable little group, or "class," known as the " feet inch, six wheels coupled coal engine"; these engines were specially fitted with tenders having a water-tank capacity of gallons, and nine were sent originally to serve on the western front, further recruits of this "class," numbering seventy-six altogether, seeing overseas service in egypt, salonica, and mesopotamia respectively. these hard-working little engines, which in ordinary practice do not refuse a load of fifty-five wagons or approximately tons, were nevertheless deemed incapable of contributing sufficient power in proportion as the size, or "feeding strength," of our overseas forces increased; the result being that the "power" limit was raised, and a sturdier form of recruit, found available in the well-known "g" class, or " feet inch, eight wheels coupled coal engine," was summoned to the colours. these engines, of which a total of twenty-six found their way across the water, were fitted with tenders of gallons capacity, in addition to having (as was the case with the smaller engines) a special form of water lifter whereby water could be obtained from wayside streams or other occasional sources of supply. capable of "walking away" with a load of eighty wagons, or approximately tons, these powerful goods engines proved themselves a valuable asset, and so a determining factor in influencing the course of events. hand in hand with "running" goes the question of maintenance and repairs, and in this connection installations on a large scale were set up in france as elsewhere, audricq, berguette, and borre, situated in the pas-de-calais and nord districts, being the main depôts for the repair of carriages and wagons, light railway engines, and locomotives, respectively; and in this connection crewe once again was well to the fore in the provision of the requisite machinery and plant incidental to the fitting out of the modern railway repair shop. briefly, a few of the outstanding features of this plant may be said to have comprised mechanical contrivances such as hydraulic pumps and accumulators, stationary boilers, electric motors, overhead travelling cranes, goliath cranes, an hydraulic wheel-drop, a wheel turntable, a case-hardening furnace, a boiling bosh, levelling blocks, and a great variety of machine tools, details of all of which would in themselves suffice to complete an entire volume. it was entirely thanks to the provision and installation of this machinery and plant that during the year , for instance--as we learn from statistics published in the issue of _modern transport_ of september th, -- heavy and light repairs were carried out on locomotives; and in the following year, , these figures were increased to and respectively; while the number of ordinary shed, or "running," repairs amounted to no less a figure than , . [illustration: type of overhead travelling crane, built at crewe and supplied to the overseas "rearward services." [_to face p. ._] the complex and duplex task of maintaining simultaneously both the home and the overseas rail services was further augmented by the acceptance within crewe works, for general repairs, of numerous engines doing duty in the various military camps which sprang up in different parts of the country, namely those situated at kimmel park, oswestry, prees heath, cannock chase, milford and brocton, etc., etc. heavy repairs were also effected in the case of two massive belgian engines, which were sent to england, and in addition to this superabundance of work which was undertaken conjointly with the repair programme incidental to the london and north-western railway company's own requirements, there was a continuous demand for the supply of locomotive spare parts incidental to the working of the overseas services. in yet another respect was crewe in a position to hold out a helping hand to that friend in need, the overseas rearward services. enemy aircraft activity necessitated special precautions being taken to ensure the maintenance of communications, precautions which involved the construction of certain "deviation" lines of railway. further, additional permanent way was required for sidings, and for double and quadruple tracking: and during the final allied offensive many miles of new line were laid for the purpose of following up the enemy, and of bringing relief to the civilian populations left destitute in the districts which the enemy had evacuated. the london and north-western railway company claims, and is renowned for, the finest permanent way in the world, and the rails are for the most part rolled in, and supplied from, crewe works. during the war the customary relaying of track was considerably curtailed, as may be gathered from the fact that, whereas during a normal year an average of , tons of rails are supplied, approximately half that tonnage only was supplied per annum while the war lasted. consequently the average relaying of track during a normal year was reduced from roughly to about miles per annum. at the same time, rails sufficient for miles of track were taken from stock and sent for use overseas. the rail-mill in crewe works was, however, kept busy in other directions as well, turning out in the four years - , partly for british railway companies, partly for use overseas, , tons of rails, equal to a length of miles, besides which were supplied a considerable number of points and crossings complete. certain crises of the war will surely never fade from the memory of living man or woman, crises during which it may be said that-- "there was silence deep as death, and the boldest held his breath, for a time," the while the fate of the empire, of the whole civilised world, hung in the balance. such a crisis, and one that had far-reaching effects upon the organisation of the rearward services, occurred in the spring of , consequent upon the collapse of russia. dwelling on the issues at stake, devolving the necessity on the german people to give "all it had," general ludendorff claims [cp. "my war memories," - , page , vol. ii.] that their (the german) offensive was a brilliant feat, and will "ever be so regarded in history." such it may have been, "for a time," backed as it was [cp. page , vol. ii.] by "twenty to thirty batteries, about guns, to each kilometre (eleven hundred yards) of front to be attacked," which were "figures such as no man had ever credited before." but "the battle was so vast that even these quantities of steel," which the german guns discharged, "did not destroy all life" and although the effect on the borre locomotive repair works in the end was crushing to a degree, there as elsewhere, as ludendorff finds himself forced to confess, "the infantry always found far too much to do," the result being that, thanks to the heroic resistance put up by our own men, and in spite of the fact that the boche was within , yards of the place before the evacuation of the shops was commenced, nearly the entire plant and machinery were safely got away, and forthwith installed in some newly erected shops at rang-du-fliers, a tiny hamlet situated on the main paris-boulogne line, a few miles south of Étaples. it was about this time that the warrior war lord, flushed with momentary success, saw fit to dispatch what was probably destined to be the final of his many "victory" telegrams. "my victorious troops," so he wired to the empress at berlin (cp. the _times_, march th, ), "are pressing forward from bapaume westwards.... the spirit of the troops is as fresh as on the first day. over , prisoners, over guns, machine-guns, and enormous quantities of ammunition and provisions, have been taken. may god be with us!" (signed wilhelm). whether this royal and auspicious message, when published officially, had the desired effect upon a war-weary and demoralised people, it is hard to say; but even wilhelm, the would-be conqueror, must surely have begun to realise at long last that even if "you can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, you cannot fool all of the people all of the time." getting down to solid facts then, the battle, in ludendorff's opinion, "was over by april th," and although "thereafter there was bitter fighting ... our (the german) war machine was no longer efficient" [cp. page , vol. ii.].... "the entente began the great offensive, the final battle of the world war, and carried it through with increasing vigour as our decline became more apparent." it is not uninteresting to note the second-in-command, or, as some believe him to have been, the actual commander-in-chief, of the great german fighting machine paying a tribute to the energy of the foe, the one foe hated and feared of all others by the entire german people, namely england; and this energy was at the time in question very properly brought to the notice of a representative gathering of colonial, american, and english journalists by mr. winston churchill, who, speaking on behalf of the ministry of munitions (cp. the _times_, march th, ), told these gentlemen of the press that they must "recognise that the strength of the british armies rests not only on the superb courage of the soldiers, but on the gigantic output which their countrymen at home are contributing from week to week, and from hour to hour, after all these years of strain, never at such a pitch of efficiency and energy as at the present time." few people there are, probably, who have ever realised what "the years of strain" have meant to the workers in mine, factory, and shipyard; it is in fact the exception rather than the rule to find in public utterances reference to the drudgery, the monotony, involved in the manufacture, frequently of a repetition nature, hour after hour, week after week, month after month, of all those countless mechanical contrivances of which the diverse component parts are essential to the whole. the tendency has been rather to decry these people as shirkers, money-grubbers, worthy only to be labelled with epithets unsavoury to the palate. in every branch of a profession or trade, in every walk in life, there are of course bound to be exceptions, but in common fairness to those innumerable and genuine "indispensables" who perforce remained at home, let us not forget that to the many of these who would gladly have gone was denied the experience, the excitement, the novelty, attaching to the open-air life of movement incidental to an overseas campaign. obviously enough, closely allied to, in fact interwoven with, production is the question of cost, a question which in war as in peace could not fail to afford a loophole for difficulties and disputes, either of a minor character, or aggravated perhaps by the continued years of strain and monotony. mr. churchill, however, was undoubtedly on the right tack when he went on to insist that we should "not assume that because from time to time they (the workmen) put forth their sectional aims, these aims were the only things they care about. they have a sort of feeling," he declared, "that they have to push forward their class interests, and i am not blaming them for it, but in the main our strength rests upon their loyal, resolute support, and we can count on that." as a single instance of the reliance which could be placed in the work-people's resolute support, we have only to note the loyal adherence by the men in crewe works, which they maintained to the bitter end, to a resolution which they passed themselves, to the effect that "we, the working men of crewe, will do all that is humanly possible to increase the output of munitions, and stand by our comrades in the trenches"; and this resolution was the outcome of a series of meetings organised and held in the summer of , in the various shops within the works, when mr. cooke, having emphasised the paramount importance of keeping up the great railways, "which have to deal with the transport of soldiers and munitions, that keep together the life of the country," went on to remind his hearers that "it is to those who produce the material for the making and repairing of locomotives who have this all-important matter in their hands." [illustration: "we, the working men of crewe, will do all that is humanly possible to increase the output of munitions, and stand by our comrades in the trenches." [_to face p. ._] appropriately enough, mr. craig, m.p. for the constituency, having already wired the terms of the resolution to mr. lloyd george, was able on behalf of the latter to "thank you, the men of crewe works, for the splendid efforts you have put forward in the past;" adding, that he had peculiar satisfaction in so doing, for "never either in the house of commons or out of it have i heard a word of reproach levelled against the men of crewe. their patriotism has never been impeached." that this outspoken tribute contained nothing from which could possibly be construed anything in the nature of what is commonly known as "gush" is easily apparent from the fact that mr. craig had only just previously appealed to the men to "allow nothing to interfere with the production of munitions of war. you are asked," he said to them point-blank, "to relax for the time being all trades union rules and regulations, and to compete with one another in order to produce the largest possible amount of munitions." with the exception, then, of an insignificantly small minority of juvenile and inexperienced would-be firebrands, who in nine cases out of ten could not boast of ever having ventured beyond their native shores, if indeed beyond reach of their mothers' apron-strings, the attitude of the men of crewe was, throughout the protracted struggle, loyal to the core, and that this was so must ever redound to their undying credit. let us compare for a moment the condition of things prevailing at the time in germany, for although "other countries possessed an army, in prussia," as we know, "the army possessed the country," and probably because of this inflexible régime, possibly in spite of it, everything was not exactly "couleur de rose." in order to sustain the rearward services of this ruthless "juggernaut," ludendorff "went nap" for universal conscription, industrial as well as military, for all persons between the ages of fifteen and sixty. another point he was always striving to enforce was the raising of the pay of the fighting man, and a corresponding reduction in the pay of the workman. "the enthusiasm of the moment passes," so ludendorff argues (cp. page , vol. i.), "it must be replaced by discipline and understanding." but the law which the german government resolved to introduce in november, , for conscripting auxiliary labour was in his opinion, (cp. pages , , vol. i.) "neither fish nor fowl. we wanted something wholesale. the bill departed, too, from the principle of universal liability to service, and gave no security that the labour power obtained would be so employed as to produce the maximum results. it was not merely insufficient, but positively harmful in operation. it had a bad effect on the soldiers;" for "troops withdrawn from the heavy fighting at the front saw auxiliary workers and women workers working in peace and safety for wages far higher than their own pay. this was bound to embitter the men who had to risk their lives day by day, and to endure the greatest hardships, and of necessity increased their dissatisfaction with their pay." in the circumstances, can anyone marvel that:-- "reason frowns on war's unequal game, where thousands fall to raise a single name"? the war-profiteer, too, was "a repulsive phenomenon," who (cp. page , vol. i.) with the "corruption of his influence has done us incalculable harm." that our own government of the day adopted and pursued a policy, if not exactly of killing, at least of spoiling, the goose that laid the golden egg--a policy, moreover, which could not fail, here as in germany, to have the effect of discrediting the fighting man in the eyes of his mate privileged to remain at home--was certainly no fault of the railway companies or of their own employés; in fact one branch at least of the railway service, the staff of which had no particular reason to bless the government, or indeed the war at all, was the locomotive accountants' department at crewe; for those who were employed in this particular department, that is to say those of them who were left at home--and the fact should never be overlooked that the percentage of clerks who joined the forces was not surpassed by that of any other grade of employés on the railways--were involved in the few years of the war in hard work, changes, and readjustments of one kind and another, such as ordinarily would not have been their lot to experience, in the whole course of a lifetime. it is true that at the commencement of the war efforts were undoubtedly made to curtail office work as far as possible, the board of trade assisting in this direction by suspending statistical return of the railway companies' accounts and returns act. statistics, too, relating to shunting, extraction of mileage in districts for rating purposes, and certain sub-divisions of mileage, were discontinued. then again, the government having guaranteed the nett receipts of the railways, although charges affecting capital and stock still operated, the railway executive committee decided to put in abeyance the practice of rendering accounts as between one railway company and another, for work or services rendered on revenue account, whether on personal account or at joint stations, junctions, etc. as against all this, however, obligations commenced, increased, and multiplied in other and different directions. at the very outset of the war, for example, in order to separate the government control period from the pre-control period, extensive stock-taking was necessary, as well as a complete making-up of accounts as from midnight august th, . then, as can easily be imagined, no sooner did the government issue their appeal to the railway companies for assistance in the manufacture of munitions of war, than an immense amount of clerical work followed suit, the clerks responsible having immediately to conform with government requirements. again, owing to scarcity of raw materials, which were placed under government control, numerous statistics had to be prepared in regard to actual requirements; reports, too, had to be sent in periodically as to scrap metal, especially copper, and particulars furnished in regard to the output of iron and steel. on the top of all this came the introduction of the war-wage with its periodical increase to meet the increasing cost of living; and the subsequent inauguration of the district rate of wages, accompanied as it was by the regrading, according to their duties, of every single workman, skilled or semi-skilled, entailed an enormous amount of clerical work; the timekeepers were almost incessantly occupied in dealing with arrears of payment under the national awards, this necessitating many hours of overtime, saturdays and sundays not excepted. in fact, so great did the pressure of work become throughout the department that, in order to counterbalance the depletion of staff occasioned by so many clerks joining the colours, recourse was had to the employment of females, who, to the number of , assisted materially in easing the burden which devolved upon that section of the permanent male staff who remained in harness and without whose expert knowledge and experience an interregnum of complete chaos must inevitably have supervened. sir douglas haig in his final dispatch does not neglect to extend his thanks, which were "especially due," to those "responsible for the efficient work of the various rearward services, and administrative services and departments" of the british army in france, amongst whom may be noted "my financial adviser," and "my pay master-in-chief"; and in direct proportion as the nation at large owes a debt of gratitude to those prominent personalities, incidentally, too, to the members of their subordinate, but none the less loyal and devoted, staffs who gave their services, and in some instances their lives for their king and country--so, too, must the public in general ever remain indebted to the heads of the administrative departments of the great british railway companies--the financial advisers, the paymasters-in-chief--amongst whom may be cited the chief of the accountants' department of the london and north-western railway company's locomotive department, mr. t. ormand, together with the members of his subordinate, but none the less indefatigable, staff at crewe. the studied opinion of sir douglas haig, when he comes to summarise his views in general, certainly compels our attention. "it is hardly too much to assert," so he writes, "that, however, seemingly extravagant in men and money, no system of supply except the most perfect should ever be contemplated." perfection, it may reasonably be argued however, need not necessarily entail extravagance; and certainly the system of supply in operation at crewe, efficient as it undoubtedly was, was productive of saving rather than of waste. the fact that the cost of labour, on the cessation of hostilities, showed an increase of per cent. over and above that which was prevalent at the commencement of the war, cannot by any manner of means be laid at the door of the railway directorates, who, in regard to questions of wages and discipline, were controlled by the national agreements which from time to time came into being. neither could the railway companies be classified even in a minimum degree amongst those "repulsive phenomena," the war-profiteers; for, the railways having become, as it were, part and parcel of the government, it resulted as a natural corollary that work carried out in railway workshops whether for railway or munitions-of-war purposes became _ipso facto_ government work, and the bill for all such work when presented was made up simply and solely of the actual cost of materials, wages, and workshop expenses, plus - / per cent. for supervision and establishment charges. the only profit with which the coffers of the railway companies were replenished in return for their war-time energies was in respect of munitions manufactured for private firms, and even then the profit never exceeded per cent. over and above the actual cost of production. those were indeed "the times that try men's souls," and it was the government policy throughout--a policy which, as happened to be the case in germany, was "neither fish nor fowl," in that whilst inflicting untold hardship, loss, and suffering on some, it relieved others, saddling them with a minimum of inconvenience, and removing from them all "conception of the duty of universal service"--to which was attributable that extravagance "in men and money" referred to by sir douglas haig. on the occasion of the introduction of the first post-war budget, when the chancellor of the exchequer, mr. chamberlain, suggested (cp. the _times_, may st, ) that it would be of "interest to divide the year into the period before the armistice and the period since the armistice was signed, and to see what the average daily expenditure was in each of those two periods," mr. adamson (fife w. lab.) expressed a desire to temper his criticism with sincere commiseration for the chancellor, whose task was to find the first instalment of the terrific obligations imposed upon the country by the extravagance, and in some respects the incredible folly, of spending departments during the war period, which had resulted in a daily average expenditure during the earlier of the two periods mentioned by mr. chamberlain, namely from april st to november th, , of £ , , ; in the later period, namely from november th, to march st, , of £ , , . it is doubtful whether the explanation adduced by the chancellor, in regard to this extravagance, this incredible folly, afforded any real degree of solace to mr. adamson or to any other honourable members, who inclined to view the financial outlook with such marked concern. "the national debt proper, exclusive of what we call other capital liabilities, was," as mr. chamberlain pointed out, "on march st this year ( ), , millions," or , millions more than it was at the outbreak of the war; and "of the actual debt incurred, internal debt accounts for, approximately, , millions, and the external debt, approximately, , millions." there were, it is true, "certain assets, such as obligations of our allies and dominions, votes of credit no longer required, and payments in respect of indemnities from our enemies." but when all was said and done, "when every proper allowance is made for these assets--the amount and value of which as well as the date at which we may expect to receive payment for them is necessarily uncertain--the burden of debt left to us is still very formidable." the tone predominant throughout this outline, indicative of the manner in which the taxpayers' millions were being used or misused for their especial benefit, was undeniably pessimistic. on the other hand, every cloud has its silver lining, and the occasional gleams, which illumined the lowering trend of mr. chamberlain's forebodings, become intensified a thousandfold when we reflect upon the horrors which we, in our insular position of security, escaped, and when we ponder over the fate that would most assuredly have been ours had the warrior warlord won the day. writing to the _new york world_ in april, , mr. gustav roeder throws some light upon the state of mind of the german women alone. "talk about your so-called atrocities which our men are said to have committed in belgium," they said to me, "it would be nothing in comparison with what our men would do in england, and we women want to be there too." as a sample of the treatment accorded to the unfortunate inhabitants of those portions of the fair land of france which the invader succeeded in over-running, we may take this deposition of the _times'_ special correspondent with the french army as being sufficiently convincing. writing under the date of march st, , he says, "when the germans left noyon on sunday, they took with them fifty young french girls, who, they said, were to act as officers' servants. when he (a distinguished french officer) was on a part of the somme front now taken over by the british, he saw with his own eyes photographs, taken from german prisoners, of german officers sitting at dinner and being waited upon at table by naked women." even during the earliest days of the war, evidence was not wanting in proof of the fact that german imperialist greed was in no way to be denied. "heavy ransoms on french towns" was the heading to a paragraph in the _times_ of september th, , and edifying to a degree was the subjoined list of towns from whose impotent inhabitants the jubilant hun was setting to work to exact sums of money varying in proportion to their size and population. thus we learn that having imprisoned the préfet du nord, the germans demanded from the town of lille "a ransom of , , f (£ , ). at armentières they were content with a ransom of , f. (£ , ). at amiens they have demanded , , f. (£ , ) and , cigars. lens has been ransomed for , f. (£ , )." on yet a previous occasion (cp. the _times_, august nd, ), the press bureau having obligingly announced that out of £ , , of treasury bills, for which the treasury had invited tenders to be sent in, £ , , was required for a loan from the british government to belgium, the germans promptly decided that this good british gold might be turned to far more profitable account by themselves than by the belgians for whom it was ostensibly intended, and proceeded forthwith to impose upon the city of brussels a war contribution of eight million sterling. the all-highest is credited with having expressed himself as being convinced that "the german people had in the lord of creation above an unconditional ally on whom it could absolutely rely." he must have felt, too, that his faithful subjects had in the british government below a purblind benefactor whom they could regard as an unfailing source of revenue. some idea as to the aspirations and intentions which the germans were keeping up their sleeves as concerning ourselves may be gathered from certain observations which were drawn up by the allied ministers at jassy, with regard to the conditions imposed upon rumania by the central powers, and which in their own words "demonstrate in the best possible manner the insatiable greed and hypocrisy of german imperialism." the actual terms of the treaty (of bukarest) required, _inter alia_ (cp. the _times_, august th, ), "the entire male population of the occupied territories, that is to say of two-thirds of rumania, between the ages of fourteen and sixty, to carry out such work as may be assigned to them. the penalties for disobedience include deportation and imprisonment, and in some cases, which are not expressly defined, even that of death. this treaty," as the allied ministers observed, "is a fair example of a german peace. we should consider it all the more closely inasmuch as the german delegates informed the rumanian delegates, who were appalled at being required to accept such conditions, that they would appreciate their moderation when they knew those which would be imposed on the western powers after the victory of the central empires." for the fact that "this england never did," and for the determination that she "never shall, lie at the proud foot of a conqueror," we owe it entirely to the grit of succeeding generations of british fighting men. "wars may be won or lost," in the opinion of sir douglas haig, "by the standard of health and moral of the opposing forces"; and because "the feeding and health of the fighting forces are dependent upon the rearward services, so it may be argued that with the rearward services rests victory or defeat." in the same way, since, as we have already seen, the rearward services of the overseas forces depend for their sustenance upon the continued and successful operation of the home services of supply and transport, so it may be argued that upon the feeding and health of these latter services does the final issue hang. realising then, from the very outset, the import of the task devolving upon the great railways, appreciating, too, the truism that you cannot maintain an a engineering community any less than an "a empire with a c population," mr. cooke determined on the course of inaugurating, in the immediate vicinity of crewe works, a canteen, which, rivalling similar establishments set up in well-nigh every government-owned, or controlled, munition factory throughout the length and breadth of the land, was built and equipped with the most up-to-date cooking apparatus and utensils, at a cost of £ , and this thanks entirely to the spontaneous generosity of the directors of the company, who further expressed their readiness to bear the cost of all maintenance charges, such as heating, lighting, and salaries of the kitchen staff. as a result, the men were enabled to purchase all commodities at actual cost price, at the same time finding that the meals provided were of that excellence which inclines one to "forgive anybody, even one's own relations." there is not a shadow of doubt but that, as regards the rearward services both home and overseas, "our supply system has been developed into one of the most perfect in the world," and after being so largely instrumental in frustrating the aims of the common enemy, the only danger against which we had to guard was lest "the ministers of the allied powers should lose by their pen what the army had gained by the sword"; in which case the peace we had striven to secure--to quote the words of that great littérateur and statesman of a former generation, to wit george canning--"would be the mere name of peace; not a wholesome or refreshing repose, but a feverish and troubled slumber." chapter xii l'envoi "la mort n'est rien, vive la tombe, quand le pays en sort vivant, en avant!" surely no one will deny to m. paul déroulède, that eminent and talented french _homme-de-lettres_, to whose inspiring enthusiasm these lines are attributable, the right of his assertion that death in the conditions which he mentions is a negligible quantity? supreme as has been the sacrifice of those well-nigh countless scores of officers, non-commissioned officers, and men, who now "in glory shine," bitter too and crushing as undoubtedly is the sense of void occasioned by their absence beyond recall to those of their relatives and friends who remain, "where is death's sting?" it may well be asked, "where, grave, thy victory?" when the country, struggling for all that she holds most dear, finally emerges triumphant, renascent, from the darkest hours of her existence; for underlying all, there is in this straightforward challenge a tinge of pride unquenchable, a ring of scorn unmistakable. granted then the truth of this dogma, granted too that nothing is more "dulce et decorum" than "pro patria mori," one cannot but bear in mind the fact also that death is not infrequently a happy form of release from some lamentably pitiable condition of mind or body to another and altogether brighter degree of existence. "la douleur est un siécle, et la mort un moment;" one may even assume that the act of "passing away" is comparable to that merciful dawn of returning consciousness, to which the dreamer wakes from the vividly realistic, albeit imaginary, torture of some agonising nightmare. for who at one time or another of his or her enigmatic existence has not experienced this imaginary torture, of which the crazy sequence of headlong unreasoning realities wracks in topsy turvy torment the momentarily unbalanced brain, until in a frenzy of despair and faced with some climax, unprecedented and unparalleled, the dreamer wakes, bathed in profuse and clammy perspiration, breathless and bewildered, yet infinitely grateful to an all-powerful and protecting deity that imaginings of so cruel and fantastic a conception should prove to be but phantoms of the night? yet of all the myriad atoms of trivial humanity who have survived the nightmare of armageddon-up-to-date, what is the proportion of such who can honestly say that the life to which we have been restored is either brimful of promise or bright indeed with prospect? "forward" undoubtedly must be the watchword; "en avant;" but whither? selecting as a suitable title "plain speaking," the writer of a leading article in the _times_ of august th, , urges that "ever since the armistice day they (the people) have been living in a fool's paradise, as though the cessation of armed hostilities had opened the door to a state of pure enjoyment according to every man's fancy.... the inevitable result is that europe is drawing near, not merely to bankruptcy and financial ruin, but to actual starvation." so pessimistic a pronouncement lends itself to the assumption that we are merely jumping out of the frying-pan of international strife into the fire of internal or domestic disruption. the writer of this article is, however, not quite so pessimistic as to be unable to offer any remedy, for as an alternative he insists that "this mad orgy of spending must cease from government departments downwards. all classes must turn to work.... employers and employed must give up quarrelling and work together. economy and work are the two watchwords for the nation." "en avant," then. but first of all "let us examine things," as mr. lloyd george would have us do, "in the spirit of comradeship which has been created by the war, that spirit of comradeship which arose from a common sacrifice," and then, "let us demonstrate to the world once more that britain, beyond all lands, has the traditional power of reaching a solution of her most baffling problems without resorting to anarchy, but merely by appeal to the commonsense of most, and in a spirit of fair play." unhappily enough everybody was, however, "suffering from the terrible strain of the war; nerves were jagged and sore; the world was suffering from shell-shock on a great scale." the position, therefore, if not indeed dangerous was none the less serious and fraught with difficulty. put in a nutshell, "we were spending more, we were earning less; we were consuming more, we were producing less; we were not paying our way. before the war our national debt was £ , , ; to-day it is £ , , , " (cp. the _times_, august th, ). "en avant!" but how to remedy the state of affairs? how to straighten out the tangle? what invariably happens when the blind lead the blind seemed bound to occur if the coalition ministry continued leading or misleading the people. "i make this indictment against the ministry of the day," exclaimed sir d. maclean when addressing the house on august th, , "that in this supreme financial crisis of the nation they are failing wholly in their duty to put a stop to extravagant expenditure." the chancellor of the exchequer estimated the then daily average expenditure at no less than £ , , ; the army, the navy, and the air force accounting for £ , , of this amount, notwithstanding the fact that since the armistice a total of , , of all ranks had been demobilised (cp. the _times_, august th, . statement issued by the war office). there can be no doubt but that the opinion prevalent on all hands was that the great ship of state was in danger of being swamped in the maelstrom of ministerial mismanagement; yet in spite of this we read that the transport bill (to take one solitary if salient instance) was proposing to "create a new and costly brand of bureaucracy, headed by titled dignitaries, and naval and military officers, with a whole milky way of attendant satellites" (cp. the _times_, july th, ), and truth to tell, this "new and costly brand" seemed likely to afford as great or as little hope of salvation to the man-in-the-street as would a stone if thrown to a drowning man; it could but let him down. according to the gospel of experience, "state control has never yet resulted in economy," and the present was certainly no time for "legislative megalomania." admittedly no inconsiderable amount of ink has been spilt over the question of transport, covering as it does so obviously wide a range. the railways, as we know, during the war and since the armistice have been run at the expense of, and under the nominal control of, the state; but even so democratic a chieftain as is the versatile prime minister had to confess that he had not noticed any apparent harmony under this particular régime, and the subtle note of irony is by no means lacking when he reminds his hearers in the house of commons "we have had, i think, a few strikes; and so long as strikes are prevalent, where," he asks, "is the promotion of harmony if you have state control and state ownership? i do not see the harmony that is to come under state control" (cp. the _times_ august th, ). no sooner had the outburst of cheering which greeted this remark subsided, than an hon. member (lab.), chipping in, was heard to opine "these things will happen under private ownership," a theory which impelled mr. lloyd george promptly to retort, "i do not say it will be any worse under state ownership, but i say it will not be any better." to the average and impartial intelligence, therefore, the most satisfactory and logical q.e.d. to this little argument might be summed up in the three words "as you were"; indeed, the "pros" in favour of so patent a usurpation of private interests as is embodied in state control or nationalisation of railways may be said to be far outweighed by the opposing "cons." during the period in which the nation was fighting for its life, there was evidently no time "for renewing machinery, there was hardly time for repairing, and there was quite inadequate time for cleaning," but the fact remains that during this period of state control the railways were run at a loss; and that loss, largely attributable to enormous increases in wages, diminution in working hours, and mathematically proportionate reduction in output, came straight from the taxpayers' pockets. why then, it may be asked, this persistent demand for ministerial megalomania-to-be? what the reason for this "new and costly brand of bureaucracy," which assuming the proportions of an octopus threatens to crush every vestige of individuality and private enterprise which happens within the deadly orb of its encircling and insatiable tentacles? the explanation is not far to seek--"sir herbert walker and his colleagues on the railway executive committee have been too modest, the public do not know what they achieved" (cp. _engineering_, january th, , "the railway problem"). further, unknown to the average man-in-the-street, "the individual organisations of the railway companies (during the war) remained intact, and the boards of directors continued to be responsible for the conduct of their affairs. the desire was to get the work done"--to deliver the goods--"with as little disturbance of the existing machinery as possible. the changes which were introduced and the high efficiency which was witnessed in the working of the traffic of the railways during the war was due far more to a patriotic determination on the part of all concerned to do their utmost to assist the country in a time of national emergency, regardless of corporate or personal interests, than to the direct imposition by the government of its will upon the railway companies." ministerial axe-grinders, and disgruntled labour members, were well aware of all this; they were faced, too, with the fact that "the control by a committee of general managers has really resulted in freeing the railways from the 'blighting effect' of state control, and the successful operation of british railways during the war is really a tribute to the efficiency of private (as distinct from state) ownership." not only this, but a further fact which undoubtedly redounds to the credit of sir herbert walker and his little band of colleagues could not be disregarded, for as we learn from the _times_ of july th, , "the railway executive committee controlled the whole railway system of these islands during the war from a few shabby rooms at westminster with a staff of about eighteen clerks. the committee was so modest that they did not commandeer a single hotel, or angle for the smallest honours, but they achieved wonders of transportation with steadily diminishing resources." finally, and as voicing the opinion of the business community at large, we have only to observe that the glasgow chamber of commerce emphatically records its belief that "nationalisation (of railways) would be a national misfortune." one misfortune not unusually leads to another, and logically enough it may be argued that one of the more immediate of the "blighting effects of state control" likely to become apparent is what may be termed "the passing of ingenuity," resulting in lack of incentive to individual enterprise, or, in a word, an inevitable stalemate. "committed irrevocably to mass production, to specialisation, to rigs and jigs and standards, to gigantic industrial combines, to the suppression of individual merit, and the apotheosis of mass merit," a writer in the _engineer_ of april th, , deplores the fact that "skill is being transferred from the man to the machine; knowledge is being replaced by the schedule; organisation by rule is taking the place of organisation by mother wit." plainly too, but none the less regretfully, the same writer conjectures that "in another fifty years these things we now foresee dimly will be the commonplaces of industry"; and "oh tempora! oh mores!" let future generations beware, for "brought up in standard crèches on standard feeding bottles with standard milk, we shall pass through a course of standard education, be dressed in standard clothes, carried in standard conveyances, live in standard dwellings, behave like standard citizens, and in due course be carried in standard coffins in a standard hearse to a standard crematorium." undoubtedly every one is entitled to his or her own opinion, _apropos_ any particular subject of debate; but without prejudice it may be asked whether any one in his legitimate senses is capable of viewing this "standard" perspective, these "blighting effects of state control," with feelings other than of revolt and dismay. "victory is nothing," so napoleon is reputed to have declared, "if you do not profit by success"; and having achieved success regardless of the cost, having won through "non pour dominer"--to use the words of that great commander of the entente armies, marshal foch--"mais pour être libre," in what way are we endeavouring to profit? "there is evidence of slackness; the effort has got to be quickened; all must put their backs into it to save the country. our international trade is in peril, and our home trade is depressed by reduction of output and the increased cost of production. words must be translated into action unless thousands of lives are to be sacrificed to hunger and cold; this is no hyperbole." such, as we know, are specimens of periodic if unpalatable pessimisms provided by prominent personalities. the experience of sir edward grey, as he tells us, is that the difficulty is not so much to tell the truth, as to get the truth believed. were we then really living in a fool's paradise? could it truthfully be said that we as a community were consenting to become a "league of dupes," as the nations have been banded together as a league? heaven forbid! for just as it would be idle to imagine that there will be no more strikes, no extremist incitement to anarchy, so too in the considered opinion of mr. lloyd george "it would be folly to assume that human nature will never give way to passion again, and that there will be no war. a nation that worked on that assumption might regret its conduct." unfortunately, there is no denying the fact--as a captured german naval officer once tersely put it--that although they (the germans) could never be gentlemen, we (the british) would ever be fools! hence it comes about that at a time when "the most pressing interest of humanity is that the profit and loss account of a barbarous bid for world-power should show an impressive balance on the wrong side," it is open to argument whether the policy embodied in the treaty of versailles, of "tempering justice with mercy," was altogether prudent; mercy, that is, which "could not speak more eloquently than it does in the unmutilated landscape of german agriculture, and in the immunity of her civilians from all the horrors of her own practice as an invader" (cp. _pall mall gazette_, june th, ). be that as it may, "once bitten" is proverbially and habitually "twice shy," so that it would seem well-nigh inconceivable that a lesson of such magnitude as the nation has learnt during the long-drawn-out agony of the world-war can readily be forgotten; and whatever the future all unknown may hold in store for us, undimmed in the minds of succeeding generations will most surely shine as a guiding light the splendid record of private enterprise and of individual endeavour as exemplified by the great railway companies of the british isles, amongst which pride of place can scarcely be withheld from the london and north-western railway, to whom the country, without doubt, owes a deep and lasting debt of gratitude. "en avant!" then, as surely those who gave their all would have us do. "en avant!" that their sacrifice supreme shall not have been in vain. "en avant!" and may our thankfulness and pride go out to them in that "great unknown beyond," where they-- "... shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old, age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn, at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them." [illustration: war memorial, euston. "at the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them." [_to face p. ._] appendix a the system of control applied to the armoured trains manufactured in crewe works fitted with standard vacuum brake, the train was also driven by an ingeniously devised vacuum system of control, which could be operated from either end of the train or from the footplate of the engine. on the smoke-box side, and intermediate between steam chests and main regulator valve, was fixed an additional regulator valve, actuated by a small vacuum cylinder. a / -inch vacuum pipe acting in conjunction with the vacuum brake pipe and running the whole length of the train was connected to three pairs of vacuum control valves and gauges fixed, respectively, one on the footplate and one at each end of the train. when all these vacuum control valves were placed at the "shut" position, the ports were open to admit air, and no vacuum could be created; consequently the brakes remained on, and the additional regulator valve shut, so that no steam could reach the steam chests even if the main regulator valve was open. when, however, the vacuum control valves were placed in the open position, the air ports were closed, and the driver, supposing he was at the end of the train, signalled to the fireman on the footplate to "blow up" with the usual steam-ejector, a vacuum being thereby created not only for releasing the brakes, but also for operating the additional regulator valve which the driver controlled and by means of which he started the train. conversely when he wished to stop, all that he had to do was to bring his control lever over once again to the shut position, when the air-ports opened, the vacuum was destroyed, the regulator-valve shut, the brakes went on, and the train came to a standstill. appendix b explanatory of the gauge gauges may be divided into two categories known as "working" and "inspecting" gauges; again each category is further divided into two sub-categories, designated in approved munitions' parlance as "to go" and "not to go." "working" gauges being in more or less constant use, and subjected, not infrequently, to a certain measure of rough usage, were allowed a slightly less "tolerance" or margin, plus or minus, high or low, than were "inspecting" gauges; that is to say, given a certain specific measurement for any specific part of a shell, the gauge in proportion as it was "working" or "inspecting" was limited to a tolerance of a minute fraction of an inch either above or below the finished dimension; this was in fact considered the _beau idéal_ of good workshop practice. let us take for the sake of argument a shell body. if after being turned to presumably the required and finished diameter it was found to slip through the hole of a "not to go" working gauge, there was no alternative other than that of scrapping it then and there, because obviously once turned to too small a diameter, not "all the king's horses nor all the king's men" could ever increase that diameter by one single iota again; as a biblical parallelism one might even add that it would be "easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle" than for a "not to go" shell to enter into bond. if, on the other hand, the shell would not quite enter the "to go" hole of a "working" gauge, or even if it was a tight fit in this hole, it followed that there remained a certain tolerance or margin whereby the diameter could still be reduced to a trifle, and the shell _per se_ qualified as a candidate for the final examination of the "inspecting" gauge. picking up, then, our "inspecting" gauge we find that this, in like manner, has two holes, one "to go" and one "not to go"; but the gauge-maker has perforce been wily enough to leave the tolerance of these "inspecting" gauge holes a minute fraction of an inch greater, above and below the required finished dimension, than that allowed in the "working" gauge holes, his purpose being to ensure the inspector something up his sleeve in the way of control over the machinists who use the "working gauge" only; hence the "not to go" hole of the "inspecting" gauge is slightly less in diameter than the "not to go" hole of the "working" gauge; the "inspecting" "to go" hole is a tiny trifle larger than the diameter of the finished shell than is the "to go" hole of the "working" gauge. the accompanying diagram scaled to convenient fractions of an inch will perhaps help to illustrate the meaning of these tolerances. suppose for instance that the correct finished diameter of our shell is - / inches, the tolerances allowed by the government (_i.e._ the final "inspecting" tolerances) can be represented by the two semicircles and dimensions shown below the centre line, which, as will be seen, are further from the finished dimensions than are the two semicircles and dimensions shown above the centre line, these latter representing the "working" tolerances, the difference between the two sets of figures representing the amount of margin kept up his sleeve by the inspector by way of control over the machinists using the "working" gauges only. in actual practice of course the fractions of an inch representing these tolerances are infinitely smaller than those shown above for the purpose of illustration only. some idea of the infinitely small fractions representing the tolerances allowed may be gathered by taking a sheet of ordinary thin note-paper, the thickness of which is about / parts of an inch, or · inch; try to imagine this sheet of thin note-paper made ten times thinner still, and you will find it reduced to a minimum of tissue thickness, / parts of an inch or · inch; remember now that on good artillery depends not only the lives, maybe of your nearest and dearest, but the honour of the nation too; and you have firstly some idea of the imperceptible fractions of an inch to which a shell-gauging instrument is made; secondly the reason for the proportionate degree of accuracy demanded in the manufacture of artillery ammunition itself. [illustration] [illustration: manufacture of a hob-cutter, in "relieving" or "backing-off" lathe. [_appendix c_] appendix c the thread-miller, and the "backing-off" lathe, as applied to shell-manufacture the action of a thread-milling machine is as follows:--the cutter fixed on a mandrel, and the shell in the milling machine, revolve in opposite directions to one another. the teeth of the cutter, contrary to expectation, are simply a series of parallel rings cut the correct pitch of the thread required; consequently all that is necessary is that the shell shall travel longitudinally the distance of one pitch of the thread during one complete revolution, and the job is done. particular interest centres, perhaps, in the little thread-cutter itself, and in the amount of ingenuity evinced in the method of its manufacture. in the first place a rotary form-milling cutter regulated by a dividing head is run across the eventuating hob thread-cutter in a series of spiral lengths. the profile of this form-milling cutter forms both a rounded clearance for the cutting edge of the hob cutting teeth and a "gash" or groove necessary for the clearance of the chasing tool when cutting the teeth. the reason for these spiral gashes is that each separate tooth shall come into play individually and consecutively instead of collectively and simultaneously, the life of the teeth being in this manner very materially prolonged. we notice then, that instead of adhering to a uniform circumference, the teeth, or series of teeth, are what is known as "backed off" from the cutting edge, a clearance being in this wise imparted, the true form of the teeth being thereby maintained in subsequent grinding operations. this clearance is obtainable by means of the "backing-off" or "relieving" mechanism of a lathe especially designed for the purpose. a geared shaft running parallel with the bed of the lathe causes to revolve a cam. this cam, by virtue of the eccentricity of its face, imparts a transverse movement to the lathe rest through the intermediary of a transverse spindle on which is fixed a second cam also eccentrically faced. the revolving face of the one bearing against the stationary face of the other causes the latter to draw the lathe-rest inwards against the compression of a spring; no sooner have the cam edges passed one another than the spring relaxes, allowing the lathe-rest to jump back again to its former position. it is during the inward movement of the lathe-rest that the form-chasing tool cuts the required clearance behind the hob miller's teeth, finishing into the cross-cut spiral gash; the outward movement has the effect of pushing the chasing tool in the nick of time clear of the succeeding row of teeth, ready to repeat a similar operation. the eccentric profile of the cam faces, needless to say, is responsible for the curved relief, or clearance, behind the edge of the hob miller's teeth, and the cams can be changed at will according to the curve required. the delaying action of the lathe-rest necessary to coincide with the spiral gash is imparted by means of a slide set diagonally to the requisite angle of the spiral; as this was a series of rings and not a screw thread, it was necessary, when cutting the teeth, to disengage the leading screw from the backing-off gear to enable the teeth to be cut while the saddle of the lathe was in a stationary position. far from falling within the category of those employers on the portals of whose workshops may have been inscribed the fatal words "too late," mr. cooke was early in the field as a purchaser of the hob thread-milling machine. delivered with the machine was a hob cutter, but strangely enough instead of being spiral this cutter was straight fluted. the occasion of a visit to the works of a certain government tool inspector was productive of an amusing little comedy. noticing the backing-off lathe above referred to, and being in urgent need of a supply of spiral hob cutters, he expressed his intention of commandeering the lathe for the exclusive manufacture of these particular hobs for government purposes, heedless of the fact that the lathe was and had been continuously employed for locomotive purposes. being under the impression too that only one firm of expert tool makers in the country was capable of cutting spiral hobs, great was his astonishment and delight on discovering that crewe was not only equally capable of doing so, but previously had been performing this very class of work; the net result of this little episode being that the lathe in question was immediately requisitioned for a continuous supply of spiral hob cutters which were to be sent to shell manufacturing firms, and a second backing-off lathe was speedily forthcoming, in order that the company's own locomotive requirements should be in no way impeded. the end printed by william clowes and sons, limited, london and beccles, england. transcriber's note: -applied the errata to the text -whole and fractional parts displayed as - / -made several silent typographical changes for mismatched single/double quotes -italic text display as _text_ -spelling and word usage have been retained as they appear in the original publication, except as follows: -page viii: changed "psychologigues" to "psychologiques". -page viii, : changed "enseignments" to "enseignements". -page : changed "the same control has" to "the same control as" -page : changed " percent" to " percent". (the total composition of brass should add up to %.) -page : changed "are slightly taper to" to "are slightly tapered to". -page : changed "rang-de-fliers" to "rang-du-fliers" and "etaples" to "Étaples". -page : changed "the the railway" to "the railway". the post office of india [illustration: group of senior officers of the post office in p. sheridan e. c. o'brien w. alpin w. j. ham g. j. hynes rai bahadur sunder lal h. m. kisch e. r. douglas j. dillon f. r. hogg h. e. m. james e. hutton _director general_ ] the post office of india and its story by geoffrey clarke indian civil service with sixteen illustrations london: john lane the bodley head new york: john lane company mcmxxi _the mayflower press, plymouth, england._ william brendon & son, ltd. preface when i first decided to write a short account of the post office of india my intention was to close my story with the amalgamation of the post office and the telegraph department, which took place in . publication has been delayed for various reasons, chiefly owing to the outbreak of the war in , and since then many strange things have happened. consequently i have had to revise several chapters and felt compelled to write one upon the wonderful work done by the indian post office in the great war. i have also brought the statistical information up to the year . much of the matter referring to the early posts in india has already been given in mr. hamilton's book, _an outline of postal history and practice_. this is only natural, as we have both drawn from the same sources--namely, the records of the postal directorate in calcutta. i have tried to tell the story of the post office in such a way as to be interesting to the general reader as well as useful to the student. the ordinary routine of post office work is not exciting, but the effect of the work, the benefits it confers, the dependence of the public upon its proper execution, are themes to inspire the pen of a romantic writer. "the romance of the post office" was the title of a delightful article in _blackwood's magazine_ by sir arthur fanshawe, late director-general of the department, and to this article i must acknowledge my obligations for several passages in the book. i am much indebted to mr. r. w. hanson and mr. f. f. shout, assistant directors-general of the post office of india, for their assistance in producing this work. mr. hanson is responsible for the chapter on "the post office in mesopotamia and the persian gulf," and mr. shout for the chapter on "the sea post office" and the paragraphs dealing with the district post, as well as for the index. the chapter upon indian stamps is based largely upon _the postage and telegraph stamps of british india_, by hausburg, stewart-wilson and crofton, published by messrs. stanley gibbons, and i am greatly indebted to messrs. stanley gibbons for the loan of their blocks and for permission to use them in this book. contents chapter page i. the post office of india ii. the origin of the post office iii. early postal regulations iv. later postal regulations v. parcel post vi. the railway mail service vii. money orders viii. savings bank ix. the people and the post office x. the indian postman xi. post office buildings xii. the post office in indian states xiii. the overland route xiv. the sea post office xv. the post office in mesopotamia and the persian gulf xvi. the post office during the indian mutiny xvii. the indian field post office xviii. the indian field post office during the great war xix. indian postage stamps appendices page a. personnel of the post office b. extracts from the early regulations regarding the mail service c. methods of travel in early days d. statement showing the work of the post office savings bank from to e. statement of inland money orders issued in india since f. historical associations of the calcutta general post office g. extract from the narrative of the interruption in the mail arrangements in the n.-w.p. and punjab subsequent to the mutiny at meerut and delhi on the th and th may, , by mr. g. paton, postmaster-general, north-west provinces h. the work of the field post office between and j. the post office insurance fund index illustrations group of senior officers of the post office in _frontispiece_ sir charles stewart wilson, k.c.i.e. _facing page_ group of senior officers in " sir william maxwell, k.c.i.e. " combined passenger and mail motor van " general post office, bombay " general post office, madras " post office, agra " group of senior officers in " early stamps " sheet of four-anna stamps, " block of half-anna (blue) stamps of " victorian issues of postage stamps " edwardian and georgian issues of postage stamps " general post office, calcutta " site of black hole, calcutta " the post office of india the post office of india and its story chapter i the post office of india to anyone connected with the work of the post office of india it is almost inconceivable that the present institution, with its vast organization and its elaborate system, has grown up in the course of little more than half a century. previous to the post office was a medley of services in different provinces, each having separate rules and different rates of postage. regular mails were conveyed over a very few main lines between important towns, and collectors of districts were responsible for the management of their own local post offices. there were no postage stamps, and since rates were levied according to distance, and distances were often unknown, the position of a postal clerk in a large office was a distinctly lucrative one. in large cantonments a military officer with plenty of other duties was usually postmaster, and his supervision was at best sketchy, especially during the snipe shooting season. in a commission of the kind with which we are now so familiar both in india and england was appointed to consider the state of the postal services, and the result of its deliberations was the post office act of and the conversion of the post office into an imperial department under a single head called the director-general. uniform rates of postage were introduced and postage stamps instead of cash payments were brought into use. that marvellous set of rules known as the post office manual was prepared, which has since grown into four healthy volumes. every official in the department is supposed to have the contents of these at his fingers' ends, but in reality few have ever read them through, and anyone who attempted to obey all their instructions would find himself sadly hampered in the exercise of his duties. the appointment of a director-general, by bringing the separate services under a single administration, laid the foundation for future progress. suitable officers were recruited and were taught their duties, better pay and improved prospects of promotion were a great inducement to the staff to take an interest in the work, and through communications which took no account of district or provincial boundaries were established. the gradual growth of the powers of the director-general has largely depended on the needs of the department, and also, to an appreciable extent, upon his own strength of will and his personal relations with the member of council, who controls the department of government to which the post office is subordinate.[ ] the director-general is assisted by two deputy directors, who are, in fact, the secretaries of the post office, and under these again are four assistant directors in charge of four main branches of post office work. all the above officers have the title "general" attached to their designations in order to increase their self-respect, but i have omitted it to avoid an annoying reiteration. of the three personal assistants, one has to be a walking encyclopædia since he is in personal attendance on the director-general; the others are financial and technical experts. the office itself is under the immediate supervision of a titled bengalee gentleman of considerable attainments, and his clerks are mostly bengalee graduates whose abilities are supposed to vary with their salaries. for the purposes of administration, the whole of india and burma is divided into eight circles, corresponding with presidencies and provinces as far as possible. each of these is under the control of a postmaster-general, who is sometimes a member of the indian civil service and sometimes an official of the department. the powers of a postmaster-general are great, his patronage is large and the working of the post office is dependent on his capacity for railway travelling at all seasons of the year. his circle is divided into divisions in charge of superintendents, who should be little understudies of himself. the real business of the department, however, is performed by post offices, and these are divided into head, sub and branch offices. the head office is the account and controlling office of one or more districts and is in charge of a postmaster, who in large towns ranks as a divisional officer. the sub-office is under the control of a head office for account purposes. it does all kinds of postal work and is always opened where there is a sufficiency of correspondence to justify its existence. the branch office is only intended for villages and places where there is no need of a sub-office. it is really the pioneer of the department for the purpose of opening up new areas to postal communications. in small places a branch office is put in charge of a schoolmaster, a shopkeeper or any other local resident who has sufficient education to keep the very simple accounts required, and by this means the post office is able to give the advantages of its great organization to villages which could never support a departmental office. a still cheaper agency is used for the outlying hamlets, which only receive and send a few letters a week. these are visited periodically by the village or rural postman, who is a kind of perambulating branch office. he delivers letters and money orders, and also receives articles for despatch. he sells stamps and quinine, and being a local man he has to face a certain amount of public opinion if he doesn't act fair and square towards the villagers in his beat. in some hill tracts he is provided with a bugle to announce his arrival, and to the inhabitants of these he brings news of the outside world; he writes their letters and explains to them his own conception of the mysteries of the money order system. but what would be the use of all these offices and all this organization without lines of communication? the chief lines are, of course, the railways, but they form a separate organization and will be discussed in another chapter. for places off the railway there are motor lines and tonga services, such as that sung by kipling between kalka and simla but now a thing of the past owing to the completion of the hill railway. the romance of the post office, however, must always lie in the mail runner, or hirkara as he is called in old books on india. the number of tigers sated with his flesh is past count, the himalayan snows have overwhelmed him, flooded rivers have carried him off and oozy swamps sucked him down. but in the face of all these dangers, has the runner ever failed to do his duty? according to the stories, never, and in real life perhaps not more than once or twice. is the torrent in spate? he must ford it or swim. has the rain wrecked the road? he must climb by the cliff. the service admits not a but, nor an if, while the breath's in his mouth, he must bear without fail in the name of the emperor--the "overland mail."--kipling. postal runners are largely drawn from the less civilized races of india, many of whom are animists by religion. they will face wild beasts and wandering criminals, but will go miles to avoid an evil spirit in a tree. with them the mail bag is a kind of fetish which must be protected and got to its destination at all costs. dishonesty among them is almost unknown and they are wonderfully true to their salt, which with them seldom exceeds twelve rupees a month. to prove that the old stories are not all myths, a case came before the director-general recently in a rather peculiar manner. the audit office, that soulless machine which drives executive officers out of their minds, sent in an objection to a gratuity being given to the family of a runner who, when carrying the mails, had been eaten by a tiger. the objection was that gratuities were only given for death in special circumstances, for instance, when death occurred in the performance of some specially courageous action, and that, since carrying the mails was part of the man's ordinary duty, his family was not entitled to any consideration. the actual story of the runner's death, as told by the villagers and the village watchman, is this: the runner's beat had been recently frequented by a man-eating tiger, and several of the country people had been carried off by him during the previous few days. on the afternoon in question the tiger was known to be in the neighbourhood, and when the mails arrived the villagers warned the runner not to go then, but to wait until next morning. since the man-eater was an early feeder--that is to say, he killed his prey early in the afternoon, the runner waited until five o'clock and then persuaded the village watchman to accompany him. he hadn't gone more than two miles when out came the tiger and seized him. the watchman escaped and took the mails to the next stage, and the family of the man who nobly faced death in the execution of his duty was deprived of its wage-earner. this is a very bald account of a really heroic deed, and it is pleasing to learn that mr. levett yeats, the accountant-general of the post office at the time, who was the very soul of romance and chivalry, dealt with his objecting subordinate in a manner worthy of the heinous nature of his offence. the road establishment of the indian post office amounted to , persons out of a total staff of , on the st march, , so there is some excuse for having devoted so much space to it. the postal staff had to deal with over millions of articles during the year, of which, according to the annual report of - , only . per cent failed to reach their proper destination. when one considers that there are more than twenty written languages in india in common use, and that a large number of addresses are almost illegible and are mixed up with invocations to the deity and many other high-sounding phrases, one can only say, "bravo, the post office! how do you do it?" with such a large correspondence a handsome revenue might be expected, even when the minimum rate for letters is a halfpenny; but the indian is a frugal person and he does most of his correspondence on farthing postcards, on which he can cram a great deal of information by carefully using every available portion. postcards were introduced in and now account for nearly half of the articles handled. the private card, with a figure of some favourite god or goddess, is competing strongly with the ordinary government postcard, and wonderful ingenuity is employed to enable the writer to avail himself of more space than the regulations permit. the unpaid letter is also much in evidence in india. there is an idea that a letter on which postage has to be collected is much more certain to reach its destination than a prepaid one. this heretical doctrine has been strongly condemned in several pamphlets issued by the director-general, but with little effect. and who knows? perhaps there is a certain amount of truth in it, founded on bitter experience. unpaid postcards had to be abolished recently, when it was discovered that they were universally read and then returned to the postmen as refused. the writer generally concealed his identity from the officials, with the result that it was useless to try and recover the postage due. among a suspicious and ignorant people any innovation is likely to be looked at askance, and this is especially the case in india, where the introduction of postcards was received with suspicion, although their low price ensured a ready sale. an extract from the _amrita bazar patrika_, one of the foremost indian papers, shows that they were not at first regarded as an unmixed blessing. the extract is taken from the issue of the th july, , and is as follows:-- "postal cards are now a rage all over india. there are men who, to make the contents of the cards unintelligible, make them altogether illegible. some express themselves in hints which are not only unintelligible to the postal clerk and peon, but to the person addressed also. others have got a notion that all letters, to be sent either through the post or through private harkaras, must be written on postcards, that being the hookum[ ] of the sirkar; and it is not unusual to see a fat and ignorant, though extremely loyal and law-abiding, zemindar[ ] sending his letters to his steward written on half a score of postcards, one or two not sufficing to contain his great thoughts. there are others who write their thoughts on postcards and enclose them in an envelope, and attach a half-anna stamp before posting. these men have naturally raised a loud complaint against the unconscionable exactions of government, and native papers given to writing sedition should not let slip this opportunity of indulging their profitable pastime. but the great difficulty is to teach the people on which side of the card the address is to be written, and we think it will be some years before they are enlightened in this respect. but really does it matter much if the address is written on the wrong side? we think that the people of india living under the enlightened rule of the british should have the privilege of writing the address on whichever side they like." what a merry time the poor sorters would have if the sentiments expressed in the last sentence were given effect to! but doubtless the _amrita bazar patrika_, with its enlightened staff, its splendid circulation and carefully printed addresses would scarcely maintain the same opinions now. the post office of india must be congratulated upon its good fortune in never having been regarded by government as a revenue-producing department, and as long as it paid its way with a small surplus the powers were satisfied. any excess was devoted to improvements in the service, and full advantage has been given to this concession in past years by the introduction of many reforms destined to meet the growing needs of the country. recently, postage rates were reduced to such an extent that for a few years the post office worked at a loss, a most unsatisfactory state of affairs; however, a marked recovery is noticeable already and it is again a self-supporting institution, the gross revenue for the year ending the st march, , being more than lakhs[ ] of rupees, which gave a net surplus of nearly lakhs on the year's working. from being merely an agency for the conveyance and distribution of letters and light articles, the post office has gradually undertaken an enormous amount of what may be called non-postal work. it deals with vast numbers of money orders, collects the price of goods for tradesmen, pays pensioners, sells quinine, deals in government loans, and is the poor man's bank, all of which matters will be dealt with separately. it is to be hoped that no new line of business is going to be taken up in the near future, such as the sale of railway tickets, which was once seriously proposed, or else the principal duty of the department may be forgotten in the turmoil of the side shows. footnotes: [ ] this is at present the department of commerce. [ ] order. [ ] landholder. [ ] one lakh = rs. , . chapter ii the origin of the post office the postal system of india, like that of other countries, had its origin in the necessity of maintaining communication throughout the various parts of a great empire in order that the emperor might be kept continuously informed of what was taking place and might be able to keep in constant touch with the officers in charge of provinces at a distance from the capital. when ibn batuta was travelling in india in the middle of the fourteenth century he found an organized system of couriers established throughout the country governed at that time by the great mahomed din tughlak. the system seems to have been very similar to that which existed in the roman empire, and is thus described: "there are in hindustan two kinds of couriers, horse and foot; these they generally term 'el wolak.' the horse-courier, which is generally part of the sultan's cavalry, is stationed at a distance of every four miles. as to the foot-couriers there will be one at the distance of every mile occupying stations which they call 'el davah' and making on the whole three miles; so that there is, at the distance of every three miles, an inhabited village, and without this, three sentry boxes where the couriers sit prepared for motion with their loins girded. in the hands of each is a whip about two cubits long, and upon the head of this are small bells. whenever, therefore, one of the couriers leaves any city he takes his despatches in one hand and the whip, which he keeps constantly shaking, in the other. in this manner he proceeds to the nearest foot-courier and, as he approaches, shakes his whip. upon this out comes another who takes the despatches and so proceeds to the next. for this reason it is that the sultan receives his despatches in so short a time." some of the oldest runners' lines in india were established for the purpose of conveying fruit and flowers to famous temples, and colonel broughton in his most interesting book, _letters from a mahratta camp_, describes one such line between udeypore and pushkar in rajputana. in his _historical sketches of the south of india_, colonel wilks tells us that among the earliest measures of raja chick deo raj of mysore, who came to the throne in , was the establishment of a regular post throughout his dominions. the post office in mysore was not merely an ordinary instrument for conveying intelligence, but an extraordinary one for obtaining it. the postmasters were confidential agents of the court and the inferior servants were professed spies, who made regular reports of the secret transactions of the districts in which they were stationed. this system, which was more fully developed by hyder ali, became a terrible instrument of despotism. the moghul emperors kept up a regular system of daks, and ferishta tells us that sher shah, during his short reign of five years, - , was the first who ever employed a mounted post in india. he constructed a road from sonarung in bengal to the banks of the indus in sind, a distance of two thousand miles, and placed two horses on the road at every two miles. the emperor akbar had post houses built at stages ten miles apart on the principal roads and swift turki horses were placed at each stage. one of these post houses can still be seen on the road between agra and sikandra. the british do not appear to have found any established system of communication when they began to extend their dominion in india, and in the beginning of the eighteenth century it was a matter of no small difficulty to send a letter more than a distance of one hundred miles. a regular postal system was first introduced by lord clive in , and the zemindars or landholders along the various routes were held responsible for the supply of runners to carry the mails. for this service a deduction was made in their rents in proportion to the number of runners supplied. the order recorded in the minutes of consultations of the th march is as follows:-- "for the better regulation of dauks" "ordered that in future all letters be despatched from the government house; the postmaster or his assistant attending every night to sort and see them sent off; that the letters to the different inland settlements be made up in separate bags, sealed with the company's seal; that none may open the packets except the chiefs at the different places, who are to open only their own respective packets; and "ordered that they be directed to observe the same rule with respect to the letters sent down to calcutta." the following is an extract from the public proceedings th july, ;-- "as there have been of late frequent miscarriages of packets to and from madras without possibility of tracing the cause, not knowing the stages where they do happen, as no advice is ever sent us by the neighbouring residencies, and as this on any emergency may be attended with the worst of consequences, it is agreed to establish the following rules and communicate them to the presidency of madras, recommending the same to be circulated to the factories and residencies subordinate to them, as we shall do to those dependent on bengal:-- "that the packets henceforward be numbered in regular succession for the present season from this time to the end of the year, and in future from the st january to the last of december. "that the day and hour of despatch as well as the number be noted on the tickets affixed to the packets; that on every packet the number and date of the next preceding despatch be noted. "that in order to have the earliest information of the loss of a packet at any time, the resident or chief of a factory shall regularly give advice of the receipt of each packet to the resident of the stage from whence it came last. "that when any packets are found to be missing the chiefs or residents at the two nearest stages shall immediately make it their business to examine the dauks or tappies very particularly, and punish them severely when they do not give a satisfactory account how the packets came to be lost, giving advice in the meantime to each presidency. "that the postmaster at calcutta and residents at balasore, cuttack and ganjam do keep separate registers of despatches to and from madras. "that all packets be sealed with the governor's as well as the company's seal to prevent their being opened till they arrive at the destined place. "and as we have reason to believe that by proper attention to the tappies, the communication with madras may be more expeditious, particularly between vizagapatam and bandermalanka, where making allowances for passing the rivers, it is remarked they are very tardy, it is agreed to write to the gentlemen at madras to mention this to their subordinate factories that they may fall upon proper measures to remedy it, and recommending small boats or saugarees to be stationed at the different rivers." under the administration of warren hastings the post office in india was placed on a better footing and steps were taken to make the posts which were established for official purposes more generally available for private communications. in january, , the details of a regular system were laid down, which was brought into force on the st march, . a postmaster-general was appointed and postage was charged for the first time on private letters. the lowest rate of letter postage was two annas per hundred miles, and copper tickets of the value of two annas, to be used solely for postal purposes, were specially struck for public convenience. in november, , revised regulations for the post office were laid down which took effect in the province of bengal from december of that year. in madras followed suit upon proposals made by mr. j. p. burlton, a junior civilian in government service. he suggested the adoption of a regular postal system on the lines of bengal, under which all letters except those on the public service should pay postage. in mr. archibald campbell was made postmaster-general, madras, and arrangements were made for fortnightly services to calcutta and bombay. there was some dispute between the court of directors and the madras government regarding the appointment of a postmaster-general. the former refused to accept mr. campbell and nominated mr. burlton; the latter objected to mr. burlton and appointed mr. legge wilks, who was shortly afterwards succeeded by mr. oliver colt. for the next fifty years the history of the post office is obscure. the territory occupied by the east india company in consisted of three isolated portions adjoining the three presidency towns of calcutta, madras and bombay. the company obtained the administrative control of part of the carnatic and the provinces known as the northern circars in . the fiscal administration of the provinces of bengal, behar and orissa was handed over by the delhi emperor in , and by the treaty of salbai in the bombay government retained the islands of elephanta and salsette. in lord wellesley arrived in india inspired by imperial projects which were destined to change the map of the country. in tippoo, sultan of mysore, was defeated and slain at seringapatam, and the carnatic or south-eastern portion of india ruled by the nawab of arcot, as well as the principality of tanjore, were placed under british rule. these territories constitute the greater part of the present madras presidency. in the whole of the tract between the ganges and jumna, known as the doab, with rohilkhand, were obtained by purchase from the nawab vizir of oudh. in , after the second mahratta war, orissa was forfeited to the british and berar to the nizam of hyderabad. in the himalayan states were taken from the nepalese, in the pindaris were crushed in central india and in , after the third mahratta war, the bombay presidency was formed. assam was annexed in , and bharatpur taken in . the extension of postal services over this vast increase of territory can be traced only by scattered references in official documents. there was no general postal system in the country prior to . a few main lines of couriers connecting the principal towns in the various provinces with the seat of government had been established for the conveyance of government letters and parcels, but the use of these mail services by private persons was conceded only as a privilege. the local posts in districts between police stations and head-quarters were maintained by the zemindars or landholders of each district, and their duties in this respect are laid down in bengal regulation xx of . the postmasters of presidency towns exercised the functions of a postmaster-general in their own provinces up to , and the collectors or district officers were responsible for post office and mail lines within the limits of their own jurisdictions. there was no central authority to secure the co-operation of postal officials in different provinces or to maintain uniformity of procedure, and the charges for the conveyance of letters, which, in the absence of postage stamps, were levied in cash, varied according to weight and distance. thus the cost of conveyance of a letter from calcutta to bombay was one rupee a tola ( / oz. approximately), and from calcutta to agra twelve annas a tola. as postal officials were inclined to get as much as possible out of the public, private posts existed everywhere and were able to compete successfully with the government services. the letters of victor jacquemont, who travelled in india in as naturalist to the royal museum of natural history, paris, throw some light on the working of the post office at the time. the post was carried altogether by runners, and the travellers' bungalows on the various routes were under the post office. according to jacquemont, three servants were attached by the postal administration to each bungalow, to look after the comforts of travellers and to supply them with palanquin bearers. letters seem to have had very uncertain careers. the usual time from france to upper india was eight months. jacquemont had no great faith in the post. on several occasions he trusts his letters to the almighty to watch over during their travels. under the provisions of act xvii of a public post was established and government assumed the exclusive right to convey letters for hire in the territories of the east india company. uniformity was attempted by the issue to all post offices of elaborate polymetrical tables, which fixed the charges to be levied on the principal routes. the act of caused a great deal of dissatisfaction owing to the abolition of many private and well-organized services which were not at once replaced, or else replaced very inefficiently, by government services. the landholders had to pay a local cess to maintain the district posts, and they felt it a distinct grievance that they should have to pay for the upkeep of these, as well as fees for their correspondence, while all official letters were carried free of charge. an inquiry made by captain taylor of the bengal establishment into the working of the act brought many of these grievances to light, and on his recommendation certain improvements were made in the interests of the landholders. thus there grew up in india a dual system of posts--on the one hand, the imperial post, which controlled all main routes and large offices; on the other, the district post, which was entirely local and controlled the rural services in each district. the establishments were quite separate, and where the two systems came in contact there was often a great deal of friction. the principle on which the district post was based was the liability of landholders to maintain communications for government purposes between the executive head of a district and his subordinates in outlying places--a responsibility which in many instances they were glad to discharge by a money payment to the magistrate who undertook the organization of the requisite agency. the laws under which it was administered were framed with the object of levying a small cess in each district. this was used, at the discretion of the magistrate, for the payment of dak-runners and other persons who conveyed correspondence between police stations and district officials. this local post undoubtedly existed from ancient times, and its maintenance was a liability to which the landholders had been subject from a period long before the advent of british rule. the district post in india, which was an important, though not very efficient, auxiliary to the imperial post, thus owed its origin to the need for maintaining the means of official communication between the head-quarters of each district and the revenue and police stations in the interior, where the general wants of the locality were not such as to call for the provision of imperial post offices. it consisted of lines of communication connecting such stations, and was maintained primarily for the conveyance of official correspondence in accordance with the requirements of each district, but subsequently it was also made available for private correspondence. in some parts of the country the cost of the district post lines was met by local cesses specially levied for the purpose, and in other places it was met from imperial or provincial grants as a charge on the general revenues of the country. originally the district post in india was managed by district officers or other local officials quite independently of the imperial post, but, in order to increase the efficiency of the service, local governments and administrations were asked to transfer the management to the officers of the imperial post office. the north-western provinces (now united provinces) government was the first to accept the proposal, and the management of the district post there was taken over by the postmaster-general of the circle in the year . this arrangement did not constitute an incorporation of the district post with the imperial post, but merely a transfer of the management of the former to the officers of the latter, the financial control of the district post remaining as before with the local government. as was anticipated, this measure led to rapid development of private correspondence, an acceleration of the speed at which the mails were carried and a marked improvement in the postal arrangements in the interior of districts. consequently the objections which were at first raised in many quarters were silenced, and the other local governments and administrations soon fell into line, so that in the course of the next fourteen years the management of the whole of the district post throughout india was gradually transferred to the imperial post office. as the number of imperial post offices increased the primary object of the district post became less important and its funds were devoted more and more to the extension of rural delivery and postal facilities in backward rural tracts. as these tracts developed and the postal traffic produced sufficient revenue to cover the expenditure the imperial post took them over, and the money thus set free was used to start offices, lines and rural messengers in country not yet opened. in this way the district post acted the part of pioneer to the imperial post and greatly assisted its progress. in , in connection with the revision of the provincial settlements, the government of india decided to abolish the exceptional arrangement under which, in some provinces, a portion of the revenue and expenditure in connection with the district post was included in the provincial accounts. it was ordered that from the commencement of the new settlements all such receipts and charges which were then provincial would be made imperial. in accordance with this decision all the district post establishments in the presidencies of bengal and madras and the province of assam, which were formerly paid from provincial funds, were brought directly on the general establishment of the imperial post office with effect from the st april, . two years later the government of india decided to take over the remaining district post charges in india, and the district post was abolished entirely with effect from the st april, . it was at the same time ordered that from that date every postal charge would be an imperial one and that no postal charges of any description whatsoever might be incurred from provincial or local funds. in three commissioners, messrs. courtney, forbes and beadon, were appointed by the government of india to inquire into the methods for making the post office more efficient and more conducive to the convenience of the public than it had been hitherto. in the commissioners, after making exhaustive inquiries, presented a report which dealt with every phase of post office work, and on this report has been based the whole fabric of the present administration. the most important questions discussed were: ( ) the necessity for a uniform rate of postage irrespective of distance. ( ) the need for prepayment of postage by means of adhesive postage stamps. ( ) the fixing of a low initial rate of postage. ( ) the abolition of franking. ( ) the formation of the post office as an imperial department under a director-general, with postmasters-general in each province who would not be subject to the authority of the local government. ( ) the publication of manual rules for the use of postal officials. ( ) the establishment of sorting offices at suitable places. ( ) the introduction of money orders. ( ) the regulation of the bhangy or parcel post. ( ) the introduction of cheap and uniform postage for newspapers, books, pamphlets, etc. ( ) the transfer of district posts to the imperial post office. the report of the commissioners is contained in a bulky volume of some six hundred pages, of which the preamble is most interesting and throws a great deal of light on the domestic history of india in the first half of the nineteenth century. the reforms are based throughout on the principle that the post office is to be maintained for the benefit of the people of india and not for the purposes of swelling the revenues, and it is greatly to the credit of the government of india that in all times of stress and strain, as well as in times of prosperity, they have loyally observed this principle, although there have been many temptations to act contrary to it. with the advance of postal administration in india in the last sixty years we can hardly realize the difficulties that had to be faced in . one of the chief ones was the poverty of the great bulk of the population, many of whom could ill afford to spend even the smallest indian coin, namely, one pie, a twelfth part of a penny, on anything that was not necessary for their own sustenance. in dealing with this matter the following remarks of the commissioners are very interesting:-- "in considering what plan of postage is best suited to the circumstances of india, and most likely to conduce to the convenience of the public, the social and commercial advancement of the country, and the ultimate financial advantage of the department, the difference between the circumstances of the european and native portion of the community must be distinctly borne in mind. it must be remembered that the former are very few in number, but, generally speaking, well educated and in affluent circumstances; that they are accustomed and inclined to social correspondence, for which, from being collected at particular stations throughout the country, they have great facilities; and are comparatively little hindered from indulging in it by the expense which it entails on them, being for the most part regardless of the pecuniary advantage which they might derive from a more careful attention to the weight of their letters. the natives, on the other hand, are incalculably more numerous than their european fellow-subjects. upon the moderate assumption that there are two thousand natives for every european, and that not more than per cent of the former can read and write, still there must be twenty natives for every european who can correspond by the post without assistance, provided that the means of paying postage are within their reach, and that the receipt and delivery of their letters are facilitated. but they are poor, and, though well inclined to correspond, greatly prevented from doing so by the present high rates of postage to distant stations, and still more by the distance which separates the mass of them from the nearest post office, and by the consequent trouble, expense, uncertainty and perhaps loss, which the receipt and despatch of their letters involve. the occupations in which large numbers of natives are engaged connected with the internal trade of the country are such as naturally to render their correspondence on matters of business far more extensive than that of europeans, the greater part of the latter being engaged in the service of government and not under the necessity of writing letters except on their own personal concerns or those of their friends. with the improvement of the means of communication, extension of trade and the gradual spread of knowledge throughout the country, the instructed and writing portion of the native community will continue to bear an increasing ratio both to the rest of their fellow-countrymen men and to the european residents in india, but to the bulk even of these the amount they can afford to expend on the postage of their letters must ever be a matter of strict economical calculation. it may be regarded as certain that the utmost care will always be observed by the native community in keeping the weight of their letters within the minimum chargeable weight; and unless some considerable reduction is made in the existing rates of postage to distant places they will continue to resort to ingenious contrivances for the purpose of saving expenditure under that head, or avoiding it altogether." the practice of "clubbing" or of enclosing a number of small letters in one cover addressed to a person who undertook to deliver them by hand was very common in india before and is not unknown at the present time. when the difference in cost between a single and double letter was considerable, this practice entailed a great loss of revenue to the post office, and in order to stop it the commissioners proposed to make the unit of weight a quarter of a tola and to charge extra postage for each quarter tola of weight. the unit finally adopted was half a tola, as it was thought that post office clerks would have difficulty in detecting such small divisions of weight as a quarter of a tola. at the same time heavy penalties were imposed on clubbing, and the practice has gradually fallen into disuse. [illustration: sir charles stewart wilson, k.c.i.e. director general - ] uniformity of postage irrespective of distance had many opponents at the time. it was recommended by the commissioners on the ground of fairness, simplicity and the facilities it gave for the introduction of other improvements into the department. to use their own words: "combined with a low rate of charge, it forms the conspicuous and chief benefit which the monopoly of the carriage of letters enables government to confer upon the whole body of its subjects, by almost annihilating distance and placing it within the power of every individual to communicate freely with all parts of the empire. it makes the post office what under any other system it never can be--the unrestricted means of diffusing knowledge, extending commerce and promoting in every way the social and intellectual improvement of the people. it is no longer an experiment, having been introduced with eminent success into the united kingdom as well as into the united states of america, france, spain and russia." there was a strong body of opinion in favour of the compulsory prepayment of postage in all cases on the ground that in india it was most difficult to collect the postage due on bearing letters; in fact, the letters were usually sent open, read by the addressees and then refused, so that both the sender and recipient got all they wanted out of the post office for nothing. however, wiser counsels prevailed. it was recognized that compulsory prepayment might mean great hardship in many cases, and the english system of charging double postage on unpaid articles was adopted. these few extracts are sufficient to show the fine spirit that pervaded the work of the commissioners. they were true imperialists and never took the petty view, but adhered to the maxim of the greatest benefit to the greatest number. their names are forgotten, but the result of their labours has remained in the fine organization now known as the post office of india. chapter iii early postal regulations act xvii of , the earliest enactment establishing a proper postal system in india, repealed bombay regulation xi of which declared all private dawks within the bombay presidency to be illegal. it conferred the exclusive right of carrying post for hire on the governor-general in council and fixed the penalty for evasion of this order at rs. for each letter. the bhangy post was opened to the public with the condition that letters exceeding tolas must be sent by bhangy wherever such a line existed. the governor-general in council was authorized to frame a scale of distances, according to which the rates for inland postage should be calculated and also to fix the rates for steamer and ship postage. strict regulations were laid down compelling commanders of vessels to deliver all letters on board to the post office at each port of call, also to receive all letters handed over to them by the post office at any port. the commander of the vessel received one anna for each letter delivered or received. we find the origin of the dead letter office in sections to of the act. unclaimed letters after lying for three months at any post office were to be sent to the general post office of the presidency, and at intervals, not exceeding three months, lists of such unclaimed letters and packets were to be published in the official gazette, when letters and packets lay unclaimed for a period of eighteen months at the general post office, the postmaster-general was authorized to open them and pay any valuable property found therein into the government treasury for the benefit of the party having a right to it. after a further period of twelve months unclaimed letters were to be destroyed. the governor-general in council had the power to grant to any person the privilege of sending and receiving all letters and packets by letter post free of postage, and of sending and receiving letters and packets by bhangy on the public service free of postage. this privilege was granted to the following persons:-- his majesty's principal secretaries of state. the president and secretaries of the board of control. the chairman, deputy chairman and directors of the east india company. the secretary, deputy secretary and assistant secretary at the east india house. the governor-general. the governors of bengal, madras and bombay. the governor of ceylon. the lieutenant-governor of the north-west provinces. the chief justices of bengal, madras and bombay. the bishops of calcutta, madras and bombay. the members of the supreme council. the members of council of madras and bombay. the puisne judges of the supreme courts of bengal, madras and bombay. the recorder of prince of wales' island, singapore and malacca. the commander-in-chief of his majesty's naval forces. the commander-in-chief of the army in india. the commander-in-chief of the army at madras and bombay. postage was charged for letters according to the following schedules:-- _distance_ _postage for a letter not_ _in miles._ _exceeding tola._ anna. annas. " " " " " " " " " " " " " rupee. single postage to be added for each additional tola or part thereof. special rates for distance were also fixed for: ( ) law papers, accounts and vouchers attested as such, with the full signature of the sender. ( ) newspapers, pamphlets and other printed or engrossed papers, packed in short covers open at each end, imported matter being charged at a cheaper rate than matter printed in india. parcels were limited to tolas ( lbs.) in weight, and the rate was annas for tolas ( oz.) for miles, then annas for every additional tolas or part thereof for every miles up to miles, after which annas was charged for each tolas for every additional miles up to miles. for miles the rate was rs. as. for every tolas, and for miles and upwards rs. . by act xx of the weight of letters and packets which could be carried by a road on which there was no bhangy post was raised from to tolas, and the postmaster was allowed to use his discretion in forwarding packets exceeding tolas. it was also enacted that "all fines incurred under post office acts shall be demanded by notice from postmasters-general or from any postmaster, and if not paid shall be levied together with costs on goods and chattels. if no goods are forthcoming the offender may be committed to prison for twenty-two calendar months unless the fines, etc., are sooner paid." postmasters were authorized to detain any letter in respect of which any party was liable to a fine. act xvii of empowered the governor-general in council to alter postage duties as fixed by sections and of the act, but not to increase them. the fact that postage rates were fixed with respect to distances in is not a matter for surprise when the state of indian roads at the time is considered. in , shore, in his _notes on indian affairs_, describes the main road between calcutta and benares as no better than a cart-track, and says that the only road worthy of the name in india is that between calcutta and barrackpore. nor was it until , with the abolition of the old military boards and the establishment of the public works department, that the art of road-making began to improve. it will thus be understood that in the maintenance of postal lines was a real difficulty. all mail matter had to be conveyed by runners, and a slight extra weight entailed a considerable extra cost. with the introduction of railways in and good metalled roads, upon which light wheeled carriages could be used for the conveyance of mails and passengers over long distances, a complete change in postal administration was effected, and it was no longer necessary to vary the rates for letters according to distance. with all the advance made in postal legislation and the regulation of rates there was not yet any controlling head. the post office was managed by postmasters-general who were also postmasters in the presidency towns, while collectors of districts had charge of post offices upcountry. receipts were still granted for every article received for despatch, and in the bombay presidency the addresses of all articles were entered in lists known as puttees; these were given to the postmen who brought back the addressees' signatures on them. the addresses upon all articles passing in transit through the post office were also recorded; bags were not used, only packets of paper or cloth. the english mail at this time was received once a month and, since not more than lbs. weight of mails could be conveyed along the bombay-calcutta line in one day, a week was often required for its disposal. originally the opium merchants had their own lines, and on these being stopped they used to send private expresses by the government dawk, which was a great source of revenue to the post office. act xvii of marks the commencement of the organization of the indian post office upon its present footing. according to its provisions the whole department was placed under the control of a director-general; the office of postmaster-general was separated from that of presidency postmaster; postmasters-general were appointed for the direct administration and supervision of the postal services in the larger provinces and deputy postmasters-general, at first designated chief inspectors, were appointed to the less important provinces and the principal political agencies. postage stamps were first introduced in and rates were fixed for the conveyance of letters irrespective of distance.[ ] in this act the postal monopoly of the east india company was again laid down, and the three exceptions to that monopoly were legalized, namely ( ) letters sent by a private friend to be delivered on his way or journey to a person, without any hire or reward for such service; ( ) letters solely concerning the affairs of the sender or receiver thereof sent by a messenger on purpose; ( ) letters solely concerning goods or other property sent by land or sea, to be delivered with such goods or property without any hire or reward for carrying the same. it was important to include these exceptions in the act, as under the post office act of there was nothing to prevent a man who sent a letter to his friend by messenger incurring a penalty of rs. , a fine to which both the messenger and recipient were equally liable. the great advance made in was the introduction of postage stamps and the fixing of postage rates for letters irrespective of distance. the rates were as follows:-- on every letter not exceeding ¼ tola in weight, pies. on every letter exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding ½ tola in weight, anna. on every letter exceeding ½ tola and not exceeding tola, annas. on every letter exceeding tola and not exceeding ½ tolas in weight, annas. on every letter exceeding ½ tolas and not exceeding tolas in weight, annas. and for every tola in weight above tolas, additional annas. with respect to newspapers and engraved papers a distinction, similar to that laid down in the act of , was made between imported and locally produced matter. the former was charged with annas for every tolas or part thereof; the latter was charged at the following rates:-- two annas for a weight not exceeding ½ tolas. four annas for a weight not exceeding tolas, and annas for every additional tolas above tolas. this difference in postage encouraged the circulation of newspapers and printed matter imported from england, but the high internal rates must have greatly hampered the postal circulation of journals printed in india. reduced rates, but still varying with distance, were laid down for bhangy post according to the following scale:-- | if not exceeding in weight. +------+------+------+------+------+------+------ for distances. | | | | | | | |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas. ------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ miles. |rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a. not exceeding | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | exceeding | | | | | | | books, pamphlets, packets of newspapers and of printed and engraved papers were charged at the following rates by bhangy post:-- not exceeding tolas anna exceeding tolas and not exceeding tolas annas for every tolas above tolas anna provided that the total weight must not exceed tolas. the postage on bhangy parcels was calculated by the most elaborate polymetrical tables which were supplied to all post offices in english and vernacular. many a grievous complaint was laid by members of the public against the strange methods employed by the post office in calculating the distance between two places. the sender of a parcel naturally considered that he should pay for the shortest distance between the place of despatch and the place of receipt, but not so the post office. it decided that the "postal route," however circuitous, was the one by which postage should be calculated. letters were ordinarily limited to tolas in weight, but by act xx of the weight had been raised to tolas upon lines where no bhangy post existed; this limit was now raised to tolas ( lb.) and, where both a bhangy and letter post were conveyed in the same carriage, a special prohibition was made that letters or packets of newspapers of less than tolas weight must not be sent by bhangy post under penalty of a fine of rs. for each offence. this clause was evidently introduced on account of the charge made by the railway companies for the carriage of bhangy parcels. the tola limit for parcels was continued except in special cases which were laid down by the governor-general in council, but in no circumstances was the weight of any parcel to exceed tolas ( lbs.). ship postage was levied on parcels, when conveyed by the east india company's post by sea, at the rate of annas for each tolas. when any parcel had to be conveyed by bhangy as well as by sea, this postage was levied in addition to bhangy postage. letters and newspapers for ceylon or any place where no postal communication was established by the east india company were dealt with as unclaimed, unless the full postage was prepaid by means of postage stamps. with the introduction of postage stamps we now find the first regulations for encouraging the prepayment of postal articles. in section it is laid down that, where the east india company have a postal communication, double postage shall be charged on unstamped letters at the time of delivery, and in the case of insufficiently stamped letters double the deficiency. this rule did not apply to newspapers or other printed matter, but in order to compel the public to use the new postage stamps, post offices were forbidden to accept money in prepayment of any postal articles except parcels. redirected letters were charged with postage at prepaid rates, and a penalty of rs. was imposed for sending "any explosive or other dangerous material or substance by post." rules were drawn up for the use and sale of postage stamps, vendors were appointed, and heavy penalties were exacted from vendors who failed to comply with the regulations. registration of any article was allowed upon payment of a fee of annas which entitled the sender to a receipt, but, strange to say, the registration fee had to be paid in cash, stamps not being recognized in payment. the clauses of act xvii of regarding the obligations of commanders of vessels were renewed, and also the clauses dealing with unclaimed and refused articles. the privilege of free postage was entirely abolished, but the letters and packets sent on the public service by certain officials were still carried under frank. the postage due on such articles was charged to the several public departments concerned. this measure led to wanton extravagance in the matter of official postage, no care was taken to economize either in the number or the size of "public service" articles and various abuses of franking occurred. the list of officers authorized to frank became so large that the post office could not exercise any proper check, and the difficulty of accounting in connection with the postage due was enormous. the first restriction was placed on franking in when the use of service stamps was made compulsory on all letters passing outside the presidency towns or limits of the district in which they were posted, and in all franking privileges were abolished. in section of the act the duty of the post office to abide by the customs regulations is insisted upon. officers in charge of post offices were bound to detain articles suspected of containing anything contraband, and they could refuse to forward any parcel or packet addressed to a foreign post, unless it was accompanied by a customs' house pass. a long list of penalties, most of which exist at the present day, was drawn up for offences and misdemeanours committed by postal officials. informers were encouraged by being allowed to receive half of every fine imposed, but no proceedings could be taken against any one under this act without an order in writing from government, the director-general or a postmaster-general. in mr. riddell was appointed the first director-general of the post office, and he compiled the first manual of rules to be observed by the whole department. at this time there were head-quarter offices and minor offices in india, but every office kept its own accounts separately and submitted them direct to the audit office which was part of the accountant general's office. it was not until that postal accounts were removed from the civil auditors and handed over to an officer known as the "compiler of post office accounts" and not until - that the distinction between head and branch offices was made for account purposes. the manual of made no proper arrangement for sorting offices, it only provided for mails being received _en masse_ and for their distribution afterwards to peons and into the "thana" and forwarding boxes. every post office upon a line had to make up a separate mail packet for every office in advance, and it received one from every office in rear, a most cumbersome proceeding, which was put a stop to in , when long detentions were made at certain large stations upon the main routes for the purpose of sorting the mails. paid letters were impressed with a red date-stamp to distinguish them from unpaid, which bore a black date-stamp. letters for foreign countries were sent with steamer postage invoices (chalans) to the different presidency towns. prepayment of articles sent to england via marseilles, for which brindisi was substituted in , was not possible, nor could letters for countries like the united states be prepaid. it seems hardly credible that in one of the longest chapters of the manual was devoted to an elaborate system of fining, under which different offices claimed fines from one another for bad work brought to light by them. the official who detected the finable offence was allowed to keep the amount of the fine subject to a deduction of per cent, which was remitted to the postmaster-general's office to cover the cost of printing fine statements, bills, etc. a regular schedule of offences with the fine allotted for each was drawn up; for instance, the missending of a mail bag was assessed at rs. , while the missending of a parcel or packet cost annas. naturally there was great energy expended in detecting offences for which fines were imposed, and the result was an enormous amount of correspondence and bitter recrimination between offices. this vicious practice continued for many years and was not finally put a stop to until . footnote: [ ] the first issue of postage stamps in india was actually made in by sir bartle frere, commissioner of scinde. they were local stamps for use in scinde only, and bore the inscription "scinde district dak." chapter iv later postal regulations by act xiv of postage rates were still further reduced as follows:-- for letters not exceeding ¼ tola pies. exceeding ¼ tola and not exceeding ½ tola anna. for every additional ½ tola " for newspapers not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas " it will be noticed that the distinction in rates between imported and local newspapers was withdrawn. books, pamphlets, packets, etc.-- not exceeding tolas in weight anna. for every additional tolas " parcels were still charged according to the distance they had to be conveyed, but the rates were reduced. the following table gives the scale of charges:-- | not exceeding tolas. | distance in +------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ miles. | | | | | | | | |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas. ------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ |rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a. not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | exceeding | | | | | | | | it was now ordered that registration upon letters, the fee for which was still fixed at annas, should be prepaid in postage stamps. the penal clauses relating to counterfeiting stamps had been included in the indian penal code, act xlv of , and were therefore omitted from this act. the other penal clauses were practically the same as those that existed in the act of , and the principle is again laid down of the non-responsibility of government for any loss or damage which may occur in respect of anything entrusted to the post office for conveyance. from the work of the post office began to develop enormously, and its functions had to be gradually extended to meet the growing needs of the public. in the charge on redirected letters was abolished and the letter postage rates were further reduced as follows:-- for letters not exceeding ½ tola pies. exceeding ½ tola but not exceeding tola anna. for every additional tola or fraction thereof " the antiquated system of making parcel post rates vary with distance could no longer be maintained, and in a system of rates which varied with weight, irrespective of distance, was introduced. a parcel post service was established between india and england in , but the collection and distribution of parcels were at first effected through the agency of the peninsular and oriental steamship company, and it was not until that the post offices of both countries undertook the management of the parcel post. in special postage rates were introduced for official articles, namely: not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna. not exceeding tolas " not exceeding tolas annas. not exceeding tolas " every additional tolas " at the same time it was laid down that official covers from government offices should be prepaid by means of service postage stamps. under the provision of the act of parliament (iii-iv vict. cap. ) soldiers and seamen were allowed the privilege of sending letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight at the rate of d. for each letter. this rate was introduced into india in , and pies was reckoned the equivalent of d. in the postage on such letters was fixed at pies for half an ounce owing to the increase in the rate of exchange. in the imperial penny postage scheme was introduced, by which the initial rate of postage to the united kingdom and to certain british colonies and possessions was fixed at anna for a letter not exceeding half an ounce in weight, so that the privilege enjoyed by soldiers and seamen was no longer of any advantage, and when in the initial rate under the imperial penny postage scheme was raised from half an ounce to ounce there was no further object in retaining this special concession. in the value-payable or cash on delivery system was introduced, and in the post office undertook the insurance of letters and parcels. at first there was no limit to the amount for which an article could be insured, until a claim for the contents of a parcel insured for rs. , showed the enormous liabilities which the department might incur under this system. accordingly, in the limit was fixed at rs. , but was raised in to rs. , and the procedure was greatly simplified. the insurance fee was originally fixed at one-half per cent, which was subsequently reduced to a quarter, and in to one-eighth per cent. previous to the money order work of the country was carried on by the government treasuries, and the procedure was rather cumbersome; in that year it was handed over to the post office, with the result that in a few months the number of money orders issued and paid quadrupled. the extent to which money order business has increased may be gauged from the fact that the value of inland money orders in - was millions, and in - it had increased to over millions of rupees. in government savings banks were first established in india in connection with district treasuries, and in permission was given to open savings bank accounts at post offices, but the management and control of the funds still remained with the treasuries. in all savings banks at treasuries were closed and the business was transferred entirely to the post office. the general development of this branch will be treated of in the chapter on savings banks, but, as an example of the growth of business, the figures of - and of - are remarkable. in - there were , depositors with a balance of rs. , , ; in - there were , , depositors with a balance of rs. , , , . in combined post and telegraph offices were introduced, and it is no exaggeration to say that these are solely responsible for the extension of telegraph facilities to the smaller markets and rural tracts of india. in the sale of british postal orders was authorized, and the same year marks the introduction of postal life insurance, a measure at first confined to servants of the department but afterwards extended to all government servants. in , at the request of the military authorities, the post office undertook the payment of military pensioners in the punjab. in this way the department has grown. from being a mere agency for the carriage of correspondence and parcels in , the post office has now become the poor man's bank; it does an enormous value-payable and money order business; it is an important insurance agency and pension paymaster, and to such an extent have postage rates been reduced in india that it would be hard to find a man who could not afford to communicate by post with his friends. needless to say, the post office act of was quite unsuited to modern needs, and act vi of was framed to deal with the new requirements of postal work. the act was amended by act iii of , which authorized any officer of the post office empowered in this behalf by the governor-general in council to search for newspapers regarding which a notification had been published under the sea customs act. by act iii of powers were provided in accordance with the general policy of the postal union for dealing with fictitious or previously used postage stamps of other countries found on articles received from abroad, and by act xvi of the post office was authorized to collect customs duty paid in advance in the same manner as postage under the act. act vi of is to a great extent an enabling act which reserves to government the power of dealing by rule with numerous questions of postal practice and procedure affecting the public. for the first time legal recognition was given to registered newspapers, and the governor-general in council was empowered to make rules for their registration in the offices of postmasters-general. the acceptance of the official marks of the post office on postal articles as prima facie evidence that they have been refused, that the addressee cannot be found, or that any sum is due on them, was a principle taken from the english law. section of the act was quite new and prohibits the sending by post of indecent or obscene articles, and the tendency of the age is shown by the first mention in this clause of the word "sedition" in connection with postal articles. "articles having thereon or on the cover thereof any words, marks or designs of an indecent, obscene, seditious, defamatory or grossly offensive character" were prohibited from being sent by post. the wording of this section is interesting owing to the difficulty of interpreting the meaning of the word "thereon"; it would almost seem that the framers of the act wished to wrap this clause in ambiguity. in section the important principle of the english law is laid down that the post office is not bound to send parcels and packets along with the letter mail, but may detain them as long as is necessary. by section special power is given to search for goods notified under the sea customs act, and in section , the public emergency section, "the governor-general in council, or a local government, or any officer specially authorized in this behalf by the governor-general in council, may, by an order in writing, direct that any postal article or class or description of postal articles in course of transmission by post shall be intercepted or detained." had the framers of this act any idea of the extent to which this power would have to be used they might have expressed themselves in greater detail.[ ] sections to and to of the act deal with the power of the governor-general in council to make rules for the insurance of postal articles and the transmission of value-payable articles and money orders by post. to judge from the large number of additional penalty clauses introduced into this act, postal crime seems to have grown side by side with postal development. every possible misdemeanour and fraud is visited with appropriate punishment; not even the mail runner who fails in his duty to appear at the time he is required can escape, while the postman who makes a false entry in his book to show that he has been visiting a certain village, when all the time he has been loitering in a neighbouring bazaar, renders himself liable to six months' imprisonment or a fine of one hundred rupees. sections and are taken from the english post office protection act, , and impose penalties for injuring the contents of any letter-box or for disfiguring any post office or letter-box. to prevent hasty and ill-considered prosecutions, it was laid down in section that no court should take cognizance of any offence under the act, except with the previous sanction or on the complaint of the director-general of the post office or of a postmaster-general. in postage rates on letters were reduced to the following scale:-- not exceeding ½ tola ½ anna. " " ½ tolas " " " " annas. for every additional ½ tolas or fraction thereof anna. the postage on newspapers was fixed at: not exceeding tolas ¼ anna. " " " ½ " for every additional tolas or part thereof ½ " in a still further reduction in letter postage was made, namely: not exceeding ¾ tola ½ anna. " " ½ tolas " " " " annas. for every additional ½ tolas or fraction thereof anna. in , after a long discussion, it was decided to make the indian anna rate approximate to the english penny rate. the british post office had decided to carry ounces for one penny, and as an ounce is roughly ½ tolas the weight that could be sent for an anna was increased from ½ to tolas. the ¾ tolas for ½ anna was very properly considered absurd, and the weight was raised to tola. the rates as revised in were: not exceeding tola ½ anna. " " tolas " for every additional tolas or fraction thereof anna. this was a sweeping measure which mainly benefited that portion of the community which could best afford to pay high rates of postage, and the argument for making the anna rate correspond to the penny rate in england left out of account the very important fact that in england the minimum rate for letters was a penny, whereas in india it is half that amount. it is difficult to estimate what the loss to the post office must have been, but when one considers that a letter of tolas, which under the previous rates would have had to bear annas postage, could be sent for anna it will be understood that the loss was considerable. the measure was also one that affected the post office in two ways, since less revenue was received in postage stamps and the increased number of bulky letters necessitated a larger carrying staff. despite the admitted cheapness of postage in india, some short-sighted agitators cry out for a ¼ anna letter rate; but the post office can well afford to disregard their murmurings and may congratulate itself on having made its services accessible to even the very poorest member of the community. by act iii of the indian post office act of was further amended, and special rules were made to protect postmasters who had to search or detain articles passing through the post. the public who use the value-payable system have been protected from fraudulent traders by a section which provides for the retention and repayment to the addressee, in cases of fraud, of money recovered on the delivery of any value-payable postal article; at the same time the post office is authorized to levy a fee before making any inquiry into complaints of this kind. [illustration: group of senior officers in c. stewart-wilson g. s. curtis w. maxwell c. j. badshah j. cornwall h. m. kisch sir arthur fanshawe a. t. forbes _director general_ ] since the great war broke out in it has been found necessary to increase inland postage rates for both letters and parcels. in the letter rates were fixed as follows:-- for letters: not exceeding tola ½ anna. exceeding tola, but not exceeding ½ tolas " for every additional ½ tolas or part thereof " for parcels: not exceeding tolas annas. exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas or part thereof " many complaints were received that the parcel rates were excessive and injuring the fruit trade and other local industries, so that with effect from the st june, , the rates were reduced to annas for every tolas up to tolas, the minimum of annas for tolas remaining the same. footnote: [ ] the first instance of an article being prohibited from passing through the post is that of the _bengal gazette_ (editor, j. a. hicky), quoted by dr. busteed in his _echoes of old calcutta_: "_order._ fort william, november th, . public notice is hereby given that as a weekly newspaper called the _bengal gazette_ or _calcutta general advertiser_, printed by j. a. hicky, has lately been found to contain several unbroken paragraphs tending to vilify private characters and to disturb the peace of the settlement, it is no longer permitted to be circulated through the channel of the general post office." chapter v parcel post the parcel post in india has its origin in the old "bhangy post," a name derived from the bamboo stick or bhangy which an indian carrier balances on his shoulder with the weights slung at each end. the bhangy post was first used solely for the conveyance of official records and articles sent on government service, and the limit of weight was tolas ( lbs.). in a regular bhangy post was established and opened to the public. the rates varied with weight and distance according to the scale laid down in the post office act of . where communication by rail existed, the practice was to hand over bhangy parcels to the railway at the latter's risk and to demand their conveyance to destination free of charge. this procedure led to a series of those acrimonious disputes which are so characteristic of the early relations between the post office and the railway companies. the contention of the post office was that the bhangy mail formed part of the regular mail which the railway was bound by law to carry free of charge. the east india railway, which took up the cudgels on the other side, denied this contention and insisted upon charging for parcels as goods sent by passenger train. finally, after much wrangling, the matter was settled by government in , when it was decided that service bhangy parcels should be carried free and that the rate for non-service parcels should be fixed at / anna per maund ( lbs.) per mile, which was the existing rate for passengers' luggage. at the same time the post office was directed to withdraw from the carrier traffic wherever the railway could supply its place, and post offices were forbidden to accept non-service bhangy parcels for places situated on railway lines. these rules were not very effective, since it was impossible to distinguish service from non-service parcels or to ascertain the weight of the latter when they were both despatched together and lump sum payments were accepted. the amounts paid show that the traffic cannot have been very great; for instance, in the great india peninsula railway agreed to accept a monthly payment of rs. , the madras railway rs. and the bombay, baroda and central india railway rs. , which was afterwards raised to rs. in . the whole question was soon merged in that of general haulage rates for postal vehicles, which is discussed in the chapter upon the railway mail service. the statement at the end of this chapter shows the variation in parcel rates from to . the first great step forward in the administration of the parcel post was in , when rates according to distance were abolished and a fixed rate of annas for tolas was introduced. the limits of weight were retained at tolas for foot lines and tolas for railway lines, which were fixed in . in rates were reduced and registration for all parcels exceeding tolas in weight was made compulsory. in , after a strong representation made by the railway conference that the parcel post was interfering with the railway parcel traffic, the limit of weight was lowered to tolas ( lbs.). as a matter of fact, after a careful inquiry it was found that very few parcels above this weight were carried by the post office and that these were carried at a loss. in the same year the rates for small parcels were greatly reduced, with the result that the total number carried in - increased by over , . the railways did not gain much by the concession, as the retail dealers adopted the simple device of packing their goods in smaller bulk, which the low rates enabled them to do without any appreciable loss. the development of parcel traffic since is shown by the following figures:-- _number of parcels._ - , - , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , - , , the increase in the last few years is little short of marvellous and is due to the reduction in rates and the growth of the value-payable or cash on delivery system so largely adopted by all retail traders, which has diverted the whole of the light parcel traffic from the railways to the post office. in an overland parcel post was established between great britain and india through the agency of the peninsular and oriental steam navigation company. the british post office had no concern with this arrangement, and in a direct exchange, which was quite separate from the p. & o. company's contract, was introduced between the two administrations for parcels up to a limit of seven pounds in weight. in , at the universal postal congress held at washington, india joined the international parcel post union, and since , when the acts of the congress came into force, parcels can be exchanged with almost any country in the world. as already mentioned, nothing has affected the parcel post traffic of the country to such an extent as the value-payable or cash on delivery system, which was introduced in and is now used generally by all retail firms in india. by this system the post office not only undertakes to deliver a parcel, but also, for a small commission, to collect the cost of it from the addressee. in india, where there are few large firms outside the presidency towns, the value-payable system has proved an inestimable convenience to the upcountry purchaser, who pays the post office for his purchases on receipt and is put to no further trouble. like everything designed for the good of mankind, the value-payable post is not altogether an unmixed blessing, and it is a source of continual worry to the officials of the department. the weak point in the system is that people have to buy articles without seeing them, and if they are disappointed in their purchases they are inclined to think that the post office is at fault and to demand their money back. it is customary in india for certain ladies to dispose of their garments through the medium of the advertisement columns of the _pioneer_, one of the leading newspapers. the dresses are always by paquin and quite new; the hats are the latest from paris. this is the seller's point of view. how different that of the purchaser! as postmaster-general i have received many a bitter complaint of the rag which has been received under the name of a new paquin gown and for which i apparently was held personally responsible. "i never imagined that the post office could lend its assistance to such disgraceful swindling," once wrote an indignant lady who had suffered in this way and who was told that the department could not possibly adjudicate on the quality of the goods received by her, that the department was only in the position of carriers and that she must settle her dispute with the sender. the value-payable system suffers chiefly from the firm belief in providence which is so deeply engrained in the eastern mind. although strictly forbidden by the rules of the post office, the small trader sends out numbers of articles by value-payable post to persons who have not given any orders for them, trusting that some of them will be accepted by a confiding public, and, strange to say, he manages to do a certain amount of business in this way. on the other hand, many people are quite ready to order things from shops which they hope to be able to pay for upon arrival, but, unfortunately for the firms that supply them, these hopes are often not fulfilled. the indian schoolboy, who is very like all other schoolboys in the world in this respect, is specially tempted by the flashy catalogues issued by the cheap calcutta firms, and when, in the enthusiasm of the moment, he orders a five rupee watch, it doesn't follow that he has the money or is even likely to have it; but his self-esteem is satisfied by the mere issue of the order and, as for his ability to pay when the time comes, it lies on the knees of the gods. the result of this trait in eastern character is that about per cent of the value-payable articles posted are returned to the senders. some years ago a firm of box-makers who wanted to push their business discovered that the value-payable post, assisted by the national character, provided them with a royal road to success, and they set to work on the following lines. they issued a large number of tickets by post, which were delivered on payment of rupee and annas. any person who was innocent enough to accept one of these found that the ticket was composed of six coupons, and that if he could induce six of his friends to send the coupons to the firm and each to receive in return a similar ticket _and pay for it_, then he as the original recipient would be presented with a steel trunk. the success of this scheme was extraordinary, and every post office in india was flooded with these coupon tickets. about per cent were refused, but the firm lost nothing by this, as it saved them in the matter of trunks, since, if any one of the coupon holders failed to keep faith with his friend the bargain was off. the whole business was a gigantic swindle, and it so offended the director-general's sense of morality that he had a regulation passed to put a stop to any articles being sent by post which contained "coupons, tickets, certificates or introductions for the sale of goods on what is known as the snowball system." a complete history of the indian parcel post would require the pen of a military historian. it is a history of warfare with continuous engagements, sometimes regular pitched battles with the railways and sometimes small but sharp skirmishes with irate ladies. the latest foes are the municipal councils of certain large towns in which the revenue is raised by an octroi tax upon all imported articles. hitherto articles received by post have been exempt from any tax of this kind, and all attempts made by municipalities to be allowed to scrutinize the parcel post have been strenuously opposed. the thin end of the wedge has, however, been introduced at delhi, where lists of insured parcels are supplied to the municipality, which makes its own arrangements for ascertaining the contents from the addressees. the practice is wrong in principle, because it is a breach of the confidence which the public place in the post office on the understanding that no information of any kind regarding postal articles is imparted except to the persons immediately concerned, and any measure which tends to shake the confidence of the public in the secrecy of the department is to be strongly deprecated. a great deal of fuss was made in simla some years ago about this very matter on the ground that the local traders suffered from people purchasing goods outside the municipality and getting them in by post. when an inquiry was held, it was found that the large majority of parcels received by post were addressed to the firms in the town, a discovery which put a sudden stop to the agitation. it is very doubtful if the parcel post at the present rates pays the post office, and where places are situated some distance off the line of rail and have to be reached by foot lines it is quite certain that every parcel is carried at a loss. unfortunately these are the very places where people make the greatest use of the parcel post; the tea planters of assam, for example, getting their whisky, jam and other stores in this way from calcutta. a further agitation is now afoot to have the weight of parcels brought down to eleven pounds, which is the maximum weight for a foreign parcel and is also the limit of weight in england. this, on the whole, is as much as the post office can be fairly expected to carry, but whether the proposal will be adopted remains to be seen. parcel post rates ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from to st march, : | if not exceeding in weight -------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ for distances | | | | | | | | |tolas.|tolas.|tolas |tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas.|tolas. -------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------ miles|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a.|rs. a. not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | not exceeding | | | | | | | | exceeding | | | | | | | | ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from st april, , to th august, : not exceeding tolas in weight annas. exceeding tolas and not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas " ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from th august, , to st july, : not exceeding tolas in weight annas. exceeding tolas and not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas " ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from st august, , to th june, : any parcel not exceeding tolas in weight annas. any parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas in weight annas. for each additional tolas or fraction of tolas up to tolas " registration fee (optional for uninsured parcels not exceeding tolas in weight)-- for a parcel not exceeding tolas in weight annas. for a parcel exceeding tolas in weight " ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from st july, , to th september, : (_a_) parcels not exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel not exceeding tolas in weight annas. for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas in weight " for every additional tolas or part of that weight " (_b_) parcels exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas in weight rs. for every additional tolas or part of that weight annas. ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from st october, , to st october, : (_a_) parcels not exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel not exceeding tolas in weight annas. for every additional tolas or part of that weight " [illustration: sir william maxwell, k.c.i.e. director general posts and telegraphs -- ] (_b_) parcels exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas rs. for every additional tolas or part of that weight annas. ( ) from st october, , the maximum limit of weight for an inland parcel was reduced from tolas to tolas in the case of a private (non-official) parcel, and raised from tolas to tolas in the case of an official parcel. ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from st november, , to th may, : for a parcel not exceeding tolas annas. for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas or part of that weight up to tolas " ( ) rates of postage on inland parcels in force from th may, , up to date: (_a_) parcels not exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel not exceeding tolas annas. for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas " for every additional tolas or part of that weight " (_b_) parcels exceeding tolas in weight-- for a parcel exceeding tolas, but not exceeding tolas rs. for every additional tolas or part of that weight annas. chapter vi the railway mail service one of the most important branches of the post office is the railway mail service, which used to be called the travelling post office. the railways are the arteries through which the very life-blood of the department flows, and it is upon the arrangements for the conveyance of mails by rail that proper postal administration depends. before the mail bags were carried in the guard's van if the weight was small, but when the mail was heavy a separate compartment in charge of a mail guard was used. as there was no intermediate sorting, every post office had to make up a packet or bag for every other post office in front, and these various packets were received and delivered at each station by the mail guard. in a short time the number of such packets became quite unmanageable, and the inconvenience and delay in disposing of them considerable, so that, in order to make it possible to sort the mails between north-west india and calcutta, long detentions had to be made at allahabad, cawnpore and benares, otherwise letters could not possibly be sent direct to their destinations. in a solution of the difficulty was proposed by mr. riddell, director-general of the post office, namely, the establishment of a travelling post office between calcutta and raneegunge, but the government of india refused to sanction it. in , however, a sorting section was established on the great indian peninsula railway between allahabad and cawnpore, but no regular service was organized until , when the frontier travelling post office was introduced under a superintendent with his head-quarters at allahabad. in the designation of this officer was altered to chief superintendent, t.p.o., and in to inspector-general, railway mail service. the inspector-general worked as an assistant director-general in the direction until , but in that year he was placed in a much more independent position as an administrative officer. owing to the large increase in the mileage of the railway mail service it was found impossible for one man to exercise an efficient control over it, and in a deputy inspector-general was appointed; but even with his assistance the work was too heavy, and in the whole of india was divided into four circles and each of them placed under the jurisdiction of an officer designated inspector-general, railway mail service and sorting, known by the wits of the department as an inspector-general of sorts. the gentlemen with this sesquipedalian title control the railways or portions of railways in their own circles. in their number was reduced to three by the abolition of the southern circle, and their designation was altered to deputy postmaster-general, railway mail service. the main conditions under which a railway should carry mails were laid down in clause of the contract made with the east indian railway in , and was as follows: "that the said railway company will at all times during the said determinable term convey on the said railway the government mails and post bags and the guards and other servants of the post office in charge thereof free of charge." a similar condition existed in the contract with the great indian peninsula railway, but the companies contended that the conveyance of mails did not include the haulage of sorting carriages in which sorters were employed. the post office refused to accept this view and nasty things were said on both sides. the post office seemed to think that railways had been invented for the conveyance of mails without any regard to dividends, while the railways regarded the post office as a confounded nuisance and its officials as unscrupulous thieves. it was finally settled that two compartments of a second-class carriage should be set apart and specially fitted for the travelling post office on ordinary mail trains free of charge. if a special carriage was required in addition, then the haulage rate of ½ annas a mile would be charged, and the rate for special trains was fixed at rs. - a mile. with respect to the cost and maintenance of postal vehicles it was decided that, if they were paid for by government in the first instance, the charge for maintenance only should be incurred, but, if the companies had to bear the cost of construction, then the charge should include the cost of maintenance, the interest on capital and the cost of restoring the vehicles when worn out. the settlement between the post office and the railways did not last long. despite their acquiescence in the regulations which had been laid down, the companies refused to abide by them and repeated demands were made for the cost of hauling postal vans. on the great indian peninsula railway everything possible was done to hamper the work of the department, parcel bags were deliberately left behind at stations, postal vans were cut off at way-side places without any warning and there never was any certainty that the whole mail would reach its destination. in the nuisance became so intolerable that petitions were made by the public for the interference of government, and after some deliberation a settlement was made with this railway on the following terms:-- ( ) the post office was to pay rs. a month for the ordinary services performed for it by the railway, and for this payment a large fitted van with a well and extra vans for weekly foreign mails would be supplied. ( ) the price for additional reserved accommodation was raised from to pies a mile on each vehicle. in the government of india prescribed definite sizes for postal vans and called them standard full and standard half vans, and arrangements were made with the east indian and madras railways to accept annas a mile as the haulage of a standard van. various agreements were made with the other railways, some of which claimed payment not for haulage but for the conveyance of bhangy parcels, and in some cases lump sum payments were made annually to cover all services. for instance, the darjeeling steam tramway was given a fixed sum of rs. , annually, which represented exactly the cost of the old tonga line between siliguri and darjeeling. the question of haulage of postal vans and of payment for the carriage of mails was finally settled in connection with state railways. in it was ruled by the governor-general in council that the conveyance of mails over state railways should be paid for. the question was raised with reference to the conveyance of mails on the hathras-muttra (provincial) railway, and it was decided that the actual cost of carrying the mails on all imperial and provincial railways should be borne by the post office. the rules regarding payment on all state lines, both broad and metre gauge, were: ( ) eighteen pies per vehicle per mile to be levied in proportion to the space occupied by the postal department. ( ) for mail bags and parcels sent in luggage vans in charge of railway guards, the amount to be paid was fixed at ½ pies per maund ( lbs.) per mile. ( ) accounts to be settled half-yearly and the space as well as weight charged to be adjusted for the six months on the basis of actual space allotted (as above) and actual weight carried on the st june and the st december of each year. ( ) all officers and servants of the postal department travelling in the mail compartment to be carried without passes. all officials of the travelling post office not travelling in the mail compartment to be carried free on being furnished with passes under the revised free pass rules. all other officers of the postal department to pay usual fares. ( ) a list to be kept of all free passes issued. ( ) these arrangements to have effect from the st april, , and to remain in force until the st april, . all claims against the postal department to be settled in accordance therewith without delay, and adjusted in the accounts of the current official year. no arrear adjustment to be made in respect of any claims other than those arising out of the vehicle charge at pies a mile. some misunderstanding seems to have arisen on the state railways regarding the half-yearly calculations mentioned in paragraph , and the question of ferry charges upon railway steamers was also raised. there was also a certain amount of disagreement about the construction and maintenance of post office vehicles, and on the rd may, , government issued a resolution to the following effect:-- ( ) that from the st april, , and until further orders the following rules shall determine the payment for the haulage of post office vehicles, etc., on state railways, and for the conveyance of mails by state railway ferry steamers, and that they shall be applied to the east indian railway under the terms of clause of the company's contract. ( ) with reference to the ruling laid down by the government of india public works department circular no. r, dated the rd april, , that the actual expenses incurred for the carriage of mails on all imperial and provincial railways shall be paid by the postal department, the charges on all state lines, both broad and metre gauge, for the carriage of mails shall be based on a fixed rate of pies per vehicle per mile, and shall be levied in proportion to the space actually allotted to the postal department on its own requisition. ( ) for mail bags and parcels sent in luggage vans in charge of railway guards the amount to be paid by the postal department shall be pie per maund per mile. under this rule mails may be despatched either (_a_) as a regular daily service according to lists supplied to the traffic managers for each half-year; or (_b_) as occasional despatches not provided for in the list, a voucher being given for each despatch; occasional despatches should be restricted to a weight of maunds for each despatch. ( ) in addition to the above, a charge equal to ½ per cent per annum on the original cost shall be paid by the postal department for all vans or parts of carriages, built or altered on its own requisition since the st january, , for the exclusive use of the post office. ( ) in the event of the mileage run on the requisition of the post office officials by any special postal vans and compartments specially fitted for post office work (so as to be unuseable with convenience for ordinary traffic) being in any half-year greater in one direction than in the other, the charge for haulage shall be made, not on actual distance run, but on double the highest run in one direction. for this purpose the railway administration will keep a register of the up and down daily mileage of all special postal vans or compartments as aforesaid, but this mileage is not to be used as the basis of a charge against the postal department in supersession of the procedure laid down in paragraph below unless there is a considerable difference between the requisitioned up and down mileages. ( ) with respect to the conveyance of mails by state railway ferry steamers where the distance traversed is miles and less, an addition on account of the ferry should be made to the bill for railway service, calculated at the same mileage rate as the railway charge laid down in paragraph , but the addition shall not be less than annas for each trip across the river. ( ) when the ferry service is over miles and reserved sorting accommodation is not required or provided on board, the charge shall be separately calculated at the rate of pie per maund per mile. if reserved accommodation is required, the rate of charge will be the same as for a whole carriage, viz. pies per mile. ( ) accounts are to be settled half-yearly, and the space as well as weight to be paid for shall be adjusted for the six months on the basis of actual space allotted (paragraph ) and actual weight carried (paragraphs (_a_) and ) on the st june and the st december of each year, or on such other date as may be mutually agreed upon. it is to be assumed that the actual service, inclusive of mileage, rendered on these dates is constant throughout the six months. payments under paragraph (_b_) will be made monthly on bills supported by vouchers. regarding interest on capital outlay (paragraph ) and the mileage of special postal vans (paragraph ), the accounts should be rendered for the half-year ending the st may and the th november. the bills for the services rendered to the postal department by state railways should be made out as above, submitted for acceptance in the months of january and july and adjusted in the accounts for february and august in each year, excepting bills for occasional despatches (paragraph _b_) which will be adjusted in the month after presentation of the bills. ( ) all officers and servants of the postal department travelling in the post office vans or compartments shall be carried without passes. all officers of the railway mail service and the officers and employés named in government of india letter no. r of th january, , not so travelling will be carried free on being furnished with passes under the state railways free pass rules. all other officers of the postal department will pay the ordinary fares. ( ) a list shall be kept of all free passes issued and periodically recorded in the minutes of official meetings. all the larger railways in their renewed contracts with government have agreed to accept these state railways rules for the conveyance of mails. in the government of india public works department issued the following addenda to the above: ( ) in addition to the above the postal department shall hereafter pay, in the first instance, the original cost of building or fitting up all vans or parts of carriages required for its use as well as the cost, when no longer required by the post office, of reconverting them for railway purposes. ( ) the postal department shall also pay interest at ½ per cent on the original cost of all vehicles now in use, built or altered on its own requisition since the st january, , for the exclusive use of the post office until such time as it may desire to repay the aforesaid original cost. these are the rules that still govern the dealings between the post office and railways, and at the risk of being wearisome i have quoted them _in extenso_. in the railway conference association started an agitation that the haulage rates paid were insufficient, and that by comparison with those paid for goods they were performing the work of the post office at a considerable loss. the result of an inquiry into their demands for an increase was an offer from the director-general to increase the rate on broad-gauge lines to pies a mile and to retain the existing rate of pies on narrow-gauge lines. this offer was accepted provisionally by the railway conference association in , but the narrow-gauge railways were not very enthusiastic about an arrangement which put four hundred thousand rupees annually into the pockets of their colleagues and gave them nothing but the honour and glory of having deprived the post office of a portion of its earnings. until the last few years the railway mail service was by far the most unpopular branch under the administration of the post office. the pay was bad, the hours of duty were long, the work was trying and the discomfort of the old postal vans baffled description. in the hot weather they were like ovens and, being closed in with sorting cases, it was difficult to get a through current of air. the lighting, provided by indifferent oil lamps, was injurious to the sight and did not lend itself to accurate sorting. the sorters started life on rs. a month; they could not ordinarily hope for more than rs. at the end of thirty years' service, and the result was an inefficient and discontented body of men with not a small proportion of rogues. since the beginning of the present century the immense importance of the railway mail service to the proper working of the department has been recognized. salaries have been greatly increased, and the best sorters are picked for appointments as inspectors and assistant superintendents. the vans have been improved, and the bogies in which the large sections work are comparatively comfortable. they are fitted with electric light and fans, and work is carried on in them under the most favourable conditions. in the old days a continuous duty of twelve hours in the train was an ordinary occurrence, and it is not a matter for surprise that men, exhausted by hard work and travel in a temperature of degrees, made absurd mistakes. the length of the beats has now been reduced, rest houses have been provided at the out-stations and every man gets a sufficient time off duty upon his return to head-quarters. the new conditions have attracted men of much higher qualifications and position, and it has now been found possible to entrust the r.m.s. with almost the whole sorting of the post office. in important offices sorting for the outward mail is usually performed in a mail office at the railway station, the great advantage being that skilled men are employed and that, by concentrating the work in one place, economy both in staff and bags is effected. for instance, if the calcutta g.p.o. and its sixty-three town sub-offices each perform their own sorting they must each make up separate bags or bundles for a large number of important towns and r.m.s. sections with which they are in postal communication; but if they despatch their mail to a central sorting office, that office, as it deals with a far greater number of articles, will be in a position to make up direct bags for a very much larger number of places, like bombay, cawnpore, agra, lucknow and delhi, thereby saving labour in handling and sorting articles in the running sections. it is an axiom of the post office that no work should be thrown on a running section which can be performed in a stationary one, the expense being in the ratio of to in staff alone, not to mention the cost of haulage. concentration of sorting, although admirable for large towns, is not without its drawbacks. where the system exists, postmasters are no longer answerable for the disposal of the outward mail, and they are unable to make any direct inquiry into public complaints regarding the loss or missending of articles. as all the sorting is thrown on one mail office, it is necessary for the various post offices which serve it to close their mails sooner than they would if direct bags were prepared for the travelling sections, so that the latest time of posting has to be fixed at an earlier hour and the public suffer some inconvenience, especially in places remote from the station. a certain amount of double handling also occurs in towns with a large local delivery, in which case the mail has to be overhauled before despatch in order to pick out the local articles. despite these drawbacks, the system is undoubtedly a good one whenever the postings of a number of offices can be concentrated in one mail office, but in small towns it is preferable for the post office to do its own sorting. supervision is better, and the sorters can be used for other work. a solution of the difficulty might be found by placing the control of all the important through services under one director of mails with a few assistants to help him in supervision, and it has been suggested that probably the best results would be obtained if the postmasters-general were responsible for both the sorting arrangements and the discipline of the staff upon all the railways within their circles. the present system of having different officers in charge of r.m.s. circles has caused a great deal of correspondence and not unfrequently means divided counsels. it has estranged the heads of postal circles from one of the most important branches of postal work, namely, the conveyance of mails by railway. at the same time, the railway mail service work requires expert knowledge, and it is important that each railway should have to deal with only one man in the matter of the conveyance of mails within its system. this could not be done if postmasters-general were in charge, as many railways pass through several postal circles. the question is full of difficulties, and after careful consideration it has been decided not to interfere with the existing arrangements, but to provide a closer co-ordination between the officers in charge of railway mail service circles. chapter vii money orders previous to the money order system of india was managed by the government treasuries. bills of exchange (hundis) current for twelve months were issued by one treasury payable upon another, and as there were only offices of issue and payment in the country the money order was not a popular means of remittance--in fact, it failed altogether to compete with the remittance of currency notes by post. in mr. monteath, director-general of the post office, proposed to government to take over the money order business from the treasuries. he argued that, with the small number of treasuries and the trouble involved in reaching one of these every time a money order had to be sent or paid, the existing system could never become popular. the post office was able to provide offices of issue and payment, and the number of these would be always increasing and becoming more accessible to the people. mr. monteath's proposal was strongly opposed by the comptroller-general, but was accepted by government and sanctioned by the secretary of state on the th november, . on the st january, , the post office took over the whole management of issue and payment of money orders, and the audit was performed by the compiler of post office accounts. for the purposes of money order work post offices were classified under four heads: ( ) offices of issue. ( ) offices of preparation. ( ) offices of delivery. ( ) offices of payment. the office of preparation was always the head office of the district in which the addressee resided, and its duty was to prepare the money order in the name of the payee upon receipt of the intimation from the office of issue. the procedure was as follows: an application for a money order was made at the office of issue and, on payment of the amount with commission, a receipt was given to the remitter and the application was sent to the head office of the district in which the payee resided. this office was called the office of preparation, and if the payee resided in its delivery area it would also be both the office of delivery and payment. if, however, the payee resided at a sub or branch office, the office of preparation made out a money order for delivery at such sub or branch office and for payment at the post office named by the remitter in his application. it was not necessary for the office of delivery to be the office of payment; the remitter could name any office authorized to pay money orders as the office of payment. upon receipt of the money order by the payee an acknowledgment signed by him was sent to the remitter, and the payee had to make his own arrangements for cashing his money order at the proper office of payment. the commission charged on money orders was accounted for by postage stamps affixed to the back of the application by the office of issue, and the rates were as follows: rs. a. p. not exceeding rs. exceeding rs. , but not exceeding rs. " rs. " " rs. " rs. " " rs. " rs. " " rs. " rs. " " rs. " rs. " " rs. rs. was the maximum amount of a money order. redirection was permissible, but such redirection did not affect the original office of payment, and this could only be altered by the payee signing the order and sending it to the office of preparation with an application for the issue of a new order payable to himself or anyone named by him at some specified office. a new order was issued, but a second commission was charged for this service. money orders lapsed at the end of the month following that of issue, but were still payable for two months after lapsing if a second commission was paid; upon the expiry of that period they were forfeited to government. certain special conditions with respect to money orders were ( ) that not more than four could be issued to the same person by the same remitter in one day, except under special permission from the compiler of post office accounts, and ( ) that under special orders the issue of money orders could be refused by any post office. foreign money orders were granted on the united kingdom, canada, germany, belgium, luxemburg, heligoland, the netherlands, switzerland, denmark and italy. the maximum amount was £ , and the rates of commission were: rs. a. p. not exceeding £ exceeding £ , but not exceeding £ " £ , " " £ exceeding £ , " " £ for canada the rates of commission were doubled. in the telegraphic money order system was introduced, with a charge of rs. for the telegram exclusive of the money order commission upon the amount to be remitted. the charge was so high that it was thought safe to allow a money order up to rs. in value to be sent by this means. the anomaly thus existed of having rs. as the limit of an ordinary money order and rs. as the limit of a telegraphic money order. the rule prohibiting more than four money orders daily being sent by the same remitter to the same payee, besides being quite unnecessary, proved no safeguard whatsoever. in actual practice the name of the remitter was not entered in the money order receipt, so that the post office of issue had no means of knowing how many money orders were sent by the same remitter, unless they were all presented at the same time. there was really no necessity to fix a low limit to the amount of a money order, as the whole procedure was quite different from that previously followed by the treasuries. the old treasury rule was that the amount of money orders issued in favour of one person in a district treasury must not exceed rs. in one day, but then the money order was like a cheque payable to bearer and the paying treasury had no knowledge of the time at which it would be presented. the post office, on the other hand, carried its own money orders and, if the office of payment was short of funds, it could hold back the money order until funds were obtained, and do so without the knowledge of the payee. these arguments prevailed, and in the restrictions were removed. the maximum value of an ordinary money order was raised to rs. , and no limit was placed upon the number which could be issued in favour of any one person. at the same time the rates were modified as follows:-- rs. a. p. not exceeding rs. exceeding rs. , but not exceeding rs. exceeding rs. -- annas for each complete sum of and annas for the remainder, provided that, if the remainder did not exceed rs. , the charge would be annas. on the st april, , after a great deal of pressure from all classes of the community, government reduced the commission upon a money order not exceeding rs. to anna. the extension of the money order system to the payment of land revenue was first tried in the benares division of the north-west provinces at the suggestion of rai bahadur salig ram, postmaster-general, in the year , and proved an immediate success. in eleven months, , land revenue money orders were sent, the gross value of which amounted to rs. , , . the system was a great advantage to small proprietors who lived at a distance from the government collecting stations. they found that the use of the ordinary money order for payment of revenue dues was not acceptable to the subordinate revenue officials, who suffered the loss of considerable perquisites thereby. such remittances were generally refused on some pretext or other, either because they did not contain the correct amount due or else because the exact particulars required by the land revenue department were not given on the money order form. to meet this difficulty a special form of money order was devised and the co-operation of district collectors was invited. in the system was extended to the whole north-west provinces except kumaon, and a beginning was also made in ten districts of bengal. the action of the post office was fully justified by results, and revenue money orders were quickly introduced into the punjab, central provinces and madras. in madras they proved a failure, and were discontinued in after a three years' trial. the system was again introduced in , but it still does not show any great signs of popularity, the figures for - being , revenue money orders for rs. , , . rent money orders were first tried in the north-west provinces in march, ; an experiment was also made in bengal in october, , and the system was extended to the central provinces in . except in parts of bengal and the north-west provinces, now known as the united provinces, the payment of rent by money orders has never been popular, and the reason is not far to seek. rent in india is usually in arrears and, whenever a tenant pays money to a zemindar (landholder), the latter can credit it against any portion of the arrears that he thinks fit. with a rent money order, the case is different, the money order itself and the receipt which has to be signed by the zemindar indicate exactly the period for which rent is being paid, and to that period it must be devoted. this is the ordinary ruling of the rent courts and does not at all meet the wishes of zemindars who want to have their tenants in their power. besides this important factor, there is the rooted objection of all subordinates, whether they be government servants or zemindars' agents, to be deprived of the time-honoured offerings which all self-respecting tenants should make to the landlord's servants at the time of paying their rents, and the appearance of a postman with a sheaf of money orders, however punctual the payments may be, is hardly an adequate substitute for the actual attendance of the tenants themselves. in the plan of paying money orders at the houses of payees was adopted and proved very satisfactory. india was indebted to germany for the idea, which not only conferred a great boon on the public but tended to reduce the accumulations of cash at post offices and to accelerate the closure of money order accounts. in appendix "e" is given the number and value of inland money orders issued in india from - to - , and the steady increase from year to year is a certain sign of the great public need which the indian money order system satisfies, and of the confidence that is placed in it. on the st october, , the public was given the opportunity of employing the telegraph for the transmission of inland money orders, and during the first six months of the scheme money orders for rs. , , were issued. the cost of rs. for the telegram and ½ per cent for money order commission was a decided bar to the popularity of the telegraphic money order, which at first was chiefly used in burma and madras owing to the isolated positions of those provinces. in the post office relinquished its commission on orders for sums not exceeding rs. , and the telegraph charge was reduced to r. . this led to an immediate increase of traffic, the number of such orders in - being , compared with , in the previous year, more than half of which were issued from burma. in - the total number of telegraphic money orders issued was , and the value rs. , , , of which about three-fifths came from burma. with the improvements in railway communication in india which are continually taking place, the pre-eminence of burma in the matter of telegraphic money orders is likely to continue owing to her isolation and the largely expanding trade of rangoon. the ubiquitous swindler was not long in taking advantage of the telegraphic money order to ply a profitable trade. his chief resorts are benares, rameswaram, tripati and the other great places of pilgrimage in india; his victim is generally some unfortunate pilgrim, who is only too anxious to meet an obliging friend willing to act as a guide and adviser in one of the sacred cities, and the procedure adopted is always the same. the swindler acts the part of the kind stranger and finds out all the details of the pilgrim's family. he then goes to the local post office, represents himself to be the pilgrim and sends a telegram to his victim's relations to say that he has lost his money and wants a certain sum at once. so confiding are the people of india that it is very seldom that a request of this kind does not meet with an immediate response, and the swindler, by waiting a couple of days during which he takes good care to ingratiate himself with the post office officials, walks off the richer by a considerable amount. the earlier reports of the post office on the telegraphic money order system abound in cases of the kind, and very stringent measures were adopted to put a stop to the practice. identification of payees by well-known residents of the neighbourhood was insisted upon, and a payee of a telegraphic money order had to prove his claim and give satisfactory evidence of his permanent address. despite all precautions, the telegraphic money order swindler is still common enough and manages to get away with large sums from time to time. probably in no country in the world is the poor man so dependent upon the post office for the transmission of small sums of money as in india. the average value of an inland money order in - was rs. , and it is not infrequent for amounts as small as rs. to be sent by telegraphic money order. the reason undoubtedly is the facility with which payment is made and the absolute confidence which the indian villager places in the post office. an indian coolie in burma, who has saved a few hundred rupees and wants to return to his village, seldom carries the money on his person, and he has a strange mistrust for banks; they are much too grand places for him to enter. he usually goes to a post office and sends to himself a money order addressed to the post office nearest his own home and then he is satisfied. it may be months before he turns up to claim the money, as he frequently gets a job on the way back or spends some time at a place of pilgrimage, but he knows that his money is safe enough and he is quite content to use the post office as a temporary bank to the great inconvenience of the audit office. it is not too much to say that the money order system of india is part and parcel of the life of the people. they use it to assist their friends and defy their enemies. they have in that magic slip of paper, the money order acknowledgment, what they never had before, that which no number of lying witnesses can disprove, namely, an indisputable proof of payment. chapter viii savings bank the first government savings banks were opened at the three presidency towns of calcutta, madras and bombay in , and , respectively. these banks were announced as intended for the investment of the savings of "all classes british and native," the return of the deposits with interest being guaranteed by government. between and the management of the savings banks was transferred to the presidency banks, and each presidency framed its own rules. the first deposits were limited to rs. , and upon the balance reaching this sum it was invested in a government loan. the limit was gradually increased to rs. with interest at per cent, but, as it was found that many people deposited the maximum amount at once, a rule was brought in prohibiting the deposit of more than rs. a year in any one account. in district savings banks were instituted in all parts of india except calcutta and the presidencies of madras and bombay. the limits for deposits were fixed at rs. a year with a total of rs. and interest at ¾ per cent was fixed. in december, , revised rules were drawn up for district and other government savings banks, the most important change being that the limit of a deposit account was raised to rs. and interest was fixed at - / per cent. the result of these rules was to attract to the savings banks a large number of deposits which should have gone to other banks, and in the monthly limit of rs. with a maximum of rs. was again imposed and interest was reduced to ¾ per cent. the proposal to establish post office savings banks on the lines of those which existed in england met with great opposition, especially from the comptroller-general. the same arguments were brought forward which the opponents of the post office savings bank bill in england used when mr. gladstone managed to get this wise and beneficial measure through both houses in . in the first post office savings banks were opened in every part of india except calcutta, bombay and the head-quarter stations of madras. in madras, savings banks could be opened by the director-general, provided they were not within five miles of a head-quarter station. the immediate consequence of this measure was an increase in the number of savings banks in the country from to . the minimum deposit was fixed at annas, and interest was allowed at pies a month on every complete sum of rs. ; it was also arranged to purchase government securities for depositors. the end of the first year's working showed , depositors with a balance of rs. , , . on the st april, , district savings banks were abolished and the balances transferred to the post office, but the local government savings banks at calcutta, bombay and madras remained in the hands of the presidency banks until the st october, . in , when the balance at the credit of depositors exceeded millions of rupees, the government of india began to be rather nervous of being liable to pay up such a large sum at call without any warning. a sudden rush of depositors to withdraw their savings would tax the resources of government to the utmost and, in order to afford some protection, a rule was made that an extra quarter per cent would be paid upon deposits, which were not liable to withdrawal until six months' notice had been given. needless to say, the bait did not prove attractive. the additional interest meant practically nothing to small depositors and was poor compensation to large depositors for the inconvenience of having their money tied up for six months. what the measure did involve was a great increase of work and account-keeping for little or no purpose, as the number of accounts subject to six months' notice of withdrawal never exceeded per cent of the total. these accounts were abolished in and, although the government of india does not keep any special reserve against the balance in the post office savings bank, the depositor has the satisfaction of knowing that his deposit is guaranteed by the whole revenue of the country. the history of the post office savings bank in india is rather monotonous. with a single exception it has been one of continual prosperity and expansion from , the year of its commencement, to . the balance on the st march, , was over million rupees, and, as the money belongs very largely to small depositors, who can demand immediate payment, the bank is placed in a very responsible position towards the public. it will, therefore, be of advantage to examine the political and economic crises which have occurred in this period, and how they have affected the small depositors' confidence in the government of india. in appendix d is given the number of accounts and the balance year by year from to , which shows that in no year have the accounts failed to increase in number and only in - has the balance at the credit of depositors declined. yet during this period three important crises occurred. the first was in , and was known as the russian scare, the second in - when india was visited by the worst famine on record, and the third in - when a great wave of sedition and discontent spread over the country. two of these crises were political and one economic, and it is a remarkable fact that the effect of the former two was felt almost entirely, and of the latter very largely, in the bombay presidency. this circumstance goes to prove that the inhabitants of bombay are more in touch with the affairs of the world than those in other parts of india. the russian scare of , culminating in the "penjdeh affair," led to very heavy withdrawals from almost all the more important savings banks on the bombay side. no less than rs. , , were paid out to depositors in the presidency savings bank from the st to the nd april. the withdrawals in march from ahmedabad, kaira, broach and surat totalled rs. , , against rs. , , in march, , and the excess of withdrawals over deposits for the whole presidency in january, february and march amounted to rs. , , . the rest of india was not affected by the scare, in fact the total number of savings bank accounts increased by , and the balances by rs. , , despite the heavy deficit in bombay. the crisis of was purely economic and was due to a widespread famine and abnormally high prices. its effect was felt in the savings bank for three years, the balance falling from rs. , , , in - to rs. , , , in - , and not reaching rs. , , , until - . the bombay postal circle accounted for rs. , , out of the rs. , , deficit in india, the other deficits being in madras, the north-west provinces and oudh, and bengal. in - , as i have already mentioned, the country was full of unrest. leaflets calling on the men to mutiny were being distributed broadcast among the indian regiments. several sikh regiments were supposed to be seriously disaffected. the feeling in bengal against the british government was being carefully nurtured, but the real head-quarters of the anti-british movement was poona. in - the balance of the savings bank increased by rs. , , only, which meant a serious set-back considering the way in which the post office was developing, but the figures for the bombay postal circle are peculiarly instructive. the number of accounts actually increased from , to , , whereas the balance at the credit of depositors declined from rs. , , , to rs. , , , , the actual decrease being rs. , , . now in this year bengal showed an increase of nearly rs. , , , and the decline in the proportional rate of increase in india was found to be due to the heavy withdrawals of some depositors in bombay. there is reason to believe that a number of wealthy persons belonging to the commercial class use the post office savings bank in bombay as a convenient place to deposit money. this class of depositors numbered , in - and , in - , which is larger than in bengal. such people do not deposit their money from motives of saving or thrift, but merely take advantage of the convenience which the post office offers as a safe place to keep, at interest, money which can be immediately realized. the rule which permits a depositor to have accounts in his own behalf or on behalf of any minor relatives or any minor of whom he happens to be the guardian has opened a way to great abuse of the system. there is nothing to prevent a man having any number of imaginary relatives and opening accounts in all their names. he can deposit the maximum in each account, and naturally in times of crisis or when money is tight the savings bank has to face the immediate withdrawal of all these amounts. as one example of what is done, a case came to light some years ago in which a depositor at dharwar was authorized to operate on eighty-three accounts with a balance of nearly rs. , . he was a broker by profession and it was quite possible for him to control a balance of rs. , , in the post office, if he wished to do so. further inquiries made at the time elicited that one depositor at bijapur controlled forty-two accounts, another at surat thirty, and another at karwar nineteen. such persons are really speculators and are a danger to the savings bank, and it would be interesting to know what proportion they hold of the total deposits in the bombay circle. these deposits represent a very high proportion of the total in india, so that the action of any strong body of depositors in bombay has a very serious effect on the balance of the savings bank. the examination of transactions for the thirty years previous to has this satisfactory result that, with the exception of the undesirable element in bombay, a political crisis, at any rate, seems to have no marked influence upon the great mass of depositors in india. the number of depositors on the st march, , was , , with a balance of rs. , , , . the outbreak of the war with germany, however, had a disastrous effect on the savings bank balances. when the announcement was made that the german government had temporarily confiscated the savings bank deposits in that country, a regular panic ensued and within a few months about millions of rupees were withdrawn. the action of the government of india, however, in meeting all claims in full did a great deal to allay public fears, and a certain amount of money came back later in the year, but the balance on the st march, , had declined from about to millions of rupees. since then there has been a gradual recovery, and the balance on the st march, , was nearly million rupees. the recovery would have been much quicker but for the large sale of five-year cash certificates in - on behalf of the war loan. the price received was about million rupees, of which a considerable portion was withdrawn from savings bank deposits. at the same time the small depositors were busy purchasing cash certificates with money that would otherwise have been put into the post office savings bank. now that the war is over and the rush for cash certificates has ceased, there is every prospect that the post office savings bank will shortly regain its former popularity. chapter ix the people and the post office there is no branch of the public service that comes into such close contact with the people as the post office. its officials are consulted in all kinds of family troubles, they have to deal with curious superstitions and beliefs and to overcome the prejudices ingrained by an hereditary system of caste. the official measure of the successful working of the department is gauged by the annual statistics, but the real measure of its success may be learned from the attitude of the people themselves. the indian villager dreads the presence of the government officer in his neighbourhood, but he makes an exception in the case of post office employés. the postman is always a welcome visitor and, if he fails to attend regularly, a complaint is invariably made. it is in the delivery of correspondence throughout the smaller towns and rural tracts in india that the post office has to face some of its most difficult problems. towns in india, with the exception of the presidency and more important towns, are mere collections of houses, divided into "mohullas" or quarters. few streets have names, and consequently addresses tend to be vague descriptions which tax all the ingenuity of the delivery agents. among the poorer classes definite local habitations with names are almost unknown, and the best that a correspondent can do is to give the name of the addressee, his trade and the bazaar that he frequents. such cases are comparatively simple, as the postman is usually a man with an intimate knowledge of the quarter, and the recipients of letters have no objection to be described by their physical defects, such as "he with the lame leg" or "the squint eye" or "the crooked back"! real difficulties, however, arise when articles are addressed to members of the peripatetic population consisting of pilgrims, boatmen and other wanderers. there is an enormous boat traffic on the large rivers of bengal and burma. the boat is the home of a family, it wanders over thousands of miles of channels carrying commodities, and letters to the owner rarely give anything except a general direction to deliver the article on board a boat carrying wood or rice from some river port to another. the pilgrims who travel from shrine to shrine in the country are also a puzzle to the post office, and in sacred places, like benares, special postmen have to be trained to deliver their letters. the forms of address are seldom very helpful for a speedy distribution and delivery of the mail. the following are characteristic of what a sorter has to deal with any day:-- "with good blessings to the fortunate babu kailas chandra dey, may the dear boy live long. the letter to go to the baidiabati post office. the above-named person will get it on reaching baidiabati, khoragachi, goynapara. (bearing.)" "to the one inseparable from my heart, the fortunate babu sibnath ghose, having the same heart as mine. from post office hasnabad to the village of ramnathpur, to reach the house of the fortunate babu prayanath ghose, district twenty-four parganas. don't deliver this letter to any person other than the addressee, mr. postman. this my request to you." "if the almighty pleases, let this envelope, having arrived at the city of calcutta in the neighbourhood of kulutola, at the counting house of sirajudin and alladad khan, merchants, be offered to and read by the happy light of my eyes of virtuous manners and beloved of the heart, mian sheikh inayat ali, may his life be long! written on the tenth of the blessed ramzan in the year of the hejira of our prophet, and despatched as bearing. having without loss of time paid the postage and received the letter, you will read it. having abstained from food and drink, considering it forbidden to you, you will convey yourself to jaunpur and you will know this to be a strict injunction." the three addresses given below have been taken from letters posted by hindus to hindus, and it will be noticed that they merely bear the names of persons with no indication of the place of delivery. "to the sacred feet of the most worshipful, the most respected brother, guru pershad singh!" "to his highness the respected brother, beneficent lord of us the poor, my benefactor, munshi manik chand." "to the blessed feet of the most worshipful younger uncle, kashi nath banerji." it is not uncommon for europeans to receive letters with honorific titles added to their names, in fact it would be considered impolite to address an english gentleman in the vernacular by his mere name. such a thing is never done. whatever address is given by the writer, the indian postman has his special methods of noting it. he seldom knows english, and when names are read out to him by the delivery clerk he scrawls his own description on the back in a script that can only be read by himself. a well-known judge of the calcutta high court, sir john stevens, was much amused to find that the words "old stevens sahib" were constantly written in the vernacular on the back of his letters, this being done to distinguish him from his younger colleague, mr. justice stephens. a story recently received from the persian gulf explains how it is that letters sometimes fail to reach their destinations despite the greatest care on the part of the post office. the incident is worthy of the _arabian nights_, and i will quote the account given by the sub-postmaster of linga. "on the th of december in the year a well-known merchant of linga, aga abbasalli by name, informed me that his agents at bombay, karachi and other places in india had informed him by telegraph that for the last two weeks they had received no mails from him. he asked for an explanation from me for this, indirectly holding me responsible and even threatening to report me to you, for he maintained that the letters he sent to the post for many years past had, at least, always reached their destination, if late, and that he could not now for his life imagine as to how it was that the several letters which he himself sent to the post, by bearer, for the last two weeks, were lost during transmission. as abbasalli was known to me, i sent word to him through somebody to the effect that, in the first place, he would do well to examine the bearer with whom he sent his letters to the post. the bearer was thereupon called by him and confronted with the question of his mails; but before quoting the silly dolt's interesting reply it would be better to note the following few points:-- there are two identical terms in persian, the "poos" and the "poost," which have three distinct meanings, the word "poos" meaning a dock, or, in such a place as the port of linga, only a shelter for ships' anchorage, whilst the word "poost" meaning ( ) hides and skins, or leather and ( ) the post office. as far as pronunciations are concerned it has been a very indiscriminate colloquialism at linga to pronounce both the above said words alike as "poos," without any regard to the final "t" of the word "poost"; and practically, therefore, the word "poos" has three separate meanings as quoted above. the "poost-e-buzurg" or the "poos-e-buzurg," literally equal to the big post office, is used by the mass of people for the british post office at linga, as distinct from the persian post office, which is known as the "poost-e-ajam." but to many again the "poos-e-buzurg" is known as the big dock, also styled the "poos-e-aga bedar" (aga bedar's dock), in contradistinction from another which is smaller, and is only known as the "poos-e-bazar," that is, the bazar dock. moreover, both the big dock and the british post office are situated somewhere near aga bedar's coffee shop, the latter being, however, a little farther than the dock. having noted these points i now beg to revert to the question put to his bearer by abbasalli and the former's reply thereto. "what did you do with my mails, that i gave you, for the last two weeks, to be conveyed to the 'poost'?" asks abbasalli in his vernacular, and the bearer replies, "the first week when you told me to carry your letters to the 'poost' i _went_ to the shoemaker's and was putting them _exactly_ amongst the 'poost' (meaning leather and leather-ware), as ordered by you, but, he won't let me do so, and said i should carry the letters to the 'poos-e-buzurg' near aga bedar's coffee shop." "ah! you blockhead, you," explained the exasperated merchant, "but, what did you do with my letters after all when he told you to carry them to the 'poos-e-buzurg'?" "why, rest easy on the point," says the bearer, "i carried them exactly to the 'poos-e-buzurg' (meaning the big dock) and threw the letters in. the first time when there was plenty of water in the dock (on account of tide) i had simply to throw your letters in, and i am sure they must have reached their destination quite all right; but the next week, when there was but little water in the dock, i had to dig a pit in the sand to put the mails in, and perhaps they may not have reached their destination." poor abbasalli was quite perplexed and awfully sorry to know that all the valuable letters written by him for the two weeks, some containing cheques even, as i am given to understand, were thus entirely washed away by the merciless waves; but, no less embarrassed am i, on hearing of the tomfoolery, to think of what blame it may sometimes accidentally and unnecessarily entail on a postmaster, and i therefore venture to put this real story before you, with the fullest hope that, in future, complaints of a like nature may kindly be considered only on their due merits. i may be allowed to add that the story was related by me before h.b.m.'s vice-consul and the small european community at the linga club, and they all, while sympathizing with me in my perplexity, enjoyed a hearty laugh over the recital. on the st march, , there were over , post offices and , letter boxes in india to serve a population of million people in an area of , , square miles. this gives a post office to about every , persons, or to each square miles of country, which seems a very poor service by comparison with western countries, but, when one considers that the literate population of india is only , , , the service is good and the prospect of future development with the increase of education is enormous. it must not be supposed, however, that the post office confines its energies to the literate population. it is largely used by people who can neither read nor write, and this is made possible by the existence of professional letter-writers, who are to be found in every town and village in the country. for a pice (farthing) they will write an address, and for two pice they will write a short letter or a postcard or fill up a money order, though slightly higher fees are charged if the letter is very long. in rural tracts where it is not worth while to maintain a post office, the people are served by a letter-box or by a village postman who makes periodical visits and acts as a travelling post office. it is a wonderful achievement of the department that there is scarcely a village in india which does not lie within the beat of a village postman. the competition between villages to obtain post offices is often very keen, and a postmaster-general has many a troublesome decision to make, as to which of two or three neighbouring villages is to have the honour conferred upon it. while the matter is yet undecided the competitors vie with each other in pouring correspondence into the nearest post office in order to show the postal importance of their respective villages, an importance which is apt to decline sadly when once the post office has been opened. on one occasion, when postmaster-general, i received application from two villages a and b for the opening of post offices. there happened to be an office in a village c close by, but the applications stated that this village was separated from them by a river, difficult to cross at most seasons and quite impossible during the rains. the inspector who visited the locality reported that the river could be crossed dry-shod at most seasons and with little difficulty during the monsoon, but that a was a much more important place than c and that the post office ought to be transferred there. a fresh complication was then started, and the indignation of the villagers in c knew no bounds. they threatened to carry the matter up to the viceroy, and for the time they began to post enough letters to justify the existence of an office in the village. the dispute was finally settled by establishing an office at a in addition to the one at c, on condition that one or the other would be closed if the postal work done did not justify its continuance. one of the most important duties of a superintendent is to watch carefully the work of village postmen. statistics are kept regularly of the articles delivered and collected by them, and these statistics give a very true indication of the places where new post offices are required in rural tracts. in this way the department keeps in touch with the whole country, and a special grant has been allowed by government for opening experimental offices in places which show signs of needing permanent ones. an experimental office is opened for a period of six months and, if it leads to a development of correspondence and pays its way, it is made permanent at the end of that time, but unless it is a complete failure the experiment is extended up to two years in order to give the people of the neighbourhood every chance of retaining the office. this policy has been most successful and has taught the village people that they are largely responsible for the maintenance of their own post offices. the postmaster is invariably a local man, either the village schoolmaster or a shopkeeper, who gets a small salary, which, combined with the dignity of his majesty's mails, gives him a direct interest in making the office a profitable concern. the annual statistics of the post office serve as a barometer of the prosperity of india. the department has entered into the lives of the people with its lines of communication, its savings bank, money orders, payment of pensions and sale of quinine. it has only one aim and that aim is recognized by all, namely, to do the greatest good for the greatest number. chapter x the indian postman the conditions under which postal articles in england and india are delivered differ so vastly that a knowledge of indian life is necessary in order to understand the difficulties that lie in the way of good delivery work in this country. the smart official walking four miles an hour and shooting the contents of his satchel into every house on his beat with a rat-a-tat is unknown. house doors in india have no knockers and no letter-boxes, and among the better class inhabitants, both european and indian, it is customary to send messengers to the post office to fetch the unregistered mail, so that to this extent the postman's work is reduced. the balance of the articles received by him often forms a strange medley in many languages, of which perhaps he is able to read one with difficulty. in a large town like calcutta letters are received addressed in as many as a dozen different languages, and special clerks versed in the various tongues have to be employed. luckily people of the same race are accustomed to congregate in the same quarters of the town, and the postmen are able to get some of the local residents to assist them in deciphering many a doubtful address. in bombay certain private delivery agencies exist, which are recognized by the department and which work very satisfactorily. on the whole the distribution of letters to the public is performed in a leisurely fashion which is quite in accordance with the national character. one may often see a postman, with the assistance of a dozen of the literate inhabitants of the quarter, spelling out from a dirty piece of folded paper an address, which turns out to be one gunga din living near the temple of hanuman in the courtyard of some ancient who has died years ago, but whose name is still perpetuated in the soil where his house once stood. gunga din may be dead or vanished, the quarter knows him no more, but his sister's grandnephew arrives to take the letter, and after some haggling agrees to pay the anna due on it, for such letters are invariably sent bearing. this little episode being finished the postman proceeds on his beat to find another enigmatical addressee, and is it any wonder that, although his salary is often a low one, the indian postman is one of the most expensive delivery agents in the world? he seldom delivers more than three hundred articles a day, and in the indian business quarters of the town he gets rid of the majority of these at the post office door, since the merchants and others who expect letters always waylay the postman just as he is proceeding on his beat, knowing well that it may be many hours before he will find it convenient to visit them at their houses. in the matter of slow delivery, however, the public are more frequently to blame for delays than the postman, especially in the case of articles which have to be signed for. parcels, money orders or registered letters are taken at the door by a servant and, if the sahib is at his bath or busy, there is a long and tedious wait before the signed receipts are brought back. it is extraordinary how callous people are in this respect towards the interests of the post office and their own neighbours, while they are always ready to complain if the smallest delay or mistake occurs to any articles for themselves. it can be easily understood that where such conditions prevail, and that is all over india, fast delivery is impossible, and the very best regulations for getting the men quickly to their beats are useless when they are detained unnecessarily at every house. [illustration: combined passenger and mail motor van. kangra valley service] in india most money orders are paid at the door by postmen, and in towns, where there are large payments to be made, special sets of postmen are employed for the purpose. the rules regarding the payment of money orders are very strict and, when the payees are not well-known persons, identification by a respectable resident is insisted upon. in large pilgrim resorts, like benares, where the pilgrims are continually getting remittances and are necessarily unknown, there is a special class of professional identifiers, consisting chiefly of the innkeepers. these men for a small fee are always ready to swear to the identity of any pilgrim for whom a money order has arrived, and, strange to say, they are often ready to pay up if it is found that their identification was incorrect and that the money was paid to the wrong person, a not unfrequent occurrence. the postman, however, has to bear the brunt in case of the identification not being complete, and his responsibility in the matter is great. the convenience to the public of having their money brought to their doors is considerable, but it is a source of continual anxiety and expense to the post office. large sums of money are entrusted daily to men on small pay. when the limit, which a postman is allowed to take, is exceeded, an overseer has to accompany him on his beat. accounts have to be kept with each of the money order postmen and must be settled before the day's cash can be closed. complaints of short payment are frequent and necessitate detailed inquiries with usually very unsatisfactory results, while the opportunities for blackmail are unlimited. despite these drawbacks, it would now be scarcely possible to revert to a system by which everyone who received a money order was obliged to take payment of it at a post office, although greater security for both the public and the department would be gained thereby. in certain parts of the country rural delivery is effected with extraordinary difficulty. on the north-west frontier the village postman goes in danger of his life from trans-border tribesmen. in the forest tracts of central india the attacks of man-eating tigers are not merely travellers' tales, but grim realities. in the riverine districts of eastern bengal the postman has to go from village to village by boat, and a storm on one of these immense rivers is a bad thing to face in a frail canoe. nor is the boat journey the worst trouble; a long tramp from the bank through swampy rice and jute fields is often the only way to a village which has to be visited twice a week. it is no wonder that the village postman sometimes takes the easiest way of delivering his letters by going to the most important place in his beat on market day; for, if he cannot find the actual addressees there, he is pretty sure to find some people from the vicinity who are willing to take charge of their neighbours' correspondence, but often not too careful about delivering it. hence the origin of much trouble, complaints and hard swearing. half a dozen witnesses are always forthcoming to affirm that the postman visited the village _in propria persona_ on that particular day, and to prove it the visit book with the signature of one of the perjurers is produced. how can the mere negative evidence of another half-dozen stand against these convincing proofs? on the malabar side of the peninsula, where a very strict form of brahminism prevails, persons of low caste are forbidden to enter the quarters of a town occupied by brahmins, and care has to be taken to place these quarters in the beats of high caste postmen. in palghat there was almost a riot on one occasion when a postman of inferior caste attempted to enter a brahmin street in the performance of his duties, and the postmaster-general was promptly called to order by the indignant inhabitants. it was nearly a question whether he should be fined and compelled to feed a thousand beggars in accordance with the custom of the caste, but, on proving that he was an indigent member of the indian civil service with a wife and family in england, he was pardoned on admitting his error and promising that no repetition of the offence should occur. as a rule the indian postman is reasonably honest and, if not interfered with at an unseasonable moment by an over-zealous inspector, his accounts will come out square in the course of time. the maintenance of a private debit account with the department at the expense of the payees of money orders is not unknown. the usual practice is to withhold the payment of a certain number of money orders for a few days and to use the money for some profitable speculation, such as cotton gambling or betting on the opium sales. recently one of the most respected postmen in the big bazaar of calcutta was found to have overreached himself in carrying out this policy. he was on a very heavy money order beat, and used regularly to keep back a number of money orders and forge the payees' receipts so as to satisfy the office that payment had been made. he kept a private account of these, and when he decided to pay any one whose money had been withheld he filled up a blank form, of which plenty are always available, and took the payee's signature on this. the practice continued for some time and, as everyone got paid in turn and the postman was a most plausible fellow, no complaints were made. at last his speculations went wrong, he got into very deep water and an unpleasant person complained to the postmaster that he had not received a money order which he knew to have been sent weeks before. this led to an inquiry, and the postman, being caught unawares, was unable to account for about , rupees' worth of money orders due to various people in the city. one of the great problems of the post office in large towns is to arrange deliveries and beats of postmen so that people will get their letters in the shortest time after the arrival of the mail trains. it used to be thought that the best way to effect this purpose was to have several delivery centres in order that postmen might be near their beats and the waste of time in walking to the beats be avoided. to enable this to be done, the railway mail service was expected to sort all postal articles into separate bags for the different delivery offices. the principle is excellent in theory, but in practice it has not worked well and has led to indiscriminate missending to wrong delivery offices. for instance, madras at one time had twenty-six delivery offices and, if people could have been induced to address their correspondence to one of these offices with the word (madras) in brackets underneath, there might have been some hope of it being properly sorted by the railway mail service, but probably per cent of articles were simply addressed to madras with or without the name of a street, so that the sorters were set an impossible task and the general post office had to maintain a special staff for sorting and conveying such letters to the offices from which they would eventually be delivered. the present policy is to have as few delivery offices as possible, and to have postmen conveyed to more distant beats. this has proved far more satisfactory; it relieves the work in the r.m.s., enables the postmen to be kept under better control and reduces the possibility of articles going astray. while working at the best arrangements for delivery at calcutta mr. owens, late presidency postmaster, devised the system of what is known for want of a better name as "continuous delivery." every beat is provided with a locked box placed in a shop or some suitable place in the beat, and the letters for delivery are placed in this box by messengers sent direct from the post office. the postman goes straight to his beat and remains on duty there for six hours, he finds his letters in the box and is supposed to make the complete round of his beat every hour, delivering articles and clearing the pillar boxes _en route_. when he returns to the locked box he finds a fresh consignment of letters for delivery, and deposits those that he has collected for despatch, to be taken away by the messenger on his next visit. the system is a good one and has worked well. it saves labour and, if the beats are properly supervised and the postmen work conscientiously, a great quickening up of delivery is effected. if, however, supervision is at all lax, human nature asserts itself, postmen are inclined to loiter and they allow letters to accumulate so that one round can be made to do the work of two. owing to the difficulty of supervision, the continuous delivery system has not many ardent supporters in the post office at the present time. the postman is, in fine, one of the most important factors in the department, and upon his energy and honesty much depends. it therefore behoves the authorities to see that a good class of man is recruited. in addition to being able to read and write the language of that part of the country in which he serves, he should know enough english to be able to read addresses easily, but in order to obtain this class of man careful recruitment is necessary and a good initial salary with reasonable prospects of promotion must be given. much has been done in recent years to improve the status of postmen and all branch postmasterships, which are not held by extra-departmental agents, are now open to them. this is a great step forward. the department used to be very parsimonious in the matter of uniforms, and in many important offices postmen had to pay for them themselves. nor was there any uniformity even in each circle about the uniforms supplied by government. in one town red coats and blue turbans were seen, in another blue coats and red turbans, in another khaki coats and nondescript turbans, while the men who supplied themselves with uniform presented at times the most extraordinary appearance. the pattern of postmen's uniform has now been standardized for each circle, and uniforms are supplied free of cost in all head offices and large sub-offices. warm clothing is also given in all places with a cold climate. there is no doubt about the value of a uniform to a postman. it adds a certain amount of dignity to him and, like the soldier, he is the better man for having a distinctive badge of office. the pay has recently been greatly improved and much has been done to ameliorate conditions under which they serve. there are over , postmen in india; the interests of these men are identical with those of the department, and their welfare should be the aim of every postal officer. chapter xi post office buildings "i don't think" was the terse though somewhat vulgar reply of a well-known district officer on the western side of india when asked if he would like to have a post office erected in a conspicuous place at the head-quarters of his district. he was willing to give the site in question for a clock tower, a public library or even a statue of one of his predecessors, but a post office, "no, thank you." the reason for this attitude may be easily understood by those who have seen the ordinary indian post office of a few years ago. it used generally to be a rented building quite unsuited for the purpose and made perfectly hideous by small additions and projections constructed from time to time in order to meet demands for increased space. the windows and doors were used not for light and air nor even for giving access to the interior, but for business purposes. they were blocked up with the exception of a small hole just the size of a pane of glass, through which the members of the public had to try to get a clerk to attend to their requirements. when a government building existed it was very little better, except in the matter of repairs. the interior of the ordinary post office was a dreadful sight a few years ago, a mass of untidy tables, a large number of cupboards, known in india as almirahs, ill-designed sorting cases and dirt, this last article being the most prevalent everywhere. letters were sorted on the floor for convenience, and the delivery table with its ragged occupants, who did duty for postmen, was a sight for the gods. the position of a post office in a town is a matter of the first importance, but the chief object of the authorities in the early days of the imperial post office seems to have been economy. as a building in a back street naturally costs less than one in a main street, many of the city offices are hidden away in the most inaccessible slums. it is, indeed, a case of mohamed and the mountain, and the post office, secure in its monopoly, was not going to afford any unnecessary conveniences to its clients. many of my readers will doubtless recall some of those upstairs offices in big cities, which do an enormous amount of work, especially in the afternoon, the approach being a single staircase just broad enough for one person to ascend. imagine the turmoil at the busy hours of the day. in bara bazar, calcutta, and benares city, two famous instances which come to mind at the moment, where there is a heavy despatch of parcels, the confined space round the parcel windows was the scene of a petty riot every afternoon. such a state of affairs could not exist for a month in a country where the better class of people perform their own post office business; unfortunately in india all this kind of work is done by native messengers who are not particular about the surroundings of an office and usually have plenty of time to spare. things, however, improved in recent years under the direction of sir arthur fanshawe and sir charles stewart-wilson, both of whom had the critical faculty strongly developed. assisted by the genius of mr. james begg, consulting architect to the government of india, they have done much to improve the modern post office, with the result that the department now has some really fine buildings. for beauty of design the new bombay general post office, completed in , is one of the finest in the east. the reproduction of it in this book gives but little idea of its splendid proportions, and its internal structure has been planned with a view to facilitate postal work and to allow for future expansion. the general post office in calcutta was built in from designs made by mr. granville, architect to the government of india. the site is of great historical interest owing to its association with the tragedy of the black hole of calcutta. the building is hardly large enough now for the great mass of work which it has to transact and, although the removal of the postmaster-general's office and the sorting branch has somewhat relieved the congestion, there is already a demand for increased accommodation. the same thing has happened in madras where there is a large post and telegraph office facing the sea, designed by mr. chisholm and opened to the public in . the expansion of business has outgrown the capacity of the building, and the time has come to construct a new post office and to use the present building as a telegraph office. most head offices and important sub-offices are now designed to provide a proper hall for the public who wish to transact business, with a counter for clerks and sufficient open space in the building to allow each branch to work independently and in comfort under the supervision of a responsible officer. at lahore, nagpur, patna, chittagong, bareilly, rawalpindi, cawnpore, howrah, poona, agra, allahabad, mandalay, benares, sholapur and mount road madras, excellent offices have been recently constructed, and the next few years will see rangoon, delhi, dacca, darjeeling, ajmere, ahmedabad and several other large towns provided with post office buildings, not only scientifically planned, but handsomely designed. apart from its architectural features the essentials in a post office building are very much those of a bank, namely, space, facility for supervision and an arrangement of the branches dealing with the public, so that anyone entering the office to do postal business can find his way immediately to the clerk concerned. space is most necessary, especially in the sorting and delivery of mails. in crowded offices thefts occur, packets of mails get mixed up and shot into wrong bags, and proper supervision is almost impossible. the old indian system of letting the public stand in the veranda of the post office and transact business through the windows of the buildings has always been fatal to good and quick work. in the first place it is not easy to find the proper window for the exact purpose one requires, and there are seldom sufficient for all the branches. in the second place, when one has discovered the right window, the clerk is seated inside some distance away, and it is often difficult to attract his attention. the only sensible arrangement is a hall with a proper counter and screen on which the departments are clearly indicated, and the clerks sitting right up face to face with the public. the postal clerk has the gift of complete aloofness when his services are in the greatest request, but it requires extra strong nerves to feign indifference to a man who is looking straight at you two feet away and shouting his demands in unintelligible hindustani, especially if he hasn't yet breakfasted and the weather is very hot. the real value of the counter is, in fine, that it enables all work with the public to be performed in half the time. except in the very largest offices where the postmaster sits in some secluded abode like an olympian god, the postmaster's seat should be in the main office and readily accessible to the public. deputy and assistant postmasters are very fine fellows, but nothing can compensate for the eagle eye of the head. it is extraordinary how quickly a delivery gets out when he is present to urge it along, and how swiftly one gets one's money orders or savings bank deposits when he is looking on. for this reason he should be always within hail and, if he can accustom himself to deal courteously with the public and treat his staff with justice and consideration, he will be the man that the post office requires. the policy in past years of obtaining rented buildings for post offices has proved a serious misfortune to the department. they are seldom or never suitable for public offices, and the various attempts to adapt them for postal purposes have been expensive and unsuccessful. every addition means an increase of rent and, with each renewal of the lease, the rental is regularly enhanced. i don't think that it is an exaggeration to say that throughout india the rents paid for post office buildings have increased by per cent in the last twenty-five years. in many instances the total value of the house itself has been paid many times over, and the department still continues to pay an exorbitant price for the privilege of occupying the ruins. no more miserable or extravagant policy than this can be imagined, and in large stations the post office is absolutely in the hands of the landlord who can demand what he likes when a lease expires, a position which he is inclined to take full advantage of. in recent years the folly of this system has become more and more apparent, and efforts are now being made to provide government buildings for all important offices, but any such scheme must necessarily take time since good sites in suitable positions are seldom available and funds are strictly limited. [illustration: general post office. bombay] a far-sighted man who thinks that his business will expand in time will provide for such expansion even as a speculation and, when expansion is a certainty as in the case of the post office which doubles its business in ten years, to provide merely for the needs of the moment is the falsest of false economy. the standard rule laid down by sir charles stewart-wilson with respect to new buildings was that, when a new post office is required, the space necessary for the office at the time should be taken and multiplied by two. then there would be some hope of the accommodation being sufficient at all events for one official generation. there is hardly a single office built more than twenty years ago which is not now overcrowded and which will not have to be enlarged at considerable expense. if this lesson is taken to heart by the designers of our new post offices, they will earn the gratitude of future generations of postmasters. chapter xii the post office in indian states the continent of india is divided into territory of two kinds, namely, british india and indian states. there are states with varying degrees of independence according to the treaties that exist between them and the british government. except in three of these, mysore, travancore and cochin, no proper postal system can be said to have existed before the imperial post office of india was established. in mysore the anche, a local post, was a very old institution, and its extension to the whole kingdom was one of the earliest measures of the reign of chikka devaraj wadayar in the year . a similar system known as anchel has existed for many years in travancore and cochin, but its origin is not known. other states had no post offices in the proper sense of the term, and when the post office of india was established it extended its operations to many of these without any question. from many of the larger states, however, the imperial post office was rigidly excluded, with the result that there was great difficulty in maintaining any postal communication between them and british india. gradually certain states began to develop postal organizations of a distinct and independent character with special postage stamps of their own and others had organizations without any postage stamps. all kinds of different arrangements existed and the position is well described by sir frederic hogg, the director-general, in his annual report of - : "in some places the delivery of correspondence proceeding from the imperial post is effected by an agency independent of this department, in other places this agency is subject to imperial post control; while sometimes again both descriptions of distributing agencies are employed. there exists an arrangement under which the imperial post is subsidized for the delivery of correspondence, and there are some localities in native territory which are destitute of any postal organization, and where letters cannot be delivered at all. nor is diversity of method the sole difficulty that has to be met. beyond the limits of this department information on postal matters can hardly be obtained. native states issue no _postal guide_, print no lists of post offices and publish no postal matters for the information of the public. postal information is not available. it is uncertain whether a letter will ever be delivered. not only is prepayment to destination in many cases impossible, but correspondence is subject on delivery to arbitrary and unknown charges. registration is often impossible. postcards don't exist and the inhabitants of native states, which oppose imperial post extensions, are debarred from the benefits of the money order, insurance and value-payable systems and other facilities afforded by the imperial post office to the public. restrictions of correspondence must be the natural consequence of this diversity of system or absence of system, and the only real remedy lies in the gradual extinction of all post organizations and their supersession by the imperial post. such a measure must entail great expense for several years, but uniformity of postage rates, rules and conditions would result and the cost involved would doubtless ultimately be more than covered by increased revenue." the first case that came prominently to notice was that of the patiala state with which there was considerable trouble regarding postal exchanges. a proposal was made in to extend the imperial postal system to the state, but it was not acceptable to the council of regency, and after much discussion it was decided to prepare a convention according to which a mutual exchange of correspondence could be arranged. the convention was ratified in and similar ones were made with gwalior, jhind and nabha in and with faridkot and chamba in , the last four constituting with patiala the group known as the phulkian states. the conventions with these states are all similar and to the following effect:-- ( ) there shall be a mutual exchange of correspondence, parcels and money orders between the imperial post office and the post offices of the native state, this exchange including registered, insured and value-payable articles, and being governed by the rules of the _indian postal guide_, as periodically published. ( ) certain selected post offices in british india and in the native states shall be constituted offices of exchange, and these offices shall be the sole media of exchange for insured and value-payable articles and money orders, and shall be entrusted with the duty of preparing the accounts arising from the exchange. ( ) indian postage stamps and postal stationery overprinted with the name of the native state shall be supplied by the government of india on indent at cost price, and shall be used for the purpose of prepaying inland correspondence posted in the state. ( ) the government of india shall bear the cost of conveying mails over british territory, and the native state shall bear the cost of conveying mails within the limits of the state. ( ) the imperial post office shall establish no new post offices in native state territory without the permission of the durbar, excepting at railway stations or within british cantonments, the durbar undertaking the establishment of any post offices or letter-boxes required in state territory by the imperial post office. ( ) on foreign correspondence posted in the state, postage shall be prepaid only by means of imperial postage stamps not bearing the overprint, postage stamps with such overprint not being recognized for the purpose. ( ) monthly accounts shall be kept of the amounts due to the imperial post office by the native state and vice versa upon the money order exchange. no sooner had these conventions been agreed to than government began to regret the step that had been taken, and it was then seen that real postal unity in the country could only be effected by the abolition of separate systems in the different states, a policy directly opposed to that which had been adopted towards gwalior and the phulkian states. when, therefore, the dewan or prime minister of mysore asked for a convention, he was met with a definite refusal, and an alternative proposal was made to the mysore government that the imperial post office should undertake the postal service of the state. the proposal was accepted in , and the mysore anche was abolished at the end of . this measure of amalgamation, in which the mysore darbar rendered substantial assistance, was carried into effect from the beginning of . the facilities afforded by the indian post office, which were thus extended to the whole of mysore, were fully appreciated by the people and resulted in a great development of postal business, the number of articles delivered having increased in the first year by no less than a million. the case of mysore was such a striking example of the benefits arising from the unification of a state post office with the imperial system that sir arthur fanshawe, the director-general, used every endeavour to extend the policy to other states. the result was that the kashmir state followed suit in , and shortly afterwards bamra, nandgaon and pudakottah. the efforts to win over hyderabad, the premier state of india, were not successful. although negotiations were extended over many years and every inducement was offered, the nizam steadfastly refused to surrender the management of his own posts as a separate system. in mr. stewart-wilson, who succeeded sir arthur fanshawe as director-general, started a fresh campaign for the unification of the post office all over india, and he succeeded in getting indore and bhopal to join in . since then jaipur asked for a convention, but this was refused in accordance with the policy that conventions were undesirable as only tending to perpetuate the many diversities which government were anxious to abolish. the position at present is that out of states, , including faridkote which voluntarily abandoned its convention in , have cast in their lot with the imperial post office, the number of outstanding states is thus fifteen, of which only hyderabad, gwalior, jaipur, patiala and travancore are of much importance. [illustration: general post office. madras] the policy of the government of india has been clearly laid down in the correspondence dealing with the unification of the hyderabad posts with the imperial post office. the government is unwilling to take over the postal system of any state without the full consent of the durbar or state council, but it exercises the right of opening an imperial post office or placing a letter-box anywhere in a state if imperial interests require it. as a rule such offices are opened at railway stations or military cantonments, but they may be opened elsewhere in cases of real necessity. the aim of the government is towards complete unification of the post office all over the country. the inconvenience of separate systems is keenly felt, and the inequality of conventions on mutual terms between a great empire and a small state is obvious. the principle upon which each country of the postal union retains its own postage on foreign correspondence is based on the theory that for every letter sent a letter is received, and that the transit charges are fairly apportioned, and in many cases the difference is slight when spread over a long period. when the principle is applied to a small state in a big country like india, the burden of handling correspondence is very unevenly divided. for every ten miles a letter has to be conveyed within the state, the post office of india may have to convey it a thousand miles or more at a cost altogether out of proportion to the postage receipts for half the correspondence handled. the difference is still more marked in the case of parcels and money orders and, despite all efforts to make the division of fees correspond with the work done by each administration, the position has never been satisfactory. the postal future of the few states that still refuse to join the imperial system is uncertain. all compromises have been rejected, and the arguments of prestige and prejudice are used to contest those of uniformity and convenience. as matters stand now the inconsistencies of small postal systems within the indian empire seem likely to continue until a firm hand on the one part and enlightened opinion on the other combine to abolish them. chapter xiii the overland route overland trade between europe and india has existed from the earliest times and was fully developed during the roman empire. after the overthrow of the western empire by odoacer in a.d. and during the struggles with the persians and saracens the overland trade with the east languished until the consolidation of the saracenic power at damascus, cairo and bagdad. it was again thrown into disorder by the ascendancy of the turkish guard at bagdad, and did not revive until the thirteenth century, when, as the result of the crusades, venice and genoa became the great emporia for eastern spices, drugs and silks. the merchandise came by land to the ports of the levant and the black sea, but the capture of constantinople by the ottoman turks in drove the traffic to alexandria, which continued to be the mart for eastern wares until the discovery of the cape route to india altered the whole conditions of trade. the first historical attempt to reach england from india by the overland route was made in when lord pigot, governor of madras, was placed in confinement by his own council. both parties attempted to avoid loss of time in representing their case to the board of directors by despatching messengers up the red sea and across egypt. the council's messenger, captain dibdin, managed to land at tor near the mouth of the gulf of suez, to make his way across egypt and finally to reach his destination. not so mr. eyles irwin, the messenger of the governor. he sailed in the brig _adventure_, and after many mishaps only succeeded in reaching cosseir on the red sea in july, where he and his companions were detained by the turks. in , after the fall of pondicherry, warren hastings was determined that the good news should go home via suez, and he engaged to send mr. greuber by a fast sailing packet to that port with the despatches. the proposal was strenuously opposed by francis and wheler, but hastings, having barwell on his side and a casting vote in council, was able to carry out his intention. mr. greuber managed to get through by this route, but neither hastings nor the board of directors anticipated the objections which the ottoman porte had to any navigation of the red sea by the company's ships. in the porte issued a firman putting a stop to all trade between egypt and india by the way of suez and decreed that ships from india could proceed only as far as jeddah. if despatches were to be sent by suez, the messenger conveying them had to travel from jeddah by turkish ship. this was a hopeless arrangement and meant endless delay, besides which the fate of messengers or of any europeans crossing the desert between suez and cairo was very uncertain. the terrible dangers and difficulties of the journey are graphically described in mrs. fay's letters. owing to the opposition of the turkish government the overland route was abandoned for some time, but in an arrangement was made with them and the company's cruiser _panther_, under the command of captain speak, sailed in that year with despatches. she left bombay on the th march and reached suez on the th may, where she waited for three months for return despatches; but since these did not arrive she returned to bombay, and, being delayed by contrary winds at mocha, finally arrived after an absence of thirteen months. in the government carried into execution a project which they had long been contemplating, namely, the establishment of a mail route from india to england by the persian gulf and turkish arabia. a number of packet boats were put on this service which plied between bombay and basrah once a month. private correspondence was allowed to be sent by this route upon the following conditions:-- . no letter was to exceed four inches in length, two in breadth, nor to be sealed with wax. . all letters were to be sent to the secretary to government with a note specifying the name of the writer and with the writer's name under the address, to be signed by the secretary previous to deposit in the packet, as a warrant of permission. . postage had to be paid upon the delivery of each letter at the rate of rupees for a single letter weighing one-quarter of a rupee, for letters weighing half a rupee rupees, and for letters weighing one rupee rupees. two mails were sent by each despatch, one by bagdad and one by aleppo. we are not told if many private people were wealthy enough to pay these overwhelming rates of postage or were prepared to face the irksome conditions imposed upon anyone using this route. in the first quarter of the nineteenth century the east india company continued to retain a resident at busra long after their trade had ceased to be of any consequence. one of his principal duties was in connection with the desert post, by which despatches were forwarded to england from the bombay government. later on the post of resident was abolished, and in the desert post was closed, as despatches, when forwarded overland, were sent in the company's cruisers via cosseir on the red sea and cairo. on the th november, , a meeting was held in the town hall at calcutta to discuss the feasibility of establishing communication with great britain by means of steam navigation via the mediterranean, isthmus of suez and the red sea. a premium of £ , was offered to the first company or society that would bring out a steam vessel to india and establish the communication between india and england. the first steamer to reach india via the cape was the _enterprise_, commanded by captain johnson, in . she was a vessel of five hundred tons burthen with two engines of sixty horse-power each and also built to sail, and she performed the journey in fifty-four days. her great fault was want of room for coal, a circumstance which nearly led to a disaster on the voyage, as the coal, which had to be packed on top of the boilers, ignited and the fire was extinguished with difficulty. the credit for establishing the suez route belongs to lieutenant thomas waghorn, of the east india company's marine. he was the first to organize direct communication between england and india by means of fast steamers in the mediterranean and red seas. in the steamer _hugh lindsay_ made the first voyage from bombay to suez, and waghorn from that time worked hard at his scheme. he built eight halting places in the desert between cairo and suez, provided carriages and placed small steamers on the nile and the canal of alexandria, waghorn's triumph was on the st october, , when he bore the mails from bombay, only thirty days old, into london. this memorable feat settled the question of the superiority of the overland as compared with the old cape route, but it was not given effect to without great opposition from the shipping companies. in the peninsular and oriental steamship company obtained a charter of incorporation, and one of the conditions was that steam communication with india should be established within two years. this condition was fulfilled by the despatch of the _hindustan_ to india via the cape of good hope in . the advantages of the route across the isthmus of suez were, however, too obvious, and the p. and o. company took up a contract for the conveyance of mails between london and suez, while vessels of the east india company's navy conveyed them between suez and bombay. the journey from alexandria to suez was most uncomfortable for passengers. it was made by canal boat to cairo, and then by two-wheeled vehicles across the desert to suez. in a contract was given for five years to the p. and o. company to establish a regular mail service in the indian seas, with a subsidy of £ , a year for the combined india and china services. this contract was subsequently extended, and in january, , a fresh contract was concluded with the company under which fortnightly communication was secured between england, india and china, with a service once in two months between singapore and sydney. on the th july, , a supplementary contract was entered into for the conveyance of mails between southampton and bombay through alexandria, by which way the transit time was twenty-eight days. the total subsidy under both contracts was £ , a year. the sea postage collected by the united kingdom and india was devoted to the payment of this subsidy, and any deficiency was borne equally by both countries. in a fresh contract for twelve years was concluded with the company for a weekly service to and from bombay and a fortnightly one to and from china and japan. the annual subsidy was fixed at £ , , to be increased to £ , if such should be necessary, in order to enable the company to pay per cent dividend upon their capital. this absurd clause was cancelled in , and the annual subsidy was fixed at £ , . the suez canal was opened in , but owing to difficulties with the british government it was not used for the passage of the mail steamers until many years later. in the southampton route was abolished, and the contract for the weekly service stipulated for a transit time of ½ days between london and bombay via alexandria and suez. it was not until that the mails were sent by the suez canal instead of by rail across egypt. during the term of the contract - , the port for reception and despatch of mails was marseilles. arrangements were made in the new contract of for the substitution of brindisi for marseilles on the completion of the mont cenis tunnel and railway, and brindisi remained the european port for the reception and despatch of mails until the outbreak of war in . [illustration: post office. agra] on the st july, , a new contract was drawn up for a combined eastern and australian service. the transit time between london and bombay was limited to ½ days and the annual subsidy was fixed at £ , , of which £ , represented the payment for the service between brindisi, india, ceylon, the straits settlements and china. the last contract was entered into with the company on the st july, , for seven years. the transit time between brindisi and bombay was reduced to ¼ days with an allowance of thirty-six hours in the monsoon, and the total subsidy was fixed at £ , . the present contract with the p. and o. company expires in , and what fate the future has in store for the suez canal route we cannot tell. there has been much talk of a through railway from calais to karachi, and with the channel tunnel completed this would mean a railway route from london to india. the cost, however, of transporting the indian mail, which often consists of more than ten thousand bags, over this enormous distance by rail would probably be prohibitive. under the international postal convention each country traversed would have the right to claim a territorial transit charge, and with fast steamers between marseilles and bombay the saving in time might not be so great as has been anticipated. another competitor to the steamer service has appeared recently in the form of aviation. several proposals for an air mail service between england and india have been made, but the success of long distance transits by air is not yet assured. it has been stated that the old familiar scenes at port said and aden will soon be as unknown to the eastern traveller as table bay and st. helena. the old trade routes are to be revived again, no longer with slow and picturesque caravans, but with rushing trains and aeroplanes. despite these prophecies the p. and o. continue to build new ships, they book passages even a year ahead, and are preparing to tender for a new mail contract. is this mere contempt, is it optimism, or is it the adoption of warren hastings' motto: "mens aequa in arduis"? chapter xiv the sea post office in the postmaster-general, united kingdom, announced that it had been determined to open the homeward-bound mails on board the steamers between alexandria and southampton and alexandria and marseilles, with a view to effect a partial or complete sorting of the letters and newspapers. he also suggested that the clerks entertained for this service might during the voyage out be employed in sorting the letters and newspapers contained in the mails despatched from england to india. at the same time he inquired whether the government of india would be willing to bear their proportion of the cost of the scheme. the offer was declined on the ground that english clerks could not sort letters correctly for stations in india, where there were many places with the same name. in the bombay government reported that on the europe side of egypt the former practice of sending an admiralty agent with each steamer of the peninsular and oriental company in charge of mails had been abolished, and instead the company carried a couple of post office clerks to sort the homeward mail. they embarked on the marseilles boat at alexandria, and before arriving at malta they sorted all the letters for transmission via marseilles. at malta these clerks were transferred to the vessel for southampton, and when the steamer reached that port all the heavy mails were sorted. the bombay government suggested that a similar arrangement might be adopted east of suez, the clerks told off for the work being employed in the bombay post office when they were not engaged on the steamer. the bombay government's suggestion was negatived on the ground of expense in view of the unsatisfactory state of the indian finances at the time. in the subject was revived by lord lawrence, the director-general, mr. monteath, agreed with the objections formerly urged that english post office clerks could not sort letters for all stations in india, but held that they could sort letters received by the marseilles route only for bombay and put up in boxes the letters and papers for the several governments or administrations in the provinces. it was then decided that sorting to the above limited extent might best be done in london and that, if it were done by a sorting establishment on a steamer west of suez, the indian government might be reasonably called upon for a contribution. thus the discussion ended for the time and nothing was done. the subject was revived in , when weekly communication between england and india was established. in the new contract with the peninsular and oriental company provision was made to accommodate a postal sorting office and give free passages to sorters on the vessels east of suez. the government of india decided to take advantage of this arrangement and authorized experimental sea-sorting establishments on the scale of six sets of sorters for fifty-two voyages annually in each direction between bombay and suez. each set consisted of a head sorter, a sorter and two packers. the calculation was based on an allowance of fifteen days each way for the voyage to and from suez, with an interval of from two days to six days between a return from suez and the next departure from bombay, notice was at the same time given for the withdrawal of the naval agents employed on board the steamers. one of the principal duties of these naval agents appears to have been to report whether penalties for delay should be exacted or not according to the circumstances in which the delays occurred. in his final report in on the working of the system, as a result of which the establishment was permanently continued, the director-general described the work of the sea post office as "embracing the sorting of mails for transmission to the various localities of a huge continent, as well as the checking of the accounts made out in respect of such correspondence by the various european offices from which the mails are received.... it is a work which, in an office on shore, would be distributed among a large establishment, each member of which would have to learn only a small portion of the business; and it is a work the bad performance of which even occasionally will give rise to the most serious consequences." the experimental formation of the sea-sorting office had succeeded so well that the inward overland mail was received at bombay ready for despatch into the interior, instead of having to be detained there for about six hours, which often involved the loss of a whole day for certain places. the bombay delivery ticket-holders got their overland letters at the post office window about ten minutes after the mail had arrived, and the delivery to calcutta ticket-holders of letters, which had been sorted at sea, was similarly expedited. the indian sea-sorting office sorted letters for the united kingdom, but the london general post office did not reciprocate by sorting the mail for india, the latter being done at sea, which enabled london to dispense with a large expenditure for naval agents. although the revised contract with the peninsular and oriental company provided for proper sorting accommodation on their vessels eastward of suez, there was no similar provision westward of suez; on the contrary, it was specially provided that the master or commander of the vessel should take charge of the mails to the west of suez. the fact was that the work done by the indian sea-sorting office on the homeward voyage was so complete and thorough that the british post office was able to abolish all its sea-sorting establishments west of suez. the steady growth in the work to be done and in the number of men required to cope with it gave rise to many difficulties in connection with the provision of suitable and adequate accommodation on board the steamers, the proper supervision of the staff, and the improvement of the service. the sorting arrangements had to be revised frequently, and the extent of the run, which, as stated above, was originally between suez and bombay, had in to be curtailed to the voyage between aden and bombay in consequence of the decision of the peninsular and oriental company to tranship the outward and homeward mails at aden every alternate week. with the steady increase in the volume of the mails to be dealt with, it was found necessary to add to this staff considerably from time to time. in the total staff of the six sets comprising the "marine postal service, suez and bombay," was raised to six mail officers, six assistant mail officers, six supernumerary assistant mail officers and twelve packers, i.e. five men for each set. when the journey was curtailed to the bombay-aden run the sets were reduced to three, but the number in each set had to be steadily increased until in it reached twenty-nine, consisting of an assistant mail officer, fifteen sorters and thirteen packers. in the year a special inquiry, made in connection with a question asked in parliament as to the effect of the introduction of imperial penny postage on work in the sea post office, revealed the fact that the conditions of the service were very exacting on the staff. the extent to which the sorting of the mails could be done at bombay or in the railway mail service instead of at sea was very fully considered, and, although the committee of postal officers convened at bombay to examine the subject did not recommend the discontinuance of the existing arrangement, its retention was made conditional upon the adoption of a number of special measures to reduce the amount of work at sea. a further inquiry into the conditions of service in the sea post office, instituted in the year in connection with a representation on the subject made to the secretary of state for india by the late mr. samuel smith, m.p., again brought into prominence the fact that the work had to be performed in circumstances of a peculiarly trying nature. it also established that, owing to the rapid increase, at the rate of to per cent a year, in the volume of the mails, the question of arranging for the sorting work to be done on shore instead of at sea could not be deferred much longer. this growth was bound to involve further additions to the staff from time to time, while the accommodation which it was possible to secure for the work, especially on board the through mail steamers, was strictly limited. the subject of abolishing the sea post office altogether, or, at least, of restricting it to very small proportions, was again taken up in , as the postmaster-general, bombay, reported that the service could not be placed on a proper footing without the provision of much more accommodation on board the through steamers, and expressed the opinion that the time had come for considering whether it was not possible to have most of the work of sorting done on shore. by the end of the volume of the mails had become so large and the difficulty of dealing with them on board so great that a radical change was needed. the question of having the sorting work done on shore was, therefore, fully examined again with the postmaster-general, bombay. the position at the time was as follows: the mails for india despatched from the united kingdom were received by the aden-bombay sea post office partly sorted for the various territorial divisions of india, and partly unsorted. the unsorted portion, which amounted to about per cent of the total, consisted of the articles of all classes posted or received in london late on friday evening, which the london general post office did not sort before despatch. the indian mails from countries other than the united kingdom were received by the sea post office wholly unsorted. with the exception of trade circulars and price lists, all the unsorted mails received were dealt with by the sea post office between aden and bombay. the average number of the unregistered letters, postcards, newspapers, packets of printed papers, and samples which had to be sorted by the sea post office on each voyage from aden to bombay was , and, in addition, some registered articles had to be specially treated and about unpaid articles examined and taxed with postage. this work had to be performed under very trying conditions and, during the monsoon season especially, the staff was hard pressed to finish the sorting before the steamer reached bombay. the accommodation for sorting the mails provided on the through mail steamers was becoming less and less adequate as the volume of the mail increased and no additional space could be obtained. the proposal to meet the situation by again extending the run of the sea post office to port said or suez had to be negatived owing to the transhipment at aden on alternate weeks. moreover, it was undesirable to resort to a measure of this kind, as, quite apart from the large additional expenditure involved in return for insufficient advantages, the difficulty of keeping the staff under close and constant supervision was becoming more pronounced. in fact, this difficulty of exercising proper supervision over the enormous volume of work at sea furnished in itself a very strong argument in favour of having the work of sorting and dealing with these important mails done entirely on shore. it was estimated that, with the provision of all necessary appliances and conveniences for dealing rapidly with the work on shore, a staff of about well-trained and efficient sorters could do within a period of two and a half hours from the time of the _landing_ of the mails the whole of the work then done by the sea post office. this number could be easily provided from among the sorters already employed in the sea post office, in the bombay general post office, and in sections of the railway mail service working into and out of bombay. the provision of suitable accommodation for the sorting to be done on shore, which was formerly a matter of much difficulty owing to the want of space in the general post office, bombay, no longer existed as the new general post office near the victoria terminus, the building of which was then well advanced, had ample room for this purpose. it was unnecessary to enter into any examination of the question in respect of the outward mails from india as the whole of the work done by the sea post office in connection with those mails could just as easily be performed, without any public or postal inconvenience and at very little extra cost, by the railway mail service and in the various large post offices in india. in view of the increasingly unfavourable conditions under which the sorting had to be performed at sea and of the greater security and efficiency that would be secured by having it done on shore, it was admitted that the best course would be to abolish the sea sorting service, but to do so gradually in order to avoid any dislocation in the disposal of the foreign mails. the various indian chambers of commerce were consulted in , and the general opinion was that no change should be made until the alexandra docks at bombay were completed. the authorities of the bombay port trust were accordingly requested to provide a sorting hall for the post office on the new pier. on the completion of the new mole in the harbour the mail steamer, instead of discharging its mails in the stream, would be able to berth alongside the pier; the delay in transhipment would be greatly reduced, and with a sufficient staff of sorters on the spot the mails would be ready for despatch by the special trains due to leave bombay within four and a half hours of the signalling of the steamers. the question was finally settled by the outbreak of the war in . the sailings of the mail steamers became very irregular, accommodation on board could no longer be provided for sorters, and consequently the sorting of both the outward and inward mails had to be performed in the bombay general post office. the sorting of the homeward mail on shore was undertaken from the th august, , and the last inward mail sorted on board arrived at bombay on the th august, . in spite of war conditions, the first special train usually started within seven hours of the steamer having been signalled. in these circumstances the sea post office was formally abolished as such, and the indian share of the eastern mail service subsidy was reduced by a sum of £ a year on account of its discontinuance. no other postal administration of the world has ever attempted to undertake the task of sorting the foreign mails while in course of transit by sea on anything like the scale on which this work was done by the indian post office. a certain amount of sorting of mails was done on the steamers of the white star line sailing between liverpool and new york, and on those of the american line sailing between southampton and new york, also on board the german steamers sailing between bremen or hamburg and new york. the work done on those lines, however, was on a very minor scale and a small staff of four men on the white star and american line steamers, and of three on the german steamers was employed. the strength of the staff of the sea post office working between bombay and aden was, in , one hundred and three men, divided into three sets of one assistant mail officer, seventeen sorters and fourteen packers each, with seven probationary sorters. the staff was a most extravagant one; the men were not employed for more than half their time. by using a large staff and with proper organisation the work that took five days at sea is now being done more efficiently in a less number of hours in bombay. under present arrangements the mails are hoisted from the steamer direct into the foreign mail sorting office on the ballard pier. there they are opened and sorted for the various parts of india by about one hundred and fifty sorters, and within three hours they are ready for the postal special trains which leave the pier station for calcutta, madras, lucknow and the punjab. foreign mail service sections work in each of these trains to deal with the final sorting and distribution of the mails to the various stations _en route_. chapter xv the post office in mesopotamia and the persian gulf the great war has thrown such strong light on the countries which border on the persian gulf that it may be interesting to record the important part which has been played by the post office of india in connection with imperial policy in persia and mesopotamia. owing to political considerations and the necessity of keeping open alternative means of communication between europe and india, the importance of the persian gulf and mesopotamia as a mail route was established nearly a century and a half ago. the ships of the old indian navy carried mail packets from bombay to basra, which was the starting-point of a regular dromedary post to aleppo, linked with a horse post from aleppo to constantinople, and it is an interesting piece of history that lord nelson's letter to the bombay government, giving the news of the naval victory of the nile, was transmitted by this route. during the first half of the last century, as the persian gulf and the shat-el-arab were infested with pirates, these waters were avoided by british trading vessels, so that, when a ship of the indian navy was not available to convey mails to bombay, letters from the political residents of the east india company stationed at bagdad and basra were sent to india by the desert route via damascus and beyrout and thence through egypt, and correspondence between bushire and india had to be diverted through teheran and alexandria. in a regular six-weekly mail service between bombay and basra was undertaken by the british india steam navigation company, and about the same time the euphrates and tigris steam navigation company agreed to extend the mail service from basra to bagdad by running their steamers in connection with the ocean line. the postal system at the coast ports, however, was defective owing to the absence of local post offices for the collection and distribution of mails, but these were gradually established from the year onwards at bushire, muscat, bandar abas, bahrain, mohammerah, and other places under the protection of british consular officers, and post offices were opened at bagdad and basra in turkish arabia in . although all these post offices were primarily intended for the benefit of political officers of the government of india, they have proved just as useful to the consular representatives of other european nations and to the public, and there is no doubt that, by supplying a commercial want, they gave a great impetus to trade in the persian gulf region. for years there was no other local postal service worthy of the name, and intercourse with the hinterland was entirely under the control of the british consular officers. in turkish arabia was wholly dependent for regular communication with the outside world on english enterprise. there were two mail routes from bagdad, one to teheran via kermanshah, a distance of miles, and the other from bagdad to damascus, miles, in connection with the british consulate at the latter place and the route to england via beyrout. a monthly mail service was also maintained by the government of india for the convenience of the british legation at teheran and the residency of bushire, the route lying through shiraz and ispahan, where british agencies had been established, but no postage was charged on letters despatched, as the line was kept up purely for political purposes. in addition to this post the indo-european telegraph department had a weekly service from bushire to shiraz. these persian lines were worked partly by runners and partly by horsemen, and continued until the persian government inaugurated its own service in and established a weekly post between bushire and teheran. the turkish representative at the international postal congress held at berne in urged that all foreign post offices in the ottoman dominions should be suppressed, but the demand was rejected as it involved a diplomatic question outside the province of the congress. in the turkish government established a dromedary post between bagdad and damascus in opposition to the english consular overland post and, after repeated representations on the part of the ottoman government, the latter was abolished in after having been in existence for upwards of a hundred years. in the following year the ottoman government closed their own line, and the only direct route left open to europe was the turkish post via mosul on the tigris to constantinople. when reporting the closing of the british desert post, the british consul-general at bagdad asked the postmaster-general in london to warn the british public not to post anything of value by any route other than the one from london to bombay and thence by sea to basra and bagdad, and the numerous complaints of the loss of parcels, books and letters fully justified his want of confidence in the ottoman post. the british post offices at basra and bagdad and the service by river steamer between these two ports were subjected to marked hostility on the part of the turks, notwithstanding the continued efforts of the british consular officer to limit their functions. competition with the local ottoman postal institutions was never aimed at, and indian post offices were primarily and chiefly maintained for consular purposes and located in the consulate buildings. local traders, however, were not slow to discover the advantage of the safe transit offered by the indian mail service and the convenience of the parcel post system, but their efforts to avoid payment of customs dues on articles imported by this means were frustrated at the outset by the british consul-general of bagdad, sir arnold kemball, who went so far as to suspend the parcel traffic in the interests of the turkish government until the latter could make adequate provision for custom-house examination and levying of dues on both import and export parcels. after various methods of detecting and dealing with dutiable parcels had been tried for many years, the system of handing over all inward parcels received from the offices of exchange at bombay, karachi and bushire to the turkish customs at bagdad and basra with copies of the customs declarations and invoices received was adopted by the consular post offices, the addressees being required to take delivery at the customs house on presentation of a delivery order signed by the british-indian postmaster. anyone who has had experience of the vagaries of turkish customs house officials can sympathize with people whose goods fell into their hands. the smallest irregularity, however unintentional, detected in a declaration or manifest could only be set right by the liberal distribution of bribes. woe betide the scrupulous owner or consignee who declined to adopt such methods and decided instead to stand by his rights and carry his complaint to higher authorities. the story is told of a young missionary lady whose wedding outfit was packed into a box which was taken in custody by a turkish official and was detained for the ostensible purpose of examination of the contents and assessment of duty. the settlement of this knotty point proceeded in a leisurely fashion for weeks, because the owner's conscience or purse would not permit of her speedily clinching the matter by a suitable payment. when the box was finally delivered the addressee found, to her horror, that the wedding dress and other articles of her trousseau bore unmistakable traces of having been worn. to add insult to injury, the customs authorities threatened to confiscate the goods, saying that there was a prohibition against the importation of "worn clothes"! there is no doubt that they had been freely used by the harem of some ottoman customs official, as the curiosity of turkish ladies regarding the latest european fashions was notorious and could usually overcome official scruples. when the inland insurance system was introduced in india in it was extended to the post offices in the persian gulf and turkish arabia. the insured parcel post was used largely by traders at bagdad, basra and bushire for the exportation of specie, and the total value insured in - amounted to over twenty-four lakhs of rupees. the pearl merchants at bahrain, which is the centre of the pearl fisheries in the gulf, availed themselves largely of the insured parcels post for the export of valuable parcels of pearls. protests were soon lodged by the british india steam navigation company, which held the mail contract, against this competition on the part of the post office on the ground that it infringed their monopoly. they argued that the carriage of specie and pearls was almost the sole source of profit from the persian gulf service, and after a careful review of the whole question it was decided in to abolish insurance of parcels and letters to and from the british post offices in the gulf and turkish arabia. this measure resulted in a heavy loss in postal revenue, but was only fair to a company which had risked much in maintaining british trade relations with that part of the world, and which has done more than any other to throttle german competition. the steamship companies employed to carry mails have all along had to contend with serious difficulties at the gulf ports. the original mail service undertaken by the british india steam navigation company between bombay and basra, and by the euphrates and tigris steam navigation company between basra and bagdad, was a six-weekly one, but a monthly service was arranged in and a fortnightly service in . from onwards mails were despatched weekly in both directions, and this has been supplemented in recent years by a fast service in connection with the english mail, the steamers calling only at the principal intermediate ports. there were many obstacles to speedy transit and delivery of mails, such as absence of lights and buoys, want of harbour facilities at the persian ports, difficulties of navigation in the river tigris during the dry season, obstruction on the part of the authorities, especially the turks, and difficulty of obtaining regular labour at the various anchorages. at many places the mail steamers have to anchor far out in the roadstead, and in rough weather there is some risk and delay in landing and embarking mails. the mail contract with the british india steam navigation company required that mails should be exchanged during daylight, and three hours were specified for the purpose; but this condition could not always be observed, and it was in the power of the local postmaster to upset all arrangements. unrest was a common feature of the political life of these parts, especially when there was a change of governors, and the authorities were generally too feeble to cope with a rising among the arab or persian tribes without the assistance of british bluejackets or indian troops, who were not always available on the spot. at such times the indian postmaster used to shut up his office long before darkness set in and barricade himself and his mails in the inner rooms of the building, so that the ship's mail officer arriving at dusk had no easy task in getting access to him. on one occasion the political resident of the persian gulf, whose word is law in these regions, was a passenger by the mail steamer which arrived at a certain port on a very sultry summer evening. being anxious that the steamer should sail to karachi without unnecessary delay, he asked the captain to expedite its departure, and the latter, who had previous experience of the local post office, said that he had his doubts about receiving the mails before morning, but promised to try his best, and went ashore himself. two hours later a message came to the ship asking for the political resident's personal assistance, and there was nothing left for the distinguished official to do but to go to the office himself. he found the captain and his second officer pelting the roof of the post office with stones, while from inside issued forth the vilest abuse of all ships' captains and their relations, with threats to report the attack to the resident. the matter was eventually settled, and the story is still told by all the natives with great gusto, as the eastern mind sees a special humour in the setting down of an important official. the euphrates and tigris steam navigation company, owned by messrs. lynch brothers, during the many years of its existence was never able to obtain permission from the ottoman government to run more than two steamers between basra and bagdad. the distance is five hundred miles, and, as the paddle-boats had occasionally to tie up during the night when the river was low, it is not surprising that the weekly mail service each way had no reputation for regularity. there were several other causes which contributed to misconnection between these boats and the ocean-going mail steamers of the british india company. the run from basra to bagdad and vice versa was usually accomplished in five days, which left only two days at either end for loading and unloading, cleaning and repairs of engines and other duties. if a steamer reached port towards the end of the week, little or no work could be done. friday is a general holiday among the turks and arabs who are mohammedans, and the customs house is kept closed; saturday is the hebrew sabbath, when jews are absent from the wharves; while sunday is a _dies non_ with the armenian christians, who are among the most important of the shippers. it was hard for an european merchant to contend with such an accumulation of sacred days. he was willing to keep open and work on every day of the week, but the susceptibilities of the local population cannot be overridden. the turkish government tried every conceivable method of hindering the enterprise of messrs. lynch and company, but their steamers continued to flourish and gain in popularity, whereas the ottoman line of steamers, established in under the auspices of the government with the avowed object of smashing the british line, failed to justify its existence. the turkish steamers were badly equipped and inefficiently controlled, and being always in a state of dilapidation became a byword of reproach even among the turkish subjects of mesopotamia. it was not surprising, therefore, that overtures on the part of this company to obtain the english contract for the carriage of mails were never seriously considered. apart from the unreliability of the service, there were strong political grounds for supporting the company which had done so much under the british flag to open up the commerce of mesopotamia. originally the merchants at the intermediate river ports of kurnah, kut and amara, on the tigris, were accustomed to post letters on the river mail boats and the clerk on board acted as a sort of travelling postmaster, but it was not long before the turkish authorities raised objections to this practice as an infringement of their postal rights, notwithstanding that they had a concession of free carriage of turkish official correspondence through the british post. after much correspondence and discussion between the indian political and postal authorities it was decided not to allow the mail steamer to be used as a post office. consequently all letters posted on board were made over to the ottoman post offices, and this procedure was also followed in respect of local postings in the british post offices at basra and bagdad for all places in turkish arabia. the purely consular status of the post office in the persian gulf region was shown by the fact that our mail bags for bagdad were always labelled "h.m.'s consul-general, bagdad," and those for basra directed to "h.m.'s consul," special seals with the royal arms being used. the british indian postmasters at these places held no written communication with turkish officials, and the rule was that all such correspondence should pass through the consul or consul-general. service privileged correspondence between turkish government departments, if properly franked, was allowed to pass free of postage through our post offices at bagdad and basra, and registered letters or packets suspected to contain precious stones, jewellery and other valuables liable to duty were transferred to the local customs house. the indian post office in mesopotamia and the persian gulf was not only the handmaiden of british commercial enterprise for many years, but also helped in an unostentatious way to consolidate our position and influence in those regions. over thirty years ago a persian gulf division was formed under the control of an european superintendent who had to supervise and visit the offices regularly. the postmasters are either indian christians, mohammedans or hindus, and they are invested by the backward and unenlightened inhabitants of the remote gulf ports with mysterious powers as the representatives of the great indian government. wild-looking central asian traders armed with dagger and pistol, who bring down camel-loads of carpets, dried fruit and other merchandise from the interior of persia and the mekran; courtly and picturesque arab horse-dealers who ship their thoroughbreds to bombay every year; sleek persians in their sky-blue tunics; emancipated negro slaves--all trust the postmaster in matters relating to their private business as they would never trust one of their own kind. the arrival of the weekly mail at a persian gulf port is like a festival. the precincts of the post office are thronged with a large and motley crowd drawn from all grades of the populace. letters are delivered on the premises on this day, and everyone who has any link with the outer world is present on the off-chance of getting a communication through the post. the postmaster or his munshi stands at an open window calling out the addresses on the letters, the owners holding up their hands when they hear their names called. most letters are prefixed with the word "haji," which denotes that the recipients are good mohammedans who have made the pilgrimage to the prophet's tomb at mecca. the deep, guttural arabic or the soft persian response is occasionally broken by a reply in the more familiar hindustani or gujrati, for in each gulf port there is a small colony of hindu traders from the west coast of india, easily distinguishable by their alert and business-like appearance. women are conspicuous by their absence--more so, in fact, than in other eastern countries--but, after the crowd has dispersed, a closely veiled and sheeted figure occasionally glides to the window and in plaintive tones asks for some service, the performance of which she must personally see to in the absence of her lord and master from home. the great war completely altered the conditions in mesopotamia. in consequence of the turkish government having ordered the closure of all foreign post offices within their territory, the indian post offices at bagdad and basra were closed under protest on the st october, . the sub-postmaster, basra, continued at work settling the affairs of his office until the th october, , and left for india next day, whereas the postmaster, bagdad, was made a prisoner on the outbreak of hostilities with turkey on the st november, , and the post office property in his charge fell into the hands of the turks. the formal entry into basra by british troops was made on the rd november, , and the postal service was undertaken by the indian field post office. the service was developed and extended as the troops advanced. a railway was constructed from basra to amara and from kut-el-amara to bagdad, and a regular mail service has been introduced by river steamers between amara and kut-el-amara. the transit time of mails between basra and bagdad has thus been reduced to two days. excellent jetties have now been built at basra, so that much time is saved in loading and unloading mails, and, with well-equipped post offices at all important places, the postal service of mesopotamia has become quite efficient. since the armistice in the indian field post offices have been gradually withdrawn and have been replaced by civil offices under a civil director of postal services. the occupied territory in mesopotamia is known as iraq, and turkish postage stamps overprinted with the words "iraq under british occupation" were introduced in . on the st may, , the military director of postal services was withdrawn and the postal administration of the country handed over to the civil director, who is now an official of the local government. a few indian field post offices are still retained for the troops stationed beyond the frontiers of iraq, but these will be closed as soon as military operations are finished. the first civil director of the post office of iraq was mr. c. j. e. clerici, an officer of the indian establishment. almost the whole staff consists of men from the post office of india, and will continue to do so until local men have been trained in postal work. indian inland postage rates were at first charged for correspondence exchanged between india and iraq, but from the st september, , the british imperial foreign rates of postage were introduced. with the exception of four post offices on the persian gulf--namely, koweit, abadan, mohammerah and ahwaz, which are being administered by iraq--the other indian post offices in the persian gulf area are still under the control of the post office of india. such is the history of the establishment of the indian post office in mesopotamia and the persian gulf region. it began with the opening of small offices for the british consular agencies and commercial establishments of the east india company. the public, however, were not slow to take advantage of the means of communication thus provided, and, despite the strenuous opposition of the ottoman empire, a really efficient postal system was organized. the extension of the bagdad railway, the euphrates valley irrigation project and the opening of the anglo-persian oil field, whose pipe-line terminates on the shat-el-arab, are the three great factors in the development of mesopotamia. this country already occupies a prominent place in the affairs of the empire, and, situated, as it is, on a main highway between east and west, it is possible that the region, which was the centre and cradle of the earliest civilization of the world, will recover its old importance. when this has been achieved the post office of india will always be able to look back with pride on the pioneer work which it has done in its quiet, unassuming way during the past half century. chapter xvi the post office during the indian mutiny every student of the history of the indian mutiny of knows the part played by the indian telegraph department during that great crisis. the famous telegram of warning which was transmitted to the principal stations in the punjab by two young signallers of the delhi office (messrs. brendish and pilkington) upon their own initiative on the morning of the th may, , when the meerut rebels, flushed with success, crossed the bridge of boats over the jumna and entered the city of delhi to join hands with their comrades there, is a splendid example of an assumption of responsibility followed by prompt action. sir herbert edwardes refers to the final telegraphic message sent by brendish to mr. montgomery, the judicial commissioner at lahore, in these terms: "when the mutineers came over from meerut and were cutting the throats of the europeans in every part of the cantonment, a boy, employed in the telegraph office at delhi, had the presence of mind to send off a message to lahore to mr. montgomery, the judicial commissioner, to tell him that the mutineers had arrived and had killed this civilian and that officer, and wound up his message with the significant words 'we're off.' that was the end of the message. just look at the courage and sense of duty which made that little boy, with shots and cannon all round him, manipulate that message, which, i do not hesitate to say, was the means of the salvation of the punjab." in the general report of the telegraph department for the year - the director-general remarked: "the value of that last service of the delhi office is best described in the words of montgomery: 'the electric telegraph has saved india.'" excellent work was also done by post office officials during the indian mutiny, but unfortunately it is forgotten owing to its having received little historical recognition. a perusal of musty records which lie in the archives of the indian government reveals a record of duties well performed in the midst of insuperable difficulties and dangers of which the department may well be proud. at the time of the mutiny the british army in india was deficient in the organization of two branches indispensable to the success of military operations in the field, and it was left to the post office to supply the want to a considerable extent. the intelligence and transport departments were in their infancy, and the military authorities were not slow to take advantage of facilities afforded by the post office. at the commencement of the outbreak it was evident that postmasters in the affected districts were in a position to keep the authorities accurately informed of the direction in which the rebellion was spreading and to report the movements of the mutineers as long as the postal lines of communication remained intact, especially in the districts where there were no telegraph lines or where the wires had been cut. many officials--european, eurasian and indian--were killed at the outset, post offices being looted and destroyed and mails intercepted on the various lines wherever the rebels were in power. much valuable information regarding such occurrences was collected and passed on to the authorities by postal employés in remote places. for transport, the army had ready at hand, on the trunk roads of india, the machinery of the post office horse transit and bullock train, which was then in a high state of efficiency, and was able to render incalculable service in connection with the forward movement of troops and munitions of war as well as the despatch down country of wounded officers and men--and of refugees when the campaign was well advanced. after the final relief of lucknow by sir colin campbell many of the ladies and children of the garrison were conveyed by this means in safety to calcutta. [illustration: group of senior officers in p. rogers h. a. sams c. h. harrison c. h. hogg e. r. jardine g. r. clarke e. a. doran h. n. hutchinson c. stewart wilson h. c. sheridan w. maxwell _director general_ ] the sepoy mutiny began at meerut on the th may, . from the th may, , onwards telegrams and letters were received at the director-general's headquarters in calcutta from the postmasters at allahabad, benares, umballa and other stations, reporting the stoppage of mail communication with places which had fallen into the hands of the mutineers. news was also thus given of the destruction of post offices and plunder of mails at sitapore, indore, hirapore, cawnpore, shahazadpore, daryabad, saugor, segombe, hamirpur, jaunpor, azimgarh and many more places. on the th may, , the postmaster-general, north-western provinces, gave instructions to his postmasters to collect waggons and bullocks for the conveyance of troops. on the st may the postmaster, agra, reported to the director-general that dr. clark, who had been specially vested with the authority of postmaster-general in a portion of the north-western provinces, was safe and well at muttra, and was trying to open mail communication. on the th may, , the postmaster, benares, applied to the director-general for authority to supply horses for conveyance of troops. mr. h. b. riddell, director-general at the time, was fully alive to the situation and set a brilliant example to all ranks. he addressed the following letter to the government of india from his camp at sherghotty on the th may, :-- "i have the honour to report that arrangements have been made or are in train which will, i trust, enable the bullock train establishment to convey daily without interruption one hundred men from raneegunge to benares. there will be fifty-six pairs of bullocks at each stage between sherghotty and benares. "the bullocks procurable are of the smallest and most miserable description.... a workshop will be established at dehree and, as the road over the sand of the soane will be broken up in a day or two, the men of each detachment will be conveyed over in country carts, fresh waggons being ready on the other side. i shall probably have to stay to-morrow and make some arrangements at the soane, but will, after doing so, move on to benares and arrange for the despatch of troops from benares to allahabad. if the commissariat bullocks are stationed along the line and they have any covered carts, large detachments can be sent every two or three days, but i will telegraph what can be done when i reach benares. in the meantime commissariat gun bullocks should be stationed along the line." the director-general's efforts were ably seconded by mr. c. k. dove, postmaster-general, and mr. garrett, deputy postmaster-general of bengal, both of whom did all in their power to ensure the prompt despatch of troops up country, calling in the aid of the local magistrates to secure the best cattle and the services of the engineering department to facilitate the passage of carts over unbridged rivers along the grand trunk road. on the nd july, , it was arranged to place the whole of the bullock train establishment north of benares at the disposal of the military authorities. the transfer was made at the instance of general havelock, who had just assumed command of the troops at allahabad. he decided to use the bullock train entirely for the transport of stores and ammunition to the front and, when the rains had broken and the rivers became navigable, to convey troops by river steamers, a far more convenient and expeditious means than road conveyance. when it was necessary to use the roads, elephants were provided by the commissary-general at calcutta and by local zemindars (landholders). on the th july, , the government of india published a notification authorizing the chief covenanted civil or military officer at every station throughout india where there was a post office under a deputy postmaster and no resident postmaster had been specially appointed, to assume the office of postmaster or to assign the office to some other covenanted civil or military officer at the station, reporting the arrangement in each instance for the information of the postmaster-general of the presidency. the deputy postmaster was to perform duties connected with the post office under the orders of the postmaster so appointed. the functions of inspecting postmasters remained unaffected by this order, and post offices at places where there was no covenanted civil or military officer were left in charge of the deputy postmasters. these orders were necessitated by the interruption of mail communication between many post offices and their head-quarters and the difficulty of control being exercised by postmasters-general who were not always in a position to issue prompt instructions to their subordinates in matters of importance or emergency. at the same time no general power of censorship over correspondence was granted to officers, nor was anything done to diminish public confidence in the government mail service. reports regarding the plunder of mails continued to come in from places as far removed as kolhapur in the southern mahratta country and bahraich in the united provinces. mails between bengal and the united provinces on one side and the punjab on the other had to be diverted via bombay, the commissioner of sind taking the responsibility for their safe despatch through hyderabad (sind). many of the reports from postmasters referred to fresh outbreaks, and the movements of mutineers who did not hesitate to remove dak horses from relay stations on the mail routes whenever they had the chance. the information contained in these letters was duly passed on to the military authorities. in connection with the correspondence for the army in the field, post offices were organized to accompany the movable columns under general havelock, the malwa field force and later the divisions commanded by general outram and other distinguished leaders. during the campaign soldiers' letters were exempt from forward postage. the large tract of country known as the north-western provinces and oudh was the focus of the disturbance of , and the strain put upon the postal officials in those provinces was greater than in other affected parts of the country. most of the post offices and mail lines had to be closed at the beginning of the outbreak and were reopened one by one, as order was gradually restored by the british forces. a most interesting narrative of the interruption in the mail arrangements in the north-western provinces and punjab subsequent to the outbreak at meerut and delhi on the th and th may, , was supplied by mr. paton, postmaster-general, and will be found in appendix g. as might be expected, the outbreak of the mutiny caused a complete disorganization of postal communications, and the task of restoring mail lines in hostile territory was no easy one. the pay offered by the department was not sufficient to induce men to risk their lives in isolated places, which were always open to attacks by the mutineers or by bands of armed villagers, and it is characteristic of the indian government at the time that they expected men to serve for salaries which were admitted to be inadequate even in times of peace. i will quote extracts from the reports of the postmasters-general of the north-western provinces, bengal and bombay, which throw an interesting light upon the difficulties with which the post office had to contend in these troublous times. report of the postmaster-general, north-western provinces, for the year ending the st march, : "in consequence of the rebellion, the post offices and lines of postal communication in the north-western provinces and oudh were closed more or less, nearly throughout the year under review, and many of those in oude and bundelkund have not yet been reopened, owing to a portion of the above provinces being still in the hands of the rebels, so that a report of the transactions of the present year is chiefly a narrative of the effects of the disturbances on the post office department, the results shown herein cannot therefore be fairly compared with those of the previous years. "the number of complaints of the loss and missending of letters during the year under review is comparatively greater than many of the previous years, which is chiefly owing to the frequent loss of the mails on different lines of road by rebels, their transmission by circuitous routes from the direct lines being closed or unsafe, and their irregular despatch by inexperienced hands employed in the camp post offices. "the proportion of bearing to paid or stamped letters is . to , which shows a progressive increase in the number of the former. this may be fairly attributed to the general habit of the natives, especially those in the army, and also among lower classes to despatch their letters bearing, more particularly at this period, when, from the constant movements of the troops from one place to another and the disturbed state of the country, they are undoubtedly liable to miscarry. "i may also observe that a very large number of letters posted by the military and lower classes of the people are intended for places in the interior of districts, and, as the district post establishments have not yet been fully reorganized, there is no guarantee for their punctual or safe delivery. natives, being real economists, naturally prefer the despatch of their letters bearing, and so prevent any loss from prepayment of postage. "the staff of the department was much reduced by casualties during the late mutinies, and much difficulty has been experienced in procuring properly qualified persons to accept employment. a large number of offices having had to be hastily reopened, the demand for english-speaking clerks has been unprecedented, and, without raising the salaries, i could not fill up the vacancies in the post office. "it is not a matter of surprise that extraordinary difficulty has been experienced in reorganizing the post office in such a crisis, when it is recollected that the salaries allowed to the officers of the department are on a scale below that generally obtained in other departments, that there are no holidays allowed them, and that leave of absence, excepting on medical certificate, is in a measure prohibited, owing to the establishment being generally on such a minimum scale as not to admit of any one being absent without providing a trained substitute. "but notwithstanding an increase to the salaries of the officials having been generally granted to the extent that i have represented as necessary, i regret to have to record that i have not yet been able to complete the revision of all the office establishments to my satisfaction. there are still many incompetent officials in the department, whom i am obliged to tolerate, until i meet with better qualified persons to take their places. "as might be expected from an inexperienced or untrained establishment, working under great disadvantages, a comparatively large number of complaints of the missending and loss of letters have been received during the year under review, and, though every care has been taken to prevent mistakes, yet, from the circumstance of the direction on letters being often hastily and illegibly written, and the army, in numerous detached parties, constantly in the field, without their locality or destination being correctly known to the post office, the percentage of missent covers for the troops has unavoidably been great. "i have again to remark the increase in the number of bearing letters; but considering the unsettled state of these provinces, it is only what might be expected. i need not here repeat the reasons which induce the non-commercial class of natives to send their letters bearing postage. "taking into consideration the variety of languages in which native letters are generally written, and the very careless and illegible manner in which the directions and the names of addressees and senders are given, i am of opinion that the proportion disposed of at my office (being about per cent on the whole number received) is satisfactory." report of the postmaster-general, bengal, for the year - : "the mutinies which broke out in the north-western provinces in may, , were also felt during the past year in the bengal presidency, and parts of the province were more or less affected by them, but, happily for bengal, the interruptions and disorganization to her postal department caused by them were, by the adoption of prompt and vigorous measures, speedily restored. the post office department, however, did not escape--a deputy postmaster and an overseer were killed, a runner was wounded, a number of post offices, especially in behar, were plundered, and a number of mails and mail packets were seized and destroyed by the mutinous sepoys. "the rebellion of koer sing and the mutinies of the dinapore sepoys interrupted and closed for a short time a portion of the grand trunk road between saseram and benares, and the insurgents carried off some cattle belonging to the department, and also burnt down some dak bungalows above sherghotty. "the revolt of the hill tribes on the southern line in the neighbourhood of sumbulpore disturbed the communication with bombay via sumbulpore, which had been opened after the interruption of communication with bombay by the jubbulpore road, and the rebellion of the ramghur battalion disorganized the daks for a while in the south-west frontier agency between chota nagpore and chyebassa. "the mutinies of the chittagong sepoys and the segowlee insurgents caused only the destruction of some packets that fell into their hands, but passed off without any serious interruption to any mail line in bengal." report of the postmaster-general, bombay, for the year - : "the mutinies imperilled and interrupted almost every line in the presidency; the foot lines were obliged to be strengthened, diverted, abandoned and reopened as circumstances required; those most severely tried were in malwa, rajpootana, khandeish, berar, the southern mahratta country and guzerat, on some of which double pay and double numbers were scarcely sufficient to keep them open, and it was only by the activity, local knowledge, morale and reliance of the inspecting officers (always supported strongly by the civil officers), whose powers were discretionally enlarged by me, that the lines were sustained. "it is remarkable that in the midst of universal disturbance (especially in malwa and rajpootana), when distrust and confusion were at their height, and opportunities for plunder were frequent, and detection next to impossible, only one case occurred, or rather was brought home, in which the carriers of the mails either personally plundered or wilfully destroyed them. "although animosity was directed against the servants of the post office in common with every class of persons in government employ, it was not especially so in this presidency against the post office, unless where the collections offered temptation, as at indore, erinpoora, neemuch and mundessore, which offices were assailed and gutted. "the knowledge that other lines of post either existed or would assuredly be established, and that no efforts would be left unemployed to effect free postal intercourse whenever required, possibly pointed to the futility of a general crusade against post runners. nevertheless, both as a precaution against disappointment and as removing a source of temptation, banghy parcels were discontinued for four months, from july until november. "the only lines which have been permanently closed are four branch lines in malwa. "that no coercion was used, and that the post was kept open (it is true by circuitous routes, but still open) all through this postal range, is strong evidence that the feeling of the country was not unfavourable to british authority; it was found that whenever a road was impracticable, it was rendered so only from fear of the acts of rebels, upon whose departure or overthrow the post line was again opened. "exempt as the post carriers have been from concurrence in the general insurrection, the conduct of the other descriptions of postal servants has been not less good, with the exception of those attached to the indore post office. there the temptation of plunder excited an overseer and peon, and the people of the workshop, to join in plundering the post office and premises, and one kitmutgar (table servant), a mussulman at samwere, near oojein, hounded on some miscreants to murder an european serjeant from mahidpore, who took refuge in it, for which he was subsequently hanged, and the others transported. "in the higher grades, the conduct of the postal officers has been very exemplary; no instance has occurred in which a postmaster either deserted his post, or has been suspected of having made use of his position to give information, to open letters, or to favour in any way the rebel cause. "ten travellers' bungalows and seven post offices have been burned down, and ten evacuated, of which three only have remained closed. this does not represent the extent of injury done, or loss occasioned, the destruction of stamps, and in other ways by the carrying away of mail carts, destruction of property, and loss in postage collection, and compensation to people in postal employ for good behaviour, or for personal suffering." the success of the postal arrangements during the mutiny is largely due to the organization and example of mr. riddell, the director-general, who attended to all important matters personally. he was assisted by the loyal devotion of the entire staff, and the men whose names may be mentioned for special services are mr. dove, officiating postmaster-general, bengal; mr. bennett, mr. wallace and mr. mcgowan, of the bengal establishment; lala salig ram in the north-western provinces; dr. clark and mr. h. a. brown in agra; captain fanshawe and babu eshan chander mookerjee in aligarh; mr. taylor in the deccan and babu sheo pershad in delhi. where so many did well it seems invidious to mention only a few names, and the president in council, when thanking the director-general for the work done by the post office during the crisis, expressed the high opinion which the government entertained of the services rendered by all the officers of the department, european and indian, in circumstances of the greatest difficulty. enough has been written to show the nature of the help given to the indian empire by the staff of the post office during the mutiny. it is a record of loyalty and devotion to duty of which the department may well be proud. chapter xvii the indian field post office in a country where there is seldom perfect peace it is only natural that the post office must accustom itself to war conditions, and the field postal service has been a feature of the indian post office for more than sixty years. during that period there have been over forty wars and expeditions, extending from burma to the mediterranean, and, as postal arrangements were required for the forces engaged, the field post office system in india has been gradually developed and perfected, and is now recognized as an important part of the military organization of the country. field post office arrangements used to be in the hands of the postmaster-general of the punjab, and he maintained lists of men willing to serve. in , however, owing to the wide distribution of the postal staff in various parts of the world, it was found necessary to bring the field post organization under the immediate control of the director-general. when an expedition is announced, the forces of the post office are immediately mobilized according to the strength of the field army, and, as the staff required for a brigade and division has been settled by long experience, no time is lost in getting the necessary number of men to the assembling stations. the regulations for the working of field post offices are laid down in the indian field service manual and the postal manual (war), two handbooks issued by the indian army department; and a complete equipment of tents and furniture, sufficient for three base post offices, fifty first-class and twenty second-class field offices, and for the use of the supervisory staff, is kept at lahore ready for immediate despatch. when the department has to make its own arrangements for the carriage of mails between the base post office and the field offices, overseers are employed to supervise the transit. the establishment laid down for a base office is one postmaster, two deputy or assistant postmasters, fifteen clerks and ten menials, but these numbers must necessarily vary with the number of field offices required with the different units. postal officials in the field are subject to full military discipline under the army act. superior officers wear field service khaki uniform with badges of rank and the letters "post" in brass on the shoulders. a deputy postmaster-general or assistant director-general of the post office ranks as a lieutenant-colonel, and a superintendent as major, captain or lieutenant, according to his grade and length of service. subordinate officials, if europeans, are classed as assistant commissaries, sub-conductors or sergeants, according to their pay, and indians are given rank as subadars, jemadars, havildars or naiks. field allowances, in addition to pay, are fixed according to a sanctioned scale, the rate for a director or superintendent being per cent of his pay, subject to a minimum monthly allowance of rs. in the case of the latter. inspectors and postmasters draw rs. a month in addition to pay, other subordinates being remunerated at a lower rate. in virtue of the military rank held by them, officers and subordinates are entitled to all privileges and advantages for service in the field, such as wound pensions, family pensions, medals and compensation for loss of baggage. the officer in charge of field post offices is attached to the head-quarters of an expeditionary force as adviser to the military authorities on all postal matters; he is required to visit the base and field post offices as frequently as possible, and is responsible for the proper working and efficiency of mail arrangements. he arranges with headquarters for carriage of mails between the base and the field, fixes the hours of despatch of mails from all post offices and the hours during which money orders are issued, and also settles the question of making over cash collections to the nearest field paymaster, treasure chest officer, regimental accounts officer or post commandant, as the case may be. the development of the field postal system has been gradual and has undergone many changes. the earliest record of a regular indian post office staff proceeding for active service with a military force is in connection with the persian expedition of . the establishment consisted of two clerks, an interpreter (moonshee) and four peons, and, as no suitable departmental officer could be found to take charge of the arrangements, the government of bombay appointed the military paymaster of the persian expeditionary force to take control. the work accomplished by the post office during the indian mutiny has been described in a separate chapter. every office situated within the wide area of the disturbances or on the line of march of the troops performed the functions of a field post office, the control of the arrangements devolving on the chief local civil or military authority in places where there was no departmental officer of sufficient seniority or rank to hold charge. the great services rendered by the post office horse transit and bullock train establishments to the army were a prominent feature of the campaign. separate field post offices accompanied the moving columns under generals havelock, outram, campbell, hugh rose, hope grant and other leaders. twenty years later, when the afghan war broke out, the army had again to rely on the post office for the transport of mails and military stores for hundreds of miles through the khyber and bolan passes into afghanistan. the extension of the railways to the frontiers of india has put an end to this branch of postal enterprise. mail tonga lines worked by contractors still flourish on routes where there are no railways, but they are being gradually supplanted by motor conveyances. a scheme under which the post office should maintain a large number of motor mail vans, which could be used in time of war for military transport, has already been suggested, and it is one well worth consideration. an arrangement of this kind should go far towards solving the problem of maintaining transport in times of peace, and should prove advantageous and economical to both the army and the post office. the success of the indian field post office in the numerous wars and expeditions in which it has been employed can be vouched for by the reports of commanding officers. experience has been bought by long practice, and the department never loses an opportunity of training its staff for military service. at the great military manoeuvres which are frequently held during the cold weather in india the troops engaged are always accompanied by field post offices fully equipped for war conditions, with the result that there is always a large body of men in the post office thoroughly trained in this kind of work. on field service the postal official is "nobody's child." he has to fend for himself, and, although transport is told off for the conveyance of camp equipment and mails, it is seldom forthcoming when required. the army head-quarters staff looks after its own post office, but is inclined to regard the others as an encumbrance, and this attitude has developed a faculty of "slimness" in the field postal officer, which he uses for defeating military regulations. he has become an expert in stealing transport; a mule, a cart, a few coolies, a motor lorry, even an idle railway train, all serve his purpose as occasion rises, and his motto is "get there, if not by fair means, then somehow," and get there he generally does. he has an uncanny instinct for finding out the secret destination of his brigade and is often on the ground, sorting the mail, before the troops arrive. mr. charles sheridan, a very well-known member of the department, used to tell an amusing story of the horror of a senior staff officer meeting him one day on a frontier road pronounced absolutely unfit for wheeled traffic. mr. sheridan was driving along merrily with the mails in a two-horsed tonga; it was the shortest road and he took it, and the staff had to reconsider seriously their strategic plans, simply because the superintendent of the postal service would not act according to military instructions. the heart of the field postal system in any campaign is the base office. it is there that all information concerning the movements of regiments and units is carefully recorded. lists of officers are kept in alphabetical order, and these lists are kept corrected from day to day on information received from the various field offices. the base office controls the main routes of mails to the divisional and brigade offices, it issues instructions and is ready to supply reliefs. it searches for missing men, disposes of undeliverable correspondence and has a hospital for repairing articles damaged in transit; in fact, the smooth running of the whole organization depends on the work done at the base. the arrangements for conveying the mails between the base office and the field offices devolves on the supervising officers, and endless difficulties have to be faced in order to obtain transport. a great deal depends on the personality of the postal officer in charge. if he is a pleasant fellow and popular with the transport staff he can get most things done, but, if he is insistent on his rights and has not learnt the meaning of "give and take" on a campaign, he will get nothing but excuses and regrets, the mail bags will be left behind in the last camp, irate colonels will write to their personal friend the director-general and the promising career of a conscientious public servant will be seriously injured. in appendix h is given a list of the most important expeditions in which field post offices have been employed, with a brief account of the arrangements made on each occasion. most of these were small frontier wars and little difficulty was felt in providing the personnel. the great war, however, was a very different matter. it necessitated the despatch of large numbers of post offices all over the world, and the demand on the resources of the post office of india was on such a vast scale that an account of it has been reserved for a separate chapter. chapter xviii the indian field post office during the great war in , when war broke out, a large postal contingent accompanied the troops sent to france. it was under the control of mr. pilkington, assistant director-general of the post office, who had the rank of lieutenant-colonel, and it comprised one base office and field offices, with a staff of supervising officers, field postmasters, clerks and menials. during the early years of the war the work performed by this staff was very heavy. frequently over , letters and parcels would arrive for the indian contingent in one day, while newspapers published in england were regularly received for delivery to the troops. at the end of the indian field postal staff in france was considerably reduced, as large numbers accompanied the indian troops transferred to egypt and mesopotamia, and at the end of the war only one or two field offices remained to serve some labour corps units which had been left behind. at the end of mesopotamia was the most important theatre of war so far as the indian post office was concerned. a small field postal contingent was sent in and was steadily increased as the operations extended. mr. a. b. thompson, deputy postmaster-general, was the first director of postal services. he was succeeded in by mr. a. j. hughes, who had been deputy director in egypt. by the end of the army was so large and the work of the post office so extensive that it was decided to place an officer of the rank of postmaster-general in charge, and mr. h. a. sams, postmaster-general, central circle, was selected to be director of postal services in mesopotamia. by the staff consisted of superintendents, inspectors, base postmasters, deputy postmasters, field postmasters, clerks and menials. the field post office in mesopotamia had not only military work, but also a great deal of civil work. the magnitude of the business may be gauged by the following monthly figures:-- about number of letters received and despatched , , number of parcels received and despatched , number of money orders issued and paid , value of money orders issued and paid rs. , , large numbers of british postal orders were also sold and savings bank business was freely transacted. during the year a great deal of difficulty was experienced in mesopotamia in dealing with returned letters, the addressees of which could not be traced. to dispose of these a returned letter office was established at basra, for which a staff of permanent base men was employed. subsequently, as these men were released or recalled to military duty, their places were taken by anglo-indian boys recruited in india. the establishment of the returned letter office put a stop to very many complaints regarding loss of letters. the office used to deal with about , articles a month and worked very efficiently under the supervision of the base postmaster, basra. upon the fall of kut the field post office there shared the fate of the garrison, and a number of postal officials were taken prisoners of war by the turks. from the beginning of to the end of the war the postal service in mesopotamia was extremely good, and both in basra and bagdad a regular local post was established and deliveries by postmen were introduced. at the end of a number of civil post offices were opened and steps were taken to close down field post offices wherever possible. from the st may, , the postal administration of mesopotamia was finally handed over to the civil authorities and almost all the field post offices were withdrawn, but a very large proportion of the indian field staff remained in the country and took service under the new iraq government. next in importance to mesopotamia came the indian postal services in egypt, palestine and salonika, and in these places the indian field post offices worked side by side with the british army postal corps. in they were under the control of mr. a. j. hughes as deputy director, who was succeeded later by mr. s. c. sinclair. in indian field post offices were sent to gallipoli, and the work done by them there won the warm appreciation of the military authorities. the extension of operations to palestine necessitated the despatch of a number of field post offices to that country. in it was found necessary to separate the postal contingent at salonika from the control of the deputy director in egypt, and the force was placed in charge of mr. a. gillespie as an independent assistant director, with a staff of base postmaster, inspectors, field postmasters and clerks and menials. the salonika postal service extended to baku and constantinople, where there were indian field post offices. field post offices were sent to east africa in under the control of mr. k. a. appleby, who was subsequently made a brevet lieutenant-colonel. the organization consisted of a base office, field post offices, with a staff of superintendents, inspectors, base postmaster, field postmasters, clerks and menials. about a million letters and parcels were handled monthly by this staff, and work had to be carried on under the most trying conditions, as many of the mail lines traversed country covered with thick jungle. in and the whole postal service of german east africa was carried on by the indian field post office, and the greatest credit is due to lieutenant-colonel appleby for the excellent arrangements made by him. in lieutenant kilman was sent to take control of the field post offices attached to the east persian cordon between meshed and dalbandin. the east persian cordon was subsequently known as the force in east persia, and the postal organization consisted of base post office and field post offices, with a staff of an assistant director of posts and telegraphs, inspector, base postmaster, field postmasters, clerks and menials. a field post office contingent was also sent to bushire in in connection with the operations between bushire and shiraz. this was placed under the control of mr. c. f. quilter as assistant director, who was also given control of the postal arrangements of the british mission escort in south persia operating from bunder-abbas to kerman and shiraz. the british mission escort commenced its operations early in and its postal arrangements were in charge of captain greene, r. e., superintendent of post offices, prior to their being taken over by mr. quilter. up to march, , the postal organization of the bushire force and british mission escort consisted of base post offices and field post offices, with a staff of an assistant director, a deputy assistant director, inspectors, base postmasters, field postmasters, clerks and menials. from april, , the force was considerably reduced and a large portion of the field postal staff was withdrawn. the operations in the neighbourhood of aden led to the establishment of a few field post offices under the postmaster of aden, who carried out this work in addition to his own. the total number of officials of the indian field post offices serving with the various expeditionary forces in was about two thousand, and with this large contingent serving abroad the department in india had to undertake the difficult task of equipping and despatching regular reinforcements to the several theatres of war. in order to deal with the enormous quantity of army mails, both originating in india and received from abroad, two special base offices were established, one at bombay and one at karachi. the base office in bombay was converted in into a base postal depot, and in addition to dealing with the mails for the troops it was also assigned the duty of recruitment and mobilization of postal reinforcements. the establishment of the base postal depot in bombay solved many of the difficulties which attended the organization of field post offices and the disposal of mails for armies in the field. the depot was divided into four main sections for enquiry, sorting, mobilization and correspondence. the chief duty of the enquiry section was to ensure the correct delivery of correspondence for the troops that had returned or had been invalided from the field. this section was in charge of a lady superintendent with forty lady clerks, and their duty was to keep up to date a regular record giving the names, designations and addresses of officers and men who had returned to india. the enquiry section kept its records by means of index cards, of which there were over , when the armistice was declared. about , letters monthly were disposed of in this section. in the sorting section the average number of postal articles dealt with in a month was about one million. the sorting of mails for all the forces was done by units, separate bundles or packets being prepared for the officers and men with each unit. these mails were then forwarded ready sorted to the base offices at the various fronts, where they were distributed to the field offices serving the units in question. the mobilization section dealt with all matters relating to the mobilization of the staff recruited in india for service overseas. only men who had volunteered for field service were taken, and on receiving orders these men reported themselves to the officer commanding, base postal depot, bombay, who arranged for their kit, uniform and transport to the force for which they were detailed. the correspondence section dealt with all complaints regarding postal articles for the field forces, and, by being in close connection with the enquiry branch, it was able to dispose of a large number of complaints without delay. the base postal depot, bombay, was thus the most essential factor in the whole postal organization, and the smooth working of mail arrangements for the expeditionary forces depended very largely upon its efficiency. the depot was directly under the control of the director-general of posts and telegraphs and in charge of captain love, a pensioned officer of the department, who had retired as presidency postmaster, bombay. to reward the good work done by the indian postal staff in the field, no less than fifty-two personal distinctions were granted and over three hundred men were mentioned in despatches. the department may well be proud of its achievements during the war. volunteers were always ready to come forward for service in the worst places and many lost their lives. the best proof of their work, however, is the high reputation which the post office of india has earned among all branches of the army. chapter xix indian postage stamps the first issue of postage stamps in india was made by sir bartle frere in the province of scinde (now spelt sind) in . at that time the post offices of scinde were administered by the local government, and it was not until that they were placed under the control of the postmaster-general of bombay. the scinde district dawk stamps are very rare. there were three kinds: ( ) the design embossed on white paper without colour; ( ) blue embossed on white paper; ( ) the design embossed on vermilion wafers. the design is shown in the accompanying illustration (fig. ), and the central portion consists of a modification of the broad arrow used by the east india company. the issue was a comparatively small one, and the stamps were withdrawn from use in september, . the early postal system of india was solely used for official purposes, and it was not until that a public post was established. postage rates varied with distance, and the charge was levied in cash, the lowest rate being two annas for every hundred miles. for this purpose copper tokens of the value of two annas were struck which were available for the prepayment of postage. in a commission was appointed to inquire into the working of the post office, and among its recommendations were the formation of an imperial post office of india under a director-general, the abolition of franking and the employment of stamps in prepayment of postage. [illustration: early stamps fig. , fig. , fig. , fig. ] [illustration: sheet of four anna stamps, . printed in calcutta] there was a great deal of discussion between the indian government and the court of directors in london as to where the stamps should be manufactured; the former desired to procure them from england, but the latter, on the ground of economy, decided that sufficiently good stamps could be made in india. the first effort was a design of the "lion and palm tree" made by colonel forbes of the calcutta mint. this essay (fig. ), however, was never used, as the mint could not promise a sufficient supply. subsequently the manufacture of stamps was entrusted to the survey office, and after many failures captain thuillier, deputy surveyor-general, succeeded in producing nine hundred sheets of red half-anna stamps by means of lithography. these stamps are known as the red ½ anna stamps "with ½ arches" and were printed in sheets of one hundred and twenty, consisting of twelve rows of ten labels. they were sent to bombay on the th april, , but after despatch it was found that the stock of vermilion was exhausted, and as the same quality of ink could not be procured in india a new ink was prepared and at the same time a fresh design was made. owing to the fresh design, it was decided not to issue the " ½ arches" stamps. it is disappointing to think that this first and historic set of indian stamps was never used postally; but the omission does not seem to have detracted from their philatelic value. good specimens are very rare, and command a high price in the market. the design for the ½ anna stamp that was finally accepted was one of eight arches, and it was printed in blue. there are three distinct shades of blue in the issues, varying from deep to pale. these stamps were prepared by engraving on copper plate and transferring to stones. the sheets consisted of twelve horizontal rows of eight stamps on paper watermarked with the arms of the east india company. the sheets, dated may and july, , were evidently made up of blocks of twenty-four stamps, repeated four times on each sheet. this is apparent from the fact that the fifth stamp in each of the third, sixth, ninth and twelfth rows is slightly out of alignment, and the sixth stamp in each of the first, fourth, seventh and ninth rows has had the chignon redrawn (plate facing p. ). the sheets are not perforated, and are without gum: , sheets were printed in and , in . the anna stamp was printed in vermilion-red, and , sheets were ready by august, ; there were further supplies of , sheets in november, , and , sheets by november, . the colour selected for the annas stamp was green, and the printing was completed in october, . there is no record of the number printed. the need for a annas stamp was badly felt for postage to the united kingdom, which cost rupee annas an ounce in . a design was prepared in two colours, blue and red, and the first sheets contained only twelve stamps (plate facing p. ), and the first supply consisted of , sheets delivered on th october, ; in all , sheets were printed. in april, , a new setting was adopted with twenty-four stamps on a sheet, and two arrangements of this setting were made, one with the stamps much closer together than the other. [illustration: block showing one third of a sheet of blue half anna stamps of . printed in calcutta] all the stamps referred to above were prepared by captain thuillier, who subsequently became general sir henry thuillier, c.s.i., surveyor-general of india. in november, , stamps of the value of ½, , , and annas were received from messrs. de la rue & co. the designs were engraved on steel and the stamps were printed on white wove unwatermarked paper with white gum. the and annas are also found printed on a highly glazed thick bluish paper without watermark. these stamps supplanted the old issues manufactured in india, but the stocks of the latter were not finally called in and destroyed until . in pies[ ] stamps were on sale in india. these were required for prepayment of soldiers' letters to the united kingdom. up to august, , british soldiers' correspondence was carried free of charge, but when this privilege was withdrawn they had the option of prepaying the postage in cash at pies a tola ( / of an ounce) or else affixing a stamp for pies. up to certain changes were made in the colours of some of these stamps; the annas green was altered to brown-pink early in , subsequently to buff, and then to yellow. at the end of the colour of the annas was changed from black to green, as the stamp had been forged. the annas and annas stamps on bluish glazed paper, and the annas, anna and pies on white paper, have been found cut in halves upon postal articles in order to pay half their face value postage. all covers found with these bisected stamps were posted in singapore, which had an indian post office at the time. the first issue of indian postage stamps with the elephant's head watermarked was made in . the values bearing this watermark are ½ anna, pies, anna, annas pies, annas, annas, annas pies, annas, rupee. the annas pies stamps were printed as this was the rate per ounce for letters to the united kingdom via marseilles between and . the stamps, however, were not actually issued until , and their sale was discontinued in , when the marseilles route was abandoned. up to all the indian stamps printed in london were of smaller size than english stamps, and they bore the inscription "east india postage." in new dies on a larger scale were prepared by messrs. de la rue, and the inscription was changed to "india postage." the values issued were ½ anna pies, anna, anna pies, annas, annas, annas, annas pies, annas, annas, rupee. the stamps were printed on medium white wove paper watermarked with a five-pointed star. on st january, , the postage to the united kingdom was reduced to annas and pies, and a new stamp was prepared. until the new issue was ready the annas pies stamps were surcharged with " ½ as." bi-coloured stamps of rupee, rupees, rupees and rupees were also printed and a provisional pies stamp was issued, made by surcharging the ½ anna stamp with "¼" in black. the stamps of , and rupees were of specially large size and bore a later portrait of the queen (fig. ). this portrait was also adopted for the pies carmine stamp which was issued in . owing to the decision of the postal union to have uniform colours for stamps representing the initial rates of international postages the colours of the ½ anna, anna and annas pies stamps were changed to yellow-green, carmine and ultramarine. this necessitated a change in the pies from carmine to grey and in the annas from ultramarine to mauve. [illustration: specimen victorian issues] the king edward vii issues of - were of the same corresponding values as those of the queen victoria stamps - . the colours are pies, grey; ½ anna, yellow-green; anna, carmine; annas, mauve; annas pies, ultramarine; annas, orange-brown; annas, olive-green; annas, bistre; annas, purple; annas, purple on red paper; rupee, green and carmine; rupees, carmine and yellow-brown; rupees brown and green; rupees, ultramarine and violet. in it was decided to abolish the special receipt stamp and to use the ½ anna and anna postage stamp for both postage and revenue purposes. a new design was therefore prepared for these values with the inscription "india postage and revenue." in the double-headed telegraph stamps were abolished and it was decided to employ postage stamps in payment of telegrams. the value of telegraph stamps extended to fifty rupees, but it was considered sufficient to add three new values to the postage stamps for use upon the more expensive telegrams, namely , and rupees. these stamps are of the same size and design as the , and rupees issues, and the colours are rupees, pink and green; rupees, olive-brown and blue; rupees, orange and blue. the stamps of george v issued in were completely re-designed. the higher values with the elephants as supporters are very artistic. in the annas pies stamp was re-designed and the colour changed from ultramarine to bright blue. in the united kingdom raised the postage rate to india from d. to ½d., and, to correspond with the increase, the government of india raised the postage to the united kingdom to ½ annas. the new stamp was intended to be a dark chocolate-brown, but was printed by messrs. de la rue & co. in a light chocolate. in service postage stamps first came into use for employment on official correspondence. the ½ anna, anna, annas and annas were overprinted with the word "service." the first supply was overprinted in india pending the arrival of the stamps ordered from england. a consignment of annas overprinted was also received from england. in the overprint was altered to "on h. m. s.," as shown in fig. , and in the rupee stamp was also overprinted in this way. various other overprints were used by local bodies in india, but after a time the practice was forbidden. in the overprint was again altered to "service." the following overprints were also used for indian postage in other countries: straits settlements - , queen's head. zanzibar - " british east africa " " c.e.f. (china expeditionary force) to present date. british somaliland - , queen's and king's head. i.e.f. (indian expeditionary force) to present date. [illustration: specimen edwardian and georgian issues] overprints (indian convention states) patiala to present date. gwalior " jhind " " nabha " " faridkot - . chamba to present date. there are many varieties of the overprints in the indian convention states stamps and many errors, which have led to numerous forgeries of the different overprints. a very exhaustive history of the postage stamps of india with detailed accounts of errors and provisional issues will be found in _the postage and telegraph stamps of british india_, by l. l. r. hausburg, c. stewart wilson and c. s. f. crofton, published by messrs. stanley gibbons. this is the standard work on the subject, and it contains many fine plates and illustrations. part i, on postage stamps, is written by mr. hausburg, and no article on indian stamps can pretend to be anything more than a résumé of his detailed researches. one merit the postal administration of india can justly claim and that is the purity of its stamp issues. the simple design of the sovereign's head has always been maintained and the temptation to issue fancy pictures for commemoration purposes has always been steadily avoided. footnote: [ ] pies = anna = penny approximately. appendices appendix a personnel of the post office the following table gives the staff of the department on the st april, :-- controlling staff general supervising staff postmasters , extra departmental agents , clerical and signalling staff , postmen and peons , road establishment , linemen , ------- total , the audit staff of the posts and telegraphs has not been included as this is under the control of the finance department. recruitment for the posts of superintendent is effected in two ways, namely-- ( ) by the selection of qualified persons not already in the service of the department, and ( ) by the promotion of officials from the subordinate ranks of the department. in the former case the person selected is generally required to join as a probationary superintendent, and is not given a permanent appointment until he has shown his fitness in every respect for the position and has passed an examination in post office work. ordinarily a probationary superintendent is not allowed to act as a superintendent until he has had a practical training in postal work; that is to say, he performs the duties of a postmaster, accompanies a superintendent on tour and is given an insight into the general working of the department in the offices of the postmaster-general and superintendent. there is no minimum period fixed in which a probationer, when fully qualified, must receive a permanent post. it depends on the vacancies that occur in the sanctioned cadre; but experience has shown that the period seldom exceeds two and a half years, and the average is two years and two months. postmasters are generally recruited from the lower ranks of the department, such as sub-postmasters and clerks, who usually start their careers as probationers. the exceptions to this rule are the probationary postmasters, who are specially selected in order to improve the personnel in the higher appointments. appendix b extracts from early regulations regarding the mail service an extract from the consultations, th january, , gives in detail the arrangement made by warren hastings for the improvement of postal arrangements. the president lays down before the board the following plan for the better regulations of the dauks and for forming a general post office:-- the present management of the dauks is attended with many inconveniences. private letters are exempt from postage and the whole expense of the establishment falls upon the company. the dauks from the same cause are loaded with packages of the most frivolous kind and of unreasonable weights. the privilege of sending private letters by the dauks being confined to the european inhabitants, affords but a partial aid to the necessary intercourse of trade. the establishment is branched out into various departments, all independent and unconnected, the expense partly defrayed by ready-money payments and partly by taxes on the zemindars and farmers, who make an advantage of them in the deductions of their rents. from all these causes the establishment is involved in a labyrinth of obscurity, without checks and without system. the delays on the road are often greater than those of common cossids or couriers without a possibility of correcting them, because it cannot be known by whom they are occasioned. of these delays the president himself has had repeated proofs insomuch that whenever he has had occasion for extraordinary despatch he has made use of express cossids, and these never failed to exceed the regular dauks by nearly half the space of time employed by the latter for the same distance. the loose and irregular manner in which the letters are received and distributed exposes the correspondence of individuals and even the public despatches to great delays and to the risk of being lost or intercepted. to remedy these evils, the following plan is submitted to the board, for the future management of this office, in which it is attempted to limit the expense to provide a fund for its support by laying a moderate postage on private letters, to render it of more extensive use and to form the different parts into one uniform and general system. _plan of a new establishment of dauks and of a general post office_ . that the dauks be formed into four divisions as follows:-- first division from calcutta to ganjam; second division from calcutta to patna; third division from patna to benares and to such farther distance as may be hereafter determined; fourth division from calcutta to dacca. . that no dauks be appointed to the cross-roads (excepting dinagepur) as hereafter mentioned, but cossids only occasionally employed by the provincial councils and collectors to convey the letters to the nearest stages of the dauks; the pay and other charges of these cossids to be transmitted monthly to the postmaster-general, whose office will be hereafter described. . that as the military operations in cooch behar require a constant and regular correspondence, a cross-post be established between dinagepur and rajmehal, and that it remains for future consideration whether it will be necessary to establish a cross-post from burdwan on the assembling of the council at that place. . that three hercarrahs or dauks, one massalchy[ ] and one drum be appointed to each stage, viz.: miles. furl. stages. harcrs. massl. drum. from calcutta to ganjam " calcutta to patna " patna to benares " calcutta to dacca cross-road from dinagepur to rajmehal ---- -- --- --- --- --- . that a munshi be fixed at each capital stage who shall have charge of a certain number of stages. . that two gurreewallas or time-keepers be appointed with each munshi for the purpose of determining the arrival of each packet, which shall be written on the outside of the packet and an account thereof with the time of the last despatch kept by the munshi. . that a deputy postmaster be appointed with the following establishment of servants at the following stations, who shall have charge of all the stages from the presidency to the place of his residence, pay the munshi's charges dependent on him, take an account of all letters received and despatched, receive and issue letters, transmit his accounts and reports to the postmaster-general, and receive his orders:-- establishment at deputy. peons. moorshedabad patna benares ganjam dacca dinagepur -- -- . that a postmaster-general be appointed at calcutta with one deputy, one merda or native assistant, seven sorters, one jemadar and fifteen peons for distributing letters. he will have the control of the whole establishment, and all the accounts will be brought into his office. bye-rules . that all letters shall pay postage, excepting such as are on the public service. . that the postage on inland letters shall be paid when put into the office at the following rates:-- single letters for every miles, annas. double letters in proportion according to their weight. . that letters coming by sea, or from foreign settlements, shall pay on delivery and be rated at half postage. . that a table of postage, formed according to the above rules, be affixed at the different offices for the public inspection. . that the post office in calcutta shall be open from o'clock in the morning till for the delivery of letters, and from till in the evening for the receipt of letters. . that a daily account of the number and weight of letters despatched, with the amount of postage, be kept at each office, that a monthly account be transmitted to the postmaster-general by his deputies and that a general abstract of the whole receipts and disbursements be laid before the board every month. . that the letters when received into the offices shall be sorted and put up in separate bags for the different stations, together with a note of the number in each. . that all letters shall be stamped with the day of the month on which they are delivered into any chief office. . that for the facility of paying the postage on letters small copper tickets be immediately struck to be received at the rate of annas each, but to pass only at the post office. footnote: [ ] torchbearer. appendix c methods of travel in early days the dak or travelling system prevailing in india in the year was almost wholly arranged by the post office and was available for private individuals as well as for officials. when a traveller contemplated a journey he applied to the local postmaster for means of transport, giving, as a rule, two or three days' previous notice. horse daks, i.e. wheeled conveyances drawn by horses, were available only on the great trunk roads, which were metalled. on other roads, the journey, when not performed on horseback, was accomplished in a palanquin or palkee, a kind of wooden box, about six feet in length by four in height, fitted at the sides with sliding shutters and suspended on two poles borne on the shoulders of four men. the pleasures of travelling in this fashion have been described by bishop heber and other writers. the traveller provided his own palanquin, and the postmaster supplied the palkee-burdars or palanquin-bearers, eight in number, as well as two mussalchees or torchbearers and two bhangy-burdars or luggage porters. the charges, about one shilling per mile for the entire set of twelve men, had to be paid in advance, the traveller notifying the time and place of starting and the duration and localities of halts. there was also an extra charge for demurrage or delays on the road attributable to the traveller himself. for these charges the postmaster undertook that there should be relays of dak servants throughout the whole distance, and, to ensure this, he had to write in advance to the different villages and post stations ordering relays to be ready at the appointed hours. the stages averaged ten miles each and were accomplished in three hours, at the end of which time the twelve men retraced their steps, having been succeeded by another twelve; for each set of men belonged to a particular station. the horse daks were established on the same system, several pairs of horses or ponies being kept at the different stages as relays. the bullock train, which was intended chiefly for baggage and parcels, was largely used for conveyance of troops during the mutiny. there were one or two private companies in existence, but the public as a rule preferred to use the government vehicles, as they were considered more reliable. there were no hotels or inns on the road, but dak bungalows or rest houses, a convenient substitute, were established at places varying from fifteen to fifty miles apart, according as the road was much or little frequented. these bungalows were under government control, a khidmatgar or servant and a porter being in attendance at each, the traveller paying a fixed sum for the use of his room and making a separate bargain for any few articles of provisions that might be obtainable. the building was little more than a thatched house of one story, divided into two or three rooms, to each of which a bathroom was attached. the khidmatgar cooked and served the meals ordered, while the porter supplied wood and water. the dak system was perfected by lord dalhousie, during whose administration many fine metalled roads, including the grand trunk road from calcutta to the punjab, were completed. the new system was a great improvement upon the primitive arrangements in force during the punjab campaign of , when, owing to the tedious nature of the journey and the slow method of progress, out of one hundred officers sent off by palanquin from calcutta to aid viscount hardinge only thirty arrived at the sutlej before the campaign was over. appendix d statement showing the work of the post office savings bank from to balance. year. no. of banks. no. of accounts. rs. - , , , , - , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , - , , , , , , appendix e statement of inland money orders issued in india since ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- number and amount of ordinary number and amount of number and amount of money orders revenue money orders rent money orders issued in india. issued in india. issued in india. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- year. number. value. number. value. number. value. - , , , , , -- -- -- -- - , , , , , -- -- -- -- - , , , , , -- -- -- -- - , , , , , -- -- -- -- - , , , , , , , , -- -- - , , , , , , , , -- -- - , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , , ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- appendix f historical associations of the calcutta general post office this handsome building is situated on the west side of dalhousie square at the corner of koila ghat street, being a portion of the site of the old fort of calcutta. the removal of the old foundations was a work of great difficulty owing to the extreme hardness of the masonry, which in many cases had to be blasted away. the building was erected from designs by mr. walter b. granville, architect to the government of india. it was opened to the public in the year and cost , , rupees. it consists of two lofty storys, the east and south fronts being faced with tall corinthian columns flanked by massive piers in which are the staircases. the south-east angle of the building is semicircular, also faced with corinthian columns leading to a lofty circular hall in which are the public counters. this is surmounted by a lantern crowned by a dome, which forms a conspicuous object in the city. the site of the general post office is of great historical interest owing to its association with the great tragedy of the black hole of calcutta. on entering the post office courtyard from koila ghat street there are two tablets with the following inscriptions:-- [illustration: general post office. calcutta] [illustration: black hole, calcutta. adjoining the general post office] i. the brass lines in the stone, on the adjacent ground, mark the position and extent of the south curtain of old fort william. ii. the two lines of twelve arches to the west of this tablet are all that now remains above ground of old fort william and originally formed a portion of the arcade within the south curtain. the black hole prison was a small room formed by bricking up two arches of a similar but smaller arcade within the east curtain south of the east gate. the sunken arches, where the post office vans were kept, once formed part of the arcade within the south curtain, the wall line of which is marked out by brass lines let into the pavement. the wall of the curtain, a portion of which was still standing in , backed the old export and import warehouses, and through the arches one would have in the old days looked into the parade ground within the fort. the export and import warehouses were built against the south curtain in and would have followed the line of koila ghat street. the angle of the south-east bastion and the thickness of its walls is indicated by brass lines let into the steps of the post office. a tablet pointing out this fact is on the adjacent wall, and the entrance to the east gate of the fort is commemorated by a tablet fixed into the red building opposite the holwell obelisk: sixteen feet behind this wall was the entrance of the east gate of old fort william through which the bodies of those who perished in the black hole were brought and thrown into the ditch of the ravelin on st june, . to the north of the general post office building, inside the large gateway, is a tablet with the following inscription:-- the black hole. the marble pavement below this spot was placed here by lord curzon, viceroy and governor-general of india, in to mark the site of the prison in old fort william known as the black hole. in which british inhabitants of calcutta were confined on the night of the th june, , and from which only came out alive. the pavement marks the exact breadth of the prison, ft. in., but not its full length, feet. about one-third of the area at the north end being covered by the building on which this tablet is erected. near by mr. holwell, then collector of calcutta, who was one of the survivors, erected an obelisk at his own expense to the memory of those who perished in the black hole on the spot where the killed were buried. the tablet bore the following inscriptions:-- to the memory of-- edward eyre, william bailie, esqrs.; the revd. jervas bellamy; messrs. jenks, reeveley, law, coates, napcourt, jebb, torrians, e. page, s. page, grub, street, harod, p. johnstone, ballard, n. drake, carse, knapton, goslin, dod, dalrymple; captains clayton, buchanan, and witherington; lieutenants bishop, hays, blagge, simpson, and j. bellamy; ensigns paccard, scott, hastings, c. wedderburn, and dymbleton; sea-captains hunt, osburn, and purnell; messrs. carey, leech, stevenson, guy porter, parker, caulkee, bendal and atkinson; who, with sundry other inhabitants, military and militia, to the number of persons, were, by the tyrannic violence of suraj-ud-dowlah, suba of bengal, suffocated in the black-hole prison of fort william, on the night of the th day of june, , and promiscuously thrown the succeeding morning into the ditch of the ravelin of this place. this monument is erected by their surviving fellow-sufferer, j. z. holwell. this horrid act of violence was as amply as deservedly revenged on suraj-ud-dowlah, by his majesty's arms, under the conduct of vice-admiral watson and col. clive, anno . the marquis of hastings in had the monument pulled down, but lord curzon in had a replica made and placed in the same spot where it now stands. appendix g extract from the narrative of the interruption in the mail arrangements in the n.-w.p. and punjab subsequent to the mutiny at meerut and delhi on the th and th may, . by mr. g. paton, postmaster-general, north-west provinces. on the mutiny of the native troops at meerut and delhi on the th and th may, , the mail communication between meerut, delhi and allyghur was interrupted. the eastern mails were then forwarded from allyghur via anoopshahur and moradabad to meerut and thence direct to kurnaul or via seharanpore to umballa. in like manner the mails from the north-west were forwarded from kurnaul and umballa to allyghur. there was delay by the arrangement, but it was the only one practicable on the route via delhi being closed by the mutiny and rebellion there. . after the lapse of a week the mail was reopened between allyghur and meerut, but by the mutiny of the th regiment n.i. on the th june at allyghur all postal communication from the north, the south, the east and west of that station was stopped. . exertions were made to establish communication between cawnpore and meerut via futtehgurh, bareilly and moradabad. mails were forwarded towards bareilly, but none issued from or through that station. this excited much uneasiness for some time, but was explained by the mutiny of the troops there and at shajehanpore on the th june. bareilly was, like delhi, the scene of the political intrigue, and the suppression of postal communication was there, as elsewhere, an object of the first importance with the insurgents. . the post offices and mail lines in oude, generally, became disorganized about the same time as in rohilcund, as the troops mutinied almost simultaneously in both provinces. . while the grand trunk road between cawnpore and agra was open, arrangements were made to maintain communication between the punjab and cis-sutledge states with agra via kurnaul hansie and jeypore, but the mutiny of the hurrianah battalion and a portion of the th irregular cavalry at hansie and hissar in the end of may entirely stopped that line. . an attempt was made to open communication with agra and meerut via muttra and by a line midway between khoorjah and secunderabad, but it had to be abandoned owing to the rebel wulleedad khan and his followers having obtained undisputed possessions of the district of bulundshahur. . but, although bulundshahur and a large portion of allyghur were occupied by the rebel wulleedad khan, a line of runners was established between meerut and agra via gurhmooktesur ghat, the left bank of the ganges, anoopshahur and allyghur. letters of light weight were managed to be conveyed with tolerable safety by that route, notwithstanding that large sums were offered for the murder of those caught in the act of conveying english correspondence. . on or about the th june the troops at allahabad, cawnpore, futtehgurh, hameerpore, banda jansie, lullutpore and saugor mutinied; and, in consequence, all the post offices and mail lines in the doab and bundlekund as low down as mirzapore became disorganized. communication between agra, the cis-sutledge states and calcutta was then fairly cut off and could not be re-established by the grand trunk road so long as delhi remained in the possession of the mutineers. the route via multan to bombay was, however, open and instructions were given for the mails to and from the n.-w.p., cis-sutledge and punjab being forwarded via lahore. . between agra and bombay the mail was not interrupted till the mutiny of the gwalior contingent on the th june, and since then up to st february, , or a period of seven months and thirteen days, the road via gwalior and indore to bombay was closed or not practicable and safe for the mail. . so soon as it was apparent that the mail between bombay and agra could not be re-established via gwalior and indore, the establishment of runners between agra, jeypore, naseerabad, deesa and ahmedabad was strengthened, and the mails to and from bombay, calcutta, madras, etc., were very regularly conveyed by that route. . in the course of the month of august, dr. clark managed at agra to organize an establishment of kossids, thence via etawah to cawnpore, and for very light letters not exceeding a ¼ tola in weight the arrangements, although occasionally interrupted, were generally successful excepting for a period of nearly eighteen days in the end of november and beginning of december, when the troops of the gwalior contingent crossed the jumna and invested cawnpore. on the defeat of the gwalior contingent at cawnpore on the th december the kossid dak was again useful in keeping up communication between agra and cawnspore until the th january, , when the mail carts were re-established after having ceased to run from the th june, or a period of seven months. . communication with the province of kemaon was uninterruptedly maintained by an establishment of runners posted via sreenugger, teeree, mussoorie and deyrah dhoon. . between meerut and the camp at delhi runners were posted via bagput, but they were frequently cut off, and the communication had to be kept up via shamlie and kurnaul or via seharunpore and umballa. when the runners between meerut and the camp at delhi were intercepted it was frequently impossible to open direct communication even by kossids, so closely was the country infested with insurgents. . the mail cart establishment between the camp at delhi and lahore was steadily kept up. occasionally it was unsafe to take the carts over the twelve miles leading to and from the camp, and there the coachman rode the horses across country or proceeded on foot and so managed to elude the insurgents. . the mail cart establishment was the only available means by which officers could travel to and from the camp before delhi, and it afforded them an easy and speedy mode of travelling. . extra horses were posted at each stage between the jhellum and delhi to admit of express cart daks being laid when necessary for mails or passengers. . in the month of august it became necessary to provide means for the removal of the sick and wounded officers from the camp in delhi to kurnaul or umballa, and some of the inland transit company's carriages, in addition to the palanquin carriages and vans attached to the post office, were hired for the purpose. all sick and wounded officers were allowed, at the recommendation of the brigadier-general, now sir archdale wilson, to travel free of expense. many valuable lives were thus saved. . i consider the conduct of the native coachmen beyond all praise during the disturbances. great temptations to desert us were held out to them by the mutineers, but not one of them proved unfaithful to government. from the date of arrival of our troops before delhi on the th june till the th of september, the date of the fall of delhi, the coachmen conveyed the mails to and from the camp with the same safety and the same regularity as before the outbreak. . the public mind of the punjab and cis-sutledge states was at the highest pitch of excitement watching the result of the operations of our troops against the mutineers at delhi, and any interruption of the mail would have had a fatal effect on the peace of those states. the telegraph wire connecting the camp with the punjab was frequently cut, and thus it may be easily understood that the regularity of the mail throughout the crisis was of the most vital importance. . the commissioner of scinde, anticipating the possibility of the communication between the punjab and scinde or bombay being cut off, organized on his own responsibility a mail establishment between bhawulpore and jaudhpore, and again with deesa and hyderabad. this arrangement was useful in conveying intelligence between agra, the punjab and central india, and also as an auxiliary line of communication between the punjab and bombay. . in the middle and end of july the mail cart establishment between googairah and mooltan became very clamorous and appeared to be inclined to strike. the vital importance of that establishment made me determine on travelling to mooltan so as to ascertain whether the contractors had any reasonable grievance. there had been many expresses besides passenger daks, and their horses had been perhaps somewhat overworked in consequence, and accordingly i authorized an additional horse at each stage, which for the time quieted the contractors and they gave no more trouble. i was not without some suspicion that there were political influences exciting dissatisfaction amongst them. this impression was in some degree corroborated by an effort on the part of the prisoners of the jail at googairah attempting to effect their escape. happily, through the prompt and rigorous measures adopted by the deputy commissioner, mr. elphinstone, the _émeute_ amongst the prisoners was most successfully crushed and the peace of the district was not disturbed. otherwise the mails would have there been interrupted. . on the th september insurrection broke out between googairah and hurruppa. many horses of the mail cart establishment were carried off by the rebels. several carts were burnt, and communication by the direct route between lahore and mooltan was for several days wholly cut off. the local authorities of the district had no warning of the outbreak till the morning of the night on which it took place. the district officers gave me reason to hope that the insurrection would be instantly put down, but unfortunately, owing to their paucity of troops, the rebels were not overawed sufficiently to admit of the mails being conveyed by the direct road within fifteen days. in the interim, however, they were, after several days' stoppage, conveyed via shahpore and seeah to and from mooltan and lahore. . it is here worthy of remark that the successful assault of delhi on the th september by our troops was telegraphed to lahore, and full particulars thereof were transmitted by the mail of that date from lahore to mooltan, scinde, bombay, etc., before the outbreak between googairah and humppa. the receipt of the news of the successful assault of delhi was signally opportune in scinde, as the native troops then at karachi, hyderabad and shikarpore were in a state approaching to open mutiny. . the route for the mail between lahore and mooltan via shahpore being very circuitous and also unsafe as the country between the sutledge and ravee and even for some distance west of the ravee was in open revolt, it became necessary to determine on having a more direct line of communication between lahore, scinde and bombay. accordingly a camel dak was established by the chief commissioner of the punjab between bhawulpore and ferozepore. the head overseer of the jullunder division, hurdeo bux, was transferred for the superintendence of this dak and managed it most successfully. . the establishment of runners between ferozepore, lahore and loodianah was at the same time strengthened in view to provide for the extra weight of the mails in transit via bhawulpore, and thus the stations east and west of the sutledge were rendered independent of the direct mail line between lahore and mooltan in respect to scinde, bombay, calcutta, etc., etc. . the post offices and mail lines at and above meerut and throughout the cis-sutledge states and punjab have continued in uninterrupted operation excepting those situated on the line of road between googairah and humppa, which were for a short time the scene of insurrections in september. appendix h the work of the field post office between and _the abyssinian expedition._ at the end of september, , the postmaster-general, bombay, reported that a reconnoitring party under colonel merewether, political agent, had left for abyssinia and a field force was shortly to follow. a post office under mr. j. gardiner as inspecting postmaster sailed for abyssinia on the th november along with the second detachment of the expeditionary force. a portion of the staff was left at massowah, where the troops disembarked, and the rest was ordered to advance with the army. having fallen ill through overwork, mr. gardiner was replaced by mr. e. de c. williams on the st march, . ordinary postage stamps were used, the denominations of the stamps supplied for the field force being ½ anna, anna, annas, annas, annas pies, and annas pies. the postage payable on articles for members of the expeditionary force was as follows: letters-- annas for every ½ oz., annas for oz. and annas for every additional oz. in excess of the first oz. newspapers-- pies for ozs., anna pies for ozs. books-- annas for ozs., annas for ozs. and annas for every additional ozs. prepayment in the latter two cases being compulsory. it does not appear that parcels or money orders were exchanged or savings bank transactions allowed. the postal officials began to return from abyssinia by the end of june, , the last batch arriving at bombay on the th july. _the afghanistan expedition._ the war broke out in november, , and mr. j. h. cornwall was appointed to take charge of postal arrangements with the column under the command of general stewart, mr. w. t. van someren with the column under the command of major-general f. s. roberts, and mr. j. l. fendal with the peshawar column. the approximate strength of the whole force was about , fighting men and , camp followers. the mails between quetta and kandahar were conveyed under the control of the political agent and the military authorities. when general roberts moved out, a hill cart service was opened from kohat to thull, a distance of sixty-four miles, in the kurram valley. the principal difficulty was the work of organizing and maintaining the mail lines, which were also used for conveying military stores. apart from the work done at the post office workshops at aligarh, workshops had to be opened at rawalpindi, jund, thull and other places for the construction and repair of carts. in this expedition non-commissioned officers were taught to do postal work, and whenever they were required to do so they were allowed a postal salary of rs. a month. the control of the whole postal arrangements devolved upon colonel w. m. lane, postmaster-general, punjab, and it was due to his exertions that the arrangements met with success. _malta expeditionary force._ in april, , it was decided to send an expeditionary force to malta under major-general j. ross, c.b., and at the instance of the military authorities a small postal staff, consisting of a postmaster (mr. dinshaw jijibhoy) with a clerk and three peons, was selected to accompany the troops. the postal arrangements were made under the direction of the postmaster-general, bombay, and the expeditionary force started from bombay on the st may, . when the island of cyprus was ceded to great britain by turkey the indian contingent went to occupy it, and the postal staff was accordingly ordered to embark for cyprus. a british post office was opened at larnaka and mr. dinshaw was placed in charge of it, and there he worked conjointly with the british postal staff till his return to india on the nd august, . shortly after sir garnet wolseley came out from england as governor, and the island was then divided into six parts, each with a civil commissioner and garrisoned by a regiment. the commissioners were ex-officio postmasters of their respective divisions, and there was no regular arrangement between these divisions for the exchange of mails, which were occasionally conveyed by means of japties or policemen. when cyprus was first occupied there was only a fortnightly communication with india by means of the austrian lloyd steam navigation company's steamers; subsequently a weekly service was also established by the bells asia minor line of steamers. a small austrian post office at larnaka was permitted, and this served the entire island. the field post office was opened at malta on the th may and closed at cyprus on the nd august, . _egypt expeditionary force._ in the beginning of july, , the government of india directed an expeditionary force of about men of all arms for service in egypt under the command of major-general sir h. macpherson, v.c., k.c.b. the postal arrangements were made by mr. fanshawe, postmaster-general, bombay, and mr. j. h. cornwall, who had special experience of the management of field post offices in afghanistan, was selected as the chief superintendent of field post offices. the indian field post office establishment started from bombay on the nd august, , and returned there on the st october of the same year. _kalahandi expedition._ the rising of khonds in kalahandi, an important feudatory state in the chattisgarh division in central provinces, necessitated the despatch of troops. in june, , the deputy postmaster-general, central provinces, reported that the rising was of a serious character and that the country was not likely to be quiet for some time. the troops marched from sambalpur and raipur, and three field post offices were opened to serve them. mr. p. gorman, superintendent of the division, was in entire charge of the postal arrangements. the expedition lasted for only a short time, but the communications had to be maintained till about the end of the year. _suakim field post office, ._ in february, , it was decided to send an expeditionary force composed of indian troops to egypt, and the director-general was asked to make arrangements for a field post office to accompany it. mr. o'shea, as chief superintendent, was in charge of the postal staff, under the direction of the postmaster-general, bombay. the strength of the expeditionary force was , , including followers, and general hudson, c.b., was in command of the force. the postal staff started from bombay on the afternoon of the th february, , and on the th march, , arrived at suakim, where the base post office was opened on the th current. mails were exchanged between egypt and india by government transports and p. & o. packets. only two officers, messrs. o'shea and lalkaka, received medals, and none were granted to the subordinate postal staff. the field post office was closed in november, . _the upper burma expedition._ on the rd october, , the government of india asked the director-general to make the postal arrangements for the expeditionary force in upper burma. the strength of the force consisted of , fighting men and followers, besides dhooly bearers and coolies. on the th november, , the expedition, under the command of major-general h. n. d. prendergast, c.b., v.c., left rangoon for upper burma by steamers up the irrawaddy river to thayetmyo and thence by the land route to mandalay. mr. g. barton groves, deputy postmaster-general, burma, was called on to organize the service and accompany the force as deputy postmaster-general in charge. the rangoon, prome and thayetmyo post offices were strengthened, and the last-named was converted into a base office. five field post offices were also opened on board the head-quarters steamers of each of the five brigades which composed the force. _the pishin field force._ in march, , the governor-general in council decided to increase the garrison in baluchistan to a strength of three divisions comprising about , men and , followers, and the necessary postal arrangements had to be made. mr. j. short, deputy postmaster-general, sind and baluchistan, was in charge, assisted by mr. e. walker, inspector of post offices. in april, , a head office was opened at rindli, in baluchistan, which was designated the "pishin force frontier office," and the quetta post office was strengthened. nine camp post offices were also opened, and mails were carried to these offices by camels and sowars. _sikkim expedition._ the orders for the despatch of a force for operations in sikkim were notified in the _gazette of india_ of the rd march, . shortly after the commencement of hostilities the government of bengal requested mr. h. m. kisch, postmaster-general, bengal, to open a runners' line from siliguri to kalimpong, a distance of thirty-seven miles. this line was used only for transmission of letter mails, parcel mails being conveyed by the old route from darjeeling via ghum and pasok. on the th march the padong post office was converted into a sub-office, and from that date it was constituted a base office for the expedition. on the th march the force, which concentrated at padong, moved out in two columns, one under brigadier-general t. graham, r.a., commanding the expedition, and the other under colonel michel, of the th bengal infantry, the former advancing towards fort lingtu and the other towards the rhenok bazar. with the advance of troops the post office opened at dulapchin was shortly removed to ranglichu. other post offices were opened at gnatong, sedonchin, gangtok, rhenok bazar and pakyong. the mail lines connecting these offices were under the management of the post office as far as ronglichu and pakyong, but the lines beyond were under the political authorities. _the black mountain or hazara field force._ towards the beginning of september, , the home government having decided to send a punitive expedition against the tribesmen of the black mountain, a field force was organized on the hazara frontier. the object of the expedition was to punish the khan khel hassanzai and the akazai tribes. brigadier-general j. w. mcqueen, c.b., commanding the punjab frontier force, directed the expedition. on the th september, , mr. w. t. van someren, superintendent of post offices, rawalpindi division, was deputed to make the postal arrangements with the force. haripur was constituted a base office for the derband column, and abbottabad for the oghi column. the tonga service from hassan abdal to abbottabad was strengthened and extended to mansera, and a mixed tonga and horse service was established between abbottabad and oghi. a runners' line was opened from haripur to derband. a railway sorting office, under the supervision of mr. n. g. wait, was also opened at hassan abdal for the sorting and onward transmission of articles for the field force. _the chin expedition, burma._ in december, , a small force of about men, besides civil officers and followers, headed by brigadier-general faunce, started for the chindwin division to quell a rising of burmans and to reduce to order the country which was then infested with dacoits. the expedition was undertaken very suddenly, and the quartermaster-general in india asked the deputy postmaster-general, burma, to arrange for the opening of a field post office at kalemyo at a distance of twenty-seven miles from the base of operations at kalewa. about july, , the country was brought to a normal state and the troops were withdrawn. _the lushai expedition._ in the government of india having decided to send a punitive expedition against the shendus and other tribes in the chitagong hill tracts, a small force under colonel v. w. tregear was organized and concentrated at demagiri. the force was styled the "lushai expeditionary force," and consisted of about men besides followers and coolies. an inspector was deputed to make the postal arrangements. the boat line from rangamati to demagiri, which was maintained by the frontier police, was strengthened, also the post offices at rangamati and demagiri, the latter being constituted a base office, and a post office was opened at barkul--half-way between rangamati and demagiri--where there was a stockade of military police. the troops kept the field for about four months and came back at the end of april, . _the chin lushai expedition._ in two armies operated in this expedition, one from burma and the other from chittagong. the troops in burma were divided into two columns, one operating from fort white as a base against the syins and other tribes, and the other starting from gangaw as a base and advancing via yokwa on haka. the chittagong force advanced from fort lungleh on haka. brigadier-general w. p. symons commanded the operations on the burma side, and colonel tregear commanded the chittagong column. the strength of the force concentrated at gangaw consisted of about officers, european and indian troops and followers. the strength of the chittagong column consisted of about men besides followers and coolies. on the burma side much difficulty was experienced by the supervising officers in organizing and maintaining the lines, which lay over sandy beds of rivers, hillocks and jungles and on the chittagong side, on account of constant illness and the consequent change of officials deputed. mr. j. w. mccrea, superintendent of post offices, burma circle, was deputed to make postal arrangements for the force under the direction of mr. g. j. hynes, deputy postmaster-general, burma. on the other side postal arrangements were made by mr. g. s. clifford, superintendent of post offices, under the direction of mr. g. barton groves, deputy postmaster-general, eastern bengal. _the zhob expedition._ the object of the expedition was to explore the borders of the zhob valley and to take steps either to capture the outlaw dost muhammad or to expel him from the kakar country and to coerce the khiddarzai shirani tribe into submission. towards the middle of september, , intimation was received from the quartermaster-general in india that a force of about men, besides camp followers, was about to start for the zhob valley, and on the th of that month a small field post office, consisting of a sub-postmaster and two peons, started from quetta with a portion of the troops for hindubagh, which was to be the general rendezvous. the expedition was commanded by sir george white. _the black mountain expedition._ in a force was sent for operations against the hassanzai and akazai tribes of the black mountains. the strength of the force, which was under the command of major-general elles, c.b., was about men, and it advanced from darband in two columns--one marching via baradar and pailam to tilli, and the other along the river route via kotkai and kunhar. the postal arrangements were made by mr. w. t. van someren under the direction of mr. g. j. hynes, postmaster-general, punjab. _the chin hills expedition._ the government of india sanctioned military operations in the north and east frontier of the bhamo district and chin hills during the cold season of - . in the bhamo direction the object of the expedition was to explore the amber and jade mines, the hukong valley and the country on the east and north-east frontier above the taeping river on the chinese border. the expedition had a quasi-military character, and about troops, including police battalions, operated in various columns, under the direction of major-general r. c. stewart, commanding the burma districts. mr. f. mccrea, inspector of post offices, eastern division, was deputed to organize and supervise the arrangements. _the manipur expedition._ the outbreak in manipur in , and the consequent massacre of mr. quinton, the chief commissioner of assam, and his party, necessitated the despatch of troops to quell the rebellion. the force was designated the "manipur field force," and about men, including followers, operated from the tammu side and about the same number from kohima and silchar. mr. w. roussac was in charge of the postal arrangements with the tammu column, and mr. f. p. williams, assisted by an inspector, with the kohima column. all correspondence for the tammu column was sent from india to rangoon and thence by boats to kindat. from kindat to tammu the mails were conveyed by runners, and a runners' line was opened from tammu to manipur. these arrangements worked for a very short time on account of the rapid advance of troops and their immediate return. _the miranzai expedition._ the object of the expedition, which was under the command of brigadier-general sir william lockhart, k.c.b., was to overawe the recalcitrant samil clans of the urakzai tribe in the miranzai valley. the force was ordered to the front in january, , and advanced in three columns, the first column having its base at shahu khel, the second at tog and the third at hangu. mr. a. bean, superintendent of post offices, peshawar division, was placed in charge of field postal arrangements connected with the force in addition to his own duties. _the wuntho expedition._ on the th february, , the station of kawlin was suddenly attacked by a party of rebels from the wuntho state, in upper burma, and a few police who formed the garrison of the place had to evacuate it. the post office had to be abandoned and the sub-postmaster had to come away along with the other officials. a combined force of police and military, consisting of about men, was at once organized and advanced on wuntho from shwebo, katha and tigyaing to put down the rebellion and bring the country under permanent occupation. the troops employed were not designated a field force, and the postal arrangements were therefore carried out on ordinary scale and not according to the rules of the field service manual. _the isazai field force._ in september, , the government of india decided to send out an expedition under major-general sir william lockhart to punish certain villages of the trans-indus isazai clans who had harboured hashim ali khan of seri in contravention of their agreement entered into at seri in may, . a force of about men of all arms concentrated at derband and was styled the "isazai field force." on the th september, , mr. c. j. dease, superintendent of post offices, was deputed to make the special arrangements for the force with the assistance of an inspector. _kurram field force._ in the beginning of october, , the government of india decided to depute a political officer at the head of a force in the lower kurram valley. the object was to expel the chikkai tribes from the valley and to effect a thorough settlement of the country. the force which accompanied the political officer, mr. w. r. h. merk, c.s.i., consisted of about men, including followers. mr. p. sheridan, postmaster-general, punjab, arranged for field post offices, and the superintendent of post offices, peshawar division, was placed in charge. by the end of october the presence of troops in kurram was no longer necessary, and the field offices were closed with the exception of the head-quarters office, which was retained for the use of the garrison. _the wano expedition._ in august, , owing to disturbances in afghanistan, a detachment of troops had to be sent beyond the frontier to take up position at kajuri kuch in the wano country, thirty miles beyond the gomal pass. as there was no post office at the place, arrangements were made by the superintendent of post offices, derajat division, to send and receive mails via gomal post office. in september, however, owing to the despatch of further troops, the post office was called upon to make arrangements. by the end of april, , the strength of the kajuri and jandola forces was considerably reduced, and the postal establishments were gradually abolished. _the abor expedition, ._ the only postal arrangements made in connection with this expedition, which lasted for a very short time, were the opening of a runners' line from sadiya to bomjur and the strengthening of the delivery staff of sadiya post office by an additional postman. _the waziristan field force._ in august, , the government of india sanctioned the despatch of troops to accompany the british commissioner in connection with the afghan boundary demarkation. pundit shiv pal, the superintendent of post offices, derajat division, was placed in charge assisted by two inspectors, till he was relieved by mr. w. t. van someren, who was placed on special duty in this connection. the post office at tank was temporarily converted into a base head office, and three field post offices were opened to move with the force. on the rd november the mushud waziri made a determined night attack on the british camp at wano, and, although the attack was repulsed, it resulted in casualties. in the beginning of december, , the government of india having sanctioned active operations in waziristan, lieutenant-general sir william lockhart, who was now placed in command, asked for an additional superintendent, and mr. a. franks ryan was placed on special duty with the force. _the chitral relief force._ in the middle of march, , a scheme was prepared for field operations in chitral, the object of which was to compel umra khan of jandol to withdraw from the chitral country, and the director-general was requested to make postal arrangements for the force, which consisted of about , troops of all arms and about , camp followers. this was the largest force mobilized in india since the afghan war of , and the postal arrangements had therefore to be made on a proportionately large scale. the expedition was titled "the chitral relief force" and was commanded by major-general sir robert low, k.c.b. on the th march, , mr. p. sheridan, postmaster-general, punjab, was requested by the director-general to arrange field post offices, and by the end of the month the postal staff, who were collected at nowshera, were in readiness to start. mr. a. franks ryan was the senior superintendent in charge. in the early stages of the campaign considerable difficulty was experienced by the supervising officers in organizing lines for the conveyance of mails. mule transport being very limited, pack bullocks had to be used for the first few days, and when those were withdrawn a temporary runners' line had to be opened. information, however, was shortly received that the country was open as far as durgai, a distance of forty-one miles from nowshera, and arrangements were made with messrs. dhanjibhoy to open a tonga line. on the th march the force moved out to mardan and the head-quarters field post office went with it. on the nd april, , information was received that colonel kelly had succeeded in reducing the chitral fort from the gilgit side, and a further hasty advance of troops was therefore no longer necessary. with the occupation of the chitral territory by the rd brigade the expedition practically came to an end. the abbottabad force was broken up on the st may, . _suakim expedition, ._ in may, , under orders from the home government, an expeditionary force, strong, was sent to suakim under the command of brigadier-general c. c. egerton, c.b., d.s.o., and a field post office was ordered to accompany it. the chief of the postal staff was mr. bennett, who, however, did not hold the rank of chief superintendent as the force was too small. it started on the nd may, , and arrived on the st june at suakim, where the base office was opened. subsequently a sub-office was opened at tokar, and the exchange of mails between this office and the base office was carried on by camel dak twice a week. there was fortnightly communication between india and suakim by egyptian steamers, and parcel and letter mails were conveyed by these and by p. & o. steamers. the field post office was closed on the th december, . _the malakand field force._ on the st july, , the adjutant-general in india forwarded to the director-general a scheme for operations in the malakand country, and mr. p. sheridan, postmaster-general, punjab and n.-w.f., was requested to make special postal arrangements for the force. mr. h. c. sheridan, assistant director-general of the post office, was placed in charge. by the middle of august all the troops forming the st and nd brigades went across the malakand to the swat valley. in the meantime, fresh trouble having arisen round and about peshawar, the government of india issued orders for punitive operations against the mohmands, who had invaded british territory and attacked the village and fort of shabkadar, nineteen miles from peshawar. accordingly a strong force was concentrated about the place, and mr. c. a. stowell was deputed to peshawar to make special postal arrangements for this force. "the mohmand field force," under major-general ellis, left shabkadar on the th september and returned to peshawar on the th october, . during the expedition a small force was sent to abazai to guard the works of the swat canal, and a field post office accompanied it. on new year's day of orders were issued for an advance to buner, and the nd brigade marched to katlang, which was at once connected with mardan by an ekka service, later extended to sanghao. there were now two ekka services--one from mardan to rustam, a distance of nineteen miles, and the other from mardan to sanghao, a distance of twenty-one miles. on the th january the name of the force was changed to the "buner field force." the postal arrangements for this force, which was not in existence for more than a fortnight, were in the hands of mr. n. m. cama, superintendent of post offices. the malakand field force began to be demobilized on the nd january, , but only a small portion of the troops returned to india. the rest went forward and became part of the swat garrison. in this expedition arrangements were made for the first time for the sale of newspapers by field post offices, a service which was greatly appreciated. so efficient were the postal arrangements and the regularity of the tonga service that the mails to and from the front travelled with a punctuality which would compare favourably with any long-established line in india. _the tirah expedition._ on the th september, , the director-general was asked to make arrangements for a postal service for the expeditionary force to be sent against the afridi and orakzai tribes on the kohat and peshawar frontier. the postmaster-general, punjab and n.-w.f., mr. p. sheridan, was immediately communicated with, and mr. van someren was appointed chief postal superintendent with the expedition. the base post office for the main force was at first situated at kohat, and the base office for the peshawar column at peshawar. when the troops marched through tirah and took up their position for the winter in the bara valley, the khyber pass and the neighbourhood of peshawar, messrs. dhanjibhoy established two tonga services connecting peshawar with bara and jamrud, while beyond these places they arranged for the carriage of mails by a horse post. the mail service for the peshawar column previous to this had been carried on by the afridi horse contractors, and as the roads were improved the tonga services were extended up to landi kotal in the khyber pass and gandao in the bara valley. the postal arrangements lasted for a period of six months. on this occasion, too, the field post offices were specially authorized to sell newspapers to the troops and were allowed a commission on the sales. _the tochi field force._ the postal arrangements in connection with the tochi field force lasted for a period of about eight months, from july, , to february, . the base of the operations was bannu, which is miles away from the railway at khushalgarh, and, as soon as it was known that a force was to be mobilized at bannu, arrangements were made for the introduction of an efficient tonga service from khushalgarh to that place and for a proper railway connection between golra and khushalgarh. between khushalgarh and kohat a feeble tonga service was already in existence under the management of the district board of kohat, while for the local demands an ekka service had been established between kohat and bannu. neither of these lines could be relied upon to meet the special requirements for mails and passengers caused by the expedition, and mr. dhanjibhoy, the mail contractor of the rawalpindi-srinagar line, established a complete and efficient tonga service over the entire distance. the postal arrangements were carried out very satisfactorily. mr. w. t. van someren was in charge of the actual arrangements in the field from the beginning till september, , when he was relieved by mr. f. o'byrne, who remained in charge during the remainder of the operations. _the tochi valley field force._ after the breaking up of the tochi field force in december, , it was decided to retain in the valley a brigade of troops on field service scale under the command of the general officer commanding, tochi. the troops were quartered in six military posts, and camp post offices were opened to serve them. during the tochi expedition there was a tonga service between edwardesabad and bannu, but this having been discontinued a new arrangement had to be made for a tonga service with messrs. dhanjibhoy and sons for the conveyance of mails between khushalgarh and kohat and an ekka service between edwardesabad and miranshah and datta khel. _the swat valley column._ when the second division of the tirah force was demobilized it was decided to retain a strong column in the swat valley to take up positions in dir territory for the protection of the line of communications and the route of the relieving and relieved chitral force. the arrangement necessitated the opening of three field post offices from the st may, , and from the same date the swat sorting office at nowshera was strengthened. it was also decided to retain the services of a superintendent to accompany the column up to dir territory and return with the relieved troops from chitral. the postal arrangements had to be maintained till the end of june, when the column having been considerably reduced, two field offices were abolished and only one was retained till the th july, . _the mishmi expedition._ in november, , the director-general was requested to open a field branch post office at bonjur and connect it by a runners' line (twenty-four miles long) with sadiya, where there was a civil post office. this place was made the base of operations of the mishmi field force. about military police and regular troops operated in this expedition, which began in december, , and ended in january, . the bonjur office was opened on the st december, , and closed on the th february, . _the china expeditionary force._ at the request of the home government, a force entitled "the china expeditionary force" was mobilized in india for service in china under the command of general sir a. gaselee. the first intimation of the despatch of the army was received on the th june, . this, however, referred only to one brigade of troops of all arms; but on the th june intimation was received that a force of two brigades with divisional troops were under orders for china. the control of the field postal arrangements was in the hands of mr. stewart-wilson, postmaster-general, punjab, under whose orders the postal staff was mobilized and equipped. at first it was decided to fit out twelve field post offices to accompany the force. mr. w. t. van someren was appointed chief superintendent, and mr. a. bean and mr. a. b. thompson were selected to work under him. by the end of august, , the force in china was strengthened by a cavalry brigade, one infantry brigade and three large coolie corps, and the postal staff had to be supplemented. thus by the end of the year there were in china: chief superintendent. superintendents. inspectors. postmaster. deputy postmasters. sub-postmasters. clerks. followers. on the th june, , a notification was issued regarding the conditions under which postal articles could be exchanged with the china expeditionary force. the indian base office was at first opened at linkung-tao (wei hai wei), but was shortly transferred to hongkong. articles for the force were despatched by the steamers of the b.i.s.n. company, the messageries maritimes and also by the opium steamers to hongkong. the colonial post office at hongkong had an arrangement with all merchant vessels binding them to carry mails as far as shanghai, and owing to the courtesy of the postmaster-general, hongkong, this concession was made use of to carry the mails of the field force. north of shanghai the mails were carried by transports and men-o'-war. later on the chinese imperial postal authorities carried our mails from shanghai to taku and back free of charge until the latter port was closed by the winter ice. another route had then to be chosen for the north china mails, and once more we had to resort to the kindness of the imperial chinese post office, who agreed to supply transport from chifu to chaingwantao twice a week on condition that half the cost of the coal used should be paid. thus the mails were conveyed from hongkong to shanghai, from shanghai to chifu and from chifu to chaingwantao and thence to tientsin. the chief postal land routes were ( ) taku to pekin and ( ) tientsin to shanhaikwan. dollar currency was used in the field offices, the rate of a dollar being fixed at s. d., equivalent to rs. . . . the first postal detachment took with them a full supply of postage stamps, postcards, etc., but it was found inadvisable to use them owing to the fact that it would be impossible to sell them at a price exactly equivalent to face value. at hongkong the postal equivalent for centimes, i.e. anna, is cents. it followed, therefore, that twenty-five -anna stamps could be bought for a dollar and that the purchaser would be able to make annas for every dollar spent on stamps, and it was feared that advantage would be taken of this to buy up indian stamps wholesale for remittance to india. the postage stamps were therefore overprinted with the letters "c.e.f.," i.e. "china expeditionary force," so that their use would be localized, and the surcharged stamps came into circulation about the middle of august, . in order to confine the use of field offices to the members of the force, orders were issued that our postage stamps should not be sold except to soldiers and officers in uniform. the rates of postage fixed for all purposes were those in force in india, the postage to india being reckoned at indian inland rates. difficulty had all along been felt in supplying postal facilities to the small bodies of troops stationed at or near railway stations where there were no post offices. mr. van someren removed this difficulty by introducing a combined post and railway mail service between pekin and taku and tientsin and shanhaikwan, a scheme which was a new one in the history of the field postal service. postal clerks had not only to sort letters in the trains, but also to receive and deliver letters and sell postage stamps at each railway station. by august, , there was a reduction of the number of troops in china and fourteen field post offices were closed, the supervising staff being reduced to a chief superintendent and an inspecting postmaster in north china and a superintendent and an inspecting postmaster at hongkong. mr. van someren left china on the th august, , leaving mr. thompson in charge. this was the first occasion that a large postal establishment had to be sent out with a military expedition overseas to a foreign country. the force consisted of over , men stationed at various places from shanghai to taku and taku to pekin. the harmonious relations with the chinese imperial postal administration and the material assistance which it rendered on every possible occasion greatly helped to the success of the indian field post office administration in china. _the somaliland field force._ the postal arrangements made to serve the somaliland field force extended over a period of nearly two years from january, , to november, . mr. wynch, who was appointed chief superintendent, remained till june, , when he was invalided and relieved by mr. a. j. hughes, who held charge until the end of the operations. the strength of the force was , and at first one base office and one field post office, with one postmaster, five clerks and four packers, were provided. mails were exchanged between india and somaliland by government transports. the field post offices were closed on the th november, . _the tibet mission._ in the government of india decided to send a small force to escort the tibet frontier commission. at first a number of temporary post offices and lines were opened under the control of the superintendent of post offices, jalpaiguri division, to serve the mission, but it was not until it was decided that the mission should advance into the chumbi valley that field post offices and lines were required. the mission was headed by colonel younghusband and the escort was commanded by general macdonald, with mr. h. tulloch as chief superintendent. the rapid development of field post offices necessitated the appointment of a second superintendent, and mr. a. bean was deputed to field service. on the th january, , mr. bean took over charge of the base division, but shortly after died of heart disease on the rd march, . the entire arrangements then devolved again on mr. tulloch until the st april, , when mr. c. j. dease took over charge of the base division. the mission advanced on gyantse on the th april. from tuna to gyantse the mail arrangements were in the hands of the military authorities, and only one postal clerk, whose duty it was to distribute letters, was sent up with the escort. the mission reached gyantse on the th may, and a field post office had to be opened there and at several other places on the lines of communications. the force remained at lhassa from the rd august to the rd september and returned to gyantse on the th october, . there was by this time at gyantse an accumulation of over parcels addressed to the members of the lhassa column, but mr. angelo, who was then placed in charge of the advance division, disposed of them in three days before the troops left on their return march. the demobilization of the force began by the end of october, and the postal officials were ordered to leave chumbi on the th and to close the field post offices between chumbi and gangtok on their way down. mr. tulloch relinquished charge of the f.p.o.'s on the th november, . _the bazar valley field force._ the postal arrangements made to serve the bazar valley field force extended over a period of twenty-five days, from the th february to the th march, . on the night of the th february the chief of the staff informed the postmaster, peshawar, that the force would leave the station the next morning. a base office, four first-class field post offices and three second-class field post offices were sent to the front, and on receipt of the scheme for the organization and mobilization of the force on the th february this establishment was reduced considerably. the work of the field post offices on this occasion was limited almost entirely to the disposal of articles of the letter and packet mails. _the mohmand field force._ the postal arrangements made to serve the mohmand field force extended over a period of thirty-eight days, from the th april to the th june, . the first intimation that an expedition would take place was received on the rd april, and the postmaster-general, punjab and n.-w.f., was at once directed to make all arrangements to serve the troops that were concentrating on the frontier. mr. mcminn, who was chief superintendent of post offices with the bazar valley field force, was placed in charge. _the abor expeditionary force, - ._ the postal arrangements made to serve the abor expeditionary force extended over a period of about one year, from may, , to may, . a temporary post office was first opened on the th may, , at saikwaghat, a terminus of the dibru-sadiyah railway, to serve the troops making preparations there for the expedition. the office was under the control of the superintendent of post offices, upper assam division. it was not until september, , when the force advanced towards kobo, that the department was called upon to organize a field postal service. the arrangements were placed under the control of the postmaster-general, eastern bengal and assam, and for the supervision of the work in the field mr. a. j. faichnie, superintendent of post offices, upper assam division, was, in addition to his own duties, appointed superintendent of field post offices, assisted by an inspector. appendix j the post office insurance fund the suggestion to establish a state life assurance was first made in by sir richard temple, the finance member of council. after a great deal of discussion it was dropped in , but was revived again in by mr. hogg, the director-general of the post office, when it was accepted by the viceroy's council and finally by the secretary of state. the principal features of the scheme which was actually introduced on the st february, , were: ( ) for the time the fund was confined to the employés of the post office. ( ) provision was made for effecting life insurance in three ways, viz.-- (i) by a single payment. (ii) by monthly payments until the person insured attained the age of or . (iii) by monthly payments during life. ( ) provision was also made for two classes of monthly allowances, viz. "immediate" or "deferred." ( ) one life could be insured for any sum which was a multiple of rs. up to the total of rs. , , and the monthly allowance granted on any one life might consist of any sum which was a multiple of rs. up to the limit of rs. . ( ) medical examination of proposers for insurance was made free. ( ) arrangements were made for the deduction of the monthly premia from the insured person's salary except the first premium or premium paid during leave without pay. ( ) policies and contracts issued under the scheme were exempt from stamp duty. the scheme worked smoothly, and, taking into consideration that many employés of the post office are poorly paid officials, a fair measure of success was attained during the first few years except in the monthly allowance branch and in the system of life insurance by single payment. the following figures show the proportion of officials who availed themselves of insurance during the first three years:-- - · % of the whole post office establishment. - · % " " " - · % " " " in the rule under which one-half surrender value could be allowed on all policies and contracts when payment had been discontinued was modified so as to exclude from this privilege policies and contracts on which three years' premia or subscriptions had not been paid. in september, , the fund was opened to the telegraph department, and in to employés of the indo-european telegraphs and to women employed in all the departments. with effect from the st february, , the benefits of the scheme were extended generally to all permanent government servants whose pay was audited in civil or public works account offices and all members of establishments of the military department, under audit of the military account offices, who were subject to civil rules. from the same date a system of endowment assurances providing for payment at any age between and was introduced. with this general extension of the scheme it was decided that the medical examination of proposers for insurance should be more stringent and that medical officers, who had until then been examining proposers for insurance free of any charge, should be allowed a fee of rs. for each examination, as their insurance work would be substantially increased. in the same year ( ) the system of life insurance by a single payment which had proved to be a failure, was abolished. in , temporary engineers and temporary upper subordinates of the public works department were allowed by government to be admissible to the benefits of the fund, provided that the chief engineer declared that they were eligible for admission. in it was extended to permanent government servants in foreign service in india, and in the same year life insurance policies were allowed to be converted into endowment assurance policies. in , the following relaxations of the rules were sanctioned with a view to meet the convenience of government servants. ( ) insured persons who had retired from the service and whose pensions were paid in india were allowed the option of deducting their premia or subscriptions from their pension bills instead of being compelled to pay them in cash at a post office. ( ) when there was any difficulty in the way of a proposal being signed by the proposer in the presence of his immediate superior, this duty might, with the permission of the postmaster-general, be performed in the presence of the local postmaster or any other responsible officer who had to sign the certificate. ( ) the table of subscriptions for "immediate monthly allowance," which contained rates up to the age of sixty, was extended so as to provide for contracts with persons above that age. in the same year the benefits of the fund were extended to temporary lower subordinates, clerks of the public works department and to clerks of the punjab university on the same conditions as to temporary engineers and temporary upper subordinates. the year witnessed several important changes in the post office insurance fund made on the recommendation of the government actuary. these were: ( ) that the sums eventually payable in respect of policies in existence on st march, , in the life branch of the fund were increased by per cent and that the premia payable in respect of sums assured in that branch after that date would be correspondingly reduced. the rates of premia for life insurance were revised accordingly. ( ) that a life policy, with monthly payments payable till death, was allowed to be converted into a life policy with monthly payments payable to a specified age or into a fully paid up policy payable at death. ( ) that an endowment policy might be converted into a paid-up policy payable at some anterior date or at death, if earlier. ( ) that insurants could reduce their monthly premia to any desired extent from any specified date. ( ) that when a policy of either class was surrendered the policy holder should be given the full surrender value which on an actuarial calculation could be paid without loss to the fund, instead of half that amount as hitherto given. ( ) that the surrender value of a lapsed policy was payable at any time after default, on application being made for the same. ( ) that the period up to which payment of arrears of premium or subscription was allowed for the revival of a policy of less than three years' duration was extended from three to six months. the tables of premia, introduced at the time the fund was started, as already stated, were calculated on the mortality rates which had been deduced from the experience of the uncovenanted service family pension fund, bengal--a fund which was confined to europeans resident in india--there being no more reliable mortality statistics available for the purpose at the time. in the india office actuary, in his review on the operations of the fund for the year - , noticed that, in view of the rapid growth of the scheme, it was necessary to revise the tables according to more accurate mortality statistics. in his review on the work of the fund for - the actuary asked for detailed particulars of all the policies issued by the fund since its institution in the form of statements, in order to enable him to deduce therefrom the necessary mortality rates, and thus prepare fresh tables of premia. these statistics were submitted with the director-general's annual report on the operations of the fund for the year - . in the meantime it was brought to notice in that, under the existing method of calculating surrender values of life policies, the values in certain cases were found on calculation to be considerably in excess of the total amount of premia paid on the policies. taking advantage of this, insurants began to surrender their policies in large numbers. the matter was referred to the secretary of state. as a result, the actuary at the india office forwarded revised tables for the calculation of surrender values of life policies, to be used until the general revision of the mortality tables and of the tables of premia, which had been under contemplation, was effected. in an important concession was sanctioned regarding the payment of premia by insured persons while on leave or suspension or when retiring. it was laid down that an insured person should not be considered as in arrears of premium or subscription for any month so long as he has not drawn any pay, pension or suspension allowance. in , with a view to afford greater facilities to the lower grades of postal servants to insure their lives and to popularize the fund, sanction was obtained to grant to these officials from the post office guarantee fund travelling expenses actually incurred by them in their journey for examination by the medical officer for insurance, provided the proposer actually took out a policy and paid the premium for not less than twelve months. in mr. ackland, the actuary at the india office, made a thorough investigation into the past experience of the fund from the statistics furnished to him. he drew up a report showing the results of the investigation and prepared fresh tables of mortality statistics, as well as new tables of premia for both life insurance and endowment assurance. he also prepared new formulæ for the calculation of paid-up policies, surrender values, etc., and recommended the following further concessions and changes:-- ( ) the grant to all policy holders on the st march, (the valuation date), of a bonus at the rate of per cent per annum in the case of whole life assurances, and at per cent in the case of endowment assurances in respect of each month's premium paid since st march, , up to st march, . ( ) the grant of an interim bonus at half of the above rates in respect of the premiums paid since st march, , in the case of policies which became claims by death or survivance between st april, , and st march, , provided that premiums have been paid for at least five years and up to date of death or survivance. ( ) "age next birthday" should be taken as the age at entry for all classes of assurances. ( ) an integral number of years' premia should be charged on endowment assurance policies and life policies with limited payments. ( ) transfers from the whole life to the endowment assurance class or vice versa should be allowed only after any number of complete years' premia have been paid. ( ) when surrender values were granted in the monthly allowance class, medical examination at the policy holder's expense should be insisted on and payment should in no case exceed per cent of the present value of the monthly allowance. ( ) policy holders should be allowed to commute future premia by payment either of a lump sum or of an increased monthly premium ceasing at age or . ( ) transfers from the endowment assurance to the whole life class should be allowed only on the production of a fresh medical certificate obtained at the policy holder's expense. ( ) the valuations of the fund should be made at quinquennial intervals. it was also decided that, as an actuary had been appointed by the government of india, all questions relating to the administration of the fund, as well as future valuations of the fund, might be dealt with by that officer instead of being submitted to the secretary of state. index abolition of district post, abolition of sea post office, abolition of unpaid postcards, abor expedition, , abor expeditionary force, - , abyssinian expedition, accounts, postal, act, post office. _see_ post office act address, forms of, , aden, military operations in neighbourhood of, aden, transhipment of mails at, , admiralty agents, , , afghanistan expedition, , anche, the, , anchel, the, aviation, bagdad railway, , baku, field service in, bank, savings, base office, , , base postal depot, bazar valley field force, beadon, mr., "bearing" correspondence, , , , , bhangy post, , , , black hole of calcutta, , black mountain expedition, black mountain or hazara field force, bombay g.p.o. building, bombay regulation xi of , branch office, brindisi as european port for indian mails, , british india steam navigation company, , british mission escort in south persia, british postal orders, buildings, post office, bullock train, , , buner field force, bungalows, dak or travellers', , burlton, mr. s. p., burma, chin expedition, bushire force, calcutta, black hole of, , calcutta g.p.o. building, , camel dak, cape route to india, the, , cash certificates, five-year, cash on delivery system, , , , caste, centres, delivery, chin expedition, burma, chin hills expedition, chin lushai expedition, china expeditionary force, chitral relief force, "clubbing," combined post and telegraph offices, introduction of, commission of , , , compiler of post office accounts, , compulsory prepayment of postage in all cases, rejection of, constantinople, field service in, construction and maintenance of postal vans, consultations of th march, , minutes of, consultations of th january, , extract from, continuous delivery system, control of the department, , , conventions with indian states, copper tickets, or tokens for postal purposes, , , cost of carrying mails on railways, counterfeit stamps, , courtney, mr., crises in the savings bank, custom-house, turkish, at bagdad and basra, , customs regulations, cyprus, dak bungalows, , dak system, dead letter office, delivery centres, delivery of mails, delivery system, continuous, department, control of the, , , department, never regarded as revenue-producing, , department, organization of the, , , depot, base postal, deputy postmaster, , desert post, the, , , direction, organization of the, director-general of the post office, first, distance, uniformity of postage irrespective of, , , , district dawk stamps, scinde, , district post, , district post, abolition of, district savings banks, dromedary post, , early postal regulations, east africa, field service in, east persian cordon, egypt during the great war, field service in, , egypt expeditionary force, encouragement of prepayment of postage, england, parcel post with, , english mail, , , , euphrates and tigris steam navigation company, , , european port for reception and despatch of indian mails, , experimental post offices, , ferry charges upon railway steamers, , field post office, the, field post offices, field service manual, field service, military rank on, field service uniform, fines incurred under post office acts, fining, first appointment of a postmaster-general, first director-general of the post office, five-year cash certificates, forbes, mr., force in east persia, foreign money orders, foreign parcel post, france, field service in, franking, free postage, abolition of privilege of, free postage, grant of privilege of, to certain persons, gallipoli, field service in, great war, , great war, effect of, upon savings bank balances, guarantee fund, post office, haulage charges, , hazara field force, black mountain or, head office, horse transit and bullock train, , , , identification of payees of money orders, , imperial penny postage scheme, imported and locally produced printed matter, differentiation between, , indian convention states, , indian mutiny, the post office during the, , , , indian states, the post office in, insurance fee, insurance system in the persian gulf and turkish arabia, introduction of first regular postal system by lord clive, introduction of postage stamps, , , , introduction of postcards, introduction of railways, iraq, , isazai field force, kalahandi expedition, kurram field force, kut, land revenue money orders, later postal regulations, letter-writers, professional, life insurance policies, surrender values of, life insurance, postal, , loan, war, lord clive, regular postal system introduced by, lushai expedition, mail runner, malakand field force, malta expeditionary force, malwa field force, manipur expedition, manual, post office, , manual (war), postal, marine postal service, suez and bombay, marseilles as european port for indian mails, , mesopotamia and the persian gulf, the post office in, mesopotamia, field service in, methods of travel in early days, military pensioners, payment of, military rank on field service, minors' accounts, minutes of consultations of th march, , miranzai expedition, mishmi expedition, mohmand field force, , mohmand field force, , money order work transferred to post office, , money orders, money orders, foreign, money orders, inland, statement of issues since , money orders, land revenue, money orders, rent, money orders, telegraphic, , monopoly, postal, , mosul, turkish post to constantinople via, mounted post, first employment of, mutiny, the post office during the indian, , , , naval agents, , , newspapers, registered, newspapers, sale of, by field post offices, , non-postal work, octroi tax, official articles, special postage rates for, official marks of the post office, acceptance of, as evidence, organization of the department, , , organization of the direction, origin of the post office, overland route, the, , overprinted postage stamps, , , , , overprinted turkish postage stamps, overprints, indian convention states, , overseer, , palestine, field service in, parcel post, parcel post, foreign, parcel post rates, statement of, parcel post with england, , parcels and packets liable to be detained, paton, mr. g., , payment of money orders at houses of payees, , peninsular and oriental steamship company, charter of incorporation of, , penjdeh affair, penny postage scheme, imperial, persian expedition, persian gulf and turkish arabia, insurance system in the, persian gulf, the post office in mesopotamia and the, personnel of the post office, phulkian states, conventions with, pishin field force, polymetrical tables, post, bhangy, , , , post, district, , post, district, abolition of, post office act-- of , , of , of , of , , of , of , of , of , of , of , post office, branch, , post office buildings, post office, experimental, , post office, field, post office, head, post office manual, , post office, origin of, post office, sub, post office, travelling, post free, grant to certain persons of privilege of sending and receiving correspondence, postage rates, , , postage stamps, introduction of, , , , postal life insurance, postal manual (war), postcards, abolition of unpaid, postcards, introduction of, postcards, unpaid, postman, postman, village or rural, , , postmaster, deputy, , postmaster, probationary, postmaster-general, first appointment of, , prepayment of postage, encouragement of, prepayment of postage in all cases, compulsory, rejection of, presidency postmaster, , , private posts, probationary postmaster, probationary superintendent, professional letter-writers, public proceedings of th july, , extract from, quinine, sale of, , railway conference association, , railway mail service, railways, introduction of, rates of postage, , , receipt stamp, abolition of special, redirected letters, abolition of charge on, registered newspapers, registration, registration fee to be prepaid in postage stamps, regular postal system introduced by lord clive, regulations, early postal, regulations, later postal, rent money orders, rented buildings for post offices, , returned letter office at basra, revenue-producing, department never regarded as, , riddell, mr. h. b., , , runner, mail, rural postman, , , russian scare, salonika, field service in, savings bank, savings bank balances, effect of great war upon, savings bank, statement showing work from to , savings bank work transferred to post office, , scinde district dawk stamps, , sea customs act, sea post office, sea post office, abolition of, seamen's letters, soldiers' and, , service stamps, , , ship postage, , , sikkim expedition, "snowball" system, sale of goods on the, soldiers' and seamens' letters, , somaliland field force, sorting, concentration of, sorting offices, introduction of, , south persia, british mission escort in, southampton route, , special postage rates for official articles, stamps, employment of postage stamps in place of telegraph, stamps, overprinted or surcharged postage, , , , , stamps, service, , , standard vans, suakim expedition, , suakim field post office, , sub-office, suez canal, opening of, suez canal route, future of, superintendent, superintendent, probationary, suppression of foreign post offices in ottoman dominions, turkish demand for, , surcharged postage stamps, , surrender values of life insurance policies, swat valley column, taylor, captain, telegraph stamps, employment of postage stamps in place of, telegraphic money orders, , thuillier, general sir henry, , tibet mission, tirah expedition, tochi field force, tochi valley field force, transhipment of mails at aden, , travel in early days, methods of, travellers' bungalows, , travelling post office, turkish arabia, insurance system in the persian gulf and, turkish customs house at bagdad and basra, , turkish post to constantinople via mosul, turkish postage stamps overprinted, unification of indian state posts with the imperial post office, uniform, field service, uniform, postmen's, uniformity of postage irrespective of distance, , , , unpaid correspondence, , , , , upper burma expedition, value-payable system, , , , vans, construction and maintenance of postal, , vans, standard, village postman, , , waghorn, lieutenant thomas, wano expedition, war loan, watermarks, , waziristan field force, wuntho expedition, zhob expedition, transcriber's notes obvious punctuation errors repaired. hyphen removed: missending (p. ), upcountry (p. ). p. : "addresses" changed to "addressees" (read by the addressees). p. : last column of third row of table changed from " " to " ". p. : "seldoms" changed to "seldom" (he seldom knows english). p. : "bolundshahur" changed to "bulundshahur" (although bulundshahur and a large portion of allyghur). generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) mail carrying railways underpaid a statement by the committee on railway mail pay representing , miles of railway in the united states, operated by companies, containing facts and figures which prove that railway mail pay does not equal the operating expenses that it makes necessary, leaving nothing for return upon the value of the property. the committee on railway mail pay j. kruttschnitt, chairman director of maintenance and operation, union and southern pacific systems ralph peters, vice-chairman president, long island railroad charles a. wickersham president and general manager, western railway of alabama w. w. baldwin vice-president, chicago, burlington & quincy railroad w. w. atterbury vice-president, pennsylvania railroad george t. nicholson vice-president, atchison, topeka & santa fe railway e. j. pearson first vice-president, missouri pacific railway e. g. buckland vice-president, new york, new haven & hartford railroad c. f. daly vice-president, new york central lines w. a. worthington assistant director of maintenance and operation, union and southern pacific systems w. f. allen, secretary h. t. newcomb, statistician * * * * * mail carrying railways underpaid a statement by the committee on railway mail pay representing , miles of railway in the united states, operated by companies, containing facts and figures which prove that railway mail pay does not equal the operating expenses that it makes necessary, leaving nothing for return upon the value of the property. october, . table of contents. page i. scope of this pamphlet ii. railway mail pay is about to be forced still further below the level of just compensation, unless payments are promptly readjusted, on account of the additional volume of mail that will result from the inauguration, on january , , of the parcels post iii. the postmaster-general's erroneous assertion that the railways were overpaid "about $ , , . " in the year , rests primarily upon his adopting an unprecedented theory which allows nothing for a return upon the capital invested in railway property iv. the mail service supplied by the railways costs them more in operating expenses and taxes than they are paid for it, and leaves nothing for return on the property v. the postmaster-general's apportionment of space between the mail service and the other services rendered on passenger trains did not allow to the mails the space which they actually require and use and this had the result of unduly reducing his estimates of the cost to the railways of the mail service vi. the postmaster-general ignored data which he had obtained showing expenditures on account of the mails largely in excess of the direct expenses for that service which he reported vii. the month of november is not a fair average month in any railway year or one that is typical of a year's business and its use as the sole basis of the postmaster-general's calculations was so unfavorable to the railways as to deprive the results of any value even if in all other respects his methods were beyond criticism viii. a commission of senators and members of congress which, between and , most fully and carefully investigated the subject, ascertained and declared that railway mail pay was not then excessive; since then there have been many and extensive reductions in pay accompanied by substantial increases in the cost and value of the services rendered by the railways ix. the administration of the post office department has not, in the last twelve years, effected any reduction in the annual total of its expenses for other purposes than railway transportation or in the proportion of its revenues required for such other expenses, but the whole saving which has nearly eliminated the annual deficit of the department is represented by the reduced payments, per unit of service, to the railways x. the continuous refusal of the post office department to order reweighings of the mails except after the maximum interval of four years which the law allows, the demands for station and terminal services that are rendered without any or without adequate compensation and the unjust discrimination against compartment cars used as railway post offices are all abuses, seriously injurious to the railways, which have grown up under the present system of payment and ought at once to be remedied xi. the postmaster-general's proposed plan of payment based upon operating cost and taxes, to be ascertained by the post office department, plus six per cent. is seriously wrong in principle and would encourage and perpetuate injustice _appendices._ a. extracts from the postal laws and regulations b. classification of operating expenses c. receipts from passenger and freight traffic by months d. how railway wages have increased e. how railway taxes have increased f. letter dated september , , from hon. jonathan bourne, jr., chairman, senate committee on post offices and post roads g. reply made thereto by the committee on railway mail pay i. scope of this pamphlet. the committee on railway mail pay, representing railways whose lines include ninety-two per cent. of the aggregate length of all railway mail routes in the united states, believes that the payments to the railways for the services and facilities furnished by them to the post office department are, and for a long time have been, unjustly low. this pamphlet contains a concise statement of the facts which prove that this belief is warranted and, incidentally, a refutation of the estimates made by the postmaster-general, and reported to the congress (house document no. , sixty-second congress, first session), which led him to conclude that the basis of payment could now properly be changed so as to accomplish a present reduction of about twenty per cent. it will be shown that although the insufficient data and the erroneous methods employed by the postmaster-general resulted in his making estimates of cost to the railways that are far below the real cost, his own figures and calculations, when properly analyzed and supplemented, demonstrate that the mail service has not been fairly remunerative to the railways. before proceeding to this demonstration it should, however, be noted that-- ii. railway mail pay is about to be forced still further below the level of just compensation, unless payments are promptly readjusted, on account of the additional volume of mail that will result from the inauguration, on january , , of the parcels post. congress has provided for a vast and incalculable extension of mail traffic by creating a "parcels post," to be inaugurated on january , , which, by opening the mails to many articles not previously accepted at the post-offices and by materially reducing the rates on mailed merchandise, is expected enormously to increase the volume of the shipments which it covers. the government seems to have assumed that, under existing contracts, which were made before the meaning of the word "mail" was thus extended, the railways can be compelled, until these contracts expire, to carry this great additional volume of mail traffic without any compensation whatever. if the former practice of the post office department is followed, no new contracts will be made until after the next quadrennial weighings in each of the four weighing sections, so that the position of the government amounts to an assertion that the whole added volume of the parcels post mails will have to be carried without any compensation by the railways of new england for four years and six months (these railways are in the first weighing section but the weighing for the adjustment to be made on july , , has begun and will be completed before the parcels post is inaugurated), by those of the second weighing section for three years and six months, by those of the third weighing section for two years and six months, by those of the fourth weighing section for one year and six months, and by those of the first weighing section, not located in new england, for six months. no presentation of the injustice of the mail pay received in former years suggests even the approximate extent of the losses which the railways will thus incur in the next four and one-half years, unless readjustments are promptly made on account of the parcels post. iii. the postmaster-general's erroneous assertion that the railways were overpaid "about $ , , . " in the year , rests primarily upon his adopting an unprecedented theory which allows nothing for a return upon the capital invested in railway property. the postmaster-general assumed that the railways would be properly compensated if they received a sum equal to the operating expenses and taxes attributable to the carriage of the mails plus six per cent. of the sum of those expenses and taxes. the calculation by which he obtained the sum which he assumed would have been proper compensation for the single month covered by his investigation was as follows: his estimate of operating expenses and taxes on account of mail service (document no. , p. ) for one month $ , , . six per cent. of above , . -------------- total, assumed to represent just compensation for one month $ , , . the railways having been paid, for the month selected, $ , . in excess of the sum resulting from the above calculation, the postmaster-general assumed that this excess over expenses and taxes plus six per cent. constituted excessive profit for that month. he multiplied this assumed excess by twelve to get his estimate of annual excess and stated the result, in round figures, as "about $ , , ." the mere statement of this method discloses the fact that it makes no allowance for any return upon the fair value of the railway property employed in the service of the public. this omission is, of itself, sufficient wholly to destroy the postmaster-general's conclusion. everyone recognizes that a railway is entitled to at least a reasonable return upon the value of its property devoted to the public service. the postmaster-general ignored this universally accepted principle and adopted a theory which, if applied to the general business of the companies, would render substantially every mile of railway in the united states immediately and hopelessly bankrupt. the recently published report of the interstate commerce commission on the railway statistics of the year that ended with june , , contains data by which this statement is easily demonstrated, as follows: operating expenses of all united states railways, for the year $ , , , taxes of all united states railways, for the year , , -------------- total $ , , , six per cent. of above total , , -------------- total gross receipts permitted by postmaster-general's plan $ , , , but if this plan had been in force, the railways would have had, for interest on mortgage bonds, a reasonable surplus as a margin of safety, dividends on stocks, unprofitable but necessary permanent improvements,[a] rents of leased properties, etc., etc., only the six per cent. or $ , , . this figure may be compared with the following, among others: interest obligations (on funded debt only) of all united states railways, for the same year $ , , rentals of leased properties, all united states railways, for the same year $ , , [footnote a: the necessity for providing, out of income, for some kinds of improvements is commonly admitted. the public constantly demands greater comfort and convenience which can be supplied only by improvements in property and equipment that bring in no additional income. a present example in the mail service, itself, is the great expense which the railways are now undergoing in substituting steel mail cars for those formerly in use. the old cars, which thus become a total loss were fully up to the most advanced standards of construction when built and they could continue for a long time to serve the purposes of the service except for the public demand for stronger cars.] plainly, the postmaster-general's proposal is equivalent to an assertion that the railways would make a fair profit if they were enabled to collect the sum of $ , , in addition to their operating expenses and taxes, but the figures given by the interstate commerce commission show that this would be less than one-third of the sum necessary to meet interest charges which must be paid in order to prevent foreclosures of mortgages and, if bond interest could be ignored, is much less than the rentals that must be paid if the existing systems are not to be broken up. and, of course, it would allow nothing whatever for legitimate demands upon income for dividends, permanent improvements or surplus. it is unnecessary to dwell upon the consequences of such a theory of "compensation" to railroad credit and to the public interest in efficient transportation service, to say nothing of the consequences to owners of railroad stock and bonds. such a theory is not a theory of compensation--it is a theory of oppression and of destruction. the fact that the postmaster-general has found it necessary to justify his attack upon the present basis of railway mail pay by a theory so unprecedented and so unwarranted in principle and in law, raises a strong presumption against all his opinions and conclusions upon this subject. iv. the mail service supplied by the railways costs them more in operating expenses and taxes than they are paid for it, and leaves nothing for return on the property. it cannot be too strongly emphasized that the railway mail pay at present is insufficient to pay even its proper share of operating cost and taxes and does not produce any return upon the property. this will be demonstrated by any fair inquiry, as will now be shown. reports submitted to the postmaster-general by railways operating , mail routes, with a total length of , miles, showed that their gross receipts, per car-foot mile[b], from services rendered on passenger trains during november, , were as follows: from mail . mills from other services . mills [footnote b: a car-foot mile is a unit equal to moving one foot in car length (regardless of width or height) one mile. thus to move a car sixty feet long one mile results in sixty car-foot miles; to move the same car three miles results in car-foot miles, etc.] thus it appears that the space on passenger trains required for the mails is proportionately less than three-quarters as productive as that devoted to passengers, express, milk, excess baggage, etc., etc. as it is the general belief of railway managers, whose conclusion in this respect has rarely if ever been challenged, that the passenger train services, as a whole, do not produce revenues sufficient to meet their fair proportion of the operating costs and the necessary return upon investment, and therefore are not reasonably compensatory, it is evident that the mail service, the pay for which is more than twenty-five per cent. below the average for the other services rendered on the same trains, must bring in much less than reasonable compensation. certainly railroad revenues as a whole could not be reduced twenty-five per cent. without destroying all return upon the property. if so, it must be true that there can be no compensation in a rate of mail pay that is twenty-five per cent. less than the rate of pay for passenger traffic which, as above shown, is relatively unprofitable. no merely statistical comparison can, however, reveal the whole story for the railways are required to furnish many incidental facilities and to perform many additional services for the post office department, which render the mail service exceptionally arduous and costly. these extra services include calling for and delivering mails at a large proportion of the post offices located at railway towns; supplying rooms, with light, heat and water, in railway stations for the use of the mail clerks; placing cars, duly lighted and heated, on station tracks for advance distribution, often many hours before the departure of trains; carrying officers and agents of the post office department as passengers but without compensation to the extent of more than , , passenger miles annually (this being, of course, in addition to the railway mail clerks on duty), etc., etc. extracts from the "postal laws and regulations" defining and demanding these services are given in appendix a. no one can examine this appendix and not be convinced that the mail service is the most exacting among all those rendered by american railways. the fairness of railway mail pay can also be tested by apportioning operating expenses between passenger and freight traffic, and then making a secondary apportionment of the passenger expenses between mail and other kinds of traffic carried on passenger trains. this method involves charging directly to each kind of traffic all expenses pertaining exclusively thereto, and the apportionment, on some fair basis, of those expenses which are common to more than one kind of traffic. in accordance with the request of the postmaster-general, the railways estimated the cost of conducting the mail service in the manner just explained and reported the results to the postmaster-general. after first charging to each service the expenses wholly due to it they apportioned the common expenses between the passenger and freight services, following (with inconsequential exceptions) the method most generally employed for that purpose, namely the apportionment of these expenses in the proportions of the revenue train mileage of each service. having estimated, in this way, the operating expenses attributable to passenger trains, the railways assigned to the mails the portion of this aggregate indicated by the proportion of the total passenger train space required for the mails. using this method, railways, operating , mail routes, with a total length of , miles, ascertained and reported that for november, , the operating expenses (not including taxes), for conducting the mail service were $ , , . the postmaster-general states (document no. , page ), that all the railways represented in the foregoing, and enough others to increase the mileage represented to , miles, were paid for the same month only $ , , . . it thus appears that the pay was far below the operating expenses, without making any allowance for taxes or for a return upon the fair value of the property employed. while different methods are in use for ascertaining the cost of passenger train service and the results produced by such methods may show considerable variation, yet the mail pay is so far below reasonable compensation, from the standpoint of the cost of the service and a return upon the value of the property, that no method can be reasonably urged which would not demonstrate the non-compensatory character of the present mail pay. this is illustrated by the method which the postmaster-general himself employed, as the character of that method is such that it necessarily produces the very lowest estimate of cost for the passenger train service. the postmaster-general, by his method of apportionment arrived at a cost of $ , , . but this must be increased (as will be shown below, on account of his erroneous apportionment of car space (page ), by , . and also on account of his refusal to assign expenses directly incurred in the mail service (page ) , . [c] total, according to the postmaster-general's method of apportioning costs between passenger and freight traffic $ , , . [footnote c: there may be some duplication in this item, but to eliminate it would require an elaborate computation which, in view of the broad margin of expenses over receipts, is wholly superfluous. whatever duplication exists must be small in comparison with this margin.] thus even the postmaster-general's method of apportioning costs between freight and passenger traffic produces an operating cost in excess of the total pay received by the railways, leaving nothing whatever for return upon the fair value of the property or necessary but non-income producing improvements. there is no allowance, in any of these estimates of cost, for the large volume of free transportation supplied to officers and agents of the post office department, when not in charge of mail, although this amounts to over , , passenger miles annually and, at the low average rate of two cents per mile, would cost the post office department more than $ , , per year. moreover, as will presently be shown (pages - ) all the figures here discussed are for the month of november, a month which, because of the abnormally low ratio of passenger traffic to freight traffic, substantially understates the cost of the passenger train services, when figures derived from it are applied to an entire year. it thus becomes evident that any inquiry which takes into consideration the necessary elements of the situation will demonstrate that railway mail pay is too low. it is only by ignoring essential elements of the service and of expense and the fundamental element of a return on the value of the property that any argument to the contrary can be constructed. thus the mail traffic does not pay its operating cost. that traffic is a substantial percentage of the total public service performed by the railroads. it should contribute a substantial proportion to the taxes which the railroads have to pay and to the return on railroad property which its owners are entitled to receive. clearly no fair method can be devised which will fail to show that the existing mail pay is far below a fairly compensatory basis. certainly this condition ought not to be intensified by adding the injustice of still further reductions. on the contrary, the unjust reductions of recent years should be corrected for the future, and the railroads should be relieved from the strikingly unjust methods by which they are at present deprived of anything approaching fair compensation. v. the postmaster-general's apportionment of space between the mail service and the other services rendered on passenger trains did not allow to the mails the space which they actually require and use and this had the result of unduly reducing his estimates of the cost to the railways of the mail service. detailed reference will now be made to the methods and controlling effect of the postmaster-general's apportionment of passenger train space between the mails and the other services rendered on passenger trains. such an apportionment was a necessary step in the calculations reported in document no. . having obtained certain estimates of the cost of the passenger train services, considered together, by methods, producing the lowest results, the next step shown in document no. was to apportion a part of this cost to the mail service. the accepted method for such an apportionment is to distribute the total cost in proportion to the train space required by each of the respective services. the postmaster-general obtained from the railways statements which he might have used in applying this method and these statements showed that . per cent. of the total space in passenger trains was required by the mails, but, instead of using the data showing this fact, he substituted figures of his own which reduced the space credited to the mail service to . per cent. of the total. the total of passenger train costs which the postmaster-general estimated should be apportioned among passengers, express and mail, on the basis of space occupied, was $ , , .[d] he therefore assigned to the mail service . per cent. of the last-named sum or $ , , . . if, however, he had used the proportion of space, . per cent., resulting from the reports he had obtained from the railways, the amount apportioned as cost of the mail service for the month would have been $ , greater. multiplying this by twelve gives an increase in the estimated annual cost of over $ , , . [footnote d: this is the sum which was apportioned by the postmaster general on the basis of train space occupied. he estimated $ , , . (document no. , page ) as the total operating expenses and taxes of the passenger train services for the month. of this total $ , . was charged directly to the mails and $ , , . directly to the other passenger train services, leaving the sum stated in the text to be apportioned on the space basis.] thus the postmaster-general arrived at his declaration that the railways were getting an excess profit of $ , , by means of two fundamental errors, omitting for the present reference to any other errors. he understated the annual mail expenses and taxes of the railways by at least $ , , , and he ignored entirely the necessary return on the value of railroad property. this examination of his methods shows that the determination of space was of primary and controlling importance and that the changes in space allotment have destroyed the value of his deductions. these changes were due to his refusal to assign to the mail service the working space and temporarily unoccupied space on trains, which were necessary to the mail service and to his actually assigning much of this space to the passenger service rendered on the same trains. it is scarcely necessary to note that all kinds of traffic require "working space" in addition to the space actually occupied by the traffic itself, and that this is especially true of the mail traffic, or that where there is a preponderating movement of a certain traffic in one direction there must be some empty space on account of that traffic, sometimes called "dead" space, in trains moving in the direction of lighter traffic. thus passenger cars must have aisles, vestibules and platforms, and postal cars must have a great deal of space in which to sort the mails while, for mail carried in baggage cars, there must be space in which to reach the pouches and to receive and deliver them through the doors. a through train must also have the full capacity required for the maximum traffic of any kind likely to seek accommodation on any part of its journey, although during much of each trip the actual traffic may be considerably below this limit. the postmaster-general, however, refused to credit the mail service with much of the space thus required by the department although his figures for the other passenger train services allowed fully for all such space required by them. in fact in many cases such space, actually required by the mails and so reported by the railways, was taken from the total mail space and, without reason, assigned to the passenger service. these modifications of the data correctly reported, not susceptible of justification upon any sound transportation principle, were carried so far that the tabulations of the post office department, which are stated for railway mail routes having a total length of , . miles[e] show only , , "car-foot miles" made in the mail service, although certain railways, included therein, and having railway mail routes aggregating only , . miles, had correctly reported mail space equivalent to , , , "car-foot miles." thus, although the department's figures cover . per cent. more mileage, its reductions of space resulted in assigning to this greater mileage about one-quarter ( . per cent.) less mail space. at the same time the department actually increased the space assigned to the other passenger train services, its figures showing , , , car-foot miles in these services for , . miles of mail routes which must be compared with , , , car-foot miles reported by the railways for , . mail-route miles. [footnote e: document no. , p. .] this treatment of the controlling figures as to space, supplementing the other errors of method and omissions of fact, which have been or will be cited, was amply sufficient to turn a real loss into an apparent profit. vi. the postmaster-general ignored data which he had obtained showing expenditures on account of the mails largely in excess of the direct expenses for that service which he reported. as a part of the investigation reported in document no. the postmaster-general obtained from the railways statements showing the amounts expended by them for the station and terminal services required by his department and the amount of free transportation furnished on his requisition for officers and agents of the postal service when not in charge of mail. these data were not used (document no. , p. ) and, as no adequate allowance was made in any other way for these expenses, the omission unjustly reduced the estimates of the cost to the railways of their postal services. the postmaster-general's explanation of this omission implies that it was partially offset by the assignment as cost of mail service of its proportion, on the space basis, of all the station and terminal expenses of the passenger train services but these special mail expenses are disproportionately heavy and the amount so assigned was far too low. the expenses for station and terminal services especially incurred for the mails, during november, , and reported to the postmaster-general, for ninety-two per cent. of the mileage covered by document no. aggregated $ , . , as follows: amount of wages paid to messengers and porters employed exclusively in handling mails $ , . portion properly chargeable to mail service, pro-rated on basis of actual time employed, of wages paid to station employees a part of whose time is employed in handling mails , . amount expended for maintenance of horses and wagons and for ferriage, etc., in connection with mail service , . rental value, plus average monthly cost of light and heat, of room or rooms set apart for the exclusive use of the mail service , . rental value of tracks occupied daily for advance distribution of the mail , . average monthly cost of light and heat for postal cars placed daily for advance distribution of mail , . interest at the legal rate upon the value of cranes, catchers and trucks required for mail service , . ------------ total $ , . [f] [footnote f: this total includes $ , . reported by four companies which gave totals for these items, but did not report the items separately.] all the foregoing data were reported to the postmaster-general in response to his request but he made no use of these items, an omission manifestly to the serious disadvantage of the railways and having the effect of unduly reducing his estimates of the cost of the mail service. similarly, the postmaster-general omitted to use the data he had obtained from the railways showing the volume of free passenger transportation, already referred to, supplied to the officers and agents of the post office department and his estimates contain no recognition of the cost of this service although its extent should be a matter of record in the department as it is furnished only on its requisition. the space in passenger coaches occupied by these representatives of the post office department, traveling free, was not assigned to the mail service but was treated as passenger space. vii. the month of november is not a fair average month in any railway year or one that is typical of a year's business and its use as the sole basis of the postmaster-general's calculations was so unfavorable to the railways as to deprive the results of any value even if in all other respects his methods were beyond criticism. all the postmaster-general's calculations, reported in document no. , and by him relied upon therein, and elsewhere, to substantiate his attack upon existing railway mail pay, depend solely upon data for the single month of november, in the year . it is obvious, therefore, that the validity of his conclusions, if all the rest of his processes were accurate and his deductions otherwise sound, would depend upon whether november is sufficiently typical of the railway year to be safely used as the sole basis for conclusions applicable to a whole year. the truth is, however, that november is not a typical or average month and that all of its deviations from the averages of the year are such as greatly to favor the result which the postmaster-general was seeking. it may well be doubted whether the railway year contains any month that can properly be regarded as typical of the whole period but if it does, the month of november, with four sundays, two holidays and only twenty-four working days, is certainly not such a month. the interstate commerce commission publishes the monthly aggregates of railway receipts and these official data conclusively prove that november, , was the one month for which the data were most strongly favorable to finding, by the postmaster-general's method, an abnormally low apparent cost for the passenger train services and, consequently, for the mail service. it is a month in which substantially winter conditions prevail in a large part of the country and, on this account, one during which much of the ordinary work of maintenance of way and structures must be suspended. such work occasions a large fraction of the yearly expenses of all railways and these expenses pertain in a relatively large proportion to the passenger services because the higher speed of passenger trains results in greater relative wear and tear upon road-bed and structures than that caused by the slower trains of the freight service and the requirements of safety to passengers carried at high speed impose more costly standards of maintenance than would otherwise be necessary. consequently a month in which these maintenance expenses are necessarily below the yearly average cannot typify the full annual cost of the passenger train services. figures showing the facts are contained in appendix b. it is, of course, understood that the respective expenses of the passenger and freight services must move upward and downward with the fluctuations in the volume of each sort of traffic. no month can furnish a reliable basis for estimating the proportion of the total expenses that is caused by the passenger service unless during that month the volume of passenger traffic bears a normal relation to the volume of freight traffic. but in november, , as will appear from official figures for each month in the year contained in appendix c, passenger traffic, as measured by receipts therefrom, was much below the average month of the year while freight traffic was far above the average. the november receipts from passengers amounted to only . per cent. of total receipts, the lowest relation shown for any month in the year. of course, under these conditions passenger expenses were curtailed and freight expenses relatively enhanced. certainly the use of data resulting from these abnormal relations could not possibly produce results fairly typical of a normal period, that is of a whole year. the results so obtained must have diminished the apparent cost of the passenger train services below the true cost, by just as much as the figures for november were below the average figures of the year. these considerations fully establish the truth that, if every other feature of document no. were absolutely beyond criticism, the fact that it rests wholly upon estimates based upon data for the single month of november would render its conclusions illusory, misleading and seriously prejudicial to the railways. viii. a commission of senators and members of congress which, between and , most fully and carefully investigated the subject, ascertained and declared that railway mail pay was not then excessive; since then there have been many and extensive reductions in pay accompanied by substantial increases in the cost and value of the services rendered by the railways. the congressional joint commission to investigate the postal service, which reported on january , , is authority for the fact that, at that time, railway mail pay was not excessive. senator william b. allison, of iowa; senator edward s. wolcott, of colorado; senator thomas s. martin, of virginia; representative eugene f. loud, of california; representative w. h. moody, of massachusetts, and representative t. c. catchings, of mississippi, six of the eight members of the commission, then united in the following: "upon a careful consideration of all the evidence and the statements and arguments submitted, and in view of all the services rendered by the railways, we are of the opinion that 'the prices now paid to the railroad companies for the transportation of the mails' are not excessive, and recommend that no reduction thereof be made at this time." fifty-second congress, second session, senate document no. , pp. , , , . since the commission reported, the volume of the american mails, the revenue of the american postal service and its demands upon the railways for services and facilities have greatly increased. the costs of supplying railway transportation have also greatly increased. the necessary cost of railway property per unit of service has increased, and in consequence the amount required as a reasonable return thereon, on account of higher wages and prices, the higher standards of service demanded and the higher value of the real estate required for extended and necessary terminal plants. operating expenses have grown by reason of repeated advances in rates of wages paid to employees of every grade and increased prices of materials and supplies. taxes have increased with the rapidly augmenting exactions of state and local governments and the imposition of an entirely new federal corporation tax.[g] yet during this period of rapidly advancing railway expenses, and in spite of the fact that at its commencement the railway mail pay was not excessive, the rates of payment for railway mail services have been subjected to repeated and drastic decreases accomplished both by legislative action and by administrative orders. these reductions have so much more than offset the rather doubtful advantages which the railways might be assumed to have obtained from the increased volume of mail traffic that in they find their mail service more unprofitable than ever before. the following table shows the facts: average railway mail fiscal total railway pay per $ . of year mail pay postal receipts. $ , , $ . , , . , , . , , . , , . [footnote g: data indicating some of the increases in wages and taxes are given in appendices d and e.] the foregoing shows that the post office department expended for railway transportation, in , $ . in order to earn $ . in gross and that by this expenditure had been reduced . per cent. to $ . . this notable reduction was the consequence (first) of the operation of the law fixing mail pay under which the average payment per unit of service decreases as the volume of mail increases; (second) of the acts of congress of march , , and may , , and (third) of administrative changes effected by the post office department which, without decreasing the services required of the railways or enabling those services to be rendered at any lower cost, greatly reduced the payment therefor. chief among these administrative changes was the postmaster-general's order known as the "divisor" order (no. of june , , superseding order no. of march , ) radically lowering the basis for calculating the annual payments for transportation. no official estimate of the reduction in the aggregate annual payment produced by the operation of the law fixing the scheme of payment has been made but from time to time the department has published estimates of the reductions otherwise effected. none of these estimates is now up to date, and to make them comparable with the present volume of mail substantial increases would be necessary, but they are given below as representing an amount substantially less than the lowest possible statement of the total present annual reduction. cause of reduction amount of annual reduction. natural operation of the law no estimate. acts of march , , and may , $ , , . withdrawal of pay for special facilities , . postmaster-general's divisor order , , . other administrative changes , . -------------- total (with no allowance for the first item above) $ , , . no one will contend for a moment that there has been any net reduction in the cost of supplying railway mail services and facilities since , the year in which the report of the joint commission to investigate the postal service was made. in fact, all changes in railway operating costs, except those due to increased efficiency of organization and management, which can have little if any effect in connection with mail traffic, have been in the opposite direction. during the years characterized by these reductions the railways have been called upon continually to improve the character of their postal service and the post office department will not deny that the railways are now rendering better, more frequent, and more expeditious postal service than in , or any intermediate year, and are doing so at greatly increased cost to themselves. in view of these thoroughly substantiated facts the drastic reductions of recent years afford unanswerable proof that railway mail pay is now too low. ix. the administration of the post office department has not, in the last twelve years, effected any reduction in the annual total of its expenses for other purposes than railway transportation or in the proportion of its revenues required for such other expenses, but the whole saving which has nearly eliminated the annual deficit of the department is represented by the reduced payments, per unit of service, to the railways. that the recent savings of the postal service have been wholly at the expense of the railways is shown by the following: . . postal gross receipts $ , , $ , , postal expenses, all purposes; total $ , , $ , , per cent. of gross receipts . . railway mail pay; total $ , , $ , , per cent. of gross receipts . . postal expenses other than railway mail pay; total $ , , $ , , per cent. of gross receipts . . this table shows that in the ten years from to the post office department reduced its operating ratio between its total expenses and its gross receipts from . per cent. to . per cent., being a reduction of . points; but it also shows that this improvement was due solely to the fact that the ratio of railway mail pay expenses to gross receipts was reduced from . per cent. to . per cent., a reduction of . points, while the ratio of all other expenses to gross receipts increased from . per cent. to per cent., an increase of . points. thus the improvement of . points in the ratio for all expenses was due entirely to the greatly reduced ratio of railway mail pay, the heavy reduction in that respect exceeding by . points the very substantial increase in the ratio of all other expenses. during the ten years from to the department took up an enormous increase in business at a greatly decreased cost for railway transportation and at a largely increased cost for other purposes. it cost the department, for purposes other than railway transportation, nearly nine-tenths of $ , , to add that amount to its gross receipts (although for these other purposes it had previously spent less than seven-tenths of its gross receipts) while it required less than one-tenth of the same sum to pay for the added railway transportation that the new business required (although at the beginning of the period railway transportation had cost more than one-third of the gross receipts). this startling comparison fully warrants the conclusion that the power of congress and the department has been exercised to force upon the railways, by reducing the payments for their services, the burden not only of the effort to eliminate the annual postal deficit but of considerable increases in other forms of postal expenditure. no reference to rural free delivery will serve to explain away the conclusion suggested by this comparison especially since only a fraction of the cost of that service represents really an additional net outlay. this service has permitted a reduction of one-third in the number of post offices and has been in many cases substituted for star route service and the savings thus permitted ought to be credited to it before determining its cost. that increases in postal expenditures were necessary, between and , is not denied. the period was one in which steady and extensive increases in the cost of living made necessary considerable increases in the salaries of postal employees and in the cost of postal supplies, precisely as the railways were impelled to increase the salaries and wages of their employees and were obliged to pay higher prices for their supplies. in other words, the purchasing power of the american dollar, and of standard money everywhere, greatly decreased and this decrease affected the post office department as it has affected every business undertaking. but the purchasing power of the railway dollar decreased exactly as that of all other dollars and it was unreasonable and unjust that while this change was in progress, the losses which it entailed in the postal service of the government should be shifted, as it has been shown that they were, to the railways which were, at the same time, suffering far greater losses from the same cause. x. the continuous refusal of the post office department to order reweighings of the mails except after the maximum interval of four years which the law allows, the demands for station and terminal services that are rendered without any or without adequate compensation and the unjust discrimination against compartment cars used as railway post offices are all abuses, seriously injurious to the railways, which have grown up under the present system of payment and ought at once to be remedied. in addition to the inadequacies in the rates of pay provided under the present law, which result in payments that do not leave any balance for taxes or return upon property and indeed do not even meet operating expenses, there are certain conditions which have grown up in the application of the existing basis of pay that ought to be rectified. this is especially necessary in view of the tendency, herein shown, of the post office department to apply the system so as to reduce its expense for railway transportation, and to look to this item as the chief or sole source of economies. the transportation pay received for each railway route is determined, under the practice of the department, for a period of four years on the basis of the average daily weight carried during a period of about three months duration prior to the beginning of the period for which it is fixed. thus, by the terms of the law, the government upholds the principle that weight should be the basis of payment but, by an inconsistent practice, denies that principle and creates a condition under which it is practically certain that the weight actually carried will differ materially from the weight paid for. congress, surely, never intended this result for the provision of law is, merely, that the mail shall be weighed "not less frequently" than once in four years and clearly implies an intention that it should be weighed whenever a substantial change in volume has taken place. but the post office department controls, subject to the provision of law, the frequency of the weighings, and naturally seeks those reductions in its expenses which can be effected without loss anywhere except in railway revenues. consequently, it long ago ceased to order new weighings, except when compelled to do so by the expiration of the statutory limit. it thus happens that while the railways are paid on the basis of a certain average daily weight they are frequently carrying a much greater weight and with no compensation whatever for the increase in the weight. in other instances the change is in the opposite direction but with increasing national population and wealth it is obvious that most of these changes must be to the injury of the railways. however, the element of uncertainty thus introduced into each contract is unbusinesslike and in fairness to both parties ought to be removed. no railway would make a four years' contract to carry, for a definite sum, the unlimited output of any manufacturing plant and if it attempted to do so the contract would be void under the interstate commerce law. the terms of the mail contracts are substantially dictated by the postmaster-general and by congress and the latter ought, in justice both to the railways and to the government, to require the former to make annual weighings in order that the scheme of payment provided in the law may be fairly and accurately applied. railways are required to transfer the mails between their stations and all post offices not more than a quarter of a mile distant from the former and, at the election of the post office department, to make similar transfers at terminals. for the former no compensation is accorded, and for the latter the allowances are inadequate. there are numerous instances in which these extra services require expenditures, on the part of the railways concerned, that exceed the total compensation of the mail routes on which they occur. the extent of these requirements in particular cases is largely subject to the will of the department and this produces unreasonable uncertainties as to what may be demanded during the life of any contract. the basis of payment plainly does not contemplate such services, they are a survival from the period when the mails were carried by stage-coaches, which could readily deviate these distances from their ordinary routes, and it is clear that the government ought to perform these services itself or reasonably compensate the railways therefor. much of the mail moved by the railways is carried in cars especially equipped as traveling post offices in order that it may be accompanied by postal clerks who perform, on the journey, precisely the labor which they would otherwise perform in local post offices. cars so used can be but lightly loaded and are costly to supply, to equip, to maintain and to move. their use has greatly increased the efficiency of the postal service and vastly expedited the handling of the mails. in the infancy of this service congress provided for additional payments for the full cars so required, but when the practice of requiring portions of cars for the same identical purpose was inaugurated no provision for paying for them was made and this condition never has been corrected. even in document no. , the injustice of this situation is recognized (page ) and the postmaster-general asserts that it is a purely arbitrary discrimination and without logical basis. obviously a reasonable allowance for apartment cars ought to be made. xi. the postmaster-general's proposed plan of payment based upon operating cost and taxes, to be ascertained by the post office department, plus six per cent. is seriously wrong in principle and would encourage and perpetuate injustice. the foregoing discussion makes plain the error and injustice in the postmaster-general's proposal to pay the railways for carrying the mail upon the basis of returning to them the operating expenses and taxes, as ascertained by the post office department, attributable to the carriage of the mails, plus six per cent. of the sum of these expenses and taxes. the discussion under heading iii above demonstrates that the plan leaves out of consideration any allowance for return upon the property and would be destructive of the universally recognized rights of the railroad companies. furthermore, such a plan is fundamentally erroneous because it involves paying the highest rates to the railroad that by reason of physical disabilities or inefficient methods is most expensively operated and the lowest rates to the railroad which, by reason of the highest efficiency, operates at the lowest cost. a railroad's superior operating efficiency is frequently due to exceptionally heavy capital expenditures to obtain low grades, two, three or four main tracks, and to improve in other respects the roadbed and tracks to the end that trains may be hauled at the lowest expense. such a railroad needs, and is entitled to sufficient net earnings to enable it to pay a proper return upon the increased value which is due to such expenditures. but under the postmaster-general's plan, a railroad would be penalized for all the capital expenditures made by it for the purpose of decreasing its operating cost, because the more it decreased its operating cost the more it would decrease its mail pay. the ascertainment of the cost to a railroad of conducting mail service is necessarily very largely a matter of judgment and opinion, because a large proportion of the total operating expenses are common to the freight and passenger traffic and can only be approximately apportioned. there is room for a very wide discretion in the making of such apportionments. it would not be right or proper to entrust the post office department with the discretion of making such apportionment, because the post office department has an obvious interest at stake, its object always being to reduce the railroad pay to a minimum. the last preceding statement is fully justified by the facts disclosed by the foregoing pages, which show how consistently the post office department has relied upon reductions in railway mail pay as the ever available source of desired curtailments of expenses and how unsuccessfully the railways have resisted this persistent pressure. they show that successive postmasters-general have taken advantage of every legal possibility, such as taking the longest time between mail weighings which the law permits and the strained interpretation of the statute fixing the basis of payment (page ), in order to effect reductions in railway mail pay. consequently, the facts point irresistibly to one conclusion, namely, that the post office department is a bureaucratic entity with an interest in the reduction of the amounts paid to the railways that is incompatible with an impartial ascertainment of what is fair compensation. this interest, coupled with the brief tenure of the responsible officers of the department, must always incline the latter to support insufficient standards of mail pay and prevent their recognizing the ultimate necessity of paying fairly for efficient service. it would, therefore, be clearly inexpedient and strikingly unjust to place railway mail revenues wholly at the mercy of the department by enacting a law which would authorize each postmaster-general to fix railway mail pay on the basis of his own inquiries and opinions in a field in which so much must be left to estimate and approximation as that of the relative or actual cost of the different kinds of railway service. it is conceded that every railway mail contract is between the government, which is the sovereign, and a citizen, and that the nature and terms of the contract are always substantially to be dictated by the former. but this very condition invokes the principle of primary justice, that the sovereign shall take care to exercise its power without oppression. to this end the determination of the terms on which the post office department may have the essential services of the railways ought to be reserved, as at least partially in the past, to the congress, or, if delegated at all, they should be entrusted to some bureau or agency of government not directly and immediately interested in reducing railway mail pay below a just and reasonable compensation. appendix a. extracts from the postal laws and regulations. "railroad companies, at stations where transfer clerks are employed, will provide suitable and sufficient rooms for handling and storing the mails, and without specific charge therefor. these rooms will be lighted, heated, furnished, supplied with ice water, and kept in order by the railroad company." section , second paragraph. "the specific requirements of the service as to ... space required ... at stations, fixtures, furniture, etc., will at all times be determined by the post office department and made known through the general superintendent of railway mail service." section , third paragraph. "railroad companies will require their employees who handle the mails to keep a record of all pouches due to be received or dispatched by them, and to check the pouches at the time they are received or dispatched, except that no record need be kept of a single pouch from a train or station to the post office or from the post office to a train or station which, in regular course, is the only pouch in the custody of the company's employees at that point while it is being handled by them. this is not to be construed as relieving railroad companies from having employees on trains keep and properly check a record of all closed pouches handled by them, without exception." section , first paragraph. "in case of failure to receive any pouch due, a shortage slip should be made out, explaining cause of failure, and forwarded in lieu of the missing pouch. specific instructions in regard to the use of shortage slips will be given by the general superintendent of railway mail service." section , second paragraph. "every irregularity in the receipt and dispatch of mail should be reported by the employee to his superintendent promptly, and if a probable loss of or damage to mail is involved, or if the cause of failure to receive a pouch is not known, the report should be made by wire, and the superintendent will notify the division superintendent of railway mail service without delay. a copy of the employee's report should be attached to and become a part of the permanent pouch record." section , third paragraph. "train pouch records will be kept on file at the headquarters of division superintendents of railroad companies for at least one year immediately following the date the mail covered by them was handled, and shall be accessible there to post office inspectors and other agents of the post office department. station pouch records will be kept on file at the station to which they apply for at least one year immediately following the date the mail covered by them was handled, and shall be accessible there to post office inspectors and other agents of the post office department." section , fourth paragraph. "railroad companies will require their employees to submit pouch records for examination to post office inspectors and other duly accredited agents of the post office department upon their request and exhibition of credentials to such employees." section , fifth paragraph. "every railroad company is required to take the mails from, and deliver them into, all terminal post offices, whatever may be the distance between the station and post office, except in cities where other provision for such service is made by the post office department. in all cases where the department has not made other provision, the distance between terminal post office and nearest station is computed in, and paid for, as part of the route." section , first paragraph. "the railroad company must also take the mails from and deliver them into all intermediate post offices and postal stations located not more than eighty rods from the nearest railroad station at which the company has an agent or other representative employed, and the company shall not be relieved of such duty on account of the discontinuance of an agency without thirty days' notice to the department." section , second paragraph. "at connecting points where railroad stations are not over eighty rods apart a company having mails on its train to be forwarded by the connecting train will be required to transfer such mails and deliver them into the connecting train, or, if the connection is not immediate, to deliver them to the agent of the company to be properly dispatched by the trains of said company." section . "at places where railroad companies are required to take the mails from and deliver them into post offices or postal stations or to transfer them to connecting railroads, the persons employed to perform such service are agents of the companies and not employees of the postal service, and need not be sworn; but such persons must be more than sixteen years old and of suitable intelligence and character. postmasters will promptly report any violation of this requirement." section . "where it is desirable to have mails taken from the post office or postal station to train at a terminal point where the terminal service devolves upon the company, in advance of the regular time of closing mails, the company will be required to make such advance delivery as becomes necessary by the requirements of the service." section . "when a messenger employed by the post office department cannot wait for a delayed train without missing other mails the railroad company will be required to take charge of and dispatch the mails for the delayed train, and will be responsible for the inward mail until delivered to the messenger or other authorized representative of the department." section . "whenever the mail on any railroad route arrives at a late hour of the night the railroad company must retain custody thereof by placing the same in a secure and safe room or apartment of the depot or station until the following morning, when it must be delivered at the post office, or to the mail messenger employed by the post office department, at as early an hour as the necessities of the post office may require." section . "when a train departs from a railroad station in the night time later than o'clock, and it is deemed necessary to have the mail dispatched by such train, the division superintendent of railway mail service will, where mail is taken from and delivered into the post office by the railroad company, request the company, or where a mail messenger or carrier is employed by the post office department, will direct him, to take the mail to the railroad station at such time as will best serve the interest of the mail service. such mail will be taken charge of by the agent or other representative of the railroad company, who will be required to keep it in some secure place until the train arrives, and then see that it is properly dispatched." section , first paragraph. "the division superintendent of railway mail service will give reasonable advance notice to the proper officer of the railroad company, in order that the agent or representatives of the company may be properly instructed." section , second paragraph. "railroad companies will be expected to place their mail cars at points accessible to mail messengers or contractors for wagon service. if cars are not so placed the companies will be required to receive the mails from and deliver them to the messengers or contractors at points accessible to the wagon of the messenger or contractor." section . "a mail train must not pull out and leave mails which are in process of being loaded on the car or which the conductor or trainman has information are being trucked from wagons or some part of the station to the cars." section . "at all points at which trains do not stop where the post office department deems the exchange of mails necessary, a device for the receipt and delivery of mails satisfactory to the department must be erected and maintained; and pending the erection of such device the speed of trains must be slackened so as to permit the exchange to be made with safety." section , first paragraph. "in all cases where the department deems it necessary to the safe exchange of the mails the railroad company will be required to reduce the speed or stop the train." section , second paragraph. "when night mails are caught from a crane the railroad company must furnish the lantern or light to be attached to the crane and keep the same in proper condition, regularly placed and lighted; but if the company has no agent or employee at such station, the company must furnish the light, and the care and placing of same will devolve upon the department's carrier." section , third paragraph. "the engineer of a train shall give timely notice, by whistle or other signal, of its approach to a mail crane." section , fourth paragraph. "railroad companies are required to convey upon any train, without specific charge therefor, all mail bags, post office blanks, stationery, supplies, and all duly accredited agents of the post office department and post office inspectors upon the exhibition of their credentials." section . appendix b. classification of operating expenses. (data from reports of the interstate commerce commission.) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- average cost per mile of line. ------------------+-----------------+-------------------+------------------ | | | monthly average | fiscal year | november, | for the other | | | eleven months of | | | the fiscal year +---------+-------+-------+-----------+-------+---------- | | | | per cent.| |per cent. | |monthly| | of monthly| |of monthly class. | amount |average| amount|average for| amount|average for | | | | the fiscal| |the fiscal | | | | year. | | year. ------------------+---------+-------+-------+-----------+-------+---------- maintenance of way| | | | | | and structures |$ , . |$ . |$ . | . |$ . | . maintenance of | | | | | | equipment | , . | . | . | . | . | . traffic expenses | . | . | . | . | . | . transportation | | | | | | expenses | , . | . | . | . | . | . general expenses | . | . | . | . | . | . ------------------+---------+-------+-------+-----------+-------+---------- total |$ , . |$ . |$ . | . |$ . | . ------------------+---------+-------+-------+-----------+-------+---------- appendix c. receipts from passenger and freight traffic by months. (data from reports of the interstate commerce commission.) ----------+-------------------------+-------------------------+------------ | passenger receipts per | freight receipts per |per cent. of | mile of line | mile of line | passenger |-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+ receipts to | | |per cent.| | |per cent.| receipts month | total | daily |of daily | total | daily |of daily | from both | |average|average | |average|average | passengers | | |for year | | |for year | and freight ----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+------------ ,july |$ . | $ . | . |$ . |$ . | . | . aug. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . sept.| . | . | . | . | . | . | . oct. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+------------ nov. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+------------ dec. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ,jan. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . feb. | . | . | . | . | . | . | . march| . | . | . | . | . | . | . april| . | . | . | . | . | . | . may | . | . | . | . | . | . | . june | . | . | . | . | . | . | . ----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+------------ average |$ . | $ . | . |$ . |$ . | . | . ----------+-------+-------+---------+-------+-------+---------+------------ appendix d. how railway wages have increased. in the year the railways reporting to the interstate commerce commission received, in gross from operating sources, the sum of $ , , , . and expended in wages and salaries the sum of $ , , . ; in the corresponding totals were $ , , , . and $ , , , . . computations from these totals show that in the railways expended in wages and salaries $ . out of each $ . of gross operating receipts, while in the proportion had increased to $ . a difference of $ . in each $ . of gross receipts. this difference does not seem small but it is hardly realized, except when the calculation is made, that on the basis of the gross receipts of it would amount, as it does, to an additional expense of $ , , . . it is to be borne in mind that this largely increased payment to labor is in spite of the fact that a part of the increase in wage rates has been offset by higher efficiency in method and facilities. comparisons of rates of wages, from the annual statistical reports of the interstate commerce commission, follow: ----------------------------------------------------------------- | average wages per day +-------+-------+---------- class of employees | | | increase, | | | per cent. --------------------------------------+-------+-------+---------- general office clerks | $ . | $ . | . station agents | . | . | . other station men | . | . | . enginemen | . | . | . firemen | . | . | . conductors | . | . | . other trainmen | . | . | . machinists | . | . | . carpenters | . | . | . other shop men | . | . | . section foremen | . | . | . other trackmen | . | . | . telegraph operators and dispatchers | . | . | . employees, account floating equipment | . | . | . all other employees and laborers | . | . | . --------------------------------------+-------+-------+---------- appendix e. how railway taxes have increased. (data from reports of the interstate commerce commission.) ----------+-------------+---------------+------------- year | amount paid | average per | per cent. of | | mile operated | net receipts ----------+-------------+---------------+------------- | $ , , | $ . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . | , , | . | . ( ) | , , | . | . ( ) | , , | . | . ( ) | , , | . | . ----------+-------------+---------------+------------- ( ) not including terminal and switching companies. appendix f. united states senate committee on post offices and post roads september , . my dear sir: i hand you herewith a copy of senate bill no. , introduced by me by direction of the senate committee on post offices and post roads, embodying a plan recommended by the post office department for determining the compensation to be paid to railroad companies for transportation of the mails. this general subject has been referred to a joint committee of congress. the committee has not yet organized and probably will not do so for several weeks, but as a member of that committee and as chairman of the senate committee on post offices and post roads and under authority of senate resolution no. , i desire to secure immediately such information as may be available for submission to the committee at its first meeting. i will ask you, therefore, to answer the following questions: ( ) do you deem the present plan of compensation an equitable one as between the government and the railroads? if not, in what respects and as to what classes of railroads is it inequitable? ( ) is the underlying principle of the plan embodied in the inclosed bill a proper basis for compensation? if not, wherein is it improper, and why? ( ) what, in your opinion, is a desirable plan for compensating railroad companies for transporting the mails? i desire an early reply to these inquiries relating to the general plan, and, if you are not ready to do so now, shall be glad to have you submit later a detailed discussion of this bill and of house document no. , d congress, st session, with which, i assume, you are familiar. yours very truly, (sgd.) jonathan bourne, jr. chairman senate com. on post offices and post roads. appendix g. committee on railway mail pay october , . hon. jonathan bourne, jr., chairman, senate committee on post offices and post roads, washington, d. c. my dear sir:-- the committee on railway mail pay, representing roads operating over , miles of road, has been investigating the subject of mail compensation for about three years, or since the post office department, in , sent out a series of questions regarding the space furnished for mails in passenger trains, and the cost to railroad companies of the service which they perform for the government in the carriage of the mails. therefore the committee has thought it would be of interest to you to receive from it an answer to the questions propounded by your letter of september , , addressed to the officers of railroads throughout the country. a response to house document no. is now in course of preparation, and will be submitted at an early date. in the meantime, our committee desires to submit the following replies to your inquiries: _question ._--do you deem the present plan of compensation an equitable one as between the government and the railroads? if not, in what respects and as to what classes of railroads is it inequitable? _answer._--the existing law has never worked to the disadvantage of the government, but has failed to do justice to the railways by reason of infrequent weighing; absence of pay for nearly per cent. of the space occupied as travelling post offices; the performance, without pay, of side and terminal messenger service, and the unjustifiable reduction in pay by the act of congress dated march , , supplemented by order no. of the postmaster general, changing the divisor. the present law is based upon correct principles, but should be so amended as to provide-- (a) for the repeal of the act of march , . notwithstanding the large increase in every other item connected with the administration of the post office department, the railroads' pay has been singled out as the one element in these operations for concentration of economies. this too, in the face of the fact that the operating expenses of the railroads have been greatly augmented by the requirements of the law with reference to steel equipment, and a general increase in cost characteristic of all business operations. (b) for annual weighings, and a definite and just method for ascertaining daily average weights. under the quadrennial weighing all increased weight of mail during the next succeeding four years is carried by the railroads without any compensation whatever, which is manifestly unfair. the railroads must provide car space and facilities for the _maximum_ weight offered at _any_ time, yet they are paid only for the _average_ weight carried. the postmaster general's order covering the divisor has unfairly reduced this _average_. this provision is essentially necessary in view of the bill establishing the parcels post, effective january , , which will result in taking from the express service traffic for which the railroad companies now receive compensation and transferring it to the mail service; the bill referred to containing no provision for payment to the railroad companies for the increased tonnage to be handled in mail cars, although such provision was made for the star routes and the city wagon service. (c) for pay for apartment cars on some basis that will compensate for the service. that the postmaster general has himself recognized the justice of such a change, is indicated in the following quotation from page of house document no. :-- "* * * an additional amount may be allowed for railway post office cars when the space for distribution purposes occupies feet or more of the car length. no additional compensation is allowed for space for distribution purposes occupying less than feet of the car length. this distinction is a purely arbitrary one and without any logical reason for its existence." (d) for a fair allowance to the railroads for the side and terminal messenger service which they perform for the post office department, according to the value of this service to the post office department. the necessity for this is also emphasized by the establishment of the parcels post which will undoubtedly add greatly to the expense of the service. (e) that all rates of pay should be definite and not subject to the discretion of the officers of the post office department. other inequities exist under the present law, but are due to the administrative methods rather than to the law itself. _question ._--is the underlying principle of the plan embodied in the enclosed bill a proper basis for compensation? if not, wherein is it improper, and why? _answer._--the underlying principle of the plan embodied in senate bill no. is not correct. any plan of compensation based upon operating cost and taxes, plus six per cent. for profit, is fundamentally wrong, because it makes no allowance for return upon the property employed. furthermore, such plan is not correct, because it involves paying the highest rates to the railroad that by reason of physical disabilities or inefficient methods is most expensively operated, and the lowest rates to the railroad whose operations are most efficient and whose service is most satisfactory and valuable to the post office department. under the plan proposed, a railroad would be penalized for all the capital expenditures made by it for the purpose of decreasing its operating cost, because the more it decreased its operating cost the more it would decrease its mail pay, although by making this improvement in operating cost it would have incurred an additional capital charge upon which it would have to pay dividends or interest. the ascertainment of the cost to a railroad of conducting the mail service is necessarily very largely a matter of judgment and opinion, because a large proportion of the total operating expenses are expenses common to the freight and passenger traffic and can only be approximately apportioned and there are various formulas existing for such apportionment. it would not be right or proper to entrust to the post office department the discretion of selecting the formulas by which to ascertain these costs, because the post office department has an obvious interest at stake, its object always being to reduce the railroad pay to a minimum. the estimated cost of a specific service is not a proper basis for fixing rates for transportation of any commodity. the railroads are entitled to receive a full and fair return for the value of the service performed, and the ascertainment of cost of such service is principally of value as a protection against the establishment of confiscatory rates. _question ._--what, in your opinion, is a desirable plan for compensating railroad companies for transporting the mails? _answer_.--the existing law has been in effect for nearly forty years, and those who have worked under it are more or less familiar with its operations. if it were amended to correct serious inequities, as suggested in the answer to question , and fairly and impartially administered by the post office department, it would be preferable to any untried or theoretical plan that could be proposed. very respectfully yours, committee on railway mail pay, by (signed) ralph peters, _acting chairman_. transcriber's notes: words surrounded by _ are italicized. small capitals are presented as all capitals in this e-text. apparent printer errors are retained. transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). page numbers enclosed by curly braces (example: { }) have been incorporated to facilitate the use of the index. * * * * * a history of inland transport and communication in england by edwin a. pratt author of "railways and their rates"; "german versus british railways"; "railways and nationalisation"; "canals and traders" etc. london kegan paul, trench, trÜbner & co., ltd. broadway house, carter lane, e.c. national industries edited by henry higgs, c.b. _large vo._ _cloth gilt._ _each s. net_ the first volumes in this series will be:-- a history of inland transport and communication in england. by edwin a. pratt. banking and the money market. by h. o. meredith. the building trades. by a. d. webb. shipping. by c. j. hamilton. the coal trade. by h. stanley jevons. {v}prefatory note designed as the introductory volume of a series of books--by various writers--dealing with our "national industries," the present work aims at telling the story of inland transport and communication from the earliest times to the present date, showing, more especially, the effect which the gradual development thereof, in successive stages, and under ever-varying circumstances, has had alike on the growth and expansion of trade and industry and on the general economic and social conditions of the country. the various phases of inland transport described in the course of the work include roads, rivers, canals, turnpikes, railways, tramways, and rail-less electric traction; and the facilities for communication of which accounts are given comprise packhorses, waggons, stage-coaches, "flying" and mail-coaches, private carriages, posting, hackney coaches, cabs, omnibuses, cycles, motors, motor-buses, commercial motors, and aeroplanes. reference is (_inter alia_) made to most of the english rivers and to many inland towns; the origin, achievements, and shortcomings of canals are traced; a complete outline of the turnpike system is given; a short history of tramways comprises the leading points therein; the story of the rise, development and prospects of the motor industry is related; while the evolution and development of the railways and their position to-day both as a means of transport and communication and as constituting in themselves a "national industry" are treated in such a way as to afford, it is hoped, a comprehensive idea of the railway system from its very earliest origin down to the strikes and the {vi}controversy following the close of the royal commission of inquiry in the autumn of . incidentally, also, allusion is made to the rise of bristol, lynn, liverpool, and various other ports; the early history of the textile industries, the cutlery trades, the iron trade, the salt trade, and the coal trade is briefly sketched, while the facts narrated in relation thereto should enable the reader to realise the bearing, throughout the ages, of state policy towards the general question of transport. finally, the present situation and the future outlook are brought under review. even as these pages are passing through the press new developments are occurring which confirm the suggestion i have made, on page , that "in the dictionary of transport there is no such word as 'finality.'" while it is still true that the electrification of the london suburban railways has not been generally adopted by the trunk companies, yet the scheme in this connection announced, on november , , by the london and north-western railway company (see page ) supplementing the action already taken by the london, brighton and south coast railway company in regard to some of their suburban lines, is significant of a growing determination on the part of the great railway companies to defend their own interests by competing, in turn, with the electric tramways, which have absorbed so much of the suburban traffic of late years. following closely on this one announcement comes another, to the effect that a new company is about to set up, in the midlands, works covering thirty-four acres for the construction of a type of petrol-electric omnibus for which great advantages over the earlier motor-omnibuses are claimed. (this, presumably, is the vehicle which the tramways committee of the edinburgh corporation, as mentioned on page , propose to watch in preference to deciding at once on a system of rail-less electric traction.) {vii}in commenting on the former of the announcements here in question, "the times engineering supplement" of november , , observes:-- it is of importance to realise what this decision portends. the history of the matter is that the steam railways were inadequate to fulfil the requirements of the suburbs, and that an opening was thus afforded to municipalities to provide tramways of their own. it was a crude method of dealing with the problem; it robbed the main roads of every vestige of rural character, and it added new dangers and checks to street traffic. nevertheless it was a necessity, and it served its purpose, first, by providing facilities that were always cheap to the travellers, even if they were occasionally dear to the taxpayers; and, secondly, by stimulating the railway companies to adopt means to get back their lost traffic. now that the railway companies are fully alive to the opportunities offered to them by electrification, the general aspect of the problem is changed, and additional support is given to the belief that electric railways and motor-omnibuses will carry an increasing proportion of london traffic, and that from some roads at least tramways may even disappear altogether. in other directions there are reports of individual agriculturists who are constructing light railways of their own to secure direct communication between their farms and the nearest main line railway, sympathetic local authorities having offered them practical encouragement by making only a nominal charge for the privilege of crossing the public roads where this is necessary. a new era in agricultural transport and cultivation is further foreshadowed in the announcement that it is quite reasonable to believe that resort to rail-less electric traction will serve as a means of introducing electrical supply into rural areas for agricultural purposes; while in the house of lords on november , , lord lucas, replying for the government to some comments made by lord montagu of beaulieu on the first report of the road board (dealt with on page ), said that body considered the most important thing at present was to improve the surface of the roads; but {viii}"they had borne in mind the fact that it would be necessary for them before long to undertake larger operations, involving heavier expenditure." still further developments occurring, maturing, or under consideration when the text of the present work was already in type include-- ( ) a projected alliance between the tube railways and the london general omnibus company, following on the conspicuous success obtained by the latter in substituting motor for horsed vehicles for the , , passengers it carries annually. ( ) the issuing of "minutes of evidence taken before the departmental committee of the board of trade on railway agreements and amalgamations" [cd. ], containing some notable expressions of opinion by railway managers concerning the future of the railway system, together with much important information on the general subject. ( ) the publication, on december , of the fourth annual report of the london traffic branch of the board of trade [cd. ], which deals with various matters already touched upon in my last three chapters, including the effects of improved transport facilities on the migration of population from the inner to the outer suburban ring; the further widening of the motor-transport delivery radius, to the advantage of urban, but to the disadvantage of suburban traders; the steady substitution of mechanical traction for horse-drawn vehicles of every type--the report predicting, on this point, that "if two-wheeled horse cabs continue to diminish at the rate of the last two years, they will disappear before the end of "; the improbability of further material extensions of the tramway system, and the assumption that "the competition of promoters for the privilege of constructing tube railways has come to an end"; while the report also discusses the merits of a scheme for the provision, at an estimated cost of between £ , , and £ , , of about miles of great {ix}arterial roads across london for the accommodation of the increasing traffic, and of still another scheme, put forward by a departmental committee of the general post office, for relieving the streets of london of a good deal of mail-van traffic by the construction of an underground electric railway, ½ miles in length, and costing £ , , across the centre of london from east to west, for the conveyance of post office matter, the report further suggesting that this particular system might be found equally applicable to other forms of enterprise which require the use of carts for the frequent conveyance of goods in small consignments between fixed points. ( ) the passing by the house of commons, on november , of a resolution expressing the opinion that a meeting should take place between the parties on whose behalf the railway agreement of august , , was signed (see p. ), "to discuss the best mode of giving effect to the report of the royal commission"; the acceptance by such parties of board of trade invitations to a conference, in accordance with the terms of this resolution, and the holding of a conference which began, at the offices of the board of trade, on december , under the presidency of sir george askwith, chief industrial commissioner, and resulted, on december , in a settlement being effected. ( ) the prospective increase, from january , , of certain season, excursion, week-end or other special-occasion fares (many of which now work out at a rate of a halfpenny or a farthing, or even less than a farthing, per mile) as a means of assisting the railway companies to meet advances in wages, such increases in passenger fares (distinct from any increases in merchandise rates, for a like reason, as foreshadowed by the government undertaking of august , , alluded to on pp. and ) being already in the option of the companies, provided the latter do not exceed the powers conferred on them by their acts, and subject to the condition that on fares of over a penny the mile government duty must be paid. {x}( ) the reading, by mr. philip dawson, at the royal automobile club, on december , of a valuable paper on "the future of railway electrification," in which--after detailing what had already been done in the united states, in germany, and, in this country, on the suburban systems of the lancashire and yorkshire, the north eastern and the london, brighton, and south coast railways--he showed the practicability and the advantages of applying electric traction (single phase system) to main-line long-distance traffic; announced that the surveys and calculations in connection with a scheme for electrifying the whole of the l.b. and s.c. railway company's services between london and brighton were already far advanced; mentioned that such a transformation would allow of a to -minute service to brighton and of the -mile journey being done by non-stop trains in about minutes, or by stopping trains in about minutes; and declared that "the equipment of this line if, as he hoped would be the case, it were carried out, would be epoch-making in the history of british railways." thus the whole subject of inland transport is now so much "in the air" that the story of its gradual and varied development, as here told--and this, too, for the first time on the lines adopted in the present work--should form a useful contribution to the available literature on one of the most important of present-day problems. edwin a. pratt. _december , ._ {xi}contents chapter page i. introductory ii. britain's earliest roads iii. roads and the church iv. early trading conditions v. early road legislation vi. early carriages vii. loads, wheels and roads viii. the coaching era ix. the age of bad roads x. the turnpike system xi. trade and transport in the turnpike era xii. scientific road-making xiii. rivers and river transport xiv. river improvement and industrial expansion xv. disadvantages of river navigation xvi. the canal era xvii. the industrial revolution xviii. evolution of the railway xix. the railway era xx. railway expansion xxi. railways and the state {xii} xxii. decline of canals xxiii. decline of turnpikes xxiv. end of the coaching era xxv. railway rates and charges xxvi. the railway system to-day xxvii. what the railways have done xxviii. railways a national industry xxix. tramways, motor-buses and rail-less electric traction xxx. cycles, motor-vehicles and tubes xxxi. the outlook authorities index { }a history of inland transport and communication chapter i introductory the gradual improvement, throughout the centuries, of those facilities for internal communication which reached their climax in the creation of the present system of railways has constituted a dominating factor alike in our industrial and in our social advancement as a people. until transport had provided a ready means alike of collecting raw materials and of distributing food supplies and manufactured articles, industries of the type familiar to us to-day were practically impossible; and until convenient and economical means of travel were afforded, england had to be considered less as a nation than as a collection of more or less isolated communities, with all the disadvantages, social and moral as well as economic, necessarily resulting; while the social and moral progress facilitated by improved means of communication reacted, in turn, on the industries by creating new wants for manufacturers and workers to supply. to the right understanding of the position occupied by our national industries, it is thus necessary that the special significance of internal communication and its development should, at the outset, be clearly realised from the point of view, not alone of present-day circumstances, but, also, of conditions that either preceded the industries themselves--so far checking their growth that industrial development in great britain came at a much later date than in many { }countries on the continent of europe--or else aided materially in the expansion of industries as the disadvantages and drawbacks began to disappear. that industries existed when internal communication was still in a primitive stage in this country is true enough; but they were "domestic" rather than "national," and it was not until the advent of better means of transport that it became possible for them to begin to pass from the one stage to the other, and, at the same time, to exercise so important an influence on our advancement as a nation. it is no less true that british commerce, conducted by ships obtaining ready access to foreign ports by traversing ocean highways, had made much greater progress at an early period in our history than industries dependent on inland highways that were then either non-existent or scarcely passable; yet, though navigation might advance still further, and though navigators might discover still more new countries, commerce could not hope to attain to the expansion it subsequently underwent until the industries whose operations were to be facilitated by improvement in land communication supplied the merchants with the home commodities which they required for sale or exchange in the markets of the world. whatever, again, the natural resources of a country--and such resources have certainly been great in our own--they may be of little material value until they can be readily moved from the place where they exist to the place where they can be used; and even then it is necessary that the cost of transport shall not be unduly high. transport and communication by land and water have thus become what prof. j. shield nicholson rightly calls, in his "principles of political economy," "the bases of industrial organisation"; and it is to industrial organisation that a country such as ours has been indebted in a pre-eminent degree both for its material prosperity and for the position it occupies to-day among the nations of the world. but just as british engineers long regarded the subject of road construction and road repairs as beneath their notice, and left such work to be done by any parish "surveyor," subsidised pauper or "blind jack of knaresboro'," who thought fit to engage in it, so have most writers of history, while zealously recording the actions of kings, of diplomatists, of politicians, and of warriors who may have made a great stir in their day but who took only a very { }small share in the real and permanent progress of the british people, bestowed only a passing reference--and sometimes not even that--on questions of trade and transport which have played a far more important part in our social and national advancement. the history of railways has already been told by various writers. but the history of railways is only the last chapter in the history of inland transport and communication; and, though that last chapter is of paramount importance, and will here receive full recognition, it is essential that those who would form a clear idea of the position as a whole should begin the story at the beginning, and trace the course of events leading up to the conditions as they exist to-day. { }chapter ii britain's earliest roads it has been assumed in some quarters that, because the main routes of travel in this country did not have to pass over lofty mountains, as in austria and switzerland, therefore the construction of roads here was, or should have been, a comparatively easy matter. but this is far from having been the case, the earliest opening of regular lines of communication by road having been materially influenced by certain physical conditions of the land itself. the original site of london was a vast marsh, extending from where fulham stands to-day to greenwich, a distance of nine or ten miles, with a breadth in places of two or two and a half miles. the uplands beyond the thames marshes were covered with dense forests in which the bear, the wild boar, and the wild ox roamed at will. essex was almost entirely forest down to the date of the conquest. nearly the whole expanse of what to-day is sussex, and, also, considerable portions of kent and hampshire, were covered by a wood--the andred-weald, or andreswald--which in king alfred's time is said by the anglo-saxon chronicle to have been miles long and miles broad. here it was that, until even these great supplies were approaching exhaustion, the iron industry established in sussex in the thirteenth century obtained the wood and the charcoal which were exclusively used as fuel in iron-making until the second half of the eighteenth century, when coal and coke began to be generally substituted. wilts, dorset and other southern counties had extensive woodlands which were more or less depleted under like conditions. warwickshire, northamptonshire and leicestershire all had extensive woods. sherwood forest extended over almost the whole of nottinghamshire. in derbyshire, as shown by the domesday survey, five hundreds { }out of six were heavily wooded, and nineteen manors out of twenty-three had wood on them. "in lancashire," says charles pearson, in the notes to his "historical maps of england during the first thirteen centuries," "if we distinguish forest from wood, and assume that the former was only wilderness, we still have official evidence for believing that a quarter of a million acres of the land between mersey and ribble was covered with a network of separate dense woods." altogether, it is calculated by various authorities that in the earliest days of our history about one third of the surface of the soil in the british isles was covered with wood, thicket, or scrub. of the remainder a very large proportion was fen-land, marsh-land or heath-land. "from the sea-board of suffolk and norfolk," says the rev. w. denton, in "england in the fifteenth century," "and on the north coast almost to the limits of the great level, stretched a series of swamps, quagmires, small lakes and 'broads.'" a great fen, miles in length and miles in breadth, covered a large proportion of the counties of cambridgeshire, huntingdonshire, northamptonshire, lincolnshire, norfolk and suffolk. a great part of lancashire, mr denton further states, was a region of marshes and quaking mosses, while "from norwich to liverpool, and from the mouth of the ouse at lynn to the mersey, where it falls into the irish sea, a line of fen, uncultivated moors and morasses stretched across england and separated the northern counties from the midland districts, the old territory of mercia." much of the surface, again, was occupied by hills or mountains separated by valleys or plains through which some rivers--many of them far more powerful streams than they are to-day--flowed towards the sea. as for the nature of much of the soil of england, the early conditions are further recalled by daniel defoe who, in describing the "tour through the whole isle of great britain" which he made in the first quarter of the eighteenth century, speaks of "the soil of all the midland part of england, from sea to sea," as "a stiff clay or marly earth" for a breadth of miles, at least, so that it was not possible to go north from london to any part of britain without having to pass through "these terrible clays," which were, he says, "perfectly frightful to travellers." { }it was under conditions such as these that britain obtained her first roads; and it was, also, conditions such as these that were to affect more or less the future history of inland communication in england, adding largely to the practical difficulties experienced in making provision for adequate transport facilities. inasmuch as a great number of chariots were used by the britons in their attempt to resist the invasion of cæsar, it may be assumed that there were even then in this country roads sufficiently broad and solid on which such chariots could run; and though evidence both of the use of wattles in the making of roads over clayey soil and of a knowledge on the part of the early britons of the art of paving has been found, the british chariot-roads were so inefficiently constructed that few traces of them have remained. the earliest british roads were, however, probably of the nature of tracks rather than of durable highways; and they may have been designed less for the purposes of defence against invasion than in the interests of that british trade which, even then, was an established institution in the land. writing in "archæologia," vol. xlviii ( ), mr alfred tylor expresses the view that the civilisation of the britons was of a much higher character in some respects than has till recently been supposed. from the fact that pytheas of marseilles, a greek traveller who lived b.c. , and visited britain, described the british-made chariots, he thinks we may assume that the britons had discovered the art of smelting and working tin, lead and iron, and that they used these materials in the making both of chariots and of weapons. but they produced for export, as well as for domestic use. tin, more especially, was an absolute necessity in europe in the bronze age for use in the making of weapons both for the chase and for war, and the metallurgical wealth of britain afforded great opportunities for trading, just as it subsequently gave the country the special importance it possessed in the eyes of the roman conquerors. to the pursuit of such trading the britons, according to mr tylor, were the more inspired by a desire to obtain, in return for their metals the amber which, as the favourite ornament of prehistoric times, then constituted a most important article of commerce, but was obtainable only in the north of europe. { }the early importance of amber in europe is proved, mr tylor says, by its presence in many parts of europe throughout the long neolithic age, and, therefore, long prior to the bronze age; and it was mainly to facilitate the exchange of metals for this much-desired amber that the britons made roads or tracks from the high grounds which they generally chose for their habitations (thus avoiding alike the forests, the fens and the marshes), down to the ports from which the metals were to be shipped to their destination. mr tylor says on this point:-- "the first british tin-commerce with the continent in prehistoric times moved, either on packhorses or by chariots, in hilly districts, towards essex, norfolk, and suffolk, that is, in the direction from west to east; then by sea from the eastern british shipping ports, of which camulodunum on the stour, close to the thames (colchester) is a type, to the baltic. thus at first the 'tin' used to find its way partly by land and partly by sea from cornwall to the mouths of the elbe and vistula, there to meet the land caravans of the baltic amber commerce from the north of europe to the south.... when the land route throughout gaul was established the tin had to go across the english channel, not to brittany, across the rougher and wider part, but to normandy. the isle of wight was nearer normandy, and a suitable entrepôt for the coasters meeting the fleets of ocean trading ships.[ ]... "iron and lead were, also, valuable british productions, and could easily reach the isle of wight by coasting steamers or by the british or roman roads via salisbury or winchester.... "all ancient roads to british shipping ports were, of course, british.... without roads it would be impossible to get over the low, often clay, grounds, or to reach the seaports in chariots, as the seaports were constantly in the clay.... it was impossible to reach the shipping-ports, which are all at low levels, without roads, as the clay and sand would be impassable for chariots. of course packhorses could travel where chariots could not, but if the main roads were made for chariots they would be equally good for packhorses." mr tylor thinks there is the greater reason for assuming that a considerable trade had thus been developed between { }britain and the continent because tacitus alludes to a british prince who had amassed great wealth by transporting metals from the mendips to the channel coast; but our main consideration is the evidence we get of the fact that britain's earliest roads appear to have owed their origin to the development of britain's earliest trade. two, at least, of the four great roads to which the designation "roman" has been applied followed, in mr tylor's opinion, the line of route already established by the britons under the conditions here indicated. certain it is that, although the romans always aimed at building their roads in straight lines, and troubled little about ascents and descents, they followed the british plan of keeping the routes to high and dry ground, whenever practicable, in order to have a better chance of avoiding alike the woods, the bogs, the clays, the water-courses and the rivers. skilled road-builders though they were, the romans shrank, in several instances, pearson tells us, from "the tremendous labour of clearing a road through a forest where the trees must be felled seventy yards on either side to secure them from the arrows of a lurking foe." thus the great military roads marked in the itinerary of antonine always, if possible, avoided passing through a forest. the roads to chichester went by southampton in order to avoid the andred-weald of sussex, and the road from london to bath did not take the direct route to wallingford because, in that case, it would have required to pass through twenty miles of forest in buckinghamshire and oxfordshire. later on, however, as the roman rule became more firmly established, the making of roads through forests became unavoidable, and much destruction of timber followed, while the fact that the trees thus felled were left to rot on the ground alongside the roads helped to create the quagmires and "mosses" which were to be so great a source of trouble to road-makers in future generations. as regards the routes taken by the roman roads, mr. tylor says:-- "the romans made a complete system of permanent inland roads to connect the continent with the military posts, london, york, colchester, chester, uriconium, gloucester, winchester, silchester, porchester and brading, and chief { }trading towns with each other. at commanding points along or near these roads the romans constructed camps, and so placed their legions as to protect the centres of metallurgical industry and the roads leading to them.... the romans did not originate the sites of many new seaport towns or towns on large, navigable rivers, and, when they did so, as in the case of london, richborough, uriconium, rochester, canterbury, it was for strategical reasons, or indirectly connected with the traffic in minerals, the great industry of britain during the roman occupation as it was before it.... silchester ... was forty-five miles from london, and was on high ground away from river or forests, and not far from the junction of a number of land-routes. it was on dry ground on which waggons could travel. it was convenient for roads giving access to cornwall for tin; to the mendips for lead, copper or brass; gloucester and south wales for iron; and from these termini there were routes passable to the east and south coasts of england." from all this it would seem that the mineral wealth and the trading interests which had inspired the line of route of the earliest british roads were, side by side with military considerations, leading factors in the particular direction given to the roman roads that followed them. as for the roman roads themselves, so admirably were they built that some of those laid down in ancient rome and in france have been in use for from to years, while remains of roman roads found in britain, buried deeply under the debris of centuries, have still borne striking evidence of the solid manner in which they were first constructed. but the point that here arises for consideration is, not only the high quality of the great roads the romans built in britain, but the broad-minded policy by which the builders themselves were influenced. the provision of a system of scientifically constructed roads wherever they went was, primarily, part of the roman plan of campaign in the wars of aggrandisement they carried on; but it was further designed to aid in developing the resources of the country concerned, while it was, also, carried out in britain by the roman state itself, on lines embracing the transport conditions of the country as a whole, and in accordance with a unified and well-planned system of internal communication on "national" { }lines such as no succeeding administration attempted either to follow or to direct. thus the great roman roads, connecting the rising city on the thames and the commercial centre of britain with every part of the island, were remarkable, not only because they represented an art which was to disappear with the conquerors themselves, but, also, because they had been directly created, and were directly controlled, by a central authority as the outcome of a state road policy itself fated in turn to disappear no less effectually. the almost invariable practice in this country since the departure of the romans has been for the state, instead of following the roman example, and regarding as an obligation devolving upon itself the provision of adequate means of intercommunication between different parts of the country, to leave the burden and responsibility of making such provision to individual citizens, to philanthropic effort, to private enterprise, or to local authorities. the result has been that not only, for successive generations, were both the material progress and the social advancement of the english people greatly impeded, but the actual development of such intercommunication was to show, far too often ( ) a lamentable want of intelligence and skill in meeting requirements; and ( ) a deficiency of system, direction and co-ordination as regards the many different agencies or authorities concerned in the results actually secured. { }chapter iii roads and the church following the departure of the romans, not only road-making but even road-repairing was for several centuries wholly neglected in this country. the roman roads continued to be used, but successive rulers in troublesome times were too busily engaged in maintaining their own position or in waging wars at home or abroad to attend to such prosaic details as the repairing of roads, and they had, apparently, still less time or opportunity for converting into roads hill-side tracks which the romans had not touched at all. in proportion, too, as the roads were neglected, the bridges of the earlier period got out of repair, fell in altogether, or were destroyed in the social disorders of the time. so the mediæval ages found the means of internal communication by land probably worse in britain than in any other country in western europe. the state having failed to acquit itself of its obligations, the church took up the work as a religious duty. the keeping of roads in repair came to be considered, as jusserand says in "english wayfaring life in the middle ages," "a pious and meritorious work before god, of the same sort as visiting the sick and caring for the poor." travellers were regarded as unfortunate people whose progress on their toilsome journeys it was christian charity to assist. in these circumstances the religious houses of the period took over the task of making or repairing both roads and bridges, the faithful being encouraged to assist in the good work, either through gifts or with personal labour, by the concession to them of special indulgencies. jusserand tells, for instance, how richard de kellawe, bishop of durham, - , remitted part of the penalties on the sins of those who did good work in helping to make smooth the way of the wanderer, his episcopal register { }containing frequent entries of -day indulgencies granted to contributors to the road-repair funds. there were benefactors, also, who left to the monasteries lands and houses the proceeds of which were to be applied to the same public purpose; while in proportion as the monasteries thus increased the extent of their own landed possessions they became still more interested in the making and repairing of roads in the neighbourhoods in which the lands they had acquired were situated. in those days, in fact, people bequeathed not only land, or money, but even live stock for the repair of roads just as they left gifts for ecclesiastical purposes, or as people to-day make bequests to charitable institutions. the practice continued until, at least, the middle of the sixteenth century, since in the sixth report of the historical manuscripts commission there will be found (page ) the last will and testament, dated may , , of john davye, in which the testator says:-- "i leve and bequeithe a cowpell of oxson that i boughte the laste yere to the building of moulde church where i dwell; and i bequieth a bullocke that i boughte of the royde unto the mendynge of the hye waie betwixte my howse and the molld." bequests of money or lands were also made for the construction or the maintenance of bridges, or for the freeing of bridges from toll so that the poor could cross without payment; and one of the duties of the bishops, when making their visitations, was to enquire whether or not the funds thus left were being applied to the purposes the donors intended. on the continent of europe a religious order was founded, in the twelfth century, for the building of bridges. it spread over several countries and built some notable bridges--such, for instance, as that over the rhone at avignon; though there is no trace, jusserand tells us, of these bridge friars having extended their operations to this country. it was, however, from them that laymen learned the art of bridge-building, and in britain, as in continental countries, bridges came to be considered as pious works, to be put under the special charge of a patron saint. to this end it was customary to build a chapel alongside an important bridge--as in the case of the old london bridge that replaced the original wooden structure by peter colechurch, "priest and chaplain," itself { }having had a chapel dedicated to saint thomas of canterbury. sovereigns or great landowners gave generous gifts for the endowment of such bridges. although, too, there was no special order of bridge-building friars in england, guilds and lay brotherhoods, animated by the religious spirit, were formed in the reign of richard ii. ( - ) for the repair of roads and bridges, just as, in turn, the ordinary trading guilds which were the forerunners of the corporate bodies set up in towns undertook to "maintain and keep in good reparacion" bridges which had become "ruinous," and, also, to attend to the "foul and dangerous highways, the charge whereof the town was not able to maintain."[ ] it became customary, also, for hermits to take up their habitation in cells along the main thoroughfares, and to occupy themselves with looking after the roads, trusting to the alms of passers-by for a little worldly recompense. in one instance, at least, a hermit was allowed to put up a toll-bar--the first on record in this country--and collect compulsory payments from persons using the roads he mended. this was in , when edward iii. made a decree authorising "our well-beloved william phelippe the hermit" to set up a toll-bar on the lower slope of highgate hill, on the north side of london, and levy tolls for the repair of the "hollow way" from "our people passing between heghgate and smethfelde." jusserand sums up the situation at this period by saying that "the roads in england would have been entirely impassable ... if the nobility and the clergy, that is to say, the whole of the landed proprietors, had not had an immediate and daily interest in possessing passable roads." there came, however, a period of decline in religious fervour. the laity grew less disposed to give or to bequeath money, { }land or cattle for road-repair purposes, however much the offer of indulgences in return therefor might be increased from days to months or even to years; and the clergy, in turn, became more remiss in acquitting themselves of the obligations they had assumed as road-repairers. they accepted the benefactions, and they granted the indulgences; but they showed increasing laxity in carrying out their responsibilities. the roadside hermits, also, gathered in so much in the way of contributions, voluntary or compulsory, from passers-by that they ate and drank more than hermits ought to do, grew fat and lazy, and too often left the roads to look after themselves. what, therefore, with neglected roads and dilapidated bridges, the general conditions of travel went from bad to worse. church councils, says denton, were summoned and adjourned because bishops feared to encounter the danger of travelling along such roads. oratories were licensed in private houses, and chapels of ease were built, because roads were so bad, especially in winter, that the people could not get to their parish churches. the charter, edward iii., , by which the city of bristol was constituted a county, states that this was done in order to save the burgesses from travelling to gloucester and ilchester, "distant thirty miles of road, deep, especially in winter time, and dangerous to passengers." on many different occasions, too, the members of the house of commons, assembled for a new session, could transact no business because the peers had been detained by the state of the roads and the difficulty of travelling, and parliament was, therefore, adjourned. the general conditions grew still worse with the impoverishment of the monasteries by which the main part of the work had--however negligently--been done since the end of the roman régime. as will be shown later on, various statutes had gradually imposed more and more the care of the roads on the laity, and it was upon them that the full responsibility fell with the eventual dissolution, first of the lesser, and next of the greater, monasteries by henry viii. { }chapter iv early trading conditions rivers constituted, in the middle ages, the most important means of inland transport. most of our oldest towns or cities that were not on the route of one of the roman roads were set up alongside or within easy reach of some tidal or navigable stream in order, among other reasons, that full advantage could be taken of the transport facilities the waterways offered. so were monasteries, castles, and baronial halls, while the locating of the universities of oxford and cambridge on the thames and the cam respectively rendered them accessible by sea and river to scottish and other students from the north who could hardly have made their way thither by land.[ ] it was, however, only a limited number of inland places that could be reached by water, and other towns or settlements were wanted. the trading opportunities of the latter were at first restricted to the packhorse, few of the roads being then adapted for even the most primitive of agricultural waggons. long lines of packhorses, with bales or panniers slung across their backs, made their way along roads or bridle paths often inadequate to allow of two strings of loaded horses to pass one another, so that many a quarrel arose, when two teams met, as to which should go into the mud to allow the other to pass along the path proper. traders sending wool or other commodities by the same route were in the habit of making up companies in order to secure mutual protection against robbers, and they armed themselves and their servants as if going to battle. like precautions were taken by merchants from the north when they started on their annual business journeys to { }london--journeys so full of peril that they were not begun until the merchant had made his will and earnestly commended himself to the protection both of st. botolph and of his own patron saint. the "commercial travellers" of that day carried their samples or their wares in a bag lying across their horse's back, thus qualifying for the designation of "bagmen" by which they were to become known. in the middle ages everyone rode except the very poor, and they had to be content to trudge along on foot. kings and nobles, princes and princesses, gentlemen and ladies, merchants and bagmen all travelled on horseback. women either rode astride until the introduction of side-saddles, in the fourteenth century, or else rode in pillion fashion. the main exception to riding on horseback, in the case of ladies or of the sick or infirm, was the use of litters attached to shafts to which two horses, one in front and one behind the litter, were harnessed. sometimes, also, "passengers" were carried in the panniers of the packhorses, instead of goods. certain main routes, and especially those favoured by pilgrims--such as that between london and canterbury--must have been full of animation in those days; but, speaking generally, no one then travelled except on business or under the pressure of some strong obligation. down to the end of the fourteenth century england was purely an agricultural country, and her agricultural products were exclusively for home, if not for local or even domestic consumption, with the one exception of wool, which was exported in considerable quantities to flanders and other lands then dependent mainly on england for the raw materials of their cloth manufactures. in our own country manufactures had made but little advance, and they mainly supplied the requirements, in each instance, of a very limited area. england was, indeed, in those days, little more than a collection of isolated communities in which the various householders, more especially in villages at a distance from any main road or navigable river, had to provide for their own requirements to a great extent. of retail shops, such as are now found in the most remote villages, there were none at all at a period when the replenishing of stocks would have been impossible by reason of difficulties in transport; so that while the country as a whole was mainly agricultural, { }there were more craftsmen in the villages, and there was greater skill possessed by individuals in the production of domestic requirements than would to-day be found among agricultural populations accustomed to depend on the urban manufacturer or the village stores for the commodities their forefathers had to make, to raise or to supply for themselves. each family baked its own bread, with flour ground at the village mill from the wheat or the rye grown on the family's own land or allotment; each brewed its own ale--then the common beverage at all meals, since tea and coffee had still to come into vogue; and each grew its own wool or flax, made its own cloth and clothing, and tanned its own leather. what the household could not do for itself might still be done by the village blacksmith or the village carpenter. alike for ribbons, for foreign spices, for luxuries in general, and for news of the outer world the household was mainly dependent on the pedlar, with his stock on his back, or the chapman, bringing his collection of wares with him on horseback; though even these welcome visitors might find it impossible to travel along roads and footpaths reduced by autumn rains or winter snows to the condition of quagmires. in these conditions many a village or hamlet became isolated until the roads were again available for traffic, and rural households prepared for the winter as they would have taken precautions against an impending siege. most of the meat likely to be required would be killed off in the late autumn and salted down--salt being one of the few absolute necessities for which the mediæval household was dependent on the outside world; while families which could not afford to kill for themselves would purchase an animal in common and share the meat. stores of wheat, barley and malt were laid in; honey was put on the shelves to take the place of the sugar then almost unknown outside the large towns; logs were collected for fuel and rushes for the floors; and wool and flax were brought in to provide occupation for the women of the household. in the way of necessaries the provision made by each self-dependent family, or, at least, by each self-contained community, was thus practically complete--save in the one important item of fresh vegetables, the lack of which, coupled with the consumption of so much salt meat, was a frequent source of scurvy. millstones for { }the village mill might, like the salt, have to be brought in from elsewhere; but otherwise the villagers had small concern with what went on in the great world. such trading relations as the average village had with english markets or with foreign traders were almost exclusively in the hands of the lord of the manor, one of whose rights--and one not without significance, from our present point of view--it was to call upon those who held land under him, whether as free men or as serfs, to do all his carting for him. this was a condition on which both villeins and cottars had their holdings; and though, in course of time, the lord of the manor might relieve his people of most of the obligations devolving upon them, this particular responsibility still generally remained. "instances of the commutation of the whole of the services," says w. j. ashley, in the account of the manorial system which he gives in his "introduction to english economic history and theory," "occur occasionally as early as in manors where the demesne was wholly left to tenants. the service with which the lord could least easily dispense seems to have been that of carting; and so in one case we find the entry as to the villeins, 'whether they pay rent or no they shall cart.'" to the lord of the manor, at least, the difficulties of road transport, whether in getting his surplus commodities to market or otherwise, must have appeared much less serious when he was thus able to call on his tenants to do his cartage. in the towns the isolation may not have been so great as in the villages; but the urban trading and industrial conditions nevertheless assumed a character which could only have been possible when, owing to defective communications, there was comparatively little movement and competition in regard either to manufactures (such as they were) or to workers. the period of internal peace and order which followed the norman conquest led, as ashley has shown, to the rise in town after town of the merchant guild--an institution the purpose of which was to unite into a society all those who carried on a certain trade, in order, not only to assure for them the maintenance of their rights and privileges, but also to obtain for them an actual monopoly of the particular business in which they were interested. such monopoly they claimed against other traders in the same town who had not entered { }into the combination, and still more so against traders in other towns. the latter they regarded as "foreigners" equally with the traders from flanders and elsewhere. the merchant guilds were found in all considerable towns in the eleventh century, and they were followed, a century later, by craft guilds which aimed, in turn, at securing a monopoly of employment for their own particular members. coupled with the guilds there was much local regulation of the prices and qualities of commodities through the setting-up of such institutions as the "assize" of ale, of bread and of cloth; while the justices had, in addition, considerable powers in regard to fixing the rates of wages and the general conditions of labour. all this system of highly-organised protection, not so much for the country as a whole as for each and every individual town in the country, might serve in comparatively isolated communities; but it could not prevail against increased intercourse, the growing competition of developing industries, a broader area of distribution for commodities made in greater volume, and a wider demand for foreign supplies. it was thus doomed to extinction as these new conditions developed; but it nevertheless exercised an important influence on our national advancement, since it was the impulse of corporate unity, fostered by the merchant guilds, and strengthened by the system of manorial courts for the enforcement of the local laws and customs in vogue in each separate manor before the common law of the land was established, that led to so many english towns securing, from king or overlord--and notably in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, when the influence of the merchant guilds was especially great--those charters which so powerfully stimulated the growth of the great towns, of english citizenship, of individual freedom, and of national prosperity. ashley well says, in this connection:-- "wide as were the differences between a civic republic of italy, or an imperial city of germany with its subject territory, and a little english market town, there was an underlying similarity of ideas and purposes. each was a body of burghers who identified the right to carry on an independent trading or industrial occupation with the right of burgess-ship; who imposed restrictions on the acquisition of citizenship, with the object of protecting the interests of those already enjoying { }it; who acted together by market regulation and intermunicipal negotiation to secure every advantage they could over rival boroughs; who deemed it meet that every occupation should have its own organisation and its own representation in the governing authority, and who allowed and expected their magistrates to carry out a searching system of industrial supervision. municipal magistracy was not yet an affair of routine, bound hand and foot by the laws of the state." the general trade of the country in the middle ages was conducted mainly through markets and fairs. every town had its market and fixed market day, and such market served the purpose of bringing in the surplus produce of the surrounding agricultural district, the area of supply depending, no doubt, on the distance for which the state of the roads and the facilities for transport on them would allow of commodities being brought. held, as a rule, annually or half-yearly, fairs assumed much more important proportions than the (generally) weekly local markets. it was to the fairs that traders both from distant counties and from foreign countries brought wares and products not otherwise obtainable; and it was at the fairs that the foreign merchants, more especially, bought up the large quantities of wool which were to form their return cargoes. whereas the business done at the local markets was mainly retail, that done at the fairs was, to a great extent, wholesale, and the latter represented the bulk of such transactions as would now be done on the public exchanges or in the private warehouses of london, liverpool, manchester, birmingham, and other leading commercial centres. fairs were essentially the outcome of defective means of communication. going back in their origin to the days of ancient greece, they have been found in most countries in the earlier stages of society, or under conditions which have not allowed of ( ) a ready distribution of commodities, ( ) sufficiently advanced manufactures, or ( ) the subdivision of trade over an adequately wide area. fairs in england began to decay in exact proportion as communications and manufactures improved and retail trade expanded; so that to-day the survivals are either exclusively cattle fairs, sheep fairs, horse fairs, cheese fairs, and so on, or else are little more than { }pleasure fairs, with gingerbread stalls, shows and roundabouts for their chief attractions--mere reminiscences of old institutions which, in bygone days, were of supreme commercial importance. they were, also, greatly influenced by religious festivals, whether in ancient greece or in europe. in britain itself the commemoration of saints' days by the monasteries, the dedication festivals of churches or cathedrals, and the visitation of shrines by pilgrims brought together crowds of people whose assembling offered good opportunities for the opening up with them of a trade in commodities which they, in turn, might otherwise have some difficulty in procuring. it was, indeed, to the advantage of the church to offer or to encourage the offering of such facilities, not only because there would thus be a greater inducement to people to come to the festivals or to visit the shrines, but also because when the fair was held on land belonging to the church or connected with religious buildings there might be a substantial revenue gained from the tolls and charges paid by the traders. at one time the fairs were even held in churchyards; but this practice was prohibited in the th year of edward i., and thenceforward they were held on open spaces, where stalls and tents could be erected for the accommodation of the goods on sale and of the persons who had brought them, various amusements being added, or encouraged, by way of affording further attractions. the land occupied might be that of the lord of the manor, but the fairs still continued to be held chiefly on saints' days or on the occasion of church festivals, the actual dates being generally so fixed as to allow of the foreign or other traders attending them to arrange a circuit. the time of year preferred for the holding of fairs was either the autumn, when people whose wants were not wholly met by pedlar or chapman would be providing against the stoppage of all traffic along the roads during the winter; or the spring, when they would want to replenish their depleted stocks. the localities mostly favoured were towns either on navigable rivers, giving access to a good stretch of country, or at the entrance to valleys whose inhabitants would be especially isolated during the winter months by their impassable roads and mountain tracks. in course of time the fairs became, as shown by giles jacob, in his "law dictionary" ( th edition, ), "a matter of { }universal concern to the commonwealth," as well as a valuable monetary consideration to those who had the right to collect the tolls; and they were, in consequence, subjected to close regulation. no person could hold a fair "unless by grant from the king, or by prescription which supposes such grant"; the time during which it could be kept open was announced by proclamation, and rigidly adhered to; "just weight and measure" was enforced, and a "clerk of the fair" was appointed to mark the weights. on the other hand every encouragement was offered to traders to attend the fairs. "any citizen of london," says jacob, "may carry his goods or merchandise to any fair or market at his pleasure." mounted guards were, in some instances, provided on the main routes leading to the fair, in order to protect the traders from attack by robbers. tolls were to be paid to the lord of the manor or other owner of the land on which a fair was held under a special grant; but if the tolls charged were "outrageous and excessive" (to quote again from jacob), the grant of the right to levy toll became void, and the fair was thenceforth a "free" one. it was further laid down that persons going to a fair should be "privileged from being molested or arrested in it for any other debt or contract than what was contracted in the same, or at least, was promised to be paid there." an especially curious feature of these old fairs was the so-called "court of pie powder"--this being the accepted english rendering, in those days, of "pied poudré"--or "the court of dusty feet." the court was one of summary jurisdiction, at which questions affecting pedlars or other (presumably) dusty-footed traders and their patrons, or matters relating to "the redress of disorders," could be decided by a properly constituted authority during the period of the holding of the fair in which such questions or matters arose. jacob says of this old institution:-- "it is a _court of record_ incident to every _fair_; and to be held only _during the time_ that the _fair_ is kept. as to the jurisdiction, the cause of action for contract, slander, &c., must arise _in_ the fair or market, and not before at any former fair, nor after the fair; it is to be for some _matter concerning_ the same _fair_ or _market_; and must be done, complained of, heard and determined the same day. also the plaintiff must { }make oath that the contract, &c., was _within the jurisdiction_ and _time_ of the _fair_.... the steward before whom the court is held, is the judge, and the trial is by merchants and traders in the fair." such courts were as ancient as the fairs themselves, and they ensured a speedy administration of justice in accordance with what was recognised as merchants' law long before any common law was established. supposed to have been introduced by the romans, the "court of pie powder" was, according to jacob, known by them under the name of "curia pedis pulverisati," while the saxons called it the "ceapunggemot," or "the court of merchandise or handling matters of buying and selling." it was, of course, the normans who introduced the later term of "pied poudré," which the english converted into "pie powder." one of the most ancient, and certainly the most important, of all the english fairs was the sturbridge fair, at cambridge, so called from a little river known as the stere, or the sture, which flowed into the cam.[ ] early records of this particular fair, according to cornelius walford, in "fairs past and present," are to be found in a grant by king john in or about the year . the fair is believed to have been originally founded by the romans; but it may have acquired greater importance at the date of this particular charter by reason of what cunningham, in his "growth of english industry and commerce in the early and middle ages," describes as the "extraordinary increase" of commerce in every part of the mediterranean in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, coupled with the "improvements in navigation and in mercantile practice" which "went hand in hand with this development. englishmen," he further tells us, "had but little direct part in all this maritime activity. their time was not come; but the italian merchants who bought english wool, or visited english fairs, brought them within range of the rapid progress that was taking place in south europe." from the middle of the twelfth to the middle of the { }thirteenth century the export of wool, leather, lead, tin and other english commodities was in the hands almost exclusively of foreign merchants, who came here both to purchase these raw materials and to dispose of the products of their own or other countries; and sturbridge fair, as it happened, formed a convenient trading centre alike for foreign and for english traders, the question of inland communication being, in fact, once more the dominating factor in the situation. foreign goods destined for the fair were mostly brought, first, to the port of lynn, and there transferred to barges in which they were taken along the ouse to the cam, and so on to the fair ground which, on one side, was bordered by the latter stream. heavy goods sent by water from london and the southern counties, or coming by sea from the northern ports, reached the fair by the same route. great quantities of hops brought to the fair from the south-eastern or midland counties by land or water were, in turn, despatched via the cam, the ouse and the port of lynn to hull, newcastle, and elsewhere for consignment to places to be reached by the humber, the tyne, etc. where water transport was not available the services of packhorses were brought into requisition until the time came when the roads had been sufficiently improved to allow of the use of waggons. in his "tour through the whole island of great britain" defoe gives a graphic account of sturbridge fair as he saw it in . by that date it had become, in his opinion, "not only the greatest in the whole nation, but in the world." it covered an area of about half a square mile, had shops placed in rows like streets, with an open square known as the duddery, and comprised "all trades that can be named in london, with coffee-houses, taverns, and eating-houses innumerable, and all in tents and booths." he speaks of £ , worth of woollen manufactures being sold in less than a week, and of-- "the prodigious trade carry'd on here by wholesale-men from london, and all parts of england, who transact their business wholly in their pocket-books, and meeting their chapmen from all parts, make up their accounts, receive money chiefly in bills, and take orders: these, they say, exceed by far the sales of goods actually brought to the fair, and deliver'd in kind; it being frequent for the london { }wholesale men to carry back orders from their dealers for ten thousand pounds-worth of goods a man, and some much more. this especially respects those people, who deal in heavy goods, as wholesale grocers, salters, brasiers, iron-merchants, wine-merchants and the like; but does not exclude the dealers in woollen manufactures, and especially in mercery goods of all sorts, the dealers in which generally manage their business in this manner: "here are clothiers from halifax, leeds, wakefield and huddersfield in yorkshire, and from rochdale, bury, &c. in lancashire, with vast quantities of yorkshire cloths, kerseys, pennistons, cottons, &c., with all sorts of manchester ware, fustians and things made of cotton wooll; of which the quantity is so great, that they told me there were near a thousand horse-packs of such goods from that side of the country.... "in the duddery i saw one ware-house or booth, with six apartments in it, all belonging to a dealer in norwich stuffs alone, and who, they said, had there above twenty thousand pounds value in those goods alone. "western goods had their share here, also, and several booths were fill'd as full with serges, du-roys, druggets, shalloons, cataloons, devonshire kersies, &c., from exeter, taunton, bristol, and other parts west, and some from london also. "but all this is still outdone, at least in show, by two articles, which are the peculiars of this fair, and do not begin till the other part of the fair, that is to say, for the woollen manufacture, begins to draw to a close: these are the wooll and the hops: as for the hops there is scarce any price fix'd for hops in england till they know how they fell at sturbridge fair: the quantity that appears in the fair is indeed prodigious.... they are brought directly from chelmsford in essex, from canterbury and maidstone in kent and from farnham in surrey; besides what are brought from london, the growth of those and other places." in the north of england, defoe continues, few hops had formerly been used, the favourite beverage there being a "pale smooth ale" which required no hops. but for some years hops had been used more than before in the brewing of the great quantity of beer then being produced in the { }north, and traders from beyond the trent came south to buy their hops at cambridge, taking them back to yorkshire, northamptonshire, derbyshire, lancashire and even to scotland. of wool, according to the same authority, the quantity disposed of at a single fair would be of the value of £ , or £ , . in writing on this same sturbridge fair, thorold rogers says, in his "history of agriculture and prices":-- "the concourse must have been a singular medley. besides the people who poured forth from the great towns ... there were, beyond doubt, the representatives of many nations collected together to this great mart of medieval commerce. the jew, expelled from england, had given place to the lombard exchanger. the venetian and genoese merchant came with his precious stock of eastern produce, his italian silks and velvets, his store of delicate glass. the flemish weaver was present with his linens of liége and ghent. the spaniard came with his stock of iron, the norwegian with his tar and pitch. the gascon vine-grower was ready to trade in the produce of his vine-yard; and, more rarely, the richer growths of spain, and, still more rarely, the vintages of greece were also supplied. the hanse towns sent furs and amber, and probably were the channels by which the precious stones of the east were supplied through the markets of moscow and novgorod. and perhaps by some of those unknown courses, the history of which is lost, save by the relics which have occasionally been discovered, the porcelain of the farthest east might have been seen in many of the booths. blakeney, and colchester, and lynn, and perhaps norwich, were filled with foreign vessels, and busy with the transit of various produce; and eastern england grew rich under the influence of trade. how keen must have been the interest with which the franklin and bailiff, the one trading on his own account, the other entrusted with his master's produce, witnessed the scene, talked of the wonderful world about them, and discussed the politics of europe! "to this great fair came, on the other hand, the woolpacks which then formed the riches of england and were the envy of outer nations. the cornish tin-mine sent its produce.... thither came also salt from the springs of worcestershire ... lead from the mines of derbyshire and iron, either raw or { }manufactured, from the sussex forges. and besides these, there were great stores of those kinds of agricultural produce which, even under the imperfect cultivation of the time, were gathered in greater security, and therefore in greater plenty, than in any other part of the world, except flanders." other leading fairs, besides that of sturbridge, included bartholomew fair, in london, and those of boston, chester and winchester; while holinshed says of the conditions in the second half of the sixteenth century, "there is almost no town in england but hath one or two such marts holden yearlie in the same." in the case of bartholomew fair, its decay was directly due to the fact that there came a time when english manufacturers could produce cloth equal in quality to that from bruges, ghent and ypres which had been the chief commodity sold at this particular fair, thenceforward no longer needed. but the eventual decline alike of sturbridge and of most of the other fairs carrying on a general trade was mainly due to the revolutionary changes in commerce, industry and transport to which improved facilities for distribution inevitably led. { }chapter v early road legislation it was in the year a.d. that the roman legions were withdrawn from britain, and it was not until , or years after their departure, that the first general act was passed, not for the construction, but for the repair of roads in this country. in the meantime such further construction or repairing as was actually done had been left to the church, to private benevolence, to landowners acting either voluntarily or in accordance with the conditions on which they held their estate, or to the inefficient operation of the common law obligation that the inhabitants of a parish must repair the highways within the same. a writer in , william knight dehany, of the middle temple, in a book on "the general turnpike acts," comes to the conclusion, after careful research into the records of this early period, that "with the exception of the principal roads communicating with the important sea ports and fortresses of the kingdom (probably the four great roads formed either by the romans or saxons), the other highways were but tracks over unenclosed grounds, where the passenger selected his path over the space which presented the firmest footing and fewest impediments, as is the case in the present day in forests and wastes in remote situations." he considers that when packhorses only were used for the transport of burdens, the state of the roads was not a subject of much interest and importance; but certain it is that the subject became more acute when the greater traffic that resulted from expanding trade and commerce led to the roads getting into an even worse condition than they had been in previously. the earliest road legislation that can be traced was an act passed in , in the reign of edward i., directing that on highways leading from one market town to another "there be { }neither dyke, tree nor bush whereby a man may lurk to do hurt within two hundred feet on either side of the way"; but this measure was designed for the protection of travellers against robbers, and had no concern with the repair of the roads. in tolls were imposed, by authority of edward iii., for the repair of three roads in london, namely, "the king's highway between the hospital of st. giles and the bar of the old temple (in holborn)"; what is now gray's inn road ("being very much broken up and dangerous"), and another road, supposed to be st. martin's lane. these tolls, according to macpherson's "annals of commerce" ( ) were to be imposed for a period of two years upon all cattle, merchandise and other goods passing along the roads in question; they were fixed at the rate of one penny in the pound on the value of the animals or goods taxed, and they were to be paid by all persons, except, curiously enough, "lords, ladies, and persons belonging to religious establishments or to the church." then, in , "the highway between temple-bar and westminster being already rendered so deep and miry by the carts and horses carrying merchandise and provision at the staple that it was dangerous to pass upon it," the king required the owners of houses alongside to repair the road in consideration of the increased value of their property owing to the establishment of the staple.[ ] reference has already been made (page ) to the concession by edward iii. to "phelippe the hermit" of the right to impose tolls for the repair of the road on highgate hill. macpherson further says, under date :-- "the equitable mode of repairing the roads by funds collected from those who used them was now so far established that we find, besides the renewals of the tolls for the westminster road almost annually, tolls granted this year for the road between highgate and smithfield, for that from wooxbridge (uxbridge) to london, and for the venel called faytor (fetter) lane in holburn." in the reign of henry viii. the first statutes relating to { }particular highways were passed, a lord of the manor in kent, and another in sussex, being empowered to construct certain new roads, at their own expense, and then enclose the old ones for which the new would be substituted; but the act of and philip and mary c. , passed in , was the first highway act in this country which applied to roads in general. "commerce," says macpherson, "beginning to increase considerably in the reign of queen mary, and the old roads being much more frequented by heavy carriages" (a term applied at this time to wheeled vehicles of any description), the act was passed with a view to securing a much-needed improvement. after declaring, in a preamble, that the roads had become "both very noisome and tedious to travel in and dangerous to all passengers and carriages," the act directed that constables and churchwardens in every parish should, during easter week in each year, "call together a number of the parochians" and choose two honest persons to serve for twelve months as surveyors and orderers of works for amending parish highways leading to any market town. these surveyors were authorised to require occupiers of land to attend each midsummer with wains, or carts, in proportion to their holdings, such carts being furnished, after the custom of the country, with oxen, horses or other cattle and necessaries, and to be in charge of two able men. all other householders, cottagers and labourers, able to work and not being servants hired by the year, were to furnish work in their own persons, or by deputy, bringing with them "such shovels, spades, pikes, mattocks and other tools and instruments as they do make their own fences and ditches withall." work was to be carried on for four days, of eight hours each, unless otherwise directed by the supervisors; and constables and churchwardens were "openly in the church to give knowledge" of appointed days. fines for default were to be imposed at leets or quarter-sessions. this act was to remain in operation for seven years. in it was continued by eliz. c. , which, in addition to giving compulsory powers to obtain materials for road repairs, increased the "statute" labour, as it came to be called, from four to six days each year. this principle of compulsory labour on the roads was--subject to various modifications in regard to alternative { }assessments--to remain in operation until the passing of the general highway act of , when it was wholly superseded by highway rates. the labour itself, though it brought about an improvement on the previous road conditions, was from the first far from satisfactory, judging from the references made to it by holinshed. the roads, he says, were very deep and troublesome in winter; the obligation in regard to six days' labour on them was of little avail, since the rich evaded their duty, and the poor loitered so much that scarcely two days' work was done out of the six; while the surveyors, instead of applying the labour to the amendment of roads from market town to market town, bestowed it on particular spots the repair of which conduced to their own convenience. nor, it seems, was the power conferred on the justices to punish surveyors and parishioners if they failed in their duty of much practical avail. no further general legislation concerning roads was passed until the restoration, when, says macpherson, "the vast increase of commerce and manufactures and of the capital city of london, with the concomitant increase of luxury, brought in such numbers of heavy-wheel carriages as rendered it by degrees impracticable, in most cases, for parishes entirely to keep their own part of the roads in a tolerable condition, more especially in the counties lying near london and in the manufacturing counties." petitions had been received from the inhabitants of various districts throughout the country praying that steps should be taken for the betterment of their roads, with the view of facilitating intercommunication, and it became evident that some more effective system for the construction and repairing of roads must be adopted. in parliament passed an act ( car. ii., c. ) which stated that, inasmuch as former laws and statutes for mending and repairing public highways had been found ineffectual, by reason whereof, and the extraordinary burdens carried on waggons and other carriages, divers highways had become dangerous and almost impassable, churchwardens and constables or tithing men in every parish were directed to choose surveyors yearly on the monday or tuesday in easter week, giving public notice thereof in church immediately after the end of the morning prayer. these surveyors { }were to view the highways, estimate the cost of the necessary repairs, and, with the help of two or more substantial householders, apportion the cost among persons assessed to the poor rate and owners of all classes of property exclusive of "household stuff," the stock of goods in a shop being assessed as well as the shop itself, and the personal belongings of a householder equally with the dwelling he occupied. there was further brought about, in , the definite establishment, by law, of that system of toll-taking, by means of turnpikes, the principle of which had, as we have seen, already been adopted in a few isolated instances. macpherson speaks of the system as "the more equitable and effectual method of tolls, paying at the toll-gates (called turnpikes) by those who use and wear the roads"; and this was the view that generally prevailed at the time. he records as follows, under date , the passing of this first english turnpike act:-- "the antient fund for keeping the roads of england repaired was a rate levied on the land holders in proportion to their rents, together with the actual service of the men, the carts, and horses of the neighbourhood for a limited number of days. but now, by the increase of inland trade, heavy carriages and packhorses were so exceedingly multiplied that those means of repairing the roads were found totally inadequate; neither was it just that a neighbourhood should be burdened with the support of roads for the service of a distant quarter of the kingdom. it was therefore necessary to devise more effective and, at the same time, more equitable means of supporting the public roads, and the present method of making and repairing the roads at the expense of those who actually wear them and reap the benefit of them was now first established by an act of parliament ( car. ii., c. .) for repairing the highways in the shires of hartford, cambridge and huntingdon, by which three toll-gates (or turn-pikes) were set up at wadesmill, caxton and stilton." the highways here in question formed part of the great north road to york and scotland, and the preamble of the act stated that this "ancient highway and post-road" was, in many places, "by reason of the great and many loads which are weekly drawn in the waggons through the said places, as well as by reason of the great trade of barley and { }malt that cometh to ware, and so is conveyed by water to the city of london ... very ruinous, and become almost impassable, insomuch that it is become very dangerous to all his majesty's liege people that pass that way." the act required the justices in each of the three counties to appoint surveyors who were to provide road materials and require of persons chargeable under the general law that they should send waggons and supply labour in accordance with their obligations, any extra work done by them being paid for at the usual rates in force in the district. the surveyors were, also, to appoint collectors of tolls who were empowered to levy, at the toll-gates (one of these being in each of the three counties) "for every horse, one penny; for every coach, sixpence; for every waggon, one shilling; for every cart, eightpence; for every score of sheep or lambs, one half-penny, and so on in proportion for greater numbers; for every score of oxen or neat cattle, five pence; for every score of hogs, twopence"; but no person, having once paid toll, and returning the same day with the same horse or vehicle, or with cattle, was to pay a second time. the act was to remain in operation for eleven years; though it was, of course, then renewed. how the turnpike system, thus introduced, was subsequently developed throughout the land will be shown later. charles ii., whether he personally influenced the act of or not, showed in a very practical way his interest in the opening up of the country to improved communications. in a remarkable work was published by john ogilby, cosmographer royal, under the title of "britannia; a geographical and historical description of the roads of england and wales." the book consisted of double-page sheets of road maps, giving, in scroll fashion, every mile of route for eighty-five roads or itineraries, and showing distances in each case, together with a description of each route, written in considerable detail. the maps, without the letterpress, were published in the same year in a separate volume, under the title of "itinerarium angliæ"; and in the descriptive matter, without the maps, was reprinted in the form of a handbook, under the title of "the traveller's guide." in his dedication of "britannia" to king charles ii. the author says: "influenced by your majesty's approbation { }and munificence, i have attempted to improve our commerce and correspondency at home by registering and illustrating your majesty's high-ways, directly and transversly, as from shore to shore, so to the prescribed limits of the circumambient ocean, from this great emporium and prime center of the kingdom, your royal metropolis." "the traveller's guide" is described as "a most exact description of the roads of england, being mr ogilby's actual survey and mensuration by the wheel of the great roads from london to all the considerable cities and towns in england and wales, together with the cross roads from one city or eminent town to another"; while in the preface the author throws more light on the previous reference to his majesty's munificence, saying:-- "this description of england was undertaken by the express command of king charles ii., and it was at his expence that mr ogilby with great exactness performed an actual survey and mensuration by the wheel of all the principal roads of england." { }chapter vi early carriages the carts that succeeded the early british and roman war chariots, and enabled the villeins and cottars to do the obligatory "cartage" for the lord of the manor, were heavy, lumbering vehicles, with wheels hewn out of solid pieces of wood, and were used for private transport rather than transport for hire. the latter came in with the "wains" or "long waggons" of england's pioneer road carriers. these long waggons, according to stow, were brought into use about the year , up to which time--save for the horse litters and the agricultural carts--the saddle-horse and the packhorse had been the only means of travelling and conveying goods. the long waggon developed into a roomy covered vehicle, capable of accommodating about passengers in addition to merchandise; it had broad wheels adapted to the roads; and it was drawn, at a walking pace, by six, eight, or more horses which (except on such long journeys as that from london to wigan) accompanied it for the entire journey. as the forerunner of the stage-coach it was, at first, generally used not only for the heavier classes of goods (lighter qualities, and especially so when greater speed was required, still going by packhorse), but, also, by such travellers as either could not, or preferred not to, travel on horseback. the waggons made regular journeys between london, canterbury, norwich, ipswich, gloucester, and other towns. it was in the long waggon that many a traveller in the seventeenth century made the journey between london and dover, either going to or returning from the continent[ ]; and, though, because of this continental traffic, the dover road was probably kept in as good a condition as any in the country, the long { }waggon went at so slow a pace that in the journey to dover often took either three or four days. to bristol, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, long waggons were despatched three times a week, as follows:-- left london. arrived at bristol. wednesday tuesday saturday friday friday thursday it should, however, be remembered that both the long waggon and the stage-coach which succeeded it travelled only by day, remaining for the night at some wayside inn where, in coaching language, it "slept." when charles leigh wrote "the natural history of lancashire, cheshire and the peak of derbyshire," published in , the london waggons went as far north as wigan and standish, where they took in cargoes of coals for sale on the return journey. north of wigan nearly all the trade was carried on by strings of packhorses or by carts. kendal was the principal packhorse station on this line of road, sending large trains of packhorses as far south as wigan, and over the hills, northward, to carlisle and the borders of scotland. in , according to "williamson's liverpool memorandum book" for that year, the lancashire and cheshire stage waggons left london every monday and thursday, and were ten days on the journey in summer and eleven in the winter. at that time no waggon or coach from the south could get nearer to liverpool than warrington, owing to the state of the roads. the general mode of travelling was on horseback. four owners of post-horses in london advertised in that they started from the "swan-with-two-necks," lad lane, every friday morning with a "gang of horses" for passengers and light goods, and arrived in liverpool on the following monday evening, this being considered very good time. the conditions of transport between london and edinburgh in , when adam smith published his "wealth of nations," may be judged from the following references thereto which he makes in a comparison between the cost of land transport and the cost of sea transport:-- "a broad-wheeled waggon, attended by two men, and { }drawn by eight horses, in about six weeks' time carries and brings back between london and edinburgh near four ton weight of goods. in about the same time a ship navigated by six or eight men, and sailing between the ports of london and leith, frequently carries and brings back two hundred ton weight of goods. six or eight men, therefore, by the help of water carriage, can carry and bring back in the same time the same quantity of goods between london and edinburgh as fifty broad-wheeled waggons, attended by a hundred men, and drawn by four hundred horses." the long waggon, supplementing alike the packhorse and the coach, which carried the lighter and more urgent commodities, continued, right down to the railway age, the means by which the great bulk of the general merchandise of the country was transported where carriage by water was not available. it remained, also, in favour with the poorer classes of travellers until late in the eighteenth century, when the stage coaches reduced their fares to such proportions that there was no longer any saving in going by the slower conveyance. private carriages, as an alternative alike to the horse litter and to riding on horseback, seem to have been introduced into this country, from the continent, about the middle of the sixteenth century. in his "history of the origin and progress of the company of watermen and lightermen of the river thames" henry humpherus says that at her coronation, in , queen mary rode in a chariot drawn by six horses, followed by another in which were "lady elizabeth, her sister, and lady ann of cleves." he further states that in a dutchman, guylliam boonen, presented to queen elizabeth a "coach" which was considered a great improvement on the "chariot or waggon" used at the coronation of queen mary. but the pioneer carriages of this date were little better than gorgeously decorated springless carts, to be ridden in along the worst of roads, and so uncomfortable that in an audience she had with the french ambassador in , queen elizabeth told him of "the aching pains" she was suffering in consequence of having been "knocked about" a few days before in a coach which had been driven too fast along the streets. all the same, these private "coaches" must have come into more general use by the end of the { }sixteenth century, since we find stow saying in his "survey of london" ( ):-- "of old times coaches were not known in this island.... but now of late years the use of coaches, brought out of germany, is taken up and made so common that there is neither distinction of time nor difference of people observed; for the world runs on wheels with many whose parents were glad to go on foot." fynes moryson, gent., in the "itinerary" he published ( ) in the reign of james i., recording various journeys he had made, also alludes to this greater use of private "coaches," and he gives some interesting details as to the general conditions of travel at that period. he says:-- "sixtie or seventy yeeres agoe, coaches were very rare in england, but at this day pride is so far increased, as there be few gentlemen of any account (i mean elder brothers) who have not their coaches, so as the streetes of london are almost stopped up with them.... for the most part englishmen, especially in long journies, used to ride upon their owne horses. but if any will hire a horse, at london they used to pay two shillings the first day, and twelve, or perhaps eighteene pence a day, for as many dayes as they keepe him, till the horse be brought back home to the owner, and the passenger must either bring him backe, or pay for the sending of him, and find him meate both going and comming. in other parts of england a man may hire a horse for twelve pence the day.... likewise carriers let horses from citie to citie.... lastly, these carryers have long covered waggons, in which they carry passengers from city to city: but this kind of journeying is so tedious, by reason they must take waggon very earely, and come very late to their innes, as none but women and people of inferiour condition, or strangers (as flemmings with their wives and servants) use to travell in this sort." these long covered waggons began to be supplemented, in or thereabouts, by stage coaches, the advent of which is thus recorded by a contemporary writer, dr chamberlayne:-- "there is of late such an admirable commodiousness, both for men and women, to travel from london to the principal towns of the country that the like hath not been known in the world, and that is by stage coaches, wherein any one may be transported to any place sheltered from foul weather and foul { }ways, free from endamaging one's health and one's body by hard jogging or over-violent motion on horse back, and this not only at the low price of about a shilling for every five miles but with such velocity and speed in one hour as the foreign post can but make in one day." the "admirable commodiousness" which thus beat the world's record of that date was a vehicle without either springs or windows, which carried four, six or eight passengers inside. over the axle there was a great basket for luggage and a few outside passengers, who made themselves as comfortable as they could among the bags and boxes, a few handfuls of straw being, in their case, the only concession to luxury. the earliest coaches carried neither passengers nor luggage on the roof, this arrangement coming into vogue later. in order that people should not be deterred from travelling in these conveyances by fear of highwaymen, it was announced, in the case of some of them, that the guards were armed and that the coaches themselves were "bullet proof." as against the eulogy of dr chamberlayne it might be mentioned that the introduction of stage-coaches was regarded with great disfavour by another writer, john cressett, who published, in , a pamphlet entitled "the grand concern of england explained in several proposals to parliament" (reprinted in harleian miscellany, vol. viii.). cressett evidently belonged to those adherents to "good old times" conditions who are opposed to all innovations; but his pamphlet affords much information as to the general conditions of travel at the time he wrote. cressett asked, among other things, "that a stop be put to further buildings in and about london"; "that brandy, coffee, mum, tea and chocolate may be prohibited"; and "that the multitude of stage-coaches and caravans may be suppressed." it is with the last-mentioned demand, only, that we have here any "grand concern." in amplifying it he recommends "that the multitude of stage-coaches and caravans now travelling upon the roads may all, or most of them, be suppressed, especially those within forty, fifty, or sixty miles of london, where they are no way necessary." the indictment he prefers against the coaches is in the following terms:-- "these coaches and caravans are one of the greatest { }mischiefs that hath happened of late years to the kingdom, mischievous to the publick, destructive to trade, and prejudicial to lands: "first, by destroying the breed of good horses, the strength of the nation, and making men careless of attaining a good horsemanship, a thing so useful and commendable in a gentleman. "secondly, by hindering the breed of watermen, who are the nursery for seamen, and they the bulwark of the kingdom. "thirdly, by lessening his majesty's revenues." alluding to the effect of coach-riding on the individual, he says:-- "stage-coaches ... effeminate his majesty's subjects who, having used themselves to travel in them, have neither attained skill themselves nor bred up their children to good horsemanship, whereby they are rendered incapable of serving their country on horseback, if occasion should require and call for the same; for hereby they become weary and listless when they ride a few miles, and unwilling to get on horseback; not able to endure frost, snow, or rain, or to lodge in the fields." these last-mentioned words, "or to lodge in the fields," are especially suggestive of what might happen in those days to travellers on horseback. the writer goes on to say:-- "there is such a lazy habit of body upon men, that they, to indulge themselves, save their fine clothes, and keep themselves clean and dry, will ride lolling in one of them, and endure all the inconveniences of that manner of travelling rather than ride on horseback." he grieves over the fact that there were not "near so many coach-horses either bred or kept in england" as there were saddle-horses formerly, and he mentions the interesting fact that the york, chester and exeter stage-coaches, with horses a-piece, carried eighteen passengers a week to each of those three places from london, and brought the same number back--a total of for the year. his plea that, but for the coaches, this number of travellers would have required, with their servants, "at least horses," instead of the which sufficed for the coaches, no longer concerns us; but his figures as to the extent of the travel in between london and cities of such importance--even in those { }days--as york, chester and exeter, are certainly interesting. one learns from the pamphlet that there were, in addition, stage coaches then going to "almost every town within or miles of london." the writer also sought to discredit coaches on the ground that they were--bad for trade! "these coaches and caravans," he said, "are destructive to the trade and manufactures of the kingdom, and have impoverished many thousands of families, whose subsistence depended upon the manufacturing of wool and leather, two of the staple commodities of the kingdom." it was not only that saddlers and others were being cast on the parish, but tailors and drapers were also suffering because in two or three journeys on horseback travellers spoiled their clothes and hats--"which done, they were forced to have new very often, and that increased the consumption of the manufactures, and the employment of the manufacturers, which travelling in coaches doth no way do." all this must have seemed grave enough to the good alarmist; but there was still worse to come, for he goes on to say that-- "passage to london being so easy, gentlemen come to london oftener than they need, and their ladies either with them, or, having the conveniences of these coaches, quickly follow them. and when they are there, they must be in the mode, buy all their cloaths there, and go to plays, balls, and treats, where they get such a habit of jollity and a love to gayety and pleasure, that nothing afterwards in the country will serve them, if ever they should fix their minds to live there again; but they must have all from london, whatever it costs." fearing, perhaps, that these various arguments might not suffice to discredit the coaches, the pamphleteer has much to say about the discomforts of those conveyances:-- "travelling in these coaches can neither prove advantageous to men's health or business; for what advantage is it to men's health to be called out of their beds into these coaches, an hour before day in the morning, to be hurried in them from place to place till one hour, two or three within night; insomuch that, after sitting all day in the summertime stifled with heat and choaked with dust; or in the { }winter-time starving and freezing with cold, or choaked with filthy fogs, they are often brought into their inns by torchlight, when it is too late to sit up to get a supper; and next morning they are forced into the coach so early, that they can get no breakfast.... "is it for a man's health to travel with tired jades, and to be laid fast in the foul ways and forced to wade up to the knees in mire; afterwards sit in the cold, till teams of horses can be sent to pull the coach out? is it for their health to travel in rotten coaches, and to have their tackle, or pearch or axle-tree broken, and then to wait three or four hours, sometimes half a day, to have them mended, and then to travel all night to make good their stage?" and so on, and so on, until we come to the moral of the story, which is that people should refuse to patronise such innovations as stage-coaches, keep to the ways of their forefathers, and do their travelling on horseback. if they could not do that, and needs must ride in a vehicle, let them be content with the long coaches (i.e. long waggons) which were "more convenient than running coaches ... for they travel not such long journeys, go not out so early in the morning, neither come they in so late at night; but stay by the way, and travel easily, without jolting men's bodies or hurrying them along, as the running coaches do." but the denunciations, arguments and vigorous pleadings of this "lover of his country," as the author of "the grand concern" called himself, were all of no avail. the march of progress had taken another step forward, and england found it had now entered definitely on the coaching era. { }chapter vii loads, wheels and roads before dealing more fully with the development of coaches and coaching and of vehicular traffic in general, it will be desirable to revert to the new perplexities which such development brought to those who were concerned with the care of the roads, and see in what way it was endeavoured to meet them. in macpherson's "annals of commerce" the following is given under date :-- "the great increase of the commerce of england of late years very much increased the inland carriage of goods, whereby the roads were more broken than heretofore. king charles issued his proclamation, confirming one of his father's in the th year of his reign, for the preservation of the public roads of england, commanding that no carrier or other person whatsoever shall travel with any waine, cart or carriage with more than two wheels nor with above the weight of twenty hundred; nor shall draw any waine, cart or other carriage with above five horses at once." the king charles here spoken of was, of course, charles i., and the th year of the reign of his father, james i., takes us back to . that year, therefore, gives us the date for the starting of a policy, not of adapting the roads to the steadily increasing traffic, but of adapting the traffic to the roads; and this policy, as far as successive rulers and governments were concerned (efforts in the way of actual road betterment being left almost exclusively to individual initiative or private enterprise), was persevered in more or less consistently for a period of close on two centuries. the state policy here in question was applied mainly in two directions: ( ) the restriction to a certain weight of the loads carried; and ( ) the enforcing of regulations as to the breadth of wheels. the former alone is mentioned in the references { }just made to the proclamations of charles i. and james i.; and it may be explained that the stipulation as to not more than five horses being attached to any cart or waggon was itself a precaution against the drawing of what were regarded as excessive loads. such precautions were renewed after the restoration, when, as we have seen, there began to be a considerable expansion of trade. by & chas. ii., c. , it was laid down that no waggon, wain, cart or carriage carrying goods "for hire" should be drawn by more than seven horses or eight oxen, or carry more than cwt. between october and may , or more than cwt. between may and october , thus modifying the earlier regulations, while it further enacted that no wheels should have rims exceeding four inches in breadth; but by chas. ii., c. , the maximum number of horses allowed to any vehicles was again reduced to five; and by chas. ii., c. , the words "for hire" were deleted, the restrictions being applied to all vehicles carrying goods. from the time of the accession of william and mary, every few years saw fresh acts of parliament becoming law, changing, deleting or adding to regulations previously laid down as to weight of loads, number of horses, the order in which they should be harnessed, the breadth of the tires, the position of the wheels, the kind of nails to be used for fastening the tires, and so on, until it becomes practically impossible to follow the complicated changes from time to time, if not actually from year to year. these changes more especially applied to the number of horses or oxen by which carts and waggons could be drawn, and efforts were made to enforce the ever-varying regulations by exceptionally severe penalties. the act geo. i., c. , for example, authorises any person to seize and keep possession of such number of horses as might be attached to a carter's waggon in excess of six, or to a cart, for hire, in excess of three; though geo. ii, c. , states that, as the restriction of three horses to a cart, under the act of geo. i., had been found inconvenient for farmers, and highly detrimental to the markets of the kingdom, the number could be increased to four. in reference to these legislative restrictions on the number of horses a farmer might attach to a single cart, it is said in "a general view of the agriculture of shropshire," by joseph plymley, archdeacon of salop ( ): "were farmers { }permitted to draw any number of horses, it would be of great public utility in lowering the price of these animals, which is now enormously high. the law, as it now stands, acts as a prohibition to farmers breeding horses; for a breeding mare, or a colt under five years old, is not fit to draw one of four in a waggon, with no more than bushels of barley or wheat, which is the common load of the shropshire or staffordshire farmers, neither being more than two tons.... another evil occasioned by the law is that such farmers are obliged to keep horses of the largest size, which consume the produce of much land by eating a large quantity of corn." whereas good waggon-horses could formerly be bought at from £ to £ each, they were then, "by their scarcity," costing from £ to £ each. coach-horses cost "from £ to £ ." the various provisions in respect to number of horses or oxen per cart or waggon failed to keep down the loads to a weight suited to the deficiencies of the roads--which deficiencies had continued, notwithstanding the turnpikes--and a further step was taken under geo. ii., c. , which authorised turnpike trustees not only to erect weighing machines but to impose an additional toll of twenty shillings per cwt. on any waggon which, together with its contents, had a total weight exceeding cwt. by geo. ii., c. , the trustees were authorised to levy the same additional toll on any vehicle drawn by six horses. in addition to adopting these various restrictions on the weights carried, parliament had devoted much attention to the construction of the vehicles employed. one of the provisions of an act passed in was a regulation in respect to the breadth of the wheel-rims, or "fellies," and the use thereon of rose-headed nails, these being regarded as injurious to the roads; though in the following year came another act which recited that as the extending of these regulations to waggons that did not travel for hire had been found detrimental to farmers and others, and, also, to the markets of the kingdom, they were repealed--only, however, to be revived, by geo. ii., c. , in . parliament was now to devote much more attention to the subject of broad wheels; and how this came about is explained by daniel bourn in a pamphlet entitled, "a treatise upon wheel carriages" ( ), the main purpose of which was { }to expound to the world the excellences of what the writer described as "that noble and valuable machine, the broad-wheeled waggon." he gives the following account of the origin of the said machine:-- "the first set of broad wheels made use of on roads in this kingdom were erected by mr james morris, of brock-forge, near wiggan in lancashire; who having a deep bad road to pass with his team advised with me upon the subject; i mentioned the making of the fellies of his wheels of an uncommon width: he accordingly made his first set thirteen inches, and the next year another of nine inches in the sole; and his travelling with these to liverpool, warrington and other places, was took notice of by some persons of distinction, particularly lord strange, and mr hardman, member for liverpool, &c., who after making strict enquiries of mr morris, concerning their nature and properties, reported their utilities to the house, which occasioned an act of parliament being made in their favour.... "therefore let us congratulate ourselves on making thus far so happy a progress; and as the publick roads continue to mend and improve, as they polish and smooth, and arrive nearer perfection, so let us try if the carriage that travels this road may not continue to improve too, and receive a similar degree of perfection." the act of parliament referred to by bourn was, presumably, that of geo. ii., c. , which laid down that--with certain exceptions--no cart or waggon should be allowed on any turnpike road at all unless the "fellies" of each and every wheel had a breadth of at least nine inches, the penalty for a breach of this enactment being a fine of £ , with one month's imprisonment in default of payment, and forfeiture of one of the horses, together with its harness, to the sole use and benefit of the person making the seizure. as a further encouragement of such wheels, the trustees of turnpike roads were required to accept reduced tolls for all vehicles having wheels of a breadth of nine inches. two years later a further act ( geo. ii., c. ), set forth that, the former statutes relating to cart-wheels not having answered the good purposes intended, it was now provided that for a period of three years from june , , waggons having -inch wheels were to be allowed to pass free through every turnpike in the kingdom, { }the trustees being authorised to protect themselves against loss from such free passage by imposing higher tolls on all carts and waggons the wheels of which were not nine inches in width. the idea in having these broad wheels was that they would not only be less injurious to the roads than the narrow wheels, but would even tend to keep the roads in good order by helping to smooth and consolidate them in the same way as would be done by garden rollers. mr bourn, who was an enthusiast on the subject, even proposed to have cart and waggon wheels made of cast iron with a breadth of sixteen inches! he says in his pamphlet:-- "i would recommend having the wheels made in the following manner:-- "let there be run out of cast iron at the founders hollow rims or cylinders, about two feet high, sixteen inches broad or wide, and from one to near two inches in thickness, according to the design or necessity of the proprietor, and the burden he intends them to bear. let the space, or cavity between these cylinders be filled up solid with a block of wood, through the center of which insert your arbor or gudgeon, and leave it two inches and six eighths at each end longer than the cylinder; which parts must be round, and about two inches thick, being the pivots, and when the whole is well wedged the wheel is compleat. "here then is a solid wheel, which answers all the intentions of the garden roller; now can anything be conceived that would have so happy a tendency upon the roads? to render them smooth and even to harden and encrust the surface, and make it resemble a terrass walk? i say, can anything be equal to these kind of cast iron rollers to produce the foregoing effects?" without adopting mr bourn's -inch cast-iron garden rollers, the carriers of the period did, apparently, adopt the -inch wheels favoured by parliament; but as they found that, with -inch wheels, they could carry much heavier weights, there had to be a further resort to legislation directed to a limitation of loads. this was done by geo. iii., c. ,[ ] { }while under geo. iii., c. , turnpike trustees were directed to issue orders to their collectors not to allow any waggon or other four-wheeled carriage having wheels of less than inches in breadth to pass through a toll-gate when drawn by more than four horses without seizing one of the horses. by geo. iii., c. , the reduced tolls already conceded to -inch wheels were extended to -inch wheels, and it was further provided that waggons with -inch wheels should pass toll free for a year, and then pay only one-half of the tolls to be paid by -inch wheeled waggons. in order to give still further encouragement to the use of -inch wheels, an act passed in the following year provided that any waggon having wheels of those dimensions should pass toll-free for five years instead of one, and pay only half toll afterwards. among the many other acts that followed, mention may be made of geo. iii., c. , which gives an especially good idea of the infinite pains taken by the legislature to adapt the construction of vehicles to the apparently hopeless deficiencies of the roads. the act authorised road trustees to exempt certain vehicles from tolls for overweight "provided such waggon, cart or other such carriage shall have the soles or bottoms of the fellies of all the wheels thereof of the breadth of six inches, or of nine inches, or of sixteen inches or upwards, and be cylindrical, that is to say, of the same diameter on the inside next the carriage as on the outside, so that when such wheels shall be rolling on a flat or level surface, the whole breadth thereof shall bear equally on such flat or level surface; and provided that the opposite ends of the axletrees of such waggon, cart or other carriage, so far as the same shall be inserted in the respective naves of the wheels thereof, shall be horizontal and in the continuance of one straight line, without forming any angle with each other; and so that in each pair of wheels belonging to such carriage, the lower parts, when resting on the ground, shall be at the same distance from each other as the upper parts of such pair of wheels: provided always," etc. under geo. iv., c. ( ) no waggon or cart with wheels of less breadth than in. was to be used on any turnpike road from the st of january, , under a penalty of not exceeding £ for the owner and not exceeding forty shillings { }for the driver; but this provision was repealed by geo. iv., c. ( ), "in compliance," says dehany, "with a cry raised on the part of the farmers and agriculturists, who, in petitions and complaints against the act, put forward this clause as a principal grievance." the broad-wheel policy of successive governments evoked a good deal of criticism from others besides farmers and agriculturists, who themselves seem to have been reduced from time to time by the ever-changing regulations and restrictions to a condition almost of despair. in speaking of the roads in the parish of eccles, dr aikin, writing in , says in his "description of the country from thirty to forty miles round manchester" that although "much labour and a very great expense of money" had been expended on them, they still remained in a very indifferent state owing to the immoderate weights drawn in waggons and carts, and he adds: "to prevent this, vain and useless are all the regulations of weighing machines; and the encouragement of broad and rolling wheels still increases the evil, which must soon destroy all the best roads of great britain." the general effect of the legislation in question was, also, thus commented on by william jessop in an article on "inland navigation and public roads," published in vol. vi. of the "georgical essays" ( ):-- "i do not know anything in this country ... that has been more neglected than the proper construction of wheel carriages and the formation of roads. it has been generally acknowledged that for carriages of burden broad wheels, which will roll the roads, are the most eligible; and by the exemptions which have been granted to those who use broad wheels, the legislature has certainly looked forward to the benefits to be expected from the use of them; but never was a proposition more misunderstood, or an indulgence more abused. of all the barbarous and abominable machines that have been contrived by ignorance, and maintained by vulgar prejudice, none have equalled the broad-wheeled carriages that are now in use; instead of rolling the roads, they grind them into mud and dust." not alone cart-wheels, but even cart-wheel nails, engaged the serious attention of parliament, and formed the subject of special legislation. the act geo. ii., c. , provided, among { }other things, that the streaks or tires of wheels were to be fastened with flat, and not rose-headed, nails; and an act passed in , in the reign of george iv., directed that when the nails of the tire projected more than a quarter of an inch from the surface of the tire the owner of the waggon should pay a penalty of £ and the driver one of forty shillings for every time such vehicle was drawn on a turnpike road; though an amending act, passed the following year, reduced the penalties to "any sum not exceeding" forty shillings for the owner and twenty shillings for the driver. towards the end of the long period here in question it began to be realised that what was wanted, after all, was an adaptation of the roads to the traffic rather than an adaptation of the traffic to the roads; but the change in policy was not definitely effected until two practical-minded men, john loudon mcadam and thomas telford, had introduced, at the beginning of the nineteenth century, the first attempt at really scientific road-making which had been made in this country since the departure of the roman legions in the early part of the fifth century. { }chapter viii the coaching era whilst the legislature had been actively engaged in endeavouring to adapt wheeled vehicles to roads, the number of vehicles of various types using the roads had greatly increased as the result of expanding trade and travel, combined with the further stimulus offered by that system of turnpike roads the story of which will be told in later chapters. the vehicle that first performed in this country the functions of a public coach in transporting a number of passengers from one place to another was, of course, the long waggon, of which an account has already been given. stage-coaches began to come into use about the year , when, as shown by the "diary" of sir william dugdale, there was a coventry coach on the road. the three coaches a week between london and york, chester and exeter, spoken of by john cressett as running in , carrying their six passengers apiece on each journey, went, at that time, only in summer, on account of the roads; and even in the summer it was no unusual thing for the passengers to have to walk miles at a time because the horses could not do more than drag the coach itself through the mire. the usual speed was from four to four and a half miles an hour. the first stage-coach between london and edinburgh ran in . it went once a fortnight, and the fare was £ . in a weekly coach from edinburgh to london was announced. it was to do the journey in nine days, "or three days sooner than any coach that travels that road"; but either such rapid travelling as this was a piece of bluff on the part of the advertiser or the conditions of travel went from bad to worse since in the edinburgh coach for london left only once a month, and was from fourteen to sixteen days on the way. the fact that one coach a month sufficed to carry all the { }passengers is sufficiently suggestive of the very small amount of travel by land between london and scotland that went on even in the middle of the eighteenth century. fourteen days for the journey between london and edinburgh was then considered a very reasonable time-allowance. in sir henry herbert had said in the house of commons, "if a man were to propose to convey us regularly to edinburgh in coaches in seven days, and bring us back in seven more, should we not vote him to bedlam?"[ ] in a fortnightly coach from edinburgh to london was advertised to "perform the whole journey in thirteen days without any stoppages (if god permits), having eighty able horses to perform the whole journey." the fare was £ s. with a free allowance of lbs. of luggage. in the edinburgh coach left on monday in winter and on tuesday in summer, arrived at boroughbridge (yorkshire) on saturday night, started again on monday morning, and was due to reach london on the following friday. in glasgow had been brought within ten days of london. the arrival of the coach was then regarded as so important an event that a gun was fired off when it came in sight, to let the citizens know it was really there. a -day coach to london was also running from edinburgh to london in , an advertisement in the _edinburgh courant_ of that year stating that such a coach left every tuesday, that it rested all sunday at boroughbridge, and that "for the better accommodation of passengers" it would be "altered to a new genteel two-end coach machine, hung upon steel springs, exceedingly light and easy." york was a week distant from london in ; but on april , , there was put on the road, to run three times a week, a coach which, said the announcement made respecting it, "performs the whole journey in four days (if god permits)." the time of starting on the first day was five o'clock in the morning. the proprietors of a coach that ran between london and exeter in promised their patrons "a safe and expeditious journey in a fortnight"; though this record was improved on before the end of the century, the time being reduced to { }ten days. exeter is a little over miles from london, and the journey can be done to-day, by rail, in three hours. from london to portsmouth took, in , fourteen hours, "if the roads were good." the oxford coach in left london at a.m., arrived at high wycombe at p.m., remained there for the night, and reached oxford the following day. by travelling between london and dover had so far improved that it was accomplished in two days by stage-coach, instead of three or four days by long waggon. the coach left london every wednesday and friday at four in the morning; the passengers dined at rochester, stayed for the night at canterbury, and were due at dover "the next morning, early." the announcements made in respect to this coach state that "there will be a conveniency"--that is, a basket--"behind, for baggage and outside passengers." the advancement made by the stage-coach over the long waggon was, however, satisfactory for a time only. by about the stage-coach itself began to find a rival in what was called "the flying coach," otherwise a stage-coach which travelled at accelerated speed. thus the advent of a "newcastle flying coach" was announced in the following terms:-- "may , .--a coach will set out towards the end of next week for london or any place on the road. to be performed in nine days, being three days sooner than any coach that travels the road, for which purpose eight stout horses are stationed at proper distances." in a "flying coach" between manchester and london was started by a group of manchester merchants who, with the developing trade of those times, doubtless felt the need for improved facilities of travel. it was announced that "incredible as it may appear, this coach will actually arrive in london four days and a half after leaving manchester." if the person who wrote this advertisement could only come to life again, what would he be likely to say to the fact that london and manchester are to-day only four hours apart, and that a london merchant, after doing a morning's work in the city, can leave euston at noon, lunch in the train, be in manchester by four o'clock, have two hours there, leave again at six, dine in the train, and be back in london by ten? on the other hand, what does the london merchant who can { }do these things (besides having the further advantages of the telegraph and the long-distance telephone) think of the business conditions in , when the quickest communications between london and manchester were by a coach doing the journey in the then "incredible" time of four days and a half? the enterprise of manchester naturally stimulated that of liverpool, and three years later it was announced that from june , , "a flying machine on steel springs" would make the journey between warrington and london in three days. the roads between liverpool and warrington being still impassable for coaches, the liverpool passengers had to go on horseback to warrington the day previous to the departure of the coach from that town. manchester got a three-day coach to london in . seven years later communication by stage-coach was opened between liverpool and manchester, six or even eight horses being required to drag through the ruts and sloughs a heavy, lumbering vehicle which, going three days a week, then took the whole day to make the journey. in the time between liverpool and london was hours. down to the middle of the eighteenth century there was no direct communication by coach between birmingham and london. the birmingham merchant or resident who wanted to travel to london by coach, instead of on horseback, had to go four miles by road to castle bromwich, and there await the coach from chester to london. in , however, birmingham got a coach of its own, and this vehicle, it was announced, would run to london in two days "if the roads permit,"[ ] but the roads around birmingham were still in a deplorable condition when william hutton published his "history" of the town. he says that from birmingham, as from a grand centre, there radiated twelve roads to as many towns; but on most of them one could not travel with safety in times of floods, the water, owing to the absence of causeways and bridges, flowing over the road higher than the stirrup of one's horse. at saltley in the year he had had to pass through what was really a dangerous river. a mile from birmingham, on the lichfield road, a river remained { }without a bridge until . the road to walsall had been "lately made good," and that to wolverhampton was much improved; but he speaks of the road to dudley, twelve miles in length, as "despicable beyond description," and says the "unwilling traveller" was obliged to go two miles about, through a bad road, to avoid a worse. the roads to stratford and warwick were "much used and much neglected," and the one to coventry could "only be equalled by the dudley road." "a flying machine on steel springs" from sheffield to london was started in . it "slept" at nottingham the first night, at northampton the second, and arrived in london on the third day. leeds showed equal enterprise. the bath coach, "hung on steel springs," was in doing the journey in hours, the night being spent at andover. the improvement of the bath road allowed of burke reaching bristol from london in hours in the summer of ; but his biographer mentions, by way of explaining how he accomplished this feat, that he "travelled with incredible speed." by , however, bath had been brought within a single day's journey of london, the traveller who started from the angel, at the back of st. clements danes, at four o'clock in the morning, being due at bath at eleven o'clock at night. the journey between dover and london was also reduced to one day, a "flying machine" leaving at four a.m. and reaching its destination in the evening. by , in fact, flying coaches had become quite common, and their once incredible speeds even came to be regarded as far from satisfactory for travellers to whom time was of importance. the immediate reason, however, for the next development arose through the defective postal arrangements. hitherto the mails had been carried either by post-boys, whose contract time was five miles an hour, or, in the case of short journeys, by veterans on foot whose rate of progress was much less, though it was then a common practice to make up urgent letters as parcels, and send them by the coaches. john palmer, manager of a theatre at bath, finding the mail was taking three days over a journey to london which he himself often did in one, submitted to pitt, in , a scheme { }for the running of mail coaches at the then equivalent to "express" speed. the permanent officials of the post office naturally regarded such a scheme, proposed by a rank outsider, as impracticable, if not absolutely absurd, and palmer had a sturdy fight before he got his way. the experimental service started in was an immediate success, and when it became known that letters were being carried between bristol and london in sixteen hours, every other important town or city in the country (liverpool being one of the first to petition) wanted to have its own postal arrangements improved in the same way. thus there was inaugurated a "mail-coach era," which was to continue unchecked until the first despatch of mails by railway in . the earliest of the mail-coaches travelled at a rate of about six miles an hour; but, as the roads were improved, the speed was increased to eight, nine, ten or even twelve miles an hour. the time for the liverpool-london journey, for example, was eventually reduced to hours in good weather and hours in bad. the running of these mail-coaches had a powerful influence on the whole question of road improvement, since the attainment of the best possible speed and the avoidance of delays in the arrival of the mails came to be regarded as matters of supreme importance; while more and more of the ordinary stage-coaches were put on for travellers to whom the lower fares[ ] were of greater concern than high rates of speed. mail coaches had the further good effect of stimulating great improvements in coach construction. the use of springs, in particular, allowed of a more compact vehicle, carrying luggage and outside passengers on the roof instead of relegating them to a basket "conveniency" behind. the competition, or, at least, the example of the mail-coaches had the further result of increasing the speed of the "flying" coaches, { }which now generally aimed at doing their eight or nine miles an hour; but here, again, much depended on the state of the roads. supplementary to the coaching there was the system of "posting," favoured by those who did not care to patronise public vehicles, and could afford the luxury of independent travel. in the earliest form of the posting system, that is, in the days when wheeled vehicles had not yet come into general use, and people did their journeys on horseback, travellers hired horses only at the recognised posting places; and fynes moryson, in his "itinerary," narrating the conditions in , says a "passenger" having a "commission" from the chief postmaster "shall pay ½d. each mile for his horse and the same for his guide's horse; but one guide will serve the whole company, tho' many ride together." travellers without a "commission" had to pay d. a mile. the guide, presumably, brought back the horses, and, also, really guided the traveller--a matter of no slight importance when the roads were often simply tracks over unenclosed spaces with no finger-posts to point the way. another form of posting was the hire from place to place of horses for use in private carriages; but the more general form was the hiring of both horse and post-chaise--a four-wheeled vehicle, accommodating, generally, three persons, and having a roof on which luggage could be strapped. posting was a costly mode of travelling, only possible for people of wealth and distinction. harper calculates that to "post" from london to edinburgh must have cost at least £ ; but it was no unusual thing, about the middle of the eighteenth century, for the scotch newspapers to publish advertisements by gentlemen who proposed to "post" to london, inviting others to join them with a view to sharing the expense. the condition of the streets in the towns being often no improvement on that of the roads in the country, the development of vehicular traffic, even there, was but slow. it was the example of queen elizabeth in riding in a "coach" through the streets of london that led to private carriages becoming fashionable, since, following thereon, "divers great ladies" had coaches made, and went about in them--much to the admiration of the populace, but much, also, to the concern of the thames watermen, who regarded the { }innovation as one that foreshadowed for them a competition which did, indeed, become formidable, and even fatal, to their own occupation. in those days and for long afterwards the thames was the highway by means of which people of all classes went, whenever practicable, from one part of london to another, the main incentive to this general use of the river being the deplorable condition of the streets and roads. in his book on "england in the fifteenth century" the rev. w. denton tells how the king's serjeants-at-law, who dwelt in fleet street, and who pleaded at westminster hall, gave up an attempt to ride along the strand because the bishop of norwich and others would not repair the road which ran at the back of their town houses. it was safer and more pleasant for lawyers to take a boat from the temple stairs and reach westminster by water. the lord mayor, on his election, not only went by water from the city to westminster, to be received by the judges, but down to , when a "lord mayor's coach" was provided for him, rode on horseback from the guildhall to london bridge, where he embarked on the city barge, accompanied by representatives of the livery companies in their barges. transport on the thames constituted a vested interest of great concern to the watermen, who had hitherto regarded as their special prerogative the conveyance of londoners along what was then london's central thoroughfare; and the story of the way in which they met the competition of vehicular traffic in the streets is worth the telling because it illustrates the fact that each successive improvement in locomotion and transport has had to face opposition from the representatives of established but threatened conditions. the great champion of the watermen was john taylor ( - ), the "water poet," as he called himself. when the private carriages began to increase in number he expressed his opinion of them thus:-- "the first coach was a strange monster, it amazed both horse and man. some said it was a great crab-shell brought out of china; some thought it was one of the pagan temples, in which cannibals adored the devil.... "since phaeton broke his neck, never land hath endured more trouble than ours, by the continued rumbling of these { }upstart four-wheeled tortoises.... a coach or carouch is a mere engine of pride, which no one can deny to be one of the seven deadly sins." in sympathisers with the watermen succeeded in getting a bill passed in the house of commons "to restrain the excessive and superfluous use of coaches." it was thrown out by the house of lords, though in the commons, in turn, refused to pass a "bill against outrageous coaches." in the water poet published a work, "an errant thief," etc., in which he dealt at length with the great injury that was being done to the watermen by the coaches, saying, among other things:-- "carroches, coaches, jades and flanders mares, do rob us of our shares, our wares, our fares; against the ground we stand and knock our heeles, whilst all our profit runs away on wheeles. and whosoever but observes and notes the great increase of coaches and of boates, shall find their number more than e'er they were by halfe and more, within these thirty yeare; then watermen at sea had service still, and those that stay'd at home had worke at will; then upstart hel-cart coaches were to seek, a man could scarce see twenty in a weeke; but now i think a man may dayly see more than the wherrys on the thames can be." in the following year he published another work, "the world runnes on wheeles," in which he dealt further with the woes of the watermen. but the coaches continued to increase alike in number and in public favour, and the position of the watermen became still worse in , when the already numerous private carriages were supplemented in london by hackney carriages let out for hire, though these did not, at first, exceed twenty in number, while they had to be hired direct from the stables of their owners. in it was found that the river traffic was being prejudiced more and more by the greater use of vehicles in the streets. whether or not in sympathy with the watermen, the star chamber issued an order which said:-- "as to a complaint of the stoppage of the streets by the carriages of persons frequenting the play-house of the { }blackfriars, their lordships, remembering that there is an easy passage by water unto that play-house, without troubling the streets, and that it is much more fit and reasonable that those which go thither should go by water, or else on foot, do order all coaches to leave as soon as they have set down, and not return till the play is over, nor return further than the west end of saint paul's church yard, or fleet conduit; coachmen disobeying these orders to be committed to newgate or ludgate." opposition to the innovation of the coaches was, however, wholly unavailing, even when supported by star chamber intimations that people ought to be content to "go by water or else on foot"; and in permission was obtained for hackney coaches to ply in the streets for hire, instead of their having to remain, as heretofore, in the stables. the first public stand, for four carriages, with drivers in livery, was set up in the strand, near somerset house. a month or two later the watermen presented to charles i. a petition in which they said:-- "the hackney coaches are so many in number that they pester and incumber the streets of london and westminster, and, which is worst of all, they stand and ply in the terme tyme at the temple gate, and at other places in the streets, and doe carry sometymes three men for fourpence the man, or four men for twelvepence, to westminster or back again, which doing of this doth undoe the company of watermen." the same year ( ) saw still another innovation, that of the sedan chair, which was to play so important a rôle in social life until towards the end of the eighteenth century, and was, in fact, not to disappear until even later, since there was a stand for sedan chairs still to be seen in st. james's square in . how the sedan chair came to be introduced is shown by a royal order issued as follows:-- "that whereas the streets of our cities of london and westminster and their suburbs, are of late so much incumbered with the unnecessary multitude of coaches that many of our subjects are thereby exposed to great danger, and the necessary use of carts and carriages for provisions thereby much hindered; and sir sanders duncombe's petition representing that in many parts beyond sea people are much carried in chairs that are covered, whereby few { }coaches are used among them; wherefore we have granted to him the sole privilege to use, let and hire a number of the said covered chairs, for fourteen years."[ ] on january , , there was issued a royal proclamation which said that-- "the great number of hackney coaches of late seen and kept in london, westminster, and their suburbs, and the general and promiscuous use of coaches there, are not only a great disturbance to his majesty, his dearest consort the queen, the nobility, and others of place and degree, in their passage through the streets, but the streets themselves are so pestered and the pavements so broken up that the common passage is thereby hindered and made dangerous, and the price of hay and provender, &c., thereby made exceeding dear, wherefore we expressly command and forbid that no hackney or hired coach be used or suffered in london, westminster, or the suburbs thereof, except they be to travel at least three miles out of the same; and also that no person shall go in a coach in the said streets except the owner of the coach shall constantly keep up four able horses for our service when required." vigorous efforts were made to enforce this proclamation, and the water poet was especially active in the matter, in the interests of his protégés, but all to no purpose. two years later the king, "finding it very requisite for our nobility and gentry, as well as for foreign ambassadors, strangers and others" that the said restrictions should be withdrawn, was graciously pleased to sanction the licensing in london of fifty hackney coaches. such attempts at limitation must, however, have been equally of no avail, since in there was another order, which set forth that not more than should ply in the streets. in the following year the watermen sent a further petition to the house of commons, and in the protector issued an order limiting to the number of hackney coaches to ply in london and westminster and six miles round, while the number of hackney coach horses was not to exceed . two years or so after this the watermen sent still another { }petition to the house of commons. this petition of "the overseers and rulers of the company of watermen, together with their whole society," declared that their "trade or art of rowing on the water hath been long reputed very useful to the commonwealth"; that the company had, "ever since their incorporation, been a nursery to breed up seamen"; that, after serving "the commonwealth's special service at sea," they found that "the art affordeth but a small livelihood to them, and that with hard labour"; and-- "that of late your petitioners' art is rendered more contemptible than formerly, and their employment much lessened and impoverished, by reason of the strange increase of hackney coaches, which have multiplied from about three hundred to a thousand, in eleven years last past, whereby people are discouraged from binding their sons apprentice to the trade of a waterman, and if remedy be not speedily had, there will not be a sufficient number of watermen to supply the service of the commonwealth at sea,[ ] and also your petitioners and families utterly ruined. "that of late some rich men about the city, keep very many hackney coaches to the great prejudice, as your petitioners humbly conceive, of the commonwealth, in that they make leather dear, and their horses devour so much hay and corn; and also they do so fester the streets as that by sad experience divers persons are in danger of their lives, by reason of the unskilfulness of some of them that drive them, besides many other inconveniences which are too large to be here inserted." therefore the petitioners humbly prayed that parliament would limit the number of such coaches. no immediate action seems to have been taken; but, continuous complaints being made as to the obstructions caused by the hackney coaches, a proclamation was issued on november , , by charles ii., to the effect that hackney coaches should no longer come into the streets to be hired. the proclamation had so little effect that on july , , the watermen sent a petition to the house of lords, once more recounting their grievances. the house named certain lords who were to consider the matter and report; but henry { }humpherus, author of the "history of the origin and progress of the river thames," has been unable to find that any report was made thereon. soon after this the number of hackney coaches was increased ( chas. ii., c. ) to . in , more complaints coming from the watermen, the house of commons appointed a committee of inquiry. in the winter of - the disconsolate watermen had to suffer the indignity of seeing the thames itself--their own special province--invaded by the drivers of hackney coaches! so severe was the frost that, as told by john evelyn in his "diary," the thames was frozen over "so thick as to bear, not only streets of booths in which they roasted meat, and had divers shops of wares, quite across as in a town, but coaches, carts and horses," so that "coaches plied from westminster to the temple, and from several other stairs to and fro, as in the streets." by the hackney coaches seem to have established their position as successful competitors of the watermen, an act of parliament which placed them on a recognised and regulated footing being passed in that year, while the number to be licensed was increased in to , in to , and in to . a still further blow was given to the interests of the watermen by the introduction from paris, in , of the "cabriolet," or "cab" as it came to be called; and yet another was dealt to them when, on july , , mr shillibeer, the coach proprietor, ran the first omnibus from the yorkshire stingo, paddington, to the city, and thus began a further new era in urban locomotion, supplanting, thereby, a good many of the hackney coachmen, just as they themselves had to so considerable an extent already supplanted the thames watermen. { }chapter ix the age of bad roads in the present chapter i propose to bring together the testimony of various contemporary writers with a view to enabling the reader thoroughly to realise those bad-road conditions from which, it was hoped, the country would at last be saved by the introduction of the system of turnpike roads inaugurated by the act of . evidence of the general character of english roads at the time the act was passed, and, also, probably, for a considerable period afterwards, is afforded by the maps and descriptions of routes given by ogilby in his "britannia" (see page ). the maps indicate by means of lines and dots where the roads had been enclosed, by hedges or otherwise, on one side or both, and where they were still open. taking the series of maps for the route from london to berwick, and so on to scotland, one finds that for a distance of about twenty-five or thirty miles from london, the road was then mostly enclosed; and from that point, through a large part of hertfordshire, cambridgeshire, huntingdonshire, northamptonshire, rutland, lincolnshire and nottinghamshire, only occasional stretches, mostly in the neighbourhood of towns, and often for lengths of no more than half a mile each, were enclosed either on one side of the road or both. the enclosures began again about six miles south of york, and continued for a short distance on the north of that city; but beyond york they became still more rare, and from morpeth (northumberland) to berwick, a distance of about fifty miles, the total extent of enclosed road did not exceed six miles. taking roads in the west, it is shown that in forty miles or so between abingdon and gloucester there was not a single enclosure. what all this meant was that, where there had been no enclosure, the road was simply a track across commons, fens, { }marshes, heaths, etc., or through woods, where drivers of carts, waggons or coaches picked and chose to the best advantage, discarding an old path when it became a deep rut or was otherwise impassable, in favour of a new one alongside, or some distance away, and leaving the new one, in turn, when it got into the same state as the old.[ ] the crossing of heaths and other open spaces was rendered the more difficult by the general absence of finger-posts.[ ] in some instances land-beacons were constructed as a guide to travellers. one which had a height of seventy feet, served as a landmark by day and was provided with a lantern at night, was raised in by squire dashwood on a dreary, barren and wholly trackless waste in the neighbourhood of lincoln known as lincoln heath. the lantern was regularly lighted until . the beacon itself stood until , when it fell and was not rebuilt. one especially important factor in the situation was the nature of the soil. i have already mentioned, on page , defoe's references in his "tour" to this particular matter; but the description he gives of some of the roads which crossed the -mile belt of "deep stiff clay or marly" soil throws a good deal of light on the conditions of travel in his day. thus, in dealing with the roads from london to the north, he says:-- "suppose we take the great northern post road from london to york, and so into scotland; you have tolerably good ways and hard ground, 'till you reach royston about , and to kneesworth, a mile farther: but from thence you enter upon the clays which, beginning at the famous arrington lanes, and going on caxton, huntington, stilton, stamford, grantham, newark, tuxford (called for its deepness tuxford in the clays), holds on 'till we come almost to bautree, which { }is the first town in yorkshire, and there the country is hard and sound, being part of sherwood forest. "suppose you take the other northern road, by st. albans.... after you are pass'd dunstable, which, as in the other way is about miles, you enter the deep clays, which are so surprisingly soft, that it is perfectly frightful to travellers, and it has been the wonder of foreigners, how, considering the great numbers of carriages which are continually passing with heavy loads, those ways have been made practicable; indeed the great number of horses every year kill'd by the excess of labour in those heavy ways, has been such a charge to the country, that new building of causeways, as the romans did of old, seems to me to be a much easier expence. from hockley to northampton, thence to harborough, and leicester, and thence to the very bank of trent these terrible clays continue; at nottingham you are pass'd them, and the forest of sherwood yields a hard and pleasant road for miles together." on the road to coventry, birmingham and west chester he had found the clays "for near miles"; on the road to worcester "the clays reach, with some intermissions, even to the bank of the severn," and so on with other roads besides. bourn, to whose "treatise upon wheel carriages," published in , earlier reference has also been made, said, among other things, in support of his scheme of broad-wheeled waggons:-- "so late as thirty or forty years ago the roads of england were in a most deplorable condition; those that were narrow were narrow indeed, often to that degree that the stocks of the wheels bore hard against the banks on each side, and in many places they were worn below the level of the neighbouring surface many feet, nay, yards perpendicular, and a wide-spreading, bushy hedge, intermixed with old half-decayed trees and stubbs, hanging over the traveller's head, intercepted the benign influence of the heavens from his path, and the beauties of the circumjacent country from his view, made it look more like the retreat of wild beasts and reptiles than the footsteps of men. "in other parts, where the road was wide, it might be and often was too much so, and exhibited a scene of a different aspect. here the wheel carriage had worn a diversity of tracks { }which were either deep, or rough and stony, or high or low, as mother nature had placed the materials upon the face of the ground; the spaces between these were frequently furzy hillocks or thorny brakes, through or among which the equestrian traveller picked out his entangled and uncouth steps. to these horrible, hilly, stony, deep, miry, uncomfortable, dreary roads the narrow wheel'd waggon seems to be best adapted, and these were frequently drawn by seven, eight, or even ten horses, that with great difficulty and hazard dragged after them twenty-five or thirty hundred, seldom more." a writer in the "gentleman's magazine" for november, , declares that the roads from london to land's end, and even those as far as exeter, plymouth or falmouth, were then still "what god left them after the flood"; while in comparing england with some of the continental countries, he says:-- "nothing piques me more than that a trumpery despotic government like france should have enchanting roads from the capital to each remote part of use. some roads in holland are very fine.... the republic of berne hath made lately three or four magnificent roads, some of which are near miles in length, and that, too, in a country to which cornwall, derbyshire, cumberland and westmoreland are perfect carpet ground." sydney smith professed to know--approximately--the number of "severe contusions" he received in going from taunton to bath "before stone-breaking mcadam was born." he put the figure at "between , and , ." in sussex the roads were especially bad. in , the year of queen anne's accession to the throne, charles iii. of spain paid a visit to london, travelling by way of portsmouth. prince george of denmark went from windsor to petworth to meet him, and an account of this -mile journey by road says:-- "we set out at six in the morning ... and did not get out of the carriages (save only when we were overturned or stuck fast in the mire) till we arrived at our journey's end. 'twas a hard service for the prince to sit fourteen hours in the coach that day without eating anything, and passing through the worst ways i ever saw in my life.... the last nine miles of the way cost us six hours to conquer them." { }defoe tells how the transport of timber from the neighbourhood of lewes to chatham by road sometimes took two or three years to effect. he saw there twenty-two oxen engaged in dragging "a carriage known as a 'tug'" on which the trunk of a tree had been loaded; but the oxen would take it only a short distance, and it would then be thrown down again and left for other teams to take it still further short distances in succession. he also speaks of having seen, at lewes, "an ancient lady, and a lady of very good quality," going to church in a "coach" drawn by six oxen, "the way being stiff and deep that no horses could go in it." there would seem to have been difficulties not only in going to church in sussex but even in getting buried there, for in the "sussex archæological collections" mention is made of the fact that in judith, widow of sir richard shirley, of preston, sussex, directed in her will that her body should be brought for burial to preston, "if she should die at such time of the year as the roads thereto were passable." an authority quoted in the article on "roads" in postlethwayt's "dictionary" ( ), in referring to "that impassable county of sussex," bears the following testimony thereto: "i have seen, in that horrible country, the road to yards broad, lie from side to side all poached with cattle, the land of no manner of benefit, and yet no going with a horse but at every step up to the shoulders, full of sloughs and holes, and covered with standing water." on the other hand the bad roads were regarded by many of the inhabitants of sussex as a distinct advantage. they afforded increased facilities for the smuggling operations practised there down to the beginning of the nineteenth century, by rendering pursuit more difficult. arthur young is an especially eloquent witness as to the conditions of travel in england about the year . in making his tours through the country, with a view to investigating and reporting on the state of agriculture, he passed over all sorts of roads, and, though some of them were "good," "pretty good," and even "very good"--these compliments being more especially paid to roads constructed by the country gentry at their own cost--he experiences a difficulty in finding words sufficiently strong in which to express himself when he attempts to describe the roads that were really bad; and this { }was the case in regard to many of the turnpike roads on which alleged improvements had been carried out. the following examples of his experiences are taken from his "six months' tour through the north of england":-- "from newport pagnel i took the road to bedford, if i may venture to call such a cursed string of hills and holes by the name of road; a causeway is here and there thrown up, but so high, and at the same time so very narrow that it was at the peril of our necks we passed a waggon with a civil and careful driver." "from grinsthorpe to coltsworth are eight miles, called by the courtesy of the neighbourhood a turnpike; but in which we were every moment either buried in quagmires of mud or racked to dislocation over pieces of rock which they call mending." "from rotherham to sheffield the road is execrably bad, very stony and excessively full of holes." "those who go to methley by pontefract must be extremely fond of seeing houses, or they will not recompense the fatigue of passing such detestable roads. they are full of ruts, whose gaping jaws threaten to swallow up any carriage less than a waggon. it would be no bad precaution to yoke half a score of oxen to your coach to be ready to encounter such quagmires as you will here meet with." "to coltsworth. turnpike. most execrably vile; a narrow causeway, cut into rutts that threaten to swallow one up." "to castle howard. infamous. i was near to being swallowed up by a slough." "from newton to stokesby, in cleveland. cross,[ ] and extremely bad. you are obliged to cross the moors they call black hambledon, over which the road runs in narrow hollows that admit a south country chaise with such difficulty that i reckon this part of the journey made at the hazard of my neck. the going down into cleveland is beyond all description terrible, for you go through such steep, rough narrow, rocky precipices that i would sincerely advise any friend to go an hundred miles about to escape it." "from richmond to darlington, by croft bridge. to croft bridge, cross, and very indifferent. from thence to darlington is the great north road and execrably broke into { }holes, like an old pavement; sufficient to dislocate ones bones." "to lancaster. turnpike. very bad, rough and cut up." "to preston. turnpike. very bad." "to wigan. ditto. i know not in the whole range of language terms sufficiently expressive to describe this infernal road. to look over a map, and perceive that it is a principal one, not only to some towns, but even whole counties, one would naturally conclude it to be at least decent; but let me most seriously caution all travellers who may accidentally propose to travel this terrible country to avoid it as they would the devil; for a thousand to one but they break their necks or their limbs by overthrows or breakings down. they will here meet with rutts which i actually measured four feet deep, and floating with mud only from a wet-summer; what therefore must it be after a winter? the only mending it receives is the tumbling in some loose stones, which serve no other purpose but jolting a carriage in the most intolerable manner. these are not merely opinions but facts, for i actually passed three carts broken down in these eighteen miles of execrable memory." "to warrington. turnpike. this is a paved road, and most infamously bad.... tolls had better be doubled and even quadrupled than allow such a nuisance to remain." "from dunholm to knotsford. turnpike. it is impossible to describe these infernal roads in terms adequate to their defects. part of these six miles i think are worse than any of the preceding." "to newcastle. turnpike. this, in general, is a paved causeway, as narrow as can be conceived, and cut into perpetual holes, some of them two feet deep, measured on the level; a more dreadful road cannot be imagined; and wherever the country is in the least sandy the pavement is discontinued, and the rutts and holes most execrable. i was forced to hire two men at one place to support my chaise from overthrowing, in turning out from a cart of goods overthrown and almost buried. let me persuade all travellers to avoid this terrible country, which must either dislocate their bones with broken pavements or bury them in muddy sand." "i must in general advise all who travel on any business but absolute necessity to avoid any journey further north { }than newcastle. all between that place and preston is a country, one would suppose, devoid of all those improvements and embellishments which the riches and spirit of modern times have occasioned in other parts. it is a track of country which lays a most heavy tax upon all travellers and upon itself. such roads are a much heavier tax than half a crown a horse for a toll would be. agriculture, manufactures and commerce must suffer in such a track as well as the traveller.... until better management is produced i would advise all travellers to consider this country as sea, and as soon think of driving into the ocean as venturing into such detestable roads." that the roads in the south of england were no improvement on those in the north is shown by the same writer's "six weeks tour through the southern counties of england and wales," wherein he says:-- "of all the cursed roads that ever disgraced this kingdom in the very ages of barbarism, none ever equalled that from billericay to the king's head at tilbury. it is for near miles so narrow that a mouse cannot pass by any carriage; i saw a fellow creep under his waggon to assist me to lift, if possible, my chaise over a hedge.... i must not forget the eternally meeting with chalk waggons, themselves frequently stuck fast till a collection of them are in the same situation that twenty or thirty horses may be tacked to each to draw them out one by one." of the "execrably muddy road" from bury to sudbury, in norfolk, he says: "for ponds of liquid dirt and a scattering of loose flints, just sufficient to lame every horse that moves near them, with the addition of cutting vile grips across the road under pretence of letting water off, but without the effect, altogether render at least out of these miles as infamous a turnpike as ever was travelled." as for norfolk in general, he declares that he "does not know one mile of excellent road in the whole country." conditions in and around london were not much better than in the country. in george ii. and his queen were the whole night in making their way from kew palace to st. james's. at one particularly bad place their coach was overturned. in the time usually occupied, in wet weather, in driving from kensington to st. james's palace was two { }hours--assuming that the vehicle did not stick in the mud. writing from kensington in this same year, lord hervey said: "the road between this place and london is grown so infamously bad that we live here in the same solitude as we would do if cast on a rock in the middle of the ocean; and all the londoners tell us there is between them and us an impassable gulf of mud." middleton, again, speaking in his "survey of middlesex" of the oxford road at uxbridge, in , says that during the whole of the winter there was but one passable track on it, and that was less than six feet wide, and was eight inches deep in fluid sludge. in the dublin society made a grant of £ to defray the cost of a series of experiments to be carried out by richard lovell edgeworth at the society's premises in kildare street, dublin, with a view to ascertaining "the best breadth of wheels, the proper weight of carriages and of burthen, and the best form of materials for roads." edgeworth's report, published under the title of "an essay on the construction of roads and carriages" (second edition, ), includes, in its introductory matter, a short account of the history and development of roads. after pointing out that before vehicles for the conveyance of goods were in use little more was required than a path on hard ground which would bear horses; that all marshy grounds were shunned; that inequalities and circuitous roads were of much less consequence than was the case when carriages, instead of packhorses, began to be employed, he proceeds:-- "when heavier carriages and greater traffic made wider and stronger roads necessary, the ancient track was pursued; ignorance and want of concert in the proprietors of the ground, and, above all, the want of some general effective superintending power, continued this wretched practice until turnpikes were established.... "the system of following the ancient line of road has been so pertinaciously adhered to that roads have been sunk many feet, and in some parts many yards, below the surface of the adjacent ground; _so that the stag, the hounds and horsemen have been known to leap over a loaded waggon, in a hollow way, without any obstruction from the vehicle_." after this the reader will better appreciate the fact that in { }the course of a report on agriculture in the county of northampton, in , it was stated that the only way of getting along some of the main roads there in rainy weather was by swimming! nor is there any lack of testimony as to the prejudicial effect on trade and agriculture of the deplorable condition into which so many of the roads had fallen. whitaker, in his "loidis and elmete" ( ), speaking of the impediments to commerce and manufactures in the leeds district prior to the rendering of the aire and calder navigable, impediments which, he declares, "it will be difficult for a mind accustomed only to modern ideas and appearances to conceive," says:-- "the roads were sloughs almost impassable by single carts, surmounted at the height of several feet by narrow horse-tracks, where travellers who encountered each other sometimes tried to wear out each other's patience rather than either should risk a deviation. carriage of raw wool and manufactured goods was performed on the backs of single horses, at a disadvantage of nearly to compared to carriage by water. at the same time, and long after, the situation of a merchant was toilsome and perilous. in winter, during which season the employment of the working manufacturer was intermitted, the distant markets never ceased to be frequented. on horse-back before day-break, and long after night-fall, these hardy sons of trade pursued their object with the spirit and intrepidity of a fox chase, and the boldest of their country neighbours had no reason to despise their horsemanship or their courage." there is the evidence, also, of henry homer, author of "an enquiry into the means of preserving publick roads," published in . he regarded the state of the roads and the difficulties of internal communication as among the chief reasons for the backward state of the country in the reign of queen anne ( - ), saying on this subject:-- "the trade of the kingdom languished under these impediments. few people cared to encounter the difficulties, which attended the conveyance of goods from the places where they were manufactured, to the markets, where they were to be disposed of. and those, who undertook this business, were only enabled to carry it on in the { }wintry-season on horseback, or, if in carriages, by winding deviations from the regular tracks, which the open country afforded them an opportunity of making.... the natural produce of the country was with difficulty circulated to supply the necessities of those counties and trading towns, which wanted, and to dispose of the superfluity of others which abounded. except in a few summer-months, it was an almost impracticable attempt to carry very considerable quantities of it to remote places. hence the consumption of the growth of grain as well as of the inexhaustible stores of fuel, which nature has lavished upon particular parts of our island, was limited to the neighbourhood of those places which produced them; and made them, comparatively speaking, of little value to what they would have been, had the participation of them been enlarged. "to the operation of the same cause must also be attributed, in great measure, the slow progress which was formerly made in the improvement of agriculture. discouraged by the expence of procuring manure, and the uncertain returns, which arose from such confined markets, the farmer wanted both spirit and ability to exert himself in the cultivation of his lands. on this account undertakings in husbandry were then generally small, calculated rather to be a means of subsistence to particular families than a source of wealth to the publick." postlethwayt's authority on the roads of sussex declared that their condition at that time ( ) "hardly admits the country people to travel to markets in winter, and makes corn dear at the market because it cannot be bought, and cheap at the farmer's house because he cannot sometimes carry it to market." this fact is confirmed by g. r. porter, who, in his "progress of the nation" ( ), gives the authority of an inhabitant of horsham, sussex, then lately living, for the tradition that at one time sheep or cattle could not be driven to the london market at all from horsham, owing to the state of the roads, and had to be disposed of in the immediate neighbourhood, so that "under these circumstances a quarter of a fat ox was commonly sold for about fifteen shillings, and the price of mutton throughout the year was only five farthings the pound." in devonshire the rev. james brome, who published in { } a narrative of "three years travels in england, scotland, and wales," found the farmers carrying their corn on horseback, the roads being too narrow to allow of the use of waggons. altogether the need for improved facilities for inland communication in the interests alike of travellers and of traders was great beyond all question, and there was unlimited scope for the operation of such improvement as was represented by the turnpike system, now coming into vogue. it was, however, not so much the general needs of the country as the rebellion in scotland in , accompanied by such disasters for the royalist troops as their defeat at preston pans, which had led the government to pay special attention to the subject of road-making and road-improvement. between and general wade, employing in summer about soldiers on the work, had constructed in scotland itself some miles of what were, in point of fact, military roads, being designed as a means of reducing disorder in that country. the communications between scotland and england still remained, however, very defective, and, though english cavalry and artillery had gone forward bravely enough when the rebellion broke out, they found roads that, apart altogether from any question of fighting on them, were not fit for them even to move upon; so that while the troops from the south were hampered and delayed by the narrow tracks, the ruts and the bogs which impeded their advance, the enemy, more at home in these conditions, had all the advantage. no sooner, therefore, had the rebellion been overcome than the government, recognising that, even if turnpikes were set up along the roads on the border between scotland and england, the tolls likely to be raised there would be wholly inadequate for the purpose, themselves took in hand the work of road construction and improvement; and this action gave impetus to a movement for improving roads in england and wales generally. down to this time the turnpike system had undergone very little development. for a quarter of a century after it had been applied, by the act of , to the great north road, no turnpike acts at all were sought. a few were then obtained, but until the middle of the eighteenth century, at least, even if not still later, travellers from edinburgh to london met { }with no turnpikes until they came within about miles of their destination. newcastle and carlisle were still connected by a bridle path only, while a writer in the "gentleman's magazine" for november, , in alluding to the journey from london to falmouth, says that "after the first miles from london you never set eyes on a turnpike for miles." the policy adopted by the government so far stimulated the action of private enterprise that between and no fewer than turnpike acts were passed for the making and repairing of roads, and many more were to follow. { }chapter x the turnpike system the fundamental principle of the turnpike system was that of transferring the cost of repairing main roads from the parish to the users. the mediæval practice, under which the roads were maintained by religious houses, private benevolence and individual landowners, had, of course, still left the common law obligation that each and every parish should keep in repair the roads within its own particular limits, the act of philip and mary, with its imposition of statute duty, being, in effect, only a means for the regulation and carrying out of such requirement. the parishioners were even indictable if they failed to keep the roads in repair. but in proportion as trade and travel increased, the greater became alike the need for good roads and, also, the apparent injustice of requiring the residents in a particular parish to do statute labour on roads, or to pay for labour thereon, less in the interest of themselves and their neighbours than in that of strangers, or traffic, passing through on the main road from one town to another. in effect, also, whether such requirement were reasonable or not, the work itself was either not done at all or was done in a way that still left the roads in a condition commonly described as "execrable." the principle that the users should pay for the main roads by means of tolls was thus definitely adopted; but the obligation in regard to other than main roads still rested in full with the parish. it was not, however, until the passing of geo. ii., c. , that turnpike roads were mentioned as distinct from "highways," this being the accepted designation for roads for which the parish was responsible. when the adoption of the turnpike system became more general, that is to say, about the year , the turnpike roads were maintained--or were supposed to be maintained--by tolls, and the { }statute labour and contributions in lieu thereof were mainly appropriated to the cross roads constituting the parish highways, on which no turnpikes were placed; though certain proportions of the statute labour or statute labour contributions also became available for turnpike roads which could not otherwise be properly maintained. at first there was a pronounced disinclination on the part of the public in various parts of the country to tolerate toll-bars. it might be supposed that, the state of the roads having generally been so deplorable, everyone would have welcomed their amendment under almost any possible conditions. defoe, at least, was enthusiastic over the prospect of better roads that turnpikes foreshadowed. alluding to them in his "tour," he says: "and 'tis well worth recording, for the honour of the present age, that this work has been begun, and is in an extraordinary manner carry'd on, and perhaps may, in a great measure be compleat within our memory, as to the worst and most dangerous roads in the kingdom. and this is a work of so much general good that certainly no publick edifice, alms-house, hospital or nobleman's palace, can be of equal value to the country with this, nor at the same time more an honour and ornament to it." but there was another point of view which is thus expressed by whitaker in "loidis and elmete": "to intercept an ancient highway, to distrain upon a man for the purchase of a convenience which he does not desire, and to debar him from the use of his ancient accommodation, bad as it was, because he will not pay for a better, has certainly an arbitrary aspect, at which the rude and undisciplined rabble of the north would naturally revolt." objections to turnpikes had been further fomented by demagogues who went about the country proclaiming that the gates which were being put up were part of a design planned by the government to enslave the people and deprive them of their liberty. not only did many individuals in various parts of the country refuse to use the turnpike roads, or to pay toll if they did use them, but in some instances the gates were destroyed, by way of making the protests more emphatic. in it was thought necessary to pass a general act against "ill-designing and disorderly persons" who had "in various parts of this { }kingdom associated themselves together, both by day and by night, and cut down, pulled down, burnt and otherwise destroyed several turnpike gates and houses which have been erected by authority of parliament for repairing divers roads by tolls, thereby preventing such tolls from being taken, and lessening the security of divers of her majesty's good subjects for considerable sums of money which they have advanced upon credit of the said acts, and deterring others from making like advances." persons convicted of such offences were--without any discretion being given to the justices--to be committed for three months' imprisonment, and were, also, to be whipped at the market cross. these penalties appear to have been unavailing, since we find that four years later the punishment, even for a first offence, was increased to seven years' transportation. but the hostility increased rather than diminished. in the "gentleman's magazine" for there is an account of some turnpike riots in somerset and gloucestershire which began on the night of the th of july and were not suppressed until the th of the following month. a start was made with the destruction of the gates near bedminster by "great numbers of people." on the following night a crowd bored holes in the gates at don john's cross, a mile from bristol, blew up the gates with gunpowder, and destroyed the toll-house. cross-bars and posts were erected next day, in place of the gates, and the turnpike commissioners took it in turns to enforce payment of the tolls. at night "a prodigious body of somersetshire people," armed with various instruments of destruction, and some of them disguised in women's clothes, went along the roads to an accompaniment of drum-beating and much shouting, demolished the turnpikes, and pulled down the toll-houses. re-erected, the gates were guarded by a "body of seamen, well armed with musquets, pistols and cutlasses"; but two nights afterwards the rioters were out again, this time with rusty swords, pitch-forks, axes, guns, pistols and clubs. they demolished and burned some turnpikes which had been put up a third time, and destroyed others besides. by august "almost all the turnpikes and turnpike-houses" in the neighbourhood of bristol had been demolished; but a report dated bristol, august , says: "by the arrival of six troops of dragoon guards on the th, { }we are secured from all insults of the country people who immediately dispersed and posts and chains are again erected, and the tolls levied, but the turnpikes are fixed nearer the city." the revolt in yorkshire referred to by whitaker occurred in , four years later than the disturbances in the west. at selby the inhabitants were summoned by the bellman to assemble at midnight, with hatchets and axes, and destroy the turnpikes. they obeyed the summons, and any gate left unprotected was soon level with the ground. in the neighbourhood of leeds the rioting was especially serious. whitaker says concerning it:-- "the public roads about leeds were at that time narrow, generally consisting of a hollow way that only allowed a passage for carriages drawn by a horse in a single row, and an elevated causeway covered with flags or boulder stones. "the attempt to improve this state of the public roads excited great discontent among the lower classes of the people, who formed the design of pulling down all the turnpike bars in the neighbourhood." they pulled down, or burned down, as many as a dozen in one week; and when some of the rioters had been arrested, and were on their way to york castle, their friends attempted a rescue, following this up by assaulting the magistrates and breaking some windows. troops were called out, and, warnings and the firing of blank cartridge being of no avail, ball cartridges were used, with the result that two or three persons were shot dead, and twenty-two were wounded, some fatally. whatever the justification for the turnpikes that gave rise to this popular discontent, the way in which the system itself was developed was certainly open to criticism. the precedent set by the act of charles ii. in the grouping together of several counties, and in conferring on the justices the powers of chief control, was wholly disregarded. instead of even an improvement on this procedure being effected by the creation of a national system of turnpike roads, directed by some central authority, and responding in regard to internal communication to the wants of the country as a whole, there was called into being an almost endless number of purely local trusts, each taking charge of, as a rule, from ten to { }twenty miles of road, each concerned only in its own local, or even its own personal, interests, and each operating under conditions that involved an excessive expenditure with, too often, the most unsatisfactory of results for the general public. the defects of the system thus brought about were well recognised by various authorities at a time when they were still being experienced to the full. the select committee appointed by the house of commons in to consider the subject of public highways said in the course of their report:-- "the importance of land-carriage to the prosperity of a country need not be dwelt upon. next to the general influence of the seasons ... there is, perhaps, no circumstance more interesting to men in a civilised state than the perfection of the means of interior communication. it is a matter, therefore, to be wondered at, that so great a source of national improvement has hitherto been so much neglected. instead of the roads of the kingdom being made a great national concern, a number of local trusts are created, under the authority of which large sums of money are collected from the public, and expended without adequate responsibility or control. hence arises a number of abuses, for which no remedy is provided, and the resources of the country, instead of being devoted to useful purposes, are too often improvidently wasted." writing in , dehany said in reference to the act of , "it is to be regretted that this plan of passing one act applicable to a considerable district, and carrying it into execution under the superintendence of the magistracy, was not pursued, instead of parcelling out the roads into smaller divisions, with independent bodies of trustees"; while the "westminster review," in its issue for october, , argued that the whole system of roads should be one, and continued:-- "such a work might have been thought the duty of the government most interested in it; but that government seems generally to be otherwise occupied. leaving all to individual exertion, it perhaps often leaves too much; since there are matters in which individual exertion has an insufficient interest, while there are others which it is unable to accomplish without unjustifiable sacrifices. we do not desire the perpetual, nor even the frequent interference of government, that is most { }certain; but there is an useful medium between the intermeddling of some of the continental states and that neglect, or, rather, discountenance, which our own throws on numerous matters where its aid would be of use, and which, without that aid, cannot be accomplished.... the freedom of universal communication is the object, and it is to little purpose that one portion of a road be good if the other is impassable. it is a national and not a private concern." under the conditions actually brought about it was left for any group of landowners and others in any particular district where better roads were needed to apply to parliament for an act authorising them to raise a loan in order to meet the initial cost of making or repairing a road, and to set up gates or bars where they could enforce payment of tolls out of which to recoup themselves for their expenditure and meet the costs of maintenance. theoretically, these were simply temporary expedients, and the turnpike trustees, having once provided a good road, and got their money back, would take down the toll-gates again, and leave the road for the free use of the public. hence every turnpike act was granted only for a limited period, generally about twenty years, and had to be renewed at the end of that term if, as invariably happened, the debt on the road had not been cleared off, and the need for toll-collection still remained. the cost of procuring the periodical continuance of all these acts was, in itself, a not inconsiderable burden on the finances of the trusts. in, for example, the twenty-four years from to , the number of turnpike acts, whether new acts or renewals of old ones, passed by the legislature was no fewer than . one result of the excessive localisation of the turnpike system was that trusts of absurdly large proportions were created to look after absurdly small stretches of road. "the fundamental principle," says a writer in the "edinburgh review" for october, , "is always to vest the whole management in the hands of the country gentlemen; and, as they act gratuitously, it has been the policy of the law to appoint in each act a prodigious number of commissioners--frequently from one hundred to two hundred, for the care of ten or fifteen miles of road; and thus a business of art and science is committed to a promiscuous mob of peers, squires, farmers and shopkeepers, who are chosen, not for their { }fitness to discharge the duties of commissioners, but from the sole qualification of residence within a short distance from the road to be made or repaired." that the best interests of the community could be served under these conditions was an impossibility. the "edinburgh review" declares, in fact, that the whole time of the meetings of turnpike trusts was "occupied in tumultuous and unprofitable discussions, and in resolving on things at one meeting which run a good chance of being reversed at the next; that the well informed and civilized commissioners become very soon disgusted with the disorderly uproar, or the want of sense, temper or honesty of some of their companions; and that the management finally falls into the hands of a few busy, bustling, interested persons of low condition, who attend the meetings with no idea of performing a public duty, but for the purpose of turning their powers, by some device or other, to the profit of themselves or of their friends or relations." the writer of the article on "roads" in "rees' cyclopædia" is no less condemnatory of the whole system, speaking of the "violent disputations and bickerings" at the meetings of the trustees, where, he says, "a proposed new line of road or, perhaps, the repair of an old one, will sometimes be contested with as great keenness and vehemence as if the parties were contending whether great britain shall be a monarchy or a republic." each trust, again, had its own organisation, with attorney, treasurer, clerk and surveyor; and one may assume that each of these individuals, in turn, was inspired by no greater sense of public duty than were many of the trustees themselves, and was much more concerned in what he could make out of the business for himself than in helping to provide through routes of communication in the interests of the community. the surveyors were, generally speaking, hopelessly incompetent. the short length of road in charge of a trust and the consequent limitation of the amount received for tolls did not, as a rule, warrant the payment of an adequate salary to a really qualified man, and the individual upon whom the courtesy title of "surveyor" was conferred was often either the pensioned servant of a local landowner or some other person equally unfit to be entrusted with those functions of { }road-management which the trustees, whether as the result of their mutual differences or otherwise, generally left in his hands. the "edinburgh review," in the article already quoted, declares that "the state of the roads displays no symptoms of well qualified commissioners. they leave the art and science of the business to their surveyor--who is commonly just as much in the clouds as themselves as to his own proper calling. with a laudable veneration for his forefathers, he proceeds according to the antient system of things, without plan or method; and fearing no rivalry, and subject to no intelligent control, he proceeds, like his predecessors, to waste the road money on team work and paupers, and leave nothing for the public like a road but the name and cost of it." nevertheless, the turnpike system, defective in itself, badly administered, and burdensome to the toll-payers, did bring about an improvement in roads which previously had too often received little or no attention; and this improvement, as will be shown in the chapter that follows, had a material influence on trade, travel and social conditions; though it was not to attain its maximum results until the turnpike roads had been supplemented by a further system of scientific road-making and road-repairing. { }chapter xi trade and transport in the turnpike era in strong contrast to the vigorous denunciations of arthur young of so many, though not all, of the roads over which his extensive journeyings through england had led him, are the statements of other authorities, writing about the same time, as to the commercial and social advantages resulting from such improvements as had been brought about. the conflict of testimony appears inconsistent until one remembers that, bad as were the particular conditions which arthur young describes, the general conditions were, nevertheless, better than before. just as the first bone-shaking stage-coach, without springs, seemed to chamberlayne an "admirable commodiousness," such as the world had never before seen, so, in the view of the writers who had not the same experience of travel as arthur young, turnpike roads of any kind may have appeared a vast improvement on the boggy roads or the narrow bridle paths they had succeeded. whatever, again, the dangers and discomforts of so many even of the new turnpike roads, there is no doubt that a distinct stimulus was given to trade and travel as the result not only of the better roads but of the better vehicles that could be, and were being, used on them. agriculture, industries, commerce and social progress all, in fact, took another step forward as these opportunities for transport and communication relatively improved. under the influence, possibly, of such considerations as these henry homer, writing in , regards with great satisfaction the general outlook at that time. he says:-- "our very carriages travel with almost winged expedition between every town of consequence in the kingdom and the metropolis. by this, as well as the yet more valuable project of increasing inland navigation, a facility of communication is soon likely to be established from every part of the island { }to the sea, and from the several places in it to each other. trade is no longer fettered by the embarrasments, which attended our former situation. dispatch, which is the very life and soul of business, becomes daily more attainable by the free circulation opening in every channel, which is adapted to it. merchandise and manufactures find a ready conveyance to the markets. the natural blessings of the island are shared by the inhabitants with a more equal hand. the constitution itself acquires firmness by the stability and increase both of trade and wealth which are the nerves and sinews of it. "in consequence of all this, the demand for the produce of the lands is increased; the lands themselves advance proportionably both in their annual value and in the number of years-purchase for which they are sold, according to such value.... "there never was a more astonishing revolution accomplished in the internal system of any country than has been within the compass of a few years in that of england. "the carriage of grain, coals, merchandize, etc., is in general conducted with little more than half the number of horses with which it formerly was. journies of business are performed with much more than double expedition. improvements in agriculture keep pace with those of trade. everything wears the face of dispatch; every article of our produce becomes more valuable; and the hinge, upon which all these movements turn, is the reformation which has been made in our publick roads." in the article on "roads" in postlethwayt's "dictionary" ( ) it is declared that the country had derived great advantage from the improvements of the roads, and from the application of tolls collected at the turnpikes. travelling had been rendered safer, easier and pleasanter. "that this end is greatly answered," we are assured, "everyone's experience will tell him who can remember the condition of the roads thirty or forty years ago." there had been, also, a benefit to trade and commerce by the reduced cost of carriage for all sorts of goods and merchandise. on this especially interesting point the writer of the article says: "those who have made it their business to be rightly informed of this matter have, upon inquiry, found that carriage is now per cent { }cheaper than before the roads were amended by turnpikes." he proceeds to give a number of examples of such reductions in freight, among them being the following:-- "from birmingham to london it is said there is not less than or waggons sent weekly; s. per hundred was formerly paid, the price now paid is from to s. per hundred. "from portsmouth to london the common price was s. per hundred, the government paid so in queen anne's war, and now only to s. per hundred is paid; and in the late war arms and warlike stores for his majesty's service were carried at the rate of or s. per hundred. "from exeter to london, and from other towns in the west of like distance the carriage of wool and other goods is very great, especially in times of war.-- s. per hundred was formerly paid, now only s. per hundred. the same can be affirmed with respect to bristol, gloucester and the adjacent counties." while the traders and the consumers were, presumably, both benefitting from these reduced charges, the carriers also gained, by reason of the greater loads they were able to take with the same number of horses. on this point the writer says: "the roads in general were formerly so bad and deep, so full of holes and sloughs that a team of horses could scarce draw from any place of miles distant, or upwards, above hundred weight of goods; whereas the same team can now draw with more ease or hundred." on the other hand he did not overlook the fact that the keeping up of the turnpike roads was "a prodigious expense to the nation," so that, in his opinion, the reduction in transport charges was only "a seeming alleviation" of the general burden. at the time defoe made his tour of england the turnpike system was still in its infancy; but he is very eulogistic over the improvements then already made. having, as already mentioned on p. , described the roads from london to the north across the clay-belt of the midlands, defoe tells how "turnpikes or toll-bars" had been set up on "several great roads of england, beginning at london, and proceeding through almost all those dirty deep roads" in the midland counties especially, "at which turn-pikes all carriages, droves of cattle and travellers on horse-back are obliged to pay an easy toll; that is to say, a horse a penny, { }a coach three pence, a cart four pence, at some six pence to eight pence, a waggon six pence, in some a shilling, and the like; cattle pay by the score, or by the head, in some places more, in some less." several of these turnpikes had been set up of late years and "great progress had been made in mending the most difficult ways." on these roads toll was, of course, being taken by authority of act of parliament; but there was one road, at least, on which tolls were being enforced without parliamentary sanction; for defoe goes on to say:-- "there is another road, which is a branch of the northern road, and is properly called the coach road ... and this indeed is a most frightful way, if we take it from hatfield, or rather the park corners of hatfield house, and from thence to stevenage, to baldock, to biggleswade and bugden. here is that famous lane call'd baldock lane, famous for being so impassable that the coaches and travellers were oblig'd to break out of the way even by force, which the people of the country not able to prevent, at length placed gates and laid their lands open, setting men at the gates to take a voluntary toll, which travellers always chose to pay, rather than plunge into sloughs and holes, which no horse could wade through. "this terrible road is now under cure by the same methods, and probably may in time be brought to be firm and solid." in regard to the turnpike system in general he says:-- "the benefit of these turnpikes appears now to be so great, and the people in all places begin to be so sensible of it, that it is incredible what effect it has already had upon trade in the counties where the roads are completely finished; even the carriage of goods is abated, in some places, d. per hundred weight, in others d. per hundred, which is abundantly more advantageous to commerce than the charge paid amounts to.... "besides the benefits accruing from this laudable method we may add, the conveniency to those who bring fat cattle, especially sheep, to london in the winter from the remoter counties of leicester and lincoln, where they are bred: for before, the country graziers were obliged to sell their stocks off in september and october when the roads began to be bad, and when they generally sell cheap; and the butchers { }and farmers near london used to engross them, and keep them till december and january, and then sell them, though not an ounce fatter than before, for an advanced price to the citizens of london; whereas now the roads are in a way to be made everywhere passable the city will be serv'd with mutton almost as cheap in the winter as in the summer, and the profit of the advance will be to the country graziers, who are the original breeders and take all the pains. "this is evidenc'd to a demonstration in the counties where the roads are already repair'd, from whence they bring their fat cattle, and particularly their mutton, in droves, from sixty, seventy or eighty miles without fatiguing, harrassing or sinking the flesh of the creatures, even in the depth of the winter." whether or not the fat cattle and the sheep were really able to do their long walk to london without fatigue and loss of flesh, it is certain that the naturally bad condition of the roads leading to london was made worse by the "infinite droves of black cattle, hogs and sheep" which passed along them from essex, lincolnshire and elsewhere. when the roads were being continually trodden by the feet of large heavy bullocks, "of which," says defoe, "the numbers that come this way"--that is, out of lincolnshire and the fens--"are scarce to be reckon'd up," the work done by the turnpike commissioners in the summer was often completely spoiled in the winter. among, therefore, the many advantages of the rail transport of to-day we may reckon the fact that the roads and highways are no longer worn to the same extent as before by cattle and sheep on their way to the london markets. defoe alludes, also, to the influence of improved communications on the development of the fish industry, with the subsidiary advantage of improving the food supplies of the people, saying, in this connection-- "i might give examples where the herrings which are not the best fish to keep, used, even before these reparations were set on foot, to be carried to those towns, and up to warwick, birmingham, tamworth and stafford, and though they frequently stunk before they got thither, yet the people were so eager for them, that they bought them up at a dear rate; whereas when the roads are every where good they will come in less time, by at least two days in six of what they { }used to do, and an hundred times the quantity will be consumed." until, again, the advent of better roads, food supplies and provender--peas, beans, oats, hay, straw, etc.--for london were brought in on the backs of horses. in proportion as the roads improved and were made available for carts and waggons the area of supply widened, and the counties immediately adjoining london even petitioned parliament against the extension of turnpikes into the remoter counties. these other counties, they alleged, would, from the cheapness of their labour, be able to sell their grass and corn cheaper in the london market than the nearer counties, and would reduce the rents and ruin the cultivation in the latter. here, of course, the producer wanted protection against competition, and wished to retain the benefit of his geographical advantage. the broader view as to the effect of improved communications on national progress in general was expressed by adam smith. in book i., chapter xi., part i., of his "wealth of nations," he says:-- "good roads, canals, and navigable rivers, by diminishing the expense of carriage, put the remote parts of the country more nearly upon a level with those in the neighbourhood of the town. they are upon that account the greatest of all improvements. they encourage the cultivation of the remote, which must always be the most extensive circle of the country. they are advantageous to the town, by breaking down the monopoly of the country in its neighbourhood. they are advantageous even to that part of the country. though they introduce some rival commodities into the old market, they open many new markets to its produce. monopoly, besides, is a great enemy to good management, which can never be universally established but in consequence of that free and universal competition which forces everybody to have resource to it for the sake of self-defence." the conditions under which the traders of the country in general conducted their business was, naturally, influenced, if not altogether controlled, by the conditions of locomotion. hutton tells us in his "history of birmingham" that the practice of the birmingham manufacturer for, perhaps, a hundred generations was to keep within the warmth of his own forge. the foreign customer, therefore, applied to { }him for the execution of orders, and regularly made his appearance twice a year. concerning the manchester trade, dr aikin, in his "description of the country from thirty to forty miles round manchester" ( ), says:-- "for the first thirty years of the present century, the old established houses confined their trade to the wholesale dealers in london, bristol, norwich, newcastle, and those who frequented chester fair.... when the manchester trade began to extend the chapmen used to keep gangs of pack-horses, and accompany them to the principal towns with goods in packs, which they opened and sold to shopkeepers, lodging what was unsold in small stores at the inns. the pack-horses brought back sheep's wool, which was bought on the journey, and sold to the makers of worsted yarn at manchester, or to the clothiers of rochdale, saddleworth and the west riding of yorkshire. on the improvement of the turnpike roads waggons were set up, and the pack-horses discontinued; and the chapmen only rode out for orders, carrying with them patterns in their bags. it was during the forty years from to that trade was greatly pushed by the practice of sending these riders all over the kingdom, to those towns which before had been supplied from the wholesale places in the capital places before mentioned." thus one effect of the improvement in communications was to allow of the manchester manufacturers establishing direct relations with retailers in the smaller towns who had hitherto been supplied by the wholesale dealers in the large towns, one set of profits being saved. dr aikin adds:-- "within the last twenty or thirty years the vast increase of foreign trade has caused many of the manchester manufacturers to travel abroad, and agents or partners to be fixed for a considerable time on the continent, as well as foreigners to reside at manchester. and the town has now in every respect assumed the style and manners of one of the commercial capitals of europe." in an article headed "change in commerce," published in no. xi. of "the original," ( ), thomas walker gives ("by tradition," as he says) some particulars as to the methods of business followed by a leading manchester merchant who was born there early in the eighteenth century { }and realised a sufficient fortune to be able to have a carriage of his own when not half a dozen were kept in the town by persons connected with business. "he sent the manufactures of the place into nottinghamshire, lincolnshire, cambridgeshire, and the intervening counties, and principally took in exchange feathers from lincolnshire and malt from cambridgeshire and nottinghamshire. all his commodities were conveyed on pack-horses, and he was from home the greater part of every year, performing his journeys entirely on horseback. his balances were received in guineas, and were carried with him in his saddle-bags. he was exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather, to great labour and fatigue, and to constant danger.... business carried on in this manner required a combination of personal attention, courage, and physical strength not to be hoped for in a deputy.... the improvements in the way of carrying on commerce, and its increase, may be attributed in a great degree to the increased facility of communication, and the difference between the times i have alluded to and the present is nearly as great as between a pack-horse and a steam-carriage." walker also mentions that in the early days of the trader here referred to manchester was provided with wine by a wine merchant who lived at preston and carried his supplies to manchester on horseback. the quantity then consumed, however, was but small, as "men in business confined themselves generally to punch and ale, using wine only as a medicine or on very extraordinary occasions." a no less interesting phase of the improvements being brought about, and one to which i shall revert in the chapter on "the canal era," was found in the influence of better communications on the social conditions of the people. that these conditions had been greatly prejudiced by the bad roads is beyond all question. villages which could be reached only with difficulty in summer, and were isolated from the rest of the world for four or five months in the autumn, winter and early spring, were steeped in ignorance and superstition. true it is that in such communities as these the games, sports, customs and traditions which represented the poetry of old english life survived the longest, and have not even yet disappeared before the march of modern progress. but no less { }true is it that such communities were the longest to foster that once popular belief in witchcraft which meant, not merely the looking askance at any decrepit old creature who was believed to have turned the milk sour in the pails, or to have stopped the cows and ewes from breeding, but the putting to death of many thousands of supposed "witches" in england and scotland in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. the total number of victims in the first eighty years of the seventeenth century alone is estimated by dr charles mackay, in "memoirs of extraordinary popular delusions," at forty thousand! this particular mania was certainly shared by kings, parliaments and ecclesiastics no less than by ignorant villagers; but it decreased in proportion as general intelligence increased, and the increase in general intelligence was materially influenced by those improvements in locomotion and communication which led to wider knowledge and a greater intermingling of the classes. the same isolation fostered the belief in ghosts, goblins, wraiths, kelpies and other inhabitants of the world of spirits, whose visitations or doings probably formed a leading topic of conversation as the isolated family sat round the fire in the long winter months, wives and daughters busy, no doubt, with their distaffs, their spinning-wheel or their needlework, but none the less able to tell or to listen to the favourite stories. the whole conditions of existence were of the most circumscribed kind. many a village got no news at all of what was happening in the world except such as the pedlar might bring, or, alternatively, might circulate through his london-printed "broadsides," telling of some great victory, giving the last dying speech of a noted highwayman, or recording the death of one ruler and the succession of another, of which events the villagers might not hear for two or even three months after they had occurred. "whole generations," in the words of samuel smiles ("early roads and modes of travelling"), "lived a monotonous, ignorant, prejudiced and humdrum life. they had no enterprise, no energy, little industry, and were content to die where they were born." in the elizabethan era, and even later, inhabitants of the northern counties were regarded by dwellers in the south as people among whom it would be dangerous for them to go. { }english navigators were entering on voyages of discovery and conquest in distant seas, where they would fearlessly encounter the enemies of england or the indians of the new world, at a time when their fellow-countrymen at home would have shrunk from the perils of a journey across the wilds of northumberland or of an encounter with the supposed savages of lancashire. even when it was a matter of visiting friends, journeys to distant parts of the country were but rarely undertaken. in the "gentleman's magazine" for december, , it was remarked that english people were readily going to france, where they spent in nearly £ , ; but though a rich citizen in london who had relatives or friends in the west of england might hear of their welfare half a dozen times in his life, by post, "he thinks no more of visiting them than of traversing the deserts of nubia." on the other hand, one result of this limitation in the facilities for home travel was to give to many a county town a far greater degree of social distinction that it can claim to-day. just as in mediæval times england had consisted of so many separate self-governing and self-dependent communities, each with the house of the lord of the manor as the "hub" of its own little universe, so--in the days when communications had certainly, though still only relatively, improved--did the county town become the recognised centre of social life and movement for each and every county where there was any pretence to social life at all. the country gentry, with their wives and daughters, came to regard a visit to the county town, and indulgence there in a round of balls, feasts, visits and functions, in the same light as a season in london is regarded at the present date. london in the seventeenth century, if not even down to the middle of the eighteenth, was, for all practical purposes, as far away from the western counties of england as london to-day is from vienna or st. petersburg. visits to the metropolis were then, indeed, of extremely rare occurrence. in macaulay's sketch of "the state of england in ," forming chapter iii. of his "history of england," there is a diverting account of what must have happened to the lord of a lincolnshire or shropshire manor when he appeared in fleet street, to be "as easily distinguished from the resident population { }as a turk or a lascar," and to be subjected to numerous "vexations and humiliations" until, enraged and mortified, he returned to his mansion where "he was once more a great man, and saw nothing above himself except when at the assizes he took his seat on the bench near the judge, or when at the muster of the militia he saluted the lord lieutenant." adding to such "vexations and humiliations" the cost, the inconveniences and the perils of a journey to london--perils, too, that arose from highwaymen as well as from the roads themselves--the country gentleman was generally content to seek his social distractions nearer home than london. to quote again from macaulay:-- "the county town was his metropolis. he sometimes made it his residence during part of the year. at all events he was often attracted thither by business and pleasure, by assizes, quarter sessions, elections, musters of militia, festivals and races. there were the halls in which the judges, robed in scarlet and escorted by javelins and trumpets, opened the king's commission twice a year. there were the markets at which the corn, the cattle, the wool and the hops of the surrounding country were exposed for sale. there were the great fairs to which merchants came from london, and where the rural dealer laid in his annual stores of sugar, stationery, cutlery and muslin. there were the shops at which the best families of the neighbourhood bought grocery and millinery." defoe, in his "tour," affords us some interesting glimpses of the social life of various country towns in the first quarter of the eighteenth century. dorchester he describes as "indeed a pleasant town to live in.... there is," he says, "good company and a good deal of it," and he thinks "a man that coveted a retreat in this world might as agreeably spend his time, and as well, in dorchester" as in any town he knew in england. exeter was "full of gentry and good company." he has much to say in praise of social life in dorsetshire. in plymouth "a gentleman might find very agreeable society." salisbury had "a good deal of good manners and good company." the "neighbourhood" of "persons of figure and quality" caused maidstone to be "a very agreeable place to live in," and one where a "man of letters and manners" would always "find suitable society both to divert and improve himself," the town being, in fact, one of "very great { }business and trade, and yet full of gentry, of mirth, and of good company." king's lynn, the head-quarters of so important a shipping business in those days, he found "abounding in very good company," while of york he writes: "there is abundance of good company here, and abundance of good families live here, for the sake of the good company and cheap living; a man converses here with all the world as effectually as at london; the keeping up of assemblies among the younger gentry was first set up here, a thing other writers recommend mightily as the character of a good country and of a pleasant place." the general effect, from a social standpoint, of the combination of better roads and better coaches is well told in an essay "on the country manners of the present age," published in the "annual register" for . the writer has much to say that is of interest from the point of view of the present work, but the following extracts must suffice:-- "it is scarce half a century since the inhabitants of distant counties were regarded as a species almost as different from those of the metropolis as the natives of the cape of good hope.... formerly a journey into the country was considered almost as great an undertaking as a voyage to the indies. the old family coach was sure to be stowed with all sorts of luggage and provisions; and perhaps in the course of the journey a whole village together with their teams, were called in to dig the heavy vehicle out of the clay, and to drag it to the next place of wretched accommodation which the road afforded. thus they travelled like the caravan over the deserts of arabia, with every disagreeable circumstance of tediousness and inconvenience. but now the amendments of the roads with the many other improvements of travelling have in a manner opened a new communication between the several parts of our island.... stage-coaches, machines, flys and post chaises are ready to transport passengers to and fro, between the metropolis and the most distant parts of the kingdom. the lover now can almost literally annihilate time and space, and be with his mistress before she dreams of his arrival. in short the manners, fashions, amusements, vices and follies of the metropolis now make their way to the remotest corners of the land as readily and speedily, along the turnpike road, as, of old, milton's sin and death, by means { }of their marvellous bridges over the chaos from the infernal regions to our world. "the effects of this easy communication have almost daily grown more and more visible. the several great cities, and we might add, many poor country towns, seem to be universally inspired with the ambition of becoming the little londons of the part of the country in which they are situated." but if the easy communication rendered possible by turnpike roads and flying coaches conferred on the country towns a hope of becoming so many little londons, the day was to come when a still easier communication by means of railway lines and express trains was to take provincial residents just as readily to the great and real london, and so deprive not a few provincial centres of much of that social life and distinction which the improved transport facilities had brought them. in london itself, as may also be learned from defoe, the betterment of the roads around the metropolis led to the citizens flocking out in greater numbers than ever to take lodgings and country houses in "towns near london," which many people having business in the city had not been able to do before because of the trouble involved in riding to and fro on the bad roads. we are told, further, of the consequent increase in the rent of houses, and of the greater number of dwellings being built, in places the roads to which had thus been improved, as compared with other suburban districts to which the turnpike system had not yet been extended. we have here the beginnings of that creation of a greater london which has since undergone such enormous developments, and has led to the almost complete disappearance of the custom, once in vogue in the city of london, of a merchant or tradesman living on the same premises as those in which he carried on his business. of the various circumstances that led to the eventual decline and fall of the turnpike system, which, with all its faults and short-comings, had at least helped to bring about the improvements in trade, transport and social conditions here described, i shall speak in chapter xxiii. { }chapter xii scientific road-making one question which naturally arises in connection with the turnpike roads is, "why was it, when there was so widespread an organisation of turnpike trusts, and when so much money was being spent on the repair of the roads, that the roads themselves were still so defective, and only relatively better than they had been before?"--this being the real position, notwithstanding the praises bestowed on the turnpike system by those who were gratified with the stimulus given to trade, travel and commerce by the improvements actually made. the answer is that although a vast amount of road-making or road-repairing was going on, at the very considerable expense of the road users, and to the advantage of a small army of attorneys, officials and labourers, it was not road-making of a scientific kind, but merely amateur work, done at excessive cost, either with unintelligent zeal or in slovenly style, and yielding results which mostly failed to give the country the type of road it required for the ever-increasing traffic to which expanding trade, greater travel, and heavier and more numerous waggons and coaches were leading. before the adoption of scientific road-making, the usual way of forming a new road was, first to lay along it a collection of large stones, and then to heap up thereon small stones and road dirt in such a way that the road assumed the shape of the upper half of an orange, the convexity often being so pronounced that vehicles kept along the summit of the eminence because it was dangerous for them, especially in rainy weather, to go along the slope on either side. this form of road was adopted in order to ensure good drainage for rain-water; and in this connection the writer on "roads" in postlethwayt's "dictionary" ( ) says:-- "the chief and almost the only cause of the deepness and { }foulness of the roads is occasioned by the standing water which, for want of due care to draw it off by scouring and opening ditches and drains and other water courses, and clearing of passages, soaks into the earth, and softens it to such a degree that it cannot bear the weight of horses and carriages." but the result of making roads in the shape of a semicircle was that the central ridge was speedily crushed down, and ruts were formed along the line of traffic passing over the loose materials used. these ruts, again, defeated the purpose of the original high convexity by becoming troughs for the retention of rain and mud, the latter being rendered worse with each fresh churning up it received from the wheels of waggon or stage-coach. the road-maker thus required to be speedily followed by the road-repairer; and _his_ method of procedure has been already indicated in arthur young's description of the road to wigan, where he says, "the only mending it receives is the tumbling in some loose stones, which serve no other purpose but jolting a carriage in the most intolerable manner." the mending of hundreds of miles even of turnpike roads had never gone any further than this. there was no cohesion in collections of loose stones, mainly in their natural and more or less rounded form, and the expectation that they would be crushed and consolidated into a solid mass by extra-broad waggon wheels, in accordance with acts of parliament in that case made and provided, remained unfulfilled. the stones were simply displaced and thrown aside by the traffic, the inevitable ruts reappearing in due course; while, as the rainwater passed readily through them, the roads became elongated reservoirs of water in rainy weather, and were most effectively broken up by frost in winter. it was from conditions such as these that thomas telford and john loudon mcadam came to rescue the country. there had been one road-reformer before them, in john metcalf, a native of knaresboro', where he was born in . though totally blind from the age of six, he developed abundant resources, and became successively fiddler, soldier, chapman, fish-dealer, horse-dealer and waggoner. taking at last to road-making, he constructed about miles of road in yorkshire, lancashire, cheshire and derby, rendering an { }important service to the two first-mentioned counties, more especially by improving their means of communication at a time when they were greatly in need of better roads on account of their then rapidly increasing trade and industry. but though metcalf did good work in these directions, and achieved some noteworthy successes in carrying solid roads across difficult bogs, he introduced no really new system, and the chief progress made did not come until after his death, in . son of a shepherd at eskdale, dumfriesshire, where he was born in , telford started life as a stonemason's apprentice, but became an engineer, and undertook many important works, including canals, bridges, harbours and docks. here, however, we are concerned with him only as a builder of roads--a department in which he showed great skill and activity. on the appointment, in , of a body of commissioners who were to improve the system of communications in scotland (one half of the expense being defrayed by parliamentary grants, and one half by local contributions), telford was selected to carry out the work, and he constructed miles of road and , bridges in the highlands, and miles of road between glasgow, cumbernauld (dumbarton) and carlisle. then, in , money having been voted by parliament for the improvement of the holyhead road, with a view to the betterment of communications with ireland, telford was entrusted with the task, which involved the making or improvement of, altogether, miles of road. telford's own opinion of the roads of england and scotland was thus expressed in the evidence he gave before the select committee of the house of commons in :-- "they are in general very defective both as to their direction and inclination; they are frequently carried over hills, which might be avoided by passing along the adjacent valleys ... there has been no attention paid to constructing good and solid foundations; the materials, whether consisting of gravel or stones, have seldom been sufficiently selected and arranged; and they lie so promiscuously upon the roads as to render it inconvenient to travel upon them.... the shape of the roads, or cross section of the surface, is frequently hollow in the middle; the sides incumbered with great banks of road dirt, which have accumulated in some places to the height { }of six, seven, or eight feet; these prevent the water from falling into the side drains; they also throw a considerable shade upon the road, and are gross and unpardonable nuisances. the materials, instead of being cleaned of the mud and soil with which they are mixed in their native state, are laid promiscuously upon the road." in planning new roads telford cut right through the hills, wherever possible, in order to avoid unduly steep gradients. in making the roads he first arranged a solid foundation of pieces of durable stone, from in. to in. in size, these being carefully put into position by hand, with the broadest side downward, and packed with small stones in between. on the rough pavement thus formed he laid an upper course of small broken stones, with a binding of one inch of gravel. between the two courses a drain was set across the road every hundred yards, telford attaching great importance to the carrying off of all water that might percolate through the upper course on to the lower. he gave a uniform and only moderately convex shape to the surface of the road, abandoning, in this respect, the ideas of his more amateur predecessors. but his system was one that called for much labour and care, as well as for an abundant supply of the needful materials, and the cost of carrying it out was proportionately high, if not, in some situations, prohibitive. mcadam preferred to be considered a road-repairer rather than a road-builder, and his methods differed materially from those of telford. he became, also, much more of a propagandist in the work of road-improvement, enforcing his theories with such success that he brought a new word into the english language, roads made or mended according to the main principles he laid down having been known ever since his day as "macadamised." born in ayrshire in --one year before telford--mcadam went to america at the age of to start life in the counting-house of his uncle in new york. subsequently he became a successful merchant, and returned in to scotland, where he bought the estate of sauchrie, and then, in , began to devote his attention to road-making, which was to occupy his thoughts and absorb his energies for the rest of his days. roads he came to regard as, in his own words, "perhaps the most important branch of our domestic { }economy." many new roads were then being constructed in scotland, and he himself became a commissioner of roads in that country. he also began a systematic course of travel over the roads of england and scotland, covering, by , no fewer than , miles. in mcadam commenced a series of experiments in the construction of roads, and he published the following year some "observations on the highways of the kingdom," recording the opinions he had formed as the result of his twenty-seven years' inquiries. by this time the question had, indeed, become acute. the prosperity of the country had undergone much expansion, but the improvement of the roads, notwithstanding the extension of the turnpike system, had in no way kept pace with the general progress and the growing needs of the nation. parliamentary committees were still devoting close attention to that good old stock subject, the width of cart-wheels. in there was a select committee appointed "to take into consideration the acts now in force regarding the use of broad wheels, and to examine what shape is best calculated for ease of draught and the preservation of the roads." this committee presented two reports, and like committees were appointed in the sessions of and , each of these committees making three reports. what parliament itself was doing at this period in the way of cart-wheel legislation has already been told. so there was abundant scope for the activities of someone who could offer new ideas, and when, in , a select committee was appointed "to take into consideration the acts in force regarding the highways and turnpike roads in england and wales, and the expediency of additional regulations as to the better repair and preservation thereof,"[ ] mcadam came forward with his proposals, as contained in the aforesaid "observations" presented by him to the committee in question. { }mcadam began by saying that "in all three reports of committees of the house of commons on the subject of roads, they seem to have principally in view the construction of wheeled carriages, the weights they were to draw, and the breadth and form of their wheels; the nature of the roads on which these carriages were to travel had not been so well attended to." proceeding to give the results of his own investigations, he expressed the view that the bad condition of the roads of the kingdom was owing to the injudicious application of the materials with which they were repaired, and to the defective form of the roads; and he assured the committee that the introduction of a better system of making the _surface_ of the roads, and the application of scientific principles which had hitherto never been thought of, would remedy the evil. the basis of his system, as defined on this and subsequent occasions, was the covering of the surface of roads with an impermeable crust, cover or coating, so that the water would not penetrate to the soil beneath, which soil, whatever its nature, and provided it was kept dry, would, he argued, then bear any weight likely to be put upon it. his method of securing the said impermeable crust was by the use of an in. or in. covering of _broken_ stones, these being not more than about ½ inches each in size, or more than about six ounces each in weight. such broken stones, if properly prepared and properly laid on a road, would, he showed, consolidate by reason of their angles, and, under the pressure of the traffic, be transformed into a "firm, compact, impenetrable body," which "could not be affected by vicissitudes of weather or displaced by the action of wheels." the broken stones, with their angular edges, would, in effect, dovetail together into a solid crust under a pressure which, applied to pebbles or flints, would merely cause them to roll aside, in the same way as shingle on the seashore when passed over by a cart or a bathing van. the difference between his broken stones and the more or less rounded stones with which the roads were then being repaired was, mcadam declared, the difference between the stones that were thrown down in a stream to form a ford and the shaped stones used to construct the bridge that went over the stream; while inasmuch as the road-arch, or crust, he { }formed would rest on the ground, and be impermeable to rain-water, there would be no need to have underneath it either a stone foundation or a system of drainage; though he held it as essential that the subsoil should be perfectly dry when the "metal," or covering of broken stone, was laid in position. keeping the water out of the road by this means, he would prevent the road itself from being broken up by the action of frost, and he would have a more elastic surface than if there were a solid stone foundation under the metal. the thickness of his consolidated cover of broken stones would, he further argued, be immaterial to its weight-carrying capacity. in mcadam became surveyor of roads in the bristol district, and the object lessons in road-mending which he provided there were so convincing that his system began to be generally approved in . in he was appointed surveyor-general of roads, and in the same year he issued a ninth edition of his "remarks on the present system of road-making." in this publication he states, among other things, that very considerable sums were being raised annually in the kingdom, principally from tolls, on account of turnpike roads, and these funds were expended, nominally under the protection of commissioners, but practically under the surveyors. every session there were numerous applications to parliament by turnpike trusts for powers to increase their tolls in order to pay off their debts and to keep the roads in repair. in the session of there were such petitions; in there were , and "all passed as a matter of course." the condition of the turnpike roads was, nevertheless, most defective, and that of the parish roads was "more deplorable than that of the turnpike roads." legislative enactments for the maintenance and repair of the parish roads were so inadequate that these roads "might be considered as being placed almost out of the protection of the law." in the result "the defective state of the roads, independent of the unnecessary expense, is oppressive on agriculture, commerce and manufactures by the increase of the price of transport, by waste of the labour of cattle, and wear of carriages, as well as by causing much delay of time." as for scotland, he declared that "the roads in scotland are worse than those in england, although materials are more { }abundant, of better quality, and labour at least as cheap, and the toll duties are nearly double; this is because road-making, that is the surface, is even worse understood in scotland than in england." he mentions that the postmaster-general had been obliged to give up the mail-coach from glasgow to ayr on account partly of the bad roads and partly of the expense, there being ten turnpike gates in miles of road. the roads were, in fact, mcadam continued, "universally in want of repair." ample funds were already provided; but the surveyors employed by the turnpike trusts were "mostly persons ignorant of the nature of the duties they are called on to discharge,"[ ] and the money brought in by a continual and apparently unlimited increase of the tolls was "misapplied in almost every part of the kingdom." in some new roads made in scotland the thickness of the materials used exceeded three feet;[ ] but, said mcadam, "the road is as open as a sieve to receive water"; and what this meant he was able to show by pointing to the results of weather conditions on bad roads in the month of january, . a severe frost was succeeded by a sudden thaw, accompanied by the melting of much snow, and the roads of the kingdom broke up in an alarming manner, causing great loss, much delay of the mails, and endless inconvenience. the cause of the trouble was explained by mcadam thus:-- "previous to the severe frost the roads were filled with water which had penetrated through the ill-prepared and unskilfully-laid material; this caused immediate expansion of the whole mass during the frost, and, upon a sudden thaw, the roads became quite loose, and the wheels of the carriages penetrated to the original soil, which was also saturated with water, from the open state of the road. by this means many roads became altogether impassable." on the miles of road to which his own system had { }been applied there had, he further said, been no breaking up at all by reason of frost. the figure here given suggests the extensive adoption of mcadam's system which was then proceeding. it was not only that old roads were being repaired according to his plan, but there was much construction of "macadamised" roads, the deficiencies of the existing roads having discouraged and checked the provision of new ones. between and , as told by porter, in his "progress of the nation," the length of turnpike roads in england and wales was increased by more than miles. in proportion, also, as the turnpike roads increased alike in number and in quality, through the wider adoption of mcadam's system, there was a corresponding impetus given to coaching in respect both to number of vehicles and to increase of speed, leading up to those "palmy days" of coaching which were only to close with the spread of the railway. it is true that mcadam's plans were not adhered to exactly as he first laid them down. greater experience led later authorities to attach more importance to a foundation than mcadam had been disposed to do; though they did not necessarily have foundations laid by hand, after the manner of telford's buried pavements. later, the introduction, also, of the steam-roller was to revolutionise the art of making macadamised roads. nor can it be disputed that mcadam and telford had both, to a certain extent, been anticipated. in an article on roads published in the "quarterly review," in , the observation is made in respect to them that "many of the practices of each of these gentlemen had been previously adopted in a variety of instances; but it required zeal and perseverance like theirs to recommend the entire system to the attention of the public." other persons might have recommended the use of broken stones, and these are said to have been already employed in switzerland before mcadam came on the scene; but it was his lucid explanation of the scientific bearing of angular as opposed to round stones; his untiring zeal in travelling thousands of miles over english and scottish roads in order to see and study everything for himself; and his advocacy of scientific road-making with such indefatigable energy, though { }to his own impoverishment (until parliament voted him recompense), that led to the conspicuous and world-wide success his system eventually attained. writing in , "nimrod" said: "roads may be called the veins and arteries of a country, through which channels every improvement circulates. i really consider mr mcadam as being, next to dr jenner, the greatest contributor to the welfare of mankind that this country has ever produced." this may seem, to-day, to be exaggerated praise; but if the reader looks at the matter from the point of view from which "nimrod" himself must have regarded it, and tries to realise how greatly the deplorable state of the roads--before mcadam began to repair them--was hampering social life, travel, trade, commerce and national industries, he will probably conclude that such praise, at such a period, and in such circumstances, was far from being undeserved. the turnpike system lasted well into the railway period, and the story of its gradual decline and the causes that led thereto has still to be told. before, however, dealing further with these aspects of the general question i propose to revert to the subject of rivers and river navigation; to show, next, how canals and canal transport were developed; and then to give an account of the rise of that railway system which was so materially to affect alike rivers, canals and turnpike roads as well. { }chapter xiii rivers and river transport in the earliest days of our history, and for many generations later, navigable rivers exercised a most important, if not a paramount, influence on the settlement of tribes, the location of towns, the development of trade and the social life of the people. they were natural highways, open to all who possessed the means of using them, at a time when men had otherwise still to make roads for themselves; and in a land covered to so great an extent with forest and fen such natural highways were of exceptional value. they offered a ready means of reaching points in the interior of the country which would otherwise have been more or less inaccessible. they allowed of the transport, in craft however primitive, of commodities too heavy or too bulky for conveyance by packhorse along the narrow paths trodden out on the hill-sides, winding through woods, or picked out across bog, plain, or morass. rivers further helped to develop that civilisation which is directly encouraged by facility of communication between groups of people who would otherwise assuredly remain backward in social progress. it will even be found that down to the turnpike, if not, indeed, to the railway, era in this country, communities dwelling on the banks of navigable rivers, and thus possessing a ready means of communication at all times with others having a like advantage, attained to a higher degree of culture, refinement and social standing than people in localities where, remote from any river or passable highway, they were shut off by bad roads from all intercourse with their fellow-men for, at least, the whole of the winter months. in c. h. pearson's "historical maps of england during the first thirteen centuries" there is abundant evidence of the way in which towns and trading centres in britain grew up { }along the course of navigable rivers, while the country at any distance therefrom remained unoccupied, however important the places that may be found there to-day. on the map of saxon england, for instance, mention is made of gleaweceaster (gloucester; spelling from "saxon chronicle"), teodekesberie (tewkesbury; "domesday"), brycgnorth (bridgnorth; "saxon chronicle"), and scrobbesbyrig (shrewsbury; "saxon chronicle"), but no one can doubt that these places attained to their early importance mainly because of their situation on the river severn. other typical inland cities or towns include london and oxford on the thames; ware on the lea; rochester on the medway; peterborough on the nen; lincoln on the witham; york on the ouse; doncaster on the don; cambridge on the cam; norwich on the yare; colchester on the colne; ludlow on the terne; exeter on the exe; winchester on the ouse (sussex); hereford on the wye; chester on the dee; caerleon (isca) on the usk; and so on with many other places, the location of which alongside a river must doubtless have been due, in part, it may be, to the convenience of water supply, and in part, also, to the greater fertility of the river valley, but more especially to the facility offered by the water highway for transport when other highways were either lacking or far less convenient. adam smith, in his "wealth of nations" (book i., chapter xi., pages - ), compares the cost of sending goods by road from london to edinburgh with that of forwarding them by sea, and adds:-- "since such are the advantages of water carriage it is natural that the first improvements of art and industry should be made where that conveniency opens the whole world for a market to the produce of every sort of labour, and that they should always be much later in extending themselves into the inland parts of the country. the inland parts of the country can for a long time have no other market for the greater part of their goods but the country which lies round about them, and separates them from the sea coast and the great navigable rivers. the extent of their market, therefore, must for a long time be in proportion to the riches and populousness of that country, and consequently their improvement must always be posterior to the improvement of that country. in our { }north american colonies the plantations have constantly followed either the sea coast or the banks of the navigable rivers, and have scarce anywhere extended themselves to any considerable distance from both." on the continent of europe the location of the chief inland centres of trade, commerce, and industry was no less decided by the convenience of transport afforded by the great navigable rivers, as shown (to give two examples only) by augsburg on the danube and cologne on the rhine. in britain there were found to be advantages in having a port, not at the mouth of a river, but as far inland as the vessels employed could go. one of these advantages lay in the fact that, the further inland the river-port, the greater was the protection against the danish or norwegian pirates who, at one time, infested the seas around our shores; but the main reasons for the preference are somewhat quaintly expressed by "r. s.," in a pamphlet, published in , entitled "avona; or a transient view of the benefit of making rivers of this kingdom available. occasioned by observing the scituation of the city of salisbury, upon the avon, and the consequence of opening that river to that city." the writer says:-- "there is more advantage to those places, which, being seated far within the land (as this[ ] is), do enjoy the benefit of commerce by sea, by some navigable river, than to those port-towns which are seated in some creeke or bay only, and are (as i may call it) land-lock'd, having no passage up into the land but by carriages, as we see in poole and lynn, in dorset, and in a number of other port-towns of like scituation in other places quite round the island: for such places, though the sea brings in commodities to them, yet they can neither without great charge convey those commodities higher up into the land, nor, without the like charge, receive the innland commodities to export again: whereas, cities seated upon navigable rivers far within the land look like some noble exchange of nature's own designing; where the native and the forreigner may immediately meet, and put off to each other the particular commodities of the growth of their own countreys; the native (as a merchant) receiving the forreign goods at first hand, and exchanging his own for them at the { }very place where they are made, or grow; or, at most, going no further to it, than to his ordinary market." thus the ideal river-ports were those that were situated, not only a good distance inland, but in close connection with a roman or other road along which commerce could be readily brought or distributed, the land journey being reduced to the smallest and most convenient proportions. the advantage was still greater where the small sea-going vessels could be carried by a tidal stream right up to the town to which their cargo was consigned. as against these advantages, however, there was the disadvantage that, the further inland the river-port, the greater was the risk that access to it might become impracticable either through the formation of shallows in the river-bed or because the larger build of vessels in later years could not pass where the smaller and more primitive type of ship of earlier days had gone without difficulty. from one or other of these causes many english rivers on which considerable traffic formerly passed have dwindled in importance, even if they have not ceased to be navigable at all; and many inland places that once flourished as river, or even as "sea"-ports, would to-day hardly be regarded in that light at all, as shown, for example, by the fate of lewes on the sussex ouse, deeping on the welland, cambridge on the cam, ely on the ouse, west dean on the cuckmere, and bawtry on the idle. york and doncaster, though situated so far inland, once considered themselves seaports because of their river connection with the coast, so that, as told by the rev. w. denton, in "england in the fifteenth century," they claimed and exercised the right of sharing in "wrecks at sea" as though they stood on the seaboard instead of high up the course of the ouse or the don. the romans not only supplemented their road transport by river transport but they sought to improve the latter by the construction of river embankments. in the case of the trent and the witham they even cut a canal--the fossdyke--in order to establish direct communication between them. just, however, as road-making became a lost art here on their departure from britain, so did an interval of a thousand years elapse before there was any material attempt to follow their example in effecting improvements in river navigation. the { }initial advantage, therefore, lay with towns located on rivers which were naturally navigable and remained navigable both for a considerable extent and for a considerable period, without need of amendment; though river navigation, as a whole, did not attain to its highest development until, as will be shown in the chapter that follows, much had been done, especially in connection with streams not naturally navigable, to overcome the various impediments or difficulties to effective transport. all the same, the part that english navigable rivers, great or small, have played in the social and economic progress of the country has been one of undeniable magnitude and importance, and offers many points of general interest. these considerations more especially apply to the river severn, which, in conjunction with such of its tributaries as the wye and the warwickshire avon, was once the great highway for the trade and traffic, not only of the western counties, but of, also, a considerable area in wales and the midland and northern counties, enabling the districts it more directly served to attain an early development long before others which were then still struggling with the disadvantages of bad roads, however much they may since have outstripped them in the race for industrial advancement. the severn itself was naturally navigable from welshpool, montgomeryshire, a distance of miles by a very winding stream to where the river empties itself into the bristol channel. this was the greatest length of navigation, unaided by artificial means, of any river in the kingdom. the early britons passed along it in their coracles, and, as these were supplemented by vessels of an improved type, trade was developed, towns and cities--each a storehouse or an entrepôt for a more or less considerable area--began to arise on the banks, while bristol attained to the dignity of a great national port when liverpool was still only an insignificant fishing village. it was in connection with the severn that the question arose as to the right of the community to regard a navigable river as a public highway, the same as if it were a road dedicated to general use. the writer of the article on "rivers" in the "penny cyclopædia" ( ) observes that: "in rivers which are { }navigable, and in which the public have a common right to passage, the king is said to have 'an interest in jurisdiction,' whether the rivers were the king's property or private property. these rivers were called 'fluvii regales,' 'haut streames le roy,' or 'royal streams,' because of their being dedicated to public use, all things of public safety and convenience being under his care and protection." navigable rivers being thus, the writer continues, the king's highway by water, many of the incidents belonging to a highway on land attached to such rivers, and any nuisances or obstruction upon them, even though occurring on the private land of any person, might be made the subject of indictment. in regard to the severn and the right of access thereto, it was found necessary, in - , following on complaints which had been made to parliament, to pass an act ( hen. vi., c. ) for the protection of boatmen in the severn estuary against "many welshmen and ill-disposed persons" who "were used to assemble in manner of war and stop trows, boats and floats or drags on their way with merchandise to bristol, gloucester, worcester, and other places, hewing these craft in pieces, and beating the sailors with intent to force them to hire boats from the said welshmen, for great sums of money, an evil example and great impoverishment of a king's liege people, if remedy were not hastily provided." under this act the severn was declared a free river for all the king's subjects to carry on within the stream of the river. the act made no mention, however, of any right on the part of the boatmen to use the land alongside the river for the purpose of towing their vessels; and in regard to this point the writer in the "penny cyclopædia" says: "though a river is a public navigable river, there is not, therefore, any right at common law for parties to use the banks of it as a towing path." by an act passed in riparian owners along the severn were authorised, notwithstanding the earlier enactment of the freedom of the river itself, to take "reasonable recompense and satisfaction" from every person going upon their land to draw a boat. there is no evidence that the landowners availed themselves of this authority; but in a later act, passed in , it was stated that although, "time out of mind," people had used, without any imposition or toll, a path { }one foot and a half broad on each side of the river for drawing their boats, "of late certain covetous persons" had "interrupted" those so using the said paths, "taking of them fines and bottles of wine," and the act imposed a penalty of forty shillings on anyone attempting to enforce such tolls, except as regards the reasonable recompense which the riparian owners could claim. this enactment seems to have been due to the action of local officials in worcester, gloucester and other places on the river in seeking, as told in nash's "history and antiquities of worcestershire" ( ), to raise revenue for their cities or towns by taxing traders who used the severn for the transport of their commodities. the importance of the severn, from the point of view of trade and commerce, in the middle of the sixteenth century, is suggested by what william harrison wrote of it in his "description of the sauerne" ( ): "as the said stream, in length of course, bountie of water, and depth of chanell commeth farre behind the thames, so for other commodities, as trade of merchandize, plentie of cariage ... it is nothing at all inferiour to or second to the same." one reason for the early commercial prosperity of the severn towns was the important trade in flannels which they carried on with wales; though the industry was, also, considerably developed in the severn counties themselves. made mostly in the farm-houses and cottages of montgomeryshire, merionethshire and denbighshire, before the days of factories, the flannels and webs were taken by the makers to the fortnightly market at welshpool. this was a convenient centre for the drapers from shrewsbury, who, journeying thither along the severn, would, at one time, buy up the entire stock; though later on they had competitors in the traders from wrexham and other places. although carried on only as a domestic industry, the making of these welsh flannels underwent considerable expansion, archdeacon joseph plymley saying, in his "general view of the agriculture of salop," published in , "the manufacture in wales by means of jennies introduced into farm-houses and other private houses is four times as great, i am told, as it was twenty years ago." at shrewsbury the wares thus brought down the severn from wales were purchased mostly by merchants from london who either sent them to continental markets or else consigned { }them to south america or the west indies, for conversion there into clothing for the slaves. as the demand increased, flannels and webs were more and more produced in and around shrewsbury itself and other parts of shropshire. shrewsbury also developed a large manufacture of coarse linens, linen threads, and other textiles, and eventually attained to such prosperity that defoe says of it, in his "tour":-- "this is indeed a beautiful, large, pleasant, populous and rich town; full of gentry, and yet full of trade too; for here, too, is a great manufacture, as well of flannel, as also of white broadcloth, which enriches all the country round it.... this is really a town of mirth and gallantry, something like bury in suffolk, or durham in the north, but much bigger than either of them, or indeed than both together.... here is the greatest market, the greatest plenty of good provisions, and the cheapest that is to be met with in all the western part of england; the severn supplies them here with excellent salmon, but 'tis also brought in great plenty from the river dee, which is not far off, and which abounds with a very good kind.... there is no doubt but the cheapness of provisions, joined with the pleasantness and healthiness of the place, draws a great many families thither, who love to live within the compass of their estates." archdeacon plymley speaks of shrewsbury as having been, "chiefly from the advantage of the river, for several centuries past, a sort of metropolis for north wales." bewdley, which had obtained its charter from edward iv., was another severn town which developed an extensive trade in the exportation not only of welsh flannels but of timber, wool, leather, combs and sailors' caps. all these were sent down the river to bristol, whence the bewdley dealers received, in return, imported groceries and other commodities for distribution throughout wales and lancashire. bridgnorth also attained to considerable importance as a convenient point for the transport to bristol, via the severn, of goods brought by road from a hinterland extending to lancashire and cheshire. there was, again, much traffic to and from towns situate on the warwickshire avon, which enters the severn at tewkesbury after passing through stratford, evesham, { }pershore and other towns. defoe says of this affluent of the severn: "the navigation of this river avon is an exceeding advantage to all this part of the country and also to the commerce of the city of bristol. for by this river they derive a very great trade for sugar, oil, wine, tobacco, iron, lead, and in a word all heavy goods which are carried by water almost as far as warwick; and return the corn, and especially the cheese is brought back from gloucestershire and warwickshire to bristol." the wye, which enters the estuary of the severn below chepstow, after passing through or along the borders of the counties of montgomery, radnor, brecknock, hereford, monmouth and gloucester, was, with its own tributary, the lug, not made navigable until , when an act ( car. ii.) was passed, the preamble of which set forth that-- "whereas the making navigable, or otherwise passable for barges, boats, leighters, and other vessels the rivers wye and lugg and other rivulets and brooks falling into the said rivers in the county of hereford and other adjacent counties, and so navigable into the river of seaverne, may (with god's blessing) be of great advantage, and very convenient and necessary not onely to the said counties, but also to the publick, by import and export of corn and encrease of commerce and trade, and improving the yearly value of lands in the parts near adjoyning thereunto, besides the great and extraordinary preservation of the high-ways, and most profitable and necessary to and for the city of hereford for conveyance thereby of coles, fuel and other necessaries to the said city, whereof there is now great scarcity and want, and far greater hereafter like to grow, if some help therefore be not made and provided. be it therefore," etc. that the merchants of bristol derived great advantage from river as well as from sea transport is well shown by defoe. not only, he tells us, did they carry on a great trade, but they did so with less dependence on london than the merchants of any other town in britain. he says:-- "the shopkeepers in bristol who, in general, are all wholesale men, have so great an inland trade among all the western counties that they maintain carriers just as the london tradesmen do, to all the principal countries and towns, from southampton in the south to the banks of the trent, { }north, and though they have no navigable river that way yet they drive a very great trade through all those counties." the "two great rivers," the severn and the wye, enabled them, also, to "have the whole trade of south wales, as it were, to themselves," together with the greater part of that of north wales,[ ] while the sea gave them access to ireland, where they were carrying on a trade which, says defoe, was not only great in itself but had "prodigiously increased" in the last thirty years, notwithstanding the greater competition of the liverpool merchants. the transport facilities offered by the severn were a further material factor both in the local development of great coal, iron and other industries, at a time when like industries were still in their infancy in the north, and in the increase of the general wealth of the western counties. in regard to shropshire, archdeacon plymley writes that the inhabitants of the county, having such ready communication both with the interior of the country and with the sea, had opened mines of iron, stone, lead, lime, etc., and had, also, established very extensive iron manufactures. as the result of all this enterprise, much capital had been drawn into the district; a great market had been opened for the agricultural produce of the country; the ready conveyance of fuel and manure had enabled the cultivation of the soil to be carried on even beyond the demands of the increasing consumption; and all had so operated together as to increase the wealth and well-being of shropshire in general. some interesting facts as to the conditions under which the navigation of the severn was conducted in are given in a communication published in the "gentleman's magazine" for that year (pages - ) from g. perry, of coalbrookdale, under the heading, "a description of the severn." the following passages may be quoted:-- "this river, being justly esteemed the second in britain, is of great importance on account of its trade, being navigated by vessels of large burden more than miles from the sea, without the assistance of any lock. upwards of , tons of coals are annually shipped from the collieries about madeley { }and broseley to the towns and cities on its banks, and from thence into the adjacent countries; also great quantities of grain, pig and bar iron, iron manufactures and earthen wares, as well as wool, hops, cyder, and provisions are constantly exported to bristol and other places, from whence merchants' goods, &c., are brought in return. the freight from shrewsbury to bristol is about s. per ton, and from bristol to shrewsbury s., the rates to the intermediate towns being in proportion. "this traffic is carried on with vessels of two sorts; the lesser kind are called barges and frigates, being from to feet in length, have a single mast, square sail, and carry from to tons; the trows, or larger vessels, are from to tons burthen; these have a main and top mast, about feet high, with square sails, and some have mizen masts; they are generally from to feet wide and in length, being, when new, and completely rigged worth about l." their number having greatly increased, he had "an exact list" taken of all the barges and trows on the severn in may, , and this list he gives. the total number of owners was then , and the total number of vessels was . among the places mentioned are the following:-- town. owners. vessels. shrewsbury madeley wood broseley bridgnorth bewdley worcester tewkesbury evesham-upon-avon gloucester of the disadvantages that attended navigation on the severn i shall speak in chapter xv, in connection with the decline of river transport in general. what the severn group of rivers, with bristol as the headquarters of their navigation, were on the west coast, the wash group and the port of lynn were on the east coast. the wash group comprised: ( ) the bedford ouse and its tributaries, with a main outlet at lynn; ( ) the welland, { }with spalding for its inland port; and ( ) the witham, which passes through the fens and into the wash by way of boston. there is abundant testimony available as to the former great importance of these rivers. defoe says of lynn: "there is the greatest extent of inland navigation here, of any port in england, london excepted. the reason whereof is this, that there are more navigable rivers empty themselves here into the sea, including the washes, which are branches of the same port, than at any one mouth of waters in england, except the thames and the humber." nathaniel kinderley, in his work on "the ancient and present state of the navigation of the towns of lynn, wisbeach, spalding and boston" ( nd edition, ), speaks of the bedford ouse as having five rivers emptying themselves into it from eight several counties; and he says that it "does therefore afford a great advantage to trade and commerce, since hereby two cities and several great towns are therein served, as peterborough, ely, stamford, bedford, st. ives, huntington, st. neots, northampton, cambridge, bury st. edmunds, thetford, &c., with all sorts of heavy commodities from lyn; as coals and salt (from newcastle), deals, fir-timber, iron, pitch and tar (from sweden and norway), and wine (from lisbon and oporto) thither imported, and from these parts great quantities of wheat, rye, cole-seed, oats, barley, &c., are brought down these rivers, whereby a great foreign and inland trade is carried on and the breed of seamen is increased. the port of lyn supplies six counties wholly, and three in part." another writer of the same period, thomas badeslade, who published in a "history of the ancient and present state of the navigation of the port of king's lyn and of cambridge and the rest of the trading towns in those parts," took up the argument that the number of inhabitants, the value of land, the trade, the riches and the strength of every free state were great in proportion to their possession of navigable rivers; and he went on to declare that "of all the navigable rivers in england the river of the great ouse is one of the chief, and lyn sits at the door of this river, as it were the turnkey of it." the various large and populous towns (as already mentioned) { }which stood either upon the ouse itself or upon one of the other rivers connecting with it were, he proceeded, all dependent on its navigation, and all of them were supplied by the merchants of lynn with what he described as "maritime commodities." "their exports and imports," he declared, "enrich and furnish the country; and raise a great revenue to the government, and in all national advantages the port of lyn is equalled by few ports of this kingdom." but, owing to neglect of the ouse, there was the risk that the river would "in a very short time" be "lost to navigation," and all, he continued, agreed that "if something be not done this country will be rendered uninhabitable, and the navigation of the port of lynn will be lost, and the university of cambridge, and all the great towns situate on the rivers for the benefit of navigation must with it decay and become impoverished; and the customs and duties of the state be in consequence thereof greatly lessened." happily our national well-being has not depended on navigable rivers, as badeslade thought it did, and, though the condition of the bedford ouse has got far worse than it was when he wrote, the university of cambridge and the various towns in question still, happily, survive. but even in badeslade's time the ouse was beginning to get, as he says, "choaked up," and he recalls the year when "keels could sail with forty tun freight miles from lynn towards cambridge at ordinary neip-tides, and as far as huntingdon with fifteen tun freight. and barges with ten chaldron of coals could sail up brandon river to thetford; and as far in proportion up the rivers mildenhall, &c., &c. by all which rivers the port of lynn was capable of the most extensive inland navigation of any port of england." how lynn served as the port for the great quantities of foreign produce and, also, for the hops and other commodities sent from london and the south-western counties for the sturbridge fair at cambridge has already been told (see page ). it was, also, through lynn and boston that a large proportion of our commerce with normandy, flanders and the rhine country was conducted; and lynn, especially, grew in wealth and importance, and further developed, as defoe found, into a town having considerable social attractions. concerning the witham, joseph priestley says, in his { }"historical account of the navigable rivers, canals and railways of great britain" ( ), it has been thought that previous to the norman conquest the river was a tideway navigation for ships to lincoln. that it was navigable at a very early period he thinks may be inferred from the fact that the fossdike canal, "an ancient 'roman work,'" was scoured out by henry i. in the year for the purpose of opening a navigable communication between the trent and the witham at the city of lincoln in order that that place, which was then in a very flourishing condition and enjoying an extensive foreign trade, might reap all the advantages of a more ready communication with the interior. another most important group of rivers, from the point of view of inland navigation, was the series which have their outlet in the humber. this group includes the yorkshire ouse and the trent, both naturally navigable. the ouse (york) is formed by the confluence of the ure and the swale sixty miles above the trent falls, where, after passing through york, selby, and goole, it joins the trent and forms the humber estuary. under a charter granted by edward iv., in the year , the lord mayor and aldermen of york were to "oversee and be conservators" of this river, as well as of the aire, the wharfe, the derwent, the don, and the humber, all of which are connected with it. of the city of york, as he found it in or about the year , defoe says:-- "no city in england is better furnished with provision of every kind, nor any so cheap, in proportion to the goodness of things; the river being so navigable and so near the sea, the merchants here trade directly to what port of the world they will; for ships of any burthen come up within thirty mile of the city, and small craft from sixty or eighty ton, and under, come up to the very city." the navigable trent was for many centuries the chief means of communication between south and north, and nottingham, as the capital of the trent district, became a place of great importance. it was along the trent that the king's messengers passed on their way to york, in preference to braving the dangers of the road through sherwood forest. the burgesses of nottingham were required to take charge of them as soon as they came to the river and conduct them safely to { }torksey, whose burgesses, in turn, had to take them to the humber, and so on up the tidal ouse to york. to the town of burton-on-trent by packhorse or waggon, down the trent by barge to hull, and thence by sailing vessel along the east coast and up the thames, was once a favoured route for the consignment of cheese from cheshire to the london market. in defoe's time the quantity of cheshire cheese thus passing along the trent, either for london or for east coast towns, was tons a year. owing to the state of the roads the trent route was the only practicable alternative the cheshire cheese makers had to what they called the "long sea" route to london, "a terribly long, and sometimes dangerous voyage" (says defoe) by way of the mersey, land's end, the english channel and the thames. in describing the conditions of navigation on the trent he tells us that, "the trent is navigable by ships of good burthen as high as gainsbrough, which is near forty miles from the humber by the river. the barges without the help of locks or stops go as high as nottingham, and further by the help of art to burton-upon-trent in staffordshire. the stream is full, the channel deep and safe, and the tide flows up a great way between gainsborough and newark. this, and the navigation lately, reaching up to burton and up the derwent to derby, is a great support to and encrease of the trade of those counties which border upon it." in speaking more fully of nottingham defoe says: "the trent is navigable here for vessels or barges of great burthen, by which all their heavy and bulky goods are brought from the humber and even from hull; such as iron, block-tin, salt, hops, grocery, dyers wares, wine, oyl, tar, hemp, flax, &c., and the same vessels carry down coal, wood, corn; as also cheese in great quantities from warwickshire and staffordshire." from an article "on inland navigations and public roads," by william jessop, published in the georgical essays, vol. iv. ( ), i gather that merchandise was carried on the trent at a cost of eight shillings a ton for a distance of seventy miles, and that "in point of expedition" vessels frequently made the journey of seventy miles and back in a week, including the time for loading and unloading--a degree of despatch which jessop evidently regarded as very creditable, since he adds, { }"this has been done by the same vessel for ten weeks successively, and would often be done if they were not obliged to wait for their lading." one of the affluents of the trent, the little river known as the idle, joins it at stockwith, miles from the junction of the trent with the humber; and seven miles up the idle is the once-famous "port" of bawtry. this particular place fulfilled all the conditions of what i have already described as the ideal port of olden days. not only was it far inland, bringing a considerable district into communication with the sea, but it was situated--eight miles south-east of doncaster--on the great north road, at the point where this road enters the county of york. until the navigation of the don was improved, under an act passed in , the hull, trent, idle and bawtry route was preferred to the hull, ouse, aire, don, and doncaster route alike for foreign imports into yorkshire and for yorkshire products consigned to london or to places abroad; and bawtry, known to-day, to those who know it at all, as only a small market town in yorkshire, was at one time of considerable importance. in the reigns of edward iii. and edward iv., as told by the rev. joseph hunter, in "the history and topography of the deanery of doncaster" ( ), the lords of the manor of bawtry were "of the prime of english nobility," while the market established there dated from the beginning of the thirteenth century. when the sovereign or any members of the royal family travelled in state to the north, they were usually met at bawtry by the sheriff of the county and a train of attendants. more to our present purpose, however, is the fact that, down to the opening of the second quarter of the eighteenth century this inland port of bawtry was the route by which most of the products of sheffield, of hallamshire, and of the country round about, destined for london, for the eastern counties, or for the continent, passed to their destination. from sheffield to bawtry was a land journey of twenty miles, and thus far, at least, packhorses or waggons had to be utilised over such roads as there then were. the idle is described by defoe as "a full and quick, though not rapid and unsafe stream, with a deep channel, which carries hoys, { }lighters, barges or flat-bottomed vessels out of its channel into the trent." in fair weather these vessels, taking on their cargo at bawtry, could continue the journey from stockwith, where the trent was entered, to hull; but otherwise the cargo was transhipped at stockwith into vessels of up to -ton burthen, which were able to pass from the humber along the trent as far as stockwith whether laden or empty. by means of this navigation, to quote again from defoe:-- "the town of bautry becomes the center of all the exportation of this part of the country, especially for heavy goods, which they bring down hither from all the adjacent countries, such as lead, from the lead mines and smelting-houses in derbyshire, wrought iron and edge-tools, of all sorts, from the forges at sheffield, and from the country call'd hallamshire, being adjacent to the towns of sheffield and rotheram, where an innumerable number of people are employed. also millstones and grindstones, in very great quantities, are brought down and shipped off here, and so carry'd by sea to hull, and to london, and even to holland also. this makes bautry wharf be famous all over the south part of the west riding of yorkshire, for it is the place whither all their heavy goods are carried, to be embarked and shipped off." one can thus well credit hunter's statement that there appear to have been several persons residing at bawtry in the middle ages who had been enriched by the commerce of "the port," as the place was, in fact, described in the hundred rolls; but when one thinks of the great extent of the industries of the sheffield district as carried on at the present day, it is certainly interesting to learn of the conditions under which they were developed, and the circuitous route by which their products once reached london and the markets of the world. the industries grew, however, in spite of all the difficulties in transport. the iron trade had existed in hallamshire since the reign of henry ii. ( - ). sheffield cutlery was well known in the middle ages. it was in high repute in queen elizabeth's time. in the early part of the eighteenth century the industries of the district were increasing at a greater rate than ever. in the weight of hallamshire manufactures sent in the direction of the humber was , tons; and the greater proportion of this quantity must have { }passed through the port of bawtry and thence along the river trent. the thames, england's greatest river, does not, so far as it serves the port of london and facilitates the immense trade there carried on, enter so much into consideration from the point of view of strictly "internal communication" as some of the lesser rivers already mentioned, the position alike of london, liverpool, newcastle, southampton, etc., relating to ports, docks, harbours and commerce in general rather than to the particular forms of inland transport here under review. one must not forget, however, that, above the port of london itself the navigation of the thames was, from very early times, of the greatest advantage to a considerable extent of country, and that the value of these services was further increased by various tributaries of the thames. the fact that settlement originally followed the course of rivers is abundantly shown by the number of cities, towns, monasteries, abbeys and conventual establishments set up of old in the thames valley. the convenience, also, of water transport must have had much to do with the locating of a university at oxford, on the thames, just as it did with the establishment of a university at cambridge, on the cam, each being thus rendered accessible to scholars from scotland and elsewhere who would have found it impracticable to make so long a journey under the early conditions of road travel. the thames became, further, the main highway for the various counties through which it flowed, included therein being some of the most fertile districts in the land; and, though london may owe its pre-eminence mainly to foreign trade, passing between the port of london and the sea, the facilities for communication offered above the port of london by the thames for the full extent of its navigable length were, in the pre-railway days more especially, of incalculable advantage both to the districts served thereby and to the metropolis itself. this advantage becomes still more striking when we take into account the rivers that form important tributaries of the thames. the lea was described in a statute of as "one of the great rivers, which extendeth from the town of ware till the water of the thames, in the counties of hertford, essex and { }middlesex"; and along this river there was carried at one time a very considerable quantity of produce and merchandise. the history of ware goes back to, at least, the ninth century, when the danes took their ships up to the town but were outmanoeuvred by king alfred, who diverted the stream, and left the vessels stranded. not only was the founding of ware on the spot where it stands due to the convenience of water communication, but ware itself was one of the ideal ports of the time, inasmuch as it was so far inland, and was in convenient reach of several counties. the navigation, as far as godalming, of the wey, which falls into the thames at weybridge, opened up a great part of surrey and the adjoining counties to water communication with london. in recording his visit to guildford, defoe says of the wey that a very great quantity of timber was carried along it, such timber being not only brought from the neighbourhood of that town, but conveyed by road from "the woody parts of sussex and hampshire above miles from it"; though he significantly adds that this was done "in the summer," the sussex roads being, as i have already shown, probably unequalled for badness, and especially in the winter, by those of any other county in england. defoe further says in regard to the wey that it was "a mighty support" to the "great corn-market" at farnham. meal-men (as he calls them) and other dealers obtained corn at farnham, and brought much of it by road to the mills on the wey, a distance of about seven miles. in these mills it was ground and dressed, and it was then sent in barges to london, "as is practiced," defoe adds, "on the other side of the thames for above fifty miles distance from london." the medway was another means of communication between a considerable extent of country and the thames. it was utilised, not alone for sending timber from the woods of sussex and kent to the port of london or elsewhere, but, also, for the distribution of general produce. defoe says of maidstone, the chief town on the medway, that "from this town and the neighbouring parts london is supplied with more particulars than from any single market town in england." in addition to these great groups of rivers, many single and minor rivers led to the opening up of inland ports which served in their day a most useful purpose. { }the exe allowed of exeter carrying on a considerable foreign trade. defoe tells of the "vast quantities" of woollen manufactures sent from exeter direct to holland, as well as to portugal, spain and italy. the dutch, especially, gave large commissions for the buying of devonshire serges, which were made not only in exeter but at crediton, honiton, tiverton and in all the north part of the county, giving abundant employment to the people. defoe speaks of the serge-market at exeter as, next to that at leeds, "the greatest in england." he had been assured, he says, that in this market from £ , to £ , worth of serges had been sold in a week. in the neighbouring county of somerset, taunton was the inland port to which coal conveyed in sea-going vessels from swansea to bridgwater was taken in barges along the navigable parrett. heavy goods and merchandise from bristol--such as iron, lead, flax, pitch, tar, dye-stuffs, oil, wine, and groceries of all kinds--were received there in the same way. from taunton these commodities were distributed, by packhorse or waggon, throughout the county. whatever the original capacity of rivers naturally navigable, there came a time when, by reason either of their inherent defects or of the use of larger vessels, they required a certain amount of regulation; and there came a time, also, when it was deemed expedient to render navigable by art many rivers that were not already adapted thereto by nature. in this way the necessity arose for much river legislation, together with much enterprise in respect to river improvement, in the days when the only alternatives to river transport were the deplorably defective roads. { }chapter xiv river improvement and industrial expansion the earliest legislation applying to navigable rivers referred only to the taking of salmon or to restrictions on weirs and other hindrances to navigation. regulations in regard to these matters began to be enforced in , and numerous statutes relating more especially to the removal alike of weirs, jetties, mills, mill-dams, etc., causing obstruction to boats, were passed; though in and subsequently there were complaints that the said statutes were not observed. the first act for the improvement of an english river was, according to clifford, as told in his "history of private bill legislation," a statute of ( hen. vi.), which appointed a commission "to survey, redress and amend all the defaults" of the river lea. six years later there was a further act which set forth that, owing to the number of shoals in the river, ships and boats could not pass as they ought; and the chancellor was authorised to appoint commissioners to remove the shoals. the commissioners were further empowered to take tolls from passing vessels, though the act was to be in force for only three years, and was, in effect, not renewed. we have here the introduction, not alone of the improvement of river navigation by act of parliament, but of the principle of toll-collection on rivers as a means of raising funds for defraying the cost, on the principle that those who benefitted should pay. it will, also, be seen that this first legislative attempt at river improvement related only to dredging and deepening the channel of the stream to which it applied. next, as we are further told by clifford, came the straightening of rivers, or their partial deviation by new cuts; and here, again, the lea stands first in the statutes. the preamble of an act ( eliz., c. ), passed in , "for bringing the river lea to the north side of the city of london," stated:-- { }"it is perceived by many grave and wise men, as well of the city of london as of the country, that it were very commodious and profitable both for the city and the country that the river of lea, otherwise called the ware river, might be brought within the land to the north part of the city ... through such a convenient and meet cut as may serve for the navigation of barges and other vessels, for the carrying and conveying as well of all merchandizes, corn and victuals, as other necessaries from the town of ware and other places to the city ... and also for tilt-boats and wherries for conveying of the queen's subjects to and fro, to their great ease and commodity." the corporation of the city of london were authorised to construct and act as conservators of the new channel, and commissioners in middlesex, essex and hertfordshire were again entrusted with the duty of freeing the river from shoals and shallows. a number of other acts relating to the lea followed, but mention need only be made here of one passed in which stated that, inasmuch as the trustees appointed under earlier enactments could not, without further advance in the rates they were already empowered to enforce, liquidate the charges falling upon them in respect to the outlay for works done on the river, they were authorised to increase those rates. in the seventeenth century, especially in the period following the accession of charles ii. to the throne ( ), much attention was paid to river improvement. a rapid expansion of commerce, of industries and of wealth had followed alike the planting of colonies in the west indies and on the continent of north america, the development of home manufactures, the reclamation of many waste spaces through the operation of enclosure acts, and the improvements brought about in cultivation. the need for better means of communication in order to open up districts then more or less isolated, to provide better transport for raw materials and manufactured goods, and to facilitate the carriage of domestic and other supplies needed by the increasing population, thus became more and more apparent. in many instances the condition of the roads and the prejudicial results upon them of heavy traffic were adduced as the main reason for a resort to improvements of river { }navigation. an act ( jas. i., c. ), passed in , for deepening the navigation of the thames from bercott to oxford, stated that it was designed "for the conveyance of oxford freestone by water to london, and for coal and other necessaries from london to oxford, now coming at a dear rate only by land carriage, whereby the roads are becoming exceedingly bad." it was further stated, in the preamble, that "the said passage will be very behoveful for preserving the highways leading to and from the said university and city and other parts thereabouts" which, owing to "the continual carriages by carts," had become dangerous for travellers in winter, "and hardly to be amended or continued passable without exceeding charge." in there was passed an act ( geo. ii., c. ), "for the betterment and more easy and speedy portage" on the medway of timber from the woods of sussex and kent, which timber could not be "conveyed to a market but at a very large expense by reason of the badness of the roads in these parts." various far-seeing, patriotic and enterprising individuals took a leading part in pioneering the movement in favour of improved river navigation which, for a period of about years--until, that is, the advent of the canal era--was to be developed with much zeal and energy, though not always with conspicuous success. especially prominent among these pioneers were william sandys, francis mathew and andrew yarranton; and it is only fitting that some mention should here be made of these three worthies, each of whom shared the fate of so many other pioneers, in so far as he was a man in advance of his time. sir william sandys, of ombersley court, in the county of worcester, obtained, in , an act of parliament which granted powers for making navigable the warwickshire avon from the severn, at tewkesbury, to the city of coventry, and, also, the teme, on the west side of the severn, towards ludlow. some of the works thus carried out are still rendering good service. in he secured further acts for making navigable the rivers wye and lugg and the brooks running into them in the counties of hereford, gloucester and monmouth. here he anticipated much of what was to be done a century later by brindley, in connection with canal construction, inasmuch as he obtained powers not simply to deepen the beds of the { }rivers and to straighten their courses, but to construct new channels, to set up locks, weirs, etc., to provide towing-paths, and to dig new channels where required. this last-mentioned proposal constituted, as will be seen later on, the idea that led up to the eventual transition from navigable rivers to artificial canals, the new "cuts" on the former being the connecting link between the two. the wye was found to be an exceptionally difficult stream to tame and control, and sandys' attempt to make it navigable by locks and weirs on the pound-lock system was a failure. the scheme was, however, afterwards carried through on different lines; and in summing up the results john lloyd, junr., says in "papers relating to the history and navigation of the rivers wye and lugg" ( ):-- "although, through the uncertainty of its stream, the wye was never brought to answer the purpose of a regular conveyance, its navigation has proved of great service throughout the county of hereford. throughout the last[ ] century most of the coal consumed in hereford and its neighbourhood was brought up in barges after a flood. various other heavy articles, such as grocery, wines and spirits, having been first conveyed from bristol to brockweir in larger vessels, were carried up thence in barges at a much easier rate than by land carriage. in return the boats were freighted with the valuable oak timber, bark, cider, wheat, flour and other produce of the county. the opening of the towing-path for horses by the act of gave a further impetus to navigation, and especially to the trade in coal from lidbrook, and while every river-side village could boast of its quay and its barge, the quay walls at hereford were thronged with loading and unloading barges.... "since the opening of the hereford, ross and gloucester railway, in , and the consequent dissolution of the towing-path company, nearly all navigation on the wye above monmouth has ceased." francis mathew addressed, in , to oliver cromwell, "lord protector of the commonwealth," a powerful argument in favour of "the opening of rivers for navigation," the benefit thereof which he sought to show being, as his title-page said, "exemplified by the two avons of salisbury and bristol, { }with a mediterranean passage by water for billanders of thirty tun between bristol and london." the writer described his little book as a plea that "england's fair valleys and rich inlets through which so many noble rivers insinuate themselves might with the imitation of the industrious netherlanders be made in many places docible of navigation, to the inestimable comfort, satisfaction, ease and profit of the publick." "rivers," he further observed, "may be compared to states-men, sent abroad; they are never out of their way so they pass by great cities, marts, courts of princes, armies, leaguers, diets and the like theatres of action, which still contribute to the increase of their observation; so navigable rivers, the more places of note they pass by, the more they take up, or bring, still gleaning one commodity or other from the soyl they pass through, and are supplied by every town they touch at with imployment." into the details of his scheme for establishing direct water communication between bristol and london there is now no need to enter. suffice it to say that the two cities had to wait many years before the idea he foreshadowed was carried into effect. but i must not omit to mention one of the arguments advanced by mathew in support of his general proposals, since it has a direct bearing on the conditions of road transport at this period, and the reasons based thereon in favour of improvements in river navigation. thus he urged, among other things, "the facility of commerce from one place to another, and the cheapness of transportation of commodities without so much grinding and plowing up our high-wayes, which maketh them now in so many places impassable. you shall see," he continued, "western waggons, which they call plows, carry forty hundred weight; insomuch as between bristol and marlborough they have been enforced at a hill they call bagdown-hill, to put twenty beasts, horse and oxen, to draw it up: this great abuse by this means would be taken away, by keeping our high-wayes pleasant; and withal, by this transportation of commodities by river, the price of commodities would fall." oliver cromwell had other matters than roads and rivers to engage his attention, and francis mathew got from him no favourable response to his proposals. but in he dedicated to charles ii. and "the honorable houses of { }parliament" a new edition of his scheme under the title of "a mediterranean passage by water from london to bristol, and from lynne to yarmouth, and so consequently to the city of york for the great advancement of trade and traffique." in the course of his dedication he said:-- "observing by traversing this island, that divers rivers within the same may be moulded into such form as will admit of vessels of thirty tun burden, or upwards, to sail in, unto the great relief of divers countryes in this island, by means of the same, at less than half the rates now paid for land carriage ... and considering at how easy a charge ... the same may be brought to pass ... i humbly presume ... to become importunate to your most excellent and royal majesty for the enterprize of and ready effecting this work, being an undertaking so heroick, that 'tis beyond the level of any others to attempt." among the reasons he now advanced in favour of removing the obstructions and difficulties to be met with in the making of rivers navigable were the "wonderful improvement to much trade," and especially the trade in coal; "the great ease of the subject"; increased public revenue-- "and what is well and worthy of observing, the highwayes hereby will be much preserved, and become a very acceptable work to the country, which now notwithstanding their great cost, is a grievous toil as well to man as beast, being now so unnecessarily plowed up by waggons of prodigious burthens, which in this island are dayly travelling." andrew yarranton, who brought out in a remarkable book, entitled "england's improvement by land and sea," might be described as a pioneer of protection as well as an early champion of improved inland communication. he considered that the best way of fighting the dutch, who were then a source of trouble to the country, would be, not to go to war with them, but to capture their trade and commerce. to this end he elaborated a scheme under which, instead of importing every year "vast quantities" of "linen cloth of all sorts," of iron, and of woollen goods, england would "settle" these industries here, fostering them by means of import duties to be imposed on foreign manufactures for a period of seven years, and supplementing those duties by the setting-up of a general system of banking, itself, in turn, { }made secure by a general land register. the linen industry, he advised, should be established in the counties of warwick, leicester, northampton, and oxford, where, among other considerations, navigable rivers would be available for the purposes of transport; and he goes on to say, in words which, though written more than two and a quarter centuries ago, seem only to have anticipated much that we hear from the tariff reformers of to-day, that by this means, "we should prevent at least two millions of money a year from being sent out of the land for linen cloth, and keep our people at home who now go beyond the seas for want of imployment here." in his references to the iron trade, yarranton speaks of the "infinite quantities of raw iron" then being made in monmouthshire and the forest of dean, and he says that the greatest part of what he calls the "slow iron" made in the forest of dean "is sent up the severne to the forges, into worcester-shire, shropshire, stafford-shire, warwick-shire and cheshire, and there it's made into bar-iron: and because of its kind and gentle nature to work, it is now at sturbridge, dudly, wolverhampton, sedgley, wasall, and burmingham and thereabouts wrought into all small commodities and diffused all england over, and thereby a great trade made of it; and when manufactured sent into most parts of the world"; though in worcestershire, shropshire, staffordshire, warwickshire and derbyshire there were already great and numerous ironworks in which, he adds, "much iron is made of metal or iron stone of another nature quite different from that of the forest of deane." having sketched his ideas of such reorganisation of industry as would, in his opinion, help the country both to beat the dutch without fighting and, also, to provide work for all the poor people in england, he proceeded: "that nothing may be wanting that may conduce to the benefit and incouragement of things manufactured, as in cheap carriage to and fro over england, and to the sea at easie rates, i will in the next place shew you how the great rivers in england may be made navigable, and thereby make the commodities and goods carried, especially in winter time, for half the rate they now pay." the schemes he especially recommended in this connection were for the establishing of communication between the { }thames and the severn, and between the dee and the severn; and he argued that there would be a further advantage from the point of view of the national food supply, as an improvement in river navigation would allow both of corn being more easily brought to london and of the setting up of great granaries, at oxford for the advantage of london, and at stratford-on-avon for the benefit of towns on the severn. he further says:-- "i hear some say, you projected the making navigable the river stoure in worcestershire; what is the reason it was not finished? i say it was my projection, and i will tell you the reason it was not finished. the river stoure and some other rivers were granted by an act of parliament to certain persons of honour, and some progress was made in the work; but within a small while after the act passed it was let fall again. but it being a brat of my own i was not willing it should be abortive; therefore i made offers to perfect it, leaving a third part of the inheritance to me and my heirs for ever, and we came to an agreement. upon which i fell on, and made it compleatly navigable from sturbridge to kederminster; and carried down many hundred tuns of coales, and laid out near one thousand pounds, and then it was obstructed for want of money, which by contract was to be paid." to describe, in detail, all the various schemes for the improvement of river navigation which were carried out, more especially in the second half of the seventeenth century and the first half of the eighteenth (irrespective of the many others that succumbed to the complaint spoken of by yarranton--want of money), would take up far too much space; but a few typical examples, which have a direct bearing on the development of british trade, commerce and industry, may be of interest. until the year , when the improvement of the mersey was taken in hand, liverpool had no chance of emerging from a situation of almost complete isolation, and of competing with ports some of which, though now ports no longer, or far outstripped by the liverpool of to-day, were then of vastly greater importance than liverpool from the point of view of national commerce. nature, unaided by man, had not been so considerate to { }liverpool as she had been to bristol, to lynn, to hull or to boston. these, and other ports besides, stood on streams which were naturally navigable for more or less considerable distances into the interior of the country, whereas the mersey was not naturally navigable for more than about fifteen or twenty miles above liverpool. the navigation even of the estuary as far as liverpool presented difficulties and dangers in stormy weather, owing to sand-banks, violent currents and rapid tides; but beyond runcorn the mersey was not then navigable at all. nor were the tributaries of the mersey--the irwell and the weaver--navigable. liverpool was thus shut off from communication with the interior by river, and for a long time the town was not in a much better position as regards roads. no roman road came nearer to liverpool than warrington, and, down to (as i have already shown), the road between warrington and liverpool was not passable for coaches or carriages. on the east liverpool was practically isolated from the rest of the country by the high range of hills dividing lancashire from yorkshire, and there were the still more formidable hills of the lake district on the north. the early route for a journey to the south from liverpool was to cross the mersey at monk's ferry, birkenhead, and then pass through the forest of wirral to chester. here there was found a roman road, along which a coach to london was running in the reign of james ii. ( - ), whereas the first coach from warrington to london did not start until . so long as our commercial relations were mainly with continental or other ports which could be more conveniently reached from the east or the south coast, or from bristol, and so long as the industries of lancashire and yorkshire were but little developed, or found an outlet abroad in these other directions, the comparative isolation of liverpool was a matter of no great national concern; though how, in effect, liverpool compared with other seaports or river-ports in the thirteenth century is shown by the fact (as told by thomas baines, in his "history of the commerce and town of liverpool") that whereas the aggregate value of trading property in liverpool, lancaster, preston and wigan--the only four towns in lancashire which then acknowledged possessing such property at all--was given in an official return for the { }year as £ , equal to £ of our present money; the equivalent value to-day of the trading property of bristol at the same period would be £ , , and that of nottingham, then the great inland port of the trent, £ , . that was a time when, as the same authority says, "liverpool stood nearly at the extremity of the known world." but when the known world was enlarged by the addition thereto of the new world of america, and when commerce with the lands across the atlantic began to develop, and the industries of lancashire and yorkshire to grow apace, the need for improved communications with the port of liverpool became more and more acute. such need was the greater, too, because of the fate that was overtaking the much earlier and hitherto far more prosperous port of chester. established as a fortress of the first order by the romans, at the western end of one of their famous roads, and favoured alike by saxons and normans, chester had developed into a flourishing commercial port from which, more especially, intercourse with ireland was conducted, and it was still the port through which travellers passed to or from ireland for a long time after liverpool began to compete actively for the irish goods traffic. richard blome, who visited chester in , describes it in his "britannia" as "the usual place for taking shipping for ireland, with which it has a very great intercourse, and a place of very considerable trade." but, as against the advantage it offered as an inland port, situate twenty-two miles from its estuary, and dealing with the products of an especially productive county, chester had the disadvantage due to the enormous masses of sand which were driven into the dee by atlantic storms, to the full fury and effects of which the open estuary was exposed. this evil began to grow serious soon after the conquest, and the port of chester steadily declined as the port of liverpool steadily rose, the trade lost by the one helping to build up the prosperity of the other. the benefits resulting from the improvements carried out on the mersey when, under the act of , navigation was extended from runcorn to warrington, began to be immediately felt; but they also brought out more clearly the great necessity for still further amendment. how merchandise { }went across country in those days is shown in a letter written in by thomas patten, a liverpool citizen who had taken a leading part in the movement that led to the mersey being made navigable as far inland as warrington. referring to a certain consignment of tobacco which was to be despatched from liverpool to hull, on behalf of a trader at stockport, patten says that, as the tobacco could not be carried in the hogshead all the way by road from warrington to hull, and as the sea route from liverpool to hull would have taken too long, the tobacco was first forwarded by cart, in twenty or thirty hogsheads, from the quay at warrington to stockport. there it was made up into canvas-covered parcels, and then sent on by packhorse--three parcels to a horse--a distance of thirty-six miles by road to doncaster, and from doncaster it was conveyed by river for the remainder of the distance to hull. baines, who gives the letter in his "history of lancashire and cheshire," remarks: "such was the mode of conveying goods up to that time, and for upwards of thirty years after. it is evident that there could be no great development of trade and commerce so long as the modes of communication were so tedious and costly." the improvement on the mersey itself led to a further scheme for making the mersey and irwell navigable from warrington to manchester, thus establishing direct water communication between liverpool and manchester, as an alternative to transport by road. a survey of the two rivers was carried out in , and a prospectus was issued in which it was said:-- "the inland parts of lancashire and yorkshire being favoured with a great variety of valuable manufactures in woollen, linen, cotton, &c., and that in very great quantities, has made that neighbourhood as populous, if not more so, than (london and middlesex excepted) the same extent of any part of great britain. the trades of these counties extend considerably through the whole island, as well as abroad, and the consumption of groceries, irish wool, dyeing stuffs, and other important goods consequently is very great; but as yet not favoured with the conveniency of water carriage, though providence, from the port of liverpool up to the most considerable inland town of lancashire, manchester, has afforded the best, not yet employed, rivers of mersey and irwell for that purpose." { }it was not until the passing of the mersey and irwell navigation act, in , that the work of rendering these rivers navigable between warrington and manchester was begun, and another twenty years elapsed before it was completed. the result of this "conveniency of water carriage" when it was, at last, obtained, was to reduce the cost of transport of goods and merchandise from forty shillings a ton by road to ten shillings a ton by river. the goods traffic between liverpool and manchester at this time amounted to about tons a year; but it had, prior to the provision of water transport, naturally been restricted to the quantity that could be carried by the packhorses, carts and waggons of those days. hence the river navigation gave the advantage of a transport not only cheaper in price but greater in capacity. it will be seen later on, however, that the mersey and irwell navigation subsequently developed disadvantages for which a remedy was sought in the construction of the duke of bridgewater's canal. an act, passed in , for making the river weaver navigable from winsford bridge, beyond northwich, to frodsham bridge, near the junction of the weaver with the mersey (a distance of about twenty miles), was not only of further material advantage to the port of liverpool but a first step in an important development of the salt mines of cheshire. these mines have been described as "incomparably the richest of the salt mines and brine pits of england"; but at the date in question their working was greatly hampered by transport costs and difficulties in the matter both of fuel and of the distribution of the salt, when made. fuel was required for heating the furnaces and the pans in which the brine was evaporated into salt; and in the earliest days of the industry the salt-makers used for this purpose faggots of wood brought from the forests on the borders of cheshire and staffordshire. as long as these supplies were available, the principal seat of the salt trade was at nantwich, in the higher part of the weaver, and near to the forests where the wood was obtained. but the forests got depleted in course of time, and the industry then moved to other works lower down the river which could be operated with coal brought from the lancashire coal-field. this coal, however, had to be carried, by cart or packhorse, a distance of twelve { }or fourteen miles; and inasmuch as two tons of coal were required for every three tons of fine salt made, the cost of transport of raw materials was a serious item. as for the manufactured salt, that was distributed in the same way, even such small consignments as could then alone be sent to liverpool having to be taken thither by road. in the circumstances the salt trade remained comparatively undeveloped in cheshire while it was making great advance at newcastle-on-tyne, where the coal readily obtained, by water, from the neighbouring coal-fields was used in the production of salt from sea-water. in the time of the stuarts the manufacture of salt was one of the most important of newcastle's industries and articles of export. when, under the act of , the weaver was made navigable as far as the northwich and winsford bridge salt works, the land journey for lancashire coal was reduced from twelve or fourteen miles to five or six miles, and the salt could be sent direct to liverpool by water. the greatest impetus to the cheshire salt industry (to the consequent detriment, and eventual extinction, of that at newcastle-on-tyne, though with a further advantage to the trade of liverpool) was, however, not given until the makers were enabled to get their coal all the way by water through the supplementing of the now navigable weaver by the sankey canal--of which more hereafter. in the same year that the act for improving the navigation of the weaver was passed, parliament sanctioned a no less important work on the river douglas, which passes through wigan, and has its outlet in the ribble estuary, at a point about nine miles west of preston. wigan is situated on a part of the lancashire coal-fields which contains some of the richest and most valuable seams of coal to be found in lancashire; but down to the only means of distributing this coal was by cart or packhorse. the opening of the douglas to navigation allowed of the coal being sent by water to the estuary of the ribble, and thence forwarded up the ribble to preston, or, alternatively, along the coast either to lancaster in the one direction or to liverpool and chester in the other. these were tedious routes, and the voyage from the ribble estuary along the coast was often very dangerous on account both of storms and of sand-banks. the lines of water { }communication were, nevertheless, so much cheaper than land carriage that they were followed for about fifty years--until a safer and more expeditious waterway was provided through the opening of the leeds and liverpool canal.[ ] thomas baines, from whose "history of the town and commerce of liverpool" i glean these details, adds:-- "with all its defects, the douglas navigation may be regarded as the primary cause of the manufacturing prosperity of the town of preston, which it was the first means of supplying with cheap fuel for its workshops and factories. it may, also, be considered as one of the early causes of the commercial prosperity of liverpool, which has always been much promoted by the possession of cheap and abundant supplies of coal and salt." the rendering of the aire and calder navigable, under an act of parliament passed in , was an important event for the then rising manufacturing towns of leeds, wakefield, halifax, bradford and huddersfield, situate on or within a convenient distance of one or other of these two rivers which, joining at castleford, ten miles below leeds, thence flow in a combined stream to their junction with the yorkshire ouse, and so on to the humber and the ports of hull and grimsby. the event in question was no less interesting because it marked a further development in an industrial transition which constitutes a leading factor in the economic history of england. the textile industries originally established in the eastern counties by refugees from the netherlands and france afterwards spread through the southern and western counties, attaining in each district to a very considerable growth long before they were of any importance in those northern counties with which they were afterwards mainly to be associated. the migration to the north occurred at a time when the woollen industries were paramount and the cotton industries had still to attain their subsequent stupendous growth. it occurred, also, long before the aire and the calder were made navigable, so that, in this case, we cannot say the industrial centres already mentioned as being situated on or near to those two yorkshire rivers were set up there, as the towns on the river { }severn had mainly been, in order to secure the convenience of river transport. the chief reason why the bleak and barren moorlands of the north were preferred to the fair and fertile plains of the south for the further expansion of these great national industries was that, in the days when the steam-engine of james watt was as yet far off, the heavier rainfall in the english highlands of the north and north-west, together with the more numerous streams pouring down mountain sides both of greater height and of greater extent than in the south, gave to the cloth-makers, not only the abundant water supply they wanted, but, also, the particular kind of motive power, through the use of water-wheels, on which they then mainly relied for the working of their machinery. it was in the interests of this power derived from falling water that the textile industries first migrated from the eastern counties--where the streams flow but slowly, and from comparatively slight elevations--to the western counties, where there are streams coming from hills of from to feet in height. these, for a time, answered better the desired purpose, though only to be more or less discarded, in turn, for northern or north-western streams which, with a greater rainfall, had their rise on heights of from to feet, and were so numerous that almost every one of the "small" manufacturers who set up business for himself on the otherwise cheerless slope of a yorkshire hill-side could have a brook, a rivulet, or a mountain torrent of his own, or, at least, make abundant use of one before it passed on to serve the purposes of his neighbour. in alluding to the woollen trade as affected by these conditions, dr aikin remarks in his "description of the country from thirty to forty miles round manchester" ( ), "it would seem as if a hilly country was particularly adapted to it, since it almost ceases where yorkshire descends into the plain"; though the position has, of course, been entirely changed by the general resort to steam in preference to water power. other industries, besides those relating to textiles, whether woollen or, at a later period, cotton, took advantage of the same favourable conditions, as shown in the case of sheffield, where the earliest of the cutlers who were to make hallamshire { }goods famous throughout the world settled down at the confluence of the sheaf and the don because those streams afforded them the best available means of operating their tilt-hammers.[ ] in the early stage of this transition period the streams were desired and utilised solely as an aid to manufacturing purposes. as the towns or the industrial centres developed, however, there grew up increasing need for improved means of transport--supplementary to the roads of that day--in order, more especially, to facilitate the better distribution of the commodities then being produced in ever-increasing quantities. it was this need that led to the act of , giving powers for rendering the aire and the calder navigable. petitions in favour thereof were presented by the "clothiers" (as cloth-makers were then called) of various towns likely to derive advantage from the scheme, and some of these petitions afford an interesting insight into the conditions under which the cloth industry was carried on in yorkshire and lancashire in the closing years of the seventeenth century. a petition from the "clothiers" of leeds said, "that leeds and wakefield are the principal towns in the north for cloth; that they are situated on the rivers ayre and calder, which have been viewed, and are found capable to be made highways which, if effected, will very much redound to the preservation of the highways and a great improvement of trade; the petitioners having no conveniency of water carriage within sixteen miles of them, which not only occasions a great expense, but many times great damage to their goods, and sometimes the roads are not passable." the clothiers of "ratchdale" (rochdale) stated that they were "forty miles from any water carriage"; those of halifax said they "have no water carriage within thirty miles, and much damage happens through the badness of the roads by the overturning of carriages"; and those of wakefield said of the scheme:-- "it will be a great improvement of trade to all the trading towns of the north by reason of the conveniency of water { }carriage, for want of which the petitioners send their goods twenty-two miles by land carriage (to rawcliffe) the expense whereof is not only very chargeable but they are forced to stay two months sometimes while the roads are impassable to market, and many times the goods receive considerable damage, through the badness of the roads by overturning." the general conditions of life in yorkshire towns in defoe's day, when the aire and calder had been made navigable, but when bad roads still dominated the situation from a social and domestic standpoint, are shown in the account he gives of his visit to halifax. after explaining how the people devoted themselves mainly to cloth production and imported most of their household requirements, he says:-- "their corn comes up in great quantities out of lincoln, nottingham and the east riding; their black cattle and the horses from the north riding, their sheep and mutton from the adjacent counties every way, their butter from the east and north riding, their cheese out of cheshire and warwickshire, more black cattle also from lancashire. and here the breeders and feeders, the farmers and country people find money flowing in plenty from the manufactures and commerce; so that at halifax, leeds and the other great manufacturing towns, and adjacent to these, for the two months of september and october a prodigious quantity of black cattle is sold. "this demand for beef is occasioned thus: the usage of the people is to buy in at that season beef sufficient for the whole year which they kill and salt, and hang up in the smoke to dry. this way of curing their beef keeps it all the winter, and they eat this smoak'd beef as a very great rarity. "upon this foot 'tis ordinary for a clothier that has a large family, to come to halifax on a market day, and buy two or three large bullocks from eight to ten pounds a-piece. these he carries home and kills for his store. and this is the reason that the markets at all those times of the year are thronged with black cattle, as smithfield is on a friday, whereas all the rest of the year there is little extraordinary sold there." we have here full confirmation of what i have already said as to the way in which people in former days provisioned { }their houses in the autumn for the winter months, during which the roads would be impassable and food supplies from outside unobtainable. the trading conditions of the period are shown by the accounts of the once-famous cloth market of leeds given, in his "ducatus leodiensis; or the topography of leedes," by ralph thoresby ( ), and, also, in his "tour," by the ever-picturesque defoe. thoresby, who speaks of "the cloathing trade" as being "now the very life of these parts," tells us that the leeds cloth-market was held on the bridge over the aire every tuesday and saturday down to june , , when, for greater convenience, it was removed to briggate, the "spacious street" leading from the bridge into the town. already, in thoresby's day, leeds was the manufacturing capital of the district, and he speaks of its cloth-market as "the life not of the town only but of these parts of england." defoe, in his account of the market, describes it as "indeed a prodigy of its kind, and not to be equalled in the world." he tells how, making their way to leeds at an early hour in the morning from the surrounding district, the "clothiers," each bringing, as a rule, only a single piece of cloth, assembled at the various inns, and there remained until the ringing of a bell, at seven o'clock in the summer, or a little later in the winter, announced that trestles, with boards across them for the display of the cloth, had been duly fixed in the roadway, and that the market had opened. thereupon the clothiers, without rush or haste, and in the most solemn fashion, would leave their inns, and step across the footpath to the "stalls" in the roadway. standing quite close to one another, they then put down their cloth on the boards, which would soon be completely covered with rolls of cloth arranged side by side. while the clothiers were so engaged, the merchants would have left their houses, entered the market, and begun their inspection of the goods displayed for sale, so that within fifteen minutes of the ringing of the bell the market would be in full operation. when a merchant saw a piece of cloth which suited his requirements he would lean across the boards, and whisper in the ear of the clothier the price he was prepared to give, this practice of whispering being adopted in order that the { }other clothiers standing immediately alongside should not hear what was said. the clothier agreed or disagreed, without any attempt at "bargaining." if satisfied with the offer, he would instantly pick up the cloth, and go off with it to the merchant's house, where the transaction would be completed. within less than half an hour the clothiers would be seen thus leaving the market; in an hour the business would be over, and at half-past eight the bell would be rung again, to announce that the market had closed and that there must be no more sales. any clothier who had not sold his cloth would then take it back with him to his inn. "thus," says defoe, "you see ten or twenty thousand pounds value in cloth, and sometimes much more, bought and sold in little more than an hour.... and that which is most admirable is 'tis all managed with the most profound silence, and you cannot hear a word spoken in the whole market, i mean by the persons buying and selling; 'tis all done in whisper.... by nine a clock the boards are taken down, and the street cleared, so that you see no market or goods any more than if there had been nothing to do; and this is done twice a week. by this quick return the clothiers are constantly supplied with money, their workmen are duly paid, and a prodigious sum circulates thro' the country every week." it is no less interesting--and, also, no less material to the present inquiry as to the influence of transport conditions on trade--to learn how the cloth purchased in these particular circumstances was disposed of in days when travel through the country was still attended by so many difficulties. the supplies intended for home use were distributed in this manner: leeds was the head-quarters of a body of merchants who were in the habit of going all over england with droves of packhorses loaded up with the cloth which had been bought in the open-air market, as already described. these travelling merchants did not sell to householders, since that would have constituted them pedlars. they kept to the wholesale business, dealing only with shopkeepers in the towns or with traders at the fairs; but they operated on such a scale that, defoe says, "'tis ordinary for one of these men to carry a thousand pounds value of cloth with them at a time, and having sold it at the fairs or towns { }where they go, they send their horses back for as much more, and this very often in the summer, for they chuse to travel in the summer, and perhaps towards the winter time, tho' as little in winter as they can, because of the badness of the roads." other of the buyers on the leeds market sent their purchases to london, either carrying out commissions from london traders or forwarding on consignment to factors and warehousemen who themselves supplied wholesale and retail dealers in london, besides despatching great quantities of coarse goods abroad, especially to new england, new york, virginia, etc. the russian merchants in london also sent "an exceeding quantity" to st petersburg, riga, sweden, dantzic and pomerania. still another group of buyers was represented by those who had commissions direct from traders in holland, germany and austria, the business done by the members of this group being "not less considerable" than that done by the others. it was mainly on account of this london and foreign trade that the act for making the rivers aire and calder navigable was obtained, there being secured a waterway communication by means of which the cloth could be sent direct from leeds, wakefield and other industrial centres to hull, there to be shipped to london or to continental ports, as desired. the facilities for navigation thus afforded subsequently had a still greater influence on the development of the yorkshire coal trade, coal being taken from wakefield or leeds to the humber, and thence conveyed up the ouse to york, or to the numerous towns situate on the trent or other rivers. by the same navigation the yorkshire towns received most of their supplies, either as imported into hull from abroad, or as received there from london or the eastern counties, these supplies including butter, cheese, salt, sugar, tobacco, fruit, spices, oil, wine, brandy, hops, lead, and all kinds of heavy or bulky goods. for the merchants of hull this meant a business to be compared only with that of the merchants of lynn and bristol. some of the many river improvement acts passed in the period here under review were not secured without a certain amount of opposition, and the case of the don, more especially, { }offers a striking example of that conflict of rival interests, even in the case of rivers, which later on was to give rise to many a parliamentary battle in the days, first of canals, and then of railways. how the cutlers of sheffield and the steel manufacturers and others of hallamshire in general had been accustomed to forward their goods by road to the inland port of bawtry, thence to be sent down the idle and on by the trent and the humber to hull, has already been told. (see pp. - .) there came a time, however, when this preliminary land journey of twenty miles from sheffield to bawtry was found of great disadvantage to the trade of the district; and in leave was given to bring in a bill to allow of the don, already navigable to doncaster, being rendered navigable to sheffield, in order that merchandise might be sent by that stream direct from sheffield to the ouse, and so on to the humber and the port of hull. but the opposition offered by representatives of the bawtry, trent and other interests--who rightly foresaw in the scheme impending ruin for most of the traffic on the idle--was so powerful that the bill was thrown out. a further bill, with a like object, was introduced, and strongly supported, in the following session. it was still more vigorously opposed, there being what hunter describes as "a war of petitions," and it was not proceeded with. for a time nothing further was done; but in the meanwhile sheffield was rapidly advancing to the position of one of the leading industrial centres in the country, and the compulsory twenty-mile journey by road to the chief port of consignment for sheffield goods sent to london or abroad when there was a river flowing through sheffield itself, was felt to be an intolerable infliction, as well as a serious prejudice to the local industries. in , therefore--twenty-four years after the last of the earlier attempts--the master cutler of sheffield and the cutlers' company petitioned parliament to allow the improvement of the don navigation to proceed. the corporation of doncaster sent a like petition, and so did the corporations of manchester, stockport and several other places. but the established interests still controlled the situation, and the design once more failed. four years later ( ) the sheffield cutlers made still { }another effort, and this time, although the opposition was again very powerful, it was agreed in committee of the house of commons that power should be given to the cutlers' company to make the don navigable from doncaster, not to sheffield itself, but to tinsley, three miles from sheffield; and, also, to maintain a turnpike road from sheffield to tinsley. a bill to this effect was passed, and in the corporation of doncaster obtained powers to remove certain obstructions from the don; but, under an act of , the carrying out of the whole scheme was transferred to an independent body, the company of proprietors of the river don navigation. it proved, says hunter, writing in , "eminently beneficial to the country"; but the reader will see that the sheffield cutler or manufacturer still had to forward his goods three miles by road before they could be sent, first along the don, then along the ouse, then down the humber to hull, and then (if they were consigned to london) by sea along the east coast, and finally up the thames to the metropolis. these were the conditions until the year , when the three-mile journey by road was saved by the opening of a canal between sheffield and the don at tinsley, affording, as was said, "easy accommodation with the coast and london." { }chapter xv disadvantages of river navigation it will have been assumed, from the two preceding chapters, that rivers, whether naturally navigable or rendered navigable by art, were of material service in supplementing defective roads, in opening up to communication parts of the country that would then otherwise have remained isolated, and in aiding the development of some of the greatest of our national industries. while this assumption is well founded, yet, as time went on, the unsatisfactory nature of much of the inland river navigation in this country became more apparent. some of the greatest troubles arose from, on the one hand, excess of water in the rivers owing to floods, and, on the other, from inadequate supplies of water due either to droughts or to shallows. the liability to floods will be at once apparent if the reader considers the extent of the areas from which rain water and the yield of countless springs, brooks, and rivulets may flow into the principal rivers. in the report of the select committee of the house of lords on conservancy boards, , there was published a list which showed that the rivers in england and wales had catchment basins as follows:-- miles and upwards " to miles " " " " " " " " " ----- total the rivers having catchment basins of miles or upwards are given thus:-- area of tributaries. { } name. county. length. basin. united length. miles. sq. miles. no. miles. humber york mersey lancaster nen northampton ouse york ½ ouse cambridge ¼ severn gloucester thames -- ¼ trent lincoln ½ tyne northumberland witham lincoln wye hereford in times of heavy storms or of continuous rainy weather, rivers which drain up to square miles of country may well experience floods involving a serious impediment to navigation. the severn, which brings down to the bristol channel so much of the water that falls on plinlimmon and other welsh hills, and is joined by various streams, draining, altogether, as shown above, an area of square miles, is especially liable to floods. in a paper read before the institution of civil engineers in , mr. e. l. williams stated that floods had been known to raise the height of the severn ft. in five hours, and they had not infrequently caused it to attain a height of ft. above the level of low water. the thames and the trent, also, are particularly liable to floods, and so, down to recent years, when considerable sums were spent on its improvement, was the weaver. it has been asserted in various quarters that less water runs in english rivers now than was probably the case centuries ago, when the abundant forests caused a greater rainfall. this may be so, but, on the other hand, a number of witnesses examined before the select committee of expressed the belief that the water flowing into the rivers had increased of recent years, owing to the improved land drainage, which drained off rapidly and sent down to the sea much rain water that previously would have passed into the air again by evaporation. in the matter of high tides, "rees' cyclopædia" ( ) says that the tide "often" rises at the mouth of the wye { }to a height of ft.; while "chambers' encyclopædia" gives ft. above low-water mark as the height to which the tide has been known to rise in the same river at chepstow. of the floods in the yorkshire ouse rodolph de salis says in "bradshaw's canals and navigable rivers of england" ( ): "the non-tidal portion of the river above naburn locks is liable to floods, which at york often reach a height of ft., and have been known to attain a height of ft. in. above summer level." the liability of english rivers to a shortage of water would seem to be as great as their liability to excess of it. in archdeacon plymley's "general view of the agriculture of shropshire" ( ) there is published a table, compiled by telford, giving the heights reached by the severn between and . it shows that, as against some very serious floods and inundations, the river often, during the dates mentioned, ran for considerable periods with a stream of no more than sixteen inches of water; that it frequently had less than a foot of water; and that in times of extreme drought the depth of water had been reduced to nine inches. in , the period during which barges could be navigated even down-stream with a paying load did not exceed two months, and "this interruption," it is stated, "was severely felt by the coal-masters, the manufacturers of iron, and the county in general." the navigation of the trent is declared in "rees' cyclopædia" to be "of vast importance to the country"; yet the authority of john smeaton, who had examined the river in , is given for the statement that in several places the ordinary depth of water did not exceed eight inches. in the upper part of the river there were, in , more than twenty shallows over which boats could not pass in dry weather without flushes of water. the inadequate depth of water may be due, not alone to drought, but to the formation of shoals or shallows owing to the rapid fall of the river, its excessive width, or the amount of sediment brought down from the hill-sides or washed from the bed over which it flows. alternatively, much silting-up may be caused by the sand brought into the river by incoming tides, and not always washed out again by out-going tides. { }in an undated pamphlet, entitled "reflections on the general utility of inland navigation to the commercial and landed interests of england, with observations on the intended canal from birmingham to worcester," by the proprietors of the staffordshire canal, stress is laid on the trouble caused by the shoals in the severn, and some facts are given as to the way in which traders had to meet the uncertainties offered by river transport. the pamphlet says:-- "a principal defect of the present conveyance arises from the shoals in the river severn above worcester, an evil incurable. the fall from stourport to diglis, near worcester, is nineteen feet; and the river is, what this fact alone would prove, full of shoals. these shoals impede the current of the stream, and retain the water longer in the bed of the river. let these shoals be removed, the water will pass off, and the whole of the river become too shallow for navigation. locks on the river could alone correct this defect; but these would overflow the meadows, impede the drainage of the land, and do an injury to the landowners, which parliament can never sanction. "this defect gives rise to others--to _uncertainty as to the time of the conveyance_--for it is only at particular periods that there is water sufficient for the navigation--to delays from a want of men[ ] and expence from the increased number which the strong current requires. it gives rise, also, to a double transhipping of commodities sent from birmingham down the severn, first from the canal at stourport, and secondly at or near worcester, as the barges which this shoal water will admit are too small to navigate much below. "the delays and damage incidental to such a navigation have induced the manufacturers of birmingham to employ land carriage at a great expence--many waggons are constantly employed at the heavy charge of l. per ton from birmingham to bristol alone to convey goods or manufactures which cannot await the delay or damage to which in the present navigation they are necessarily exposed;--large { }quantities of manufactures and the materials of manufactures are likewise sent to diglis to be conveyed by the severn in vessels that cannot navigate higher up the river." in the trent frequent shallowness of water was due, partly to the excessive breadth of the stream, in places, and partly to the large quantity of "warp," or silt, brought into the river from the humber estuary by the tides, and left there until scoured out again when the river was in flood. the wash group of rivers was specially liable to the silting-up process. nathaniel kinderly, writing of the position at lynn in , said: "the haven is at present so choaked up with sand that at low-water it is become almost a wash, so as to have been frequently fordable." of the nen he says it "cannot possibly be preserved long, but is in danger of being absolutely lost," owing to the silting-up of its bed. as for the witham, the welfare of the port of boston was threatened so far back as the year , judging from an act ( & chas. ii. c. ) passed in that year, the preamble of which stated:-- "whereas there hath been for some hundreds of yeares a good navigacion betwixt the burrough of boston and the river of trent by and through the citty of lincolne, and thereby a great trade managed to the benefit of those parts of lincolnshire, and some parts of nottinghamshire, and yorkshire, which afforded an honest employment and livelyhood to great numbers of people. but at present the said navigacion is much obstructed and in great decay by reason that the rivers or auntient channells of witham and fossdyke, which runn betwixt boston and trent are much silted and landed up and thereby not passable with boats and lyters as formerly, to the great decay of the trade and intercourse of the said citty and all market and other towns neare any of the said rivers, which hath producet in them much poverty and depopulation. for remedy thereof and for improvement of the said navigacion, may it please your most excellent majestie that it may be enacted," etc. among various other conditions of river navigation may be mentioned--the extremely serpentine courses of some of the rivers, two miles often having to be made for each mile of real advance; the ever-varying channels in some of the streams; the arduous labour of towing against strong { }currents, especially when, in the absence of towing-paths for horses, this work had to be done by men; and the destruction, by floods, of the river banks or of works constructed on them. i have here sought to catalogue, with passing illustrations, the principal troubles attendant on inland river navigation. that the physical disadvantages in question have continued, in spite of all river improvement acts, and notwithstanding a considerable outlay, may be seen from the report issued, in , by the royal commission on canals and waterways. in regard to the thames the report says that the commercial traffic above staines has become a very insignificant quantity, and "if the thames is to be converted into an artery of commercial navigation, there is need for much improvement above windsor, but still more so above reading." on the severn there is now practically no navigation above stourport. much money has been spent on the river since the severn navigation act of ; the channel has been deepened and dredged, and, "up to worcester, at any rate, the river is now one of the best of english waterways." but, in spite of the considerable sums expended on improvements, the traffic fell from , tons in to , tons in , a decline in seventeen years of over , tons. high water in the river renders it impossible for the larger estuary-going vessels to pass under certain of the bridges, so that, as one witness said, "a vessel may go up when the water is low, and a freshet may come, and the vessel may not be able to get back again for perhaps many days." the warwickshire avon, once navigable from stratford to the severn, is now navigable only from evesham, and even from that point "there is hardly any commercial traffic." the trent is navigable to-day to the junction with the trent and mersey canal, at derwent mouth, "when there is plenty of water." the report says:-- "the great difficulty on the trent, in its present condition, is the want of sufficient depth of water in dry seasons; in wet seasons traffic is impeded by floods. the river trent is a fine river and a most important part of the main route connecting the midland waterway system and the town and colliery district of nottingham with each other and with the estuary of the humber. it appears, for want of necessary { }works of improvement, to be in an inefficient state for these purposes. there is, at present, no certainty that a barge carrying seventy or eighty tons of cargo from the port of hull to newark or nottingham will arrive at its destination without being lightened on its way. a witness said, 'very often the traffic in dry seasons is left waiting for two or three weeks on the road between hull and newark, which, of course, is a very poor way of getting on with business.'" on the ouse (york), below naburn lock, the conservators find it difficult to keep the channel at its proper depth by reason of the great deposits of floating sand, or "warp," distributed by the tides, the scour of the river being insufficient to carry the warp out to sea. vessels are at times unable to navigate for several days, obstructive shoals are formed, and the line of the channel is frequently altered. on the bedford ouse the traffic on the upper parts of the river has come to an end, and, though there is still a small amount between lynn and st. ives, "the river is in many places very shallow and choked with weeds and mud, so that barges are often stopped for days, and the use of steam traction, up to st. ives, is impossible." the nen from northampton to wisbech is "navigable with difficulty"--where the water is sufficient at all--by barges of the smallest size; but sometimes navigation even by these barges is impracticable for weeks together in certain parts of the river. between northampton and peterborough the course of the nen is extremely tortuous. "it would," says the report, "take a barge nearly three days to travel the sixty-one miles by water, while the railway can carry goods from northampton to peterborough in two hours." it is thus evident that rivers, whether navigable naturally or rendered so by art, must be regarded as water highways possessed of considerable disadvantages and drawbacks in respect to inland traffic when they are on the scale and of the type found in england. dependent on the forces of nature--ever active and ever changing--rivers must needs be the exact opposite of the fixed and constant railway line unless those forces can be effectually controlled under conditions physically practicable and not too costly. "rivers," says l. f. vernon-harcourt, in his book on "rivers and canals," "are not always suitable for navigation, in their { }natural condition, even in the lower portions of their course; and, owing to the continual changes taking place in their channels and at their outlets, they are liable to deteriorate if left to themselves." left to themselves the english rivers, like the roman and the british roads, were for a thousand years after the departure of the romans, and the liability to deteriorate may well have shown itself during this period, before even the earliest of the river improvement acts was passed; though the deterioration due to the ceaseless operations of nature may obviously continue in spite of all acts of parliament, and notwithstanding a great expenditure of money. the fate that has overtaken so many english rivers which once counted as highways of commerce may be compared with the fate that, also through the operation mainly of natural causes, has overtaken many of our once flourishing sea ports. when, in the thirteenth century, liverpool was raised to the rank of a free borough, there were between thirty and forty places which, whether situated on the coast or some distance inland (as in the case of york), were counted as seaports. their order of importance at that time is shown by the following table (taken from baines's "history of liverpool"), which gives the taxation then levied on each; though the amounts stated should be multiplied by fifteen to ascertain their equivalent in the money of to-day:-- £ s. d. london boston southampton lincoln lynn hull york dunwich grimsby yarmouth ipswich colchester sandwich dover rye winchelsea seaford shoreham chichester exmouth dartmouth esse fowey pevensey coton whitby scarborough selby barton hedon norwich orford { }of these ports the majority have ceased to be available for the purposes of foreign commerce. dunwich, once a considerable town, the seat of a bishopric, and the metropolis of east anglia, had its harbour and its royal and episcopal palaces swept away by encroachments of the sea. hedon, in the east riding of yorkshire, returned two members of parliament in the reign of edward i., and was a more important centre of trade and commerce than hull; but its harbour, getting choked up by sand, was converted into a luxuriant meadow, and the ports of hull and grimsby now reign in its stead. sandwich, romney, hythe, all the cinque ports except dover, and various other ports, got choked up with sand, while others that have been able to retain a certain amount of traffic are to-day only the ghosts of their former selves. it is certain that in the case of english navigable rivers of any type, much might require to be done, and spent, in order to keep navigation open. with most of them it was a matter of carrying on an unceasing warfare with elemental conditions. patriotic men like sandys, mathew and yarranton might bring forward their schemes, companies might raise and spend much money on river navigation, and municipal corporations might do what they could, within the range of their means and powers; but the inherent defects and limitations of the navigation itself were not always to be overcome by any practical combination of patriotism, enterprise and generous expenditure even when--and this was far from being always the case--the requisite funds were actually available. vernon-harcourt is of opinion that "the regulation, improvement and control of rivers constitute one of the most important, and, at the same time, one of the most difficult, branches of civil engineering"; and this difficulty must have been found still greater in the last half of the seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth centuries, when river improvement was engaging so much attention, but when civil engineering was far less advanced than is the case to-day. whatever, too, the degree of success attained in the efforts made to overcome the results of floods and droughts, of shoals and shallows, of river mouths choked by sand washed in from the estuaries, of streams unduly broad from lack of { }adequate embankments, and of ever-varying channels, whatever the energy and the outlay in meeting or trying to meet conditions such as these, there still remained the consideration that, even assuming all the difficulties in regulating, improving and controlling could be surmounted, river transport itself was an inadequate alternative to bad roads, ( ) because of the length of the land journey that might have to be made before the river was reached; and ( ) because even the best of the rivers only served certain parts of the country, and left undeveloped other districts which were unable to derive due benefit from their great natural resources by reason of defective communications. each of these points calls for some consideration, in order that the position of the traders at the period in question may be clearly understood. in regard to the distance at which manufacturers might be situated from a navigable river, i would point to the position of the pottery trade in north staffordshire. the pottery industry had been introduced into burslem in , though it made comparatively little progress until the time of josiah wedgwood, who began to manufacture there in . one of the reasons for the slow growth, down to his day, was the trouble and expense the pottery-makers experienced in getting their raw materials and in sending away their manufactured goods. following on the improvement of the weaver, under the act of , there were three rivers of which the pottery-makers in north staffordshire made more or less use--the weaver itself, the trent and the severn. on the weaver the nearest available point to the potteries was winsford bridge, a distance of twenty miles by road. on the trent the principal river-port for the potteries was willington, about four miles east of burton-on-trent, and over thirty miles by road from the potteries. to the severn inland ports the distances by road from the potteries, via eccleshall and newport, were:-- from to miles. newcastle (staff.) bridgnorth burslem " ½ newcastle (staff.) bewdley burslem " ½ { }from winsford the pottery-makers received, by pack-horse or waggon, supplies of clay which had been sent from devonshire or other western counties by sea to liverpool, and there transhipped in barges, in which it was sent twenty miles down the weaver, thence to be carried twenty miles by road. from willington they received flints which had been brought by sea, first to hull, then forwarded by barge along the humber to the trent, and so on to willington, to be carried thirty miles by road. manufactured pottery for london or for the continent was sent by road to willington, and then along the trent and the humber to hull, where it was re-shipped to destination. exports were, also, despatched either to the severn, along which they were taken in barges to bristol, or via the weaver to liverpool. concerning the severn route it is stated in "the advantages of inland navigation" ( ), by richard whitworth, afterwards m.p. for stafford: "there are three pot-waggons go from newcastle and burslem weekly, through eccleshall and newport to bridgnorth, and carry about eight tons of pot-ware every week, at l. per ton. the same waggons load back with ten tons of close goods, consisting of white clay, grocery and iron, at the same price, delivered on their road to newcastle. large quantities of pot-ware are conveyed on horses' backs from burslem and newcastle to bridgnorth and bewdley for exportation--about one hundred tons yearly, at l. s. per ton." the cost of land transport, along roads of the worst possible description, was considerable in itself. in a pamphlet published in , under the title of "a view of the advantages of inland navigations, with a plan of a navigable canal intended for a communication between the ports of liverpool and hull" (said to have been written by josiah wedgwood and his partner, bentley), it is stated that between birmingham and london the cost of road transport amounted to about eight shillings per ton for every ten miles, but along the route of the proposed canal, and in many other places, the cost was nine shillings per ton for every ten miles. the pamphlet adds, on this particular point:-- "the burthen of so expensive a land carriage to winsford and willington, and the uncertainty of the navigations from those places to frodsham, in cheshire, and wilden, in { }derbyshire, occasioned by the floods in winter and the numerous shallows in summer, are more than these low-priced manufactures can bear; and without some such relief as this under consideration, must concur, with their new established competitors in france, and our american colonies, to bring these potteries to a speedy decay and ruin." it was, again, as we further learn from whitworth's little work, by the navigable severn and bristol that even manchester manufacturers sent their goods to foreign countries in the days when liverpool had still to attain pre-eminence over the south-western port. every week, we are told, packhorses went from manchester through stafford to bewdley and bridgnorth, these being in addition to two broad-wheel waggons which carried about tons of cloth and manchester wares in the year by the same route, at a cost of £ s. per ton. the distance, via stafford, from manchester to bridgnorth is miles; that from manchester to bewdley is miles, and what the roads at this time were like we have already seen. the quantity of salt sent from cheshire to willington, to proceed thence along the trent to hull for re-shipment to london and elsewhere, is put in josiah wedgwood's pamphlet at "many hundred tons" a year. the navigable trent was thus taken advantage of for the purposes of distribution; but to get to willington from the northwich or other salt works in cheshire involved a road journey of about forty miles. whitworth also gives much information as to what he calls the "amazing" development the iron industry had undergone along the severn valley at the time he wrote ( ); and he more especially mentions that the total annual output of twenty-two furnaces and forges situate within a distance of four miles of the route of a canal he proposed should be constructed between bristol, liverpool, and hull was £ , --a figure which in those days appears to have been regarded as something prodigious. but the iron-works in question, though having the advantage of the navigable severn in one direction, suffered from transport disadvantages in another, since their cumberland ore (of which, says whitworth, a very small furnace used at least tons a year) was brought down the weaver to winsford, in cheshire, whence it had to be transported by road to the works on the severn "at six { }shillings per ton for a very small distance." on the basis of , tons only (though, we are told, "they frequently send iron to ... chester and many other places at a great distance"), whitworth calculates that the forges in question were then paying a net sum of £ , a year for land transport, only, of the ore and pig-iron they received, and of the manufactured iron they sent away. "i have dwelt thus long," he says, in concluding his somewhat copious details, "upon the iron trade to show that no branch of manufacture can reap more immediate benefit from the making of these canals for navigation, or more sensibly feel the want of them when other ports of the kingdom have them." of coal, he further shows, some , tons a year were going from the shropshire collieries to nantwich, on the weaver, at a cost of ten shillings per ton for land carriage only, apart from the supplementary cost of river transport. in the opposite direction the farmers of cheshire and staffordshire brought about tons of cheese annually, by road, to bridgnorth fair--presumably for redistribution thence via the severn among the various centres of population in the western counties, and also in wales. the cheese was carried in waggons, and, on the basis of the journey taking, altogether, three or four days, whitworth calculates that the cost to the farmers in getting the cheese to bridgnorth must have been about thirty shillings for every two tons. one of the subsidiary disadvantages attendant on river transport of which mention should be made was the pilfering of goods that went on, more especially when the barges were stopped in the open country, perhaps for days together, by reason of shallow water. in "a view of the advantages of inland navigations" it is said, on this point:-- "it is, also, another circumstance not unworthy of notice in favour of canals, when compared with river navigation, that as the conveyance upon the former is more speedy and without interruptions and delays, to which the latter are very liable, opportunities of pilfering earthen wares, and other small goods, and stealing and adulterating wine and spirituous liquors, are thereby in a great measure prevented. the losses, disappointments and discredit of the manufacturers, arising from this cause are so great that they frequently choose to send their goods by land at three times { }the expense of water carriage, and sometimes even refuse to supply their orders at all, rather than run the risque of forfeiting their credit and submitting to the deductions that are made on this account. "we may also add, with respect to the potteries in staffordshire, that this evil discourages merchants abroad from dealing with those manufacturers, and creates innumerable misunderstandings between them and the manufacturers." these complaints seem to have been made not without good cause. in it had been found expedient to pass an act "for the more effectual prevention of robberies and thefts upon any navigable river, ports of entry or discharge, wharves or quays adjacent." any person stealing goods of the value of forty shillings from any ship, barge, boat, or any vessel on any navigable river or quay adjacent thereto, was, on conviction, to _suffer death_! the penalty seems to have been modified into one of transportation; and in thirteen persons were convicted under the new act, and sent across the seas. many traders could not derive any advantage from river transport. this was the case with the cheese-makers of warwickshire when they sought to compete with those of cheshire, or, alternatively, with those of gloucester, who could take their cheese by road to lechdale or crickdale, on the thames, and send it down that river to london. "the warwickshire men," says defoe, "have no water carriage at all, or at least not 'till they have carry'd it a long way by land to oxford, but as their quantity is exceedingly great, and they supply not only the city of london but also the counties of essex, suffolk, norfolk, cambridge, huntingdon, hertford, bedford, and northampton, the gross of their carriage is by mere dead draught, and they carry it either to london by land, which is full an hundred miles, and so the london cheese-mongers supply the said counties of essex, suffolk and norfolk, besides kent and sussex and surrey by sea and river navigation; or the warwickshire men carry it by land once a year to sturbridge fair, whence the shopkeepers of all the inland country above named come to buy it; in all which cases land-carriage being long, when the ways were generally bad it made it very dear to the poor, who are the chief consumers." { }while, also, bedfordshire was producing "great quantities of the best wheat in england," the wheat itself had to be taken, from some parts of the county, a distance of twenty miles by road to the markets of hertford or hitchin, whence, after being bought and ground into flour, it was taken on, still by road, a further distance of twenty-five or thirty miles to london. the farmers and millers of bedfordshire were thus unable to enjoy the same advantages of river transport as were open to those on the wey or the upper thames. in addition to all this, representations came from many different quarters of the neglect of natural advantages and other opportunities where means of transport apart from bad roads were wholly lacking. numerous pamphlets issued in favour of one canal scheme or another pointed to the opportunities that were being lost or allowed to remain dormant. in, for example, "a cursory view of the advantages of an intended canal from chesterfield to gainsborough," published in , it was said: "the country contiguous to chesterfield abounds chiefly with bulky and ponderous products, such as lead, corn, timber, coals, iron-stones and a considerable manufacture of earthen ware, all of which have been for ages past conveyed by land, at a prodigious expense." an advocate of a navigable canal between liverpool and hull had much to say about the undeveloped resources of that district. whitworth declared that there were "many large mines of valuable contents," such as stone, iron ore, and marble, together with "quarries of various sorts," that would be "opened and set to work," if only inland navigation were better developed, while the cheapening of the cost of raw materials would, he declared, lead manufacturers to embark on new enterprises. archdeacon plymley told how, even at the date he wrote ( ), there was, in many of the midland and southern parishes of shropshire, "no tolerable horse-road whatever," adding, "and in some that have coal and lime these articles are nearly useless from the difficulty of bringing any carriage to them." however substantial, therefore, the results to which the navigable rivers had led, it was found by the middle of the eighteenth century that there was real need for entirely new efforts, and these were now to be made in the direction of supplementing alike rivers and roads by artificial waterways. { }chapter xvi the canal era the initiation, in the middle of the eighteenth century, of the british canal era was primarily due, not to any examples in canal construction already offered by the ancients, by the chinese and other eastern nations, or by continental countries, but to a natural transition from certain forms of river improvement already carried out in england. i have shown, on page , that when, in , sir william sandys obtained his act for making the wye and the lugg navigable, he secured powers, not only for the usual deepening and embanking of the river itself, but for cutting new channels where these might be of advantage, in order to avoid windings of the stream or lengths thereof which offered exceptional difficulties to navigation. in proportion as river improvement increased, the adoption of these "side cuts," as they were called, with pound-locks to guarantee their water supply, was more and more resorted to, and they became one of the most important of the measures by which it was sought to overcome the difficulties that river navigation so often presented. in the corporation of liverpool and a number of merchants of that port obtained parliamentary powers to deepen three streams flowing from the st. helens coal fields and combining to form the sankey brook, which drains into the mersey at a point two miles below warrington. the promoters sought, by making the sankey brook navigable, to bring liverpool into direct communication with the twelve or fourteen rich beds of coal existing in the st. helens district of lancashire, and thus to gain a great advantage for their town. for many generations the fuel consumed at liverpool consisted mainly of peat, or turf, of which there were great quantities in lancashire. at one time, says baines, in his { }"history of the commerce and town of liverpool," the turbaries around the town were considered of great value. the act passed in for the navigation of the douglas had allowed of coal from the pits at wigan being taken down that river to the ribble estuary, and then along the coast to the mersey estuary, and so on to liverpool; but the advantage which would be offered by a shorter and safer route was obvious, and the sankey brook scheme was taken up with much earnestness. the original idea, that of making the brook itself capable of being navigated, was found to be impracticable. not only did the stream wind a great deal, but after heavy rains on the surrounding hills the whole valley through which the brook ran was liable to floods, and these would have effectively stopped navigation so long as they continued. happily the powers obtained by the promoters included one which allowed of "a side cut"; and the first plan was abandoned in favour of a canal separate from the brook, though cut parallel with it somewhat higher on the hillsides, where the floods would be less felt. the canal was to be provided with locks, overcoming the fall of feet in twelve miles to the mersey, together with a pound, fed by the brook, on the highest level, to ensure an adequate water supply. the immediate result of the construction of this pioneer canal was, not only to provide a convenient coal supply for liverpool, but, also, in conjunction with the earlier rendering of the weaver navigable, to put the salt industry of cheshire in direct water communication with the lancashire coal-fields. these advantages led ( ) to a great expansion of the cheshire salt industry; ( ) to a substantial increase in the export of salt from liverpool; and ( ) to the ruin of the salt trade of newcastle-on-tyne, since, when the makers on the weaver could readily get an abundance of coal, they, with their great natural stores of brine noted for its superlative quality and strength had a great advantage over the makers on the tyne, who obtained their salt from the waters of the sea. it is thus incontestable that the sankey brook canal both started the canal era and formed the connecting link between the river improvement schemes of the preceding { }years and the canal schemes which, themselves a great advance thereon, were to be substituted for them, only to be supplanted in turn by the still further development in inland communication brought about by the locomotive. all the same, it was the canals of francis, duke of bridgewater, as constructed by james brindley, a remarkable genius and a great engineer, which gave the main incentive to the canal movement. the chief purpose of the bridgewater canals was to meet the deficiencies of the mersey and irwell navigation by providing new waterways, cut through the dry land, and carried across valleys and even over rivers without any connection with streams already navigable or capable of being rendered navigable,--an advance on the precedent established by the sankey canal. the duke's first artificial waterway was from his collieries at worsley to the suburbs of manchester. his coal beds at worsley were especially rich and valuable; but, although they were only about seven miles from manchester, and although manchester was greatly in need of a better coal supply for industrial and domestic purposes, it was practically impossible to get the coal carried thither from worsley at reasonable cost. the seven-mile journey by bad roads was not to be thought of. the alternative was transport by the mersey and irwell navigation, which was, in fact, within convenient reach of the collieries. but the company of proprietors would not abate their full charge of s. d. per ton for every ton of coal taken along the navigation even in the duke's own boats, and in the duke obtained powers to construct an independent canal. possessing no technical skill himself (though he is said to have been greatly impressed by what he had seen, in his travels, of the grand canal of languedoc, in the south of france), he called in james brindley to undertake the carrying out of his plans. born in , in the high peak of derbyshire, and apprenticed to a wheelwright whose calling he adopted, brindley had been brought up entirely without school learning. though in his apprenticeship days he taught himself to write, his spelling was so primitive that even in his advanced years he wrote--in a scarcely decipherable hand--"novicion" for navigation, "draing" for drawing, "scrwos" for screws, { }"ochilor servey" for ocular survey, and so on. but he made up for his lack of education by being a perfect genius in all matters calling for mechanical skill, combining therewith a quickness of observation, a fertility of resource, and a power of adaptability which led to no problem being too great for him to solve, and no difficulty too great for him to overcome. arthur young, who had opportunities of judging of his work and character, speaks of his "bold and decisive strokes of genius," and tells of his "penetration, which sees into futurity, and prevents obstructions unthought of by the vulgar mind merely by foreseeing them." under brindley's direction the canal from worsley to manchester was duly constructed, and, though a professional engineer had derided, as "a castle in the air," brindley's design of carrying the canal on a viaduct over the irwell at barton (in order to maintain the waterway at the same level, and so avoid the use of locks down one side of the river valley and up the other), the result showed that the new plan (sanctioned by a further act obtained in ) was perfectly feasible, and had been carried out with complete success. to coal consumers in manchester the new waterway meant that they could obtain their fuel at half the price they had previously paid, while to the duke it meant that he now had a market for all the coal his collieries could produce. the canal from worsley to manchester was opened for traffic in july, ; but before the financial results of the one scheme had been established the duke had projected another and still more ambitious scheme--that of a canal between manchester and liverpool, on the surveys for which brindley started in september of the same year. the need for a further improvement in the transport conditions between manchester and liverpool was undeniable. the opening of the mersey and irwell navigation, under the act of , had been of advantage when bad roads were the only means of communication; but there were disadvantages in river transport which were now felt all the more because in forty years both manchester and liverpool had made much progress, and the necessity for efficient and economical transport between the two places was greater than ever. the mersey and irwell navigation followed, in the first place, a very winding course, the bends and turns being such { }that the rivers took from thirty to forty miles to pass a distance of, as the crow flies, not more than twenty or twenty-five. then the boats could not pass from liverpool up to the first lock, above warrington bridge, without the assistance of a high tide, and they could only pass the numerous fords and shallows higher up the stream in great freshes or, in dry seasons, by the drawing of great quantities of water from the locks above. alternatively, there might be an excess of water due to winter floods, and then navigation would be stopped altogether. aikin, in referring to the navigation in the book he published in , says: "the want of water in droughts, and its too great abundance in floods, are circumstances under which this, as well as most other river navigations, has laboured." he adds: "it has been an expensive concern, and has, at times, been more burthensome to its proprietors than useful to the public." even in the most favourable conditions of tide or water supply, the boats had to be dragged up and down the stream by men, who did the work of beasts of burden until the construction of the rival waterway led to the navigation proprietors employing horses or mules instead. that there were great delays in the river transport, occasioning much loss and inconvenience to manchester traders, will be easily imagined. as it happened, too, whether the navigation were burthensome to the proprietors or not, they took the fullest advantage they could out of their monopoly, at the expense of the traders. they maintained the highest rates in their power, and when goods were damaged in transit, or when serious losses were sustained through delays, they refused all redress. it is no wonder that, in all these circumstances, the manchester merchants were often obliged to return even to the bad roads for their transport, and this although road carriage between manchester and liverpool cost forty shillings a ton, as against twelve shillings a ton by river. the traders of each town welcomed the duke of bridgewater's proposal to construct a competitive waterway which would be navigable at all times, independently of tides, of droughts and of floods, would be nine miles shorter than the rivers, and the tariff on which for the goods carried was not to exceed six shillings per ton. { }manchester residents were no less in need of improved communication than were the manchester and liverpool traders. smiles, in his "life of james brindley," speaks of the difficulty experienced in supplying the increasing population with food, and says: "in winter, when the roads were closed, the place was in the condition of a beleaguered town, and even in summer, the land about manchester itself being comparatively sterile, the place was badly supplied with fruit, vegetables and potatoes, which, being brought from considerable distances, slung across horses' backs, were so dear as to be beyond the reach of the mass of the population. the distress caused by this frequent dearth of provisions was not effectually remedied until the canal navigation became completely opened up." nevertheless, the opposition offered to the duke of bridgewater's new scheme was vigorous in the extreme. his first project for taking the worsley coals to manchester by canal had gone through unopposed; but the second one, which seemed to threaten the very existence of the mersey and irwell navigation, put the proprietors thereof on their most active defence. just as those having vested interests in the idle and the trent had opposed the improvement of the don, so now did the river interests rise in arms against the canal interests, foreshadowing the time when these, in turn, would fight against the railways. "not even," says clifford, in his "history of private bill legislation," "the battles of the gauges, or any of the great territorial struggles between our most powerful railway companies, were more hotly contested than the duke of bridgewater's attack in - upon the monopoly of the mersey and irwell navigation." when the duke applied for powers to construct his canal from manchester to runcorn, where it would connect with the mersey, the proprietors of the mersey and irwell navigation petitioned against it on the ground that there was no necessity for the canal as the mersey and irwell navigation, with which it would run parallel, could convey more goods than the existing conditions of trade required; that the canal could confer no real advantage on the public; that the proprietors of the river navigation had spent over £ , thereon; that "great part of their respective fortunes" was at stake; that they had expended their money on the { }navigation on the faith of their being protected by parliament; and that for parliament now to allow a canal to be established to compete with them would be a gross interference with their vested rights. active opposition was also offered by landowners whose property was to be either taken for the canal or, as they argued, would be deteriorated by it in value; and still more opposition came from traders interested in the river navigation. the controversy of the pro-canal and anti-canal parties even got mixed up with politics, brindley writing in his notebook that "the toores mad had agane ye duk" ("the tories made head against the duke"). but, in the result, the duke got his bill, and brindley proceeded to make the canal. it proved to be a far more costly work than had been anticipated. in a total length of about twenty-four miles from longford bridge, manchester (where it connected with the worsley canal), to runcorn, it passed through a bog with a quicksand bottom; it crossed two rivers; it required numerous aqueducts, and it necessitated the provision of many road bridges and culverts, together with a flight of locks at runcorn to overcome the difference between the canal level and the mersey level, this being the first occasion on which locks of this kind had been constructed in england. even the duke of bridgewater's ample fortune did not suffice to meet the expense of the costly work he had thus taken upon himself. there came a time when his means were exhausted, and he found the greatest difficulty in replenishing them. no one either in liverpool or in manchester would honour for him a bill for £ on a then doubtful enterprise. there were saturday nights when the duke had not sufficient money to pay the men's wages, and when he had to raise loans of £ or £ from among his tenants. he reduced his personal expenditure to £ a year, while the recompense that brindley received from him for carrying out schemes which were to be the wonder of england and introduce a new era in locomotion never exceeded three-and-sixpence a day, and was more often only half a crown a day. the duke eventually surmounted his financial difficulties by borrowing, altogether, £ , from messrs. child, the { }london bankers, and the new canal was partly opened for traffic in , although the runcorn locks were not completed till . the total amount spent by the duke on his two canals was £ , . in the duke added to the usefulness of his manchester-to-runcorn canal by establishing passenger boats which could accommodate sixty passengers, and on which they were carried twenty miles for a shilling. he afterwards had larger boats, holding from to passengers, the fares on these being s., s. d. and s. d. per twenty miles, according to class. each of these boats, says macpherson, in his "annals of commerce," was "provided with a coffee house kept by the master; wherein his wife serves the company with wine and other refreshments." the effect of the new canal on the trade and commerce of manchester and liverpool was considerable. it diverted to liverpool the stream of export traffic which had previously gone from manchester via bridgnorth and the severn to bristol; it enabled manchester manufacturers to obtain raw materials more readily from liverpool, to supplement the cheaper supplies of coal they were already obtaining from worsley; and it opened up the port of liverpool to a wider stretch of country than could otherwise benefit from the facilities thereof, to the advantage both of liverpool itself and of industrial lancashire, though other canal schemes, leading to like results, were to follow. even before the manchester and runcorn canal was opened for traffic, brindley had started on a much bolder project. the new scheme was one for a canal connecting the mersey with the trent, and, also, with the severn, thus opening up direct inland water communication between liverpool, hull and bristol, and affording an alternative to road transport not only for the potteries, but, by means of branch canals, for the industrial centres of staffordshire and worcestershire, then, as it were, more or less landlocked. in the same year ( ) in which the bill for the construction of the sankey canal was obtained, the corporation of liverpool already had under consideration a scheme for a canal from the mersey to the trent; but no definite action was then taken, and it was left for private enterprise to carry { }out the idea. the chief promoters were earl gower (ancestor of the duke of sutherland), the duke of bridgewater, the earl of stamford, josiah wedgwood, and various other landowners and manufacturers. parliamentary powers were obtained in , and the work of construction, as planned by brindley, was begun at once. the name of "grand trunk" was given to the undertaking, the idea being that the waterway would form the main line of a system of canals radiating from it in various directions, and linking up the greater part of the country south of the trent with the three ports mentioned. we have here the first suggestion of any approach to a real system of inland communication, as applying to the country in general, which had been attempted since the romans made the last of their great roads in britain. apart from the natural limitations of navigable rivers, the turnpike roads so far constructed had been chiefly designed to serve local interests, and successive rulers or governments had either failed to realise the importance of carrying out a well-planned scheme of inland communication, embracing a great part even if not the whole of the country, or had been lacking in the energy, or the means, to supply what had become one of the greatest of national wants. there was thus all the more credit due to the little group of far-sighted, enterprising and patriotic individuals whose names i have mentioned that they should themselves have undertaken work which was to have an important influence on the industrial and social conditions of the country. yet the nature of the conditions under which the trent and the mersey section of the grand trunk system was made afforded an early example of the physical difficulties attendant on canal construction in england which were to be a leading cause of the decline of canals as soon as the greater advantages of the railway and the locomotive had been established. canals were superior to rivers in so far as they could be taken where rivers did not go, and could be kept under control in regard to water supply without the drawbacks of floods or droughts, of high tides, or of being silted up by sand or mud. it is, indeed, reported that when, after he had made a strong pronouncement in favour of canals, james brindley was asked by a parliamentary committee, { }"then what do you think rivers are for?" he replied, "to supply canals with water." on the other hand, water would not flow up-hill in canals any more than in rivers, and in the making and operation of canals there was, literally as well as figuratively, a great deal of up-hill work to do. between the mersey and the trent there were considerable elevations which formed very difficult country for water transport. these elevations had to be overcome by the gradual rising of the canal, by means of locks, to a certain height, by the construction, at that point, of a tunnel through the hills, and by a fresh series of locks on the other side, to allow of a lower level being reached again. the rise of the trent and mersey canal from the mersey to the summit at harecastle, near the staffordshire potteries, was ft., a final climb of ft. being made by means of a flight of thirty-five locks. through harecastle hill there was driven a tunnel a mile and two-thirds in length, with a height of ft. and a breadth of ft. in.[ ] south of this tunnel the canal descended to the level of the trent, a fall of ft., by means of forty locks. in addition to this the canal, in its course of miles, had to pass through four other tunnels and be carried across the river dove by an aqueduct of twenty-three arches and at four points over windings of the trent, which it followed to its junction therewith at wilden ferry. these engineering difficulties were successfully overcome by brindley, and the canal was opened for traffic in . the benefits it conferred on industry and commerce, having in view the unsatisfactory alternative means of transport, were beyond all question. english traders saw established across the island, from the mersey to the humber, a line of inland navigation which, apart from the long and tedious voyage round the coast, and, also, from the scarcely passable roads, was the first connecting link in our national history between the ports of liverpool and hull. but of even greater importance were the facilities for making use of either or both of these ports--the one on the west coast, and the other on the east coast--which were opened up to { }manufacturers and traders in the midland districts, and especially when the trent and mersey canal was supplemented by the wolverhampton (now the staffordshire and worcestershire) canal, connecting the trent with the severn; the birmingham canal; the coventry canal (which gave through navigation from the trent via lichfield and oxford, to the thames); and others. of the many districts benefitted it was, perhaps, the potteries that received the maximum of advantage. fourteen years before the trent and mersey canal was opened for traffic--that is to say, in --josiah wedgwood perfected a series of improvements in the pottery industry which foreshadowed the probability of the manufacture of coarse pottery--already carried on in north staffordshire for many years--developing into the production of wares of the highest excellence, for which a great market would assuredly be found not only throughout england but throughout the world. the one drawback to an otherwise very promising outlook lay in the defective communications. the roads were hopelessly bad and the navigable rivers were far distant. it was almost impossible to get sufficient clay for the purposes of raw material, and the cost and the risk of damage involved in long land journeys before the goods could be put on the water, for carriage to london or the continent, almost closed those markets for the staffordshire manufacturer. in --three years before josiah wedgwood started his new era in pottery manufacture--the number of workers engaged in the industry did not exceed persons; and not only were they badly paid and irregularly employed but in their position of almost complete isolation from the rest of humanity they were, as smiles puts it in his "life of james brindley," "almost as rough as their roads." they were ill-clad, ill-fed and wholly uneducated; they lived in dwellings that were little better than mud huts; they had to dispense with coal for fuel, since the state of the roads made its transport too costly for their scanty means; they had no shops, and for such drapery and household wares as they could afford to buy they were dependent on the packmen or the hucksters from newcastle-under-lyme. their favourite amusements were bull-baiting and cock-fighting. { }any stranger who ventured to appear among such a people, devoid as they were of most of the attributes of civilisation, might consider himself fortunate if he escaped rough usage simply because he was a stranger. of conditions such as those to be found in the potteries at the period in question one gets some glimpses in william hutton's "history of birmingham" ( ). he tells of a place called lie waste, otherwise mud city, situate between halesowen and stourbridge. the houses consisted of mud, dried in the sun, though often destroyed by frost. their occupants, judging from the account he gives of them, could have been little better than scarcely-clad barbarians. of a visit he paid to bosworth field in the same writer says:-- "i accompanied a gentleman with no other intent than to view the field celebrated for the fall of richard the third. the inhabitants enjoyed the cruel satisfaction of setting their dogs at us in the street, merely because we were strangers. human figures, not their own, are seldom seen in those inhospitable regions. surrounded with impassable roads, having no intercourse with man to humanize the mind, no commerce to smooth their rugged manners, they continue the boors of nature." how industry and improved communications may tend to civilise a people, as well as ensure economic advancement, was now to be shown in the case of the potteries. wedgwood's enterprise led to the employment of far more people; the better means of communication allowed both of the industry being greatly developed and of the introduction of refining influences into a district no longer isolated; and the combination of these causes had a striking effect on the material and the moral conditions of the workers. in giving evidence before a house of commons committee in , eight years after the mersey and trent canal was opened, wedgwood was able to say that there were being employed in the potteries at that time from , to , persons on earthenware manufacture alone--an increase of from to , in twenty-five years, independently of the opening of new branches of industry. work was abundant, and the general conditions were those of a greatly enhanced comfort and prosperity. { }then, also, when john wesley visited burslem in he wrote that the potters assembled to laugh and jeer at him. "one of them," he says, "threw a clod of earth which struck me on the side of the head; but it neither disturbed me nor the congregation." in he went to burslem again. on this occasion he wrote: "i returned to burslem; how is the whole face of the country changed in about years! since which, inhabitants have continually flowed in from every side. hence the wilderness is literally become a fruitful field. houses, villages, towns, have sprung up, and the country is not more improved than the people." this actual experience of john wesley's would seem to confirm the view expressed by sir richard whitworth in the observations he offered to the public in on "the advantages of inland navigation." it was, he argued, trade and commerce, and not the military force of the kingdom, which could alone enrich us and enable us to maintain our independence; but there were millions of people "buried alive" in parts of the country where there were no facilities for transport, and where they had hitherto been "bred up for no other use than to feed themselves." what advantage would not accrue to the nation when these millions were brought into the world of active and productive workers! "hitherto," he continued, "the world has been unequally dealt, and, though all the inhabitants of this island should have an equal right to the gifts of nature in the advantages of commerce, yet it has only happened to those who live upon the coasts to enrich themselves by it, while as many millions lie starving for want of opportunity to forward themselves into the world. though the city, village, or country in which they live is at the lowest ebb of poverty it will, in a short time, by trade passing through it, alter its very nature and the inhabitants become, from nothing, as it were, to a very rich and substantial people; their very natural idea of mankind, and their rude and unpolished behaviour, will be altered and soothed into the most social civility and good breeding by the alluring temptations of the beneficial advantage of trade and commerce." the opening of the grand trunk and other canals connecting with it led to such reductions in the cost of carriage as are shown in the following figures, from baines's "history { }of liverpool," where they are quoted as from "williamson's liverpool advertiser" of august , :-- cost of goods transport per ton. between by road. by water. £ s. d. £ s. d. liverpool and etruria " " wolverhampton " " birmingham manchester and wolverhampton " " birmingham " " lichfield " " derby " " nottingham " " leicester " " gainsborough " " newark thus the cost of transport by canal was in some instances reduced to about one-fourth of the previous cost by packhorse or road waggon. under the new conditions the numerous manufactures in the birmingham and black country districts obtained their raw materials much cheaper than they had done before, and secured much better facilities for distribution, the difference in cost in sending guns, nails, hardware, and other heavy manufactures from birmingham to hull by water instead of by road being in itself a considerable saving, and one likely to give a great stimulus to the industries concerned. ores from the north were brought at less expense to mix with those of staffordshire, and the iron-masters there were enabled to compete better with foreign producers. the manufacturers of nottingham, leicester and derby were afforded a cheap conveyance to liverpool for their wares. the fine ale for which burton was famous had been sent to london by way of the trent, the humber and the thames since, at least, the early part of the seventeenth century, and, exported from hull, it had won fame for the burton breweries in all the leading baltic ports and elsewhere. it was now to be conveyed by water to the port of liverpool, and find fresh or expanded markets opened out for it from the west coast, as well as the east. cheshire salt obtained a better { }distribution; the merchants both of hull and of liverpool could now send groceries and other domestic supplies throughout the midland counties with greater ease, and with much benefit to the people; while among still other advantages was one mentioned by baines: "wheat which formerly could not be conveyed a hundred miles, from corn-growing districts to the large towns and manufacturing districts, for less than s. a quarter, could be conveyed for about s. a quarter." the towns which had least cause for satisfaction were bridgnorth, bewdley and bristol, the traffic that had previously gone by the long land route from the potteries to the severn, and so on to bristol, being now diverted to liverpool by the grand trunk canal, just as the salt of cheshire had been taken there on the opening of the weaver navigation, and the textiles of manchester on the completion of the duke of bridgewater's canal. these developments had, consequently, a further influence on the growth of the once backward port of liverpool, and such growth was to be stimulated by the leeds and liverpool canal. sanctioned by parliament in , six years before the grand trunk canal was opened, the leeds and liverpool canal was mainly designed to overcome the natural barrier, in the form of a chain of lofty hills, which separated lancashire from yorkshire, serving to isolate liverpool and to keep back from her the flow of trade and commerce from industrial centres on the other side of the hills which should otherwise have regarded liverpool as their natural port. the canal was further intended to open up more fully than had been done before the great coal-fields of lancashire, ensuring a better distribution of their mineral wealth both to liverpool and to the manufacturing towns of lancashire; while, by connecting with the aire at leeds, the capital of the yorkshire woollen industry, the canal was to provide another cross-country connection, by inland navigation, between liverpool and hull. the work of constructing the leeds and liverpool canal included ( ) the piercing of the foulridge hills by a tunnel, yards long, which alone took five years of constant labour; ( ) an aqueduct bridge of seven arches over the { }aire; and ( ) an aqueduct carrying the canal over the shipley valley. the total length of navigation was miles, with a fall from the central level of ft. on the lancashire side, and of ft. on the yorkshire side. the entire work of construction extended over years, and the total cost was £ , , . the effect of the leeds and liverpool canal on the industrial districts of lancashire and yorkshire was no less remarkable than the effect of the grand trunk canal on the industries west or south of the trent. when the leeds and liverpool canal was formed there was, as baines observes in his "lancashire and cheshire," not one town containing , inhabitants along the whole of its course from liverpool to leeds. with the improved facilities afforded for the conveyance of raw materials and manufactured goods from or to the port of liverpool came a new era for the textile trades all along the route of the canal--and the now busy and well-populated towns of wigan, blackburn, nelson, keighley, bradford and leeds are indebted in no small degree for their industrial expansion to the better means of communication which the leeds and liverpool canal, in the days when railways were still far off, opened up to them. still another canal that was made in order to establish a line of communication west and east, and to serve important intermediate districts, was the rochdale canal, which starts from manchester, rises by a succession of locks to a height ft. above the manchester level, and, fed on the hill summit by some great reservoirs, descends to the river calder at sowerby bridge, the point from which that river is navigable to the humber. connection with the calder, and thus with the cross-country navigation of which it formed a part, was also obtained by means of the huddersfield canal, a waterway twenty miles in length which, starting from ashton, rises ft., to the saddleworth manufacturing district (situate in the wildest part of the yorkshire hills), passes through a tunnel three miles long, and descends ft. on the huddersfield side in reaching the level of the calder. the reader will have concluded from these references to other canals that, although the duke of bridgewater had { }found a difficulty in raising the means with which to complete his canal to runcorn, public confidence in canals must have been reassured, and ample money must have been forthcoming, to allow of these further costly and important schemes being undertaken. this conclusion is abundantly warranted. the position following the construction of the bridgewater canals was thus described, in , in "a treatise on the improvement of canal navigation," by r. fulton:-- "so unacquainted were the people with the use of canals, and so prejudiced in favour of the old custom of river navigations, that the undertaking was deemed chimerical, and ruin was predicted as the inevitable result of his grace's labour.... yet it was not long finished when the eyes of the people began to open; the duke could work on his canal when floods, or dry seasons, interrupted the navigation of the mersey; this gave a certainty and punctuality, in the carriage of merchandize, and ensured a preference to the canal; the emoluments arising to the duke were too evident to be mistaken; and perseverance having vanquished prejudice, the fire of speculation was lighted, and canals became the subject of general conversation." the farming community, more especially, had looked with suspicion upon this new-fangled idea of sending boats across fields and up and down the hill-sides. the author of "a cursory view of the advantages of an intended canal from chesterfield to gainsborough" ( ) finds, however, a sufficient excuse for them in the conditions of locomotion and transport with which alone they had hitherto been familiar. he says:-- "though this useful set of men, the farmers, will undoubtedly reap a proportion of advantages from the execution of this beneficial scheme, they are far from being satisfied, and seem to reflect upon it with many doubts and fears. custom, indeed, and occupation in life, cast a wonderful influence on the opinions of all mankind; it is therefore by no means surprizing that men, whose forefathers, for ages, have been inured to rugged and deep roads, to wade after their beasts of burden up to the knees in mire, to see their loaded waggons stick fast in dirt; men, who from their interior, inland situation, are almost totally unacquainted with all objects of navigation; it is by no means strange, { }that people, so unaccustomed, should consider an attempt, to introduce a navigable canal up to the town of chesterfield, and within the air of the peak-mountains, with alarming ideas, with suspicion and amazement." another set of scruples was thus dealt with by richard whitworth--himself a canal enthusiast--in his "advantages of inland navigation" ( ):-- "it has been a common objection against navigable canals in this kingdom that numbers of people are supported by land carriage, and that navigable canals will be their ruin.... i must advance an alternative which would free the carrier from any fear of losing his employment on selling off his stock of horses, viz.:--that no main trunk of a navigable canal ought reasonably to be carried nearer than within four miles of any great manufacturing town, ... which distance from the canal is sufficient to maintain the same number of carriers, and employ almost the same number of horses, as usual, to convey the goods down to the canal in order to go to the seaports for exportation.... if a manufacturer can have a certain conveniency of sending his goods by water carriage within four miles of his own home, surely that is sufficient, and profit enough, considering that other people must thrive as well as himself, and a proportion of profit to each trade should be the biassing and leading policy of this nation." in some instances certain towns did succeed in maintaining a distance of several miles between themselves and the canals they regarded with prejudice and disfavour. they anticipated, in this respect, the action that other towns were to take up later on in regard to railways; and in the one case as in the other there was abundant cause for regret when the places concerned found they had been left aside, much to their detriment, by a main route of trade and transport. other alarmists predicted the ruin of the innkeepers; protested against the drivers of packhorses being deprived of their sustenance; prophesied a diminution in the breed of draught horses; declaimed against covering with waterways land that might be better used for raising corn; and foreshadowed a detriment to the coasting trade that, in turn, would weaken the navy, "the natural and constitutional bulwark of great britain"--this being a phrase which, { }no doubt, was rolled out with great effect in the discussions that took place. the discovery, however, that canals were likely to be not only exceedingly useful but a profitable form of investment was quite sufficient to overcome all scruples, and even to give rise, in - , to a "canal mania" which was a prelude to the still greater "railway mania" of - . in the four years in question no fewer than eighty-one canal and navigation acts were passed. so great had the eagerness of the public to invest in canal shares become that when, in , the promoters of the ellesmere canal held their first meeting, the shares for which application was made were four times greater than the number to be issued. in , when a meeting was held at rochdale to consider the proposed construction of the rochdale canal, £ , was subscribed in an hour. in august, , leicester canal shares were selling at £ , coventry canal shares at £ , grand trunks at the same figure, and birmingham and fazley shares at £ . at a sale of canal shares in october, , the prices realised included--trent navigation, guineas per share; soar canal (leicestershire) gs.; erewash canal, gs.; oxford canal, gs.; cromford canal, gs.; leicester canal, gs., and ten shares in the grand junction canal (of which not a single sod had then been cut) at gs. premium for the ten. the spirit of speculation thus developed led to the making of a number of canals which had no real prospect of remunerative business, were commercial failures from the start, and involved the ruin of many investors. canals of this type are still to be found in the country to-day--picturesque derelicts which some persons think the state should acquire and put in order again because it is "such a pity" they are not made use of. dealing with the general position as it was in , phillips wrote in his "general history of inland navigation" ( th edition):--"since the year no less than acts of parliament have received the royal assent for cutting, altering, amending, etc., canals in great britain, at the expense of £ , , , the whole subscribed by private individuals; the length of ground which they employ is ½ miles.... of these acts are on account of collieries opened in their { }vicinity, and on account of mines of lead, ore, and copper which have been discovered, and for the convenience of the furnaces and forges working thereon." among the more typical of the canals, in addition to those already mentioned, were--the grand junction canal, connecting the thames with the trent, and thus with both the mersey and the humber; the thames and severn canal; the ellesmere, connecting the severn with the dee and the mersey; the barnsley canal (of which phillips says: "the beneficial effects of this canal, in a rich mineral country, hitherto landlocked, cannot fail to be immediately felt by miners, farmers, manufacturers and the country at large"); the kennet and avon (opening, according to the same authority, "a line of navigation, sixteen miles in length, over a country before very remote from any navigable river"); the glamorganshire canal ("has opened a ready conveyance to the vast manufactory of iron established in the mountains of that country"); the extensive network of the birmingham canal system; the shropshire union, which connects the birmingham canal with ellesmere port, on the mersey, and has branches to shrewsbury, llangollen, welshpool and newtown; and the manchester, bolton and bury canal. to the last-mentioned, constructed under an act of parliament passed in , baines alludes as follows in his "lancashire and cheshire":-- "the river irwell flows directly down from bury to manchester, and the river croal, which flows through bolton, joins the irwell between bury and manchester; but neither of these streams was considered available, by any amount of improvement that could be given to it, for the purposes of navigation. they are both of them very impetuous streams, occasionally sending down immense torrents of water, but at other times so shallow as not to furnish sufficient depth of water for the smallest vessels. instead, therefore, of wasting time and money upon them, a canal was cut at a considerably higher level, but following the general direction of the river irwell." the manchester, bolton and bury canal was thus a further example of the resort to artificial canals, with water channels capable of regulation, in preference to further schemes for rendering rivers navigable. { }how the situation brought about by the creation of the network of navigable waterways thus spread, or being spread, throughout the country was regarded by an impartial observer in the "canal mania" period is shown by the following comments thereon by dr aikin:-- "the prodigious additions made within a few years to the system of inland navigation, now extended to almost every corner of the kingdom, cannot but impress the mind with magnificent ideas of the opulence, the spirit and the enlarged views which characterise the commercial interest of this country. nothing seems too bold for it to undertake, too difficult for it to achieve; and should no external changes produce a durable check to the national prosperity, its future progress is beyond the reach of calculation. yet experience may teach us, that the spirit of project and speculation is not always the source of solid advantage, and possibly the unbounded extension of canal navigation may in part have its source in the passion for bold and precarious adventure, which scorns to be limited by reasonable calculations of profit. nothing but highly flourishing manufactures can repay the vast expense of these designs. the town of manchester, when the plans now under execution are finished, will probably enjoy more various water-communication than the most commercial town of the low countries has ever done. at the beginning of this century it was thought a most arduous task to make a _high road_ practicable for carriages over the hills and moors which separate yorkshire from lancashire; and now they are pierced through by _three navigable canals_! long may it remain the centre of a trade capable of maintaining these mighty works!" the day was to come, however, when it would be a question, not of the additions made to inland navigation justifying the expense incurred, but of the inherent defects of the said "mighty works," the increasing manufactures, and the introduction of still better methods of transport and communication giving to canals a set-back akin to that which they themselves had already given to navigable rivers. { }chapter xvii the industrial revolution contemporaneously with the canal period in england came an industrial revolution which was to place this country--hitherto distinctly backward in the development of its industries--at the head of manufacturing nations, but was, also, to show that, however great the advantages conferred by canals, as compared both with rivers and with roads, even canals were inadequate to meet the full and ever-expanding requirements of trade and transport. the main causes of this industrial revolution were--the application of a number of inventions and improved processes to leading industries; the incalculable advantages derived from steam power; the immense increase in the supplies of cotton, coal, minerals and other raw materials; the greater wealth of the nation, allowing of much more capital being available for industrial enterprises; and the improvement, not alone in inland communication, but in ship-building and the art of navigation, foreign markets being thus reached more readily at a time when the general political and economic conditions were especially favourable to the commercial expansion abroad which followed on our industrial expansion at home. woollen manufactures, originally established here with the help of workers introduced from flanders in the time of edward iii., had had a long pre-eminence, obtaining a vested interest which led to the advent of a new rival, in the form of cotton manufacturers, receiving, at first, very scanty encouragement. woollens had made such progress that, even before the restoration, a market was (as dowell tells us) opened for our goods, not only in spain, france, italy and germany, but also in russia and baltic and other ports, while they were carried by way of archangel into persia, and also made a market for themselves in turkey. { }a great part of england was turned into sheep farms for the production of wool, and by the value of woollen goods exported had risen to £ , , . at this time the import of raw cotton was only about ¼ million lbs.[ ] to such an extent had the woollen, and, also, the linen, industries been placed under the "protection" of the governing powers that until it was a penal offence in england to weave or sell calico--that is, a fabric consisting entirely of cotton; and down to anyone who made or sold a fabric having more than half its threads of cotton was liable to prosecution. not until was the prohibition of british-made calicoes removed and the production in this country of all-cotton goods allowed by legislators who had been unduly solicitous of the welfare of british industry. when, in , adam smith published his great work on "the wealth of nations," he certainly did state that christopher columbus had brought back from the new world some bales of cotton, and had shown them at the court of spain; but he did not think it necessary to mention that a cotton industry had been started here, and was likely to contribute to the wealth of the united kingdom. the imports of raw cotton slowly increased to , , in , and to , , lbs. in . in , the year in which hargreaves introduced the spinning jenny, they were still not higher than , , lbs. but the successive inventions, during the course of about three decades, alike of hargreaves, arkwright, crompton, cartwright and others gave such an impetus to the industry that by the importation of raw cotton (greatly facilitated by the further invention, in , of eli whitney's appliance for separating cotton from the cotton seed) had risen to , , lbs., while the value of all kinds of cotton products exported increased between and from £ , to £ , , . this rapid progress would not, however, have been possible but for the facilities for obtaining cheap power afforded by the condensing steam-engine of james watt, who had taken out a patent for his invention in , though it was not till that he built and sold his first engine, on which he further improved in . steam-power, of far greater force { }and utility, and capable of being produced anywhere, thus took the place of the water-power, only available alongside streams, on which, as we have seen, the earlier success of the woollen industry, especially as carried on among the hills of yorkshire, had been established. it was by water-power that the spinning machine so recently introduced by sir richard arkwright was operated until james watt had shown that steam could be used to better advantage. then the setting up at papplewick, nottinghamshire, in , of a steam-engine for the operation of cotton machinery marked, also, the decline of domestic manufactures and the advent of that factory system which was to bring about a complete transformation in the industrial conditions of the united kingdom. yet just as the improvements in cotton production would have been incomplete without the steam-engine, so, also, would the invention even of the steam-engine have been of little service but for an abundant supply of coal, and but, also, for the possession of a ready and economical means of moving the coal from the localities where it was to be found to those where it was wanted for the purposes of the "steam age" that was about to open. the greater demand for fuel and the increased facilities for supplying it led to the greater development of various inland coal-fields, in addition to those already long in operation in the newcastle district, and having there the advantages of river and sea as an aid to distribution. the need, also, of coal for the operation of the steam-engine in the countless number of new industries or new works that followed on james watt's improvements had an important influence on fixing the location of fresh industrial centres. coal-mining, again, was powerfully accelerated in the same period by the iron industry, which itself was undergoing developments no less remarkable than those attending the expansion of the cotton industries, and having no less a bearing on the problem of efficient inland transport. down to the year the smelting of iron-ores--an industry carried on here from very early days in our history--was done entirely with wood charcoal. for this reason the early seat of the iron industry was in the forests that, as already told, once covered so large an area in sussex, kent { }and surrey, and afforded what may, at one time, have appeared to be a practically limitless supply of fuel. the three counties in question thus attained to a high degree of industrial importance and prosperity at a time when lancashire and yorkshire were still regarded by dwellers in the south as inhabited by a scarcely civilised people. lord seymour, who was made by henry viii. lord high admiral of england, and ended his life on the scaffold in , was the owner of iron-works in sussex. the cannon and shot which drake, hawkins and frobisher took with them on their ships were supplied by these southern foundries. of the position of the industry in , when there were forges and furnaces in the weald of sussex, the author of "glimpses of our ancestors in sussex" says: "sussex was then the wales and the warwickshire of england. foreign countries sought eagerly for its cannon, its culverines and falconets.... its richly decorated fire-backs and fantastic andirons were the pride of lordly mansions. london sent here for the railings that went round its great cathedral; sussex ploughshares, speeds and other agricultural implements and hardware were sent all over the kingdom." fears, however, had already been excited in henry viii.'s day that the continued destruction of forests, in order to supply the iron-works with fuel, would lead to a timber famine; and in queen elizabeth's reign such a prospect, foreshadowing a shortage of timber for shipbuilding purposes at the very time when a conflict with spain was regarded as inevitable, was looked upon as involving a possible national disaster. a subsidiary complaint against the industry was that the traffic to and from the iron-works injured the roads. legislation was therefore passed prohibiting, under severe penalties, any increase in the number of iron-works in the three counties mentioned, except on land already occupied or able to furnish of itself a sufficient supply of timber. exportation of iron was also prohibited, and it was even considered good policy to import iron, rather than to make it, and so preserve the still available timber for other purposes. by the early part of the eighteenth century the iron industry, after exhausting the timber supplies of sussex, had disappeared from that county; but it flourished in shropshire, where it found both fuel and iron-stone in the forest { }of dean, while the severn provided water-power and inland navigation. the industry was also carried on in staffordshire; and here, in the reign of james i., some important experiments were made in the direction of using coal instead of wood in the manufacture of iron; but this idea was not fully developed until abraham darby had shown, in , how coke, in combination with a powerful blast, could be substituted for wood. what is regarded as the real turning-point in the iron industry followed in , when dr roebuck built, at the carron works, his new type of blast furnace, in which coke was to be used. an impetus was thus given to the industry, and an impetus it certainly needed, inasmuch as the production of iron in the united kingdom had sunk in to , tons. then, in , henry cort, of gosport, patented his process for converting pig-iron into malleable iron through the operation of "puddling" in a common air-furnace consuming coal, and in he patented a further process for turning malleable iron into bars by means of rollers instead of forge hammers. these further inventions were of much service; but the greatest advance of all followed on the application of steam to iron-making, as one of the many results of james watt's achievements. steam enabled the manufacturers to get a far more powerful blast in the new furnaces, at a consumption of about one-third less of coal, than had been possible in the process of smelting carried on with the help of water-power. the use, also, of coal instead of timber for fuel, and of steam-power in place of water-power, made the iron-masters independent both of the forests and of the rivers of southern england, and led to the further expansion of the iron industry being transferred to such districts as staffordshire, the north-east coast, scotland and south wales, where the now all-important coal could be obtained no less readily than the iron-ore. so the migration of some of the greatest of our national industries from south to north, begun by the streams on yorkshire hills, was completed by the steam-engine of james watt. the effect on the iron industry itself of the improvements in manufacture was prodigious. the , tons of iron which were alone produced in came from furnaces, { }using charcoal only. in the number of furnaces had increased to , and the output to , tons, of which , tons had been produced by coke, and only , tons by charcoal. in , when the charcoal process had been almost entirely given up, the number of furnaces was (in england and wales ; in scotland ), and the production was , tons. in this same year pitt proposed to put a tax on coal, and the following year he sought to impose one on pig-iron; but a taxing of raw material was not to be tolerated, and he had to abandon each project. adding to these details corresponding figures for other years in the canal era, we get the following table:-- iron furnaces and production in england, wales and scotland. year. number of furnaces. production (tons). , , , , , , , this great increase in the output of iron meant, also, a considerable expansion in the engineering trades of the country in general, in the hardware trades of birmingham, in the cutlery trade of sheffield, and in many other trades besides. it led to the opening up of new centres of activity and industry in addition to a greater aggregation of workers in centres already established; while the combined effect on the coal industry itself of all these developments is well shown by the following figures, giving the output of coal in the united kingdom, for the years mentioned, as estimated by the commissioners of :-- year. tons. , , , , , , , , , , { }the rapid expansion in the last half of the eighteenth century of the various industries here mentioned, and of many others besides, led to a corresponding growth in the industrial towns; and this, in turn, meant an increase in the wants of the community, and the opening up of new and even huge markets for agricultural produce. such produce, also, was now obtainable in greater quantity owing to the fact that more land was being brought under cultivation. in it had been estimated that there were in england about , , acres of fen, forest and moorland. of this total , , acres had been brought under cultivation before . but from that time many enclosure acts were passed, no fewer than becoming law between and ; and, though it by no means follows that all the land so enclosed was actually cultivated, the greater opportunities opening out to agriculture when more and more workers were being collected into factories and manufacturing districts, and becoming more and more dependent on others for food supplies which, under the old conditions of life and industry, people grew for themselves, were beyond all question, while agricultural production was itself advanced by the supply of those better and cheaper aids to husbandry which followed on the improvements in iron manufacture. to meet the enormously increased demands for the transport alike of raw materials, of manufactured articles and of domestic supplies in the period of industrial revolution which thus began to develop about the middle of the eighteenth century, something more was wanted than rivers, offering uncertain navigation, and only available in particular districts, and highways deplorably bad in spite of turnpike acts and much wasteful expenditure, another half-century having still to elapse before telford showed the country how roads should be made, and mcadam told how they should be mended. in these circumstances, and during the period here in question, it was canals that were mainly looked to as a means of supplying the transport requirements then growing at so prodigious a rate. invention and production had already far surpassed the means of efficient distribution. england was on the eve of the greatest industrial expansion of any country in europe; but she was starting thereon with probably the worst means of inland transport of any country in { }europe. canals appeared to be the one thing needed; and every fresh canal constructed was heralded with joy because it foreshadowed, among other things, better trade, more employment, higher wages, cheaper fuel and provisions, and less of the isolation from which many a land-locked community was suffering. some of the accounts given by phillips, in his "general history of inland navigation," of the opening of various canals afford interesting evidence of the satisfaction with which the populace greeted the new waterways. i give a few examples:-- " .--the herefordshire and gloucestershire canal from gloucester to ledbury is completed; the opening of this navigation took place on the th of march, when several of the proprietors and gentlemen of the committee embarked ... in the first vessel freighted with merchandise consigned to ledbury, which was followed by three others laden with coal. they passed through the tunnel at oxenhall, which is yards in length, in the space of minutes.... both ends of the tunnel, as well as the banks of the canal, were lined with spectators, who hailed the boats with reiterated acclamations. it is supposed that upwards of persons were present on their arrival at ledbury.... the advantages which must result from this inland navigation to ledbury and the adjoining country are incalculable. in the article of coal the inhabitants of this district will reap an important benefit by the immediate reduction in price of at least s. per ton. coals of the first quality are now delivered at the wharf, close to ledbury, at s. d., whereas the former price was s. per ton." " .--the new canal from sowerby-bridge to rochdale was lately opened for business. the travis yacht first crossed the head level, decorated with the union flag, emblematical of the junction of the ports of hull and liverpool, with colours flying, music playing, attended by the saville yacht, and thousands of spectators; a display of flags on the warehouses, and sound of cannon, announced to the rejoicing neighbourhood the joyful tidings, which in the evening were realised by the arrival of several vessels, laden with corn and timber." " .--the peak forest canal ... was opened on the { } st of may. the completion of this bold and difficult undertaking, through numerous hills and valleys, precipices and declivities, is an object of general admiration." yet in these same records--published in --and among his accounts of the crowds, the flags, the music and the cannon that had then so recently welcomed the opening of still more canals, phillips tells of an innovation destined eventually to supplant the canal system by reason of advantages which he himself seems to have recognised, though he naturally did not then anticipate all that was to follow. the said innovation is thus recorded by him under date " ":-- "the locks, canal and basin, from which the surrey iron rail-way now in agitation, is to commence at wandsworth, have been lately opened and the water admitted from the thames. the first barge entered the lock amidst a vast number of spectators, who rejoiced at the completion of this part of the important and useful work. the ground is laid out for the rail-way, with some few intervals, all the way to croydon; and the undertakers are ready to lay down the iron; it is expected to be ready by midsummer. "n.b. the iron rail-ways are of great advantage to the country in general, and are made at an expense of about l. per mile. the advantage they give for the conveyance of goods by carts and waggons, seems even to surpass, in some instances, those of boat carriage by canals." so we come to the story of the railway, which had, however, been undergoing development, from very primitive conditions, for a considerable period even prior to this notable event on the banks of the thames in . { }chapter xviii evolution of the railway the early history of the railway is the early history of the english coal trade. down to the sixteenth century the fuel supply of the country alike for manufacturing and for domestic purposes was derived almost exclusively from those forests and peat-beds that once covered so large a portion of the area of the british isles. coal was not unknown, though it was then called "sea-coal," a name distinguishing coal from charcoal, and given to it because the fact of the earliest known specimens being found on the shores of northumberland and of the firth of forth--where there are outcrops of the coal measures--led to the belief that the black stone which burned like charcoal was a product of the sea. the name was retained, as an appropriate one, when coal was brought to london by sea from the north. coal is known to have been received at various dates during the thirteenth century in london (which then already had a sacoles, or sea-coal, lane), in colchester, in dover and in suffolk; but it was used mainly by smiths and lime-burners; and it was used by them still more when the construction of feudal castles and ecclesiastical buildings in and following the norman period called for work not to be done efficiently with fires of wood or charcoal. the use of coal as fuel for domestic purposes remained, however, extremely limited. unlike wood and charcoal, coal was not suitable for burning in the centre of rooms then unprovided with chimneys, while coal smoke was regarded as an intolerable nuisance, and as seriously detrimental to health. it was on these grounds that when, in the fourteenth century, brewers, dyers and others in london were found to be using coal, a royal proclamation was issued interdicting its use by any person not a smith or a lime-burner, and appointing a { }commission of oyer and terminer to see to the punishment of all offenders. for a further considerable period the use of coal continued very partial; but in the sixteenth century great uneasiness began to be felt at the prospective exhaustion of the timber supplies of the country, and various enactments were passed with a view to checking the destruction of the forests. great attention began to be paid to the use of sea-coal as a substitute for wood, and an improvement in domestic architecture led to a more general provision of fire-places with chimneys, thus allowing of a resort to coal fires for domestic purposes. chimneys began to appear, in fact, in numbers never seen before. harrison, writing in , grieves over the innovation of coal fires, and recalls the good old times of wood and peat when, as he touchingly says, "our heads did never ake." queen elizabeth retained the prejudice against sea-coal, and would have none of it. ladies of fashion, sharing, as loyal subjects, her majesty's objections, would, in turn neither enter a room where coal was burning nor eat of food cooked at a coal fire. but james i., whose ancestors had long favoured coal fires in scotland--and, it may be, thus made themselves responsible for the name of "auld reekie" conferred on edinburgh--had coal brought for fires in his own rooms in westminster palace. when this fact became known society changed its views, and decided that the hitherto obnoxious sea-coal might be tolerated, after all. howes, writing in , was then able to speak of coal as "the generall fuell of this britaine island." in the result, and especially following on the development in trade and industry which came with the restoration, there was a great increase in the demand for coal. in the coal fleet engaged in the transport of sea-coal to london, and other ports on the east and south-east coasts--where fuel was scarcest--comprised (as stated in "a history of coal mining in great britain," by robert l. galloway) vessels. in , or only twenty years later, the number had increased to between and , and by , or thereabouts, the total had further risen to vessels, these figures being exclusive of the foreign fleets carrying coal to france, holland and germany. { }the collieries that were more especially required to meet this increased demand were those in the immediate neighbourhood of the tyne, since they offered the advantages of thick seams of coal of excellent quality and close alike to the surface and to a navigable river. the proportions to which the industry had already attained in the year are shown by grey, in his "chorographia, or a survey of newcastle-upon-tine," where he says: "many thousand people are imployed in this trade of coales: many live by working of them in pits: many live by conveying them in waggons and waines to the river tine.... one coal merchant imployeth five hundred or a thousand in his works of coal." the one great difficulty in the way of development lay in the trouble experienced in getting the coal from the pit-banks to the river for loading into the keels, or barges, by which it would be conveyed to the sea-going colliers lying below the bridge at newcastle. the established custom was to send the coal to the river by carts, or wains, or even in panniers slung across the backs of horses; and in robert edington's "treatise on the coal trade" ( ) mention is made of various collieries which had up to or carts engaged in this service. inasmuch, however, as the art of road-making in general was then still in its elementary stage, one can well imagine that, with all this traffic along them, the roads between the collieries and the tyne must have been in a condition that added greatly both to the difficulties and to the cost of transport. nicholas wood, in his "practical treatise on rail-roads" ( ), gives an extract, dated , from the book of a newcastle coal company, showing that "from tyme out of mynd" the coal carts had brought eight bolls--equal to about cwt.--of coal to the river; but added that "of late several hath brought only, or scarce, seven," a fact sufficiently suggestive of the deplorable state to which the colliery roads had been reduced even at the opening of a century that was to bring about so great an increase in the demand for coal. bad as the position was for the collieries located near to the tyne, it was worse for those situate at any distance from the river, since, under the road conditions then prevailing, it was practically impossible for the owners of the latter collieries to get their coal to the river at all, or to secure { }any share in a trade offering such great opportunities and undergoing such rapid expansion. the coal had but a nominal value so long as it could not be got away from the pit-banks. the first attempt to overcome the difficulties of the situation was in the direction of laying parallel courses of stone or wood for the waggon wheels to run upon; but here we have the equivalent of a partially-paved roadway rather than of actual rails. the latter came when the parallel wheel-courses of wood were reduced to what william hutchinson, in his "view of northumberland" ( ), calls "strings of wood," for the accommodation of "large unwieldy carriages or waggons." nicholas wood says that these wooden rails had a length of about six feet, and were five or six inches in thickness, with a breadth of about the same proportions. they were pegged down to sleepers placed across the track at a distance of about two feet apart, so that one rail reached across three sleepers. the spaces between the sleepers were filled in with ashes or small stones, to protect the feet of the horses. the waggons were in the form of a hopper, being much broader and longer at the top than at the bottom. at first all four wheels of the waggon were made either of one entire piece of wood or of two or three pieces of wood fastened together, the rim, in either case, being so shaped as to have on one side a projection, or flange, which would keep the wheel on the rails. this, then, was the earliest example of a _railway_--the fundamental principle of which is, of course, the use of _rails_ to facilitate the drawing or the propulsion of a moving body, and not the particular form of motive power (however great the importance, in actual practice, of this matter of detail) by which the traction is secured. the date of the first "rail-way" (so called) in the form described, and in accordance with the principle mentioned, is uncertain; but galloway, in his "history of coal mining," mentions a document dated which refers to a sale of timber used in the construction of waggon-ways; while roger north, writing in , describes the then existing railways in terms which suggest that they were, at that date, a well-established institution. speaking generally, therefore, one may assume that the pioneer rail-ways were brought { }into operation somewhere about the middle of the seventeenth century--if not still earlier. taking as an approximate date, this would mean that the first rail-way must have been made about one hundred and eighty years before the opening of that liverpool and manchester line with which the history of railways is often assumed to have begun. hutchinson speaks of the collieries on the tyne as being, at the time he wrote ( ), "about twenty-four in number," and he further says of them that they "lie at considerable distances from the river." on account of these considerable distances the colliery managers had to secure way-leaves for their rail-ways from the owners of intervening land, so as to obtain access to the tyne. thus roger north, in the account he gives of the railways in the newcastle district, says: "when men have pieces of land between the collieries and the rivers, they sell leave to lead coals over their ground, and so dear that the owner of a rood of ground will expect l. per annum for this leave." in some instances the total payment for a way-leave seems to have amounted to £ a year. statutory powers were not required for the rail-ways so long as they were used only for private purposes, though when they crossed a public road the assent of the local authorities was necessary. the rails, sleepers and wheels, all of wood, came mostly from sussex or hampshire, and the writer of an article on the tyne railways, published in the "commercial and agricultural magazine" for october, , speaks of the use on them of so much timber as "the more extraordinary" because the necessities of the coal mines had previously "used up every stick of timber in the neighbourhood," so that "the import from returning colliers (coal-ships) was the sole resource." such import, also, would appear to have been considerable, the making of wooden rail-ways on the north-east coast being the means of developing an important industry in rails and wheels in the southern counties. one of the importers on the tyne was william scott, father of lords stowell and eldon, and his "letters," included in m. a. richardson's "reprints of rare tracts" (newcastle-upon-tyne, ), give some interesting details on the subject. scott, in addition to being himself engaged in mining, acted as agent for southern producers of wooden rails and { }wheels for colliery rail-ways; and his letters show that in and about the year the consignments were coming to hand in "immense quantities." scott seems to have had great trouble in restraining the zeal of the southerners. he tells one correspondent that "wheels are at present a great drug from so many yt. came last year. rails will be wanted, but the people pays so badly for them that wo^d weary eny body to serve them." to another he says: "i find the best oak rails will scarcely give d. p yd this year." to correspondents at lyndhurst, new forest, he writes: "i fancy the dealers in wn. wheels will expect to have wheels soon 'em given, if such great numbers continue coming." mr west, of slyndon, near arundel, sussex, is told that not more than five shillings can be got for the best wooden wheels, and that "dealers are so full that they have not room for any wheels." on march , , scott writes concerning wheels: "no less than about com'd within these days from lyndhurst consign'd to different people"; and two months later he announces that he has resolved to receive "no more such goods as wooden wheels, rails and such like from anybody." most of the tyne collieries were at a higher level than the river, and in the construction of the rail-ways it was sought to obtain a regular and easy descent, regardless of route or distance, to the "staith," or shipping-stage, from which the coal would be loaded either into the keels (barges) employed to take it along the river to the colliers, or, in the case of longer distance rail-ways, direct into the collier itself, the bottom of the waggons being made after the fashion of a trap-door to facilitate discharge. gradual descent was further aimed at because it allowed of the loaded waggons moving along the rail-way by reason of their own weight. how this prototype both of the railway and of express trains as known to us to-day was operated is well shown in a "description of a coal-waggon," with an accompanying illustration, contributed to the "general magazine of arts and sciences" for june, , by john buddie, of chester-le-street, durham, who subsequently became manager of the wallsend colliery. in the illustration a horse is depicted drawing, by means of two ropes fastened to its collar, a loaded four-wheeled coal waggon along a rail-way preceded by a man who, having a bundle of hay underneath one arm, { }holds some of the hay a few inches in front of the horse so that the animal, stretching forward to get the hay, draws along the waggon more readily. buddle explains that the waggon is "conducted or drove by a single man, called the waggon-man, whose most common action on the road is, inticing the horse forward with a bit of hay in his hand, which he supplies from under his arm, a quantity of hay sufficient for a day being kept in the hay-poke," that is, in a receptacle at the back of the waggon. suspended over one of the hind wheels is a "convoy," or brake, formed of a curved and strong-looking piece of wood (described in the text as alder-wood), which is attached at one end to the waggon, and held in a loop at the other. "its use," says buddle, "is to regulate the motion of the waggon down the sides of the hills (called by the waggon men runs) making it uniform.... the waggon-man, taking the end out of the loop, lets it down upon the wheel, and, placing himself astride upon the end, with one foot on the waggon-soal he presses more or less, according to the declivity of the run; the convoy acting at that time as a leaver." buddle further says: "waggon men, in going down very steep runs, commonly take their horses from before, and fasten them behind their waggons,[ ] as they would inevitably be killed was the convoy to break (which frequently happens) or any other accident occasion these waggons to run _amain_. nor is this fatal consequence attendant only on the horses, but the drivers often receive broken bones, bruises, and frequently the most excruciating deaths. indeed, in some places, a most humane custom is established, which is, when any waggon-man loses his horse, the other waggon-men go a gait for the poor sufferer, which is little out of their profits, and purchase him another horse." about , according to nicholas wood, cast-iron wheels were introduced; but in wooden wheels were still mostly used at the back of the waggon, to allow of the convoy getting a better grip when the waggon was going, by its own { }weight, down an incline; though even then the danger of accident was, as buddle's observations suggest, sufficiently grave. on this same point it is said by t. s. polyhistor, in a "description of a coal waggon," given in the "london magazine" for march, :-- "they commonly unloose the horse when they come to the runs, and then put him too again when down; the reason of their taking him off at such places is because, were the convoy to break, it would be impossible to save the horse from being killed, or if the waggon-way rails be wet sometimes a man cannot stop the waggon with the convoy and where the convoy presses upon the wheel it will fire and flame surprisingly; many are the accidents that have happened as aforesaid; many hundred poor people and horses have lost their lives; for was there ever so many waggons before the waggon that breaks its convoy and has not got quite clear of the run, they are all in great danger, both men and horses, of being killed." polyhistor also states that the quantity of coal one of these waggons would draw on the rails was "bolls," or "bowls," as he calls them. this gave a load of about cwt. of coal, as compared with the load of cwt., or less, to which the waggons on the ordinary roads at the collieries had been reduced. the advantage from the point of view of transport was obvious; but no less certain, also, was the risk to life and limb when a waggon with over two tons of coal was allowed to run down an incline checked only by a primitive wooden brake, with a man seated on one end of it to press it against a wheel. in wet weather boys or old men were employed to sprinkle ashes on the rails; but there were times when the rail-ways having a steep descent could not be used at all. introduced on the tyne, the rail-way was adopted in by collieries on the wear, and it also came into vogue in shropshire and other districts. in a rail-way was set up on sir humphry mackworth's colliery at neath, glamorganshire; but after it had been in use about eight years it was condemned by a grand jury at cardiff as a "nuisance," and the portion crossing the highway between cardiff and neath was torn up. in a statement presented, rebutting the allegation of the grand jury, it was said: "these waggon ways are { }very common and frequently made use of about newcastle and also at broseley, benthal and other places in shropshire, and are so far from being nuisances that they have ever been esteemed very useful to preserve the roads, which would be otherwise made very bad and deep by the carriage of coal in common waggons and carts." the tyneside colliery rail-way was, in fact, widely adopted; though it underwent many improvements long before there was any suggestion of operating the new form of traction by means of locomotives. the first improvement on the original wooden rail pegged on to the sleepers was the fastening on it of another rail, in order that this could be removed, when worn down, without interfering with the sleepers. this arrangement was known as the "double way"; and nicholas wood says of it: "the double rail, by increasing the height of the surface whereon the carriage travelled, allowed the inside of the road to be filled up with ashes or stone to the under side of the upper rail, and consequently above the level of the sleepers, which thus secured them from the action of the feet of the horses." he adds that on the first introduction of the double way the under rail was of oak, and afterwards of fir, mostly six feet long, and reaching across three sleepers, and was about five inches broad on the surface by four or five inches in depth. the upper rail was of the same dimensions and almost always made of beech or plane tree. the next improvement was the nailing of thin strips, or "plates," of wrought iron on to the double rail wherever there was a steep descent or a considerable curve, thus diminishing the friction. these "plates" were about two inches wide and half an inch thick, and they were fastened on to the wooden rails with ordinary nails. they constituted the first step towards the conversion of wooden rail-ways into an iron road, and nicholas wood thinks it very likely that the diminution of friction resulting from their use may have suggested the substitution of iron rails for wooden ones. cast-iron rails began to come into use about . their brittleness was, at first, found to be a great disadvantage; but this defect was subsequently overcome, to a certain extent, by the use of smaller waggons, which allowed of a better distribution of weight over the rail. then in or about { } "plates" or "rails" (the two expressions seem to have been used somewhat indiscriminately) were cast with an inner flange, from two to three inches high, so that waggons with ordinary wheels could be taken upon them and be kept on the plate, or rail, by means of this flange. john curr, manager of the duke of norfolk's collieries, near sheffield, who claimed to have invented these flanged "plates," describes them in his "coal viewer and engine builder's practical companion" ( ), as being six feet long, three inches broad, half an inch thick, from lbs. to lbs. in weight, and provided with nail holes for fastening them direct on to oak sleepers. lines so constructed became known as "plate-ways," "tram-ways," or, alternatively, "dram-ways." the derivation of the words tram and tramway has given rise to a certain amount of discussion from time to time, and the fallacy that they come from the name of benjamin outram, of the ripley iron-works, derbyshire, who, in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, advocated the flanged-plate system of rail-way, has been especially favoured. it was, however, merely a coincidence that "tram" formed part of his name, and this popular theory here in question is quite unfounded. the real origin of "tram" is indicated, rather, by the following list of possible derivations, which i take from skeat's "etymological dictionary":-- swedish: tromm, trumm, a log, or the stock of a tree; also a summer sledge. middle swedish: tråm, trum, a piece of a large tree cut up into logs. norwegian: tram, a door-step (of wood). traam, a frame. low german: traam, a balk or beam; especially one of the handles of a wheel-barrow. old high german: dr[=a]m, tr[=a]m, a beam. thus in its original signification the word tram, or its equivalent, was applied either to a log of wood or to certain specified objects made of wood. the word itself was in use in this country as far back as the middle of the sixteenth century, since on august , , a certain ambrose middleton, of skirwith, cumberland (as recorded in the surtees society "publications," vol. xxxviii., { }page , note), made a will in which he left "to the amendinge of the highwaye _or tram_, from the weste ende of bridgegait, in barnard castle, s." there is no reason to doubt that the "highwaye or tram" here referred to was a road across which logs of wood had been laid, the name "tram" being applied thereto by reason of its aforesaid original signification. it is, further, easy to understand how, when the pioneer rail-ways were made entirely of wood, the word tram-way should, for that reason, still be applied to them. just, also, as "tram" had already passed from a log of wood to a wooden sledge or to a wheelbarrow handle, so it was given by pitmen in the north of england to the small waggon in which coal was pushed or drawn along in the workings. when "plates" were nailed on to the wooden rails of the early rail-ways the use of the word tram-way may still have been regarded as appropriate; it was retained for the plates or rails provided with a flange, and lines constructed with flanged plates or rails were, in turn, called plate-ways, tram-ways, or dram-ways to distinguish them from other ways or roads made with rails having no flange. in course of time the wooden rails which had been the original justification for the use of the word or prefix "tram" disappeared, and even the flanged rails were to be met with only on canal or colliery lines; but "tramway"--now a complete misnomer--is the name still given in this country to what in the united states are more accurately known as street railways. of the vast number of people in the united kingdom who daily use the word tramway, or speak of "going by tram," few, probably, realise how they are thus recalling the days alike of log-roads and of those rail-ways of wood which were the pioneers of the iron roads of to-day. the designation, also, of "platelayer" was originally applied to the men employed to lay the "plates" of which i have spoken; but although workers on the permanent way are now, surely, _rail_-layers rather than _plate_-layers, they are still known by the original name. the system of flanged plates, or rails, was widely adopted; but when, in , it was proposed to build a -mile plate-way, or tram-way, of this type between loughborough and the nanpantan collieries, the commissioners of a turnpike { }road it was necessary to cross objected, on the ground that the raised flange would be dangerous to traffic passing along the road. following on these objections, william jessop, the engineer of the proposed line, decided, in , to abandon flanged plates and flat wheels, and to substitute for them flat rails and flanged wheels.[ ] he proceeded to cast some "edge-rails" which overcame the scruples of the road commissioners, and the loughborough and nanpantan rail-way was opened in , being the first having iron rails with a flat surface, on the "edge" of which wheels with a flange on their inner side were run. the plate, or tram, system of flanged rails still had many advocates, and for a time there was much controversy as to the respective merits of the two systems; but the principle introduced by jessop was eventually adopted for railways in general, and became one of the most important of the developments that rendered possible the attainment of high speeds in rail transport. "the substitution of the flanged wheel for the flanged plate was," said mr. james brunlees, c.e., in his presidential address in the mechanical science section at the meeting of the british association, "an organic change which has been the forerunner of the great results accomplished in modern travelling by railway." for some thirty years after jessop's improvement, the rails, of whichever kind, were still made of cast-iron, wrought-iron rails, tried at newcastle-upon-tyne in , not coming into general use until about , when john birkenshaw, of the bedlington iron-works, invented an efficient and economical method of rolling iron bars suitable for use as railway lines.[ ] by iron rails, even though only cast-iron rails, had widely taken the place of the wooden rails which had then been in use for over a hundred years. { }the substitution, from about , of iron rails--even though they were only cast-iron rails--for wooden ones became the great event in the development of railways at this period, and gave the newer lines their distinguishing feature as compared with their predecessors. each fresh line made took the credit of being an "_iron_ rail-way"; and not only did that designation remain in vogue in this country for several decades but it fixed, also, the names of the railway systems in various continental countries, as shown by the term "chemin de fer" in france and belgium, "eisenbahn" in germany, austria and switzerland; "strada ferrata" in italy, and "ferrocarril" in spain (the english equivalent in each instance being "iron road"), and by the name of holland iron railway company ("hollandsche yzeren spoorvegs-maatschappy") by which one of the oldest of the railway companies in holland--where it was founded in --is still known.[ ] one factor in the preference shown for iron rails over wooden ones was the consideration of cost. alluding to the wooden railways of durham, in his "general view" of the agriculture of that county, drawn up for the board of agriculture in , john bailey, of chillingham, says: "of late years, on account of the high price of wood, iron railways have been substituted." with an increase in the price of timber, owing to the greater scarcity thereof, as the available supplies in the southern counties became more depleted, the time may well have come when, apart from other considerations, it was found cheaper in the north to make cast-iron rails than to import wooden ones. the need for importing so much timber was further diminished, from about , by the substitution, in many instances, of blocks of stone for { }the wooden sleepers previously used, the iron being either spiked to wooden plugs inserted in holes made in the stones or else fastened by wooden pins into cast-iron "pedestals," as john bailey calls them, fixed in the stones. wooden rails did not, however, entirely and immediately give way to iron rails. on the contrary, the old system was so far maintained that, according to "the industrial resources of the tyne," wooden railways could still be found on the collieries in that district as late as . among the advantages derived from the substitution of iron rails for wooden rails was the fact that a horse could draw, on the level, heavier loads than before. on the other hand, the heavier the load the greater was the danger in taking the waggons down hill-sides with only a wooden brake to check their speed; and this danger was increased to an even greater degree when the use of iron rails involved the abandonment of the wooden wheels which had hitherto been retained at the back of the waggons in order that the brake should act more effectively. still further improvements thus became necessary, and these first took the form of inclined planes on which the law of gravity was employed, loaded waggons raising empty ones, or having their own descent regulated, by means of a rope passing round a wheel at the top of the incline. later on stationary engines and chains were substituted for the wheel and the rope, horses then being employed on the level only. bailey says on this point: "waggon ways have generally been so contrived that the ascents were not greater than a single horse could draw a waggon up them; but some cases have happened lately where it required more than one horse, and steam engines have been substituted for horses for drawing waggons up these ascents. at urpeth waggon way five or six waggons are drawn up at one ascent, by a steam engine placed at the top." here, then, we have another stage in the process of evolution that was going on. the stationary engine at the top of an incline drawing up, or regulating the descent of, heavier loads, on iron rails, was the first employment on railways of that steam power which was afterwards to develop into the locomotive capable to-day of taking heavy trains at a speed of a mile a minute. in those early days, however, speed was { }not regarded as a matter of any importance. colliery managers were quite satisfied with a steady three miles an hour. although the general conditions of the pioneer railways were, apparently, so primitive, some of the lines were more ambitious and more costly than might, at first, be supposed. among them were lines from five to ten miles in extent which served the double purpose of ( ) enabling collieries in, for example, the hinterland of the tyne to benefit from the ever-expanding trade in coal; and ( ) providing them with the means of discharging direct into the colliers below newcastle bridge, thus saving the preliminary transport in, and transshipment from, the coal barges on the river. in these five- or ten-mile distances there were often considerable declivities to overcome, in order that the ideal of a gradual descent should be secured, and the cuttings, embankments, bridges and other works thus carried out were often closely akin to much of the railway construction with which we are familiar to-day. thus dr. stukeley, in his "itinerarium curiosum," says in describing the visit he paid to the tanfield collieries, durham, in :-- "we saw col. lyddal's coal-works at tanfield, where he carries the road over valleys filled with earth, foot high, foot broad at bottom: other valleys as large have a stone bridge laid across:[ ] in other places hills are cut through for half a mile together; and in this manner a road is made, and frames of timber laid, for five miles to the river-side." arthur young, also, who visited the newcastle-on-tyne district in , says in his "six months tour through the north of england": "the coal waggon roads from the pits to the water are great works carried over all sorts of inequalities of ground so far as the distance of nine or ten miles." the staiths at the river end of the tyne railways are described in the "commercial and agricultural magazine" as "solid buildings, two stories high; into the upper story the { }waggon-way enters, and a spout projecting over the river shoots the coals into the keels, or a trap-door drops the coals into the lower story, whence they must be shovelled into the keels afterwards." john francis expresses the opinion, in his "history of the english railway" ( ), that probably by there was scarcely an important colliery that had not its own railway. such lines as these, however, were of a private character, serving the interests only of the companies or the individuals making them, without offering transport facilities to other traders in return for tolls, and requiring no act of parliament so long as they retained this character, did not require to cross public roads, and could be constructed by agreement among the landowners concerned. the more important development came when the canal companies themselves desired to supplement their canals by railways which anyone paying the stipulated tolls could use in connection with canal transport. under these conditions the companies had to seek for further powers from parliament, and this they began to do about the middle of the eighteenth century. the trent and mersey canal act of , for example, authorised the construction of a "rail-way" from the canal to the froghall quarries, a distance of three and a half miles.[ ] in the same company obtained authority to construct three "railways" extending from their canal in various directions. the preamble of the act ( geo. iii. c. ) recited that the lines would be of "great advantage to the extensive manufactories of earthenware ... and of public utility," and the act accordingly sanctioned the lines "for the passage of waggons and carriages of forms and constructions, and with burthens suitable to such railways, to be approved by the company," at rates duly specified. these various railways, together with the trent and mersey canal itself, were, in , taken over by the north staffordshire railway company, whose general manager, mr w. d. phillipps, informs me that portions of two of them are still in daily use. they are laid with cast-iron tram plates, with flanges to keep the wheels in place, and ordinary waggons { }and carts use them to get from the canal basin to the high road, a few hundred yards away, the same rate of toll being charged as on the canal. mr phillipps further says: "our froghall tramway rises feet from the level of the canal to the quarry, passing by means of a tunnel through an intermediate hill, and it is worked entirely by gravitation, there being four inclined planes of various lengths and inclinations. the gauge is feet inches. it is practically the same as when laid down over years ago. we convey over it nearly , tons of limestone annually, and i find it a cheap and expeditious mode of conveyance." i would call special attention to these details because it was, no doubt, the fact that ordinary road carts, with flat-edged wheels, could be taken along the flanged plates of the early railways, and were so taken under authority of the acts of parliament here in question, that originally established the idea both of a common user of the railways by traders employing their own vehicles upon them and of competition being thus ensured between different carriers. the pioneer public railways, provided as accessories to canal transport, were, indeed, looked upon as simply a variation, in principle, of the ordinary turnpike road. they were roads furnished with rails, and available for use, on payment of the authorised tolls, by anyone whose cart-wheels were the right distance apart. the position in this respect was entirely changed when the system of railway operation came to be definitely fixed on the principle of edge-rails and flanged wheels, with locomotives in place of horses; yet the legislation immediately following the spread of railways on this vastly different basis was still determined, as regarded their use by the public, by the precedent originally established under the conditions here narrated. while thus operated on the toll principle of a turnpike road--the pioneer "railway stations" being themselves simply the equivalent of toll-houses--the early railways were all associated with canal or river transport. robert fulton says in his "treatise on the improvement of canal navigation" ( ) that "rail-roads have hitherto been considered as a medium between lock-canals and cartage, in consequence of the expence of extending the canal to the { }particular works in its neighbourhood"; and, in the course of a detailed argument in favour of small boats, of from two to five tons burden, in preference to the unduly large ones--as he considered them--then in vogue, he adds: "rail-ways of one mile or thereabouts will, no doubt, be frequently necessary, where it may be difficult to find water at the extremity, or when the trade from the works is not sufficient to pay the expence of machinery,[ ] and, its extent being one mile, can be of little importance to the country." that parliament itself, at this time, looked upon railways only as accessories to canals is shown by a reference to the "house of commons journals," where, under date june , , it is reported that a committee appointed, on the th of the same month, "to consider the expediency of requiring notices to be given of an intended application to parliament for leave to bring in a bill for the making of ways or roads usually called railways or dram roads, or for the renewal or alteration of an act passed for that purpose," had adopted the following resolution: "that it is the opinion of this committee, that the standing orders of the house of the th of may, , relating to bills for making navigable canals, aqueducts and the navigation of rivers, or for altering any act of parliament for any or either of those purposes, be extended to bills for making any ways or roads, commonly called railways or dram roads, except so much of the said standing orders as requires," etc. the resolution was agreed to by the house on the th of the same month. towards the close of the century it became customary for canal companies applying to parliament for powers, or extensions of existing powers, to seek for authority to make railways, waggon ways or stone roads in connection with their canals; and these they were generally authorised to lay down to any existing or future mines, quarries, furnaces, forges or other works within a distance of, at first four, subsequently eight, miles of such canal. they were, also, authorised to construct any bridges necessary for giving access to the canal. if, after being asked to make a railway, waggon road or bridge, under these conditions, the canal company refused so to do, the person or persons concerned { }could carry out the work at his or their own cost and charges, without the consent of the owner of the lands, rivers, brooks or water-courses it might be necessary to cross, though subject to the payment to them of compensation under conditions analogous to those in force in regard to the construction of canals. one act of this type, the aberdare canal act, , goes on to say: "every such rail way or waggon road and bridge ... shall ... be publick and open to all persons for the conveyance of any minerals, goods, wares, merchandizes and things, in waggons and other carriages," of a specified construction, "and for the passage of horses, cows and other meat cattle, on payment to the person or persons at whose charge and expense such rail way or waggon road shall have been made or erected" of the same rates as would be payable to the canal company under like conditions. it was in south wales, even more than on the tyne, that the early railways eventually underwent their greatest development. in "illustrations of the origin and progress of rail and tram roads and steam carriages or loco-motive engines" ( ), by t. g. cumming, surveyor, denbigh, we read:-- "as late as the year there was scarcely a single rail-way in all south wales, whilst in the year the rail-ways, in a finished state, connected with canals, collieries, iron and copper works, &c., in the counties of monmouth, glamorgan and carmarthen alone extended to upwards of one hundred and fifty miles in length, exclusive of a very considerable extent within the mines themselves, of which one company at merthyr tydvil possessed upwards of thirty miles underground connected with the stupendous iron works at that place; and so rapid has been the increase of rail-ways in south wales of late years that at the present period they exceed four hundred miles, exclusive of about one hundred miles underground." the whole of these lines were on the tram-plate, or flanged-rail, principle, while solid blocks of stone were, in wales, generally substituted for wooden sleepers. cumming further says:-- "in the extensive mining districts south of the severn, including south wales, the rail and tram roads are very numerous, and here, perhaps, more than in any part of the { }united kingdom, owing to the steepness, great irregularity and impracticable nature of the ground, they have been of the most essential utility in supplying the place of canals.... "there are numerous tram roads connected with the canal between cardiff and merthyr tydvil, in glamorganshire. the extent of rail road about merthyr tydvil alone is very considerable; besides which, in the same neighbourhood are the hirwaen, aberdare, and abernant tram roads, and a great variety of others communicating with the vast works on the hills in the vicinity." one of the south wales tramroad schemes--though not specifically mentioned by cumming--is of exceptional interest inasmuch as it represented, probably, the first attempt ever made to introduce a railway as a direct rival of and competitor with a canal, instead of being simply a feeder thereof. the attempt was a failure, but it nevertheless constitutes a landmark in early railway history. the story begins with the granting, in , of an act for the cutting of a canal between merthyr and cardiff by the company of proprietors of the glamorganshire canal navigation, improved means of transport being then much needed in the interests of the iron-works and other industrial undertakings in the district. the act of authorised the company to spend £ , on the canal; but this amount was found to be inadequate, and in a second act sanctioned the raising of a further £ , , and, also, the cutting of a short extension at the cardiff end. the opening of the canal for traffic is thus recorded by j. phillips in the fourth edition ( ) of his "general history of inland navigation":-- "feb. . the canal from cardiff to merthir-tidvil is completed, and a fleet of canal boats have arrived at cardiff laden with the produce of the iron works there, to the great joy of the whole town. the rude tracks, through which the canal passes in some places are constantly improving, from the happy and healthful toil of the husbandman, and in a few years will be forgotten in a garden of verdure and fertility. this canal is miles long; it passes along the sides of stupendous mountains. nothing appears more extraordinary than, from a boat navigating this canal, to look down on the river taaf, dashing among the rocks yards { }below. the fall from merthir-tidvil to cardiff is nearly feet." in a later reference, dated , phillips says that the completion of the glamorganshire canal "has opened a ready conveyance to the vast manufacture of iron established in the mountains of that country, and many thousands of tons are now annually shipped from thence." the canal, however, failed to meet all requirements, a scheme for a railway, or dram-road, between cardiff and merthyr being projected in the same year that the waterway was first opened. in "rees' cyclopædia" ( ) it is stated: "the rail-ways hitherto constructed were private property, or for the accommodation of particular mines or works, and it was not, we believe, until about the year that mr samuel homfray and others obtained an act of parliament for constructing an iron dram-road, tram-road or rail-way between cardiff and merthyr tidvill in south wales, that should be free for any persons to use, with drams or trams of the specified construction on paying certain tonnage or rates per mile to the proprietors." tredgold, in his "practical treatise on rail-roads" ( ), makes a similar statement as regards the granting of an act in , saying that "in consequence of the upper part of the cardiff or glamorganshire canal being frequently in want of water, the cardiff and merthyr rail-way or tram-road was formed parallel to it, for a distance of about nine miles, chiefly for the iron works of plymouth, pendarran and dowlais," with a continuation, however, making a total distance of about ¾ miles. the tramway, he further says, "appears to have been constructed under the first act ever obtained for this species of road." these statements have been accepted and repeated by various writers; but a search of the "house of commons journals" for fails to show that any such act was passed. the scheme in question seems to have been projected, in , by certain ironmasters, who found that their own traffic on the canal was being prejudiced by a preference given to the traffic of their rivals; but the project for a tramway or railway from merthyr to cardiff was abandoned--for a time--in favour of one from merthyr to a place then called navigation, and now known as abercynon, { }where the canal would be joined, and traffic could be transhipped. the tramway in question is thus referred to in "the scenery, antiquities and biography of south wales, from material collected during two excursions in the year ," by b. h. malkin (second edition, ):-- "at the aqueduct, where the canal is carried over the river, an iron rail-road for the present ends; and from the wharf at this place [navigation] the canal is the only conveyance for heavy goods to cardiff; the length of it--as far as it has already been completed--is miles, but it was designed to have extended from merthyr tydfil to cardiff, and it is said that one horse would have been able to draw tons of iron the whole distance of miles in one day; i understand, however, that it is not likely to be finished, and, indeed, it is much more necessary where it is now made from the occasional want of water lower down where the confluence of many and copious streams affords a more certain supply to the canal." the line had evidently been constructed, not under any special act, but by the authority of powers already granted by clause of the glamorganshire canal company's own act, which, framed on the general lines already mentioned, conferred upon all persons owning, renting, leasing, or occupying property containing any mines of coal, iron-stone, limestone or other minerals, or the proprietors of any furnaces or other works lying within the distance of four miles from some part of the canal the right to make any railways or roads over the lands or grounds of any person or persons, or to make any bridges over any river, brook or watercourse, for the purpose of conveying the coal, iron, etc., to the said canal. it will be noticed that this clause appears to limit to four miles the length of any tramway constructed in virtue of its provisions, whereas the length of the line actually made was, in effect, nine miles from merthyr and ten from dowlais. it is understood, however, that the constructors of the tramway successfully contended that, so long as their mines or works were within four miles of the canal, they were at liberty to lay down the tramway to such point on the canal as they thought proper to select, and they chose navigation because it suited them best. { }there is reason to believe, although actual proof is lacking, that the original design of continuing this tramway to cardiff was not carried out because of the opposition of the canal company. certain it is that the project for such a tramway was revived in . under date february , in that year, the "house of commons journals" record that william lewis (alderley), william taitt, thomas guest, joseph cowles, and john guest, being a firm of ironmasters in the parish of merthyr tydvil, known as the dowlais iron company; jeremiah homfray, samuel homfray, thomas homfray and william forman, ironmasters, of merthyr tydvil, known by the name of jeremiah homfray and co.; richard hill and william lewis (pentyrch works) petitioned the house for leave to bring in a bill for the construction of a "dram road" from or near carno mill, in the parish of bedwelty and the county of monmouth to cardiff, with branches to merthyr and aberdare.[ ] the petitioners declared that such dram-road would "open an easy communication with several considerable ironworks, collieries, limestone quarries and extensive tracks of land, abounding with coal, limestone and other minerals, whereby the carriage and conveyance of iron, coal, lime, timber and all kinds of merchandize to or from the different places bordering on the said intended road will be greatly facilitated and rendered less expensive than at present, and will tend greatly to improve the lands and estates near the said road, and the said undertaking will, in other respects, be of great public utility." the petition was referred to a committee, who reported favourably on march , and the bill was presented and read a { }first time on march . then, however, came the opposition from the canal company. on april , as the "journals" further record, the commons received a petition from the company of proprietors of the glamorganshire canal navigation setting forth that they had been authorised under two acts to make and maintain a navigable canal from merthyr to cardiff; that they had expended on this undertaking a sum of £ , ; that they had seen the bill above-mentioned, and, they proceed:-- "that the dram road or way, proposed to be made by the said bill, will pass from one end thereof to the other, nearly parallel, and in almost every part near to the said canal; and in some places will cross the same; and that the petitioners were induced to undertake the making of the said canal, in hopes of being repaid the expence thereof, with proper remuneration for the risk of the said undertaking, by the carriage of coal, lime, iron, timber, and other goods and merchandizes thereon, but if the said dram road or way should be made as proposed they would be deprived of a great part of those advantages which they apprehend they have had granted and secured to them, and are therefore now fully entitled to, by the said two acts, without the country adjacent or the public in general, receiving any particular benefit or advantage." the company further pleaded that under their acts they were "restrained from ever receiving more than a moderate dividend on their shares, and whenever the profits of the canal shall be more than sufficient to pay the same, their rates of tonnage are to be lowered;[ ] and for that reason, as well as many others, of equal justice, they conceive they should be secured in the possession of all the advantages proposed to be granted to them by the said acts." the house ordered that the petition do lie upon the table until the said bill be read a second time, and that counsel be then heard on both sides. on may a day was appointed for the second reading, and on may the house received a further petition from landowners, tradesmen and others in support of the bill. the "journals," however, contain no record of the second reading having been reached, and their { }only further reference at all to the bill is in the "general index" to the volumes for - , where, under the heading "navigations: petitions to make dram roads to canals, &c.," it is said of the bill in question "not proceeded in." there is no reason to doubt that this first scheme for the construction of a railway--even though under the name of a "dram road"--which would have been not only independent of canal transport but in direct competition therewith, was killed through the opposition of the then powerful canal interests. the tradition in cardiff is that the glamorganshire canal company "got hold" of the leading promoters, and persuaded them to abandon their scheme by electing them members of the managing committee of the canal. whether or not some additional inducement was offered to them is not known. in any case, there was no further attempt to set up a railway in direct and avowed competition with a canal until the great fight over the liverpool and manchester railway bill, a quarter of a century later. the significance of all these facts will be found still greater in the light of what i shall have to say subsequently in regard to the influence of canal interests and canal precedents alike on railway development and on railway legislation. in some instances the railways belonging to the period here under review were constructed by the canal companies not merely as feeders to the canals but as substitutes for lengths of canal where the making of an artificial waterway presented special difficulties. the lancashire canal company, incorporated in , laid a line of railway for five miles, passing through the town of preston, to connect two sections of canal. the ashby canal company, under an act of , avoided a considerable expense in the construction of locks by supplementing thirty miles of canal on the level with intermediate lengths of railway to the extent of another twenty miles. writing in , clement e. stretton says, in his "notes on early railway history," concerning these old tram-roads of the ashby canal company: "one part has since been altered and absorbed into the ashby and worthington railway;[ ] but the branch from ticknall { }tramway wharf to tucknall has never been relaid or altered in any way, and, therefore, is a most interesting relic of ancient times. to see waggons with flat wheels drawn over cast-iron rails one yard long by a horse, cannot fail to interest those who watch the workings of railways, and it most clearly shows the great improvements made and the perseverance which has been required to develop the present gigantic railway system out of such small beginnings." the charnwood forest canal, again, concerning which i shall have more to say later, was a connecting link between two lines of edge-railway, the purpose of the combined land and water route being to enable leicestershire coal to reach the leicester market. it will thus be seen that, whilst the coalowners introduced railways in the first instance, it was the canal companies themselves who, in the days before locomotives, mainly developed and established the utility of a new mode of traction which was eventually to supersede to so material an extent the inland navigation they favoured. it was open to those companies to adapt their undertakings much more completely to the new conditions, if they had had sufficient foresight and enterprise so to do. the signs of the times were obvious enough to those who were able and willing to read them, and there were many indications that canals would assuredly be not only supplemented, but supplanted, by railways. an impartial authority like thomas telford, in adding a postscript to an article on "canals" which he had contributed to archdeacon plymley's "general view of the agriculture of shropshire," wrote under date november , :-- "since the year , when the above account of the inland navigation of the county of salop was made out, another mode of conveyance has frequently been adopted in this country to a considerable extent; i mean that of forming roads with iron rails laid along them, upon which the articles are conveyed on waggons, containing from six to thirty cwt.; experience has now convinced us that in countries whose surfaces are rugged, or where it is difficult to obtain water for lockage, where the weight of the articles of produce is great in comparison with their bulk, and where they are mostly to be conveyed from a higher to a lower { }level,--that in those cases, iron rail-ways are in general preferable to a canal navigation. "on a rail-way well constructed, and laid with a declivity of feet in a mile, one horse will readily take down waggons containing from to tons, and bring back the same waggons with four tons in them.... "this useful contrivance may be varied so as to suit the surface of many different countries at a comparatively moderate expense. it may be constructed in a manner much more expeditious than navigable canals; it may be introduced into many districts where canals are wholly inapplicable; and in case of any change in the working of the mines or manufactures, the rails may be taken up and put down again, in a new situation, at a moderate expense." thomas gray, writing in , warned investors in canal shares that the time was "fast approaching when rail-ways must, from their manifest superiority in every respect, supersede the necessity both of canals and turnpike roads, so far as the general commerce of the country was concerned." he further expressed the conviction that "were canal proprietors sensible how much their respective shares would be improved in value by converting all the canals into rail-ways, there would not, perhaps, in the space of ten or twenty years remain a single canal in the country." blinded by their prosperity, however, the canal companies failed to adopt the necessary measures for ensuring its continuance, though the duke of bridgewater himself saw sufficient of the new rival to get an uneasy suspicion of what might happen. "we may do very well," he is reported to have said to lord kenyon, when asked about the prospects of his canals, "if we can keep clear of those ---- tram-roads." unfortunately for the canal interests, though fortunately for the country, the qualified tram-roads were not to be kept clear of, but, with the encouragement they got from those they afterwards impoverished, were to bring the canal era to a close, and to inaugurate the railway era in its place. { }chapter xix the railway era between and no fewer than twenty-nine "iron railways" were either opened or begun in various parts of great britain. the full list is given by john francis in his "history of the english railway." it shows, as francis points out, that from plymouth to glasgow, and from carnarvon to surrey, "there was scarcely a county where some form of the railway was not used." most of these new railways were, however, still operated in conjunction with collieries or ironworks and canals or rivers, as the following typical examples show:-- : sirhowey tramroad, built by the monmouthshire canal company in conjunction with the tredegar iron-works; length, eleven miles; cost £ , . : forest of dean railway, for conveying coals, timber, ore, etc., to the severn for shipment; length, seven and a half miles; cost £ , . : severn and wye railway, connecting those rivers; length, miles; cost £ , . : penrhynmaur railway, anglesey; a colliery line, seven miles long, consisting of a series of inclined planes. : gloucester and cheltenham railway, connecting with the berkeley canal at gloucester. : mansfield and pinxton railway, connecting the town of mansfield, nottinghamshire, with the cromford canal at pinxton basin, near alfreton, derbyshire; cost £ , . : plymouth and dartmoor railway; length miles; cost £ , . : cromford and high peak railway, connecting the cromford and peak forest canals, and rising, by a series of elevations, feet; length miles; cost £ , . the first act for a really _public_ railway, in the sense in which that term is understood to-day, and as distinct from { }railways serving mainly or exclusively the interests of collieries, iron-works and canal navigations, was granted by parliament in for the surrey iron rail-way, which established a rail connection between the thames at wandsworth and the town of croydon, with a branch to some mills on the river wandle whose owners were the leaders in the enterprise. the total length was about nine and a half miles. according to the act, the line was designed for "the advantage of carrying coals, corn and all goods and merchandise to and from the metropolis." constructed with flanged rails, or "plates," fixed on stone blocks, the line was available for any ordinary cart or waggon of the requisite gauge. the conveyances mostly used on it were four-wheeled trucks, about the size of railway contractors' waggons. they belonged either to local traders or to carriers who let them out on hire, it being doubtful whether the company had any rolling stock of their own. the motive power was supplied by horses, mules or donkeys. chalk, flint, fire-stone, fuller's earth and agricultural produce were sent from croydon--then a town of inhabitants--to the thames for conveyance to london. the return loading from the thames was mainly coal and manure. two sets of rails were provided, and there was a path on each side for the men in charge of the horses. referring to the surrey iron rail-way in his "history of private bill legislation," clifford says:-- "the act of , upon which the rest of this early railway legislation was framed, follows the canal precedents in their provision for managing the company's affairs, for raising share and loan capital, and for compensating landowners. only the use of horse power was contemplated. the tracks, when laid down, were meant, like canals, for general use by carriers and freighters. the companies did not provide rolling stock; any person might construct carriages adapted to run upon the rails, and if these carriages were approved certain maximum tolls applied to the freight they might carry.... passenger traffic was not expected or provided for.... such was the first railway act, passed at the beginning of the century with little notice by parliament or people, but now a social landmark, prominent in that stormy period of history." { }this was, however, in point of fact, only a further development of the still earlier railway legislation (see page ), which required the proprietors of lines laid down for general traffic to allow anyone who pleased to run his own vehicles thereon, subject to certain regulations and to the payment of specified tolls. the surrey iron rail-way was also a landmark in railway history because, although in itself of very small extent, it was originally designed to serve as the first section of a railway which, made by different companies, as capital could be raised, would eventually have extended from the thames to portsmouth.[ ] the second section was the croydon, merstham and godstone iron railway, which parliament sanctioned in . from croydon this further railway was to carry the lines on to reigate, with a branch from merstham to godstone green, a total distance of sixteen miles in addition, that is, to the nine and a half miles of the surrey iron rail-way. both companies, however, drifted into financial difficulties, and had to apply to parliament again, in , for fresh powers, while the lines of the second company never got beyond the chalk quarries at merstham. in the absence of the through traffic it had been hoped eventually to secure, the local business alone available was evidently inadequate to meet the charges on a capital outlay which, at that time, may have been regarded as not inconsiderable, inasmuch as the surrey iron rail-way attained to a good elevation at its southern end, while the croydon, merstham and godstone line went through a cutting thirty feet deep, and crossed a valley by an embankment twenty feet high. after a chequered career, the merstham line was acquired by the brighton railway company in and closed, being then no longer required. the surrey line lingered on till , when, with the sanction of parliament, its operation was discontinued, the rails being taken up and sold by auction. { }it was unfortunate that these two pioneer public railways were a failure because, had they succeeded, and had they really formed the first sections of a through line of communication between the thames and portsmouth, there would have been established a further precedent--and one of much greater value than that of a common user--the precedent, namely, of a trunk line made by companies co-operating with one another to give continuous communication on a well-organised system, in place of collections of disconnected lines designed, at the outset, to serve the interests only of particular localities, with little or no attempt at co-ordination. yet the principle of a general public railway had, at least, been established by the surrey and merstham lines, and this principle underwent further important development by the stockton and darlington railway, the first act for which was obtained in . the only purpose originally intended to be served by the stockton and darlington railway was the finding of a better outlet for coal from the south durham coalfield. a company, with edward pease as the moving spirit, was formed in , but two years later the projectors were still undecided whether to make a canal or "a rail or tramway." george overton, who preceded george stephenson as a distinguished railway engineer, wrote to them, however, advising the latter course. "railways," he said, "are now generally adopted, and the cutting of canals nearly discontinued"; and he told them, further, that within the last fifteen years the great improvements made in the construction of tram-roads had led to the application of the principle to a number of new roads. his advice was adopted, and the first act, obtained after several unsuccessful efforts, authorised the making and maintaining of "a railway or tramroad" from the river tees, at stockton, to witton park colliery, with various branches therefrom. the line would, the act said, be "of great public utility by facilitating the conveyance of coal, iron, lime, corn and other commodities from the interior of the county of durham to the town of darlington and the town and port of stockton," etc. it was first intended to use wooden rails, and to rely on horse-power, no authority for the employment of locomotives being obtained under the act of ; but george { }stephenson, on being appointed engineer to the line, persuaded the company to adopt iron rails in preference to wooden ones, and to provide a locomotive such as he had already constructed and successfully employed at killingworth colliery. two-thirds of the rails laid were of malleable iron and one-third of cast iron. it was not, however, until september, , that the order was actually given for a locomotive, some of the promoters having still shown a strong preference for the use of stationary engines and ropes. the line was opened for traffic on september , , and the locomotive which had been ordered--the "locomotion" as it was called--was ready for the occasion. it weighed seven tons, and had perpendicular cylinders and a boiler provided with only a single flue, or tube, inches in diameter and feet in length, the heat being abstracted therefrom so imperfectly that when the locomotive was working the chimney soon became red-hot.[ ] the usual speed was from four to six miles an hour, with a highest possible of eight miles an hour on the level. the company made provision for the anticipated goods traffic by having waggons built; but they started with no idea of themselves undertaking passenger traffic. their first act had laid down that "any person is at liberty to use and run a carriage on the railway, provided he complies with the bye-laws of the company"; and j. s. jeans, in his history of the stockton and darlington railway published ( ) under the title of "jubilee memorial of the railway system," says: "it was originally intended to allow the proprietors of stage-coaches or other conveyances plying on the route of the proposed new railway to make use of the line on certain specified conditions." this, too, is what actually happened; for although, a fortnight after the opening of the line, the railway company themselves put on the line a springless "coach," known as the "experiment," and drawn by a horse, several coach proprietors in the district availed themselves of their statutory right to run their own coaches on the railway, first, of course, providing them with wheels adapted to the rails. they paid the railway company { }the stipulated tolls, and had the advantage of requiring to use no more than a single horse for each coach. these horse coaches for passengers seem to have run in the intervals when the lines were not occupied by the locomotive engaged in drawing the coal waggons. in a letter published in the "railway herald" of april , , john wesley hackworth, whose father, timothy hackworth, was for some time engineer on the stockton and darlington railway, says that twenty miles of the line were at first worked by horses and locomotive in competition, and at the end of eighteen months it was found that horse traction was costing only a little over one-third of the traction by locomotive. meanwhile, also, the value of the £ shares had fallen to £ . in view of these results the directors had decided to abandon locomotive power, and depend entirely on horses; but timothy hackworth said to them, "if you will allow me to construct an engine in my own way i will engage it shall work cheaper than animal power." he received the desired authority, and the "royal george," built by him, was put into operation in september, . it confirmed the assurance which had been given, and, says timothy hackworth's son, "finally and for ever" settled the question of the respective merits of horse and steam traction on railways. horse coaches still continued to run on the lines, however, in addition to the mineral and goods trains, and in january, , the company had to draw up a time-table fixing the hours of departure for the coaches, thus ensuring a better service for the public, and, also, protecting travellers against any possible encounter with the locomotive as the horse ambled along with them on the railway. by october, , seven coaches, belonging to various proprietors, were doing fifty journeys a week between different places on the line; so that thus far the original idea of parliament, in enforcing against railways the principle of a common user of their lines by the public, had appeared to be warranted. a year later, however, the railway company, finding, as jeans tells us, that it would be more convenient and more advantageous for them to take the whole carrying trade in their own hands and supersede the horses by steam locomotives, bought out, on what were considered generous terms, { }the interests of the four coach proprietors then carrying passengers on their own account on the lines. actual experience had thus nullified the expectation that a railway would be simply a rail-road upon which anyone would be able to run his own conveyances as on an ordinary turnpike road. from october, , the whole of the passenger traffic (then undergoing rapid expansion) was conducted by the company. in april, , the directors, who had by this time acquired some other and better engines, announced that they had commenced to run, six times a day, both "coaches" (for passengers) and "carriages" (for goods) by locomotives; and this date, probably, marks the final disappearance of the horse as a means of traction for passenger traffic on public railways in england, though the word "coaches," introduced into the railway vocabulary under the circumstances here narrated, has remained in use ever since among railway men as applied to rolling stock for passenger traffic. unlike its predecessors in surrey, and though facing various difficulties at the outset, the stockton and darlington line attained to a considerable degree of prosperity. after undergoing various extensions from time to time, and playing a leading part in the industrial expansion of the district it served, it was incorporated into what is now the north-eastern railway system. summing up the respects in which the stockton and darlington line had carried forward the story of railway development, we find that it ( ) established the practicability of substituting locomotive for horse traction on railways; ( ) introduced the provision of waggons by the railway company, instead of leaving these to be found by carriers and traders; ( ) proved that railways were as well adapted to the transport of passengers as they were to the carriage of goods; ( ) showed by actual experience that the idea of a common user of railways was impracticable; and ( ) prepared the way for the eventual recognition, even by parliament itself, of the principle that transport on a line of railway operated by locomotives must, in the nature of things, be the monopoly of the owning and responsible railway company. while the surrey iron rail-way and the stockton and { }darlington railway had been thus seeking to establish themselves as public railways, there was no lack of advocates of what were then called "general rail-ways," to be laid either on the ordinary roads or on roads made for the purpose; and such general railways were especially advocated for districts where canals could not be made available. dr james anderson, writing on "cast iron rail-ways" in the issue of his "recreations in agriculture, natural history," etc., for november, , had already strongly recommended them as "an eligible mode of conveyance where canals cannot be conveniently adopted"; and he especially advised the construction of one railway in london, from the new docks on the isle of dogs to bishopsgate street, and another between london and bath, "for the purpose of conveying unsightly loads, leaving the roads, as at present, open for coaches and light carriages." such railways, he argued, would render great service in relieving the ordinary road of heavy traffic, and help to solve the road problem of that day--all the more acute because mcadam had not yet shown the country how roads could and should be made or repaired. on february , , mr thomas, of denton, read a paper before the newcastle literary society recommending the introduction of railways, on the colliery principle, for the general carriage of goods; and r. l. edgeworth urged, in "nicholson's journal," in , that for a distance of ten miles or more one of the great roads out of london should be provided with four tracks of railway operated by stationary engines and circulating chains for fast and slow traffic in each direction. but the most strenuous advocate of all was thomas gray. both before and subsequent to the publication, in , of the first edition of his "observations on a general rail-way," he had been pressing his views, in the form of petitions, letters or articles, on members of the government, peers of the realm, m.p.'s, corporations, capitalists, reviews and newspapers. his idea was that there should be six trunk lines of railway radiating from london, with branch lines linking up towns and villages off these main routes; but he was looked upon as a visionary, if not as a crank and a bore whose impracticable proposals were not deserving of serious { }consideration. it was evidently thomas gray whom the "quarterly review" had in mind when it said, in march, : "as to those persons who speculate on making railways general throughout the kingdom, and superseding all the canals, all the waggons, mail and stage-coaches, post-chaises, and, in short, every other mode of conveyance by land and water, we deem them and their visionary schemes unworthy of notice." in the result gray was left to spend the last years of his life in obscurity and poverty, and the further development of the railway system of the country was proceeded with on lines altogether different from, and far less efficient, than those he had recommended. the greatest impetus to the movement was now to come, not from any individual pioneer, but from the liverpool and manchester railway; and this line, in turn, was due far more to purely local conditions and circumstances than to any idea of encouraging the creation of a network of railways on some approach, however remote, to a national or "general" system. the original cause of the liverpool and manchester line being undertaken was, in fact, nothing less than extreme dissatisfaction among the traders both of liverpool and of manchester with the then existing transport arrangements between these two places. just as the duke of bridgewater had drawn his strongest arguments in favour of a canal from the shortcomings of the irwell and mersey navigation, so now did the traders base their case for a railway mainly on the deficiencies and shortcomings alike of the river navigation and of the canal by which the rivers had been supplemented. there were, in the first place, physical difficulties. by whichever of the two water routes goods were sent from liverpool to manchester, the barges had first to go about eighteen miles along the mersey to runcorn, being thus exposed for that distance to the possibly adverse winds and strong tides of an open estuary. the boats often got aground, and many wrecks occurred during stormy weather. on the canal itself the boats could often go with only half loads in the summer, and they were liable to be stopped by frost in winter, while the canal was closed altogether for ten days every year for repairs. { }supplementing these physical disadvantages of the navigation was the attitude of the waterway interests towards the traders whom they held at their mercy. theoretically there was competition between the rivers and the canal; but the agents of both extorted from the traders the highest possible charges for a most inefficient service. joseph sandars, who was to take a leading part in the movement for a railway between liverpool and manchester, has some strong things to say about the "exorbitant and unjust charges of the water carriers" in a "letter" on the subject of the proposed railway which he published in . he alleged that, whereas the duke of bridgewater had been authorised by his acts to charge not more than two shillings and sixpence per ton for canal dues, his agents had, by various devices, which sandars details, exacted five shillings and twopence per ton. the trustees had, also, obtained possession of all the warehouses alongside the canal at manchester, and they were thus able to exact whatever terms they pleased from the bye-carriers and traders. if the canal trustees carried the goods in their own vessels they were entitled to charge six shillings per ton; and their aim seems to have been to render it impossible for the independent carriers to do their business at a lower rate than this. when the carriers, using boats of their own, would not pay the same rate as if the trustees had themselves done the carrying, they were not allowed to land the goods. then, by acquiring all the warehouses and all the available land at preston brook and runcorn, the trustees had likewise got control over navigation on the trent and mersey canal, which joins the bridgewater canal at preston brook. sandars speaks of mr bradshaw, to whom the duke of bridgewater had, by his will, given absolute control of his undertakings, as a dictator of canal transport. "no man," he says, in giving examples of the wide extent of the interests that bradshaw controlled or sought to influence, "can bring a bill forward for a canal in any part of the kingdom but mr bradshaw interferes as a sort of canal neptune, directing where, how, and at what price it shall run. he has tortured the trade of the country to become tributory to him in all directions. every man, every corporate body, seems spellbound the moment mr bradshaw interposes his authority." { }as for the profits of the undertaking, sandars says: "there is good reason to believe that the nett income of the duke's canal has, for the last twenty years, averaged nearly £ , per annum." the old quay company had refrained from exceeding the amounts they were authorised to charge for tolls on the irwell and the mersey; but there was no restriction on them in regard to traffic they themselves carried, and sandars alleges that they, also, had secured all the warehouse accommodation on their own line of route, and had almost monopolised the carrying trade, since a bye-carrier's business could hardly be conducted without warehouses. they were thus making far more money than they could have got from the statutory tolls alone. so profitable had the undertaking become that the thirty-nine original proprietors had, sandars continues, "been paid every other year, for nearly half a century, the total amount of their investment." an immense revenue was being raised at the expense of the merchants and manufacturers, "and for no other purpose than to enrich a few individuals who were daily violating acts of parliament, acts which, by a long course of cunning policy," they had contrived to convert into "the most oppressive and unjust monopoly known to the trade of this kingdom--a monopoly which," sandars goes on to declare, "there is every reason to believe compels the public to pay, in one shape or another, £ , more per annum than they ought to pay." the agents of the two companies not only agreed between themselves what charges they would impose but, autocrats as they were, they established a despotic sway over the traders. they set up, says francis, "a rotation by which they sent as much or as little as suited them, and shipped it how or when they pleased. they held levees, attended by crowds who, admitted one by one, almost implored them to forward their goods. one firm was thus limited by the supreme wisdom of the canal managers to sixty or seventy bags a day. the effects were really disastrous; mills stood still for want of material; machines were stopped for lack of food. of feet of pine timber required in manchester by one house, remained unshipped from november, , to march, ." { }merchants whose timber was thus delayed in transit were fined for allowing it to obstruct the quays; and sandars tells of one who paid £ in fines on this account during the course of two months. it was less costly and more convenient to leave the delayed timber where it was, and pay the fines, than to keep moving it to and fro between quay and timber yard; though the effect--especially as the imports of timber increased--was to block up, not only the quays, but the neighbouring streets, which thus became almost impassable for carts and carriages. corn and other commodities had often to be kept back eight or ten days on account of a lack of vessels. it sometimes happened that commodities brought across the atlantic in three weeks were detained in liverpool for six weeks before they could be sent on to manchester. the agents would not carry certain kinds of merchandise or particular descriptions of cotton at all. alternatively they would tell a trader: "we took so much for you yesterday, and we can take only so much for you to-day." "they limited the quantity," says francis, "they appointed the time, until the difficulties of transit became a public talk and the abuse of power a public trouble. the exchange of liverpool resounded with merchants' complaints; the counting-houses of manchester re-echoed the murmurs of manufacturers." to avoid serious delays either to raw materials or to manufactured articles the traders were often forced to resort to road transport "because," says sandars, "speed and certainty as to delivery are of the first importance"; and he adds on this point, "packages of goods sent from manchester, for immediate shipment at liverpool, often pay two or three pounds per ton; and yet there are those who assert that the difference of a few hours in speed can be no object. the merchants know better." the example already set in so many different parts of the country in the provision of rail-ways, or railways, as they were now being generally called, may well have suggested that in a resort to this expedient would be found the most practical solution of the problem which had caused so much trouble to the traders. sandars himself says that inasmuch as the two companies were "deaf to all remonstrances, to all entreaties," and were "actuated solely by a spirit of { }monopoly and extortion," the only remedy the public had left was to go to parliament and ask for permission to establish a new line of conveyance--and one, also, that possessed decided advantages over canal or river transport. but here there arose a consideration which had a material bearing on the problem immediately concerned, and was to affect the further development of the railway system in general. numerous as were the lines already existing at this time, none of them directly competed with the waterways. they were feeders rather than rivals of the canals. even the surrey iron rail-way and the stockton and darlington line, though operating independently of the canal companies, had not come into conflict with them. in the one instance--that of the merthyr and cardiff dram-road--in which a railway had hitherto been projected in direct competition with a canal the scheme had been either killed or bought off by the canal interests. but the proposed liverpool and manchester railway was avowedly and expressly designed to compete with the existing water services. it was not simply to supplement the waterways. it threatened to supplant them. so the waterway companies, representing very powerful interests--inasmuch as by the amount invested in canal and navigation schemes was about £ , , --might well think it necessary to take action in defence of their own position. down to this time they had regarded the railway as either a friend or a non-competitor, and they had either extended to it a sympathetic support or had, at least, regarded it with a feeling of equanimity. henceforward they had to look upon it as an opponent. the project for a liverpool and manchester railway would seem to have first begun to assume definite shape in or about , when william james, a london engineer, who had already proposed a "central junction rail-way or tram-road" from stratford-on-avon to london, made surveys between liverpool and manchester, and prepared a set of plans. the certain prospect, however, of vigorous opposition from the waterway interests led some of the traders to think they had better make terms with the men in possession, if they could; and in that same year the corn merchants of liverpool memorialised the bridgewater trustees, asking both { }for a reduction in the rate of freight and for better accommodation. bradshaw replied with an unqualified refusal, and he treated as idle talk the then much-discussed project of a line of railway. there is no doubt that if, at this period, reasonable concessions had been made to the traders the building of the liverpool and manchester railway, although, of course, inevitable, would have been delayed to a later period. the traders shrank, at first, from an open fight, and the project of was allowed to drop for a time. the situation was found to be so hopeless, however, that in they decided that mere concessions from the waterway interests would no longer suffice, and that the provision of an alternative means of transport had become imperative. a liverpool and manchester railway company was now formed, and on october , , there was issued a prospectus which was, in effect, a declaration of war against the waterway parties who had so mercilessly abused the situation they thought they controlled. this document, after mentioning that the total quantity of merchandise then passing between liverpool and manchester was estimated at tons a day, proceeded:-- "the committee are aware that it will not immediately be understood by the public how the proprietors of a railroad, requiring an invested capital of £ , can afford to carry goods at so great a reduction upon the charge of the present water companies. but the problem is easily solved. it is not that the water companies have not been able to carry goods on reasonable terms, but that, strong in the enjoyment of their monopoly, they have not thought proper to do so. against the most arbitrary exactions the public have hitherto had no protection, and against the indefinite continuance or recurrence of the evil they have but one security. _it is competition that is wanted_, and the proof of this assertion may be adduced from the fact that shares in the old quay navigation, of which the original cost was £ , have been sold as high as £ each!" the canal interests in general had, however, anticipated the definite challenge thus given, and there had already been a call to arms in defence of common interests. in a postscript to the prospectus just referred to it was mentioned that { }the leeds and liverpool, the birmingham, the grand trunk and other canal companies had issued circulars calling upon "every canal and navigation company in the kingdom to oppose _in limine_, and by a united effort, the establishment of railroads wherever contemplated."[ ] by this time, therefore, the projectors of the liverpool and manchester railway were threatened with the opposition, not alone of the bridgewater trustees and of the old quay navigation trustees, but of the canal and river navigation interests throughout the country. as thomas baines well describes the position in his "history of liverpool," "the canal proprietors, with an instinctive sense of danger, justly appreciated what they affected to despise, and, with one accord, and with one heart and mind, resolved to crush the rival project which threatened to interrupt, if not to destroy the hopes of prescription and the dreams of a sanguine avarice." the real strength of the opposition thus being worked up against not only the liverpool and manchester railway but public railways in general will be better understood if i supplement the references i have already made to the shares of canal and navigation companies by a few further figures, showing the financial position to which the waterways had attained, and the extent of the vested interests they represented at the particular period now in question. in a pamphlet published in , under the title of "a statement of the claim of the subscribers to the birmingham and liverpool rail-road to an act of parliament; in reply to the opposition of the canal companies" (quoted in the fifth, or , edition of thomas gray's "observations on a general iron rail-way"), it is stated that the amount of capital originally subscribed for the old birmingham canal company was about £ , , in shares of £ , subject to a stipulation that no one person should hold more than ten shares. the pamphlet proceeds:-- { }"by various subsequent acts and collateral cuts, this canal, which has now changed its name to the style of the 'birmingham canal navigation company,' is extended to a distance of about miles of water, containing locks or thereabouts, fire engines to raise water, number of bridges not known to the present writer. "the original shares are computed to have cost the proprietors £ each. in they were marketably worth £ , and in , £ . in an act increased the shares to , or, in other words, for marketable convenience divided them. in the half share was sold as high as £ . in power was given to the company of proprietors further to subdivide the shares as they should deem advisable, on due public notice, etc. the shares are now in eighths. thus at the present time, and at the last quoted prices in wetenhall's list, there are shares of eighths, marketably worth £ per eighth, each receiving an annual dividend of £ - - . thus the original cost, compared with the present value of the shares, is as £ , to £ , , , the original share having risen from £ sterling (or thereabouts) to the sum of £ ." shares in the loughborough navigation cost the first holders £ - - each. in the "european magazine" for june, , they are quoted at £ a share, and the dividend then being paid is given as per cent. in the issue of the same magazine for november, , the price per share is £ , and the dividend is shown to have risen to per cent. among other canal shares quoted in the "european magazine" for the dates mentioned are the following:-- company. share. price. dividend. price. dividend. £ £ £ £ £ coventry and erewash -- leeds and liverpool oxford * staffordshire and worcestershire trent and mersey * * and bonus. { }the following further quotations are from "wetenhall's commercial list" for december , :-- company. share. price. dividend. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. ashton and oldham barnsley grand junction glamorganshire grantham leicester monmouthshire melton mowbray mersey and irwell -- neath shrewsbury stourbridge stroudwater trent and mersey (half share) * warwick and birmingham warwick and knapton * and bonus. these figures, it will be seen, are given for years when the "canal mania"--at its height between and --had long been over, and they suggest, therefore, _bona fide_ market values based on business done and dividends paid. high as they are, it is doubtful if they tell the whole story. i have mentioned on page that in their petition to the house of commons against the proposed railway, or tramway, between merthyr and cardiff, the glamorganshire canal company represented that they were restrained by their act from paying more than a "moderate" dividend. the dividend they were authorised to pay was one of eight per cent; but there is a tradition in south wales that the company, after checking effectively the threatened railway competition, attained to phenomenal prosperity, and resorted to an ingenious expedient as a means of deriving further pecuniary advantage from the waterway without exceeding the statutory limitation in regard to the dividend to be paid. this expedient took the form of a suspension of all tolls for a large part of every year, the use of the canal being free to the public for { }the period so arranged. in some years, it is said, no tolls were paid for six months at a time. this practice was found preferable, for certain members of the managing committee--ironmasters or large traders in the district--to a reduction of tolls to be in force throughout the year, their practice being to keep back their own consignments, whenever possible, till the free period, which they could fix to suit their convenience. when the principal shareholders were traders using the canal, it did not matter to them whether their profits came wholly in dividends or partly in dividends and partly in free carriage. traders, however, who could not wait for their supplies or store their manufactured goods until the free period came round had to pay the full rates of tolls for, at least, the period during which these were enforced. i shall refer later to the effect on railway legislation of the power and influence to which the waterways had attained. the consideration for the moment is that, even allowing for a certain number of minor or of purely speculative canals which were admittedly failures, the waterway interests, consolidating their forces, were able, by virtue of their position at the time in question, to organise a powerful and widespread opposition to a rival form of transport then still in its infancy, though obviously capable of eventually becoming a formidable competitor. the canal interests also made every effort to work up an opposition on the part of representatives of the landed interests, who, however, developed such strong hostility of their own towards the iron road that the arguments of the canal proprietors were hardly needed to arouse them to violent antagonism to the scheme. popular prejudices, too, were well exploited, and the most direful predictions were indulged in as to what would result from the running of locomotives, so that, for a time, the promoters even abandoned the idea of using locomotives at all. the combined canal and land interests scored the first victory on the liverpool and manchester bill, which was thrown out in ; but it was reintroduced and passed in , the opposition of the bridgewater trustees having, in the meantime, been overcome by a judicious presentation to them of a thousand shares in the railway. the promoters thus established the new principle of direct { }competition between railways and waterways; but otherwise the liverpool and manchester differed from the stockton and darlington, at the outset, and as a line of railway, only in the fact that the former was to be provided throughout with malleable iron rails, whereas the latter had two-thirds malleable iron and one-third cast iron. on the one line as on the other, the use of locomotives had not been decided upon from the start; and, unless the liverpool and manchester had not only adopted locomotives but, as was, of course, the case, improved on those of the stockton and darlington, it would have shown little real advance in actual railway operation. the motive power to be used on the liverpool and manchester remained uncertain when george stephenson and his "navvies" were attacking the engineering proposition of chat moss. it was still uncertain in october, --or two years after the passing of the act--when three of the directors went to killingworth colliery, to see the early locomotive which stephenson had made there, and to darlington to see the locomotives then operating on the stockton and darlington line. they decided that "horses were out of the question"; but even then the point remained doubtful whether the liverpool and manchester should be provided with locomotives or have stationary engines at intervals of a mile or two along the line to draw the trains from station to station by means of ropes. how the directors sought to solve the problem by offering a premium of £ for a locomotive which would fulfil certain conditions; how george stephenson won the prize with his "rocket"; and how the "rocket," with a gross load of seventeen tons, attained a speed of twenty-nine miles an hour, with an average of fourteen--whereas counsel for the promoters had only promised a speed of six or seven miles an hour--are facts known to all the world. if the stockton and darlington railway had had the honour of introducing the locomotive, it was the rainhill trials, organised by the liverpool and manchester company, which gave the world its first idea of the great possibilities to which alike the locomotive and the railway might attain. in this respect the liverpool and manchester line carried railway development far beyond the point already attained by the stockton and darlington, although no fundamentally { }new principle in railway working was set up. the liverpool and manchester line did, however, establish a new departure in proclaiming direct rivalry with the then powerful canal interests, and the warfare thus entered on, and persevered in until the railway system had gained the ascendancy, was to affect the whole further history of railway expansion and control. { }chapter xx railway expansion the monopolist tendencies of the waterway interests, the magnitude of the profits secured, and the resort by traders to the building of railways as an alternative thereto and as a means of meeting the transport requirements of expanding industries, were factors in the development of the railway system that operated as direct causes in the construction of other lines besides the liverpool and manchester. from these particular points of view the story of the leicester and swannington railway is of special significance. in the closing years of the eighteenth century, when the canal era was in full operation, the various new projects put forward included one for constructing a canal, eleven miles in length, down the erewash valley to connect with the trent, thus facilitating the transport of coal and other products from nottinghamshire and derbyshire to places served by that river; and another for rendering the soar navigable from its junction with the trent to leicester, this being known as the loughborough navigation. these two schemes were to form part of a network of important waterways, the soar navigation joining the leicester navigation, and this, in turn, communicating with the leicestershire branch of the grand junction canal, thus eventually giving a direct route from derbyshire, nottinghamshire and leicestershire to london. the leicestershire coalowners regarded these proposals with great uneasiness. they were then supplying leicester with coal conveyed there by waggon or packhorse from the collieries on the other side of charnwood forest, and they foresaw that the proposed navigations would give the derbyshire and nottinghamshire coalowners a great advantage over them in the leicester market. they accordingly offered a strong opposition to the schemes, and persisted until the projectors { }of the loughborough navigation undertook to make that charnwood forest canal which, with its edge-railway at each end (see page ), would connect the leicestershire coal-fields at coleorton and moira with leicester, and so allow of the threatened competition from the north of the trent being duly met. the loughborough navigation and its charnwood forest extension were completed in ; but in the succeeding winter the charnwood forest canal burst its banks, and the damage done was never repaired, the loughborough navigation trustees (who, though forced to construct the canal, did not consider themselves obliged to maintain it) finding it to their advantage, from a traffic point of view, to enable the derbyshire and nottinghamshire coalowners to have a virtual monopoly on the leicester market. it was under these conditions that the loughborough navigation shares advanced, by , from their original value of £ s. each to no less a sum than £ . the local waterway interests maintained their supremacy and were, indeed, complete masters of the situation for over thirty years; but the days of their per cent dividends were then numbered. influenced by what the traders of liverpool and manchester were doing to fight the canal and river monopolists there, the leicestershire coalowners got, in , an act of parliament authorising them to build a railway from swannington to leicester. this line would give them the facilities they wanted for their coal; but it was to be a "public," and not merely a private, railway. by one of the clauses of the act it was provided that "all persons shall have free liberty to use with horses, cattle and carriages the said railway upon payment of tolls." these tolls were arranged alike for passengers and for goods and minerals, and they varied according to whether the travellers and traders provided their own conveyances or used those of the railway company. in the former case passengers were to pay twopence halfpenny each per mile, and in the latter case threepence per mile, the tolls for goods and minerals being in like proportion. in a later act, however, passed in , it was declared that "whereas the main line hath been constructed with a view to locomotive steam engines being used, it might be very injurious to the said railway and { }inconvenient and dangerous if horses or cattle were used," and the rights thus granted to the public under the first act were now withdrawn. opened in , the leicester and swannington railway restored to the leicestershire colliery-owners the advantage in the leicester market of which the canal companies had enabled their north-of-the-trent competitors to deprive them for so many years; and it was now the turn of the nottinghamshire and derbyshire coalmasters to consider what they should do to meet the new situation which had arisen. they first had conferences with the directors of the loughborough, erewash and leicester navigations, and sought to induce them to grant such reductions in tolls as would enable them to compete with the leicestershire coal, now that this was no longer shut out from leicester by the dry ditch in charnwood forest. but the only concessions the canal companies would make were regarded as wholly inadequate by the nottinghamshire coalmasters, who, meeting at a little inn at eastwood, on august , , resolved that "there remained no other plan for their adoption" than to lay a railway from their collieries to the town of leicester. they formed a midland counties railway company, obtained an act, built their line, and so laid the foundations of the great system now known to us as the midland railway. into that system the leicester and swannington was absorbed in . the position to-day of the waterways which for thirty years controlled more or less the transport conditions of the three counties in question, brought great wealth to their owners, and, by their sole regard for their own interests, forced the traders to resort to railways, is shown by the fourth or final report of the royal commission on canals and waterways. from this one may learn that the loughborough and leicester navigations, which follow the course of the soar, are liable to floods and are, also, sometimes short of water, in consequence of the want of control over the supply of water to mills; and although, with the grand junction canal, they offer "the most direct inland water route" to london for the traffic of derby, nottingham and leicester and of the large coal districts, they serve at present, adds the report, but an insignificant part of the traffic which travels by this route. { }in effect, the very efforts made by the canal companies to preserve the monopoly they had so long and so profitably enjoyed were only a direct means of encouraging railway expansion; though few great institutions, destined to lead to a great social and economic revolution, have established their position in the face of more prejudice, greater difficulties, and less sympathetic support from "the powers that be" than was the case with the railways. the traders of the country were naturally favourable to them, since the need for improved means of communication, following on the ever-expanding trade and industry of the land, was becoming almost daily more and more acute. but the vested interests, as represented alike by holders of canal shares, by turnpike road trustees and investors, and by the coaching interests, were against the railways; the press of the country was to a great extent against them; leaders in the literary and the social worlds either ignored or condemned them; landowners first opposed and then blackmailed them; governments sought to control and to tax rather than to assist them; and then, when the railways had proved that they were less objectionable than prejudiced critics had assumed, and were likely even to be a source of profitable investment, they were boomed by speculators into a popularity that led both to successive "railway manias" and to the whole railway system being still further burdened with an excessive capital expenditure which has been more or less to its prejudice ever since. some of the early denunciations by those who would have considered themselves, in their day, to be leaders of public opinion, if not of light and learning, afford interesting examples of the hostility which railways, in common with every innovation that seeks to alter established habits and customs, had to encounter. in the article published in the "quarterly review" for march, , in which proposals for making railways general throughout the country are condemned as "visionary schemes unworthy of notice," it is further said in reference to the woolwich railway:-- "it is certainly some consolation to those who are to be whirled at the rate of eighteen or twenty miles an hour, by means of a high pressure engine, to be told that they are in { }no danger of being sea-sick while on shore, that they are not to be scalded to death, nor drowned by the bursting of the boiler; and that they need not fear being shot by the scattered fragments, or dashed in pieces by the flying off or the breaking of a wheel. but, with all these assurances we should as soon expect the people of woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off upon one of congreve's ricochet rockets as trust themselves to the mercy of such a machine, going at such a rate. their property they may, perhaps, trust; but while one of the finest navigable rivers in the world runs parallel to the proposed railroad, we consider the other twenty per cent which the subscribers are to receive for the conveyance of heavy goods almost as problematical as that to be derived from the passengers. we will back old father thames against the woolwich railway for any sum." in "john bull" for november , , railways are spoken of as "new-fangled absurdities," and it is declared that "those people who judge by the success of the manchester and liverpool railroad, and take it as a criterion for similar speculations, are dunces and blockheads." in the case of that particular railway, the writer argues, the distance was short, the passengers were numerous, the "thing" was new and the traffic was great--above all the distance was short; but it did not follow that railways were going to succeed elsewhere. he continues:-- "does anybody mean to say that decent people, passengers who would use their own carriages, and are accustomed to their own comforts, would consent to be hurried along through the air upon a railroad, from which, had a lazy schoolboy left a marble, or a wicked one a stone, they would be pitched off their perilous track, into the valley beneath; or is it to be imagined that women, who may like the fun of being whirled away on a party of pleasure for an hour to see a sight, would endure the fatigue, and misery, and danger, not only to themselves, but their children and families, of being dragged through the air at the rate of twenty miles an hour, all their lives being at the mercy of a tin pipe, or a copper boiler, or the accidental dropping of a pebble on the line of way? "we denounce the _mania_ as destructive of the country in a thousand particulars--the whole face of the kingdom is to be tattooed with these odious deformities; huge mounds are { }to intersect our beautiful valleys; the noise and stench of locomotive steam-engines are to disturb the quietude of the peasant, the farmer and the gentleman; and the roaring of bullocks, the bleating of sheep and the grunting of pigs to keep up one continual uproar through the night along the lines of these most dangerous and disfiguring abominations.... "railroads ... will in their efforts to gain ground do incalculable mischief. if they succeed they will give an unnatural impetus to society, destroy all the relations which exist between man and man, overthrow all mercantile regulations, overturn the metropolitan markets, drain the provinces of all their resources, and create, at the peril of life, all sorts of confusion and distress. if they fail nothing will be left but the hideous memorials of public folly." in "gore's liverpool advertiser" for december , , mention is made of some of the objections then being raised against railways, these being described as "exceedingly trifling and puerile." "elderly gentlemen," it is said, "are of opinion that they shall not be able to cross the rail-roads without the certainty of being run over; young gentlemen are naturally fearful that the pleasant comforts and conveniencies of their foxes and pheasants may not have been sufficiently consulted. ladies think that cows will not graze within view of locomotive engines, and that the sudden and formidable appearance of them may be attended with _premature_ consequences to bipeds as well as quadrupeds. farmers are quite agreed that the race of horses must at once be extinguished, and that oats and hay will no longer be marketable produce." other alarmist stories were that a great and a scandalous attack was being made on private property; that there was not a field which would not be split up and divided; that springs would dry up, meadows become sterile and vegetation cease; that cows would give no milk, horses become extinct, agricultural operations be suspended, and houses be crushed by the railway embankments; that ruin would fall alike on landowners, farmers, market gardeners and innkeepers; that manufacturers' stocks would be destroyed by sparks from the locomotives; that hundreds of thousands of people, including those who had invested in canals, would be beggared in the interests of a few; and that (as an anti-climax to all { }these predictions of national disaster) the locomotive, after all, would never be got to work because, although its wheels might turn, it would remain on the lines by reason of its own weight--a theory which, long pondered over by men of science, led to early projects of "general" railways being based on the rack-and-pinion principle of operation, and was only abandoned when someone had the happy idea of making experiments which proved that the surmise in question was a complete delusion. i reproduce these puerilities of the early part of the nineteenth century, not simply for the entertainment of the reader, but because it is a matter of serious consideration how far they affected the cost of providing the country with railways. and whether, indeed, the traders who smile at them to-day may not still be paying, in one way or another, for the consequences they involved. the keener the prejudice, the greater the hostility and the more bitter the denunciations when railways were struggling into existence, the more vigorous became the antagonism of landowners, the higher were the prices demanded for land, the more costly, by reason of the opposition, were the proceedings before parliamentary committees, and the heavier grew that capital expenditure the interest on which would have to be met out of such rates and charges as the railways, when made, would impose. to a certain extent one may sympathise with landowners who feared that the amenities of their estates might be prejudiced by an innovation of which so much evil was being said; but, as a rule (to which there were some very honourable exceptions) it was found that their scruples in regard alike to their own interests and to the national welfare eventually resolved themselves into a question of how much money could be got out of the companies. thus the extortionate prices paid for land often had no relation to the actual value of the land itself. they were simply the highest amount the railway company were prepared to pay the landowner for the withdrawal of his threatened opposition. if the company resisted the exorbitant demands made upon them, and would not give a sufficiently high bribe, they were so strongly opposed that they generally lost their bill when they first applied for it to parliament. thereupon they would { }yield, or effect a compromise on, the terms asked for, announce that they had made amicable arrangements with the opposition, re-introduce their bill in the following session, and then succeed in getting it passed. it might happen, even then, that the companies obtained their powers subject only to a variety of hampering or vexatious restrictions which the landed gentry or others were able to enforce in order that due respect should be shown to their fears or their prejudices. in some of the earlier railway acts the companies were forbidden to use any "locomotives or moveable engines" without the written consent of the owners or occupiers of the land through which their lines passed. one of the clauses of the liverpool and manchester act provided that "no steam engine shall be set up in the township of burtonwood or winwick, and no locomotive shall be allowed to pass along the line within those townships which shall be considered by thomas lord lilford or by the rector of winwick to be a nuisance or annoyance to them from the noise or smoke thereof." the same two individuals secured insertion of a clause in the warrington and newton railway act to the effect that every locomotive used within the parishes mentioned should be "constructed on best principles for enabling it to consume its own smoke and preventing noise in the machinery or motion thereof," and should use "no coal, but only coke or other such fuel" as his lordship and the rector might approve. the story of the london and birmingham railway is especially significant of the general conditions under which the english railway system came into being. industrial expansion had brought about great developments in the birmingham and black country districts, the population in birmingham alone having increased from about , in to , in . wide possibilities of increasing trade and commerce were being opened up, but these were seriously hampered by the disadvantages experienced in the matter of transport. small parcels of manufactured goods could be sent by coach, and a good deal of wrought iron--in small quantities per coach--was also distributed in the same way during the course of the year. for bulky goods or raw materials the only means of transport between birmingham and london was by canal, and this meant a three-days' { }journey. over tons a week were then going from birmingham to london by water; but there was great need for a means of communication at once more speedy and more trustworthy. goods were delayed in transit even beyond the three days; they were rejected by the shippers because they did not arrive in proper time; they were sometimes held up by frost on the canal between birmingham and london and lost their chance of getting to the baltic before the spring; while, alternatively, they might be pilfered or lost on the canal journey, and so not get even as far as london. there was often much difficulty, also, in obtaining raw materials. in the result manufacturers had to refuse orders because they could not execute them in time, and the local industries were not making anything like the advance of which, with better transport facilities, they would have been capable. the business that birmingham manufacturers should have been doing with italy, with spain, or with portugal was found to be drifting more and more into the hands of continental competitors who had greater advantages both in obtaining raw materials on the spot and in distributing their manufactured goods. it was further argued that in view of the struggle then proceeding between this country and continental countries for commercial supremacy, the improvement of the means of transport, even as regarded birmingham and london, was a matter of national, and not simply of local, concern. it might well be assumed that such considerations as these would have appealed to the patriotic instincts of the english people, and especially to those of the landed gentry. yet the issue, in january, , of the first prospectus of the london and birmingham railway company, and the introduction of their bill in february of the same year, led to opposition, to extortion and to actual blackmail of the most determined and most merciless description. the bill passed in the commons, but it was thrown out in the lords. its rejection there was attributed to the landowners, who, it was declared, had "tried to smother the company by the high price they demanded for their property." the inevitable negotiations followed. six months after the defeat of the bill the directors announced that the { }"measures" they had taken with a view to removing "that opposition of dissentient landowners and proprietors which was the sole cause of their failure ... had been successful to a greater extent than they had ventured to anticipate. the most active and formidable had been conciliated," and the bill would be introduced afresh in the following session. this was done, and the bill became an act, receiving the royal assent on may , . the nature of the "measures" which had succeeded in overcoming the opposition may be judged from some facts mentioned by john francis, who says that land estimated in value at £ , cost the company three times that amount. one landowner, in addition to getting £ for a certain plot, extorted £ , for what he called "consequential damages"; though, instead of injuring the remainder of his property, the line increased its value by twenty per cent. for land used only as agricultural holdings the company is said to have had to pay at the rate of £ an acre. but this was not all. there was the opposition of towns as well as the greed of individuals to be taken into account. according to robert stephenson's original survey, the london and birmingham railway was to pass through northampton, where, also, it was proposed to establish the company's locomotive and carriage works. the opposition in northampton, however, was so great that in order to meet it the company altered their plans and arranged for the line to pass at a distance from that town. they further undertook to start their locomotive works at wolverton, and thus not interfere with the amenities of northampton. how much the town and trade of northampton lost as the result of its scruples could hardly be told; but the consequences to the railway company of this enforced alteration of route were as serious as any of the extortions practised by the landowners. the line had now to pass through a tunnel at kilsby, five miles distant from northampton, and a contractor undertook to cut this tunnel for £ , . but, while engaged on the task, he came upon a quicksand which reduced him to despair and led to his throwing up the contract. robert stephenson thereupon took the work in hand and he had to have men, horses and thirteen steam-engines at work raising gallons of water per minute night and day { }for the greater part of eight months before the difficulty was overcome. by the time the tunnel was completed the cost of construction had risen from the original estimate of £ , to over £ , , this enormous expenditure having been incurred, not because it was necessary for the line, as first designed, but to meet the opposition and spare the feelings of the then short-sighted dwellers in the town of northampton. the london and birmingham railway, with its terminus at euston, was eventually opened for traffic throughout in september, . it was, of course, one of the lines subsequently amalgamated to form the london and north-western railway. the first bill of the great western railway, applied for in , was strenuously opposed and defeated. the second bill, brought forward in the following session, was less strenuously opposed, and was duly passed. in the interval the opposition of the dissentient landowners had been "conciliated"; and, commenting thereon (in ), john francis says:-- "the mode by which the opposition of landholders was met bears the same sad character as with other railways. every passenger who goes by the great western pays an additional fare to meet the interest on this most unjust charge; and every shareholder in this, as in other lines, receives a less dividend than he is entitled to from the same cause. nor does the blame rest with the conductors of the railway. they were the agents of the shareholders and were bound to forward their interests. the principle of the case to them was nothing. they were bound to get the act at the cheapest possible rate, and if the law gave their rich opponents the power of practically stopping the progress of the line, and those opponents chose to avail themselves of the law, the shame rests with the proprietor of the soil, and not with the promoter of the railway. fancy prices were given for fancy prospects, in proportion to the power of the landowner. noblemen were persuaded to allow their castles to be desecrated for a consideration. there can be no doubt--it was, indeed, all but demonstrated--that offers were made to and accepted by influential parties to withdraw their opposition to a bill which they had declared would ruin them, while the smaller and more numerous complainants were { }paid such prices as should actually buy off a series of long and tedious litigants." the promoters of that most unfortunate of lines, the eastern counties--predecessor of the great eastern railway of to-day--found themselves faced with serious opposition in the lords after they had got their bill through the commons; "but," says the first report, "the directors, by meeting the parties with the same promptness and in the same fair spirit which had carried them successfully through their previous negotiations, effected amicable arrangements with them," and the company was incorporated in . the negotiations must, however, have been carried through with greater promptness than discretion, for, to save the fate of their bill, the directors undertook to pay one influential landowner £ , for some purely agricultural land which was said to be then worth not more than £ . after they had secured their bill they made persistent attempts to get out of paying the £ , ; and, altogether, they so shocked john herapath that in successive monthly issues of his "railway magazine" all references to the eastern counties railway company were encircled by a black border. in another instance a company proposed to meet the opposition of certain landowners by carrying the line through a tunnel, which would enable them to avoid the property in question. the tunnel would have cost £ , , and the landowners said, "give us the price of that tunnel and we will withdraw our opposition." the company offered £ , , and the landowners agreed to be "conciliated" on this basis. they still came off better than the objector who began by demanding £ and finally accepted £ . john francis, too, relates the following story: "the estate of a nobleman was near a proposed line. he was proud of his park and great was his resentment. in vain was it proved that the new road would not come within six miles of his house, that the highway lay between, that a tunnel would hide the inelegance. he resisted all overture on the plea of his feelings, until £ , was offered. the route was, however, afterwards changed. a new line was marked out which would not even approach his domain; and, enraged at the prospect of losing the £ , , he resisted it as strenuously as the other." there were some honourable exceptions to the general { }tendency to extort as much as possible from the railway companies. among these may be mentioned the voluntary return by the duke of bedford of a sum of £ , paid to him as compensation, his grace explaining that the railway had benefitted instead of injuring his property; and by lord taunton of £ , out of £ , because his property had not suffered so much as had been anticipated. exceptions such as these do not, however, alter the fact that, as stated by francis in , the london and birmingham company had had to pay for land and compensation an average of £ per mile, the great western £ , the london and south western £ and the brighton company £ per mile. one argument, at least, which can be advanced in favour of state railways--as applying, however, to a country beginning the creation of a railway system, or building new railways, rather than to one taking over an existing system--is that extortions in respect to land could not be practised on the state in the same way as they have been practised on english railway companies left by their government to make the best terms they could with those who were in a position to drive the hardest of bargains with them. in prussia, for example, the securing of land for any new lines wanted for the state railway system is a comparatively simple matter. if the landowner and the responsible officials cannot agree to terms, the matter is referred to arbitration, though with every probability that the landowner will get no more than a fair sum, and will not be able to extort fancy figures under the head of consequential damages or as the "price" of his withdrawing any opposition he might otherwise offer. apart from other considerations, and taking only the one item of land, the state lines of continental countries may well have cost less to construct than the english lines, while both in the united states and in canada the pioneer railway companies had great stretches of land given to them, by state or federal government, not alone for their lines, but as a further means of assisting them financially. when one finds how the cost of creating the railway system in our own country was swollen, under the conditions here stated, to far greater proportions than should have been the case, and when one remembers that the excessive capital { }expenditure involved in meeting extortionate demands had either to remain unremunerative or be made good out of the payments of travellers and traders, it is evident that comparisons between english and foreign railway rates and fares may be carried to unreasonable lengths if they ignore conditions of origin by which the operation of the lines concerned must necessarily have been more or less influenced. francis himself says on this point, while confessing that "every line in england has cost more than it ought":-- "the reader may learn to moderate his intense indignation when, anathematising railways, he remembers with what unjust demands and impure claims they had to deal, and with what sad and selfish treatment it was their lot to meet. they owe nothing to the country; they owe nothing to the aristocracy. they were wronged by the former; they were contumaciously treated by the latter." another factor, apart from cost of land, in swelling the construction capital of british railways to abnormal proportions has been the cost of parliamentary proceedings; and here, again, state railways have had the advantage. in prussia the obtaining of sanction for the building of an additional line by the state railways administration is little more than a matter of official routine; whereas in england the expenses incurred by railway companies in obtaining their acts have often amounted to a prodigious sum--to be added, of course, to the capital outlay which the users of the railway will be expected to recoup, or, at least, to pay interest on. an especially striking example was that of the blackwall railway, now leased to the great eastern railway company. the cost of obtaining the act for this line, which is only five miles and a quarter in length, worked out at no less a sum than £ , per mile, the total cost being thus £ , . the amounts paid by certain other companies in securing their parliamentary powers are given as follows by g. r. porter in his "progress of the nation" ( ):-- birmingham and gloucester £ , bristol and gloucester £ , bristol and exeter £ , eastern counties £ , great western £ , great north of england £ , { } grand junction £ , glasgow, paisley and greenock £ , london and birmingham £ , london and south western £ , manchester and leeds £ , midland counties £ , north midland £ , northern and eastern £ , sheffield, ashton-under-lyne and manchester £ , south-eastern £ , in some cases, porter explains, the sums here given contain the expenses of surveying and other disbursements which necessarily precede the obtaining of an act of incorporation. on the other hand, they include only the costs defrayed by the proprietors of the railway, and not the expenses incurred by parties opposing the bills. nor do they include the expenses incurred in connection either with rival schemes or with schemes that failed altogether; though, in these instances, of course, there would be no chance of recouping the outlay out of rates and fares. no fewer than five different companies, for instance, sought for powers to construct a line from london to brighton, and the amounts they expended are given by john francis as follows:-- rennie's line £ , stephenson's £ , cundy's £ , gibb's £ , south-eastern £ , ------- total £ , another company, the name of which is not given by francis, had so vigorous a fight that they spent nearly £ , before they got their act; but still worse than this was the fate of the stone and rugby railway, whose promoters spent £ , on attempts made in two successive sessions to get an act (the committee on the first bill sitting { }on days) and then failed. in another instance the promoters expended £ , with a like result. after the early companies had got their acts and obtained their land they still, as railway pioneers, had to bear the expense of some very costly experiments, of which railways constructed at a later date had the advantage. the idea that the locomotive would be able to haul trains only on the level involved much unnecessary expenditure on engineering works, while the battle of the gauges led to a prodigious waste of money alike in parliamentary proceedings and in the provision of lines, embankments, cuttings, bridges and viaducts adapted to a broad gauge eventually abandoned in favour of the narrower gauges now in general use. the facts here mentioned will have given the reader some idea of the conditions under which the railways so greatly needed in the interests of our national industries were handicapped from the very outset by an unduly heavy expenditure; but there were still other influences and considerations which materially affected the general position, more especially as regards questions and consequences of state policy towards the railway system in general. { }chapter xxi railways and the state from the earliest moment of there being any prospect of railways, operated by locomotives in place of animal power, coming into general use, the attitude of the state towards their promoters was one less of sympathy than of distrust; and this distrust was directly due to the experience the country had already had of the waterway interests, whose merciless exactions and huge dividends had led to the fear that if the railway companies, in turn, were to get a monopoly of the transport facilities of the country, they might follow in the footsteps of the inland navigation companies unless they were restrained either by law or by the enforcement of the principle of competition. public sentiment, which parliament is assumed to represent, and of which our legislation is supposed to be the outcome, was divided between, on the one hand, the landed gentry, the canal proprietors (each alike hostile to the railways until they found they had more to hope for from exploiting them), and the inevitable opponents of innovations of any kind; and, on the other hand, the traders, by whom the railways were being cordially welcomed, not only because of the greater and better transport facilities they offered, but also because they presented an alternative to the canals, the earlier enthusiasm for which had been greatly moderated by the prospect of an improved means of transport. without adopting wholeheartedly the views of either of these two opposing parties, parliament regarded the position with much concern lest there might be a renewal, in another form, of what we have seen to be the grasping tendencies of monopolistic canal companies; and the distrust inspired, under these particular circumstances, and from the very outset, towards railway companies which were preparing to create a revolution in the transport conditions of the { }country--a revolution the state was not itself disposed to effect or to finance--was powerfully to influence much of the subsequent railway legislation, if, indeed, it has even to-day entirely disappeared. at first it was assumed that competition in rail transport would be assured, and the dangers in question proportionately reduced, by different carriers using their own locomotives, coaches and carriages on the railway lines, which alone, it was thought, would be owned by the railway companies constructing them. in some of the earlier railway acts there was even a provision that the railway companies could lease their tolls, as turnpike trustees were doing. but the apparent safeguard in the form of competition between rival carriers disappeared when it was found ( ) that, although a railway company was required to allow a trader's own horse or locomotive to use the line, it was under no obligation to afford him access to stations and watering-places, or to provide him with any other facilities, however indispensable these might be to the carrier's business; ( ) that the tolls charged by the railway companies were heavier than the carriers could afford to pay; ( ) that the entire operation of a line of railway worked by locomotives must necessarily be under the control of the owning and responsible company; and ( ) that railway companies would have to become carriers of goods as well as owners of rails. a parliamentary committee which sat in , and of which sir robert peel was a member, had reported in the strongest terms that the form of competition originally designed was both impracticable and undesirable, and that monopoly upon the same line, at all events as regarded passengers, must be looked upon as inevitable. "your committee," said the report, "deems it indispensable both for the safety and convenience of the public, that as far as locomotive powers are concerned, the rivalry of competing parties on the same line should be prohibited"; though, as some check to the consequent monopoly of the railway companies, they suggested that the board of trade should act as a supervising authority, with power to hear complaints, consider bye-laws, etc. a witness for the grand junction railway company, who gave evidence before this committee, said that any person { }might run his own engine on the grand junction, and in one instance this was done by a trader who had a locomotive on the company's line for drawing his own coal; but the witness apprehended the greatest possible inconvenience from any general resort to such powers. on the liverpool and manchester, also, anyone might run his own engines on the line; but, the witness added, "no one does." the royal commission of summed up the position thus:--"no sooner were railways worked on a large scale with locomotive power than it was found impracticable for the general public to use the line with carriages and engines, and railway companies were compelled to embark in the business of common carriers on their own line, and conduct the whole operations." when, in these circumstances, it was made certain that any idea of competition between carriers using a railway company's lines in the same manner as an ordinary highway would have to be abandoned, it became the established policy of the state to promote competition between the railway companies themselves by encouraging the construction of competitive lines or otherwise, thus still protecting, as was thought, the interests of railway users, and checking any monopolistic tendencies on the part of the railway companies. the futility, however, of seeking to compel railway companies to compete with one another had already been pointed out by mr james morrison, whose speech on the subject in the house of commons on may , , confirms, also, the theory i have suggested as to the attitude adopted towards the railway companies being traceable to fears engendered by the undue prosperity of the canal and navigation companies. if, argued morrison, after one company had spent a large sum on a line to liverpool, another company were encouraged to spend as much again, with a view to providing a competition which would keep down the charges, the two would inevitably arrive at some understanding by which the original charges would be confirmed; and the legislature, he contended--though the legislature never acted on his contention--was "bound to prevent, as far as it could, the unnecessary waste of capital" on the building of unnecessary lines to promote a competition he held to be futile. the safeguarding of the public interests could, he thought, be effected in another way. { }"the history of the existing canals, waterworks, etc., afforded," he went on, "abundant evidence of the evils" of allowing too much freedom in the matter of rates; and he quoted the high prices at which the shares of the loughborough canal and the trent and mersey canal were then still being sold,[ ] adding: "the possession of the best, or, it may be, the only practicable line, and the vast capital required for the formation of new canals, have enabled the associations in question, unchecked by competition, to maintain rates of charges which have realised enormous profits for a long series of years." the remedy he recommended in preference to competition was that when parliament established companies for the formation of canals or railroads it should invariably reserve to itself the power to make such periodical revisions of the rates and charges as it might deem expedient, examining into the whole management and affairs of each company, and fixing the rates and charges for another term; the period he favoured being one of twenty years.[ ] there was no suggestion, at this time, that the railway companies _had_ abused their powers. the only suggestion--and expectation--was that _because_ the canal companies had abused theirs, the railway companies might, and doubtless would, do the same, unless they were prevented; and it will { }be found that this was mainly the position throughout the whole of the subsequent controversies. morrison's proposal was approved in the house of commons, and on may he brought in a bill for giving effect to it in regard to all new railways, to be sanctioned in that or any subsequent session. but the prospect of a parliamentary limitation of the profits a railway might earn had a most depressing effect on the railway interests, and on july sir robert peel urged that the question should be decided without further delay inasmuch as "this branch of commercial enterprise was injured and almost paralysed." on the following day the bill was brought up again, and it was then defeated. in the same session ( ) the duke of wellington moved, and carried, in the house of lords a general clause, to be inserted in all railway acts, the effect of which would have been to give to parliament the power of dealing as it might think fit with any railway company during the next year. john herapath thereupon inserted in the current issue of his "railway magazine" a letter addressed to the duke of wellington, in the course of which he said:-- "no person can doubt your grace's intentions are honourable to all parties. fearful of the consequences of overgrown monopolies, you are anxious to put some salutary restrictions to those bodies riding, as you apprehend, rough-shod over the public; and you are anxious to do this before they become too powerful to be ruled. every honest and right-minded man must be satisfied that such are needful; nor is there a company got up on honourable principles that would object to any reasonable measure, in which a due regard is paid to their own interests, and a proper consideration is had to all the circumstances of their situation and risk. but in common fairness these must be taken into account." defending the railways, and keenly criticising the attitude of the state towards them, herapath further said:-- "no man knows better than yourself that these works, if they are at all likely to be beneficial to the nation--which everyone in his sober senses admits--will form a great and brilliant era in its prosperity. nay, my lord duke, permit me to ask you if they have not been a godsend towards the preservation of this country, by giving a new impetus to { }industry and trade, and saving us from that anarchy and confusion to which distress was fast hurrying a large proportion of our population? with all these advantages staring us in the face, what have the government done to promote railways? have they done a single thing? i am not conscious of one. have they removed a single impediment? not to my knowledge; but they have raised several. have they contributed a single farthing? rather, i believe, by the intolerable and vexatious oppositions permitted in passing the bills, have been the cause of spending many hundred thousands, which, like another national debt, will prey to the end of time on the vitals of public industry." the duke's proposed clause was dropped, and was heard of no more; but herapath's prediction as to the equivalent of "another national debt" being imposed on public industry was to be verified by the course of subsequent events still more than by any avoidable expenditure then already incurred. if, again, as herapath said, the government had done nothing to promote railways, they had not been backward in seeking advantage from them in the interests both of the exchequer and of the post office. within two years of the opening of the liverpool and manchester line, a tax of one-eighth of a penny per mile for every passenger conveyed on the railway was imposed, and the directors of the liverpool and manchester, then struggling into existence, announced that, in consequence of the tax, they would be obliged to charge the public higher fares. by the exchequer receipts from the tax amounted to £ , . two years later, following on a great public agitation, peel substituted for the mileage tax a tax of five per cent on receipts from passenger traffic, and in the tax (which had been especially oppressive on the poorer class of travellers) was abolished in the case of third-class passengers carried at fares not exceeding a penny a mile in "parliamentary trains," stopping at every station.[ ] the local authorities, with parliamentary sanction, also subjected the railways to a degree of taxation against which { }mr g. c. glynn, chairman of the london and birmingham railway, in a speech (at a meeting of his company) quoted by francis, protested in the following terms: "then comes the last item of local taxes and parochial rates; these, gentlemen, we do take exception to.... the county assessors and the parties to whom appeal from them is made seem actuated by one principle, namely, to extract every farthing they can from the railway property. we ask no boon, we ask for no favour from government on this subject; but we do ask for justice." the railways had to submit to the taxation, but they won the day as against certain excessive and, as they considered, intolerable demands made upon them by or on behalf of the post office. in , based on the recommendations of a select committee of the house of commons on the transmission of mails by railway, the government introduced a bill which, in effect, placed the entire railway system of the country, then and for all future time, at the command and under the supreme control of the postmaster-general. that functionary was empowered by the bill to call upon the railway companies to provide him with--at their own cost--special or ordinary trains for carrying the mails at any hour of the day or night, proceeding at such speed, and calling or not calling at such places, as he might direct, the companies giving security to the queen by bond for duly complying with all post office orders, and being made liable to a penalty of £ in respect to every railway officer, servant or agent, who might disobey any post office order. if the post office wished to use its own engines and conveyances it was to be at liberty to do so without paying any rates or tolls whatever; and it was, also, to be free to clear away any obstructions to its engines, and use any of the railway company's appliances it wanted. the railway companies were, in return, to be assured a "fair remuneration" for (in effect) the wear and tear of the rails; but, lest this payment might be too much for the post office, the postmaster-general was further authorised to recoup himself by carrying, not simply the mails, but _passengers_, in the trains he might think fit to command or to run, thus competing on the railway lines with the companies whose property he was virtually to annex. { }the companies declared they were willing to render every reasonable facility to the post office; but they protested most vigorously against what they called "the absurd and tyrannical clauses" of the bill. these were, nevertheless, defended in the commons on behalf of the government, the attorney-general saying "he had no doubt if the prerogative of the crown were put in force, the post office and the troops and stores might be transmitted along the railroads without the payment of any tolls whatever; though he thought the companies should have a fair remuneration for the accommodation given." sir james graham, on the other hand, wanted to know what were the queen's rights on the paddington canal. he understood that troops were frequently moved from paddington to liverpool by canal, but were always paid for as passengers. lord sandon, too, declared that the question was whether the public interest conferred a right upon the post office to take possession of railroads, and make use of them without the slightest remuneration whatever. that the railways should be subject to control he readily admitted; but there was a wide difference between justifiable control and absolute sway, between fair remuneration and robbery, for such it would be to use the property of these companies without paying for it. the companies, according to a statement in the "railway magazine" for august, , where a summary of the debate will be found, had been "prepared not merely to petition but to act"--whatever this may mean. the government, however, adopted a more conciliatory attitude towards them by either withdrawing or amending the clauses which had evoked these protests, and an amicable settlement of the future relations between the railways and the post office was then effected. the rejection of morrison's bill and the withdrawal of the duke of wellington's motion, following on their adverse criticism by the railway interests, had committed the government still more to their policy of stimulating competition between the railway companies themselves, thus, they considered, diminishing the risk of seeing any of them become too prosperous a monopoly. it was in full accord with this policy that encouragement was given to the creation of { }many small, independent, and more or less competing lines, and that no attempt was made to encourage the provision, either by individual companies or by groups of companies, of "trunk lines" of the type which thomas gray and others had been urging on the country with so much though with such futile persistence. the advent of the new means of transport was, in fact, marked by the complete absence of any centralised effort with a view to securing the network of a railway _system_, so planned or so co-ordinated as to make the best possible provision for the country as a whole, and especially for the rapidly increasing necessities of trade, commerce and industry. the failure to act on these lines was, however, only in accordance with the previous policy, or no-policy, which had successively left the improvement of rivers, the making of roads, the construction of canals and the provision of turnpikes either to private benevolence or to private enterprise, influenced mainly by considerations of local or personal interests. much had certainly been done in these various directions by those to whom the state had thus relegated the carrying out of public works which in most other countries--as regards main routes, at least--are regarded as a matter of national obligation. but, apart from any question of providing state funds, the lack even of intelligent direction and efficient supervision by a central power, qualified to advise or to organise private effort, had led both to a prodigious waste of money and to results either unsatisfactory in themselves or in no way commensurate with the expenditure incurred. the same conditions now were to lead, in regard to the railways, to a further waste of money, to disastrous speculation, to infinite confusion, to the piling up of a huge railway debt, and to the provision of innumerable small lines which were to remain more or less independent and disconnected _fragments_ of a railway system until the more enterprising companies began, on their own initiative, to amalgamate them into through routes of traffic.[ ] the general position at the period here in question was well stated by g. r. porter in his "progress of the nation" { }( ), where he wrote, on the subject of railway development:-- "the _laissez faire_ system which is pursued in this country to such an extent that it has become an axiom with the government to undertake nothing and to interfere with nothing which can be accomplished by individual enterprise, or by the associated means of private parties has been pregnant with great loss and inconvenience to the country in carrying forward the railway system. perhaps there never was an occasion in which the government could with equal propriety have interfered to reconcile the conflicting interests involved, and to prevent public injury arising from the false steps so likely to be made at first in bringing about a total revolution in the internal communication of the country. it is not meant by these remarks to infer that government should have taken into its own hands the construction of all or any of the railroads called for by the wants of the community; but only to suggest the propriety and advantage that must have resulted from a preliminary inquiry, made by competent and uninterested professional men with a view to ascertain the comparative advantages and facilities offered by different lines for the accomplishment of the object in view. if this course had been adopted before any of the numerous projects were brought forward for the construction of lines of railway between all imaginable places, and if it had been laid down as a rule by the legislature that no such projected line could be sanctioned or even entertained by parliament which was not in accordance with the reports and recommendations of the government engineers, the saving of money would have been immense. the expensive contests between rival companies in which large capitals had been so needlessly sunk would then have been wholly avoided; and it might further have followed from this cause that, a kind of public sanction having been given to particular lines and localities, much of that personal opposition which has thrown difficulties in the way of works of great and acknowledged utility would never have been brought forward." in making these remarks, porter was only giving expression to views entertained in various influential quarters, and to a certain extent he did but anticipate, or re-echo, according to the precise date at which his observations had been { }written, certain views and proposals put forward by the select committee of , of which mr gladstone (then president of the board of trade) was chairman. in the fifth report of this committee it is said:-- "the committee entertain very strongly the opinion that in the future proceedings of parliament railway schemes ought not to be regarded as merely projects of local improvement, but that each new line should be viewed as a member of a great system of communication, binding together the various districts of the country with a closeness and intimacy of relation in many respects heretofore unknown." so long, the report continued, as railways were considered to be of problematical benefit, and were in general subject to extensive opposition on the part of the owners and occupiers of land, and of the inhabitants of the districts they traversed, there might have been reasons for ensuring a very full, and, in some points of view, a disproportionately full, representation to local interests; but "the considerations which tend to attach to railways a national rather than a local character gain weight from year to year as those undertakings are progressively consolidated among themselves, as the points of contact between them are multiplied, and as those that were first isolated in comparison are thus brought into relation with gradually extending ranges of space, traffic and population." the select committee went on to give their reasons for considering that the ordinary machinery of private bill committees, with their separate and unconnected proceedings, and an individual existence commencing and ending with each particular bill, was inadequate and unsatisfactory; and they especially pointed to the fact that hitherto it had not been customary to examine railway bills "systematically and at large with reference to public interests." there were various questions which could not be thoroughly sifted under the mode of procedure then in vogue, and the committee recommended that, with a view to assisting the judgment of the houses of the legislature, all future railway bills should, previously to coming before parliament, be submitted to the board of trade for their report thereon. they further said--and these observations have a special significance in view of events that were to follow:-- { }"the committee entertain the opinion that the announcement of an intention on the part of parliament to sift with care the particulars of railway schemes, to associate them with the public interest (in the cases of all future schemes and of all subsisting companies which may voluntarily accede to such an arrangement) ... will produce very beneficial effects in deterring parties from the attempt to entrap the public by dishonest projects, in securing railway projects against the shocks to which in periods of great commercial excitement it must otherwise be liable from such causes," etc. praiseworthy as was the design thus put forward by mr gladstone's committee, it failed to bring about the results anticipated. in accordance with the recommendations made, a special department of the board of trade, under the direction of lord dalhousie, was created, in august, , to inquire into and report to parliament on all new railway schemes and bills, with a view to guiding the private bill committees of both houses. the special department was more especially to report as to the positive and comparative advantages to the public of any bills proposed for the construction of competing lines. a great deal was hoped for from this new arrangement, and the decisions of the department as to which of the schemes then being promoted they would recommend for first consideration by parliament were keenly awaited. the expansion of the railway system had, by this time, proceeded so far that by the end of parliament had authorised the construction of miles of railway, of which miles were then open for traffic. the capital of these lines was £ , , , and of this amount about £ , , had been raised. a good deal of wild speculation in - had been followed by a reaction, and the railway market was still depressed in ; but in interest in railway enterprise was greatly stimulated by the announcement that the liverpool and manchester, the grand junction, the london and birmingham and the york and midland were paying dividends of from ten to twelve per cent each, and that the stockton and darlington was paying fifteen per cent. the shares in existing companies rose in value, a number of new companies were formed, and companies already operating { }projected branches in defence of their own interests against threatened competition. it was at this juncture that mr gladstone's committee presented its report and that, following thereon, the special department of the board of trade was called upon to undertake its responsible duties. on november , , the department intimated that the points it would particularly inquire into in regard to railway bills then before it were ( ) ability and _bona fide_ intentions of the promoters to prosecute their application to parliament in the following session; ( ) national advantages to be gained; ( ) local advantages; ( ) engineering conditions; and ( ) cost of construction, prospective traffic and working expenses. on the last day of the year the department announced which bills they proposed to recommend, and subsequently they issued reports giving their reasons. strong protests were raised by the disappointed projectors, and on the opening of the session of sir robert peel announced that the government intended to leave railway bills, as before, to the judgment of the private bill committees. this meant the virtual setting aside of the newly-formed department, though its actual existence was not terminated until the following august. it meant--since each private bill committee would deal only with the merits of a particular scheme--the definite abandonment of any opportunity for securing, through an authority dealing with railway projects as a whole, the realisation of the ideal of mr gladstone's committee that "each new line should be viewed as a member of a great system of communication, binding together the various districts of the country with a closeness and intimacy of relation" previously unknown. it meant, also, the adoption of a policy of free trade in railways, without protection for established interests, and to any and every honest promoter or dishonest speculator who had a scheme to propose it gave, in effect, _carte blanche_ to bring it forward. much disappointment was felt at this collapse of mr gladstone's apparently well-devised scheme, and the policy adopted in regard to it was keenly criticised. francis quotes, for instance, the following passages from "railway legislation," the authorship of which, however, i have been unable to trace:-- "swayed by motives which it is difficult to fathom, the { }two houses, with singular unanimity, agreed ... to give unrestricted scope to competition.... little regard was paid to the claims and interests of existing railway companies, still less to the interests of the unfortunate persons who were induced to embark in the new projects for no better reason than that they had been sanctioned by parliament.... the opportunity of confining the exceptional gauge within its original territory was also for ever thrown away. by an inconceivable want of statesmanlike views and foresight, no effort was made to connect the isolated railways which then existed by new links into one great and combined system in the form in which they would be most subservient to the wants of the community and to the great ends of domestic government and national defence. further, the sudden change from the one extreme of determined rejection or dilatory acquiescence to the opposite extreme of unlimited concession gave a powerful stimulus to the spirit of speculation, and turned nearly the whole nation into gamblers." francis himself says of the position thus brought about:-- "all hope of applying great general principles passed away. every chance of directing the course of railways to form a national system of communication was lost.... the legislative body--to appropriate the idea of mr morrison--committed the mistake of converting the kingdom into a great stock exchange, and of stimulating the various members of the railway system to a deep and deadly struggle, destructive of order and fruitful of vice." this may seem to be unduly strong language; but what actually and immediately followed on the course of events here in question was--the railway mania of - . by the summer of the country had gone railway mad. in the session of the number of railway acts passed had been twenty-four, showing no more than a normal development of the railway system in meeting the legitimate needs of the country. in the session of the number increased to thirty-seven. in the session of there were no fewer than railway bills. in the next session bills were deposited with the board of trade for the construction of new lines of railway, with a length of , miles, and capital powers to the extent of £ , , . of these bills many were abortive for technical reasons, or { }because the necessary deposit was not paid; but over of them reached the private bill office. how every class of society joined in the scramble for shares; how extravagant prices were given for the scrip of lines which, when completed, could not for years have covered their working expenses; how half-pay officers, ticket-porters and men, even, in receipt of parish relief put down their names on the "subscription" lists for thousands of pounds' worth of shares, on their being paid a fee--sometimes as low as five shillings--for so doing; how "frenzy seized the whole nation"; how "there was scarcely a family in england which was not directly or indirectly interested in the fortunes of the rail"; and how the inevitable collapse reached every hearth and saddened every heart in the metropolis, bringing many families both there and elsewhere to ruin, will be found recorded in detail by john francis, in his "history of the english railway," and need not be enlarged upon here. in referring to the events of this period, the report of the joint committee on the amalgamation of railway companies, , admits that "one effect of the favour shown by parliament to competing schemes was to encourage a large number of speculative enterprises." leaving aside the enterprises, of whatever type, that did not survive the passage through parliament, i compile, from figures given in clifford's "history of private bill legislation," the following table showing new lines of railway actually sanctioned by parliament during the sessions - :-- year. number. miles. capital. £ , , £ , , £ , , --- ---- ------------ totals £ , , these figures indicate sufficiently the magnitude of the schemes in respect to which, during so short a period as three years, parliament assumed the responsibility of giving its express sanction and approval. the period of speculation was followed by the inevitable reaction, and in it was found necessary to pass an act { }"to facilitate the abandonment of railways and the dissolution of railway companies." of the miles of railway sanctioned in the three sessions, - , no fewer than miles were (as shown by the report of the royal commission on railways, ), abandoned by the promoters under the authority of the act; while a further miles of railway, requiring millions of capital, are said by the report of the committee to have been abandoned without the consent of parliament. to the extent indicated by these abandonments the railway situation was certainly relieved. but the mania and the resultant panic had serious consequences in regard not alone to investors in the schemes that failed but also to the companies that survived. apart from projects designed to open up entirely new districts--many of them of a perfectly genuine and desirable character--there were others directly devised to compete with existing lines and capture some of the remunerative traffic these were then handling; and it was, as i have shown, quite in accordance with the accepted principle of state railway-policy that such competition should be encouraged, in preference to any "districting" of the country among particular companies or to the creation or co-ordination of an organised system of railways on the lines proposed by mr gladstone's committee. the existing companies, finding that the territory already "allotted" to them (as they considered) was being invaded, or was in danger of being invaded, felt themselves forced, for the purposes of self-defence, to enter on a number of protective schemes which might not, at the time, otherwise have been warranted. clifford says on this point in his "history of private bill legislation": "as the government took no steps to prevent the promotion of competitive railways, tending to diminish the profits of existing companies, the latter sought to protect themselves as they best could, and justified their many unprofitable extensions and amalgamations as measures forced upon them by the leave-alone policy of the government." confirmation of this statement will be found in a speech delivered on february , , by mr c. russell, m.p., chairman of the great western railway company, at the { }sixth half-yearly meeting, at paddington, of the south wales railway company (of which he was also chairman), and reported in "the times" of the following day. referring to a pamphlet which had been issued attacking the policy of the great western railway company, mr russell said:-- "if their engagements were extensive, and he did not deny that they were so, they had been entered in only as a matter of necessity. they all arose out of the mania of - , and even in the pamphlet in question it had been admitted that the great western was not one of those companies which at that time had promoted any of the many schemes which were afloat. he, as far as he was concerned, had not only not promoted these projects, but had taken every means in his power to check them. in january, , in his place in parliament he had predicted the results if some steps were not at once adopted to put a curb upon reckless speculation; but most unfortunately for all parties that was not the view which was taken by the house of commons. mr hudson and other gentlemen maintained that the course he recommended would be an unfair interference with private enterprise, and the consequence was that schemes involving altogether the sum of £ , , passed through the legislature in that year. the great western had remonstrated with the president and the vice-president of the board of trade, and, left to their own resources, they had been compelled, in self-defence, to look after their own interests by getting hold of all the rival or contemplated rival schemes." in some instances the existing companies guaranteed interest to the shareholders of branches and extensions which were feared as rivals. f. s. williams, in "our iron roads," says of such lines as these that while many of them were accepted as feeders they "proved for a time to be only suckers." the effects of the mania on the finances of existing railway companies was further shown by the fact that, in order to pay their contractors, some of the companies were obliged during the crisis to raise money at from ten to thirty, and, in some instances it is said, even at fifty per cent discount. then, also, the shares in ten leading companies suffered between and a depreciation in value estimated at { }£ , , . the following are typical examples of the falls experienced:-- company. shares. july, . april , . decline. £ £ £ £ london and birmingham great western (paid) midland london and brighton ½ ½ while the general situation in the railway world had been thus developing, there was a revival, in , of the idea that the work of private bill committees in respect to railway schemes should be supplemented by some other form of inquiry into their merits. writing on this subject in the issue of his "railway magazine" for july, , john herapath had said:-- "it has long been anxiously expected that parliament would take some steps to relieve itself from the onerous duties of investigating and deciding on railway matters. probably no tribunals can be less fitted for inquiries of this kind than parliamentary committees, of which the house of commons has lately given a demonstrative proof in the case of the brighton line. after committees of the two houses had sat nearly the whole of last session, and a committee of the commons for thirty-five days of the present; after the committee's reports had been made on each of the lines and near , l. of the subscribers' money had been wasted, the house of commons stamped its own opinion of all those labours by giving them the 'go-by,' and referring the whole four lines to the judgment of a military engineer." as for the element of uncertainty in the decisions of parliamentary committees, f. s. williams is responsible for the statement that six railway bills rejected by commons committees in were passed on precisely the same evidence in ; that of eighteen bills rejected in seven were passed unaltered in ; and that of six bills thrown out by committees of the house of lords in four were adopted by other committees in . the failure, however, of the special department of the board of trade, created on the recommendation of mr { }gladstone's committee to meet the requirements of the situation, was complete. in giving evidence before the select committee of , the secretary of the board of trade, mr t. farrer (afterwards lord farrer), referring to the work of lord dalhousie's department, said the reports made "were very able, but they were thrown over immediately they got to the house." when, he declared, the board of trade had taken all the means in their power to make a full report, "it was treated as waste paper. the board might just as well have made no report at all." on the other hand, he admitted that the reports had not been of much actual value, the board of trade having no power to call the parties before them and take evidence. apart from a feeling of jealousy entertained by members in general and private bill committees in particular towards any curtailment of their powers, privileges and functions by departmental officials, experience had shown that the private bill committees, after examining witnesses, getting expert testimony and hearing counsel, were better able to ascertain the facts of particular schemes than the special department, while the latter had lost credit, also, on account of its recommendations in regard to amalgamations. the first scheme of this kind on which it was asked to report was one for an amalgamation between the liverpool and manchester railway, the grand junction railway (from liverpool to birmingham) and the north union (from warrington to preston). the bill was opposed by public bodies and traders in the leading towns of lancashire, and lord dalhousie's report favoured the opposition; but the select committee on the bill nevertheless assented to an amalgamation which was, in effect, to lead to the creation of the london and north-western system of to-day. the department also reported unsuccessfully in against the amalgamation of the chester and birkenhead with the chester and holyhead railway--two other lines which were first united to each other and then to the london and north-western. it further reported against various proposed amalgamations and arrangements in the midland counties; so that, as the report of the select committee of points out, the department would have objected strongly to such combinations as the present london and north-western railway, the { }great western, the north-eastern, the midland, the great northern and the great eastern. these considerations should be borne in mind by those who might otherwise be disposed to criticise the attitude adopted by the government of towards the special department here in question. the one experiment had been a failure--with, as we have seen, deplorable consequences for the country and serious prejudice to _bona fide_ railways; but committees of both houses, appointed in , were now to recommend another. they advised the creation of a board of commissioners of railways who were to discharge the dual functions of ( ) seeing that the railway companies did not contravene the provisions of their special acts or of any general statutes; and ( ) report to parliament, if so directed, upon any pending railway bills. an act to this effect was passed in ; but in the following session there was introduced a bill which proposed greatly to increase the powers of the board of commissioners. clifford says, concerning this bill, that it made the commissioners, in effect, arbiters of all railway legislation. promoters were not even to survey an intended line until the commissioners gave permission. when the survey was made one of their officers was to report upon the project. with them plans and sections were to be deposited; they were to examine into compliance with standing orders and report to parliament upon engineering merits and proposed rates. considerable authority was also vested in them over existing railways. they were to report annually to parliament upon tolls, fares and charges, and upon the regularity or irregularity of trains; and they might call for returns as to traffic and many other details of management, inspect the books and documents of railway companies, and settle disputes between companies having termini or portions of line in common. "parliament," clifford further tells us, "was again jealous of this proposed interference with legislation." the railway companies also protested, and the measure was received with such general disfavour that it was withdrawn before it reached a second reading. as for the board of commissioners, instead of getting more authority it got less. part of its functions were re-united to those of the board of trade in , and the { }remainder followed in , whereupon the new authority ceased to exist.[ ] once more, therefore, railway bills were left to be dealt with on their individual merits by private bill committees operating on lines to which, not simply john herapath, but mr gladstone's own committee, had taken exception; and once more was a set-back given to the aspiration for the establishment of some central authority which could organise, co-ordinate or otherwise consolidate the still rapidly increasing railways on the basis of a national system of rail communication. the difficulty might, perhaps, have been met by the creation of a minister of communications, who would have held a position somewhat similar to that of the minister of public works in prussia or in france, and have discharged a useful function as director-in-chief, or, at least, as adviser-in-chief, in regard alike to railways, roads, rivers and canals. such a minister, being a member of the government, might have acted or recommended without wounding the susceptibilities of private bill committees or of individual members; he might have organised or been the means of organising an efficient system of railways at an earlier date and at far less cost; and he might have saved both the country from its enormous losses on the wild-cat projects of unscrupulous schemers during the mania period and _bona fide_ companies from much of the excessive capitalization into which they were driven. whether or not the problems of the situation could have been solved in this manner, the fact remains that it was the railway companies themselves who--in spite of the established policy of the state, directed to the maintenance of railway competition, and in spite of the disapproval of amalgamations by one parliament committee after another--brought about the conveniences of through travel or through transit. it was they themselves who, by amalgamation or otherwise, instigated the creation of the "great" companies which both ensured these conveniences and effected a complete transformation in the general railway position, to the great advantage of everyone concerned. { }before, however, reaching this stage in their development, the railways had had some other struggles with the government on questions of state policy arising out of those aforesaid feelings of suspicion and distrust, and due to the same fear as before that the companies would be sure to abuse their position unless they were restrained from so doing. following on the recommendations of the committee of , and with a view to safeguarding the public interests in regard alike to safety and to reasonable treatment, some important statutory powers had already been conferred on the board of trade. under the regulation of railways act, , notice was to be given to the board of trade of the opening of all new lines of railway; such lines were to be inspected by board of trade inspectors; various returns in respect of traffic, tolls, rates and accidents were to be made to that body, to which, also, all existing bye-laws affecting the public were to be submitted for confirmation. in a further act gave the board power to delay the opening of any new line until they were satisfied that all the necessary works had been effectively constructed. mr glyn, chairman of the london and birmingham railway, said of this measure: "it is a bill which i do not hesitate to say is, on the whole, calculated to do the interests of railways very considerable service." but the attitude of the companies was no longer favourable when mr gladstone's committee of proposed to confer on the board of trade some drastic powers for the periodical revision of railway rates, and likewise sought to lay down the terms on which the state might acquire all future lines of railway. the proposals in question were incorporated in a bill which was brought in by mr gladstone; but the measure met with strenuous opposition from the railway interests, and the modifications introduced before it became law were of such a nature that the act has never been put into operation. in regard to the revision of rates, the act laid down that if, after the lapse of twenty-one years (not fifteen, as proposed in mr gladstone's first bill), any railway sanctioned after the passing of the act had paid ten per cent for three years, the treasury (not the board of trade) might reduce the rates, guaranteeing, however, a ten per cent dividend to { }the company, while the revised rates and the guarantee were to continue for another twenty-one years. needless to say, railway companies in general do not pay ten per cent dividends, though in ten per cent was regarded as quite a reasonable dividend for a railway, in view of what the canal companies had been paying; while no such guarantee as that suggested is ever likely to be made by the treasury. provisions authorising the board of trade to make deductions from the guaranteed income as penalties for what they might regard as mismanagement, and prohibiting a company from increasing its capital pending a revision of rates, without the sanction of the board of trade, were so vigorously opposed that they were abandoned. the clauses of the act relating to state purchase were to apply only to new lines of railway, the miles of railway sanctioned prior to the session of --and including many of the chief links in the great trunk lines of to-day--being expressly excluded. as regarded railways sanctioned in the session of , or subsequently thereto, it was enacted that after the lapse of fifteen years the treasury might acquire them for twenty-five years' purchase of the average annual profits for the preceding three years; but if those profits were less than ten per cent, the amount was to be settled by arbitration. it was further enacted that no railway less than five miles in length should be bought; that no branch should be acquired without purchase of the entire railway; that the policy of revision or purchase was not to be prejudiced by the act; that "public resources" were not to be employed to sustain undue competition with independent companies; and, finally, that no revision of rates or state purchase of lines should take place at all without an act of parliament authorising the guarantee or the purchase, and determining how either was to be done. to argue, as many advocates of the nationalisation of railways habitually do, that the basis for state purchase has already been established by the act of is to set up a theory which is obviously inconsistent with the real facts of the situation. commenting on this act of the joint committee on the amalgamation of railway companies ( ) say in their report:-- { }"it would be impossible to deal with railways made since without dealing with railways made before that time, since both form part of the same systems. "as regards the revision of rates, no government would undertake to try experiments in reducing rates on an independent company whose income they must guarantee; and efficient or economical administration could scarcely be expected from a railway company whose rates were cut down and whose dividend at ten per cent was guaranteed by government. "whatever value there may be in the notice given to the companies by this act of their liability to compulsory purchase by the state, over and above the general right of expropriation possessed by the latter in such cases, its terms do not appear suited to the present condition of railway property or likely to be adopted by parliament in case of any intention at any future time on the part of parliament to purchase the railways." the proposals contained in the bill, and modified into the act of , were, of course, simply a further development of the then established policy of the state in taking precautions against the evils that might result from railway monopoly. a greater degree of apparent success was, at first, to attend those further precautionary measures which took the form of encouraging the construction of competing lines, leading both to new and to existing companies invading the so-called "territory" of other companies, as distinct from the provision of lines in districts which had no railways at all. there was at this time much discussion as to the rights of established companies. when the proposal for the appointment of the committee of was under discussion in the house of commons, sir robert peel had contended that a material distinction was to be drawn between new companies approaching parliament for the first time and companies which, relying on the faith of parliament, had invested their capital in the construction of railways. "parliament, it was true, might repent of the indiscretion and levity with which it had granted those powers ... but he would advise parliament to be very cautious how it interfered with the profits or management of companies which had been called into existence by the { }authority, and had invested their money on the faith, of parliament." mr gladstone's committee of also declared that they had been "governed throughout their consideration of the subject by the strongest conviction that no step should be taken by parliament which would either induce so much as a reasonable suspicion of its good faith with regard to the integrity of privileges already granted, and not shown to have been abused, or which would prospectively discourage the disposition now so actively in operation to extend the railway system by the formation of new lines." on the other hand, there was that ever-present and ever-active dread of what _might_ happen if the railway companies _did_ become grasping and merciless monopolists. there was, also, the fact that while there would be direct competition between two railways having the same terminal points, each line might further serve a more or less considerable and important intermediate stretch of country which otherwise would be left without railway accommodation at all. for one or other of these reasons competing lines continued to be sanctioned, notwithstanding special committees' recommendations and railway companies' protests. one such protest, giving a specific example of the tendencies of the day, was made in a memorial to the board of trade, dated june , , and headed, "proposed remedies for railway grievances." the memorial, signed by sir john hall, bart., and six others, and addressed to lord stanley of alderley, president, and mr robert lowe, vice-president, of the board of trade, had been drawn up at the request of those two gentlemen as a more detailed statement of facts to which their attention had already been called. five specific grievances were dealt with, and the first of these was "the tendency of parliament to concede competing or otherwise unnecessary lines." under this head the memorialists state:-- "it is not our desire that the railway system should be legislatively restricted within its present limits, or that existing shareholders should by any process whatever be nominally or practically gifted with a monopoly of the means of railway transit. we should submit to the introduction of new lines of railway wherever called for by absolute public necessity.... in such cases, however, we consider that the legislature would only be doing justice to its previous enactments in { }giving former applicants time to complete their engagements so that they might be able, at the proper time, to exhibit their ability and their willingness to consider the wants of the public as well as their proper remuneration." the memorialists mention the fact that in several new lines were sanctioned, the period fixed for their completion being , and they proceed:-- "already, however, before these lines are opened, others are promoted in competition with them--promoted, not by a complaining locality, but in some cases by existing companies, in others by persons whose only apparent object is to sell the schemes to advantage when parliament has sanctioned their construction. in such instances as these we humbly submit that the legislature should not permit the introduction of new lines until it has seen whether or not the company in possession can fulfil its engagements, and whether, also, such company should not be permitted an opportunity of electing to extend its undertaking, or to leave further effort to the discretion of the legislature." whilst the state was thus maintaining its own policy of competition, the railway companies were equally persistent in keeping to their policy of amalgamation; so that, as the joint committee of remarked, "a new line was sure sooner or later to join the combination of existing railways, and to make common cause with them." practical railway experience was showing that the ordinary ideas of competition, as regarded commercial undertakings in general, did not and could not be made to apply to railways beyond a certain point. the capital sunk alike in obtaining a railway act, in acquiring and adapting land, with provision of embankments, cuttings, viaducts, bridges, tunnels, etc., for the railway lines, and in supplying the various necessary appurtenances, railway stations, and so on, was irredeemable, since, in the case of failure of the line, due to competition or otherwise, the capital invested could not be realised again, the land, rails, buildings, etc., on which it had been spent being of little or no value for other than railway purposes. there could thus be no transfer of capital from one undertaking to another, as in ordinary commercial affairs. in addition to this it might be that interest would have to be paid on two lots of railway capital in a district where the { }traffic was sufficient to allow of the financial obligations of only a single company being efficiently met, any success achieved by the new company depending (until the available traffic increased) on its power to divert business and profits from the other company. hence it might well occur that "the best laid schemes" of parliament and parliamentary committees, in approving competitive lines, resulted only in the companies concerned coming to, at least, a friendly understanding; and it might even be that the public did not eventually benefit at all, because, as the joint committee of say, "the necessity of carrying interest on the additional capital required for the new line tends sometimes, in the end, to raise rather than to reduce the rates." economic considerations, again, apart altogether from those monopolistic tendencies on the fear of which the policy of the state had been founded, were quite sufficient to account for the absorption of one company by another, and especially of small companies by larger ones, not so much to avoid competition as to ensure the provision of through routes operated under one and the same management, involving less outlay on working expenses, and providing greater advantages to the public than if the same length of line belonged to a number of different companies. the lines between london and liverpool, for example, were originally divided between three companies, and the same was the case with the lines between bristol and leeds. in some instances the companies were not on good terms with one another, and they ran their trains to suit their own convenience. even when they were on good terms, they might not have any interests in common, apart from (at one time) offering as few comforts and conveniences as possible to the third-class traveller, and compelling him at least to complete his journey by going first class, if he wished to get to his destination the same night. as early as attempts had been made by some of the companies to overcome the glaring defects of the original system of railway construction by establishing the railway clearing house, with a view to facilitating through traffic and allowing of a better adjustment of accounts when passengers or goods were carried over various lines in return for a { }single payment. the companies persevered, however, in their further policy of amalgamation and consolidation, and in the number and magnitude of schemes with these objects in view created such alarm on the part both of politicians and of traders that a further select committee--known as mr. cardwell's committee--was appointed. the members of this committee pointed out in their report that the whole tendency of the companies was towards union and extension, that competition ended in combination, and that the companies were able in great measure to attain these ends by agreements with one another without the authority of parliament. the economy and the convenience resulting from amalgamation were admitted by the report; but, though still no proof was offered, or suggestion made, that the companies were actually abusing the greater powers they had thus secured, there was an obvious under-current of alarm in the minds of the committee as to the many undesirable things which large concerns _might_ do. the committee were opposed to any "districting" of the country between different companies, and they recommended that, while working agreements might be allowed, amalgamations between large companies should not. as an example of the combinations they deprecated, i might mention that they pointed with evident feelings of much concern to the fact that if the amalgamation schemes then being proposed by the london and north-western railway company were conceded, they would involve the union under one control of a capital of £ , , , a revenue of £ , , , and miles of railway, with the further result of "rendering impossible the existence of independent rival trunk lines." one wonders what the members of this committee would have said had they been told that by the end of (as shown by the board of trade "railway returns") the london and north-western would control a total authorised capital of (in round figures) £ , , , have gross receipts in a single year amounting to £ , , , and be operating route miles of line, equivalent to miles of single track (including sidings), besides being only one of half a dozen great trunk lines. a much more practical result of the deliberations of this committee was seen in certain provisions of the railway and canal traffic act, , which laid down that every { }railway company should afford proper facilities for receiving and forwarding traffic; that no undue or unreasonable preferences should be given; and that where the systems were continuous the companies should afford due and reasonable facilities for the interchange of traffic, without undue preference or obstruction. in this way it was sought to bring about greater co-ordination between the numerous small lines, and secure a better provision for through traffic. the act is well described by the select committee of as "a measure valuable in fact and most important in its scope and intention." it may have been further anticipated that companies which, as the result of the act, secured running powers or free interchange of traffic over the lines of other companies--and especially as regards lines having access to london--would be less ready to agree to absorption by them; but if this expectation were, indeed, entertained, it was not realised. the companies, in fact, continued to develop their commercial undertakings in accordance with what they regarded as commercial principles, and the joint committee on the amalgamation of railway companies, , taking a much broader view of the situation than previous committees had done, pointed out how small had been the effect of the policy sought to be enforced against the railways, since the combinations which had enabled the great trunk lines to attain to the position they occupied at that date had been effected "contemporaneously with reports against large combinations," those reports having had "little influence upon the action of private bill committees," and not staying "the progress of the companies in their course of union and amalgamation." the committee further said, on the subject of "districting":-- "among the various suggestions which naturally occur when dealing with the question of amalgamation, one of the most obvious and most important is to the effect that for the future some endeavour should be made to compel railways in amalgamating to follow certain fixed lines or principles.... if at an earlier period in railway history such an attempt had been successfully made, there is no doubt that it might have provided us with a railway system, if not more efficient, at any rate far less costly than that which we now possess. but considering _the policy, or want of policy_, which has hitherto { }been pursued, and the interests which have grown up under it, the difficulties of laying down any fixed policy for the future are very formidable." the words in this extract which i have put in italics, representing, as they do, the views of a joint committee of the house of lords and of the house of commons, justify, i would suggest, much of the criticism in which i have here ventured to indulge. among the conclusions at which the committee arrived were the following:-- "past amalgamations have not brought with them the evils which were anticipated." "competition between railways exists only to a limited extent, and cannot be maintained by legislation." "combination between railway companies is increasing and is likely to increase, whether by amalgamation or otherwise." "it is impossible to lay down any general rules determining the limits or the character of future amalgamations." in support of their views in regard to the first of these conclusions, the committee pointed especially to the north-eastern and the great eastern railway companies, each of which had so far pursued a policy of amalgamation that the report speaks of the former as "pervading and possessing one of the wealthiest and most important districts of the kingdom," and of the latter as having "almost exclusive possession of the principal centres to which it extends." the committee did not suggest that either of these companies had abused its powers, or taken undue advantage of such "monopoly" as it had secured in the districts concerned. in fact, of the north-eastern railway they said:-- "that railway, or system of railways, is composed of thirty-seven lines, several of which formerly competed with each other. before their amalgamation they had, generally speaking, high rates and fares and low dividends. the system is now the most complete monopoly in the united kingdom ... and it has the lowest fares and the highest dividends of any english railway." as for the great eastern, instead of abusing their "almost exclusive possession" of the eastern counties, everyone knows that the company have won for themselves the credit of pioneering the movement for offering { }exceptionally low rates and other special facilities for the transport of agricultural produce, and, also, of having done more, perhaps, than any other single railway company to enable working men to live in healthy suburbs around london. the whole position in regard to the prospective abuse of a so-called monopoly due to railway amalgamations is, in fact, much misunderstood. a railway company which controls, or practically controls, the traffic in a certain section of the country is especially interested in developing that traffic because it will enjoy all the advantages thereof, without having to share them with a rival. for this reason, instead of restricting facilities, such a company seeks to increase them; instead of imposing extortionate fares and rates it aims, not merely at immediate profits on the transport of particular commodities, but at encouraging such a development of the district in general as will ensure its prosperity, increase its population, expand its trade, _and_ create more traffic of all kinds in a not far distant future. it was precisely this idea that led the great eastern railway company to set the example it did in seeking to develop the interests of its agricultural districts. the more these interests expanded, and the more profitable the agricultural industry became to the people living in those districts, the greater would be the demand for household supplies, for furniture, for pianos, for building materials, and for countless other commodities, most of which would bring additional traffic to the line apart from the greater amount of agricultural produce carried, and apart, also, from the further inevitable increase in passenger traffic. cornwall, again, might be regarded as the "monopoly" of the great western railway; but what person would suggest that the great western have not sufficiently boomed "the cornish riviera"? nor is there necessarily a "monopoly" simply because a particular district is served by a single railway. if the great eastern did not take people to east-coast resorts at reasonable rates, or if the great western charged excessive fares for the journey to cornwall, holiday-makers would, in each case, go elsewhere. if either company, or any other company, sought to get too much for carrying milk to london, milk { }would be obtained by the metropolitan dealers from other districts, instead; and so on with most other commodities. indirect competition, on sound economic lines, may, therefore, still exist even when a railway company is, after many amalgamations, in the possession of an apparent monopoly. the law of supply and demand will still regulate both prices and charges. when, on the other hand, an attempt is made to enforce an artificial and non-economic competition by act of parliament, the inevitable result is that the companies concerned find it to their advantage to combine, or to agree, rather than to compete in rates and fares under conditions that would not only be mutually disadvantageous, but confer no lasting benefit on the public they seek to serve. how the ultimate result of railway policy, as here described, has been to bring about the creation of great systems out of small ones may be seen from the following typical examples, showing in each case the number of lesser companies absorbed, leased or worked as the result of amalgamations, of leases in perpetuity, or otherwise; though the figures do not include railways which have been vested in two or more companies jointly:-- companies name of company. length of line.[ ] amalgamated miles. or lines leased. great central great eastern great northern great western lancashire and yorkshire london and north-western london and south-western london, brighton and south coast midland north-eastern south-eastern and chatham caledonian north british great northern of ireland great southern and western (ireland) { }the process of amalgamation has been carried even further than these figures suggest, some of the companies absorbed into the great systems having themselves previously amalgamated a number of still smaller companies. the north-eastern, for example, came into existence in , through a combination of three companies--the york, newcastle and berwick, the leeds northern, and the york and north midland--which three companies then represented between them what had originally been fifteen separate undertakings. since the north-eastern company have purchased or amalgamated thirty-eight other companies, one of which, the stockton and darlington (absorbed in ), was already an amalgamation of eleven companies.[ ] that the conveniences of travel and the advantages to traders have been greatly enhanced by the substitution of these few great companies for a large number of small ones is beyond question, and actual experience has shown that the fears of grave evils resulting from prospective abuses of the railway "monopoly" brought about by amalgamations such as these have been mainly imaginary, notwithstanding the fact that they have formed the basis of so much of the policy of the state in its dealings with the railways. there are still various small and even diminutive companies which have escaped the fate of being swallowed up by their big neighbours. one of the smallest engaged in a general traffic--as distinct from dock or mineral lines--is the easingwold railway, yorkshire, which connects with the { }north-eastern at alne, but still maintains an independent existence. according to the board of trade returns for the easingwold railway consists of two miles of line, or three miles if we include sidings, and it owns one locomotive, two carriages for the conveyance of passengers and one goods waggon. it carried in a total of , passengers, tons of minerals and , tons of general merchandise. its total gross receipts from all sources of traffic for the year amounted to £ , and the net receipts, after allowing for working expenses, were £ . the authorised capital of the company is £ , , of which £ , has been paid up. small as this line is, it serves a useful purpose; but the policy of amalgamation, followed up by leading companies with such pertinacity, and in spite of so much distrust and opposition, has, happily, saved the railway system of the country from remaining split up among an endless number of companies of the easingwold type--even though they might have had more than three miles of railway and a single locomotive each. other developments of state policy towards the railways have applied to ensuring both perfection of construction and safety in operation. in the former respect the english lines have been built with a solidity and a completeness not to be surpassed by the railways of any other country in the world. even in sparsely populated districts where, under similar circumstances, the american or the prussian railway engineer would lay down only such a line as would be adequate to the actual or prospective traffic, would give the passengers no platform, would provide little more than a shed for a railway station, and would expect the public to be content with a level crossing and look out for the trains, a british railway company is obliged to respect state requirements by laying down a line equal to the traffic of a busy urban centre, give the passengers such platforms as will enable them to enter or leave the trains without the slightest inconvenience, erect well-built and more or less commodious station buildings, and, it may be, arrange for bridges, viaducts or underground passages such as in other countries would be found only in centres having a substantial amount of traffic. apart, in fact, from any question as to expenditure on { }parliamentary proceedings and on the acquiring of land, the cost simply of building the railway itself has, generally speaking, been far greater in this country than, under corresponding geographical and traffic conditions, has been the case elsewhere. judging from the example of the prussian state railway administration it is extremely doubtful if, had the british railway system been constructed, owned and operated by the state, instead of being left to private enterprise, any responsible chancellor of the exchequer would have authorised so great a degree of expenditure, in the interests of an absolute perfection of construction under all possible conditions, as that which has been forced upon commercial companies dependent for their capital on the money they could raise from investors. less scope for criticism is offered by the provision of the most complete of safety appliances in regard to signalling and other phases of railway operation. the desirability of reducing the risk of railway accidents to an absolute minimum is beyond the range of all possible dispute. yet, as a matter of detail, the substantial cost of ensuring this all-important element of safety, no less than the exceptionally heavy outlay on the lines themselves, has helped still further to increase that capital expenditure a return on which is only to be secured by the investors from the revenue the companies can get from the railway users. when we look for the ultimate and combined results of the various conditions touched upon in this and the preceding chapter--excessive cost of land, abnormal expenditure on parliamentary proceedings and various aspects of state policy and control--we find them in the fact that, whether or not the british railways are really the best in the world, they have certainly been the most costly. comparisons with other countries may be misleading unless we remember that published statistics as to the cost of construction of the world's railways apply to route mileage--or, otherwise, "length of line"--and that the english lines have a large proportion of double, treble and other multiple track, while in more sparsely populated countries the railways, except in and around the large towns, consist to a far larger extent of single track. the actual position is not, therefore, quite so bad as the comparative figures appear to show. but, even allowing for these considerations, the following table--which { }i compile from data published in the "bulletin of the international railway congress association" for february, --may be regarded as conveying the moral of the story i have here been seeking to tell:-- construction cost of the railways of different countries. construction capital country. system. year. miles. total. per mile. great britain £ £ and ireland entire , , , , , germany " , , , , france main lines , , , , belgium state lines , , , , netherlands entire , , , , denmark state , , , , united states of america -- , , , , , canada -- , , , , { }chapter xxii decline of canals considering that, in spite of the unreasonableness, the exactions and the large profits of many of the canal companies in the later days of their prosperous monopoly, the canals themselves had rendered such invaluable service to the trade, commerce and industry of the country, the question may well have arisen why they were not allowed, or enabled to a greater extent than was actually the case, to continue their career of usefulness. there has, indeed, for some years been in the united kingdom a canal-revival party which favours the idea that either the state or the local authorities should acquire and improve the canals with a view to enabling them better to compete with the railways--which, as the story of the liverpool and manchester line shows, were at one time expressly designed as competitors of and alternatives to the canals. so far has this resuscitation idea been carried that in december, , the royal commission on canals and waterways reported in favour of the state acquiring, widening and otherwise bringing up to date a series of canals radiating from the birmingham district, and establishing cross-country connections between the thames, the mersey, the severn and the humber. the reasons for the decline of the canals and the practicability, or otherwise, of reviving them may thus be regarded as questions of more than merely historical or academic interest for ( ) the traders who might benefit from the said revival; ( ) the traders who certainly would not benefit, but who, in conjunction with ( ) the general taxpayer, might have to contribute to the cost if the state did acquire the canals and failed to make them pay. the "real commercial prosperity of england" has well been dated from the period of early canal development, when artificial waterways began to supplement the deficiencies { }of navigable streams limited to certain districts and liable to floods, droughts and other disadvantages, and of ill-made roads which even the turnpike system had failed to adapt to the requirements of heavy traffic. in these conditions the movement either of raw materials or of manufactured articles other than those which could be carried on packhorses had, as we have seen, been rendered all but impossible in many parts of the country on account either of the difficulties or of the excessive cost of transport. canals, constituting a great improvement on any other existing conditions, came to the rescue, and supplied the first impetus to that industrial revolution which the railways were to complete. this was a great work for the canals to have accomplished, and it was a work that was essentially done by private enterprise. clifford says that "parliament, by its legislation in furtherance of canals and of agriculture, probably contributed more largely to the national prosperity than by any group of public measures passed towards the close of the last [eighteenth] century." there is here not a word of recognition for brindley, the duke of bridgewater and the other pioneers of the canal movement, or for the private investors who provided the £ , , spent on the actual "furtherance" of canals. parliament did not inspire, originate or in any way improve the canals; it found none of the money which they cost, nor did it even seek to direct their construction on any such well-organised system of through and uniform lines of communication as would have made them far more useful, and assured them, probably, a longer lease of life. yet mr clifford has no hesitation in giving all the praise to parliament because it _allowed_ the canal promoters and proprietors to carry out the work on their own initiative, and at their own risk, as the improvers of rivers and the providers of turnpike roads had done before them. "canals in this country," says the final report of the royal commission on canals and waterways, "were constructed upon no general scheme or system. as soon as it was seen that they were a profitable investment, independent companies were formed in every district, and, according to their influence or their means, obtained from parliament acts conceding powers to make canals of the most varying length and character." if, in conceding these powers, parliament { }had established some central authority with a view to securing such uniformity in construction and such connected routes as were practicable, it would have rendered a greater service than by simply approving schemes put forward in what the final report itself describes as a "piecemeal" fashion. this, however, was not done; nor, in fact, was action taken to prevent the canal companies, after they had shown their enterprise and risked their millions, from becoming in the pre-railway days grasping monopolists whose one idea was to exploit the trader to their own advantage, leading him to welcome the railways, as an alternative to the canals, still more cordially than he had previously welcomed the canals as an alternative to the roads and rivers. so long as the locomotive remained in a comparatively undeveloped stage, the canal companies refrained from regarding railways as serious rivals, and continued to look upon them in the light, rather, of contributors of traffic to the waterways; but in proportion as the locomotive was improved and the rivalry of the railways became more and more pronounced the canal companies grew alarmed for the prospects of their own concerns. they entered on no new undertakings--the last inland canal, as distinct from ship canals, was completed about --and they got anxious as to the future of those they had on their hands. they had first scoffed at the railways as "nothing but insane schemes," or as costly "bubbles," and they had then worked up a powerful opposition against them. having failed in each of these directions, they next took steps which they would have done well to take earlier--they reduced their tolls, and they also began to consider how they could improve their canals. in there was a general reduction of rates on the old quay navigation between liverpool and manchester, but this belated policy of seeking to make terms with the traders did not prejudice the fortunes of the new railway between those places. as regards the improvements sought to be introduced on the canals, nicholas wood, in the third edition ( ) of his "practical treatise on rail-roads," says:-- "canals, ever since their adoption, have undergone little or no change; some trivial improvements may have been effected in the manner of passing boats from one level to another, and light boats have been applied for the conveyance { }of passengers; but in their general economy they may be said to have remained stationary. their nature almost prohibits the application of mechanical power to advantage in the conveyance of goods and passengers upon them; and they have not, therefore, partaken of the benefits which other arts have derived from mechanical science. "the reverse of this is the case with railroads; their nature admits of almost unrestricted application of mechanical power upon them, and their utility has been correspondingly increased.... "at the time of the publication of the first[ ] and second[ ] editions of this work scarcely any experiments had been made on a large scale to elucidate the capabilities of canal navigation--none, certainly, satisfactory; since then the competition of railways has aroused the dormant spirit of the canal proprietors, and various experiments have been made to ascertain the amount of resistance of boats dragged at different velocities; attempts have been likewise made to adapt the power of steam to propel the boats upon them, and other experiments have been adopted to increase their activity as a mode of traffic, and especially for the conveyance of passengers." these various experiments had little practical result, and the navigation companies found it more to their advantage, in many instances, to make good use of their position and influence, while they were still a power in the land, and force the railway companies either to buy them out entirely or to guarantee them against loss. such results were generally secured either by first threatening opposition to the railway bills, and then stating the price for withdrawing therefrom, or, alternatively, by projecting schemes for the competitive lines of railway specially favoured by the state policy of the day, and likely, therefore, to be readily conceded. when, in , the oxford, worcester and wolverhampton railway company--afterwards amalgamated with the great western railway company--were seeking powers of incorporation, they were opposed by the severn commissioners, who represented that they had spent £ , in improving the waterway, in anticipation of securing a revenue of £ , a year. in order to overcome this opposition and get their bill, the railway company agreed to make up to the severn { }commissioners any deficit between the amount of their tolls and £ , a year. under this obligation the railway company paid £ a year for many years; but in the obligation was commuted by a payment by the great western railway company of £ , , and by the giving up to them of certain mortgages to which they had become entitled in consideration of the commissioners discharging them from the liability under their guarantee. in stating these facts in evidence before the royal commission on canals and waterways, mr t. h. rendell, chief goods manager of the great western railway company, added (question , ): "it is desirable to mention that, because it is rather suggested that state aid should be given to enable this very waterway to come into fresh competition with the railway. of course, if that were so, it would be only fair that the severn commissioners should re-imburse the railway company the compensation they have received." the acquiring of the stratford-on-avon canal by the oxford, worcester and wolverhampton railway was another of many instances of purchase by a railway company being the price of withdrawal of canal opposition to railway bills. by threatening to apply to parliament for powers to build an opposition railway, the kennet and avon canal company, in , also induced the great western to buy them out, the railway company agreeing to pay £ a year for the canal, which has been a loss to them ever since. in the same way the london and birmingham railway company, now the london and north-western, originally acquired control over the birmingham canal navigations as the result of a declared intention on the part of the canal company, in , to seek for powers to build a competing line of railway through the stour valley. the railway company only overcame the threatened opposition by guaranteeing the canal company £ per share on their capital, obtaining, in return, certain rights and privileges, in regard to control and operation, in the event of their having to make good any deficiency in the revenue. this they have had to do every year since , with the single exception of ; and down to the total amount paid by the london and north-western railway company to the proprietors of the birmingham canal navigations, under this guarantee, had been { }no less than £ , . the payments for the years - were as follows: , £ , s. d.; , £ , s. d.; , £ , s. d.; , £ , s. d.; , £ , s. d. there has been much talk in the past of railway companies having obtained possession of canals in order to "strangle" the traffic on them. it is difficult to see why, except under pressure, railway directors, who count among the shrewdest of business men, should have incurred such substantial obligations towards canals which, at the time, everyone regarded as doomed to extinction before a superior means of transport. it is equally difficult to believe that, having incurred these costly obligations, the companies deliberately "strangled" the traffic on the canals, instead of allowing them to earn--if they could--at least sufficient to cover the cost of their upkeep. whatever the precise conditions under which they acquired control, the railway companies were compelled by parliament to incur obligations in regard to maintenance which have had the effect of continuing the existence of many a little-used waterway that would long ago have become hopelessly derelict if it had remained under the control of an independent canal company, instead of being kept going out of the purse of a powerful railway company in accordance with the statutory obligations imposed by parliament. these obligations were, of course, based on the principle of ensuring competition even though canals and railways passed under the same control, the former being supported and kept more or less efficient out of the revenues of the latter. this policy, however, was regarded as only an alternative to another, to which parliament gave the preference--that, namely, of maintaining, if possible, a still more effective competition by strengthening the position of the canals, now the weaker of the combatants in the economic struggle, and enabling them to continue their independent existence, in preference to seeking absorption by the railways. in an act ( & vic. c. ) was passed, the preamble of which, after alluding to the provision in the railway clauses consolidation act, , giving power to railway companies to vary their rates, declared that "greater competition, for the public advantage, would be obtained" if canal { }companies, etc., were to have like powers granted to them in respect of their canals, etc.; and the act therefore conferred upon them the necessary powers for varying their tolls. the preamble of another act passed in the same session ( & vict. c. ) recited the powers given to railway companies as carriers of goods on their own lines, and stated that "greater competition, for the public advantage, would be obtained if similar powers were granted to canal and navigation companies." the act accordingly extended to them the same powers. with a like object, and again adopting the principle sanctioned in the case of railway companies, the act further authorised canal companies to make working arrangements between themselves, and, also, to lease their canals to other canal companies, with a view to a better provision of through water routes, and, consequently, a more active competition with the railways. two years later another act ( & vict. c. ) was passed, giving the canal companies power to borrow money for the purposes here specified. in his presidential address to the institution of civil engineers in , sir frederick bramwell, dealing with various matters relating to the transport conditions of the country, said: "this addition to the legal powers of the canal companies made by the acts of and has had a very beneficial effect upon the value of their property, and has assisted to preserve a mode of transport competing with that afforded by the railways." it is true that the powers to act as carriers were taken advantage of by leading canal companies, who worked up a good business as carriers, although, to a certain extent, with a result directly at variance with the widely accepted view that canals should carry heavy and bulky commodities, and railways the lighter and more compact goods. what actually happened was that the canal companies, as carriers, competed with the railways in the transport of domestic supplies, while the railways still carried most of the coal, iron-stone, etc., for which many people supposed that canal transport is specially adapted. while, however, as the result of these particular powers, some of the canal companies improved their financial position, and were enabled to maintain a better competition with the railways, very little use was made of the authority given to { }them to combine among themselves and establish through routes, converting series of small canals into connected waterways under one and the same control, if not actually owned by one and the same company, as was being so actively done with the railways. some action had certainly been taken in this direction. the birmingham canal system of to-day is composed of three canal companies which had amalgamated prior to , supplemented by a fourth which joined them in that year. the shropshire union, also, is formed of four canal companies originally independent. but these are only exceptions to the rule, for though the joint select committee of , following up what had already been done at an earlier period, recommended that the utmost facilities should be given for amalgamations between canal companies, few of such amalgamations have, as the final report of the royal commission on canals and waterways points out, taken place since the full establishment of railways. goods sent to-day by canal from birmingham, for instance, to london, to liverpool or to hull will pass over waterways controlled by from six to eight different authorities, according to the route followed. one must, however, recognise the fact that the securing of uniformity of gauge and the establishment of through routes presented far greater difficulties in the case of artificial waterways than in that of railways. the physical geography of england is wholly unfavourable to efficient cross-country water transport, and this fact, in itself, is sufficient to render impracticable any such scheme of canal resuscitation as that which has been put forward by the recent royal commission. the physical condition of england in relation to the building of canals is well shown in the article on "canals" published in "rees' cyclopædia" ( ) where it is said, in this connection:-- "great britain ... has a range of high land passing nearly its whole length, which divides the springs and rain waters that fall to the opposite coasts: we shall call this range dividing the eastern and western rivers of britain the _grand ridge_.... no less than of our canals now do or are intended to pass this grand ridge, forming as many navigable connections between the rivers of the east and west seas!... the dudley canal crosses this grand ridge twice, the two ends { }being on the eastern side, and the middle part on the western side thereof; the kennet and avon crosses the eastern and western branches, into which it divides on the chalk hills, west of marlborough, by which parts of this canal are in the drainage of the west, the south and the east seas! the coventry canal, also, by means of its bedworth branch, crosses the grand ridge twice. the populous and remarkable town of birmingham is situate on high ground, near to the grand ridge, and has six canals branching off in different directions, either immediately therefrom or at no great distance, and, what is singular, owing to a loop, or sudden bend of the ridge at this place, no less than five of them traverse the grand ridge, either by means of tunnels or deep-cutting." while the grand ridge here in question presents no difficulty to powerful locomotives, the position is altogether different with canals fed by streams of water that will not flow up-hill. in the case of the birmingham canal, specially referred to in the extract just given, there are three separate "levels." the lowest is feet, and the highest feet above sea level. boats doing the cross-country journey, or passing between birmingham and the coast, would have to overcome such heights as these by means of locks, lifts or inclined planes. here we have a very different proposition from that which is presented by canals on the flat surfaces of holland, belgium and north germany--with, also, their abundant water supplies, from great rivers or otherwise--whereas the upper levels of the birmingham canal are kept filled with water only by means of costly and powerful pumping machinery, supplemented by reservoirs. when the original builders of canals had to cross the grand ridge, or any other elevation over which they required to pass, they sought to economise water consumption and to keep down both cost of construction and working expenses by making the locks on the top levels only just large enough to pass boats of a small size. the dimensions of any boat making a through journey are thus controlled by those of the smallest lock through which it would require to pass. on lower levels where the water problem did not arise--or not to the same degree--the locks could well be made larger, to accommodate larger boats engaged only in local traffic. { }the material differences in cost of construction and operation between waterways on a low and uniform level and those crossing considerable eminences, by means of locks, were well recognised by parliament when approving the lists of tolls to be paid on different waterways. on the aire and calder the minimum toll, if a boat passed through a lock, was fixed at five shillings. on the rochdale canal the minimum toll for a boat crossing the summit level was ten shillings.[ ] the reason for this difference is that whereas the aire and calder navigation is but little above sea level throughout, the summit of the rochdale canal is at a height of feet above sea level, and is crossed by means of ninety-two locks in thirty-two miles. the reader will see, therefore, that the want of a common gauge in the construction of artificial waterways, mainly designed, at the outset, to supply the needs of particular districts, may often have been due to more practical reasons than simply a lack of combination or a difference of view on the part of canal constructors, the problem of gauge on canals built at varying elevations, and all depending on water supply, being entirely different from any question as to the gauge or the running of railways on the same or similar routes. "the necessity of a uniform gauge on canals as on railways," says clifford, "is now clear enough. we need not wonder that, in the eighteenth century, parliament was no wiser than the engineers, and had not learned this lesson." it was, however, not entirely a matter of wisdom. there were, also, these inherent defects of the canal system itself to be considered. it is very doubtful if even parliament, had it possessed the greatest foresight, could have forced, or have persuaded, the canal companies to construct locks of precisely the same dimensions at elevations of , or feet, where water was difficult to get or costly to pump, as on canals more or less on the sea level, and deriving an abundant water supply from mountain streams or navigable rivers. forbes and ashford, in "our waterways," also think it is much to be regretted that in this country no standard dimension was ever fixed for canals, "as has been done in france." but the superficial area of the united kingdom, { }with its mountains and valleys, and hills and dales, presents a wholly different problem, in the matter of canal construction, from that offered by the flat surfaces of france, of holland, of belgium or of north germany. in miles of waterway between hamburg and berlin there are three locks. in this country there is an average of one lock for every mile and a quarter of canal navigation. the total number of locks is , , and for each of these there must be allowed a capitalised cost of, on an average, £ . the fate that overtook the once prosperous canals of south wales when the railways could no longer be suppressed by the canal companies, and were allowed to compete fairly with them, has been materially due to their own physical disadvantages in respect of the large number of locks they require to overcome the steep inclines of the mountainous district in which they were made. these facts are brought out in the fourth (final) report of the royal commission on canals and waterways, where it is said:-- "the glamorganshire and aberdare canals were bought by the marquis of bute in . they form a continuous narrow waterway with a total length of about miles. in this distance there are locks.... the waterway is used at the cardiff end by small coasting vessels, but above this point the traffic has fallen off considerably. the total tonnage carried on the canals amounted in to , tons; in to , tons. two railways run parallel to the canals and carry almost all the coal brought down from the collieries near the canals. the gradients from these collieries to the port are considerable. this makes the haulage of full railway trucks easy, and, on the other hand, in the case of the canal makes necessary a great number of locks relatively to the mileage, with consequent slowness of transport. "the swansea canal belongs to the great western railway company. it is a narrow canal, ½ miles in length, and has locks. the traffic has diminished ... for reasons similar to those given with respect to the glamorganshire canal." much more, however, than the provision of locks was necessitated by the physical conditions of a country naturally unsuited for artificial waterways. in some instances the canals were taken across broad valleys by means of viaducts designed to allow of the waterway being maintained at the same { }level; and certain of the works thus carried out were, in their day, deservedly regarded as of considerable engineering importance. the chirk aqueduct, which carries the ellesmere canal across a -feet stretch in the ceriog valley, and at a height of feet above the level of the river, and the pontcysyllte aqueduct, feet long, which takes the same canal over the river dee, are spoken of by phillips, in his "general history of inland navigation" ( ), as "among the boldest efforts of human invention in modern times." elsewhere the canals had to pass along high embankments or through deep cuttings. canal tunnels of up to three miles in length were not infrequent, though some of these were made so narrow--in the interests of economy--that they had no towing-path, the boats being taken through by men who lay on their backs on the cargo, and pushed against the sides of the tunnel with their feet. alternatively, it was sometimes possible to avoid rising ground or deep valleys, necessitating locks, by making wide detours in preference to taking the shortest route, as a railway would do. thus the distance by canal between liverpool and wigan is thirty-four miles, as compared with a distance of only nineteen by rail. from liverpool to leeds is miles by canal and eighty by rail. these windings made the canal compare still more unfavourably with the railway when it was considered that the speed of transport on the former was only about two and a half miles an hour, without counting delays at the locks; and of these there are, between liverpool and leeds, no fewer than ninety-three. but just because these engineering works had been so bold and so costly, or left so much to be desired in regard to length of route, and just because so many physical difficulties had had to be overcome, it may well have happened that when what was universally considered a better means of transport was presented, general doubts arose as to the wisdom and practicability of reconstructing, in effect, the whole canal system to enable it to compete better with the railways in catering for that through traffic for which the canals themselves were so ill adapted. supplementing these considerations as to the physical configuration of the country is the further fact that in the colliery districts the keeping of the canals in working order involves great trouble, incessant watchfulness and very { }considerable expenditure on account of subsidences due to coal-mining. in my book on "canals and traders" (p. s. king & son) i have told how "throughout practically the whole of the black country, the birmingham canal, for a total distance of about eighty miles, has been undermined by colliery workings, and is mainly on the top of embankments which have been raised from time to time, in varying stages, to maintain the waterway above the level of the ground that has sunk because of the coal mines underneath." many of these embankments, as i have had the opportunity of seeing for myself, are now at a height of from twenty to thirty feet above the present surface of the land, and in one instance, at least, the subsidences have been so serious that an embankment twenty feet high and half a mile long has taken the place of what was formerly a cutting. if the birmingham canal had not been controlled by the london and north-western railway company, who are under a statutory obligation to keep it in good and effective working condition, it would inevitably have collapsed long ago. no independent canal company, deriving its revenue from canal tolls and charges alone, could have stood the heavy and continuous drain upon its resources which, in these circumstances, the canal would have involved; and like conditions apply to various other railway-owned canals in the north, in wales, and elsewhere. concerning the glamorganshire canal, it is said in "transport facilities in south wales and monmouthshire," by clarence s. howells:[ ] "the present owners have spent £ , on the canal since in an ineffectual attempt to revive its waning fortunes. one of its many difficulties is the subsidence caused by colliery workings." dealing with the general position in regard to canal transport in the united kingdom, j. s. jeans remarks in "waterways and water transport" ( ):-- "the railway companies have been accused of acquiring canal property in order that they might destroy it, and thereby get rid of a dangerous rival. this is probably not the case. the railway companies are fully aware of the fact that water transport under suitable conditions is more economical than rail transport. it would therefore have suited them, at the { }same rates, to carry by water heavy traffic, in the delivery of which time was not of so much importance. but the canals as they came into their possession were naturally unadapted for such traffic without being more or less remodelled, and this the railway companies have not attempted. "when we consider the enormous disadvantages under which the majority of the canals of this country now labour, the great matter for wonder is, not that they do not secure the lion's share of the traffic, but that they get any traffic at all." if, for the sake of argument, we leave out of account all the "enormous disadvantages" here alluded to, and assume that the physical difficulties already detailed could be overcome without much trouble or great expense (though this would, indeed, be a prodigious assumption), we should still have the fact that the number of traders in the country who could hope to benefit from any possible system of internal navigation would necessarily be limited to those in certain districts, whereas the railway can be taken anywhere, and be made to serve the interests of each and every district or community in the country. it is true that when commodities can be sent direct from an ocean-going vessel to a works situated immediately alongside a canal, the waterway may have the advantage over the railway; and the same may be the case as regards manufactured goods forwarded in the opposite direction. of the , tons of flints, clay and other potters' materials brought into the potteries district of north staffordshire during , no fewer than , tons, imported at runcorn, ellesmere port or weston port, were taken by canal to pottery works located on or near to the canal banks. in these circumstances the north staffordshire railway company, who also control the trent and mersey navigation, cannot, as railway owners, compete with themselves as canal owners. in the case of the aire and calder, the physical conditions of which are exceptionally favourable, coal can readily be sent from the collieries immediately alongside the waterway to the steamers or the coal ships in the port of goole. on the birmingham canal, also, the traffic between collieries and works, or between works and railway transhipping basins, on the same level, is already so considerable that no great increase could be accommodated without carrying out on the canal a widening { }which would be fabulously costly, and, also, wholly impracticable, on account of the great iron-works and other industrial establishments which line almost the entire twelve-mile route between birmingham and wolverhampton, forming, with their hundreds of private basins, the actual boundary of the canal on one side or the other. to "adapt" the birmingham canal to through traffic would produce chaos for the local traffic. mr jeans thus goes a little too far when he makes the sweeping statement that "canals as they were built a century ago have no longer any function to fulfil that is worthy of serious consideration. their mission is ended, their use is an anachronism." even the title given to the present chapter, "decline of canals," is to be read subject to the exceptions represented by those of the waterways that still answer these useful local purposes and should have every encouragement therein. mr jeans is, however, fully warranted in declaring that "it would be the idlest of idle dreams to expect that the canal system of this or any other country as originally constructed can be resuscitated, or even temporarily galvanised into activity, in competition with the railways." there is a still further consideration. whatever the prospective advantages of resuscitation when the point of despatch and the point of delivery are both on the same canal--and especially when both are on the same level of the canal, so that passage through locks is unnecessary--it must be obvious that when commodities are despatched from, or consigned to, places situate at such a distance from a canal that supplementary transport is necessary, the cost thereof must be added to the amount of the canal charges. the sum of the two may then be so little below the cost of rail transport that the latter--coupled with the greater speed and the greater convenience in the way, perhaps, of sidings or of lines of rails coming right into the works--will be preferred. academic theories, on paper, as to the comparative costs of hauling given weights of commodities on water and rail respectively may, in fact, be rendered futile by ( ) the supplementary cost of transport to or from the waterway and of various services or conveniences included in the railway rate but not included in the canal charges; and ( ) the consideration that if a large sum of money be spent on { }improving the canals the interest thereon must either be met by means of increased canal charges--in which event the canal-users would have no advantage over the railway-users--or remain as a permanent burden on the community. how the cost of the supplementary charges and services operates in practice may be shown by a reference to the london coal trade, coal being a commodity which is regarded by those who favour state ownership of the canals as one specially adapted for waterway transport. except as regards the consignments of sea-borne coal, the domestic coal supply of london is carried almost exclusively by rail. the trucks can generally go right up to the collieries; they convey the coal to special and extensive railway sidings, there to await orders; and they proceed thence, as required, to the suburban railway station or depôt nearest to the premises of the actual consumer, in any part of the country; whereas coal sent by canal would first have to be taken from the colliery to the canal, and there be discharged into the boat, then be conveyed, say, to the thames, next be transferred from boat to cart, and finally be taken by road across london to destination, with the subsidiary considerations ( ) that with each fresh handling the coal would deteriorate in value; ( ) that the traders would lose the advantage of railway coal sidings and station depots; and ( ) that the railway truck is a better unit than the canal boat for the various descriptions or qualities of coal dealt in by the average coal merchant, whose prejudices in favour of rail transport over canal transport, when the consumers are not actually located on or quite close to the waterway, can thus be accounted for by strictly business considerations. the conclusion is forced upon one that, notwithstanding the useful purposes which a certain number of canals are still serving, any resuscitation of canals in general, or even any provision of improved cross-country canal routes passing over the "grand ridge," at the cost of an indefinite number of millions to the country, can hardly be regarded as coming within the range of sound economics. it certainly is favoured by a larger number of traders than the comparatively small proportion who would be able, or willing, to use the canals when they had been improved; but this support is directly due to a belief that nationalisation--though what is proposed { }is only a partial nationalisation--of the canals would tend towards keeping down railway rates. in other words, the scheme is but a further development of that policy which aims at enforcing the principle of competition irrespective of cost, and without regard for the capital expenditure on which a fair return ought to be assured. one of the witnesses examined before the royal commission on canals and waterways said there was a local feeling against the wilts and berks canal being taken in hand by the county council "because," he said, "we are all afraid of the rates; but," he added, "from what i have heard from traders and others, they would like to see it back again, mainly as a means of cutting down railway rates." mr remnant, one of the commissioners, says in his separate report, in alluding to import and export traffic, that most of the evidence given on this question "seemed to point to a desire on the traders' part, not so much for the waterways as for lower railway rates, in order to enable them to face foreign competition"; while mr davison, another of the commissioners, who also dissents from the recommendations of the majority report, speaks of many of the canals as being "of little economic value to the trade of the country, apart from whatever influence they may have in keeping down railway rates," though he adds: "if this latter result were otherwise secured their continued existence could not be justified on economic grounds." any effect which the carrying out of the majority report scheme of canal improvement _might_ have on railway rates would, all the same, be felt only in the towns or localities directly concerned. benefit would result to ( ) those traders who could use the canals, and ( ) those who, though not using the canals, obtained the lower railway rates, if reductions really were secured through the canal competition; while traders at a distance from the waterways would not only have to help to pay the cost, though themselves deriving no benefit therefrom, but might even see two classes of their own competitors in the favoured districts gain an advantage over them--one set from state-owned and state-aided canals, and another from the local reductions in railway rates to which those canals might be expected to lead. the proposals of the royal commission may well be approved by certain localities or individual traders on the line { }of route of the canals proposed to be taken in hand. they are hardly likely, however, to commend themselves to the traders and taxpayers of the country in general. my own view is that if the state is prepared to find money for the purpose of cheapening the cost of transport, it could do so to better advantage if, instead of spending millions on an impracticable and partial scheme of canal resuscitation, it lightened the burden of taxation now falling on the railway companies, and thus improved their position in regard, not merely to traders in particular districts, but to the trade and industries of the united kingdom as a whole. { }chapter xxiii decline of turnpikes the inherent defects of the turnpike system must in themselves have been fatal to its permanent continuance, irrespective of the influence of the railways, which did not kill the turnpikes so much as merely give them the _coup de grace_. no one can deny the adequacy of the time that parliament had devoted to the kindred subjects of roads and waggons. by --and only a few years, therefore, later than the opening of the liverpool and manchester railway--parliament had passed no fewer than private and local turnpike acts, and had authorised the creation in england and wales of turnpike trusts, controlling , miles of road. but the whole system was hopelessly inefficient, wasteful and burdensome, besides being as unsatisfactory in its administration as it was in its results. managed or directed by trustees and surveyors under the conditions detailed in chapter x, the actual work on the turnpike roads was mainly carried out by statute labour, pauper labour or labour paid for out of the tolls, out of the receipts from the composition for statute duty, or, as a last resource, at the direct cost of the ratepayers, who were thus made responsible for the turnpike as well as for the parish roads. statute labour was a positive burlesque of english local government. archdeacon plymley says in his "general view of the agriculture of shropshire" ( ): "there is no trick, evasion or idleness that shall be deemed too mean to avoid working on the road: sometimes the worst horses are sent; at others a broken cart, or a boy, or an old man past labour, to fill: they are sometimes sent an hour or two too late in the morning, or they leave off much sooner than the proper time, unless the surveyor watch the whole day." in the article already quoted from the "westminster { }review" for october, , it is said: "statute labour on the parish roads is limited to six days work and on the turnpikes to three. but it is now found generally expedient to demand or take money in lieu of labour, according to a rate to be fixed by the justices in different places.... in practice the statute labour was frequently a farce, half of the time being spent in going and returning and in conversation and idleness." an authority referred to in postlethwayt's "dictionary" ( ) had suggested that criminals condemned to death for minor offences should, instead of being transported, be ordered to do a year's work on the highway. he further recommended, in all seriousness, that arrangements should be made with the african company for the importation of negroes as road-repairers, they being, as he said, "generally persons to do a great deal of work." failing criminals and negroes, some of the parishes did employ paupers, gangs of whom were to be seen pretending to work at road-mending, and getting far more degeneration for themselves than they did good for the roads. in parliament abolished both statute labour and statute labour composition, thenceforward wholly superseded by highway rates as applying to the whole of the minor roads for which the parish was responsible. bad as the statute labour system had been, its abolition involved a loss to the turnpike trusts estimated at about £ , a year; and this was a serious matter to trustees whose financial position was becoming hopeless in view of their liabilities and the discouraging nature of their outlook. such discouragement was due in great part to the advent of the railways, but not entirely so, the select committee of on turnpike trusts saying in their report that "the gradual decline in the transit on turnpike roads in some parts of the country arises not only from the railways formed but from steam vessels plying on rivers and as coasting traders"; and they added: "whenever mechanical power has been substituted for animal power, the result has hitherto been that the labour is performed at a cheaper rate." the cost of making and repairing turnpike roads, especially under the primitive conditions still widely retained, notwithstanding the improved methods introduced by telford { }and mcadam, was in itself a most serious item, apart from the excessive expenditure on administration. dr james anderson says on this subject in the issue of his "recreations" for november, :-- "i have been assured, and believe it to be true, though i cannot pledge myself for the certainty of the fact, that there is annually laid out on repairs upon the road from hyde park to hounslow considerably above £ a mile. a turnpike road cannot be made in almost any situation for less, as i am told, than £ per mile; but where it is of considerable width, as near great towns, it will run from £ to £ per mile; and in annual repairs, including the purchase price of materials, carting them to the road, spreading, raking off, and carting away again, from £ to £ a mile." the trustees generally raised loans to meet their first expenses, payment of interest being guaranteed out of the tolls levied; but though, at one time, and especially before the competition of railways became active, the security was regarded as adequate, an unduly costly management, combined with decreasing receipts from tolls, resulted in the piling up of huge financial liabilities which the trusts found it impossible to clear off in addition to meeting current expenditure. the select committee on turnpike trusts in reported on this subject: "the present debt of the turnpike trusts in england and wales exceeds £ , , , and it is annually increasing, in consequence of the practice prevailing in several of the trusts of converting the unpaid interest into principal, the trustees giving bonds bearing interest for the amount of interest due." at this time there were no fewer than eighty-four trusts which had paid no interest on loans for several years, and there were said to be some trusts which had paid no interest for sixty years. sir james mcadam, son of john loudon mcadam, informed the select committee of that the amount of unpaid interest on the trusts at that time was £ , , . in order to improve their financial position, the trustees generally adopted the expedient either of seeking parliamentary authority to increase their tolls or of setting up the largest possible number of toll-gates along their own particular bit of road. in either case it was the road-user who paid. the select committee of reported that in the three { }preceding sessions ninety turnpike trusts, seeking renewal of their acts, had asked for authority to increase their tolls on the ground that they could not pay their debts without the assistance of parliament. the alternative to an increase of tolls was carried so far that it became customary for the trusts to set up a toll-gate wherever there was the slightest excuse for so doing. "in some places," says j. kearsley fowler, in "records of old times," "as, for instance, my native town of aylesbury, the place was literally hemmed in like a fortified city,--not even an outlet to exercise a horse without paying a toll." there were, he tells us, seven different trusts to maintain at aylesbury alone. mr george masefield, a solicitor residing at ledbury, herefordshire, said when giving evidence before the select committee on turnpike trusts in that in the twenty-one miles between ledbury and kingston, a journey he frequently made, he had to go through eight turnpike gates. in the eight miles' journey to newent he passed through four gates and paid three times; and in the thirteen miles to worcester he went through six gates and paid at five. in gloucestershire, said the "morning star" of september , , "it sometimes happens you have to pay five turnpikes in twelve miles"; though such were the inequalities of the burden that in some other counties, said the same paper, one could go for miles without paying anything. these inequalities had been previously pointed out in the "westminster review" article. in speaking of the practice followed in the location of turnpikes, the writer declared that "gates are sometimes placed so as to tax one portion and exempt another, so as to make strangers and travellers pay, while those who chiefly profit by the roads, and who destroy them most, are exempted." he further said that "the welsh, with their characteristic cunning, have contrived to exempt their own heavy carts and to levy their tolls on the light barouches of unlucky visitors"; that one might see, in scotland, three toll-gates, and all to be paid, in the space of a hundred yards; that one might, as against this, ride thirty miles without paying one toll; and that "the inhabitants of greenwich pay the tolls for the half of kent." london in had twelve turnpike trusts for miles of { }road. the tolls they collected in that year amounted to £ , ; the expenses were £ , , and the accumulated debt of the dozen trusts was £ , . on the middlesex side of london there were turnpike gates and bars within four miles of charing cross, or, including the surrey side, a total of within a four-mile radius. "let the traveller drive through the walworth gate southward," says j. e. bradfield, in his "notes on toll reform" ( ), "and note how every road, every alley, every passage has its 'bar.' the inhabitants cannot move north, east, south, or west without paying one toll; and some of them cannot get out of the parish without two tolls. the cry at every corner of camberwell is 'toll.'" the position of walworth and camberwell does not, however, appear to have been at all exceptional. in besant's "survey of london" it is stated that a map of london and its environs, published in , shows that it was then impossible to get away from town without going through turnpikes. on every side they barred the way. in the case of a stage-coach with four horses running every day between london and birmingham, the tolls paid amounted to £ in the year. at one gate on the brighton road the tolls collected came to £ in the year, and of this amount £ was from coaches. the payment of these tolls was a serious tax on the coaches, though an important source of revenue for the turnpike trustees; and in proportion as the coaches were taken off the roads, owing to the competition of the railways, the financial position of the trusts became still worse. mail-coaches were exempted from tolls in england, though they had to pay them in scotland. the amount of the tolls varied according to the trusts or the locality. kearsley fowler says that in aylesbury for a horse ridden or led, passing through the gates, the toll was ½d.; for a vehicle drawn by one horse, ½d.; for a carriage and pair, d., and so on. the tolls, he adds, fell with particular hardship on farmers, and became a tax on their trade. when sending away their corn or other produce with a waggon and four horses they paid, in some instances, s. d. or s. d. if, as often occurred, the waggon passed through two gates in eight or nine miles, the payments came to s. or s. d. if the waggon returned with coal or feeding stuffs it had to pay the same tolls over again. { }nor did the toll-payers get anything like value for their money. about fifty per cent of the amount received by the trustees, either direct from the tolls or from the persons farming them, went in interest and management expenses; and although the remainder might be spent on road repairs, a good proportion of this was wasted because of the inefficient way in which the work was too often done. mr wrightson, a member of the special committee of , declared that every toll-gate cost on an average £ a year, and that every turnpike trust had, on an average, five toll-gates. the total number of trusts in was stated in the fifteenth annual report of the local government board ( ) to be . an average of five toll-gates for each would give them a total of ; and an average cost of maintenance of £ a year for this number of toll-gates gives a total of £ , a year as the cost simply of toll-gate maintenance, apart from salaries of official staff and other items. mr r. m. brereton, surveyor for the county of norfolk, said in the course of his evidence before the select committee of the house of lords on the highway acts ( ): "in norfolk we collected £ , a year for tolls, but we only spent £ a year of that actually on the roads." it might even happen that, after costs of management and payment of interest had been met, there was no balance left for road maintenance. in the report of the select committee of on turnpike trusts it is stated that in several instances the creditors of the trusts had exercised the power given to them under the general turnpike act ( geo. iv., c. ) of taking possession of the tolls to secure payment of their mortgage or bonded securities and the interest due to them. "the result," says the report, "must be to throw the burden of repairs and of the maintenance of such roads on the several parishes through which they pass. should such measures now taken by some creditors become general throughout the kingdom, the proprietors and holders of land will not only have to pay the tolls as usual, but must also be called on to defray the expense of keeping the road in a proper state for the public use, by an additional highway rate to be levied on the parishes where the tolls paid by the public are seized by the creditor." in addition to management expenses, expenditure on the roads and payment of interest, allowance had to be made { }for the profits expected by those to whom the trustees farmed the tolls, offering them by auction to the highest bidder. the contractors generally had a private understanding among themselves as to the terms they were prepared to give. one of them, lewis levy by name, farmed from £ , to £ , of turnpike tolls within a radius of from sixty to eighty miles of london; and we may assume that he would not have gone into the business on so large a scale as this unless it had brought him an adequate return. the ultimate result of these various conditions was that the sum total of the indirect taxation thus collected from the public was not only great in itself, and out of all proportion to the benefits received, but was inadequate to cover an expenditure already swollen to abnormal proportions. in his evidence before the select committee of sir james mcadam stated that in the gross income of the different roads was £ , , , and the expenditure for the year was £ , , , exceeding by £ , the whole of the income. in lancashire alone the turnpike tolls came to £ , a year. collection of this considerable revenue from the community had, of course, been duly authorised by parliament; yet the trustees were under no obligation to account for the moneys they received. not only was there free scope given for jobbery, embezzlement and malpractices in general, but the turnpike commissioners could, as the "edinburgh review" pointed out in , abuse their trust and yet go on levying tolls, keeping possession of the road and defying complaints. the writer on "roads" in "rees' cyclopædia" ( ) further declares that "either from bad management, from party influence or from chicanery and ignorance of surveyors and contractors, the roads in many places are not only laid out in the most absurd direction but are so badly constructed and kept in so wretched a state of repair that they are almost impassable." on the other hand, the great advancement in coaching, and the higher speeds attained by the coaches during the first three decades of the nineteenth century suggest that the improvements introduced by telford and mcadam could not have been without good effect on the chief of the main roads, at least, however inefficient the making and repairing of the turnpike and parish roads in general may still have remained. { }all the same, and in spite of the greater road traffic, the financial difficulties into which the trusts drifted and the burdensome nature of the tax imposed by the toll-system on traders, agriculturists and the public were beyond all doubt. various attempts were made to improve the position of the trusts. a committee of the house of commons recommended in that continuance bills for the periodical renewal of turnpike acts should be exempted from fees. another committee made a like recommendation in , and subsequently a measure was passed scheduling in an annual public statute the continuation of any trusts on the point of expiring. then, as there was so obviously an excessive number of trusts, with a consequent undue expenditure on management, a committee which sat in strongly recommended the consolidation of turnpike trusts around london. an act consolidating those on the north of the thames was passed, the preamble thereof reciting no fewer than other acts of parliament which the new measure superseded. in , and other committees recommended a general consolidation of trusts; but little, apparently, was done in this direction in england, though in several counties of scotland, as mentioned in the report of the select committee of , the system was greatly improved by the appointment of road boards which, by a consolidation of various trusts and the association of several counties for the repair and maintenance of roads, effected a material diminution in the expenses. in ireland, also, the abolition of the system of statute labour in , the placing of the business of roadmaking under the control of the grand juries, and the meeting both of the cost of road repairs and the payment of interest on the existing debts out of the rates of the counties and baronies led to better roads being provided at a less burdensome cost. by a general turnpike act passed in , justices were authorised, on proof being given to them of a deficiency in the revenue of a turnpike trust, to order the parish surveyor to pay to the trust a portion of the highway rates, to be laid out in actual repairs on parts of the turnpike road within the parish. bondholders petitioned parliament that any deficiency { }in their profits owing to railway competition should be made good by the railway companies; but although this principle was already being enforced, in effect, in the case of many of the canal companies, it was not adopted in that of the turnpike trusts. the various measures resorted to did no more than afford temporary relief to the trusts, and, in the meantime, the obligation cast upon the community of having to support so inefficient and so wasteful a system was found to be intolerably vexatious and burdensome. while some persons were praising turnpikes because of such improvement as they had effected on the roads, the "gentleman's magazine" of may, , had spoken of them as "a great disadvantage in our competition for trade with france, where they have excellent roads without turnpikes, which are no small tax on travellers and carriers." not only were the tolls a tax on all commodities carried by road, but they constituted, to a large extent, an unprofitable tax, because so considerable a proportion of the total amount collected went to the support of officials, contractors, lessees, toll-gate keepers and others, who lived on the system, and so small a proportion--after allowing for money wasted--was usefully spent to the direct advantage of the traders in facilitating actual transport. the committee of condemned the whole system of turnpike tolls as "unequal in pressure, costly in collection, inconvenient to the public, and injurious as causing a serious impediment to intercourse and traffic." in wales popular dissatisfaction with the great increase of toll-gates had led in - to the "rebecca riots," bands of men strong, their leaders disguised in women's clothes, promenading the roads of pembrokeshire, cardiganshire and breconshire at night and throwing down the offending gates. it was only with considerable difficulty and much bloodshed that the disturbances were eventually suppressed by a strong force of soldiers. a commission appointed to inquire into the matter found there was a genuine grievance, and an act of parliament was passed which consolidated the trusts in south wales, regulated the number of toll-gates there, and provided for the extinction of the debt on the roads by the advance of about £ , , at three per cent interest, by the { }public works loan commissioners, to be repaid by terminable annuities within thirty years. the loan was duly paid off by . inasmuch as english traders and travellers simply grumbled and paid, and refrained from demonstrating as the more emotional welshmen had done, they had to wait longer for any material relief from the grievances from which they, also, were suffering. down to the duty of deciding in what order turnpike acts should be permitted to expire, instead of being renewed, was, as mr george sclater-booth (lord basing), formerly president of the local government board, informed the select committee of the house of lords on the highway acts, when giving evidence before them in , one of the functions of the home office, and the home office, he said, "was timid at that time in allowing these turnpike trusts to lapse." pressure was brought to bear on the department with a view to effecting a more rapid extinction of the trusts; though the ratepayers had not then realised the results to themselves of the cost of maintenance of disturnpiked roads being thrown on the parish. following on the report of a special committee of the house of commons, recommending that the turnpike acts should be allowed to expire as rapidly as possible, a house of commons turnpike committee was appointed in to take over the whole business from the home office. thenceforward this committee prepared every year a schedule of turnpike trusts which they thought should expire, the schedule being embodied in an annual turnpike acts continuance bill which was duly passed by parliament. so great was the zeal shown by the committee that from roads were disturnpiked at the rate of from to or miles a year. "this," said mr sclater-booth, "has been most distinctly the policy of representative members of the house of commons, and not the policy of the government of the day, except in so far as the government of the day has foreborne to exercise any interference with the turnpike continuance act in parliament." while the reduction in the number of turnpike trusts had been an undoubted boon to users of the roads, it had thrown heavy burdens on the local ratepayers. for a period of a { }century, at least, most of them had, in effect, and except in certain circumstances, been relieved by the turnpike system of their common law obligation to keep main roads in repair; but in proportion as the trusts expired the obligations in respect to maintenance fell back again on the parishes. under, also, old enactments which still remained in force, not only land and houses but many other kinds of property--stock-in-trade, timber and "personal estate" generally--were assessed for highways and other purposes. these conditions remained until , when an exemption act suspended the power of levying rates on stock-in-trade, and other changes in the law of assessment were made subsequently. with the greater activity, from the year , of the house of commons turnpike committee the burdens on the unfortunate parishioners became heavier than before; and in the turnpike continuance act of there was inserted a clause to the effect that the cost of repairing any roads disturnpiked after the passing of that act should be borne by the highway district, where there was one, and not by the parish. in and the house of commons turnpike committee "made very strong complaints," mr sclater-booth stated in his evidence, that they would not have proceeded so fast as they had done, and would not have recommended parliament to allow so many miles of road to be disturnpiked year by year, if they had not felt satisfied that the government would have provided some remedy for the injustice they occasioned. "they seemed to me," the witness continued, "to have had no compunction in causing the injustice to be occasioned before any remedy was provided for it; but, having permitted that injustice to take place, they complained year after year of the action, or, rather, of the non-action, of the government in not applying a remedy for these grievances." no effective remedy was, in fact, provided until . early in the session of that year notice was given in the house of commons of a resolution which declared that "in the opinion of this house immediate relief should in some form be afforded to ratepayers from the present unjust incidence of rates appropriated for the maintenance of main roads in england." mr gladstone undertook that something should be done in conformity with the spirit of this resolution, and thereupon a grant designed to cover one-fourth of the cost of maintaining { }disturnpiked roads was made annually by parliament down to the year , when the relief granted was increased to one-half of the total cost by a further sum of £ , allocated by mr goschen to the same purpose from his budget for that year. the actual expenditure under these successive grants is shown in a report on local taxation made, in , by mr h. h. fowler (afterwards lord wolverhampton). the amounts there given are as follows:-- year. amount expended. £ , , , , , , ---------- total £ , , after the passing of the local government act of the grants were discontinued, the said act providing that from the st of april, , all main and disturnpiked roads should, with certain exceptions (and as distinct from parish highways), be maintained by the county councils. parliament had thus at least broadened out the ratepayers' burden in respect to road maintenance by spreading the charges over a larger area; and it was, also, affording a very considerable measure of relief to the road-users in freeing them from the obligations to pay tolls for the keeping up, not simply of the roads, but of a machinery as costly as it was inefficient. there was still a third set of interests to be considered, as represented by those who had lent money to the turnpike trusts for road construction or repairs, in the expectation of getting a fair return. the proportions of the turnpike debt, the falling-off in tolls, and the mismanagement of the system generally made the outlook for the bondholders very unfavourable; but the best that was possible, in the circumstances, was done for them. under an act passed in it was laid down that, for the purpose of facilitating the abolition of tolls on any turnpike { }road, the highway board and the trustees might mutually agree that the former should take upon itself the maintenance and repair of such road, and, also, pay off and discharge either the entire debt in respect thereto or such sum by way of compensation as the local government board, after an inquiry, might determine. by a further act, passed in , highway boards were authorised to raise loans for the more effective carrying out of this arrangement, while clifford states in his "history of private bill legislation" that "there have, also, been acts confirming more than provisional orders passed to arrange the debts of these unlucky trusts, extinguish arrears of interest, allow compositions, and generally make the best of some very disastrous investments."[ ] how rapid the actual decline in the number of trusts was from the year , when the house of commons turnpike committee came into existence, is shown by the following figures, taken from the annual reports of the local government board for and :-- date. number of trusts. miles. december , , january , " of the five survivals on january , , three were to expire in that same year and one in , leaving only one the fate of which was then undecided. it may be assumed that by the end of the system of turnpikes on public (as distinct from private) roads, which had for so long a period played so prominent, so vexatious, and, in many respects, so unsatisfactory a rôle in inland communication, had wholly disappeared. turnpike roads, no less than canals, undoubtedly conferred great advantages on the growing trade and industries of the country. each, however, had its serious drawbacks and disadvantages, and, in the result, the shortcomings of the turnpikes, added to the shortcomings of the canals, gave still greater emphasis to the welcome offered by traders to the railways which were to become, to so large an extent, substitutes for both. { }chapter xxiv end of the coaching era what are known as the "palmy days" of the coaching era began about the year , and lasted until . by the improvements in road-making of telford and mcadam had led to quicker travelling and the running of far more coaches, at greater speeds, than had previously been the case. by it was evident that coaching had reached the climax of its popularity, and could not hope to maintain its position against the competition of the railways which were spreading so rapidly throughout the land. over coaches were then on the road, and half of these began or ended their journeys in london. some , horses were employed in running them, and there were about , coachmen, guards, horse-keepers and hostlers, while many hundreds of taverns, in town or country, prospered on the patronage the coaches brought them. from one london tavern alone there went every day over eighty coaches to destinations in the north. from another there went fifty-three coaches and fifty-one waggons, chiefly to the west of england. altogether coaches or waggons were going from over one hundred taverns in the city or in the borough. big interests grew up in connection with the coaching enterprise. william chaplin, who owned five yards in london, had, at one time, nearly horses, besides many coaches. out of twenty-seven mail-coaches leaving london every night he "horsed" fourteen. he is said to have made a fortune of half a million of money out of the business; but when he began to realise what the locomotive would do he took his coaches off the road, disposed of his stock before the railways had depreciated it, joined with benjamin horne, of the "golden cross," charing cross, who had himself had a large stock of horses, and founded the carrying firm of { }chaplin and horne, which became exclusive agents for the london and birmingham railway. when the london and south-western railway company found themselves faced with serious difficulties he devoted alike his means, his experience and his energies to helping them out of their trouble, rendering services so invaluable to the company that he soon became deputy chairman of the line, and was raised to the chairmanship in . another coach proprietor, sherman, who had had a large number of coaches running between london and birmingham, threw in his lot with the great western railway as soon as it was opened, and did much of the london carrying business in connection with that line. other coach proprietors there were who, less far-sighted, or less fortunate, held on to their old enterprises, influenced, it may be, by the views of such authorities as sir henry parnell, who, in the second edition of his "treatise on roads" ( ), declared in reference to railways:-- "the experience which has been gained from those already completed, and from the enormous expense incurred on those which are in progress, has led to a general opinion that there is little probability of more than a few of these works affording any ultimate return for the money expended upon them. "the heavy expense which is proved by experience to be unavailable in keeping the railways and engines in repair, where great speed is the object, will in numerous cases soon make it evident that no dividends can be paid to the shareholders, and the cheaper method of using horse-power will be adopted.... "the attaining of the speed of or miles an hour, at such an enormous expense, cannot be justified on any principle of national utility. the usefulness of communication, in a national point of view, consists principally in rendering the conveyance of all the productions of the soil and of industry as cheap as possible.... but a speed of miles an hour would have accomplished all these purposes, and have been of great benefit to travellers, while it could have been attained at from one half to one third of the expense which has been incurred by the system that has been acted upon. it is no doubt true that travelling at the rate of or miles an hour is very convenient, but how it can be made to act so as { }to contribute very much to the benefit of the country at large it is not easy to discover. economy of time in an industrious country is unquestionably of immense importance, but after the means of moving at the rate of ten miles an hour is universally established there seems to be no very great advantage to be derived from going faster." it is true that an acceleration had been effected in the rates of speed attainable on improved roads, under the stimulus of mail and "flying" coaches. but these results had only been secured with consequences for the unfortunate horses which no one possessed of a spark of humanity could fail to deplore. several coach proprietors, each owning between and horses, informed a house of commons select committee in that those of their horses which worked within fifty miles of london lasted only three or four years, in which period the entire stock had to be renewed. mr horne, of charing cross, who kept horses, said he bought every year. on some roads, it was affirmed, the mortality of the horses, due in part to the bad state of the roads and in part to the accelerated speed, was so great that the average coach-horse lasted only two years. on certain roads around london it was necessary to have six horses attached to a coach in order to drag it through the two feet or so of mud which, in wet weather, was to be found on such roads as the one across hounslow heath. in accounting for an increased demand for coach-horses in , a paragraph from the "yorkshire gazette," quoted by the "morning chronicle" of december in that year, declared that it arose out of the new regulations of the post office, which caused the death of two horses, on an average, in every three journeys of miles. "the highflyer of this city," the paragraph continued, "lately lost two horses, and it has cost the manchester and liverpool coaches seventeen horses since they commenced to cope with the mail and run ten miles an hour in place of seven or eight.... several horses, in endeavouring to keep time, according to the new post office regulations, have had their legs snapped in two on the road, while others have dropped dead from the effort of a ruptured blood-vessel or a heart broken in efforts to obey the whip." on one of the southern roads a coach was put on which { }was run at the rate of twelve miles an hour; but seven horses died in three weeks, and the pace was then reduced to ten miles an hour. an average speed even of six and a half miles an hour was declared to be scarcely possible on some of the roads. "it tore the horses' hearts out." one cannot wonder that, when the fact of trains on the liverpool and manchester railway doing an average of fifteen miles an hour with the greatest ease, and attaining to double that speed when necessary, became known, humanitarian considerations were, in themselves, sufficient to win preference for rail over road transport. there was also a practical as well as a humanitarian side to this appalling death-rate among the coach-horses. thomas gray, in the course of his "observations on a general iron rail-way," showed that, reckoning the number of coach and postchaise horses at no more than , , and allowing for renewal of stock every four years, keep and interest on capital expenditure, the outlay would amount in twelve years to £ , , ; while a like calculation, for the same period, in regard to the , waggon, coach, and postchaise horses employed on the main turnpike roads of the country, gave a total of no less than £ , , . while, again, fair-weather travellers may have enjoyed the scenery and the poetry of motion when seated on the top of a coach going across country in the summer-time, there were possibilities of great discomforts and dangers having to be faced, as well. accidents were so frequent that it was usual for the coaches to carry a box of carpenters' tools, supplemented in the winter by a snow shovel. sometimes the coaches stuck in the mire; sometimes they upset. they passed through flooded roads, they were detained by fog, they got snowed up, or their passengers might run terrible risks from frost. on the arrival of the bath coach at chippenham one morning in the month of march, , it was found that two passengers had been frozen to death on their seats, and that a third was dying. in the winter of there was a prolonged fog, followed by a severe snow-storm which lasted forty-eight hours. in one day thirty-three mail-coaches due at the general post office failed to arrive. at christmas, , there was a snow-storm which lasted nearly a week. on december the exeter mail had to be dug out of the { }snow five times. the following day fourteen mail-coaches were abandoned on different roads. so, in proportion as the railways spread, the coaching traffic declined. in a london coach proprietor, mr e. sherman, of the "bull and mouth," told the select committee on turnpike trusts that the persons then being carried by coach were mostly timid people who did not like to go by railway, though every day it was found that the timidity was lessening, and that many individuals who formerly would not have travelled by train for any consideration were doing so in preference to going by coach. the severity of the railway competition with the coaches was, indeed, beyond all question; but the coach proprietors considered that their difficulty in facing it was rendered much worse by the heavy taxation on their enterprise. the earliest stage-coaches, patronised mostly by the poorer class of travellers, were not taxed at all; but when the "flying coaches" and the "handsome machines with steel springs for the ease of passengers and the conveniency of the country" were put on the road and attracted passengers of a better class, the owners of private conveyances began to complain of the unfairness of their being taxed while the owners of public coaches were not. wanting more money to meet the heavy expenditure on the american war, north met the complaints of the private-carriage owners by putting a tax on the stage-coaches; and the precedent thus established, in or about the year , was followed by later chancellors of the exchequer, the taxation being subsequently extended alike to every class of vehicles used for coach traffic and, in , to all classes of railway passengers. in a select committee appointed to inquire into the taxation of internal communication reported that the taxes then in force in respect to land travelling by animal power were as follows:-- . assessed taxes on carriages and horses kept for private use. . a post-horse duty. . a duty on carriages kept to let for hire, being £ s. on each carriage with four wheels, and £ s. for each carriage with two wheels. { } . a license duty paid by each postmaster, being s. d. per annum. . mileage duty on stage-coaches. . a license duty on stage-coaches, being £ on each coach kept to run, and s. on each supplementary license. . an assessed tax on coachmen and guards. . an assessed tax on draught horses. there were many variations in the mileage duty on stage-coaches. in it was one halfpenny for every mile travelled; in it was raised to a penny; in it was twopence, while subsequent increases led up to the highest rate of all--one of fivepence halfpenny per mile for coaches licensed to carry more than ten passengers inside. it was, in part, to moderate the pressure of this tax that shillibeer introduced the omnibus into london,[ ] his first conveyance being a huge, unwieldy conveyance which, drawn by three horses, spread the fivepence-halfpenny mileage duty over twenty-two inside passengers. the yield from the mileage duty was £ , in , £ , in (when there was an increase of one halfpenny per mile for every coach) and £ , in . so long as the stage-coaches were well patronised, little or nothing was heard about all this taxation, which was, in effect, passed on to the traveller, who either paid without grumbling or else grumbled and paid. but when the railways began to divert more and more traffic from the roads, the duties in question fell with special severity on the coach proprietors, who then divided their maledictions pretty equally between the railway companies and the tax-gatherers. the mileage duty was especially burdensome under the new conditions. being assessed on the number of persons each coach was licensed to carry, and not on the number of passengers actually carried, it remained at the same amount whether the coaches ran full, half full or empty. the fact that the railways, which were depriving the coaches of their patrons, then paid their halfpenny per mile only on every four passengers actually conveyed became a grievance with the coach proprietors, who thought that the railways should be taxed on the same basis as themselves. { }that the taxation pressed heavily on a declining business was beyond all possibility of doubt. a petition drawn up in by proprietors of stage-coaches employed on the turnpike roads between liverpool and various lancashire towns showed that the taxes they paid to the government worked out for the year as follows:-- £ s. d. duty on coaches , assessed taxes for coach servants mileage duty , ------------ total , in addition to this they had to pay £ s. d. a year for turnpike tolls, while their general expenses, including horses (renewed every three years), harness, hostlers, rent of stables, hay, corn and straw, etc., but allowing for value of manure, came to £ , s. d., their total annual expenditure thus being as follows:-- £ s. d. government duty and taxes , turnpike tolls , expenses , ------------ total £ , w. c. wimberley, a coach proprietor of doncaster, who gave evidence before the select committee of , said that the government taxation on a single coach, the "wellington," running between london and newcastle, for a period of days, was as follows:-- duty for four passengers inside and £ s. d. eleven out, sixpence per double mile, that is up and down miles stamps for receipts on payment of ditto four licenses (four coaches being used successively up and down) assessed taxes on coachmen and guards ----------- £ { }the coach also paid, in the same period, £ s. d. for tolls. another coach proprietor, w. b. thorne, told the same committee that on five coaches to dover he paid for mileage duty alone in the previous year a total of £ . on his coaches to liverpool, manchester and birmingham he paid £ in the twelve months, and the total amount of duty he paid for all his coaches in the year was £ , . he did not think, however, that relief from taxation would save them from being annihilated by the railways, except as regarded certain roads where the railways did not directly operate against them. still another coach proprietor, robert gray, admitted to the committee that he did not think it would be possible for the coaches to compete on the bath road with the great western railway even if all the duty were taken off. there was no doubt that the coaches could not have held their own permanently against the railways even if they had been relieved of taxation as soon as the success of their rivals became assured. on the other hand, if the coaches could have been afforded such relief that, while not attempting to compete with the railways on main routes where competition was hopeless, they would have been encouraged to cater for business on routes not then served by the railways, an advantage would have been gained, not only by the coach proprietors themselves, but by the public. the early days of the railway undoubtedly brought serious inconvenience to people who found themselves set down at a station ten, fifteen or twenty miles distant from their home, with no chance of their getting a coach because rail competition and government taxation combined had made it no longer possible to run a coach on that road. if the taxation had not, as was often the case, made all the difference between profit and loss, many of the coaches would probably have held on a few years longer, by which time the railways would have been more generally developed. as it was they were withdrawn in larger numbers, at an earlier period, than would otherwise have been the case, and there were many instances of great hardship to travellers whose means did not allow of their supplementing an incomplete railway journey by hiring a vehicle specially for themselves. { }the report presented by the select committee of admitted the inequalities of the taxation on land travelling as between the coaches and the railways; but, instead of recommending, as the coach proprietors had wanted, that the demands on the railways should be increased, the committee expressed strong disapproval of any tax at all being imposed on internal communication. they said, among other things:-- "very valuable evidence was submitted to your committee by sir edward lees, secretary to the post office at edinburgh, as to the increased speed, security and cheapness with which the post might be conveyed over the cross-roads of scotland by the establishment of mail cars similar to those now in use in ireland, thereby increasing the revenue and opening up districts now altogether destitute of any mode of public conveyance; the same remarks would necessarily apply to many cross-roads in england. the grand obstacle, however, to the establishment of these cars is the heavy taxation on travelling, which utterly deters individuals from engaging in such speculations; while in ireland, where the roads are decidedly inferior, but where none of these taxes exist, cheap and expeditious public conveyances are everywhere to be found." the ultimate findings and recommendations of the committee were summed up in the following emphatic declaration: "your committee earnestly recommend the abolition of all taxes on public conveyances and on carriages generally at the earliest period consistent with a due regard to the financial arrangements of the country." unfortunately, the financial arrangements of the country never have allowed of this recommendation being carried out, and a further period of thirty-two years was to elapse before even the moribund stage-coach business was relieved altogether of the obligation to pay mileage duty. the burdensome nature of these duties on internal communication led to the formation of a "committee for the abolition of the present system of taxation on stage carriages in great britain"; and in some "observations on the injustice, inequalities and anomalies of the present system of taxation on stage carriages," by j. e. bradfield, issued by this committee in , a strong case was made out in favour of such abolition. bradfield based his main arguments on the { }contention that by removing restrictions placed upon the freedom of communication the general welfare of nations was promoted. the taxation of the stage-coaches conferred, he said, no advantage on the coaching enterprise, since none of the money raised in this way was expended on road improvement, while the amount of the taxation often formed an abnormally large proportion of the receipts. he mentions the case of one coach-owner in the lake district, thirty per cent of whose receipts in the winter had to go to the government for the duties imposed, not on the amount of business he did, but on the seating capacity of his coaches. in another instance the duties paid were forty-five per cent of the takings. bradfield thought a fair average for the country in general would be fifteen per cent. the existing system of mileage duties enforced, he declared, an average tax of £ per annum upon every stud of eight horses employed in stage-coaches, as against £ for the same number used for postchaises, and £ s. in the case of those for private carriages. bradfield further quotes a windermere coach-owner as being of opinion that there was "still great scope for coaches as feeders to the railways if only they were given greater relief in the matter of duties." he expresses his own opinion that "coaches are legitimately the streams by which the traffic should be conducted to the railways," and asks, "why tax the stream more than the river?" the steady decrease in the yield from the stage-coach duties was in itself sufficiently significant of the changes in travel that were then proceeding. in the revenue from the duties was £ , ; but it began to decline steadily as the "palmy days" of coaching came to an end, and in it had fallen to £ , . in , when, after various modifications, the mileage duty was three-halfpence a mile, the yield was only £ , . in , after further modifications, the duty was reduced to a farthing; and in it was repealed altogether; though by that time the locomotive had supplanted the stage-coach except in a comparatively few localities where it still lingered, mainly, however, as a feeder to the railway. the recent revival of coaching comes under the category of sport or recreation rather than under that of internal transport and communication. { }chapter xxv railway rates and charges the combined result of ( ) a vast increase in industrial production; ( ) the decline in river, canal and road transport; and ( ) the various conditions which checked competition on and between the railways was to increase greatly the need for transportation facilities, and to make traders and the public in general more and more dependent on the one means of consignment and locomotion thus so rapidly becoming paramount. coupled with the many technical details which, as pioneers of the railway system, the english companies had to work out for themselves, and, also, with the questions arising as to the future relations between the railways and the state, there were the further problems as to (a) the means to be adopted to ensure that the rates and charges were reasonable, and not likely to become unjust or oppressive, and (b) the bases on which the rates and charges should themselves be fixed in order to secure due regard for the public interests, to guarantee the operation of the railways on commercial lines, and to ensure for the railway investors a reasonable return on their investments. the earliest railway rates of all were simply a toll (as on a turnpike road) at the rate of so much per mile, or so much per ton per mile, for the use of the rails, with an extra charge if the railway owners supplied the waggons. this was the practice in vogue down to the surrey rail-way period, the tolls for such use of road being fixed by parliament because of the railway lines being a monopoly. the next development came when the stockton and darlington railway company obtained powers to supply haulage by steam power or steam-engine, and were authorised by parliament to charge a "locomotive toll," in addition to the road toll, when the trader made use of the company's engines. there was a further development when the railway { }companies undertook the functions of carriers, provided waggons, carriages and staff, and were authorised to make a charge for the "conveyance" of goods. parliament did not, at first, specify the amounts of the locomotive and conveyance tolls, but simply required that they should be "reasonable," the expectation at that time being that these tolls would be kept to reasonable limits by the competition of the outside carriers. when it was found that the outside carriers would not run their own locomotives on the railway, and that the railways would do their own carrying, the amounts which could be levied as locomotive and conveyance tolls were specified in the special acts of the companies concerned. at one time, therefore, the railway companies were authorised by their acts to impose three separate charges, ( ) road tolls, ( ) locomotive tolls, and ( ) conveyance tolls; but in a "maximum rates clause" was introduced which grouped these different tolls into a total charge something less than the aggregate of the three. in proportion as the railway companies themselves performed the duties of carriers, instead of leaving this branch of the transport business to the outside carrying firms, it became necessary for them to provide goods depôts and warehouses, and to have a staff available for a variety of services--loading and unloading, covering and uncovering, etc.--which were necessary in the handling of the traffic. the companies then claimed that for these "station terminals" and "terminal services" they were entitled to make charges in addition to the maximum rates, whereas it was contended on the part of the traders that these services were included in the maximum rates, and that the companies had no right to charge for them separately. after prolonged controversy and much litigation, the dispute was eventually decided in favour of the companies; but parliament required them to distinguish the charges for conveyance, terminals, and collection and delivery, and, finally, by the charges acts of and , fixed the amounts of the maximum station and service terminals that each company might demand. in the meantime much trouble had also arisen as the result of the haphazard fashion in which the railways of the country had been called into being. { }the original classification of goods for transport was of the most primitive kind. in the canal companies acts the authorised tolls and charges were generally specified in respect to only about a dozen different articles. the early railway acts followed the canal precedent in so far that each of them contained a classification of the goods expected to go by rail, the main difference being that the list given in the railway acts generally comprised from forty to sixty articles, divided into five or six groups. as the railways extended, and began to deal with the great bulk of the commerce of the country, these original lists were found to be hopelessly crude and inadequate, and one of the duties undertaken by the railway clearing house, first set up in and incorporated by an act of , was the preparation of what became known as the clearing house classification--a work required in the interests equally of the railways and of the traders. at the outset the clearing house classification comprised about articles. by the number had increased to , and in it had further expanded to . the royal commission of recommended that the new and improved classification thus compiled and put into operation by the companies themselves should be the basis of the classification imposed by the special railway acts. the committee pointed out that the rates authorised by parliament were no longer necessarily an indication of the charges actually made in practice since these charges depended, not on the classifications in the companies' acts, but on the clearing house classification, by reason of which they were often lower than the statutory maxima. the committee regarded the classification of the private acts as defective and inharmonious, and they advised that the clearing house classification should be enacted by some general act which might be adopted in the private acts by reference. the joint select committee of also advised the adoption of a uniform classification; but it was not until the passing of the railway and canal traffic act of that the recommendation was carried out. this act of was, in part, the outcome of reasonable dissatisfaction among the traders. in the absence, from the outset, of any real and effective system for the organisation of railways in accordance with { }well-defined general principles, based on the needs of the country as a whole, great uncertainty existed as to the rates and charges to be paid. there were then no fewer than acts of parliament which dealt with the charging powers of past or present railway companies, while the only uniform classification was that of the railway clearing house, which had almost entirely superseded the primitive classification in the railway companies' acts but had not yet received legal sanction. a recommendation to the effect "that one uniform classification be adopted over the whole railway system" had been made by a house of commons select committee in . they considered that the adoption of this course was necessary in view of the imperfection and want of uniformity in the special act classifications and charges, in which they had failed to discover any general principle. "in some cases," they said, "reference must be had to more than fifty acts to determine the various rates the company is authorised to charge." the position in regard to a new and uniform classification thus so persistently recommended was, however, complicated by the fact that the adoption thereof would involve new maximum rates, since the rates charged for the commodities carried naturally depended on the particular "class" to which those commodities had been allotted. hence when, by the railway and canal traffic act of , provision was at last made for a revised and uniform classification, each railway company was further required to submit to the board of trade, within a period of six months, revised schedules of maximum rates, with a view to these ultimately--after approval by parliament--taking the place of the schedules in the existing special acts. the new scales were, also, to include fixed maxima for "station terminals" and "service terminals," the controversy in regard to which, as already spoken of, was thus to be definitely settled. the railway companies complied with these requirements, the revised classification and schedules of maximum rates being sent in by march, , to the board of trade, which appointed two special commissioners, lord balfour of burleigh and mr (afterwards sir) courtenay boyle, to hold an inquiry into them on its behalf. the traders were invited to { }send in any criticisms they might wish to offer to the companies' proposals, and by june rd no fewer than objections had been received from over individuals or trading associations. by this time the formidable nature of the work that had been undertaken began to be more fully appreciated. not only were there the railway acts dealing with rates and charges, but there were about , railway stations and some , pairs of stations between which business was actually transacted in regard to one or more of the articles that, by this time, were included in the clearing house classification. as for the rates in force, we have the statement of sir henry oakley that on the great northern railway alone they numbered , , , while sir richard moon estimated that on the london and north-western railway the total at this period was no fewer than , , . the task thus imposed by parliament on the board of trade in the revision of rates whose total number seemed almost as countless as the stars themselves was, indeed, of stupendous magnitude, apart altogether from the very heavy labours devolving upon each individual company in the preparation of schedules for its own particular lines. the task itself was, however, rendered still more difficult by the fact that, as pointed out by mr temple franks--[ ] "no principles of revision had been laid down for guidance. the commissioners were not told to regard either the existing statutory maxima or the actual rates then charged. amendments to this effect had been rejected in parliament. the commissioners, therefore, held that the legislature contemplated a departure from existing maxima, and that it is equitable 'to make a reduction in their present powers and fix rates based to a great extent on existing rates, but with a reasonable margin of profit for possible changes of circumstances injuriously affecting the cost of or return from the carriage of merchandise by railway.' in determining, however, the principles upon which the future maxima were to be governed, they refused to accept the proposition that they shall cover _all_ existing rates and non-competitive charges." { }with regard to a uniform classification, the commissioners recommended the adoption, with certain slight changes, of the existing clearing house classification. there is no need to record here, in detail, the exhaustive nature of the inquiries, protests, rejoinders, discussions and controversies to which the preparation of the new schedules led. suffice it to say that these and the revised classification were eventually embodied in a series of railway rates and charges orders confirmation acts which, as applying to the different companies, either individually or in groups, were passed in the sessions of and , and came into operation on january , . under these acts the scales of charges are divided into six parts, viz.: ( ) goods and minerals, ( ) animals, ( ) carriages, ( ) exceptional, ( ) perishable commodities by passenger train, and ( ) small parcels by merchandise train. each rate is made up of two parts--conveyance and terminals. the conveyance scales for all companies are as near alike as circumstances will allow, and the maximum terminals (station terminal at each end and service terminals in respect to loading, unloading, covering and uncovering) are common to all the confirmation acts. sir henry oakley, who was at this time acting as secretary of the railway companies' association, declared concerning the new conditions thus brought about in regard to the bases of railway rates and charges that "practically they amounted to a revolution." the maximum powers were reduced almost universally; the classifications of the companies' own acts were abolished, and a new and uniform one substituted; various new scales were introduced; the obligation was now for the first time thrown upon the companies of carrying perishables by passenger train; and a new system of calculating rates was established. "it was not," said sir henry, "so much per mile for any distance beyond six miles, as it was in the original acts, but for the first twenty miles a certain rate, for the next thirty miles a certain less rate, and for the next fifty miles a still further reduction, the effect being that, by that mode of calculating, the longer the distance the goods were carried the less the average rate per mile that was to be charged." within a very short time, however, of the new rates coming into force, there were louder and more vehement protests { }than ever on the part of the traders. the advantages of a uniform classification were fully realised, and the traders naturally did not object to the fact that (as stated in evidence by sir henry oakley, in ), from thirty to forty per cent of the existing rates had been lowered. but they did object most strongly when they found that certain of the rates had been increased. it was explained by some of the railway companies that, owing to the vast number of the rates involved, and to the short time between the passing of their rates and charges orders confirmation act and the st of january, , when such act came in force (the period in question being in some instances not more than about four months), it had been impossible for them to complete the revision of their rate-books by the date mentioned. the class rates were ready, and what had happened was that these had been temporarily substituted for the special rates when time had not allowed of the latter being duly revised. on the other hand it was alleged against the companies that, apart from any question of shortness of time for their revisions, they had sought to adopt a policy of recoupment, specially low non-competitive rates having been raised to the new maxima with a view to counterbalancing the decreases. while the plea of the companies in respect to shortness of time was abundantly warranted, the counter-allegation of the traders would appear to have been not without foundation, in view of the fact that the setting of increases against the decreases was defended by the companies on the ground that, being corporations based and operated on commercial principles, they were bound to see that their revenue did not suffer, while, it was further pleaded, they were still charging no more than the rates which, having been expressly sanctioned by parliament, were, presumably, reasonable. they gave the assurance, however, that the rates were still undergoing revision, and that the increases made were not necessarily final. they further undertook that no increases should be made which would interfere with trade or agriculture, or diminish traffic, and that, unless under exceptional circumstances, there should be no increases at all which exceeded by five per cent the rates in force in . { }the undertaking thus given failed to satisfy the select committee appointed in to inquire into these further grievances. the committee, in their report, expressed the opinion that the course taken by the companies had been "mainly actuated by their determination to recoup themselves to the fullest extent by raising the rates of articles where the maximum rates were above the actual rates." they were of opinion that the rates not reduced by the new maxima should have been left untouched; and they affirmed that "the margin between the old actual rates and the present parliamentary maxima was not given by parliament in order that immediate advantage should be taken of it, or that the policy of recoupment should be carried on, but only to meet certain contingencies, such as rises in prices and wages," etc. they also recommended that further steps should be taken to protect traders from any unreasonable raising of rates within the maxima, the railway and canal commission being empowered to deal with such questions as they arose. the outcome of all this controversy was the passing by parliament, in the following session, of the railway and canal traffic act, , which introduced an entirely new principle in railway operation. turnpike trustees had always had full power to reduce and subsequently to advance their tolls, at their own discretion, provided they never sought to exceed the maxima imposed under their special acts; and down to this time it had been assumed that railway companies had similar powers in regard to maxima which parliament had already expressly sanctioned in the act or acts of each individual company. there was--and still is--no question (except in cases of "undue preference" or "through rates") as to the right of a company to _reduce_ a rate, or to transfer a commodity to a lower class, thus effecting the same object; and there was, down to , equally thought to be no question as to their right to increase a rate within the same limitations as those applying to turnpike trustees. what the act of did was to restrict the powers of railway companies to increase their rates even within the range of their statutory maxima. it enacted that in the event of complaints being made of any increase of rates, direct or indirect, since december, (and under the act of { }a railway company had already been required to give public notice of any increase in tolls, rates or charges it proposed to make), "it shall lie on the railway company to prove that the increase is reasonable"; and for this purpose it is not to be "sufficient to show that the charge is within any limit fixed by an act of parliament or by any provisional order confirmed by act of parliament." complaint is first to be made to the board of trade, and, if agreement between the trader and the railway company should not follow thereon, the trader has the right of appeal to the railway commissioners, to whom jurisdiction to hear and determine such complaint is given. "so that," as butterworth remarks in his "maximum railway rates," "the legislation of - presents this remarkable result--that parliament in , after probably the most protracted inquiry ever held in connection with proposed legislation, decided that certain amounts were to be the charges which railway companies should for the future be entitled to make, and in apparently accepted the suggestion that many of the charges, sanctioned after so much deliberation, were unreasonable, and enacted that to entitle a company to demand them it should not be sufficient to show" that the charge was within the limit which parliament itself had previously fixed. whether traders have really gained any balance of advantage from this further outcome of legislative policy in the assumed protection of their interests, as against the railway companies, is open to question. on the one hand they have a guarantee against increases that offer even the slightest suggestion of unreasonableness. on the other hand the act has destroyed the element of elasticity in rate-making, inasmuch as railway managers must needs show extreme caution in granting reduced or "experimental" rates--in the interests of growing industries--when, if the experiment should fail, and the expected traffic not be forthcoming, the company must go through the formality of advertising the "increase" involved in putting the rate back to its former level, and must, also, run the risk of having to "justify" such increase before the board of trade or the railway and canal commission. "i know of my own knowledge and my own experience," sir george gibb once told a departmental committee of the board of trade, "that the effect of these sections has been to { }prevent many reductions of rates that would have been tried experimentally." when we pass on to consider the principles on which railway rates and charges are based we are met with so many complexities in the solution of transport problems, and with such direct conflict of interests on the part of different groups of traders, that we can in no way be surprised at the controversies and the grievances, real or imaginary, to which the subject has given rise from time to time. the original idea that railway rates and charges should be fixed on a mileage basis, on the same principle as tolls on turnpike roads and canals, was soon found to be impracticable, and successive parliamentary committees have demonstrated its futility; though its advocacy, in one form or another, has not even yet been discarded by those who think that railway rates for any given commodity should be so much per ton per mile for all traders alike, irrespective of distance and all other considerations. one effect of such a principle of rate-fixing as this would have been to exclude the long-distance trader from any particular market, and to confer an undue advantage on the trader in the immediate neighbourhood, or at a short distance therefrom, who would thus have gained a monopoly of the market, to the disadvantage of other traders and of the local community. nor would such a system of rate-making have answered for the railway companies themselves, since the discouragement of long-distance traffic would have restricted the area of business, and limited their sources of revenue. another once much-favoured theory is that the railways should charge so much for cost of service, plus a reasonable profit for themselves. here, in the first place, there is the impossibility of deciding what is the cost of the service rendered in regard to each commodity and each consignment thereof that is carried. no basis exists on which the most expert of railway men could decide the respective costs of transport for each and every article in a train-load of miscellaneous goods, nor could any one apportion the exact amount that each should bear in regard to interest on capital outlay and other standing charges which must needs be covered as well as the proportionate cost of actual operation. { }then we have the fact that, even if these figures could be arrived at, many of the commodities carried would be unable to pay the rates fixed thereon. this would especially apply to coal, iron-stone, manure and other things either of low value or of considerable weight or bulk. whatever may be the real cost of carrying them, commodities of this kind cannot pay more than a certain rate. if that rate is exceeded either they will be sent in proportionately smaller quantities or they will not be sent by rail at all. we arrive, in this way, by the logic of actual facts, at the fundamental principle, adopted by railway companies, of charging "what the traffic will bear"; and by this is meant "charging no more than," rather than "charging as much as," the traffic will bear. findlay, in his book on "the working and management of an english railway" (fourth edition, ) says of the practice based on this principle:-- "the rates are governed by the nature and extent of the traffic, the pressure of competition, either by water, by a rival route, or by other land carriage; but, above all, the companies have regard to the commercial value of the commodity, and the rate it will bear, so as to admit of its being produced and sold in a competing market with a fair margin of profit. the companies each do their best to meet the circumstances of the trade, to develop the resources of their own particular district, and to encourage the competition of markets, primarily, no doubt, in their own interest, but nevertheless greatly to the advantage of the community." the application of the principle is worked out by the division into various classes of all minerals and merchandise carried on the railway. the classes are known respectively as a, b, c, , , , , , the rates charged being lowest for commodities in class a and highest for those in class . the type of article included in each class may be indicated by the following examples:-- class a (applicable to consignments of four tons and upwards).--coal, coke, gravel, iron-stone, limestone, stable manure, sand. class b (applicable to consignments of four tons and upwards).--bricks, concrete, various articles of iron and steel, granite (in blocks), lime (in bulk), salt (in bulk), common slates. { }class c.--parsnips, pitwood (for mining purposes), potatoes (in bulk or in sacks), salt (packed), soda, straw (hydraulic or steam-packed), waste paper (for paper-making). class .--cardboard, cotton (unmanufactured), onions, printing paper, finished wrought iron in shafts (for driving mill wheels), soap, sugar (in bags, cases or sacks), tallow, vinegar (in casks). class .--bacons and hams (cured and packed), celery, coffee, copper, earthenware (in casks or crates), crucibles (plumbago or clay), oranges, ropes, raw wool or yarn. class .--baths, calicoes, carpeting, china (in hampers), combs, cotton and linen goods (in bales, boxes, etc.), cutlery, groceries, hardware, lead pencils, tea, wheelbarrows. class .--light drapery (various), footballs, garden arches, grates, ovens or stoves, haberdashery, hats (soft felt), lamps, umbrellas. class .--amber, engravings, feathers, cut flowers, hothouse fruit, furs, dead horses, lace, looking-glasses and mirrors, musical instruments, picture frames, silk. these examples indicate the gradual rise in value in the articles included in the several classes, though, assuming that the traffic will bear the rate, other considerations as well as value will apply, among these being liability to damage during transit, weight in proportion to bulk, and nature of packing or cost of handling. it is further to be remembered that although a good deal of raw material is carried in the lowest classes at rates which might work out at less than "cost" price, when every item in respect to "cost of service" and interest on capital expenditure had been allowed for, the commodities in question may reappear in various successive forms as part-manufactured or, eventually, as manufactured, articles, paying a successively higher rate, in accordance with their progressively greater value, on the occasion of each further transportation. even when these results do not follow, the commodities carried at these low rates may help to develop the resources, or to expand the population, of a particular district, and thus serve to create traffic in other directions. while, also, the rates for the low-value articles may not cover every item in the so-called cost of service, they do contribute to the revenue an amount which might otherwise { }have to be made good by the fixing of higher rates on goods in other classes. traders dealing in commodities of the latter type do not themselves lose by the fact that minerals, raw materials, or other things are carried at rates which, although exceptionally low, are the most they can be expected to pay. no injustice is done to them because the other classes of traders concerned get lower rates than they do themselves. they may even gain--directly, because they are saved from having to cover a larger proportion of the total railway expenditure; and indirectly, because the help given to those other lines of business may either bring trade to them or else keep down the cost of production in regard to manufactured articles they deal in or which they themselves require. the principle of charging "what the traffic will bear" does more than govern the rates as applying to visible traffic. it embraces the further principle of what hadley, in his "railroad transportation," calls "the system of making rates to develop business." an immediate result of its application, not alone in england but in various continental countries, was to bring about a substantial reduction in rates, so that, as hadley further says, between and railway rates were reduced, on an average, to about one-half of their former figures. it may be assumed, also, that these former figures were themselves a substantial reduction on the rates once charged under the toll system in force among the "get-rich-quick" canal companies. there was thus a gain to the traders as regards both an increase in facilities and a reduction in the cost at which those facilities could be obtained, as compared with previous conditions. the principle in question necessarily involved discrimination between trades; but it became one of the objects of the legislature to prevent discrimination between individual traders in the same line of business as carried on in the same town or centre. the general position has been further influenced by the existence of an ever-active sea competition, which is said to affect probably three-fifths of the railway stations in the united kingdom. the rates for traffic between newcastle and london, or any other two ports, will necessarily be influenced, if not controlled, by the possibility of the commodities going by a coasting vessel if the railway company { }should try to get more than, in these particular circumstances, such traffic will bear. the amount of the railway rate in such a case as this will, in fact, be determined far more by the element of sea competition than by any question as to either presumptive cost of service or actual mileage. it may well happen that between two other points, in regard to which there is no sea competition, the rates are higher than between two where there is sea competition, although the distance is the same. here we have the elements of one of those "anomalies" which have often been urged as a reason for equal mileage rates. the inequality in the rates is, however, directly due to the inequality in the conditions. it is not a case of making the no-sea-competition places pay a rate in itself unreasonable; it is simply a case of charging the sea-competition places no more than they would be likely to pay. there may be an apparent inconsistency; but an increase in the rates where the sea competition exists would not necessarily be of advantage to the trader in the district where there is no such competition, though it might lead to the traffic going by sea, and involve the railway company in a loss of revenue which would not improve their position in giving the best possible terms to the inland trader. nor could any claim by the latter to be put on the same footing as the trader on the coast, who has the alternative of sea-transport open to him, necessarily be made good. discrimination of places, in addition to the discrimination of trades, there certainly may be; but it is a discrimination due essentially to geography and economic laws. other apparent anomalies arise from the fact that where two or more railway companies have lines running to the same destination, the rates charged by each and all of them are, by arrangement between the companies concerned, generally governed by the shortest distance. here, again, the idea of equal mileage rates is found impracticable. if the rates charged by each of the companies were arbitrarily fixed at so much per ton per mile, the line with the shortest route would naturally get all the traffic. when all charge the same between the same points all of them benefit, and the traders have the advantage of several routes instead of only one; though there is still the "anomaly" that the trader whose consignment is carried twenty miles, and the trader whose { }goods are conveyed thirty miles or more to the same destination both pay the same rate. how the general principle of a sliding scale, under which the charge per ton per mile decreases with distance over twenty miles, works out in practice may be shown by taking the case of merchandise in class , the rate for which would be . d. per ton per mile for a distance of up to twenty miles. for the next thirty miles the rate would be . d. per ton per mile, for the next fifty miles . d., and for the remainder of the distance . d. if, however, the consignment travels over the lines of two or more companies on a through rate, the application of the scale begins over again in respect to the territory of each company concerned. the greatest degree of relative advantage is thus gained by the trader whose consignments travel throughout on the lines of one and the same company. in any case, however, the effect of the principle is that traders in, say, cornwall or scotland are enabled to compete far more effectively on the london market with other traders who are located much nearer to london and thus pay less for rail transport, yet, it may be, do not have the same advantages in respect to economical production as the trader at the greater distance. the "tapering" railway rate--in addition to giving the companies a greater volume of long-distance traffic, and bringing greater prosperity to the long-distance places--thus helps to establish equality in the general conditions in regard to a particular market, whereas the equal mileage rate would keep the distant trader to markets within a circumscribed area, and shut him out from others at which he might otherwise hope to get a far better sale. in the united states the effect of this "tapering" rate, when applied to large volumes of traffic carried for distances of or miles or even more, is to give a very low average rate per ton per mile, and especially so when such average is worked out for the whole of the goods and mineral traffic in the country. the united states average is, in fact, for these reasons, much lower than the corresponding average for this country, where both the average haul and the average weight per consignment are considerably less. then, also, as the charges for terminals remain the same, whatever the length of haul, they make a material difference in the rate per ton per mile for a haul of five, ten or twenty miles while { }assuming infinitesimal proportions per ton per mile when spread over a haul of a thousand miles. there is thus no real basis for the comparison formerly so often made between average cost of transport per ton per mile in the united states and the united kingdom respectively. the only fair method of comparison is to discard averages altogether, and contrast charges for actual consignments of equal weight carried equal distances in the two countries; and comparisons made on this basis will be found to favour the british lines rather than the american. in some instances group rates are in operation for a series of producing centres or for a series of ports, the rates being common to all the places or ports included in the group. this arrangement is of advantage to the general body of the traders concerned, since it puts them all on a footing of equality, without reference to differences in distance; and it is, also, of benefit to the railway companies since it simplifies the clerical work and helps further to avoid unremunerative competition. another important feature in connection with railway rates is the distinction between "class" rates, which represent the authorised maxima given in the railway companies' scales for the various classes already mentioned, and "special" or "exceptional" rates, in which the companies concerned have made reductions below their maximum powers, whether for the encouragement of traffic or because of such reductions being warranted by the volume or other conditions of the traffic already carried. in "the fixing of rates and fares," by h. marriott ( ), it is stated that "probably about seventy per cent of the traffic between stations in the north of england is conveyed at 'exceptional rates,' much below the statutory authority." in my book on "railways and their rates" i have already given, as follows, the general principles on which these special or exceptional rates are fixed:-- (a) volume and regularity of traffic between the points concerned. (b) weight per truck or by train which can be maintained by such regular traffic. (c) general earning power of the traffic. (d) liability or non-liability to damage. { }(e) competition, direct or indirect, by water, by road or by other means. (f) special requirements of shipping traffic to or from ports. (g) the creation of traffic by enabling new or increased business to be done. (h) a general consideration of what the traffic will bear. the following examples illustrate the actual difference between the class rates and the special rates at which the traffic is actually carried:-- class rate. special rate. miles. commodity. per ton. per ton. s. d. s. d. soap (a) (a) " (a) (a) " (a) (a) undressed leather (a) (a) cotton and linen goods (a) (a) common window glass (a) (a) " " " (a) (a) iron in class c (b)(c) (b)(d) grain (b)(c) (b)(d) common bricks (b)(d) (b)(d) notes: (a) collection and delivery. (b) station to station. (c) -ton lots. (d) -ton lots. yet another characteristic of english railway rates is their division into "company's risk" rates and "owner's risk" rates, the latter being a lower scale on which consignments are carried provided the trader signs either a general indemnity for the whole of his traffic or a separate owner's risk consignment note on the occasion of each despatch relieving the railway from "all liability for loss, damage, misdelivery, delay or detention, except upon proof that such loss, damage, misdelivery, delay or detention arose from wilful misconduct on the part of the company's servants." the difficulty of proving such "wilful misconduct" in case of damage or loss has long been a grievance with traders consigning under "owner's risk" rates, and vigorous efforts have been made by them, or on their behalf, from time to time to obtain a modification of these conditions. the railway point of view in regard to this vexed question was thus expressed by mr f. potter, in an address on "the { }government in relation to the railways of the country," given to the great western railway (london) lecture and debating society on february , :-- "traders are apt to conveniently overlook the fact that owner's risk rates did not precede the ordinary rates, but that they have depended from the latter, and proposals have actually been made that the order of things should be reversed, and the owner's risk rates made the base rates, the company's risk rates being arrived at by the addition of some percentage. traders well know the value of the insurance which the difference between the two classes of rates represents to them, and, indeed, base their practice in making use of either rate upon this knowledge. if the trader is prepared to be his own insurer, that is, when there is a sufficiently wide margin between the two rates, he takes the owner's risk rate; but if he considers his goods are too valuable for him to accept the risk himself, he makes the company do so by sending his freight at the ordinary rates." in the controversies which have arisen on this question of owner's risk frequent reference has been made to the fact that in germany there is only one kind of rate, and that under it the state railways do, nominally, assume the risk. i have, however, already shown in my pamphlets on "german _versus_ british railways" and "german railways and traders" that unless the consignments forwarded on the german state railways are packed so securely that it is practically impossible for them to come to any harm, they are accepted by the railway officials only after the trader has signed a form of indemnity declaring that the goods are either "unpacked" or "insufficiently packed," thus absolving the state railways of the responsibility they are supposed to accept. complaints respecting "preferential rates" have been an especially fertile source of controversy and litigation. the phrase as here used is somewhat misleading. the real ground of complaint is against, not simply "preference," but "_undue_ preference." if a lower rate is given for a -ton or a -ton than for a -cwt. or a -cwt. consignment, the trader in the former case gets a distinct advantage over the trader in the latter case, just in the same way as the wholesale man buys a large quantity of goods at a lower price than that asked for from { }the purchaser of only a very small quantity. here, in each instance, we have "preference" strictly in accord with commercial principles. the question really at issue turns upon the consideration whether there is undue or unfair preference. it is thus dealt with in a proviso to sub-section , section of the railway and canal traffic act of :-- "provided that no railway company shall make, nor shall the court, or the commissioners, sanction any difference in the tolls, rates or charges made for, or any difference in the treatment of home and foreign merchandise, in respect of the same or similar circumstances." the position is thus controlled by the words "same or similar circumstances." in what is known as the "southampton case," decided by the railway and canal commission in , the fact that foreign produce was being carried at lower rates by the london and south-western railway company from southampton to london than were being charged for english produce was not disputed; but it was successfully argued ( ) that lower rates might reasonably be granted for train-loads of produce capable of being loaded into the waggons at the docks and carried through, under the best transport conditions, direct to london than for small consignments, picked up at wayside stations, and loaded and carried under far less favourable traffic conditions; ( ) that there was no real detriment to local producers, since the towns concerned were importing more than they were sending away; and ( ) that in no respect were the circumstances "the same or similar." there was, said sir frederick peel, one of the commissioners, "no concurrence between the two classes of traffic, and the greater economy of transport in the dock traffic justified the lower rate." the principle here involved disposes of, probably, most of the complaints which have been made from time to time on the subject of undue preference; but as these complaints were especially rife in , a departmental committee, presided over by lord jersey, was appointed by the board of trade to inquire whether or not the railway companies were according preferential treatment to foreign and colonial farm, dairy and market-garden produce from ports to urban centres as compared with home produce. the committee declared { }in their report "that the evidence tendered has failed to show that the railway companies are giving undue preferential treatment to foreign and colonial produce as compared with home produce contrary to the intention and effect of existing legislation." they found that some of the traders who complained had compared rates which did not include terminal services with rates that did; had quite wrongly divided what were, in effect, "through" rates, first subtracting the full charge of the shipping company and then assuming that the remainder could be compared with the rate from the first; or had omitted to take into account differences in regard to bulk of consignments, packing, etc. in effect, no british railway rate may give a preference to foreign as distinct from british produce so far as quantities, conditions and circumstances are the same. the rates are to be available for like consignments whatever the source of their origin. where the home producer has been unable to provide the same quantities, under the same conditions and circumstances as the foreigner, he has equally been unable to avail himself of a rate open to all the world. he has had the disadvantage of the retail trader as compared with the wholesale trader. the principle involved is practically the same as that in operation on continental state railways, where the traders who can provide the biggest loads get the advantage of the most favourable rates. on the belgian state railways, for instance, there are special rates for , for and even for -ton consignments which can obviously be taken advantage of by only a limited number of traders. but while the retail man cannot expect to get the same terms as the wholesale man, there is no adequate reason why the wholesale man should be kept to the same level as the retail man, and be refused the lower rates for his consignments to which he is entitled on account of their greater bulk or better loading. the question is certainly complicated by the fact that the wholesale man here in question is generally a foreigner; but the railway companies could not be required to discriminate against him, and to penalise him on account of his nationality. the matters at issue must needs be looked at from the point of view of a business proposition rather than from that of expecting the railway companies to usurp the functions of the state in carrying out a policy of protection. { }of late years far less has been heard, in the agricultural world, at least, of these allegations of undue preference. the whole position has been changed through the praiseworthy efforts of the agricultural organisation society in spreading among the agricultural community a practical appreciation of the advantages of combination, as adopted by their foreign competitors, included in such advantages being the lower rates which the railways already offer for grouped or other large consignments. the excellent work carried on by the society is calculated to confer, in many different directions, much more benefit on market gardeners, dairy farmers and agriculturists in general than would be gained by them simply from seeking to persuade, or even to force, the railway companies to carry at wholly unremunerative rates the small consignments of non-associated producers, forwarded under the least favourable conditions in respect to economical transport. as regards the machinery provided by parliament for dealing with traders' grievances, there is, in the first place, the railway and canal commission, which, taking the place of the earlier railway commissioners, was made a permanent body under the act of . the court consists of two commissioners appointed by the board of trade, and three _ex-officio_ members, chosen from the judges of the high court, and nominated by the lord chancellor, the lord president of the court of session and the lord chancellor of ireland for england, scotland and ireland respectively; though in practice only one of the three takes part in the proceedings in connection with any case brought before the court. the jurisdiction of the commissioners includes powers to enforce obligations under special acts, and to deal with questions of traffic facilities, private sidings, undue preference, through rates, etc. whether or not procedure before this body is too costly for other than wealthy litigants to take advantage of is a question which need not be discussed here; but traders have the further advantage of what is known as the conciliation clause of the act of , which provides that "( ) whenever any person receiving, or sending, or desiring to send goods by any railway is of opinion that the railway company is charging him an unfair or an unreasonable rate of charge, or is in any other respect treating him in an oppressive or { }unreasonable manner, such person may complain to the board of trade. ( ) the board of trade, if they think that there is reasonable ground for complaint, may thereupon call upon the railway company for an explanation, and endeavour to settle amicably the differences between the complainant and the railway company." a resort to this expedient by aggrieved parties involves the payment of no fees or costs. the eleventh report by the board of trade of their proceedings under the conciliation clause shows that during and the number of complaints made to them was --a total insignificant in comparison with the many millions of separate transactions in which the traders and the railway companies must have been concerned during the two years in question. the complaints are classified as follows: rates unreasonable or excessive in themselves, ; undue preference, ; rates unreasonably increased, ; classification, ; delay in transit, ; owner's risk, ; rebates, , through rates, ; miscellaneous, . settlement or partial settlement was effected in cases; in the complaints were not proceeded with; in an amicable settlement could not be arrived at; and in five the proceedings had not been completed. "in certain of the cases," the report further states, "in which an amicable settlement was not reached, it seemed clear to the board of trade that the complainants had no real ground for complaint." boyle and waghorn are of opinion that in matters more or less personal to the applicant, or of comparatively minor importance, the procedure under this conciliation clause has saved much litigation; though when questions of general principles are at issue the board of trade, as a rule, prefer to remit the determination of them to the railway commission. they further say: "the principal cause of the comparative absence of litigation lies in the fact that a law of railway traffic is being gradually evolved, reasonably considerate of the rights of both parties, and adapted to the actual circumstances of the traffic. in the early days of railways this was very far from being the case." ("the law relating to railway and canal traffic.") much of the adverse criticism of railway rates and charges which has been indulged in of late years, without even any resort to an inexpensive complaint to the board of trade, { }has been due to comparisons with railway conditions in other countries. at one time the comparison specially favoured was between english and american railway rates; and this was persisted in until it was conclusively shown that there was, and could be, no basis of comparison between huge consignments, carried long distances, on comparatively inexpensive lines, and small average consignments, carried short distances, on the most costly railway system in the world. the element of "the same or similar circumstances" was obviously lacking. comparisons were then made with railway conditions in continental countries, and various tables of comparative rates were published from time to time, in support of railway nationalisation theories or otherwise. but many of these comparisons have been wholly untrustworthy because, once more, they have not compared traffic carried under the same or similar circumstances. exceptional rates granted, say, by the prussian government in the special interests of their commercial policy, but ( ) applying to large consignments sent to a port for shipment, the rates being substantially higher when the commodities do not go further than the port, ( ) granted in competition with routes passing through adjoining countries, and ( ) being simply haulage rates, which include no additional services whatever, have been compared with english "domestic" rates for smaller quantities of traffic, or, it may be, with "paper" rates for traffic that is practically non-existent, and, therefore, has not called for special rates, while the english rates may also include a variety of supplementary services by the railway company (loading, unloading, collection, delivery, warehousing, etc.), which the continental trader would either have to perform himself or pay for as extras. the comparisons may thus be wholly misleading; but, assuming that complete equality of conditions could be assured, or allowed for, and assuming that the continental rates were then found to be lower than the really corresponding english ones, it would still be necessary to remember that in this country there have been, from the earliest period of railway development, many circumstances and conditions, due to state policy or to other causes, which have tended to swell { }to abnormal proportions the capital expenditure that the revenue based on rates and charges must needs cover if any reasonable return at all is to be made to the investors. there would, in fact, be no cause for surprise if rates and charges on british railways could be proved to be higher than those in force on the continent, where the conditions attendant on railway construction and operation have differed so materially from our own. the wonder is, rather, in view of all that i have said as to the past history of our railway system, that british railway rates and charges should, generally speaking, be as low as they are. { }chapter xxvi the railway system to-day whatever the difficulties which have attended the development of british railways, the lines themselves have been spread throughout the three kingdoms to such an extent that there are now very few districts not within easy reach of a railway; while though the different lines are still owned by, altogether, a considerable number of companies, the physical connections between them and the arrangements of the leading companies, not only for through bookings but for through trains, supplemented by the operations of the railway clearing house, have brought about as close an approach to a really national network of railways, connecting all the different sections of the country one with another, as could well be expected in view of the lack of co-ordination when the lines were first called into being. at the end of , according to the railway returns issued by the board of trade, the "length of line" of the railways in the united kingdom was , miles. by itself, however, this figure does not give an adequate idea of the extent of the railway system. this is better realised by taking the figures for track mileage and sidings. a far greater proportion of the railways in england and wales than in any other country consists of double, treble or other multiple track, so that for one mile in length of line there may be two, three or more miles of separate pairs of rails, increasing the transport facilities in proportion. the percentage of single track to total length of line in various countries is shown by the following figures:-- per centage of country. single track. england and wales . scotland . ireland . united kingdom . prussian state railways . germany (the entire system) . france (main line system) . { }"track mileage" in the united kingdom is shown in the board of trade returns for as under:-- track. miles. first , second , third , fourth , fifth sixth seventh eighth ninth tenth eleventh twelfth thirteenth fourteenth fifteenth sixteenth--nineteenth each corresponding figures for the united states of america, taken from an abstract issued in july, , by the interstate commerce commission, give the following classification of track mileage, excluding yard track and sidings:-- track. miles. first , second , third , fourth , it will be seen from the figures relating to track mileage in the united kingdom that there is at least one mile of railway in the united kingdom which really consists of nineteen pairs of rails alongside one another, though counting, in length of line, as only a single mile. in the united states there seems to be no suggestion of any railroad having more than four tracks. the length of track in the united kingdom is , miles. to this must be added a further , miles, the length of sidings reduced to single track, giving a total, including sidings, of , miles. rolling stock was owned in by the different railway companies throughout the united kingdom as follows: locomotives, , ; carriages used for conveyance of passengers only, but including rail motor carriages, , ; other vehicles attached to passenger trains, , ; waggons of all kinds used for the conveyance of live stock, minerals or general merchandise, , ; any other carriages or waggons used on the railway, , ; total number of vehicles, excluding locomotives, , . these figures are exclusive of about , waggons owned by private traders.[ ] { }the total weight of goods and minerals conveyed in was , , tons, and the total number of passengers carried (exclusive of , season-ticket holders) was , , , . the miles travelled were--by passenger trains, , , ; by goods trains, , , ; by mixed trains, , , , giving a total of , , miles. it is difficult to grasp the real significance of these figures; but, taking the train mileage alone the total distance run by trains in the united kingdom in was equal to nearly , journeys round the world, and to four and a half journeys to the sun. the total amount of railway capital returned as paid-up at the end of was £ , , , , of which about £ , , , or approximately fifteen per cent, was due to nominal additions on the consolidation, conversion and division of stocks, showing a net investment of £ , , , . the gross receipts of the companies during were as follows:-- proportion to source. £ total receipts. passenger traffic , , . goods , , . miscellaneous[ ] , , . ---------- ----- totals , , . the working expenditure in the same period amounted to £ , , , a proportion to total receipts of per cent. the net receipts, therefore, were £ , , , the proportion of which to paid-up capital was . per cent. the average rates of dividend or interest alike on ordinary { }and on all classes of capital paid in the years from to , were as follows:-- year. ordinary. all classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . it is pointed out in the returns, however, that on account of the nominal additions made to the capital of the companies the rates of dividend or interest given in the tables are lower than they would otherwise be. thus the average rates of dividend or interest for the united kingdom in calculated on capital exclusive of nominal additions would show: ordinary, . per cent (instead of . as above), and "all classes" . (instead of . ) per cent. these averages, nevertheless, allow for a large amount of capital on which the dividend or interest paid is either _nil_ or substantially below the averages stated. the rates of dividend on ordinary capital in were as follows:-- ordinary. rates of dividend or interest. amount of per cent of capital. total. nil £ , , . not above per cent , , . above and not above per cent , , . " " " , , . " " " , , . " " " , , . " " " , , . " " " , , . " " " , . " " " , . " per cent , . ------------ ----- total , , . { }the various classes of capital on which the rates of dividend or interest paid in were either _nil_ or not above three per cent may be shown thus:-- rates of dividend or interest. above above per cent per cent description of not above and not above and not above capital. nil. per cent. per cent. per cent. £ £ £ £ ordinary , , , , , , , , preferential , , , , , , , guaranteed -- -- , , , loans and debenture stock , , , , , ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------- totals , , , , , , , , ----------------------------------------------------- £ , , there are those who regard railway shareholders as "capitalists," and consider that the keeping of railway dividends at a low level, together with any depreciation in the value of railway stock that may result therefrom, are matters only likely to affect a comparatively few wealthy men, and not, therefore, of material concern to the country so long as the railways give the best possible service at the lowest possible rates. in the united kingdom, however, the ownership of the railways is distributed among a far greater number of persons than is the case in the united states, where the control and the dividends of a great railway system may alike be in the hands mainly of a few financiers. that by far the larger number of shareholders in british railways have comparatively small holdings was well shown by a table published a few years ago giving the percentage of holdings of £ or under by shareholders, exclusive of debenture-holders, in thirty-nine leading railways of the united kingdom. an analysis of this table gives the following results:-- number of percentage of holdings of companies. £ or under. to per cent. " " " " " " " " " " -- total { }it is true that many of the shareholders here in question might have invested in several companies, so that their £ or less would not represent the full extent of their railway holdings. on the other hand, there is the fact that many of the single investments are those of friendly societies, trade unions, or other organisations representing the interests and dealing with the savings of a large number of members of the artisan class. in any case, whether the railway shareholder be a capitalist large or small or only an ordinary thrifty middle-class person who has saved a little money which he seeks to put into something both safe and remunerative, the fact remains that since the advent of the railway era he is the person who, though supplying the means by which this huge system of inland communication has been brought into existence, has had the least consideration of all. the trader, the passenger and the railway servant have all been the subject of much legislative effort for the protection or the furtherance of their own interests, whereas the railway shareholder has been too often regarded with an absolute lack of sympathy, and treated as a person who must be severely restrained from becoming unduly wealthy at the expense of these other interests, and should be thankful that he is not deprived of his property altogether. it has really seemed as though the aim alike of the state and of local governing authorities has been less to ensure to the railway shareholders, who have undertaken a great public work at their own risk and expense, a fair return on their enterprise than to extract from the railway system huge sums in the way of taxation. what the railway companies have paid in the way of "rates and taxes" since is shown by the following table, which i compile from the board of trade returns for and : increase (+) or decrease (-) as amounts paid for compared with year. rates and taxes. previous year. £ £ , , -- , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , { } , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (-) , , , (+) , , , (+) , , , (+) , total payments in ---------- years , , these figures show a continuous increase since , with the exception only of the year , when there was a decrease of £ , as compared with , due to the activity of the railway companies in appealing against excessive assessments. the advance in the total paid in over the total for was no less than £ , , , or . per cent. it should be remembered, also, that the figures given relate to sums paid for rates and taxes, and do not include the expenses incurred by the railway companies in respect both to their rates and taxes departments (conducted by highly skilled officers) and to litigation arising on their appeals against assessments they consider unfair. the total expenditure under these two heads has been estimated at over £ , per annum. since comparisons are frequently made between english and german railway rates, with a view to showing that the former are higher than the latter, it may be of interest to compare, also, the amount paid for taxation by the railways of the united kingdom with the corresponding payments of the prussian state railways. the length of line of the two systems is approximately the same; yet while the taxation of the british system comes to £ , , a year, that of the { }prussian state railways is only £ , a year. naturally, when a government owns the railways, it is much more interested in checking excessive taxation of the lines by the local authorities than when the railways are owned by commercial companies; and one of the questions to which proposals in regard to the nationalisation of the british railways gives rise is whether, when the government owned the railways, they would be willing to continue the payment from the railway revenues of all the taxation which local authorities are now able to exact from the railway companies. presumably not; and in that case the trader, whether or not he got lower railway rates from the state, would probably have to pay higher local rates in order to make up for the tolls no longer levied, or levied only to a much less extent, on the railway traffic. the growth in the payments made by individual companies for rates and taxes between and may be illustrated by giving the figures for the london and north-western, the great western and the midland companies respectively:-- london and year. north-western. great western. midland. £ £ £ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , in addition to the items coming under the head of "rates and taxes" the railway companies still have to pay to the government the passenger duty of which i have spoken on page , their function here, presumably, being that of honorary tax-gatherers who are required to get the money from the british public in the interests of the national exchequer, and save the government the cost and the trouble of collection. the passenger duty thus collected by them in came to £ , , the total contributions of the railways to the public finances for that year being thus increased to £ , , . { }the amounts paid in by some of the leading companies under the two heads in question may be shown thus:-- govt. rates passenger company. and taxes. duty. total. £ £ £ great central , , , great eastern , , , great northern , , , great western , , , lancashire and yorkshire , , , london and north-western , , , london and south-western , , , london, brighton and south coast , , , midland , , , north-eastern , , , south-eastern and chatham , , , caledonian , , , north british , , , the following table shows how the sum total of the payments both for rates and taxes and for government duty in the years from to work out (a) per train mile and (b) per mile of open railway:-- per train mile. per mile of railway. rates and govt. rates and govt. year. taxes. duty. taxes. duty. d. d. £ £ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . this question of the taxation of railways is a matter of material concern as regards ( ) the direct results thereof on { }(a) rates and charges and (b) dividends paid--or not paid; and ( ) the general policy of the state towards the whole problem of internal communication. as in the case of cost of land, of expenditure on parliamentary procedure, of capital outlay on construction, and of any undue increase in cost of operation, the payments in respect to rates, taxes and government duty can be met by the railway companies only by one or other of two expedients: either by getting the money back through the rates, charges and fares levied on the railway users (an expedient necessarily curtailed both by legislative restriction and by the economic necessity of not charging more than the traffic will bear), or, alternatively, by leaving the railway investors with only an inadequate return--if not, in respect to a large proportion of the capital, with no return at all--on their investments. the system of assessing railways for the purpose of local rating is one of extreme complexity. it grew out of the earlier system of the taxation of canals, and, had the railway companies fulfilled the original expectation of being simply owners of their lines and not themselves carriers, the principles on which the system was based might have applied equally well to rail as to canal transport. but, while rail transport underwent a complete change, there was no corresponding adaptation of local rating to the new conditions, and the system actually in force is the outcome far less of statutory authority than of custom, as sanctioned by the judges--who have themselves had to assume the role of legislators--while the machinery of railway valuation differs materially in england and wales, in scotland, and in ireland.[ ] in england and wales there is a separate assessment of a railway for each and every parish through which it passes. such assessment is divided into two parts: ( ) station and buildings, and ( ) railway line. the former, arrived at by a per centage on the estimated capital value of buildings and site, is a comparatively simple matter. it is in regard to the latter that the complications arise. the main consideration in each case is the amount of rent which a tenant might reasonably be expected to pay for the property assessed; and such { }presumptive amount is arrived at in regard to the lines by calculating the amount of net earnings the railway is able to make through its _occupation_ of the particular length of line that passes through the parish in question, and according to the actual value of such length of line as an integral part of one concern. the extent of these net earnings is ascertained, in effect, by first taking the gross receipts on all the traffic that passes through the parish, and then making a variety of deductions therefrom. the cost of construction of the railway does not enter into consideration at all. the calculations are on what is called the "parochial earnings principle"--that is to say, the amount earned _in_ the parish, and not the amount received from traffic arising in the parish. the railway company may have no station in the place, and the amount of traffic derived from the parish may be practically _nil_; but the assessment of the line, on the basis mentioned, is followed out, all the same. the main principle is the same in scotland and ireland, but with this important difference in detail: that in each of those countries a railway is first valued as a whole, the total value being then apportioned among the several rating areas. it will be seen that the taxation of a railway line--as distinct from that of railway buildings--is, to all intents and purposes, the enforcement of a toll, on all traffic carried, for the privilege of passing through the parish concerned; while there is no suggestion, as there was in the case of turnpike roads, that those who collect the toll confer an advantage on those by whom the toll is paid. the turnpike trustees did provide a road, and they were, also, under an obligation to keep it in order. the toll-payers thus got some return for their money, and, though the trade of the district, or of the country, was taxed, it was, also, directly facilitated by the toll-receivers. the railway company, on the other hand, provide and maintain their own road, without putting the parish to the slightest expense, yet the parish is authorised to levy upon them what is, not only a toll, but a supplementary income tax for local purposes, based on the principle of the profits the company are supposed to make in the parish, often only because, for geographical reasons, it is necessary their lines should pass through it in going from one part of the country to another. { }on page i have told how, in the early part of the sixteenth century, the local authorities of worcester, gloucester and other towns on the severn sought to raise funds for their local exchequers by taxing the traders who used the river for the transport of their commodities; and i have further told how, in , it was enacted that any person attempting to enforce such toll or tax should be fined forty shillings. but a practice held in the sixteenth century to be unjust in itself as well as prejudicial to the interests of trade, and penalised by the legislature accordingly, is considered quite right and proper, and receives express legislative sanction, in the twentieth century, though the local authorities upon whom the toll-privilege is conferred to-day may do no more to help the railways than worcester and gloucester and the other severn towns did to help the river traffic--and that was nothing at all. one result of the power thus given to local authorities to bleed the railway companies as an easy and convenient method of providing themselves with funds is that in a large number of parishes throughout the country a railway company pays the bulk of the rates, even though it may not even have a railway station in the place. in chapter iv of my book on "railways and their rates" i have given a table showing that in a total of parishes, divided into four groups, the proportion of local rates paid by the london and north-western railway company ranges from per cent to . per cent, although in of the parishes the company have no station. in a further table i specify sixteen parishes in which the area of the same company's property ranges from four to fifty-eight acres, or from . per cent to . per cent of the whole of the land in the parish, while the proportion which the railway assessment bears to that of the entire parish ranges from . per cent to . per cent. being thus enabled to depend for the greater part of their revenue on railway companies, who are given the privilege of paying but are denied the privilege of representation or of having any voice in the way the money they contribute shall be spent, there are local communities which show the greater readiness to carry out comparatively costly lighting, drainage, education, road improvement or other such schemes because { }it is a railway company that will pay most of the cost, the proportion thereof falling on the great bulk of the individual ratepayers in the parish being thus inconsiderable. social reformers tell us of the improvements they find proceeding to-day in village life in england. what is happening to a large extent is that rural centres are providing themselves with urban luxuries at the cost of the railway companies--that is to say, at the cost either of the railway shareholders or of the railway users or both together. the same tendency may, however, be carried further still. on the occasion of the coronation of king george and queen mary, various local authorities had the less hesitation in voting supplies to defray the cost of festivities out of the rates because they knew that most of the money so voted would have to be paid by a railway company. in a letter to "the times" of june , , on this subject, mr james e. freeman, of darlington, says:-- "the village of carlton miniott, near thirsk, lately held a parish meeting to consider whether the £ or so that will be spent in local festivities in connexion with the coronation should be raised by means of private subscriptions or from the rates. it was decided to levy a penny rate, with the result that the north-eastern railway company, which had and could have no voice in the decision, will pay £ s. d., and the loyal residents, who receive the whole of the benefit, will pay £ s. d. towards the £ s. that is to be expended. at the neighbouring village of south otterington the keen-witted yorkshiremen have profited even more from the law's absurdities. they have voted a precept of £ on the overseers for their merry-making, and of this amount the north-eastern railway company will have the satisfaction of paying a little over £ ." the "great western railway magazine" for july, , in referring to the same subject, tells of "a parish having the good fortune to have a railway running through one end of it, in which a rate of threepence in the £ has been imposed. this has produced £ , all of which has been spent on eating and drinking in a population of less than , while the governing idea in raising the rate appears to have been that the railway company would have to pay some £ ." without stopping to discuss the question as to the exact { }proportion in which the results of this taxation system should ultimately fall on, or be made good by (a) shareholders, or (b) traders and travellers, the policy, if not the justice, of allowing the internal transport of the country, and, therefore, the trade and industry of the country, to be subjected to this abnormal taxation, if not to this actual plundering, by constituted authorities, may well be open to question, and especially so when one bears in mind the already heavy expenditure which has fallen on the companies, and the dissatisfaction expressed, from time to time, by traders with the railway rates, by railway servants with their pay, and by shareholders with their dividends. certain it is that in the board of trade "railway returns" all these payments on account of rates and taxes and government duty are included among the items of "working expenditure," and are deducted from the gross receipts before arriving at the amount of the net income available for dividends or to be taken in account in regard either to reductions in rates and charges or to increases in wages. there is no suggestion that railways should be exempted altogether from the payment of local rates; but the complicated, anomalous and exorbitant system of taxing the traffic on their lines has long called for amendment. so far back as mr gladstone's committee declared they were "satisfied that peculiar difficulties attach to the application of the ordinary laws of rating to the case of railways which give rise to great uncertainty and inequality, as well as to expense and litigation, and they therefore consider that the subject is one which will properly call for the attention of the legislature when any general measure for the amendment of the law and practice of rating is before it." in the unsatisfactory nature of the law and practice in regard to railway assessments was pointed to by a select committee of the house of lords on "parochial assessments." in lord campbell adjourned the case of r. _v._ great western railway company, and expressed the hope that "before the next term parliament might interfere" and relieve the court from the difficult position in which they were placed when called upon to administer the existing law { }with regard to the rating of railways. he added, in reference to the matters arising in the case then before the court: "if we settle those questions we may be considered as legislators rather than as judges, making rather than expounding law." in mr justice wightman, in r. _v._ the west middlesex water company, said: "the whole subject matter appears to me to be involved in so much difficulty and uncertainty that i cannot but hope that the legislature may interfere or make some provision adapted to the rating of such companies as that in question." among still other judges who have expressed similar views and indulged in similar hopes may be mentioned lord justice farwell, who, in january, , in the case of the great central railway _v._ the banbury union, said: "fifty-six years ago lord campbell protested and implored the legislature to intervene. his voice was the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and i suppose ours will be equally ineffectual if we make the same appeal." then, also, the royal commission on local taxation, in the report they presented in , made various recommendations in regard to the assessment of railway companies; but the advice of committees and commissioners has been no less unavailing than the protests of judges. meanwhile, and pending the long-delayed action by the legislature, the railway companies have themselves done what they could to protect the interests of those they represent, or of those for whose wants they cater, by appealing against excessive and unjust assessments, and in many of these appeals they have been successful. such appeals have been warranted, not alone by unfair increases of assessments but by the fact that taxation based on earning powers ought to be reduced as those earning powers decline; and on this last-mentioned point the assessor of railways and canals in scotland is quoted in "the rating of railways" as having said:-- "there is the undeniable fact, which the board of trade returns amply prove, that the companies are now carrying on their business at less remunerative rates than formerly. the average fare per passenger carried, and the rates per ton for goods and minerals handled, have fallen enormously; while, at the same time, working expenses have been { }continually going up, mainly owing to the demands for higher wages and shorter hours of employment, and the more stringent regulations of the board of trade as to block-telegraph working, brake-power, etc. further, the increased gross or net revenues could not have been earned without a large capital expenditure for additional and more costly plant. it is well known that what would have satisfied the public twenty years ago would be deemed wholly inadequate to-day. competition has compelled the companies to advance with the times; engines are now more powerful, carriages more comfortable, in many cases even luxurious; trains are better heated and lighted; continuous brakes and also the newest type of telegraphic instruments for signalling and working have been provided; stations are better furnished and equipped--all of which would mean a greatly increased outlay on the part of a tenant, which outlay he would undoubtedly take into account before deciding what rent he could afford to pay." the considerations here presented in regard to the general question of railway taxation are strengthened by the fact that, although a railway company is a commercial enterprise, it has not the facilities possessed by commercial enterprises in general in meeting any increase in cost of production or working expenses by an increase in its charges to the consumer, or the person equivalent thereto. in this respect an ordinary industrial concern, producing goods for sale, is a free agent to the extent that it is restrained in its charges only by market and economic conditions; whereas the railway company, producing for sale the service known as transport, may not raise a single rate or charge in regard to the transport of goods without incurring the liability of having to "justify" such increase before either the board of trade or the railway and canal commission. it has even been recommended recently by a departmental committee of the board of trade that like restrictions should be made to apply in the case of increases of passenger fares. the alternative for a railway company lies in the possibility of reducing expenses; but there are limitations in this direction if perfect efficiency in all branches of the service is to be maintained, and no one would be likely to suggest that these exactions of local authorities should be made good by { }reductions in, for example, that especially large item of working expenses represented by the wages of railway servants. what i have said in regard to rates and taxes in general applies no less to the increased financial burdens that would fall on railway companies in respect to the national insurance bill. with the main issues presented by that measure i have here no concern; but the difference between railway companies which cannot "pass on" the heavier taxation that all measures of this type involve and the ordinary industrial companies which can should be sufficiently obvious.[ ] clear, at least, it is that if both the government and the local authorities continue to pile up these burdens of taxation on transport companies, themselves subject to the restrictions mentioned, the traders of the country cannot expect much relief in the railway rates of which many of them complain. it may be that the primary effect of the financial conditions thus brought about falls on the railway shareholders. it is, also, the case that the traders are well assured against any increase in rates. but the traders suffer a disadvantage as well as the shareholders because, though the railway companies may be prevented from raising their rates, they may, also, find it practically impossible to reduce rates which they would otherwise be willing to put on a lower scale. on the one hand the traders are protected from being charged more. on the other hand they are prevented from being charged less. they may not lose, but they may not gain; and inability to secure a benefit that might otherwise be secured amounts, after all, to the equivalent of a loss. in regard, also, to the wages of the staff, these may not be reduced yet the power of companies to advance them may be curtailed by any undue swelling of working expenses in other directions. { }a good idea of the magnitude of the capital, the scope and extent of the operations, and the greatness and variety of the interests concerned in the working even of a single great railway company is given by the following table of what are deservedly called "interesting statistics," drawn up in regard to the midland railway for the year ending december , :-- capital expended £ , , authorised capital £ , , working expenses £ , , salaries and wages £ , , revenues:-- coaching £ , , goods, mineral & cattle £ , , miscellaneous £ , rates and taxes £ , lines owned (miles) , constructing or authorised ¾ partly owned worked over by engines , train mileage , , passengers carried , , season tickets , coal and coke consumed (tons) , , minerals & general merchandise passing over line (tons) , , engines , carriage stock , waggon stock , horses , road vehicles , signal cabins & stages , miles of teleg. wire , railway telegrams , , steam fire engines, pumps, &c fire hydrants , men qualified to render first aid to the injured , contributions to friendly society £ , sick allowance paid by friendly society £ , contributed to superannuation fund £ , total number of employés , uniform staff , clerical staff at derby , workmen in all shops , area of carriage works (acres) acreage of loco. works the organisation and working of the english railway system as it exists to-day are matters as to which a good deal of interest has been shown from time to time, and a certain degree of knowledge thereof is essential to an appreciation of the position that has developed from the primitive conditions already detailed. the subject is treated very fully in "the working and management of an english railway," by the late sir george findlay, formerly general manager of the london and north-western railway company, whose line { }he naturally dealt with in his book. much, however, has happened since the first edition of that book was published, in , and some of the details given are not applicable to present conditions. i do not propose to bring them all up to date, but it may be of advantage if i attempt to convey to the reader a general idea of the basis on which the london and north-western, as a typical english railway, is organised and managed, leaving aside the technical data concerning construction and operation with which, although they occupy a considerable space in sir george findlay's book, i have here no direct concern. the london and north-western railway had, on december , , a total length of line of miles, of which miles were single track and double or more. the total length of track, including sidings, in equivalent of single track, was miles. the authorised capital was £ , , and the paid-up capital £ , , . the magnitude of the company's operations is indicated by the following figures in regard to traffic, etc., in : number of passengers carried (exclusive of season-ticket holders), , , ; minerals, , , tons; general merchandise, , , tons; number of miles travelled by trains, , , ; receipts (gross) from passenger traffic, £ , , ; receipts (gross) from goods traffic, £ , , ; total working expenditure, £ , , . the supreme control is exercised by a board of twenty directors, including a chairman and a deputy chairman. four retire annually, and are eligible for re-election. the directors are appointed by the shareholders, all of whom have the right to express their views thereon at the half-yearly meetings of the company; and when it is stated that the number of shareholders--debenture, preferred and ordinary--in the north-western is , , representing , holdings, and that in , cases the holding is £ or under, it will be seen that an english railway company is a far more democratic institution than one of those great railroad systems in the united states which may be completely dominated by a single individual. any shareholder in the london and north-western who possesses the necessary qualification, by being the owner of ordinary stock to the value of £ , , is eligible for appointment on the board. { }the main functions of an english railway board are--to decide questions of principle and policy; to keep close watch over the interests of the shareholders in regard to all questions of finance; and to exercise a general control and supervision in order to ensure the thorough efficiency of the line. subject to such general control and supervision, the working details are entrusted to railway officers possessed of the skill, judgment, experience and technical knowledge requisite thereto. it is thus no more necessary that railway directors should be railway experts than it is that the proprietor, the manager and the editor of a great daily newspaper should themselves be able to write shorthand, set up type, cast a stereo and run the machines. they can dictate policy, attend to business details and direct heads of departments without these, in their case, superfluous accomplishments. railway directors who, going beyond their legitimate functions as aforesaid, sought to interfere with or dictate to skilled railwaymen on matters of ordinary detail or office routine would, in fact, cause friction without necessarily promoting efficiency in operation. in practice it is not unusual for a retiring general manager to be invited to take a seat on the board either of his own or of another company; but, generally speaking, the main qualification for a railway director, apart from the extent of his holding, is found in his possession, or assumed possession, of good business qualities, coupled with an interest in some particular part of the district the railway serves. the full board of the london and north-western railway meets twice a month; but much work is also done by committees which, as in the case of a county council or other important public body, exercise supervision over certain departments, or groups of departments, presenting minutes of their proceedings to the board for confirmation. the principal committees are the finance committee, the permanent way committee, the locomotive committee, the passenger traffic committee, the goods traffic committee and the debts and goods claim committee. there are, in addition, various smaller committees which deal with questions arising in connection with legal business, stores, hotels, refreshment rooms, etc. the heads of the different departments concerned attend, either regularly or as desired, the meetings of these various { }committees, whose members are thus kept thoroughly in touch with everything going on in regard to matters under their special cognisance. on the subject of finance, sir george findlay says (and the position is still as here stated, except that certain members of the finance committee now meet weekly to pass current accounts for payment):-- "the system of control over the expenditure of the company's money is a very complete one. the general theory is that no expenditure is incurred without the direct sanction of the directors, expressed by a minute of some committee approved by the board. the district officers are, indeed, allowed to make small necessary payments, but for these vouchers are submitted monthly and, after being carefully examined, are passed by the finance committee. no work is done by any of the engineering departments, except ordinary maintenance and repairs, without a minute of the directors to sanction it, and, in like manner, no claim is paid, except those of trifling amount, without the authority of the 'goods claims committee.'" the executive management is carried out by the general manager, the chief goods manager, and the superintendent of the line, the heads of the various other departments--and, also, the district officers--reporting to, and being under the direction of, one or other of these three officers, or, in the case of the chief goods manager and the superintendent of the line, of their assistants. the general manager naturally exercises general control. he is accountable to the chairman and directors for the good working of all departments, and when one takes into account the magnitude of the financial interests at stake; the extreme complexity of the movements and details involved in the operation of so many miles of railway transporting so huge a volume of traffic; the responsibilities of the company towards the multitudes of travellers who depend for life or limb on the perfection of the arrangements made for their safety; the enormous value of the goods of which temporary charge is undertaken; the questions of principle or precedent that arise in connection with a whole army of workers, no less than the matters of policy as regards development of the line or the relations with other companies, involving, it may be, { }introduction of or opposition to railway bills; the preparation of evidence to be given before one or other of those oft-recurring parliamentary or departmental committees; together with the ever-present need of reconciling, as far as possible, the conflicting interests of public, of staff and of shareholders--when one tries to realise the full extent of all these duties, obligations and responsibilities devolving upon the general manager of a great english railway company, the holder of such a post would seem to occupy a position more onerous than that, probably, of any other british subject, even if he should not deserve to rank as a ruler of what, in the variety and extent of the interests concerned--interests greater far than those of many a continental state--is itself the equivalent of a small kingdom. in the chief goods manager's department there are, besides himself, an assistant goods manager, two outdoor goods managers, a mineral traffic manager and a large staff of clerks. the chief goods manager and his assistants take charge of all matters connected with merchandise and mineral traffic, apart from the actual running of the trains. they arrange the rates and conditions of carriage; control the handling, the warehousing, and the collection and delivery of the goods; deal with all questions of goods accommodation and goods rolling stock; negotiate the arrangements in regard to private sidings for traders, and discharge a great number of other duties besides. the main function of the superintendent of the line, in whose department there is, also, an assistant superintendent of the line and several assistants, is to deal with all passenger, horse, carriage and parcels traffic, and, also, the running of all trains, whether passenger, merchandise, live-stock or mineral. all questions relating to the actual working of the line, passenger stations, signals, etc., are referred to him, and the issue of all time-tables is also under his control. the other heads of departments include: secretary; solicitor (with assistant solicitor); chief accountant; locomotive accountant; cashier; chief of expenditure department; chief of audit department; registrar; estate agent; rating agent; chief engineer (with a chief clerk and two assistant engineers, one for new works and one for permanent way); chief mechanical engineer (with a chief indoor assistant { }in locomotive department, general assistant and two outdoor assistants); signal superintendent; electrical engineer; rolling-stock superintendent; carriage superintendent; waggon superintendent; stores superintendent; horse superintendent; police superintendent; marine superintendent; hotel manager; and chief medical officer. the total number of persons engaged in these various departments, as carried on in the general offices at euston station, without reckoning those employed elsewhere, is about . for administrative purposes the entire system, with its close on miles of railway, is divided into a number of districts, each of which is in charge of a district superintendent who is responsible for the working of the trains and the control of the staff in his district. each district superintendent has an assistant and several travelling inspectors working under his direction, their duty being to visit regularly every station and signal box, and deal with any matters requiring attention. in some districts the superintendents are responsible both for passenger traffic and for goods traffic. in this case they are called district traffic superintendents. they report in regard to the passenger business to the superintendent of the line and in regard to the goods business to the chief goods manager. in the most important districts the district superintendent is relieved of the management of the goods business (except as regards the working of the trains) by other district officers known as district goods managers, or goods superintendents, who are responsible to the chief goods manager at euston. in dublin there is an irish traffic manager who takes charge of all the interests of the company in ireland, and there are agents in paris and new york who look after the continental and american business. the same general principle, as applied to the various districts, operates, also, in regard to individual towns and the management of the stations therein. at the majority of the company's stations there is an agent, popularly known as the station master, who is in charge of both the passenger and the goods traffic; and at the larger stations the work is divided between a station master--who attends to passenger traffic, and is accountable to the district superintendent--and a goods agent, who is responsible for the goods work, and is under { }the control of the district goods manager. the station master, in turn, has authority over the signalmen, porters and lamp-men at his station, just as the goods agent has authority over the local goods department. the chain of responsibility thus works out as follows:-- station staff. goods staff. station master. goods agent. district superintendent. district goods manager. superintendent of the line. chief goods manager. ---------------------------------------------------- general manager. committees of the board. chairman and full board. while the control through the board of directors and the general manager is complete yet, at the same time, it would be impossible to keep pace with the rapidity with which business is done at the present day unless the district officers were able to act on their own responsibility in those cases where time did not permit of matters going through the usual routine, and for that reason the district officers of a company like the london and north-western are capable men who are able, and are encouraged, to take full responsibility when it is necessary for them to do so. just as the committees of the board of directors keep in touch with the chief officers and heads of departments, so do the chief officers keep in touch alike with one another and with the country officers, doing this by means of periodical conferences. there is, in the first place, what is known as the "officers' conference." held once a month at euston or elsewhere, as convenient, it is presided over by the general manager, and is attended alike by the chief officers and by the district officers for both the passenger and the goods departments. at this conference the matters discussed include proposed alterations in the train service, mishaps or irregularities and their avoidance, suggested changes in the rules, and everything appertaining to the working, loading and equipment of the trains. another conference, known as the "goods conference," is also held monthly--generally on the day preceding the officers' conference--and is presided over by the chief goods { }manager, who meets the district officers responsible for the goods working, and discusses with them the various subjects that arise from time to time in connection with the goods traffic. the minutes of both conferences are submitted to the directors, who are thus kept still better informed of all that is happening. nor do the officers themselves, whether chief officers or district officers, fail to benefit from the opportunities for the exchange of views and experiences which the conferences afford. periodical inspections of the line, or of the stations, in various districts by the directors and the chief officers--whether both together or by the chief officers alone--afford further opportunities for checking any possible irregularities, for ensuring the provision of adequate station accommodation, for seeing that rules and regulations are properly observed, and for maintaining the thorough efficiency of the system in general. the locomotive works of the london and north-western railway company at crewe extend over acres, including acres of covered-in shops, mills, etc. these works give employment to about , men and boys. in addition to the making of locomotives, the various processes carried on include the production of steel rails, girders for bridges, underframes for carriages, hydraulic machinery, cranes, bricks, gas-pipes, water-pipes, drain-pipes, and a great number of other objects and appliances necessary to the construction and operation of the railway. created by the london and north-western railway company, crewe has developed from an agricultural village into a flourishing industrial town of , inhabitants. at wolverton, half-way between london and birmingham, the company build and repair their own railway carriages and road vehicles, and do much work besides in the making of station furniture, office fittings, and other requirements. the works cover acres, and give employment to about hands. the earlstown waggon works extend over acres and employ persons, earlstown, like crewe and wolverton, being essentially a railway colony. in each instance--as will be shown more fully in chapter xxviii--liberal provision is { }made for the educational, social and recreative needs of the workers and their dependents. no fewer than , persons are included in the industrial army which to-day constitutes the staff of the london and north-western railway. of this total , are salaried officers and clerks and , are employed at weekly wages. a company which employs such a multitude as this, and, indirectly, ensures sustenance to a much greater number of persons, incurs obligations that are not met entirely by a stated salary or wage. hence the company, in addition to their encouragement of schools and educational institutes, support a superannuation fund association and a widows and orphans' fund for the salaried staff, and various funds, on a contributory basis, for the wages staff. other organisations supported by the company include a savings bank, a literary society, chess, rifle and athletic clubs, a temperance society and numerous coffee taverns for the staff. { }chapter xxvii what the railways have done to say that the railways have revolutionised trade and industries would be simply to repeat one of the commonplaces of modern economic history. taking the general statement for granted, i would invite the reader to look a little more closely at some of the actual results that railways have, or have not, brought about. in the first place it would be going too far to say that the railway age inaugurated the industrial era. the invention of, or the improvements in, machinery which gave so immense an impetus to our national industries preceded the opening of the particular lines of railway--the stockton and darlington and the liverpool and manchester--that were more especially to lead to the great development of the railway system on present-day lines. all the same, it was the railways that, by offering a far more effective means of transport than was already afforded by canals, rivers or roads, made it possible for the industries then already started, or for those following thereon, to attain to their present proportions. for the creation of what is known as the factory system, with its teeming industrial populations aggregated into busy urban centres, the railways are certainly far more responsible than the earlier modes of transport. the merits or the drawbacks of that system, from the point of view of general interests, are matters that need not be discussed here. suffice it to say that as soon as the railways had allowed of great quantities of raw material being conveyed, at especially low rates, to particular localities; of machinery being set up there, also at lower cost than before; of labour from the rural districts being brought in and concentrated in the same localities, and of an efficient distribution, again at lower rates, of commodities produced on a large scale under the most economical conditions;--it was inevitable that factories should supplant home { }industries, that manufacturers should succeed small masters, and that great towns should grow up in proportion as rural centres declined. in helping to bring about these results--results that so materially accelerated the "economic revolution" already proceeding--railway transport also supplied a ready means for providing these urban communities with the necessaries of life. it is only with the help of the railways that the provisioning of such vast collections of humanity as are to be found in london, manchester, liverpool, birmingham, glasgow and other centres is rendered possible. as compared with the earlier conditions of life, when households were mainly self-supporting, each providing for its own needs from its own fields, pasture or garden, the average urban family to-day is dependent on the trader for practically all domestic necessaries, and the same is mostly the case in suburban or even in country districts except, it may be, in regard to vegetables, eggs and table poultry. it is doubtful if london or any other of these great centres ever has more than, at the outside, a fortnight's supplies on hand. the complete stoppage of the railway system for any such period would thus be a national disaster. food might still come to the ports in the same quantities as before; but without the railways there would be no adequate means for its distribution, and the large inland towns would more especially be at a disadvantage. the mere possibility of such an eventuality may help one to realise the extent of our dependence to-day on rail transport from the point of view, not alone of trade, industry and commerce, but of our daily life and sustenance. while it is true that many rural centres suffered a decline in population when the railways led indirectly to so many agricultural workers leaving the fields for the attractions and the supposed advantages of urban life, it is no less true that the expansion of the towns gave to those who remained in the rural centres greater markets for the sale there of such produce--and especially for such market-garden produce, eggs and poultry--as they could supply to advantage. the railways may not have annihilated distance, but they were engaged in curtailing distances; and such curtailment became still more effective when the achievements of the locomotive were { }followed by the adoption of the sliding-scale principle under which the rates per ton per mile decreased in proportion as consignments were sent for a greater distance than twenty miles. the towns and the industrial centres expanded further as rail transport afforded increased facilities for the conveyance of raw materials to works which, thanks to the steam-engine, could be set up in any part of the country, regardless of the once indispensable water power; and the procuring of these raw materials not only gave a further great expansion to national wealth, but led to the opening up to industrial activity of many a district previously isolated and undeveloped. increased congestion in the towns was thus none the less supplemented by a widespread development of the interior resources of the country; and in this respect the railways accomplished results that could not have been attained by the most complete system either of canals or of turnpike roads. there certainly were losses, besides those in the rural districts, and this was notably the case in some of the county, market, or smaller towns which no longer command the same distinction in the social and economic world as before; but the balance as between gains and losses was in favour of an industrial expansion, a commercial development, and an unexampled increase in general prosperity. on the general trade of the country the railway was to produce results no less striking than those that related to individual industries. when the facilities for distributing domestic and other necessaries throughout the inland districts, and even in the most remote parts of the country, were so greatly increased, the reason for the fairs which had for many centuries played so all-important a part in english trade and commerce no longer existed, and the country hastened to deserve napoleon's sarcasm by becoming "a nation of shopkeepers." to the country trader the railway gave new opportunities. there was no longer any need either for his going to one of the periodical fairs or for his awaiting a call from a travelling middleman with his troop of packhorses in order to obtain supplies. nor was it now necessary for him to purchase comparatively substantial quantities of wares at a time. thanks to the railway, he could generally have goods sent to him { }direct from the manufacturer or the warehouseman in london, manchester, sheffield, glasgow or elsewhere, and those goods, sent for one day and delivered the next, could be ordered by him in exactly such quantities as would suit his immediate requirements. in this way he was enabled to keep smaller stocks of a greater variety of articles, trade with less, or with better distributed, capital and anticipate a much larger turnover. the advantage of these facilities became greater still in proportion as the post, the telegraph and the telephone gave the retailer greater opportunities for communicating his wants to the wholesale trader who supplied them. in these circumstances village stores are to be found to-day in rural districts where shops had been non-existent down to the railway age, while the conditions of retail trade in probably every country town have no less changed, and have altered to a proportionate extent the conditions, also, of wholesale trade. on the other hand, the same transport facilities which gave these opportunities to the small trader are now, to a certain extent, operating to his disadvantage, since there is an increasing tendency for retail trade to be done by the large houses which are to-day more and more dealing direct with the public, consigning to retail customers either by rail or by parcel post. in this way many of the small traders are sharing the fate of the small masters who had already been suppressed by the factory system. the movement here in question is, of course, only a development of the dual tendency now prevalent throughout the commercial world for ( ) the substitution of large or associated undertakings for numerous small and independent ones; and ( ) the abolition of middlemen; yet such a movement could hardly have been carried out to its present actual extent but for the opportunities offered by the railway for the regular, speedy and economical transport of commodities under just such conditions as will alone allow of this further transition in trade being brought about. so far as the railways themselves are concerned, these various developments have not been an unmixed blessing, since they have increased the tendency for the general merchandise traffic to travel in small or comparatively small consignments or parcels, involving a greater amount of { }handling and of clerical work, and, therefore, an increase in working expenses, without a proportionate gain in revenue. the vast majority of traders in the country seem content to live "from hand to mouth," ordering only just what they want from day to day or from week to week, and depending implicitly on prompt delivery by the railway whenever they need fresh supplies. thus we get such conditions of trade in respect to general merchandise (distinct from minerals and raw materials) as are suggested by the following table, showing the total tonnage of traffic dealt with, and the average weight per package handled, at the goods depôts mentioned:-- average weight depots. total of tons no. of per package. handled. packages. qrs. lbs. broad street, london , curzon street, birmingham , liverpool stations , london road, manchester , how this small-parcel-at-frequent-intervals arrangement, so convenient for a large number of traders, increases the work of the companies in a greater ratio than it increases their receipts is shown by the following typical figures, worked out by a leading railway company in respect to the comparative increases in traffic receipts and number of invoice entries respectively at four large stations on their system:-- increase in increase in no. of invoice station. years compared. traffic receipts. entries. a. and . . b. " . . c. " . . d. " . . the tendencies in the direction of repeat orders for small consignments are no less prevalent in the case of raw materials and bulky commodities than in that of general merchandise. the cotton-spinner has frequent consignments of cotton, in quantities sufficient to meet immediate needs, rather than less frequent consignments in greater bulk. the average builder saves yard expenses and cartage by ordering from time to time { }the exact quantities of timber or the precise number of bricks he wants for the particular work, or for a certain stage of the work, on which he is engaged. the coal merchant orders forward from day to day, or at intervals according to the state of business, only the particular quantities of coal he requires for present or prospective early needs, since the railway arrangements generally render it unnecessary for him to provide for more than a few days' supply at a time. so it goes on through almost every department of present-day trade. the advantages for the trader himself are enormous, and the railways have encouraged him in the tendency here in question by giving, for -ton or -ton lots, minimum special or exceptional rates which on the state railways of the continent would be available only for -ton, -ton or still higher quantities. yet when a trader has delivery made to him in several consignments rather than one, it is evident that, whatever the convenience to himself, the company must do more work for their money and incur the risk, also, of having to run two or more partly-filled waggons on separate days in place, it may be, of one full one. hence a further problem in the railway world of recent years has been how to adjust traffic arrangements to commercial conditions based on the now established requirements of the british trader for small consignments at frequent intervals, and yet secure for the railways themselves the advantage of economical loading. much has been done in this direction by the leading companies in the setting up of transhipping depôts and otherwise, and substantial economies have been effected thereby. another respect in which railway facilities have influenced the course of trade lies in the fact that the large warehouses, provided by the railway companies at certain of their goods depôts enable a large number of merchants, agents or other traders to dispense with warehouses of their own and carry on their business from a city office, whence they send their instructions to the railway companies as to the destination of particular consignments when these are to be despatched to the purchaser. the railway companies are thus relied on to ( ) collect the goods, ( ) load them into the railway waggons, ( ) transport them from one town to another, ( ) unload them, ( ) remove them to the railway warehouse, ( ) store them there until they are wanted, ( ) pick out, as and when required, { }a particular bale or parcel from a possible pyramid of bales or parcels warehoused for the same trader; and ( ) deliver it to a given address. in some instances all these services are included in the railway rate, a certain period of free warehousing being then allowed. in other instances, or when the free period is exceeded, a charge is made for rent; but the trader still saves considerably as compared with what he would have to pay for a separate warehouse for himself, with rates, taxes and cost of cartage in addition. at the autumnal meeting, on october , , of the executive council of the national chamber of trade, held at bradford, it was declared, in reference to the inequality in assessments for local rates, that there were in bradford certain large concerns whose business turnover amounted to more than £ , a year, while the rental of the premises they occupied was not more than £ . some exceptionally large and commodious railway warehouses in bradford are certainly made use of by local traders under precisely such conditions as those here in question; and it is, probably, because of these railway warehouses that the concerns alluded to are able to carry on a £ , business in £ premises. even when the traders own extensive mills or factories they often find it convenient to allow the railway company to warehouse most of their raw material for them, sending on supplies to them as needed, a saving thus being effected in respect alike to capital outlay on land and buildings for store rooms and to rates and taxes thereon. in other instances goods are sent, as ready, to the railway warehouses at the port to await shipment, the manufacturers once more saving in not having to provide extra accommodation on their own premises for the storing of goods until a large order has been completed or until a vessel is due to leave. the extent of this railway warehouse accommodation will be better understood if i mention that two sets of premises which constitute the broad street goods depôt of the london and north-western railway company, in the heart of the city of london, have a total floor space of , square yards; that the same company have at liverpool a series of warehouses with a total of about , square yards of floor space; that the great northern railway company have at bradford one { }wool-warehouse which can accommodate from , to , bales, and another that has a storage capacity of , bales; and that an exceptionally large goods depôt and warehouse in manchester, with floor space equal to one and a quarter acres, cost the great northern railway company no less a sum than £ , , . to illustrate the nature of the accommodation offered by, and the work carried on, in these great goods stations and warehouses, i offer a few details respecting the bishopsgate goods station of the great eastern railway company. situate in the midst of one of the busiest of london's commercial centres and in the immediate proximity of docks, wharves, markets and warehouses carrying on, in the aggregate, an enormous business, the bishopsgate goods station is a hive of activity of so extensive and varied a type that the working bees employed form a staff of no fewer than persons. the premises, which have nine exits and entrances, are divided into three levels, known as the basement level, the rail level and the warehouse level. the total area covered by the goods station, including railway lines, yard and buildings, is twenty-one acres. the basement level consists of a series of arches on which the lines leading into the goods station have been built. originally the arches were designed by the railway company to serve the purposes of a general fruit, vegetable and fish market, and this market was opened in ; but the lessee of the spitalfields market claimed certain monopoly rights under an ancient charter, and the bishopsgate market had to be closed; though the railway company continued to carry on a market they had previously opened at stratford, e., subject to the payment of certain tolls to the aforesaid lessee in respect to his rights. the stratford market, located immediately alongside lines of railway bringing produce from the most important agricultural districts of the eastern counties, has conferred great advantages alike on traders and on residents in the east of london. the basement arches at bishopsgate are to-day let mainly to potato salesmen and others, who find them of the greatest convenience because loaded trucks arriving on the rail level can be lowered into the basement, there to be moved by hydraulic power to the particular arch for which the consignment is destined. { }the rail level is the goods station proper. it has eleven sets of rails and five loading or unloading platforms, or "banks," while two shunting engines are constantly employed in taking loaded or empty trucks in or out. in the business done gave a daily average of trucks inwards traffic, and outwards traffic, a total daily average of , trucks. about eighty goods trains leave or arrive at the station during the twenty-four hours. these include two which are fitted with the vacuum brake, and give the traders and inhabitants of lincoln and towns beyond all the advantages of an express goods service at ordinary rates--a service, that is, equivalent to what, in germany, traders would have to pay double or treble their own ordinary rates for if they wished to ensure a corresponding speed. of potatoes from the fenland districts of the eastern counties the total quantity received at bishopsgate during was , tons. of green peas from essex as many as tons have been received in a single day. fish from lowestoft and yarmouth runs into an annual total of many thousands of tons. passengers' luggage in advance is also dealt with at bishopsgate. this system, saving the traveller much trouble, and greatly facilitating the working of passenger traffic at the stations, is evidently advancing in favour, the packages handled at bishopsgate having increased from , in to , in . in the matter of general merchandise, the experiences of the other railway depôts already mentioned are confirmed by those at bishopsgate, the taking there of the number and weight of all consignments of merchandise forwarded on a particular day having shown the following results:-- number of consignments , average weight per consignment cwt. qrs. lbs. number weighing less than cwts , the total "carriage paid" entries on outwards goods traffic in numbered over , . for the month of november alone the total was , . a large proportion of the commodious and well-lighted warehouse level on the top storey is let off to individual traders in what are known as "fixed spaces," the demand for { }which is always in excess of the supply. goods of great variety and of great value are stored here. the warehouse is found especially useful in connection with the extensive goods traffic carried by the great eastern railway company between england and the continent. mention might also be made of the fact that the cartage work done at bishopsgate requires a stud of about horses and road vehicles, and gives employment to nearly carmen and van-guards; that nine weighbridges have been provided; that a large staff of railway police is always on duty to regulate the traffic in or out of the station and to protect property; that the station has its own steam fire-engine and fire brigade (the company likewise undertaking the fire insurance of goods warehoused); and that the general arrangements include a complete ambulance equipment for the rendering of first aid in the event of accidents to the workers.[ ] apart from the provision of depôts and warehouses, the railway companies facilitate the operations of traders by giving them certain free periods in respect to the unloading of coal, potatoes, hay, straw and various other commodities from the railway trucks, which serve the purposes of warehouses on wheels and involve the trader in no further cost, in addition to the railway rate, provided he can find a customer and arrange for the unloading to be done within the free period allowed to him, thus escaping the alternative charge for demurrage. other conveniences afforded by the english railway companies to traders include the provision--for hire at cheap rates--of grain sacks, meat hampers and meat cloths. the great eastern railway, for instance, who serve a district mainly agricultural, keep on hand, for the convenience of traders, from , to , sacks, meat hampers, and between and meat cloths. railways, as developed in england, have thus done more than increase the facilities and decrease the cost of actual transport. they have, in various ways, increased the facilities for, and decreased the cost of the exchange of, commodities, since there is many a trader in the country who conducts his business much more with the help of a railway company's { }capital than he does with his own. it is not alone that trade and industry have vastly increased in volume as the result of railway operation. trade and industry have, also, completely changed in method, while thousands of men can carry on a business of their own to-day who, in the pre-railway epoch, must have been content to be little more than hewers of wood and drawers of water. the economy in time, also, due to the speed at which the general merchandise traffic of the country is carried, has been of no less importance than the economy in cost of transport. of these two elements speed in delivery may often be by far the more important. slowness in transport, as is the case on canals, may cause no inconvenience where time is immaterial and large, or comparatively large, stocks can be kept on hand; but these considerations do not apply to the great bulk of english trading and industrial enterprises as carried on under present-day conditions. hence to the direct saving in the cost of transport, and to the greater advantages in the exchange and distribution of commodities brought about by railways, must be added a fair allowance for gains secured indirectly through this further saving of time. so far back as , and long, therefore, before goods trains were run at an equivalent to express speed, nicholas wood wrote in the third edition of his "practical treatise on rail-roads," in comparing rail and canal transport:-- "in our comparison of the two systems of transit, we must not lose sight of the very important consequences, resulting to the commerce of the country, by the rapidity of communication effected by the railways, which far outweighs any trifling balance of economy in favour of canals, even if such do exist; and, therefore, we presume, whenever the balance between the two modes in any degree approach each other, a preference will be given to railway communication." against the various advantages that improved means of transport have thus brought to the british trader must, nevertheless, in his case, be set certain disadvantages. if he can forward his commodities with greater ease, at lower rates, and in less time, to the leading markets of the country than his grandfather before him could do, he finds that, in practice, the foreigner can do the same. where the foreigner produces at lower cost, gets the lowest available rates by reason of size { }of consignment, style of packing, etc., has the benefit of an earlier season and so on, he may well be able, under a system of free imports, to compete with the home producer on his own markets; though the cost of transport to the foreigner has naturally to be reckoned from the place of origin, and not simply from the english port through which his consignments pass. the general effect of rail transport on the trade and industry of the country was thus described by sir john hawkshaw in his presidential address at the bristol meeting of the british association in :-- "railways add enormously to the national wealth. more than twenty-five years ago it was proved to the satisfaction of the house of commons, from facts and figures which i then adduced, that the lancashire and yorkshire railway, of which i was the engineer, and which then formed the principal railway connection between the populous towns of lancashire and yorkshire, effected a saving to the public using the railway of more than the whole amount of the dividend which was received by the proprietors. these calculations were based solely on the amount of traffic carried by the railways and on the difference between the railway rate of charge and the charges by the modes of conveyance anterior to the railways. no credit whatever was taken for the saving of time, though in england pre-eminently time is money. considering that railway charges on many items have been considerably reduced since that day, it may be safely assumed that the railways in the british isles now produce, or, rather, save to the nation, a much larger sum annually than the gross amount of all the dividends payable to the proprietors, without at all taking into account the benefit arising from the saving of time. the benefits under that head defy calculation, and cannot with any accuracy be put into money; but it would not be at all over-estimating this question to say that in time and money the nation gains at least what is equivalent to per cent on all the capital expended on railways." sir john hawkshaw, it will be seen, arrived at this result on the basis of the saving in rates and charges and in speed; but one must further allow for those various supplementary services on which the railways enable the traders to effect savings in the carrying on of their business. { }nor have the political and social results of the railway system been in any degree less remarkable than the economic. politically, the railway has been a factor in the rise of democracy. the construction of railways, by giving employment to large numbers of navvies in various parts of the country, to which they moved freely as occasion required, did much to break down the restrictions to which the labouring classes had so long been subjected under laws of settlement now found to be no longer operative; and this greater freedom of movement, combined with the wider opportunities opened out to them, had effects on the workers far beyond the results accruing to them from an industrial standpoint alone. under, again, the influences following on the spread of railways throughout the country, england ceased to be simply a collection of isolated communities, and attained to a greater degree of national life. better communication helped to make men better acquainted with one another, to broaden their sympathies, to spread a better knowledge of public events at home and abroad and to establish closer links between town life and country life. then the railways which rendered this closer communication possible proved to be among the greatest of social levellers. the claims of the third-class passenger were recognised in course of time, in spite of the unwillingness of the pioneer companies to make them due acknowledgment; and the day was to come when the artisan would go by the same express train as the noble lord, arrive at his destination just as soon, and, though not having quite so luxurious a seat, be afforded facilities of travel greater far than those that could once be commanded even by kings and princes. cheap excursion trains gave to artisan and agriculturist the opportunity of visiting great towns or pleasure resorts to which, in the old coaching days, the well-to-do would alone have thought of travelling. in the same way the advantages of a concentration of life, of thought and of movement in the capital were spread by the easier means of communication to country districts, and brought the population in general into closer touch with the leaders of public opinion. the railways were the greatest disseminators of intelligence through the newspapers or books carried by train or by the post, itself no less dependent, in turn, { }on the railway for the facilities it conferred on the country. without the railway a cheap and widely distributed newspaper press, such as exists to-day, would have been impossible. so the tendency of the railway was not only to advance trade, travel and transport, but to open men's minds, to broaden the intellectual outlook of the artisan and the labourer, to place them more on a level with their social superiors, and to make them better fitted for the exercise of greater political powers. socially, too, the railway system constitutes a paramount factor in the national life. thanks to the greater facilities the railways afforded for the distribution of commodities, and thanks, also, to the greater division of labour following on the changed economic conditions, there was no need in the railway age for householders to practise the same domestic arts that had been more or less obligatory in the case of their forefathers. there was no longer the same necessity for each family to brew its own ale, to bake its own bread and make its own cloth, or to provide stores of salt beef and other supplies in the autumn as if for a winter siege. when the railway enabled the village shopkeeper to satisfy promptly all local requirements, in winter as readily as in summer, the whole conditions of rural life were changed. in towns, as in villages, the railways allowed not alone of a better distribution of domestic necessaries but of distribution at lower prices. the distance at which a commodity was produced or from which it came had, as a rule, comparatively little effect on the actual selling price. the large towns, especially, had the entire country open to them as their sources of supply, and were no longer limited to the produce--and the prices--of, say, a fifteen or a twenty-mile radius. following closely on the necessaries came the luxuries, the cheapening of which, mainly owing to the lower cost of transport, gave even to artisans' families alternative food supplies of a kind beyond the reach even of the wealthiest in the land a century ago. the greater consumption of fruit and vegetables, sold at the lowest possible prices, must have been of incalculable advantage to the health of the community; though this advantage would not have been possible but for the facilities { }afforded by the railway in the bringing of huge quantities at a low rate from even the most distant corners of the three kingdoms.[ ] if, again, the railways had to share with invention and industrial expansion the responsibility for the great increase in town life, and for the overcrowding of many an urban centre, they have, on the other hand, helped the towns to spread out into healthy suburbs, or have otherwise relieved them of much of their overcrowding by providing workmen's trains for the conveyance of artisans and labourers between their place of labour and entirely new centres of population in what once were country districts. as for the town workers who can afford to live at greater distances, the issue of cheap season tickets and the running of business trains morning and evening have greatly extended the suburbs of london, so that city men now have their homes as far away as brighton, folkestone and southend. the encouragement thus offered by the railways to the setting up of country or even seaside homes for town workers has further tended to the improvement of the public health, in addition to effecting a complete revolution in social conditions as compared with the days when the merchant or the tradesman lived over his place of business in the very heart of the city of london. what shall be said, also, of the effect on the national life of that "travel habit" which received its greatest development from the railways, though further encouraged in recent years by the bicycle and the motor-car? under the combined influences of fast trains, corridor carriages, dining, luncheon and sleeping cars and cheap fares, whether for day excursions, short-date or long-date periods, tours at home or abroad, or any other of the various combinations for which facilities are offered, the making of pleasure trips has entered so thoroughly into the habits and customs of all grades of society that the social and domestic conditions of to-day offer a complete contrast from those that prevailed in the pre-railway period. it is now only the poorest of families that fail to have an annual holiday at a seaside resort or in the country, and even in their { }case the children may be provided for by one of the philanthropic organisations established for this purpose. nor does the annual summer or autumn holiday now suffice in a vast number of british households. there are supplementary holidays at easter and whitsuntide; there are the trips taken on the other bank holidays besides; and, lest all these opportunities may not suffice, the railway companies now enable their patrons to take a little holiday, at reduced fares, every week-end. thanks, in fact, to the ever-expanding facilities for travel, holiday-making--a former innovation now developed into an established national institution--is no longer confined to a regular holiday season. winter holidays, also, are coming rapidly into vogue. the question might well be asked if indulgence in the holiday habit is not often carried too far, especially when trips unduly long for the time at the tripper's disposal leave it doubtful whether the holiday-maker should not have a second holiday in which to rest after the fatigues of the first; though if english people are indeed giving themselves up far too much to pleasure, sport and recreation, the railways must certainly share the responsibility for what is happening. leaving medical authorities and social reformers to decide on the questions just raised, one may, at least, safely affirm that the railway has been a great promoter of friendship and family life, since visits can now readily be exchanged between those resident in distant parts of the country, and ties can thus be maintained that, at one time, would have been in danger of complete severance by the difficulties or the undue cost of journeys by road. in addition to doing so much to re-establish our industries, our trade and our social life and manners on the new bases here indicated, the railway companies have also sought to play their part in the great and responsible question of national defence. the gravity of the issues that, in case of invasion, would depend on the railways being able to arrange for the rapid and safe movement of troops, of war material and of supplies from one part of the country to another is self-evident. it is equally clear that the necessary plans should be carefully prepared long in advance by those most competent to make them. happily the requisite provisions to this end exist in an { }organisation known as the "engineer and railway staff corps," concerning which mr c. h. jeune says in the "great eastern railway magazine" for june, , in an article accompanying a portrait (in uniform) of the general manager of the great eastern, mr w. h. hyde, who is a lieutenant-colonel of the corps in question:-- "in the case of the great continental powers, with their system of compulsory military service and the state ownership of railways, immediately war is declared practically the whole of the efficient male population, including the railway staff, is ready to place itself under military discipline; the effect being that the transport or railway department, like the infantry or artillery, becomes an integral part of the armed forces of the country. but in england the transport arrangements must of necessity be largely carried out by the railway companies with the aid of their civilian employés. as a link between the army and the companies there is an organisation, the existence of which is not widely known, designated the engineer and railway staff corps. one of the peculiar features of this body is that it consists of officers only, many of whom we dare to say have no practical knowledge of the goose step. it never drills, no band of music heralds its approach, yet its members are men of high technical ability, and the duties it performs are of great value in the schemes of national defence. "the corps was formed in by the patriotic exertions of charles manby, f.r.s., an eminent civil engineer, who held the post of adjutant with the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the corps. it is composed of civil engineers and contractors, also general managers and other officers of railway and dock companies. at present there are, in addition to the commandant, one honorary colonel, thirty lieutenant-colonels, and twenty-four majors. their function is to advise on the transport of troops by rail and the construction of defensive works; to direct the application of skilled labour and of railway transport to the purposes of national defence, and to prepare in time of peace a system on which such duties should be conducted." selected members of the engineer and railway staff corps join with representatives of the admiralty and the war office in forming the war railway council, which { }deals with transport and other arrangements for mobilisation. before leaving this branch of the subject i may, perhaps, be excused if i look still further afield, and turn, for a moment, from what railways have done for the nation to a few examples of what they are doing for the empire. in australia the railways allowed of settlements established on the coast-line of a continent (covering three million square miles) gradually stretching far inland, utilising for agricultural purposes great areas of land that must otherwise have remained little better than barren wastes. canada, as we know it to-day, owes her existence to the railways. "without them," said mr e. t. powell, in a paper read before the royal colonial institute on february , , "the vast dominion which we are proud to call the canadian empire would have remained a loose aggregate of scattered agricultural communities. quebec and alberta must have known as much of each other as do donegal and kamschatka.... a few thousand miles of steel rail ... have saved canada for the empire.... every year they draw the dominion into closer cohesion as a self-governing unit, while at the same time they cement it more firmly into the imperial fabric." in south africa the railways have rendered invaluable service from the point of view alike of trade, of commerce, of colonial expansion, and of imperial policy. rhodesia, especially, will have been indebted to her railways for much of the future greatness to which she hopes to attain; and no one would yet venture to limit the possible results of the cape-to-cairo line, when that bold undertaking shall at last have been completed. less generally known, perhaps, is the story of what the railway is doing both for the empire and for civilisation on the west coast of africa. little more than a dozen years ago no railways at all had been constructed there, and most of the colonies were in a more or less disturbed condition, even if they had not been the scene of successive massacres, of sanguinary wars, of much expenditure thereon, and of human sacrifices in districts steeped in slavery, barbarism and superstition. this was especially the case on the gold coast, where the { }ashantis waged wars against us in , and . two years after the last of these wars the gold coast main line of railway was taken up to coomassie, the capital of ashanti. to-day the ashantis carry on strife with us no longer. they work in the gold mines instead; and the railway that brings the gold down to the coast has paid a five-per-cent dividend from the day it was opened.[ ] of "sierra leone and its commercial expansion" mr t. j. alldridge said, in a paper he read before the royal colonial institute on march , (reported in "united empire," may, ):-- "the extraordinary increase in the revenue of sierra leone during the last few years fills one who knows the circumstances of the colony with amazement. it could never have been achieved had communication by railway into oil-palm belts, formerly quite unworked, not been introduced by the government. the results have been extraordinary, although as yet hardly more than the fringe of these rich forests has been reached.... only since the putting down of railways into our protectorate has the colony of sierra leone made such noticeable or commercial progress. the extension in the volume of imported merchandise, the expansion in its export products, and the greatly increased revenue, stand out to-day as an extraordinary revelation of what railway communication is capable of effecting in places that were not long since un-get-at-able, but which nature has lavishly filled with a never-failing store of indigenous wealth." southern nigeria and northern nigeria--the former having an area of , square miles and a population of , , africans, and the latter an area of , square miles and an estimated population of , , --are both of them countries of enormous natural resources which are being steadily developed by railways already built or in course of construction. a writer in "united empire" for july, , says of south nigeria: "the trade returns of have surpassed even the most optimistic expectations, but there is good reason to look forward to further considerable increases in view of railway developments, harbour improvements, road { }construction, river clearing," etc., while of northern nigeria he says: "when we remember that a densely-populated area, twice as large as the united kingdom, and little more than a decade removed from the horrors of slavery, savage warfare and wholesale human sacrifices, is run by about europeans on £ , a year, and is rapidly arriving at conditions favourable to a great development of commerce"--such conditions including the fact that a trader can now travel from lagos to zaria in three days by rail, instead of taking three weeks, as before--"it is, perhaps, a record in the annals of british expansion." as for the civilising effects of railways in west africa, mr p. a. renner, an educated native, said at a royal colonial institute meeting on may , : "in the few years i have lived on the coast i have seen an improvement which has so astonished us as to make us almost worship the white man. previously to the introduction of railways the clan feeling and tribal strifes and feuds were very rife, and the people of one village would scarcely visit those of another. now all this is changed." when one looks back from the work the railway is doing to-day, in all these different directions, to those very primitive beginnings of which i have told in earlier chapters, the whole story appears to be far more suggestive of romance than of sober fact and reality. from the colliery rail-way along which john buddie's "waggon-man" led his horse, encouraging it to greater exertion with a handful of hay, to the railway that conveys, not only passengers, but goods, at express speed, that has revolutionised our industrial, our commercial and our social conditions, and is now consolidating our imperial interests and effecting the civilisation of once barbarian lands, it is, indeed, a far cry; yet the sequence of events can readily be traced, while all has been done within a century and a half of the world's history. { }chapter xxviii railways a national industry having seen the part that railways have played in helping to develop the industrial interests of the country in general, we may now consider ( ) to what extent the railways themselves constitute a national industry, and ( ) various conditions relating thereto. the latest available statistics as to the number of all classes of railway servants connected with the working of railways, and including, as i understand, both salaried and wages staffs with the exception of heads of departments, are to be found in "returns of accidents and casualties" as reported to the board of trade by the railway companies of the united kingdom for the year ending december , [cd. ]. these figures give a total of , persons, classified as follows:-- no. of persons nature employed on of employment. st dec., . . brakesmen. (_see goods guards._) . capstan-men and capstan-lads: ( ) men , ( ) boys . carmen and van-guards: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . carriage-cleaners: ( ) men , ( ) boys . carriage and waggon examiners , . checkers: ( ) men , ( ) boys . chockers, chain-boys and slippers: ( ) men ( ) boys . clerks: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . engine-cleaners: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . engine-drivers & motormen , . firemen , . gatekeepers , . greasers: ( ) men ( ) boys . guards (goods) and brakesmen , . guards (passenger) , { } . horse drivers , . inspectors: ( ) permanent-way , ( ) others , . labourers: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . lamp-men and lamp-lads: ( ) men , ( ) boys . loaders & sheeters , . mechanics & artisans: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . messengers: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . number-takers: ( ) men , ( ) boys . permanent-way-men , . pointsmen . policemen , . porters: ( ) men , ( ) boys , . shunters , . signal fitters and telegraph wiremen , . signalmen , . signal-box lads , . station-masters , . ticket-collectors and examiners , . watchmen , . yardsmen , . miscellaneous: ( ) adults , ( ) boys , ------- total , the foregoing table serves to show the great extent of the railway industry from the point of view of the number of persons directly employed therein, and it also suggests a great variety in the occupations or grades of those employed. in the latter respect, however, the information given fails to offer a complete idea of the actual situation, since over , men and boys (that is, persons under eighteen years of age) are, as will be seen, classed as "miscellaneous." whatever the further variety in the particular occupations included under this head, it is certain that the railway service affords employment for a greater range and diversity of talent, skill, ability or effort than probably any other single industry or enterprise on the face of the earth. from the general manager to the railway navvy, and from the chief engineer, working out intricate problems calling for a high degree of skill and scientific knowledge, to the boy who helps in the unpretending but necessary work of cleaning the engines, there is opportunity for almost every possible class or type of labour, whether skilled or unskilled. over and above the employees, of all grades, concerned in { }"the working of railways," as here shown, there is a very considerable body of men employed by the railway companies in the building of rolling stock, the making of rails, in the provision of many other requirements, or in the doing of much other work, necessary in the construction, equipment and operation of their lines. the smaller companies are content to buy their rolling stock, and they mostly have repairing shops only; but the larger companies have their own locomotive, carriage and waggon works in which a very considerable volume of employment is afforded to mechanics and labourers who would hardly come under the ordinary designation of "railwaymen" proper; while in this respect the companies concerned may be regarded as not only providers of transport but as, also, in effect, engineers and manufacturers. in order to give the reader some idea of the extent of the employment afforded by these subsidiary branches of what is still actual railway work, i give on the next page a table--for the data of which i am indebted to the companies mentioned--showing the actual or the approximate number of men employed in the leading railway works of the type in question; though it should be added that the figures relate only to the particular works mentioned, and do not include men who may be engaged in engineering or productive work elsewhere on the same company's system. information as to the extent to which the railway companies of the united kingdom in general afford employment in the directions here in question will be found in the "census of production ( )" [cd. ], issued in , included in these returns being three tables which are given under the heading "railways (construction, repair and maintenance of permanent way, plant, rolling stock, etc.)," and relate to ( ) output; ( ) cost of materials used; and ( ) number of persons { }employed. no. of persons company. works. where situated. employed. great central locomotive gorton " " carriage and waggon dukinfield great eastern loco. and carriage stratford, e. " " waggon temple mills, e. great northern loco., carriage doncaster and waggon great western loco., carriage swindon , and waggon lancashire and locomotive horwich yorkshire " " carriage and waggon newton heath london and locomotive crewe north-western " " carriage wolverton " " waggon earlstown london and loco., carriage eastleigh south-western and waggon london, brighton loco., carriage brighton and south coast and waggon " " " " " " " lancing midland locomotive derby " carriage and waggon " north-eastern locomotive gateshead and darlington " carriage and waggon york and heaton " waggon shildon south-eastern locomotive ashford, kent and chatham " " carriage and waggon " " caledonian loco., carriage st. rollax, glasgow and waggon glasgow and locomotive kilmarnock south-western " " carriage and waggon barassie north british loco., carriage cowlairs, glasgow and waggon great northern loco., carriage dundalk (ireland) and waggon midland great loco., carriage broadstone station, western (ireland) and waggon dublin { }it is shown that the total value of all goods manufactured or of the work done by railway companies' employees in construction, maintenance and repair of permanent way, works, buildings, plant, rolling stock, etc. (such values being sums representing only the actual cost of manufacture or work done, and made up of wages, materials and a portion of the establishment charges), amounted for the year to £ , , . the details are grouped under seven different heads, as follows:-- value. £ i. engineering department (new works, repairs, and maintenance):-- permanent way , , roads, bridges, signals, and other works , , station and buildings , , docks, harbours, wharves, and canals , ---------- total--engineering department , , ii. locomotive department:-- engines, tools, &c. (construction and repairs) , , buildings (new works, repairs, and maintenance)--not included under head i. , ---------- total--locomotive department , , iii. carriages, waggons, &c.:-- carriages (construction and repairs) , , waggons (construction and repairs) , , road vehicles for passengers and goods (construction and repairs) , buildings (new works, repairs, and maintenance)--not included under head i. , ---------- total--carriages, waggons, &c. , , iv. waterworks (repairs and maintenance) , v. electric works:-- buildings and lines (new works, repairs, and maintenance) , vi. steamboats (repairs) , vii. other productive departments:-- lamps and fittings for lighting purposes , saddlery and harness , tarpaulins, waggon covers, &c. , clothing , printing , hoists and cranes (if not previously returned under head i.): construction and repairs , gas manufactured for companies' use (not included under other heads) , electricity for stations, &c. , telegraphs and telephones , buildings (not returned under other heads): new { } works, repairs, and maintenance , provender , iron and steel manufactures , grease , trucks, barrows, &c. , other manufactures and work done , ---------- total--other productive departments , , ---------- grand total--goods made and work done , , the cost of the materials used was £ , , . deducting this amount from the total of the foregoing table, there is left a net sum of £ , , to represent wages and establishment charges; though it may fairly be assumed that a good deal even of the £ , , which stands for cost of materials was on account of wages previously paid for the procuring or the preparation of those materials by other than non-railway servants. the total number of persons employed by the railway companies in the manufacture of the goods or in the execution of the work comprised in the statement was , , in the proportion of , wage-earners and salaried persons. this figure of , , however, is not necessarily to be added to the , previously given as the number of railway servants connected with the working of railways. there is nothing to show to what extent the two tables overlap, though overlapping there obviously is, since the first table includes , permanent-way men, while the second table evidently includes the persons employed on permanent-way work, since the value of that work is put down at £ , , . on the other hand, some classes of servants included in the census of production returns are excluded from the railway accidents return, so that although the exact number of persons directly employed by the railway companies of the united kingdom cannot be stated, it must be somewhere between , , the total of the one return, and , , the sum of the totals for both returns. all the figures thus far given relate to work done by persons directly employed by the railway companies themselves; but there is, in addition, a vast amount of work done for the { }railways by independent companies or manufacturers. taking, for instance, railway-carriage and waggon-building factories in the united kingdom, providing for the wants of the smaller companies at home or for railway companies in the colonies or abroad, i find from the census of production that this particular phase of "the railway industry" (for it must needs be regarded as included therein, notwithstanding the fact that a few of the items relate to tramcars, horse vehicles, etc.), led in to an output of goods made or of work done valued at £ , , . the items are:-- £ railway carriages for passengers, and parts thereof , , railway waggons, trucks, etc. , , parts and accessories of railway carriages and waggons, not distinguished , railway wheels and axles complete , tramcars and parts thereof , vehicles for goods, horse-drawn , machinery and accessories , iron and steel manufactures and structural work , other products , ---------- total value of goods made , , repair work (including repairing contracts) , ---------- total value of goods made and work done , , the number of persons engaged in these railway-carriage and waggon-building factories when the census in question was taken was , , namely, , wage-earners, and salaried staff. when one tries to form some idea of the further volume of employment that results from the supply of the thousand and one necessaries which even the most enterprising and independent of railway companies must still procure from outside manufacturers, makers, growers or providers, it is obvious that the railways, both as an industry in themselves and in their dependence, in endless ramifications, on other industries concerned wholly or in part in supplying railway wants, must provide more or less employment for an army of workers vastly in excess even of the aforesaid , or , . in many respects the railway service proper--that is to say, the particular branches thereof which deal with actual { }transport, as distinct from construction and manufacture--offers features that are unique in their way, even if they do not, also, bring about types of workers of a class distinct from those to be found in the majority of other industries. in the latter dependence is being placed more and more on the efficiency of the machinery employed, and the person of greatest importance to them is the machinery-inventor or the machinery-improver. the one who works the machine may require to have a certain degree of skill or dexterity in carrying on the necessary process, but the more nearly he can approach the perfection of his machine and become, as it were, part and parcel of it, the greater will often be his degree of success as a worker. in his case the personal equation hardly counts. he is merely the penny put into the slot in order that the figures may work, and any other man, or any other penny, that fulfilled the requisite conditions might be expected to produce the same results. in railway operation great importance must certainly be attached to the efficiency of the machinery, or of the system; but final success may depend to a very material extent on the efficiency of the unit. everything that human foresight and railway experience can suggest may be done--both in the provision of complex machinery and in the drawing-up of the most perfect rules and regulations--to ensure safe working; yet the ultimate factor in grave issues on which safety or disaster will depend may be a worker who has either risen to, or has failed to meet, a sudden emergency. in this way, not only does the individual unit count, but the individual unit in railway operation may be the atlas upon whose shoulders the railway world does, in a sense, rest. a blunder in an ordinary factory or workshop may involve no more than the spoiling of a machine or the waste of so much material. a blunder on the railway may involve a terrible loss of human life. railway operation is thus calculated to give to the workers engaged in transport a keener sense of responsibility, and to develop therewith a greater individuality, than any other of our national industries. the railway man concerned in operation requires to be capable both of foresight and of initiative. it is said of a certain railway in india that a telegraphic message was one day received at head-quarters from { }a station down the line to the following effect: "tiger on platform. send instructions." in england there is no probability of railway-station platforms being taken possession of by wandering tigers; but if anything equivalent thereto, in the form of a sudden and dangerous emergency not provided for by rules and regulations did arise, the officials on duty would be expected to show alike resource and energy in meeting the circumstances promptly and efficiently, so far as they could, instead of waiting to ask the district superintendent or the superintendent of the line for instructions. independently of the ever-present dangers of actual operation, to which i shall revert later on, the fact of having to deal with such varied types of humanity as are met with on the platforms of a busy railway station, under conditions ranging between the extremes of amiability and irritability, must also tend to sharpen the wits of the average railway worker, and make a different man of him than he would be if he were to spend his working days in feeding a machine in a factory with bits of tin or leather to be shaped into a particular form. nor, whether the railway man be concerned in passenger traffic, in goods transport, or in checking claims and accounts in the general offices, must he fail to be ever on the look-out for those who, though they may be the most honest of men in the ordinary affairs of life, never scruple to defraud a railway company when they can. another factor tending to differentiate the railwayman from the ordinary industrial worker is the sense of discipline--and the consequent subordination of each unit to an official superior--which must needs prevail if a great organisation is to be conducted, not simply with success for the shareholders, but with safety for the public. the maintenance of effective discipline is obviously essential to the safety of railway operation, just as it does, undoubtedly, further help to form the special type of the railway servant. the development of the same type is being fostered to an ever-increasing degree by the special training which junior workers undergo with a view to making them, not only better fitted for the particular post they already occupy, but qualified to succeed to higher positions as opportunities for their advancement may arise. a railway manager is not alone concerned in the working { }of his line, and in the doings of his staff, day by day. he looks forward to the requirements of the line and to the constitution of the staff at least five or ten years hence, and he wants to make sure that, as the experienced men around him are lost to the service, others will be at hand equally, or even still better, qualified to take their place. he further realises that in an undertaking in which, notwithstanding its magnitude, so much depends on the unit, that unit should be encouraged, and enabled, to attain to the highest practicable stage of efficiency. this tendency is leading to results that are likely to be both far-reaching and wide-spreading. it is a matter not only of giving to railway workers, and especially to those in the clerical and operative departments, a higher degree of technical knowledge, but, also, of rendering them equal to responsibility, of fostering their efficiency still further through their social, physical and material well-being, and of retaining them for the railway service notwithstanding (in the case of the clerical staff) the allurements of traders who look upon well-trained goods clerks, especially, as desirable assistants in the counting-house, and seek to attract them with the offer of a somewhat better wage. the training and the higher education of railway workers have undergone important developments alike in the united kingdom, in the united states, in germany, in france, and elsewhere. in the early days of the railway the most eligible person for the position of general manager was thought to be some retired naval or military officer, accustomed to controlling large bodies of men; and the first appointments were based on this principle. but experience soon showed that in undertakings where technical, commercial and economic considerations were all-important, the real recommendations for leading positions were to be found, rather, in proved capacity and in thorough knowledge of railway operation and management. under the company system, as it prevails in the united kingdom and the united states, railwaymen, of whatever class, are now generally taken on as boys, are trained for the position to which they are found to be adapted, and rise to higher posts according to capacity _and_ opportunity--for these must needs go together. in this way it is not unusual for the general { }manager on an english railway to have started as an office boy. many a head of department to-day entered the service as junior clerk, and worked his way up to his present position; there are station-masters who began as ticket clerks; there are guards who gained their first knowledge of railway work as station porters, while engine-drivers are recruited from firemen, and firemen from engine-cleaners. for details as to what the american railway companies are doing in the matter of "education for efficiency in railroad service" i must refer the reader to a bulletin written by j. shirley eaton and published, under this title, by the united states bureau of education. here i can do no more than reproduce the following extract, giving in brief mr eaton's view on the general situation as he finds it on the other side of the atlantic:-- "railroads, as a whole, through a representative body such as the american railway association, should in a comprehensive way take up the matter of the education of railway employees. as they now have committees devoted to standards of construction, maintenance, and operating practice, they should also have a standing committee, of a character to command confidence, who should sedulously foster a closer relation between the railroad and educational agencies. this could be done by roughly grouping railroad service into classes according to the requirements of service, indicating the efficiency required in a broad way, and studying the curricula and course of experience leading up to such efficiency. such a body should officially gather all railroad literature and accumulate the nucleus of a railroad museum. in various ways the teaching force of educational agencies, training toward railroad employ, could be drawn into study and discussion of the practical everyday problems of railroad work. the large public policies involved in railroad operation are to-day left to the doctrinaire or accidental publicist, when they should be a subject of study and effective presentation by the highest grade of trained experts which the associate railroads could draw into their service. on the other hand, such a standing committee could stimulate and guide the practice of railroads in their methods of handling and instructing apprentices. between the instruction and practice in the service on the one side, and the instruction outside { }the service on the other side, they could foster a closer relation, making them mutually supplementary. in developing approved plans for recruiting the service they would necessarily indicate the lines of a more direct access than now exists from the various schools to apprenticeships in the service, and suggest the best methods by which such apprenticeships would be gradually merged into the full status of regular employ at the point of special fitness." on this side of the atlantic the railway servants' education movement has assumed two phases--( ) secondary or technical education of junior members of railway staffs in mechanics' institutions or kindred organisations, created or materially supported by the railway companies, and already carried on during a period of, in some instances, over sixty years; and ( ) a "higher education" movement, of a much more advanced type, developed since about , and conducted either in special classes held at the railway offices or in connection with a university, a mechanics' institution, a local educational body, or otherwise. it is impossible in the space at my command to give a detailed account of what every railway company in the united kingdom is doing in these directions. some typical examples must suffice. to begin with mechanics' institutions and other kindred bodies, these are by no means purely educational in their scheme of operations. they include many social and recreative features which, in effect, should play a no less important part than educational efforts in promoting the general efficiency of the railway worker by helping to give him a sound body, a contented mind, and a cheerful disposition as well as more skilful fingers or a better-cultivated brain. in the united states, judging from what mr eaton says on the subject, all such "welfare" work as this, though carefully fostered, is regarded by the railroad companies as a purely business proposition; and he does not attempt to credit them with any higher motive than regard for the almighty dollar. here, however, while there has been full recognition of the financial value of increased efficiency, the companies have, also, not failed to realise their moral obligations towards their staffs. hence in seeking to promote the welfare of their employees they have been inspired by motives of humanity, { }goodwill and honourable feeling in addition to, or even as distinct from, any pecuniary advantage the shareholders themselves might eventually gain therefrom. crewe mechanics' institution dates back to , when the grand junction railway company provided a library and reading-room, and, also, gave a donation for the purchase of books for the men employed in the railway works then being set up in what was, at that time, a purely agricultural district. in the following year this library and reading-room developed into a mechanics' institution, the primary object of the railway company being to afford to the younger members of their staff at crewe greater facilities for acquiring theory in classes at the institution to supplement the practical knowledge they were acquiring in the works, though the benefits of the institution were also to be open to residents of crewe who were not in the company's employ. the management was vested in a council elected annually by the directors and the members conjointly; and this arrangement has continued ever since. larger premises were provided in , in which year the grand junction combined with the london and birmingham and manchester and birmingham companies to form the london and north-western railway company. the classes were added to from time to time until they covered the whole range of subjects likely to be of service to the students. beginning, however, with the - session, the art, literary and commercial classes which had been held at the institute for sixty-four years were transferred to the local education authority, the institute retaining the scientific and technological subjects. in addition to the ordinary work of the classes, the more recent developments of the "higher education" movement have led to systematic courses of instruction--extending over four-year periods--in ( ) pure science, ( ) mechanical engineering, ( ) electrical engineering and ( ) building construction. an institution diploma is given to each student who completes a course satisfactorily. visits are, also, paid to engineering works, electrical generating stations, etc. most of the teachers are engaged at the crewe works, and the instruction given is thus of the most practical kind. one feature of the institution is the electrical engineering laboratory, provided by the directors of the london and { }north-western railway, who have further arranged for a number of apprentices to attend at the laboratory one afternoon every week to receive instruction, their wages being paid to them as though they were still on duty in the works. there is, also, a mechanics' shop, with lathes, drilling machines, etc., electrically driven. since the directors of the london and north-western have given an annual donation of £ for books to be awarded as prizes to successful students employed in their locomotive department and various other prizes and scholarships, including whitworth scholarships, are also awarded. the institution is affiliated with the union of lancashire and cheshire institutes, the city and guilds of london institute and the board of education, each of which bodies holds examinations and awards prizes and certificates. the library has now over , volumes. in addition to the reading-room the institution has coffee, smoking and recreation-rooms. special attention is being paid to the social side of the institution's work through the appointment of a "teachers' committee for social and recreative development," the particular purpose of this committee being to organise sports and entertainments and to secure the formation of a literary society. at wolverton there is a science and art institute at which many classes are held, and, although none of these are directly under the management of the london and north-western company, as at crewe, the very successful and numerous courses in engineering subjects and railway-carriage building conducted by the committee of management, working in connection with the bucks county council, receive the active support and encouragement of the company's directors. science, commercial, art and domestic economy classes are also held at the l. & n.-w. institute at earlstown, where definite courses of instruction, in groups of subjects, and extending over at least two years, are given. the great eastern railway mechanics' institution, established in at stratford new town, has made generous provision for the education, recreation and social life of employees of that company resident in london, east. the institution comprises a library of volumes; reading-room; baths (patronised by , bathers in the course of { }the year); a large hall for lectures, entertainments, balls or concerts; and a billiard-room, three quoit pitches and a rifle range, the last-mentioned being the gift of the great eastern directors. science, art, technological, commercial and other evening classes to the number of over forty were held in the institution during the session of - . among the subjects taught were: machine construction, applied mechanics, mathematics, electrical engineering, heat-engines, motor-car engineering, rail-carriage building, drawing, book-keeping, shorthand, physical culture, the mandoline and the violin; while still other classes included an orchestral class and ladies' classes in "first aid" and "home nursing." a series of practical classes, in connection with the same institution, is also held during working hours in the great eastern railway company's works at stratford. arrangements are further made to extend the usefulness of these classes by visits to engineering works and electrical generating stations. examinations are conducted in connection with the board of education, the city and guilds of london institute and the society of arts, and prizes, certificates and scholarships are awarded to successful students. the total number of students attending the various classes in - was . the institution at the end of had members, of whom all but were in the employ of the railway company. in the directors of the great eastern railway company gave a further proof of their appreciation of the educational work thus being carried on by granting to employee-students in the locomotive, carriage and waggon department who could fulfil certain conditions leave of absence with full pay for one or more winter sessions of about six months each, in order to afford them increased facilities for taking up the higher branches of technical study. opportunities are also given to such students for visits to manufactories, works in progress, etc. of the twenty-one students who had taken advantage of the arrangements in question down to the end of , four had obtained the university degree of b.sc. (faculty of engineering); four had passed the intermediate examination for the same degree; two had obtained whitworth scholarships, and five had been awarded whitworth exhibitions. { }clubs formed in connection with the institution include an athletic club, a rifle club, a quoit club, a cricket club and a football club. concerts, illustrated lectures and various entertainments are given in the institution during the course of each session. the midland railway institute at derby, also going back to , had a membership in of . classes in french and shorthand are held, but technical subjects are not taught, special facilities in this respect for the company's staff being provided by a large municipal technical college in the town. the institute has a library of over , volumes, a well-stocked reading-room, a dining hall, a restaurant (for the salaried staff), a café (for the wages staff), committee rooms and a billiard-room; while the various associations include an engineering club (which holds fortnightly meetings during the winter months for the reading and the discussion of papers, and, also, pays visits to engineering works), a natural history society (which holds indoor meetings and organises saturday rambles), a dramatic society, a fishing club, a photographic society and a whist and billiard club. a mechanics' institute and technical school opened at horwich in was mainly due to a grant of £ by the directors of the lancashire and yorkshire railway company and to the gift of the "samuel fielden" wing by the widow of that gentleman, for many years a director of the company. in october, , there were members, of whom all but were in the employ of the lancashire and yorkshire railway company. the leading features of the institute include a dining hall, reading, magazine and smoke-rooms, a library of about , volumes, a lecture hall with seating accommodation for persons, the fielden gymnasium, a miniature rifle-range, class-rooms, and chemical and mechanical laboratories. science, art, technical, commercial and preparatory classes are conducted at the institute in connection with the board of education, london, and the instruction given includes a continuous course of study designed to enable engineering students to make the best use of classes of direct service to them. the special arrangements thus made comprise a preliminary technical course (extended over two years), a mechanical engineering course (five years) and an electrical { }engineering course (four years). the classes of the institute (exclusive of those for ambulance work) were attended in - by over students. examinations are conducted by the union of lancashire and cheshire institutes, the royal society of arts, the city and guilds of london institute, and the board of education, and numerous prizes and exhibitions are awarded. useful service from an educational standpoint is also rendered by the institution's engineering and scientific club, at whose meetings the papers read and discussed have been on such subjects as "prevention of waste in engineering," "evaporation and latent heat," "electric motor-cars and their repairs," etc. other affiliated societies or clubs include a photographic society, an ambulance corps and a miniature rifle club (also affiliated to the national rifle association and the society of miniature rifle clubs). popular lectures are given on six saturday evenings during the winter session. other railway institutes are to be found at swindon (great western railway), at vauxhall and eastleigh (london and south-western railway), at york and various other centres on the north-eastern railway, and elsewhere. i pass on to deal with recent developments of the higher education movement in the railway service as operated ( ) by the companies themselves, or ( ) by the companies in combination with outside educational authorities. the great western railway company, on the recommendation of their general manager, sir james c. inglis, inaugurated at paddington station in a school of railway signalling, designed to offer to the employees of the company a definite means by which they could acquire technical knowledge of railway working and management. the classes are conducted by the company's signalling expert, and the instruction given is based on the object lessons afforded by a model railway junction, furnished with a complete set of signalling appliances on the standard lines as laid down by the board of trade requirements. the experiment was so complete a success that similar schools, provided with similar models, have since been set up at various centres throughout the company's system. in the "great western railway magazine" for november, , it was announced that a revised circular dealing with { }these classes was then in course of preparation, and that it would include the following clause, setting out an important amendment of the scheme:-- "in order to maintain the value of the certificates awarded and the standard of efficiency of certificate holders, each holder will in future be invited to sit for re-examination before the expiry of five years from the date of his certificate. endorsement certificates will be awarded to candidates who successfully pass the second and subsequent examinations. this step is felt to be desirable having regard to changing conditions and developments in connection with modern railway working. the date of the last certificate will be taken into account in connection with appointments, promotions, etc." other classes at paddington, controlled by the chief goods manager, afford instruction in railway accounts, and enable the clerical staff to gain a better insight into matters connected with the receipt, transport and delivery of goods, and, also, the preparation of accounts and statistics both for the railway clearing house and for the company's audit office. shorthand classes are also held. annual examinations take place in connection with all these various classes, and the students passing them receive certificates which are naturally taken into account when questions as to advancement arise. on the occasion of the distribution of certificates on january , , the chief goods manager, mr t. h. rendell, said that facilities for gaining information on railway subjects were far more numerous to-day than they were forty years ago, when he joined the service. "continuation classes of any kind," he proceeded, "were then conspicuous by their absence, and practically the only classes of this kind were those held at the birkbeck institute, which he attended, though he had to pay a substantial fee in respect to each subject taken. formerly there was no organised method of acquiring knowledge of railway working, and they learnt to do right chiefly by being blamed for doing wrong." the london and north-western railway company established block telegraph signalling classes in , the instruction given being facilitated by a complete working model of a double-line junction, fitted with signals and { }interlocking; a set of standard block instruments and bells; an electric train staff apparatus for single line working, and various diagrams. the lectures, given in the shareholders' meeting-room at euston by the company's expert in signalling, were attended by students representing nearly all the different departments on the station, and the results of the examinations subsequently held were so satisfactory that the company have since established similar classes at various other centres, in addition. to ensure the general efficiency of their clerical staff the london and north-western company hold ( ) an educational examination which a boy must pass before he enters the service; ( ) a further examination, at the end of two years, to test the clerk's knowledge of shorthand, railway geography and the railway work on which he has been engaged; and ( ) an examination before the clerk's salary is advanced beyond £ per annum, it being necessary for him to show a thorough knowledge of shorthand, and to write a paper on such subjects as block working, train working or development of traffic. the lancashire and yorkshire railway company have also established, at their head offices in manchester, a school for signalling, the complete equipment with which it is furnished including a full-sized lever frame. instruction is given free both to the head office staff and to the staff at the stations within a radius of twelve miles. special lectures, also, have occasionally been given to the staff in the chief engineer's department by that officer's assistants. another feature of the educational work of the lancashire and yorkshire is the sending round to the various locomotive sheds of what is known as an instruction van. a full description of this van will be found in the "railway gazette" for january , . the great central railway company, to meet their requirements more particularly at the head offices and in connection with their continental business, adopted in a scheme designed to enable them to secure the services of a certain number of young men with higher educational qualifications than were usually possessed by those who previously presented themselves for junior clerkships. the company accordingly offer six positions annually to members of the existing staff, under twenty-five years of age, who display the highest standard of knowledge and ability in a competitive { }examination, the successful candidates in each year being promoted to an advanced scale of pay, and taking a "higher grade course of training," which, it is thought, should fit them to hold positions of responsibility in the future. this higher grade course consists of periods of work, varying from three to twelve months, in eight of the principal departments, viz. the engineering, locomotive-running, goods, traffic, rolling stock, stores, marine and general manager's departments. the entire course covers a period of four years. during his stay in each of these departments the student is required to pursue a course of reading in the theory of the work in which he is engaged in that particular section; he is given an opportunity to acquire practical knowledge of the work; he must report at the end of every month to the head of the department on the progress he has made, and, on leaving any one section, he is to send an essay to the general manager, showing the knowledge he has gained. heads of departments or sections are also required to submit confidential reports to the general manager on the ability displayed by the student while under their supervision. the north-eastern railway company have an elaborate educational system which resolves itself into ( ) preliminary tests; ( ) part i., and ( ) part ii., of a secondary examination. the subjects for examination in part i. of the secondary examination are--(i) regulations for train signalling by block telegraph and general rules and regulations; (ii) goods station accounts; (iii) passenger station accounts; (iv) shorthand and typewriting or practical telegraphy. those in part ii. are--railway subjects: (i) railway operating; (ii) railway economics (general); (iii) railway and commercial geography of the united kingdom; (iv) law relating to the conveyance of goods and passengers by railway. other subjects: (v) mathematics; (vi) commercial arithmetic and book-keeping; (vii) methods employed in import and export trade of great britain; (viii) french; (ix) german. instead of examining candidates in nos. v, vi, vii, viii and ix the company will, as a general rule, accept certificates of proficiency in these subjects of recent date obtained at various specified examinations elsewhere. each candidate is required to pass in railway operating and three other subjects, one of which must be (ii), (iii) or (iv) of the railway subjects. { }it will be seen that while the subjects for part i. cover the practical work at a station, those for part ii. deal more with the principles of railway operation. to assist clerks in preparing for these tests the company have issued several brief textbooks; they have arranged for the delivery of series of lectures; they are utilising railway institutes for the purpose of instruction, and they offer facilities for the circulation of standard works on railway subjects. the company also conduct at various centres railway block-telegraph signalling instruction classes fully provided with the necessary apparatus, examinations being held and certificates awarded. coming next to what is being done by educational bodies working in connection with railway companies, reference should first be made to the london school of economics and political science. railway transport is a subject in which the authorities of the school have always taken great interest, and in the session of - a course of lectures on railway economics was given at the school by mr w. m. acworth. on this occasion the great western railway company paid the fees for members of their staff to attend the course. when mr acworth gave a further series of lectures in - , the great eastern railway company also paid the fees for members of their staff who desired to attend. in seven of the leading railway companies gave a definite guarantee which allowed of a more elaborate system of railway instruction being organised at the school (now one of the schools of the university of london, as reconstructed in ). under the scheme in question a complete course of instruction is given in the "history, theory and present organisation of transport," leading up, if desired, to the degree of b.sc. (econ.), with honours in transport. the course is under the general supervision of a "committee of governors on railway subjects," consisting of five prominent members of the railway world. the lectures are as follows:-- (a) courses on railway subjects:-- . railway economics: operating ( lectures). . railway economics: commercial ( ). . economics of railway construction and locomotive operation ( ). . the law of carriage by railways ( ). . the consolidation of english railways ( ). { } (b) courses on subjects useful to railway students:-- . accounting and business methods. part i. ( ). . accounting and business methods. part ii. ( ). . methods and applications of statistics ( ). . mathematical methods of statistics: elementary ( ). examinations are held, and certificates and medals are awarded to successful students. the school of economics has, also, in its library, a collection of works on transport questions which it believes to be the best of the kind in existence. it comprises no fewer than , books, pamphlets, plans, reports, etc., and, as over of these were presented by mr acworth, the name of the "acworth collection on transport" has been given to this unique and invaluable mine of information on everything appertaining to railways and transport at home or abroad. with the university of manchester the lancashire and yorkshire railway company (in addition to what they have done in other directions, as already mentioned) made arrangements in for evening classes on railway economics in the interests of their staff, and these classes have been continued ever since. they are in three-year cycles, and students who go through a complete course have the advantage of receiving, from thoroughly qualified teachers, instruction in the following subjects: railway geography and railway history of the united kingdom and of other leading countries; economic analysis of the railway business in relation to other businesses; motor power and rolling stock; goods traffic; passenger traffic; theory of freight rates; accounts; government in relation to railways; and railway law. the directors of the lancashire and yorkshire pay the fees for any members of their clerical staff within a radius of twelve miles of manchester who desire to attend these classes, and at the close of each session they grant to three of the most promising of the railway students scholarships which are tenable at the university for a further three years, and allow of attendance during the daytime at the classes in political economy, organisation of industry and commerce and accounting. it was in connection with the scheme here in question that { }mr h. marriott, now chief goods manager of the lancashire and yorkshire railway, delivered the excellent course of lectures which, republished by "the railway gazette," under the title of "the fixing of rates and fares," has become a recognised textbook on that subject. in the directors of the same company arranged with the victoria university, manchester, for the delivery of a series of university extension lectures on railway economics at the burnley grammar school, paying the fees of any member of their clerical staff within a radius of twelve miles of burnley who wished to attend. the subjects chosen were "organisation of a railway," "goods traffic," "passenger traffic" and "economics," and each subject extended over three lectures. in the autumn of arrangements were concluded between the north-eastern railway company, the university of leeds and the armstrong (newcastle) university for the giving at those universities of courses of evening lectures on a variety of railway subjects, the company undertaking to pay half the fee for all members of their staff who might wish to attend. finally i would mention, in this connection, that, by arrangement between the midland railway company and the university of sheffield, a course of lectures on economics, to extend over two years, was begun at the midland railway institute, derby, on october , , by mr douglas knopp, the special purpose of the course being to afford to members of the midland railway staff an opportunity of studying, free of expense to themselves, the economic features of modern industrial and commercial problems, including transportation. literary societies and lecture and debating societies, formed by various railway staffs, are another outcome of the aspirations of railwaymen for wider knowledge and increased efficiency. the great western railway literary society, established in , is one of the oldest institutions at paddington. it has a library of , volumes and various social off-shoots. another typical institution, the great western railway (london) lecture and debating society, founded in , serves a useful function in affording opportunities for the reading of papers by heads of departments or other { }qualified persons on subjects likely to be of practical service to members of the staff. it was before this society that the paper on "the government in relation to the railways of the country," referred to on page , was read by mr f. potter, chief assistant to the general manager of the great western railway. apart from the educational, literary or social organisations directly associated with particular railway companies, there are other bodies formed mainly by experts or workers in particular departments of railway construction, maintenance or operation who, whatever their position or attainments, find they are not yet too old to learn, that in the railway world there is always something new, and that advantages are to be gained by themselves from an exchange of views, opinions and experiences, apart from the benefits they may confer on juniors in helping them to advance their knowledge on technical questions. these associations are certainly to be classed among those which promote the "higher education" of the railwayman, though they may also serve various other purposes, social, provident, etc. among organisations of this type the permanent way institution, established in , and incorporated in , occupies a leading position. it seeks to promote among inspectors of way and works a more thorough knowledge of all technical details connected with the discharge of their duties, and it publishes for the use of members, and persons qualified to be members, "information which may be likely to encourage and exert interchange of thought, especially with a view to create a friendly and sympathetic feeling between members and such other persons in their duties and labours, and for mutual help of members in the discharge of the same." sections are formed in important centres throughout the united kingdom, and the reading and discussion at the meetings of the sections of short practical papers by members, dealing mainly with matters appertaining to their employment, is regarded by the institution as an important phase of its system of technical education. the sections are kept well supplied with literature, reports, and communications affording good material for discussion at their meetings, "and much benefit," says a prospectus issued by the institution, "has been derived for the members from this interchange of ideas { }with men in similar capacities in other parts of the world, whereas the former isolation and rare opportunities for intercourse frequently caused narrow-mindedness, prejudice, reservation of manner, and the natural loss of much useful information and experience to both employer and employed." summer meetings, held in a centre where there are features of special interest to railwaymen, are another valuable means for the exchange of ideas between members of the institution, for enabling them to gain fresh experiences, and for promoting social intercourse. these summer meetings have developed into "conventions" lasting a week each, and they are spoken of as having been "of untold benefit to those participating in them." the institution has, also, various beneficent funds. the association of railway locomotive engineers of great britain and ireland is a body whose members have, for a number of years, held two meetings annually--in london in winter, and in the country in summer--for the discussion of matters of interest to railway engineers and to railway companies generally. the institution of signal engineers (incorporated) includes in its objects "the advancement of the science and practice of signalling by discussion, enquiry, research, experiment and other means; the diffusion of knowledge regarding signalling by means of lectures, publications, the exchange of information and otherwise; and the improvement of the status of the signalling profession". only railway signal or telegraph engineers, superintendents in charge of railway signalling, telegraph or kindred work, and qualified engineers in government service are eligible for full membership; but other officers engaged in technical work in engineering departments are eligible for associate membership, while in the autumn of the institution was considering a scheme for student membership and the offering of annual prizes to members of the student class for papers and essays on technical subjects. the association of railway companies' signal superintendents and signal engineers was formed in with the object of affording facilities for the discussion of signalling questions by the chiefs of signalling departments on the railways of the united kingdom. two meetings are held each year at the railway clearing house. a very useful purpose in developing the higher education, { }not alone of railway workers but of the ever-widening circle of those who are interested in railway work, is being served by the railway club, which is established at , victoria street, london, s.w., and has, also, various provincial centres, with district representatives in birmingham, huddersfield, lancaster, glasgow and newhaven. founded in , the club is designed to afford opportunities for bringing together all who are concerned in railway questions in general; though some of the members specialise in locomotive problems, others in traffic problems, and so on. at the london head-quarters there is a club room well stocked with railway papers, and here, also, the members can find a comprehensive library. in the same building monthly meetings are held for the reading and discussion of papers. some of these are of a technical character, appealing only to experts; but subjects of more general interest are also dealt with, the programme for the - session including papers by the rev. w. j. scott (president) on "railway history: - ," and by mr e. j. miller (hon. secretary) on "belgian state railways." meetings are also held in the provincial centres, and visits are paid both there and in london to railway works, running sheds and other places of interest. the utility of the club is greatly enhanced by the publication of its excellent little organ, "the railway club journal." from the details here given it will be seen, not only that the movement for increasing the efficiency of the railway worker, by furthering his training in railway and cognate subjects, has undergone great and varied expansion, but that railway operation and management are coming more and more to be regarded as a science, and one that, with its many problems and complexities, calls for prolonged study, effort and experience on the part of those who would attain to perfection, or even to exceptional knowledge and skill, therein. nor should the said details fail to excite a more sympathetic feeling on the part of the trading and travelling public towards railway workers who find they can attain to greater proficiency, and acquit themselves better of their responsibilities to the public, as well as to their company, by undergoing as much of this training, or by securing as much of this advancement in the technicalities of railway work, as their powers may warrant or their opportunities allow. { }one may further anticipate that, as the various tendencies here in question are developed, there will, not only inside but outside the service, be a greater disposition to adopt the view of the american authority already quoted in his suggestion that "the large public policies involved in railroad operation are to-day left to the doctrinaire or accidental publicist when they should be the subject of study and effective presentation by the highest grade of trained experts which the associate railroads could draw into their service." when this latter result is brought about, whether through the higher education movement or otherwise, not only will the railway service be rendered still more efficient, and not only will even greater advantages be conferred on the country, but the position of the railway interests themselves should be strengthened on questions of state control in regard either to the principles of railway policy or to the details of railway operation. recreation and physical culture, as part of the general scheme which aims at promoting the efficiency and the personal well-being of railwaymen, are fostered in the railway world by the athletic clubs formed by the staffs of the various companies, with more or less official countenance and support, and whether in connection with mechanics' institutes or otherwise. these clubs favour, not only athletics proper but cricket, football, tennis, hockey, bowls, harriers, swimming, angling, etc. they are supplemented by a london railways athletic association, which brings together the members of the different clubs in friendly rivalry, while the various gatherings and competitions have an excellent result--apart from the other advantages they confer--in fostering that social life of the railway service which tends so much to its widespread popularity. mention should, also, be made of the musical societies, the horticultural societies, the rifle clubs, the chess clubs and other organisations. the staff or society dinners, the outings, the smoking concerts and the presentations to retiring colleagues help still further to promote feelings of comradeship, mutual sympathy and goodwill not always to be found to anything like the same extent in commercial undertakings of other types. such sentiments as these continue to be fostered, indeed, after the service has been left, the retired railway officers' society having been formed, { }in , "for the purpose of bringing together those who in past years have held executive positions in the railway service of great britain, the colonies or india, and for the renewal and keeping up of former friendships on the part of gentlemen once associated, in official relations, either on the same or on different railways." the objects of the society are exclusively social and friendly. sobriety being a virtue especially desirable on the part of those to whom so vast a number of the british public daily entrust their lives or limbs, temperance is encouraged in the railway service by the formation of railway temperance unions for all the leading lines. each union has numerous branches, and the various unions constitute, in turn, a federation known as the united kingdom railway temperance union. this movement receives much practical encouragement from railway directors and chief officers, and an active propaganda is carried on. in some places the local temperance union provides a temperance institute where the men employed at a station or in a goods yard can take their meals in comfort or spend their leisure time. the present membership ( ) of the temperance union in connection with the london and north-western railway company is , , spread over districts. the members of the same union in numbered only . thrift in the railway service is facilitated by means of savings banks. one of these, the great western railway savings bank, states in its nineteenth annual report that in it had depositors, who paid in a total of £ , , drew out £ , and had £ , to their credit at the end of the year. the bank pays ½ per cent on deposits up to £ . nor are still higher things overlooked. for over forty years it has been customary for workers in the midland railway locomotive department at derby to meet in one of their mess-rooms at breakfast-time, and, while having their meal, take part in a short religious service conducted by one of their number, a harmonium being provided as an accompaniment to the singing. on the day preceding the christmas holidays the service is devoted entirely to christmas carols or appropriate anthems. a distinct advantage offered by the railway service is that, { }subject to the ability and good conduct of the individual, employment once obtained with a railway company offers a tolerable assurance of permanent and regular work. railway companies do not run the same risk of becoming bankrupt, and of having to wind up their business, that ordinary commercial companies do, and though slackness of work may, indeed, lead to unavoidable reductions of staff, or to reduced time, in the locomotive and carriage works, the full staff will be required on the railway itself to keep it going, whatever the amount of traffic. should the traffic fall off, and become non-remunerative, it is the shareholders who will suffer rather than the railway servants engaged in the running of trains. this fact is of the greater importance because there may be in the railway service certain actual disadvantages, thus referred to in the "report of the departmental committee on railway agreements and amalgamations," issued in may, :-- "the contention of the railway servants as to the specialisation of their industry and the peculiar difficulty they find in changing their employment has a substantial foundation as regards many classes of railway servants. men leaving one railway can seldom rely upon obtaining employment on another, except in the lower grades, as the companies usually have their own men waiting promotion. the value of a railway servant often consists largely in a special skill which is of no worth in other employments." on the other hand, the departmental committee recognise that "one of the main inducements to compete for admission to the railway services is the strong presumption of the permanence of employment during good behaviour"; and they further say that "while it would seem that the rates of pay to all ranks in the railway service do not compare unfavourably with those given in other commercial and industrial occupations, the railway companies undoubtedly profit in the quality of their services by the large range of selection they enjoy owing to the competition for situations under them." on the subject of railwaymen's wages, various considerations arise which tend to make any general assertions, or even carefully prepared "averages" in respect thereto, of little real value. { }the range of employment, from unskilled to highly skilled, is so great in the railway world that to lump together all the different grades, and then strike a so-called "average," which gives too high a figure for one large body of men and too low a figure for another, must needs be far from satisfactory. general averages are further reduced by the inclusion therein of a large number of boys. the table given on pages - shows that the total number of railway servants employed on december , , was , ; but in this total there are no fewer than , boys (including signal-box lads), and their wages, as boys, must needs reduce the average of the wages paid to the adults. if, for example, we add together the six shillings a week paid to a boy of fourteen or fifteen employed as engine-cleaner and the thirty shillings a week paid to a certain grade of signalmen, we get an "average" of eighteen shillings a week for the two; but no one could argue that this result would give a real idea of actual conditions. then the average for the united kingdom is below the average for england and wales because of the inclusion in the former of the wages paid in ireland, where the scale is distinctly lower than is the case of england and wales; whilst the inclusion in the figures for england and wales of the wages for numerous small and none too prosperous lines gives a general average below what would be the actual average on the lines of the leading english companies. subject to these considerations, i reproduce from the board of trade "report on changes in rates and wages and hours of labour in the united kingdom, in ," two tables which give the average weekly earnings of railwaymen in ( ) the united kingdom, and ( ) various parts of the united kingdom separately. the figures are based on information supplied by twenty-seven railway companies, employing over per cent of the total number of railway servants in the united kingdom; they relate to workpeople employed in the coaching, goods, locomotive and engineers' departments, exclusive of clerical staff and salaried officers; and they refer to actual earnings (including overtime), and not simply to rates of wages. the tables are as follows:-- i. united kingdom { } period to which the figures relate. number amount paid in average first week in employed in wages in the weekly earnings december:-- selected week. selected week. per head. £ s. d. , , ¼ , , ¼ , , ½ , , ½ , , ½ , , ¼ , , , , , , ½ , , ii. england and wales, scotland and ireland england and wales. scotland. ireland. average average average weekly weekly weekly number earnings number earnings number earnings year. employed. per head. employed. per head. employed. per head. s. d. s. d. s. d. , ¼ , ½ , , ¼ , ¼ , ¼ , ½ , ½ , , , ¼ , ½ , ¼ , ¾ , ¾ , ½ , ¼ , ½ , ¾ , ½ , ¼ , ¼ , ½ , ¼ , ½ , ¾ , , ½ , , whatever the precise amount of the remuneration received, allowance must be made for various subsidiary advantages of the railway service. free uniforms or clothes are given to various grades, the recipients thereof on one of the leading lines including station-masters, district police and traffic inspectors, platform inspectors, yard inspectors, passenger guards, ticket collectors, foremen porters and foremen parcel porters, foremen shunters, brakesmen, shunters, signalmen, parcel porters, vanmen and { }boys, porters, sergeants and policemen, telegraph messengers, sleeping-car attendants and corridor attendants. passenger guards, for example, get a summer coat and vest every two years, winter coat and vest every two years, summer trousers every year, winter trousers every year, topcoat every three years, mackintosh every four years (main line) or every three years (local line), belt (main line) when required, cap every year, and two neckties every year. the amount which a man saves by the supply of this free clothing naturally adds proportionately to the actual value of his position. on many of the lines the companies have provided for their workers a considerable amount of cottage accommodation, with gardens and allotments, charging rentals which yield little more than a nominal return on the capital expenditure. the glasgow and south-western railway company have organised, at cockerhill, a model village for the accommodation of the principal section of the locomotive staff employed in the engine-sheds there. purchase of land and construction of buildings involved the company in an expenditure of £ , . to-day the village has a total population of persons. each tenant gets three large rooms and a kitchen for a rental of £ a year, _plus_ local rates, which amount to about s. a year. attached to every house is a plot of ground where the tenant can grow his own vegetables, or cultivate his favourite flowers. the centre of social life in the village is the railway institute, a commodious building erected by the company, and still maintained to a certain extent at their cost. administration of the affairs of this institute is entrusted to a general committee of thirty-two of the tenants, elected annually, and having different subcommittees, each of which takes charge of a particular phase of the work. the institute has a hall (reserved on sundays for religious meetings of a strictly non-sectarian character), reading and recreation-rooms, library and baths. the village also has a fire brigade, a children's savings bank, and a committee for the organisation of ambulance work. a rent club, the subscription to which is one penny a week, ensures for its members the continued payment of their rent in the event of their being absent from work on account of sickness. still another advantage offered to the tenants is { }that of a season ticket between cockerhill and glasgow for themselves or for members of their household at the nominal charge of five shillings a year. one of the latest developments in connection with the housing of railway companies' workers has been on the great eastern railway, the chairman of the company, lord claud hamilton, saying at the half-yearly meeting on july , :-- "we have been asked by a portion of our staff to do something for them in respect of cottages, for although in some districts they can obtain adequate lodging, in other districts it is exceedingly difficult to obtain, at a reasonable rent, the decent accommodation which they require. now that our prospects are improving, we have settled as from the st of july to spend £ , a year on cottages for our workmen. it is not a large sum, but it is as much as we can afford, and i must tell you we can only expect to get, at the most, ½ per cent interest on that money. but although that is a low rate of interest, and not remunerative, the extra comfort, satisfaction and happiness which these men and their families will derive from healthy and adequate accommodation repays us, i am sure, indirectly, over and over again in their more willing service to their employers." railwaymen have, again, exceptional opportunities for getting cheap holidays. in addition to the regular holidays given to members of the salaried staff, most of the grades of the wages staff who have a certain period of service to their credit get from three to six days' holiday a year, with pay. in some cases the railway company provide special trains enabling their employees in some railway colony--swindon, for example--to take a holiday _en masse_, the said colony becoming, temporarily, a deserted village. the free passes given to members of the staff are sometimes available for travel over the lines of other companies as well. the concession, also, to railway servants of what are known as "privilege tickets" enables them and their families to travel at exceptionally low rates. these tickets are granted so freely that the number issued by one company alone during the course of a single year has been nearly , . provision for the railwayman's old age is assured by { }superannuation funds in the case of the salaried staff and by pension funds in the case of the wages staff. the whole question in regard to the standing of these funds was investigated by a departmental committee which was appointed by the board of trade in , and presented its report [cd. ] in . it was the position, more especially, of the superannuation funds that gave rise to the uneasiness leading up to the appointment of this committee. the earliest of the said funds was started by the london and north-western railway company in , and other companies followed the example thus set, the committee reporting on, altogether, fifteen superannuation funds brought to their notice. at first no doubt was felt as to the stability of the funds; but when the railway companies, with a view to maintaining the efficiency of the service, enforced the retirement of officers at the age of sixty-five, or in some cases at the otherwise optional age of sixty, heavier demands were made on the funds at the same time that the benefits were being increased. actuarial investigations disclosed substantial deficiencies, and some of the companies sought to cover these by abandoning actuarial valuations altogether and guaranteeing payment of claims out of their revenue, this being in addition to the ordinary contributions which, in one form or another, all the companies were making to the funds. a certain want of uniformity followed, and the committee now made various recommendations in regard to the future working both of the fifteen superannuation funds and of seventeen pension funds applying to the wages staff. there is no need here to enter into the details of the actual or proposed arrangements. suffice it, therefore, to point to the existence of these funds, with their accumulated reserves of close on £ , , , as designed to assure the future of nearly , railwaymen, over and above whatever salary or wage they may receive while in active employment. the railway guards' universal friendly society was established in to encourage thrift and to provide, among other benefits, permanent pay for life to disabled members and annuities for the widows and orphans of deceased members. the total amount expended in relief down to the end of { }was over £ , , and there were then members and widows in receipt of life allowances amounting to £ per annum. further provision either for railwaymen themselves in times of distress or for their widows and orphans is made through various organisations which are supported by the contributions alike of railway servants, of the railway companies and of the general public. at the head of these excellent bodies stands the railway benevolent institution, which attained its jubilee in . the objects in view, as summarised by lord claud hamilton at the fifty-third annual dinner on may , , are: ( ) to grant permanent annuities to railway officers and servants in distressed circumstances; ( ) to grant permanent pensions to widows in similar circumstances; ( ) to educate and maintain orphan children between six and fifteen years of age, and then give them a start in life; ( ) to give by gratuities and by contingent annuities temporary assistance until permanent relief can be secured from the funds of the institution; ( ) to grant gratuities from the casualty fund to injured servants and to widows of deceased servants; ( ) to enable officers and servants to insure their lives in the best approved companies on special terms; and ( ) to relieve distress whether arising among subscribers or non-subscribers. no fewer than , railwaymen of all classes are subscribers in one form or another to the funds of the institution, which, apart from amounts given as gratuities, conferred its benefits in on , annuitants and children, the total outgoings for the year under all heads being £ , . to particularise only one phase of this varied activity, the number of children--mainly orphans of railwaymen killed in the service--who have been educated in the great railway orphanage at derby (a branch of the institution) has been over . another leading railway charity, the united kingdom railway officers and servants' association, founded in to grant assistance in time of distress and necessity to railway officers and servants, their widows and orphans, held its jubilee festival on april , , when viscount castlereagh, m.p., who presided, announced that since the establishment of the association the relief afforded had been as follows:-- £ s. d. { } annuitants , sickness , widows and members, at death , orphans , special grants , total , of great advantage, also, to railway workers is the railwaymen's convalescent home, opened at herne bay, kent, in , with its recent extension in the form of a similar home at leasome castle, wallasey, cheshire, to which, by permission of king george, has been given the title of "the king edward vii memorial convalescent home for railwaymen." the london and south-western railway servants' orphanage was originally opened at clapham, in , for children whose fathers, at the time of their death, were in the employ of the railway company. since july, , it has been located in a commodious range of buildings erected at woking, surrey, for the purpose. from the time the orphanage was first opened over children have been admitted to its benefits. thanks to a generous benefaction left by the late mr f. w. webb, locomotive superintendent of the london and north-western railway company, the railway colony at crewe is acquiring an orphanage which will accommodate twenty girls and twenty boys, the construction cost being estimated at about £ , , while a further sum of £ , will be available for the purposes of the endowment of what has, appropriately, been named "the webb orphanage." in appreciation of the value of the services rendered by mr webb to the company, and as an indication of their sympathy with the institution, the directors of the london and north-western railway company have subscribed £ towards the funds of the orphanage. in addition to such support as they may render, directly or indirectly, to the recognised railway beneficent organisations, the railway companies of the united kingdom contribute to various other institutions and associations, of various character, not directly controlled by them, and not for the exclusive benefit of their servants. such contributions are reported to the board of trade, which issues an annual { }return on the subject. among those for were the following:-- £ s. d. hospitals, infirmaries and dispensaries , convalescent homes and nursing associations ambulance, medical, surgical aid and truss societies benevolent and friendly societies, orphan asylums, etc. mechanics', seamen's and fishermen's institutes , church funds , missions schools and technical institutes , these contributions are made by the railway companies not so much, presumably, from motives of ordinary philanthropy, but in return, more or less, for benefits derived, or that might be derived, from the institutions in question by members of their staffs. adding these further subsidiary advantages to the educational, social and recreative facilities offered by the institutes, societies and clubs already spoken of, it will be seen that there is more to be taken into account in regard to the railway service in general than the question of wages alone, and especially so when the statements concerning wages are based on "averages." having seen what are the advantages of the railway service, we may pass on to consider some of its possible disadvantages. a return issued by the board of trade in august, , gives the latest available information as to the once much-discussed question of railway servants' hours of labour. the special interest in this subject lies, of course, in the fact that if men engaged in the movement of trains work excessive hours the risk of accident is increased; and the board of trade are authorised, under the act of , to call for particulars of the hours of labour of railway servants. at one time the returns published were presented in such a way as to make the position appear much worse than really was the case, even after allowing for unavoidable delays from fog, snowstorms, floods, fluctuations in traffic, and breakdowns or other unforeseen mishaps which have been, and must needs be, contributory causes of prolonged hours of duty. thus, if an engine-driver, having taken a train to some distant station, returned home comfortably seated in a third-class carriage, he counted in the official returns as being on duty, { }as though he were still undergoing the strain of driving the engine instead of being occupied, perhaps, in smoking his pipe, or having a doze. following on protests by the railway companies, the returns are now published in a form less open to criticism, while the agitation raised has also led the companies to make further efforts to prevent the occurrence of excessive hours of labour as far as possible. the return for may, , dealing with , servants in certain grades (guards, brakesmen, enginemen, signalmen, examiners), who worked during that month a total of , , days, shows that the number of days on which the men were on duty for periods exceeding twelve hours by one hour and upwards amounted to , , or only . per cent of the total days worked. one of the greatest drawbacks in the railway service lies in the risks of accident. the extent of these risks is shown by the general report of the board of trade on accidents on railways of the united kingdom during . from this i find that the number of railway servants killed in "train accidents" in was nine, and the number injured was . of these, eight were killed and were injured in the work of running trains; and the proportions of these last-mentioned figures to the total number ( , ) of engine-drivers, firemen and guards employed on december , , were: killed, one in ; injured, one in . considering that the number of miles run by trains on the railways of the united kingdom in was , , , the figures given as to injuries or fatalities to railway servants through actual train accidents do not constitute a bad record. they suggest, rather, both the extreme care with which the railway servants concerned discharge their duty and the effectiveness of the precautions taken in the interests of themselves as well as of the travelling public. excluding train accidents, the numbers of accidents to railway servants due to the "movement of trains and railway vehicles" in the same year were: killed, ; injured . the number of railway servants exposed to danger from the movement of railway vehicles being , , the proportion of accidents to number employed was: killed, one in ; injured, one in . when these last-mentioned figures in regard to injured are { }compared with the averages for earlier years, there appears to be a substantial increase; but a "note" thereon is given in the official returns to the following effect: "an order of the board of trade on the st december, , required non-fatal accidents to be reported whenever they caused absence from ordinary work for a whole day (instead of absence preventing five hours' work on any of the next three days). this alteration caused a large apparent increase in the number of non-fatal accidents in and later years." the details in regard to the killed afford, therefore, safer guidance if one wishes to see whether the various appliances, precautions and regulations adopted by the railway companies to ensure the greater safety of those of their servants who are exposed to danger from the movement of railway vehicles are having the desired effect. turning to table x in the official returns, i extract therefrom the following figures:-- proportion of killed year. to numbers employed. - (average) in - " " - " " " here, therefore, we have distinct evidence of improvement in the element of risk in railway operation. a third group of accidents to which railway servants are liable relates to those that arise in the handling of goods, in attending to engines at rest, or in other ways not connected with the movement of trains or of railway vehicles. here the figures for are: killed, ; injured, , . "the number of injured is large," says the return, "but the proportion of serious injuries is smaller than it is in the case of railway accidents proper, and it will be seen that the proportion of killed to injured is relatively low." the proportion of killed, in this third group, to the average number of railway servants exposed to risk was one in , , and the proportion of injured was one in . a considerable number of accidents in railway goods sheds and warehouses which at one time were included in the returns of accidents in factories are now included in the returns of railway accidents. liability to accident, whether grave or slight, lends additional importance to the encouragement given to { }railwaymen by their companies to acquire a knowledge of "first aid" and general ambulance work. ambulance corps or classes are now not only general but highly popular throughout the railway system. instruction is given by qualified teachers; certificates, vouchers, medallions or labels are presented to those who pass the examinations held, and not only do competitions for money or other prizes take place between teams representing the various districts of a single company's system, but an inter-railway challenge shield is annually competed for by the picked experts of the various companies, the winning of this shield being regarded as conferring a great honour on those who achieve the victory for their company. i have here sought to give a comprehensive survey of the railway service, as a national industry, alike from its economic and from its human side, conveying some idea--even if wholly inadequate--of its extent and widespread ramifications, and showing the various influences, educational, social and otherwise, that are eminently calculated both to create a "railway type" and to give to the service characteristics that distinguish it in many respects from any other of our national industries. while not being, perhaps, actually an ideal industry--and there are very few workers, of any rank, who would be prepared to admit that their occupation in life was absolutely free from drawbacks--the railway service offers, as we have seen, many advantages. it is, in fact, really a "service," and not simply a means of employment. one might regard it as the equivalent of a civil service operated on commercial lines. workers in all of the many classes or grades "enter the service," as they are accustomed to say, when they are young, and they generally do so with the idea of spending their lives in it, and retiring on superannuation allowance or a pension in their old age. railway managers, too, want workers who come to stay. in the united states women typists are being gradually got rid of on the railway because they so often retire at the end of two or three years and get married, the experience of office work they have gained in that time being thus lost to the company. consequently american railway managers are now showing a preference for male workers who will regard { }the service in the light of a future career rather than in that of a temporary employment. that the railway service is a popular one is shown by two facts: ( ) the invariably large surplus of candidates over available vacancies; and ( ) the long-service records of many of the railway workers. in regard to the former of these points, it will suffice to say that the chairman of one of the leading english railway companies has stated that in the number of applicants for appointments on the staff of his company alone in excess of the number for whom places could be found was over , . as regards long service, instances of from forty to fifty years' work for one and the same railway company are so common that they hardly call even for passing mention. more exceptional was the case of the worker on the great western whose father had served the company for forty-one years, and who himself retired at the end of forty-two years, leaving a son who had then been with the company twenty-three years--a total of years for one family, during three generations. in another instance four generations employed successively on the great western showed a total of years; but even this record is surpassed by that of a cardiff family. the founder of the dynasty joined the great western in . he remained with the company forty-two years, and left with them two sons, of whom one served forty-five years, and the other forty-two years. each of these two sons had five boys, and all ten followed the example of fathers and grandfather in becoming servants of the same company, keeping their positions for periods ranging from six to thirty years. the fourth generation is represented by four members, one of whom has already been with the company for over ten years. the total service of those members of the family who were still working on the great western a year or two ago was years, and the aggregate for the four generations was then over years. each of the workers concerned has been employed in the locomotive department. notwithstanding the general popularity of the railway service, agitations and strikes have occurred from time to time; though down to most of these arose in connection { }with questions of conditions of labour in regard to particular lines of railway. in an agitation was promoted by the amalgamated society of railway servants in favour of what was called a "national all-grades programme" of demands for higher wages, reduced hours, etc.; and there was a further demand that the negotiations in respect thereto should be carried on through the officers of the amalgamated society of railway servants. the companies declined to grant the concessions asked for in the "programme," alleging that to do so would involve them in a wholly impracticable increase in their working expenses. it was subsequently stated that acceptance of the "programme" would have increased the expenditure of the companies by between £ , , and £ , , per annum; that the cost to the london and north-western railway company alone would have exceeded £ , per annum, equal to ¼ per cent of the company's dividend; that on the london and south-western it would have been equal to a two per cent dividend on the ordinary stock; and so on with other companies in like proportion. in the result the demand for the concession of the "programme" became subordinate to the demand of the a.s.r.s. for "recognition"; but this, again, was refused by the railway companies on the ground, not alone that the membership of the society included only a minority of the men qualified to join but, also, and more especially, because "recognition," involving the carrying on of negotiations through the union leaders, would, it was argued, lower the standard of discipline in a service where considerations of the public interests, and especially of the public safety, made it a matter of paramount importance that a high standard of discipline should be maintained. threats of a general railway strike caused much alarm, and led the government to intervene. the negotiations carried on at the board of trade were based mainly on the possibility of arranging some system of conciliation by means of which further disputes would be avoided; and eventually a four-fold scheme was arranged, comprising, in the case of each company accepting it, ( ) consideration of applications by officers of the department concerned; ( ) sectional { }conciliation boards; ( ) a central conciliation board, and ( ) the eventual calling in of an arbitrator if the matters in dispute should still be undecided. forty-six companies adopted the scheme. the conciliation boards were elected; agreements were in many instances arranged as the result of their proceedings; and, where no settlement could be arrived at by the boards, arbitration was resorted to. dissatisfaction with the course of procedure and its results was, however, expressed from time to time more especially by members and officers of the amalgamated society of railway servants; and such dissatisfaction became acute during the prevalence of the "labour unrest" which spread throughout the country in the summer and early autumn of , affecting, more especially, the various transport services. joint action was now taken by the amalgamated society of railway servants, the associated society of locomotive engineers and firemen, the general railway workers' union and the united pointsmen and signalmen's society. at the outset attempts had been made to show that the railwaymen had some genuine grievances against the conciliation boards on account of their "slowness," etc.; but it soon became apparent that the trouble was mainly based on fresh demands for "recognition." on tuesday, august , representatives of the four societies issued from liverpool an ultimatum in which they offered the railway companies "twenty-four hours to decide whether they were prepared to meet immediately members of those societies to negotiate the basis of settlement of the matters in dispute"; and they added: "in the event of this offer being refused, there will be no alternative than to respond to the demands now being made for a national railway stoppage." the railway companies expressed their firm resolve to adhere to the principle of conciliation, and on the following thursday the "signal" was given for a general railway strike. only about one-third of the railway workers responded, and, though great and very grave inconvenience and loss were caused in some parts of the country, there was (owing, in part, to the calling out by the government of a large body of troops to protect the railway operations) no such "paralysis" of the railway traffic in general as had been threatened, while { }public opinion was distinctly unsympathetic towards the strikers. meanwhile active steps had been taken by the government to effect a settlement, and late on the saturday night (august ) an agreement was drawn up and signed by the parties to the negotiations. under this agreement the men were to return to work forthwith; pending questions were to be referred to the conciliation boards, while the government undertook to appoint, at once, a royal commission to investigate the working of the conciliation and arbitration scheme, and report what changes, if any, were desirable with a view to the prompt and satisfactory settlement of differences. it was further announced that the government had given an assurance to the railway companies that they would propose to parliament in the session of legislation providing that an increase in the cost of labour due to the improvement of conditions of the staff would be a valid justification for a reasonable general increase of charges within the legal _maxima_, if challenged, under the act of . two statements, giving the result of the negotiations, were issued by the board of trade on the night of august . in one of these it was announced that mr claughton (chairman of the london and north-western railway company) and sir guy granet (general manager of the midland railway company), who represented the railway interests at the conference, had "stated that the recommendations of the commission would be loyally accepted by the railway companies, even though they be averse to the contention of the companies on any question of representation, and, should a settlement be effected, any trace of ill-will which might have arisen during the strike would certainly be effaced." in the other of these official announcements it was said: "assurances have been given by both parties that they will accept the findings of the commission." the statements were repeated in "the board of trade labour gazette" for september, . the royal commission, which consisted of five members, viz. sir david harrel (chairman), sir thomas r. ratcliffe ellis, mr arthur henderson, m.p., mr c. g. beale and mr john burnett, held twenty-five sittings, between august { }and october , for the purpose of taking evidence, the witnesses examined by them during this period including thirty-four on behalf of the various railway workers' unions, ten non-unionist workers and twenty-three representatives of the railway companies. the case presented on behalf of the railwaymen's unions was, in effect: ( ) that the working of the conciliation and arbitration scheme had in various respects been very unsatisfactory, and changes therein or alternatives thereto were recommended, though in regard to the details of these changes and alternatives the witnesses did not all agree among themselves; ( ) that "recognition" of the unions, allowing of the labour unions officials--with, as was said, their "trained and experienced minds"--taking part in the negotiations with the railway companies, was essential to full justice being done to the men, who were either not competent to state their own claims or might have their position in the service prejudiced; ( ) that such recognition would be in the interests of industrial peace because of the increased powers of the unions in enforcing the maintenance of any bargains that were made; ( ) that discipline on the railways would be strengthened if the men were confident that there would be an impartial investigation of their complaints; and ( ) that, as the principle of recognition was accepted in other great industries, the railway companies were not justified in refusing it to their own men. on the other side it was contended ( ) that much of the disappointment felt at the results of the awards--which had, nevertheless, led to substantial concessions being made--was due to the unreasonable hopes raised by the "national programme," and that, although certain modifications might be made in the conciliation scheme, the principle thereof was sound, while the companies had made a "tremendous departure" by themselves proposing, in , in the interests of peace, to concede the principle of arbitration, which involved the "revolutionary" step of taking from the directors the power of deciding what the rates of payment and the hours of labour of their workmen were to be; ( ) that the four unions concerned still included only about one-fourth of the men, and that "recognition" of them would inevitably lead to interference with questions of management and { }discipline, without--as shown by the experiences of the north-eastern railway, where "recognition" had not prevented the occurrence of repeated disputes--offering any guarantee for peace, while a partial strike on certain of the irish lines during the sittings of the royal commission was pointed to as showing that the union officials were unable to control their members; ( ) that the allegations as to railwaymen being unable or afraid to present their case to their own companies were unfounded, and that the real object aimed at in demanding "recognition" of the union officials was to coerce non-unionists into joining the unions which, with their increased membership, would then be in a better position to force the railways to agree to all demands; ( ) that if the companies were compelled to accept "recognition," with all the risks it would involve, they should, at the same time, be relieved of their present responsibilities in respect to the public safety and public interests; and ( ) that no analogy, in regard to "recognition," could be drawn between the railways, the continuous operation of which was essential to the wellbeing of the community, and ordinary commercial undertakings, which could suspend their working with only a limited degree of inconvenience to the public, or none at all. the commissioners, in their report, issued october , , declared that in their opinion it was of the utmost importance that the initial stage of conference between the men and the companies--apt to be regarded as simply a preliminary to the later stages under the settlement scheme--should not only be maintained but facilitated. they recommended the abolition, as "redundant," of the central boards and the reference to the sectional boards of "any matter dealing with hours, wages, or conditions of service, except questions of, or bearing upon, discipline and management." each sectional board should have a chairman selected from a panel to be constituted by the board of trade, but such chairman should be called on to act (virtually as arbitrator) only in the event of the sectional board being unable to agree. the men should be free to combine in the same person the duties of men's secretary and advocate at all meetings of the board, and be at liberty to appoint to such post "any suitable person, whether an employee of the company or a person from outside"; though this arrangement was "not intended { }to prevent the men from obtaining the services of a special advocate before the chairman." much dissatisfaction with the report--and mainly so on account of what was regarded as a wholly inadequate extension of the principle of recognition--was expressed by the men's leaders and endorsed at meetings of the men's societies, where demands were made for a general strike on a greater scale than before, while the leaders repudiated any suggestion that they had given a pledge to accept the findings of the royal commission of inquiry. a new national programme of improved conditions was put forward, but simultaneously therewith various of the leading railway companies announced revisions of their rates of wages as applying to the lower grades among their workers. in the case of the great western railway company it was reported that between , and , men would benefit from the concessions, the immediate cost of which to the company would be £ , per annum, with an eventual cost, at the end of three or four years, of £ , per annum. the london and north-western company announced increases amounting in the aggregate to £ , a year, these being an addition to increases already made, under the arbitrator's award, at a cost to the company of £ , a year. the midland railway company gave notice that from november the minimum rate of pay for all adult members of their staff would be s. per week if employed in london, s. per week in certain large towns, and s. per week at all other places, the actual advances thus made to individual workers ranging from s. to s. the week. material concessions were also announced by the great central and the caledonian, and intimation was given by other companies that they had the matter under consideration. all these concessions were, however, apparently disregarded by leaders of the extremest section among the men, who declared, in effect, that they would be satisfied with nothing short of recognition. in the week ending november representatives of the men's unions held a four-days' conference in london to consider what action should be taken, and there would seem to have been some hope on their part that, influenced by the threat of a further general strike, the government would { }exercise its influence with a view to inducing representatives of the railway companies to meet the other signatories of the august agreement and discuss with them the terms of the report. on november the prime minister, mr buxton and sir george askwith did confer with selected representatives of the companies at downing street. no official announcement was made as to the result, but this was evidently well indicated by the following statement in "the times" of november :-- "we understand that the attitude of the directors of the railways of the country collectively is that, while they are prepared to carry out to the full the whole of the recommendations of the inquiry commission, they are not prepared to go any further." later in the same day the joint executive committee of the railway unions informed the press that they had decided to take a ballot of their members--the papers to be returnable by december --on the question as to whether or not they were prepared to accept the findings of the royal commission and, also, "to withdraw their labour in favour of the recognition of trade unions and of a programme of all railwaymen," to be agreed upon by members of the joint executive committee. whatever may be the final outcome of all these controversies, the position in regard to the troubles both of and has obviously been most materially, if not, indeed, mainly, influenced by questions of trade union recognition which do not necessarily cast any reflection on the railway service itself, or detract from it as being one of the most important, most popular and most sought after of our national industries. { }chapter xxix tramways, motor-buses and railless electric traction in previous chapters i have shown that the first great highway for the citizens of london passing from one part of the capital to another was the river thames; that the livelihood of the watermen became imperilled by the competition successively of private carriages, hackney coaches, and cabriolets, or "cabs"; and that these, in turn, had afterwards to face the competition of omnibuses. a still further development, leading to competition with the omnibuses, was brought about by the re-introduction of the tramway, for the purposes of street transport. it was in the united states that street tramways first came into vogue, and it was by an american, george francis train, that the pioneer tramway of this type in england was laid at birkenhead at the end of the ' 's. a few other short lines followed, and some were put down--without authority--in certain parts of london, only, however, to be condemned as a nuisance on account of the hindrance to other traffic. it was not until that lines laid in liverpool secured public favour for the innovation. fresh tramways were laid in london between and , and others followed in glasgow, edinburgh, dublin and elsewhere. all the early lines were operated by horses; but various expedients were resorted to with the idea both of obtaining greater speed and of carrying more persons at comparatively less cost. among these expedients were steam locomotives and underground cables, the latter for cars furnished with a grip attachment conveying to them the movement of the cables, as operated by machinery at a central depôt. the greatest impetus to the street tramway system came, however, with the application of electricity as the motive power. the first line opened on the "trolley" system of overhead { }wires, conveying electric current to the cars, was in kansas city in . electric tramways were tried in leeds in , and the system was afterwards adopted in many other towns. underground conduit and surface-contact systems were also employed, with a view to avoiding overhead wires, to which widespread objection was, especially at first, entertained; but the latter system has been the one generally adopted. development of the tramway system in england was slow on account, not of any lack of enterprise on the part of business men, but of the discouraging nature of tramway legislation. just about the time when the original horse tramways began to come into vogue certain local authorities were cherishing strong grievances against the gas and water companies in their districts. they complained that the charges of these companies were extortionate and that the terms they asked, when invited to dispose of their undertakings to the said local authorities, were excessive. the companies, nevertheless, controlled the situation because their parliamentary powers represented a permanent concession, and because, also, they were able to fix their own price in any negotiations upon which they might be invited to enter. when the introduction of another public service, in the form of street tramways, seemed likely to create still another "monopoly," it was thought desirable to prevent the tramway companies from attaining to the same position as that of the gas and water companies. powers were accordingly granted to enable the local authorities, if they so desired, to acquire the undertakings, at the end of a certain period, on terms which would be satisfactory to themselves, at least. it was motives such as these that inspired some of the main provisions of the tramways act of , the full title of which is "an act to facilitate the construction and to regulate the working of tramways"; though in a statement presented to a committee on electrical legislation of the institution of electrical engineers, in , the late sir clifton robinson, manager of the london united tramways company, declared that "if it had been described as an act to discourage the construction of tramways it would have better described the action of some of its clauses." the act did, undoubtedly, confer certain advantages on { }tramway promoters, as well as on local authorities, since it abolished the obligation previously devolving upon them to obtain--as in the case of a railway company--a private bill in respect to each fresh line they desired to construct. it authorised them to apply, instead, to the board of trade for a provisional order which, on its formal confirmation by parliament, would have all the force of a private act. in this way the procedure was both simplified and rendered less costly. on the other hand, the act of laid down ( ) that the assent of the local and road authorities to a new line of tramway should be obtained; though where the assent of authorities in respect to two-thirds of the mileage was secured the board of trade might dispense with that of any other objecting authority; ( ) that the frontagers were also to have a power of veto; ( ) that the original concession should be granted for a period of twenty-one years only; and ( ) that at the end of such period, or at the end of any subsequent period of seven years, the local authorities should have the option of acquiring the tramway at the "then value" of the plant, without any allowance for compulsory purchase, goodwill, prospective profits or other similar consideration. so long as these provisions applied to horse tramways only, the companies may not have found them specially oppressive, inasmuch as there was still a prospect of their being able to make a profit within the twenty-one-year period before they were compulsorily bought out at "scrap-iron" rates, while they could expect to realise the value of their stock of horses; though, in effect, the statutory obligations meant, even then, that towards the end of their tenure the tramway company did not spend a single shilling on the line more than was absolutely necessary to keep it in working order until the day of their eviction arrived, generally grudging even a coat of paint for the cars and refraining from any avoidable labour on the roadway. individuals, and especially foreign visitors, unacquainted with the facts of the case, might well have considered some of the old tramway systems a discredit to the country. when electric traction for tramway operation was introduced, there was a natural expectation on the part of the british public that the tramway companies would adopt it { }in place of horse traction. the companies were hampered, however, by the act of , which remained in force though a complete revolution in the conditions of street rail-transport was being brought about. the substitution of electricity for horse-power meant ( ) the provision of power stations, sub-stations and new car depôts; ( ) the fixing of overhead wires, together with fresh track-work, in the streets; ( ) the use of a heavier type of car; and ( ) the running of a much more frequent service, since only under these conditions can an electric tramway possibly be made to pay. all these things involved a very substantial increase in the capital outlay, and companies may well have hesitated to incur so great an expense with the prospect of only a twenty-one years' tenure before them; while the position was even more hopeless in the case of companies whose tenure had already half expired. the dissatisfaction of the public when they found that the tramway system of the country was not being brought up to date, and compared most unfavourably with tramway systems abroad, gave to the local authorities an apparent justification both for providing and for operating tramways as a special phase of municipal enterprise. at the time the act of was passed it was assumed that, although local authorities might construct or acquire tramways, they would certainly lease them to private companies to operate.[ ] in proportion, however, as the movement for municipal enterprise developed, local authorities were the more inclined to operate tramways in addition to owning them. there was no general act giving them authority so to do, but the difficulty was overcome by the insertion in local bills of clauses giving to the local bodies promoting the bills power to operate their own tramways, the reason advanced being that there were difficulties in the way of leasing the lines to companies on satisfactory conditions. matters were not left entirely in the hands of the municipalities, various tramway companies having sought, as their twenty-one years' tenure came to a close, to make such arrangements as would warrant an adaptation of their existing { }system to electric traction; while other companies applied for powers to construct new lines or extensions of lines on the same system. parliament had certainly sanctioned a longer period of tenure than twenty-one years when the promoters could make an arrangement to this effect with the local authorities concerned; and it was hardly likely that a company would incur the great expense of constructing an entirely new tramway, with electrical installation and other requirements all complete, unless they had some guarantee of a longer tenure than the statutory period. but these very factors enabled the local authorities concerned to control the situation; and their power to exercise this control was made still more complete by the operation of standing order no. , which applied to private bills for tramway schemes requirements similar to those of the tramways act as regards the obligation on promoters to obtain the assents of local and road authorities. these authorities had thus an absolute veto over any new tramway schemes, and such veto might finally rest in the hands of a single local authority, controlling a sparsely populated section of the proposed mileage, yet having, perhaps, the controlling voice in being the one authority whose approval was needed to make up the requisite two-thirds. there had been some expectation on the part of tramway promoters that the general position would be improved by the light railways act, , many light railways being indistinguishable from tramways. under this act the assent of the local and road authorities is not required, and the frontagers' veto was done away with by it in the case of light railways; but authority to oppose was given to railway companies, and in practice the light railway commissioners held that they ought not to authorise a tramway as a light railway unless it connected the area of one local authority with another. for these and other reasons the act was not so beneficial in regard to tramways as had been anticipated. in the case of tramway companies it became a matter either of paying to the local authorities the "price" they asked for their assent, or else seeing the schemes fail at the start, without any chance of having them even considered on their merits. how local authorities have used--or abused--the power of control thus possessed by them is suggested by some remarks { }made by mr emile garcke in an article published in "the times engineering supplement" of july , , where he says:-- "the right of veto is exercised not so much with the desire to destroy a projected enterprise, but rather to exact the utmost conditions which a promoter will accept sooner than abandon the project. when a scheme is proceeded with in spite of these exactions it is taken as evidence that the conditions imposed have not been exacting enough; and whenever the operating company has occasion subsequently to ask the local authority to approve anything, the company is expected to offer more than commensurate consideration, although the object for which the approval is desired may be primarily for the benefit of the public. all these obstacles imply increased capital outlay or increased working costs, and perhaps both. if, notwithstanding these conditions, the company earns a moderate profit, it is accused of striving only after dividends to the prejudice of the public. if non-success of the enterprise follows, then the company is accused of being over-capitalised and mismanaged, and it has come to be considered an impertinence for a company to offer ever so mild a protest." on the same subject it is stated in "the dangers of municipal trading," by robert p. porter ( ):-- "the use of the veto has had disastrous effects on private enterprise. in many districts it has led to utter stagnation of personal initiative. good schemes have been barred by local authorities out of pure caprice or prejudice. other schemes have been allowed to proceed under barely tolerable conditions; the undertaking has been crippled from the start by the high price municipalities have exacted for their consent. others, again, have been withdrawn by the promoter because he found it impossible to agree to the extortionate demands of the governing bodies." mr porter quotes various authorities who have expressed strong views on the subject of the veto. the chairman of the parliamentary committee which considered a scheme of tramways promoted in scotland said: "the committee desire to put on record that in their opinion the original scheme was a good one, and calculated to be of much use to the district; but it has been so mutilated and loaded with conditions by conflicting interests and the { }excessive demands of several local bodies that it now appears to the committee to be wholly unworkable." in mr chaplin, at one time president of the local government board, stated that "what local authorities would describe as conditions are regarded by promoters--and very often, no doubt, with good reason--as neither more nor less than blackmail. this has been the subject of great complaint for years, and i do not think i should be going too far if i said that on several occasions it has led to considerable scandals." lest these expressions of opinion may be considered unduly severe by any reader unacquainted with the facts, i turn for some definite data to the "exhibit to proof of evidence," handed in by sir clifton robinson to the royal commission on london traffic when he was examined before that body in .[ ] in the early days of his company (the london united), the local authorities, sir clifton said, "had not, perhaps, fully recognised their opportunity," and the company got their assents comparatively cheaply under their first act in . two years later the price they had to pay for the assents of local authorities to a group of tramways in the twickenham, teddington and hampton district was £ , , or £ , a mile. the requirements imposed on the company took the form of "wayleaves" and of street improvements, the greater part of the latter being entirely apart from the actual needs of the tramway. the improvements in heath road, twickenham, giving a -ft. roadway, cost for properties and works alone some £ , . a like sum had to be spent in hampton and hampton wick, where the work done included the setting back of the entire frontage of the royal deer park of bushey. in the company sought for powers to construct twelve miles of tramway in kingston-upon-thames and neighbourhood. on this occasion the "concessions" wrung from { }them by the local authorities amounted to £ , for street improvements, £ , for bridges, and a further £ , , capitalised value of annual payments for so-called "wayleaves." this made a total of £ , , or £ , per mile, merely for assents to the construction of their lines. the details of the account included a sum of £ extorted by an urban district council as "a contribution towards some town improvement, not necessarily on the company's proposed line of route, but anywhere in their district the council might desire." one item to which the company had to agree in , before they could obtain an act authorising them to build another thirteen miles of tramway, was the construction at barnes of an embankment and terrace along the river side. it made a very pleasant promenade, and was certainly an addition to the amenities of the neighbourhood; but it cost the tramway company £ , . the "price" of local authorities' assents for these thirteen miles of line worked out thus: street improvements (properties and works), £ , ; barnes boulevard, £ , ; "wayleaves" (capitalised), £ , ; a total of £ , , or £ , per mile. altogether, in the four years, - , the total expenditure of the company on street and bridge improvements in respect to less than fifty miles of tramway amounted to £ , ; and although, to a certain extent, the widenings, etc., were necessary for electric tramway purposes, "the bulk of the expenditure under this head," sir clifton declared, "was undertaken with a view to conciliate the local authorities, or was forced upon us by them as the 'price of their assents.'" to this £ , was to be added £ , , the capitalised value, at five per cent, of the "wayleaves" the company had also agreed to pay, making a total of £ , , irrespective altogether of the cost of construction and equipment of the lines. when, in , the company proposed to construct still another twenty-one miles of tramway in the western suburbs of london, "they recognised their obligations to the local and county authorities," sir clifton said, by proposing to undertake street, road and bridge widenings which would have cost them £ , . they thought this a sufficiently generous "price" to pay for permission to provide the district with { }improved transport facilities. instead of being satisfied, the local authorities made demands which would have involved the company in a further expenditure of £ , , making a total of £ , . one urban district council included in its demands the construction by the tramway company of public lavatories and a subway. in a district where the company were prepared to spend £ , on road improvements the county council demanded a carriageway of forty feet and wood paving throughout six and a half miles of country roads, involving the expenditure of a further £ , . rather than submit to all these exactions the company abandoned their bill. they had already abandoned sixty miles of proposed tramway extensions "owing," said sir clifton, "to the demands or the uncompromising attitude of the local authorities," although many of these lines would have been valuable connections with the existing tramway system, and would have served in no small degree the traffic needs of the districts concerned. "it is not too much to say," added sir clifton robinson, in concluding his statement, "that instead of giving such proposals sympathetic consideration, if not practical encouragement, the attitude assumed by the average local authority of to-day is one of hostility, inspired by a desire to extort the uttermost farthing from promoters." in the face of experiences, or the prospect of experiences, such as these, many would-be promoters of tramway enterprise developed a natural reluctance to put their own money, or to try to induce other people to put theirs, into the business; and even some american financiers, who thought we were much too slow in tramway matters in this country, and came over here with the combined idea of showing us how to do things and of exploiting us to their own advantage, abandoned their plans and went home again when they got to understand the bearing of our legislative enactments on the situation. so, as time went on, the local authorities had greater excuse than ever for constructing the tramways themselves; and most of the principal urban centres built lines of their own, sooner or later. that there have been certain resemblances between state policy towards the railways and state policy towards the { }tramways may have been already noticed by the reader. just as the one was primarily based on suspicion and distrust due to the earlier action of the canal companies, so was the other inspired by what were regarded as the shortcomings of gas and water companies. just, also, as the local authorities, while not aiding the railways at all, were given authority to levy an abnormal taxation on them, so have they been given a free hand to exploit the tramway companies in making them pay a heavy price for assents to their enterprises. the story of tramways, again, like that not only of railways but of canals and of turnpike roads, shows the same early lack of centralised effort with a view to securing a national system; and this piecemeal growth of tramways, rather than of a tramway system, was, undoubtedly, fostered in proportion as ( ) discouragement was given to private companies, which could have operated without respect to borough boundaries and county areas, and ( ) tramway construction drifted more into the hands of local authorities, whose powers did not go beyond the borders of their own particular districts. while recognising these resemblances, one must admit that the handicapping of the tramway companies has been far more severe than that of the railway companies, by reason of the power of absolute veto possessed by local authorities in regard to tramway schemes, and the use they have made of it. parliament certainly never foresaw the extent of such use, or abuse, when it granted the said power of veto; and the practices in question, like the operation of tramways by the local authorities themselves, were due to a policy of drift and "leave alone" rather than to deliberate intention or expressed approval on the part of the legislature. the misfortune is that when the new developments in tramways occurred, or that when the abuses arose and the innovations were introduced, parliament did not revise its legislation to meet the new conditions. the royal commission on london traffic reported in in favour of the abolition of the power of veto, saying: "we consider it unreasonable that any one portion of a district should be in a position to put a stop to the construction of a general system of tramways required for the public benefit, without even allowing the case to be presented for the consideration of parliament.... it appears to us that instead of a 'veto' it would be sufficient that local and { }road authorities should have a _locus standi_ to appear before the proposed traffic board and parliament, in opposition to any tramway scheme within their districts, by whomsoever such tramway scheme might be promoted." but nothing has yet been done in the way of carrying this recommendation into effect. the proportions in which street and road tramways and light railways in the united kingdom were owned by (a) local authorities and (b) companies and private individuals respectively in - are shown by the following table, taken from official returns:-- capital total length expenditure on expenditure number of open for lines and works on capital belonging to undertakings. traffic. open for traffic. account. m. ch. £ £ local authorities , , , , companies, &c. , , , , --- -------- ---------- ---------- totals , , , , to this table i might append the following statistics as to the operation of street and road tramways and light railways in the united kingdom in - :-- capital authorised £ , , capital paid up £ , , number of horses , number of locomotive engines number of cars: electric , non-electric total number of passengers carried , , , quantity of electrical energy used (board of trade unit) , , gross receipts £ , , working expenditure £ , , net receipts £ , , appropriations:-- interest or dividends £ , , repayment of debt or sinking fund £ , , relief of rates £ , added to common good funds £ , aid from rates £ , it will have been seen from the table given above that the total length of tramways and light railways owned by local authorities is double the length of those owned by companies; { }but, in the circumstances already narrated, the cause for surprise is, rather, that private companies should have been sufficiently bold or enterprising to do as much in the way of tramway construction as they have. to the tramway patron it may seem to be a matter of no great concern whether the tramways are owned and operated by local authorities or by companies, provided they are satisfactory; and there may even appear to be various advantages on the side of public ownership of what, since the public streets and roads are used, may be regarded as essentially a public service. there have, however, been many suggestions that municipal tramways are too often managed on lines involving a disregard of commercial principles, and that much of the financial success claimed for them is due less to real "profits" than to the omission from the expenditure side of their accounts of inconvenient items which, if included therein, would show much less favourable results than those desired. thus it has been represented from time to time by opponents of "municipal trading"--who have advanced many facts and figures in proof of their assertions--that large sums of money spent on street widenings for tramway purposes--that is to say, sums which a tramway company would pay from its capital account, and put down as costs of construction--are omitted from the municipal tramway accounts and classed under the head of "public improvements," to be covered out of the local rates. the general practice is to debit a third of such expenditure to the tramway, the other two-thirds coming out of the rates; but the critics allege that, in some instances, a far greater proportion even than the two-thirds has been left to be defrayed by the general ratepayer.[ ] it is further alleged that inadequate amounts are set aside for depreciation, and that the sums allowed for the use of the central office and the services of the central staff may be considerably less than the figures which ought to be allocated thereto, if the municipal tramway business were really conducted on business lines. { }whatever the actual position may be in regard to these matters of account, which the financial experts may be left to decide, it has long been a question ( ) whether it would not have been better either from the early days of street tramways or, at least, from the time when electric tramways were introduced, to have given a greater degree of encouragement to private enterprise; and ( ) whether, assuming it was necessary, or desirable, that local authorities should own the tramways, it would not have been more prudent to arrange with private companies for their operation, as is done, for example, in the case of the light railway system in belgium. on this latter point the royal commission on london traffic say in their report ( ):-- "we think it reasonable that some profit should be derived from the tramways for the benefit of the municipality, but it does not follow that the best way of securing the largest profit will be that the municipality, even if it finds the money for construction, should undertake the task of operating. in other countries it is not unusual for municipalities to construct, purchase or otherwise acquire the tramways, but in such cases the actual working is generally left to operating companies, with provision for proper rates and general control. it is claimed that such methods yield a better financial result to municipalities, and avoid difficulties which might arise from municipal authorities carrying on a business of this kind on a large scale." to-day we have the further question whether electric tramways, which have always constituted a more or less speculative business, have not attained the height of their possible development, and whether they are not already on their decline in face of other systems more efficient or, at least, less costly and less cumbersome. the whole history of transport shows constant change and progress, the achievements of one generation or the "records" of one pioneer being only the starting-point of fresh advance or of still greater triumphs later on. electric tramways themselves were, undoubtedly, as great an improvement on horse tramways as the drawing of vehicles by horses along a pair of rails had already been an advance on locomotion over the rough and rugged surfaces of badly made streets or roads. but electric tramways did not necessarily constitute finality, { }and local authorities who built them as though for eternity are now faced by the rivalry of the motor-omnibus. motor-omnibuses are still to a certain extent in the experimental stage, since no one would suggest that they have yet attained to the greatest possible perfection, while further improvements in them are constantly being announced. yet already their number has enormously increased, and they are not only competing severely with the tramway but threatening eventually to supersede it. the motor-omnibus requires no special track, no overhead wires, no power station and sub-stations, and no costly widenings of streets and roads or rebuilding of bridges. consequently, the capital expenditure involved in the provision of a large stock of motor-omnibuses is far less, in proportion, than that entailed by electric tramways providing an equivalent service. the motor-omnibus, too, has greater freedom in a busy thoroughfare--and is thus quicker in its movements--than the tramway car, limited to a fixed track and much more liable to be detained by blocks of traffic. the motor-bus, again, can readily be transferred from one route to another where greater traffic is likely to be found, whereas the tramway, once laid, must remain where it is, whether the takings are satisfactory or not; while another material factor in the case of an electric tramway, namely, that owing to the cost of the standing equipment (power house, etc.), a fifteen-minute service is, generally speaking, the lowest economic limit,[ ] does not arise in the case of the motor-omnibus, which can be run according to the actual requirements of traffic. still greater attention is now being paid to the subject of motor-omnibuses, inasmuch as the discouragement given to the provision of electric tramways by commercial companies--by reason of the exactions levied as the price of assents or because of the preference shown for municipal ownership--has driven private enterprise to seek alternative methods in supplying facilities for street and road traffic with the prospect of a reasonable return on the capital invested; and one ideal in these alternative methods naturally is, in the circumstances, that they should involve a minimum of possible control by the local authorities. if, in the result, private enterprise, thus driven to adopt new expedients in locomotion, should so far { }perfect a motor-omnibus, or any other alternative service, that the electric tramway will not only have a powerful competitor but be largely superseded, the position of the municipalities which first sought to exclude or to exploit private enterprise and then invested large sums in speculative tramway undertakings of their own will be sufficiently serious. while, on the one hand, certain local authorities which have no municipal tramways are now establishing municipal motor-omnibuses--showing in this practical manner their own view of the respective claims of the two systems--others, with the intention of safeguarding the interests of their tramway undertakings rather than of securing greater transport facilities for the public, are renewing towards the motor-omnibus, as a direct competitor with municipal tramways, the hostility shown by the canal companies towards the railways when the probability of the former being supplanted by the latter began to be realised; though it is, of course, now no longer a matter simply of one set of commercial companies competing with another. a further rival to the electric tramway is arising in the system of railless electric traction, the fundamental principle of which is the application of electric power, derived from overhead wires, to electric cars, resembling motor-omnibuses (or alternatively, to goods lorries and vans), driven on ordinary roads without rails, and capable of being steered in and out of the traffic over the whole width of the roadway. the advantages claimed for the system are ( ) that the cost of installation is only from one-fourth to one-third of the average cost of british tramways per mile of route, the permanent way of the latter being responsible for from two-thirds to three-quarters of the capital expenditure, while maintenance of tramway lines is also very expensive; ( ) that costly street widenings are avoided; ( ) that bills for railless electric traction projects can be laid before parliament without first obtaining the assent of the local authorities; ( ) that such traction can be profitably installed in towns having populations insufficient to support a tramway, or having streets unsuitable for tramway rails; ( ) that it is especially useful for linking up outlying districts with tramways and railways; for developing country and seaside places; for the conveyance of agricultural produce from rural districts { }to neighbouring towns or the nearest railway; and for the transport of goods or minerals to or from railway stations or harbours over the same routes as passengers; ( ) that the cars are more reliable and cheaper to operate than petrol, petrol-electric, steam or battery-driven vehicles; and ( ) that inasmuch as the running of railless electric traction is practically noiseless, house property is not likely to be depreciated in value as in the case of the tramway. the disadvantages of the system as compared with the motor-bus are ( ) that the railless electric traction bus can only run along streets which have been provided with overhead wires; ( ) that, even allowing for the absence of rails, the expense involved in overhead wires and power stations will still be necessary, as in the case of a tramway; ( ) that by reason of the standing expenses, and in order to utilise the electric current to the best advantage, a frequent service will have to be maintained, whether the traffic really warrants it or not, whereas the motor-omnibus can be brought out and run only at such hours of the day as remunerative traffic is likely to be obtained; and ( ) that railless electric traction goods vans or lorries--being able to go only along certain streets, and being unable even there to load or unload, inasmuch as these operations would prevent other railless cars from passing--would be less better adapted for urban trading purposes than commercial motors. railless electric traction seems to have been first adopted at grevenbruck, westphalia, in , and since that date it has been resorted to in various other places on the continent. in this country, apart from a short experimental line constructed at the hendon depôt of the metropolitan electric tramways, the first applications of railless traction have been at leeds and bradford, where, following on the obtaining of parliamentary powers in , municipal railless electric traction systems were formally opened in june, , the system adopted being that of the railless electric traction construction company, ltd. in each case the railless traction supplements the existing municipal tramway. at leeds the tramway route from the city square is followed for about a mile, and then, with the help of a special set of wires, the new system diverges, and continues to a point three miles further on; though the parliamentary { }powers allow of a still further extension to the city boundary. at bradford the railless system establishes a link a little over a mile in length between two tramway routes. in the session of there were about sixteen bills before parliament applying for powers in respect to railless traction. some of these were promoted by local authorities, one or two were by tramway companies, one was by an omnibus company, and the remainder were schemes by various private promoters. municipal corporations already owning and operating tramways would seem to favour the railless electric traction system because it enables them ( ) to utilise to greater advantage the electric power they are already generating for tramway purposes; and ( ) to provide transport facilities for parts of their district where, as is said, the traffic prospects would not warrant the laying of a tramway. it is open to consideration, however, whether the recognition by municipalities of the advantages of railless electric traction over the tramway does not itself foreshadow the eventual doom of the latter, apart altogether from any considerations that arise in respect to the motor-omnibus. it is certainly significant that in his presidential address to the ninth annual conference of the municipal tramways association, in september, , the general manager of the bradford corporation tramways, mr c. j. spencer, is reported to have said:-- "in considering future developments the trackless trolley system naturally comes first into view. the introduction of this new method of transit into this country ... will undoubtedly extend the sphere of usefulness of the trolley system. the tramway construction boom stopped, not because every district that required better facilities was supplied, but because financial reasons made it impossible to proceed any further into districts unable to support a capital expenditure of £ , to £ , per mile of tramway laid.... the railless system, however, comes along with a vehicle as reliable as a tramcar, and at least as cheap to operate, but with a capital expenditure on street work so low that the bugbear of heavy interest and sinking fund charges is practically nonexistent." it remains to be seen to what extent companies or corporations will be likely to start entirely new and independent schemes of railless electric traction, setting up power-houses, { }etc., for the purpose, in preference to running motor-buses or commercial motor vehicles. this will be the real test of the respective merits of the two systems, apart from any further utilisation of existing tramway power stations; and it is always to be remembered that still greater improvements in self-propelled buses, vans, etc., will certainly be brought about. there is certainly significance, in this connection, in the following report, published in the "engineering supplement" of "the times" of november , :-- "the tramways committee of the edinburgh corporation have decided that nothing further is to be done for the present in connection with the proposal to adopt rail-less tramways for the city and district, in view of information which they have obtained regarding an improved type of petrol-electric omnibus which has been introduced in london. in the latter class of vehicle, they are informed, many of the disadvantages of the motor-omnibus as hitherto known have been overcome, and they consider that it would be prudent to await further developments before taking any action with regard to rail-less tramways." whatever the eventual issue of the rivalry between the two new systems themselves, the fact that they have been introduced at all would seem to confirm the assumption that in the dictionary of transport there is no such word as "finality." we are also left to conclude-- ( ) that in the struggle between governing authorities and private enterprise the last word is not always with the former; ( ) that the resort by local authorities both to motor-omnibuses and to railless electric traction suggests that, even in their opinion, electric tramways are being improved upon, even if they have not already had their day; ( ) that the municipalities which checked the development of tramways by private companies--from whom an assured return might have been gained--and themselves spent, in the aggregate, many millions of public money on a form of municipal enterprise yielding doubtful results, involving great liabilities, and now, apparently, being superseded by superior systems, may eventually find abundant reason for regretting their past policy; and ( ) that when local governing authorities do enter upon speculative commercial enterprises, they cannot, any more than { }commercial companies, set up the plea of "vested interests" as against new-comers in the march of progress, but must themselves also submit to economic laws, and run the risks which commercial undertakings, even under municipal direction, necessarily involve. { }chapter xxx cycles, motor-vehicles and tubes in addition to the developments in locomotion spoken of in the previous chapter, there have been various others to which reference should be made. the principle of a manu-motive machine, furnished with wheels, by means of which an individual could propel himself along a road with greater speed and less exertion than in walking, goes back to the very earliest days of human history, evidences of an attempt to adapt such principle having come down to us from the times both of the egyptians and the babylonians. in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth, various contrivances were introduced in our own country under such names as "the velocipede," "the dandy horse," "the hobby horse," "the wooden horse," and the particular form of bicycle known as "the bone-shaker." the last-mentioned became, in spite of its drawbacks, a craze in the late ' 's; but it was the substitution of indiarubber for iron tires, and the production, in , by j. k. starley, of the modern rear-driven "safety," that established the practical utility of the bicycle. a succession of improvements followed, including pneumatic tires, free wheels, two-speed and three-speed gears, the adaptation of the bicycle to the use of ladies, and the supplementing of the bicycle by tricycles, sociables, tandems and the motor-cycle. cycles have been well defined as "the poor man's carriage"; but they are to-day favoured by every class of the community. thanks, more especially, to the numerous local cycling clubs and the great touring clubs, of which the latter count their members by tens of thousands, cycles have materially developed the taste for travel; they have led to indulgence in outings or pleasure trips at home and abroad to an extent previously unknown; they have vastly increased the means of { }communication; they have exercised a powerful influence on our general social conditions, and they have become, in a variety of ways, and with different modifications of the bicycle or the tricycle principle, an important auxiliary to the despatch of business. cycling has thus attained to a place of recognised usefulness in the professions, in trade, in country life, in the post office and even in the army. it is no longer a hobby, a craze or exclusively a source of recreation. the cycle has definitely and permanently established its position as one of the most popular of "carriages," and, in doing so, it has itself led to the creation of a very considerable industry. by the demand for cycles had become so great that it was then impossible for the manufacturers to meet all requirements. over-speculation and over-production, accompanied by severe foreign competition, followed, and for a time the position of the home industry was very unsatisfactory. it has since re-established itself on sounder lines and now constitutes an enterprise of considerable local importance in various parts of the country, including coventry, birmingham, nottingham and wolverhampton. public prejudice and state policy were factors in the arrested development, in this country, of the application of mechanical power to road vehicles, so that while such application has its ancient history equally with the bicycle, the actual expansion thereof--on such lines that it has now become the dominating feature in road transport generally--has been brought about in quite recent times. when, in the early years of the nineteenth century, general attention was attracted to the possibilities and prospects of using locomotives on the railway in place either of horses or of stationary engines, further projects were mooted for employing steam-propelled vehicles on ordinary roads. trade expansion and the inefficiency of existing road-transport conditions combined to strengthen these proposals, and from about to or much enterprise was shown in the construction of steam-carriages, and more especially steam-coaches and steam-omnibuses of which various regular services, in london or in the country, were run with, at first, considerable success. the vehicles in question were designed mainly for the conveyance of passengers, and some of them { }attained a speed of over twenty miles an hour. there were even those who anticipated that steam-carriages on roads would be successful rivals of the locomotive on rails. alexander gordon, civil engineer, and an ardent supporter of steam-driven road vehicles as against railways, wrote in "an historical and practical treatise upon elemental locomotion by means of steam carriages on common roads" ( ):-- "it will be found that, with the exception of the liverpool and manchester line, and of those lines formed solely for the purpose of conveying heavy materials on a descending road, railways are, at least, of very questionable advantage where there is the possibility of having a good turnpike road and steam carriages.... rail-roads have a very formidable rival in steam communication upon the common road, and the latter is of vastly greater advantage than the former." opposition, however, to steam-driven road coaches was hardly less vigorous than the opposition offered to the rail locomotive itself. not only were obstructions constantly placed on the roads to prevent the steam-coaches from passing, but country squires, horse-coach proprietors, post-horse owners and representatives of the turnpike road interests combined to show the most active hostility to the new form of locomotion. the turnpike road trustees sought to make the running of the steam-coaches impossible by imposing prohibitive tolls on them. it was shown in evidence before a parliamentary committee that where on the road between liverpool and prescot horse-coaches would pay a s. toll, the steam-coach was charged £ s., while on other roads the tolls in the case of the latter were equally extortionate. there were pioneers in those days who devoted time, toil and fortune to attempts to establish steam locomotion on the roads, only, one after the other, to retire from the contest discomfited and impoverished. among them was sir goldsworthy gurney, who laboured for five years and expended £ , on his attempts to bring steam-carriages into practical and permanent use. finding, at last, that the turnpike trustees controlled the situation, gurney and other steam-carriage builders petitioned parliament to investigate the subject of the opposition shown to them, and a select committee of the house of commons was appointed for this purpose in . it reported in favour of { }steam road-carriages, and recommended a repeal of the old turnpike acts. a bill to this effect was passed in the commons but thrown out in the lords. disheartened by his losses, gurney ceased to build and to run coaches on his own account and tried to form a company. he failed in the attempt, and he then appealed to parliament to make him some recompense for all he had done in the interests of the public. a proposed grant of £ , was objected to, however, by the chancellor of the exchequer, and gurney got nothing. concluding that it was useless to continue his attempts in the face of so much discouragement, he sold off his stock-in-trade and retired from the business. by nearly all the steam-carriages had been taken off the road, and by the considerable industry which had been developed was engaged almost exclusively--so far as it survived at all--in the production of traction engines, only spasmodic attempts being made between and to produce improved types of steam-carriages for private use. in traction engines had so far increased in numbers that a locomotive act was passed mainly to fix a scale of tolls applicable to them on all turnpike roads; though this act further stipulated that each "locomotive" should be in charge of at least two persons, and that the speed should not exceed ten miles an hour when the vehicle was passing along any turnpike road or two miles an hour when passing through a city, town or village. an amending act, which became law in , laid down that each locomotive should be in charge of three persons; that one of these must walk in front carrying a red flag, and that the maximum speed should not exceed four miles an hour on the highway or two miles an hour in passing through a town or village. various other restrictions were also imposed. it was this "red flag act" that virtually killed off the self-propelled road-vehicle business here for the time being, except as regarded traction engines proper. a few enthusiasts made steam-carriages as a hobby, and certain manufacturers made them for export to the colonies or to india, where there were no such restrictions on their use as in this country. in india, especially, these carriages were found very serviceable in localities then unprovided with railways, though any { }manufacturer who even tested their capacity on a public road in england was liable to prosecution. british inventors, thus effectively prevented by hostile legislation from improving self-propelled road-vehicles, turned their attention, instead, to tricycles and bicycles, while continental inventors, not being hampered by legislative restrictions in their own country, first converted the tricycle into a motor-vehicle, then applied the motor principle to four-wheeled waggonettes, and finally evolved some useful types of motor-vehicles which, by , were being widely adopted on the continent and more especially in paris. a few bold pioneers who introduced them here were repeatedly prosecuted and fined. the general position had, in fact, become even worse since , because not only was a motor-car still regarded in the eye of the law as the equivalent of a traction engine or "locomotive," but, under the highways and locomotives (amendment) act, , every county council was authorised to exact up to £ for a licence which would allow of the use of such traction engine or "locomotive" only within the boundary of the authority in question, a fresh licence being thus required for each county council district through which a vehicle might pass. the only exceptions were locomotives used solely for agricultural purposes. notwithstanding all these restrictions, there were--exclusive of vehicles of the agricultural type--about traction engines in use on our roads in . much vigorous and practical protest led to the passing of the locomotives on highways act of , which became the magna charta of automobilism in this country. making at last a distinction between motor-cars and traction engines, it relieved from the said restrictions any vehicle, propelled by mechanical power, the weight of which (unloaded) did not exceed three tons, or, together with that of a trailer (also unloaded), four tons. it further sanctioned the driving of such vehicle at a speed of up to fourteen miles an hour, but gave authority to the local government board to reduce the speed if it thought fit--an authorisation of which the board availed itself by fixing the speed limit at twelve miles an hour. a great impetus was given to the use of light vehicles, and november , , when, under the act, the motor-car became a legal vehicle in this country, is known in automobile { }circles as emancipation day. but the act afforded no relief in the case of motor-vehicles suitable for trade or public service purposes. within the weights specified vehicles of these types would have been commercially unprofitable because they could not have carried a paying load. above the said weights they were still regarded by the law, and were subject to the same regulations, as road locomotives or traction engines. strong representations on the subject were made by the royal automobile club (then the automobile club of great britain and ireland), the society of motor manufacturers and traders and the commercial motor users' association, which bodies claimed the right of the trading interests of the country to a greater degree of reasonable consideration. these further protests again led to good results. in a motor-car act was passed which, among other things, raised the speed limit to miles an hour (subject to authority given to the local government board to reduce the limit to miles an hour in dangerous areas), and provided for the licensing of drivers and the registration and identification of cars, with a view to checking reckless driving; while power was, also, given to the local government board to increase the maximum weights allowed by the earlier act. in january, , the board appointed a departmental committee to inquire into the question of increasing the maximum tare, and, after taking counsel with technical experts, trading bodies and commercial authorities, it finally issued the heavy motor-car order, , effecting changes in the maximum weights (unladen) as follows:-- motor car motor car and trailer act of tons tons. order of tons ½ tons. this order, which came into force on the st of march, , made possible the provision of commercial motor-services, and the full development of the motor industry, on present-day lines. it led, especially, to the creation of new types of vehicles previously unknown here, and, by allowing "heavy motor-cars"--the designation now applying to motor-vehicles over two tons in weight--to take their place in ordinary road traffic, foreshadowed changes in inland { }transport to which one could hardly attempt, at present, to fix any limit. in respect to pleasure cars, detailed figures published in the issue of "the car" for december , , show that the number of these (as distinct from heavy motor-vehicles), registered in the united kingdom at that date, and allowing as far as possible for those which had lapsed, was , . of motor-cycles there were , . these figures convey some idea of the extent to which the automobile has been not only substituted for private horsed-carriages, as used for ordinary urban and social purposes, but adopted, also, for those longer journeys or tours which the improved means of locomotion have brought so much into vogue. how the country is being opened up more and more to motor traffic may be shown by some references to the work in this direction by the royal automobile club and the automobile association and motor union. founded in , the royal automobile club is an influential body with many-sided activities, including the provision of a club house in pall mall well deserving the designation of "palatial," and typical of the high standing to which automobilism has attained. more, however, to my present purpose than the social advantages offered by the club is the fact that the r.a.c. not only advises its members or associates as to the best route in regard to any tour they propose to make by motor, at home or abroad, but provides them with a complete typewritten itinerary and specially-designed maps for such tour, the information given being kept up to date by means of reports made by the members themselves. the inquirer is given, also, a guide-book for the district in question written from the point of view of the traveller by road; he receives some confidential notes concerning the hotels _en route_, and he may arrange to retain the services, for periods of an hour, a half-day, a day, or a week, of local guides--clergymen, writers, secretaries of local societies and others--who are qualified authorities on art, archæology, architecture, natural history, topography, etc., besides having an intimate knowledge of the localities visited. in the club itself there is a well-stocked "travel library," from which books can be borrowed. should the member or the associate on tour come into conflict with the law in regard to alleged offences under { }the motor acts, the r.a.c. will defend him in any police court in the united kingdom free of charge, though it reserves to itself the right to refuse such assistance in the case of those who may have been guilty of inconsiderate driving. much has been done by the r.a.c. in the provision of road direction posts. it has, for example, put up posts or direction boards along the whole of the great north road from london to berwick. it erects danger signs at especially dangerous places, though at these only, as it considers undesirable any undue multiplication of such signs by private agencies. the r.a.c. is, further, most vigilant in defending the common interests of motorists when these are endangered by parliamentary bills or in other ways. the automobile association and motor union also has its touring department, for home or foreign travel. it offers, like the r.a.c., free defence of members prosecuted for offences against the motor acts; it has an "hotel system" of its own, and it has shown much activity in the placing of direction posts and danger signs on important roads throughout the united kingdom. a special feature of the a.a. and m.u.'s operations is the patrolling, by men in uniform--and provided with bicycles or motor cycles--of , miles of roads throughout england, wales and scotland. it is the duty of these patrols to give to members information of interest concerning the road, to warn them of any dangers on the highway, and to render them all possible assistance in case of need. they are able to undertake minor roadside repairs; they procure, in case of need, fresh petrol supplies from the nearest store; while each is qualified to give first aid in case of accident, much excellent service being rendered by them on the roadside not only to members but to the public. agents and repairers have also been appointed by the a.a. and m.u. in all important cities and towns and in numerous hamlets at intervals of a few miles along every main road. the agents receive or deliver letters or telegrams, and are helpful in many ways to the members. in addition to these central organisations in london there are now associated automobile clubs throughout the united kingdom which show a great deal of local activity and offer many advantages to their own members. { }it is, again, the now general use of the automobile that has given to the improvement of the roads the greatest degree of stimulus it has received since the days of mcadam and telford. speaking generally, excellent results have followed from the policy adopted by the state in transferring the charge of main roads from turnpike trustees to the county councils, and, also, in encouraging rural district councils to pay more attention to local highways other than main roads. in - , for example, the county councils spent on , miles of main roads a total of £ , , , and the rural district councils spent on the , miles of road under their own control a total of £ , , on maintenance and repairs and £ , on improvements. nor is there any reason for supposing that, under the conditions operating to-day, this expenditure is wasted or ill-spent, as was the case with so much of the outlay on roads in the pre-mcadam days of non-scientific road-making. while the roads were being adapted to the requirements of ordinary traffic, their shortcomings from the point of view of the traffic of motor-cars and traction engines were made apparent, and called for special attention. it was not only that the suction of the india-rubber tyres raised clouds of dust and, also, injured the macadamised roads by depriving the top layer of stones of their proper binding, but the greater speed at which the motor-cars were driven made it especially necessary that the roads should be alike wide and straight, with as few awkward, if not dangerous, turns, twists or corners as possible. the increasing use of traction engines is indicated by a report on the county roads issued by the kent county council. the number of traction engines licensed by that body during the year ending march , , for use in the county, was , as compared with only in the previous year. action was called for all the more because cycling and automobilism have increased the use of the roads of the united kingdom in general to an extent that probably surpasses their use even in the palmy days of the coaching era. at that time it was almost exclusively along the main roads between leading cities that the coaches went in such numbers; whereas cyclists and motorists in search of the picturesque may discard main roads and proceed, instead, along highways { }and by-ways where the stage-coach was never seen. the sum total of the road traffic to-day may thus be in excess of that of the coaching age, though, perhaps, appearing to be less because it is better distributed. for like reasons it became necessary that not only the main roads, but the highways and by-ways, also, should receive adequate attention. under the development and road improvement funds act, , there was constituted, in , a body known as the road board, having for its special function the administration of a "road improvement grant." the board was to have power, with the approval of the treasury, (a) to make advances to county councils and other highway authorities in respect to the construction of new roads or the improvement of existing roads, and (b) itself to construct and maintain any new roads, which appear to the board to be required for facilitating road traffic. the funds available for the road improvement grant arise from the motor spirit duties and the motor-car license duties, the last-mentioned being £ for motor-bicycles and motor-tricycles, of whatever horse-power, and from £ s. to £ for motor-cars, according to their horse-power. motorists thus directly contribute towards the improvement of the roads, and the principle involved is the same as that under which road-users formerly paid tolls on turnpike roads; but the present application of this principle is obviously a great improvement on the system of turnpikes, with its excessive cost of toll-collection and other disadvantages. the amount likely to be available for grants by the board is estimated at about £ , a year; but, owing to an accumulation of funds before operations were begun, the board started with resources amounting to £ , , . the grants actually made to september , , were:-- £ improvement of road crusts , road widenings and improvement of curves and corners , road diversions , construction and improvement of bridges , ------- total , { }inasmuch as applications were made to the board up to june , , for advances amounting in the aggregate to close on £ , , , there would seem still to be a great deal that requires to be done to the roads of the country to adapt them to the traffic conditions of to-day. it will be seen, however, that the combined operations of the royal automobile club, the automobile association and motor union, and the road board constitute, in effect--and more especially from the point of view of provision of facilities for through traffic under satisfactory conditions--a national road policy far in advance of anything this country has ever seen before. these road improvements appeal to the motorist, delighting in cross-country journeys, still more than they do to the urban trader, whose road transport does not, generally speaking, extend beyond a certain radius. but within the limits of such radius the substitution of commercial motors for horse-drawn vehicles is undergoing an expansion which seems to be restricted only by the extent of the motor-car manufacturers' powers of production, while already the use of so many commercial motors is accentuating certain changes in commercial conditions which--as it is one of the objects of the present work to show--have ever been powerfully influenced by the transport facilities of the day. with the large wholesale and retail houses the use of the road motor is a matter not simply of economy in transport but, to a still greater degree, of doing a larger business, in less time, and over a wider area, than if horsed vehicles were used. when urban traders send motor-vehicles a distance of over twenty or even thirty miles into the outer suburbs, and when those vehicles can cover from fifty to sixty miles in a day, distributing fresh supplies to suburban or country shopkeepers, delivering purchases to local residents, or calling on them to leave groceries, meat and other household necessaries, the possibilities of an expansion of business by the said traders are greatly increased, more especially when the local residents within the radius in question find that if they give an order to the van-man, or send it by post one day, the motor-vehicle will generally supply their wants the next day or the day following. under this arrangement the big traders, or the big stores, in town are enabled to make their already big { }businesses bigger still--to their own advantage, but with a corresponding disadvantage to the local shopkeepers. in another direction the commercial motor is assisting the operations of trading companies, caterers, grocers, tea-dealers, tobacconists, etc., who, instead of having a single huge block of departmental shops or stores, have numerous branches in all parts of london, furnishing them with viands, provisions or stock from a head depôt. in all such instances as these,--more especially when cooked food is distributed from a central kitchen,--the superiority of the motor-vehicle over the horsed van is self-evident; while the further advantage is gained that the branch establishments can be devoted wholly, or almost exclusively, to the serving of customers, without any need for extensive kitchen arrangements or store-rooms of their own. alternatively, the premises used for these branches need be no larger than is necessary to meet day-by-day requirements, whereas an independent trader, having only a single establishment, would want much more accommodation, involving higher rent, rates, taxes and expenses generally. once more the gain is on the part of the big trader as against the small one; and once more we have evidence of the increasing tendency for the former to supersede the latter. in fact, the real competition to-day is no longer between large traders and small traders. it is a competition between the commercial giants themselves. it is a contest in which the small shopkeeper is little better than an interested spectator, with nothing more to hope for than that the particular giant who wipes out his business will, at least, be so far considerate as to offer him a situation. in the recesses of wild wales there has been seen a commercial motor-vehicle which was virtually a shop or a general stores on wheels--something after the style of the familiar gypsies' van, though of a far superior type. there are evidently endless possibilities in this direction. the time may come when it will not be necessary for the rural resident to go to the shops in even the nearest town. the shops themselves--or equivalents thereto--will be brought to the very door. to a certain extent there will thus be a reversal to the habits of former days; but between the packhorse, or the pedlar, and the motor-shop-on-wheels there will be a distinct and a very wide difference, representing generations of both scientific { }and economic progress. do not such possibilities still further suggest, also, the eventual supersession of the small trader by the large one? in almost every class of trade or business the commercial motor is being steadily substituted for horsed vehicles. there are large retail houses in london which have each their "fleets" of up to fifty or sixty motor-vans or lorries.[ ] the carrying companies would hardly be able to provide their extensive suburban services of to-day without road motors. fishmongers, ice merchants and fruit salesmen, who especially require to have a speedy means of distributing their wares, favour the commercial motor no less than do the managers of evening newspapers. laundry companies--to whose business a great impetus has been given of late years by the increasing resort to residential flats--find commercial motors of great service in the collections that have to be made on mondays and tuesdays and the deliveries effected on fridays and saturdays. furniture-removers, by resorting either, for small removals, to motors carrying pantechnicons, or, for large removals, to traction-engines and regular road trains, can now cover distances of up to or miles a day, the "record" down to the autumn of being miles in a day. brewers, mineral-water manufacturers, oil companies, coal merchants, pianoforte-makers, brick-makers and scores of other traders, besides, are all taking to the new form of street or road transport. motor-vehicles are likewise succeeding horsed vehicles for fire-engines, municipal water-carts and dust-carts, street ambulances, post office mail-vans,[ ] char-a-bancs and estate cars, the last-mentioned being constructed so that they can be used either for passengers or for goods. theatrical companies on tour use motor-vehicles for the conveyance of themselves, _plus_ belongings and scenery. political propagandists, also on tour, move in their motor-van from one village to another with an ease that no other road vehicle could surpass. religious missions are being sent out in motor-vans fitted up as { }chapels, and duly dedicated to their special purpose. finally, after having had, through life, the advantage of all the numerous and varied motor services here mentioned, one may now be conveyed to one's last resting-place in what a writer in "motor traction" for june , , describes as "a properly-equipped motor hearse." so considerable is the expansion which the use of commercial motors has undergone, and so great and varied are the interests represented, that there is now a commercial motor users' association which, among other purposes, seeks to resist the placing of undue restrictions on users, and to extend their rights and privileges. the administration of the association is vested in an executive committee (on which the principal industries using self-propelled vehicles for industrial purposes are represented) and various sub-committees. of the motor-omnibus as a competitor with the electric tramway i have spoken in the previous chapter. it is a no less serious competitor with the horse omnibus which in london, at least, if not in other cities as well, it is rapidly driving off the streets altogether. the position in london is suggested by the following figures, which give the numbers of horse-omnibuses and motor-omnibuses licensed in the years stated:-- year. horse. motor. [ ] on october , , the london general omnibus company, who at one time had , horses, ran their last horse-omnibuses, these being then definitely withdrawn by them in favour of motor-omnibuses. a like story is to be told of the rapid substitution of motor-cabs, popularly known as "taxis," for the horse-cabs which, succeeding the earlier hackney coaches, had helped to render so disconsolate the formerly important and influential, though now utterly vanished, body known as "thames watermen."[ ] once more, in fact, the supplanters are being { }supplanted. "growlers" and "crawlers" have had their day, and the smarter-looking and quicker-moving taxis are leaving them to share the fate of the stage-coach when it came into competition with the better form of transport represented by the railway. how far the substitution of motor-cabs for horsed cabs has already gone in london will be gathered from the following table, taken from the report (issued in july, ) of the home office departmental committee on taxicab fares in the london cab trade:-- motor-cabs horse-cabs licensed. year. licensed. hansom. four-wheel. total. , [ ] how the horse is steadily disappearing from the streets and roads is indicated by the records of a traffic census carried out by mr. h. hewitt griffin on putney bridge, in fleet street, e.c., and in the edgware road, and published in the issues of "motor traction" for july , may , and october , , respectively. mr griffin has taken his putney bridge census for seven years in succession, and, comparing with , he gives net results which may be summarised as follows:-- a twelve hours' census on sunday, sunday, type of vehicle. june , . july , . horse-drawn buses motor-buses _nil_ horse cabs, carriages, etc. motor-cars, cabs, etc. the fleet street traffic census, taken for five successive years, yielded the following results for and :-- a twelve hours' census on { } type of vehicle. april , . april , . horse-drawn buses motor-buses horse-cabs motor-cabs (taxis) in the edgware road the results for and were:-- a nine hours' census on type of vehicle. sept. , . sept. , . horse-drawn buses motor-buses horse-cabs [ ] motor-cabs (taxis) statistics taken on the portsmouth road for the surrey county council on seven successive days in corresponding weeks of july, , and show that the numbers of motor-vehicles passing between a.m. and p.m. were:-- year. no. of motors. , , , these figures give an increase in two years of per cent. during twelve hours on a saturday in july, , the number of motor-vehicles counted was , or an average of per hour. the greatest number passing in a single hour was , while during the period of the heaviest traffic passed in ten minutes. all these varied and ever-extending uses to which motor-vehicles are being put would seem almost to foreshadow the time when the horse is likely to be found only at the zoological gardens, as a curious survival of a bygone age in traction. definite statistics as to the extent to which automobilism, in its manifold phases, constitutes an industry in itself are not available; but the activities now employed on or in connection with motors, motoring, and motor transport are manifold and widespread. { }for many years the crippling effect of legislative restrictions greatly checked the development of motor-car construction in this country. the act of gave a stimulus to the building of pleasure cars, but french and german makers had the advantage until british manufacturers showed they could produce cars which would bear comparison with the foreign importations. real expansion of the home industry came with the heavy motor-car order of , although even then no great degree of progress followed immediately thereon. traders generally were reluctant to acquire commercial motors for themselves until the success of the new vehicles had been assured, and some early failures, due to faulty construction, gave commercial motors a bad name at the start. with the adoption of improved methods, their utility was fully established, and the expansion of the industry during the last four or five years has been remarkable in the extreme. british manufacturers had already gained a world-wide reputation for their steam road-vehicles (traction engines), and they readily adapted their plant, etc., to the building of the best type of commercial motors when the initial difficulties had been overcome. while, therefore, french and german makers were still sending their pleasure motors to this country, british producers of commercial motors kept this branch of the industry in their own hands, the position to-day being that practically all the public service and commercial motors used in this country are british-made. the main if not the only chance here for foreign vehicles of these types is when the british makers cannot execute orders promptly enough to meet requirements. in point of fact the orders coming to hand far exceed the present productive capacity of some of our manufacturers, who, in addition to seeking to supply the home market, are now sending british-made commercial motors to almost every country in the world. i am assured, by an authority in a position to know, that certain of the english and scotch manufacturers specialising in commercial motors had so many orders on hand in october, , that unless they increased their premises, and laid down fresh machinery, they would be unable to execute any more until the end of . much enlargement or rebuilding of works is already { }proceeding, while manufacturers who have hitherto devoted their attention mainly or exclusively to pleasure motors are now adapting their plant, etc., to the making of commercial motors either instead or in addition. the demand for pleasure motors is limited; that for public service motors and motor-vehicles for traders is illimitable. from the great stores which keep their "fleet" of delivery cars, and from the furniture-remover who wants the equivalent almost of a traction-engine down to the draper, the grocer or the butcher who is content with a modest three-wheel auto-carrier for loads up to five or ten cwt., every class of trader is to-day finding that, to keep pace with the times, and to deliver goods as promptly and at the same distances as his competitors, he must needs have a quicker means of road transport than a horsed-vehicle. then, while large traders having their fleets of motor-vehicles set up their own repairing shops, the needs of smaller traders with only two or three delivery vans are provided for by motor manufacturers or others who undertake "maintenance" on contract terms, thus saving such traders from all trouble in the matter of repairs and upkeep. when one adds to these considerations the fact that traders not only in the united kingdom but in the colonies, in every european country, and even as far away as japan, are looking to english and scotch manufacturers to supply them with motor-traction vehicles, the impression is conveyed that the further great development of the motor industry in the united kingdom will be far less in pleasure motors, or even in the motors used by doctors and others for professional purposes, than in commercial motors; and this impression is confirmed by a remark made by sir samuel samuel at the motor-aviation dinner given by him at the savoy hotel on october , . "the future of the motor-car industry," he said, "lay in the commercial motor traffic, the solution of the street traffic problem lay in motor-omnibuses, and in ten years time most of the tramway stock would be scrapped." apart from figures as to the number of public service or commercial motors--chiefly, as i have shown, of home manufacture--already in use, the only available statistics indicating the growth of the british motor industry are those given in the board of trade returns concerning "cars, chassis and { }parts" exported, the total value thereof being £ , , in and £ , , in . the imports in the same years rose from £ , , to £ , , . it may be assumed that the latter figures relate more particularly to pleasure cars; though it should be remembered that even on these, as imported from france or germany, additional work may often be done here--in the way of body-building or otherwise--to the extent of £ or so per car. many allied trades are likewise doing a good business in the supply of accessories. allowing, next, for the employment given to drivers, repairers and others, and for the sum total (if it could only be estimated) of the amount distributed annually by motorists among hotel proprietors and town and country tradespeople, the circulation of money that is directly due to motoring and motor-traction must be prodigious. as far back as it was estimated that motor drivers alone in this country were receiving over £ , , a year in wages, that the wages paid to men employed in the manufacture of cars and accessories amounted to nearly £ , , a year, and that the total number of drivers and others concerned in motoring was about , . but much has happened since , and if these figures accurately represent the position then, they would have to be greatly increased to represent the position to-day. thus we see that automobilism--using the word in its widest application--has not only brought about some remarkable changes in our conditions of inland transport and communication but is itself rapidly developing into still another of our national industries, even if it should not have done so already. tube railways are an outcome of various attempts to solve a problem in urban transport that more especially applies to london. when railways were first brought to the metropolis the prejudice against them was so strong, and the lack of foresight as to the purpose they would eventually serve was so pronounced, that in limits were set up, on what were then the outskirts of london, within which the lines were not to come. the whole of the central area was to be left free from railways, the view of a royal commission which considered the subject in the year stated being that, as the proportion { }of short-distance passengers by the main lines was only small, the probable demand for the accommodation of short-distance traffic would not justify the sacrifice of property or the expenditure of money that would be involved in placing the termini in crowded centres. the same commission recommended that if, at any future time, it should be thought necessary to admit railways within the prescribed area, this should be done in conformity with some uniform plan. under no circumstances, they urged, should separate schemes having no reference to each other be tolerated. it was not long before the growth of london and the transport needs of its population made clear the fact that the exclusion of railways from the central area could not be maintained, though the recommendation of the commission as regards a uniform plan was wholly disregarded. supplementing the omnibuses originally established between paddington and the city in by shillibeer came, in , the first line of underground railway, connecting paddington station with farringdon street, and constructed in an open cutting, where possible. an earlier idea of having one central station in london for all the different main lines of railway was discarded in favour of underground railways of the type here in question; and the "inner circle," linking up most of the main-line termini, was eventually completed. the original restrictions in regard to the central area were also modified, such stations as those at charing cross, cannon-street, holborn and liverpool street being allowed to be set up within the once sacred precincts. branches were made from the inner circle of the underground system; the main-line railways began to develop their now enormous suburban business; the omnibuses were crowded in the busy hours of the day, while the tramways, though excluded from the central area still more rigidly than the railways had been, gained no lack of patronage to or from the "outer fringe." all these facilities served a most useful purpose; but they obviously required to be supplemented by lines of railway which would directly serve the central area of london, and both allow of easier movement from one part of london to another and enable city workers to travel more readily between their suburban homes and the immediate locality of their places of work or business. neither surface nor { }overhead railways across the centre of london were even to be thought of, while the cost of still more underground railways of the "shallow" type already constructed was looked upon as almost prohibitive, though underground any further london lines would assuredly have to be. a way was found out of the difficulty by the construction of deep-level iron tubes passing through the stratum of clay underlying london, such tubes providing for lines of railway along which trains to be worked by electricity could pass between various stations--in still larger tubes--in different parts of london and the suburbs. the first of these tube railways was projected by the city and south london railway company, and received the sanction of parliament in . the line was opened in , and with it london acquired the pioneer of those tube railways which were to effect so revolutionary a change in her general transport conditions. the central london railway followed, in , and since then london has been provided with a network of tube railways, offering facilities for a more or less complete interchange of traffic, north and south, and east and west, both between themselves and in conjunction with the termini of the main line steam railways. in this way movement about and across london has been greatly facilitated. three of the new tubes, the bakerloo, the piccadilly and the hampstead have been united into one system by the london electric railway company, and, together with the earlier district railway and the london united tramways, are under the same control, with great advantage to everyone concerned, while the original underground lines--the metropolitan and the metropolitan district--have been electrified and vastly improved. the disadvantages of "isolated projects" on which successive commissions--the london traffic commission among the number--have insisted so strongly have thus, to a certain extent, been met by the principle of combination through private enterprise. no action has yet been taken to carry out the recommendation made in june, , in the report of the royal commission on london traffic, in regard to the formation of a london traffic board, though a useful work is being done by the london traffic branch appointed by the board of trade in august, , "to continue and supplement the work of the royal commission { }by keeping the statistics up to date, collecting information, and studying the problem of london traffic in all its changing aspects." in the reports issued by this branch will be found a mine of interesting data on london traffic conditions, supplementing the abundant information in the reports of the royal commission itself. it is to be hoped that the sequel to these continued investigations will be the eventual creation of some such central authority as the london traffic board recommended. whether this should be done by calling into existence for london an entirely new body, such as the public service commission which controls all transportation questions and facilities in new york city, or whether the simpler method of enlarging the powers of the present railway and canal commission should be adopted, by preference, are matters of detail which the future must be left to decide; but the advantages that would result from a greater degree of co-ordination in the organising and regulating of london transport conditions are incontestable. as showing the extent of the patronage which the electric railways of london, whether tube railways or otherwise, are now receiving, i might quote from the board of trade "railway returns" the following figures, giving the number of passengers (exclusive of holders of season and periodical tickets) carried in :-- company or line. number of passengers. central london , , city and south london , , great northern and city , , waterloo and city , , london electric , , metropolitan , , metropolitan district , , whitechapel and bow , , { }chapter xxxi the outlook having now traced the important part that improvements in the conditions of inland transport and communication have played in the economic and social development of this country, and having seen, also, the action taken therein, on the one hand by so-called "private enterprise" (defined by samuel smiles as "the liberality, public spirit and commercial enterprise of merchants, traders and manufacturers"), and on the other hand by state and local authorities, we have now to consider, in this final chapter, what are the prospects of further changes and developments in those transport conditions to which, judging from past experience, it would not be wise to fix finality in the matter of progress. thus far the railway certainly represents the survival of the fittest; and, curiously enough, although great improvements have been made in locomotive construction, in rails, in signalling, in carriage-building and in the various departments of railway working, no absolutely new principle has been developed since the liverpool and manchester railway definitely established the last of the three fundamental principles on which railway construction and operation are really based: ( ) that a greater load can be moved, by an equivalent power, in a wheeled vehicle on a pair of rails than in a similar vehicle on an ordinary road; ( ) that flanged wheels and flat rails are preferable for fast traffic to flat wheels and flanged rails; and ( ) that a railway train should be operated by a locomotive rather than by either animal power or a stationary engine. it is true that, in regard to the last-mentioned of these three main principles, material changes have been brought about by the resort to electricity as a motive power; but this, after all, is an improvement in the means of rail transport rather than a complete change in the principle of transport { }itself; and, though electricity may supersede steam to a considerable extent, especially for suburban traffic, the resort to it is a reversal, in another form, to the earlier idea of motive power distributed from a fixed point, as originally represented by stationary engines, before the locomotive had established its superiority thereto. in any case, the railway is still the railway, whatever the form of traction employed, and there is, after all, no such fundamental difference between an electric railway and a steam railway as there was between the railway and the canal, or between either railway waggon or canal barge and the carrier's cart travelling on ordinary roads. the question that really arises here is, not whether electricity is likely to supersede steam for long-distance as well as for short-distance rail traffic, but whether the railways themselves are likely to be superseded, sharing the same fate as that which they caused to fall on the stage-coach and, more or less, on the canal barge. for the physical, economic and other considerations already presented, there is no reasonable ground for expecting much from the projected scheme of canal revival. when the country comes fully to realise ( ) the natural unsuitability of england's undulatory surfaces for transport by artificial waterways; ( ) the enormous cost which the carrying out of any general scheme of canal revival would involve; ( ) the practical impossibility of canal-widening in the birmingham and black country districts; and ( ) the comparatively small proportion of traders in the united kingdom who could hope to benefit from a scheme for which all alike might have to pay;--it is hardly probable that public opinion will sanction the carrying out of a project at once so costly and so unsatisfactory in its prospective results. still less than in the case of canals would any attempt to improve the conditions of transport on rivers--serving even more limited districts, and having so many natural drawbacks and disadvantages--be likely to meet any general advantage or to foster any material competition with the railways. developments in regard to road transport are much more promising--or, from the point of view of the railways, much more to be feared--than any really practical revival of inland navigation. { }dealing, in this connection, first with personal travel, we find that the main competition with the railways proceeds from ( ) omnibuses, motor or otherwise; ( ) electric tramways, and ( ) private motor-cars. an omnibus, whether of the horse or of the motor type, is the equivalent of the carrier's van or of the old stage-coach in so far as it has the complete freedom of the roads. the electric tramway, while having to keep to a certain route, and involved in greater capital expenditure by reason of its need for rails, overhead wires and power stations, may, if owned by a local authority, still be materially aided, directly or indirectly, out of the local rates. thus the omnibus and the electric tramway may both be able to transport passengers at lower fares than the railways, which, as regards the municipal tramways, may even be called on to pay, through increased taxation, towards the maintenance of their rivals. in london itself the motor-omnibuses have undoubtedly abstracted a considerable amount of short-distance traffic from the central london railway, which, however, still has the advantage in regard to longer distance journeys. that electric tramways and motor-omnibuses have also diverted a great deal of suburban passenger traffic from the trunk railways is beyond dispute. but here the companies are seeking to meet the position ( ) by operating their own suburban lines by electricity, giving their passengers a quicker transport than they would get with tramways or motor-cars stopping frequently, or held up by traffic repeatedly, on the roads or streets; or ( ) by offering to town workers greater facilities for removing from homes in the inner to homes in the outer suburbs, if not in the country proper or even on the coast itself--in other words, to such a distance that they would naturally be dependent on the railway and the business trains that are now run thereon from the places in question to meet their special convenience.[ ] { }of these two developments the former has not yet been generally adopted, whereas the latter is in full activity, and, in combination with the heavier local taxation which is steadily driving people away from london boroughs, is helping to produce results of much interest and importance. the population, not only of london, but of great towns in general, is undergoing a considerable redistribution. land at greater distances from urban centres, and hitherto devoted only to agriculture or market gardens, is being utilised more and more for building purposes; the increasing values of land within the radius of these outer suburbs improves the position on urban markets of producers in rural centres whose lower rents may more than compensate for their slightly heavier cost of transport as compared with the suburban growers; the health of town workers taking to what are not merely suburban but country homes should improve. social and domestic conditions generally are, to a certain extent, in a state of transition; while the trunk railways are getting back from their long-distance suburban traffic some--though not yet, perhaps, actually the whole--of the revenue they have lost on their short-distance traffic. on the other hand, results are being brought about in the inner suburbs which are viewed with much uneasiness by the local authorities. the removal from the inner suburbs of considerable numbers of those who can afford to live further away from their business means ( ) that population in the inner suburban circle is decreasing, or, alternatively, that a better-class population is giving place to a poorer-class one; ( ) that much of the house property there is either standing empty or is fetching considerably lower rents; and ( ) that the taxable capacity of the areas in question is declining, although the need for raising more by local taxation is to-day greater than ever. where the local authorities who are experiencing all these consequences of an interesting social change have themselves helped to bring them about by setting up municipal tramways to compete with the railways, thus, among other consequences, driving the latter to resort to measures of self-defence, they may find that attempts to change, if not to control, the operation of economic forces have their risks and perils; while the position for the authorities concerned will be even worse { }if their municipal tramway, in turn, should suffer materially from the competition of the motor-omnibus. private motor-cars may appear to have deprived the railways of a good deal of their passenger traffic, and they certainly constitute a most material and much-appreciated increase in the facilities now available for getting about the country. it must, however, be remembered that a very large proportion of the journeys taken in them would probably not be made at all if the motor-car did not exist, and if such journeys had to be made by train instead. the actual diversion of traffic from the railway only occurs when journeys which would otherwise be made by rail are made by motor, in preference. here the railway certainly does lose. against the loss in the one direction in railway revenue, owing to the greater use of motor-cars, there can at least be set the constant growth in the taste for travel which the railway companies (partly, again, to make up for the competition in suburban traffic) have done their best to cultivate by means of abnormally low excursion or week-end fares based, as one leading railway officer put it to me, "not on any idea of distance, but on the amount that the class of people catered for might be assumed to be willing to pay." the travel habit has thus undergone a greater expansion of late years than has ever before been known, so that a falling-off of railway traffic in some directions ought, sooner or later, to be compensated for by increases in others, if, indeed, that result has not already been attained. the actual position in regard to passenger travel on the railways of the united kingdom during the years - is shown by the following figures, taken from the board of trade railway returns:-- passenger receipts from year. journeys.[ ] passengers. £ , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , { }these figures give evidence of, on the whole, a substantial advance in railway passenger journeys and receipts, notwithstanding all the competition of alternative facilities, and we may assume that although tramways, motor-cars, motor-omnibuses and even the latest new-comer, railless electric traction, may supplement and more or less compete with the railways, there is no suggestion that they are likely entirely to supplant them for passenger travel. in the matter of goods transport in general, it is the fact that during the last ten or fifteen years, more especially, there has been an increasing tendency for the delivery of domestic supplies to suburban districts or towns within an ever-expanding radius of london and other leading cities to be effected by road, instead of by rail. the same has been the case in the distribution by wholesale houses of goods to suburban shopkeepers, and, also, in the reverse direction, in the sending of market-garden or other produce to central markets. where the railway companies have really created new suburban districts through the running of specially cheap workmen's trains, it may seem hard upon them that they should be deprived of the goods transport to which such districts give rise. the fact must be recognised, however, that when the distances are within, say, a ten-, a fifteen- or even a twenty-mile radius, and when only small or comparatively small parcels or consignments are to be carried, the advantages in economical transport may well be in favour of the road vehicle rather than of the railway. the road vehicle can load up in the streets as it stands opposite the wholesale trader's warehouse; it pays nothing for the use of the road; it does not make any special contribution to the police funds in recognition of services rendered in the regulation of the traffic; nor is it taxed by the local authorities on the basis of the quantity of { }goods carried and the extent of the presumptive profits made; whereas the railway company must have a costly goods depôt, acquire land for their track, lay lines of rails, maintain an elaborate organisation to ensure safe working of the traffic, and submit to taxation by every local authority through whose district the goods carried may require to pass. there is, also, the further consideration, of which i have previously spoken, that in the case of short-distance journeys the cost of terminal services makes the rate per ton per mile appear much higher, in proportion, than when, while remaining at the same figure, it is spread over a substantially greater mileage. while, with the increasing facilities for road transport, the railways must expect to lose more of their short-distance traffic, they should be able to retain their long-distance traffic, and more especially their long-distance traffic in bulk, commercial motors notwithstanding. where commodities are carried either in considerable quantities or for considerable distances, and more particularly when both of these conditions prevail, transport by a locomotive, operating on rails, and conveying a heavy load with no very material increase in working expenses over the carrying of a light load, must needs be more economical than the distribution of a corresponding tonnage of goods among a collection of commercial motors, for conveyance by road under such conditions that each motor is operated as a separate and distinct unit. the results, too, already brought about in the case of the suburban passenger traffic may, possibly, be so far repeated that railway companies deprived, also, of suburban goods traffic by the increasing competition of road conveyances, will show further enterprise in encouraging long-distance goods traffic to the same markets, or to the same towns. in this way they might seek to avoid, as far as practicable, any falling-off in their revenue at a time when taxation, wages, cost of materials and other working expenses all show a continuous upward tendency. should the policy here in question be adopted, market-gardeners, more especially, may find that, while they have effected a slight saving on their cost of transport by resorting to road conveyance, they will have to face increased competition from produce coming in larger quantities from long-distance growers who, with a lower cost of production, and, { }also, with increased encouragement from the railways, might have advantages on urban markets fully equal to those of the short-distance grower located in the suburbs. the whole question of the steadily increasing competition between road and rail has thus become one of special interest, at the present moment, alike for the trading, the motor and the railway interests. that the use of motor-vehicles is destined to make even greater advance in the immediate future has already here been shown. yet there are distinct limitations to its possibilities, although this fact is apt to be overlooked by motor enthusiasts, some of whom are, indeed, over-sanguine. one of them proclaims that "the new locomotion" is "designed to be the chief means of transit to be used by humanity at large," and "eventually will probably to a large extent supersede all others." he further writes: "many of us will live to see railway companies in places pulling up their rails and making their tracks suitable for motor-car traffic, charging a toll for private vehicles and carrying the bulk of the traffic in their own motor-cars." granting that motor-vehicles are likely to supersede both tramways and horse-vehicles, what are really the prospects of their superseding railways, as well? should railway shareholders at once sell out and put their money, preferably, in motor-omnibus and commercial motor companies? in regard to goods we have the fact that the quantities thereof carried by the railways of the united kingdom in were:-- minerals , , tons. general merchandise , , " ----------- total , , tons. motor transport could obviously not be adapted to the transport of , , tons of minerals, and for these, at least, the railways would still be wanted. but the number of motor-vehicles necessary to deal with , , tons of general merchandise would still be prodigious, apart from considerations of distance, time taken in transport, wear and tear of roads, and, also, of the question whether a locomotive, doing the work of many motors, would not be the { }cheaper unit in the conveyance of commodities carried in bulk on long or comparatively long hauls. the suburban delivery of parcels is one thing; the distribution, for example (as mentioned in a footnote on page ), of railway waggons of broccoli from penzance, all over great britain, in a single week, is another. in the matter of passenger traffic, while people of means may prefer to make such journeys as that from london to scotland in their own motor-car, the railway will continue to form both the cheaper and the quicker means of travel for the great bulk of the population as distinct from private car-owners, whose number must needs be comparatively small. it is in respect to urban and suburban traffic that motor-vehicles have their best chance of competing with the railways on any extensive scale; yet even here, and notwithstanding all that they are already doing, their limitations are no less evident. taking only one of the many railway termini in london, the average number of suburban passengers who arrive at the liverpool street station of the great eastern railway company every week-day (exclusive of , from places beyond the suburban district) is , , and of these about , come by trains arriving, in rapid succession, up to a.m. to convey , suburban dwellers by motor-omnibus instead of by train would necessitate journeys, assuming that every seat was occupied. on the basis of the average number of persons actually travelling in a motor-bus at one time, it would probably require motor-bus journeys to bring even the great eastern suburban passengers to town each day if they discarded train for bus, and the same number to take them back in the evening. so long, too, as a single locomotive on the great eastern suffices for a suburban train accommodating between and passengers, the company are not likely to pull up their rails and provide tracks in their place for a vast "fleet" of motor-cars or motor-omnibuses. in some instances tramways and motor-omnibuses have, undoubtedly, deprived the railways of considerable traffic, and certain local stations around london have even been closed in consequence. in other instances tramways and buses have been of advantage to the railways by relieving { }them of an amount of suburban traffic for which it might have been difficult for them fully to provide. but any _general_ supplanting of railways by motor-vehicles is as improbable in the case of passenger travel as it is in that of goods transport. motor-vehicles are certain to become still more serious rivals of the railways than they are already, but they are not likely to render them obsolete; and, taking the country as a whole, the "bulk of the traffic" may be expected still to go by rail, motor-vehicles notwithstanding. although, at the outset, some of the railway companies were disposed to regard the motor as a rather dangerous rival, the most enterprising have themselves adopted various forms of motor-vehicles, alike for establishing direct communication between country stations and outlying districts unprovided with branch lines, for enabling passengers arriving in london to pass readily from the terminus of one company to that of another, and for the collection and delivery of goods. in regard, again, to the outlook for the future, important possibilities were foreshadowed by a letter addressed to "the times" of august , , by lord montagu of beaulieu, concerning "road transport during strikes." the hope of the leaders of the then recent railway strike had, of course, been to produce such a paralysis in the transport arrangements of the country that the railway companies would have been forced, owing to the resultant loss, dislocation of traffic, and, possibly, actual famine conditions, to surrender to all the demands made upon them. while the attempt failed on that occasion--thanks to the loyalty of the majority of the workers, the almost complete lack of public sympathy with the strikers, and, also, the employment of troops for the protection of the railways--there will always be the possibility of a renewal of the attempt. pointing, therefore, to the large number of motorists in the united kingdom, and mentioning, also, that there are, in addition, at least , commercial motor-vehicles as well, mostly running in or near the larger industrial centres, lord montagu wrote that, if supported by the royal automobile club and the automobile association and motor union and assisted by his brother motorists in general, he would undertake in the case of a national emergency to carry out the following operations: ( ) the carriage of all mails where railways are now used. { }( ) the supply of milk, ice and necessaries to all hospitals and nursing homes. ( ) the supply of milk, fish and perishable produce to london and other large towns. ( ) the supply to country villages of stores not produced in or near their area, such as sugar, tea, etc. ( ) the carriage of troops or police. ( ) the conveyance of passengers if on urgent business in connection with family matters or trade. lord montagu added that "the government would, of course, have to guarantee open roads and protection for loading and unloading vehicles, and provide for the swearing-in of motorists as special constables, who would be thus engaged in saving the community from starvation and chaos." he further thought that the compilation of a national register of motorists willing to lend their cars should be proceeded with at once. the existence of such an organisation as this, with the inclusion, also, in the proposed registry, of horsed waggons, waggonettes and other vehicles owned by the country gentry and others, might be of incalculable service both in enabling the railway companies to stand against the coercion of a really general strike, and in saving the transport of the country from any approach to a complete dislocation, pending the time when the full railway services could be resumed. a further example of the possible usefulness of motor-vehicles was shown by a war office memorandum, issued on september , , giving particulars of a provisional scheme for the subsidising of petrol motor-lorries already manufactured and owned by civilians, complying with certain specified conditions, the war office thus acquiring the right to purchase such lorries from the owners for military service, in the case of need. measures of the kind here in question would, of course, be temporary expedients only, there being, as shown above, no probability that motor transport by road would ever take the place altogether of transport by rail. nor is aerial locomotion likely to be a more formidable rival of the railways than either inland navigation or motor transport by road. one may safely anticipate that further great advances are yet to be made in the art of flying; yet { }one may, also, assume there is no prospect of aerial locomotion becoming a serious competitor with the railway. it is extremely interesting to know that the journey from london to scotland has now been made in quicker time by aeroplane than by the fastest express, and that a -mile flight round england has been accomplished with perfect control of the machinery employed. yet, even allowing for the greatest possible improvements in the construction of the aeroplane, the number of passengers who could be carried is so limited, and the fares charged to cover capital outlay must needs be so high, that there could be no idea of rivalry between the aeroplane and the railway in regard to passenger traffic. like considerations should apply in the case of goods traffic. in theory the idea of an aerial express goods service looks very promising. yet, as a business proposition, one must needs again consider: ( ) the capital cost of the aeroplane; ( ) the comparatively small quantity of goods that could be carried on a single journey; and ( ) the high rates that would necessarily have to be paid for their transport on commercial lines. a "record" in the aerial carriage of a -lb. consignment of electric lamps from shoreham to hove (brighton) was established on july , , by mr h. c. barber, of the hendon aviation grounds; but this particular exploit was suggestive mainly of an advertisement for the lamps in question. i ventured, therefore, to put the following proposition to mr barber:-- "assume that, owing to a railway strike, no goods trains could pass between london and liverpool, and that a london merchant had a consignment of goods which it was of the utmost importance should be taken to liverpool for despatch by a steamer on the point of sailing. then: ( ) what would be the maximum weight, and, also, the maximum bulk, of such consignment as an aeroplane could carry? ( ) in what time, approximately, could the journey from hendon to liverpool be made? ( ) what sum would the london trader have to pay for the transport?" mr barber informs me that the maximum weight of such consignment as could be carried would be about ten stone ( cwt. qr.); that the maximum bulk would be about cubic feet; that the journey would take about four hours; { }and that the charge for transport would be ten shillings per mile. the distance "as the crow--or the aeroplane--flies" between hendon and liverpool being about miles, the charge would come to £ . mr. barber adds: "there is no doubt that within the very near future it will be possible to make much smaller charges; also charges could be very much reduced if there were sufficient business to make it worth while." this is what one would expect to hear. yet, assuming that the aeroplane rate were reduced even by fifty per cent, it could not, even then, compete with the railway rate under normal conditions; while to convey through the air the tons of general merchandise which a single locomotive attached to one of the many goods trains passing between london and liverpool will haul would, on the basis of cwt. qr. per machine, require the use of aeroplanes. this calculation leaves out of account, too, the much greater weights of grain, timber and other heavy traffic in full truck-loads which pass from liverpool to various inland places, and could not, of course, be dealt with by aeroplane at all. after surveying all these possible competitors or alternatives we are left to conclude that, as far as foresight can suggest, the railways are likely still to constitute at least the chief means of carrying on internal transport and communication in this country. if this be so, then the main proposition as to the outlook for inland transport in general relates to the outlook for the railways in particular. here the first consideration which presents itself is that, as regards main lines, our railway system to-day may be regarded as approximately complete.[ ] there may still be good scope for the construction of extensions, new links or of short cuts; but these should count as improvements rather than as fresh lines of communication. in london there are to be extensions of some of the existing tubes with a view to affording to the public increased facilities both for reaching the termini of the great trunk lines and for { }a still easier interchange of traffic between the different tube or underground railways themselves. an exceptionally important scheme of improved transport was announced, on november , , by the london and north-western railway company, such scheme comprising ( ) the electrification of miles of suburban railway, including a material portion of the north london railway; ( ) the construction by the london electric railway company of a new tube, extending their bakerloo line from paddington to the l. & n. w. system at queens' park; and ( ) the running, for the first time, and by means of specially-constructed carriages, of through services between a trunk line and a tube. while the existing tube companies may thus extend their lines, and while the trunk companies may seek to co-operate more with them in providing for suburban traffic, the outlook for any new tube companies in london would not seem to be very promising in view of the fact that the holders of £ , , of ordinary stock in the london electric railway (controlling the bakerloo, piccadilly and hampstead lines), out of a total capitalisation of £ , , , received in a dividend equal to only one per cent. in the country what is most wanted is an increase in transport facilities between existing railways and outlying districts, the traffic from which would not be sufficient to justify the construction of branch lines of ordinary railway. there are fishing villages, agricultural districts, market gardening areas, and innumerable small communities which would gain a material advantage by being provided with better means of communication with the nearest railway. whether or not such facilities should be provided by ( ) road motors, ( ) railless electric traction, or ( ) light railways, is a question that must depend on the conditions, circumstances or prospects of the locality concerned; but if more people are to be sent "back to the land," and if colonies of small holders are to be established thereon with any hope of success, then it is desirable, if not essential: ( ) that each colony of such settlers should form an agricultural co-operative society; ( ) that each society should set up its depôt to facilitate the combination of purchases or consignments into grouped lots; and ( ) that between the depôt and a convenient railway station there should be provided some means { }of collective transport under the most effective and economical conditions. it is thus mainly in the direction of railway feeders that the need for increased transport facilities exists to-day. in this absence of any general necessity for additional railways, the policy of the railway companies of late years has been directed more to the consolidation and economical working of the existing system of lines. this policy has especially aimed at the furtherance of those mutual agreements and amalgamations which, as we have seen, have constituted a prominent phase in the development of railways from a very early period in their history. present-day tendencies in this direction are especially due to the fact that working expenses have greatly increased while the powers of the companies to increase their charges are still subject to the restrictions of the act of , under which they may be required to justify before the railway and canal commission any increase in a rate since the st of december, . increase of expenditure is found in the higher wages bills, in the ever-expanding items of rates and taxes, in the heavier cost of raw materials, in the greater amount of clerical and other work resulting from the sending of frequent small consignments in place of consignments in bulk, and in the provision of greater conveniences and luxuries in travel. an increased volume of traffic has, to a certain extent, compensated for these heavier expenses; but it has not done so sufficiently, and the ideal remedy has appeared to lie in the direction of effecting economies in operation and management, either by individual companies or through arrangements between two or more, to their mutual advantage, and without, as the companies have claimed, any disadvantage to the public. in some instances companies have had to grant such concessions to local communities as a means of overcoming threatened opposition to their proposed arrangements that the value of the advantages eventually obtained has been represented almost by a negative quantity. in other instances the opposition has been so keen, and the "prices of assent" have been so exacting, that the companies concerned have preferred to abandon their schemes rather than go on with them. in still other instances companies have refrained from attempting to carry out amalgamations requiring { }parliamentary sanction, and thus likely to provoke opposition, and have made such arrangements between themselves as were within their powers and were likely to give them some of the advantages they wanted, though not, perhaps, all. following on certain developments in these various directions, a departmental committee was appointed, in june, , by the board of trade to consider and report "what changes, if any, are expedient in the law relating to agreements among railway companies, and what, if any, general provisions ought to be embodied for the purpose of safeguarding the various interests affected in future acts of parliament authorising railway amalgamations or working unions." the report of this committee [cd. ] was issued in may, . in so far as they deal with the principle that even parliament itself is powerless to prevent the tendency to co-operation between railway companies originally designed to compete with one another, the committee do little more than re-echo what was said, not only by the joint committee of , but even by morrison in the speech he made in the house of commons on may , . there is, also, a close resemblance between what i have stated concerning the position in and at subsequent dates--namely, that there was no allegation that the railway companies _had_ abused their powers, only fear that they _might_ do so--and the following extract from the report made by the departmental committee in :-- "it is, of course, to the interest of the railway companies not to raise rates or stint accommodation to an extent that will reduce traffic unduly, but, subject to this, a policy of self-interest might frequently lead the companies to charge rates which, judged by any existing standard, would be unreasonable." so, in , no less than in , and at any time between those dates, the policy of the state towards the railways, as far as it can be summed up in a single word, is represented by this word "might." the attitude of distrust and suspicion originally engendered towards the railways by the canal companies evidently still survives, and is expected to form, even to-day, the approved basis of state action. the principle of railway co-operation is, indeed, frankly and fully accepted by the departmental committee, who declare they have come to the unanimous conclusion "that the natural lines of { }development of an improved and more economical railway system lie in the direction of more perfect understandings and co-operation between the various railway companies which must frequently, although not always, be secured by formal agreements of varying scope and completeness, amounting in some cases to working unions and amalgamations." but, although they admit that mutual competition between railway companies exists to-day in only a "limited degree," and although they do not show that the agreements and amalgamations thus far carried out have been in any way really detrimental to the public interests, they are still influenced, as parliaments, select committees and departmental committees before them have been for the last three-quarters of a century, by that one word "might." railway companies may be allowed to co-operate--more especially because they cannot be prevented from doing so; but fresh restrictions and further obligations must be imposed lest they _might_ abuse the facilities granted to them, in seeking to cover increased taxation and other items of heavier working expenses. thus among the recommendations of the departmental committee are the following:-- "that it should be provided that when a facility or service is diminished or withdrawn, it should lie upon the railway company to show that the reduction or withdrawal is reasonable. "that it should lie upon the railway company to justify a charge made for a service hitherto rendered gratuitously. "that it should be declared that the law with regard to increased charges applies to passenger fares and other charges made for the conveyance of traffic by passenger trains." these proposals are, no doubt, inspired by a genuine desire to protect the public interests; yet the effect of carrying them out would be effectually to destroy the small amount of elasticity that is still left in the relations between the railway companies and the public. if, in addition to having to "justify" the increase of any rate for goods or minerals, the companies were required to run the risk of having to "justify" the taking off of any train they found no longer necessary, or even the slightest increase in any of the now often extremely low railway fares, the result would be to tie their hands still further in the making of experimental concessions, { }and, in the result, the travelling public, as is the case already with the traders, would stand to lose through a policy nominally designed to protect their interests. whatever course may be actually taken in regard to these particular aspects of the question, the trend of events in the railway world will probably be more and more in the direction of continuing the policy of agreements and amalgamations on lines which, while giving the fullest transport facilities to the public, should check wasteful competition and ensure all practicable economy in the matter of working expenses. that the trade of the country would suffer, in consequence, is hardly to be anticipated. assuming that three railway companies, who had already agreed as to the rates they would charge, had each been conveying goods between a and b, and that they arranged for the consignments entrusted to all three to be taken in one train by one route, instead of in three trains by separate routes, a clear economy would be effected without any detriment to the traders, since the goods would reach b all the same, while savings in the working expenses should render the companies better able to meet the wishes of traders in other directions. in regard to the possibility (as already told on page ) of an increase in railway rates to enable the companies to meet increases of wages or other betterment of the positions of their staffs, any general increase might well occasion uneasiness, and even alarm, to traders who already find it difficult enough to meet foreign competition, and to whom greater cost of transport might be a matter of no little concern. on the other hand there is an undoubted anomaly in the fact that whilst the burdens on railway companies have greatly, if not enormously, increased of late years, and whilst other commercial companies are free to pass on to the consumer increased costs of production or heavier working expenses, including, especially, a much heavier taxation, the statutory standard for railway companies' rates and charges should still be that of the last day of december, . a further result of the railway strikes in the autumn of was to revive the agitation in favour of railway nationalisation. in some quarters it was argued that an effective guarantee against the recurrence of railway strikes would be found in state ownership; but this theory is certainly not { }confirmed by the actual experiences of holland, hungary, victoria, italy and france. there is no suggestion that, if the railways were owned by the state, the railwaymen would voluntarily abandon the right to strike; but state ownership is favoured by the amalgamated society of railway servants (which passed a resolution approving thereof at the annual conference at carlisle on october , ), in the expectation ( ) that, under these conditions, the unions would be certain to get "recognition"; ( ) that they would then be able to bring such pressure to bear on the government that they would be sure to get what they wanted without having to strike; and ( ) that, owing to the economies to which state operation would lead, the government would be in a position to give the railway workers higher pay and shorter hours. here, however, the questions arise whether the country would be willing to allow the railway unions practically to control alike the government and the economic situation; whether the assumed "economies" under state ownership and operation of the railways would really be effected; and whether any such changes in railway service conditions as those that were demanded in the national all-grades programme could be conceded even under a nationalisation system without imposing on the railway users greater burdens in the way of higher rates and fares than they might be disposed to tolerate. on the other hand there is the consideration that if the working expenses of the railway companies are to be swollen to still greater proportions by heavier wages bills, abnormal taxation, public demands for greater facilities, and state requirements in equipment or operation; if, at the same time, the companies are to be subjected to statutory restrictions in regard to the charges they may impose for the services they render; and if, also, the danger of strikes and of outside control or interference is to be increased, the day may conceivably come when transfer of the railways to the state, under, presumably, fair and equitable conditions, would be the only effectual means of relieving the railways themselves from what might then be an otherwise hopeless position. while the outlook for the future has various elements of uncertainty, and, in regard to matters of detail, gives rise to some degree of concern, a review of the conditions { }under which trade, industry and communication have been developed throughout the ages leads to the conclusion that the country may, at least, regard with feelings of profound thankfulness and generous appreciation the efforts of that long succession of individual pioneers, patriots and public-spirited men to whose zeal, foresight and enterprise we are so materially indebted for the advantages we now enjoy. { }authorities the following books, pamphlets, and reports have, among others, been consulted in the preparation of the present work: "a cursory view of the advantages of an intended canal from chesterfield to gainsborough" ( ). adams, william bridges: "practical remarks on railways" ( ). 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"the motor car in the first decade of the th century," compiled by w. eden hooper ( ). "the rating of railways," great western railway magazine booklet ( ). "the tourists' guide to bridgnorth" ( ). thoresby, ralph, f.r.s.: "ducatus leodiensis; or the topography of leedes" ( ). thrupp, george a.: "the history of coaches" ( ). tredgold, thomas: "a practical treatise on rail-roads and carriages" ( ). tristram, w. outram: "coaching days and coaching ways" ( ). tylor, alfred: "new points in the history of roman britain," in "archæologia," vol. xlviii. vernon-harcourt, l. f.: "rivers and canals" ( ). walford, cornelius: "fairs past and present" ( ). walker, thomas: "change in commerce," in "the original," no. xi ( ). wheeler, w. h.: "tidal rivers" ( ). whitaker, t. d.: "loidis and elmete" ( ). whitworth, richard: "the advantages of inland navigation; or some observations offered to the public to show that an inland navigation may be easily effected between the three great ports of bristol, liverpool and hull" ( ). whyte, a. g.: "electricity in locomotion" ( ). williams, f. s.: "our iron roads" ( th ed., ); "the midland railway" ( th ed., ). wilson, t.: "the railway system and its author" ( ). { }wood, nicholas: "a practical treatise on rail-roads" ( st ed., ; rd, ). wright and hobhouse: "an outline of local government and local taxation in england and wales." yarranton, andrew: "england's improvement by sea and land.... with the advantages of making the great rivers of england navigable" ( ). young, arthur: "a six weeks' tour through the southern counties" ( ); "a six months' tour through the north of england" ( ). { }index accidents on railways: - acworth, w. m.: , aeroplanes: - agricultural organisation society: agriculture: , , , , , , , , , , aikin, dr.: , , , , ale, burton: alldridge, t. j.: amalgamated society of railway servants: , , amber: - , ambulance corps on railways: anderson, dr james: andred-weald, the: , aqueducts on canals: arkwright, sir richard: , armstrong (newcastle) university: ashley, w. j.: , askwith, sir george: assizes of ale, bread and cloth: associated society of locomotive engineers and firemen: association of railway companies' signal superintendents: association of railway locomotive engineers: australia, railways in: automobile association and motor union: , automobilism: see "motor-vehicles." badeslade, thomas: - bagmen: bailey, john: , baines, thomas: , , , , , , , , balfour of burleigh, lord: barber, h. c.: - bartholomew fair: bawtry: classed as a seaport, ; { } port of consignment for sheffield goods, - , - beal, c. g.: beasley, a.: _n._, _n._ bedford, the duke of: benevolent contributions, railway companies': - bequests for road repairs: birkenshaw, john: birmingham: coach communication, - ; trade conditions, - ; cost of road transport to london, ; birmingham canal, , - , - , , , , ; london and birmingham rly., - bishopsgate goods station: - board of trade and railways: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , boonen, guylliam: bourn, daniel: - , boyle, courtenay, sir: bradfield, j. e.: , - brereton, r. m.: bridge friars: , bridges: , bridgewater, francis, duke of: , - , , , , bridgnorth: transit port on the severn, ; route for pottery goods, ; manchester goods, brindley, james: , - , , , , bristol: early prosperity of, ; trade done by bristol merchants, ; lancashire goods exported viâ the severn and bristol, brome, the rev. j.: - { } bronze age, the: brunlees, j.: buddle, john: - , burnett, john: burton-on-trent: bute, the marquis of: butterworth, a. kaye: buxton, mr.: cab, introduction of the: ; taxi-cabs, - caledonian railway: , , cambridge: located on river, ; importance to of river transport, , , canada, railways in: , canals: advocated, , ; a transition from rivers, ; the pioneer british canal, - ; opposition, - ; effect of canals on trade and industries, - , , - , ; engineering difficulties, , , - ; passenger traffic, , ; public prejudice, - ; "canal mania," , ; value of shares, , - ; number of canal acts, ; expenditure on canals, , ; length of canals, ; canal companies adopt railways, , ; excessive charges, ; attitude towards traders, - , - , ; opposition to independent railways, - , ; canal extortions inspire railway restrictions, ; royal commission on canals and waterways, , , ; construction on no general scheme, ; reduction of rates, ; neglect of improvements, - ; canals acquired by railways, - , ; increased powers, , ; amalgamation of canals, ; physical conditions, - ; locks, , ; railway competition, ; aqueducts, - ; tunnels, ; colliery operations, ; canal and rail transport compared, - ; canal resuscitation impracticable, - , { } aberdare c.: aire and calder nav.: , , , ashby c.: barnsley c.: , birmingham c.: , - , - , , , charnwood forest c.: coventry c.: , , dudley c.: ellesmere c.: erewash c.: , fossdyke: , glamorganshire c.: , - , - , grand junction c.: , herefordshire and gloucestershire c.: huddersfield c.: kennet and avon c.: lancashire c.: leeds and liverpool c.: - , leicester c.: , loughborough c.: , manchester, bolton and bury c.: mersey and irwell nav.: peak forest c.: - rochdale c.: , , , sankey brook c.: - stratford-on-avon c.: swansea c.: thames and severn c.: trent and mersey (grand trunk) c.: - , , , , , trent nav.: cardwell's committee: carriages, private: - castlereagh, viscount: central london rly.: city and south london rly.: chamberlayne, dr: chaplin, william: chaplin, mr: chapmen: , , , charles i.: proclamation concerning roads, charles ii. and roads: - , cheap trains act, : _n._ cheese industry: , , { } chester: roman road to, ; fair, ; coaches, , , ; decay of port, church and roads: - ; fairs, claughton, g. h.: clifford, frederick: , , , , , , , , cloth-makers and transport: - , - coaches and coaching: the "long waggon," - , , , ; stage-coaches, - , - , ; "flying" coaches, - , ; mail-coaches, - , ; thames watermen and coaches, - ; hackney coaches, - ; the "palmy" days of coaching, ; tolls paid by coaches, ; coach-owners join railways, ; speed accelerated, ; effect on horses, - ; cost of coach-horses, ; accidents and discomforts, ; decline of coaching, ; taxation, - coal industry: , , , , , , , - commercial motor users' association: , continental railway rates: copper industry: corporations, rise of municipal: cort, henry: cotton industry: , - county towns, influence of transport conditions on: - court of pie powder: - cressett, john: - , crewe mechanics' institution: cromwell, oliver: , cumming, t. g.: cunningham, w.: curr, john: cutlery, sheffield: , , - , cycles and cycling, - , dalhousie, lord: , darby, abraham: day, frank b.: _n._ defoe, daniel: on sturbridge fair, - ; roads at lewes, ; { } turnpikes, , - ; country towns, - , , ; bristol traders, ; port of lynn, ; trade on the trent, ; river idle, - ; river wey, ; devonshire serges, ; yorkshire trade conditions, , - ; cheese industry, dehany, w. k.: , , denmark, prince george of: denton, the rev. w.: , , de salis, rodolph: domesday survey: dover, early communication with: _n._, dublin society, the: dugdale, sir william: duncombe, sir sandars: easingwold rly.: - eastern counties rly.: eaton, j. shirley: , edgeworth, r. l.: , edinburgh, coaches to: , , - , ; cost of posting to, edington, robert: education of railwaymen, the: - elizabeth, queen: , , enclosure acts: engineer and railway staff corps: evelyn, john: factory system: fairs: - , , farrer, sir thomas: fay, sam: _n_ fen-lands: festivals, religious: findlay, sir george: , finger-posts: _n._ fish industry: - flannels, trade in: - fowler, h. h. (lord wolverhampton): fowler, j. kearsley: , france, roads in: , francis, john: , , , , , , franks, w. temple: freeman, james e.: { } fulton, r.: , galloway, robert l.: , garcke, emile: general railway workers' union: gibb, sir george: gladstone, w. e.: , , , , - , , , , glasgow and south-western railway: glynn, g. c.: , goschen, mr: gordon, alexander: gower, earl: graham, sir james: granet, sir guy: gray, robert: gray, thomas: , , - , great central rly.: , , , great eastern rly.: , , , , , , - , , - , great eastern rly. mechanics' institution: - greater london, beginnings of: great northern rly.: , , , , - great northern of ireland rly.: great north road: , , , great southern and western rly.: great western rly.: , , - , , , , - , , , - , - , great western rly. literary society: - griffin, h. hewitt: guilds, craft: guilds, merchant: - gurney, sir goldsworthy: - hackney carriages: - hackworth, j. w.: hackworth, t.: hadley, prof.: _n._, hall, sir john: hamilton, lord claud: , hardware trades: { } harper, c. g.: , harrel, sir david: harrison, william: hawkshaw, sir john: henderson, m.p., arthur: hereford, ross and gloucester rly.: herepath, john: - , , hermits and road repairs: highwaymen: historical manuscripts commission reports: , _n._ holinshed: homer, henry: hops: horne, benjamin: , horseback, travelling on: , horses: number used for long waggons, , ; restrictions in regard to, - ; horses used for coaches, ; mortality on roads, - horwich mechanics' institute: - hours of labour, railwaymen's: - howells, clarence s.: hull, trade of: , , humpherus, henry: , hunter, the rev. j.: , , , hutchinson, william: , hutton, william: , , hyde, w. h.: inglis, sir james c.: insurance bill, national: ireland: control of roads, ; cheap conveyances, iron industry: , , , , , , - , , - jacob, giles: - james i.: james, william: jeans, j. s.: , , , jersey, lord: jessop, william: , , jusserand, j. j.: , , kellawe, richard de: kendal as a packhorse station: kinderley, nathaniel: , { } knoop, douglas: lancashire and yorkshire rly.: , , - , , - land-beacons: lead industry: , , leeds cloth market: - lees, sir edward: lefevre, shaw: _n._ leicester and swannington rly.: - leigh, charles: levy, lewis: light railways: , , linen industry: , , litters, use of: liverpool: early waggons and coaches, , , ; isolation, - ; improvement of mersey, ; river communication with manchester, ; effect on liverpool trade of navigation facilities on the weaver and the douglas, - ; sankey brook canal, - ; bridgewater canals, - ; leeds and liverpool canal, ; liverpool and manchester rly., - , loads, restrictions on: - locks on canals: - london and birmingham rly.: - , , , , london and north-western rly.: , , , , - , , , , , - , , - , - , , , , , london and south-western rly.: , , , , , , london, brighton and south coast rly.: , , , , london electric railway coy.: , , london general omnibus coy.: london railways athletic association: london school of economics: - , _n_ london, tilbury and southend rly.: _n._ london traffic problem: - , , , { } london traffic, royal commission on: , london united tramways: long service on railways: lord mayor's coach, the: lowther, m.p., j. w.: _n._ lynn, early importance of: , , - macaulay, lord: , mackay, dr charles: mackworth, sir humphry: macpherson, david: , , , , manby, charles: manchester: coaches, - ; early trading conditions, ; goods despatched viâ bewdley and bridgnorth, , ; mersey and irwell navigation, - , - , ; worsley-manchester canal, , ; cost of transport, ; privations due to defective transport, ; liverpool and manchester railway, - manorial courts: manor, lord of, and transport: markets: marriott, h.: , mathew, francis: - , mcadam, j. l.: , , - , , , , mcadam, sir james: , metcalf, john: - midland rly.: , , , , , , , , , midland railway institute: monasteries: , , , montagu of beaulieu, lord: moon, sir richard: morrison, james: - , , , moryson, fynes: , motor-vehicles: competition of motor-omnibuses with electric tramways, - , - , with horse-omnibuses, - , with railways, , - ; comparison of motor-omnibus and railless electric traction, - ; early days of steam-coaches, - ; { } traction engines, ; hostile legislation, - ; the magna charta of automobilism, ; motor-car act of , ; heavy motor-car order of , - ; pleasure cars in use, ; royal automobile club, - ; automobile association and motor union, ; road improvements, - ; commercial motors, - ; motor-cabs, - ; motor industry, - ; imports and exports, - ; motors and railway strikes, municipal tramways association: nails, cart-wheel: , - nash, t.: newcastle-on-tyne: coaches, ; salt trade, nicholson, j. shield: "nimrod": north british rly.: , north-eastern rly.: , , , , , - north staffordshire rly.: - , nottingham, early importance of: , , oakley, sir henry: , , ogilby, john: - omnibuses: introduction of, ; motor-omnibuses: competition with tramways, - , - , with railways, , , - ; succeed horse-omnibuses, - outram, benjamin: overton, george: , owner's risk rates on railways: - oxford: coaches to, ; university and river transport, packhorse, transport by: , , , , , , , , , , , paley, w. p.: _n._ palmer, john: parnell, sir henry: { } passengers: in packhorse panniers, ; by long waggon, , ; stage-coach, - ; canals, , ; rail, - patten, thomas: paving, early britons and: pearson, charles: , , , pedlars: , , peel, sir frederick: peel, sir robert: , , , , pension funds, railway: permanent way institution: perry, g.: philippe, william: phillipps, w. d.: - phillips, j.: , , , pilgrims: plymley, joseph: , , , , , , , polyhistor, t. s.: porter, g. r.: , , - , - porter, robert p.: , _n._ posting: post office and railways: - potter, f.: - , pottery industry: - , , , powell, e. t.: preferential railway rates: priestley, joseph: private owners of railway rolling stock, association of: _n._ prussian state railways: , , , , , public service commission of new york city: railless electric traction: - , railway agreements and amalgamations: , - , , - railway and canal commission: _n._, , railway benevolent institution: railway classification: - , - railway clearing house: , , , railway club, the: { } railway directors, functions of: railway electrification: , - , railway guards' universal friendly society: railway mania, - : - railway nationalisation: - , - railway rates: early proposals for revision, - , - ; canals and railway rates, ; basis on which early rates fixed, - ; early classification, - ; revision of rates by board of trade commissioners, - ; confirmation acts of - , - ; act of , ; restrictions on companies, - ; equal mileage rates, ; "cost of service," - ; "what the traffic will bear," , ; present classification, - ; sea competition, - ; "anomalies," ; sliding scale principle, ; american railway rates, - , ; exceptional rates, - ; owner's risk rates, - ; preferential rates, - ; agricultural interests, - , ; machinery for dealing with traders' grievances, - ; comparisons with continental rates, - ; government promise of legislation in respect to increases, , ; survival of fittest, - ; competition of omnibuses and electric tramways, ; effect on suburban traffic, - ; competition of private motors, ; passenger journeys, - ; suburban goods transport, - ; road _v._ rail, - ; railway system complete, ; needs of to-day, ; railway agreements, - ; departmental committee, - ; railway nationalisation, - railway savings banks: railway shareholders: - , { } railway signalling, schools of: - railway strikes: , , , railway system: length of line, ; single track, ; length of track, ; rolling stock, ; traffic statistics, ; railway capital, ; gross receipts and expenditure, ; dividends, - ; share-holders and their holdings, - ; taxation, - railway temperance unions: railway warehouses: - railways: rise of the coal trade, - ; wooden rails adopted at collieries, - ; introduction of cast-iron wheels, ; double rails, ; iron "plates," ; cast-iron rails, ; flanged rails, ; edge rails, ; wrought-iron rails, ; significance of expression "iron" railway, ; inclined planes and gravity, ; stationary engines, ; length and character of colliery lines, ; railways adopted by canal companies, - ; position in south wales, - ; canal interests overcome the first proposed competing railway, - ; railways supplement canals, - ; their superiority recognised, - ; railways before , ; surrey iron rail-way, - ; stockton and darlington, - ; advocates of general railways, - ; liverpool and manchester railway, - ; opposition of canal companies, - ; leicester and swannington railway, - ; hostility to railways, - ; london and birmingham railway, - ; landowners and railways, - , - ; cost of parliamentary proceedings, - ; canal precedents inspire state policy, ; competition between carriers, - ; morrison's proposal, - ; { } duke of wellington's motion, - ; early taxation, - ; attitude of post office, - ; competition between companies, ; lack of national policy, - ; proposals by mr gladstone's committee, ; special department of board of trade created, ; set aside, ; "railway mania" of - , - ; private bill committees and the special department, ; board of railway commissioners, ; committee of , - ; state purchase, ; competing lines, - ; railway amalgamations, - ; railway clearing house established, ; mr cardwell's committee, ; cost of construction, - ; railway companies and canals, - , - ; rail and canal transport compared, , ; railways and coaches, , , ; results of railway operation on industries, , on towns, , on general trade, - , on political and social conditions, , on national life, - , on colonial expansion, - railways a national industry: number of railway servants, - ; employees in locomotive works, etc., - ; independent concerns, ; characteristics of the railway service, - ; training, - ; education for efficiency in u.s.a., - ; railwaymen's education movement: mechanics' institutes, - , railway companies' classes, - , london school of economics, - , arrangements with universities, - , literary societies, - ; railway organisations, - ; railway club, ; recreation and physical culture, ; { } railwaymen's societies, - ; temperance unions, ; regularity of employment, ; wages, - ; subsidiary advantages, - ; superannuation and pension funds, ; railway charities, - ; hours of labour, - ; accidents, - ; ambulance, ; railway work a "service," ; family records, ; the agitation in , ; strike in , ; royal commission of inquiry, - ; increases in wages, ; railway unions to ballot on question of general strike, "rebecca" riots in wales: - "recognition," question of, on railways: - , "red flag act": rendell, t. h.: , renner, p. a.: retired railway officers' society: rivers, location of towns, etc., on: , - , ; influence of, on social and economic conditions, - ; ports on rivers, - ; causes of decline of rivers, , - ; river improvements, - , - ; navigable rivers as public highways, - ; toll collection on rivers, ; influence on trade and industries, - , , , , , - ; floods, - , ; high tides, - ; water shortage, - ; silting-up, ; present condition, - ; pilfering on, - ; side-cuts precede canals, aire: , , , , , , , avon (bristol): avon (warwickshire): , - , avon (wiltshire): , brandon: calder: , , , , cam: , { } croal: cuckmere: dee: , derwent: , don: , , , - douglas: - , exe: humber: , , , , idle: , irwell: , , lea: - , - lug: , , , medway: , mersey: , - , , , mildenhall: nen: , , ouse (norfolk): , , , - , , ouse (sussex): ouse (york): , , , , , , parrett: ribble: , , , severn: - , , , - , , - , sheaf: stour (worcestershire): teme: thames: , , , - , , , , , trent: , - , , , , , , , - , tyne: , , weaver: - , , welland: wey: wharfe: witham: , - , wye: , , , - , , road boards in scotland: road board, the: - roads: british, - ; roman, - , , ; action of church, - , ; road conditions, , - , , - , , , - , , , - ; legislation, - , - ; statute labour, - , - ; road-making and repairing, - , ; parish roads, ; highway rates and road repairs, ; county councils and roads, , ; { } road board and road improvement grant, - . see, also, "turnpikes" robinson, sir clifton: , - roebuck, dr: romans: - , , royal automobile club: , - , , royal commission on canals and waterways: , , , , royal commission on local taxation: royal commission of inquiry (conciliation scheme of ): - royal commission on london traffic: , - russell, m.p., c.: salt industry: , - , , , samuel, sir samuel: sandars, joseph: , sandon, lord: sandys, sir william: - , , sclater-booth, g. (lord basing): , scotland, roads in: , - , , scott, william: - sea-ports, thirteenth century: - sedan chair, the: - sheffield: coaches, ; route for despatch of goods, - , - ; reason for settlement of cutlery industry on the sheaf, - shelford, frederick: sherman, e.: , sherwood forest: shillibeer, mr: , , shirley, sir richard: shrewsbury: important centre for severn trade, ; social life, ; a metropolis for north wales, ; river traffic, smeaton, john: smiles, samuel: , , smith, adam: , , , smith, sydney: { } social conditions: see under "transport, influence of" society of motor manufacturers and traders: soil, nature of, in england: south africa, railways in: "southampton case," the: south-eastern and chatham rly.: , spencer, c. j.: stamford, the earl of: staple: starley, j. k.: state policy: roads, - , , - , - , - ; railways, - , - , - , - ; canals, - , - , , ; coaches, - ; tramways, - , , - ; self-propelled road vehicles, - state purchase of railways, enactments respecting: - statute labour on roads: - , - steam-coaches: introduction of, ; anticipations in regard to, ; opposition to, ; withdrawal from roads, stephenson, george: , _n_ stephenson, robert: stockton and darlington rly.: - , stow, john: stratford-on-avon: repair of bridge, _n._; river transport, stukeley, dr william: _n._, sturbridge fair: - suburban passenger traffic: - , , superannuation funds, railway: surrey iron rail-way: - surveyors, road: , , - , sutherland, the duke of: taff vale rly.: taunton, lord: taxation, railway, - , , - , taylor, john ("the water poet"): - { } telford, thomas: , , - , , _n._, , , , terminal charges on railways: , , - textile industries: reasons for location of in the north, - ; influence of canals on their development, thames watermen: - thoresby, ralph: thorne, w. b.: tin industry: , , , traction engines: , train, george francis: "tram," derivation of word: tramways, street: introduction of, ; early lines, ; state policy, ; tramways act, , - ; local authorities' veto, ; electric traction, - ; light railways act, , ; "price of assents," , - ; municipal tramways, - ; competition of motor-omnibuses, - ; railless electric traction, - ; tramway competition with railways, , - , transport, influence of on social conditions: isolation of communities, - , - , , , ; effect of coaching facilities, ; country gentry, ; county towns, - ; coaches and "country manners," - ; beginnings of "greater london," ; civilising effects of improved communication, - ; political results of rail communication, ; social results, - ; a factor in national life, - ; country homes for town workers, - transport, influence of on trade and industries: general, - , - , , , , _n._, , ; roads, , - , - , - , , - , , , , , - ; rivers, , - , , - , - , , - , - , - , ; canals, , - , - , - , - , , , - ; { } turnpikes, , ; railways, , , , , - , , , , - ; motor-vehicles, - tube railways: , - , , turnpikes: principle of tolls, , ; turnpikes introduced, - ; turnpike acts, - , ; turnpike system, ; opposition to toll-bars, - , - ; defects of system, - ; stimulus to trade, - ; turnpike roads, - , - ; number of turnpike acts and trusts, ; statute labour, - ; cost of road repairs, ; turnpike debt, , - ; tolls, - , , , ; cost of management, , ; consolidation of trusts, ; highway rates and road repairs, ; "rebecca riots" in wales, - ; house of commons turnpike committee, ; reduction in number of trusts, - ; burden on ratepayers, - ; government grants, ; rapid decline of trusts, ; attitude of trustees to steam coaches, - tylor, alfred: - underground railways: - united kingdom railway officers and servants' association: united pointsmen and signalmen's society: united states: land grants to railways, ; railway rates, - , , ; education for railway efficiency, - university of leeds: university of london: university of manchester: , vernon-harcourt, l. v.: - , { } wade, general: wages, railwaymen's: - , , , waggons: , , , - , , - , war office and motor-lorries: warrington: position in coaching age, , ; mersey navigation, , watermen, thames: - water power and industries: - , watt, james: , , , webb, f. w.: wedgwood, josiah: , , , , weight of loads: - wellington, the duke of: , welshpool: severn navigable to, ; market for welsh flannels, wesley, john: west coast of africa, railways on: - wheels, broad: , - , , whitaker, t. d.: , whitworth, richard: , , , , williams, e. l.: williams, f. s.: , wimberley, w. c.: wine trade: wood, nicholas: , , , , , woods and forests: - , woollen industry: , , , , , , , , , - , - , , yarranton, andrew: - , york: roman military post, ; coaches, , , ; road conditions, ; river control, ; trading position, young, arthur: - , , , william brendon and son, ltd., printers, plymouth notes [ ] mr tylor argues that brading, in the isle of wight, was the favoured point of shipment. [ ] in the ninth report of the historical manuscripts commission, page , mention is made of a charter, granted by edward vi., giving a new municipal constitution to the "ancient borough" of stratford-on-avon in lieu of the franchise and local government taken away by the suppression of the guild previously existing there; and in this charter the guild in question is spoken of as having been, in former times, "founded and endowed with divers lands tenements and possessions," the rents, revenues and profits from which were to be devoted to the maintenance of a grammar school, an almshouse, and "a certain great stone bridge, called stratford bridge, placed and built over the water and river of the avon beside the said borough." [ ] the subject of rivers and river transport will be fully dealt with in later chapters. [ ] the fair has, also, been widely described as the "stourbridge" fair, a name which seems to associate it, quite wrongly, with the town of stourbridge, in worcestershire. i have preferred to follow here the spelling favoured by defoe and other contemporary writers. [ ] "staple" was a term applied, in the middle ages ( ) to a town to which traders were encouraged to send their supplies of some particular commodity--wool, for example--such town becoming the recognised headquarters of the trade concerned, while the arrangement was one that facilitated the collection of the taxes imposed by the king on the traders; and ( ) to the commodity sold under these conditions. [ ] the earlier continental route was by river to gravesend and thence by road to dover. [ ] this act also provided that when the wheels of a waggon were so arranged that those at the back followed in a line with those in front, the two pairs thus running in one and the same groove, only half the usual tolls should be charged. [ ] passengers are to-day regularly conveyed between london and edinburgh by train in eight and a quarter hours. [ ] the journey between birmingham and london can now be done by train in two hours. [ ] the fares by the stage coaches generally worked out at ½d. to d. a mile outside, and d. to d. a mile inside; and those by mail-coach at d. to d. a mile outside, and d. to d. a mile inside. an outside place on the edinburgh mail-coach cost about ½ guineas, and an inside place ½ guineas, exclusive of tips to coachmen and guards at every stage, and meals and refreshments _en route_. c. g. harper, in "the great north road," estimates that the total cost of a journey from london to edinburgh by mail-coach was, for an outside traveller, guineas, and for an inside traveller guineas. [ ] by an act of parliament passed in the number of sedan chairs allowed to ply for hire in london was fixed at , but the limit was raised in the following year to . this was, of course, independent of the private sedan chairs, of which every mansion had at least one. [ ] so numerous were--or had been--the thames watermen and lightermen that, according to stow, they could at any time have furnished , men for the fleet. [ ] incidentally, this fact may explain why country roads to-day, still following old tracks, often have so many twists and turns when, one might think, they could just as well have been made straight. [ ] a writer in the "westminster review" for october, , referring to the lack of finger-posts, says: "there is scarcely a parish in the country, and not one in the remoter parts, where a stranger can possibly find his way, for want of this obvious remedy. south wales is an inextricable labyrinth; it is a chance if there is a finger-post in the whole principality. cornwall and devonshire are as bad. if by chance they are once erected they are never repaired or replaced. the justices know their own roads and care nothing for the traveller." [ ] cross = cross road. [ ] similar committees were, also, appointed in , , and . in the report it eventually issued, the committee of said: "by the improvement of our roads, every branch of our agricultural, commercial and manufacturing industry would be materially benefitted. every article brought to market would be diminished in price; the number of horses would be so much reduced, that by these and other retrenchments, the expense of five millions would be annually saved to the public." [ ] it was shown in evidence before the select committee of that the "surveyors" in a certain district included a miller, an undertaker, a carpenter, a coal merchant, a publican, a baker, "an infirm old man," and "a bedridden old man who had not been out of his house for several months." nineteen times out of twenty, it was declared, the appointment was "a perfect job." [ ] mcadam had found the roads at bristol loaded with an accumulation two or three feet deep of stones, which had been thrown down during a series of years with the idea of "repairing" the roads. such roads became his quarries for stones to be broken by hand. [ ] salisbury. [ ] "wines and groceries," says archdeacon plymley, "are brought up the severn from bristol and gloucester to shrewsbury, and so on to montgomeryshire." [ ] eighteenth. [ ] the douglas navigation was afterwards purchased by the proprietors of the leeds and liverpool canal, who substituted an artificial cut for part of the natural channel of the river. [ ] in giving an account of a visit he paid to derbyshire in , dr. william stukeley says in his "itinerarium curiosum" ( nd ed., ): "at the smelting works they melt down the lead ore, and run it into a mould, whence it becomes pigs, as they call it; the bellows continually are kept in motion by running water." [ ] barges were towed up-stream on the severn by men. writing in , archdeacon plymley said: "a horse towing-path is now established from bewdley to coalbrookdale, which is more and more used, and it is hoped will soon be extended, the office of towing barges by men being looked upon as very injurious to their manners." [ ] subsequently supplemented by a tunnel of larger dimensions alongside, constructed by telford. [ ] the imports of raw cotton into the united kingdom in were , , cwts., or nearly million lbs., valued at £ , , . [ ] not only was it a case of the cart going before the horse, on a descending road, but in some instances there was attached to the waggon a sort of horse-trolley on which the animal itself could ride down-hill, and thus reserve its strength for taking back the empty waggon on a second pair of rails alongside. [ ] in the first instance projections were cast on the rails to allow of their being attached to the wooden sleepers; but, as these projections were found to break easily, they were cast separately in the form of "pedestals," or "chairs," into which, after they had been fastened to the sleepers, the rails could be fixed with pieces of wood. [ ] mr brunlees is of opinion that the plating of rails with a steel surface was probably begun about , and that it was not until eight or ten years later they were made entirely of steel. "now," he said in his address, "owing to the improvements in the manufacture of steel rails, they can be produced as easily and as cheaply as iron rails." [ ] the adoption of the designation "iron," as applied to the railway systems abroad, was probably influenced to some extent by thomas gray's "observations on a general iron rail-way." first published in , the work had gone through five editions by , and in a letter addressed, in , to sir robert peel, urging the claims of gray to generous treatment by the state, on the ground of his being the "author" (_sic_) of the railway system, thomas wilson wrote: "his name and his fame were spreading in other lands; his work was translated into all the european languages, and to the impression produced by it may be attributes the popular feeling throughout germany and france in favour of rail-road which has terminated in the adoption of his railway system in germany and belgium especially." [ ] the stone bridge here referred to allowed of an easy transport across the valley from the collieries to the tyne. constructed by a local mason, the bridge soon fell down, and was rebuilt in , the architect thereupon committing suicide to spare himself the anxiety of any possible further collapse of his work. in brand's "history and antiquities of newcastle" ( ) it is stated that the span of the bridge was feet, that the height was feet, and that the cost of the structure was £ . [ ] in the company's further acts of and this line was still spoken of as a "rail-way," with the hyphen; but in their act of it had become a railway--without the hyphen. [ ] stationary engines. [ ] the length of the main line from carno mill to cardiff was to be miles, the branches increasing the total to miles. the estimates of expenditure put the cost of land and construction at £ , , exclusive of £ s., for "obtaining the act, etc." the items in respect to the main line were as follows:-- £ s. d. forming the road and laying the dram rails, making the fences, etc., £ per mile iron dram rails, tons per mile, at £ per ton sleepers, £ per mile purchase of land, miles at £ per mile extra allowance, £ per mile --------------- £ , [ ] in regard to this particular plea, see further references to the glamorganshire canal company on pages - . [ ] amalgamated by the midland railway company. [ ] my authority for this statement is a newspaper article, headed "centenary of the first railway act," written in by w. p. paley, and to be found in a collection of railway pamphlets in the british museum ( i ). the name of the journal is not stated; but the writer of the article gives such precise details concerning the line in question that his information is evidently authentic. [ ] in succeeding engines a double tube, bent in the form of the letter u, was fixed. stephenson provided his "rocket" with tubes, thus giving a further substantial increase in the heating surface. [ ] that this attitude of organised hostility on the part of the canal companies was well maintained is shown by the following extract from the "manchester advertiser" of january , : "the proprietors of the ayre and calder navigation and of the canals, have resolved to organise an opposition to all railways whatever in parliament. the canal proprietors are thus openly setting themselves in opposition to one of the greatest improvements of the age." [ ] see page . [ ] in the taff vale railway act of (the same year as that in which morrison made his proposals) the company were prohibited from paying a dividend of more than seven per cent when the full tolls were charged, or of more than nine per cent after the tolls had been reduced by twenty-five per cent; and the shareholders were required, at any meeting at which these maximum dividends were declared, to make such reasonable reductions in the amount of the rates to be paid during the following year as would, in their opinion, reduce the profits to the seven or nine per cent level. it was further provided that, for the purpose of "better ascertaining the amount of the clear profits upon the said railway," the company should submit their accounts to the justices in quarter sessions, who were to make such reductions in the rates to be collected during the year next ensuing as would, in their judgment, reduce the profits to the prescribed minima. mr a. beasley, general manager of the taff vale railway, who gives this information in an article on "how parliament harassed early railways," published in "the railway magazine" for november, , adds: "the gentlemen of quarter sessions were never called upon to undertake this formidable task as the clauses were repealed by the company's act of ." [ ] under the cheap trains act of the duty was remitted in the case of all fares not exceeding the rate of one penny a mile, and was reduced to two per cent on fares exceeding that rate for conveyance between urban stations within one urban district. [ ] professor hadley states, in "railroad transportation," that in the average length of english railroads was fifteen miles. [ ] the present railway and canal commission, which, however, has no functions in regard to advising on railway bills, was created in for a period of years, and was made permanent in . [ ] the figures in this column are taken from the board of trade railway returns for . [ ] when giving evidence before the departmental committee on railway agreements and amalgamations, on june , , mr a. beasley, general manager of the taff vale railway company, called attention to the fact that in "bradshaw's railway manual" for there was published a special index of all the railways of which notices had appeared in that publication during sixty years (practically covering the whole position), the total of such railways, including light railways, being . of this number were recorded as having been abandoned, closed or wound up, leaving a balance of . in "bradshaw's railway guide" for march, , only railways--including light railways, railways operated by joint committees, as well as railways in the isle of man, the isle of wight, and jersey--were given as being in actual operation. "that shows," continued mr beasley, "that there must have been railways, all separately authorised, most of them separately constructed, and many of them, for a time, separately worked, which have been purchased, amalgamated, leased or otherwise absorbed or taken over by other undertakings." [ ] . [ ] . [ ] "the law relating to railway and canal traffic"; boyle and waghorn. vol. i, page . [ ] "publications of the department of economics and political science of the university of south wales and monmouthshire," no. ( ). [ ] the turnpike trust loans still outstanding on the th of march, , amounted to £ , . [ ] see p. . [ ] lectures on the "history of traffic legislation and parliamentary action in connection with railways," delivered at the london school of economics. see "the railway news," november , . [ ] the existence of this large number of privately owned railway waggons--the greater proportion of which are in use in the coal trade--recalls the days when it was assumed that traders would provide their own rolling stock on the railways. it shows that they still do so to a considerable extent, although, of course, relying on the railway companies to supply the locomotives. it will also be seen how the questions which have arisen from time to time as to the use of a larger type of railway waggon and, also, of automatic couplers on waggons, may be complicated by the variety of ownership. there is an association of private owners of railway rolling stock, the objects of which are "to maintain and defend the rights and promote the interests of private owners and hirers of railway rolling stock." the receipts under this head were as follows:-- £ steamboats, canals, harbours and docks , , rents, tolls, hotels, etc. , , --------- , , [ ] an excellent summary of the general position to-day will be found in "the rating of railways," a booklet issued by the editor of the "great western railway magazine." [ ] in "insurance legislation in germany; copy of memorandum containing the opinions of various authorities in germany" [cd. ], herr e. schmidt, member of the imperial diet, and president of the german tobacco manufacturers' association, is quoted as saying: "i am convinced that when the social legislation was introduced, and for the first time the large contributions for sickness insurance and later for old age and infirmity insurance had to be paid, many of us groaned. to-day, however, these contributions, which occur every year, are booked either to the general expenses account or the wages account--for they are, in fact, a part of wages--and they are naturally calculated as part of the cost of production, and eventually appear in the price of the goods, though perhaps not to the full extent in times of bad trade." [ ] see an article on "bishopsgate goods station," by frank b. day, in the "great eastern railway magazine" for july, . [ ] in the week ending april , , the broccoli sent from the penzance district to various destinations throughout the country filled railway waggons, and necessitated the running of special trains. [ ] see speech by mr frederick shelford at a meeting of the royal colonial institute, may , , reported in "united empire; the royal colonial institute journal," for august, . [ ] when the tramways bill of was introduced, mr shaw lefevre stated that its underlying principle was to empower local authorities "to construct tramways, but not, of course, work them." [ ] another of the witnesses was the right hon. j. w. lowther, m.p., at that time chairman of committees, and now speaker of the house of commons. he assured the commission that the power of "vetoing" tramways had worked a great deal of mischief. he further declared that the standing order had been most improperly used for the purpose of extorting all sorts of terms and conditions from tramway companies, and had subjected them to liabilities and disabilities which were never contemplated by parliament. [ ] see r. p. porter's "dangers of municipal trading," pp. - , where it is stated that of over £ , , spent by the london county council on street widenings for tramway extensions only £ , was debited to the tramway undertaking. [ ] "electricity in locomotion," by a. g. whyte, . [ ] the total number of commercial motor-vehicles working in the london district in august, , was, according to statistics compiled by "commercial motor," . [ ] mails are now being sent out from london every night by motor-vans for distances of up to miles. [ ] july , . [ ] see pp. - . [ ] figures for march . on september , , the number of taxicabs in london was . [ ] figure for sept. , . [ ] a good example of these tendencies is offered by the southend district, situate at the mouth of the thames, a distance of miles from london. season tickets between london and southend are issued by the railways at a low rate, and on the london, tilbury and southend line there are holders of these tickets. in the special interests of wives and daughters cheap tickets to london by an express train are issued on wednesdays to allow of shopping in town, visits to the theatre, etc., and by this train there is an average of from to passengers, consisting almost exclusively of ladies. [ ] exclusive of those by season-ticket holders. [ ] in an address delivered by him as president of the railway students' union at the london school of economics on october , , mr sam fay, general manager of the great central railway, said: "there is little prospect of any extensive opening out of new competitive routes in this country, and, but for a few comparatively short lines here and there, the railway system may be considered complete." transcriber's notes the fractions one half and three quarters were shown respectively as - and - which was retained herein. +=========================+ | | | facts and figures | | | | | | | | concerning | | | | | | | | the hoosac tunnel. | | | | | | ----------- | | by john j. piper. | | ----------- | | | | | | fitchburg: | | | | john j. piper, printer. | | | | . | | | +=========================+ facts and figures concerning the hoosac tunnel. by john j. piper. fitchburg: john j. piper, printer. . the hoosac tunnel. in his inaugural address to the legislature, governor bullock says, "there can be no doubt that _new facilities_ and new avenues for transportation between the west and the east are now absolutely needed. our lines of prosperity and growth are the parallels of latitude which connect us with the young, rich empire of men, and stock, and produce lying around the lakes and still beyond. the people of massachusetts, compact, manufacturing and commercial, must have more thoroughfares through which the currents of trade and life may pass to and fro, unobstructed and ceaseless, between the atlantic and the national granaries, or decay will at no distant period touch alike her wharves and her workshops. let us avert the day in which our commonwealth shall become chiefly a school-house for the west, and a homestead over which time shall have drawn silently and too soon the marks of dilapidation. any policy which is not broad enough to secure to us a new england, having a proper share in the benefits of this new opening era of the west, be assured, will not receive the approval of the next generation." this important recommendation is what the public had reason to expect from a man so keenly alive to the interests and welfare of the commonwealth as governor bullock, whose close observation and discernment had long since discovered the danger, and disposed him to take a deep interest in any adequate enterprise by means of which it could be averted. the reasons which have induced his excellency's convictions on this subject, and caused the apprehensions he has expressed, are very clearly set forth in the following articles from the buffalo commercial advertiser of november th and th, :-- "to-day, the western states are far more bountifully provided with avenues of transportation than the extreme east. this is peculiarly anomalous and inexplicable when we consider the boasted enterprise, wealth and shrewdness of new england, and the dependence which always exists upon the part of a manufacturing district toward that section which furnishes it with a market, and from which it obtains its breadstuff. it is fortunate for new england that it does not lie in the line of transit between the west and _its_ market, or it would have drawn about its head a storm of indignation which it could not have resisted. the state of new york has contributed an hundred fold what new england has towards providing the required facilities of traffic, for the great west. our yankee friends have done much toward facilitating intercommunication among themselves, but very little toward direct communication with the west. it is not a little strange that, with all the ambitious effort of boston to become a mercantile emporium, rivaling new york, and with its vast manufacturing interest, it should have but a single direct avenue of traffic with the west. yet such is the fact. the western railroad between albany and boston is the sole route now in existence except those circuitous lines via new york city or through canada. our down-east friends, usually so keen and enterprising, seem to have exhausted their energies in the construction of that road twenty-five years ago, and the consequence is that to-day the business interests of all new england are suffering for lack of the timely investment of a few millions. strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true that boston is now virtually cut off from its trade communication with the west for want of facilities of transportation. for weeks past the grand trunk railroad has ceased to take boston freight, by reason of its being blocked up with other through and way freights at sarnia. the swollen tide of freight via the new york central has exceeded the capacity of the western road between albany and boston, and the consequence has been felt in an increased charge by the new york central of twenty cents a barrel above new york city rates, and, finally, that road has been obliged to refuse boston freight altogether, simply by reason of the accumulation and delay occasioned by the inability of the western road to forward it to its destination. in like manner, boston freight going forward by canal is hindered and accumulated at albany. a similar state of things exists in regard to most of the westward bound boston freight, as boston jobbers are finding out to their cost. merchants at the west, who purchase in boston, are six and eight weeks in getting their heavy goods. we are informed upon reliable authority that flour can be sent from chicago to new york, by lake and rail for $ . per barrel, while very limited quantities only can be sent to boston at $ . , and that by the "red line" $ a barrel is demanded. new england depends upon the west for its bread, and also for its market for its imports and manufactures. if the state of things to which we refer, continues much longer, it will be compelled to go to new york both for its bread and its customers. the west complains of new york, because, forsooth, it is tardy in enlarging its canals to meet the anticipated necessities of its future growth, and boston has had the assurance to join in the thoughtless and unfounded clamor. yet the great state of massachusetts has supinely stood still for twenty-five years without making an effort to overcome the barrier between it and the great west. during that time the western road has grown rich, and paid large dividends from a business which has been greater than it could transact, and to-day there exists an almost total blockade of boston freight at albany. surely, this does not reflect favorably on new england shrewdness and enterprise, neither does it tally with new england interest. besides, it is detrimental to the business interests of the west. as the case now stands the fault rests with massachusetts alone, in not providing railroad accommodations east of the hudson river. it is also nonsense to assert, as some will, that the capacity of the erie canal is inadequate. during the past season it has not been taxed to half its capacity, and yet it has found the western road unable to dispose of what boston freight was offered. western merchants and shippers ought to know where the fault lies, and to the end that they may be informed we have penned this article. their true remedy is to buy in new york, and to ship their produce to that city, until massachusetts shall provide adequate facilities of transportation. boston is the natural eastern terminus of the great northern line of transportation, and we should have been glad to have seen her citizens and those of the great state of massachusetts realize the fact. their supineness, however, has lost to them for the present, if not forever, the great commercial prize which nature intended for them. it remains to be seen whether they will realize their position, and make an effort to retrieve their "penny wise and pound foolish policy." * * * * * "in a recent article we took occasion to point out the importance to the country at large of the construction of adequate facilities for the accommodation of the traffic exchanges between the different sections; and to call the attention of our readers to the remarkable fact that while the whole country, and particularly the west, had undergone a wonderful development requiring for its accommodation a corresponding increase of commercial facilities, that new england had stood still for a quarter of a century. the fact that a great state like massachusetts, with a great emporium like boston, should have but a single line of direct communication with the west, and that it should supinely stand still and refuse to add to it, notwithstanding the yearly demonstrations of its growing inadequacy, seemed so strange as to justify remark. the other fact that the transit of freight to and from boston should be almost stopped by the inability of that single railroad to handle it--thereby increasing rates and compelling purchasers as well as sellers to go to new york--also seemed to be inconsistent with our traditional ideas of eastern shrewdness. our remarks have received additional force by the fact, subsequently learned by us, that there are at the present time between four and five hundred car-loads of boston-bound freight lying at albany and greenbush awaiting cars for its movement to its destination, while there exists no stoppage whatever of new york freight, thus demonstrating clearly the inadequacy of the western road to answer the demands made upon it. since that article was penned, information has reached us to the effect that our massachusetts neighbors have at last waked up to the importance of the subject, and are about to enter vigorously upon the work of providing another avenue of trade between boston and the west, by what is known as the greenfield route which embraces the long talked of hoosac tunnel. this great enterprise has enlisted the energies of the engineers and railroad men of massachusetts for more than thirty years, with constantly varying prospects of success, and at last seems in a fair way of being accomplished. the high range of hills which runs along the whole western line of massachusetts, for a long time baffled the efforts of railroad engineers; and the rival claims of competing routes distracted the popular mind, and delayed the construction of either. the most eminent engineers preferred the northern, or greenfield route--involving the hoosac tunnel--as being the most direct and feasible. in the struggle which followed, the southern route was successful, and the western road was built and opened in . the other route was also constructed after a time, upon either side of the proposed tunnel, but for lack of the completion of that great work, has never been anything but an avenue for local travel and traffic. the whole length of the proposed tunnel is , feet, and the estimated cost of construction is about three and a quarter millions. when we consider the vital interest which the citizens of massachusetts have in the completion of this work, and the enormous interests to be served by it, the sum required seems absolutely trivial, and the withholding of it really parsimonious as well as foolish. we are pleased to learn that the state is at last about to lend a helping hand to this great enterprise, which will guaranty its speedy completion. this is an indication of wisdom upon the part of our neighbors, albeit it comes somewhat tardily. almost all the other states that lie between the great west and the ocean have pursued a very different policy from that of new england, and with very favorable results. new york, which was the pioneer in the matter of internal improvements, not only built her great canals, at a cost of over $ , , , but also aided largely in the construction of her great through lines of railroads. it contributed to the erie road $ , , , which is now seen to have been a good investment despite the fact that it was entirely lost to the state. the same policy was pursued by pennsylvania and maryland, with equally happy results. we congratulate our new england neighbors, and, especially, the citizens of boston, upon the improved prospect of the completion of the hoosac tunnel, and the opening of another great route to the west, through, instead of over the mountains which lie between them and us. we trust that the obstructions which have existed, and still exist, in the channels of commercial intercourse between new england and the west will speedily be removed, never again to be manifested in freight blockades or threatened diversions of trade." the statements contained in these two articles are substantially true; and they are not only interesting, but important, as throwing much light upon a subject which will, doubtless, occupy much of the attention and time of the legislature: for the western railroad managers have already opened their annual attack upon the hoosac tunnel, through their well known agents and tools, bird, harris and seaver, who shamelessly advocate the entire abandonment by the state of an enterprise to the completion of which her word, and bond, and honor are irrevocably pledged. the western railroad company was organized in january, , and its road was completed in , having received aid from the state, during the period of its construction, to the amount of five millions of dollars. the terms upon which state aid was granted were very liberal, as they should have been; for the opening of this line of road had become as much a necessity to the development of the commercial and industrial interests of massachusetts and the wants of her whole population, as the establishment of schools and churches had ever been to her moral or educational welfare. the involvement of the state in so great an enterprise was strenuously resisted by timid and narrow minded legislators; but the representations of those sagacious and far seeing men who had devoted themselves to the work, prevailed, and massachusetts was, thus early in the history of railroads, committed to a policy which has, within a few years, not only trebled her productions and wealth, but made her the first and foremost of all her sister states which are honored for enterprise, prudence and wisdom. many of the short sighted legislators, who voted against granting state aid to the western railroad company are now living, but we doubt if one can be found who is not ashamed of his action. the increase of business over the western road since the first year of its operation, would seem incredible, were it not so thoroughly established by the figures of its early and later annual reports. yet, with a double track nearly to albany, and every means which ingenuity can devise, or money procure, at their command, its managers are unable to meet the demand upon it--its _capacity_ is _nearly exhausted_--and _was_, long ago, so great is the pressure against our western border, from the overflowing granaries of the west. from a feeble association, begging for assistance at the doors of the state house, the western railroad company has become a powerful corporation. its certificates of stock, which, about the time the road went into operation, were a drug in the market at $ , now command $ to $ . yet it is a fact that on the first day of last november, five hundred car loads of freight were delayed at albany, and could not be transported over the western road in less time than ten days. and the inability of this road to meet our public needs, and the demands made upon it, from the west, is no new thing; it has been so, _for years_, though four competing lines have opened since , which, together, transport about the same amount of through freight as the western road. the bridge over the hudson at albany, the completion of the double track, and better management might afford a temporary and partial relief. but if these improvements had been already effected, they would not have prevented the freight blockade at albany last fall. should our friend of the salem gazette, or any of the editors who quote mr. f. w. bird, and write short paragraphs, more flippantly than intelligently, about the hoosac tunnel, chance to be at the freight yard of the fitchburg railroad in charlestown, on the arrival of a train of new york central railroad cars, laden with flour, grain, or other products of the west, he would doubtless be as much puzzled to know how they got there, as he would be, if, standing at the heading of the tunnel, he should endeavor to reconcile his situation (half a mile from daylight) with the calculations, statements and predictions of mr. bird and other opponents of the tunnel enterprise. if our friend were set down at the freight depot of the worcester and nashua railroad, in worcester, he would again be surprised to witness the arrival of freight-laden cars, bearing the same mark as those he saw at charlestown. upon inquiry of the freight agents he would learn that freight for boston and worcester, is transported from schenectady, over the washington and saratoga road, and from troy, over the troy and boston and western vermont, to rutland, vt., and thence, by the rutland and cheshire roads to fitchburg, and from there to boston and worcester over other roads. by glancing at a map the intelligent reader will at once observe what a circuitous and lengthened line of communication between the new york central road and the cities of boston and worcester is furnished by the connecting roads above named. the distance from schenectady to boston via rutland is miles, while it is but by way of the western road. the distance from the same point to worcester by the rutland route is miles, and by the western road only . yet because the western road has not capacity to do the business, the produce dealers of eastern and central massachusetts are compelled to resort to this roundabout way of transportation as one of their means of relief. but this is not the only channel, nor the most indirect, which the irrepressible stream of western trade with the east has created, as it approaches its natural outlet, boston; as the mississippi, scorning the narrow embouchure which satisfied its youthful flow, now pours its resistless torrents, through numerous passes to the gulf. besides that already described, there are three other lines competing with the western road in the transportation of western freight to boston. these are the grand trunk, the ogdensburg, and the providence and erie. few persons know that cotton from st. louis, for supplying the mills of lowell and lawrence, is unladen in boston from vessels which received their cargoes at portland, but such is the fact, the cotton having been transported over the great western and grand trunk roads. but these four long, and indirect lines, with their single track, are in the frame situation as the western road; _their_ capacity is exhausted, so far as through freight is concerned, this part of the business of all the four hardly exceeding that of the western road. to prove the utter incapacity of these five lines of communication between us and the west, to supply our wants, and meet the demands made upon them, we need only state the fact that in november and december last, many of the produce dealers and grocers _in worcester_, were unable to supply their customers, on account of the detention of freight at albany, detroit and ogdensburg. we may add, by way of illustration, that the immense loss of property occasioned by the burning of a large freight depot at detroit, and by which so many new england consignees severely suffered, was one of the incidental consequences of the incapacity of these lines of new england railroads to do the work required of them. we shall have occasion to consider further the capacity of the western railroad, but the facts already given are sufficient to show the necessity of opening another through and direct route from the hudson to boston. the next question to be considered, if, indeed, there can be any question about it, is how shall the new route be located? we have shown that another is necessary in order to accommodate through business, to meet the demands of the west, and to promote the prosperity of the entire state. but this is not by any means the whole argument. central and southern massachusetts are covered with a net work of railroads, from cape cod bay to the new york border, yet northern massachusetts, from fitchburg westward, has but a single road, and that terminating at greenfield, nearly forty miles from north adams, where the broken line of communication is again taken up. hence it is, that, while villages have become large towns, and towns populous cities, all over the rest of the state, this section has remained comparatively undeveloped; and the whole tier of towns lying along the line of the vermont and massachusetts, though steadily growing, through the energy and enterprise of their skillful artisans and mechanics, and the facilities afforded them by the last named road, have yet suffered and languished for want of the material so abundant in this undeveloped region between greenfield and the mountain barrier beyond. the water power of the deerfield river is immense, its fall along the line of the troy and greenfield road being nearly six hundred feet; and this magnificent force is now idle, except at shelburne falls, though the finest privileges are scattered along the whole course of the river. messrs. lamson & goodnow, who employ four hundred men at shelburne falls, in manufacturing cutlery, state that the deerfield and north rivers, at that place, afford a one-thousand-horse power. along the course of miller's river, between athol and deerfield are also many excellent privileges unimproved. at montague are turner's falls, on the connecticut, with a power sufficient to operate the mills of lowell, lawrence and manchester. all these splendid privileges only await the opening of the tunnel route. many of them would be at once improved were the road completed to the mouth of the tunnel. messrs. lamson and goodnow state that they shall double their present force of four hundred men, as soon as it is open to shelburne falls. some fifteen or twenty miles from the eastern end of the tunnel lie extensive forests of spruce and pine, through which a highway has already been surveyed, and which will be built to the tunnel, as soon as the road is completed to that point. the whole surrounding region abounds in lumber of almost every description, which would become very valuable when the road is built, to say nothing of the extensive formations of stone, soapstone and serpentine which are found there. though the deerfield meadows afford some of the finest farms in new england, the tillage land will not compare in extent with that along the western road; but in every other respect the resources and latent wealth of the tunnel route are infinitely superior to those of the western line. six years ago, and _twenty-three years after the western road was opened_, the population lying west of springfield within ten miles of the western road on a distance of forty-four miles, was , ; while that west of greenfield, within ten miles of the tunnel line on the same distance, without any railroad at all was , . according to the average rate of increase, the population along the tunnel line, would be more than doubled in twenty-three years. were the mountain barrier pierced, and communication opened with the west, and the magnificent water power of the deerfield made available, who doubts that this population would be increased fourfold in that space of time: or that more than one town would spring up between greenfield and the hoosac, in a few years, which would rival north adams in growth and prosperity; or that in far less time than it has taken lowell to acquire her present importance, a larger city than lowell would stand on the banks of the connecticut at turner's falls? with the requisite railroad facilities supplied, it is certain that the growth of a region so abounding in the most essential reliance of mechanical industry, as northwestern massachusetts, cannot be measured by the snail's pace which marks the progress of an agricultural district. the farmer's interests are indeed equally promoted with those of other industrial classes, by the opening of railroads, but these do not increase the number of farms or farmers within our borders, nor stimulate the growth of agricultural towns. it is mainly by her manufactures and commerce that massachusetts has become so prosperous and wealthy. it is because the commercial and industrial interests of the whole state require it, that another route to the west has become a necessity; and it is because such immense resources yet remain to be developed, and such a gigantic power to be employed, in northern massachusetts that the new route must pierce the hoosac mountain, if it is possible and practicable. that it is possible to tunnel the hoosac mountain cannot be doubted by any sane person who has inspected the half mile already excavated. all of the eminent engineers, whose reports upon the enterprise have been published, say it can be done; nor do any of its opponents pretend to question its practicability. but in order to estimate properly the magnitude of the work, its possible and probable cost, and the time within which it can be done, it is necessary to know what has been accomplished in this department of civil engineering. fortunately, this needed information is contained in mr. charles w. storrow's very able report on european tunnels. mr. storrow is a distinguished civil engineer, who made a journey to europe in the summer of , by request of the hoosac tunnel commissioners, and with the approval of the governor and council, for the purpose of examining the most important tunnels there constructed, and, especially, the one in progress under the alps. he describes twenty-two tunnels which he visited, besides that of mt. cenis. fourteen of these are in england, seven in france, and one in switzerland. two of them are upwards of three miles long, and many of them between one and two miles. some of the shafts were nearly as deep as the central shaft of the hoosac. some of these excavations were made without the aid of shafts, others wholly by means of shafts, without working from the ends at all. it might be supposed that in the construction of so many subterranean ways, in such different sections of the continent, almost every conceivable geological formation must have been traversed; and so it appears from mr. storrow's report. granite, quartz, oolite, limestone, shale, slate, sandstone, gravel, sand, clay and marl, were the material through which with pick and spade, drill and shovel, the patient workmen made their way. not unfrequently, more than half the varieties of rock and earth we have named were met with in the same tunnel. sometimes the work would be interrupted and temporarily abandoned in consequence of an inundation of water; sometimes enormous masses of gravel and sand would work through into a shaft or tunnel, with disastrous and, in two instances, with fatal consequences. in many instances, work was discontinued for years, for want of funds, and then afterward renewed, with eventual success. in fact, about the average amount of those ordinary and inevitable obstacles which stand in the way of all great enterprises, were encountered by the engineers and contractors, in the building of these tunnels; but time, money, and skill, never failed to remove every difficulty. but we propose to extract, and condense from mr. storrow's report, a few of the main facts about some of the most important of these works; as the report has, not been read, or even seen by one in a hundred. the "box tunnel" between chippenham and bath is more than a mile and three quarters in length. nearly one half its length passes through a kind of limestone rock, and the other through clay, the clay end being lined with masonry. five shafts were sunk, the deepest being about three hundred feet. "during the construction of this tunnel, great difficulties were encountered from the excessive quantity of water which inundated the works, sometimes even occasioning their partial suspension, and powerful means were required to overcome the obstacles. at one time the water fairly got the mastery over the machinery used for its removal, and it was only after an additional set of pumps worked by a fifty horse power engine, that the work could be resumed." this tunnel was built in five years, and its cost was about $ , , , or about $ a yard. the woodhead tunnel, on the manchester and lincolnshire railway, is upwards of three miles long. it was originally built for a single track, its dimensions being feet wide at the head of the rails, and feet in. high from the rails to the under side of the arch; which are almost exactly the dimensions of the present section of the hoosac tunnel. after a few years of use, the increase of business required another track and so a second tunnel of exactly the same size was built parallel with the first. it is a double tunnel with a thick dividing wall between, pierced with twenty-one arched openings. five of the original shafts have been kept open. the deepest of these is more than six hundred feet, and the least about three hundred. the rock through which the tunnel passes consists of millstone grit, a hard material, and shale, a kind of indurated clay. the kilsby tunnel is more than a mile and a quarter long, and is built in roman or metallic cement, under a bed of quicksand, from which it took nine months to pump the water, through shafts on either side of the sand bed. during a considerable portion of that time, the water pumped out was two thousand gallons a minute. the quicksand extended over feet of the length of the tunnel. the watford tunnel is a mile and one tenth long, excavated entirely from chalk and loose gravel, the treacherous nature of which rendered it a work of great difficulty, streams of gravel and sand sometimes pouring through the fissures of chalk, like water. the netherton tunnel is one mile and three quarters long. for its construction shafts were sunk, their total depth being , feet, the least depth of any one being feet, and the greatest, feet. there were faces to work at, and the progress at each face was - feet per month. the tunnel was completed in two years. from these brief descriptions of a few of the tunnels in england examined by mr. storrow, one can form a pretty correct opinion of the ordinary difficulties in tunneling which have been met and overcome by the english engineers. mr. storrow says that tunnels are not considered there such formidable works as they have generally been esteemed in our northern states. they are so common that they have long ceased to attract the attention of travelers, more than eighty miles in aggregate length being already in use. mr. storrow estimates the average progress made in the construction of the english tunnels at about thirty feet per month on one face, and that the cost per yard varies from $ to $ , for ordinary tunnels; but where peculiar difficulties were met, the cost has reached to from $ to $ per yard. the hauenstein tunnel in switzerland, one mile and an eighth in length, was from four to five years in being constructed. two shafts were sunk, one feet, and the other feet deep. portions of the shafts and tunnel were lined with masonry on account of the water and sand, and varying firmness of the strata passed through, all of which caused many difficulties and delays. the progress made between the intervals of obstruction, varied from fifty-six to one hundred and nine feet per month on a face. the cost was about $ per running yard. the nerthe tunnel in france, is nearly three miles in length. for nine hundred and fifty yards of its length it is in rock cutting, where arching was unnecessary. the remainder is lined with masonry. twenty-four shafts were sunk, varying in depth from sixty-five to two hundred and sixty-two feet. the work was completed in three years, and cost $ per running yard. the tunnel of rilly, on the line from paris to strasbourg, is a little more than two miles long. eleven shafts were commenced, two of which were abandoned on account of the abundance of water, the others were completed. in some of the shafts the water was so troublesome that it was necessary to use for curbs cast iron cylinders, five feet in diameter, and about three feet long, bolted together. the time consumed in the construction of this tunnel was three years and four months. it passes through a chalk formation, which was, in some places, so seamy, that great precaution was necessary to prevent the falling in of large masses. the cost was $ per running yard. mr. storrow visited and examined several other french tunnels, and his reports upon them are full of interest; but the abstracts given are sufficient to show the various obstacles and difficulties encountered by the english and french engineers in the prosecution of their work, as well as the cost, and the success which rewarded their skill and perseverance. we now come to the great tunnel under the alps, the most remarkable and gigantic enterprise ever attempted in civil engineering. our facts in regard to it are derived from mr. storrow's report, (which it will be remembered was made in november, ,) and from a very able account in the edinburgh review of july, . the object of this work is to connect france and italy, by a continuous line of railroad, by piercing the great alpine barrier which separates savoy from piedmont, and thus connecting the valleys of rochmolles and the arc. when the scheme was first suggested it seemed like a dream of enthusiasts. the distance would be more than seven miles. no shaft could be sunk, as it was estimated that it would take forty years to reach by that means the line of the axis of the tunnel. the gallery must then be constructed by horizontal cutting from the two ends. how were the workmen to breathe? what chasms, unfathomable abysses and resistless torrents might not be encountered? was it certain that the two sections commenced from the opposite ends would not miss and pass each other in the middle of the mountain? but as the subject was more thoroughly discussed, these doubts and fears seem gradually to have faded away, and a conviction took possession of the public mind that such a tunnel was practicable. this conviction at last assumed form and development through the genius of messrs. sommeiller, grattoni and grandis, three young italian engineers, who have won for themselves a nobler fame than that of either of the great generals who led their armies over the alps. it was their good fortune to have secured the confidence of one of the most enlightened statesmen of modern times, count cavour, the energetic minister of victor emanuel, who, throughout all the doubts, perplexities and embarrassments attending the first stage of a new and bold enterprise, exposed to criticisms, sometimes ignorant, sometimes malevolent, on the part of politicians and professional men, gave these engineers his "constant, earnest and sanguine support and encouragement." it appears that an english engineer had patented a machine for drilling by steam, by means of which the drills were darted forward against the opposing rock with great velocity and force. but steam could not be used in the tunnel, where the great desideratum is a supply of fresh air. in the meantime messrs. sommeiller, grattoni and grandis had turned their attention to the question of compressed air as a motive power, and after a long series of experiments; gave to the world as the result of their joint ingenuity, a machine which acts simply by the force of air reduced to one-sixth of its ordinary volume, by means of the pressure of water. the quick perception and practical genius of our three engineers soon enabled them to combine their machine with the perforating apparatus above named, so that the compressed air took the place of steam, and performed its work perfectly. this combination is the machine which has been in successful operation under the alps since june, , and which, greatly improved and perfected by yankee ingenuity, is about to be applied to the hoosac mountain. before proceeding to give some account of the alps tunnel, it should be stated that it is a national work, and not a commercial speculation. it was originally undertaken by sardinia, within whose territorial limits it was then wholly included. the cession of savoy to france brought nearly half the tunnel into french territory, and by the convention establishing the new boundary between france and italy it was stipulated that this great national work should be continued, should remain exclusively under the control of the italian engineers, and that france should pay into the sardinian treasury its proportion of the cost, according to an estimate then made and considered final, and fixed at francs for each running metre, equivalent to $ for each running yard of its length in french territory. the work has remained, therefore, as it was, under the exclusive direction of m. grattoni and m. sommeiller, the engineers; and a french commission visit the work from time to time, by order of the french government, to view its condition, ascertain its progress, and vouch for the amount to be paid to sardinia. it is hardly necessary to give a detailed description of the mode by which the compressed air is made to act on the perforating machines at mount cenis. the problem was how to get a constant equable supply of air compressed to one-sixth of its ordinary bulk. to effect this a reservoir was constructed at bardonneche, elevated to a height of eighty-two feet above the works, which furnishes a moving force of two hundred and eight horse power, that being all which is required to operate the drills and ventilate the tunnel. the reservoir is supplied by a never failing mountain stream. from the compressing works, the air is conveyed in a pipe into the tunnel to the drilling machines; another pipe conveying water to wash out the drill holes. at the fourneaux end of the tunnel, the reservoir is supplied with water by means of pumps. the compressed air and water being ready for their work, an iron frame containing the perforating needles moves along the rails and confronts the rock which is to be attacked in the gallery or heading. the frame is armed with nine or ten perforating machines arranged so that the greatest number of holes can be bored in the center of the opposing mass of rock. to each of these are attached flexible tubes, one containing the compressed air which drives the drills, and the other water, which is injected into the holes as they are bored. the machine consists of two parts; the one a cylinder for propelling the drill, by means of a piston, and the other a rotary apparatus for working the valve of the striking cylinder, and turning the drill on its axis at each successive stroke. to bore eight holes of the required depth, the piston rod gives , blows. the action of each machine is independent of the other, so that if one of them is broken, or gets out of order, that of the rest is not delayed. the drills act at different angles so as to pierce the rock in all directions, and when the requisite number of holes have been drilled, the iron frame is pushed back, and the central holes are charged and exploded. the smaller surrounding holes are then charged and fired. at each blast, a strong jet of compressed air is thrown into this advanced gallery to scatter the smoke and supply air for respiration. wagons are next pushed forward and filled with the fragments of broken rock, which are conveyed to the mouth of the tunnel and dumped down the side of the mountain. after each blast a fresh relay of workmen come in, and the same operation is repeated night and day. one of the objections urged against the use of compressed air as a motive of force was, that if it were conveyed a long distance it would lose so much of its elasticity or expansive power, that it would be unavailable for any practical purpose. but this conjecture was confuted by facts. it was found that the loss of pressure at the ends of the conduit pipes where the air is applied, as compared with the pressure in the reservoir is only one sixteenth of the whole. m. sommeiller calculates that in the center of the tunnel, a distance of three miles and three quarters from the reservoir, he will be able to apply the necessary pressure of six atmospheres. that m. sommeiller is correct in this opinion appears to be conclusively proved by the latest accounts from mt. cenis, which state that the work is steadily progressing, that one half of the entire length would be excavated by the first of january , and that at a distance of nearly two miles from the reservoir, the drills were operating with as much force as ever, and that there was no appreciable loss of motive power. in the middle of the tunnel line beneath the rails, there is made at the same time with the excavation, a covered way or drain, in which are laid the pipes for gas, water, and compressed air. by this drain the waste water runs off, and it is also intended to serve as a means of escape for the workmen, in case of a fall of rock, or other accident which might block up the tunnel. of course the tunnel must be continually supplied with fresh air along its whole length, as well as at the heading. this is easily done from the compressed air tube in the covered drain. the whole length of the mt. cenis tunnel is through rock varying in hardness, and veined throughout with quartz. in many parts it is liable to flake off, and in some places considerable masses have broken away during the construction. the full section of the tunnel is twenty-six feet and three inches wide, and twenty feet and eight inches high. the heading is carried forward about eleven and a half feet wide and nearly ten feet high. at the time of mr. storrow's visit the drilling machines were used only in the heading. the whole of the enlargement was done by hand labor in the ordinary way. the drills when brought up to the work drill eighty holes before any blasting is done. about ninety workmen are employed at each end. it required from five to seven hours to drill the eighty holes. mr. storrow visited a workshop where some machines were ready, and a large block of stone was placed in front of them for trial. the air was let on and a drill put in motion. in - minutes it drilled - inches. the engineer stated that they would make better progress than that at the rock in the tunnel. the average progress made by hand was about sixty-six feet a month. that rate was about doubled by means of the machines; but since mr. storrow's visit these machines have been greatly improved, and the rate of progress latterly has been about two hundred feet a month. the opening of the mt. cenis tunnel was commenced in october, . up to july, , about feet had been excavated, the average progress being about sixty-six feet a month. the machines were then introduced, and at the present time, upwards of three miles have been excavated, and at the rate of progress now being made the tunnel will be completed in four years. mr. storrow's estimate of its cost is $ per running yard. we have now placed before our readers such facts in relation to european tunnels, and more particularly in relation to that under the alps, as will enable them to judge for themselves of the feasibility of completing the hoosac tunnel, and of the weight of the objections which are urged against it by the opponents of the enterprise, as well as the nature of the obstacles which have been encountered, and the means of surmounting them. we shall next present a brief history of the work, the progress made, the delays which have occurred, and the causes; and the sources, nature, and motives of the opposition which has been made to it. in the course of this history we shall have occasion to expose the gross misrepresentations and deliberate falsehoods which have, from time to time, been put in print and scattered broadcast throughout the state, for the purpose of sustaining and extending a great railroad monopoly, already too powerful, against the vital interests and actual necessities of the commonwealth. the first section of the tunnel line obtained its charter in , under an act incorporating the fitchburg railroad company, in spite of the strenuous opposition from boston, springfield, pittsfield, and the whole power of the western road, which a few years before, had only obtained its charter by the aid of some twenty-five members of the house, from northern massachusetts, who held the balance of power. of these twenty-five gentlemen, to whom the state was thus early indebted, one was hon. alvah crocker, of fitchburg, whose name in connection with the fitchburg, the vermont and massachusetts, the troy and greenfield roads, and with the hoosac tunnel, has since become "familiar as household words." the appeal of the late judge kinnicut, one of the pioneers of the western line, contains this passage: "assume if you please, that your route is better than the southern or western one; if you are willing to identify the commonwealth with such an enterprise, you establish a precedent, and the commonwealth, to be just, to be consistent with herself, must aid you in like manner. nay, every other section. she will never be partial, as you suppose, but fair to all. she will certainly go as far as she safely can, to develop and increase her growth." such appeals could not but prevail with fair minded men, and these twenty-five members, with a spirit of liberality and almost of self sacrifice, which should put to shame the narrow minded and selfish policy of the western railroad company in regard to the tunnel line, gave their voices and votes in favor of an enterprise, the commencement of which would otherwise have been deferred for years. the result was that by the first of january, , the receipts of money by the western railroad company, from the stock and scrip of the state amounted to $ , , . . as stated above, the fitchburg railroad company was authorized to build a road from boston to fitchburg, a distance of fifty miles, in spite of the strenuous opposition of the managers and attorneys of the western line. the intelligent legislator of , who has passed over the fitchburg railroad, and observed the numerous trains of passenger and freight cars which daily follow each other over its double line of track, can but smile at the language of mr mills, a senator from hampden, a little more than twenty years ago "sir," said this zealous legislator, who, in his style and logic forcibly remind us of mr. bird, of walpole, "a six horse stage coach and a few baggage wagons will draw all the freight from fitchburg to boston." it is hardly necessary to give details of the history of the vermont and massachusetts road, and the struggles of its projectors against hostile legislation, and the intensified opposition of the western line. suffice it to say that this second section of the tunnel line, extending from fitchburg to greenfield, was commenced and finished, in spite of all opposition, without a dollar of that aid which mr. kinnicut said the state would have to furnish in order to be just and consistent. its stock, which could be bought for $ a share, ten years ago, now commands upwards of $ . its gross receipts, last year, were $ , . , and its net income, $ , . . its debt has been reduced from upwards of a million to one half that sum, and this year it has paid its first dividend. the troy and greenfield road was chartered in , the same old elements of opposition being combined against, and fighting it at every step. the managers of the western road clamorously declared that if this competing line were chartered, it would greatly diminish the security of the commonwealth, for its investment in their road, and that if the state should be compelled to sell its stock after the granting of such charter, she would lose a hundred and seventy thousand dollars; while, at the same time, they affected to deride the vermont and massachusetts as a "pauper road," and the region it traversed as a "god-forsaken country!" in , the western end of the tunnel line, extending from the western base of the hoosac mountain to troy, had been completed through the enterprise of the citizens of that thriving city and those of north adams. the vermont and massachusetts was finished, and only thirty-seven miles of rail were needed to complete the direct connection of boston with the great west. then was the time and opportunity for the state to have continued the same liberal policy which it had adopted toward the western road, and to have extended her helping hand to the struggling corporation, which had undertaken the noble enterprise of piercing the barrier which was interposed between them and their "promised land." but their appeals for aid were met with sneers and derision; the work was bitterly opposed at every stage of its progress; the arts of demagogues, the cunning of lawyers, the fears of the timid, the credulity of the ignorant, and every conceivable influence which the well-filled treasury of the western road could purchase were enlisted and combined against it. but, at last, perseverance and a good cause prevailed, and in , the legislature authorized a loan of the state credit to the amount of two millions of dollars, to the troy and greenfield railroad company, "for the purpose of enabling said company to construct a tunnel and railroad under and through the hoosac mountain, in some place between the 'great bend,' in deerfield river, and the town of florida, at the base of the hoosac mountain on the east, and the base of the western side of the mountain, near the east end of the village of north adams, on the west." but this loan was modified and restricted by such conditions, artfully introduced by the foes of the enterprise, that the work still languished, and its friends almost despaired even of ultimate success. the enabling act of , would have greatly relieved them, but it was vetoed by gov. gardner. at the beginning of , only $ , of the two millions had been advanced. in the legislature of that year, the original act was modified so that the balance of the loan might be divided between the road from greenfield and the tunnel, for the construction of both parts of the work simultaneously. provision was at the same time made for the appointment, annually, by the governor, of a state engineer, to examine the work, make monthly estimates, and impose such requirements upon the company and contractors as he and the governor and council might deem expedient. in the summer of , colonel ezra lincoln of boston, was appointed state engineer, and resigning in the following autumn, on account of illness, was succeeded by c. l. stevenson, esq. in the meantime the company had contracted with messrs. haupt and cartwright to construct the road and tunnel. the first named gentleman was one of the most eminent and experienced engineers in the country. under the administration of the state engineers, messrs lincoln and stevenson, the existing location was approved, and certain prices were established, upon the basis of which contracts were made for labor and material, and rapid progress was made with the work. upon the accession of governor andrew in , mr. stevenson was summarily removed, and mr. william s. whitwell appointed in his place. this gentleman at once proceeded to change the entire basis of work as established by his predecessors, reduced the prices under which extensive contracts had already been made, and cut down the estimates, so as to compel an entire suspension of the work. more than a thousand laborers and mechanics were discharged. mr. haupt states that at the time of this suspension, "the graduation of the whole line could have been completed in a few weeks. the iron and nearly all the ties and bridge material had been delivered; but little remained to be done except finishing the bridge and laying the track." after a warm and protracted discussion of the subject in the legislature of , an act was passed, providing that the state should take possession of the road, tunnel, and all the property of the troy and greenfield company. a commission was also authorized to examine the work, ascertain the feasibility of completing it, and report to the next legislature. the commissioners appointed under this act, by governor andrew, were messrs. j. w. brooks and alexander holmes, of massachusetts, and mr. s. m. felton, of pennsylvania, two of them being eminent civil engineers, and all three gentlemen of large experience in railroad affairs. they entered upon the duties of their commission at once, and having dispatched mr. storrow to europe to examine the tunnels there, proceeded to take possession of the road and property of the company, which was surrendered to them in september of the same year. the elaborate and exhaustive report of the commissioners was submitted to the legislature in the latter part of february, . the closing paragraph expresses their "opinion that the work should be undertaken by the commonwealth, and completed as early as it can be, with due regard to economy." the result of another discussion in the legislature was the adoption of the recommendation of the commissioners, and the responsibility of completing the tunnel and road was assumed by the state, in april of , operations having been suspended nearly three years. since that time, the work has been conducted by the commissioners, under the immediate superintendence of mr. thomas doane, chief engineer, in such manner and with such progress as to give very general satisfaction to the friends of the enterprise, and promise its completion within a reasonable time. a very considerable portion of the labor and expenditures, since the operations were resumed, have been applied to preparing buildings and machinery, to the construction of a dam across the deerfield river, in order to secure power to operate the tunneling apparatus, and to an enlargement and an alteration of the grade of the eastern end of the tunnel, which had been excavated by haupt and cartwright. but before proceeding to consider the present condition and prospects of the tunnel, it is necessary to revert to the legislation of and , in order to note the tactics of its enemies, who had by no means been idle, nor had in any degree relaxed their opposition. in fact, it was through this opposition that the act of was effected, the bill being a substitute for that reported by the committee, and generally regarded as a compromise between the friends and foes of the enterprise, though the latter believed they had, at last achieved a triumph, and exultingly whispered that the great hoosac tunnel scheme had received its death blow. they certainly did play their game with boldness and skill. while the contractors, messrs. haupt & co., had actually applied all their private means, to the extent of more than $ , , to carry on the work, it was asserted that they were swindling the state and pocketing its funds to the tune of $ , . they proclaimed that they were in favor of the tunnel, and only desired to take the work from the hands of swindling contractors and the control of a bankrupt and irresponsible corporation, in order that it might be assumed and prosecuted by the commonwealth; but they were secretly confident, and not without reason, that a board of commissioners would be appointed who would report against the prosecution of the work by the state. of the three gentlemen appointed, not one had expressed an opinion in favor of the enterprise, and mr. brooks, the president, was known to be opposed to it. both of the two resident members were from localities where the prevailing sentiment was against the tunnel. but this adroitness of the opposition was baffled, and its confident hope disappointed by the integrity and fairness of mr. brooks and his associates. the latter had no prejudices to conquer, and mr. brooks had not applied himself many weeks to the duties of his commission, before he was convinced of the feasibility of the work, and satisfied that the state ought to assume and complete it. when their report was made to the legislature in , the old opposition manifested itself with more intensity than ever, and the same honest gentlemen, who, the year before, were so friendly to the enterprise, and only wanted to transfer it from the hands of rapacious contractors and a bankrupt corporation, to the fostering care of the commonwealth, threw off their masks, resorted to their old tricks and arts, and renewed their old clamor, against the "tunnel swindle;" yet, vainly, as the result proved. the name of mr. f. w. bird, of walpole, has been once or twice mentioned in this article, and not improperly, since he has gained that equivocal notoriety in connection with the hoosac tunnel, which attaches to the enemies of all great and noble undertakings. this gentleman has informed the public, that in and , when he was in the legislature, he "voted for everything that the friends of the tunnel asked for." this action cannot have greatly embarrassed mr. bird during his subsequent career, since the only thing asked for by the friends of the tunnel, during those two years, was the charter, granted in . mr. bird further informs the public, that "in , we were overruled by the committee, but we defeated them before the legislature. in , we were defeated, and the legislature sanctioned the resumption of the work." mr. bird also boasts that, while a member of the executive council, he "did resist the assumption by the chairman of the commission, of irresponsible control over the work, and did something to prevent the building of the road from greenfield to the mountain." in , hon. w. d. swan represented the opposition to the tunnel in the senate. mr. bird, in a communication to the boston journal of nov. , , says:-- "the tunnel fight was organized and directed by three members of the third house. the tunnel matter came before the senate late in the session, when many important questions demanded the attention of the senate and rendered it very difficult for them to make personal investigations. as to mr. swan, he very frankly declared that the whole subject was so new to him that he must rely upon us for his materials. his published speeches upon the tunnel, upon which his fame as a practical legislator is based by his friends, were written substantially by one of us beforehand, and afterward revised by all of us for the press. we furnished every fact, made every calculation, prepared every table and arranged _every point and every argument logically and rhetorically_." one of the arguments which mr. bird confesses he and his associates "arranged," is expressed in the following extract from mr. swan's speech:-- "i am aware, sir, that it may be said: 'you are going to stop a great enterprise.' no i am not. i have no such intention. i am in favor of the hoosac tunnel. if massachusetts has granted her aid for the accomplishment of any great purpose, i am for going through with it. i am for going through with the tunnel; but i am for going through with it understandingly; and if massachusetts is to do the work, let us know that we are to obtain something like an equivalent for our expenditure. we say, then, to the corporation, we will send intelligent commissioners to examine the road and tunnel, and if the report to us, or our successors, next year, is favorable to this great enterprise, we will go on with it; we will bore a a hole through the mountain, we will arch it, lay the track, and give you ten years in which to redeem the property." but it is not necessary to quote further from mr. bird himself; he has been well known for years as an agent of the western railroad company, and the leader of the combined elements of opposition to the tunnel. he is a man of ability, bold, and adroit in his management, but entirely unscrupulous in the choice of means to effect his objects. as a lobby member, as newspaper correspondent, as pamphleteer, as councilor, and in the numerous other characters which his protean genius has enabled him to assume, he has, by fair means and foul, diligently adhered to his boastful promise that he "should not desist from opposition till the work is stopped;" and he has lately reiterated his purpose of keeping that pledge, "with the help of god." those who know mr. bird well, entertain no doubt that he will continue to do his best to stop the work, whether with or without the divine assistance, and that he will literally fulfill his promise, since the work will, undoubtedly, be "stopped" when it is finished. one other gentleman has been associated with mr. bird, as a leader of the opposition to the tunnel enterprise, who, perhaps, deserves a passing notice in this article, mr. d. l. harris, president of the connecticut river railroad. he has less ability than mr. bird, but much more practical knowledge of railroad engineering and management. it has apparently been a part of the duty assigned him, to furnish mr. bird with the texts for his pamphlets and newspaper articles, and to supply such information, from time to time, as that gentleman's inexperience and ignorance required. he has also emulated the example of his associate by contributing to the anti-tunnel literature of the newspapers. while a member of the house, a few years since, he had the bad taste, in the course of discussion, to quote from one of his own anonymous articles. upon being accused of being the author of his quotation, he roundly denied the charge, but was convicted by the production of his own manuscript. his seat was vacant during the remainder of that session. whether this desertion of his post was occasioned by a conviction in the minds of anti-tunnel men and the western railroad managers that the exposure had impaired the influence of their agent, or whether he was impelled to retire by the stings of that remorse which a certain class of men experience only when they have been detected in a falsehood, the writer of this paper is unable to determine. the boston advertiser of october , , contains an article over mr. bird's signature, which was soon after published in the form of a pamphlet, and profusely distributed throughout the state, having for a title, "the hoosac tunnel: its condition and prospects." it appears, that a few weeks previous, mr. bird and mr. harris visited the tunnel locality, and this pamphlet purports to be the result of mr. bird's "observations." it has been extensively read, and has, doubtless, inspired the minds of many timid and ignorant persons, with honest doubts of the practicability or expediency of ever completing the tunnel. it is considered "smart" by those who mistake denunciation and abuse for wit, and baseless assumption for truth. to those who are familiar with the history of the tunnel, and who understand its present condition, it is more remarkable for misrepresentation and disingenuousness, than even any previous effort of its author. he introduces his subject by stating that the commissioners, "since they commenced operations, have had unlimited and irresponsible power, and that, for all failures and blunders, they, and they alone, are responsible;" yet, within a month from the penning of this assertion, mr. bird boasted that _he_ did something, while a member of the council, to prevent the building of the road from greenfield to the mountain. the obstacles encountered at the west end of the tunnel, which had been foreseen and understood from the beginning, by the friends of the enterprise, appear to have first engaged the observation of our inspector, and are represented as a startling and recent discovery. the well known effect of water upon the soft material in this locality is described as "rock demoralized" into "porridge," and this "porridge" is represented as a difficulty of such serious nature that "the managers are at their wits' ends." mr. james laurie, an eminent civil engineer, employed by the commissioners to make a survey, in his able report in january of , says "the portions of the hoosac tunnel embraced between the western entrance and the present shaft, a distance of feet, will, from all indications, be the most troublesome and expensive. the material consists of gravel, clay, sand, detached beds of quartzose sandstone, some of which is partly decomposed, and limestone. the whole formation is full of springs. _however bad the material may prove_, this part, under proper management, can be completed long before the rest of the tunnel." mr. bird says, "common men, and some uncommon men, too, look upon these difficulties as insuperable." those who can, for a moment, weigh the opinion of the accomplished and experienced engineer, mr. laurie, with that of mr. f. w. bird, of walpole, may relieve their doubts by referring to mr. storrow's report on the european tunnels, in a very large proportion of which the most formidable kind of "porridge" was encountered and subdued. mr. bird observed the western shaft. the work at the western face of this shaft was suspended on account of imminent danger of "porridge" and our observer's most important criticism here, is that they were, at the time of his visit, advancing on the eastern face of the shaft, at the rate of only "thirteen feet weekly," that is fifty-two _feet per month_. mr. storrow says the average progress in the european tunnels was about thirty _feet per month_. the central shaft was visited, and mr. bird does not appear to have observed anything which demanded an expression of his disapproval. the work was progressing at the rate of twenty-two feet a month, and the pumps gave a gallon and a half of water per minute. in constructing the kilsey tunnel, in england, mr. storrow says that during a considerable portion of nine months, the water pumped out was two thousand gallons a minute. mr. bird's report of progress at the east end was certainly very encouraging the heading having been advanced successfully during the two months preceding his visit, at the rate of sixty-five feet per month, and the work was being pushed with vigor and activity. the dam across the deerfield next claimed the observation of the inspector, who appears to have regarded it with much surprise, both on account of its cost and because it was thrown across a fitful mountain torrent, so feeble at the time of mr. bird's visit, that it was only allowed to run by night, for the reason, as he "guessed," that "if it was allowed to run by day, under the hot sun, it would all evaporate before it reached shelburne falls!" this _guess_ is associated in the same paragraph with an assertion that "there was not then in the river, and had not been for some weeks, and has not been since, (unless they have had heavy rains,) water enough to give under a thirty feet head, twenty, or even a ten-horse power, for twenty-four hours a day." it is as well established a fact that the deerfield river was never known to be so low as at one time during last year, as it is that wells all over the state were dry last autumn, which were never dry before. yet, at the time of mr. bird's visit, when the river was lowest, mr. doane, the chief engineer, states that the water was running at the rate of "thirty-four cubic feet per second. on a head of thirty feet this gives, theoretically, one hundred and sixteen, and, practically, eighty-seven horse power." the intelligent reader will not be at much loss to decide whether he will rely upon the guesses, observations and loose assertions of mr. bird, or the record and word of the careful and skillful engineer. mr. bird says, "it is discreditable that the precise quantity of water has not, so far as we know, been ascertained by actual measurement." such measurement had been made, and mr. bird _might_ have known it if he had taken pains to inquire of mr. doane or mr. hill. the testimony of messrs. lamson & goodnow, of shelburne falls, as to the power and reliability of the deerfield river, is that "this is the first season we have been at all troubled on account of the scarcity of water, but not as mr. bird stated it. we have not been compelled to stop our mills _except one half day_, and we employ four hundred men on cutlery." the same gentlemen (messrs. lamson & goodnow) state that the deerfield and north rivers furnish water enough, at shelburne falls, for one thousand horse power. the north river is a small stream, and deducting its contribution together with that of the brooks which find their way into the deerfield between shelburne falls and the mountain, at the high estimate of two hundred horse power, and there remains to the deerfield alone a force of eight hundred horse power, which is the estimate made by the commissioners. the measurements made by mr. doane and his assistants confirm their accuracy. yet mr. bird who boasts of "an intimate acquaintance of over thirty years with water power," asserts that for such a privilege, "ten thousand dollars would be an extravagant price!" would he sell even the puddle which works his paper mill at walpole, and which, we presume, has afforded all his knowledge of water power, for half that amount? the writer of this article has not enjoyed "an intimate acquaintance of over thirty years with water power," but he has resided exactly the same length of time as gov. gardner said he had been a temperance man, in the manufacturing town of fitchburg, and during that time has learned something about its _thirty-four_ water privileges and _five hundred and eighty-two feet head_ of water which they command, on the little nashua and its tributaries. his knowledge of this water power enables him to exhibit the gross absurdity of mr. bird's efforts to dry up the deerfield. one of these tributaries, which is less than eight miles long, affords a privilege with a head of twenty-one feet, of from seventy-five to one hundred horse power. the reader can form his own conclusions, by comparing this brook with that "fitful mountain torrent," the deerfield river, which has its sources in the town of stratton, vt., flows southward to the foot of the hoosac mountain, then turning eastward, finds its way into the connecticut, near greenfield, traversing in its course, a distance of more than sixty miles. the length of the "fitful torrent" above the hoosac dam, is about forty miles, and in that part of its course it is swelled by the contributions of numerous tributaries, several of which are respectively from twelve to eighteen miles long. a shrewd yankee, who is not a civil engineer, and has not even had the experience of running a small paper mill, might "guess" that such a stream would furnish, with a head of thirty feet, as much as an eight hundred horse power. but it is not eight hundred horse power, nor four hundred that is required to operate the drilling machinery and ventilate the tunnel; for two hundred and eight horse power is all that has ever been used or needed at mt. cenis. this leaves a pretty wide margin for drouths, _evaporation_, and other contingencies. in his observations upon the power required, mr. bird becomes severe and sarcastic. he assails the opinion of the commissioners that "the loss of power by carrying the compressed air through five miles of pipe will be quite insignificant;" and after asserting that there are no _data_ by which to test the correctness of this opinion, and claiming "some experience in such matters," prefers that such an "_experiment_" should be tried with somebody's money besides his own. it is gratifying to learn from mr. bird, himself, that he he has had experience in the matter of compressed air as a motive power, and that a "cussed furriner," as he elegantly phrases it is not to be allowed to bear off the palm of this great discovery uncontested. doubtless m. sommeiller will yield to the superior science and sagacity of mr. bird; but our countryman should lose no time in informing his fellow citizens of his investigations, experiments and success in arriving at the conclusion that compressed air cannot "be carried through five miles of pipe without a very serious loss of power through friction, leakage, &c." but, unfortunately for this view of the case, there are data establishing the fact that compressed air has been conveyed through more than two miles of pipe at mt. cenis, and then operated the drills without any appreciable loss of power. if there is no loss in two miles, how can there be in five? it is no longer an experiment, but an established scientific fact. the size of the present excavation next engages the attention of our observer, and he calls the commissioners to account because they have not followed their own recommendation to excavate the tunnel to its full dimensions as the work proceeds. since their recommendation was made in the winter of , the commissioners have had much experience, and the price of labor has doubled. only a small number of men can work on a heading, but when a heading has been advanced a large number of workmen can follow rapidly in enlarging the excavation, and will soon overtake those engaged on the heading. at mt. cenis, the pneumatic drills are only used on the heading, and the enlargement is done by numerous laborers with hand drills. it is apparent that the commissioners have been actuated solely by motives of economy in prosecuting the heading alone, at the present high rates of labor. the work of enlargement is comparatively easy and rapid, and might well await a decline in the cost of labor, though it must be admitted that the importance of completing this noble work, ought to outweigh the consideration of _any possible_ cost. on the subject of pneumatic drills, mr. bird is emphatic. he says, "no intelligent man puts the slightest confidence in the successful working of any borer, or drill, in the rock of the hoosac mountain, unless operated by hand. in a strictly homogeneous rock, machine drills might work, but in a rock like the hoosac, where the drills, working generally in a comparatively soft material, are liable at any moment to strike veins of quartz, and where a part of the hole will be in the slate and the rest in quartz, no machine drill has yet been found to stand." this reckless and false assertion is made in utter defiance of mr. storrow's report and all other authorities upon the alps tunnel, which has now been excavated nearly four miles with machine drills on the heading. mr. storrow says that masonry is used because the rock "is not homogeneous in character. i stood at the front of the machines, watching them for three quarters of an hour. one drill was driving directly into hard quartz, advancing very slowly, and making the sparks fly at every stroke. others working in softer spots, were cutting rapidly." mr. bird has much to learn about pneumatic drills, and, without going beyond the borders of massachusetts, he can see a drill operate by compressed air, so indifferent as to the character of the rock it works upon, that it will penetrate the hardest granite and the composite rock of the hoosac with the same facility, and at a rate which would astonish even m. sommeiller. the figures upon which bird bases a "calculation" as to the time of completing the tunnel, are as far from being correct as his general statements are from the truth. one example is enough to illustrate, and by this the reader may fairly judge what the "calculation" is worth. he says the total length of the tunnel is , feet, when the _fact_ is that it is , feet. this is no mistake of the printer, for the figures repeatedly occur in the pamphlet, and always the same; and it is with this gross blunder that the "calculation" sets out. the truth is that any careful reader of this article, is a better judge of the whole subject than mr. bird, because he will have reliable dates, facts and figures, by the aid of which he can make a calculation for himself, or' form an opinion as to the time within which the work can be done, which will be quite as likely to be correct as any, "i undertake to say," of the oracular bird. on the st of december, , the penetration at the east end was feet; at the east heading of western shaft, feet; west heading of same shaft, feet; at west end heading, --in the whole, feet. the central shaft had been sunk two hundred and twenty feet. the average progress on this shaft during the months of august, september, october and november was - feet per month. assuming this for the average in december, january and february the shaft was feet deep, on the st of march, the whole depth to grade being feet. the average progress on the east face of western shaft was sixty-three feet per month. allowing that average for december, january and february, and the penetration on this face is now more than feet. the average on east end was forty-four feet. add this average for the last three months, and the penetration at this end is now feet, and the total penetration feet, with feet of shaft sunk. mr. laurie states in his report that in the ten tunnels which he names, in this country and europe, the average progress made on each face from a shaft was thirty-eight feet, and on the end faces fifty-four feet per month. let the intelligent man who forms opinions and conclusions for himself, compare the statistics which have been given in the course of this writing in relation to tunneling in europe and in this country, and then, taking into consideration the inadequate means which have, until recently, been applied to the hoosac enterprise, and surveying the progress which has been made whenever the work was prosecuted with vigor, let him judge how soon, and at what cost, the tunnel may be completed, even without the aid of machine drills. the concluding pages of the pamphlet contain a general charge against the commissioners, or rather mr. brooks, the chairman, of mismanagement. the only "_illustrations_" of this charge are, first, that mr. brooks declined to sell the , tons of railroad iron which had been purchased, and distributed along the graded track from greenfield to the mountain, and "other saleable property;" second, that he has "disregarding the advice of others, whose judgment was entitled to weight, put his own constructions upon the acts of the legislature relating to the powers and duties of the commissioners, in opposition to the construction and in defiance of the orders of the executive council;" third, he has seriously contemplated "the amazing folly of building the railroad from greenfield to the mountain!" it is gratifying to know from more reliable authority than the intimation of mr. bird, that mr. brooks did justify the opinion which is generally entertained, of his good sense and judgment, by contemplating that "amazing folly," and the only evidence of serious mismanagement on his part, which mr. bird can produce, is that he did not, at once execute his purpose, lay the rails and put the road in operation from greenfield to the mountain. the additional facilities which the completion of this road would have afforded for expediting the work, and reducing its cost, are too obvious to be enumerated. the extent and value of the resources and material of the region through which the road passes, and the importance of their speedy development, have already been shown. the distance from greenfield to the mountain is about thirty miles, by a very uneven and hilly road; and yet, in , the amount of freight transported over it, was , tons, and the freight and livery receipts were nearly $ , . with a good railroad in operation, in the place of a rugged highway, and the summer travel which it would induce, there can be no doubt whatever, that the local business alone would afford receipts very far beyond the estimates, upon which it is presumed the offer of the fitchburg and vermont and massachusetts companies to take a lease of the road was based, that is, $ , a year more than running expenses. whether mr. brooks is responsible for the delay in putting the road under contract, and for the waste and damage which have resulted from a neglect of three years, or whether mr. bird _did_ succeed, while a member of the council, in procuring an absolute injunction, the public cannot now well determine, for, as the reader has already observed, bird declares that mr. brooks had absolute power, that the whole responsibility rests with him, and yet boasts that he "did something" towards preventing the completion of the road. * * * * * since the foregoing pages were written, mr bird has published and distributed another pamphlet, the remarkable audacity of which challenges our attention. if one half of the assertions it contains were true, if one half of its calculations and estimates could be demonstrated, the hoosac tunnel ought to be abandoned at once, as the greatest folly of the nineteenth century, and its ruins sacredly preserved as a monument to coming generations of a monstrous popular delusion: and if the epithets--swindlers, tricksters, liars, plunderers, thieves, ingrates, rascals, traitors and fools--which mr. f. w. bird, of walpole, so freely and indiscriminately applies to everybody who has advocated or favored the building of this tunnel, were deserved; then a very large proportion of several legislatures, a majority of several executive councils, and many distinguished citizens and state officers, including the late governor and attorney general, ought to be lodged for the remainder of their days either in the state prison, or the asylums for idiots. this last publication of bird's is mainly a repetition, "with embellishments," of his previous pamphlet, with the addition of a preface purporting to be the history of tunnel legislation to the beginning of the present year, a string of calculations and conjectures as to the capacity of the western railroad to transport ( provided it were properly managed, and the double track completed) all the western freight and travel for all future time, and several pages of coarse denunciation of mr. brooks, chairman of the tunnel commissioners, and the manner in which he has managed the trust committed to him. the subdivisions of these subjects are:-- st. tunnel legislation. d. abuse of mr. brooks. d. power drills. th. the deerfield dam. th. "porridge." th. the western compared with the tunnel line. th. the possible capacity of the western road. th. the cost and time required to complete the tunnel. it is not our purpose to expose _all_ the misrepresentations and perversion of facts to which mr. bird has resorted in the treatment of his subject; but only enough of them to show what disreputable means the foes of the tunnel are capable of using in order to deceive the community. late results in the progress of work at the mountain, and in the perfection of machinery, will enable us to illustrate the utter absurdity of several of the most important of mr. bird's calculations, or rather speculations, and enable the reader to judge what reliance can be placed upon any of them. in a review of the history of tunnel legislation, as given in this pamphlet, passing by the frequent charges of "packed committees," "deceived legislatures," and "tricks of legislative legerdemain," we come to an account of the act of april, , by which it appears that the bill passed was not materially different from that prepared by mr. bird, and offered by mr. swan. it was _entitled_, "an act for the more speedy completion of the hoosac tunnel," yet the anti-tunnel league considered its passage "a substantial defeat of the scheme," because they believed that governor andrew "was opposed to the tunnel," and would appoint commissioners whose opinions were in harmony with his own. and the virtuous and honest member of the "third house," through whose adroit management, a bill bearing a title so inconsistent with its purpose, was framed, affects a pious horror of legislative trickery! whatever mr. bird may have to say upon any of his various topics, he never forgets to abuse mr. brooks; "_carthago delenda est_" at any rate; and he returns to the assault at the beginning or end of almost every chapter, with renewed spitefulness. on page it is represented that mr. laurie, the engineer who had been designated by the governor and council to make surveys, had a personal interview with mr. brooks, and that the following colloquy took place:-- "i am here, mr. brooks, to make the surveys ordered." "what order? what surveys?" "the surveys ordered by the governor and council." "i have ordered no surveys and want none. when i need your services i will send for you. go about your business." even those who have never reckoned mr. bird a man of strict veracity will be surprised to learn that this story is a pure fabrication, that no such conversation, and no such interview ever took place. the communications between the two gentlemen were a letter from mr. laurie, who was at hartford, and a reply by telegraph from mr. brooks, who was in boston. mr. laurie wrote,--"presuming that you wish me to make these surveys, i will come to boston," &c. mr. brooks telegraphed,--"the new survey has not been acted upon by commissioners." on the same page of the pamphlet it is stated that mr. brooks, not being satisfied with mr. laurie's conclusions, "demanded the suppression of some portions of the report, and the modification of others." "mr. laurie, after making such concessions as he could honestly make, resolutely refused to yield to mr. brooks' imperious demands upon material points." now' this representation is just as false as the story about the colloquy. mr. brooks did not make any such demands. an exposure of both these fabrications is made in a communication to the boston advertiser of march th, which contains copies of all the correspondence on these subjects, between mr. brooks and mr. laurie. on page , we are requested to "look at the item of the amount of the people's money applied by _mr. brooks_ to the payment of mr. haupt's debts," than which "there never was a more atrocious swindle." by referring to the records of the executive council for may, june and july of , it will be seen that the subject of paying these claims was referred to a committee of the council, consisting of alfred hitchcock, f. w. bird and joel hayden for special investigation. upon the question of the meaning and intent of the act of , and its legal interpretation, the committee took counsel of dwight foster, emory washburn, and isaac r. redfield, lawyers who had been designated by the governor, as a commission to whom should be referred such questions upon legal points as might arise in prosecuting the work, and in accordance with the advice of these gentlemen, and their own convictions, a majority of the committee (mr. bird of course opposing) reported that the claims ought to be paid. a majority of the council and the governor being of the same opinion, the claims were paid. the part performed by mr. brooks and his associates was merely to audit and allow them. they could not draw a dollar from the state-treasury for any purpose except upon the governor's warrant. _if_ the payment of these claims was "an atrocious swindle," then the governor, a majority of his council, and the three lawyers, as well as the commissioners, were the atrocious swindlers. it would appear that the incorruptible and virtuous bird was the only person about the state house, at that time, who could make any pretension to honesty or fidelity. the motives of mr. bird, in these unscrupulous attempts to disparage the judgment and asperse the character of mr. brooks are best known to himself, but it will be remembered that when mr. brooks received his appointment he was thought to be opposed to the tunnel enterprise. he has proved to be one of its ablest and most resolute friends. the disappointment and grief of mr. bird may have been rendered more poignant by his defeat last fall as a candidate for the honor of representing his district in the legislature, a defeat which he has publicly attributed to the opposition of mr. brooks. the only noteworthy thing in this pamphlet concerning the deerfield dam, is an absurd attempt to misrepresent the commissioners' report of its cost. they state that it is $ , . . it was finished last fall. mr. bird says "the dam will have cost when finished, at least $ , ," and thereafter to the end of his chapter on that topic, assumes that sum to be the actual cost. he obtains these figures by adding to the real cost of the dam, that of all the canals; buildings and machinery which are being constructed between the dam and the tunnel. he might, with equal propriety, have added the cost of the walpole meeting house, or that of his own paper mill. in a supplementary note we are informed that the dam across the connecticut at holyoke, feet long, cost about $ , . we may assume that mr. bird applies these figures to the present dam, and not to the one which gave way some years since. the cost of the first dam is not given, and the inquisitive reader might ask what that was, or whether the $ , should not with more propriety be considered as an expenditure for repairs of an old dam rather than the cost of a new one. however that may be, the cost of labor and material at the time the new dam was built, or the old one repaired, was less than one half of the cost of labor and material, at any time since the deerfield dam was commenced. it is possible that a cheaper structure might have been built, which would answer the purpose, but the commissioners and their engineers, warned perhaps, by the holyoke disaster, may be excused for constructing a work that will not be washed away, though done at some additional cost for its security. if there is one thing which mr. bird absolutely loves it is "porridge," and he returns to this topic with great vivacity. it may be briefly stated that in december last, after the heading from the west portal had been carried forward feet, progress was stopped by an inlet of water from a brook overhead and a spring below. this water operating on the rotten rock, produced what mr. bird calls "porridge." it was a difficulty which had been foreseen, but was never regarded by the commissioners or engineers as of a formidable character. soon after work was suspended at this point, responsible parties came forward with an offer to construct an arch lined with solid masonry through the "porridge" to the western shaft, a distance of about feet, for less than $ , ; and to furnish satisfactory security for the performance of their contract. the offer was declined. when mr. bird learned that work at this point was suspended, he became jubilant. he has filled ten pages of his two pamphlets with "porridge," and excited some fears on the part of his friends that the stuff has found access to the thinking part of his own person, and "muddled" it badly. but of this the reader may judge by noting on page of the last pamphlet an assertion that the distance from the west portal to the shaft is all demoralized rock; and on pages and a calculation that it will cost $ , , _in gold_, to construct this section of feet! but "porridge" is unreliable, and that at the hoosac, has given out; and so mr. bird's hopes and calculations, which were based upon it, fall to the ground. work has been recently resumed, and twenty-seven feet beyond the point at which it was discontinued, solid rock was reached, in which the workmen are now drilling and blasting without molestation or fear of "porridge." the brook is passed, and in the artesian well about half way from the portal to the shaft, solid rock has been reached at feet above grade. "porridge" has served its friends a mean trick and "well might _mr. bird_ exclaim in the language of woolsey (slightly altered,)" "had i but served _the truth_ with half the zeal i served my _porridge_, _it_ would not, in my need, have left me naked to mine enemies." the theoretical capacity of the western railroad is a fruitful subject for speculations and array of figures, but facts and demonstrated truths are what practical men wish to deal with. a comparison of the tunnel and western lines is of no significance, when both are urgently needed. in , when the western road was opened to albany, it transported from albany to boston , tons of freight, and last year, only , tons, tons less. yet in it had no double track, and in it had miles of double track. the greatest tonnage was , , in : and that same year, , tons of through eastward freight arrived at albany and troy, and the total amount to those two points was , , ; nearly three fourths of which was transported on the erie canal, an institution which is entirely left out of mr. bird's calculations. more than six million tons of freight were brought from the west last year to the hudson river. of this vast amount only a little more than one sixtieth found its way to boston over the western road. in , , tons of freight were transported from albany and troy to boston by the circuitous routes we have mentioned. mr. bird makes a calculation that the capacity of the western road can be so increased, by finishing the double track, increasing the rolling stock and adding special auxiliary force to draw its freight trains up the steep grades, that it can bring , , tons of freight in a year. it may be presumed that he means both local and through freight. but his "calculation" is as baseless and flimsy as any of his numerous statistical bubbles which have already been pricked. the best answer to his whole argument is contained in a memorial of the albany board of trade to our legislature, with some extracts from which, our review of this topic will be closed. but a few more of mr. bird's misrepresentations must first be exposed. on page he represents mr. brooks as claiming that the whole through freight from the west to boston_ eight years hence_, will amount to , tons. this estimate was made three years ago, and the words "eight years hence" were used at that time, and not now, as mr. bird represents. on page , is a list of names purporting to have been taken from the original subscription list of stockholders in the troy and greenfield railroad. mr. otis clapp is represented as having subscribed $ in "services;" and daniel s. richardson's name is appended, with ciphers and exclamation points. the first of these misrepresentations has been exposed by mr. clapp, who writes to the boston advertiser that he never charged the company for any service, nor was ever credited by them for services, but that he did subscribe and pay $ . for stock of the road. mr. richardson also writes to the advertiser, and mildly suggests that he was never in any way connected with the troy and greenfield railroad. on page , e. h. derby is represented as being president of the fitchburg railroad a pure fabrication; and alvah crocker as having "large investments" in the same road, when its books show that at that time he owned but six shares of stock. the truth is, mr. bird has no hesitation or scruple in using other people's names in the same manner as he uses figures and statistics in his calculations. mr. bird says lie never had any communication or correspondence with, and never received a dollar from, any person connected with the western railroad. that may be; but it is well known that mr. d. l. harris, president of the connecticut river railroad, has been for years the "_fidus achates_" of mr. bird in "fighting the tunnel," his colleague in the "third house," his companion at the hoosac mountain, and the guide of his inexperienced feet in the wilderness of facts and speculations of civil engineering. it is not so well known, but nevertheless true, that mr. harris is made director and president of the connecticut river railroad by the influence and vote of chester w. chapin, president of the western road. his zeal in the service of his benefactor has been manifested by an active hostility to the tunnel, as persistent and unscrupulous as that of mr. bird; and, were it possible for that gentleman ever to act from other than disinterested motives, or a sense of public duty, his intimate relations with mr. harris might justify a suspicion that the "sinews of war" might be supplied through that channel. at all events, we may be permitted to say that, if these two men have organized and led the opposition to the tunnel every winter for the last ten years, printed thousands and thousands of pamphlets, and spent a considerable part of each year in the lobby, and all this at their own cost, from a sense of public duty, then they have better deserved statues in front of the state house than webster or mann; and the western railroad management is even meaner than it has been generally considered. a corporation must indeed be without a soul, which can look upon such sublime virtue, and suffer it to pay its own expenses. but enough of mr. bird and his motives. the statements we have made in regard to the necessity of a new route are, in every particular fully confirmed by a memorial which has been recently addressed to our legislature from the albany board of trade, through a committee of seven of their number. the gentlemen comprising this board are not theorists, but practical, clear-headed and reliable business men, who have been compelled by the urgent demands of yearly increasing business, to appeal to the people of massachusetts for aid and relief. from a table in their memorial, it appears, that, while the increase, during the last fifteen years, of miles of railroad in eleven other states through which western products press to the seaboard, averaged per cent, that of massachusetts was only per cent. but we proceed to quote from the memorial:-- "twelve years of experience have convinced us that the western railroad is wholly inadequate to the prompt, rapid and cheap transportation of the commodities so extensively consumed by the people of the new england states. to illustrate the diversion of trade from the natural route to boston via albany, occasioned by the incapacity of the western road to meet the wants of commerce, we call your attention to the article of flour. we collate our facts from reports of the boston board of trade and the official reports of the western railroad. in , the western road, according to its own report, transported from albany and troy to boston, one hundred and fifty thousand barrels less than it did in , nearly twenty years ago. during the thirteen years, including and , the average of its transportation of this article, per annum, between the hudson and boston was , barrels. for the same period, there were received in boston, via other and more circuitous routes, an average per annum of , barrels. the next four years, including and , the average per annum by the western road was , barrels. boston received from other routes an average, per annum for the same period, of , barrels. now, we hold that, by the natural laws of trade, most of this vast quantity of flour, which reaches boston in these roundabout ways, would have left the hudson river at albany and troy, had the requisite facilities for a cheap and rapid transportation been afforded. about one-fourth of the average quantity received in boston from other routes, for the four years named above, reached that place via the grand trunk railway and portland, aggregating , barrels. taking detroit as the starting point, the distance from there to boston via portland, is miles greater than the route to boston via albany. yet, owing to the inadequate railroad facilities between albany and boston, the consignors of this flour prefer to send it via portland, and pay the charges on miles of additional distance. what is true of the article of flour is equally true of all the staple commodities produced at the west and consumed by the new england states. large quantities were last year turned aside at rochester and other points in our own state, to say nothing of points west of buffalo, and sent to boston and contiguous localities via the new york and erie railroad. boston is even now receiving flour from albany, troy and schenectady, by way of rutland, a distance of some fifty miles further than by the western road. we have no words but of commendation for the noble work which your state is pushing with such energy to open a still shorter route to the hudson. we have no feelings of jealousy toward the new route, because it terminates in another city than albany; a healthy rivalry will do more than moral suasion, to wake up the old route from that lethargy which seems so near akin to death. had the hoosac tunnel been completed twelve years ago, we have reason to believe it probable that the people of massachusetts alone would have saved an amount in the way of cheap transportation, nearly if not quite sufficient to equal its cost. we have spoken more freely in this paper than might be considered becoming in us, but for the fact that in the day of its need, albany, along with massachusetts, came to the aid of the western railroad. and now that we are suffering so much from its insufficiency to meet the public want, we trust the presentation of these views and facts will not be regarded as obtrusive, but rather as properly coming from those, who, with you, aided to produce a common benefit, and are now suffering with you from a common cause." the cost of the whole work was estimated by the commissioners in their first report, at $ , , , the estimate being based upon ordinary labor at one dollar a day, and of materials at a corresponding rate. nothing has yet occurred to invalidate this estimate, excepting the advance of the cost of material and labor, an incidental misfortune common to every public, as well as private enterprise, requiring labor and material, which has been prosecuted during the last three years. it is certain that these high rates will greatly decline, perhaps nearly to their former level within a year; but admitting that the commissioners' estimate should be swelled through these incidental causes to the sum of eight millions, would such an increase of expense justify the abandonment of this great enterprise, upon which so much has already been expended, and at the very period in its progress when the most formidable obstacles in its way have been surmounted, and its success become a certainty? had the western railroad been utterly destroyed last year by a rebel raid, as were some southern roads by the march of sherman, or by any conceivable cause, would the consideration of twenty-five, or thirty, or even forty millions, prevent its being rebuilt at once? why then should two millions stand in the way of the tunnel line, which is now a greater necessity than the western road was at the time of its construction? the time required to complete the work, without the aid of machinery, was estimated by the commissioners at eleven years and four months; and with the aid of such machine drills and power as had already been applied with success at mt. cenis, at seven years and a half. the work at mt. cenis was commenced in , and up to july, , feet had been excavated by hand labor; the machine drills were then applied, and the italian government has recently announced that the work will be finished by the close of the year . it will be seven and a half miles long. the hoosac tunnel will be about four and a half miles long, and at the present time it has been excavated feet, and shafts have been sunk to the depth of feet. the machine drills will be applied in a few days; but they are drills which will do twice, and possibly three times the work of those at mt. cenis. to the sound judgment, energy, and untiring perseverance of mr. brooks, and the inventive genius and skill of mr. stephen f. gates, of boston, and mr. charles burleigh, of fitchburg, belongs the credit of perfecting a pneumatic drill, by means of which our great tunnel will be completed much within the time named by the commissioners, and with a reduction of their estimate of its cost by hand labor of several hundred thousand dollars. we have seen this drill operated by compressed air, at the rate of two hundred blows a minute, each blow given with a force of more than five hundred pounds, cut an inch and a quarter hole in a block of hoosac rock, thirty-eight inches in thirteen minutes, without changing its points. its superiority over the mt. cenis drill consists in its lightness, automatic feed, and smaller size. the mt. cenis drill is eight feet long, and weighs six hundred pounds, and the whole machine moves forward in feeding. the hoosac drill is four feet long, weighs two hundred and eight pounds, and can be handled by two men. in feeding, the drill alone advances, and in such manner as to accommodate itself to any kind of rock it may encounter, whether hard or soft. its points are sharpened in a die by half a dozen blows of the hammer. it will do the work of twenty men; and, finally, sixteen of them can be applied to a surface upon which only nine of the mt. cenis drills can be used. the operation of this drill has already been witnessed by hundreds of persons, among them machinists, engineers, and stone masons, and not one of them entertains a doubt that it will do all which is claimed for it by the inventors. but the carriages are nearly ready, and these little machines will shortly be put to their work. the friends of the tunnel have no fears of the result. * * * * * massachusetts has always led her sister states. at the call to arms, her sons have been first in the field, and first to die for the common good. her schools and colleges, her institutions of charity, and her statutes have furnished models for the new states of the great west, and for foreign republics. in her manufactures and mechanic arts, in the products of her inventive genius, in maritime enterprise, in the building of canals and railroads, and in every undertaking to develop the resources and promote the prosperity of the country, she has been first and foremost. with so proud a record, and with almost exhaustless means at her command, we do not believe our noble state is yet ready to abandon the lead; nor that the consideration of a few millions of dollars will prevent her from breaking down the barrier which divides us from the west, and by which the great stream of western traffic has been so long checked and diverted. rather let us trust that, by wise legislation, a liberal policy, and a cordial support of the gentlemen to whom the conduct of this enterprise is entrusted, the great work of de witt clinton will be perfected, and the noble design of loammi baldwin executed, by the completion of the hoosac tunnel, before it shall be announced from sardinia that the alps are pierced and france and italy have joined hands under the grand vallon. [transcriber's note: table of contents was added.] minority report of the committee on railways in relation to the hoosac tunnel and the railroads leading thereto, with a bill to incorporate the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad; also the speech delivered by hon. e. p. carpenter, in the senate of massachusetts, june , , in support of the same. boston: wright & potter, state printers, no. province street. . table of contents page minority report the bill speech efforts to reduce the transportation tax. the effect in our existing system. the relative advantages of boston and new york. the effect on the state of making boston an exporting city. the hoosac tunnel. position of the committee. the bill of the majority. regulation by special legislation. control of the tunnel. the purposes of the minority. the minority bill. the effect of state control of the tunnel line. the popular feeling in favor of state control. safety of the experiment. the alleged danger of political corruption. state pensioners. the benefits of the proposed plan. commonwealth of massachusetts. house of representatives, april , . the undersigned, members of the committee on railways, to whom was referred "an act to provide for the consolidation of the hoosac tunnel line of railroads from boston to troy," and the petition of the boston and lowell railroad company for amendment of the charter of the great northern railroad, and many petitions and remonstrances relative to the disposal of the troy and greenfield railroad and hoosac tunnel, respectfully submit a minority report: the committee, after public notice to all parties in interest, commenced its hearings upon the subject-matter of these petitions on the twenty-ninth day of january, and finally closed them on the twenty-first day of march. under the authority granted by the legislature, a reporter was employed by the committee, by whom it verbatim report was made of all the testimony and arguments submitted to the committee. this has been printed for the use of the committee and of the legislature, and is now accessible to members. many parties were represented by counsel, and various plans were presented. the first proposal was that of the troy and boston, and vermont and massachusetts railroad companies, for a consolidation under one corporation of the direct line between boston and troy. the second, for a consolidation of the boston and lowell and fitchburg railroad companies, with authority to lease or purchase the lines to the tunnel and to ogdensburg, placing under the control of one corporation about fifteen hundred miles of railroad. third, the proposition was urged upon the committee to provide for the acquisition by the state of the tunnel line. the attendance before the committee was not limited to the representatives of corporations directly or indirectly interested in the result. committees of the board of trade and other commercial associations, and many private citizens to some extent represented the public interests; while the larger audiences in attendance upon the sessions of the committee attested the deep interest of the business community in the subject-matter under discussion. the problem before the committee was to determine how the people of this commonwealth could derive the greatest benefit from the construction of the tunnel which has involved so large a public expenditure. the relations of the state to this enterprise have greatly changed since its commencement. the tunnel was projected as a private enterprise, which was first aided by the state by a loan of its credit. it was doubtless then intended that the tunnel when completed should form a part of the through line over the fitchburg, vermont and massachusetts, troy and greenfield, and troy anti boston railroads, to be owned and controlled by these corporations like the rest of the line. this project failed. the troy and greenfield railroad company was unable with the state loan to complete the tunnel, and after great delays and difficulties, surrendered its railroad and the incomplete tunnel to the commonwealth, which has since carried on the work at the public charge. its completion within the current year may be expected, and the total expenditure from the treasury of the state will amount, including interest, to about $ , , . this expenditure is a charge upon the people and the property of the whole state. it seems improbable that any disposition can be made of the tunnel which can return to the treasury the whole sum expended, and it is for the legislature to determine how far a return can be made to the people of the state from this great public expenditure, in increased means of transportation and a reduction of rates which are now a burden upon the whole community. since the tunnel was projected, new lines of railroad have been built which give to nearly every portion of the state direct access to the tunnel and through it to the great west. in the progress of the hearing certain points were made tolerably clear. _first_, that the tunnel itself should be so far held and controlled by the state as to insure its use on equal terms by all parties. _second_, that some consolidation of the line or lines working through the tunnel was essential to secure efficiency of action, and to provide for the great business awaiting the completion of the tunnel. _third_, that to provide equipment and terminal facilities for such a business, the weak and disjointed separate corporations were inadequate, and that it was particularly desirable that some action should be taken at the present session of the legislature. the policy of direct state ownership was strongly pressed upon the committee by the railroad commissioners and other parties. the address of mr. adams, in behalf of the commissioners, upon this subject, is contained in the printed report, and is a clear and able statement in behalf of this policy. while the experiment has been tried in other states, and under other circumstances has failed, we do not think it is to be condemned for this reason. these experiments were tried before the development of the railroad system, and generally in thinly-peopled states, where state construction of railroads was a political necessity to supplement private capital that could see no inducement for investment. in the days when state management failed, corporation management failed to quite as great an extent. the statement of mr. adams, in regard to the results of the system in belgium, are very striking, and in england the current seems to be settling in favor of the assumption of the railroads by the government. to any careful observer of the railroad development of the past twenty-five years, there can be little doubt of a like progressive increase in this business in the future. if the benefit of this increase in business can be secured to the people who furnish the traffic, instead of to the corporations who provide the capital, an immense public benefit will follow. the most valuable experiment to be tried at the present day is to ascertain how cheaply railroad transportation can be afforded. corporations formed to make money for their stockholders, can hardly be expected to fairly try this experiment. the greatest need of this commonwealth is cheap transportation. to secure this the hoosac tunnel has been constructed at a cost of $ , , of public money. we are fully convinced that to secure to the people the full advantages to be derived from the construction of this new avenue to the west, and to secure equal lights to all parties desiring to use it, the state must not part with the control of the tunnel. we are equally convinced that to secure efficiency in the lines working through the tunnel, consolidation is necessary, and that the tunnel itself must be worked and managed for all parties using it, by one head. it would follow that the state, retaining the tunnel, should operate it, and should also own or control one line of road between boston and the west, at the same time giving to all parties, without discrimination, equal advantages to the tunnel. the state management cannot afford to be unjust or to discriminate. no private corporation can be trusted when its own interests may conflict with the interests of other and perhaps rival corporations, to establish or to enforce rules for the transaction of such business. we therefore report and recommend the passage of the accompanying bill: "to incorporate the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad." its purpose is to form a corporation for the management of the troy and greenfield railroad and hoosac tunnel, with all the powers of a railroad corporation. it is to be composed of five trustees, to be appointed by the governor and council, each to hold office for five years, and one of whom shall be appointed annually. to these five state trustees are to be added not exceeding three, one by each of the railroad corporations whose property may be acquired or managed under the terms of the act. instead of directly purchasing the railroads constituting the direct line, provision is made for leasing these railroads by the new corporation upon terms which are fair and equitable for all parties. the returns to the railroad commissioners show that the average expense of operating the railroads of this state is seventy-five per cent. of the gross income. we therefore propose to set apart for the benefit of each of these corporations twenty-five per cent. of the gross income of its railroad, out of which shall be paid a yearly rental; and that they may not in any event be losers by the experiment, it is proposed to guarantee to them an amount sufficient to pay to their stockholders the dividends they are now paying, with liberty to increase to the maximum which law or custom permits our railroad corporations to pay. that such a lease would receive the assent of the companies interested, we have strong reasons to believe. it secures to the stockholders the dividends they are now receiving. it secures also to them the benefit of any increase of business likely to accrue from the completion of the tunnel, to as full an extent as they can hope to benefit by it. no railroad corporation ought ever to pay more than ten per cent. dividends, and the legislature would undoubtedly, under its power to regulate tolls, interfere to prevent greater dividends. while these corporations are thus interested in the earnings of the roads, the bill provides that they should be represented in their management. we shall thus secure the services of persons familiar with the local business and history of the separate roads, and although forming only a minority of the board of management, they must have an important influence in the direction of its affairs. the benefits to be gained by the state by this arrangement are obvious and manifold. it retains state ownership and management of the tunnel. it secures to all corporations desiring to use the tunnel equal rights. it secures to the commonwealth the full value of its investment, whatever future developments of business shall prove that value to be. it assumes the establishment of a strong corporation, able to provide all equipment and terminal facilities which any future increase of business may render necessary or advisable. it meets all the presumed advantages of state acquisition of the railroads, without that disturbance and removal of capital which must follow the purchase of the railroads by the state. it can furnish capital for the improvement of the line at a cheaper rate than any consolidated company can procure it; and cheap capital in disinterested hands secures cheap transportation. it enables the state to try fairly and fully the experiment of cheap transportation. it creates a corporation which cannot combine with other corporations, nor can its stock be purchased or in any way controlled by outside parties, and is strong enough to compete successfully with the powerful corporations of neighboring states. such a management we believe would be efficient and reliable beyond that of ordinary railroad corporations. it would combine to a great degree the advantages of state and corporate management. the governor and council could be depended upon to appoint suitable persons as trustees. the railroad corporations would naturally appoint their most efficient agents as trustees. such a board could find no difficulty in securing the services of the ablest railroad officers to direct and aid in the management. it remains to refer briefly to the other propositions before the committee. first, to that of the boston and lowell railroad company to unite with the fitchburg. this is a proposal to unite two lines in some degree rival and competing. they are rival lines to some extent for local business. they form parts of rival lines for distant business with the north and west. it is a new proposition in this commonwealth to unite rival and competing lines. this competition will be increased with the opening of the tunnel line. the lowell is the natural terminus of the northern line, and the fitchburg is the natural terminus of the tunnel line. whatever advantages may accrue to the corporations themselves from such a consolidation, the public results will be unmitigated evil. not one witness unconnected with the interested corporations appeared before the committee to testify in favor of such a consolidation. the evidence against it was strong and conclusive. the northern line by way of the lowell and vermont central was shown to be of great value to boston and to massachusetts. it is now in a measure consolidated under contracts having twenty years to run, and it is surely bad policy for the commonwealth, having expended $ , , to create a new line, to commence its operations with the destruction of one in full and vigorous existence. moreover, such a consolidation threatens more than anything else state control of the tunnel itself. a powerful corporation, owning the whole line except the tunnel, would soon compel the transfer of that, and until such transfer, would throw upon the state as the owner of the tunnel the responsibility for all the sins and omissions of the line. the important question of an interchange of depots and tracks by the railroads entering boston on the north has been somewhat involved in this hearing. the avoidance of railroad crossings is undoubtedly of great importance, but it has no proper connection with the disposal of the tunnel. the eastern railroad company and boston and maine railroad are agreed what changes can and should be made to avoid these crossings. all that is essential to secure this end is to remove the passenger station of the fitchburg railroad west of the lowell, where it properly belongs. the legislature has full power in the premises. it can, independently of any consolidation, require the fitchburg railroad company to provide passenger accommodations west of the lowell station, and thus leave its present station on causeway street free for the use of the eastern railroad company. if the state acquires the fitchburg railroad under this act, it can easily provide for the change. the whole question of interchange of depots is independent of the far more important question of the disposition of the tunnel, and should not control it. if the lowell railroad can provide for the wants of the fitchburg railroad company in its passenger station after consolidation, it can do so without consolidation. respectfully submitted by e. p. carpenter, j. k. baker, t. w. wellington, william baker, _members of the committee on railways._ commonwealth of massachusetts. ------------- in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-three. ------------- an act to incorporate the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad. _be it enacted by the senate and house of representatives, in general court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:_ sect. . the governor, with the advice and consent of the council, shall, as soon after the passage of this act as may be convenient, appoint five persons, citizens of this commonwealth, who shall, on or before the first day of july next, take the interest of the commonwealth in the troy and greenfield railroad, and the hoosac tunnel when it shall be completed by the contractors, and all the property and interest of the commonwealth in the southern vermont railroad company, and hold the same in trust for the purposes hereinafter named, one of whom shall hold his office for five years, one for four years, one for three years, one for two years and one for one year, from the ___________ day of ___________. before the first day of july in each year, one such trustee shall be appointed for the term of five years; upon the occurrence of a vacancy before the expiration of a term, an appointment shall be made for the remainder of such term. sect. . said trustees are hereby created a railroad corporation under the name of the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad, and shall have all the powers and privileges, and be subject to the duties, restrictions and liabilities set forth in the general laws relating to railroads, so far as the same may be applicable and not inconsistent with the provisions of this act. sect. . before entering upon their duties, said trustees shall be sworn to the faithful performance of the same. they shall organize by the election of a president, who shall be one of said trustees, a clerk and such other officers as shall be necessary, and they shall prepare by-laws in accordance with which their meetings shall be held. sect. . said board of trustees shall have sole charge, direction and control, subject to the provisions of this act, of the troy and greenfield railroad and of the hoosac tunnel, when said tunnel shall be completed by the contractors of the southern vermont railroad, and of such other railroads as may be leased or acquired under the provisions of this act. they shall appoint a treasurer, a general manager, whenever they deem such an officer necessary, one or more superintendents and such other agents as may be required for the operation of said railroads and tunnel, and they shall define the duties and fix the compensation of such officers and agents. they shall establish rates for the transportation of passengers and merchandise, and make contracts and arrangements with connecting roads in relation to joint rates and joint business, and they may do all other things, not inconsistent with the provisions of this act and the general laws in relation to rail roads, which may be necessary for the efficient and economical operation of said railroads and tunnel. sect. . said board of trustees shall hold in trust all moneys received from the operating of said railroads and tunnel, and all moneys which may be appropriated by the commonwealth for the completion, extension and improvement of said railroads and tunnel and for the equipment thereof, and shall faithfully apply the same. they shall annually pay into the treasury of the common wealth the net income received from said roads and tunnel after the payment of the expenses; and the same shall be set apart, under the direction of the governor and council, and applied in such manner and at such times as they shall direct to either or all of the following purposes: the extinction of any indebtedness, or payment of interest thereon, which the commonwealth may at any time incur to carry out the purposes of this act, or any act in addition to or amendment thereof; the extinction of the indebtedness, or payment of interest thereon, which has been or may be incurred in the construction of the hoosac tunnel; and the purchase of stock in any company which shall lease its franchises, railroad and property in perpetuity to the corporation herein before created. sect. . said board of trustees shall make a semi-annual report to the governor and council of their doings during the six months next preceding, and of their receipts and expenditures, and shall make an annual report to the board of railroad commissioners in the manner and form and at the time prescribed for railroad corporations. sect. . said trustees shall receive, in full compensation for their services as such, the sum of five thousand dollars each per annum, except the president of the board, who shall receive eight thousand dollars, which sums shall be charged to operating expenses. no trustee shall be appointed to any office in the employ of said board of trustees, except the president, but the general manager, when such officer shall be appointed, shall be _ex officio_ a member of the said board. sect. . said board of trustees is hereby authorized to re-locate, where necessary, the tracks of said troy and greenfield railroad, taking land therefor in the method prescribed by law in case of land taken for depot or station purposes, and to complete, extend and improve the construction and equipment of said railroad and tunnel, and to prepare the same in all respects for the reception of the traffic of a through line. sect. . the sum of five million dollars is hereby appropriated, to be expended under the direction of said board of trustees in carrying out the provisions of this act, to be paid to them from time to time as the same may be required and called for, by a two-thirds vote of said board of trustees, on the warrant of the governor. and for the purpose of providing for said appropriation the treasurer of the commonwealth is hereby authorized to issue scrip or certificates of debt in the name and on behalf of the commonwealth to an amount not exceeding five million dollars, to be sold or disposed of in such manner, and at such times, and in such amounts, as the governor and council shall direct. such scrip shall be redeemable in not less than twenty nor more than, forty years from the date thereof, shall bear interest not exceeding six per cent. per annum, payable semi-annually, and shall be known as the "hoosac tunnel railroad loan"; and the property of the commonwealth in the troy and greenfield railroad is hereby set apart and pledged to the redemption of said scrip. sect. . said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease in perpetuity, or for such term of years as the governor and council may approve, the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and, operate the railroad, with its branches, of the vermont and massachusetts railroad company, on the terms following: twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property shall be reserved annually by said board of trustees as a specific fund out of which they shall pay to said company, first, a sum sufficient to pay the interest on the indebtedness of said company, at the date of said lease, as said interest becomes due, and, second, a yearly rental equal to ten per cent. on the present capital stock of said company, free of all taxes upon the stockholders or said company (and on any additional stock, when the same shall be issued for existing convertible bonds), or such a proportion of said rental, not exceeding said ten per cent. and said taxes as said reserved fund shall be sufficient to pay: _provided_, _however_, that in no year shall there be paid to said company a rental of less than four per cent. on said capital stock, and said taxes together with the amount of said interest; and to the payment of such minimum rental and interest said board of trustees is authorized to pledge the faith of the commonwealth. said board of trustees is also authorized to assume and make provision in said lease for the payment of the principal of said indebtedness. the surplus of said reserved fund shall be annually passed by said board of trustees to the account of earnings. when said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said vermont and massachusetts railroad company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and, upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term. sect. . said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease in perpetuity, or for such term of years as the governor and council may approve, the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and operate the railroad, with its branches, of the fitchburg railroad company, on the terms following: twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property shall be reserved annually by said board of trustees as a specific fund, out of which they shall pay to said company a yearly rental equal to ten per cent. on the present capital stock of said company, free of all taxes upon the stockholders or said company, and also on an additional capital stock of one hundred thousand dollars, which said company is hereby authorized to issue and hold for its own benefit, or such a proportion of said rental, not exceeding said ten per cent. and said taxes, as said reserved fund shall be sufficient to pay: _provided_, _however_, that in no year shall there be paid to said company a rental of less than eight per cent. on said capital stock and said taxes; and to the payment of such minimum rental, said board of trustees is authorized to pledge the faith of the commonwealth. the surplus of said reserved fund shall be annually passed to the account of earnings. when said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said fitchburg railroad company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and, upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term. sect. . said board of trustees is hereby authorized and directed to lease the franchises and property, and thereafter to maintain, improve and operate the railroad, with its branches, of the troy and boston railroad company, and shall pay therefor an annual rental equal to twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said leased railroad and property. when said lease shall have been executed, and while the same continues in force, said troy and boston railroad company may elect, from time to time, for a term not exceeding five years, one trustee, who shall be added to said board of trustees, and upon being sworn to the faithful performance of his duties, shall become an incorporated member of the state board of trustees of the hoosac tunnel railroad; and said company may fill vacancies for the remainder of the term. sect. . in estimating what shall constitute the said twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of said several leased railroads, out of which their rentals are to be paid, there shall be first deducted from twenty-five per cent. of their respective gross earnings, six per cent. per annum on all amounts expended by said board of trustees for the permanent improvement of said railroads respectively. sect. . said vermont and massachusetts, fitchburg, and troy and boston railroad companies are severally authorized to lease their franchises and property to said board of trustees. sect. . said board of trustees is further authorized, with the approval of the governor and council, to lease or purchase necessary terminal facilities, and also to lease any railroad now built, or that hereafter may be built, lying in the tunnel route between boston and lake ontario. sect. . in the carriage of through passengers and merchandise, the rates of transportation shall be estimated pro rata per mile, and the hoosac tunnel shall be estimated at such length in miles, not exceeding fifty, as shall seem equitable to the trustees. sect. . in the management of such railroads as shall come under the operation of said board of trustees, there shall be no unequal discriminations in freights, fares or facilities in favor of or against different persons, places or connecting railroads. sect. . in case of the lease of the fitchburg railroad under the terms of this act, the said board of trustees is authorized and directed to purchase terminal facilities in boston, westerly of the freight station of the boston and maine railroad and to arrange with the eastern railroad company for an interchange of stations in boston in such manner as to obviate the necessity of passenger trains on the eastern railroad, boston and maine railroad and fitchburg railroad crossing the tracks of the other, and the eastern railroad company is hereby authorized, with the assent of said trustees, to take or purchase all the land, depot property and buildings of the fitchburg railroad company, situated in boston south of the channel or passage-way for vessels through the fitchburg railroad bridge over charles river, said property to include all the draws and drawbridges over the passage-way for vessels. also all the property, land and buildings situated on the south-westerly side of the following line, to wit: beginning at a point on the northerly side of the above-mentioned passage-way for vessels twenty-two feet nine inches east of the easterly line of the roadway draw over said passage-way, and running northerly at right angles to said passage-way, one hundred and three feet five inches, to a point where said line intersects with the north-easterly line of said fitchburg railroad bridge over charles river; thence northerly, following and coinciding with said north-easterly line of bridge, eight hundred and forty-eight feet; thence turning and running westerly to a point in the north rail of the north passenger track of the fitchburg railroad, distant four hundred and sixteen feet seven inches from the south-easterly line of austin street, measured on said north rail of the north track. said point is also distant twenty-nine feet four inches at right angles from the southerly side of the wooden freight house (measured from a point sixty feet distant from the westerly end) belonging to the fitchburg railroad company, on front street; thence southerly, crossing the fitchburg passenger tracks at right angles to a point four feet distant south of the south rail of south passenger track; thence westerly on a curved line parallel with the south rail of the south passenger track, and four feet distant therefrom to the south-easterly line of austin street in charlestown. and if the eastern railroad company shall so fake the said property of the fitchburg railroad company, then the fitchburg railroad company shall take or purchase all the like property of the eastern railroad company lying between the crossing of the eastern and fitchburg railroads and causeway street in boston, except the parcel of land to be taken by the boston and maine railroad, as hereinafter provided; and in case of the taking or exchange of the tracks and property herein before described, or any part thereof, the said fitchburg railroad company shall locate and construct such tracks and bridge structures on the westerly side of the present line of the eastern railroad as may be necessary to connect its railroad and tracks with the tracks and property so purchased or taken by it; and shall not thereafter cross either said eastern railroad or said boston and maine railroad except for freight purposes. and the eastern railroad company shall locate and construct such tracks and bridge structures as shall be required to connect its present tracks northerly of its crossing with the boston and maine railroad with the tracks and property so purchased or taken by it, keeping at all times east of a line drawn from a point on the easterly side of its present location, distant southerly three hundred and fifty feet, measured on said line from its intersection with the southerly side of cambridge street to the point of intersection of the northerly line of the state prison wharf with the easterly line of the location of the boston and maine railroad, and thence keeping east of said easterly line of said location; and shall not thereafter cross the tracks of the boston and maine railroad. and the eastern railroad company shall take any lands now belonging to the boston and maine railroad in charlestown or somerville lying easterly of such new location; and the boston and maine railroad shall take all the road-bed, land and property of the eastern railroad company lying between the line above described for the westerly limitation of said new location of the eastern railroad and the westerly line of the old location of the eastern railroad, and the present northerly line of the fitchburg railroad: _provided_, _however_, that in case of the aforesaid taking and exchange of property by and between the eastern and fitchburg railroads, the boston and maine railroad shall release the eastern railroad company from all damages for its taking and occupation thereof and take from the said eastern railroad company so much of the premises described in the first section of the three hundred and fifty-sixth chapter of the acts of the year eighteen hundred and seventy-two, as was taken from the said boston and maine railroad by said eastern railroad company under the provisions of that act; and said eastern railroad company shall, without other compensation therefor, release to said boston and maine railroad all their rights in said premises acquired by them, taking the same under said act; and _provided_, _further_, that any exchange of land made under the provisions of this section shall take effect simultaneously. all general laws relating to the taking of land for railroad purposes and to the location and construction of railroads, shall be applicable to and govern the proceedings in the taking and exchange of lands and property, and in the making of any new locations under the provisions of the foregoing sections, except that instead of the county commissioners three disinterested persons shall be appointed by the supreme judicial court for the county of suffolk as a board of commissioners to determine the values of the lands and property so taken and exchanged or over which any such location may be made, and to adjudicate the damages to be paid by any of the others upon the taking, exchange or locations aforesaid, from whose decision an appeal shall be to a jury in behalf of either party, as provided by law in the case of lands taken for railroad purposes. any sum of money received by the fitchburg railroad in said interchange of stations and tracks above the expense of necessary alterations shall be applied to procuring new terminal facilities and making improvements on said road or may be applied to the reduction of the capital stock of the fitchburg railroad company in such manner as may be agreed between the fitchburg railroad company and said board of trustees. sect. . this act shall take effect upon its passage. speech. mr. president: i am deeply impressed with the great importance of the question now before us for consideration. it is not local, not sectional, nor political, but a question that affects more or less directly the industrial, the mercantile, the manufacturing, and the commercial interests of the whole commonwealth. the proper solution of this great problem rests with us, as the representatives of the people; and it is a responsibility of no ordinary importance, and one that should control our serious and earnest attention and our candid and best judgment, unbiased by any local or personal interest, with a solemn regard to our oaths to support and maintain the constitutional rights of the people of the commonwealth. stern convictions of duty alone induce me to address this honorable body on this occasion--duty that i feel incumbent upon me, mr. president, from the honored position that i received at your hands. it is well known that i neither have or make any claims as a public speaker, and i must ask your indulgence for being somewhat dependent upon my notes in presenting to you an honest statement of my own convictions of this great question, having no other interest to serve but the state and her people. this important subject involves directly the whole question of the railroad policy of this commonwealth; and here in massachusetts the proper direction of the railroad policy is even more important than at the west, where it now engages the public attention almost to the exclusion of other interests. within the last fifty years this commonwealth has almost entirely changed its industrial position. half a century ago, agriculture, the fisheries, and commerce were the leading interests. now, manufactures engross the attention of our people, and have made all other interests subordinate. they have not excluded other interests, but in a measure supplemented them. our agriculture has changed and now finds its chief support in providing supplies for the manufacturing towns which have grown up in every part of the commonwealth. our commerce, both internal and external, is largely engaged in bringing to our doors the raw material for our laborers, and in spreading throughout the world the products of our manufacturing industry. we can raise but a small proportion of the food necessary to feed the people of the state; under such circumstances the transportation must weigh heavily upon our industry. we feel it in the increased cost of living, which increases the cost of every article we produce. we feel it in the increased cost of the raw materials of our manufactures, which makes us less able to compete successfully with more favored locations. we feel it finally in the increased cost of marketing our goods. this position has been so well stated by the railroad commissioners in their report of , page , that i may repeat it here: "it may safely be asserted that there is no branch of massachusetts industry which is not carried on against competition more advantageously located. the state has very few natural advantages; but everything with her depends on the intelligence of her people, and the cost of transportation. the west, in producing cereals, has at least a soil of unsurpassed fertility: pennsylvania in manufacturing iron has the ore and the coal in close proximity to the furnace. the english mill-owner has his power and his labor in cheap profusion. almost every article, however, which enters into the industries of massachusetts has to be brought within her limits from a distance. her very water powers are subject to inclement winters and dry summers, while she has to make her ingenuity supply a deficiency in labor. her food is brought from the north-west: her wool and her leather from south america, texas, california and the central states: her cotton from the south: her ores from the adirondacks: her coal from pennsylvania; her copper from superior,--and the list would admit of infinite extension. massachusetts is thus merely an artificial point of meeting for all kinds and descriptions of raw material which is here worked up, and then sent abroad again to find a customer at every point, coming and going, and in process of manufacture, it has to be transported, and it has to bear all costs of transportation in competition with articles of the same description produced elsewhere and by others. every reduction of the transportation tax acts then as a direct encouragement to the industry of massachusetts, just as much so as if it were a bounty or bonus: it is just so much weight taken off in the race of competition." no words of mine can add any force to this plain statement of facts; but yet we are told that transportation is only _one_ element in the cost and price of goods, and frequently not that of the greatest consequence, but the importance of this _one_ element is fourfold, and often more, to the massachusetts manufacturer, making the transportation of more importance in many cases than the cost of materials transported. this transportation tax is the _very_ element that is to build up a competition in these favored localities that will either extinguish or transfer many classes of our industrial interests that we can ill afford to lose. it is only necessary for one to travel west and south and observe the great development and success of the manufacturing interest in these sections to be convinced that new england cannot long hold the prestige as the "workshop" of the country with so heavy a transportation tax imposed upon her industrial productions. the importance of this one element will be more fully realized by the eastern manufacturer when he finds that his southern and western rivals save it altogether by having the raw material at hand, and a home market with all the other elements (save skilled labor which can be transported) that make manufacturing industry profitable at a much less cost. a combination of our manufacturers to establish cheap transportation, and the sale of their goods upon a home market, would be far more to their interest and profit than the exaction of an extra hour's labor and would confer a great blessing upon their overtasked employees. efforts to reduce the transportation tax. since the railroad system was inaugurated in , the statutes of this commonwealth bear yearly evidence of the persistent and liberal policy pursued by the legislature toward the railroads. it would be tedious to enumerate the many acts which have been passed loaning the credit of the state to aid the struggling corporations in establishing and completing their lines. almost all the leading lines in the state sought and obtained this aid, without which there must have been a great delay, if not failure in accomplishing these enterprises; and here let me say, that with the exception of the hartford and erie loan, and the losses arising from the repayment by the eastern, and norwich and worcester railroads in legal tender instead of gold, there has never been a dollar lost by the railroad loans of the state. the result has been to build up a system of railroads, centering in the city of boston, having no superior, if equal, for completeness on this continent. massachusetts has more miles of railroad in proportion to population and territory than any similar extent of territory in america. and there can be no question that the prosperity of the state has grown more from its railroad facilities, than from all other causes combined. there is another class of legislation to which we cannot look with equal satisfaction. every railroad charter contains provisions for the regulation of fares and freights; and yet since the railroads were established, no single act has been passed directly for this regulation. the question has involved so great difficulties that no legislature has yet ventured to grapple with it. the tendency of legislation in that direction is obvious. commissioners have been appointed to consider the subject and no result has followed. a board of railroad commissioners has been formed, which has been productive of great good both to the railroad corporations, and to the people. this board has been directed to fully consider and report some plan of regulating fares and freights; and has reported that it cannot recommend any means of reducing this transportation tax, by direct legislation, but strongly advises the trial of state ownership, as the only means of attaining the desired end. the effect in our existing system. while it may be said that under the present system of railroads, the commonwealth has been prosperous, there are drawbacks and defects which need careful examination, and if possible a remedy. to those who are familiar with the condition of our manufactures, the most striking want is the failure of our home market for our productions. we are tributary to new york in many ways. the great sale of our manufactured goods is made in new york, and goes to build up a rival city. our great commission houses have been compelled to establish branches in new york, which in a short time have surpassed in business and in importance the home establishments. if we could have kept at home the sale of our manufactured goods--have retained here in boston the great houses through which the exchanges are made--could have brought to new england the purchasers from the west and south, it would have vastly increased the prosperity of boston and of new england. business can be done cheaper in boston than in new york; and yet new york has drawn away from us a large proportion of our legitimate business,--the sale of our manufactured goods; and this loss can be directly attributed to a defect in our railroad system, which can and should be remedied. i say defect, but, more properly, the want of a strong and independent line of railroad through to the west, controlled in the interest of massachusetts. why, mr. president, if we could withdraw from new york the firms and business that represent the sale of massachusetts goods, it would more than cover the burnt district of this city, and double the business of boston; and new york would feel that her loss was much greater than the boston fire. and why is it that our goods are sent to new york to be sold? simply because new york has _three_ great trunk routes to the west, which control the transportation of the southern and western productions, and the owners, who are the merchants, follow their goods, and are the customers who purchase our manufactured goods of new york houses, and ship them in return over these same trunk lines, giving them a large and profitable business; which should be and can be controlled, by proper management, in the interest and for the benefit of a through line or lines from boston to the west. to-day boston is without a through and independent line to the west, and while we are shipping our goods to new york to be sold, to be transported over the great lines leading south and west, our _own_ western road, so called, in , according to the annual report of the directors, carried through from boston to albany , tons of freight, and from albany to boston , tons--more than four times as much _from_ the west than is carried _to_ the west; which state of things would be reversed if the sale of our goods was made here instead of new york; but this can only be accomplished by a through line west, controlled in the interests of massachusetts, and not in the interest of new york. a line to the lakes in competition,--not with the boston and albany railroad, as that is dependent upon the new york central railroad in a great measure for its western freights,--but an independent line, so organized as to guard against any combination, that will force by competition the new york lines to give to the boston and albany and the boston, hartford and erie railroads less rates, making boston a competing point, thus securing the advantages of four competing western lines, including the great northern line, which must bring to our seaboard the products of the great west, and thus secure an exchange of trade that will increase the growth, and prosperity of massachusetts, that will equal the prophecies of those who are called _visionary theorists_. it was by competition of the three great trunk lines running to new york--discriminating against boston--that forced the removal of the sale of massachusetts productions to that city; and it is estimated these sales amount to more than two hundred and fifty millions of dollars per annum at the present time; and the golden opportunity is now at hand to restore in a great measure the advantages lost by not having a strong and efficient line of railroad leading to the great west, in the interest of the state. the relative advantages of boston and new york. the great advantages of new york arise from the fact that it is a great emporium of exportation and importation. a very large proportion of the exports of the country have been made from new york. she has gained control of the export trade--and the export trade governs the import trade. ships go where they can find a return cargo, and merchants follow their goods. the possession of the great bulk of the export trade, has given to new york the great bulk of importations, and equally the control of the domestic trade. how can we, in boston and massachusetts, get our fair share of the importing and domestic trade of the country? there is but one way--by reducing the transportation tax. in many respects boston has great advantages for the export trade. the chief exports of the country are to europe. we are two hundred miles nearer europe than any of the other of the great seaboard cities. we have a harbor unrivaled on the american coast for easy entrance--for depth of water--for protection from storms. its great water-front, at which vessels of burden may lie to an extent (as is stated by the harbor commissioners) of fifty miles--every foot of which is, or may be directly connected with our railroads. there is not a wharf along the whole circuit which may not, without great expense, be made available for the export of the productions of the country, brought by the railroad car to the side of the ship, which shall convey it to the freight market. if we can secure to boston a fair share of the export trade of the country, the import and domestic trade will follow, and we ensure the building of a city within the limits of my friend's annexation project, that will equal the greatest city of the continent. the effect on the state of making boston an exporting city. it is hardly necessary to allude to the close connection which boston holds to massachusetts. one-third of the population of the state and one-half its valuation are combined within a circle of five miles from this building. the prosperity of boston is inseparable from the prosperity of massachusetts. the recent calamity of boston was felt throughout the limits of the state. but the great benefit to the state from making boston an exporting city is not the prosperity of the city itself. it grows out of the condition which alone can make boston a city of export for the productions of the country. this can only result from a reduction in the transportation tax which will make such productions relatively cheaper in boston than in new york. in the profits of such a result the remotest corner of the state will directly share. transportation cannot be reduced to boston without a corresponding reduction upon every line of railroad leading to or from this city. it was with a hope of such a result that the state entered upon the project of building the hoosac tunnel, and it rests with us to say, now that this great enterprise is so near completion, whether this hope can be realized. the hoosac tunnel. it is needless to explain at any length what the hoosac tunnel is. there can be no member of this board who does not know that we in massachusetts are separated from the west by a mountain barrier extending from near long island sound to near the canada line. this barrier must be passed to bring us into connection with the west. it has been turned on the north by the vermont central, on the south by the hartford and erie. it has been passed over steep grades by the boston and albany. at north adams it is compressed into narrow limits in the hoosac mountain, and the bold conception was formed to pierce directly through it at this point. first, the effort was made to accomplish the great undertaking by private capital, aided by a state loan. the difficulties were underrated and the plan failed. finally, the state assumed the enterprise and has since, with varying fortunes but unfaltering energy, prosecuted it to a successful result. within the current year there can be little doubt of the completion of the work. the tunnel will be opened for traffic and a new line formed between boston and the west, shorter by eleven miles than any existing route; with easy grades, which, making the usual allowance for the obstruction caused by heavy grades to railroad traffic--will render it constructively shorter than any route by at least twenty miles, or ten per cent., between boston and albany. its cost to the state, including the troy and greenfield railroad, will be at least twelve millions, raised by loans, on which the interest is paid by taxation. since the plan of the tunnel was formed new lines of road have been projected and built, connecting it with every part of the state, and there is scarcely a town from berkshire to provincetown, which does not to-day stand in position to reap its share of the benefit expected to follow the completion of this great public enterprise. having expended so large a sum on the tunnel, the question arises, how shall we use it to derive the greatest good to the whole people? the state now holds, as owner substantially, the troy and greenfield railroad and the tunnel, at a cost of about twelve millions. its value depends wholly upon the future development of business, but its relations are such to other railroad interests, that i have no doubt that, if the state desires to sell the tunnel, notwithstanding its great cost, negotiations could be made to dispose of it at a price that would return to the state the moneys expended, but it would be at the risk of sacrificing the prosperity of its own industrial interests. there are various and conflicting opinions expressed in regard to the business that may be done. some parties who appeared before the committee declared that the completion of the tunnel could only be compared to the removal of a dam, to be followed by a flood of business beyond our power to properly care for; while others were equally confident that the traffic now flowing through other channels would be diverted to the new one only through the influence of time and energetic labor. all, however, agreed in the opinion that, under proper management it was destined to become, at no very distant day, perhaps, the great avenue for trade between the east and west. the eagerness with which various railroad corporations seek its control by "_ways_ and _means_," if honest, should be convincing proof of the great importance of the tunnel to the public, and if not honest, it should merit the condemnation of every honest man in the community. position of the committee. on certain points the committee were unanimous. _first:_ that the state should own and control the tunnel in such manner as to secure to the whole state the ultimate benefit to be derived from its construction, and to secure to all persons and corporations seeking to use it, equal rights. _second:_ that to attain the highest benefit to be derived from this new line, a corporation strong enough to provide sufficient equipment and terminal facilities should be formed, able to command connections with roads outside of the state and to compete with a fair share of success with the existing corporations. how best to attain these ends with a view to cheapness of transportation and efficiency of action the members of the committee differ. the majority reported a bill providing for the consolidation of the boston and lowell railroad company, the fitchburg railroad company, the vermont and massachusetts railroad company, the commonwealth and the troy and boston railroad company into one corporation, with authority to purchase or lease certain other roads, which will make a capital of not less than twenty-five to thirty millions and give control to about five hundred miles of railroad. from this plan the minority have dissented and reported a plan which will place the direct line from boston to troy substantially under one direction, and subject it not to state management but to _state control_. the bill of the majority. to the bill reported by the majority of the committee we have the strongest objections. _first._--it sanctions an enormous inflation of capital. it authorizes a consolidation upon the basis of an appraisal of the value of the several properties to be made by the parties themselves. the railroads of this commonwealth are prohibited by law from making stock dividends, and yet here stock dividends are allowed to such extent as the parties think proper. one of the greatest impositions ever practised upon the public, from which the people of this commonwealth now suffer, is the watered stock of the railroads between albany and chicago. the amount of stock in these roads issued without any equivalent, upon which our traffic is now taxed, is variously estimated at from forty-four millions to one hundred and five millions. the annual tax levied is from three millions to six millions, of which we pay a large share. the majority bill provides for just such a watering of stock, to the extent of perhaps ten millions, according to the appraisal by the parties in interest. we believe this to be all wrong, and should not be sanctioned by the commonwealth. _second._--we utterly dissent from the opinion of the majority in allowing the boston and lowell railroad to come into such a consolidation. the boston and lowell forms no part of the tunnel line. every witness before the committee, except the agents of the corporations themselves, was emphatic against such a consolidation. see governor claflin's testimony, th hearing, page . " j. t. joy " " " " . " c. f. adams, jr., " " " " " " n. c. nash " th " " . " q. a. vinal " th " " . " col. faulkner " " " " . " j. w. brooks " th " " . the northern line has been of very great value to the business of boston and massachusetts; more than any other it has effected that reduction of rates which has returned to boston within the past few years a portion of the export trade. it forms the shortest line at present existing between boston and the lakes, and while lake navigation is open substantially controls the rates over the other lines. mr. nathaniel c. nash says ( th hearing, page ), "we have derived more advantage from that line than from any other source." (see railroad commissioners' report of , page .) while the lowell railroad provided the terminus and the representation in this commonwealth, the other railroads in the line have cooperated in producing this result. it has cheapened food to the people of this commonwealth, and of all new england. the lowell railroad is bound by contracts to continue in this northern line for twenty years to come. although some of the corporations are under financial difficulties, this does not affect the operations of the line. the railroads still exist and must continue to do business, and so far as the advantage of the traffic extends, it matters little who owns or operates the railroads. so impressed are the majority of the committee with the importance of maintaining the northern line that they impose upon the lowell railroad company, as they say, the conditions of withdrawing from the northern line, and make provision for transfer of the business to another line--the boston and maine. they propose to do this in a manner which seems to us weak and futile. the majority bill provides for repeal of the charter of the great northern railroad company, passed in , which authorized the boston and lowell railroad company to consolidate with certain companies in new hampshire, with authority to lease or purchase other railroads leading to ogdensburg and other points in the north and west, and lines of boats on the lakes. as all the other companies in this consolidated line are in new hampshire this charter was ineffective without the cooperation of new hampshire, and to this bill new hampshire has never assented--not from any hostility to through lines, but because it contained objectionable features, such as the consolidation of competing lines, the creation of a monstrous corporation with power to combine in one gigantic monopoly all the railroads within her borders. this charter is mere waste paper, and its repeal would have no more effect than the burning of waste paper. the lowell railroad remains bound by contracts to the northern line, and the majority bill effectually places the northern and tunnel lines under one control. the proposal to transfer the northern line and northern business to the boston and maine railroad seems to us an absurdity. the boston and maine is practically an eastern line; of its whole length, one hundred and twelve miles, only twenty-six could be used in connection with the northern line. it never could or would give that exclusive attention to the business necessary to make such a line successful. its only means of connection is over the manchester and lawrence railroad, the grades of which are too heavy for a successful freight business with the west. the boston and lowell railroad is the natural terminus of this northern line, and no legislation can remove it from this position. moreover the majority bill, placing the boston and lowell railroad and the fitchburg in the same control, and authorizing a lease of the cheshire, gives the consolidated company such a substantial control of the whole northern business that its transfer to the boston and maine would necessarily be followed by such disastrous competition as to preclude such a connection. it must inevitably result in a consolidation of the tunnel and the northern line under one management. in creating a new line we destroy one which already exists. our true policy is to maintain unimpaired our four routes to the west, and under whatever management they may be, at all events maintain that they shall be independent of each other. if a consolidation is to be made of the tunnel line we are clearly of the opinion that it should be of the direct line only between boston and troy, including the fitchburg, vermont and massachusetts, troy and greenfield, and troy and boston, and the massachusetts central if it desires to form part of such a line. the boston and lowell railroad, and nashua railroad should be studiously kept apart from such a line, because it forms no natural part, and does form a natural part of another line. it is urged that the possession of terminal facilities in boston should be allowed a controlling influence in this matter; that the boston and lowell railroad has obtained the only convenient terminus in boston for a great western line--more than is needed for its own business, or the business of the northern line, and therefore that the railroad policy of the commonwealth should be compelled to yield to its position. to this there are two answers. _first._--that these facilities were obtained for the northern line, and by urgent representations of its necessities, and if they are not needed for that business they should be transferred to other corporations that do need them. the commonwealth has full power in the case, and it is only necessary to invoke the same power which the majority bill gives the consolidation company to take property from the fitchburg, to take from the lowell railroad company the property which it now represents as not needed for its business which it has obtained under the representation of a public necessity. _secondly._--the question of terminal facilities is too unimportant in itself to be permitted to determine in the least degree the decision of a great state policy; other facilities can be obtained as good as the lowell. _finally._--we object to the plan of the majority because it continues the policy of placing our last remaining line to the west under the control and management of a stock corporation. it cannot be denied that there is great and wide-spread dissatisfaction with our present railroad system, and its management. we have tried in vain to control by special legislation, and it may well be acknowledged that the trial has not been very successful. regulation by special legislation. no system has ever been devised better calculated to introduce corruption into our state government than the present method of regulating railroads by special laws. every senator knows what influences are brought to bear to promote and defeat the various projects of special legislation. no! mr. president, i have over-stated--i am sure that no senator at this board does know _all_ the "ways and means" that are used to influence members to secure votes for the passage of various bills in the interest of railroads. every senator is aware how powerful and wide-spread is the pressure when public railroad legislation is under consideration. if these influences were confined to the questions of special or general railroad legislation, great as the evil is, it would not be irreparable. but unhappily the evil does not stop here. hardly a question of special or general legislation is decided by either branch of the legislature without being affected in a greater or less degree by these railroad questions. it prolongs our sessions and fills our lobbies with the advocates of private corporations, and these special guardians of the rights of the people in the service and pay of railroad corporations astonish the members from the rural districts by their disinterestedness in their "labors of love" and benevolence--making their stay at the capital so pleasant and agreeable without money, but not without price--as to create a strong desire to serve the "dear people" another term, and obligations are exchanged that demand the presence and service of these men. no i not men alone, but men and women at our town caucuses and conventions, that favors granted may be reciprocated in securing the nomination, and thereby the election of the men who are willing to be run by rail road interests. if this state of things does not corrupt legislators, it is because legislators are incorruptible. we know its results in other states, and we may well fear it here. special legislation has totally failed in securing the results intended, and left behind a train of unmitigated evils which must increase with the increased magnitude of the railroad interest, and the growth of railroad corporations. the establishment of such a corporation as is provided for in the majority bill may well be dreaded. the creature will be more powerful than its creator. control of the tunnel. the committee were clear and unanimous in the opinion that the state should under no circumstances part with the absolute control of the tunnel to a private corporation. the majority bill is the first step in giving up the control of the tunnel to a private corporation. it gives to that corporation control of the whole line, except the tunnel; and entrusts it with the operators of the tunnel itself. the pressure upon the state to part with the tunnel will grow with the increase of business; the whole power and usefulness of the line must rest in the hands of the corporation which owns the railroad entering the tunnel on either side. i am not old in railroad tactics--but, mr. president--with the bill reported by the majority of the committee, i think i should have no difficulty--with less than one-half of the amount of the money expended in the efforts to pass the bill--to capture the tunnel from the state in three years, and it would be accomplished in such a manner through the representatives of the people, that no one would presume to question my honesty. the commonwealth, owning the tunnel,--the most valuable portion of the line, the _key_ to the whole line,--has no voice in its management except a minority in the board of direction; no voice in fixing rates, no influence in its operations. this is all placed in the hands of a private corporation, governed by stockholders, whose stock is at all times in the market, and may be purchased at any time by any parties who deem it for their interest to control the line. the corporation may at any time combine with existing corporations to fix rates, and thus the main object sought by the state in constructing the tunnel--an independent and competing line--be defeated. the purposes of the minority. the minority of the committee in the plan which they propose to the legislature, have had two purposes in view. _first:_ absolute and perpetual control of the tunnel, built with the public money for the benefit of the people of the whole commonwealth; and _second:_ _state control_ of the tunnel line. i use the words _state control_ designedly, as distinguished from state ownership, or state management. state ownership of a railroad without state management is useless. state management may sink into political management which might be disastrous to the public, and to the railroad. but state control is a very different thing; precisely what legislatures have sought in vain to attain. we have endeavored to give it by special legislation, but all in vain; and yet just this is what we want. the idea is too firmly fixed in the public mind to be eradicated without a fair and conclusive trial, that fares and freights are now too high--that cheap transportation _is_ necessary, and can be furnished without interfering with a fair return for the capital invested. you cannot expect private corporations whose whole object is to make money for stockholders, to try this experiment fairly, and ascertain how cheaply transportation can be afforded. railroad corporations do sometimes compete, but the sole object and purpose of such competition is eventual combination, and in that combination, the public must suffer. we want to establish a corporation which shall compete to increase its business without any ulterior view of combination to raise rates, and such a corporation is found under the plan presented by the minority of the committee. the minority bill. this bill proposes first that the troy and greenfield railroad and tunnel shall remain the property of the state. _second._ that the state shall obtain by lease the control of the railroads forming the direct tunnel line. we have reason to believe that this can be effected. we have assurances that the fitchburg railroad company will assent to the terms of this bill. if the only result of this bill is to secure the control of the fitchburg railroad it will be worth the trial. the fitchburg railroad with its connection with the tunnel, has a commanding position with reference to the railroads of the state. what we want to secure is a free system of competition, without the power of combination, which is now the bane of our railroad system, in the hands of private corporations. rates are now fixed to a remarkable extent by combination, and not by competition. every business man knows that the freight rates between important points are fixed at meetings of freight agents, who consider not what is a fair price for rendering the service, but what will best pay the corporations which control the business. the great need of the business community of boston and massachusetts, is a line to the west, making the nearest connection with the lakes, which will do the business at fair and uniform rates, and which shall be managed in the interest of the public, and not of stockholders. such a line can be secured under the provisions of the minority bill, which will establish a through line with power to connect with lake navigation at oswego, on lake ontario, and be substantially under state control. the necessity of extending the line to oswego, to some point on the lake is obvious, because every other railroad communicating with the west, except the great northern route, is now under the control of new york. at any lake port navigation is open for seven or eight months in the year, and gives a direct communication with the great centres of western commerce. the tunnel line ending at troy can give little advantage over the present western line--the boston and albany railroad. the effect of state control of the tunnel line. one great purpose of controlling one important line, is the effect upon other lines. our system of railroads is so interwoven that all our railroads are to some extent competing, and the operation of one railroad by a corporation in the interest of the public will to a great extent control the whole railroad system of the state. the direct tunnel line probably now occupies the most important controlling position of any in the state. it can be made a regulator of the western business of the state. it can by its connections with the cheshire and other vermont and massachusetts railroads, largely control the northern lines. it will, by its many connections, bring the whole state in direct connection with the north and west. the great success of the so-called belgium system is founded on this principle,--the control of the whole by the direct operation of a small portion. the position of our massachusetts railroads is, in this respect, not unlike that of belgium. our railroads are so closely connected together that the state control of one road will be felt throughout the whole system. the popular feeling in favor of state control. it cannot be denied that the popular feeling has been steadily growing in favor of state operation of railroads in spite of all that has been said of the danger of corruption and of the inefficiency of state management. the people, confident in their own integrity and their own power, have not indistinctly shown their desire to fairly try the experiment, and the circumstances are more favorable for such an experiment than will probably again occur. the state now owns the important part of the line,--that part which is necessary to change the line from a disconnected local line of railroads to a great through line. it has been built at great cost. its opening gives great value to the connecting roads. if it was worth the cost of construction, this value can only be shown by a development of business which will require a series of years, and will be attended with corresponding advantages to all connecting roads. this development of business can hardly be expected without substantially giving up the control of the tunnel to the line which operates it. the majority bill does give such a control. we deem it the best way for the state retaining the tunnel to obtain upon fair terms the control of the connecting roads, and fairly try the experiment of operating a railroad to ascertain how cheaply transportation can be furnished, and yet return a fair remuneration for the capital employed. the public demands such an experiment to be tried, and a better opportunity to try can never exist. safety of the experiment. of this there can be no reasonable doubt, for a corporation formed under the provisions of the minority bill possesses all the advantages that can be obtained by consolidation under one private corporation, as authorized by the majority bill, and the additional advantages of state and corporate management combined, which would be efficient and reliable, beyond that of ordinary railroad corporations, inasmuch as their acts would be most carefully watched and criticised by others than stockholders, and the honor of securing a successful result to so great an experiment and enterprise in the interests of the people, would be a far greater incentive to even political ambition, than the compensation received; for "great deeds foreshadow great men," and the people are not slow in their rewards to those who are honest and earnest in their service. why, mr. president, if i had the ability to manage this enterprise, i should hold the _honor_ of making this enterprise in the interest of the state a success of more importance than the honor of being the governor of massachusetts. and when a man's reputation is thus at stake, he cannot afford to cheat himself by withholding from the state his best talents and energies. it has another and still greater advantage,--the endorsement of the commonwealth of massachusetts, which furnishes power and capital for terminal facilities, equipment and the improvement of the line at a cheaper rate than any consolidated company can procure it; and cheap capital in disinterested hands secures _cheap_ transportation. can there be any doubt that a corporation thus formed and managed will prove a financial success? if not a success, then we have great reason to distrust a private corporation; with far less advantages, and a larger capital, for doing the same business must prove a financial failure. to demonstrate this point in a more practical manner, we will assume a proposition and verify this proposition by figures. judging from the present local business now done on the several roads--forming what is anticipated as the tunnel line, and the testimony of eminent railroad men of the business that is sure to come to this great through route to the west--it is fair to assume that the whole will do a business that will average six millions a year for the first five years; twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of the leased roads, and property are reserved to provide for settlement of the conditions of the said leases; and as they are not guaranteed the payment of any amount beyond what their present business pays, can there be any doubt but what the twenty-five per cent. on the increased business will pay the six per cent. interest on the capital loaned to increase the facilities for extending the business over the line? the railroad commissioners report that the average expenses of all the railroads of the commonwealth is seventy-five per cent. of their gross earnings; but there is no doubt but what it can be proved that it cost less than seventy per cent. on the great trunk lines, and one of the oldest and most successful railroad managers assured me that this tunnel line could be run for sixty per cent., but we will call it seventy per cent., which makes with the twenty-five per cent. ninety-five per cent., leaving five per cent. for net profit on the whole business of six millions, which is $ , . what next? we have for the credit of the corporation or state, twenty-five per cent. of the gross earnings of the business done on the troy and greenfield railroad and through the tunnel. calling the tunnel twenty-three miles in length,--which it is conceded it should be called for what it saves in distance and grades,--and with the troy and greenfield railroad, which is forty-four miles, we have one-third of the whole distance, and it is the judgment of practical railroad men that out of the six millions of business, two millions would pass over this division and through the tunnel; and twenty-five per cent. on two millions is $ , income, which, added to the $ , , gives a net income of $ , to the state, which is nearly six per cent. on thirteen and one-half millions, the cost of the tunnel and troy and greenfield railroad, with an additional expenditure of one and one-half millions needed to make this division of the route what it should be as a part of the great through line. in proportion as the business increases, in that same proportion will the profits increase, and when the business shall amount to ten millions, which i have no doubt it will in less than ten years, you create a fund over and above the interest on the whole cost that can be used for extinguishing the debt, purchasing the stock of the leased roads, as the value is fixed by the terms of the lease, or for the reduction of rates of fares and freights. if this proposition will not bear investigation, pray tell me how the stockholders of the consolidated corporations are to receive dividends on their watered stock, with increased cost of improvements of the line, and equipment for doing the same business. the alleged danger of political corruption. a chief argument against the system proposed is the danger of political corruption likely to follow the employment of a large number of men in public business. _second._--it is alleged that the public management of any great public service is less efficient than private management. the purpose of the minority of the committee in proposing their plan, was to provide a corporate body removed as far as possible from political influence. the state trustees are appointed by the governor and council. they are appointed for _five_ years. a single vacancy occurs each year. they hold nearly the same position in regard to the operatives employed ill the operation of the corporation, as directors of corporations, and no one ever heard of directors exerting any great political influence, particularly state directors. i doubt if any director of any railroad corporation in the state ever knew or thought to influence the political vote of an operative. if they choose, the managers of any private corporation could exert a greater and more injurious political influence than these state trustees. if the power is dangerous in state trustees, who must be selected by your governor, it is far more dangerous in the hands of persons elected by stockholders of a private, money-making corporation, whose interests are in direct antagonism to the interests of the public. this argument applies to corporate management only with a much greater force. let corporate management be unmasked and it would make state management hide its face with shame. (see extract new york state committee on erie.) "if the principle is to be established that a few interested parties of stock-jobbers, having no permanent interest, can, by the corrupt use of money or by violence, take and hold possession of a great railroad corporation, and reimburse themselves out of its treasury, it is time the matter was understood by the public. as to the payment of money to influence legislation connected with said company, or other irregularities, the testimony was enough to show that the railroad companies have been in the habit of expending large sums from year to year, either to secure or defeat the passage of bills. it appears conclusive that a large amount, reported by one witness at $ , , was appropriated for legislative purposes by the railroad interest in , and that $ , was the erie's portion. in this connection the committee denounce the lobby roundly. it is further in evidence that it has been the custom of the managers of the erie railroad from year to year in the past to expend large sums to control elections and to influence legislation. in more than one million dollars was disbursed from the treasury for 'extra and legal services.' what the erie has done, other great corporations are doubtless doing from year to year. we have here simply an acknowledgment, of the fact. combined as they are, the power of the great moneyed corporations of this country are a standing menace to the liberties of the people. the railroad lobby flaunts its ill-gotten gains in the faces of our legislators, and in all our politics the debasing effect of its influence is felt." this cry of political corruption against state management is but the resurrection of the old party ghost which has always been retained in the service of all political parties to frighten people that are naturally timid and conservative; and this terrible spectre has often been the means of delaying and defeating enterprises that were for the best interests of the people. i remember, mr. president, when this ghost was exhibited by the democratic party in every town in this state; and the people were made to believe that the loan made by the state to the boston and albany (western) railroad would ruin the state; that every man's farm was mortgaged at nine dollars per acre; and men believed it, for that was in times when the people followed party leaders through faith; when it was said that the true test of the political faith of a new hampshire democrat was to wake him up with the inquiry, "who made you?" and if he answered promptly, "isaac hill, sir," he was to be trusted as one of the faithful. the effect of this great outcry was to destroy confidence in the enterprise and the stock at one time could not be _given_ away for fear of assessments. and if the people at that time could have been guaranteed that the loss of the state should not exceed the four million loaned, they would have gladly given another million as a guarantee. but they could not rid themselves of the supposed burden, and the result has been the development of a great enterprise in the interests of the state in spite of their fears. this was in a measure to the credit of state management. as to the efficiency of the plan, it remains to be tried; but in the language of the minority report we believe such a management would be efficient and reliable beyond that of ordinary railroad corporations. it combines state control with corporate management. the governor and council could be depended upon to appoint suitable persons as trustees. the railroad corporations would naturally appoint their most efficient agents as trustees. such a board could find no difficulty in securing the services of the ablest railroad officers to direct and aid in the management. as the plan has no precedent it cannot be judged from the record, and the prejudice existing against state management cannot fairly apply to this plan; but if it could have a fair trial we have no doubt of its efficiency and success; and we are not alone in this opinion, for this plan has received the full endorsement of eminent railroad managers, successful and prominent manufacturers and merchants, and the chairman of the railroad commissioners, together with many of our most enterprising and conservative citizens. state pensioners. it is urged that the plan proposed creates a large class of state pensioners to whom the revenues of the treasury are pledged. they are state pensioners in the same sense as any individual who leases property to the state for a fixed rent, is a state pensioner. every railroad charter contains a provision for the acquisition of the corporate property by the state, by payment of its presumed value. as well say that all these charters are pension bills. the minority bill simply provides that stockholders yielding their property to the state, shall have a remuneration for the property surrendered. it makes little difference to the individual whether his compensation comes in the form of the payment of a fixed sum or of an annual annuity. it does make some difference to the state, whether it increases a debt to payoff these stockholders at once, or pays such interest as the property acquired may be fairly presumed to earn. the guarantee does not exceed the dividends which the property may be expected to earn, and the advantage which a lease gives over a purchase by avoiding the transfer and changing of capital should not be overlooked. in a word, these stockholders are pensioners only in the sense that they become entitled to secure annuities from the state for which they pay beforehand a full equivalent into the treasury. the benefits of the proposed plan. it makes absolutely certain the perpetual control of the tunnel for the benefit of the people of the whole state. it secures to the people by whose money it has been built, the ultimate value of the enterprise, whatever that value may prove to be. it secures to the people an independent western line, to be managed for the benefit of the people, free from any danger of combinations by which rates are fixed. it secures to all corporations desiring to use the tunnel, equal rights. it secures a line stronger than any other, amply able to provide equipment and facilities, and to compete with powerful corporations in neighboring states. it fixes the capital of the corporation without danger of inflation, and without risk of speculative control. it enables the people to try fairly the experiment of cheap transportation. it provides equally with the plan of the majority for the interchange of depots, by which the crossings at the north side of the city may be avoided. if only one-half of these advantages can be gained the experiment is worth trying. if it succeeds and our expectations are fully realized, it will confer upon the people the greatest boon since the introduction of railroads. senators will bear me witness that i have never solicited their vote on any personal consideration, and in the decision of this great question, i can only appeal to you as legislators to record your votes in accordance with your convictions of duty to the people of this commonwealth, and for the protection of her six hundred millions of industrial interests; unbiased by any local or personal interest, keeping in mind that there is no power but that of the state that is safe to trust in the great exigency that now exists. * * * * * transcriber's notes: all obvious typos were corrected. hyphenation was standardized. the placement of quotation marks were not standardized; but left as in the original printed version. [illustration: albert ballin] albert ballin by bernhard huldermann _translated from the german by w. j. eggers, m.a. (london)_ [illustration: decoration] cassell and company, limited london, new york, toronto and melbourne to the memory of albert ballin in true veneration and heartfelt gratitude "_he was a man; take him for all in all, i shall not look upon his like again._" shakespeare, _hamlet_ (_act i, scene _). preface my principal reason for publishing the information contained in this volume is to keep alive the memory of albert ballin. i particularly desire to show what was his share in bringing about the economic advance of germany during the golden age of the empire's modern history, and to relate how he--unsuccessfully, alas!--strove to prevent the proud structure which he had helped to raise, from falling to ruin in the time of his country's distress. i believe that much that concerns the latter aspect of his work will be new to most readers. in spite of all that has been said and written concerning the political activities which ballin displayed (and is alleged to have displayed) both before and during the war, their object--and, more important still, their intimate connexion with his economic activities--is scarcely known. eminently successful though ballin had been in creating an atmosphere of mutual understanding between the various nations in the economic sphere, his attempts to reconcile the contending ambitions of those same nations where politics were concerned ended in failure. and yet it is impossible to understand his failure in one respect without first understanding his success in the other; indeed, the connexion between the two sides of his work forms the key to the character of the man and to the historical significance of his achievements. it is possible that this volume may shed some new light on the causes of germany's collapse; this idea, at any rate, was before my mind when i decided upon publication. frederick the great somewhere remarked that, to the great loss of mankind, the experiences gained by one generation are always useless to the next, and that each generation is fated to make its own mistakes. if this is true, it is nevertheless to be hoped that germany, considering the magnitude of the disaster that has overtaken her, will not allow the spirit of resignation implied by this remark to determine her actions in the present case. in thus submitting to the public the information contained in this book, i am carrying out the behest of the deceased, who asked me to collect his papers, and to make whatever use i thought fit of them. moreover, the fact that i had the privilege of being his collaborator for more than ten years gives me perhaps a special right to undertake this task. my best thanks are due to director a. storm for supplying me with material illustrative of ballin's early career; to chief inspector emil f. kirchheim for assistance with the technical details, and to professor francke, who was on intimate terms of friendship with ballin during a number of years, for information concerning many matters relative to ballin's personal character. my constant endeavour has been to describe persons and events _sine ira et studio_, and to refrain from stating as a fact anything for which no documentary evidence is available. the author. _october, ._ contents chapter page . morris and co. . general representative of the carr line . head of the packetfahrt's passenger department . the pool . the morgan trust . the expansion of the hamburg-amerika linie . the technical reorganization of the hamburg-amerika linie . politics . the kaiser . the war . personal characteristics extract annotated by william ii index albert ballin chapter i morris and co. albert ballin was a native of hamburg. before the large modern harbour basins of the city were built, practically all the vessels which frequented the port of hamburg took up their berths along the northern shore of the elbe close to the western part of the town. a long road, flanked on one side by houses of ancient architecture, extended--and still extends--parallel to this predecessor of the modern harbour. during its length the road goes under different names, and the house in which ballin was born and brought up stood in that portion known as steinhöft. a seaport growing in importance from year to year is always a scene of busy life, and the early days which the boy ballin spent in his father's house and its interesting surroundings near the river's edge left an indelible impression on his plastic mind. those were the times when the private residence and the business premises of the merchant and of the shipping man were still under the same roof; when a short walk of a few minutes enabled the shipowner to reach his vessel, and when the relations between him and the captain were still dominated by that feeling of personal friendship and personal trust the disappearance of which no man has ever more regretted than albert ballin. throughout his life he never failed to look upon as ideal that era when every detail referring to the ship and to her management was still a matter of personal concern to her owner. he traced all his later successes back to the stimulating influence of those times; and if it is remembered how enormous was then the capacity for work, and how great the love of it for its own sake, it must be admitted that this estimate was no exaggeration. true, it is beyond doubt that the everyday surroundings in which his boyhood was spent, and the impressions gained from them, powerfully influenced his imagination both as boy and growing youth. it may, however, also be regarded as certain that the element of heredity was largely instrumental in moulding his character. ballin belonged to an old jewish family, members of which--as is proved by ancient tombstones and other evidence--lived at frankfort-on-main centuries ago. later on we find traces of them in paris, and still later in central and north germany, and in denmark. documents dating from the seventeenth century show that the ballins at that time were already among the well-to-do and respected families of hamburg and altona. some of the earliest members of the family that can be traced were distinguished for their learning and for the high reputation they enjoyed among their co-religionists; others, in later times, were remarkable for their artistic gifts which secured for them the favour of several kings of france. those branches of the family which had settled in germany and denmark were prominent again for their learning and also for their business-like qualities. the intelligence and the artistic imagination which characterized albert ballin may be said to be due to hereditary influences. his versatile mind, the infallible discernment he exercised in dealing with his fellow-men, his artistic tastes, and his high appreciation of what was beautiful--all these are qualities which may furnish the key to his successes as a man of business. his sense of beauty especially made him extremely fastidious in all that concerned his personal surroundings, and was reflected in the children of his imagination, the large and beautifully appointed passenger steamers. ballin always disliked publicity. when the literary bureau of his company requested him to supply some personal information concerning himself, he bluntly refused to do so. hence there are but few publications available dealing with his life and work which may claim to be called authentic. nevertheless--or perhaps for that very reason--quite a number of legends have sprung up regarding his early years. it is related, for instance, that he received a sound business training first in his father's business and later during his stay in england. the actual facts are anything but romantic. being the youngest of seven brothers and sisters, he was treated with especial tenderness and affection by his mother, so much so, in fact, that he grew up rather a delicate boy and was subject to all sorts of maladies and constitutional weaknesses. he was educated, as was usual at that time, at one of the private day-schools of his native city. in those days, when hamburg did not yet possess a university of her own, and when the facilities which she provided for the intellectual needs of her citizens were deplorably inadequate for the purpose, visitors from the other parts of germany could never understand why that section of the population which appreciated the value of a complete course of higher education--especially an education grounded on a classical foundation--was so extremely small. the average hamburg business man certainly did not belong to that small section; and the result was that a number of private schools sprang up which qualified their pupils for the examination entitling them to one year's--instead of three years'--military service, and provided them with a general education which--without any reflection on their principals--it can only be said would not bear comparison with that, for instance, which was looked upon as essential by the members of the higher grades of the prussian civil service. fortunately, the last few decades have brought about a great improvement in this respect, just as they have revolutionized the average citizen's appreciation of intellectual culture and refinement. albert ballin did not stand out prominently for his achievements at school, and he did not shine through his industry and application to his studies. in later life he successfully made up for the deficiencies of his school education by taking private lessons, especially in practical mathematics and english, in which language he was able to converse with remarkable fluency. his favourite pastime in his early years was music, and his performances on the 'cello, for instance, are said to have been quite excellent. none of his friends during his later years can furnish authoritative evidence on this point, as at that time he no longer had the leisure to devote himself to this hobby. apart from music, he was a great lover of literature, especially of books on _belles lettres_, history, and politics. thanks to his prodigious memory, he thus was able to accumulate vast stores of knowledge. during his extended travels on the business of his company he gained a first-hand knowledge of foreign countries, and thus learned to understand the essential characteristics of foreign peoples as well as their customs and manners, which a mere study of books would never have given him. so he became indeed a man of true culture and refinement. he excelled as a speaker and as a writer; although when he occasionally helped his adopted daughter with her german composition, his work did not always meet with the approval of the teacher, and was once even returned with the remark, "newspaper german." in , at the age of seventeen, ballin lost his father. the business, which was carried on under the firm of morris and co., was an emigration agency, and its work consisted in booking emigrants for the transatlantic steamship lines on a commission basis. office premises and dwelling accommodation were both--as already indicated--located in the same building, so that a sharp distinction between business matters and household affairs was often quite impossible, and the children acquired practical knowledge of everything connected with the business at an early age. this was especially so in the case of young albert, who loved to do his home lessons in the office rooms. history does not divulge whether he did so because he was interested in the affairs of the office, or whether he obtained there some valuable assistance. the whole primitiveness of those days is illustrated by the following episode which ballin once related to us in his own humorous way. the family possessed--a rare thing in our modern days--a treasure of a servant who, apart from doing all the hard work, was the good genius of the home, and who had grown old as the children grew up. "augusta" had not yet read the modern books and pamphlets on women's rights, and she was content to go out once a year, when she spent the day with her people at barmbeck, a suburb of hamburg. one day, when the young head of morris and co. was discussing some important business matters with some friends in his private office, the door was suddenly thrust open, and the "treasure" appeared on the scene and said: "adjüs ook albert, ick gah hüt ut!" ("good-bye, albert, i am going out to-day!") it was the occasion of her annual holiday. the firm of morris and co., of which ballin's father had been one of the original founders in , had never been particularly successful up to the time of his death. albert, the youngest son, who was born on august th, , joined the business when his father died. he had then just finished his studies at school. the one partner who had remained a member of the firm after ballin's death left in , and in albert ballin became a partner himself. the task of providing for his widowed mother and such of his brothers and sisters as were still dependent on his help then devolved on him, and he succeeded in doing this in a very short time. he applied himself to his work with the greatest diligence, and he became a shining example to the few assistants employed by the firm. on the days of the departure of the steamers the work of the office lasted until far into the night, as was usually the case in hamburg in former years. an incident which took place in those early days proves that the work carried on by morris and co. met with the approval of their employers. one day the head of one of the foreign lines for which the firm was doing business paid a personal visit to hamburg to see what his agents were doing. on entering the office young albert received him. he said he wanted to see mr. ballin, and when the youthful owner replied that he was mr. ballin the visitor answered: "it is not you i want to see, young man, but the head of the firm." the misunderstanding was soon cleared up, and when ballin anxiously asked if the visitor had come to complain about anything connected with the business, the reply was given that such was by no means the case, and that the conduct of the business was considered much more satisfactory than before. to arrive at a proper understanding of the conditions ruling in hamburg at the end of the 'seventies, it is necessary to remember that the shipping business was still in its infancy, and that it was far from occupying the prominent position which it gained in later years and which it has only lost again since the war. the present time, which also is characterized by the prevalence of foreign companies and foreign-owned tonnage in the shipping business of hamburg, bears a strong likeness to that period which lies now half a century back. the "hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft," although only running a few services to north and central america, was even then the most important shipping company domiciled in hamburg; but it counted for very little as an international factor, especially as it had just passed through a fierce struggle against its competitor, the adler line, which had greatly weakened it and had caused it to fall behind other lines with regard to the status of its ships. of the other hamburg lines which became important in later times, some did not then exist at all, and others were just passing through the most critical period of their infancy. the competitors of the packetfahrt in the emigrant traffic were the north german lloyd, of bremen; the holland-america line, of rotterdam, and the red star line, of antwerp. apart from the direct traffic from hamburg to new york, there was also the so-called indirect emigrant traffic _via_ england, which for the most part was in the hands of the british lines. the passengers booked by the agents of the latter were first conveyed from hamburg to a british port, and thence, by a different boat, to the united states. it was the time before the industrialization of germany had commenced, when there was not sufficient employment going round for the country's increasing population. the result was that large numbers of the inhabitants had to emigrate to foreign countries. that period lasted until the 'nineties, by which time the growth of industries required the services of all who could work. simultaneously, however, with the decrease of emigration from germany, that from southern europe, austria-hungary, and the slavonic countries was assuming huge proportions, although the beginnings of this latter were already quite noticeable in the 'seventies and 'eighties. this foreign emigrant traffic was the mainstay of the business carried on by the emigration agencies of the type of morris and co., whereas the german emigrants formed the backbone of the business on which the german steamship lines relied for their passenger traffic. either the companies themselves or their agencies were in possession of the necessary government licences entitling them to carry on the emigration business. the agencies of the foreign lines, on the other hand, either held no such licence at all, or only one which was restricted to certain german federal states or prussian provinces--such, for instance, as morris and co. possessed for the two mecklenburgs and for schleswig-holstein. this circumstance naturally compelled them to tap foreign districts rather than parts of germany; and since the german lines, in order to keep down their competition, refused to carry the passengers they had booked, they were obliged to work in conjunction with foreign ones. they generally provided the berths which the sub-agencies required for their clientèle, and sometimes they would book berths on their own account, afterwards placing them at the disposal of the agencies. they were the connecting link between the shipping companies and the emigrants, and the former had no dealings whatever with the latter until these were on board their steamers. the hamburg emigration agents had therefore also to provide accommodation for the intending emigrants during their stay in hamburg and to find the means for conveying them to the british port in question. a number of taverns and hostelries in the parts near the harbour catered specially for such emigrants, and the various agents found plenty of scope for a display of their respective business capacities. a talent for organization, for instance, and skill in dealing with the emigrants, could be the means of gaining great successes. this was the sphere in which the youthful albert ballin gave the first proofs of his abilities and intelligence. within a few years of his entering the firm the latter acquired a prominent position in the "indirect" emigration service _via_ england, a position which brought its chief into personal contact with the firm of richardson, spence and co., of liverpool, who were the general representatives for great britain of the american line (one of the lines to whose emigration traffic morris and co. attended in hamburg), and especially with the head of that firm, mr. wilding. an intimate personal friendship sprang up between these two men which lasted a lifetime. these close relations gave him an excellent opportunity for studying the business methods of the british shipping firms, and led to the establishment of valuable personal intercourse with some other leading shipping people in england. thus it may be said that ballin's connexions with england, strengthened as they were by several short visits to that country, were of great practical use to him and that, in a sense, they furnished him with such business training as until then he had lacked. how successfully the new chief of morris and co. operated the business may be gauged from the fact that, a few years after his advent, the firm had secured one-third of the volume of the "indirect" emigration traffic _via_ england. at that time, in the early 'eighties, a period of grave economic depression in the united states was succeeded by a trade boom of considerable magnitude. such a transition from bad business to good was always preceded by the sale of a large number of "pre-paids," i.e. steerage tickets which were bought and paid for by people in the united states and sent by them to those among their friends or relatives in europe who, without possessing the necessary money, wished to emigrate to the states. a few months after the booking of these "pre-paids" a strong current of emigration always set in, and the time just referred to proved to be no exception to the rule. the number of steerage passengers leaving hamburg for new york increased from , in to , in , and , in . it was quite impossible for the biggest hamburg shipping company--the packetfahrt--to carry successfully this huge number of emigrants. and even if this had been possible, the packetfahrt would not have undertaken it, because it intentionally ignored the stream of non-german emigrants. besides, the company had neglected for years to adapt its vessels to the needs of the times, and had allowed its competitors to gain so much that even the north german lloyd, a much younger undertaking, had far outstripped it. the latter, under its eminent chairman, mr. lohmann, had not only outclassed the packetfahrt by the establishment of its service of fast steamers--"bremen-new york in days"--which was worked with admirable regularity and punctuality, but had also increased the volume of its fleet to such an extent that, in , of the transatlantic steamers flying the german flag belonged to this company, whereas the packetfahrt possessed only. for all these reasons it would have been useless for morris and co. to suggest to the packetfahrt that they should secure for it a large increase in its emigrant traffic; and even if they had tried to extend their influence by working in co-operation with the packetfahrt, such an attempt would doubtless have provoked the liveliest opposition on the part of the firm of august bolten, the owner of which was one of the founders of the packetfahrt, and which, because they were acting as general agents for the north american cargo and passenger business, exercised a powerful influence over the management of the packetfahrt. the firm of august bolten, moreover, had, like the line they represented, always consistently refused to have any dealings with the emigrant agencies. ballin, knowing that the next few years would lead to a considerable increase in the emigrant traffic, therefore approached a newly established hamburg shipping firm--which intended to run a cargo service from hamburg to new york--with the proposal that it should also take up the steerage business. his british friends, when they were informed of this step, expressed the apprehension lest their own business with his firm should suffer from it, but ballin had no difficulty in allaying their fears. chapter ii general representative of the carr line the new shipping line for which morris and co. contracted to act as general passenger agents was the privately owned firm of mr. edward carr. the agreement concluded between the two firms shows distinct traces of ballin's enterprising spirit and of the largeness of his outlook. morris and co. undertook to book for the two steamships of the carr line then building, viz. the _australia_ and the _america_, as many passengers as they could carry, and guaranteed to pay the owners a passage price of marks per head, all the necessary expenses and commissions, including those connected with the dispatch of the passengers, to be paid by morris and co. the steerage rate charged by the packetfahrt at that time was marks. it was agreed that, if this rate should be increased, a corresponding increase should be made in the rates of the carr line. the number of trips to be performed by each steamer should be about eight or nine per annum. if a third boat were added to the service, the agreement entered into should be extended so as to cover this boat as well. for every passenger short of the total capacity of each steamer morris and co. were to pay a compensation of marks, if no arrangements had been made for the accommodation of the passenger, and marks in case such accommodation had been arranged. it was expected that each boat would carry from to passengers. the actual number carried, however, turned out to be slightly less, and amounted to when the first steamer left hamburg on june th, . morris and co. also undertook to hand over to the carr line all the through cargo they could secure. from the very start the work done by ballin seems to have met with the unqualified approval of the carr line people; because the latter waived their claim to the compensation due to them for the sixty passengers short of the total number which were to be carried on the first trip, as morris and co. could prove that these passengers had failed to arrive, although the firm had been advised from denmark that they were to come. on how small a scale the firm's business was conducted may be gauged from the circumstance that the whole staff consisted of nine employees only, who were paid salaries aggregating , marks. in one essential feature the service of the new line differed from those of its old-established competitors. the _australia_ and the _america_ were ordinary cargo boats, but, in addition to a moderate amount of cargo, they also carried steerage passengers. they thus had not much in common with the usual passenger steamers by which both cabin and steerage passengers were carried. the advantage of the new type to the emigrants was that it gave them much more space than was at their disposal on the older boats. whereas on the cabin steamers they were practically confined to a very small part of the boat, the carr line steamers made no restriction whatever as to their movements on board; all the available space, especially on deck, was thrown open to them. this type was not entirely a novelty, the sailing vessels of the older period used for the emigrant traffic being run on similar lines. the advantages accruing to the owners from their new type of steamers were obvious. the arrangements for the accommodation and provisioning of the emigrants, compared with what was needed in the case of cabin passengers, were of the simplest kind, and thus the cost price of the steamers was considerably less than that of vessels of the usual type. this also meant a saving in the wages bill, as it led to a reduction in the number of hands on board; and since the speed of the new boats was also less than that of the older ones, the working expenses were reduced in proportion. the financial results of the service, therefore, were better, in spite of the low rates charged to the steeragers, than those obtainable by running cabin steamers with steerage accommodation, and than those obtainable by running cargo steamers without any passenger accommodation. the new line soon made itself felt as a serious competitor to the packetfahrt, especially so as by its fleet had increased from two to five steamers. the lower steerage rates charged by the carr line led to a general decrease of rates in the new york service, which was not confined to the lines running their services from hamburg. the passage prices charged from the various ports are naturally closely related to each other, because each port tries to attract as much traffic as possible to itself, and this can only be brought about by a carefully thought-out differentiation. the struggle between the various lines involved which had started in hamburg quickly extended to other seaports and affected a great many lines in addition to those of hamburg. the rate-cutting process began in may, . in the following october the packetfahrt and the lloyd had reduced their rates to and in june, , to marks, whilst the british lines in february, , charged so little as s. the carr line, of course, had to follow suit. it not only did so, but in proportion reduced its own rates even more than the other lines. the rates were even lower in practice than they appeared to be, owing to the constantly growing commissions payable to the agents. the agents of the competing lines, by publishing controversial articles in the newspapers, soon took the general public into their confidence; and in order to prevent such publicity being given as to their internal affairs, the managements of the various steamship lines entered into some sort of mutual contact. the worst result of the rate-slashing was that the agreements which the older lines had concluded amongst themselves for the maintenance of remunerative prices soon became unworkable. first those relating to the westbound rates had to go down before the new competitor; and in , when this competition had really commenced to make itself appreciably felt, the packetfahrt found itself compelled to declare its withdrawal from the new york continental conference by which the eastbound rate had been fixed at $ for the passage from new york to the continent, a rate which was so high that the carr line found it easy to go below it. the packetfahrt made great efforts to hold its own against the newcomer, but, as the following figures show, its success was but slight. in the packetfahrt carried , passengers on voyages, against , passengers carried on voyages by the carr line, so that the traffic secured by the latter amounted to about per cent. of that of the former. the figures for show that , passengers were carried by the packetfahrt on voyages, against , steeragers on voyages by the carr line. if the figures relative to the direct and the indirect emigrant traffic from hamburg are studied, it will be seen that a considerable decrease had taken place in the volume of the latter kind within a very few years, thus leading to an improvement in the position of the german lines as compared with that of their british competitors. these figures are as follows: _number of emigrants carried_ _packetfahrt_ _carr line_ _via british ports_ , -- , , , , , , , , , , , , , at the same time the packetfahrt, in order to prevent french competition from becoming too dangerous on the havre-new york route, had to reduce its rates from havre, and a little later it had to do likewise with regard to the eastbound freight rates and the steerage rates. the keen competition going on between the lines concerned had led to a lowering of the eastbound rate to hamburg from $ to $ ; and as the commission payable to the agents had gone up to $ , the net rate amounted to $ only. at last the shareholders of the packetfahrt became restless, and at the annual general meeting held in one of their representatives moved that the board of the company should be asked to enter into an agreement with the competing firm of edward carr. the motion, however, was lost; and the further proposal that a pool should be established among the hamburg emigrant agents fared no better. it was clear that the rate-war, which continued for a long period, would considerably affect the prosperity of the carr line in common with the other shipping companies. this circumstance prompted the proposal of edward carr, when the discussions were renewed in the spring of , to carry them on upon a different basis altogether. he proposed, in fact, that the carr line itself should be purchased by the packetfahrt. in the course of the ensuing negotiations albert ballin, as the representative of edward carr, who was absent from hamburg for a time, played a prominent part. the packetfahrt, in the meantime, had received advices from its new york office to the effect that the latter had reconsidered its attitude towards the claims of the carr line, that it looked upon a successful termination of the struggle against this line as hopeless, and that it therefore recommended the granting of the differential rates which formed the obstacle to peace. nevertheless, it was not until july, , that, at a conference held in hamburg, an agreement was concluded by the packetfahrt, the lloyd, the carr line, the dutch, belgian, and french lines, and the representative of the british lines. all these companies bound themselves to raise their rates to marks, except that the carr line should be entitled to fix theirs at marks. thus the latter had at length received the recognition of its claim to a differentiation, and of its right to exist side by side with the older company, although its steamers were not of an equal quality with those of the latter. an agreement was also concluded by which the rates of commission due to the hamburg emigrant agents were fixed, and at the continued negotiations with the other lines albert ballin, from that time onward, in his capacity of representative of the carr line, was looked upon as on an equal footing with the representatives of the other lines. the principal subject of the discussions was the question of eliminating, as far as possible, british influence from the emigrant traffic _via_ hamburg. the competition of the british was, naturally, very detrimental to the business of all the continental, but more especially the german lines, because the interests of the respective sides were utterly at variance with each other. the firm foundations of the business transacted by the british lines were laid in england, and the continental business was merely a source of additional profit; but to the german lines it was the mainstay of their existence, and to make it pay was of vital importance to them. the german lines, therefore, did not rest until, as the result of the continued negotiations among the continental companies, it was agreed that the uniform rates just fixed should not apply to the traffic which was carried on by the two hamburg lines from that city. towards the end of the first object aimed at by this step was realized: the conclusion of an agreement between the two hamburg lines and the representatives of the british lines settling the rates and the commissions; but apart from this, no changes of fundamental importance were made in this business until after albert ballin, under an agreement proposed by the packetfahrt, had entered the service of the packetfahrt, as head of their passenger department. an important exception, however, was the amalgamation suddenly announced in march, , of the carr line and the union line, which latter company was operated by rob. m. sloman and co., of hamburg. the fact of this amalgamation considerably weakened the position of the packetfahrt in its dealings with the carr line, because it gave additional strength to the latter. the details of the five years' agreement between ballin and the packetfahrt were approved by the board of trustees of that company about the middle of may, . it was stipulated that, in conformity with the pool agreement concluded between the two lines on may nd, the packetfahrt should appoint mr. albert ballin sole and responsible head of its north american passenger department (westbound as well as eastbound services); that his work should include the booking of steeragers for the union company's steamers (which, in accordance with the pool agreement, the packetfahrt had taken over), that he should appoint and dismiss the clerks employed by his department; that he should fix their salaries and commissions; that he should sign passage agreements on behalf of the company, and that he should issue the necessary instructions to the agents and officers of the company. all letters and other documents were to be signed "by proxy of the hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft," and he was required annually to submit to the directors a draft estimate of the expenses of his department. on how modest a scale the whole arrangement was drawn up may be inferred from the figures given in the first year's draft estimate, viz. salaries, , marks; advertisements, , marks; posters and printed matter, , marks; travelling expenses, , marks; postage and telegrams, , marks; extras and sundries, , marks. equally modest was the remuneration of the new head who was to receive a fixed salary of , marks per annum, plus a commission under the pool agreement, allowing the inference that the total annual income of the newly appointed head of the department would work out at something like , marks, which goes to show that the company had a high opinion of his capacity for attracting traffic to its services. the conclusion of this agreement meant that the packetfahrt henceforth took entire control of its passenger business--which, until then, had been looked after by the firm of aug. bolten--and that a passenger department had to be specially created. thus an important step forward was made which could only be undertaken by the firm because such a well-qualified man as ballin happened to be at their service just then. if the course of the negotiations between the packetfahrt and the carr line had not already shown it, this agreement would prove without a shadow of doubt that the then head of morris and co. had, at the age of twenty-nine, and after twelve years of practical work, gained the premier position in the emigrant business of his native city and also a leading one in the general european emigrant business which in itself is one of the most important branches of the shipping trade. the correspondence between edward carr and ballin furnishes no indication that the latter himself had insisted upon his being taken over by the packetfahrt or that he had worked with this object. chapter iii head of the packetfahrt's passenger department on may st, , albert ballin first took part in a joint meeting of the board of trustees and the board of directors of the packetfahrt. on this occasion two proposals were put forward by him: one, to provide new premises for the work connected with the booking of passengers at an annual rent of , marks; the other, to start a direct service from stettin to new york _via_ gothenburg. this latter proposal was prompted by the desire to reduce the influence of the british lines competing for the hamburg business. such a reduction could only be brought about if it were proved to the british lines that their position was by no means unassailable. the scandinavian emigrant business to the united states which for long had been a source of great profit to the british, lent itself admirably to such purposes. ballin's proposal was agreed to by the company's management, with the result that in july, , a pool agreement was concluded between the packetfahrt (on behalf of a stettin line of steamers) and the danish thingvalla line. steamers now began to call at gothenburg and christiansand on their voyages from stettin to the united states. the new line was known as the "scandia line"; and in later years, when a similar object was aimed at, it was called into existence once more. the aim was not to establish a new steamer service for its own sake, but rather to create an object for compensation which, in the negotiations with the british lines, could be given up again in exchange for concessions on the part of the latter regarding the hamburg business. if this plan failed, ballin had another one mapped out: he threatened to attack the british in their own country by carrying steerage passengers either from liverpool _via_ havre, or from plymouth _via_ hamburg. people in england laughed at this idea. "surely," they said, "no british emigrant will travel on a german vessel." the british lines replied to ballin's threat by declaring that they would again reduce to s. their rates from hamburg to new york _via_ a british port. however, the negotiations which ballin entered into with them in england during the month of september, , soon cleared the air, and led to the conclusion of an agreement towards the end of the year. the packetfahrt promised to withdraw its scandia line, and the british lines, in return, agreed to raise their steerage rates from hamburg to marks gross, and those from liverpool, glasgow, and london to £ s. net. a clearing house which should be under the management of a representative of the british lines, and which was also to include the business done by the bremen agents of the latter, was to be set up in hamburg. this clearing house was kept on until other and more far-reaching agreements with the british lines made its continued existence superfluous. the arrangements which ballin made with the agents represented in the clearing house show his skill in his dealings with other people. the whole agreement, especially the fixing of the terms governing the share to be assigned to the agents--which amounted to per cent, of the hamburg business--was principally aimed at the realization of as high a rate as possible. this policy proved to be a great success. another step forward was that the packetfahrt now consented to accept passengers booked by the agents, thus reversing their previous policy of ignoring them altogether. the agreement with the british lines also provided that the union line should raise its rates to marks, the packetfahrt to marks, and the lloyd those charged for its services to baltimore and new york to and marks respectively. henceforward both competing groups were equally interested in obtaining as high a rate as possible. the practical working of the agreement did not fail to give satisfaction, and the continental lines could, undisturbed by external interference, put their own house in order. a few years later, in , the british lines complained that they did not succeed in getting the percentage of business to which they were entitled. negotiations were carried on at liverpool, during which ballin was present. he pointed out that, considering the whole continental position, the british lines would be ill-advised to withdraw from the agreement, and he stated that he would be prepared to guarantee them their share ( per cent.) of the hamburg business. the outcome was that the british lines declared themselves satisfied with these new stipulations. a few years later, when the british lines joined the continental pool, the hamburg agreement ceased to be necessary, and in the clearing house was abolished. the new emigration law of --due to the exertions of the north german lloyd and the packetfahrt--strengthened the position of the lines running direct services from german ports. another step forward was the increase of the passage rates which was agreed upon after negotiations had taken place at antwerp and in england, and after the german, dutch, and belgian lines had had a conference at cologne. contact was also established with the chief french line concerned. the improvement, however, was merely temporary. the termination of the struggle for the hamburg business did not mean that all the differences between all the transatlantic lines had been settled. on the contrary, all the parties concerned gradually realized that it would be necessary to institute quite different arrangements; something to ensure a fairer distribution of the traffic and a greater consolidation of their common interests. a proposal to gain these advantages by the establishment of a pool was submitted by the representative of the red star line at a conference held in the autumn of , and a memorandum written by ballin, likewise dating from , took up the same idea; but an agreement was not concluded until the close of . that, in spite of ballin's advocacy, five years had to elapse before this agreement became perfect is perhaps to some extent due to the fact that ballin--who at that time, after all, was only the head of the passenger department of his company--could not always speak with its full authority where his own personal views were concerned. moreover, the influence of his company was by no means very considerable in those early days. the only passenger boat of any importance which the company possessed in the early 'eighties, before ballin had entered its services, was the _hammonia_, and she was anything but a success. she was inferior both as regards her efficiency and her equipment. at last, however, ballin's desire to raise the prestige of the company triumphed, and the building of several fast boats was definitely decided upon. in addition to a comparatively large number of passengers--especially those of the first cabin--they were to carry a moderate amount of cargo. in size they were subject to the restrictions imposed upon them by the shortcomings of the technical knowledge of that time, and by the absence of the necessary improvements in the fairway of the lower elbe. speed, after all, was the main consideration; and it was the struggle for the blue riband of the atlantic which kept the attention of the travelling public riveted on these boats. a statement giving details of the financial results obtained by the first four of the new fast steamers which were entered into the service of the company between and showed that the earnings up to and including the year did not even cover the working expenses, and that those up to were not sufficient to allow for an interest of per cent, on the average book values of the steamers. it must be remembered, however, that the first of these two periods included the disastrous season of - , when hamburg was visited by an epidemic of cholera. and a different light is shed on the matter also if we further remember that depreciation had been allowed for on a generous scale, no less than per cent, of the cost price plus the expenditure incurred through an enlargement of the _auguste victoria_, the oldest of the boats, having been deducted on that account. the packetfahrt, like all the other german shipping companies, has always been very liberal in making ample provision for depreciation. when, therefore, these steamers were sold again at the time of the spanish-american and russo-japanese wars, a considerable profit was realized on the transactions which enabled the company to replace them by a very high-grade type of vessel (the _deutschland_, _amerika_, and _kaiserin auguste victoria_). it must be admitted in this connexion that perhaps no shipowner has ever been more favoured by fortune than ballin where the sale of such difficult objects as obsolete express steamers was concerned. the value which these boats had in relation to the prestige of the company was very considerable; for, as ballin expressed it to me one day: "the possession of the old express steamers of the packetfahrt certainly proved to be something like a white elephant; but just consider how greatly they have enhanced the prestige of the company." they attracted thousands of passengers to the line, and acted as feeders to its other services. the orders for the first two of these steamers were given towards the close of to the vulkan yard, at stettin, and to the firm of laird respectively, at a price of £ , each, and the boats were to be completed early in . they were the first twin-screw steamers, and were provided with the system of "forced draught" for the engines. this system had just been introduced in british yards, and ballin's attention had been drawn to it by his friend wilding, who was always ready to give him valuable advice on technical matters. in order to find the means for the construction of these and of some other boats, the general meeting of the shareholders, held on october th, , voted a capital increase of , , marks and the issue of , , marks of debentures. knowing that an improvement of the services was the great need of the time, ballin, since the time of joining the company, had done all he could to make the latter a paying concern again, and in this he succeeded. for the year a dividend of per cent. was paid, and thus it became possible to sanction an increase of the joint-stock capital. further foundations for later successes were laid by the reform of the organization and of the technical services of the company. his work in connexion with the carr line had taught the youthful head of the passenger department that careful attention to the material comfort of the steerage passengers could be of great benefit to the company. he continued along lines such as these, and at his suggestion the steerage accommodation on two of the packetfahrt's steamers was equipped with electric light, and provided with some single berths as well. this latter provision was extended still further during the succeeding year. in addition to the fast steamers, some ordinary ones were also ordered to be built. in two steamers were ordered for the company's west indies service, and shortly afterwards eight units of the union line were bought at a price of , , marks. all these new orders and purchases of steamers led to the joint-stock capital being raised from to million marks. two more boats were laid down in the stettin vulkan yard, and a third with the firm of laird. the express steamer then building at the vulkan yard was named _auguste victoria_ in honour of the young empress. during the summer months of ballin, together with mr. johannes witt, one of the members of the board of trustees, went to new york in order to discuss with the agents a reorganization of the new york representation, which was looked after by edward beck and kunhardt. in consequence of the negotiations which ballin carried on to that end, the agents undertook to submit their business for the company to the control of an officer specially appointed by the packetfahrt. this small beginning led, in later years, to the establishment in new york of the company's direct representation under its own management. when ballin joined the packetfahrt, he did not strictly confine his attention to matters connected with the passenger services. when, for instance, the head of the freight department was prevented from attending a meeting called by the board of trustees, ballin put forward a proposal for raising the rates on certain cargo. it was therefore only but fit acknowledgment of his many-sided talents, and recognition that his energetic character had been the guiding spirit in the company's affairs, that the board of trustees appointed ballin in a member of the board of directors after two years with the packetfahrt. this appointment really filled a long-felt gap. chapter four the pool the term "pool" may be defined in a variety of ways, but, generally speaking, the root idea underlying its meaning is always the same, both in its application to business and to betting. a pool, in brief, is a combination of a number of business concerns for their own mutual interests, all partners having previously agreed upon certain principles as to the distribution of the common profits. in other words, it is a community of interests concluded upon the basis of dividing the profits realized in a certain ratio. i have been unable to discover when and where this kind of combination was first used in actual practice. before the transatlantic steamship companies did so, the big trunk lines of the united states railway system are said to have used it in connexion with the westbound emigrant traffic, and possibly for other purposes also. when ballin wrote his memorandum of february th, , the steamship lines must already have been familiar with the meaning of the term, for the memorandum refers to it as something well known. ballin begins by stating that the "conference of the northern european lines" might be looked upon as having ceased to exist, seeing that two parties were represented on it whose claims were diametrically opposed to each other. whereas the north german lloyd insisted on the right to lower its rates, the red star line claimed that these rates should be raised, so that it might obtain a better differential rate for itself. a reconciliation of these mutually contradictory views, the memorandum went on to say, appeared to be impossible, unless all parties agreed upon an understanding which would radically alter the relations then existing between their respective interests; and a way leading out of the _impasse_ would be found by adopting the pooling system proposed by the representative of the red star line. if we take the number of steeragers carried to new york from to by the six lines concerned as a basis, the respective percentages of the total traffic are as follows: _percentage_ north german lloyd · north german lloyd (baltimore line) · packetfahrt · union line · red star line · holland american line · it was, however, justly pointed out at a meeting of the conference that the amount of tonnage must also be taken into account in laying down the principles which were to govern the distribution of the profits. the average figures of such tonnage employed by the six lines during the same period were: _tons_ _percentage_ north german lloyd , · north german lloyd (baltimore line) , · packetfahrt , · union line , · red star line , · holland american line , · ------- ----- total tonnage , the average of both sets of percentage figures worked out as follows: _percentage_ north german lloyd · north german lloyd (baltimore line) · packetfahrt · - / union line · red star line · - / holland american line · "it would be necessary," the memorandum continued, "to calculate each company's share annually on the basis of the average figures obtained for the five years immediately preceding, so that, for instance, the calculation for would be based on the figures for the five years from to ; that for on those for the period from to , and so on. uniform passage rates and uniform rates of commission would have to be agreed upon. to those lines which, like the north german lloyd, maintained a service which was run by fast steamers exclusively, would have to be conceded the right to charge in their separate accounts passage money up to marks in excess of the normal rates, seeing that their expenses were heavier than those of the other lines. those companies, however, claiming differential rates below the general ones agreed upon would have to make up the difference themselves, which was not to exceed the amount of marks--i.e. they would have to contribute to the common pool a sum equal to the general rate without deduction." the two cardinal principles lying at the root of this proposal were ( ) the assigning to each line of a definite percentage of the total traffic on the basis of the average figures ascertained for a definite period of time, and ( ) the possibility of further grading these percentages by taking into account the amount of tonnage which each line placed at the disposal of the joint undertaking. this latter provision--which was known during the early stages of the movement as the tonnage clause--was intended to prevent any single line from stagnation, and to give scope to the spirit of enterprise. the tonnage clause was not maintained for the whole time during which the pool agreement was in force. it was afterwards abolished at the instance of the north german lloyd. this event led, in the long run, to the last big crisis which the pool had to pass through by the notice of withdrawal given by the hamburg-amerika linie. when this company proposed to considerably enlarge its steerage accommodation through the addition to its service of the three big boats of the _imperator_ class, it demanded a corresponding increase of its percentage figure, and, when this claim fell through owing to the opposition of the north german lloyd, it gave formal notice of its withdrawal from the pool. precautions taken to counteract this led to negotiations which had to be discontinued when the war broke out. nevertheless, the pool, which was first proposed in , and which came into existence in , did a great deal of good. more than once, however, the agreement ceased to be effective for a time, and this was especially the case on the occasion of the struggle with the cunard line which followed upon the establishment of the morgan trust in . the secretary of the pool was heinrich peters, the former head of the passenger department of the lloyd. the choice of mr. peters is probably not unconnected with the fact that it was he who, at a moment when the negotiations for establishing a pool had reached a critical stage, appeared on the scene with a clearly-defined proposal, so that he, with justice, has been described as "the father of the pool." shortly before his death in the summer of mr. peters wrote to me concerning his proposal and the circumstances of its adoption:-- "the history of the events leading up to the creation of the 'north atlantic steamship lines association,'" he wrote in his letter, "was not without complications. so much so that after the conference at cologne, at which it had been found impossible to come to an understanding, i went to bed feeling very worried about the future. shortly afterwards--i don't know whether i was half awake or dreaming--the outline of the plan which was afterwards adopted stood out clearly before my mind's eye, its main features being that each line should be granted a fixed percentage of the traffic on the basis of 'moore's statistics' (reports issued periodically and showing the number of passengers landed in new york at regular intervals), and that the principle of compensation should be applied to adjust differences. when i was fully awake i found this plan so obviously right that, in order not to let it slip my memory, i jotted down a note concerning it on my bedside table. next morning, when ballin, reuchlin (of the holland american line), strasser (of the red star line), and myself met again in the smoking-room of the hotel du nord, i told them of my inspiration, and my plan was looked upon by them with so much favour that ballin said to me: 'well now, peters, you have discovered the philosopher's stone.' we then left, previously agreeing amongst ourselves that we would think the matter over at our leisure, and that we should refrain from taking any steps leading to a conflict, at least for the time being. on my return to bremen i went straight to lohmann (who was director general of the lloyd at that time), but he immediately threw a wet blanket over my enthusiasm. his objection was that such an agreement would interfere with the progressive development of the lloyd. a few days later a meeting of the board of trustees was held at which i entered into the details of my proposal; but i am sorry to say that my oratorical gifts were not sufficient to defend it against the objections that were raised, nor to prevent its rejection. i can hardly imagine what the representatives of the other lines must have felt on hearing that it was the lloyd itself which refused to accept the proposal which had been put forward by its own delegate, although the share allotted to it was very generous. thus the struggle went on for another eighteen months, and it was not until january, , that the principal lines concerned definitely concluded a pool agreement closely resembling the draft agreement i had originally proposed. "the north atlantic steamship lines association was originally intended to remain in existence for the period of five years; but as it was recognized by all parties that it was necessarily a step in the dark, people had become so doubtful as to the wisdom of what they had done that a clause was added to the effect that it could be cancelled after the first six months provided a fortnight's notice was given by any partner to it. nevertheless, the agreement successfully weathered a severe crisis during the very first year of its existence, when the disastrous cholera epidemic paralysed the hamburg trade and shipping." that this account is correct is confirmed by the minutes of the cologne meeting of february th, . the british lines definitely declined in march, , to join the pool. thus the plan finally agreed upon in was subscribed to by the continental lines alone, with the exception of the french line. in contrast with previous proposals, the eastbound traffic was also to be parcelled out by the lines forming the pool. this so-called north atlantic steamship lines association, the backbone of the later and greater pool, was built up on the following percentages: _westbound_ _eastbound_ _traffic_ (_p.c._) _traffic_ (_p.c._) north german lloyd · · packetfahrt (including the union line) · · red star line · · holland american line · · these percentages were subject to the effect of the tonnage clause by which it was provided that per cent. of the tonnage (expressed in gross registered tons) which any line should possess at any time in excess of that possessed in should entitle such line to an increase of its percentage. it has already been stated that mr. heinrich peters was appointed secretary of the pool. he, in compliance with the provision that the secretariat should be domiciled at a "neutral" place, chose the small university town of jena for his residence. thus this town, so famous in the literary annals of germany, became, for more than twenty years, the centre of an international organization with which few, if any, other places could vie in importance, especially since the four lines which had just concluded the original pool were joined, in course of time, by the british lines, the french line, the austrian line, and some scandinavian and russian lines as well. later on a special pool was set up for the mediterranean business which, in addition to the german, british, and austro-hungarian lines, also comprised the french mediterranean, the italian, and the greek lines, as well as one spanish line. the business of all these lines was centred at jena. of considerable importance to the smooth working of the pool was the court of arbitration attached to its organization. on account of the prominent position occupied by the german companies, german law was agreed to as binding for the decisions, and since at the time when the pool was founded, germany did not possess a uniform code of civil law for all parts of the empire, the law ruling at cologne was recognized to be applicable to such purposes. cologne was the city at which the establishment of the pool was decided upon, and there all the important meetings that became necessary in course of time were held. the chairman of the cologne association of solicitors was nominated president of the arbitration court, but later on this office devolved on president hansen, a member of the supreme court for the hanseatic cities, who filled his post for a long term of years--surely a proof of the confidence and esteem with which he was honoured by all parties concerned. numerous awards issued by him, and still more numerous resolutions adopted at the many conferences, have supplemented the original pool agreement, thus forming the nucleus of a real code of legislation affecting all matters dealing with the pool in which a large number of capable men drawn from the legal profession and from the world of business have collaborated. the knowledge of these regulations gradually developed into a science of its own, and each line had to possess one or more specialists who were experts in these questions among the members of its staff. i am sure they will unanimously agree that albert ballin surpassed them all in his knowledge of the intricate details. his wonderful memory enabled him, after a lapse of more than twenty years, to recall every phase in the history of the pool, so that he acquired an unrivalled mastery in the conduct of pool conferences. this is abundantly borne out by the fact that in , when negotiations were started in london for the establishment of a general pool--i.e. one comprising the whole of northern europe, including great britain--ballin, at the proposal of the british lines, was selected chairman of the conference which, after several critical phases had been passed through, led to a complete success and an all-round understanding. in the normal development of business was greatly handicapped by the terrible epidemic of cholera then raging in hamburg. for a time the united states completely closed her doors to all emigrants from the continent, and it was not until the following year that conditions became normal again. nevertheless ballin, in order to extend the various understandings between the northern european lines, took an important step, even before the close of , by falling back upon a measure which he had already once employed in . his object was to make the british lines more favourably inclined towards an understanding, and to this end he attacked them once more in the scandinavian business. the actual occasion which led to the conflict was that the british lines, owing to differences of opinion among themselves, had given notice of withdrawal from the hamburg agreement and from the hamburg clearing house. this gave the packetfahrt a free hand against its british competitors, and enabled it to carry as many as , scandinavian passengers via hamburg in . the position of the packetfahrt during the ensuing rate war was considerably improved by the agreement which it had concluded with the hamburg agents of the british lines, who, although their principals had declared their withdrawal from the pool, undertook to maintain the rate which had been jointly agreed upon by both parties. some time had to elapse before this move had its desired effect on the british lines. early in they declared themselves ready to come to an understanding with the continental lines on condition that they were granted per cent. of the continental traffic (in they had been offered per cent.), and that the packetfahrt was to discontinue its scandia line. this general readiness of the british companies, however, did not preclude the hostility of some of their number against any such agreement, and so the proposal fell through. the proposed understanding came to grief owing to the refusal of the cunard line to join a continental pool at the very moment when the negotiations with the british lines had, after a great deal of trouble, led to a preliminary understanding with them. a letter which ballin received from an english friend in january, , shows how difficult it was to make the british come round to the idea of a pool. in this letter it was said that the time was not ripe then for successfully persuading the british lines to join any pool or any other form of understanding which would necessitate agreement on a large number of details. all that could be expected to be done at the time, the writer continued, was a rate agreement of the simplest possible kind, and he thought that if such an understanding were agreed to and loyally carried out, that would be an important step forward towards arriving at a general agreement of much wider scope. to such vague agreements, however, the continental lines objected on principle, and the opposition of the cunard line made it impossible to agree upon anything more definite. thus the struggle was chiefly waged against this line. the continental lines were assisted by the american line, which had sailings from british ports, and with the management of which ballin had been on very friendly terms ever since the time when he, as the owner of the firm of morris and co., had worked for it. after the conflict had been going on for several months, it terminated with a victory of the continental lines. thus the road was at last clear for an attempt to make the whole north atlantic business pay. the first step in that direction was the conclusion, in , of an agreement concerning the cabin business. the packetfahrt's annual report for that year states that the results obtained through the carrying of cabin passengers could only be described as exceedingly unfavourable, considering that the huge working expenses connected with that kind of business had to be taken into account. nevertheless, this traffic, which had reached a total of more than , passengers during the preceding year, could be made a source of great profit to the companies if they could be persuaded to act in unison. the agreement then concluded was at first restricted to the fixing of the rates on a uniform scale. both these agreements--the one dealing with the steerage and the one dealing with the cabin business--were concluded, in , for three years in the first instance. in may, , discussions were opened in london, at which ballin presided, with a view to extending the period of their duration, and these proceedings, after a time, led to a successful conclusion, but in june, ballin again presiding, the desired understanding was reached. a few weeks later an agreement concerning the second cabin rates was also arrived at, and towards the close of the year negotiations were started with a view to the extension of the steerage agreement. in the pool was extended to run for a further period of five years, under percentages: _westbound_ _eastbound_ _traffic_ (_p.c._) _traffic_ (_p.c._) north german lloyd · · packetfahrt · · red star line · · holland american line · · to the packetfahrt these new percentages meant a step forward, although the omission of the tonnage clause was a decided hindrance to its further progress. the next important event in the development of the relations between the transatlantic lines was the establishment of the so-called morgan trust and the conclusion of a "community of interest" agreement between it and the german lines. chapter v the morgan trust speaking generally, the transatlantic shipping business may be said to consist of three great branches, viz. the cargo, the steerage, and the cabin business. the pool agreements that were concluded between the interested companies covered only the cargo business and the steerage traffic. the condition which alone makes it possible for the owners to work the shipping business on remunerative lines is that all needless waste of material must be strictly banned. the great advantage which was secured by concluding the pool agreement was that it satisfied this condition during the more than twenty years of its existence, to the mutual profit of the associated lines. each company knew that the addition of new steamers to its fleet would only pay if part of a carefully considered plan, and if, in course of time, such an increase of tonnage would give it a claim to an increase of the percentage of traffic allotted to its services. much less satisfactory was the state of things with regard to the third branch of the shipping business, viz. the cabin traffic. a regular "cabin pool," with a _pro rata_ distribution of the traffic, was never established, although the idea had frequently been discussed. all that was achieved was an agreement as to the fares charged by each company which were to be graded according to the quality of the boats it employed in its services. owing to the absence of any more far-reaching understandings, and to the competition between the various companies--each of which was constantly trying to outdo its competitors as regards the speed and comfort of its boats, in order to attract to its own services as many passengers as possible--the number of first-class boats increased out of all proportion to the actual requirements, and frequent and regular services were maintained by each line throughout the year. there was hardly a day on which first-class steamers did not enter upon voyages across the atlantic from either side, and the result was that the boats were fully booked during the season only, i.e. in the spring and early part of summer on their east-bound, and in the latter part of summer and in the autumn on their westbound, voyages. during the remaining months a number of berths were empty, and the fares obtainable were correspondingly unprofitable. ballin, in , estimated the unnecessary expenditure to which the companies were put in any single year owing to this unbusinesslike state of affairs at not less then million marks. the desire to do away with conditions such as these by extending the pool agreement so as to develop it into a community-of-interest agreement of comprehensive scope was one of the two principal reasons leading to the formation of the morgan trust. the other reason was the wish to bring about a system of co-operation between the european and the american interests. this desire was prompted by the recognition of the cardinal importance to the transatlantic shipping companies of the economic conditions ruling in the united states. the cargo business depended very largely on the importation of european goods into the united states, and on the exportation of american agricultural produce to europe which varied from season to season according to the size of the crop and to the consuming capacity of europe. the steerage business, of course, relied in the main on the capacity of the united states for absorbing european immigrants, which capacity, though fluctuating, was practically unlimited. the degree of prosperity of the cabin business, however, was determined by the number of people who travelled from the states to europe, either on business, or on pleasure, or to recuperate their health at some european watering-place, at the riviera, etc. social customs and the attractions which the paris houses of fashion exercised on the american ladies also formed a considerable factor which had to be relied on for a prosperous season. in the transatlantic shipping business, in fact, america is pre-eminently the giving, and europe the receiving, partner. thus it was natural to realize the advisability of entering into direct relations with american business men. to the packetfahrt, and especially to ballin, credit is due for having attempted before anybody else to give practical shape to this idea. his efforts in this direction date far back to the early years of his business career. we possess evidence of this in the form of a letter which he wrote in to mr. b. n. baker, who was at the head of one of the few big american shipping companies, the atlantic transport company, the headquarters of which were at baltimore, and which ran its services chiefly to great britain. mr. baker was a personal friend of ballin's. the letter was written after some direct discussions had taken place between the two men, and its contents were as follows:-- "i replied a few days ago officially to your valued favour of the th ult. to the effect that in consonance with your expressed suggestion one of the directors will proceed to new york in september with a view to conferring with you about the matter at issue. "having in the meantime made it a point to go more fully into your communication, i find that the opinions which i have been able to form on your propositions meet your expressed views to a much larger extent than you will probably have supposed. i have not yet had an opportunity of talking the matter over with my colleagues, and i therefore do not know how far they will be prepared to fall in with my views. but in order to enable me to frame and bring forward my ideas more forcibly here, i think it useful to write to you this strictly confidential letter, requesting you to inform me--if feasible by cable--what you think of the following project: "( ) you take charge of our new york agency for the freight, and also for the passage business, etc. "( ) you engage those of our officials now attached to our new york branch whom we may desire to retain in the business. "( ) you take over half of our baltimore line in the manner that each party provides two suitable steamers fitted for the transport of emigrants. to this end i propose you should purchase at their cost price the two steamers which are in course of construction in hamburg at present for our baltimore line ( feet length, feet beam, feet moulded, steerage feet, carrying , tons on feet and about steeragers, guaranteed to steam knots, ready in october this year), and we to provide two similar steamers for this service. the earnings to be divided under a pool system. "( ) your concern takes up one million dollars of our shares with the obligation not to sell them so long as you control our american business. i may remark that just at present our shares are obtainable cheaply in consequence of the general depression prevailing in the european money market, and further, owing to the fact that only a small dividend is expected on account of the very poor return freight ruling from north america. i think you would be able to take the shares out of the market at an average of about per cent. above par. we have paid in the last years since we concluded the pool with the union line, viz. in per cent., per cent., - / per cent., per cent., per cent. in the way of dividends, and during this time we wrote off for depreciation and added to the reserve funds about per cent. "the position of our company is an excellent one, our fleet consisting of modern ships (average age only about five years), and the book values of them being very low. "i should be obliged to you for thinking the matter over and informing me--if possible by cable--if you would be prepared to enter into negotiations on this basis. i myself start from the assumption that it might be good policy for our company to obtain in the states a centre of interest and a position similar to that held by the red star line and the inman lines in view of their connexion with the pennsylvania railroad, etc. it further strikes me that if this project is brought into effect one of your concern should become a member of our board. i should thank you to return me this letter which, as i think it right expressly to point out to you, contains only what are purely my individual ideas." it may be assumed that the writing of this letter was prompted not only by the packetfahrt's desire to strengthen its position in the united states, but also by its wish to obtain a foothold in great britain. this would enable it to exercise greater pressure on the competing british lines, which--indirectly, at least--still did a considerable portion of the continental business. ballin's suggestion did not lead to any practical result at the time, but was taken up again eight years later, in , on the advice of mr. (now lord) pirrie, of messrs. harland and wolff, of belfast. important interests, partly of a financial character, linked his firm to british transatlantic shipping; and his special reason for taking up ballin's proposal was to prevent an alliance between mr. baker's atlantic transport company and the british leyland line, a scheme which was pushed forward from another quarter. he induced mr. baker to come to europe so that the matter might be discussed directly. the attractiveness of the idea to ballin was still further enhanced by the circumstance that the atlantic transport line also controlled the national line which maintained a service between new york and london, and was, indeed, the decisive factor on the new york-london route. ballin, accordingly, after obtaining permission from the board of trustees, went to london, where he met mr. baker and mr. pirrie. it soon became clear, however, that the board of trustees did not wish to sanction such far-reaching changes. when ballin cabled the details of the scheme to hamburg, it was seen that million marks--half the amount in shares of the packetfahrt--would be needed to carry it through. thus the discussions had to be broken off; but the attitude which the board had taken up was very much resented by ballin. subsequent negotiations which were entered into in the early part of in hamburg at the suggestion of mr. baker also failed to secure agreement, and shortly afterwards the american company was bought up by the leyland line. at the same time a movement was being set on foot in the united states which aimed at a strengthening of the american mercantile marine by means of government subsidies. this circumstance suggested to mr. baker the possibility of setting up an american shipping concern consisting of the combined leyland and atlantic transport company lines together with the british white star line, which was to profit by the expected legislation concerning shipping subsidies. neither the latter idea, however, nor mr. baker's project assumed practical shape; but the atlantic transport-leyland concern was enlarged by the addition of a number of other british lines, viz. the national line, the wilson-furness-leyland line, and the west indian and pacific line, all of which were managed by the owner of the leyland line, mr. ellerman, the well-known british shipping man of german descent. the tonnage represented by these combined interests amounted to half a million tons, and the new combine was looked upon as an undesirable competitor, by both the packetfahrt and the british lines. the dissatisfaction felt by the latter showed itself, among other things, in their refusal to come to any mutual understanding regarding the passenger business. in the end, mr. baker himself was so little pleased with the way things turned out in practice that he severed his connexion with the other lines shortly afterwards, and once more the question became urgent whether it would be advisable for the packetfahrt--either alone, or in conjunction with the white star line and the firm of messrs. harland and wolff--to purchase the atlantic transport line. that was the time when mr. pierpont morgan's endeavours to create the combine, which has since then become known as the morgan trust, first attracted public attention. ballin's notes give an exhaustive description of the course of the negotiations which lasted nearly eighteen months and were entered into in order to take precautions against the danger threatening from america, whilst at the same time they aimed at some understanding with mr. morgan, because the opportunity thus presented of setting up an all-embracing organization promoting the interests of all the transatlantic steamship concerns seemed too good to be lost. ballin's notes for august, , contain the following entry: "the grave economic depression from which germany is suffering is assuming a more dangerous character every day. it is now spreading to other countries as well, and only the united states seem to have escaped so far. in addition to our other misfortunes, there is the unsatisfactory maize-crop in the states which, together with the other factors, has demoralized the whole freight business within an incredibly short space of time. for a concern of the huge size of our own such a situation is fraught with the greatest danger, and our position is made still worse by another circumstance. in the states, a country whose natural resources are wellnigh inexhaustible, and whose enterprising population has immensely increased its wealth, the creation of trusts is an event of everyday occurrence. the banker, pierpont morgan--a man of whom it is said that he combines the possession of an enormous fortune with an intelligence which is simply astounding--has already created the steel trust, the biggest combination the world has ever seen, and he has now set about to lay the foundations for an american mercantile marine." a short report on the position then existing which ballin made for prince henckell-donnersmarck, who had himself called into being some big industrial combinations, is of interest even now, although the situation has entirely changed. but if we want to understand the position as it then was we must try to appreciate the views held at that time, and this the report helps us to do. ballin had been referred to prince henckell-donnersmarck by the kaiser, who had a high opinion of the latter's business abilities, and who had watched with lively interest the american shipping projects from the start, because he anticipated that they would produce an adverse effect on the future development of the german shipping companies. the report is given below:-- "in about per cent. of the united states sea-borne trade was still carried by vessels flying the american flag. by this percentage had gone down to per cent., and it has shown a constant decrease ever since. in it had dwindled down to per cent., and in to as low a figure as per cent. during recent years this falling off, which is a corollary of the customs policy pursued by the united states, has given rise to a number of legislative measures intended to promote the interests of american shipping by the granting of government subsidies. no practical steps of importance, however, have been taken so far; all that has been done is that subsidies have been granted to run a north atlantic mail service maintained by means of four steamers, but no success worth mentioning has been achieved until now. "quite recently the well-known american banker, mr. j. pierpont morgan, conjointly with some other big american capitalists, has taken an interest in the plan. the following facts have become known so far in connexion with his efforts: "morgan has acquired the leyland line, of liverpool, which, according to the latest register, owns a fleet of vessels, totalling , gross register tons. this purchase includes the west india and pacific line, which was absorbed into the leyland line as recently as a twelvemonth ago. the mediterranean service formerly carried on by the leyland line has not been acquired by morgan. he has, however, added the atlantic transport company. morgan's evident intention is to form a big american shipping trust, and i have received absolutely reliable information to the effect that the american line and the red star line are also going to join the combine. the shares of the two last-named lines are already for the most part in american hands, and both companies are being managed from new york. both lines together own steamers representing , tons. "a correct estimate of the size of the undertaking can only be formed if the steamers now building for the various companies, and those that have been added to their fleets since the publication of the register from which the above figures are taken, are also taken into account. these vessels represent a total tonnage of about , tons, so that the new american concern would possess a fleet representing , gross register tons. the corresponding figures for the hamburg-amerika linie and for the lloyd, including steamers building, are , and , tons respectively. "the proper method of rightly appreciating the importance of the american coalition is to restrict the comparison, as far as the two german companies are concerned, to the amount of tonnage which they employ in their services to and from united states ports. if this is borne in mind, we arrive at the following figures: german lines-- , g.r.t.; american concern--about , g.r.t. these figures show that, as regards the amount of tonnage employed, the morgan trust is superior to the two german companies on the north atlantic route. it can also challenge comparison with the regular british lines--grand total, , g.r.t. "in all the steps he has taken, morgan, no doubt, has been guided by his confidence in his ability to enforce the passing of a subsidy act by congress in favour of his undertaking. so long as he does not succeed in these efforts of his he will, of course, be obliged to operate the lines of which he has secured control under foreign flags. up to the present only four steamers of the american line, viz. the _new york_, _philadelphia_, _st. louis_, and _st. paul_, are flying the united states flag, whereas the remaining vessels of the american line, and those of the leyland, the west india and pacific, the american transport, the national, and the furness-boston lines, are sailing under the british, and those of the red star line under the belgian flag. "the organization which mr. morgan either has created, or is creating, is not in itself a danger to the two german shipping companies; neither can it be said that the government subsidies--provided they do not exceed an amount that is justified by the conditions actually existing--are in themselves detrimental to the german interests. the real danger, however, threatens from the amalgamation of the american railway interests with those of american shipping. "it is no secret that morgan is pursuing his far-reaching plans as the head of a syndicate which comprises a number of the most important and most enterprising business men in the united states, and that the railway interests are particularly well represented in it. morgan himself, during his stay in london a few months ago, stated to some british shipping men that, according to his estimates, nearly per cent. of the goods which are shipped to europe from the north atlantic ports are carried to the latter by the railroads on through bills of lading, and that their further transport is entrusted to foreign shipping companies. he and his friends, morgan added, did not see any reason why the railroad companies should leave it to foreign-owned companies to carry those american goods across the atlantic. it would be much more logical to bring about an amalgamation of the american railroad and shipping interests for the purpose of securing the whole profits for american capital. "this projected combination of the railroad and sea-borne traffic is, as i have pointed out, a great source of danger to the foreign shipping companies, as it will expose them to the possibility of finding their supplies from the united states _hinterland_ cut off. this latter traffic is indispensable to the remunerative working of our north american services, and it is quite likely that morgan's statement that they amount to about per cent. of the total sea-borne traffic is essentially correct." the negotiations which ballin carried on in this connexion are described as follows in his notes:-- "when i was in london in july ( ), i had an opportunity of discussing this american business with mr. pirrie. pirrie had already informed me some time ago that he would like to talk to me on this subject, but he had never indicated until then that morgan had actually instructed him to discuss matters with me. a second meeting took place at which ismay (the chairman of the white star line) was present in addition to pirrie and myself, and it was agreed that pirrie should go to new york and find out from morgan himself what were his plans regarding the white star line and the hamburg-amerika linie. "shortly after pirrie's return from the states i went to london to talk things over with him. he had already sent me a wire to say that he had also asked mr. wilding to take part in our meeting; and this circumstance induced me to call on mr. wilding when i passed through southampton _en route_ for london. what he told me filled me with as much concern as surprise. he informed me that the syndicate intended to acquire the white star line, but that, owing to my relations with the kaiser, the acquisition of the hamburg-amerika linie was not contemplated. morgan, he further told me, was willing to work on the most friendly terms with us, as far as this could be done without endangering the interests of the syndicate; but the fact was that the biggest american railroad companies had already approached the syndicate, and that they had offered terms of co-operation which were practically identical with a combination between themselves and the syndicate. "in the course of the discussions then proceeding between pirrie, wilding, and myself the situation changed to our advantage, and i was successful in seeing my own proposals accepted, the essence of which was that, on the one hand, our independence should be respected, that the nationality of our company should not be interfered with, and that no american members should be added to our board of trustees; whilst, on the other hand, a fairly close contact was to be established between the two concerns, and competition between them was to be eliminated." the draft agreement, which was discussed at these meetings in london (and which was considerably altered later on), provided that it should run for ten years, and that a mutual interchange of shares between the two concerns should be effected, the amount of shares thus exchanged to represent a value of million marks (equivalent to per cent. of the joint-stock capital of the hamburg-amerika linie). mutual participation was provided for in case of any future increase in the capital of either company; but the american concern was prohibited from purchasing any additional shares of the hamburg-amerika linie. the voting rights for the hamburg shares should be assigned to ballin for life, and those for the american shares to morgan on the same terms. instead of actually parting with its shares, the hamburg company was to have the option of paying their equivalent in steamers. the agreement emphasized that, whilst recognizing the desirability of as far-reaching a financial participation as possible, ballin did not believe that, with due regard to german public opinion and to the wishes of the imperial government, he was justified in recommending an interchange of shares exceeding the amount agreed upon. the american concern was prohibited from calling at any german ports, and the hamburg company agreed not to run any services to such european ports as were served by the other party. a pool agreement covering the cabin business was entered into; and with respect to the steerage and cargo business it was agreed that the existing understandings should be maintained until they expired, and that afterwards a special understanding should be concluded between both contracting parties. immediately after ballin's return to hamburg the board of trustees unanimously expressed its agreement in principle with the proposals. "for my own part," ballin says in his notes on these matters, "i declared that i could only regard the practical execution of these proposals as possible if they receive the unequivocal assent of the kaiser and of the imperial chancellor. next evening i was surprised to receive two telegrams, one from the lord chamberlain's office, and one from the kaiser, commanding my presence on the following day for dinner at the hubertusstock hunting lodge of the kaiser, where i was invited to stay until the afternoon of the second day following. i left for berlin on the same evening, october th ( ); and, together with the chancellor, i continued my journey the following day to eberswalde. at that town a special carriage conveyed us to hubertusstock, where we arrived after a two-hours' drive, and where i was privileged to spend two unforgettable days in most intimate intercourse with the kaiser. the chancellor had previously informed me that the kaiser did not like the terms of the agreement, because metternich had told him that the americans would have the right to acquire million marks' worth of our shares. during an after-dinner walk with the kaiser, on which we were accompanied by the chancellor and the kaiser's a.d.c., captain v. grumme, i explained the whole proposals in detail. i pointed out to the kaiser that whereas the british lines engaged in the north atlantic business were simply absorbed by the trust, the proposed agreement would leave the independence of the german lines intact. this made the kaiser inquire what was to become of the north german lloyd, and i had to promise that i would see to it that the lloyd would not be exposed to any immediate danger arising out of our agreement, and that it would be given an opportunity of becoming a partner to it as well. the kaiser then wanted to see the actual text of the agreement as drafted in london. when i produced it from my pocket we entered the room adjacent to the entrance of the lodge, which happened to be the small bedroom of captain v. grumme; and there a meeting, which lasted several hours, was held, the kaiser reading out aloud every article of the agreement, and discussing every single item. the kaiser himself was sitting on captain v. grumme's bed; the chancellor and myself occupied the only two chairs available in the room, the captain comfortably seating himself on a table. the outcome of the proceedings was that the kaiser declared himself completely satisfied with the proposals, only commissioning me, as i have explained, to look after the interests of the north german lloyd. "on the afternoon of the following day, after lunch, the chancellor and i returned to berlin, this giving me a chance of discussing with the former--as i had previously done with the kaiser--every question of importance. on october th i arrived back in hamburg." the negotiations with the north german lloyd which ballin had undertaken to enter upon proved to be very difficult, the director general of that company, dr. wiegand, not sharing ballin's views with respect to the american danger and the significance of the american combination. after ballin, however, had explained the proposals in detail, the lloyd people altered their previously held opinion, and in the subsequent london discussions, which were resumed in november, the president of the lloyd, mr. plate, also took part. nevertheless, it was found impossible to agree definitely there and then, and a further discussion between the two directors general took place at potsdam on november th, both of them having been invited to dinner by the kaiser, who was sitting between the two gentlemen at the table. ballin's suggestion that he and dr. wiegand should proceed to new york in order to ascertain whether the shipping companies and the american railroads had actually entered into a combination, was heartily seconded by the kaiser, and was agreed to by dr. wiegand. the lloyd people, however, were still afraid that the proposed understanding would jeopardize the independence of the german lines; but ballin, by giving detailed explanations of the points connected with the financial provisions, succeeded in removing these fears, and the board of trustees of the lloyd expressed themselves satisfied with these explanations. they insisted upon the omission of the clauses dealing with the financial participation, but agreed to the proposals in every other respect. the arrangements for such mutual exchange of shares were thereupon dropped in the final drafting of the agreement, and were replaced by a mutual participation in the distribution of dividends, the american concern guaranteeing the german lines a dividend of per cent., and only claiming a share in a dividend exceeding that figure. this change owed its origin to a proposal put forward by mr. v. hansemann, the director of the disconto-gesellschaft, who had taken an active interest in the development of the whole matter. in the course of the negotiations the lloyd made a further proposal by which it was intended to safeguard the german national character of the two great shipping companies. it was suggested that a corporation--somewhat similar to the preussische seehandlung--should be set up by the imperial government with the assistance of some privately owned capital. this corporation should purchase such a part of the shares of each company as would defeat any attempts at destroying their national character. ballin, however, to whom any kind of government interference in shipping matters was anathema, would have nothing to do with this plan, and thus it fell through. ballin thereupon having informed the kaiser in kiel on board the battleship _kaiser wilhelm ii_ regarding the progress of the negotiations, a further meeting with the lloyd people took place early in december, which led to a complete agreement among the two german companies as to the final proposals to be submitted to the american group; and shortly afterwards, at a meeting held at cologne, agreement was also secured with mr. pirrie. the final discussions took place in new york early in february, ballin and mr. tietgens, the chairman of the board of directors, acting on behalf of the hamburg-amerika linie, and president plate and dr. wiegand on that of the lloyd. meanwhile, morgan's negotiations with the white star line and other british companies had also led to a successful termination. concerning the new york meetings we find an interesting entry in ballin's diary: "in the afternoon of february th, , messrs. griscom, widener, wilding, and battle, and two sons of mr. griscom met us in conference. various suggestions were put forward in the course of the proceedings which necessitated further deliberations in private between ourselves and the bremen gentlemen, and it was agreed to convene a second general meeting at the private office of mr. griscom on the th floor of the empire building. this meeting was held in the forenoon of the following day, and a complete agreement was arrived at concerning the more important of the questions that were still open. i took up the position that the combine would only be able to make the utmost possible use of its power if we succeeded in securing control of the cunard and holland american lines. i was glad to find that mr. morgan shared my view. he authorized me to negotiate on his behalf with director van den toorn, the representative of the holland american line, and after a series of meetings a preliminary agreement was reached giving morgan the option of purchasing per cent. of the shares of the holland american line. morgan undertook to negotiate with the cunard line through the intermediary of some british friends. it has been settled that, if the control of the two companies in question is secured to the combine, one half of it should be exercised by the american group, and the other half should be divided between the lloyd and ourselves. this arrangement will assure the german lines of a far-reaching influence on the future development of affairs. "on the following thursday the agreements, which were meanwhile ready in print, were signed. we addressed a joint telegram to the kaiser, informing him of the definite conclusion of the agreement, to which he sent me an exceedingly gracious reply. the kaiser's telegram was dispatched from hubertusstock, and its text was as follows: "'ballin, director general of the hamburg-amerika linie, new york. have received your joint message with sincere satisfaction. am especially pleased that it reached me in the same place where the outlines gained form and substance in october last. you must be grateful to st. hubertus. he seems to know something about shipping as well. in recognition of your untiring efforts and of the success of your labours i confer upon you the second class of my order of the red eagle with the crown. remember me to henry.--wilhelm i.r.' "morgan gave a dinner in our honour at his private residence which abounds in treasures of art of all descriptions, and the other gentlemen also entertained us with lavish hospitality. tietgens and i returned the compliment by giving a dinner at the holland house which was of special interest because it was attended not only by the partners of morgan, but also by mr. jacob schiff, of messrs. kuhn, loeb & co., who had been morgan's opponents in the conflict concerning the northern pacific. during the following week the lloyd provided a big dinner on board the _kronprinz wilhelm_ for about invited guests. "prince henry of prussia was one of the passengers of the _kronprinz wilhelm_ which, owing to the inclemency of the weather, arrived in new york one day behind her scheduled time. on the day of her arrival--sunday, february rd--i had dinner on board the _hohenzollern_. we also took part in a number of other celebrations in honour of the prince. especially memorable and of extraordinary sumptuousness was the lunch at which mr. morgan presided, and at which one hundred captains of industry--leading american business men from all parts of the states--were present. on the evening of the same day the press dinner took place which , newspaper men had arranged in honour of the prince. mr. schiff introduced me to mr. harriman, the chairman of the union pacific, with whom i entered into discussions concerning our participation in the san francisco-far east business." at the request of the american group the publication of the agreement was delayed for some time, because it was thought desirable to wait for the final issue of the congress debates on the subsidies bill. a report which ballin, after some further discussion with morgan and his london friends had taken place, made for the german embassy in london, describes the situation as it appeared in april, . it runs as follows: "( ) acquisition of the joint control of the cunard line by the two german companies and the american syndicate. on this subject discussions have taken place with lord inverclyde, the chairman of the cunard line. neither lord inverclyde nor any of the other representatives of british shipping interests objected in any way to the proposed transaction for reasons connected with the national interest. he said, indeed, that he thought the syndicate should not content itself with purchasing per cent. of the shares, but that it should rather absorb the whole company instead. the purchase price he named appeared to me somewhat excessive; but he has already hinted that he would be prepared to recommend to his company to accept a lower offer, and it is most likely that the negotiations will lead to a successful issue, unless the british government should pull itself together at the eleventh hour. "( ) public announcement of the formation of the combine. whereas until quite recently the american gentlemen maintained that it would be advisable to wait for the conclusion of the negotiations going on at washington with respect to the proposed subsidy legislation, mr. morgan now shares my view that it is not desirable to do so any longer, but that it would be wiser to proceed without any regard to the intentions of washington. the combine, therefore--unless unexpected obstacles should intervene--will make its public appearance within a few weeks. "( ) the british admiralty. an agreement exists between the british admiralty and the white star line conceding to the former the right of pre-emption of the three express steamers _oceanic, teutonic,_ and _majestic._ this agreement also provides that the white star line, against an annual subsidy from the government, must place these boats at the disposal of the admiralty in case of war. the first lord has now asked mr. ismay whether there is any truth in the report that he wants to sell the white star line; and when he was told that such was the case, he declared that, this being so, he would be compelled to exercise his right of pre-emption. "it would be extremely awkward in the interests of the combine if the three vessels had to be placed at the service of the admiralty, especially as it is probable that they would be employed in competition with the combine. therefore a compromise has been effected in such a form that mr. morgan is to take over the agreement on behalf of the combine for the three years it has still to run. this means that the steamers will continue to fly the british flag for the present, and that they must be placed at the disposition of the admiralty in case of war. the admiralty suggested an extension of the terms of the agreement for a further period of three years; but it was content to withdraw its suggestion when mr. morgan declined to accept it. the agreement does not cover any of the other boats of the line which are the biggest cargo steamers flying the union jack, and consequently no obligations have been incurred with respect to these. "( ) text of the public announcement. a memorandum is in course of preparation fixing the text of the announcement by which the public is to be made acquainted with the formation of the combine. in compliance with the wishes emanating from prominent british quarters, the whole transaction will be represented in the light of a big anglo-american 'community of interest' agreement; and the fact that it virtually cedes to the united states the control of the north atlantic shipping business will be kept in the background, as far as it is possible to do so." the first semi-official announcement dealing with the combine was published on april th by the british press, and at an extraordinary general meeting of the hamburg-amerika linie on may th, the public was given some carefully prepared information about the german-american agreement. at that meeting dr. diederich hahn, the well-known chairman of the _bund der landwirte_ (agrarian league), rose, to everybody's surprise, to inquire if it was the case that the national interests, and especially the agricultural interests of germany, would be adversely affected by the agreement. the ensuing discussion showed ballin at his best. he allayed dr. hahn's fears lest the american influence in the combination would be so strong as to eliminate the german influence altogether by convincing him that the whole agreement was built up on a basis of parity, and that the german interests would not be jeopardized in any way. the argument that the close connexion established between the trust and the american railroad companies would lead to germany being flooded with american agricultural produce he parried by pointing out that the interests of the american railroads did not so much require an increased volume of exports, but rather of imports, because a great disproportion existed between their eastbound and their westbound traffic, the former by far exceeding the latter, so that a further increase in the amount of goods carried from the western part of the country to the atlantic seaports would only make matters worse from the point of remunerative working of their lines. what ballin thought of the system of government subsidies in aid of shipping matters is concisely expressed by his remarks in a speech which he made on the occasion of the trial trip of the s.s. _blücher_, when he said: "if it were announced to me to-day that the government subsidies had been stolen overnight, i should heave a sigh of relief, only thinking what a pity it was that it had not been done long ago." in great britain the news that some big british shipping companies had been purchased by the american concern caused a great deal of public excitement. in ballin's diary we find the following entry under date of june th: "in england, in consequence of the national excitement, a very awkward situation has arisen. sir alfred jones and sir christopher furness know how to make use of this excitement as an opportunity for shouldering the british nation with the burden which the excessive tonnage owned by their companies represents to them in these days of depression. king edward has also evinced an exceedingly keen interest in these matters of late, which goes to show that what makes people in england feel most uncomfortable is not the passing of the various shipping companies into american hands, but the fact that the german companies have done so well over the deal. mr. morgan has had an interview with some of the british cabinet ministers at which he declared his readiness to give the government additional facilities as regards the supply of auxiliary cruisers. we are hopeful that such concessions will take the wind out of the sails of those who wish to create a counter-combination subsidized by grants-in-aid from the government." an outcome of the german-american arrangements was that morgan and his friends were invited by the kaiser to take part in the festivities connected with the kiel week. the american gentlemen were treated with marked attention by the kaiser, and extended their visit so as to include hamburg and berlin as well. at a conference of the transatlantic lines held in december, , at cologne, ballin put forward once more his suggestion that a cabin pool should be established. the proposal, however, fell through owing to the opposition from the cunard line. the depression in the freight business which had set in in , and which was still very pronounced towards the close of , seriously affected the prospects of the transatlantic shipping companies, especially those combined in the morgan trust, who were the owners of a huge amount of tonnage used in the cargo business, and whose sphere of action was restricted to the north atlantic route. "experience now shows," ballin wrote in his notes, "that we were doing the right thing when we entered into the alliance with the trust. if we had not done this, the latter would doubtless have tried to invade the german market in order to keep its many idle ships going." meanwhile the cunard line had concluded an agreement with the british government by which the government bound itself to advance to the company the funds for the building of its two mammoth express liners, the _mauretania_ and the _lusitania_, while at the same time granting it a subsidy sufficient to provide for the payment of the interest on and for the redemption of the loan advanced by the government for the building of the vessels. further difficulties seemed to be ahead owing to the aggressive measures proposed by the canadian pacific company, which was already advertising a service from antwerp to canada. to ward off the danger threatening from this quarter, ballin proceeded to new york to take up negotiations with sir thomas shaughnessy, the president of the canadian pacific. he went there on behalf of all the continental shipping companies concerned, and the results he arrived at were so satisfactory to both parties that ballin corresponded henceforth on terms of close personal friendship with sir thomas, who was one of the leading experts on railway matters anywhere. these friendly relations were very helpful to ballin afterwards when he was engaged in difficult negotiations with other representatives of sir thomas's company, and never failed to ensure a successful understanding being arrived at. on the occasion of this trip to america ballin had some interesting--or, as he puts it, "rather exciting"--discussions with morgan and his friends. he severely criticized the management of the affairs of the trust, and tried to make morgan understand that nothing short of a radical improvement--i.e. a change of the leading personages--would put matters right. "morgan," he writes, "finds it impossible to get the right men to take their places, and he held out to me the most alluring prospects if i myself should feel inclined to go to new york as president of the trust, even if only for a year or two; but i refused his offer, chiefly on account of my relations with the kaiser." ballin's suggestions, nevertheless, led to a change in the management of the trust. this was decided upon at meetings held in london, where ballin stayed for a time on his way back to hamburg. mr. pirrie also took part in these meetings. in the meantime the relations between the cunard line and the other transatlantic shipping companies had become very critical. the hungarian government, for some time past, had shown a desire to derive a greater benefit from the considerable emigrant traffic of the country--a desire which was shared by important private quarters as well. the idea was to divert the stream of emigrants to fiume--instead of allowing them to cross the national frontiers uncontrolled--and to carry them from that port to the united states by direct steamers. ballin had repeatedly urged that the lines which were working together under the pool agreement should fall in with these wishes of the hungarian government; but his proposals were not acted upon, mainly owing to the opposition of the north german lloyd, which company carried the biggest share of the hungarian emigrants. to the great surprise of the pool lines it was announced in the early part of that the hungarian government was about to conclude an agreement with the cunard line--the only big transatlantic shipping company which had remained outside the trust--by which it was provided that the cunard line was to run fortnightly services from fiume, and by which the hungarian government was to bind itself to prevent--by means of closing the frontiers or any other suitable methods--emigrants from choosing any other routes leading out of the country. such an agreement would deprive the pool lines of the whole of their hungarian emigrant business. discussions between ballin and the representatives of the cunard line only elicited the statement on the part of the latter that it had no power any longer to retrace its steps. an episode which took place in the course of these discussions is of special interest now, as it enables us to understand why the amalgamation of the cunard line with the morgan trust never took place. ballin asked lord inverclyde why the attitude of the cunard line had been so aggressive throughout. the reply was that the morgan trust, and not the cunard line, was the aggressor, because morgan's aim was to crush it. when ballin interposed that this had never been intended by the trust--that the trust, indeed, had attempted to include the cunard line within the combination, that lord inverclyde himself had also made a proposal towards that end, and that the project had only come to grief on account of the strong feeling of british public opinion against it--lord inverclyde answered that, far from this being the case, the trust had never replied to his proposal, and that he had not even received an acknowledgment of his last letter. in a letter to mr. boas, the general representative of his company in new york, in which he described the general situation, ballin stated that the statement of lord inverclyde was indeed quite correct. the hungarian situation became still more complicated after the receipt of some information that reached ballin from vienna to the effect that the austrian government intended to imitate the example set by the hungarian government by running a service from trieste. after prolonged discussions the austrian government also undertook not to grant an emigration licence to the cunard line so long as the struggle between the two competing concerns was not settled. thereupon this struggle of the pool lines--both the continental and the british ones--against the cunard line was started in real earnest, not only for the british but also for the scandinavian and the fiume business. after some time negotiations for an agreement were opened in london in july on the initiative and with the assistance of mr. balfour, who was then president of the board of trade. these, however, led to no result, and a basis for a compromise was not found until august, , when renewed negotiations took place at frankfort-on-main. a definite understanding was reached towards the close of the same year, and then at last this struggle, which was really one of the indirect consequences of the establishment of the morgan trust, came to an end. looked upon from a purely business point of view, the morgan trust--or, to call it by its real name, the "international mercantile marine company," which in pool slang, was simply spoken of as the "immco lines"--was doubtless a failure. only the world war, yielding, as it did, formerly unheard-of profits to the shipping business of the neutral and the allied countries, brought about a financial improvement, but it is still too early to predict whether this improvement will be permanent. the reasons why the undertaking was bound to be unremunerative before the outbreak of the war are not far to seek, and include the initial failure of its promoters to secure the adhesion of the cunard line--a failure which, as is shown by ballin's notes, was to a large extent due to the hesitating policy of the hamburg company. to make business as remunerative as possible was the very object for which the trust was formed, but the more economical working which was the means to reach this end could not be realized while such an essential factor as the cunard line not only remained an outsider, but even became a formidable competitor. it can hardly be doubted that the adhesion of the cunard line to the morgan trust--or, in other words, the formation of a combine including all the important transatlantic lines without exception--would have brought about such a development of the pool idea as would have led to a much closer linking-up of the financial interests of the individual partners than could be achieved under a pool agreement. under such a "community of interest" agreement, every inducement to needless competition could be eliminated, and replaced by a system of mutual participation in the net profits of each line. this was the ideal at which ballin, taught by many years of experience, was aiming. over and over again the pool lines had an opportunity of finding out that it paid them better to come to a friendly understanding, even if it entailed a small sacrifice, than to put up a fight against a new competitor. sometimes, indeed, an understanding was made desirable owing to political considerations. however, the number of participants ultimately grew so large that ballin sarcastically remarked: "sooner or later the pool will have to learn how to get along without us," and he never again abandoned his plan of having it replaced by closely-knit community of interest agreements which would be worked under a centralized management, and therefore produce much better results. in other branches of his activities--e.g. in his agreements with the other hamburg companies and in the one with the booth line, which was engaged in the service to northern brazil, he succeeded in developing the existing understandings into actual community of interest agreements, and it seems that these have given all-round satisfaction. the negotiations between himself and the north german lloyd shortly before the outbreak of the war were carried on with the same object. throughout the endless vicissitudes in the history of the pool the formation of the morgan trust decidedly stands out as the most interesting and most dramatic episode. at the present time the position of the german steamship companies in those days seems even more imposing than it appeared to the contemporary observer. to-day we can hardly imagine that some big british lines should, one after the other, be offered for purchase first to some german, and then to the american concerns. such a thing was only possible because at that time british shipping enterprise was more interested in the employment of tramp steamers than in the working of regular services, the shipowners believing that greater profits could be obtained by the former method. the result was a noticeable lack of leading men fully qualified to speak with authority on questions relating to the regular business, whereas in germany such men were not wanting. the transatlantic business threatened, in fact, to become more and more the prerogative of the german-american combination. to-day, of course, it is no longer possible to say with certainty whether the cunard line could have been induced to join that combination, if the right moment had not been missed. the great danger with which british shipping was threatened at that time, and the great success which the german lines achieved, not only stirred british public opinion to its depths, but also acted as a powerful stimulus on the shipping firms themselves. this caused a pronounced revival of regular line shipping, which went so far that tramp shipping became less and less important, and which ultimately led to a concentration of the former within the framework of a few large organizations which exercise a correspondingly strong influence on present-day british shipping in general. these organizations differ from the big german companies by the circumstance that they represent close financial amalgamations and that they have not, like the german companies, grown up slowly and step for step with the expanding volume of transatlantic traffic. chapter vi the expansion of the hamburg-amerika linie the principal work which fell to ballin's share during the period immediately following his nomination in on the board of his company was that connected with the introduction of the fast steamers and the resulting expansion of the passenger business. offices were established in berlin, dresden, and frankfort-on-main in , and arrangements were made with the hamburg-south american s.s. co., the german east africa line, and the hansa line--the latter running a service to canada--by which these companies entrusted the management of their own passenger business to the packetfahrt. thus, step by step, the passenger department developed into an organization the importance of which grew from year to year. the expansion of the passenger business also necessitated an enlargement of the facilities for the dispatch of the company's steamers. this work had been effected until then at the northern bank of the main elbe, but in it was transferred to the amerika-kai which was newly built at the southern bank; and when the normal depth of the fairway of the elbe was no longer sufficient to enable the fast steamers of considerable draught to come up to the city, it was decided to dispatch them from brunshausen, a small place situated much lower down the elbe. in the long run, however, it proved very inconvenient to manage the passenger dispatch from there, and the construction of special port facilities at cuxhaven owned by the company was taken in hand. the accommodation at the amerika-kai, although it was enlarged as early as , was soon found to be inadequate, so that it was resolved to provide new accommodation at the petersen-kai, situated on the northern bank of the elbe, and this project was carried out in . the number of services run by the company was augmented in those early years by the establishment of a line to baltimore and another to philadelphia. in a new line starting from new york was opened to venezuelan and colombian ports. the north atlantic services were considerably enlarged in , when the company took over the hansa line. the desire to find remunerative employment for the fast steamers during the dead season of the north atlantic passenger business prompted the decision to enter these boats into a service from new york to the mediterranean during the winter months. the same desire, however, also gave rise to one of the most original ideas carried into practice through ballin's enterprise, i.e. the institution of pleasure trips and tourist cruises. it may perhaps be of interest to point out in this connexion that, about half a century earlier, another hamburg shipping man had thought of specially fitting out a vessel for an extended cruise of that kind. i do not know whether this plan was carried out at the time, and whether ballin was indebted to his predecessor for the whole idea; in any case, the following advertisement which appeared in the _leipziger illustrierte zeitung,_ and which i reprint for curiosity's sake, was found among his papers. "an opportunity for taking part in a voyage round the world "the undersigned hamburg shipowner proposes to equip one of his large sailing vessels for a cruise round the world, to start this summer, during which the passengers will be able to visit the following cities and countries, viz. lisbon, madeira, teneriffe, cap verde islands, rio de janeiro, rio de la plata, falklands islands, valparaiso, and all the intermediate ports of call on the pacific coast of south america as far as guayaquil (for quito), the marquesas islands, friendly islands (otaheite), and other island groups in the pacific, china (choosan, hongkong, canton, macao, whampoa), manilla, singapore, ceylon, Île de france or madagascar, the cape of good hope, st. helena, ascension island, the azores, and back to hamburg. "the cruise is not intended for business purposes of any kind; but the whole equipment and accommodation of the vessel, the time spent at the various ports of call, and the details of the whole cruise, are to be arranged with the sole object of promoting the safety, the comfort, the entertainment, and the instruction of the passengers. "admission will be strictly confined to persons of unblemished repute and of good education, those possessing a scientific education receiving preference. "the members of the expedition may confidently look forward to a pleasant and successful voyage. a first-class ship, an experienced and well-educated captain, a specially selected crew, and a qualified physician are sufficient guarantees to ensure a complete success. "the fare for the whole voyage is so low that it only represents a very slight addition to the ordinary cost of living incurred on shore. in return, the passenger will have many opportunities of acquiring a first-hand knowledge of the wonders of the world, of the beautiful scenery of the remotest countries, and of the manners and customs of many different nations. during the whole voyage he will be surrounded by the utmost comfort, and will enjoy the company of numerous persons of culture and refinement. the sea air will be of immeasurable benefit to his health, and the experience which he is sure to gain will remain a source of pleasure to him for the rest of his life. "full particulars may be had on application to the undersigned, and a stamped envelope for reply should be enclosed. "rob. m. sloman, "_hamburg, january_, . _shipowner in hamburg._" ballin's idea of running a series of pleasure cruises did not meet with much support on the part of his associates; the public, however, took it up with enthusiasm from the very start. early in ballin himself took part in the first trip to the far east on board the express steamer _auguste victoria_. organized pleasure trips on a small scale were by no means an entire novelty in germany at that time; the carl stangen tourist office in berlin, for instance, regularly arranged such excursions, including some to the far east, for a limited number of participants. to do so, however, for as many as persons, as ballin did, was something unheard-of until then, and necessitated a great deal of painstaking preparation. among other things, the itinerary of the intended cruise, owing to the size and the draught of the steamer used, had to be carefully worked out in detail, and arrangements had to be made beforehand for the hotel accommodation and for the conveyance of passengers during the more extended excursions on shore. all these matters gave plenty of scope to the organizing talents of the youthful director, and he passed the test with great credit. the first far eastern cruise proved so great a success that it was repeated in . in the following year it started from new york, surely a proof that the company's reputation for such cruises was securely established not in germany alone, but in the states as well. meanwhile, however, hamburg had been visited by a terrible catastrophe which enormously interfered with the smooth working of the company's express steamer services. this was the cholera epidemic during the summer of . it lasted several weeks, and thousands of inhabitants fell victims to it. those who were staying in hamburg in that summer will never forget the horrors of the time. in the countries of northern europe violent epidemics were practically unknown, and the scourge of cholera especially had always been successfully combated at the eastern frontier of germany, so that the alarm which spread over the whole country, and which led to the vigorous enforcement of the most drastic measures for isolating the rest of germany from hamburg, may easily be comprehended, however ludicrous those measures in some instances might appear. there are no two opinions as to the damage they inflicted on the commerce and traffic of the city. the severest quarantine, of course, was instituted in the united states, and the passenger services to and from hamburg ceased to be run altogether, so that the transatlantic lines decided to temporarily suspend the steerage pool agreement they had just concluded. the packetfahrt, in order not to stop its fast steamer services completely, first transferred them to southampton, and afterwards to wilhelmshaven, thus abstaining from dispatching these boats to and from hamburg. the steerage traffic had to be discarded entirely, after an attempt to maintain it, with stettin as its home port, had failed. financially this epidemic and its direct consequences brought the company almost to the verge of collapse, and the packetfahrt had to stop altogether the payment of dividends for , , and . business was resumed in , but at first it was very slow. every means were tried to induce the united states to rescind her isolation measures. an american doctor was appointed in hamburg; disinfection was carried out on a large scale; with great energy the city set herself to prevent the recurrence of a similar disaster. the packetfahrt, in conjunction with the authorities, designed the plans for building the emigrants' halls situated at the outskirts of the city, which are unique of their kind and are still looked upon as exemplary. these plans owe their origin to the extremely talented hamburg architect, mr. thielen, whose early death is greatly to be regretted. an important innovation was the establishment of regular medical control and medical treatment for the emigrants from the east of europe on their reaching the german frontier, a measure which was decided upon and taken in hand by the prussian government. the expansion of the packetfahrt's business, of course, was most adversely affected by the epidemic and its after-effects; and several years of consolidation were needed before the latter could be overcome. consequently, hardly any new services were opened during the years immediately following upon the epidemic. an important step forward, which greatly strengthened the earning capacities of the company's resources, was taken in , when the building orders for the steamers of the "p" class were given. these vessels were of large size but of moderate speed. they were extremely seaworthy, and were capable of accommodating a great many passengers, especially steeragers, as well as of carrying large quantities of cargo. the number of services run by the company was added to in by a line from new york to italy, and in the following year by one from italy to the river plate. pool agreements were concluded with the lloyd and the allan line with respect to the first-named route, and with the italian steamship companies with respect to the other. the agreement with the italians, however, did not become operative until a few years afterwards. in the packetfahrt celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of its existence--an event in which large sections of the public took a keen interest. perhaps the most noteworthy among the immense number of letters of congratulation which the company received on that occasion is the one sent by the chairman of the cunard line, of which the verbatim text is given below. it was addressed to one of the directors in reply to an invitation to attend the celebrations in person. "it is with great regret i have to announce my inability to join with you in celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of your company, to be held on board your s.s. _auguste victoria_. "i the more regret this as i have the greatest possible admiration of the skill and enterprise which has directed the fortunes of your company, especially in recent years. "you were the first to give the travelling public the convenience of a speedy and reliable transit between the two great continents of the world by initiating a regular service of twin-screw steamers of high speed and unexceptionable accommodation. "you also set the shipping world the example of the great economy possible in the transit of the world's commodities in vessels of greatly increased capacity and proportionate economy, which other nations have been quick to follow and adopt to their great advantage. "your company had furthermore met a felt want in giving most luxurious and well-appointed accommodation for visiting scenes, both new and old, of world-wide interest, and making such journeyings, hitherto beset with anxiety and difficulty, as easy of accomplishment as the ordinary railway journey at home. "you have succeeded in this, not through any adventitious aids, such as government subsidies, but by anticipating and then meeting the wants of the travelling and commercial public; and no one, be his nationality what it was, can, in the face of such facts, abstain from offering his meed of praise to the foresight, acumen, and ability that have accomplished such great results in such a comparatively small time as the management and direction of the hamburg-american packet company. "i would venture, therefore, to thus congratulate you and your colleagues, and whilst reiterating my regret at being prevented from doing so at your forthcoming meeting, allow me the expression of the wish that such meeting may be a happy and satisfactory one, and that a new era of, if possible, increased success to the hamburg-american packet company may take date from it." towards the latter end of the 'nineties, at last, a big expansion of the company's activities set in. in the hamburg-calcutta line was purchased, but the service was discontinued, the steamers thus acquired being used for other purposes. shortly before the close of the same year a suggestion was put forward by some hamburg firms that were engaged in doing business with the far east that the packetfahrt should run a service to that part of the world. just then the steamship companies engaged in the far eastern trade were on the point of coming to a rate agreement among themselves; and the management of the packetfahrt which, owing to the offer held out to it by hamburg, antwerp, and london firms, could hope to rely on finding a sure basis for its far eastern business, did not consider it wise to let the favourable opportunity slip. quick decision and rapid action, before the proposed agreement of the interested lines had become an accomplished fact, were necessary; because, once the gates were closed, an outsider would find it difficult to gain admission to the ring. hence the negotiations with a view to the packetfahrt joining in the far eastern business, which had only been started during the second half of december, , came to a close very soon; and in the early days of january, , the packetfahrt advertised its intention of running monthly sailings to penang, singapore, hongkong, shanghai, yokohama, and hiogo. six cargo steamers of , tons burden were entered into the new service; and simultaneously an announcement was made to the effect that large fast passenger boats would be added to it as soon as the need for these should make itself felt. the participation in the far eastern business, and the consequent taking over of competing lines or the establishment of joint services with them, was not the only important event of the year as far as the development of the packetfahrt is concerned. in the spring of that same year an agreement was made with the philadelphia shipping company--which, in its turn, had an agreement with the pennsylvania railroad company--by which the packetfahrt undertook to run a regular service of cargo steamers between hamburg and philadelphia. an event of still greater importance, however, was the outbreak of war between the united states and spain which also took place in that year. the spanish government desired to strengthen the fighting power of its navy by the addition of several auxiliary cruisers; and even some time before the war broke out an offer reached the packetfahrt through the intermediary of a third party to purchase its two express steamers, _columbia_ and _normannia_, which were among the fastest ocean-liners afloat. before accepting this offer, the packetfahrt, in order to avoid the reproach of having committed a breach of neutrality, first offered these two steamers to the united states government; but on its refusal to buy them, they were sold to the british firm acting on behalf of the spanish government, and re-sold to the latter. as the packetfahrt had allowed a high rate of depreciation on the two boats, their book-value stood at a very low figure; and the considerable profit thus realized enabled it to acquire new vessels for the extension of its passenger services. meanwhile a new express steamer, the _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_, had been added to the fleet of the north german lloyd. ballin, having made a voyage on board this vessel to new york, reported to the trustees of his company that he considered her a splendid achievement. owing to the heavy working expenses, however, she would not, he thought, prove a great success from a financial point of view. he held that the remunerativeness of express steamers was negatived by the heavy working expenses and, as early as , had projected the construction of two steamers of very large proportions, but of less speed. this, however, was not carried out. instead, the packetfahrt decided to build a vessel which was to be bigger and faster still than the _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_. the new liner was built by the stettin vulkan yard, and completed in . she was the _deutschland_, the famous ocean greyhound, a great improvement in size and equipment, and she held the blue riband of the atlantic for a number of years. about the same time, the express service to new york had been supplemented by the inauguration of an additional passenger service on the same route, which proved a great success in every way. the steamers employed were the combined passenger and cargo boats of moderate speed of the "p" class referred to above; and, their working expenses being very low, they could carry the cargo at very low rates, so that they proved of great service to the rapidly expanding interchange of goods between germany and the united states. their great size made it necessary to accelerate their loading and discharging facilities as much as possible. this necessity, among other things, led to the introduction of grain elevators which resulted in a great saving of time, as the grain was henceforth no longer discharged in sacks, but loose. the company also decided to take the loading and discharging of all its vessels into its own hands. to accelerate the dispatch of steamers to the utmost possible extent, it was decided in to enlarge once again the company's harbour facilities, and an agreement was concluded with the hamburg government providing for the construction of large harbour basins with the necessary quays, sheds, etc., in the district of kuhwärder on the southern banks of the elbe. it was typical of ballin's policy of the geographical distribution of risks and of the far-sighted views he held concerning the international character of the shipping business that he attempted at the end of the 'nineties to gain an extended footing abroad for the company's activities. the packetfahrt therefore ordered the building of two passenger boats in italian yards, and it was arranged that these vessels should fly either the german or the italian flag. in the end, however, a separate italian shipping company, the italia, was set up, which was to devote itself more particularly to the river plate trade. when the financial results of the new enterprise failed to come up to expectations, the shares were sold to italian financiers in . the closing years of the nineteenth and the opening years of the twentieth century represented a period of extraordinary prosperity to shipping business all over the world--a prosperity which was caused by the outbreak of the south african war in . an enormous amount of tonnage was required to carry the british troops, their equipment, horses, etc., to south africa, and the circumstance that this tonnage temporarily ceased to be available for the needs of ordinary traffic considerably stiffened the freight rates. the favourable results thus obtained greatly stimulated the spirit of enterprise animating the shipping companies everywhere. about the same time the business of the company experienced a notable expansion in another direction. a fierce rate war was in progress between the hamburg-south american s.s. co. and the firm of a. c. de freitas & co., and neither party seemed to be able to get the better of the other. as early as ballin, on behalf of the hamburg-south american s.s. co., had carried on some negotiations with the firm of de freitas with the object of bringing about an amalgamation of the two companies with respect to their services to southern brazil. in he had done so again in compliance with the special request of mr. carl laeisz, the chairman of the former company, and in he did so for the third time, but in this case on his own initiative. no practical results, however, were reached, and as ballin was desirous of seeing an end being put to the hopeless struggle between the two rival firms, he took up those negotiations for the fourth time in , hoping to acquire the de freitas line for his own company. he was successful, and an expert was nominated to fix the market value of the fourteen steamers that were to change hands. as the valuation took place at a time when the shipping business was in an exceedingly flourishing state, the price which he fixed worked out at so high an average per ton as was never again paid before the outbreak of the war. the valuer told me that he himself considered the price very high, so that he felt in duty bound to draw ballin's attention to it beforehand. ballin tersely replied: "i know, but i want the business," thus making it perfectly clear that he attached more than ordinary importance to the deal. as soon as the purchase of the de freitas lines had become an accomplished fact, arrangements were made with the hamburg-south american s.s. company, which provided for a joint service to south america, a service which was still further extended when the packetfahrt bought up a british line trading from antwerp to the plate, thus also securing a footing at antwerp in connexion with its south american business. the necessity for taking such a step grew in proportion as antwerp acquired an increasing importance owing to the increasing german export business. perhaps there is no country which can be served by the seaports of so many foreign countries as germany. several mediterranean ports attract to themselves a portion of the south german trade; antwerp and some of the french ports possess splendid railway connexion with southern and western germany, and both antwerp and rotterdam are in a position to avail themselves of the highway of the rhine as an excellent means of communication with the whole german hinterland. finally, it must be remembered that the scandinavian seaports are also to a certain extent competing for the german business, especially for the trade with the hinterland of the baltic ports of germany. all this goes to show that the countries surrounding germany which have for centuries striven to exercise a kind of political hegemony over germany--or, rather, generally speaking, over central europe--are not without plenty of facilities enabling them to try to capture large portions of the carrying trade of these parts of europe. this danger of a never-ending economic struggle which would not benefit any of the competing rivals was the real reason underlying ballin's policy of compromise. he clearly recognized that any other course of action would tend to make permanent the existing chaos ruling in the realm of ocean shipping. in this struggle for the carrying trade to and from central europe the port of antwerp occupied a position all by itself. the more the countries beyond the sea were opened up by the construction of new railways and the establishment of industrial undertakings, and the more orders the manufacturers in the central european countries received in consequence of the growing demand, the greater became the value of antwerp to the shipping companies in every country. in this respect the early years of the twentieth century witnessed an extraordinary development, which, in its turn, benefited the world's carrying trade to an ever-increasing extent. never before had so much european capital been invested in overseas countries. again, as a result of the spanish war the political and economic influence of the united states had enormously expanded in the west indian islands, whilst, at the same time, the monroe doctrine was being applied more and more thoroughly and systematically. consequently the attention of the american investors was also increasingly drawn towards those same countries. in central america new railway lines were constructed by british and american capital, including some right across the country from the atlantic to the pacific, thus considerably facilitating trade with the pacific coast of america. other lines were built in brazil and in the argentine, and harbour and dock facilities were constructed in nearly all the more important south american ports. french and belgian capital shared in these undertakings, and some german capital was also employed for the same purpose. the trans-andine railway was completed, and numerous industrial works were added to the existing ones. the great economic advance was not exclusively restricted to south america; it extended to the far east, to the great british dominions beyond the sea, especially to canada and australia, and--after the close of the south african war--to africa also. russia built the great trans-siberian railway, and germany commenced to exploit the resources of her colonies. as a result of all these activities the iron and steel manufacturers were overwhelmed with export orders. this applies particularly to the german iron and steel manufacturers, whose leading organization, the stahlwerks-verband, largely favoured the route _via_ antwerp, because it was the cheapest, to the great detriment of the german ports. thus the german shipowners were compelled to follow the traffic, and the importance of antwerp increased from year to year. the hamburg-amerika linie met this development by opening a special branch office for dealing with the antwerp business. in , a year before the hamburg-amerika linie established itself in the services to brazil and the river plate, a line had been started by the company to northern brazil and the amazon river. the conflict with the booth line which resulted from this step was amicably settled in through negotiations conducted by ballin. later on, indeed, the relations between the two companies became very cordial, and even led to the conclusion of a far-reaching community of interest agreement, the booth line being represented in hamburg by the hamburg-amerika linie, and the latter in brazil by the british company. an agreement of such kind was only feasible when a particularly strong feeling of mutual trust existed between the two contracting partners, and ballin repeatedly declared that he looked upon this agreement with the booth line as the most satisfactory of all he had concluded. in the west indian business was extended by opening a passenger service to mexico, and another noteworthy event which took place during the same year was the conclusion of an agreement with the big german iron works in the rhenish-westphalian district by which the hamburg-amerika linie undertook to ship to emden the swedish iron ore needed by them from the ports of narvik and lulea. two special steamers were ordered to be exclusively used for this service. henceforth emden began to play an important part in connexion with the german ore supply, and the real prosperity of that port dated from that time. early in ballin decided to embark on a trip round the world. he thought it desirable to do so in order to acquire a first-hand knowledge of the far eastern situation, which had become of special interest to the country owing to the acquisition by germany of tsingtau, and to the unrest in china. his special object was to study the questions that had become urgent in connexion with the organization of the passenger service of which the packetfahrt, in consequence of the agreement with the lloyd, had just become a partner. there was, in addition, the project of starting a pacific service, which engaged his attention. all these important details could only be properly attended to on the spot. it became necessary to acquire a business footing in the various ports concerned, to organize the coast transport services which were to act as feeders to the main line, etc. besides, the packetfahrt, and the lloyd as well, had special reasons for being interested in far eastern affairs, as both companies had been entrusted with troop transports and the transport of equipment needed for the german contingent during the troubles in china. during his far eastern trip ballin wrote detailed accounts dealing with the business matters he attended to, and also describing his personal impressions of persons and things in general, the former kind addressed to the board of his company, the latter to his mother. these letters are full of interest; they present a more faithful description of his character as a man, and as a man of business, than could be given in any other way. i shall therefore quote a few extracts from the comprehensive reports, commencing with those he wrote to his mother:-- "_on board the i.m.s._ '_kiautschou_' "_january th, ._ "the weather was cold and windy when we arrived late at night outside port said, and midnight was well past when we had taken up the pilot and were making our way into the port. the intense cold had caused me to leave the navigating bridge; and as i did not think it likely that our agent would arrive on board with his telegrams until the next morning, i had followed the example of my wife and of nearly all the other passengers and had gone to bed. however, if we had thought that we should be able to sleep, we soon found out our mistake. the steamer had scarcely taken up her moorings when several hundreds of dusky natives, wildly screaming and gesticulating, and making a noise that almost rent the skies, invaded her in order to fill her bunkers with the tons of coal that had been ordered. perhaps there is no place anywhere where the bunkers are filled more rapidly than at port said, and certainly none where this is done to the accompaniment of a more deafening noise. just imagine a horde of natives wildly screaming at the top of their voices, and add to this the noise produced by the coal incessantly shot into the bunkers, and the shouting of the men in command going on along with it. you will easily understand that it was impossible for anyone to go to sleep under conditions such as these.... after trying for several hours, i gave up the attempt, and, on entering the drawing-room, i found that willy-nilly (but, as wippchen would have said, more nilly than willy) practically all the other passengers had done the same thing. there i was also informed that those who were in the know had not even made an attempt to go to sleep, but had gone ashore at a.m. port said is a typical brigands' den, and relies for its prosperity on the mail packets calling there. the shops, the taverns, the music-halls, and the gambling places are all organized on lines in accordance with the needs of modern traffic. so it was not surprising to see that the proprietors of these more or less inviting places of entertainment had brightly lit up their premises, and hospitably opened their doors despite the unearthly hour, being quite willing to try and entice the unwary passengers into their clutches." "_between_ aden _and_ colombo. "_january th_, . " ... we did not stop long at aden; and as the quarantine regulations for all vessels arriving from port said were very strict, it became impossible for the passengers on board the _kiautschou_ to land on the island. aden, which the british would like to turn into a second gibraltar, is situated in a barren, treeless district, and is wedged in between hills without any vegetation. small fortifications are scattered all over the island. it must be a desolate spot for europeans to live at. the british officers call it 'the devil's punch bowl,' and to be transferred to aden is equivalent to them to being deported." "_january th_, . " ... in the meantime we have spent a most enjoyable and unforgettable day at colombo. the pilot brought the news of queen victoria's death, which filled us with lively sympathy, and which caused a great deal of grief among the british passengers. shortly before o'clock we went ashore: and as the business offices do not open until an hour later--thus preventing me from calling on my business friends at that hour--i took a carriage-drive through the magnificent park-like surroundings of the city. the people one meets there are a fit match to the beautiful scenery; but whilst in former times they were the rulers of this fertile island, they are now, thanks to the blessings of civilization, the servants of their european masters.... "when we reached the old-established oriental hotel where we had our lunch, we met there a number of our fellow-passengers busily engaged in bargaining with the singhalese and indian dealers who generally flock to the terraces of the hotel as soon as a mail packet has arrived. the picture presented by such oriental bargaining is the same everywhere, except that the colombo dealers undeniably manifest an inborn gracefulness and gentlemanly bearing. when i tried to get rid of an old man who was pestering me with his offers to sell some precious stones, he said to me, in the inimitable singing tone of voice used by these people when they speak english: 'just touch this stone, please, but do not buy it: i only wish to receive it back from your lucky hands.' in spite of their manners, however, these fellows are the biggest cheats on earth. another dealer wanted to sell me a sheet of old ceylon stamps for which he demanded fifteen marks--a price which, as he stated, meant a clean loss of five marks to him. when i offered him two marks instead, merely because i had got tired of him, he handed me the whole sheet, and said: 'please take them; i know that one day i shall be rewarded for the sacrifice which i bring.' later on i discovered that the same man had sold exactly the same stamps to a fellow-passenger for pfennigs, and that he had told the same story to him as to me. such are the blessings of our marvellous civilization.... " ... in the afternoon we went for a magnificent drive to the mount lavinia hotel, which is beautifully situated on a hill affording an extensive view of the sea. boys and girls as beautiful as greek statues, and as swift-footed as fallow deer, pursued us in our carriage, begging for alms. it was curious to see with what unfailing certainty they managed to distinguish the german from the english passengers, and they were not slow in availing themselves of this opportunity to palm off what little german they knew on us. 'oh, my father! my beautiful mother! you are a great lady! please give me ten cents, my good uncle!' we were quite astonished to meet such a large progeny...." "_february nd_, . ".... the entrance to singapore is superbly beautiful. the steamer slowly wended her way through the channels between numerous small islands clad with the most luxurious vegetation, so that it almost took us two hours to reach the actual harbour.... the food question is extremely complicated in this part of the tropics, which is favoured by kind nature more than is good. the excessive fertility of the soil makes the cultivation of vegetables and cereals quite impossible, as everything runs to seed within a few days, so that, for instance, potatoes have to be obtained from java, and green vegetables from mulsow's, in hamburg. i am sure my geography master at school, who never ceased to extol the richness of the soil of this british colony, was not aware of this aspect of the matter. "singapore is a rapidly developing emporium for the trade with the far east. it has succeeded in attracting to itself much of the commerce with the dutch indies, british north borneo, the philippines, and the federated malay states. to achieve this, of course, was a difficult matter, even with the aid of the shipping companies, but its clever and energetic business community managed to do it. we germans may well be proud of the fact that our countrymen now occupy the premier position in the business life of the city.... " ... we spent about thirty-six hours at saigon. this city has been laid out by the french with admirable skill, and there is no doubt but that indo-china is a most valuable possession of theirs. as regards the difference in the national character of the french and the british, it is interesting to note that the former have just erected a magnificent building for a theatre at saigon, at a cost of - / million francs. the british would never have dreamt of doing such a thing; i am sure they would have invested that money in the building of club-houses and race-courses...." "_february th_, . " ... as far as social life and social pleasures are concerned, it must be said that the german colony at hongkong is in no way inferior to that at singapore. premier rank in this respect must be assigned to the siebs family. mr. siebs, the senior member of the hamburg firm of siemssen and co., has been a resident in the east for a long term of years--forty-two, if i remember rightly; and he now occupies an exceedingly prominent position both in german and british society. that this is so is largely due--apart from his intimate knowledge of all that concerns the trade and commerce of china, and apart from his own amiability and never-failing generosity--to his charming wife, who, by means of the hospitality, the refinement, and the exemplary management characterizing her home, has been chiefly instrumental in acquiring for the house of siebs the high reputation it enjoys. whoever is received by mrs. siebs, i have been told, is admitted everywhere in hongkong society. "even though i only give here an outline of my impressions, i cannot refrain from adding a few details dealing with some aspects of everyday life at hongkong, this jewel among the crown colonies of britain. the offices of the big firms and of the shipping companies' agencies, most of them housed in beautiful buildings, flank the water's edge; farther back there is the extensive shopping quarter, and still more in the rear there is the chinese quarter, teeming with an industrious population. being myself so much mixed up with the means of communication, i am surely entitled to make a few remarks concerning this subject in particular. horses are but rarely seen, and are only used for riding, and sporting purposes generally. their place is taken by the coolies, who no doubt represent the most pitiable type of humanity--at least, from the point of view of a sensitive person. in the low-lying part of the town the jinrikishas, which are drawn by coolies, predominate; but the greater part of hongkong is situated on the slopes of a hill, and nearly all the private residences are built along the beautifully kept, terrace-like roads leading up to the summit of the peak. in this part the chair coolies take the place of the jinrikisha coolies; and in the low-lying parts also it is considered more stylish to be carried by chair coolies. the ordinary hired chairs are generally carried by two coolies only, but four are needed for the private ones. the work done by these poor wretches is fatiguing in the extreme. they have to drag their masters up and down the hill, which is very steep in places, and it is a horrid sensation to be carried by these specimens of panting humanity for the first time. in the better-class european households each member of the family has his own chair, and the necessary coolies along with it, who are paid the princely wage of from marks to marks pfennigs a month. they also receive a white jacket and a pair of white drawers reaching to the knee, but they have to provide their own food. the poor fellows are generally natives from the interior parts of the island. they spend about one mark a week on their food; the rest they send home to their families. they are mostly married, and the money they earn in their capacity as private coolies represents to them a fortune. they rarely live longer than forty years; in fact, their average length of life is said not to exceed thirty-five. as many as eight coolies were engaged to attend to the needs of my wife and myself for the time of our stay. the poor creatures, who, by the way, had quite a good time in our service, spent the whole day from early in the morning to late at night lying in front of a side entrance to our hotel, except when they had to do their work for us.... " ... the chinese have only one annual holiday--new year. they are hard at work during the whole year; they know of no sundays and of no holidays, but the commencement of the new year is associated with a peculiar belief of theirs. to celebrate the event, they take their best clothes out of pawn (which, for the rest of the year, they keep at the pawnbroker's to prevent them from being stolen). to keep the evil spirits away during the coming twelvemonth, they burn hundreds of thousands of firecrackers when the new year begins, and also during the first and second days of it, accompanied by the noise of the firing of guns. one must have been through it all in order to understand it. for the better part of two days and two nights one could imagine a fierce battle raging in the neighbourhood; crackers were exploding on all sides, together with rockets and fireballs, and the whole was augmented by the shouting and screaming of the revellers. it was a mad noise, and we could scarcely get any sleep at night. "the houses in the chinese quarter were decorated up to the roofs with bunting, beautiful big lanterns, paper garlands with religious inscriptions, and a mass of lovely flowers. "on such days--the only holidays they possess--the chinese population are in undisputed possession of their town, and the british administration is wise enough not to interfere with the enjoyment of these sober and hard-working people. i really wonder how the german police would act in such cases...." "shanghai, _march th, _. " ... it is surely no exaggeration to describe shanghai as the new york of the far east. the whole of the rapidly increasing trade with the yangtse ports, and the bulk of that with the northern parts of the country, passes through shanghai. the local german colony is much larger than the one at hongkong; and here, too, it is pleasant to find that our countrymen are playing an extremely important part in the extensive business life of the town...." "_between_ tsingtau _and_ nagasaki, _on board the s.s_ _'sibiria_.' "_march th, ._ "our s.s. _sibiria_ had arrived in the harbour about ten days ago, and was now ready for our use. i had decided first of all to make a trip up the yang-tse-kiang on board the _sibiria_, because i wanted to get to know this important river, which flows through such a fertile tract of country, and on the banks of which so many of the busiest cities of china are situated. the yangtse--as it is usually called for shortness' sake--is navigable for very large-sized ocean-going steamers for a several days' journey. during the summer months it often happens that the level of the water in its upper reaches rises by as much as feet, which--on account of the danger of the tremendous floods resulting from it--has made it necessary to pay special attention to the laying-out of the cities situated on its banks. the object of our journey was nanking. this city, which was once the all-powerful capital of the celestial empire, has never again reached its former importance since its destruction during the great revolution of , and since the choice of peking as the residence of the imperial family. two years ago it was thrown open to foreign commerce; and the powers immediately established their consulates in the city, not only because a new era of development is looked forward to, but also because nanking is the seat of a viceroy. "our amiable consul, herr v. oertzen, received us with the greatest hospitality. the german colony which he has to look after consists of only one member so far. this young gentleman, who holds an appointment in connexion with the chinese customs administration, feels, as is but natural, quite happy in consequence of enjoying a practical monopoly of the protection extended to him by the home government. he has helped himself to the consul's cigars and to his moselle to such good effect that the _sibiria_ arrived just in time to prevent the german colony at nanking from lodging a complaint regarding the insufficiency of the supplies put at its disposal by the government. the consul told us that we should never have a chance of coming across another chinese town that could compare with the interior of nanking, and so we had to make up our minds to pay a visit to these parts. "i had seen plenty of dirt and misery at jaffa and jerusalem, but i have never found so much filth and wretchedness anywhere as i noticed at nanking. my wife and a charming young lady who accompanied us on our yangtse expedition were borne in genuine sedan chairs as used for the mandarins, preceded by the interpreter of the consulate, and followed by the rest of us, who were riding on mules provided with those typically chinese saddles, which, owing to their hardness, may justly claim to rank among the instruments of torture. "our procession wended its way through a maze of indescribably narrow streets crowded with a moving mass of human beings and animals. everywhere cripples and blind men lay moaning in front of their miserable hovels, and it almost seemed that there were more people suffering from some disease or other than there were healthy ones. when we stopped outside the big temple of confucius, where the ladies of our party dismounted from their chairs, the people, in spite of their natural timidity, flocked to see us, because they had probably never seen any european ladies until then. we were thankful when at last we reached the consulate building again, and when, after having had a good bath, we are able to enjoy a cup of tea. " ... in the early hours of march th our steamer arrived at tsingtau. i was surprised and delighted with what i saw. there, in spite of innumerable difficulties, a city had sprung up in an incredibly short space of time. "rooms had been reserved for us at the handsome, but very cold, hotel prinz heinrich; and in the afternoon of the day of our arrival we strolled up the roads, which were still somewhat dusty, and in parts only half finished, to the summit of the hill where the acting governor and the officers of higher rank had their homes. even though it is true that up to now military necessities have taken precedence in the laying-out of the town, so that the needs of trade and traffic have not received due attention, it must be admitted that a wonderful piece of constructive work has been achieved. all the members of our party--especially those who, like dr. knappe, our consul-general at shanghai, had known the place two years ago--were most agreeably surprised at the progress that had been made. "our first few days at tsingtau were spent much as they were everywhere else--plenty of work during the day-time, and plenty of social duties in the evenings. but things began to look different on saturday morning, when my old friend and well-wisher, field-marshal count waldersee, arrived on board h.m.s. _kaiserin auguste_. he had announced that his arrival would take place at a.m., and his flagship cast anchor with military punctuality. the governor and i went on board to welcome the old gentleman, who was evidently greatly touched at meeting me out here, and it was plain to see that my presence in this part of the world made him almost feel homesick. the field-marshal very much dislikes the restrictions imposed on his activities; and judging from all he told me, i must confess that a great military leader has hardly ever before been faced with a more thankless task than he. on the one hand he is handicapped through the diplomatists, and on the other through the want of unanimity among the powers. thus, instead of fulfilling the soldier's task with which he is entrusted, he is compelled to waste his time in idleness, and to preside at endless conferences at which matters are discussed dealing with the most trivial questions of etiquette. he really deserves something better than that...." "tokio. _march st, ._ " ... what a difference between japan and the cold and barren north of china! there everything was dull and gloomy, whilst this country is flooded with sunshine. here we are surrounded by beautifully wooded hills, and a magnificent harbour extends right into the heart of the city. from the windows of our rooms we overlook big liners and powerful men-of-war, and our own _sibiria_ has chosen such a berth that the hapag flag merrily floating in the breeze gives us a friendly welcome. "the difference in the national character of the chinaman and the japanese clearly proves the great influence which the climate and the natural features of a country can exercise on its inhabitants. the one always grave and sulky, and not inclined to be friendly; the other always cheerful, fond of gossip, and overflowing with politeness in all his intercourse with strangers. but it must not be forgotten that the integrity of the chinese, especially of the chinese merchants, is simply beyond praise, whereas the japanese have a reputation for using much cunning and very little sincerity, so that european business men cannot put much faith in them. "the women of japan are known to us through 'the mikado' and 'the geisha.' they make a direct appeal to our sympathies and to our sense of humour. in one week the stranger will become more closely acquainted with the womenfolk and the family life of japan than he would with those of china after half a dozen years of residence in their midst. in china the women are kept in seclusion as much as possible, but the whole family life of the japs is carried on with an utter indifference to publicity. this is due to a large extent to the way their homes are built. their houses are just as dainty as they are themselves; and it is really quite remarkable to see that the japs, who closely imitate everything they see in europe, still build them exactly as they have done from time immemorial. they are practically without windows, and in place of these the openings in the walls are filled with paper stretched on to frames. instead of doors there are movable screens made of lattice-work; and since everything is kept wide open during the day-time one can look right into the rooms from the street. in the summer the japanese make their home in the streets, and we are told that then the most intimate family scenes are enacted in the open air. i am of opinion that this, far from pointing to a want of morality, is really the outcome of a highly developed code of morals. things which are perfectly natural in themselves are treated as such, and are therefore not hidden from the light of day.... " ... at a.m. on march rd we arrived at kobe, where we had to spend several days. "our trip is now approaching its end; at least, we now experience the pleasant feeling that we are daily nearing home. what will it look like when we get back? at almost every port of call some sad news has reached us, and our stay at kobe was entirely overshadowed by my grief at the loss of my old friend laeisz. even now i cannot realize that i shall find his place empty when i return...." the brief statement in which ballin summarized the results of his trip from a business point of view is appended:-- "among the business transacted during my trip the following items are of chief importance: "( ) the establishment of a branch of our company at hongkong. "( ) the acquisition of the imperial mail packet service to shanghai, tsingtau, and tientsin, formerly carried on by messrs. diedrichsen, jebsen and co. "( ) the acquisition of the yangtse line, hitherto carried on by the firm of rickmers. "( ) the joint purchase with the firm of carlowitz and messrs. arnhold, karberg and co. of a large site outside shanghai harbour intended for the building of docks and quays, and the lease of the so-called eastern wharf, both these undertakings to be managed by a specially created joint-stock company. "( ) the establishment of temporary offices at shanghai. "( ) in japan discussions are still proceeding concerning the running of a line from the far east to the american pacific coast. "( ) in new york negotiations with the representative of the firm of forwood are under way regarding the purchase of the atlas line." this list summarizes the contents of a long series of letters from all parts of the world where ballin's keen insight, long foresight, and business acumen suggested to his alert mind possibilities of extending packetfahrt shipping interests. time translated many of his suggestions into flourishing actualities, some of which survived the - years; others disappeared in the cataclysm; others, again, by the lapse of time have not the keen general interest that appertained to the ideas when they fell fresh-minted from his pen. the following, however, in regard to china and japan, are worthy of record: "_shanghai._ _march th, ._ "i am not quite satisfied with the course which the negotiations concerning the possible inauguration of a yangtse line have taken so far. "the vessels employed are of the flat-bottomed kind, some being paddle boats, others twin-screw steamers. in their outward appearance the yangtse steamers, owing to their high erections on deck, greatly resemble the saloon steamers plying on the hudson. their draught rarely exceeds feet, and those which occasionally go higher up the river than hankau draw even less. most of the money earned by these boats is derived from the immense chinese passenger traffic they carry.... the chief difficulty we have experienced in our preparations for the opening of a yangtse line of our own consists in the absence of suitable pier accommodation...." "_on board the s.s. sibiria on the yangtse._ _march th, ._ " ... after what i have seen of nanking, i am afraid that the development of that place which is being looked forward to will not be realized for a fairly long time to come. matters are quite different with respect to chin-kiang where we are stopping now, a port which is even now carrying on a thriving trade with the interior parts of the country. it can scarcely be doubted that, if the celestial empire is thrown open to the western nations still more than has been done up to now, the commerce of the yangtse ports is bound to assume large proportions. during the summer months, i.e. for practically two-thirds of the year, the yangtse is navigable for ocean-going steamers of deep draught, even more so than the mississippi. at that time of the year the volume of water carried by the river increases enormously in certain reaches. this increase has been found to amount to as much as feet, and some of the steamers of the russian volunteer fleet going up to hankau possess a draught which exceeds feet...." "_on board the sibiria between_ tsingtau and japan. _march th, ._ " ... we arrived at tsingtau on the morning of march th. the impression produced by this german colony on the new-comer is an exceedingly favourable one. everywhere a great deal of diligent work has been performed, and one feels almost inclined to think that the building activity has proceeded too fast, so that the inevitable reaction will not fail to take place. looked at from our shipping point of view, it must be stated that the work accomplished looks too much like wilhelmshaven, and too little like hongkong. it was, of course, a foregone conclusion that in the development of a colony which is completely ruled by the admiralty the naval interests would predominate. however, there is still time to remedy the existing defects, and i left kiautschou with the conviction that a promising future is in store for it. only the landing facilities are hopelessly inadequate at present; and as to the accommodation for merchant vessels which is in course of being provided, it would seem that too extensive a use has been made of the supposed fact that mistakes are only there in order to be committed, and that it would be a pity not to commit as many as possible...." "_on board the s.s. empress of china between_ yokohama and vancouver. _april th, ._ " ... in the meantime i have had opportunities of slightly familiarizing myself in more respects than one with the conditions ruling in japan. "the country is faced with an economic crisis. encouraged by a reckless system of credit, she has imported far more than necessary; she is suffering from a shortage of money, which is sure to paralyse her importing capacities for some time to come. "it seems pretty certain too, that future development will be influenced by another and far more serious factor, viz.: the ousting of the german by the american commerce from the japanese market. the exports from the united states to japan have increased just as much as those to china.... i cannot help thinking that in the coming struggle america will enjoy immense advantages over us; but you must permit me to postpone the presentation of a detailed statement showing my reasons for thinking so until my return to hamburg.... i believe we shall be well advised to establish as soon as possible a service between the far east and the pacific coast of america...." in far-reaching alterations were made in the relations existing between the hamburg-amerika linie and the north german lloyd, which had become somewhat less friendly than usual in more respects than one; and in particular the agreement concerning the far eastern services of both companies was subjected to some considerable modifications. the year is also remarkable for an event which, although not of great importance from the business point of view, is of interest in other respects. this event was the establishment of business relations with a danish company concerning, in the first place, the west indian trade, and later that with russia also. the danish concern in question was the east asiatic company, of copenhagen. the founder of this company was a mr. andersen, one of the most successful business men known to modern commercial enterprise, and certainly not only the most successful one of his own country, but also one of high standing internationally. when still quite young he founded a business in further india which, although conducted at first on a small scale only, he was able to extend by the acquisition of valuable concessions, especially of teak-wood plantations in siam. in course of time this business developed into a shipping firm which, owing to the concessions just mentioned, was always in a position to ship cargo of its own--an advantage which proved inestimable when business was bad and no other freight was forthcoming. when mr. andersen returned to europe he continued to enlarge his business, making copenhagen its centre. he enjoyed the special patronage of the danish royal family, and afterwards also that of the imperial russian family. his special well-wisher and a partner of his firm was the princess marie of denmark, who became known in the political world because she incurred the enmity of bismarck, chiefly on account of her attempt to stir up ill feeling between the iron chancellor and tsar alexander iii. bismarck, in the second volume of his memoirs, describes how he succeeded in circumventing her plans through a personal meeting with the tsar. it was the exceptional business abilities of the princess marie which brought mr. andersen into contact with the russian imperial family. it is typical of the common sense of the princess and of her unaffected manners that she arrived at the offices of the hamburg-amerika linie one day without having been previously announced; and as she did not give her name to the attendant outside ballin's private office, he could only tell him that "a lady" wanted to see him. the two letters addressed to ballin which are given below are also illustrative of her style. "my dear sir, "_january th_, . "i hope you will excuse my writing in french to you, but you may reply to me in english. i have had a chat with director andersen, who told me that your discussions with him have led to nothing. i greatly regret this, both for personal reasons and in the interests of the business. i am convinced that your negotiations would have had the desired result if it had not been for some special obstacles with which this new company had to contend. it is such a pity that mr. andersen had to attend to so many other things. if you and he alone had had to deal with it, and if it had been purely a business matter, the agreement would certainly have been concluded at once. perhaps you and andersen will shortly discover a basis on which you can co-operate. i personally should highly appreciate an understanding between my company and yours if it could be brought about, so that you could work together hand in hand like two good friends. you _must_ help me with it. mr. andersen was so charmed with your amiability when he came back. one other thing i must tell you, because i possess sufficient business experience to understand it, and that is that both he and i admire you as a man of business. i should be delighted if you could come here; but i request you to give a few days' notice of your arrival. wishing you every success in your undertakings and the best of luck during the new year, "i remain, yours faithfully, (_signed_) "marie." "my dear director, "_february th, ._ "i am so delighted to hear from mr. andersen that his company and yours intend to co-operate in the danish west indies and in russia to your mutual interest. i have always held that such an understanding between you and mr. andersen would lead to good results, and you may feel convinced that i shall extend to you not only my personal assistance and sympathy, but also that of my family, and that of my russian family, all of whom take a great interest in this matter. i am looking forward to seeing you in hamburg early in march on my way to france. with my best regards, "yours faithfully, (_signed_) "marie." in june, , after the close of kiel week, ballin paid a visit to copenhagen. there he met the princess marie and the king and queen of denmark, and was invited to dine with them at bernstorff castle. the business outcome of the negotiations was that in a joint service to the west indies was established between the hamburg-amerika linie and the danish west indian company. four of the big new steamers of the latter were leased to the packetfahrt, and operated by that company, which thus not only increased the tonnage at its disposal, but also succeeded in eliminating an unnecessary competition. at the same time the packetfahrt bought the larger part of the shares of the russian east asiatic s.s. company owned by the danish firm. the object of the purchase was to establish a community of interests with the russian company. the kaiser took great interest in this scheme, and during his visits to copenhagen in and mr. andersen reported to him on the subject. it was intended to bring about close business relations between germany, russia, and denmark for the special purpose of developing russian trade, and to organize the russian east asiatic s.s. company on such lines as would make it a suitable instrument to this end. it is to be regretted that the community of interest agreement then concluded was not of long duration. the russian bureaucracy made all sorts of difficulties, and it is possible that the representatives of the hamburg-amerika linie in russia did not display as much discretion in their dealings with these functionaries as they ought to have done. at any rate, the packetfahrt was so little satisfied with its participation in this russian concern that it re-sold its rights to the interested copenhagen parties in , not without incurring a considerable loss on the transaction. the west indies agreement automatically lapsed when the packetfahrt acquired sole possession of the four danish steamers. later on some sort of co-operation with the russian company was brought about once more by the admission of that company to the transatlantic steerage pool. the packetfahrt also had an opportunity of profiting from the technical experience gained by the danish east asiatic company, which was the first shipping concern to specialize in the use of motor-ships. it was enabled to do so by the support it received from the shipbuilding firm of messrs. burmeister and wain, of copenhagen, who had applied the diesel engine, a german invention, to the propulsion of ships, and who subsequently built a fleet of excellent motor-ships for the east asiatic company. one of these vessels was afterwards acquired by the hamburg-amerika linie for studying purposes. the new type of vessel proved exceedingly remunerative during the war, as it made the owners independent of the supply of british bunker coal, and relieved them of the numerous difficulties connected with obtaining it. this great practical success of the danish shipbuilders became possible only because they applied themselves consistently to the development of one particular type of engine, whereas in germany endless experiments were made with a great variety of different types which led to no tangible results. it was only when the war came, and when the building of numerous submarines became necessary that german engineering skill obtained a chance of showing what it could do, and then, indeed, it proved itself worthy of the occasion. in war broke out between russia and japan, an event which exercised such an influence on the packetfahrt that it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the rapid progress the company made during the next few years amounted to a re-birth. the war provided the company with a chance to sell a large number of its units at a considerable rate of profit, and the contract concluded with the russian government for the coal supply added enormously to its revenues. the russian government partly converted the purchased steamers into auxiliary cruisers for the purpose of checking and disorganizing japanese sea-borne trade, and it partly used them to accompany its baltic fleet on its way to the far east. as an illustration of the magnitude and the complexity of this transaction, it may be permitted to quote a few extracts from ballin's notes referring to it: "_may, ._ "much though my time has been occupied by the hungarian affair (the competition of the cunard line in hungary), and great though the strain on my nerves has been on that account, i must say that much bigger claims are made on my time and on my nerves by the negotiations we are now carrying on with the russian government concerning the sale of some of our steamers. on christmas day i sent some representatives to petrograd who were to approach the government in case it intended to acquire any merchant vessels for purposes of war. these gentlemen are still staying at petrograd, where they have been all the time with the exception of a few weeks, and we have carried on some extremely difficult negotiations by cable which so far have led to the definite sale of the _fürst bismarck_ and the _belgia_. the _auguste victoria_, which is still in dock until the necessary repairs have been executed, has also been sold to russia, and the prospects that the _columbia_ will follow suit are extremely good. "the sales, of course, necessitate large alterations of the existing schedules, and they lead to a great deal of inconvenience. a particularly awkward situation has been brought about by the circumstance that the _fürst bismarck_ has been chartered to the firm of thos. cook and sons for an excursion from marseilles, in which members of a sunday school are to take part, so that, in order to release her, it has become necessary for the _augusts victoria_ to interrupt her usual trip to the near east, and for the _columbia_ to take her place.... "our big coal contract with the russian government has, in the meantime, been considerably added to. the execution of the contract, however, is causing me a great deal of anxiety, as the english press, notably _the times_, is only too glad to make use of this circumstance as a pretext for rousing suspicions as to germany's neutrality. as our government is not taking up a very firm attitude, the effect of these articles, of course, is highly disagreeable. on friday, september rd, i had an opportunity of discussing this matter with the imperial chancellor at homburg. the chancellor did not disguise the anxiety he felt concerning these contracts, especially as he had just then received a long telegram from the german ambassador in tokio advising him to proceed with much caution. i told the chancellor that he need not study in any way the damage which our company might suffer; that we did not ask that any regard should be paid to our business interests in case these should clash with those of the country, and that, if the government were of opinion that the interests of the country necessitated the cancelling of the whole agreement, i should be glad to receive instructions from him to that effect. failing such instructions, of course, i was not entitled to cancel a contract which was in every respect a properly drawn-up legal instrument. at the same time i pointed out to the chancellor that germany, if he thought that he had reason to adopt such an attitude, would run the risk of offending both antagonists; for it was but reasonable to expect that, owing to the agitation carried on by the british, no action on germany's part would cause a change of feeling in japan, but that it would be a fatal blow to russia, whose baltic fleet in that case would simply be unable to reach the far east. "from frankfort i went to berlin in order to discuss the question of the coal contract with the foreign office, which the chancellor had requested me to do. i had a long conference with richthofen.... " ... _october st, ._ meanwhile our negotiations with the russian government have made good progress, and practically the whole of my time is taken up with these transactions, which have given us a very exciting time. they compel me to go to berlin pretty frequently, as i consider it both fair to the foreign office and advisable in our own interests that the former should always be fully informed of all the steps i am taking. several of our gentlemen are constantly travelling from hamburg to petrograd, and conferences of our directors are held nearly every morning, necessitated by the telegrams which arrive from petrograd practically every day. in order to be in a position to carry out the coal contracts, we have been obliged to charter a large number of steamers, so that at times as many as of these are employed in this russian transaction. besides the old express steamers and the _belgia_ we have now sold to the russians the _palatia_ and the _phoenicia_, as well as nine other boats of our company, including the _belgravia_, _assyria_, and _granada_ (the remaining ones are cargo vessels, mostly taken out of the west indies service), but as regards these latter, we have reserved to ourselves the right of redemption.... we have successfully accomplished the great task we had undertaken, although, owing to the absence of coaling stations, it was thought next to impossible to convey such a huge squadron as was the baltic fleet all the way from european to far eastern waters. it safely reached its destination, because the previously arranged coaling of the vessels was carried out systematically and without a hitch anywhere, although in some cases it had to be done in open roadsteads. its inglorious end in the korea straits cannot, and does not, diminish the magnitude of the achievement; and the experiences we have gained by successfully carrying out our novel task will surely prove of great value to the government. this whole coaling business has been a source of considerable profits to our company, although if due regard is paid to the exceptional character of the work and to the unusual risks we had to run, they cannot be called exorbitant." a few statistics will show what the whole undertaking meant to the hamburg-amerika linie from a business point of view. during the years and the company increased its fleet by no less than steamers--partly new buildings and partly new purchases--representing a value of - / million marks. to these new acquisitions must be added the steamers then building, of a value of million marks, amongst them the two big passenger steamers _amerika_ and _kaiserin auguste victoria_ for the new york route, and other big boats for the mexico, the river plate, and the far east services. a large fraction of the sums spent on this new tonnage--viz. no less than million marks--represented the profits made on the sales of ships; another large portion was taken out of current earnings, and the remainder was secured by a debenture issue. never again, except in , has the company added such an amount of tonnage to its fleet in a single year as it did at that time. but the "re-birth" of the company did not only consist in this augmentation of tonnage, but also, and chiefly, in the entire reorganization of its new york service by the addition to its fleet of the _amerika_ and the _kaiserin auguste victoria_. this event meant that the era of the express steamers was being succeeded by one characterized by another type of vessel which, though possessing less speed, was mainly designed with a view to securing the utmost possible comfort to the passengers. the two steamers proved exceedingly remunerative investments, and added enormously to the clientèle of the company. the profits earned on the russian transaction also made up to a large extent for the losses incurred in the keen rate war with the cunard line then in progress. in spite of this rate war the company was able to increase its dividend to per cent. in , and to per cent. in . another event which took place in was the conclusion of a contract with the german government concerning the troop transports to german south-west africa, and the year witnessed the settlement of a short-lived conflict with the north german lloyd. this conflict attracted a great deal of attention at the time, and the kaiser himself thought fit to intervene with a view to terminating it. when it was seen that german commercial interests in the middle east had considerably increased, the hamburg-amerika linie opened a special line to the persian gulf in . the year is chiefly remarkable for a rate war affecting the services from hamburg to the west coast of africa, of which until then the woermann line had considered itself entitled to claim a monopoly. the african shipping business had been jealously nursed by its founder, adolph woermann, who had always tried hard to guard this special domain of his against the encroachments of all outsiders. however much ballin and adolph woermann differed in character, they were akin to each other in one essential feature--viz. the jealous love they bore to the undertaking with which they had identified themselves. both men, grown up in absolutely different environments, yet resembled each other in the daring and the fearlessness with which they defended the interests of their businesses. the one had trained himself to employ moderation and commonsense to overcome resistance where the use of forcible means promised no success; the other was a pioneer in the colonial sphere, a king in his african empire, the discoverer of new outlets, but broken in spirit and bereft of his strength when compelled by circumstances to share with others. when adolph woermann had died, ballin honoured his memory by contributing to the public press an appreciation of his character, which is perhaps the best that has been written, and which ought to be saved from being forgotten. this fact, it is hoped, will be sufficient justification for reproducing in this connexion a translation of ballin's article: "the late adolph woermann was a man whom we may truly describe as the ideal of what a hanseatic citizen should be. secretary of state dernburg himself once told me that he knew quite well that the work he was doing for the benefit of our colonies would never come up to what adolph woermann had achieved in the face of the greatest imaginable difficulties. "never before, perhaps, has any private shipowner displayed so much daring as we see embodied in the business he has built up through his labours. woermann has developed the means of communication between germany and her african colonies to such perfection that even the similar work performed by british shipping men has been overshadowed. he has done this without receiving any aid from the government; in fact, he had to overcome all sorts of obstacles which were put in his way by the bureaucracy. his confidence in his work was not shaken when losses had to be faced. then, more than ever, he had his eyes firmly fixed on his goal; and practically every vessel which he had built to facilitate communication between the german mother country and her colonies represented a fresh step forward towards a higher type, thus increasing the immense personal responsibility with which he burdened himself. his patriotism was of the practical kind; he did his work without asking for the help of others, especially without that of the government. "and now he has died in bitter disappointment. his striking outward appearance has always reminded us of the iron chancellor, but the similarity in the character of the two men has only become apparent during the last few years. it is well known that when the troubles in the colonies had been settled he was accused of having enriched himself at the expense of the country. he never lost his resentment of this accusation; and even though his accusers can point to the fact that the court which had to investigate the claims put forward by the government gave judgment to the effect that some of these claims were justified, it must be said in reply that this statement of the case is inadequate and one-sided. all that was proved was that woermann, who hated red tape, and who never had recourse to legal assistance when drawing up his agreements, did not use as much caution in this matter as would have been advisable in his own interest. the facts that have become known most clearly disprove the accusation that he had made large profits at the expense of the country, and that he had used the country's distress to enrich himself. to the task of carrying out the troop transports he devoted himself with his customary largeness of purpose, and he accomplished it magnificently. in order to be able to do so, he had enlarged his fleet by a number of steamers, and the consequence was that, when the work was achieved, he had to admit himself that he had over-estimated his strength. when my late colleague dr. wiegand, the director-general of the north german lloyd, and i were asked to express an expert opinion on the rates which woermann had charged the government, we found them thoroughly moderate; in fact, we added a rider to the effect that if either of our companies had been entrusted with those transports, we could only have carried out a very few expeditions at the rates charged by woermann. woermann, however, carried through the whole task; and when it was done he found himself compelled to pass on to the shoulders of the hamburg-amerika linie part of the excessive burden which he had taken upon himself. "his iron determination would have enabled him to dispense with the assistance thus obtained. but by that time his accusers had commenced their attacks on his character, and when the government had officially taken up an attitude against him, he became a prey to that resentment to which i have referred before. all those who had the privilege of being associated with him during the past few years must have noted with grief how this great patriot gradually became an embittered critic. the heavy blow also led to the breakdown of his health, and during the last years of his life we only knew him as a sick man. "if it is borne in mind how strong, how masterful, and how self-reliant a man has passed away with adolph woermann, it is sad to think that in the end he was not strong enough after all to bear on his own shoulders entirely the immense burden of responsibility which he had taken upon himself, and that he received nothing but ingratitude as the reward of his life's work, although he was actuated by truly patriotic motives throughout. still, this shall not prevent us from acknowledging that he was the greatest, the most daring, and the most self-sacrificing private shipowner whom the hanseatic cities have ever produced--a princely merchant if ever there was one. he was a true friend and an earnest well-wisher to the city in which he was born, and to the country which he served as a statesman. we are sincerely grateful to him for the work he has done, and in honouring his memory we know that we are paying tribute to the greatest hanseatic citizen who had been living in our midst." to complete the enumeration of the many rate wars which occurred during the first decade of the twentieth century, we must make brief reference to the competition emanating in from the so-called "princes' trust" (fürstenkonzern) and its ally, viz. a hamburg firm which had already fought the woermann line. the object of the fight was to secure the business from antwerp to the plate. the struggle ended with the acquisition of the shipping interests of the princes' trust, the business career of which came to a sudden end shortly afterwards by a financial disaster causing enormous losses to the two princely families concerned--the house of hohenlohe and that of fürstenberg. the details connected with this affair are still in everybody's memory, and it would be beyond the scope of this volume to enter into them. it should be mentioned, however, that in connexion with the settlement arrived at the two big companies undertook to start some transatlantic services from the port of emden, and in particular to establish a direct line for the steerage traffic to north america. the necessary arrangements to this end had just been made when the war broke out, and further progress became impossible. the transatlantic pool was considerably extended in scope during those years. more than once, however, after the rate war with the cunard line had come to an end, the amicable relations existing between the lines were disturbed, e.g. when the russian volunteer fleet opened a competing service--a competition which was got rid of by the aid of the russian east asiatic s.s. company; when some british lines temporarily withdrew from the steerage pool, and when some differences of policy arose between the hamburg-amerika linie and the north german lloyd. the hamburg company demanded a revision of the percentages, contending that the arrangements made fifteen years ago no longer did justice to the entirely altered relative positions of the two companies. the discussions held in london in february, , under ballin's chairmanship, which lasted several days, and in which delegates of all the big continental and british lines, as well as of the canadian pacific railway company took part, led to the formation of the atlantic conference (also known as the general pool). it was supplemented in the following year by that of the mediterranean conference. both these agreements were renewed in , and further agreements were concluded with the russian and scandinavian lines to complete the system. agreements on so large a scale had never before been concluded between any shipping companies. this network of agreements existed until it was destroyed through the outbreak of the war. during the fluctuating conditions which characterized the shipping business of those years the year witnessed a depression which, in its after-effects, is comparable only to that caused by the cholera epidemic sixteen years earlier. business had been excellent for a fairly long time, but it became thoroughly demoralized in the second half of , and an economic crisis of a magnitude such as has seldom been experienced began to affect every country. no part of the shipping business remained unaffected by it; hundreds and hundreds of ocean-going liners lay idle in the seaports of the world. very gradually prospects began to brighten up in the course of , so that the worst of the depression had passed sooner than had been expected. indeed, in one respect the crisis had proved a blessing in disguise, inasmuch as it had strengthened the inclination of the shipping concerns everywhere to compromise and to eliminate unnecessary competition--the formation of the general pool, in fact, being the outcome of that feeling. the subsequent recovery made up for the losses; and the succeeding years, with their very gratifying financial results, and their vast internal consolidation, represent the high-water mark in the development of the hamburg-amerika linie. shortly after the end of the depression a renewed spell of building activity set in. first of all a new cargo steamer, possessing a burden of , tons--which was something quite unusual at the time--was ordered to be built by messrs. harland and wolff, at a price which was also unusually low. it almost created a record for cheapness; and the courage of the builders who accepted such an order at such terms was greatly admired. a german yard--the vulkan, of bremen--then came forward with a similar offer, because the german shipbuilders, too, were glad to provide their men with work. the result of the combined labour of both these firms was a type of cargo boat which proved extremely useful, especially in the far eastern trade, and which represented a good investment to the company. gradually the other branches of the business began to increase their activity, and the service to north america especially received the close attention of the company's management. meanwhile, other shipping companies had added some vessels of the very highest class to their fleets. the two big turbine steamers of the cunard line, the _lusitania_ and the _mauretania_, had attracted many passengers, and the white star line had the mammoth liner _olympic_ building, which was to be followed by two others of the same type, the _titanic_ and the _gigantic_. the new cunarder, the _aquitania_, was to be of the same type, so that once more the public was offered the choice of steamers of a kind unknown until then. this competition compelled the packetfahrt to follow suit, and ballin commenced to evolve plans for the building of a new vessel which, of course, had to surpass the highest achievement of the competing lines, i.e. the _olympic_. thus, in co-operation with the vulkan yard, of stettin, and with messrs. blohm and voss, of hamburg, the plans for the three steamers of the "imperator" class were designed. the competition among the various yards had been extremely keen, and the vulkan yard secured the order for the building of the first unit of this class, the _imperator_. from the point of view of speed, these new vessels resembled the fast steamers of the older kind; with regard to their equipment, they represented a combination of this type and that of the _kaiserin_, but from the business point of view they were quite a novelty, as the basis of their remunerativeness was no longer the cargo and steerage business, but the cabin business. if the booking of a certain number of cabins could be relied on for each voyage an adequate return would be assured. everything, therefore, was done to attract as many cabin passengers as possible. these vessels were a triumph of german shipbuilding and engineering skill; and the senior partner of messrs. blohm and voss, when the _vaterland_ was launched, stated with just pride that she was the biggest vessel in existence; that she was built on the biggest slip; that she had received her equipment under the biggest crane, and that she would be docked in the biggest floating dock in the world. the launching of the third and biggest of the three steamers, the _bismarck_, represented a red-letter day in the life of ballin and in the history of the company. nominally she was christened by the granddaughter of the iron chancellor, but actually by the kaiser. the bottle of champagne used for the purpose did not break when it left the young lady's hands; but the kaiser seized it, and with a sweeping movement of the arm hurled it against the stem of the huge vessel. to remove as far as possible the last vestige of the unhappy estrangement between the kaiser and the chancellor had always been ballin's earnest desire. so it filled him with great joy when he was enabled to dedicate the greatest product of his life-work to the memory of the prince whom he admired intensely; and still more was he pleased when the kaiser consented to take part in the ceremony. he had often expressed his regret at the unfortunate stage management in connexion with the kaiser's visit to hamburg after the unveiling of the bismarck monument, when he was driven past it without an opportunity having been arranged for him to inspect it. such a course, ballin remarked, was bound to create the impression that the kaiser had intentionally been led past it. "i wish i had been permitted to speak to the kaiser about it beforehand," he told me afterwards. "i am sure he would have insisted upon seeing it." proper stage management plays so prominent a part in the life of royalty, and it can be of such great use in avoiding certain blunders and in hiding certain shortcomings that it is much to be regretted that the kaiser had so often to dispense with it. the entering into the packetfahrt's service of the "imperator" type of steamers represented an extraordinary increase in the amount of tonnage which the company employed on the new york route; and when the north german lloyd refused to allow the packetfahrt a corresponding addition to its percentage share under the pool agreement, which the packetfahrt believed itself justified in asking for, a conflict threatened once more to disturb the relations existing between the two companies. as a result the position of both was weakened in austria, where the government cleverly used the situation to its own advantage. apart from this, however, not much damage was done, as negotiations were soon started with the object of securing the conclusion of a far-reaching community of interest agreement which was not merely to be restricted to the transatlantic services of the two companies. if these negotiations could be brought to a successful issue, ballin thought that this would be the dawn of a new era in the contractual relations existing between shipping firms everywhere, because he believed that such development would not be confined to the german lines, but would assume international proportions. the agreements actually in force seemed to him obsolete--at least in part. that this should be so is but natural, as the factor which it is intended to eliminate by the terms of such agreements--man's innate selfishness--is, after all, ineradicable. "nature," in the words of the roman poet, "will always return, even if you expel it with a pitchfork." wherever a human trait like selfishness is to be kept within certain bounds by means of written agreements, it becomes necessary not only to make small improvements from time to time, but to subject the whole system to a thorough overhauling every now and then. many events affecting the progress of the company's business have no reference in these pages, but the reader can visualize the importance of albert ballin's life-work if he keeps before his mind the fact that while in the early part of the hamburg-amerika linie maintained but a mail service from hamburg to new york and four lines to mexico and the west indies, from that date to fifty new services were added to the existing ones. the fleet possessed by the hamburg-amerika linie in consisted of ocean-going steamers, totalling , g.r.t.[ ] by the end of these figures had increased to steamers and , , g.r.t. respectively. during the twenty-eight years vessels of , , tons had been added, either by new building or by purchase, and steamers of , tons had been sold. at the end of steamers of , tons were building, so that, including these, the total tonnage amounted to , , g.r.t. at that date. during the same period the joint-stock capital of the company had increased from to - / million marks, the debenture issues from · to · million marks, and the visible reserves from , , to , , marks. the working profits of the company during those twenty-eight years amounted to , , marks, , , of which were government subsidies received during the temporary participation in the imperial mail service to the far east. the average dividend paid to the shareholders was · per cent. per annum. this figure, to my thinking, proves that the biggest steamship company the world has ever known was to a small extent only a "capitalist enterprise." out of a total net profit of over millions, no more than million marks went to the shareholders as interest on their invested capital; by far the greater part of the remainder was used to extend the company's business, so that the country in general benefited by it. concerning one matter which played an important part in ballin's career, viz., the relations between his company and the north german lloyd, the reader may perhaps desire a more exhaustive account. there certainly was no want of rivalry between the two companies. one notable reason for this was the fact that at the time when ballin joined the packetfahrt the latter had fallen far behind its younger competitor in its development, both from the business and the technical point of view. the packetfahrt, in particular, had not kept pace with the technical progress in steamship construction, and the consequence was that, when the pool was set up, it had to content itself with a percentage which was considerably less than that allotted to the lloyd. the enormous advance made under the ballin régime naturally caused it to demand a larger share. at the same time the lloyd also increased its efforts more than ever before, and thus a race for predominance was started between the two big companies, which greatly assisted them in obtaining the commanding position they acquired as the world's leading shipping firms. i do not think this is the place to go into all the details of this struggle, and i shall confine myself to reproducing an article which ballin himself contributed in on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the north german lloyd. as this article throws several interesting sidelights on the development of transatlantic shipping enterprise, it may furnish a suitable conclusion to the account given in the present chapter: "the year is one which will stand out prominently in the history of our transatlantic shipping on account of the two anniversaries which we are going to celebrate during its course. on may th it will be sixty years since the hamburg-amerika linie was called into existence, and on february th the north german lloyd will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation. i suppose that a more competent pen than mine will present us on that day with a detailed account of the development of the great bremen shipping firm, and my only object in writing this article is to review in brief the period of more than twenty years during which i have had the pleasure of working hand in hand with our bremen friends. "until the year the two big companies, the lloyd and the packetfahrt, scarcely had any mutually profitable dealings with each other; on the contrary, their relations were characterized by open enmity. it is true that the attempts at a _rapprochement_, which were made from time to time, did in some cases lead to the conclusion of an agreement concerning certain rates to which both companies bound themselves to adhere, but they never lasted more than a short time, and ultimately, far from causing an improvement of the existing state of things, they left matters worse than they had been before. i think i may congratulate myself on being the first to have brought about a better understanding between the two companies which, in the end, paved the way to the establishment of a lasting friendship which has grown closer and closer during the past twenty years. "in , shortly after i had joined the hamburg-amerika linie, when i went to bremen in order to find out what could be done to lessen or, if possible, to remove altogether the competition between both companies, the conduct of the firm's business had passed from the hands of consul meier, who was getting on in years, into those of director lohmann. mr. lohmann was a man of unusual energy and possessed of a rare gift for organization. in the annals of international shipping his name will be for ever associated with the introduction into the north atlantic route of fast steamers under the german flag. he had been fortunate enough to meet with a congenial mind on the technical side in the head of the firm of messrs. john elder and co., the glasgow shipbuilders. at their yard, starting in , a series of fast steamers were built--the _elbe_, the _werra_, the _fulda_, the _saale_, the _trave_, the _aller_, and the _lahn_--which opened up a new and memorable era in the progress of the means of communication between the old world and the new. these boats proved of great benefit to the company financially, and they were also a considerable boon to the passengers owing to their speed and punctuality. i recollect talking to the chairman of a big british steamship company on board one of his steamers in new york harbour in , when the s.s. _lahn_, of the north german lloyd, steamed in. my british colleague, filled with admiration, glanced at his watch, touched his hat by way of salutation, and said with honest enthusiasm: 'wonderful boats; they are really doing clockwork.' he only expressed the sentiment felt by the travelling public generally; everybody appreciated their reliability and punctuality, and the excellence of their service. "director lohmann died very suddenly on february th, ; he had just concluded an address at a general meeting of the company held at the 'haus seefahrt' when he dropped down dead. during the last few years of his life he had not been well advised technically, and failed to adopt the twin-screw principle, as had been done by the hamburg company. thus, when the two fast single-screw steamers, the _havel_ and the _spree_, were built at stettin in , they were practically obsolete, because the travelling public by that time had come to prefer those of the twin-screw type, owing to the increased safety they afforded. "in consul meier retired from the chairmanship of the lloyd, to be succeeded--after the short reign of mr. reck--by mr. george plate. to mr. plate, if i am rightly informed, great credit is due for having secured the services of director-general dr. heinrich wiegand on the board of the company. "what the lloyd has achieved under the wiegand régime far surpasses anything accomplished in the past. "the hamburg-amerika linie, meanwhile, had been alive to the needs of the times; and the consequence was a healthy competition between these two steamship companies--by far the biggest the world has ever seen--practically on all the seven seas. this competition, by intelligent compromise, was restricted within reasonable limits, the guiding spirits of the two concerns consciously adopting the policy implied by the strategic principle: 'in approaching the enemy's position we must divide our forces; in attacking him we must concentrate them.' "it would not be correct to say that this atmosphere of friendship had never been clouded--it would, indeed, have been tedious had it been otherwise than it was. up to now, however, wiegand and i have always been able to maintain pleasant relations between our two concerns, and in the interests of both of them it is sincerely to be hoped that this spirit of mutual understanding will continue to animate them in the future." chapter vii the technical reorganization of the hamburg-amerika linie in another chapter of this book the big passenger boats of the hamburg-amerika linie have been described as the outcome of ballin's imaginative brain. this they were indeed, and in many instances it is scarcely possible to say how far the credit for having built them is due to the naval architect, and how far it is due to ballin. he was profoundly against employing _one_ system throughout, and on accepting the views of _one_ expert exclusively; and this aversion was so pronounced that he objected on principle to the nomination of any technical expert to the board of his company. the company, he said, is surely going to last longer than a lifetime or two. besides, it must try to solve the problem of perpetual youth, and therefore it cannot afford to run the risk of staking its fortune on the views held by one single man who is apt to ignore the progress of his science without noticing it. the same dislike of onesidedness induced him to encourage to the best of his capacity a healthy competition among the various shipyards, and to avail himself of the experiences gained not only by the german yards but by their british rivals also. at an early stage of his career close business relations were established between himself and messrs. harland and wolff, of belfast; and a personal friendship connected him with the owner of that firm, mr. (now lord) pirrie. acting upon the example set by the white star line, ballin made an agreement with messrs. harland and wolff as early as , by which the latter bound themselves always to keep a slip at the disposal of the packetfahrt. the reason which prompted ballin to make this arrangement was, as he explained to the board of trustees, that the company's orders for new construction and repairs had nowhere been carried out more satisfactorily and more cheaply than by the belfast yard, where all the new vessels ordered were built under a special agreement, i.e. at cost price with a definitely fixed additional percentage representing the profits and certain expenditure incurred by the builders. this arrangement enabled the packetfahrt to become acquainted with whatever was latest and best in british shipyard production, and, as it were, to acquire models which it could improve upon in german yards after they had been tested on actual service. some of the best and most important types of vessels which the packetfahrt has produced owe their origin to this system; and it is only fair to say that it exercised an entirely beneficial influence on the progress of the german shipbuilding industry, the prosperity of which is largely due to the fact that it has profited from the century-old experience gained by the british yards and by british ocean-shipping. ballin held the view that, just as the shipbuilding expert had to watch the progress of naval architecture and to make practical application of its results, and just as the merchant had to exploit this progress for the benefit of his business, the shipowner--especially the one who maintains a service of passenger boats--has the special task of making every step in the direction of further advance serviceable to the needs of the passengers. being himself, as has been pointed out elsewhere, gifted with a strong faculty for appreciating things beautiful, and raising no less high demands as regards the beauty and the comfort of all his surroundings, ballin constantly endeavoured to make use of all the results of his own observations and of his own experience for the greater comfort of the passengers. those who saw the finished products of his imagination, the beautifully appointed "floating hotels," hardly realized how many apparently insignificant details--which, after all, in their entirety make what we call comfort--owe their origin to his own personal suggestions. each time he made a sea voyage on board a steamer of his own, or of some other company, he brought home with him a number of new ideas, chiefly such as affected technicalities, and matters dealing with the personal comfort of the passengers. numerous entries in the notebooks which he carried on such occasions are there to serve as illustrations; the following items, for instance, are selected from those which he jotted down, roughly, on a voyage to new york some time in the 'nineties. they speak for themselves, in spite of their sketchiness: "list of moselle purveyors wants revision--notices on board to be restricted as much as possible, those which are necessary to be tastefully framed--sailing lists and general regulations to be included in passengers' lists--state cabin on board _kaiser friedrich_: key, latch, drawer; no room for portmanteaux and trunks; towels too small--_deutschland_: soiled linen cupboard too small--stewards _oceanic_ white jackets--celery glasses--butter dishes too small--large bed pillows--consommé cups--playing cards: packetfahrt complete name of firm--packetfahrt complete name on wehber's wine bottles--toast to be served in a serviette (hot)." rough notes such as these were used to serve ballin as the material underlying the detailed reports and instructions to the company's servants which he composed during the voyage, so that not even a long sea voyage gave him the unbroken spell of leisure he so badly needed. indeed, the longer it lasted the more chances did it provide for thoroughly inspecting the practical working of the steamer. many other reports are in my possession, but the one given will serve to emphasize the meticulous quality of observation he possessed, and how practical was his mind in regard to details of comfort and convenience, and the special climatic needs of different routes. even where the peculiar conditions obtaining in tropical climates were concerned--conditions with which he was personally quite unacquainted--he unfailingly discovered any defects that might exist, and also the means by which they could be remedied. ballin's connexion with the packetfahrt practically coincides with the whole of that period during which the immense progress of modern steamship building from humble beginnings to its present stage of development took place; with the only exception that the north german lloyd had already, before ballin joined the packetfahrt, established its services of fast steamers which were far ahead of those maintained by other shipping companies owing to their punctuality and reliability, and which ballin then set himself to improve upon and to excel. apart from this one type of vessel, the science of steamship construction, as seen from our modern point of view, was still in its infancy. in the steamships owned by the hamburg-amerika linie were mainly of two different types, viz., those used in the north atlantic service (principally on the new york route), and those used in the mexico-west indies service. the expansion of the packetfahrt's business after ballin had joined the company, and especially the addition of new services together with the increase in the number of ports of departure and of destination, made it necessary constantly to increase the size and the carrying capacity of the cargo boats, and the size and the speed of the passenger steamers, as well as to improve and to modernize the passenger accommodation on board the latter. all this, of course, considerably added to the cost price of the vessels, so that, as a further consequence, the facilities for loading and discharging them had to be improved and extended. four principal types of steamers may be distinguished in the development of the company's fleet, especially of that part of it which was engaged on the north atlantic route, where the main development took place. _type one_: fast steamers--twin screws, knots, , g.r.t.--possessing accommodation for passengers of all classes and provided with comparatively little cargo space, but comfortably and luxuriously appointed throughout. the three leading ideas governing their construction were safety, speed, and comfort; and progress was made to keep abreast of competing lines, until it culminated in the vessels of the "imperator" class. the _imperator_ was built in . they were quadruple screw turbine steamers, possessing no fewer than multitubular boilers each, and, as they were of a capacity of , gross register tons, they were nearly three times the size of the _deutschland_. _type two_: ships of medium speed and of considerable size, and therefore providing a high standard of comfort for passengers combined with ample facilities for cargo accommodation. _type three_: chiefly built as cargo boats, but in such a way that a part of their space could be utilized for the accommodation of a large number of steerage passengers. _type four_: cargo steamers without any passenger accommodation. the difference between the floating palaces of type no. in and those vessels which the hamburg-amerika linie possessed when ballin first entered upon his career as a shipping man was like that between day and night. a brief comparison of a few details will be the best means of illustrating the enormous progress achieved within less than the lifetime of a generation. the size of the vessels had increased from , to more than , tons; the speed from to nearly knots; the height of the decks from - / to feet in the lower decks, whilst that of the upper ones, as far as the social rooms were concerned, amounted to as much as feet. large portions of the upper decks were reserved for the social rooms, the finest of which--the ball-room--could challenge comparison with almost any similar room in any hotel ashore with respect to its size and to the magnificence of its furnishings and of its decoration. from a technical point of view, too, the construction of such a huge room on board a vessel, which possessed a floor space of , square feet, and a ceiling unsupported by any columns or pillars of any kind, was an unprecedented achievement. besides, there were immense dining-rooms for each class, smoking-rooms, ladies' saloons, a restaurant, a winter garden, a swimming pool, and numerous smaller rooms suitable for the relaxation and amusement of the passengers. on the older boats the arrangement was that the small cabins were all grouped round the one and only social room on board, so that the occupants of the cabins could hear all that was going on in the social room, and _vice versa_. the superficial area at the disposal of each passenger was gradually increased from square feet in the double cabins to square feet in the cabins of the _imperator_, so that the latter were really no longer mere cabins, but actual rooms. the suites-de-luxe comprised up to twelve rooms, the largest of which covered an area of square feet. it must not be thought, however, that the first-class passengers were the only ones for whose comfort the company catered. the other classes progressed proportionately in added comfort, space, and social facilities, not excepting the steerage. but by far the greatest improvements made were those in connexion with the enormous progress of the purely technical side of shipbuilding during the whole period under review. the more the vessels increased in size, the less were they liable to the pitching and rolling motion caused when the weather was rough. moreover, special appliances, such as bilge keels and bilge tanks, were employed to lessen these movements still more, even when the sea was high. the reciprocating engines gradually gave place to higher types, and later on turbines and oil-engines were also introduced. in addition to the propelling machinery a number of auxiliary engines were used which were of various kinds and for various purposes, such as the ventilation of the cabins and the other rooms, the generation of light, the services in connexion with the personal welfare of the passengers and with their safety whilst on board ship. instead of single bottoms, double bottoms were used, and the additional safety resulting therefrom was still further enhanced by dividing the space between the two by means of a whole network of partitions. the vessels of the "imperator" class, indeed, possessed practically a double shell, which formed an effective protection against the danger of collision. the lifeboats increased in size and in number, and their shape and equipment were improved. emergency lighting stations were arranged which could generate a sufficient amount of electric current if the ordinary supply should break down at any time. the whole vessels were divided into self-contained compartments by water-tight bulkheads, the doors of which could be automatically closed. this division into many compartments proved an effective protection against the risk of fire; but a number of special devices were also adopted to serve the same purpose, e.g. an extensive system of steampipes by which each single room could be rapidly filled with steam, so that the fire could be automatically extinguished. fire-proof material was used for the walls separating adjacent rooms and cabins, and, not content with all this, the company provided its mammoth liners with an actual fire brigade, the members of which were fully trained for their work. the most important improvements affecting the navigation of the steamers were the introduction of wireless telegraphy apparatus, the gyroscopic compasses, the system of submarine direction indicator signalling, and the substitution of two steering gears instead of one, not to mention a series of minor improvements of all kinds. the provisioning on board the german steamers was of proverbial excellence, the kitchen arrangements were modelled after those found in the big hotels, and were supplied with all manner of supplementary devices. the huge store rooms were divided into sections for those provisions that were of a perishable nature and for those that were not; and for the former refrigerating rooms were also provided in which the temperature could be regulated according to the nature of the articles. perhaps the most interesting development of the various types of steamers is that which type no. has undergone. it originated in great britain, whence it was taken over in . the first unit of this type added to the fleet of the packetfahrt was the _persia_, of , g.r.t., and a speed of knots, built to accommodate a number of cabin and steerage passengers, and to carry a considerable amount of cargo as well. these boats possessed many advantages over similar ones, advantages which were due to their size, their shape, and the loading facilities with which they were equipped. ballin immediately recognized the good points of this type, and he improved it until the vessels reached a size of , g.r.t., which still enabled them to travel at a speed of knots. they were twin-screw steamers, and were provided with every safety device known at the time. a still further improvement of this type was represented by the _amerika_ and the _kaiserin auguste victoria_, built in and respectively, luxuriously equipped throughout; by their large size--they possessed a capacity of very nearly , g.r.t.--extremely seaworthy, and as they could travel at the rate of - / knots, their speed was scarcely inferior to that possessed by the older type of fast steamers. from the point of view of actual remunerativeness they were far superior to the fast steamers, combining, as they did, all the earning possibilities of the passenger and of the cargo vessels. the development of the types comprising the cargo steamers went hand in hand with the expansion of international trade relations, and with the constant increase in the amount of goods exchanged between the nations. to a certain extent development was limited by the dimensions of the suez canal. still, improvements became possible in this respect too when the depth of the canal was increased to feet in , feet in , and feet in . ballin carefully watched this development, incessantly improving the existing types of his company's cargo boats, so that they should always meet the growing needs of sea-borne trade, and in some instances even anticipating them, until, when the war broke out, twin screw cargo boats of a capacity of , tons and possessing a speed of knots were being built for the company. in a brief outline such as this, it is not possible to enter into details concerning the expansion of the other lines which became affiliated to or otherwise associated with the packetfahrt in course of time. one special type, however, ought to receive a somewhat more detailed treatment in this connexion, viz., that of the excursion steamers. the running of pleasure cruises, originally nothing but a mere expedient to prevent the express steamers from lying idle during the dead season, gradually became an end in itself. the northern and mediterranean cruises were soon followed by others, e.g. those to the west indies and the pleasure trips round the globe. two special steamers, the _prinzessin victoria luise_, and the somewhat smaller and less sumptuous _meteor_, both of them equipped after the style of pleasure yachts, were built when it was found advisable to make this service independent of the fast steamers and the big passenger boats which had also been employed for this purpose. after the loss of the _prinzessin victoria luise_ she was replaced first by a british passenger boat that had been purchased, and then by the _deutschland_, specially reconditioned for her new purpose, and renamed _victoria luise_. both vessels were extremely popular with the international travelling public, and year after year they carried thousands of tourists to countries and places distinguished for the beauty of their natural scenery or for their historical and artistic associations. they were largely instrumental in constantly augmenting the number of those who formed the regular clientèle of the company. "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." in the realm of shipping it has always been customary for each company to profit by the experience gained and the progress made by its competitors. this applies to the packetfahrt and its management also; but in their case they have given infinitely more than they have received, and in the whole history of shipping there has never been one single person who has exercised a more stimulating influence on its technical progress than albert ballin. chapter viii politics notwithstanding the many business controversies in which ballin took an important part, it has occasionally been said that he was not really a "fighter." this statement may be allowed to pass quite unchallenged, provided that by the term "fighter" we mean a man whose habit it is to fight to the bitter end. ballin never indulged in fighting for its own sake, nor was it ever his object to see his vanquished opponent lie prostrate before him. such a mental attitude he, in his own drastic way, would have described as a "perverted pleasure." always and everywhere it was his aim to secure to himself and to those he represented the maximum benefit obtainable consistent with the realities of the situation, so that he has been justly described as "a man of compromise." this feature of his personality, indeed, forms the key-note both to his policy and to the principles on which it was based. perhaps in other spheres of economic activity it is possible for a struggle between two competing rivals to end in the complete victory of one of them; in the shipping business such an outcome is the exception but not the rule. there a really _weak_ opponent is never met with, unless one's rival happens to be exceptionally inexperienced or constitutionally unsound. the minor competitor, where shipping is concerned, is by no means always the less powerful of the two. on the contrary, the contest which inflicts small losses on him inflicts heavy losses on his big opponent, and may easily exhaust the latter first. the last few decades have witnessed the establishment of many new shipping firms under the auspices of national sentiment. governments and whole peoples have backed them, and in such cases private undertakings have found it difficult to compete. during his early training ballin had so thoroughly convinced himself of the necessity for co-operation and compromise in matters economic that this conviction became the corner-stone of his policy. he also made it his principle never to tie an unwilling partner to an agreement which the latter considered to be detrimental to his vital interests, and he would only approve of an agreement if both parties to it felt satisfied that they had done a good stroke of business by concluding it. the numerous "community of interest" agreements to which he signed his name established, the longer they lasted and the further they were extended, an increasingly intimate contact between the shipping firms all over the world, thus proving that the consistent application of his principles was justified by its success. in politics, too, he regarded this line of action as the only correct one. over and over again he described the world war as a "stupid war" or as the "most stupid of all wars," because its origin, the conflict between austria-hungary and serbia, was so utterly meaningless to the progress of the world. its actual outbreak was caused by the strained economic relations between hungary and serbia, or--to put it quite plainly--by the boycott of the serbian pig, a matter which was surely of no importance to the world's trade and traffic at large. "no bismarck was needed to prevent _this_ war," he often said when speaking of its immediate origin. this attitude of his does not mean that he shut his eyes to the deep-seated antagonisms which were at the back of these local squabbles, viz., the franco-russian coalition against germany, and the anglo-german rivalry. the latter he regarded as sufficient to turn the scale; if it could be adjusted a world war, he felt sure, would be avoided. the possibility of a universal conflagration had been pointed out to him by no less an authority than prince bismarck on the occasion of the latter's visit to hamburg, when he was shown over the express steamer of the packetfahrt that was to bear his name. "i shall not live to see the world war," bismarck told him; "but you will, and it will start in the near east." with ever-increasing anxiety, ballin noticed how, as a result of the german naval armaments, the anglo-german antagonism came into existence, and how in time the position became worse and worse. when the government, about the year , embarked upon its propaganda for the creation of a big navy, he lent it his active assistance, but in later years he strongly opposed the naval race with great britain, trying to the best of his ability to circumvent its disastrous consequences. the british argument against germany's naval programme was that a nation which owned one-third of the inhabited globe and intended to maintain its supremacy could not renounce its naval predominance. his knowledge of british mentality--gained, as it was, through many years of intercourse with the english--told him that this reasoning was certainly unassailable from the british point of view, and that england would fight for its recognition to the bitter end. therefore, he considered the situation could only be met by an anglo-german understanding. the failure of arriving at such a solution was probably caused--apart from personal motives--by the fact that in germany the spirit of compromise was not the predominant one, but that its place was taken by an exaggerated opinion of the country's own strength combined with a certain ignorance regarding foreign countries. this mental attitude is typical of the two factions which were all-powerful in germany at the time, viz., what might be called the old prussian aristocracy, and the representatives of the heavy industries. the common platform on which these two groups met was the policy to be pursued regarding customs tariffs, which, although it formed the basis of the economic greatness of germany, also prepared the way for serious international conflicts. during the war these two groups were in charge of what was meant to be the political policy of the country, but which was, in fact, nothing but an inferior substitute for it. ballin's international position is illustrated by the fact that he was the first to be approached in the matter of a projected anglo-german rapprochement, an affair which reached its climax with lord haldane's visit to berlin. owing to its historical interest this episode is worth a detailed account. the first steps in this direction date back as far as the year , and the ultimate breakdown of the project did not take place until the outbreak of the war. the british negotiator was sir ernest cassel, who, a native of germany, had settled in england when quite young, and who had become one of the world's most successful financiers. he was the intimate friend of king edward from the time when the latter was prince of wales, and he also acted as his banker and as his political adviser. the king visited his home almost daily during the last few years of his life to take part in a game of bridge. the motives which may have prompted sir ernest to lend his assistance and his great influence to an endeavour which aimed at an understanding between his adopted country and the land of his birth need not, in the case of a man so clever and so experienced, be very far to seek. sir ernest repeatedly referred to himself as a german, and as such he was deprived of his privy-councillorship during the war. thus it is quite likely that he might have been prompted no less by an inherited predilection for the one, than by an acquired preference for the other country. this very fact may also have enabled him to see matters with particular clearness of vision and without any prejudice. he and his friends reasoned somewhat along the following lines: the policy of king edward having led to a considerable strengthening of the position of france on the continent, there arose the danger of an armed conflict between the continental powers, especially as many points of dispute threatened at the same time to disturb the relations between germany and great britain. these differences were caused on the one hand by the political activities of germany as a world power, and on the other by her commercial and industrial expansion which bid fair to relegate great britain to a subordinate position. people in england regarded the want of a system of protection similar to the german protective tariffs as the real cause of this development, a want which retarded the progress of british industrialism, and which prevented british financiers from taking an active interest in these matters. the german financiers, however, exerted all their influence on behalf of the industrial expansion of their country, thus emancipating it more and more from foreign capital. the time during which the financing of the german industries by french money (the so-called french "pensions"), i.e. the discounting by french capitalists of bills drawn by german industrialists, played an important part, and even represented a serious menace in days of political tension, had only just passed, but, thanks to the increasing capital strength of germany, its effects had now quite ceased to make themselves felt. the advantage to great britain of an understanding with germany was that it would guarantee her maritime supremacy which she was resolved to maintain at any price, whilst at the same time reducing the burden of her naval armaments which, in her case, too, had become wellnigh insupportable. the liberal government then in power was particularly interested in such financial retrenchment, being quite aware that the time had arrived for the state to enter upon an era of social legislation. contact between ballin and the above-mentioned british groups was established through the agency of some friends of his connected with german high finance. the fact that the british selected ballin to start these negotiations is probably due to his well-known friendship with the kaiser, which suggested the possibility of approaching the german government--even if only by informal channels in the first instance. this first attempt, should it prove successful, might at any moment be followed up by direct negotiations between the two governments. in view of the traditional close connexion existing in england between business circles on the one hand, and the politicians, the parties, and the government on the other, such proceedings did not by any means imply a policy of backstairs, but might be relied upon to open up a way for sounding german official quarters in the most natural manner. the general tenor of anglo-german relations at that time was somewhat as follows. the visit of king edward to wilhelmshöhe and that of the german emperor and empress to windsor castle in the summer of had been of a very friendly character, and, together with other manifestations of friendship exchanged between various german and british societies, they had exercised a favourable impression on public opinion in both countries. but very soon this friendly feeling was replaced by one of irritation. great britain and russia had concluded an agreement concerning their frontiers in the middle east, and this led to questions in the reichstag as to whether german interests had been properly safeguarded. at the same time (in the summer of ) the hague conference came to an end without having led to an understanding regarding the limitation of armaments, which many people in england would have liked to be brought about. towards the end of the year the german government submitted to the reichstag a navy bill by which the life of the capital ships was to be reduced from to years. this was tantamount to asking for the cost of three new ships of the line. simultaneously a powerful propaganda for the navy was started, and when prince rupprecht of bavaria resigned the protectorate of the bavarian section of the navy league, because the league which at that time was presided over by the well-known general keim had engaged in party politics, his withdrawal had the undesirable effect of focusing public attention on the league's share in this agitation. this step, as was but natural, brought about a change in the chairmanship of the league. in england the agitation against germany in general, and against her naval policy in particular, became very violent in the early part of . in february _the times_ announced that the kaiser, for the express purpose of interfering with the british naval budget, had sent a letter to that effect to lord tweedmouth, the first lord of the admiralty. his lordship categorically denied in parliament that the document had any political character whatever, but in spite of this denial, and in spite of the support which he received from lord lansdowne and from lord rosebery, the matter produced a violent outburst of feeling on the part of the british press and public. during march, , both houses of parliament discussed german and british naval policy in great detail. in an article published by the _national review_, lord esher, the chairman of the imperial maritime league, demanded that for every keel laid down by germany, britain should lay down two, and general baden-powell described the danger of a german invasion as imminent. on the other hand, sir edward grey, the foreign secretary, emphasized in one of his speeches the point of view referred to above, viz. that a reduction of the naval burdens would also be desirable in the interest of britain, but that he could recommend such a policy only if the other governments consented to do the same. all these considerations might easily suggest to the clear-headed men of business on either side of the north sea how greatly it would be to the mutual advantage of both if a way could be found towards a limitation of naval armaments. the first interview between ballin and sir ernest cassel took place in the summer of , and ballin afterwards gave the kaiser a detailed account of it when the latter visited hamburg and kiel at the end of june. another report, based on material supplied by ballin, was composed by the chief of the press department of the foreign office, geheimrat hammann, for the use of the imperial chancellor and the foreign secretary, and in the absence of any original account by ballin himself, it may be permitted to give an outline of its contents below. sir ernest opened the conversation by saying that for a long time back he had desired to discuss the political situation simply in his capacity as a private person, and that he felt qualified to do so because of his intimate acquaintance with some of the leading personages and with politics in general. he would like to contribute his share towards the prevention of a dangerous development of the existing rivalry. the king felt very keenly that the rapid increase of the german naval forces constituted a menace to britain's maritime position. he was convinced, however, that his nephew would never provoke a wanton conflict, and that, in his heart of hearts, he loathed the horrors of war. although, therefore, during his--the king's--lifetime the danger of an anglo-german war was remote, it was nevertheless necessary that, when his son succeeded him, the latter should find britain's maritime position so strong that the kaiser's successor should be unable to assail it. when ballin interposed at this stage that the british navy, because of its unchallenged superiority in numbers, need not be afraid of the newly created naval power of germany, sir ernest replied that it was well known to british naval experts that the increase of the german navy was considerably greater than the official statements made in the reichstag would let it appear. undoubtedly the british navy would always preserve its superiority, not only numerically, but also technically with regard to material, construction, and armaments. nevertheless, the advantages possessed by the german system of manning the ships and the great efficiency of german naval officers justified an apprehension lest the german superiority in the human factor might outweigh the british superiority in tonnage. the boer war had taught england how difficult it was to conquer a high-spirited, though numerically weak enemy. he said that fear of the german danger formed the driving power of the whole policy of the entente, and that this policy was only meant to guard against that menace. therefore russia had been advised at the reval meeting to forgo the enlargement of her navy, and to concentrate all her energies on her army. upon sir ernest's intimation that at some date britain, together with france and russia, might inquire of germany when she intended to put a stop to her naval armaments, ballin replied that his friend, if he was anxious to render a really valuable service to britain and to the cause of peace, could do no better than make it perfectly plain that such an inquiry would mean war. germany would resist with her whole strength any such attempt which unmistakably suggested the methods employed at fashoda. during the progress of the interview sir ernest--who showed that he possessed excellent information concerning germany's finances--observed that the state of the same would render it very difficult for her to make war. in that connexion he pointed out the intimate bearing of international finance on political relations, and he emphasized how much the borrowing countries were dependent on the lending ones. still, even the creditor nations would sometimes be forced into an uncomfortable position, as was, for instance, the case with great britain after the united states had passed on to her the greater part of the japanese debt. in japan the disproportion between military burdens and economic strength was becoming more and more pronounced, and if the country were faced with the alternative of choosing between the total financial exhaustion of the people and a stoppage of the payment of interest, it would prefer to take the latter course. in london ballin was present at the constitutional club when a member of parliament made a speech in which he stated, with the general approval of his audience, that the position of britain was not really so good as the policy pursued by the entente might lead one to believe. the national balance-sheet had been much more satisfactory during the reign of queen victoria; the items now appearing on the credit side being partly bad debts incurred by spaniards, portuguese, and japanese, for whose political good behaviour britain paid far too high a price, and one should not allow oneself to be misled as to the value of these ententes by balance-sheets which were purposely kept vague. geheimrat hammann told ballin by letter that prince bülow, the imperial chancellor, and herr v. schön, the foreign secretary, were very grateful to him for his information, and that in the opinion of both gentlemen his reply to the suggestion concerning the stoppage of naval armaments was "as commendable as it was correct." meanwhile the kaiser had also supplied the chancellor with a general résumé of ballin's report to him. ballin's visit gave rise to an exchange of letters which it may not be inappropriate to reproduce in this place. by way of explanation, it should first be said that the sandjak railway project, to which reference is made in ballin's letter, had greatly agitated public opinion all over europe during the spring of . in february, count aehrenthal, the austrian foreign minister, at a committee meeting of the delegations, had announced the government's intention of constructing a railway line connecting the bosnian system with the town of mitrovitza in the sandjak (or province) of novi bazar. this announcement led to a violent outburst of the russian press, which described this project as a political _démarche_ on the part of austria in the balkans and as an interference with the macedonian reforms aimed at by the powers. in austria it was thought that germany would support her ally as a matter of course, and prince bülow, in an interview given to a journalist, tried to pacify the _novoie vremia_. he declared that the russian papers were absolutely mistaken when they alleged that the project was inspired from berlin, and he stated that austria, like her german ally, pursued none but commercial aims in the balkans. these remarks will be a sufficient explanation of the allusions contained in ballin's letter of july th, , which, after an expression of thanks for the hospitality extended to him, reads as follows: "by the way, the views i expressed to you on the matter of the sandjak railway are now completely borne out by the facts. both the kaiser and, later, prince bülow have given me positive assurances that the german government was just as much taken by surprise on hearing of this austrian project as were the london and petrograd cabinets. "i hope that our respective monarchs may soon meet now. there is nothing that we on our side would welcome more heartily than the establishment and the maintenance of the most friendly and most cordial relations between the two sovereigns and their peoples. the kaiser will not return home from his northern cruise and from his visit to the swedish royal court until the middle of august, but i think it is probable that the two monarchs may meet when king edward returns from marienbad, and that their majesties will then fix the date for the official return visit to berlin. i sincerely trust that this berlin visit will be of the utmost benefit to both countries." sir ernest cassel replied: "i also feel that the meeting of their majesties must produce a great deal of good, and, as i now hear, it will after all be possible to arrange for this meeting to take place on the outward journey of the king. i am still as convinced as ever that our side is animated by the same friendly sentiments as yours." the meeting between the kaiser and king edward which was suggested in these letters actually took place on august th at friedrichshof castle, when the king was on his way to ischl, and it was accorded a friendly reception in the german press. it was followed up by an exchange of equally friendly manifestations on the part of the peoples of both countries. mr. lloyd george, then chancellor of the exchequer, went to germany in august, , to study the german system of workmen's insurance against disability and old age, and british workmen came to visit german trade unions, and to gather information about german industrial conditions. official britain also pronounced herself in favour of an understanding between the two countries which mr. lloyd george described as the only means of relieving the european tension, and mr. churchill professed similar sentiments. shortly afterwards, however, at the end of october, an event took place which severely compromised the kaiser's policy, viz. the incident of the _daily telegraph_ interview. in this the kaiser, amongst other matters, bitterly complained that his friendship for england received such scant acknowledgment. as a proof of the friendly sentiments by which his actions were guided he stated that he, during the boer war, had refused the humiliating suggestion put forward by france and russia that the three powers conjointly should compel britain to put a stop to the war; that he had communicated this refusal to king edward, and that he previously had presented queen victoria with a plan of campaign mapped out by himself, to which the one actually pursued by britain bore a striking resemblance. with regard to germany's naval programme, he emphasized that his country needed a big fleet in order to command attention when the question of the future of the pacific was discussed. finally, with regard to anglo-german relations, the kaiser said that the middle and lower classes in germany did not entertain very friendly feelings towards england. the effect which this interview produced all over germany was one of profound consternation. its publication led to the well-known discussions in the reichstag in november, , during which the kaiser, to the great dismay of the nation, was staying at donaueschingen with prince fürstenberg, where he was hunting. in england, and abroad generally, people regarded this interview as proving a great want of consistency in the conduct of germany's foreign policy, and this impression was by no means changed when it became known that its publication was only due to an unfortunate oversight. the kaiser had sent the account of it, as he was bound to do by the constitution, to prince bülow, who was then staying at norderney. bülow, however, did not read it himself, but passed it on to the berlin foreign office to be examined. there, indeed, an examination took place, but only with a view to finding out whether it contained any errors of fact, and when this was proved not to be the case, it was marked to that effect, passed the various ministries without any further examination, and was published. this unfortunate chain of accidents did not, however, alter the fact that the kaiser ought to have been aware of the great political importance of his utterances. it has always been a chief fault of his to speak out too impulsively when it would have been politically more expedient to be less communicative. nor can the entourage of the sovereign be excused for not drawing his and the chancellor's attention to the great political significance of his utterances. the chancellor himself and the foreign office, profiting from their previous experiences with the kaiser and his appearances in public, ought to have used a great deal more circumspection, and it would have been well if the permanent officials in the foreign office had shown rather more political insight. the endeavours of the official circles to remove the tension existing between the two countries were not affected by the incident. on february th, , king edward and his queen paid their visit to berlin, thus bringing about the event which ballin in his letter of july th, , had described as so very desirable. to appreciate the importance of this strictly official visit, we must bear in mind the fact that it did not take place until the ninth year of the reign of king edward. this long postponement was no doubt due to a large extent to the estrangement between uncle and nephew, and this, in its turn, had its origin in the natural dislike which the kaiser felt for his uncle's mode of conducting his private life while still prince of wales. it would have been preferable, however, to relegate such personal likes and dislikes to the background where politics or business were concerned. british official comments emphatically underlined the significance of the visit, and the german press followed suit, although voices were not wanting to warn against any over-estimation of such acts of courtesy. the reply given in the reichstag by herr v. schön, the foreign secretary, to a question as to whether any suggestions had been put forward by great britain with respect to a reduction of naval armaments was very cool in its tone. his statement amounted to this: that no formal proposal for an understanding which might have served as a basis for negotiations had been received, probably for the reason that it was not customary among friendly powers to put forward any proposals of which it was doubtful to say whether they would be entertained. in spite of this cold douche and in spite of other obstacles, the promoters of an understanding, ballin and sir ernest cassel, did not cease their efforts in that direction. in july, , ballin paid a second visit to sir ernest, during which the political discussions were continued. on these latter he reported to the kaiser as follows: "my friend to whom i had intimated in a private letter written about a week earlier that it was my intention to visit him--at the same time hinting that, for my personal information, i should like very much to take up the threads of the conversation we had had a twelvemonth ago on the subject of the question of the navy--had evidently used the interval to supply himself at the proper quarters with authoritative information about this matter. during the whole of our long talk he spoke with extraordinary assurance, and every word seemed to be thought out beforehand. "at the commencement of our conversation i said to my friend that in view of the great excitement which reigned in england on account of the german naval armaments, and which was assuming a decidedly anti-german character, he would quite understand that i should desire to take up once more the interesting discussions which we had had on the same subject a year ago. i pointed out that this excitement--spread as it was by an unscrupulous press and fostered by foolish politicians--was apt to produce results altogether different from those which the government might perhaps consider it desirable to bring about within the scope of its programme. i emphasized the fact that, of course, i was merely speaking as a private citizen, reading with interest the english papers and the letters of his english friends, so that all my knowledge of the subject was derived from private sources. "a year ago, i said, my friend, in the clear and concise manner that distinguished him, had explained to me the need for an understanding between germany and britain governing the future development of their naval forces, at the same time requesting me to exert myself in that sense. this suggestion of his had not been made in vain. the fact that i had been successful in establishing complete concord amongst germans, british, french, italians, austrians, and a whole series of small nations on questions affecting their highly important shipping interests, and in replacing an unbridled and economically disastrous competition by friendly agreements to the benefit of each partner, was bound to make me sympathize with any measures that it was possible to take in order to bring about a similar result between the governments if only they were met in the right spirit. i, therefore, had made up my mind to submit such a plan to our government, but before doing so, it would be necessary for me to know whether britain still adhered to the principles which my friend had enunciated to me at our previous meeting. "sir ernest's reply was that as far as britain was concerned a great change had taken place during the interval, and that he was no longer able to endorse the views he had held at that time. the necessity for his country to maintain her supremacy on the sea at all hazards, and subject to no engagements of any kind, was now more clearly recognized than it had been a year ago. a one-sided understanding between germany and britain could no longer be thought of, since both austria and france had now voted large sums for the enlargement of their respective navies. austria would certainly be found on the german side, but france could by no means be said to be an asset on which it would be safe for britain to rely, to say nothing about the two 'dark horses,' russia and italy. if britain, in view of these uncertainties, were to permit germany to nail her down to a fixed programme, she would dwindle down to a fifth-rate power. germany possessed her overwhelmingly large army with which she could keep in check austria, italy, russia, and france, but britain had nothing but her navy to guarantee her existence as a world power and to safeguard the roads that linked her to her colonies. for many decades britain had enjoyed opportunities for accumulating big fortunes. these times, however, had now passed. during the reign of the emperor william ii, who, with a consistency which it would be difficult to praise too highly, had made his country a commercial power of world-wide importance, and who had raised german industrial enterprise and german merchant shipping to a condition of undreamt-of prosperity, britain sustained immense losses in her overseas commerce. british trade was declining, and there was no doubt but that in the long run britain would be compelled to abandon her principles of free trade. "the question of the austrian naval armaments appeared to trouble my friend more than anything, and this circumstance, combined with the doubtful attitude of russia and the uncertainty of the situation in france, was evidently a source of great anxiety to the king. my friend remarked in this connexion that in his opinion the moment chosen for the conclusion of an understanding was very favourable to german but very unfavourable to british interests. it was useless to talk of an agreement so long as an element of mutual fear had to be reckoned with. at present this fear manifested itself in britain in a manner which was most inopportune, so that it was bound to make the german public believe that britain would be ready to come to an understanding even if the terms of it were detrimental to her own interests. britain had got behindhand both with her commerce and with her naval programme. to fight her competitors in the world's trade with a fair chance of success was impossible for more reasons than one, but the elimination of the disadvantage from which she suffered with respect to her naval armaments was merely a question of money. the funds that were required to bring the british navy up to the necessities of the international situation would certainly be found, because they had to be found. "i told my friend that i was astonished to hear how completely his views had changed on these matters. not what he did say, but what he had left unsaid, made me suspect that official circles in england--partly, perhaps, through the fault of the german government--had arrived at the conclusion that the latter would refrain from a further strengthening of the navy after the existing naval programme had been carried out, and that it would merely content itself with the gradual replacement of the units as they became obsolete. such a proceeding could be justified only if the same plan were adopted by britain also. if, however, his remarks implied that in the opinion of his government the moment had now arrived for altering the ratio of naval strength existing between both countries by a comprehensive programme of new building, it would soon become evident that there were some flaws in that calculation. in view of any such intentions it was my opinion--which, however, was quite personal and unofficial--that germany would have to decide upon such an increase of her navy as would enable her to carry on a war of defence with the certainty of success. if, therefore, britain meant to go on building warships on a large scale, this would merely lead to an aimless naval race between the two countries. "these remarks of mine concluded our first conversation, and i accepted my friend's invitation to dine with him that evening in company with some prominent men of his acquaintance. "in the evening i was greatly surprised to see that i was the only guest present. my friend told me that, in order to be alone with me, he had cancelled his invitations to the other gentlemen, stating that he did not yet feel well enough to see them. it was obvious to me that he had, meanwhile, reported on the outcome of our conversation, and that the atmosphere had changed. this change had without doubt been brought about by my remarks concerning the necessity for a further enlargement of the german navy, if the action of britain compelled our government to take such a course. the long discussions that followed proved that this view of mine was correct in every detail. "sir ernest explained that the liberal cabinet had acted penny wise and pound foolish in dealing with the question of the navy. this was the conviction of the great majority of the british people, and this action had caused the feelings of apprehension and of hostility animating them. the liberal government had thus made a serious blunder, and had, in his opinion, prepared its own doom by doing so. he thought the days of the liberal party were numbered, and another party would soon be in office. anti-german feeling would be non-existent to-day if the liberal cabinet had not, because of its preoccupation with questions of social policy, neglected the navy. the whole matter was further aggravated by other questions of a political kind. france, on account of the french national character, had always been a doubtful asset to britain, and, considering the state of her internal politics, she was so now more than ever. germany, on the other hand, possessed a great advantage in that her military preponderance enabled her to rely with absolute certainty on her austrian ally. he would say nothing about russia, because he had never regarded the anglo-russian _rapprochement_ as politically expedient. "if it was admitted--and he thought this admission was implied by my remarks--that her colonial and her commercial interests made it imperative for britain to maintain an unchallenged supremacy on the seas, he felt certain that some reasonable men would, after all, be able to discover a formula which would make an understanding between both countries possible. a great difficulty, however, was presented by my often reiterated demand that britain must not abandon her principles of free trade. in questions such as these, she could, indeed, speak for herself, but not for her great colonies. history had proved that she lost her american colonies as soon as she tried to foist her own commercial policy on the colonists. he had no doubt that germany, despite the disagreeable surprises which she had experienced when adjusting the system of her imperial finances, possessed sufficient wealth to go on increasing her navy in the same proportion as britain. the great mistake committed by the liberal cabinet and by the other advisers of the king had been their assumption that financial considerations would prevent germany from carrying out her naval programme in its entirety. german prosperity had grown far more rapidly, he thought, than even the german government and german financial experts had believed to be possible. signs of it could be noticed wherever one went, and one would turn round in astonishment if, during the season, one heard the tourists in italy or in egypt talk in any language but german. he, at any rate, felt certain of germany's ability to keep pace with britain in the naval race, even if that pace was very greatly accelerated. "reasons of internal policy had convinced him that britain would not in any case abandon her free trade principles within a measurable period of time, and as it was not intended to conclude a perpetual agreement, but only one for a limited number of years, he thought it was not at all necessary that germany should insist upon her demand in connexion with this question. as the colonies enjoyed complete independence in these as in other matters, the difficulties would be insurmountable. in return for such a concession on germany's part, britain would doubtless be willing to meet the views of the german government in other respects. for these reasons he would be quite ready to change the opinion he had expressed in the morning, and to agree that it could produce nothing but good if either side were to appoint some moderate men for the purpose of discussing the whole question. such a meeting would have to be kept absolutely secret, and both parties should agree that there should be no victor and no vanquished if and when an agreement was concluded. this condition would have to be a _sine qua non_. "i promised sir ernest that i would use my best endeavours to this end when an opportunity should present itself, and we arranged to have another meeting in the near future. "there is no doubt but that my friend is an extremely well-qualified negotiator. i do not recollect that during my long experience, extending over many years, i have ever come across a man who could discuss matters for hours at a time with so much self-reliance, deliberation, and fixity of purpose." this report was passed on by the kaiser to herr v. tirpitz, the secretary for the navy, who not only expressed his approval of the project, but also recommended that the imperial chancellor, herr v. bethmann-hollweg, who had succeeded prince bülow on july th should be kept informed of all that was done to bring about an understanding. the chancellor, accordingly, was presented by the kaiser himself with a copy of ballin's report. this was the correct thing to do, as it avoided a _faux pas_ such as, during the chancellorship of prince bülow, had sometimes been made. future developments, however, proved that this step deprived the whole action of its spontaneity, and its immediate effect was that the secretary for the navy was relieved of all responsibility in the matter. ballin, in later days, summed up his views on this way of dealing with the subject by saying that if herr v. tirpitz had been left a free hand in the whole matter--if, for instance, _he_ had conducted it as imperial chancellor--it would hardly have turned out a failure. the main object of the negotiations that ballin had carried on was to ensure that a number of "experts and men of moderate views," i.e. naval experts in the first instance, should join in conference in order to discuss how, without injury to their relative fighting efficiency, both countries could bring about a reduction of their naval armaments. this plan was so simple and so obviously right that, had it been carried out as a preliminary to something else, and had the attention of the experts been drawn to the enormous political importance of their decision, success would have been assured. the procedure, however, which the chancellor adopted compelled him to combat the active opposition of the various departments involved even before a meeting of the naval experts could be arranged for, and this was a task which far exceeded the strength of herr v. bethmann-hollweg, the most irresolute of all german chancellors, the man to whom fate afterwards entrusted the most momentous decision which any german statesman has ever had to make. an interview between ballin and the chancellor was followed up, with the consent of the latter, by an exchange of telegrams between ballin and sir ernest cassel. from these it became clear that official circles in london were favourably disposed towards the opening of discussions in accordance with the terms laid down in ballin's report, and ballin approached the chancellor with the request to let him know whether he should continue to work on the same lines as before, or whether the chancellor would prefer a different method, by which he understood direct official negotiations. in a telegram to the chancellor he explained that in his opinion sir ernest's reference to the friendly disposition of official london implied that he was authorized to arrange the details about the intended meeting of experts. if, therefore, he went to england again, he would have to know what were the views and intentions of the chancellor. the reply of the latter, dated august th, was as follows: "many thanks for your welcome telegram, which has found my closest attention. i shall send you further details as soon as i have interviewed the gentlemen concerned, which i intend to do to-morrow and during the next few days." this reply clearly showed that the chancellor had made up his mind to deal with the matter along official lines and in conformity with his own ideas. the subsequent course of events is indicated by a letter of the chancellor to ballin, dated august st, in which he says: "i have to-day taken the official steps of which i told you. as sir ernest goschen[ ] and i have agreed to observe absolute secrecy in this matter, and as a statement of your friend to the british government to the effect that i had undertaken an official _démarche_, might possibly be regarded as an indiscretion, i suggest that if you inform your friend at all, you should word your reply in such a way that this danger need not be feared." this letter shows, and later events have also proved, that the guiding spirits of germany's political destiny were unable to meet on such terms as expediency would dictate the overtures of a man like sir ernest cassel, whose status and whose good intentions were beyond criticism. if, on receipt of this news, sir ernest, who had been working so hard for an understanding, was not entirely discouraged, it was no doubt due to the diplomatic skill with which ballin--who was a master of this art, as of so many others--interpreted the chancellor's rebuff when communicating it to his friend. that the latter's account of british feeling towards germany was perfectly unbiased, may also be inferred from another piece of news which reached ballin about the same time from a british source, and which reads as follows: "my only object in writing just now is to say that if there is any feeling in high quarters in your country favourable to coming to an understanding with this country concerning naval matters, i am quite satisfied from the inquiries i have made that the present would be an opportune time for approaching this question, and that the present government of this country would be found entirely favourable to coming to such an arrangement." however, by that time, the matter was in the hands of the various departments, and they proved unable to make a success of it. why they failed, and why the step which herr v. bethmann had taken with the british ambassador produced no results, are questions which can only be answered by reference to the files of the foreign office. mr. asquith, in a speech dealing with the british naval programme delivered on july th, , explained why no understanding with germany had been arrived at. "the german government told us--i cannot complain, and i have no answer to make--that their procedure in this matter is governed by an act of the reichstag under which the programme automatically proceeds year by year. that is to say, after the year - , the last year in which under that law four dreadnoughts are constructed, the rate of construction drops in the two succeeding years to two each year, so that we are now, we may hope, at the very crest of the wave. if it were possible, even now, by arrangement to reduce the rate of construction no one would be more delighted than his majesty's government. we have approached the german government on the subject. they have found themselves unable to do anything; they cannot do it without an act of the reichstag, repealing their navy law. they tell us--and no doubt with great truth--they would not have the support of public opinion in germany to a modified programme." as these statements have never been contradicted, it must be assumed that the departments concerned sheltered themselves behind the formal objection that, owing to public feeling, a repeal or a modification of the navy law was out of the question. if this assumption is correct, it is evident that no touch of political genius was revealed in the treatment of this important question. even the hope that the "crest of the wave" had been reached turned out a disappointment, as was proved by the introduction of the new navy bill in . the objections which herr v. bethmann, on march th, , raised to an international limitation of armaments can likewise only be described as formal ones. he said: "if it is the intention of the powers to come to an understanding with regard to general international armaments, they must first of all agree upon a formula defining the relative position of each.... practically, it might be said, such an order of precedence has already been established by great britain's claim that, notwithstanding her anxiety to effect a reduction of her expenditure on armaments, and notwithstanding her readiness to submit any disputes to arbitration, her navy must under all circumstances be equal--or even superior--to any possible combination. great britain is perfectly justified in making this claim, and in conformity with the views i hold on the disarmament problem, i am the last person in the world to question her right to do so. but it is quite a different matter to use such a claim as the basis of an agreement which is to receive the peaceful consent of the other powers. what would happen if the latter raised any counter-claims of their own, or if they were dissatisfied with the percentage allotted to them? the mere suggestion of questions such as these is sufficient to make us realize what would happen if an international congress--because one restricted to the european powers alone could not be comprehensive enough--had to adjudicate on such claims." if this explanation is intended to be a reply to such statements from the british side as the one just quoted from mr. asquith, the fact had been disregarded that the most serious problem under discussion--viz. the anglo-german rivalry--could quite well be solved without convening an "international congress." as early as december th, , herr v. bethmann, in a speech delivered before the reichstag, had enlarged on this same subject from the political point of view: "as to the relations between ourselves and great britain, and as to the alleged negotiations with the latter country concerning a mutual curtailment of naval armaments, i am bound to say that the british government, as everybody knows, has more than once expressed its conviction that the conclusion of an agreement fixing the naval strengths of the various powers would conduce to an important improvement of international relations.... we, too, share great britain's desire to eliminate the question of naval competition, but during the informal _pourparlers_ which have taken place from time to time, and which have been conducted in a spirit of mutual friendship, we have always given prominence to our conviction that a frank discussion of the economic and political spheres of interest to be followed up by a mutual understanding on these points would constitute the safest way of destroying the feeling of distrust which is engendered by the question of the respective strengths of the military and naval forces maintained by each country." the speech which sir edward grey delivered in the house of commons on march th, , with special reference to this speech of herr v. bethmann shows unmistakably that the remarks of the latter did not reassure great britain with respect to the only point at issue in which she was interested, viz. the limitation of the german naval programme. britain, according to sir edward, did not desire that her relations with any power should be of such a nature as to impede the simultaneous existence of cordial relations with germany. an anglo-german agreement had been specially suggested. this suggestion required some careful thinking over. if he were to hold out any hope that germany, in compliance with the terms of some such agreement would be willing to cancel or to modify her naval programme, he would be contradicted at once. only within the limits of this programme would it be possible to come to some understanding between the two governments. it might, for instance, be agreed to spread the expenditure voted for the navy over a longer term of years, or to arrange that the present german programme should not be increased in future. matters such as these could form the subjects for discussion between the two governments, and it would be desirable from every point of view that an understanding should be arrived at. to this speech the _north german gazette_ replied that germany would be quite prepared to fall in with sir edward's suggestions if agreements such as those outlined by him could in any way allay the feeling of distrust governing public opinion in great britain. if from this semi-official pronouncement it may be inferred that herr v. bethmann on his part was favourably disposed towards an agreement, the question arises: "why was it not concluded?" in order to understand why the british cabinet attached so much value to the settlement of the anglo-german naval questions and to the pacification of public opinion, it must be remembered that the liberal cabinet, owing to its hostile attitude towards the house of lords, had drifted into a violent conflict with the conservative party, and that the latter, in its turn, during the election campaign had accused the cabinet of having neglected the navy, driving home its arguments by constantly pointing out the "german danger." moreover, king edward had died in the meantime (may th, ), and of his son and successor it was said that he, at the time of his accession to the throne, was no longer a man of unbiased sentiment, that he was very anti-german, and that he was under the influence of a small group of conservative extremists. it may not be out of place to reproduce in this connexion the text of two accounts dealing with the situation in england which ballin wrote in the spring and in the summer of respectively, when he was staying in london, and which he submitted to the kaiser for his information. in the early part of he wrote: "if i were to say that london was completely dominated by the election campaign, this would be a very mild way of characterizing the situation as it is. the whole population has been seized with a fit of madness. the city men who, until quite recently, had preserved an admirable calm, have now lost their heads altogether, and are the most ardent advocates of tariff reform. every victory of a conservative candidate is cheered by them to the echo. under these circumstances, even in the city, the fear of war has grown. if we ask ourselves what it is that has brought about such an extraordinary change in the attitude of commonsense business people, we find that there are several reasons for it, viz. the general slump in business; the unfortunate policy cf lloyd george with regard to the irish nationalists; the advances he made to the labour party, and the effects of his social legislation which are now felt with increasing seriousness. "business is bad in england, and up to now very little has been seen of the improvement which is so marked in germany. it is but natural that, in view of the extended trade depression which has so far lasted more than two years, a people endowed with such business instincts as the british should feel favourably disposed towards a change of the country's commercial policy. this disposition is further strengthened by the constant reiteration of the promise that it will be possible to provide the money needed for new warship construction and for the newly inaugurated social policy by means of the duties which the foreigner will be made to pay. "it seems pretty certain that the present government, in spite of the great election successes gained by the conservative party, will still retain a slight majority if it can rely on the nationalist vote. that is what i had always predicted. but the majority on which the liberal cabinet depends will doubtless be a very uncomfortable one to work with, and the opinion is general that it will hardly take more than a twelvemonth before another dissolution of parliament will be necessary. it is said that the elections that will then be held will smash up the liberal party altogether, but i consider this is an exaggeration. in this country everything depends on the state of business. if, in the course of the year, trade prospects brighten up again, and if everything becomes normal once more, the tariff reformers in the city will turn free traders again and will take great care not to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. i am quite convinced that everything hangs on the future development of trade and traffic. to-day, as i have said before, tariff reform and a zollverein with the colonies are the catchwords that are on everybody's lips, and the anti-german feeling is so strong that it is scarcely possible to discuss matters with one's oldest friends, because the people over here have turned mad and talk of nothing but the next war and the protective policy of the near future. large crowds are spending hours every night in the principal squares such as trafalgar square, where they have come to watch the announcements of the election results in the provinces. their behaviour is exemplary. it is a curious thing that in this country the election game is spread over several weeks, in consequence of which the political excitement of the masses is raised to boiling-point. within a few months' time, i am sure, things will look entirely different again." from the second report, in the summer of , the following is the salient extract: "i am now returned from england, and it may not be out of place to report the impressions i received of the political and economic conditions over there. "my previous visit to london coincided with the big election campaign, and i have already described the fit of mad excitement which had taken possession of the people, and which was directed against germany. "the situation has now undergone a complete change, which is noticeable everywhere and which is caused by the close of the election campaign, by the death of the king, and, finally, by the visit of the kaiser on the occasion of the royal funeral. everyone whom i met in london--liberals and conservatives alike--spoke in terms of the highest praise of the kaiser's sympathetic attitude displayed during his stay in england, and which was all the more commendable as it was not denied that he had suffered many slights during the lifetime of his late uncle. "the attitude of the people towards the new monarch is one of reserve, but also--in conformity with the national character of the english--one of loyalty and good faith. the situation with regard to home politics is as difficult now as it has been all along. unless a compromise between the parties is arrived at new elections will be unavoidable in the spring or even before. i have met a great many persons of political experience who are of opinion that, even if a compromise is made, it will be necessary to submit such an arrangement to the decision of the electorate by an appeal to the country. it is difficult to predict the result of such new elections. the views held by large sections of the press and of the public bear out the truth of the remarks in my previous letter when i emphasized the fact that the british are a nation of business men who act on the principle of 'leave well alone,' and who will refuse to have anything to do with tariff reform as soon as there is an improvement in trade. "business has, indeed, improved in the meantime, but only very slightly, and much less than in germany. this slight improvement, however, has not failed to give a fillip to the cause of free trade among the city men. if elections in the spring are regarded as likely, much will depend on the further development of trade. i must confess that i take a very pessimistic view as to the future of great britain in this respect. the british can really no longer compete with us, and if it were not for the large funds they have invested, and for the sums of money which reach the small mother-country from her great dominions, their saturated and conservative habits of life would soon make them a _quantité négligeable_ as far as their competition with us in the world's markets is concerned. "of course, their financial strength and their excellent system of foreign politics, in which they have now been trained for centuries, will always attract business to their country, the possession of which we shall always begrudge them (for is not envy one of the national characteristics of the german race?)." up to the summer of the feeling remained friendly. early in july ballin wrote: "to-day the feeling, as far as the city is concerned, is thoroughly friendly towards germany. the visit in the spring of the kaiser and the kaiserin, on the occasion of the unveiling of the monument to queen victoria, has created a most sympathetic impression--an impression which has been strengthened by the participation of the crown prince and princess in the coronation festivities. at present the kaiser is actually one of the most popular persons in england, and the suggestion of bringing about an anglo-german understanding is meeting with a great deal of approval from all sections of the population." however, this readiness to come to an understanding received a setback during the course of the year, when it was adversely affected by the new developments in the morocco affair and by the dispatch of the _panther_ to agadir, which led to fresh complications with france, and later also with great britain. the grievances of the latter found expression in a sharply worded speech by lloyd george in july, , the main argument of which was that great britain, in questions affecting her vital interests, could not allow herself to be treated as though she were non-existent. in germany this pronouncement led to violent attacks on the part of the conservative opposition against herr v. bethmann and against england, and it was the latter against whom herr v. heydebrand directed his quotation from schiller, to the effect that a nation which did not stake her everything on her honour was deserving only of contempt. it is also well known that the outcome of the whole affair, as well as its sequel, the franco-german congo agreement, produced much indignation in germany, where it was felt that the material results obtained were hardly worth the great display of force, and that it was still less worth while to be drifted into a big war in consequence of this incident. the measure of the anxiety which was felt at that time in business and financial circles all over the world may be gauged by reading the following letter from ballin to the secretary of state, herr v. kiderlen-wächter, in which it is necessary to read between the lines here and there. "baron leopold de rothschild has just sent me a wire from london in which he says that, on the strength of information he has received from the paris rothschilds, people there are greatly disappointed to see that the german answer--the details of which are still unknown there--leaves some important questions still unsolved. public sentiment in the french capital, he says, is beginning to get excited, and it would be to the interest of everybody to settle matters as speedily as possible. "i felt it my duty to draw your attention to this statement, and you may take it for what it is worth. "i need not tell your excellency that people here and, i suppose, all over germany, are watching the progress of events with growing anxiety. in this respect, therefore, the desires of the german people seem identical with those of the french. "it would also be presumptuous on my part to speak to your excellency about the feeling in england and the british armaments, as the information you derive from your official sources is bound to be better still than that which i can obtain through my connexions. "with best wishes for a successful solution of this difficult and important problem, i have the honour to remain, "your excellency's most obedient servant, (_signed_) ballin." a most interesting document, and one which casts a clear sidelight on the divergence of opinion held in germany and great britain, and on the chances of arriving at an agreement, is an article which dates from the latter part of . this article deals with the anglo-german controversy and was published by the _westminster gazette_. it was sent to ballin by an english friend with the remark that it presented a faithful picture of the views on foreign affairs held by the great majority of british liberals. ballin forwarded it to berlin for the kaiser's information, with a note saying that he had received it from one of the most level-headed englishmen he had ever met. it was subsequently returned to him, with the addition of a number of marginal notes and a lengthy paragraph at its close, all written in the kaiser's own handwriting. the numerous underlinings, too, are the kaiser's own work. on account of its historical interest a facsimile reproduction of this article is inserted at the end of the book. the following is a translation of the kaiser's criticism at the conclusion of the article: "quite good, except for the ridiculous insinuation that we are aspiring after the hegemony in central europe. we simply _are_ central europe, and it is quite natural that other and smaller nations should tend towards us and should be drawn into our sphere of action owing to the law of gravity, particularly so if they are of our own kin. to this the british object, because it absolutely knocks to pieces their theory of the balance of power, i.e. their desire to be able to play off one european power against another at their own pleasure, and because it would lead to the establishment of a united continent--a contingency which they want to prevent at all costs. hence their lying assertion that we aim at a predominant position in europe, while it is a fact that they claim such a position for themselves in world politics. we hohenzollerns have never pursued such ambitious and such fantastic aims, and, god granting it, we shall never do so. "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." the year opened with several pronouncements of the british press in favour of an anglo-german understanding. it was even hinted that britain would raise no objections to a possible extension of germany's colonial activities, or, as one paper put it, "to the foundation of a german african empire stretching from the atlantic to the indian ocean." similar sentiments were expressed in a letter from sir ernest cassel to ballin, dated january th, . "since writing to you last," says sir ernest, "i have had the opportunity of a confidential chat with mr. winston churchill. he is aware that the position which he has now occupied for some time ties him down to some special limitations which will not allow him to pay a visit of the kind you suggest so long as the situation remains what it is. should the king go to germany, and should he take winston with him, he--winston--would feel highly honoured if he were permitted to discuss the important questions that were demanding a solution. such an opportunity would have to come about quite spontaneously, and winston would have to secure the previous consent of the prime minister and of sir edward grey. "thus far winston. his friendly sentiments towards germany are known to you. i have been acquainted with him since he was quite a young man, and he has never made a secret of his admiration of the kaiser and of the german people. he looks upon the estrangement existing between the two countries as senseless, and i am quite sure he would do anything in his power to establish friendly relations. "the real crux of the situation is that great britain regards the enormous increase of the german navy as a grave menace to her vital interests. this conviction is a deep-rooted one, and there are no two opinions in london as to its significance. "if it were possible to do something which, without endangering the safety of germany, would relieve great britain of this nightmare, it is my opinion that people over here would go very far to conciliate german aspirations." the striking fact that after a long interval, and in spite of the failure of the previous endeavours, a renewed attempt was made to arrive at a naval understanding, and that special pains were taken to ensure its success, may be due to various causes. for instance, the morocco incident of had shown how easily a series of comparatively unimportant events might lead within reach of a dangerous catastrophe, unless the atmosphere of general distrust could be removed, and it was felt in great britain that this distrust was largely the result of the constant and regular increase of germany's armaments. moreover, it was known that a new navy bill was then forthcoming in germany which, in its turn, would be bound to cause fresh alarm, and growing expenditure in great britain, and that the liberal cabinet would prefer to gain its laurels by bringing about a more peaceful frame of mind. finally, mr. winston churchill had been appointed first lord of the admiralty in october, , and as he was known to be by no means anti-german, his entering upon office may have given rise to the hope that, while he was administering the affairs of the navy, it would be possible to settle certain purely technical matters affecting his department, which could then furnish the conditions preliminary to an understanding with germany. ballin, at any rate, had cherished the hope--as is borne out by the letter quoted above--that mr. churchill could be induced to pay a visit to germany, and that an opportunity might then be found to bring the naval experts of both countries face to face with each other. ballin had always eagerly desired that such a meeting should take place, because his long experience in settling difficult business questions had taught him that there was no greater barrier between people, and certainly none that hampered their intellectual _rapprochement_ to a larger extent, than the fact of their never having come into personal contact with one another, and of never having had a chance to actually familiarize themselves with the mentality and the whole personality of the man representing the other side. it might also be assumed that, once the two really responsible persons--churchill and tirpitz--had met in conclave, the feeling of their mutual responsibility would be too strong to allow the negotiations to end in failure. unfortunately, such a meeting never took place; all that was achieved was a preliminary step, viz. the visit of lord haldane to berlin. owing to the lack of documentary evidence it is not possible to say who first suggested this visit, but it is clear that the suggestion--whoever may have been its author--was eagerly taken up by sir ernest cassel and ballin, and that it also met with a warm welcome on the part of herr v. bethmann. in reply to a telegram which ballin, with the approval--if not at the actual desire--of the chancellor, sent to his friend in london, a message reached him on february nd, , when he was in berlin engaged on these very matters. this reply, which originated with the foreign office, expressed the sender's thanks for the invitation to attend a meeting of delegates in berlin and his appreciation of the whole spirit which had prompted the german suggestion, and then went on to say that the new german navy bill would necessitate an immediate increase in the british naval estimates, because the latter had been framed on the supposition that the german programme would remain unaltered. if the british government were compelled to find the means for such an increase, the suggested negotiations would be difficult, if not impossible. on the other hand, the german programme might perhaps be modified by spreading it out over a longer period of time or by some similar measure, so that a considerable increase of british naval construction in order to balance the german efforts could be avoided. in that case the british government would be ready to proceed with the negotiations without loss of time, as it would be taken for granted that there was a fair prospect of the proposed discussions leading to a favourable result. if this suggestion was acceptable to germany, the british government thought the next step should be a private--and not an official--visit of a british cabinet minister to berlin. perhaps it is now permissible to give the text of some documents without any further comment, as these latter speak for themselves. the first is a letter of the chancellor addressed to ballin, and reads as follows: "berlin. _febr. th, ._ "dear mr. ballin,-- "we are still busy wording the text of our reply, and i shall not be able to see you at o'clock. as soon as the text is settled, i shall submit it to his majesty for his approval. under these circumstances i think it is doubtful whether we ought to adhere to the time fixed for our appointment. i rather fancy that i cannot tell you anything definite before or o'clock, and i shall ring you up about that time. you have already made such great sacrifices in the interest of our cause that i hope you will kindly accept this alteration as well. "in great haste. "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." the next document is a letter of ballin to sir ernest cassel, intended to explain the situation. "the demand raised by your official telegram rather complicates matters. the fact is that the bill as it stands now only asks for half as much as was contained in the original draft. this reduced demand is much less than the nation and the reichstag had expected. if after this a still further curtailment is decided upon, such a step will create the highly undesirable impression that, in order to pave the way for an understanding with london, it had become necessary to make very considerable sacrifices. this, of course, must be avoided at all costs, because if and when an understanding is arrived at, there must be neither victors nor vanquished. "i need not emphasize the fact that our government is taking up the matter with the greatest interest and that it is keenly anxious to bring about a successful issue. the reception with which you have met on our side must have given you convincing and impressive proofs of this attitude. "i have now succeeded in making our gentlemen promise me--although not without much reluctance on their part--that they would not object to the formula proposed by your government, viz. 'it is agreed to submit the question of the proposed increase of naval tonnage to a _bona fide_ discussion.' thus there is now a fair prospect of reaching a favourable result, and the preliminary condition laid down by your government has been complied with. "i think that the delegate sent should be accompanied by a naval expert. the gentleman in question should also understand that he would have to use the utmost frankness in the discussions, and that he must be able to give an assurance that it is intended to subject the british programme, too, to such alterations as will make it not less, but rather more, acceptable than it is now. surely, your government has never desired that we should give you a definite undertaking on our part, whereas you should be at liberty to extend your programme whenever you think fit to do so. a clearly defined neutrality agreement is another factor which will enter into the question of granting the concessions demanded by your government. "'reciprocal assurances' is a term which it is difficult to define; if, for instance, the attitude of great britain and her action last summer had been submitted to a court of law, it would hardly be found to have violated the obligations implied by such 'reciprocal assurances,' and yet we were at the edge of war owing to the steps taken by your people. "i thought it my duty, my dear friend, to submit these particulars to you, so that you, for the benefit of the great cause we are engaged in, may take whatever steps you consider advisable before the departure of the delegate. "our people would appreciate it very much if you would make the great sacrifice of coming over to this country when the meeting takes place. i personally consider this also necessary, and it goes without saying that i shall be present as well. "p.s.--the chancellor to whom i have shown this letter thinks it would be better not to send it, because the official note contains all that is necessary. "however, i shall forward it all the same, because i believe it will present a clearer picture of the situation to you than the note. please convince the delegate that it is a matter of give and take, and please come. it entails a great sacrifice on your part, but the cause which we have at heart is worth it. "the bearer of this note is our general secretary, mr. huldermann. he is a past master of discretion, and fully acquainted with the situation." i was instructed to hand the following note by the german government to sir ernest cassel with the request to pass it on to the british government, and at the same time i was to explain verbally and in greater detail the contents of ballin's letter on the situation. the text of the official note is as follows: "we are willing to continue the discussion in a friendly spirit. the navy bill is bound to lead to a discussion of the naval plans of both countries, and in this matter we shall be able to fall in with the wishes of the british government if we, in return, receive sufficient guarantees as to a friendly disposition of british policy towards our own interests. any agreement would have to state that either power undertakes not to join in any plans, combinations, or warlike complications directed against the other. if concluded, it might pave the way for an understanding as to the sums of money to be spent on armaments by either country. "we assume that the british government shares the views expressed in this note, and we should be glad if a british cabinet minister could proceed to berlin, in the first instance for the purpose of a private and confidential discussion only." on the evening of the same day (february th) i left for london. i arrived there the following evening and went straight to sir ernest cassel. i prepared the following statement for ballin at the time, in which i described the substance of our conversation and the outcome of my visit: "the note which i had brought with me did not at first satisfy our friend. he made a brief statement to the effect that we saw a fair prospect of reaching a successful solution of the problem was all that was needed, and that our answer was lengthy, but evasive. this opinion, however, he did not maintain after the close of our conversation, which lasted more than two hours. i pointed out to him that, as i understood it, the phrase 'we are willing to continue the discussion in a friendly spirit' amounted to a declaration on the part of the german government that, in its opinion, there was a 'fair prospect,' and that an accommodating spirit was all one could ask at present. he thought that lord haldane had been asked to go to berlin so that a member of the cabinet should have an opportunity of ascertaining on the spot that berlin was really disposed to discuss matters in a friendly spirit. on this point positive assurances were needed before sir edward grey and mr. winston churchill went across, who, if they did go, would not return without having effected the object of their visit. sir ernest always emphasized that he only stated his own private views, but it was evident that he spoke with the highest authority. the demand for three dreadnoughts, he said, which the new german navy bill asked for, amounted to a big increase of armaments, and great britain would be compelled to counterbalance it by a corresponding increase, which she would not fail to do. if, however, germany were prepared not to enlarge her existing programme, great britain would be pleased to effect a reduction on her part. when i referred to the apprehension of the german government lest great britain should take advantage of the fact that germany had her hands tied, in order to effect big armaments which it would be impossible for us to equal, our friend remarked that, for the reason stated above, such fears were groundless. in spite of this assurance, i repeatedly and emphatically drew his attention to the necessity for limiting the british programme just as much as the german one. he evidently no longer fancied the suggestion previously put forward that the question of agreeing upon a definite ratio of strength for the two navies should be discussed; because, if this was done, one would get lost in the details. nevertheless, he did not, as the discussion proceeded, adhere to this standpoint absolutely. he agreed that the essential thing was to establish friendly political relations, and if, as i thought, germany had reason to complain of british opposition to her legitimate expansion, one could not do better than discuss the various points at issue one by one, similar to the method which had proved so successful in the case of the anglo-french negotiations. great britain would not raise any objections to our desire for rounding-off our colonial empire, and she was quite willing to grant us our share in the distribution of those parts of the globe that were still unclaimed. "by keeping strictly to the literal text of the german note, he found the latter quite acceptable as far as it referred to the question of a declaration of neutrality. he said there was a great difference between such declarations, and often it was quite possible to interpret them in various ways. i imagined that what was in his mind were the obligations which britain had taken upon herself in her agreement with france, and i therefore asked him for a definition of the term 'neutrality.' his answer was very guarded and contained many reservations. what he meant was something like this: great britain has concluded agreements with france, russia, and other countries which oblige her to remain neutral where the other partner is concerned, except when the latter is engaged in a war of aggression. "applied to two practical cases, this would mean: if an agreement such as the one now under consideration had been in existence at the time of the morocco dispute last summer, great britain would have been free to take the side of france if war had broken out between that country and ourselves, because in this case we--as he argued with much conviction--had been the aggressors. on the other hand, if we had severed our relations with italy during the turco-italian war and had come to the support of turkey, great britain would not have been allowed to join italy in conspiring against us if we had an agreement such as the one in question. "in the interval between my first and my second visit sir ernest evidently had, by consulting his friend haldane, arrived at a very definite opinion, and when i visited him for the second time he assured me most emphatically that great britain would concede to us as much as she had conceded to the other powers, but not more. we could rely on her absolute loyalty, 'and,' he added, 'our attitude towards france proves that we can be loyal to our friends.' "for the rest, the manner in which he pleaded the british point of view was highly interesting. great britain, he argued, had done great things in the past, but owing to her great wealth a decline had set in in the course of the last few decades. ('traces of this development,' he added, 'have also been noticeable in your country.') germany, however, had made immense progress, and within the next fifteen or twenty years she would overtake great britain. if, then, such a dangerous competitor commenced to increase his armaments in a manner which could be directed only against britain, he must not be surprised if the latter made every effort to check him wherever his influence was felt. great britain, therefore, could not remain passive if germany attempted to dominate the whole continent; because this, if successful, would upset the balance of power. neither could she hold back in case germany attacked and annihilated france. thus, the situation being what it was, britain was compelled--provided the proposed agreement with germany was not concluded--to decide whether she would wait until her competitor had become still stronger and quite invincible, or whether she would prefer to strike at once. the latter alternative, he thought, would be the safer for her interests. "our friend had a copy of the german note made by his secretary, and then forwarded it to haldane. in the course of the evening the latter sent an acknowledgment of its receipt, from which sir ernest read out to me the words: 'so far very good.' it was evident that his friend's opinion had favourably influenced his own views on the german note. "on tuesday sir ernest and lord haldane drove to the former's house after having attended thanksgiving service. lord haldane stayed for lunch, and was just leaving when i arrived at o'clock. he did not want to be accompanied by a naval expert, for, although he did not pretend to understand all the technical details, he said that he knew all that was necessary for the discussion. he stated that he would put all his cards on the table and speak quite frankly. "our friend spoke of our german politics in most disparaging terms, saying that they had been worth nothing since bismarck's time. what ballin had attained in his dealings with the shipping companies was far superior to all the achievements of germany's diplomatists." the positive information which this report contained was passed on to the chancellor. by way of explanation it may be added that the german navy bill, which later on, at the end of march, , was laid before the reichstag, provided for the formation of a third active squadron in order to adapt the increase in the number of the crews to the increase in the material. this third squadron necessitated the addition of three new battleships and of two small cruisers, and it was also intended to increase the number of submarines and to make provision for the construction of airships. the discussions with lord haldane took place at the royal castle, berlin, on february th, the kaiser being in the chair. the chancellor did not attend, he had a separate interview with haldane. the outcome of the conference is described in a statement from an authoritative source, viz. in a note which the kaiser dispatched to ballin by special messenger immediately after the close of the conference. it reads as follows: "the castle, berlin. " . . . p.m. "dear ballin, "the conversation has taken place, and all the pros and many cons have been discussed. our standpoint has been explained in great detail, and the bill has been examined. at my suggestion, it was resolved to agree on the following basis (informal line of action): "( ) because of its scope and its importance, the agreement must be concluded, and it must not be jeopardized by too many details. "( ) therefore, the agreement is not to contain any reference to the size of the two fleets, to standards of ships, to constructions, etc. "( ) the agreement is to be purely political. "( ) as soon as the agreement has been published here, and as soon as the bill has been laid before the reichstag, i, in my character of commander-in-chief, instruct tirpitz to make the following statement to the committee: the third squadron will be asked for and voted, but the building of the three additional units required to complete it will not be started until , and one ship each will be demanded in and respectively. "haldane agreed to this and expressed his satisfaction. i have made no end of concessions. but this must be the limit. he was very nice and very reasonable, and he perfectly understood my position as commander-in-chief, and that of tirpitz, with regard to the bill. i really think i have done all i could do. "please remember me to cassel and inform him. "your sincere friend, "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." after lord haldane's departure from berlin there was a gap of considerable length in the negotiations which had made such a promising start, and unfortunately during that time mr. churchill made a speech which not only the german papers but also the liberal press in great britain described as wanting in discretion. the passage which german opinion resented most of all was the statement that, in contrast with great britain, for whom a big navy was an absolute necessity, to germany such navy was merely a luxury. for the rest, the following two letters from the chancellor to ballin may throw some light on the causes of the break in the negotiations: "berlin. " . . . "dear mr. ballin, "our supposition that it is the contents of the bill which have brought about the change of feeling is confirmed by news from a private source. it is feared that the bill as it stands will have such an adverse influence on public opinion that the latter will not accept a political agreement along with it. nevertheless, the idea of an understanding has not been lost sight of, even though it may take six months or a year before it can be accomplished. "in consequence of this information the draft reply to london requires to be reconsidered, and it has not been dispatched so far. i shall let you know as soon as it has left. "sincerely yours. "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." "berlin. " . . . "dear mr. ballin, "this is intended for your confidential information. regarding the naval question great britain now, as always, lays great stress on the difficulty of reconciling public opinion to the inconsistency implied by a big increase in the naval estimates hand in hand with the conclusion of a political and colonial agreement. however, even if an agreement should not be reached, she hopes that the confidential relations and the frank exchange of opinions between both governments which have resulted from lord haldane's mission may continue in future. the question of a colonial understanding is to be discussed in the near future. "it is imperative that the negotiations should not break down. success is possible in spite of the navy bill if the discussions are carried on dispassionately. as matters stand, the provisions of the bill must remain as they are. great britain has no right to interfere with our views on the number of the crews which we desire to place on board our existing units. as far as the building dates of the three battleships are concerned, i should have preferred--as you are aware--to leave our hands untied, but his majesty's decision has definitely fixed and as the years for laying them down. this is a far-reaching concession to great britain. "discreet support from private quarters will be appreciated. "many thanks for your news. you know that and why i was prevented from writing these last few days. "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." in order to find out whether any foreign influence might have been at work in london, i was commissioned to meet sir ernest cassel in the south of europe early in march. ballin supplied me with a letter containing a detailed account of the general situation. owing to a delay in the proposed meeting, i took the precaution of burning the letter, as i had been instructed to do, and i informed sir ernest of its contents by word of mouth. in this document ballin gave a brief résumé of the situation as it appeared to him after his consultations with the various competent departments in berlin, somewhat on the following lines: ( ) after lord haldane's return sir edward grey officially told count metternich that he was highly pleased with the successful issue of lord haldane's mission, and gave him to understand that he thought it unlikely that any difficulties would arise. ( ) a few days later mr. asquith made a statement in the house of commons which amply confirmed the views held by sir edward grey, and which produced a most favourable impression in berlin. ( ) this induced the chancellor to make an equally amicable and hopeful statement to the reichstag. ( ) in spite of this, however, there arose an interval of several weeks, during which neither count metternich nor anybody in berlin received any news from the proper department in london. this silence naturally caused some uneasiness. ( ) count metternich was asked to call at the foreign office, where sir edward grey commenced to raise objections mainly in reference to the navy bill. "i must add in this connexion--as, no doubt, lord haldane has also told you verbally--that on the last day of his stay in berlin an understanding was arrived at between the competent quarters on our side and lord haldane with regard to the building dates of the three battleships. as you will remember, it had been agreed not to discuss the proposed establishment of the third squadron on an active footing and the increase in the number of the crews connected with it, but to look upon these subjects as lying outside the negotiations." quite suddenly and quite unexpectedly we are now faced with a great change in the situation. grey, as i have said before, objects--in terms of the greatest politeness, of course--to the increase in the number of the crews, asks questions as to our intentions with regard to torpedo boats and submarines, and--this is most significant--emphasizes that the haldane mission has at any rate been of great use, even if the negotiations should not lead to any definite result. ( ) the next event was a further interview with count metternich during which it was stated that, according to the calculations of the first lord of the admiralty, the increase in the number of the crews amounted to , men, whilst it had been thought in england that it would be a question of from , to , men at the outset. it appeared that this large increase was looked upon with misgivings, and that it was desired to enter into fresh negotiations which would greatly interfere with the arrangements made by the german competent quarters with regard to the navy. hence metternich replied that, in his opinion, these explanations could only mean that the cabinet did not agree to the arrangements made by lord haldane. grey's answer was full of polite assurances couched in the language of diplomacy, but, translated into plain german, what he meant was: "you are quite right." ballin's letter went on to say that the german navy bill had gradually been reduced to a minimum, and that it was not possible to cut it down any further. we could not, and we would not, give rise to the suspicion that great alterations had been made merely to meet british objections. finally, ballin requested his friend to go to london in order to make inquiries on the spot, and also declared his readiness to go there himself. my report on my conversations with sir ernest cassel, which took place at marseilles on march th and th, is as follows: "our friend arrived about four hours late, but he received me all the same at p.m. on that evening. i told him all about my journey and related to him verbally the contents of ballin's letter. when i described the incident of how grey had raised new objections at his interview with metternich, and when i explained how, after that, the matter had come to a dead stop, so that nothing further was heard of it in germany, our friend interrupted me by saying that since then the british government had presented a memorandum containing the objections raised against the german navy bill. the latter, he suggested, was the only stumbling-block, as could be inferred from a letter which he had received _en route_ from haldane. "when i remarked that ballin, in a postscript to his letter, had expressed an apprehension lest some foreign influence had interfered with the course of events, our friend positively denied this. france, he said, was on good terms with great britain, and had no reason for intriguing against an anglo-german agreement destined, as it was, to promote the cause of peace. "when i then proceeded with my account, drawing his special attention to the reduction of the estimates contained in the navy bill, sir ernest interposed that he was not sufficiently _au courant_ as to the details. he himself, in his statement prepared for the british government, had only referred to the battleships, and he thought he had perhaps given too cursory an account of the other factors of the case. he also threw out some fairly plain hints that haldane had gone too far in berlin, and that he had made statements on a subject with which he was not sufficiently conversant. later on, he continued, the navy bill had been subjected to a careful examination by the british admiralty, and before his departure from cannes he, sir ernest, had received a letter from mr. churchill, the tone of which was very angry. churchill complained that germany had presented such a long list of the wishes with which she wanted great britain to comply, that the least one could hope for was an accommodating spirit in the question of the navy. everything now depended on churchill; if he could be satisfied, all the rest would be plain sailing. he and lloyd george were the greatest friends of the agreement. sir ernest also made it fairly clear that great britain would be content with a postponement of the building dates, or in other words with a 'retardation of the building programme.' the negotiations would be bound to fail, unless ballin could secure such a postponement. it was necessary to strike whilst the iron was hot, and this particular iron had already become rather cool. he quite accepted grey's statement that the haldane mission had not been in vain, as the feeling had doubtless become more friendly since then. some few individual indiscretions, such as churchill's reference to the german navy as an article of luxury, should not be taken too seriously. if the german bill were passed into law in its present shape, the british government would be obliged to introduce one asking for three times as much, but it could not possibly do this and declare at the same time that it had reached an understanding with germany. such a proceeding would be absurd. the argument that it is inconsistent with common sense to conclude an agreement and yet to continue one's armaments, is evidently still maintained in great britain, and is one which, of course, it is impossible to refute. "in the course of our conversation sir ernest produced the letter which he had received from haldane _en route_. this letter stated that the discussions with metternich were then chiefly on the subject of the navy bill, and that the admiralty had prepared a memorandum for the german government dealing with these questions. the letter was dated february th, and its tone was not pessimistic; churchill, however, as stated above, had previously written him a 'very angry' letter. in this connexion it must not be forgotten that the man on whom everything depends is not the amiable negotiator haldane, but churchill." in order to make further inquiries about the state of things and to assist in promoting the good cause, ballin, immediately after my return, proceeded to paris and then to london. he reported to the chancellor upon the impressions he had received in paris. the following is an extract from his report: "owing to the brief time at my disposal when i was in paris, i could only learn the views of the members of the '_haute finance_.' it is well known that in france the attitude taken up by financial circles is always regarded as authoritative. they look upon the present situation as decidedly pacific; they are pleased that the morocco affair is settled, and they feel quite sure that the political sky is unclouded by complications. they would gladly welcome an agreement between germany and great britain. my friends assure me that the government also does not view the idea of such an understanding with displeasure; on the contrary, it looks upon it as an advantage. it is, however, thought unlikely that an agreement will be reached, because it is believed that popular feeling in germany is too much opposed to it. if, notwithstanding these pacific views held by influential and competent sections, the casual visitor to the french capital is impressed by a certain bellicose attitude of the nation as a whole, it is largely due to the propaganda carried on by the _matin_ with the purpose of obtaining voluntary subscriptions for the furtherance of aviation. the french are enthusiastic over this idea, and as it has a strong military bearing, the man in the street likes to connect the french aviation successes with a victorious war." from london ballin sent me some telegrams which i was instructed to pass on to the chancellor. in these messages he stated that his conversations with the german ambassador and with haldane had convinced him that people in london believed that the increase in the number of the crews, if the proposed german navy bill became law, would be greater than the figures given by berlin would make it appear. it would therefore be most desirable to arrange for a meeting of experts to clear up this discrepancy. ballin's impression was that the british cabinet, and also the king, were still favourably disposed to the whole plan, and that the cabinet was unanimous in this view. a conversation with churchill, which lasted several hours, confirmed these impressions. in london the increase in the number of the crews had previously been estimated at half of what it would really be, and alarm was felt about the large number of torpedo boats and submarines demanded; but since the german government had explained that the figures arrived at in london--i.e. those stated in the memorandum which had been addressed to the german government some time before--were not correct, churchill had agreed that both sides should nominate experts who would check the figures and put them right. churchill was anxious to see that the matter was brought to a successful issue, and he was still hoping that a neutrality agreement would induce the german government to make concessions in regard to the navy bill. when ballin had satisfied himself as to this state of things, he immediately returned to berlin, as he did not consider it appropriate that any private person should do anything further for the time being, and as he thought that the conduct of the discussions concerning the neutrality agreement were best left to the ambassador. meanwhile, however, the german government had definitely made up its mind that the navy bill would have to remain as it stood. this was the information ballin received from the kaiser and the chancellor when he returned from london on march th. sir ernest cassel then suggested to the british government that the negotiations concerning the neutrality agreement should be re-opened as soon as the first excitement caused by the navy bill had subsided, which would probably be the case within a few months, and that the interval should be utilized for clearing up the details. in berlin, however, the discussions were looked upon as having been broken off, as may be seen from the following telegram which the kaiser sent to ballin on march th in reply to ballin's information about his last exchange of telegrams with london: "many thanks for letter. the latest proposals arriving here immediately after you had left raised impossible demands and were so offensive in form that they were promptly rejected. further harm was done by churchill's arrogant speech which a large section of the british press justly described as a provocation of germany. the 'agreement' has thus been broken by great britain, and we have done with it. the negotiations must be started afresh on quite a different basis. what apology has there been offered to us for the passage in the speech describing our fleet as an article of luxury? "(_signed_) wilhelm i.r." that the negotiations had actually been broken off was confirmed to ballin by a letter of the chancellor of the same date: "dear mr. ballin, "my cordial thanks for your letter of the th. what your friend told metternich is identical with what he wired you. churchill's speech did not come up to my expectations. he really seems to be a firebrand past praying for. the army and navy bills will probably not go up to the federal council until the st, as the army bill requires some amendments at the eleventh hour. their contents will be published simultaneously. "my opinion is that our labours will now have to be stopped altogether for some time. the problem before us suffers from the defect that, because of its inherent difficulties, it admits of no solution. i shall always remain sincerely grateful to you for your loyal assistance. when you come to berlin next time, please don't forget to call at the wilhelmstrasse. "with kindest regards, "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) bethmann-hollweg." the conviction of the inherent impossibility of solving the problem was shared by many people in germany--chiefly, of course, by those connected with the navy; and some critics went so far as to say that great britain had never honestly meant to arrive at an understanding, or at any rate that haldane--whose honesty and sincerity were beyond doubt--was disowned by his fellow-members in the cabinet. when ballin, in compliance with the wishes of the foreign office, went to london during the critical period before the outbreak of the war in , he wrote a letter from there to a naval officer of high rank with whom he had been on terms of friendship for years. this document is of interest now because it shows what ballin's own standpoint was with regard to the views described in the previous paragraph: "people over here," he wrote, "do not believe that negotiations with great britain on the subject of a naval agreement could possibly be crowned with success, and you yourself contend that it would have been better if such negotiations had never been started. your standpoint is that the failure of any efforts in that direction would merely tend to aggravate the existing situation, a point of view with which i entirely concur. "on the other hand, however, you cannot deny the soundness of the argument that, if the responsible leaders of british naval policy keep expressing their desire to enter into a discussion, the refusal of germany to do so must cause the british to believe that we are pursuing aims far exceeding those we have openly avowed. my somewhat fatigued brain is unable to see whether the german contention is right or wrong. but naturally, i always look upon things from the business man's point of view, and so i always think it better to come to some kind of an agreement with a competitor rather than allow him an unlimited measure of expansion. once, however, i have come to the conclusion that for financial or other reasons this competitor can no longer keep pace with me, his further existence ceases altogether to interest me. "thus the views of the expert on these matters and those of the business man run counter to each other, and i am entitled to dismiss this subject without entering upon a discussion of the interesting and remarkable arguments which winston churchill put before me last night. i cannot, however, refrain from contradicting by a few brief words the contention that the motives which had prompted the haldane mission were not sincere. a conversation with sir edward grey the night before last has strengthened this conviction of mine still further. i regard sir edward as a serious, honest, and clever statesman, and i am sure you will agree with my view that the haldane mission has cleared the atmosphere surrounding anglo-german relations which had become very strained." it may be supposed that history, in the meantime, has proved whose standpoint was the correct one: that of the business man or that of the naval expert. not much need be said about the subsequent development of events up to the outbreak of the war. the above-mentioned opinion which the chancellor held regarding churchill's speech of march th, , was probably arrived at on the strength of the cabled reports only. whoever reads the full original text of the speech must fail to find anything aggressive in it, and there was no harm in admitting that it was a perfectly frank and honest statement concerning the naval rivalry of the two powers. among other things it contained the suggestion that a "naval holiday" should be agreed upon, i.e. both countries should abstain from building new ships for a definite period. we, at any rate, looked upon churchill's speech as a suitable means of making people see what would be the ultimate consequences of the interminable naval armaments. i made a german translation of it which, with the aid of one of the committees for an anglo-german understanding, i spread broadcast all over the country. however, it proved a complete failure, as there were powerful groups in both countries who contended that the efforts to reconcile the two standpoints could not lead to any positive result, and that the old injunction, _si vis pacem, para bellum_, indicated the only right solution. only a master mind could have overcome these difficulties. but herr v. bethmann, as we know, considered that the problem, for inherent reasons, did not admit of any solution at all, and the kaiser's initial enthusiasm had probably been damped by subsequent influences of a different kind. ballin himself, in later years, ascribed the failure of the mission to the circumstance that the kaiser and his chancellor, between themselves only, had attempted to bring the whole matter to a successful issue instead of entrusting this task to the secretary of foreign affairs and to admiral tirpitz, the secretary for the navy. an interesting sidelight on the causes which led to the failure of this last important attempt to reach an understanding is thrown by the rumours which were spread in the german press in march, , to the effect that the secretary of state for foreign affairs, herr v. kiderlen, wished to resign, because he felt that he had been left too much in the dark with regard to the anglo-german negotiations. it was also reported that the chancellor's position had been shaken, and that admiral tirpitz felt dissatisfied, because the navy bill did not go far enough. probably there was some vestige of truth in all these rumours, and this may have been connected with the attitude which the three gentlemen concerned had taken up towards the question of the negotiations with great britain. shortly after the visit of lord haldane ballin received a letter from a personage belonging to the kaiser's entourage in which it was said: "the impression which has taken root with me during the many hours which i spent as an attentive listener is that your broad-minded scheme is being wrecked by our official circles, partly through their clumsiness, and partly through their bureaucratic conceit, and--which is worse--that we have failed to show ourselves worthy of the great opportunity." when it had become certain that the last attempt to reach an understanding had definitely and finally failed, the ambassador in london, count metternich, did not shrink from drawing the only possible conclusion from it. he had always expressed his conviction that a war between germany and a franco-russian coalition would find great britain on the side of germany's opponents, and his resignation--which, as usual, was explained by the state of his health--was really due to a report of his in which he stated it as his opinion that a continuation of german armaments would lead to war with great britain no later than . it is alleged that the kaiser added a very "ungracious" marginal note to this report. consequently, the ambassador, who was a man of very independent character, did the only thing he could consistently do, and resigned his office. in taking this step he may have been influenced by the reception which the failure of the haldane mission met with in conservative circles in great britain, where no stone was left unturned to urge the necessity for continuing the policy of big armaments and to paint german untrustworthiness in the most glaring colours. count metternich's successor was herr v. marschall, a gentleman whose appointment the press and the official circles welcomed with great cordiality, and from whose considerable diplomatic abilities, which were acknowledged on all sides, an improvement of anglo-german relations was confidently expected. it was said that the kaiser had sent "his best man," thus demonstrating how greatly he also desired better relations. but herr v. marschall's activities came to a sudden end through his early death in september, , and in october his place was taken by prince lichnowsky, whose efforts in the direction of an improvement in the relations are familiar to everyone who has read his pamphlet. apart from the work performed by the ambassadors, great credit is also due to the activities displayed by herr v. kühlmann, the then secretary to the legation and subsequent secretary of state. the public did not see a deal of his work, which was conducted with skill and was consistent. his close personal acquaintance with some of the leading british politicians, especially with sir edward grey, enabled him to do much work for the maintenance of good relations and in the interest of european peace, particularly during the time when the post of ambassador was vacant, and also during the balkan war. he had, moreover, a great deal to do with the drafting of the two colonial agreements dealing with the bagdad railway and the african problems respectively, both of which were ready for signature in the summer of . the former especially may be looked upon as a proof not only that a considerable improvement had taken place in anglo-german relations, but also that great britain was not inclined to adjust the guiding lines of her policy in asia minor exclusively in conformity with the wishes of russia. anybody who takes an interest in the then existing possibilities of german expansion with the consent of great britain and on the basis of these colonial draft agreements cannot do better than read the anonymous pamphlet entitled "_deutsche weltpolitik und kein krieg_" ("german world power and no war"), published in by messrs. puttkamer & mühlbrecht, of berlin. the author is dr. plehn, the then representative of the _cologne gazette_ in london, and it partly reflects the views of herr v. kühlmann. in this connexion i should like to refer briefly to an episode which took place towards the close of . the german periodicals have already discussed it, especially the _süddeutsche monatshafte_ in june, , in a review of the reports which count lerchenfeld, the bavarian minister to the court of berlin, had made for the information of his government. in these reports he mentions an event to which the kaiser had already referred in a letter to ballin dated december th, . the kaiser, in commenting on the state of tension then existing between austria and serbia, made some significant remarks concerning the policy of germany towards austria-hungary. when the relations between vienna and petrograd, he wrote, had assumed a dangerous character, because it was recognized that the attitude of serbia was based on her hope of russian support, germany might be faced with the possibility of having to come to the assistance of austria. "the slav subjects of austria," the letter continued, "had become very restless, and could only be brought to reason by the resolute action of the whole dual monarchy against serbia. austria had arrived at the cross roads, and her whole future development hung in the balance. either the german element would retain its ascendancy, in which case she would remain a suitable ally, or the slav element would gain the upper hand, and she would cease to be an ally altogether. if we were compelled to take up arms, we should do so to assist austria not only against russian aggression, but also against the slavs in general, and in her efforts to remain german. that would mean that we should have to face a racial struggle of the germanic element against slav insolence. it is beyond our power to prevent this struggle, because the future of the habsburg monarchy and that of our own country are both at stake. (this was the real meaning of bethmann's very plain speaking.) it is therefore a question on which depends the very existence of the germanic race on the continent of europe. "it was of great importance to us that great britain had so far supported the austro-german standpoint in these matters. now, since a war against russia would automatically imply a war with france as well, it was of interest to us to know whether, in this purely continental case, great britain could and would declare her neutrality in conformity with her proposals of last february. "on december th, haldane, obviously sent by grey, called on lichnowsky and explained to the dumbfounded ambassador in plain words that, assuming germany getting involved in war against russia and france, great britain would _not_ remain neutral, but would at once come to the assistance of france. the reason given for this attitude was that britain could not and would not tolerate at any time that we should acquire a position of continental predominance which might easily lead to the formation of a united continent. great britain could therefore never allow france to be crushed by us. you can imagine the effect of this piece of news on the whole of the wilhelmstrasse. i cannot say that i was taken by surprise, because i, as you know, have always looked upon great britain as an enemy in a military sense. still, this news has decidedly cleared matters up, even if the result is merely of a negative character." ballin did not omit to ask his friend for some details concerning the visit of lord haldane mentioned in the kaiser's letter, and was furnished with the following explanation by lord haldane himself. nothing had been further from his intentions, he said, than to call on prince lichnowsky for the express purpose of making any such declaration; and balkan questions, to the best of his recollection, had not been touched at all. he had spent a very pleasant half-hour with the prince, and in the course of their conversation he had seen fit to repeat the formula which had been discussed during his stay in berlin, and which referred to britain's interest in the preservation of the integrity of france. this, possibly, might have given rise to the misunderstanding. prince lichnowsky himself, in his pamphlet entitled "my london mission," relates the incident as follows: "in my dispatches sent to berlin i pointed out again and again that great britain, being a commercial country, would suffer enormously through any war between the european powers, and would prevent it by every means within her power. at the same time, however, she could never tolerate the weakening or the crushing of france, because it would disturb the balance of power and replace it by the ascendancy of germany. this view had been expressed to me by lord haldane shortly after my arrival, and everybody whose opinion counts for anything told me the same thing." the failure of the negotiations aiming at an understanding led to a continuance of the increase in the british armaments, a concentration of the british battle fleet in the north sea, and to that of the french fleet in the mediterranean. the latter arrangement was looked upon in germany as a menace directed against italy, and produced a sharp semi-official criticism in the _frankfurter zeitung_. in spite of all this, however, friendly messages from london concerning the possibilities of an understanding, the "naval holiday," etc., reached germany from time to time. how closely ballin clung to his favourite idea that the naval experts of both countries should come to an understanding is demonstrated by the circumstance that in , when the british squadron was present during the kiel yachting week, he tried to bring about a meeting and a personal exchange of views between churchill and tirpitz. churchill was by no means disinclined to come to germany for this purpose, but unfortunately the desire was expressed by the german side, and especially by the kaiser, that the british government should make an official inquiry whether his visit would be welcomed. the government, however, was not disposed to do so, and the whole thing fell through, although churchill sent word that, if tirpitz really wanted to see him, he would find means to bring about such a meeting. thus the last attempt at an understanding had resulted in failure, and before any further efforts in the same direction could be made, europe had been overtaken by its fate. chapter ix the kaiser the origin of the friendship between ballin and the kaiser, which has given rise to so much comment and to so many rumours, was traced back by the kaiser himself to the year , when he inspected the express steamer _auguste victoria_, and when he, accompanied by the kaiserin, made a trip on board the newly-built express steamer _fürst bismarck_. ballin, although he received the honour of a decoration and a few gracious words from his majesty, did not think that this meeting had established any special contact between himself and his sovereign. he told me, indeed, that he dated their acquaintance from a memorable meeting which took place in berlin in , and which was concerned with the preparations for the festivities in celebration of the opening of the kiel canal. the kaiser wanted the event to be as magnificent as possible, and his wishes to this effect were fully met by the hamburg civic authorities and by the shipping companies. although ballin had only been a short time in the position he then held, his versatile mind did not overlook the opportunity thus offered for advertising his company. the kaiser was keenly interested in every detail. after some preliminary discussions with the hamburg senate, all the interested parties were invited to send their delegates to berlin, where a general meeting was to be held in the royal castle with the kaiser in the chair. it was arranged that the north german lloyd and the hamburg-amerika linie should provide one steamer each, which was to convey the representatives of the government departments and of the reichstag, as well as the remaining guests, except those who were to be accommodated on board the _hohenzollern_, and that both steamers should follow in the wake of the latter all the way down the elbe from hamburg to the canal. when this item was discussed the kaiser said he had arranged that the _hohenzollern_ should be followed first by the lloyd steamer and then by the hamburg-amerika liner. thereupon ballin asked leave to speak. he explained that, since the journey was to start in hamburg territorial waters, it would perhaps be proper to extend to the hamburg company the honour of the position immediately after the imperial yacht. the kaiser, in a tone which sounded by no means gracious, declared that he did not think this was necessary, and that he had already given a definite promise to the lloyd people. ballin replied that, if the kaiser had pledged his word, the matter, of course, was settled, and that he would withdraw his suggestion, although he considered himself justified in making it. at the close of the meeting count waldersee, who had been one of those present, took ballin's arm and said to him: "as you are now sure to be hanged from the brandenburger tor, let us go to hiller's before it comes off, to have some lunch together." ballin never ceased to be grateful to the count for this sign of kindness, and his friendship with him and his family lasted until his death. the arrangements made by the hamburg-amerika linie for the reception of its guests were carefully prepared and carried out. it is not easy to give an idea to a non-expert of the great many minute details which have to be attended to in order to accommodate a large number of exacting visitors on a steamer in such a manner that nobody finds anything to complain of, especially if, as is but natural on an occasion such as this, an endless variety of questions as to precedence and etiquette have to be taken into account. great pains and much circumspection are necessary to arrange to everybody's satisfaction all matters affecting the reception of the guests, the provision of food and drinks, the conveyance of luggage, etc. thanks to the infinite care, however, with which ballin and his fellow-workers attended to this matter, everything turned out eminently satisfactory. in the evening, when the guests of the hamburg-amerika linie were returning to their steamer at the close of the festivities, the company agreeably surprised them by providing an artistically arranged collation of cold meats, etc., and the news of this spread so quickly that from the other vessels people who felt that the official catering had not taken sufficient account of their appetites, lost no time in availing themselves of this opportunity of a meal. this event, at any rate, helped to establish the reputation of the company's hospitality. it may be presumed that this incident had shown the kaiser--who, although he did not object to being contradicted in private, could not bear it in public--that the hamburg company was animated by a spirit of independence which did not subordinate itself to other influences without a protest, and which jealously guarded its position. it must be stated that the kaiser never bore ballin any ill will on account of his opposition, which may be partly due to the great pains the packetfahrt took in order to make the festivities a success. the event may also have induced the kaiser to watch the progress of the hamburg-amerika linie after that with particular attention. his special interest was centred round the provision for new construction, and in this matter he exerted his influence from an early time in favour of the german yards. the first occasion of the kaiser's pleading in favour of german yards dates from the time previous to his accession to the throne. ballin, in a speech which he delivered when the trial trip of the s.s. _meteor_ took place, stated the facts connected with this intervention as follows: the directors had just started negotiations with british shipbuilding firms for the building of their first express steamer when the prussian minister to the free city of hamburg called to inform them, at the request of prince bismarck, that the latter, acting upon the urgent representations of prince wilhelm, suggested that they should entrust the building of the big vessel to a german yard. the prince was profoundly convinced that germany, for the sake of her own future, must cease to play the part of cinderella among the nations, and that there was no want of engineers among his countrymen who, if given a chance, would prove just as efficient as their fellow-craftsmen in england. the packetfahrt thereupon entrusted the building of the vessel to the stettin vulkan yard. she was the fast steamer _auguste victoria_, and was christened after the young empress. launched in , she immediately won "the blue riband of the atlantic" on her first trip. another and still more practical suggestion of the kaiser was put forward at the time when the company were about to build an excursion steamer. the satisfactory results which their fast steamers had yielded during the dead season in the transatlantic passage business when used for pleasure cruises had induced them to take this step, and when the kaiser's attention was drawn to this project, he, on the strength of the experience he had made with his _hohenzollern_, designed a sketch and composed a memorandum dealing with the equipment of such a steamer. it was ballin's opinion that this imperial memorandum contained some suggestions worth studying, although it was but natural that the monarch could not be expected to be sufficiently acquainted with all the practical considerations which the company had to bear in mind in order to make the innovation pay, and that, therefore, some of his recommendations could not be carried out. if we remember what vivid pleasure the kaiser derived from his own holiday cruises, it cannot surprise us to see that he took such a keen interest in the company's excursion trips. how keen it was may be inferred from an incident which happened early in his reign, and to which ballin, when describing his first experiences on this subject, referred in his above-mentioned speech on the occasion of the trial trip of the _meteor_. ballin said: "even among my most intimate associates people were not wanting who thought that i was not quite right in my mind when, at the head of intrepid travellers, i set out on the first pleasure cruise to the far east in january, . the kaiser had just inspected the vessel, and then bade farewell to the company and myself by saying: 'that's right. make our countrymen feel at home on the open sea, and both your company and the whole nation will reap the benefit.'" in after years the kaiser's interest in the company chiefly centred round those landmarks in its progress which marked the country's expansion in the direction of _weltpolitik_, e.g. its participation in the imperial mail service to the far east, its taking up a share in the african trade, etc. in fact, after , when the kaiser had keenly interested himself in the establishment of the morgan trust and its connexion with german shipping companies, there was scarcely an important event in the history of the company (such as the extension of its services, the addition of a big new steamer, etc.) which he allowed to pass without a few cordial words of congratulation. he also took the liveliest interest in the personal well-being of ballin. he always sent him the compliments of the season at christmas or for the new year, generally in the shape of picture post-cards or photographs from his travels, together with a few gracious words, and he never failed to remember the anniversaries of important events in ballin's life or to inquire after him on recovering from an illness. ballin, in his turn, acquainted the kaiser with anything which he believed might be of interest to his majesty, or might improve his knowledge of the economic conditions existing in his own as well as in foreign countries. he kept him informed about all the more important pool negotiations, e.g. those in connexion with the establishment, in , of the general pool, and those referring to the agreements concluded with other german shipping companies, etc. whenever he noticed on his travels any signs of important developments, chiefly those of a political kind, he furnished his imperial friend with reports on the foreign situation. in the kaiser's interest in ballin took a particularly practical form. ballin had suffered a great deal from neuralgic pains which, in spite of the treatment of various physicians, did not really and permanently diminish until the patient was taken in hand by professor schweninger, the famous medical adviser of no less a man than bismarck. ballin himself testified to the unvaried attention and kindness of dr. schweninger, and to the great success of his treatment. it is to be assumed that schweninger, because of his energetic manner of dealing with his patients, was eminently suited to ballin's disposition, which was not an easy one for his doctor and for those round him to cope with. "as early as january, ," ballin remarks in his notes, "the kaiser had sent a telegram inviting me to attend the _ordensfest_ celebrations in berlin, and during the subsequent levee he favoured me with a lengthy conversation, chiefly because he wanted to tell me how greatly he was alarmed at the state of my health. his physician, professor leuthold, had evidently given him an unfavourable account of it. the kaiser explained that he could no longer allow me to go on without proper assistance or without a substitute who would do my work when i was away for any length of time. this state of things caused him a great deal of anxiety, and, as it was a matter of national interest, he was bound to occupy himself with this problem. he did not wish to expose himself to a repetition of the danger--which he had experienced in the krupp case--that a large concern like ours should at any moment be without a qualified steersman at the helm. he said he knew that of all the gentlemen in his entourage herr v. grumme was the one i liked best, and that i had an excellent opinion of him. he also considered grumme the best man he had ever had round him, and it would be difficult to replace him. nevertheless he would be glad to induce grumme to join the services of the hamburg-amerika linie, if i thought that this would solve the difficulty he had just referred to, and that such a solution would fall in with my own wishes. he was convinced that i should soon be restored to my normal health if i were relieved of some part of my work, and that this would enable me to do much useful service to the nation and himself; so he would be pleased to make the sacrifice. i sincerely thanked his majesty, and assured him that i could not think of any solution that i should like better than the one he had proposed, and that, if he were really prepared to do so much for me, i would beg him to discuss the matter with grumme. that very evening he sent for grumme, who immediately expressed his readiness to enter the services of our company if such was his majesty's pleasure." the lively interest which the kaiser took in the development of our mercantile marine was naturally closely connected with the growth of the imperial navy and with our naval policy in general. the country's maritime interests and the merchant fleet were the real motives that prompted his own naval policy, whereas tirpitz chiefly looked upon them as a valuable asset for propaganda purposes. during the first stage of the naval policy and of the naval propaganda--which at that time were conducted on quite moderate lines--ballin, as he repeatedly told me, played a very active part. it was the time when the well-known periodical _nautikus_, afterwards issued at regular annual intervals, was first published by the ministry for the navy, and when a very active propaganda in favour of the navy and of the country's maritime interests was started. experience has proved how difficult it is to start such a propaganda, especially through the medium of a press so loosely organized as was the german press in those days. but it is still more difficult to stop, or even to lessen, such propaganda once it has been started, because the preliminary condition for any active propaganda work is that a large number of individual persons and organizations should be interested in it. it is next to impossible to induce these people to discontinue their activities when it is no longer thought desirable to keep up the propaganda after its original aim has been achieved. germany's maritime interests remained a favourite subject of press discussions, and the animation with which these were carried on reached a climax whenever a supplementary navy bill was introduced. even when it was intended to widen the kiel canal, as it proved too narrow for the vessels of the "dreadnought" type, the necessity for doing so was explained by reference to the constantly increasing size of the new steamers built for the mercantile marine; although, seeing that the shallow waters of the baltic and of the channels leading into it made it quite impossible to use them for this purpose, nobody ever proposed to send those big ships through the canal. in later years ballin often spoke with great bitterness of those journalists who would never leave off writing about "the daring of our merchant fleet" in terms of unmeasured eulogy, and whom he described as the greatest enemies of the hamburg-amerika linie. but it was not only the propaganda work for the imperial navy to which the kaiser contributed by his own personal efforts: the range of his maritime interests was much wider. he gave his assistance when the problems connected with the troop transports to the far east and to south west africa were under discussion; he studied with keen attention the progress of the german mercantile marine, the vessels of which he frequently met on his travels; he often went on board the german tourist steamers, those in norwegian waters for instance, when he would unfailingly make some complimentary remarks on the management, and he became the lavish patron of the sporting events known as kiel week, the scope of which was extending from year to year. the kiel week, originally started by the yachting clubs of hamburg for the encouragement of their sport, gradually developed into a social event of the first order, and since it became customary for the hamburg-amerika linie to dispatch one of their big steamers to kiel, where it served as a hotel ship for a large number of the visitors. from kiel week was preceded by a visit of the kaiser--and frequently of the kaiserin as well--to hamburg, where their majesties attended the summer races and the yachting regatta on the lower elbe. in the kaiser had the intention of being present at a banquet which the norddeutsche regatta-verein was giving on board the packetfahrt liner _columbia_, and he was only prevented from doing so at the last moment. in the following year the hamburg-amerika linie sent their s.s. _pretoria_ to kiel. on this vessel the well-known "regatta dinner" took place which the kaiser attended, and which, on future occasions, he continued to honour with his presence. ballin received a special invitation to visit the kaiser on board his yacht _hohenzollern_. he could not, however, avail himself of it, because the message only reached him on his way home to hamburg. the year after, the kaiser commanded ballin to sit next to him at the table, and engaged him in a long conversation on the subject of the load-line which he wanted to see adopted by german shipping firms for their vessels. the packetfahrt carried this suggestion into practice shortly afterwards, and in course of time the other companies followed suit. on the occasion of these festivities the kaiser in paid a visit to the new premises of the hamburg-amerika linie. in and in subsequent years he also visited ballin's private home and took lunch with him. the speeches which he made at the regatta dinners given in connexion with the regatta on the lower elbe frequently contained some political references. in , for instance, he said: "although we do not possess such a navy as we ought to have, we have gained a place in the sun. it will now be my duty to see to it that we shall keep this place in the sun against all comers.... i, as the supreme head of the empire, can only rejoice whenever i see a hanseatic citizen--let him be a native of hamburg, or bremen, or lübeck--striking out into the world with his eyes wide open, and trying to find a spot where he can hammer a nail into the wall from which to hang the tools needed to carry on his trade." in he quoted the motto from the lübeck ratskeller: "it is easy to hoist the flag, but it costs a great deal to haul it down with honour." and in , after the launch of the big steamer _bismarck_, he quoted bismarck's saying, slightly altered: "we germans fear god, but nothing and nobody besides." kiel week never passed without a great deal of political discussion. the close personal contact on such occasions between ballin and the kaiser furnished the former with many an opportunity for expressing his views on politics. much has been said about william ii's "irresponsible advisers," who are alleged to have endeavoured to influence him in the interests of certain cliques, and it cannot, of course, be denied that the men who formed the personal entourage of the monarch were very far from representing every shade of public opinion, even if that had been possible. the traditions of the prussian court and of princely education may have contributed their share to this state of things. the result, at any rate, was that in times of crises--as, for instance, during the war--it was impossible to break through the phalanx of men who guarded the kaiser and to withdraw him from their influence. events have shown how strong this influence must have been, and how little it was suited to induce the kaiser to apply any self-criticism to his preconceived ideas. added to this, there was the difficulty of obtaining a private conversation with the kaiser for any length of time--a difficulty which was but rarely overcome even by persons possessing very high credentials. it has already been mentioned that the kaiser did not like to be contradicted in the presence of others, because he considered it derogatory to his sovereign position. ballin repeatedly succeeded in engaging the kaiser in private conversations of some length, especially after his journeys abroad, when the kaiser invited him to lunch with him, and afterwards to accompany him on a walk unattended. ballin's notes more than once refer to such conversations with the kaiser, e.g. on june rd, , when he had been a member of the imperial luncheon party: "after lunch the kaiser asked me to report on my trip to the far east, and he, in his turn, told me some exceedingly interesting pieces of news relating to his stay in england, and to political affairs connected with it." the following passage, referring to the kiel week, is taken from the notes of the same year: "i received many marks of the kaiser's attention, who, on july th, summoned me to kiel once more, as he wished to discuss with the chancellor and me the question of the japanese bank." during his trip to the far east ballin had taken a great deal of trouble to bring about the establishment of a german-japanese bank. the following extracts are taken from the notes of subsequent years: "on december th ( ) i received a wire asking me to see the kaiser at the _neues palais_. to my infinite joy the kaiser had quite recovered the use of his voice. he looked well and fit, and during a stroll through the park i had a long chat with him concerning my trip to america and other matters. in february the kaiser intends to undertake a mediterranean cruise on board the _hohenzollern_ for the benefit of his health. he will probably proceed to genoa on board one of the imperial mail packets, which is to be chartered for him." (april ). "the kaiser had expressed a wish to see me in italy. on my arrival at naples i found a telegram waiting for me in which i was asked to proceed to messina if necessary. owing, however, to the state of our negotiations with the russian government, i did not think it desirable to meet the kaiser just then, and thus i had no opportunity of seeing him until may rd when i was in berlin to attend a meeting of the _disconto-gesellschaft_, and to confer with stübel on the question of some further troop transports to south west africa. i received an invitation to join the imperial luncheon party at which the birthday of the crown prince was to be celebrated in advance, since his majesty would not be in town on may th. the kaiser's health had much improved through his cruise; he had lost some of his stoutness, and the kaiserin, too, was greatly pleased to see him looking so well. we naturally discussed the topics of the day, and the kaiser, as always, was full of kindness and goodwill towards me." "on june st, , the usual imperial regatta took place at cuxhaven, and the usual dinner on board the _blücher_. these events were followed by kiel week, which lasted from june nd to th. we stayed on board the _victoria luise_, and i was thus brought into especially close contact with the kaiser. i accompanied him to eckernförde on board the _meteor_, and we discussed the political situation, particularly in its bearing on the morocco question and on the attitude of great britain." "on june th, , the kaiser, the kaiserin, and some of their sons were staying in hamburg. i dined with them at tschirschky's (the prussian minister in hamburg), and we drove to the races. on june th we proceeded to cuxhaven, where, on board the _deutschland_, i heard the news--which the kaiser had just communicated to kaempff (the captain of the _deutschland_)--that the north german lloyd steamer _kaiser wilhelm ii_, in consequence of her being equipped with larger propellers, had won the speed record. late at night the kaiser asked me to see him on board the _hohenzollern_, where he engaged me in a long discussion on the most varied subjects. on june st the regatta took place at cuxhaven. the kaiser and prince heinrich were amongst the guests who were entertained at dinner on board the _deutschland_. the kaiser was in the best of health and spirits. owing to the circumstance that burgomaster burchard--who generally engages the kaiser in after-dinner conversation--was prevented by his illness from being present, i was enabled to introduce a number of hamburg gentlemen to his majesty. as the kaiser had summoned me to dine with him on board the _hohenzollern_ on the nd, i could not return to hamburg, but had to travel through the kiel canal that same night on board a tug steamer. on the nd i stayed at the club house of the imperial yachting club, whilst at my own house a dinner party was given for persons. on the rd i changed my quarters to the _prinzessin victoria luise_, and the other visitors arrived there about noon. a special feature of kiel week of was the visit of king edward to the kaiser whom he met at kiel. for the accommodation of the ministers of state and of the other visitors whom the kaiser had invited in connexion with the presence of the king, we had placed our s.s. _prinz joachim_ at his disposal, in addition to the _prinzessin victoria luise_. we also supplied, for the first time, a hotel ship, the _graf waldersee_, all the cabins of which were engaged. on june th my wife and i, and a number of other visitors from the _prinzessin victoria luise_, were invited to take afternoon tea with the kaiser and kaiserin on board the _hohenzollern_, and i had a lengthy conversation with king edward." whenever the kaiser granted ballin an interview without the presence of witnesses he cast aside all dignity, and discussed matters with him as friend to friend. neither did he object to his friend's counsel and admonitions, and he was not offended if ballin, on such occasions, subjected his actions or his opinions to severe criticism. on such occasions the kaiser, as ballin repeatedly pointed out, "took it all in without interrupting, looking at me from the depth of his kind and honest eyes." that he did not bear ballin any malice for his frankness is shown by the fact that he took a lively and cordial interest in all the events touching the private life of ballin and his family, his daughter's engagement, for instance--an interest which still continued after ballin's death. in spite of this close friendship between ballin and the kaiser, it would be quite wrong to assume that ballin exercised anything resembling a permanent influence on his majesty. their meetings took place only very occasionally, and were often separated by intervals extending over several months, and it happened only in rare cases that ballin availed himself of the privilege of writing to the kaiser in person. it is true that the latter was always pleased to listen to ballin's explanations of his views, and it is possible that every now and than he did allow himself to be guided by them; but it is quite certain that he never allowed these views to exercise any actual influence on the country's politics. the events narrated in the chapter of this book dealing with politics show that in a concrete case, at any rate, ballin's recommendations and the weight of his arguments were not sufficient to cope successfully with the influence of others who were the permanent advisers of the sovereign, and who had at all times access to his majesty. if thus the effect of ballin's friendship with the kaiser has frequently been greatly overrated in regard to politics, the same holds good--and, indeed, to a still greater extent--in regard to the advantages which the hamburg-amerika linie is supposed to have derived from it. one of ballin's associates on the board of the company was quite right when he said: "ballin's friendship with the kaiser has done more harm than good to the hamburg-amerika linie." indirectly, of course, it raised the prestige of the company both at home and abroad. but there is no doubt that it had also an adverse effect upon it: at any rate, outside of germany. it gave rise to all sorts of rumours, e.g. that the company obtained great advantages from the government; that the latter subsidized it to a considerable extent; that the kaiser was one of the principal shareholders, etc. it is also quite certain that these beliefs were largely instrumental in making the hamburg-amerika linie, as ballin put it, one of the war aims of great britain, and it is even alleged that, at the close of the war, the british government approached some of the country's leading shipping firms with the suggestion that they should buy up the hamburg-amerika linie or the north german lloyd. this was at the time when it became desirable to secure the necessary organization for the intended commercial conquest of the continent. it is quite possible--and, i am inclined to think, quite probable--that this suggestion was put forward because such a step would be in harmony with that frame of mind from which originated such stipulations of the versailles treaty as deal with shipping masters, and with the assumption that german shipping--which was supposed to depend for its continuance mainly on the existence of the german monarchial system--would practically come to an end with the disappearance of the latter. it would, indeed, be difficult to name any historical document which pays less regard to the vital necessities of a nation and which actually ignores them more completely than does the treaty signed at versailles. the allegation that ballin should ever have attempted to make use of his friendship with the kaiser for his own or for his company's benefit is, moreover, diametrically opposed to the established fact that he knew the precise limits of his influence, and that he never endeavoured to overreach himself. his "policy of compromise" was the practical outcome of this trait of his character. the opinion which my close observation of ballin's work during the last ten years of his life enabled me to form was, as far as its political side is concerned, confirmed to me in every detail by no less a person than prince bülow, who, without doubt, is the most competent judge of german affairs in the first decade of the twentieth century. when i asked the prince whether ballin could be accused of ever having abused the friendship between himself and the kaiser for any ulterior ends whatever, he replied with a decided negative. ballin, he said, had never dreamt of doing such a thing. he had always exercised the greatest tact in his relations with the kaiser, and had never made use of them to gain any private advantage. besides, his views had nearly always coincided with those held by the responsible leaders of the country's political destinies. once only a conflict of opinion had arisen between ballin and himself on a political question, and this was at the time when the customs tariffs were under discussion. ballin held that these were detrimental to the country's best interests, and it is a well-known fact that, at that time, there was a widespread feeling as to the impossibility of concluding any commercial treaties so long as those tariffs were in operation. during the most critical period of the existence of the monarchy--i.e. during the war--ballin's influence on the kaiser was but slight. only on a very few occasions was he able to meet the kaiser, and he never had an opportunity of talking to him privately, as in former times. it was the constant aim of the kaiser's entourage to maintain their controlling influence over the kaiser unimpaired. even when they last met--in september, --and when ballin, at the instance of the supreme army command, was asked to explain to the kaiser the situation as it actually was, he was not permitted to see the kaiser without the presence of a witness, so that his influence could not assert itself. the fact that the kaiser was debarred from knowing the truth was the cause of his and of his country's ruin. "the kaiser is only allowed to know the bright side of things," ballin used to say, "and therefore he does not see matters as they really stand." this is all the more regrettable because, as ballin thought, the kaiser was not wanting in either the capacity or the independence of mind which would have enabled him to pursue a policy better than the one in which he actually acquiesced. more than once, ballin said, the kaiser's judgment on a political issue was absolutely sound, but he did not wish to act contrary to the recommendations of his responsible advisers. when, for instance, it was decided that the gunboat _panther_ should be dispatched to agadir, a decision which was arrived at during kiel week of , the kaiser exclaimed, with much show of feeling, that a step of such far-reaching importance could not be taken on the spur of the moment and without consulting the nation, and he only gave his consent with great reluctance. moreover, ballin stated, he was by no means in sympathy with tirpitz, and the latter was not a man after his own heart, but he was content to let him have his way, because he believed that the naval policy of tirpitz was right, so that he was not entitled to jeopardize the interests of his country by dismissing him. the kaiser was not moved by an ambitious desire to build up a powerful navy destined to risk all in a decisive struggle against great britain, and the numerous passages in his public speeches which foreign observers interpreted as implying such a desire, must be regarded as the explosive outbursts of a strong character which was sometimes directed into wrong channels by a certain sense of its own superiority, and which, in seeking to express itself, would occasionally outrun discretion. his inconsistency which made him an easy prey to the influence of his entourage, caused him to be looked upon by foreign critics as vacillating and unstable, and this impression--as was discovered when too late--discredited his country immensely in the eyes of great britain, who, after all, had to be reckoned with as the decisive factor in all questions relative to world policy. such a character could be guided in the right direction only if the right influence could be brought permanently to bear on it. but who was to exercise such influence on the kaiser? certainly his entourage did not include anyone qualified to do so, because it was not representative of all sections of the nation; neither was any of the successive chancellors able to undertake such a task, since none of them succeeded in solving the questions of internal policy in a manner approved by a reliable and solid majority in the reichstag. the kaiserin also was not free from prejudice as to the war and the causes of its outbreak. ballin relates how, on one of the few occasions when he was privileged to see the kaiser during the war, her majesty, with clenched fists, exclaimed: "peace with england? never!" the imperial family considered themselves betrayed by england and the english court. why this should be so is perhaps still more difficult to say now than ballin could understand in those days. arguments, however, were useless in such a case, and could produce nothing but harm. the kaiser did not bear ballin any malice because of the frankness with which he explained his views that day; on the contrary, members of the kaiser's entourage have confirmed that, after ballin had left that evening, he even tried to make the kaiserin see his (ballin's) point of view. putting himself into ballin's position, he said, he could perfectly understand how he felt about it all; but he himself could not help thinking that his english relatives had played him false, so that he was forced to continue the struggle with england tooth and nail. when ballin, during the summer of , gave me a character sketch of the kaiser, of which the account i have endeavoured to present in the preceding paragraphs is an outline, he added: "but what is the good of it? he is, after all, the managing director, and if things turn out wrong he is held responsible exactly as if he were the director of a joint-stock company." this comparison of the german empire and its ruler with a joint-stock company and its board of directors used to form a frequent subject of argument in our inner circle, and even before the war these discussions regularly led to the conclusion that, what with the policy carried on by the government and that carried on by the parties in the reichstag, the hamburg-amerika linie would have gone bankrupt long ago if its affairs had been conducted on such lines as those of the german empire. it was a never-ending cause of surprise to us to learn how completely the european situation was misjudged in the highest quarters, when, for instance, the following incident, which was reported to ballin during the war, became known to us. one day, when the conversation at lunch in the imperial headquarters turned to the subject of england, the kaiser remarked: "i only wish someone had told me beforehand that england would take up arms against us," to which one of those present replied in a quiet whisper: "metternich." it would have been just as proper, ballin added, to have mentioned my own name, because i also warned the kaiser over and over again. on another page in this book reference is made to the well-known fact that the reason why count metternich, the german ambassador at the court of st. james, had to relinquish his post was that he, in one of his reports, predicted that germany would be involved in war with great britain no later than unless she reduced the pace of her naval armaments. this was one of those numerous predictions to which, like so many others, especially during the war, no one wanted to listen. even in the late summer of , when ballin saw the kaiser for the last time, such warnings met with a deaf ear. this meeting, to which ballin consented with reluctance, was the outcome of a friendship which, politically speaking, was devoid of practical results. a detailed account follows. chapter x the war about the middle of the month of july, , ballin, when staying at kissingen for the benefit of his health, received a letter from the foreign secretary, herr v. jagow, which made him put an immediate end to his holiday and proceed to berlin. the letter was dated july th, and its principal contents were as follows: the _berliner tageblatt_, it said, had published some information concerning certain anglo-russian agreements on naval questions. the foreign office did not attach much value to it, because it was at variance with the general assumption that germany's relations with great britain had undergone a change for the better, and also with the apparent reluctance of british statesmen to tie their country to any such agreements. the matter, however, had been followed up all the same, and through very confidential channels it had been ascertained that the rumours in question were by no means devoid of an actual background of fact. grey, too, had not denied them point blank at his interview with lichnowsky. it was quite true that anglo-russian negotiations were proceeding on the subject of a naval agreement, and that the russian government was anxious to secure as much mutual co-operation between the two countries as possible. a definite understanding had not, so far, been reached, notwithstanding the pressure exercised by russia. grey's attitude had become somewhat uncertain; but it was thought that he would ultimately give his consent, and that he would quieten his own conscience by arguing that the negotiations had not really been conducted between the cabinets, but between the respective naval authorities. it was also quite likely that the british, who were adepts at the art of making nice distinctions, would be negotiating with the mental reservation that they would refrain from taking an active part when the critical moment arrived, if it suited them not to do so; and a _casus foederis_ would presumably not be provided for in the agreement. at any rate, the effect of the latter would be enormously to strengthen the aggressive tendencies of russia. if the agreement became perfect, it would be useless for germany to think any longer of coming to a _rapprochement_ with great britain, and therefore it would be a matter of great importance to make a last effort towards counteracting the russian designs. his (v. jagow's) idea was that ballin, who had intimate relations with numerous englishmen in leading positions, should send a note of warning across the north sea. this suggestion was followed up by several hints as to the most suitable form of wording such a note, and the letter concluded with the statement that the matter was one of great urgency. a postscript dated july th added that a further article had been published by the _berliner tageblatt_, according to which the informants of the author also took a serious view of the situation. ballin, in response to the request contained in the letter, did not content himself with sending a written note to his london friends, but he immediately went to berlin for the purpose of gaining additional information on the spot, with special reference to the general political outlook. he learned that austria intended to present a strongly worded note to serbia, and that it was expected that in reply a counter-note dictated by russia would be received. he was also told that the government not only wanted some information regarding the matter which formed the special subject of herr v. jagow's letter, but also regarding the general political situation in london, as it was doubted whether the reports received from the ambassador were sufficiently trustworthy and complete. this was all that ballin was told. since then many facts have become known which throw a light on the way in which political questions were dealt with by the berlin authorities during the critical period preceding the war, and if we, knowing what we know now, read the letter of herr v. jagow, we ask ourselves in amazement what was the object of the proposed action in london? could it be that it was intended to intimidate the british government? this could hardly be thought possible, so that some other result must have been aimed at. we can only say that the whole affair is still surrounded by much mystery, and we can sympathize with ballin's bitter complaints in later days that he thought people had not treated him with as much openness as they should have done, and that they had abused his intimate relations with leading british personages. ballin then left berlin for hamburg. he gave me his impressions of the state of political affairs--which he did not regard as critical--and went to london, ostensibly on business. in london he met grey, haldane, and churchill, and there also he did not look upon the situation as critical--at least, not at first. when, however, the text of the austrian note became known on thursday, july rd, and when its full significance had gradually been realized, the political atmosphere became clouded: people asked what was austria's real object, and began to fear lest the peace might be disturbed. nevertheless, ballin returned from london on july th with the impression that a fairly capable german diplomat might even then succeed in bringing about an understanding with great britain and france which, by preventing russia from striking, would result in preserving the peace. great britain and the leading british politicians, he said, were absolutely in favour of peace, and the french government was so much against war that its representatives in london seemed to him to be rather nervous on the subject. they would, he thought, do anything in their power to prevent war. if, however, france was attacked without any provocation on her part, great britain would be compelled to come to her assistance. britain would never allow that we, as was provided for in the old plan of campaign, should march through belgium. it was quite true that the austrian note had caused grave anxiety in london, but how earnestly the cabinet was trying to preserve peace might be gauged by the fact that churchill, when he took leave of ballin, implored him, almost with tears in his eyes, not to go to war. these impressions of ballin are confirmed by the reports of prince lichnowsky and other members of the german embassy in their observations during the critical days. apart from these politicians and diplomatists on active service there were other persons of political training, though no longer in office, who did not think at that time that there was an immediate danger of war. in this connexion i should like to add a report of a very remarkable conversation with count witte, which took place at bad salzschlirf on july th. the count--whose untimely death was greatly regretted--was without any doubt one of the most capable statesmen of his time--perhaps the only one with a touch of genius europe possessed--and he certainly knew more about the complicated state of things in russia than any living person. for these reasons his views on the events which form the first stage of the fateful conflict are of special interest. i shall reproduce the report of this conversation exactly as we received it at the time, and as we passed it on to berlin. the authenticity of the statements of count witte as given here is beyond question. "yesterday (on july th) i paid a visit to count witte who was staying at bad salzschlirf, and in the course of the day i had several conversations with him, the first of which took place as early as ten o'clock in the morning. after a few words of welcome, and after discussing some matters of general and personal interest, i said to the count: 'i should like to thank you for your welcome letter and for your telegram. the question which you raise in them of a meeting between our two emperors appears of such fundamental importance to me that i may perhaps hope to be favoured with some details by you personally.' "witte replied: 'in the first instance i wish to reaffirm what i have repeatedly told you, both verbally and by letter, viz. that i am not in the least anxious to be nominated russian delegate for the proposed negotiations concerning a commercial treaty between germany and russia. whoever may be appointed from the russian side will gain no laurels. i think a meeting between the kaiser and the tsar some time within the next few weeks would be of very great importance. have you read the french papers? the tone now assumed by jules hedeman is a direct challenge. i know hedeman, and i also know that he only writes what will please sasonov, poincaré and paléologue (the french ambassador in petrograd). now that the peterhof meeting has taken place the language employed by all the french and russian papers will become more arrogant than ever. it is quite certain that the russian diplomatists and their french colleagues will now assume a different tone in their intercourse with the german diplomatists. the _rapprochement_ with great britain is making considerable progress, and whether a naval convention exists or not, great britain will now side with russia and france. if even now a meeting could be arranged between the two emperors, this would be of immense significance. the mischief-makers both in russia and in france would be made to look small, and public opinion would calm down again." "i asked witte: 'do you think, sergei yulyevitch, that the tsar would avail himself of a possible opportunity of meeting the kaiser?' "witte replied: 'i am firmly convinced of it; i may, indeed, state without hesitation that the tsar would be delighted to do so. the personal relations between the tsar and the kaiser are not of an ordinary kind. they converse with each other in terms of intimate friendship, and each time the tsar has had a chat with the kaiser he has been in better spirits. believe me, if this meeting comes off, the impression which the french visit has left on the tsar will be entirely wiped out. the effect of the showy reception of the french visitors which the press agitators have not failed to use for their own ends will be obliterated. such a meeting will express in unambiguous terms that, whatever value the tsar attaches to the franco-russian alliance, he insists on the maintenance of amicable relations with germany. the meeting will have to be arranged without loss of time, in about four or six weeks, because in two months from now the tsar will be leaving for livadia. the army manoeuvres will be held within the next few weeks, and the tsar will then go to the finnish skerries where, in my opinion, the meeting might take place without difficulty.' "i asked witte: 'do you not think that, if the meeting were officially proposed by germany, it might be looked upon as a sign of weakness on her side, especially in view of the now existing tension between the two countries?' "witte replied: 'by no means. one has always to take into account the fact that the relations between the tsar and the kaiser, as i explained before, are in the highest degree friendly and intimate. i do not know how the kaiser would feel on the subject, but i am convinced that he is possessed of the necessary political sagacity to find the way that will lead to a meeting. he might, e.g., write to the tsar quite openly that, as the relations between their two countries had lately been somewhat under a cloud in consequence of the inefficient diplomacy of their respective representatives, he would be particularly happy to meet him at this juncture. or the suggestion might reach the tsar _via_ the grand duke of hesse and his sister, the tsarina. but this is immaterial, because the kaiser is sure to find the right way. i can only repeat that the effect of the meeting would be enormous. the russian press and russian society would change their whole attitude, and the agitation in the french press would receive a severe setback.' "i said to witte: 'i shall communicate the gist of our conversation to mr. ballin. as it is quite possible that he will be ready to endorse this suggestion, i should like to know your answer to one more question, viz., whether, if mr. ballin were to submit the proposal to the proper quarters, you would allow him to refer to you as the originator of the suggestion.' "witte replied: 'certainly. he may say that i look upon this meeting as an event of the utmost importance to both countries at the present moment.' "i said: 'seeing that you will be leaving germany within five days from now, would you be prepared to go to berlin if the kaiser would receive you unofficially?' "witte replied: 'certainly. at any moment.' "when we went for a walk in the afternoon, witte made reference, amongst other things, to various political questions. i shall confine myself to quoting only a few of his remarks. "'practically speaking,' he said, 'i think that there will be no war, although theoretically the air is thick with difficulties which only a war can clear away. but nowadays there is nobody who, like william the first, would put his foot down and say: "now i will not yield another inch!" the spot at ems where this happened is now adorned with a monument. within a few years when the armaments which for the present are on paper only, shall be completed, russia will really be strong. but even then, one has still to reckon with the possibility of internal complications. france, however, need not fear any such difficulties, because countries possessing a constitution acknowledged by all their inhabitants are not liable to revolutionary movements, no matter how often their governments change.' "in speaking of hartwig, witte remarked: 'his death is the severest blow to russian diplomacy. he was unquestionably the most gifted russian diplomatist. when count lammsdorff, who was a great friend of mine, was minister for foreign affairs, he used to do nothing without first asking my advice. hartwig, at that time, was the chief of his departmental staff, and he often came to see me. even in those early days i had an opportunity of admiring his eminent diplomatic gifts.'" the suggestion which formed the principal subject of the above conversations--viz. that a personal meeting of the two emperors should be arranged in order to remove the existing tension--was not followed up, and the proposal would in any case have been doomed to failure, because the politicians who were responsible for the conduct of affairs at that time had done nothing to prevent the kaiser from embarking on his customary cruise in northern waters. the latter end of july was full of excitement for the directors and the staff of the hamburg-amerika linie. we endeavoured to acquaint the vessels that were under way with the critical situation, and we instructed each captain to make for a neutral port in case war should break out. the naval authorities warned us not to allow any ships to put to sea, and we were particularly asked not to permit the sailing of the s.s. _imperator_, which was fixed for july st, because the attitude of great britain was uncertain. at a midnight meeting held at ballin's private residence it was decided to postpone the departure of the vessel "on account of the uncertain political situation." every berth on the steamer was booked, and hundreds of passengers were put to the greatest inconvenience. most of them proceeded to a neutral or to a british port from which they subsequently embarked for the united states. after this, events followed upon each other's heels in swift succession. when war broke out, most of the ships succeeded in reaching neutral ports, so that comparatively few of them were lost in the early part of the war. by august th the cables had been cut. this circumstance made it very difficult to keep up communications with new york, and compelled the majority of our agencies and branches abroad to use their own discretion as to what to do. the place of regular business was taken by the work involved in carrying out the various agreements which the company had entered into during peace time, viz. those for the victualling and bunkering of various units of the imperial navy, for the supply of auxiliary vessels, and for the establishment of an organization which was to purchase the provisions needed by the navy. in the meantime, the ministry of the interior had started to devise measures for provisioning the country as a whole, as far as that was still possible. it is well known that the responsible authorities had done far too little--indeed, hardly anything at all--to cope with this problem, because they had never taken a very serious view of the danger of war. even the arrangements of the military authorities in connexion with the plans of mobilization were utterly deficient in this respect. the first who seriously studied the question as to what would have to be done for the provisioning of the military and civil population if germany had to fight against a coalition of enemies, and if the overseas supplies were stopped, was general count georg waldersee, who became quartermaster general in . in a letter which he wrote to ballin about that time, he gave a very clear description of the probable state of things in such an emergency. he pointed out that the amount of foodstuffs required during a war would probably be larger than the quantities needed in peace time--a contingency which had escaped attention in germany altogether--and that above all there would be an enormous shortage of raw materials. therefore, he said, if it was desired to guard the country against disagreeable surprises, it was imperative to make certain preparations for an economic and a financial mobilization. the military authorities at least had studied this problem theoretically, but the civil authorities would not make any move at all. the general said he thought it desirable that this question should receive more attention in the future, and he asked ballin to let him know his views on the matter, and to give him some practical advice. the anxiety felt in military quarters was largely augmented by the receipt of disquieting rumours about the increase of russian armaments. in reply we furnished count waldersee with a brief memorandum written by myself in which, amongst other items, i referred him to some suggestions put forward by senator possehl, of lübeck, in the course of a lecture delivered about the same time before a selected audience. in view of the fact that germany depended for her food supply and for her raw materials to an increasing extent on foreign sources, there could be no doubt as to the necessity for making economic preparations against the possibility of a war, if a war was considered at all probable. nevertheless, and in spite of the newly awakened interest on the part of the military authorities, these economic preparations had, before the war, made absolutely no progress worth mentioning. the only practical step which, as far as my knowledge goes, had been taken by the civil authorities, was the conclusion of an agreement entered into with a dutch firm dealing with the importation of cereals in case of war. when, in the fateful summer of , this contingency arose, the firm in question had chartered some british steamers, which instead of carrying their cargoes to rotterdam took them to british ports. thus, no serious efforts of any kind had been made to grapple with the problem. on sunday, august nd, geheimrat frisch, who afterwards became the director of the _zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft_ (central purchasing corporation), came to hamburg, in order to inform ballin, at the request of the ministry for the interior, that the latter felt very anxious in regard to the quantity of food actually to be found in germany, which, it was feared, would be very small, and that it was expected that a great shortage would arise after a very brief period. he therefore asked him to use his best endeavours in order to secure supplies from abroad. a hamburg firm was immediately requested to find out how much food was actually available in the country, and, although the figures obtained were not quite so bad as it was expected, steps were taken at once to remedy the deficiencies by importing food from neutral countries. a great obstacle to the rapid success of these efforts was the absolute want of any preparatory work. the very attempt to raise the necessary funds abounded with difficulties of every kind, because no money had been set aside for such expenditure in connexion with the scheme of mobilization, and the time taken by the attempts made in this direction, as well as the circumstance that communication with the united states could only be maintained _via_ neutral countries, were the causes of a great deal of serious delay. at ballin's suggestion the _reichseinkauf_ (government purchasing organization) was then formed. for this organization the hamburg-amerika linie was to do all the purchasing, and it was arranged that it should put at the disposal of the new body all those members of its staff who were not called up, and who were considered suitable for the work. buyers were sent to every neutral country; but the mobilization then in progress led to a complete stoppage of railway travelling for the civil population, thus causing no end of difficulties to these buyers, and making personal contact with the berlin authorities almost impossible. added to all this, there was the inevitable confusion which the replacement of the civil administration by the army commands brought in its train. it had, in fact, been assumed that this war would resemble its predecessors in every respect, and no one was prepared for a world war. hence, such important matters as the importation of foodstuffs from abroad and the work of supplying political information to neutral countries concerning the german standpoint were sadly neglected; everything had to be provided at a moment's notice, and had to be carried through in the face of a great deal of opposition. funds and energy were largely wasted; the military, naval, and civil organizations were working against one another instead of co-operating; and it took a long time before a little order could be introduced into the chaos. it was also found that the german credits abroad were quite inadequate for such enormous requirements. an attempt to dispose of some treasury bills in new york was only moderately successful, and in consequence of this lack of available funds the supplies obtained from the united states were but small. even the fact that the hamburg-amerika linie immediately succeeded in establishing the necessary connexions with american shippers, and in securing a sufficient amount of neutral tonnage, did not improve matters in the least. to obtain the required funds in berlin, as has been explained before, involved considerable loss of time; and as the months passed the british blockade became more and more effective. thus, as the war continued, large quantities of food could only be procured from european countries. ballin took a large personal share in the actual business transacted by the _reichseinkauf_. he did so, if for no other reason, because he needed some substitute for the work connected with the real shipping business which was rapidly decreasing in extent. the only benefit his company derived from its new work was that it gave employment to part of the members of its staff, thus reducing in some measure the expenses. with the stoppage of the company's real business its principal source of income ran dry in no time, and the small profits made out of the supply of provisions to the navy was only a poor compensation. the world's economic activities in those days presented a picture of utter confusion. all the stock exchanges were closed; all dealings in stocks and shares had ceased, so that no prices could be quoted; several countries had introduced a moratorium, and numerous banks had stopped payment. germany had no longer any direct intercourse with the overseas countries; the british censorship was daily increasing its hold on the traffic proceeding _via_ neutral ports. at first those foreign steamship companies which maintained passenger services to america did splendid business, because europe was full of american tourists and business men who were anxious to secure a berth to get home, and numerous cabin passengers had to be content with steerage accommodation. when this rush was past, however, shipping business, like international commerce, entered upon its period of decline. the freight rates came down, the number of steamers laid up assumed large proportions, and the world's traffic, in fact, was paralysed. after a comparatively brief period it was found too difficult to conduct the _reichseinkauf_ organization with its headquarters at hamburg, because the intercourse with the imperial treasury at berlin, which provided the funds, took up too much time, and also because it seemed highly advisable to purchase the foreign foodstuffs needed by the military as well as the civil population through one and the same organization. the state of things in respect to these matters was simply indescribable; indeed, if it had been purposely intended to encourage the growth of war profiteering, it would have been impossible to find a better method of setting about it. numerous buyers, responsible to different centres, not merely purchased without regard to each other, but even outbid each other, thus causing a rise in prices which the public had to pay. conditions such as these were brought about by the utter unpreparedness of the competent civil authorities and by the fact that the military authorities could dispose of the vast amounts of money placed at their command at the outbreak of the war. these conditions were doubtless the soil from which sprang all the evils which later on developed into the pernicious system we connect with the name of _kriegswirtschaft_, and for which it will be impossible to demand reparation owing to the lost war and to the outbreak of the revolution. in order to facilitate the intercourse with the proper government boards, and to centralize the purchasing business as much as possible, ballin's suggestion that the seat of the organization should be removed to berlin was adopted, and at the same time the whole matter was put on a sounder footing by its conversion into a limited company under the name of _zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft_ (central purchasing corporation). the history of the z.e.g. is well known in the country, and its work has been subject to a great deal of criticism, largely due to the fact that all the annoyance caused by the many restrictions which the government found it necessary to impose, and which had to be put up with during the war, was directed against this body. generally speaking, this attitude of the population was very unfair, because the principal grievances concerned the distribution of the foodstuffs, and for this part the z.e.g. was not responsible. its only task was to obtain the necessary supplies from abroad. if it is remembered that the transactions of the corporation reached enormous proportions, and that, after all, it was improvised at a time of war, we cannot be surprised to see that some mistakes and even some serious blunders did occur occasionally, and that the right people were not always found in the right places. moreover, some of the really amazing feats accomplished by the z.e.g--e.g. the supply of grain from roumania, which necessitated enormous labour in connexion with the transhipment from rail to steamer and with the conveyance up the danube--were only known to a few people. it is obvious that nothing could be published during the war about these achievements nor about the agreements concluded, after endless negotiations, with neutral countries and thus the management of the z.e.g. was obliged to suffer in silence the criticisms and reproaches hurled at it without being able to defend itself. the volume of the work done by the z.e.g. may be inferred from the fact that the goods handled by the organization during the four years from to represented a value of , million marks, in which connexion it must not be forgotten that at that time the purchasing power of the mark was still nearly the same as before the war. when the roumanian harvest was brought in the daily imports sometimes reached a total of truck-loads. however, the greatest credit, in my opinion, is due to the z.e.g. for putting a stop to the above-mentioned confusion in the methods of buying abroad and for establishing normal conditions. to-day it is scarcely possible to realize how difficult it was and how much time it required to overcome the opposition often met with at home. not much need be said here about the activities of the hamburg-amerika linie during the war. the longer the struggle lasted, and the larger the number of countries involved in the war against germany became, the heavier became the company's losses of tonnage and of other property. all the shore establishments, branch offices, pier accommodation, etc., situated in enemy countries, were confiscated, and the anxiety about the post-war reconstruction grew from month to month. ballin never lost sight of this problem, and it is chiefly due to his efforts that the government and the reichstag passed a bill ( ) providing the means for the rebuilding of the country's mercantile marine. along with this he tried to keep the company financially independent by cutting down expenses, by finding work for the inland offices of the company, by selling tonnage, and by other means. the families and dependents of those employees who had been called to the colours were assisted as far as the funds at the company's disposal permitted. of all these measures the company has already given the necessary information to the public, and i can confine myself to these brief statements. there is only one circumstance which requires special mention. it is universally acknowledged that no german industry has suffered so greatly through the action of the german government as the shipping business. when the discussions as to the rebuilding of the merchant fleet were being carried on, the government frankly admitted this fact. i am not thinking, in this connexion, of those measures which were imposed upon the government by the versailles treaty, such as the surrender of the german mercantile marine, but what i have in mind is the steps taken whilst the war was in actual progress. these have one thing in common with those imposed by the enemy: their originators have, more or less, arrived at the belated conviction that they have sacrificed much valuable property to no purpose. in great britain it is admitted quite openly that the confiscation of the german merchant fleet has very largely contributed to the ensuing collapse of the world's shipping markets, and to the confusion which now prevails on every trade route. the war measures of the german government--or, rather, of the german naval authorities--have sacrificed enormous values merely for the sake of a phantom, thus necessitating the compensation due to the shipowners--a compensation far from sufficient to make good even a moderate fraction of the loss. the vessels that can be built for the sums thrown out for this purpose will not be worth the twentieth part of the old ones, if quality is taken into account as well as quantity. this will become apparent when the compensation money has been spent, and when it will be possible to compare the fleet of german passenger boats then existing with what the country possessed previous to the war. the phantom just referred to was the foolish belief that it would be possible to eliminate all ocean tonnage from the high seas--a belief which was in itself used to justify the submarine war, and which was responsible for the assumption that the withdrawal of german tonnage from the high seas would affect the food and raw material supply of the enemy countries. this mistaken idea was also the reason for prohibiting the sale of the german vessels in neutral ports, and for ordering the destruction of their engines when it became impossible to prevent their confiscation. the latter measure, and in particular the manner in which it was carried out, prove the utter inability of the competent authorities to grasp the very elements of the great problem they were tackling, and in view of such lack of knowledge it is easy to understand the bitterness of tone which characterizes ballin's criticism of these measures as contained in his memorandum to the minister of the interior ( ). he wrote: "when your excellency decided to permit the sale of our vessels in the united states it was too late to do so, because the u.s. government had already seized them. previous to that, when we saw that war would be inevitable, and when we had received an exceedingly favourable purchasing offer from an american group, we had asked permission to sell part of our tonnage laid up in that country. "your excellency, acting on behalf of the chancellor, declined to grant this permission. i am quite aware that neither the chancellor nor your excellency as his representative were responsible for this refusal, but that it was due to a decision of the admiralty staff. however, the competent authority to which the protection and the furtherance of the country's shipping interests are entrusted is the ministry of the interior. with the admiralty staff itself, as i need not remind your excellency, we have no dealings whatever, and we are not even entitled to approach that body directly in such matters. "our company which was the biggest undertaking of its kind in the world, and which previous to the war possessed a fleet aggregating about , , tons, has lost practically all its ships except a very few. the losses are not so much due to capture on the part of the enemy as to the measures taken by our own government. if our government had acted with the same foresight as did the austro-hungarian government with respect to its ships in united states and chinese waters, the german vessels then in italy, portugal, greece, the united states, brazil, and elsewhere, might have been either retained by us or disposed of at their full value. "the austrian ships, with their dismantled engines were, at the instance of the austrian government, sold in such good time that the shipping companies concerned are not only in a position to-day to refrain from asking their government to pass a shipowners' compensation bill, as we are bound to do, but they have even enriched the austrian national wealth by such handsome additions that their capital strength has reached a sum never dreamt of before, and that they are now able to rebuild their fleet by drawing upon their own funds, and to make such further additions to their tonnage that in future we shall not only be compelled to compete with the shipping companies of neutral and enemy countries--which have accumulated phenomenal profits--but with the austrian mercantile marine as well. "from the point of view of our country's economic interests it is greatly to be regretted that the policy of the government has not changed in this respect even now. we have received reliable news from private sources to the effect that the engines of the german vessels now in argentine waters have been destroyed without your excellency having so far informed us of this action, and without your excellency having asked us to take steps to utilize the vessels, if possible, for the benefit of the country's economic interests and for that of the completely decimated german merchant fleet. "moreover, a wire sent by his excellency herr v. jonquières to the competent hamburg and bremen authorities states that the ships in uruguayan waters are also in great jeopardy. the government of that country, according to this report, would prefer to purchase them rather than confiscate them. after what has been done before, we fear that the admiralty staff will either not permit the sale at all, or only grant its permission when it is too late. "your excellency, i am sure, is fully aware of the fact that the methods of the admiralty staff--ignoring, as it does, all other considerations except its own--have caused one country after the other to join the ranks of germany's enemies. in view of the shortage of tonnage which great britain and other of our enemies systematically try to bring about--evidently with the intention of inconveniencing neutral countries as much as possible--these latter feel compelled, for the very reason of this lack of tonnage, to declare war upon us, because the politics of our country are guided by a body of men who, unfortunately, shut their eyes to the economic and political consequences of their decisions. "several months ago, at a time when nobody thought of unrestricted submarine warfare, an opportunity presented itself to us of concluding an agreement with the belgian relief committee by which it would have been possible for us to withdraw our steamers, one after the other, from american ports and, under the flag of that committee, to bring them to rotterdam. at that time, it was again the admiralty staff which prevented the conclusion of this agreement, because, for reasons best known to itself, it would grant permission for only three of these vessels, although great britain had agreed that the whole of our fleet interned in u.s. ports, representing , tons in all, could sail under the terms of the proposed agreement, and although the allies as a whole had signed a written declaration to the effect that they would not interfere with our ships so long as they were used for the provisioning of belgium. i took the liberty of pointing out to captain grashoff, the representative of the admiralty staff, that nothing could have prevented us from letting the ships remain at rotterdam after they had completed their mission, and that afterwards, as has been borne out by later facts, they could have been safely taken to hamburg. "i respectfully ask your excellency whether it is not possible to enter a protest against such unnecessary dismemberment of part of the german national assets.... " ... i must also protest most emphatically against the insinuation--which is sure to be made--that i have no right to criticize any steps which the admiralty staff has regarded as necessary for reasons of our naval strategy. without reservation the german shipowners agree to any measures which are strategically necessary, however greatly they may injure their interests. the criticism which i beg to make on behalf of german shipping--although possessing no formal mandate--concerns itself with those steps which might have been taken without jeopardizing the success of our naval strategy if the vital necessities of german mercantile shipping had been studied with as much consideration as this branch of the economic activities of our country has a right to claim. "what we principally take exception to in this connexion is that no information was sent to us before the decision to destroy the engines of our ships was arrived at, and that we were not assisted in making use of these dismantled vessels in the financial interests of our country. nothing of this kind was done, although it was the most natural thing to do so, and although such action would have deprived many a country of a reason to declare war upon germany." to a man of the type of ballin--who had, throughout his life, been accustomed to perform a huge amount of successful work--a period of enforced inactivity was unbearable. the longer it lasted the more he suffered from its effects, especially because the preparatory work for the post-war reconstruction, the work connected with the war organization of the german shipowners, etc., was only a poor substitute for the productive labour he had been engaged in during more than thirty years of peace. there is no doubt but that the government could have made better use of ballin's gift of organization, but it must be remembered that there was really no effective central government in germany throughout the war. the civil administration was not exactly deposed, but it was subordinated to the military one from the very beginning, and the latter carried on its work along the guiding lines laid down in the scheme of mobilization. the authorities to whose care the economic aspects of the war were entrusted did not often--if at all--avail themselves of ballin's advice; and to offer it unbidden never entered his mind, because he was cherishing the hope that the war would not last long, and because it was his belief that the world would be sensible enough to put an end to the wholesale destruction before long. it was a bitter disappointment to him to find how greatly he was mistaken, and to see that the forces of unreason remained in the ascendancy, especially as he was always convinced that time would be on the side of germany's enemies. the sole aim of his political activities during the war was to bring about peace as early as possible. of all the attempts at mediation known to me, the one which seemed to be most likely to succeed passed through the hands of ballin. to give a detailed account of it must be left to a time which need no longer pay regard to governments and individuals. ballin's share in it was brought about through his former international connexions. through him it reached the kaiser and the chancellor, and owing to his untiring efforts, which lasted for two years, the position in the early part of was such that the establishment of direct contact between the two sides was imminent. then the unrestricted submarine war began, the intended direct contact could not be established, and the carefully woven thread was definitely snapped asunder; because from that time on the allies were certain that the united states would join them, and they felt assured of victory. no other mediation scheme with which i am acquainted has been pursued with so much unselfishness, devotion, and energy as this one. this attempt, however, no more than any other, could have procured for us that kind of peace which public opinion in germany had been led for years to expect, thanks to the over-estimation of the country's strength, fostered by the military censorship and by the military reports. from such exaggerated opinions ballin always held himself aloof. he recognized without reservation the immense achievements of germany in the war, but he was fearful lest the strength of the country could not cope in the long run with the ever-increasing array of enemies, and he therefore maintained that, if it was desired to bring about peace, the government would have to be moderate in its terms. a much discussed article which he contributed to the _frankfürter zeitung_ on january st, , under the heading of "the wet triangle," is not inconsistent with these views of his. in it he pointed out that germany's naval power, in order to make a future blockade impossible, should no longer be content to be shut up in the "wet triangle," i.e. the north sea, but ought to establish itself on the high seas. this statement has been alleged to refer to belgium, and ballin has been wrongly claimed a partisan by those who supported the annexation of that country. what he really meant was that germany should demand a naval base on the atlantic, somewhere in the northern parts of africa, and this idea seemed to be quite realizable if taken in conjunction with the terms of peace he had in view, viz. no annexations, no indemnities, economic advantages, a permanent political and naval understanding with great britain, based on her recognition that a military defeat of germany was impossible. all this would be somewhat on the lines of the article published by the _westminster gazette_, referred to in the eighth chapter and a facsimile of which is given at the end of the book. ballin was firmly convinced that, even if a mere peace of compromise was the outcome, i.e. one which left germany without any territorial gains and without any indemnities, the impression which the german achievements during the war would produce on the rest of the world would be so overwhelming that the country would secure indirectly far greater advantages than could be gained by means of the largest possible indemnity and the most far-reaching annexations. besides, the experiences of former times had proved that germany would be quite unable to absorb such large accessions of territory as certain people had in mind. these views of ballin, of course, were looked upon as those of a "pacificist," and ballin was classified among their number. in a letter which ballin wrote to a friend of his, a naval officer, in april, , he puts up a highly characteristic defence of himself against the accusations implied by describing him as "pacificist" and "pro-english." "if," he wrote, "the fact that i have been privileged to spend a considerable part of my life in close contact with you, entitles me to add a few personal remarks, i should like to say that i have made up my mind to retire from my post after the end of the war altogether. i told you shortly after the outbreak of the war that my life's work was wrecked. to-day i am convinced that it will soon come to life again, but my youth would have to be restored to me before i could ever dream of taking up again that position in international shipping which i held before the war. i cannot imagine that i would ever go to london again and take the chair at the conferences at which the great problems of international shipping would come up for discussion, and nobody, i think, can expect that i should be content to play second fiddle at my age. indeed, i cannot see how i could ever re-enter upon intimate relations with the british, the french, the italians, and especially with the americans. strangely enough, influential circles on our side, and even his majesty himself, look upon me as 'pro-english,' and yet i am the only german who can say with truth that he has been fighting the english for supremacy in the shipping world during the last thirty years. during this long period i have, if i am allowed to make use of so bold a comparison, conquered one british trench after the other, and i have renewed my attacks whenever i could find the means for doing so." it is no secret that during the war many prominent politicians and economists--men of sound political training--viewed the question of the war aims which it was desirable to realize very much in the same light as did ballin, but that the censorship made it impossible for anyone to give public expression to such opinions. ballin's appreciation of the probable gain which germany would derive from a peace by compromise has now been amply confirmed by the undeniable fact that the rest of the world has been tremendously impressed by germany's achievements, an impression which has made foreigners regard her chances of recovery with much more confidence than she has felt herself, stunned as she was by the immensity of her _débâcle_. the following notes, which are largely based on ballin's own diary, are intended to supplement the information given so far as to his political activities during the war. the outbreak of war, as may be inferred from what has already been related, took him completely by surprise, and he did not think that the struggle would last very long. "the necessities of the world's commerce will not stand a long war," was his opinion during the early days. for the rest, he tried to find work for himself which would benefit his country. "what we need to-day," he wrote to a friend, "is work. this will lift us up and keep us going, and will make those of us who are no longer fit to fight feel that we are still of some use after all." but in connexion with this thought another one began to occupy his mind. he anxiously asked: "which of the men now at headquarters will have the strength and the wisdom required to negotiate a successful peace when the time comes?" all his thoughts centred round the one idea of how to secure peace; what advantages his country would derive from it; and how it would be possible to bring about an international grouping of the powers which would be of the greatest benefit to germany. on october st, , he wrote to grand admiral v. tirpitz: " ... i quite agree with what you say in your welcome letter. indeed, you could not view these matters[ ] with graver anxiety than i do myself. i hope i shall soon have the opportunity i desire of discussing these things with you personally. "to win the peace will be hardly less difficult than to win the war. my opinion is that the result of this world war, if it lasts months, will be exactly the same as if it lasts six months. i mean to say that, if we do not succeed in acquiring the guarantees for our compensation demands within a few months, the further progress of events will not appreciably improve our chances in this direction. "what we must aim at is a new grouping of the powers round an alliance between germany, great britain and france. this alliance will become possible as soon as we shall have vanquished france and belgium, and as soon as you shall have made up your mind to bring about an understanding with great britain concerning the naval programme. "i am aware that this idea will find but slight favour with you, but you will never secure a reasonable peace with great britain without a naval agreement. "by a reasonable peace i mean one which will enable both germany and britain to sheathe their swords in honour, and which will not burden either nation with a hatred which would contain within it the germs of future war. "we have had no difficulty in putting up with the french clamour for _revanche_ for a period of years, because in this case we had only to deal with a small group of nationalist firebrands, but a british clamour for revenge would produce an exceedingly adverse effect on the future of our national well-being and of our share in the world's trade and commerce. "for a long time past it has been my conviction that the era of the super-dreadnoughts has passed, and some time ago i asked admiral von müller if it was not possible to consider the question of a naval understanding simply on the basis of an agreement as to the sum of money which either government should be entitled to spend annually on naval construction, leaving it to the discretion of each side how to make use of the money agreed upon for the building of the various types of ships. "great britain is putting up a fight for her existence just as much as we do, if not to an even greater extent. her continuance as a world power depends on the superiority--the numerical superiority at least--of her navy. "i am convinced--always supposing that we shall succeed in conquering france and belgium--that the british terms concerning her naval supremacy will be very moderate, and i cannot help thinking that a fair understanding regarding naval construction is just as important to germany as it is to great britain. "the present state of things is the outcome of a _circulus vitiosus_, and is bound to produce a soreness which will never permit of a sound understanding.... " ... and what about the further course of the war? i sincerely hope that your excellency will not risk the navy. the expression 'the fleet in being' which has never left my memory, and which has lately been heard of again, implies exactly all i mean. "the navy, in my opinion, has never been, and never ought to be, anything but the indispensable reserve of a healthy international policy. just as a conscientious director-general would never dream of reducing the reserve funds of his company, unless compelled to do so by sheer necessity, we ought not to drag the navy into the war, if it could possibly be avoided. "what would it profit you to risk a naval battle on the high seas? not only our own, but british experts as well, believe that our ships, our officers, and our crews are superior to the british, and king edward emphasized at every opportunity that the crews on british warships are not a match to those on german vessels. but what are you going to do? are you going to make them fight against a numerically superior enemy? such a course would be open to great objections, and even, if the battle turned out successfully, the victors would not escape serious damage. "i do not know how your excellency, and their excellencies v. müller and pohl look upon these matters, but since you yourself have asked me to state my views, i hope you will not take it amiss if my zeal causes me to enlarge upon a subject which is not quite within my province. besides, i have another reason for doing so. "it is our duty to prepare ourselves in good time for the peace that is to come. does your excellency believe it would augur well for the future peace if germany succeeded in inflicting a naval victory on the british? i do not think so myself, but i rather fancy that the opposite effect would take place.... if the british should suffer a big naval defeat, they would be forced to fight to the bitter end. that is inherent in the nature of things; even those who can only argue in terms of a continental policy must understand it. "even a partial loss of her naval prestige would spell ruin to great britain. it would imply the defection of the great dominions which now form part of her world empire. the _raison d'être_ for great britain's present position ceases to exist as soon as she has lost her naval supremacy.... " ... and, please, do not lose sight of one further consideration. we must find our compensation by annexing valuable territories beyond the seas; but for the peaceful enjoyment of such overseas gains we shall be dependent on the good will of great britain.... at present, men of german blood occupy leading positions in the economic life of almost every british colony, and the open door has been the means by which we have acquired a great deal of that national wealth of ours which caused the smooth working of our financial mobilization when the war broke out. " ... for all these reasons i consider it a great mistake that the press should be allowed to excite german public opinion against great britain to the extent it is done. i was in berlin during the week, and i was alarmed when i became acquainted with the wild schemes which are entertained not only by the people of berlin, but also by distinguished men from the rhineland and westphalia." apart from the peace problem there was another matter which gave ballin grave cause for anxiety. this was the circumstance that the kaiser, because of his long absences from berlin, lost the necessary touch with the people, and could not, therefore, be kept properly informed of popular feeling. he expressed his fears on this account in a letter to a friend of his amongst the kaiser's entourage in which he wrote: "i hope you will soon be able to induce his majesty to remove his winter quarters to germany. my common sense tells me that, if a war is waged on french and russian soil, the headquarters ought to be situated in germany. from the point of view of security also i consider this very desirable, and i feel a great deal of anxiety concerning his majesty.... whether it is wise to exercise the censorship of the press to the extent it is done, is a question on which more opinions than one are possible.... i have just had a call from a mr. x., a former officer, and an exceedingly reliable and capable man. he complained bitterly of the rigid censorship, and he thought it would be a mistake from which we should have to suffer in days to come. it would certainly be a blessing if such a man who is highly esteemed by the foreign office could be given a chance of explaining his views at headquarters." among the problems of foreign policy with which germany saw herself faced in the early part of the war, those referring to italy and roumania were of special interest to ballin. the question was how to prevent these two countries from joining the ranks of germany's enemies. ballin did all he could to bring about the italian mission of prince bülow. he not only urged the chancellor to select bülow for this task, but he also tried hard to induce the prince to undertake the thankless errand involved. in addition to the political importance of the mission, he laid great stress on its bearing on the food problem. "the question of provisioning the german people," he wrote in a letter to the army headquarters, "is closely connected with the solution of the italian and roumanian difficulties. no pressure is, in my opinion, too strong in order to make it perfectly clear to austria that some sort of an agreement with italy is a _sine qua non_ for the successful termination of this war. if it were argued that italy would come forward with fresh demands as soon as her original claims had been satisfied, i think the german government could combat this objection by insisting upon a written promise on the part of italy to the effect that she would not extend her demands. " ... political and military considerations make it plain beyond any question of doubt that italy, who will be armed to the teeth in march, will not be able to lay down her arms again unless austria arrives at an understanding with her. thus our greatest danger is the uncertainty as to what these neutrals will do, and i hope that the ministerial changes in austria will smooth the way for a reasonable attitude towards this regrettable but unavoidable necessity. our aim should be to prevent the scattering of our forces, for the burden imposed upon ourselves because of the inadequacy of our allies is almost superhuman, and contains the danger of exhaustion." the german mission to italy suffered through the vacillations of austrian politics, and was therefore doomed to failure. austrian feeling concerning a compromise with italy was always dependent on the news from the italian front; if this was favourable, people did not want to hear of it, and in the opposite case they would only discuss such an understanding most unwillingly. the proposed compromise was looked upon as a heavy sacrifice, and people were by no means favourably disposed towards german mediation. prince bülow was accused of having "presented italy with the trentino." disquieting news which ballin received from vienna induced him to report to the chancellor on the state of austrian feeling, and to offer his services if he thought that his old-established relations with vienna could be of any use. his offer was also prompted by his conviction that the german diplomatic representation in vienna was not adapted to austrian mentality. thereupon ballin, early in march, , entered upon a semi-official mission to vienna. he first acquainted himself with the actual state of the austrian mind by calling on his old friend, his excellency v. schulz, the vice-president of the austrian chief court of audits, who was regarded as one of the best informed personages in the capital, and who was one of the regular partners of the old emperor francis joseph for his daily game of tarock. this gentleman told ballin that the people of austria felt a good deal of resentment towards germany, who had stepped in far too early as the "advocate of italy," at a time when austria was still hoping to settle serbia all by herself. this hope, indeed, had proved an illusion; but germany's strategy had also turned out a failure, because she had misjudged the attitude of great britain, and had not finished with france as rapidly as she had expected to do. now austria, confronted by stern necessity, would have to make concessions to italy which every true austrian would view with bitter grief; and, to bring about the active assistance of roumania, count tisza would consider a sacrifice in the bukovina debatable, but never one in transylvania. ballin told his friend that, as far as roumania was concerned, he would have to leave it to austria to settle that question by herself; and that his mission with regard to italy was so difficult that he preferred not to make it more so by trying to solve the roumanian problem as well. ballin's subsequent interviews with the prime minister, count stürgkh, and with the minister v. koerber, as well as those with other influential personages, confirmed these impressions, and he left vienna buoyed up by the hope that the conference between german, austrian, and italian delegates which it was proposed to hold at vienna would lead to a successful result. such, however, was not the case, and it is quite probable that the possibility of arriving at an understanding with italy had passed by that time, or, assuming the most favourable circumstances, that only immediate and far-reaching austrian concessions could have saved the situation; but these were not forthcoming. the next subject which caused much anxiety to ballin was the question as to what roumania would do, a country to whose attitude, considering her importance to germany as a food-producing area, he attached even more value than to that of italy. in his notes dating from that time he said: " ... june st, . the news which i received from x. regarding the political situation in roumania and bulgaria was so serious that i felt bound to send copies of these letters to the chief of the general staff, general v. falkenhayn, and to inform him that, in my opinion, our foreign office had now done all it could possibly do, and that nothing but some forcible military pressure such as he and baron conrad could exercise on count tisza would induce this obstinate gentleman to settle his differences with the balkan states...." " ... on this occasion x. expressed a great deal of contempt at the suggestion that we should draw upon the members of the old diplomacy for additional help. on the whole, he seemed to be very proud of the achievements of the foreign office, whereas i am of opinion that this body has entirely failed, and is of no practical use any longer. things must be in a pretty bad state if herr erzberger, of all people, is looked upon as the last hope of the country. i suggested to the gentlemen that it would do some good if the chancellor were to request the more virulent of the pan-germans to see him, and to ask hindenburg to explain to them the military situation without any camouflage. this suggestion was favourably received, and it is to be passed on to the chancellor.... " ... the chancellor informed me that he was considering whether, if roumania remained neutral, and if the operations against the dardanelles terminated successfully for us, he ought to submit any official proposals for peace to our enemies. i expressed my admiration of the plan, but told the chancellor of my objections to its practical execution. the entente, i feared, would refuse to entertain the proposals, and the german people would regard it as a sign of weakness. the chancellor asked me to refrain from pronouncing a definite opinion for the present, but to think it over until our next meeting." in a letter of july st, , ballin wrote as follows: "i should like to express my heartfelt gratitude to you for sending on to me the report which contains some of the finest observations that have come to my knowledge since the outbreak of the war. " ... the writer lays great stress on the belief prevalent in enemy and neutral countries alike that germany is making a bid for universal supremacy and for supremacy on the high seas--a belief which has spurred on the resistance of the enemy to the utmost, and has caused a good deal of bad feeling amongst the neutrals. i repeatedly brought this fact to the knowledge of the chancellor and i urgently suggested to him that in some way--e.g., by an imperial proclamation on the anniversary of the outbreak of war, or by some other suitable means--we should announce to all and sundry that such hare-brained schemes are not entertained by any responsible person or body of persons in germany. i sincerely trust that some such steps will be taken at an early opportunity, because otherwise i do not see when the war will be over. though not a pessimist i do not believe in taking too rosy a view of things. i envy the british because they have the courage openly to discuss in their press and parliament the reverses as well as the successes they have had. " ... you see i am not taking too cheerful a view of matters. i have nothing but the most enthusiastic admiration for the achievements of the german people, both at the front and at home. although not gifted politically this people could do wonders if led by great statesmen and by great politicians." " ... august th, . this morning i spent an hour with the chancellor, who had requested me to call on him.... we had a long discussion as to the advisability of publishing a statement to the effect that germany would be ready at any moment to discuss an honourable peace. she had achieved great successes in the field, she was in possession of important mortgages, her armies were occupying large tracts of the enemy's country, and she was not carrying on a war of aggression but one of defence: therefore such a step could not be regarded as a sign of weakness. the chancellor, nevertheless, was afraid that such a step might after all be interpreted in that sense. i suggested to him that it might be of some use if the pope could be induced to address a peace message to the rulers of the various countries. "i also called the chancellor's urgent attention to the need for dealing with the food problem during the ensuing winter, especially with relation to the price of meat." " ... august th, . the united states ambassador, mr. gerard, had expressed the desire to discuss with me the question as to the advisability of suggesting that president wilson should mediate between the belligerents. i therefore called on him on tuesday, august th, and advised him to refrain from any official action in that direction, but said that i thought he might ask the president to sound opinion in great britain as to the chances of such peace proposals." in the early part of september, , admiral v. holtzendorff was appointed chief of the admiralty staff. this appointment gave rise to a conflict with grand admiral v. tirpitz, who threatened to resign because, _inter alia_, the kaiser had issued instructions to the effect that the chief of the admiralty staff should no longer be subject to the authority of the secretary for the navy, but that he could communicate with the kaiser and with the chancellor direct. ballin thought a possible resignation of admiral v. tirpitz would be fraught with serious consequences at that moment, as it would produce a bad impression on public opinion and be inimical to the position of the kaiser. these considerations caused ballin to intervene in person with admiral v. tirpitz and with the chief of the naval cabinet, with the result that the grand admiral withdrew his intended resignation. the following extracts are taken from ballin's notes during the next few months: " ... october th, . i am annoyed at the importunity with which some interested parties, such as the central association of german manufacturers and the representatives of agriculture, are pushing forward their views on the peace terms. moreover, my alleged readiness to conclude a 'bad peace' with great britain is being talked about so widely that even his excellency herr v. zimmermann has drawn my attention to the ill effects of such calumnies. all this has prompted me to avail myself of the opportunity presented by the annual meeting of the association of hamburg shipowners of making a speech in which i have explained my views as to the freedom of the seas. "prince bülow will be leaving for lucerne to-day where he intends to stay for some time, and the prussian _chargé d'affaires_, herr v. mutius--of whom it has been alleged that the chancellor appointed him to his post on the death of his predecessor (the excellent herr v. bülow, prussian minister to hamburg) for the reason that he might have a watchful eye on prince bülow and myself--has been promptly transferred to warsaw. evidently the berlin authorities now think the danger has passed, since prince bülow has left." " ... november rd, . hammann[ ] asked me why i did not call on the chancellor, and i told him that i thought the chancellor might feel annoyed with me for my interference in favour of tirpitz, which, however, would not affect me in any way, because i was convinced that i had acted in the best interests of the kaiser, and that it would have been unwise to remove tirpitz from his post so long as the war lasted." " ... the chancellor asked me to see him on wednesday at . p.m., and i spent nearly two hours with him. i urgently advised him to make a frank statement in the reichstag as to our readiness for peace, and to do so in such a form that it could not possibly be looked upon as a sign of weakness." " ... on january th, , i was commanded to dine with their majesties at the _neues palais_. the only other guests apart from myself were the minister of the royal household, count eulenburg, and the minister of agriculture, herr v. schorlemer. none of the suite were present so that the company consisted of five persons only. the kaiser was in high spirits and full of confidence. the after-dinner conversation extended to such a late hour that we did not catch the train by which we intended to return, and we were obliged to leave by the last train that night. "a remark of mine concerning the possibility of an extension of submarine warfare had, as the chancellor had been informed, caused the kaiser to assume that i completely shared the point of view of admirals v. holtzendorff and v. tirpitz, who now recommend a submarine campaign against great britain on a large scale. i therefore, at the chancellor's request, addressed the following letter to the kaiser: "'a few days ago i had occasion to discuss with grand admiral v. tirpitz and admiral v. holtzendorff the question of a resumption of the submarine campaign. "'i was then given confidential information as to the number of submarines at our disposal, and i am bound to say that even if due allowance is made for the activity of the mine-seeking auxiliaries i regard the number of large submarines as insufficient for the purposes of such a finally decisive measure. "'the first attempt at submarine warfare proved unsuccessful on account of the insufficiency of the means employed to carry it through; and it is my humble opinion that a second attempt should only be undertaken if its success were beyond the possibility of a doubt. if this cannot be guaranteed the consequences of such a measure appear to me to be out of all proportion to the risks attached to it. "'i therefore beg to respectfully suggest to your majesty that the work of the mine-laying auxiliaries should be carried on as hitherto, and should even be extended. i also consider that the submarines should be made use of to the fullest extent of their capacity, with the proviso, however, that their employment against passenger steamers should be subject to the restrictions recently laid down by your majesty. "'when the number of the big submarines shall be sufficient effectively to cut off the british food supply, i think the time will have arrived for us to employ this weapon against great britain without paying regard to the so-called neutrals. "'at present about two hundred ocean steamers or more enter british ports every day, and an equal number leave for foreign ports. if we sink a daily average of or we can, indeed, greatly inconvenience england, but we shall assuredly not be able to compel her to sue for peace. "'i humbly apologize to your majesty for thus stating my views on this matter; but i am of opinion that the extreme importance of the proposed steps will be a sufficient excuse for me.'" in the early part of ballin went on a second mission to vienna, and afterwards he prepared a detailed report for the chancellor dealing with the state of public feeling as he found it. this document presents a faithful picture of the precarious conditions in that capital which the german government had constantly to reckon with, and may therefore be of interest even now. the following passages are extracts from it: "if we desire to keep the austrian fighting spirit unimpaired we must avoid at all hazards suggesting the possibility of an understanding with italy. the italian war is popular down to the lowest classes of the people, and the successful stand against italy is a subject of pride and hope to all austrians. "hence the circumstance that prince bülow has temporarily taken up his abode at lucerne has roused a considerable amount of suspicion. even the officials in the various ministerial departments fear that the prince might intend to make unofficial advances to italy when in lucerne, and that these steps might be followed in berlin by a movement in favour of a separate peace with italy by which austria would have to cede the trentino. people were obviously pleased and relieved when i could explain to them that the prince was greatly embarrassed on account of having lost his villa malta, and that the choice of a suitable residence during the winter had been very difficult. they were particularly gratified when i told them--what i had heard from the prince's own lips--that he had had no official mission, and that he had not been engaged upon any negotiations. "people are especially proud of the isonzo battles, but they do not shut their eyes to the uncertain prospects of a successful austrian offensive. they really consider that austria has gained her war aims, and the old emperor described the military situation to frau kathi schratt by saying that the war was in many respects like a game of tarock, in which the winner was not allowed to cease playing because the losers insisted upon him going on with the game so that they might have their revenge. matters at first had been to the advantage of our enemies: the russians had overrun galicia, the serbians had defeated the austrians at belgrade, and the french had looked upon the retreat from the marne as a great success. now, however, the war was all in favour of germany and austria, and therefore our opponents did not want to call a truce just yet. "if this comparison which the venerable old gentleman has borrowed from his favourite game of cards is correct, the war will not be over until one side has nothing further to stake, and the decision will be brought about by that side whose human and financial resources shall last longest. "banking circles, of course, view the financial situation with the utmost gravity, but the general public--in spite of the high prices ruling here, and in spite of the great want of food which is much more noticeable than with us--regard matters a great deal more serenely. this is simply due to the greater optimism so characteristic of the austrians, whose motto is: 'life is so short, and death so very, very long.' they prefer to assign to future generations the worries which would spoil their sublunary existence. "the present cabinet is looked upon as weak and mediocre. the old emperor clings to count stürgkh because of the extensive use to which the latter puts the celebrated paragraph of the constitution, by which parliament is eliminated altogether, and which provides the government with every conceivable liberty of action. the all-powerful tisza gives his support to count stürgkh just because of his weakness. hence the attempt to replace the latter by prince hohenlohe, the present minister of the interior, is beset with much difficulty. the emperor wants to avoid a break with tisza at all costs. this state of things makes people feel very worried. the strain in the relations between austria and hungary has greatly increased since my last visit, whereas the friendly feelings for germany are now more pronounced than ever. "our kaiser everywhere enjoys an unexampled veneration. within the next few days he will be made the subject of great celebrations in his honour. although the tickets of admission are sold at enormous prices, even general v. georgi, the chief of the national defence organization--whom i met last night--did not succeed in obtaining a box, notwithstanding his high connexions. this morning the well-known member of the hofburg theatre, herr georg reimers, read to me two poems dedicated to the kaiser which he is going to recite that night, and i feel bound to say that it can hardly be an unmixed pleasure to the members of the court to witness this act of enthusiastic homage paid to our ruler. "the roumanian question, particularly in its bearing on the food supply, is regarded by people who are able to judge with great anxiety. it is believed that the only thing to do is to send to bucharest experienced men connected with the supply and the distribution of food who must be properly authorized to purchase as much grain as possible for ourselves and for our allies. "the big austro-german _zollverein_--or by whatever other name it is intended to describe the proposed customs union--is looked upon with very mixed feelings. last night baron skoda (the austrian krupp) explained to me after a dinner given at his house, with the lively consent of members of the court and of the big manufacturers, that the austrian interests might indeed profit from such a union with the balkan states, but that it would be better that germany should remain an outsider for a period of fifteen years. this is evidently a case of _timeo danaos, et dona ferentes_, and people feel that austria, owing to her economic exhaustion, would be easily absorbed by germany after the conclusion of the war. the hungarians, naturally, view matters from a different angle, not only because the hungarian farmers would like to sell their grain to germany free of any duty, and because industry counts for very little in their country, but also because they dislike the austrians. " ... i also dined with count tisza. he is a purely magyar politician who regards the international situation from his hungarian point of view, and in conformity with his magyar inclinations. he is evidently a strong if obstinate character, and he does not impress me as a man who will give up his post without a protest. he, too, thinks the real war aims of austria-hungary have been accomplished. serbia is crushed, galicia liberated, and russian supremacy in the balkans--formerly viewed with so much apprehension--is a thing of the past. all that is wanting now is to bring the italian campaign to a successful conclusion and the war may be regarded as over as far as austro-hungarian interests are involved. "both tisza and the austrian society showed strong symptoms of an anglophile leaning. frau schratt, who in such matters simply re-echoes the views of the old emperor, seemed very pro-english, and had something to say about 'german atrocities.' "i mention these facts because i cannot help thinking that, notwithstanding the war, some friendly threads must have been spun across from england to austria." the subject of an unrestricted submarine war, already touched upon by ballin in his above-mentioned letter to the kaiser written in january, , was discussed with much animation in the course of the year, and a powerful propaganda in its favour was started by certain quarters. ballin's attitude towards this question, and particularly towards its bearing on the possible entry of the united states into the war, is described with great clearness in a letter addressed to a friend of his attached to the army headquarters. in this message he wrote: " ... you ask me to tell you something about the political and military situation as i see it, and i shall gladly comply with your wish. "the american danger seems to be averted for the moment at least. a severance of diplomatic relations with the united states would have been nothing short of fatal to germany at the present stage. just because the war may be looked upon as won in a military sense, we were obliged to avoid such a catastrophe at all costs. as far as military exertions are concerned, it is quite correct to say that germany has won the war, because in order to turn the present position into a military defeat our enemies, in the first instance, would have to gain military victories in russia, france, and belgium. these would have to be followed up by our retreat from the occupied countries and by their invasion of ours, and they would have to defeat us at home. every sensible critic must see that neither their human material nor their organizing powers are sufficient for such achievements. the fact is that we have reached the final stage of a progressive war of exhaustion, which nothing but the intervention of the united states could have prolonged. "the accession of italy to the ranks of our opponents has shown what it means if an additional power enters the war against us. from a military point of view the entry of italy did not materially aggravate our position; but the whole aspect of the war, as viewed by our enemies, underwent a complete change, and grey, who shortly before had announced that 'there is nothing between us and germany except belgium,' stated a few weeks subsequent to the italian _volte-face_ that he could not find a suitable basis for peace negotiations anywhere. "the entry of the united states would have been of immeasurably greater effect on the imagination and the obstinacy of our enemies. "the very intelligent gentlemen who even now preach the unrestricted submarine war, especially the leading members of the conservative and national liberal parties, are misinformed about what the submarines can do. they not only regard it as possible, but even as practically certain, that the starvation of great britain could be achieved if the unrestricted submarine war were introduced. i need not tell your excellency that such an assumption fails to estimate things at their true value. great britain will always be able to maintain her connexion with the french channel ports. quite apart from that, she will always succeed in importing the , tons of cereals which she needs every day to feed her population even if the number of our submarines is trebled, because it must not be forgotten that the submarines cannot operate during the night. "hence the whole problem is now, as ever, governed by the axiom to which i have over and over again drawn the attention of the heads of the berlin economic associations, viz. that we can no more force the british into subjection through our submarines than they can hope to wear us out by their starvation blockade. both the submarine war and the blockade are extremely disastrous measures, inflicting heavy losses on either side; but neither of them can determine the fate of the war nor bring about a fundamental improvement in the position of either of the belligerent groups of powers. that, apart from all other considerations, the unrestricted submarine war would have exposed us to the open hostility of the neutral countries, and might even have caused them to join the ranks of our enemies, is an additional contingency which the submarine enthusiasts have found it most convenient to dismiss by a wave of the hand. "if after the war germany remains isolated from the rest of the world, she cannot feed her population, and the doctrine of central european brotherhood promulgated by some of our amiable poets has given rise to a movement which is apt to be of the greatest detriment to the interests of our country when the war is over. "if we had wished to invest large parts of our german national wealth in countries like austria-hungary, bulgaria, and turkey, nothing could have prevented us from realizing such a plan at any time previous to the war, provided we had thought it economically sound. "such a return to a continental policy, i maintain, would be a disaster to germany. our needs and our aspirations have increased to such an extent that we can no longer hope to satisfy them by economic isolation or within the framework of a central european economic league of states. "it is not because i am at the head of the biggest german shipping concern that i tell you these things, but i do so with the disinterestedness of a man who hopes to be allowed to retire into private life when this terrible war is over. no one can perform his life's work more than once, and no one can make a fresh start at the age of sixty. "the war has considerably strengthened the moral fibre of the chancellor; he has learnt to take upon his shoulders responsibilities which, i think, he would formerly have shirked. it is much to be regretted that the conservative party cannot see eye to eye with him in so many questions. he is blamed for the fact that the kaiser is so difficult of access, and that he does not every now and then receive the leaders of our political and economic life, as he should do considering the fateful time through which the empire is passing. "if the chancellor is to succeed in carrying through the huge tasks still before him, it is, in my opinion, imperative that he should not lose touch with conservative circles, and i think there is no reason why the kaiser should not ask men like herr v. wangenheim, count schwerin-löwitz, etc., to visit him from time to time at headquarters, and to acquaint him with their wishes and anxieties. "i cannot help telling you that the whole nation views with profound regret the kaiser's isolation. since the outbreak of the war i have only once had an interview with his excellency v. falkenhayn, and the main purpose of my asking for it was to request him to bring about a change in this state of things by using his influence with the kaiser. his excellency frankly told me that he had some objections to doing this, but he promised me nevertheless that he would exercise his influence in this direction. i am only afraid that, because of the excessive burden of work he has to get through, the matter has slipped his memory...." ballin was not the only one who, as early as , regarded with such alarm the devastating effects of a possible entry of the united states into the war; other men of political training thought so too, although their number was not large. the following passages, taken from two letters which ballin received from a member of the german diplomatic service, show that the feeling was there: "february th, . my chief apprehensions are purely political. although it seems that for the moment our differences with the united states will be smoothed over, there can be no doubt but that at times the tension has been so great that a wrong move at the critical moment would have caused america to take up arms against us. contrary to what most people seem to think, i regard this danger as having by no means passed; in fact i look upon it as always lurking in the background. those who, like myself, have seen that the secret ideal of british policy is an alliance and permanent co-operation with america, will agree with me that such an anglo-american understanding for the period of this war would be of lasting detriment to our whole future. you know england, and you know that the course of events has turned the entente automatically into an alliance, although the british, especially those who look beyond the actual present, have always felt a great deal of aversion towards such a development. the individual frenchman, indeed, is mostly looked upon as a somewhat grotesque and slightly ludicrous character, but all the same there exists some sympathy with the french as a nation, however artificially this may have been brought about; but towards russia the average englishman never felt anything but an icy aloofness and a great deal of antipathy. hence, the so-called allies of the british have never been the cause of unalloyed joy to them. "on the other hand, to establish permanent relations with that part of the anglo-saxon race inhabiting the huge continent across the atlantic has at all times been the aim pursued by every really far-sighted british statesman. by means of such an alliance, it is hoped to consolidate and to strengthen for many generations the foundations on which the venerable but also slightly dilapidated structure of the united kingdom rests. from a purely maritime point of view, such an alliance would be of overwhelming strength. in my opinion it would be perfectly hopeless for our country, constantly menaced as it is by serious continental complications, to gain the trident of neptune in opposition to these two powers. i believe an anglo-american league, whose object it would be to prevent us from becoming a commercial, naval, and continental power, would restrict us once more to a purely continental policy, a policy which we have so successfully discarded since the accession of our present kaiser. "to frustrate such an alliance must be our principal task. to call it into being or even to facilitate its conclusion would be the greatest crime against germany's future which anyone could commit. "let us by all means sink as much enemy tonnage as possible, let us lay mines, and let us proceed with our submarine warfare as hitherto, or even with more energy, but let the people who are at the head of the whole movement be aware of the immense responsibility that rests on their shoulders. if our leading men speak of a war with america just as cheerfully as though san marino or montenegro were involved, i cannot help viewing such an attitude with the utmost apprehension. the british will use all their astuteness and all their energy to exploit any mistakes committed by germany. if they succeed in this, and if, in consequence, our relations with the united states become very strained again or drift towards a rupture, i fear that we shall not be able to bring this war to a successful close, or derive from it any security for our future development. "berlin, february th, . during the two days i have now been here it has greatly depressed me to see a number of fanatics who cannot gauge the consequences of their doings attempting to drive this splendid german people towards a new abyss. alas! delusions and folly are rampant everywhere. if i were you, i should now disregard every other consideration, and explain to the kaiser as a friend that everything is being gambled away: the existence of his empire, his crown, and possibly the fate of the dynasty. it is like living in a madhouse; everyone talks about war with holland, america, denmark and roumania as though a mere picnic were concerned." during the war ballin tried over and over again to make the responsible authorities see the position in the same light as his own observations, and his repeated discussions with unprejudiced and clear-headed men had led him to see it himself. the letter reproduced below contains a description of the general situation at the time of writing (july, ). it was addressed to a friend of his in the diplomatic service who was looking after german interests in one of the countries allied with germany, and who had asked him for some information concerning the situation at home: "i am sorry that i can send you no good news at all. the conduct of the war and its probable outcome are more of a mystery now than ever, and with all that i cannot help feeling that our responsible quarters do not even now realize the profound gravity of the situation. the political and the military leaders are frequently at variance. there is a lack of proper co-operation between berlin and vienna. we imagine ourselves to be the rider, but we are only the horse. the road between berlin and vienna is studded with compromises of doubtful value, and incapable archdukes are given the most important positions. "the military situation was favourable until the austrians thought their day of reckoning with italy had come, and when our own supreme command set out to cover themselves with laurels in france. "both these undertakings turned out to be political and military failures. for hundreds of reasons an early peace is imperative to us. as matters stand at present only great britain and russia can conclude peace, because france and italy must be regarded as mere british vassals. "since the cabinets of london and petrograd remain absolutely deaf to our publicly expressed overtures for peace, we have no choice but to try to utterly defeat the one or the other of these, our principal enemies, either russia or great britain. "we could have finished with great britain if we had had at least first-class submarines, and in that case we might have regarded a war against america with complacency. "however, even if we possessed, as some optimists believe, as many as first-class submarines, we could not strike a mortal blow at great britain and defy the united states as well. therefore, we have only one choice left: we must force russia, our second chief enemy, to her knees. "russia has been badly hit through the loss of the industrial regions of poland. if we had exerted all our strength in that direction, and if we had taken kiev, the economic key to russia, the tsar would have had no alternative but to conclude a separate peace, and this would have settled the roumanian question at the same time. "with less certainty, but also, perhaps, with less exertion, it might have proved possible to make peace _via_ petrograd. but what have we done instead? we have squandered our forces. the eastern theatre of war was denuded of troops, because at first falkenhayn felt sure he could take verdun in a fortnight, then by easter, and finally by whitsuntide. all our forces have been hurled at verdun; rivers of blood have been spilt, and now, in july, we are still outside it. and what does it profit us if we do get it? we shall only find other and more formidable lines behind it. "in the meantime our good austrians have transferred all their reliable officers and men to the tyrol, and have left nothing but the rubbish and their inefficient generals to guard the points of danger. and what are the results? a graceful retirement for salandra and the formation of an anti-german coalition government in italy on the one hand, and a manifestation of austrian superiority on the other, but a failure, nevertheless, because the austrians were not strong enough numerically to get down into the plain. and even if they had compelled the evacuation of venetia nothing would have been gained. the fate of italy, as it happens, does not depend on austria, but on great britain, who will rather watch her starve and perish for want of coal than permit her to sue for peace. "although all this is perfectly plain to everyone, our supreme command seems to be undecided as to whether an offensive with all the means at our disposal should be started on the western front simultaneously with one against russia, or whether it should be directed against russia only. as far back as last year i exerted all my influence--small though it has become--in favour of an energetic and whole-hearted offensive against russia. "well-informed and far-seeing men have justly pointed out that, if fortune so wills it, the kaiser, arm in arm with hindenburg and ludendorff, could risk a 'bad peace' without danger to himself and his dynasty, but it appears beyond doubt that the influence of falkenhayn is all-powerful. " ... if we were to arrive at an understanding with russia to-day, we should be able to go on with the war against great britain for a long time to come, and, by means of unimpeded submarine activity, to carry it to a successful issue. in that case we could also estimate the danger threatening us from america at as low a figure as many who are unacquainted with the position are putting it now. "thus it is my view that it is necessary to abandon definitely the belief that the war can be brought to a successful issue on the western front, and without first defeating russia. it is greatly to be deplored that many observers assert that the western powers will make peace when they have found out that the big offensive now in progress remains without any visible success. only people who do not know great britain can put forward such a proposition, but how many people are there at the wilhelmstrasse who do know great britain? very few indeed, if any.... " ... you said you would rejoice to hear from me, and i can only regret with all my heart that i have not been able to report anything to you in which it would really be possible to rejoice." a still more serious note is struck in the following letter written in september, : "very many thanks for your welcome letter of yesterday's date, with the contents of which i agree in every detail. "i quite share your belief that hindenburg and ludendorff must each feel like a great physician who is only called in when it is too late. two declarations of war within hours were necessary to bring about this change which the german people had been looking forward to for months and months. the chancellor is justly reproached for not having had the courage to insist upon the appointment of these two men and on the resignation of falkenhayn long ago. it is contended that he should have tendered his own resignation if his recommendations were refused, and his neglect to do so makes him principally responsible for the fate that is in store for us. for a long time back i have kept emphasizing the need for transferring our main activities to the eastern theatre of war, and for definitely settling these personal questions. "the chancellor clings to his post because he believes that there is no one better qualified than himself to be at the head of affairs. such an attitude reminds me of the old gentleman who neither wanted to die nor to retire from his post as president of the berlin chamber of commerce, and who bitterly complained to those who came to congratulate him on his ninetieth birthday that he was compelled to stick to his office, in spite of his advanced years, because he could not see a better man to succeed him. "it is very sad that we have arrived at such an _impasse_, and i am convinced that the present internal political situation is untenable. no german chancellor can possibly carry the business of the country to a successful issue if, in the midst of a terrible war, he is obliged to fight against an opposition consisting of the conservatives, the representatives of the heavy industries, and the majority of the national liberals. "as far as i can make out, the chinese wall surrounding the kaiser has not disappeared with the exit of falkenhayn from the scene. no one is granted access to him who knows something about the events that led up to this war, and who, in the interests of his dynasty as well as his own, would tell him the unvarnished truth. we are, after all, a constitutional country. it would doubtless be best to transfer general headquarters to berlin, but, of course, people are not wanting who object to such a proceeding, asserting that it would enable outside influences to acquire a hold on the conduct of affairs. "how badly people are informed with regard to the actual situation was brought home to me when i was in berlin a short while ago, and when x. contended with great emphasis that we should have to attach more value to huge indemnities than to annexations. if it is possible that the men round the kaiser count on heavy indemnities even now, it shows how sadly they misjudge the real state of affairs. "my feeling tells me that the present cabinets, containing as they do men who are compromised by their actions since the outbreak of war, cannot give us peace. how can anyone imagine that men like bethmann, asquith and grey, who have hurled such incredible insults at each other, can ever sit together at the same table? "the question as to who is to succeed them, of course, abounds with difficulties. "i recently met some austrian gentlemen in berlin. they are completely apathetic; they have lost all interest in the future, and they themselves suggest that germany should no longer permit austria to have a voice in the conduct of affairs. her food supply will only last until march st. after that date she will depend on hungary and ourselves for her food. she fears that she is not likely to get much, if anything, from hungary; on the other hand, she feels sure that we are compelled for our own sake to save her from famine. "constantinople, too, has only supplies for a few more weeks. "with us at home the paraffin question is becoming very serious. in country districts it may be possible to tell people to go to bed at curfew time, but the working population of our large cities will never consent to dispense with artificial light. serious riots have already taken place in connexion with the fat shortage. "i am afraid that great britain is trying to bring about such a change in the situation as will enable her shortly to tell the small neutral countries that no one in europe will be permitted any longer to remain neutral, and that they must make up their minds to enter one or the other of the two big syndicates. you see nothing i can write to you has even a semblance of comfort in it. i regard the future with the utmost apprehension." in contrast to such views as were expressed in the foregoing letters, the men who were at the head of affairs at that time maintained that nothing but the application of rigorous force, or, in other words, the unrestricted use of the submarine weapon against great britain, would lead to a successful termination of the world war. the propaganda in favour of that measure is still in everybody's memory. whatever may be said in defence of the authors of this propaganda, there is one reproach from which they cannot escape, viz. that they left no stone unturned to prevent their opponents from stating their views, and this, on account of the strict censorship to which the expression of every independent opinion was subject, was not a difficult matter. their one-sided policy went so far that, when a pamphlet on the question of submarine warfare was written by order of the admiralty staff and circulated among a number of persons, including leading shipping men, ballin was purposely excluded, because it was taken for granted that he would not express himself in favour of the contents. it is not likely, however, that the methods of reasoning put forward in this document--which was much more like an academic dissertation than an unprejudiced criticism of a political and military measure affecting the whole national existence of germany--would have induced ballin to change his views on the submarine war. once only, and then merely for a brief period, was he in doubt as to whether his views on that question were right, but he soon returned to his first opinion when he found that he had been misinformed regarding the number and the effectiveness of submarines available. the inauguration of unrestricted submarine warfare in january, , not only put a sudden end to the peace movement in which ballin, as has been explained on a preceding page, played an important part, but also to the attempt of president wilson to bring the two sides together. the details of the president's endeavours have meanwhile become public property through the revelations of count bernstorff, the german ambassador in washington. in both instances a few weeks would have sufficed to ascertain whether the proposed action was likely to bring about the desired end, and the former attempt had even led to the impending establishment of mutual contact between the belligerents. the inability of the german political leaders to avail themselves of this opportunity, or at least their failure to do so, has doubtless been the greatest misfortune from which germany had to suffer during the whole war. notwithstanding the successful exploits of the submarines, ballin's apprehensions never left him, and they were not allayed by the development of the position at home. the letter published below, which he wrote to the chief of the kaiser's civil cabinet, believing that this gentleman would be most likely to assist him in laying his views before the kaiser, admirably sums up his feelings, and testifies both to his real patriotism and to his presentiment of the fate that was to overtake his country: "your excellency, "_april th, _. the internal conditions of our country fill me with grave alarm, and i therefore venture to approach your excellency privately with this expression of my apprehensions. "i do not doubt for a moment that our competent authorities intend to extract the utmost advantage to ourselves from the situation which is developing in russia. this russian revolution may enable us to bring the war to a close, and to obtain peace terms which, relatively speaking, are not unfavourable. "what germany has achieved in this war is beyond all praise. a glance at the map shows how small she is compared with her opponents in the field; and yet she is bravely struggling against a world in arms in which even the few countries that have remained neutral are not our friends. it is, indeed, one grand epic. but unfortunately the position at home becomes more untenable every day. "if we find ourselves compelled to reduce the bread ration still more, you will, i am sure, agree with me that the bulk of the people will suffer enormously through being underfed. in austria, conditions are said to be worse still, and i am afraid that we shall even have to part with some of our stores to feed her population. "at first sight the chancellor's speech in the prussian house of deputies appeared to be somewhat too comprehensive in its range of vision; but a few days later, when the news of the russian revolution arrived, it almost seemed that his words had been prompted by divine inspiration. after this russian news had become known, it would have been impossible for him to make this speech without giving rise to the suspicion that these events had cast their shadow in advance on the prussian parliament. unfortunately, however, this favourable development was not followed up by the right steps. on the contrary, the chancellor, after his breezy advance in the house of deputies, has now retired from the position he then took up, thus creating the impression that our policy is constantly shaped by all sorts of mutually contradictory views and currents. up to now, although the people have to suffer greatly through the shortage of food and fuel, their patriotism has put up with it because of their faith in the promised electoral reforms. it would have been so simple to reiterate this promise, and at the same time to point out that so many other things claimed precedence during the war, and that so much was at stake, that it would hardly be advisable to introduce this great reform at present, seeing that there was no time to give proper attention to the careful working out of all the details. "if now, however, such bills as those dealing with the entailed property legislation and with the repeal of the polish laws are to be discussed, such a postponement is no longer justifiable. "it almost seems as if the government is unable to read the signs of the times. the fate of the prussian suffrage reform bids fair to resemble that of the sibylline books, of which it was said that the longer one hesitated to buy them the more expensive they became. to-day the people would still be content to agree to plural voting, but when the war is over, and when the socialist leaders are demobilizing their men, inducing tens of thousands of them, decorated with the iron cross, to air their grievances, it will be too late to stop the ball from rolling. it is true that people say revolutions are impossible in the era of the machine-gun. i have no faith in this theory, especially since the events that have happened in petrograd have become known to us. that, in a country like russia, the reigning family could disappear from the scene without any opposition, and without a single grand duke or a single soldier attempting to prevent it, is certainly food for much reflection. "i hope your excellency will pardon me for thus frankly expressing my anxieties, but i considered it my duty to let your excellency know my feelings." in may, , ballin accepted an invitation received from the supreme army command and paid a visit to general headquarters, where he found a great deal of discontent prevailing with the policy of the chancellor. he also met the kaiser, and reports on his visit as follows: "after sharing the kaiser's repast--which was plain and on a war diet--i had several hours' private conversation with his majesty. i found him full of optimism, far more so than i thought was justified. both he and ludendorff seem to put too much faith in the success of the submarines; but they fail to see that this weapon is procuring for us the enmity of the whole world, and that the promise held out by its advocates, viz., that great britain will be brought to her knees within two months, is, to put it mildly, extremely doubtful of realization, unless we can sink the ships which carry ammunition and pit-props to england." in a letter addressed to a gentleman in the kaiser's entourage he gave a further detailed account of his views on the optimism prevailing in high places: "i cannot help thinking of the enthusiastic and at the same time highly optimistic letter which you had the great kindness to show me last night. my opinion is that the gentlemen who form the entourage of his majesty ought not to view matters as that interesting epistle suggests that they do. "you are a believer in the statistics of mr. x. i took the liberty of telling you last night that statistics are a mathematical form of telling a lie, and that, to use the expression of a clever frenchman, a statistical table is like a loose woman who is at the service of anyone who wants her. 'there are different ways of arranging figures,' as they say in england. i do not know mr. x, neither do i know his statistics, but what i have been told about them seemed foolish to me. if we carry on the war, and particularly the unrestricted submarine war, on the basis of statistics such as he and other jugglers with figures have compiled, we are sure to fail in the ends we are aiming at. "as concerns the unrestricted submarine war itself, i still maintain the view i have always held, viz., that we shall never succeed in starving out great britain to such an extent as to force her government to sue for a peace of our dictation. "i have just had a visit from a danish friend whom his majesty also knows quite well, and who, together with a committee of delegates sent by the danish government, will be leaving for england to-night. the two members of this committee who represent the ministry of agriculture have been instructed, _inter alia_, to complain that great britain now imports much less bacon, butter, and other articles from denmark than she had undertaken to do, and that the prices she pays for these imports are much below those originally stipulated. "apart from the cargo carried by two small steamers that have been torpedoed, denmark has been able, notwithstanding our submarines, to supply great britain with all the food required of her. the vessels remain in territorial waters until a wireless message informs them of the spot where they will meet the british convoy which is to take them safely to england. they have to pass through only a small danger zone which, as i have said, has hitherto proved fatal to no more than two vessels. "this fact, to my mind, points to the limits of the success obtainable by our submarines. i have constantly explained, especially to the chief of the admiralty staff, that i can only regard the submarine as a successful weapon if it enables us to cut off the british supplies of ore from spain and sweden, and also those of pit-props, because without the possession of these two necessities, great britain is no longer able to continue the war. i have been assured that our submarines would achieve this task, even if torpedo boats were employed as convoys; but the experiences gained so far do not bear out these predictions. we succeed, indeed, in sinking a few vessels out of many; but suppose there are ten ships in a convoy, it still means that nine of them, with their supplies of ore and pit-props, safely reach their destination. "let me repeat, the starvation of great britain is impossible; because, in addition to her own harvests, she only needs from twelve to fifteen thousand tons of cereals every day, and these she can, if necessary, always obtain at night-time through her channel service, _via_ spain and france. even this necessity will hardly arise, because two medium-sized steamers are sufficient to carry the fifteen thousand tons, and things would have to be very bad, indeed, if these did not succeed in reaching a british port. and if our statistical tricksters juggle with crop failures, please do not forget that new harvests are soon to be expected, and that it will not do always to count on crop failures. "you will be doing a good work if you can persuade people at headquarters to abandon their belief that great britain can be starved to submission. unfortunately their other belief, viz., that we can cut off her supplies of ore and pit-props, will also have to be abandoned. "certainly, the achievements of our submarines have been amazing. at their present rate they will enormously diminish the british tonnage figures, and raise the hatred of everything german to boiling point; but they will not, unfortunately, lead to such an end of the war as our pan-germans desire. it is a thousand pities! "when the submarine problem began to assume practical shape, i pointed out to the chief of the admiralty staff that, to be successful, the submarine war must be brief; that its principal object was not to sink a large number of ships, but to produce such a feeling of alarm in neutral countries as to prevent them from risking their ships ( ) because of the great value of tonnage immediately after the war, ( ) because of the impossibility of finding crews, and ( ) because of the insurance difficulty. these conditions of success were, indeed, realized during the first four weeks; but since that time people, as i had predicted, have got used to the danger. the crews are coming forth again, the insurance companies issue their policies again, and the ships are put to sea again. "if the admiralty staff, who is doubtless in possession of the figures, would submit to you a list of the number of vessels laid up in dutch and scandinavian ports on march st, owing to the submarine danger, and another one showing the position as it is to-day, you would discover that, at a low estimate, at least per cent, of the cargo vessels are running again, and that, after another month or so, the number of those still idle will have dwindled down to per cent, or less. "these are my views on the situation. if we have no other means of finishing the war but the submarine menace, it will go on for years. i should like to protest in anticipation against any suggestion to the effect that i am trying to minimize the achievements of the submarines. on the contrary, i have nothing but the highest admiration for them, and i really find it quite impossible to praise in ordinary prose all that our country has done during this war; the whole achievement is one grand epic. "within the next few months the problem will have to be solved how to put an end to this devastating catastrophe which is ruining the progress of the world. there is no need for me to tell you that the position of germany has grown considerably worse through the active intervention of the united states. the fact that this enormously wealthy country with its one hundred million inhabitants has turned against us is fraught with the most dangerous consequences. now it will no longer be possible for us to continue the war for several more years, and then to enforce a peace on lines such as are laid down by a noisy section of our people, unless we succeed in exploiting the extremely fortunate change in the russian situation in such a way that the vast resources of that country will be at our disposal. "this letter has become longer than it ought to be, but the gravity of the subject with which it deals must be my excuse for going into so many details. perhaps i may avail myself of some future occasion to acquaint you with my hopes and fears on other political matters; because, as i have already explained, the present state of affairs makes it urgently desirable that the gentlemen whose privilege it is to be near his majesty should see things as they really are, and not as they would wish them to be. "compare, if you have a chance, the advertisement pages of an english paper with those of a german one. i have just come across a copy of the _daily telegraph_ which i beg to enclose for this purpose. i have been in the habit of studying these advertisements for many months; they are excellent means of gauging the difference in the effects of the war on the two countries." during the remaining part of , and during the first months of as well, ballin took an active interest in the preparations for the bill dealing with the rebuilding of the german mercantile marine; in other respects, especially with regard to political matters, the course of events condemned him to remain passive. his notes during this period are few. i select the following passages from them: " ... july th, . the erzberger resolution which was chiefly aimed at helfferich and the naval authorities has made the chancellor's position untenable. everybody turned against herr von bethmann, and general von ludendorff informed me by telephone that he would resign if bethmann remained in office. "i then had a lengthy talk with his excellency v. valentini who agreed that it was necessary for the chancellor to retire; but he found it just as difficult as other people to name a suitable successor. vienna had raised strong objections to the appointment of prince bülow, and, acting upon valentini's suggestion, i made up my mind to approach the kaiser with a view to discussing with him the situation which appeared to me fraught with the greatest danger. i therefore asked his excellency von reischach to arrange such a meeting for me, but on thursday night i was rung up from headquarters and informed that hindenburg and ludendorff were already on their way to the kaiser to report to his majesty on this subject. under these circumstances i did not like to interfere, and on friday i withdrew my application for an interview. the kaiser has told the two generals that he had accepted bethmann's resignation the previous evening. he is thus able to save himself from a perplexing situation by contending that he had to give in to the wishes of the supreme army command. " ... july th, . yesterday i called on prince bülow at his flottbek residence, and found him looking better than i had seen him for years. after i had left him i had the feeling that the prince, who regards the whole situation with a great deal of misgiving, would even be willing to accept the post of foreign secretary under michaelis himself, in order to be able to guide our foreign policy along sensible lines once more. contrary to the reserve which he formerly showed, he now condemns bethmann's policy with great bitterness. bethmann, he maintains, by yielding to the demand for universal suffrage, acted like a banker on the day before bankruptcy who would try to save himself from disaster by using his clients' deposits. "the mexico telegram[ ] he treated with a good deal of sarcasm, remarking that it was the maddest prank since the exploits of the captain of köpenick, with which i agreed. if anyone, he said, ever wrote a comedy on the subject, he would scarcely venture to lay the plot in modern times, but would go back to the period when pigtails and wigs were the fashion. " ... july th, . i had several messages over the telephone, as well as a visit, from lieutenant-colonel von voss, the chief of staff with the altona army command, who wanted to consult me as to whether prince bülow should be offered the post of foreign secretary. i am afraid, however, that there is not much chance of his being appointed. the prince shares this opinion, and would not like the press to make any propaganda in his favour. " ... sept. th, . in the meantime, on august th, the kaiser has been to hamburg on a one day's visit. he came from heligoland, and was brimful of optimism. "he pretended to be very well satisfied with his new chancellor, and was very optimistic as to a german victory, an attitude which, i am afraid, is not in the least justified by the situation as it is." in the month of september, , ballin wrote a memorandum for dr. schwander, the newly appointed secretary of state for national economy. apart from politics this document deals with economic matters, and in particular with the legislation concerning these during the period of transition which would succeed the close of the war. ballin gave a great deal of thought to these questions, and i shall refer to them later on. meanwhile i will quote the text of the memorandum: _"september th, ._ "the fall of riga shows once more how far superior our military achievements are to the work performed by our politicians. with the dispatch of the mexico telegram their folly appeared to me to have reached its height; but the descent from that point is but slow. the news recently published by the press to the effect that the federal council is to deal with the question of the constitutional and administrative reforms which are to be granted to alsace-lorraine, makes me fear that some big political blunder is going to be committed again. it is evidently believed that, if alsace-lorraine were to be established as an independent federal state with perhaps some south german prince as its grand duke, such a measure would remove an obstacle to peace. i, however, consider it a great tactical mistake to attempt such a solution of the alsace-lorraine problem before the war is over. we must never lose sight of the fact that each one of the leading actors in the political drama has to play to his own gallery, and that therefore at the conclusion of peace--which in my opinion can only be one of compromise--french diplomacy must be able to show up something which the man in the street can be induced to regard as a _succès d'estime_. no doubt it would be easier and more to our liking to solve the problem in our own way, and at the initiative of our government; but by doing so we would deprive ourselves of another possibility for compromising which we ought to keep in order to enable the french to retire from the struggle with a fair measure of success. "we have a bad habit of spoiling the chances of peace by premature actions intended to help it on and to prepare the way for it. just think of what we did in poland! in the same way we deliberately diminished the great value of the important asset which we possess in the shape of belgium when we set up the council of flanders and introduced the administrative partition of that country. "besides these political matters there are others which were better left alone for the present. i am thinking of the steps taken to regulate our economic restoration after the war. war corporations are springing from the ground like mushrooms after rain, and the preparations made in order to solve the difficult economic post-war problems have an ugly tendency toward establishing too many government-controlled organizations. to my mind the appointment of a 'government commissioner for the period of economic transition' is altogether superfluous. we must refrain from all attempts at interfering by artificial means with the natural development of events. this, however, is precisely what the commissioner would have to do. he would have to act according to instructions received from the bank of germany or from some specially created body dealing with the question of the foreign exchanges and the provision of foreign bills. "my belief is that our foreign exchanges which have so completely got out of order will prove an excellent means of diminishing the hatred against us and of making our enemies less disinclined to resume business with us. the americans who are now able to obtain goods to the value of m . for their dollar, instead of m . , as they used to do, will soon discover their liking for us again. "another point is that the coming peace, even if we derive no other gain from it, will enormously raise german prestige all over the world. prussia became a european power after the seven years' war, in spite of the fact that the peace treaty brought her neither a territorial nor a financial gain, merely confirming the right of frederick the great to the possessions he had defended in the war. prestige, however, means credit, and this circumstance makes me believe that all these anxious discussions of the foreign exchange question and of the need for controlling german payments abroad are just as superfluous as the government control of our economic activities during the period of transition. "the nations now at war will be impoverished after the war, and the state of our exchange and the high prices of raw material will compel us to live from hand to mouth as far as the importation of raw material is concerned. pending the return of normal conditions, no sensible manufacturer will want to import more raw material than he urgently requires. "i therefore think we ought to try to induce the government to desist from its proposed control of trade and industries, and to restore the old conditions. if the government's proposal to carry on under its own management large sections of our import and export trade--in order to make these valuable sources of profit available for the reduction of its debts--were allowed to materialize, our economic doom would be certain, however attractive the plan might be in view of the huge national debt. one must be careful not to ignore the fact that the flourishing state of trade and manufactures is always largely due to the existence of personal relations. "if i think of the lessons of the past forty years--a period during which the freedom of trade, the freedom of industrial enterprise, and the freedom of shipping have led to marvellous successes and to the accumulation of huge wealth--i ask myself: 'how is it possible that a wise statesman could seriously occupy himself with the plan of establishing a government-bound system in place of it?' how, i ask you, can a state-managed industrial organization avail itself of the advantages to be had when trade is booming, or to guard itself against the losses when there is a slump? what will be the attitude of such an organization towards dealings in futures and speculation, both of which are indispensable forms of modern business enterprise? true, it has been suggested that these difficulties could be overcome if some business men were requested to accept appointments under this system, and if so-called 'mixed' concerns worked by the co-operation of public funds and private capital were established. may heaven grant that this will never be done! i am sure you have had even more to do than i with business men who had been promoted to the higher dignity of government officials. most of them have turned out complete failures in their new spheres; they have become more bureaucratic than our bureaucrats themselves; their initiative and their eagerness to take upon themselves responsibilities have never lasted very long. let there always be a fair field and no favour! personal relations and personal efficiency are all that we need for the rebuilding of our national economic system. the 'mixed' concerns are bad because they lack the necessary elasticity, because they disregard the personal equation, and because they impede the indispensable freedom of action. "i am quite prepared for these views of mine to meet with much criticism. people will say: 'all that is very well, but the government's huge indebtedness compels it to take recourse to extraordinary measures.' quite right, but would it not be much wiser to reduce this indebtedness by increasing direct and indirect taxation, instead of depriving those who have proved during the past few decades what they can do of the means that have made them so efficient? "even among the efficient business men, unless they be born geniuses, a distinction must be drawn between those who can make profits and those who can organize. the former kind--who are, moreover, but few and far between--will never submit to the personal restrictions to which they would be subjected in state-managed or 'mixed' concerns. the second kind alone, however, would never make any concern prosper. "another consideration is that the enemy countries would view with much suspicion any such institutions controlled partly or wholly by the government. i remember quite well the scant respect with which the french delegates were treated at the international shipping conferences before the war. everyone knew that the big french shipping companies, owing to the huge government subsidies, had to put up with a great deal of supervision on the part of the government, and that they could often vote neither for nor against the most important proposals with which the conference had to deal, because they had first to obtain the consent of the government commissioner. they were, therefore, simply ignored, as it was clear that they could raise no counter-proposals at their own initiative. "and truly there is every reason for us to use the utmost caution whenever any questions connected with the reconstruction of our country are concerned. the excellent dr. naumann, with his 'berlin--bagdad' slogan, has already smashed a good many window panes which will have to be paid for after the war by the producing classes. the suggestion that an economic union of the central european countries should be established was put forward at a most inopportune moment, and the propaganda in its favour was bound to bring about the retaliatory measures agreed upon by our enemies at the paris economic conference. "the resolutions of this conference were of little practical importance to us until the day when america entered the field against us. if the united states assents to them, it will become possible to enforce them, and for this reason i am watching the further development of the economic question with growing concern. i maintain that peace negotiations should only be started after a previous agreement has been arrived at between the belligerents to the effect that, on the conclusion of peace, the commercial relations formerly existing between them should be restored as far as possible, and that the resolutions passed at the paris economic conference and at the central european conference should be rescinded. such an attitude, however, can only be taken up by our delegates if they agree that the former commercial treaties, no matter whether they are still running or whether they have elapsed, should automatically become valid again for a fairly extensive period of time after the close of the war. the disadvantages which some of these treaties involve for us are easily outbalanced by the advantages secured by the others. "our government cannot be reminded too often that it is necessary to consult experienced men of business in all such questions. since the early days of the war i have vainly tried to convince herr v. bethmann of this necessity. after all, nobody can possibly be an expert in everything. yesterday, when reading the letters of gustav freytag to his publisher, mr. hirzel, i came across the following admirable piece of self-criticism: 'i do not know yet what is to become of my work; but i fear i am doing what others, better qualified than i, ought to be doing, and that i am leaving undone what i ought to do.' every great leader in our political and economic life must have experienced that it is extremely unsatisfactory to waste one's time and energy on work which another man could do just as well as, or even better than, oneself. this the government should remember whenever it attempts to interfere with the big industrial combines, such as trusts, syndicates, etc. wherever a syndicate is necessary in the best interests of any industry, a leader will be forthcoming who will create it; and only in cases where inferior minds, acting for selfish reasons of their own, do not wish to acknowledge the need for combining, the government should be asked to exercise whatever pressure it considers advisable in order to further the great aims that are involved. "i am afraid that after the war we shall lack the funds needed for the solution of the traffic problems with which we shall then be confronted, especially with regard to our inland waterways. at any rate, if we do build the necessary canals immediately after the war, we shall find ourselves compelled to charge such high rates to the vessels using these waterways that their advantages will largely tend to become illusory. even as it is now, our trade and our manufactures are seriously handicapped by the high canal dues existing, by the tugboat monopoly, etc. a really far-sighted policy which would make it its principal object to assist the progress of our foreign trade would have to guard against the mistaken idea that the levying of high rates was the only means of obtaining interest on the capital invested. after all, even the turnpikes had to be abolished in the end. "the agitation in favour of separating from russia the ukraine, finland, and other parts inhabited by alien peoples--an agitation which is becoming noisier every day--troubles me very much. since the early days of the war i have maintained that it must be our main war aim to detach russia from the entente, and that we must endeavour to establish close relations between our own country and russia so that the two of us shall be strong enough to face a possible alliance between great britain, the united states, and france. this should be our aim even now. but if we are going deliberately to dismember the russian empire and to parcel it out into a number of independent units, our political influence after the war will be slight indeed, and the result must necessarily make itself felt to the detriment of our whole economic life." at ballin's suggestion, the members of the reichstag were invited to attend a meeting which was to be held in hamburg during the summer of . large sections of people in the three hanseatic cities viewed with grave concern the plans which the government entertained for the economic development after the war, and the meeting had been called to draw the attention of the visitors to this state of affairs. three principal speeches were delivered, and at the close of the meeting ballin briefly recapitulated the main arguments against too much government interference. much of what he said on that occasion, and much of what he had written in the memorandum quoted above, has been borne out by the events of the recent past, even though the actual terms of the peace imposed on germany were much more unfavourable than he had expected them to be. in addressing himself to the vice president of the reichstag, geheimrat dove, and the large number of the elected representatives of the german people who accepted the invitation, ballin said: "we should be glad if you would see to it that the government does not put a halter round our necks, and that it refrains from the dangerous attempt to employ barrack-room methods where economic questions of national and international importance are at stake. let us have air, and light, and freedom to act; and we, by availing ourselves of our relations with the overseas countries, shall be able to carry out the work that lies before us.... " ... i am convinced that all the measures which are contemplated to stabilize economic conditions during the period of transition from war to peace will do more harm than good. if carried into practice, they will merely prepare the soil for an economic struggle to succeed the present war of arms. we need a peace that is doubly secure! we cannot ask our enemies to give us freedom where we impose compulsion. we cannot fight for the freedom of the seas, and at the same time surround central europe with a barbed wire. "i do not wish to deny that in order to carry out our economic tasks a certain amount of government control will be necessary. that, of course, goes without saying; but anything beyond it is an unmixed evil. if it is said to-day that the measures to be adopted during the period of economic transition are, in some instances, intended to remain in force for three years, and if it is announced semi-officially that the thousand and one war corporations are to be made use of for the purposes of this policy, and that their disappearance is to be very gradual--i can only sound a serious note of warning against any such designs. when the war is over all those who can do efficient work will return to their normal occupations; and those who then prefer to remain attached to the war corporations in one capacity or other are surely to some extent people who have discovered some hidden charms in these institutions, or, if not, they are persons who, fearful of the risks connected with the unfettered interplay of forces, feel that they are better off under the protecting wing of the government. if you are going to entrust the future of our country to such organizations for better or worse, the economic war after the war, as i have said before, will be sure to follow, and you will have to face a war that will last years and years." as regards the closing months of the war--which are also the closing months of ballin's life--it must suffice to refer here to one event only; one, however, which is of dramatic significance. i am speaking of ballin's last meeting with the kaiser. his notes on this subject, roughly sketched though they are, require no further comment. i reproduce them in full: _"hamfelde, august th (sunday), ._ "last tuesday herr deters[ ] rang me up to ask me on behalf of hugo stinnes if i would meet him in berlin on the thursday. lieut.-colonel bauer, one of ludendorff's aides-de-camp, a gentleman largely responsible for the pan-german leanings of the general and for his close association with the interests of the big manufacturers, had been to see stinnes, and on the strength of the information he had received from lieut.-colonel bauer he thought it advisable to have a talk with me. i declined the invitation because i expected that the work they wanted me to do would be anything but pleasant. "next morning herr deters rang me up again and told me that stinnes would call on me in hamburg on friday morning. "i left for hamfelde on wednesday afternoon, but returned to town again on thursday, because stinnes had arranged to call on me as early as . a.m. on friday. "the proposed meeting thus took place on friday, august rd, from . a.m. to . p.m. stinnes, with admirable frankness and directness, started our conversation by stating that the military situation had become much worse. our troops, he said, began to fail us in our task, and the number of deserters had been very large lately (he mentioned, i believe, that their number was , ). ludendorff had told the crown prince the plain truth; but it was still necessary to explain the true state of affairs to the kaiser, and to make it clear to his majesty that hertling, who was completely laid up with sickness, could no longer effectively fill his post. the real work was done by his son, captain v. hertling, and no efforts were being made to come to a cessation of hostilities. in other directions, too, matters were drifting towards a catastrophe. the minister of war, v. stein, lacked the necessary authority. in many instances the men called up did not enlist at all; in silesia large numbers of them had concealed themselves in the woods and forests, and their wives provided them with food, while no energetic steps to check these occurrences were taken by the chief army command. i replied to stinnes that if ludendorff agreed i would be ready to undertake the unpleasant task of informing the kaiser, but that it would first be necessary that ludendorff and myself should come to an understanding as to whom to propose to his majesty for the chancellorship. _"continuation. hamburg, august th, ._ "stinnes said he thought that ludendorff had prince bülow in his mind. i told stinnes that bülow, in my opinion, might perhaps be suitable at the head of a peace delegation, but that it was too late to think of him as a possible chancellor, and that the german people--more particularly the socialists--had not now the requisite confidence in his ability to fill the post of chancellor. neither would he be acceptable to our enemies. it would be difficult to persuade great britain, the united states and france that a prince, especially prince bülow, would seriously carry out the democratization of germany. if, however, we really were to discuss peace at last it would be necessary that the office of chancellor should be vested in a man to whom our enemies could take no possible exception. stinnes perfectly agreed with me in this matter. "we continued to discuss other possible candidates for the post, but we could not agree on anyone. finally stinnes proposed that we should both go to berlin and there continue the discussion together with lieut.-colonel bauer, ludendorff's representative. he would in the meantime report to berlin about our conversation, and he was hopeful that we could see bauer either to-night (monday), or to-morrow (tuesday, august th). "this morning stinnes informed me through deters that he had sent me a wire stating that the proposed meeting could not take place until monday next, september nd, at p.m. he proposed that we should have a preliminary meeting at the hotel continental at p.m. the same evening. i suggested that it would be better to fix this preliminary meeting at . p.m. "i must add that bauer's (that is ludendorff's) suggestion was that i should not see the kaiser by myself, but together with stinnes, duisburg, and krupp v. bohlen. "i replied to stinnes that i considered it very inadvisable for such a deputation to visit the kaiser, who would never tolerate that four gentlemen--two of whom were perfect strangers to him--should speak to him about such matters. it would be better that herr v. bohlen, or, if ludendorff attached special value to it, i myself should call on the kaiser in private, and that either herr v. bohlen or i should then endeavour to induce the kaiser to see the other three gentlemen as well. "stinnes was greatly depressed and took as grave a view of the situation as i did myself." ballin's notes on the berlin meeting are confined to a few jottings, from which it appears that not lieutenant-colonel bauer but major v. harbou in his stead took part in it, and that the question of selecting a suitable candidate for the chancellorship proved impossible of a satisfactory solution. as a last resort, if everything else should fail, ballin thought of proposing stinnes himself, because in his opinion the situation demanded a man of dictatorial character and with the authority of a dictator. concerning his interview with the kaiser, ballin wrote down the following notes: "i arrived at wilhelmshöhe on the morning of september th, and i was asked to 'report' to the kaiser at . p.m. this expression was chosen because the new head of the kaiser's civil cabinet, herr v. berg, evidently wished to invest my visit with an official character which would enable him to be in attendance. after a while, however, the kaiser became impatient and did not wish to wait till the hour appointed for the interview. so i was requested by telephone to hold myself in readiness by o'clock. "i went to the castle at that hour and waited in the room of the aide-de-camp until the kaiser came and asked me to go for a walk with him. however, herr v. berg was also there and accompanied us. consequently the conversation lost much of the directness which would have been highly desirable in the kaiser's own interest, as well as in that of the country. "i found the kaiser very misinformed, as usual, and full of that apparent buoyancy of spirit which he likes to display in the presence of third persons. the facts have been twisted to such an extent that even the serious failure of our offensive--which, at first, had depressed him very much--has been described to him as a success. it is now intended to retire to the old hindenburg line, so that the only result of the offensive has been the loss of several hundreds of thousands of valuable lives. all this, as i have said, is dished up to the poor kaiser in such a fashion that he remains perfectly blind to the catastrophic effect of it. "he now puts his whole trust in herr v. hintze, whom he evidently looks upon as a great light. "i told the kaiser of my grave misgivings and made him clearly understand that i did not think there would be much use in entering into peace negotiations with great britain. i urged that no time should be lost in immediately approaching wilson, who was an idealist and who had no territorial aspirations in europe. if, however, the war should continue much longer wilson would most probably become subject to the influences of a war party, and then we could no longer hope that he would still insist upon a settlement along the lines of his idealist programme. "the kaiser agreed that my views were well founded, but he thought we ought not to enter into peace negotiations before the approach of autumn, by which time we should have returned to the safe position afforded by the hindenburg line. then, he thought, we should avail ourselves of the offer of mediation which had been made by the queen of holland. "whenever i was too frank in my criticisms and suggestions, herr v. berg skilfully interposed. he declared to me when the kaiser had left that it would not do to make his majesty too pessimistic. "i also discussed with the kaiser the question of doing away with the restrictions imposed upon the sale of perishable articles of food, such as butter, eggs, etc.; and i pointed out to him that the fixing of maximum prices and the issuing of regulations dealing with illicit trading merely forced the people to pay exorbitant prices, at the same time helping those engaged in underhand trading to amass huge fortunes. on this subject, too, the kaiser fell in with my own views, and it was decided to release at least the perishable articles, and to allow them to be sold once more through the ordinary channels without restriction. "the kaiser also declared that this war would soon be followed by another, to which he referred as the second carthaginian war. he spoke a great deal of an anglo-american alliance which would, of course, be directed against japan, and the views on political subjects which he expressed in this connexion showed that he is being very badly advised indeed. "herr v. berg is obviously conservative and pan-german in his politics, and it seems that his influence is predominant at court. only on the prussian suffrage question did he agree with my own standpoint, which is that universal suffrage must be granted now that the king has promised it. "since the kaiser and the kaiserin, on account of the latter's illness, were dining alone, i joined the so-called 'court marshal's table,' together with the countesses keller and rantzau, the gentlemen-in-waiting on the kaiser, and the physician-in-ordinary and the chamberlain of the kaiserin. the duty of acting as court marshal fell to general v. gontard, as herr v. reischach had unfortunately fallen seriously ill." in order to illustrate further what has been shown to be ballin's views on the character of the kaiser, i here quote the first part of a letter of his, dated october th, : "in the meantime," he writes, "wilson's reply has been received, and it is certain that compliance with its terms will be equivalent to capitulation. "to my mind wilson's note clearly shows that he and his allies will demand that the hohenzollerns, or at any rate the kaiser and the crown prince, shall relinquish their rights to the throne, and that, in consideration of such an act, they will ease their terms of peace. "each of the men who are at the head of their respective governments has to play to his gallery, and if these men desire to give their audience a convincing proof of the completeness of the success they have achieved, they can do no better than demand condign punishment for the man who has been held responsible for the war, and inflict it upon him. i do not believe that the kaiser would grieve very much if he were given a chance now of retiring into private life without much loss of dignity. the war, which was something absolutely uncongenial to his whole nature, has had such bad effect on his health that it would be desirable in his own interest if he were enabled to retire comfortably into private life. he must see the force of this argument himself, and it is not likely that he would refuse to accept such a chance, as a refusal would prejudice the best interests of his country. the kaiserin, however, may be expected to oppose any such solution with much feeling. if the kaiser's grandson were now appointed his successor, and if a regent were nominated in whom everybody had confidence, the whole german situation would lose much of its seriousness. of course, the abdication of the kaiser would not take place without certain disturbances, but it would be necessary to face these disadvantages with a good grace. no doubt the outlook would be better if they could be avoided, and if the kaiser, without losing his position, could be invested with rights and duties similar to those of the british king, who, broadly speaking, enjoys all the advantages of his dignity without having to take upon himself responsibilities which he is unable to bear. i quite believe that the kaiser never derived much pleasure from his sovereign powers; at any rate, if he did, he has ceased to do so since this unfortunate war has been forced upon him." ballin's last entry in his diary contains the following passage: "stinnes has sent word to me that the socialist and centre parties are of opinion that i ought to be nominated to conduct the peace negotiations. i have told him that i should not shirk it, but that i should be much better pleased if somebody else would do it." this note was written on november nd, . one short week later, on november th, his heart had ceased to beat--a heart which had so warmly responded to the call of his kaiser and country, and which had succumbed to its excessive load of grief and sorrow. chapter xi personal characteristics to present an exhaustive description of albert ballin's life-work within the compass of this volume is an impossible task, and the more the writer entered into the details of his attempt to do so, the more thoroughly did he realize this impossibility. the story of a life comprising thirty-two years of incessant hard work, only interrupted when nature's law or a very imperative behest of his medical adviser made it necessary, and spent at the head of an undertaking which, as a result of this work, developed into one of the greatest that the economic history of the generation just passed has known, cannot be told in full by means of a mere description unless it be accompanied by volumes of statistics which, however, convey no meaning to anyone except the initiated. the author, therefore, had to content himself with delineating a picture of his hero with a background formed by the events which he himself had helped to shape, and which, in many instances, had received their distinguishing stamp through his own genius. the essence of his character, and the importance of his work to his contemporaries, must stand out from this background as the portrait of a painter--as seen by himself--would stand out from a mirror. what the mirror does not show, and cannot show, is the immensity of the mental forces hidden below the surface which alone give expression to the portrait; all the factors which have brought about the final result--the strength, the courage, the daring, and the feeling of responsibility without which it would never have been achieved. still more difficult it is to interpret the very essence of the character of him whose work we see before us, or, indeed, to give a comprehensible account of it to the stranger. the only way of doing justice to a man of such commanding genius as ballin is to try to discover first of all the one essential root principle of his personality. having succeeded in that, we shall find no more difficulty in reconciling the great number of apparently mutually contradictory traits of his character. this principle is the focus where all the rays of light are collected from all directions, and which forms the source of light, warmth, and vital energy. albert ballin was a born business man if ever there was one. to him the noble words of schiller's lines apply: "the treasures which his ships carry across the oceans spell untold blessings to all who receive them." his whole mind was drawn towards the sea; his inborn inclinations and the surroundings amidst which he grew up had destined him to be a shipping man. to the boy ballin the hamburg harbour was the favourite playground; and the seven seas were just large enough to serve as a field of action for the youth and the man. there was his real home, and there he felt at rest. how often, indeed, has he assured us that the sleeplessness to which he fell an unfortunate victim whenever he was ashore left him as soon as he was on board ship, and that a miserable river barge was sufficient to have this effect on him. he was proof against sea-sickness, both bodily and mentally. thus he became a shipping man, because it was his natural vocation; and in this chosen profession of his he became one of the greatest and most brilliantly gifted rulers the world has ever seen. whenever there was a problem to be solved he attacked it in a spirit of boldness, yet tempered by the utmost conscientiousness and caution. no task he encountered was so big that his daring could not tackle it and overcome its difficulties; nothing was so insignificant that he would not attend to it somehow. whatever decision his infallible instinct intuitively recognized as right, and to whatever idea his impulsive nature had given practical shape, had to pass muster during the sleepless hours of the night before the tribunal of his restless mind when, as he used to say, "everything appears wrapt up in a grey mist." at such times his reason began to analyse and to criticize the decisions he had reached during the day. then he would often shudder at his own boldness, and the torments of doubt would be aggravated by the thought of the enormous responsibility which he bore towards his company. for it must be understood that from the day he joined the hamburg-amerika linie his interests and those of the company became parts of an inseparable whole. the company's affairs absorbed all his thoughts at all times; the company's well-being was the object of his constant care; he devoted himself exclusively to the service of the company, and the opinions which he formed in his mind regarding persons and things were instinctively coloured according to their relationship to the company's affairs. the gradual progress during its infancy, the later expansion, and the final greatness of the company, were as the events of his own life to him; when the proud structure which he had raised collapsed his life was ended. his thoughts incessantly converged towards this very centre of his being. all his work, all his words and deeds, were devoted to the furtherance of the company's interests. he identified himself so completely with the company that he actually was the packetfahrt, and the packetfahrt was he. even his love and hatred were rooted in the company. he remained a grateful and lifelong friend to anyone who had been of service to the company or to him as representing it. this highly subjective and indissoluble relationship between himself and the company--which it had been the dream of his life to raise to the highest pinnacle of prosperity--is the key to the fundamental principle which lies at the root of his whole complex personality. but however well-defined his personal individuality stood out, his subjectivity was nevertheless animated by a strong sense of duty. his views, for instance, on the essential principles governing the most perfect organization which modern capitalism has produced--i.e. the joint-stock company--were free from any tinge of personal considerations whatever. he was himself the responsible head of a big joint-stock company, and instinctively this fact exercised such a powerful influence on all his thoughts and feelings that it is quite impossible to arrive at a just appreciation of his character unless this circumstance is borne in mind. his character which appears so complicated to the cursory onlooker, but which is in reality of singular simplicity and consistency, is best illustrated by his reply to a question of one of his friends who had asked him why he did not allow some piece of scathing criticism which he had just expressed in private to be made public. "my dear friend," he said, "you forget that you are not the chairman of the board of directors of a joint-stock company." what he meant to convey was that the enmity which he would incur by expressing those views in public would adversely affect the firm of which he was the head, and that the interests of his company compelled him to impose upon himself restrictions which he could ignore in his private capacity. although he had nothing but scorn for the very suggestion that this company should receive at any time any subsidies from public funds, he made it to the fullest extent subservient to the needs of the public and of the nation at large. he often remarked that such gigantic concerns as, e.g., the hamburg-amerika linie, are no longer private ventures purely and simply. the ties that bind them to the whole economic life of the nation--and, for the matter of that, to the world in general--are so close and so manifold that it would be disastrous to ignore them or to sever them. hundreds of industrial, commercial, and agricultural enterprises were lavishly supplied with work through the orders they received from the hamburg-amerika linie in connexion with the building and the equipment of its steamers and with the needs of its organizations on shore. its hundreds of thousands of passengers and emigrants, and the huge volume of german-made products and manufactured articles carried on board its vessels, spread the german name and german fame throughout the civilized world. hence, to albert ballin the national flag and that of the hapag were two symbols expressive of but one idea. a man who, like ballin, was at the head of the biggest german shipping company and therefore also, by implication, one of the leading spirits in the economic life of germany, could not very well hold himself aloof where high politics were concerned. the more the economic problems gained in importance, the greater became their bearing on the course of the country's politics. ballin, however, would never have become a professional politician from inclination, because he invariably refused to be mixed up with the strife of parties. he never officially belonged to any political party; and although he made friends with members of all the non-socialist parties, his general outlook on politics was mainly coloured by liberal views, and he was a firm believer in free trade. whenever questions dealing with the interests of shipping and trade were involved, he had no difficulty in making the responsible people listen to his claims and to his suggestions, but he never tried to make his influence felt on purely political affairs unless they affected the country's vital international interests. his lengthy and extensive travels to the countries of europe, to the north american continent, and to the far east, had broadened his outlook. his profession as a shipping man not only brought him into frequent contact with the heads of the big shipping companies all the world over, but also with a number of the financial magnates and industrial captains of great britain, the united states, and other countries of economic importance. he took rank with the greatest economic leaders as an equal, and this unchallenged position of commanding authority was reflected by the esteem in which he was held by the principal statesmen and parliamentarians. he was familiar with the essential and vital needs of other nations, and he therefore not only stood up for the national rights whenever they appeared in jeopardy, but he also raised his warning voice against a policy provocative of conflicts whenever he thought it possible to avoid them. whoever is conscious of his strength is also aware of the limitations set to his power. in politics as well as in business he held that "a lean compromise was preferable to a fat lawsuit," as the german proverb puts it. it has been mentioned elsewhere in this volume that ballin was essentially the man of compromise. it is very probable that the experiences of his early life had helped to develop this outstanding feature of his personality. it may be assumed that he, a young man of unknown jewish family, found his path beset with difficulties in a city-state like hamburg, where the influence of the wealthy patriciate of the merchant classes was supreme, and that he was looked upon as an upstart even after he had reached a prominent position himself. the casual observer is far too much inclined to underestimate the conservative character--both politically and socially--of the three hanseatic cities. still, evidence is not wanting that ballin's unusual gifts were occasionally recognized and appreciated even in the days of his early career. an english journalist, for instance, who met him some time about , characterized him by the following words: "he struck me as a great man; otherwise nothing so incongruous as such a type of man at the head of a big steamship line could be imagined." that field-marshal count waldersee honoured him by his friendship at an early period has been mentioned in a different chapter of this volume. and even in patrician hamburg he found an immensely powerful friend and patron shortly after he had entered the services of the packetfahrt. this was no less a man than the shipowner carl laeisz, the most eminent representative of the "house of laeisz." the firm of f. laeisz, which was successfully owned by its founder, ferdinand, his son carl, and his grandson carl ferdinand, has stood sponsor to all the more important shipping companies established in hamburg, and through its great authority helped them all to get over the critical years of their early youth. the sound principles by which the firm was guided might sometimes lead to much disappointment on the part of the shareholders, but they proved to be of unsurpassable benefit to the companies concerned, and nothing illustrates them better than the oft-told episode of the shareholder who went to see carl laeisz, complaining that the hamburg south american s.s. company did not pay any dividend. "the object of the company is to carry on the shipping trade, and not to distribute dividends," was the blunt but characteristic reply. being thoroughly unconventional in his habits, carl laeisz--no less than his singularly gifted son, who was one of those rare men whom it was really impossible to replace--nevertheless did invaluable service in connexion with the establishment of new firms in hamburg, and with the encouragement of existing ones. it was a great compliment to ballin that in , when he had only been associated with the packetfahrt for a couple of years, and when the directors asked for authority to increase the joint-stock capital of the company from to million marks, carl laeisz informed them in advance that, at the general meeting of the shareholders, he would move an increase of instead of millions, and that this motion was unanimously carried. those who have known carl laeisz personally will appreciate what it meant to ballin when, by way of giving him an introduction to the london firm of messrs. j. henry schröder, laeisz scribbled the following note on the back of one of ballin's visiting cards: "it gives me pleasure to introduce to you the bearer of this card, whom i am proud to name my friend, and to recommend him to your protection and to your unfailing kindness. "sincerely yours, "(_signed_) laeisz." as this card was found among the papers and documents which ballin left at the time of his death, it would seem that it was not used for its intended purpose, but that he preferred to keep it as a souvenir of the man whom he always remembered with gratitude and affection, and of whose life he could tell a good number of characteristic anecdotes. the telegram of which the text is given below is also highly typical of carl laeisz. i have not been able to discover what was the occasion of sending it, but i am inclined to think that it must be in some manner connected with the conference held in the berlin royal castle, and referred to on an earlier page, at which ballin first attracted the kaiser's attention. the text is as follows: "persons who give in without a protest are miserable creatures, and being such, they are deserving of nothing but contempt. suggest that you obstinately stick to hamburg point of view, not only from personal conviction, but for other weighty reasons as well. meeting hardly convened simply to induce you to give in." although there is scarcely anyone to whom the name of a hamburg patriot can be applied with greater justice than to ballin, and although there are few people who have done more to promote the well-being and the prosperity of their native city, and who have had a better appreciation of one of the most lovable features of her inhabitants, viz. their dry, unconventional, and kindly humour, it would be wrong to assume that this local patriotism of ballin made him blind to the shortcomings and deficiencies of his native city. on the contrary, his eminent sense of the realities of life made him see most clearly the points of weakness in the position of hamburg, e.g. those connected with the system of her finances. the so-called köhlbrand agreement, which, after a hard struggle, put an end to the long controversy between hamburg and prussia by stipulating that the course of the lower elbe should be regulated without detriment to the interests of the town of harburg, imposed such a vast amount of expenditure upon hamburg, and the prussian local authorities concerned insisted on securing the payment of such large compensations to the owners whose rights were adversely affected by the improvement of the waterway, that it might well be doubted whether hamburg could shoulder these enormous burdens. it speaks volumes for ballin's unprejudiced mind that he frequently maintained nothing would be of greater benefit to hamburg than her renunciation of her sovereignty as a city-state in favour of incorporation with prussia. prussia, he argued, was her natural hinterland, after all; and if she consented to be thus incorporated, she would be such a precious jewel in the crown of prussia that she could secure without an effort all the advantages and privileges which prussia, by pursuing the strictly prussian line in her politics, now actually prevented her from acquiring. in course of time, however, her present isolation would undermine the foundations of her existence, especially if and when the increasing volume of traffic passing through her port should demand a further expansion of the latter, and, consequently, a further rise in the financial burdens. in that case the unnatural position which resulted from the fact that the "elbe delta" belonged to two different states, and which had its origin in the political history of the district, would make itself felt with all its drawbacks, and the ultimate sufferer would be the country as a whole of which hamburg, after all, was the connecting link with the nations beyond the sea. these are the same arguments and considerations which are used when the modern problem of a "greater hamburg" is under discussion, with this difference only, that in ballin's time the only solution which was regarded as possible was that hamburg should cast in her lot with her prussian neighbour. ballin repeatedly vented the full force of his sarcasm against the advocates of an "out-and-out hamburg policy" to whom his own views sounded like heresy, a policy which found perhaps its most comic expression in the speech of a former hamburg burgomaster who referred to the king of prussia as "our illustrious ally." ballin did not recognize the existence of a line of demarcation which, as many lesser minds imagined, separated republican hamburg from the rest of germany. in reality there is no such separation; hamburg, indeed, receives year after year a constant influx of human material and of ideas from her german hinterland, without which she could not exist at all, and in spite of which she has never had a superfluity, but--at times, at least--rather a deficiency of specially gifted citizens. this latter circumstance and the frequent absence of that quality of mental alertness which bismarck, in speaking of the german character in general, used to designate as the missing "dash of champagne in the blood" once made ballin say: "i quite see that what this town wants is , jews. i do not, by any means, shut my eyes to the disagreeable qualities of the jewish character, but still, another , of them would be a decided advantage." this utterance confirms how free from prejudice he was where the jewish question was concerned. although not at all orthodox, but rather indifferent in his religious views, he was far too proud to disavow his origin or his religion, or to change the latter. of someone who had changed his name, he said, in a tone of bitter reproach, that he had insulted his father. ballin's relations with the working classes and his attitude towards the labour question were not such as the socialist papers were fond of alleging, especially at the time when the labour controversy was at its height, and when strikes were constantly occurring or threatening. the first big strike affecting ballin's special sphere of activity was that of the hamburg dock labourers in . it was caused by wages disputes which the packetfahrt tried in vain to settle by raising the wages paid to the men. the interests of the employers in the ensuing struggle were not, however, specially represented by the associations of the shipping firms, but were looked after by the big "association of employers of labour," and therefore the attitude taken up by the employers as a whole was not determined by practical considerations from the point of view of the shipping companies. the packetfahrt, however, seems to have emphasized the necessity of being guided by such practical considerations, as may be inferred from the fact that the packetfahrt was the only one among the large firms of employers which advocated from the outset that certain concessions should be granted in respect of the demands put forward by the workmen. although, as has been remarked, the company succeeded in seeing its recommendation adopted, the strike started on november th, . at first it was restricted to the dockers, but the number of the strikers was soon swelled by the adhesion of the quay-labourers and of several other categories of port-labourers and seamen. when this had occurred, and when the packetfahrt suggested that steps should be taken on the part of the employers with the object of reaching a friendly settlement, these suggestions did not secure a majority in the counsels of the employers, and it was in regard to this that ballin's notes, under date of december th, contain the following entry: "we are continuing our efforts to induce the employers' association and the shipowners' association to give the strikers a chance of an honourable retreat. what we propose in detail is that the men should be asked to resume work of their own accord in consideration of which the employers would promise to submit their grievances to a _bona fide_ examination. all our efforts have failed because of the attitude taken up by the employers' association. we can only hope that the senate will consent to mediate in the conflict." this body, however, was afraid of being accused of prejudice in favour of the employers, and declined to act as mediator. "it is very much against my wish," ballin's notes continue, "that our own interests are represented by the employers' association," and on december rd, he wrote: "meanwhile, the senate, in reply to the resolution passed by the men, has asked them to resume work unconditionally against the promise to look into their grievances, and as far as they appeared to be justified, to redress them after a joint conference had been held between the employers and the strikers. this offer of a compromise was rejected by the workmen." the employers were able to get the most urgent work done by substitute labour, and the strike came to an end in the early days of february. among the subsequent labour troubles those of are of special significance. in that year, after a strike of the dockers and the seamen, all those employers who had occasion to employ any workmen in the port of hamburg founded an organization somewhat on the lines of a labour bureau, called the _hafenbetriebsverein_. the termination of the strike just referred to was brought about by ballin's personal influence, and it was he who conducted the prolonged negotiations with the heads of the labour organization. later on, in , when the _hafenbetriebsverein_ began to conclude agreements with this organization by which the wages for the various categories of dock labourers were fixed--a policy which did not exactly meet with the full approval of large sections of employers, it was again due to ballin's influence that these agreements were generally accepted. it is just possible that a certain event, insignificant in itself, may have strengthened ballin's natural tendency towards a settlement along the lines of a compromise. as has been said before, the year , which, from the business point of view, had been excellent (at least, during the first six months), and during which the above-mentioned strike occurred, was succeeded by a year which brought exceedingly unsatisfactory earnings to the company. ballin did what he had done on a previous occasion, in : he sent a memorandum to all the employees of the firm asking them to cut down expenses to the lowest possible extent, to contribute their share towards a more economical working of every department, and to submit to him any suggestions of their own as to how the necessary retrenchment could be effected. i was instructed to examine the general expenses account with a view to finding out in what way a reduction would be possible, and i drew ballin's attention to the fact that the considerable sums which had to be spent in in consequence of the strike would, of course, not appear again in the balance-sheet for , so that this would lead to an automatic reduction of the working expenses. ballin was surprised to see how large this particular item was, and the whole occurrence proved once more that a lean agreement would have been preferable to a fat lawsuit. as ballin was pre-eminently a man whose mind was bent on practical work and on the production of practical results, it is but natural that he was greatly interested in the practical aspects of social politics, and that he applied its principles to the activities in which he was engaged as far as he thought he was justified in doing so. not in peace times only, but also during the war did he hold these views, and when he was connected with the work of provisioning the civil population, and, later, with that of preparing the economic post-war reconstruction, he was frequently brought into contact with men who occupied prominent positions in the world of labour. his capacity for work was enormous and seemed wellnigh inexhaustible. he made a most lavish use of it, especially in the early part of his life, and the personal assistance he required with his work was of the slightest. his greatest aid, indeed, was his marvellous memory, which almost enabled him to do his work without ever referring to the files of letters and documents. he could always recall to his mind every phase of past events, and every detail of all the ships he had built or purchased, and he was never wavering in the opinion he had formed of anyone who had ever crossed his path, because such opinion was founded on facts. very gradually only did his fellow-members on the board of directors succeed in persuading him to refrain from putting in an appearance at his office on sundays, and to do such sunday work as he wanted to do at home. the telegraph and the telephone always kept him busy, both on weekdays and on sundays. even on his travels and on his holidays he wanted to be informed of all that was going on, and he could be very annoyed when any important news had been withheld from him, or when he believed that this had been the case, so that his secretariat, to be on the safe side, had gone rather far in forwarding on his correspondence when he was away from town. when i first entered upon my duties with him he had just returned from a rest cure at kissingen. he pointed at the huge pile of letters that had been forwarded to him on his so-called holiday, adding, in a tone of bitterness: "you see, every expansion of a business becomes a curse to its leader." sometimes his absences from hamburg would amount to as much as eight months per annum, and it was certainly no easy task always to know what to send on and what to hold over until after his return. to do so one had to be well acquainted with all the details of each transaction and to know what was important, especially what was important to him; and if one wished to see his mind at ease it was necessary never to let him think that anything was kept back from him. any apparent neglect in this respect he was apt to regard as a personal slight. and yet the time which he had at his disposal for attending to current correspondence, both when at the office and when travelling, was but limited. the waiting-room outside his private office was nearly always crowded with intending visitors. the callers were carefully sifted, and all those who were strangers and those who had come without having an appointment were passed on to someone else as far as this was possible. great credit is due to his ever faithful personal attendant at home and on his travels, carl fischer, for the perfect tact which he showed in the performance of this difficult task. in spite of all this sifting, however, the time left for getting through a day's mail was not sufficient. i therefore, shortly after entering the company's services, made it a point to submit to his notice only those letters which i considered of real importance. according to the mood in which he seemed to be i then acquainted him with the contents of as much of the remainder as i thought it wise to do. i believe i gradually succeeded in acquiring a fair amount of skill in reading his mind, and this facility enabled me to avoid more dangerous rocks than one. i tried to proceed along similar lines when he was away from hamburg, especially when he was taking a holiday. on such occasions i forwarded on to him only the important letters, taking great care, however, that he was not kept out of touch with any matter of real consequence, so that he should never feel that he was left in the dark about anything. after some time i had the satisfaction of being told by him when he returned from a holiday that that had been "his first real holiday since he had joined the packetfahrt." once one had learnt to understand his way of reasoning and his individual traits, it was not difficult to know how to treat him. if a mistake had been made, or if some oversight had taken place, the most foolish thing would be not to tell him so at once. to act otherwise would mean the immediate and permanent forfeiture of his confidence, whilst an open admission of the mistake would strengthen his faith enormously. he hated to be shut out from the actual practice of the company's business by a chinese wall of bureaucratic control. whenever such a wall was in process of erection he quickly and inexorably pulled it down, and he always remained in personal contact with every department and with every prominent member of the staff as far as the size of the huge undertaking enabled him to do so. for this reason he but rarely, and only when the pressure of other business was encroaching too much on him, omitted to receive at his private office the captains who came to make their reports to the directors. he knew, of course, every one of them personally, as he had appointed many of them himself years ago. he was no stranger to their various idiosyncrasies, and he knew all their good qualities. he was also personally acquainted with a great many of those unconventional and often somewhat blunt but always good-natured individuals of humble rank who seem to thrive wherever much shipping is going on. he was not too proud to write an appreciative article on the death of one of them, which, since it reflects high credit on his own generosity and kindness of heart, ought not to be allowed to be forgotten altogether. it was published by the _hamburger fremdenblatt_, to the staff of which the subject of his appreciation might, in a sense, be said to have belonged. kuskop. "it was not until my return from england that i learnt, through reading the _fremdenblatt_, the news of the death of karl kuskop--news which made me feel very sad indeed. kuskop ranked high among the few remaining real 'characters' of whom he was a type, and as i was not able to pay my last respects to him i feel a desire to do honour to his memory by a few words of personal recollection, although dr. obst has already done so by means of an excellent article of his own. for i believe i owe a few words of farewell to a man of whom i have heard nothing but what was good and generous throughout the better part of thirty years. "karl kuskop was a 'character' in the best sense of the term. he was as harmless as a big child; and although he could scarcely be said to be prominently gifted for his work, he did, indirectly at least, a great deal of good within his humble sphere. his popularity amongst all sorts and conditions of men connected with shipping was tremendous. my personal acquaintance with him dates back to the early trial trips of our steamers and similar occasions--occasions at which kuskop was present as the 'representative' of the _fremdenblatt_. i still have a vivid recollection of a magnificent summer evening when we, a party of about eighty people, left the passenger reception halls by our saloon-steamer _blankensee_ on our way to brunshausen where we intended to go on board one of our new boats which was ready for her trial trip. kuskop, who was wearing his yachting cap and was armed with a pair of huge binoculars, had taken up a position on deck. he stood out very conspicuously, and a port labourer who was working on board an english steamer as soon as he saw him, raised the cry of _'fremdenblatt_.' this cry was immediately taken up by the people on the quay-sides, on the river-vessels, on the ferry-boats, on the barges, and all other vessels in the neighbourhood, and developed into quite an ovation which was as spontaneous as it was popular. the worthy kuskop appeared to be visibly gaining in importance; he had taken off his cap, and the tears trickled down his kindly face. "he well deserved this popularity. for years and years he unfailingly saw to it that the hamburg steamers, at whatever port of the globe they arrived, found a _fremdenblatt_ waiting for them, thus providing a valuable and much appreciated link between the crews and the old home. i myself have also reaped the benefit of his attentive care. years ago when i was making a trip round the world i found the _fremdenblatt_ waiting for me wherever i went; and after having been so much out of touch with the civilized world for weeks, that even kuskop's genius could not discover my whereabouts, i was agreeably surprised to find on arriving at vancouver all the old copies of the _fremdenblatt_ that had failed to reach me, carefully piled up in one of the sleeping compartments of the saloon carriage which had been placed at my disposal for the railway journey from the pacific to the atlantic seaboard. "at that time i personally experienced the pleasant sensation--of which our captains and the other officers had often spoken to me--which one feels on reading the back copies of old newspapers, calling up, as it does, vivid recollections of home. in company with my wife, and some german officers who were returning from the scene of unrest in china in order to complete their convalescence at home, i greedily devoured the contents of the old papers from beginning to end, thus passing in a delightful way the time taken by travelling the long distance from vancouver to montreal. the idea, which was afterwards made use of by oskar blumenthal in a witty article, occurred to me to edit a paper which would publish the news of the day a week after it had been reported, and even then only as much of it as had proved to be true. such a newspaper would save us a great deal of unnecessary worry, as the contents of this 'periodical for the dissemination of truthful news' would be sifted to a minimum. "but it is time to cut short this digression. when i met my friend kuskop again after my trip, it was at stettin on the occasion of a launch. he happened to be in especially high spirits, and even more communicative than usual. he then told me the tale of his friend senator petersen, and it is such a good story that it would be a pity not to record it here. "it had become customary for the ships' captains and the other ships' officers who could boast his friendship to treat poor kuskop to the wildest canards in return for his supplying them with reading matter from their far-away home. one afternoon, when they were sitting over a bottle of old port in hermann bade's wine restaurant at stubbenhuk and it was getting late, one of them--he always referred to them as 'them young fools'--told him that a river barge loaded with arsenic had just sprung a leak in the harbour, so that it might become necessary to prohibit the use of water for drinking purposes for some time. it was about five o'clock and kuskop, according to his own account, did not even stop to finish his glass of port, but hurried to the offices of 'his' paper which, in its next edition, published it as a fact that a quantity of arsenic had vitiated the water of the elbe. next morning, when kuskop was still soundly asleep, two detectives appeared at the house in which he lived, and escorted him to headquarters, where he was locked up. at ten o'clock he was taken up before mr. livonius--or whoever was the chief of police at that time--who, with much abuse, demanded particulars concerning the arsenic affair. kuskop, seeing at once that one of 'them young fools' had been pulling his leg, refused to supply any information whatever. he was then brought before senator petersen, who, with a great display of persuasion, tried to make him reveal the name of his informant. kuskop, however, remained obstinate, and the senator, changing his methods from persuasion to coercion, had him locked up again. he remained in confinement till five o'clock in the afternoon, and was then taken before senator petersen for the second time, who now peremptorily demanded that he should state his informant's name. kuskop replied: 'herr senator, if you were in my position, you would not give him away yourself.' the senator turned round to the police officials and said: 'mr. kuskop is a gentleman, you see. we shall not get anything out of him. the best thing you can do is to chuck him out,' which suggestion was thereupon promptly and most efficiently carried out by some of those who were present. "another of his adventures he confided to me when a trial trip had taken us right out into the north sea. one of 'them young fools,' he said, whom he regularly met at mutzenbecher's tavern, had told him as the very latest news that captain kier had been taken into custody at rio on the unfounded allegation of having committed theft. kuskop, feeling somewhat sceptical on hearing this intelligence, but not believing himself justified in depriving the readers of the _fremdenblatt_ of such a highly interesting item of news, thought he would be extra careful this time, and so did not mention the captain by name, but merely referred to him as 'a mr. k----, captain of a hamburg steamer.' this happened in the good old times when there were still real winters in hamburg, and when the elbe was sometimes ice-bound for months. the hamburg steamers were then compelled to take up winter quarters at glückstadt--of all places--and kuskop used to establish a 'branch office' at that town on such occasions. as bad luck would have it, he was fated one day to meet captain kier there, who, with some of his friends, was dining at his hotel. a huge tureen of soup with an enormous ladle stood on the table in front of the captain, who was just about to serve the soup when kuskop entered the room. without a moment's hesitation the captain seized the ladle, the tureen, and everything he could lay his hands on, and hurled them at him. he was, as the latter afterwards confessed to me with the most innocent expression, offended by the newspaper report, because, as it happened, he was the only captain k---- on the route from hamburg to rio at that particular time. he subsequently brought an action against kuskop, who had to retire from his business for some weeks in order to get over the consequences of the mistake he had made. "these are only two of the minor adventures from kuskop's ample store of reminiscences. it is a pity that our sea-faring men are so reticent; otherwise they would be able to furnish a volume of material concerning kuskop that would far exceed that relating to kirchhoff, that other well-known hamburg 'character.' i wish someone would collect all the kuskop stories; for i do not believe that we shall ever again come across such a perfect specimen of his kind as he was, and it would be sad to allow such a man to be forgotten. "kuskop, however, was not only a 'character': he was also a 'real good sort,' and he has been of real service to all those who have ever travelled on hamburg vessels. because of that it is certain that he will long be remembered; for it is not to him that the following quotation can be applied: 'may each one of us--whether he works with his hands or with his brain to earn a living wage--always bear in mind that all that is best in him is gradually lost in the process of toil, and that, after he has departed this life, nobody will remember that he ever existed.' "our friend kuskop never lost his good qualities in the process of toil, and he was always a friend and a helpmate to all decent people. i am sure in saying this i have the support of all who knew him, and so with us his memory will always be kept green." ballin very frequently went to new york--which might be called the most prominent outpost of the company--because he recognized the value of being in constant touch with every aspect of the many activities carried on by the packetfahrt, and especially with those persons whose interests it was of importance to the company to cultivate. the numerous pool conferences often took him to london, where he always made a point of keeping on friendly terms with the leading british shipping firms, and, later on, with some of the leading politicians as well. there were few people in germany who could rival him in his knowledge of the psychology of the american or the british mind. this knowledge resulted from his great capacity for rapidly and correctly summing up the character of anyone with whom he had to deal. he had developed to a high degree the art of treating the different types of people he met according to their different individualities. his kindness of heart, his brilliant powers of conversation, his prodigious memory, his quickness of repartee, and his keen sense of humour made him a favourite wherever he cared to be one. one felt his charm as soon as one came into personal contact with him. his wonderfully alert eye, which could express so much kindness, the soothing tones of his melodious voice, and the firm and friendly grip of his hand, made one forget that he was not a handsome man, although his powerfully developed forehead and his head which, in later years, was almost bald, were of classic perfection. albert ballin would never have gained the commanding position he held if the keenness of his intellect and the force of his character had not been supplemented by that pleasing amiability which distinguishes all really good men. to him was given a large measure of that noble courtesy which springs from the heart. he who could be hard and unyielding where the business interests entrusted to his care were at stake, was full of generosity and sympathy towards the members of his family circle and his friends. nothing delighted him more than the happiness of others. those whom he cared for he treated with a tender regard which was deeply touching. he loved to give presents, and did so with the most delicate tact. he never expected any thanks; it was sufficient for him to see the happy face of the recipient. and if he ever met with ingratitude or spitefulness, he ignored it and dismissed it from his mind. personally generous to the limit of extravagance, he never spent a penny of the funds of his company without being convinced that it would be to its benefit. he left nothing undone when he thought he could realize a profit to the company, or cut down expenses. money, to him, was only a means to an end; and the earnings of the company were in the first place intended to be spent on increasing its scope and prosperity wherever possible. those who know what remuneration the heads of other concerns receive may well be surprised to see how little ballin made for himself out of his position, but they would do him a great injustice if they thought he ought to have made more out of it. he even spent the greater part of his income for purposes of representation in the interests of his company. his amiable charm of manner and his brilliant conversational gifts did much towards making the entertainments he provided the successes they invariably were; and even if so much representation, especially that in connexion with kiel week, became somewhat of a burden to him, his company reaped rich benefit from his munificence. but to appreciate to the full the charm of his personality one must have been his guest at his beautiful home in hamburg or at his beloved country seat near hamfelde, and have listened to his conversation while sitting round the fire of an evening, or been his companion on his long walks and rambles through the neighbouring forest of hahnheide. his conversation was always animated, his witty remarks were always to the point, and he was unsurpassed as a raconteur. he was excellent as a speaker at committee meetings, and he always hit upon the right words suitable for a political toast. the skill with which he wielded the pen is proved by numerous newspaper articles, memoranda, and descriptions of his travels, but above all by his voluminous correspondence. he was probably one of the most versatile letter-writers, and yet so conscientious in this as to be almost pedantic. in his early years he had also tried his hand at poetry. his beautiful home, which was adorned with pictures and sculptures by eminent masters, was a source of great pleasure to him. he was very fond of music and congenial company, and he knew how to appreciate the pleasures of a full and daintily arranged table. when i intimated to one of ballin's old friends that i intended to write his life, he told me that this would not be an easy task, and that he hoped i would not forget to depict ballin as the amiable _charmeur_ to which side of his character so many of his successes were due, and which was the secret of much of his great popularity. the number of people who claimed to be his friends, both before and after his death, but especially when they were trying to get some advantage out of the company, was surprisingly large. they were, in fact, so numerous that such a claim, when put forward, was generally--and rightly--looked upon with a great deal of suspicion. very often, when such self-styled friends were announced to him, ballin would reply: "i do not know the man," or "i do not remember him, but i may have met him." ballin may justly be described as a man of world-wide fame, and whenever he went abroad the papers eagerly followed his movements. in new york especially it required all his cunning and resourcefulness to escape from the reporters desiring to interview him. owing to his prominent position before the public he received an abundance of honours during his life. the many distinctions and presents which the kaiser bestowed on him were a source of gratitude and delight to him, and he valued them because they were a symbol of the personal ties that linked him to the kaiser; but the foreign decorations, of which he also received a great many, were of so little interest to him that he did not even trouble to have those of them replaced which once were stolen from him. it was a great disappointment to him, however, not to be able to recover the japanese ornamental swords which were taken on the same occasion, and which he had always carefully treasured because of their high artistic value. they were a present from the marquis ito, whom ballin had once helped to obtain an audience of the kaiser--an audience which, he hoped, would lead to the establishment on a permanent footing of germany's relations with the empire of the mikado. it would appear, indeed, that, if the leaders of germany's political destiny had shown some more circumspection, the same friendly relations might have been brought about between germany and japan as were entered into later on between great britain and the latter country. personal souvenirs, like those just mentioned, were prized so highly by ballin that no persuasion would induce him to part with them, and even professor brinckmann, the director of the hamburg museum for arts and crafts, who was one of the leading authorities on the subject of japanese applied art, and who tried hard to secure possession of them for his museum, met with a flat refusal. every year ballin spent at least six months, and often more, away from hamburg, and during such absences the work he had to accomplish was not less, but rather more than that which he did when in hamburg. conferences followed upon each other in quick succession at all times of the day, and the time that was left was filled up by visits. often the amount of work was so great that he had to get through a whole series of difficult problems in a single day. the number of visits he had arranged was always considerably augmented by numerous others not allowed for in his arrangements for the day; because wherever he went the news of his arrival spread immediately. he could never even think of travelling incognito. it is literally true that he was known to every hotel porter all over the world. he was in the habit of extending his hospitality twice a day to a larger or smaller number of business friends when he was travelling. at first his love of congenial society had prompted him to do this, but in after years he continued it because he wanted to secure some benefit for his company even in his hours of relaxation. still, he was often quite glad when, late at night, he had come to the close of his day's work, and when he could let the happenings of the day pass before his mind's eye in the quiet solitude of his room, or, as he liked to express it, "to draw the balance of the day's account." even before the never-tiring energy of his mind and the excessive strain on his nervous system brought about a practically permanent insomnia which never left him either in hamburg or on his travels. only when he was on the sea, or was staying at his country house, did he obtain any relief; and at such times he could dispense with the drugs to the use of which he had become a victim more and more regularly and extensively as time went on. the fact that this habit did not entirely ruin his nervous system proves that he was possessed of an iron constitution, which only gave way under the huge strain caused by the war. when he saw that his life's work had been broken to fragments, and when he felt that he had not enough strength left for a second attempt of such magnitude, even his immense nerve force collapsed under the blow. the anxieties caused by the war--a war which he knew would be lost--weighed more and more heavily on his mind the longer it lasted. outwardly he bore himself bravely and steadfastly, but his mind was full of dark forebodings, especially when he was by himself. if he had not had the unvarying sympathy of the faithful partner of his life, with whom he shared thirty-five years of mutual happiness, and if he had not always derived fresh consolation from his beloved adopted daughter and from his grandchildren, he would indeed many a time have felt very lonely. in spite of his apprehensions as to the result of the war, he yet remained faithful to the task of his life, and he hoped against hope. his ardent love of his work was constantly struggling with his reason, which foretold him the ruin of the empire and in consequence that of german shipping. this fact explains some apparent contradictions in his views and actions. what was the general public to think of a man who was watching the progress of the war with the greatest pessimism, whilst at the same time bringing all his influence to bear on the passing of a law which was to make possible the reconstruction of germany's merchant fleet, knowing that such reconstruction could only be achieved if the empire which was to set aside the funds were to remain intact. in this matter, as in others, it was the intuition of the born business-man which guided him, or perhaps a sort of instinct which made him discover new ways when the old ones had failed. these forces of his mind had nothing in common with logical reasoning, and they prevented him from drawing the practical inference from the sentiment so often expressed by us during the war: "if the empire falls to pieces, we shall all be ruined; and if the empire becomes bankrupt, we shall be insolvent too." events have shown that this sentiment was not justified by facts. empires and individuals may perish; but the nations, and their trade and commerce which are the outcome of their economic needs and of their geographical position, will outlast them. neither is it likely that the life-work of those men who have left their mark on their epoch will ever be in vain. there are two great achievements which, it appears, will always stand out like two pillars in the wreck of destruction that has fallen upon germany, viz. bismarck's work of political unification, and--a necessary preliminary of it--the powerful economic foundations laid with incessant toil by the great industrial leaders of whom germany had so many during the era of her prosperity. albert ballin was one of the most gifted among their number, and the world-wide fame of his achievements has outlived his death. when, after five years of isolation from the rest of the world, germany appeared once more amongst the nations, she did so with the knowledge that the foundations of the proud structure which ballin had built up were still unshaken, and this knowledge has proved one of her greatest assets when she entered upon the task of reconstruction. if german shipping is to flourish again, and if german steamers are now ploughing the oceans once more, credit is due to albert ballin. his work it is from which new life is emanating, and it is to be hoped that his spirit will continue to animate german shipping both now and in the future. [illustration: extract annotated by william ii] index aden, adler line, aehrenthal, count, agadir incident, agents, emigration, work of, alsace-lorraine, problem of, _america_, _amerika_, , , andersen, mr., and the danish royal family, anglo-american alliance, ballin's opinion of, anglo-german rapprochement, shipping agreement, understanding, , advantage of, ballin as negotiator, failure of, anglo-russian agreement, antwerp, , _aquitania_, asquith, mr. h. h., on lord haldane's mission, speech on navy, atlantic conference, atlantic transport-leyland co., enlargement of, _auguste victoria_, , , , , , _australia_, austria, need of compromise with italy, austria-hungary, strained relations between, austro-german _zollverein_, baden-powell, general, and the german menace, bagdad railway, baker, b. n., american shipping magnate, comes to europe, baker, b. n., discusses terms of community of interest agreement, balkan states, and germany, ballin, albert, adopts lord pirrie's advice, advises peace overtures, after the war problems, agreement with harland and wolff, american appreciation of, an english journalist on, ancestry of, and admiral v. tirpitz, and adolph woermann, and anglo-german rapprochement, and carl laeisz, and count tisza, and count waldersee, and government subsidies, and hamburg-amerika linie, and hugo stinnes, and mr. gerard, and labour questions, and politics, and north german lloyd, and princess marie of denmark, and reichstag, and submarine warfare, , and the russo-japanese war, and union line, and working classes, and world war, anxiety as to roumania, article in _frankfurter zeitung_ on blockade, as anglo-german negotiator, as arbitrator, as general representative of carr line, as head of packetfahrt passenger department, , at constitutional club, at neues palais, at the german front, attempts at mediation during war, boldness of, business principle of, capacity for work of, chairman of pool conference, complains of german official high-handedness, conducts london emigration discussions, , death of, defends himself, dines with danish royal family, disagrees with use of submarines, discusses morgan trust with william ii, early biographical details of, education of, , establishes german-japanese bank, estimates british naval staying-power, far east investigations, favours peace by compromise, forcing the british lines, friendliness of william ii toward, further reports on morgan trust negotiations, - grave warning in , hamfelde, his country home, handling of labour troubles, - his father's death, his life-work, his trip epitomized, his observation of details, his view on evading war, july , , ideal in forming pool, impressions of paris after morocco affair, in london discussing austrian ultimatum, in vienna, , ballin, albert, intense patriotism of, international services of, vii interview with bethmann-hollweg, interview with grey, haldane, and churchill, last diary entry, last meeting with william ii, , letter from william ii, letter to kiderlen-wächter, letters to general v. falkenhayn, made packetfahrt director, meets sir ernest cassel, mental versatility of, mission to vienna, , negotiations with booth line on brazilian trade, notes of conversations with william ii, official thanks to, on agadir incident, on _blücher_, on death of edward vii, on engineering problems, on foreign exchange, on _hohenzollern_, on london in election time, on naval armaments, on neutrals, on peace problems, on sale of confiscated fleet, on sandjak railway, on security of william ii, on serbian situation, on war's failures, _et seq._ opinion of german chancellor, opinion of war's duration, personal characteristics of, pioneer in steerage business, policy of, political views, premier position at twenty-nine, present from marquis ito, prodigious memory of, report on british attitude to germany, report on development of german shipping, reticence of, reviews war position in , ridicules submarine warfare, - stimulating influences of his life, strain of war on health, sturdy honesty of, suggested as negotiator of peace, suggests pool, talks with prince bülow, talks with william ii on submarine war, threatens british traffic, trip round the world, value of wonderful memory, views on character of william ii, visits london in , war problems of foreign policy, william ii discusses politics with, william ii writes to, on navy bill, william ii's personal interest in, wire from leopold de rothschild, with prince henry of prussia on the _hohenzollern_, with william ii at front, with william ii in italy, with william ii on _kaiser wilhelm ii_, work in _reichseinkauf_, writes frank letter on war to william ii, , _et seq._ writes on morgan trust, writes to william ii, april, , bauer, lieut.-col., beck, edward, berg, herr von, _berliner tageblatt_ on anglo-russian naval agreement, bernstorff, count, bethmann-hollweg, von, , , , , , attacked respecting agadir, on british delegation, - telegram to mexico, _bismarck_, launch of, bismarck, prince, blockade, german, futility of, blohm and voss, _blücher_, ballin on trial trip, boer war, european move to stop, lesson of, bohlen, krupp v., bolten, august, british argument against german naval expansion, cabinet and german naval expansion, confiscation of german merchant fleet, convoys, how they outwitted the germans, emigration, comparison with german, excitement over morgan trust, feeling in russo-japanese war, at german attitude, ludendorff's promise to crush, navy, ballin on, opinion on shipping deals, rivalry with germany, shipbuilding, developments in, and hamburg-amerika linie, , shipbuilding, german move against, shipping companies, pierpont morgan and, shipping lines, and emigration, - ; agreement with, ; join the continental pool, ; offered to german companies, supremacy, ballin on, bülow, prince, , , canadian pacific railway, , cargo and steerage shipping, carr, edward, carr line, the, _et seq._ and packetfahrt, cassel, sir ernest, and winston churchill, meets ballin, on anglo-german understanding, on naval problem, on sandjak railway, report of interview with, on navy, work for reduction of naval armaments, _et seq._ cholera, epidemic at hamburg, , christiansand, port of, churchill, mr. winston, at kiel, , complains of germany, sir ernest cassel on, speech on navy, suggests a naval holiday, colombo, _columbia_, , community of interest agreement (_see_ "pool" and "morgan trust") congo, franco-german agreement, coolies, chinese, cunard line, and austrian government, and hungarian government, effect on pool, introduces turbines, new liners, opposition to cabin pool, refuses to join pool, cuxhaven, development of, regatta at, _daily telegraph_, sent to william ii, the william ii interview, dardanelles, the, operations in, de freitas and co., a. c., de freitas line, purchase of, denmark, emigration from, royal family of, their interest in shipping, _deutschland_, , , diesel engine, application to steamship, dreadnoughts, eastern asiatic co., edward vii, and morgan trust, edward vii, chances of anglo-german war, during reign of, death of, policy of, the kiel week, visit to wilhelmshöhe, visits berlin, visits kaiser at friedrichshof, elbe, enlargement of harbour facilities on the, , , ellerman, mr., of leyland line, emden, rise of, emigrants, early accommodation of, , , emigration, anti-british action, ballin's work for, beginnings of pooling, british and german, british rates, business, how controlled, comparisons of carr line and packetfahrt, cost of, danish, hungarian, in the 'seventies, medical control established, on pre-paid basis, _et seq._ rate war begins, statistics of, stopped by hamburg cholera epidemic, emigration law, german, erzberger, herr, esher, lord, and the admiralty, europe, concerted inquiry to germany, situation in september, , falkenhayn, general v., ballin and, finland, forced draught, first vessels under, foreign exchange, ballin on, francis joseph, emperor, and count tisza, frederick the great on experience, viii frisch, geheimrat, furness, sir christopher, and morgan trust, _fürst bismarck_, fürstenkonzern, george v, king, ballin's letter respecting, george, mr. lloyd, speech on agadir incident, visits germany, gerard, mr., and ballin, german-british shipping agreement, german emigration fleet, in , german government, note to british government, german naval bill, german navy, the affair, germany, and belgian relief committee, and the merchant service bill, bad feeling among neutrals to, ballin cries "everything is being gambled away," ballin discusses after-the-war problems, big naval programme, british agitation against, confiscation of merchant fleet, control of trade and industries, failure of political leaders, favourable shipping situation of, feeling towards british, food problem, september, , habit of premature actions, ignorance of british character, internal condition in august, , _et seq._ lack of effective administration during war, mental attitude of, plans to approach president wilson, germany, state in "like living in a madhouse," useless sacrifices of, war condition of, war-hopes in ruins, germany's industrial growth, _gigantic_, goschen, sir ernest, gothenburg, port of, grey, sir edward, on lord haldane's mission, on naval armaments, on the navy, great war (_see_ world war) grumme, capt. v., joins hamburg-amerika linie, with william ii at morgan trust discussion, . hague conference, hahn, dr. diederich, chairman agrarian league, haldane, lord, and british neutrality, cabinet's attitude toward, explains to ballin, german opinion respecting, success of his mission, visits berlin, , william ii's discussions with, _et seq._ hamburg, absorption into prussia, birthplace of ballin, cholera epidemic in, , dock strike, in the nineteenth century, - hamburg-amerika linie, and great britain, and persia, and russo-japanese war, buys foodstuffs for isolated germany, far-reaching alterations, fate of ships when war broke out, financial stability of, fleet of, instructions to ships on eve of war, new premises, sixtieth anniversary, william ii and, hamburg-amerika linie (_see also_ packetfahrt) hamburg-amerikanische packetfahrt-actien-gesellschaft, hamburg regattas, william ii at, hamburg-south american s.s. co., hammann, geheimrat, , _hammonia_, hansa line, taken over by hamburg-amerika linie, hansemann, v., director disconto-gesellschaft, hansen, president, chief of arbitration court pool, harbou, major v., harland and wolff, , henckell-donnersmarck, prince, kaiser's interest in, hintze, herr v., _hohenzollern_, holland-america line, holland, queen of, offers mediation, holtzendorff, admiral v., hongkong, huldermann, bernhard, and count witte on averting war, and navy bill, immco lines, pool name for morgan trust, immigrants, scandinavian trade, _imperator_, , , , international mercantile marine company (_see_ morgan trust) inverclyde, lord, and morgan trust, italia company, the, started, italy, agreement with, necessary to success of war, germany's failure in, jagow, herr v., , jewish ancestry of ballin, jones, sir a., and the morgan trust, jonquières, herr v., _kaiser wilhelm der grösse_, _kaiser wilhelm ii_, _kaiserin_, _kaiserin auguste victoria_, , , kaiserin, the, and the war, opposition to private life, kiautschou, kiel canal, widening the, edward vii at, week, origin of, kirchheim, chief inspector emil f., viii köhlhrand, agreement the, kühlmann, herr v., kunhardt, m., kuskop, karl, laeisz, carl, laeisz, f., laird's, orders to, law, german emigration, of , leuthold, prof., leyland line, acquired by pierpont morgan, liberal cabinet, and naval armaments, liberal government, and anglo-german understanding, lichnowsky, prince, view on haldane's "neutrality" conversation, liners, developments in, _et seq._ lohmann, mr., director-general of lloyd line, ludendorff, and the crown prince, and "to her knees" promise, _lusitania_, , marie, princess, of denmark, marine engineering, ballin's enterprise in, development of, packetfahrt types, progress in, marschall, bieberstein v., _mauretania_, , mediterranean conference, _meteor_, metternich, count, at st. james's, on anglo-german understanding, predicts great war, sees sir edward grey, morgan, pierpont, guest of william ii at kiel, morgan, trust, the, _et seq._ agreement reached, announced to british press, effect of freight slump, final discussions in new york, _et seq._ financial aspect, inception of, international mercantile marine co., formal name of, king edward vii and, outline of draft agreement, pierpont morgan at london conference, pierpont morgan's operations attract public attention, telegram from william ii, terms of agreement, william ii discusses, morris and co., _et seq._ mutius, herr v., nanking, naumann, dr., and "berlin to bagdad," _nautikus_, naval propaganda in, naval armaments, a cause of unrest, ballin's report on, _et seq._ big navy propaganda, reichstag and reduction of, naval bill of , ballin writes to sir ernest cassel on, british alarm at, naval holiday, mr. churchill suggests a, navy, a bigger british, navy league, german, _new york_, new york, emigration to, in the 'eighties, _et seq._ steerage passengers to, statistics, _normannia_, north atlantic steamship lines association, history of, _north german gazette_, north german lloyd, , , , competes with packetfahrt, jubilee of, oertzen, herr v., _olympic_, packetfahrt, the, a founder of, agreement with philadelphia shipping co. and pennsylvania railroad co., and ballin, and carr line, and emigrants, and harland and wolff, and russian coal, and the russo-japanese war, ballin made director of, celebration of jubilee, pool, extension of south american business, improved appointments and accommodation on vessels, increase of capital, letter from chairman of cunard company, more new vessels built, , new york branch established, passenger department created, service to mexico, statistics ( ), (_see also_ hamburg-amerika linie) _panther_, william ii and, paris economic conference, passenger traffic, improvements in, peace negotiations, ballin and, peters, heinrich, central offices of, secretary of pool, _philadelphia_, pirrie, lord, advises ballin, discusses morgan trust, pleasure cruises, inception of, _et seq._ pool accommodation discussions ( ), actuarial basis of, agreement on ( ), agreement with allan line, agreement with italian lines, agreement with lloyd line, ballin's opinions upon, british lines refuse ( ), cardinal principles of, cunard line refuses to join, details of the, heinrich peters, secretary of, its most dramatic episode, more internal troubles, negotiations for a greater, north atlantic steamship lines association, formal name of, proposed by ballin, , special, for mediterranean business, terms definitely made, the general, the transatlantic, tonnage and passenger statistics, u.s.a. railway pool compared, world war's effect upon, port said, _pretoria_, princes' trust, _prinzessin victoria luise_, prussia, prince henry of, rate war, the, , red star line, _reichseinkauf_, the, formation of, reuchlin, mr., of holland-american line, richardson, spence and co., riga, fall of, roumania, anxiety regarding food from, neutrality of, supplies grain during war to germany, rupprecht of bavaria, prince, russia, army of, russian east asiatic s.s. co., russian press, outburst against sandjak railway, russian volunteer fleet, russo-japanese war, coaling problems for russian fleet, ships for, _st. louis_, _st. paul_, sandjak railway, scandia line, scandinavian emigration, schön, herr v., schratt, frau kathi, pro-english sympathies of, schwander, dr., shanghai, shaughnessy, lord, shipping agreement on rates, agreements, enormous range of, british tonnage in , crisis of , imperial government's interest in, some tonnage comparisons, statistics ( - ), transatlantic business, trend of, ships, speed of, in , singapore, skoda, baron, sloman and co., r. m., south african war, south america, development of, southampton, packetfahrt service transferred to, spanish-american war, ships for, steinhöft, hamburg, stettin, vulkan yard, , orders to, stinnes, hugo, storm, director a., viii strasser, mr., of the red star line, stürgkh, count, francis joseph and, submarine warfare, , , amazing achievements, unrestricted, beginning of, thingvalla line, _times, the_, on german neutrality, tirpitz, admiral v., , , and ballin, threatens resignation, tisza, count, and count stürgkh, _titanic_, tokio, trans-andine railway, completion of, tsingtau, , tweedmouth, lord, and the kaiser, ukraine, the, u.s.a., application of monroe doctrine in, cholera and isolation in, devastating effects of entry into war, economic depression of the 'eighties, enters the war, german fears of intervention, immigration from scandinavia, railway pool, railways and shipping co-operation, _vaterland_, versailles treaty, german view of, vienna, conditions in, vulkan yard, stettin, , , waldersee, general count georg, and ballin, on rationing germany, _westminster gazette_ (article in facsimile at end), , white star line, and pierpont morgan, new liners, wiegand, dr. heinrich, and morgan trust, wilding, mr., ballin's friendship for, william ii, and "a place in the sun," and british navy, british feeling aroused, and _daily telegraph_ interview, and nicholas, suggested talk to avert war, and president wilson's note, and the _bismarck_, at hamburg, ballin explains situation in september, , ballin reports to, on navy problem, ballin tells him the ugly truth in , blind to situation, september, , "brimful of optimism," comments on _westminster gazette_ article, designs excursion steamer, discusses morgan trust with ballin, discusses morocco question, facsimile comments on _westminster gazette_ article (_see_ end of book) interest in german shipbuilding, interest in morgan trust, intervenes in shipping struggle, isolation of, last meeting with ballin, letter on british navy, maritime interests of, monarchical discussions, ballin and, on balance of power, on germany's austro-hungarian policy, on the churchill speech, outspoken letter in from ballin, _et seq._ personal interest in ballin, persuaded to retire into private life, sees edward vii at friedrichshof, supports ballin's mission of inquiry to u.s.a., telegram to morgan trust, venerated in austria, visits windsor, wants apology from great britain, writes to ballin on haldane interview, wilson, president, witt, mr. johannes, witte, count, on situation july, , woermann, adolph, character sketch of, world war, the, ballin attempts mediation, ballin describes situation to william ii, ballin favours a compromise, ballin on neutrals, ballin on the blockade, ballin on the crisis, bismarck's prophecy regarding, british censorship in, coal problems during, count witte on situation, july th, , defection of german conscripts, effect on pool, world war, the, entry of u.s.a., effect of, _et seq._ food problems of germany, forced upon william ii, foreign policy and food during, german mistakes in, - germany stunned by _débâcle_, grain from roumania, indemnities, mexico telegram, outbreak of, peace overtures, position in , provisioning germany, shipping profits during, submarine warfare in, the british blockade, tyrol, failure in the, verdun and italian campaigns, political and military failures, world's shipping collapse, cause of, yang-tse-kiang, the, , zentral-einkaufs-gesellschaft, _et seq._ printed in england by cassell & company, limited, london, e. c. . footnotes: [ ] gross registered tonnage. [ ] then british ambassador in berlin. [ ] this refers to the political events in berlin immediately prior to the outbreak of war. [ ] the head of the press department of the foreign office. [ ] the telegram which the foreign office sent to the german minister in mexico, and which was partly responsible for the entry of the united states into the war. [ ] director of the hamburg branch of the firm of hugo stinnes. * * * * * typographical errors corrected by the etext transcriber: aded to their fleets=> added to their fleets {pg } in the era on the machine-gun=> in the era of the machine-gun {pg } aready explained=> already explained {pg } images generously made available by the internet archive/american libraries.) the post in grant and farm [_all rights reserved_] the early history of the post in grant and farm by j. wilson hyde controller in the general post-office, edinburgh author of "the royal mail: its curiosities and romance" and "a hundred years by post" london adam & charles black preface there has not hitherto been published any detailed account of the first establishment, in this country, of the post office as a public institution; nor does it appear that anything has been made known of the men who were instrumental in building up this useful fabric, in the years of its infancy, beyond the barren mention of their names. in some cases, moreover, in such bald notices as have been given of the early posts, important names are wholly omitted, and in others the names of men are associated with events in which they had little concern. what is disclosed in the following pages is an attempt not only to give a fairly full and true account of the first forty years' existence of the inland posts in britain, but to tell something of the men to whom the credit is due of contriving and bringing into working shape this great machine of public convenience and utility. the facts here narrated are collected from the public records, original documents, and other authentic sources. in the extracts which have been made from original papers, modern orthography, as being more convenient for the reader, has been generally employed; but in a few cases the tone and flavour of the antique have been retained in the original spelling. i have to acknowledge with gratitude the very kindly assistance given me by librarians, not only in edinburgh but elsewhere, and by other gentlemen in public positions, who have assisted me in clearing up points of difficulty. edinburgh, . contents chapter i page the king's post--john stanhope's patent, wages of chief postmaster--confusion of terms "post," "packet," etc. charles i. in need of money--offices bought and sold--scope of lord stanhope's patent new office created of postmaster for foreign posts, out of the king's dominions de quester and his son appointed foreign postmasters contest between stanhope and the de questers--who the de questers were william frizell and thomas witherings succeed the de questers letters for the public carried by the foreign postmasters--delays of the posts philip burlamachi, subsequently acting postmaster--who he was orders for the foreign posts drawn up by secretary coke witherings visits the continent posts by estafette, or fixed stages, established--dover packet quarrels between witherings and others--witherings suspended from office witherings and frizell contend for possession of the office sir john coke, witherings' patron conflicting opinions of witherings merchants petition in favour of witherings attempts to set up rival posts chapter ii witherings recovers his office settlement of accounts during period of sequestration post stages in france robberies of channel packets measures taken to resist attacks--more outrages people of calais attack the english packet boat armed packet boat, the _speedy post_, provided witherings' family connection stated to have been a papist, and gentleman harbinger to the queen probable interest at court--said to have been a mercer of london--his wife--she assists in purchasing his office--value of money in middle of seventeenth century corruption and court favouritism inland posts means for sending inland letters--probable conveyance by postmasters on their own account conveyance by carriers postmasters on western road set up a chain of posts for letters of the public, --foot post from barnstaple to exeter to work into the london posts project for inland public posts, --estimated number of letters then reaching london troubles with postmasters and hackneymen on dover road as to charges pressing of horses--difficulties between postmasters and public stanhope interferes with the public conveyance of letters by the western postmasters--he tries to raise the price of purchase of their offices petition of foreign post messengers dismissed by witherings foot post between london and dover--carrying gold out of the realm speed of posts, condition of roads and difficulty of travelling quality of english horses and riders chapter iii witherings propounds a scheme of inland posts for use of public, proclamation issued for giving effect to his proposals probable difficulties of working deputy postmasters unable to supply fit horses arrears of deputies' pay stanhope's removal from office, he petitions for arrears of pay reasons for his removal suggested the manner of his removal patent granted to witherings for foreign letter office stanhope's place granted to secretaries coke and windebank witherings appointed their deputy--claim to stanhope's late office by endymion porter servile language of the period william lake applies for some benefit in the post office deputy postmaster of the court scale of wages allowed to deputy postmasters direct courses of old roads new regulations for the posts, july the king's troubles in scotland the mails run _thick_ women oppose the introduction of the service-book plague at hull, method of disinfecting letters chapter iv the secretaries consider as to the removal of witherings--reasons for proposed removal troubles with public carriers--carriers contend for their right to convey letters they are supported by the norwich merchants concessions made to the carriers jason grover, carrier, imprisoned proclamation settling witherings' office complaints made by postmasters demands for horses complaints against postmasters made by the public traffic in postmasterships more petitions from postmasters witherings quarrels difficulty with the earl of northumberland chapter v sickness of witherings and his reported death--philip burlamachi applies for witherings' office divisions in the kingdom proposed opening of post letters burlamachi's services to the king's party fight for the possession of a post letter a proposed duel over the seizing of post horses packet boat employed between whitehaven and dublin--witherings' office sequestered attacks upon witherings nature of charges made against him the secretaries of state try to undo witherings--witherings imprisoned--assigns an interest in his place to the earl of warwick committee of the house of commons to consider question of the posts--deliverance in favour of witherings as regards the foreign letter office deliverance respecting the inland posts decision against witherings, coke, and windebank, in regard to imprisonment of carriers rough treatment of witherings earl of warwick urges ejection of burlamachi chapter vi inland letter office to be delivered to earl of warwick burlamachi required to produce accounts mails to be seized and delivered to the earl of warwick burlamachi imprisoned--he produces accounts foreign letter office remains with witherings, the inland letter office with the earl of warwick james hickes, clerk in the foreign letter office--goes over to the king at oxford king charles sets up an independent system of posts imprisonment of hickes witherings assessed by committee for advance of money earl of warwick removed from the post office, and mr. prideaux ordered to settle post stages orders to search the mails--witherings to prosecute wilkes for seditious speeches witherings prosecuted on a charge of taking part in an insurrection in essex he is acquitted--has a serious illness, and makes his will packet boat taken by the irish--irish packets in the council recommend that the posts be in the sole power and disposal of parliament council of state place mr. prideaux, attorney-general, in charge of the inland posts--witherings still enjoys the foreign letter office serjeant-at-arms ordered to search the mails vigilance of the council council consider the question of the foreign letter office renewed charges of delinquency against witherings witherings alleges malicious prosecution--he is acquitted contributes £ "to the going-away of the lord-lieutenant for ireland" witherings' death--epitaph to witherings in church at hornchurch, essex his character and work chapter vii council of state to consider question of the inland and foreign posts foreign letter office carried on for behoof of witherings' son and nephew rival claimants for possession of the posts, inland and foreign suggestions made by the committee for the management of the posts--the posts to be farmed and tenders called for tenders council of state let the posts--inland and foreign--on farm to john manley rival posts the "first undertakers" for reducing the postage prideaux's agents murder a post-boy the "first undertakers" drive prideaux out of the field council furnish manley with warrant to take possession of the posts his method of taking possession chapter viii manley at the head of the posts--who he was john thurloe, secretary of state, to manage the post office act passed for post office, postage rates post office farmed to thurloe--interception of letters mails violated mails searched for counterfeit gold--value of post office to ruling powers thurloe removed from the post office the farm passes to dr. benjamin worsley his previous employments worsley turned out of the post office thomas scott controls the post office scott a regicide--his execution chapter ix colonel henry bishop obtains the farm--who he was his burial-place--some conditions of the farm clement oxenbridge's influence at the post office scramble for places at the restoration some petitions disaffected staff in the post office number of officers letters first stamped charges against bishop bishop ceases to be farmer colonel dan. o'neale succeeds to the office o'neale's previous career attempts to put down irregularities independence of the edinburgh deputy profits of post office settled on duke of york chapter x music at the post office the plague of london petition of james hickes the great fire of london locations of the post office labels or post-boys' way-bills stages from london to berwick times of transit of continental mails news collected through the post office rate of travelling by post-boys in notice taken of neglects chapter xi lord arlington becomes postmaster-general his deputy postmasters-general country deputies pay a fine for continuance in office reduction of salaries early post-office letter-books preserved colonel roger whitley appointed arlington's deputy wages further reduced--exemptions enjoyed by deputies dilatoriness of the deputies in making payments delays of mails in wales advantages of farming the post office conciliatory character of whitley whitley pushes business by-letters whitley's opinion of attorneys on conformity chapter xii caustic correspondence liverpool's first horse-post circulation of irish letters one delivery a day in london the packet service an express way-bill ship letters irregular conduct of masters of packet boats tonnage of packets proposed transit through england of letters from flanders and holland to spain and portugal whitley's sympathy for his seamen want of accommodation for letters at the post-houses careless treatment of the mails young post-boys lame horses whitley's care for members of parliament foreign craftsmen brought over in packet boats salary of post-master of edinburgh accidents to post riders treatment of dead letters whitley's obliging nature his views of the wicked rebellion presents made to whitley whitley's love of oysters delayed payment for conveying expresses duke of york a postmaster-general the post in grant and farm chapter i in order to understand the circumstances under which the public postal service in england was first established, it is necessary to go back to an earlier period, and look at the patents granted to the chief postmasters, whose duties did not then go beyond the forwarding of despatches for the monarch or his government. a patent granted by queen elizabeth in to john stanhope, as master of the posts, was surrendered to james i. in , and (with the view, no doubt, of securing the succession to stanhope's son) a new patent was granted to stanhope, now lord stanhope of harrington, and to charles, his son and heir-apparent. the appointment was as "master of the messengers and runners, commonly called the king's posts, as well within the kingdom as in parts beyond the seas, within the king's dominions." the nominal wages or fee attaching to this office amounted to £ , s. d. per annum, being the same as was granted to the postmasters sir william paget and john mason in the year . but there were casualties attaching to the office, yielding a more certain income, which were doubtless the sums paid by the deputies for admittance to their employments. this will be referred to hereafter. in studying the post-office history of this early period, the inquirer is apt to be misled by some of the terms used; for the words "post," "postmaster," "pacquett," and the like, were not always applied in the modern sense, the word "post" sometimes serving to designate common carriers, and "postmaster" being used indifferently to indicate the master of the posts and the postmasters on the roads. the word pacquett was also applied to common carriers. an instance of the last mentioned is given in m'dowall's _chronicles of lincluden_. a letter was written from the abbey on the th august , to the "richte noble and verrie guid lord the earl of nithisdaill," in which the following words appear:--they "intreat the richt guid lord to help them suddenly--at once; and more especially that he would procure an order from the king's treasurer to stay the legal proceedings directed against them, until his majesty's pleasure in the matter shall have been made known. because of the urgency of their case, the noble lord is requested to favour them with an answer by a bearer of his own in the event of the ordinary 'pakett' being unavailable." now the word "pakett" here does not refer to the post, but to the packman--the carrier--with his pack of goods. in what follows we shall endeavour, as far as possible, to use terms that will prevent any confusion of the kind indicated. the reign of charles i. was one full of abuses. the king required money to maintain the excesses of his court; his ministers were called upon to find the money; they themselves had to wring it out of the pockets of the people; and its passage through their hands produced such attenuation that but a small portion reached the royal coffers. clarendon says that of £ , drawn from the subject in a year by various oppressions, scarcely £ came to the king's use or account. monopolies in trade were granted for lump sums paid down, offices were bought and sold, no man seemed secure without support of a patron, and patronage was a marketable commodity. it will be remembered that lord stanhope's patent covered not only the control of the inland posts, but the posts in foreign parts, _within the kings dominions_. although stanhope was not by patent specifically empowered to send or work posts in foreign parts, _out of the kings dominions_, it appears to have been his practice to do so, undertaking, as may be supposed, all the various duties of conveying the king's letters and packets to whatever parts they might be directed. a somewhat similar condition of want of funds as that existing in the reign of charles distinguished the reign of his father, james i. now it is quite probable that, for the sole purpose of raising money by the sale of a new office, advantage was taken by james of an opening in stanhope's patent, to make a new appointment of master of the posts in foreign parts, _out of the kings dominions_. by the recital of a patent bearing date the th april of the seventeenth year of james i., we learn that the king "appointed that there should be an office or place called postmaster of england for foreign parts, being out of the king's dominions; that the office should be a sole office by itself, and not member or part of any other office or place of postmaster whatsoever; and that there should be one sufficient person or persons, to be by the king from time to time nominated and appointed, who should be called the postmaster or postmasters of england for foreign parts, etc.; and, for the considerations therein mentioned, the king appointed mathew de quester, and mathew de quester, his son, to the said office; to hold to them the said mathew de quester, the father, and mathew de quester, the son, as well by themselves, or either of them, as by their or either of their sufficient deputy or deputies, during the natural lives of mathew de quester, the father, and mathew de quester, the son, the said office of postmaster of england for foreign parts, for their natural lives and the life of the survivor," etc. on the setting up of the de questers, stanhope was naturally unwilling to surrender part of the service which he had hitherto undertaken, and a long contest took place between stanhope and these men, resulting, as it would appear, in confirming the latter in their new office, and in the discomfiture of stanhope. thus from the seventeenth year of the reign of james i. down to the period upon which we are about to enter, commencing in , and for some years thereafter, there were in england two distinct masters of the posts--one for places within the kingdom itself and in foreign parts, within the king's dominions; the other for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions. stanhope filled the one office, the de questers the other. it is interesting to know who the people were that are now passing in review before us at this distant date. a return made to the council by the lord mayor in , of strangers inhabiting london, tells us something of the de questers. it is this:--"in ward of billingsgate, st. andrew's parish. mathew de quester, late postmaster, born in bruges, of years' continuance in london; naturalised by act of parliament. all his family english born." he was probably one of the many foreign merchants who at that period were gathered together in the neighbourhood of lower thames street. by letters patent, dated th march , the office of master of the posts for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions, was made to devolve upon william frizell and thomas witherings. mathew de quester the younger had died, and the elder de quester being stricken in age, "the king ... declares his will and pleasure, that the office shall have perpetual continuance, and grants unto william frizell and thomas witherings, gentlemen, the office of place of postmaster of england for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions; to do all things to the said office belonging and appertaining; to hold, exercise, and enjoy the said office of postmaster of england for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions, together with all powers, etc., by themselves or either of them, or their or either of their sufficient deputies, during their natural lives and the life of the survivor, from and after and so soon as the said office shall become void by the death, surrender, forfeiture, or other determination of the estate of mathew de quester, the father. the king prohibits all persons other than the said william frizell and thomas witherings from intruding themselves in the said office after the determination of the estate of mathew de quester; and the lord chamberlain, the lord warden of the cinque ports, the secretaries of state, etc., in their several jurisdictions and places, are not only to be aiding and assisting the said frizell and witherings, but to the utmost of their power to repress all intruders." the patent, it will be observed, only vested the patentees in the office as from the death of de quester; and de quester the elder was still living. accordingly, with a view to frizell and witherings being at once admitted to the active management of the place, a proclamation was issued, on the th july , to the following effect:-- "the late king appointed mathew de quester, the father, and mathew de quester, the son, postmaster for foreign parts for their lives. mathew de quester, the son, being dead, and the father aged and infirm, he (that is, de quester) has appointed william frizell and thomas witherings his deputies. the king approves this substitution, and charges all his subjects that none of them, other than the said frizell and witherings, presume to take up or transmit foreign packets or letters." thus frizell and witherings entered upon their office as foreign postmasters on the th of july . it must be understood that, though there was no authority for carrying letters of the public at this time by the inland posts, it was the practice of the foreign posts to carry the letters of merchants and others to and from the continent,--and the posts who actually conveyed the packets would seem to have been men engaged in mercantile traffic. the following letter, dated westminster, th october , from humphrey fulwood to sir john coke, principal secretary to his majesty at court, throws a good deal of light upon the subject:-- "upon inquiry of mr. burlamachi, what should be the cause why letters have not of late come from germany, the hague, and brussels, as usually, he entered into a large relation of the present disorder of the posts. he imputed the fault merely to the posts who have heretofore bought their places. they more minding their own peddling traffic than the service of the state or merchants, omitting many passages, sometimes staying for the vending of their own commodities, many times through neglect by lying in tippling-houses. the opinions of mr. burlamachi and mr. peter rycaut favourable to mr. witherings and frizell in their places of postmasters. for reformation they both agree in one, and that with the proposition wherewith mr. witherings hath formerly acquainted your honour. the displacing of these posts, and laying of certain and sure stages whereby his majesty will save, as mr. burlamachi will make appear, above £ or £ yearly, now expended for expresses," etc. mr. burlamachi, whose christian name was philip, and peter rycaut were merchants in london, and would no doubt be well informed as to the way in which the mail service was conducted. in the lord mayor's return of foreigners residing in london in , burlamachi is described as follows:--"in the ward of langbourne, in st. gabriel, fenchurch. mr. philip burlamachi, merchant, naturalised by act of parliament. he was born in sedan in france, and has been in england this thirty years and more. he hath certain rooms at mr. gould's house in fenchurch street, for his necessary occasions of writing there some two or three days in the week; but his dwelling-house, with his wife and children and family, is at putney." burlamachi, besides being a merchant, was a great financier, and, as will be seen hereafter, he had intimate relations in money matters with the court. not very long after the date of the letter above quoted, namely, on the th january , the following orders for the foreign postmasters and packet posts were drawn up by secretary coke:-- "in consequence of complaints, both of ministers of state and merchants, it is thought fit to send no more letters by carriers who come and go at pleasure, but, in conformity with other nations, to erect 'staffetti' or packet posts at fit stages, to run day and night without ceasing, and to be governed by the orders in this paper. among these it is provided that the foreign postmasters shall take the oaths of supremacy and allegiance, shall have an office in london, and shall give notice at what time the public are to bring their letters. a register is to be kept of the writers or bringers of all letters, and of the parties to whom they are sent. the letters are to be put into a packet or budget, which is to be locked up and sealed with the postmasters' known seal, and to be sent off so that it may reach dover while there is sufficient daylight for passage over sea the same day. various other minute regulations are laid down, both for the carriage of the packet to dover, the sending of the passage-barks to calais, and the transmission from stage to stage. the course to be adopted with letters received from beyond seas is laid down with equal minuteness. letters for the government and foreign ministers residing here were to be immediately delivered to them, after which a roll or table of all other letters was to be set up in the office for every man to view and demand his letters." in pursuance of the scheme here sketched out, witherings appears to have been sent to the continent shortly thereafter; for on the th april , he writes from calais (to sir john coke probably) describing the steps then taken in the business:-- "right honourable and my good patron, i found here the countess taxis' secretary with the postmaster of ghent, they having settled stages betwixt antwerp and calais for the speedy conveyance of letters; they have placed a postmaster at dunkirk, having dismissed all their couriers, and seven days hence they intend to begin by the way of 'staphetto' (_estafette_) from antwerp to london; their request is we shall do the like, which accordingly i have ordered my man to do, having taken order at dover for the passage. the governor of this place promiseth me all favour. "the boatmen of this place who take their turns for dover i find unwilling to be obliged to depart upon the coming of the portmantell. but upon the advice of mr. skinner and other merchants of our nation in this place, i have found out a very sufficient man, who will oblige himself, with security, that for forty shillings he will wait upon the coming of the packet, upon sight whereof he will depart, engaging himself to carry nothing but the said packet. asks directions, and will stay till the first packet shall come by 'staphetto' from antwerp." this then was the commencement of the forwarding of the continental mails by fixed and regular stages, instead of by carriers proceeding through the whole way, and engaged in other kinds of business. witherings had not long entered upon his office, jointly with frizell, when troubles began. in the year , a curious complication came to light, in which not only witherings and frizell, but two or three other persons were involved, and which resulted in the temporary suspension of the foreign postmasters from their functions. the matter is referred to in a memorandum from the king to secretary windebank, dated august . it runs thus: "the king having granted the place of foreign postmaster to his servant william frizell, he has given the king to understand that, whilst he was beyond seas, thomas witherings endeavoured to defraud him of that place, the examination whereof the king has referred to secretary windebank. the king understands, moreover, that the place has been mortgaged for money, both by frizell and witherings, which he condemns in them both; and has therefore thought good, for the present, that the place shall be sequestered into the hands of mathew de quester, the king's ancient servant in that place. windebank is therefore to send for john hatt, an attorney, in whom the legal interest of that place, for the present, is vested, and to will him to make an assignment thereof to de quester." although the question of this sequestration was not finally disposed of till the year , the period during which witherings was removed from the active management and possession of the place was from the th september to the th december . the details of the arrangement of this business are not easily understood, but it would seem that the first step was to get rid of the attorney; and with this in view the earl of arundel (the earl marshal) advanced about £ to pay off hatt, the earl retaining possession of witherings' patent. another claim was put forward by one robert kirkham for £ , due th may , for a reversion of the postmaster's office surrendered to witherings and frizell. this indebtedness was not denied by witherings; but how there came to be a reversion in favour of kirkham does not appear. prior to the difficulties in connection with the suspension of witherings and frizell from office, these two men were not getting along smoothly. on th june , witherings writes to (secretary coke probably) ... "i hear mr. frizell declares that the lord marshal will, by his majesty's means, compel me to deliver the place back again, and pretends he will have a bout with me for my own moiety. i beseech you move his majesty as occasion shall offer, for i am confident the king will be much moved for (in favour of) mr. frizell." on th june of the same year, witherings writes to humphrey fulwood: "mr. frizell is at the court, pretending that witherings owes him a great sum, and intending to move his majesty for a proclamation for possession of the whole place (of deputy foreign postmaster), offering security to be accountable if it be recovered from him again. witherings owes him nothing. he has sent the affidavit of frizell's own servant to secretary coke. prays fulwood to speak to mr. secretary that witherings suffer not in his absence." on the rd july, witherings again writes to fulwood: "to answer all frizell's allegations would be troublesome. upon their meeting, frizell spoke of paying witherings back his money; but he is not able. assures fulwood that he can clear himself--with the help of his noble friends he doubts nothing. desires fulwood to sift him (frizell presumably), for the knowledge of his intents doth much advance witherings." then on the same day, as it happens, the earl of arundel, who was at stirling with the king, writes to secretary windebank: "mr. frizell's business is referred to windebank to examine and report to the king. needs not entreat him to do frizell favour, since his case is so well understood, and the foulness of witherings' abuse, which the writer is confident windebank will represent as it deserves." sir john coke seems to have been the patron and protector of witherings, who, in a letter to coke about this time, concludes his communication with the words: "i rest, though never rest, to pray for your honour as my only patron." in a letter sent by coke to windebank on the th may , witherings is introduced to the latter thus: "the bearer is the postmaster who went over to antwerp and calais and settled the business of the foreign letters. he has settled with frizell's assignee, so as the charge of the office is again reduced to one hand. frizell never did any service in the place, but the king never till now heard of witherings' name. how he satisfied the merchants, their testimony witnesses; how he acquitted himself at the council board, their order declares. he complains that he is now called again upon some reference which his majesty remembers not. secretary coke must avow that hitherto he has carried himself honestly and with general approbation." the settling with frizell's assignee may possibly refer to the paying-off of attorney hatt by means of money found by the earl marshal already referred to. the criticisms made upon witherings at this time are somewhat conflicting, and on that account it is not by any means easy to determine what sort of a man he was. on the st may , secretary windebank writes: "mr. witherings the postmaster's industry and dexterity for that place appeared at the council-table by many testimonies, in the midst of much powerful opposition. mr. witherings misbehaved himself toward my lord marshal and his son, the lord maltravers, and how he will be able to give them satisfaction i know not." on th june, lord goring, master of the horse to the queen, writes: "i must highly commend the extraordinary care of the posts; and especially mr. witherings, the master, of whose care her majesty hath taken most especial notice, for he is indeed the most diligent in his services that ever i saw." in commendation of witherings' plans and work, a petition was presented to the council in april , signed by fifty-four merchants in london, to the following effect:--"by their order (the council's order) of the th february , it was determined that letters should be sent by _staffeto_ or pacquet posts; according to which order thomas witherings, one of the postmasters for foreign parts, has, by consent of foreign states, settled the conveyance of letters from stage to stage, to go night and day, as has been continued in germany and italy; by which agreements letters are to be conveyed between london and antwerp in three days, whilst the carriers have for many years taken from eight to fourteen days, having played the merchants, and answered complaints by saying that they had bought their places and could come no sooner." early in , an attempt was made to set up another foreign-post service, as appears by a petition from eighty-nine london merchants, addressed to the king, as follows:--"they are informed that some strangers living here have made choice of a postmaster by whom they have sent their letters, whilst his majesty has chosen william frizell and thomas witherings for his postmaster for foreign services, who have hitherto carried themselves carefully. pray the king to protect them (frizell and witherings), and not to suffer strangers to make their own choice." while on this subject of unauthorised posts, it may be noted that in december , burlamachi writes to secretary coke respecting a post set up in paris, to work thence to london. he says: "i must not fail to tell you that yesterday a courier from france called upon me, who appears, from what he says, to have agreed with the postmaster of paris, to take up the letters for conveyance to and from that city and london. i told him that this was a proceeding that could not be allowed, and counselled him to return to paris, which i believe he has done. it is to be considered that, if the mails for france and flanders are not soon put into good order, all will go into confusion. we might have letters to or from paris in five days and less, while at present they take fourteen days to come." this statement does not reflect creditably upon witherings' system of posts established early in the year; but at this time witherings was under sequestration of his office, and it may be that de quester, who was temporarily in charge of the situation, had allowed matters to go back into their old groove. chapter ii the sequestration of witherings' office of foreign postmaster ceased on the th december , but it was not till the th august that he was made legally secure in his place. on this latter date he writes to sir john coke as follows:--"four days past he procured his order to be drawn up by sir william becher (clerk of the council in ordinary), which he shewed mr. march, the earl marshal's steward, who went with mr. witherings to mr. recorder, whose opinion was, that the order not only cleared frizell in law and equity, but all others." witherings had, however, to sign a covenant holding the earl marshal harmless, and thereupon the patents were signed over to witherings. it is tolerably clear that de quester and witherings were not on particularly good terms. at anyrate the former wrote to secretary coke in march , complaining against witherings "for breaking open a packet directed to de quester, and using disdainful speeches of him." he also reminds the secretary of a promise "that he should receive no damage or detriment." the occurrence of the sequestration has been the means of leaving on record details of these early posts which would not otherwise have survived. a statement of the accounts of mathew de quester during the sequestration of the post office in london for foreign parts (_i.e._ th september to th december ), made up in the year , gives much curious information, as also witherings' comments on various alleged inaccuracies therein. "witherings desires that de quester may bring in all the rolls and books of accounts, from which witherings may draw out a just account. among the items in this account, covering a period of seventeen weeks, are the following:--for three portmantles, £ , s.; for cord and cloth to cover the mails, s. d.; for pack-thread to bind up the letters, s. d.; for pens, ink, and paper to write and to pack, £ , s.; to george martin for carrying letters abroad, seventeen weeks, £ , s.; to john ridge for the like service, £ , s.; to clerks' allowance for seventeen weeks, at the rate of £ per annum a piece, £ , s. d.; for candles, wax, and sealing-thread, s. d.; one quarter's rent for the office and other rooms, £ ." in another paper, making further remarks in objection to de quester's accounts, witherings suggests "that if he and lynde, who is paid £ per annum for nothing else but to keep the accounts, were jointly to inspect the rolls and accounts, they would be able to 'just' them in one day." there is reason to conclude that at this time some of the stages in france were under english control; for on the th august , witherings writes to secretary coke that he "had procured the french ambassador's letters for settling the stages in france, and to-morrow he begins his journey. at his coming to paris he will write coke of all that passeth." we may assume from the foregoing particulars that the posts with the continent were now laid in stages, and in a way to expedite the mail service not previously existing. the channel was, however, about this time infested with foreigners who plundered the mail packets and robbed the passengers. a few instances may be interesting. on the th june , the deputy postmaster of dover writes to secretary coke:--"on tuesday, th, he received advertisement by certain seamen whom the writer employs for carriage of the merchants' letters to dunkirk, and to bring the same from thence, that, coming by calais, their shallop and such passengers as were in it were rifled of all the money they had and some trifles, and the mail (wherein his majesty's and the merchants' letters were put) was taken away by men of calais, who laid them suddenly aboard with a small shallop full of musketeers. this advice coming to the writer in the night very late, he wrote to mr. witherings, and did not then give the lord warden's deputy notice, by which means the news came to his majesty's knowledge before it was written of to the lord warden." again, in the month of august, henry hendy, the post of dover, had an unpleasant experience. in an examination which he underwent touching the facts, he states that, "going to and returning from dunkirk, he has been robbed five times within these seven weeks--four times by the french, and once by a flushinger. they shot at him, and commanded him to strike, calling him and the rest 'english dogs'; and coming aboard, they used violence, beating them, stripping them of all their money, apparel, and goods, and took from the post all his bundle of letters, among which was a packet from the king. the post showing them his pass from secretary coke, they bid him keep it to wipe his breech." the ill words of calling the men dogs seem to have been in common use in the channel at that time; for sobrière, a frenchman who visited england at the period in question, makes mention of the incivility which his countrymen received on landing at dover, the children running after them and calling with all their might, "a _mounser_! a _mounser_!" and, as they warmed up, they became more offensive. when told to be off, they would cry out, "french dogs, french dogs." but the english were not content to undergo all this offence and ill-usage without showing that they could fight, and were prepared to maintain their position on the high seas. the measures taken in this sense are described in the following despatch, dated th august , from admiral lord lindsey to secretary coke:--"on saturday last, speaking with the post of dover that plys to dunkirk, the writer found him unwilling to undergo the service any longer, unless he were better provided to resist the violences offered him. the earl encouraged him, and lent him fifteen men, well fitted with muskets and half-pikes and swords, and sent them aboard his ketch. on sunday morning they went off from dover, and in the afternoon were chased awhile by a shallop, and then by a holland man-of-war that made six great shots at them. the _sampson_, which the writer had the day before employed to sea, was in their sight, but they durst not bear up to him, for then they had been overtaken; but keeping upon a tack, they were too swift for the man-of-war, who, after five hours' chase, left them in open sea. the next morning, between gravelines and calais, the same shallop that used to rob the post came to the ketch, as near as a man might throw a biscuit into her. the master of the ketch had stowed all the men within, there to remain until he should give the watchword, when they were to appear and give fire. the shallop shot four or five times at the ketch, and hailed the master and the rest in such english as one of them could speak, crying out, 'english dogs! strike, you english rogues! we will be with you presently,' the chief of them, in a red coat, flourishing his falchion over his head. hereupon the master gave the word; and the men came out, pouring shot so fast into the shallop that the french had not power to return one shot, but rowed away with a matter of four using oars that were left of about sixteen men. it was a dead calm, and the ketch had neither oars nor boat to help her, otherwise she had brought away the shallop and the remainder of the men. the post has desired the same supply again for his defence on sunday next; the writer has taken order accordingly, and furnished him also with letters of safe-conduct." in the following month, september, another outrage upon the mail boat was committed. waad, the deputy postmaster of dover, gives an account of the transaction, and a capture made thereafter, in a letter to his chief, witherings, on the th september. he writes: "the manner of taking the boats by those that were laid in dover castle was: that the zealanders shot at them divers times, when one of the packet boatmen struck sail and showed the lord general's warrant, which they slighted, and were like to stab the old man whom waad trusts with the mail, with base words to his majesty. the place was off the splinter, betwixt gravelines and dunkirk. the day was the nd instant; and on the rd, setting out another boat with the mail, one of the ketch told waad that he saw the captain that took them and some of his men; whereupon, about twelve in the night, he called the watch and carried the captain and other two to the town jail, having paid sir william monson's gentlemen's dinners and horse-hires to acquaint the lord general in the forenoon before that the vessel was in dover road. whereupon sir william monson came into the road and took the ship out, and sent his boat after ashore. the prisoners being claimed by sir william monson, and also by mr. moore, secretary to the lord warden, the mayor adjudged to sir william, who carried them to the lord general. after examination, he returned them to dover castle; but their ship was cleared in the downs, and on the sunday morning took a bylander of bruges; also that night the prisoners made escape out of the castle by a mat twisted very laboriously." the meaning of this last sentence probably is, that these sailors untwisted the strands of a mat, then spun the material into a kind of rope, and let themselves down from their cell in the castle. again, in february , another outrage was perpetrated on the packet boat. the particulars are furnished by the examination of william dadds, master; harry hendy, passenger; and richard swan, servant to william dadds. they swore as follows:--"the earl of lindsey authorised his majesty's passage boat at dover to wear a flag of his majesty's colours upon the rudder-head. it hath secured the said boat from the dutch, the french, and spaniards ever since till tuesday last; at which time the said boat, riding at anchor by dunkirk harbour, near the splinter fort, with the said flag, there came down from the said fort three musketeers, and shot three or four volleys of shot at the said packet boat, and in the hull of the said boat some of the shot are still to be seen. they retired to the said fort, and shot one piece of great ordnance at the said boat. the three musketeers began to beat the said r. swan with a crabtree cudgel of two inches about; they came aboard, searched the packet boat, and fetched w. dadds ashore, and made him pay s. in money, which h. hendy laid down to prevent imprisonment. the master and his company, in the dark of the night, set sail and came away. the serjeant-major and the soldiers gave no other reason, than because they came not on shore to fetch the searcher on board; and if they did not the next time come to fetch the searcher aboard, they would hang the master upon the gallows. and this is the first time that ever the searcher did question his majesty's packet boat." several other violations of the packet boat occurred about this time, and a good deal of friction arose between the peoples on the two sides of the channel; but probably the robberies were partly the result of conditions arising from the unsettled relations existing between england and the countries on the continent at the period. the english took extreme measures with these pirates, as will be seen by the two following despatches from the earl of suffolk to secretary coke:-- "july , , dover castle.--since the writing of his last letter, and the condemnation of the french prisoners, two of them, who were quitted and returned to calais, reported there that, after the condemnation of the prisoners, three of them were presently hanged; whereupon the people of calais were much influenced, and have committed many insolencies, as will appear by the enclosed examination. "declaration of john adams of gillingham, kent, master of the _john_ of that place:--arriving with the packet ordinary from thomas witherings, his majesty's postmaster for foreign parts, he received from the master of a ship of lynn this intelligence: that the people of calais came aboard, to the number of or , presently after the arrival of the two sailors cleared at dover, in the court of admiralty, and assaulted the master and company of the said ship, beating all the company, wounding the master, and doing many outrageous acts--which are stated here with a good deal of confusion, and probably exaggeration. the informant concludes, that carrying the mail to the postmaster of calais, and having his majesty's colours at the stern of his ketch, the people came down upon them, throwing stones to the endangering of their lives, and rending the said 'unite' colours. "august , .--by all men that come from calais, he perceives that there is in that town a froward inclination against his majesty's subjects, and therefore sends him (sir john coke) this present information from the master of his majesty's packet boat, that the secretary may thereupon use means to the french ambassador, or otherwise, to prevent greater mischiefs that may happen. "enclosure.--information of john keres of leith, mariner, that about the th july, carrying over to calais mr. witherings, his majesty's postmaster, as soon as he came on shore they threw stones at informant that he could not walk in the streets without great danger; and being forced by stress of weather out of that road for dunkirk, a little off gravelines he met with three french shallops of calais, who commanded him to strike, and then boarded him, spoiled his bark, beat him with their swords, and would have taken the clothes off his back. having nothing in his bark worth pillaging, they went their way." shortly after this period, it was thought fit to provide an armed vessel for the channel service. it was named the _speedy post_; and we find that in february and march there was some correspondence between the council and the officers of ordnance as to the supply of six brass guns for the postmaster's frigate, the _speedy post_ of london. it is probably to this vessel that evelyn refers in his diary, under date of the th october :--"from hence (dunkirk), the next day, i marched three english miles towards the packet boat, being a pretty fregat of six guns, which embarked us for england about three in the afternoone. at our going off, the fort against which our pinnace ankered saluted my lord marshall with twelve greate guns, which we answered with three. not having the wind favorable, we ankered that night before calais. about midnight we weighed; and at four in the morning, though not far from dover, we could not make the peere till four in the afternoon, the wind proving contrary and driving us westward; but at last we got on ashore, oct. the th." leaving these squabbles of the channel for a time, it will perhaps be convenient to consider for a moment who witherings was. by the "visitation of london, - ," we find it stated that thomas withering, "postmaster of england for forrayne parts," was a second son; that he was of a staffordshire family who had property in that county for many generations; that an uncle named anthony withering was a yeoman usher, and his elder brother a gentleman sewer--both places, we apprehend, attaching to the court. in proceedings held before the council in june , of which secretary windebanke made notes, and wherein thomas witherings was interested, mention is made that witherings was stated to be a papist, and "to have been at one time gentleman harbinger to the queen." the office of harbinger was that of "agent in advance," the harbinger proceeding one day ahead of the queen, to secure for her suitable lodging and entertainment on occasions when she was upon progress. if witherings really held this office of harbinger, it is possible that he may have shown a leaning towards papacy (though in later life he was a declared protestant), for king charles' wife henrietta maria was a roman catholic herself, and many of her followers were of that religion. there is nothing improbable in the suggestion that witherings held the office of harbinger, seeing that his brother and uncle were servants at the court; but whether he was or was not, he would have, by his friends, interest with the royal family. in a remonstrance of the grievances of his majesty's posts in england, carriers, waggoners, and others ( ), "miserably sustained by the unlawful projects of thomas witherings," witherings is referred to as "sometime mercer of london." of this mention will be made hereafter. witherings was married to dorothy, daughter of john oliver of wilbrougham; and she brought him a fair fortune. in a petition or representation made by her after witherings' death, she mentions that £ a year of her land was sold to assist him in procuring his place as postmaster. it is well here to remark, in relation to this sum, and the matter should be borne in mind in perusing what follows, that £ in would be equivalent to about £ in the present day. professor masson, when speaking of the relative equivalents of english money now and in the first half of the seventeenth century, gives his impression "that any specified salary in english money (of that time) would have purchased at least four times as much, whether in commodities or in respectability, as the same english money would purchase now." as only a portion of mrs. witherings' land was sold, she must have had a very respectable fortune of her own. witherings lived in an age characterised by corruption, by court intrigue and court favouritism, when envy and uncharitableness struggled for place and power, and when those who failed to secure the royal smile were in imminent danger of going to the wall. he did not achieve his official career without attempts being made to oust him from his place. many general allegations were made against him of irregularities committed in his office, but for the most part with an irritating absence of any definite charges; and in the opposite scale we have the fact that he was still postmaster for foreign parts at the time of his death, in the year . we have hitherto been dealing with the postmastership for foreign parts; and having accompanied witherings over a portion of his service, it will be convenient now to see what was going on in the inland posts. it will be remembered that charles lord stanhope was the king's postmaster at home and in foreign parts, within the king's dominions. the duties of stanhope were to appoint and supervise the deputy postmasters on the roads, to provide for the conveyance of letters to or from the king or the court, and, generally, letters on state business; but there was no arrangement, recognised as a state service, for the conveyance of letters of the merchants or the public generally by the deputy postmasters under stanhope. although this was so, there is apt to be some misapprehension as to the means available at this time for the forwarding of letters of the public throughout the country. it might be supposed that no machinery to this end existed. there is, however, we think, every probability that while the postmasters were not officially authorised to convey letters from place to place, they did so, and reaped some benefit from the work. the postmasters throughout the country were constantly sending guides and horses between their several stages; the horses had to be brought back by the guides to their headquarters; and it would be surprising if the postmasters, when opportunity offered, did not undertake the carriage of letters for a fee. further, in a state-paper office document, dated , it is mentioned that the king's postmasters carried the subjects' letters, but up to that time had never reaped any benefit from it. the meaning of this must be, that the chief postmaster and his predecessors had never reaped any benefit; but it is not likely that the deputy postmasters, who did the work, would perform the service for nothing. when the carriage of letters was afterwards taken up as a state affair, we shall hear an outcry for arrears of wages due to the postmasters, who previously were apparently content to let that matter lie over, deriving their profits from the letting out of horses, and the fees from the carriage of private letters. but the carriers with their carts and pack horses also conveyed letters for the public, and though the travelling was slow, it extended to all parts. by consulting old calendars and like books of reference, the reader will see how extensive was this carrying business, down to the time when it was superseded by the railways. but we are not left in any doubt as to the part the country postmasters took in the carriage of letters for the public, at anyrate on the western road from london to plymouth, antecedent to this period, for by a petition which will be quoted hereafter from the postmaster of crewkerne, it will be seen that, under an order of the council of state, dated the th february , a weekly carriage of letters had been set up by the several postmasters on that road for their own profit. confirmation is given to this statement by papers belonging to the borough of barnstaple, under date the th september . it is there recorded that the mayor and aldermen of barnstaple established communication between their borough and exeter by means of "a foote post to goe weekly every tuesday morning about seaven of the clock in the morning from the said towne of barnstaple unto exceter, and to be there at the postmaster's howse in exceter the wednesday morning, and there to deliver unto the post whiche is to goe that morneing toward london all such letters as shalbe sent him to be conveyed unto london, ... which foote post is to stay in exceter untill the london post for that weeke shall come from london, and shall take upp all such letters as the said post shall bringe from london," etc. it is then explained that, "by means of which so speedie conveyance, men may in eleaven days write unto london and receive answers thereof backe again, and their friends and factours may have three dayes' respitt to give answere unto such letters as shalbe sent; as also any man receiving letters from london may have like time to answer the same," etc. now, if we deduct from the eleven days here mentioned the two days coming and going of the foot post between barnstaple and exeter, and the three days' "respitt" in london, it leaves only six days for the double journey between exeter and london, or three days for a single journey of over miles. there is no doubt whatever from these statements that there existed, prior to witherings' posts, a regular weekly horse post from london to the west of england for the general service of the public. a project for a new and extended arrangement of the business of the post office was drafted in --probably by witherings. according to this paper, "it was calculated that in the counties of england there were at least market towns, which, one with another, sent letters per week to london, which, in respect of their answers, are to be reckoned at d. each, making in all , letters, or £ per week. the estimated charge for conveyance of these letters would be only £ per week, leaving £ , s. weekly profit by this office, out of which was to be deducted £ per annum paid to the postmasters for the charge of conveying his majesty's packets. all letters on the road to scotland were to be charged d. for every single, and d. for every double letter, to be paid at the receiving and delivery in london; for yorkshire and northumberland, d. a letter; and for scotland, d. the postmasters in the country were not to take any money for letters, save d. for carriage to the next market town." thus, in , it would appear that nearly , letters a week reached london from the country, and, as replies, a similar number would be sent thence to the country. the project sketched out above was not, however, then carried out. some curious questions as to the post service arose at this period. on the th may , the mayor and jurats of dover made a representation to the lieutenant of dover castle and of the cinque ports, to the effect that the deputy postmasters and the hackneymen of dover and canterbury had admeasured the highway between these places, and set up posts at every mile's end, making the distance fifteen miles and a quarter. for this "distance they charged s. d. for horse hire, being d. more than the ordinary rate." the mayor and jurats "called before them the postmaster's deputy and some of the hackneymen, and found them resolute therein. they have done the same without commission from his majesty or the lords." it appears that the kentish miles were longer than the miles elsewhere, and that d. per mile was allowed here, while in some other places only - / d. was paid. the men of kent wanted to be paid the higher rate for the shorter miles, which they had measured for themselves. the postmaster of st. albans, by the methods which he employed in carrying on the business of his office, got himself into deep water with the people of that town. on the th january , informations were made by edward seabrooke, john tuttle, and fromabove done, setting forth complaints against john wells, postmaster of st albans, in pressing their horses for the service of the post maliciously or corruptly, in order to procure a bribe for their release. on the next day informations were made by john mitchell of sandridge, ralph heyward of bushey, henry pedder of luton, and john bolton of harding, all containing charges of corruption or misconduct against john wells, postmaster of st albans. again, on the d august , the inhabitants of the parish of st. stephens, in st. albans, forward depositions, taken before sir john garrard and others, justices of the peace, seeking to establish that "under colour of a commission granted by lord stanhope, wells sent to the several parishes in and about st. albans to furnish horses for his majesty's service, there being not any such horses needed; but warrants being issued merely to compel the owners of the horses to compound." whether mr. wells was as bad as painted we cannot say, but he no doubt had at times to call in extra horses; for, on the th may , lord stanhope issued the following warrant to all deputy lieutenants, justices of the peace, and other officers:--"special occasions are offered, for the affairs of the state and service of his majesty, to send in post both packets and otherwise oftener than ordinary; the persons addressed are therefore to assist john wells, post of st. albans, and on his application to take up ten or twelve sufficient horses, as the service shall import." this was within a few days of the king's setting out upon a progress into scotland. on the th june , a petition to the council is forwarded by edward hutchins and joseph hutchins, sons of thomas hutchins, post of crewkerne, lately deceased, and by all the posts between london and plymouth, as follows:[ ]-- "having obtained an order, dated th february , from this board for the weekly carriage of letters between london and plymouth, the settling whereof had cost them £ , besides their great and daily charge in keeping men and horses. neither lord stanhope, nor mr. dolliver, the paymaster of the posts, had given any encouragement to this business, but rather opposed it; lord stanhope going about to assume the benefit of the merchants' letters, and raising the valuation of the post places of the western road from £ to £ . pray their lordships to require lord stanhope and the paymaster of the posts to answer wherefor they should raise the post places from £ anciently given, and for what cause they (stanhope and the paymaster) should have the benefit of the merchants' letters. pray also that edward and joseph hutchins may, for £ , have the place filled by their father and grandfather for seventy years, or else the benefit of the merchants' letters, which their father had." lord stanhope's answer was to the effect that he doubted the statement as to the "great sums alleged to have been given for obtaining the merchants' letters," that he did not "take notice of disposing any place in that road, nor aim at any profit by reason of those letters; he only takes upon him the appointment of the posts." the meaning of this answer is not very clear; but the two papers taken together show that the postmasters were in the habit of buying their offices, paying £ for them, and that it was now attempted to raise the charge to £ . stanhope's salary was only £ , s. d. per annum, and, in consonance with the shameful traffic of the age, he made his profit in his own position by requiring his subordinates to purchase their places. when witherings set up the new plan of "estafette" posts in , the men who had up to that time performed the post service between england and the continent were all dismissed. they, like the deputy postmasters, had purchased their places, and upon being turned off received no compensation. aggrieved as they felt themselves to be, they had recourse to a petition to lord cottington. they were sampson bates, enoch lynde, jarman marsham, job allibon, abraham van solte, and samuel allibon "heretofore ordinary posts for the low countries." "at their first entrance into their places," says the petition, "they paid great sums of money for the same, and they were granted for term of life, some of petitioners having served twenty-six years, and others various other long periods. about april petitioners were all dismissed without restoring any of their moneys, or giving them any allowance towards their maintenance, so that they have been driven to pawn their household stuff, and, if not relieved, are like to perish. the ordinary posts beyond the seas likewise dismissed have been allowed £ yearly, although their places were not so good as petitioners'. pray that, upon a new election of a postmaster, petitioners may be admitted to their several places again, or each of them receive a pension from the office of the postmaster." besides the constant stream of horse posts passing from london to dover in connection with the continental mail service, there was a service by foot messenger between these two towns. at this period there was a prohibition against the carrying of gold out of the country. in _moryson's itinerary_, , the following limitation is stated to have been in force:--"in england the law forbids any traveller, upon paine of confiscation, to carry more money about him out of the kingdom than will serve for the expenses of his journey, namely, about twenty pounds sterling." in , the prohibition was still in force. on the th june of that year, the foot post between london and dover, edward ranger, was examined as to the exporting of gold before sir john bankes, the attorney general. ranger deposed "that within two years last past he had carried from london to dover gold and silver, to the value of several thousand pounds in the whole, for cæsar dehaze, edward buxton of lime street, jacob deleap, roger fletcher, walter eade, and john terry of canning street, charles french of wallbrook, peter heme of love lane, lucas jacob of botolph's lane, and john fowler of bucklersbury, and isaac bedloe, and had delivered the same, in various sums, severally to john parrott, nathaniel pringall, mark willes, john demarke, david hempson, david neppen, john wallop, and henry booth, at dover; that he had after the rate of five shillings for every hundred pounds he carried; and that he believes that the greatest part of the gold was sent beyond the seas by such persons as he delivered the same unto at dover." this man ranger was still foot post for dover down to ; but in that year he was superseded in his place in consequence of certain irregularities. in the council of state's proceedings of the th december of that year, the mayor and jurats of dover were to be advised that the council approved of another appointment being made, "as it would not have been safe for the state to suffer him (ranger) to continue in that employment." the king's posts at this period ( ) were not remarkable for their great speed. on the th june, secretary coke and the king received letters at edinburgh which had taken five days in coming from greenwich. on th july, sir francis windebank writes to secretary coke, that "your several letters of the nd and rd of this present, written from lithco (linlithgow) and stirling, and sent by davis, came to my hands upon sunday the th, late in the evening. i send these by davis again because of the slowness of the posts, some of your letters being ten days upon the way, and never any packet yet dated at the stages as they ought to be." a captain plumleigh, writing from kinsale, apparently to the lord deputy, complains that "your lordship's letters unto me seldom come to my hands under fourteen days' time. i beg that the despatch of this of mine may come on towards kinsale day and night, for otherwise we shall haply lose the opportunity of a fair wind," etc. the condition of the roads in these times was an important factor in causing the posts to travel slowly; and the through couriers, after riding during the day, would necessarily rest during the night. the following letter, dated th december , from sir gervase clifton to sir john coke the younger, at selston, nottinghamshire, describes a journey by road:--"i will be bold to trouble you with a discourse of my perambulation. i came on tuesday to dunstable, somewhat, albeit not much, within night. on wednesday to northampton, almost three hours after daylight, yet with perpetual fear of overturning or losing our way, which without guides hired, and lights holding in, i had undoubtedly done. on thursday to leicester, a great deal later, and so much more dangerously, as the way (you know) was worse at the end of the journey. on friday we were the most of all troubled with waters, which so much covered the causeways, and almost bridges, over which we were to pass, as made me nearer retiring than coming forward; which, nevertheless, at length i ventured to do, and am (god be thanked), with my wife, safely got to clifton (near loughborough), where i remain yet, the worse of the two, by reason of a great cold i have taken." even a good many years later the roads were in a bad way. in , lady russell writes to her husband from tunbridge wells: "i do really think, if i could have imagined the illness of the journey, it would have discouraged me: it is not to be expressed how bad the way is from seven oaks; but our horses did exceeding well; and spence very diligent, often off his horse to lay hold of the coach." smiles, in his _lives of the engineers_, gives an account of the great north road, the principal thoroughfare into scotland, from a tract published in by thomas mace, one of the clerks of trinity college, cambridge:-- "the writer there addressed himself to the king, partly in prose and partly in verse, complaining greatly of the 'wayes, which are so grossly foul and bad,' and suggesting various remedies. he pointed out that much ground 'is now spoiled and trampled down in all wide roads, where coaches and carts take liberty to pick and chuse for their best advantages; besides, such sprawling and straggling of coaches and carts utterly confound the road in all wide places, so that it is not only unpleasurable, but extreme perplexin and cumbersome both to themselves and all horse travellers.' "but mace's principal complaint was of the innumerable controversies, quarrellings, and disturbances, caused by the pack-horse men in their struggles as to which convoy should pass along the cleaner parts of the road. from what he states, it would seem that these disturbances, daily committed by uncivil, refractory, and rude russian-like rake-shames, in contesting for the way, too often proved mortal, and certainly were of very bad consequences to many. he recommended a quick and prompt punishment in all such cases. 'no man,' said he, 'should be pestered by giving the way (sometimes) to hundreds of pack-horses, panniers, whifflers (_i.e._ paltry fellows), coaches, waggons, wains, carts, or whatsoever others; which continually are very grievous to weary and loaden travellers; but more especially near the city and upon a market-day, when, a man having travelled a long and tedious journey, his horse well-nigh spent, shall sometimes be compelled to cross out of his way twenty times in one mile's riding, by the irregularity and peevish crossness of such-like whifflers and market-women; yea, although their panniers be clearly empty, they will stoutly contend for the way with weary travellers, be they never so many, or almost of what quality soever.' 'nay,' said he further, 'i have often known travellers, and myself very often, to have been necessitated to stand stock-still behind a standing cart or waggon, on most beastly and insufferable deep wet wayes, to the great endangering of our horses, and neglect of important business; nor durst we adventure to stir (for most imminent danger of those deep rutts and unreasonable ridges) till it has pleased mister carter to jog on, which we have taken very kindly.'" these were the sort of roads the posts had to travel in the seventeenth century; but fortunately the horses were suited to the conditions. with respect to these, moryson says, in his _itinerary_ ( ), that: "the horses are strong, and for journies indefatigable; for the english, especially northern men, ride from daybreak to the evening without drawing bit, neither sparing their horses nor themselves." in considering the speed of the posts and the endeavours made to accelerate them, it is well to bear in mind the condition of the highways. footnotes: [footnote : this petition has already been referred to as establishing the fact that before witherings' inland posts, the postmasters on the western road had already established a weekly post for the public.] chapter iii we now come to an important period of witherings' connection with the post office. in june , the following scheme of public posts for inland letters was propounded; it is attributed to witherings:-- "proposition for settling a 'staffeto' or packet post betwixt london and all parts of his majesty's dominions for carrying and recarrying his subjects' letters. the clear profits to go towards the payment of the postmasters of the roads of england, for which his majesty is now charged with £ per annum." the chief points of the proposal are: "that an office or counting-house should be established in london for receiving letters; that letters to edinburgh and other places along that road should be put into a 'portmantle,' with particular bags directed to postmasters on the road; for instance, a bag should be directed to cambridge, where letters were to be delivered, taking the same port (postage) as was then paid to the carriers, which was d. for a single letter, and so according to bigness. at cambridge a foot-post was to be provided with a known badge of his majesty's arms, who on market-days was to go to all towns within , , or miles to receive and deliver letters, and to bring back those he received to cambridge, before the return of the 'portmantle' out of scotland, when the letters being put into a little bag, the said bag was to be put into the 'portmantle'; that the 'portmantle' should go forward night and day without stay; that the port should be advanced in proportion to the distance the letter is carried; that a horse should be provided for carrying letters to towns which lie far off the main roads, as, for example, hull. similar arrangements were to be made on the road to westchester, and thence to ireland; to shrewsbury and the marches of wales; to exeter and plymouth; to canterbury and dover; to colchester and harwich; to norwich and yarmouth. by these means, letters which were then carried by carriers or foot-posts or miles a day (so that it was full two months before any answer could be received from scotland or ireland) would go miles in one day and night. at this rate of travelling, it was declared that news would come from the coast towns to london 'sooner than thought.' "in the first place, it will be a great furtherance to the correspondency betwixt london and scotland, and london and ireland, and great help to trades and true affection of his majesty's subjects betwixt these kingdoms, which, for want of true correspondency of letters, is now destroyed; and a thing above all things observed by all other nations. "as for example:-- "if any of his majesty's subjects shall write to madrid in spain, he shall receive answer sooner and surer than he shall out of scotland or ireland. the letters being now carried by carriers or foot-posts or miles a day, it is full two months before any answer can be received from scotland or ireland to london, while by this conveyance all letters shall go miles at the least in one day and night. "it will, secondly, be alleged, that it is a wrong to the carriers that bring the said letters. to which is answered, a carrier sets out from westchester to london on the monday, which is miles. the said carrier is eight days upon the road, and upon his coming to london, delivers his letters of advice for his reloading to westchester again, and is forced to stay in london two days, at extraordinary charges, before he can get his reloading ready. by this conveyance letters will be from westchester to london in one day and night, so that the said carriers' loading will be ready a week before the said carriers shall come to london; and they no sooner come to london, but may be ready to depart again. the like will fall out in all other parts. "besides, if at any time there should be occasion to write from any of the coast towns in england or scotland to london, by this conveyance letters will be brought immediately; and from all such places there will be weekly advice to and from london. "as for example:-- "any fight at sea; any distress of his majesty's ships (which god forbid); any wrong offered by any other nation to any of the coasts of england, or any of his majesty's forts, the posts being punctually paid, the news will come 'sooner than thought.' "it will be, thirdly, alleged that this service may be pretended by the lord stanhope to be in his grant of postmaster of england. to which is answered, neither lord stanhope nor any other that ever enjoyed the postmaster's place of england had any benefit of the carrying and recarrying of the subjects' letters; besides, the profit is to pay the posts of the road, which, next unto his majesty, belong to the office of the said lord stanhope; and by determination of any of the said posts' places, by death or otherwise, the lord stanhope will make as much of them as hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of all their places,--the lord stanhope now enjoying what either he or any of his predecessors hath ever heretofore done to this day." the foregoing scheme of public posts is doubtless an amplification of that drafted by witherings in , already quoted. witherings refers, in the closing paragraph of his scheme, to possible difficulties with lord stanhope; but he meets this by saying that "lord stanhope will make as much of them"--that is, the deputy postmasters' places--"as hath heretofore been made by this said advancement of all their places." the meaning of this appears to be, that stanhope would still receive his fee of £ , s. d. as chief postmaster of england, would appoint the deputies of the roads, and continue to receive payment for the sale to them of their places. the plan being now ripe to be put into operation, the king issued a proclamation, dated at bagshot the st july , "for the settling of the letter office of england and scotland." the general features of the scheme are described to be: the laying of regular posts between london and edinburgh to perform the double journey every week,--the travelling to be done in six days,--the laying of weekly posts on the other principal roads out of london, the providing of by-posts to serve the towns lying beyond the main roads. the postage rates prescribed were:-- for a single letter under miles d. " " " between and " d. " " " above " d. " " " to scotland or its borders d. when several letters were made up in one packet, the charge was to be according to the "bigness" of the packet. the postage both for outward and inward letters was to be payable in london. on the western road to plymouth the charge was to be as near as possible the same as that heretofore charged. this must refer to the system of posts already established by the deputy postmasters on that road before alluded to. the several postmasters of the roads were required to keep one or two horses in their stables ready for the service as witherings might direct them; and it was commanded that on the day on which the mail would be due, these horses were not to be let or sent forth "upon any other occasion whatsoever." for the hire of the horses, the post-messenger was to pay - / d. per horse per mile. all other messengers or foot-posts on the roads covered by witherings were to be put down, so far as the carriage of letters was concerned, exception being made only in respect of "common known carriers, or particular messenger to be sent on purpose with a letter by any man for his own occasions, or a letter by a friend." these, then, are the lines upon which the first general system of inland posts in great britain, for the use and convenience of the public, was launched by the state. there was this curious complication about the business. thomas witherings was already postmaster for foreign parts, out of the king's dominions; charles lord stanhope was master of the posts in england and for foreign parts, within the king's dominions, stanhope's sphere being restricted to the appointing of deputy postmasters on the roads and managing the conveyance of letters for the king and state officials; and now a third control is introduced by the appointment of witherings to manage a system of public posts, to be grafted upon the chain of deputy postmasters already existing upon the roads and under the direction of stanhope. such complex arrangements were not likely to work smoothly, nor did they. the postmasters of stanhope were not all in a good position to perform their part in the new system of posts, as will be seen by the following representation made by the mayor and others of coventry to secretary coke on the th april :--"by his letter of the th march, they perceive that many complaints are made of the backwardness of their city to furnish post-horses for persons employed in his majesty's service between that and ireland. they find that john fletcher is postmaster within their city, authorised by lord stanhope. fletcher, by reason of poverty and lameness, keeps his house, but employs john scott, another poor aged man, as his deputy. scott acknowledged that fletcher had not had for a month past above three horses, and that all of them are lame. they sent the sheriff of the city to see how the postmaster was provided for the said service, by whom answer was returned that neither fletcher nor scott have so much as one horse, mare, or nag. by an order of the council, it was ordered that the postmaster, not being able to find sufficient numbers of horses for packets and persons employed in his majesty's service, should have a supply of horses out of the country within twelve miles' distance from coventry. they also find that the postmaster, by himself and agents, makes composition with the towns about the city, and has taken yearly of them several sums of money to spare them from the service, by which means the burden of the whole service falls upon the city, which hath occasioned many late complaints. the writers are in great hope that some speedy reformation may be had therein. they recommend to that place edward mosse, an innholder in their city." in order the better to understand the position in which the country postmasters found themselves about this period, and later, it will be well to quote some of the petitions sent forward by the postmasters, most of which relate to arrears of pay. and it is not unlikely that the demands for arrears were due to the new scheme of witherings, under which the postmasters would no longer be allowed to carry letters for the public on their own account:-- . "petition of william parbo, post of sandwich, to the lords of the treasury:--about years since petitioner bought the said post's place in the name of a poor kinsman, arthur ruck, then a child, intending the profits to be applied towards his education. being much impoverished by the forbearance of his post wages for ten years and a half, petitioner is unable longer to maintain his kinsman at the university of oxford. if his arrearage of d. per diem were paid, he should be a loser above £ , he being at charges of boat-hire to carry his majesty's letters aboard his majesty's ships, and of warning-fires on shore, besides of horse and man by land. prays payment of his arrears, amounting to £ , s." . "petition of alexander nubie to the council:--petitioner being post of dartford, is forced to keep sixteen horses for the performance of the service, which is an extraordinary great charge, and for which he has received no pay these two years and a half, so that there is due to him about £ . is poor and in debt, and dare not go abroad for fear of arrest by creditors by whom he has been furnished with hay and other provisions. prays for protection until he may receive his money." . "petition of thomas hookes, servant to the prince, to secretary coke:--petitioner's father, nicholas hookes, lately deceased, executed the post of conway, co. carnarvon, for years. about six years since petitioner was appointed to the said place by lord stanhope. understanding that all posts are in person to supply their places, petitioner, being tied to attendance on the prince, prays the secretary to grant the place to petitioner's brother, henry hookes, who was living in the said town, and also to give order for £ , arrears due for the same place." . "william hugessen, postmaster of dover, to secretary windebank:--has served as postmaster in the port of dover many years, and keeps the most convenient and fairest house betwixt london and dover, and where ambassadors generally lodge. is behindhand of his pay about £ . if there be an order that no man may enjoy the place except he serve by himself, he desires that edward whetstone, who is his tenant in the house called the greyhound of dover, may have the place upon such conditions as others, but if possible in hugessen's name as formerly." . "march th.--petition of edmund bawne, postmaster of ferrybridge, co. york, to the council:--after the death of petitioner's grandfather, who served as postmaster in the place abovesaid thirty years, petitioner, for £ , by his grandfather three years since paid lord stanhope, was admitted into the same place. upon questioning lord stanhope's patent, petitioner gave mr. witherings £ more for his settlement, and was, by the signatures of secretaries coke and windebank, and witherings, admitted into the same. petitioner's grandfather is owing for wages at least £ from his majesty. without any misdemeanour, being now sought to be ousted, he prays relief." these various petitions set forth not only that the country postmasters were being badly treated in regard to their pay,--this pay being what may conveniently be described as their retaining-fee,--but that there was some stirring-up by witherings of derelictions of duty on the part of the postmasters. allusion has already been made to the fact that matters could not go along smoothly with the whole system of posts, seeing that the control was in two sets of hands, and that the spheres of action were not properly divided. so a blow shortly fell upon lord stanhope. this must, apparently, have been unlooked for by stanhope, for, shortly before his fall, a proclamation was issued by the king bearing stanhope's signature. it had regard to the duties of the postmasters, and is supposed to have been issued early in the year . its chief provisions were: that ( ) in all places where posts were laid for the packet, the postmasters were to have the benefit and pre-eminence of letting, furnishing, and appointing of horses to all riding in post; that ( ) none were to be regarded as riding on public affairs unless with special commission signed by one of our principal secretaries of state, or six at least of the privy council, etc.; that the postmasters or owners of the horses were to be allowed to claim - / d. per mile (besides the guide's groats); but that private persons riding post were to pay such rate as might be agreed upon between the parties; that ( ) no horse was to be ridden away until the fare was first paid, nor taken beyond the next stage without the owner's consent; baggage was not to exceed lbs., and no horse was to be ridden above seven miles an hour in summer, or six in winter; and that ( ) the constables and magistrates were to take up horses for the postmaster's service in the posts when the postmaster was himself short of horses. not long after the issue of the proclamation above referred to, lord stanhope was driven from office. the immediate cause is not apparent; but the fact is dealt with in the following petition, dated march :-- "petition of charles lord stanhope, late postmaster of england and wales, to the king:-- "there is due to the petitioner for his fee of marks per annum (£ , s. d.), as master and comptroller of the posts, being in arrear for years and more. £ , s. d., which petitioner, when he enjoyed the said place, was in some sort better able to forbear, and therefore did not importune for the same; but now, having resigned the said office, full sore against his will, but in obedience to his majesty's pleasure, signified to him by the commissioners for the posts,--the archbishop of canterbury, the lord keeper, the lord treasurer, lord cottington, and the secretaries coke and windebank,--he has lost divers profits incident thereunto, which were a great help to his support (his other means left by his father being small as yet, and most of it in his mother's hands), whereby, since the loss of his office, he is disabled to maintain himself in the degree of an english baron. in consideration of his free yielding of his place, prays order for payment of the arrear, and some satisfaction for his office. a man of quality, and honourable knight, would willingly have given petitioner £ for his office." lord stanhope states that he resigned his office "sore against his will," and "in obedience to his majesty's pleasure"; but no hint is given of the immediate cause for this pressure being applied. an event happened in , however, which may have had some bearing upon the present matter. on the nd of march in that year, the king desired, by means of the speaker, sir john finch, to dissolve parliament before the commons could proceed with certain business which they had in hand. in order, however, to carry their protest, certain patriots in the house, denzil hollis among the rest, laid hands upon the speaker and held him in the chair while the house voted its protest. in consequence of the violence thus shown to the speaker, the chief actors in the scene were thrown a few days thereafter into the tower. while these men lay in confinement, they were visited by certain of their friends. in a paper dated , found among the coke manuscripts, and headed "the lieutenant of the tower's information of such as had visited the prisoners in the tower, from their first imprisonment to the th march ," it is recorded that "the lord hollis (brother of denzil) brought the lord stanhope, postmaster, and other persons to visit denzil hollis." it is quite possible from this, and other circumstances which have not come down to us, that stanhope may have been suspected of sympathy with the parliamentary party, and that, on that account, he was no longer to be relied upon as a faithful adherent of the king. although the removal of stanhope was not effected till , at which period the tension between the royalists and the popular party was becoming more severe, it is possible that the event of the tower may have had its share in bringing about his loss of office. in a petition of lord stanhope's in the year of the restoration, , on the subject of the loss of his office, some further information of the way in which he was "removed" is given by stanhope. he says, that "when by the contrivance of one witherings, and some great persons, he was summoned to bring his patent before the council, and, after writing his name upon the back, to leave it there, words purporting to be a surrender of the patent were afterwards written above his name, and copied on to the enrolment; the late king offered him a new patent if he would agree that sir henry vane, senior, should be joined with him; but this petitioner declined, being advised to appeal to the parliament then about to meet," etc. if this be a correct statement of what happened, there is little doubt that stanhope was deprived of his place by the operation of a gross job. in connection with his petition of , stanhope produced a copy of a letter from mr. prideaux, dated th september (of whom we shall hear later on as attorney general to cromwell, and more intimately connected with the posts), about erecting stages in all the roads for the service of the state; and this letter was held to show that prideaux recognised stanhope's right to the office. the committee who examined stanhope's claims in were of opinion that "he should be put into a position to recover the profits of the office since the th april "; but it does not appear that he succeeded eventually in his suit. according to rymer's _foedera_, the king granted to thomas witherings, by letters patent, on the nd day of june , the office of postmaster of foreign parts during life, which office, in , had been granted in the joint names of william frizell and thomas witherings. the details of this grant, if such were made, are not given; and it is a curious fact that, before and after witherings' death, the grant put forward as the ground for witherings' interest in the foreign post office was not that mentioned by rymer, but the joint grant made in favour of frizell and witherings of an earlier date. in the same month (june ), a grant was made to secretaries coke and windebank "of the office of postmaster within his majesty's dominions for their lives, if they so long continue secretaries, with the like fee of £ , s. d. (per annum), to be paid quarterly out of the exchequer, as was formerly granted to lord stanhope, who has surrendered that grant. his majesty thereby annexes the office of postmaster to the principal secretaries for the time being, and declares that the surviving secretary is to surrender this grant to his majesty, who thereupon will grant the said office to the secretaries who for the time shall be, to hold the same while they continue secretaries." following this change, we find, from a letter written by sir john coke to his son, dated the th august , that the secretaries had then appointed witherings their deputy for executing this office. it states that: "your letters come sometimes late. i hope that will, by mr. witherings' posts, be amended. for we, the postmasters general, have made him our deputy, that he may the better accommodate his letter office." so now we have got to this stage, that witherings, being postmaster for foreign parts, was also appointed deputy postmaster general for the inland posts, and there was more likelihood of his plans being successfully carried out. the reader will remember that, in , witherings was for some months suspended from office, and that several claims were made against him, in respect of which he made terms of settlement. one of these claims, not already mentioned, was put forward by endymion porter, groom of the bedchamber; but this claim was met by witherings with a flat denial of any indebtedness. what the grounds were does not appear. but by an opinion given by attorney general bankes in , it seems that on the th september an indenture of deputation of stanhope's place was made in favour of endymion porter and his son george; which deputation of place, in the attorney general's opinion, only referred to the post-work incidental to the forwarding of state despatches, and not "the ordering of the carriage of letters by post to be settled within the kingdom, at the charge of particular persons and not of his majesty." it is to be remarked that the date of porter's indenture almost coincides with the date upon which witherings' inland posts were started; and the idea occurs to us, that possibly the groom of the bedchamber was brought into the business with the view of providing a channel of access to his majesty for the furtherance of stanhope's interests. be this as it may, porter, having had a taste of the post office, seemed desirous of obtaining stanhope's place wholly to himself. on the th april he writes a letter to secretary windebank, of which the following is the import:--"the secretary is best acquainted how long porter followed the business of the postmaster's place, being one to whom it was referred; and porter has intimated to his majesty his former intentions towards porter in that business, to which he has received so gracious an answer from his _sacred mouth_ as has much lessened porter's sickness; yet he fears, by something his majesty said, that he imagines porter is not willing to have lord stanhope's patent made void. begs the secretary to let his majesty know that porter has no disposition nor thought to be averse to any intention of his majesty. he hopes his majesty does it for the good of porter (_his poor servant and creature_); and if he be thought worthy of the office, he will make it such for his majesty's honour and profit as he shall have no cause to think it ill bestowed." "sacred mouth," and "his poor servant and creature"! such expressions may have been common at the period under review; but they would be sadly out of place in the present day. the english language is rich enough in figure to convey sentiments of submission, and even veneration, without involving the writer in such wretched abjection. may it not be that the doctrine of divine right is responsible for this tone of servility in a large degree? a better specimen of self-effacement in a petition could not be quoted than that of denzil hollis to the king about , found among secretary coke's manuscripts. it will be remembered that hollis was one of the parliament men who gave serious offence to the king by holding speaker finch in the chair. as a punishment for the rash act, he was cast out of the sunshine of royal favour and thrown into prison. from this changed position, hollis, patriot and parliament man, penned the following petition:--"most gracious sovereign, your majesty be pleased to vouchsafe leave to your most afflicted suppliant again to cast himself at your royal feet, there still to implore your majesty's grace and favour, for he is no longer able to bear the weight either of your majesty's displeasure or of his own grief; and he languisheth under it so much the more by how much he hath been heretofore comforted with the sweet influence of your majesty's goodness to him, and gracious acceptation of him. his younger years were blessed with his attendances upon your princely person, and it was the height of his ambition to end his days in your service; nor did he ever willingly entertain the least thought which might move your majesty to cast him down from that pitch into this precipice of your indignation; but in anything he may have failed, it hath been through misfortune, and the error of his judgment. imitate the dread sovereign the god of heaven, whose image you bear here upon earth, both in yourself in regard to your royal excellencies and in relation to us your loyal and obedient subjects. he is best pleased with the sacrifice of a sorrowful heart, and accepts only that person who mourns because he hath offended him; and such a sacrifice do i here offer myself unto your majesty, a heart burdened with the sense of your majesty's displeasure, prostrate at your royal feet with all humble submission waiting till your majesty will reach out the golden sceptre of princely compassion to raise me out of this lowest dust, and so, by breathing new life into me, make me able and capable to do your majesty some acceptable service. and, as i am bound in duty, i shall ever pray for the increase of your majesty's happiness and the continuance of your glorious reign. this is the humble petition and prayer of your majesty's most obedient and loyal subject and servant, denzil holles." hollis was not taken back to bask in the desired sunshine; and biography has left upon record that he was a "man of firm integrity, a lover of his country and of liberty, a man of great courage and of as great pride. he had the soul of a stubborn old roman in him!" there are patriots and patriots. a contrast to hollis is found in a contemporary patriot, lilburne, of whom it is recorded that, "whilst he was whipped at the cart, and stood in the pillory, he uttered many bold speeches against tyranny of bishops, etc.; and, when his head was in the hole of the pillory, he scattered sundry copies of pamphlets (said to be seditious) and tossed them among the people, taking them out of his pocket; whereupon, the court of star chamber, then sitting, being informed, immediately ordered lilburne to be gagged during the residue of the time he was to stand in the pillory, which was done accordingly; and, when he could not speak, he stamped with his feet, thereby intimating to the beholders he would still speak were his mouth at liberty." the higher places in the post office were apparently much sought after, and there must have been a good deal of court manoeuvring on the part of those in possession to remain in, and of suitors who desired possession to get in. here is the letter of another candidate, william lake, who gives something of his personal history in his letter. it is addressed to secretary windebank from putney park, on the th august :-- "i enclose copy of my former petition, which the duke of lennox presented to his majesty. i hope you will find my demands such as his majesty may approve of. he may be possessed that i acquired some very great estate under my master, the late lord treasurer, but it was far otherwise. i was always more careful of my honour and my honesty than of increasing my fortune. my main hope was that, by my lord's means, i might have obtained some grant from his majesty which might have eased me of the trouble of being a suitor. i know that his lordship meant me some good in that place which witherings how enjoys, whereof i give a little touch in my petition. how i missed it, _nescio quid, nec quare_. i entreat that, when you move his majesty on my behalf, you would affirm that all the fortune i got does not amount to above £ , which is but a small thing to maintain myself, my wife, and six children. neither will i be so immoderate in my suit as to desire more than what the late king once thought me worthy of: i mean the place for the latin tongue." besides the officers of the post office bearing the title of chief postmasters or postmasters-general, there was an officer attached to the court called the deputy postmaster of the court. what his precise duties were, is not very apparent; but he probably looked after the despatch of letters over short distances from the court, whereever situated, and arranged for post stages being temporarily set up in places where they did not usually exist, when the court was on progress. the court deputy postmaster did not, however, enjoy any greater punctuality, as regards payment of wages, than the postmasters of the roads. the following petition of proves this:--"petition of john wytton, deputy postmaster of the court, daily attending your majesty, to the king. for his wages of s. per diem there is due to him about £ ; neither has he allowance of diet, or horsemeat, or any other perquisite, the nonpayment whereof has brought him much into debt. some of his creditors have petitioned the lord chamberlain to have the benefit of the law against him. he has granted the request, unless the petitioner give satisfaction by the middle of michaelmas term. prays that the lord treasurer may make present payment of what is due to petitioner, and meanwhile that he may have a protection." it appears that wytton was not the real holder of the place, although by delegation he executed the office; for by a petition laid before secretary coke in , he states that in the first year of charles' reign, buckbury, the king's postmaster, assigned to him the execution of the place, and that for his pains he was to receive the third part of buckbury's wages when they were paid. wytton was turned out of the place in , when there were for wages eight years and a half due to him, amounting to £ . this would no doubt be one-third of the sum due to buckbury. "i can make it appear by bills upon oath," says wytton, "that during the time the debt grew i have disbursed almost £ out of purse in executing the place. and i do humbly conceive that my own attendance, my keeping of lodgings and horses in town for eight years and a half, may be thought worthy of the remainder of the sum above mentioned." in july , a warrant was issued to secretaries coke and windebank, masters and comptrollers-general of the posts, for a sum of money to be paid to the postmasters of the roads, up to the th september following, as under mentioned:-- per diem _s._ _d._ thomas swinsed, of ware thomas hagger, " rayston ralph shert, " babraham john cotterill, " newmarket john riggshis, and } late " huntingdon william kilborne, } james cropper, " witham richard leeming, " grantham thomas atkinson, " newark edward wright, " scrooby edmund hayford, " doncaster edmund bawne, " ferrybridge thomas tayler, " tadcaster john howsman, " york william thompson, " wetherby andrew wilkinson, " boroughbridge john scarlet, " north allerton john glover, " darlington william sherrington, " durham george swan, " newcastle john pye, " morpeth alexander armorer, " alnwick thomas armorer, " belford thomas carre, " berwick james ware, " dartford thomas lond, " gravesend richard jennings, " sittingbourne thomas parks, " london roger pimble, " charing cross john briscoe, " barnet robert story, " st. albans john gerrard, " brickhill andrew clark, " daventry john fletcher, " coventry ralph castlon, " birmingham robert francis, " chester james wilkinson, " staines gilbert davies, " hartford bridge, hants anthony spittle, " basingstoke richard miles, late " salisbury roger bedbury, now " " nicholas compton, " shaftesbury john smith, " sherborne robert searle, " honiton thomas newman, " exeter samuel smith, " brentwood william neale, " chelmsford robert bunny, " witham henry barron, " looe joshua blaxton, " perryn (penryn) gilbert davies, " hartford bridge william brooks, " portsmouth rowland roberts, late " langfenny} richard roberts, now " " } william folkingham " stamford these seem at first sight to be small allowances to the postmasters; but we must be under no illusion as to this; and it is proper to remember, what has already been pointed out, that in all cases of money payments at this period, and mentioned in these pages, the figures must be quadrupled in order to estimate their value in relation to the present worth of money. the payments here ordered may have been intended to keep the principal postmasters quiet until a new arrangement, promulgated under his majesty's directions on the th july (hereafter to be quoted), should come into force. the date fixed for its taking effect was michaelmas next ensuing. but the payments above authorised did not by any means clear off the indebtedness of the state towards the postmasters; for by a petition of the postmasters to the house of lords in december , it is set forth that "in the year they were upwards of £ , in arrear of their wages, whereof they have never received one penny." that means that, according to our present value of money, the postmasters were in arrears of pay to the extent of about a quarter of a million sterling. in looking over the post stages mentioned in the foregoing list, and tracing them upon the map, whether from london to berwick, london to the stages in cornwall, or in the other directions, one cannot fail to be struck with the very direct courses which the post routes followed. the lines taken are straight as an arrow; and considering that the roads were not laid out by engineers, but were the product of a mere habit of travel, worked out by packmen with their horses, and travellers making for a preconceived destination, the exact result attained to is very remarkable. on the great north road, the stages are in many cases the same as those which served in the days of mail coaches two centuries later. shortly after the appointment of the two principal secretaries of state, coke and windebank, to be masters and comptrollers-general of the posts, witherings being their deputy for the inland posts and himself also foreign postmaster, a very important document was drawn up for the governance of the posts generally. it is as follows:-- "by the king. "orders for the furtherance of our service, as well to our pacquets and letters, as for riding in post; specially set downe, and commanded to be observed, where our postes are established within our county of___________. * * * * * "orders for the pacquet. "first, that no pacquets or letter shall be sent by poste, or bind any poste to ride therewith in poste, but such as shall be directed first for our speciall affaires, and subscribed by the writer's name or sender thereof; neither shall it be holden for our affaires, but as the same shall be directed and subscribed by our high treasurer, lord warden of the cinque ports, lord admirall, principall secretaries of state, being masters and comptrollers of our postes, lord lieutenant of the said county, writing from the court, or otherwise to the court, subscribed by any admirall, or vice-admirall from the narrow-seas, lieutenant of dover castle, or mayor of any port town, ambassadours, or agents beyond the seas for the time being, or deputy lieutenant of our said county, writing to any of those personages afore-named, or to the body of our privy councell. " . all pacquets or letters so directed shall be carryed by the postes in poste from stage to stage onley, and not otherwise nor further, they being dated and signed first on the outside by the sender or writer, and shall run therewith in summer, vizt from the first of april to the last of september, after miles the houre, and miles the houre in winter, which is the rest of the yeare, as the wayes and weather afford. " . and that it may appeare from time to time (as oft as shal be needfull) with what expedition the service is by our posts performed, every post shall keep a faire paper book to enter the pacquets in, being so brought unto him, with the day, month, and houre they came to his hands, two leather bags lined with cotten or bayes, to carry the pacquet in, and hornes to sound, as oft as he meets and sees company comming, or foure times in every mile. " . and to the end our posts attending thus our special service, may performe their several duties in that behalfe, our pleasure is, that they and every of them shal brook and enjoy the benefit of all former favours and immunities by our predecessors allowed them: namely, that they and their servants be holden free and exempted from all summons, prests and personal attendance at assises, sessions, inquests, and musters. " . every poste in his severall stage is commanded, and hereby required to carry out and in once a week, the maile of letters that shall come from, and goe to the letter office of london, free without charge. and to that end, are from time to time to have in readinesse one good gelding or mare sadled against the houre the maile shall come that way, and not to detaine the maile above halfe a quarter of an houre at no time; and run with the same after miles in winter, and miles in summer, which is to be done in consideration that the master of the letter office is to pay them their wages according to the reglement set downe by the lords committees; and that to begin at michaelmas next, and he that shall faile, to be discharged from his place. and to enter the houre of the day or night upon a label, which is to be annexed to the said male, with their owne names and the names of the stages. " . every poste is required to deliver all such letters in the country, either at or neere his stage, as shall be sent to him from the master of the letter office, and to receive port according to the taxe set upon every letter; and to be accomtable for such moneys as they shall receive at the end of every three months. and likewise to returne such letters to london as shall be brought to them in the country. and in case post paid be written upon any letter that shall come from london, they are not to take port for it in the country againe. " . and that it may appeare from time to time when and as often as it shall be required, with what care and diligence the service is at all hands applyed and performed--first, he that is appointed by our masters and comptrollers generall of our posts, to attend this service at the court, and also every other post-master shall keep a large and faire ledger booke to enter our packets in, as they shall be brought to him or them, with the name of the poste who brought the same, and the day of the month, houre of the day or night that they came first to their hands, together with the name of him or them, by whom or unto whom they were subscribed and directed, taking and entering onely such for our pacquets as come warranted, as is aforesaid. " . and further our will and pleasure is, that every post-master shall write upon a labell fastened to every or any our packets, the time of his receite thereof, and not on the packet or letter, as hath been disorderly used. * * * * * "orders for thorow-postes in ________. "first, as the service of the pacquet so the horsing of all thorow-posts (through posts) and persons riding in poste, with horne or guide, by commission or otherwise, shall be performed by our standing posts in their severall stages, who to that end shall keep and have in a readinesse under their direction a sufficient number of poste-horses, with saddles, bridles and furniture convenient; and if it shall fall out, that by the repaire of ambassadors, or other residents of service, men riding in poste, that is to say, with horn or guide, come so thick, or in such numbers, that their ordinary provision will not suffice, then the constables of the places where they dwell, with the aid and assistance of the cheife magistrates there, and the countries adjoyning (being required in our name) shall take up, bring in, and supply the posts with horses and with furniture where they may be had or hired. " . and that it be not any way a let or impeachment to the liberty of any man riding on his own or ordinary affaires, within the realme at his or their pleasure; it is hereby meant that all strangers borne, specially riding with horne or guide by themselves, or in company of our ordinary messengers or posts for the low countries, or france, all ambassadors, riding or sending on their princes affairs, and all other whatsoever, riding with horne and guide, shall take and change their horses onley of the posts, and at the post-house, of that place, or with his consent, and appointment, they taking for each horse after the rate of iijd. ( d.) the mile beside the guide groat. " . and to prevent all advantages of unconscionable dealing, by such as keep horses to hire, in the horsing of strangers beyond the ordinary stages, to the wronging of our posts, and injury to the beast and the rider. it is found expedient, and our will and pleasure is, that all strangers borne, as well going forth of the realme, as comming into the same, through our county of____, although it be about their owne and private affaires, without horne or guide, shall likewise be horsed by our ordinary posts from stage to stage, or with the posts knowledge and consent, not taking for each horse above iijd. the mile. " . it shall not be lawfull for any so riding in poste, to take and ride away the horse or horses of any man, not having first and aforehand fully paid and satisfied the hire, nor ride them further than the next stage, without the knowledg and consent of the poste of that place, nor charge any horse taken to ride poste with any male (mail) or burthen (besides the rider) that exceeds the weight of pound. and if it shall happen, any to disobey these our commandements, and orders, to the manifest wrong of our posts, injury of any owner, or hurt of his beast; the officers or magistrates of the place, upon complaint thereof made, shall stay the party offending, till satisfaction be made, or sufficient security given to repay the dammage. but if it so fall out, that the obstinacy of any herein offending, require further punishment than the ordinary power of the magistrate of the place can or may conveniently inflict. then we require our said master and comptroller of the posts, upon notice thereof given him or them, to send for the party or parties to answer their conptempt. " . this being in generall our will and command, for the speedy, safe and orderly expedition of our publike dispatches and occurrents, as well in writing for our own affaires, as riding in poste, whatsoever besides shall fall out more particularly to the behoofe of our said posts, or ease of their horses, that in these kind of services are most subject to abuses, our like care is specially to be respected; and to that end we doe hereby eftsoones recommend both the one and the other to the wisedome and protection of our said masters of the posts, and the aid of all magistrates and others that love the furtherance of our service, or regard our safety or pleasure. "given at our court at oatlands the day of july in the thirteenth yeare of our raigne, , of great brittaine, france and ireland. "signed by his majesty, and subscribed by sir john coke, and sir francis windebanke, knights; our principall secretaries of state, and masters and comptrollers generall of our posts. "'god save the king.'" * * * * * this ordinance is important in two or three particulars. it raised the price per mile for post horses from - / d, as provided by stanhope's notice (issued in the king's name a few months previously), to d. per mile; it gave the postmasters a practical monopoly of hiring-out horses on the roads; but in return they were required to carry the regular mails within their several stages once a week "free without charge," and to deliver letters directed to their own towns and districts. the meaning of the term here used, "free without charge," is not very clear, for immediately thereafter the document proceeds to say that the work was to be done "in consideration that the master of the letter office is to pay them their wages according to the reglement set downe by the lords committees." what this reglement was it is not now possible to ascertain, for unfortunately there is a hiatus in the records of the lords' proceedings from to , within which period the events to which we refer occurred. it may be that for the regular weekly service, no mileage rate was to be charged, a revised daily wage being granted which, together with the additional halfpenny per mile authorised to be levied upon travellers, would remunerate the postmasters for carrying the mail. but the postmasters were further required, apparently, to convey letters sent "express" to or from the king and certain specified officials, from stage to stage, without fee or payment; the arrangement being a great relief to the king's exchequer, inasmuch as, on many occasions, such conveyance would dispense with the necessity for sending through-messengers with the letters to destination. labels or way-bills were also first introduced under this order, and the markings on the letters themselves discontinued. it should be borne in mind that at this period the country was in a very considerable state of commotion. charles had had a taste of parliament early in his reign, and he did not like it. he resented the trammels that such a body of men imposed upon his actions; and he desired to be a real king, like the continental potentates. accordingly, he dispensed with the calling together a parliament during the period from to : he ruled by means of a council, who made the laws, directed public affairs, and generally guided the vessel of the state. his principal secretaries were sir john coke and sir francis windebank; his other chief advisers were laud and wentworth. in , there was much business for the post, owing to the tension between the king and laud on the one hand and the people of scotland on the other, over the matter of episcopacy. communications were constantly kept up between london and scotland, baillie, principal of glasgow university, mentioning that "from the th of july to the th of august, the posts rann thick betwixt the court and the counsell, which sat every other day, to finde means for peaceable introduction of the service." in reading the history of this period, it is curious to observe what elements were at work; among these, the active interest that women took in the question of church service is noticeable. everyone knows the story of the throwing of the stool at the preacher by jenny geddes in the church of st. giles in edinburgh. if she were but an instance of the feelings aroused generally among the women of the east, there is evidence that the women of the west were equally determined to have nothing to do with the service-book. baillie writes thus of the preachings at the synod of glasgow in : "mr william annan (moderator of ayr) on the st of timothy, 'i command that prayers be made for all men,' in the last half of his sermon, from the making of prayers, ran out upon the liturgie, and spake for the defence of it in whole, and sundry most plausible parts of it, as well, in my poor judgment, as any in the isle of brittain could have done, considering all circumstances; howsoever, he did maintain, to the dislyk of all in ane unfit tyme, that which was hinging in suspense betwixt the king and the country. of his sermon among us in the synod, not a word; but in the towne among the women, a great dinne. to-morrow (next day) mr john lindsey, at the bishop's command, did preach.... at the ingoing of the pulpit, it is said that some of the women in his ear assured him, that if he should twitch the service book in his sermon, he should be rent out of the pulpit; he took the advyce and lett that matter alone. at the outgoing of the church, about or of our honestest women, in one voyce, before the bishope and magistrates, did fall in rayling, cursing, scolding with clamours on mr. william annan; some two of the meanest was taken to the tolbooth. all the day over, up and down the streets where he went, he got threats of sundry in words and looks; bot after supper, whill needleslie he will go to visit the bishop, who had taken his leave with him, he is not sooner on the causey, at nine of clock, in a mirk night, with three or four ministers with him, but some hundredths of inraged women, of all qualities are about him, with neaves, and staves, and peats, but no stones; they beat him sore; his cloake, ruffe, hatt, were rent; however, upon his cryes, and candles set out from many windows, he escaped all bloody wounds; yet he was in great danger, even of killing. this tumult was so great, that it was not thought meet to search, either in plotters or actors of it, for numbers of the best qualitie would have been found guiltie." it is no wonder that in an opposition such as this to the pet scheme of charles and his buttress laud, taking shape in a terrible flutter of scottish petticoats, the posts between the court and scotland "rann thick." in the year , england appears to have been visited by a plague, which about the month of september had extended to hull. on the th of that month, secretary coke writes a letter from bagshot, which is interesting as showing the ideas then entertained as to the methods of preventing the spread of infection. it also attests that the speed of the posts was improving under witherings' management. "this day i received at bagshot yours dated from york the nd, whereby you may see what expedition is now used in the carriage of letters.... he (his majesty) is sorry to hear of the visitation at hull, and well approves your care in prohibiting goods to pass from hull to howden or malton fairs, with other particulars of the proclamation expressed; as to such cautions as were fit to be given to the justices of peace, i doubt not but your provident care will give the board good satisfaction. for the letters which come weekly by post, the manner in other countries is to open and air before the fire all such letters as are bound up with silk thread, pack-thread, or such like, but for letters of bare paper they use no such observance, but suffer them to pass. wherein, nevertheless, if any one that receives any letters from a known infected place will but take that care to air them before the fire, which the secretaries do sometimes practice when we conceive danger, it may be well hoped no inconvenience will ensue." chapter iv witherings had not long put the posts into some kind of order, as regards expedition and regularity, with the result no doubt of increased business and growing profit to himself, when his possession of the office of postmaster for foreign parts excited the covetous heart of windebank--one of the two principal secretaries of state and joint comptroller with coke of the inland posts, and a friend or creature of laud. pigeon-holes in public offices, as elsewhere, have long memories; and a paper referring (as is supposed) to the year has been preserved, containing "observations of secretary windebank for recalling the patent formerly granted to mr. witherings to be postmaster for foreign parts." the principal grounds suggested for getting rid of witherings are the following:--"the inconvenience of suffering such an office to remain in the hands of a person who is no sworn officer. suspicion that his patent was surreptitiously obtained--no signed bill was found. persons who hold the office of postmaster abroad are of so great quality that they disdain to correspond with a man of his mean condition. some satisfaction may be given him, but he has very much enriched himself upon the place. he is said to be worth £ a year in land. the office of postmaster-general being now vested in the secretaries, the carrying of letters is a business of state. if witherings shall insist upon his patent, his majesty may sequester the place into the hands of the secretaries." we cannot say whether witherings was aware of what was hatching in the mind of windebank, but we know that he was not then driven from his office. troubles now arose out of the exclusive privilege of carrying letters as set forth and described in the king's proclamation of the st july . it appears, by an order of council of the th december , that one "jason grover, carrier of ipswich and yarmouth, was taken in custody by a messenger, upon complaint that he had transgressed the proclamation and patent granted to mr. witherings." the lords could not then settle the matter, and jason was discharged upon a bond of £ , to appear at hilary term next, to answer what was alleged against him. in a petition to the council in january , grover gives his version of the affair as follows:--"petitioner, about two months ago, riding on one of his pack-horses with his pack, was arrested by the procurement of mr. witherings, postmaster of england for foreign parts. petitioner remained in the messenger's custody days before he came to this board, when it was ordered that he should attend to be heard the first week in hilary term, and in the meantime petitioner was permitted to follow his vocation. but on the th instant there came a messenger, and summoned petitioner to attend on wednesday then next, all which he has punctually observed, yet mr. witherings threatens that he will not leave petitioner worth a groat." witherings gives his view of the matter in petition to the council about the same time. "about three weeks since," says he, "the _posts_ of norwich and yarmouth petitioned to be released, which was granted, with the proviso that they should attend after the holidays, and in the meantime be comformable to the grant of the letter office by bond, which bond grover of ipswich has already forfeited. on the hearing, mr. hieron, counsel for the _posts_, cast an aspersion on the petitioner that he should say they ought not to be heard by your lordships, which petitioner denies, and doubts not to clear himself of everything else that shall be objected to him. as the _posts_ continue to carry letters contrary to petitioner's grant, he prays the lords to consider the great charge he has been at in settling the conveyance of letters throughout england, scotland, ireland, and other parts beyond the seas, and not to suffer the _posts_ to continue carrying letters." it should be noted that the word "posts," as used in this memorial of witherings, applies to the common carriers or packmen. grover was not left to fight the battle of the carriage of letters alone. he was supported by the merchants of norwich, and others trading in norwich stuffs, in a petition addressed to the council as follows:--"there has long been a constant trade betwixt london and norwich in sundry sorts of stuffs and stockings made in norwich and norfolk, which trade has always been maintained by the merchants of norwich employing their stocks in buying the wares of the makers, and sending them up weekly in carts by common carriers to london, whence they are dispersed into all parts of this kingdom, and also exported to foreign parts, in which intercourse of trade we always had our letters safely and speedily carried by our common carrier, by a horseman, not in manner of postage by change of horses, but as is usual by common carriers, and for little or no charge to us. of late mr. witherings has intercepted our letters and molested our carriers, forbidding them to carry any of our letters otherwise than to go along with their carts, and no faster." petitioners then explain why the new system of conveying letters will prove detrimental to their trade, and pray that "they may enjoy their ancient course of conveying letters by their common carriers." a separate memorial to a similar effect was sent up by robert sumpter, mayor, and seventeen others of the town of norwich. after hearing thomas witherings and jason grover, and their counsel, upon this dispute, an order in council was drafted, on the th january, to the following effect:-- "it was ordered that grover and all carriers shall henceforth conform to the letters patent granted to witherings of the letter office, and the proclamation in that behalf. _but their lordships declared that it would be lawful for any carrier that should receive the letters of merchants or others, to be carried from town to town within the kingdom, to use what diligence he may, and to ride what pace he will, so as he do it without shifting or change of horses._ it was objected that witherings took more for the carriage of letters within the kingdom than was usual; the lords referred the consideration of all complaints of that nature to the secretaries of state, praying them to take courses for redress of such abuse." this draft, on being submitted to the king, did not wholly satisfy him; and he struck out the clause in italics, writing in the margin the words, "this clause to be left out." on the st january another order in council was drafted on this vexed question: "it was ordered that the carriers of norwich, as was ordered on the th instant for the carrier of letters of yarmouth and ipswich, should conform to the letters patent granted to witherings of the letter office, and to the proclamation on that behalf, and not presume to do or attempt anything contrary to the same." three days later, namely, on the th january, yet another order in council was issued from the inner star chamber, making a concession to the carriers: "it was now ordered that for the better accommodation of the said merchants, it should be permitted to the common and known carriers of letters belonging to norwich, or any other town, to carry the letters of merchants and others, travelling with the same letters the ordinary journeys that common carriers travel, and coming to london, norwich, or any other town, not above eight hours before the carts, waggons, or pack-horses, whereunto witherings and others are to conform themselves." this concession would appear to refer to the practice of the masters of the heavy waggons performing the common carrying business of the country, riding on a horse alongside the waggons, and who, leaving the waggons in charge of their men when nearing their destination, might make a dash forward to arrange the loading for the return journey. the masters of a string of pack-horses would probably adopt the same practice. jason, who had been fighting for the continuance of the old state of things, seems not to have become aware at once of the limited concession made to the carriers, and the result is described in the following _de profundis_ addressed to the earl of dorset, lord chamberlain to the queen, and one of the lords of the council, from the uncongenial precincts of the fleet prison:-- "petitioner and the carriers of norwich were lately questioned by mr. witherings touching the carriage of letters; and the lords ordered a settled course, not only for the carriers of norwich, but for all other carriers, by order of the th january last, to which order petitioner is willing to conform himself, but had no knowledge that the same was drawn up till the th february instant. and although petitioner has not broken the said order since the drawing up thereof, yet he, with his two men, were by witherings' procurement for days committed to a messenger, and now to the fleet, and cannot be discharged except petitioner will enter into bond to perform such order as witherings has prescribed, which is contrary to the order of the board. prays that he may enjoy the benefit of the said order, and not be punished before he has broken the same, nor compelled by witherings to enter into bond, the order being a sufficient tie." jason grover must have found himself in very respectable company in the fleet prison, for, at the very time of his confinement, two well-known historical characters, john lilburne and john warton, were, under the proceedings of the notorious star chamber, thrown into this place of evil note. "upon the th february , the star chamber ordered that, as the two delinquents had contemptuously refused to take the oaths tendered to them, they should be remanded to the fleet prison, there to remain close prisoners, and to be examined," etc. it is a curious coincidence that the charge against these men was for the "unlawful printing and publishing of libellous and seditious books, entitled _news from ipswich_," etc., and that grover's incarceration was for the carriage of letters from the same district of country. in order to put matters beyond all doubt, as between witherings on the one hand and the common carriers and the public on the other, and to lay down clearly the mode of working, with the claims of the whole postal service committed to the hands of witherings, a fresh royal proclamation was issued on the th february . of the original issue of this document it is understood that copies are extremely rare. the main provisions of the proclamation are the following:--that as the secrets of the realm might be disclosed to foreign nations were promiscuous carriers of letters allowed to the continent, none other were to be suffered than those employed by witherings; that witherings' carriers to the continent should travel by the sole route of dover, calais, boulogne, abbeville, and amiens, and thence to paris. noticing that "sundry abuses and miscarriages" are daily being committed in respect of the inland posts to the prejudice of witherings, the proclamation sets forth that, where witherings' posts are laid down, "no post or carrier whatsoever within his majesty's dominions" ... "shall presume to take up, carry, receive and deliver any letter or letters," etc., "except a particular messenger sent on purpose with letters by any man for his own occasions, or letters by a friend, or by common known carriers, who are hereby permitted to carry any letters along with their carts, waggons, and pack-horses, travelling with the same the ordinary known journeys that common carriers use to travel. provided always that they, nor any of their servants, at no time stay at any place from whence they carry any letters above eight hours after their carts, waggons, or pack-horses are departed, nor bring any letters to london, or elsewhere, above eight hours before the said carts, waggons, or pack-horses shall come there." the postage exigible by witherings for inland letters was to be as follows:-- single double heavy miles. letter. letter. letter. under d. d. d. per oz. from to d. d. d. " over d. s. d. s. d. " to ireland d. -- s. d. " provision is made for the punishment of any post-boy or other servant charging any sum in excess of these rates. the council, in managing the affairs of the country generally, must have had their hands very full, for the amount of business brought to their consideration in connection with the posts alone, judging by the records left, was by no means small. the postmasters were constant complainers of their treatment by the state, and the public equally constant complainers against the postmasters. in november , robert challenor, his majesty's post of stone, county stafford, memorialises secretaries coke and windebank as follows:--"petitioner for years has been postmaster in the said place, which office he has always faithfully executed in his own person, until visited with a long sickness, as by an annexed certificate appears. mr witherings endeavours to put another in petitioner's place, upon pretence that petitioner had put in a deputy, being his son, who about a year and a half since, in the time of petitioner's sickness, gave his assistance for performance of his majesty's service; and on the th march petitioner, during his illness, disposed of his estate by will, and then assigned his arrears due to him for his post-wages to his son, towards discharging petitioner's debts, and benefit of his wife and children. mr witherings, in regard petitioner would not give him £ for petitioner's place (over and above the carriage of the merchants' letters twice every week), has for £ given orders for the said place to another, whose parents have been great recusants. petitioner being still able and willing, and his arrears £ (that stage being the longest between london and chester, and yet is allowed only d. per diem), prays order that he may be continued in his place, and may receive the said £ ." this petition was backed up by a certificate of the justices of the peace of the county, setting forth the petitioner's fitness for the office. another postmaster, thomas parks, on the stage from london to barnet, petitions secretary windebank to the following effect:--"has executed that office about six years, which has stood him in £ , without any neglect, as mr. railton can inform you, and has received but two years' pay at the rate of d. per diem. notwithstanding his diligence, mr witherings endeavours to bring in another, and has already taken from petitioner the through posts place of charing cross, which cost petitioner £ , s. prays order to witherings to deliver petitioner his orders and confirm him in his place." david francis, late post of northop, petitions thus:--"there is £ in arrear to petitioner for execution of the said place, as appears by the last account of lord stanhope to the auditors. has been three months in town soliciting payment, and received fair promises from mr. witherings; but now he absolutely says petitioner shall have none, so that he is like to be imprisoned. has spent near his whole estate in coming to town to solicit for his father's arrears, who was post of chester years. prays order to receive part with the rest who are in the privy seal, otherwise he is like to perish by the prosecution of his greedy creditors." richard scott, innkeeper of stilton, huntingdonshire, petitions coke and windebank for the place of a postmaster who discharges his office by deputy. "for some years past," says he, "the place of post of stilton, being in the high north road, has been executed by a deputy, who keeps an alehouse there, the postmaster living twelve miles distant, and his deputy no ways able to receive gentlemen and travellers, much less noblemen, whereby the posts are forced to travel at unseasonable times and are not fitted with able horses. petitioner being an innkeeper in the town, both able and willing to give noblemen and gentlemen entertainment, prays that he may serve his majesty in that place." royston, a market-town in cambridgeshire and hertfordshire, was an important place in relation to the posts for two reasons: it was a stage not far distant from london, on the great north road, and a place of residence for the king when he retired to hunt in the neighbourhood. now, on these two accounts there must have been frequent demands made upon the postmaster to provide horses, and, on occasions, considerable numbers of horses. we are little familiar with the demands then made for horses when the sovereign was pleased to go on progress. in _nichols' progress of james i._, it is stated that the number of carts employed when the sovereign went on progress was, about the year , reduced from to ! and even when the king moved about, not in a formal progress, it is probable that large orders were given for horses. in an account of the number of post horses taken up at royston by four o'clock in the morning of one day in february , it is recorded that, from nineteen parishes, horses were so taken up, each parish contributing from six to fourteen horses. that the duties of the postmaster were more than usually onerous, is recognised in the fact that he and the postmaster of newmarket, where there was another royal hunting seat, were paid (or were supposed to be paid) on the highest scale allowed to postmasters, namely, s. d. a day, as will be seen by the list of wages previously given. but all this levying of horses was extremely burdensome and irritating to the people, who, however, do not appear to have submitted quietly to the infliction. the following petition of eighteen inhabitants of royston, to the justices of peace for the county of hertford, shows how matters stood, and the estimation in which they held their postmaster; it refers to april :--"thomas haggar, of their town, innholder, bearing himself so irregularly by authority of his office (as postmaster), abuses his protection, to the great grievance of the town and country: breaking open some of their doors in the night without constable; taking away their horses without their privity; extorting, bribing, beating, commanding, threatening countrymen that will not fee him, or do him service with their carts, or spend their money in tippling in his house; hindering poor men from coming to the market to sell their corn, by taking their horses post when there is no cause; causing the horses to be double posted, keeping them longer than the service requires; and misusing young colts and horses not fit for that service, whereby they are oftentimes spoiled; as also taking more horses than need requires. they state the consequences to their market, and pray relief." with this petition the following specific cases of abuse were set forth, some of them sworn under affidavit. one john rutter, a husbandman of harleton, co. cambridge, having his horse, along with others, taken up to go post to ware, and seeing one of the others released, "said he feared there was underhand dealing; whereupon the postmaster's wife, and afterwards the postmaster himself, violently assaulted him, so that he was forced to lie at royston all night for his hurts to be dressed, and was compelled to go to ware after his horse, and had to pay charges for him, being paid only for one stage, although his horse had gone two; and was much wronged thereby." the statement adds that the postmaster, and also his wife and servants, "usually take money to free horses from going post, and then take other horses to do the service." a yeoman of croydon, co. cambridge, named amps, complained of haggar taking a horse to go post one stage from royston, but discovered that it had been ridden to newmarket. when the horse was returned, the postmaster refused payment; and because amps made complaint, he found that whenever he came to royston the postmaster was "ready to take his horse and put an unreasonable load upon him." one of the chief constables of the hundred of odsey, co. hertford, stated that, having to serve a warrant on haggar for an assault, he compelled him to send on the packet, which means that his horse was taken to ride the post stage. the complainer adds, that "by taking money to excuse post horses, the market of royston is much wronged." another case of assault by haggar and his wife upon a countryman is alleged; the grounds being that he had imputed bribery on seeing another man's horse released while his own was seized for service. sundry other instances of misconduct and oppression are charged against the postmaster, one of which is: that four men were sent out with warrants to warn country towns to bring in horses; that in two days about were summoned, but that most of them were believed to have been compounded for by the constables. in reading this story of the proceedings of the postmaster and his wife, the comment suggests itself, that "the grey mare must have been the better horse." on the th may , a mr. john nicholas writes to his son, mr. edward nicholas, to the following effect, complaining of his local postmaster:--"edward nicholas may do his country good, and especially that neighbourhood, who are much oppressed by the postmaster of sarum, roger bedbury, the innkeeper of the three swans, in sarum. sends copy of a warrant bedbury has procured from the secretaries of state. by virtue thereof he sends his warrants to the constables to bring in horses furnished, and to pay for their keep, and employs them, not in his majesty's service, but to his own benefit. leonard bowles, one of the constables of the hundred of alderbury, being required, brought in horses; and in his presence a minister, coming to the postmaster to hire horses, he delivered to the minister one of them. the constable asked the postmaster wherefore the minister rode post, imagining he was not employed in his majesty's service, to which the postmaster answered, he rode for a benefice, as he thought. if edward nicholas may prevent the postmaster's knavery, prays him to do so." from an enclosure with this letter, it appears that, in issuing his warrant to the constables to send in on the th may "six able horses, with furniture, for his majesty's service for two days and two nights, at the charge of the owners," the postmaster relied upon and recited a warrant from secretaries coke and windebank, dated th february, "for sending to the postmaster ten or twelve horses from new sarum, a six-miles' compass." a week later, mr. john nicholas, finding that the prosecution of the complaint was likely to prove troublesome, declares that he will have nothing more to do with it. "touching the postmaster," he writes, "i will meddle no further, if there be such a business in it; but let the constable, or who else finds himself wronged, follow it and inform against him. it will be good service in any that shall do it, and good for your own understanding to know the ground of the warrant, and whether the postmaster may require the owner of the horse to pay for his meat two days and two nights. it may be my own case, for the constable has been to me for a horse. i put him off with good words; but how i shall do it again, i know not; yet if it be too troublesome to you, i pray you meddle no further." mr. john nicholas was one of a very common type of men, who are ever ready to make a fuss over a grievance in the first instance, but who are at all times forward to draw someone else in to fight their battles for them. there are grounds for supposing that at this time some order had been issued, empowering the postmasters to keep in their stables supplies of horses, taken up in the neighbourhood, and, while standing in the stables, to be fed at the owners' expense. this seems the meaning of a presentment made at the grand inquest at the assizes holden at bath on the nd july . the statement made is: "that of late there are come commissions into the country, under the hand of the two secretaries of state, to all postmasters, for taking up such numbers of horses as the postmasters shall think fit; and the postmasters take into their stables ten or twelve horses at one time, and keep them two nights, and then take in so many more; and if they have employment for any of them, they pay the post price, otherwise they make the owners pay for their meat and dressing what rate they please; but some, upon composition, they release, which makes the burthen the heavier upon the rest. we beseech you to present this grievance to his majesty." the way in which traffic was carried on in the places of country postmasterships, and the duties delegated to deputies, is set forth in a petition to the king, of february , from randolph church, one of his majesty's gentlemen pensioners. petitioner "has for sixteen years served as serjeant-at-arms, and, since he left that place, in the place wherein he now serves; during which time he never received benefit by any suit; but he purchased some post places under lord stanhope, which he has executed by deputies for many years. but now lord stanhope, having surrendered his patent, petitioner's post places, to the value of £ per annum, are taken away, there being £ due to him for wages upon the said places; and now petitioner, being employed in the prosecution of delinquents for converting timber to coal for making iron, and having expended much money therein, and being likely to bring great sums into the exchequer, the means by which he should subsist are taken away. beseeches some such satisfaction out of moneys brought into the exchequer by his present service as may equal his places and arrears." there seems almost no end of the petitions which came up from the postmasters upon all phases of their duties and pay. thomas carr, postmaster of berwick, thus complains: "thomas witherings, in consideration of his grant of the letter office of england and foreign parts, is to pay the posts their wages. witherings has reduced the wages of thomas carr from s. d. to s. per diem, all the rest being cut off only but the third part of their pay, which will not be sufficient to find horse and man to perform the service; moreover, they are enjoined to more service than formerly, viz. to carry his mail of letters forward and backward once a week gratis. witherings employs one at berwick to carry his letters from thence to edinburgh for s. a week. carr has offered to perform it for a great deal less; but witherings not only denies the same, but threatens to put carr out of his place if he go not speedily down, he waiting only for the arrears of his post wages, without which he is not able to subsist. requests that his pay may be made s. d. per diem, that he may carry the letters from berwick to edinburgh, and also that he may be sworn his majesty's servant, as the other posts are." in a position such as witherings held, and in a period when the public mind was greatly disturbed, it must have been a hard task for any man to keep free from entanglements and quarrels with the public. we have several notices of differences, more or less serious, in which witherings was concerned. in may , he is reported to have "misbehaved himself toward my lord marshal and his son lord maltravers," but in what respect is not stated. again, in may , captain carterett writes (to sir john coke, apparently), from on board his ship in the downs, complaining of witherings, as follows:--"being in dover road, there came unto me one mr. thomas witherings (who is also called postmaster-general) for to have captain dunning's vessel to carry him over for calais, having a packet (as he said) from your honour to my lord ambassador at paris. i told him he should have the _roebuck_, or i would go over with him myself. i desired him to show me the packet, but he told me he would neither show me order nor packet; he began to use me in very rough and coarse language, notwithstanding that i did use him with all the civility i could. i have heard that he had never a packet, but only went over to calais about his own businesses. he gave out that he doth belong to your honour." there are always two sides to a story; and when witherings' version had been heard, the tables were turned upon the captain. this appears by a letter, written by secretary coke to (probably) the governor of dover about the same period. "finding our foreign letters," says coke, "come with less expedition than they were used to do, and requiring account thereof from the postmaster of foreign parts, he excused himself by a certificate that captain carteret, who is trusted with that business, refuses to put to sea with merchants' letters only. he formerly charged mr. witherings with uncivil usage, which i discovered to have no ground. his majesty requires your lordship to rectify this disorder; and to charge captain carteret, to whom you give this trust, to be careful to convey the merchants' packets as his own. and if he be not conformable, that you appoint some other more proper for that duty; which captain drury before him performed with good content, and may haply be still ready to undertake." but two years later witherings had a difference with a man of much higher standing, namely, the earl of northumberland, then lord general of the forces at sea, arising out of some failure in the conveyance of a packet. the precise facts are not clear; but the immediate action taken by the earl is described in a letter from witherings (to secretary coke, no doubt) dated th september :--"it was my unhappy fortune," says witherings, "to meet with mr. smyth, secretary to the earl of northumberland, who told me that his lordship had sent a warrant directed to a messenger for me. i went to his lordship's house--was there by six of the clock in the morning, where, after two hours' stay, i spoke with his honour; and the weather being extreme cold, i got an ague, and am now forced to keep my bed. the stage at farnham, he told me, was a stage in pay; and i promised (if it were so) i would move your honour to compel him (the postmaster) to carry his lordship's packets. he also told me i had abused his lordship in not sending forward the packets which were brought to my house; to which i answered: that belonged not to me, but to the ordinary posts of the road" (probably the ordinary carriers are meant). "i also told his honour that i had sent for the packet books of all the posts betwixt london and dover, to the intent if any abuse were committed it might be punished. notwithstanding his honour was very well satisfied with my answers to him, his servant smyth delivered the warrant to the messenger; and though i was in bed, yet he came up to my chamber, and, in a very violent way, asked me if i would obey the warrant or not; to whom i answered, that in regard of my sickness i could not at this time do it. your honour may be pleased to satisfy his lordship in this business." in perusing this letter, we are struck with two things--the peremptoriness of the proceedings taken against a man in witherings' position, and with his treatment at the earl's house. the latter is reminiscent of dr. johnson in the ante-room of the earl of chesterfield. chapter v in august , witherings was returning from a journey he had made into the north, when he was laid-up ill at ware. on the th of that month, his servant waad writes to secretary coke, that "yesterday i found my master ill at ware, intending this day to set forward to walthamstow." it immediately became rumoured in london that witherings was dead. "the wish" may, in some minds, "have been father to the thought"; for windebank had been looking into the possible removal of postmaster witherings, and burlamachi, merchant and financier, lost no time in taking steps with a view to securing the office to himself. the very next day after the rumour was set about, a letter was written by burlamachi to sir john coke, bespeaking the succession to the supposed vacant place. "since witherings is dead," says burlamachi, "i write to offer my services to your honour; assuring you that you may dispose of me; and i hope i shall be not less capable of advancing the interests of his majesty than witherings has been." but witherings, although he had had a sharp attack of illness, was not dead. a week later, he was no farther on his way towards london than walthamstow, whence he writes a doleful letter to sir john coke, dated the th august . the letter is as follows:--"it pleased the lord, in this last northern journey (wherein i was sent by mr. secretary windebank), to inflict upon me two great fevers, which have been so heavy, that indeed, had not the lord been more merciful, gracious, and favourable towards me, i should no ways have been able to endure them for one hour of the time. i am a weak and miserable man; yet no doubt of life nor fear of health, if god (for my manifold sins) do not again lay his heavy hand upon me. to-morrow (god willing) i shall be at london," etc. the period at which we have now arrived, - , was one of widespread distraction and trouble throughout the whole kingdom, the people being divided into two very marked parties,--the covenanters in scotland and presbyterians in england being on the one side, and the king's council, with the bishops and the church party, on the other. in circumstances such as these, it must have been very difficult for a man at the head of the post office to steer a middle course, as in all cases of interception or delay of letters suspicion was likely to fall upon the postmasters. advice was given by one of the king's party, that "because there be divers scots covenanters about court, who give intelligence (both by the ordinary and posters"--that is, by men riding post--"and journiers into scotland), a course should be taken that the letters may be opened; and that the governor of berwick may give order for some strict searching and examining the scots travellers." and as a matter of fact, the posts were waylaid and the letters carried to secretary coke. in a letter written from berwick to secretary windebank, on the th september , sir james douglas complains that "he who carries the running-post letters betwixt berwick and edinburgh plays the rogue with all the letters that come from edinburgh to me, so i have prohibited any to write to me that way." it is not clear whether witherings lent himself to this espionage of the letters, or whether he tried to keep clear of it; but subsequent events might almost seem to suggest that witherings inclined to the presbyterian or popular party, and that he was distrusted by the court. reference has been made to burlamachi, who lately applied for the place of chief postmaster. this man, as has already been mentioned, was a native of sedan in france, but naturalised in england. he was largely employed by the king and council in financial matters of state, and had a hand in negotiating a loan of money upon the crown jewels taken over to holland early in charles' reign. these jewels remained in holland until november ; and while there, burlamachi seems to have had power to pawn and repawn them at pleasure, to the tune and measure of court necessities. at one time burlamachi was a broken man; he was granted a protection from the diligence of his creditors in - and ; yet he still enjoyed the confidence of charles. this is not, however, surprising; for, in a petition from burlamachi's daughters, at the time of the restoration, it is stated "that their father was ruined by his advances to the king." under these circumstances there would be a potent tie between these men, for burlamachi could only hope for the recovery of his money through the good fortune and favour of the king. it is well that all this should be borne in mind, for burlamachi's name will come up hereafter. the public do not realise how effective, as a trap, the post office is, until they find themselves in the position of having written and posted a letter which, upon cooler reflection, they would fain withhold from the eyes of the person addressed. cases of this kind occasionally happen in our own day, when proof is given of the irrevocability of the act of dropping a letter into the letter-box. writers in such cases can then do nothing,--they are left to settle the business with their correspondents as best they may,--and no difficulty or trouble, as a rule, results to the officers of the post office. in the earliest days of the post the trap existed, as is shown by the following account of an attempt to recover a letter, after it had been committed to the care of witherings' officers, in the year . the incident shows that in these days, as well as in ours, men could write letters in haste and repent at leisure. the account comes to us in a declaration by laurence kirkham, an assistant in one of the offices appointed in london for the taking in letters for the post. it states that "upon tuesday the th june came william davies to my master's shop, my mistress and i being there present, to take in letters for mr. witherings, his majesty's postmaster both for the northern road and west, etc., for conveyance of letters both by sea and land. davies, coming as above, demanded a letter again which he said was his own, and that he delivered it to me that same day to go by post. i, not remembering any such thing, and he being a stranger to me, i told him that it was more than i could answer or dared do, to deliver any man's letter again, being once in my hands, especially not knowing it to be his letter; but, for quietness' sake, he being so outrageous for his letter, i told him that if he would stay until the box were opened wherein his letter was, if i found any such letter with such a superscription as he expressed his to have, i would deliver it to him, provided that he carried it not away nor break it open; but he might add something outside, or stick a note in it, if i saw it were no hurt; or rather, if he would write another letter after it, i would give him the portage of it. but this would not satisfy him; he swore i should not keep his letter from him, but he would have it; and thrust his hand into a heap of letters which lay before him in the shop, he well knowing that his letter was not there, and took what he could get of letters and packets, and put in his pocket--some scattering in the street and some in the shop, a multitude of people being gathered together. what he took and what he lost is uncertain, as also what damage my master and others may receive thereby, there being letters to the nobility and many others to the army in the north, and divers to other countries. my mistress, striving with him, was hurt, and her hand bruised; and i, holding him in the street for the letters, he fell upon me, beat and pulled me by the hair, kicked me, and tore my apparel, by which abuse i received damage." this must have been a very pretty little scene, and it would have been interesting to know how the law took notice of mr. davies' obstreperous conduct. the proceedings of these times have a smack of dramatic interest, surrounded as they are by conditions which do not obtain in the present day. in may , a scene was enacted in the market-place of ware, of which a description is given in a letter from edmund rossingham, dated the th of may. the reader can perhaps imagine the open space of this town where the market is held, thronged with country folks with their produce for sale, stalls of vendors, horses and carts of the farmers, and idlers hanging about to see what might turn up to their advantage. a clatter of horses' feet is heard, and into the market-place dash three men on horseback, who draw rein at the post house of ware. with the preliminary statement that the king was at this time lying with his army at berwick, the letter must itself describe what took place. the letter, which is addressed to viscount conway, proceeds: "lord carr (ker), the earl of roxburgh's son, riding post the other day into the north, having letters from the queen, came to ware, and the postmaster went out to take up three horses for his use; but out of malice would have taken a great carthorse which carried corn to the market, only the owner, a poor countryman, would not part with it, saying his horse was not to ride post. the postmaster and he being in strife together in the market, three deputy lieutenants, justices of the peace, namely, sir richard lucy, sir john butler, and sir john watts, convening there about county business, saw this contention out of a window of the inn, and they relieved the countryman, bidding the postmaster seek out other horses more fit for the service; whereupon the postmaster, in a great chafe, goes back to lord ker and tells him the deputy lieutenants had taken one of those horses he had taken up by his warrant. lord ker frets at this, and learns of the postmaster where the deputy lieutenants' horses stand, and commands three of these horses to be saddled to ride post with. the deputy lieutenants have notice of this, and will not let their horses be saddled, whereupon a great contention ensued between the lord and these deputy lieutenants; so hot grew lord ker, who had a case of pistols by his side, that he and his two men challenged the three justices into the field to end the difference. sir john butler and sir john watts had good stomachs to go out with them; but sir richard lucy, a more temperate man, would rather use his authority than his courage that way, as being much the more justifiable course; and so sent out to provide post horses for them, which were brought to the gate. sir richard then tells lord ker there are post horses for him, and, if he will not take them, himself will make his lordship fast and take from him the queen's letters, send them to his majesty, and do his errand, which would be little to his lordship's advantage; whereupon the lord ker cools a little, and, grumbling at being thus thwarted, takes the horses provided for him, and away he posts." the justices were well aware of the advantage of being early in the field with their account of this business; and accordingly they forthwith wrote a statement of the whole matter to their lord-lieutenant, lord salisbury, who was then with the king in the north, and which "they sent post after the lord, to be at court so soon as he should be." the better to keep up communications between the king, then in the north, and the governing powers in ireland, a packet was at this time employed between whitehaven and dublin. the agreement with the master, nicholas herbert, was that his barque should be provided "with one sufficient master and other meet and able sailors" ... "to carry the letters of his majesty or the council to the lord deputy at dublin, and shall receive £ per lunar month." as has already been remarked, there is reason to suppose that witherings had come to have leanings towards the parliamentarians, a posture which would alienate him from the court party. at anyrate, on the th july , the office held by witherings was sequestered by the king's privy seal into the hands of philip burlamachi, "who was directed by proclamation to execute the office." the proclamation here referred to is probably that dated the th august . the first clause sets forth the reason for the proceeding as follows:--"whereas we have received information of divers abuses and misdemeanours committed by thomas witherings in the execution as well of the office of postmaster of foreign parts as also of the letter office within our own dominions, and thereupon have been pleased to sequester the said office into the hands of p. burlamachi of london, merchant, who is to execute the same, under the care and oversight of our principal secretary of state, till we shall signify our pleasure to the contrary; and have accordingly declared the same under our royal hand and signet, and commanded our said secretary to see the sequestration put into speedy execution, and to take such course that neither our service nor the business of the merchants nor our other subjects might thereby receive any prejudice or interruption." in pursuance of this ordinance the business of the post was removed from witherings' offices to other premises. when a man is down there are always a lot of unthinking or interested persons ready to give the unfortunate individual another kick, and the king's followers were not slow to avail themselves of the chance presented by witherings' sequestration. sir francis windebank writes from paris in april , whither he had found it convenient to remove, as follows:--"i wrote lately to mr. treasurer (vane) by mr. frizell, who touched here in his passage out of italy toward england. he was postmaster before witherings, and drew him in to be his partner; but witherings, in token of his thankfulness, joined with sir john coke and thrust the poor man utterly out. he is able, and not unwilling, if he be dexterously managed, to discover much of witherings' miscarriage in that place, which i have desired mr. treasurer to make use of, and you will do well to put him in remembrance of it from me." in another letter about the same date windebank complains of the miscarriage of his letters, and remarks: "how they are come to miscarry now i do not understand, presuming that witherings, though he want no malice to betray anything that may fall into his hands concerning me, yet dares not intercept any packet addressed to mr. treasurer, as this was." about the same time a letter from robert reade, residing at paris, makes mention of the failure of letters, and proceeds: "but the world grows every day worse and worse, and is so full of deceit and malice that i think there will be no living shortly for an honest man in it. perhaps witherings has met with it again; if he have, my comfort is that no better fortune will befall him in that than usually does to harkeners, who never hear good of themselves; yet, methinks, since the house of parliament were more noble than to countenance him in his last unworthiness of that kind, he should not have much courage to do it again." in another letter the same writer says: "i think your honour will have very uncertain dealing from mr. witherings, for in all his affairs he appears so." there is a marked indefiniteness in the references made by private persons who at this period were ready to speak ill of witherings--a want of specific charges against him. but in a report appended to certain resolutions of the house of lords, dated th september , information is supplied showing how witherings had been badgered, and what the various complaints were. the allegations set forth are: "misdemeanours in opening letters, not giving advices in due time, taking greater rates than usual, transporting prohibited commodities, not suffering the passage boat to be searched, not able to hold correspondence for want of language, breach of correspondence for want of paying foreign posts." happily for witherings none of these charges were found proved. witherings seems to have believed that burlamachi had had a principal hand in bringing about the sequestration of his office, for we find him writing to sir john coke, on the th november , as follows:--"burlamachi stands upon his justification, which is, that these offices were forced upon him. my humble suit unto your honour is, that you will be pleased to deliver to ----, your son, upon his coming up, such letters as your honour received from him years past, whereby he was a practiser from time to time to take from me my office, contrary to his own declaration. your honour may be pleased to certify something therein to your son, who may declare it to the house of parliament." burlamachi was not, however, witherings' only enemy in this matter; for, in a letter from thomas coke to sir john coke, of th may , two months before the sequestration, it is stated that "the two secretaries do now, since the parliament, prosecute him again for the right of his place; but they cannot yet fasten anything upon him, neither can mr. attorney find any imperfection in his patent; so that he hath now great hopes again that the question will be to save him a thousand pounds a year in his purse." at the time of the sequestration witherings was put in prison, but probably his detention was of short duration. witherings found himself hard pressed by his enemies, and, feeling himself not very able perhaps to contend against large odds, he assigned an interest in his office to the earl of warwick. this is mentioned in a letter to sir john coke from his son, the th of march : "he hath now, without the advice of his friends, put himself under the protection of the earl of warwick, by passing some interest in his places to him. this the violent prosecution of his adversaries hath driven him unto, out of fear to be oppressed. i wish by this means he do not lose all in the end." in april , the earl of warwick was sworn a privy councillor, and thus, in point of interest, witherings had secured an important ally. while his friends may have thought the step taken by witherings of uncertain advantage, witherings no doubt considered that "half a loaf would be better than no bread." it is a troublesome business to unravel all the records of the proceedings in the parliament and council of this affair of the possession of the posts. there were two offices held by witherings, as the reader will remember,--the postmastership of the foreign posts (held by patent) and the postmastership (by delegation from the principal secretaries of state) of the inland posts. in the records we have of witherings' present troubles, these two offices are not always clearly defined, and it is somewhat difficult to understand the references. but this much is quite clear, that, on the th february , a committee of the house of commons was appointed "to consider of the complaints of the inland posts, foreign courriers and carriers, and foot posts, and the several abuses of mr. witherings and the rest of the postmasters." the proceedings of this inquiry dragged on for a period of over two years. at length, on the th march , the house of commons gave a deliverance, by resolution, in favour of witherings, respecting the foreign posts as follows, namely, "that this sequestration of the office of foreign postmaster from the possession of witherings is a grievance and illegal, and ought to be taken off and repealed" ... "that the proclamation for the putting mr. witherings out of possession of the exercise of his place of postmaster for foreign parts is a grievance and illegal, and ought not to be put in execution" ... "resolved that mr. witherings ought to be restored unto the possession of his place as postmaster for foreign parts, and to the mean profits received since he was out of possession, deducting the reasonable and usual charges of execution" ... "that for the legality of his patent, it shall be referred to a trial at law." then, on the th august , the following resolutions were passed by the house of commons respecting the inland posts:--"that the sequestration of the inland letter office to philip burlamachi is illegal and void, and ought to be taken off" ... "that philip burlamachi and his deputies shall forthwith bring in an account of the profits of the office received by him or his deputies since his illegal sequestration to the committee for the accounts where mr. trenchard has the chair" ... "that the proclamation in pursuance of the sequestration is illegal and void." it will be observed that nothing is said in these latter resolutions indicating that witherings should again take charge of the inland posts, by delegation or otherwise. but a deliverance was also given at this time on the subject of witherings' interference with the public carriers in conveying letters for the public, which events occurred in - , and have already been mentioned. the house resolved "that the taking of the several letters in this case from the several carriers, and the several restraints and imprisonment of grover, chapman, cotton, and mackerill, is against the law and liberty and freedom of the subject" ... "that these several persons ought to have reparations and damages from sir john coke and sir f. windebank, then secretaries of state, and mr. witherings respectively" ... "that sir j. coke, sir f. windebank, and mr. witherings are delinquents." now, although witherings' office had been in sequestration from till , it would almost seem that he was not entirely suspended from all share in the management of the place during that period, for in writings of reference is made to services performed by witherings in the transmission of foreign correspondence. in a letter, dated from edinburgh nd november , from secretary vane to edward nicholas, the latter is requested to instruct mr. witherings as to the forwarding of two packets, "much concerning his majesty's service," one of which was for hamburgh; and this witherings was to forward by an express, which by his office he was bound to provide for and pay. in a letter from witherings, dated at walthamstow th november , to edward nicholas, respecting these instructions, witherings writes: "i have sent the one express for hamburgh with my own packet-boat, which not only carries the king's colours, but is of defence and well known on the seas. be confident there shall be no neglect, neither of the one nor the other in me." during the proceedings against witherings, he was unquestionably handled in a very rough manner; for a warrant was issued in (as is supposed) by the secretary of state to a messenger of the chamber in the following terms:--"these are by his majesty's command, to require and authorise you to repair to the office and house of thomas witherings, postmaster for foreign service, and there to search for and take into custody all papers, pamphlets, and letters." on the th october , robert earl of warwick petitioned that, in virtue of the assignment of the inland letter office to him by witherings, and in view of the fact that burlamachi had failed to obey the ordinance delivered by parliament, by continuing to hold and administer that office, burlamachi should be ejected from the place and punished for his disobedience. chapter vi on the th november , "it was thought fit, and ordered by the lords, that the said office--that is, the inland letter office--shall be delivered to the earl of warwick or his deputies, and that burlamachi and his deputies shall, within eight days after serving of this order, bring in a particular account upon oath to the earls clare and bolinbroke, and lord grey of werke and lord bruce, of the profits of that office during all the time of their being in possession of the same. the lords above mentioned are to make reports to the house, that thereby the earl of warwick may have the profits of that office, to be paid to him by the parties aforesaid; and the posts and their agents are hereby commanded to bring the mails, with letters, to such place as the earl of warwick shall appoint." another order, dated nd december , was issued confirming the foregoing order, and also giving authority to the earl, in the event of the country postmasters refusing to carry or deliver up the mails as directed, "to seize upon the mails, and to put the postmasters out of their places, until they conform themselves unto the order of the house." it was further ordered that all colonels, captains, justices, constables, and others, his majesty's officers, should aid and assist in the execution of this order. on the th december, the house of lords seem to have issued a peremptory order to burlamachi to produce the "books of accompts for receipt of the profits of the inland letter office, with the warrants and acquittances," etc. but this burlamachi neglected to do, and, in consequence of his contumacy, the house make a further order on the st december to the effect "that the sheriffs of london or their deputies shall, by virtue of this order, seize the said books of accompts, etc., and send them to the clerk of the parliament on saturday, the th present." the lords at the same time confirm the previous orders of the th november and nd december, "for that it appears that the possession of the inland letter office, settled by the order of this house on the earl of warwick, has been interrupted by divers refractory and obstinate persons." the lords further give order "that all colonels, mayors, sheriffs, and other officers shall have full power and authority to seize all mails of letters in all places, both coming in and going out, and to deliver the same to the earl of warwick or his deputies at his office near the royal exchange, london, and this order to be their sufficient warrant." events were developing very rapidly at this period, for, on the th december , burlamachi was in custody for not bringing in the books of account already referred to, and on that date he petitions for his discharge. he was not, however, then released. on the following day, th december, a brief return was made by burlamachi of the revenue and expenditure of the inland letter office, from th august to th december , as follows:--moneys received, £ ; moneys expended, £ ; balance in hand, £ , whereof £ has been paid to the secretary of state. of the other £ , burlamachi states that "those that keep the office are to be considered for their pains and attendance, which are great," and he adds something about a probable increase from the irish correspondence. on the th december, burlamachi draws up a fresh petition, this time to the effect that his accounts may be audited by one of his majesty's auditors, and he again prays that his liberty may be granted to him. on the st december, an order is issued from the house of lords requiring that "philip burlamachi shall within eight days account upon oath to john worfield, the city auditor, for all moneys derived from the inland letter office since the sequestration, and how the same have been disposed of, upon which mr. worfield is to report to this house." the precise issue of these varied proceedings cannot readily be made out; but it would seem that at this time, , the foreign letter office remained in possession of witherings, and that the inland letter office was handed over to the earl of warwick. the period from to was one full of incident and surprises, a time when every man had to risk all by declaring himself either for the king or the parliament, or remain, if this were possible, in passive obscurity; and, in the former case, unhappy was the man who chose the losing side. to men in positions like that of witherings, the situation must have been most trying, for however he might strive to serve the party in power, his proceedings would be open to suspicion. and so later experience will show. leaving witherings for a moment, we will refer to an officer of the post office who did important service for the king. this was james hickes, one of witherings' clerks, the only member of the staff who threw his lot in with the royal cause. when, in , charles held his court at oxford, he was cut off from the service of the postal system having its centre in london; and he took steps for erecting a rival post system for his own use. hickes was ordered by warrant to "receive and demand from all postmasters on the western and other roads obedient to his majesty, the arrears in their hands due to the letter office; all refusers of the arrears to be dealt with according to their deserts." he had other directions generally, to the effect of establishing a system of posts in the west, well affected for the king, and extending south to weymouth, from which port to cherbourg a weekly service by packet was being set up. more complete instructions were given to hickes on the th january , as follows:--"knowing your experience in the letter office, we hereby appoint you to reside in weymouth, for the receiving and despatching all packets and letters coming to your hands, either from court or any part within this kingdom,--not possessed by the rebels,--or from beyond seas, and to receive money for their port, such only excepted as are for his majesty's service, or to tax them according to the rules of the letter office; as also to hire one or more passage boats as sir nicholas crispe, our deputy, shall direct you, taking special care that all letters passing through the said port, and all passengers and goods passing in the said passage boats, be duly taken notice of by you, and all duties paid before you dismiss them, the master of the packet boat to be answerable to you for the passage money of all goods and passengers he shall take on board; and generally in this employment to demean yourself as may be most for his majesty's service, and the just benefit of the letter office under us, and to observe all directions you shall receive from us and from the said sir nicholas crispe, and to render a constant true weekly account of all your receipts and disbursements to mr thomas nevile at oxford. and we desire the governor, mayor, constable, etc., of weymouth, to aid you therein." hickes is a somewhat remarkable figure in post-office history. sometime before the restoration he was again employed in the post office in london; and in a petition addressed to the king in , he describes the services rendered by him during the period above mentioned. in that memorial he says that he then "carried personally his majesty's foreign letters and packets to oxford, with the hazard of his life"; that "in the year he was committed to prison by corbett the traitor, and in great danger of being tried for his life by the unjust laws then practised, for holding correspondence with mr. secretary nicholas in his majesty's service, and, having with much difficulty escaped to oxford, he was employed in several expeditions and employments of trust, by both the then principal secretaries of state; and settled at weymouth to manage two packet boats, for conveyance of his majesty's despatches to and from foreign parts, as will appear by their several commissions, and under his said majesty's royal hand and signet; during which time he exposed his wife and children to the charity of others, himself to daily dangers, and his small fortune to an utter diminution." "corbett the traitor" referred to is no doubt one of the regicides afterwards taken in holland, and who was hanged and quartered at tyburn on the th april . his full name was miles corbett. about the year , thomas witherings must have been, or considered to be, a man of a respectable estate, for, according to the proceedings of the committee for the advance of money, he was, on the th june of that year, assessed for a contribution of £ . now, as the assessment was based upon one-twentieth of real estate, and one-fifth of personal estate, the sum assessed represents a condition of fair wealth. the full amounts of these assessments were seldom, however, exacted, and witherings seems to have been let off after making payments amounting to about £ . by an order in parliament of rd february , the appointment of robert earl of warwick as lord high admiral and lord warden of the cinque ports was revoked; and on the same day, at the the council of state, a request was made that mr. prideaux should come to the council to settle stages for all the posts. from this it may be inferred that the posts also had been taken out of the earl of warwick's hands. warwick's brother, lord holland, being dissatisfied with the proceedings of the parliamentary party, had gone over to the king's side, and taken active service against the parliament, on account of which it may probably have been considered unwise to continue the earl of warwick at the head of the inland posts. on the th march, the council appointed sir henry vane, alderman wilson, and messrs. heveningham, holland, and robinson to be a committee on the postal service. things at the post office were becoming very unsettled. on the th march, by order of the council, the mails were that night to be searched for the book called the _new chains_; on the th april instructions were issued that any person named edward broun, calling for letters at the post office, was to be detained; in the same month mr. witherings was ordered to prosecute "wilkes" for the seditious speeches mentioned by him. the council of state gave orders, on the th june, to stay all letters brought to the post, directed to mons. de la caille, marchand français, démeurant à la haye, and to bring them to the council. and in the following month the council gave further orders that all letters which might be thought to contain anything prejudicial to the state should be examined. later, complaints were made against captain stephen rich, for miscarriages in the execution of his place as postmaster in not transporting the state's packets between holyhead and dublin. rich, it appears, resided at dublin, and the matter was referred for investigation to the authorities in that city. in a letter from a lady in london to her brother at rochelle, dated th february , the following account of the state of the posts is given:--"the jealousies of the time are great, and consequently the danger of writing; all packets are stopped, which is the reason you do not hear from me, for a high court of justice is erecting, and all intelligence with the king or his ministers is voted treason." these particulars exhibit something of the business that was proceeding in the post office. in , a crisis occurred in withering's official career. on the nd april of that year, information was laid against him "that he had assisted lord goring in the late insurrection in essex ( ), by going into arms and setting out three armed men,--one with a horse,--for which he was sequestered in essex." shortly thereafter orders were issued for the seizure of all his money, plate, goods, rents, debts, and estate, and the essex commissioners were required to send up copies of all depositions against him. in may he petitioned to be freed from further trouble, alleging that he had always faithfully served parliament. he had previously asked for the charge against him, and went down to the county commissioners, who unanimously agreed that there was no cause for the seizure or sequestration of his estate. thereupon orders were given "that he be discharged, and no further proceedings taken against him." about this time witherings had a serious illness, brought on, in all probability, by the worries with which he was surrounded. he thought proper now to make his will, and in the preamble he refers to his indisposition in the following terms. he states that "he was taken upon a sudden with a dizziness in his head, and being thereupon very ill-disposed in body, yet well and perfect in memory, doth dispose, in case of mortality, his will to be," etc. witherings was owner of the estate called "nelmes," near hornchurch, essex, where was a fine old house, which still remains, and is inhabited to the present day. in , one of the packet boats plying between holyhead and dublin, named the _patrick_, of waterford, was taken by the irish; but it was afterwards retaken by capt. fearmes, of the _president_, and restored to its owner, the salvage due to the mariners being paid by the state. in , authority was given for employing a post barque for the conveyance of letters, etc., to ply between liverpool and carlingford or carrickfergus. the boat proposed was the galiot _robert_, and the sum to be paid for its use, £ a month. about the same time, two post barques were settled to ply between milford haven and the headquarters of the lord-lieutenant of ireland, to carry letters "from attorney-general prideaux or any other public minister." the cost of maintaining the packet boats between holyhead and dublin at this period was £ , s. d. each per month. in order to keep up a constant correspondence between the forces in ulster and the standing army, a packet boat was also ordered to ply between ulster and carlisle. an important step was taken, in respect of the posts, by the council of state, upon a paper given in by the attorney-general, on the th march . the council ordered that their opinion be reported to parliament, that, "as affairs now stand, it is safe and fit that the office of postmaster shall be in the sole power and disposal of parliament." on the st march, an order was passed in parliament, "that the offices of postmasters, inland and foreign, ought to be in the sole power and disposal of the parliament. that it be referred to the council of state to consider of the offices of postmasters, and of all the interests of those persons who claim any, how the same may be settled for the advantage and safety of the commonwealth, and to take order for the present management thereof." two days later, the council of state resolved that mr. prideaux, the attorney-general, should undertake the management of the inland posts, and to be accountable to the commonwealth for the profits quarterly. and in further proceedings of the council of the th april, sir william armyne was instructed to inform the house of the arrangement. witherings would appear not to have been disturbed in his position of postmaster for foreign parts at this time; for on the th may the council issued a warrant to him and the other masters of the letter packet boats, "not to carry any male passengers to france or flanders until further orders." and, again, on th july, the council of state ordered witherings to forbear paying any money to william jessop or benedict moore, "to the use of the earl of warwick, or lord rich, or to col. charles fleetwood, until further order." on th june , the council of state issued orders to serjeant dendy (serjeant-at-arms to the council) and his assistant to make a raid upon the country mails coming to and going from london, in the following terms:--"you are to repair to some post stage twenty miles from london, on the road towards york; seize the letter mail going outward, and all other letters upon the mail rider, and present them, by one of yourselves, to council; the other shall then ride to the next stage, and seize the mail coming inwards, and bring the letters to council, searching all persons that ride with the mail, or any other that ride post without warrant, and bring them before council or the commissioners for the examination; all officers, civil and military, to be assistants." like orders were also given in respect of the mails on the chester and western roads. the seizure of the mails was doubtless due to a desire on the part of the council to discover such persons as might be holding correspondence with the enemy. the vigilance of the council continued, for, on th december, the deputy governor of dover was required to examine the master of the post barque, lately come over, as to his bringing a person who (as he had been previously informed) "was dangerous, and brought commissions and letters from the enemy." and, again, on the th may , the council of state gave order to the committee of examinations, "to inquire into the opening of capt. bishop's letter between england and scotland, and to write such persons as they think fit for the discovery of the same. the attorney-general to bring in a list of the persons employed as postmasters upon the several roads throughout this nation, with their character." "to write the lord general to cause an inquiry to be made after the persons who presumed to break open some letters directed to him, and, if he finds any of them to be near the southern parts, he is to give notice thereof to council, that they may prosecute them." again, on the st august , the council gave directions that "the packet brought in this day from the northern parts be searched before the letters be delivered out." these are specimens of the measures taken at the period in question with the view of preventing the post-office service being used in the interest of the king's party. on the th march , the council of state gave order for the revival of a committee, which was set up the year before, to consider the business of the foreign post. they were to send for mr. witherings and "confer with him as to what money he had on hand that was formerly wont to be paid to the earl of warwick." it is not clear whether this inquiry had reference to any supposed irregularity on witherings' part, or merely to the question of moneys claimed by the earl. be this as it may, a fresh storm was soon to break over witherings' head. in the month of june , the charges of delinquency of which he had been acquitted in were levelled at him in an aggravated form. the information laid against him was to the effect "that when oxford was a king's garrison, he compounded with delinquents, and paid moneys for them, by order of sir edw. sydenham. that in the essex insurrection he sent a man and horse to lord goring, and was in person at bow bridge when held by the enemy. that he was at many private meetings at the hoope tavern, leadenhall street, plotting about the revolt of capt. batten and the fleet ( ). that he conveyed moneys into france for the relief of cavaliers, some of which was taken. that he concealed an annuity of £ , and several sums due to the state which are in his custody, and paid several sums to sir edw. sydenham, a delinquent, contrary to the order of the council of state. that he is very familiar with delinquents, stands bound for them, conceals their letters, and conveys letters and intelligence to them beyond seas." a few days later, witnesses were summoned to appear against him, including sir edward and lady sydenham. sir edward was a county neighbour of witherings, residing at gidea hall, hornchurch, and is said to have been a moderate royalist. after full hearing, witherings was finally dismissed from the charges on the th july . it is somewhat difficult to fit in all the events connected with these prosecutions owing to the conflicting dates under which they are recorded. but this much appears, that one of the processes took place before the committee of essex, that it continued over a period of seven months, and that witherings carried thirty witnesses from london to chelmsford in support of his case. witherings tells us that wilkes, "with the assistance of some butchers whom witherings had sued for great sums," prosecuted him maliciously, and that wilkes and others offered from £ to £ to witnesses to swear against witherings. this man wilkes seems to have been a troublesome fellow, for witherings relates that "wilkes was committed prisoner by parliament for furnishing horses to the enemy," and that, "after his enlargement, he accused parliament of being rogues, villains, and devils, and declared he hoped to see the destruction of them all; for which words he was indicted, by order of the council." witherings, in his defence, and as showing his attachment to the party then in power, makes mention of the fact that he had been "very serviceable to parliament, contributing £ on the going away of the lord-lieutenant for ireland." the indebtedness of the butchers, above referred to, may have had its origin in sales of cattle reared or fed on witherings' property in essex; or it may be that he traded in cattle, for he seems to have carried on business in a variety of ways. it is recorded of him that, about this period, he and several other merchants of london contracted with the navy commissioners "for the supply of provisions at london, dover, etc., and at kinsale, for the navy, at the rate of d. a day per man at sea, and d. when in harbour, the state bearing all charges of transport." witherings did not long survive these unsuccessful attacks of his enemies, for on the th september, two months after his acquittal, he was stricken down by death. he was one of the two elders of the church at hornchurch; and on the day mentioned, being sunday, whilst proceeding to service, he died suddenly on the way. his remains were laid under the chancel of the church, and a mural tablet was erected to his memory. this has since been removed from the chancel to the north-east side of the entrance immediately under the old tower. the inscription upon the tablet is as follows:-- "sacred to the memory of thomas witheringe, esqr., chiefe postmaster of greate britaine, and foreigne parts, second to none for unfathomed poilesicy, unparralled sagacius and divining genius; witness his great correspondence in all parts of ye christian world. "here lies interred who god from hence did call, by speedy summons, to his funerall. upon his sacred day, the world by love may judge it was to sing his praise above. when on his way unto god's house love brings him swifter passage upon angell's wings full spread with zeal wherein his soul doth fly to mercies throne in twinkling of an eye. this epitaph may all him justly give, who dies in christ he dies not but to live. in christo mori est vivere. obiit anno. dni. , Ætat. suæ ." in _memories of old romford_, it is stated that witherings was a puritan; in any case his profession in later life seems to have been that of a protestant. it may be that the charge of being a papist in his earlier years was but a base invention of his enemies. reference has previously been made to a suggestion that witherings had been a mercer in london in his earlier life. we find, on inquiry, that one thomas witherings was admitted a member of the mercer's company, by redemption, on the th february . this means that he purchased his admission; but it does not follow that he was a mercer in the present meaning of the word. from the conflicting statements made in regard to witherings during the course of his official life, it is perhaps now impossible to arrive at any true estimate of his character. he lived in a troublous time, surrounded by enemies covetous of his office, and during a period of civil war, when to steer a course free from strife and collision would be impossible. he must have been a man of originality and of persevering disposition. in a negative sense, it may be said that he was no tin-plate man, devoid of stability, reflecting only the opinions of others, and capable of being cut into any shape by the scissors of expediency; he was possessed of fight and determination, and must have lived a trying and exciting life. what his pursuits or predilections were, apart from business, it is not now possible to determine. during his official career he was twice sequestered in his office; once he was put in prison; twice his property was seized; and twice he was declared to be, or was charged with being, a delinquent. the probabilities are that the worries and anxieties of office thrust him into his grave, for he died a comparatively young man. from the point of view of work done, he has some claim to be regarded as an early rowland hill; it was he who first organised the inland posts generally in britain for the use of the public; though it is to the credit of the deputy postmasters on the road from london to the west of england, that they had anticipated witherings by several years in setting up a horse post for the benefit of the people on that line of road. he was the forerunner of a long line of able, zealous, and accomplished men, whose lives have been spent in, and have adorned, the post office for two centuries and a half, whose work has been swallowed up in the ever-advancing tide of improvement, and whose names, when their work was done, have disappeared from view and have hardly left an echo behind. chapter vii two days after witherings' death, namely, on the th september , by order of parliament, a previous order of st march , touching the office of postmaster, inland and foreign, was revived, and the council of state were directed to report their opinion thereon forthwith. on the th october, the committee for the posts pass an order, "that the committee sit in the inner horse chamber on thursday, at p.m., to receive the claims of all persons pretending any interest in the foreign or inland letter office, as also the propositions of any person about the improvement and management thereof." this invitation to claimants to come forward opened a very large door, as will be seen presently. it had all along been insisted upon by witherings that, as his patent for the office of foreign postmaster stood in favour of two lives,--his own and that of william frizell,--the possession of the office was in his right (having many years before bought out frizell), and must remain of his right so long as either of the two lived. now, by a provision in witherings' will, he left £ a year to sir david watkins to execute the office after his death, and to maintain and educate his son thomas until he should be of sufficient age to take his father's place. witherings' son died about , and, as a matter of fact, sir david watkins carried on the office of foreign postmaster, in favour of witherings' son, and afterwards of his nephew, who became heir, until the th june , when a change was made in the whole postal arrangements, both inland and foreign. in response to the invitation of the committee for the posts of the th october, the following claims were sent in, in addition to the claim of sir david watkins. that of henry robinson by deputation from endymion and george porter, who previously had been granted a deputation by charles lord stanhope. this claim was for both offices, inland and foreign. that of walter ward, merchant, also to both offices. that of thomas billingsley to the foreign office; and that of benedict moore and william jessop, on behalf of the creditors and three daughters of robert lord rich, to a payment of £ a year out of the foreign letter office. a claim was also preferred by mrs. witherings, on behalf of herself and daughter, on the ground that a large part of her fortune had been spent in purchasing and developing the foreign letter service. the council of state and various committees had much trouble in dealing with these various claims, the legal opinions obtained upon them, which still remain, having apparently been of little use in clearing matters up. the committees, by way of escape from their difficulties, were fain to throw up the whole business, so far as deciding the question of the claims is concerned; and, proceeding upon a resolution of the committee on the posts of the th november , it was determined that "the offices should be let to farm." references continued to pass, however, between the parliament, the council of state, the committee on the posts, and the irish and scotch committee; and it was not till the year that any final step was taken. in may of that year, the committee for the management of the posts made certain suggestions for the future carrying on of the posts. among these were, that the inland and foreign posts be placed under one and the same control. that the inland rates should be as follows:-- for single letters to places within miles from london d. do. over " " d. do. to ireland d. do. to scotland d. that the irish mails should go by way of milford and waterford, and chester and dublin; and that all letters to or from scotland should circulate by way of leith or edinburgh. that public letters--letters of government--should be carried free. that the rental for both offices should not be less than £ per annum. soon after this time tenders were called for, in connection with which the following conditions were prescribed:-- "( ) the undertakers are to be of known integrity and good affection, and responsible in outward estate. "( ) they are to carry all extraordinary despatches to or from the supreme authority, lord-general cromwell, the council of state, commissioners of admiralty, general of the fleet, general officers of the army, army committee, and irish and scotch committee, or any person entrusted with the management of a public affair wherein private interest is not concerned. "( ) all such letters by, as also those to and from, all members of the legislative power, are to be carried free from postage, provided that such as are not known by their seals have an endorsement as follows:--'these are for the service of the commonwealth,' signed by the persons themselves or their clerks. "( ) that the sum of £---- be paid by the undertakers of this business every three months. "( ) they shall receive for single letters carried into ireland, d.; into scotland, d.; to all parts above miles from london, d.; to all parts less remote, d.--with note of the difference between single, double, and triple letters. "( ) that a weekly intercourse may be continued between england and ireland, they are to maintain one or more packet boats weekly between milford and waterford, and between chester and dublin. "( ) that besides the several post stages now in use, there is to be a post settled between dover and portsmouth, portsmouth and salisbury, london and yarmouth, and lancaster and carlisle. "the persons nominated by the undertakers for posts in their several stages, as also all other officers subordinate to them, shall be approved by persons authorized thereto by the lord-general and the council of state." on the th june , offers were considered by the posts committee, under the foregoing specification of conditions, as follows:-- henry robinson £ per annum. ben. andrewes " john goldsmith " ralph kendall " john manley (with good security) - / " richard hicks " rich. hill " two other offers at least had been made; but they do not seem to have been taken into serious account for certain reasons--one being, apparently, that the offerers had prescribed conditions outside the specifications set down. no time was now lost by the council of state. on the very next day they passed the following resolution:--"john manley to carry all packets, public and private, inland and foreign, according to the terms agreed on between him and a committee of council for that purpose, and to enter on the execution of the said office to-night, and receive the profits thereof, and a warrant to be drawn for that purpose; power given him to stop all mails of letters carried by any person not authorized by him; and his office for postage of letters to be freed from all taxes." the terms agreed upon as to payment were not those in manley's offer, but £ , a year. before proceeding further, it is necessary to revert to the year . in this year the common council of london set up a rival post of their own on the several roads leading from london, and, as a report of prideaux states, they "have employed a natural _scott_ into the north who has gone into scotland and hath settled postmasters (others than those for the state) on all that road." the alleged reason for this proceeding was, that the common council required another weekly conveyance of letters for their uses. they were pressed to come before parliament in order that they might set forth their claim to the right of setting up an independent post, but they declined to do so. prideaux represented that his rivals, besides "intrenching upon the rights of parliament," would cause a decrease of his revenue; and, under these circumstances, he could not be expected to carry on the business of the posts; for under the arrangement then existing, the "charge of all the postmasters of england were taken off the state." these representations were made by prideaux in march . the government was more arbitrary than particular as to the strict observance of precedents in law, and the posts of the common council of london were promptly put down. but shortly after witherings' death, in , a combination of men, relying upon the votes of the parliament of , under which it was declared that the secretaries of state and witherings had no exclusive monopoly in the carriage of letters, succeeded in setting up a system of posts in opposition to the officially recognised posts of prideaux, and actually drove the latter from the field. the men who conducted this campaign against prideaux were--clement oxenbridge, richard blackwall, francis thomson, and william malyn. oxenbridge was checkmaster to the collector for prize goods ( ); blackwall was at the same period a collector for prize goods; thomson is probably a man of the name who, in , resigned his interest in windsor little park and other property (of course, for a consideration), which he had purchased some time before from the state; malyn appears to have been connected with one or other of the public offices. these men called themselves "the first undertakers for reducing letters to half the former rates." they tell us that prideaux continued to exact the high rate of d. for every letter. in the account given by them of their proceedings, they say that:--"the undertakers, observing this extortive rate to be held up, as well in witherings' lifetime as after his death,--when the pretence of that illegal grant was ended in point of limitation--and observing that the whole benefit went into one private hand, ... they conceived it would be a work both acceptable to the state and beneficial to the people, to contrive the abatement of those excessive rates; and therefore, maugre all oppositions and abuses of the monopolizer and his interest, they at first dash adventured on postage at the rate of d. a letter beyond eighty miles, and d. a letter within or to eighty miles; and to make return three times weekly." the "undertakers" thus started upon their venture by reducing the minimum rate for a letter from d. to d., and by running the mails three times a week instead of once as hitherto. prideaux tried to put down this combination by reducing his rates and establishing extra mails, but without avail; for the public were so grateful for the reform introduced by the undertakers, that they gave him no encouragement, and he was obliged eventually to give up the business. as prideaux was written to by the council of state about neglects on the portsmouth road on the rd may , his giving up the posts must have been subsequent to this date. the rival concerns were carried on, as might be supposed, in a spirit of bitter antagonism, in which the deputy postmasters had their share. prideaux's agents on one occasion murdered a mounted post riding with the opposition mail, and threw his body into a river; and near the same place a son of one of the old postmasters assaulted another of the rival messengers with a drawn sword. the account goes on to say, that "these practices not accomplishing his (prideaux's) aim, an order from the council of state was procured--not to stop us or our mails, that being too apparently illegal, but in such doubtful terms as might affright the weak from sending their letters to us. libels also were posted up and down the city by him or his agents, signifying that our mails should be stopped, but his go free. this project failing, mr. prideaux, out of a hypocritical pretence of keeping the sabbath day, by his own warrant commanded his postmasters to require the justices of peace in the several counties to stop our mails on the sabbath, whereas his own went free." ... "whilst we were labouring amidst these difficulties, it pleased god to devolve authority on such worthy persons as had from the beginning countenanced us in our work; who, in their first entrance on their management of public affairs, intrusted us with their ordinary and extraordinary despatches." this appears to refer to the period of the breaking up of the long parliament, th april , when the undertakers "were the only persons who performed the service of conveying the state's despatches." "we continued to perform the service of the state freely, fulfilling all things concerning the postage of inland letters; we reduced the same into one channel, and entertained as many of the old postmasters as were honest and well affected, according to direction of the council of state (which constrained us to lay aside divers of those honest persons ready to assist us in carrying on so good a work), took the old post-house in london, where three days a week the state and all persons were accommodated," etc. from this account it seems clear that the old post system under prideaux was ousted by the new company, and that the latter had established itself as the recognised inland post of the country. on the very day on which manley was appointed to the farm of the posts, the th june , he was furnished by the council of state with a warrant as follows:--"to clement oxenbridge, and all others concerned in the inland and foreign post. john manley having contracted for and farmed these offices, we authorize him to enter on his duties this night, to receive and carry all packets, and to receive the profits to his own use. and you are required to permit him to do this without interruption or molestation." upon the strength of this warrant manley proceeded to enter upon his new duties, and, as regards the foreign letter office, there seems to have been no difficulty. but with the inland letter office the case was very different. up to the day when manley was appointed, the managers of the inland post were hopefully negotiating with the council of state for the farm of the posts. their hopes of success were, however, suddenly blighted. the account of the transactions at this time given by these men, which is somewhat amusing, is as follows:--"after we were withdrawn (from the council), col. rich, after private conference with a member of council, so represented the business that an order within half an hour was passed by council immediately to invest manley with the management of the inland and foreign letters. he, that very night, without further warning, demanded the letters which we had received, and the profits of the letters then brought to us by our own servants, at our own charges. with much persuasion we prevailed with manley that the money should be deposited into a clerk's hand intrusted by him, till the pleasure of the council were known; yet before that could be obtained, manley, with some old clerks and postmasters of mr. prideaux's company, violently with swords broke into our house, where our letters and goods were, thrust out our servants, and by force kept possession. the same night, manley and others violently broke into the dwelling-house of some of us in wood street, demanded the letters there, and would by force have broke into the room where some of us were, had we not by main strength kept the door against them; and he, with threatening speeches, required us not to receive any more letters. on complaint to col. rich, he, with rough words, commanded us not to meddle with receiving or sending any more letters, declaring that such was the sense of the council's order, and that, if we persisted, those of us who had any employment under the state should be turned out, and soldiers should be sent to our houses to stop persons bringing any letters to us. from real tenderness to the present posture of public affairs in that juncture of time we forbore contest, in expectation of justice from the supreme authority, rather than occasion disturbance." in this hustling way was the post-office business transferred to new hands. chapter viii the inland and foreign post offices were now combined under the management of john manley, to whom they were farmed for a sum of £ , a year. this was in , and the grant was limited to a period of two years. manley was a justice of peace for the county of middlesex, and is referred to in some contemporary records as justice manley. he made himself useful on the bench to cromwell's party in connection with many political cases brought before him for trial. it is probable that he had previously been a soldier, as he is sometimes referred to as captain manley. in , when manley's term was up, the office changed hands. on the rd of may in that year, an order in council was passed, to the effect that the management of the post office should be performed by john thurloe, secretary of state, "security being given for the payment of the present rent of £ , a year, and for keeping the conditions of the contract with the present farmer, etc., beginning from the expiration of manley's contract." manley's contract fell to expire on the th june following. in pursuance of this order, thurloe succeeded manley in the management of the posts. during thurloe's possession of the office an act was passed for settling the postage of england, ireland, and scotland (june ). the act sets forth that "experience having shown that the settling a post office is the best means to maintain trade, convey dispatches, and discover dangerous designs, it is enacted that there shall be but one post office, and one postmaster-general and controller to settle posts, who shall carry all letters except those sent by known carriers, or merchants' letters of advice sent by ship-masters; also, except private letters sent by messengers. he is to have the horsing of all who ride by post." the rates of postage for letters were as follows, viz.:-- single. double. per oz. to or from any place within miles } d. d. d. of london } " " at a greater } d. d. s. distance } " scotland d. d. s. d. " ireland d. s. s. within ireland. to or from any place within miles } d. d. d. of dublin } " " at a greater } d. d. s. distance } foreign. to leghorn, genoa, florence, lyons, } marseilles, smyrna, aleppo, and } s. s. s. d. constantinople } " bordeaux, rochelle, nantes, bayonne, } d. s. d. s. cadiz, and madrid } " st. malo, morlaix, and newhaven[ ] d. s. s. s. " hamburgh, frankfort, and cologne d. s. d. s. " dantzic, leipsic, lubeck, stockholm, } copenhagen, elsinore, } s. s. s. and queenesbrough[ ] } for every through post, or persons riding in post, - / d. the mile for each horse, besides the guide groat for every stage. all persons save the postmaster-general or his deputies were forbidden to supply post horses on pain of a fine of £ a month--half to the protector and half to the discoverer. many other provisions are set down which need not be quoted here. two months later, th august , on a report from the committee on the postage, it was ordered that a lease be granted of the office of postmaster-general to thurloe, at a rent of £ , , to be paid quarterly; "he to be at all charges, take no greater rates of postage than expressed in the act, and send all government letters free: the grant to be for as many years as his highness thinks fit, not exceeding , or one life." during thurloe's time, the post office was made very serviceable in the discovering of "dangerous designs"; for it is said that the control of the office gave him an "immense advantage in intercepting letters and collecting intelligence, abroad as well as at home." the truth is, that not only in thurloe's time, but in the years immediately preceding the restoration, during the settlement of the kingdom after the restoration, and probably for long after that, the post office was regarded as the pulse of all political movements, the deputy postmasters in the country serving as a hydra-headed agency for the state--seeing, hearing, and reporting everything of importance that transpired in their districts; while the opening of letters in the post afforded a means of securing evidence against the enemies of the ruling powers for the time being. one or two examples of how these things were done may be interesting. on the th august , the council approves of "col. crompton's stopping the irish mail, not knowing of how dangerous consequence some of the letters might be, and judging it fit that they be perused before passing further." then major-general lambert, to whom this communication is addressed, is desired to "examine all the letters, send up any that are dangerous, and send the rest forward to ireland." on the th january , the postmaster of northallerton reports to the postmaster-general, that "four disaffected scottish ministers,--dunkinson, ord, douglas, and jamieson,--thought to be spies and deluders of loyal subjects, are at northallerton, and write many letters to berwick and different parts of yorkshire. asks whether the letters should be received, and, if so, whether they should be opened in presence of a magistrate." these facts being communicated through secretary nicholas to the king, the former writes to the postmaster as follows:--"the king being acquainted with his letter to col. bishop, about scottish ministers and disaffected persons now in northallerton, and corresponding with others in berwick and elsewhere, wishes him to carry to sir w. penniman, a deputy lieutenant, all letters from the four ministers whom he names; to be opened, perused, and sent up to london if they contain anything prejudicial to the public peace; otherwise to be forwarded as addressed." on the st january , a warrant was issued to the head of the post office "to permit john wickham and john hill to search the next mails from holland for counterfeit gold, and, if any be found, to accompany them with it to secretary nicholas, it being reported that much base gold has lately been imported by the mails." these incidents show how the interception and perusal of letters in the post were carried out--all under sufficient authority. there were no newspapers in these days, as _we_ know them, and no telegraphs; all news, except such as might be conveyed by special messengers, or clandestinely by carriers, passed in letters through the post. the possession of the office was therefore, under the conditions previously stated, of the first importance to the powers holding the reins of government; and as parliamentary parties, having various and conflicting political views, were constantly changing positions at this time, the control of the post office changed hands with almost equal frequency. to return to john thurloe. thurloe was secretary of state under both oliver and richard cromwell; and, after the resignation of the latter, he continued to hold his secretaryship till the th january . "in april , he used his utmost efforts to dissuade the protector from dissolving the parliament; a step which proved fatal to his authority." he had previously been "very obnoxious to the principal persons of the army, to whose interests, wherever they interfered with those of the civil government, he was a declared enemy"; and it is not improbable that this antagonism led to his being relieved of the farm of the post office. but his deprivation of the office of postmaster-general and farmer of the post did not take place till later in the year, and under circumstances which thurloe describes in his state papers. in a document of february , he writes:--"i humbly offer to consideration, that within less than a fortnight of the th sept. last"--that is, a fortnight after--"my farm was, by virtue of an act of parliament dated the th oct., made null and void; and the office itself, as it stood at that time, set aside; and consequently no more rent payable; and it was then lawful for any other person to set up other posts for the carrying of such letters as should be brought to them, which very many accordingly practised." the state records during the closing period of the interregnum are very imperfect, but sufficient has been left to enable us to trace the position of affairs as relating to the posts. two months before the passing of the act just mentioned,--namely, on the th of august,--the council of state resolved that the post office should be farmed, that is, let out to some farmer other than thurloe; but, until thurloe should be removed, this could not be arranged. now, as a consequence of these proceedings, and of the act of the th october, the office passed into the hands of dr. benjamin worsley, to whom the farm was then granted for a term of seven years, at a rental of £ , . this seems a large advance upon the previous rent of £ , ; but thurloe states that he improved the office £ per annum to the state voluntarily, which he might have put in his own purse; and the rent he was paying when he vacated the farm must have been £ , a year. but worsley did not long enjoy the position, for shortly thereafter he was "violently turned out." worsley had been selected, as one of several persons, for nomination to parliament as a general officer by the committee of safety in july . in october following, the government was in the hands of a committee of safety composed for the most part of officers; and worsley being a military man, the post office might be supposed to be in safe hands if placed under his care. we have been unable to discover to what family dr. worsley belonged. it is not improbable that he was connected by family ties with charles worsley, who had been one of the colonels of cromwell's own regiment of foot. according to the journals of the house of commons, benjamin worsley was, in july , appointed to be one of the physicians, general-surgeons, and apothecaries of the army in ireland, and was then sent to dublin. in march , he was appointed secretary to the commissioners under the act for regulating trade, and, in , secretary to the commissioners for ireland. he was then selected as a fit person to accompany viscount lisle, as secretary, in a projected embassy to sweden; but the embassy, so far as lisle was concerned, did not proceed. now, on the th december , the rump was again in the ascendant, and constituted themselves a house. on the rd january , parliament appointed a new council; on the th january, the house of commons resolved to take the post office into its own hands, and that it should "be managed for the best advantage of the commonwealth"; on the th january, thomas scott, a member of parliament, one of the council of state, and a hot-headed republican, was appointed by the house of commons "to receive informations of private and public intelligence, as the secretary of state heretofore had and used, and present them to the council of state"; and, a week later, he was appointed secretary of state to the commonwealth. now these events, taken in connection with the fact that, on the st january , the council of state issued an order "to apprehend benj. worsley and bring him in custody before the council," may warrant us in concluding that this is the time when worsley was "violently turned out" of the post office. in succession to worsley, secretary of state scott seems to have become postmaster-general, but his connection with the post office was of brief duration; for a parliament more favourable to the restoration commenced sitting on the rd march , and all persons who had been active in their opposition to the royal house began to consider what was best for their own preservation. scott was one of the men who had signed the death-warrant of king charles i., and no doubt he would be forward in clearing out. that scott was virtually postmaster-general for a time seems to be proved by a warrant, issued by the council of state on the th march , "for intelligence, from the proceeds of the post office, paid by wm. scott and isaac dorislaus, whilst they managed it under thomas scott, £ ." like most of the postmasters-general of these early days, scott had an experience of imprisonment. after the restoration he was taken; he had been excepted out of the general indemnity given by charles ii.; and on the th october he suffered death, with several others, in the presence of the king. evelyn thus refers, in his diary, to the closing scene in the career of postmaster-general scott:--"i saw not their execution, but met their quarters, mangled and cut and reeking, as they were brought from the gallows in baskets on the hurdle. oh! the miraculous providence of god!" so much for a royalist exclamation, and the laying of responsibility on the shoulders of providence. for a short period after secretary scott quitted the post office, it is not very clear how it was managed; but a state paper of rd august shows that an account was rendered of its business from th march to th june of that year by job allibond and francis manley--the former a clerk in the office, and the latter riding purveyor to his majesty. the receipts for the quarter were stated to be £ , s. d., and the disbursements, £ , s. d. manley speaks of himself as being late manager. footnotes: [footnote : havre-de-grace.] [footnote : königsberg.] chapter ix the restoration was now an accomplished fact, and the post office passed into the hands of col. henry bishop of henfield, sussex, to whom was granted the farm of the office for a period of seven years, dating from the th june , at an annual rental of £ , . bishop was the third son of sir thomas bisshopp, knight, of henfield. the bisshopps were formerly a yorkshire family, some of whom served under lord wharton in his proceedings against the scotch in a previous age. henry bishop, the postmaster-general, was married to lady elizabeth plumley or plumleigh, a widow who, in religion, was a papist. before proceeding to deal with bishop's work in the post office, we may here mention, as a matter of interest personal to the individual, that in the impropriator's chancel of the church of henfield is a mural monument to his memory, setting forth that he died in , at the age of eighty. it is not apparent upon what grounds bishop obtained the farm, or whether he had performed any services entitling him to such an appointment. under his indenture he was required to pay one quarter's rent in advance, namely, £ , to bear all the expense of transmitting government letters, and to carry, free, single letters from members of parliament. he was required "to give in a true catalogue of all postmasters employed by him, and dismiss those excepted against by a secretary of state, to whom all alterations in postage, or erection of post stages, were to be submitted." he was, however, to be granted certain allowances in case of plague, civil war, etc., which might affect the revenue of his farm. in connection with bishop's appointment, there is a curious circumstance related in a state paper of september . the document, although written under the initials "a.b.," is evidently the production of clement oxenbridge, who, it will be remembered, was one of the "first undertakers for the reduction of postage," and who was the means of prideaux's giving up the post office. indeed the paper is indorsed "mr. oxenbridge." it reads as follows:-- "statement of a.b.: that he was in youth a servant of the princess royal, and was also allied to a grandee under the late powers; that in he got prideaux put out of the post office, by reducing the price of letters from d. to d., and bringing in a threefold weekly postage; that, to recompense him for £ , s. spent therein, he was to have a weekly payment from the post office; and he took the office in in bishop's name, and settled a foreign correspondence, but, being dissatisfied with bishop, had the office transferred to his cousin o'neale" (o'neale was successor to bishop) "on condition of continuing him £ a year therefrom, but this has not been done," etc. whether oxenbridge was able to exercise the interest here pretended is not clear. he was employed in the post office under bishop for a time, but, as will be seen hereafter, there is little doubt he was turned out of it. the return of the king from exile was signalised by a general scramble for offices, the king and his ministers being inundated with petitions for all kinds of places. while the king came in upon a promise of general pardon, his return was followed by measures of great severity; and it is perhaps not far from the truth to attribute much of what took place to the clamour of the royalists, whose claims to place could not be satisfied without turning other men out. in order to clear the way, it would obviously be necessary to proceed against the then holders upon some plea or other. the petitions are founded on every variety of alleged service or suffering, from the most trivial to the most important. for example, one suitor begs for the place of groom of the great chamber to the king or the dukes of york or gloucester, stating that he "had been clerk of the chapel to the late king, and served his majesty, when prince, as keeper of his balloons and paumes, and of tennis shoes and ankle socks." an aged widow, named elizabeth cary, begs a place as page for her son, on the ground that she had suffered greatly for her loyalty. she had had her back broken at henley-on-thames, and a gibbet was erected to take away her life. she was imprisoned at windsor castle, newgate, bridewell, the bishop of london's house, and lastly in the mews, at the time of the late king's martyrdom, "for peculiar service in carrying his gracious proclamations and declarations from oxford to london, and only escaped with her life by flying into her own country." many petitions were received for places in the post office. the plaint of one applicant is, that "his father's property was destroyed by lord fairfax at the siege of leeds." in another case it is set forth that the petitioner "should have succeeded his father, but was put by for taking arms for the late king." a suppliant in the west says, that he "has been a constant sufferer from the tyranny of his majesty's enemies. would not mention his sufferings, in the joy of the restoration, but for his wife and children, those patient partakers of all his troubles. was the first man in exeter to be taken up and imprisoned in all occasions during the late rebellion," etc. a former postmaster of lichfield says, that "he suffered much loss by pulling down of his house and plunder of his goods, and was displaced by the then parliament." the prayer of thomas challoner, postmaster of stone, is based on the fact that he is brother to richard challoner, martyred for his loyalty before the royal exchange in , and has often been plundered, etc. thomas taylor, of tadcaster, solicits the postmastership of that place: urging his claim upon the fact that his ancestors had served since queen elizabeth's time; that his father, thomas taylor, had been seized and executed by lord fairfax for carrying an express to prince rupert, when york was besieged, to hasten to its relief; and that his family had been kept out of the place ever since. a former postmaster of newcastle-on-tyne, thomas swan, claims restoration to the place of postmaster because the "pretenders who oppose him have not the least interest"; that his family had been loyal almost to their extirpation and banishment from the town; and that £ , s. is still due to his late father as postmaster, burlamachi not having allowed him to pay himself out of the letter office, etc. these are specimens of the memorials sent in immediately after the restoration, and which the new powers were called upon to satisfy. the working staff of the post office in london at the period of the restoration seems to have been a very mixed company. a number of them had been continued from the time of the commonwealth; some had been brought in by bishop; and the system of intercepting and opening letters, for the discovery of sedition, so largely practised during the commonwealth, being still carried on, there was a great outcry against these officers who were not regarded as staunch royalists. bishop himself was distrusted. in december , the postmaster of newbury complains that many members of the post office are ill-affected, and "that major wildman, and thompson and oxenbridge, anabaptists, put in and out whom they please." in the autumn of , an account is given of the condition of the post office. therein it is stated, that "it is managed by those who were active for cromwell and the late government: first, major wildman, a subtle leveller and anti-monarchy man; second, oxenbridge, a confidant of cromwell and betrayer of many of the king's party; third, dorislaus, the son of the man who pleaded for the king's death at his trial; and, fourth, vanderhuyden, agent of nieuport, the dutch ambassador to cromwell, now treating, underhand, to settle the postage by way of amsterdam. the letter officers are chiefly disloyal: col. bishop himself and the office are under major wildman's control." the writer of this statement urges that the office should be put under fresh management. shortly after this time, as would appear, there had been a clearing-out of several of the persons objected to; for in "a perfect list of all the officers, clerks, and others employed in and about the post office in london by henry bisshopp, esq., his majesty's farmer of the said office," the principal names mentioned above do not appear. the staff and constitution of the office, as exhibited by this paper, are as follows:-- in the inland office. job. allibond } clerks of the northern road. anselme fowler } james hickes } clerks of the chester road. matthew hanscomb } thomas chapman } clerks of the eastern road. benjamin lamb } thomas aylward } clerks of the western road. robert aylward } andrew leake } receivers of letters at the windows samuell allibond } of the office. cornelius glover } thomas bucknor general accomptant. benjamin andrews clerk and accomptant of the moneys in the office. john rea, son of mr. } john rea, between ye } letter marker or stamper. temple gates } mr francis thomson "agent to ryde ye severall rodes and find out abuses, and take care of ye due carriage of ye mayles and of all postmasters' doeing their severall and respective dutyes." of porters or letter carriers, whose names need not be given here, there were . in the foreign office. thomas harper } jeremiah copping } clerks. richard bostock } john mansfield office-attendant. this return is exceedingly interesting on several grounds. it shows that in the autumn of the total effective force of the post office in london numbered persons; it contains the first recorded mention, probably, of a surveyor,--"agent to ryde ye severall rodes,"--a numerous class of officers nowadays, who perform the same duties as then, taking into account the changes in the methods and work of the post office; and it also contains the first record of a stamper of letters being employed. as regards the stamping, this is also mentioned by bishop, in an answer made to the council of state respecting alleged abuses in the post office, under date nd august , as follows:-- ... "that he only employs old officers because new ones cannot serve for want of experience"; and he shows the precautions he has taken to rectify abuses, "by setting up printed rules, taking securities of the letter-carriers, stamping the letters," etc. in complaints made of irregularities in the post office, very unflattering comments are made upon some of its officers. thus: "bishop's agent, thompson, is a very juggler; they both"--that is, bishop and thompson--"will be complained of next parliament." a clerk, ibson, who had been dismissed, refers, in a vindication he attempted of himself, to the "dangerous character of the disaffected and scurrilous men who witness against him"; and that, "having accused them to secretary nicholas and col. bishop, they procured his dismissal." james hickes, a clerk in the post office, on the other hand, recriminates that, during the late troubles, ibson was accustomed "to open and read the letters, and give news therefrom; that he was careless of the letters; and often wrong in his accounts"; and that on these grounds he was dismissed. in another information, thomas chapman is described as being a leveller; and glover, a servant of hugh peters--both being accused of speaking disrespectfully of the king and parliament. in a memorandum of secretary nicholas it is stated that "glover of the post office was last sunday at mr. jenkins' church, whispering amongst the people to take heed what they write, as their letters are often opened." the period was evidently one of very severe examination, and the weeding out from the post office of unreliable servants. col. henry bishop did not escape in the general round of attack. a statement, dated st december , is left on record to the following effect:--"that william parker, who keeps the nonsuch, formerly commonwealth club, in bow street, covent garden, was wildman's man, the wife his servant, and the house furnished by him for meetings in cromwell's time. that col. bishop often met wildman there, and revealed the design of the late king's party, wherein lord mordaunt, major smith, and others were betrayed, and dr. hewitt lost his life; major smith declared on his deathbed that he never spoke the words by which he was betrayed to any but bishop. most of the post-office clerks used to meet and dine weekly at this house; and those now in hold, on suspicion of the plot, had meetings there. the night before wildman was committed, a clerk of the post office, and another, rode to the post house at hounslow, stopped the two western mails, carried the letters into a private room, and, after spending two hours with them, charged the boy who carried the mail forward not to speak of what they had done." in a petition of the discharged clerk ibson, some time later, ibson states that "he was bound in loyalty to disclose the horrid and dangerous practices of henry bishop, for which bishop dismissed him in disgrace, and imprisoned him on several feigned actions." bishop's farm of the post office must have given him much trouble and anxiety, arising partly from the nature of the staff employed by him, and partly from the conditions of unrest pervading society, these two things inspiring distrust and suspicion in the management of the office. when the time arrived for his forced retirement from the farm, he would doubtless be glad to get quit of it. this event occurred in . the immediate cause is not made quite clear. no less an authority than dan. o'neale, who succeeded bishop, states that "col. bishop was turned out for continuing disaffected persons in the management of the post." but bishop was about this time harassed with suits at law, and the king thought fit to step in and arrest the proceedings. the following document, addressed to "our attorney-general and all others," was issued with this intent from whitehall on the th march :--"whereas we are informed that john hill hath caused an information to be exhibited against henry bishop, esq., for the exercising of the office of our postmaster-general, and that other suits are intended to be brought against him by the said hill, which will much tend to the disquieting of the said henry bishop and to our disservice; our royal pleasure therefore is, that the said suit be no further prosecuted against him, and that our attorney-general do enter a _non vult ulterius prosequi_ upon it, and that no other suit be commenced or prosecuted against him for the same, and that our counsel at law do appear in the behalf of our servant the said henry bishop." about the same time,--a few weeks later,--a formal pardon of all indebtedness to the crown was granted to bishop; the document setting forth that bishop had surrendered his grant on the th april; and proceeding that "by reason of some supposed variance between the letters patent, indentures of covenants, and the said late act for establishing a post office, bishop may be liable to suits and questions concerning the execution of the said office or yearly rent due for same; the king therefore pardons and releases to bishop all sums of money the crown may now or hereafter claim of him," etc. under a cloud of proceedings of this nature bishop ceased to be postmaster-general. the farm of the office was now transferred to col. dan. o'neale for the remaining portion of the seven years' lease granted to bishop. it would seem that a money consideration was made by o'neale to bishop for the transfer of the office; for in a statement of some proceedings (before the council apparently), it is stated "that colonel bishop, before his last appearance at council, would have taken £ for resignation of his grant, but has since advanced to £ , which he says mr. o'neale has offered to him; o'neale also offers to secretary bennet £ , and £ a year during bishop's lease; this can be no disservice to the duke of york, who can expect no improvement till bishop's lease terminates." apparently o'neale took up the grant under the whole conditions, privileges, and obligations applicable to bishop's tenure. o'neale, an irish gentleman, was the king's harbinger and groom of the bed chamber. during the rebellion in ireland, wherein owen roe o'neale was concerned, before the downfall of charles i., the marquess of ormonde engaged daniel o'neale, a relative of owen's (said to be a nephew), in an endeavour to win the latter over to charles' interest. in this, however, he was unsuccessful. later, during the commonwealth, he was declared a delinquent, impeached, and thrown into the tower; but from this durance he managed to effect his escape. clarendon says of him that "he made his escape in a dexterous way, clad in a lady's dress." when the duke of ormonde crossed over to england from the continent, in disguise, with the view of ascertaining the hopes then existing for a return of the royal house, he was accompanied by dan. o'neale, at the hazard of his life. he also took part in an attempt upon scotland, for the royal cause, in , but was apprehended and banished by the council, being then put under a written obligation "by which he consented to be put to death, if he were ever after found in the kingdom." o'neale is known as the builder of belsize, at hampstead, which he is said to have erected at vast expense. he would appear to have been a special favourite of charles ii., for he enjoyed several grants or monopolies besides that of the post office. o'neale's grant, dating from the th march , was for a period of four and a quarter years, at a rental of £ , , but, like several of the other grantees, he did not complete his term, his death taking place about october . pepys, in recording this event, adds the remark, "i believe to the content of all the protestant pretenders in ireland." o'neale left, as his widow, katherine countess-dowager of chesterfield, who was his executrix. the countess was allowed to have the benefit of the remainder of the term; and henry lord arlington and john lord berkeley were empowered, by warrant, to make contracts with foreign states on behalf of the post office, and to act for "the better carrying out of that office." the interception and inspection of letters in the post for government purposes, so largely carried on under the farmers immediately preceding, had the inevitable result of engendering discontent and suspicion, and of driving the public to make use of other means for the conveyance of their correspondence. recoiling upon the farmers would necessarily be the loss of revenue. no sooner had o'neale entered upon his trust than steps were taken to put down or curtail the irregularities both inside and outside the post office. on the th may , a proclamation was issued forbidding all persons except dan. o'neale or his deputies to carry or deliver letters for hire, and ordering searches to be made for the discovery of unlicensed letter-carriers. as evidence of compliance with the royal views, all postmasters were required to produce, within six months, a certificate of their conformity to the church of england, on pain of dismissal; and a very important clause in the proclamation provided that no letters should be opened by any but the persons to whom they were addressed, "without immediate warrant from a secretary of state." about the same date secretary bennet issued a warrant "to all mayors and other officers, and particularly to richard carter and eight others, specially appointed for twelve months, to search for and apprehend all persons carrying letters for hire without licence from the postmaster-general, and to bring them before one of the secretaries, delivering their letters into the post office." the searchers were what, in a later period of post-office history, were officially called "apprehenders of letter-carriers." these restrictive measures had not been a month in operation when o'neale found it necessary to make a representation with respect to them. he complained that the means at the disposal of bishop for dealing with offences against the post office were quicker in operation than those prescribed to himself; and he expressed himself to the effect that he would rather quit the office than go to law against every offender. o'neale further says that the lord chancellor had declared the opinion that the secretaries, being superintendents over the post office, should take notice of offences. it is quite evident that o'neale did not find the post office a bed of roses. o'neale also discovered, soon after entering the post office, that while his grant purported to cover all the king's dominions, the postmaster at edinburgh, robert mein, was independent of him, mein having had a gift of that office made by his majesty at stirling, and confirmed since the restoration. for the loss of revenue in this quarter, o'neale claimed a deduction from his rent of £ a year. it may be well here to mention that, shortly after o'neale's grant of the post office, an act was passed-- chas. ii. c. ( )--settling the profits of the business upon james duke of york and his heirs male. that is to say, the rentals were the claim or right of the duke of york; but they were subject to payments to be made, under privy seal, in favour of the king, to an amount not exceeding £ , s. per annum. by a later act-- & chas. ii. c. --this reservation in favour of the king was made perpetual. chapter x a curious connection between the post office and music is referred to as existing at this period. to pepys we are indebted for a knowledge of the fact. in his _diary_, under date wednesday, the th october , he has the following note:--"to the musique-meeting at the post office, where i was once before. and thither anon come all the gresham college, and a great deal of noble company; and the new instrument was brought called the arched-viall, where being tuned with lute-strings, and played on with kees like an organ, a piece of parchment is always kept moving; and the strings, which by the kees are pressed down upon it, are grated in imitation of a bow, by the parchment; and so it is intended to resemble several vyalls played on with one bow, but so basely and so harshly, that it will never do. but after three hours' stay it could not be fixed in tune; and so they were fain to go to some other musique of instruments." it might be supposed that the post office would be the last place on earth to which "a great deal of noble company" would resort for musical entertainment. but, fortunately, evelyn in his _diary_ throws some light on the subject by referring to the same meeting in the following terms:--"to our society.--there was brought a new invented instrument of musiq, being a harpsichord with gut strings, sounding like a concert of viols with an organ, made vocal by a wheele, and a zone of parchment that rubb'd horizontally against the strings." "our society" referred to by evelyn, and pepys' allusion to gresham college, as also the fact that the minutes of the royal society record a meeting on this day, leave little room for doubt that the gathering at the post office was a meeting of the royal society. evelyn was one of the original council when the society, a couple of years before, obtained its charter, and pepys became a fellow some four months after this meeting at the post office. but the question arises--why was the meeting held at the post office? the usual meeting-place of the royal society was gresham college. it is necessary to understand that the post office, at the period with which we are dealing, was located in the black swan, bishopsgate street, at a trifling distance, probably, from gresham college. it was no doubt one of the old city inns, built with an interior courtyard, and possessing a number of rooms more or less adapted for public meetings. within the inn lived certain of the principal officers of the post office. it may be that some of these officers were interested in the royal society, and, as a matter of favour, afforded accommodation at the post office for exceptional meetings. at anyrate, an original member of the society, andrew ellis, became deputy postmaster-general in , and joseph williamson, secretary to lord arlington (who, by the way, practised music as an amateur), was also a member, the last mentioned (arlington) becoming postmaster-general in the same year. or it may be that, as the members of the royal society moved in the best circles, they were granted accommodation for special meetings by the farmer of the posts, col. dan. o'neale, who would doubtless be on intimate terms with many of the members. another supposition is, however, open to us. it may be that the post office occupied only a part of the black swan premises, that the business of an inn was still carried on within the building, and that the meetings referred to by pepys were held in a room rented for the purpose. however this may be, the entertaining diarist has left it on record that he went "to the musique-meeting at the post office." about the time of o'neale's death, or a little later, occurred the great plague of london, - . the officers of the post office did not escape the fatalities of that terrible scourge. the senior clerk of the establishment, james hickes, with whom the reader must now be familiar, describes, in a petition written shortly thereafter, how the plague affected the post office. he says "that dureing the late dreadfull sickness, when many of the members of the office desert the same, and that betweene and of the members dyed thereof, your petitioner, considering rather the dispatch of your majesty's service then the preservation of himselfe and family, did hazard them all, and continued all that woefull tyme in the said office to give dispatch and convayance to your majesty's letters and pacquetts, and to preserve your revenue ariseing from the same." now, as in august the number of officers attached to the london post office was only , it would appear by hickes' statement that from one-half to two-thirds of the staff were carried off by the plague. in a letter written to jos. williamson (who, like a great many other principal officers of the government, had fled from the scourge), dated the th august , hickes gives some further particulars of how things proceeded at that time. he tells williamson that the postmaster of huntingdon has been directed to forward his letters, "airing them over vinegar before he sends them." then he adds, that the chief office is "so fumed, morning and night, that they can hardly see each other; but had the contagion been catching by letters, they had been dead long ago. hopes to be preserved in their important public work from the stroke of the destroying angel." williamson had asked hickes to give £ on his behalf to the poor of st. martins-in-the-fields; but the latter answered that he did not know where to get it at this time, "where all doubt ever seeing each other again." hickes adds, that the sickness is increasing, and that their gains at the post office are so small that "they will not at the year's end clear £ of their salaries." the whole business of the city of london seems to have become paralysed. on the rd august an ambassador in london wrote to his government that "there was no manner of trade left, nor conversation, either at court or on the exchange." on the th of the same month one richard fuller wrote that not one merchant in a hundred was left in the city; that every day seemed like sunday; and that though he had a great deal of money owing to him, he could not get in a penny, nor could he sell any goods. the concluding portion of hickes' petition, above referred to, may merit perusal. in justification of his prayer, he says: "soe that your petitioner, being now arrived to neere years of age, hath acquired for all the service of his life nothing but weaknesses and severe distempers, which his dayly attendance and assiduitie hath contracted. may it therefore please your most sacred majesty, in consideration of your petitioner's service and sufferings, his age and weakness, haveing gained noe estate, but a bare subsistance by his hard services, that your majesty wilbe gratiously pleased to give him such a compensation as may suport and preserve your petitioner and his wife, now in their old age." hickes did not, however, immediately retire from the post office: he remained in its service some time longer. in another petition at the time of the restoration, he makes mention of some of his official antecedents. he says that "he sent the first letter from nantwich to london by post in , a road now bringing in £ a year." he settled the bristol and york posts, and conveyed letters to the late king at edgehill and oxford. he refers to his committal to prison, previously mentioned in these pages, in ; and gives us the further information that his aged father was one of the royalists who are said to have been slain on the field of edgehill. hickes, after his imprisonment, was employed in the king's service; but somehow he got back into the london post office, under the commonwealth, about the year . in yet a further petition, hickes, again claiming credit for keeping the post office open during the plague, begs that he may have an order to the commissioners of prizes, to deliver to him some brown and white sugar granted to him by his majesty from the ship _espérance_ of nantes, condemned as a prize at plymouth. shortly after the plague, the great fire of london broke out. it commenced on the st september , and on the rd september it reached the chief post office, in bishopsgate street. in these early times, as has already been mentioned, some of the officers lived on the premises--the higher officials, at anyrate. sir philip frowde was then one of the controllers, and james hickes was senior clerk. on the rd september the latter writes to williamson as follows, dating his letter from the post house at the golden lion, red cross street (this inn was probably a branch post office at the time):--"sir philip and his lady fled from the office at midnight for saftey; stayed himself till a.m., till his wife and children's patience could stay no longer, fearing lest they should be quite stopped up; the passage was so tedious, they had much ado to get where they are. the chester and irish mails have come in; sends him (williamson) his letters; knows not how to dispose of the business. is sending his wife and children to barnet." it is not very clear whether the post office in bishopsgate street was entirely destroyed,--it was certainly destroyed in part. at any rate, on the th august , nearly a year after the fire, an official notice was issued that the kentish office had been removed "from the round house to the grand office in bishopsgate street, for the better dispatch of business." whether this grand office was in the old black swan or in other premises we are unable to say. these records make it tolerably clear that the chief post office was still placed in bishopsgate street for some time subsequent to the fire. the early locations of the post office in london seem to have been as follows:-- .--in sherborne lane, king william street. .--inland letter office (under the earl of warwick) in bartholomew lane, at the back of the old exchange. removed afterwards to cloak lane, dowgate. removed later to the black swan, bishopsgate street, where it was at the time of the great fire. was again in bishopsgate street after the great fire. later it was removed to the black pillars in bridges street, covent garden. in the new regulations laid down for working the posts in , it was ordered that each mail should be accompanied by a label, or what would now be called a time-bill or way-bill, and that upon this label the arrivals at the several stages should be noted, instead of upon the letters or packets as had previously been done. the labels used in , specimens of which exist in the public record office, are curious documents. they are like a double sheet of foolscap, but longer and narrower, and are furnished with a printed heading as follows:-- [illustration] _for the special service and affairs of his majesty._ haste, haste. poste-haste. whereas the management of the poste stage of letters of england, scotland, and ireland, is committed to my care and conduct; these are therefore in his majesties name to require you, in your respective stages, to use all diligence and expedition in the safe and speedy conveyance of this mail and letters from london to ____ , and from thence to return; and hereof you are not to fail, as you will answer the contrary at your perils. given under my hand this ____ past ____ in the morning. to the several postmasters on ____ road. the bills were signed in writing by philip frowde, the then working head of the post office. the stages, and the official distances between the stages, at this time from london to berwick, were as follows:-- london to waltham, miles. waltham " ware, " ware " royston, " royston " caxton, " caxton " huntingdon, " huntingdon " stilton, " stilton " stamford, " stamford " witham, " witham " grantham, " grantham " newark, " newark " tuxford, " tuxford " scroby, " scroby " doncaster, " doncaster " ferribrigs, " ferribrigs " tadcaster, " tadcaster " yorke, " yorke " burrowbridge " burrowbridge " n. allerton, " n. allerton " darlington, " darlington " durham, " durham " newcastle, " newcastle " morpeth, " morpeth " alnwicke, " alnwicke " belford, " belford " berwick, " ---- ==== the number of despatches weekly to the principal continental cities, and the times allowed for transit to or from london, were these:-- madrid, once a week, transit, days. venice, " " " " geneva, " " " " marseilles, " " " " paris, twice " " " the hague, " " " " brussells, " " " " frankfort, once " " " dantzicke, " " " " stockholme, " " " " cologne, twice " " " mayence, once " " " hamburg, twice " " " copenhagen, " " " " leghorne, " " " " naples, once " " " about this time joseph williamson became editor of the _london gazette_; and for his purpose, as well as for the use of the government, all manner of news was collected through the post office. williamson had a rival in the news business in one muddiman, who had previously had charge of williamson's correspondence. hickes exerted himself to the utmost in opposing muddiman, writing to his correspondents "to assure them that muddiman, being dismissed by williamson from the management of his correspondence, for turning it to his own advantage, could not communicate much news, and that his letters were no longer to be franked." the zeal of hickes carried him so far as to violate muddiman's letters; and as listeners often hear unpleasant things of themselves, so hickes had a like experience in looking into the rival's letters. a copy of one of muddiman's letters to his correspondents, left in hickes' own handwriting, runs as follows:-- "james hickes, a little fellow of the post office, having written about him, he informs them that, on a misunderstanding with williamson about the _gazette_, he has quitted that office, turned his correspondents to secretary morice, and will write fully and constantly as before. has discovered hickes in some practices, and has not therefore given him his letters to sign, nor a copy of them to write after." the following are specimens of the news sent up from the country to hickes:-- th march --from richd. foster, newcastle. "in the impress of seamen, the mayor, sir ralph delaval, and others agreed to make volunteers of capt. john wetwyng's pressmasters, who, knowing the haunts of most of the seamen of the town, managed so well that almost as great a number of volunteers and pressed men will be returned as will be had out of scotland; as none can escape the pressmasters, many come in as volunteers because they will not be pressed; there are hundreds of stout young keel and barge men who could do good service, and hundreds would go volunteers, if they may be employed." th march --from luke whittington, hull. "col. morley, the present governor of hull, sent out several files of musketeers to serjeant bullock's house, two miles off, where a conventicle of to fanatics was held; only were seized, as their scouts were out, and they fled." th june --from edward suckley, landguard fort. "on the th, the duke of york with all his fleet came to sole bay, where they are at anchor, with dutch ships taken and prisoners; sail are sunk or taken; opdam, trump, and eversen, and other commanders, killed. on our side lords fitzherbert and falmouth, and two other lords, are killed." th october --from fras. newby, harwich. "a mighty eagle lighted yesterday on the ropehouse on the green; her wings seven feet long, and one claw inches long; she is thought to have come from some far country, and to have been extremely weary, for she budged not at the first shot made at her, and was killed by the second. has sent him a dried salmon," etc. at this period ( ), the riding work seems to have been very slow indeed. on the th may of this year, hickes gives a return which shows the following results:-- plymouth to london, at the rate of to miles an hour. yarmouth " " " - / " " bristol road " " " " " gloucester " " " - / " " chester " " " " " york " " " " " the speed at which the mails should have been carried between lady day and michaelmas was seven miles an hour, so they were travelling at little more than half their speed. yet severe measures were taken by the post-office authorities against the postmasters. by a petition of john paine, postmaster of saxmundham, it is set forth that he was taken into custody "for not having seven horses ready as soon as sir philip howard expected, though they were ready within half an hour." the postmaster of witham, essex, was also summoned before lord arlington for neglect, and imprisoned. so great had been the effect of the pressing of men for the fleet at this period that, on the nd july , sir philip frowde writes to williamson, that "most of the post-boys on the kentish road are pressed, so that unless some course be taken, expresses or envoys cannot come or go." chapter xi on the expiry of o'neale's grant, the office of postmaster-general was conferred upon henry lord arlington, the grant in his case being for a period of ten years, dating from midsummer . during the commonwealth, arlington, as sir henry bennet, had been a faithful adherent of the king while in exile on the continent, and for a time was his representative at the court of madrid. as a statesman, after the restoration, he was held in high esteem by charles, and is well known as a member of the cabal. he was a busy man in the affairs of his country, and, consequently, was unable to fulfil, in person, his duties at the post office. and so we find that he discharged these duties by deputies, the two men intrusted in the first instance with the work being his brother, sir john bennet, and one andrew ellis. ellis died in , and in his place was appointed his cousin, colonel roger whitley, who continued to hold the office of deputy postmaster-general till the close of lord arlington's first term in . the precise conditions of arlington's grant, as regards rent, are not known. the patent roll sets forth that the sum of £ , s. was to be reserved to the order of the king as in previous grants, but that the remaining rent payable by arlington was to be determined by a tripartite indenture, of the same date as the patent, to be executed between james duke of york of the first part, henry lord arlington and lord berkeley of stratton of the second part, and mary dowager-viscountess falmouth of the third part. the terms of this indenture have not apparently come down to us. the third party to the indenture was the widow of viscount falmouth, who fell in the battle with the dutch off lowestoft, on the rd june , and the arrangement here made was probably with the view of securing her some allowance. haydn, however, places lord arlington's rent, in , at £ , , but we are unable to say from what source these figures are taken. lord arlington's advent to the post office in was marked by measures that were held to be very oppressive by the staff of that office. this is abundantly clear from letters written at the period by james hickes, the senior clerk. he writes to williamson, secretary to lord arlington, with whom he had intimate relations in connection with the _gazette_ business, as follows:--"many postmasters are in london, or coming up, in order to their future settlements: understands his lordship's pleasure to be that they must pay a fine; and has given reasons therefor to those who applied to him for advice, so as to prevent hard thoughts of his lordship, and prepare them for quiet submission." the fine here mentioned is a payment that was demanded for renewal of employment, something after the plan previously in vogue whereby the deputy postmasters obtained their places by purchase. to obtain places by purchase was the common practice during the reigns of james i. and charles i. again hickes writes about himself, that he "expects little compassion, notwithstanding all his services and diligence, if williamson do not stand firm to him." then, upon some interference by sir john bennet with the clerks sending letters or news books post-free, hickes says that "he would rather withdraw and live on salt and water," and that he refused to pay for his own letters or news books. he "told sir john that the governors had rather blamed the clerks for not corresponding more with the postmasters to keep things right, as by so doing a correspondence had been settled with all parts of the kingdom. told him there was not a man in the office who did not deserve continuance and encouragement instead of reduction of salary, and that such severity would ruin the office." sir john, "said he could have officers who wanted employment. told him that blades with swords at their sides, and velvet jackets, would not do the business, as some had proved very rogues and cheats, and were rooted out.... sir john said that as his lordship had to pay a greater rent than before, other things must be improved." he again writes, that "sir john bennett tries to reduce the postmasters to s. a mile, which lowers them from £ to £ a year; and that he makes and unmakes contracts, so that they fear they may be removed at pleasure. the two porters are reduced from s. to s. a week, and are no longer to have d. for each express sent to whitehall; the letter carriers are reduced from s. to s.... will do his best, though told he is designed for ruin when he has served their turn," etc. in a further letter hickes writes, that he "will wait upon williamson and his lordship shortly, and if no more kindness is shown him for services done, shall take his leave, and rest upon god. is hardly dealt with, as whatever care and pains he takes, it contribrites not a candle, nor a cup of beer as formerly granted; and the taking away of these poor petty things is the present reward for the most considerable and advantageous service done. writes all this to him, as being the only person to whom he can unbosom himself." we will add but one more extract, from a later letter written in hickes' despair. he intimates a desire to wait upon williamson, but he pleads that "his service is so severe that he has not two hours' rest between the post going out and coming in, and seldom has half an hour's sleep, by which means he is becoming decrepid and dropsical." then he adds, that "he will wait with patience; and if he die without consideration, it will be a comfort to know that he has discharged his duty faithfully in all hazards and hardships." incidentally, hickes mentions in one of these plaintive letters that his salary as senior clerk was £ a year. he also indicates that sir john bennet[ ] was no favourite with the staff; for he says of him, that when he comes into the office "it is with such deportment and carriage that no king can exceed." these letters afford a fair idea of the measures which were being applied to the service under lord arlington's postmaster-generalship. the paucity of information left to us of the internal working of the post office in its earlier years, is doubtless due to the fact that the books in use under the various farmers of the post were removed at the termination of each farm, being the property of the farmer, and in most cases these books have disappeared with time. fortunately, however,[ ] one set of books remains, that referring to the period from to , when, under lord arlington, colonel roger whitley was deputy postmaster-general. these books contain the correspondence with the deputy postmasters throughout, the country, and afford much interesting information as to the state of the posts in that limited term. colonel roger whitley, as appears by the _historical manuscripts commission reports_, was either the individual of that name who, when governor of aberystwith castle, had to surrender to the parliamentary troops, or a son of that person. he was, at anyrate, an attendant upon king charles ii. during his exile, and, in the semblance of a court then maintained, he held the position of a member of the privy chamber. a letter is extant in which the king begs from whitley the loan of £ . at the restoration, whitley received the appointment of harbinger to the king, and now the appointment of deputy postmaster-general. it is not improbable that he was a cheshire man, from the facts that his daughter was married to sir john mainwaring of peover, in that county, and that colonel whitley himself, or his son, was mayor of chester in . during the time of whitley's deputy postmaster-generalship, he represented flint in the house of commons. andrew marvell says of him that by the farm of the post office "he got a vast estate." in some loose sheets prefaced to the first volume of whitley's office letter-books, referring apparently to the year , is a schedule showing a rearrangement of the salaries of the deputy postmasters in the country, when lord arlington assumed the farm of the post office. the fragment of the document on the opposite page shows how the matter was arranged. for the renewal of their deputations under the new postmaster-general, the postmasters were mulcted in a fine or payment equal to one year's salary as adjudged to be proper to the several offices, the rate allowed being about s. per mile per annum. now, as the mails, as a rule, at this time travelled three times a week, the rate per single-journey mile carrying the mail works out at about twopence and one-third of a penny. it is worthy of note, that on the admission of the deputy postmasters to office they were required to pay, in addition to the fine above referred to, fees for their deeds of deputation amounting to £ , s. these fees went to the clerks at head-quarters, among whom they were divided, as a payment, apparently, for the drafting and preparing the necessary papers. this must have been a heavy tax upon the postmasters, the sum mentioned being equivalent in value to at least £ of our present money. chester road. +-----------+------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+ | miles | | | | salaries | | (up and | | | old | according | | down). | stages. | postmasters' names. | salary. | to derby | | | | | | road. | +-----------+------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+ | | | | £ s. d. | £ s. d. | | | | | | | | single | london | j. bennett | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | and | barnet | walter yorke | | | | " | st. albans | sarah simpson | | | | " | dunstable | robert joxon | | | | " | brickhill | john younger | | | | " | towcester | andrew snape | | | | " | daventry | valentine suckborough | | | +-----------+------------+-----------------------+-----------+-----------+ --------------+---------------------------+------------+ salary | | | according to | | | judgement. | | fines. | | | | -------------+----------------------------+------------+ £ s. d. |{ viz. for riding, £ } | £ s. d. | |{ per annum, and £ } | | |{ per annum for sending } | | |{ his horse each } | | |{ night to the office. } | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -------------+----------------------------+------------+ the letters of roger whitley on subjects relating to the appointment of deputies, to the riding work, the packet services, and to his dealings with the public, are interesting in many ways. they are somewhat curious in language and style, and show a quaint relationship existing between himself and his subordinates. to the country postmasters, whitley ordinarily subscribed himself, "your very loving friend," "your assured loving friend," and the like. the salaries of the postmasters were usually arranged after negotiation by letter, and, in many cases, by a subsequent visit from a friend on behalf of the postmasters. whitley rather discouraged visits from the deputies themselves on the subject of salaries, and the object of the friend's visit is not very clear. while lord arlington had reduced the scale of pay in to something like s. a mile per annum, the scale was further reduced under whitley to about s. a mile. the postmasters were not entirely remunerated by salary. they enjoyed privileges not allowed to other innkeepers, which brought them profits and immunities. they had the old monopoly of providing horses for persons riding post, at the fixed rate of d. per mile, with d. per stage for the guide. they were exempt from serving in the militia and in certain other public capacities, and they frequently had relief from the quartering upon them of soldiers. this exemption did not, however, apply to the regiments of guards. in some cases, also, they were favoured with a couple of _gazettes_ weekly, out of which they probably made something by attracting thereby customers to their inns, or by circulating them in their towns and districts. from these various sources did the postmasters receive a return for their services to the posts. beyond this, however, the riding work brought travellers to their houses; and if the wages paid by the deputy postmaster-general were not high, the deputy postmasters probably "took it out" of the public. at anyrate, colonel whitley had himself some experience of high charges, as appears by a remonstrance made by him to one of his postmasters, as follows:--"i much admire to have a bill of charges sent after me (for i use not to leave any place till these be defrayed), especially since my son paid all that could be demanded, which was judged by all that had skill in these affairs to be extreme (or rather unreasonably) dear. mr. davies, i made use of your house out of civility and kindness to you, but did not expect your exactions. i could have had better entertainment, on better terms, elsewhere. consider well of it; and as i have always been civil and just to you, so let me receive the like from you." the postmasters were very dilatory in sending up their moneys to the head office, and admonitory letters were daily sent out urging upon them greater punctuality. these varied in terms from a gentle reminder to the veriest threat. the following is a fair specimen of the latter:--"by yours of the th you promise to pay the money due for last quarter when you receive this quarter's accounts. i am resolved no man shall be employed by me (in this office) that does not clear every quarter immediately after it is due. wherefore, i once more require you to send up your money upon the receipt of this letter, or i will endeavour to get it some other way, and find a more punctual man for the employment.--your loving friend." whitley was greatly troubled, or had every reason to be troubled, by the very frequent delays of the mails. it would be tedious to cite case after case, and more interest will be found to lie in the terms of whitley's letters, two of which run as follows:-- * * * * * "to mr. sadler, postmaster of marlborough. "i can no longer endure your shameful neglect of the mails. i have grievous complaints from bristol of the prejudice they receive thereby; and find that it is , , , or hours commonly betwixt you and chippenham, which is but miles, and ought to be performed in hours. this is a most abominable shame and scandal to the office; and i tell you, mr sadler, in few words (for i will not any more trouble myself to write you on the subject), that if this be not speedily amended, but the like abuse be committed again, you may expect a messenger for you to answer it before those that will be impartial judges and just rewarders of such shameful neglects. be advised to look better about your business, or you will suffer for it." * * * * * "to mr ballard, monmouth. "i am tormented with complaints from the gentlemen of glamorgan and monmouthshires, of the neglect and slow coming of the mails to these parts. i observe the labels, after they have passed gloucester, commonly omitted to be dated, that it may not so easily be discovered where the fault lies. i have writ so often on this subject that i am weary of it; and admire you should be so little concerned, when it is evident you are so far from performing your duty as you ought, and are obliged to do. i acknowledge to have much respect for you, but cannot suffer the public to be wronged by anyone i employ. i pray let this neglect be amended, or it will make a breach; consider well of it." the threat held out in the former of these two letters of a messenger being sent for the postmaster was really a serious affair, for it meant the taking the postmaster into custody, and his being probably involved in expenses to the extent of £ before he could obtain release. it might be supposed that the farming of the posts was a most unbusinesslike way of carrying on the work of the public conveyance of letters. but there is another side to the question; and arguments are not wanting that, for the development of the service, the farming was, in some respects at anyrate, a very satisfactory arrangement. the work was committed to the hands and control of a single individual, who was unfettered by treasury or other restrictions, and who was bound to find a sum sufficient for the payment of his rent. he was further under the influence of a personal interest in the way of securing a profit to himself, and as a consequence, while his tenure lasted, he put forth his utmost endeavour to make his office useful to the public, and to extend its scope. further, upon each increase of rent came a new incentive to fresh exertions in the way indicated, and the growth of the post office was steady and rapid. whitley was a man of a very conciliatory nature: his letters attest it. he was always anxious to please the public. in disputes over irregularities, and matters relating to alleged overcharges, he was most indulgent. in a letter of apology to dr. bathurst, president of trinity college, oxford, he writes:--"i will not permit him (the postmaster) to dispute, but submit my interest to your pleasure, being assuredly safe therein. i have ordered him to wait on you, and not only to do you right in this matter, but conform with your demands in all things; and i humbly beseech you to have that goodness and charity for me as to believe me of another composition than to be guilty of such low unworthy practices, but own me as one that is ambitious of the honour of being esteemed, your," etc. to the postmaster of york he writes in a strain advising like conciliatory dealings with the public. "i cannot imagine," says he, "why you should not think yourself sufficiently empowered by my last and former letters to do right to the merchants in all their just demands; nay further, to gratify them sometimes in little disputes (though they be in the mistake) rather than exasperate and disoblige gentlemen that support the office by their correspondence. if you reflect on my last letter, you will find that i refer it to you and them to do with me (almost) what you please.... i hope when you acquaint these gentlemen with what i write, it will give them satisfaction, especially seeing i make them chancellors in their own case." in a like matter of dispute at norwich, whitley writes to the postmaster:--"i know their own ingenuity will prompt them to consider the usefulness of this office to their commerce, and how we work and travail night and day for them.... i never found, in all my experience, that i lost anything by submitting to the justice and civility of conscientious men." a similar strain of patient forbearance towards the public runs through the whole of whitley's correspondence. whitley was at all times alive to the interests of the office and himself, by giving additional facilities for the sending of letters. writing to the postmaster of oxford, he says:--"in my opinion, the college butlers may be useful to you in receiving and dispersing letters, etc., and i wish you would be in a good correspondence with them; and let your letter-carriers call there for letters, to be sent to london, immediately before the post goes away, as well as to bring letters to them when the post comes in." it was seen that a field for extended business presented itself at tunbridge wells. accordingly whitley seizes the opportunity and makes the necessary arrangements, giving the postmaster advice and instructions as follows:--"i have ordered the mails to go from hence sooner than ordinary, that the letters may be at tunbridge early in the morning; wherefore fail not to be there ready to receive them, and then make all possible haste with them to the wells, that the gentry may have them before they go to their lodgings." this arrangement would doubtless appeal to the love of gossip in the frequenters of the wells, who would naturally have some rivalry to receive the most recent _items_, and to discuss them while they lingered over the morning cup. the post-master was further ordered to call every post-day "on mr. miles, confectioner on the walk, who will deliver you what letters he receives for london or elsewhere." during the season the posts ran daily between london and tunbridge. the by-letters occasioned uneasiness to whitley, because he was entirely in the hands of the postmasters for the accounting of them. he thus defines them:--"by by-letters i mean all letters of your stage and branch sent by your agents or boys, to any place but london or beyond it." the revenue from this class of letters was a matter of arrangement between the deputy postmaster-general and the country postmasters, the former finding it a convenient plan to farm this correspondence to the postmasters. whitley distrusted the returns of by-letters made by his agents, as the following letters to postmasters show:--"i wonder at your great mistake in your by-letters; the account you give me amounts to much more by the year, and yet i have good reason to believe (i speak it without any disrespect or reflection on you) that i have not account of the fourth part of your stage. your servants may be negligent, and boys abuse you; however, i am at the loss; but resolve, where i find any injustice of that kind hereafter, to sue the bond, and doubt not but some postmasters will be so kind and honest as to give me true information." again, "i find a great decay in our by-letters of late. i hope you are a person of more integrity than to design (by this means) to beat down the price. do not do it; i have other measures to go by; you will but wrong yourself as well as me. you do not offer the third part of the value. however, to avoid suspicion, the trouble of accounts, and possibly suits at law, i will let you have it for thirty pounds the year (hull gives fifty), and take the benefit of by-letters into the bargain. you know i could have other chapmen." colonel whitley may have had painful experience of law suits, for he expresses himself to one of his postmasters in the following strain:--"being forced by mr. vaughan's ill-payment to have recourse to the law to get my money, i cannot meet with a sincere attorney, but they juggle and will not serve the writ, pretending they cannot; wherefore, relying much on your kindness and ingenuity, and having no other way to get my right, i send the enclosed writs to you." he gives directions as to the serving of them, and adds, that "it will be an extraordinary kindness to me." on the th july , whitley wrote his views on the subject of conformity to the postmaster of belford (mr. carr) in the following safe terms. in some respects the letter is amusing. it runs:--"i think it not only convenient but necessary for every postmaster to conform to the late law about the sacrament and oaths; not that it will anyway concern me or this office, only in the safety and wellbeing of those that relate to it. i pray consult the law itself, being too nice a point for me to give my opinion of, and the judges themselves are shy in the matter; but on the one hand you are sure not to err, therefore that is the safest way." the postmaster of ware having, by a like omission, got himself into trouble, is thus written to:--"i am sorry to hear that information is given into the exchequer of your neglect in not taking the oath of allegiance and supremacy and the test lately ordained by parliament.[ ] i fear this may be troublesome to you, it being unsafe for anyone to bear an office that will not conform to the laws established." footnotes: [footnote : andrew marvell says of bennet that he "got of the poor indigent cavaliers' money £ , , and other wayes near £ , more."] [footnote : the property of sir philip mainwaring, bart., of peover hall, knutsford, by whose courtesy they have been consulted.] [footnote : the declaration required was in the following terms:--"i do believe that there is not any transubstantiation in the sacrament of the lord's supper, or in the elements of bread and wine, at or after the consecration thereof, by any person whatsoever."] chapter xii as compared with the sober and temperate style of official correspondence in the present day, when a civilly expressed request is generally held to convey all the force of a direct command, whitley's letters to his deputies savour of smartness and incisiveness that are somewhat striking. mr. pye, the deputy at morpeth, having quarrelled with some of the postmasters at neighbouring post stages, by sending travellers bound for scotland by the road through owler (wooler) instead of by belford and berwick, whitley had to fall upon him. one of whitley's letters to mr. pye is as follows:--"i understand you well and your designs, but you shall not prevail with me (for all your specious arguments or applications to great persons) to countenance you in your indirect ways. as for the scottish lord that _pufft_ at my letter, i value it not. i would rather he did so than applaud me for doing otherwise," etc. the postmasters were very tenacious of their rights as to the posting work, which was probably the most remunerative part of their business, and they did not stick at trifles in asserting these rights. the postmaster of dartford, mr. glover, got into trouble in december by laying hands upon several french gentlemen of quality, monsieur vendome among the rest. it appears that these persons had hired horses in london for their journey; but on reaching dartford they were pulled off their horses, and forced to take post horses from the deputy. down to the year , liverpool was without a horse post. correspondence took place in that year between whitley and the mayor of the town with the view of improving the service. in one letter whitley writes:--"i agree with you that the trade of that industrious place ought to have quicker despatch in its correspondence, and may deserve a horse post as well for expedition of letters as conveniency of travellers; but if the charge be imposed on the office, the benefit will not balance the expense." negotiations were thereafter entered upon with alderman chanler of liverpool, with a view to his taking up the work. the proposal was "to carry the preston mail from warrington to wigan (as it is now done), to send to liverpool by a horse post, also to prescod and ormskirk (if a foot post will not be as convenient to this latter), and to carry the mail back again to knutsford; and i hope you will do this for forty pounds per annum." previous to irish letters from manchester were carried up to london, to be thence forwarded to their destination by way of chester and holyhead, from which latter place the irish packets sailed. in this year, however, a more direct circulation was arranged: the manchester letters being carried south to stone in staffordshire, where, striking the post road for holyhead, they were carried forward with the london mails for ireland. between london and south wales the transit of letters was of the slowest possible kind, and gave rise to much complaint. on the th july , mr. courcy, postmaster of pembroke, is written to on the subject in these terms:--"yours of the th came not to hand till the rd, the usual despatch of the south wales posts, or days in the way; if you can tell me who opens your bag i know how to have satisfaction, but without that discovery i am in the dark, and know not what to do." in london at this period there must have been but one delivery a day by letter-carrier. this appears by the terms of a complaint made to the postmaster of harwich concerning the late arrival of the mails, which resulted either in the keeping the "letter-carriers in the office to attend your bag, or not issue out your letters till the next morning." the country mails were at this time due to arrive in the very early hours of the morning. in , there were at least seven branch post offices in london for the receipt of letters for the mails, and from these offices letters were required to be sent up to the central office nightly as despatches were made every week-day for one or other of the roads, or for foreign parts. the packet service was the occasion of much trouble and anxiety. the french and flanders packet boats sailed from dover, and those for holland from harwich. whitley had a great deal of correspondence with the agents at these two ports on the subject of their irregular proceedings. to the agent at dover he writes:--"there is an information that the boats stay at calais (sometimes) hours after the mail is on board to take in goods, and that occasions the irregular coming over of the mails." the agent at harwich is informed that "the commissioners of customs complain that you refuse to enter and pay custom for some rack wine which you (or some of your masters) lately took up at sea; they are much offended at it." the same agent has conveyed to him, "lord arlington's command to require the masters of the holland packet boats not to refuse passage to any english soldiers that shall desire to come over in their boats; but that care be taken, as soon as they arrive in england, to secure them and put them into safe custody. this you are to give them in charge and see it strictly observed." the soldiers here referred to were doubtless deserters from the english force in holland, with which country we were then ( ) at war. peace, following this war, was proclaimed in london on the th february , and the same night an express was despatched to the duke of lauderdale, a member of the cabal, then at edinburgh. it no doubt contained tidings of the peace. the instructions issued to the postmasters for the special urgency of the express were as follows:--"all postmasters between london and edinburgh are hereby required to forward this express with all possible expedition, and not detain it in any stage for the ordinary maile, but hast itt away as soon as received, as they will answer the contrary. "dated at the generall letter office in london past six att night this th feb. ." colonel whitley was greatly annoyed by the neglect to secure letters from the merchant fleets when they arrived off our coasts. on this subject he writes to the agent at deal:--"i am much troubled to find so small an account of letters from the great merchant fleet that came lately into the downs. such a fleet was wont to allow me or letters, and now i have not so many hundreds. there was certainly a great neglect in your boats, which, turning so much to my loss, i know not how to pass by." in a similar matter the agent at dover is remonstrated with. "i wonder," says whitley, "how i came to be disappointed of the great abundance of ship letters that came in with the last fleet, and were brought on shore at dover by the pursers and others--great bags and portmantlesfull. here they are carried to the exchange and round the town in great quantities, and those they cannot get off they bring to this office. the parties confess that they brought them on shore at dover without control." dissatisfaction was also given through the irregular carriage of freight by the packet boats. "i have yours of the rd," says whitley to the dover agent, "but do not understand why your masters should pretend to such a privilege as to carry over silver or any commodities in the packet boats without giving me account thereof. i find that that practice hath been longer, and is more used than you mention. i expect satisfaction. the harwich packet boats would not carry over oysters without my order, and give me account of all they do; but i know it much otherwise at dover." the good opinion thus expressed of the virtues of the harwich people was not of long duration, for a few days later we find whitley writing the agent there in the following very irate fashion:--"you are very brisk in yours of the th; perhaps i may be so too when i see you. i deny that you ever told me of your bringing over any goods in the packet boats upon your own or any merchant's account without paying for them; and why should you do it? are not the boats mine? should i suffer you or others to drive so profitable a trade in my boats, and by the assistance and management of my servants (as those seamen are that i pay wages to), and i to have no benefit for freight, nor thanks, but the contrary? i need not tell you how this comes to be a prejudice to me; you are not so ignorant as to require information in the case; you are free to follow any lawful callings, but not at my charges, in my boats, and with my seamen. you cannot justify it (as you say you can); but i will justify that in this and other things you are ungrateful, and (perhaps i shall make it appear) unjust too. i have deserved better from you." on the st september , a letter is written to the agent at deal, wherein whitley puts his finger on the cause of the neglects at that port. "i am daily tormented," says he, "with the complaints of the merchants, and my ears are filled with the noise of seamen's wives and others concerning the neglect of their letters, who are now fully resolved to redress themselves to his majesty.... it will be proved that your boats very seldom go on board with letters, to force the seamen to come ashore to drink at your house.... they go on board other ships with brandy and other liquors." the boats sailing in the packet service to and from holland were galiot-hoys, of which three were regularly engaged--two of tons and one of tons, and in each six men were employed. the tonnage of these boats was not greater than that of a decently-sized stonehaven fishing boat; yet they were supposed to provide adequate accommodation for passengers. in , the passenger fare from harwich to holland was s. in february , a proposal was on foot for conveying letters from flanders and holland to spain and portugal by way of england, but it does not appear that the plan was given effect to. the idea was to set up a packet service for this purpose from plymouth to some port in spain, the boats to be employed being of , , or tons, "with good conveniency of cabins, and able to encounter storms," and furnished with crews of not under seven or eight good men. in one of his letters on this subject whitley writes, that "the gentleman that demands £ per mensem for a vessel of tons is much out of the way"; and he adds, "i have two of that burthen to holland at a less rate." a service of this kind from plymouth is stated to have been kept up in cromwell's time; but possibly the reference is to the packets set up by charles i. when he was in the west of england and at war with the parliamentary party. the port of despatch then was weymouth. whitley was very sympathetic over the hardships to which the seamen were exposed in his service. to the agent at dover he writes, on the occasion of a disaster:--"i am very much afflicted for the loss of mr. lambert, who had the character of an honest, able man. it was a great mercy that the rest were preserved. i pray god send us good accounts of our other boats, with better weather. we must resign ourselves and all our concernments to the will of god, and depend on his providence." on another occasion, he expresses himself thus:--"i pray god keep our men and boats in safety these terrible storms; i assure you my heart aches often for them." about the same period, whitley deplores the loss of the captain of one of the dublin packet boats, who was washed overboard. reference has been made to the packet boats conveying passengers as well as mails. these, it seems, were not always kept in a tidy condition, and the deputy postmaster-general had to speak his mind on the subject, drawing an unpleasant contrast between his own countrymen and foreigners. "your boats," says whitley to the agent at harwich, "are also rendered so contemptible, so nasty, ill provided, and out of order, that we do not only lose many passengers, that will not venture with them, but it is a reproach to our nation to have such bad accommodation, when our neighbours are so neat and exact in theirs." in some respects the reproachful contrast is one not confined to whitley's days. not only was it the case that separate rooms were not always provided at the country post offices for the treatment and safe custody of letters, but the following complaints from the deputy postmaster-general prove that at certain places the letters were very carelessly dealt with. to the postmaster of rochester, whitley writes:--"i hear there is great neglect in your sending out of letters, and that there is a great abundance of them scattered about your house, especially in your chamber and upon the tester of your bed. this shows want of order in your business. you should get some room apart to be your office, in which only you should bring your mails, open and close them, and where you should sort letters, and let nobody come into it but yourself." the position of affairs at hereford was perhaps worse. in june , the postmaster, mr philpotts, is thus written to:--"i have complaints from persons of very good credit, that their letters are not safe in your hands; they do not directly accuse you, but allege that your office being kept in the prison, it gives opportunity to prisoners, by countenance with some of your servants, to intercept letters of business with writings, and whereby the parties concerned are much damnified and the office abundantly scandalized." at witham, on one occasion, the mail was allowed to lie at the stage from ten o'clock at night till six the next morning, "the servants refusing to rise out of their beds to forward it." at times the mail seems to have been intrusted to anyone who could ride a horse. for carelessness in a matter of this kind the postmaster of sittingbourne was challenged, in july , in the following terms:--"now have you completed the score of your neglects and miscarriages, in sending the flanders mail yesterday by a stranger, a dutchman (without any guide or servant of your own), who suffered it to be broke open on the way, the secretaries of states' packets and letters to be visited and tore, and many letters lost," etc. about the same time, the postmaster of rochester offended in a like fashion. "you sent the mail," writes whitley, "by a seaman last saturday, who rid alone, thinking he had some gentleman's portmantle behind him; but coming to dartford, and understanding it to be the mail of letters, he presently swore that if he had known what it had been, he would have cast it into some ditch by the way, for he scorned to be a post-boy." the post-boys employed were not certainly of high character in all cases. in an inquiry respecting the opening of a mail by the way, whitley writes thus to the postmaster of colchester:--"i have made inquiry what has become of the post boy that formerly lived at whitechapel, whom you rendered such a notorious rogue, whose father was hanged, and he deserved the same; and i find you have got him to your house, which i much wonder at, you knowing him to be such a wicked villain. i cannot conceive any place to be more likely for such rogueries to be committed than where such are employed." the boys employed were in some cases very young. about delays at sarum, whitley writes:--"i am apt to believe the boys that ride are very little, and so discouraged in a dark night, which may be the chief occasion of the slow coming of the mails." well might the little fellows be discouraged in a midwinter's night, riding through lonely country, along ill-kept roads lying at times under water and full of ruts and stones. frequent mention is made at this time of the waters being out covering the ways, and one postmaster was desired to provide "able and high horses" in order to secure the forwarding of the mails. in one of whitley's letters, the road from london to dover is described as the "best and fairest in england," although, compared with our own fine system of highways, it may have been a very sorry affair. but relatively it carried the palm at the time we are dealing with. the horses supplied for riding the posts were at some places very poor creatures, and in certain cases the postmasters appear not to have had any horses of their own. on the st december , the postmaster of berwick was complained of for not having a horse and boy to carry the mail for edinburgh, and for having sent it forward to cockburnspath by carriers, thus causing great delay. on the th january , the following letter on this subject was written to mr. glover, postmaster of dartford:--"this day your boy brought the mail on his back to the office, about one o'clock in the afternoon. his horse, as he says, died on the way; which was, as i understand, one that was hired, and very unfit for his majesty's service, your boy having been often forced to drive him before him. i am also informed that you keep your own horses for posters, and hire one for the mail, though never so bad." the post office certainly did not get the best of the animals. during the time of whitley's control of the posts, the foreign mails were closed not only by means of a seal, but also by a chain which in some way rendered them more secure. great care was taken to avoid complaints from members of parliament. on occasions when parliament was about to assemble, or to break up, the postmasters were put upon their guard by means of a circular-letter addressed to them. on th march , the following letter was sent out on the subject:--"these are to advise you that the parliament being speedily to assemble, it is probable that many members may come up by post, wherefore i desire your especial care for the speedy and well accommodating of them for their satisfaction, and the honour of your employment. also to receive and deliver their letters free during their time of privilege." on the th july , the agent at dover was instructed to facilitate the bringing over from the continent of certain tradesmen, as follows:--"his majesty being informed that there are several weavers and other handy craftsmen that are desirous of transporting themselves for england, to whom his majesty (being desirous to give encouragement) has commanded me to order you to give directions to your masters of the packet boats to give passage to such of these weavers and handy craftsmen as shall bring passes with them from mr. linch, consul of ostend, or his majesty's minister at brussels, and are desirous to come and inhabit here in england." whitley had a long and troublesome correspondence with mr. mein, the postmaster at edinburgh, on the subject of settling the remuneration to be made to the latter as agent for the english correspondence. mein held an independent appointment from the king as head of the letter office in edinburgh, and whitley was not his master. the terms on which the business was arranged are set forth in a letter to mein of the th august , to this effect:--"i am content to allow you your full / th of unpaid letters from hence, with your £ salary from the commencement of my time till our late agreement of £ per annum takes place; and upon examination you will find that it exceeds what you have now contracted for and are content to accept of." at this time two boys were employed in edinburgh to deliver the letters; and the rate of postage for one ounce weight from london to edinburgh was s. d. whenever the king went to reside at newmarket, windsor, or elsewhere, daily posts were put on between london and the court, the deputy postmasters being required to keep additional horses at call for the service. it is recorded that in the midlands of england more irregularities happened with the post riders than elsewhere. this appears by a letter to the postmaster of lichfield in , wherein it is stated that "your riders are oftener lost in the night, and have more unfortunate accidents happen to them on your road, than half england besides." undelivered letters were returned by the deputies to the head office in london once in three months. at this early period ( ), the term "dead letters" was already applied to these returns. whitley had reason to suspect unfair dealing in connection with returned letters at the office of a certain deputy, to whom, in december , he wrote the following letter, which explains itself:--"this day mr. lambe brought me a parcell of returned letters from you to ye damage of above eight pounds; ye losse being soe considerable and unusuall made me more inquisitive into the particulars; and opening or bundles, i found that almost all of them had bin apparently opened; which causes my greater admiration (wonder), comeing from soe discreete a person (and one of soe much integrity and reputation as mr. gloyne is esteemed to be). if they were opened by ye partyes to whom they were directed, they ought to have bin first payd for; when ye contents are read, most letters are of small use afterwards. perhaps ye persons you imploy may buy such letters at easy rates, and so impose them on you. i cannot tell how to understand it, but under one of these notions, and soe must returne them to you; resolving not to submit to such a practise, whether it proceed from ye ignorance, corruption (or perhaps want of care and diligence) of your officers; the respect i have for you keeps me from any reflection on your selfe; onely i must oblige you to more circumspection hereafter, for if the like were done in other stages, wee should not be able to support ye charge of ye office." notwithstanding the sharp and severe terms of many of whitley's admonitions to the postmasters, his letters contain repeated offers to serve and oblige them, if only they would do their duty to the office; and the same spirit of kindly disposition is shown towards persons outside the service. in reply to an application from the agent at harwich, in the matter of finding employment for a relative, whitley writes:--"by yours of the th, i understand that a relative of yours will be in london this summer, with a design to get some employment, wherein i should think myself happy could i be serviceable to him; but the world is so altered of late to the disadvantage of young gentlemen in point of education, that there is little encouragement to be had. in times past (before the wicked rebellion), a nobleman, or great officer of state or court, would have half a score or a dozen gentlemen to attend him, but now all is shrunk into a _valet de chambre_, a page, and or footmen; and this is part of our cursed reformation. if i can serve you in this or anything else, you shall always find me to be," etc. in the matter of a lost horse, belonging to a private friend, whitley engages the services of a postmaster in the west of england, with a view to its recovery. he writes thus to the postmaster:--"sir john hanmer (a worthy gentleman) hath lately lost a large white gelding, about hand fulls high, with a blew velvett saddle, silke and silver fringe, silver nailes, etc.; the horse trots and gallops, but not pace. me was stole from chester, and heares is seised on at bristoll. i pray enquire after it; and if it be there, secure it, and give me speedy notice, whereby you will oblige," etc. this kindly spirit was not altogether on the side of the deputy postmaster-general, for repeated instances are given of good offices performed for whitley, and of presents made to him by the postmasters. in many cases whitley's letters commence with an acknowledgment in brief terms, thus: "with thanks for your kind present." it may be ungenerous to put a meaning upon these presents apart from mere feelings of kindness on the side of the postmasters; but there is reason to suspect that the presents often took the shape of money, and were the complement of expectation on the part of the deputy postmaster-general. in one acknowledgment whitley says: "i have received your token, and thank you for it, as coming from an honest man for whom i have a great respect and kindness." the "honest man" was the postmaster of manchester. replying to a letter of the postmaster of doncaster, he remarks: "i thought the seven guineas you sent by mr. butcher had been in recompence for the damage done me last year in your stage in the matter of by-letters; or a present upon some other account; but it seems you intend it to clear what you owed to the office at midsummer." reference has been made to the exaction of fines upon the postmasters at the time of lord arlington's assuming the position of postmaster-general. the deputations received by the postmasters were generally for a term of a few years; and on their renewal, the practice appears to have been to make a present to the head of the post office, or at anyrate a present was expected. this seems very clear by some letters of instruction sent by whitley to his confidential servant, saladine, when on a visit of inspection in the west of england. in one letter he says: "haste the settling all my business (but on safe terms), that you may haste homewards; get the £ , and what you can for the expense of this journey, and get what you can for me from the several postmasters by way of fine, or gratuity, for renewing their deputations." the meaning here is plain enough, but in a further letter saladine is given more particular instructions how to proceed in the matter:--"i think," says whitley, "i shall renew (the deputations) but for a year, because lord arlington hath no more time in the farm, but doubtless the postmasters will be continued if they deserve it. get what gratuities you can from them, without lessening their salaries; or if any will increase their salaries, they must fine proportionably--this to yourself." "at sarum nothing is to be done. let him know i am so sensible of his civilities that he shall be continued as long as i have to do in the office. if he offers of his own accord to make me a present, receive it; or you may drop some words as if others did it, and is usual upon renewing deputations; but not propose it; and make him sensible that i have a greater kindness for him than any of the rest. if you can prevail fairly with mr. westcombe to make a present, i pray do it; but he is a touchy person, and must be gently handled." some of the presents and civilities were, however, of a less questionable character. from beccles he receives a red-painted box containing a turkey; from shrewsbury, a cheese; from newcastle, a salmon; and he sends his humble thanks to the gentlemen of amsterdam for their kind present. to captain langley, the agent at harwich, whitley writes: "i have received a single barrel of oysters by a colchester waggon, for which i thank you." the carriage of the barrel is stated to have been d. at another time he acknowledges to have received from harwich ten lobsters; and to the agent at edinburgh he writes: "i thank you heartily for your kind present of herring. i will send to look after them, and they shall be disposed of as you desire." to the postmaster of colchester, mr hollister, the following request is made:--"i desire you to send me every week two barrels of oysters, and keep an account of them, and you shall be allowed for them in your account. but let them be the best; or when you cannot get the best, send none." the best were not always forthcoming; for some months later, th march , mr hollister is informed that: "the last oysters you sent me were so bad they could not be eaten, and one of the last was but half full; if you cannot help me with better, and better ordered, i desire to have no more; but if you could get such as are very good, and contrive some way to seal the barrels, that they may not be abused, you would oblige me to send me barrels a week for a month to come." to the postmaster of hull, mr mawson, colonel whitley makes the following request:--"i pray do me the kindness to bespeak two barrels of ale (as good as you can get), and send it with as much speed as you can to monsieur muilman, at the post office in amsterdam. let it be sent by an honest, careful (_man_), that will not suffer it to be wronged by the way, and presented from me to him. pray take care that it be excellent, and speedily sent, and let me know the cost; i will remit the money." the sums due to the country postmasters for conveying expresses on his majesty's special service were claimed every six months by the deputies, whose accounts under this head had to be accompanied by an affidavit sworn before a master in chancery or other magistrate. the amounts were afterwards obtained from the exchequer; but it is mentioned that the claims for were only paid shortly before january , while those for were still outstanding at that period ( ). whitley's correspondence in discloses a very curious fact, and one that has been entirely overlooked or forgotten, namely, that the duke of york, afterwards james ii., had at one time the post office in his own hands; and he has a claim, therefore, to be ranked as one of the early postmasters-general. on the th april of that year, whitley wrote the following circular-letter to postmasters, probably the whole number of postmasters at the time:-- "the farm of this office expiring at midsummer, and his r.h. the duke of york having declared his pleasure to take it then into his own management, commands me to give you notice of it, requiring you (if you intend to continue your employment as postmaster of ----) to come yourself, or authorize some other to appear for you at this office, before the th of may next ensuing, in order to your future contract; and in the mean time to send me the names, quality, and abode of your security, that there may be time to enquire after their sufficiency. if you fail herein, care will be taken to provide another for your stage, that the public may not suffer by your neglect. i expect your speedy answer, and remain," etc. some of the postmasters thought the occasion favourable for asking an increase of pay; but whitley gave them no hopes of success, to one of them writing that "his r. highness will expect all postmasters should serve him on their present terms." three months after the first intimation of the proposed change, a further circular-letter was issued to all the deputies as follows:--"this is to give you notice, that as money grows due to the office since midsummer last, you are to order payment thereof, by bill or otherwise, to sir allen absley, his r.hs. the duke of york's treasurer and receiver-general, making your bills payable to him or his order, enclosing them under cover directed to him; herein you are not to fail." these letters seem to leave no doubt that the duke of york actually entered upon the management of the post office, and carried it on (it may be nominally) for a time in his own hands. in connection with this royal direction of the posts, however, the historical records produce a strange complication; because, according to the patent rolls of charles ii., a grant of the office of postmaster-general for life was made to the earl of arlington, dating from june , the period when his previous grant for ten years expired. lord arlington died on the th july . whether it be that the duke of york had entered upon the new situation in the belief that he could draw to himself the whole profits of the affair without bearing any serious personal burden of troubles and anxieties, and found it far otherwise; or whether the new duties interfered in an unexpected way with his pursuits of hunting, hawking, and love-making, and that he threw aside the more troublesome business in consequence, does not appear. we know from the correspondence that whitley, after his term expired, was to continue the management of the office for the duke of york; and as (according to evelyn), arlington was "now beginning to decline in favour (the duke of york being no great friend of his)," it may be that the duke was dissatisfied with the returns from the office, and entered into it in the position of deputy postmaster-general, aided by whitley in the practical management. as regards arlington's extended tenure of the position of postmaster-general, it should be remembered that he had not only been intimately associated with the king as a minister of state, but had become nearly connected in another way--through the marriage of his only daughter and heiress, when an infant, in , to the natural son of charles ii. by the duchess of cleveland. the son-in-law afterwards became the duke of grafton; and arlington's continued connection with the post office may have been arranged by the king with a view to enhancing the postmaster-general's fortune in the interests of the duke and duchess of grafton. all this, however, will remain for elucidation when the history of the period is better known. morrison and gibb, printers, edinburgh. advertisements third edition. the royal mail: _its curiosities and romance._ by james wilson hyde, superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh. crown vo. price s. opinions of the press. the times.--"the author of 'the royal mail' has served five-and-twenty years in the post-office, and had it been his fortune to turn novelist, like his confrère anthony trollope, he would never have been so lavish of invaluable materials. the merest glance through his pages might suggest subjects or incidents for half a score of sensational romances. but the whole of the volume is so full of fascination that once taken up it is difficult to lay it down." saturday review.--"mr. hyde's work certainly shows that, even at the present time, the business conducted by the post-office is not unfrequently enlivened by romantic incidents; while in antiquarian interest it is rich beyond the average." pall mall gazette.--"this volume is a storehouse of amusing anecdotes." the echo.--"the curiosities and romance of the post-office have furnished mr. j. wilson hyde, superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh, with a subject for one of the most entertaining books of the year. the book is well written, well arranged, and thoroughly deserves success." graphic.--"contains a vast number of well-arranged facts, some valuable, some curious, about what is pre-eminently 'the people's institution.'" london: simpkin, marshall, hamilton, kent, & co. ltd. a hundred years by post. by james wilson hyde, superintendent in the general post-office, edinburgh. crown vo. price s. opinions of the press. daily chronicle.--"within the covers of this bright little book, mr. hyde has managed to present a most interesting picture of our post-office system in its infant days.... every page of his book is full of interest." publisher's circular.--"we anticipated being interested in this new little work, nor have we been disappointed.... mr. hyde's book comes at an opportune moment, and we have no doubt will be widely read." globe.--"this is no dry-as-dust compilation, but a brightly-written résumé, full of significant facts and picturesque incidents. the little brochure is neatly printed and usefully illustrated." scottish leader.--"it is a prettily got up little volume, containing abundance of interesting information, and a number of well-executed illustrations." scotsman.--" ... his delightful book--gives a very interesting account of the more remarkable changes that have taken place in the postal service during the past century. the book is written with the same thorough knowledge of its subject, and the same anecdotal felicity as characterised its author's _royal mail_. it is well illustrated." speaker.--"a chatty description, illustrated by reproductions of quaint contemporary prints, of the marvellous changes which have taken place in the collection and distribution of letters since the close of last century.... mr. hyde writes pleasantly, and there is not a page of his narrative which is open to the charge of dulness." daily graphic.--" ... a brightly-written narrative. mr. hyde gives many interesting figures in connection with the rise and growth of the various departments of post-office work." glasgow herald.--"mr. j. wilson hyde possesses the faculty of throwing a halo of romance around the working of the department with which he has been so long connected, and his present volume is fresh and vigorous in both matter and tone.... will serve to show the entertaining way in which he treats the subject. his illustrations are equally humorous and meritorious." the north british economist.--" ... the memories recalled are curious and amusing ... there are numerous quaint and interesting illustrations." queen.--"it gives an account of the work and development of the postal system of great britain, and relates some curious details respecting the changes that have come about in the course of years. to persons interested in this subject, the little volume will be welcome." london: sampson low, marston, & co. limited. new novels. _at all the libraries._ a romance of dijon by m. betham-edwards. poste restante by c.y. hargreaves. john darker by aubrey lee. margaret drummond by sophie f.f. veitch. paul romer by c.y. hargreaves. my indian summer by princess altieri. the curb of honour by m. betham-edwards. born in exile by george gissing. the great chin episode by paul cushing. the last touches by mrs. w.k. clifford. a tangled web by lady lindsay. the philosopher's window by lady lindsay. cap and gown comedy by ascott r. hope. under two skies by e.w. hornung. london: adam and charles black. works on economics. historical progress and ideal socialism. by j. shield nicholson, m.a., d.sc., professor of political economy in the university of edinburgh. crown vo, cloth, s. d. labour and the popular welfare. by w.h. mallock. new edition, revised and enlarged. crown vo, paper covers, s.; cloth, s. d. principles of political economy. by j. shield nicholson, m.a., d.sc. to be completed in two vols. vol. i., demy vo, price s. a treatise on money, and essays on monetary problems. by j. shield nicholson, m.a., d.sc. revised and enlarged edition. crown vo, price s. d. a history of political economy. by john kells ingram, ll.d., fellow of trinity college, dublin. crown vo, cloth, price s. a history of socialism. by thomas kirkup. crown vo, price s. the encyclopædia britannica. a dictionary of arts, sciences, and general literature. ninth edition. contains articles by the following economists:--w.s. jevons, thomas kirkup, j. shield nicholson, t.b. sprague, right hon. leonard h. courtney, mrs. fawcett, henry sidgwick, robert somers, j.e. thorold rogers, e.w. brabrook, j.k. ingram, f.a. walker, c.f. bastable, prince kropotkine. in twenty-four vols. and index. each vol. is to be had in four parts, price s. d. each. london: adam and charles black. available by internet archive (https://archive.org) note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see https://archive.org/details/coachingdaysways cumi transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text in small capitals has been changed to upper case. [illustration] coaching days & ways by e. d. cuming with illustrations by g. denholm armour the british sport series hodder and stoughton coaching the many boons conferred by mr. john palmer upon his generation faded before the advance of the railways; but he has deserved well of posterity, if only for that he altered the coach team from three horses to four. until that enterprising man undertook to demonstrate that the coach could carry letters more rapidly and safely than could the post-boy, our ancestors had been content with the unicorn team; but after palmer had astonished the world by making the journey from bath to london, in , at the rate of nearly seven miles an hour, the team of four horses gradually but steadily supplanted that of three in the stages on almost every road in the country. [illustration: _the stage coach: old times painting by g. d. armour._] [illustration] it is generally assumed that fast coaching only came into existence after the macadamisation of the roads; but this is not quite the case. under favourable conditions the speed attained in pre-macadam days was nearly as great as it became later. the _sporting magazine_ of june says: 'lately one of the stage coaches on the north road ran from london to stamford, a distance of miles, in hours minutes. the passengers, four in number, breakfasted and dined on the road, so it must have run at the rate of miles an hour all the time it was travelling.' the 'old heavies' discarded under palmer's drastic rule worked out their lives as ordinary stage coaches, and some of these remained on the road until well on in the nineteenth century. nimrod's description of the old-time coachman is worth giving:-- 'the old-fashioned coachman to a heavy coach--and they were all heavy down to very recent times--bore some analogy with the prize-fighter, for he stood highest who could hit hardest. he was generally a man of large frame, made larger by indulgence, and of great bodily power--which was useful to him. to the button-hole of his coat were appended several whipcord points, which he was sure to have occasion for on the road, for his horses were whipped till whipping was as necessary to them as their harness. in fair play to him, however, he was not solely answerable for this; the spirit of his cattle was broken by the task they were called to perform--for in those days twenty-mile stages were in fashion--and what was the consequence? why, the four-horse whip and the nottingham whipcord were of no avail over the latter part of the ground, and something like a cat-o'-nine-tails was produced out of the boot, which was jocularly called the "apprentice"; and a shrewd apprentice it was to the art of torturing which was inflicted on the wheelers without stint or measure, but without which the coach might have been often left on the road. one circumstance alone saved these horses from destruction; this was the frequency of ale-houses on the road, not one of which could then be passed without a call. 'still, our old-fashioned coachman was a scientific man in his calling--more so, perhaps, than by far the greater part of his brethren of the present day, inasmuch as his energies and skill were more frequently put to the test. he had heavy loads, bad roads, and weary horses to deal with, neither was any part of his harness to be depended on, upon a pinch. then the box he sat upon was worse than pandora's, with all the evils it contained, for even hope appeared to have deserted it. it rested on the bed of the axletree, and shook the frame to atoms; but when prayers were put up to have it altered, the proprietors said, "no; the rascal will always be asleep if we place his box on the springs." if among all these difficulties, then, he, by degrees, became a drunkard, who can wonder at his becoming so? but he was a _coachman_. he could fetch the last ounce out of a wheel-horse by the use of his double thong or his "apprentice," and the point of his lash told terribly upon his leaders. he likewise applied it scientifically, it was directed under the bar to the flank, and after the third hit he brought it up to his hand by _the draw_, so that it never got entangled in the pole-chains, or in any part of the harness. he could untie a knot with his teeth and tie another with his tongue, as well as he could with his hands; and if his thong broke off in the middle, he could splice it with dexterity and even with neatness as his coach was proceeding on its journey. it short, he could do what coachmen of the present day cannot do, because they have not been called upon to do it; and he likewise could do what they never tried to do--namely, he could drive when he was drunk nearly as well as when he was sober. he was very frequently a faithful servant to his employers; considered trustworthy by bankers and others in the country through which he passed; and as humane to his horses, perhaps, as the adverse circumstances he was placed in by his masters would admit.' time has dealt kindly with the reputation of the old stage coachman, and popular tradition holds him, as nimrod portrayed him, a whip of unrivalled skill. that there were such men is perfectly true;[ ] but not every stage coachman was an expert: not all were skilful or even careful, and not all were civil: and if, as nimrod says, they could drive as well when drunk as when sober, the cold light of contemporary record shows that there was ample room for improvement. take the following:--on the th of may the coachman of the portsmouth coach to london was intoxicated, and "when he came to the foot of the hill on wimbledon common, instead of keeping straight on turned to the left and found himself in putney lane, where turning the corner of mr. kensington's wall in order to get again into the road to wandsworth, the coach was overturned." he appears to have driven on to the bank by the roadside. the ten outside passengers were all more or less hurt, one dying from her injuries, and the coachman himself had both legs broken. accidents due to reckless driving and racing were very common, despite the law[ ] of which made a coachman who, by furious driving or careless, overturned his coach, liable to a fine not over five pounds. the following is typical:-- 'last night occurred one of those dreadful catastrophes, the result of driving opposition coaches, which has so stunned the country with horror that sober people for a time will not hazard their lives in these vehicles of fury and madness. 'two coaches that run daily from hinckley to leicester had set out together. the first having descended the hill leading to leicester was obliged to stop to repair the harness. the other coachman saw the accident and seized the moment to give his antagonist the _go by_, flogging the horses into a gallop down the hill. the horses contrived to keep on their legs, but took fright at something on the road, and became so unmanageable in the hands of a drunken coachman, that in their sweep to avoid the object of their alarm, the driver could not recover them so as to clear the post of the turnpike gate at the bottom of the hill. the velocity was so great that the coach was split in two; three persons were dashed to pieces and instantly killed, two others survived but a few hours in the greatest agony; four were conveyed away for surgical aid with fractured limbs, and two in the dickey were thrown with that part of the coach to a considerable distance, and not much hurt as they fell on a hedge. the coachman fell a victim to his fury and madness. it is time the magistrates put a stop to these outrageous proceedings that have existed too long in this part of the country.' (_st. james's chronicle_, th july ). the frequency of upsets is suggested by a letter which appeared in the papers in . the writer, who signs himself 'a sufferer,' begs coach proprietors to direct their servants, when the coach has been overturned, 'not to drag the passengers out at the window, but to replace the coach on its wheels first, provided it can be accomplished with the strength they have with them.' after coaches began to carry the mails, accidents grew more numerous. we can trace many to the greater speed maintained, others to defective workmanship which resulted in broken axles or lost wheels, many to top-heaviness, and not a few to carelessness. the short stage drivers, on the whole, were the worst offenders. for sheer recklessness this would be hard to beat:-- 'during the dense fog on wednesday last, as a woolwich coach full of inside and outside passengers was driving at a furious rate, just after it had passed the six bells on its way to town, the coachman ran against a heavy country cart. the stage was upset, and those on the roof were pitched violently against an empty coal waggon; two of them fell on the shafts, one of whom had a shoulder badly dislocated; the other had his jawbone broken, with the loss of his front teeth. a greenwich pensioner, with a wooden leg, had an arm broken, and some contusions on the head.' (_bell's life_, th december ). it would be easy to compile a list of accidents due to causes unforseen, each one, illustrating a different danger of the road. here are a few:-- 'tuesday afternoon, as one of the brighton stages was leaving london at a rapid pace, the pole broke in lambeth, and the coach was upset. several passengers had limbs broken and others were injured.' (_bell's life_, th august ). 'a fatal accident befel the woolwich tally ho opposition stage on tuesday. coming down the hill from the green man the horses became restive, the coachman lost his command, and immediately the whole set off at full speed. in turning a corner the coach upset, being heavily laden outside. out of sixteen persons only one escaped without a leg or arm broken, and four are not expected to survive. the coach was literally dashed to pieces. the inside passengers were more lacerated than those outside, owing to the coach being shattered to pieces and their being dragged along the road for fifty yards. but little hopes are entertained of a major m'leod--a very fine young man; not a vestige of his face is left except his eyes.' (_bell's life_, nd september ). 'a fatal accident happened to gamble, coachman of the yeovil mail, on wednesday, caused by the leaders shying at an old oak tree. the coachman was killed on the spot, and the guard escaped with bruises. the horses started off and galloped into andover at the rate of miles an hour. the single inside passenger was not aware of anything amiss until two gentlemen, who saw the horses going at a furious rate without a driver, succeeded in stopping them just as they were turning into the george gateway.' (_times_, st february ). coachmen and guards were apt to leave too much to the honour of the horses when stopping, and it was not at all uncommon for the team to start on its journey with nobody on the box. an old coachman told lord algernon st. maur that on one night's drive he met two coaches without any driver! in ( geo. iii., c. ) it was made an offence punishable by fine to leave the team without a proper person in charge while the coach stopped. organised races between public coaches were very popular: the coachmen did not spare the horses on these occasions. this race took place in :-- 'on sunday, august th, a coach called the "patriot," belonging to the master of the "bell," leicester, drawn by four horses, started against another coach called the "defiance," from leicester to nottingham, a distance of miles, both coaches changing horses at loughborough. thousands of people from all parts assembled to witness the event, and bets to a considerable amount were depending. both coaches started exactly at o'clock, and after the severest contest ever remembered, the "patriot" arrived at nottingham first by two minutes only, performing the distance of miles in hrs. mins., carrying twelve passengers.' [illustration: _mail coaches racing: something wrong with the opposition coach painting by g. d. armour._] [illustration] mishaps were so frequent and productive of so many fatalities, to say nothing of broken limbs, that at last general outcry arose for more stringent repressive measures: and in a law ( geo. iv., c. ) was passed, making coachmen who might be guilty of 'wanton or furious driving or racing' liable to imprisonment as well as to fine, even though their proceedings were not brought to a close by overturning the coach. the new law did not make an end of accidents: on the whole there were fewer as the result of racing, but the records of time bear ample witness to lack of ordinary caution. for many years macadam and telford had been devoting their ingenuity to the task of solving the secret of road-making; it was not until that the macadam system was finally approved and adopted. then the work of remaking the roads of the kingdom was taken in hand, and the new highways, when constructed, ushered in the brief 'golden age' of coaching--say to , the mails having been transferred to the railways in the latter year. nimrod's famous essay, written in , shows in convincing fashion the difference between coaching in the olden days and at its best:-- 'may we be permitted, since we have mentioned the _arabian nights_, to make a little demand on our readers' fancy, and suppose it possible that a worthy old gentleman of this said year-- --had fallen comfortably asleep _à la dodswell_, and never awoke till monday morning in piccadilly? "what coach, your honour?" says a ruffianly-looking fellow, much like what he might have been had he lived a hundred years back. "i wish to go home to exeter," replies the old gentleman, mildly. "just in time, your honour, here she comes--them there grey horses; where's your luggage?" "don't be in a hurry," observed the stranger; "that's a gentleman's carriage." "it ain't! i tell you," says the cad; "it's the comet, and you must be as quick as lightning." _nolens volens_, the remonstrating old gentleman is shoved into the comet, by a cad at each elbow, having been three times assured his luggage is in the hind boot, and twice three times denied having ocular demonstration of the fact. 'however, he is now seated; and "what _gentleman_ is going to drive us?" is his first question to his fellow-passengers. "he is no gentleman, sir," says a person who sits opposite to him, and who happens to be a proprietor of the coach. "he has been on the comet ever since she started, and is a very steady young man." "pardon my ignorance," replies the regenerated; "from the cleanliness of his person, the neatness of his apparel, and the language he made use of, i mistook him for some enthusiastic bachelor of arts, wishing to become a charioteer after the manner of the illustrious ancients."[ ] "you must have been long in foreign parts, sir," observes the proprietor. in five minutes, or less, after the parley commenced, the wheels went round, and in another five the coach arrived at hyde park gate; but long before it got there, the worthy gentleman of (set down by his fellow-travellers for either a little cracked or an emigrant from the backwoods of america) exclaimed, "what! off the stones already?" "you have never been on the stones," observes his neighbour on his right; "no stones in london now, sir."[ ] 'in five minutes under the hour the comet arrives at hounslow, to the great delight of our friend, who by this time waxed hungry, not having broken his fast before starting. "just fifty-five minutes and thirty-seven seconds," says he, "from the time we left london!--wonderful travelling, gentlemen, to be sure, but much too fast to be safe. however, thank heaven, we are arrived at a good-looking house; and now, _waiter_, i hope you have got breakf----" before the last syllable, however, of the word could be pronounced, the worthy old gentleman's head struck the back of the coach by a jerk, which he could not account for (the fact was, three of the four fresh horses were bolters), and the waiter, the inn, and indeed hounslow itself (_terraeque urbesque recedunt_) disappeared in the twinkling of an eye. never did such a succession of doors, windows, and window-shutters pass so quickly in his review before--and he hoped they might never do so again. recovering, however, a little from his surprise--"my dear sir," said he, "you told me we were to change horses at hounslow? surely they are not so inhuman as to drive these poor animals another stage at this unmerciful rate!" "change horses, sir!" says the proprietor; "why, we changed them whilst you were putting on your spectacles, and looking at your watch. only one minute allowed for it at hounslow, and it is often done in fifty seconds by those nimble-fingered horse-keepers." "you astonish me--but really i do not like to go so fast." "oh, sir! we always spring them over these six miles. it is what we call _the hospital ground_." this alarming phrase is presently interpreted: it intimates that horses whose "backs are getting down instead of up in their work"--some "that won't hold an ounce down hill, or draw an ounce up"--others "that kick over the pole one day and over the bars the next"--in short, all the reprobates, styled in the road slang _bo-kickers_, are sent to work these six miles, because _here_ they have nothing to do but gallop--not a pebble as big as a nutmeg on the road; and so even, that it would not disturb the equilibrium of a spirit-level. 'the coach, however, goes faster and faster over the _hospital ground_, as the bo-kickers feel their legs and the collars get warm to their shoulders; and having ten outsides, the luggage of the said ten, and a few extra packages besides on the roof, she rolls rather more than is pleasant, although the centre of gravity is pretty well kept down by four not slender insides, two well-laden boots, and three huge trunks in the slide. the gentleman of the last century, however, becomes alarmed--is sure the horses are running away with the coach--declares he perceives by the shadow that there is nobody on the box, and can see the reins dangling about the horses' heels. he attempts to look out of the window, but his fellow-traveller dissuades him from doing so: "you may get a shot in your eye from the wheel. keep your head in the coach, it's all right, depend on 't. we always spring 'em over this stage." persuasion is useless; for the horses increase their speed and the worthy old gentleman looks out. but what does he see? death and destruction before his eyes? no: to his surprise he finds the coachman firm at his post, and in the act of taking a pinch of snuff from the gentleman who sits beside him on the _bench_, his horses going at the rate of a mile in three minutes at the time. "but suppose anything should break, or a linchpin should give way and let a wheel loose?" is the next appeal to the communicative but not very consoling proprietor. "nothing _can_ break, sir," is the reply; "all of the very best stuff; axletrees of the best k.q. iron, faggotted edgeways, well bedded in the timbers; and as for linchpins, we have not one about the coach. we use the best patent boxes that are manufactured. in short, sir, you are as safe in it as if you were in your bed." "bless me," exclaims the old man, "what improvements! and the roads!!!" "they are at perfection, sir," says the proprietor. "no horse walks a yard in this coach between london and exeter--all trotting ground now." "a little _galloping_ ground, i fear," whispers the senior to himself! "but who has effected all this improvement in your paving?" "an american of the name of macadam,"[ ] was the reply, "but coachmen call him the colossus of roads. great things have likewise been done in cutting through hills and altering the course of roads: and it is no uncommon thing now-a-days to see four horses trotting away merrily down hill on that very ground where they formerly were seen walking up hill." '"and pray, my good sir, what sort of horses may you have over the next stage?" "oh, sir, no more bo-kickers. it is hilly and severe ground, and requires cattle strong and staid. you'll see four as fine horses put to the coach at staines as you ever saw in a nobleman's carriage in your life." "then we shall have no more galloping--no more springing them as you term it?" "not quite so fast over the next ground," replied the proprietor; "but he will make good play over some part of it: for example, when he gets three parts down a hill he lets them loose, and cheats them out of half the one they have to ascend from the bottom of it. in short, they are half-way up it before a horse touches his collar; and we _must_ take every advantage with such a fast coach as this, and one that loads so well, or we should never keep our time. we are now to a minute; in fact the country people no longer look at the _sun_ when they want to set their clocks--they look only to the _comet_. but, depend upon it, you are quite safe; we have nothing but first-rate artists on this coach." "artist! artist!" grumbles the old gentleman, "we had no such term as that." '"i should like to see this _artist_ change horses at the next stage," resumes our ancient; "for at the last it had the appearance of magic--'presto, jack, and begone!'" "by all means; you will be much gratified. it is done with a quickness and ease almost incredible to anyone who has only read or heard of it; not a buckle or a rein is touched twice, and still all is made secure; but use becomes second nature with us. even in _my_ younger days it was always half an hour's work--sometimes more. there was--'now, ladies and gentlemen, what would you like to take? there's plenty of time, while the horses are changing, for tea, coffee, or supper; and the coachman will wait for you--won't you, mr. smith?' then mr. smith himself was in no hurry; he had a lamb about his coach for one butcher in the town, and perhaps half a calf for another, a barrel of oysters for the lawyer, and a basket of game for the parson, _all on his own account_. in short, the best wheel of the coach was his, and he could not be otherwise than accommodating." 'the coach arrives at staines, and the ancient gentleman puts his intentions into effect, though he was near being again too late; for by the time he could extract his hat from the netting that suspended it over his head, the leaders had been taken from their bars, and were walking up the yard towards their stables. on perceiving a fine thorough-bred horse led toward the coach with a twitch fastened tightly to his nose, he exclaimed, "holloa, mr. horse-keeper! you are going to put an unruly horse in the coach." "what! this here 'oss?" growls the man; "the quietest hanimal alive, sir!" as he shoves him to the near side of the pole. at this moment, however, the coachman is heard to say in somewhat of an undertone, "mind what you are about, bob; don't let him touch the roller-bolt." in thirty seconds more they are off--"the staid and steady team," so styled by the proprietor of the coach. "let 'em go! and take care of yourselves," says the artist, so soon as he is firmly seated upon his box; and this is the way they start. the near leader rears right on end; and if the rein had not been yielded to him at the instant, he would have fallen backwards on the head of the pole. the moment the twitch was taken from the nose of the thorough-bred near-wheeler, he drew himself back to the extent of his pole-chain--his forelegs stretched out before him--and then, like a lion loosened from his toil, made a snatch at the coach that would have broken two pairs of traces of . a steady and good-whipped horse, however, his partner, started the coach himself, with a gentle touch of the thong, and away they went off together. but the thorough-bred was very far from being comfortable; it was in vain that the coachman tried to soothe him with his voice, or stroked him with the crop of his whip. he drew three parts of the coach, and cantered for the first mile, and when he did settle down to his trot, his snorting could be heard by the passengers, being as much as to say, "i was not born to be a slave." in fact, as the proprietor now observed, "he had been a fair plate horse in his time, but his temper was always queer." 'after the first shock was over, the conservative of the eighteenth century felt comfortable. the pace was considerably slower than it had been over the last stage, but he was unconscious of the reason for its being diminished. it was to accommodate the queer temper of the race-horse,[ ] who, if he had not been humoured at starting, would never have settled down to his trot, but have ruffled all the rest of the team. he was also surprised, if not pleased, at the quick rate at which they were ascending hills which, in his time, he should have been asked by the coachman to have walked up--but his pleasure was short-lived; the third hill they descended produced a return of his agony. this was what is termed on the road a long fall of ground, and the coach rather pressed upon the horses. the temper of the race-horse became exhausted: breaking into a canter, he was of little use as a wheeler, and there was then nothing for it but a gallop. the leaders only wanted the signal; and the point of the thong being thrown lightly over their backs, they were off like an arrow out of a bow: but the rocking of the coach was awful, and more particularly so to the passengers on the roof. nevertheless, she was not in danger: the master-hand of the artist kept her in a direct line; and meeting the opposing ground, she steadied, and all was right. the newly-awakened gentleman, however, begins to grumble again. "pray, my good sir," says he anxiously, "do use your authority over your coachman, and _insist_ upon his putting the drag-chain on the wheel when descending the next hill." "i have no such authority," replies the proprietor. "it is true, we are now drawn by my horses, but i cannot interfere with the driving of them." "but is he not your servant?" "he is, sir; but i contract to work the coach so many miles in so many hours, and he engages to drive it, and each is subject to a fine if the time be not kept on the road. on so fast a coach as this every advantage must be taken; and if we were to drag down such hills as these, we should never reach exeter to-day." 'our friend, however, will have no more of it. he quits the coach at bagshot, congratulating himself on the safety of his limbs. yet he takes one more peep at the change, which is done with the same despatch as before; three greys and a pie-bald replacing three chestnuts and a bay--the harness beautifully clean, and the ornaments bright as the sun. not a word is spoken by the passengers, who merely look their admiration; but the laconic address of the coachman is not lost on the bystanders. "put the bay mare near wheel this evening, and the stallion _up to the cheek_," said he to his horse-keeper as he placed his right foot on the roller-bolt--_i.e._ the last step but one to the box. "how is paddy's leg?" "it's all right, sir," replied the horse-keeper. "let 'em go, then," quoth the _artist_, "and take care of yourselves." 'the worthy old gentleman is now shown into a room, and after warming his hands at the fire, rings the bell for the waiter. a well-dressed person appears, whom he of course takes for the landlord. "pray, sir," says he, "have you any _slow_ coach down this road to-day?" "why, yes, sir," replies john; "we shall have the regulator down in an hour." "just right," said our friend; "it will enable me to break my fast, which i have not done to-day." "oh, sir," observes john, "these here fast _drags_ be the ruin of us." 'tis all hurry scurry, and no gentleman has time to have nothing on the road. "what will you take, sir? mutton-chops, veal-cutlets, beef-steaks, or a fowl (to kill?)" 'at the appointed time, the regulator appears at the door. it is a strong, well-built drag, painted what is called chocolate colour, bedaubed all over with gilt letters--a bull's head on the doors, a saracen's head on the hind boot, and drawn by four strapping horses; but it wants the neatness of the other. the passengers may be, by a shade or two, of a lower order than those who had gone forward with the comet; nor, perhaps, is the coachman quite so refined as the one we have just taken leave of. he has not the neat white hat, the clean doeskin gloves, the well-cut trousers, and dapper frock; but still his appearance is respectable, and perhaps, in the eyes of many, more in character with his calling. neither has he the agility of the artist on the comet, for he is nearly double his size; but he is a strong powerful man, and might be called a pattern card of the heavy coachman of the present day--in other words, of a man who drives a coach which carries sixteen passengers instead of fourteen, and is rated at eight miles an hour instead of ten. "what room in the regulator?" says our friend to the waiter, as he comes to announce its arrival. "full inside, sir, and in front; but you'll have the gammon board all to yourself, and your luggage is in the hind boot." "gammon board! pray, what's that? do you not mean the basket?"[ ] "oh no, sir," says john, smiling; "no such thing on the road now. it is the hind-dickey, as some call it; where you'll be as comfortable as possible, and can sit with your back or your face to the coach, or _both_, if you like." "ah, ah," continues the old gentleman; "something new again, i presume." however, the mystery is cleared up; the ladder is reared to the hind wheel and the gentleman safely seated on the gammon board. 'before ascending to his place our friend has cast his eye on the team that is about to convey him to hartford bridge, the next stage on the great western road, and he perceives it to be of a different stamp from that which he had seen taken from the coach at bagshot. it consisted of four moderate-sized horses, full of power, and still fuller of condition, but with a fair sprinkling of blood; in short, the eye of a judge would have discovered something about them not very unlike galloping. "all right!" cried the guard, taking his key-bugle[ ] in his hand; and they proceeded up the village, at a steady pace, to the tune of "scots wha hae wi' wallace bled," and continued at that pace for the first five miles. "_i am landed_," thinks our friend to himself. unluckily, however, for the humane and cautious old gentleman, even the regulator was about to show tricks. although what now is called a slow coach, she is timed at eight miles in the hour through a great extent of country, and must, of course, make play where she can, being strongly opposed by hills lower down the country, trifling as these hills are, no doubt, to what they once were. the regulator, moreover, loads well, not only with passengers, but with luggage; and the last five miles of this stage, called the bridge flat, have the reputation of being the best five miles for a coach to be found at this time in england. the ground is firm; the surface undulating, and therefore favourable to draught; always dry, not a shrub being near it; nor is there a stone upon it much larger than a marble. these advantages, then, are not lost to the regulator, or made use of without sore discomposure to the solitary tenant of her gammon board. 'any one that has looked into books will very readily account for the lateral motion, or rocking, as it is termed, of a coach, being greatest at the greatest distance from the horses (as the tail of a paper kite is in motion whilst the body remains at rest); and more especially when laden as this coach was--the greater part of the weight being forward. the situation of our friend, then, was once more deplorable. the regulator takes but twenty-three minutes for these celebrated five miles, which cannot be done without "springing the cattle" now and then; and it was in one of the very best of their gallops of that day, that they were met by the coachman of the comet, who was returning with his up-coach. when coming out of rival yards, coachmen never fail to cast an eye to the loading of their opponents on the road, and now that of the natty artist of the comet experienced a high treat. he had a full view of his quondam passenger, and thus described his situation. 'he was seated with his back to the horses--his teeth set grim as death--his eyes cast down towards the ground, thinking the less he saw of his danger the better. there was what is called a top-heavy load--perhaps a ton of luggage on the roof, and it may be not _quite_ in obedience to the act of parliament standard.[ ] there were also two horses at wheel, whose strides were of rather unequal length, and this operated powerfully on the coach. in short, the lurches of the regulator were awful at the moment of the comet meeting her. a tyro in mechanics would have exclaimed, "the centre of gravity must be lost, the centrifugal force will have the better of it--_over she must go_!" 'the centre of gravity having been preserved, the coach arrived safe at hartford bridge; but the old gentleman has again had enough of it. "i will walk into devonshire," said he, as he descended from his perilous exaltation. "what did that rascally waiter mean by telling me this was a slow coach? and moreover, look at the luggage on the roof!" "only regulation height, sir," says the coachman; "we aren't allowed to have it an inch higher; sorry we can't please you, sir, but we will try and make room for you in front." "_fronti nulla fides_," mutters the worthy to himself, as he walks tremblingly into the house--adding, "i shall not give this fellow a shilling; he is dangerous." 'the regulator being off, the waiter is again applied to. "what do you charge per mile posting?" "one and sixpence, sir." "bless me! just double! let me see--two hundred miles, at two shillings per mile, postboys, turnpikes, etc., £ . this will never do. have you no coach that does not carry luggage on the top?" "oh yes, sir," replies the waiter, "we shall have one to-night that is not allowed to carry a band-box on the roof."[ ] "that's the coach for me; pray what do you call it?" "the quicksilver mail, sir; one of the best out of london--jack white and tom brown, picked coachmen, over this ground--jack white down to-night." "guarded and lighted?" "both, sir; blunderbuss and pistols in the sword-case;[ ] a lamp each side the coach, and one under the foot-board--see to pick up a pin the darkest night of the year." "very fast?" "oh no, sir, _just keeps time, and that's all_." "that's the coach for me, then," repeats our hero; "and i am sure i shall feel at my ease in it. i suppose it is what used to be called the old mercury." 'unfortunately, the devonport (commonly called the quicksilver) mail is half a mile in the hour faster than most in england, and is, indeed, one of the miracles of the road. let us then picture to ourselves our anti-reformer snugly seated in this mail, on a pitch-dark night in november. it is true she has no luggage on the roof, nor much to incommode her elsewhere; but she is a mile in the hour faster than the comet, at least three miles quicker than the regulator; and she performs more than half her journey by lamplight. it is needless to say, then, our senior soon finds out his mistake; but there is no remedy at hand, for it is the dead of the night, and all the inns are shut up. he must proceed, or be left behind in a stable. the climax of his misfortunes then approaches. 'nature being exhausted, sleep comes to his aid, and he awakes on a stage which is called the fastest on the journey--four miles of ground, and twelve minutes the time! the old gentleman starts from his seat, having dreamed the horses were running away with the coach, and so, no doubt, they might be. he is determined to convince himself of the fact, though the passengers assure him "all's right." "don't put your head out of the window," says one of them, "you will lose your hat to a certainty": but advice is seldom listened to by a terrified man, and next moment a stentorian voice is heard, crying, "stop, coachman, stop--i have lost my hat and wig!" the coachman hears him not--and in another second the broad wheels of a road waggon have for ever demolished the lost headgear.' that was the road at its best: the poetic side we have in mind when we speak of the good old days of coaching. the following passages refer equally to the 'golden age'; their very baldness has an eloquence of its own. it is true that the winter of - is conspicuous in history for the exceptionally heavy snowfall; but as nimrod has shown coaching at its best, there is no injustice in presenting these glimpses of coach travel at its worst:-- 'tabor, guard of the devonport, who left london with the mail on sunday and returned on wednesday, reports that a mile and a half from amesbury they got completely blocked. the leaders dropped down, but rose again; the near wheel-horse fell and could not be got up. the coachman procured a pair of post horses, but they could only get the wheel-horse out of the snow; it was impossible to get him on his legs. four more post horses and four waggon horses were requisitioned, and with their assistance the mail was extricated by daylight. then they travelled with the six post horses across the downs. they were again blocked near mere. about a hundred men were at this time employed a little distance off in digging out the subscription and defiance coaches. after being extricated by some labourers they resumed their progress from mere with four fresh mail-horses and two posters. between ilchester and ilminster the post horse leaders fell in a snow drift, and were run upon by the mail leaders.' (_bell's life_, january ). 'the estafette coach from manchester on sunday morning did not reach london until tuesday night, having been dug out of the snow twelve times. it was the first coach from manchester of the same day that arrived in town. the guard attributes his success to the exertions of four sailors, outside passengers, who lent a hand at every casualty.' 'a gentleman who left sheffield by the hope coach of sunday week reports that the coach did not complete its journey until saturday afternoon. between nottingham and mansfield, close to the forest, they came upon three coaches blocked in the snow, which was lying feet deep. the hope left mansfield with eight horses and was driven into nottingham with ten. they picked up a poor boy nearly perished with cold. the boy was got by a gentleman jumping down while the coach was in motion, for the coachman declared that if he came to a dead stop he would not be able to get the wheels in motion again.' (_bell's life_, th january ). highway robbery was still practised at this time, but the armed horseman with crape mask and pistols had gone out of fashion, and thefts were accomplished by craft. 'the stirling mail has been robbed of notes to the value of £ , in the following manner:--a man took his seat at stirling as an outside passenger. the mail was followed closely from stirling by a gig containing two men. when the mail arrived at kirkliston the guard stopped to take out the customary bags to leave there. the gig also stopped there, and the two men in it went into the house. the guard had left the mail box open, in which the parcels were, and the outside passenger easily abstracted the one containing the notes. he then left the coach. the gig with the two men took the queensferry road. the parcels were not missed until the mail reached edinburgh. on the queensferry road the two men were joined by their accomplice, the outside passenger. they left the gig and took a post chaise for edinburgh. they discharged the chaise before entering the city and gave the post-boy £ .' (_bell's life_, nd january ). great improvements in all matters connected with coaching were made during the first two decades of the nineteenth century: these were due to the rage for driving that prevailed about this time. the king was deeply interested in coaching, was himself no mean whip, and he set the fashion. it did not last very long. nimrod, writing in , remarks that about 'thirty to forty four-in-hand equipages were constantly to be seen about town: _one_ is stared at now.' the driving clubs held 'meets' in george the third's time much as they do at present, but the vehicles used were 'barouche landaus,' and the drive taken was much longer than that in vogue to-day. bedfont beyond hounslow, and windsor were favourite places whither the coaches--'barouche landaus'--drove in procession to dine. very particular attention was paid to dress. this was the costume in which members of the whip club, founded in as a rival to the benson, mounted their boxes on th june , in park lane, to drive to harrow:-- 'a light, drab-colour cloth coat made full, single breast with three tier of pockets, the skirt reaching to the ancles; a mother of pearl button the size of a crown piece; waistcoat blue and yellow stripe, each stripe an inch in depth; small clothes corded silk plush made to button over the calf of the leg, with sixteen strings and rosettes to each knee. the boots very short and finished with very broad straps which hang over the tops and down to the ancle. a hat three inches and a half deep in the crown only, and the same depth in the brim exactly. each wore a large bouquet at the breast, thus resembling the coachmen of our nobility who, on his majesty's birthday, appear in that respect so peculiarly distinguished.'[ ] grimaldi the clown, then at the zenith of his fame, burlesqued this get-up so mercilessly that a less conspicuous garb was adopted. the fifteen barouche landaus which turned out on this occasion, driven by 'men of known skill in the science of charioteering,' were well calculated to set off the somewhat conspicuous attire of the members: they were 'yellow-bodied carriages with whip springs and dickey boxes; cattle of a bright bay colour with silver plate ornaments on the harness and rosettes to the ears.' the meets of the driving clubs appear to have roused a spirit of ribaldry in unregenerate youth. one day in march a young etonian made his appearance in a low phaeton with a four-in-hand of donkeys, with which he brought up the rear of the procession as it drove round grosvenor and berkeley squares. _the_ driving club was the benson, which had been founded in . sir henry peyton was the last survivor of the 'noble, honourable, and respectable' drivers who composed it. thackeray described him in the last of his papers on _the four georges_ as he appeared driving the 'one solitary four-in-hand' to be seen in the london parks. he was then ( ) very old, and attracted attention as much by his dress, which was of the fashion of , as by his then unique turn-out. the benson club came to an end in . the whip club, otherwise the four horse club, came to an end in . the defiance club, for members who had been 'lately permitted to retire' from the other two, was projected in , but it does not appear to have come to anything. the richmond drag club was founded in , but it did not survive for many years; the members to the number of fifteen or sixteen used to meet at lord chesterfield's house. these were the principal clubs. some of the amateur whips of a century ago were addicted to coach matches. here is the account of such a race from the _sporting magazine_ of :-- 'mail coach match.--on thursday, may th, the london mail, horsed by mr. laud, of the new london inn, exeter, with four beautiful grey horses, and driven by mr. cave browne, of the inniskilling dragoons, started (at the sound of the bugle) from st. sydwell's for a bet of five hundred guineas against the plymouth mail, horsed by mr. phillipps, of the hotel, with four capital blacks, and driven by mr. chichester, of arlington house, which got the mail first to the post office in honiton. the bet was won easy by mr. browne. a very great concourse of people assembled on this occasion.' in mr. george seward undertook to drive a four-in-hand fifteen miles in fifty minutes. he selected the road from hyde park corner to staines, and started at six in the morning. he failed to accomplish his undertaking, but only by three minutes twenty seconds. there was more originality about the competition arranged in may between mr. charles buxton, inventor of the bit known by his name and one of the founders of the whip club, and a horse-dealer:-- 'one of our most celebrated whips charles buxton, esq., has concluded a bet of guineas with mr. thomas hall, the dealer in horses. the object of the wager is to decide which of the two is the best driver of four unruly horses. the wager is to be decided by two friends of the parties, who are to pick out eight horses from spencer's, marsden's, and white's. lords barrymore and cranley are chosen as the umpires. the horses selected are only to be those which have not been broken in. the friend of each charioteer is to pick the horses alternately until the number agreed on is selected. the parties are then to mount the box and proceed to decide the wager. the bettings already are said to be considerable. neither the scene of action nor the day when the contest is to take place are yet determined on. mr. buxton is said to be so certain of success that he has offered to double the bet.' though the law of made racing a criminal offence, the practice was one which could not be wholly put down, and on may-day the law was set at naught by popular consent, rival coaches on that day racing one another without disguise: the may-day race became an institution of the road, and seems to have been winked at by the authorities. some wonderful records were made in these contests on the macadam. thus, on st may , the independent tally ho ran from london to birmingham, miles, in hours minutes. it was not rare for a coach to perform its journey at a rate of fifteen miles an hour on may-day. we may compare this with the time made in the leicester-nottingham race of mentioned on page . it is seventy years since the carriage of the mails was transferred from coach to railway train, and there are yet living men who can remember the last journeys of the mail-coaches, some carrying little flags at half-mast, some displaying a miniature coffin, emblematic of the death of a great institution. yet the mail-coach survived until a much later date in some districts, where the line was slow to penetrate. mr. s. a. kinglake, in _baily's magazine_ of , gave an account of the oxford and cheltenham coach, which only began to carry the mails in , and made its last trip in , when the opening of a new branch line ousted this lingerer on the roads. the interregnum between the last of the old coaches and the modern era was not a very long one: indeed, taking the country as a whole, and accepting the coach as subsidiary to the railway, the old and the new overlap. modern road coaching dates from the later 'sixties, when the late duke of beaufort, with some others, started the brighton coach. this was the first of several private ventures of the same kind: their primary object was to enable the owners to enjoy the pleasure of driving a team, and the financial side of the business was not much regarded. the subscription coach was a later development, with the same object in view, pleasure rather than money-making, and the large majority of the coaches which run from london to brighton, st. albans, guildford, and other places within an easy day's journey are maintained by small syndicates of subscribers, who take turns on the box. american visitors patronise these vehicles extensively, and no doubt to their support may be traced mr. vanderbilt's venture on the brighton road. the modern coach travels quite as fast as its predecessor when required: as witness james selby's famous performance on th july . he left the white horse cellar at a.m.; arrived at the old ship, brighton, . p.m.; turned and reached town at . ; the journey out and home again being accomplished in hours minutes; part of the way between earlswood and horley he travelled at a rate of twenty miles an hour. [illustration: _modern coaching: in the show ring painting by g. d. armour._] [illustration] nor are modern horse-keepers less 'nimble fingered' than those of whom nimrod wrote. at the international horse show of miss brocklebank's grooms won the hon. adam beck's prize for 'best coach and appointments and quickest change of teams': the change was accomplished in forty-eight seconds. during james selby's brighton drive horses were changed at streatham in forty-seven seconds. the road coachmen of the present day do not aim at lightning changes of team: the work is done in leisurely fashion, and passengers enjoy the opportunity afforded them to get down for a few minutes. the four-in-hand club, founded in , for many years used to meet in the park at quarter to five in the afternoon, but the hour was changed to half-past twelve in order to avoid the inconvenience inseparable from meeting at the time when carriages are most numerous. the coaching club was founded in , and held its first meet at the marble arch in june the following year. song of the b.d.c.[ ] you ask me, gents, to sing a song, don't think me too encroaching. i won't detain you very long, with one of mine on coaching. no rivalry we have to fear, nor jealous need we be, sir, we all are friends who muster here, and in the b.d.c. sir. horace declares the greeks of old were once a driving nation; but shakespeare says 'the world's a stage'-- a cutish observation. the stage he meant, good easy man, was drawn by nine old muses; but the mews for me is the b.d.c., and that's the stage i chooses. i call this age the iron age of railways and pretension. and coaching now is in a stage of horrible declension, the day's gone by when on the fly we roll'd to alma mater, and jovial took the reins in hand of the times or regulator. those were the days when peyton's grays to bedfont led the way, sir, and villebois followed with his bays in beautiful array, sir. then spicer, too, came next in view to join the gay procession. oh! the dust we made--the cavalcade was neat beyond expression. no turnpike saw a fancy team more neat than dolphin sported, when o'er the stones with charley jones, to bedfont they resorted. few graced the box so much as cox; but there were none, i ween, sir, who hold the reins 'twixt here and staines more slap up than the dean, sir. those are the men who foremost then to coaching gave a tone, sir, and hold they will to coaching still, tho' here they stand alone, sir-- then drink to the coach, the b.d.c., sir henry and his team, sir, and may all be _blowed_ right off the road who wish to go by steam, sir. footnotes: [ ] robert poynter drove the lewes stage for thirty years without an accident. [ ] geo. iii., c. . [ ] the old gentleman's conjecture was not far wrong. at this time, , it is true fewer men of good birth occupied the box than had been the case a few years before--if we rightly interpret nimrod's own remarks on the point. when the box had been set on springs or made an integral part of the coach-body, when the roads had been made worthy of the name and fast work the rule, coach-driving became popular among men of social position. some drove for pleasure, horsing the coaches themselves, others took up driving as a profession and made good incomes thereby. these gentlemen coachmen did much to raise the standard of conduct among the professionals of humble origin. lord algernon st. maur (_driving_, badminton library) says that mr. stevenson, who was driving the brighton age in , was 'the great reformer who set a good example as regards punctuality, neatness, and sobriety.' [ ] until macadam was adopted the streets in london were cobbled or paved. [ ] john loudon macadam was a scotsman by birth. in , when fourteen years old, he was sent to the care of an uncle in new york, whence he did not return till he was twenty-six years of age; hence the mistake in describing him as 'an american.' [ ] it was not unusual for retired race-horses to end their days 'on the road.' a notable instance is that of mendoza by javelin. mendoza won eight races at newmarket in his three seasons on the turf, - - ; then the duke of leeds bought him as a hunter; and after a few seasons with hounds he made one of a team in the catterick and greta bridge mail-coach. mendoza was still at work in , but had become blind. [ ] the early coaches were equipped with a huge basket slung over the hind axle wherein passengers were carried at lower fares. [ ] only the mail-coach guard carried a horn; stage-coach guards used the key-bugle, and some were very clever performers on it. [ ] geo. iii., c. came into operation in . this enacted that on a four-horse coach baggage might be piled to a height of feet. to encourage low-hung coaches this law allowed baggage to be piled to a height of ft. in. _from the ground_. [ ] the conveyance of 'trunks, parcels, and other packages' on the roof of a mail-coach was prohibited in the postmaster-general's circular to mail contractors of th june, . as the mails increased it became impossible to enforce this regulation, and the bags were carried wherever they could be stowed. 'the druid' says of the edinburgh mail-coach: 'the heaviest night as regards correspondence was when the american mail had come in. on those occasions the bags have been known to weigh above cwt. they were contained in sacks seven feet long and were laid in three tiers across the top, so high that no guard unless he were a chang in stature could look over them ... and the waist (the seat behind the coachman) and the hind boot were filled as well.' [ ] it must be remembered that the old gentleman speaks by the light of his knowledge of nearly a century earlier, when highway robbery was very common, and it was not usual for coaches to run at night. at the period to which nimrod refers highwaymen had not entirely disappeared from the roads (william rea was hanged for this offence, th july, ), and not every stage-coach carried a guard. mail-coaches, all of which carried guards, were, of course, unknown to nimrod's old gentleman. [ ] this refers to the 'mail-coach parade,' which was first held in and for the last time in . the coaches, to the number of about twenty-five, were either new or newly painted with the royal arms on the door, the stars of each of the four orders of knighthood on the upper panel, and the name of the town whither the coach ran on the small panel over each door. coachmen and guards wore new uniforms and gentlemen used to lend their best teams--often also their coachmen, as appears from the passage quoted. a horseman rode behind each coach to make the procession longer. the 'meet' took place in lincoln's inn fields and the coaches drove to st. james's, there turning to come back to the general post office, then in lombard street. [ ] benson driving club. tandem driving [illustration: _tandem painting by g. d. armour._] [illustration] it is said, but i must confess failure to trace authority for the statement, that tandem driving was invented as a convenient and sporting method of taking the hunter to the meet. history has not handed down to fame the name of the man who first hit upon the idea of driving tandem; it was in vogue over a century ago, and at cambridge ranked as a grave offence: witness the following edict dated th march :-- 'we, the vice-chancellor and heads of colleges, do hereby order and decree that if any person or persons _in statu pupillari_ shall be found driving any tandem and shall be duly convicted thereof before the vice-chancellor, such person or persons so offending shall for the first offence be suspended from taking his degree for one whole year, or be rusticated, according to the circumstances of the case; and for the second offence be liable to such further punishment as it may appear to deserve, or be expelled the university.' extravagantly high gigs were much in favour among the 'bloods' of the day, and these were often used for tandem driving, a purpose for which they were by no means unsuitable, always provided the road was fairly level. as a matter of course, when tandems became numerous and drivers clever in handling them, races against time came into fashion. matches on the road, whether trotting in saddle or driving, were usually 'against time' for obvious reasons. on april th the famous whip, mr. buxton, backed himself to drive tandem without letting his horses break their trot, from hounslow to hare hatch, distance twenty-four miles, in two hours. his horses, however, were not well matched, and 'broke' before they had gone six miles. as breaking involved the penalty of turning the equipage round and starting afresh, and breaks were frequent, mr. buxton occupied over an hour in going ten miles and gave up, forfeiting the hundred guineas he had staked on the task. on th may a match was thus recorded in the _sporting magazine_:-- 'captain swann undertook a tandem match from ilford, seven miles over a part of epping forest. he engaged to drive miles at a trot and to back his wheels if he broke into a gallop. this happened only once in the seventh mile, which he nevertheless completed in minutes. on his return the pacing of the horses was a picture. the match was won fairly with two minutes and six seconds to spare.' a mr. houlston in the same year drove his tandem twelve miles on the winchester road in one minute thirty-nine seconds under the hour allowed. by this time tandem drivers had come to the reasonable conclusion that the turning penalty (proper enough in trotting matches, whether in shafts or saddle) was excessive for their sport, and 'backing' had been substituted therefor. any one who has had occasion to turn a tandem on the road without assistance will admit that the abolition was wise. long journeys against time were sometimes undertaken. in 'captain bethel ramsden undertook to drive tandem from theale to london, miles, in hours and minutes. the start took place at four o'clock in the morning, and in the first hour the captain did ½ miles to between twyford and hare hatch. he did in the next hour miles and upwards, and got the horses' mouths cleaned at slough. he had ½ miles to do in the last forty minutes, and performed it easily with eleven minutes to spare.' the cult of the trotting horse stood high in those days when so much travelling was done in the saddle: there are innumerable records of trotters doing their fifteen and sixteen miles on the road within the hour, sometimes under very heavy weights. mr. charles herbert's horse, in , trotted miles in minutes seconds on the highgate road, starting from st. giles' church. the road is by no means a level one, and the only advantage the horse had was the hour selected--between six and seven in the morning, when the traffic was not heavy. a famous whip of the 'thirties was mr. burke of hereford--he was also an amateur pugilist of renown, but that does not concern us here. in june he made his thirty-fifth trotting match, whereby he undertook to drive tandem forty-five miles in three hours. the course was from the staines end of sinebury common to the fifth milestone towards hampton: he did it with four and a half minutes to spare. the horses used in this match were both extraordinary trotters: the wheeler, tommy, had covered miles in hour minutes two months earlier, and the leader, gustavus, twenty-four years old, had done his miles in hour minutes. though not a tandem performance in the strict sense of the term, mr. thanes' feat on th july is worth mention. he undertook 'to drive three horses in a gig, tandem fashion, eleven miles within the hour on the trot, and to turn if either horse broke.' fortunately none of the three did break, and he did the eleven miles, on the road near maidenhead, with three minutes to spare. tandem driving seems to have gone out of fashion to a certain extent about , though some young men 'still delighted in it.' the re-establishment of the tandem club, soon after the close of the crimean war, marked a revival which made itself felt at cambridge; for on nd february the senate passed another edict, this time forbidding livery-stable keepers to let out on hire tandems or four-in-hands to undergraduates. this was confirmed in . * * * * * * transcriber's note: the illustrations which were plates in the book have been moved near to the text they illustrate. footnotes in the coaching chapter have been moved to the end of the chapter. this book contains inconsistent hyphenations. no spellings have been changed, but apparent printers' errors have been corrected. changes that have been made are: footnote "s peks" changed to "speaks", "robaery" changed to "robbery". page quotation mark added at start of "and take care of yourselves". transcriber's notes several symbols appear in the left margin of certain catalogue entries: the equals sign (=), em-dash (--) and a circular "bullet" (o). no explanation is given in the book for the significance of these symbols which are reproduced as the original. a distinctive larger typeface is introduced on the title page and used to denote catalogue items donated by the boston philatelic society. in this plain text version of the e-book this typeface is distinguished by preceding and following dollar symbols: $thus$. other typeface conventions and symbol substitutions are as follows: bold typeface is represented by =equals signs=; italic typeface by _surrounding underscores_; superscripts by a preceding caret (^) symbol; and small caps typeface by upper case. [oe] represents an oe-ligature character. [asterism] represents a triangle of three stars. where changes or corrections have been made to the text, these are listed at the end of the book. * * * * * catalogue of books on philately in the public library of the city of boston. items printed in this style of type $(albrecht, r. f., and company, publishers. * . )$ were given by the boston philatelic society. january, . press of d. h. bacon & co., derby, conn. consult the card catalogue under headings: envelopes, perforation, penny postage, post, postage, postage stamps, postal ----, postal cards, postmarks, post office, revenue, revenue stamps, telegraph stamps. also public documents. catalogue. =adenaw, julius.= * . a complete catalogue of the revenue stamps of the united states, including all private and state issues, and giving all minor varieties, with the market value of every stamp. new york, scott stamp & coin co. [ ?] , ( ) pp ^o. $=albrecht, r. f.=, and company, publishers. * . $ $auction prices. an epitome of the prices realized for postage stamps at r. f. albrecht & co.'s auction sales during four seasons. ( - , sales - .)$ = $new york, . ( ), pp. ^o.$ $=american journal of philately.= * . $ $monthly, henry l. calman, editor, first series, vol. , .$ = $new york: scott stamp & coin co., second series, - , v., illus. plates, ^o. the issues for were edited by j. w. scott.$ =american philatelic association.= * . books on philately in the carnegie library of pittsburgh. [chicago] . pp. ^o. $=american philatelic association.= . $ $catalogue of the american philatelic association's loan exhibit of postage stamps to the united states post office department, at the world's columbian exposition, chicago, .$ $birmingham, conn. bacon & co., . pp. ^o.$ $=american philatelic association.= * a. $ $official circular. sept., -aug., .$ = $[st. louis, mo., - .] v. l. ^o.$ $=american philatelic publishing company.= a. $ $"our catalogue." the standard american catalogue of all the postal issues of the world. together with the revenue stamps of the united states and canada.$ = $new york. albrecht & co. [ ] ( ), pp. illus. ^o.$ $=american philatelist.= vol. - . * . $ $chicago. american philatelic association. - . v. in . ^o.$ $the annual number for dec., , is published as vol. . previous to vol. the periodical is called american philatelist and year book of the american philatelic association.$ $=bacon=, e. d. . $ $reprints of postal adhesive stamps and their characteristics.$ = $london. [ .] viii, pp. illus. [stanley gibbons' philatelic handbooks.] ^o.$ $=bacon=, e. d. * . $ $and francis john hamilton scott napier.$ $grenada: to which is prefixed an account of the perforations of the perkins-bacon printed stamps of the british colonies.$ $london. stanley gibbons, ( ) pp. illus. pls. [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks] ^o.$ =bacon=, e. d. and francis j. h. s. napier. . the stamps of barbadoes, with a history and description of the star-watermarked papers of perkins, bacon & co. london: . xi., pp. pls. [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks.] ^o. $=bartels, j. m.=, co., publishers. * a. $ $complete catalogue and reference list of the stamped envelopes, wrappers, and letter sheets regularly issued by the united states. - .$ $washington, , pp. illus pls. l. ^o.$ $=bartels=, j. m., co. a. $ $march, . j. m. bartels' second complete catalogue and reference list of the stamped envelopes, wrappers, letter sheets and postal cards, regularly issued by the united states. - .$ $washington ( ) unpaged. illus. f^o.$ $=bartels=, j. murray & co., publishers. a. $ $the standard price catalogue and reference list of the plate numbers of united states adhesive postage stamps, issued from to . d edition.$ $washington, , pp. ^o.$ $same. a. $ $stamps issued from to , th edition. with supplement, , , parts in v.$ =bazar=, der. * . für briefmarken-sammler, jahrgang , no. - . heidelberg: - , ^o. =bellars=, henry john, and ---- davie. . the standard guide to postage stamp collecting ... d edition. london. hotten. . pp. sm. ^o $=boston philatelic society.= * . $ $an historical reference list of the revenue stamps of the united states, including the private die proprietary stamps. compiled by george l. toppan, hiram e. deats and alexander holland, a committee of the ... society.$ $boston, , pp. l. ^o.$ $=boston stamp book=, the. * . $ $[monthly.] edited and published by john luther kilbon. vol. - . may, -may, .$ = $boston. cassino & co. [etc.] - . v. ^o.$ =bradt=, s. b. & co. * . catalogue of united states and foreign postage stamps, - , from july , -dec. . . sold at cobb's library. [chicago, , .] pphs. in v. ^o. $=bright & sons= * . $ $"a b c" descriptive priced catalogue of the world's postage stamps, envelopes, post cards, etc. d edition. revised up to date.$ -- $london. simpkin, marshall & co. [ .] parts in v. sm. ^o. london. simpkin, marshall & co. [ .]$ $=brown=, frank p., publisher. a. $ $the standard postage stamp catalogue. th edition.$ = $boston, . xxxvi, , ( ) pp. illus. ^o.$ $two copies.$ $=brown=, mount. . $ $catalogue of british, colonial, and foreign postage stamps. d edition.$ = $london. passmore. . vii, ( ), pp. ^o.$ $same. th edition. . xi, ( ), pp. . $ =brown=, walter lee. . = no. in * . descriptive catalogue of the revenue stamps of italy, from to . new york. j. j. pusey & co., prs. . ( ), , ( ) pp. ^o. $=brown=, william, of salisbury. a. $ $a reference list to the stamps of the straits settlements, surcharged for use in the native protected states.$ = $salisbury, author, . , ( ) pp. illus. plates. ^o. reprinted with additions and corrections from the philatelic journal of great britain.$ =chalmers=, patrick. * . the adhesive postage stamp. decision of the "encyclopædia britannica." james chalmers was the inventor of the adhesive stamps. also papers on the penny postage reform. london: e. wilson, , pp. ^o. chalmers, patrick. * . the american philatelic association and the adhesive postage stamp. london: e. wilson & co., , pp. sm. ^o. =chalmers=, patrick. . how james chalmers saved the penny postage scheme. letter of the dundee bankers and merchants to the lords of her majesty's treasury. london: e. wilson & co., , pp. ^o. [relates to the adhesive postage stamp first proposed by james chalmers.] =chalmers=, patrick. . mr. john francis, of the athenæum, on the plan of sir rowland hill, d ed. london: e. wilson & co., , pp. ^o. [relates to the adhesive postage stamp.] =chalmers=, patrick. * . submission of the sir rowland hill committee, d edition, with opinions from the press ( th series) on "the adhesive postage stamp." london: e. wilson, , pp. ^o. =chicago stamp news.= vol. . * . chicago, , . ^o. =collin=, henry, and henry l. calman. * . catalogue of the stamps, envelopes, wrappers and postal cards of mexico. including the provisional issues of campeche, chiapas, guadalajara, etc. = new york: scott stamp & coin co. [ ?] ( ), pp. illus. l. ^o. $=collin=, henry and others. * a. $ $catalogue of the stamps, envelopes and wrappers of the united states of america, and of the confederate states of america, by henry collin and henry l. calman, with the collaboration of john n. luff and george l. toppan.$ = $new york: scott stamp & coin co., . ( ), pp. illus. plates. sm. f^o.$ $=collin=, henry, and henry l. calman. * a. $ $a catalogue for advanced collectors of postage stamps, stamped envelopes and wrappers....$ $new york: the scott stamp & coin co. - . pp. illus. plates. ^o.$ $=coster=, charles h. * . $ $the united states locals and their history.$ $new york: scott & co., , pp. illus. ^o.$ $=coster=, charles h. * . $ $les postes privées des etats-unis d'amérique. bruxelles, moens, , , v. in . illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $[contents.-- . les timbres adhésifs. . les envelopes timbrées.]$ $=daily stamp item.= * a. $ $vol. , . january to june , .$ = $st. louis, mo. c. h. mekeel stamp & publishing co. , v. portraits. f^o.$ $=daniels=, j. h. . $ $a history of british postmarks, together with a list of numbers used in obliterations in great britain and certain colonial possessions. london: gill. ( ), pp. illus. sm^o.$ $=deutsche briefmarken-zeitung= a. $ $(periodical) iii.-v. ( vols.)$ =dexter,= george. . catalogue of postage stamps, american and foreign, and u. s. revenue stamps. (anon.) cambridge: sever and francis. two copies. , pp. ^o. $=deutsche illustrirte briefmarken-zeitung.= * . $ $[monatlich.], vol. , , leipzig: , pp., illus., ^o. on the completion of this volume the publication was merged in illustrirtes briefmarken-journal.$ $=diena, e.= . $ $i francobolli del ducato modena e della provincie modenesi, ^o.$ $=diena=, emilio. . $ $les timbres-postes des romagnes. suivi d'une étude sur leurs réimpressions par j.-b. moens.$ $= bruxelles. moens, , pp. illus. ^o.$ $=dominion philatelist=, . $ $(periodical) ii.-iv. ( vols.)$ $=durbin= and hanes. . $ $descriptive catalogue of the postage stamps and stamped envelopes of all nations. th edition.$ $= philadelphia: chambers printing house, , pp. portrait, plates. ^o.$ $=earee=, robert brisco. * . $ $album weeds; or, how to detect forged stamps. d edition, enlarged.$ $= london: gibbons [ ] xii., pp. illus. ^o.$ $=eastern philatelist=, the. * . $ $a monthly magazine in the interests of philately. vol. to date.$ $= newmarket, n. h. pinkham, to date. v. ^o & ^o. the title is on the cover.$ $=evans=, edward benjamin. * . $ $a description of the mulready envelope ... with an account of other illustrated envelopes of and following years.$ $london: gibbons, , , pp. illus. ^o.$ $=evans=, edward benjamin. * a. $ $the philatelic catalogue of postal stamps, envelopes, wrappers and cards, - . st. louis: mekeel, , ( ,) , ( ) pp., illus., portr., ^o.$ $=evans=, edward benjamin. . $ $stamps and stamp collecting. a glossary of philatelic terms and guide to the identification of the postage stamps of all nations. d edition.$ $london: stanley gibbons, , pp. illus. pls. ^o.$ $=ewen=, henry l'estrange. a. $ $standard priced catalogue of the stamps and postmarks of the united kingdom. no. , .$ $bournemouth: pardy, . v. illus. sm. ^o.$ $=fabri=, pio. . $ $timbres des etats de l'eglise.$ $bruxelles, moens, , ( ), , ( ) pp. illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $same. [in moens, jean baptiste. timbres des etats de toscana et saint marin. pp. - . bruxelles, .]$ =fellows=, eleanor c. * . truth _v._ fiction, _re_ the chalmers' claim. by the postal reformer's "home" secretary for years. london: r. forder, , pp. ^o. [on the claim of patrick chalmers that his father, james chalmers, was the inventor of the adhesive postage stamp. signed, eleanor c. fellows.] $=filatelic facts and fallacies.= * . $ $a monthly magazine for stamp collectors and dealers. [edited by s. louis.] vols. - . october, -september, .$ $= san francisco: sellschop & co., - . v. ^o.$ =firth=, oliver. * . postage stamps and their collection: a practical guide to philately for all collectors. -- london: gill, , ( ), pp. illus. sm. ^o. $=fiscal philatelist=, the, * . $ $and revenue stamp guide. a monthly journal, devoted to fiscal collectors. vol. . edited by fred geo. c. lundy, - .$ $london: morley & lundy ( ). illus. sm. ^o.$ $=friederich=, rudolf. * a. $ $die postwertzeichen spaniens und seiner kolonien.$ $= berlin: brendicke, , v. in . illus. plates. ^o. contents.-- . die postwertzeichen spaniens. . auflage. . die postwertzeichen der spanischen kolonien. benutzte bücher und zeitschriften, pp. xiii, xiv.$ $=fulcher=, lionel william. * . $ $catalogue of the revenue stamps of spain and colonies, including the american occupation and revolutionary issues.$ $= london: morley, , ( ), pp. illus. ^o.$ $=gelli, g.=, and r. tani, publishers. . $ $catalogue illustré de timbres-poste et télégraphe, e édition$ $= bruxelles [ ] ( ), , pp. illus. ^o.$ $bears date on the cover.$ =girsewald=, conway, freiherr von. a. the stamps of switzerland--translated from the german. st. louis: mekeel, , pp. illus. ^o. $=glasewald=, a. e. a. $ $die postwerthzeichen von griechenland. nach den neuesten forschungen bearbeitet.$ $gössnitz s.-a. glasewald, , pp. illus. pl ^o.$ $=gray=, john edward. . $ $the illustrated catalogue of postage stamps, th ed.$ $london: e. marlborough & co., , xvi., pp.$ $sm. ^o. same, do., do., th ed.$ same--revised by overy taylor, th ed. * . london: e. marlborough & co., , xv. ( ), pp. sm. ^o. $=gray=, john edward. . $ $a hand catalogue of postage stamps, d edition.$ $london: r. hardwicke, , xiv., pp. ^o.$ $=gremmel=, henry. * a. $ $henry gremmel's stamp catalogue of the western hemisphere, giving a full description ... of all the postage stamps, ... together with the present market value of every stamp.$ $= new york [ -.] pp. illus. ^o.$ $=handford=, j. t. . $ $the illustrated postage stamp catalogue of united states and foreign postage stamps, stamped envelopes, postal and money order cards.... [ th edition.]$ $new york: seebeck, , ( ), , ( ) pp. plates. ^o.$ =hardy=, william john, and e. d. bacon. . the stamp collector. a treatise on the issue and collecting of the postage stamps of all nations. with fac-similes. london: redway, , pp. pls. fac-similes. ^o. =harrison=, gilbert, . and francis john hamilton scott napier. portuguese india [handbook of its postal issues] with notes and publisher's prices. -- london: , pp., plates [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks] ^o. $=harrison=, gilbert. * a. $ $the nesbitt stamped envelopes and wrappers of the united states of america, with descriptions of the varieties of the dies.... edited and completed by e. d. bacon.$ $london: smith, , pp. plates. ^o.$ $published as a supplement to the london philatelist.$ =herrick=, william. * . catalogue of the russian rural stamps. -- new york: scott stamp & coin co., , pp. illus. l. ^o. =horner=, w. e. v. * . history and catalogue of the stamped envelopes of the united states. philadelphia: l. w. durbin, , pp. illus. sm. ^o. $=horner=, w. e. v. * . $ $the stamped envelopes of the united states, d edition.$ $revised and continued by e. b. hanes.$ $phila.: durbin and hanes, , pp. illus.$ $[an earlier edition entitled, history and catalogue of the stamped envelopes of the united states is on shelf-number * . .]$ $=howes=, c. a. * . $ $photographs of a collection of formosan stamps, the property of j. n. luff.$ $n. p. , photos. size, - / x - / inches. mounted.$ $=illustriertes briefmarken journal= . $ $(periodical) vol. xxii.$ $=illustriertes briefmarken-journal=. * a. $ $zeitschrift für postwertzeichen-kunde. jahrgang .$ $= leipzig: senf. [ .] v. illus. ^o.$ =international collector.= * . published monthly by the collector publishing company. vol. - . san francisco, - . v. in . sm. ^o. relates to postage stamps, coins, etc. the official organ of the philatelic society of america. $=internationaler philatelisten-verein=, * . $ $dresden.$ $vertrauliche mitteilung, no. , januar, .$ $dresden, hesse and becker ( ). ^o.$ =jioubukuro.= * . [envelopes ornamented in colors.] samples. l. ^o. $=kalckhoff=, f. a. $ $die postkarten der deutschen schutzgebiete und der deutschen postanstalten im auslande.$ $leipzig: [naumann] , pp. ^o.$ $berichtigter und ergänzter sonderabdruck aus der deutschen briefmarken-zeitung.$ =kenyon=, brewster c. . history of the postal issues of hawaii. a list of the adhesive postage stamps, stamped envelopes and postal cards of the hawaiian government. = n. p., , pp. portr. ^o. $=koefoed=, o. * . $ $danske postfrimærker, - . en historisk afhandling udarbejdet paa grundlag af originale aktstykker.$ $kobenhavn, jacobsen: , , ( ) pp., illus., portrs, pls. ^o. [some of the plates are colored.]$ $=kohl=, paul. * a. $ $freimarken-katalog, .$ $= chemnitz: , x, pp., illus. ^o.$ $=kropf=, h. a. $ $die postwertzeichen der oster.-ungar. monarchie. prag: , pp., ^o.$ $=koprovski=, samuel . $ $les timbres-poste ruraux de russie. nomenclature générale de tous les timbres connus jusqu'à ce jour, avec leurs prix de vente. précédé d'une introduction sur l'histoire des postes rurales, avec notes géographiques et historiques.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , xxii, - pp, illus., ^o.$ $=kroetzsch=, hugo. a. $ $illustrierter ausführlicher katalog über deutsche postfreimarken.... leipzig: krötzsch, , x., pp., illus., ^o.$ $=kroetzsch=, hugo. * . . $ $die postfreimarken der grossherzogthümer mecklenburg-schwerin und mecklenburg-strelitz. [leipzig, .] viii, , pp. plates. [permanentes handbuch der postfreimarkenkunde. theil , abschnitt .] ^o.$ $=kroetzsch=, hugo. * . . $ $die postfreimarken des nordeutschen postbezirks. [leipzig, .] ix., ( ), pp. plates. [permanentes handbuch der postfreimarkenkunde. theil , abschnitt .] ^o.$ =longcope=, e. m. a things taxable. stamp taxes under schedule a. arranged and compiled alphabetically.... [ d ed., enlarged.] houston: , pp. ^o. $=le grand=, a. . $ $les écritures et la légende des timbres du japon. bruxelles: moens, , pp, illus. [bibliothéque timbrolozique, .] ^o. [extrait du bulletin de la société francaise de timbrologie.]$ =le grand=, a. . le grand's manual for stamp collectors. a companion to the stamp album. from the french. trans., adapted and annotated by henri pène du bois. international ed. -- n. y.: hurst [ ] pp, ^o. two copies. $=lindenberg=, c. a. $ $die briefmarken von baden unter benutzung amtlicher quellen bearbeitet. berlin: brendicke, , vi., ( ), pp. ^o.$ $=lindenberg=, carl. * . $ $die briefumschläge der deutschen staaten, unter benutzung amtlicher quellen. heft - .$ $= berlin: brendicke, - , v. and unbound parts, illus, ^o. contents--_band _: heft , braunschweig , mecklenburg-schwerin und mecklenburg-strelitz , lübeck , thurn und taxis , norddeutscher postbezirk. _band _: heft , oldenburg , baden , hamburg und bremen , sachsen , hannover. _band _: heft , bayern , württemberg.$ $=lockyer=, gilbert e. . $ colonial stamps: also those of great britain. with geographical and other notes. = london: stanley gibbons & co. [ ] vii. ( ), pp., illus., sm. ^o. $=london philatelist=, * a. $ $the monthly journal of the philatelic society, london. editor, m. p. castle. vol. - , - , - , - .$ $= london: - , v. illus., plates, l. ^o.$ $=luff=, john n. * a. $ $the postage stamps of the united states.$ $= new york: the scott stamp & coin co., , ( ), pp., illus. ^o.$ =luff=, john n. . what philately teaches. -- new york: scott stamp & coin co., , pp., illus. ^o. =lundy=, frederick george c. . history of the revenue stamps of mexico. st. louis: mekeel, , pp., illus. map, ^o. $=lundy=, frederick george c., compiler. * . $ $handbook of the revenue stamps of germany and switzerland. glasgow, , pp ^o.$ $=lundy=, frederick george c., compiler. * . $ $hand-book of the revenue stamps of great britain and ireland. in commemoration of the bi-centenary of the first stamp duty act, th june, . london: morley, , pp., sm. ^o.$ =maclean=, [mclean], william seward. . mclean's stamp collector's guide, containing articles on leading subjects; also lists of philatelic societies, and of periodicals devoted to the science; also a directory of over two thousand united states and canadian collectors, . boston: w. s. mclean [ ] pp. ^o. $=martindale=, isaac c. * a. $ $catalogue of [his] valuable collection of postage stamps to be sold ... october th and ... th, . [and] list of prices realized at the sale.$ $= [philadelphia, ] ( ), , pp, ^o.$ =mason's monthly= * . coin and stamp collectors' magazine. vol. - , - . phila.: mason & co. [ - ] v. in , illus. ^o. $=masson=, david parkes. . $ $the stamps of jammu and kashmir.$ $= calcutta [& lahore] , , v., illus., plates. [philatelic society of india. publications, vol. , ] ^o.$ =mekeel=, charles haviland. . the history of the postage stamps of the st. louis postmaster, - . o saint louis, , pp., illus., portr., fac-similes ^o. from the philatelic journal of america [* a. . ]. =mekeel=, charles haviland. . descriptive priced catalogue of american postage stamps, including also a priced list of mexican revenue stamps, d edition. = st. louis: c. h. mekeel stamp and publishing co., , pp. l. ^o. =mekeel=, c. h. * . mekeel's complete standard catalogue of the postage stamps of the world, , . st. louis: - , v. ^o and ^o. =mekeel=, charles haviland. a. mekeel's stamp collector's maps of the world. from original designs. st. louis, , mekeel, ( ) pp. ^o. =mekeel=, charles haviland. a. a stamp collector's souvenir. st. louis, , pp. illus. portrs. ^o. =mekeel= (c. h.) stamp and publishing co. . mexico. [a description of mexican postage stamps, envelopes, etc.] -- st. louis [ ?] pp. illus., ^o. $=mekeel's weekly stamp news.= * . $ $edited by i. a. mekeel [and others]. vol. - . st. louis, - , v. and unbound parts, illus., portraits, map, f^o. two copies of vol. - , , . the incomplete set is kept in the children's room. vols. - were edited by i. a. mekeel; and by c. e. severn and s. b. hopkins; , by c. e. severn alone. nos. and of vol. are wanting in the regular set, and nos. - of vol. in the "a" copy.$ $=metropolitan philatelist=, the. * a. $ $[monthly.] vol. - , april, -sept. .$ $--new york, scott [etc.] - , v, in , illus., sq. ^o.$ =millington=, h. mackwood. . an exhaustive catalogue of the adhesive postage stamps of the british empire, up to january, . with a short descriptive article on each colony. = london, gibbons, , xi., ( ), pp. illus., sm. ^o. $=mirabaud=, paul, and a. de reuterskiöld. * a. $ $the postage stamps of switzerland, - .$ $= paris, motteroz, , ( ), xi, ( ), , ( ) pp., illus., plates, f^o. bibliography, pp. - .$ =mitchell=, william h., d.d.s. no. in . the standard reference list of the private local postage stamps of the united states, including those used in canada, hawaiian kingdom and mexico. = trenton: sterling, , xlii. pp. ^o. $=moens=, jean baptiste. * a. $ $catalogue prix-courant de timbres-poste, télégraphes, enveloppes at bandes, cartes, etc., etc. = bruxelles, moens, , , v., plates, l. ^o. contents-- . timbres-poste et télégraphes; . enveloppes, bandes, cartes and mandats; . atlas.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. * . $ $héligoland et ses timbres.$ $= bruxelles: bureau du journal le timbre-poste, , ( ) pp., illus., ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. * . $ $histoire des timbres-poste et de toutes les marques d'affranchissement employées en espagne, suivie de l'histoire des timbres fiscaux mobiles, depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours, - .$ $= bruxelles: bureau du journal le timbre-poste, , pp., illus., l. ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $timbres d'egypte et de la compagnie du canal de suez.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. * . $ $les timbres de belgique depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours. bruxelles: moens, , v. in , illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $timbres de l'office tour et taxis, depuis leur origine jusqu'à leur suppression ( - ). bruxelles, moens, , pp., illus., coat of arms. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. * . $ $timbres de la république argentine et de ses diverses provinces.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , v. in , fac-similes, ^o. copies printed.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres de maurice depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours, e édition, augmentée.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles,] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres de mecklenbourg-schwérin et strélitz. bruxelles: moens, , pp. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres de prusse.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres de russie. nomenclature générale de tous les timbres-poste, timbres locaux, ruraux timbres-téelégraphe, enveloppes, bandes, cartes & cartes-lettres.$ $= bruxelles: moens, ( ), pp., plates, ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres de saxe depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $timbres des duchés de schleswig, holstein & lauenbourg et de la ville de bergedorf.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus., plates. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $les timbres du wurtemberg ( - ).$ $= bruxelles: moens, , v. in , illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=moens=, jean baptiste. . $ $timbres des états de toscane et saint-marin par j. b. moens, et des etats de l'eglise par pio fabri. e édition augmentée.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , ( ), pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=mongeri=, f. . $ $croissant-toughra (armoiries de l'empire ottoman.) bruxelles: moens, , pp., illus., ^o. [especially in regard to this device on postage stamps.]$ $=morley=, walter. * . $ $walter morley's catalogue and price list of the revenue stamps of the british colonies, nov., . london: ( ) ^o.$ $=morley=, walter. * . $ $walter morley's catalogue and price list of the stamps of great britain, d edition, . [london], [ ] viii., pp., sm. ^o.$ $=morley=, walter. * . $ $walter morley's complete catalogue and price list of british railway letter fee stamps, sept., . london: [ ] v. sm. ^o$. $=morley=, walter, compiler. . $ $catalogue of the telegraph stamps of the world, feb., . london: ( ), ( ), pp., plates, sm. ^o.$ $=morley's philatelic journal=. * . $ $a monthly paper for collectors of postage, revenue, telegraph and railway stamps. edited by a. preston pearce. vol. - , , .$ $= catford: morley, - , v., illus., ^o.$ $=nankivell=, edward j. . $ $stamp collecting as a pastime. london: gibbons, , pp., illus. [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks.] ^o.$ =napier=, francis john hamilton scott, and e. d. bacon. . saint vincent. [handbook of its postal issues.] with notes and publishers' prices. -- london: , pp., plates [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks] ^o. =napier=, francis john hamilton scott, and gordon smith. . south australia [handbook of its postal issues] with notes and publishers' prices. -- london, , ( ), pp., plates [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks.] ^o. =nast=, f. a. . a tentative price list of entire u. s. envelopes, arranged according to j. w. scott's system, with the corresponding numbers, according to prof. horner. n. y.: the j. w. scott co. [ -.] pp., ^o. $=nast=, f. a. . $ $a tentative price list of entire u. s. envelopes, arranged according to j. w. scott's system, with the corresponding numbers, according to prof. horner. new york: the j. w. scott co. [ ?] pp., illus., ^o. the title on the cover is j. w. scott's catalogue....$ =ogilvie=, w. t. . handbook for the collector of postage stamps, illus. london: sonnenschein, , pp. [the young collector] sm. ^o. $=parker=, e. y., publisher. a. $ $the pocket standard catalogue of the revenue stamps of canada. toronto: , pp., ^o.$ =pemberton=, edward l. . the stamp collector's handbook, d ed. london: stanley gibbons & co., , x. ( ), pp., illus., sm. ^o. $=perlep=, a. . $ $katalog der stempelmarken aller staaten. kreuz a ostbahn: moersig [ ] vii., pp., plate [philatelistische bibliothek, band ], ^o.$ $=permanentes handbuch= der postfreimarkenkunde mit lichtdrucktafeln ... gleichzeitig beibuch zum permanente-sammelwerk in losen blätter von hugo krötzsch. [auch vierteljahrs nachträge.]$ $= leipzig: krötzsch, - , v. in , illus., plates, maps, ^o.$ $theil . deutsche staaten. abschnitt - , * . $ $theil . abschnitt . . auflage * . $ $theil .$ $theil . russland * . $ $vierteljahrs nachträge. * . $ $=permanentes handbuch der= * . $ $postfreimarkenkunde. vierteljahrs-nachträge zum permanenten handbuch der postfreimarkenkunde und dem permanent-sammelwerk in losen blättern von hugo krötzsch. jahrgang - , - .$ $= leipzig: krötzsch, , iv., pp., illus. plates, ^o.$ $the permanentes handbuch, theil , is on shelf-number * . ; theil , * . .$ $=philatelic californian=, the. * . $ $vol, , , october, -december, .$ $= san francisco: california philatelic press club, - , v., illus., ^o. a monthly publication.$ $=philatelic era=, the * . $ $a semi-monthly magazine devoted to stamp collecting. w. w. jewett, editor and publisher. vol. - , september, -august, .$ $= portland, me., - , v., illus., ^o. this magazine appeared monthly previous to september, . the philatelic literary review was published as a supplement to vol. of the philatelic era, from september, , to august, .$ =philatelic journal=, the, of america. * a. an illustrated monthly magazine in the interest of stamp collecting. edited by charles haviland mekeel. vol. - . philatelic publishing co., st. louis, - , v., ^o. =philatelic journal=, the, of america. * a. special ed., vol. , no. , feb., . ed. by chas. haviland mekeel. -- st. louis: philatelic pub. co., , pp., illus., portrs., ^o. $=philatelic journal= * . $ $of great britain, and philatelic review of reviews: official organ of the international philatelic union. ed. by percy c. bishop, vol. - . london: - , v., illus., portrs., ^o.$ $=philatelic journal=, the, of india. * a. $ $the monthly journal of the philatelic society of india. editor, c. stewart-wilson, vol. - , jan. -dec., .$ $= calcutta: thacker, spink & co., - , v., illus., plates, folded tables, l. ^o.$ $=philatelic monthly and world=, vol. - . * a. $ $= philadelphia, - , v., illus., ^o.$ $=philatelic record=, the. * . $ $vol. - , - , february, -december, .$ $= london: pemberton, wilson & co., - , v. in , illus., portraits, ^o. the portraits are photographs.$ $=philatelic record and stamp news=. * . $ $edited by edward j. nankivell. vol. - , - .$ $= london: buhl & co. [ - ]. v., illus., portraits, plates, ^o.$ $=philatelic society=, london. * . $ $the postage stamps, envelopes and post cards of australia and the british colonies of oceanica.$ $= london, , ( ), , ( ) pp., plates, l. ^o.$ $=philatelic society=, london. * a. $ $the postage stamps, envelopes, wrappers, post cards, and telegraph stamps of the british colonies, possessions and protectorates in africa, parts - . london: , , v., illus. pls., l. ^o.$ $=philatelic society=, london. * a. $ $the postage stamps, envelopes, wrappers, post cards and telegraph stamps of british india and ceylon. [with a supplement, by j. a. tilleard, entitled, "notes on the de la rue series of the adhesive postage and telegraph stamps of india."] london: , ( ) lvii., pp. pls., l. ^o.$ $=philatelic society=, london. * a. $ $the postage stamps, envelopes, wrappers, and post cards of the north american colonies of great britain.$ $= london, , pp., plates, l. ^o.$ =philatelic world=, the; vol. . n. y.: , ^o. * . $=philatelist, der= a. $ $(periodical) dresden: v.-xi. ( vols.)$ $=post office=, the. * a. $ $a monthly journal for stamp collectors. vol. - , - .$ $= new york [ - ] v. in , illus., portraits, ^o. edited by alvah davison, - , henry gremmel, - , crawford capen, - - - .$ $=postage stamps.= catalogues. * . $ $[priced catalogues of auction sales of postage stamps. march , -may , .]$ $= [chicago, etc., , ] pamphlets in v., plate, ^o.$ $=postwertzeichen-kunde= a. $ $(periodical) - .$ =rebellion envelopes.= * . [a collection of envelopes bearing patriotic pictures, issued during the civil war.] mounted in scrap books, v., f^o. [a few of these were issued in the confederate states.] same. *" th" . [four envelopes and pictures cut from envelopes] ^o. $=reinheimer=, a. . $ $illustrierter preiskatalog der deutschen postalischen entwertungsarten. dresden: internationaler philatelisten-verein, ( ), pp., illus., ^o.$ =revista filatelica=, la. * . publicación mensual. eduardo f. cottilla [y i. a. mekeel], editor [es] vol. , . st. louis: mekeel stamp and pub co., - , v. ^o. $=revue philatelique=, a. $ $(periodical) iv.-vi. ( vols.)$ =ribeiro=, joao pedro. **d. . dissertacoes chronologicas e criticas sobre a historia e jurisprudencia ecclesiastica e civil de portugal, publicadas por ordem da academia r. das sciencias de lisboa. lisboa: na typografia da mesma academia, - , v., sm. ^o. [contenta ... vol. iii., parte , sobra o uso do papel sellado nos documentos publicos de portugal.] =robert=, victor. * . catalogue illustré de tous les timbres-poste émis depuis jusqu'à ... et leur prix de vente, e éd. paris: robert [ ] , pp., illus., ^o. $=robie=, lewis, . $ $stamp hunting. chicago: donohue, henneberry & co., , pp. [the modern authors' library, no. ] ^o. this is a chatty account of a travelling drug salesman, who made a specialty of collecting revenue stamps.$ $=roggenstroh=, hermann. a. $ $die postwerthzeichen von rumänien. moldau, moldau-walachei, fürstenthum rumänien, königreich rumänien ... magdeburg [ ?] pp., plates. [verein für briefmarkenkunde.] f^o.$ $=rommel=, otto. a. $ $die postwertzeichen des bergedorfer postbezirkes.$ $= münchen: larisch, ( ), pp., illus., ^o. literatur, pp. ( , ).$ $=rothschild=, arthur de, baron. . $ $histoire de la poste aux lettres depuis ses origines les plus anciennes jusqu'à nos jours. paris: librairie nouvelle, , ( ), pp., ^o. a later edition is entitled, histoire de la poste aux lettres et du timbre-poste [ . ]$ $=rothschild=, arthur de, baron. . $ $histoire de la poste aux lettres et du timbre-poste depuis leurs origines jusqu'à nos jours. e édition.$ $= bruxelles: moens, , v., ^o. an earlier edition is entitled histoire de la poste aux lettres [ . ].$ =salefranque=, léon. . le timbre à travers l'histoire, avec dessins et fac-similés. rouen: imp. e. deshays et cie, , pp., ^o. $=schueller=, friedrich. . $ $die persische post und die postwerthzeichen von persien und buchara. döbling: im. selbstverlage des verfassers [ ] ( ) pp., plates, l. ^o.$ $=scott stamp and coin co.=, . $ $[catalogue] , [n. y., ,] illus. ^o.$ $=scott stamp and coin co.=, . $ $the standard postage stamp catalogue, th- st ed., - . n. y.: [ ]- . [several copies of recent editions.]$ $=scott=, j. walter. a. $ $standard stamp catalogue, th thousand.$ $= new york: the j. w. scott co. [ -] ( ), pp., illus., ^o.$ $=scott=, j. w. a. $ $standard stamp catalogue ... new york: the j. w. scott co. [ ] ( ), pp., illus., ^o.$ =seltz=, c. m. . the postage stamp collector's hand-book. a descriptive catalogue of all postage stamps issued from to the present time. boston: c. m. seltz, ( ), pp., ^o. $=senf=, richard, . $ $handbuch sämtlicher postmarken, briefumschläge und streifbänder. [ . auflage nebst einem nachtrag.]$ $= leipzig: senf [ , ] xvi., , pp [dr. moschkau's handbuch für postwertzeichen-sammler; band ] ^o.$ $=senf=, gebrueder. * a. $ $gebrüder senfs illustrierter postwertzeichen-katalog, .$ $= leipzig: , v., illus., ^o.$ =stamp-collector's magazine=, the, * . illus., vol. - . london: e. marlborough & co., - , v., sm. ^o $=stamp news annual=, a. $ $ - . ( nos. in vol. all that were published.)$ $=stamp news=, the. * a. $ $a monthly illustrated journal for stamp collectors and dealers, vol. , , ; , , .$ $= london: buhl & co., - , v., illus., portraits, ^o.$ $=stanley gibbons= & co. * . $ $descriptive catalogue and price list of british, colonial and foreign postage stamps, post cards, etc. london: , , pp., illus., sm. ^o.$ $=stanley gibbons=, limited, publishers. . $ $priced catalogue of stamps ( ), th edition, parts - .$ $--london: [ ] v. illus., /sm. ^o. contents-- . british empire; . foreign countries; . local postage stamps; . envelopes, post cards, etc. (two copies of pt. .)$ same. . $( - ) part , , th edition [ ] v.$ $same. .$ $=stanley gibbons monthly journal=. * a. $ $[a philatelic periodical] edited by edward b. evans, vol. - , july, -june, ; july, ; june, .$ $= london, - , v., illus. plates, l. ^o.$ $=sterling=, e. b., compiler. no. in . $ $sterling's standard descriptive and price catalogue of the adhesive postage and stamped envelopes of the united states, th edition.... also, the standard reference list of the private local postage stamps, by w. h. mitchell.$ $= trenton, n. j., , , xlii. pp., portrait, ^o.$ $=sterling=, e. b., compiler. . $ $sterling's standard descriptive and price catalogue of the revenue stamps of the united states, th edition. trenton, , pp., ^o.$ $=sternheim, carl= a. $ $catalogue deutsche privatpost-marken.$ $=sternheim=, carl. a. $ $katalog der deutschen privatpost-marken. schöneberg-berlin: im. verlage des verfassers [ ] vii. pp. ^o.$ $=suppantschitsch=, victor, * . $ $bibliographic, zugleich nachschlagebuch, der gisammten deutschen philatelistischen literatur seit ihrem entstehen bio ende, , nebst einem alriss der geschichte der philatelie mit besonderer berücksichtigung deutschland's und einerkurzen geschichte der philatelistischen literatur. münchen: larisch, - , ( ) pp., ^o.$ $=suppantschitsch=, victor. * . $ $die entstehung und entwicklung der philatelischen literatur in der zweiten hälfte des xix. jahrhunderts. wien: im. selbstverlage des verfassers, , pp. ^o.$ $=suppantschitsch=, victor. a. $ $grundzüge der briefmarkenkunde und des briefmarkensammelns.$ $= leipzig: weber, , vi., pp., portrait, illus. [webers illustrierte katechismen.] ^o.$ =thornhill=, w. b. . shanghai [handbook of its postal issues] with notes and publishers' prices. -- london: , pp., plates [the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks] ^o. =tiffany=, john kerr. * . a reference list of publications relating to postage stamps and their collection. compiled by request for the boston public library. [st. louis] , ( ), pp., mss. ^o. =tiffany=, john kerr. . history of the postage stamps of the united states of america. st. louis: c. h. mekeel, , pp. portr. ^o. =tiffany=, john kerr. * . the philatelic library. a catalogue of stamp publications. st. louis: privately printed. [cambridge: press of john wilson & son] , vi, +pp, ^o . p. [note-- copies printed, no. .] =tiffany=, john kerr. a. a st. louis symposium [of philatelists] st. louis: mekeel, [ ] pp., illus. ^o. [from the philatelic journal of america (* a . )] $=tiffany=, john kerr. * . $ $les timbres des etats-unis d'amérique depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours.$ $= bruxelles, moens, , v. in i., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o. contents-- . les timbres-poste. . timbres de journaux, officiels, taxe, administratifs et essais. . cartes postales et leurs essais; de la fabrication des timbres-poste.$ =tiffany=, john kerr, and others. * . the stamped envelopes, wrappers and sheets of the united states by john k. tiffany, r. r. bogert and joseph rechert, a committee of the national philatelic society. new york: scott stamp and coin co., , ( ), , ( ) pp. pls. l. ^o. $=tilleard=, john alexander. * a. $ $notes on the de la rue series of the adhesive postage and telegraph stamps of india. london: , pp., l. ^o. ["a supplement to the postage stamps, etc., of british india and ceylon, published by the philatelic society, london," with which it is bound.]$ $=timbre-poste.= * . $ $le, et le timbre fiscal. journal du collectionneur. paraissant le ier de chaque mois. [edité par j. b. moens.] année , - , - ; , - , - .$ $= bruxelles, moens, - , v., illus., ^o. le timbre fiscal appeared separately from - , and quarterly during . from to it was published as a supplement to le timbre-poste, with which it was incorporated in . le timbre-poste was discontinued with the issue of december, .$ =trifet=, ferdinand. [asterism] . descriptive price catalogue of postage stamps of all nations. appended a complete list of the russian rural-posts stamps th edition, illus. with engrs. boston: , pp., ^o. =trifet=, ferdinand. . descriptive price catalogue of the postage stamps of all nations, [with supplement] th ed., revised and corrected. boston: , , + pp., ^o. =united states= internal revenue office. * . -- law and regulations concerning documentary and proprietary stamps under the act of june , . august , . washington: , pp., ^o. =united states= post office department. * . a report of the third assistant postmaster general for - . - , washington, , , v., ^o (this report deals chiefly with the registration, stamp and classification of mail matter divisions.) earlier reports may be found in the annual reports of the post office department [* . ., , - ]. $=walker=, l. h. j., and jean baptiste moens. . $ $les timbres de natal.$ $= bruxelles, moens, , ( ), pp., illus. [bibliothèque des timbrophiles.] ^o.$ $=weekly philatelic era.= * a. $ $published every saturday in the interests of stamp collectors, vol. - , september , --september , .$ $= portland, me., jewett, - , v. in . f^o.$ $=western philatelist=, the. * . $ $vol. , (no. - ), january, --may, .$ $= chicago: western philatelic publishing co., - , v. in , illus, portraits, plate, ^o. no more was published.$ =westoby=, william amos scarborough. . the adhesive postage stamps of europe: a practical guide to their collection, identification and classification, vol . -- london, gill, , vi, ( ), pp., illus., sm ^o. =westoby=, william amos scarborough. . penny postage jubilee. a descriptive catalogue of all the postage stamps of the united kingdom of great britain and ireland issued during fifty years. london: low, marston, searle and rivington , xi, ( ), , ( ) pp. illus. ^o. same, new edition, with addenda, , xi, ( ), pp * . $=wilson=, charles stewart. . $ $british indian adhesive stamps surcharged for native states, part , .$ = calcutta, chakravarti, , , v., plates. [philatelic society of india, publications, vol. , ] ^o. contents-- . chamba, faridkot, gwalior. . jhind, nabha, patiala. the title is on the cover. $=wolsieffer=, p. m. * . $ $wolsieffer's auction sale[s] of rare stamps, january , -july , . held at the great northern hotel. [priced catalogues].$ --chicago: - . parts in v., plates, ^o. $=wright=, hastings elwin * a. $ $and anthony buck creeke, jr., compilers. a history of the adhesive stamps of the british isles available for postal and telegraph purposes, with an introduction by gordon smith. london philatelic society, , xxvi, pp., fac-similes, pls diagrams, l. ^o.$ $=yvert= and tellier a. $ $catalogue prix-courant de timbres-poste, e édition. amiens, , xxxi, ( ), pp., illus. ^o.$ =zschiesche=, alwin. a. $katalog über alle seit bis jan. ausgegeben briefmarken. leipz. zschiesche, , iv, pp, ^o.$ * * * * * boston philatelic society. organized march , . m. h. lombard, president. c. a. howes, secretary. l. l. green, treasurer. extract from the constitution: article i. section . this society is constituted to encourage and promote: ( ). the study of postage, telegraph and fiscal stamps, stamped envelopes, newspaper and other bands, and postal cards, their history, engraving, printing and other details. ( ). the detection and prevention of forgeries and frauds. ( ). the preparation and publication of papers and books bearing upon these subjects, and the undertaking of all such matters as may incidentally promote the above objects and contribute to the increase of the science and practice of philately. * * * * * _meeting, third tuesday of each month at elks' hall, hayward place, boston., p. m._ _visitors cordially welcomed._ list of members. * indicates charter member. * . gilmore, geo. l. lexington, mass. * . sprague, f. w., d. tremont st., room , boston. * . woodward, h. e. dunreath st., roxbury, mass. * . sircom, s. r. washington st., boston. * . humphrey, h. d. dedham, mass. * . van derlip, w. c. berwick park, boston. * . batchelder, a. w. salem, mass. . coburn, w. e. everett, mass. . woodward, c. e. dunreath st., roxbury, mass. . holton, e. a. summer st., boston. . king, h. f. p. o. box , boston. . robinson, w. e. appleton st., malden, mass. . richardson, f. p. salem, mass. . mason, e. h. kilby st., boston. . green, l. l. tremont st., boston. . harris, howard p. northey st., salem, mass. . quinby, h. c. wall st., new york city. . thayer, oliver, d. salem, mass. . corbett, h. washington st., boston. . brown, f. p. washington st., boston. . abbott, dr. chas. e. andover, mass. . mott, luther w. oswego, n. y. . deats, h. e. flemington, n. j. . phelps, e. s. west canton st., boston. . banks, wm., jr. state st., boston. . johnson, j. f. lexington st., auburndale, mass. . sturgis, elliot t. milk st., boston. . lebon, chas. p. waumbeck st., roxbury, mass. . olney, hon. frank f. providence, r. i. . cutter, chas. w. harvard st., brookline, mass. . dodge, frank f. high st., boston. . jewett, wm. w. congress st., portland, me. . pitman, fred h. dartmouth st., somerville, mass. . smith, fred s. south st., boston. . davis, a. d. palisade ave., yonkers, n. y. . burt, frank h. room , tremont bldg., boston. . ayer, f. w. bangor, me. . drew, b. l. oxford st., cambridge b., mass. . holland, alexander grace court, brooklyn, n. y. . linton, chas. e. franklin st., cambridge a., mass. . nolen, wm. w. manter hall, cambridge, mass. . nute, henry o. blue hill ave., dorchester, mass. . wolcott, chas. w. dedham, mass. . toppan, geo. l. main st., racine, wis. . pierce, wm. t. watertown, mass. . newell, warren dudley st., roxbury, mass. . macy, arthur h. dudley st., roxbury, mass. . andreini, j. m. west th st., new york city. . patten, frank w. box , west lynn sta., mass. . althen, edw. c. n. state st., elgin, ill. . frost, walter l. hancock st., boston. . peters, geo. e. west newton, mass. . smith, franklin e. fairmont ave., newton, mass. . rice, h. j. c/o blodgett, merritt & co., congress st., boston. . lyons, j. h. bromfield st., boston. . howes, clifton a. broadway, cambridge a., mass. . carpenter, ernest m. bromfield st., boston. . luff, john n. east d st., new york city. . lombard, benjamin, jr. beacon st., brookline, mass. . clark, david o. hingham, mass. . stevens, edwin a. magnolia st., boston. . barker, w. s., jr. medford, mass. . kidder, henry a. arlington, mass. . rockwell, j. w. medford, mass. . bogert, r. r. nassau st., new york city. . capron, j. f. bromfield st., boston. . wolsieffer, p. m. atwood bldg., chicago, ill. . rothfuchs, c. f. munroe st., roxbury, mass. . dutcher, frank j. hopedale, mass. . wylie, willard o. beverly, mass. . tent, frank oxford road, newton centre, mass. . lombard, m. h. lagrange st., winchester, mass. . dunning, a. w. newton, mass. . flagg, geo. a. fairmount ave., malden, mass. . tuttle, geo. r. nassau st., new york city. . drake, c. s. b warren st., roxbury, mass. . ireland, gordon holyoke house , cambridge, mass. . brown, walter l. pleasant st., worcester, mass. . cone, john j., jr. russell park st., new dorchester, mass. . mears, henry a. gray st., cambridge, mass. . loring, robert b. south market st., boston. . wayne, a. a. glendale st., dorchester, mass. . smith, h. dudley st., medford, mass. . burns, r. f. union st., boston. . marshall, w. h. washington st., cambridge a, mass. . dodge, frank a. franklin st., cambridge a, mass. . colson, warren h. crombie st., salem, mass. . sawyer, edwin f. washington st., brighton, mass. . mason, henry t. washington st., cambridge a, mass. . porter, h. l. columbus sq., boston. . putney, freeman, jr. bromfield st., boston. . wells, clinton g. n. calvert st., baltimore, md. . eldredge, wm. d. p. o. box , boston. . burleigh, dr. chas. pleasant st., malden, mass. . stone, chas. h. antrim st., cambridge a, mass. . barrett, louis g. phillips bldg., boston. . wall, james h. worcester, mass. . powers, chas. f. massachusetts ave., boston. . woodward, howard h. dunreath st., roxbury, mass. . foster, f. apthorp state st., boston. . schlenker, sam brenham texas. . nash, fred j. school st., somerville, mass. . stone, wm. c. union st., springfield mass. . gates, walter l. teaticket, mass. . porter, james m. water st., boston. . crehore, frederick m. newton lower falls, mass. . crosby, clifford f. summer st., west somerville, mass. . ingraham, john o st., south boston, mass. . parker, herman, newbury st., boston. . morgenthau, j. c. nassau st., new york city. . bartels, j. m. washington st., boston. . power, e. b. broadway, new york city. . massoth, f. n. marquette bldg., chicago, ill. . makins, j. h. market st., san francisco, cal. . gifford, t. merritt new bedford, mass. . waldron, george f. hudson st., somerville, mass. . butler, w. r. rosedale st., dorchester, mass. . crocker, henry j. crocker bldg., san francisco, cal. . rhodes, albert e. temple place, boston. . howe, louis p. pleasant st., marlboro, mass. . smith, robert belden pine st., new york city. . low, eugene e. burnside ave., west somerville, mass. . dennison, a. walnut st., neponset, mass. . severn, c. e. journal bldg., chicago, ill. . doncyson, s. t. s. west th st., chicago, ill. . oesch, john j. wabash ave., chicago, ill. . klemann, john a. broadway, new york city. . barnes, s. c. amesbury, mass. . taylor, john i. beacon st., boston. . sawtelle, chas. w. water st., boston. . scott, john w. john st., new york city. . hunt, james t. weymouth, mass. . foster, francis c. oxford st., cambridge, mass. . pickman, dudley l. beacon st., boston. . von pirch, rev. r. berlin, ontario, canada. . moffatt, frank d. keap st., brooklyn, n. y. . lovell, w. o. maple st., malden, mass. . weber, adolph h. sutter st., san francisco, cal. . marston, h. w. amesbury, mass. . jones, fred g. brook st., louisville, ky. . martin, eben s. north fourth st., minneapolis, minn. . brown, charles a. honolulu, hawaii. . capen, crawford miller ave., brooklyn, n. y. . rich, joseph s. manhattan ave., new york city. . simmons, samuel r., jr., alexander ave., new york city. . calman, henry l. east rd st., new york city. . dorchester, ernest dean velasco, texas. . roberts, hobart v. genesee st., utica, n. y. . chase, chas. n. stoughton, mass. . shaw, herbert m. hastings st., west roxbury, mass. . dunkhorst, h. f. th st., n. w., washington, d. c. . frasier, joseph a., m. d. new bedford, mass. . low, john f. portland st., boston. . viets, james r. greystone park, lynn, mass. . palmer, charles h. wellesley, mass. . ashenden, e. harold tudor terrace, auburndale, mass. . foster, douglass b. dana st., somerville, mass. . bruner, p. f. west th st., new york city. . gurley, wm. f. e. lexington ave., chicago, ill. . eaton, d. t. muscatine, iowa. . legg, h. w. hancock st., boston. . howard, robert g. newton, mass. . bernichon, jules rue rochambeau, paris ( e arrondt.) . ginn, frederick robert strand, london, w. c. . gascoyne, dr. w. j. south st., baltimore, md. . nevin, charles k. b. gardner st., allston, mass. . parker, charles w., jr., thorndike st., brookline, mass. . hart, h. l. gottingen st., halifax, n. s. . willadt, carl pforzheim, germany. . phillips, chas. j. strand, london, w. c. . kohl, paul chemnitz, germany. . swain, william n. merlin st., new dorchester, mass. . tarr, r. a. north broad st., philadelphia, pa. . gottesleben, r. m. box , denver, col. . brown, allen a. kilby st., room , boston. . loring, george f. state st., room , boston. . beddig, a. hanover, germany. . bartels, walter washington st., boston. . grimmons, chas. a. thurston st., somerville, mass. . prevost, john w. spencer ave., springfield, mass. . bartsch, rudolf c. temple st., west roxbury, mass. . crocker, james h. thorndike st., brookline, mass. . randall, w. h. medford, mass. . brown, clark w. ladd st., watertown, mass. . parker, frederick w. highland ave., somerville, mass. . kelley, edward de z. care adams express co., boston. . hills, isaac siasconset, nantucket, mass. . van malder, w. f. bourne st, roslindale, mass. . barton, chas. j. meridian st., melrose, mass. . cook, frederick s. sparhawk st., brighton, mass. . bigelow, chas. c. sargent ave., somerville, mass. . gelli, gustave rue des fripiers, brussels, belgium. . hanscom, a. p. pearl st., cambridge a, mass. . maynard, robert d. oak grove ave., springfield, mass. [illustration] * * * * * transcriber's notes page (title page): changed "* . " to "* . " (albrecht, r. f., ... * . ) page : changed "fur" to "für" (für briefmarken-sammler) page : changed comma after "patrick" to full stop (=chalmers=, patrick.... * . ) page : changed " p." to " pp." (leipzig: , pp., illus., ^o.) page : added missing full stop after " " ( . die postwertzeichen der spanischen kolonien.) page : added missing full stop ( ... , pp. l. ^o.) page : added missing opening bracket ([ ] viii., pp., sm. ^o.) page : changed "hand books" (with no hyphen at end of line) to "handbooks" (the stanley gibbons philatelic handbooks) page : added missing final full stop (plate [philatelistische bibliothek, band ], ^o.) page : added missing open bracket ([verein für briefmarkenkunde.]) page : added missing opening bracket ([several copies of recent editions.]) page : added missing final full stop ([ ] vii. pp. ^o.) page : added (suspected) missing colon (leipzig: weber, , vi., pp.) page : added missing final full stop (vol. - , september , --september , .) page : added missing close parenthesis in "... classification of mail matter divisions.)"